The International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s coordination commission concluded its first visit to Tokyo on Friday, leaving with positive impressions of planning, personnel and infrastructure.
John Coates, chairman of the commission, said at the close of the meeting: “We have been very impressed with what we have seen this week during our visit.
“The current level of planning; the venue layout; the involvement and integration of the Government authorities at all levels; and the experience and diversity of the new Executive Board all leave us confident in Tokyo’s ability to deliver great Games for the athletes in 2020.”
The IOC delegation also included Vice-Chair Alex Gilady, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli, and Deputy Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi.
From 2 to 4 April, the group participated in the first IOC project review of the Games preparations and were updated on progress made since Tokyo was elected as the host city of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in September 2013.
The IOC executives were introduced to members of the new Tokyo 2020 executive board. The Commission was particularly pleased to see that a number of athletes and women are on the Board, representing the culture and diversity of Japan, the IOC said in a statement.
Coates said: “Since my last visit to Tokyo with IOC president Thomas Bach in November 2013, Tokyo 2020 has successfully undertaken a number of important steps on its seven-year Olympic journey. The establishment of the organising committee, the constitution of its executive board, the creation of a high-level advisory committee, and its participation in the observer programme for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games will all enable Tokyo to face the coming six and a half years with a high level of confidence thanks to this quick start.”
The Games organisers presented on a number of topics, including governance, legacy, sustainability, accommodation, finance, commercial matters, engagement, medical, athlete preparation, venues and infrastructure.
Venue visits
The delegation visited a number of the venue sites, including Yoyogi National Stadium, the Olympic Stadium, Nippon Budokan, Imperial Palace Garden, Tokyo International Forum, Kokugikan Arena, Odaiba Marine Park, Tokyo Big Sight, and viewed the sites of all the other future venues of the Tokyo Bay Zone.
The venue visit also included a trip to the site of the future Olympic Village, where the delegation was joined by Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe, Olympic champion Koji Murofushi, and a number of young Japanese rowers, including Olympian Haruna Sakakibara, who took part in the London 2012 Games.
Yoshiro Mori, chairman of Tokyo 2020 said: “We have just completed three days of meetings, and I am very pleased that we were able to hold a range of productive discussions. We now have a much clearer understanding of the direction required for us to take to deliver successful Games.”
The first full IOC coordination commission visit to Tokyo will be held from 25 to 27 June 2014. This will be the first of 10 Commission visits to the 2020 host city over its seven-year lifecycle.
“We will now work towards implementing the action plan that we have formulated together over the past three days, and we look forward to welcoming the members of the IOC Coordination Commission back to Tokyo this summer,” said Mori.
Tag: Olympic Games
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IOC impressed by Tokyo 2020 progress
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Olympic host Tokyo ranked world’s riskiest city
A ranking of cities under threat from natural disasters, “Mind the Risk” by reinsurance company Swiss Re, has placed Tokyo top of the list.
The International Olympic Committee nonetheless told HOST CITY that it stands by the findings of its Evaluation Commission, which highlighted Tokyo’s “well thought-out proposals for the successful planning and delivery of security operations, which would deliver safe and secure Games.”
Tokyo successfully dispelled safety concerns during its bid to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Speaking to IOC members during the bid presentation in September, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described Tokyo as “one of the safest cities in the world.”
The IOC on Wednesday reaffirmed its confidence in Tokyo’s ability to respond to potential seismic events. “It goes without saying that we cannot predict natural disasters, but Tokyo is known for having some of the most comprehensive construction practices to help protect buildings against the effects of earthquakes,” an IOC spokesperson told HOST CITY.
“The local authorities are also very well prepared to handle these types of emergency situations and we have complete confidence in them, as the Evaluation Commission noted in its report.”
Matthias Weber, Swiss Re’s Group Chief Underwriting Officer said in the report: “We know from past events that physical prevention measures alone do not suffice to build a resilient city, since damage from the most severe catastrophes cannot be fully averted.
“An important part of resilience is how well urban societies are able to cope with the financial consequences of a disaster, which includes access to the requisite funding for relief, recovery and reconstruction.”
HOST CITY also contacted Tokyo 2020, which was unavailable for comment at time of writing.
Seven of the ten cities found to be at highest risk are in East Asia, due to their combination of high seismic activity and large populations.
Los Angeles, which is taking steps towards a highly anticipated bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games, has the seventh largest number of people at risk of natural disaster, according to the Swiss Re report. -
IOC puts all energy into averting Rio2016 failure
The President of the IOC, Dr Thomas Bach, confirmed at SportAccord Convention on Thursday that a series of measures have immediately been put in place to safeguard the success of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The IOC has asked leaders in Brazil to form a high-level decision making body to coordinate the delivery of the Games. The IOC is also going to appoint a local project manager, with task forces focusing on specific areas.
Gilbert Felli, Director of Olympic Games at the IOC will head up a more frequent schedule of visits, starting on Monday. International federations have also been asked to play a more hands-on role in monitoring progress.
“We know about these concerns because of the excellent work of our coordination commission, which had a visit to Rio not too long ago,” President Bach said at the SportAccord Convention in Belek. “We believe Rio can and will deliver excellent Olympic Games if the appropriate actions are taken.”
Leaders from within the IOC met with the Rio 2016 organising committee on Wednesday at SportAccord Convention. “We had a very constructive atmosphere with our partners in Rio,” said Bach. “We then decided some measures – how we can accelerate the works in Rio, how we can work even closer with the organising committee and the different levels of government.”
The organising committee has been asked to put in place a high-level decision making body representing different levels of government, communication between which is a particular area of concern.
“We will use our experience in organising Games to show how different levels of government can work better together; how seamless cooperation can be done; how can you then benefit from experience of previous organisers or experts.”
Bach cited Sochi as a good example. “We would enhance the collaboration with international federations and other key stakeholders in the way we had also done for Sochi, where we had dedicated project teams from different international federations going to Sochi on a regular basis.”
The three task forces to be established will focus on construction, operations and engaging population behind the Games. Mindful of recent protests directed towards the FIFA World Cup, Bach stressed that the benefits of hosting the Games would be communicated to the local population. “We have a very good message to send to the Cariocas because these Games will leave a great legacy for the city.”
Bach was keen to emphasise that the supervisory measures have not been enforced onto the Brazilian organisers. “We have informed the organisers and the major of Rio. The measures were very much welcomed. The strong commitment by the IOC to the success of these Games is very well appreciated by our Brazilian partners.
Gilbert Felli is due to meet with Mayor Eduardo Paes and the organising committee on Monday 14th April. “A couple of days later he will have his first assessment,” said Bach. “This is not a measure being imposed by the IOC; this measure has been appreciated by the Organising Committee and the mayor.”
Unwilling to apportion blame at this stage, Bach said: “This is about 2016 and we have to look to the future, and not start a blame game for the past. We need all our energy; we share their concerns to make the games a success.
“After the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games we can come back to this question of responsibility. But now we would not act in a responsible way if we were to look too much into the past.” -
IOC to make bidding process work better for cities
The International Olympic Committee is reviewing its bidding procedure, with a renewed emphasis on the social, environmental and developmental goals of the bidding city and its country, Gilbert Felli confirmed on Thursday.
Speaking at the SportAccord Convention in Belek, the IOC’s Director of Olympic Games said: “The idea is that we want to shift the focus a little bit, in a way that we encourage potential candidate cities to tell us how they see the Olympic Games fitting best in their social environment, their long term development plans, with regard to sports and general infrastructure, to environmental protection – to get more diversity into the bidding procedure.”
Felli’s comments expand on the “Olympic Agenda 2020”, a key theme of which is to communicate the value of bidding for and hosting the Olympic Games.
The current two-phase procedure is being reviewed “to make sure the IOC does not ask too much too soon”. Concerns have been raised that too much information is requested at the applicant phase, deterring potential applicants.
The reviewed process will also mean that information requested will be more focussed on the long term goals of the applicant, rather than on the event itself. “And in the end, to have it less a tender for a franchise and more an invitation to Olympic Games on the background of the culture and the perception of a sustainable development in the future host country,” said Felli.
Other proposals to broaden the appeal of bidding include reducing and controlling costs for bid cities, the possibility of joint bids from several cities in two or more countries, and reviewing the IOC’s requirements “to see how the Olympic Games could be awarded to cities in new territories and emerging economies”. -
Rio Olympic spending rises as race begins
The mayor of Rio de Janeiro on Thursday announced opportunities for construction companies on the Deodoro Sports Complex, admitting there is no time to spare.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian authorities have announced a US$10.8bn budget for civic infrastructure works, amid widespread concerns about the city’s readiness. Gilbert Felli, director of Olympic Games at the IOC, has introduced an unprecedented level of oversight over preparations.
Speaking to Bloomberg News on Wednesday, Paes said “[The IOC’s] presence is very good, because we are going to show them we have no reason for concern.”
Construction work is now moving forwards quickly. The Mais Rio construction consortium announced on Thursday that a two-week-long strike at the Olympic Park was over. Speaking at a press conference, Paes said “The Olympic Park is going so well that even with the strike, we haven’t noticed a deviation [from the timeline].”
The biggest concern is over the Deodoro Sports Complex. “We’re left without any time to lose in Deodoro; we can’t have any errors there,” said Paes.
The government of Rio de Janeiro formally invited companies to bid for construction work on Deodoro on Thursday. The work is being divided into two blocks. Contracts will be awarded to the lowest bidders and are expected to go for a total of US$358m of public funds.
Paes said “We ended up without time to burn, but the equipment is much simpler than at the Olympic Park.”
Rugby sevens
One of the sports to feature at the delayed Deodoro Sports Complex is rugby sevens, which will take place in a 20,000 temporary venue to be built nearer the time.
“Following a constructive meeting with the other sports in the Deodoro Zone and Rio 2016 at SportAccord last week, we believe that the location has the potential to deliver a vibrant festival hub and a great experience for athletes and fans,” a spokesperson for the International Rugby Board (IRB) told HOST CITY on Thursday.
“However, for this to be achieved, it is essential that planning and preparations for the Zone and required infrastructure now move forward rapidly.
“As a new sport on the programme, we do not get a second chance to make a first impression. It is important all involved maintain an on-going and fully collaborative dialogue regarding venue planning, schedule integration, logistics and overall fan experience and we will continue to do all we can to support Rio 2016 and the delivery of a spectacular and memorable debut for Rugby Sevens at the Games.”
The IRB’s statement follows their chief executive Brett Gosper’s comments to the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday that “We’re more worried about actual infrastructure, public transport from other parts of Rio, to get teams and spectators out to that Deodoro Zone area.”
Conscious that civic infrastructure also needs to be upgraded quickly, Brazilian authorities have announced an infrastructure budget for the Games of US$10.8bn. The budget is 25 per cent more than originally planned, accounting for a new fourth metro line and other new projects that have pushed costs up for the host city.
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Valcke and Felli to discuss Brazil’s legacy in Lausanne
Gilbert Felli, the IOC Olympic Games executive director and Jérôme Valcke, the General Secretary of FIFA, are to share the stage with other major figures in sports events to discuss the legacy of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.
The conference, which is hosted by the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES), takes place in French on 6 May at the Expo Beaulieu Lausanne. Other speakers include CIES director and IOC member Denis Oswald, lawyer and former IOC executive director François Carrard and sports architect Miranda Kiuri.
The meeting comes at a time when both Valcke and Felli have been closely scrutinising the progress of the FIFA 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Both events are experiencing serious delays that have threatened to impact the successful delivery of Brazil’s mega-sports events. Any problems in event delivery would reflect badly on the host nation and have a knock-on effect on legacy plans.
“The results of such major sporting events are never guaranteed and therefore the legacy is always a theme of discussion, notably because of the costs incurred,” the CIES said in a news release on Thursday.
“It is true that some countries have been able to deal with legacy better than others and for this reason CIES has decided to host this round table and gather experts just before the FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. This conference will allow everyone to better understand this challenge and its related issues, as well as the real legacy to these two major Brazilian competitions.
More information about the event is available at http://www.cies.ch/cies/agenda/ -
Rio 2016 Olympic situation is “critical”
Preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games are “the worst I have experienced” and “worse than Athens”, according to IOC Vice President John Coates.
“The situation is critical on the ground,” he said at an Olympic Forum in Sydney on Tuesday.
While the IOC is taking “unprecedented” action in an attempt to resolve “critical” construction delays, there is “no plan B” for the possibility of Rio not being ready to host the Games in 2016.
Coates has been involved in the Olympic movement for 20 years and has made six visits to Rio as a member of the IOC Coordination Commission, overseeing Rio’s preparations.
According to a statement from the Australian Olympic Committee, of which Coates is the president, IOC experts have been embedded in the organising committee, including construction project manager to ensure that works progress at the faster pace needed.
“The IOC has formed a special task force to try and speed up preparations,” said Coates.
The Rio 2016 organising committee has not responded directly to Coates’ comments, but it has said that it welcomes the intervention from the IOC.
“Very concerned”
“I’ve become very concerned, to be quite frank,” said Coates. “The last Coordination Commission visit earlier this month showed that they are really not ready in many, many ways.
“And then we followed that up with a meeting in Turkey two weeks ago when 18 of the federations said the organisers were not ready in respect of their venues, particularly in the case of the eight sports in the second Olympic Park at Deodoro. Really, construction hasn’t commenced there apart from a bit of ground clearance.”
Speaking on the BBC World Service on Tuesday night, Jefferson Puff, a BBC correspondent in Brazil said “If Deodoro was their only concern I think the IOC would be in heaven, because it’s so much more than that.
“The subway in the city was supposed to be extended, and that has been delayed. The bay in which some of the maritime competitions are supposed to take place is completely polluted. Critics say it will be very hard to clean it up in time.
“The budget for the Olympics is also a concern. You could argue that it’s basically a case of mismanagement of planning, of the money involved.”
“The challenges for sport leaders and team management is that they’re not getting answers to the questions when they go over,” said Coates.
“Can they use the car parks in the village for recovery centres? What will be the time to take from this venue to this venue? All of those things, they’re being fobbed off. No one is able to give answers at the moment.”
“No plan B”
Despite the very real possibility that Rio might not be ready in time, there has been no mention of any other cities that might be ready to host if necessary.
“The IOC has adopted a more hands on role. It is unprecedented for the IOC but there is no plan B. We are going to Rio,” Coates said. “From my experience it’s the worst that I have experienced but we just have to make it happen and that’s the IOC’s approach.
“You can’t walk away from this. And if this comes off, the first Games in the South American continent in the magical city in so many ways it will be a wonderful experience for the athletes.”
Comparisons have been drawn between Rio’s Olympic projects and Brazil’s last minute rush to host the 2014 World Cup, which starts on 12 June.
“I think maybe the organisers of the Olympics are actually betting with destiny, betting with the future – hoping that they can accomplish the same,” said Puff. “Only for the critics, the delays for the Olympics are bigger than for the World Cup already, so one could argue that the game they are playing is quite risky.” -
NBCU awarded Olympic broadcasting rights to 2032
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday awarded NBCUniversal the US broadcast rights for the Olympic Games through to 2032.
The deal covers all media platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile. The agreement will run from 2021 to 2032, extending an agreement in 2011 which gave NBCU the right to broadcast the Olympic Games until 2020.
NBCU will now broadcast every Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games through to 2032, regardless of which host cities are elected to host these events.
The deal is valued at US$ 7.65bn with an extra US$100m signing bonus that will be used to promote Olympism and the Olympic values between 2015 and 2020, the IOC said in a statement.
“This agreement is excellent news for the entire Olympic Movement as it helps to ensure its financial security in the long term, in particular future host cities of the Olympic Games, the athletes of the 204 National Olympic Committees and the International Sports Federations,” said IOC President Thomas Bach, who led the negotiations.
“The IOC has worked in close partnership with NBC for many decades, and we are thrilled we will continue to work with them through to 2032. NBC’s expertise in sports broadcasting, as well as their passion for the Olympic values, will mean we shall be able continue to offer first-class broadcast coverage of the Olympic Games to the widest possible American audience for many years to come.”
Steve Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal, said: “The Olympics are part of the fabric of our company, and we couldn’t be more excited that today’s announcement guarantees that this massively popular and profitable programming will continue to air every two years on the broadcast, cable, digital and mobile platforms of NBCUniversal for the next two decades.”
NBCU first broadcast the Olympic Games in Tokyo 1964. By 2032, it will have covered a total of 23 editions of the world’s biggest multisport event.
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Rio 2016 organisers say 11 venues are ready
With more than two years to go until the Rio 2016 Olympic Games begin, 38 per cent of the competition venues are ready for the event, the organsing committee has announced amid widespread concern over construction progress.
Of the 29 permanent venues, 11 are operational, while eight require some renovation work and the other 10 will form part of the sporting legacy that is being constructed in the city. Eight temporary venues will also be used to host competitions.
Construction progress can be seen in the four Rio 2016 competition zones. While work on the Barra Olympic Park advances, with the conclusion of the foundations of Olympic Halls 1, 2 and 3, the Olympic Golf Course site is being irrigated in order to allow grass planting to begin.
At Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, the venue for rowing and canoe sprint, depth studies have been completed, while at Flamengo Park, the design of the integrated route for the athletics, road cycling and paracycling courses has started.
“We are advancing in the construction of competition venues for the Rio 2016 Games, with all of the basic and executive projects concluded or in the conclusion phase, and with foundation works in full flow. Even though they may not be highly visible, the preparative groundwork and foundation construction, that occurs underground, are extremely important for the final structure and often account for 20 per cent of the total volume of construction,” said Alexandre Techima, the Rio 2016 Infrastructure Integration Director.
In Deodoro, the tender process for the Games’ second largest venue cluster is underway, with construction scheduled to start in the second half of the year. Three existing competition venues– the National Shooting Centre, National Equestrian Centre and Modern Pentathlon Aquatics Centre – will be renovated, four new venues will become part of the important sporting legacy the Games will leave to the city, and two temporary venues will also be installed. At the same time, the legendary Maracanã Stadium is ready to stage matches at the FIFA World Cup, which kicks off next month.
Bid deadline for Temporary Arena extended
Rio 2016 has extended the deadline for suppliers interested in applying to participate in the project ‘C547 – Temporary Arena with Overlay’.
The bid is aimed at a company “specialized in temporary structures for supplying a Temporary Arena in turnkey mode, including all adjacent temporary structures.”
The new deadline is 24 May 24 2014, 12h Brasilia’s time.
Source: Rio 2016 -
IOC reveals Agenda 2020 Working Groups
Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee announced the membership on Thursday of 14 working groups that will develop “Olympic Agenda 2020” – the IOC’s roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement.
Agenda 2020 centres on five themes: the uniqueness of the Olympic Games, athletes at the heart of the Olympic Movement, Olympism in action, the IOC’s role and IOC structure and organisation.
Each working group is to be chaired by an IOC member. John Coates, an outspoken critic of Rio’s preparations, is to head up the working group on bidding procedure. Sir Craig Reedie is to lead on good governance and autonomy.
The working groups include athletes and representatives of the International Federations and National Olympic Committees. A number of experts have also been appointed from outside the Olympic Movement, including representatives from leading international non-governmental and business organisations.
The aim of the working groups is to compile and discuss contributions to the Olympic Agenda 2020, which the IOC describes as a “strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement”. Many contributions to the debate of the future of the Olympic Movement have already been received from the Olympic Family and wider public via a call for feedback via email.
The working groups will first meet in June, close to Olympic Day, and their findings discussed at the Olympic Summit in July and at an Executive Board Meeting on 22-24th October in Lausanne. The resulting proposals for Olympic Agenda 2020 will then be presented to all IOC members for discussion at the IOC Extraordinary Session in Monaco on 8 and 9 December 2014.
The 14 Working Groups are: Bidding Procedure (Chair John D. Coates, AC); Sustainability and Legacy (Chair Prince Sovereign Albert II); Differentiation of the Olympic Games (Chair Sam Ramsamy); Procedure for the composition of the Olympic Programme (Chair Franco Carraro); Olympic Games Management (Chair Mario Pescante); Protecting Clean Athletes (Chair Claudia Bokel); Olympic TV Channel (Chair Thomas Bach); Olympism in action including Youth Strategy; (Chair Gerardo Werthein); Youth Olympic Games (Chair Ser Miang Ng); Culture Policy (Chair Lambis V. Nikolaou); Good governance and autonomy (Chair Craig Reedie); Ethics (Chair Youssoupha Ndiaye); Strategic review of sponsorship, licensing and merchandising (Chair Tsunekazu Takeda); IOC Membership (Chair The Grand Duke Henri of Luxemburg).
The complete list of Working Groups can be viewed here.