2 0 1 6 EOC Head Office | Villino Giulio Onesti | Via della Pallacanestro, 19 00135 Rome, Italy | Tel. +39 06 36857619 | Fax +39 06 36857666 | [email protected] www.eurolympic.org OCTOBER N.166 EOC A month of emotions - The European Olympic Committees (EOC) celebrated several special dates throughout October. The EOC General Assembly in Minsk not only showcased the successes of 25 years of the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) and confirmed the future of the event up to 2021, it also launched the EOC’s new visual identity, based on a 50-piece mosaic. Furthermore, the EOC celebrated 10 years of the European Olympic Laurel Awards, given to the continent’s most active sports leaders. Finally, the General Assembly confirmed Minsk as the site of the 2nd European Games, to be hosted in 2019. Minsk already boasts numerous state-of-the-art venues, which will help ease the organisation for the Games. At the end of October, it seemed that good news was falling as fast as autumn leaves! The 4th Executive Committee meeting of the year was organised in Minsk on the eve of the EOC General Assembly. EOC acting President Janez Kocijančič, Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi and Treasurer Kikis Lazarides informed their colleagues of recent activities after the NOC of Belarus’s First Vice President Maxim Ryzhenkov welcomed participants to the committee’s iconic headquarters. Members addressed topical issues, as well as upcoming events. Participants also took the opportunity to review plans for the General Assembly, which were devised by NOC Secretary General Anatoly Kotov and his team. The 45th EOC General Assembly was opened with a welcome address from His Excellency Alexander Lukashenko, President of both the Republic of Belarus and the country’s NOC. Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah also addressed the members. Participants unanimously supported Kocijančič’s appeal to show solidarity with Patrick Hickey and protect his right to defend himself. The agenda on day one included an update on the second edition of the European Games in 2019 and a celebration of the EYOF in its 25th anniversary year. Important decisions were made regarding the festival, with the winter and summer editions for 2021 being awarded to Vuokatti, Finland and Košice, Slovakia respectively. The first day concluded with this year’s Piotr Nurowski prize for Best European Young Athlete, which, from a shortlist of four, was awarded to 17-year-old pole vaulter Emmanouil Karalis from Greece. Key activities on day two included presentations from WADA’s Chief Operating Officer Frédéric Donzé and Head of Olympic Games Services Toshio Tsurunaga, whose presentation highlighted the fact that European athletes won 48% of medals at Rio 2016. Kocijančič, who is also Vice President of the International Ski Federation, described the General Assembly as a “crucial” two days for the Olympic Movement in Europe, explaining: “This General Assembly was crucially important. We needed to take vital decisions, and we have done that. We have agreed to help Patrick Hickey prove his innocence and return to Ireland, we have chosen Minsk to host the European Games in 2019 and we have launched a new and innovative corporate identity”. “I am delighted that the future of the European Games is secure. The Games are an important event for European athletes and have a key role to play in helping them reach the Olympic Games by offering qualification opportunities and vital experience of a major multisport event”. “For Minsk 2019, we want to prioritise the use of the city’s existing sports venues and deliver a Games concept suited to Belarus’s national sports identity.” The 46th EOC General Assembly in 2017 will be hosted in Zagreb, Croatia. 2016 October EOC Newsletter EOC reveals new mosaic logo – At a welcome dinner on the eve of its General Assembly, the EOC revealed a new corporate logo as one part of a completely new look and feel for the organisation. The key inspiration for the new visual identity is a mosaic – an art form synonymous with European history and culture. The EOC’s corporate logo is now a 50-piece mosaic consisting of blue and azure colours, representing the 50 member nations of the European Olympic Committees. The EOC’s new look and feel was commissioned and approved by President Patrick Hickey in April. A representative from each of the 50 European NOCs placed a mosaic piece into a sculpture to create and reveal the new logo in an innovative ceremony. Kocijančič said: “The EOC’s new look and feel is an excellent visual representation of Europe and the unifying role that sport plays across our continent. “Tonight’s logo reveal was an innovative way to introduce our new corporate identity to our membership, who will receive a full briefing during the General Assembly tomorrow about the new look and feel and how they can use it for marketing purposes.” The 25th anniversary of the EYOF was celebrated with an exhibition staged at the NOC of Belarus’s headquarters and was attended by athletes who have won gold medals at both the EYOF and Olympic Games. The EYOF is the top multisport event for young European athletes between the ages of 14 and 18. It was first launched in 1991 by Belgian Jacques Rogge, who was President of the EOC at the time. Since then, the EOC has organised a summer and a winter edition every two years, which offer young athletes their first Olympic experience and act as a springboard for future sporting stars. Approximately 3,600 participants take part in the summer festivals, and there are around 1,600 athletes at the winter edition. Some 20 athletes who won a gold medal at the Olympic Games started their careers competing in the EYOF. Two of these champions joined the EOC General Assembly in Minsk. They were Russian gymnast Elena Mikhailovna Zamolodchikova and Greek Judoka Ilias Iliadis. Elena Zamolodchikova began taking part in sport at the age of six and enjoyed a long and successful career lasting over 20 years. With amazing acrobatics, including her trademark double-twisting double- back somersault in the floor exercise, “Zamo" always provided a welcome burst of energy to her team. In 1997, aged 15, she won a gold medal at the Lisbon Summer EYOF. Two years later, aged 17, she made her World Championships debut in Tianjin, China, winning a gold in the vault and a silver with her team. She did even better at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games the following year, winning gold medals in the vault and floor exercise, as well as a team silver medal. Zamolodchikova continued to star for Russia, winning silver in the vault at the 2003 Anaheim World Championships and the team bronze at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. She was 26 years old at her final competition in 2009, the University Games in Belgrade, where Russia finished 2nd as a team. After her retirement, she stayed committed to sport, working as a coach for novice gymnasts in Moscow and travelling the world as an FIG “brevet” accredited judge. She joined the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2015. Ilias Iliadis was born Jarji Zviadauri in Akhmeta, Georgia. He competed at the Murcia 2001 Summer EYOF, where he won a medal in judo. His family moved to Greece in 2003. He was then adopted by his personal coach, Nikos Iliadis, and took Greek nationality, starting his international career under his new name. Iliadis won a gold medal in the 81kg division at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens when he was 17. He also won a gold medal in the 90kg category six years later at the 2010 World Judo Championships in Tokyo. As Greece's flag bearer, he had the honour of being the first athlete to march into the Bird's Nest stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. He announced his retirement after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The 6th Piotr Nurowski Prize for Best European Young Athlete was awarded to Greek pole vaulter Emmanouil Karalis at the General Assembly in Minsk. NOC delegates voted for Karalis from a list of four nominees. The award ceremony took place on Friday 22 October during a Gala Dinner. The other three nominated athletes - artistic gymnast Amy Tinkler (Great Britain), canoeist Nadzeya Makarchanka (Belarus) and discus / shot put thrower Alexandra Emelianov (Moldova) - also received a trophy. Karalis has had a remarkable career already. He has broken the national pole vault record in the U-20 age category four times in the last season alone. He was a bronze medallist at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Cali (Colombia) in July 2015, was ranked 4th in the 2016 IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz (Poland) and became 2016 European Youth Olympic Festival champion in Tbilisi (Georgia). 2 2016 October EOC Newsletter He is currently the World Best Performance holder in pole vault with 5.55m (Indoor & Outdoor). This EOC award was created in 2010 to remember a dear friend to the organisation, Piotr Nurowski the late President of the Polish NOC and member of the EOC Executive Committee, who died in a plane accident in 2010. He had contributed greatly to the Olympic Movement for much of his life. Through his shining example, he encouraged young athletes to pursue a career in elite sport, as well as inspiring future generations to adopt a healthy lifestyle based on Olympic values and principles. The two Piotr Nurowski prizes are awarded annually. One is for athletes competing in summer sports and is awarded at the EOC General Assembly, and the other is for athletes competing in winter sports and is awarded at the EOC Seminar in spring.