The Olympic Dictionary I

ICE HOCKEY It made its Olympic debut in Antwerp in 1920 (matches were held in early April): this was its only appearance at the summer Olympics. The sport then became part of the Winter Olympics, from their first edition, in Chamonix, 1924. governed by IIHF (International Ice hockey Federation – www.iihf.com).

ICE SKATING Also known as figure skating, the sport is governed by ISU (International Skating Union – www.isu.org). Figure skating was included in the programme of the Summer Olympics only in London 1908 and in Antwerp 1920. From 1924 the sport definitively became part of the Winter Olympics.

ICELAND (Republic of Iceland, Europe, capital Reykjavik, area 102.819 km2, population 301.005). 3 medals (the silver won by Vilhjalmur Einarsson in the triple jump, 1956; and the bronze medals won by Bjarni Fridriksson in judo, half heavyweight 95 kg, in 1984, and by Vala Flosadottir in the women’s pole vault, 2000). The Olympic Committee, formed in 1921, received IOC recognition in 1935. After having sent one athlete to the 1908 Games, and 2 to the 1912 edition, it has taken part in all editions from 1936 on.

IDEM GUERRINI JOSEFA (canoeing, then Italy, b. Goch, West Germany, 23/9/1964). Six appearances (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004), one gold (K1 500 2000), one silver (K1 500 2004) and 2 bronze medals (K2 500 1984 for FRG, K1 500 1996). 1984 0-0-1, 1996 0-0-1, 2000 1-0-0, 2004 0-1-0. The 2008 Games will be her seventh Olympics, giving her the chance to become, at the age of almost 44, the oldest woman to win a medal in canoeing. She won her first medal at in 1984, the bronze in the K2 500 for West Germany. She was unable to repeat her success in Seoul 1988, where she finished last. A year later she married Guglielmo Guerrini, ex-volleyball coach, and acquired Italian nationality. In the Italian team she won the World Championship title for the K1 500 in 1990, the first of 5 gold medals (K1 500 1990- 2001, K1 1.000 1998-2001, K1 5.000 1991), 9 silvers (K1 200 1997-98-99, K1 500 1997-99-2006, K1 1000 1997-99, K1 5000 1990), and 7 bronzes (K1 500 1990-91-94-98-2002, K1 1000 2002, K1 5000 1990). After her fourth place in Barcelona, she returned to Olympic medals in Atlanta 1996, when she won bronze medal in the K1 500. From 2000 on, she abandoned three events to concentrate on the K1 500, in which she won the Olympic title in 2000 and silver in 2004. “Mental training is my only real problem every time I recommence. Then it’s just a question of getting the engine running properly, because I really can’t imagine myself retiring. I am just learning how not to mistreat my physique, my body: when the crisis signals arrive, I know what action to take”. At the European Championships she has won 8 gold medals (K1 200 1997-99, K1 500 1997-99, K1 1000 m 1997-99-2000-01), 4 silver and 3 bronze medals. She also won a World Cup in 1999, 40 races in the World Cup and 34 Italian titles.

IGNAT DOINA (rowing, Romania, b. Radauti Prut 20/12/1968). Four appearances (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004), 4 gold medals (eight 1996, 2000 and 2004, coxless pair 2000) and one silver (quadruple scull 1992). 1992 0-1-0, 1996 1-0-0, 2000 2-0-0, 2004 1-0-0. The gold that she won at Atlanta was stolen from her flat two days after she returned to Bucharest. She just said that she hoped she would win another, and on Lake Penrith in 2000, she won 2; she rowed with Georgeta Damian (q.v.) both in the coxless pair and the day after, in the eight, when she risked provoking a

87 The Olympic Dictionary riot when she shouted “death to our enemies!” after she had crossed the finishing line. At the 2004 Games in Athens, she completed her hat-trick with another gold in the eight. In the World Championships, she has won 4 gold (eight 1993-97-98-99), 4 silver and 3 bronze medals.

INDEPENDENT OLYMPIC PARTICIPANTS see Yugoslavia.

INDIA (Republic of India, Asia, capital New Delhi, area 3.287.263 km2, population 1.169.015.510). 17 medals: 8 gold, 4 silver, 5 bronze. Best Olympics: Helsinki 1952, with one gold and one bronze. Best sport: field hockey, with 8 gold, one silver and 2 bronze medals. Most decorated athletes: Leslie Claudius (q.v.), field hockey, with 3 gold medals (1948, 1952, 1956) and one silver (1960); and Udham Singh (q.v.), field hockey, with 3 gold medals (1952, 1956, 1964) and one silver (1960). The Olympic Committee, formed in 1927, received IOC recognition the same year. After having taken part with Great Britain in the 1900 Games, with Indian athlete Norman Pritchard (who won 2 silver medals, in the 200 metres and 200 m hurdles), from 1920 India has taken part at all Games.

INDONESIA (Republic of Indonesia, Asia, capital Jakarta, area 1.860.360 km2, population 231.626.979). 20 medals: 5 gold, 8 silver, 7 bronze. Best Olympics: Barcelona 1992, with 2 gold medals, 2 silvers and one bronze. Best sport: badminton, with 5 gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze medals. Most decorated athlete: Susi Susanti, badminton, with one gold medal (singles 1992) and one bronze (singles 1996). The Olympic Committee, formed in 1946, received IOC recognition in 1952: from that year, it missed just the 1964 and 1980 Games.

INTERALLIED GAMES Organized in -Joinville from 22 June to 6 July 1919, just a few months after the signing of the armistice on 11 November 1918 which brought the First World War to an end, these were defined as the “Military ”. Athletes from the winning Allied forces took part, divided into 18 delegations out of the 29 that had been invited; only Great Britain, amongst the major countries that could have taken part, abstained. Developed from a proposal by Elwood Brown, sports director at the YMCA, the Young Men’s Christian Association of America, the Games were promoted by American General John “Jack” Pershing, commander of the Inter- Allied forces, after whom the stadium in which they were held was named, and they were organized by American colonel Walt Johnson. Many of the athletes present had appeared at the 1912 Stockholm games and would have taken part at the Antwerp Games the year after. These Games compensated for the missed edition of the 1916 Berlin Games, cancelled due to the War. After a brief dispute, the IOC gave its consent for the use of the adjective “Olympic” to describe the event, and Elwood Brown was made part of the international Olympic Committee. About 1500 athletes, all men, took part in the final phases of the 24 sports included in the event. Nothing of this type occurred after the Second World War, but at the end of that conflict, the Armed Forces Sports Council was founded, later becoming the CISM, International Military Sports Council, a world- wide organization governing military sports, website www.cism-milsport.org.

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF OLYMPIC HISTORIANS Acronym: ISOH. Founded in 1991 by a group of enthusiasts and scholars of Olympism to promote and study the history of the Olympic movement and the Olympic Games: the organization received IOC recognition in 2004. The ISOH publishes an informative periodical three times a year, entitled Journal of Olympic History (website www.isoh.org). The first president was Ian Buchanan, followed first by Bill Mallon and then by Karl Lennartz (with David Wallechinsky as vice-president). IOC The International Olympic Committee (British acronym IOC, French, Spanish and Italian CIO, German IOK) was founded on the 23rd June 1894, at the end of the Congress on Amateurism organised at the Sorbonne of Paris by the Baron de Coubertin (q.v.). For more details on the origins and early days of the IOC, see the entry ‘de Coubertin’ at the beginning of section II. The IOC

88 The Olympic Dictionary headquarters have been in the Chateaux de Vidy, , since being transferred there by de Coubertin during the First World War, and from 1919 officially. By decree of the Swiss Federal Council on the 17th September 1981, the IOC was deemed an international, non-governmental, non-profit organisation with an unlimited lifetime, in the form of an association with legal person status and some extraterritorial prerogatives. The aim of the Olympic Committee, regulated by the , is to promote the Olympic movement, manage it and ensure that the Olympic Games are celebrated regularly and performed correctly. The IOC is composed of co-opted members. In accordance with changes introduced by the Commission in 2000, there can be no more than 115 members, and the age limit is 70 years old (with the exception of current members, where the limit is 80 years old). Each Olympic committee can have one member national at the most, whereas a nation that has hosted the Games can have more than one. Other nominations are made by the International Federations and the Athletes Commission. Currently, IOC members belong to one of the following four categories: independent, co-opted members, athletes who have competed in the most recent Games, but at least four years before election, presidents of the National Olympic Committees, and International Federations. Of the 115 members, 70 can be independent, 15 can be athletes, 15 can be presidents of International Federations and 15 can be presidents of National Olympic Committees. Initially, an elected member was in office for life; nowadays a member is elected for a term of eight years and can then be re-elected. Athletes can have a single term of eight years. The IOC nominates a President, four Vice Presidents and an Executive Board by means of a secret ballot amongst members which participate in a Session. The president’s term, which until 1999 was re-electable for life, lasts eight years and is renewable once for four years. The term of the current president, the Belgian (q.v.), finishes in 2009 and he can be re-elected for another four years. Vice Presidents and Executive Board members are in office for four years and cannot be immediately re-elected to the same position, but can be after at least eight years. The Executive Board consists of 12 members, including the president and 4 Vice Presidents. The current Board, in office until Beijing 2008, consists of: Jacques Rogge (BEL), president, Gunilla Lindberg (SWE), Lambis Nikolau (GRE), Chiharu Igaya (JPN) and Thomas Bach (GER), vice-presidents, other members are Gerhard Heiberg (NOR), Denis Oswald (SUI), Mario Vázquez Raña (MEX), Ottavio Cinquanta (q.v.) and Mario Pescante (q.v.) (ITA), (q.v.) (UKR), Yu Zaiqing (CHN), Richard Carrión (PUR), Ser Miang Ng (SIN), Sam Ramsamy (RSA). The IOC organises Congresses and Sessions; these being rare after the first, which was the start of the IOC in 1894. Subsequent ones have been in Le Havre (1897), Brussels (1905), Paris (1906), Lausanne (1913), Paris (1914), Lausanne (1921), Prague (1925), Berlin (1930), Varna (1973), Baden-Baden (1981) and Paris (1994), The Centenary Congress. Of these the most important was at Baden-Baden, which re-defined the regulations on eligibility, transferring the onus of determining athlete status to the International Sporting Federations. With regards to the Sessions, at least one a year has the task of electing IOC members and appointing the host cities for the Games. The first Session, from the 18th – 23rd June 1894 in Paris, coincided with the date of the first Olympic Congress. The last Session, the 119th, took place in Guatemala City in July 2007 and assigned the 2014 Winter Games to (Russia). The next Olympic Congress is planned for Copenhagen in 2009 and will coincide with the 121st Session which will decide the location of the 2016 Summer Games. The IOC develops a variety of programmes for the advancement of the Olympic Movement, manages sponsorship, and negotiates image and TV rights, through a range of organisations which, in the period 2001-2004, provided the IOC with gross revenue of around 4 billion dollars. The following is a list of the IOC presidents: 1894/1896 Demetrius Vikélas () - 1896/1925 (France) - 1916/1919 Louis de Blonay Godefroy () acting for de Coubertin during First World War - 1925/1942 Henri de Baillet-Latour (Belgium) - 1942/1952 Sigfrid Edström (Sweden) - 1952/1972 (United States) - 1972/1980 Michael Morris Killanin (Ireland) - 1980/2001 () - from 2001 Jacques Rogge (Belgium) today’s president.

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IOC SESSIONS IOC decisions are taken in scheduled annual sessions. Under exceptional circumstances, the Committee President can convene an extraordinary session. In the year of the Games (whether Summer or Winter), the IOC calls a session shortly before the Olympiad, in the host city. During sessions, IOC members vote according to a list of resolutions taken by the IOC Executive Board, which has the power to take important decisions even though it cannot vote for them; in addition, they vote on the inclusion of new members, and changes to the Olympic Charter.

IRAN (Islamic Republic of Iran, Asia, capital Teheran, area 1.648.195 km2, population 71.208.382). 46 medals: 10 gold, 15 silver, 21 bronze. Best Olympics: Sydney 2000, with 3 gold medals and one bronze. Best sport: wrestling, with 5 gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze medals. Most decorated athlete: Hossein Reza Zadeh (q.v.), weightlifting, with 2 gold medals (super heavyweight, +105 kg, 2000 and 2004). The Olympic Committee, formed in 1947, received IOC recognition in the same year. After Prince Freydoun Malkom took part in fencing events in 1900, from 1948 Iran has missed just the 1980 and 1984 editions due to the boycotts.

IRAQ (Republic of Iraq, Asia, capital Baghdad, area 434.128 km2, population 28.993.376). One medal (the bronze won by Abdul Wahid Aziz in weightlifting, 1960, lightweight category, 67.5 kg). The Olympic Committee, formed in 1948, received IOC recognition in the same year. Iraq was present at the Games in 1948, 1960, 1964, 1968 and from 1980 to 2004.

IRELAND (Republic of Ireland, Europe, capital Dublin, area 70.273 km2, population 4.300.902). 20 medals: 8 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze. Best Olympics: Atlanta 1996, with 3 gold medals and one bronze. Best sport: track & field, with 4 gold and 2 silver medals. Most decorated athlete: Michelle Smith (q.v.), swimming, with 3 gold (400 freestyle, 200 medley and 400 medley, 1996) and one bronze (200 butterfly, 1996). The Olympic Committee, formed in 1922, received IOC recognition in the same year: from 1924, it has missed just the 1936 Games. Before then, Irish athletes competed with Great Britain (the mixed team won 7 gold, 11 silver and 6 bronze medals between 1896 and 1908, and the silver-winning 1908 field hockey team was all-Irish); furthermore, some of the American medal-winning athletes in the early 20th century were recent Irish immigrants: John Flanagan (q.v.) competed for the USA in 1900, even though he was still an Irish citizen, winning gold medal in the hammer, and he added another 2 gold medals and a silver – this time as a “real” American – in 1904 and 1908. Dublin has been an unsuccessful candidate city for hosting the Games twice.

ISRAEL (State of Israel, Asia, capital Jerusalem, area 20.700 km2, population 6.927.680). 6 medals: one gold, one silver and 4 bronze. Best Olympics: Athens 2004, with one gold and one bronze. Best sport: sailing, with one gold and one bronze. Most decorated athlete: Gal Fridman, sailing, with one gold (windsurfing 2004) and one bronze (windsurfing 1996). After the formation of a Palestinian Olympic Committee in 1933, Israel’s O.C. was formed in 1951, and it was recognized the following year by the IOC: since 1952, it missed just the 1980 edition due to the boycott. On 5 September 1972, the day of the Massacre, 11 Israeli athletes and officials were killed during an attack on the Olympic Village by Arab “Black September” terrorists.

ITALY (Republic of Italy, Europe, capital Rome, area 301.317 km2, population 59.131.287). 513 medals: 190 gold, 155 silver and 168 bronze. Best Olympics: Los Angeles 1984, with 14 gold, 6 silver and 12 bronze medals (the highest number of medals were won in 1932 and 1960 with 36, in 1996 with 35 and in 2000 with 34, but with fewer gold medals: 12 in the first case and 13 in the others). Best sport: fencing, with 43 gold, 39 silver and 27 bronze medals. Most decorated athlete: (q.v.), fencing, with 6 gold (team epée 1936, 1952, 1956 and 1960, individual epée 1952, team foil 1956), 5 silver (team foil 1948, 1952 and 1960, team epée 1948, individual foil 1952) and 2 bronze medals (individual epée 1948 and 1956). The Olympic Committee, formed in 90 The Olympic Dictionary

1914, received IOC recognition in 1915. From 1896 (when Giuseppe Rivabella took part in shooting) up until 2004, it missed just the 1904 edition. It hosted the 1960 Games in Rome, where the 1908 edition was also to have been held: the 1906 Vesuvius eruption forced the Italian Government to divert funds and request the relocation of the Olympiad, assigned to London. has been an unsuccessful candidate city on 2 occasions.

IVANOV VYACHESLAV NIKOLAYEVICH (rowing, USSR, b. Moscow 30/7/1938). Three appearances (1956, 1960, 1964) and 3 gold medals (scull 1956, 1960, 1964). 1956 1-0-0, 1960 1-0- 0, 1964 1-0-0. He won his first gold at the Melbourne Games, where he was 4th 500 metres from the finish, and in the last 200 m he overtook the Australian McKenzie (who had lost his rhythm as he thought that he was sure to win) and beat him by 5.2. Then he dropped the medal in Lake Wendouree, and the IOC gave him another. He repeated his success on Lake Albano, beating East German Hill by over 6 seconds, and then achieved his hat-trick – the first to succeed in this feat – beating Hill again in Tokyo, this time with a margin of 3.73 (making up 11 seconds in the last 500 metres in a sprint that left him virtually unconscious even before crossing the finish line: “I thought that it was a sort of delirium, that I was hallucinating. I don’t remember how long it took me to return to normal consciousness”). He also won a gold medal at the first World Championships in 1962; 4 gold (1956-59-61-64) and 2 bronze medals in the European Championships; and 11 Soviet Championships. In 1959 he rowed the 2000 metres in under 7 minutes (6:58.8) for the first time.

IVORY COAST (Republic of Ivory Coast, Africa, capital Yamoussoukro, area 320.763 km2, 19.261.825 inhabitants). One medal: Gabriel Tiacoh’s silver in the 400 m in 1984. The Olympic Committee was founded in 1962 and recognised by the IOC a year later. Republic of Ivory Coast has taken part in all the Games since 1964, only missing the Moscow Games in 1980 due to the boycott.

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