ATHLETES BULLETIN THE NEWSLETTER OF THE IOC ATHLETES’ COMMISSION — MARCH 2012 N°19 CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD OLYMPIC NEWS INSIDE THE COMMISSION IOC ATHLETE CAREER PROGRAMME ATHLETES BULLETIN N°19 LOOKING TO LONDON FOREWORD BY FRANK FREDERICKS, IOC ATHLETES’ COMMISSION CHAIRMAN We will all look back on 2012 as a fantastic year of sport and it really could not have got off to a better start than it did in Innsbruck for the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG). Innsbruck 2012 will be remembered for the iconic venues, the incredible welcome and the stunning backdrop of the Tyrolean Mountains. We saw incredible performances and were wowed by the talent of the young athletes who were competing. I am sure we will see many of them on the Olympic stage itself in years to come. The Athletes’ Commission was highly visible in Innsbruck and many of its members served as Athlete Role Models (ARMs) throughout the 10 days of the YOG. I remember myself when I was starting off in athletics, I looked up to © IOC the great Olympians of the time - people who were at the peak of their careers, who had achieved so much and in whose steps I desperately wanted to follow. The effect that meeting a sporting hero can have on a young athlete is incalculable. It’s an incredible opportunity for youngsters to learn from people who once were in their shoes but through hard work and perseverance have made it to the top of their sport. The ARMs were present throughout the Youth Cover: 4-time Olympian & Captain of Finland, Saku Koivu celebrates Athletes’ Village, making themselves available for meetings, casual drop-ins and a win over the Czech Republic chats over a hot drink. in the quarter-finals during the Vancouver Games. Their efforts were hugely appreciated by the YOG athletes, and it goes to show how important it is that athletes put something back into the sports from which they themselves have derived so much success and pleasure. In London this summer we will see the election of four candidates to the IOC Athletes’ Commission. There are 21 candidates, each of them a great example of sportsmen and women who understand how important it is that they exercise their voice within the Olympic Movement. I am very proud that so many talented individuals are putting themselves forward for election to the four places available. The list of candidates features a diverse group of athletes, and I am confident they will all make an amazing contribution towards the success of the Athletes’ Commission. CHAIRMAN FOREWORD ATHLETES BULLETIN N°19 AND THE CANDIDATES are… Twenty-one athletes are candidates for the IOC Athletes’ Commission elections, 21 IOC Athletes’ Commission Candidates which will be held during the London 2012 Nasser Saleh AL-ATTIYA Femke DEKKER Jefferson PEREZ . Four places will be available Olympic Games Qatar / Shooting Netherlands / Rowing Ecuador / Athletics for a term of eight years, replacing Chairman Sergei ASCHWANDEN Tony ESTANGUET Zoran PRIMORAC Frank Fredericks, Hicham El Guerrouj, Switzerland / Judo France / Canoe/kayak Croatia / Table tennis Rania Elwani and Jan Zelezny. David BARRUFET Susana FEITOR Antonio ROSSI Spain / Handball Portugal / Athletics Italy / Canoe/kayak To be eligible, the candidates must have been Danka BARTEKOVA Stefan HOLM Hadi SAEI accredited athletes in the Beijing 2008 Games Slovakia / Shooting Sweden / Athletics Islamic Republic of Iran / or be accredited athletes in the London 2012 Milorad CAVIC Viktoriya KOVAL Taekwondo Games. Serbia / Aquatics Ukraine / Archery Jean-Michel SAIVE Belgium / Table tennis All the athletes participating in the Games in Mu-Yen CHU Eirik Verâs LARSEN Chinese Taipei / Taekwondo Norway / Canoe/kayak Barbora SPOTAKOVA 2012 will be eligible to vote. They will have Kirsty COVENTRY Koji MUROFUSHI Czech Republic / Athletics to vote for four candidates chosen from four Zimbabwe / Aquatics Japan / Athletics James TOMKINS different sports, in order to reflect the diversity Australia / Rowing of the Olympic programme. Each athlete will receive a manual which explains functions and responsibilities of the Athletes’ Commission and features a profile of each of the 21 candidates. Voting offices will be set up in the three Olympic Villages – London, Royal Holloway and Weymouth and Portland – as well as the four cities hosting football competitions. After acceptance by the IOC Session, the four elected athletes will become IOC members for the same duration as their term of office on the Commission. BOUZOU TO HEAD THE OLYMPIANS Joël Bouzou, four-time Olympian and world champion in modern pentathlon, has been elected President of the World Olympians Association (WOA) for the next four years. He was elected, as well as a new Executive Board during the WOA General Assembly at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne last November. He succeeds Dick Fosbury, who remains a member of the WOA Executive Board. Bouzou participated in four consecutive editions of the Olympic Games, from Moscow 1980 to Barcelona 1992, winning a bronze medal in Los Angeles in 1984. A member of the WOA Executive Board since 2003, and its Treasurer since 2007, he is the current Secretary General of the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) and President of the Peace and Sport Organisation. More information can be found at www.woaolympians.com. © Getty Images OLYMPIC NEWS ATHLETES BULLETIN N°19 INTERVIEW WITH THE FEARLESS FINN SAKU KOIVU Finnish ice hockey player Saku Koivu is a four-time to have a first taste of international competition. But the Olympian who has won one silver and three bronze medals, YOG is so much more than winning a medal; it is about competing at the Lillehammer, Nagano, Turin and the Olympic spirit, making new friends and most of all, Vancouver Games. He currently plays for the Anaheim Ducks experiencing sport in its purest form. in the National Hockey League (NHL). Koivu was elected to You have had a long and distinguished career, the IOC Athletes’ Commission during the 2006 Turin Games. what do you contribute to your success? In your opinion, how important is the voice of the In order to excel at anything, you obviously have to have talent athletes within the Olympic Movement? and passion, but the most important quality is your character. The Olympic Movement and the Games are continuously You often hear people say that “practice makes perfect” and growing and it is vital that the athletes’ voices are heard and I do agree to some extent, but in the end it is the person’s valued. The most important aspect for the Games is to make character that will determine whether you make it or not. I sure that the athletes are and remain the focal point, and that always felt that I was not the most talented player but I always they can compete in the best possible conditions. In order to strived to be the best and never gave up on anything. achieve this standard, the Olympic Movement will continue What inspired you to return to the ice after your to embrace the athletes’ input. recovery from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma? The inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games was It was my way of proving to myself that I was done with held this January. What opportunities do the YOG treatments and we had won the battle with cancer. Everybody present for future generations? said that it was impossible to come back so soon but it The YOG is an amazing opportunity for our young athletes was another challenge for me and it represented returning to meet other athletes, learn about different cultures and to normal life after the tough cycles of chemotherapy. What has it meant for you to represent Finland in four Olympic Games? Is it your goal to participate a fifth Koivu pumps up his teammates during the time in Sochi 2014? Vancouver Games. © Getty Images The four Games and four medals have been highlights of my career. I started my Olympic career in 1994 in Lillehammer and I remember how special it felt to represent Finland. In Vancouver, 16 years later, I still felt the same overwhelming joy of being part of the Olympic Movement. At this point in my career and life, I take one year at a time, but it would be absolutely amazing to be able to compete in one more Olympic Games. If I stay healthy and can keep up with the younger players, it is a dream that I am most certainly aiming to achieve. © Getty Images INSIDE THE COMMISSION ATHLETES BULLETIN N°19 IOC ATHLETES’ ENTOURAGE INFORMATION FOR PARENTS © Getty Images Athlete entourages are becoming more complex and sophisticated in sport, as the number of experts needed around athletes to perform, including trainers, coaches, agents, technicians, psychologists and physiotherapists, has significantly increased over the years. The relationships are complex and the respective roles and responsibilities of each person/ entity are not always clear. Following the approval of the “Conduct of the Athletes’ Entourage” by the IOC Executive Board in Durban in July 2011, the International Olympic Committee has developed “Information for Parents”. “Early in my sporting career, my parents were definitely the most important part Jon Montgomery of Canada with his parents as they celebrate of my entourage… I wouldn’t be in the sport after he won the gold medal without them” — Angela Ruggiero, member for men’s skeleton in the Vancouver Games. of the Entourage Commission The primary objectives of the document: › Help parents in decision-making by providing tools and concrete examples, › Help parents to deal with the complex stakeholder environment of an elite athlete, › Help parents to maintain a balanced approach to the athlete’s sport and entourage. To access “Information for Parents” please click on the Families/Friends tab.