OLYMPIC GAMES

As Jacques Rogge steps away from the position as President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which he has held since 2001, there is a certain irony in the circumstances.

In 1894, two years before the first of the modern Olympics took place in Athens, the man credited with their instigation, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, was still struggling to kindle public enthusiasm for the idea. He raised the topic once again at the Congress of the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques, at which the bulk of debate centred upon what constituted amateur sport, with one of the key topics being that of betting.

In March 2011 Rogge addressed the very same question, describing reports of illegal betting within sumo wrestling as "another frightening example", and adding: "There have been documented cases of cheating and match-fixing in sumo wrestling in Japan. There has been recently a very visible case in cricket. There is no safe haven in the world where nothing happens."

Rogge was speaking to the press after a meeting that had drawn a group of highly influential figures to the IOC's headquarters on the shore of Lake Geneva in Lausanne. Those present included Ministers from the British, Australian, French and Swiss Governments, and representatives from international organisations including the United Nations and Interpol.

Eleven years earlier there had been a similar meeting of minds in Lausanne as Governments and assorted agencies had come together to consider how best to coordinate efforts to eradicate doping from sport, a meeting which was a precursor to the establishment of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

It was the overriding concern of the sport at the time, as Rogge made memorably clear with his address to the Olympic sportsmen and women of the world on the subject of how they should behave: "Athletes, you are role models, and your achievements both on and off the field of play will inspire and motivate future generations. Please compete in sport in a spirit of fair play, mutual understanding and respect, and above all, please refuse doping."

But now there was a new - and old - topic on the agenda: betting. "I think that sport is in danger," Rogge concluded. "It's not about the Olympic Games; it's about sport in general."

Rogge's term at the head of the IOC has been a relatively modest 12 years, well behind those of Henri de Baillet-Latour (1925-1942), Avery Brundage (1952-1972), Juan Antonio Samaranch (1980-2001) and the man credited with the effective creation of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who held his post from 1896 - when he took over from the Greek who was the first President during the Athens Olympics, Demetrius Vikelas - until 1925.

During those dozen years, this 71-year-old surgeon and former Olympic sailor from Belgium has endeavoured to put issues, rather than himself, at the centre of the Movement. First it was doping at the top of the agenda, then betting; but never Rogge. There will not be the remotest risk that this President will perform a 180-degrees turn and insist on an extra term of office, as his predecessor Samaranch - or His Excellency, as he preferred to be addressed - did.

The Spaniard presided over the transformation of the Games from its impecunious state in the wake of the ruinously expensive 1976 Montreal Olympics - ruinous not just for that city, but for the image of the Games as an object of desire for other bidders. The formation of a global sponsoring system and the negotiation of lucrative television rights deals effectively recreated the modern Games. Without Samaranch's direction, the Olympics would not have reached the financially secure position in which they currently find themselves, with reported reserves of more than $500 million £320 million/€380 million).

But the downside of the Samaranch years was the suspicion of corruption, and then - in the wake of the Salt Lake City bid for the 2002 Winter Games - the proof of widespread corruption. Before Samaranch took up his position in 1980, IOC members had to fund their own travel to bidding cities. Soon there were first-class tickets and lavish hotel rooms for the travelling members of the self-appointed club. Under Samaranch, everybody got an upgrade.

It was during the Spaniard's time, too, that the problem of doping within the Olympics emerged to public prominence, with the banning of Ben Johnson in the wake of his world record 100 metres victory at the 1988 Seoul Games. Samaranch pointed out with some justice at the time that this piece of bad news was really good news in that it showed genuine resolve within the Movement to pursue doping cheats. But doubts remained over how genuine and widespread that resolve was.

When Rogge took over the top job, his first, and perhaps defining distinction was to become the first IOC President to stay in the Olympic Village, along with all the athletes, during a Games - as he did in Salt Lake in 2002. It was an approach with which he effectively book-ended his Presidential career, as he conspicuously refused the chauffeur-driven cars on offer at the London 2012 Games, preferring to travel by public transport. The message was clear - athletes are at the centre of the Olympics.

Under Rogge's direction there have been a series of healthy reforms and additions to the Olympic Movement. The conditions which encouraged the corruption around bidding cities have been revised, with travel now being undertaken by a relatively small group of IOC members.

The Youth Olympic Games were launched in 2010. The Olympics have been awarded to South America for the first time following Rio's successful bid for the 2016 Games. Towards the end of his term, Rogge has confronted countries excluding women from the Olympics. And there has also been a very conscious effort to ensure that cities will not have to be gigantic economic powerhouses to be able to host the Games in future. "I'm known within the IOC as Mr No," Rogge said. "Because there are many requests for more athletes, more sports, more this and more that. And I say, 'No.'"

Naturally, Rogge's progress over the last dozen years has not been entirely smooth. After announcing in July 2008 that foreign media would, "for the first time", be able to report and publish freely from China during the Beijing Olympics, he had the embarrassment of having to acknowledge that those initial assurances from the host nation had not been insisted upon.

During those Beijing Games, the breast-beating of Usain Bolt in the final 15metres of his world record 100m victory and his subsequent celebrations provoked Rogge to comment that this behaviour was "not the way we perceive being a champion". He harked back to his initial call upon athletes to compete in a spirit of respect, adding that Bolt "should show more respect for his competitors". Rogge later clarified his position, saying: "Maybe there was a little bit of misunderstanding. What he does before or after the race I have no problem with. I just thought that his gesticulation during the race was maybe a little disrespectful."

Before the London 2012 Olympics, Rogge took the difficult decision to turn down calls for a minute of silence to commemorate the Israeli victims of the Palestinian group Black September on the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Munich Games. The IOC instead held smaller ceremonies in London and at the German airbase where most of the athletes met their deaths.

This year there has been another highly controversial difficulty following the passing of the law in Russia which makes illegal the open promotion of gay rights, a piece of litigation which has generated criticism from around the world - although not all around the world, given that some countries either maintain a death sentence for homosexual activity or deny that any of their citizens are that way inclined.

Amid calls for next year's Sochi Winter Olympics to be boycotted, Rogge has fallen back on the statement that the IOC are still awaiting "full clarification" over the law. In the meantime, the Russian authorities have tried to assure the IOC and wider world that the new law will not affect any of those arriving to watch or participate in next year's Games. It is still an unhappy and uneasy situation.

In the broadest terms, Rogge's end-of-year address in 2012, which maintained that the Olympic Movement was "stronger than ever" as it neared the end of its 118th year of existence, served effectively as his own statement of values.

He praised the London 2012 Games for its legacy planning, for advancing the cause of environmental sustainability, for embracing social media and for setting new records in participation by women, adding: "The Games were definitely an Athlete's Games by putting the athletes at the heart of the event, showing us outstanding performances which will inspire the next generation."

Rogge noted that London's recently concluded Olympics had involved 156 competitors who had taken part in the initial Youth Olympic Games in Singapore two years earlier, adding that he was sure the Sochi 2014 would contain competitors who had taken part in the initial Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck earlier in 2012.

And he returned to the two keynote issues of his Presidential term: "In keeping with the IOC's zero tolerance policy, the London Games featured the most extensive anti-doping testing programme in Olympic history. In another initiative to protect the integrity of sport, we expanded our cooperation with law enforcement agencies and other partners to guard against illegal and irregular betting."

The ministers at the Lausanne gathering in 2011 were reportedly "shocked" to hear from Rogge that the previous year's figure for illegal betting was an estimated $140 billion (£89 billion/€106 billion). In confirming this figure at the subsequent press conference, Rogge, with a grim smile, described it as "a budget much higher than that of many developing nations", adding: "This is a big problem in the entire world. There is illegal betting where there is broadband internet."

Rogge added that betting patterns were clearly established to avoid detection as much as possible. "We know there are people betting in other continents on European second league divisions," he said. "There are bets being taken on fourth division matches in certain leagues, so that shows you the problem. It's for the most popular sports - definitely, yes. But in the popular sports it's not necessarily in the first league or the top teams, it's mostly as we see second division, third division, because of the small exposure to cameras, to supervision, fewer spectators.

"So if something strange happens it's not going to be seen in highlights for the whole week as would happen with the top match in some professional team sports."

Rogge called on Governments around the world to clamp down on illegal betting and illegal bookmakers. "We need their support, they alone have the judicial powers, they can tap telephone calls, they can issue warrants, they can search baggage - we cannot do that," he said. "There is a far bigger danger to the total credibility of sport because these are Mafia people and they bet at the same time as manipulating the result of a match," he explained.

In concluding his December 2012 address, Rogge described all the milestones and events mentioned as "a testament to the values and priorities of the modern Olympic Movement", adding: "We have accomplished a lot together, but we have much more to do in the year ahead – and I am looking forward to the task."

Now that year is almost over, and the tasks stretch on beyond the range of Jacques Rogge.

There is now in place an increasingly well established operation to combat doping - with the recent suspension of the testing laboratory in Rio de Janeiro ahead of the 2016 Games offering evidence that getting things right in this area will be prioritised ahead of the risk of causing political embarrassment.

As for the illegal betting issue, the IOC will continue to work with Interpol and other Government agencies to preclude it.

And Rogge's successor can take over the management with the knowledge that there is a better framework established than there has ever been to encourage aspiration within the Olympic Movement - whether it be from bidding cities in emerging nations, or from emerging athletes both male and female.

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The race to lead the most powerful club in world sport has attracted a record number of candidates.

The six who would be President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are Thomas Bach - Germany, Sergey Bubka - Ukraine, Richard Carrión - Puerto Rico, Denis Oswald - Switzerland, Ser Miang Ng - Singapore, and CK Wu - Chinese Taipei.

Three time Olympic sailor Jacques Rogge stands down after 12 years at the helm. By profession a surgeon, his leadership carried the hallmarks of precision. A leading light in the European Olympic Committees, he joined the IOC in 1991. Ten years later in Moscow, he beat Korea's Un Yong Kim, Canadian Dick Pound, Hungary's Pál Schmitt and American Anita de Frantz to become the second IOC President from Belgium.

The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) was the big idea of his Presidency. Rogge saw them become a reality in 2010.

"If I had the privilege of something like this I would have been very happy," he said. "What we never had was this combination of sport and education."

Rogge made a point of always spending a night in the athletes' village and made clear his concern about the support structure around competitors and set up a commission to look at "entourage".

It was no coincidence that the YOG was the first to include an oath for coaches.

There have been only eight full time Presidents of the IOC in the 119 years since its foundation in Paris.

The meeting was set up by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. One of those attending was Demetrius Vikelas, a Greek living in Paris. He represented the Panhellenic Society of Athens and was vice-president of the Society for Greek studies.

"I sued for the rights of Greece, it being a question of the re-establishment of a Greek institution," he said.

"The holding of the Olympic Games in Athens is not simply confirmation of the Panhellenic Gymnastic Society's noble aim of elevating the mind by exercising the body. It is the display of a Hellenophile sentiment...and there is also a new bond between Greece and Europe."

Vikelas was voted IOC President as Athens was chosen as host city for the Games of the first Olympiad of the Modern Era in 1896.

The next Games were awarded to Paris, so Coubertin now took over the IOC leadership. He remained in office until 1925, although Godefroy de Blonay took temporary charge during the First World War. Coubertin pressed for new sports, promoted artistic competition and even designed the five rings symbol.

The Belgian Count Henri de Baillet-Latour succeeded Coubertin in 1925, and was immediately confronted with disputes over what the term "amateur" actually meant. Some countries threatened to withdraw from the movement.

After Berlin and Garmisch-Partenkirchen were selected as 1936 hosts, there were further challenges for the IOC. The decision was taken before the Nazis came to power, but the swastika soon loomed large.

Baillet-Latour told Hitler to remove anti Jewish banners on the approaches to Garmisch-Partenkirchen before the Winter Games. These were taken down. In Berlin, anti-Semitic newspapers disappeared from news kiosks, but it was all so much window dressing. Most Jewish athletes were excluded from German teams.

When Hitler occupied the Sudetenland, IOC founding member Jiří Guth-Jarkovský was allowed to remain as member in Bohemia and Moravia. The IOC President referred simply to "the recent changes in Central Europe...and thanked the German members for the successful conclusions of these negotiations".

Baillet-Latour passed away in his sleep in 1942, the only President to die in office. His fellow Belgian, Olympic fencer and water polo player Victor Boin wrote of "his life as a veritable hymn to the youth of the world".

Belgium was under wartime occupation and Hitler sent a letter of condolence to Baillet-Latour's widow and a wreath to the funeral.

From his home in neutral Sweden, International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Sigfrid Edström kept in touch with IOC members and was later confirmed as President.

"The real reason for the existence of the Olympic Movement is to improve the human race, not only physically but by giving it a greater nobility of mind," he said.

After the war, he was anxious to revive the Olympic cycle as soon as possible. Only three years later, he strode out at Wembley to present his fellow IOC members to King George VI before the 1948 Olympics.

In 1952 American millionaire Avery Brundage became IOC President at the height of the cold war. An Olympic athlete himself in 1912, he had spoken out against any boycott of the 1936 Olympics and many, even within the IOC, saw him as somewhat dictatorial. He oversaw the re-entry of a symbolically united German team, but did not engage with Communist China so millions remained excluded from the Olympics.

He was also a staunch defender of amateur regulations.

"No-one can buy an Olympic medal. No one profits from the Olympic Games," he told the IOC in 1960.

He targeted the Winter Games, regarded the skiers as professionals in all but name and expelled Austrian Karl Schranz in 1972. Effigies of Brundage were burnt in Vienna.

Both Lord Burghley and Comte Jean de Beaumont challenged him in Presidential elections, unsuccessfully as it turned out.

In 1972, he was heavily criticised for his handling of the Olympic village hostage crisis. In his speech at the memorial service, he unwisely compared the killing of Israeli athletes with political difficulties over Rhodesia. At the Closing Ceremony, the Munich scoreboard even got his name wrong - it read "Goodbye Avery Brandage".

His successor was the Irish peer, Lord Killanin. Within months, designated 1976 Winter hosts Denver had withdrawn, leaving the IOC to find a replacement. Innsbruck came to the rescue twelve years after they had first staged the Games.

Costs were rising as Montreal made ready for the summer Games. In fact, the Olympic Stadium was unfinished when they opened.

There were almost overwhelming political problems. New Zealand's Rugby team toured South Africa in 1976 and the African nations boycotted Montreal in protest. The Canadian Government, mindful of trade with the Peoples Republic of China, refused visas to Taiwanese competitors. At one stage the Americans threatened withdrawal in support of Taiwan. Lord Killanin did later broker an agreement between the two Chinas, but it wasn't until the eighties that they competed side by side.

As Moscow 1980 approached, American President Jimmy Carter called for a boycott after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The United States, Canada, Germany and Japan stayed away. The British and Australians led resistance to Government pressure and did compete; both however, flew the Olympic flag.

"I would like to welcome all the athletes and officials especially those who have shown their complete independence to travel to compete despite many pressures placed on them," said Lord Killanin at the Opening Ceremony, but many events were devalued by the boycott.

In eight years, Lord Killanin had enough strife to last a lifetime and it had affected his health. His final Olympic act before stepping down at the age of 66 was to close the Games.

"I implore the sportsmen of the world to unite in peace before a holocaust descends. Alas sport is intertwined with politics but sport must not be used for political purposes especially when other political, diplomatic and economic means have not been tried."

Juan Antonio Samaranch had been voted in as President in Moscow, the last to be elected in an Olympic year. He beat the German Willi Daume, skiing supremo Marc Hodler of Switzerland and Canadian Jim Worrall.

Samaranch had become an IOC member in 1966 and later recalled his election.

"In theory, Spain should not have had a second member at the time, but Brundage said to me, 'One day you will be President'."

Some were troubled by his involvement with General Franco's regime. When democracy returned to Spain. Samaranch became ambassador to Moscow. He built bridges where none existed, though he was criticised during his Presidency for presenting the Olympic order to East German leader Erich Honecker and Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu.

He could not prevent a tit for tat Eastern bloc boycott of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles despite his best diplomatic efforts. The boycott was confirmed on the very day the Torch Relay began its journey across the Americas.

Even so, a record 140 countries took part in Los Angeles. The Games were a stunning success, encouraging other cities to bid. In 1986 Samaranch announced his home city Barcelona would stage the 1992 Olympics.

The problems of 1988 were still to be solved. North Korea demanded a share of hosting the Games with Seoul. Diplomacy came to nothing here, but in Sydney twelve years later, the two Koreas did march together under a special flag. It was hailed as a symbolic, if short-lived breakthrough.

By now Samaranch had put his own stamp on the Olympic Movement. The IOC had its first female members, athlete representation became a reality and the Olympic Movement introduced its own sponsorship programme.

The world itself changed between Seoul and Barcelona. The Berlin Wall fell, taking with it the old Eastern bloc. Nelson Mandela was released from prison as Apartheid ended and South Africa re-entered the Olympic arena.

As the Olympic Movement celebrated its 100th anniversary in Atlanta, Samaranch was criticised for failing to rein in his membership, particularly when the extent of corruption and inducements in Olympic bidding were revealed.

His last Olympic Games as President in 2000 was tinged with personal tragedy. His wife Marie-Therese was too ill to travel to Sydney and died as the Games began.

In 2001, the IOC returned to Moscow, the city where Samaranch had been elected President. He said goodbye by announcing Beijing would host the 2008 Olympics. The Chinese recognised his contribution when they installed statues of three great IOC Presidents in a park in the Dongsi area of Beijing. Flanking Coubertin were Rogge and Samaranch.

When the Olympic flame burns in Sochi next February, the world at large will be introduced to a new Olympic supremo. Whoever gets the job will shape the very future of world sport.

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August 27 - A bid from Washington DC for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics appears to be on the horizon following the formation of a committee to handle the process.

The United States capital was one of 35 cities to receive a letter from the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) earlier this year asking them to come forward if they were interested in submitting a bid for the showpiece event.

"We are the safest and most secure city in the world," DC 2024 President Bob Sweeney said.

"The largest expense of any Olympic Games is security, and the fact that we've got it pretty built in to our everyday life here in Washington, we would leverage that asset tremendously to put on this high-profile event."

DC 2024 believes it can raise between $3 million (£1.9 million/€2.2 million) and $5 million (£3.2 million/€3.7 million) to support the bid by the end of 2014, while Sweeney expects the hosting the Games would cost anything from $3.5 billion (£2.3 billion/€2.6 billion) to $6 billion (£3.9 billion/€4.5 billion) as most of the infrastructure is already in place.

Washington DC previously proposed a bid for the 2012 Summer Games but the USOC chose to go with New York, whose bid was submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and ultimately finished fourth behind the winner London.

If awarded to America, the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics would be the first Summer Games in the nation since Atlanta 1996 If awarded to America, the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics would be the first Summer Games in the nation since Atlanta 1996


Philadelphia, Seattle, Los Angeles and a joint bid from San Diego together with Mexican city Tijuana are among the other candidates to have so far come forward with an interest in the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.

The USOC plan to create a shortlist of two or three cities by this December ahead of the IOC's final selection in 2017.

Having recently been awarded hosting rights for the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) general assembly in 2015 and with a possible bid for the 2017 Fencing World Championships on the cards, Sweeney believes Washington DC is a good bet for the USOC.

"They need to make sure there is a strong horse to ride," Sweeney said.

"And we certainly intend to be that."

If awarded to America, the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics would be the first Summer Games in the nation since Atlanta 1996 and the first Games since Salt Lake City held the Winter Olympics in 2002.

Paris, Berlin, Doha, Durban, Nairobi, Rome and Toronto are also reportedly considering bidding for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.

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August 15 - Fresh doubts have been raised over Rio de Janeiro's ability to be ready to host the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics following the resignation of Marcio Fortes, head of the Olympic Public Authority (APO).

The APO said Fortes told Brazil President Dilma Rousseff he was resigning after complaining to her his office had lost its influence.

The APO coordinates preparations for the Games between Brazil's Federal, State and Local Governments and under Fortes, a Government Minister in the Cabinet of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was responsible for coordinating a variety of tasks related to hosting the Games.

Brazil has committed $11.6 billion (£7.4 billion/€8.8 billion) toward infrastructure including security, telecommunications and energy projects.

It is also spending more than $13 billion (£8.5 billion/€10 billion) on next year's FIFA World Cup.

Brazil's Sports Ministry said in a statement that it "has always maintained good relations, appreciation and respect for Marcio Fortes."

A replacement will be chosen by the President's office, which confirmed Fortes's resignation.

The resignation will be high on the agenda when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission, chaired by Morocco's Nawal El Moutawakel, arrives for its next inspection of Rio's preparations at the end of this month.

The IOC has previously expressed concerns that planning and construction are moving slowly.

Earlier this month, Leo Gryner, chief operating officer of Rio 2016, admitted $700 million (£450 million/€500 million) in public money may be needed to cover a shortfall in the operating budget.

The operating budget - to run the Games - was listed at $2.8 billion (£1.8 billion/€2.1 billion) in the original bid document.

Gryner acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press, that the budget is likely to reach up to $4 billion (£2.5 billion/€3 billion).

The cost of the Olympics and the 2014 World Cup has already been the subject of public protests with from demonstrators upset at Brazil's poor schools and health care system.

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