2008

18

Aug

China wins gold and silver in men’s rings

China’s Chen Yibing won the gold medal in men’s rings at the Beijing Olympics. It is the first time China has won the event since Li Ning won gold in Los Angeles in 1984.
China’s Yang Wei won the silver medal and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Vorobiov won the bronze.

Filed under: Artistic Gymnastics• Chen Yibing• China• Gymnastics• Men's Rings• Oleksandr Vorobiov• Ukraine• Yang Wei• rings Posted by RSS

2008

17

Aug

Rebecca Romero has won gold in women’s individual pursuit

Rebecca Romero from Great Britain has won the gold medal in the women’s individual pursuit.
Wendy Houvenaghel also from GB has won the silver medal and Lesya Kalitovska from Ukraine won the silver medal.

Filed under: Cycling• Great Britain• Great Britain (United Kingdom)• Lesya Kalitovska• Rebecca Romero• Track• Ukraine• Wendy Houvenaghel• Women's Individual Pursuit Posted by RSS

2008

17

Aug

Alona Bondarenko and Kateryna Bondarenko win bronze in women’s doubles tennis

Alona Bondarenko and Kateryna Bondarenko from the Ukraine have beaten Yan Zi and Zheng Jie of China 6-2, 6-2 to win the bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics.

Filed under: Alona Bondarenko• China• Kateryna Bondarenko• Tennis• Ukraine• Women's Doubles• Yan Zi• Zheng Jie• doubles Posted by RSS

2008

17

Aug

Great Britain riders battle each other for gold and silver

Rebecca Romero and Wendy Houvenaghel both from Great Britain are set to battle it out for the gold and silver medal at the women’s 3,000 meter individual pursuit, which will start at 5:05PM this evening (Beijing time).

Alison Shanks of New Zealand will fight Lesya Kalitovska of Ukraine for the bronze medal.
Romero won a silver medal [...]

Filed under: Alison Shanks• Cycling• Great Britain (United Kingdom)• Lesya Kalitovska• Rebecca Romero• Track• Ukraine• Wendy Houvenaghel• Women's Individual Pursuit Posted by RSS

2008

17

Aug

Qiu Jian from China wins gold in men’s 50m rifle three positions

Qiu Jian has won the gold medal in the men’s 50 meter rifle three positions. Jury Sukhorukov of Ukraine won the silver with a tenth of a point less than Jian. Rajmond Debevec of Slovenia won the bronze medal.
Matthew Emmons of the United States was leading most of the way and shot a [...]

Filed under: China• Jury Sukhorukov• Matthew Emmons• Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions• Qiu Jian• Rajmond Debevec• Slovenia• Ukraine• men's 50m rifle• rifle Posted by RSS

2008

16

Aug

Nataliia Dobrynska of Ukraine wins gold medal in Heptathlon

Nataliia Dobrynska of Ukraine has won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the Beijing Olympics.
Lyudmila Blonska also from Ukraine has won the silver medal and the bronze medal went to Hyleas Fountain of the United States.

Filed under: Heptathlon• Hyleas Fountain• Lyudmila Blonska• Nataliia Dobrynska• Ukraine• United States• Women's Heptathlon Posted by RSS

2008

16

Aug

Jang Mi-ran win gold in the women’s weightlifting over 75kg

Jang Mi-ra from the Republic of Korea has broken three world record to win gold in the women’s weightlifting over 75kg division.
She had a winning total of 326kg, 46kg ahead of silver medalist Okha Korobka of Ukraine.
Mariya Grabovetskaya of Kazakhstan won the bronze medal.

Filed under: 75kg• Jang Mi-ra• Kazakhstan• Mariya Grabovetskaya• Okha Korobka• South Korea• Ukraine• Weightlifting• Women's 75kg Posted by RSS

2008

15

Aug

Oleksandr Petriv from Ukraine win’s gold medal in men’s 25m rapid fire pistol

Oleksandr Petriv of Ukraine has won the gold medal in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol with a score of 780.2 to set a new Olympic record.
Ralf Schumann (779.5) and Christian Reitz (779.3) won the silver and bronze medals for Germany.

Filed under: Christian Reitz• Germany• Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol• Oleksandr Petriv• Ralf Schumann• Shooting• Ukraine• pistol• rapid fire Posted by RSS

2008

15

Aug

Viktor Ruban from Ukrain wins gold medal in men’s individual archery

Viktor Ruban of Ukraine beat Park Yung-mo from South Korea by one point to win the gold medal in Archery Men’s Individual competition.
Bair Badenov from Russia won the bronze medal.

Filed under: Archery• Bair Badenov• Men's Individual• Russia• South Korea• Ukraine• Viktor Ruban Posted by RSS

2008

14

Aug

Artur Ayvazian wins gold in the 50m rifle prone

Artur Ayvazian from Ukraine has won the gold medal in the men’s 50 meter rifle prone at the Beijing Olympics, with a total score of 702.7 points.
The United States‘ Matthew Emmons won the silver medal with a total of 701.7 and Australia’s Warren Potent won the bronze medal with a total of 700.5.

Filed under: 50 meter rifle prone• Artur Ayvazian• Australia• Matthew Emmons• Men's 50m Rifle Prone• Shooting• Ukraine• United States• Warren Potent Posted by RSS

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I\'m so privileged to run here, I\'ve been looking forward to this so much.”</p> <p>The event marked the first time that the stadium had been opened to the public for an athletics competition, with approximately 40,000 people attending the venue’s official opening on Saturday evening. 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The event gave the London 2012 Organising Committee the chance to test key aspects of it’s operations ahead of this year’s Games, with athletes going through exactly the same kind of procedures that the likes of Usain Bolt will do later this year. </p> <p>"This event is very important to us for a number of reasons," said LOCOG Chairman Seb Coe.</p> <p>"Seeing athletes on the track for the first time will be a special moment for me personally and then welcoming 40,000 people into the Stadium on Saturday night will be a major milestone.</p> <p>"This crowd will not only be starting their Olympic journey just weeks ahead of the Games, they will also play a vital role in helping us test the venue and earn our licence to operate the Stadium.</p> <p>"I am very proud of this venue and excited that it is set to stage the biggest sporting event in the world."</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(19) "5/7/2012 4:47:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160445" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(1745) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">London’s Olympic Stadium has welcomed competitive sport for the first time, as the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Athletics Championships were held at the Olympic venue from 4-7 May.</p> <p>The very first winner within the stadium, which lies in the heart of the Olympic Park in east London, was Loughborough University’s Justine Kinney, who won the first heat of the first event – the women’s 400m hurdles – on Friday.</p> <p>"The track feels amazing,” said the Irish athlete. "It feels like you could fly down it, it feels wonderful. I'm so privileged to run here, I've been looking forward to this so much.”</p> <p>The event marked the first time that the stadium had been opened to the public for an athletics competition, with approximately 40,000 people attending the venue’s official opening on Saturday evening. The event gave the London 2012 Organising Committee the chance to test key aspects of it’s operations ahead of this year’s Games, with athletes going through exactly the same kind of procedures that the likes of Usain Bolt will do later this year. </p> <p>"This event is very important to us for a number of reasons," said LOCOG Chairman Seb Coe.</p> <p>"Seeing athletes on the track for the first time will be a special moment for me personally and then welcoming 40,000 people into the Stadium on Saturday night will be a major milestone.</p> <p>"This crowd will not only be starting their Olympic journey just weeks ahead of the Games, they will also play a vital role in helping us test the venue and earn our licence to operate the Stadium.</p> <p>"I am very proud of this venue and excited that it is set to stage the biggest sporting event in the world."</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1336409220) } [1]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(37) "London 2012 Water Polo Draw Announced" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(1152) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">The official draw for the men’s and women's Olympic water polo tournaments has taken place at the London 2012 Aquatics Centre, following the conclusion of the Visa Water Polo International, which was held at the Olympic venue over the weekend.</p> <p>In the men’s competition, reigning Olympic champions Hungary – who have won gold at the last three editions of the Games – were drawn with hosts Great Britain in Group B, along with Beijing 2008 bronze medallists Serbia, Montenegro, Romania and the USA.</p> <p>Group A will see reigning world champions Italy battle it out with Greece Kazakhstan, Spain, Australia and Croatia. The four highest ranked teams in each group will qualify for the knockout stages.</p> <p>In the women’s tournament, Beijing silver medallists USA were drawn alongside Hungary, Spain and China in Group A, while 2008 bronze medallists Australia – who have won every tournament they have played in this year – will face hosts Great Britain, Italy and Russia in Group B.</p> <p>All eight teams in the women’s competition will progress through to the quarterfinals.</p> <p><br />&nbsp;</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(19) "5/7/2012 5:00:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160446" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(1152) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">The official draw for the men’s and women's Olympic water polo tournaments has taken place at the London 2012 Aquatics Centre, following the conclusion of the Visa Water Polo International, which was held at the Olympic venue over the weekend.</p> <p>In the men’s competition, reigning Olympic champions Hungary – who have won gold at the last three editions of the Games – were drawn with hosts Great Britain in Group B, along with Beijing 2008 bronze medallists Serbia, Montenegro, Romania and the USA.</p> <p>Group A will see reigning world champions Italy battle it out with Greece Kazakhstan, Spain, Australia and Croatia. The four highest ranked teams in each group will qualify for the knockout stages.</p> <p>In the women’s tournament, Beijing silver medallists USA were drawn alongside Hungary, Spain and China in Group A, while 2008 bronze medallists Australia – who have won every tournament they have played in this year – will face hosts Great Britain, Italy and Russia in Group B.</p> <p>All eight teams in the women’s competition will progress through to the quarterfinals.</p> <p><br />&nbsp;</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1336410000) } [2]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(61) "Australia enjoy first victory in London 2012 Water Polo Arena" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(1055) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">Beijing 2008 bronze medallists Australia have taken top honours at the Visa Water Polo International – the first major event to be held at the London 2012 Water Polo Arena.</p> <p>The tournament, which was held from 3-6 May, saw women’s teams from Australia, USA, Hungary and Great Britain battle it out in front of sell-out crowds at the Olympic venue, giving the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) the chance to test key aspects of its operations ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games.</p> <p>The final saw Australia triumph 6-5 over Beijing silver medallists USA, while Hungary beat Britain 11-4 to secure third place in the invitational event.</p> <p>Despite finishing fourth, British captain Fran Leighton was pleased with her team’s performance in the tournament and is already looking forward to the start of the Olympic competition later this summer.</p> <p>“After experiencing the fantastic support this week at the Water Polo Arena, we can’t wait to get back in July for the Games,” she said.<br /></p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(19) "5/7/2012 3:00:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160441" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(1055) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">Beijing 2008 bronze medallists Australia have taken top honours at the Visa Water Polo International – the first major event to be held at the London 2012 Water Polo Arena.</p> <p>The tournament, which was held from 3-6 May, saw women’s teams from Australia, USA, Hungary and Great Britain battle it out in front of sell-out crowds at the Olympic venue, giving the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) the chance to test key aspects of its operations ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games.</p> <p>The final saw Australia triumph 6-5 over Beijing silver medallists USA, while Hungary beat Britain 11-4 to secure third place in the invitational event.</p> <p>Despite finishing fourth, British captain Fran Leighton was pleased with her team’s performance in the tournament and is already looking forward to the start of the Olympic competition later this summer.</p> <p>“After experiencing the fantastic support this week at the Water Polo Arena, we can’t wait to get back in July for the Games,” she said.<br /></p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1336402800) } [3]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(65) "London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay: The lighting ceremony in Olympia" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(1541) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">Watch the lighting ceremony in Olympia here:<br /><br /><iframe style="BORDER-BOTTOM: transparent 0px; BORDER-LEFT: transparent 0px; BORDER-TOP: transparent 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: transparent 0px" height="327" src="http://www.ustream.tv/embed/9967435" frameborder="0" width="540" scrolling="no"></iframe></p> <p><br />The London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay (OTR) will last 70 days and will travel for approximately 8,000 miles around the UK, passing within 10 miles of 95 per cent of the people in the UK, Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.<br /><br />The Olympic flame will be transported by 8,000 torchbearers and will use numerous different modes of transport during its journey. This highly visible and symbolic journey, marking the countdown to one of the greatest athletic and cultural events in the world, will unite us all in anticipation of witnessing the fulfillment of human potential and inspire us to be world citizens, bound by the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. <br /><br />The London 2012 OTR will allow us to celebrate together and be inspired by its message of peace. <br /><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SectionHome.aspx?id=156824&epslanguage=en">Get&nbsp;more information about the lighting ceremony.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/route/">For more information on the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/partners/">Find out about the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners <br /></a></p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(19) "5/4/2012 3:23:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160436" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(1541) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">Watch the lighting ceremony in Olympia here:<br /><br /><iframe style="BORDER-BOTTOM: transparent 0px; BORDER-LEFT: transparent 0px; BORDER-TOP: transparent 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: transparent 0px" height="327" src="http://www.ustream.tv/embed/9967435" frameborder="0" width="540" scrolling="no"></iframe></p> <p><br />The London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay (OTR) will last 70 days and will travel for approximately 8,000 miles around the UK, passing within 10 miles of 95 per cent of the people in the UK, Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.<br /><br />The Olympic flame will be transported by 8,000 torchbearers and will use numerous different modes of transport during its journey. This highly visible and symbolic journey, marking the countdown to one of the greatest athletic and cultural events in the world, will unite us all in anticipation of witnessing the fulfillment of human potential and inspire us to be world citizens, bound by the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. <br /><br />The London 2012 OTR will allow us to celebrate together and be inspired by its message of peace. <br /><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SectionHome.aspx?id=156824&epslanguage=en">Get&nbsp;more information about the lighting ceremony.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/route/">For more information on the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/partners/">Find out about the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners <br /></a></p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1336144980) } [4]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(22) "Highlights of the week" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(9502) "<h5>IOC ACTIVITIES</h5> <h5 class="iocCopyGrey">MEMBERS</h5> <p><strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Member.aspx?id=71343&epslanguage=en"><strong>Joseph S. Blatter</strong></a></strong> has received the “Ali della Vittoria” (Wings of Victory) award from the Italian amateur football league. Details on <a href="http://www.fifa.com/">www.fifa.com</a></p> <h5>INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS</h5> <h5 class="iocCopyGrey">SUMMER IFS</h5> <p>The <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31409&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Boxing Association</strong></a></strong> (AIBA) has announced that 203 athletes representing 35 countries took part in the African Olympic Qualifying Event in Casablanca, Morocco. For all the competitors, the goal was to secure one of the 48 remaining slots for the Games in London. More details on <a href="http://www.aiba.org">www.aiba.org</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>The <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31342&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Basketball Federation</strong></a></strong> (FIBA) has held its first Central Board meeting of the year in Rio de Janeiro. This was also the occasion for the draw for the men’s and women’s London 2012 basketball tournaments, held in the auditorium of the Brazilian NOC. So far nine men’s national teams (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Great Britain, Spain, Tunisia and the USA) and seven women’s national teams (Angola, Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, Russia and USA) have already qualified. The eight remaining places – three men’s and five women’s – will be determined through the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments taking place in Caracas (Venezuela) and Ankara (Turkey) in late June and early July. More details on <a href="http://www.fiba.com">www.fiba.com</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>In a press release, the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=47657&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Cycling Union</strong></a></strong> (UCI) informs us that, at the 2012 Design of the Year Awards held this week in London, London-based Hopkins Architects won the Architecture Award for their design of the London 2012 velodrome. Seating 6,000 spectators, the velodrome is one of the four permanent venues at the Olympic Park. It will host the track cycling events at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Also at the award ceremony, the Olympic torch for the 2012 Games took the Design of the Year Award. Read more on <a href="http://www.uci.ch">www.uci.ch</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>The <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=30789&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Swimming Federation</strong></a></strong> (FINA) has announced the death of Norwegian swimmer Alexander Dale Oen, at the age of 26 in a training camp in Flagstaff (Arizona, USA), on 30 April.&nbsp;Dale Oen won a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke at the 2008 Games in Beijing. Three years later, he was world champion in the same event in Shanghai (People’s Republic of China), in the first ever victory for his country.&nbsp;More details on <a href="http://www.fina.org">www.fina.org</a>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31577&epslanguage=en"><strong>The International Modern Pentathlon Union</strong></a></strong> (UIPM) has just released modern pentathlon’s first ever smart phone app. Users of the app will be able to access all the information on <a href="http://www.pentathlon.org">www.pentathlon.org</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Representatives from the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31735&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Triathlon Union</strong></a></strong> (ITU) are in Nanjing (People’s Republic of China) conducting the first site visit in preparation for the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG). In conjunction with the visit, the ITU has also confirmed that its Technical Delegate for these YOG will be Shanelle Barrett, the first New Zealander to be appointed to this role at the Olympic Games or YOG. Read more on <a href="http://www.triathlon.org">www.triathlon.org</a>.&nbsp;</p> <h5>NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES</h5> <p>Legendary <strong>Australian swimmer Murray Rose</strong> has died at the age of 73. The winner of six medals at the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games, including four gold, he was one of Australia’s greatest Olympians. Rose set 15 world records during his career. In 1956, he won three gold medals (4x200m freestyle relay, 400m freestyle and 1,500m freestyle). Four years later, he won the 400m freestyle again, and came second in the 1,500m. Rose also won four Commonwealth gold and two silver medals in 1962. He then went on to be a sports commentator in Australia and the USA. He was also the patron for the Australian charity “The Rainbow Club”, which teaches disabled children to swim. An avenue at Sydney Olympic Park was named after him for the 2000 Games. Full details on <a href="http://www.olympics.com.au">www.olympics.com.au</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>The Sportimonium, a sports museum in Hofstade (Belgium), devoted World Heritage Day on 22 April this year to the theme of “Heroes”. Gaston Roelants, President of the Belgian Olympians Association; Roland Renson, President of the Sportimonium; and <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31189&epslanguage=en"><strong>Belgian NOC</strong></a></strong> Secretary General Guido De Bondt invited the country’s Olympic medallists for a special session on “Olympic Heroes”. Looking ahead to London 2012, an invitation was also sent to all the athletes who took part in the 1948 Games in London. Juliaan Bogaert, Jean Dubois, Roger Goossens, Maria Huybrechts, Maria Oeyen, Joseph Rosa and Yvonne Van Bets were honoured on this occasion. More info on <a href="http://www.olympic.be">www.olympic.be</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>On 27 April, the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31237&epslanguage=en"><strong>Colombian NOC</strong></a></strong> launched its “Choose the Colombian flagbearer at the London 2012 Games” competition. Those attending this ceremony at the NOC headquarters in Bogota included athletes Mariana Pajon, Paulo César Villar and Luis Fernando López – all three qualified for these Games, the NOC’s Executive Committee members, representatives of the British embassy in Colombia, NOC partners and media representatives. The competition will run until 15 June, after which we shall know which of the eight athlete candidates (Catherine Ibarguen, Luis Fernando López,&nbsp; Paulo Villar, Mariana Pajón, Edwin Ávila, Yuri Alvear, Omar Pinzón and Oscar Figueroa), will carry the Colombian team flag at the Opening Ceremony in London. More details on <a href="http://www.coc.org.co/">www.coc.org.co</a></p> <p>LeRoy Walker, the first African-American Chairman of the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30787&epslanguage=en"><strong>United States Olympic Committee</strong></a></strong> (USOC), died this week at the age of 93. Walker was also the first black head coach of a US Olympic team when he led the track squad to the 1976 Games in Montreal. He had previously coached Olympic teams from Ethiopia, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya and Trinidad and Tobago. Walker led the USOC from 1992 to 1996. More details on <a href="http://www.teamusa.org">www.teamusa.org</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>At the recent Venezuelan Sports Federations Assembly, the decision was taken to include Taekwondo Federation President Hung Ki Kim as a member of the <strong>NOC Executive Board</strong>. Fencer Alejandra Benítez will be the athletes’ representative on the Board.&nbsp;</p> <h5>ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES</h5> <h5 class="iocCopyGrey">SOCHI 2014</h5> <p>The “One school - one country” education programme has just been launched in Sochi. This is a joint initiative of the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGame.aspx?id=30778&epslanguage=en">Sochi 2014 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games</a></strong>, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the City Administration. As part of this programme, each of the 67 schools in Sochi will study in detail the Olympic history and culture of one of the countries taking part in the 2014 Games. Pupils and teachers will prepare projects and presentations on the Games. All of the projects prepared by the pupils will be presented at Sochi's traditional Olympic lessons on 1 September 2013. More details on www.sochi2014.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <h5>RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS</h5> <p>The 33rd <strong>European Olympic Committees</strong> (EOC) Seminar was held in Budapest (Hungary) from 26 to 28 April. Delegations from 37 European NOCs took part. The opening ceremony was attended by the Hungarian Sports Minister, Attila Czene; EOC President Patrick Hickey; Hungarian NOC President Zolt Borkai and IOC members Pál Schmitt and Ser Miang Ng. The work of the Seminar, under the leadership of EOC Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi, focused chiefly on the Games in London, the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and the 2014 YOG in Nanjing. Two workshops were held to address two important topics: a talent identification project, and new ways of communicating. The seminar was preceded by a meeting of the EOC Executive Committee, and concluded with the ceremony for the presentation of the International Fair Play Committee’s Awards for 2011. More details on <a href="http://www.eurolympic.org">www.eurolympic.org</a>.</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(20) "5/4/2012 11:35:00 AM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160438" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(9502) "<h5>IOC ACTIVITIES</h5> <h5 class="iocCopyGrey">MEMBERS</h5> <p><strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Member.aspx?id=71343&epslanguage=en"><strong>Joseph S. Blatter</strong></a></strong> has received the “Ali della Vittoria” (Wings of Victory) award from the Italian amateur football league. Details on <a href="http://www.fifa.com/">www.fifa.com</a></p> <h5>INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS</h5> <h5 class="iocCopyGrey">SUMMER IFS</h5> <p>The <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31409&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Boxing Association</strong></a></strong> (AIBA) has announced that 203 athletes representing 35 countries took part in the African Olympic Qualifying Event in Casablanca, Morocco. For all the competitors, the goal was to secure one of the 48 remaining slots for the Games in London. More details on <a href="http://www.aiba.org">www.aiba.org</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>The <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31342&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Basketball Federation</strong></a></strong> (FIBA) has held its first Central Board meeting of the year in Rio de Janeiro. This was also the occasion for the draw for the men’s and women’s London 2012 basketball tournaments, held in the auditorium of the Brazilian NOC. So far nine men’s national teams (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Great Britain, Spain, Tunisia and the USA) and seven women’s national teams (Angola, Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, Russia and USA) have already qualified. The eight remaining places – three men’s and five women’s – will be determined through the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments taking place in Caracas (Venezuela) and Ankara (Turkey) in late June and early July. More details on <a href="http://www.fiba.com">www.fiba.com</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>In a press release, the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=47657&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Cycling Union</strong></a></strong> (UCI) informs us that, at the 2012 Design of the Year Awards held this week in London, London-based Hopkins Architects won the Architecture Award for their design of the London 2012 velodrome. Seating 6,000 spectators, the velodrome is one of the four permanent venues at the Olympic Park. It will host the track cycling events at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Also at the award ceremony, the Olympic torch for the 2012 Games took the Design of the Year Award. Read more on <a href="http://www.uci.ch">www.uci.ch</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>The <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=30789&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Swimming Federation</strong></a></strong> (FINA) has announced the death of Norwegian swimmer Alexander Dale Oen, at the age of 26 in a training camp in Flagstaff (Arizona, USA), on 30 April.&nbsp;Dale Oen won a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke at the 2008 Games in Beijing. Three years later, he was world champion in the same event in Shanghai (People’s Republic of China), in the first ever victory for his country.&nbsp;More details on <a href="http://www.fina.org">www.fina.org</a>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31577&epslanguage=en"><strong>The International Modern Pentathlon Union</strong></a></strong> (UIPM) has just released modern pentathlon’s first ever smart phone app. Users of the app will be able to access all the information on <a href="http://www.pentathlon.org">www.pentathlon.org</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Representatives from the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31735&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Triathlon Union</strong></a></strong> (ITU) are in Nanjing (People’s Republic of China) conducting the first site visit in preparation for the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG). In conjunction with the visit, the ITU has also confirmed that its Technical Delegate for these YOG will be Shanelle Barrett, the first New Zealander to be appointed to this role at the Olympic Games or YOG. Read more on <a href="http://www.triathlon.org">www.triathlon.org</a>.&nbsp;</p> <h5>NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES</h5> <p>Legendary <strong>Australian swimmer Murray Rose</strong> has died at the age of 73. The winner of six medals at the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games, including four gold, he was one of Australia’s greatest Olympians. Rose set 15 world records during his career. In 1956, he won three gold medals (4x200m freestyle relay, 400m freestyle and 1,500m freestyle). Four years later, he won the 400m freestyle again, and came second in the 1,500m. Rose also won four Commonwealth gold and two silver medals in 1962. He then went on to be a sports commentator in Australia and the USA. He was also the patron for the Australian charity “The Rainbow Club”, which teaches disabled children to swim. An avenue at Sydney Olympic Park was named after him for the 2000 Games. Full details on <a href="http://www.olympics.com.au">www.olympics.com.au</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>The Sportimonium, a sports museum in Hofstade (Belgium), devoted World Heritage Day on 22 April this year to the theme of “Heroes”. Gaston Roelants, President of the Belgian Olympians Association; Roland Renson, President of the Sportimonium; and <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31189&epslanguage=en"><strong>Belgian NOC</strong></a></strong> Secretary General Guido De Bondt invited the country’s Olympic medallists for a special session on “Olympic Heroes”. Looking ahead to London 2012, an invitation was also sent to all the athletes who took part in the 1948 Games in London. Juliaan Bogaert, Jean Dubois, Roger Goossens, Maria Huybrechts, Maria Oeyen, Joseph Rosa and Yvonne Van Bets were honoured on this occasion. More info on <a href="http://www.olympic.be">www.olympic.be</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>On 27 April, the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31237&epslanguage=en"><strong>Colombian NOC</strong></a></strong> launched its “Choose the Colombian flagbearer at the London 2012 Games” competition. Those attending this ceremony at the NOC headquarters in Bogota included athletes Mariana Pajon, Paulo César Villar and Luis Fernando López – all three qualified for these Games, the NOC’s Executive Committee members, representatives of the British embassy in Colombia, NOC partners and media representatives. The competition will run until 15 June, after which we shall know which of the eight athlete candidates (Catherine Ibarguen, Luis Fernando López,&nbsp; Paulo Villar, Mariana Pajón, Edwin Ávila, Yuri Alvear, Omar Pinzón and Oscar Figueroa), will carry the Colombian team flag at the Opening Ceremony in London. More details on <a href="http://www.coc.org.co/">www.coc.org.co</a></p> <p>LeRoy Walker, the first African-American Chairman of the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30787&epslanguage=en"><strong>United States Olympic Committee</strong></a></strong> (USOC), died this week at the age of 93. Walker was also the first black head coach of a US Olympic team when he led the track squad to the 1976 Games in Montreal. He had previously coached Olympic teams from Ethiopia, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya and Trinidad and Tobago. Walker led the USOC from 1992 to 1996. More details on <a href="http://www.teamusa.org">www.teamusa.org</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>At the recent Venezuelan Sports Federations Assembly, the decision was taken to include Taekwondo Federation President Hung Ki Kim as a member of the <strong>NOC Executive Board</strong>. Fencer Alejandra Benítez will be the athletes’ representative on the Board.&nbsp;</p> <h5>ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES</h5> <h5 class="iocCopyGrey">SOCHI 2014</h5> <p>The “One school - one country” education programme has just been launched in Sochi. This is a joint initiative of the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGame.aspx?id=30778&epslanguage=en">Sochi 2014 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games</a></strong>, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the City Administration. As part of this programme, each of the 67 schools in Sochi will study in detail the Olympic history and culture of one of the countries taking part in the 2014 Games. Pupils and teachers will prepare projects and presentations on the Games. All of the projects prepared by the pupils will be presented at Sochi's traditional Olympic lessons on 1 September 2013. More details on www.sochi2014.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <h5>RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS</h5> <p>The 33rd <strong>European Olympic Committees</strong> (EOC) Seminar was held in Budapest (Hungary) from 26 to 28 April. Delegations from 37 European NOCs took part. The opening ceremony was attended by the Hungarian Sports Minister, Attila Czene; EOC President Patrick Hickey; Hungarian NOC President Zolt Borkai and IOC members Pál Schmitt and Ser Miang Ng. The work of the Seminar, under the leadership of EOC Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi, focused chiefly on the Games in London, the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and the 2014 YOG in Nanjing. Two workshops were held to address two important topics: a talent identification project, and new ways of communicating. The seminar was preceded by a meeting of the EOC Executive Committee, and concluded with the ceremony for the presentation of the International Fair Play Committee’s Awards for 2011. More details on <a href="http://www.eurolympic.org">www.eurolympic.org</a>.</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1336131300) } [5]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(49) "London’s Olympic shooting venue hits the target" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(2092) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">London’s Olympic shooting venue has successfully staged the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31612&epslanguage=en">ISSF</a> World Cup, as preparations continue for this year’s Olympic Games. The Royal Artillery Barracks hosted more than 800 competitors from 100 countries during the tournament, which ran from 17-28 April, and ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber was impressed by the temporary venue, which will host the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Sport.aspx?id=31611&epslanguage=en">shooting</a> events during the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGameAdvanced.aspx?id=120390&epslanguage=en">London 2012 Games</a>.</p> <p>“If everything worked well at this test event, there should be no problem at the Games,” said Schreiber. “We had more than twice the participants than at the Games time, when 390 shooters will be competing here at the Royal Artillery Barracks venue.</p> <p>“The test has been successful, the installation proved to be working very well even under the pressure of such a massive event,” he added. “There is still some work to do to tune up the venue, but with more than 90 days to go there should be no problems.” <br />&nbsp;<br />Fifteen shooting events – the same number that will be staged during London 2012 – were held at the ISSF World Cup, including indoor rifle and pistol events and outdoor shotgun events.</p> <p>Four temporary indoor ranges have been constructed at the Royal Artillery Barracks for the Olympic pistol and rifle events, while outdoor shotgun ranges have been built for the trap and skeet events. Temporary grandstands have also been constructed at each range.</p> <p>The ISSF World Cup gave the <a href="http://www.london2012.com">London 2012 Organsing Committee</a> the chance to test operations ahead of the Games, including scoring and results systems.</p> <p>The competition saw <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31165&epslanguage=en">Russia</a> top the medal standings, with an overall total of six individual medals, including two gold, and four silver.</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(19) "5/2/2012 2:17:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160429" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(2092) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">London’s Olympic shooting venue has successfully staged the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31612&epslanguage=en">ISSF</a> World Cup, as preparations continue for this year’s Olympic Games. The Royal Artillery Barracks hosted more than 800 competitors from 100 countries during the tournament, which ran from 17-28 April, and ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber was impressed by the temporary venue, which will host the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Sport.aspx?id=31611&epslanguage=en">shooting</a> events during the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGameAdvanced.aspx?id=120390&epslanguage=en">London 2012 Games</a>.</p> <p>“If everything worked well at this test event, there should be no problem at the Games,” said Schreiber. “We had more than twice the participants than at the Games time, when 390 shooters will be competing here at the Royal Artillery Barracks venue.</p> <p>“The test has been successful, the installation proved to be working very well even under the pressure of such a massive event,” he added. “There is still some work to do to tune up the venue, but with more than 90 days to go there should be no problems.” <br />&nbsp;<br />Fifteen shooting events – the same number that will be staged during London 2012 – were held at the ISSF World Cup, including indoor rifle and pistol events and outdoor shotgun events.</p> <p>Four temporary indoor ranges have been constructed at the Royal Artillery Barracks for the Olympic pistol and rifle events, while outdoor shotgun ranges have been built for the trap and skeet events. Temporary grandstands have also been constructed at each range.</p> <p>The ISSF World Cup gave the <a href="http://www.london2012.com">London 2012 Organsing Committee</a> the chance to test operations ahead of the Games, including scoring and results systems.</p> <p>The competition saw <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31165&epslanguage=en">Russia</a> top the medal standings, with an overall total of six individual medals, including two gold, and four silver.</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1335968220) } [6]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(40) "London 2012 Olympic basketball draw made" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(3634) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">The draws for the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGameAdvanced.aspx?id=120390&epslanguage=en">London 2012</a> Olympic <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Sport.aspx?id=31341&epslanguage=en">basketball</a> tournaments have been made, confirming the line-ups for the preliminary stages of both the men’s and women’s tournaments.</p> <p>The men’s draw sees hosts <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30780&epslanguage=en">Great Britain</a> pitted against European champions and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/GameAdvanced.aspx?id=126789&epslanguage=en">Beijing 2008</a> silver medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31308&epslanguage=en">Spain</a>, as well as <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30785&epslanguage=en">Australia</a>, <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31208&epslanguage=en">Brazil</a> and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30782&epslanguage=en">China</a>, while reigning Olympic champions <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30787&epslanguage=en">USA</a> will face 2008 bronze medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31147&epslanguage=en">Argentina</a>, <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30781&epslanguage=en">France</a> and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31322&epslanguage=en">Tunisia</a>. These nine teams will be joined by three further qualifiers, with places to be decided at an Olympic Qualifying tournament in Venezuela from the 2–8 July.</p> <p>In the women’s draw, current European champions and Beijing 2008 bronze medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31165&epslanguage=en">Russia</a> will face Beijing 2008 silver medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30785&epslanguage=en">Australia</a>, as well as <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31208&epslanguage=en">Brazil</a> and hosts <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30780&epslanguage=en">Great Britain</a>, while reigning Olympic champions <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30787&epslanguage=en">USA</a> will face current Asian champions <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30782&epslanguage=en">China</a> and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31141&epslanguage=en">Angola</a>.</p> <p>Five places in the women’s competition are still up for grabs, with an Olympic Qualifying tournament being held in Turkey from the 25 June to 1 July to determine the final qualifiers.</p> <p>Following the draw, <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31342&epslanguage=en">FIBA</a> Secretary General and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Member.aspx?id=71265&epslanguage=en">IOC Member Patrick Baumann</a> said: "For every major championship, the draw is a major milestone. Players begin picturing themselves on the court and thinking about match-ups. Fans start imagining the atmosphere. The <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/MediaPlayer.aspx?id=57736&epslanguage=en">2008 men’s final between the USA and Spain</a> was one of the greatest Olympic moments. It showed the huge strides international basketball had made in becoming more and more competitive. I expect this year's Olympic basketball tournaments will be a great and memorable spectacle for all." </p> <p>Debbie Jevans, Director of Sport at the <a href="http://www.london2012.com">London 2012 Organising Committee</a>, added: “The Olympic basketball tournaments will see some of the biggest basketball stars in the world come to London to compete for gold. Today’s draw gives us a glimpse of some of the exciting encounters, world-class players and top teams we’ll see in action this summer.”&nbsp;</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(20) "5/2/2012 11:54:00 AM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160425" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(3634) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">The draws for the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGameAdvanced.aspx?id=120390&epslanguage=en">London 2012</a> Olympic <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Sport.aspx?id=31341&epslanguage=en">basketball</a> tournaments have been made, confirming the line-ups for the preliminary stages of both the men’s and women’s tournaments.</p> <p>The men’s draw sees hosts <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30780&epslanguage=en">Great Britain</a> pitted against European champions and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/GameAdvanced.aspx?id=126789&epslanguage=en">Beijing 2008</a> silver medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31308&epslanguage=en">Spain</a>, as well as <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30785&epslanguage=en">Australia</a>, <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31208&epslanguage=en">Brazil</a> and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30782&epslanguage=en">China</a>, while reigning Olympic champions <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30787&epslanguage=en">USA</a> will face 2008 bronze medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31147&epslanguage=en">Argentina</a>, <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30781&epslanguage=en">France</a> and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31322&epslanguage=en">Tunisia</a>. These nine teams will be joined by three further qualifiers, with places to be decided at an Olympic Qualifying tournament in Venezuela from the 2–8 July.</p> <p>In the women’s draw, current European champions and Beijing 2008 bronze medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31165&epslanguage=en">Russia</a> will face Beijing 2008 silver medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30785&epslanguage=en">Australia</a>, as well as <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31208&epslanguage=en">Brazil</a> and hosts <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30780&epslanguage=en">Great Britain</a>, while reigning Olympic champions <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30787&epslanguage=en">USA</a> will face current Asian champions <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30782&epslanguage=en">China</a> and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31141&epslanguage=en">Angola</a>.</p> <p>Five places in the women’s competition are still up for grabs, with an Olympic Qualifying tournament being held in Turkey from the 25 June to 1 July to determine the final qualifiers.</p> <p>Following the draw, <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31342&epslanguage=en">FIBA</a> Secretary General and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Member.aspx?id=71265&epslanguage=en">IOC Member Patrick Baumann</a> said: "For every major championship, the draw is a major milestone. Players begin picturing themselves on the court and thinking about match-ups. Fans start imagining the atmosphere. The <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/MediaPlayer.aspx?id=57736&epslanguage=en">2008 men’s final between the USA and Spain</a> was one of the greatest Olympic moments. It showed the huge strides international basketball had made in becoming more and more competitive. I expect this year's Olympic basketball tournaments will be a great and memorable spectacle for all." </p> <p>Debbie Jevans, Director of Sport at the <a href="http://www.london2012.com">London 2012 Organising Committee</a>, added: “The Olympic basketball tournaments will see some of the biggest basketball stars in the world come to London to compete for gold. Today’s draw gives us a glimpse of some of the exciting encounters, world-class players and top teams we’ll see in action this summer.”&nbsp;</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1335959640) } [7]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(112) "IOC announces additional chance to win a trip to London 2012 as part of “Show Your Best” Video Competition " ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(2869) "<iframe height="304" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CkMn9-K3_mQ?modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0" frameborder="0" width="540" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <br /> <p class="iocCopyIntro"><br />The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that there will be an additional Grand Prize winner for its "Show Your Best" initiative, a global campaign and video competition to help build involvement with the Olympic Movement among young people and create the next generation of Olympic fans.</p> <p>The “Show Your Best” campaign, which began in November 2011, has added a new prize, with the submission deadline of 15 June, to allow more people to show their best as momentum continues to build ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games. </p> <p>Since the campaign launched, there have been hundreds of submissions from over 50 countries across the world including Latvia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Serbia, Tunisia, the Philippines, Columbia, Ukraine and South Africa, as well as across Western Europe and North America. Over 13,000 people have voted on the videos. </p> <p>In the campaign, people are encouraged to record videos of themselves demonstrating their personal best. Videos submitted before 15 June will qualify to be judged by Olympic athletes. The Grand Prize winner will win a trip for two to London as guests of the IOC for the London 2012 Summer Games. Submissions will be judged on how well the video represents the Olympic values; how well it demonstrates the idea of “Showing Your Best”; and how inspiring the video is overall. Users can record, upload and share their talents and skills – whatever those may be – on the Olympic site <a href="http://www.olympic.org/showyourbest">www.olympic.org/showyourbest</a>.</p> <p>Previous winners include Ryan Celestain from Tulsa, Oklahoma. A triathlete who taught himself to swim just three weeks before his first triathlon, Celestain’s winning submission was selected out of 20 finalists from all over the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p align="center">###</p> <p>For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team: <br />Tel: +41 21 621 6000 e-mail: <a href="mailto:pressoffice@olympic.org">pressoffice@olympic.org</a>, or visit our web site at <a href="http://www.olympic.org">www.olympic.org</a>.</p> <h5>Videos</h5> <p>YouTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/iocmedia"><font size="2">www.youtube.com/iocmedia</font></a> </p> <h5>Photos</h5> <p>For an extensive selection of photos available shortly after each event, please follow us on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/iocmedia">Flickr</a>.</p> <h5>Social media</h5> <p>For up-to-the-minute information on the IOC and regular updates, please follow us on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/iocmedia">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/olympics">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/Olympics">YouTube</a>.</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(19) "5/2/2012 9:09:00 AM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160422" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(2869) "<iframe height="304" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CkMn9-K3_mQ?modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0" frameborder="0" width="540" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <br /> <p class="iocCopyIntro"><br />The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that there will be an additional Grand Prize winner for its "Show Your Best" initiative, a global campaign and video competition to help build involvement with the Olympic Movement among young people and create the next generation of Olympic fans.</p> <p>The “Show Your Best” campaign, which began in November 2011, has added a new prize, with the submission deadline of 15 June, to allow more people to show their best as momentum continues to build ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games. </p> <p>Since the campaign launched, there have been hundreds of submissions from over 50 countries across the world including Latvia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Serbia, Tunisia, the Philippines, Columbia, Ukraine and South Africa, as well as across Western Europe and North America. Over 13,000 people have voted on the videos. </p> <p>In the campaign, people are encouraged to record videos of themselves demonstrating their personal best. Videos submitted before 15 June will qualify to be judged by Olympic athletes. The Grand Prize winner will win a trip for two to London as guests of the IOC for the London 2012 Summer Games. Submissions will be judged on how well the video represents the Olympic values; how well it demonstrates the idea of “Showing Your Best”; and how inspiring the video is overall. Users can record, upload and share their talents and skills – whatever those may be – on the Olympic site <a href="http://www.olympic.org/showyourbest">www.olympic.org/showyourbest</a>.</p> <p>Previous winners include Ryan Celestain from Tulsa, Oklahoma. A triathlete who taught himself to swim just three weeks before his first triathlon, Celestain’s winning submission was selected out of 20 finalists from all over the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p align="center">###</p> <p>For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team: <br />Tel: +41 21 621 6000 e-mail: <a href="mailto:pressoffice@olympic.org">pressoffice@olympic.org</a>, or visit our web site at <a href="http://www.olympic.org">www.olympic.org</a>.</p> <h5>Videos</h5> <p>YouTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/iocmedia"><font size="2">www.youtube.com/iocmedia</font></a> </p> <h5>Photos</h5> <p>For an extensive selection of photos available shortly after each event, please follow us on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/iocmedia">Flickr</a>.</p> <h5>Social media</h5> <p>For up-to-the-minute information on the IOC and regular updates, please follow us on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/iocmedia">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/olympics">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/Olympics">YouTube</a>.</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1335949740) } [8]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(36) "Olympic football tickets now on sale" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(1739) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">Tickets for the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGameAdvanced.aspx?id=120390&epslanguage=en">London 2012</a> football tournament have gone back on sale, following the draws that were made for the men’s and women’s preliminary stages last week.</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.london2012.com">London 2012 Organising Committee</a> (LOCOG) has announced that tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis from 11am on Monday 30 April until 11pm on Sunday 6 May. They can be purchased at <a href="http://www.tickets.london2012.com">www.tickets.london2012.com</a> or via telephone on 0844 847 2012, with prices starting at £20 for adults. Tickets for those aged over 60 and children aged under 16 are also available at special prices for many matches.</p> <p>Last week’s draw saw <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30780&epslanguage=en">Great Britain</a>’s women’s team pitted against <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31271&epslanguage=en">New Zealand</a> in Cardiff in the opening match of the Games, with other matches due to be held at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Old Trafford in Manchester, James’ Park in Newcastle, the City of Coventry Stadium and Wembley Stadium in London. 

</p> <p>So far approximately one million tickets have been sold for the football tournament, with approximately 1.5 million still to sell. 

</p> <p>LOCOG Commercial Director Chris Townsend said: “Now that the draw has taken place, we are delighted to put remaining tickets on sale to see some of the world's most exciting young footballers in the Olympic Games. This is a great opportunity for people across the UK to be part of the Games, and see great matches at great prices.”</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(20) "4/30/2012 2:51:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160417" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(1739) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">Tickets for the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGameAdvanced.aspx?id=120390&epslanguage=en">London 2012</a> football tournament have gone back on sale, following the draws that were made for the men’s and women’s preliminary stages last week.</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.london2012.com">London 2012 Organising Committee</a> (LOCOG) has announced that tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis from 11am on Monday 30 April until 11pm on Sunday 6 May. They can be purchased at <a href="http://www.tickets.london2012.com">www.tickets.london2012.com</a> or via telephone on 0844 847 2012, with prices starting at £20 for adults. Tickets for those aged over 60 and children aged under 16 are also available at special prices for many matches.</p> <p>Last week’s draw saw <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30780&epslanguage=en">Great Britain</a>’s women’s team pitted against <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31271&epslanguage=en">New Zealand</a> in Cardiff in the opening match of the Games, with other matches due to be held at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Old Trafford in Manchester, James’ Park in Newcastle, the City of Coventry Stadium and Wembley Stadium in London. 

</p> <p>So far approximately one million tickets have been sold for the football tournament, with approximately 1.5 million still to sell. 

</p> <p>LOCOG Commercial Director Chris Townsend said: “Now that the draw has taken place, we are delighted to put remaining tickets on sale to see some of the world's most exciting young footballers in the Olympic Games. This is a great opportunity for people across the UK to be part of the Games, and see great matches at great prices.”</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1335797460) } [9]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(49) "IOC announces appointment of new Finance Director" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(2031) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is pleased to announce the hiring of Caroline Kuyper as the International Olympic Committee’s new Finance Director. </p> <p>A Swiss national of Dutch origin, Caroline joins us after many years with Nestlé, the world's largest food and nutrition company, where she most recently held the position of Head of Finance for Research and Development, Innovation and Technology. Prior to joining Nestlé in 2003, Caroline worked in Finance and Business Development at Philip Morris International from where she brings considerable business and audit experience. </p> <p>She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Lausanne (HEC) and attended Executive Development programmes at IMD Business School and the London Business School. </p> <p>An avid sports fan, Caroline has competed in sailing, alpine skiing and snowboarding, including the ISF Snowboard World Cup Tour and Masters (1991-1993) and the ISF Snowboard World Championships (1993). </p> <p>She will begin work at the IOC&nbsp;in July. </p> <p align="center">###</p> <p>For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team: <br />Tel: +41 21 621 6000 e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at <a href="http://www.olympic.org/">www.olympic.org</a>.</p> <h5>Videos</h5> <p>YouTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/iocmedia">www.youtube.com/iocmedia</a></p> <h5>Photos</h5> <p>For an extensive selection of photos available shortly after each event, please follow us on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/iocmedia">Flickr</a>.<br />To request archive photos and footage, please contact our Images team at: <a href="mailto:images@olympic.org">images@olympic.org</a>.</p> <h5>Social media</h5> <p>For up-to-the-minute information on the IOC and regular updates, please follow us on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/iocmedia">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/olympics">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/Olympics">YouTube</a>.</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(20) "4/27/2012 2:14:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160410" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(2031) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is pleased to announce the hiring of Caroline Kuyper as the International Olympic Committee’s new Finance Director. </p> <p>A Swiss national of Dutch origin, Caroline joins us after many years with Nestlé, the world's largest food and nutrition company, where she most recently held the position of Head of Finance for Research and Development, Innovation and Technology. Prior to joining Nestlé in 2003, Caroline worked in Finance and Business Development at Philip Morris International from where she brings considerable business and audit experience. </p> <p>She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Lausanne (HEC) and attended Executive Development programmes at IMD Business School and the London Business School. </p> <p>An avid sports fan, Caroline has competed in sailing, alpine skiing and snowboarding, including the ISF Snowboard World Cup Tour and Masters (1991-1993) and the ISF Snowboard World Championships (1993). </p> <p>She will begin work at the IOC&nbsp;in July. </p> <p align="center">###</p> <p>For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team: <br />Tel: +41 21 621 6000 e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at <a href="http://www.olympic.org/">www.olympic.org</a>.</p> <h5>Videos</h5> <p>YouTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/iocmedia">www.youtube.com/iocmedia</a></p> <h5>Photos</h5> <p>For an extensive selection of photos available shortly after each event, please follow us on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/iocmedia">Flickr</a>.<br />To request archive photos and footage, please contact our Images team at: <a href="mailto:images@olympic.org">images@olympic.org</a>.</p> <h5>Social media</h5> <p>For up-to-the-minute information on the IOC and regular updates, please follow us on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/iocmedia">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/olympics">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/Olympics">YouTube</a>.</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1335536040) } } ["channel"]=> array(14) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(38) "International Olympic Committee : News" ["link#"]=> int(1) ["link"]=> string(124) "http://www.olympic.org/rss/feed.aspx?language=en&newspage=35&type=news-group&subsection=b49fde4e-58a9-4dd1-82ee-0993ff3f879c" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(65) "WWW.OLYMPIC.ORG - Official website of the Olympic Movement - News" ["copyright#"]=> int(1) ["copyright"]=> string(35) "Copyright CIO. 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array(0) { } ["items"]=> array(10) { [0]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(60) "Athletes grace London’s Olympic Stadium for the first time" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(1745) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">London’s Olympic Stadium has welcomed competitive sport for the first time, as the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Athletics Championships were held at the Olympic venue from 4-7 May.</p> <p>The very first winner within the stadium, which lies in the heart of the Olympic Park in east London, was Loughborough University’s Justine Kinney, who won the first heat of the first event – the women’s 400m hurdles – on Friday.</p> <p>"The track feels amazing,” said the Irish athlete. "It feels like you could fly down it, it feels wonderful. I'm so privileged to run here, I've been looking forward to this so much.”</p> <p>The event marked the first time that the stadium had been opened to the public for an athletics competition, with approximately 40,000 people attending the venue’s official opening on Saturday evening. The event gave the London 2012 Organising Committee the chance to test key aspects of it’s operations ahead of this year’s Games, with athletes going through exactly the same kind of procedures that the likes of Usain Bolt will do later this year. </p> <p>"This event is very important to us for a number of reasons," said LOCOG Chairman Seb Coe.</p> <p>"Seeing athletes on the track for the first time will be a special moment for me personally and then welcoming 40,000 people into the Stadium on Saturday night will be a major milestone.</p> <p>"This crowd will not only be starting their Olympic journey just weeks ahead of the Games, they will also play a vital role in helping us test the venue and earn our licence to operate the Stadium.</p> <p>"I am very proud of this venue and excited that it is set to stage the biggest sporting event in the world."</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(19) "5/7/2012 4:47:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160445" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(1745) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">London’s Olympic Stadium has welcomed competitive sport for the first time, as the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Athletics Championships were held at the Olympic venue from 4-7 May.</p> <p>The very first winner within the stadium, which lies in the heart of the Olympic Park in east London, was Loughborough University’s Justine Kinney, who won the first heat of the first event – the women’s 400m hurdles – on Friday.</p> <p>"The track feels amazing,” said the Irish athlete. "It feels like you could fly down it, it feels wonderful. I'm so privileged to run here, I've been looking forward to this so much.”</p> <p>The event marked the first time that the stadium had been opened to the public for an athletics competition, with approximately 40,000 people attending the venue’s official opening on Saturday evening. The event gave the London 2012 Organising Committee the chance to test key aspects of it’s operations ahead of this year’s Games, with athletes going through exactly the same kind of procedures that the likes of Usain Bolt will do later this year. </p> <p>"This event is very important to us for a number of reasons," said LOCOG Chairman Seb Coe.</p> <p>"Seeing athletes on the track for the first time will be a special moment for me personally and then welcoming 40,000 people into the Stadium on Saturday night will be a major milestone.</p> <p>"This crowd will not only be starting their Olympic journey just weeks ahead of the Games, they will also play a vital role in helping us test the venue and earn our licence to operate the Stadium.</p> <p>"I am very proud of this venue and excited that it is set to stage the biggest sporting event in the world."</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1336409220) } [1]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(37) "London 2012 Water Polo Draw Announced" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(1152) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">The official draw for the men’s and women's Olympic water polo tournaments has taken place at the London 2012 Aquatics Centre, following the conclusion of the Visa Water Polo International, which was held at the Olympic venue over the weekend.</p> <p>In the men’s competition, reigning Olympic champions Hungary – who have won gold at the last three editions of the Games – were drawn with hosts Great Britain in Group B, along with Beijing 2008 bronze medallists Serbia, Montenegro, Romania and the USA.</p> <p>Group A will see reigning world champions Italy battle it out with Greece Kazakhstan, Spain, Australia and Croatia. The four highest ranked teams in each group will qualify for the knockout stages.</p> <p>In the women’s tournament, Beijing silver medallists USA were drawn alongside Hungary, Spain and China in Group A, while 2008 bronze medallists Australia – who have won every tournament they have played in this year – will face hosts Great Britain, Italy and Russia in Group B.</p> <p>All eight teams in the women’s competition will progress through to the quarterfinals.</p> <p><br />&nbsp;</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(19) "5/7/2012 5:00:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160446" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(1152) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">The official draw for the men’s and women's Olympic water polo tournaments has taken place at the London 2012 Aquatics Centre, following the conclusion of the Visa Water Polo International, which was held at the Olympic venue over the weekend.</p> <p>In the men’s competition, reigning Olympic champions Hungary – who have won gold at the last three editions of the Games – were drawn with hosts Great Britain in Group B, along with Beijing 2008 bronze medallists Serbia, Montenegro, Romania and the USA.</p> <p>Group A will see reigning world champions Italy battle it out with Greece Kazakhstan, Spain, Australia and Croatia. The four highest ranked teams in each group will qualify for the knockout stages.</p> <p>In the women’s tournament, Beijing silver medallists USA were drawn alongside Hungary, Spain and China in Group A, while 2008 bronze medallists Australia – who have won every tournament they have played in this year – will face hosts Great Britain, Italy and Russia in Group B.</p> <p>All eight teams in the women’s competition will progress through to the quarterfinals.</p> <p><br />&nbsp;</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1336410000) } [2]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(61) "Australia enjoy first victory in London 2012 Water Polo Arena" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(1055) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">Beijing 2008 bronze medallists Australia have taken top honours at the Visa Water Polo International – the first major event to be held at the London 2012 Water Polo Arena.</p> <p>The tournament, which was held from 3-6 May, saw women’s teams from Australia, USA, Hungary and Great Britain battle it out in front of sell-out crowds at the Olympic venue, giving the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) the chance to test key aspects of its operations ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games.</p> <p>The final saw Australia triumph 6-5 over Beijing silver medallists USA, while Hungary beat Britain 11-4 to secure third place in the invitational event.</p> <p>Despite finishing fourth, British captain Fran Leighton was pleased with her team’s performance in the tournament and is already looking forward to the start of the Olympic competition later this summer.</p> <p>“After experiencing the fantastic support this week at the Water Polo Arena, we can’t wait to get back in July for the Games,” she said.<br /></p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(19) "5/7/2012 3:00:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160441" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(1055) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">Beijing 2008 bronze medallists Australia have taken top honours at the Visa Water Polo International – the first major event to be held at the London 2012 Water Polo Arena.</p> <p>The tournament, which was held from 3-6 May, saw women’s teams from Australia, USA, Hungary and Great Britain battle it out in front of sell-out crowds at the Olympic venue, giving the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) the chance to test key aspects of its operations ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games.</p> <p>The final saw Australia triumph 6-5 over Beijing silver medallists USA, while Hungary beat Britain 11-4 to secure third place in the invitational event.</p> <p>Despite finishing fourth, British captain Fran Leighton was pleased with her team’s performance in the tournament and is already looking forward to the start of the Olympic competition later this summer.</p> <p>“After experiencing the fantastic support this week at the Water Polo Arena, we can’t wait to get back in July for the Games,” she said.<br /></p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1336402800) } [3]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(65) "London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay: The lighting ceremony in Olympia" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(1541) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">Watch the lighting ceremony in Olympia here:<br /><br /><iframe style="BORDER-BOTTOM: transparent 0px; BORDER-LEFT: transparent 0px; BORDER-TOP: transparent 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: transparent 0px" height="327" src="http://www.ustream.tv/embed/9967435" frameborder="0" width="540" scrolling="no"></iframe></p> <p><br />The London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay (OTR) will last 70 days and will travel for approximately 8,000 miles around the UK, passing within 10 miles of 95 per cent of the people in the UK, Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.<br /><br />The Olympic flame will be transported by 8,000 torchbearers and will use numerous different modes of transport during its journey. This highly visible and symbolic journey, marking the countdown to one of the greatest athletic and cultural events in the world, will unite us all in anticipation of witnessing the fulfillment of human potential and inspire us to be world citizens, bound by the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. <br /><br />The London 2012 OTR will allow us to celebrate together and be inspired by its message of peace. <br /><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SectionHome.aspx?id=156824&epslanguage=en">Get&nbsp;more information about the lighting ceremony.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/route/">For more information on the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/partners/">Find out about the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners <br /></a></p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(19) "5/4/2012 3:23:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160436" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(1541) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">Watch the lighting ceremony in Olympia here:<br /><br /><iframe style="BORDER-BOTTOM: transparent 0px; BORDER-LEFT: transparent 0px; BORDER-TOP: transparent 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: transparent 0px" height="327" src="http://www.ustream.tv/embed/9967435" frameborder="0" width="540" scrolling="no"></iframe></p> <p><br />The London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay (OTR) will last 70 days and will travel for approximately 8,000 miles around the UK, passing within 10 miles of 95 per cent of the people in the UK, Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.<br /><br />The Olympic flame will be transported by 8,000 torchbearers and will use numerous different modes of transport during its journey. This highly visible and symbolic journey, marking the countdown to one of the greatest athletic and cultural events in the world, will unite us all in anticipation of witnessing the fulfillment of human potential and inspire us to be world citizens, bound by the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. <br /><br />The London 2012 OTR will allow us to celebrate together and be inspired by its message of peace. <br /><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SectionHome.aspx?id=156824&epslanguage=en">Get&nbsp;more information about the lighting ceremony.</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/route/">For more information on the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.london2012.com/torch-relay/partners/">Find out about the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Presenting Partners <br /></a></p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1336144980) } [4]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(22) "Highlights of the week" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(9502) "<h5>IOC ACTIVITIES</h5> <h5 class="iocCopyGrey">MEMBERS</h5> <p><strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Member.aspx?id=71343&epslanguage=en"><strong>Joseph S. Blatter</strong></a></strong> has received the “Ali della Vittoria” (Wings of Victory) award from the Italian amateur football league. Details on <a href="http://www.fifa.com/">www.fifa.com</a></p> <h5>INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS</h5> <h5 class="iocCopyGrey">SUMMER IFS</h5> <p>The <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31409&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Boxing Association</strong></a></strong> (AIBA) has announced that 203 athletes representing 35 countries took part in the African Olympic Qualifying Event in Casablanca, Morocco. For all the competitors, the goal was to secure one of the 48 remaining slots for the Games in London. More details on <a href="http://www.aiba.org">www.aiba.org</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>The <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31342&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Basketball Federation</strong></a></strong> (FIBA) has held its first Central Board meeting of the year in Rio de Janeiro. This was also the occasion for the draw for the men’s and women’s London 2012 basketball tournaments, held in the auditorium of the Brazilian NOC. So far nine men’s national teams (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Great Britain, Spain, Tunisia and the USA) and seven women’s national teams (Angola, Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, Russia and USA) have already qualified. The eight remaining places – three men’s and five women’s – will be determined through the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments taking place in Caracas (Venezuela) and Ankara (Turkey) in late June and early July. More details on <a href="http://www.fiba.com">www.fiba.com</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>In a press release, the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=47657&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Cycling Union</strong></a></strong> (UCI) informs us that, at the 2012 Design of the Year Awards held this week in London, London-based Hopkins Architects won the Architecture Award for their design of the London 2012 velodrome. Seating 6,000 spectators, the velodrome is one of the four permanent venues at the Olympic Park. It will host the track cycling events at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Also at the award ceremony, the Olympic torch for the 2012 Games took the Design of the Year Award. Read more on <a href="http://www.uci.ch">www.uci.ch</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>The <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=30789&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Swimming Federation</strong></a></strong> (FINA) has announced the death of Norwegian swimmer Alexander Dale Oen, at the age of 26 in a training camp in Flagstaff (Arizona, USA), on 30 April.&nbsp;Dale Oen won a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke at the 2008 Games in Beijing. Three years later, he was world champion in the same event in Shanghai (People’s Republic of China), in the first ever victory for his country.&nbsp;More details on <a href="http://www.fina.org">www.fina.org</a>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31577&epslanguage=en"><strong>The International Modern Pentathlon Union</strong></a></strong> (UIPM) has just released modern pentathlon’s first ever smart phone app. Users of the app will be able to access all the information on <a href="http://www.pentathlon.org">www.pentathlon.org</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Representatives from the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31735&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Triathlon Union</strong></a></strong> (ITU) are in Nanjing (People’s Republic of China) conducting the first site visit in preparation for the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG). In conjunction with the visit, the ITU has also confirmed that its Technical Delegate for these YOG will be Shanelle Barrett, the first New Zealander to be appointed to this role at the Olympic Games or YOG. Read more on <a href="http://www.triathlon.org">www.triathlon.org</a>.&nbsp;</p> <h5>NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES</h5> <p>Legendary <strong>Australian swimmer Murray Rose</strong> has died at the age of 73. The winner of six medals at the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games, including four gold, he was one of Australia’s greatest Olympians. Rose set 15 world records during his career. In 1956, he won three gold medals (4x200m freestyle relay, 400m freestyle and 1,500m freestyle). Four years later, he won the 400m freestyle again, and came second in the 1,500m. Rose also won four Commonwealth gold and two silver medals in 1962. He then went on to be a sports commentator in Australia and the USA. He was also the patron for the Australian charity “The Rainbow Club”, which teaches disabled children to swim. An avenue at Sydney Olympic Park was named after him for the 2000 Games. Full details on <a href="http://www.olympics.com.au">www.olympics.com.au</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>The Sportimonium, a sports museum in Hofstade (Belgium), devoted World Heritage Day on 22 April this year to the theme of “Heroes”. Gaston Roelants, President of the Belgian Olympians Association; Roland Renson, President of the Sportimonium; and <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31189&epslanguage=en"><strong>Belgian NOC</strong></a></strong> Secretary General Guido De Bondt invited the country’s Olympic medallists for a special session on “Olympic Heroes”. Looking ahead to London 2012, an invitation was also sent to all the athletes who took part in the 1948 Games in London. Juliaan Bogaert, Jean Dubois, Roger Goossens, Maria Huybrechts, Maria Oeyen, Joseph Rosa and Yvonne Van Bets were honoured on this occasion. More info on <a href="http://www.olympic.be">www.olympic.be</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>On 27 April, the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31237&epslanguage=en"><strong>Colombian NOC</strong></a></strong> launched its “Choose the Colombian flagbearer at the London 2012 Games” competition. Those attending this ceremony at the NOC headquarters in Bogota included athletes Mariana Pajon, Paulo César Villar and Luis Fernando López – all three qualified for these Games, the NOC’s Executive Committee members, representatives of the British embassy in Colombia, NOC partners and media representatives. The competition will run until 15 June, after which we shall know which of the eight athlete candidates (Catherine Ibarguen, Luis Fernando López,&nbsp; Paulo Villar, Mariana Pajón, Edwin Ávila, Yuri Alvear, Omar Pinzón and Oscar Figueroa), will carry the Colombian team flag at the Opening Ceremony in London. More details on <a href="http://www.coc.org.co/">www.coc.org.co</a></p> <p>LeRoy Walker, the first African-American Chairman of the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30787&epslanguage=en"><strong>United States Olympic Committee</strong></a></strong> (USOC), died this week at the age of 93. Walker was also the first black head coach of a US Olympic team when he led the track squad to the 1976 Games in Montreal. He had previously coached Olympic teams from Ethiopia, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya and Trinidad and Tobago. Walker led the USOC from 1992 to 1996. More details on <a href="http://www.teamusa.org">www.teamusa.org</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>At the recent Venezuelan Sports Federations Assembly, the decision was taken to include Taekwondo Federation President Hung Ki Kim as a member of the <strong>NOC Executive Board</strong>. Fencer Alejandra Benítez will be the athletes’ representative on the Board.&nbsp;</p> <h5>ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES</h5> <h5 class="iocCopyGrey">SOCHI 2014</h5> <p>The “One school - one country” education programme has just been launched in Sochi. This is a joint initiative of the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGame.aspx?id=30778&epslanguage=en">Sochi 2014 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games</a></strong>, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the City Administration. As part of this programme, each of the 67 schools in Sochi will study in detail the Olympic history and culture of one of the countries taking part in the 2014 Games. Pupils and teachers will prepare projects and presentations on the Games. All of the projects prepared by the pupils will be presented at Sochi's traditional Olympic lessons on 1 September 2013. More details on www.sochi2014.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <h5>RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS</h5> <p>The 33rd <strong>European Olympic Committees</strong> (EOC) Seminar was held in Budapest (Hungary) from 26 to 28 April. Delegations from 37 European NOCs took part. The opening ceremony was attended by the Hungarian Sports Minister, Attila Czene; EOC President Patrick Hickey; Hungarian NOC President Zolt Borkai and IOC members Pál Schmitt and Ser Miang Ng. The work of the Seminar, under the leadership of EOC Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi, focused chiefly on the Games in London, the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and the 2014 YOG in Nanjing. Two workshops were held to address two important topics: a talent identification project, and new ways of communicating. The seminar was preceded by a meeting of the EOC Executive Committee, and concluded with the ceremony for the presentation of the International Fair Play Committee’s Awards for 2011. More details on <a href="http://www.eurolympic.org">www.eurolympic.org</a>.</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(20) "5/4/2012 11:35:00 AM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160438" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(9502) "<h5>IOC ACTIVITIES</h5> <h5 class="iocCopyGrey">MEMBERS</h5> <p><strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Member.aspx?id=71343&epslanguage=en"><strong>Joseph S. Blatter</strong></a></strong> has received the “Ali della Vittoria” (Wings of Victory) award from the Italian amateur football league. Details on <a href="http://www.fifa.com/">www.fifa.com</a></p> <h5>INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS</h5> <h5 class="iocCopyGrey">SUMMER IFS</h5> <p>The <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31409&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Boxing Association</strong></a></strong> (AIBA) has announced that 203 athletes representing 35 countries took part in the African Olympic Qualifying Event in Casablanca, Morocco. For all the competitors, the goal was to secure one of the 48 remaining slots for the Games in London. More details on <a href="http://www.aiba.org">www.aiba.org</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>The <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31342&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Basketball Federation</strong></a></strong> (FIBA) has held its first Central Board meeting of the year in Rio de Janeiro. This was also the occasion for the draw for the men’s and women’s London 2012 basketball tournaments, held in the auditorium of the Brazilian NOC. So far nine men’s national teams (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Great Britain, Spain, Tunisia and the USA) and seven women’s national teams (Angola, Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, Russia and USA) have already qualified. The eight remaining places – three men’s and five women’s – will be determined through the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments taking place in Caracas (Venezuela) and Ankara (Turkey) in late June and early July. More details on <a href="http://www.fiba.com">www.fiba.com</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>In a press release, the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=47657&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Cycling Union</strong></a></strong> (UCI) informs us that, at the 2012 Design of the Year Awards held this week in London, London-based Hopkins Architects won the Architecture Award for their design of the London 2012 velodrome. Seating 6,000 spectators, the velodrome is one of the four permanent venues at the Olympic Park. It will host the track cycling events at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Also at the award ceremony, the Olympic torch for the 2012 Games took the Design of the Year Award. Read more on <a href="http://www.uci.ch">www.uci.ch</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>The <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=30789&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Swimming Federation</strong></a></strong> (FINA) has announced the death of Norwegian swimmer Alexander Dale Oen, at the age of 26 in a training camp in Flagstaff (Arizona, USA), on 30 April.&nbsp;Dale Oen won a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke at the 2008 Games in Beijing. Three years later, he was world champion in the same event in Shanghai (People’s Republic of China), in the first ever victory for his country.&nbsp;More details on <a href="http://www.fina.org">www.fina.org</a>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31577&epslanguage=en"><strong>The International Modern Pentathlon Union</strong></a></strong> (UIPM) has just released modern pentathlon’s first ever smart phone app. Users of the app will be able to access all the information on <a href="http://www.pentathlon.org">www.pentathlon.org</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Representatives from the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31735&epslanguage=en"><strong>International Triathlon Union</strong></a></strong> (ITU) are in Nanjing (People’s Republic of China) conducting the first site visit in preparation for the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG). In conjunction with the visit, the ITU has also confirmed that its Technical Delegate for these YOG will be Shanelle Barrett, the first New Zealander to be appointed to this role at the Olympic Games or YOG. Read more on <a href="http://www.triathlon.org">www.triathlon.org</a>.&nbsp;</p> <h5>NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES</h5> <p>Legendary <strong>Australian swimmer Murray Rose</strong> has died at the age of 73. The winner of six medals at the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games, including four gold, he was one of Australia’s greatest Olympians. Rose set 15 world records during his career. In 1956, he won three gold medals (4x200m freestyle relay, 400m freestyle and 1,500m freestyle). Four years later, he won the 400m freestyle again, and came second in the 1,500m. Rose also won four Commonwealth gold and two silver medals in 1962. He then went on to be a sports commentator in Australia and the USA. He was also the patron for the Australian charity “The Rainbow Club”, which teaches disabled children to swim. An avenue at Sydney Olympic Park was named after him for the 2000 Games. Full details on <a href="http://www.olympics.com.au">www.olympics.com.au</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>The Sportimonium, a sports museum in Hofstade (Belgium), devoted World Heritage Day on 22 April this year to the theme of “Heroes”. Gaston Roelants, President of the Belgian Olympians Association; Roland Renson, President of the Sportimonium; and <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31189&epslanguage=en"><strong>Belgian NOC</strong></a></strong> Secretary General Guido De Bondt invited the country’s Olympic medallists for a special session on “Olympic Heroes”. Looking ahead to London 2012, an invitation was also sent to all the athletes who took part in the 1948 Games in London. Juliaan Bogaert, Jean Dubois, Roger Goossens, Maria Huybrechts, Maria Oeyen, Joseph Rosa and Yvonne Van Bets were honoured on this occasion. More info on <a href="http://www.olympic.be">www.olympic.be</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>On 27 April, the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31237&epslanguage=en"><strong>Colombian NOC</strong></a></strong> launched its “Choose the Colombian flagbearer at the London 2012 Games” competition. Those attending this ceremony at the NOC headquarters in Bogota included athletes Mariana Pajon, Paulo César Villar and Luis Fernando López – all three qualified for these Games, the NOC’s Executive Committee members, representatives of the British embassy in Colombia, NOC partners and media representatives. The competition will run until 15 June, after which we shall know which of the eight athlete candidates (Catherine Ibarguen, Luis Fernando López,&nbsp; Paulo Villar, Mariana Pajón, Edwin Ávila, Yuri Alvear, Omar Pinzón and Oscar Figueroa), will carry the Colombian team flag at the Opening Ceremony in London. More details on <a href="http://www.coc.org.co/">www.coc.org.co</a></p> <p>LeRoy Walker, the first African-American Chairman of the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30787&epslanguage=en"><strong>United States Olympic Committee</strong></a></strong> (USOC), died this week at the age of 93. Walker was also the first black head coach of a US Olympic team when he led the track squad to the 1976 Games in Montreal. He had previously coached Olympic teams from Ethiopia, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya and Trinidad and Tobago. Walker led the USOC from 1992 to 1996. More details on <a href="http://www.teamusa.org">www.teamusa.org</a>&nbsp;</p> <p>At the recent Venezuelan Sports Federations Assembly, the decision was taken to include Taekwondo Federation President Hung Ki Kim as a member of the <strong>NOC Executive Board</strong>. Fencer Alejandra Benítez will be the athletes’ representative on the Board.&nbsp;</p> <h5>ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES</h5> <h5 class="iocCopyGrey">SOCHI 2014</h5> <p>The “One school - one country” education programme has just been launched in Sochi. This is a joint initiative of the <strong><a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGame.aspx?id=30778&epslanguage=en">Sochi 2014 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games</a></strong>, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and the City Administration. As part of this programme, each of the 67 schools in Sochi will study in detail the Olympic history and culture of one of the countries taking part in the 2014 Games. Pupils and teachers will prepare projects and presentations on the Games. All of the projects prepared by the pupils will be presented at Sochi's traditional Olympic lessons on 1 September 2013. More details on www.sochi2014.com&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <h5>RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS</h5> <p>The 33rd <strong>European Olympic Committees</strong> (EOC) Seminar was held in Budapest (Hungary) from 26 to 28 April. Delegations from 37 European NOCs took part. The opening ceremony was attended by the Hungarian Sports Minister, Attila Czene; EOC President Patrick Hickey; Hungarian NOC President Zolt Borkai and IOC members Pál Schmitt and Ser Miang Ng. The work of the Seminar, under the leadership of EOC Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi, focused chiefly on the Games in London, the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi and the 2014 YOG in Nanjing. Two workshops were held to address two important topics: a talent identification project, and new ways of communicating. The seminar was preceded by a meeting of the EOC Executive Committee, and concluded with the ceremony for the presentation of the International Fair Play Committee’s Awards for 2011. More details on <a href="http://www.eurolympic.org">www.eurolympic.org</a>.</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1336131300) } [5]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(49) "London’s Olympic shooting venue hits the target" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(2092) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">London’s Olympic shooting venue has successfully staged the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31612&epslanguage=en">ISSF</a> World Cup, as preparations continue for this year’s Olympic Games. The Royal Artillery Barracks hosted more than 800 competitors from 100 countries during the tournament, which ran from 17-28 April, and ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber was impressed by the temporary venue, which will host the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Sport.aspx?id=31611&epslanguage=en">shooting</a> events during the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGameAdvanced.aspx?id=120390&epslanguage=en">London 2012 Games</a>.</p> <p>“If everything worked well at this test event, there should be no problem at the Games,” said Schreiber. “We had more than twice the participants than at the Games time, when 390 shooters will be competing here at the Royal Artillery Barracks venue.</p> <p>“The test has been successful, the installation proved to be working very well even under the pressure of such a massive event,” he added. “There is still some work to do to tune up the venue, but with more than 90 days to go there should be no problems.” <br />&nbsp;<br />Fifteen shooting events – the same number that will be staged during London 2012 – were held at the ISSF World Cup, including indoor rifle and pistol events and outdoor shotgun events.</p> <p>Four temporary indoor ranges have been constructed at the Royal Artillery Barracks for the Olympic pistol and rifle events, while outdoor shotgun ranges have been built for the trap and skeet events. Temporary grandstands have also been constructed at each range.</p> <p>The ISSF World Cup gave the <a href="http://www.london2012.com">London 2012 Organsing Committee</a> the chance to test operations ahead of the Games, including scoring and results systems.</p> <p>The competition saw <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31165&epslanguage=en">Russia</a> top the medal standings, with an overall total of six individual medals, including two gold, and four silver.</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(19) "5/2/2012 2:17:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160429" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(2092) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">London’s Olympic shooting venue has successfully staged the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31612&epslanguage=en">ISSF</a> World Cup, as preparations continue for this year’s Olympic Games. The Royal Artillery Barracks hosted more than 800 competitors from 100 countries during the tournament, which ran from 17-28 April, and ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber was impressed by the temporary venue, which will host the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Sport.aspx?id=31611&epslanguage=en">shooting</a> events during the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGameAdvanced.aspx?id=120390&epslanguage=en">London 2012 Games</a>.</p> <p>“If everything worked well at this test event, there should be no problem at the Games,” said Schreiber. “We had more than twice the participants than at the Games time, when 390 shooters will be competing here at the Royal Artillery Barracks venue.</p> <p>“The test has been successful, the installation proved to be working very well even under the pressure of such a massive event,” he added. “There is still some work to do to tune up the venue, but with more than 90 days to go there should be no problems.” <br />&nbsp;<br />Fifteen shooting events – the same number that will be staged during London 2012 – were held at the ISSF World Cup, including indoor rifle and pistol events and outdoor shotgun events.</p> <p>Four temporary indoor ranges have been constructed at the Royal Artillery Barracks for the Olympic pistol and rifle events, while outdoor shotgun ranges have been built for the trap and skeet events. Temporary grandstands have also been constructed at each range.</p> <p>The ISSF World Cup gave the <a href="http://www.london2012.com">London 2012 Organsing Committee</a> the chance to test operations ahead of the Games, including scoring and results systems.</p> <p>The competition saw <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31165&epslanguage=en">Russia</a> top the medal standings, with an overall total of six individual medals, including two gold, and four silver.</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1335968220) } [6]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(40) "London 2012 Olympic basketball draw made" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(3634) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">The draws for the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGameAdvanced.aspx?id=120390&epslanguage=en">London 2012</a> Olympic <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Sport.aspx?id=31341&epslanguage=en">basketball</a> tournaments have been made, confirming the line-ups for the preliminary stages of both the men’s and women’s tournaments.</p> <p>The men’s draw sees hosts <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30780&epslanguage=en">Great Britain</a> pitted against European champions and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/GameAdvanced.aspx?id=126789&epslanguage=en">Beijing 2008</a> silver medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31308&epslanguage=en">Spain</a>, as well as <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30785&epslanguage=en">Australia</a>, <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31208&epslanguage=en">Brazil</a> and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30782&epslanguage=en">China</a>, while reigning Olympic champions <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30787&epslanguage=en">USA</a> will face 2008 bronze medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31147&epslanguage=en">Argentina</a>, <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30781&epslanguage=en">France</a> and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31322&epslanguage=en">Tunisia</a>. These nine teams will be joined by three further qualifiers, with places to be decided at an Olympic Qualifying tournament in Venezuela from the 2–8 July.</p> <p>In the women’s draw, current European champions and Beijing 2008 bronze medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31165&epslanguage=en">Russia</a> will face Beijing 2008 silver medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30785&epslanguage=en">Australia</a>, as well as <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31208&epslanguage=en">Brazil</a> and hosts <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30780&epslanguage=en">Great Britain</a>, while reigning Olympic champions <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30787&epslanguage=en">USA</a> will face current Asian champions <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30782&epslanguage=en">China</a> and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31141&epslanguage=en">Angola</a>.</p> <p>Five places in the women’s competition are still up for grabs, with an Olympic Qualifying tournament being held in Turkey from the 25 June to 1 July to determine the final qualifiers.</p> <p>Following the draw, <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31342&epslanguage=en">FIBA</a> Secretary General and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Member.aspx?id=71265&epslanguage=en">IOC Member Patrick Baumann</a> said: "For every major championship, the draw is a major milestone. Players begin picturing themselves on the court and thinking about match-ups. Fans start imagining the atmosphere. The <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/MediaPlayer.aspx?id=57736&epslanguage=en">2008 men’s final between the USA and Spain</a> was one of the greatest Olympic moments. It showed the huge strides international basketball had made in becoming more and more competitive. I expect this year's Olympic basketball tournaments will be a great and memorable spectacle for all." </p> <p>Debbie Jevans, Director of Sport at the <a href="http://www.london2012.com">London 2012 Organising Committee</a>, added: “The Olympic basketball tournaments will see some of the biggest basketball stars in the world come to London to compete for gold. Today’s draw gives us a glimpse of some of the exciting encounters, world-class players and top teams we’ll see in action this summer.”&nbsp;</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(20) "5/2/2012 11:54:00 AM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160425" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(3634) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">The draws for the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGameAdvanced.aspx?id=120390&epslanguage=en">London 2012</a> Olympic <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Sport.aspx?id=31341&epslanguage=en">basketball</a> tournaments have been made, confirming the line-ups for the preliminary stages of both the men’s and women’s tournaments.</p> <p>The men’s draw sees hosts <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30780&epslanguage=en">Great Britain</a> pitted against European champions and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/GameAdvanced.aspx?id=126789&epslanguage=en">Beijing 2008</a> silver medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31308&epslanguage=en">Spain</a>, as well as <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30785&epslanguage=en">Australia</a>, <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31208&epslanguage=en">Brazil</a> and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30782&epslanguage=en">China</a>, while reigning Olympic champions <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30787&epslanguage=en">USA</a> will face 2008 bronze medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31147&epslanguage=en">Argentina</a>, <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30781&epslanguage=en">France</a> and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31322&epslanguage=en">Tunisia</a>. These nine teams will be joined by three further qualifiers, with places to be decided at an Olympic Qualifying tournament in Venezuela from the 2–8 July.</p> <p>In the women’s draw, current European champions and Beijing 2008 bronze medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31165&epslanguage=en">Russia</a> will face Beijing 2008 silver medallists <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30785&epslanguage=en">Australia</a>, as well as <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31208&epslanguage=en">Brazil</a> and hosts <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30780&epslanguage=en">Great Britain</a>, while reigning Olympic champions <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30787&epslanguage=en">USA</a> will face current Asian champions <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30782&epslanguage=en">China</a> and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31141&epslanguage=en">Angola</a>.</p> <p>Five places in the women’s competition are still up for grabs, with an Olympic Qualifying tournament being held in Turkey from the 25 June to 1 July to determine the final qualifiers.</p> <p>Following the draw, <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/SportFederation.aspx?id=31342&epslanguage=en">FIBA</a> Secretary General and <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Member.aspx?id=71265&epslanguage=en">IOC Member Patrick Baumann</a> said: "For every major championship, the draw is a major milestone. Players begin picturing themselves on the court and thinking about match-ups. Fans start imagining the atmosphere. The <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/MediaPlayer.aspx?id=57736&epslanguage=en">2008 men’s final between the USA and Spain</a> was one of the greatest Olympic moments. It showed the huge strides international basketball had made in becoming more and more competitive. I expect this year's Olympic basketball tournaments will be a great and memorable spectacle for all." </p> <p>Debbie Jevans, Director of Sport at the <a href="http://www.london2012.com">London 2012 Organising Committee</a>, added: “The Olympic basketball tournaments will see some of the biggest basketball stars in the world come to London to compete for gold. Today’s draw gives us a glimpse of some of the exciting encounters, world-class players and top teams we’ll see in action this summer.”&nbsp;</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1335959640) } [7]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(112) "IOC announces additional chance to win a trip to London 2012 as part of “Show Your Best” Video Competition " ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(2869) "<iframe height="304" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CkMn9-K3_mQ?modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0" frameborder="0" width="540" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <br /> <p class="iocCopyIntro"><br />The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that there will be an additional Grand Prize winner for its "Show Your Best" initiative, a global campaign and video competition to help build involvement with the Olympic Movement among young people and create the next generation of Olympic fans.</p> <p>The “Show Your Best” campaign, which began in November 2011, has added a new prize, with the submission deadline of 15 June, to allow more people to show their best as momentum continues to build ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games. </p> <p>Since the campaign launched, there have been hundreds of submissions from over 50 countries across the world including Latvia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Serbia, Tunisia, the Philippines, Columbia, Ukraine and South Africa, as well as across Western Europe and North America. Over 13,000 people have voted on the videos. </p> <p>In the campaign, people are encouraged to record videos of themselves demonstrating their personal best. Videos submitted before 15 June will qualify to be judged by Olympic athletes. The Grand Prize winner will win a trip for two to London as guests of the IOC for the London 2012 Summer Games. Submissions will be judged on how well the video represents the Olympic values; how well it demonstrates the idea of “Showing Your Best”; and how inspiring the video is overall. Users can record, upload and share their talents and skills – whatever those may be – on the Olympic site <a href="http://www.olympic.org/showyourbest">www.olympic.org/showyourbest</a>.</p> <p>Previous winners include Ryan Celestain from Tulsa, Oklahoma. A triathlete who taught himself to swim just three weeks before his first triathlon, Celestain’s winning submission was selected out of 20 finalists from all over the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p align="center">###</p> <p>For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team: <br />Tel: +41 21 621 6000 e-mail: <a href="mailto:pressoffice@olympic.org">pressoffice@olympic.org</a>, or visit our web site at <a href="http://www.olympic.org">www.olympic.org</a>.</p> <h5>Videos</h5> <p>YouTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/iocmedia"><font size="2">www.youtube.com/iocmedia</font></a> </p> <h5>Photos</h5> <p>For an extensive selection of photos available shortly after each event, please follow us on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/iocmedia">Flickr</a>.</p> <h5>Social media</h5> <p>For up-to-the-minute information on the IOC and regular updates, please follow us on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/iocmedia">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/olympics">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/Olympics">YouTube</a>.</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(19) "5/2/2012 9:09:00 AM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160422" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(2869) "<iframe height="304" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CkMn9-K3_mQ?modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0" frameborder="0" width="540" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <br /> <p class="iocCopyIntro"><br />The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that there will be an additional Grand Prize winner for its "Show Your Best" initiative, a global campaign and video competition to help build involvement with the Olympic Movement among young people and create the next generation of Olympic fans.</p> <p>The “Show Your Best” campaign, which began in November 2011, has added a new prize, with the submission deadline of 15 June, to allow more people to show their best as momentum continues to build ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games. </p> <p>Since the campaign launched, there have been hundreds of submissions from over 50 countries across the world including Latvia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Serbia, Tunisia, the Philippines, Columbia, Ukraine and South Africa, as well as across Western Europe and North America. Over 13,000 people have voted on the videos. </p> <p>In the campaign, people are encouraged to record videos of themselves demonstrating their personal best. Videos submitted before 15 June will qualify to be judged by Olympic athletes. The Grand Prize winner will win a trip for two to London as guests of the IOC for the London 2012 Summer Games. Submissions will be judged on how well the video represents the Olympic values; how well it demonstrates the idea of “Showing Your Best”; and how inspiring the video is overall. Users can record, upload and share their talents and skills – whatever those may be – on the Olympic site <a href="http://www.olympic.org/showyourbest">www.olympic.org/showyourbest</a>.</p> <p>Previous winners include Ryan Celestain from Tulsa, Oklahoma. A triathlete who taught himself to swim just three weeks before his first triathlon, Celestain’s winning submission was selected out of 20 finalists from all over the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p align="center">###</p> <p>For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team: <br />Tel: +41 21 621 6000 e-mail: <a href="mailto:pressoffice@olympic.org">pressoffice@olympic.org</a>, or visit our web site at <a href="http://www.olympic.org">www.olympic.org</a>.</p> <h5>Videos</h5> <p>YouTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/iocmedia"><font size="2">www.youtube.com/iocmedia</font></a> </p> <h5>Photos</h5> <p>For an extensive selection of photos available shortly after each event, please follow us on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/iocmedia">Flickr</a>.</p> <h5>Social media</h5> <p>For up-to-the-minute information on the IOC and regular updates, please follow us on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/iocmedia">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/olympics">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/Olympics">YouTube</a>.</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1335949740) } [8]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(36) "Olympic football tickets now on sale" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(1739) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">Tickets for the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGameAdvanced.aspx?id=120390&epslanguage=en">London 2012</a> football tournament have gone back on sale, following the draws that were made for the men’s and women’s preliminary stages last week.</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.london2012.com">London 2012 Organising Committee</a> (LOCOG) has announced that tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis from 11am on Monday 30 April until 11pm on Sunday 6 May. They can be purchased at <a href="http://www.tickets.london2012.com">www.tickets.london2012.com</a> or via telephone on 0844 847 2012, with prices starting at £20 for adults. Tickets for those aged over 60 and children aged under 16 are also available at special prices for many matches.</p> <p>Last week’s draw saw <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30780&epslanguage=en">Great Britain</a>’s women’s team pitted against <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31271&epslanguage=en">New Zealand</a> in Cardiff in the opening match of the Games, with other matches due to be held at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Old Trafford in Manchester, James’ Park in Newcastle, the City of Coventry Stadium and Wembley Stadium in London. 

</p> <p>So far approximately one million tickets have been sold for the football tournament, with approximately 1.5 million still to sell. 

</p> <p>LOCOG Commercial Director Chris Townsend said: “Now that the draw has taken place, we are delighted to put remaining tickets on sale to see some of the world's most exciting young footballers in the Olympic Games. This is a great opportunity for people across the UK to be part of the Games, and see great matches at great prices.”</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(20) "4/30/2012 2:51:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160417" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(1739) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">Tickets for the <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/FutureGameAdvanced.aspx?id=120390&epslanguage=en">London 2012</a> football tournament have gone back on sale, following the draws that were made for the men’s and women’s preliminary stages last week.</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.london2012.com">London 2012 Organising Committee</a> (LOCOG) has announced that tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis from 11am on Monday 30 April until 11pm on Sunday 6 May. They can be purchased at <a href="http://www.tickets.london2012.com">www.tickets.london2012.com</a> or via telephone on 0844 847 2012, with prices starting at £20 for adults. Tickets for those aged over 60 and children aged under 16 are also available at special prices for many matches.</p> <p>Last week’s draw saw <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=30780&epslanguage=en">Great Britain</a>’s women’s team pitted against <a href="/_Templates_/Pages/Country.aspx?id=31271&epslanguage=en">New Zealand</a> in Cardiff in the opening match of the Games, with other matches due to be held at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Old Trafford in Manchester, James’ Park in Newcastle, the City of Coventry Stadium and Wembley Stadium in London. 

</p> <p>So far approximately one million tickets have been sold for the football tournament, with approximately 1.5 million still to sell. 

</p> <p>LOCOG Commercial Director Chris Townsend said: “Now that the draw has taken place, we are delighted to put remaining tickets on sale to see some of the world's most exciting young footballers in the Olympic Games. This is a great opportunity for people across the UK to be part of the Games, and see great matches at great prices.”</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1335797460) } [9]=> array(13) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(49) "IOC announces appointment of new Finance Director" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(2031) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is pleased to announce the hiring of Caroline Kuyper as the International Olympic Committee’s new Finance Director. </p> <p>A Swiss national of Dutch origin, Caroline joins us after many years with Nestlé, the world's largest food and nutrition company, where she most recently held the position of Head of Finance for Research and Development, Innovation and Technology. Prior to joining Nestlé in 2003, Caroline worked in Finance and Business Development at Philip Morris International from where she brings considerable business and audit experience. </p> <p>She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Lausanne (HEC) and attended Executive Development programmes at IMD Business School and the London Business School. </p> <p>An avid sports fan, Caroline has competed in sailing, alpine skiing and snowboarding, including the ISF Snowboard World Cup Tour and Masters (1991-1993) and the ISF Snowboard World Championships (1993). </p> <p>She will begin work at the IOC&nbsp;in July. </p> <p align="center">###</p> <p>For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team: <br />Tel: +41 21 621 6000 e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at <a href="http://www.olympic.org/">www.olympic.org</a>.</p> <h5>Videos</h5> <p>YouTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/iocmedia">www.youtube.com/iocmedia</a></p> <h5>Photos</h5> <p>For an extensive selection of photos available shortly after each event, please follow us on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/iocmedia">Flickr</a>.<br />To request archive photos and footage, please contact our Images team at: <a href="mailto:images@olympic.org">images@olympic.org</a>.</p> <h5>Social media</h5> <p>For up-to-the-minute information on the IOC and regular updates, please follow us on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/iocmedia">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/olympics">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/Olympics">YouTube</a>.</p>" ["pubdate#"]=> int(1) ["pubdate"]=> string(20) "4/27/2012 2:14:00 PM" ["guid#"]=> int(1) ["guid@"]=> string(11) "ispermalink" ["guid@ispermalink"]=> string(4) "true" ["guid"]=> string(44) "http://www.olympic.org/news?articleId=160410" ["summary#"]=> int(1) ["summary"]=> string(2031) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is pleased to announce the hiring of Caroline Kuyper as the International Olympic Committee’s new Finance Director. </p> <p>A Swiss national of Dutch origin, Caroline joins us after many years with Nestlé, the world's largest food and nutrition company, where she most recently held the position of Head of Finance for Research and Development, Innovation and Technology. Prior to joining Nestlé in 2003, Caroline worked in Finance and Business Development at Philip Morris International from where she brings considerable business and audit experience. </p> <p>She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Lausanne (HEC) and attended Executive Development programmes at IMD Business School and the London Business School. </p> <p>An avid sports fan, Caroline has competed in sailing, alpine skiing and snowboarding, including the ISF Snowboard World Cup Tour and Masters (1991-1993) and the ISF Snowboard World Championships (1993). </p> <p>She will begin work at the IOC&nbsp;in July. </p> <p align="center">###</p> <p>For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team: <br />Tel: +41 21 621 6000 e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at <a href="http://www.olympic.org/">www.olympic.org</a>.</p> <h5>Videos</h5> <p>YouTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/iocmedia">www.youtube.com/iocmedia</a></p> <h5>Photos</h5> <p>For an extensive selection of photos available shortly after each event, please follow us on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/iocmedia">Flickr</a>.<br />To request archive photos and footage, please contact our Images team at: <a href="mailto:images@olympic.org">images@olympic.org</a>.</p> <h5>Social media</h5> <p>For up-to-the-minute information on the IOC and regular updates, please follow us on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/iocmedia">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/olympics">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/Olympics">YouTube</a>.</p>" ["date_timestamp"]=> int(1335536040) } } ["channel"]=> array(14) { ["title#"]=> int(1) ["title"]=> string(38) "International Olympic Committee : News" ["link#"]=> int(1) ["link"]=> string(124) "http://www.olympic.org/rss/feed.aspx?language=en&newspage=35&type=news-group&subsection=b49fde4e-58a9-4dd1-82ee-0993ff3f879c" ["description#"]=> int(1) ["description"]=> string(65) "WWW.OLYMPIC.ORG - Official website of the Olympic Movement - News" ["copyright#"]=> int(1) ["copyright"]=> string(35) "Copyright CIO. 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"It feels like you could fly down it, it feels wonderful. I'm so privileged to run here, I've been looking forward to this so much.”</p> <p>The event marked the first time that the stadium had been opened to the public for an athletics competition, with approximately 40,000 people attending the venue’s official opening on Saturday evening. The event gave the London 2012 Organising Committee the chance to test key aspects of it’s operations ahead of this year’s Games, with athletes going through exactly the same kind of procedures that the likes of Usain Bolt will do later this year. </p> <p>"This event is very important to us for a number of reasons," said LOCOG Chairman Seb Coe.</p> <p>"Seeing athletes on the track for the first time will be a special moment for me personally and then welcoming 40,000 people into the Stadium on Saturday night will be a major milestone.</p> <p>"This crowd will not only be starting their Olympic journey just weeks ahead of the Games, they will also play a vital role in helping us test the venue and earn our licence to operate the Stadium.</p> <p>"I am very proud of this venue and excited that it is set to stage the biggest sporting event in the world."</p>" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(1745) "<p class="iocCopyIntro">London’s Olympic Stadium has welcomed competitive sport for the first time, as the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Athletics Championships were held at the Olympic venue from 4-7 May.</p> <p>The very first winner within the stadium, which lies in the heart of the Olympic Park in east London, was Loughborough University’s Justine Kinney, who won the first heat of the first event – the women’s 400m hurdles – on Friday.</p> <p>"The track feels amazing,” said the Irish athlete. 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