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Scenes from Sochi

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Looking to Sochi 2014

Composed of Olympic gold medallists to look after the athletes’ interests, representatives of the major Olympic Movement stakeholders – National Olympic Committees (NOC) and International Federations (IF) – and other experts in different areas of Games operations, the Commission will be assisting and monitoring the work of the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee during the coming six-and-a-half years of preparations and building on the positive start that has been made since Sochi’s election in Guatemala this July. This positive start was underlined during the Sochi Orientation Seminar that was held last week in Moscow, which saw Coordination Commission Chairman Jean-Claude Killy brief the Russian Prime Minister and attend two days of meetings with the representatives of all the main organisations involved in the Sochi Games preparations.

Under the leadership of Chairman Killy, who was appointed as head of the Commission in September this year, the group notably includes Rebecca Scott, Olympic gold medallist and member of the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission; Ottavio Cinquanta, Rene Fasel and Gian-Franco Kasper, Presidents of the international skating, ice hockey and skiing federations respectively – Fasel is also Chairman of the Vancouver Coordination Commission; Gunilla Lindberg, Secretary General of the Association of National Olympic Committees; Cesare Vaciago, former CEO of the successful Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games; and Rémy Charmetant, former Sports Director at the Albertville Games. In addition, the expertise brought by the remaining members in their work with the Olympic and Paralympic Games, all of them having served on Coordination Commissions or as experts before, will undoubtedly help Sochi to raise the bar, as they continue to work towards 2014.

Commenting on the Commission, IOC President Jacques Rogge said, “It is a pleasure for me that so many experienced and skilled people have agreed to participate in the work of the Sochi Coordination Commission. There is a lot of talent in this line-up and I am sure that the 2014 Games will benefit greatly from their knowledge and understanding of how to organise top-level sports competitions, and, in particular, Olympic Winter Games. Jean-Claude and his team will now be able to get to the heart of the matter and continue building on Sochi’s positive start to their Games preparations.”

Killy commented, “One of the biggest challenges that Games organisers face is trying to understand what it takes to put on a Games and what the different clients are looking for from their ’Olympic’ experience. Thanks to the knowledge and experience of the people on this Commission, we will be able to give Sochi 2014 massive support, as they attempt to organise great Olympic Winter Games in 2014.” He continued, “From Olympic gold medallist Beckie Scott, to former Torino 2006 CEO Cesare Vaciago, this Commission can call upon an unmatched level of experience in sports events. Be it from the point of view of the athlete to the preparation of the different fields of play to the Organising Committee’s operations, this team has the know-how, and I for one am sure that, together, we will be able to capitalise on that knowledge as we assist Sochi over the coming years.”

The members of the Coordination Commission for Sochi 2014 are:

Chairman
Jean-Claude Killy (FRA)

Members (in alphabetical order)
Rémy Charmetant (FRA)
Ottavio Cinquanta (ITA)
Philippe Drevon (FRA)
René Fasel (SUI)
Gian-Franco Kasper (SUI)
Gunilla Lindberg (SWE)
HRH The Prince of Orange (NED)
Miguel Sagarra (ESP) (IPC representative)
Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr (ESP)
Rebecca Scott (CAN)
Tsunekazu Takeda (JPN)
Cesare Vaciago (ITA)

Executive Director for the Commission
Gilbert FELLI (SUI) IOC Olympic Games Executive Director

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NOTE TO EDITORS:

IOC Coordination Commission
The IOC, as the guardian of the Olympic Games, assists and monitors the work of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games through the work of the Coordination Commission. The Commission visits the host city once a year until four years from the Games, when the visits become twice yearly until the Games are held. The Commission’s full meetings are supplemented by the regular visits of smaller IOC teams involving the Commission Chairman, selected members of the Commission and members of the IOC administration. The first full visit of the IOC’s Coordination Commission for the Sochi Games to Russia will be from 22 to 24 April 2008.

For more information please contact the IOC Communications Department, Tel: +41 21 621 60 00, email: pressoffice@olympic.org

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Press Release | Sochi 2014 Coordination Commission announced

“Jean-Claude Killy’s knowledge of the Olympic Movement makes him the ideal person to guide Sochi as it prepares for the Olympic Winter Games in 2014,” said Rogge. “His relevant and recent experience as an outstanding Chairman of the Turin 2006 Coordination Commission will be a great asset for the IOC and for Sochi.”

In addition to his success as chair of the Turin Coordination Commission, Killy was Co-President of the Organising Committee for Albertville 1992. His reputation as a world-class skier was sealed when he won all three Olympic gold medals in Alpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France.

“It is a great honour for me to be entrusted with this responsibility,” said Killy, an IOC member since 1995. “I am very pleased to be able to make a further contribution to the IOC during the forthcoming years of hard work that await us. I will use key learnings from Turin 2006, and intend to set high standards to ensure Sochi delivers fantastic Games and a tremendous sporting legacy for its city, the Krasnodar region and Russia.

The members of the Commission that Jean-Claude Killy will chair will be announced in due course. The first Coordination Commission meeting is expected to be held next year. Jean-Claude Killy will join President Rogge at the end of the month when he visits President Putin in Sochi.

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More about the Coordination Commission
The Olympic Games Coordination Commission is formed shortly after the election of a host city to oversee and assist the Organising Committee (OCOG) in the planning, construction, and implementation of the Olympic Games. The Coordination Commission acts as a liaison between the IOC, the OCOG, the International Federations (IFs) and the National Olympic Committees (NOCs). The commission includes representatives of the IOC, the IFs, the NOCs and an athlete representative as well as experts in the fields of media, environment, and TV technology. .The others coordination commissions are chaired by Hein Verbruggen (Beijing 2008), René Fasel (Vancouver 2010) and Denis Oswald (London 2012).

For further information, please contact the IOC Communications Department, Tel: +41 21 621 60 00, email: pressoffice@olympic.org

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Press Release | 3-time Olympic Gold Medallist to Guide Sochi 2014

Speaking at the end of the day and a half of meetings in Moscow, Gilbert Felli said, “Since we had our first meeting with the Sochi team on the morning after their election as the host city for 2014, they have done a great job of setting the wheels in motion to get the Sochi 2014 project underway.” He continued, “Thanks to this early progress, we have had a day and a half of very productive meetings with Dmitry Chernyshenko and the Sochi team, as well as with the representatives of the government bodies involved in the Games project. This first encounter has laid the foundations for our work together on this exciting project over the next seven years, as we look to ensure that the athletes will be able to compete in the best possible conditions at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.”

Felli’s comments were echoed by Dmitry Chernyshenko, CEO of the Sochi 2014 Bid Committee, who commented, “Together with the IOC delegation, we have laid the basis for the next seven years of cooperation. The foundation of the Organising Committee and the efficient transfer of knowledge that was gained through the bid phase are our main objectives in the coming days. We believe that by starting to work with the IOC early, we will be able to create a highly effective Games management process, which will put us on the right track to the best Winter Games experience ever.”

The day and a half of meetings, which were also attended by IOC member Vitaly Smirnov and Victor A. Khotochkin – the Executive First Vice-President of the Russian Olympic Committee – looked at technical elements of the relationship between the IOC and Sochi 2014, including key aspects of the Games organisation, common objectives for the IOC and the Organising Committee, the structure of a Coordination Commission, the IOC’s Games-management process, logistics for the next visit of the IOC to Sochi, the development of the Master Schedule for the Sochi Games and a look at Sochi 2014’s current progress.

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NOTE TO EDITORS:

IOC Coordination Commission
The IOC, as the guardian of the Olympic Games, assists and monitors the work of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games through the work of the Coordination Commission. The Commission visits the host city once a year until four years from the Games, when the visits become twice yearly until the Games are held. The Commission’s full meetings are supplemented by the regular visits of smaller IOC teams involving the Commission Chairman, selected members of the Commission and members of the IOC administration. The first full visit of the IOC’s Coordination Commission to Sochi will be next year.

Sochi 2014
Sochi was elected as the host city for the XXII Olympic Winter Games at the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala City on 4 July 2007. Sochi won the vote against the cities of Salzburg (Austria) and PyeongChang (Republic of Korea) in the second round of voting. The Russian city edged out PyeongChang 51 votes to 47, with Salzburg having been eliminated in round one. The Sochi Games will play host to the seven Olympic Winter sports currently on the Olympic programme and will run from 7 to 23 February 2014.

For more information please contact the IOC Communications Department, Tel: +41 21 621 60 00, email: pressoffice@olympic.org.

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Press Release | Sochi 2014: laying the foundations for successful Games

At the signing of the Host City Contract, which sets out the legal, commercial and financial rights and obligations of the IOC, the host city and the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the host country in relation to the Olympic Games, the IOC President, Jacques Rogge, congratulated the Sochi team for winning the vote and praised the high quality of their file and final presentation.

“Sochi presented a strong and visionary project” said Rogge when opening the press conference that followed the announcement ceremony. “I have every confidence that Sochi will host excellent Games in 2014”, he continued.

The IOC President also thanked the other Candidate Cities: Salzburg (Austria) and PyeongChang (Republic of Korea) for their excellent efforts and the quality of their candidatures. He also hoped that today’s disappointment would not discourage them from realising some of their projects.

Rogge said: “The Russian project will leave a tremendous legacy: a sporting legacy for athletes and for Russia’s young generations, who will be able to practise winter sports at home, as well as a social and economic legacy with infrastructure being used both in the winter and the summer. Sochi has placed young people at the heart of its project and developed a programme that will allow young Russians to be exposed to the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect, and pursue their Olympic dream. I congratulate Sochi for their inspiring project and look forward to collaborating with them over the next seven years”.

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Post from: EveryJoe

Press Release | IOC Elects Sochi as the Host City of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games