International Olympic Committee - The African Mirror

Mar

2023

African Olympic body supports Russian, Belarusian participation as neutrals

AFRICAN Olympic committees passed a resolution supporting the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Paris 2024 summer Olympics as neutrals. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) set out a path in January for Russian and Belarusian athletes to earn Olympic places through Asian qualifying events and to compete as neutrals, with no flags or anthems. Athletes from those countries were banned from many international competitions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but some international federations are now allowing them back following the IOC's guidance. The Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) passed its resolution following a meeting in Nouakchott, Mauritania,…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

The IOC must protect Russian and all athletes against geopolitics

ATHLETICS, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Ukrainian government are at each other’s throats over the inclusion of Russian and Belarussian athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics in 18 months. ABBEY MAKOE The IOC has stated its willingness to let athletes from the two countries heavily involved in the Ukraine war participate “under a neutral flag” at the games in France. In the aftermath of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the IOC recommended that Russian and Belarussian athletes should be “indefinitely suspended” in international competitions. Russia was swiftly barred from participating in the UEFA games and the FIFA…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

German athletes’ group urges IOC to investigate Peng’s safety

TENNIS

GERMANY’S independent elite athletes' organisation has urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to provide evidence of the safety of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai and called for an independent investigation into her situation. Peng's whereabouts became a matter of international concern following a nearly three-week public absence after she posted a message on social media in early November alleging that China's former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli had sexually assaulted her. Neither Zhang, who retired in 2018, nor the Chinese government has commented on Peng's allegation and the topic has been blocked from direct discussion on China's heavily censored internet. In the…

Nov

2021

By The African Mirror

ANALYSIS-IOC’s new transgender and intersex guidelines divide sport

LGBT+, LGBTQIA+

SYDNEY BAUER and RACHEL SAVAGE THE International Olympic Committee's move to drop its advice on testosterone levels for transgender athletes in the absence of scientific consensus leaves sports bodies facing tough decisions on who can compete, some experts have warned. The IOC this week reversed its 2015 guidance that transgender women should be allowed to compete in women's sport provided their testosterone levels are below a certain limit for at least 12 months before their first competition. It said there was "no definitive answer" on whether testosterone conferred a competitive advantage for trans and some intersex women and that its impact on…

Aug

2021

By The African Mirror

Olympics-Another record on track, Belarus sprinter heads for Poland

SPORT

AMY TENNERY and GABRIELLE TÉTRAULT-FARBER Another athletics world record was obliterated at the Olympics on Wednesday, as athletes coped with the heat of political and diplomatic controversy as well as Tokyo's broiling summer weather. American Sydney McLaughlin shattered her own record in the 400 metres hurdles while a Belarusian athlete left for Poland three days after refusing an order to come home against her wishes and seeking diplomatic protection. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was investigating the case of sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya while querying China over athletes who wore Mao Zedong badges on the medals podium but suspending a probe…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Guinea takes part in Olympics

COVID-19

GUINEA’S five athletes will participate in the Tokyo Olympics after all, a statement from the West African nation's sports ministry has said, reversing the previous day's decision to suspend its participation in the Games citing the pandemic. On Wednesday, Sports Minister Sanoussy Bantama Sow said in a letter to the country's National Olympic Committee that the government had cancelled Guinea's participation to "preserve the health of its athletes" due to a surge in COVID-19 variants. Daily coronavirus infections in Tokyo rose to 1,979 cases on Thursday, the city said, the highest level since January. The July 21 letter seen by…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

The Tokyo Olympics will be the Games of all mothers

SPORT

IN March, the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organizing Committee announced that the Tokyo Games would be the “first gender-balanced Olympic Games in history.” JANE THORNTON, Clinician Scientist, Canada Research Chair in Injury Prevention and Physical Activity for Health, Sport Medicine Physician, Western University MARGIE DAVENPORT, Associate Professor, Christenson Professor in Active Healthy Living, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta The gender gap in sport is well-established. Men have historically dominated elite sport for centuries, but thanks in part to the advocacy of organizations like the IOC Women in Sport Commission, global female representation…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Tokyo 2020 chief doesn’t rule out cancelling Games

NEWS

JUN-MIN PARK and SAKURA MURAKAMI THE chief of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee has not ruled out cancelling the Olympics if COVID-19 cases spiked, as more athletes tested positive for the virus and sponsors ditched plans to attend Friday's opening ceremony. Asked at a news conference if the global sporting showpiece might still be cancelled, Toshiro Muto said he would keep an eye on infection numbers and liaise with other organisers if necessary. "We will continue discussions if there is a spike in cases," said Muto. "We have agreed that based on the coronavirus situation, we will convene five-party talks…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

‘We urge caution,’ WHO says on Tokyo Olympics

COVID-19

STEPHANIE NEBEHAY THE World Health Organization, which is advising the International Olympic Committee in the run-up to the Tokyo Games opening later this month, is urging caution so as to stem the spread of the coronavirus, a senior WHO official has said. Crowds at Euro 2020 soccer stadiums and in pubs and bars in host cities are driving the current rise in COVID-19 infections in Europe, the WHO's regional office said on Thursday. Maria van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on COVID-19 at its global headquarters, was asked what lessons it was drawing from the Euro 2020 tournament in order to…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa to vaccinate athletes ahead of Tokyo Olympic games

SPORT

SOUTH African athletes due to participate in this year's Tokyo Olympics will receive COVID-19 shots during a vaccination rollout that has so far prioritised the elderly and frontline workers, the country's medicine authority said yesterday. Tokyo is due to host the Games from July 23 to August 8 after they were postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Japanese government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have faced calls for a further postponement or cancellation because of rising COVID-19 cases in Japan and elsewhere, but they now look set to go ahead. In a statement, the South…