The Russian war against Ukraine has killed at least 644 sportspeople and damaged three quarters of Ukraine’s sports facilities, according to a UN diplomat. The figures may be the first public accounting of the toll the Russian invasion has taken on sport in Ukraine.
Dmytro Tymoshenko, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN, included those figures and more in his remarks November 19 to the United Nations General Assembly.
Ukraine diplomat Dmytro Tymoshenko.
On the agenda for the session was the adoption of the Olympic Truce covering the Milano/Cortina Winter Olympics. The truce was an element of a more obliquely titled resolution “Sport for development and peace: building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”. The document is similar to what has been presented to the UN ahead of every recent summer or winter Olympic Games.
The resolution was presented to the general assembly during some two hours of remarks by nearly three dozen member nations. Those delegates scattered about an otherwise empty assembly hall, with IOC president Kirsty Coventry and her IOC colleague from Italy, Giovanni Malago watching from the sidelines. Both spoke to the assembly.
But it was Tymoshenko, and the representative from the European Union, who were the only ones to address the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Tymoshenko was the most direct in his remarks.
“The ability of sport to serve as a force for peace is gravely undermined by Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. This war has caused devastating consequences for Ukraine’s sports sector. Russian aggression has disrupted athletes’ preparation for competitions, led to the cancellation or postponement of numerous events, restricted access to training facilities and caused the partial or complete destruction of sports infrastructure,” the diplomat said.
“The Russian Federation has killed at least 644 members of Ukraine’s sports community, injured 20 others, while 20 remain in captivity and 13 are missing. At least 799 sports facilities in Ukraine have been attacked by Russia, of which 180 were completely destroyed, 134 partially destroyed and 420 severely or partially damaged. Belarus has actively assisted Russia in committing these crimes,” Tymoshenko said.
IOC Pres. Kirsty Coventry speaking at the United Nations on November 19. (From UNTV)
Coventry did not specifically mention the Russia-Ukraine conflict in her remarks nor by name any other dispute involving sport and politics. In the past month the IOC levied sanctions against Indonesia for refusing to grant visas to Israeli athletes to compete at the world championships in gymnastics. The government of the world’s most populous nation said the Israelis represented a threat to public safety if they were allowed to enter. Coventry spoke in broader terms about the impact political decisions have on sport and athletes.
“They can only inspire the next generation if they are able to compete. In this divided world, we need to work together to keep sport and politics apart. This means athletes must be able to enter host countries and take part in competitions — not face the threat of being left back at home because they are denied a visa for politically motivated reasons. The final list of competitors must be decided by International Federations, not by governments. And athletes must not be judged on where they come from but rather on their sporting merits,” said the IOC leader.
IOC member and Italian national Olympic committee president Giovanni Malago at the United Nations.
Both Russia and Belarus have been suspended from the IOC. Athletes from either country must prove neutrality and no affiliation with government or military. No team sports are allowed from these countries at the Olympics nor are the national flag or anthem allowed.
Delegates from both countries were among speakers at the general assembly lauding the resolution. But neither mentioned the warfare they are carrying out against Ukraine. It’s an irony not lost upon the Ukraine diplomat.
“Ukraine today stands as the only country in history that, under full-scale attack, continues to send its national team to the Olympic Games — a testament to our unwavering commitment to the Olympic values of peace, dignity and justice.
“Russia often repeats the phrase ‘sport is outside politics’. But war is not politics — war is a crime. A state that wages a war of aggression, deliberately kills athletes, destroys stadiums and sports schools has no moral standing to refer to the Olympic ideal. Russia has violated the Olympic Truce at least three times, further demonstrating its disregard for the fundamental principles of the Olympic movement,” Tymoshenko said.
Sonic is back under the rings. Watch out, Los Angeles 2028.
Meanwhile, the breakup of the plans for an Olympic level e-sports tournament show the IOC have some ways to go before that happens.
The relationship between a highly developed 21st Century sport and the Olympics has been like oil and water. Both pour easily together. But let the mixture sit and it’s not long before the two substances drift apart. Despite the feverish activity of a few years ago for some sort of integration between the IOC and the world of e-games, plans for an Olympic-branded tournament in Saudi Arabia have ended, at least for now.
Insiders say a lack of progress toward such a competition in 2027, already postponed from 2026, is the reason. Talks involving governance, finance, and program were too many obstacles to overcome.
“The IOC rushed into a deal with Saudi Arabia to host the Olympic Esports Games as soon as possible to capitalize on the trend of gaming (and because the Saudis have the money to foot the bill) but now the bubble is bursting because it’s such a speculative industry with many different parties trying to jump on the trend to no avail,” says one observer familiar with the e-game industry, who could not speak publicly.
The IOC and the Saudi Arabia Olympic and Paralympic Committee signed a pact in 2024 to stage the first Olympic E Sport Games, a 12-year deal. Other than postponing the event from 2025, 2026 to 2027, not much has occurred. The IOC and Saudi NOC acknowledged the impasse a mutually withdrew from the agreement in October. Each says they will go their own way, the IOC still intent on organizing E sport games.
“The IOC, for its part, will develop a new approach to the Olympic Esports Games, taking the feedback from the “Pause and Reflect” process into account, and pursue a new partnership model.
“This approach will be a chance to better fit the Olympic Esports Games to the long-term ambitions of the Olympic Movement and to spread the opportunities presented by the Olympic Esports Games more widely, with the objective of having the inaugural Games as soon as possible,” says an IOC statement.
A spokesman for the IOC would say only that discussions involving the E sports games may have come up in some of the meetings last week in Lausanne of the two dozen commissions for IOC members. The IOC commission on Esports has existed for three years and is led by French NOC president David Lappartient.
Our industry source says the IOC will have a difficult time mounting a credible event, given the advanced state of play already in the gaming world.
“The esports events that have success are the individual events hosted by publishers of the games they own all the rights to (think League of Legends), where they can control all aspects of the event and use the fanbase of that specific game to drive ticket sales and online viewership.
“When other organizations try to take control and use esports for their own financial benefit, the actual gaming community doesn’t care because these organizations have not built a community of gamers that have any interest in watching or participating in their new events,” says our source.
Developing games that meet IOC standards and that appeal to elite gamers has made it difficult for game publishers to bring to market, says Raymond Goldsmith, chairman and CEO of ISM, the company that handled the IOC’s licensing of Sonic and Super Mario games for 25 years, until it ended some five years ago.
“The IOC, as ever, tried to control the intellectual property of the publishers. And at the same time they tried to placate the international federations. The most popular games were considered too violent or not following Olympic values,” he says. Titles that correspond to the sports federations represented in the Olympics are not as popular.
“If the IOC are to be successful with e-games, they have to get real and understand they are not going to get into the hard-core gaming world. It’s just not a fit. It’s a square peg trying to get into a round hole. They are desperately in need of trying to hang on to that network of gamers, that demographic,” he says.
Goldsmith salutes the IOC rethink of the role of e-sports. He suggests a five-continent event organized through the world’s NOCs with top qualifiers coming to the Olympics.
The IOC clearly is not aiming its deal with Sega as a way to woo elite gamers. It’s all about merchandising Sonic, whether it’s with games, apparel or toys. Not to mention online and feature film productions.
Maybe make Sonic the yet-to-be-disclosed mascot for LA 28? With a product line promised for 2026 and Sonic already a proven character, the IOC and LA 28 may have found a mascot magnificent. The SEGA speedster would be tough to catch for any new entry into the glaring spotlight of the Olympics.
SEGA President Shuji Utsumi spoke as if he was recommending Sonic for the mascot opening last month at the announcement of the new deal.
“This collaboration highlights the International Olympic Committee’s commitment to showcasing excellence, unity and perseverance on the global stage, values that Sonic embodies through speed, determination and resilience. It brings together uniquely crafted designs that combine the iconic Olympic rings and Sonic, and we are thrilled to share this exciting initiative with fans worldwide,” the SEGA chief said.
Has LA 28 sultan and media titan Casey Wasserman already signed a deal with Sonic? It’s rumored that the hedgehog has been spotted looking for a bungalow in Beverly Hills. Stay tuned.
As the IOC pokes along with its pause and reflect exercise this week of commission meetings in Lausanne, here’s something for the burghers of Olympic sport to consider: pick countries to host the Olympics, not by city.
Reality clearly shows the increasing influence national governments play in delivering 21st Century Olympics. Without the official approval of the head of state, no bid for the Games would be considered credible – or even allowed under IOC rules.
National governments are needed for security operations. Assuring athletes and officials that they can enter the host nation freely is another key role. And it is the head of state who has the honor of declaring the Games open.
For the sake of sustainability, taking a country-wide perspective in plans for an Olympic Games means maximum use of existing venues. In 2024 basketball was played in Lyon, 460km from host city Paris. Marseille, site for sailing, is 300 km further south. Tahiti hosted surfing, some 15,400 km from Paris.
LA28 organizers point out that their Games will be the first without new construction. That’s made possible because venues are dispersed across southern California. Then there are two in Oklahoma City, 700km east of LA where slalom canoe/kayak and women’s softball offer internationally approved venues.
The gatekeepers for every Olympic bid are the 206 national Olympic committees. Just as no bid can succeed without the head of state aboard, it is the NOC that okays Olympic plans before the IOC gets them.
Olympic Park in Munich
Germany, in the midst of selecting a future host city, would seem to benefit from a bid organized at the national level. Four candidates are being considered to become the next nominee for the summer Games, from 2036 and beyond. A nationwide poll says that 71 percent support a return of the Olympics, with Munich and the Rhine-Ruhr region the most favored. Bavarians themselves have voted in a referendum to hold the Olympics.
Berlin and Hamburg are the other two in the running.
It’s up to the German Olympic Sports Federation to pick from one of those four. But what if the bid could be from Germany at large with events distributed across the country, using existing venues? Organizers could still use a city like Munich or Berlin as a centerpoint. Hamburg, the only one on the sea, would likely be included as a sailing host in any German bid.
Other bids in the pipeline suggest that they will be driven by national forces, and not by the mayors of Mumbai or Cape Town.
In Asia, India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Africa are expected to jostle for the next Summer Olympics up for grabs in 2036 and 2040. Look also for a bid from Spain.
I close with a final example of how the national government is a make or break factor for a bid.
Olympic talk from Indonesia is now on mute after Israeli gymnasts were refused entry to compete in the FIG World Artistic Gymnastics championships in Jakarta last month. Disturbed by the actions against the Israelis, the IOC put Indonesia on notice that any Olympic dreams are on hold. The IOC told Indonesian officials that it will “end any form of dialogue about hosting future editions of the Olympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, Olympic events or conferences”.
The edict is the first substantial disciplinary action meted to an NOC under new president Kirsty Coventry. It shows she will be a tough against breaches of Olympic fair play. For Indonesia, a time to pause and reflect about its Olympic future.
The winter jewel that is Cortina shines brightly with just three months to go before the competition begins for the 2026 Olympic Winter games in the Italian Dolomites.
Winter Olympics expert Brian Pinelli says there is still unfinished work such as a new ski lift, the village is on its way to readiness for its second Olympic Winter Games. Pinelli knows the area well. He’s resided in Cortina for the past five years and will be a field producer for US rights holder NBC during the Games.
The Tofane Schuss section of the Olympia delle Tofane piste (Pinelli)
He has kindly furnished some recent photography he’s gathered around Cortina that highlights the beauty and charm that will be a noticeable contrast to the megalopolis of Milan, 250 miles south, cohost of the 2026 Games. Skating events are slated for several venues in Milan which will hold simultaneous opening and closing ceremonies with Cortina.
The 1956 Olympic Ice Stadium, to be renamed the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.Curling at the 1956 Olympic Ice Stadium (Pinelli)The Olympic Plaza will be jammed with crowds next February. (Pinelli)Cortina’s Olympia delle Tofane piste (Pinelli)Cortina bobs start
Three months after her election, IOC president Kirsty Coventry has wasted no time setting priorities.
“Fit for the Future” is the motto of the moment for IOC members, replacing “Olympic Agenda”, the rubric for the program of reforms laid out by predecessor Thomas Bach for the past 12 years.
Literally hours after her election in June, Coventry and her colleagues brainstormed for a day and a half in private, without IOC executives, on what they want to see change, internally and externally. on what the IOC needs to address now. Coventry has taken the next step by forming four working groups to handle each of the issues drawn from that session in June, Coventry says the goal is consensus on the recommendations each will put forward. Consensus of course needed to win the approval of the 100+ IOC members. It is possible for some proposals to be tabled at the next IOC session next February ahead of the winter Games in Milan.
Kirsty Coventry leads her second EB meeting this week as IOC President. (Ed Hula)
While seemingly redundant to already established IOC commissions that cover these matters, the working groups are exclusive for IOC members and are smaller in size.
The group on the Youth Olympic Games will be chaired by Danka Hrbeková. The future of this invention launched in 2010 is in the hands of this group. While some members question the need, practice has shown the YOG is an incubator for new Olympic sports.
New Olympic sports are the domain of the Olympic Program panel, led by Karl Stoss who already heads the IOC Program mission. His group will review how sports are chosen for the Olympics with an eye towards transparency. This group includes Seb Coe, one of the candidates in the race for the IOC presidency won by Coventry.
Luis Alberto Moreno is chairing Commercial Partnerships and Marketing. This group will assess the current marketing program of the IOC and whether it is fit for the times. The role of the Olympic Broadcasting Services will also be in the group’d remit.Among the members of this commission are two other candidates who competed with Coventry for the presidency, Johan Eliasch and Juan Antonio Samaranch.
A bit of intrigue for the fourth working group, Protecting the Female Category. No names were disclosed for the chair or membership. or members.he identities of the membership of the fourth working group Protecting the Female Category is being withheld at this time.
“The names of the members of the working group will remain confidential for now to protect the integrity of the group and their work,” says the IOC release.
Executive Board in Milan
With the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan and Cortina just six months away, the 15 member Executive Board meets September 18 and 19. The EB meeting is timed to follow this week’s latest visit of the 2026 coordination commission so preparations for the Games in February will likely be front and center. The two day EB meeting is the first time for the group in the six years since the Italian bid was chosen.
Commission chair Kristin Kloster, also an EB member, will report to her colleagues in camera. Behind closed doors she could be candid in her concerns for Milan/Cortina. While venues approach readiness, it is their unprecedented span across mountains, time-sucking journeys that will limit the mobility of spectators as well as staff, media and volunteers. The venue choices have been known as a challenge from the start to save cost and complexity. Existing venues were favored regardless of the distance from Cortina or Milan.
In her press conference Wednesday at the end of the cocom meeting Kloster noted that preparations for the Games are entering “a critical phase” with test events, torch relay and other events in rapid fire pace leading up to next February. IOC president Kirsty Coventry, also in Milan, joined Kloster and the Cocom at its final session Wednesday. Coventry will lead the Executive Board in a two day meeting. It’s the first time the EB has met in Milan since being selected at the 2019 IOC session.
Coventry can report on her travels since taking office in June. Her first stop was Singapore in July for the World Aquatics Championships. This month it was Tokyo for the world championships in track and field. Next week she will be in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly for the first time as IOC president.
The question of participation of Russian athletes in 2026 could be up for discussion by the EB but no changes to current IOC sanctions are expected.
Coventry told L’Equipe in a recent interview that no change is in the offing for the existing sanctions against Russia for its war against Ukraine. No athletes can compete under the Russian flag or other national symbols. Members of the military are banned; so are government leaders as well as those of the suspended Russian Olympic Committee. Coventry met last week with leaders of the Ukraine NOC at IOC headquarters in Lausanne.
More Changes for IOC Staff
There is a new Chief of Staff for Coventry. Jan Paterson began work September 15. Most recently involved with sport development in Saudi Arabia, Paterson spent two decades with the British Olympic Association and was a deputy chef de mission for Team GB at the 2012 Games in London. She succeeds Marcus Hausen, who joined the IOC staff when Thomas Bach took office in 2013,
James Pearce is named media advisor for the IOC president. Pearce, a former BBC reporter, he covered the Olympics from 2001 to 2012. He formed a media consultancy in London, assisting Coventry with her campaign for IOC president. He began work in Lausanne on September 1. For now Mark Adams continues as the official spokesman for the IOC into 2025, a post he’s held for nearly 15 years. Retirement awaits in 2026.
(Note of correction: in an earlier edition it was incorrectly reported that the Sept. 19 IOC press conference would be the last to be moderated by Mark Adams. He is expected to host many others before he retires in 2026. The text has been revised.)
Beginning January 1, 2026, Julien Baehni will begin work as Human Resources Director. The IOC says he will transition into the post through the end of June. He will succeed Xavier Tissières. Baehni comes to the IOC from UEFA headquarters in nearby Nyon.
Now with the formal severing of ties to the Olympics, the International Boxing Association battles onward, dedicated to supporting amateur and professional athletes, its associated national federations and confederations, and grass roots programs, among other new creative ventures.
The sport governing body hosted a “Golden Era” press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 2nd bringing together athletes, officials, sport leaders, international media, and celebrity guests, while revealing its vision to for a new era. An hour+ press conference was followed by Fight Night. The venue for both was the stylish Rixas Tersane Hotel, situated along the Turkish capital’s Bosphorus.
IBA president Umar Kremlev at the press conference.
Joining IBA president Umar Kremlev on stage were U.S. light middleweight (WBA) title holder Terence Crawford and flamboyant heavyweight Tyson Fury, as the boxing association leader unveiled plans entering a new, post-Olympic chapter. He emphasized intentions to further develop a comprehensive international strategy supporting fighters across all backgrounds in the amateur, professional and bareknuckle ranks.
Former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
“Our goal is to ensure every athlete knows that IBA is their boxing home – wherever the boxer is in the world, the IBA will support them,” Kremlev said, addressing the audience.
“This is our main goal. It is also our duty to create opportunities for children, who will gain positive development from the sport. We want to help them establish a new future for themselves and their families. We are now creating an ecosystem that includes amateur boxing, professional boxing and bare-knuckle boxing.”
IBA president Umar Kremlev delivers a punch in Istanbul.
The IBA was suspended by the IOC in 2019 over finance, governance and refereeing/judging issues. The organization strived to adopt governance reforms, while hiring Canadian sports ethics consultant Richard McLaren to provide recommendations on how to address its shortcoming and return to its former status. Ultimately, restoring ties with the IOC was unsuccessful.
An IOC boxing task force oversaw both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic tournaments. The sport – which has been contested at the Olympic Games since 1904 – was provisionally left off the competition program for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. However, the IOC provionally recognized World Boxing – a federation launched in April 2023 – as the the sport’s new Olympic governing body, in February 2025. Boxing has once again been included on the program for LA28.
In Istanbul, according to the IBA – as presented during a video shown during the event – more than 600 boxers from 104 countries are currently supported by the federation. Additionally, more than 25 million dollars have been awarded in prize money and over eight million dollars invested in national federations over recent years.
Champions Fight Night in Istanbul.
Later that evening, in a bout for the IBA and WBA Super Featherweight titles, Great Britain’s James “Jazza” Dickens scored a convincing fourth-round knockout over Russian title holder Albert Batyrgazaliev. The Istanbul Fight Night’s undercard involved six more contests, including two female and two bare knuckle matches.
The IBA is currently focusing on building and developing its professional arm, IBA.Pro, complimenting its longstanding mission as the prevalent beholder of the amateur system. The boxing organization says it remains steadfast in its support for fighters along their path to the highest levels of the unpaid ranks.
It is also aiming to provide a reliable support system, bolstered by various monetary incentives for athletes under the IBA Financial Support Program. The IBA says it is committed to assist a new generation of boxers to successfully move forward within the sport.
“There are a lot of talented kids out there that don’t have the finances to go to certain tournaments or they don’t have the right boxing equipment,” said four division world champion Terence Crawford. “IBA has committed to supporting those people to give them a fighting chance.”
Remembering “The Greatest” and Fond Memories from Atlanta 1996
Rasheda Ali, the daughter of the greatest fighter to ever step into the ring, was among numerous distinguished guests invited to Istanbul. She proudly recalled her father courageously lighting the Olympic Cauldron at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Games, as he persevered, trembling from Parkinson’s disease.
“The 1996 Olympic Games (opening ceremony) in Atlanta was something that was a big secret – the famly didn’t even know that Daddy was the chosen one,” Rasheda Ali recalled. “Once we watched the Olympics, we all shed a tear because we thought what a perfect candidate to light the cauldron.
“I thought what a brave move to make for my Dad, visbly shaking and lighting that cauldron – it really changed his life.”
Ali also shared insight into her childhood and what life was like being raised in the Ali household, along with her sisters.
“As a young girl, I just wanted Daddy to be home – I didn’t want him traveling and I really didn’t want to share him with the world,” she said.
“I realized as I got older, that it was a big responbility to share him, but also necessary. We realized the impact that he made on millions of people truly made him the icon that he is.”
Olympic House in Lausanne was eerily quiet the day after hundreds poured through the lobby for the ceremony installing Kirsty Coventry as IOC president. It’s as if the ultra modern edifice was taking a deep breath as it prepared to welcome Coventry, only the second president since it opened in 2019.
The day after her ceremony Coventry and some 60 other IOC members who traveled to Lausanne were wrapped up in a series of brainstorming meetings at the Olympic Museum, a few km east along the lake. The fourth floor office for the president that faces Lake Geneva was empty, void of decoration. Thomas Bach had gathered his mementos days before. Staff who were used to being peppered by calls throughout the day appeared wistful about the abrupt end of his telephone inquiries.
Coventry meets the press for the first time as IOC president.
But the hush is over. On day two of her mandate, Coventry was in action chairing her first meeting of the 15-member Executive Board. Nothing urgent or controversial revealed. She says reports from organizing committees and medals reallocation were among the topics. Nothing spectacular but IOC headquarters returned to its routines under a new president.
In her press conference following the EB meeting, Coventry was at ease fielding more than a dozen questions from reporters around the globe. More than 60 logged into the Zoom briefing now available online at the IOC media YouTube page.
But while the EB may have not made much news, Coventry opened up about the day and a half “Pause and Reflect” exercise held at the Olympic Museum. The closed-door brainstorm session included about 60 IOC members and zero of the IOC directors. The only staff on hand were there to help with clerical and logistical needs.
The biggest take away would be that the pause button has been pushed regarding the selection of a host for the 2036 Summer Games. As many as a dozen countries have expressed interest in 2036, the next plum the IOC has to award. After selecting Los Angeles and Brisbane some 10 years ahead, Coventry said that members want more of a say in when a decision is made and how it is made. With 11 years to go, there’s obviously no need to rush. She says lessons from the experience of Los Angeles will be considered in making a decision on what is the best time for the IOC to begin serious consideration of the 2036 host. That could be post 2028.
Coventry says the pause does not affect interested parties from contacting the IOC for questions and guidance about formulating plans.
ISU President and IOC member Jae Youl Kim with IOC President Kirsty Coventry at the ISU Extraordinary Congress (ISU)
In her first full week as IOC president Coventry made her first appearance before one of the 30+ international federations under the umbrella of the IOC, the International Skating Union. Coventry addressed the extraordinary general assembly of the ISU which was convened to adopt reforms meant to make the sport more adaptable to change. Coventry saluted the changes and promised to work with international federations in a collaborative way.
India 2036 Visits Lausanne
Despite the pause announced for the selection of a 2036 host city, a delegation from the Indian Olympic Association visited IOC headquarters last week. The visit had been scheduled well before the announcement.
Members of the delegation from India outside Olympic House.
The group numbering about a dozen and a half members was led by IOA President PT Usha, the first woman to hold the post, and Harsh Sanghavi, Minister of Sports for the government of Gujarat, which is interested in hosting Games in Ahmedabad. With 8.5 million residents, it is the most populous city in the west Indian state. Already home to a new 132,000-seat stadium — the biggest in the world — the government is also developing a multi-venue Sports City there.
The visitors heard from Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi and other staff but did not meet with the IOC president; neither was IOC member in India Nita Ambani a member of the delegation. Although talked about for years, the was the first ever in Lausanne to discuss the Indian interest in hosting the Olympics.
“The discussions provided a vital platform for the Indian delegation to articulate their vision for hosting a future Olympic Games in Ahmedabad,” says a press release from the group.
“Concurrently, they gained invaluable insights from the IOC regarding the requirements for the Olympic Games and its ambitions for the future of the Olympic Movement,” the release says. It also noted the pause in the process declared last week by the new IOC leader.
Hashimoto Seiko is the new preisdent of the Japanese Olympic Committtee.
JOC Elects First Female President
Seiko Hashimoto is the new president of the Japanese Olympic Committee. The first woman to hold the post defeated two other candidates for the job that she may have been destined to fill. An Olympic medalist in speedskating and an Olympian in track cycling, Hashimoto spent decades since then as a rising parliamentarian with an interest in sport. She’s been a minister for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and became president of the organizing committee when predecessor Yoshiro Mori resigned over a scandal involving sexist comments months before the Games.
In her comments to media following her selection, Hashimoto said that one of the goals of the JOC should be seeking another winter or summer Olympic Games. While that may not be in the immediate future for Japan, Hashimoto is more likely to find herself a nominee to the IOC, perhaps as early as February 2026 when the next elections for IOC members are scheduled. At age 60, Hashimoto only has 10 years left to serve on the IOC before hitting the age 70 mark.
Luciano Buonfiglio New Leader in Italy
Luciano Buonfiglio is the new president of the Italian committee.
The long time leader of the Italian canoe and kayak federation will lead Italian national Olympic committee CONI during the next four years. Luciano Buonfiglio was elected on one ballot at the CONI annual meeting a week ago. He defeated rival Luca Pancalli, president of the national Paralympic committee, 47 to 34. Retired IOC member Franco Carraro had been nominated as a neutral candidate but he received zero votes.
“There’s nothing more beautiful than being the president of CONI. It is a great honor and it is indeed privilege to represent CONI and Italian sports in the next four years,” Buonfiglio declared after the vote. The 74-year-old said he will serve just one term. He replaces Giovanni Malago who steps down after three terms. Malago will continue to serve as chair of the organizing committee for the upcoming winter Olympics in Milan/ Cortina. Malago, 66, has four years remaining as an IOC member, which is not connected to his tenure as CONI president.
The new president of the International Olympic Committee hasn’t said much yet about what she plans to do when she takes over June 23. But the anticipation for Kirsty Coventry is high: at 42 she is the youngest IOC president in 100 years, the first African and the first woman to lead the organization.
She takes over from her mentor Thomas Bach, who leaves the IOC in good shape with no immediate crises to solve. But there are plenty of challenges and opportunities ahead that will benefit from the energy of a more youthful president and the leadership group she’s now forming.
Coventry as travelled widely since her election in March, often along with Bach, introducing the new president to organizations like the Olympic Council of Asia or the organizers of the 2032 Games in Brisbane. Last week it was Rome where Conventry and Bach met with the leaders of the Italian government ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina.
This week Coventry will hold her first formal briefing for the media, just days before the installation ceremony June 23 in Lausanne. However, the virtual event will be limited to personal questions, not on policy matters. Those questions will have to wait until she formally takes office next week when she presides over her first meeting of the Executive Board.
While we wait for her thoughts about running the IOC, here’s a list of the opportunities and challenges ahead for IOC President Coventry.
Coventry with Bach in Rome with Italian leaders.
#1 Building Unity for the IOC – Coventry’s first round election in March came by a margin of one vote over the rest of the field, 49 votes. Missing that tally could have turned the election into a new contest. Some say second-place finisher Juan Antonio Samaranch would have prevailed, although recent history suggests otherwise. The two other IOC presidents elected in the 21st Century — Bach in 2013 and predecessor Jacques Rogge in 2001, won their majorities on the second ballot after leading in the first round.
All six defeated candidates remain on the IOC for a number of years, but there’s no evidence of any bad blood or serious dissent among the ranks of the IOC. Samaranch is also a member of the executive board for another year. All of the candidates called for a more open and deliberative IOC, so it will be interesting to see whether Coventry makes any change to the rubber stamp style of oversight that the IOC now seems to follow.
#2 Shape Her Vision – In her campaign, Coventry offered no big changes in policy or practice at the IOC. She says she’s listening to her colleagues and others with an interest in the Olympics before making any pronouncements. Elected with tacit support from Bach, Coventry offers continuity of his leadership, at least at the outset of her eight-year mandate.
Still, she will soon take office and it will be time to tell the world her plans for the IOC, short and long term. The IOC Session set for February 2026 in Milan will be the first public test for her leadership style. Coventry chairs her first IOC Executive Board and holds her first briefing for the media as president at the end of the IOC meeting a couple of days after June 23 installation.
Within days of becoming president in 2013, Bach launched his Olympic Agenda 2020 reform program. The massive review of the way the Games are conducted, financed and administered served as a guidepost for Bach. No word on whether Coventry continues Olympic Agenda or devises some other way to regularly review operations of the enterprise.
#3 Getting To Know You – The first formal meeting between the new IOC president and U.S. President Donald Trump is not yet on the calendar. But the president often says he’s looking forward to Los Angeles in 2028, so a White House invite is in order before long.
It will be interesting to see the chemistry between Coventry and Trump, should the press be invited to the Oval Office. Trump loves to have sports figures revel in the gilded office. FIFA impresario Gianni Infantino has been at the White House a couple of times ahead of next year’s World Cup, with the two of them forming a sort of bromance. Infantino lives most of the time in South Florida, about 90 miles south Mar A Lago.
I’m not convinced the Coventry-Trump relationship will reach the same bonhomie. Indeed, Trump can be imperious, dismissive and condescending. But he does have dreams of basking in the glory of the spectacle in three years, so that may help moderate his cantankerous side. After all, why make trouble with your seatmate for the opening ceremony?
Among the issues Coventry and Trump might discuss are the visa bans or restrictions on 19 nations. Even though the U.S. says the ban on travel won’t apply to Olympians, there’s always some complication.
Coventry can turn to Bach for advice on meeting Trump. In June 2017, Bach – along with a U.S. delegation that included IOC members Larry Probst and Anita DeFrantz – met with Trump in the Oval Office. Trump by all accounts was distracted and uninformed, asking at one point “which one of you is an IOC member?”
The meeting lasted but 10 minutes but for Bach was apparently an unsettling encounter. He was reportedly heard on a phone call following the meeting saying something like “God help us”. No press was present for the meeting and the White House media office never prepared a readout. IOC spokesman Mark Adams was less than fulsome with his assessment of how things went down.
“President Trump confirmed his support for the L.A. candidature,” he said at the time.
Coventry will have to pay attention to relations with the U.S. well past Los Angeles as Salt Lake City will reprise hosting the winter Olympics in 2034. While there is not any doubt about the Utah capital being ready, the award of the Games came on the condition that officials in Utah would help overturn the federal law that allows for investigators to question and detain international sports officials and athletes over suspicions of doping or other corruption. The codicil to the Salt Lake City agreement gives the IOC escape clause should problems arise.
Thomas Bach steps down June 23, Kirsty Coventry will take over.
#4 A Russian Return – It is hard to imagine Russia’s war against Ukraine lasting beyond the next 12 years of a Coventry presidency. Taking an optimistic view that it be over, sooner or later, the IOC will need to decide the terms of the return of the Russian Olympic Committee. It has been suspended since 2018 and its athletes have missed the Olympics since 2016. The Russian flag is failed to fly at the games in Rio, Tokyo, Paris and possibly Los Angeles in 2028. A Russian hockey team as yet to compete at the Winter Games since Sochi in 2014 . It’s been blocked again for Milan 2026 .
That amounts to at least one generation of athletes largely left on the sidelines of the Olympics. It also means new leaders for Russian sport who may not be well-acquainted with the new, Gen Z style IOC. Milan/Cortina seems unlikely to bring Russia back, but LA 28 may be possible. Brisbane 2032 could be the Games for the Russian comeback, which would give Coventry and crew plenty of time to plan on how it will happen.
#5 2036 and 2040 Olympics – Among the most intriguing decisions coming for the IOC in the Kirsty Coventry era will be where to bring the summer Games in 2036 and 2040.
The list of interested countries already includes Spain, Germany, India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and South Africa.
Coventry, who hails from Zimbabwe, could face great pressures to accomplish what’s been talked about for generations now: an Olympics in Africa. Never before has the time been so ripe for a bid from the continent. A successful Youth Olympic Games next year in Dakar will be seen as a prelude. Until her election in March, Coventry chaired the IOC coordination commission for Dakar, so she has good reason to pay close attention to success in 2026.
The destiny of an African Olympic bid, however, collides with the ambitions of India, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Not just on a global stage, but also within the IOC. One of world’s wealthiest women, Nita Ambani, has ten years left on her term as an IOC member in India. She is a fierce supporter of India’s Olympic aspirations, which now depend on realistic plans for an Indian Games and an absence of armed conflict with Pakistan. If 2036 is too early for India, then 2040 might be an option. It is possible we could see a twin awarding, Africa for 2036 and India or Qatar for 2040, as happened with Paris and Los Angeles.
The Saudi bid may be an outlier. The kingdom has not held the same scale and frequency of international sports events as have Qatar. There is little doubt that Saudi Arabia could finance an Olympics but whether it happens later than sooner might be more likely. Princess Reema bint Banda al Saud is one of the advocates for her country hosting international sporting events. She is an IOC member as well as the ambassador of the kingdom to the United States.
Qatar’s international might could play a hand in the chances of Doha for one of the two open Games.IOC member Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is also the head of state. Tamim is an inobtrusive member who has spoken little at the IOC Sessions he has attended for 25 years. But as the sovereign of a wealthy nation that has outsized influence on the world stage, his presence is felt behind the scenes. A perennial bidder for the Games 20 years ago, Qatar’s sports resume has expanded over the decades. Coventry and Emir Tamim have another 20+ years to go as fellow IOC members, so maybe they will work out a way to bring Olympics to the Middle East — just not for 2036. Coventry could make sure Africa goes first.
#6 The IOC President Is a Mother – Not only is Coventry the first woman to lead an international sports organization at the level of the IOC, she brings a parent’s perspective as the mother of two young girls, an infant and a seven-year-old.
While people around the globe groan about how the Olympics need to cultivate new generations of sports fans and competitors, the household of the IOC president should give her a perspective on how best to do that. Expect her story to be the focus of interest from the world. She is the too-rare Olympic champion from Africa who also happens to break the IOC glass ceiling while caring for a pair of young daughters. The older one will be a teenager during the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
Coventry was welcomed by the IOC staff just days after her victory March 20.
#7 Gender Identity in Sport – The controversy over Tunisian boxer Imane is just one question of many to come regarding who is a male and who is a female.
Coventry’s fresh perspective as a woman and as an athlete will be crucial. With LA 28 on the horizon, the integrity of women’s sport is a volatile issue. How the IOC under Coventry deals with the politics and science of gender standards will get much scrutiny in the U.S., especially as Los Angeles approaches. Despite only a small number of clashes over gender in sport, members of the U.S. Congress are demanding answers on what is a hot button issue for many constituents.
The uproar over Khelif in Paris came under the watch of an IOC task force formed when the International Boxing Association was suspended for a range of issues involving governance, finance and ethics. Nonetheless the IBA says it standards would have prevented Khelif from competing in Paris, contending the IOC brought the controversy by overlooking IBA’s protocol.
In the year since Paris, a new federation has been recognized that meets with IOC approval, World Boxing. The newly recognized Federation will take charge now of the competition in Los Angeles. In just in the past month Federation announced its policy for gender testing that mirrors that of the rival IBA.
#8 New Sponsors – The IOC depends on the help of worldwide sponsors to help pay for the Olympics, some $3 billion every four years. Coventry now joins the team selling the Olympic rings to some of the world’s leading firms. There’s been talk that the long-running TOP sponsorship operation should be replaced with another format. Coventry, as is customary with new IOC presidents, is expected to meet with leaders of the major sponsors such as Coca-Cola to hear what they say. Coke, the longest sponsor of the Olympic has a deal with the IOC until 2036.
#9 Act Against Corruption – Maintaining the integrity of an international sports movement that includes not just the IOC but also dozens of international federations and two hundred national Olympic committees is an ongoing issue. Divisive recent controversies involving the leadership of the modern pentathlon and table tennis federations, for example, do little to inspire trust in the way sport is administered. The IOC is continually dealing with contested NOC voting. The IOC Ethics Commission is seldom heard from, which could be a good thing. But as it’s been said, still waters run deep and there is likely a lot of activity we don’t hear about.
#10 Athlete Compensation, Anti Doping and WOA – As a one-time elite athlete, Kirsty Coventry knows the difficulty Olympians face in their quest for gold. Few of the 10,500 competitors at the Games have sponsors or other significant sources of income that allows them to train properly. It’s a seeming injustice given the relative wealth of those athletes who benefit from sponsors versus those who do not.
As an IOC president who not long ago experienced the toil and often slim rewards for elite athletes, Coventry could be a leading voice to bring athletes the support they need. This might even include cash prizes, a move supported by World Athletics president Seb Coe, one of her challengers for the presidency. For the first time, World Athletics awarded medal winners in Paris with cash prizes, a move not welcome by the IOC president Bach.
Doping issues remain a constant worry for athletes. The case of the Chinese swimmers who were absolved of taking a performance-enhancing drug for the heart may be over but the suspicions remain deep over the power of the World Anti-Doping Agency. The United States Anti-Doping Agency is a fierce critic of WADA, which receives about half of its funding from the IOC. The perspective that Coventry brings to the table will be crucial to moving forward with a fight against doping in sport that athletes deem credible.
One less obvious task that should be tackled early would be to resolve the question of “who’s boss?” at the World Olympians Association. The 40-year-old association is mired in a dispute with the IOC over the role of the WOA which purports to represent all Olympic athletes. The IOC has funded the organization since its inception but is said to ready to jettison the WOA, to which it contributed about $600,000 per year. Payments are believed to have been halted.
The IOC under Thomas Bach is said to be unhappy with the independent direction of the WOA. It’s now up to Coventry to decide on the next move.
Incoming IOC president Kirsty Coventry is a woman in motion as she travels the globe before taking office in June.
Brisbane is the port of call this week. She will hand the torch, so to speak, to Philippines IOC member Mikaela Jaworski, the new chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for the 2032 Olympics. Coventry chaired the group until her election as IOC president in March, leading her to request current IOC president Thomas Bach to name a new chair ahead of the meeting this week.
Mikaelea Jaworsky is the new chair of the IOC commission for Brisbane 2032. Photo by Greg Olsen, IOC
Jaworski, 51, has been an IOC member since 2013, the same class as Coventry. A TV presenter, she is involved with educational media projects in the Philippines. She has served on past coordination commissions and is one of 15 members on the EB. In her days of competitive sport, Jaworski represented the Philippines as an equestrian. She trained in Queensland so well knows Brisbane already.
The meeting in Brisbane will include current IOC president Thomas Bach, obviously making his final trip to Oz in that title. He last visited in 2022, the year the Queensland capital was awarded the Games.
Bach has been at Coventry’s side in the past month as she transitions into the IOC leadership. In Kuwait earlier this month she made her first speech as IOC president-elect to the genera; assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia.
“As I begin my journey as IOC President, my first priority is to listen. I want to hear from you – from your NOCs, from your athletes – about what you need, what you expect, and how you see your role in shaping the future of our Olympic Movement,” Coventry told the 45-member OCA.
Notable from the Kuwait event was a sidelines meeting with the IOC leaders and Dr. Wali Rahimi, president of the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee. Also there was Samira Asghari, IOC member in Afghanistan. While a symbolic team of six athletes from the nation were accredited to Paris 2024, three men, three women. The three women were selected by the IOC and none of them lived in Afghanistan as the Taliban rulers refuse to allow women in sport. No government officials were permiited to attend Paris by IOC order.
Coventry greets the Afghan NOC president along with IOC president Bach. (OCA)
Rahimi admitted that “major challenges” face sport in Afghanistan. Coventry will be on the front lines of meeting that challenge with the LA28 Games approaching. Also looming early in her mandate will be the difficult situation of Russia and the IOC. With its national Olympic committee suspended over the Ukraine war, Russia’s athletes are soon to be caught in the tangle of rules regarding whether they can qualify for the Milan/Cortina games next February or Los Angeles in 2028.
Senegal Stop for Coventry
Closer to her home in Zimbabwe, Coventry made it to Dakar this month to hand off her post chairing the coordination commission for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games. The job now falls to Kenya rugby sevens star Humphrey Kayange, named by the IOC president this month. A member of the IOC athletes commission, he competed at the 2016 Games. The 42-year-old is a chemist by education and works in the Kenya Bureau of Standards.
Both Kayange and Jaworski are among the fresh voices and personalities expected to bloom on the IOC in the years ahead. Dozens of members who now have served under four IOC presidents dating back to the 1980s, will be leaving the IOC through retirement in the next decade. Coventry will have the say-so on who joins this new wave of influence at the IOC. Her successor may be one of them.
Bach Farewelled in Guam
Thr IOC president stopped in Guam on the way to Brisbane for good byes from members of the Oceania National Olympic Committees assembly in Apia. Bach told delegates from the 17 nations in the region that ” “Every visit to Oceania is a personal highlight for me. I am really privileged that I have been welcomed by you so many times. I enjoyed every minute of it,” he said. Perhaps it is the absence of suits and ties in the tropics that appeals.
The IOC president with new ONOC leader Baklai Temengil from Palau. (IOC Greg Olsen)
Coventry did not make the trek to Guam, with Bach urging the NOC leaders to extend their support to the new IOC president.
“Throughout all these years, I have been fortunate to experience your unity, your community spirit, your solidarity and your friendship first hand. We all share our commitment and passion for our beloved Olympic Movement. We all want to see it shining even brighter in the future. This is why today I ask you to extend this same spirit and support to my successor, the IOC President-elect, Mrs Kirsty Coventry,” he said in remarks to the assembly.
Outgoing ONOC president Robin Mitchell was honored for his long service to the region and as an IOC member. Bach presented him with the IOC President’s trophy. Mitchell’s successor as ONOC president will be IOC Member Baklai Temengil. She is secretary general of the Palau NOC. Temengil becomes the first woman to lead one of the five continental associations representing the 206 NOCs.
Bach, CoatesHonored in Japan
IOC President Thomas Bach and retired IOC member John Coates were awarded the Order of the Rising Sun in a ceremony this month in Japan. The honors were in recognition of the work of the two men om the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, postponed by one year due to the Covid pandemic.
Coates, who led the IOC commission for Tokyo, retired from the IOC in 2024. He made countless trips between Sydney and Tokyo in the seven years of prep for the Games. Coates reports he’s well and will be in Brisbane this week and then on to Lausanne for his role as president of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
As the 30th anniversary of the Centennial Olympic Games approaches, a new documentary portrays Atlanta as a city that seized the opportunity to make the Olympics count for decades to come.
The Games in Black-and-White is a retelling of the seemingly improbable quest from Atlanta to win the ‘96 Olympics and the remarkable impact they had on the city.
The documentary world premier was April 26, the first film in the 49th Atlanta Film Festival, . The screening was held at the Rialto Theater, a restored movie house with an art deco facade just blocks from Centennial Olympic Park, the crown jewel left from the Olympics.
The film is the culmination of five years of work by producer George Hirthler, known for writing the text for Atlanta’s winning bid for the ‘96 Games some three decades ago. Since then he’s helped a number of cities around the globe hoping to win the Olympics as well. Along the way, Hirthler began a long communion with the history and philosophy of the founder of the modern Olympics Pierre de Coubertin. Hirthler says de Coubertin’s writings inspired both the Atlanta bid book as well as those for subsequent bids from other cities. He’s also written The Idealist, a historical novel based on the life of the French Baron. Seasoned film maker Bob Judson is co-producer.
Billy Payne and Andrew Young at the world premier. Photo by Sheila S. Hula
The Games in Black and White is built upon the relationship that developed between Billy Payne, the Atlanta real estate lawyer who came up with the dream of the Olympics in the Deep South, and Andrew Young, then mayor of Atlanta. Young took a meeting with Payne, who turned the skeptical mayor into enthusiastic booster.
Hirthler says he wanted to portray the alliance between Payne and Young “as the most successful Black and White partnership in the American South in the civil rights era”. Both men attended the premier and spoke at the event, which was one of the few times they’ve been seen together in public in recent years. Young is 93; Payne is 77.
The first third of the 100-minute documentary covers the final year of Atlanta’s campaigning from 1989 to 1990. It offers a level of detail that shows how complex Olympic bidding had become with key leaders of the bid crisscrossing the globe to meet with IOC members.
Hirthler chats with Payne and Young following the screening. Photo by Sheila S. Hula
The film progresses to the next stage for Atlanta: implementing the plans promised the IOC. Among them an Olympic stadium challenged by neighborhood opposition. Former Fulton County Commissioner Martin Luther King III discusses his role casting the deciding vote to approve construction of the $240 million project.
Billy Payne’s vision to create Centennial Olympic Park is recounted as the first major inner-city park built in the United States for generations. Included is the tragedy of the bombing midway through the Olympics that killed one woman and injured more than 100 spectators. Two days later the park would reopen with Payne noting in the film that some “preaching” would be needed for the brief ceremony. The Reverend Andrew Young was the only possible choice, said Payne, who served as CEO the entirety of the Atlanta Olympics journey.
The cast of personalities included in the documentary number into the dozens. Among those speaking are people who managed to use the Olympics as an opportunity to build businesses in Atlanta that thrive today. Almost one-third of the 40+ interviews are with former staff of Atlanta ‘96. Nearly all experienced the Games firsthand. Some are still in the game.
Atlanta Story Partners George Hirthler & Bob Judson in Centennial Olympic Park Sept 26, 2023.
Terrence Burns who was the manager of Delta Airlines Olympic sponsorship, now consults with clients around the globe on Olympics related issues. Doug Arnot, now the venue chief for LA28, began his Olympic journey in Atlanta as the head og the ticketing program. Since then has been involved with several organizing committees. Also with a prominent place in the film is Janet Evans, the four-time gold medalist who retired after the Atlanta Olympics. She is now chief of athletes for LA 28. Evans will be remembered as the next-to-last runner in the 1996 Olympic torch relay. She lit the final torch held by Mohammed Ali; it is a scene that will live forever in Olympic lore.
Curiously, two important figures in the Olympic world are outliers of sorts among the cast in the film. Unlike the other personages appearing in the production, neither current U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland or Casey Wasserman, LA28 chairman, experienced the Atlanta Olympics firsthand. Both were university students at the time – Hirshland in North Carolina, Wasserman in California. They were just teenagers when Atlanta won the bid in 1990. Talk about a generation gap!
No voice is heard from the IOC, which had some lingering sour opinions about Atlanta, such as the bombing, transport issues and over-commercialization. Hirthler says the digs have been heard before. He says he wanted to focus on the long-lasting effects the Olympics had on Atlanta – and that no other city has done better.
While it brings together a large corps of people telling the story of how it happened, the narrative of the relationship between Payne and Young seems less important as the timeline of the documentary advances. How did they collaborate to solve controversies (and there were a few) leading up to the Games? The hierarchy of Atlanta 96 placed Young as co chair of the Atlanta Olympics Board of Directors supervising the work of Payne and colleagues. Was there ever any tension? Questions perhaps for the next Hirthler film to answer, which he says in the works.
The Games in Black and White is a one-of-a-kind amongst Olympic documentaries, which tend to focus on the field of play and accomplishments of the athletes. Unfortunately there seem to be fewer films of any sort relating to the Olympics outside the productions of Olympic Broadcasting Services, the IOC-owned company responsible for the raw video from the Games. For independent producers the cost of using video from the IOC archives can be prohibitive. Hirthler says he spent the past year obtaining all the agreements needed for video and photography used in the film.
Moving the film into wider distribution is the next step. A screening is being planned for Savannah which hosted the sailing events in 1996, The film will air on Georgia Public Broadcasting in July. Delta Airlines is slated to include the production in its in-flight entertainment offerings from September to the end of the year. About 1,000 cinema buffs helped fill the Atlanta audience at the landmark downtown theater. Sadly, it is the film’s only big screen appearance for now.
Whether big screen or smart phone, The Games in Black and White should be on the playlist of anyone courting Olympic dreams. Hirthler shows how Atlanta got the job done from start to finish.
Ed Hula covered the Atlanta Olympics from the bid to their conclusion and beyond.
