 Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 08 Apr 2009 | | | | | |
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| 08 Apr 2009 | |
| 2009 Olympic Congress |
The 13th Olympic Congress will be held in Copenhagen on October 3-5 later this year. It faces numerous challenges, which have been laid down by IOC President Jacques and at the forefront of this, will be the assessment of the Olympic Movement as a whole, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses, evaluating the opportunities and the risks it faces.
For many years, following its inauguration in Paris in 1894, the Olympic Congress, together with the Olympic Games, was the most important landmark in modern Olympic history. The Congresses became the platform of encounter for the three pillars of the Olympic Movement: IOC, NOCs and IFs. There was a gap of more than 40 years between the ninth Congress in Berlin and the next one in Bulgaria in 1973 but Olympic Congresses have always had a significant impact on the way the Olympic Movement functions. They have served as punctuation marks in the history of Olympism.
The last time the Congress was held was in 1994 in Paris and obviously since then, the world has changed considerably. While the main concern at the previous Congress was to ensure the integration of all the constituents of the Olympic Movement, the challenge will be quite different in 2009. In Copenhagen, the main focus point will be the role of the Olympic Movement in society and in all regions of the world. This overall theme is declined in five main themes with several sub themes:
1. The Athletes
1.1 Relationship between the athletes, the clubs, federations and the NOCs
1.2 Health protection in training and competition
1.3 The social and professional life of athletes during and after elite competition
2. Olympic Games
2.1 How to keep the Games as a premier event?
2.2 Olympic values
2.3 Universality and developing countries
3. The Structure of the Olympic Movement
3.1 The autonomy of the Olympic Movement
3.2 Good governance and ethics
3.3 The relationships between the Olympic Movement and its stakeholders
4. Olympism and Youth
4.1 Moving towards an active society
4.2 Is competitive sport still appealing?
4.3 Youth sport events
5. The Digital Revolution
5.1 A new management of sports rights
5.2 How to increase the size of the sports audience?
5.3 Communication with stakeholders in the digital age
Why hold an Olympic Congress?
The main results of previous congresses illustrate and underline the importance of these meetings:
Varna 1973 - Rethinking the idea of amateurism was at the centre of discussion. The new eligibility rule for the Olympic Games authorized the financial and material assistance which had in the meantime become indispensable to elite level training, while only personal profit derived from a sports activity remained prohibited.
Baden-Baden 1981 - Unprecedented attention was devoted to the concerns of the athletes. For the first time, the athletes themselves played a leading role in a Congress. Their accounts rang with an authenticity that nobody dared contradict. The Congress in Baden-Baden thus paved the way for the creation of the IOC Athletes' Commission, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year.
Paris 1994 - The Congress in Paris proved trend-setting in an area of great interest today: protection of the environment, with the environment declared to be an essential component of Olympism. A survey was conducted, and measures to optimize the Olympic Movement's contribution to preserving the environment were defined. Also, for the first time the media were invited to speak at the Congress, and an entire theme was given over to them.
The Participants
A key component in Copenhagen will be its participants and those that will make up the Congress include:
- IOC members
- IOC honorary and honor members
- Representatives of the International Federations, National Olympic Committees
- Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games
- Athletes and athlete support staff (coaches, doctors and medical staff)
- Referees, judges and technical officials
- The IOC's Olympic partners
- The media
The themes of all the previous Olympic Congresses
1894: Paris - Re-establishment of the Olympic Games
1897: Le Havre - Sports hygiene and pedagogy
1905: Brussels - Sport and physical education
1906: Paris - Art, literature and sport
1913: Lausanne - Sports psychology and physiology
1914: Paris - Olympic regulations
1921: Lausanne - Olympic regulations
1925: Prague - Sports pedagogy - Olympic regulations
1930: Berlin - Olympic regulations
1973: Varna - Sport for a world of peace - The Olympic Movement and its future
1981: Baden-Baden - United by and for sport
1994: Paris - Centennial Olympic Congress, Congress of Unity
2009: Copenhagen - The Olympic Movement in society
For more information, visit www.olympic.org
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