Coventry for Olympism forum
SPORT, Arts and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry is expected to be among high-profile guest speakers at this week’s Olympism in Action Forum in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Over 1 600 participants from all walks of life are to take part in the two-day Olympism in Action Forum taking place tomorrow and Friday in the Argentinian capital.
The Olympism in Action Forum is a direct result of the Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms and takes place ahead of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.
The two-day event will create a platform for diverse voices to share thinking and ideas on the overarching trends that affect the future of sport. The Olympism in Action Forum is an invitation from the IOC to welcome more people into the conversation. It will address the most important topics related to sport and society through a constructive dialogue with a diverse group of speakers and guests.
Coventry, who is also the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission chair will be among the speakers.
She is also in Buenos Aires as the chef de mission of Team Zimbabwe for the Youth Olympic Games.
But before she leads out Team Zimbabwe at the Youth Olympic Games, which will run from October 6-18, Coventry will attend the Olympism in Action Forum tomorrow and Friday.
The forum will not only involve Olympic Movement stakeholders such as athletes, private and public sector leaders and the media, but it will also welcome broader spheres of society with the power to bring about change, including NGOs, academics and artists.
Forum sessions and activities will include debates, collaborative workshops, sports demonstrations, inspirational talks, cultural celebrations, networking opportunities and much more.
IOC President Thomas Bach said: “The Olympism in Action Forum is one of the results of Olympic Agenda 2020 where we said we want to open our windows and doors. We want to listen to society and to understand how the world sees us rather than us telling the world how they should see us. “Following the forum, we will assess all of the contributions, learn from them and implement a number of hopefully innovative ideas.”
The 40 recommendations of Olympic Agenda 2020, adopted in 2014, established a framework for action and reform around the three pillars of credibility, sustainability and youth. Over 80 percent of the Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendations have been implemented to date across all activities, including changes to the candidature process to host the Games and the most comprehensive reform of the Olympic programme in recent history to create more youthful, more urban and female Olympic Games.
The Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 will have the first sports programme with complete gender equality, a 50-50 balance, with the same number of female and male athletes competing in the same number of sports and events.
Other reforms include strengthened support for the protection of clean athletes, and the implementation of good governance reforms to safeguard the integrity of sports organisations and competitions.
Following the forum, the IOC will assess ideas and contributions and look to implement a number of new initiatives.
“Hosting the Olympism in Action Forum and the Youth Olympic Games is, without a doubt, a dream come true for Buenos Aires and Argentina,” said Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, Mayor of Buenos Aires.
“Porteños are passionate about sports because, in addition to being good for our health, it makes us better people. It motivates us to play as a team and to strive to achieve a goal all together.
“We are thrilled that the ideas, experiences and policies that will promote sport worldwide in the coming years will be linked to our city.”
Conversations will take place through a variety of formats with a diverse group of speakers and guests, including: ◆ Ban Ki-moon: Former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the IOC Ethics Commission Kirsty Coventry: Olympic champion and IOC Athletes Commission chair Chris Dempsey: Co-founder, No Boston Olympics Jacob Jake Lyon: Professional Overwatch Player Mauricio Macri: President of Argentina ◆ Yusra Mardini: Olympic swimmer and member of the Refugee Olympic Team Rio 2016 ◆ Claudio Marinelli: Criminal Intelligence Officer at INTERPOL Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka: UN Women Executive Director Jean-Briac (JB) Perrette: President & CEO, Discovery Networks International Sylvia Schenk: Chair of Working Group Sport Transparency International Germany ◆ Vitaly Stepanov and Yuliya Stepanova, Russian doping whistle-blowers ◆ Minky Worden: Director of Global
Initiatives at Human Rights Watch Professor Muhammad Yunus: Social entrepreneur and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Gary Zenkel: President, NBC Olympics and Operations and Strategy
Additional speakers, panellists and programme attendees at the Forum also include 81 Young Change-Makers (YCMs) whose mission is to support the YOG athletes and inspire their own communities through their experiences. — Sports Reporter/Aroundtherings.com