Olympic Newsdesk -- African Bid Premature; YOG Village Complete, Venues Questioned

7/28/2010

Africa’s First Olympics 20 Years Away

Africa likely won’t host the Olympics for at least another 20 years, an IOC member tells Reuters.

“There is a huge amount of work to be done besides political desire, hence the experts' view that any realistic chance for (hosting the) Olympics in Africa is between 2030 and 2040," Nawal el Moutawakel, who chaired the IOC's Rio 2016 coordinating committee, told the news agency.

South Africa’s recent World Cup success ignited hype in the media and hope throughout Africa that the continent was ready for the bigger stage. Or, at least, that South Africa could be ready by 2020.

"Soccer World Cup is one sport in nine cities, with 64 matches played by 32 countries in one month. Olympics is 26 sports in one city played by 10,500 athletes in three weeks and watched by billions around the world,” El Moutawakel told Reuters.

The Olympic champion hurdler did applaud the city of Durban for winning its bid to host the July 2011 IOC session, at which the 2018 Olympic host city will be announced.

A senior IOC member told Around the Rings last week that Durban is the best city in South Africa to make a strong bid for the 2020 Olympics.

El Moutawakel made the comments in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi Wednesday for the African Athletics Championships.

Youth Olympic Village Complete
The Singapore Youth Olympic Village is ready to welcome athletes competing in the Youth Olympic Games.

Officially named The Village Square, the housing has around 4,000 rooms for the 5,000 athletes and officials staying at village. It will open Aug. 10 and close on Aug. 28.

Every athlete will be immortalized at the village.

“We have this interesting project called the Photoscape, where we’ll take pictures of every athlete and these pictures will be immortalized in the Youth Olympic Park,” Lee Pak Sing, Director of the Culture and Education Program said.

“So when they come back 10 or 20 years from now, they can see their own pictures and say, ‘Hey look! This is me at the first YOG’.”

The Games run Aug. 14 – 26.

Slovak Blasts YOG Venues in Slovak Media

Slovakian YOG ambassador Danka Bartekova blasted the quality of the Singapore YOG saying the facilities are “nothing special”.

Bartekova told Slovak media “I’ve heard that some of the athletic fields in Singapore are no better than the standard school facilities.

“Singapore knows that they cannot organize and hold a “big” Olympics, so they invested a lot of money to hold a “small” Olympics instead.”

Secretary for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports Teo Ser Luck said in a statement the IOC has inspected all the venues and is confident the YOG will be successful.

New Zealand Olympic Committee Says New Delhi Aid was Proper

The New Zealand Olympic Committee says the money it received from organizers of the New Delhi Commonwealth Games was legitimate.

India's former sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar told The Economic Times a number of Commonwealth countries, including New Zealand, were bribed $136,000 each to vote for New Delhi’s bid back in 2003.

The funds in question, says NZOC secretary general Barry Maister, were preparation grants sanctioned by the Commonwealth Games Federation as part of bids and were given to all participating nations.

Pacquiao Eyes Olympic Gold
Boxer Manny Pacquiao is vowing to help his native Philippines win its first Olympic gold.

"I want us all to work together and to work very hard to win the first Filipino gold medal in the Olympics," Pacquiao said Monday during the opening of the 15th Philippine Congress.

The 31-year-old world champion was elected to the Philippines House of Representatives in May.

Annecy Shows Off Bid Sites, Culture

Annecy 2018 is showcasing its bid areas and Cultural Olympiad plans to the tunes of jazz this week.

The high-altitude “CosmoJazz” music festival is being held in key locations such as Lac blanc, Aiguille du midi, Montenvers and Chamonix Mont-Blanc.

Mont-Blanc is the tallest mountain in Europe and the centerpiece of the Annecy 2018 bid.

Jazz artists the world over are performing free concerts during the three-day festival, which runs through Thursday.

Written by Matthew Grayson.

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