LANE ONE: Morning swimming and track finals in Tokyo are the price of...
“Having finals in the morning, as requested by the International Olympic Committee, will enhance the visibility of athletics across all time zones.” That comment from IAAF Competitions Director Paul Hardy sums up the news from the release of the session-by-session schedule by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizing committee, with all of the swimming finals in […]
LANE ONE: Russian involvement in elections is nothing compared to what they’re doing...
The latest turn in the saga of the International Boxing Association came last Thursday when the Secretary General of the Russian Boxing Federation, Umar Kremlev, offered to pay more than $16 million to clear AIBA’s debts, on the condition that the sport be retained in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. It was only the […]
LANE ONE: The strange story of the International Boxing Association gets even stranger
As had been expected, the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board took no action concerning the International Boxing Association (AIBA) on the final day of its meetings in Lausanne (SUI) on Thursday. At the news briefing following, IOC spokesman Christian Klaue (GER) stated: “We also heard today the intermediate report of the Inquiry Committee on the […]
LANE ONE: Thomas Bach’s IOC wants “to get the couch potatoes off the...
The focus of the Olympic Movement has changed. It was, until very recently, to stage the greatest sports spectacle in the world. But in a 54-minute news conference following the second day of International Olympic Committee Executive Board meetings, IOC chief Thomas Bach clearly signaled that the technical organization of the Games will more and […]
LANE ONE: Crucial IOC Executive Board meeting this week in Switzerland could impact...
We’re going to have some interesting days starting on Tuesday as the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board meets in Lausanne (SUI). A series of issues which have been simmering for months might come to a boil … or maybe not. But there is a lot of interest in what the IOC is going to do […]
BOXING: AIBA President Rakhimov “to step aside” with IOC Executive Board meeting next week
The International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board meeting starts next Tuesday in Lausanne (SUI) and the status of the International Boxing Association (“AIBA”) is on...
THE BIG PICTURE: Diack investigation might be moving along after all
We noted on Tuesday that the investigation by French authorities into the influence-buying and doping cover-up involving former International Olympic Committee member and IAAF President Lamine Diack (SEN) was continuing without end. But there were new developments this week, as Agence France Presse reported that arrest warrants had been issues for former IAAF Treasurer Valentin […]
THE BIG PICTURE: Under pressure, Japan’s Takeda to resign from Japan’s Olympic Committee...
The 71-year-old head of the Japan Olympic Committee, Tsunekazu Takeda, announced on Tuesday that he will retire from the JOC and as a member of the International Olympic Committee in June. “I don’t believe I’ve done anything illegal or wrong,” Takeda said. “It’s regrettable that a shadow has been cast on the tournament because of […]
LANE ONE: The U.S. can thank Jeff Van Gundy for being in the 2019...
One of the stranger periods in the history of U.S. national-team basketball concluded on Monday night in Greensboro, North Carolina, with the American men’s...
THE BIG PICTURE: Paris 2024 asks for four added sports: three from 2020,...
The International Olympic Committee went back to the past when it allowed Tokyo 2020 to propose added sports for its program, as used to be done through the 1972 Games in Munich. Paris 2024 released its request for four sports – but without any details as to events or competitors – and asked to add […]
LANE ONE: On volunteerism and the Olympic Games, you see which “economists” actually...
The Associated Press’s Stephen Wade posted a story last Friday entitled “Olympic volunteers: One-time chance, or exploitation?” and proceeded to quote a Drexel Sports Management processor named Joel Maxcy, who called the practice of using volunteers, “To me, it’s very clearly economic exploitation.” The rest of the article struggled to find any prospective volunteers for […]
LANE ONE: Burger King is not an Olympic sponsor, but it has the...
This is a busy time for the leadership and staff of the International Olympic Committee, even though there is no Olympic Games – winter or summer – in 2019. The IOC and especially the Executive Board have a long list of issues to be dealt with, including the continuing saga of Russia and its standing […]
THE BIG PICTURE: IOC starts boxing inquiry with 41 questions
The International Olympic Committee’s inquiry into boxing has finally gotten started. The International Boxing Association, known by its old French acronym of AIBA, is in danger of being removed as the governing body of the sport by the IOC, and the sport’s place on the 2020 Olympic program is in jeopardy. Issues with judging, governance, […]
TOKYO 2020 Panorama: Government costs are still an issue, but there will be lots...
The cost to the Japanese taxpayer for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo is holding steady – sort of – according to a Thursday...
ATHLETICS: Black Tidings owner admits lying to police on doping cover-up, sentenced to...
The Straits Times of Singapore reported today (17th) that Tan Tong Han, 36, has been sentenced to a week in jail for lying to authorities over payments made to cover up a Russian doping case. Han was the owner of Black Tidings, a defunct “consulting” firm which is in the middle of investigations into bribery […]
LANE ONE: Is the IOC setting the stage for a serious review of...
When the International Olympic Committee issues one of its periodic statements on how it is adapting the Olympic Games to modern times, it’s hard to know whether to take it seriously. Is this a preview of real change coming to the Games? Or another self-congratulatory, self-serving statement that, in actuality, means little? But as long […]
LANE ONE: The Takeda investigation could be worse for the IOC than the...
Friday’s stunning revelation that the president of the Japan Olympic Committee, Tsunekazu Takeda, is under investigation in France for corruption is the most serious blow to the International Olympic Committee in 20 years. Back in 1998, the IOC was rocked by the Salt Lake City scandal in which bribes and gifts were given to IOC […]
2020 OLYMPIC GAMES: Tokyo organizers get 162,000+ volunteer apps
There is considerable concern about the cost of the Tokyo Games, set to begin in about 18 months. But on another measure of the popularity of the Games, the organizers have nothing to worry about. The first phase of the recruitment drive for volunteers to assist at the Games closed last week, with 80,000 volunteers […]
THE BIG PICTURE: Battle of the budget continues in Tokyo for 2020
The battle of the budget continues at the 2020 Tokyo Games, where a new version of the total financial requirements is due at the end of the year. During the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) meetings in Tokyo (JPN), Tokyo 2020 CEO/Director General Toshiro Muto told reporters that pressure continues to be placed on […]
LANE ONE: As the 2020 Olympic Games draw near, Tokyo is suddenly the...
No one will say it, even in a whisper. No one in the Olympic Movement even wants to think about it. But the Olympic Games in Tokyo, coming in less than two years, is a problem. For the International Olympic Committee and its affiliated organizations, what has happened in the planning for the Games of […]
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