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≡ COVENTRY’S UPDATE ≡
Beyond the immediate attention to the Olympic Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) has a lot to do, and spoke with reporters Wednesday by video conference.
Asked about when the IOC’s recommendations on the “protection of the female category” will be ready, the answer was not just yet:
“It won’t be at the IOC Session [in Milan], it will be a little bit later after that, because as I said, the working group is really taking their time, to go through everything, to take into consideration everything … so there’s been no conclusions, they’re still working at it.
“I don’t want to jump the gun and think what things they used or didn’t use; I’d rather answer that truthfully and with all the correct information, so after Milano Cortina is when we would look at something in the coming months … but right now, nothing has been finalized or decided just yet.
“So the work is still ongoing.”
Coventry was asked about the IOC’s reaction and role to today’s rising global tensions and political issues, and she – as a former government minister in Zimbabwe – was clear about the organization’s role:
“As the IOC, we are always aware of all the conversations that are happening and all the geopolitics and all the political conversations that are happening, but I also want to make it clear that is not our remit, right?
“We’re a sport organization. It is not within our remit to comment on sovereignty and political conversations, it’s our goal to ensure that we have all of our National Olympic Committees represented at all of our Games. We will continue to do that in the best way that we can and give support in any of those areas the best way that we can.”
She was also asked about a future meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in view of the coming Los Angeles Games in 2028:
“As it pertains to the United States, we have not had any formal communication yet, with the White House.”
But she added that she is looking forward to seeing the U.S. representatives, led by Vice President J.D. Vance, at the opening ceremonies and that the communications with the LA28 team and Chair Casey Wasserman, are “progressing really well.”
Coventry was asked about the future of the IOC in esports, after the dissolution of the “Olympic Esports Games” initiative with the Saudi Arabia National Olympic Committee:
“It was never an issue of comfort or non-comfort [with the Saudis], it was really about regrouping.
“Right at the beginning of the ‘Pause and Reflect’ process in June, we could already see that there were just multiple views coming from the entire Movement [on this issue]. I think it fits really nicely into the ‘Pause and Reflect’ and analyzing our ‘Fit for the Future’ and are we fit for the future and what needs to change and what do we need to realign, and it really gave us sort of this opportunity within the Movement to be very clear on what we want moving forward.
“And I do need to clarify as well that both parties agreed, so we had really good conversations, we still have a great relationship, and it just has been a time for us really to look at what it is that we want, how we want to proceed, what that looks like, and the Movement wanted clarity on all of that. …
“We all mutually agreed. We had conversations here in Lausanne with Saudi Arabia and the teams. Really, I think we’re on a good track forward, and I think this ‘Pause and Reflect’ time is also giving the Movement time to better understand.
“Some federations are really very proactive, very in the gaming community, but others not as much. So it’s really giving everyone an opportunity to be very clear on what entering into that space would mean, individually, but also collectively. That was the reasoning behind it.”
Coventry was asked about the pace of change in the world continuing to speed up, and she was clear about what needs to be the focus:
“Things change daily, and we’re keeping a pulse on it, I think we have to in order to ensure the relevance of the Games, the meaningfulness of the Games, the importance of the Games remains at its peak. And remains relevant, remains important.
“We will continue to do that. We have to monitor, we have to be aware of it, we have to know throughout all these conversations – ‘Fit for the Future’ – and where we are starting to see our priorities coming out, where we’re starting to see potential ideas in and around strategies.”
She pointed to the protection of the Olympic Games and how “it showcases how we could live” in this troubled world, “all respecting each other, all having some way of understanding each other. …
“That’s the incredible thing about sport. You don’t have to speak the same language in order to understand what each other are trying to achieve, or have an appreciation for each other. For me, especially in today’s world, are values that we need to ensure we are protecting and ensuring that they are being acknowledged as really important values for our communities, our families, for our sons and daughters and for the future of tomorrow.”
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