Home1984 Olympic GamesPANORAMA: LA84 Olympic Arts chief Fitzpatrick passes; venue changes already for Salt Lake City 2034; IOC candidate...

PANORAMA: LA84 Olympic Arts chief Fitzpatrick passes; venue changes already for Salt Lake City 2034; IOC candidate forum on 30 January

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Olympic Games 1984: Los Angeles ● Sad news that Robert Fitzpatrick, the driving force behind the revolutionary Olympic Arts Festival that accompanied the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, passed away on 30 September, aged 84.

Fitzpatrick was the President of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) from 1975-88 and expanded the school’s breadth and impact as well as shoring up its finances. He was asked to head the cultural program for the 1984 Olympic Games, a requirement of the organizing committee, but which Fitzpatrick reinvented as a worldwide stage.

Instead of an accompanying program, the 1984 Olympic Arts Festival introduced the Games, beginning eight weeks before and comprising 10 weeks in all, with 432 performances and 31 visual-arts exhibitions at 47 sites, drawing 1.25 million attendees in all. It brought first-time experiences to Los Angeles, showcased local performers on their largest platforms ever and changed forever the way the city saw itself in arts and cultural circles.

Brilliant, driven and charming when he wanted to be, Fitzpatrick’s success was widely lauded, and he headed up the follow-on Los Angeles Festival, held in 1987, 1990 and 1993. He became the head of EuroDisneyland in 1987 and opened Euro Disney in the Paris area in 1992 before moving on to serve as Dean of the School of the Arts at Columbia University and as the Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

He is survived by his wife Sylvie, three children, six grandchildren and two siblings.

● Olympic Games 2036 ● The host of the wildly-successful 1992 Olympic Games may be back in the Olympic business for 2036 or 2040.

Barcelona councilor for sport David Escude told a business conference this week, “We are always open to it, be it for 2036, 2040 or 2044,” noting that some of the 1992 venues are now in need of refurbishment. Having another Olympic Games would be a way to achieve that.

● Olympic Winter Games 2034: Salt Lake City ● The plan is already changing for the 2034 Winter Games, as the NHL’s Utah Hockey Club – formerly in Arizona – began play this week. Owner Ryan Smith said at an opening party that the Delta Center will be the ice hockey venue for 2034, a change from the bid plan.

Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games chief executive Fraser Bullock said the change had been discussed for some time, and that figure skating and short track would move to the Maverik Center in West Valley City, which seats 10,100 for ice events and hosted ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Games.

The Delta Center, now hosting the NBA Utah Jazz and the new hockey team, is part of a massive downtown entertainment district development project, not related to the 2034 Winter Games.

● Pan American Games 2027 ● The city of Barranquilla, Colombia was awarded the 2027 Pan American Games in 2021, but Panam Sports withdrew the event in January 2024, citing breach of contract for the non-payment of hosting fees. The 2027 Pan Ams were eventually awarded to 2019 host Lima, Peru.

Now, the city of Barranquilla has filed a claim with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, asking for a return of $2.25 million paid to Pan Am Sports by the city prior to the removal of the Games:

“This action, which has just been admitted [by the Court of Arbitration for Sport], aims to protect the public resources that were invested by the city and are currently being withheld by Panam Sports, due to its unilateral interpretation on the clauses of the [hosting] agreement.”

● International Olympic Committee ● The IOC formally announced that the seven candidates for the IOC Presidency will address the membership at a special meeting on 30 January 2025 in Lausanne.

The meeting was announced as “in-camera,” meaning it is expected to be closed. This will be the one chance for the candidates to speak to the entire membership ahead of the 18-21 March IOC Session in Greece, where the election will take place.

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● Some changes to the USOPC Board from this week’s online meeting, with two members leaving, and more coming on.

Independent director Dr. Cheri Blauwet, a seven-time Paralympic medalist in track & field, will leave at the end of the year as her term will expire. Four-time Olympic gold medalist John Naber, an at-large, athlete-elected director, has resigned, and as USOPC President Gene Sykes has been elected as a member of the IOC, he is automatically a Board member, opening a seat for an independent director.

So, three new directors will need to be seated: two as independent directors and one as an athlete-elected director.

Re-elected were Daria Schneider, the head coach of the Harvard fencing teams, as an Athletes Advisory Council-elected director, Olympic swimming gold medalist Donna de Varona as an at-large athlete-elected director, and Dexter Paine, a member of the International Ski & Snowboard Federation Council, as a National Governing Body Council elected member.

In addition to Sykes as an IOC member, Allyson Felix is now on the Board as an IOC member after election to the IOC Athletes’ Commission in Paris. With Anita DeFrantz and International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty, the U.S. now has four IOC members, the most ever at one time.

● Athletics ● More doping sanctions from the Athletics Integrity Unit, including Kenyan Charles Kipkurui Langat for two years from 11 September 2024 for the use of the diuretic Furosemide. He’s a 58:53 half-marathoner from 2023 who has also run 27:42 for 10 km to win the 2023 Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta.

Kenyan-born Rodgers Ondaji Gesabwa, now affiliated with Mexico, was banned for 3 months from 10 July 2024 for the use of Benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine. He’s a 1:04:24 half-marathoner from 2023.

● Boxing ● The International Boxing Association continues to try to hold on to its national federations amid a push from the new World Boxing group and the International Olympic Committee to have federations form a new governing body for Olympic boxing.

On Wednesday, the IBA met in Dubai (UAE) with the African Boxing Confederation to promote having their federations continue as IBA members, promising continuing financial support and prize money. AFBC President Eyassu Wossen (ETH) said in a statement:

“As President of the African Boxing Confederation, I fully express my unwavering support for the International Boxing Association and stand united with the AFBC in our shared commitment to safeguard the future of boxing.

“We strongly oppose the injustices and interference from the IOC in both IBA and AFBC matters.”

In the meantime, World Boxing has 58 members either already approved or in process, with a pitch made by its Olympic Commission to the Panam Sports General Assembly in Paraguay last week, and a 23 November Extraordinary Congress in Thailand, called by the Asian Boxing Confederation to consider the issue of Olympic boxing. If World Boxing can get past 100 members by the start of 2025, its chances of being recognized by the IOC will be promising.

● Skiing ● The fight between the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) and some of its national federations over media rights to competitions held in those countries is continuing, with the German ski federation obtaining a preliminary injunction in a Munich court on Wednesday.

The German ski federation (DSV) filed against FIS, saying the 26 April decision to have FIS sell rights to all competitions in all markets from the 2025-26 season on, violated European anti-trust law, since the German federation – and others – did not specifically agree. The Austrian federation also filed for an injunction against FIS.

The Munich regional court said FIS’s accumulation of rights was an “unlawful restriction of competition by object” and as a sales agent had already been appointed by FIS, it was necessary to grant a stoppage to the DSV, which applies only to the German market.

According to a statement, The FIS will appeal against the decision, which is completely wrong,” and called the court’s decision “unacceptable and unprofessional.

● Tennis ● Spanish star Rafael Nadal, 38, winner of 22 Grand Slam tournaments and twice an Olympic gold medalist, announced Thursday that he will retire at the end of the season.

Nadal won 14 French Opens from 2005-22, two Australian Opens, twice at Wimbledon and four times at the U.S. Open. He won Olympic golds at Beijing 2008 in men’s Singles and at Rio 2016 in men’s Doubles.

He said in a video, “Hello everyone, I’m here to let you know that I am retiring from professional tennis.”

“The reality is that is has been some difficult years, these last two especially. I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations. It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make. But in this life, everything has a beginning and an end.

“And I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined.”

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