One year ago PyeongChang's opening ceremony

• OLYMPIC GAMES

The Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 were a resounding success both on and off the field of play, achieving a number of significant milestones. In the words of IOC President Thomas Bach, these were the Games of New Horizons. The Games enjoyed unprecedented geographical reach, in terms of both participation and coverage; offered a more diverse sporting programme than ever before; and, perhaps most significantly, served as a bridgehead for peace and cooperation.

With gender parity one of the IOC’s overarching goals, PyeongChang 2018 took a significant step forward in this regard, with a record female participation of 41.3 per cent of the total of 2,833 athletes. There was also a record number of events – 102, four more than the previous record of 98 set at Sochi 2014. The number of NOCs participating was also a new record for the Olympic Winter Games. Athletes from a total of 91 countries (as well as an Olympic Athlete from Russia delegation) competed, which was up from 88 at Sochi 2014. Underlining the IOC’s continued commitment to expanding the global reach of winter sports, six new NOCs from four continents took part (Ecuador, Eritrea, Kosovo, Malaysia, Nigeria and Singapore).

Peace and unity

Perhaps most notable of all was the fact that the Games served as a bridgehead for unity between the host nation and its neighbours from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. In a celebration of unity and the Olympic spirit at the Opening Ceremony, athletes from the two countries marched side by side. Further epitomising the spirit of friendship, a unified Korean women’s ice hockey team brought together 35 players from both sides of the border to compete as one for the first time in Olympic history, in what the IOC President Thomas Bach hailed as “a very important powerful message that transcends sport”.

Records tumble

In terms of sporting success, no fewer than 25 new Olympic records were set, along with three world records. Among the notable sporting highlights and individual achievements, the Czech Republic’s Ester Ledecká became the first athlete to win gold in both Alpine skiing and snowboarding at the same Olympic Winter Games. Meanwhile, Norway’s cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen won five medals in PyeongChang to take her career total to 15 – more than any other athlete in history. These were also Games that saw the emergence of a dazzling generation of new stars, not least an array of former Youth Olympic Games (YOG) athletes, who won 29 medals between them. In total, there were more than 230 YOG “graduates” competing in PyeongChang, including the USA’s Chloe Kim, who became the youngest female snowboarder gold medallist in Olympic history, and German ski jumper Andreas Wellinger, who soared his way to a gold and two silver medals.

Lausanne 2020 Mascot Yodli Unveiled At “One Year To Go” Celebration

• YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES

In just one year, the 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games will kick off in Lausanne, Switzerland. to celebrate the milestone, the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Organising Committee (yogoc) unveiled its mascot, “Yodli”, designed by students from a local art school.

How Yodli came to life is a perfect example of how Lausanne 2020 will truly be Games by young people for young people: 140 students from Eracom, a local art and communication school, contributed to the design of the mascot. The various drafts were shown to school children from Lausanne and surrounding areas, to collect feedback and adapt the mascot, and the final choice was then given to 500 young Swiss athletes aged 12 to 18, who voted on the final design.

Yodli is a hybrid animal, composed of several emblematically Swiss animals that live in the Swiss mountains: a cow, a goat and of course a St Bernard dog. Their different characteristics and relationships with the environment are embodied in Yodli, who signifies the diversity of the participants of the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020.

In addition to the unveiling of the mascot, the Lausanne 2020 YOGOC will hold a short ceremony in the Flon neighborhood, in the centre of Lausanne, which will serve as the Medals Plaza during Games time. Emotions will certainly be high when the OMEGA countdown clock shows exactly 365 days to go.

In just one year, Yodli will be joined in Switzerland by 1,800 athletes aged 15 to 18 who will compete in eight sports. They will compete across the whole of Switzerland, and neighbouring France, enabling many regions to be part of the Olympic spirit.

IOC President Thomas Bach confirmed that this will be the first gender equal Winter Youth Olympic Games, following on from the successful summer edition in Buenos Aires last year.

President Bach said: “Gender equity is one of the pillars of Olympic Agenda 2020 and we are very happy that within three years we have managed to have full gender equity for the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and now for the first time for a winter event with Lausanne 2020 and we will also have gender equity in Tokyo 2020 so this is important and we are happy and proud that we’ve achieved this in such a short period of time.”

Not only will equal numbers of men and women be competing for medals; some exciting new disciplines, such as Ski mountaineering, have also been added to the programme to reflect the increased female participation.For the first time, a Winter Games edition will include mixed-nationality 3×3 ice hockey (with each team made up of three boys and three girls), a women’s doubles competition in luge, and a women’s Nordic combined event.

Arianna Fontana awarded as best female athlete of PyeongChang 2018

• ANOC AWARDS IN TOKYO

Arianna Fontana achieves increasingly legendary status in Olympic circles. The Italian Olympian was awarded as best female athlete of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games. The endowment arrived during the XXIII General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees, held in Tokyo. The ANOC recalled the short track champion’s great success,  highlighting her merits and emphasising the fantastic support provided by the Italian National Olympic Committee.

Arianna arrived in PyeongChang as a standard-bearer and ended up as an Olympic legend. She made history: thanks to 3 podiums won in South Korea, she reached a total of 8 medals earned in the last 4 editions of the Olympics. Now she is not only the youngest Italian athlete ever to have climbed Mt. Olympus thanks to her bronze in the relay at the 2006 Turin games, but these most recent three “gems” have consecrated her second-place position among the most decorated Italian athletes in the winter Olympics and fifth place all-time, also taking the summer editions into consideration. 

(Foto ANOC)

Introducing Milan Cortina 2026 to the world. Malagò: candidacy under the sign of tradition and innovation

• AT THE ANOC ASSEMBLY

Milan Cortina 2026 is racing toward the five-ringed dream. The Italian project for hosting the XXV edition of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics was presented today for the first time during the XXIII General Assembly of ANOC in Tokyo. The proposals connected to the candidacy were illustrated by the president of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, the Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, The President of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia, and Olympic short track athlete, Arianna Fontana.

During the presentation, the project logo was also unveiled. A Milan Cathedral designed with the façade that transforms into a mountain, reminiscent of the Alps and the Dolomites, with green, white and red peaks in honour of Italy. And from the highest point of the central peak, the descent of a slalom course begins with a three-coloured effect. The intent of the logo is to match the symbol par excellence of Milan with the mountains of Cortina and Valtellina, promoting the colours of the Italian flag in each circumstance, the icon of a candidacy shared by three territories but with an eye for the entire nation.    

Friuli Venezia Giulia will host the 2023 Winter European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF)

• CONFIRMED TODAY AT MARBELLA

Friuli Venezia Giulia to host 2023 Winter European Youth Olympic Festival The confirmation took place this morning during the 47th General Assembly of European the Olympic Committees in Marbella, Spain.

President Giovanni Malagò presented the Italian project for the winter edition of the European Youth Olympic Festival 2023, along with the President of the Regional Committee and a member of the National Council Giorgio Brandolin.

The Italian delegation was completed by INOC Secretary General Carlo Mornati, Regional Councilor for work, training, education, research, university and family Alessia Rosolen, and the project managers Maurizio Dunnhofer and Giulia Kandutsch.

Bach received by the President of the Republic Mattarella together with the Italian sport leaders

• THE IOC PRESIDENT AT QUIRINALE

The IOC President Thomas Bach was received this morning at the Quirinale by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. The meeting was attended by the President of the Italian National Olympic Committee Giovanni Malagò, Secretary General Carlo Mornati, Director-General of the International Olympic Committee Christophe De Kepper, Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch jr., Italian IOC members Franco Carraro, Mario Pescante, and Ivo Ferriani. During the private discussion when various topics related to sporting events were discussed, the Head of State was presented by Bach with a medal from the recent 2018 PyeongChang Games. At the end of the meeting, President Bach met the media in the Honor Hall of INOC before flying - together with Malagò and their respective staff - to Spain to attend the Assembly of European Olympic Committees, scheduled in Marbella from 9 to 10 November. (Quirinale photo)

Sport embraces Mario Pescante. The thanks of Bach and Malagò: an example for the Olympic movement

• 80 YEARS OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND EMOTIONS

An evening of emotions and memories. Of sport, declared in its most noble and authentic meaning, intertwined with 5 circles of history and tradition. It was the night of Mario Pescante, who greeted the achievement of his 80 years and the end of his mandate as a IOC member (from January he will take on the honorary position) with a party that brought together the leaders of the international and Italian competitive sports as protagonists, the champions of yesterday and today, the managers, the technicians, the old friends (Foto Mezzelani-GMT). Approximately 300 guests celebrated a man who has crossed the decades upholding the passion for the world of which he has been a proud standard bearer, conveying the message in the most concealed and difficult corners, together in the most important venues and always emblazoned with the same, stubborn and capable action.

To pay homage to him, among others, a large delegation of the International Olympic Committee, of which Pescante was also Deputy Vice President until 2012, led by IOC President Thomas Bach, and by the Honorary President Jacques Rogge, the number one of the Association of the national Olympic committees (Anoc), Sheikh Fahad Al-Sabah, the INOCs of today and yesterday, from Malagò to Petrucci to Carraro, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the mayors of Milan and Cortina Giuseppe Sala and Gianpietro Ghedina, Gianni Letta, the General  Director  of the Ryder Cup Rome 2022 Gianpaolo Montali, the President of Credito Sportivo Andrea Abodi, Federal Presidents and many Olympic athletes and prominent athletes of the past, including the current Secretary General of INOC Carlo Mornati, Juri Chechi, Carlo Molfetta, Diana Bianchedi, and Antonio Rossi, as well as managers and politicians. During his 25-year tenure at the IOC, Pescante distinguished himself through his work as the Permanent Observatory to the United Nations, collecting important diplomatic successes with respect to world crises, most recently the historic peace between the two Koreas on the occasion of the Olympics winters of Pyeongchang 2018. After the ritual greetings, the gala dinner was held at tables that could not fail to take into account the name of the Olympic Games editions, from 1896 to 2016. 

In the heart of the Olympic Stadium, where the sacred meaning of the Games can forever be breathed in, the studded ribbon of an endless career, certainly special, was re-wrapped. "This is my party - confided Pescante - it's a beautiful day, and there are many friends who have come a long way to be with me. Athletes, managers, friends. I haven’t concluded my story yet, but I think it's a nice achievement. I'm happy and I have to say that I almost feel like starting over”.   

The first speech closing the celebration was the one from Giovanni Malagò, INOC President "In Buenos Aires I received the baton of Mario, he made history. He is a guiding light for us and for the Italian sport in the world Thanks to managers like him Italy is a top class excellence and a unique model in the world. I always thought him as an older brother, admiring him for the credibility tribute to him all through the time”.

Gianni Letta’ praises are full of anecdotes and quotations: "Mario embodies the values of our own land. He knew how to weave the values of the city of Avezzano with those of sport, he always lived with passion, respect and courage. He is a man of peace and was unanimously recognized in the world, even as a representative of the IOC in the UN where he battled to promote peace in the world. As a commissioner of Turin 2006, he allowed Italy to respect the commitment made for the Games, creating a miracle and a great organizational masterpiece. He has always operated in respect of the autonomy of sport from politics. The principle that we claim: there must never be influences coming from politics. A concept to keep in mind always, yesterday, today and tomorrow”. 

The thoughts of Cardinal Ravasi are also significant: "Religion often intertwines with the game, there are many points of contact. All the results are obtained through the practice of asceticism, which means training with determination and talent. Mario was an outstanding example for sport, he put passion and a lot of skill into it and I am convinced that his 'flight' will not end here".

Finally, Thomas Bach head of the International Olympic Committee dedicated sincere and moving thoughts to his friend Pescante: “Mario has and shall keep giving a most precious contribution to the Olympic movement.  He has a great heart and unshakable values. He made real effective Olympic ideals such as friendship, loyalty, peace and brotherhood.  By his mettle and enthusiasm he is still a young man.  We often shared our opinions although sometimes diverging, but he kept always loyal to me and supported me, also on my election as IOC President.  He has made extraordinary things happen at ONU, spoke many languages, yet always using his heart, and that made the difference. Best wishes Mario, I see no limits in your future”. 

Bach meets with Giorgetti and the Italian sport leaders Private audience with Mattarella tomorrow

• THE VISIT OF IOC'S PRESIDENT

The IOC in Rome for 48 hours of high institutional profile. The President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, together with the Director-General Christophe De Kepper and Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch jr., arrived in the afternoon at Foro Italico to begin "two days" of appointments, opened by greeting the INOC President Giovanni Malagò, Secretary General Carlo Mornati, Vice Presidents Franco Chimenti and Alessandra Sensini, and the Italian IOC members Franco Carraro, Mario Pescante, and Ivo Ferriani. (Photo Mezzelai-GMT Sport).

The IOC delegation, together with the Italian sport leaders traveled subsequently to Palazzo Chigi for a meeting with the Italian Under Secretary at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in charge of sport Giancarlo Giorgetti. The day will end with celebrations organized at the Olympic Stadium for Mario Pescante, at the end of his mandate as an effective CIO member in the year in which he has celebrated his 80th birthday. Pescante has been appointed an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee.

Finally, tomorrow morning, Bach - with the delegation of the biggest international sports organization - will be received in private audience by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, before flying with Malagò, and the respective staff, to Malaga to attend the European Olympic Committee Assembly scheduled in Marbella from 9 to 10 November.

Milan-Cortina 2026 bid, first technical visit of the IOC

• 2026 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES

The technical visit of the delegation of the International Olympic Committee began yesterday in the places indicated in the Milan Cortina bid with respect to the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

The works are managed by Diana Bianchedi, general coordinator of the bid committee, with the participation of institutional representatives of the cities and regions involved in the bid.

During the tour, which will end tomorrow, some of the premises indicated in the bid will be visited and subsequently evaluated. This is the first formal step after approval of the IOC candidacy, approved during the 133rd session hosted in Buenos Aires.

Strong field of Candidate Cities Milan-Cortina, Calgary and Stockholm

• OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES 2026

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session today invited Calgary (Canada), Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy) and Stockholm (Sweden) to become Candidate Cities for the Olympic Winter Games 2026, on its final day of meetings in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The decision by the IOC Session marked the beginning of the shortened formal Candidature Stage, during which the Cities will continue to work closely with the IOC to develop their best possible Games plan, in line with Olympic Agenda 2020/New Norm. The Candidates will submit a single Candidature File in January 2019, as part of a streamlined process which reduces the cost and complexity for the Cities. 

The IOC Members approved the recommendation of the IOC Executive Board (EB), which was based on the report by the Olympic Winter Games Working Group 2026. This Group had assessed the feasibility of the Interested Cities in the Dialogue Stage.

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “We are very pleased with the quality of the candidatures, and look forward to extending our collaboration with the Cities and the respective National Olympic Committees. It was encouraging to see the impact of Olympic Agenda 2020/New Norm, with an average reduction of 15 per cent in their operating budgets compared to past Candidature Processes, and an increase from 60 to 80 per cent of existing venues being used. We will continue to tailor our approach to the specific needs and objectives of each candidate, ensuring that the Olympic Winter Games 2026 can adapt to support their ambitions and vision for the future.”  

IOC Vice-President and Chair of the Working Group 2026 Juan Antonio Samaranch added: “We have worked closely with the Interested Cities, providing our expertise and knowledge and giving them the flexibility to build projects that are aligned with their long-term development plans and will bring lasting legacies. We are excited to engage in such close collaboration with these cities.”

An Evaluation Commission will be appointed by the IOC, and will travel to the cities in March and April 2019. The Commission will then publish a report in June 2019, prior to the election of the host city at the 134^th IOC Session.

In agreement with the three Candidate Cities, this Session will be moved from Milan, Italy, to Lausanne, Switzerland, where the IOC membership was already scheduled to convene in June 2019, for the Candidate City Briefing for the Olympic Winter Games 2026. This change ensures compliance with Rule 33 of the Olympic Charter, which states that the election cannot be held in a country which has a candidate for the Games concerned.