www.olympic.org - Site Officiel du Mouvement Olympique

The day after arriving in Beijing, and before attending several Olympic meetings, the IOC President, Jacques Rogge, accompanied by members of the Executive Board (EB), visited the Olympic Village. On this occasion, President Rogge helped to launch the IOC's "Giving is Winning" campaign (see ‘Miscellaneous") and the Olympic Truce Wall was inaugurated.

Meeting on 2 and 3 August, the EB took a number of important decisions. Following the agreement signed between the Iraqi government and the IOC on 29 July, the EB decided to lift the provisional suspension of the National Olympic Committee of Iraq. The EB agreed to shortlist the four cities which had applied to host the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012, i.e. Harbin (People's Republic of China), Innsbruck (Austria), Kuopio (Finland) and Lillehammer (Norway), as candidate cities. The Finnish city of Jyväskylä was chosen as the host city of the Sport for All Congress in 2010.

Regarding the fight against doping, further to the recommendations of the IOC Disciplinary Commission, the EB disqualified American Antonio Pettigrew from the events in which he competed at the 2000 Games. This decision resulted in the formal disqualification of the team and therefore of his team-mates in the men's 4x400m relay. See press release at www.olympic.org.

The EB has donated USD 4 million for the reconstruction of sports infrastructure in the Sichuan region, which was hit by a devastating earthquake in May. The IOC cheque was presented by President Rogge at an official ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People, attended by the Mayor of Beijing, the Deputy Secretary of the Sichuan Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and BOCOG President, Qi Liu. Information available at www.olympic.org ("Olympic News" section).

The 120th IOC Session was opened on the evening of 4 August in the Opera Hall of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, in the presence of the President of the People's Republic of China, Hu Jintao.

The following day, the IOC members heard reports from the various IOC commissions, followed by those of the IOC administration. The discussions on 6 August were devoted to the Olympic Games. The organising committees for the Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010, London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Games, as well as the chairpersons of the respective coordination commissions, presented their reports to the Session. The corresponding reports for the first Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore were also presented.

7 August was election day. Zaiqing Yu, EB member since 2004, was elected IOC Vice-President, replacing Gunilla Lindberg, whose mandate has expired. Denis Oswald, René Fasel, Mario Vázquez Raña and Frank Fredericks were elected as representatives of the International Federations for Olympic Summer and Winter Sports, NOCs and athletes respectively. The EB has a new female member: Nawal El Moutawakel. Meanwhile, Richard Carrión was re-elected as an EB member for a four-year term. Sergey Bubka, President of the NOC of Ukraine, was re-elected as an IOC member, while Ugur Erdener, President of the International Archery Federation, was elected as a new IOC member. Details available at www.olympic.org ("Olympic News" section).

The IOC members chose the South African city of Durban as host city for the 123rd Session in 2011.

At 8.08 pm (Beijing time) on 8 August, the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad will take place in the "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium. News and photos of this magical moment will be published on www.olympic.org ("News" section)

Meeting on 4 August, ahead of the 120th IOC Session in Beijing, the IOC Athletes' Commission elected Frank Fredericks as its new Chairman for a two-year term. He succeeds Sergey Bubka as the head of the Commission. More information at www.olympic.org ("Olympic News" section).

The IOC and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) recently launched their successful "Giving is Winning" campaign in the Olympic Village in Beijing in order to find as many supporters as possible for their joint project. The campaign was launched last year in the run-up to the 2008 Games to maximise donations and the initial objective of collecting 50,000 articles from the Olympic family has already nearly been met, even before the start of the Games. The NOCs of Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, the United States, Great Britain, Ireland and Singapore, along with the International Sailing Federation and the "Dubai International Humanitarian City" (humanitarian organisation based in the United Arab Emirates), are among the generous donors who have contributed to the success of the campaign. Athletes participating in the Beijing Games will donate their sports clothes to Asian refugees. Information at www.olympic.org ("Olympic News" section).

On the occasion of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, UNAIDS, the organising committee of the Games (BOCOG) and the IOC have launched their joint "Play safe – Help stop HIV" campaign in the Olympic Village. The objective of this campaign is to educate athletes participating in the Beijing Games about the dangers of HIV and recruit them as ambassadors to raise public awareness about the epidemic. Full details at www.olympic.org ("Olympic News" section).

The IOC will launch an online channel to broadcast the Beijing Games in 77 territories across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, including India, Republic of Korea, Nigeria and Indonesia. From 6 August 2008, the IOC will broadcast a selection of videos on demand (VOD) about the Beijing Games. The IOC channel, geo-blocked within each territory, will be available on YouTubeTM at the following address: www.youtube.com/beijing2008. Press release at www.olympic.org.

The International Fencing Federation (FIE) has announced the death of Abdoul Wahab Barka Ba, member of its Executive Committee since 2004, on 5 August in Dakar (Senegal). Aged 66, Abdoul Wahab Barka Ba had been appointed an honorary member by the FIE Congress that same year. He was President of the Senegalese Fencing Federation, which he had founded in 1997. He was the driving force behind the revival of fencing in Senegal and its subsequent development at national, continental and international level. In 2000, for example, he created, in cooperation with the FIE, the EIMA, (Ecole Internationale des Maîtres d’Armes pour l’Afrique), based in Dakar. In 2004, he had been named Senegal's top sports administrator. An athletics enthusiast as well, he was General Secretary of the African Athletic Confederation.

Támas Aján, President of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) and an IOC member, recently announced that a record number of 88 nations will be participating in the Beijing Games. Weightlifters from South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Cyprus and Tuvalu will compete for the first time in the Olympic weightlifting events. The IWF also has a new website: www.iwf.net.

The 4th edition of the "Festival of Sport" was held on 21 July in the Royal Park in Brussels. Organised by the Belgian NOC, in partnership with the Olympic Health Foundation (OHF), the 2008 edition of the Olympicnic began with an Olympic torch run. The Olympic flame was lit by rower Dirk Crois, Olympic silver medallist in Los Angeles in 1984, one of many Olympians who attended the event. This family-oriented sports festival was also visited by King Albert II and Queen Paola, who were accompanied by the Prime Minister, Yves Leterme. The Olympicnic programme included some 30 sports disciplines, which anyone could try free of charge, with professional supervision provided by hundreds of volunteers from the sports federations.

On 1 August, the Canadian NOC officially launched the Aboriginal Olympic Stories, a new addition to the Canadian Olympic School Programme. These stories not only profile Aboriginal Olympians who have represented Canada at the Olympic Games, but they also offer students the opportunity to gain new insights into Aboriginal cultures. The full news release is available at www.olympic.ca

Croatian boxer Mate Parlov, Olympic champion in 1972 representing Yugoslavia, died last week in Pula (Croatia) at the age of 59. Two-time European amateur light heavyweight champion in 1971 and 1973, then world champion in 1974, Parlov won gold in the same category at the 1972 Munich Games. He turned professional in 1974.

The Dominican NOC celebrated the Olympic Day Run in the province of Santiago. This event attracted more than 4,000 participants, including 100 or so famous athletes and sports personalities. At the head of the runners were Luis Mejía, NOC President, Antonio Acosta, Secretary General, Bárbara Hernández and Juan Vila, NOC members, Guillermo Ottenwalder, Under-Secretary for Sport, and several heads of national and provincial sports federations. At the end of the race, a tribute was paid to Guillermo Saleta, former President and founder of the Sports Union of Santiago, for his 30 years of service to Dominican sport. He was presented with a commemorative plaque.

On 6 August, the Olympic torch relay began its final leg in front of the Forbidden City. BOCOG President, Liu Qi, handed the torch to the first bearer, Yang Liwei, the first Chinese astronaut. The flame will be carried in the Olympic host city by 841 torch bearers for three days, before reaching its final destination in the Olympic stadium in Beijing during the Opening Ceremony on 8 August. Full details can be found at www.beijing2008.com.

On 1 August, the Organising Committee of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) announced the competition schedules for these Vancouver Games. This announcement stems from the approval of the detailed Olympic Winter Games Competition Schedule by the IOC Executive Board in Beijing. The competition schedule for the Paralympic Winter Games was approved by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in 2007. The schedules are available at www.vancouver2010.com. Winter sports enthusiasts should note that tickets for the 2010 Games go on sale on 3 October.

"Olympic Highlights" will not be published during the Olympic Games in Beijing. News items will continue to be published at www.olympic.org , where all the Olympic news and an information bulletin will cover the Games and the various related events. The next edition of "Olympic Highlights" will be published on 5 September 2008.