(ATR) SportAccord celebrates its past and looks ahead to the future as its 10th anniversary convention gets underway in Quebec City, Canada.
"A Decade of Change, A Future of Promise" is the theme for this week, and the major item of interest fittingly centers around an Olympics more than eight years away.
EB Business
In what's becoming something of a tradition, members of the IOC Executive Board will meet to shortlist bidders for the Games, just as they did at SportAccord 2004 in Lausanne for the 2012 race and at SportAccord 2008 in Athens for 2016.
This time around, it's Baku, Doha, Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo that could be ousted from the five-way field for 2020, the announcement to come Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Host city candidates aren't the only ones campaigning for 2020 this week.
The eight sports shortlisted for Olympic inclusion are also here to promote their bids in advance of the EB meetings, where members will decide whether to accept a joint softball-baseball pitch and could also choose to trim the field further ahead of a September 2013 decision.
The other six bidders are karate, roller sports, wakeboard, wushu, squash and sport climbing. It's expected there will be room for only one to join the program, currently capped at 28 sports.
EB business runs Wednesday through Friday with a second press briefing scheduled for Thursday evening and President Jacques Rogge's press conference for Friday afternoon.
Heavy Hitters
In the meantime, Nike Brand president Charlie Denson delivers Wednesday morning's keynote on "Inspiring the Next Generation"; Mark Lazarus makes his first SportAccord appearance as chairman of NBC Sports Group by answering "Will sports TV viewers still watch live games and events in 10 years?"; London 2012 chair Sebastian Coe adresses "the power of sport to achieve lasting change" in Thursday's keynote and U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun sits on a panel titled "Show me the money – the changing landscape of sports sponsorship" that afternoon.
Blackmun's attendance begs the question whether IOC coffers will continue to show the USOC the money by ending long-simmering negotiations and agreeing to a new revenue-sharing deal.
Atop ASOIF
Another burning question this week is whether the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations can sort out the leadership change imminent atop ASOIF.
Francesco Ricci Bitti of the International Tennis Federation is standing unopposed in Tuesday's election for the presidency, but still to be decided is who will replace retiring Denis Oswald as ASOIF's representative on the EB.
IOC age limits prevent Ricci Bitti, 70, from taking up the position, so boxing president C.K. Wu and cycling chief Pat McQuaid are expected to step forward and jockey for the seat.
SportAccord Firsts
International federations for Olympic (curling, fencing, judo, modern pentathlon, skiing, table tennis, triathlon) and non-Olympic sports (savate, aikido) are among the dozen-plus IFs on display this week at SportAccord's first-ever Demo Zone.
Athletes from five of the eight sports shortlisted for 2020 – baseball, karate, softball, squash and wakeboard – are also performing in the exhibition space sponsored by the city of Edmonton.
Another first for 2012 is the so-called IF Zone, where representatives of the international federations for cricket, minigolf, orienteering, rugby and others will network with fellow delegates.
On Exhibit
As in past years, this week's SportAccord is a convention first, but it's an exhibition a close second.
A total of 83 booths fill the main hall of Quebec City Convention Center as cities (Berlin, Sheffield, Lausanne); countries (Wales, Trinidad & Tobago, the Netherlands); National Olympic Committees (Canada, Bahrain); IFs (karate, volleyball, basketball, cheerleading, muaythai, woodball); service providers (Aggreko, InfoStrada, Jet Set Sports); organizing committees (Cali 2013 World Games; Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games; Toronto 2015 Pan American Games; Almaty 2017 Winter Universiade) and media partners (Sportcal, Around the Rings) make the most of this networking opportunity.
Meet the Media
Olympic beat reporters Stephen Wilson of the AP, Hiroki Shoda of Kyodo News and Sven Busch of DPA will join ATR editor Ed Hula to discuss the 2020 shortlist, possible new sports for the Games and more at Thursday morning's ATR Newsmaker Breakfast, also a part of the official SportAccord program.
Coffee, pastries and networking begin at 7:30 a.m. in Room 200A with the panel to follow from 8 to 8:50 a.m.
Availability is limited, so email Sheila@AroundTheRings.com to reserve your place.
With reporting in Quebec City by Matthew Grayson
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
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