Nick Butler: Wider role of sport epitomised by Putin’s personal Olympic legacy

Nick Butler
Nick Butler at the Olympic Stadium One of the first essays I wrote at school was rather bravely entitled "What is the relationship between politics and the Olympic Games?"

At the tender age of 16 I considered it something of a masterpiece: 2,000 words on subjects as diverse as "Hitler's Olympics" at Berlin 1936, the boycotted Games of the Cold War era, and the human rights issues engulfing the most recent extravaganza in Beijing.

I was blissfully ignorant of the fact that I had barely rippled the surface of a subject worthy of several PhD theses. Not to mention, of course, the livelihood of journalists at insidethegames.

But I was reminded of this embryonic attempt at understanding the Olympic Movement after a week in which all the political forces at play ahead of Sochi 2014 have been demonstrated - both by Russia and the rest of the world.

When Thomas Bach was elected President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in September the first congratulatory call he received, via the phone of Sochi 2014 chief Dmitry Chernyshenko, was from a man in Moscow called Mr Putin.

This goes some way to revealing the significance with which Russia's President regards the Olympics, as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup and other events in his "decade of sport". The 61-year-old judo black belt could remain in power for another ten years, but sporting triumphalism has been picked as the means by which he can best demonstrate to the world that he has made his country great again.

This has been seen in lavish spending reportedly totalling around 1,620 billion roubles ($50 billion/£31billion/€36.5 billion) in creating an Olympics essentially from scratch in Sochi, along with the most ambitious ever Torch Relay, taking in the North Pole and Outer Space.

President Putin lavishly welcomed the Olympic Torch to Russian soil in Moscow in October ©AFP/Getty ImagesPresident Vladimir Putin personally welcomed the Olympic Torch to Russian soil in Moscow in October ©AFP/Getty Images


But, as I argued in my essay six years ago, hosting the Olympics can be a doubled-edged sword because the international spotlight can expose negative, as well as positive, elements.

Quite apart from the questionable nature of an economic system in which the most lucrative construction contracts have allegedly been awarded to Putin's closest personal allies, it is attitudes towards gay rights which have been most exposed.

The law introduced into the Duma - the Lower House of Russia's Parliament - in June outlawed the "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations". In practical terms it essentially prevented a parent, teacher or anyone else from telling a child that being gay is acceptable.

This is by no means the most extreme anti-gay rights law existing worldwide - I was shocked to discover last week 40 out of 53 Commonwealth member nations have some sort of restrictive law - but the Olympic spotlight has illuminated the Russian case more than any other.

To a certain extent we must accept that countries are entitled to their own national laws and have different cultures and attitudes than us in the liberal West. Yet if you want international respect, as Putin so clearly does, you must take notice of international norms.

Despite the best attempts of some public figures, no country seriously considered a fully fledged boycott in protest against these laws. As Latvia's President Andris Berzins said last week, "Boycotts are a relic of the Cold War" and it is better to protest by attending rather than staying away.

The establishment of official protest zones which athletes and accredited officials are free to attend - for the first time ever after a change to Rule 50 of the IOC Charter - is a further endorsement of this view.

But this has not stopped international leaders invoking their own personal boycotts through a blend of devious and not-so-subtle means.

Putin is unlikely to be joined by any of Merkel, Cameron, Obama or Hollande in Sochi ©Getty ImagesVladimir Putin is unlikely to be joined by any of Angela Merkel, David Cameron, Barack Obama or François Hollande at Sochi 2014 ©Getty Images

First there was German President Joachim Gauck, who will stay away but refused to admit this was for reasons of protest. Then there was Francois Hollande and the rest of the French Government, who offered no explanation for their non-attendance.

As Belgian, Canadian, Georgian, Lithuanian and Moldovan leaders announced similar intentions, the torrent soon became a flood. Other countries have adopted a compromise position. With typical subterfuge the news that Britain's Helen Grant - who along with sport and tourism counts "equality" among her three Ministerial titles - will attend can be taken as an implicit acknowledgement that Prime Minister David Cameron will not.

Trust the United States to break any trend of subtlety. Not only will neither Barrack nor Michelle Obama nor vice-president Joe Biden attend, but the delegation will headed by two openly gay figures in former tennis player Billie Jean King and ice-hockey star Caitlin Cahow. Make that three openly gay figures, after figure skater Brian Boitano came out after being unveiled in the line-up.

Putin's response, with all the pragmatic magnanimity that he could muster, was to grant an amnesty to release a number of political prisoners, including two members of dissenting punk band Pussy Riot and 30 Greenpeace activists arrested for "hooliganism" after disrupting an Arctic oil drilling programme. Most notably the ex-oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky will also be pardoned after ten years behind bars.

Formerly Russia's richest man, Khodorkovskiy had the cheek to finance opposition groups and his arrest was therefore regarded as politically-motivated rather than for the "embezzlement, tax evasion and fraud" he supposedly committed.

With most of his wealth disappeared he is no longer considered a threat and, like the others to be released, it is a largely symbolic gesture with little concrete meaning. But considering international criticism over the Olympics has forced Putin to take action that he has resisted for a decade, it is quite some symbolic gesture.

For the Olympics are part of Putin's wider aim to highlight the international strength of Russia as well as himself.

The last year has been a largely successful one for Russian diplomacy. The decree banning chemical weapons in Syria, for example, was agreed only with Russian mediation to emphasise its key role in negotiating any global agreement. But on the other hand the growing instability on its Western border challenges this notion of strength.

In response to suggestions that Ukraine would sign an "Association Agreement" with the European Union Putin supposedly forced through an alternative deal, in Sochi of all places, to bring the ex-Soviet country back into the Russian fold. This has led to popular protests on the streets of Kyiv and the discontent is likely to rumble on for some time - with Lviv's 2022 Olympic bid deeming it another issue registering on the sporting radar.

Ongoing anti-Government protests in Ukraine is part of a wider power-battle between Russia and Europe ©Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesOngoing anti-Government protests in Ukraine is part of a wider power-battle between Russia and Europe ©Anadolu Agency/Getty Images



The economic sanctions imposed by Russia on Lithuania after the latter used its Presidency of the Council of the European Union - which rotates among members on a six month basis - to seek greater relations with Ukraine, underlines the awareness of this threat. And what was Lithuania's response to the sanctions? An Olympic boycott of course - after President Dalia Grybauskaitė confirmed she does "not see a political possibility of going to the Sochi Games".

So wider political relations, as well as human rights, are at stake ahead of Sochi 2014.

There is the possibility of all this being forgotten once the Games get underway. The protest zones will inevitably be placed well out of sight away from the action and a parallel can be drawn with Beijing where the success of the Games hid the political issues which clouded the build-up.

This is not guaranteed however.

Furthermore and without wishing in any way to tempt fate, the greatest political danger potentially comes not internationally but from dissidents within Russia. A released Canadian intelligence report last week highlighted the danger of Doku Umarov, a Chechnya-based warlord allegedly responsible for bombings on the Moscow metro and Domodedovo airport bombings in 2010 and 2011, who has called for attacks on the "Satanic Games" in Sochi. There is a real threat of a terrorist attack if not in Sochi then somewhere else in Russia during next year's event, and this risk is in danger of being lost amid the other issues.

The death of broadcaster David Coleman this weekend revived memories of the most infamous Olympic moment of all...the Munich 1972 hostage crisis ©Fairfax MediaThe death of broadcaster David Coleman this weekend revived memories of the most infamous Olympic moment of all...the Munich 1972 hostage crisis ©Fairfax Media via Getty Images


This is a sombre note on which to end, but as Munich 1972 and Atlanta 1996 tragically highlighted, terrorism has impacted Olympic history as much as human rights and boycotts have.

There is indeed no form of politics which is impervious to influencing an Olympic Games and this is something my 16-year old self identified and has been something confirmed to me throughout my short time at insidethegames.

After this week it is something that Vladimir Putin will no doubt have realised as well.

Nick Butler is a reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here

Gary Anderson: As the Trentino 2013 bell gets ready to toll I leave with much more than I came

Gary Anderson

Gary AndersonWith just one day to go until the Closing Ceremony of the 26th Winter Universiade in Trentino, bringing to an end 11 days of sporting action on the snow and ice, it appears the weather-Gods have finally given in to the inevitable as clear skies have been replaced by clouds and sleet showers.

Whilst still being bitterly cold, the athletes have gone about the task of accruing medals over the last week-and-a-half in near perfect conditions which in a way has summed up the general mood here in Trentino, which is one of brightness and optimism.

For myself, I came to Trentino 2013 with a completely blank sheet in terms of what to expect and I must say it has been an experience to say the least.

Having never been outside the country before on a solo-expedition, I arrived at the airport in Verona with a fairly hefty amount of trepidation, which was soon given traction by the sound of foreign accents and incomprehensible signs that greeted my passing through the arrivals lounge.

Ah yes, I know what you are thinking; "Well you are going to Italy, what did you expect?" (It was former Liverpool striker Ian Rush who described his one season in Serie A with Juventus more than 25 years ago as "like living in a foreign country"). 

Well, yes you are right, but as I said, I did not know what to expect but I soon realised that it was now time to step up and become versed in the art of pigeon-Italian and extravagant hand signals, or risk being literally left out in the cold.

If nothing else, I have improved my miming skills no end, so watch out back home the next time someone suggests a game of charades.

Preparations for the Closing Ceremony of Trentino 2013 will be swinging into gear as he 26th Winter Universiade draws to a close ©Gary Anderson/ITGPreparations for the Closing Ceremony of Trentino 2013 will be swinging into gear as the 26th Winter Universiade draws to a close ©Gary Anderson/ITG




























Having managed to wangle my way onto a bus bringing athletes and officials straight to Trento, I sat back and pondered on the two-hour journey what the next 12 days would bring.

Now in my tenth day I am happy to report that it's a case of so far so good.

Putting aside the fact that I managed to pick up the worst case of man-flu in history - everyone's is always the worst - my time in Trentino has been a great experience.

Flitting between hotel lobbies, the Press Centre at Sanbopolis and the odd competition venue, I have soaked up the full gamut of experiences as well as met some very interesting people along the way.

As I alluded to in my previous blog last week, my brief coming here was to try and infiltrate the inner circle of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and try to glean any news and information that is floating about the hotel lobby or bar.

It's here among the clink of cappuccino cups and the unending handshakes that the decision makers in FISU and the Universiade Movement construct and formulate, plan and promise, and agree and disagree.

Plonking myself in the middle of this, bedecked in my best insidethegames attire, I attempted to immerse seamlessly into this environment. I must admit that at times I felt like the boy who turns up late to a game in the park and is standing on the sidelines waiting to grab the attention of the others and be allowed to join a team. I hovered and slinked my way through the suits and the various pockets of powerbrokers huddled together in all corners of the room, and occasionally I got invited to join the game.

Coffee and croissants have been a staple diet here in Trentino ©Gary Anderson/ITGCoffee and croissants have been a staple diet here in Trentino ©Gary Anderson/ITG



























The most striking thing about this experience is the sheer scale and variety of the many different accents and faces that make up the Universiade Movement. There are 167 National University Sports Federations (NUSFs) that make up FISU and despite many of these nations not having athletes competing here in Trentino; it seems that most had representation on the official side.

As is naturally the case, the summer versions of large international multi-sport events always tend to be larger in scale and size compared to winter versions and that is no different here in Trentino. Around 3,000 students from over 50 countries are in northern Italy to take part in the Games, compared to some 12,000 competitors from more than 160 countries at Kazan 2013, earlier this year.

However, no matter how much FISU and its officials extol the virtues of expansion and growth, which admittedly is a vital factor in the continued success of the Movement; it is crude to suggest that the measure of success of any Universiade is its scale and size.

While Trentino 2013 can lay claim to being the biggest Winter Universiade in history both in terms of numbers of competitors and the geographical spread of the 10 venues across the Autonomous Province of Trento - brought about by the short amount of time it had to stage the Games - it does not feel like a mammoth international event.

This is a positive thing.

The Trentino 2013 Media and Press Centre at Sanbopolis has become a familiar haunt ©Gary Anderson/ITGThe Trentino 2013 Media and Press Centre at Sanbopolis has become a familiar haunt ©Gary Anderson/ITG




























With no central Athletes Village, it would have been easy to assume that the experience for competitors would have been somewhat tapered by a lack of a central hub but from what I have seen and speaking to some students, this year's Universiade has been a hugely enjoyable experience.

With athletes spread across 85 hotels and various clusters of sports taking place across the five regions of Trento, these pockets of students have had the chance to form stronger bonds with those from other nations, even with those they are competing against.

This was evident at the speed skating competition I attended at Baselga di Pine yesterday.

I pitched up at the Ice Rink expecting a tough, uncompromising battle between the team pursuit skaters taking part, all looking to give every last ounce of energy and will-power to claim a coveted medal. While I was not disappointed at all with the level of skill and will-to-win on show, I was struck by the camaraderie between each set of competitors from nations as far apart as Russia and Japan to South Korea and the Netherlands.

As each team took to the ice, skaters from other nations stood and watched, and although, many were sizing up potential opponents, there was a genuine rapport between the competitors which even extended to shouts of support as the skaters slid their way round the oval battlefield.

Curious as to why such a high level of mutual respect was on show, I remarked to an official from the Norway team - whom I correctly assumed would have good English - that this seemed more like a mass training camp rather than an international competition.

Members of the Norway speed skating team sit and support their Italian rivals despite the heat of competition ©Gary Anderson/ITGMembers of the Norway speed skating team sit and support their Italian rivals despite the heat of competition ©Gary Anderson/ITG




























"Yes, I know it seems that way but don't be fooled," she said.

"Everyone here wants to get a medal for sure and are trying to the limit.

"But, a lot of these guys stay in the same hotel or village these last days at the Universiade, and have really made some friends.

"I think this is really good because obviously winning is always nice but having a good time and meeting new people is something good that happens at Universiades."

At the risk of sounding slightly cheesy, this is probably the abiding memory I will take with me when I leave Trentino. I came here expecting this huge all-consuming mega-event but instead have seen that whether it is quiet little chats in a corner of a hotel or the simple act of showing respect and striking up a friendship with an opponent, it is the little things that have made the 26th Winter Universiade a special event.

Gary Anderson is a reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here.

Mike Rowbottom: Getting back to basics

Mike Rowbottom
Mike RowbottomJacques Rogge was not wrong.

To clarify. A year before the London 2012 Games, the then President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) warned the wide world: "Sport is in danger."

A decade earlier, the warning bells had been rung at the IOC over the perils of doping - but in making this announcement in Lausanne, Rogge was pointing up what he perceived as an even greater threat, namely illegal gambling, and all the distortions it can visit upon the spectacles, and the protagonists, who entertain and divert us in the sporting domain.

Anyone who writes about sport will acknowledge the increasing levels of coverage required to deal with doping and betting abuses.

In the wake of his Team Sky colleague Jonathan Tiernan-Locke's recent doping charge, Britain's Tour de France winner Chris Froome has this week lamented that his squad's, and his own reputation will inevitably suffer as a result, whatever the outcome for Tiernan-Locke.

Meanwhile, Stephen Lee, banned from snooker for 12 years in September after being found guilty of match-fixing in what the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) described as "the worst case of snooker corruption that we've seen", is preparing an appeal for January.

England's Stephen Lee is preparing an appeal in the New Year against his 12-year ban from snooker for match-fixing @Getty ImagesEngland's Stephen Lee is preparing an appeal in the New Year against his 12-year ban from snooker for match-fixing ©Getty Images

And Oldham Athletic have sacked their Colombian winger Cristian Montaño, one of six players arrested this month in connection with charges of spot-fixing - that is, fixing outcomes in matches including the receiving of yellow or red cards in order to make money for illegal gamblers. His solicitor maintains he denies any wrongdoing.

It may be that Tiernan-Locke's sample turns out to be clean, and that Lee turns out to have the proof he has spoken of to get himself out of the frame, and that Montaño may yet also demonstrate his innocence. And it may not.

Froome was open in discussing the matter with the press, but added, plaintively: "There is going to be a point where enough is enough, and we need to get on and start talking about the good things in the sport..."

Tour De France winner Chris Froome fears the doping case involving his Team Sky colleague Jonathan Tiernan-Locke will damage his image whatever the result @Getty ImagesTour De France winner Chris Froome fears the doping case involving his Team Sky colleague Jonathan Tiernan-Locke will damage his image whatever the result ©Getty Images

And the man has a point. But then Thomas Hardy had a point when he wrote: "If a way to the Better there be, it exacts a full look at the Worst..."

The worst needs to be uncovered, monitored, understood before the good things in sport can flourish freely. And we owe that to sport. And we owe that to ourselves.

Meanwhile, the back of my coat is covered in mud. Only my dog knows why and she's not talking. Yet.

But I will share the truth with you. Across the road from where I now live there is a neat and kempt football ground, complete with a Stade Municipal stand in which, every other weekend, local supporters gather to watch a B-team match followed by an A-team match.

It's small scale sport - the kind most people get involved with if that is their interest. And I love it. The sound of a referee's whistle is as beautiful as the call of a wood pigeon. The reverberating racket of players is joy.

Yes of course it reminds me of matches I have played. And yes of course it prompts me to tell myself, and anyone else who might listen (hello dog) that I have still not, officially, hung up my boots - even though I can't remember where my last pair are.

The thing is, sport at this level has a purity about it. As opposed to, say, Premier League football - Super Sundays (another 0-0), action replays, talking points, mandatory beers and the constant nudging to indulge in a few spot bets which will yield you the status of a Young Lord of Cool, surfing the wave of life. Wearisome.

John Terry slips onto his back and misses the crucial penalty for Chelsea against Manchester United in the 2008 UEFA Champions League final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow without the excuse of having a dog on a lead ©Getty ImagesJohn Terry slips onto his back and misses the crucial penalty for Chelsea against Manchester United in the 2008 UEFA Champions League final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow without the excuse of having a dog on a lead ©Getty Images

In recent years, several of my friends have stopped watching - or certainly stopped enjoying watching - big time football on a regular basis, and have chosen to visit lower league teams. The urge is strong and, I would hazard, widespread.

Why watch Bristol City when you used to watch Spurs? Or Orient when you used to watch West Ham? Or, lower down the footballing scale, Stansted when you could watch Arsenal? Well, partly it's a hell of a lot cheaper. But that's not all of it.

Regular non-league followers I have spoken to value the old-style freedom they have to roam around the ground, even to switch ends at half-time if they so please. The experience corresponds more closely to the experience of football-watching before - for the very best of reasons - terracing and thus pricing began to change.

This is not to champion a return to skinheads, scummy tea and potentially lethal arenas. But there is a strong and growing urge, I would contend, for spectator sport - and indeed recreational sport - which yields deeper and older values than the ones so frantically promoted on billboards and television.

The rise to prominence of parkrun, for instance - a free network of 5km Saturday morning runs in scenic localities all over Britain which now regularly involves more than 35,000 runners - is another manifestation of this urge for simplicity and purity. And free is pretty cheap as well.

Personally, having discovered a stray football in a ditch alongside my very local pitch while walking the hound, I relished the lost joy of a kick-about this week. There was no goalie - or should I say gardien de but - on hand to parry my efforts, but that did not distract from the pleasure of thrashing the ball into the rigging.

It was only when I took a penalty, with the dog dancing about on the lead, that I found myself doing a John Terry, winding myself in the process. Staring up at clouds, and then at an inquisitive furry face, I laughed at my folly. But it was not just sad. It was also glad.

This Sunday I will be back with the dog, lingering, to watch some more B or A team action. Ultimately, this is the simple instinct without which sport makes no sense.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, covered the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as chief feature writer for insidethegames, having covered the previous five summer Games, and four winter Games, for The Independent. He has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. His latest book Foul Play – the Dark Arts of Cheating in Sport (Bloomsbury £12.99) is available at the insidethegames.biz shop. To follow him on Twitter click here.

Jaimie Fuller: Bach initiatives leave me feeling optimistic about future

Duncan Mackay
Jaimie FullerI heard news this week which gives me genuine cause for optimism in 2014 and beyond.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) released details of an initiative inspired by its new President which promises the sort of pro-active stance the movement hasn't seen for years. This stance reinforces our messaging in our Pure Sport campaign that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) needs better funding and autonomy.

Just a couple of months into his new role, Thomas Bach has announced new proposals to tackle doping and match fixing in sport. It's a move that could radically change the IOC's historic approach to the problems that continually eat away at the integrity of sporting competition.

At last, someone it seems, is prepared to actually DO something. Many of Herr Bach's predecessors have ended their terms of office with glowing reputations that have largely been bestowed upon them by career-minded sycophants. I recently criticised Jacques Rogge's tenure for its lack of action despite the smiles and mutual backslapping that suggested otherwise. Credit where it's due and President Bach should be applauded for taking the initiative and raising his head above the parapet so quickly after being awarded his Presidential stripes.

At the heart of this plan is the IOC's commitment to invest $20 million (£12 million/€14 million) after what was described as an "unprecedented four-day brainstorming session" on the future of the Olympics.

The IOC Executive has agreed a $10 million (£6million/€7 million) fund to research new and improved methods to catch dopers and a further $10 million to "protect the clean athlete from any kind of manipulation or corruption."

As I see it, this could mean anything from peer pressure to take performance enhancing drugs or incitement to fix the outcome of a game or match. So bravo, Mr. President, there's still a long way to go, but after just three months in the chair, it's a bloody good start!

Thomas Bach (left) appears ready to be more aggressive than predecessor Jacques Rogge (left) in an effort to combat the twin problems of doping and match-fixing ©AFP/Getty ImagesThomas Bach (left) appears ready to be more aggressive than predecessor Jacques Rogge (left) in an effort to combat the twin problems of doping and match-fixing ©AFP/Getty Images

This, of course, is not a guarantee of success and right now, my delight at the news and the congratulatory tone here, remain conditional on something actually happening. All the same, it's refreshing to know that problems are being acknowledged and finally being confronted.

There will, of course, be the question of whether it's enough. Is $20 million really going to make a difference? As I said, it's a start and the proof of the pudding will be how the money is spent plus it hopefully will give rise to further investment, greater research and better competition. In short, it's the thin end of the wedge and a wedge that may just help save the Olympic Movement - and sport in general - from falling into the abyss.

Yes, it will take time. The President's vision surrounds; "the Olympic Agenda 2020" – no doubt a reference to the timescale he anticipates, but wouldn't it be great if it also illustrates the all-round vision and commitment he has for the Olympic movement and world sport?

The IOC has also asked national Governments to contribute an additional $10 million  to World Anti-Doping Agency funds so WADA can conduct its own research projects. Again, it's great news, but I trust this will be an improvement that allows WADA to maintain - and strengthen its own independence and not the first move in the IOC using the power of the purse to take WADA under its wing and direct their activities.

Skins used Ben Johnson, disqualified at the 1988 Seoul Olympics after a positive drugs test following a world record victory in the 100 metres, to promote a Pure Sport campaign ©SkinsSkins used Ben Johnson, disqualified at the 1988 Seoul Olympics after a positive drugs test following a world record victory in the 100 metres, to promote a Pure Sport campaign ©Skins

It's crucial that WADA remains independent and isn't compromised because the IOC has given them extra funding. Independence for WADA is one of the fundamental principles we advocated around the world during the recent Pure Sport tour I did with Ben Johnson, along with greater funding.

However pro-active the new President wants the IOC to be, it must be so with an independent WADA at its side. Otherwise, WADA simply becomes an IOC lap dog - and that simply won't work.

We all own sport. Sports federations and administrators are the custodians of sport on behalf of the people of the world. They have a responsibility to each and every one of us and history tells that they let us down on so many occasions with their incestuous, self-preservation and inactivity.

There is still a long way to go, but the news that the new President is seemingly prepared to grasp the nettle and get on with it is a two-fold message. Firstly, it begs the question of why it was so apparently beyond his predecessors and secondly, it proves that where there's a will there might just be a way. Fingers crossed.

Herr Bach, you taken the first steps on a long and probably difficult journey, but I do so hope you succeed.

Jaimie Fuller is the chairman of SKINS and the founder of pressure group Change Cycling Now, whose members include Greg LeMond, Paul Kimmage and David Walsh. To follow him on Twitter click here.

Alan Hubbard: Vitali Klitschko in fight of his life as he tries to save Ukraine

Duncan Mackay
Alan HubbardA question of sport for the pub quizzers: Which prominent sports figure likely to be the next President of his country failed a pre-Olympics drugs test?

The answer? Vitali Klitschko, until this week the world heavyweight champion and now presently engaged in the toughest fight of his life as leader of a political party his native Ukraine aiming to KO the dictatorial reigning incumbent.

Klitschko has proved himself one of boxing's supreme champions, yet how many recall that back in 1996 he was ruled out of representing Ukraine in the Atlanta Games after testing positive for a steroid derivative which he claimed he had taken unwittingly when trying to recover from injury?

Instead his place at super-heavyweight was taken by his younger brother Wladimir, who won the gold medal, and subsequently both went on to dominate the professional heavyweight division, tidying up the fragmented titles between them.

Vitali's World Boxing Council (WBC) belt has always been regarded as the most authentic, but yesterday that was relinquished after almost a decade in order for him to concentrate on the political and ideological struggle in Ukraine.

Vitali Klitschko is set to go down in history as one of the great world heavyweight champions of all-time ©Bongarts/Getty ImagesVitali Klitschko has dominated the world heavyweight scene, losing only two fights in his professional career ©Bongarts/Getty Images

The 6ft 7in "Dr Ironfist" is currently standing tall on the streets of capital Kyiv, attempting to calm the violent anti-Government protests that have captured the world's attention

The WBC have declared him "Champion Emeritus" in recognition of his magnificent contribution to the sport.

Technically this allows him to challenge a new champion should he wish to resume boxing. But the 42-year-old Klitschko says:"That is something I currently cannot imagine. My focus is on politics in Ukraine and I feel the people there need me."

Apart from Muhammad Ali, Klitschko surely is the most remarkable heavyweight champion in history. Like Wladimir, 37,he holds a PhD in sports science and is as fluent in four languages as he has been with those iron fists.

Now he has an altogether different fight on his hands as leader of pro-Western, anti-Russian party the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform, whose initials appropriately translate into the Ukrainian word for Punch.

Massive crowds have demonstrated for weeks in Kyiv against vilified President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to shun closer ties with the European Union and Klitschko has been prominent in the protests which have infuriated Russia's president Vladimir Putin, who is known to be pressuring the Ukrainian Government.

World heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko has joined demonstrators on the streets in Ukraine's capital Kyiv as protests against the Government have continued ©AFP/Getty ImagesWorld heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko has joined demonstrators on the streets in Ukraine's capital Kyiv as protests against the Government have continued ©AFP/Getty Images

Klitschko's anti-corruption, pro-European platform has made him Ukraine's most popular politician. He is now said to be 20 per cent ahead in the polls for a Presidential race likely to be far fiercer than any of his 17 title fights, emerging as the main challenger to Yanukovich in elections scheduled for 2015.

His last fight in the ring was in September 2012 when he stopped Manuel Charr in the fourth round. Prior to that was his points defeat of Britain's Dereck Chisora, who notoriously spat water in his face at the weigh-in. Klitschko's stoic reaction was an indication of the character he now displays as a political leader.

He retires boasting the highest knockout percentage in history, more than 87 per cent of his opponents being chopped down with that wrecking ball right hand.

Klitschko himself has never been knocked off his feet in 47 bouts and he has barely lost a round since his 2003 defeat in an epic battle with Lennox Lewis when he was halted with an hideaous eye injury when ahead on points.

That was one of only two defeats, the other when he was forced to retire with a shoulder injury against Chris Byrd.

Now the WBC are likely to match leading contender Bermane Stiverne, a Haitian-born Canadian, with America's big-punching sensation Deontay Wilder for the vacant title.

However another possible scenario might see the title might remain in the Klitschko family, with Stiverne or Wilder paired with Wladimir, who holds the other three versions- WBA, IBF and WBO.

This would bring about a unified world heavyweight title for the first time since Lewis retired after fighting Vitali ten years ago.

Crowd of protesters gathered in Kyiv's Independance Square watch Vitali Klitschko delivering a speech ©Getty ImagesCrowd of protesters gathered in Kyiv's Independence Square watch Vitali Klitschko, now Ukraine's opposition leader, delivering a speech ©Getty Images

As for Vitali, this son of a former Soviet air force colonel now becomes a true political heavyweight, believing his sports career will assist him to triumph. " Success in any sport requires concentration, training, determination and talent," he says. "Sport gave me the will to win, the ability to make quick decisions, to realise their full potential. These qualities are very important in politics.

"My country needs a change. Ukrainians deserve a better life . I saw how people live in Europe and the US and came to politics to introduce standards of living, values, rights, and freedoms of the European community in my country.

"My main goal is for Ukraine to be a European, modern country with European standards of life. I will decide with people who have the same vision, the same dream to change the situation."

Klitschko is following a similar political path to another contemporary boxing legend, Manny Pacquiao, now a Congressman in the Philippines, who is also considering a run for the Presidency there.

Fighting out of the pro-Western "Orange" corner against the pro-Moscow "Red" corner Klitschko has had a long-standing interest in politics, previously running for mayor of Kyiv and being an elected a member of the Ukraine Parliament - where fellow national sports icon Sergeyi Bubka was also a member from 2002 until 2006 before electing to concentrate on sports politics.

Vitali Klitschko addresses the Ukraine Parliament in Kyiv where he claims he is fighting with his mind, not his fists ©AFP/Getty ImagesVitali Klitschko addresses the Ukraine Parliament in Kyiv where he claims he is fighting with his mind, not his fists ©AFP/Getty Images

On several occasions he has acted as peacemaker in the regular punch-ups in the volatile Parliament. He explains: "In the ring they call me Dr Ironfist. Perhaps some expected me to begin my Parliamentary career by bashing heads, literally. However, I said early on that my style in politics will be focused on the battle for ideas that lead to changes in Ukraine."

K1, as he is known, has represented Ukraine at the Council of Europe and, first made his first mark in politics in the ring in December 2004, when he wore an orange flag on his shorts in support of the revolution that initially ousted President Yanukovych after he was accused of election fraud.

"These days I spend 90 per cent of my time on politics," he told insidethegames last year at his Alpine training camp in Austria. "Sometimes I don't sleep too well because the brain is burning with what I have to do.

"In boxing, I am alone in the ring but in politics it is team work. I have some good people around me. Alone I can do nothing.

"Ukraine needs to be a European country, we are European with our history and mentality. Geographically we are in the middle of Europe but we are very far away from Europe with our life standards.

"We need to make many changes. In 1991, I was 20 years old. I voted for the independence of our country. Everyone had a dream to build a new modern democratic Ukraine. Last summer we celebrated 20 years independence. Sadly, we have become a corrupt country. Now I want to stop my homeland sliding into tyranny."

Vitali Klitschko has made no secret of his political affiliations, wearing an orange flag on his trunks in December 2004, when he beat Britain's Danny Williams in Las Vegas ©Getty ImagesVitali Klitschko has made no secret of his political affiliations, wearing an orange flag on his trunks in December 2004, when he beat Britain's Danny Williams in Las Vegas ©Getty Images

As an MP, he has campaigned vigorously for the release of Mrs Yulia Tymoshenko, the former Ukrainian Prime Minister was imprisoned for "abuse of office" - a charge that her supporters claim was politically motivated

"Democracy is my dream and and that is what I am fighting for. But we cannot be a democratic country with political prisoners."

Klitschko's ideals surely would have found favour with the late Nelson Mandela, who said he not fought for democracy in South Africa he would love to have been the world heavyweight champion.

How apt that one who actually is now treads a similar long walk to freedom

That drugs aberration long forgotten and forgiven, the great champion has become a contender again, this time in an altogether dirtier arena.

Mandela surely would have applauded this fellow freedom fighter.

Alan Hubbard is a sports columnist for the The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Games, 10 Commonwealth Games

Nick Butler: Baseball has cause for optimism 2020 inclusion or not

Nick Butler
Nick Butler at the Olympic Stadium ©Inside The GamesRegardless of whether baseball and softball are ultimately successful in their attempt for inclusion at Tokyo 2020, the refusal to dismiss such a possibility by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has provided light at the end of a decade long tunnel.

I first began to closely follow Olympic sport during Athens in 2004. The following year the controversial decision was made to remove the two sports from the Olympic programme and they consequently registered little, on my radar at least, at what proved their final Games in Beijing.

Fast forward to this year, and the beginnings of my journalistic career at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires brought only more despair as the two sports, now united within the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), were conclusively swept aside by wrestling in a race for 2020 inclusion that appeared doomed from the outset.

Many would argue, of course, baseball, with its billion dollar franchises, does not need to be in the Olympics. The best players did not compete anyway and it is far less deserving than a sport like wrestling where Olympic gold medal is the undisputed pinnacle, they would say.

The co-Presidents of the WBSC Riccardo Fraccari and Don Porter console each other after more disappointment in Buenos Aires ©AFP/Getty ImagesThe co-Presidents of the WBSC Riccardo Fraccari and Don Porter console each other after more disappointment in Buenos Aires ©AFP/Getty Images


This may be true to an extent in the United States but try saying that the Olympics do not matter to the British baseball fraternity.

In Britain, where baseball is very much a minority sport, exclusion was a bitter blow with all manner of negative repercussions - with the fact the Games in question was a home one making the hit all the harder.

"I remember being in the Czech Republic preparing for the Euros in 2005 when the Olympic vote was happening," player turned National Development Manager Will Lintern told insidethegames. "The British team were so excited on one side of a Pizzeria with the French distraught on the other side.

"We were sitting around the table looking at each other and thinking who is young enough to have the opportunity to compete? I was one of those athletes and I was thinking, 'This is my career - I am going to be spending the next seven years of my life getting ready for 2012.'

"Two days later we get the decision that baseball won't be there. To get that adulation crashing down to 'sorry guys not you' was a bitter blow which no one saw coming. It was a shot in the dark which in many ways was quite heartbreaking."

These words bear a stark contrast from those, like hope and opportunity, that you usually hear associated with the Games.

Rather than citing financial and commercial losses, Lintern described the greatest impact of not being involved as the missed opportunity to capitalise on the raised awareness that Olympic inclusion would have brought.

"I don't remember a single sporting event that has captured the nation like the Olympics did," he said, before citing the example of handball where, despite being another minority sport, the national federation website crashed due to the strength of interest following the Games.

"To miss out on that and see other sports benefit hurts because it could have been us. Baseball for me is one of those few sports that when you look at an athlete, no matter who you are, you can see someone like you and that is an inspiration to get involved.

"Most sports have an archetypal height, weight and build you have to be to play, but with baseball, even at the highest level, you've got one player whose 5ft 5 and another whose 6ft 7. Between those two you have a character and a build that every child can look at and say, 'He looks like me. I could be that person.'

"That was the purpose of the Games, that legacy to inspire. But as much as baseball missed out, I think London 2012 missed out by not having baseball there."

The popularity of handball at London 2012 emphasised this missed opportunity ©Getty ImagesThe popularity of handball at London 2012 emphasised this missed opportunity ©Getty Images


Despite these disappointments the sport appears to be coping well in both a British and a global sense.

I was given a good indication of this with a visit to the Europe, Africa and Middle East Headquarters of the Major League Baseball (MLB) in London to meet Los Angeles Angels and Great Britain pitcher Michael Roth. The 23-year old represented his country in last year's World Baseball Classic Qualifier and this season became only the third ever Britain to compete in the MLB.

Not for the first time at insidethegames I found myself hopelessly out of my depth with the technical details, which seemed to get steadily more complicated as the evening progressed. Yet, what was remarkable, was how much of what he said bore relevance not just for any athlete but to anyone starting out in a new career.

He stressed the importance of academic qualifications, spoke with refreshing honesty about the incentive of earning money and, most of all, insisted that hard work and a refusal to quit is far more important than natural talent.

"I wasn't the most talented and I don't throw the hardest," he admitted. "But I go out and work hard - that's how I put myself in a position to succeed and to get more opportunities."

Michael Roth gave a refreshingly honest portrayal of the rigours of professional sport ©Getty ImagesMichael Roth gave a refreshingly honest portrayal of the rigours of professional sport
©Getty Images


Roth, as he himself admitted, is very much a "plastic Brit", born and raised in South Carolina and qualifying only by virtue of his English mother, but he seemed to have a genuine desire both to represent his adopted country and to contribute to the growth of the sport here.

He admitted that it will "probably take a home grown British guy breaking in to become a star like David Beckham," and that "competing with other sports such as football is not necessarily a battle you're going to win."

"The kids are seeing Chelsea and Arsenal on television, so they want to go and play football. But baseball has to create its own environment - that's what we do in the US where American Football is a huge rival sport. It's a process which is not going to happen overnight but you just have to keep working hard at it."

This was a point repeated by Lintern when he argued it was not so much appeal that British baseball needed, but awareness. "Getting people to know not about the sport but that there is a local club on their doorstep that they can join.".

At an elite level the recent unveiling of Sport England funding is a major boost. Alongside existing coaching and facilities the major benefit of this will be greater contact time so that the more professional training levels of other European powers, such as Germany, The Netherlands and the Czech Republic, can be replicated.

The scale of baseball in Europe is indeed far greater than I for one expected but, as Roth was at pains to point out, the sport is far from American dominated. Some of the best players in MLB are from places in Latin America and the Far East, he argued, while players also come from Australia, the Netherlands and elsewhere.

The World Baseball Classic, for example, was this year won by the Dominican Republic ahead of Puerto Rico and Japan, with the US languishing down in sixth place.

The success of the Domincan Republic at the World Baseball Classic illustrated the global reach of baseball ©Major League Baseball/Getty ImagesThe success of the Domincan Republic at the World Baseball Classic illustrated the global reach of baseball ©Major League Baseball/Getty Images


But, despite this global appeal and competitiveness, there are certainly issues which need to be resolved should baseball, along with softball, return to the Olympic programme.

The first of these is logistical and relates to where the Olympics would fit alongside the MLB and other major national leagues. Unlike in other sports such as ice hockey, the MLB took no break during past Olympics and this ensured the absence of almost all the sports biggest stars. This problem has echoes of Qatar 2022 and FIFA's Winter World Cup switch fiasco but, as we will surely see there, solutions are possible. It requires patient and careful consultation between all the relative parties.

The second issue concerns doping. Following Thomas Bach's announcement of a $10 million (£6 million/€7 million) fund to tackle the problem, is there really a place for a sport with as abject a recent record as baseball? The extent of this culture was exposed in the 2007 Mitchell Report and, of the 100 players to be suspended over the last decade, are superstars who even I had heard of, like Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.

Roth insisted positive steps are being taken. "We're doing our best to clean up the sport and the players union is definitely adopting a hard stance," he assured insidethegames. "There's always going to be doping issues, look at athletics and cycling, but we want it to be clean. That's what the players are seeking because it will be the best for their careers, and it's the same outside the game."

New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez was banned for 211 games in August after a doping violation...but Roth insists progress is being made ©Getty ImagesNew York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez was banned for 211 games in August after a doping violation...but Roth insists progress is being made ©Getty Images


So what prospects of baseball and softball ultimately being on the programme for 2020?

Bach's words last month during a visit to Japan certainly gave hope. The new President's desire for "flexibility" on the sports programme, as well as to appeal to youth populations and to a baseball mad nation, all stand in its favour. It is also worth stating that, given the facilities in place including the Tokyo Dome Stadium; it would not be a particularly complicated or an expensive addition.

Speaking this weekend Bach, rather ambiguously, said that there is usually a seven year waiting limit for new sports. But, that does not rule out baseball and softball, and if there was unanimous agreement it could be added at the Extraordinary IOC Session to be held in Monte Carlo next December, he added.

Without wanting to cop out, it is therefore hard to say either way at the moment.

However what can be said is that, with figures like Roth at the helm, the two sports now have hope and, despite issues which still need to be resolved, there is plenty to be optimistic about ahead.

Nick Butler is a reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here

David Owen: Purposeful start in jazz-town by Bach and chief lieutenants

Duncan Mackay
David OwenYou have got to hand it to Thomas Bach, the new International Olympic Committee (IOC) President: in the space of three months, he has infused the IOC's Executive Board with a renewed sense of vigour, and of purpose.

I don't know at what point in the IOC top brass's marathon four-day brainstorming session in Montreux it was taken. And it may be a trick of the camera. But I thought I detected one or two rather dazed expressions in the informal Christmas-tree photograph of those taking part that was used to illustrate the IOC's summary of the deliberations.

Serving as an Executive Board member during the early phase of the German's Presidency will not, I suspect, turn out to be a role for the faint-hearted.

Last week's gathering is one stage of a process that we now know will not be completed until around this time next year in Monaco.

The extended get-together in one of the citadels of jazz did, nevertheless produce some not insignificant decisions.

The International Olympic Committee Executive Board appear to have a new sense of purpose under President Thomas Bach ©IOCThe International Olympic Committee Executive Board appear to have a new sense of purpose under President Thomas Bach ©IOC

Take for example the $20 million (£12 million/€14.5 million) of new money to help combat the twin threats of corruption and doping.

The $10 million (£6 million/€7 million) anti-corruption/manipulation fund looks timely to say the least, while a similar-sized budget to fund new anti-doping research, in particular new detection techniques, may come as a godsend for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), whose finances have been growing ever more stretched.

The Montreal-based agency reported deficits together totalling well over $1 million (£614,000/€728,000)in 2011 and 2012, prompting it to warn in June that it would be forced to scale back activities if the Governments - which contribute 50 per cent of its funding, but which have been desperately hard-pressed themselves in recent times - were not prepared to stump up more cash.

It remains to be seen whether Governments will now respond to the IOC's invitation to match its new contribution, although it is hard to hold out too much hope.

Even if they do not, though, this represents a substantial sum, equivalent to around one-third of WADA's annual budget.

Other moves are very much in line with views expressed by Bach during his successful Presidential campaign.

For example, the decision to encourage 2022 Olympic Winter Games bidders to "make the broadest possible use of temporary and/or dismountable facilities" has the air of a stop-gap measure likely in time to be superseded by a stricter pronouncement.

In his campaign, Bach argued for the establishment of a "limit on the number of permanent facilities".

In time, the new working group on Olympic Games cost management will need to come up with a much wider range of cost-cutting options if the Summer Games in particular are to remain a viable dream for any bar a tiny elite of great, or hyper-ambitious, mega-cities.

I would be most surprised, however, if a limit on permanent facilities is not close to the top of its list.

Thomas Bach seems set to keep his promise of giving new sports, like climbing, the opportunity to join the Olympic programme ©LatinContent WO/Getty ImagesThomas Bach seems set to keep his promise of giving new sports, like climbing, the opportunity to join the Olympic programme ©LatinContent WO/Getty Images

The Executive Board's decision last week to use next year's Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing to showcase a particularly wide range of new sports and disciplines - sport climbing, roller sports, skateboarding and wushu - is also very much in line with Bach's advertised thinking.

The German had used a conference call while on the stump to suggest incorporating new forms of sport and physical activity that were fashionable among, and attractive to, young people into the Youth Olympics.

The decision to conduct a feasibility study into an Olympic TV channel will also come as little surprise to those who have been paying attention.

On one level, such a move makes perfect sense given a) its potential appeal to the critical youth market, in conjunction with enhanced social media activity, and b) the wealth of archive footage and content from sports/events with little mainstream TV appeal that could be put at the IOC's disposal.

On another level, however, Bach and his colleagues will need to be extremely careful not to upset the Movement's apple-cart by giving the green light to such a venture.

It is, after all, the spiralling value of live rights to the IOC's flagship events that more than anything explains the impressive upsurge in revenues from which the Movement has benefited in recent times.

If there is the remotest prospect that Olympic TV could somehow undermine that revenue stream, the game would simply not be worth the candle.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. To follow him on Twitter click here

Gary Anderson: Trentino 2013 is turning out to be a unique learning experience for all concerned

Gary Anderson

Gary AndersonEncased either side by the snow-capped slate-grey Dolomites, Trento certainly provides an imposing but impressive setting for the 26th Winter Universiade and a spectacular location for my first trip abroad since joining insidethegames.

The wetness behind my ears is quickly evaporating as I learn to juggle the twin tasks of reporting on the sporting action and trying to snag some face-time with the various people that matter in the Universaide Movement.

For someone who tends to be a "glass half empty" kind of guy, I must admit that breaking the ice is a skill that needs working on but as is often said the best place to learn is on the job and I am certainly doing that.

The spire of the Santa Croce Church in the Piazza Duomo is dwarfed by the imposing Dolomite mountains that surround Trento ©Gary Anderson/ITGThe spire of the Santa Croce Church in the Piazza Duomo is dwarfed by the imposing Dolomite mountains that surround Trento ©Gary Anderson/ITG




























Every-day is a school-day - I promise this is the last cliché I will use - and it is pretty apt that as I learn, I am doing it surrounded by people who value the process of learning perhaps more than most; namely officials and students from universities around the world.

But, what sets the 3,000 or so students here in northern Italy apart from others is that they combine learning with a love and talent for sport which is what underpins the whole Universiade Movement from its inception in 1959.

Although World University Games had been taking place since the inaugural event in 1923 - organised by the International Confederation of Students - the Mmovement as we know it today originated in 1959 when the International University Sports Federation (FISU), established ten years earlier, and the International Students Union (ISU) agreed to take part in what is considered to be the first truly global sporting event for students in Turin. Organised by the Italian Student Sports Federation (CISU), these were the first Games to be christened Universiade and their ethos was all inclusive.

It was here that the FISU flag containing the symbolic "U" surrounded by stars was born and that national anthems at medal ceremonies were replaced by the official FISU anthem Gaudeamus Igitur.

Gwangju 2015 mascot Nuribi has been one of the more colourful characters I have met in Trentino so far ©Gary Anderson/ITGGwangju 2015 mascot Nuribi has been one of the more colourful characters I have met in Trentino so far ©Gary Anderson/ITG
















































In the more than 50 years since Turin, where 1,400 students from 43 countries participated, both Summer and Winter Universiade Games have continued to grow and grow. From 1,400 participants in 1959, there were estimated to be a record 12,000 students at the Kazan 2013 Summer Universiade, while the previous record at a Winter Universiade of 2,500 at Erzurum 2011 has been surpassed here in Trentino.

But enough history for now. FISU and the Universiade Movement prides itself on looking forward; a natural inclination considering that the most important members are, of course, the students who are eager to forge ahead and create their own impressions on the international stage be it sporting or otherwise. The impression created here in Trento is that new ideas and ways of approaching the staging of a Universiade have taken a unique trajectory. Innovation is the theme that permeates these Games.

Around 3,000 international students will attend Trentino 2013 making them the biggest Winter Universiade Games yet ©Gary Anderson/ITGAround 3,000 international students will attend Trentino 2013 making them the biggest Winter Universiade Games yet ©Gary Anderson/ITG




























It is perhaps no surprise that a unique approach has been adopted for Trentino 2013 considering the Organising Committee had only 18 months to deliver the event after original hosts Maribor had the Games taken away by FISU due to a number of problems, chief among them being the withdrawal of Government support.

Trentino stepped into the breach and, under the guidance of its hastily assembled Organising Committee, led by President Sergio Anesi, Trentino 2013 sought to use the delivery of the Universiade as a vehicle for innovation and change.

That change is not on a sporting level but it relates to how a large multi-sport event can be staged and delivered in a way that has never been done before. While the Trento region is no stranger to hosting international winter sports events, the challenge of organising this Winter Universiade in a short space of time and with a limited budget appeared at first sight to be the most daunting of tasks.

As vice-President of the Trentino 2013 Organising Committee, Paolo Bouquet told insidethegames, that challenge was accepted and with some relish. With no time to build a centrally located athletes village, an alternative approach was needed and this required the cooperation of the five regions of Trento, Arco, Rovereto, Pergine Valsuguna and Riva del Garda, that make up the Autonomous Province of Trento.

Paolo Bouquet (left) led the team at the University of Trento who designed the Trentino 2013 Torch which he explained to me is the first ever LED powered Torch for any international multi-sport Games ©Gary Anderson/ITGPaolo Bouquet (left) led the team at the University of Trento who designed the Trentino 2013 Torch which he explained to me is the first ever LED powered Torch for any international multi-sport Games ©Gary Anderson/ITG





























After numerous meetings and consultations, a plan was hatched to house the competing athletes and their team officials in 85 hotels dotted around the region, close to each of the 10 Universiade venues with a free public transport system put in place for the duration of the Games.

In conjunction with local IT consortium, Trento RISE, four unique Universiade apps have been created providing both spectators and athletes with everything from live results, schedules, transport information and weather forecasts to the best places to eat.

Professor of Computer Science at the University of Trento, Bouquet led the innovative approach to Trentino 2013 delivery and perhaps the most auspicious manifestation of this tact is the Trentino 2013 Torch.

The Torch of any mutli-sport Games has always been created under the banner of symbolism and representation of the host city or region, but the one for the 26th Winter Universiade can certainly lay claim to being one of the most appropriately themed of any so far. Designed under the stewardship of Bouquet and with the input of many of his students, the "Gentian of the Alps" is the first ever Torch to have a zero carbon emissions footprint due to its LED design.

The Trentino 2013 Torch lights up the night sky above the Piazza Duomo in Trento as a symbol of innovation as well as sporting excellence ©Daniele Mosna/Trentino 2013 UniversiadeThe Trentino 2013 Torch lights up the night sky above the Piazza Duomo in Trento as a symbol of innovation as well as sporting excellence ©Daniele Mosna/Trentino 2013 Universiade

























The Cauldron, which sits on top of the Torre Civica in the Piazza Duomo in Trento, lights up the historic central district of the city with a lilac and blue glow that serves as a beacon to innovation and a new way of thinking. What it also represents is how far this region of Italy has come in 50 years which has seen Trento nominated by a recent poll in a national newspaper as the best place in Italy to live for quality of life and the University of Trento ranked as the highest Italian university in the latest Times Higher Education Supplement ranking list.

"Fifty years ago Trentino was a very poor region and the local Government decided to implement a strategy in knowledge, culture, research and innovation so that today we are really one of the richest regions in Italy," said Bouquet.

"I proposed this idea of innovation as one of the features of this Universade to characterise our Games and make them different from others.

"I think the legacy of these Games will obviously be around sport but another important legacy is the idea that if we combine university, sport and industry, it will really create a value for this region.

"Innovation is not just a word here but it is a strategy."

While the "U" in the FISU flag represents Universiade, at Trentino 2013 it could also be said to reflect the uniqueness of this great sporting event.

Gary Anderson is a reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here.

Mike Rowbottom: Hull Tigers? Scrap the women's discus? Discuss...

Mike Rowbottom
Mike RowbottomMichael Johnson, world-beating 200 and 400 metres runner-turned- professional-controversialist, offered the sporting world another challenging opinion this week when he asked: "Do we need the women's discus?"

The question was part of a characteristically hard-boiled statement from the American concerning the current health of his particular sport. He also contended that it would be "unrealistic" to expect athletics to be drug-free as it was "a microcosm of real life - in real life you will always have people who cheat."

But the point about the discus arose with Johnson's view that there needs to be closer attention within athletics "to what people actually want to watch". He added: "Do we need the women's discus?...We need to look at a new format, package it better to attract more fans."

michaeljohnsonmoscow2013Michael Johnson's strong opinions have opened up another debate within athletics 
©Getty Images


It is unfortunate timing for me that Johnson has only just come out with this line. Had he voiced it a month ago I would have had the opportunity to ask Olympic discus champion Sandra Perkovic face-to-face what she thought about it.

Then again, perhaps it isn't so unfortunate.

When I spoke to Perkovic at the Fairmont Hotel in Monte Carlo ahead of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Gala, this powerful and vivacious young Croatian provided a vivid impression of what her event meant to her, and waxed lyrical about her continuing ambitions within it even though she is now world, European and Olympic champion.

On occasions in our interview I received little taps and nudges from her - Perkovic is one of those people who punctuate their words with actions. How that might have translated in physical terms had I put Johnson's question to her hardly bears thinking about. I suppose I might have found myself being hurled into the Mediterranean Sea.

sandraperkovicSandra Perkovic, the European, world and Olympic discus champion. Would you really want to tell her that the event was surplus to requirements? ©Getty Images

In broad terms, Johnson's comments point up the perennial problem within sport - or indeed life in general - of balancing innovation with tradition. Because there has to be a balance.

I recall my own reaction in January 2010 - as someone who has followed West Ham United since 1968 - when the recently installed vice-chair of the club, Karren Brady, said she favoured the idea of changing the name of the club to West Ham Olympic to mark their likely move into the London 2012 Stadium at Stratford.

karrenbrady2013Karren Brady, vice-chair of West Ham United, who - briefly - had the idea of changing the club's name to West Ham Olympic ©GGetty Images

That reaction was an old-school "No". West Ham United was the team Bobby Moore had played for, and Geoff Hurst, and Ronnie Boyce, and Peter Bradbrook, and Budgie Byrne, and Malcolm Allison...West Ham United was the team which had won the FA Cup in 1964, the European Cup-Winners' Cup in 1965 in a peerless Wembley final, and returned to that arena in 1975 and 1980 to pick up the FA Cup...

You get the picture. But then West Ham United was also the club known as Thames Ironworks FC for five years before it undertook a name change in 1900. Who knows - perhaps that alteration caused untold grief among the club's followers in East London.

westhamtsvwin1965West Ham UNITED celebrate victory in the European Cup Winners' Cup final at Wembley in 1965 ©Hulton Archive

There has been another point of sporting controversy this week over the name of a football club - Hull City, of the Premier League, have officially applied to the Football Association to change their name to Hull Tigers.

The name change is the idea of the club's 74-year-old owner Assem Allam, an Egyptian businessman who has lived in Hull since 1968 and who supplied £75 million ($123 million/€89 million) to help rescue the club from the parlous financial position in which it found itself in 2010 before promotion to the top tier of the English game last season.

hullcityswanseamandelatributeHull CITY line up for the most recent match against Swansea, during the one minute's silence for Nelson Mandela ©Getty Images

Allam's idea has caused consternation among the club's fans, who have set up a "City Till We Die" protest group. The owner's throwaway reaction to this group during an interview with the Hull Daily Mail, when he maintained that opponents of the change could "die as soon as they want", has further stoked the fires of outrage.

There are shades here of the proposals voiced - briefly - in 1983 by the late tycoon and proprietor of the Daily Mirror paper, Robert Maxwell, who wanted to merge the club he then owned, Oxford United, with close rivals Reading, in whom he had plans to hold a controlling interest, with the resulting franchise being named Thames Valley Royals. As far as the fans of both clubs were concerned, he might as well have proposed the name Anathema Disunited.

Hull City have had the nickname of "The Tigers" since 1905. But that, for most of the club's supporters, is a very different thing from actually being called Tigers. And these things matter.

"It may be just a name to Mr Allam, but to us it's the name of something we love, we've cherished and will be cherished long after the present owners," wrote Rick Skelton, who provides a Hull City Live Twitter feed. "The saddest part is that this has come at a time when the fans should be excited for top-class football, not angry at a ridiculous re-brand."

Allam added in his interview that the change was about making the club "special", and that it was "about identity." On that at least the supporters would not disagree with him.

According to Allam, the change from City to Tigers represents a classic marketing ploy. "The shorter the name, the more powerful the impact," he said. "That's not an opinion, it's textbook marketing. Twitter, Google, Apple, Fiat. Fiat means Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, but they choose to keep the name short."

assemalamHull City owner Assem Allam has applied to the FA to change the club's name to Hull Tigers 
©Getty Images


In his latest blog for Marketing Weekly, Mark Ritson dismisses the marketing theory put forward by Allam as being "nonsense". Even as a non-marketing guru, if one can be such a thing, I can see a bit of a problem with the Allam theory about shorter names.

Shoot me down in flames if I've got this wrong, but I believe the word "Tigers" comprises six letters, while the word "City" has only four. Nobody in the history of the world has ever referred to Hull City as Hull City Association Football Club, as Allam contends, any more than people refer to Manchester United Association Football Club or Chelsea Association Football Club.

Ritson concludes that this vexed situation illustrates one of the most important points about brand management, namely: "how you enact a strategy is often just as important as the strategy itself." Ritson adds that the one area Allam has "completely failed" to grasp is that of "brand engagement".

And what of Johnson? Do you need the women's discus, Michael Johnson? Evidently not. But does that mean the sport should forego it?

Here is what Perkovic had to say about her event. "After I won the gold in Moscow I felt like someone had kicked my ass. I had a back operation in 2009 and on the day of the Moscow qualification I couldn't move properly. It was a big problem. Some people said I needed to stop, but I said 'No. I must win this gold', so I got medical help and I was able to qualify OK. But after the final I could hardly walk.

"Next was the meeting at my home in Zagreb, and I had my only defeat of the season, which was a big shame. But when I got to Brussels I did a first round of 67.04 and so I stayed unbeaten in the Diamond League. I don't know how I did it.

"Now I think that 2014 will be the season of my life. I am preparing so hard. I have not missed a single minute of training, I am so focused. If you want to get 70m you cannot afford to miss even a tiny thing. You must do everything, one, two, three, and then you will get it. If you miss anything out, it will be 69.50. I pray to God for next season. I want to do something amazing, like the world don't see for the past 30 years."

Hear that, Michael? I dare you to try discussing the discus with Sandra...

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, covered the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as chief feature writer for insidethegames, having covered the previous five summer Games, and four winter Games, for The Independent. He has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. His latest book Foul Play – the Dark Arts of Cheating in Sport (Bloomsbury £12.99) is available at the insidethegames.biz shop. To follow him on Twitter click here.

David Owen: Sochi 2014 has potential to damage Olympic brand

Duncan Mackay
David OwenFor Sochi 2014, read Beijing 2008: it has long been hard to resist the temptation to bracket together the Olympic Movement's principal recent flirtations with powerful, authoritarian states.

Yesterday's announcement that Russia is to set up public protest zones during the Sochi Games in February, as did China five years ago during its Olympics, makes the urge to draw comparisons irresistible.

And this time around, I think the Movement may be pushing its luck.

Taking its flagship product to China - as it agreed in 2001 to do at a Session held, by coincidence, in the Russian capital Moscow - was, though inevitable at some point, a colossal gamble for the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

That the Movement came out of the exercise smelling, if not of roses, then of jasmine, was down, in large part, to the ineffable, jaw-dropping brilliance of a succession of star athletes.

Against all odds, given the rumbling seven-year-long controversy over the choice of host, Beijing 2008 was the Games where the athletes returned to centre-stage.

An intoxicating cascade of superhuman performances by the likes of Michael Phelps, Kenenisa Bekele, Sir Chris Hoy and, most unforgettably of all, Usain Bolt simply expunged all background noise.

Thanks to the performances of athletes like Usain Bolt, sport eventually came to be the abiding memory of Beijing 2008 ©Sports Illustrated via Getty ImagesThanks to the performances of athletes like Usain Bolt, sport eventually came to be the abiding memory of Beijing 2008 ©Sports Illustrated via Getty Images

Some will maintain, and some Russians in positions of authority may be calculating, that this is what always happens; that once competition starts, other concerns quickly melt away.

I would argue though that until the 2008 vintage dramatically reversed the trend, the purely sporting content of successive Games had been growing steadily less memorable.

It is the nature of the Winter Games that, even if the sporting feats, rather improbably, rival the heights attained at Beijing, broad tracts of the planet, rarely touched by snow and ice, are likely to remain largely unmoved by them.

The human rights story, dramatised most particularly by the ongoing row over Russia's anti-gay propaganda law, offers news organisations in places with only a passing, or intermittent, interest in events on Sochi's pistes, rinks and runs a potentially compelling alternative focus.

And while much of the industrialised north from Vancouver to Vladivostock will, clearly, be keeping a beady eye on the medals table, I would certainly include far-from-winter-sports-mad Britain on any list of countries where issues pertaining to Russia's human rights record are likely to receive widespread coverage.

The decision to award Sochi the 2014 Winter Olympics was always a controversial one ©AFP/Getty ImagesThe decision to award Sochi the 2014 Winter Olympics was always a controversial one ©AFP/Getty Images

None of this need unduly to concern Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose array of accomplishments was recently extended to overhauling his US counterpart Barack Obama at the top of Forbes magazine's listing of the world's most powerful people.

The only constituency he needs to worry about - the Russian people - requires little excuse, in my experience, to display its patriotism.

As long as Russian athletes fulfil their side of the bargain and the medals roll in, most will probably revel in their country's month in the global spotlight and see in it further progress towards recuperation of something of the power and prestige it enjoyed in the cold war era.

Putin, in any case, appears to be leaving nothing to chance, abruptly announcing this week the abolition of the RIA Novosti news agency and appointing a close ally, Dmitry Kiselyov, as head of its replacement organisation.

The PR challenge for the Olympic Movement is likely to require much more delicate handling.

There is every indication that a large number of people in the liberal west, including no doubt relatively affluent consumers of products sold by Olympic sponsors, harbour negative thoughts of one sort or another about Russia's human rights record.

Relatively few of these, I suspect, would dash to the barricades; the power of social media, however, has grown exponentially since Beijing, enhancing the ability of skilful and committed campaigners to get their views across and to demonstrate widespread support.

And this time I doubt the quality of the sporting spectacle will be consistently breathtaking enough to help get the Movement out of a corner.

Vladimir Putin's position as the world's most powerful leader has been helped by Russia hosting the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi ©Getty ImagesVladimir Putin's position as the world's most powerful leader has been helped by Russia hosting the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi ©Getty Images

Imagine how uncomfortable it would be too if Olympic chiefs are obliged to discipline athletes for gestures of protest.

(Article 50 of the Olympic Charter states that: "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.")

All things considered, it seems to me we are entering a high-risk period for the painstakingly-constructed Olympic brand.

With the explosive revenue growth enjoyed by the IOC in recent times set to slow markedly in the years ahead, it is particularly important that all steps be taken to keep any damage sustained to a minimum.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. To follow him on Twitter click here

Alan Hubbard: An Olympics in South Africa would be fitting tribute to Mandela

Duncan Mackay
Alan HubbardIt was in the early seventies when I made my first visit to South Africa. It was at the invitation of an organisation called the Committee for Fairness in Sport, which had assured me that the gross racial divide in those wretched days of apartheid was not as obscene as the most of rest of the world believed, and that sport was forming a bridgehead for change.

I had my doubts, and I was not wrong. They took me to witness a purposely-staged "mixed" cycle road race but when I asked one of the black riders if I might interview him he began to tremble.

So I suggested he sat down on a bench alongside me, but he shook his head. "No sir, it is not permitted for me to be seated in the presence of a white man," he said. Later, when an invitation to a black sports official back to my hotel for a beer was also politely declined. It wasn't permitted for blacks to either enter the hotel or drink alcohol with a person of paler skin, either.

Soon after my return to London, a small group of us were talking to the late British boxing promoter Harry Levene. I mentioned I had just been to South Africa."Wonderful country," he enthused. "So hospitable. I go there on holiday every year. Great climate, lovely food, fabulous wines. And do you know, when you fly into Johannesburg you look down and see that every house has a swimming pool. I don't know what those blacks have got to complain about."

Such was the bigotry of a time when Nelson Mandela was still languishing in his cell on Robben Island. Some 20 years later he was released from an incarceration that had lasted for almost three decades; only then did the long road to freedom in sport truly begin.

Once there was only blind prejudice in South Africa. Now, thanks to Mandela, there is wide-eyed pride.

I make no apology for adding to the eulogies that have followed the passing of surely the bst-loved and sagest statesman of our age. I met him only once, albeit a brief handshake at a London garden party, but treasure the moment as much as I do the longer time spent in the company of my other sporting idols, Muhammad Ali and Jesse Owens.

What an exhilarating dinner party guest that trio would have made.

Mandela loved sport, and above all he loved boxing. He was no slouch himself as a scrapper, an accomplished amateur in the fifties who might well have become good enough to stand on the Olympic rostrum had not fate, and those Boer-ish numbskulls in Pretoria not conspired against him.

And had he turned professional, who knows, dear old Harry Levene might even have promoted him.

Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali, two of the biggest icons in history, were fans of each other ©Getty ImagesNelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali, two of the biggest icons in history, were fans of each other ©Getty Images

Mandela's own sporting heroes were Ali and Joe Louis, and he said if he had not become President of South Africa, he would have liked to be heavyweight champion of the world.

Actually, in many ways he was.

"Boxing is egalitarian," Mandela once said. "When you are probing your opponent's strengths and weaknesses you are not thinking abou his colour or his social status. In the ring, rank, age and colour and wealth are irrelevant."

His boxing background provided the ideal strategy for what was to come in the tortuous negotiations with South Africa's white rulers. As he said: "Boxing training teaches you how to attack and defend and to pace yourself for what could be a long contest."

Thankfully, at the end of that gruelling championship fight, Mandela's hand was hoisted in triumph.

Perhaps more than any other nation, South Africa always craved recognition for its sporting prowess, and thereafter how adroitly he used this as a political tool to create racial harmony and eradicate the bitterness, resentment and downright hatred that had gone before.

Much has been made of him donning the green and gold Springbok jersey, emblazoned with the number six of captain Francois Pienaar for the final of the rugby World Cup in 1995.

But his worthiest contribution to South Africa's sporting redemption had been his manoeuvring to get a multi-racial team back into the Olympics from which the country had been belatedly expelled in 1970.

South Africa was still under white rule at the time and a year before the 1992 Barcelona Olympics he and the ANC party leadership had secretly met a top level delegation from the International Olympic Commitee, which included iconic hurdler Ed Moses, in East Transvaal. It was there, in a small air terminal, that the plan restore South Africa to the Games was formulated.

Even so Mandela had to threaten to block the team's departure unless there was faster integration of the hitherto segregated sports bodies.

He won the day, and was guest of honour at the Games.

Those Olympics were the watershed for South African sport, which hitherto had been a whites-only preserve where black or "coloured" athletes were precluded by law from training or competing with their minority white masters, an iniquitous situation which boycotts had damaged but failed to destroy.

Nelson Mandela asked Sam Ramsamy earlier this year when South Africa would host the Olympics ©Getty ImagesNelson Mandela asked Sam Ramsamy earlier this year when South Africa would host the Olympics ©Getty Images

According to Sam Ramsamy, who ran the outlawed SANROC (South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee) from exile in London during the apartheid era, and is now a senior IOC member, one of Mandela's ambitions was to bring to Olympic Games to South Africa.

"It was one of his very last wishes," he says. "And one I hope we will fulfil.

"Madiba always stated that sport is a uniting factor, a universal language that can transmit to very many people what no politician can do. And that we will always remember.

"Undoubtedly the [FIFA] World Cup held in South Africa in 2010 was something he was proud of because he always wanted such a major global event in South Africa. He was part of the team that went to Zurich to campaign for it. He also campaigned to try and get the Olympic Games.

"When I last spoke with him, about eight months ago, he said, 'Sam, when are we going to get the Olympic Games'? I said 'We're trying our very best'. And hopefully we can commemorate Nelson Mandela's activities, his passion for sport and his passion for the Olympics in trying to get the Games to South Africa in the very near future."

Nelson Mandela carries the Athens 2004 Olympic Torch in Cape Town, the South African city that the Greek capital beat to be awarded the Games ©Getty ImagesNelson Mandela carries the Athens 2004 Olympic Torch in Cape Town, the South African city that the Greek capital beat to be awarded the Games ©Getty Images

Cape Town, along with Rome, Stockholm and Buenos Aires was defeated by Athens in the race to host the 2004 Olympic Games. South Africa had been expected to bid for the 2020 Olympics before the Government announced it would not support such a move for economic reasons.

However Durban has now been linked with a bid for the 2024 Games.

Of course the Mandela sporting legacy deserves to stretch well beyond an Olympics.

"Sport can create hope where once there was only despair," he said." It is more powerful than Governments in breaking down racial barriers and fighting all forms of discrimination."

These words surely must be an integral part of his epitaph when they bury Nelson Mandela this weekend.

Alan Hubbard is a sports columnist for the The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Games, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.

Nick Butler: Fun and games of Olympic bidding has returned as 2022 race begins

Nick Butler
Nick Butler at the Olympic StadiumAfter submitting their final applications last month, the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) orientation seminar in Lausanne provided a first glimpse of the journey that lies ahead for the six cities bidding to host the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

For Almaty, Beijing, Krakow, Lviv, Oslo and Stockholm, that 18 month quest before a final decision is made at the 127th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpa promises to be just as perilous and hazard-strewn as all those which have gone before.

That said, for someone whose only experience of an Olympic bid was the climax of the 2020 race in Buenos Aires, this contest seemed to get off to a comparatively inauspicious start.

Instead of being held in the IOC Headquarters on the banks of Lake Geneva, it took place several kilometres away at the Hotel Starling. While the Alps nestling on the horizon and the youthful vigour of the Lausanne University Campus next door deemed it somewhat apt, it was certainly a lower key setting than the plush extravagance of the Sheraton and Hilton hotels where the 2020 race unfolded.

On that occasion anxiety, tension and last minute point scoring was the order of the day. In Lausanne it was also striking just how harmonious the event was. The six cities mingled together and there was warmth and at least some sincerity in their fledgling relations.

"We are all athletes beginning a training process," a member of the Lviv delegation explained, before adding that "we have a long journey together until we contest the competition itself."

Delegates from the six cities pose together as the three day Seminar opens ©IOC/Richard JuilliartDelegates from the six cities pose together as the three day Seminar opens
©IOC/Richard Juilliart 

The rivalries will certainly develop but the task for all six was about finding out what is expected from the IOC.

Over three days of presentations and meetings factors ranging from marketing, media and transport to sustainability, ethics and legacy were explained. As well as these technical aspects, there was also a "heavy emphasis placed on the fact that the organisation of the Games is very much a team effort" - with Governments, sports authorities, commercial partners and local populations among those relevant parties, the IOC explained.

When speaking to bid teams afterwards it was evident that many of these words had already struck a core.

The importance of Government support was one area which appeared particularly striking. In selecting Ukraine's vice-Prime Minister Oleksandr Vilkul as bid leader and Youth and Sport Minister Ravil Safiullin as their representative in Lausanne, Lviv reflected this the most.

But others were also quick to highlight the strength of support from the highest levels. With their bid being announced at such a late stage amid doubts over the strength of this backing it seems an area particularly important for Stockholm to address.

Geography was another often cited aspect. While it was first presented as a "dual bid", Krakow were toning down this rhetoric - no doubt due to awareness of the IOC's disapproval of such joint attempts. A Polish bid but with events in Slovakia for "topographical and geographical reasons," bid leader Jagna Marczułajtis-Walczak explained. Beijing also attempted to play down the 200 kilometres distance between its two proposed venues of Beijing and Zhangjiakou while others contrastly emphasised the "compact" nature of their bids.

The spectre of the London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 Games were also hanging over proceedings.

Given the sleepless nights likely to be endured by IOC members in the run up to Rio 2016 over the completion of facilities, applicants were careful to emphasise their organisational experience and the number of facilities already in place.

The extravagant rhetoric employed by Sochi throughout their campaign also appears to have been toned down. Applicants were not talking about a "low cost" or an austerity Games but, in a sign of the times no doubt, it appears being the "safe option" is imperative. It is by positioning itself this way of course that Tokyo proved so successful in the 2020 race.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that the "London Games legacy and sport" was on the itinerary for on the first day of the seminar, it was the lessons of the Olympics hosted in the British capital which shone through the most.

Much of this focus lay on the use of the Games to inspire more youth to take up sport. Thankfully, the phrase "inspiring a generation" was not used directly, but it might as well have been given the indirect references. A legacy beyond sport but for local people was also spoken about - from logistical improvements in the realms of highways, airports and accommodation to a greater international profile for both city and country.

When he opened the seminar, IOC President Bach spoke about the importance of "unique circumstances" and a clear vision in a successful bid. It is through legacy that this vision seems most likely to be found.

Following on from the success of London 2012 was a theme emphasised during the Seminar ©Getty ImagesFollowing on from the success of London 2012 was a theme emphasised during the Seminar ©Getty Images


As in the final stages of the 2020 campaign, where failed drugs tests, political protests and leaking nuclear reactors were the foremost topics of conversation, external factors are set to play a role. All six cities indeed face challenges which are essentially outside the direct control of the bid team.

For Beijing and to a lesser extent Almaty challenges relate to timing and geography. With Pyeongchang 2018 and Tokyo 2020 to be held nearby, is a third Asian Games in a row a serious possibility? Furthermore, is it too soon for another Chinese Games following the extravaganza that was Beijing 2008?

Given recent events in Ukraine, political protest will be another important factor. With opposition rallies gripping the capital Kyiv over the weekend, the country appears stuck more than ever between a "strategic partnership" with Russia and an "association agreement" with the European Union.

The Lviv team, in a repeat of Istanbul's strategy during similar protests during the 2020 campaign, insisted that this was  "part of a political process, which should not in any way affect our bid." But if the situation remains unresolved it could certainly dog their 2022 campaign.

For the three other European applicants it is economic factors which are likely to pose the sternest questions. While Norway, Sweden and Poland are far from the worst hit nations questions remain over whether it is appropriate to bid for the Olympics in the current continental climate. Even Oslo, seen generally as the marginal favourite at this stage, has problems with national support and must do more to draw the total population behind their bid, an official admitted.

The economic problems which have fermented protests in Greece, but also throughout Europe, could be a challenge for the 2022 bid cities ©AFP/Getty ImagesThe economic problems which have fermented protests in Greece, but also throughout Europe, could be a challenge for the 2022 bid cities ©AFP/Getty Images


Yet It is important to remember just how early in the application process we currently are. Most bids have not yet appointed an official leader, and some had not even produced such mundane things as business cards at this stage.

By July 2015 everything might have changed and all these external factors might be irrelevant, It is worth remembering that press and public support for London's 2012 campaign was not high until soon before the 2005 IOC Session in Singapore. And we all know what happened there.

But the process is underway. The IOC have now given their help and the six bids will next answer a detail questionnaire which will be submitted as part of their application files next March. These applications are then due to be considered the in the Spring before the candidate cities are shortlisted at an Executive Board Meeting in July.

By that stage the process is unlikely to be either low key or harmonious and the rarely trodden path from Lausanne to Kuala Lumpa will prove just as exciting and unpredictable as it will hazardous.

Perhaps the most important thing I have learnt so far in this business is the ill advised nature of rash predictions. So instead of doing exactly that at this earliest of stages it seems more appropriate, if also more cowardly, to sit back and enjoy the ride ahead as the roller-coaster that is a host city campaign takes every twist and turn in the months ahead. 

Nick Butler is a reporter for insidethegames. To follow him on Twitter click here

David Owen: The special relationship between Glasgow and Nelson Mandela

Emily Goddard
David Owen head and shouldersI was reminded by one of the many tribute programmes last week to mark his passing of the special link between Nelson Mandela and the city of Glasgow.

In short, the council there awarded him the freedom of the city as early as 1981 - nine years before his release from what he termed "my ten thousand days of imprisonment" at the hands of the apartheid state, in February 1990.

Another gesture by the Scottish city in 1986 had seen the area where the building housing the South African consulate-general was located renamed Nelson Mandela Place.

Three and a half years after his release, Mandela was able finally to visit Glasgow to thank its citizens for their support.

"While we were physically denied our freedom in the country of our birth," he told them, "a city 6,000 miles away, and as renowned as Glasgow, refused to accept the legitimacy of the apartheid system, and declared us to be free."

There is a special link between Nelson Mandela and the city of Glasgow ©AFP/Getty ImagesThere is a special link between Nelson Mandela and the city of Glasgow ©AFP/Getty Images


The story made me think how fitting it would be if this special relationship between the city on the Clyde and South Africa's first black President could somehow be commemorated during the Commonwealth Games that will open in Glasgow next July.

I wondered, for example, whether an event such as the shot put, which has shown itself to be eminently portable in recent times, might be staged at Nelson Mandela Place.

I have to admit that my knowledge of the city's geography, having made just a few short visits, is lamentably sketchy.

However, I am informed by one much better versed in the particulars that space around Mandela Place is limited, which might make putting on an event there difficult, particularly given the large crowds that could well be attracted.

Nelson Mandela visited Glasgow to thank its citizens for their support three and a half years after his release from prison ©AFP/Getty ImagesNelson Mandela visited Glasgow to thank its citizens for their support three and a half years after his release from prison ©AFP/Getty Images


Perhaps, then, that is not the answer, but I still think something should be done.

As David Grevemberg, Glasgow 2014 chief executive, himself observed: "Mr Mandela was a great supporter of the Commonwealth Games movement...He will always hold a special place in Glasgow's heart."

Let's use what promises to be an uplifting and relatively informal celebration of human diversity in part to honour the example set by the greatest statesman of our age.

Over to you, Glasgow.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed here.

Jaimie Fuller: Nelson Mandela proved sport and politics can mix

Duncan Mackay
Jaimie FullerNelson Mandela will be remembered as a humanitarian, a politician, a visionary. He was also a sports fanatic who understood the crucial role sport could play in unifying the world and he used it with devastating brilliance.

Amongst the thousands of tributes that have poured forth in the last 24 hours since his passing, those from sporting legends across the globe are united in one thing.

Here was a man who spanned generations and the class system to prove that with commitment, determination and vision, you CAN mix sport and politics. Nelson Mandela used the true spirit of sport and competition to promote and cement the true sprit of human integration. And when a man so revered as Nelson Mandela affirms sport's crucial role in society's perpetual development, who can argue?

In Monaco in 2000, he spoke a few short sentences at a sports gathering which said everything there was to say about sport's immense power. Mandela was a patron of the Laureus Sport For Good Foundation, an organisation that harnesses the power of sport to promote social change, and at the inaugural World Sports Awards ceremony, he said this:

"Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination."

Nelson Mandela's speech to Laureus Sport Awards in Monte Carlo in 2000 brilliantly encapsulated how important sport is ©Getty ImagesNelson Mandela's speech to the Laureus Sport Awards in Monte Carlo in 2000 brilliantly encapsulated how important sport is ©Getty Images

As with most of Mandela's speeches, these weren't hollow words because he used exactly that sporting philosophy to help break down the seemingly unbreakable political barriers in his own country.

His life was, of course full of earth shattering moments but sport allowed him to provide one of the most powerful messages history has ever - and possibly will ever - see at the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

It wasn't that the Springboks so memorably won it, it was the sheer fact that South Africa HOSTED it.

Without Mandela's vision, determination and sacrifice that simply could not have happened because Springbok Rugby epitomised everything South Africa had previously stood for. Black South Africans historically hated this white dominated, elitist sport but the World Cup was a chance to build monumental bridges.

The atmosphere he created and the message of hope the tournament itself presented, was finally cemented by the sight of Mandela handing the Webb Ellis Trophy to his victorious, fellow countryman, Francois Pienaar whilst wearing a Springbok jersey with Pienaar's number emblazoned on the back.

As political messages go, it's gotta be Number One. A black South African who had been imprisoned by whites was openly honouring a white South African as a hero and the white South African was doing the same back - with sport as the platform.

Nelson Mandela handing the Rugby World Cup to South Africa's winning captain Francois Pienaar in Johannesburg in 1995 must rank as one of the greatest sporting moments ever ©AFP/Getty ImagesNelson Mandela handing the Rugby World Cup to South Africa's winning captain Francois Pienaar in Johannesburg in 1995 must rank as one of the greatest sporting moments ever ©AFP/Getty Images

South Africa's development continued apace and the legacy of change Mandela worked tirelessly for brought recognition from FIFA in 2010 when South Africa became the first African nation to stage the football World Cup.

When the country was awarded the honour, half the world said South Africa wasn't capable of staging such a gigantic, global tournament. Not only did they achieve it with flying colours, those who were there say the atmosphere was unique, multi-cultural and unforgettable.

Nelson Mandela knew the power of sport . He used it to accelerate the pace of change in South Africa and for those who remain in positions of power across sport itself, it's a principle they should never forget.

When it comes to change it's all too easy to keep saying "no".

Jaimie Fuller is the chairman of SKINS and the founder of pressure group Change Cycling Now, whose members include Greg LeMond, Paul Kimmage and David Walsh. To follow him on Twitter click here.

Mike Rowbottom: US slider suffers one of sport's grey days

Mike Rowbottom
Mike RowbottomWith the world's elite bob skeleton athletes engaged in the second stop of their World Cup season at Park City, Utah, the reverberations are still being felt from the season opener which concluded on Saturday (November 30) in Calgary.

There were tears before bedtime in the Canadian city which hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics as Noelle Pikus-Pace was disqualified after her sled failed a post-race inspection.

The American slider had produced a final flourish on her second run to move into gold medal position 0.16sec ahead of Britain's world junior champion Lizzie Yarnold, who led after the first of two runs.

However, a post-race inspection by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation discovered an "illegal" piece of tape wrapped around the handle of Pikus-Pace's sled, and Yarnold moved up into gold medal position.

The tape, which could aid an athlete's grip on the sled, had allegedly been cleared earlier in the week by international sliding officials.

On her Facebook page, Pikus-Pace implied that British Skeleton had made the protest, although a team spokesperson denied this.

"My heart is broken. I just won gold in the first World Cup and have been disqualified due to a protest," she wrote.

"My sled was cleared by the international federation for competition but, without a warning, they disqualified me for having three pieces of tape on my handle to help me push my sled, which many athletes do."

Noelle Pikus Pace, no stranger to ill fortune after a freak accident broke her leg, was "heartbroken'" over losing the Calgary World Cup title after being disqualified on a technical infringement ©Getty ImagesNoelle Pikus Pace, no stranger to ill fortune after a freak accident broke her leg, was "heartbroken'" over losing the Calgary World Cup title after being disqualified on a technical infringement ©Getty Images

Pikus-Pace, who retired from the sport in 2010 but returned this year, is no stranger to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. She competes with a titanium rod in her leg after it was broken in a freak accident in 2005 - and in Calgary - when a four-man bobsleigh came off the track and the finish and crashed into her and a team-mate.

"So sad and disappointed that thousands of hours of training come down to a protest and decision for three pieces of non-performance-enhancing tape," Pikus-Pace continued. "I would have obviously removed it if they had told me in my sled inspection."

Here is the latest reminder of the thin line between sporting gain and sporting pain. There are many examples where sporting protagonists have distorted the rules in an effort to gain an advantage - Boris Onischenko's rigged foil in the modern pentathlon fencing competition at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, or the recent admission by US speed skater Simon Cho that he bent his rival's skate blades out of shape before a competition.

Not so grey - US speed skater Simon Cho admitted tampering with the skate blade of a rival  ©Getty ImagesNot so grey - US speed skater Simon Cho admitted tampering with the skate blade of a rival 
©Getty Images


However, the category in which Pikus-Pace found herself in last weekend was not one of deliberate wrongdoing, it would appear, but one of uncertainty. In short, a grey area.

And the grey area is pretty heavily populated in world sport. The frustration felt by Pikus-Pace would surely have been akin to that experienced by Scotland's bowler Margaret Letham, a Scottish player who encountered an unexpected challenge when on the verge of winning the women's world outdoor singles title in Moama, New South Wales in 2000.

"The gold medal seemed to be hers when she defeated Ireland's Margaret Johnston (the most successful woman bowler in the game) in a group match," recalled bowls expert David Rhys. "Johnston responded by challenging Letham's bowls, which she alleged were 'too straight'."

Bowls is all about bias, of course, and the curved path of each bowl must equal or exceed that of a Master Bowl that represents the minimum bias. Straight-running bowls (i.e. those that swing less than the Master Bowl) make life too easy, and are deemed to be illegal.

"The bowls were tested overnight on a testing table - and failed the test," said Rhys Jones. A distraught Letham was stripped of the points, which were added to Johnston's total - and it was Johnston who went on to head the table, qualify for the final, and win the title.

There was no suggestion that Letham had tampered with the bowls, or was deliberately cheating – she had been given the bowls especially for the world championships by a leading manufacturer. Other similar bowls failed the test, too.'

Rhys Jones added that it is the manufacturer who has the duty of testing and then stamping bowls before putting them on the market. These tests then need to be carried out regularly – "like an MOT".

Every wood in bowls requires to pass its own "MOT'"to be eligible for use in competition  ©Getty ImagesEvery wood in bowls requires to pass its own "MOT'"to be eligible for use in competition 
©Getty Images


He commented: "It has been known for bowls to be tampered with. Rubbing the bias side with sandpaper or emery cloth changes the template of the bowl, and alters the bias.

"And, although bowls is all about bias, it is generally felt that reducing the bias makes it easier to get near the jack, so there is often a great deal of hostility towards those who have 'straight' bowls.'"

Letham was so upset about the turn of events which had halted her aspirations in the individual event that she did not bother to turn up for the sixth place play-off match. But she felt a little happier by the end of the championships, having won the pairs title with fellow Scot Joyce Lindores.

The parallel to this kind of technical error on the doping side would be the sportsman or woman who was genuinely unaware that they had taken a substance which contained elements contrary to the banned list.

The spate of nandrolone positives within athletics in the late 1990's almost certainly contained a good number of "grey" errors, in that scientific tests subsequently proved that up to 16 per cent of commercially produced nutritional supplements were contaminated by steroids. Was this why the European 1998 200m champion, Dougie Walker, or the virtually retired Linford Christie tested positive for the easily detectable steroid during this period?

dougwalkerDoug Walker, seen here winning the European 200m title in 1998, may have fallen victim to faulty manufacturing conditions when he tested positive for nandrolone the following year
©Getty Images




The guiding principle in doping is that an athlete is responsible for whatever is in their system even if they claim not to know how it got there, as the bottom line is that they are likely to have benefited from performance enhancement, even if it is unwitting.

The same principle was applied to Letham, and most recently to Pikus-Pace. It was a grey day for the American - who will be convinced that the tape which led to her disappointment was red tape.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, covered the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as chief feature writer for insidethegames, having covered the previous five summer Games, and four winter Games, for The Independent. He has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. His latest book Foul Play – the Dark Arts of Cheating in Sport (Bloomsbury £12.99) is available at the insidethegames.biz shop. To follow him on Twitter click here.