Sports Bulletin

Sports Bulletin ReportSenegal (Dakar): The second edition of the Dakar en Jeux festival gets underway. It will bring a week of celebration of sport and culture to the host areas of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Dakar 2026 – the first Olympic event on the African continent. This second edition will run until 4 November 2023.Following the success of last year’s inaugural festival, which saw thousands of people participate in sports initiations and demonstrations, music concerts and cultural activities, the 2023 edition will see an even greater focus on bringing sport and the Olympic spirit to Senegalese communities in the lead-up to Dakar 2026. Events will take place in the YOG host areas of Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly.Tens of thousands of spectators and 2,000 athletes are expected to take part in the five-day festival, which is a key engagement initiative of the Dakar 2026 Organising Committee (YOGOC) and is aimed at promoting the upcoming YOG while also engaging local youth, promoting physical activity and raising awareness about the values of the Olympic Movement.Kirsty Coventry, the Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for Dakar 2026, said: “After the great success of the inaugural edition in 2022, Dakar is gearing up for another celebration and lots of excitement, as we look forward to the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026. Dakar en Jeux isn't just about showcasing sports; it's also about embracing the values of the Youth Olympic Games, and building bridges between communities. People will have the opportunity to witness incredible athletes, experience the thrill of competition, and connect with like-minded individuals who share their passion for sport and culture.”The festival programme has been created by and for young people and is being delivered by the YOGOC in partnership with the Senegalese Olympic Committee, the city of Dakar, the cities of Diamniadio and Saly, the Senegalese government and the International Olympic Committee.The festival is set to begin, 31 October, with an opening ceremony at the iconic Monument de la Renaissance Africaine in Dakar. This marks three years to go until the start of the YOG Dakar 2026. The ceremony will see all 46 departments and 14 regions of Senegal come together to showcase their traditional dances and costumes, underlining the YOGOC’s vision to involve the whole of the host nation in the YOG.

Sports Bulletin ReportMumbai (India): Petra Sörling, President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), has been elected as a Member of the IOC, as the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session held in Mumbai, India.Notably, Petra Sörling is the first President of the ITTF to ascend to the esteemed position of an IOC Member, marking a historic chapter for table tennis. With dedication and unwavering commitment, both President Sörling and the ITTF are poised to actively contribute to the Olympic Movement and the global community. In response to her election, Sörling expressed, “I am deeply humbled and grateful to have been elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee. This is not just an honour but also a significant responsibility that I am ready to embrace. “This is even more momentous as this is the first time for the International Table Tennis Federation to see its President become an IOC Member, making this a historic chapter for our sport as well. As I step into this new role, I am driven by my passion for sport. I grasp the magnitude of this role; I am committed to undertake the responsibilities it brings, and to dedicate myself every day to make a meaningful contribution to the Olympic Movement and our global community. “I want to express my heartfelt thanks to President Thomas Bach, to fellow members of the IOC, the IOC Executive Board, the IOC Members Election Commission, and the table tennis community for their unwavering support. Together, we will work to strengthen the Olympic Movement, promote sustainability, champion diversity, and continue to inspire the next generations with the Olympic values. Let us make the world a better place and foster positive changes with sport.” President Sörling's distinguished career is rich with remarkable achievements and leadership roles. In the realm of table tennis, she achieved a historic milestone in 2021 by becoming ITTF President, making her the first woman to attain this prestigious position. Prior to this, she served as Vice-President of ITTF from 2009 to 2013, before taking on the role of Vice-President Finance from 2013 to 2021. Outside of ITTF, Petra served as the Deputy President and Board Member of the Swedish Table Tennis Association (2003 – 2013), before serving as President of the Swedish TTA (2013-2022). Furthermore, she held the position of Vice-President of the European Table Tennis Union (2007-2009). These roles underscore her profound commitment to advancing the sport of table tennis. Her contributions to the Olympic Movement include participation in the International Olympic Academy (IOA) Young Leader Programme (2002) and her current role as a Member of the IOC Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (2022-). Beyond table tennis, Sörling contributes her expertise to the Swedish National Olympic Committee (NOC) as a Board Member since 2021. She also serves as an Executive Committee Member of the International Masters Games Association (IMGA) since 2022. In 2023, she added to her portfolio by joining the Board of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Foundation and becoming a Member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) Council. 

Sports Bulletin ReportLausanne (Switzerland): Hockey event of the Asian Games 2023 will get underway on September 24, as the winners (men and women) will join France, Australia, and Netherlands in qualifying to the Olympic Games Paris 2024.12 men’s teams and 10 women’s teams will be competing in Hockey at the Asian Games 2023. The teams will be divided and placed into two pools of; 5 teams per pool in the women’s competition, and 6 teams per pool in the men’s competition. At the end of the pool stage the two highest ranking teams in each pool will proceed to the semi-finals, while the other teams, based on their pool standings, will play in the 5th-10th (women’s) and 5th-12th (men’s) classification matches. The teams that win the gold medals at the Asian Games 2023 will seal their berths at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The teams classifying from 2nd to 5th in the women’s tournament and the teams classifying from 2nd to 6th in the men’s tournament, will get a second opportunity to qualify for the Olympics, at the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024. In the men’s competition India, Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Uzbekistan are placed in Pool A. Korea, Malaysia, China, Oman, Thailand and Indonesia will compete in Pool B. The men’s matches get underway on 24 September, with Malaysia taking on Thailand in the first contest at 09:00 (local time). The medal matches in men’s hockey will be played on 6 October. The complete schedule for the men’s competition including the highly anticipated matches between India and Pakistan, Malaysia and Korea, India and Japan, can be found here. Men’s hockey was first played at the 1958 Asian Games and has been played in every edition since. The 2023 Games will see men’s hockey be played for the 17th straight time at the Asian Games. India, Pakistan and Malaysia have appeared in all 16 editions so far and will compete in the 17th edition starting from 24 September. Pakistan are the most successful team in the history of Men’s Hockey at the Asian Games, having claimed the gold medal on 8 occasions. Korea are the second most successful team with 4 gold medals, while India are third with three gold medals to their name. Japan will come into the event as the defending champions, having claimed their first gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games. In the women’s competition India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore are placed in Pool A. Japan, China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Thailand will compete in Pool B. The women’s matches get underway on 25 September, with Korea taking on Singapore in the first contest at 10:15 (local time). The medal matches in women’s hockey will be played on 7 October. The complete schedule for the women’s competition including the highly anticipated matches between India and Korea, China and Japan, can be found here.Women’s hockey was first introduced in the 1982 edition of the Asian Games and has been played in every edition of the event since. The 2023 Games will mark the 11th appearance of women’s hockey at the Asian Games. India, Japan and Korea have appeared in all 10 editions of the event so far and will compete in the 11th edition starting from 25 September.Korea are the most successful team in the history of women’s hockey at the Asian Games, with 5 gold medals. China are the second most successful team with 3 gold medals, while India and Japan have won one gold medal each. Japan come into the 2023 Asian Games as the defending champions, having won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia. A total of 12 teams, in each of the men’s and women’s categories, will compete in Hockey at the Olympic Games. The hosts France gained direct qualification, leaving 11 spots up for grabs. Australia (men and women) from Oceania and Netherlands (men and women) from Europe have sealed their qualification as continental champions. Apart from the winners of the Asian Games, continental championships in the Americas and Africa will be held in the buildup to the Olympic Games where the winner of each of these two events will also gain direct qualification to the upcoming Olympic Games. The FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024, which will be held in January 2024, provide a second opportunity for teams to qualify for the remaining 6 spots at the Olympic Games.

Sports Bulletin ReportNew York (USA): The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has renewed its partnership with UN Women, underlining each organisation’s commitment to using sport to promote gender equality and to empower women and girls.The new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed by IOC President Thomas Bach and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous during a meeting in New York, USA, extends a partnership that began in 2012 and was extended for the first time in 2017. It will see the two organisations continuing to work together to maximise the value of sport in shaping social norms and reaching sustainable development outcomes that impact women’s and girls’ lives daily. During the ceremony, the IOC President was accompanied by Mrs Laura Chinchilla, IOC Member in Costa Rica, Mrs Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, IOC Member in Croatia, and HRH Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud, IOC Member in Saudi Arabia.“Sport has the potential to transform lives, and the extension of our partnership with UN Women will help us to ensure that all women and girls have the opportunity to benefit from this unique power of sport,” said President Bach. “ With this new MoU, we will enhance our ongoing initiatives to encourage sports participation among girls and advance towards gender equality.”UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous added: “Sport is an unrivalled asset to help us to end all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, and to ensure women’s full and equal participation in leadership and decision-making. There can be no higher goal, and no greater win for us all, and we are honoured to be renewing our partnership with the IOC to work towards this target together.”

Sheikh Talal Al Ahmed Al Jabr becomes OCA president, 45 member countries attend the meetingSports Bulletin ReportBangkok (Thailand): President, Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) Lt. General (Retd) Syed Arif Hasan has been reelected as Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) in the 42nd assembly held in Bangkok, Thailand.As many as 45 member countries associated with OCA participated in the meeting. In the meeting, Sheikh Talal Al Ahmed Al Jabr was elected as the president of the Olympic Council of Asia for the next four years, while the president of the Pakistan Olympic Association, Lt. Gen. R. Arif Hassan, was elected as the vice president.Secretary of the Pakistan Olympic Association Khalid Mahmood also participated in the General Council meeting. Meanwhile, the Olympic family, various sports federations, organizers, athletes, and officials congratulated Lt. Gen. (Retd) Syed Arif Hasan for being re-elected as the vice-president of the Olympic Council of Asia.

Sports Bulletin ReportBerlin (Germany): Pakistan's Faiza Nasir and Naheen Khan lifted the gold medals in the Women's Badminton Doubles Unified discipline of the ongoing 16th Special Olympic World Games in Berlin Germany on Friday.In the badminton event played at Messe Berlin, Pakistani players won the gold medal by defeating Uzbekistan by 21-5 and 21-17 points, Malaysia by 21-14 and 21-6, and Kyrgyz Republic by 21-12 and 21-13.On this occasion, Faiza Nasir and Naheen Khan said:“We are very happy that our hard work paid off and we were able to win a gold medal for our country. Our coaches played an important role in our success. We will try our best to maintain this streak of success in future events as well.”Meanwhile, in the men's unified doubles event of Badminton, Pakistan's Noshiwan Arif Raja and Talha Asif won the silver medal after defeating Paraguay 21-18 and 21-12 and Macau by 21-12 and 21-16. However, Pakistan suffered a defeat against Hong Kong by the margin of 16-21 and 18-21. 

Haider decorates silver medal on chest in weightlifting for PakistanSports Bulletin ReportBerlin (Germany):-Pakistan's Usman Qamar and Zainab Ali Raza won gold medals in the cycling event of the 16th Special Olympic World Games. Usman Qamar completed the time trial 2km race in 5 minutes and 2.12 seconds. So far, Usman Qamar has won 2 gold medals in the Special Olympic World Games. Pakistan's Mohammad Safeer Abid Rizvi completed the 25 km race distance in 53 minutes 34.85 seconds and won the silver medal.In the 83kg weight class category of the powerlifting event, Pakistan's Haider Ahmed won silver in the squat of 83 weight class category of powerlifting event, bronze in the bench press, bronze in the deadlift and silver medal in combined weight with overall weight lifting of 250 kg. Pakistan's Maria Manzoor won silver in the bench press of the 69 weight class category and a bronze medal in combined weight. Sana of Pakistan came fourth with 1 minute 26.82 in the quarter-finals of the athletics 400 meters race. In badminton, Bangladesh beat Pakistan by 21-18 and 21-15 while Macao defeated China by 21-17 and 21-15. In the field hockey mixed event, Pakistan defeated Paraguay 5-0. In the second match, Pakistan defeated Bulgaria 5-4 and qualified for the semi-finals. In the women's basketball event, Bulgaria won by 21 points against Pakistan's 11 points. In the unified men's table tennis event, Imtisham Danish and Adeel Khan of Pakistan won the bronze medal by winning 3-2 against France.In the women's event, Faiza Qamar and Iman Amir of Pakistan won the bronze medal with a 3-0 victory over Saudi Arabia. While swimmer Fatima Khan finished fifth in the 25m freestyle, all three Pakistani swimmers bettered their records at the World Games. 

Sports Bulletin ReportMumbai (India):-The 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session will be held from October 15 to 17, 2023 in Mumbai, India, as the opening ceremony to be held on the 14th of October. IOC Executive Board (EB) will on 12, 13, and 14 October. According to a press release of IOC, the meetings of the Executive Board will take place at the Trident Hotel at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, as the IOC Session will take place at the adjacent Jio World Centre (JWC).

Sports Bulletin Report ISLAMABAD: “A Sparkling Future”, designed by 27-year-old Brazilian Dante Akira Uwai, has been announced as the winner of the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) Gangwon 2024 medal design competition. This year’s contest saw a record-breaking 3,000 proposals submitted for the chance to design the obverse of the medals that will be handed out to the best athletes at next year’s YOG. “A Sparkling Future” is a geometric interpretation of the Gangwon 2024 motto “grow together, shine forever”. The concept of growth is conveyed through vertical lines, while the diverse group of participants in the YOG is represented by elements created through cut-outs and texture changes. The variety of shapes and forms depicts diversity and how we can all contribute to peace and coexistence in difference ways. The polished finishes create dynamic little sparks of light, symbolising the desire to surpass ourselves and make positive changes in the world. “I didn't want the medal to be a frame for a painting, only to be looked at,” Uwai said. “I wanted it to be treated as a sculpture. Something that could be picked up, viewed from different angles, and felt for its texture. I think the medal has a lot of that and this was very important to me.” The young designer was unable to contain his emotion upon finding out: “Winning recognition like that, out of 3,000 submissions, is very important to me and I will cherish it for the rest of my life,” he said. “In Brazil, there is a saying: ‘What differentiates an artist from other people is not talent, but a burning need to create.’ That's something that resonates with me.”  Twenty-four-year-old Zakea Page of New Zealand was involved in the selection of the medals. Page’s creation, entitled “Beauty in Diversity”, was chosen for the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020. Speaking about the winning entry for Gangwon 2024, he said: “This design is a worthy winner and a beautiful interpretation of the values of the Youth Olympic Games.” He added: “To me, it is reminiscent of the traditional paper lanterns that are a hallmark of Republic of Korea's celebration, hanging like canopies around temples and in parades... even dotted throughout the streets of Seoul.” The runner-up in the medal design competition for Gangwon 2024 is 27-year-old artist Luisa Valencia Gomez of Colombia, who designed “The Road to Victory”. Third place goes to 32-year-old graphic designer Carlos Alejandro Castañeda Arenas of Mexico, with his design “Land of Dreams”.

Sports Desk ISLAMABAD: It is with profound sadness that the IOC has learnt of the death of Phillip Walter Coles, at the age of 91. Mr. Coles represented Australia in canoe sprint at three editions of the Olympic Games - Rome 1960, Tokyo 1964, where he captained the team, and Mexico City 1968. He devoted his entire life to the Olympic Movement in Australia and beyond. In 1973, he became a member of the Executive Board of the Australian Olympic Committee, and was one of the Foundation members of the Executive Board of the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) in 1981. Upon learning of his death, IOC President Thomas Bach said: “Phil Coles was a man who always cared about the athletes in all his different functions. Their interests were always in his mind and in his heart. He was key to getting an Australian Olympic Team to the Olympic Games Moscow 1980 against all requests for a boycott. It made him proud for the rest of his life to have led these athletes into the Olympic Stadium. His love for the Olympic Games was at the centre of his life. Personally, I have lost a wonderful friend with whom I shared so many moments of our Olympic lives. I will never forget this heartwarming friendliness and his sense of humour. My thoughts are with his beloved Patricia and all his family and many friends.” Elected as an IOC Member in 1982, Mr Coles contributed actively to a wide range of IOC commissions, including Radio and Television, Joint Mass Media, Olympic Solidarity, Study and Evaluation for the Preparation of the Winter Olympic Games, Sport for All, New Sources of Financing and Marketing, and the Working Group on the Olympic Programme and the Olympic Programme Commission. He had been an IOC Honorary Member since 2012. As a driving force behind the project to bring the Olympic Games to his native Australia, he served as Vice-President and Director of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games Sydney 2000 between 1993 and 1999. His dedication to sport and promoting the Olympic values was recognised by a number of distinctions he received over the course of his life. In the 1983 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his service to sport, and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2000. He received the Olympic Order for his distinguished contribution to the Olympic Movement in 2012. In the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, a number of items of Coles are kept for exhibitions. He has donated the Australian delegation tracksuit and uniform that he wore at the Olympic Games Tokyo 1964 as well as two replicas of the canoes with which he competed at the Games. The IOC expresses its deepest condolences to his family and friends. As a mark of respect, the Olympic flag will be flown at half-mast at Olympic House in Lausanne for three days.