GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Europe’s busiest airport, Heathrow, was ordered by Britain’s Border Agency not to distribute leaflets to arriving passengers warning them of “very long delays”, after some of the worst queues the airport has seen last week.
BAA, the owner of Heathrow airport, on Saturday 28 April distributed pamphlets apologizing to passengers about long waits at immigration checks and advising them to direct complaints to the British Home Office, responsible for the UK Border Agency.
Marc Owen, director of the UK Border Agency at Heathrow airport, requested that BAA withdraw from distributing the “inflammatory” brochures which will “increase tensions” amongst passengers.
The Telegraph reported that Terminal 5 at the airport had queues of up to two hours, several times last week. A number of frustrated passengers resorted to “storming past officials without showing their documents”.
The Border Force said that it will rehire former members of staff to begin work in July, when the Olympics get started in London.
Links to other sources: Daily Mail, The Telegraph, UK Press Association
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The International Olympic Committee in Lausanne stated 13 March that it will continue to support Dow Chemical as a major sponsor for the Olympic Games in 2012 in London, rebuffing attempts by the government of India to have the company removed. The Times of India and other Indian media report that the Indian Olympic Committee had earlier asked the IOC to drop Dow as a sponsor, out of respect for the victims of the 1984 Bhopal chemical disaster in which some 25,000 people died.
The IOC is quoted as saying it was aware, when discussing sponsorship with Dow, of the Bhopal issue, but since Dow bought Union Carbide, which owned the Bhopal plant, 16 years after the accident, it could not be held liable.
The Indian government then stepped in to ask the IOC to reconsider, but Tuesday it said its decision stands. The Wall St Journal India, in a blog, says that activists in India are calling for a boycott of the London Games and are planning protests.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Vita, an animal rights protection group in Russia, is putting the spotlight on Katya, a longtime star of the Big St Petersburg State Circus who is now being poorly treated in her retirement, according to an AP report that is being widely picked up by US media. The 36-year-old bear, who was cheered as she rode a bicycle around a ring during the 1980 Moscow Olympics, has reportedly not left the cage in her old touring bus for the past two years, and she “spends the long hours jumping up and down in her cage and trying to crack the rusty metal railings with her chipped and yellowed teeth”
Bears used in Russian circuses regularly make the news, sometimes for mistreatment, sometimes when things go wrong as in the 2009 incident where a bear on ice skates killed a circus manager, or when nature takes over, as in December 2010 when four bears on a circus tour went into hibernation.
Will France's Christophe Lemaitre outrun Powell in the 100m in Lausanne Thursday?
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Athletissima, the seventh stop in the 2011 Samsung Diamond Leagues series of world-class athletics events, has now posted the lineup for Thursday night, 30 June, in Lausanne.
Top billing goes to a Powell-Lemaitre battle for the men’s 100 metres, but a new headline item has cropped up: a Vaud court has ruled the event must invite Hind Dehiba Chahyd, French-Moroccan runner who holds European silver in the women’s 1,500 metres. News agency AP Tuesday afternoon quotes Pierre-Andre Pasche, Athletissima spokesperson, as saying she will now be invited.
Hind Dehiba Chahyd served a two-year drug ban for EPA use, from 2007-2009.
The court, which has jurisdiction only in Switzerland, has ruled in favour of the runner, who has argued that her right to work is restricted bo continuing bans.
If the news is confirmed it could have wide-ranging implications, with a possible impact on an upcoming decision by the Court of Arbitration in Lausanne that will consider whether an IOC (International Olympic Committee) ban on formerly suspended athletes is legal.
The CAS has set a date for the IOC/USOC hearing 17 August and it will issue a final decision towards the end of September. The arbitration will remain confidential, except for the final decision, says the CAS, which in early June issued a statement on the hearing’s review: “The Regulations at stake state that any athlete receiving a doping sanction of greater than six months is barred from competing in the next Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games following the expiration of the doping sanction.”
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The world football federation (Fifa) is not ready to set dates for the controversial 2022 Qatar World Cup, but its president, Sepp Blatter, told journalists at the IOC (Internationasl Olympic Committee) in Lausanne 25 January that the Cup could be held at the start or end of the year.
Fifa has come under fire for saying the World Cup could be held in winter to avoid the summer heat of Qatar, since it will be held in a year when the Olympic Winter Games will be on. These run at the start of the year, normally beginning at the end of January. The 2022 Games will not be awarded until 2015.
Blatter was in Lausanne for a visit to the IOC by UN head Ban Ki-moon.
The next generation of Ghana's Black Stars has future in the air (photo: wikipedia, 2008)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The IOC (International Olympic Committee) at a 13 January meeting in Lausanne suspended Ghana’s National Olympic Committee (NOC), meaning that unless there is a major change the country will not participate in the London Games in 2012. The reason for the suspension was political interference, the IOC says in a statement, citing “the obvious lack of cooperation of the government authorities in Ghana and lack of respect of the Ghana public authorities’ written commitment to take all necessary actions to revise the sports legislation in Ghana before the end of 2010.”
The problem goes back to the election of the NOC’s president in 2009, the results of which were disputed. Ghana has had an NOC since 1952.
Kuwait was suspended in 2010 for similar problems.
The Globe & Mail in Canada reports that hardest hit “could be Ghana’s soccer team. The under-20 team is the current world champion”, and it points out that Ghana is also having trouble with Fifa, the world football body, which has threatened the country with sanctions if political interference does not end.
Links to other sites: GhanaWeb
Fifa named best for press facilities for 2010 World Cup by world sports journalists
Rafael Nadal wins US Open 2010 (photo, Ella Ling)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The AIPS (International Sports Press Association) has named Rafael Nadal the world’s top male athlete and Blanka Vlasic the top female, in its annual sports awards. Nadal, Spanish is the number one tennis player in the world and Vlasic, from Croatia, has won 18 of 20 high-jumping competitions in 2010, and she currently holds the world indoor and European titles.
The AIPS named Fifa, the world football federation, as the organization providing the best media facilities, at the 2010 football World Cup matches in South Africa. The IOC, International Olympic Committee, was second, for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. The AIPS and the IOC are both based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Olivia Nobs, three-time world champion snowboarder, leaves the sport due to lack of funding
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – An Olympic bronze medal in Vancouver in 2010 and the world vice-champion title last year, plus three career world championships to her name have not been enough to ensure Switzerland’s Olivia Nobs enough financial security so the snowboard top athlete can continue to perform this year.
The 28-year-old snowboarder’s surprise announcement that she is giving up competition underscores the difficulty of finding adequate funding, of women athletes in general and athletes of both genders who compete in sports other than the most popular.
Nobs, who lives in Lausanne, has been competing for Switzerland for 11 years.
International sports, rugby Sevens, golf
IOC and UN set out list of recommendations
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Preparations are moving ahead to introduce rugby Sevens and golf to the Olympics, starting with the 2016 Games. Officials from international rugby and golf bodies met together for the first time, for two days, 26-27 May, with IOC (International Olympics Committee) officials in Lausanne to review how the Games are managed and the role of the national organizing committees.
Wednesday the IOC and the United Nations announced they had drawn up a list of 19 recommendations to increase the impact of sports on development, including the 2000 Millennium Goals. The two international bodies agreed to work to avoid duplication and to encourage national governmentts “to embed sports” in their development programmes.
Links to other sites: International Rugby Board, IOC on UN meetings, Irish rugby
The public funeral of former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch has begun. His body has been taken to the Catalonia state headquarters to the sound of the Olympic hymn. Samaranch who for years worked in Lausanne, Switzerland died 21 April.
A civil ceremony attended by athletes and heads of State, including Spain’s King Juan Carlos, will take place at the regional government headquarters. Samaranch’s coffin will then be taken to the Barcelona cathedral for a Roman Catholic funeral mass.
Several governments have expressed condolences for Samaranch’s death. China remembered him as a “good friend” for easing its return to the Olympic movement.
Additional details: Associated Press, Television Española TVe,
Juan Antonio Samaranch, IOC head from 1980-2001 (1920-2010), photo ©2010 IOC
Update 14:45 Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Juan Antonio Samaranch, who for 21 years headed the International Olympic Committee based in Lausanne, has died in Barcelona of heart failure. He was 89 years old. He died early Wednesday, three days after being admitted to a hospital for coronary problems.
The news was announced by the IOC in Lausanne.Samaranch headed the sports organization from 1980-2001. His tenure was the longest for the IOC after that of founder of the modern Olympics movement, Pierre de Coubertin.
Samaranch is widely credited with moving the Games in a new direction, described by the IOC as “less amateurish”, but his time as head of the IOC, often described as turbulent, was also notable on several other levels:
Vancouver, Canada (GenevaLunch) - Canada started the Vancouver Olympics with an unfortunate record: the only country to have hosted the Olympics without winning a gold medal. The 2010 team have changed all that, currently heading the gold medal table with 13, ahead of Germany’s ten and nine for the USA. Switzerland lies sixth with six gold and three bronze medals. In a fit of political correctness the Vancouver 2010 site lists countries firstly by the total number of medals, implying all are equal, and puts the USA at the top.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) has at last announced the findings of its investigations into underage gymnasts at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. The FIG Disciplinary Committee ruled that Ms Dong Fangxiao was only 14 years old at the time of the Games, rather than 17 as reported by the Chinese Olympic Committee. The FIG Executive Committee has recommended that the IOC withdraw the Bronze medal awarded to the Chinese Olympic team as well as cancelling her results in a number of meetings in 1999 and 2000. Ms Yang Yun was also warned but the FIG ruled that there was insufficient proof that her birthdate had been falsified on official documents.
Vancouver, Canada (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss hockey team ended their Olympic adventure with another narrow defeat to the USA. They were one goal down going into the final few minutes but then conceded a second after taking off their goaltender while searching for an equalizer. The US team now enter the semi-finals.
Links to other sites: TSR (Fre), Vancouver 2010
Rapidly changing winter weather, Swiss Alps
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – “And now the mountain weather forecast for the next two minutes!” Such extremely short-term weather forecasting might be a thing of the future, but scientists are gathering and studying data in Vancouver, Canada to help them reach that point. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Canada are hosting one group of experts whose specialty is not a sport, but very short term weather forecasts, called “nowcasting”, which make predictions up to six hours before an event.
A team of scientists from nine countries assembled by the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization and Environment Canada is conducting a weather research and development project called the Science and Nowcasting of Olympic Weather for Vancouver 2010, aka Snow-V10.
Nowcasting has already been used for Olympic Games, but in summer, at the Sydney 2000 Games and the Beijing 2008 Games. The prediction of winter weather in mountains is more difficult because conditions change rapidly with time and altitude.
© Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
Vancouver, BC, Canada (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss curling team beat the British team 4-3 in a tense match. The British skip was not pleased, blaming “the usual negative Swiss tactics” as his team was beaten despite being ahead going into the last end. The Swiss then lost their fourth match 7-4 against Norway to give up their unbeaten record. Canada beat Sweden 7-3.
Links to other sites: BBC, Vancouver Winter Games results
Vancouver, BC, Canada (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland held its own against Canada in ice hockey 18 February in the Winter Games, giving Canada a 3-2 victory, but in a penalty shootout. The Canadians were widely expected to win easily: they have a strong young team, are skating on home territory and they were still bruised from their 2006 Winter Games loss to underdog Switzerland in Torino.
Background, Washington Post
Lindsey Vonn puts on fine show
Dominique Gisin's crash affected other skiers (photo: Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images)
Gold winner Lindsey Vonn (sstock photo: ©2009 US ski team)
Vancouver, BC, Canada (GenevaLunch) – American Lindsey Vonn took gold in the Women’s Downhill at Whistler mountain, in a race marked by her excellent performance, four crashes on the undulating course and wide gaps between skiers’ times. Vonn, with a time of 1:44.19, finished an impressive .056 ahead of fellow American Julia Mancuso, who won silver. The bronze medal went to Austrian Elisabeth Goergl, a full 1.46 behind Vonn. The best performance by a Swiss skier was Fabienne Suter’s. She came in nearly two seconds behind the winner, for fifth place, a remarkable performance considering that she came close to crashing and managed to right herself dramatically.
Racers appeared affected by the series of crashes that started with Swiss skier Dominique Gisin. Her spectacular wipeout left the crowd silent while they waited, then cheered when she sat up: she walked away from the course, in tears, but on her own.
Didier Defago, Switzerland, winner of the 2010 Olympics gold medal in downhill skiing
Didier Defago (stock photo, Swiss Ski 2009)
Vancouver, BC, Canada (GenevaLunch) - Didier Defago Monday evening Swiss time has won a second gold medal for Switzerland in the men’s downhill race at Whistler Mountain in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, after Simon Ammann Saturday 13 February in ski jumping. Defago, from Morgins, was until recently not even sure he’d make the cut for the Swiss team. The 32-year-old gives Switzerland its first Olympic gold in the downhill event since Pirmin Zurbriggen won in Calgary in 1988.
In the 2008-2009 season Defago won impressive back-to-back wins at Wengen and Kitzbuehel, two of the toughest runs on the World Cup circuit. He won with a time of 1:54.31.
Defago is a close friend of another Swiss sports winner, Roger Federer.
Didier Cuche, the current world number one and the favourite to win the race, came in sixth, after losing a lot of time in the final sector, for a time of 1:54.67.
Silver was taken by Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, with 1:54.38 and bronze by Bode Miller, USA, 1:54.40.
The other Swiss hopeful, Carlo Janka, came in 11th at 1:52.02.
Links to other sites: Didier Defago site, Vancouver Games on Mother Nature and ski racing, TSR (Fre), wikipedia
© Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
Update 13 February 09:15 Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Georgia’s athletes, wearing black armbands and with a black ribbon on their flag, received a sombre standing ovation from the 60,000 people attending the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Their countryman, luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, died Friday 12 February while training for the Olympic Winter Games. The death of the 21-year-old is reportedly the first during a Winter Games. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) in Lausanne issued a statement saying that he died at the Whistler Sliding Centre and that the circumstances of the accident are being investigated. “Mr Kumaritashvili died after crashing on the last corner of the course during training. Doctors were unable to revive the athlete, who died in hospital.”
Early news agency reports say that he hit a beam after flying out of the luge at 144kph, but Olympics organizers have not officially confirmed this, although the IOC footage as a reposted video is publicly available on YouTube, showing the official clock.
The luge event will still take place as planned Saturday, Vancouver Games officials say, but the course is closed until then for a police investigation into the accident.
© Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
Omega at the Torino Olympics 2006
Omega has a long history with the Olympic Games
Update (link added) Biel-Bienne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Gross sales in 2009 were down 6.3 percent for the Swatch Group, which 9 February published audited figures in advance of its March annual meeting, but it gained significant market share. The group notes that the overall sales figure for the Swiss Watch Federation were down 21.3 percent. The watch segment of the group’s business had “a very convincing operating margin” which contributed to the 17.6 percent increase in operating margin for the year.
The group puts 2009 into perspective against a backdrop of an outstanding 2008, the 2009 global economic crisis and unfavourable exchange rates. But 2010, it says, is off to a good start, with January sales the highest on record for that month, and orders strong. Swatch’s Omega brand as the Vancouver Olympics timekeeper is expected to give group sales a boost.
Tanja Frieden, 2006 boardercross Olympic champion, retires (image: Swiss Ski)
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Tanja Frieden’s retirement comes earlier and in a more painful way than the boardercross Olympic gold medalist would have hoped: that much was clear from the press conference she gave Tuesday 26 January. The 33-year-old Bernese woman who won in Torino in 2006 had her hopes of another medal dashed five days ago when a bad fall left her with two torn ligaments and a badly strained left shoulder. At her press conference, in a wheel chair following surgery last Saturday, she said that she would not only not be participating in the Vancouver Games, but that she is retiring from the sport after 14 years competing at the top international level.
Lara Gut, skier, out with injuries for much of the 2009-2010 season
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Skier Lara Gut, the new young sensation of the 2008-09 ski season, will not be part of the Swiss team skiing at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. She has been recuperating from hip surgery following an accident during training in October. Her recovery and intensive “dry” training has gone well, Swiss Ski reports, but she will not be able to start training on skis until the end of January, too late to be in shape for the Games.
Title: Exhibit: Vancouver and the 2010 Olympics
Location: Lausanne
Link out: Click here
Description: Visit the Olympic museum in Lausanne. Biathlon, bob and curling try-outs
Date: 2010-01-12 to 2010-01-17
Visa goes to Rio
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The International Olympic Committee in Lausanne and Visa International have extended Visa’s sponsorship agreement to 2020, the two announced 27 October. Visa was one of the founding members of the worldwide TOP Olympic Games partners programme in 1986. The agreement means that Visa is the only official payment services card accepted by the Olympic Games.
The only contender
Update 2 – video on Rio’s plans 19:23 Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was chosen to host the 2016 Olympic Games in a vote that saw Chicago eliminated in the first round, and Tokyo in the second round of voting.
Copenhagen was the only contender for the pre-Olympics fun and games
Which of four cities would win the right to host the Olympic Games in 2016 kept the crowds guessing before a meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Copenhagen Friday 2 October. Following a precedent set by then UK Prime Minister Tony Blair who went to Singapore four years ago to pitch London’s bid for the 2012 Games, the heads of state or government of each of the countries whose cities are bidding for the Games in 2016 are in Copenhagen to make the case on their behalf.
Copenhageners lapped up the publicity. US President Obama took time off from reforming the country’s health care system and saving the world from Iranian nuclear bombs to help his wife Michelle sell their hometown, Chicago.
Beijing Olympics opening ® IOC 2009
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The International Olympic Committee IOC said 2 September it will make a final selection from among four cities vying to be host of the 31st Olympic Games. The IOC says the technical capabilities, which include venues, budget, transportation, of all four cities was comparable.
