PM Prayut welcomes Olympic movement to Bangkok

Among the first items on the agenda at Centara Grand, CentralWorld was the election of a new ANOC president, with Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah appointed uncontested for a four-year term.

This weekend’s general assembly is being attended by representatives of 204 National Olympic Committees and VIPs including International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.

“Thank you for all your support. I hope we can continue to achieve our goals and the support for our athletes and youth,” said the 51-year-old sheikh, who is also Olympic Council of Asia president.

Olympic Committee of Thailand secretary-general Charouck Arirachakaran said during his four-year term the ANOC president should forge efforts to develop sports in Asia and especially to assist Thai athletes. The sheikh is a member of the Olympic Solidarity commission, which provides scholarships for athletes.

Charouck said a priority for the ANOC leader was to push forward organisation of the first World Beach Games, in 2017, which will be discussed at the next general assembly, in Washington next year.

“The big concern is the huge budget required to host the Beach Games. European and South American nations should be interested in hosting the event,” said Charouck, who added that Thailand would not host the World Beach Games but will host the Asian Beach Games in Phuket this month.

Last night, the inaugural ANOC Gala Awards Dinner was held to honour the best athletes from the 2012 Olympics and 2014 Winter Olympics as well as NOCS with outstanding achievements.

London Games 800m gold medallist David Rudisha of Kenya and women’s table tennis gold medallist Xiaoxia Li of China won the awards for best male and female athletes of the 2012 Olympics. Canadian men’s ice hockey team were named best male team at the Sochi Games while the Brazilian women’s volleyball squad got the nod as best women’s team at the 2012 Olympics.

 

Beijing announces Winter Olympics bid 

China yesterday chose the surroundings of the InterContinental Hotel in Bangkok to announce its bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

Launching the 266-day countdown to its bid presentation, the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Bid Committee led by Beijing Mayor Wang Anshun said it intended to create a pure sports environment that encourages fair play.

“Our aim for Beijing 2022 is once again to bring the splendour and beauty of Chinese culture to the rest of the world as well as the athletes and wider Olympic family,” said Wang.

Beijing plans to use the National (Bird’s Nest) Stadium to host the opening and closing ceremonies, just as it did for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

“The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games will build on the legacy of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with the aim of creating new, long-lasting Olympic memories,” Wang said.

Doubts have been raised, though, over the suitability of Beijing – where air pollution levels have hit record highs over the past few years – as a host for international sporting events.   

“We take the matter seriously,” said Wang Hui, general director of the Information Office of Beijing Municipality. “However, most of the Winter Games competition venues will be at Zhangjakour and Yangqing. There, the air is very clean. However, it’s not that we don’t care about the air pollution impact. Our clean air campaign is running between 2013 and 2017.”