An evening of winners at IOC Awards Ceremony in Buenos Aires

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today celebrated and honoured role models, active cities and organisations as part of its Awards Ceremony at the Olympism in Action Forum, taking place in Buenos Aires on 5 and 6 October.

Those recognised were: six role models and advocates in advancing women in and through sport; two outstanding coaches for their lifetime achievements; six Pilot Cities of the Active Well-being Initiative; and three NGOs inspiring young and old through sport.

2018 IOC WOMEN AND SPORT AWARDS: SIX TROPHIES, ONE GOAL

The Turkish Eczacubasi Sports Club was awarded the World Trophy for being a sporting pioneer in its country. It was founded in 1966, at a time when the idea of women participating in a male-dominated world was not readily embraced by Turkish society. Yet the Eczacubasi Sports Club has since achieved near gender equality in its administration and developed women’s volleyball to have thousands of members and millions of followers, winning a record 28 national championships, World and European titles and investing in the female players of tomorrow.

Five Continental Trophies were also awarded to the following people: 

• Winner for Africa: Ms Rachel Muthoga (Kenya)

  A former human rights lawyer, Muthoga is the Executive Director of Moving the Goalposts Kilifi, a Kenyan NGO committed to inspiring and building confidence and self-esteem in some 6,000 vulnerable girls and young women through football.

• Winner for the Americas: Ms Chandra Crawford (Canada) 

  A former cross-country skier, Olympic champion Crawford founded the not-for-profit organisation Fast and Female dedicated to changing the culture around girls in sport. With adolescent girls six times more likely than boys to drop out of sport, Fast and Female’s vision is all about positive female empowerment, keeping girls active throughout their teens, and nurturing a desire to pursue a healthy, athletic lifestyle as adults.

• Winner for Asia: Ms Samar Nassar (Jordan)

  A two-time Olympic swimmer, Nassar decided to remain involved in sport after retiring from her competitive career. As a board member of the Jordan National Olympic Committee (JOC) for four years, she has since been pioneering various socially positive programmes, including establishing football programmes for Syrian refugee girls at the Zaatari camp in Jordan.

• Winner for Europe: Ms Daina Gudzineviciute (Lithuania)

  An Olympic shooting champion, Gudzineviciute currently serves as the President of the Lithuanian NOC and is a member of the Executive Committee of the European Olympic Committees. Since becoming a national hero in Lithuania when she claimed gold in the first-ever women’s trap shooting competition at the Olympic Games Sydney 2000, she has used her leadership role within the NOC to encourage girls and women through various means to participate more in sport and physical activities.

• Winner for Oceania: Ms Lauren Jackson (Australia)

Recognised for being a great women’s basketball pioneer in Australia, Lauren Jackson is passionate about raising awareness of racial and sexual discrimination in sport and in society more generally. As President of the Women’s Union of the Australian Basketball Alliance, she is working with Basketball Australia to assist with athletes’ transition into the community, the workforce and the business world, helping them to get the necessary education, and inspiring many young women to take up administrative and leadership positions.

More information on the winners is available here

Introduced in 2000, the IOC Women and Sport Awards are given to women, men or organisations who have made remarkable contributions to the development, encouragement and reinforcement of women through sport. One World Trophy and five Continental Trophies are awarded every year.

IOC COACHES LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS: RECOGNISING THE ATHLETES’ MENTORS

Coaches may be the most important members of an athlete’s entourage. To pay tribute to the exceptional role they play in an athlete’s life, the IOC has chosen from 98 nominations to give this year’s Coaches Lifetime Achievement Awards to Hungarian canoeing coach Katalin Rozsnyoi and Austrian native British skeleton coach Andreas “Andi” Schmid.

Katalin Rozsnyoi (Hungary) was recognised for her significant contribution to Hungary’s success at the Olympic Games and the outstanding number of medals won by her athletes in canoeing. After winning a silver medal at the 1968 Olympic Games, the 14-time national champion became an even more successful coach. Her athletes have won 11 medals at the Olympic Games, 84 medals at world championships and 70 medals at European championships.

Andreas “Andi” Schmid (Austria) received the award for coaching over 10 Olympians who medalled at each of the five consecutive Olympic Winter Games since 2002, racking up eight Olympic medals. He helped Great Britain secure 50 per cent of all skeleton medals in PyeongChang 2018, with Lizzy Yarnold becoming the first skeleton athlete to retain an Olympic title. Andreas Schmid himself won three medals at World Championships and was overall World Cup Champion in 1987 and 1988. 

Launched last year, the IOC Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award recognises a female and male coach’s outstanding achievements and contribution to Olympians’ lives and the Olympic Movement. They are nominated either by Olympians, National Olympic Committees, International Sports Federations, members of the IOC Athletes’ and Entourage Commissions, or IOC Members.

SIX CITIES CELEBRATED AS THE WORLD’S FIRST GLOBAL ACTIVE CITIES

Buenos Aires, Argentina; Hamburg, Germany; Lillehammer, Norway: Liverpool, UK; Ljubljana, Slovenia; and Richmond (British Columbia), Canada. Six cities that share today an unprecedented label. Named the world’s first global active cities in a programme backed by the IOC, all six have worked hard to offer all their residents the opportunity to choose active and healthy lifestyles and improve their well-being.  

The Global Active City programme was founded by Evaleo, a sustainable health association, and The Association For International Sport for All (TAFISA), with the support of the IOC. Each city has embraced a management model that motivates people at risk of inactivity-related illnesses to take up regular physical activity and sport. In order to receive the Global Active City label, they each had to pass an independent audit with a stringent review of their physical activity and sports strategies and working practices.

To find out more about the Global Active City model, visit www.activewellbeing.org or follow @AWBInitiative.

THREE NGOS FORMALLY RECOGNISED FOR INSPIRING YOUNG AND OLD THROUGH SPORT

Skateistan, HelpAge Tanzania and Pro Sport Development were officially recognised after becoming beneficiaries last year of the IOC’s Sport and Active Society Development Grants. Worth USD 25,000 each, these development grants are awarded to grassroots organisations running effective Sport for All programmes in different regions across the world.

To learn more about their programmes, read the story here.

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The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit independent international organisation made up of volunteers, which is committed to building a better world through sport. It redistributes more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement, which means that every day the equivalent of 3.4 million US dollars goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world.

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