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UN Secretary-General speaks at IOC Session in Sochi

Ban_630-364.jpg

©IOC/Ian Jones

06/02/2014

In an Olympic first, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today addressed the IOC Session in advance of the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

“Today I am in Sochi to witness countries uniting in a spirit of friendly competition and goodwill,” he said on the final day before the Games’ Opening Ceremony. It was the first time that a UN Secretary-General had attended an IOC Session.

Ban Ki-moon praised the joint efforts of the UN and the IOC to use sport as a tool for social change, describing the two organisations as teammates.

“That team – the United Nations and the IOC – are not competing on the ski slopes or skating rinks,” he said. “We are joining our forces together for our shared ideals. Sustainability. Universality. Solidarity. Non-discrimination. The fundamental equality of all people.”

Ban Ki-moon renewed his call for all warring parties worldwide to observe the Olympic Truce and “to lay down their weapons during the Games – and to lift their sights to the promise of peace. He urged others to follow the example set by the Olympic Winter Games.

“The athletes here carry the flags of different nations – but they are all joining under the banner of equality, fair play, understanding and mutual respect,” he said. “Their histories, traditions and day-to-day lives offer a wonderful parade of human diversity. And the athletes send a unified message that people and nations can put aside their differences. If they can do that in Sochi’s sporting arenas, leaders of fighters should do the same in the world’s combat areas.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WzY2nfQG9yo

Ban Ki-moon also referred to the IOC’s observer status at the UN and the many joint projects in the field and concluded: “The United Nations will continue to partner with the IOC to build a better, freer and more equal world. I count on your engagement and your support. Let us work together to make this world better for all,” receiving enthusiastic applause from the IOC members.

Responding to the Secretary-General’s remarks, IOC President Thomas Bach called Ban Ki-moon “a great friend of sport and an inspiring world leader who stands for the same values the IOC is embracing.”

Bach added, “Sport is standing for respect and against any form of discrimination. In this respect we are teammates, and as you said, ‘Olympic principles are United Nations principles’.”

After his speech to the Session, Ban Ki-moon attended the Session’s debate about the IOC’s role in society and, just a few hours before he was scheduled to run with Bach in the Olympic Torch Relay in Sochi, the UN Secretary-General received a torch from the IOC President.

Ban Ki-moon will also take the opportunity to tour the Olympic Village, where he will sign the Olympic Truce Wall; and later attend the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games on 7 February.

IOC

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UN Secretary-General speaks at IOC Session in Sochi

Ban_630-364.jpg

©IOC/Ian Jones

06/02/2014

In an Olympic first, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today addressed the IOC Session in advance of the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.

Today I am in Sochi to witness countries uniting in a spirit of friendly competition and goodwill, he said on the final day before the Games Opening Ceremony. It was the first time that a UN Secretary-General had attended an IOC Session.

Ban Ki-moon praised the joint efforts of the UN and the IOC to use sport as a tool for social change, describing the two organisations as teammates.

That team the United Nations and the IOC are not competing on the ski slopes or skating rinks, he said. We are joining our forces together for our shared ideals. Sustainability. Universality. Solidarity. Non-discrimination. The fundamental equality of all people.

Ban Ki-moon renewed his call for all warring parties worldwide to observe the Olympic Truce and to lay down their weapons during the Games and to lift their sights to the promise of peace. He urged others to follow the example set by the Olympic Winter Games.

The athletes here carry the flags of different nations but they are all joining under the banner of equality, fair play, understanding and mutual respect, he said. Their histories, traditions and day-to-day lives offer a wonderful parade of human diversity. And the athletes send a unified message that people and nations can put aside their differences. If they can do that in Sochis sporting arenas, leaders of fighters should do the same in the worlds combat areas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WzY2nfQG9yo

Ban Ki-moon also referred to the IOCs observer status at the UN and the many joint projects in the field and concluded: The United Nations will continue to partner with the IOC to build a better, freer and more equal world. I count on your engagement and your support. Let us work together to make this world better for all, receiving enthusiastic applause from the IOC members.

Responding to the Secretary-Generals remarks, IOC President Thomas Bach called Ban Ki-moon a great friend of sport and an inspiring world leader who stands for the same values the IOC is embracing.

Bach added, Sport is standing for respect and against any form of discrimination. In this respect we are teammates, and as you said, Olympic principles are United Nations principles.

After his speech to the Session, Ban Ki-moon attended the Sessions debate about the IOCs role in society and, just a few hours before he was scheduled to run with Bach in the Olympic Torch Relay in Sochi, the UN Secretary-General received a torch from the IOC President.

Ban Ki-moon will also take the opportunity to tour the Olympic Village, where he will sign the Olympic Truce Wall; and later attend the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games on 7 February.

IOC

Good to see Bach is consistent with his "don't mix politics and Olympics" approach.

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Odd. News sources here kept saying he was medal favorite and one of the biggest names for the games.

He would have been had this been 2010. He hasn't been that much of a thread in slopestyle in the last quadrennial. Plus he apparently had a really hard time during practice and he wasn't able to land any hard tricks.

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He has come across as disingenuous. He is disingenuous.

I never really thought Rogge was all that crash hot - and a bit too blank - but he wouldn't have made such a move as what Bach has. Bach's clear irritation at politicians responding to a genuinely extreme human rights issue (which, in the IOC's defence, boiled over years after Sochi's selection - had the vote happened now it would have been Salzburg's) is also pretty dim because he fails to acknowledge that they are POLITICAL LEADERS and have no obligation to the Olympic movement - he speaks as though they are themselves the UN. These leaders are expected to make decisions like this to reflect their constituents feelings. They are not making these Olympics political - Putin and his Government are.

Bach is clearly cut from the same cloth as de Baillet-Latour - who stood defiantly beside Hitler, much like Bach is with Putin. What a terrible shame.

These Games are really Rogge's legacy and Bach has to get them out of the way and hope they're a success. I'd rather wait and see which direction he takes the movement in before I regard him as disingenous. If he really doesn't want sport and politics to mix let's see what happens when he's dealing with hosts and bidding processes that are completely his responsibility.

I'm not saying his words were wise, and you're right that politicians have no obligsation to the Olympic movement, but he's been handed this hot potato and just needs to make sure he and the IOC don't get burnt by it. He's got to tread this fine line for a few more weeks.

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He would have been had this been 2010. He hasn't been that much of a thread in slopestyle in the last quadrennial. Plus he apparently had a really hard time during practice and he wasn't able to land any hard tricks.

It seems he'd rather not risk injury in an event where he's behind the curve, and prefers to concentrate on halfpipe.

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These Games are really Rogge's legacy and Bach has to get them out of the way and hope they're a success. I'd rather wait and see which direction he takes the movement in before I regard him as disingenous. If he really doesn't want sport and politics to mix let's see what happens when he's dealing with hosts and bidding processes that are completely his responsibility.

I'm not saying his words were wise, and you're right that politicians have no obligsation to the Olympic movement, but he's been handed this hot potato and just needs to make sure he and the IOC don't get burnt by it. He's got to tread this fine line for a few more weeks.

I disagree that this is Rogge's legacy. It was the majority of IOC members voting for Sochi that created this legacy. Bach may well have been one of them. At least he was already highly influential in 2007.

And he already is disingenious: Why one day being against mixing politics and Olympics and then hosting the UN boss the next day? If the former was his long standing conviction, he could already have avoided that invitation after his election. Or if the election was after the invite to Ban, he could have found a way to take it back in between Buenos Aires and today.

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That's the whole problem w/ having a gov't pay for a Games. They can do anything they want afterwards and the IOC can do nothing except accept. Whereas, if it was the IOC who's spent for the Games, THEN they can pull the plug anytime. But that's the thing. They have gotten to be soooooo BIG that once they commit to a host, they are stuck with strange bedfellows, come hell or high water. The IOC should be ready to pull the plug any minute. And too bad for the athletes; they are just collateral damage. I mean there are worse things in life that NOT winning an Olympic medal. Sheessh.

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Whatever you do in Sochi...don't fish in the toilet:

BfYN6ojIMAAHfkR.jpg

Sochi toilet rules, as tweeted by Canadian snowboarder Sebastien Toutant :lol:

Wow- they do some funky things in those Russian toilets, I suppose you can have a party when there are 2 next to each other?

AS for putting your head in the toilet (graphic 2nd top left) what are you supposed to do after a bad bowl of borscht or after drinking 20 vodkas???

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^^ There is Google in China. It's just that the Chinese pay Google to filter out unwanted search topics such as the Tienanmen Square incident in the late 80's and other such unwanted topics.

That's most likely why Google didn't do anything with regards to China's poor human rights record.

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