www.olympic.orgOLYMPIC REVIEW21The first clothes donation of the new "Giving isWinning" campaign (see story page 17) hasarrived at its destination in Rwanda. Contributed bythe British Olympic Association (BOA), refugees infour different camps and one transit centre inRwanda received Team GB sports wear, balls andcasual clothing. These items aim to support theestablished sports teams in the camps andencourage more young people and adults to takeup sport in general. Experience shows that sportcan provide a semblance of normality andstructure to lives that are in disarray. Arepresentative of refugee women in the NyagatareTransit Centre commented: "We were worriedabout the idleness of our youth in the TransitCentre; we are thankful to the BOA and UNHCR forthis donation that shows us how they care for us.Besides, women have often been forgotten when itcomes to sports activities, but we are so happy to see this time women are not forgotten. Thanksa million to the donors." Rwanda - which currently hosts 49,192refugees and 730 asylum-seekers in four camps,two transit centres and urban areas - has neverbenefited from previous donations of sportsclothes. However, the camps have used basic sportactivities for some years now to relieve tension andbuild community bonds inside and outside thecamps (between refugees and the nearby localpopulation). Currently the Gihembe Camp'sbasketball and football teams are representing theProvince du Nord (northern province) in the NationalGames to be held in Gisenyi in August.BelowRwandan youngsters with the clothing fromthe British Olympic AssociationFIRSTDONATION OF "GIVINGISWINNING"ATITS DESTINATIONSwimming legend Danyon Loader has beenappointed as the New Zealand OlympicCommittee's first Olympic Ambassador.Loader won the Olympic 200m butterfly silvermedal at Barcelona in 1992 and climbed even higher at Atlanta four years later, scooping the 200m and 400m freestyle goldmedals. When his three world championshipmedals and six Commonwealth Games medalsare added to the mix, it is no wonder Loaderwas named New Zealand's Athlete of the1990s. In his new position he will represent the New Zealand Olympic Committee at various events, including featuring in the "Bring on Beijing" campaign in the lead-up tonext year's Games.NZOCAPPOINTSOLYMPICAMBASSADORSPORT, CULTUREANDART FESTIVALThe Turkish Culture and Art Commissionorganised the "3rd Aphrodisias-LaodikeiaInternational Youth, Sports, Culture and ArtFestival" in August in Denizli, Turkey. This year, 44participants, between the ages of 18 and 30,from 25 countries came together in Aphrodisias.The festival's aim was the development ofinternational friendship and the belief that underthe umbrella of the Olympic Spirit people canmake a difference in the world thanks to thecommon feeling of the peaceful ideals, culturesand religions and avoiding differences of any kind.During the Festival, the lectures, given by experts,covered the topics of Olympic Education, AncientSites in the area and the values of Olympism.After every lecture, discussion groups wereformed and participants shared their ideas aboutthe topics presented. They went back to theircountries with newly established friendshipnetworks, knowledge and understanding ofcultural differences and the goal of developmentof sport and Olympic values in the world.AboveVisiting an Ancient sporting site BelowMany new friendships were madeA partnership agreementwas signed in Irvine(California) by the UnitedStates Olympic Committee(USOC) President, PeterUeberroth (above), and hiscounterpart from theAlgerian NOC, MustaphaBerraf. This partnershipcovers sports developmentand coaching, and athleteand professionalexchanges. The agreementwas signed during a visitby an Algerian NOCdelegation to the USA,which has seen themtravel to the OlympicTraining Centre (OTC) inChula Vista (California)then to Colorado Springs(Colorado), where theywere welcomed by USOCCEO Jim Scherr, COONorman Bellingham andSenior Director, SportPartnerships, Chris Vadala.The delegation concludedits visit by joiningmembers of the USOC tocelebrate Olympic Day atthe OTC in ColoradoSprings. NORWAY'SFEMALE FIRST At its recent GeneralAssembly, the NorwegianOlympic Committeeelected its first ever femalePresident, Tove Paule.USOCASSISTSALGERIANOCNEWS

22OLYMPIC REVIEWwww.olympic.orgIFNEWSFrancesco Ricci Bitti(pictured) has been re-elected as President of theInternational TennisFederation (ITF) at the IF's General Assembly inTunis (Tunisia). The International Rowing Federation (FISA)announced that the 2008 European RowingChampionships had been awarded to the Greek federation. These championships will beheld at the Schinias Olympic Rowing andCanoeing Centre, which hosted the Olympicevents in 2004. This decision was made bydelegates from the 25 European national rowing federations at a meeting held inLinz/Ottensheim (Austria) during the first stageof the 2007 Rowing World Cup. Furthermore,Schinias Centre has been made an official FISA international training centre by theInternational Federation. More information onwww.worldrowing.comBelowFISA has awarded the 2008 EuropeanRowing Championships to Schinias, GreeceROWINGRETURNSTOSCHINIAS CENTREThe International Association Football Federation(FIFA) has approved the support of 27 newprogrammes in 24 countries, for a total amountof USD 1million, as part of the Football for Hope movement. Among the organisations, mostof which have long-running programmes, 12 arein Africa, nine in North, Central and South America, four in Europe and two in Asia. FIFA also confirmed that Visa International will be the sixth FIFA partner with worldwide rights toFIFA's competitions from 2007 to 2014. Visa willenjoy core sponsorship rights to all FIFAcompetitions, including the 2010 World Cup inSouth Africa and the 2014 World Cup, as well asto FIFA's special events and developmentinitiatives. FIFASUPPORT FOR AFRICANDEVELOPMENTISSFCELEBRATESITSCENTENARYThe International Shooting Sports Federation(ISSF), chaired by Olegario Vázquez Raña,celebrated the centenary of its foundation inMunich (Germany). The IOC was represented byPresident Rogge, Vice-President Thomas Bach,IOC members Hein Verbruggen - who is alsoPresident of the General Association ofInternational Sports Associations (GAISF) - VitalySmirnov and Mounir Sabet. During thecelebration, seven athletes from around theworld were awarded as all time champions ofthe shooting sport. They are: two-time Olympicmedallist Russell Mark of Australia, two-timeOlympic medallist Ling Yang of China, two-timeOlympic medallist Luciano Giovannetti from Italy,Three-time Olympic medallist Ralf Schumann ofGermany, five-time Olympic medallist JasnaSekaric of Serbia and multi-medallist VesselaLetcheva of Bulgaria. Report and photos onwww.issf-sports.orgAboveChina's Ling YangBelowRalf Schumann from GermanyNEWS INBRIEFPRESIDENTS RE-ELECTEDLamine Diack (pictured)was voted into a finalfour-year term asPresident of theInternational Associationof Athletics Federations(IAAF). Diack, a native ofSenegal who took overthe presidency in 1993,ran unopposed when theIAAF Congress held itselections ahead of theWorld Championships inOsaka in August. LOCOG ChairmanSebastian Coe and IOC member SergeyBubka were elected fromamong six candidates forthe four Vice-Presidencyseats along with Robert Hersh and Dahlan Al-Hamad.