Sochi 2014On 4 July, Sochi hostedthe "Sochi, Yes!" festivalto commemorate theelection of Sochi as hostcity of the 2014 WinterGames. This event waspart of the 2014 GamesCultural Olympiad,which opened earlierthis year. Various artists,musicians, athletes and thousands of Sochi residents took part inthe celebrations, whichincluded sports eventsduring the day and agrand concert in theevening. AlexeyVoevoda, bobsleigh silver medallist at the2006 Games andbronze medallist at the2010 Games, joined theteam of Sochi 2014Ambassadors.Rio 2016The Rio 2016 GamesOrganising Committeeannounced thatGovernor Sérgio Cabralstarted the drilling workon the tunnel for MetroLine 4, which will linkthe western and south-ern zones of the city,where two of the foursports competition clus-ters will be located. Line4 will be opened in2015. The personalitiesattending includedOrganising CommitteePresident and IOC mem-ber Carlos Nuzman."Giving a Voice to Youth" will be more than justthe motto of the 7th World Conference on Sport,Education and Culture, to be held in Durban,South Africa, from 5 to 7 December 2010. During a youth session, organised within theconference, young participants at the YouthOlympic Games (YOG) that were held in Singaporein August, will talk about their personal experience at this very first edition and alsoexchange with their South African peers. Youngpeople will also be given the floor in othersessions to offer their first-hand input on learningexperiences in the fields of sport, education,culture and society.Other discussions, to take place in plenaryand parallel sessions, will focus on values-basededucation, the Cultural Olympiad, education forsustainable development and how to develop a culture of healthy lifestyles, to name just a few.The event is organised by the IOC, inpartnership with the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and will bring together representatives from theworld of sport, universities, NGOs, governmentsand intergovernmental organisations. Visit www.olympic.org/durban2010 to learn more.The IOC has awarded broadcast rights for theLondon 2012 Olympic Games to GrupoAlbavision. Grupo Albavision has acquired free-to-air television broadcast rights and radio rights in Bolivia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic,Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,Nicaragua, Paraguay and Uruguay. In August,Grupo Albavision provided coverage on the sameplatforms in these territories for the inauguralSingapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.IOC President Jacques Rogge said:"Following their successful coverage of the firstever Youth Olympic Games this August, we arehappy to be able to reach this agreement withGrupo Albavision to ensure free coverage of the Olympic Games in London in 2012 acrossthe region."Mr Angel Gonzalez, Chief Executive of GrupoAlbavision, said: "We are very happy to becomea part of the Olympic Family and look forward to a long and fruitful relationship." The IOC also awarded broadcast rights forthe London 2012 Olympic Games and theInnsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Winter Games to teleSUR. teleSUR has acquired over-the-airtelevision, cable television and radio broadcastrights in Venezuela. The President of teleSUR, Andrés Izarra, said"Venezuela has significantly improved itsperformance in international sports competitions.Our national teams have gathered an audiencelike no time in our history. The National PublicBroadcasting System, through teleSUR, wants toservice the country and our athletes by bringingthe Olympic events live to every home in thenation, and is proud of its top athletes." CONFERENCETOGIVEAVOICETOYOUTH  IOCAWARDSBROADCASTRIGHTS LONDON2012: TWOYEARSTO GOMARKED27 July 2010 marked the two-years-to-go point before the opening of theLondon 2012 Olympic Games. Thisimportant milestone in London's progress wascelebrated with a number of events across the hostcity and country. From 23-25 July, the London2012 Open Weekend was organised across the UKand included over 800 "challenging" events for the public. This was followed by the launch ofLondon 2012's specialist volunteer programme, the opening of London 2012's first official shop, a number of special events in the Olympic Park,and numerous other events organised by London 2012's partners.With the main venues in London's OlympicPark on track to be completed next year, anumber of special events were held in the Park on27 July, showing the great progress that Londonhas made in its construction projects. Olympicgold medallist Sir Chris Hoy took part in a cyclingactivity within the velodrome, former NBA starJohn Amaechi was shooting hoops in thebasketball arena, Michael Johnson sprinted on a temporary track in the Olympic Stadium, andthe first group of people walked across the main access bridge between the Aquatics Centreand the Olympic Stadium.BelowMichael Johnson and local schoolchildrentest out the track at the Olympic StadiumGAMES NEWS INBRIEF14OLYMPIC REVIEW

LOCOG has announced its plans to recruit up to 70,000 volunteers or "GamesMakers" for the London Games. It isexpected to be the biggest volunteerrecruitment campaign in the post-warperiod in the UK, and LOCOG will belooking for dedicated and inspirationalpeople representative of the diversity ofLondon and the UK to apply for a widevariety of volunteer positions. Olympic TOP partner McDonald's willbe the presenting partner of the Londonvolunteer programme and will use itsexpertise in customer service and trainingand its nationwide presence to helpattract, select and train the diverse teamthat will be needed to make the 2012Games a success.Sebastian Coe, Chairman of LOCOG,said: "London 2012 needs brilliantvolunteers to help us deliver a greatOlympic and Paralympic Games. Ourvolunteers will be called Games Makers to reflect the important role they will playin staging the 2012 Games."There are two different types ofvolunteer role: specialists in areas such as medical services, sport or pressoperations; and generalists, with rolesranging from spectator assistants, uniformdistributors and ticket checking. The key dates for the process are:?27 July 2010:applications open forpre-identified applicants for specialistsport, press operations, anti-doping andmedical roles and members of a widerange of disability specialistorganisations. This is also an opportunityfor those interested in the generalistroles to find out if they have what ittakes to be a Games Maker via adedicated section on the London 2012website.?15 September 2010:applicationsopen to the public for generalist rolesand continue for specialist roles.?LOCOG also confirmed that up to1,500 of the Games Maker roles will bemade available for those under the age of 18 through the 'Young GamesMaker' programme that will be unveiledin July 2011.Above(From left) Colin Moynihan,Sebastian Coe, Boris Johnson andHugh Robertson with a group of 2012 volunteers On 14 August 2010, the Singapore Postissued a set of four stamps tocommemorate the first Youth OlympicGames (YOG). The stamps depict the twoyouthful mascots Lyo and Merly in posesfeaturing the Games' Culture andEducation Programme (CEP) andSingapore 2010 sports. Throughout the YOG, the SingaporePost ran a temporary post office in theOlympic Village, providing postal servicesfor the YOG athletes and officials. The Singapore Post also issued specialstamps in 2008 (two stamps) and 2009(four stamps) in the run-up to theSingapore YOG. What is more, some 15postal services (including France, Belgium,Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, etc.) will belaunching special commemorative stampscelebrating these 1st Youth Games. Below The commemorative YOG stamps LONDON2012ANNOUNCES VOLUNTEERPROGRAMMEYOGSTAMPSISSUEDIOCPRESIDENT VISITSNO.10DOWNINGSTREETIOC President Jacques Rogge met with the newBritish Prime Minister David Cameron at No.10Downing Street. The visit was part of a full day ofOlympic events for the President in the next Olympichost city. He started the day by addressing London2012's staff, before going on to visit the OlympicPark venues and later met the Mayor of LondonBoris Johnson.Following his meeting with Prime MinisterCameron, President Rogge said, "We had veryproductive discussions with the Prime Minister andthe Mayor about the London 2012 Games and thedevelopment of sport in the UK. It is a sign of thegovernment's commitment to the 2012 Games thatsuch a meeting was organised so early in the life ofthe new government. The Prime Minister reassuredme of the government's continued support forLondon 2012 and we are looking forward to continuing the bi-partisan approach so vital to asuccessful Games."As part of the Olympic Park visit, Rogge helpedto put in place the 2012th seat in the OlympicStadium. The President was assisted in his task bythe Chairman of the IOC's Coordination CommissionDenis Oswald, Sebastian Coe, IOC member CraigReedie and some of the children who were presentin Singapore for the 2012 vote. These seats will be where thousands of spectators will be able to watch the world's best athletes compete.AbovePresident Rogge joins Sebastian Coe toinstall the 2012th seat at the Olympic Stadium OLYMPIC REVIEW15