square in the city centre will allow both residents and guests to follow the election of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games host, which takes place, prior to the Congress, on Friday 2 October. The Congress will make some important decisions to determine the future direction of the Olympic Movement and the organisers of the Copenhagen Olympic Festival want to ensure that, in addition, it leaves a tangible legacy for sport and leisure in the host country. COPENHAGEN OLYMPIC FESTIVAL 12 September - 4 October: Olympic Games exhibition, Copenhagen City Hall 28- 30 Sept: Olympic Games for Schools 1 October: Bike Tour 1- 2 October: Copenhagen Count Down 2 October: Olympic Congress Run 3 October: City Youth Olympic Games 9- 10 October: Fun Run for Schools Denmark is a land of associations and the idea of getting together to form sports clubs has strong roots. The NOC and Sports Confederation of Denmark, which was founded in 1896, is the umbrella organisation of 60 national federations comprising around 11,000 clubs, with some 1.7 million members in all. The Danish sports clubs depend on the work of voluntary, and often unpaid, leaders and instructors. The clubs were founded by committed people who joined in a common love for a particular sport and the social life that comes with it. There are more than 200,000 volunteers involved in the work in the clubs today. ¦ OLYMPIC REVIEW55 OLYMPIC CONGRESS develop cycling through holding cycling events and creating a network of cycle lanes. One of the city's main bike lanes will serve as a physical link between the Olympic Congress and the inner- city area where the festival is taking place, meaning delegates and the Olympic family will be able to hop onto a bike and pedal down to see the activities for themselves. Away from the competitions, the Olympic Museum's exhibition in Copenhagen City Hall will enable locals to learn more about Olympic history. Visitors will find Olympic Games memorabilia and clothing, photos and posters, as well as interactive activities. Visitors and the world's press will also be able to learn more about Denmark's unique " club" system, which forms the basis for thousands of Danes participating in sports and leisure activities ( see last column), while big screens in the main Above As one of the UCI's designated Bike Cities, that method of transport will be de rigueur during the Olympic Congress

56OLYMPIC REVIEW OLYMPIC CONGRESS F ollowing success on his debut Olympic appearance in London, aged 20, Danish sailor Paul Elvstrøm went on to win another three consecutive gold medals and 15 World Championships over four decades. Alongside American track and field duo Carl Lewis and Al Oerter, he is the only Olympian to win the same individual event four times in a row. " My win at the 1948 Olympic Games established my strong position within the international dinghy sport. Therefore, it is the most memorable gold medal of them all to me," he explains. " To me, the Olympic Games have always overshadowed all other sailing races, so winning my first Olympic gold was the highlight of my career." After winning further golds in Helsinki, Melbourne and then Rome, Elvstrøm was a reserve for the 1964 Games, before returning in the " Star Class" competition four years later in Mexico and again in the 1972 Munich Games. After 12 years away from the Games he made history alongside his daughter Trine, when they became the first father and daughter combination to compete together at the Games. Having won the " Tornado Class" at the 1983- 4 European Championships together, they finished fourth in the same class in Los Angeles as, aged 60, Elvstrøm competed in the Olympic Games for the last time, becoming one of only four athletes to appear in eight or more editions. IOC President Jacques Rogge has referred to Elvstrøm as one of his sporting heroes - a figure who provided him with great inspiration. " I had the privilege to sail against him at the beginning of my career and he left me with a lasting impression of an outstanding athlete with a great personality," Rogge said. " The flattering remarks by Jacques Rogge mean a lot to me because he has insight and knowledge about my achievements," Elvstrøm remarks. It was a compatriot of Rogge's - André Nelis - who Elvstrøm singles out as his fiercest competitor. Nelis won silver in 1956 and bronze in 1960, when Elvstrøm made history as the first Olympian to win four consecutive gold medals in the same event. Now 81 years old and living in Copenhagen, Elvstrøm still harbours a keen interest in the Olympic Games, and particularly sailing. He is delighted that over the past few years it has become much more of a mass spectator sport and that millions can enjoy it worldwide thanks to televised coverage. In 1996 he received the prestigious " Danish Athlete of the Century" award - obviously a huge honour. " On behalf of my sport, I was thrilled to win this award, in particular because sailing was not really a spectator sport at the time," he enthuses. One of the first six inductees into the International Sailing Federation Hall of Fame, Elvstrøm's legacy to the sport goes far beyond the four Olympic gold medals that he won. He revolutionised dinghy sailing when he pioneered the " sitting out" or " hiking" technique that is the norm today. It requires great strength to perform and AboveElvstrøm at his induction into the ISAF Hall of Fame in 2005 RightSmiling after winning gold at the 1948 Olympic Games in Torbay, Devon VERY FEW OLYMPIANS HAVE MADE SUCH AN IMPACT ON THEIR SPORT, BOTH IN AND OUT OF COMPETITION, AS PAUL ELVSTRØMHAS. IN 1948, HE WON HIS FIRST OF FOUR OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS AND TO THIS DAY HIS REVOLUTIONARY TECHNIQUES ARE STILL UTILISED. OLYMPIC REVIEW CAUGHT UP WITH THE MOST SUCCESSFUL OLYMPIC SAILOR IN HISTORY