OLYMPIC REVIEW15 The Belgian NOC has appointed Eddy De Smedt, the NOC's director of high- level sport, as its chef de mission for the London Games in 2012. He will also lead the delegation at the Winter Games in Vancouver in February 2010. The chef de mission for the first summer edition of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010 will be Gert Van Looy. The Sport and Environment Commission of the Chilean NOC has closed the 4th national draw-ing contest. More than 50 schools from all over the country took part in the contest. Educational equipment was distrib-uted to the winners of the contest, which focused on the relation-ship between sport and the environment. The NOC of Portugal has held various sport-ing and cultural events around the country to celebrate the NOC's 100- year anniversary. These included two conferences on the history of Olympism and the Portuguese Olympic Movement as part of the Olympic Day programme. The 3rd Assembly of European Athletes elected the new composition of the European Olympic Committees ( EOC) Athletes' Commission for the next four years. The participants thus elected the members, who then selected from among them-selves the Chairman and Vice- Chairman of the Commission. Antonio Rossi ( Italy, canoe/ kayak) is the new Chairman, succeeding Claudia Bokel ( Germany), who is also an IOC member. Katerina Neumannova ( Czech Republic, cross country skiing) became the Vice- Chairperson. The members of the Commission are: Gordan Kozulj ( Croatia, swimming), Marion Gabrielle Rodewald ( Germany, hockey), Jean- Michel Saive ( Belgium, table tennis), Yelena Isinbayeva ( Russian Federation, athletics), and Mads Kruse Andersen ( Denmark, rowing). LeftItalian canoe/ kayaker Antonio Rossi is new Chairman of the EOC Athletes' Commission Young students from the Reaction Institute, a social project carried out in the Rocinha slum in Rio de Janeiro, further tightened their links with Olympic sports when members of the Cultural Department of the Brazilian Olympic Committee ( BOC) visited the NGO directed by Flávio Canto ( Olympic bronze medalist in judo in Athens 2004) and showed an aspect of Olympic sports few people know. About 100 children watched videos on Olympic Games, received sports materials from BOC, and took part in recreational activities and judo demonstrations with idols from that sport. In addition, the Reaction Institute library received Cultural COB Seal books as a donation to its holdings. Meanwhile, Obidahunsi Oluwakemi, from Nigeria, spent three weeks at the BOC accompa-nying the organisation of the School Games. The interchange was suggested by the IOC, which indicated Brazil as a country with an outstanding school sports project. During her first days in Rio, Oluwakemi met with COB directors and managers, visited some Rio 2007 Pan American Games sports facilities as well as several tourism attractions. BelowChildren in Rio learn about Olympism NEWEOCATHLETES' REPRESENTATIVES BRAZILIANNOCPRESENTS OLYMPISMTOROCINHA SLUMCHILDREN DEBRUIJNWINS FANNY BLANKERS KOENAWARD PEREZ JOINS ECUADORNOC The holder of two Olympic 20km walk gold medals, Jefferson Pérez, has been appointed to the Executive Committee of the NOC of Ecuador. Pérez is also Chairman of the NOC's Athletes' Commission. The President of the Ecuadorean Baseball Federation, Ernesto Pólit, was also appointed to the Committee. NEWS INBRIEF At the World Judo Championships in Rotterdam, the Dutch NOC presented the 2009 Fanny Blankers Koen Award to eight- time Olympic swimming medallist Inge de Bruijn. Numerous personalities were present for this occasion, including: IOC members Thomas Bach and Patrick Hickey; IOC honorary member Hein Verbruggen; the presidents of the International Cycling Union ( UCI), Pat McQuaid, and the International Sailing Federation ( ISAF), Göran Petersson; and Japanese NOC President Tsunekazu Takeda. Below Dutch swimmer Inge de Bruijn receieved the Fanny Blankers Koen award

16OLYMPIC REVIEW The International Paralympic Committee ( IPC) celebrated its 20- year anniversary in Bonn, Germany, which has been its home for a decade. At a special ceremony official wel-come speeches were delivered by IPC President Philip Craven, who is also an IOC member; IOC Vice- President Thomas Bach; his IOC colleague, Prince Albert II of Monaco; and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General on Sport for Development and Peace, Wilfried Lemke; as well as other international dignitaries. Speaking on behalf of IOC President Jacques Rogge, Thomas Bach recalled that " since 2001, an agreement has been in place aimed at securing and protecting the organisa-tion of the Paralympic Games. From 2008 onwards, the Paralympic Games will always take place shortly after the Olympic Games, using the same sports venues and facilities. The IPC has a representative on the IOC Athletes' Commission and also on the Evaluation and Coordination commis-sions for the Games." The IPC announced the winners of the Paralympic Awards 2009 honouring those who contribute directly to the Paralympic Games and the Paralympic Movement. The winners were selected by three Awards Committees, composed of members of the Paralympic Movement and specialists in the relevant areas. All award recipients were presented with a handmade trophy, designed and crafted by Italian design company G. D. E. Bertoni, at a Gala Dinner during the 2009 IPC General Assembly, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 22 November. The Paralympic Sport Awards 2009 were awarded in five categories, based on perfor-mance at the Beijing 2009 Paralympic Games: ? Best Male Athlete: Matthew Cowdrey ( AUS), Swimming ? Best Female Athlete: Chantal Petitclerc ( CAN), Athletics ? Best Team Performance: Australian Men's Wheelchair Basketball Team ? Best Games Debut: Sophie Pascoe ( NZL), Swimming ? Exemplary Games Official: WANG Xinxian ( CHN), Chef de Mission The Paralympic Media Awards 2009 honour members of the media who presented the highest quality and most dynamic coverage of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, in four categories: ? Broadcast: ABC TV ( AUS) ? Written ( Print/ Online): The Sunday Telegraph ( GBR) ? Radio: BBC Radio ( GBR) ? Photo: Damir Sencar ( CRO) The Paralympic Scientific Award 2009 recognised one outstanding contributor ( academic or scientific) for research in the field of sport for persons with a disability. ? Paralympic Scientific Award 2009: Gudrun Doll- Tepper ( GER) For more information please visit the IPC website at www. paralympic. org BelowMatthew Cowdrey PARALYMPIC AWARDS 2009IFNEWS NEWHOCKEY PUBLICATION The International Hockey Federation ( FIH) has launched a new on- line publication, " E- news". See the publication at www. worldhockey. org CLEANWORLD CHAMPS The International Swimming Federation ( FINA) announced that 391 doping tests were performed during the 13th World Championships, which took place in Rome ( Italy). All the results were negative. ESBJERGTO HOSTCURLING The World Curling Federation ( WCF) has chosen the Danish city of Esbjerg to host the World Women's Curling Championship in 2011. This event will be held from 19 to 27 March 2011. ISAFHONOURS BILLBENTSEN The International Sailing Federation's ( ISAF) 2009 Beppe Croce Trophy has been awarded to American Bill Bentsen. Bentsen was a member of the ISAF Racing Rules Committee for 25 years until 2004. He was also an ISAF international judge at world and continental championships. He was a gold medallist in the Soling class at the Munich Games in 1972. IPC 20TH BIRTHDAY