Page 12

As one of the recommendations of Olympic Agenda 2020, the historic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has created the Olympic Laurel for outstanding contributions to Olympism. The new prize, which will be presented at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games this year, will be conferred to an outstanding individual for his achievements in the fields of education, culture, development and peace through sport.IOC President Thomas Bach revealed that the stone used in the Olympic Laurel trophy will come from Ancient Olympia. “With the Olympic Laurel we are reconnecting with the ideals and values of the Ancient Olympic Games,” he said. “This is why we are so pleased to receive the stone from Ancient Olympia. With its focus on human development through peace and sport, the Olympic Laurel will connect the modern Games to the spirit of the Ancient Games and the vision of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder and renovator of the modern Olympic Games.” Meeting in Ancient Olympia in April during the lighting ceremony of the Olympic flame for the Olympic Games Rio 2016, President Bach and the President of Greece, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, identified a stone that will be incorporated in the design of the Olympic Laurel. The stone was chosen to make a link with the spirit and founding spiritual values of the Olympic Movement.The base of the trophy is a casted replica of a fragment of a plinth from a monument found on the site of Ancient Olympia. Scanned in 3-D, the stone will be reproduced in aluminium and mounted with a laurel crown and the Olympic rings. Both the crown and the rings are made from fairmined gold – the same gold used for the Nobel Prize and the Cannes Palme d’Or – to symbolise the IOC’s aim to contribute to the creation of a fair and sustainable world.President Bach thanked President Pavlopoulos for his personal initiative and support to ensure that an element from Ancient Olympia will be part of the trophy. “The stone from Ancient Olympia will be a strong symbolic link for the Olympic Laurel, connecting it forever to the birthplace of the Olympic Games,” he said.The Olympic Museum in Lausanne will house the original trophy that will be placed on a plinth bearing the names of the winners.The Olympic Laurel will be awarded for the first time on 5 August during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Rio 2016. The winner will be decided by a jury led by President Bach. The members of the jury are: Michaëlle Jean, Secretary General of La Francophonie (Americas); Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women (Africa); writer Paulo Coelho (Host Country); José Ramos-Horta, former President of Timor-Leste and Nobel Peace laureate (Oceania); actor Michelle Yeoh (Asia); and IOC Honorary President Jacques Rogge (Europe). The recipient will receive a replica of the trophy, a discreet pin that can be pinned to a blazer, and an official diploma. Pictured Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Thomas Bach with an image of the stone used for the trophy, the base of which is an exact replica of a stone made from a high-definition 3-D scan in Olympia (above)OLYMPIC LAUREL TO RECONNECT WITH IDEALS AND VALUES OF ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES12 OLYMPIC REVIEW