Sports Events

Facebook is to measure the effect of London 2012 on leading brands associated with the Olympics and Paralympics, it has been revealed.

The social network giant, which claims to have 750 million active users around the world, intends to track how sponsorship of London 2012 by major brands like Coca-Cola, Visa and Lloyds TSB influences consumer habits, the Financial Times reports.

Facebook will track how news spreads around its web pages, run polls to see how marketing messages have changed sentiment around this or that brand.

This analysis will allow brands to make changes if their adverts fail, they claim.

“Going into the Olympics next year, it’s hard to quantify what the word-of-mouth [benefit] of sponsorship is,” said Kathy Dykeman, Facebook’s lead on measurement for Europe, Middle East and Africa in the interview with the Financial Times.

“Capturing who is telling the stories and what impact it’s having will help us going into 2012.”

Facebook research and analytics team has already run the same initiative at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa last year.

According to a Facebook poll, it was found that videos by Umbro, the England kit sponsor, make people who saw them more likely to buy its sportswear than those who did not.

Earlier this year, Facebook launched a platform for its advertisers – both current and prospective ones - to tag brands on photos in the same way users tag other people.

Other social networks also implement such techniques of brand impact evaluation.

Last year, researchers found out that what people said about a new movie on Twitter can predict its opening weekend takings at the box office.

This event news story was originally published at http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/summer-olympics/2012/14168-facebook-to-use-london-2012-to-track-leading-brands. Got your own event story – get in touch into eventsecrets.com – bringing you the latest event management news stories from around the world.

Cuba’s Olympic champion and world record holder Dayron Robles became the latest big name to be disqualified at the World Championships here, although unlike Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, his was not for a false start, but after he had crossed the line first in the 110 metres hurdles, for obstructing former Olympic champion Liu Xiang.

Xiang had appeared to be moving past his successor as Olympic champion towards at the ninth hurdle, causing the Chinese athlete to lose his momentum and hit the last hurdle before taking third place behind Jason Richardson.

“When I approached the ninth hurdle, Robles pulled me,” said Xiang.

“It made me slow down,.

“At first, I thought I would be the champion or at least second.

“But Robles pulled me.”

An official confirmed: “Robles has been disqualified by the track referee under rule 163.2 for obstruction on the track.”

The American, whose time of 13.16sec was 0.02 slower than that of Robles, had shed tears of frustration on the track which could now turn to tears of joy, although he had to wait for an over an hour until he discovered that the Cuban counter-protest had been unsuccessful.

The disqualification of Robles also meant that Britain’s Andy Turner (pictured above crossing line behind Richardson) was promoted from fourth spot to the bronze medal, behind Xiang.

On a day when Jessica Ennis ended the first day of the heptathlon with a 151 points lead over her main rival, Tatyana Chernova of Russia, it was an unexpected bonus for the British team. 

After finishing in 13.44 – one place ahead of America’s David Oliver, who tops this year’s world’s listings with 12.94 – Turner had said: “I have mixed emotions, I got a bit of cramp in the warm-up area 10 minutes before coming out on the track.

“It was nothing major, but when you get on the start-line you want everything to be perfect.

“But what can I say, I finished fourth in a World Championship final, I’ve got to be happy with that.”

Turner later tweeted: “Not the way I wanted to win a medal, don’t feel I deserve it but I can’t complain, wow!!”

Earlier in the day, Turner had tweeted: “In my semi-final in Barcelona [where he won the European Championships] I had lane 6, I have lane 6 in my semi today, another sign?”

It seems he was not wrong.

Ennis (pictured) had a mixed day.

After failing to achieve her customary victories in the 100m hurdles and high jump, where her clearance of 1.86 metres was five centimetres below her best of the season, she threw a big personal best of 14.67m in the shot and then won the 200 metres in 23.50.

But Chernova ran outstandingly on the inside lane to record a personal best of 23.50 and set herself up for the second day where she usually makes big gains.

“I was very frustrated after the first two events but I was really happy to throw that pb in the shot,” said the 25-year-old Sheffield athlete.

“It’s so tight and it’s going to be a tough day tomorrow.”

As the news of Robles’s bad news was coming through, there was something to raise Cuban spirits – the sight of surprise pole vault silver medallist Lazaro Borges flourishing the national flag after finishing one place behind – aptly enough – a Pole.

Pawel Wojciechowski achieved 5.90m, the highest mark of the year; as did Borges, but he lost on countback.

Earlier in the evening the Daegu stadium had seen two projected doubles come unstuck.

First Allyson Felix, who has entered the 400m and 200m here, just failed to overhaul Botswana’s Amantle Montsho in the longer race, despite running a personal best of 49.59.

It was Botswana’s first ever medal at the World Championships.

Then Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown, who came here seeking gold in the 100m and 200m, was beaten into silver medal position in the short sprint by Carmelita Jeter of the United States, who ran 10.90 to her 10.97.

Felix and Campbell-Brown will thus converge on the 200m which starts on Thursday (September 1) in pursuit of consolation gold.

The dream also ended for Oscar Pistorius, whose dream of reaching the 400m final ended after he finished last in his semi-final.

The South African, the first amputee athlete ever to compete in the competition and again the most loudly-supported in the stadium, finished last in his semi-final.

The 24-year-old needed to finish in the top four to have a chance of a place in the final but when he came around the final bend he was battling for last place with Demetrius Pinder of the Bahamas.

“I worked extremely hard to get here,” said Pistorius.

“I’m happy with my performance tonight…not as quick as I wanted to be but it’s great to have this platform to run on and it’st’s been an unbelievable experience.

This event news story was originally published at http://www.insidethegames.biz/sports/summer/athletics/14052-cuban-robles-joins-the-list-of-disqualifications-and-loses-gold-medal. Got your own event story – get in touch into eventsecrets.com – bringing you the latest event management news stories from around the world.

A delegation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), led by Sweden’s Gunilla Lindberg, have today started three-days of meeting with representatives from Pyeongchang 2018, the first time that the two sides have met since the South Korean resort were awarded the Olympics and Paralympics last month.

Lindberg, recently appointed as the head of the IOC’s Coordination Commission, and Gilbert Felli, the IOC’s Executive Director, travelled to the Alpensia Resort, the centerpiece of the 2018 Winter Games, from Daegu, where they had been attending the World Athletics Championships. 

The Orientation Seminar will be attended by more than 150 people expected to be involved in the organisation of the Games. 

Among these taking part are Yang·Ho·Cho, who was the chairman and chief executive of the successful bid and is hoping to be picked to lead the Organising Committee. 

A decision is expected to be announced next month.

The Korean Olympic Committee (KOC), led by President Y S Park, is also playing a leading role in the Seminar.

“It’s a great pleasure to be back in Pyeongchang, as you begin life as an Olympic host city,” said Lindberg, who was also the chair of the Evaluation Commission that inspected Pyeongchang’s bid, along with those of rivals Annecy and Munich. 

“Today, we embark on a journey together that will last nearly seven years, as we strive to organize the first ever Olympic Winter Games in the Republic of Korea.

“This Orientation Seminar is a key element in ensuring that the foundation upon which we construct·preparations for the Games is solid but from my experience with the Evaluation Commission and having seen the work of the Pyeongchang team, I am confident that we will deliver great Games in 2018.”

The first day of the Seminar started with a video message from IOC President Jacques Rogge and was followed by a Pyeongchang 2018 presentation on the vision, concept, legacy and future plans of their project.

The IOC then provided an overview of Olympism and the Olympic Games lifecycle.

The Seminar will continue for two more days with the IOC presenting to Pyeongchang 2018 the Games Management Model across a number of functions including venues, planning, clients, commercial, marketing and communications, to help guide the South Korean city to a smooth start.

On the last day, the IOC delegation will tour the proposed venue sites at the two clusters in Pyeongchang and Gangneung.

“Over the next seven years we will work closely with the IOC to stage a great Games,” said Cho.

“The Organising Committee will soon be formed and all stakeholders in the process, including the central and local Government, KOC, KPC and private sector partners, will work together to ensure Pyeongchang’s success.”

This event news story was originally published at http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/winter-olympics/2018/14050-lindberg-leads-ioc-delegation-for-first-visit-to-pyeongchang-2018. Got your own event story – get in touch into eventsecrets.com – bringing you the latest event management news stories from around the world.

Las Vegas have submitted a bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics without the permission of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), it was revealed tonight.

The letter, dated August 26 and sent to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and USOC, says, “this is intended to serve as the Vegas 2020 Bid Committee’s Application Letter to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.”

The correspondence, sent to ensure it arrived at the IOC’s headquarters in Lausanne before the September 1 deadline, is not accompanied by any supporting paperwork from the USOC.

“This Application Letter is not accompanied by a corresponding letter from the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) our national olympic [sic] committee (NOC) which on 22 August 2011 publicly declined to consent to the application of any US city to bid for the Summer Games of the XXXII Olympiad,” reports GamesBids.com, who obtained the copy of the letter. 

There has been plenty of speculation that the US would put forward a bid with several cities besides Las Vegas declaring an interest, including Chicago and New York City.

But the USOC have repeatedly insisted that they will not launch a campaign to host the Olympics and Paralympics until a a solution to the row over revenue-sharing with the IOC has been found.

But the Las Vegas group have asked the IOC to judge whether a city can bid for the Games without the support of its NOC.

They want to know if they can obtain the USOC’s signature of support at the time he Application File is due to be submitted on February 15, 2012.

“This would keep the US alive in the bidding process,” they wrote in the letter obtained by GamesBids.com.

It is understood that the IOC have already rejected the approach from the Las Vegas group.

A USOC spokesman said tonight that they stood by their decision not to bid and had no plans to change their mind.

This event news story was originally published at http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/summer-olympics/2020/14057-las-vegas-2020-olympic-gamble-fails. Got your own event story – get in touch into eventsecrets.com – bringing you the latest event management news stories from around the world.

London 2012 have reversed their controversial decision that would have prevented schoolchildren from receiving free tickets to the Olympic shooting competitions next year.

The Organising Committee came under heavy fire from the British Olympic Association (BOA), shooting organisations and athletes after they stated that they would not open up their free Ticketshare tickets to shooting events but they have now backed down on the issue.

“Shooting tickets are included in the Ticketshare programme,” a London 2012 spokesperson told insidethegames.

“The Ticketshare programme includes a range of groups – schools, BOA/BPA and Tickets for Troops.

“There are a small number of shooting tickets in the Ticketshare programme and we planned to issue the tickets where the demand was greatest.

“Our initial consultation with schools suggested that there wasn’t a demand for shooting tickets, however, if schools request shooting tickets, we will provide them, subject to availability.”

The widespread rioting that hit the country earlier this month has led to fears that giving children tickets to the events would have appeared at odds with the Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s bid to quell teenage gun and knife crime but Britain’s top shooting Olympic medal contender Peter Wilson said such thoughts were wrong.

“At the end of the day shooting does have a bad reputation and has been given a bad reputation for all sorts of things but we are the safest sport out there,” said the 24-year-old from Dorset during a BOA Media Teleconference.

“I think we have to change that public perception that shooting is actually a valid sport.

“I think there is only one way that’s going to change public perception and that is if everyone is given the chance to see it for themselves and possibly even have a go themselves in a safe environment.”

The BOA had backed Wilson’s stance before the decision was reversed by London 2012 stating that the Olympic sport demonstrates good attitudes for children.

“The London 2012 Olympic Games is an opportunity for high performance shooting athletes to showcase their skill and talent in a controlled and safe environment,” said a BOA spokeswoman.

“Shooting athletes believe in the Olympic values and can, as role models, pass on the positive message of non-violence, respect and friendship.

“As such we believe the Ticketshare programme is an excellent opportunity for the future generation of Olympic shooting hopefuls to be inspired by today’s Olympians.”

At the London 2012 Olympics, about 400 shooters will compete in the Games in 15 medal events across pistol, rifle and shotgun shooting.

The Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich will be the venue for the event because of its long history with the sport, while the location will also host the Paralympic shooting competition and the Paralympic archery competition.

The London 2012 shooting test event, which will be the ISSF World Cup, will take place at the Royal Artillery Barracks from April 18 – 28 next year just three months before the Olympics begin.

This event news story was originally published at http://www.insidethegames.biz/sports/summer/shooting/14005-london-2012-backtrack-on-ban-of-children-at-olympic-shooting. Got your own event story – get in touch into eventsecrets.com – bringing you the latest event management news stories from around the world.

Sebastian Coe claimed that he did not believe the decision yesterday to hold a judicial review into the decision to award West Ham United the Olympic Stadium after London 2012 would compromise Britain’s bid to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships.

A High Court judge ruled there are sufficient grounds for a review into the process by which West Ham were unanimously chosen as the preferred bidder to take over stewardship of the arena by the Olympic Park Legacy Committee (OPLC) ahead of Tottenham Hotspur.

The date for the hearing has been set for October 18, only three weeks before the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) are due to choose the host city for the 2017 Championships.

It means London’s bid, which is being led by Coe, faces the prospect of being overshadowed for most of the campaign by uncertainty over the future of the Olympic Stadium.

But Coe believes that the situation can be managed effecitvely, especially as the bid has the full support of London Mayor Boris Johnson and Sport and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson. 

“As far as I’m concerned this doesn’t change very much,” Coe told insidethegames here where he has been attending the IAAF Congress. 

“We know the Mayor and the Minister are committed to both the Olympic legacy and to the bid for the World Athletics Championships.

“We remain committed to delivering the Stadium to host the World Athletics Championships.”

London’s main rivals are expected to be Doha and their campaign received a boost when Qatar’s Dahlan Jumman Al Hamad finished ahead of Coe in the voting for the four IAAF vice-president positions yesterday.

“This is a strong indication that people around the world are appreciating Qatar’s sports promotion,” said Hamad.

“And I’m looking forward to the bid battle with London.”

Senior officials are optimistic that the row over the future of the Stadium will be settled well advance of the scheduled date for the judicial hearing.

They claim that Johnson is continuing negotiations with Tottenham Hotspur to provide £8.5 million ($14 million/€9.7 million) worth of public funding to help them move from their current stadium at White Hart Lane, where they have been since 1899, into a new development nearby at Northumerland Park.

The officials insist that Tottenham continued with yesterday’s hearing only to help strengthen their position and that just a few minor details need to be ironed out before a settlement is announced.

But relations between West Ham and Tottenham appear to be growing more bitter.

Following the decision yesterday by Mr Justice Collins ,who ruled that there was an “arguable” case for a legal challenge from Tottenham over a £40 million ($66 million/€45 million) loan provided by Newham Council, West Ham claimed hat the Metropolitan Police were dealing with “a serious matter of private investigators acting unlawfully”, reportedly under instruction by their rivals.

They allege reported breaches of Data Protection Act and Computer Misuse Act and the unlawful acquisition of bank and phone records belonging to senior executives at both the club and OPLC. 

“We are advised that if found guilty of these crimes, those responsible can expect to receive custodial sentences,” West Ham said in a statement.

“We have full faith in the police investigation into this matter and shall continue to provide the fullest of assistance to them.”

West Ham also claimed that Tottenham promised to drop the judicial review if they stopped the criminal investigation.

“We can confirm that West Ham today received a document from Tottenham asking us to give up our claims against them in relation to the above, in return for Tottenham withdrawing their judicial review proceedings,” the statement said.

“West Ham naturally refused.

“We look forward to the 18 October and a successful conclusion whereby we can deliver the multi-sport legacy that Lord Coe envisaged for East London and the rest of the nation.”

This event news story was originally published at http://www.insidethegames.biz/sports/summer/athletics/14003-exclusive-judicial-review-qdoesnt-change-very-muchq-for-2017-world-championships-bid-insists-coe. Got your own event story – get in touch into eventsecrets.com – bringing you the latest event management news stories from around the world.

A potential bid from Doha to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics faces a make-or-break decision here tomorrow when it will be decided if they are allowed to stage the Games outside the desginated window, insidethegames can exclusively reveal.

The Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) have written to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially requesting that they be permitted to switch the dates of the event from July and August to October or November if they are are awarded the Games, insidethegames understands.

The matter is top of the agenda for the IOC’s ruling Executive Board when they meet here on the eve of the World Athletic Championships, which are due to open on Saturday (August 27).

If the request is accepted by the IOC then Doha are expected to officially declare themselves as bidders before the September 1 deadline, joining Istanbul, Madrid, Rome and Tokyo.

But, if it is rejected, then it is unlikely that they will bid.

The average high temperature in Doha during July and August is above 106 degrees while in October and November it drops to under a 100, still hot but at least a figure that athletes can cope with more easily.

Four years ago, Doha’s bid for 2016 was controversially cut from the short-list because their proposed dates were outside the window that the IOC had published.

They claimed that IOC President Jacques Rogge had led them to believe that they could host the Games outside the window, just as Sydney had done in 2000 when they started in September and finished in October.

The IOC changed the criteria for this contest and any cities who propose to hold the Games outside the normal Olympic window of between July 15 and August 31 had until July 29 to make their intentions known.

There had been claims that the QOC had not submitted a letter in time.

But they sent it to the IOC in Lausanne on July 28, insidethegames understands.

The dates issue is a particularly sensitive one following FIFA’s controversial decision last year to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar and the subsequent calls to move the tournament from its traditional June/July slot to January to avoid the scorching summer heat in the Middle East.

This event news story was originally published at http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/summer-olympics/2020/14007-exclusive-doha-2020-olympic-bid-hinges-on-date-change-request. Got your own event story – get in touch into eventsecrets.com – bringing you the latest event management news stories from around the world.

The 2020 Summer Olympics will not be coming to the United States. According to the Chicago Tribune, United States Olympic Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky confirmed Monday that the U.S. will not be making a bid to host the Games.

Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Tulsa, Minneapolis, Dallas and Las Vegas were all informed of the decision over the weekend. Those seven cities were considered potential U.S. bid cities.

International cities intending to compete to host the 2020 Games include Tokyo, Madrid, Istanbul and Rome. All have announced their intention to submit bids to the International Olympic Committee by the September 1 deadline. The decision on the winning city will be made in September 2013, the Tribune said.

The U.S. decision not to make a bid comes after USOC officials failed to resolve its longstanding revenue-sharing dispute with the International Olympic Committee. The Tribune reported that although negotiations for a solution have been moving faster than originally anticipated, they are not yet complete.

Unstable economic factors also played a role in the U.S. decision not to launch an Olympic bid.

“We don’t want to submit a bid that is less than world class,” said USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun. “If we rushed, it might not be that.”

Sandusky echoed those sentiments in his Monday statement, saying, “With such little time left, we don’t believe we could pull together a winning bid that could serve the Olympic and Paralympic movement.”

This event news story was originally published at http://www.thirdage.com/news/2020-summer-olympics-u-s-wont-compete-for-venue_08-22-2011. Got your own event story – get in touch into eventsecrets.com – bringing you the latest event management news stories from around the world.

Around 700 people flocked to Silecroft for last year’s Copeland Borough Council’s Kite Surfing Festival – the first event of its kind.

The successful festival will now take place 20 miles away in Seascale on October 8 after town hall bosses announced plans to rotate the event around different areas.

The council said thatit planned to move the festival around the coast to make the most of its four Quality Coast award-winning beaches at Haverigg, Silecroft, Seascale and St Bees.

Julie Betteridge, Copeland Borough Council’s head of regeneration and community said, last year’s event had been ‘a complete success’ and they had high hopes for this year.

“As part of our commitment to promoting the whole of Copeland’s fantastic coastline, this year’s event will take place in Seascale.

“We plan to continue to move the event around the borough in the future and it will be held alongside a number of other events on the coastline during 2011.”

She said they hoped to encourage people from across Cumbria to come to Seascale and make the most of “what is a truly unique event for Cumbria.”

South Copeland tourism officer Mark Holroyd said he would help to set up a new water sports event in Silecroft if it was needed, following on from the success of the kite festival there last year.

“In partnership with local businesses and enthusiasts we can still create an event for Silecroft which is in touch with our needs and ambitions,” he said.

“Recent discussions with the Lake District National Park Authority and other agencies about wild sports at Silecroft beach have been very positive.

“If the community in Silecroft want a new water sports event in 2012, I would be delighted to work with them to achieve this from a local level.”

Kite surfing is a water-based sport that is growing in popularity around the world. Kite surfers use large kites to pull them on boards through across the surface of the water.

This event news story was originally published at http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/kite-surfing-festival-venue-for-cumbria-1.870491?referrerPath=news. Got your own event story – get in touch into eventsecrets.com – bringing you the latest event management news stories from around the world.

The WWPC conference will take place after the close of the Intermodal Transport and Logistics fair in Sao Paulo between April 10-12, 2012, in which WWPC will participate as an exhibitor. The WWPC conference will last until April 14, 2012.

Attendees will have the chance to network to exchange information on current news within the project cargo market, seek new business opportunities for each other and have a chance to directly address representatives from invited international trade media.

The members of the WWPC voted during its previous annual conference, in January in Mumbai this year, to acknowledge the booming project market in South America by attending the Intermodal Fair and conduct the 2012 annual conference in Sao Paulo.

Wolfgang Karau, operational director of the WWPC said: “South America holds a multitude of natural resources, conducts renewal of infrastructure and certainly is of interest for our members who can assist with complex project movements through their professional guidance. Currently, we have 98 company listed in our directory, representing 87 countries or designated areas, each one with exclusivity rights for one member company only. For our group the country exclusivity has been a successful formula. We aim at gaining the attention of project cargo specialists and shippers from the South American continent to join our group and to boost the awareness about our members services and capabilities in the oversized cargo markets.”

This event news story was originally published at http://www.heavyliftpfi.com/content/NewsItem.aspx?id=3210. Got your own event story – get in touch into eventsecrets.com – bringing you the latest event management news stories from around the world.