Urs Lacotte
The language of sport
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Urs Lacotte is the Director General of the International Olympic Committee based in Lausanne, Switzerland. This is an excerpt from our conversation.
UL Here is a fantastic example. Recently in the Beijing Games we know very well that the Russians entered Georgia with their armed forces and on the same day we had a Russian athlete on the podium who shook the hand of the Georgian athlete. Only the Olympics can provide this image.
BA That’s amazing.
UL Absolutely.
BA That must make it all worthwhile.
UL Absolutely. What is interesting is the concept of the Olympics, of course you have athletes coming from different sports but at the same time you have teams representing different geographical areas. The missions are headed by the national Olympic committees. You have the component of nationalities and yes you can hear people say that it is a replacement of war.
I think there is no alternative to organize society except through nations. The question is, ‘how can these nations live together, respect each other, be in competition with each other but in a peaceful way?’
So, yes sport can teach people how to compete with all the respect for their competitor.
BA What would be the most special moment for you?
UL When you go in the Athletes Village and you go in the gym and you see the US white athlete weighing 120 kilos working out beside the African woman 10,000 marathon runner who is 160cm tall and 45kilos and next to her you have a Chinese athlete who is a different shape again. Everybody is working out and preparing for the competition.
Marching to Georgia
‘The Russians entered Georgia with their armed forces and on the same day we had a Russian athlete on the podium who shook the hand of the Georgian athlete. Only the Olympics can provide this image’.
It is an amazing image made more ironic by the fact that the event that they competed in was shooting! [1]
Read more (ebook or paperback).
[1] Niono Salukvadze, of Georgia, hugged and kissed her Russian rival Natalia Paderina after winning an Olympic bronze medal in shooting on Sunday. ‘If the world were top draw any lessons from what I did there would never be any wars she said’. Source Daily Telegraph
Read more (ebook or paperback).
Urs Lacotte is the Director General of the International Olympic Committee based in Lausanne, Switzerland. This is an excerpt from our conversation.
UL Here is a fantastic example. Recently in the Beijing Games we know very well that the Russians entered Georgia with their armed forces and on the same day we had a Russian athlete on the podium who shook the hand of the Georgian athlete. Only the Olympics can provide this image.
BA That’s amazing.
UL Absolutely.
BA That must make it all worthwhile.
UL Absolutely. What is interesting is the concept of the Olympics, of course you have athletes coming from different sports but at the same time you have teams representing different geographical areas. The missions are headed by the national Olympic committees. You have the component of nationalities and yes you can hear people say that it is a replacement of war.
I think there is no alternative to organize society except through nations. The question is, ‘how can these nations live together, respect each other, be in competition with each other but in a peaceful way?’
So, yes sport can teach people how to compete with all the respect for their competitor.
BA What would be the most special moment for you?
UL When you go in the Athletes Village and you go in the gym and you see the US white athlete weighing 120 kilos working out beside the African woman 10,000 marathon runner who is 160cm tall and 45kilos and next to her you have a Chinese athlete who is a different shape again. Everybody is working out and preparing for the competition.
Marching to Georgia
‘The Russians entered Georgia with their armed forces and on the same day we had a Russian athlete on the podium who shook the hand of the Georgian athlete. Only the Olympics can provide this image’.
It is an amazing image made more ironic by the fact that the event that they competed in was shooting! [1]
Read more (ebook or paperback).
[1] Niono Salukvadze, of Georgia, hugged and kissed her Russian rival Natalia Paderina after winning an Olympic bronze medal in shooting on Sunday. ‘If the world were top draw any lessons from what I did there would never be any wars she said’. Source Daily Telegraph
