Gunilla Lindberg meets ANOC's scholars at RIOU in Sochi
Sochi; 18 February 2014: The ANOC Secretary General, Gunilla Lindberg, today spoke of ANOC’s commitment to disseminating best practice amongst the world’s NOCs as she met with three international students who were selected by the Association to receive scholarships to study the Master of Sport Administration (MSA) course at the Russian International Olympic University (RIOU), one of the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee’s flagship legacy projects.
Evelyn Hopp from the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), Jorge Mario Marroquín Menéndez from Guatemala and Llanga Pathirathnalage Wijeratne from the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka were all selected by ANOC to receive a Vladimir Potanin Foundation scholarship at RIOU.
Speaking from RIOU’s state-of-the-art campus, Gunilla Lindberg said:
“It is great to visit RIOU, speak to the students and see how they are enjoying studying at the University. ANOC is always looking to serve the NOCs by finding innovative ways of promoting best practice and providing scholarships to an Olympic legacy project like RIOU is an excellent way of doing that. It also gives us the chance to offer opportunities to NOCs who may otherwise find their options restricted due to limited resources.
“The experience the students are getting from studying here, particularly during Sochi 2014, is truly invaluable. Each of the students will be able to use this experience and the education they receive to go back home and make a meaningful contribution to the future development of their National Olympic Committees and, ultimately, the Olympic Movement.”
ANOC scholar, Evelyn Hopp, said:
“I am so grateful to ANOC for giving me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is a privilege to study here and to be taught by some of the world’s leading experts; for it all to have taken place in the run-up to, and during, the Olympic Games makes it even more special. As much as I am enjoying my time here, I am already looking forward to going back and sharing what I have learned with my NOC.”
RIOU Rector, Professor Lev Belousov, added:
“Representing 204 NOCs worldwide, ANOC has a greater reach than any other sports NGO. We are very grateful that they are allowing us to collaborate with this network by offering the world’s NOCs the opportunity to study at RIOU.
“We hope we will continue to build on this relationship with ANOC in the future in order to ensure that the best practice and knowledge acquired by the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee continues to be distributed among the NOCs and future sports administrators for the advancement of the Olympic Movement.”
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Notes to Editors
The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) was established in June 1979 during the Constitutive General Assembly in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Over the last 35 years, the number of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) whose interests ANOC represents has risen to 204.
ANOC is administered from its headquarters in the Olympic Capital, Lausanne, where it has been based since June 2010. When the ANOC President Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al-Sabah was elected in April 2012 his stated objective was to reform, modernise and professionalise the organisation in order to better serve the needs of the world’s NOCs.
Under Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al-Sabah’s visionary leadership, ANOC has strived to protect and promote the collective interests of the NOCs by delivering an unprecedented level of assistance and support. ANOC also aims to build and strengthen the relationships between the NOCs and the Olympic Family for the benefit of the entire Olympic Movement. By facilitating and opening up a new dialogue, ANOC is committed to forging more productive and collaborative working relationships between NOCs and International Federations (IFs) in particular.
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