| An Inspirational Lunch with the IOC |  Print |
The BCCD-BIU lunch on 6th October was something of a special event. It is not everyday that you get the chance to hear a World Champion, an Olympic Gold Medallist, and the Sports Director for the International Olympic Committee all in one sitting. So if the members and guests who arrived to hear Frankie Fredericks, Søren Holmgren & Christophe Dubi had justifiably high expectations they will not have left disappointed.
 Christophe Dubi, Sports Director, IOC, opened by explaining how the organisation and purpose of the Olympics has changed. In Tokyo, 1964 the Olympics were needed as part of the process of rebuilding the city and giving it a new image in the eyes of the world. The aim was similar in Munich in 1972. In Barcelona 1992, there was the added ambition to transform the infrastructure of the city, creating many more construction projects. In Sydney, 2000, the focus moved onto creating a full experience for all the people involved. The opening ceremony was spectacular and every aspect of a person’s visit to the games was considered.
In London, 2012 and Rio, 2016 the vision for the legacy of the games has been clear from the outset of the planning, and is tied into every stage of the organisation and execution of the games. The games aim to inspire a new generation to excel in sport; engage the existing sports community; and have a sustained positive impact on the host nation & city. The key features that should set the London Olympics apart are:
- Being short, compact and exciting – with key input from the entertainment industry
- ‘Live sites’ will provide gathering points across the country for people to watch and share in the Olympic experience (an Olympic version of “Henman Hill”)
- Education as part of the package
- Well-planned legacy developed with engagement of the sports community
- A younger ‘edge’ from a vibrant city
Delivering a package like this involves coordinating up to 4000 stakeholder groups, including many new Non-Governmental Organisations and Sponsors. The planning includes over 1500 milestones, all of which can trigger back up plans. If necessary even the event venues can be changed at late notice. Each Olympic committee learns as much as possible from the previous committee and wants the next Olympics to surpass anything that has gone before. So why would anyone want to take on such a daunting task? I suspect it is so that they can continue to hear stories like those of Frankie Fredericks and Søren Holmgren...
 Frankie Fredericks told how he grew up in Namibia, when the country was still part of South Africa and apartheid was in place. He often did not have enough to eat. But he learnt to run, and when he was the fastest runner in Namibia he approached Rio Tinto and was awarded a scholarship. Although he wanted to stay in Namibia, the scholarship meant moving to the US, and looking back he is grateful for this as it meant that he had to maintain his academic studies in order to be allowed to continue with the sports training. “It is very sad to see past Olympic medallists working as baggage handlers in airports because they can’t find better work”. This is one issue among many that he is now passionate about addressing: that athletes from all backgrounds should receive balanced educations so that they have options for future careers after retiring from sport. His passion to see athletes’ voices heard is an obvious driver for his work as Chairman of IOC Athletes Commission.
In 1990 Namibia became independent of South Africa, freeing Frankie to dream of competing in the Olympics. The thought of competing alongside Linford Christie, Michael Marsh and Andre Agassi was an inspiration to train harder for. He competed at the World Championships that year, and finished behind Michael Johnson to take Silver in the 200m. Two years later, he had his first chance to compete in the Barcelona Olympic Games. Now a man who had grown up in a poor and unrecognised nation had the opportunity to stand next to men from powerful countries. The experience he had come from made him stronger; he knew what it was like to be hungry, but now he had 3 or 4 meals a day. He was eating the same as the men from the States, and Britain. He was sleeping in the same village. He had the same training facilities (at least for 12 days). And he knew he could beat them: he returned home as Namibia’s first Olympic medallist, having taken silver in both the 100m and 200m events. Frankie explained that he did not fully realise the impact of competing in the Olympics until he returned home to Namibia. The crowds, the accolade, and pride on the faces of his countrymen, and the children who had watched a fellow Namibian stand as an equal brought it home to him: an overwhelming sense that each one was free to dream and to hope.
Frankie went on to become 200m World Champion in Stuttgart, before retiring and becoming part of the International Olympic Committee. He is working to ensure that each games is the best it can be for each athlete, that promises are delivered upon, and to ensure that a new generation has the chance to experience the way that sport can impact their lives. He has established the ‘Frankie Fredericks Foundation’ to develop young sportsmen & women in Namibia.
 Søren Holmgren spoke next, and although it cannot be easy to follow a story like Frankie’s, Søren managed to be just as inspiring. He may have had an easier childhood than Frankie Fredericks, but he has had plenty of challenges since then! At 17, he was told that he would lose his sight to an hereditary eye disease, adding to the usual confusion of teenage years. But his sense of humour and his ability to get the most out of life was not affected. He took up ‘Goal Ball’, a sport that involves using a ball containing bells – the participants use their sense of hearing to enable them to compete. He won Gold in the Sydney and Athens Paralympics, which he describes as the ‘real Olympics’ – the first set of games are just the warm up to test the facilities!
Søren explained some of the memories he took away from the Olympics. The opening ceremony was something he had really looked forward to, but when it came to the event it was different to what he had imagined: the athletes all had to be in place 8hrs before the event, and had to be organised into the right order. There was a long wait before “Denmark!” was eventually called, and as he entered the stadium he did not hear all the cheering he had imagined – it was absolutely quiet except for the music – so much so that he wondered ‘maybe there are no people here?’. It was similar when they played their matches. Because the sound of the ball has to be heard to play, the crowd had to be quiet, which is not easy when people score.
He described some of the logistics involved in this ‘huge experience’, where 7000 athletes and no less than 50000 volunteers, come together to make the games a success. The Olympics is based on values: to break down barriers, both political and idealogical, and this is reflected in all the details. The food hall is open 24 hours, to accommodate athletes from every time zone. It provides food from every region, and caters for all the possible dietary requirements that help athletes perform at their best. It can seat 5000 people at a time and every dish is labelled explaining the nutritional content. Søren explained that it is usual for blind people to have an assistant to help them see where to walk, and that the normal method is that the assistant gives the person an elbow or shoulder to hold, then they walk together. If there is no assistant around then it’s normal for him just to walk and expect other people to move out of the way – but imagine what this is like when you have hundreds of people doing the same thing! His assistant also had to watch what he said – his usual offer of “anyone need an elbow?” would be met with replies of “Yep, over here!”, or “No, but a foot would be handy!” There was a lot of laughter and respect. Everyone was there for the same reason, and they had all made the same levels of sacrifice in their training.
It was this sense of teamwork, and the phrase ‘Stronger, Higher, Faster’, that helped Søren deal with the uncertainty of what to do next after his Olympic career. He phoned IBM for a job and put his experience from the Olympics to good use in his new role and achieved the ‘best new hire from Europe, Middle East & Africa’ award in his first year. He became an Investment Adviser and things were going well until he lost his job in the financial crisis, and was faced with yet another dilemma of ‘what next?’.
Søren recognised that he was in a unique position to be able to help blind children deal with their situation. So he began to work with 8-12 year olds. He is also in heavy demand as a speaker on motivation and performance mentoring.
To finish, Søren kindly donated a bottle of wine from the 2005 Goldeneye Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, which was served at President Obama’s Inaugural Luncheon. The wine was auctioned and raised 1000DKK for the Frankie Fredericks Foundation.
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