#ICYMI: ICF SUP Worlds; Deconstructed YOG; Stockholm Bid

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ICF to Hold SUP Worlds in April

The StandUp Paddle World Championship of the International Canoe Federation will be held in April.

The president of the ICF, José Perurena, said in exclusive comments to Around the Rings that two European cities are the candidates to organize the tournament.

He declined to identify the bidding cities, but said "One of the two will be chosen by the Congress of the ICF next November".

The SUP World Championship was to have been held as part of the just completed Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Portugal but that plan was torpedoed by a Portuguese court ruling that prohibited the use of public funds to organize the SUP event.

The decision of the Portuguese Court of Arbitration for Sport was well received by the International Surfing Association, which is currently awaiting the results of a decision from the International Court of Arbitration for Sport based in Lausanne. ISA claims exclusive governance of StandUp Paddle.

Perurena told ATR in June that the SUP event would be held this year, but it has now been postponed until April of next year.

"We had the host (Naples, Italy), but the schedule is very tight, and we want to make a high-level World Cup," he explains.

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A Deconstructed YOG in Buenos Aires

The head of the Buenos Aires 2018 Organizing Committee says outside of venue overlay, the only thing needed to be done to stage the next Youth Olympic Games is waiting for the opening date.

IOC member from Argentina Gerardo Werthein joins this edition of Around the Rings radio to discuss the final months of preparations for the first South American YOG.

Werthein says spectators can expect a "deconstructed" Olympics that blends the teenage athletes with the city at large. Four YOG parks will hold the venues, and spectators do not need individual tickets to attend sessions. Instead, an RFID enabled wristband, made by TOP Sponsor Samsung, will grant entry to any and all of the venues.

"What we are doing is very much in line for the benefit of future games and it’s a big game changer what we have done, and it is important that the this is understood clearly by the rest of the world," Werthein said. "This is the new pathway where this is going, because we see a magnificent way for the future."

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Stockholm Happy With Status in 2026 Bid Race

Leaders of the Stockholm 2026 bid for the Winter Olympics tell Around the Rings they are happy to let the bid fly under the radar as it quietly works to make the next phase in the current bid cycle.

Richard Brisius, chief executive of the Stockholm 2026 bid, visited Jakarta for the Asian Games to learn from the event and meet other National Olympic Committees. He took some time to speak with ATR about the status of the bid.

Stockholm 2026 is in a much different position than it was in the spring of 2017, when a lack of political support threatened the existence of the bid. Since then, Brisius says bid leaders have worked to "explain our concept" to political leaders across Sweden.

Brisius said that the bid’s funding model has essentially explained itself to politicians, which has eased getting broad consensus on the project. Stockholm 2026 now has support from city councils throughout the Stockholm area, in Are where alpine events will be held, and Falun where Nordic events will be staged. Political support even extends to Latvia, where sliding events are planned.

On the national level, Sweden will hold elections next month. Where there was once worry, there is now cautious optimism. Brisius said that knowing who will be in power for the next four years will be useful for the bid, since that time covers the candidature phase, and the beginnings of forming a potential organizing committee.

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