Olympic Newsdesk - IOC, IPC Renewal; London Contingency Ticketing

IOC, IPC Renew Through 2020

Hosting rights to the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics will go hand-in-hand, the IOC and International Paralympic Committee confirm.

Tuesday’s renewal of their cooperation agreement also enshrines the "one bid, one city" practice for PyeongChang 2018.

"It is with great pleasure that that we are able to extend this agreement with the IPC and ensure that the Olympic and Paralympic Games continue to be held in the same host cities until 2020," IOC president Jacques Rogge said in a statement.

Also included in the renewal is a new partnership providing for the IPC’s participation in IOC programs and activities such as IF development, Olympic Solidarity and transfers of knowledge from one Games to the next as well as an undisclosed increase in funding from the IOC.

"Our continued financial support to the Paralympics shows that the Olympic Movement is universal and also indicates the importance that the Paralympic Games have in promoting sport to the youth of the world," said Rogge.

IPC president Philip Craven added: "These two agreements are excellent news for the Paralympic Movement as we, and our members, can continue our growth secure in the knowledge that our Games will benefit from using the same venues, infrastructure and levels of detailed planning as the Olympic Games."

Both the Olympics and the Paralympics have taken place at the same venues in the same city since the Seoul 1988 Summer Games and Albertville 1992 Winter Games, though the arrangement wasn't formalized by the IOC and IPC until their June 19, 2001 agreement.

London Contingency Ticketing Prioritizes Unsuccessful Fans

Around 900,000 tickets are going back on sale Friday, targeting those who were unsuccessful in the previous rounds of sales.

First priority will be given to the 20,000 fans who were unsuccessful in the initial Olympic ballot and again in the second chance sales due to the high demand. They will be given 31 hours exclusive access to the tickets from 11 a.m. on May 11. This batch includes a limited number of tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies.

"We know thousands of sports fans were disappointed when they missed out in the initial sales period because of the massive demand for tickets," LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe said.

"We promised we would prioritize these fans when we released the contingency tickets, which is exactly what we are doing."

The one million people who applied in the initial ballot but were unsuccessful will then have an exclusive five-day sales period, May 13 to 17.

Unsold tickets on each day will be carried forward to the next day’s sales. Any tickets unsold during this period will go back on general sale from May 23 at 11 a.m.

All customers will be limited to applying for one session and a maximum of four tickets.

Argentine NOC Slams Controversial Ad

The president of the Argentina Olympic Committee is distancing himself from a controversial ad sponsored by Argentina’s president.

The ad in question features Argentinean hockey captain Fernando Zylberberg training on the islands, calling the Islands "Argentine." The archipelago is located off the coast of Argentina, but is a British territory, which Argentina rejects.

Gerardo Werthein, Argentine NOC president and IOC member, blasted the ad, which was aired in Argentina twice last week despite vehement protests from Britain.

"We strongly believe the Olympic Games are not a platform for politics and we have communicated this position to the International Olympic Committee," he said in a statement.

"We, of course, defend an individual’s right to freedom of speech but this cannot interfere with the sporting performance of our team at the forthcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. Indeed, the Argentine NOC has made clear that using the Olympic Games to make political gestures of any kind is not acceptable and we will conduct ourselves in the proper spirit of Olympism in all that we do in London and elsewhere."

Rogge to Meet Italian President, Receive CONI Award

IOC president Jacques Rogge will greet the president of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, on May 15 as part of the 100th birthday anniversary celebration of Giulio Onesti, founder of the National Olympic Committee of Italy (CONI).

He will be accompanied by CONI officials and Italy’s IOC delegation at the Presidential Palace in Rome.

The next day, Rogge will receive "il Primo Onesti", named after the CONI founder.

Largest Turkish Olympic Delegation

With Monday’s qualification of the women’s volleyball team, Turkey’s Olympic team in London will be its largest ever.

Dubbed the "sultans of the net", the team becomes only the second squad to represent Turkey at an Olympics in a team event.

"Everyone at the NOC of Turkey offers their congratulations to the volleyball team for yesterday’s outstanding performance," said Hasan Arat, Turkish National Olympic Committee vice president.

"We now have 72 athletes confirmed in the Turkey Olympic squad for London 2012 – a new record for the country.Turkey is pursuing a number of unique strategies to encourage sports participation, and we are now beginning to see the true potential of Turkish athletes."

Wrestling Qualification Complete

USA will send more wrestlers to the London Olympics than any other country.

With the qualification process just ended, USA is ensured spots in 17 of the 18 events on the program – all seven men’s freestyle weights, all four women’s weights and six of the seven Greco-Roman weights.

Russia is second with 16 classes, and Kazakhstan is third with 15.

A country can book only one berth per weight category at the Games.

Written by Ed Hula III and Mark Bisson

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