International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board member Wu Ching-kuo (吳經國) yesterday officially announced his bid for the committee’s presidency.
If successful, Wu would become the first Taiwanese and the first Asian to head the world’s most powerful sports organization since 1894.
Two IOC vice presidents, German Thomas Bach and Singaporean Ng Ser-miang (黃思綿), as well as Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico, who chairs the IOC’s financial commission, have already announced their candidacies.
PHOTO: Pichi Chuang, REUTERS
Wu submitted his candidacy letter on May 17 to IOC president Jacques Rogge, whose 12-year term ends this year.
Commenting on his chance of winning, Wu said no prediction could be made on the September election. He said that he garnered more than 90 percent of the votes when running for IOC executive board member last year, which had surprised him.
Asked if he would consider changing Taiwan’s designation — Chinese Taipei — or flag in the Olympics, he said the most important thing is for Taiwanese athletes to be protected and be able to compete in the Games.
Commenting on whether his candidacy would be endorsed by IOC members from China and Hong Kong, Wu appeared to be confident that he would win their support.
“I have been with the IOC since 1988, which is the longest of all the candidates,” Wu said. “I have been friends with my colleagues from China and Hong Kong for many years. So far, the responses I have received from them have been positive. I believe that they all share the consensus that people of Chinese descent should not be missing in the election.”
Wu also laid out a series of reforms he plans to execute if elected.
He said the host cities for future Olympic Games should be given the right to propose one new sport as demonstration sport. The practice has been followed in the past, but was stopped for various reasons, he said.
Wu vowed to change the rules of the bidding process for the host countries of the Olympics, adding that the commission is scheduled to select the country that will host the 2020 Olympics Games in September. However, he said that IOC members have been banned from visiting any of these bidding cities since a scandal in the Salt Lake City in 1999, which he thinks should be addressed.
“I have talked to many cities that lost the bid and asked them how they felt, and they asked how members who had never visited their city could make decisions,” Wu said. “I think this is the basic principle: We have to let every voting IOC member visit each city and to see what it has to offer, including the facilities, hotels, accommodations and transportation. All these must be inspected and reviewed by IOC members. The trips have to be organized by the IOC management, which can prevent any potential wrongdoing by the bidding cities.”
Wu said the IOC organized the Youth Olympic Games in 2010 in Singapore, with the next ones to be held in Nanjing, China, next year.
He said those cities that have a chance to bid for the Olympics Games should also be allowed to bid for the Youth Olympic Games.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RSS