8 April 2014, ANTALYA, Turkey: UIAA president Frits Vrijlandt met Kit McConnell, the recently appointed Director of Sports for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Christian Wassmer, manager, IOC Winter Games at the Sport Accord convention here.
Mr. Wassmer complimented the UIAA – International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation with the impressive display of ice climbing at the Ice Climbing Festival held in the Olympic Park in Sochi Russia during the recently concluded Winter Olympics.
Ice climbing was showcased at the Winter Olympics with the support of sponsor Sberbank and the Russian Mountaineering Federation (RMF). Participating in the two week long display of Speed and Lead ice climbing were UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup athletes from around the world.
“On behalf of the IOC, Mr. Christian Wassmer, manager of the IOC Winter Games, complemented the UIAA with the very successful organization of the ice climbing festival during the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games,” said Vrijlandt.
More than 4000 visitors gave the climbing wall in Sochi a try, including many youngsters.
To showcase the sport, the UIAA invited top international and Russian athletes who along with the UIAA share the dream that ice climbing will one day be a part of Winter Olympics.
The format was a dual lead route with two athletes climbing similar overhanging routes at the same time. On the 20 meter high vertical speed wall, two athletes competed against each other, with the first one to reach the top, the winner.
Athletes and representatives of mountaineering federations and the UIAA who participated in the festival included:
- Azerbaijan: Israfil Ashurly, Ali Abdullaev, Elvira Magomedrasulova, Movsum Shiraliyev
- Canada: Gordon McArthur, Jennifer Olson, Nathan Kutcher
- France: Etienne Grillot
- United Kingdom: Andrew Turner
- Germany: Markus Urbanowski
- Iran: Masoud Zeinali, Zohren Abdollahkhani
- Japan: Yagi Nae, Nara Masayuki
- Kazakhstan: Maxut Zhumaev
- Mongolia: Sanjaa Zayaa, Ankhbold Dangaasuren
- Mederlands: Frits Vrijlandt
- Portugal: Carlos Teixeira
- Sweden: Olov Isaksson
- Switzerland: Petra Klingler, Kevin Huser, Urs Stöcker, Sophie Gerard
- Ukraine: Valentin Sipavin, Evgenia Alekseeva
- USA: Marc Beverly, Erin Weber
- Russia: Alexey Tomilov, Maxim Tomilov, Maria Tolokonina, Mariam Filippova, Nikolay Kuzovlev, Maxim Vlasov, Nikolay Shved, Julia Oleynikova, Maria Krasavina, Stanislav Lobzov, Egor Trapeznikov, Ekaterina Feoktistiva, Alexey Vagin, Natalya Kulikova, Vasiliy Terekhin, Ivan Spitsyn, Ludmila Badalyan, Vladislav Golub, Alexey Dengin, Ekatirina Kochsheeva, Alexander Tolokonin, Evgeniy Kumeyko, Maria Vezhnina, Julia Mayorova, Igor Mozheyko
- Organizers: Pavel Shabalin, Vyacheslav Glebov, Nadezhda Launits
The SportAccord Convention is a six day annual gathering of over 2500 leading representatives from international sports organisations. It encompasses the Congress and General Assemblies of three associations whose members consist of 109 International Sports Federations (IFs) and Associate Members.
SportAccord Convention provides the global sports community with an unrivalled opportunity to gather in an exclusive networking environment, to build relationships, expand horizons and broaden sport’s collective endeavours.
SportAccord Convention receives the full support of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who organises the IOC Executive Board spring meeting at each Convention. In addition to its Executive Board Meeting, the IOC also holds its annual joint meetings with SportAccord, Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF).
