Media registration for World Olympians Forum now open

By Rob Fawdon, London, Oct 3, 2015: The World Olympians Association (WOA), in partnership with the Russian Olympic Committee, would like to invite you to the World Olympians Forum (WOF), which is being held at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Moscow, Russia on Wednesday 21 October 2015.

The inaugural event will create a new platform to celebrate Olympism and the achievements of Olympians worldwide. It will bring together National Olympians Associations, Olympians, representatives of the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Family, Governments and other key Olympic, sporting and non-governmental stakeholders to share best practices and discuss the topics of greatest concern to Olympians across a series of panel sessions and workshops. Where possible, media interviews will be facilitated with the WOA leadership and WOF speakers.

Speakers confirmed to take part in the World Olympians Forum include:

@ Thomas Bach – Olympic Champion and International Olympic Committee President
@ HSH Prince Albert II – Five-time Olympian, IOC Member and WOA Patron
@ Sergey Bubka – Olympic Gold Medallist, IOC Executive Board Member and International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Vice President
@ Claudia Bokel – Olympic Silver Medallist, IOC Executive Board Member and Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission
@ Guy Drut – Olympic Gold Medallist and IOC Member
@ Alexander Zhukov – Russian Olympic Committee President and IOC Member
@ Yelena Isinbayeva – Two-time Olympic Gold Medallist, three-time World Champion and current world record holder in Pole Vault
@ Frank Fredericks – Olympic Silver Medallist and IOC Member
@ Koji Murofushi – Olympic Hammer Champion and Tokyo 2020 Sports Director
@ Scott Blackmun – United States Olympic Committee CEO
@ Dmitry Chernyshenko – President of the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Organising Committee

Engaging themes to be addressed at the World Olympians Forum include:

@ Why the Olympic Games matter
@ Give Youth a Sporting Chance
@ Closing the Gender Gap
@ Olympians Inspire
@ Games-Time Benefits

The WOF will be opened on 21 October by the IOC President Thomas Bach and the Patron of the WOA HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.

If you join us for this event, your likely itinerary will involve arriving into Moscow on Tuesday 20 October and departing on Thursday 22 October.

If you would like to attend, please send a confirmation email to rfawdon@verocom.co.uk by 6pm (BST) on Tuesday 6 October 2015.

Once confirmed, a member of the Russian Olympic Committee WOF Organising Committee will contact you to advise on visas (if necessary).