IOC president Jacques Rogge says sports has no place for ‘win-at-all-cost’ mentality

Rogge: No place for ‘win-at-all-cost’ mentality

COPENHAGEN — Now that the 2016 Games have been awarded, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has set his sights on cheaters.

There is no place in sports for a “win-at-all-cost” mentality, Rogge said Saturday at the opening of the Olympic Congress of global sports leaders.

Rogge said the Olympic movement had contempt for cheating, and would continue to fight against doping and match-fixing.

“A first-place finish that endangers the health and safety of an athlete is not a victory, it’s a disgrace,” he said. “And we should be as tough on those who encourage and assist doping as we are on the athletes who engage in it.”

Speaking to open the Olympic Congress of global sports leaders, Rogge asked the IOC to create a Trainers’ Commission to address the issue. Rogge also called on his colleagues to reach the same high ethical standards as athletes and coaches.

“We cannot expect proper conduct on the field of play if we do not have good governance within the Olympic family,” he said.

The three-day gathering is examining the values and future of the Olympic movement in society. Sessions will focus on the needs of athletes, encouraging young people to play sports and using digital broadcast technology.

It began the day after IOC members made a landmark decision to award the 2016 Games to Rio de Janeiro, sending the Olympics to South America for the first time.

Rogge said the Congress was conceived by modern founder Pierre de Coubertin to give “intellectual guidance” to the Olympics.

“He would be gratified that the movement rests on a solid financial foundation that can withstand even a global economic downturn,” Rogge said. “That enables rich and poor to come together and share common values.

“He would be reassured that we share his contempt for cheaters and that we are working hard to eradicate doping, corruption and match-fixing. He would be very pleased that we remain focused on youth.”

Rogge, who was elected IOC president in 2001, was the driving force in creating the Youth Olympic Games, which has its inaugural event in Singapore next year. The games demand equal participation of boys and girls aged 14-18.

“We are fast approaching the day when 50 percent of the athletes at the games will be women,” Rogge said. “And, for the first time, women will compete in every sport on the program at the 2012 Games (in London).”

The Copenhagen meetings form the 13th Olympic Congress, and the first in 15 years. The previous gathering in Paris added a commitment in the Olympic Charter to address environmental issues.

The keynote speaker Saturday was Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations secretary-general who was promoting a global conference on climate change Dec. 7-18 at the same Copenhagen venue.

Ban urged sports leaders to “do your own part on the climate and the environment.”

The Congress is followed by the three-day session, the IOC’s 121st annual assembly, which begins Wednesday. Rogge is seeking a second and final presidential term of four years, and will be formally re-elected as the only candidate.

IOC members will vote Friday on including golf and rugby sevens into the Olympic program starting with the 2016 Rio Games. Each sport will be put to a separate vote with a simple majority required for approval.

Some members have indicated they are not happy about being presented with just two choices, after the IOC executive board rejected the applications of baseball, softball, karate, squash and roller sports in August.

The assembly also will elect six new members to the IOC. The candidates include Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik. Members will also be briefed on preparations for the Olympics in Vancouver, London and Sochi.