Vladimir Putin to address inaugural World Olympians Forum

21 | 10 | 2015

Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, will address the inaugural World Olympians Forum (WOF), which is taking place in Moscow, Russia on Wednesday 21 October.

President Putin will formally open the WOF along with World Olympians Association (WOA) President Joël Bouzou, IOC President Thomas Bach, and WOA Patron and IOC Member HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco at a ceremony to mark the start of the historic event.

This high-level delegation will be joined on the WOF programme by other Olympians and leading figures from the Olympic Movement including, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, President of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC); IOC Vice-President, Sergey Bubka; Patrick Hickey, IOC Member and European Olympic Committees President; Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, Claudia Bokel; Frankie Fredericks, IOC Member and former head of the IOC Athletes’ Commission;  Kevan Gosper, IOC Member; and Double Olympic Gold Medallist, Yelena Isinbaeva.

The 2015 WOF, established by the World Olympians Association in partnership with the Russian Olympic Committee, is a new platform to celebrate Olympism and the achievements of Olympians worldwide.

The WOF will bring together the 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.

The topics relevant to the WOA mission of Service to Olympians and Service to Society will be debated and discussed through a range of platforms including keynote speeches, working seminars and networking sessions.

WOA President, Joël Bouzou, said:

“We are honoured that President Putin is attending the inaugural World Olympians Forum and will lead the event's Opening Ceremony presentation – signifying the importance of the ongoing work of the WOA and NOAs to promote and protect the interests of all Olympians. We also want to thank him and all the members of the Olympic Family in Russia for being such fantastic hosts for this historic event and for making the hundreds of Olympians attending from around the world feel so welcome. 

“The Russian Government and Russian Olympic Committee, under the leadership of IOC Member Alexander Zhukov, have made a great contribution to growing Olympism in Russia through the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games and we are delighted to be able to work together to help build on the legacies of those Games, ensuring that Olympians here and in other parts of the world have opportunities to improve their lives and make positive contributions to their communities.”