Former IOC Dir of Marketing Michael Payne said that the Olympics need a "reboot to regain the confidence of the public in the bidding process" because the current model is "dead." Payne, "widely credited with transforming the IOC brand and its finances through sponsorship," said that there was "no problem with the end product of the Games itself." But the 59-year-old Englishman said that was "not the case when it comes to convincing the public that they want the Games in their city." Payne: "To clarify: the bidding process as we know it is dead. The present system that there is a nice beauty contest and then two of them turning up at the altar is dead" (AFP, 3/30).
A historic velodrome used in the 1948 Olympics "reopened on its 125th anniversary following extensive renovation." Crowdfunding and £750,000 ($935,000) of National Lottery cash "supported the building of a new pavilion at the Herne Hill Velodrome." The new stand, which was built "using materials from the old structure," includes changing rooms, a first aid room and a club room overlooking the site (BBC, 3/30).
NBC is "going for gold with Snapchat," extending the pair's partnership to bring coverage from the 2018 PyeongChang Games to users in the U.S. The move follows a $500M investment in Snap from NBC as "part of the tech upstart's March IPO." NBC said that the pair will partner to bring "unique" Winter Olympics coverage (THE DRUM, 3/30).
The IOC said on Thursday that it had disqualified four Russian athletes from the 2012 London Olympics after retests of their samples "came back positive for banned substances." The IOC said that all four -- Victoria Valyukevich, a triple jumper who was eighth in the women's competition, hammer throwers Gulfiya Khanafeeva and Mariia Bespalova and weightlifter Khadzhimurat Akkaev, who did not compete due to a back injury -- tested positive for anabolic steroid turinabol (REUTERS, 3/30).
