EOC technical seminar being held in Larnaca, Cyprus News

The 8th Technical Seminar of the Union of European Olympic Committees (EOC), organised by the Cyprus Olympic Committee (COE) in cooperation with the EOC Technical Committee for Cooperation and Development of Sports, started on Friday in the southern coastal town of Larnaca, with the participation of 75 delegates from 38 countries.

COE President Ouranios Ioannides said such events send messages to the people involved in the Olympic movement and expressed hope that the conclusions of the seminar would contribute to the advancement of the Olympic movement in Europe.

President of the Technical Committee Gunilla Lindberg said that during the Beijing Olympic Games, Europe won the most medals but recorded a drop, which should be examined by the delegates.

The main speaker was President of the Organising Committee for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Olympic medalist Sebastian Coe, who referred to the youth and gave emphasis to the communication sector, noting that less young people are becoming involved in sport.

In an assessment of the Beijing Olympic Games compared to Athens 2004, it appears that Europe recorded a decrease in medals, while Asia recorded an increase, mainly due to China.

Furthermore, there was a significant drop in doping cases compared to Athens, where there were 26 testing positive, while in Beijing the positive samples were only six, with three more pending.

Regarding media coverage, 28,216 reporters and technicians were accredited for the Beijing Games, while in Athens there were 20,771 accreditations.

The seminar will wrap up on Saturday and its conclusions will be presented to the media in Larnaca by Lindberg and Ioannides.