However, the IOC does not see blogging as a form of journalism and consequently is requiring that any content written by accredited persons about the Olympic Games is restricted to their personal Olympic experience. In order to keep to the IOC blogging format, athletes are:

• Banned from posting any audiovisual material. The exception is pictures taken outside accredited areas, or personal pictures inside those areas that are not of any sporting events.
• Banned from posting any confidential information on third parties.
• Blogs cannot have exclusive agreements or advertising, or commercial activity with any company or third party.
• Blogs should adhere to the Olympic Spirit.

While the IOC is concerned with athletes posting opinions on political matters such as China’s human rights record, the majority of the guidelines are more concerned with commercial matters.

The broadcast rights contracts for the Olympic games are worth billions of dollars, and the IOC is understandably concerned with making sure those contracts are not violated.

This will be one of the many challenges that the IOC and other sporting organisations will face in the coming years. The New Media at the Olympics has given the average person the ability to participate in the news making process. But at the same time is making it more difficult to enforce the commercial contracts traditionally loved by the old media.

It may be that allowing Olympic Athletes the right to blog at the 2008 Beijing Olympics is a test case for the International Olympic Committee. If that is the case, it will be interesting to see how it will be handled at this years games, and at the Olympic Games in years to come.

Thanks: The Guardian

The Olympic flame lighting ceremony is an important event for each Olympic games. However, flames of a different sort have caused a lot of trouble for Greek Officials.

This year the hills and fields of Olympia were ravaged by severe summer bushfires that killed 66 people. Despite the loss of life, firefighters were able to stop the fires short of the ancient ruins and archaeological museum.

Now the race is on to replant the forests around the site before the March 24th flame lighting ceremony. Even though hampered by bureaucracy, 75 percent of the work has been performed, with the remainder to be completed by the end of February.

This has come at a cost of 3.9 million dollars, graciously donated by the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, with an additional 1.9 million dollars for replanting to be complete by 2010.

Thanks: Espn