USAIN BOLT FOUNDATION PARTNERS WITH ATHLETICS FOR A BETTER WORLD

Olympic legend Usain Bolt has today announced that his foundation is to become part of ‘Athletics for a Better World’, powered by the IAAF.

The Usain Bolt Foundation will join forces with Athletics for a Better World to inspire positive social change through education, cultural development and sport.

Athletics for a Better World is the IAAF’s social responsibility programme, which provides organisations and people with a platform to use the universality of athletics to make a positive difference around the world.

As part of Athletics for a Better World, the Usain Bolt Foundation will be able to utilise the IAAF’s global reach, marketing channels and sporting credibility to spread their message and reach more young people than ever before. Usain Bolt will also add his name to the 12 athlete patrons currently involved in the campaign who include Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Marie-José Pérec, Paula Radcliffe and Wilson Kipketer.

“I am very proud that the Usain Bolt Foundation is officially partnered with the IAAF’s ‘Athletics for a Better World’,” said Bolt, the world and Olympic 100m, 200m and 4x100m champion. “Since the foundation was formed I, along with all the staff and volunteers, have worked very hard to inspire kids to become anything that their heart desires. So to be given this accolade by the IAAF is a reward for all the hard work we have put in, and a great opportunity for us to develop the foundation further and inspire more young people around the world.”

Sebastian Coe, President of the IAAF, said: “I’m thrilled that the Usain Bolt Foundation is partnering with ‘Athletics for a Better World’. Together, the IAAF and Usain Bolt will not only help reach and change the lives of thousands of children through athletics but also inspire lasting social change. I know the positive impact athletics can have and what a strong role model Usain Bolt is to millions of people around the world. The combination of the two is a very powerful force and we look forward to working together and making a real difference.”

© UBF

Athletics for a Better World provides a platform for organisations and people around the world – Including member federations, athletics associations, partner organisations, sponsors and athletes – that want to use athletics as a tool for social change. The aim is for these organisations to be stronger together and benefit from the IAAF’s global reach, marketing channels and sporting credibility.

The Usain Bolt Foundation aims to create opportunities through education and cultural development. The foundation has invested millions of dollars, particularly in Jamaica, into community development projects that enhance the health and education of the young people involved.

JESSE OWENS’ DAUGHTER AND GRANDDAUGHTER TO GRACE IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BEIJING 2015

IAAF’s Athletics for a Better World making donation to The Jesse Owens Foundation

Olympic hero Jesse Owens is being represented by Beverly Owens Prather, his middle daughter, and Donna Prather Williams, his granddaughter, who are currently attending the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015.

Ms Prather will present the gold medal during the men’s 4x100m victory ceremony on Sunday 30 August.

The Owens family members’ visit will also commemorate the signing of an agreement between the Jesse Owens Foundation and the IAAF’s Social Responsibility programme, Athletics for a Better World. The programme will be making a donation to the Foundation.

At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Jesse Owens won gold medals in the 100m, 200m, long jump, and 4x100m, setting a world record in the latter. Owens, who died in 1980, was among the first inductees into the IAAF Hall of Fame in 2012.

JESSE OWENS’ DAUGHTER AND GRANDDAUGHTER TO GRACE IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BEIJING 2015 photo credit. Getty Images for IAAF

The legendary athletics superstar’s story is told for the first time in a feature film in Race, to be released in the US by Focus Features on 8 April 2016.

Jesse Owens’ quest to become the greatest track and field athlete in history thrusts him on to the world stage of the 1936 Olympics, where he faces off against Adolf Hitler’s vision of Aryan supremacy. Race is an enthralling film about courage, determination, tolerance, and friendship, and an inspiring drama about one man’s fight to become an Olympic legend.

Directed by Stephen Hopkins, Race stars Stephan James (of Selma) as Jesse Owens, Jason Sudeikis, and Academy Award winners Jeremy Irons and William Hurt.

IAAF and Great North Run to display dramatic opening ceremony to recognise millionth finish milestone

– Protocol ceremony hosted by IAAF President Lamine Diack, Brendan Foster, Paula Radcliffe, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Haile Gebrselassie and Mike McLeod

– Finish achievement officially recognised by IAAF’s Athletics for a Better World programme

To mark the Bupa Great North Run becoming the first ever running event to reach a historic millionth finish, a spectacular opening ceremony will be hosted on the banks of the Tyne on Thursday 4 September.

The evening will also see the millionth finish achievement officially recognised by the IAAF’s Athletics for a Better World global social responsibility programme.

Ahead of the annual run on Sunday 7 September, the evening will commence with a protocol ceremony hosted by the President of the IAAF, Lamine Diack, and feature some of the most legendary names in the sport.

Brendan Foster, founder of the Great North Run, plus athletics royalty including Haile Gebrselassie, Paula Radcliffe, Tanni Grey-Thompson and Mike McLeod will all be part of the milestone occasion and the unveiling of the First Millionth Finish flag.

Ahead of the ceremony, Foster said: “We are delighted to announce that the President of the IAAF, Lamine Diack, will be overseeing the official protocol for the Great North Run Million Opening Ceremony, celebrating Tyneside as the first ever host of the millionth finish.”

“Such is the stature of the accomplishment that the millionth finish event is being included in the IAAF’s Athletics for a Better World initiative, which we are enormously proud of.”

Athletics for a Better World (ABW) was launched by the IAAF earlier this year and uses the universality of athletics to make a positive difference by helping to support and promote projects around the world in the fields of peace, social inclusion, environment and health.

The Bupa Great North Run has, for many decades, given ordinary citizens from all over the world the chance to be inspired and motivated to use athletics as a way to become fit and healthy and, through charity support, to also generously give to others.

These achievements were the driving factors in the IAAF welcoming the event to the Athletics for a Better World programme.

IAAF President Lamine Diack said: “Athletics for a Better World is a crucial initiative made up of a number of inspirational projects throughout the world aiming to encourage and promote athletics to millions as a way to create fit and healthy lifestyles.

“The millionth finish of the Bupa Great North Run is an extraordinary achievement which we welcome into Athletics for a Better World and I would like to thank Brendan Foster and his team for the phenomenal work they have done since 1981 to make this IAAF Gold Label Road Race not just an important fixture in world athletics but also a part of the rich athletics culture in Great Britain.”

123 IAAF Member Federations have entered to take part in the 2014 edition of the IAAF World Athletics Day

Now in its 19th year, the IAAF World Athletics Day is the sport’s annual worldwide festival of youth and one of the busiest programmes of competitions in the athletics calendar.

The World Athletics Day offers the opportunity to promote the sport through youth participation in clubs and schools.

The IAAF World Athletics Day when it began in 1996, was initially planned exclusively for youngsters who were members of clubs affiliated to IAAF Member Federations but, in recent years, the scope of the project has broadened to include the participation of school children in team competitions.

The IAAF World Athletics Day has now become a complete and an important event which promotes our sport around the world.

The goal of the IAAF World Athletics Day is to firmly establish an important link between the youth, our sport, and environmental conservation.

The IAAF World Athletics Day 2014 takes place in May, preferably the weekend of Saturday 10 & Sunday 11 May.

Starting this year, the IAAF World Athletics Day will also be part also be part of the IAAF Social Responsibility project called Athletics for a Better World, which was launched on Tuesday (8).

More details of Athletics for a Better World can be found here.

The IAAF World Athletics Day 2014 involves youth age group children from clubs who were born in 1997-1998 (16-17 years old).

In accordance with the goal of the IAAF Athletics’ World Plan to make athletics the number one sport in schools, the World Athletics Day is also being organised in close cooperation with the relevant national ministry which is in charge of school sport in each country.

The age group for these school team activities is boys and girls born in 1999-2000-2001 (13-15 years old).

IAAF Launches ‘Athletics for a Better World’

IAAF Launches ‘Athletics for a Better World’

-Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Paula Radcliffe, Marie-José Pérec and Wilson Kipketer among 12 athlete ambassadors-

International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Lamine Diack today announced plans for ‘Athletics for a Better World’ (ABW) a new social responsibility programme that will use the universality of athletics to make a positive difference in the world. The IAAF will cooperate closely with organisations including Peace & Sport, The United Nations and The IOC in the development of the programme, alongside 12 ‘Athlete Patrons’ – including Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Marie-José Pérec and Paula Radcliffe – with many more organisations and athletes expected to follow.

The announcement was made at an IAAF panel, entitled ‘The Power of Sport’ at the SportAccord Convention in Antalya, Turkey, which was chaired by five-time Olympian Charmaine Crooks and attended by IAAF President Diack, heptathlon legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Italy’s world junior high jump champion Alessia Trost.

ABW will provide a platform for organisations and people around the world – including Member Federations, athletics associations, partner organisations, sponsors and athletes – that want to use athletics as a tool for social change. The aim is for these organisations to be stronger together and benefit from the IAAF’s global reach, marketing channels and sporting credibility.

A short-film, ‘Stronger Together’, produced by ‘Buddy Films’ and directed by Paul Gowers, was shown to the global sports family at SportAccord to outline the IAAF’s vision for ABW and to encourage them to become part of the programme. The film can be viewed at http://www.iaaf.org/athletics-better-world.

ABW will support athletics-based initiatives across four pillars: health, the environment, social inclusion and peace. From peace races to athletics sessions for the local community, anyone using athletics to make a difference will be welcomed into the ABW community.

IAAF President Diack said: “Athletics is the most universal of all sports. And our position as the No.1 Olympic sport gives us a global responsibility: to use the power and reach of athletics to make a difference in the world. We know that by empowering the athletics community worldwide to work with key development organisations, we can be stronger together and use the power of sport to inspire lasting change.

“We are thrilled that the United Nations, The IOC and Peace & Sport will be working closely with us on this and we look forward to welcoming more organisations and athletes in the coming months as we build the foundations for a programme that can change the lives of millions of people.”

Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Athletics for a Better World Ambassador, added: “Sport has had a huge impact on my life – it’s given me focus and goals to strive for. As an athlete, I know I have the opportunity to inspire other people. So I am honoured that The Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation will be working alongside some of the world’s most dedicated and experienced social development programmes through ABW. I know that many other athletes are planning to get involved with ABW and I am excited about the difference we can make together.”

Fellow ABW Ambassador Alessia Trost also commented: “I am glad to have the opportunity to be part of this great event celebrating sports. I sometimes ask myself why do I practice, why do I train and the answer is that I do it because I strongly believe that sport means culture. Track and field gives people the awareness of being able to find out their best, anywhere and anytime.”

The 12 athlete patrons are from every part of the world and include: Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA), three-time Olympic champion; Alessia Trost (ITA), world youth and world junior champion; Kajsa Bergqvist (SWE), world champion and Olympic medallist; Paula Radcliffe (GBR) world champion and marathon world record-holder; Wilson Kipketer (DEN), three-time world champion; Koji Murofushi (JPN), Olympic and world champion; Joanna Hayes (USA), Olympic champion; Valerie Adams (NZL), double Olympic champion and four-time world champion; Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM), double Olympic champion and five-time world gold medallist; Fabiana Murer (BRA), world champion; Marie José Pérec (FRA), triple Olympic and double world champion; and Tegla Loroupe (KEN) triple world half marathon champion.

The IAAF welcomes interest from organisations and individuals who are already using sport to have a positive impact on communities. All partners will have access to IAAF athletes, supporting content and donations. ABW will be promoted through the IAAF’s marketing platforms, social media channels and at events, reaching millions of people worldwide.

You can find out more about how ABW aims to improve the world through athletics here http://www.iaaf.org/athletics-better-world.