SPORT 1913 - 2013

about the CSIT Games development in par- ticular. In January 2008 CSIT President Pr. Ka- levi Olin, Secretary-General Wim Hoeijenbos and Vice-President Harald Bauer attended an- other reception at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. President Rogge was very positive towards the ambitious plans to reorganise big sport festivals within the CSIT. Having presented the whole concept of the CSIT World Sports Games, President Rogge was persuaded to take the patronage of these Games. Furthermore he also allowed the use of the Olympic rings for marketing and public relation purposes. This willingness may be seen as an expression of acceptance, respect and helpfulness to develop a historical mile- stone to meet the present needs. Rogge (2008) also sent personal greet- ings to all the athletes in the 1 st CSIT World Sports Games in Rimini and emphasised the importance of physical activity, sport and competition, emotion and international sports friendship. The passion for sports brought together athletes, coaches and refer- ees, volunteers and delegates from four conti- nents, which had an unforgettable week of sports and joy in Italy. In the year 2010 the Estonian capital Tal- linn was the centre of workers sport world- wide. The then newly elected CSIT President Harald Bauer was delighted to open the 2 nd CSIT World Sports Games in the KALEV Sta- dium in front of approximately 14.000 ath- letes, delegates and spectators. The pictures of the magnificent opening ceremony with 6.000

organisation of the 3 rd CSIT World Sports Games into the hands of the SESI, the Brazil- ian member organisation of CSIT (CSIT 2010). It was also decided to make an extraordinary step of three years (after 2008 and 2010), so these Games should not be organised in 2012 but one year later in August 2013, the year when CSIT will be celebrating its 100 year an- niversary. Besides, this three years jump en- abled the CSIT to leave the calendar of Olym- pic Games that are organised in even years. Due to major changes in the manage- ment of SESI Brazil, they announced in May 2012 the cancelling of the organisation of the planned Rio Games 2013. The CSIT Executive Committee was more than surprised about this decision, having signed the cooperation agreement only a few months before. Already in June 2012 the CSIT President announced that the Bulgarian member organisation Bul- garian Workers Federation Sport & Health was ready to host the 3 rd CSIT World Sports Games in the capital of the Black Sea region, Varna, in June 2013. Thanks to Desislava Ya- godin, CSIT Vice-President and President of the above-mentioned Bulgarian member union and her father Kostadin Parzulov, a long-term supporter and Ambassador of workers sport in the Balkan region, this unex- pected and unforeseen situation with Brazil found a solution. The IOC increasingly supported the plans of the CSIT Executive Committee and co-fi- nanced a working group of outstanding stu- dents from the AISTS (International Academy

gymnasts from Estonia, Finland and Denmark were comparable to the well-known pictures of the Workers Olympiads in the 1930’s, when mass sport demonstrations were at the heart of the movement. Again, the IOC took over the patronage and allowed the promotion of the Olympic Rings; all over Tallinn, posters adver- tised the competitions of the world workers and amateur athletes. The organising CSIT member union KALEV from Estonia under President Peeter Kreitzberg and the Estonian Olympic Committee had the unique chance to show the beauty of their city and the hospital- ity of their population. 2.000 competitors and 6.000 gymnasts were excited to participate and perform in the program. A modern sport festival with enough time to also enjoy inter- national friendship, the Estonian culture and the calm nightlife of Tallinn ended on July 10 th , 2010 exactly one week after the brilliant opening. CSIT President Bauer kept in close touch with the IOC and had several meetings with President Rogge, Director General Christophe de Kepper and IOC Sports Director Christophe Dubi. It was evident that in principle, the CSIT World Sports Games had the potential to reach much higher participation figures; it was just a question of capacities of the host city and the limits of CSIT’s own technical regulations. The years 2011 and 2012 saw Bauer make tire- less efforts to gain know-how from the experts within IOC. The CSIT General Assembly 2010 held in Agrigento in Sicily, Italy decided to put the

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