posted on May 1: Toronto alumni branch lecture draws large crowd

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May 1, 2001

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/poundcropped.jpg”]The hype surrounding the Olympics has been turned up a notch in Canada with the announcement recently that Dick Pound, our own Olympian and Canadian representative on the International Olympic Committee, is a candidate for the IOC presidency. Pound is currently vice-president of the International Olympic Committee.

Pound was the guest speaker last week at McMaster's Toronto alumni branch spring luncheon at the Royal York.

The event drew more than 160 McMaster alumni and friends, providing an opportunity for graduates to network with fellow graduates and chat informally about, among other things, Toronto's odds for hosting the 2008 Olympics.

Chair of the marketing commission and television negotiations committee, Pound spoke on the Commercialization of the Olympic Movement. He told the lunch-hour listeners that with the advent of the IT revolution many internet giants were urging the Olympic committee to air the competitions on line rather than on screen. The IOC, he said, went ahead with its own research and its own plan after learning that three billion people watched the games on TV versus 25 million online information seekers.

Pound says the IOC has been able to help smaller countries finance the Olympics due to the progress it has made in the past few years. The Olympics are the only sporting competition of its calibre that doesn't include branding or sponsor logos in facilities or on the backs of athletes.

Pound, vice-president of the IOC, led the Salt Lake City corruption-inquiry panel and investigated the secret negotiations behind the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. He competed in the Rome Olympics in 1960 and became a member of the International Olympic Committee in 1978.

Photo (l-r): Earl Cochrane, president, McMaster Alumni Association; Mel Hawkrigg, University Chancellor; Gary Collins, president, Toronto Alumni Branch; Richard (Dick) Pound, vice-president, International Olympic Committee; and Lance Trumble, member, Toronto Alumni Branch executive.