Colombia and Olympism.

Colombia and Olympism
Role of the COC
COLOMBIA
1,138,914 sq. km.
30,000,000 inhabitants (approx.).
- To develop the Olympic spirit in Colombia.
- To collaborate with all the NOC’s.
- To ensure Colombia's representation
at the Olympic Games.
COMITE OLIMPICO
(COC)
COLOMBIANO
Founded in 1936.
Recognised by the IOC in its present
form in 1948.
President in office: Mr. Fidel Mendoza
Carrasquilla*.
Secretary General in office : Mr. Humberto Jaimes Cañarete*.
Address : Centro Administrativo Nacional, Edificio del Ministerio de Education
National, Can, Mineducacion National,
Piso 3°, Bogotá Colombia.
Telephone : 244 89 36 / 232 25 70 ext.
41.
Telex: 044 1275.
Cable: COLIMPICO.
Creation
Although one Colombian athlete alone
took part in the celebration of the Olympiad in 1932, the COC was not founded
until 1936. The writer Felix Raffán Gómez-author (together with the musician
Efrain Orozco) of the «Hymn to Sport»
of young Colombians-makes mention of
the pressing need for this creation in
order to lead and promote sport within
the country. Julio Gerlein Comelin *, who
was to become the first member of the
IOC for Colombia in 1952, was President of the COC during the first few
years of its existence. With his collaborators, he was behind the creation of the
Bolivarian Games and the organisation
of the first Games in 1938 in Bogotá.
* See biographical notes.
711
Successive Presidents of the COC
1936 : Julio Gerlein Comelin *.
1945 : Dr. Gregorio Obregon,
Alberto Nariño Cheyne.
1947 : Humberto Chica Pinzon.
1949 : Jose Antonio Bonnet.
1953 : Enrique Gómez Hurtado.
1957 : Herbert Liebish.
1961-1975 : Mario Garcia y Garcia.
1975-1979 : Humberto Chica Pinzon.
Since 1979 : Fidel Mendoza Carrasquilla *.
Julio Gerlein
Comelin
IOC Member in Colombia
1. Julio Gerlein Comelin *, since 1952.
COLOMBIA
GAMES
l
AND
THE
OLYMPIC
Date of first participation : 1932.
Just one athlete, the marathon runner
Jorge Perry Villate, consituted the first
delegation.
No Colombian athlete has yet competed
in the Winter Games.
Olympic medal winners
Colombian sport is also proud to number two other prizewinners, the boxers
Clemente Rojas (featherweight) and Alfonso Perez (lightweight), who both won
bronze medals in 1972.
Montreal 1976 : The COC delegation,
Helmuth
Bellingrodt
l Title obtained at the Olympic
Games
Name
First name
Sport
Event
Year
Birth
Bellingrodt
Helmuth
Shooting
Running games target
1972
1943
712
Representation of Colombia at the Olympic Games
1
from 1932 to 1980
1
2
The figures in brackets represent the number of women included in the first figure.
A delegation of 15 members was entered. None of them took part in the Games owing to technical problems.
l Not included on the programme.
713
PRESENT ORGANISATION OF THE COC
8th March 1979 : inauguration of the Executive Board of the COC in the presence of the Minister
for National Education and the Director of the Institute for Youth and Sport.
l
The constitution currently in force
was adopted on 17th December 1974.
l
Composition
The COC is made up of the IOC member
in Colombia and delegates of the national sports federations.
l
The general assembly, the higher
authority, meets once a year. An extraordinary assembly is called every four
years to elect the executive board.
l
The executive board, the body in
control of the COC, is made up of a president, two vice-presidents, a secretary
general, a treasurer and two members.
l
Present members of the executive
board
PT : Fidel Mendoza Carrasquilla * ; 1 s t
VPT : Leon Londoño Tamayo ; 2nd VPT :
General Enrique Gallego Hernández ;
SG : Humberto Jaimes Cañarate M * ;
Ass. SG : Carlos E. Jimenez ; T : Alvaro
Carvajal Corzo ; Ass. T : Jose I. Moreno ;
Ms : J a i m e Z a p a t a , C e s a r G o m e z
Restrepo, Jaime Sampedro Acevedo, Alfonso Munera Cabas, Alberto Cobo Arizabaleta, Herberto Orozco.
714
l
Federations affiliated to the COC
Affliations
Fédération
Creation
NOC
Athletics
Basketball
Boxing
Cycling
Equestrian
Fencing
Football
Gymnastics
Judo
Wrestling
Swimming
Shooting
Volleyball
Weightlifting
Yachting
1938
1930
1937
1938
1938
1944
1926
1947
1975
1938
1938
1945
1938
1938
1940
1938
1936
1938
1938
1938
1946
1938
1948
1976
1938
1938
1946
1940
1938
1945
IF
1951
1939
1953
before 1968
1947
1946
1936
1948
1976
before 1962
1940
1946
1955
1942
1945
. . . as well as federations for baseball,
roller skating, softball, “tejo” (a local
sport), tennis, table tennis, car racing,
billiards, bowls, bridge, chess, indoor
football, golf, go-karting, motorcycling,
polo, water skiing and military sport.
l
Financing of the COC
A state grant from the Institute for Youth
and Sport makes up 75 % of the annual
budget, which amounts to approximately
US$ 25,000.
THE COC AND OLYMPISM
l
Olympic awards obtained
Olympic Cup
–
1946 : to the Olympic Committee of
Colombia for the organisation of the
Central American and Caribbean
Games.
– 1962 : to the organising committee of
the 4th Bolivarian Games at Barranquilla.
– 1971 : to the organising committee of
the 6th Panamerican Games at Cali.
Olympic Order
Cali 1971 : Opening ceremony of the Panamerican Games.
– Bronze medal in 1977 to Mr. Alberto
Nariño Cheyne, founder of the Bolivarian Games ; he was responsible for
their organisation for almost 39 years.
Fearnley Cup
– 1955 : to the “Junta Departamental
de Deportes” for the organisation of
the national Athletic Games.
l
Organisation of Games
As yet, no Colombian city has tendered
a bid for the staging of the Olympic
Games. Nevertheless, Colombians like
to show that they are efficient organisers, as we can see from the following
list :
1938 - 1st Bolivarian Games in Bogota.
1946 - 5th Central American and Caribbean Games at Barranquilla.
1961 - 4th Bolivarian Games at Barranquilla.
1971 - 6th Panamerican Games at Cali.
1978 - 13th Central American and Caribbean Games at Medellin...
. . . as well as the 2nd world championships for swimming (1975) at Cali, world
championships for women’s basketball
(1975), not forgetting the organisation
of the final tournament of the World Cup
for football in 1986.
Alberto Nariño Cheyne receiving the medal of the Olympic Order.
715
SPORT IN COLOMBIA
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
l
Julio Gerlein Comelin
Other sports governing bodies
– The Institute for Youth and Sport, a
state body.
– The national sports federations.
l
State aid for the sports movement
The State subsidies the main sporting
organisations.
Administrators and athletes are also assisted, enabling them, for example, to
take part in courses in Colombia and
even in other countries.
l
Sport at school
The Institute for Youth and Sport governs school sport.
l
Sports
Humberto Jaimes Cañarete
Secretary general of the COC since
1979.
A journalist for almost 30 years past, he was in charge of
the sport column of the Bogota daily newspaper “El Tiempo” for 25 years. From 1956 to 1976, he was present at all
the celebrations of the Olympiad, four world championships
for football, four Panamerican Games... President of the national car-racing federation, a member of the executive of
the national basketball federation, vice-president of the
Panamerican Confederation of sports journalists, and in
1979 headed the Colombian delegation at the Panamerican
Games.
installations
There are at present :
Dr. Fidel Mendoza Carrasquilla
6 open-air swimming pools (50 m) ;
5 indoor swimming pools (50 m) ;
20 other swimming pools ;
20 sports centres ;
100 gymnasia.
l
Sports which draw the biggest
crowds
Football, cycling, boxing, “tejo” (a local
sport), indoor football and athletics.
l
Sports experiencing
development
the
greatest
Football, cycling, boxing and indoor football.
716
IOC member in Colombia since 1952.
Born on 7th September 1902 in Barranquilla. A statesman,
he was mayor of Barranquilla, having been secretary for
public works for the Atlantic zone and administrative director of the town’s industrial and commercial free zone.
Governor of the Rotary Club of Colombia, he took over management of Rotary International in 1941 and 1942.
Founder member of the Colombian Olympic Committee, of
which he was president from 1936, and member of the organising committees for the Central American and Caribbean Games and the Bolivarian Games.
President of the COC since 1979.
Vice-President of the Bolivarian Sports Organisation, and
doctor of medicine since 1952. Member of the national federations for boxing and baseball, he was auditor of the
COC from 1970 to 1974, president of the national delegation at the Bolivarian Games in 1973, and in charge of the
medical service of the Colombian Olympic delegation at the
1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
Member of the Organising Committees of the 1982 basketball and 1986 football world championships, he is also a
member of the committe studying the drafting of the law to
restructure Colombian sport.