Hosting Olympics good for Africa, says RNOSC chief

THE Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee (RNOSC) president Valens Munyabagisha has said that hosting the Olympics Games in Africa will be good for the continent. Munyabagisha made the remarks on Thursday after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the day before that they had approved plans to consider Africa National Olympic Committees (NOCs) as potential host cities of the 4th edition of the Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2022. “The idea is indeed good. It will encourage African athletes to prepare well so that they can showcase what they are capable of. The African image will be expounded,” Munyabagisha said “There are renowned African athletes who represent countries from Europe and USA, hosting the Olympics on the continent will imply they will be acting as models,” he commented A targeted approach based on the principle adopted by the IOC Session in 2016 will replace the competitive stage seen for previous YOG host city selections, making the process more streamlined, simpler and shorter for other cities to host the games. Part of this evolution is to ensure the event is accessible to a greater number of cities. This week, IOC President Thomas Bach announced that Africa is the home of so many very successful Olympic athletes. “Africa is a continent of youth. That is why we want to take the Youth Olympic Games 2022 to Africa,” he said. editorial@newtimes.co.rw