Winter Hopefuls Press Their Case in Beijing

The Sport Accord conference, which starts today in Beijing, is part trade fair, part conference, and brings together the leading players in Olympic sports for two days of deliberations and deal-making. With the International Olympic Committee holding an executive board meeting alongside the conference, the event gives business, sponsors and lobbyists as well as current and prospective host cities the chance to bend the ear of the Olympic movement, and they are here in force.

Those with most to gain are the bid teams from Salzburg, Pyeongchang and Sochi, the three cities eyeing the 2014 Winter Olympics. All three will make presentations to the conference this afternoon, pitching the spending power and ambition of the Korean and Russian cities against the old-world charm of Salzburg. While the Austrian city can boast the Olympic legend Franz Klammer as its bid chairman, Sochi, in the Caucasus mountains overlooking the Black Sea, is counting on the political clout of Vladimir Putin, not to mention the support of oligarchs including Roman Abramovich.

Having bid before, Pyeongchang regards 2014 as its turn, and is hopeful that Korean industry's continued support of the Olympic movement will help. Samsung's backing for the last bid was controversial, but the company chose this week to extend its IOC sponsorship to 2016. Significantly, a signing ceremony was held here on Monday night to make the most of the contract.

Now it's Coe 2.0

Seb Coe will give the keynote address to Sport Accord today, and will call on governments and governing bodies to use the power of new media to engage children and encourage them off the sofa and into sport. Lord Coe put inspiring future generations at the heart of London's successful pitch to the IOC, and he will extend the theme by urging sport to grasp the potential of new media rather than despairing. "I'm always being told that we have lost a generation to computer games, but what we should be doing is using the opportunities that mobile phones, the internet and other new media provide," he said. New media opportunities will be a key feature of the London brand relaunch which is expected next month, with user-generated content and Olympic-based online communities likely to be at its heart. After three days in Beijing Coe will leave at lunchtime, allowing him to reach Stamford Bridge in time for the kick-off of the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool.

Rugby at sixes and sevens

The International Rugby Board has not given up hope of one day securing a berth for rugby sevens in the Olympic programme, and they hosted a drinks reception at Sport Accord yesterday to underline what they see as the game's case for inclusion in the 2016 games. The chances seem slim - when the IOC last voted on the issue rugby was rejected out of hand.

The Pinsent effect

Matthew Pinsent's revelations of allegedly brutal treatment of young Chinese athletes being prepared for the 2008 games touched a nerve in Beijing, but two years after the story was screened by the BBC, Olympic planners make light of the incident. A senior member of the Beijing communications team joked this week that since the report by Pinsent which showed young athletes spanked for poor performance, all coaches have been instructed to hug underperforming students, and said a low medal count will be blamed on the march of political correctness. Meanwhile, the IOC president, Jacques Rogge, dismissed the story, pointing out Britain supported corporal punishment in public schools for 300 years. Pinsent was educated at Eton.

Smiling and queuing

One of the main challenges for Beijing is transforming its population into 15m smiling Olympic hosts. In order to transform attitudes a Programme of Public Civility has been launched, with programmes covering everything from good manners to how and when to cheer while watching unfamiliar events. They are even being taught to wait in line, with the 11th of each month designated Queueing Day.