University Students to Serve as Doping Control Officers for the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011

Hello readers, this is Sarbi again. I hope you have been well!

My last post was about Doping Control Officer Training Workshop, and what post would this post be without an interview of some of our  Daegu 2011 volunteer DCOs.

In Korea volunteer work is very popular among college student who would like to gain valuable experience before heading out into the job market. You may also know that large organizations and events cannot be successful if they do not have good, hardworking volunteers by their side. This is also goes for the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011; our event will not be a success without the hard work and dedication of our great volunteers.

The Daegu 2011 LOC is providing many opportunities for the citizens of Daegu to become involved as a volunteer for our once in a lifetime event. One of the more exciting programs for the volunteers is the opportunity to become a Doping Control Officer (DCO) at the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011!

As the Official Mascot, I make it my personal mission to get to know everyone who is involved with 2011 World Championships, so I took a trip to the DCO training program and interviewed a couple of our great volunteers.

Hyun-Ho Do, Department of Special Physical Education, Yeungnam University

Hyun-Ho Do majors in Special Physical Education and has an insatiable passion for sports and athletics. When Hyun-Ho heard about an opportunity to support and participate in the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 as a volunteer, he took the chance and applied right away. Hyun-Ho has no problem letting you know how proud he is of his home town of Daegu in being the host of the world’s 3rd largest sporting event and his being an active part in it. With his passion and drive, I cannot wait to work with Hyun-Ho during the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011.



Ju-Young Moon, College of Nursing , Kyungpook National University



Ju-Young, a nursing major, is very confident that she will become a great DCO. As a nursing major, her work is very closely related to the processes involved in becoming a Doping Control Officer. Before Moon’s training started she admitted that athletics was not her favorite sport, but now her interest in athletics has grown tenfold.
Ju-Young has promised to study hard to become a qualified DCO, to ensure the success of the 2011 World Championships. There is no doubt in my mind that Ju-Young will be one of our best DCOs.

I thank all of our volunteers and I know that you all will perform great during the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011.

Good Luck, Everyone

Training our newest Doping Control Officers!

Good Morning!


I was very busy weekend, I spent the past two days (10~11 Sept.) with the Daegu 2011 LOC. During this time I had the opportunity to attend the Doping Control Officers (DCO) Training Workshop! I had a lot of questions about Doping.

Sarbi: How were the volunteers selected?

LOC: The volunteers that were selected as DCOs were chosen based on their academic major. Those who were/are Pre-Med and Nursing students received priority, as their studies are very closely related to the doping procedures. Also if students held a major in English or Communications, they had a high chance of being selected.

Sarbi: What is Doping?

LOC: Doping is the use of performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids in sporting events.

Sarbi: How do you find out who has been “Doping?”

LOC: We conduct a Doping Test. The Doping Test is an official test to discover whether the athletes who are taking part in the competition have been given any substances aimed to improve or harm their performance. The primary purpose of Doping Control is to lessen the impact of drug abuse within the competition, and to make sure athletes are given the best environment to fairly contest each event.

In talking with the new potential DCOs, I learned that they come from all walks of life. In 2011 the DCOs will range from university students to working professionals who will volunteer their services in the hopes of having a doping violation free World Championships.

Volunteers signing in at the workshop



Young-Ae Kim of the LOC

Young-Ae Kim, a member of the Daegu 2011 LOC and many other staff members hosted the training workshop. The volunteers gathered at 18:00 and began their training after dinner!

Volunteers listening to a doping presentation

The volunteers gave their undivided attention for the entire evening!

Joo-Hee Park of the LOC trains the newest DCOs



Students absorbing all of the Doping Info



Director, Gyu-Hwan Lee of the International Cooperation Team from KADA 

Tickets for the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 are on sale now!

Hey everyone, it's me Sarbi.


 I have great news for you, tickets for the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 are now on sale!

I am so excited, we now have less than one year until the Opening Ceremony of the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 and the tickets are now on sale! Hurry, buy your tickets and join me for this once in a lifetime opportunity to see the world’s best athletes compete for the title of World Champion under the roof of Daegu Stadium.

You may purchase tickets:

1)  In person at the Daegu Stadium Ticket Office beginning on 1 Aug, 2011.
    * Beginning 27 Aug. 2011 public admission tickets will go on sale prior to each day’s events. The Daegu
          Stadium Ticketing Office will close daily at 18:00h.

3)  Online at the Interpark Web-site (www.sports.interpark.com) , TEL: (82) 53 1544-1555.

4)  The LOC Web-site (www.daegu2011.org), TEL: (82) 53 803-9264.

5)  Daegu Bank Branches

6)  The Public Service Center at the Daegu City Hall as well as the District Office Buildings in Daegu.

7)  GS 25 Convenience Stores.

Ticket Prices (1,000 KRW = Approx. 1 USD)

1)  Season Tickets for the Premier F (Finish Line) Section will cost KRW 850,000.

2)  Category B Tickets are our lowest cost but you will still still have a spectacular view. These seats cost KRW 10,000.

3)  Besides the two listed, there are many more categories to choose from. For more information please refer to the table for details!

Discounts

1)  If you book your tickets before 31 Mar. 2011 you will receive a complementary 10% discount.

2)  Children under 12 will receive a 30% discount!

3)  Senior citizens, national merit recipients, and persons with disabilities will receive a 50% discount.

4)  For groups of 50 or more, a 30% discount will apply.

5)  In celebration of the Ticket Sales Launch and D-365 an additional 10% will be given to those individuals who purchase tickets before 30 Sep. 2010! This will be the only time where you will be able to get your Premier Seats, Season Tickets, and Opening Ceremony Tickets with a 10% Discount!

  

*For the LOCs complete ticketing and discount policy please visit our official web-site at: daegu2011.org

1st IAAF World Championships in Athletics Helsinki 1983

 

I am very excited to say that the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 will take place in my hometown Daegu on 27 Aug. to 4 Sep. 2011! If you didn’t already know, this athletics festival take place over nine days, where the world’s best athletes will compete for the title of World Champion under the roof of Daegu Stadium!

This being said, I was very surprised to found out that not many people are too familiar with the IAAF World Championships here in Korea. That is why I have started this blog! It is my mission to teach Korea and the world more about athletics, and develop a new appreciation for the sport.

I will lead you on a journey from the birth and development of the IAAF from the 1st IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland all the way through to my event, the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011!

It comes as a surprise to many that the first ever IAAF World Championships was held only 27 years ago in 1983. This delay was mainly due to the popularity of the Summer Olympic Games, before the first IAAF World Championships was held, a track and field athlete who earned the Olympic Gold was considered the World Champion of his/her event. As this was the only way it was ever done, it was accepted by all; even the world governing body, the IAAF [International Amateur Athletic Federation (Changed to International Association of Athletics Federations in 2001)], had embraced this idea that caused great controversy in later years. Although the Olympic Games are considered to be the capstone of any athlete’s career, many questioned whether an Olympic Champion could also be titled World Champion.      

It was in the late 1960 that both the IAAF and international athletic fans began to voice their opinion that “The athletics world champion should be the winner of the World Championships in Athletics.”

[1]  Official Emblem of World Championships in Athletics Helsinki
[2]  Official Mascot of World Championships in Athletics Helsinki
[3]  Official Poster of World Championships in Athletics Helsinki

This was the spark that finally led the IAAF to host an independent athletics event apart from the Olympic Games. Two very qualified cities (Helsinki, Finland and Stuttgart, Germany) submitted bids to host the inaugural IAAF World Championships. Finland, well known for its athletes, especially in the Throwing Events earned the title of ‘the first host country of the IAAF World Championships.’

[4] Helsinki Olympic Stadium

During the IAAF World Championships Helsinki 1983, the Finnish Team fielded many excellent athletes, one of the most well known being Paavo Nurmi who set the WR in 10,000 m which had not been broken for 13 years.

         
  In addition to the Finnish athletes, many other notables attended the event to include; Carl Lewis (USA) participated in a Men’s 100m, 4x100m, and Long Jump in earning the title of World Champion in each event. This event was just the beginning of Carl Lewis’s success, as the world’s most decorated male in athletics he has earned total of ten World Championships Medals of which eight were gold medals and earned ten Olympic medals of which nine gold.

[5] Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka

Sergey Bubka (URS/UKR) also began his illustrious athletics career during the IAAF World Championships Helsinki 1983. Competing in the Pole Vault, Bubka won 6 consecutive IAAF World Championships, an Olympic gold medal and broke the Men’s Pole Vault World Record 35 times. As an outdoor athlete he is known as the first man to ever 6.0m and the only man to have ever cleared 6.14m, the height of his still reigning WR set on 31 July 1994 in Sestriere, Italy. Bubka also holds the current World Indoor Record of 6.15m, which was set on 21 February 1993 in Donetsk, Ukraine. Following his career as an athlete Sergey Bubka continued working within the athletics community serving as an IAAF Council Member, the Ukraine NOC President, an IOC Member, as well as being the current IAAF Senior Vice President.

           The historic 1^st IAAF World Championships in Helsinki is indeed remembered as the first independent world festival in athletics and the spark that ignited the world’s newfound love for athletics. The birth of IAAF World Championships has given many hard-working athletes the opportunity needed to show off their potential to the world and to inspire future generations to never relent in the pursuit of their dreams.

The Daegu 2011 LOC Celebrates Celebrates D-365 & the Ticket launching Ceremony

Hello everybody!

It's me, Sarbi! Being the mascot for the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 keeps me very busy. My duties take me to many places, events, and I get to meet alot of new people. In fact, just this past week I attended the Daegu 2011 D-365 Countdown Event and Ticket Launching Ceremony!

The festivities were amazing! I met my friends from the Daegu 2011 LOC in Downtown Daegu's Banwoldang Intersection, where we teamed up with Daegu City during the annual Colorful Daegu Festival.

Here is a recap of this weekend’s events!

Here is our custom made stage at Banwoldang Intersection. This place was packed with people!

I won't lie, I was a little bit nervous before the start of the ceremony because it started to rain. What kind of luck is that? I wasn't sure if people would show up to our event because of the weather; but to my surprise, we had an amazing turnout! We ended up lucking out as  the rain stopped before the end of the event!

National University Cheerleading Squad Opening Performance

The festivities began with a performance by the National University Cheerleading Squad. These talented young ladies definitely helped us get into the spirit of the event with their amazing choreography and motivating music.



We had so many attendees we had to close off the road!




Look at the turnout!



Despite the raind, and the fact that there were not enough chairs for everybody many people came out to celebrate with us! The excitement of Daegu's citizens for the IAAF World Championships is evident as they all stood, danced, and cheered throughout the event, showing their unrelenting support!

Mr. Bum Il Kim, Mayor of Daegu City and Co-President of the Daegu 2011 LOC delivers his opening remarks.

In celebration of this monumental event, the President of the IAAF, Mr. Lamine Diack, sent a congratulatory video message to Daegu, speaking highly of the LOC’s preparations and giving his best wishes for the successful ticket launch. Daegu's City Mayor and the Co-President of the Daegu 2011 LOC, Mr. Bum Il Kim, also gave a stirring speech in which he highlighted the goals and initiatives both set and achieved by the LOC in the pursuit of hosting a successful World Championships.

Many other dignataries, including IAAF Council Member Mr. Rocky Park were present to re-launch the Daegu 2011 Official Web-Site for the online ticket sales.

Many notable figures from the Daegu City Government and Korea’s Athletics Family were present for the launching of the online sales web-site. Together, the guests re-launched the official web-site with the pressing of the ceremonial button together. The atmosphere was very moving as the crowd chanted in unison, "Sprint Together for Tomorrow” as the the official web-site and ticket sales were officially launched.

As a suprise the LOC announced a very special E-bay auction that started at the low price of a $9.58 (Same time as Usain Bolts 100m World Record of 9.58s). This special package included Premium Event Seating, round-trip tickets for 2, and 4 star hotel accommodations for the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011.  

Hyung-Joo Lim is photographed with Hye-Nyoung Cho, Co-President of the Daegu LOC and Me!

Hyung-Joo Lim’s special performance of "Champions"

Daegu citizens pledge their love of athletics!

In a further show of citizens’ support, I was surprised to see members of the audience who represented their age groups come onto the stage, where they then signed a document promising that they, along with their peers, would do as much as could to support Daegu, the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011, and the sport of athletics as a whole.



Daegu's Boys & Girls Choir singing "Ready to Dream."



Welcome to a 'Colorful Story'!

Hello everybody! Today is a very exciting day, today the Organzing Committee for the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 (LOC) is helping me to lauch my official blog: "Colorful Story."

Let me take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Sarbi, I am the Official Mascot of the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011, and this is my blog.

Here you will find a variety of stories about the history of the IAAF,  IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011, and Daegu City.

As we prepare to host the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011, giving Korea the 'Triple Crown' in the hosting of the world's three largest sporting events (Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, and the IAAF World Championships), the LOC and the city of Daegu welcome the world's athletics family to come and share in this global athletics festival.

I believe that the key to hosting the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 successfully is to welcome all thoughts, ideas, and opinions regarding this grand event.

Subscribe to my blog and keep up with what is happening before, during and after the Championships!

Thank you for your support,

Sarbi