Kirill Timofeev

The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final was a football match that took place on 8 February 2015 to determine the winner of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The match was held at the Estadio de Bata in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, and was contested by Ghana and Ivory Coast. Ghana reached the final by winning their qualifying group and then defeating Guinea and Equatorial Guinea in the quarter-final and semi-final. Ivory Coast also qualified as group winners, after which they beat Algeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The final was 0–0 at the end of normal time, and there were also no goals in extra time, with few clear-cut chances for either team. Ivory Coast had the game's only shot on target at 12 minutes, when Yaya Touré cleared the Ghanaian wall with a free kick, but his shot went straight to Ghanaian goalkeeper Brimah Razak. Ghana's Christian Atsu had what writers for France 24 named the best chance of the match when he hit the goalpost from 30 yards (27 m) on 25 minutes, from an André Ayew pass. Ayew himself also hit the goalpost on 41 minutes. With the match finishing level, it was decided by a penalty shoot-out. Ghana took a 2–0 lead, after Wilfried Bony and Junior Tallo both missed for Ivory Coast. Ivorian goalkeeper Boubacar Barry then produced a save against Afriyie Acquah, before Frank Acheampong missed Ghana's fourth penalty kick, and the teams were level. They then scored six more penalties each. After every outfield player had taken a shot, the match was decided by Barry, who saved an attempt from Ghana goalkeeper Razak and then scored past Razak himself to give the Ivory Coast a 9–8 shoot-out win and the title.

The victory was Ivory Coast's second Africa Cup of Nations victory, after they had beaten Ghana in the 1992 final, also on penalties. It lifted them from 3rd place to 2nd place among African nations in the FIFA World Rankings. In summarising the final, BBC Sport reporters noted that Ghana's defeat was "perhaps a little harsh". Ghana's Acquah was named as the man of the match. After returning home, the Ivory Coast players took part in a victory parade in the country's commercial capital Abidjan. They failed to defend the Africa Cup of Nations at the next tournament in 2017, being eliminated in the group stage.

Background

The Africa Cup of Nations, organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), is the primary international association football competition for African national teams. The 2015 tournament was the 30th edition since its inauguration in 1957. Morocco was originally chosen to host the event, but the country requested a postponement because of the Western African Ebola virus epidemic. CAF refused, and instead moved the event to Equatorial Guinea in 2014. The tournament consisted of sixteen teams who had qualified for the event, divided into four round-robin groups consisting of four teams. The two top teams from each group advanced to a knock-out phase.

The Ivory Coast appeared in their 20th Africa Cup of Nations tournament, their sole victory coming in 1992 when they defeated Ghana on sudden death in a penalty shootout at the end of a goalless draw. They later played in the final in 2006 and 2012, losing in shootouts after goalless draws against Egypt and Zambia respectively. Ghana also appeared in their 20th tournament, and their 9th final. They had previously won 4 (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982) and lost 4 (1968, 1970, 1992, 2010).

At the start of the tournament, Ivory Coast were 3rd among African nations FIFA World Rankings (28th in the world), while Ghana were 5th (37th in the world).

Route to the final

Further information: 2015 Africa Cup of Nations

Ghana

Ghana's route to the final

Opponent Result

1 Senegal 1–2

2 Algeria 1–0

3 South Africa 2–1

QF Guinea 3–0

SF Equatorial Guinea 3–0

Ghana were in the tournament's Group C, alongside Algeria, Senegal and South Africa. CAF labelled this the "group of death" as a result of the strength of the four teams. Ghana's opening game took place on 19 January 2015, against Senegal in Mongomo. Ghana took the lead on 14 minutes through a penalty by André Ayew, after Christian Atsu had been fouled, but Senegal equalised in the second half through Mame Biram Diouf. Moussa Sow, a Senegalese substitute, then scored in the third minute of injury time, to give his team a 2–1 win. In their second game, Ghana faced Algeria on 23 January in Mongomo. The match remained goalless until injury time at the end in the second half, when Ghana took the lead as Asamoah Gyan scored from a long pass by Mubarak Wakaso. Going into the final pair of games in the group, all four nations had an opportunity to qualify for the quarter-finals, but wins for Ghana and Algeria ensured they qualified in first and second place respectively. Ghana fell behind to a volley by South African Mandla Masango in their game, played on 27 January in Mongomo, but a John Boye equaliser on 73 minutes, followed by an Ayew goal gave them a 2–1 win and first place in the group.

Ghana playing against Guinea at the quarter-final.

Ghana's quarter-final took place in Malabo against Guinea, on 1 February 2015. Against a team described by reporters for BBC Sport as "poor", Ghana scored their opening goal after 4 minutes as Atsu kicked the ball into the goal from Ayew's back-heeled pass. They added a second goal just before half time, Kwesi Appiah scoring after a failed clearance by Guinea's Baïssama Sankoh. Atsu scored again on 61 minutes to complete a 3–0 win for Ghana. Their semi-final match took place four days later, also in Malabo, against hosts Equatorial Guinea. Referee Eric Otogo-Castane awarded Ghana a penalty after 41 minutes for a foul on Appiah, which was vociferously disputed by Equatorial Guinea. Ayew scored the penalty, and Equatorial Guinea attempted to restart the game, but Otogo-Castane ordered them to wait until Ghana had finished celebrating. The home supporters began throwing bottles towards Ghana's substitutes on the sideline. Ghana doubled their lead through Wakaso just before half time and then added a third through Ayew on 75 minutes. At this point, the match had to be delayed for 40 minutes as the Equatorial Guinea supporters began an attack on the Ghana supporters. The police responded by sending a helicopter, which flew within 30 feet (9 m) of the crowd and deployed smoke bombs. The Ghana team's Twitter feed later likened the events to "a war zone". Play eventually resumed and with no further goals scored, Ghana completed a 3–0 win.

Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast's route to the final

Opponent Result

1 Guinea 1–1

2 Mali 1–1

3 Cameroon 1–0

QF Algeria 3–1

SF DR Congo 3–1

Ivory Coast began their campaign with a match against Guinea in Group D, on 20 January in Malabo. Guinea, who had not been able to play any home games during qualification due to the Ebola epidemic, took the lead after 36 minutes through a Mohamed Yattara volley. Ivory Coast's Gervinho, labelled "by far the game's best player" by BBC Sport's online commentary, was sent off for hitting Naby Keïta in the face after 58 minutes, but Ivory Coast earned a draw with a Seydou Doumbia equaliser on 72 minutes. In Ivory Coast's second group game, they faced their neighbours Mali on 24 January, again in Malabo. In a game described by writers for Reuters as "bad-tempered", Ivory Coast fell behind to a Bakary Sako volley on 7 minutes, but Max Gradel earned a 1–1 draw for Ivory Coast shortly before the end. With all four games having ended 1–1, there was nothing to separate the four Group D teams going into the final pair of games. Ivory Coast faced Cameroon in their game, playing for a third time in Malabo, and they earned a 1–0 win through Gradel's 20-yard (18 m) shot on 35 minutes. This was sufficient to win the group, as the other game between Guinea and Mali finished in another 1–1 draw.

Ivory Coast playing against Algeria at the quarter-final.

Ivory Coast returned to Malabo for their quarter-final, in which they faced Algeria on 1 February. Wilfried Bony scored the opening goal for Ivory Coast on 26 minutes, following a Gradel cross. Despite Ivory Coast having more possession than Algeria after half time, Hillal Soudani scored an equaliser after 51 minutes, before Bony restored his team's advantage with a header on 68 minutes. Algeria applied pressure as they sought to equalise again, amid some poor Ivorian defending, but Ivory Coast held on and added a third goal through Gervinho in the 4th minute of injury time to seal a 3–1 win. Ivory Coast's semi-final took place on 4 February, against the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the Estadio de Bata. Yaya Touré scored for the Ivory Coast on 21 minutes, but their lead lasted only 3 minutes as Dieumerci Mbokani scored a penalty equaliser following a handball. They retook the lead through Gervinho shortly before half-time, and a goal by Wilfried Kanon midway through the second half completed their second consecutive 3–1 win and a place in the final.

Match

First half

Both teams play during the first half,

The game kicked off at 8 pm local time (7 pm UTC), at the Estadio de Bata. The referee for the game was Bakary Gassama of the Gambia, and the attendance was 32,857. Ivory Coast wore an all orange kit, while Ghana's was entirely white. Ivory Coast won an early corner, but it was cleared by Appiah with Serey Dié's long-range follow-up easily blocked. Yaya Touré had the first chance to score in the game on 12 minutes; he cleared the wall with a free kick, but the shot went straight to Ghanaian goalkeeper Brimah Razak, who caught it. This eventually proved to be the only shot on target in the entire match. Ivory Coast had another chance shortly afterwards, when Gradel shot wide following a pass from Gervinho, but the sides were relatively equal in the opening. Ghana's players made a series of long passes intended to reach Atsu, but Ivory Coast were able to defend all of these. Dié received the first booking of the evening on 15 minutes for a studs-first foul on Wakaso. Gyan then stamped on Eric Bailly's toes on 22 minutes in an off-the-ball incident, but no foul was given. Atsu had the best chance of the game on 25 minutes, when he hit the goalpost from 30 yards (27 m) from an Ayew pass.

Ivory Coast launched an attack down the right on 33 minutes, through Bailly and Gradel, the latter attempting to find Gervinho in the penalty area. Despite a defensive error from Boye, Razak was able to collect the ball. Two minutes later, Atsu sent a cross into the Ivory Coast penalty area which Appiah was unable to reach, and two minutes after that Ghana hit the goalpost for a second time with a shot from Ayew. On 41 minutes, Appiah was one-on-one with the Ivorian goalkeeper Kanon, but failed to score. The first half ended with a score of 0–0, The Guardian's Alan Smith describing it as "tense, as one would expect of a final between two sides with little to choose between them, but entertaining nonetheless".

Second half

Ghana had the first opportunity to score in the second half on 52 minutes, when Harrison Afful passed the ball to Atsu on the right-hand side following a mistake by Ivory Coast, who in turn passed to Gyan in the centre. His shot went over the goal. Neither side had many chances in the second half, the midfield dominating the attackers on both sides. There were also many fouls by both sides. Ghana won a free kick on 68 minutes, after a handball by Dié, which was taken by Wakaso and headed just wide of the goal by Boye. Two minutes later, Wakaso himself took a shot from 30 yards (27 m) out but it went high over the crossbar. A run down the right flank by Atsu gave Ghana another attack one minute after that, but Gyan's shot from the resulting pass was blocked by Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast had a chance on 82 minutes, when Bony headed over the crossbar from a Tiene cross. They then had two opportunities to win the game in the final minute, first with a block by Razak which fell to Doumbia, who was unable to convert, and then when Razak fumbled the ball following an Aurier cross, but it did not reach any Ivorian players. The match remained 0–0 at the end of normal time, which meant 30 minutes of extra time was played.

Extra time

Ghana had the first opportunity of the second half on 93 minutes when Baba Rahman ran down the left-hand side, but Aurier was able to stop the attack with a diving block. On 99 minutes, Ghana's Afriyie Acquah hit a shot from 30 yards (27 m), but once again it went over the crossbar. Ghana made their first chance a minute later when Jordan Ayew came on for Appiah. His brother, André Ayew, crossed into the penalty area on 102 minutes, but there were no attackers or defenders in the vicinity and the ball bounced away. Two minutes later, Aurier crossed from the right for Ivory Coast, Bony clearing the ball behind. Bailly was then booked just before the extra period's half-time interval, for a foul on Jordan Ayew.

Wakaso ran towards the Ivorian goal early in the second period of extra time, but his 25-yard (23 m) shot was blocked by Tiene. Doumbia then had one of the best chances of extra time shortly afterwards, but he was unable to get a shot on goal as his control of the ball was described by Smith as "dismal". On 110 minutes, Jordan Ayew beat Yaya Touré in the penalty area, but his shot from a tight angle was blocked by Kolo Touré. Both teams made two substitutions as the penalty shoot-out approached, Frank Acheampong and Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu coming on for Ghana, while Tallo Gadji and Salomon Kalou came on for Ivory Coast. The game remained 0–0 at the end of extra time, the winner of the tournament being decided by a penalty shoot-out. In their report of the game, BBC Sport said "there was a sense of inevitability throughout the match that it would go the distance as neither team appeared to be prepared to take the risks that might bring a victory".

Penalty shoot-out

John Boye takes a penalty kick to Ghana.

Ghana's Wakaso took the first penalty of the shoot-out and scored, hitting the ball to the opposite side of the goal after Barry had dived to his left. Bony then missed his penalty for Ivory Coast, his shot hitting the crossbar. Ayew followed for Ghana and scored, and then Tallo, who had not touched the ball since coming on as a late substitute, missed for Ivory Coast, hitting his shot wide. The score was 2–0 to Ghana with both teams having taken two. Ghana then missed their next penalty, as Acquah's shot was saved by Barry. Aurier scored for Ivory Coast, and then Ghana missed again, Acheampong sending his left-footed shot wide of the goal. Doumbia scored for Ivory Coast to level the shoot-out at 2–2, and then Ayew and Yaya Touré both scored to give a score of 3–3 after the regulation five kicks.

The shoot-out was now in the sudden-death phase, but the next ten penalties were all successful. Jonathan Mensah, Agyemang-Badu, Afful, Baba and Boye all scored for Ghana, while Kalou, Kolo Touré, Kanon, Bailly and Dié scored for Ivory Coast. This gave a shoot-out score of 8–8. With all ten outfield players having had a turn, the two goalkeepers were required to take a kick each themselves. Razak, who was described by Smith as "not [looking] confident", took his penalty and it was saved by his opposite number. Barry required some medical attention to his wrist following the save, but he was able to take his kick and he scored past Razak to seal a 9–8 shoot-out victory and the title for Ivory Coast.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC; French: Comité international olympique, CIO) is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss Civil Code. Founded by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas in 1894, it is the authority responsible for organising the modern (Summer, Winter, and Youth) Olympic Games.

The IOC is the governing body of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and of the worldwide "Olympic Movement", the IOC's term for all entities and individuals involved in the Olympic Games. As of 2020, there are 206 NOCs officially recognised by the IOC. The current president of the IOC is Thomas Bach of Germany, who succeeded Jacques Rogge of Belgium in September 2013.

History

IOC building in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The IOC was created by Pierre de Coubertin, on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president. As of October 2021, its membership consists of 102 active members, 44 honorary members, and one honour member (Henry Kissinger).[4] The IOC is the supreme authority of the worldwide modern Olympic Movement.

The IOC organises the modern Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games (YOG), held in summer and winter, every four years. The first Summer Olympics was held in Athens, Greece, in 1896; the first Winter Olympics was in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The first Summer YOG were in Singapore in 2010 and the first Winter YOG in Innsbruck were in 2012.

Until 1992, both Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year. After that year, however, the IOC shifted the Winter Olympics to the even years between Summer Games, to help space the planning of the two events from one another, and improve the financial balance of the IOC, which receives a proportionally greater income in Olympic years.

In 2009, the UN General Assembly granted the IOC Permanent Observer status. The decision enables the IOC to be directly involved in the UN Agenda and to attend UN General Assembly meetings where it can take the floor. In 1993, the General Assembly approved a Resolution to further solidify IOC–UN cooperation by reviving the Olympic Truce.

The IOC received approval in November 2015 to construct a new headquarters in Vidy, Lausanne. The cost of the project was estimated to stand at $156m. The IOC announced on 11 February 2019 that "Olympic House" would be inaugurated on 23 June 2019 to coincide with its 125th anniversary. The Olympic Museum remains in Ouchy, Lausanne.

Mission and roles

Further information: Olympic Charter

The stated mission of the IOC is to promote the Olympics throughout the world and to lead the Olympic Movement:

To encourage and support the organisation, development and coordination of sport and sports competitions;

To ensure the regular celebration of the Olympic Games;

To cooperate with the competent public or private organisations and authorities in the endeavour to place sport at the service of humanity and thereby to promote peace;

To act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement;

To encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures with a view to implementing the principle of equality of men and women;

IOC Session

See also: List of IOC meetings

The IOC Session is the general meeting of the members of the IOC, held once a year in which each member has one vote. It is the IOC's supreme organ and its decisions are final.

Extraordinary Sessions may be convened by the President or upon the written request of at least one third of the members.

Among others, the powers of the Session are:

To adopt or amend the Olympic Charter.

To elect the members of the IOC, the Honorary President and the honorary members.

To elect the President, the vice-presidents and all other members of the IOC Executive Board.

To elect the host city of the Olympic Games.

Subsidiaries

Olympic Foundation (Lausanne, Switzerland)

IOC Television and Marketing Services S.A. (Lausanne, Switzerland)

The Olympic Partner Programme (Lausanne, Switzerland)

Olympic Broadcasting Services S.A. (Lausanne, Switzerland)

Olympic Broadcasting Services S.L. (Madrid, Spain)

Olympic Channel Services S.A. (Lausanne, Switzerland)

Olympic Channel Services S.L. (Madrid, Spain)

Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage (Lausanne, Switzerland)

IOC Heritage Management

Olympic Studies Centre

Olympic Museum

International Programmes for Arts, Culture and Education

Olympic Solidarity (Lausanne, Switzerland)

Honours

In addition to the Olympic medals for competitors, the IOC awards a number of other honours.

The Pierre de Coubertin medal is awarded to athletes who demonstrate a special spirit of sportsmanship in Olympic events

The Olympic Cup is awarded to institutions or associations with a record of merit and integrity in actively developing the Olympic Movement

The Olympic Order is awarded to individuals for exceptionally distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement; superseded the Olympic Certificate

The Olympic Laurel is awarded to individuals for promoting education, culture, development, and peace through sport[13]

The Olympic town status has been given to some towns that have been particularly important for the Olympic Movement

IOC members

Further information: List of members of the International Olympic Committee

The first IOC, at the 1896 Athens Games

For most of its existence, the IOC was controlled by members who were selected by other members. Countries that had hosted the Games were allowed two members. When named, they did not become the representatives of their respective countries to the IOC, but rather the opposite, IOC members in their respective countries.

Oath of the International Olympic Committee

"Granted the honour of becoming a member of the International Olympic Committee and declaring myself aware of my responsibilities in such a capacity, I undertake to serve the Olympic Movement to the very best of my ability; to respect and ensure the respect of all the provisions of the Olympic Charter and the decisions of the International Olympic Committee which I consider as not the subject to appeal on my part; to comply with the code of ethics to keep myself free from any political or commercial influence and from any racial or religious consideration; to fight against all other forms of discrimination; and to promote in all circumstances the interests of the International Olympic Committee and those of the Olympic Movement."

Cessation of membership

The membership of IOC members ceases in the following circumstances:

Resignation: any IOC member may cease their membership at any time by delivering a written resignation to the President.

Non re-election: any IOC member ceases to be a member without further formality if they are not re-elected.

Age limit: any IOC member ceases to be a member at the end of the calendar year during which they reach the age of 70 or 80. Any member who joined in the 1900s ceases to be a member at age 80 and any member who joined in the 2000s ceases to be a member at age 70.

Failure to attend Sessions or take active part in IOC work for two consecutive years.

Transfer of domicile or of main center of interests to a country other than the country which was theirs at the time of their election.

Members elected as active athletes cease to be a member upon ceasing to be a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission.

Presidents and individuals holding an executive or senior leadership position within NOCs, world or continental associations of NOCs, IFs or associations of IFs, or other organisations recognised by the IOC cease to be a member upon ceasing to exercise the function they were exercising at the time of their election.

Expulsion: an IOC member may be expelled by decision of the Session if such member has betrayed their oath or if the Session considers that such member has neglected or knowingly jeopardised the interests of the IOC or acted in a way which is unworthy of the IOC.

Sports federations recognised by IOC

There are currently 82 international sports federations (IFs) recognised by the IOC. These are:

The 33 members of Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF)

The 7 members of Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF)

The 42 members of Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF)

Olympic marketing

1985 German Democratic Republic stamp

During the first half of the 20th century the IOC ran on a small budget.[19][20] As president of the IOC from 1952 to 1972, Avery Brundage rejected all attempts to link the Olympics with commercial interest.[21] Brundage believed the lobby of corporate interests would unduly impact the IOC's decision-making.[21] Brundage's resistance to this revenue stream meant the IOC left organising committees to negotiate their own sponsorship contracts and use the Olympic symbols.

When Brundage retired the IOC had US$2 million in assets; eight years later the IOC coffers had swelled to US$45 million. This was primarily due to a shift in ideology toward expansion of the Games through corporate sponsorship and the sale of television rights. When Juan Antonio Samaranch was elected IOC president in 1980 his desire was to make the IOC financially independent. Samaranch appointed Canadian IOC member Richard Pound to lead the initiative as Chairman of the "New Sources of Finance Commission".

In 1982 the IOC drafted International Sport and Leisure, a Swiss sports marketing company, to develop a global marketing programme for the Olympic Movement. ISL successfully developed the programme but was replaced by Meridian Management, a company partly owned by the IOC in the early 1990s.

In 1989, one of the staff members at ISL Marketing, Michael Payne, moved to the IOC and became the organisation's first marketing director. However ISL and subsequently Meridian, continued in the established role as the IOC's sales and marketing agents until 2002. In collaboration with ISL Marketing and subsequently Meridian Management, Payne made major contributions to the creation of a multibillion-dollar sponsorship marketing programme for the organisation which, along with improvements in TV marketing and improved financial management, helped to restore the IOC's financial viability.

Revenue

The Olympic Movement generates revenue through five major programmes.

The Olympic Movement generated a total of more than US$4 billion (€2.5 billion) in revenue during the Olympic quadrennium from 2001 to 2004.

Revenue distribution

The IOC distributes some of the Olympic marketing revenue to organisations throughout the Olympic Movement to support the staging of the Olympic Games and to promote the worldwide development of sport. The IOC retains approximately 10% of the Olympic marketing revenue for the operational and administrative costs of governing the Olympic Movement.[27]

For the 2013-2016 period, the IOC had revenues of about US$5.0 billion, of which 73% were from broadcasting rights and 18% were from The Olympic Partners. The Rio 2016 organising committee received US$1.5 billion and the Sochi 2014 organising committee received 833 million. National Olympic committees and international federations received US$739 million each.[27]

Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games

The IOC provides TOP programme contributions and Olympic broadcast revenue to the OCOGs to support the staging of the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games:

TOP programme revenue to OCOGs: the two OCOGs of each Olympic quadrennium generally share approximately 50% of TOP programme revenue and value-in-kind contributions, with approximately 30% provided to the summer OCOG and 20% provided to the winter OCOG.

Broadcast revenue to OCOGs: the IOC contributes 49% of the Olympic broadcast revenue for each Games to the OCOG. During the 2001–2004 Olympic quadrennium, the Salt Lake 2002 Organizing Committee received US$443 million, €395 million in broadcast revenue from the IOC, and the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee received US$732 million, €690 million.

Domestic programme revenue to OCOGs: the OCOGs generate substantial revenue from the domestic marketing programmes that they manage within the host country, including domestic sponsorship, ticketing and licensing.

National Olympic Committees

Further information: National Olympic Committee

The NOCs receive financial support for the training and development of Olympic teams, Olympic athletes and Olympic hopefuls. The IOC distributes TOP programme revenue to each of the NOCs throughout the world. The IOC also contributes Olympic broadcast revenue to Olympic Solidarity, an IOC organisation that provides financial support to NOCs with the greatest need.

The continued success of the TOP programme and Olympic broadcast agreements has enabled the IOC to provide increased support for the NOCs with each Olympic quadrennium. The IOC provided approximately US$318.5 million to NOCs for the 2001–2004 quadrennium.

International Olympic Sports Federations

The IOC is now the largest single revenue source for the majority of IFs, with its contributions of Olympic broadcast revenue that assist the IFs in the development of their respective sports worldwide. The IOC provides financial support from Olympic broadcast revenue to the 28 IFs of Olympic summer sports and the seven IFs of Olympic winter sports after the completion of the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics, respectively.

The continually increasing value of Olympic broadcast partnership has enabled the IOC to deliver substantially increased financial support to the IFs with each successive Games. The seven winter sports IFs shared US$85.8 million, €75 million in Salt Lake 2002 broadcast revenue. The contribution to the 28 summer sports IFs from Athens 2004 broadcast revenue has not yet been determined, but the contribution is expected to mark a significant increase over the US$190 million, €150 million that the IOC provided to the summer IFs following Sydney 2000.

Other organisations

The IOC contributes Olympic marketing revenue to the programmes of various recognised international sports organisations, including the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The Olympic Partner programme

Further information: List of the Olympic Partner sponsorship programmes

The Olympic Partner (TOP) sponsorship programme includes the following commercial sponsors of the Olympic Games.

Environmental concerns

The IOC recognises that the Olympic Games demand substantial environmental resources, activities, and construction projects that could be detrimental to a host city's environment.[28] In 1995, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch stated, "the International Olympic Committee is resolved to ensure that the environment becomes the third dimension of the organization of the Olympic Games, the first and second being sport and culture."[29] Acting on this statement, in 1996 the IOC added the "environment" as a third pillar to its vision for the Olympic Games.[30] The IOC requires cities bidding to host the Olympics to provide a comprehensive strategy to protect the environment in preparation for hosting, and following the conclusion of the Games.[31] This initiative was most notably acted upon in 2000, when the "Green Olympics" effort was developed by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games. The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics effort to host environmentally friendly games resulted in over 160 projects meeting the goal of "green" games through improved air quality and water quality, implementation of sustainable energy sources, improved waste management, and environmental education. These projects included industrial plant relocation or closure, furnace replacement, introduction of new emission standards, and more strict traffic control.[32] Most of these measures were adopted on a temporary basis, and although real improvements were realized (particularly in air quality), most of these improvements had disappeared one year following the Games. Although these improvements were short lived, IOC's inclusion of environmental policies in evaluating and selecting host cities demonstrates a corporate responsibility that may be built upon in years to come. Detailed frameworks for environmental sustainability have been released for the 2018 Winter Olympics, and 2020 Summer Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, and Tokyo, Japan, respectively.

IOC approaches

The IOC has four major approaches to addressing environmental health concerns during the construction and competitions of the Olympic Games. First, the IOC Sustainability and Legacy Commission focuses on how the IOC can improve the strategies and policies associated with environmental health throughout the process of cities hosting the Olympic Games. Secondly, every candidate city must provide information to the IOC on environmental health issues like air quality and environmental impact assessments. Thirdly, every host city is given the option to declare "pledges" to address specific or general environmental health concerns of hosting the Olympic Game. Fourthly, the IOC has every host city collaborate with the United Nations to work towards addressing environmental health objectives. Ultimately, the IOC uses these four major approaches in an attempt to minimize the negative environmental health concerns of a host city.

Venue construction effects on air

Cities hosting the Olympic Games have two primary concerns: traffic congestion and air pollution, both of which can result in compromised air quality during and after Olympic venue construction. Research at the Beijing Olympic Games identified particulate matter – measured in terms of PM10 (the amount of aerodynamic diameter of particle≤10 μm in a given amount of air) – as a top priority that should be taken into consideration. The particulate matter in the air, along with other airborne pollutants, cause both serious health problems, such as asthma, and contribute to the deterioration of urban ecosystems. Black Carbon is released into the air from incomplete combustion of carbonaceous fluids contributing to global climate change and human health effects. The black carbon concentrations are highly impacted by the truck traffic due to the traffic congestion during the massive construction. Additionally, secondary pollutants like CO, NOx, SO2, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) are also released during the venue construction, resulting in harmful effects to the environment.

Methods to measure particulates in the air

Environmental magnetic methods have been established as a successful way of measuring the degree of pollution in air, water and soil. Environmental magnetism is sensitive to particle size, and has proven effective even at low detection levels. For these reasons, it is becoming more widely used.

Measures taken to improve air quality

Various air quality measures are undertaken before and after the Olympic Games. Research studies demonstrate that the primary method to reduce concentrations of air pollutants is traffic control, including barring heavy vehicles from the roads. For the Beijing Olympics, vehicles not meeting the Euro 1 emission standards were also banned from the roads, and the odd-even rule was implemented in the Beijing administrative area. Additional air quality improvement measures include replacing coal with natural gas, suspending construction and/or imposing strict dust control on construction sites, closing or relocating the polluting industrial plants, building long subway lines, using cleaner fluid in power plants, and reducing the activity by some of the polluting factories. These were several air quality improvement measures implemented by the Beijing government. There, levels of primary and secondary pollutants were reduced, and good air quality was recorded during the Beijing Olympics on most of the days.

Venue construction effects on soil

Soil contamination can occur during the process of constructing the Olympic venues. In the case of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, negative environmental impacts were observed, including impacts on soil. Before the Games, researchers studied four areas which the Games would likely affect: a floodplain, a highway, the motorway connecting the city to Lyon, France, and a landfill. They performed an extensive analysis in the types of chemicals found in the soils in these areas both before and after the Games. Their findings revealed an increase in the number of metals in the topsoils post-Games, and indicated that soil was capable, as part of an ecosystem, of negating, or "buffering," the effects of many heavy metals. However, their findings also revealed that this was not the case for all metals, and that mercury, lead, and arsenic may have been transferred into the food chain on a massive scale. One of the promises made to Londoners when they won the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games was that the Olympic Park would be a "blueprint for sustainable living." However, residents of the allotments of Manor Road were relocated, due to the building of the Olympic stadium, and would later disagree that the Olympics had had any positive effect on their lives. Allotments, originally, were intended to provide low-income residents with a plot of land on which to grow their own food, thus receiving the dual health benefits of a supply of fresh food and outdoor work. Many of these sites were lost as a result of the Olympic venue construction, most notably the Manor Road site. Residents were promised that the allotments would be returned, and they eventually were. However, the soil quality would never be the same. Crops tended by allotment residents were the result of years of careful cultivation, and thus, those years of care and attention were destroyed by a bulldozer. Further, allotment residents were exposed to radioactive waste for five months prior to moving, during the excavation of the site for the Games. Other local residents, construction workers, and onsite archeologists faced similar exposures and risks. In contrast, the Sydney Olympic Games of 2000 provided an opportunity to improve a highly contaminated area known as the Homebush Bay site. A study commissioned by the New South Wales Government Olympic Coordination Authority, which was responsible for the Games' site preparation, looked at soil contamination prior to the Games. The work assessed soils that had been previously impacted by waste and identified areas that could pose a risk to the environment. Soil metal concentrations were found to be high enough to potentially contaminate groundwater. After risk areas were identified, a remediation strategy was developed. Contaminated soil was consolidated into four containment areas within the site, which left the remaining areas available for recreational use. Also, the contained waste materials no longer posed a threat to surrounding aquifers. Sydney's winning Olympic bid provided a catalyst to undertake the "greenest" single urban remediation ever attempted in Australia.

Venue construction effects on water

The Olympic Games can affect water quality in the surrounding region in several ways, including water runoff and the transfer of polluting substances from the air to water sources through rainfall. Harmful particulates come from both natural substances (such as plant matter crushed by higher volumes of pedestrian and vehicle traffic) and man-made substances (such as exhaust from vehicles or industry). Contaminants from these two categories lead to elevated amounts of toxins in street dust. Street dust then reaches water sources through runoff, facilitating the transfer of toxins to environments and communities that rely on these water sources. For example, one method of measuring the runoff contamination of water sources involves magnetism. Magnetism measurement systems allow specialists to measure the differences in mineral magnetic parameters in samples of water, air, and vegetation. Unlike traditional methods of measuring pollutants, magnetism is relatively inexpensive, and can identify smaller particle sizes. Another method used to assess the amount and effects of water pollutants is to measure the amount of PM2.5 in rainfall. Measuring PM2.5 (the amount of aerodynamic diameter of particle≤2.5 μm in a given amount of air) is a common metric for assessing air quality. Comparing PM2.5 levels between air and rainfall samples allows scientists to determine the amount of air pollution being transferred to water sources. Pollutants in rainfall quickly and directly affect pollution in groundwater sources. In 2013, researchers in Beijing found a significant relationship between the amount of PM2.5 concentrations in the air and in rainfall. Studies showed that rainfall had a significant "washing" effect on PM2.5 in the air, transferring a large portion of these pollutants from the air to water sources. In this way, Beijing's notorious air pollution has a direct and significant impact on rainfall, and therefore, on water resources throughout the region.

Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the IOC, was influenced by the ethos of the aristocracy as exemplified in the English public schools. The public schools subscribed to the belief that sport formed an important part of education and there was a prevailing concept of fairness in which practicing or training was considered cheating. As class structure evolved through the 20th century, the definition of the amateur athlete as an aristocratic gentleman became outdated. The advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete" of the Eastern Bloc countries further eroded the ideology of the pure amateur, as it put the self-financed amateurs of the Western countries at a disadvantage. The Soviet Union entered teams of athletes who were all nominally students, soldiers, or working in a profession, but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train on a full-time basis. Nevertheless, the IOC held to the traditional rules regarding amateurism.

Near the end of the 1960s, the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) felt their amateur players could no longer be competitive against the Soviet team's full-time athletes and the other constantly improving European teams. They pushed for the ability to use players from professional leagues but met opposition from the IIHF and IOC. At the IIHF Congress in 1969, the IIHF decided to allow Canada to use nine non-NHL professional hockey players at the 1970 World Championships in Montreal and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The decision was reversed in January 1970 after Brundage said that ice hockey's status as an Olympic sport would be in jeopardy if the change was made. In response, Canada withdrew from international ice hockey competition and officials stated that they would not return until "open competition" was instituted.

Beginning in the 1970s, amateurism requirements were gradually phased out of the Olympic Charter. After the 1988 Games, the IOC decided to make all professional athletes eligible for the Olympics, subject to the approval of the IFs.

1976 Winter Olympics (Denver, Colorado)

Main article: Bids for the 1976 Winter Olympics

The cities of Denver, Colorado, United States; Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver (with the Garibaldi mountains), Canada, made bids for the 1976 Winter Olympics.

The Games were originally awarded to Denver on 12 May 1970, but a rise in costs led to Colorado voters' rejection on 7 November 1972, by a 3 to 2 margin, of a $5 million bond issue to finance the Games with public funds.

Denver officially withdrew on 15 November, and the IOC then offered the Games to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, but they too declined, owing to a change of government following elections. Whistler would go on to be associated with neighbouring Vancouver's successful bid for the 2010 Games.

Salt Lake City, Utah, a 1972 Winter Olympics final candidate who would eventually host the 2002 Winter Olympics, offered itself as a potential host after the withdrawal of Denver. The IOC, still reeling from the Denver rejection, declined the offer from Salt Lake City and, on 5 February 1973, selected Innsbruck to host the 1976 Winter Olympics, the same city that had hosted the Games twelve years earlier.

2002 bid

Main article: 2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal

A scandal broke on 10 December 1998, when Swiss IOC member Marc Hodler, head of the coordination committee overseeing the organisation of the 2002 Games, announced that several members of the IOC had taken gifts. Although nothing strictly illegal had been done, it was felt that the acceptance of the gifts was morally dubious. Soon four independent investigations were underway: by the IOC, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), the SLOC, and the United States Department of Justice.

Before any of the investigations could even get under way, Tom Welch and David Johnson, the co-heads of the SLOC, both resigned their posts. Many others soon followed. The Department of Justice filed charges against the two: fifteen counts of bribery and fraud.

As a result of the investigation, ten members of the IOC were expelled and another ten were sanctioned.[56] Stricter rules were adopted for future bids, and caps were put into place as to how much IOC members could accept from bid cities. Additionally, new term and age limits were put into place for IOC membership, and fifteen former Olympic athletes were added to the committee.

From sporting and business standpoints, however, Salt Lake 2002 was one of the most successful Winter Olympiads in history; records were set in both the broadcasting and marketing programs. Over 2 billion viewers watched more than 13 billion viewer-hours. The Games were also financially successful raising more money with fewer sponsors than any prior Olympic Games, which left SLOC with a surplus of $40 million. The surplus was used to create the Utah Athletic Foundation, which maintains and operates many of the remaining Olympic venues.

Sex verification controversies

Sex verification is a practice used by Olympic and other sporting institutions to ensure participants compete only in categories for their sex. Verifying the sex of Olympic participants dates back to ancient Greece when Kallipateira attempted to break Greek law by dressing as a man to enter the arena as a trainer. After she was discovered a new policy was erected wherein trainers, just as athletes, were made to attend naked in order to better assure all were male.

In more recent history, sex verification has taken many forms and been subject to dispute within various societal spheres. Before mandatory sex testing, Olympic officials relied on “nude parades” and doctor's notes. Successful women athletes perceived to be masculine were most likely to be targeted for inspection. In 1968, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) implemented compulsory sex verification at the Grenoble Winter Games where a lottery system was used to determine who would be inspected with a Barr body test. The scientific community also found fault in this policy for different reasons. The use of the Barr body test was evaluated by fifteen geneticists who unanimously agreed it was scientifically invalid. By the 1970s this method was replaced with PCR testing, as well as evaluating other factors including brain anatomy and behaviour in order to verify sex Following continued backlash against mandatory sex testing of both forms, the IOC's Athletes' Commission successfully advocated for the end of the practice in 1999.

Although sex testing was no longer mandated by IOC policy, women who did not present as feminine enough continued to be inspected based on suspicion in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Games. By 2011 the IOC created a Hyperandrogenism Regulation, which aimed to standardize natural testosterone levels in women athletes. This transition in sex testing was to assure a fairness within female categories. This was due to the belief that higher testosterone levels increased athletic ability and gave unfair advantages to certain women including intersex and transgender competitors. Any female athlete flagged for suspicion and whose testosterone surpassed regulation levels, was prohibited from competing until medical treatment brought their hormone levels within the standardized amounts. It has been argued by press, scholars, and politicians that some ethnicities are disproportionately impacted by this regulation and it has been alleged that the rule endorses hegemonic gender norms. Most notable cases of competition bans due to sex testing results are as follows: Maria José Martínez-Patiño (1985), Santhi Soundarajan (2006), Caster Semenya (2009), Annet Negesa (2012), and Dutee Chand (2014).

In 2014 Dutee Chand was banned from competing internationally after being found to be in violation of the Hyperandrogenism Regulation. Following the decision of her appeal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the IOC suspended the policy for the 2016 and 2018 Games. Press advocated for the continued suspension of sex verification practices for the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Other controversies: 2006–2013

In 2006, a report ordered by the Nagano region's governor said the Japanese city provided millions of dollars in an "illegitimate and excessive level of hospitality" to IOC members, including $4.4 million spent on entertainment alone. Earlier reports put the figure at approximately $14 million. The precise figures are unknown since Nagano, after the IOC asked that the entertainment expenditures not be made public, destroyed the financial records.

International groups attempted to pressure the IOC to reject Beijing's bid in protest of the state of human rights in the People's Republic of China. One Chinese dissident who expressed similar sentiments was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for calling on the IOC to do just that at the same time that IOC inspectors were touring the city. Amnesty International expressed concern in 2006 regarding the Olympic Games to be held in China in 2008, likewise expressing concerns over the human rights situation. The second principle in the Fundamental Principles of Olympism, Olympic Charter states that "The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."[71] Amnesty International considers the policies and practices of the People's Republic as failing to meet that principle, and urged the IOC to press China to immediately enact human rights reform.

In August 2008, the IOC issued DMCA take down notices on Tibetan Protest videos of the Beijing Olympics hosted on YouTube. YouTube and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) both pushed back against the IOC, which then withdrew their complaint.

In 2010, the IOC was nominated for the Public Eye Awards. This award seeks to present "shame-on-you-awards to the nastiest corporate players of the year".

Before the start of the 2012 Olympic Games, the IOC decided not to hold a minute of silence to honor the 11 Israeli Olympians who were killed 40 years prior in the Munich Massacre. Jacques Rogge, the then-IOC President, said it would be "inappropriate" to do so. Speaking of the decision, Israeli Olympian Shaul Ladany, who had survived the Munich Massacre, commented: "I do not understand. I do not understand, and I do not accept it".

In February 2013, the IOC did not include wrestling as one of its core Olympic sports for the Summer Olympic programme for the 2020 Olympics. This decision was poorly received by the sporting and wrestling community. Wrestling was still part of the programme at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. This decision was later overturned, and wrestling was a part of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

As planned, the alpine ski run and luge racing area of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will be built in the core area of Beijing Songshan National Reserves. A great number of valuable species such as Lonicera oblata and Cypripedium shanxiense S. C. Chen are found here and many of them can not be conserved through ex situ conservation. Many Chinese professionals of biology and environmentalists deemed that if the Olympic venues are developed in such area, the rare species and integrated ecological environment will be catastrophically collapsed. Chinese government intended to remove such area out from the range of the natural reserves and chose some other area with few rare species as the reserves. Besides, the comments regarding the strict compliance with laws and protection of Songshan National Reserves are widely deleted or restricted in China. All these actions have been criticized by some media and the professionals of biology in China.

Russian doping scandal

See also: Doping in Russia, Russia at the 2016 Summer Olympics, McLaren Report, Independent Olympians at the Olympic Games, and Olympic Athletes from Russia at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Media attention began growing in December 2014 when German broadcaster ARD reported on state-sponsored doping in Russia, comparing it to doping in East Germany. In November 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published a report and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) suspended Russia indefinitely from world track and field events. The United Kingdom Anti-Doping agency later assisted WADA with testing in Russia. In June 2016, they reported that they were unable to fully carry out their work and noted intimidation by armed Federal Security Service (FSB) agents. After a Russian former lab director made allegations about the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, WADA commissioned an independent investigation led by Richard McLaren. McLaren's investigation found corroborating evidence, concluding in a report published in July 2016 that the Ministry of Sport and the FSB had operated a "state-directed failsafe system" using a "disappearing positive [test] methodology" (DPM) from "at least late 2011 to August 2015".

In response to these findings, WADA announced that RUSADA should be regarded as non-compliant with respect to the World Anti-Doping Code and recommended that Russia be banned from competing at the 2016 Summer Olympics. The IOC rejected the recommendation, stating that a separate decision would be made for each athlete by the relevant IF and the IOC, based on the athlete's individual circumstances. One day prior to the opening ceremony, 270 athletes were cleared to compete under the Russian flag, while 167 were removed because of doping. In contrast, the entire Kuwaiti team was banned from competing under their own flag (for a non-doping related matter).

The IOC's decision on 24 July 2016 was criticised by athletes and writers. It received support from the European Olympic Committees, which said that Russia was "a valued member". Cam Cole of Canada's National Post said that the IOC had "caved, as it always does, defaulting to whatever compromise it could safely adopt without offending a superpower." Expressing disappointment, a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, Hayley Wickenheiser, wrote, "I ask myself if we were not dealing with Russia would this decision to ban a nation [have] been an easier one? I fear the answer is yes." Writing for Deutsche Welle in Germany, Olivia Gerstenberger said that Bach had "flunked" his first serious test, adding, "With this decision, the credibility of the organization is shattered once more, while that of state-sponsored doping actually receives a minor boost." Bild (Germany) described Bach as "Putin's poodle". Paul Hayward, chief sports writer of The Daily Telegraph (UK), remarked, "The white flag of capitulation flies over the International Olympic Committee. Russia's deep political reach should have told us this would happen."

Leaders of thirteen national anti-doping organisations wrote that the IOC had "violated the athletes' fundamental rights to participate in Games that meet the stringent requirements of the World Anti-Doping Code" and "[demonstrated that] it lacks the independence required to keep commercial and political interests from influencing the tough decisions necessary to protect clean sport." WADA's former chief investigation, Jack Robertson, said "The anti-doping code is now just suggestions to follow or not" and that "WADA handed the IOC that excuse [not enough time before the Olympics] by sitting on the allegations for close to a year." McLaren was dissatisfied with the IOC's handling of his report, saying "It was about state-sponsored doping and the mis-recording of doping results and they turned the focus into individual athletes and whether they should compete. [...] it was a complete turning upside down of what was in the report and passing over responsibility to all the different international federations."

In contrast to the IOC, the IPC voted unanimously to ban the entire Russian team from the 2016 Summer Paralympics, having found evidence that the DPM was also in operation at the 2014 Winter Paralympics.

On 5 December 2017, the IOC announced that the Russian Olympic Committee had been suspended effective immediately from the 2018 Winter Olympics. Athletes who had no previous drug violations and a consistent history of drug testing were to be allowed to compete under the Olympic Flag as an "Olympic Athlete from Russia" (OAR). Under the terms of the decree, Russian government officials were barred from the Games, and neither the country's flag nor anthem would be present. The Olympic Flag and Olympic Anthem will be used instead, and on 20 December 2017 the IOC proposed an alternate logo for the uniforms. IOC President Thomas Bach said that "after following due process [the IOC] has issued proportional sanctions for this systematic manipulation while protecting the clean athletes." The New York Times' Rebecca Ruiz and Tariq Panja reported the decision was "without precedent in Olympics history", while Sean Ingle at The Guardian noted the IOC's view that Russian doping was an "unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport". Hugo Lowell at the i newspaper, meanwhile, reported that the IOC nonetheless stopped short of a total ban against Russia from the Games.

On 1 February 2018, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found that the IOC provided insufficient evidence for 28 athletes, and overturned their IOC sanctions. For 11 other athletes, the CAS decided that there was sufficient evidence to uphold their Sochi sanctions, but reduced their lifetime bans to only the 2018 Winter Olympics. The IOC said in a statement that "the result of the CAS decision does not mean that athletes from the group of 28 will be invited to the Games. Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation" and that "this [case] may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping". The IOC found it important to note that the CAS Secretary General "insisted that the CAS decision does not mean that these 28 athletes are innocent" and that they would consider an appeal against the court's decision. Later that month, the Russian Olympic Committee was reinstated by the IOC, despite numerous failed drug tests by Russian athletes in the 2018 Olympics, and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency was re-certified in September, despite the Russian officials not accepting the McLaren Report.

The IOC was harshly criticized for their handling of the Russian doping scandal. After reinstating the Russian Olympic committee following the 2018 Winter Olympics, Jim Walden, attorney for Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, who masterminded Russia's programme, called the move "weakness in the face of evil."

2018 ROC in Taiwan election interference controversy

On 24 November 2018, the Republic of China in Taiwan held a referendum over a change in the naming of their Olympic representation, from "Chinese Taipei," a name agreed to in 1981 by the People's Republic of China, who denies the ROC's legitimacy, to simply "Taiwan", after the main island in the Free Area. In the immediate days prior to the referendum, the IOC, under pressure from the PRC government, issued a threatening statement, suggesting that if the team underwent the name change, the IOC had the right to exercise, "suspension of or withdrawal," of the team from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In response to the allegations of election interference, the IOC stated, "The IOC does not interfere with local procedures and fully respects freedom of expression. However, to avoid any unnecessary expectations or speculations, the IOC wishes to reiterate that this matter is under its jurisdiction. " Subsequently, with many feeling significant IOC and PRC pressure, the referendum failed in Taiwan with 45.20% to 54.80%.

Bid controversies: Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020

On 1 March 2016, Owen Gibson of The Guardian reported that French financial prosecutors investigating corruption in world athletics had expanded their remit to include the bidding and voting processes for the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The story followed an earlier report in January by Gibson, who revealed that Papa Massata Diack, the son of the then-IAAF president Lamine Diack, appeared to arrange for "parcels" to be delivered to six IOC members in 2008 when Qatar was bidding for the 2016 Olympic Games, though it failed to make it beyond the shortlisting stage. Qatar denied the allegations. Gibson then reported on 11 May 2016 that a €1.3m (£1m, $1.5m) payment from the Tokyo Olympic bid team to an account linked to Papa Diack was made during Japan's successful race to host the 2020 Games. The following day, French financial prosecutors confirmed they were investigating allegations of "corruption and money laundering" of more than $2m in suspicious payments made by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid to a secret bank account linked to Papa Diack. The string of exclusives by The Guardian prompted a response from Tsunekazu Takeda of the Tokyo 2020 bid committee on 17 May 2016, though he denied any allegations of wrongdoing, and refused to reveal details of the transfers. The controversy was reignited on 11 January 2019 after it emerged Takeda had been indicted on corruption charges in France over his role in the bid process.

Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Further information: Uyghur genocide

The IOC has received criticism from numerous human rights groups and world governments, for continuing to allow Beijing to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, even in the wake of the release of the Xinjiang Papers, which documented the abuses by the Chinese government against the Uyghur Muslim population in Xinjiang, in what many governments have described as a genocide. Many government officials, notably those in the United States and the United Kingdom, have called for a boycott of the 2022 winter games. The IOC has responded to concerns by saying that the Olympic Games must not be politicized. Some Nations, including the United States, are planning a diplomatic boycott of the games, which would prohibit a diplomatic delegation from representing a nation at the games, rather than a full boycott which would also bar athletes from competing. In September 2021, the IOC suspended the National Olympic Committee of North Korea, after it failed to participate in the 2020 Summer Games over "COVID-19 Concerns". Many have speculated that this suspension was intended to send a message to other nations, that if they did not send athletes to the 2022 Winter Games, they could be suspended from participation in future Olympics.

On 14 October 2021, vice-president of the IOC, John Coates, announced that the IOC had no plans to challenge the Chinese government on humanitarian issues, stating that the issues are "not within the IOC's remit".

In December 2021, the United States House of Representatives voted unanimously for a resolution stating that the IOC had violated its own human rights commitments by cooperating with the Chinese government. In January 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation to strip the IOC of its tax exemption status in the United States.

Response to Peng Shuai disappearance

In November 2021, the IOC was criticized by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and others for its response to the 2021 disappearance of Peng Shuai, following her publishing of sexual assault allegations against former Chinese vice premier and high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party Zhang Gaoli. The IOC's response was criticized as complicit in assisting the Chinese government to silence Peng's sexual assault allegations. Zhang Gaoli previously led a steering committee for Beijing to secure the 2022 Winter Olympics.

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games. They may nominate cities within their respective areas as candidates for future Olympic Games. NOCs also promote the development of athletes and training of coaches and officials at a national level within their geographies.

National Olympic Committees

As of 2020, there are 206 National Olympic Committees. These include each of the 193 member states of the United Nations, one UN observer state (Palestine) and two states with limited recognition (Kosovo and Taiwan).

There are also ten dependent territories with recognized NOCs: four territories of the United States (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands), three British Overseas Territories (Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands), one constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Aruba), one associated state of New Zealand (the Cook Islands) and one special administrative region of China (Hong Kong).

Prior to 1996, rules for recognising dependent territories or constituent countries as separate countries within the IOC were not as strict as those within the United Nations, which allowed these territories to field teams separately from their sovereign state. Following an amendment to the Olympic Charter in 1996, NOC recognition can only be granted after recognition as an independent country by the international community. Since the rule does not apply retroactively, the dependent territories and constituent countries which were recognised before the rule change are allowed to continue sending separate teams to the Olympics, while the Faroe Islands and Macau send their own Paralympic teams.

The only state which thus qualifies to participate in the future is the Vatican City, a UN observer state. Niue, another associated state of New Zealand, could also be eligible for participation in the future as it conducts its own foreign relations and participates in several UN specialized agencies like other sovereign states. Currently, all other remaining states are ineligible to join the IOC as they are not recognised by a majority of the United Nations member countries. Constituent countries and dependent territories such as Curaçao, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Macau and New Caledonia can also no longer be recognised, so athletes from these territories can only participate in the Olympics as part of their parent nation's national team. This rule also applies to territories experiencing a change in status – the Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee was dissolved at the 123rd IOC session in July 2011 as the Netherlands Antilles ceased to exist in 2010.

For those countries and territories that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations, their National Olympic Committees also serve as the members of the Commonwealth Games Association. They are responsible for organising and overseeing their national teams at the Commonwealth Games.

Listed NOCs

This section lists the current:

206 National Olympic Committees who are recognised by the International Olympic Committee, and so are the members of the Association of National Olympic Committees.

7 National Olympic Committees who are recognised by their continental Olympic associations, but are not recognised by the International Olympic Committee (Italics).

The ANOC members are eligible to enter the Olympic Games. Some National Olympic Committees who are members of a continental Olympic association but not ANOC members compete in continental-level and subregional-level tournaments. These committees, however, are not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games.

The five continental Olympic associations are:

Africa – Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA)

America – Pan American Sports Organization (PASO)

Asia – Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)

Europe – European Olympic Committees (EOC)

Oceania – Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC)

The IOC runs the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games as competitions in which all IOC-recognised NOCs can participate. Each continent also runs its own championships for their members:

ANOCA – African Games

PASO – Pan American Games and Pan American Winter Games

OCA – Asian Games and Asian Winter Games

EOC – European Games

ONOC – Pacific Games

While not continental unions in themselves, the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees (UANOC) and International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM) organise multi-sport events between Arabic-speaking countries and Mediterranean countries respectively. All 22 National Olympic Committees that form the UANOC and the 26 from CIJM are also members of either the ANOCA, EOC or OCA and are eligible to send their athletes to either the African, European or Asian Games. National Olympic Committees from the UANOC and CIJM are noted in the list below.

Unrecognized National Olympic Committees

The Faroe Islands and Macau both have recognized National Paralympic Committees and compete at the Paralympic Games. However, neither territory's National Olympic Committee is recognized by the IOC, so they cannot participate in the Olympics. Macau remains recognized by the Olympic Council of Asia and takes part in the Asian Games.

Other existing countries/regions with unrecognized Olympic committees: Catalonia, Gibraltar, French Polynesia, Niue, Somaliland, New Caledonia, Kurdistan, Northern Cyprus, Abkhazia, Native Americans, the Northern Mariana Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, Transnistria and Turks & Caicos Islands.

South Ossetia intends to establish a National Olympic Committee, and representatives from the Republic of Artsakh take part in Armenia's National Olympic Committee.

Leslie Mark Shapiro (1956 – January 29, 2022) was an American sports media figure, an anchor for CBS Sports, and a host of the ESPN radio talk program, in Denver, Colorado. He was the play-by-play voice of the Bradley University athletic teams in Peoria, Illinois, before obtaining the post of sports anchor on the Denver CBS affiliate, CBS4, and later the Fox TV affiliate, both of which featured him as the voice of the Denver Broncos. He was a frequent master of ceremonies for charitable events in the Denver area.

Early life

Shapiro was born in 1956 in Chicago, Illinois, and was raised in Wilmette. He was graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in mass communication.

Career

Shapiro started his career as a news writer and producer for KPNX-TV in Phoenix, Arizona. He subsequently worked as a sports anchor for WEEK-TV in Peoria, Illinois, before moving to Denver in 1983. He was employed as a sports reporter and anchor by KCNC-TV for fifteen years from 1984 to 1999.

After leaving CBS4, Shapiro first worked for FOX-31, before working at ESPN Radio and Mile High Sports radio. He covered the Broncos Super Bowl victories in 1998 and 1999, the Avalanche’s first Stanley Cup championship, the inaugural season of the Colorado Rockies and performed the play-by-play for the station’s coverage of the University of Colorado Boulder football. Shapiro was noted for mentoring other local reporters and broadcasters, such as Adam Schefter and Vic Lombardi. He also served as the master of ceremonies for many charitable functions around Denver, at which he would also display his considerable singing talent.

Shapiro left Mile High Sports in February 2020 after relocating to Arizona. Two months later, he partnered with Lombardi – a prostate cancer survivor– to create a podcast called "We Are Unstoppable". It was intended to "shar[e] inspirational stories from great athletes, celebrities, and the most brilliant minds in medicine on how to beat adversity to win in life", and included guests such as Joe Theismann and Verne Lundquist. It was paused in the spring of 2021 when Shapiro's health deteriorated.

Personal life

Shapiro was married to Paula for 38 years until his death. They met while in high school. Together, they had two children: Jessie and Cary. He and his wife moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, in February 2020.

Shapiro died on the afternoon of January 29, 2022, at his home in Scottsdale. He was 65, and suffered from lung cancer in the five years leading up to his death. He did not smoke during his lifetime.

`The Golden Retriever is a British breed of retriever dog of medium size. It is characterised by a gentle and affectionate nature and a striking golden coat. It is commonly kept as a pet and is among the most frequently registered breeds in several Western countries. It is a frequent competitor in dog shows and obedience trials; it is also used as a gundog, and may be trained for use as a guide dog.

The breed was created by Sir Dudley Marjoribanks at his Scottish estate Guisachan in the late nineteenth century. He cross-bred Flat-coated Retrievers with Tweed Water Spaniels, with some further infusions of Red Setter, Labrador Retriever and Bloodhound. The breed was recognised by the Kennel Club in 1913, and during the interwar period spread to many parts of the world.

History

The Golden Retriever was developed in Scotland in the nineteenth century by Sir Dudley Marjoribanks (later to become Baron Tweedmouth) from Flat-coated Retrievers judiciously crossed with Tweed Water Spaniels and some other British dog breeds. Prior to the 1952 publication of the very detailed stud book which had been meticulously maintained by Marjoribanks, a number of romantic tales were published about the origins of the breed.

In the 1860s Marjoribanks set out to create what to his mind was the ultimate breed of retriever at his Scottish estate Guisachan. He started by acquiring a yellow-coloured Flat-coated Retriever dog called Nous; Nous had been whelped in June 1864 and was the only yellow pup in an otherwise all black-coloured litter. Whilst uncommon, occasionally liver, brown, golden or yellow-coloured purebred Flat-coated Retriever pups are whelped to matings of two black parents. It is the pedigree of Nous that was the source for the romantic tales of the heritage of the Golden Retriever. One early account claimed Nous was purchased from a Russian circus trainer in Brighton, another claimed he was bought from a cobbler, and yet another claimed a gypsy. The stud book states that Nous was a Flat-coated Retriever bred by Lord Chichester on his Stanmer Park estate near Brighton.

In 1868 Nous was mated to a Tweed Water Spaniel bitch named Belle, who is recorded in the stud book as being whelped in 1863 and being of "Ladykirk breeding". The litter from this mating consisted of four yellow pups, Primrose, Ada, Cowslip and Crocus. The best bitch from this litter, Cowslip, was mated to a Tweed Water Spaniel called Tweed with the mating producing a bitch pup called Topsy. Cowslip was subsequently mated to a Red Setter called Sampson, that mating produced a dog pup called Jack. Topsy was mated with a black Flat-coated Retriever called Sambo and a bitch pup from that litter, Zoe, was mated back to Jack and two pups from that mating were retained, a dog called Nous II and a bitch called Gill. Gill was mated to a black Labrador Retriever called Tracer, and a bitch pup from that mating, Queenie, was mated back to Nous II; all Golden Retrievers descend from this mating. The progeny from these various matings varied in colour from pure black to light cream, but it was the golden coloured ones that were retained and mated to each other, forming the foundation stock of the Golden Retriever breed. Marjoribanks is also known to have used a sandy-coloured Bloodhound and another Labrador in subsequent years of the breeding program.

In 1952 Marjoribanks's great-nephew, Giles Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester, teamed up with Elma Stonex and together they studied Marjoribanks's stud book.[5] In 1960 their research was published, presenting all of the evidence required to counter all tales of Russian ancestry.[5] The stud book, which covers the period from 1868 to 1890, is preserved in the library of the Kennel Club in London.[4]

Winifred Charlesworth with two of her Golden Retrievers, 1910s

In the early days Golden Retrievers were called the 'Flat-coated Retriever, Golden', initially the Golden Retriever was considered a colour variety of the former breed. In 1903 the Kennel Club recorded the first examples, listing them in the same register as Flat-coats. In the 1904 a Golden Retriever won a field trial and in 1908 the first examples were exhibited at conformation shows. In 1911 a breed club was formed for the breed in England, the Golden Retriever Club, and they were given a new name, the 'Yellow or Golden Retriever'; from this point they were increasingly seen as a separate breed from the Flat-coated Retriever. It was not until 1913 that the Kennel Club began recording them on a separate breed register from the Flat-coated Retriever and in 1920 the 'Yellow or' was dropped from the breed name and they were officially called the 'Golden Retriever'.

One early twentieth century enthusiast of the breed, Winifred Charlesworth, was instrumental in the establishment of the breed club as well as its separate Kennel Club recognition. It was she who drew up the first breed standard, which was adopted by the Kennel Club and with only minor amendments and remains largely unchanged. She bred and exhibited the first Golden Retriever Show Champion, was a strong advocate for maintaining the working instincts of the breed, and she is credited with popularising it at field trials and introducing it to shooting sportsmen.

In the years after the First World War its popularity increasing markedly and in the 1920s and 1930s it spread through much of the Western world. The Canadian Kennel Club recognised the breed in 1927, the American Kennel Club in 1932; the first examples were registered in France in 1934 and Australia in 1937. The worldwide popularity of the breed meant it did not suffer the misfortunes many British dog breeds did during the Second World War due to British wartime restrictions on the breeding of larger dogs, with ample quality breeding stock available globally to ensure none of its characteristics were lost.

Since the 1940s its popularity has continued to grow, and it has become one of the most recognised and most frequently registered dog breeds in the Western world.

Description

Facial features

Differences in coat colours

Appearance

The Golden Retriever is a powerfully built, medium-sized breed of dog; according to the Kennel Club breed standard, dogs stand from 56 to 61 centimetres (22 to 24 in) and bitches from 51 to 56 centimetres (20 to 22 in). Healthy adult examples typically weigh between 25 and 34 kilograms (55 and 75 lb).

The Golden Retriever has a broad head with a well-defined stop, with dark eyes set well apart, a wide and powerful muzzle, a large black nose, dark-pigmented and slightly drooping flews, and ears of moderate size set high and hanging with a slight fold. The neck is muscular and fairly long with loose-fitting skin, the shoulders well laid-back and long-bladed, and the body deep through the chest with well-sprung ribs. The back is usually level from withers to croup and the long, straight tail is usually carried flat, roughly in line with the back. The forelegs are straight with good bone, the hind legs are powerful with well bent stifles and muscular thighs, and the feet are cat-like.

The double coat is a recognisable and striking feature: the outer coat is long, flat or wavy and has good feathering on the forelegs, while the undercoat is dense and provides weather resistance. The coat can be any shade of cream, yellow or gold; the coat typically becomes paler with age. The Kennel Club breed standard prohibits red or mahogany-coloured coats, but a few white hairs on the chest are permitted Originally only yellow or golden coloured examples were permitted, this excluded many outstanding cream coloured dogs; to overcome this in 1936 the Kennel Club's standard was amended to include the cream colour. The cream colour, which in more modern times can be almost white, has become the dominant colour and is particularly favoured by conformation show exhibitors. Golden Retrievers that are bred for conformation shows tend to have longer and finer coats than those bred for working as gundogs.

The Kennel Club breed standard is accepted by every kennel club in the world except those of Canada and the United States. Breed standards in North America call for a slightly taller dog and the cream colour is not permitted.

Temperament

The Golden Retriever is considered an intelligent, gentle natured and very affectionate breed of dog. As is typical with retriever breeds, the breed is generally calm and biddable, being very easy to train and extremely keen to please their master. The breed is known to make excellent pets and family dogs, being generally extremely tolerant of children and keen to accompany any member of the family in a range of activities. Due to their affable natures, the breed is often completely devoid of guarding instincts.

The breed usually retains many of their gundog traits and instincts including an excellent sense of smell and a strong instinct to retrieve; even among those not trained as gundogs it is typical for Golden Retrievers to present their owners with toys or other objects. Compared to other retriever breeds the Golden Retriever is typically quite slow to mature.

Popularity and uses

Retrieving a shot gamebird

The Golden Retriever is one of the most commonly kept breeds of companion dog in the Western world, and is often among the top ten dog breeds by number of registrations in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Canada.It is a frequent competitor at dog shows; separate show lines of the breed have been developed. The dogs can be trained as guide dogs and therapy dogs, and may compete in obedience trials and other dog sports.

The Golden Retriever is still used as a gundog by sportsmen, both as a hunting companion in the field and for competing in field trials. It is used more for retrieval of land-based gamebirds such as grouse and partridge than for wildfowl hunting. Those used as gundogs are usually from working lines specifically bred for field use; dogs from pet or show lines are rarely suitable. A Golden Retriever with a traditional dense double coat is well suited to working in cold and wet conditions, as the coat provides water resistance and insulation. Compared to other retriever breeds, the Golden Retriever is not a strong swimmer; its long coat causes it to sit low in the water when swimming.

The Golden Retriever is much less commonly used by sportsmen as a hunting companion than the Labrador Retriever. One reason is that the breed is generally quite slow to mature, particularly compared to the Labrador; often when a Golden Retriever is still in basic training a Labrador of the same age has already completed a season of hunting. Another is its long coat, which requires more maintenance and grooming than that of the Labrador, particularly after working in muddy conditions or close cover, as their long hair is more prone to picking up dirt and burrs. More Golden Retrievers are bred as pets or for the show ring than for hunting, so it can be hard for sportsmen to find pups bred from proven working lines.

Health

Golden Retrievers are a generally healthy breed; they have an average lifespan of 12 to 13 years. Irresponsible breeding to meet high demand has led to the prevalence of inherited health problems in some breed lines, including allergic skin conditions, eye problems and sometimes snappiness. These problems are rarely encountered in dogs bred from responsible breeders.

The Golden Retriever may be affected by neurologic abnormalities including eosinophilic meningoencephalitis, extraocular myositis, Horner's syndrome, hypomyelinating polyneuropathy, idiopathic epilepsy, multiple cartilaginous exostoses, multi-system axonopathy and neuronopathy, muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, meningioma and sensory neuropathy.:  Other ailments may include elbow dysplasia, hip dysplasia, retinal dysplasia, subaortic stenosis, atopy, cataracts, corneal dystrophy, diabetes mellitus, entropion, eyelash abnormalities, histiocytosis, hydro-dysmyelinogenesis, hypothyroidism, portosystemic shunt, von Willebrand disease and X-linked muscular dystrophy.

Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, and devices) for end users.

The term was coined by Darcy DiNucci in 1999 and later popularized by Tim O'Reilly and Dale Dougherty at the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 Conference in late 2004. Although the term mimics the numbering of software versions, it does not denote a formal change in the nature of the World Wide Web, but merely describes a general change that occurred during this period as interactive websites proliferated and came to overshadow the older, more static websites of the original Web.

A Web 2.0 website allows users to interact and collaborate with each other through social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community. This contrasts the first generation of Web 1.0-era websites where people were limited to viewing content in a passive manner. Examples of Web 2.0 features include social networking sites or social media sites (e.g., Facebook), blogs, wikis, folksonomies ("tagging" keywords on websites and links), video sharing sites (e.g., YouTube), image sharing sites (e.g., Flickr), hosted services, Web applications ("apps"), collaborative consumption platforms, and mashup applications.

Whether Web 2.0 is substantially different from prior Web technologies has been challenged by World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, who describes the term as jargon. His original vision of the Web was "a collaborative medium, a place where we [could] all meet and read and write". On the other hand, the term Semantic Web (sometimes referred to as Web 3.0) was coined by Berners-Lee to refer to a web of content where the meaning can be processed by machines.

History

Web 1.0

Web 1.0 is a retronym referring to the first stage of the World Wide Web's evolution, from roughly 1991 to 2004. According to Cormode and Krishnamurthy, "content creators were few in Web 1.0 with the vast majority of users simply acting as consumers of content". Personal web pages were common, consisting mainly of static pages hosted on ISP-run web servers, or on free web hosting services such as Tripod and the now-defunct GeoCities. With Web 2.0, it became common for average web users to have social-networking profiles (on sites such as Myspace and Facebook) and personal blogs (sites like Blogger, Tumblr and LiveJournal) through either a low-cost web hosting service or through a dedicated host. In general, content was generated dynamically, allowing readers to comment directly on pages in a way that was not common previously.[citation needed]

Some Web 2.0 capabilities were present in the days of Web 1.0, but were implemented differently. For example, a Web 1.0 site may have had a guestbook page for visitor comments, instead of a comment section at the end of each page (typical of Web 2.0). During Web 1.0, server performance and bandwidth had to be considered—lengthy comment threads on multiple pages could potentially slow down an entire site. Terry Flew, in his third edition of New Media, described the differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 as a "move from personal websites to blogs and blog site aggregation, from publishing to participation, from web content as the outcome of large up-front investment to an ongoing and interactive process, and from content management systems to links based on "tagging" website content using keywords (folksonomy)."

Flew believed these factors formed the trends that resulted in the onset of the Web 2.0 "craze".

Characteristics

Some common design elements of a Web 1.0 site include:

Static pages rather than dynamic HTML.

Content provided from the server's filesystem rather than a relational database management system (RDBMS).

Pages built using Server Side Includes or Common Gateway Interface (CGI) instead of a web application written in a dynamic programming language such as Perl, PHP, Python or Ruby.

The use of HTML 3.2-era elements such as frames and tables to position and align elements on a page. These were often used in combination with spacer GIFs.

Proprietary HTML extensions, such as the <blink> and <marquee> tags, introduced during the first browser war.

Online guestbooks.

GIF buttons, graphics (typically 88×31 pixels in size) promoting web browsers, operating systems, text editors and various other products.

HTML forms sent via email. Support for server side scripting was rare on shared servers during this period. To provide a feedback mechanism for web site visitors, mailto forms were used. A user would fill in a form, and upon clicking the form's submit button, their email client would launch and attempt to send an email containing the form's details. The popularity and complications of the mailto protocol led browser developers to incorporate email clients into their browsers.

Web 2.0

The term "Web 2.0" was coined by Darcy DiNucci, an information architecture consultant, in her January 1999 article "Fragmented Future":

The Web we know now, which loads into a browser window in essentially static screenfuls, is only an embryo of the Web to come. The first glimmerings of Web 2.0 are beginning to appear, and we are just starting to see how that embryo might develop. The Web will be understood not as screenfuls of text and graphics but as a transport mechanism, the ether through which interactivity happens. It will [...] appear on your computer screen, [...] on your TV set [...] your car dashboard [...] your cell phone [...] hand-held game machines [...] maybe even your microwave oven.

Writing when Palm Inc. introduced its first web-capable personal digital assistant (supporting Web access with WAP), DiNucci saw the Web "fragmenting" into a future that extended beyond the browser/PC combination it was identified with. She focused on how the basic information structure and hyper-linking mechanism introduced by HTTP would be used by a variety of devices and platforms. As such, her "2.0" designation refers to the next version of the Web that does not directly relate to the term's current use.

The term Web 2.0 did not resurface until 2002. Kinsley and Eric focus on the concepts currently associated with the term where, as Scott Dietzen puts it, "the Web becomes a universal, standards-based integration platform". In 2004, the term began to popularize when O'Reilly Media and MediaLive hosted the first Web 2.0 conference. In their opening remarks, John Battelle and Tim O'Reilly outlined their definition of the "Web as Platform", where software applications are built upon the Web as opposed to upon the desktop. The unique aspect of this migration, they argued, is that "customers are building your business for you". They argued that the activities of users generating content (in the form of ideas, text, videos, or pictures) could be "harnessed" to create value. O'Reilly and Battelle contrasted Web 2.0 with what they called "Web 1.0". They associated this term with the business models of Netscape and the Encyclopædia Britannica Online. For example,

Netscape framed "the web as platform" in terms of the old software paradigm: their flagship product was the web browser, a desktop application, and their strategy was to use their dominance in the browser market to establish a market for high-priced server products. Control over standards for displaying content and applications in the browser would, in theory, give Netscape the kind of market power enjoyed by Microsoft in the PC market. Much like the "horseless carriage" framed the automobile as an extension of the familiar, Netscape promoted a "webtop" to replace the desktop, and planned to populate that webtop with information updates and applets pushed to the webtop by information providers who would purchase Netscape servers.

In short, Netscape focused on creating software, releasing updates and bug fixes, and distributing it to the end users. O'Reilly contrasted this with Google, a company that did not, at the time, focus on producing end-user software, but instead on providing a service based on data, such as the links that Web page authors make between sites. Google exploits this user-generated content to offer Web searches based on reputation through its "PageRank" algorithm. Unlike software, which undergoes scheduled releases, such services are constantly updated, a process called "the perpetual beta". A similar difference can be seen between the Encyclopædia Britannica Online and Wikipedia – while the Britannica relies upon experts to write articles and release them periodically in publications, Wikipedia relies on trust in (sometimes anonymous) community members to constantly write and edit content. Wikipedia editors are not required to have educational credentials, such as degrees, in the subjects in which they are editing. Wikipedia is not based on subject-matter expertise, but rather on an adaptation of the open source software adage "given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow". This maxim is stating that if enough users are able to look at a software product's code (or a website), then these users will be able to fix any "bugs" or other problems. The Wikipedia volunteer editor community produces, edits, and updates articles constantly. O'Reilly's Web 2.0 conferences have been held every year since 2004, attracting entrepreneurs, representatives from large companies, tech experts and technology reporters.

The popularity of Web 2.0 was acknowledged by 2006 TIME magazine Person of The Year (You). That is, TIME selected the masses of users who were participating in content creation on social networks, blogs, wikis, and media sharing sites.

In the cover story, Lev Grossman explains:

It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world but also change the way the world changes.

Technologies

The client-side (Web browser) technologies used in Web 2.0 development include Ajax and JavaScript frameworks. Ajax programming uses JavaScript and the Document Object Model (DOM) to update selected regions of the page area without undergoing a full page reload. To allow users to continue interacting with the page, communications such as data requests going to the server are separated from data coming back to the page (asynchronously).

Otherwise, the user would have to routinely wait for the data to come back before they can do anything else on that page, just as a user has to wait for a page to complete the reload. This also increases the overall performance of the site, as the sending of requests can complete quicker independent of blocking and queueing required to send data back to the client. The data fetched by an Ajax request is typically formatted in XML or JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format, two widely used structured data formats. Since both of these formats are natively understood by JavaScript, a programmer can easily use them to transmit structured data in their Web application.

When this data is received via Ajax, the JavaScript program then uses the Document Object Model to dynamically update the Web page based on the new data, allowing for rapid and interactive user experience. In short, using these techniques, web designers can make their pages function like desktop applications. For example, Google Docs uses this technique to create a Web-based word processor.

As a widely available plug-in independent of W3C standards (the World Wide Web Consortium is the governing body of Web standards and protocols), Adobe Flash is capable of doing many things that were not possible pre-HTML5. Of Flash's many capabilities, the most commonly used is its ability to integrate streaming multimedia into HTML pages. With the introduction of HTML5 in 2010 and the growing concerns with Flash's security, the role of Flash is decreasing.

In addition to Flash and Ajax, JavaScript/Ajax frameworks have recently become a very popular means of creating Web 2.0 sites. At their core, these frameworks use the same technology as JavaScript, Ajax, and the DOM. However, frameworks smooth over inconsistencies between Web browsers and extend the functionality available to developers. Many of them also come with customizable, prefabricated 'widgets' that accomplish such common tasks as picking a date from a calendar, displaying a data chart, or making a tabbed panel.

On the server-side, Web 2.0 uses many of the same technologies as Web 1.0. Languages such as Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, as well as Enterprise Java (J2EE) and Microsoft.NET Framework, are used by developers to output data dynamically using information from files and databases. This allows websites and web services to share machine readable formats such as XML (Atom, RSS, etc.) and JSON. When data is available in one of these formats, another website can use it to integrate a portion of that site's functionality.

Concepts

Web 2.0 can be described in three parts:

Rich web application — defines the experience brought from desktop to browser, whether it is "rich" from a graphical point of view or a usability/interactivity or features point of view.

Web-oriented architecture (WOA) — defines how Web 2.0 applications expose their functionality so that other applications can leverage and integrate the functionality providing a set of much richer applications. Examples are feeds, RSS feeds, web services, mashups.

Social Web — defines how Web 2.0 websites tend to interact much more with the end user and make the end user an integral part of the website, either by adding his or her profile, adding comments on content, uploading new content, or adding user-generated content (e.g., personal digital photos).

As such, Web 2.0 draws together the capabilities of client- and server-side software, content syndication and the use of network protocols. Standards-oriented Web browsers may use plug-ins and software extensions to handle the content and user interactions. Web 2.0 sites provide users with information storage, creation, and dissemination capabilities that were not possible in the environment known as "Web 1.0".

Web 2.0 sites include the following features and techniques, referred to as the acronym SLATES by Andrew McAfee:[34]

Search

Finding information through keyword search.

Links to other websites

Connects information sources together using the model of the Web.

Authoring

The ability to create and update content leads to the collaborative work of many authors. Wiki users may extend, undo, redo and edit each other's work. Comment systems allow readers to contribute their viewpoints.

Tags

Categorization of content by users adding "tags" — short, usually one-word or two-word descriptions — to facilitate searching. For example, a user can tag a metal song as "death metal". Collections of tags created by many users within a single system may be referred to as "folksonomies" (i.e., folk taxonomies).

Extensions

Software that makes the Web an application platform as well as a document server. Examples include Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, ActiveX, Oracle Java, QuickTime, WPS Office and Windows Media.

Signals

The use of syndication technology, such as RSS feeds to notify users of content changes.

While SLATES forms the basic framework of Enterprise 2.0, it does not contradict all of the higher level Web 2.0 design patterns and business models. It includes discussions of self-service IT, the long tail of enterprise IT demand, and many other consequences of the Web 2.0 era in enterprise uses.

Social Web

A third important part of Web 2.0 is the social web. The social Web consists of a number of online tools and platforms where people share their perspectives, opinions, thoughts and experiences. Web 2.0 applications tend to interact much more with the end user. As such, the end user is not only a user of the application but also a participant by:

Podcasting

Blogging

Tagging

Curating with RSS

Social bookmarking

Social networking

Social media

Wikis

Web content voting: Review site or Rating site

The popularity of the term Web 2.0, along with the increasing use of blogs, wikis, and social networking technologies, has led many in academia and business to append a flurry of 2.0's to existing concepts and fields of study, including Library 2.0, Social Work 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, PR 2.0,[38] Classroom 2.0,[39] Publishing 2.0, Medicine 2.0, Telco 2.0, Travel 2.0, Government 2.0, and even Porn 2.0. Many of these 2.0s refer to Web 2.0 technologies as the source of the new version in their respective disciplines and areas. For example, in the Talis white paper "Library 2.0: The Challenge of Disruptive Innovation", Paul Miller argues

Blogs, wikis and RSS are often held up as exemplary manifestations of Web 2.0. A reader of a blog or a wiki is provided with tools to add a comment or even, in the case of the wiki, to edit the content. This is what we call the Read/Write web. Talis believes that Library 2.0 means harnessing this type of participation so that libraries can benefit from increasingly rich collaborative cataloging efforts, such as including contributions from partner libraries as well as adding rich enhancements, such as book jackets or movie files, to records from publishers and others.

Here, Miller links Web 2.0 technologies and the culture of participation that they engender to the field of library science, supporting his claim that there is now a "Library 2.0". Many of the other proponents of new 2.0s mentioned here use similar methods. The meaning of Web 2.0 is role dependent. For example, some use Web 2.0 to establish and maintain relationships through social networks, while some marketing managers might use this promising technology to "end-run traditionally unresponsive I.T. department[s]."

There is a debate over the use of Web 2.0 technologies in mainstream education. Issues under consideration include the understanding of students' different learning modes; the conflicts between ideas entrenched in informal online communities and educational establishments' views on the production and authentication of 'formal' knowledge; and questions about privacy, plagiarism, shared authorship and the ownership of knowledge and information produced and/or published on line.

Marketing

Web 2.0 is used by companies, non-profit organisations and governments for interactive marketing. A growing number of marketers are using Web 2.0 tools to collaborate with consumers on product development, customer service enhancement, product or service improvement and promotion. Companies can use Web 2.0 tools to improve collaboration with both its business partners and consumers. Among other things, company employees have created wikis—Websites that allow users to add, delete, and edit content — to list answers to frequently asked questions about each product, and consumers have added significant contributions.

Another marketing Web 2.0 lure is to make sure consumers can use the online community to network among themselves on topics of their own choosing.[47] Mainstream media usage of Web 2.0 is increasing. Saturating media hubs—like The New York Times, PC Magazine and Business Week — with links to popular new Web sites and services, is critical to achieving the threshold for mass adoption of those services.[48] User web content can be used to gauge consumer satisfaction. In a recent article for Bank Technology News, Shane Kite describes how Citigroup's Global Transaction Services unit monitors social media outlets to address customer issues and improve products.

Destination marketing

In tourism industries, social media is an effective channel to attract travellers and promote tourism products and services by engaging with customers. The brand of tourist destinations can be built through marketing campaigns on social media and by engaging with customers. For example, the “Snow at First Sight” campaign launched by the State of Colorado aimed to bring brand awareness to Colorado as a winter destination. The campaign used social media platforms, for example, Facebook and Twitter, to promote this competition, and requested the participants to share experiences, pictures and videos on social media platforms. As a result, Colorado enhanced their image as a winter destination and created a campaign worth about $2.9 million.

The tourism organisation can earn brand royalty from interactive marketing campaigns on social media with engaging passive communication tactics. For example, “Moms” advisors of the Walt Disney World are responsible for offering suggestions and replying to questions about the family trips at Walt Disney World. Due to its characteristic of expertise in Disney, “Moms” was chosen to represent the campaign.[50] Social networking sites, such as Facebook, can be used as a platform for providing detailed information about the marketing campaign, as well as real-time online communication with customers. Korean Airline Tour created and maintained a relationship with customers by using Facebook for individual communication purposes.

Travel 2.0 refers a model of Web 2.0 on tourism industries which provides virtual travel communities. The travel 2.0 model allows users to create their own content and exchange their words through globally interactive features on websites.[52][53] The users also can contribute their experiences, images and suggestions regarding their trips through online travel communities. For example, TripAdvisor is an online travel community which enables user to rate and share autonomously their reviews and feedback on hotels and tourist destinations. Non pre-associate users can interact socially and communicate through discussion forums on TripAdvisor.

Social media, especially Travel 2.0 websites, plays a crucial role in decision-making behaviors of travelers. The user-generated content on social media tools have a significant impact on travelers choices and organisation preferences. Travel 2.0 sparked radical change in receiving information methods for travelers, from business-to-customer marketing into peer-to-peer reviews. User-generated content became a vital tool for helping a number of travelers manage their international travels, especially for first time visitors. The travellers tend to trust and rely on peer-to-peer reviews and virtual communications on social media rather than the information provided by travel suppliers.

In addition, an autonomous review feature on social media would help travelers reduce risks and uncertainties before the purchasing stages. Social media is also a channel for customer complaints and negative feedback which can damage images and reputations of organisations and destinations. For example, a majority of UK travellers read customer reviews before booking hotels, these hotels receiving negative feedback would be refrained by half of customers.

Therefore, the organisations should develop strategic plans to handle and manage the negative feedback on social media. Although the user-generated content and rating systems on social media are out of a business' controls, the business can monitor those conversations and participate in communities to enhance customer loyalty and maintain customer relationships.

Education

Web 2.0 could allow for more collaborative education. For example, blogs give students a public space to interact with one another and the content of the class. Some studies suggest that Web 2.0 can increase the public's understanding of science, which could improve government policy decisions. A 2012 study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison notes that "...the internet could be a crucial tool in increasing the general public’s level of science literacy. This increase could then lead to better communication between researchers and the public, more substantive discussion, and more informed policy decision."

Web-based applications and desktops

Ajax has prompted the development of Web sites that mimic desktop applications, such as word processing, the spreadsheet, and slide-show presentation. WYSIWYG wiki and blogging sites replicate many features of PC authoring applications. Several browser-based services have emerged, including EyeOS[58] and YouOS.(No longer active.)[59] Although named operating systems, many of these services are application platforms. They mimic the user experience of desktop operating systems, offering features and applications similar to a PC environment, and are able to run within any modern browser. However, these so-called "operating systems" do not directly control the hardware on the client's computer. Numerous web-based application services appeared during the dot-com bubble of 1997–2001 and then vanished, having failed to gain a critical mass of customers.

Distribution of media

XML and RSS

Many regard syndication of site content as a Web 2.0 feature. Syndication uses standardized protocols to permit end-users to make use of a site's data in another context (such as another Web site, a browser plugin, or a separate desktop application). Protocols permitting syndication include RSS (really simple syndication, also known as Web syndication), RDF (as in RSS 1.1), and Atom, all of which are XML-based formats. Observers have started to refer to these technologies as Web feeds. Specialized protocols such as FOAF and XFN (both for social networking) extend the functionality of sites and permit end-users to interact without centralized Web sites.

Web APIs

Main article: Web API

Web 2.0 often uses machine-based interactions such as REST and SOAP. Servers often expose proprietary Application programming interfaces (API), but standard APIs (for example, for posting to a blog or notifying a blog update) have also come into use. Most communications through APIs involve XML or JSON payloads. REST APIs, through their use of self-descriptive messages and hypermedia as the engine of application state, should be self-describing once an entry URI is known. Web Services Description Language (WSDL) is the standard way of publishing a SOAP Application programming interface and there are a range of Web service specifications.

Trademark

In November 2004, CMP Media applied to the USPTO for a service mark on the use of the term "WEB 2.0" for live events.On the basis of this application, CMP Media sent a cease-and-desist demand to the Irish non-profit organization IT@Cork on May 24, 2006, but retracted it two days later. The "WEB 2.0" service mark registration passed final PTO Examining Attorney review on May 10, 2006, and was registered on June 27, 2006. The European Union application (which would confer unambiguous status in Ireland) was declined on May 23, 2007.

Criticism

Critics of the term claim that "Web 2.0" does not represent a new version of the World Wide Web at all, but merely continues to use so-called "Web 1.0" technologies and concepts. First, techniques such as Ajax do not replace underlying protocols like HTTP, but add a layer of abstraction on top of them. Second, many of the ideas of Web 2.0 were already featured in implementations on networked systems well before the term "Web 2.0" emerged. Amazon.com, for instance, has allowed users to write reviews and consumer guides since its launch in 1995, in a form of self-publishing. Amazon also opened its API to outside developers in 2002. Previous developments also came from research in computer-supported collaborative learning and computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) and from established products like Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino, all phenomena that preceded Web 2.0. Tim Berners-Lee, who developed the initial technologies of the Web, has been an outspoken critic of the term, while supporting many of the elements associated with it. In the environment where the Web originated, each workstation had a dedicated IP address and always-on connection to the Internet. Sharing a file or publishing a web page was as simple as moving the file into a shared folder.

Perhaps the most common criticism is that the term is unclear or simply a buzzword. For many people who work in software, version numbers like 2.0 and 3.0 are for software versioning or hardware versioning only, and to assign 2.0 arbitrarily to many technologies with a variety of real version numbers has no meaning. The web does not have a version number. For example, in a 2006 interview with IBM developerWorks podcast editor Scott Laningham, Tim Berners-Lee described the term "Web 2.0" as a jargon:

"Nobody really knows what it means... If Web 2.0 for you is blogs and wikis, then that is people to people. But that was what the Web was supposed to be all along... Web 2.0, for some people, it means moving some of the thinking [to the] client side, so making it more immediate, but the idea of the Web as interaction between people is really what the Web is. That was what it was designed to be... a collaborative space where people can interact."

Other critics labeled Web 2.0 "a second bubble" (referring to the Dot-com bubble of 1997–2000), suggesting that too many Web 2.0 companies attempt to develop the same product with a lack of business models. For example, The Economist has dubbed the mid- to late-2000s focus on Web companies as "Bubble 2.0".

In terms of Web 2.0's social impact, critics such as Andrew Keen argue that Web 2.0 has created a cult of digital narcissism and amateurism, which undermines the notion of expertise by allowing anybody, anywhere to share and place undue value upon their own opinions about any subject and post any kind of content, regardless of their actual talent, knowledge, credentials, biases or possible hidden agendas. Keen's 2007 book, Cult of the Amateur, argues that the core assumption of Web 2.0, that all opinions and user-generated content are equally valuable and relevant, is misguided. Additionally, Sunday Times reviewer John Flintoff has characterized Web 2.0 as "creating an endless digital forest of mediocrity: uninformed political commentary, unseemly home videos, embarrassingly amateurish music, unreadable poems, essays and novels... mistakes, half-truths and misunderstandings". In a 1994 Wired interview, Steve Jobs, forecasting the future development of the web for personal publishing, said "The Web is great because that person can't foist anything on you-you have to go get it. They can make themselves available, but if nobody wants to look at their site, that's fine. To be honest, most people who have something to say get published now." Michael Gorman, former president of the American Library Association has been vocal about his opposition to Web 2.0 due to the lack of expertise that it outwardly claims, though he believes that there is hope for the future.

"The task before us is to extend into the digital world the virtues of authenticity, expertise, and scholarly apparatus that have evolved over the 500 years of print, virtues often absent in the manuscript age that preceded print".

There is also a growing body of critique of Web 2.0 from the perspective of political economy. Since, as Tim O'Reilly and John Batelle put it, Web 2.0 is based on the "customers... building your business for you," critics have argued that sites such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are exploiting the "free labor" of user-created content. Web 2.0 sites use Terms of Service agreements to claim perpetual licenses to user-generated content, and they use that content to create profiles of users to sell to marketers. This is part of increased surveillance of user activity happening within Web 2.0 sites. Jonathan Zittrain of Harvard's Berkman Center for the Internet and Society argues that such data can be used by governments who want to monitor dissident citizens. The rise of AJAX-driven web sites where much of the content must be rendered on the client has meant that users of older hardware are given worse performance versus a site purely composed of HTML, where the processing takes place on the server. Accessibility for disabled or impaired users may also suffer in a Web 2.0 site.

Others have noted that Web 2.0 technologies are tied to particular political ideologies. "Web 2.0 discourse is a conduit for the materialization of neoliberal ideology." The technologies of Web 2.0 may also "function as a disciplining technology within the framework of a neoliberal political economy."

When looking at Web 2.0 from a cultural convergence view, according to Henry Jenkins, it can be problematic because the consumers are doing more and more work in order to entertain themselves. For instance, Twitter offers online tools for users to create their own tweet, in a way the users are doing all the work when it comes to producing media content.

ClimateSaintSaint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербург, tr. Sankt-Peterburg), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), is the second-largest city in Russia. It is situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, with a population of roughly 5.4 million residents. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, as well as the world's northernmost city with over 1 million residents. As Russia's Imperial capital, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city.

SaintClimateSaint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербург, tr. Sankt-Peterburg), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), is the second-largest city in Russia. It is situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, with a population of roughly 5.4 million residents. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, as well as the world's northernmost city with over 1 million residents. As Russia's Imperial capital, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city.

The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after apostle Saint Peter. Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russia's entry into modern history as a European great power. It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia, and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1713 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 1728 and 1730). After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow.

Saint Petersburg is known as the "Cultural Capital of Russia, and received over 15 million tourists in 2018. It is considered an important economic, scientific, cultural, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe. In modern times, the city has the nickname of the "Northern Capital" and serves as a home to some federal government bodies such as the Constitutional Court of Russia and the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation. It is also a seat for the National Library of Russia and a planned location for the Supreme Court of Russia, as well as the home to the headquarters of the Russian Navy, and the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.

Geography

The area of Saint Petersburg city proper is 605.8 km2 (233.9 square miles). The area of the federal subject is 1,439 km2 (556 sq mi), which contains Saint Petersburg proper (consisting of eighty-one municipal okrugs), nine municipal towns – (Kolpino, Krasnoye Selo, Kronstadt, Lomonosov, Pavlovsk, Petergof, Pushkin, Sestroretsk, Zelenogorsk) – and twenty-one municipal settlements.

Petersburg is on the middle taiga lowlands along the shores of the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland, and islands of the river delta. The largest are Vasilyevsky Island (besides the artificial island between Obvodny canal and Fontanka, and Kotlin in the Neva Bay), Petrogradsky, Dekabristov and Krestovsky. The latter together with Yelagin and Kamenny Island are covered mostly by parks. The Karelian Isthmus, North of the city, is a popular resort area. In the south, Saint Petersburg crosses the Baltic-Ladoga Klint and meets the Izhora Plateau.

The elevation of Saint Petersburg ranges from the sea level to its highest point of 175.9 m (577 ft) at the Orekhovaya Hill in the Duderhof Heights in the south. Part of the city's territory west of Liteyny Prospekt is no higher than 4 m (13 ft) above sea level, and has suffered from numerous floods. Floods in Saint Petersburg are triggered by a long wave in the Baltic Sea, caused by meteorological conditions, winds and shallowness of the Neva Bay. The five most disastrous floods occurred in 1824 (4.21 m or 13 ft 10 in above sea level, during which over 300 buildings were destroyed[b]); 1924 (3.8 m, 12 ft 6 in); 1777 (3.21 m, 10 ft 6 in); 1955 (2.93 m, 9 ft 7 in); and 1975 (2.81 m, 9 ft 3 in). To prevent floods, the Saint Petersburg Dam has been constructed.

Since the 18th century, the city's terrain has been raised artificially, at some places by more than 4 m (13 ft), making mergers of several islands, and changing the hydrology of the city. Besides the Neva and its tributaries, other important rivers of the federal subject of Saint Petersburg are Sestra, Okhta and Izhora. The largest lake is Sestroretsky Razliv in the north, followed by Lakhtinsky Razliv, Suzdal Lakes, and other smaller lakes.

Due to its northerly location at c. 60° N latitude the day length in Petersburg varies across seasons, ranging from 5 hours 53 minutes to 18 hours 50 minutes. A period from mid-May to mid-July during which twilight may last all night is called the white nights.

Saint Petersburg is about 165 km (103 miles) from the border with Finland, connected to it via the M10 highway (E18), along which there is also a connection to the historic city of Vyborg.

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Saint Petersburg is classified as Dfb, a humid continental climate. The distinct moderating influence of Baltic Sea cyclones results in warm, humid, and short summers and long, moderately cold wet winters. The climate of Saint Petersburg is close to that of Helsinki, although colder in winter and warmer in summer because of its more eastern location.

The average maximum temperature in July is 23 °C (73 °F), and the average minimum temperature in February is −8.5 °C (16.7 °F); an extreme temperature of 37.1 °C (98.8 °F) occurred during the 2010 Northern Hemisphere summer heat wave. A winter minimum of −35.9 °C (−32.6 °F) was recorded in 1883. The average annual temperature is 5.8 °C (42.4 °F). The Neva River within the city limits usually freezes up in November–December and break-up occurs in April. From December to March there are 118 days on average with snow cover, which reaches an average snow depth of 19 cm (7.5 in) by February. The frost-free period in the city lasts on average for about 135 days. Despite St. Petersburg's northern location, its winters are warmer than Moscow's due to the Gulf of Finland and some Gulf Stream influence from Scandinavian winds that can bring temperature slightly above freezing. The city also has a slightly warmer climate than its suburbs. Weather conditions are quite variable all year round.

Average annual precipitation varies across the city, averaging 660 mm (26 in) per year and reaching maximum in late summer. Due to the cool climate, soil moisture is almost always high because of lower evapotranspiration. Air humidity is 78% on average, and there are, on average, 165 overcast days per year.

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Apatity is a town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located along the Murman Railway, 23 km (14 mi) west of Kirovsk and 185 km (115 mi) south of Murmansk, the administrative center of the oblast. The town is named after one of its most abundant natural resources in the area, apatite, the raw mineral used in the production of phosphorus mineral fertilizers. Population: 59,672 (2010 Census).

Geography

The town is located on the Kola Peninsula, between Lake Imandra and the Khibiny Mountains, by the left bank of the Belaya River.

History

The passing loop of Bely on the Leningrad-Murmansk Railway was built in 1926 and the settlement of Apatity was founded in 1930. It was classified as an urban locality by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) Resolution of August 20, 1935, when the settlement of pri sovkhoze "Industriya" was merged into Apatity and it was granted work settlement status.

Many of the early settlers in the Apatity area were former "rich peasants" from several regions of Northwestern Russia, resettled to Murmansk Oblast as part of Stalin's Dekulakization program. Members of certain ethnic minorities were deported to Apatity as well.

On January 6, 1966, the Murmansk Oblast Executive Committee petitioned to transform the work settlement of Molodyozhny in jurisdiction of Kirovsk into a town under oblast jurisdiction called Khibinogorsk and on subordinating a part of the area in Kirovsk's jurisdiction to it. The petition was reviewed by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR, which, however, decreed on July 7, 1966 to merge the work settlements of Molodyozhny and Apatity into a town under oblast jurisdiction, which would retain the name Apatity. Consequently, the Murmansk Oblast Executive Committee subordinated a part of the territory in Kirovsk's jurisdiction to the new town by the decision of October 13, 1966.

By the November 29, 1979 Decree by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR, Kovdorsky District was formed from the parts of the territory in Apatity's jurisdiction. The work settlement of Polyarnye Zori subordinated to Apatity was elevated in status to that of a town under oblast jurisdiction by another Decree of April 22, 1991. A part of the territory in jurisdiction of Apatity was also transferred to Polyarnye Zori by the Decision of the Presidium of the Murmansk Oblast Soviet of People's Deputies of May 16, 1991.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is, together with two rural localities, incorporated as Apatity Town with Jurisdictional Territory—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, Apatity Town with Jurisdictional Territory is incorporated as Apatity Urban Okrug.

Economy

See also: Kola Alkaline Province

The main employer of Apatity is JSC "Apatit", the largest mining and concentrating enterprise in Europe and Russia. Other employers include the Kola Science Center of the Russian Academy of Science and various state and private enterprises.

The joint civilian-military Kirovsk-Apatity Airport is located 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) southeast of the town.

Demographic evolution

1939: 4,000

1959: 15,200

1970: 45,600

1989: 88,026 (1989 Census)

2002: 64,405 (2002 Census)

2010: 59,672 (2010 Census)

Museums

Museum of Investigation and Development History of the European North of Russia (International Cultural Center of KSC RAS);

Museum of regional studies and history (municipal);

Geological museum (KSC RAS);

Mineralogical museum (The Institute of Geology KSC RAS)

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The browser from Yandex takes the second place in the desktop computer market in Runet, second only to Google Chrome; Yandex.Browser is also the second most used among smartphone users, as well as tablet users. As of January 2022, the share of the browser among all devices in Runet is 25.65%.