Ethiopian Olympic Committee

International Table Tennis Course successfully con

A technical course for coaches in table tennis has been held in Addis Ababa from April 17-23, 2007. The International coaching course for ITTF Level One Coaches was given to 28 trainees from the nine regional states and two city administrations. Olympic Solidarity, Ethiopian Olympic Committee and Ethiopian Table Tennis Federation as well as International Table Tennis Federation organized the course. According to the trainer Mr. Sylvain Chermette, “In the immediate future the country will not be a world leader in high level table tennis like Germany, but if motivation and passion count for anything, their progress will be rapid and standard of table tennis in the country will no doubt grow. The Ethiopian National Team was third at the African Table Tennis Championship in 2004 and could be regular claimant to African titles and medals in the next few years.”

EOC organizes Sports Medicine Course

Ethiopian Olympic Committee, in collaboration with International Olympic Committee, has recently organized a four-day Sports Medicine Course for National Coaches. The course attended by 27 coaches drawn from national sports federations took place from April 25-28, 2007 in Addis Ababa. Participants appreciated the course and called for its conduct at all regional states and city administrations. Mr. Zerihun Biyadigilgn, a senior instructor who offered the training, on his part lauded EOC for making all national coaches of all federations attend the course and urged the consolidation of the effort, while calling on the trainees to implement the knowledge they have acquired.

First Ethiopian Olympic marathon runner passes awa

The first Ethiopian Olympic Marathon runner, Seargent Bashaye Feleke passed away late last month due to poor health. The 91-year-old athlete represented Ethiopia at the 16th Melbourne Olympiad held in Australia in 1956. At this Olympiad, where Ethiopia took part for the first time, the marathon runner managed to stand 21st. Sergeant Bashaye is survived by his wife and seven children.

When the Ethiopian Crown Prince Teferi Mekonnen paid a six-month visit to Europe in 1924, one of the countries he visited was France . The Eighth Olympic Games has been underway in Paris during his visit.

Invited by Baron Pierre de Coubertin to watch the games, the crown prince attended the Paris Olympic Games along with European kings. Seizing the opportunity, the crown prince also discussed with Baron Pierre de Coubertin on how Ethiopia could take part in the Olympic Games. As the IOC president had a strong desire to spread Olympics across the world, he gladly accepted the proposition of the crown prince.

Encouraged by this, the crown prince on his return from Europe expressed Ethiopia's desire to join the International Olympic Committee and take part in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympiad. Since the Belgian Count Henri de Baillet-Latour was then president of the IOC the crown prince forwarded the request through the Belgian Consulate in Addis Ababa .

Unlike Baron Pierre de Coubertin however, Count Baillet-Latour responded negatively. He reasoned that African countries, including Ethiopia , had neither the capability to organize nor the competence to take part in Olympic Games. As a result, the desire of the prince to make his country participate in Olympic Games didn't materialize.

Even worse was the failure of sports officials in the country to spread modern sport in the nation. Though the Ethiopian Sports Confederation was established in October1948, it neither had office nor staff for eight solid years.

The 16 th Melbourne Olympic however once again triggered the interest of the government. Determined to take part in this Olympic games, it appointed the Greek Musse Verbels Secretary-General of the Confederation and Nigusse Roba, an Ethiopian, his deputy. Having learned that the country could take part in the Olympics only when registered as a member of five international sports federations, nonetheless, Ethiopia applied to join the Football, Athletics, Boxing, Cycling, and Basketball International Federations.

Even if it did not strictly meet the requirements of the international federations, the Ethiopian Sports Confederation was given special consideration so as to encourage developing countries and registered as member of the federations. Evidences indicate theta the country won recognition owing to the assistance and efforts of Musse Verbels and the Greece Olympic Committee.

In this manner did Ethiopia finally succeeded in taking part in Melbourne Olympic Games in the 1956.

Contrary to this, the Encyclopedia of the National Olympic Committee and other IOC publications claim that the Ethiopian Olympic Committee was established in 1948. This confusion arose from misunderstanding the fact that the Ethiopian Sports Confederation which was established by the order of the king in 1948 also worked as an Olympic Committee. The Ethiopian Olympic Committee was not however formed at the time.

Representatives of the natural federations met on July 15, 1967 and prepared the statutes of the Olympic Committee. And two days later the Board of the Confederation studied the draft statutes and endorsed it. On July19, 1967 met the national federations and selected the Executive Committee of Ethiopian Olympic Committee.

On July 28, 1967 was sent the statues of Ethiopian Olympic Committee along with the list of the elected Executive Committee members to the International Olympic Committee, which recognized it.