GG2023 is poised to be the most sustainable games in the history of Virtus Global Games and all other Virtus sporting events. This historical move is a result of a landmark environmental charter consisting of 15 binding principles which was developed by French Ministry of Sports and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and has been signed by over 20 international sporting event organizers, including Paris 2024.

Logo of Sustainable development

By signing the charter, organizers pledge their commitment to deliver environmentally responsible and sustainable major sport events. The charter objectives range from ethical food sourcing, waste management and recycling, efficient water and energy consumption, maximizing clean public transport and other sustainable transport methods, guaranteeing venue and site accessibility, embracing eco-friendly innovation and promoting gender equality.

To achieve this, the 2023 Global Games organizing committee assembled a team dedicated to ‘sustainable development’ back in 2020 and signed this charter on 16 December 2021. Marie-José Lallart and Pascal Griffault are leading the sustainable team, which will be responsible for implementing the necessary measures to ensure the games are eco-friendly. The team’s efforts will encompass various aspects such as waste management, energy usage, transportation, and overall sustainability in event operations.

MEET THE TEAM

“One of the first tasks of the sustainable development team was to raise awareness and mobilise the entire GG organising committee around this issue. Each commission was informed of the charter and the 15 commitments and they reflected internally on the actions they could put in place,” Pascal Griffault told Virtus Sport.

This initiative aims to set a precedent for future Virtus sporting events and inspire other organizations to embrace sustainable practices. GG2023 presents an opportunity to demonstrate the significance of environmental responsibility in large-scale events and promote a more sustainable future.

A Global Games conference is also scheduled to take place on 3rd June at Palais des Congrès, where speakers and delegates will share their vision on this topic.

Five Eco-Friendly Action Highlights:

1. First Virtus Forest: As part of the sustainable initiatives at GG2023, each flag bearer will be receive a shrub at the opening ceremony which will be planted in an area destroyed by a storm to create the first Virtus forest at the closing ceremony. The Virtus forest will serve as a tangible representation of the commitment to preserving nature and will continue to grow and flourish long after the games have concluded, creating a lasting legacy of sustainability.
2. Eco-Ambassadors: To ensure the dissemination of Eco-friendly practices and raise awareness among general public and delegates, Eco-ambassadors will be stationed at every venue of GG2023 and will serve as informative guides, actively engaging with individuals and promoting sustainable actions throughout the event.
3. GG2023 water bottles: To reduce waste generation, the LOC has implemented a notable measure by supplying every participant with ‘GG2023 water bottles’ instead of disposable cups. This initiative aims to encourage the use of reusable water bottles, eliminating the need for single-use cups and minimizing plastic waste throughout the duration of GG2023.
4. Drinking Tap Water: Participants will be encouraged to drink tap water, reducing the reliance on plastic barrels or gallons traditionally used for supplying drinking water and promote responsible water usage throughout GG2023.
5. GG2023 Medals: Rumours suggest that the medals awarded at GG2023 will feature sustainable elements, although specific details have been kept secret. This sustainable approach towards the medals highlights the commitment of GG2023 to environmental responsibility and reinforces the overall theme of sustainability throughout the games.

Sustainable Development Partner

The GG2023’s sustainable team is powered by Aremacs, a non-profit association created in 2004. Its objective is to limit the environmental impacts of social, cultural and sporting events by offering concrete solutions to event organizers to reduce, manage and recover waste and by raising awareness among the public of events of respect for the environment.

A call-to-action for all visiting nations participating in GG2023 that focuses on six main areas has been provided:

GG2023 Sustainable actions requests for visitors

1. SAVE ENERGY: Remember to switch off lights, fans, and electronic gadgets when they are not in use or when leaving the hotel room.

2. CARPOOL: Encourage sharing cars or cabs with friends, team members, or delegates when travelling to and from the hotel, games venues, or around the city.

3. SOFT MOVEMENTS: Opt for walking, cycling, or using electric vehicles to travel between venues and hotels, promoting sustainable and eco-friendly transportation methods.

4. SAVE WATER: 

• Practice water conservation by closing water faucets tightly after use.
• Take shorter showers to minimize water consumption.
• Finish the water in your bottle instead of leaving it unused.
• Be mindful of wise water usage throughout your entire stay.

5. PUBLIC TRANSPORT: Utilize public transportation options such as buses, trains, and trams to navigate the city, reducing individual carbon footprints and promoting sustainable transportation alternatives.

6. SOLIDARITY: Embrace a spirit of solidarity by supporting and engaging in sustainable practices, fostering a collective effort towards environmental responsibility.

By following these guidelines, participating nations can contribute to the overall sustainability goals of GG2023 and make a positive impact on the environment

Increasing awareness and support towards the Paralympic movement over the past decade has attracted many companies to sponsor athletes with disabilities. Many athletes with physical or visual impairments signed successful sponsorship deals after their Paralympic Games success like Brazilian S5 swimmer Daniel Dias with Panasonic Brazil, British S6 swimmer Ellie Simmonds with Adidas, BMW, Norwegian Breakaway cruise ship, Speedo and Cadbury, Dutch double-amputee sprinter Marlou van Rhijn with Nike, American snowboarder Amy Purdy with Coca-Cola, Toyota and Kelloggs. However, athletes with intellectual impairments are having a difficult time getting picked by sponsors even after their incredible performance in Virtus or Paralympics sport.

To understand the root cause of this trend and support member organisations/athletes to secure sponsorship deals, Virtus invited Monica Valentin from Brazil as the guest speaker for the webinar on ‘Sponsorship for athletes with intellectual impairments‘. Monica Valentin is the former athlete manager of Virtus Ambassador and Paralympic Champion, Gabriel Bandeira, from Brazil. Driven by her passion for Paralympic sports, Monica has worked at the Brazilian Paralympic Committee for five years, Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, World Championships, Para-Pan American Games, and many other international competitions.

The presentation included an analysis of the sports market, marketing strategies for athletes through digital marketing along with some tips on how to secure sponsorship deals for athletes with intellectual impairment. The webinar was followed by a short discussion session with the Marketing and Communication officer of Virtus, Mousumi Mazumdar where Monica gave insight to the marketing industry and their approach/perception towards athletes with intellectual impairments.

Monica Valentin

After working for more than a decade in the Paralympic sports industry, Monica realized that there are very few people specialized in the marketing industry to guide the athletes in marketing, communications, PR and social media, and decided to open her own marketing agency called Mônica Valentin Commerce and became an athlete agent. Monica has developed marketing-communication strategies and managed the athletes’ brand for many sensational Paralympic superstars from Brazil like Gabriel Bandeira (swimming), Daniel Dias (swimming), Adria Santos (athletics), Susana Schnarndorf (swimming), Luiza Fiorese (sitting volleyball), Raíssa Machado (Athletics), Ruiter Silva (Triathlon) and Vinícius Rodrigues (athletics). She also managed their press operations, PR and commercial representation.

Although Monica had extensive experience in managing many para-athletes with physical and visual impairments, Bandeira was the first athlete with intellectual impairment she started working for in 2020 and confessed the difficulties she faced, partially because of Gabriel’s impairment but mostly due to the lack of industrial support or understanding of intellectual impairment.

Gold Medallist Gabriel Bandeira BRA posing with his Gold medal in S14 Men’s 100m Butterfly at Tokyo 2020. Photo Credit: OIS/Joel Marklund.

“Gabriel has an intellectual impairment which is ‘invisible’ in nature. While trying to sell his profile to sponsors, I realized many marketing directors and teams are not as creative as they should be because they couldn’t see a way out on how to promote this impairment without actually saying it. They had this big question mark on their face like we don’t know what to do, how can we promote a para-athlete whose impairment is invisible?” Monica Valentin told Virtus.

“People working in the marketing industry need to know that it is not the impairment which is defining the athlete or making them special, it is their hard work and their success which makes these athletes special. We can use athletes’ stories without the visual thing, without the need to use images which highlight their impairment.”

Monica further disclosed how Paralympic Games is still not always recognised by brand representatives who see sponsoring athletes with disabilities to be like doing ‘charity’ which makes it difficult for para-athletes in Brazil to secure sponsors.

As a majority of the Virtus member nations work voluntarily, hiring specialised marketing or PR teams who have the industrial experience to find endorsements for athletes can be tricky. We hope member nations and athletes can benefit from this webinar.

A full recording of the webinar is available on the Virtus Academy website.

As a part of the #AthleteFirst Campaign, we are delighted to announce that Virtus Head of Eligibility and Governing Board member, Prof Jan Burns MBE, has been appointed as chairperson at the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC’s) newly launched Classification Compliance and Oversight Committee (CCOC).

Classification Compliance and Oversight Committee. (Prof Jan Burns MBE- back row, second left). Picture Credit- Ⓒ IPC

The CCOC members met in person for the first time in Bonn, Germany recently. The CCOC was developed and approved as a part of the new IPC constitution. The goal of the CCOC committee will be to develop and deliver the IPC Classification Code, increase education and communication about classification across the Paralympic Movement, and guide the member International Federations who are each responsible for classification in their own sport.

One of the primary roles of the CCOC will be to advise the IPC Governing Board on compliance and development with the IPC Classification Code, on global classification education and understanding along with education and communication about classification to stakeholders.

Prof Jan Burns MB. Ⓒ Virtus Sport

According to Prof Burns, the three key areas which need to be focused on through the movement are (i) Code compliance and implementation of new code, (ii) educating members of Paralympic Family and, (iii) an evolving framework of classifications.

“One of the reasons the IPC Governing Board wanted to reposition the Committee and give it a new name was that it is a real pivotal time in classification, with the Code Review and the ongoing divestment of the IPC sports. The latter means the IPC will shortly not be engaged in delivering classification through its own six sports. Central to the new CCOC is getting into a position of shared ownership and shared responsibility with the Paralympic Movement”, Jan Burns told IPC.

Jan also praised the former Classification Committee and chair Anne Hart and said, “Anne helped create the foundations of what classification is and its importance to the Paralympic Movement. Classification has been on a massive journey over the last 20 years and Anne has had to take a lot of people, sometimes reluctantly, with her. But she has done that with a great degree of humility, finesse, and massive professional competence. I’m in awe of what she has achieved, and the Movement owes her and the fellow classification pioneers a great deal of gratitude.”

The Virtus Governing Board congratulates Prof. Burns and wishes her all the best in her new role, which she will undertake alongside her role with Virtus.

The full list of appointments on the CCOC is available here.

Seefeld witnessed some extreme weather conditions today which interrupted the competitions scheduled for Day-2, especially at the Alpine competition venue Rosshütte ski area. Due to continuous rainfall, the Super-G race scheduled for today, was postponed to the 16th March. Although athletes were unhappy with the cancellation of the race, many athletes were seen enjoying snow fights with their fellow athletes.

NORDIC SKIING

The Cross-Country Sprint race made it’s way to the Nordic skiing venue Seefeld Sports Arena. Although the climatic conditions did not favour the athletes today, Nordic skiers showed extraordinary resilience and determination and put on a great show. While some continued with their ‘A’ game and stayed on top of the podium, others changed their strategy and took out their opponents to climb up the rank.

PERNAL Malgorzata from Poland. Picture Credit- Valentin Baubinder

In Women’s II1 Cross-Country Skiing sprint, PERNAL Malgorzata scored her second Gold from the tournament in the sprint race today. French skier THIROUX Lea took her revenge on BJÖRFELDT Kristin (Sweden) by winning silver, making Kristin settle for the bronze.

(L-R) DUBOIS Titouan, TEEARU Hans (Estonia) and YAMADA Yuta (Japan). Picture Credit- Valentin Baubinder

An identical race was seen in II1 Men’s category where winners from yesterday’s race swapped their places on the podium. As TEEARU Hans wins Estonia their second Gold from the championship in the Cross-country Sprint, DUBOIS Titouan (France) skied ahead of his opponent YAMADA Yuta (Japan) and claimed the second spot.

KOSTNER Tobia (Italy) and COLOMBY Clement (France) posing. Picture Credit- FFSA

In II2 Men’s category, history was repeated from yesterday as COLOMBY Clement from France and KOSTNER Tobia Maria from Italy won Gold and Silver respectively.

Full results can be accessed from the Virtus World Skiing Championship website.

The first-ever Virtus World Skiing Championships for athletes with Intellectual Impairment to be held on Austrian snow was declared open yesterday. 

Austrian Disability Sports Organization Österreichischer Behindertensportverband who are also the Virtus member in Austria welcomed all the dignitaries and athletes to the opening ceremony. The event was attended by Ex-ski stars Benni and Marlies Raich, State councillors Ewa Pawlata (social affairs, inclusion and women) and Cornelia Hagele (health, care, education, science and research), Hans Niessl, President of Sport Austria, federal sports organization, Markus Wackerle, Mayor of Seefeld, the President of the Austrian Disabled Sports Association – Brigitte Jank and Member of the National Council, Agnes Sirkka Prammer, sports spokeswoman for the Green Party.

Dignitaries at the opening ceremony event. Picture Credit- Sebastian Marko

The marching-in of the nations started at 1800hrs at the Music pavilion and was the first action of the program list for the opening ceremony. Numerous local artists set the stage on fire to celebrate the “Festival of Friendship” far beyond sports. Mascot Snowy, played by actor Keanu Pöttinger, was seen walking among the athletes and cheering them up for the event. The children’s choir and the brass players of the Zirl Regional Music School along with an energetic Taekwondo routine display by the Taekwondo Seefeld and Seefeld singer Kathrin Raunigger who performed their show on the stage of the music pavilion were the highlights of the evening.

Addressing the crowd, Paula Grameiser-Scher, Secretary of LOC Virtus Skiing Championship, “I can’t believe it yet. Seeing all of you in front of me, it is like a dream that has just become reality. Your presence has made our work more than worthwhile and means everything to us! ”

René Schönberger, ÖBSV-KGM Chairman extended special thanks to the students of the FH Kufstein who are responsible for the organisation of the supporting programme, the students of 2AHWIT of the HTL Spengergasse from Vienna accompanied by their two professors.

Marc Truffaut, Virtus President and Governing board member, Ian Conyers also attended the event and was thrilled by the wonderful programme.

Ian Conyers, Member of Virtus Governing Board Picture Credit- Sebastian Marko

“We are so excited to be here this evening. I want to let you know you that you have one of the greatest local organizing committees that we have ever seen. They went through the pandemic and they never gave up on the Virtus World Ski Championships. So to Paula, to Renee, to the local organizing committee, to all of the sponsors, the coaches and everyone that made this happen. Thank you so much for sticking to it all the way through.” said Ian Conyers, member of the Virtus Governing Board.