The Narnia of Sports

Hello!

   We had a very full and exciting day today. Hopefully I will be able to portray the full experience through my blog as my peers have been able to do in their previous blogs. Today was our first official day in Lausanne, Switzerland and arguably the most important day of our trip. We had a great opportunity to visit the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). After a delicious breakfast, we made our way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for our meeting. At CAS, we learned that the Court of Arbitration for Sport was founded in 1984 to specialize in specific sport- related problems and to produce results in a timely manner.The average case takes about 3-6 months to be handled as opposed to the two years it would take a national government court.
A few things I personally found interesting were: the majority of the cases CAS handles are football (soccer). Before our meeting, I would have expected for most of their cases to be drug related. I also found it interesting that during the Olympics, CAS will be on site at the Olympic Park and available 24 hours a day in case a situation happens.

   After a great meeting with CAS, we took the tram back down to Ouchy for our meeting with the IOC. On the way, a few people grabbed a light snack from a local cafe to settle the sounds of upset stomachs. We had to ride the tram, take a bus, and walk ten minutes to get from CAS to the IOC. No one mind because it was a beautiful day and we all were enjoying the sun that was no where to be found since we departed from JFK. Once we arrived at the IOC, we immediately met with the Vice President of Marketing and Representatives from Television and Marketing Services (TMS). They gave excellent presentations including several videos and clips from memorable Olympic moments. The main points of the presentation was broadcasting rights and the Olympic brand. I would have to say visiting the IOC and listening to how passionate they are about maintaining the tridations of the games has been one of my favorite aspects of our trip so far. I would say it is right next to visiting the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

   Once our meeting was over, we walked around and took pictures. The building was not too far from the ocean, so instead of riding the bus back to the hotel, we walked along the coast. The view was breath taking. All we could see were the Swiss Alps and sailboats. A few of us plan on going sailing or renting paddle boats before we depart for Greece on Sunday. When we finally reached the hotel, everyone was starving, so we decided to try a hamburger place Professor Ryan told us about for the only hamburger place in Switzerland. By the time we arrived at the  Sports Cafe, Charma, Sydney, and I decided we wanted pizza instead. The rest of the group was not excatly thrilled with our decision. We had a delicious pizza and fantastic ice cream for dessert. Our timming was so perfect that we met the rest of the group at the tram stop on our way back to the hotel.  

   Today was an awesome day and packed full of adventures. I anxiously look forward to the rest of our time here in beautiful Lausanne.

Stay tunned until next time,
Delana W.