Tag Archives: Olympics

09/11/12

A Newbie’s Perspective From London 2012 – Part 1

By Claire Zovko 

Within seconds of stepping off the plane at Heathrow airport for my first in-person Olympic Games experience, I was greeted by two cheerful and smiling “Games Makers” welcoming me to London.  Their enthusiasm was typical of the 12,000+ volunteers that truly made the London Games spectacular.  Volunteers were strategically placed all over town at the tube stops, major intersections, tourist attractions, and Olympic venues.  The volunteers always seemed to be there just when I needed them, eager to help.  At the airport, I already noticed the plethora of Olympic sponsor advertisements such as McDonald’s, BP and Coke.  I was pleasantly surprised that many of the advertisements featured Paralympic athletes alongside recognizable Olympic athletes.

While in London, I helped teach an Olympic Games & The Law course sponsored by the University of Miami School of Law.  Our students came from law schools all over the United States seeking to acquire a few credits during the summer term.  As an added bonus, the students had the chance to experience the Olympic Games up close and personally.  Each morning, we had three hours of class.  The rest of the day was open for the students to explore London and the biggest sporting event in the world, after doing their homework, of course.

Several guest speakers who were intimately involved in the Olympic Games addressed the class.  First, Olympic Gold Medalist and USA Track & Field (“USATF”) Olympic relay coach, Jon Drummond, spoke to the class about his leadership role on the USATF Athlete Advisory Committee.  Additionally, Jon explained the USATF Olympic Team selection dispute resolution procedures.  The Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”) ad Hoc division had 12 on-site arbitrators available around the clock to hear Olympic disputes.  We had the honor of hearing from attorney Maidie Oliveau, the only female CAS arbitrator, who shared stories about the cases being heard during the Games.  The United States Olympic Committee Athlete Ombudsman, John Ruger, discussed his role assisting American athletes with issues, disputes, and grievances.  The students learned firsthand about the Olympic bid process from Wendy Hillard, a Hall of Fame American gymnast and a member of the New York City 2012 Olympic bid.  Additionally, Jamaican Olympic Medalist Grace Jackson, USA Fencing President-Elect Donald Anthony, and USATF Associate Director of International Teams Aaron McGuire, all provided unique, insider perspectives on the business of the Olympic Games.  I had the opportunity to visit the CAS ad Hoc headquarters where all Olympic disputes were heard.  The Court turned out to be a hotel meeting room set up with tables and chairs in a rectangular formation.  Each table was equipped with microphones and headsets.  On the far end of the room, there were translation booths, like the United Nations.  During the 2012 Olympic Games, CAS heard 11 cases.  The day I stopped by CAS, the triathlon case surfaced and was to be heard in a few hours.  See link for more case info: http://www.tas-cas.org/en/infogenerales.asp/4-3-6237-1092-4-1-1/5-0-1092-15-1-1/ .

This is the first of a three part blog series on my London 2012 Olympic experience.  The following two posts will discuss the Olympic Venues and other Olympic related events around town.

08/20/12

University of Miami Law Students Take Learning to London

Jill Pilgrim and Sports Law Chat’s own Claire Zovko were featured on NBC 6 South Florida regarding their University of Miami Olympic Games & the Law course taught in London during the Games. Following is the article that appeared on August 9, 2012:

The London Olympics have gathered the world’s top athletic talents for 16 days of record-busting competition.  To pull it all off, you don’t just need athletes, you also need lawyers. The University of Miami Law School has turned London into an Olympic-sized classroom.  UM law student Alicia Lopiccolo is never regretful of her summer in school. One minute, she’s laughing, the next, she’s leery.

“We’re presented with the opportunity to study abroad this summer and the program involved the 2012 Olympics,” Lopiccolo said. “So, that is something that i just couldn’t pass up.”  About two dozen Miami law students couldn’t either.  They made the trip of more than 4,000 miles from Coral Gables to London to study how the Olympics, and the law, work together. The short answer: in more ways than you think.  “There’s a lot,” said UM student Mary Stevens. “There’s how the athletes have to act, there’s setting up the venues, there’s sponsorships, there’s intellectual property.”

Key to Olympic law: the International Olympic Committee charter, which governs the games, and the brand.  For example, it’s powerful enough to make a London business with the word Olympic in its name, change it temporarily, while the games are in town.  “The IOC approached them and said, during this period, you have to take off the O, and just call it ‘lympic Café,” said Claire Zovko, a graduate assistant.

“When we go around London, and we see the Olympic rings on a product, or we see some kind of formation of it, we’re always like, oh, these people paid for the licensing rights, or, oh, look at them, how they got around it,” said UM law student Michael Akhavan.  The Olympic and Paralympic games are multi-billion dollar undertakings, with, seemingly, as many stakeholders.

A perfect test for any lawyer, which brings us to part of their final exam. “What we may do is take some real events that have happened here over the course of the Olympic Games and weave them into a hypothetical,” said UM professor and course founder Jill Pilgrim.  A marathon of a written essay in which these up-and-coming attorneys hope to come away with the gold – their three course credits.

07/8/12

Tonight’s Topic: Olympic Games & The Law With Claire Zovko

Tonight’s Sports Law Chat will feature Claire Zovko (@ClaireZovko) discussing Olympics Games & The Law.

Claire Zovko’s Background

Claire is a rising attorney with a passion for sports law, which stems from her love of sports in general. In addition to playing sports all of her life, she has worked with the NBA’s Seattle Supersonics/Oklahoma City Thunder and WNBA’s Seattle Storm, traveled abroad as a teaching assistant for international sports law programs (South Texas College of Law in Florence, Italy, and Stetson College of Law in Lausanne, Switzerland) and worked within one of the country’s leading university athletic departments (University of Miami). She has led research projects on topics ranging from NCAA rules and regulations to diverse criminal law issues and has assisted with interpretive issues for a variety of legal projects. Claire is also an advisor and consultant for Precise Advisory Group.

Claire is a member of the Sports Lawyers Association and the Miami-Dade Sports Commission. She also serves on the advisory board to the University of Miami Entertainment and Sports Law Society, ran the intraschool national baseball salary arbitration competition and coached the winning University of Miami team at the 4th Annual Tulane National Baseball Arbitration competition.

Claire received a B.A. in Business Administration and Mathematics minor from Pacific Lutheran University, where she competed on the university’s basketball team, and a J.D. from University of Miami School of Law. A native of Seattle, Claire is now based in Miami.