Lausanne (RWH) Ivo Ferriani, President of the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation IBSF, celebrates his 60th birthday on March 5, 2020. The Italian, who was born in Turin, is the head of the Olympic Winter Sports Federation since 2010.
Ivo Ferriani is known and appreciated for his passion for bobsleigh and skeleton sports and his tireless commitment to the interests and further development of the sport. "Sliding into the Future" is the motto of the IBSF during his presidential term. With the start of his tenure an athletes´representative has become a member of the Executive Committee. Additionally, the development program, the introduction of the Monobob at the Youth Olympic Games as well as the Women´s Monobob as a new discipline for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing have been succesfully implemented. The support of various national federations through the development program for the younger generation is one of the main pillars of his work.
In 2015 the Para-Sport World Cup for disabled athletes started on the initiative of Ivo Ferriani - here women and men compete on equal terms. Ivo Ferriani himself competed in the World Cup as a bobsleigh pilot for Italy from 1985 to 1990 and took part in the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary (CAN) in the 2-man bob. He then worked as coach and team director for Italy, France and Canada. 1998 in Nagano Pilot Bruno Mingeon won the Olympic bronze medal in the 4-man bob with Ferriani as coach. For the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, the Italian was also manager of the Olympic icetrack in Cesana from 2002 to 2010.
Since 2016, Ivo Ferriani is an IOC member and a member of the IOC Executive Board since 2018. He contributes his expertise to several commissions, including the Coordination Commission for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, the Athletes´ Entourage and the Commission for Women in Sport.
The IBSF would like to congratulate president Ivo Ferriani heartfelt on this birthday! ©RWH2020
Photos: IBSF / Viesturs Lacis
