Olympics acquires US$170 million insurance policy

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has, for the first time, purchased a large-scale insurance policy on its next games, to be held in Athens this summer.The US$170 million policy covers the interests of National Olympic Committees and International Federations, and the IOC says it plans to have similar policies in place for upcoming games in Turin 2006, Beijing 2008 and Vancouver 2010.Impetus for the policy came from IOC president Jacques Rogge, who wanted to see a risk management strategy put in place to both buy insurance and create reserves. “Taking out a policy to manage the risk associated with one’s core business is standard, prudent behavior for any modern organization,” says Rogge.