IOC honours Hoffman, Kostadinova Two of the five continental trophies, awarded to women who have made outstanding contributions to strengthening the participation of women and girls in sport around the world, went to women heavily involved in the sport of Athletics – IAAF Council Member Abby Hoffman from Canada and World High Jump record holder Stefka Kostadinova from Bulgaria. While the World “Women and Sport” Trophy was awarded to the first female and youngest Minister of Youth and Sports in Malaysia, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, Hoffman and Kostadiniova were selected by the IOC Women and Sport Commission from 70 candidatures submitted by the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and International Federations (IFs) to be winners respectively for the Americas and Europe. - Trophy for Africa: Ana Paula Dos Santos (Angola) It was an incident in her childhood that made Canadian Abby Hoffman fight against gender, race, political or unfair discrimination in sport throughout her athletic and professional career. At the age of nine, Hofmann was banned from playing hockey with a boys' team that she had joined as there were no girls' teams. She made a career in athletics instead, and participated in four Olympic Games. Later she became the first woman to serve as Director General of Sport in Canada. As an IAAF Council member since 1995, she advocated equality across female and male competition programmes and a minimum of 20% female representation in all IAAF committees and commissions. Determination, dynamism and passion have enabled Stefka Kostadinova to become an Olympic champion in the High Jump in Atlanta 1996, but also to develop into a successful sports manager in her home country, Bulgaria. After retiring from competition in 1999, Kostadinova decided to provide her expertise to national sports bodies, and is currently Chairwoman of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee. Through her inspirational athletic performance as well as her management skills, Kostadinova has significantly developed the participation of women and girls in athletics, not only in Bulgaria, but also in the whole Balkan area. The Opening Ceremony of the IV IOC World Conference on Women and Sport took place at the Dead Sea in Jordan, in the presence of HM King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; HRH Prince Feisal bin Al-Hussein, President of the Jordanian NOC; IOC President Jacques Rogge; Anita DeFrantz, IOC member and Chairwoman of the IOC Women and Sport Commission; the members of the IOC Women and Sport Commission; and the attendees of the IV IOC World Conference on Women and Sport. 0
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