IOC - Nakic Bilic and Nsekera win IOC 2009 Women and Sport Awards

LAUSANNE (IOC) - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic Family today celebrated International Women’s Day and the 2009 Women and Sport Awards, where five exceptional personalities in the world of sport received accolades.

The official ceremony was held at The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, where five continental trophies were presented to women who have made tremendous contributions to strengthening the participation of women and girls in sport on an international level. The winners of the 2009 Women and Sport Awards include two former basketball players: Danira Nakic Bilic (Croatia) and Lydia Nsekera (Burundi).

The 2009 Women and Sport Awards, selected by the IOC Women and Sport Commission, went to:

- Trophy for Africa: Lydia Nsekera (Burundi)
- Trophy for the Americas: María Caridad Colón Ruenes (Cuba)
- Trophy for Asia: Arvin Dashjamts (Mongolia)
- Trophy for Europe: Danira Nakic Bilic (Croatia)
- Trophy for Oceania: Auvita Rapilla (Papua New Guinea)

Danira Nakic Bilic

Danira Nakic Bilic, born in 1969 in Sibenik (Croatia), won a silver basketball medal with Yugoslavia at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and is a member of the NOC’s Women in Sport Commission. She organises Olympic-related lectures and forums in primary and secondary schools, and promotes programmes for female athletes in sports administration and other public as well as political structures. Bilic was elected as a Member of Parliament in 2004, which had a significant impact on the attitude of Croatian society towards top level female athletes in public life. She strongly promoted the development of sports facilities in Zagreb, enabling more people to participate in physical activities. Last year the government appointed her as President of the Croatian Heritage Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving and developing Croatian cultural identity, sport being one important element of it.

Danira Bilic, born Nakic, started her very successful athletic career in 1987 in her native Sibenik and was a professional basketball player up to 1997. Her basketball success, among other successes, earned her one Olympic (Seoul 1988), one FIBA World Championship silver medal (Malaysia 1990) and two bronze medals at European championships. She was three times named Europe's Best Women's Basketball Player, and was in 1991 selected as Best Croatian Women's Athlete. She is the recipient of the Franjo Bucar and Radivoje Korac Awards. After her successful basketball career she served from 1997 to 1998 as the athletic director of the women's basketball club Croatia and was from 1999 to 2002 the coach of the junior basketball team of Valencia (Spain).

Lydia Nsekera

Whilst sport in Burundi has been male dominated, Lydia Nsekera, born in 1967 in Bujumbura, a former basketball player and high jumper, became the first female president of a national football federation in Africa and the second woman in the world to achieve this status. She also pioneered with the creation of women’s sports clubs in her country, including the Olympic Men’s Basketball Club in 1985. It was under her guidance that the national under-17 men’s team came to victory in the East and Central African Football Associations Cup. Furthermore, Nsekera organised the first women’s football championship in Burundi, and in 2004 led a successful national campaign to get women involved in refereeing, sports administration and coaching. She has also raised awareness of sexual violence against women and HIV/AIDS.