Five women from Burundi, Cuba, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea and Croatia were honored by the International Olympic Committee on Thursday for promoting the cause of women in sports. The IOC presented continental women's awards for Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania during a ceremony at the Olympic Museum. The winners were Lydia Nsekera of Burundi, Maria Caridad Colon Ruenes of Cuba, Arvin Dashjamts of Mongolia, Danira Nakic Bilic of Croatia and Auvita Rapilla of Papua New Guinea. They were cited for making “tremendous contributions to strengthening the participation of women and girls in sport on an international level.” IOC President Jacques Rogge paid tribute to “five remarkable women who, through their commitment, enthusiasm, drive and courage, have helped increase the number of women taking part in sport at all levels, both on and off the field.” Rogge noted that women represented 42 percent of the athletes who competed in last year's Beijing Olympics, marking the “inexorable march towards parity.” Nsekera became the first female president of a national football federation in Africa. Under her guidance, Burundi's national under-17 male players won the East and Central African Football Associations Cup. She also organized the first women's football championship in Burundi. Colon Ruenes became the first Cuban woman to win an Olympic gold medal when she won the javelin at the 1980 Moscow Games. She serves on the IAAF women's committee and the Pan American Sports Organization's women and sports commission. Dashjamts is the only female member of the Mongolian national Olympic committee's executive body. She has twice served as Mongolia's chef de mission at the Olympics and has been an elected member of parliament since 2000. Bilic, a silver medalist in basketball in 1988, is a member of the Croatian Olympic committee's women in sports commission and was elected to parliament in 2004. She organizes Olympic-related lectures and forums in primary and secondary schools. Rapilla is deputy secretary general of Papua New Guinea's national Olympic committee and a member of the Oceania Women and Sport body.
