IBC to honor Manolo Romero with International Honor for Excellence

Manolo Romero, managing director of Olympic Broadcasting Services, is the 2010 recipient of the IBC International Honor for Excellence, the highest award that the IBC bestows.

The honor recognizes a remarkable career, in which Romero worked on the coverage of the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico and has taken a leading role in every Olympics since.

Now, as head of the Olympic movement’s own broadcast organization, Romero led the host broadcasting of the Beijing games and this year’s winter festival in Vancouver. Currently, he is at work on the 2012 Olympics in London. It is for this work, in which he has to serve the needs of every broadcast rights holder from the smallest nations to the major networks, that the IBC is honoring Romero.

“The Olympic Games occupy a very special place in the world of sport and the world of television, and Manolo Romero’s first priority is always to ensure the safe coverage of every moment of every event for every broadcaster,” said Peter Owen, chairman of the IBC Council. “Only when a secure base is established will he consider adding innovations to make the coverage remarkable,” Owen continued. “In this way, he ensures that the boundaries are pushed further at each (Olympics) without ever risking the core expectations of each broadcaster.”

Romero will be presented with the IBC International Honor for Excellence as part of the annual awards ceremony to be held on Sunday, Sept. 12, at IBC2010 in Amsterdam.

He also will deliver a keynote address at the event on Saturday, Sept. 11. The day is dedicated to the cutting edge of sports coverage, and Romero will appear in a session with Roger Mosey, the BBC executive responsible for coverage of the London 2012 Olympics.