Atlanta Dekalb International Training Center (ATLANTA DITC)
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May 6, 2002 Inauguration of the DITC (From left to right) DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones, HE Sylvie Kinigi Former Prime Minister
and President of Burundi, Mr. Ignace Beraho President, National Olympic Committee of Rwanda, Dr. Marc Daniel Gutekunst Co-Founder &
CEO of the DITC, Mr. Blagoje Vidinic Olympic medallist—'56 Silver and '60 Gold in Soccer.
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The mission of the ATLANTA DITC is to provide first class training to enable participating athletes to compete in the US and internationally while furthering their education to graduate with either a high school, a vocational school, or a university degree. Athletes in training at the ATLANTA DITC prepare for the Olympic games and proudly represent their countries of origin and win Olympic Medals for their homeland.
Upon completing their stay at the ATLANTA DITC, athletes will be returning to their home country with at least one medal (a high school or college/university degree), and in the best of cases with two medals, a degree and an Olympic medal.
The ATLANTA DITC promotes peace and reconciliation, and fosters exchanges between people and nations while respecting the socio-cultural and religious identity of each and every athlete in training and competing with us. Thus the ATLANTA DITC mission statement: "Peace & Reconciliation Through Sports and Education (PARSE) ."
A Vision of Momentous Proportions
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Prince Albert of Monaco signing the DITC Guest book.
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On July 30, 1996, during the 26th Olympiad in Atlanta, Forging New Tomorrows (FNT), an international Atlanta based organization, together with former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson and Martin Luther King III hosted a reception for the National Olympic Committee of Burundi. At that time, FNT announced that it was adopting the Burundi Olympic Team for the 1996 Atlanta Games. A few days later, on August 3, 1996, Burundi track athlete Vénuste Niyongabo won a Gold medal in the 5,000 meter race. This was the first Olympic medal ever won by a citizen of Burundi, not to mention that Burundi was participating in the Olympic Games for the first time. The medal was presented to Niyongabo by Prince Albert of Monaco, Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
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DITC Inauguration speech by Ambassador Andrew Young (right), DITC Co-Chair, with Dekalb CEO Vernon Jones.
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The following day in a meeting between Prince Albert of Monaco and Dr. Marc Daniel Gutekunst the concept of the DITC was established. However, it took 6 years of hard work to make the DITC concept a reality thanks to the partnership between FNT and DeKalb County. On May 6, 2002, Ambassador Andrew Young, former Atlanta Mayor and Co-Chair of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, inaugurated the DITC in the presence of representatives of 8 countries and officials from Georgia. On September 20, 2002, the DITC was officially opened by its Co-Founder Prince Albert of Monaco. The DITC is now the living legacy to the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Since June 2002, the ATLANTA DITC has been fully operational and has trained athletes from Europe, Africa and the Americas. Eight (8) training disciplines are currently offered: Cycling, Modern Pentathlon (Track & Field, Swimming, Fencing, Shooting and Ridding), Swimming, Team Handball, Tennis, and Track & Field (Athletics).
Official Letters and Documents
Click on a letter to view a larger version.
Additional official agreements can be found on our AGREEMENTS page.
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- Letter of Introduction from Prince Albert of Monaco
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- Agreement signed between the World OLYMPIANS Association (WOA) and the DITC
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- Agreement signed between the African Athletics Confederation (AAC) / Confédération Africaine d'Athlétisme (CAA) and the DITC
Photo Galleries
Click on a link below to view a one of our flickr photo galleries.
