Eleven-time Olympic medallist Lochte and Ledecky, winner of the 800 metres freestyle gold medal at London 2012, are two of the home heroes who will be present at the second edition of the awards designed to celebrate the achievements of National Olympic Committees (NOC) and their athletes.

Coventry, a gold medallist at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 in the women’s 200m backstroke, swam competitively for Auburn University in Alabama and is another star name due to appear with ANOC having pledged to keep athletes at the heart of the ceremony.

The  Zimbabwean will be joined by fellow International Olympic Committee (IOC) members and Olympic medallists Angela Ruggiero of the United States, Ukraine’s Sergey Bubka and New Zealand’s Barbara Kendall, who chairs the ANOC Athletes’ Commission, are also set to present awards.

“We are delighted to have so many exceptional athletes taking part in the ANOC Awards 2015,” said Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, President of ANOC.

“The ANOC Awards should be a true celebration of NOCs and their athletes and the presence of world-famous Olympic athletes to present the awards will make the evening even more special.

“We wanted this year’s event to be by the athletes for the athletes and so athletes will be involved at every stage, from selecting the award winners all the way to presenting the awards themselves.”

Trinidad and Tobago’s Ato Boldon, a four-time Olympic medallist and men’s 200m world champion in 1997, has been announced as the master of ceremonies for the event which will also showcase the new ANOC Awards logo.

The logo, which will now be used for future editions of the awards, features a depiction of the ANOC Awards’ trophy which has been designed, it is claimed, to symbolise humankind’s universal potential for sporting excellence.

“Athletes are at the very heart of the Olympic Movement and NOCs play a critical and often unrecognised role in preparing them,” Sheikh Ahmad said.

“By providing a spectacular evening of entertainment and celebration, the ANOC Awards is a small way that we can demonstrate our gratitude for what they do all year round.

“Our fantastic new ANOC Awards logo will come to symbolise these values and will be instantly recognisable across all future editions.”

The Awards event is due to honour the top athletes from the five Continental Games which took place across 2014 and 2015, while five performances will also take place, aimed at celebrating the cultural diversity of the world’s continents and their NOCs.

The evening will bring the opening day of the two-day ANOC General Assembly here to a close.

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