tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27567047520483574212024-02-08T06:06:11.843-08:00Higher, Faster StrongerColorado Springs Gazette Olympic sports blogUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-70600626565645536772008-04-25T19:51:00.000-07:002008-04-25T20:31:09.702-07:00Heavy security surrounds Olympic torch runner in JapanNAGANO, Japan (AP) — Dashing past sporadic protests, runners carried the Olympic torch Saturday through Nagano’s streets, lined by thousands of riot police and closely monitored by helicopters overhead.<br /> <br />Police guards in track suits surrounded the torch bearers and and another 100 uniformed riot police trotted alongside six patrol cars and two motorcycles. They were backed up by thousands of other police.<br /> <br />Japanese officials said the security was unavoidable, and called for calm. But the high-profile police presence dissipated any festive mood in Nagano, which hosted the 1998 Winter Games.<br /> <br />But despite a heavy police presence, minor scuffling and protests broke out.<br /> <br />Two men were arrested separately in the first half of the relay, each trying to charge the torch, but were quickly pounced by police, and a third man was apprehended<br />later after throwing eggs at the flame, Nagano police official Chihiro Usui said.<br /> <br />National broadcaster NHK reported a smoke-emitting tube was thrown at the relay, but without affect. Marchers yelling “Free Tibet” crowded the streets near the route. And before the start, one person was hurt in a fight between Chinese and<br /> pro-Tibetan supporters, and a self-proclaimed monk carrying a knife was arrested.<br /> <br />The starting point — a last-minute substitution after a Buddhist temple pulled out — was closed to the public, as were all rest stops along the way.<br /> <br />The relay, making its 16th international stop, has been disrupted by protests or conducted under extremely heavy security at many sites since it left Greece.<br /> <br />The protests are largely in response to China’s crackdown last month on protests in Tibet, which it has governed since the 1950s, and to concerns over human rights issues in China.<br /> <br />The international route ends next week, with stops in South Korea on Sunday, North Korea on Monday and Vietnam on Tuesday. The flame arrives on Chinese soil on May 2 in Hong Kong, for a long journey around the country before the Aug. 8 start of the<br /> games.<br /> <br />Japan has taken severe measures to ensure its 11.6-mile relay goes smoothly.<br /> <br />But groups including Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders planned to protest peacefully througout the day. About 2,000 Chinese exchange students, meanwhile, swarmed Nagano to show their support.<br /> <br />“We thank the people of Nagano for their support,” said Gao Rui, who came with his family waving Chinese flags. “I hope there won’t be any more problems. The Olympics are supposed to be about international unity.”<br /> <br />Several hundred more, divided into pro-China and pro-Tibet factions, rallied in front of the train station. Some marchers yelled “Free Tibet” and waved Tibetan flags, crowding the streets along the route.<br /> <br />“I came from Tokyo to show my support for Tibet,” said Toru Watanabe. “I’m glad it was peaceful, but it was impossible to see the torch.”<br /> <br />Coinciding with the start of the relay, which began under a light rain, a prayer vigil was held at the largest Buddhist temple in Nagano, Zenkoji.<br /> <br />The 1,400-year-old temple, which was the showcase of the 1998 Olympics, last week declined to host the start of the relay, citing security concerns and sympathy among monks and worshippers for their religious brethren in Tibet.<br /> <br />After arriving in Nagano by bus early Friday, the flame was spirited away to a hotel and put under heavy security. About 3,000 police have been mobilized.<br /> <br />The problems with the torch relay and reports of foiled terrorist plots in China have raised larger concerns of violence during the Beijing Games, the head of Interpol said Friday.<br /> <br />Ronald Noble told an international security conference that potential attacks could involve efforts to block transportation routes, interfere with competitions, assault athletes or destroy property during the Olympics.<br /> <br />In Vietnam, authorities expelled an American citizen of Vietnamese origin who planned to disrupt the relay there, state media reported. Vuong Hoang Minh, 34, was put on a flight to the U.S. on Thursday, the Vietnam News Agency said. It said Minh told authorities he planned to snatch the torch.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-61977827583635598672008-04-22T22:06:00.000-07:002008-04-22T22:10:21.521-07:00Boston, NYC Marathons want Olympic trials back, with changesBy JIMMY GOLEN<br /> AP Sports Writer<br /> <br />BOSTON (AP) — Marathon officials in Boston and New York are<br />already eager to bring the 2012 Olympic trials back to their<br />cities, as long as the sport’s governing body helps them recoup the<br />$1 million it cost to piggyback another event on their races.<br /> <br />“There’s no going back at this point,” said Mary Wittenberg,<br />the president of the New York Road Runners, which organizes the New<br />York Marathon. “We’ve taken the trials to a whole new level. I<br />think we’re shortchanging everybody if we don’t find a way to build<br />on it.”<br /> <br />Although trials are common in most Olympic sports, including<br />other running events, the nature of the 26.2-mile marathon makes it<br />difficult to add another race into the athletic calendar. Virtually<br />every other country picks its marathon team by committee; Boston<br />men’s winner Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya and women’s winner Dire Tune<br />of Ethiopia are both hoping their performance on Monday will earn<br />them a trip to Beijing.<br /> <br />“That is complicated,” said Cheruiyot, a four-time Boston<br />winner who was left off the Kenyan team for Athens. “I may be<br />there; I may not. But I hope to be there.”<br /> <br />Less complicated is a race where the top three finishers make<br />the team.<br /> <br />And that’s the allure of the trials.<br /> <br />After decades of holding distinct, but largely ignored,<br />marathons to choose the Olympic teams — for the 2004 Games, the<br />trials were in St. Louis and Birmingham, Ala. — USA Track and Field<br />assigned the Beijing qualifiers to the country’s most prestigious<br />races.<br /> <br />But the men didn’t traverse the five boroughs along the<br />traditional New York route; nor did the women head from Hopkinton<br />to Boston on Patriots Day as thousands of runners have done for a<br />century. Instead, the would-be Olympians followed specially<br />designed courses, a day before the traditional races.<br /> <br />“I think it put American distance running in a whole new<br />light,” Boston Athletic Association executive director Guy Morse<br />said Tuesday. “U.S. athletes deserve this sort of stage.”<br /> <br />Deena Kastor, Magdalena Lewy Boulet and Blake Russell qualified<br />for Beijing on Sunday with their 1-2-3 finish in Boston. Ryan Hall,<br />Dathan Ritzenhein and Brian Sell earned spots on the U.S. men’s<br />team with their top-three finishes in New York in November.<br /> <br />Both courses were lined with fans, many of them runners in town<br />for the next day’s race. But the extra event cost New York and<br />Boston officials more than $1 million each.<br /> <br />“We don’t believe it should be incumbent upon the local<br />organizing committee to have to support it 100 percent,” Morse<br />said. “We knew that going in, and we made that commitment. But we<br />won’t do it again” under those conditions.<br /> <br />What New York and Boston organizers wanted most was to fold the<br />trials into their regular race, perhaps with an earlier start that<br />would give the Americans the course to themselves. But that raised<br />the question: Would the trials’ profile be elevated by<br />incorporating it into the most prestigious marathons in the world,<br />or would it be overwhelmed by the international — and, frankly,<br />more accomplished — field.<br /> <br />“I know that there is no desire among our athletes — male or<br />female — to push the trial races into the ’big races,’” USATF<br />president Bill Roe said Tuesday. “We also have no desire to deal<br />with the possibility of a non-American crossing the finish line at<br />our trials first.”<br /> <br />But there’s a bigger obstacle: Money.<br /> <br />Morse said the trials cost “upwards of $1 million; we’re still<br />counting.” More importantly, he said, there was no opportunity to<br />recoup the expenses through sponsorship or television because those<br />rights are locked up by the USOC and USATF.<br /> <br />For the women’s trials, which ended at the traditional Boston<br />finish line, officials had to cover up John Hancock ads prepared<br />for Monday. And how would Olympic sponsor Bank of America feel<br />watching the U.S. team crowned under banners touting the local<br />sponsors at the ING New York City Marathon?<br /> <br />“I know my optimism about finding a solution with the USOC and<br />LOCs over costs is not shared among some in our sport,” Roe<br />said. “But I think we have to give it a try before ever contemplating<br />mixing the trials — which since 1972 have always been a stand-alone<br />event — with a larger event.”<br /> <br />Local organizers were able to solicit from official Olympic<br />sponsors, but “a lot of those sponsors feel like they’ve already<br />supported the Olympics and there was no more funding for the<br />trials,” Morse said. The USOC and USATF did chip in $20,000 apiece<br />for TV production and provided water and sports drinks for the<br />runners along the course.<br /> <br />Both Morse and Wittenberg said the key could be getting the host<br />cities awarded quickly, to give them time to seek out<br />sponsors. Boston was awarded this year’s trials about two years before the<br />race.<br /> <br />Roe said that’s being discussed.<br /> <br />“Perhaps our trials site will be named earlier than in the<br />past,” he said.<br /> <br />For the Beijing qualifiers, USATF required a loop course that<br />essentially starts and ends at the same spot. By definition, such a<br />course is neither uphill nor downhill, neither upwind nor downwind,<br />and because it’s more compact the fan support is more concentrated.<br /> <br />By avoiding Heartbreak Hill and the other ups and downs of the<br />tough Boston course, organizers can puff up their Olympic<br />qualifiers with fast times. But, Morse noted, “our race would be<br />more indicative of what they’re going to face in the Games. In most<br />cases, it’s a Boston-type of course.”<br /> <br />Boston benefited, too, by having the chance to crown an American<br />winner on Boylston street, which hasn’t happened in the traditional<br />race since 1985. Local organizers of both events also reaped the<br />goodwill developed in their cities and from the running world.<br /> <br />“It’s part of a much bigger strategy for us, to build a sport<br />and develop stars,” Wittenberg said. “It’s time to get the big<br />fish in the big pond. I think before we were enabling<br />mediocrity. I’m so confident our athletes are up to the stage.”Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-69254140658170397842008-04-10T19:32:00.000-07:002008-04-10T19:35:59.349-07:00IOC strips medals from Marion Jones’ relay teammates at 2000By STEPHEN WADE <br />AP Sports Writer<br /> <br />BEIJING — Marion Jones gave up her Olympic medals. Her<br />relay teammates aren’t quite as willing.<br /> <br />Jones’ former relay teammates paid for her doping offenses<br />Thursday, losing their medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics as the<br />International Olympic Committee stripped them from athletes who won<br />gold with Jones in the 1,600-meter relay and bronze in the 400<br />relay.<br /> <br />“The decision was based on the fact that they were part of a<br />team, that Marion Jones was disqualified from the Sydney Games due<br />to her own admission that she was doping during those games,” said<br />IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies, who announced the decision. “She<br />was part of a team and she competed with them in the finals.”<br /> <br />Jones’ teammates on the 1,600 squad were Jearl-Miles Clark,<br />Monique Hennagan, LaTasha Colander-Richardson and Andrea<br />Anderson. The 400-relay squad also had Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen<br />Perry and Passion Richardson.<br /> <br />The runners have previously refused to give up their medals,<br />saying it would be wrong to punish them for Jones’ violations. They<br />have hired a U.S. lawyer to defend their case, which could wind up<br />in the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.<br /> <br />The IOC ruling follows the admission by Jones last year that she<br />was doping at the time of the Sydney Games.<br /> <br />She returned her five medals last year and the IOC formally<br />stripped her of the results in December. Jones won gold in the 100<br />meters, 200 and 1,600 relay, and bronze in the long jump and 400<br />relay.<br /> <br />“The (IOC) decision ... illustrates just how far-reaching the<br />consequences of doping can be,” USOC chief executive officer Jim<br />Scherr said in a statement. “When an athlete makes the choice to<br />cheat, others end up paying the price, including teammates,<br />competitors and fans.<br /> <br />“We respect the decision of the IOC executive board, as well as<br />the right for the athletes who are impacted by this decision to<br />file an appeal with the Court of Arbitration of Sport, should they<br />so choose.”<br /> <br />The IOC put off any decision Thursday on reallocating the<br />medals, pending more information from the ongoing BALCO steroid<br />investigation in the United States.<br /> <br />A reshuffling of the medals could affect more than three dozen<br />other athletes. The IOC wants to know whether any other Sydney<br />athletes are implicated in the BALCO files.<br /> <br />Davies said the Jones’ relay case differed from that of<br />U.S. 400-meter runner Jerome Young, who was stripped of his gold medal<br />in the 1,600-meter relay from Sydney because of a doping violation<br />dating to 1999. He ran only in the preliminary of the relay.<br /> <br />The IOC had sought to strip the entire American men’s team but<br />the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in 2005 that there were no<br />rules in place at the time of the Sydney Games for a whole relay<br />team to be disqualified for an offense by one member.<br /> <br />“Marion Jones ran in the finals and she was of her own<br />admission doped during the Olympic Games,” Davies said. “Jerome<br />Young was found to be doped before the Olympic Games and should<br />never have competed in the first place.”<br /> <br />The next IOC board meeting takes place in Athens, Greece, in<br />June, followed by another meeting in Beijing on the eve of the<br />Aug. 8-24 Olympics.<br /> <br />Davies said there was no timetable for a decision on<br />redistributing medals, but noted there was an eight-year statute of<br />limitations. The Sydney Games finished on Oct. 1, 2000.<br /> <br />After denying she had ever used performance-enhancing drugs,<br />Jones admitted in federal court in October that she used the<br />designer steroid “the clear” from September 2000 to July 2001.<br />She began serving a six-month prison sentence last month for lying<br />to investigators about doping and her role in a check fraud scam.<br /> <br />On other doping matters, the IOC board adopted its anti-doping<br />rules for the Beijing Games, covering the period from the opening<br />of the Olympic village on July 27 to the closing ceremony on<br />Aug. 24.<br /> <br />Among new provisions, athletes will be considered guilty of a<br />doping violation if they are found in possession of any prohibited<br />substance, including marijuana. Missing two doping tests during the<br />games or one during that period and two in the previous 18 months<br />will constitute a violation. And athletes can be subjected to<br />no-advance notice drug tests “at any time or place” during the<br />games.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-58127607249136138082008-04-08T23:05:00.000-07:002008-04-08T23:11:31.901-07:00Security tightened as San Francisco girds for protests along Olympic torch relayBy JULIANA BARBASSA<br /> and<br /> MARCUS WOHLSEN<br /> <br /> SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Security was tightened on the Golden Gate Bridge and elsewhere around the city Tuesday as officials prepared for massive protests of China’s crackdown in Tibet during the Olympic torch’s only North American stop on its journey to Beijing. <br />The Olympic flame was whisked to a secret location shortly after its pre-dawn arrival Tuesday following widespread and chaotic demonstrations during the torch relay in London and Paris. Activists are protesting China’s human rights record, its grip on Tibet and support for Sudan despite years of bloodshed in Darfur.<br /> <br />The torch is scheduled to be paraded through the city Wednesday on a six-mile route that hugs San Francisco Bay. Already, one runner who planned to carry the torch dropped out because of safety concerns, officials said.<br /> <br />It began its 85,000-mile journey from Ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing on March 24, and was the focus of protests from the start.<br /> <br />Hours after it arrived in San Francisco, protesters marched to the Chinese Consulate, calling on China to cease its heavy-handed rule of Tibet.<br /> <br />Meanwhile, a few miles away in Chinatown, leaders of China’s expatriate community held a news conference calling for a peaceful relay, and said they were proud China was selected to host the summer games.<br /> <br />In Beijing, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said the body’s executive board would discuss Friday whether to end the international leg of the torch relay because of the demonstrations. He said he was “deeply saddened” by the<br /> previous protests and was concerned about the relay in San Francisco.<br /> <br />“We recognize the right for people to protest and express their views, but it should be nonviolent. We are very sad for all the athletes and the people who expected so much from the run and have been spoiled of their joy,” Rogge said.<br /> <br />Hundreds of activists carrying Tibetan flags and wearing traditional clothes gathered in United Nations Plaza, a pedestrian area near San Francisco’s City Hall, to denounce China’s policy toward Tibet and the recent crackdown on protesters<br />there. They then marched to the Chinese Consulate as part of a daylong Tibetan Torch Relay.<br /> <br />“This is not about us battling the torchbearers,” Lhadom Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, told the crowd outside the consulate. “This is about the Chinese government using the torch for political purposes. And we’re going<br />to use it right back.”<br /> <br />The day of protests culminated in an evening candlelight vigil for Tibet, with speeches by actor Richard Gere and human rights activist Desmond Tutu, who called on President Bush and other heads of state to boycott the opening ceremonies in Beijing.<br /> <br />“We must tell the leaders of the world, ’For goodness sake, for God’s sake, for the sake of your children, our children, for the sake of the beautiful people of Tibet, don’t go!’” Tutu told the crowd of hundreds.<br /> <br />San Francisco was chosen to host the relay in part because of its large Asian population.<br /> <br />David Lee, executive director of the Chinese American Voters Education Committee and a professor of political science at San Francisco State University, said while many Chinese agree with critics of China, on the whole, Chinese-Americans feel a<br /> tremendous sense of pride that the Beijing Olympics chose San Francisco as the only relay site in North America.<br /> <br />At a news conference Tuesday, business owners asked for calm.<br /> <br />“We are begging for five hours of peace,” said Sam Ng, president of the Chinese Six Companies, a prominent benevolent association.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-41698627934515875432008-04-05T14:31:00.000-07:002008-04-05T14:33:27.503-07:00Olympic leader: A boycott of Beijing Olympic would be ’serious error’BEIJING (AP) — The head of an organization that oversees 205<br />national Olympic committees said politicians who encourage a<br />boycott or partial boycott of the Beijing Games are making “a<br />serious error.”<br /> <br />Mario Vazquez Rana, the president the Association of National<br />Olympic Committees, and the International Olympic Committee are<br />holding meetings over the next few days in China’s capital.<br /> <br />“Any politician who is pushing for a boycott is committing a<br />serious error,” Vazquez said Saturday. “For me a total boycott, a<br />partial boycott, is totally out of the question.”<br /> <br />French President Nicolas Sarkozy has not ruled out the<br />possibility he might boycott the opening ceremony if China<br />continues its crackdown in Tibet. In Saturday editions of Le Monde,<br />one of his Cabinet ministers outlined changes needed for Sarkozy to<br />take part in the Aug. 8 ceremony, but later denied using the word<br />“conditions.”<br /> <br />Le Monde had quoted Human Rights Minister Rama Yade as saying,<br />“Three conditions are essential for him to attend: an end to<br />violence against the population and the liberation of political<br />prisoners; light shed on the events in Tibet; and the opening of a<br />dialogue with the Dalai Lama.”<br /> <br />Rioting last month in Tibet has thrown a spotlight on China’s<br />human rights record, prompting protests along the torch relay. It<br />has turned the run-up to the Olympics into a stage for groups with<br />grievances against China’s communist government.<br /> <br />Vazquez took the same line offered Thursday by Hein Verbruggen,<br />who heads a team of IOC inspectors that are making their last<br />official visit to Beijing before the games. An IOC member,<br />Verbruggen was critical of politicians who call for boycotts,<br />saying the IOC is a sports organization — not a political one.<br /> <br />“This (Tibet) is a Chinese problem and China will have to<br />deploy all its ability and experience to solve its problem,”<br />Vazquez said. “Nobody should use the games as a way to solve this<br />problem.”<br /> <br />The Chinese government said 22 people died in violence stemming<br />for the riots in Tibet. Tibet’s government in exile said 140 died.<br /> <br />“I’m very sincerely sorry for what has happened in Tibet, but<br />we must say that this is not an issue for the Olympic Games,”<br />Vazquez said.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-32768294678290804972008-04-04T12:06:00.000-07:002008-04-04T12:12:04.059-07:00Records fall in the water as new suits take offBy PAUL NEWBERRY<br /> AP National Writer<br /> <br />When Natalie Coughlin tried to squeeze into her first racing<br />swimsuit, oh the agony.<br /> <br />“I was crying because it hurt so bad,” said Coughlin, who<br />captured five medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and five more at<br />last year’s world championships. “Everyone was just trying to wear<br />as small a suit as possible.”<br /> <br />Not anymore. Covering up is the thing.<br /> <br />World records don’t stand a chance against the full-body suits<br />that are spawned in high-tech labs and tested in NASA wind<br />tunnels. They come with everything but a rocket attached to the back.<br /> <br />Speedo’s new “LZR Racer” already has taken an absurdly huge<br />chunk out of the record book, less than two months after lavish<br />debuts around the globe featuring swirling lights, thumping music<br />and a bevy of swimmers-turned-models.<br /> <br />So far, the Speedo suit has helped set 18 world marks.<br /> <br />Eighteen! More are sure to fall in upcoming qualifying races for<br />swimmers hoping to make it to the Beijing Olympics.<br /> <br />“It literally feels like you’re a rocket coming off the wall,”<br />said Michael Phelps, who hopes the LZR will carry him to eight gold<br />medals in Beijing. “The water just completely runs off the suit.”<br /> <br />There are some who bemoan the latest technological<br />breakthroughs, who wonder if world-class swimmers are being created<br />as much in the lab as they are in the pool.<br /> <br />Others say there’s no going back.<br /> <br />“They’re constantly trying to improve on the most current<br />design,” said Coughlin, who set one of the first records in<br />Speedo’s new duds. “It never really stops.”<br /> <br />The full-length bodysuits are a far cry from the crude attire<br />worn by female swimmers in the 1970s, which came with a scooped,<br />U-shaped back that was so uncomfortable the straps were tied<br />together with shoestrings. And surely everyone remembers the<br />increasingly skimpy briefs worn by male swimmers until a decade or<br />so ago.<br /> <br />“In my day, the game on the men’s side was to see how small a<br />suit you could wear,” said Steve Furniss, a two-time Olympian and<br />now executive vice president of California-based swimsuit company<br />Tyr. “The less, the better. We went around stuffing our little<br />heinies into those suits. Now, the game is covering up.” <br /><br />NASA actually had a hand in developing the LZR Racer, which was<br />unveiled in mid-February.<br /> <br />“We were looking to understand and manage skin friction and the<br />drag on materials,” said Jason Rance, who heads up Speedo’s<br />research and development center. “The leaders on that thought are<br />NASA. They’ve spent a lot of time looking for ways to reduce the<br />drag on their spacecraft.”<br /> <br />“There’s always a lot of skeptics,” said Stu Isaac, Speedo’s<br />front man as the senior vice president of marketing and team<br />sales. “They say it’s all marketing and hype, that kind of thing. I think<br />now people understand that it goes beyond hype.”<br /> <br />Those falling world records, however, have raised suspicions<br />that something more sinister is at work. Has Speedo created a suit<br />that is somehow more buoyant, skirting the rules by allowing<br />swimmers to glide along the top of the water? <br /><br />After one of his countrymen, Alain Bernard, set three world<br />records in a three-day span at the European championships, a top<br />French official questioned the legality of LZR Racer and called for<br />an investigation by governing body FINA.<br /> <br />There were similar complaints before the 2000 Sydney Games, the<br />launching point for the revolutionary full-length suits that are<br />now the norm. Four years later in Athens, Phelps won eight medals<br />(six of them gold) and the latest incarnation of the Fastskin<br />became the rage, leading to another round of outcry from the<br />purists.<br /> <br />FINA has called a meeting with the major swimsuit manufacturers<br />to coincide with this month’s short-course world championships in<br />Manchester, England. It was already on the agenda before Speedo’s<br />suit hit the water, and company officials are quick to point out<br />the top-secret fabric used in its LZR Racer was approved by the<br />governing body two years ago.<br /> <br />Cornel Marculescu, the organization’s executive director, said<br />there will be a review of “the procedures and regulations for<br />approval of swimwear, namely the issue of the thickness of the<br />swimsuits.” There’s no indication that Speedo’s suit, or the<br />similar groundbreaking attire trotted out by rivals companies like<br />Tyr and Arena, are in any danger of being shelved before<br />Beijing. The main goal is making sure the new suits are available to any<br />swimmer who wants to wear them.<br /> <br />“So far, all swimsuits are made from traditional materials such<br />as Lycra, polyester, elastic or nylon,” Marculescu said. “FINA<br />will continue looking at this issue. However, to our best<br />knowledge, the swimwear equipment is not an additional value on<br />achieving the best performances. We are not there yet.”<br /> <br />The LZR Racer will soon be available to the general<br />public. Pre-orders are already being taken by Speedo, with full bodysuits<br />going for as much as $550.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-24213310983542872842008-04-03T09:58:00.000-07:002008-04-03T10:00:11.392-07:00IOC inspectors are satisfied after final meeting withBEIJING (AP) — International Olympic Committee inspectors said<br />Thursday that they were satisfied by Chinese organizers’ assurances<br />that operations in critical areas will run smoothly in the Summer<br />Olympics.<br /> <br />With the Games just four months away, the inspectors — know as<br />the coordination commission — completed their final official<br />meetings with Beijing organizers. They said they were assured of<br />smooth operations for Internet access, live television broadcasts<br />and contingency plans to deal with the Beijing’s air pollution.<br /> <br />“We were satisfied by assurances we received across a number of<br />areas,” Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the inspection team, said in<br />a statement. He did not offer details but was scheduled to hold a<br />news conference later Thursday.<br /> <br />Earlier this week, a high-ranking IOC official said Chinese<br />officials had been told that Internet censorship had to be lifted<br />for thousands of journalists covering the games. About 30,000<br />accredited and non-accredited reporters are expected to report on<br />the games.<br /> <br />Kevan Gosper, vice chairman of the coordinating commission, said<br />restricting access to the Internet during the games “would reflect<br />very poorly” on the host nation.<br /> <br />Beijing routinely blocks Chinese access to some foreign news Web<br />sites and blogs, a practice it has stepped up since rioting broke<br />out in Tibet in mid-march. Laws that lifted many restrictions on<br />foreign media went into effect Jan. 1, 2007. That is due to expire<br />in October.<br /> <br />Broadcasters have been lobbying against plans by Chinese<br />officials that might bar live television broadcasts from Tiananmen<br />Square. Any ban on live broadcasts would disrupt the plans of NBC<br />and other major international networks, who have paid hundreds of<br />millions of dollars for the rights to the games.<br /> <br />China routinely uses 30-second to one-minute delays to control<br />broadcasts seen on state-run TV. The Olympic torch lighting<br />ceremony last month in Greece was disrupted by a protester who ran<br />up behind a top Chinese official giving a speech. The image seen<br />around the world was never shown on state TV in China.<br /> <br />Monday’s torch arrival in Tiananmen Square was also broadcast on<br />a delay.<br /> <br />IOC officials have acknowledged that outdoor endurance events of<br />more than an hour could offer a small health risk to athletes. IOC<br />President Jacques Rogge began saying seven months ago that events<br />would be postponed if the air quality were poor.<br /> <br />Last month the IOC’s top medical officer said Beijing’s air<br />quality was better than expected. A study the IOC approved showed<br />there are risks to athletes in outdoor endurance events and<br />conditions may be less than ideal during the Aug. 8-24 period.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-25307835428065000192008-04-02T20:54:00.000-07:002008-04-02T20:56:02.606-07:00U.S. women's volleyball team beats Chinese squadBy News Services<br /><br />At Nanjing, China: Foluke Akinradewo scored 18 points as the U.S. women's national training volleyball team defeated JiangSu, a professional Chinese club team, 25-22, 25-23, 25-22 on Wednesday at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics to conclude the team's eight-match exhibition tour of China. Team USA finished the tour with a 5-3 record.<br /><br />"This was a good final match for us in China against a challenging team," U.S. Women's National Team coach 'Jenny' Lang Ping said. "JiangSu's attack was very quick, but we studied the video of last night's match and made some adjustments today that were very effective. We had more success blocking their quick attack and maintained our concentration better throughout the match today."<br /><br />The U.S. victory evened the two-match series with JiangSu, which won Tuesday's match in four sets. Jiangsu won a recent league tournament and defeated the China Army team in one of the preliminary rounds. Team USA defeated the China Army twice on the tour of China.<br /><br />Team USA's three-week training tour of China was designed to allow the coaches to evaluate a younger group of players in preparation for Olympic Games roster selections. The U.S. qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games, held Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, by finishing with a bronze medal at the 2007 FIVB World Cup.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-24082111834951085762008-04-01T16:28:00.000-07:002008-04-01T16:30:57.989-07:00IOC wants Beijing to open Internet during OlympicsBEIJING (AP) — The Internet must be open during the Beijing<br />Olympics.<br /> <br />That was the message a top-ranking International Olympic<br />Committee official delivered Tuesday to Beijing organizers during<br />the first of three days of meetings — the last official sessions<br />between IOC inspectors and the Chinese hosts before the games begin<br />in just over four months.<br /> <br />Beijing routinely blocks Chinese access to some foreign news Web<br />sites and blogs, a practice it has stepped up since rioting broke<br />out over two weeks ago in Tibet.<br /> <br />Kevan Gosper, vice chairman of the IOC coordinating commission,<br />said restricting access to the Internet during the games “would<br />reflect very poorly” on the host nation.<br /> <br />“This morning we discussed and insisted again,” Gosper<br />said. “Our concern is that the press (should be) able to operate as it<br />has at previous games.”<br /> <br />Gosper said the Chinese had an obligation under the “host city<br />agreement” to provide Internet access to the 30,000 accredited and<br />non-accredited journalists expected to attend.<br /> <br />“There was some criticism that the Internet closed down during<br />events relating to Tibet in previous weeks,” Gosper said.<br /> <br />Laws that lifted most restrictions on foreign media went into<br />effect Jan. 1, 2007. The rules are to expire in October.<br /> <br />“I’m satisfied that the Chinese understand the need for this<br />and they will do it,” Gosper added.<br /> <br />When asked about Gosper’s comments, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman<br />Jiang Yu said China’s “management” of the Internet followed the<br />“general practice of the international community.”<br /> <br />She acknowledged that China bans some Internet content, and said<br />other countries did the same. She declined to say if the Internet<br />would be unrestricted for journalists during the Olympics.<br /> <br />Gosper spoke after Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the inspection<br />committee, addressed his Chinese hosts. Without being specific,<br />Verbruggen noted that China’s Aug. 8-24 Games had become embroiled<br />in controversy.<br /> <br />The unrest in Tibet — and China’s response — has heightened<br />calls for a boycott or a partial boycott of the games. This comes<br />in the wake of worries over Beijing’s polluted air, and calls for<br />China to increase pressure on Sudan to end fighting in Darfur.<br /> <br />The Darfur issue prompted Hollywood director Steven Spielberg to<br />step down as an artistic adviser for the opening and closing<br />ceremonies.<br /> <br />The torch relay left Beijing on Tuesday for Kazakhstan and a<br />monthlong global tour. Protests are likely at an event Chinese<br />organizers hoped would generate positive images of the country.<br /> <br />“Clearly in recent times more than ever, the Beijing Games are<br />being drawn into issues that do not necessarily have a link with<br />the operation of the games,” Verbruggen said. “We’re all aware<br />the international community is discussing these topics, but it is<br />important to remember that our main focus during these meetings is<br />the successful delivery of the games operations.”<br /> <br />The IOC has refused to speak out against China’s actions in<br />Tibet, saying it is a sporting body, not a political one. It has<br />maintained the Beijing Olympics “are a force for good” in opening<br />up the country.<br /> <br />Liu Qi, president of the organizing committee, told Verbruggen<br />the preparations were in the “final stage” but suggested the<br />hosts would not let up.<br /> <br />“There’s a saying in China that if you want to walk 100 steps —<br />though you have walked 90 — you have finished only half the<br />journey. We still have 10 steps left, and those 10 are very<br />critical to the whole journey.”<br /> <br />The People’s Daily, the official Communist Party newspaper,<br />warned in an editorial Tuesday that troubles lie ahead in the four<br />months before the games.<br /> <br />“With the opening of the games approaching, the burden on our<br />shoulders is heavier and the task tougher,” it said. “We must<br />keep a clear head, improving our awareness of the potential<br />dangers, and bravely facing all the difficulties and challenges.”Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-91376424124194683372008-03-28T18:17:00.000-07:002008-03-28T18:20:09.534-07:00Pitcher Lisa Fernandez, a three-time gold medalist, left off U.S.By TOM WITHERS<br /> AP Sports Writer<br /> <br />Lisa Fernandez, a three-time Olympic champion and perhaps<br />softball’s signature star for more than a decade, did not make the<br />U.S. team’s final 15-player roster for the Beijing Games.<br /><br />“It’s like Michael Jordan getting cut from the basketball<br />team,” said catcher Stacey Nuveman.<br /> <br />The 37-year-old Fernandez was named a replacement player on the<br />American team, which will attempt to win its fourth straight gold<br />medal this summer. Fernandez was on the mound when the U.S. team<br />won gold in Athens, completing a historic run through the<br />tournament in which the Americans outscored the competition 51-1.<br /> <br />Fernandez was also the starting pitcher when the U.S. won it all<br />in Sydney in 2000. Four years earlier, she came in as a reliever<br />when the Americans cinched gold in Atlanta.<br /> <br />“I have no regrets,” Fernandez said. “I know I gave it<br />everything I had. There wasn’t a corner cut or a practice missed. I<br />just ran out of time. To me, the most important thing is that I<br />know I gave it everything I had. But there were certain things I<br />couldn’t control.”<br /> <br />She was making a comeback after missing three years of<br />international competition to start a family, and never quite got<br />back to form.<br /> <br />“I was really hoping she would get close to where she was in<br />2004,” said U.S. coach Mike Candrea. “She is still in my eyes the<br />best player who has ever played this game. I wanted her to go out<br />on top.”<br /> <br />Candrea kept only three pitchers: returning gold medalists<br />Jennie Finch and Cat Osterman, as well as first-time Olympian<br />Monica Abbott. Alicia Hollowell, a hard-throwing right-hander who<br />played for Candrea at Arizona, also was named a replacement player.<br /> <br />Candrea will only make changes to his roster if there are<br />injuries. He must submit it to the U.S. Olympic Committee for final<br />approval by July 1Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-25031931392462564442008-03-27T17:33:00.000-07:002008-03-27T17:36:05.064-07:00World records fall in swimming, cyclingTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS<br /><br />SYDNEY, Australia —Eamon Sullivan broke the 50-meter freestyle world record again, and Olympic teammate Libby Trickett did the same over 100 meters Thursday at the Australian swimming championships in Sydney.<br /><br />It was the third time in the past six weeks the men’s 50 record has been lowered, after Alexander Popov’s mark stood for nearly eight years.<br /><br />Sullivan, competing in the 50 semifinals, finished in 21.41 seconds to break the mark of 21.50 established by France’s Alain Bernard at the European championships last weekend. Bernard had broken Sullivan’s previous mark of 21.56 set Feb. 17 in Sydney. Popov’s previous record was 21.64.<br /><br />Sullivan missed Bernard’s 100-meter freestyle world record by 0.02 seconds on Wednesday.<br /><br />“It’s sort of sweet to get this back after missing it last night,” he said. “I felt great in the warm-up tonight and great in the swim.”<br /><br />Trickett, formerly Libby Lenton and competing for the first time under her married name, finished in 52.88 to better the mark of 53.30 set by Germany’s Britta Steffen in 2006.<br /><br />It was the second time Trickett had broken the 53-second barrier, but her previous time of 52.99 in Sydney last year was not ratified by swimming’s governing body because she was swimming against Michael Phelps.<br /><br />“I cannot say how much I wanted to do that,” Trickett said. “Ever since Duel in the Pool last year ... I’ve just wanted it so badly and to see it officially up there is just amazing.” <br /><br />MANCHESTER, England — Britain broke two world records and completed a gold-medal sweep in the world track cycling championships Thursday.<br /><br />The men set a team pursuit record and the women’s team broke the sprint mark.<br />Former rower Rebecca Romero became a two-sport champion when she emerged victorious in the individual pursuit for Britain’s fourth gold in the velodrome.<br /><br />Bradley Wiggins, Paul Manning, Geraint Thomas and Edward Clancy powered ahead of Denmark to finish in 3 minutes, 56.322 seconds in the 4-kilometer pursuit final.<br /><br />“We knew we could step up and put together a ride,” said Wiggins, who won an individual gold Wednesday. “We had been training at that sort of speed on that track. It was just a case of putting it together on the day.<br /><br />“We knew we were bang on world record pace the whole way through.”<br /><br />The Danes finished in 3:59.381. Australia, which set the previous world record at the 2004 Olympics, was third in 4:00.089, ahead of New Zealand.<br /><br />Victoria Pendleton and Shanaze Reade successfully defended their title in the sprint in 33.661, after setting a world record of 33.186 in qualifying.<br /><br />After the first lap in the final China was ahead. Reade blamed a technical fault with the gate for delaying her start. Pendleton led the fightback and surged ahead to snatch gold. Germany edged France to take bronze.<br /><br />“This is only the beginning for me,” said Pendleton, who has two more golds to defend. “It’s going to be harder this year being an Olympic year and everyone raising their game.”<br /><br />“To win the title and break a world record is absolutely amazing,” added 19-year-old Reade, the world BMX champion.<br /><br />Two years after transferring from boat to bicycle, Romero beat two-time world champion Sarah Hammer by almost 7 seconds.<br /><br />Romero clocked 3:30.501; Hammer was timed in 3:37.006.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-15963348173388995672008-03-13T16:02:00.000-07:002008-03-13T16:04:06.512-07:00USOC head Peter Ueberroth believes Olympic Games a positive forceBy KEN PETERS<br />AP Sports Writer<br /> <br />DANA POINT, Calif. — Peter Ueberroth believes a<br />person-to-person approach can change relationships among countries,<br />and that the Olympics have and will continue to play a significant<br />role.<br /> <br />Some human rights advocates have criticized China as it prepares<br />for this year’s Beijing Olympics.<br /> <br />“Almost any position people take about human rights, they<br />should have as many ties as possible to China in the long-term,”<br />Ueberroth, head of the U.S. Olympic Committee, said<br />Wednesday. “That has a much more positive effect than trying to have<br />confrontations.<br /> <br />“But they have to be real ties — ties between athletes, ties<br />between business, ties between friends and tourists.”<br /> <br />Speaking at the World Congress of Sports, a gathering made up<br />mostly of sports business executives, Ueberroth urged the 500 or so<br />in the audience to make friends and contacts in China and predicted<br />the economy there will continue to grow immensely.<br /> <br />Ueberroth, who headed the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, doesn’t<br />believe the games should be politicized, and said past boycotts<br />affected just one group.<br /> <br />“Boycotts do one thing very well and only one thing: they<br />punish athletes,” he said.<br /> <br />He noted that the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Games in Moscow<br />didn’t affect the Soviet Union’s presence in Afghanistan at the<br />time. The Soviets responded by boycotting the Los Angeles Olympics<br />four years later, but Ueberroth and the L.A. committee essentially<br />revived the Olympic movement with the first “private-enterprise<br />Olympics” with money from sponsors, and those games even turned a<br />profit.<br /> <br />Ueberroth said the Moscow Olympics still were “terrific games”<br />and opened the Soviet Union up to the world.<br /> <br />Ueberroth recalled that China was on the list of 100 countries<br />that were supposed to boycott the 1984 games, but a man working<br />with the L.A. committee called him from China in the middle of the<br />night and said, “They’re coming.”<br /> <br />“I feel indebted to China,” Ueberroth said. “They came and<br />they won their first medal. Now they’re going to be the<br />host. They’re going to put on great games, open their country up more<br />than it’s ever been open.”Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-51007225218464608202008-03-07T15:08:00.000-08:002008-03-07T15:09:29.130-08:00Yao Ming tells fans he is targeting Olympic returnBEIJING (AP) — Yao Ming’s message to his Chinese fans was clear: He plans to play in the Beijing Olympics.<br /><br />In a letter published Friday in Chinese-language newspapers, the Houston Rockets star assured fans that his operation Monday to repair a stress fracture in his left foot was successful and he’ll be fit to play in August despite missing the rest of the NBA season.<br /><br />“My injury has made many of you worried and you expressed your concern and sympathy in many ways,” Yao wrote. “You have always supported me and encouraged me at the lowest point of my career. And now I want to say thank you for your care and support.”<br /><br />Yao thanked officials from the Chinese Basketball Administration, family and teammates. He promised a quick return, which his doctors have said is likely. He’s expected to need four months to heal.<br /><br />“The surgery was very successful and I’ll start physical recovery very soon,” he wrote. “I’ll do whatever I can to overcome the difficulty and play for China in Olympics and be in my best form.<br /><br />“I’ll see you in the Olympics. Thanks, everybody.”Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-63575216335136620062008-03-06T20:05:00.001-08:002008-03-06T20:08:15.962-08:00Beijing Olympics centerpiece venue delayed by preparations for opening, closing ceremoniesBEIJING (AP) — The completion date for the Beijing Olympics’s<br />marquee venue has been pushed back by a month, a top organizer<br />said, as workers put finishing touches on the stadium that<br />symbolizes China’s ambitions for the games.<br /><br />Work on the futuristic “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium has been<br />slowed by preparations for the opening and closing ceremonies and<br />it will not be ready until late April, Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice<br />president of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, told the<br />China Daily newspaper.<br /><br />“The construction of the venue and the background setting up<br />for the ceremonies are going on together now, which has postponed<br />the working progress of the Bird’s Nest,” he was quoted as saying<br />in Thursday editions of the state-run paper. “The Bird’s Nest will<br />be the last but the best venue at the Beijing Games.”<br /><br />The main structure of the stadium was complete and only<br />finishing touches remained, organizing committee spokesman Sun<br />Weide told The Associated Press. A request for more details was<br />e-mailed to the committee’s media center, but an employee said they<br />did not have further information.<br /><br />With enormous twisted beams wound around the exterior like<br />silver twigs in a nest, the 91,000 seat National Stadium is the<br />centerpiece of the games, a massive prestige effort by the<br />communist government.<br /><br />Organizers have spared no effort or expense in preparing for the<br />Beijing Olympics, which they want to use to showcase a modern,<br />vibrant “new China.” They have been meticulous in planning every<br />little detail, down to specially breeding flowers that will bloom<br />in the August heat.<br /><br />The construction of sparkling new venues has been a key part of<br />a multibillion-dollar modernization campaign for<br />Beijing. Anchoring an Olympic Green that also includes a modern indoor<br />stadium and the “Water Cube” aquatics center, the telegenic<br />Bird’s Nest is likely to be prominently featured in Olympic<br />broadcasts around the world.<br /><br />There have been few venue construction delays on the often-bumpy<br />road to the games. While China has had to defend against criticism<br />on everything from its dirty air to its diplomatic policies in<br />Darfur, every venue but the Bird’s Nest was completed on schedule<br />by the end of last year.<br /><br />The process has had hiccups, however. Two workers died during<br />construction of the Bird’s Nest, and a planned retractable roof had<br />to be scrapped to cut costs.<br /><br />There was no suggestion that the Bird’s Nest would not be ready<br />in time for the Games, which are five months away.<br /><br />Jiang did not elaborate on the preparations for the opening and<br />closing ceremonies — directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, the<br />details are top secret.<br /><br />Speculation among ordinary Chinese abounds on the Internet, with<br />many guessing at how the Olympic flame will be lit during the<br />Aug. 8 opening ceremony. A columnist for the Chinese edition of Sports<br />Illustrated joked that Beijing’s potent “erguotou” liquor (some<br />varieties are 60 percent alcohol) should help set the Olympic<br />cauldron ablaze.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-42939057957563606132008-03-05T20:11:00.000-08:002008-03-05T20:12:15.199-08:00CAS to hold March 19 hearing to resolve Asian Olympic handball qualifying disputeLAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The Court of Arbitration for Sport will hold a hearing March 19 to resolve the Asian Olympic handball qualifying dispute.<br /><br />CAS secretary-general Matthieu Reeb said a binding ruling will then be given within days of the hearing, allowing Asian teams to take part in further qualifying matches in Europe from March 28.<br /><br />The Asian federation and the national associations of Kazakhstan and Kuwait have challenged a decision by the International Handball Federation, the sport’s governing body, to order replays of qualifying matches for the Beijing Olympics following questionable referee decisions.<br /><br />“I think we will go forward positively from this,” IHF managing director Hala Helmy said of the hearing date. “We have three women’s qualifying tournaments taking place at the same time (March 28-30) all over Europe. In each of the venues, four teams are taking part and two will go to the Olympics.”<br /><br />Asian men’s teams will play in Olympic qualifying tournaments from May 30-June 1.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-88917659837278702622008-03-04T17:06:00.000-08:002008-03-04T17:07:42.841-08:00Austrian skier has his lower leg amputated after crashOSLO, Norway (AP) — Austrian skier Matthias Lanzinger’s lower left leg was amputated Tuesday because of complications from two broken bones in a crash at a World Cup race.<br /><br />Lanzinger broke his shin and fibula Sunday during a super-G. The double fracture severely damaged blood vessels, hampering circulation in the 27-year-old skier’s leg.<br /><br />The Austrian ski federation said the surgery Monday night was only partly successful and left doctors no other option in an effort to avoid further risks.<br /><br />“The circulation could not be stabilized,” said doctor Thomas Hoelzenbein, who was flown in from Austria Monday to lead the operation.<br /><br />Organizers of the race in Kvitfjell, Norway, were criticized because no medical helicopter was available. Lanzinger was flown to a hospital in Lillehammer in a tourist helicopter, and later was brought to Oslo.<br /><br />“The lacking safety measures at these races are shocking,” Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer told the Austria Presse Agency on Tuesday. “I can’t understand how a World Cup race could be organized at such a low safety level.”<br /><br />FIS general secretary Sarah Lewis said World Cup events are the responsibility of the hosting national federation.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-91494757890233689082008-02-27T19:35:00.000-08:002008-02-27T19:36:55.237-08:00WADA says it has effective blood test for human growth hormoneLAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — An effective blood test for<br />detecting human growth hormone will be in place for the Beijing<br />Olympics, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency said Wednesday.<br /> <br />HGH is considered one of the most widely abused<br />performance-enhancing drugs, and experts say athletes have been<br />able to use it with little fear of being caught. The substance<br />clears the system quickly, making testing difficult.<br /> <br />“By the Olympic Games there will be a capacity to detect HGH,”<br />WADA president John Fahey said.<br /> <br />A test was used at the 2004 Athens and 2006 Turin Olympics but<br />yielded no positives because athletes using it would have stopped<br />in time to make sure it cleared the system beforehand. The latest<br />development should allow for more routine testing out of<br />competition.<br /> <br />“We know people have been taking human growth hormone with<br />impunity and have been for 20 years,” WADA director general David<br />Howman said.<br /> <br />He said the test would be able to catch cheats within a window<br />of “more than 48 hours.”<br /> <br />Officials refused to give details, saying drug cheats needed to<br />be left in the dark. But Fahey did say he was very confident about<br />the tests.<br /> <br />“We all know these things end up in court more often than<br />not,” he said. “It’s got to withstand the legal challenge as<br />well. No reason to believe that all of that won’t be in place and<br />that there will be a capacity to test at the Beijing Olympics.”<br /> <br />Fahey said traces of the drug could also be frozen and stored in<br />samples for up to eight years, meaning users could still be caught<br />and lose their medals years later.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-17288131962500552082008-02-19T19:07:00.000-08:002008-02-19T19:08:52.717-08:00Olympic diving and water polo notesBy News services<br /><br />DIVING<br /><br />BEIJING – Chris Colwill (Brandon, Fla.) and Jevon Tarantino (Boca Raton, Fla.) placed sixth in the men’s synchronized 3-meter final Tuesday, the opening day of the Good Luck Beijing/FINA Diving World Cup.<br /><br />The pair scored scored 404.64 points in their first World competition after competing in three Grand Prix meets last year. China’s Wang Feng and Qin Kai scored 462.12 points for the men’s 3-meter synchro gold, and Russia’s Yuriy Kunakov and Dmitry Sautin took silver at 418.65.<br /><br />Tuesday’s competition also included women’s 10-meter preliminaries, with Laura Wilkinson (Spring, Texas) and Haley Ishimatsu (Seal Beach, Calif.) placing sixth and 13th, respectively, to advance to the semifinals, set for Wednesday morning.<br />Wilkinson scored 343.60 points, and Ishimatsu finished with 321.05 points. China’s Chen Ruolin topped the preliminary field with 410.10 points, with Wang Xin, also of China, taking second at 382.35.<br /><br />Ishimatsu’s top-18 finish guarantees the United States a second spot in women’s 10-meter for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Wilkinson had already secured one spot for the U.S. as a result of her fourth-place showing at last year’s World Championships (Spots are earned for the countries, not the divers themselves).<br /><br />The semifinals begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The top 12 in the semis will advance to the finals at 7 p.m. Wednesday.<br /><br />Colwill will dive again Wednesday in the men’s individual 3-meter preliminaries, which begin at 2 p.m. Two-time Olympian Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) also will dive in that event. <br /><br />WATER POLO<br /><br />A day after being remanded to their hotel for a "lockdown" in Serbia following an announcement of independence by neighboring Kosovo, the USA Men's Senior National Team has returned to training. The team was scheduled to take part in two practices today in Serbia as well as an additional practice on Wednesday morning before departing the country.<br /><br />The team plans to depart Serbia midweek and head to Greece as they continue on their trip. Team USA was in Serbia as part of a multi-country training trip in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. The team will visit Greece and Italy before returning home on Feb. 29.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-8352366925165145952008-02-16T19:19:00.000-08:002008-02-16T19:21:11.428-08:00Beijing Olympic Tickets are Hard to Come byBy Barbara Demick<br />Los Angeles Times<br /> <br /> <br />BEIJING — It is not as though all 1.3 billion people in China are<br />trying to attend the Olympics.<br /> <br />It just seems that way if you’re trying to book a seat. Tickets to<br />the 2008 Games are proving to be among the most coveted in sporting<br />history.<br /> <br />Money, luck, persistence, computer skills and, in some cases, the<br />right political background, are among the prerequisites.<br /> <br />Scalpers already are demanding as much as $40,000 a seat for the<br />Aug. 8 Opening Ceremony, and tickets for popular sports such as<br />basketball, gymnastics and pingpong (a particular Chinese favorite)<br />are going for 10 times their face value. <br /><br />The crushing demand for the roughly 7 million tickets that the<br />Beijing Olympic Committee is putting on sale for the general public<br />comes from inside and out: Americans and Europeans who have long<br />dreamed of visiting China and think the Olympics will be the right<br />occasion, and middle-class Chinese families who want to watch with<br />pride as their nation celebrates what is widely touted as a coming-out<br />party.<br /> <br />On the domestic market, ticket seekers have been frustrated by long<br />lines and crashing computer systems. A disproportionate number of<br />those who mastered the system were students and professionals in the<br />information technology field who were able to elbow their way to the<br />front of electronic queues.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-47934606356734997752008-02-15T13:16:00.000-08:002008-02-15T13:19:12.491-08:00IOC: Olympic athletes can blog if they follow rulesGENEVA (AP) — Let the blogging begin.<br /> <br />The IOC has given athletes the right to blog at the Beijing<br />Games this summer, a first for the Olympics, as long as they follow<br />the many rules it set to protect copyright agreements, confidential<br />information and security.<br /> <br />Blogging is a “legitimate form of personal expression,” the<br />International Olympic Committee said.<br /> <br />The IOC said blogs by athletes “should take the form of a diary<br />or journal” and should not contain any interviews with other<br />competitors at the Games. They also should not write about other<br />athletes.<br /> <br />“It is required that, when accredited persons at the games post<br />any Olympic content, it be confined solely to their own personal<br />Olympic-related experience,” the IOC said.<br /> <br />The debate over blogging has been a difficult one for the IOC,<br />which has been concerned that the online journals might infringe on<br />copyright agreements or release confidential information during the<br />Aug. 8-24 Beijing Olympics.<br /> <br />Bloggers are prevented from posting audio clips or videos of<br />“any Olympic events, including sporting action, opening, closing<br />and medal ceremonies or other activities which occur within any<br />zone which requires an Olympic identity and accreditation card (or<br />ticket) for entry.”<br /> <br />Still pictures are allowed as long as they do not show Olympic<br />events. Athletes must obtain the consent of their competitors if<br />they wish to photograph them.<br /> <br />Also, athletes cannot use their blogs for commercial gain.<br /> <br />“No advertising and/or sponsoring may be visible on screen at<br />the same time as Olympic content,” the IOC said.<br /> <br />The IOC said accredited participants in the Olympics also<br />“should not disclose any information ... which may compromise the<br />security, staging and organization of the games.” The same rule<br />applies for the security of athletes’ teams.<br /> <br />Domain names for blogs should not include any word similar to<br />“Olympic” or “Olympics.” Bloggers are, however, urged to link<br />their blogs to official Olympic Web sites.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-48291474633451769662008-02-14T13:29:00.000-08:002008-02-14T13:33:09.887-08:00China blames activists for linking Olympics to SudanBEIJING (AP) China is blaming activists with “ulterior<br />motives” for linking the Beijing Olympics to the nation’s<br />involvement in Sudan, with top officials saying they shared<br />concerns over the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.<br /> <br />Games organizers and the Foreign Ministry responded Thursday to<br />Steven Spielberg rejecting a role as an artistic adviser to the<br />Olympics.<br /> <br />The film director withdrew on Tuesday on the grounds that China<br />wasn’t doing enough to pressure Sudan over the conflict in its<br />western region of Darfur.<br /><br />China is believed to have influence over the Islamic regime<br />because it buys two-thirds of the country’s oil exports while<br />selling it weapons and defending it in the United Nations.<br /> <br />In their first response to Spielberg’s announcement, Games<br />organizers said his decision would not affect planning for the<br />opening and closing ceremonies, adding: “We express our regret<br />over his recent personal statement.”<br /> <br />“The Chinese government has made unremitting efforts to resolve<br />the Darfur issue, an obvious fact to the international community<br />which holds unprejudiced opinions on this issue,” the organizers,<br />known as BOCOG, said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated<br />Press.<br /> <br />“Linking the Darfur issue to the Olympic Games will not help to<br />resolve this issue and is not in line with the Olympic Spirit that<br />separates sports from politics,” BOCOG said.<br /> <br />China is on the defensive against critics using the Games to<br />spotlight the communist regime’s curbs on human rights, press<br />freedoms, and religion.<br /> <br />“It is understandable if some people do not understand the<br />Chinese government policy on Darfur,” Foreign Ministry spokesman<br />Liu Jianchao said. “But I am afraid that some people may have<br />ulterior motives, and this we cannot accept.”<br /> <br />Liu said China was working with the United Nations to resolve<br />the Darfur crisis.<br /><br />BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — The European Union wants athletes to<br />resist raising human rights and other sensitive political issues<br />during the Beijing Olympics.<br /> <br />“Sports is too important. It is too important to use it as a<br />political instrument,” Milan Zver, the sports minister of<br />Slovenia, which holds the EU presidency, said Thursday.<br /> <br />The British Olympic Association initially said this week it<br />would contractually require its athletes to not make any<br />politically sensitive remarks or gestures during the games,<br />although it later changed tack.<br /> <br />Other national games committees have also warned athletes not to<br />speak out at Olympic sites.<br /> <br />Under IOC rules, athletes cannot discuss political issues within<br />Olympic zones, but should have freedom of speech outside them. Zver<br />said that even though he understood the importance of human rights,<br />the Beijing Games should be spared the controversy. <br /><br />“The Olympics is not a good place for that,” Zver said in an<br />interview with The Associated Press. “We, the politicians, have to<br />do that,” Zver said.<br /> <br />Zver believes multinational companies that trade and invest in<br />China have more of an obligation to speak up rather than athletes.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-10615518672453437412008-02-13T13:33:00.000-08:002008-02-13T13:36:08.881-08:00China has yet to respond to Spielberg withdrawalBEIJING (AP) — Steven Spielberg was supposed to lend a little<br />Hollywood glitz to this year’s Beijing Olympics.<br /> <br />Instead, the heavyweight director’s rejection of a role in the<br />Summer Games on human rights grounds stands as the event’s biggest<br />political challenge yet.<br /> <br />Spielberg, who won an Oscar for his 1993 Holocaust film<br />“Schindler’s List,” said he was turning down a position as<br />artistic adviser to the opening and closing ceremonies because<br />China was not doing enough to pressure its ally Sudan into ending<br />the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region.<br /> <br />That decision drew praise from a slew of other groups critical<br />of Beijing, boosting a months-long campaign by activists to<br />spotlight the communist regime’s human rights record.<br /> <br />Although not entirely unexpected, Spielberg’s announcement<br />Tuesday appeared to catch Beijing flat-footed. Neither the<br />organizing committee nor China’s Foreign Ministry had responded by<br />late Wednesday.<br /> <br />Spielberg, whose 2005 film “Munich” dealt with the killings of<br />11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics, had indicated as early as<br />August that he might not take part in the ceremonies. Spielberg<br />said he had given up hope that China would take a more aggressive<br />approach toward Sudan.<br /> <br />China is believed to have special influence with the Islamic<br />regime because it buys two-thirds of the country’s oil exports<br />while selling it weapons and defending Khartoum in the<br />U.N. Security Council.<br /> <br />Fighting between government-backed militia and rebels in Darfur<br />has killed more than 200,000 people and left an estimated 2.5<br />million displaced since 2003.<br /> <br />“While China’s representatives have conveyed to me that they<br />are working to end the terrible tragedy in Darfur, the grim<br />realities of the suffering continue unabated,” Spielberg said in a<br />statement.<br /> <br />Spielberg was supposed to have joined a team led by famed<br />Chinese director Zhang Yimou. Yimou’s representatives did not<br />respond to e-mailed requests for comment. Spielberg had yet to sign<br />a contract and had only visited Beijing once as part of Olympic<br />planning.<br /> <br />In recent days, the U.S. Congress and a coalition of Nobel Peace<br />Prize winners, politicians and elite athletes have also lobbied<br />Beijing over Darfur.<br /> <br />Actress Mia Farrow and other activists delivered an open letter<br />addressed to Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Chinese Mission to<br />the United Nations in New York on Tuesday.<br /> <br />“How can Beijing host the Olympic Games at home and underwrite<br />genocide?” said Farrow, a U.N. goodwill ambassador, shivering in<br />freezing weather.<br /> <br />Praising Spielberg’s decision, Human Rights Watch said corporate<br />sponsors, governments and national Olympic committees must urge<br />Beijing to improve human rights at home.<br /> <br />China has repeatedly denounced what it calls attempts to<br />“politicize” the Aug. 8-24 Games.<br /> <br />Yet it has been unable to turn back a rising tide of negative<br />global opinion that joins concerns over the city’s notorious<br />pollution, snarled traffic and displacement of people for the<br />construction of Olympic venues.<br /> <br />Beijing has invested billions of dollars and its national<br />prestige into what it hopes will be a glorious showcase of China’s<br />rapid development from impoverished agrarian nation to rising<br />industrial power.<br /> <br />International Olympic Committee spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau<br />said the IOC had not been involved in discussions between Beijing<br />and Spielberg and had no comment on the director’s pullout.<br /> <br />“This is a personal decision of Mr. Spielberg,” Moreau said.<br /> <br />Leading sponsor Adidas, which is reportedly spending $200<br />million for sponsorship rights to the Beijing Games, also said it<br />would remain uninvolved.<br /> <br />“We do not believe we have the political leverage that the<br />campaigners attribute to us,” the German sporting goods maker said<br />in a statement.<br /> <br />China’s state-controlled media carried no mention of Spielberg’s<br />announcement.<br /> <br />Despite the government’s official view, Luo Qing, a scholar who<br />researches China’s national image at Communications University of<br />China in Beijing, said the 2008 Games were destined to attract<br />political controversy.<br /> <br />“The Olympics is not just about sports,” Luo said. “Politics<br />will be even more prominent in 2008 because China is a political<br />hot spot and, as an Eastern country, likely to cause greater<br />misunderstanding.”Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-4222988802138999602008-02-12T17:56:00.000-08:002008-02-12T17:58:33.216-08:00USOC plans no additional free-speech measures in BeijingCOLORADO SPRINGS (AP) — The U.S. Olympic<br />Committee will ask American athletes to comply with international<br />Olympic rules regarding free speech in Beijing, but won’t impose<br />the extra measures the British federation has been criticized for.<br /> <br />International Olympic Committee rules state “no kind of<br />demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is<br />permitted in any Olympic sites, venues, or other areas.”<br /> <br />The British Olympic Association plans to require its athletes to<br />sign an agreement barring them from making politically sensitive<br />remarks or gestures during the Olympics, a policy that was widely<br />criticized as a measure that went beyond the Olympic charter.<br /> <br />The USOC has never had any rules that would be any more<br />restrictive than what’s in the Olympic charter, spokesman Darryl<br />Seibel said Monday.<br /> <br />“The Olympic charter applies to athletes from every country,<br />and we use the charter as our guide,” Seibel said. “We will not<br />impose prohibitions on free speech with our delegation. We do<br />expect our delegation to comply with the relevant provisions of the<br />Olympic charter.”<br /> <br />After receiving criticism, British federation spokesman Graham<br />Newsom said there had been “no intention of gagging anyone,” and<br />that the BOA was simply trying to mirror the rule in the Olympic<br />charter. BOA chief executive Simon Clegg said the final agreement<br />that athletes will sign will show that the intention is not to<br />restrict athletes’ freedom of speech.<br /> <br />Human rights groups, political activists and other observers are<br />concerned over whether the Chinese government will allow free<br />speech during the Olympics.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-4527993128091329532008-02-09T13:58:00.000-08:002008-02-09T14:05:10.100-08:00Dunn nears another Olympic spot in racewalkingKEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) — Philip Dunn raised his right fist as he finally crossed the finish line, then wrapped himself in the American flag.<br /><br />He was exhausted. He was also exhilarated, since a third Olympic berth may soon be his.<br /><br />“This wasn’t a walk in the park,” Dunn said.<br /><br />Interesting choice of words.<br /><br />Dunn won the U.S. men’s 50-kilometer Olympic racewalking trials Saturday at Crandon Park just south of downtown Miami, pulling away from Matt Boyles late in the grueling race that had only 15 qualified entrants. A third of them didn’t finish, and most of those who completed the 25-lap course did so in obvious agony.<br />Dunn got the win, but his Olympic task isn’t done yet.<br /><br />His time was 4 hours, 12 minutes, 55 seconds — 5:55 slower than the Olympic ’B’ qualifying standard. If he completes a 50K event in the standard time by July 23, he’ll be eligible for the Beijing Games in August.<br /><br />“Before every race, you make a set of goals,” said Dunn, who hails from San Diego. “The main goal was to win for me, to come out on top. The secondary goal was to hit the time standard and seal the deal, make Beijing today. When that didn’t happen, yeah, I was disappointed a little bit. But I regrouped.”<br />Matt Boyles forced him to regroup.<br /><br />Boyles is 25 and was competing in just his second 50K racewalk. He was stride-for-stride with Dunn from the opening gun, and by the time they completed two laps around the two-kilometer course, most of the field was already more than a minute behind.<br /><br />The pursuers never caught up, either. At the 30K mark, Boyles forced the issue and took a slim lead — which he later regretted, because with 10 kilometers left, Dunn passed him with relative ease and kept pulling away.<br /><br />2004 Olympian Kevin Eastler dropped out after one lap because he’s recovering from hernia surgery, and three-time Olympian Curt Clausen (who finished more than an hour<br />behind the leaders) needed multiple ice packs rubbed on his legs in the medical tent just after crossing the line.Jim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2756704752048357421.post-2627800361508265012008-02-08T16:07:00.000-08:002008-02-08T16:10:44.176-08:00USA Volleyball teams with Sports Museum of AmericaBy News Services<br /><br />USA Volleyball Secretary General Kerry Klostermann announced today a partnership with the Sports Museum of America (SmA).<br /> <br />USA Volleyball joins over 50 single-sport Halls of Fame, National Governing Bodies, Museums and other sports organizations across North America as a Founding Sports Partner of the Sports Museum of America, www.sportsmuseum.com. Scheduled to open in New York City in May 2008, SmA is the nation's first and only museum to celebrate all sports under one roof. Filled with original films, state-of-the-art interactives and an iconic collection of memorabilia, SmA will richly showcase the history, grandeur and significance of sports in American culture through great sports' stories of courage, education and triumph.<br /> <br />According to Klostermann, this exciting new partnership will introduce a broad new audience to the thrills of volleyball. "USA Volleyball is both pleased and honored to be a partner organization with the Sports Museum of America. Having such a prestigious home to showcase our sport, athletes and coaches will advance our efforts tremendously in our mission to involve the citizens of America in the healthy, fun and lifetime sport of volleyball."<br /> <br />"The Sports Museum of America is extremely pleased to have USA Volleyball join our more than 50 exclusive sports partner organizations to create the first comprehensive museum of sports," says Founder and CEO Philip Schwalb. "SmA looks forward to sharing volleyball's tremendous legacy -- from Karch Kiraly to Logan Tom to the stars of tomorrow -- with our millions of visitors. We'll excite our fans about the sport of volleyball and encourage them to find out more information on USA Volleyball in Colorado Springs and across the country."<br /> <br />Under the terms of the partnership, USA Volleyball will provide photos pertaining to the history of volleyball and of interest to the projected one million worldwide annual visitors to SmA. Likewise, joint marketing efforts will be undertaken by both partners, and SmA will make an annual donation to support USA Volleyball.<br /> <br /> <br />About the Sports Museum of America: <br />The Sports Museum of America (SmA) is the nation's first and only all-sports experience richly showcasing the history, grandeur and significance of sports in American culture. Created in exclusive partnership with over 50 single-sport Halls of Fame, National Governing Bodies and other sports organizations across North America, SmA features amazing state-of-the-art interactive technologies, dramatic original films and an iconic collection of sports memorabilia. SmA will also be home to the legendary Heisman Trophy (and annual televised presentation) and the Billie Jean King International Women's Sports Center, inclusive of the first hall of fame devoted exclusively to female athletes and coaches. Located in New York City at 26 Broadway (next to the "Charging Bull" and footsteps from the Statue of Liberty Ferry), the Sports Museum of America will open in May 2008. www.sportsmuseum.comJim O'Connellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11186390899077644707noreply@blogger.com0