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Tragic Start to Vancouver Olympics

While checking out twitter earlier today I first saw the news about the tragic death of Nodar Kumaritashvili. He died after crashing at high speed in a training run for the men’s luge event at the Vancouver Olympics. This came just hours before the opening ceremony for the Vancouver winter games.

Kumaritashvili, 21, was to have represented Georgia at the Winter Games. He crashed on the final corner of the high speed track and went out of the track and hit a metal post. I saw a replay on tv however they spared the viewers the moment of impact.

Unfortunately this is the third time that a competitor has been killed during a Winter Olympic event.

It was at the 1964 Games in Innsbruck when British luge slider Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski and Australian alpine skier Ross Milne were also killed in training accidents. Another death took place at the Albertville Games in 1992 Swiss speed skier Nicholas Bochatay however his event was only a demonstration event.

It is a sad day for the Olympics and especially the family of Nodar Kumaritashvili.

Golf and Rugby Approved for Rio in 2016

The IOC has voted to increase the number of Olympic sports from 26 to 28. Golf and Rugby Sevens will be added to the program for the 2016 games.

To get the final approval the sports needed a majority vote from the IOC members. Both had no trouble with this. Rugby was voted for in a big way by the IOC members who voted 81-8 in its favour. Golf got in by a margin of 63-27.

The President of the Olympic Movement Jacques Rogge as a former rugby international would have been pleased to see the seven’s version of the game get added to the games.

Rogge also was re-elected as President by a margin of 88-1. I wonder who voted against him. It was basically a rubber stamp as he was not challenged for the position.

Now we have nothing but to look forward to the winter games in 2010 and then the 2012 games in London.

Eyes Will Be On Rio in 2016

If you look at a world map that shows the locations of past Olympic Games there are two obvious blank regions, Africa and South America. With this in mind you had to think that Rio de Janiero was a good shot at winning the right to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

That is how it turned out following the votes in Copenhagen. What came as a surprise was that Chicago were dumped in the first round. Even Barak Obama making a plea for his city to win the games was not enough. Chicago received just 18 votes in round one, Tokyo 22, Rio 26 and Madrid 28.

Australia’s high ranking IOC member Kevin Gosper suspects that the Asian delegates got together to eliminate Chicago.

In round two voting Tokyo were next to go. This was a city with the least hometown support and considering the games were in Asia just last year that counted against them. The votes were Madrid 46, Rio 29 and Tokyo 20.

Now it came down to a race between Madrid and Rio. Even though there is not a rule against awarding the same continent consecutive games in practice that is how it works. With that being said you had to think Rio would come out on top, even though Madrid had a solid round two vote.

The final round saw Rio win easily with 66 votes to Madrid’s 32.

Bolt First, Daylight Second and a new track and field world record

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt has continued his golden run at the track and field world championships in Berlin. He has backed up from winning the 100m in a sensational time of 9.58 seconds to win the 200 meters.

Not content to just win gold the big Jamaican has smashed his own world record for the event. Last year at the Beijing Olympics he did not run hard to the line in the 100m race, he addressed this in the 200m race and in the process took Michael Johnson’s long standing 200 meter world record which stood at 19.32 since the 1996 Olympics.

Back in August 2008 Bolt set the mark at 19.30. Bolts new track and field world record for the 200 meters now stands at 19.19.

He came out of the blocks fast and established a huge lead by mid-race. He powered home to see the outstanding new record. Alonso Edward of Panama was second, a massive 0.62 seconds behind running 19.81, Wallace Spearmon of the United States ran 19.85 for bronze and countryman Shawn Crawford finished fourth in 19.89. The first five runners were under 20 seconds.

Tyson Gay did not contest the race due to a groin injury. Without Bolt in the race it was a close contest. The winning margin is the biggest in world championship history.

American Wallace Spearmon who won bronze admitted afterwards that he had gone into the race hoping at best for silver. That is what Usain does to you. “I saw Bolt for maybe three seconds,” Spearmon said. “This guy is really really fast, he’s amazing.”

Bolt can perhaps thank France’s David Alerte for his fast time after the Frenchman false started. In the first start Bolt had a reaction time of 0.345. Lucky for him in the second start Bolt got an awesome start with a 0.133 reaction time which was the fastest in the field. With a great start there was no stopping him.

The world now waits to see just how much lower Bolt can take the 100m and 200m world records.

If you look back over time since the IAAF required fully automatic timing to the hundredth of a second in 1977 the record was only lowered on four occasions before Berlin. Pietro Mennea set it at 19.72 in 1979. Michael Johnson twice broke it in 1996 with 19.66 in June and then at the Olympics he set 19.32. Bolt then shaved it to 19.30 in Beijing when running into a -0.9 wind. He then smashed it in Berlin.

Full results for the men’s 200 meter world championship final are below.

Position	Lane	Athlete	Country	Mark	.	React
1	5	Usain Bolt	JAM	19.19	(WR)	0.133
2	6	Alonso Edward	PAN	19.81	(AR)	0.179
3	4	Wallace Spearmon	USA	19.85	(SB)	0.152
4	8	Shawn Crawford	USA	19.89	(SB)	0.148
5	3	Steve Mullings	JAM	19.98	(PB)	0.146
6	7	Charles Clark	USA	20.39	.	0.158
7	1	Ramil Guliyev	AZE	20.61	.	0.165
8	2	David Alerte	FRA	20.68	.	0.161

Check the water in Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser wins 100m

It is amazing how good the Jamaican sprinters are. Somebody please check what is in the water over there.

First we had the amazing run by Usain Bolt, along with his countryman Asafa Powell picking up third. Now we have the women going one-two in the 100m final.

In a contrast to the size and power of Bolt, we saw the pocket rocket Shelly-Ann Fraser collecting gold.

She was fast out of the blocks and like Bolt put herself clear of the field. Unlike in the men’s race she was chased down. In the end she won the race by the slimmest of margins as her fellow Jamaican Kerron Stewart closed in on the Olympic champion.

In the end it was Fraser who took gold with a time of 10.73 seconds just ahead of Stewart who ran 10.75. USA’s Carmelita Jeter stopped a Jamaican 1-2-3 by taking the bronze in 10.90. Veronica Campbell-Brown was fourth in 10.95.

Imagine if Fraser has the long legs of Usain Bolt, how fast could she run?

This was another great race and lived up to the drama of a world championships. It is just really amazing how a country the size of Jamaica can produce so many great sprinters.

Bekele win fourth straight 10,000m world crown

Usain Bolt had everyone talking last night following his stunning world record setting win in the 100m final.

Tonight in Berlin at the world athletics championships it was a night of contrasts, however there was still an impressive athletic performance. 1.60 metre distance running sensation Kenenisa Bekele won his fourth consecutive 10000m title at a world championships.

The 27-year-old Olympic champion ran 26min 46.31 sec to win gold. Along the way he matched Haile Gebrselassie for the most world championship titles won.

It takes size, speed and power to win the 100m, it takes guts to win the 10000m.

Bolt Scorches Track in Berlin

Exactly one year after Usain Bolt set alight the track and field program at the Beijing Olympics he has done it again. This time it comes at the track and field world championships in Berlin.

Last year he ran 9.69. I was privileged to witness that great run as I enjoyed the awesome atmosphere from within the bird’s nest. This time I had to settle for watching on tv. It was once again an amazing performance with Bolt not only winning but breaking the world record. He was clear of second place Tyson Gay as he crossed the line to stop the clock at an incredible 9.58 seconds. This is one of the great track and field world records.

Gay was about 2 metres back when he crossed in 9.71 seconds and former world record holder Asafa Powell crossed in 9.84 seconds to claim bronze. Gay was defending champion and was back in a major final after going out in the semi’s in Beijing.

Bolt came out of the blocks in smart fashion and by mid-race had established a lead that only increased as he effortlessy completed the 100m dash.

Last year in Beijing he followed up the 100m win with gold in the 200m. Can he repeat that performance in 2009?

Now with such an amazing 100m track and field world record what can Bolt do next? Can he run even faster?

Golf and Rugby a step closer to Olympic inclusion

Seven sports were attempting to become Olympic sports for the 2016 Olympics, only two are more than likely in the running to join a list of 26 core sports. They are rugby and golf.  

The five to miss out are baseball, karate, roller sports, softball and squash. Baseball and softball were dropped from the Olympics after the Beijing Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee Executive Board proposed the addition of rugby and golf as they offer the most value to the Olympic movement.

Key factors considered when selecting the sports include universality, popularity, good governance, youth appeal, respect for athletes and respect for the Olympic values.

The final decision about the inclusion of golf and rugby will be made at the full IOC meeting onOctober 9 at the 121st IOC session in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The proposed format for golf as put forward by the International Golf Federation will see eight days of competition, four for men and four for women. Both formats will be the traditional four day 72 hole format. 60 men and 60 women will participate.

The rugby will be in the form of sevens. The International Rugby Board proposed 2 to 4 days fo competition. There will be 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams for a total of 288 athletes. The teams would be split into two pools of 6 with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the semi-finals.

“We’re obviously thrilled that the IOC Executive Board has recommended that golf should be added to the 2016 Olympic Programme,” said Ty Votaw, Executive Director of the International Golf Federation Olympic Golf Committee, which has been coordinating the Olympic bid. “We believe we have presented a compelling case as to why golf should be added and we look forward to the IOC’s final vote in October.”

Golf is seeking re-inclusion into the Olympic family after last being included in the 1904 Olympics. Back then only the USA and Canada competed in the sport.

Bernard Lapasset, President of the IRB, said: “We would like to thank the IOC Executive Board for selecting Rugby Sevens from what are seven strong and diverse sports. We recognise the significance of this milestone in our campaign but are also mindful that the ultimate decision rests with the IOC members when they meet in Copenhagen on October 9, 2009.

The 15 a-side form of rugby union was played at four of the first seven summer Olympic Games. It made its debut at the Paris games in 1900. The IOC cancelled rugby union as an Olympic sport shortly after the 1924 games in Paris. It was actually Pierre de Coubertin who introduced rugby to the Olympics.

What do you think about golf and rugby being included in the Olympics? Leave your comment below.

Women’s Boxing Added to 2012 Olympics

After the Internation Olympic Committee received requests from 17 International Sports Federations to modify events or change quotas and formats they have made their decision about what changes to allow.

The Executive Board (EB) announced on 13 August what the changes will be.

Of most interest to me is the addition of women’s boxing. The EB agreed to add three women’s events to the 2012 London Olympic boxing program. The men’s program has been reduced from 11 to 10 events. Overall the total number of boxers will remain the same.

The addition of the women’s boxing was last considered in 2005. The reason it got up this time is that they recognise the universality of the sport and that the quality of the athletes competing has improved.

I have to admit this is one sport I probably won’t be watching in 2012, well maybe the curiousity factor will get me… If women decide that is something they want to do then that is great but I think boxing overall should not be an Olympic sport even though I have enjoyed following the careers of Mike Tyson or Evander Hollyfield and of course Ali.

In other changes approved by the EB we will see the Canoe Sprint drop the men’s C2 500m in favor of a women’s K1 200m race. The remaining three men’s 500m sprint races have been replaced by much shorter 200m sprints.

Modern Pentathlon will see a new combined run-shoot format. I don’t even know why this is in the Olympics. To me it is a dated sport but who am I to care.

Handball sees the removal of placement matches from their tournament.

The wrestling, swimming and cycling federations requested changes involving new events. These have not been approved at this stage as in order to bring in new events they need to replace current events as well as maintaining the current total athlete participation numbers. The events would also be favourably looked at if the participation of women at the Olympic games is increased.

The EB will make a decision in December at its meeting in Lausanne about the introduction of mixed doubles. In order to make this happen the International Tennis Federation will need to guarantee that the top ranked singles players would be able to participate.

Before all of the above items were considered by the EB the Olympic Programme Commission analysed the requests based on established criteria. They then forwarded their findings to the EB. Sports that have universal appeal and provide gender equity and youth appeal are more likely to receive favourable outcomes.

What do you think about the introduction of women’s boxing into the Olympics? Leave your comment below.

Bolt closes out season with another top class 100m sprint

Three time Beijing Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt has ended his Golden League season with a 9.77 second time in the 100m at the meet in Brussels. Had it not been for a 0.9 metres-per-second headwind he may have challenged his world record set in the final of the 100m in Beijing.

Bolt had to be content with the track record which previously stood at 9.84 seconds. Second placegetter Asafa Powell also came in ahead of the old track record as he clocked 9.83 second. It was a Jamaican 1-2-3-4 as Nesta Carter took third in 10.07 and Michael Frater fourth in 10.08. Tyson Gay who is the current world 100m and 200m champion pulled out of the race as he was not willing to risk his hamstring in the cool weather.

For Powell it was another fast run in a meet that did not matter. He failed miserably in the race that mattered in Beijing coming in fifth in 9.95. In smaller meets he shows he is a runner that should be challenging for gold at Olympics and world championships. Last Tuesday he ran 9.72 in Lausanne, just outside of the 9.69 word record. Hopefully at the next world championships he will step up and push Bolt all the way to the finnish line. That is an awesome thought.

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