First lady Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron, wife of British Primer Minister David Cameron, talk with United States Women's National Soccer Team midfielder Lori Ann Lindsey, left, and defender Becky Sauerbrunn as they join with students participating in a mini-Olympics competition in celebration of the 2012 London Summer Olympics and Mrs. Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative, Tuesday, March 13, 2012 in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

After-school sports got a new spin Tuesday as first lady Michelle Obama and Samantha Cameron led a group of fifth-graders through a mini-Olympics.

They were joined by former Olympians Dominique Dawes and Lisa Leslie, as well as Paralympian Kortney Clemons, who lost his leg while fighting in Iraq. At the event, they stressed the hard work and determination that got them to the games — but not before the 55 fifth-graders from three Washington-area schools cycled through stations where they played basketball, soccer and tennis. There were also machines to simulate swimming, and a section of the gym was dedicated to a relay race.
Obama and Cameron, the wife of British Prime Minister David Cameron, who’s in Washington this week for an official visit, billed the event at an American University gym as an advance celebration of this summer’s London games.

“I’m particularly excited that the Camerons are visiting our country this week,” the first lady said, “because as it turns out, I will be visiting their country this summer.”

The White House announced Tuesday that Obama will lead the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games in London. First ladies often lead the U.S. delegation — Hillary Clinton led the American group at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and Laura Bush led the U.S. delegation to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

Obama dovetailed into her “Let’s Move” initiative, which promotes exercise and healthful eating for children.

“In the months ahead, I’ll be talking to Americans all across the country to encourage even more young people to tap into that Olympic spirit and turn their inspiration into action,” the first lady said.

Obama has in recent months taken on a higher-profile role in promoting the two-year-old initiative. She went on a multistate tour to mark the anniversary last month and has appeared on television with celebrities, including Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon and Ellen DeGeneres. Next week, she will appear on “The Late Show With David Letterman.”

At the event Tuesday, the first lady urged the students to find things they’re passionate about, whether sports or other activities.

“You are all champions in our minds,” Leslie, a Women’s National Basketball Association player who won four gold medals as part of the U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team, told the kids before a ceremony in which they were all given medals. “You do not have to be an Olympian or a Paralympian to be active and to be healthy. Whether you play sports or not, we’re really encouraging you to do that with ‘Let’s Move’”

Other Olympians at the event included tennis player MaliVai Washington, soccer players Lori Lindsey and Becky Sauerbrunn, runner Benita Fitzgerald Mosley and decathlete Dan O’Brien. Paralympians April Holmes and John Register and tennis player David Wagner, who plays in a wheelchair, were also on hand.

At one point, Dawes, who competed in three games, asked the kids to list the sports included in the summer games. Kids shouted basketball, swimming and track; one suggested yoga.

“That’s not an Olympic sport — yet,” she said. “That would be awesome.”

Read the full story and more at: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73970.html

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You had a group of universities within a bus ride of one another, and they played each other in football, baseball, basketball, and other sports. At the major university level, you had a dozen or so conferences, each with no more than …

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Ana Ivanovic is born November 6, 1987, in Belgrade, Serbia, then Yugoslavia) is a former World No.1 Serbian tennis player. She is the current World No.5 in the WTA Tour and the reigning French Open champion. She was also the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open.
Ivanovic’s mother, Dragana who is a lawyer, attends all of her daughter’s matches. Her father, Miroslav, a self-employed businessman, attends as many events as he possibly can. Ana has a younger brother, Miloš, with whom she loves to play basketball. Other hobbies include shopping, watching movies and playing Sudoku. She chooses not to have a permanent coach. Aside from her tennis career, Ivanovic also studies finance at a university in Belgrade, and Spanish in her spare time. Her inspiration to begin playing was Monica Seles, and she also admires Roger Federer.

On September 8, 2007, Ivanovic became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia, alongside Aleksandar Dordevic and Emir Kusturica. She takes a special interest in the fields of education and child protection. Ivanovi? visited a primary school in Serbia during her inauguration and said: “I’m also looking forward to going into the classroom and meeting many kids.”

Ivanovic is a fan of all sport clubs competing under the name of Partizan Belgrade.

Ivanovic is friends with former doubles partner Maria Kirilenko, as well as other professional tennis players Daniela Hantuchová, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sanja Ancic, Rafael Nadal, Tatiana Golovin and fellow Serbians Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic (whom she has known since the age of 5) and Janko Tipsarevic.

Ana Ivanovic confirmed in November 2008 that she is currenty dating Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Western Kentucky scored the biggest upset of the opening day of the NCAA Tournament to decide the U.S. college basketball champions by ousting Illinois 76-72 on Thursday.

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Singapore 2010 Youth Olympics logo

On Saturday January 10th, about three months delayed, The Singapore Youth Olympics 2010 logo was unveiled, and the results of the public logo competition were announced.
A new emblem is born. On Saturday, Singapore 2010 launched its official emblem for the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games. “The emblem embodies the spirit of the Youth Olympic Games and represents the blending of the IOC’s and Singapore Organising Committee’s vision to bring the youth of the world together,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge in his message.

Colourful and vibrant
The emblem illustrates in a colourful and vibrant way the passion of sport with the champions in its centre. It will be a strong ambassador for Singapore 2010.

An event in itself
The emblem launching ceremony was accompanied by sports demonstrations based on the new disciplines of the 2010 Games sports programme (like basketball 3 on 3) and a 2010m run with many Singaporean youngsters participating.

Singapore 2010 Logo

Sport, Culture and Education
Some 3,594 athletes from all 205 National Olympic Committees will compete in Singapore in 26 sports comprising 201 events. Besides the sports competitions programme, the YOG will feature an extensive Cultural and Educational Programme (CEP), which aims to introduce, in a fun and festive spirit, the young athletes to Olympism and the Olympic values, and to raise awareness of important issues such as the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, the fight against doping and their role as sports ambassadors in their communities.

source: olympic.org

Singapore Youth Olympics 2010 logo

A new emblem is born. On Saturday, Singapore 2010 launched its official emblem for the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games. “The emblem embodies the spirit of the Youth Olympic Games and represents the blending of the IOC’s and Singapore Organising Committee’s vision to bring the youth of the world together,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge in his message.

Colourful and vibrant
The emblem illustrates in a colourful and vibrant way the passion of sport with the champions in its centre. It will be a strong ambassador for Singapore 2010.

An event in itself
The emblem launching ceremony was accompanied by sports demonstrations based on the new disciplines of the 2010 Games sports programme (like basketball 3 on 3) and a 2010m run with many Singaporean youngsters participating.

Singapore 2010 Logo

Sport, Culture and Education
Some 3,594 athletes from all 205 National Olympic Committees will compete in Singapore in 26 sports comprising 201 events. Besides the sports competitions programme, the YOG will feature an extensive Cultural and Educational Programme (CEP), which aims to introduce, in a fun and festive spirit, the young athletes to Olympism and the Olympic values, and to raise awareness of important issues such as the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, the fight against doping and their role as sports ambassadors in their communities.

source: olympic.org

Ana Ivanovic is born November 6, 1987, in Belgrade, Serbia, then Yugoslavia) is a former World No.1 Serbian tennis player. She is the current World No.5 in the WTA Tour and the reigning French Open champion. She was also the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open.
Ivanovic’s mother, Dragana who is a lawyer, attends all of her daughter’s matches. Her father, Miroslav, a self-employed businessman, attends as many events as he possibly can. Ana has a younger brother, Miloš, with whom she loves to play basketball. Other hobbies include shopping, watching movies and playing Sudoku. She chooses not to have a permanent coach. Aside from her tennis career, Ivanovic also studies finance at a university in Belgrade, and Spanish in her spare time. Her inspiration to begin playing was Monica Seles, and she also admires Roger Federer.

On September 8, 2007, Ivanovic became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia, alongside Aleksandar Dordevic and Emir Kusturica. She takes a special interest in the fields of education and child protection. Ivanovi? visited a primary school in Serbia during her inauguration and said: “I’m also looking forward to going into the classroom and meeting many kids.”

Ivanovic is a fan of all sport clubs competing under the name of Partizan Belgrade.

Ivanovic is friends with former doubles partner Maria Kirilenko, as well as other professional tennis players Daniela Hantuchová, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Sanja Ancic, Rafael Nadal, Tatiana Golovin and fellow Serbians Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic (whom she has known since the age of 5) and Janko Tipsarevic.

Ana Ivanovic confirmed in November 2008 that she is currenty dating Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco.

London’s 2012 Olympics organizers may cancel plans to build a temporary sports venue in Greenwich in an effort to reduce costs.

The organizers, after meeting yesterday to review a report on venues by consultants KPMG, also reiterated plans to build temporary facilities for basketball in the Olympic Park and for equestrian events in Greenwich Park, in the U.K. capital’s southeast, according to an e-mailed statement from the 2012 Olympics board.

Games officials pledged to control costs after the games’ 9.3 billion-pound ($13.8 billion) budget tripled from the 2005 bid estimate. Britain’s economy contracted in the third quarter, and organizers have so far failed to arrange bank financing for the construction of the Olympic Village, a development of 3,000 apartments where athletes will live during the games.

The KPMG report recommended canceling the North Greenwich Arena 2, a 6,000-seat building that would host badminton and rhythmic gymnastics, Paul Deighton, chief executive of the games’ organizing committee, said yesterday in a presentation to the city’s legislative assembly.

“We continue to look at ways to deliver the games and to save significant amounts of money,” Deighton told the assembly. The two sports could be moved to an existing facility, though he didn’t say where.

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Stocks markets and oil prices may dip and dive, but Olympic organizers with preparations under way for three games in the next six years aren’t breaking a sweat.

The reasons? Time and television money. The global economic downturn has squeezed private financing for venues that will be a part of London’s 2012 Summer Games and Sochi’s 2014 winter edition, but with brisk ticket sales for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and most of the sponsors locked in, the IOC can afford to hold off making new deals for television rights and sponsorships.

“All of us feel this,” said Gerhard Heiberg, head of the International Olympic Committee’s marketing commission. “Of course, this has an impact for everyone in the world. It never comes at a convenient time. But we don’t feel we are affected too much in general. Things are moving everywhere in the right direction. Some things may take longer than originally hoped.”

The financial pinch comes as IOC president Jacques Rogge seeks another term that will keep him in office until 2013. He says the committee is closely monitoring the financial situation.

“It would be naive and shortsighted to say that nothing will happen,” Rogge said last week, confirming his plans to seek re-election next October, when he is expected to be unopposed. “Yes, the situation is so volatile that it is too soon to draw conclusions.”

Rogge said the Olympic movement is in “excellent financial health.” Total Olympic TV and sponsorship revenues for the 2005-08 cycle – covering the 2006 Turin Winter Games and 2008 Beijing Olympics – totalled about US$3.5 billion.

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As sports fans across the nation ponder the implications of having a dedicated pick-up basketball player and known sports fanatic as our Commander-in-Chief, it’s worth noting today that Obama’s geographical and not athletic affiliation may prove to have the greatest impact on the future of sports in America.

Obama already has been active in Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics, and given his newfound stature in the world right now, it’s not hard to imagine that his full-fledged support as President would bring the Summer Games to the Windy City for the first time in history.

Japanese officials behind Tokyo’s bid to host the 2016 Games are all but conceding today, admitting that one of Obama’s trademark speeches as part of a Chicago presentation to the IOC would be tough to beat.

The other two cities that are finalists for the 2016 Olympics are Rio de Janeiro and Madrid. When the four finalists were announced this summer, a widening rift between the IOC and the U.S. Olympic Committee over television revenues was reported to be a serious threat to Chicago’s chances, with the American city viewed as the longshot of the four finalists to secure the eventual bid.

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Wembley is poised to play a much bigger role in the organisation of the 2012 Olympics than originally planned.
BBC London has learned that London 2012 officials have been looking for some time at scrapping their original plans to build a temporary arena near to the 02 to stage badminton and rhythmic gymnastics.
There had been proposals to move the two sports to ExCel indoor arena, which is already staging a variety of 2012 events, but there is not enough space.
Now officials are seriously looking at taking badminton back to the Wembley Arena, a spiritual home for the sport. The prestigious All-England championships were staged at the arena – which is right next to the outdoor stadium – between 1957 and 1993.
Given the currently financial crisis, it is clear that London 2012 needs to save money. This temporary arena was due to cost around £40 million. There are a few problems with limited space for back-of-house facilities which the Olympics needs but the Arena is perfect for sports like badminton because it holds around 6,000.

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NBA commissioner David Stern said Sunday the league likely would play regular-season games in London before the British capital hosts the 2012 Olympics.
Stern, however, also said the possibility of taking meaningful games to Europe was nowhere near a done deal.
“Although we have no plans on the drawing board, it has been suggested to us that we should schedule in the next three years or so some regular-season games here – more than just one – on some regular basis,” Stern said before the New Jersey Nets-Miami Heat pre-season game at the O2 Arena. “It’s fair to say that we’ll see a minimum of one and possibly more regular-season games by 2012.”
Stern sees the Olympics as a springboard to increasing the NBA’s marketability in Britain, which is one of the richest countries in the world.
Dwyane Wade, possibly the most recognized player on the court, said he enjoyed the energy in the building during Sunday’s pre-season game.
“We don’t really grow up thinking that people will one day know us worldwide,” said Wade, who scored 18 points for the Heat in the 94-92 loss to the Nets. “It’s a great feeling.”

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Michael Phelps who claimed a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympic Games said it was harder for him to learn Chinese than to win swimming races.
Before the American came to China for the 2008 Games he seriously took a few Chinese lessons. A popular online video shows how hard he tries to imitate the voice of a Chinese learning multimedia software in saying such basic words as “guo zhi” (juice), “nan hai’er” (boy) and “nu hai’er” (girl).
But still, the 23-year-old rated his Chinese language studies as the most difficult thing he had tried in his life. “Learning Mandarin is even harder than winning eight gold medals in the pool.”
In primary school Phelps took French and German courses, but the swimming ace said, “all the words, characters and pronunciations in Mandarin are so different. All of them are hard to manage.”
He was not the only star athlete trying to learn some Chinese language and culture. When gymnast Nastia Liukin arrived back home in Dallas, Texas, with five medals around her neck, the Russian-born blonde appeared in front of her reception wearing a black T-shirt with two big Chinese characters “Beijing” in the front. (blog)
“The Beijing Olympics have brought world attention to the Chinese civilization and further enhanced the utility of the Chinese language worldwide,” said Zhao Guocheng, the Office of Chinese Language Council International (OCLCI) deputy director general.

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There has never been a Paralympics that has not been hailed the best ever.

The first time I heard the phrase delivered “live” in the stadium was at Atlanta, which was almost certainly the worst ever.
On Wednesday evening in Beijing, President of the International Paralympic Committee Sir Phillip Craven did not let me down, delivering the mantra word for word.
So how does it stand up to the claim?
Let us do the pluses first, and there are plenty of them.
My own personal abiding memory of the Beijing games, the fourth I have attended, was the crowds.
Disabled athletes over the years have been used to performing at most of their meets to sparse crowds made of friends, family and other team members.
Even at the best of the games – Sydney – there was still an element of “rent-a-crowd” about the attendances.
Many of the audiences were almost entirely made up of children, allocated tickets en bloc as an educational exercise.
They were reminiscent of those schoolboy and schoolgirl hockey internationals that used to be staged at Wembley, where the pitch and decibel level of the cheering were excruciating.
Nothing like that in Beijing but many of the events were total, or almost total, sell-outs.
The Bird’s Nest stadium several times had its full complement of 91,000 spectators. The swimming events were full every night. Great attendances too at the basketball.
And when GB quadriplegic wheelchair tennis star Peter Norfolk was winning his gold in the singles, there were more people watching him than turned up to see Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the Olympics.
Perhaps people were benefiting from the fact that the Paralympic tickets were considerably cheaper than at the Olympics, and also yielding to a huge curiosity to get inside stadiums like the Bird’s Nest?
Another major plus was access. I am guided by the athletes here. I talked to many of them, and they all said the same – that facilities in the village, the stadiums and around the Olympic complex were second to none.
Libby Kosmala, a Paralympian attending her 11th games, said she thought that Beijing’s access was “faultless”.

Avoidable glitches
Now for a couple of minuses. These reflect as much on the nature of the games themselves, and their management by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), as they do on Beijing.
There were a number of foul-ups in the running of events trackside and poolside.
It has been hard to get to the bottom of what led to them, but they need to be sorted if the Paralympics is to take its place as a major sporting event.
For instance, two events were ordered to be re-run. One actually took place, the other re-run was cancelled after the objection was withdrawn.
But the re-run is an odd concept in all but the most extreme cases. To be honest, it smacks of patronising attitudes. Olympic gold medallist Steve Cram said he could not remember a re-run ever being ordered.
In one case a re-run was deemed necessary because of a crash, which led to a disqualification.
The disqualification was fair enough, but ordering a re-run because someone screws up smacks too much of the sports day “oh give them another go” attitude, which has no place in the Paralympics.
The other was caused by an administrative error, a wrong lane allocation. The protest about that should have happened before the race was ever run.
Both of these re-run decisions were reached after the medal ceremonies had taken place – so that athletes who had publicly been cheered suddenly found themselves deprived of that medal.
Whether it was miscommunication between the IPC and local organisers is not clear.
What is clear is that in terms of rigorous organisation, these games must look as professional as the Olympic counterparts they seek to be compared to.
Which leads me to the other matter that must be sorted out before London 2012 – classification.

A job well done
There has to be classification in Paralympic sport. The principle of grading people on the basis of their severity of disability, so that like competes with like, is essential. But classification must be managed better.
In these games, there were a number of examples of people being thrown out of events because they were felt to be less disabled than their classification allowed.
Clearly, if there is a blatant example of cheating, it must be dealt with. But the answer to that is not expulsion during the games, but a proper, independent and transparent programme of classification before the games ever begin.
If a competitor performs above the level which appears to be consistent with their disability, it should be dealt with after the games.
We cannot have a situation where doing particularly well, is regarded as a reason for re-classification within the games.
Classification is confusing enough for spectators, and I think in London there should be more attempts to explain it to crowds.
What happened here is likely to lower the reputation of the games, which on the whole is rising exponentially.
The Beijing games have done plenty to continue that process, and they should be congratulated on that.
They should also be congratulated on changes to the environment which will provide a permanent legacy for disabled Beijingers for the future.
It seems impossible to think that the exposure of huge numbers of people to disabled athletes performing extraordinary feats would not change the perception of disability in China.
Though whether change will be sustained at the rate achieved by the needs of staging the Paralympics remains to be seen.
Was it the best ever? It is a subjective judgment, but I would say yes. I would put it on a par with Sydney, but with the added dimension of genuine, deeply enthusiastic crowds. Well done, Beijing!

source: bbc.co.uk

Oscar Pistorius completed his gold-medal haul at the Paralympics on Tuesday, winning the 400 meters to go with sprint victories in the 100 and 200.

The South African double amputee known as “The Blade Runner” finished in 47.49 seconds, a world record for his disability class.

Jim Bob Bizzell of the United States won the silver medal at the Bird’s Nest National Stadium, the venue for Olympic track and field. Ian Jones of Britain took the bronze.

Pistorius was cleared in May to run in the Beijing Olympics by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. This followed a decision by track and field’s governing body that said he was ineligible.

He then failed to make the Olympic qualifying standard in the 400. He needed to run 45.55, and his best time was 46.25 run against able-bodied athletes.

Pistorius’ next goal is to qualify for the world championships next year in Berlin, where he would face able-bodied runners. He also is looking toward the London 2012 Olympics.

“I’ve got a lot of work to do before that,” he said. “I have five or six able-bodied meets in Europe next year and those are all stepping stones to get to the bigger meets and perform there. I’m looking forward to next year’s calendar and next four years.”

Pistorius, who won gold in the 200 in the Athens Paralympics, runs on carbon-fiber blades. He was born without a fibula, a bone in the lower leg, and both legs were amputated below the knees when he was 11 months old.

Away from the Bird’s Nest, Ukraine defeated Russia 2-1 in seven-per-team soccer to win the gold medal. Volodymyr Antonyuk scored twice for Ukraine and Lasha Murvanadze had Russia’s only goal. Iran defeated Brazil 4-0 in the bronze-medal game.

In the wheelchair rugby final, the U.S. defeated Australia 53-44. Canada took the bronze-medal game, beating Britain 47-41.

In the men’s wheelchair basketball final, Australia beat Canada 72-60. Britain defeated the U.S. 85-77 for the bronze.

Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday, Sebastian Coe said London is ready to match — or surpass — the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics.

“It is a massive responsibility,” said Coe, chairman of the organizing committee for the 2012 London Games. “We don’t find it daunting. … Beijing has delivered a spectacular games and we will also deliver a spectacular games.”

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from: ap.google.com