vancouver olympics Times – Sports Daily

The International Figure Skating Union’s Grand Prix Series enters its 15th season this weekend with its first event: The Trophee Eric Bompard Cachemire, in Paris. Competition starts Friday in competition, the first of six that will lead up to the Grand Prix Final in Tokyo in December and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. It will feature some interesting storylines.

Ladies’ Singles

Carolina Kostner

This event has perhaps the most stacked ladies’ field of the Grand Prix season. Two of figure skating’s greatest rivals will meet in this event as Korean World Champion Kim Yu-Na and 2008 World Champion and faces Grand Prix Final champ Mao Asada of Japan.

Kim, who has been training with Brian Orser in Toronto, blew away the field at the worlds in Los Angeles with a record score. She will show off new programs choreographed by David Wilson – George Gershwin’s “Piano Concerto in F Major” in the long program and a short program to a medley of music from “James Bond 007″, considered unusual music for figure skating.

The archrivals will also be joined by Italy’s Carolina Kostner, but the hotly-anticipated comeback of American Sasha Cohen has been iced as the 2006 Olympic silver medallist who is making a comeback, has pulled out of the competition after suffering an injured calf in practice. Japan’s Yukari Nakano and Caroline Zhang of the U.S. may also challenge. There are no Canadian women in this event.

Entries: Mao Asada (Japan), Candice Didier (France), Sasha Cohen, United States, Gwendoline Didier (France), Elene Gedevanishvili, (Georgia), Alexe Gilles (USA), Yu-Na Kim (South Korea), Kiira Korpi (Finland), Carolina Kostner (Italy), Yukari Nakano (Japan), Caroline Zhang (USA), Anna Jurkiewicz (Poland)

Men’s Singles

Brian Joubert, the 2007 world champion from France, launches his season in front of his home fans and will no doubt be trying to vindicate himself after finishing with what he considered a disappointing bronze medal at the 2009 Worlds.

A five-time world medallist known for his big jumps, Joubert is likely to be challenged in Paris by Nobunari Oda. The Japanese skater is in top form, winning last year’s NHK Trophy, after being banned for three months by his national federation in 2007 for drunk driving. Russia’s Sergei Voronov and Tomáš Verner of Czech Republic will also be in the running for spots on the podium. Vaughn Chipeur is the only Canadian man in the event as he begins his quest for the nation’s second spot at the Olympics.

Entries: Vaughn Chipeur (Canada), Chao Yang (China), Tomas Verner (Czech Republic), Brian Joubert (France), Yannick Ponsero (France), Alban Preaubert (France), Peter Liebers (Germany), Nobunari Oda (Japan), Sergei Voronov (Russia), Javier Fernandez (Spain), Ryan Bradley (USA), Adam Rippon (USA)

Pairs

Canadians Bryce Davison and Jessica Dubé will face the world’s finest pairs competition right off the bat in Paris when they return to the romantic style of skating that so suited them before their experimental season last year. They will meet world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany, the reigning world champs. It’s the first of two meetings between the two teams during this Grand Prix season. The second will be at Skate Canada in Kitchener, Ont., in late November.

Russians Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov, coached by Olympic champ Oleg Vassiliev, may also figure into the podium.

Entries: Adeline Canac and Maximin Coia (France), Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir (USA), Huibo Dong and Yiming Wu (China), Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison (Canada), Vanessa James and Yannick Bonheur (France), Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov (Russia), Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, Germany

Ice Dance

Canadians Tessa Virtue, of London, Ont. and Scott Moir, of Ilderton, Ont. are making their return to the Grand Prix circuit after missing the series last season when Virtue had to have surgery on both of her shins. They returned late in the season to earn bronze at the world championships, and they feel confident now that they are the best ice dance team in the world. They will debut their highly-anticipated new programs: a flamenco original dance and a free dance to Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.

Virtue and Moir enter the competition as the clear favourite but can expect some good competition from the French team of Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat, Sinead and John Kerr of Great Britain, and Americans Emily Samuelson and Evan.

Entries: Zoé Blanc and Pierre-Loup Bouquet (France), Kristina Gorshkova and Vitali Butikov, (Russia), Madison Hubbell and Keiffer Hubbell (USA), Sinead Kerr and John Kerr (Great Britain), Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre (USA), Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat (France), Ekaterina Rubleva and Ivan Shefer (Russia), Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates (USA), Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Canada)

LONDON (Reuters) – Top seed Andy Murray quickly found his feet on grass at Queen’s Club on Wednesday, posting a 6-1 6-4 victory over Italy’s Andreas Seppi to reach the third round of the Wimbledon warm-up tournament.

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Serie A, Italy’s top football division, is poised to split from Serie B to form a new championship.
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Andy Murray takes on Italy’s Fabio Fognini in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
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Jenson Button won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, giving Brawn GP a victory in its first Formula One race.
The Englishman led from start to finish, beating teammate Rubens Barrichello and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli, with the race finishing under caution following a late crash.
Barrichello, a Brazilian, recovered after being slow off the line at the start, while Italy’s Trulli was strong after starting from pit lane.
It was the first time since 1977 that a F1 team had won in its debut, and the third time that a team had finished first and second in its first attempt. Alfa Romeo did it in the first ever grand prix in Britain in 1950, and Mercedes did it at the French GP in 1954.
It was only the second GP win for Button, who is in his 10th year of F1. He averaged 121.649 mph (195.775 kph) at the 3.3-mile (5.3-kilometer) Albert Park circuit and finished in 1:34:15.784.
The win capped a remarkable turnaround for the former Honda team which was at risk of disbanding in the offseason when the Japanese automaker pulled out of F1. Team principal Ross Brawn took over the team, which has benefited from development spending for 2009 by its former owner last year.
“This is a fairytale ending for the first race,” Button said. “Some people may say it’s a pity the race finished under the safety car but I don’t care, I won the race and that’s all I care about.”
Further boosting Brawn GP spirits was the knowledge that the past three winners of the Australian GP went on to win the championship.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and BMW’s Robert Kubica collided while running second and third with only four laps to go, ending their days and bringing out the safety car.
Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton was fourth for McLaren after starting 18th, finishing ahead of Toyota’s Timo Glock, Renault’s Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg of Williams and Red Bull’s Sebastien Buemi, who got one point in his first grand prix.
For the second year in a row, Ferrari finished without a point in the season opener. Felipe Massa was running in third place before his steering went on lap 45, three laps after Kimi Raikkonen spun out.
There was a crash at the first corner that ended the race for McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen, and forced BMW’s Nick Heidfeld, Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Force India’s Adrian Sutil to pit, effectively ending their chances.

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France bounce back from humiliation against England with a seven-try win over Italy as the Azzurri claimed their seventh Wooden Spoon in 10 years.
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A late Tom Shanklin try sees Wales come from behind to keep alive their hopes of retaining the Six Nations title.
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Wales take on Italy in Rome before Scotland meet Ireland in Saturday’s Six Nations action.
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Uefa will assess bids from France, Italy, Turkey and a joint proposal from Norway and Sweden to host Euro 2016.
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TORONTO (Reuters) – Italy pulled off another European shock at the World Baseball Classic, eliminating Canada with a 6-2 win on Monday to remain on course for a spot in the second round.

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Mark Johnson was appointed coach of the U.S. Women’s Olympic hockey team for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and that’s good news on so many levels that it’s impossible to list them all.
He wasn’t appointed because he played on the gold medal-winning 1980 U.S. men’s team at Lake Placid, N.Y., where he scored twice in the “Miracle on Ice” team’s upset of the heavily favored Russians — and assisted on the winner and scored the insurance goal in the gold-medal game against Finland.
He wasn’t appointed because he’s the son of “Badger” Bob Johnson, the ever-optimistic coach who enjoyed the rare success of winning three NCAA titles at the University of Wisconsin and a Stanley Cup championship with the Pittsburgh Penguins before he died of brain cancer in November 1991.
(USA Hockey, the sport’s national governing body, is located on Bob Johnson Drive in Colorado Springs, Colo., one of many tributes to the man whose favorite saying, “It’s a great day for hockey,” is affectionately remembered by all who knew him).
Johnson, 51, got the Olympic job because of who he is and what he has done, not who he knew, and that can only be good for those who play for him and get to know him as he returns to the national stage.
Johnson, who played 11 seasons in the NHL, has been able to take the best of what he learned under taskmaster Herb Brooks with the 1980 team, blend it with his father’s knowledge and love for the game and bring to it his own ability to communicate, teach and create challenges that stimulate his players.
Johnson was an assistant coach of Wisconsin’s men’s team before taking over the women’s team and bringing the stability and solidity that would lead to two NCAA titles. He has been a part of the coaching staff of U.S. men’s and women’s teams for years.

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Italy and Iran separately urged Japan on Wednesday to exercise its influence in coordinating international efforts to draw up a truce in Gaza and Tokyo promised to play an active role, including in contributing to humanitarian assistance for the Palestinians, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini initiated a 25-minute phone call with his Japanese counterpart Hirofumi Nakasone, during which they agreed to cooperate and coordinate humanitarian aid efforts among the Group of Eight countries. Italy succeeded Japan in assuming the annual G-8 presidency this year. Later in the evening, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called Nakasone and stressed the urgent need for Israel to halt its attacks on the Gaza Strip, noting the important role Japan can play given its current membership of the U.N. Security Council, the officials said.

In response, Nakasone requested that Iran also play a ‘‘constructive role’’ on its part to help resolve the crisis.

Since the latest outbreak of violence, Japan has repeatedly called on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides to immediately halt the use of force and has pledged to continue its assistance to the Palestinian people, including around $10 million worth of emergency aid for the Gaza Strip, in view of the situation.

Former world number one Ana Ivanovic kicked off her 2009 season ahead of the Australian Open with victory over Petra Kvitova at the Brisbane International.
Serbian Ivanovic, 21, who reached the Australian Open final last season, overcame the Czech 6-4 6-2 to set up a second-round match with Roberta Vinci.
Another former world number one Amelie Mauresmo also opened with a win in the ATP-WTA Australian Open tune-up event.
The Frenchwoman edged past Australia’s Jelena Dokic 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-5).
The victory will provide a welcome boost for Mauresmo, whose ranking has slipped to 24 from a high of number one in 2006 when she won two Grand Slam titles.
She has been working with new coach Hugo Lecoq since failing to finish in the top 20 last year – the first time in a decade.
But she had to fend off two first-set points before overcoming Dokic, who herself has slumped in the rankings to 177th from a career high of number four.
“It was a tough first match – she was playing some good tennis and gave me a bit of trouble,” Mauresmo said. “But there were good things. Physically I felt good on the court. That’s a key point for me.”
It was a lot more comfortable for Ivanovic, who ended last season at five in the rankings following an injury-hampered mid-season.
“The end of last season was a bit of a disappointment for me so I was looking forward to a good start,” she said.
Three seeded players suffered an early exit, though, with fourth seed Daniel Hantuchova of Slovakia beaten 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 6-0 by Italy’s Sara Errani.
Italy’s number eight seed Francesca Schiavone also fell, ousted 7-5 6-2 by Olga Govortsova of Belarus, and Ai Sugiyama of Japan, seeded ninth, was defeated 6-2 6-3 by home favourite Samantha Stosur.
Italy’s Vinci beat Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld 0-6 6-3 6-1 to earn her place in the second round.

source: bbc.co.uk

THE past year will be remembered as the year of the “Lightning” Bolt that struck at the Beijing Olympic Games. Usain Bolt certainly stunned the world with his world record-breaking performances in the 100 and 200 metre sprints. Next year‘s world championship meeting in August in Berlin will be the highlight of the world athletics calendar and will surely deliver another round of explosive performances from the sprinter.

The question is: How much faster can Bolt still go? Then the question is also asked whether defending world champion Tyson Gay will be able to bounce back or will Asafa Powell be the dark horse to content with?

Bolt has been hinting at competing in the 400m and a Bolt, Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merrit race might just blow some life into the sport again.

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Two weeks after stunning spectators when he came from 65th to finish second in a downhill in Lake Louise, Switzerland’s Carlo Janka clinched his career first World Cup win during a giant slalom in Val d’Isere. The U.S. Ski Team’s Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) struggled under tough light and snow conditions to finish 12th.

The men’s giant slalom, along with the rest of this weekend’s alpine coverage, will be webcast on demand at UniversalSports.com.

Italy’s Massimiliano Blardone took second in the giant slalom and Gauthier De Tessieres of France was third.

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World champion Mao Asada’s skill with the triple axel earned her a victory over longtime rival Kim Yu-na at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating finals on Saturday.

Jeremy Abbott of the United States won after hitting every jump in the free skate.

Asada’s triple axels — two launched at the start of her free skate_ proved decisive as she won with a total of 188.55 points, just 2.2 ahead of South Korea’s Kim at the Goyang Ice Arena north of Seoul.

“I am happy that I could land two triple axels in my program and that I was able to win here in Korea,” Asada said. “It is really special.”

It was a particularly satisfying victory for Asada of Japan, who had finished second to Kim at the last two Grand Prix finals.

Abbott breezed past Takahiko Kozuka of Japan for gold in his first Grand Prix final. Abbott earned 237.72 points, while Kozuka had 224.63.

Ice dancing world champions Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder capped off a victorious Grand Prix season with gold, and Pang Qing and Tong Jian of China rallied to win the pairs title.

But it was the showdown between Kim and Asada, rivals since their days as juniors, that took center stage at the sellout event. Even South Korea Prime Minister Han Seung-soo was in the audience.

Kim, the world bronze medalist, had won her last five consecutive Grand Prix series events. Asada, the reigning world champion, won the NHK Trophy but the finals title had eluded her.

Kim admitted to nerves Friday but pulled off a narrow, half-point lead over Asada in the short program. Fans showed their love for “Queen Yu-na” by throwing more than 550 stuffed animals and 500 flowers onto the rink, organizers said.

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taly’s triumphant Olympic fencers are using their fighting skills to stay in the limelight and promote their sport now that interest has waned after the Beijing Games.

The fencing team drew wide attention after it brought home two individual gold, two individual bronze and three team bronze medals.

The swashbucklers have used media appearances at home to great effect, knowing that soon the focus will return to more traditionally popular sports like soccer and auto racing.

Diego Confalonieri, who won bronze in the team épée, wants to avoid the fate of most smaller Olympic sports that must wait until the 2012 Games in London for another 15 minutes of fame.

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Carolina Kostner earned the Cup of Russia gold on Saturday, topping error-strewn overnight leader Fumie Suguri with an elegant free skate.

Suguri’s mistakes allowed American Rachael Flatt to take the silver medal after posting the session’s top technical score at the Megasport arena. Suguri of Japan finished third.

“I was quite nervous going into my program,” said Kostner, who landed a triple-triple that she missed in her short program. “I got my confidence and then enjoyed my skating.”

She fell on a triple toeloop later in the free skate, but that wasn’t enough to deny her victory.

Suguri, meanwhile, skipped an early double loop, two-footed a triple salchow, and didn’t attempt some other elements.
“I did a lot of mistakes on my jump,” she said. “I was in very good condition over the last two weeks, so I’m very disappointed with how I did.”

Flatt managed to come away with second place.

“I thought I skated very well but it wasn’t my best program. … But I had a lot of fun and it was very exciting,” said Flatt, who adjusted her program after a wobbly landing on an early triple loop.

Kostner and Suguri remain in contention for a Grand Prix Final berth heading into the sixth and final preliminary competition, the NHK Trophy, in Japan next week.

Kim Yu-na and Joannie Rochette have already qualified for the Grand Prix final with two golds apiece. The other four final places remain open.

source: iht.com