International Capsules: Who will light Olympic cauldron?
LONDON (AP) — It's the burning question of the London Olympics. Who will — or should — light the cauldron for the 2012 Games?
With six months to go until the opening ceremony, British bookmakers are taking floods of bets on the issue, while fans, athletes, media and the public at large are speculating on who will get the honor.
Five-time rowing gold medalist Steve Redgrave is the big favorite with the bookies, with British Olympians Kelly Holmes, Daley Thompson and Tom Daley also in the mix. Football icon David Beckham, 4-minute miler Roger Bannister, middle-distance great Sebastian Coe and even Queen Elizabeth II are among other names being mentioned.
The identity of the final torchbearer is always meant to be a closely guarded secret, so the uncertainty will go on right up until the flame is ignited on the evening of July 27.
Picture the scene: The 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium is packed for the ceremony masterminded by Danny Boyle, Oscar-winning director of "Slumdog Millionaire." Billions of people around the world are watching on television.
Thousands of athletes from more than 200 countries have marched into the stadium. Queen Elizabeth II has declared the games open. The Olympic anthem has been played and the Olympic flag raised.
The Olympic torch, which has been taken by boat down the River Thames to the Olympic Park, is carried into the stadium by the last group of relay runners.
Finally, someone — who? — takes the torch and lights the cauldron that will burn for the next 17 days.
In a tradition that started with the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the transfer of the flame to the cauldron symbolizes the start of the games and often stands out as the defining moment of the opening ceremony.
"Depending on how they set it up and who it is in the end, it can be great," senior International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound of Canada said. "For London, it should be somebody who in his or her own way defines Britain and sporting traditions."
The flame will arrive in Britain from Greece on May 19, heralding the start of a 70-day, 8,000-mile relay across the U.K. that will culminate with the ceremony in London.
Coe, chairman of the 2012 organizing committee, said no decisions have yet been made about the lighting.
"It will be decided by, almost certainly our creative teams, and there'll be discussions but we're not anywhere near," he said Thursday. "I can tell you we haven't even begun to get to that granularity of detail."
Some lightings are more memorable than others.
"It's always a dramatic moment and yet most people don't remember who lit the cauldron in 2008," Olympic historian David Wallechinsky said. "They may remember Muhammad Ali, but often it's of minor significance in the long run."
As London approaches, it's worth a look back at some cauldron-lighting moments of previous games.
— Who can forget Ali, trembling from Parkinson's, holding the torch aloft in his right hand for several breathtaking seconds before lighting the flame for the 1996 Atlanta Games?
— Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo fired a flaming arrow high into the night sky to ignite the flame at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
— Cathy Freeman — a powerful symbol of Australia's Aboriginal people — did the honors at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Eleven nights later, she won the 400 meters, the only person to light the cauldron and win a gold medal at the same games.
— Members of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympic hockey team lit the flame together at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
— Another Olympic great, nine-time long-distance running gold medalist Paavo Nurmi of Finland, lit one of the two cauldrons in Helsinki in 1952.
Symbolism also has been an important element over the years.
In 1976, two teenagers, a boy and a girl, representing English- and French-speaking Canada, were chosen to light the flame for the Montreal Games.
The final torchbearer at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics was Yoshinori Sakai, who was born on the day the atom bomb was dropped on his native Hiroshima in 1945.
The first woman to light the flame? Sprinter Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
The youngest? Francois Cyril Grange, who was 7, when he joined French soccer great Michel Platini to ignite the cauldron at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville.
More recently, Chinese gymnast Li Ning "ran" around the top portion of the stadium while suspended by wires before lighting the flame in Beijing four years ago.
At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, two separate lightings were held — one at the indoor opening ceremony and a second outdoors. Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash, Nancy Greene and Catriona Le May Doan were torch bearers.
And when the Olympics were held in London in 1948?
While many had expected that miler Sydney Wooderson or even the young Prince Phillip would be the final torchbearer, it was a little-known 22-year-old medical student named John Mark who carried the flame.
"He was chosen to represent youth and vitality because of his good looks and had practiced for weeks running with his right arm held vertical," said Janie Hampton, author of "The Austerity Olympics — When the Games to London in 1948."
Now, 64 years later, Redgrave is the overwhelming betting favorite — 1-2 with Ladbrokes and 8-13 with William Hill.
Britain's most decorated Olympian, Redgrave won gold medals at five consecutive games from 1984 to 2000 and was knighted by the queen in 2001.
"It's hard to argue with Redgrave. He has been odds-on from day one," Ladbrokes spokeswoman Jessica Bridge said.
Though he's a household name in Britain, Redgrave may not resonate with an international audience. He's also a low-key personality.
"I don't think most Americans ever heard of him," Wallechinsky said.
Second favorite with the bookies is Holmes, winner of the 800 and 1,500 meters at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She's 7-1 with Ladbrokes and 5-1 with William Hill.
Teenage diver — and leading medal hope — Daley is also at 7-1 with Ladbrokes, followed by four-time cycling gold medalist Chris Hoy, former decathlon champion Thompson and Coe, who in addition to being a gold medal winner is now head of the London Olympic organizing committee. Beckham and the queen are at 25-1.
Thompson, who won the decathlon at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics, is a colorful and sometimes irreverent figure. Coe gave him a plug last year, telling the Daily Telegraph: "I genuinely believe he is the greatest Olympian we have delivered."
Coe downplays his own chances.
"I've made it very clear I have massive duties around the times of the games," he told the AP on Thursday.
A strong case could be made for Bannister, the first man to break the 4-minute barrier for the mile. Bannister ran in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, finishing a disappointing fourth in the 1,500 meters. Two years later, he ran the magic time that still stands as one of the greatest sporting achievements of the 20th century. Bannister turns 83 in March.
"If there's some real icon in British sport, if it were Roger Bannister or someone like that, it could be spectacular," Pound said.
Some or all of the top contenders could be involved in the final legs of the torch relay.
There also could be a surprise flame-lighter: Perhaps a young athlete from one of the poor boroughs surrounding the Olympic Park, representing the hopes of a generation.
Hampton, the author, has a more glamorous choice — Kate Middleton, the new wife of Prince William.
"My prediction for the 2012 Games is that the final torch bearer will be the Duchess of Cambridge, wearing a slinky see-through lace frock," she said. "She is popular, beautiful and can presumably run once round a stadium with one arm in the air."
Boyle offers glimpse of Olympic opener
LONDON (AP) — There's a nod to Shakespeare, a big bell and ... nurses?
Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle offered a sneak peek of his vision for the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, revealing Friday that he'll ring a massive bell to start festivities that will include thousands of performers and offer a tribute to a British institution, the National Health Service.
The revelations are unusual as the content of the ceremonies is typically a closely guarded secret. But Boyle seemed almost giddy as he offered small hints during a news conference to mark six months to the games. His attitude seemed a cross between 'I know something you don't know' and 'wait, wait you'll love it.'
"It's an enormous bloody thing," he said to chuckles at London's 3 Mills Studio, where the production is being shaped.
The ceremony, whose theme is "Isle of Wonders" is partly inspired by William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and by the industrial past of Stratford, the East London site of the Olympic Park. It starts with the ringing of a giant bell, and has a segment devoted to the oft-maligned — and much-loved — NHS.
Enormous or not, Boyle's news conference itself showed his skill as a master storyteller, unraveling the tale of his creation of the ceremony with the feel of a fireside chat. He began by noting how thrilled he was to create a glory moment of the games — particularly since he lives in the same part of London where they are taking place.
It is personal to him, and he wanted it to be personal to others so he set about trying to get as much "humanity," in it as possible.
While the specter of trying to beat the monumental ceremony of the Beijing Olympics looms, Boyle said his goal would be to compare favorably to those who staged another Olympics — the 2000 Sydney Games. They were fun. Personal.
Then he looked at his assets. London's Olympic Stadium was not spectacular on the outside, unlike Beijing's Bird's Nest, but the inside is another story, a gorgeous "porcelain bowl" that seats the same number as China's nest, he said. It's a place where spectators can see the faces of those opposite them and a connection can be made.
"We didn't want to slavishly be bossed about by the TV audience, which is a billion people," he said. "We wanted the 80,000 people who are lucky enough to be in there to be the conduit through which you feel this experience really."
Even the land beneath the stadium figured in his thinking. The soil was once a toxic waste dump, poisoned by Britain's industrial past. Boyle liked the notion that the land had been recovered and a new legacy created.
He talked of his experiments, and noted that his play "Frankenstein" was a "dry run" for elements of the show.
Boyle returned to live theater after years directing movies with "Frankenstein" at Britain's National Theatre in 2011. The show won wide praise for its visual verve and the way it drew the audience into the action — shrouding the theater walls in bandages and running a clanging steampunk-style steam train on tracks through the auditorium. It also featured the work of Boyle's frequent musical collaborators Underworld, who will also work on the ceremony.
He then weaved in the history of the British Isles. Boyle ordered up a 27-ton bell from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry to ring in the games. Founded in 1570 and officially Britain's oldest manufacturing company, Whitechapel made London's Big Ben and Philadelphia's Liberty Bell.
Boyle loved that ringing a bell to begin a performance was customary at the time of Shakespeare. The bell cast Friday will be inscribed with a line from "The Tempest," in which Caliban says "Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises."
"We want people to be able to hear those noises," Boyle said.
The opening ceremony of the Olympics is nothing if not a huge extravaganza. It includes a massive parade of athletes and lots of protocol — and is often criticized for being too long. Finishing before the next day is part of the challenge.
The pre-ceremony show starts at 8:12 p.m. local time, or 2012 in military time. The full televised program begins 9 p.m. BST; 2000 GMT (4 p.m. EDT), and is supposed to end at midnight.
"That's an insane ambition," Boyle said. "Insane ambitions are where all good things come from."
While Boyle's films and plays have tremendous energy and visual flair, the creation of a spectacle to appeal to an audience in the billions from around the world is daunting.
The executive producer of the four ceremonies, Stephen Daldry — a stage and film director whose "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" is nominated for an Oscar — compared the task to producing 165 West End musicals simultaneously.
But they seem like they're having fun ahead of the games that start July 27 and end Aug. 12. For the opening, they've brought in hundreds of children and volunteers who offered energy and passion. Some of the kids will feature in a segment that improbably includes nurses from the health service.
Boyle said it would capture what he described as Britain's sense of humor. More on that later:
"We've got this idea," he said as his face broke into a beatific smile. "Can't tell you exactly what it is."
-- Danica Kirka
Athlete pressure grows six months before Olympics
LONDON (AP) — With six months until Britain hosts the Olympics for the first time in 64 years, the pressure is cranking up on the athletes expected to deliver a gold rush on home soil.
"The gravity and weight of a home Olympics ... it's terrifying and exciting at the same time," Olympic sprint cycling champion Victoria Pendleton said on Thursday.
"Sometimes I question myself," she added. "Do I have the ability to deal with the pressure?"
It was cycling that produced the most British champions in Beijing — eight — and Pendleton knows just how difficult it will be to defend her sprint title in London four years on.
After all, she denied home favorite Guo Shuang her moment of glory in China and now fears her rival will want to upstage her in London.
"China is a very big threat just for the fact the Guo Shuang came third at the Olympics, she has been second at the worlds, she was selected to be the champion in Beijing," Pendleton said. "So she definitely has some kind of revenge thing going on there.
"As I stole away her opportunity, I'm sure she will be very keen to take mine back. ... She'll want to level the playing field a bit. Who wouldn't?"
But Pendleton has a potentially decisive advantage over Shuang: Regular circuits testing the new velodrome in east London, which opened last February.
"I've been on the track a few times now ... so it's getting a little bit more familiar," she said. "I wish it was easy (to get there more) but the security is still very, very high on the park with all the construction still under way."
The finishing touches to the velodrome have to be completed by next month when the Olympic test event takes place — and Pendleton must qualify for the world championships and, of course, the 2012 Games.
"I'm ahead of where I was at this point in the last Olympics cycle," she said. "I have a lot of leg speed but not much strength. I'm pleased I've managed to develop the things I thought were weak to be a more complete athlete by the games."
Money is less of an issue. As one of the stars of British sport, Pendleton says she has become "self-sufficient," thanks in part to her sponsorship deals, with hair-care brand Pantene making her a "beauty ambassador" on Thursday.
But nothing less than glory will satisfy Britain's leading track cyclist in August, having collected one of the country's 19 golds in a 47-medal haul in Beijing.
"Being part of the British cycling team you feel like if you're not winning, it's not good enough," she said. "Anything less than a gold medal is a failure. That sounds harsh, but that's the way it is to be part of this program. It's horrible in a way."
And for the next six months the "Olympics are the only thing that matter."
"It feels like it's life or death, even though that's ridiculous because it's just another bike race," she said. "There's a huge amount of prestige at stake and we all want to do well. Every gold medal would feel like double gold if it's at home."
Whether the Olympics leave a lasting legacy by inspiring the champions of the future is still unclear despite being at the heart of London's winning bid. Pendleton is not even being consulted.
"We haven't really had much input in the development of the next wave of talent coming through or anything like that," she said.
The eight-time world champion expects that could just be to allow her to focus on the short-term priority for every British Olympian come August: Helping the country match its fourth-place finish in Beijing.
-- Rob Harris
Coe, government back lifetime Olympic doping ban
LONDON (AP) — The British government and Olympic great Sebastian Coe are backing the national Olympic body's fight to keep a lifetime ban for drug cheats.
Coe, the two-time 1,500-meter champion who heads the organizing committee for the 2012 London Games, and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson said Friday they have written letters supporting the British Olympic Association's hardline doping rule.
The letters were sent to the Court of Arbitration for Sport ahead of a hearing in London on March 12.
The BOA is challenging a decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which ruled in November that the lifetime ban was "noncompliant" with the global code and amounts to a second sanction.
The BOA contends the rule, which has been in place since 1992, is a matter of eligibility.
"I have written a supportive letter from a personal perspective of somebody who has a long and fairly robust history, and an unreconstructed history some might say, on this," Coe said. "It is a personal view."
Robertson said he underlined the government's support for the BOA's right to select its own team.
"Secondly, it remains this government's policy to support a lifetime ban for drugs cheats," he said at a news conference marking the six-month countdown to the London Games.
Britain, the only country that enforces a life ban, could be forced to drop the rule ahead of the London Olympics if it loses its case.
Among British athletes currently covered by the BOA rule are sprinter Dwain Chambers, who served a two-year ban in the BALCO scandal, and cyclist David Millar, who was suspended for two years after testing positive for EPO.
If WADA wins the case, Chambers and Millar will become eligible to compete in London.
The BOA's regulation came under scrutiny after CAS threw out the International Olympic Committee rule that bars athletes who have received drug bans of more than six months from competing in the next games.
The CAS ruling cleared the way for American 400-meter runner LaShawn Merritt to defend his Olympic title in London. Merritt completed a 21-month doping ban last year.
-- Stephen Wilson
Government to decide next month on Rome 2020 bid
ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Mario Monti says the government will decide whether to support Rome's bid for the 2020 Olympics by a Feb. 15 deadline.
While Rome was the first city to announce a 2020 bid, Italy's economic crisis has raised questions over the candidacy.
The International Olympic Committee requires bid cities to provide government financial guarantees, and detailed bid plans must be submitted to the IOC by Feb. 15.
After a Cabinet meeting Friday, Monti said the government's decision "will come by the deadline — meaning mid-February."
Also bidding for 2020 are Madrid; Tokyo; Istanbul; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan.
The IOC will select the host city in Buenos Aires in September 2013.
Figure Skating
Abbott breezes to big lead at skating nationals
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Jeremy Abbott took the ice with a rakish grin, popping his suspenders as he skated to center ice and fixing the audience with a wink.
"I said, 'Let's put on a show, let's have some fun," he said.
He certainly did. Abbott's easy, breezy performance to a swing medley scored a whopping 90.23 points at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Friday night, a personal best and a mark that puts him in world champion Patrick Chan's territory. The two-time national champion leads training partner Adam Rippon by a commanding 7.29 points going into Sunday's free skate.
"It was a lot of fun," Abbott said. "I did the skate I wanted to do and I'm in the place I wanted to be."
Earlier Friday, Meryl Davis and Charlie White took a big step toward their fourth straight ice dance title, winning the short dance with a score of 76.89. That gave them a four-point lead over Maia and Alex Shibutani going into Saturday's free dance.
Abbott is one of the most technically sound skaters in the world, with beautiful edges that carve the ice like a master craftsman and perfect body control. He's also one of the few skaters who has managed to maintain the balance between the performance quality that makes figure skating so entertaining and the tough physical tricks the system now demands.
But he's had a tendency to fall apart on the big stage, flopping at the 2009 world championships and again at the Vancouver Olympics. When it happened again last year when a third U.S. title was his for the taking, Abbott decided he'd had enough.
He no longer cares what anyone thinks about him, much less any nasty things that are said. He's skating for himself and his own enjoyment, concerned only with achieving the goals he's set. The attitude adjustment is clearly working.
Abbott opened with a huge triple flip-triple toe loop combination that was silky smooth, and followed with a triple axel that coaches might want to use as an example for their students. He seemed to be dancing he was so light on his feet, and even those sitting way up in the rafters could see his newfound confidence.
The audience was on its feet before he finished, and Abbott couldn't have stopped grinning if he tried. When he heard his marks, he shook his head and said, "Unbelievable." He was still savoring the score when a fan yelled out, "You're awesome!" prompting Abbott to grin and point back at him.
"They're not Patrick Chan points at Canadians, but they're Patrick Chan points in an international competition," Abbott said, referring to the generous marks Chan got at the Canadian championships earlier this month.
The performance is a good omen for Abbott, who won the short program both times he won the U.S. title. But while his spot in the standings is the same, this feels nothing like those other times.
"I feel much more mature and much more prepared for this championship than I did for the other two that I won," he said. "This time, my focus is just on skating the best I can skate. It hasn't been about winning. It's not to do anything but skate two programs I love to skate and secure a spot on the (world) team and continue my season so I can achieve the goals I've set."
Abbott's performance would have been tough for anyone to top, and no one came close. In fact, most of the supposed contenders looked more like pretenders, with splats and spills galore. Richard Dornbush, last year's silver medalist, was a mess, botching every one of his jumps. Brandon Mroz, the runner-up in 2009, fell on a quad toe and also brushed the ice with his free leg on his triple lutz-double toe combination.
Rippon and Armin Mahbanoozadeh, who was third, were the few bright spots.
Big things have been expected of Rippon since his spectacular junior career. He swept the major titles in 2008 — U.S., world and Grand Prix final — and followed it with another junior world title in 2009. But Rippon hasn't been able to duplicate that success as a senior, with fifth place his best finish at nationals.
"The expectations were hard to deal with at first," he said. "I felt like I was supposed to have the same success right away as a senior."
The struggles sent him bouncing from coach to coach in both Canada and the United States before he finally landed with Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen in Detroit last June. But it took a bit of a meltdown during the Grand Prix season before Rippon turned a corner.
"I didn't know who I was as a skater anymore," he said. "I put myself in their hands and just trusted them, and it's paid off."
For the first time in several seasons, Rippon looked like the budding star he was always supposed to be. His performance to Russian folk music was both refined and in perfect character. He opened with a huge triple flip-triple toe loop combination, and his triple axel was even more impressive. The jump has been his downfall — often literally — in the past, but he landed it with such solid edge quality and smoothness that kids learning how to skate should YouTube it.
He had the crowd oohing and aahing over his Rippon triple lutz, done with both hands above his head, and his Russian split jump brought down the house. Fans were on their feet before his music ended, and Rippon shook his fists. When he saw his score, a new personal best, Rippon threw his head back and threw a couple little roundhouse punches.
"I had felt a little defeated before the short program in years past and I said I wasn't going to do that today," he said. "I have to go out there and fight for my career. Not just against other skaters, but for myself. I need to do this to give myself confidence again and I'm just really proud of myself."
Mahbanoozadeh had the misfortune of skating right after Abbott, but it didn't faze him a bit. He skated cleanly, and is just two points behind Rippon.
Davis and White have been unbeatable since finishing second to Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir at the 2010 world championships. They won the United States' first world title in dance last spring, and edged the Canadians again last month in the Grand Prix finals.
And as talented as the Shibutanis are, they're no match for Davis and White. At least, not yet. Though every team skates to the same type of music in the short dance — Latin is this year's choice — Davis and White don't look close to anyone else. Their program was so intoxicating you were afraid to take your eyes off of them for fear you'd miss something original and unusual. Their edge quality was simply superb, and their speed would put Usain Bolt to shame.
But it's their presence that is truly captivating. Davis and White wear the title of champions easily, oozing confidence and self-assuredness.
-- Nancy Armour
Notebook: Kwan joins Hall of Fame at site of first U.S. title
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Michelle Kwan's career has come full circle.
Kwan was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame on Friday night in the same city where she won her first national title in 1996.
"When I look back at my skating career, I'm thankful for the years I was on the ice. Having the opportunity to go out and do what I love every day, with thousands and millions of people watching. It's a hobby, something I love doing," she said. "Yes, you might look back and say, 'It's a bummer I didn't win gold in '98 or 2002.' Yes, I could reflect back and think those thoughts. But to me, it was about moments. It was never about the medals, it was about loving what I do."
Kwan was the face of figure skating for a decade, beloved as much for her grace and humility in defeat as her long list of triumphs. Though she won five world and nine U.S. titles, she is best remembered for her heartbreaking finishes at the Nagano and Salt Lake City games. The favorite at each, she settled instead for a silver (1998) and a bronze (2002). Indeed, the image of her sobbing as she stood below a beaming Tara Lipinski on the Nagano medals podium is as enduring as her majestic performance at the national championships a month earlier.
Kwan made one last run at gold in 2006, but a groin injury forced her to drop out of the Turin Olympics two days after the opening ceremony.
"I miss everything about skating, to tell you truth," she said. "I miss the routine, I miss training every day, I miss my friends at the rink. I miss everything. I miss competing, I love performing. Skating is something that will always be close to my heart. That will always be there. How can you find a sport that you're so attached to and love so much and have so many fond memories of it?"
Asked if one memory stood taller than others, Kwan said her fondest was also her hardest: the 1998 U.S. championships in Philadelphia.
Kwan was in a cast with a stress fracture three weeks before nationals, which also served as the Olympic team trials. She said she had two options: Quit and say, "Better luck next time" or go ahead and skate.
"I took a deep breath and skated to 'Lyra Angelica' and it just took me to a place that was so liberating. That feeling is something I never experienced before. I think it was at that nationals that I realized that's what I have to remember. Put it in a bottle and carry it where ever I go. Every day remind myself to just have fun and love what I do," said Kwan, who was awarded 15 6.0s out of a possible 18 for her short program and free skate.
Kwan has served as a public diplomacy envoy for the U.S. government for the last five years. During that time, she graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in international studies, then received her master's degree from Tufts University in international relations last May.
"At one point in my life, it was about perfecting a certain technique, understanding music, self-improvement in skating," she said. "Now it's self-improvement in life in general. There's so much to learn and so much more that I hope I can grow into."
WEIR'S WORLD: Time off hasn't tamed Johnny Weir.
A week after announcing his comeback, Weir was at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Friday and no topic was off limits. The judging system, world champion Patrick Chan, "man-eating seaweed" — the three-time U.S. champ didn't shy away from any of it.
"It's not for winning an extra few gold medals in Grand Prixs and then a world medal. It's not about that. This comeback is for me," Weir said. "This comeback is for me to compete and feel great and feel I can do this and feel I can accomplish something. ... I can come back and completely enjoy it because I have a life. ... I don't have the pressure of being, 'You either win the Olympics or you work at Home Depot.' I'm not having that moment right now.
"I've built a life, I know what I'm capable of, I know what I can do. This figure skating thing won't define me."
Weir has always been delightfully refreshing, on and off the ice. He is one of the few skaters who speaks his mind, even when he knows it won't go over well with judges and federation officials, and he can be counted on for thoughtful answers on a variety of topics. His colorfulness is part of his massive appeal, and he's the rare athlete who's achieved crossover status, as likely to turn up on TMZ as on ESPN.
Weir embraces that celebrity, and hopes his return will help revive interest in skating.
"We've obviously been in a lull, as you all know. People don't really watch or come to events," he said. "I hope to ... bring attention to the amazing talents that are in this sport. That sounds pretty PC for me, but my time for an Olympic medal may have passed in 2006. ... This is to put figure skating back on the map with pop culture again. That's something I feel I'm in good position to do."
Make no mistake, though, Weir doesn't plan to be some sideshow. It will take time, but Weir thinks he can once again be a medal contender. He's already able to do all of his triple jumps again, as well as triple-triple combinations, and is hoping to be working on a quadruple jump by March. He would like to do at least one Grand Prix, but is open to going to lower-level international events to get face time with the judges.
And if it gets to be the end of the summer or early fall and he doesn't feel he can be competitive, than Weir said he will pull the plug on his comeback.
"I think it's definitely possible for me to get back to a place where people think of me as a threat," he said. "(But) I'm not a dumb person. I'm not going to throw myself out in front of the cameras of the world ... if I know in my heart I'm not good enough to be there."
ICE CHIPS: Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates, the third U.S. ice dance team at the Vancouver Olympics, were back at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships with new partners. Bates and Madison Chock were fifth in the short dance while Samuelson and Todd Gilles were eighth. ... Margaret Faulkner, a judge from Ann Arbor, Mich., received the Jimmy Disbrow Award for outstanding spirit of dedication and contribution to the sport.
-- Nancy Armour
Kostner leads ladies comp after short program
SHEFFIELD, England (AP) — Carolina Kostner halted the Russian march at the European figure skating championships on Friday by grabbing a narrow lead in the women's competition in her bid to capture a fourth continental gold.
The 24-year-old Italian justified her tag as favorite by scoring 63.22 points in a graceful routine set to Dmitri Shostakovich's "Allegretto."
Kiira Korpi of Finland was second,with 61.80 heading into Saturday's free skate as Russia was bumped down the leaderboard for the first time this week, with Ksenia Makarova in third and Alena Leonova sixth.
The Russians were left disappointed in a tense finale to the ice dance, too.
Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev held a slender lead of 0.17 points after the short dance but they couldn't hold off the challenge of Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat, who rallied in the free dance to regain their title.
The French pair finished on 164.18 points to beat Bobrova and Soloviev by 3.95 points. Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia claimed bronze, the country's fifth medal at the championships after Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov led a Russian sweep in the pairs on Friday.
Artur Gachinski and six-time European champion Evgeni Plushenko could add to that haul on Saturday. They occupy the top two spots after the men's short program, with the free skate set to be a head-to-head between the master and his apprentice.
Kostner, the European champion in 2007, '08 and '10, was beaten to a fourth title by the now-retired Sarah Meier of Switzerland last year.
She isn't quite at the stage to follow Meier in hanging up her skates but Kostner knows this may be the last chance to be competitive at a major tournament, and she took her opportunity well at the Motorpoint Arena.
"I told myself, 'This is your 10th Europeans, simply enjoy it — who knows if you can still compete at Europeans next year,'" said Kostner, who was strong with her jumps and typically elegant with her spins and combinations.
A slew of budding Russians are about to come off the production line in time for next year's Europeans, giving them much-needed exposure before the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. They include 15-year-old Adelina Sotnikova, already a three-time national champion, as well as Elizaveta Tukamisheva and Julia Lipnitskaia.
They are too young to compete at this year's Europeans, however, leaving Makarova and Leonova as their representatives in Sheffield.
Makarova scored 57.55 points but Leonova, who was fourth at the worlds, under-rotated her triple toe-triple toe, wobbled on her triple flip but before seeing the level of difficulty of her flying sit spin downgraded to level one.
"I skated last and felt the pressure a bit," Leonova said.
The experienced Kostner didn't feel the pressure in the slightest, holding up well under the weight of expectation.
"I felt a bit unwell just before flying to Sheffield but I told myself to stay calm. So far, everything has gone well," the world's top-ranked female skater said.
Impressing the judges with an opening triple toe-triple toe, the only mistake came at the back-end of her performance when she misjudged the change foot combination spin and was docked points accordingly.
Widely regarded as a strong free skater, Kostner — a silver medalist at the 2008 worlds — looks a good bet to go on and claim back the vacant title.
Korpi, a two-time bronze medalist in the Europeans, under-rotated in the triple toe to lose precious points but was flawless otherwise, with her fleet-footed display during her routine to "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" wowing the biggest crowd of the week and earning her a season-best total.
"It was absolutely the best for me this season," Korpi said. "I felt nervous. I have had a rough season ... and my preparation for this competition wasn't ideal so I wanted to come here and not think about my placements."
At 19, Makarova may yet struggle to qualify for another Europeans, such is Russia's strength of depth among its juniors.
She made the most of her chance in an elegant display to "Maria and the Violins String" but wobbled on her opening jump, the triple toe-triple toe, to lose ground.
The ladies competition has been Russia's bugbear in recent years, with its last winner coming in 2006 in Lyon when Irina Slutskaya won the last of her seven titles.
-- Steve Douglas
Track & Field
Lagat plans to run through at least 2013 worlds
NEW YORK (AP) — Bernard Lagat smiles and says, "If I was to retire someday ... "
The 37-year-old American knows he'll stop running one of these years. That still feels far off considering he narrowly missed a gold medal in the 5,000 meters at last summer's world championships.
Lagat plans to compete through the 2013 worlds — at least.
He won his first of two Olympic medals in 2000, a dozen years before the London Games he fully plans to participate in. He's won six medals at the outdoor world championships, including two golds in 2007.
"I'm sure even before 2007, people were starting to believe it: 'Well, I think he's slowing down,'" Lagat said Friday.
He may be slower in the 1,500, the event in which he first won major medals, but believes he's still improving in the race that's now his focus: the 5,000.
Lagat nearly chased down Britain's Mo Farah in the final meters in Daegu, South Korea, in September, finishing just 0.28 seconds back. He earned silver in the 5,000 for the second straight world championships.
On Saturday, Lagat will return to his mile roots, racing in a venue where he's dominated at the distance.
At the U.S. Open in Madison Square Garden, he'll take on a field that includes Kenya's Silas Kiplagat, the silver medalist in the 1,500 at worlds.
Lagat won the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games at the arena a record eight times. He lost last year to Deresse Mekonnen, but said he wasn't too disappointed by the second-place finish, just embarrassed by his time (3:59.01).
Millrose is moving uptown to the Armory after nearly a century at the Garden, with the USA Track & Field-sponsored Open taking over the space. Lagat will still run at Millrose on Feb. 11, but will race the 5,000 in hopes of regaining the American indoor record.
Other top races at the Open include the men's 50 meters, with former 100-meter world-record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica and American Justin Gatlin, who once shared the world record with Powell before it was stripped because of a doping violation.
The women's 50 hurdles feature reigning 100 hurdles Olympic gold medalist Dawn Harper and two-time indoor 60 hurdles world champion Lolo Jones, both of the United States.
Joined at a news conference Friday by Jones, hurdlers Kellie Wells and David Oliver and high jumper Jesse Williams — all under the age of 30 — Lagat joked about being surrounded by these "young men and women." He attributes his longevity to emphasizing quality over quantity in his training.
Lagat works out just once a day, six days a week. Most of his competitors run twice daily.
"If you just go crazy twice a day every day, by Thursday will you be as strong as Monday?" he said. "I doubt it. But for me, I'm strong from Monday to Saturday."
Lagat believes that's why he's still winning medals at age 37 while many Kenyan stars stay on top for only a few years while training many more miles.
"That burns them like crazy," said Lagat, who was born in Kenya and came to the United States for college, later becoming an American citizen. "By the time they're five years into professional running, the body cannot take it anymore."
The American indoor 5,000 record is held by 25-year-old Galen Rupp, one of several promising young U.S. distance runners who make the country much deeper in those events than when Lagat was breaking in. For now, they're still chasing the ageless veteran around the track.
"If I was to retire someday," Lagat said, "I would look back and say, 'Hey, I'm leaving my sport happy knowing that people in my country have stepped up and they're doing the best in the world.'"
-- Rachel Cohen
Ashero, Medessa win Dubai Marathon
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Ayele Abshero of Ethiopia won the Dubai Marathon on Friday with the fourth-fastest time ever in his first marathon, giving his country a victory over rival Kenya in an Olympic year.
The 21-year-old Abshero also set the course record in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 23 seconds. He shaved 30 seconds off the course record set by Haile Gebrselassie in 2008.
Abshero moved to the front of a pack at 21.1 miles, then pulled away from Dino Sefir Kemal, who finished 27 seconds back. Markos Geneti of Ethiopia was third in 2:04:54, completing an Ethiopian sweep.
"I knew it would be a very hard race and very tactical race," Abshero said.
In the women's race, defending champion Aselefech Mergia made it an Ethiopian double, holding off Lucy Kabuu of Kenya by just three seconds in 2:19:31.
"This is special day for me," Mergia said. "Last year, I was first and then again this year. It brings me great happiness."
Mare Dibaba was third, 21 seconds behind the leader.
Abshero moved up to the marathon after breaking the hour mark in a half marathon in The Hague last year.
Abshero was among a group of 30 who led early in the $1 million marathon that started in the shadows of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. The mostly flat route took runners along the Persian Gulf coast where the lead back was reduced to nine and then four before finishing at the Burj Khalifa.
Patrick Makau broke the world record last year with a time of 2:03:38 at the Berlin Marathon, shaving 21 seconds off the old mark held by Gebrselassie. A month later, Wilson Kipsang ran the second fastest time in history with 2:03:42 at the Frankfurt Marathon, 17 seconds better than Gebreselassie's time in Berlin in 2008.
-- Michael Casey
Skiing
Vonn wins World Cup super-combined event
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — Lindsey Vonn won a World Cup super-combined event Friday to extend her lead in the overall standings against second-place Tina Maze.
The American defended her lead from the morning downhill with a solid slalom leg to clock a combined two-run time of 2 minutes, 28.35 seconds.
"It was a really satisfying win. I was happy with my downhill run but I knew it was going to be tough to hang on," Vonn said.
Maze of Slovenia was 0.41 seconds back and third-place Nicole Hosp of Austria trailed Vonn by 0.58. Vonn earned 100 World Cup points for her 48th career World Cup victory and leads Maze by 302. Vonn won the super-combined title the past two years. She has seven victories this season in her quest to regain the overall crown.
"It was really important today," Vonn said. "If I were to go out (in slalom), I knew that Tina would be within striking distance, so I had to stay on the podium. I tried to ski smart."
Maze trailed Vonn by 1.41 seconds in downhill.
"I tried to be fast and be close to Lindsey," she said. "I lost too much time. Super-combined is like that, and if you don't do well in one (discipline), you lose."
Vonn held her nerve when Maze and Hosp put down the two fastest slalom runs after they finished the downhill sixth and seventh, respectively.
"It definitely wasn't pretty skiing, but I made it," Vonn said. "There aren't many parts of slalom I'm good at, but on the flats is one of them."
Elisabeth Goergl of Austria was second in downhill, 0.61 behind Vonn, but skied out in the slalom.
Defending overall champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany had a big mistake midway down the slalom and hiked up the mountain to resume her run. She finished 21st, more than five seconds behind the leader.
The Olympic champion in super-combined was third after the morning run.
Hoefl-Riesch is winless this season after denying Vonn a fourth straight giant crystal globe last year.
Hosp won the overall crown in 2006-07 before Vonn's winning streak began, but has sustained a series of injuries since. The 28-year-old Austrian got her first podium finish this season, and just her second since March 2009.
American teammates Leanne Smith and Julia Mancuso dropped in the standings after being fourth- and fifth-fastest in downhill.
Mancuso, the Olympic silver medalist in super-combined, finished 13th, 3.82 behind Vonn. Smith placed 18th, 4.74 back.
Both were upbeat about their prospects in Saturday's marquee downhill race.
"I tried to push it today to see where I can be perfect for (Saturday)," said Mancuso, who is seventh in the overall standings. "I'm happy with where I am."
Smith said her form was heading "definitely in the right direction."
"I know I have the speed, but there's still a few things to fix," Smith said. "I just need to be cleaner in a couple of places."
The St. Moritz event ends Sunday with the second of the season's three scheduled super-combined events. The super-G and slalom legs are a makeup for a canceled race last month at Val d'Isere, France.
-- Graham Dunbar
White dings left ankle, pulls out of slopestyle
ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — Shaun White is out of the slopestyle competition at the Winter X Games after hurting his left ankle during a warm-up run.
White has been dealing with a sore left ankle that he aggravated during practice Thursday, then again Friday before preliminaries.
White said his priority this year was to ride in slopestyle, where he has won five Winter X Games gold medals. The sport has been added to the Olympics beginning in 2014.
After two years off, he returned to slopestyle last year but was unprepared and finished 13th. He said it was important to return to form so he could find out where he stands on with two years left before the Olympics.
White said he still plans on competing in the halfpipe Sunday.
Sailing
American boat struck by debris in Volvo Ocean Race
SANYA, China (AP) — American boat Puma received a warning of the dangers ahead after being hit by unidentified debris near the Malacca Strait, the most hazardous stretch of water the boats will face in the Volvo Ocean Race.
Before the leading challengers had weaved through the hundreds of commercial ships and tiny unlit fishing vessels on Friday, Puma reported a significant scare.
Puma's Amory Ross says "we had distant lightning, several 22-plus knot squalls and a solid thud of something hitting one of the daggerboards."
Only five nautical miles separates leaders Telefonica, Camper, Groupama and Puma after more than 1,000 miles racing since leaving the Maldives on Sunday.
The boats are due to arrive at the Chinese port of Sanya on Feb. 5 or 6.
U.S. Paralympic sailors qualify for London
MIAMI (AP) — Americans Jennifer French and Jean-Paul Creignou qualified for the London Paralympic Games with a third-place finish in the Skud-18 class at the Rolex Miami OCR on Friday.
Australia's Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch won the class by one point over Britain's Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell.
France's Damien Seguin took gold, Canada's Paul Tingley finished second, and the Netherlands' Barend Kol had two fourth-place finishes Friday to beat out Britain's Megan Pascoe for the bronze medal in the 10-race 2.4mR meet.
In the Sonar class, the Netherlands' Udo Hessels, Marcel van de Veen and Mischa Rossen made up a 1-point deficit with a first-place and a second place finish on Friday to win the gold over Britain's John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Steve Thomas.
Norway's Aleksander Wang-Hansen, Marie Solberg and Per Eugen Kristiansen were third.
Cycling
Belarus, Colombia to host track cycling worlds
AIGLE, Switzerland (AP) — Belarus and Colombia have been awarded hosting rights for track cycling's world championships.
The International Cycling Union says Belarusian capital Minsk will host in 2013 and Cali, Colombia, in 2014. But the UCI has canceled the inaugural World Cycling Forum that was planned for this year. No host city had been chosen.
The 2012 UCI Congress will be held in Maastricht, Netherlands, during the road world championships. The UCI management committee made the decisions Friday in Koksijde, Belgium, ahead of the cyclo-cross world championships staged this weekend.
The 2015 cyclo-cross worlds were awarded to Czech city Tabor. Greenville, S.C., will host the 2014 Paracycling worlds road races.
Badminton
Lee to coach U.S. team in London
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Ben Lee, a 1992 Olympian, will coach the U.S. badminton team in London this summer. USA Badminton announced the move Friday.
The Olympic badminton competition is scheduled from July 28 to Aug. 5 at Wembley Arena in London. Lee was the captain of the 1992 U.S. team in Barcelona, the first Olympics in which badminton was a contested sport. He also coached the women's team at the 2011 Pan American Games. The team won two silver and two bronze medals.
Lee, a police officer in the San Jose, Calif., area, also coaches at the California Badminton Academy. He began coaching in 1994 while still competing. He is a 1989 graduate of Arizona State University.
