International Capsules: USA Track proposes bigger budget in rough economy

USATF chief executive officer Doug Logan unveiled the budget plan at the organization's annual meeting in Indianapolis. Earlier this year, track officials signed a multiyear deal with Nike worth more than $10 million a year — a 30 percent to 40 percent increase over the last deal.

The budget, which still needs to be approved by membership Sunday, is an almost unheard-of increase for sports in a time of economic trouble. It's also the kind of news USATF needed, about a year since the organization — long beset with political infighting and shoddy governance practices — received a directive from the U.S. Olympic Committee to overhaul the way it does business.

"Our business plan is designed to generate new and higher-value sponsorships," Logan said in his speech to the USATF membership. "In doing so, management is making itself accountable to deliver on what we are promising."

Logan said the goal is to increase the budget to $30 million by 2012.

After a disappointing 2008 Olympics, USATF also needs to improve on the field of play. Logan said most of the goals associated with "Project 30" — the organizational commitment to win 30 medals at the London Games in 2012 — are on track.

One of the most high-profile initiatives is a proposal to remove politics from the selection of coaching staffs for international events, and make the process more merit-based. One part of achieving that would be to eliminate a ban on anyone serving as an Olympic head coach more than once.

"It stems from a philosophy that these positions exist to maximize athletes' performance, and not as mere rewards to be spread around," reads the proposal, which will also be voted on Sunday.

When USATF announced its deal with Nike this summer, Logan said there were provisions that would become more lucrative if Chicago landed the 2016 Olympics.

The games, however, will be in Rio de Janeiro. Experts such as Peter Ueberroth and Dick Ebersol have predicted Chicago's loss will cost millions in endorsement and TV money — not only for track, but for the Olympic movement overall.

It also hurts the United States' chances of hosting a track world championships — something USATF wants, and something widely viewed as an important part of a larger effort to improve America's international standing and profile in the sport.

"Chicago losing the 2016 Olympic bid was more than a small bump in the road for us. ..." Logan said. "That bid would have given this country a stadium capable of holding a world championship. But we haven't given up, and we are actively pursuing alternative options with other U.S. cities to consider a 2015 bid."

"He's a jerk," Shani Davis said Thursday when asked for his take on the comedian's criticism of Canucks. "You can put that in the paper."

Davis declined to elaborate, making the comment while vetting potential questions from The Canadian Press before rejecting an interview request and walking away.

Davis has ties to Canada from training out of Calgary in the past, and has also had past differences with U.S. Speedskating, which is now being sponsored by the comedian who hosts the "The Colbert Report."

Publicists for Colbert did not respond to requests for comment.

Colbert stepped into a void for the American skaters after the team was left with a $300,000 shortfall when Dutch bank DSB declared bankruptcy and pulled out of its sponsorship. He put up a fundraising link on his Web site — a similar plan helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for wounded American soldiers and their families — in exchange for becoming the skating body's primary sponsor.

Soon after, Colbert used his show to aim some pointed barbs north of the border, while picking up on complaints that Vancouver Olympic officials have been limiting international athletes' access to facilities for the 2010 Winter Games.

"Those syrup-suckers won't let us practice at their Olympic venues," Colbert said. "At the Salt Lake Games, we let the Canadian luge team take 100 practice runs."

The issue of access to the Richmond Olympic Oval is one that resonates with the U.S. skaters, although they're more diplomatic about it than Colbert.

"It's the Olympics, the point of the Olympics is to bring the whole world together and by doing that they're kind of separating themselves off from the world," said rising U.S. star Trevor Marsicano. "... It's the way it is. I'm not going to complain about it."

Veteran Chad Hedrick feels the same way.

"I think everybody should have equal rights to train on the ice as much as they can," the Olympic champion said. "I don't know how it's been in past Olympic Games, I've only been to one Olympics and maybe when it was in Salt Lake the ice time was more favorable to Americans, I don't know. ...

"But that's part of the game."

Hedrick and Marsicano both appreciate Colbert's support, even though neither was particularly familiar with his show on Comedy Central before he came on board.

Hedrick hopes Colbert's fans will help bring more exposure to and increase the profile of a sport that repeatedly leads the way in terms of medals won by Americans at Winter Olympics.

"We're really fortunate that he jumped on board. It's a great situation for us," Hedrick said. "We needed it financially. It's a great opportunity for U.S. Speedskating to provide things for the athletes that they wouldn't be able to provide without him. ...

"As successful as we've been at the Olympics, a lot of people are unfamiliar with speedskating in America. And the money doesn't hurt at all."

Marsicano agrees and is looking forward to an expected team visit from Colbert at next week's World Cup stop in Salt Lake City.

"He's a good thing for U.S. Speedskating," Marsicano said.

Weibrecht aspiring to repeat Beaver Creek success

He does it to remind himself what he can do when he turns off the fear and flips on the adrenaline.

Two years ago, he attacked the Beaver Creek downhill course, teetering on the verge of a major spill on big turn after big turn as he plunged down the slope in a snowstorm.

Weibrecht finished 10th that day, his best showing at a World Cup event. Up until now, that's been Weibrecht's claim to fame. These days, the skier nicknamed "War Horse" wants to prove he's more than a one-trick pony.

And what better way than back at Beaver Creek, where Weibrecht joins Bode Miller and other American teammates at the only men's World Cup stop on U.S. slopes, with races Friday through Sunday.

"I'm super psyched," said Weibrecht, who turned in one of the fastest downhill training runs Wednesday on a scaled-back course due to snowy conditions. Michael Walchhofer of Austria had the quickest time Thursday back on the full course.

Weibrecht, a 23-year-old from Lake Placid, N.Y., started his season last weekend at Lake Louise, finishing 12th in both the super-G and the downhill.

A few more performances like that and he may be relinquishing his label.

Ever since his run at Beaver Creek in 2007, Weibrecht has been saddled with the title of "THE American up-and-comer to keep an eye on."

He's been fine with that tag — at least he's mentioned.

Still, Weibrecht would like to be known for more than just one run.

"But I definitely did a lot of things right that day," he said, laughing.

That's why whenever he's in a rut, he turns to the video.

He'll watch his flowing motion, paying attention to how he set up each section like a calculating chess player. He'll examine the positioning of his skis that were carving up the snowy slope (besides, of course, that one section where his left one flew out sideways and almost ended his run).

Most of all, he'll remember that sensation of soaring across the finish line, a wave of exhilaration washing over after he powered down the hill on a day when others were tapping the brakes.

"It really is the only downhill run I've had in the last couple of years where there wasn't a big, glaring mistake that killed all my speed," said Weibrecht, who crashed on this course last year. "It's the one that stands out."

Given the depth of the Americans in the downhill, Weibrecht has his work cut out to earn one of the four spots for the Vancouver Olympics. He will be competing with the likes of Miller, Steven Nyman, Erik Fisher, Scott Macartney and Marco Sullivan.

Another top U.S. downhiller, TJ Lanning, was lost for the season when he crashed at Lake Louise last weekend and fractured a vertebra in his neck and dislocated his left knee.

Weibrecht doesn't exactly have the classic downhill physique. At 5-foot-6 and 180 pounds, he's shorter and stockier than most. He insists that compact shape serves him well.

"I can hold better at harder angles and make the ski turn a little quicker, because my center of gravity is lower," Weibrecht said.

His success is getting noticed.

"His turns are even something I watch," Olympic champion and U.S. teammate Ted Ligety said. "He's definitely going to be a guy that's tough to beat in years to come."

Consistency, Weibrecht claimed, has been what's been holding him back.

That's an issue he feels he resolved during training last summer. He had a confidence-building camp, cutting down on technical mistakes that in years past have cost him valuable fractions of seconds on the clock.

"I just learned to be a little bit smarter," Weibrecht said. "I'm able to do it run after run rather than one out of five runs."

That has caught the notice of U.S. Ski Team men's coach Sasha Rearick, who's been raving about Weibrecht heading into the season.

"He's ahead of the curve of where guys should be at his age," Rearick said.

Especially at Beaver Creek.

"Everything felt like chaos, but I was sort of controlling it a little bit," Weibrecht recounted of his thrilling run two years ago. "It was the time I put a full run together and showed myself what I was capable of. I go back and check it out. It's sort of inspiring to me, kind of helps me remember that I can do it."

-- Pat Graham

Maria Holaus of Austria was the fastest woman in the third and final training run for the Bombardier Lake Louise World Cup. Nadia Styger of Switzerland was second and Andrea Fischbacher of Austria was third.

Holaus was timed in 1 minute 50.95 seconds. She had the fastest time in the first training run Tuesday and was second to Vonn on Wednesday.

The first of two downhills is Friday, followed by another Saturday and a super-G Sunday.

U.S. skier Lanning has surgery to fuse 2 vertebrae

The 25-year-old Lanning, from Park City, Utah, fractured a vertebra his neck and dislocated his left knee in the crash at Lake Louise, Alberta, on Saturday. He was transported to a hospital in Calgary and then to Vail. The operation was Wednesday night.

Team medical director Richard Quincy said on Thursday that the surgery is "typical" for this type of injury and that it is designed to "create stability, allowing the fracture to heal more safely."

Lanning's U.S. teammates have visited him in the hospital while they are in nearby Beaver Creek for World Cup racing.

Figure Skating

Skating to Indian folk dance, Davis and White received a season's best 65.80 points to finish ahead of Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who were second with 64.01 points. Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France were third with 56.93 points.

"We skated well today," White said. "We weren't perfect and there is room for improvement, but we were happy to get a level 4 on all elements. It's important to have fun in the original dance and we were able to do that."

Davis and White qualified for Tokyo after winning the Rostelecom Cup and the NHK Trophy. The Canadians earned gold medals at the Trophee Bompard and Skate Canada.

"Tessa and I are pretty excited about the way we skated tonight," Moir said. "There is still room for improvement in the next couple of months but this is a step up from our Grand Prix performances."

The ice dance event concludes on Friday with the free dance.

In the pairs event, China's Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, skating to "Who Wants to Live Forever", finished first in the short program with 75.36 points.

"We had a lot of fun skating here tonight," said Zhao. "We were able to exert 100 percent of our capabilities in our short program."

Robin Szolkowy and Aliona Savchenko of Germany were second with 73.14 points while Russians Maxim Trankov and Maria Mukhortova finished third with 69.78 points.

Defending GP champions Pang Qing and Jian Tong of China were fourth with 68.04. The pairs free skate is on Saturday.

The top six skaters in the regular season Grand Prix standings qualify for the Grand Prix final. The men's and women's short program will be held on Friday.

-- Jim Armstrong

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