International Capsules: Countdown clock freezes on 500-day milestone
LONDON (AP) — Time stood still as London marked the 500-day Olympic countdown with an embarrassing malfunction.
The giant digital clock displaying the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the Olympic opening ceremony on July 27, 2012, froze Tuesday afternoon — just a day after its glitzy unveiling steps from Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square.
While the clock was restarted several hours later, it was a humbling setback for London organizers at a milestone moment that was meant to showcase the city's Olympic readiness and know-how. There were also teething troubles as 6.6 million tickets went on sale.
"Whilst the clock has stopped ... it does not give us additional time to stage the games," the London organizing committee said after the steel clock's big red numbers halted at 500 days, 7 hours, 6 minutes, 56 seconds.
The clock — which measures 8.5 meters (27 feet) high and 5 meters (16 feet) long — had started ticking down after a ceremony Monday evening in the popular central London square.
Omega, the Olympic sponsor which made the clock and is part of Swatch Group AG, blamed the problem on a "technical fault." it was fixed by early Tuesday evening.
"It's one of those windups set to test us, but it's working again," said Sebastian Coe, head of the Olympic organizing committee.
The clock was cordoned off by white tape as three workers tried to fix the problem. At one point, the numbers changed and the clock showed 201 days to go, then 208. Eventually, it went blank.
As word spread, onlookers began to crowd around the faulty clock, staring and taking pictures. There were more people on the site Tuesday than there were for Monday's unveiling attended by organizers, city officials and British athletes.
"It's about right for Britain, really," said Dawn Woods, a restaurant manager from Nottingham in central England. "It's a clock — you'd think it would be simple to get right."
By coincidence, the breakdown of a countdown clock was the storyline in a spoof documentary on the London Olympics aired by the BBC this week.
Earlier Tuesday, a few hours into the online ticket launch, fans with Visa credit cards which expire before the end of August found they were unable to process their orders. Visa is an Olympic sponsor and the only card that can be used to purchase tickets.
"It is an issue with Visa rather than the website or our systems," the London 2012 organizing committee said.
London 2012 said the expiration rule was clearly stated in the website and ticketing guide.
"There is no glitch with the website," the committee said. "The expiry date is made clear in all of our materials — if your Visa card expires before August 2011, you will not be able to process your application. Visa is working to extend this to allow more people to apply."
Organizers were at least relieved the system had not crashed. They had braced for a crush of demand, even though the tickets are not being sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
"We're pretty pleased," Coe said. "It's a big technological bit of action. We've come through pretty well. Sales have been good, steady."
Customers can apply for tickets over a six-week period ending April 26, with no advantage to signing up early. Any oversold tickets will be distributed via a ballot, or lottery, system. Tickets will be allocated by June 24.
Tickets are available for 645 competition sessions across 26 sports, with prices ranging from 20 pounds ($32) for some events to 750 pounds ($1,200) for the men's 100-meter final to 2,012 pounds ($3,215) for top seats at the opening ceremony.
Two of the greatest athletes in Olympic history came to London to help celebrate the countdown.
Nine-time track and field gold medalist Carl Lewis and five-time gymnastics champion Nadia Comaneci joined Coe — a former Olympic champion — for a series of events across the capital.
"It's happening," said Lewis, the American sprinter and long jumper who competed in four Olympics. "It's wonderful to get the bid. It's wonderful to know what's coming. But today you can actually start your opportunity to be a part of it, because in 517 days or so it will all be over.
"Today is the first day of the Olympics when it really comes down to it."
Comaneci, the Romanian who scored the first perfect 10.0 in modern Olympic history when she won three golds at the 1976 Montreal Games at the age of 14, said she looks forward to coming back next year to watch the gymnastics and soak up the atmosphere.
"I always say when the Olympics are happening, you shouldn't be in any other place in the planet — you should be here," Comaneci said.
Britain is spending 9.3 billion pounds ($15 billion) to build new venues and regenerate an industrial wasteland in east London into a vast Olympic Park.
"This isn't the finishing straight, but we're in the back straight of the 800," said Coe, a former 800-meter record holder who also won two Olympic gold medals in the 1,500 meters.
While demand will be huge for the 100-meter final, Lewis urged fans to consider buying tickets to some of the lower-profile events.
"I've been to four Olympic Games since I retired," he said. "Every time I've gone to two new sports that I've never seen before. I think it's a unique opportunity to go see team handball, or badminton or volleyball. It gives you the opportunity to experience something else. You may end up watching badminton so much you may end up taking up the sport yourself."
Leaders at USOC reach out to Japan
ATLANTA (AP) — Leaders at the U.S. Olympic Committee have reached out to their counterparts in Japan to offer assistance in the wake of the earthquake that has killed thousands there.
At the USOC's quarterly board meeting Tuesday, CEO Scott Blackmun said he had sent letters to the leader of Japan's Olympic organizing committee offering help but has not yet received a response.
"We'd want to do anything we could within reason to help," Blackmun said. "To the extent we can pitch in, we'd be happy to do that."
The disaster has forced the postponement, and possibly the cancellation, of the figure skating world championships that were scheduled to begin next Monday in Tokyo. The International Skating Union is looking for a new venue, though Blackmun said any effort to bring worlds to the United States would be triggered by the American skating federation, not the USOC.
U.S. Figure Skating has told the ISU it will offer "any and all assistance," but the ISU has not expressed any interest in moving worlds to the United States.
Blackmun and chairman Larry Probst are scheduled to travel to Japan for what they called a relationship-building trip in April, but said they're not sure if the disaster will change those plans.
The United States had a sledge hockey team in Nagano for the Japan Para Ice Sledge Hockey Championship, but the team was en route home on Tuesday afternoon, said USA Hockey executive director Dave Ogrean.
The world gymnastics championships are scheduled for Tokyo in October, and there has been no word on whether they will be affected.
The USOC board meeting in Atlanta marked the first for five new USOC board members: Ogrean of USA Hockey, former Microsoft executive Robbie Bach, former John Hancock CEO James Benson, four-time Olympian Nina Kemppel and former Visa executive Susanne Lyons. They bring the board membership to 15.
The board voted to name Benson as the chair of the newly forming Paralympic advisory committee and also voted to streamline the USOC's employee code of conduct.
The board also discussed possible changes to its resource-allocation formula, an ever-shifting push and pull between maintaining funding for national teams that produce Olympic medals and supporting those that are trying to become more competitive.
Despite reform, North Korean gymnasts to miss Olympics
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — North Korea's gymnasts are still barred from the 2012 London Olympics as punishment for age falsification, despite the country's reform efforts.
North Korea asked the International Gymnastics Federation for leniency last month after firing the outgoing president of its Gymnastics Association, its international director and her secretary, and banning them from gymnastics, according to a statement Tuesday from the FIG. North Korea also approved an identification and registration process for its gymnasts.
But FIG president Bruno Grandi said North Korea had failed to appeal in time, and he wouldn't interfere with the governing body's disciplinary procedures.
North Korea was given 21 days to appeal after the FIG issued a two-year ban from international competition in November, its second punishment for age falsification. The FIG imposed the current sanction, which lasts until Oct. 5, 2012, after finding that Hong Su Jong listed three different birth dates (1989, 1985 and 1986) in registering for international competitions from 2003 until this year, including the 2004 Athens Olympics.
North Korea has also banned Hong for life and ordered her to return all medals and titles "as the result of grave negligence and damage caused to the Association's reputation," according to the FIG release.
The FIG began investigating Hong after she entered last month's worlds using the third different birth date of her career — 1989. She won the silver medal on vault at the 2007 worlds listing 1986 as her birth year. She competed in Athens using a birth year of 1985, which, if she was born in 1989, would have made her 14 or 15 — too young to compete. Gymnasts must turn at least 16 in the calendar year of an Olympics to be eligible.
North Korea was banned from the 1993 world championships after the FIG discovered that Kim Gwang Suk, the 1991 gold medalist on uneven bars, was listed as 15 for three years in a row.
Age falsification has been a problem in gymnastics since the 1980s, when the minimum age was raised from 14 to 15 to help protect still-developing athletes from serious injuries. The minimum age has been 16 since 1997, and the FIG now requires gymnasts competing at most international events to have a license proving their age for their entire career.
Meirelles to oversee preparations for Rio 2016
SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Brazil central bank president Henrique Meirelles will be in charge of the government body that will oversee Rio de Janeiro's preparations for the 2016 Olympics.
Meirelles was appointed by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to head the Olympic Public Authority, which will coordinate all levels of government in the Olympic buildup.
Meirelles will be responsible for overseeing public services and the implementation and completion of the infrastructure needed in Rio to host the first Olympics in South America.
Meirelles was the longest-serving central bank head in Brazil, holding the post for eight years during the presidency of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The 65-year-old Meirelles will be in charge of a staff of nearly 200 people and an Olympic budget of about $14 billion. One of his tasks will be to avoid a budget overrun similar to what occurred when Rio held the 2007 Pan American Games.
A former executive at BankBoston, Meirelles helped Brazil's economy reach stability through orthodox monetary policies and high interest rates that kept a lid on inflation.
"I believe my appointment happened not only because of my work in the central bank, but also because of the experience I gained in an international career of 30 years," he said.
The creation of the Olympic Public Authority was one of the guarantees given by Brazil to the IOC when Rio bid for the games.
Brazil also will host the 2014 World Cup.
Skiing
Vonn, Riesch set for 4-day, 4-race World Cup duel
LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland (AP) — Four days, four races.
Lindsey Vonn and Maria Riesch are ready to begin their showdown Wednesday for the overall World Cup title. After 31 races, four more at the World Cup finals will decide if Vonn wins her fourth straight title or Riesch, the current leader, wins an elusive first.
The best friends have elevated their rivalry to new heights this season, their closest contest yet for the giant crystal globe trophy. The finals start with their strongest event (downhill) and end Saturday with their weakest (giant slalom).
"This is crunch time. I'm sure it's going to come down to the last race," Vonn predicted Tuesday.
Riesch has been runner-up the past two years, but the German has never led so late in the season.
"That would be great tension until the end, to decide it in the GS on Saturday, but we will see," said Riesch, a double Olympic champion whose 23-point advantage can quickly vanish with race victories worth 100 points.
"It would be a great dream coming true," she added. "But, if not, then maybe next year or the year after. I don't have to do this now."
Alpine racing has not had such a finish since Sweden's Anja Paerson edged Croatia's Janica Kostelic by three points in 2005. On the same Lenzerheide slope, Kostelic would have won had she been 0.09 seconds faster in the GS finale.
Vonn smiled while thinking of the number-crunching permutations.
"I've run a couple of scenarios through my mind how it could play out differently," she said. "I can't control what Maria's doing, but I can control my skiing. So I'm going to give it my best shot."
The American arrives with fresh momentum after gaining ground last weekend. A career-best third place in GS at the Czech resort Splinderuv Mlyn was followed by a solid slalom result, with Riesch surprisingly skiing out.
"As you saw last weekend, anything can happen. I have to keep the same approach, and ski with intensity, focus and determination," said Vonn, who has already won the downhill, super-G and super-combined discipline titles.
Riesch reflected it was "not easy to keep cool" amid talk of her shrinking lead.
"It can go so fast from 96 (points) to 23. I try to just concentrate on my skiing and not calculate the points too much," she said.
The men's racing drama is set to peak in the downhill that opens the finals program Wednesday. For the seventh straight year, the downhill title is nearly certain to be won by Michael Walchhofer or Didier Cuche. Both seek a fourth discipline title, second only to the five won by Austrian great Franz Klammer between 1975-83.
Walchhofer, who leads by 14 points, is keeping his promise to retire at season's end with no regrets.
"This was always an important thing for me," the 35-year-old Austrian said after being fastest in training Tuesday. "To be there until the end and really have the chance to achieve something."
The 36-year-old Cuche, who confirmed Tuesday he will return next season, called the downhill finale a "perfect situation."
"It couldn't be better. It's great for the sport, and to be an actor in this drama is very enjoyable," the Swiss star said.
Walchhofer's teammate Klaus Kroell can spoil the script, although he trails by 79 points.
Cuche is favored to win his first super-G title Thursday, with Walchhofer leading an Austrian trio holding outside chances.
Ivica Kostelic, the undoubted star of 2011, can also add crystal globes in super-G and the slalom on Saturday to his discipline title in super-combined. The Croat clinched his runaway victory in the overall points race last weekend.
Both giant slalom titles have come down to the final race, despite Ted Ligety's three-win streak before Christmas. Ligety leads Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal by 77 points, with Frenchman Cyprien Richard also in contention Friday.
"It's a pretty good course for me," said Ligety, who seeks his third World Cup GS title.
The women's GS crown will go to Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany or Tessa Worley of France, although their contest might just be a footnote to the Vonn vs. Riesch conclusion on Saturday.
-- Graham Dunbar
Walchhofer, Maze fastest in downhill training runs
LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland (AP) — Michael Walchhofer showed he's ready to end his downhill career on a high note, while Lindsey Vonn and Maria Riesch warmed up gradually for their four-race showdown to decide the World Cup overall title.
Walchhofer was fastest in the only training run for the last men's World Cup downhill of the season, and the last of his distinguished career before retiring.
"It's important for me to know that I can be fast," said the 35-year-old Austrian, who seeks a fourth seasonlong downhill title. "Because it's so close, the only thing to do is try to win."
One hour later, Slovenia's Tina Maze posted the fastest time for the second straight day. Maze finished in 1:28.20, ahead of Julia Mancuso of the United States and Daniela Merighetti of Italy.
Vonn came down seventh and Riesch placed 11th.
Walchhofer clocked 1 minute, 23.21 seconds down the short but steep Silvano Beltrametti course, described by racers as more like a fast super-G track than a true downhill. Times were slowed by snow that had been softened in the warm sunshine.
Klaus Kroell of Austria was 0.21 seconds back in second and Christof Innerhofer of Italy was third.
Only Kroell and Swiss veteran Didier Cuche, who placed fifth Tuesday, can deny Walchhofer the crystal globe trophy.
Walchhofer has a 14-point lead over Cuche, who also seeks a fourth discipline title. Kroell trails by 79 and has an outside chance, with a victory worth 100 points.
Vonn locked up the downhill title two weeks ago but trails her German friend and rival Riesch by 23 points in the overall standings.
The 26-year-old American likely needs to build a lead from results in the downhill on Wednesday and the super-G on Thursday if she is to win a fourth straight overall title.
Vonn said she was conservative after making mistakes in Monday's opening practice session on a slope where she last raced in 2005.
"All in all, it was a solid training run and I'm happy that I got one good one through the finish. It gives me more confidence," said Vonn, who was 0.61 faster than Riesch.
-- Graham Dunbar
Swiss skier Cuche dispels retirement rumors
LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland (AP) — Swiss skier Didier Cuche has ended rumors he's ready to retire, pledging to return next season.
The three-time World Cup downhill champion called a news conference on the eve of the season's final meet, saying he had "great motivation" to keep skiing.
Cuche can win his fourth World Cup downhill title — second only to Austrian great Franz Klammer's five — with victory on Wednesday.
Swiss media speculated 36-year-old Cuche would quit after a dispute with World Cup race director Guenter Hujara last week.
The International Ski Federation fined Cuche $5,400 for verbally threatening Hujara over course safety at Kvitfjell, Norway. Cuche won the super-G on Sunday for his 17th career World Cup win.
Cycling
Evans wins Tirreno; Cancellara takes time trial
SAN BENEDETTO DEL TRONTO, Italy (AP) — Australian rider Cadel Evans won the weeklong Tirreno-Adriatico race Tuesday, while Swiss specialist Fabian Cancellara won the final time trial.
Evans finished with an 11-second lead in the overall standings ahead of Dutch rider Robert Gesink, while Michele Scarponi of Italy was third. The 2009 world champion, Evans finished second overall in the Tour de France in 2007 and '08.
Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso finished fourth overall, 24 seconds behind, and Spanish Vuelta champion Vincenzo Nibali was fifth.
Cancellara clocked 10 minutes, 33 seconds over the 5.8-mile individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto.
Dutch rider Lars Boom finished second in the stage, nine seconds behind. Adriano Malori of Italy was third on the flat and straight course along the Adriatic coast.
Speedskating
Reutter wins silver in women's short track overall
SHEFFIELD, England (AP) — American speedskater Katherine Reutter won the silver medal in the women's overall competition at the World Short Track Championships on Sunday.
Reutter came in second in the 3,000 meters, the final race of the three-day championships, to finish as the runner-up in the overall classification behind Cho Ha-ri of South Korea.
A fall in the final of the 1,000 earlier Sunday ultimately cost Reutter's chances of a gold medal. The skater tripped on a lane block in the seventh of nine laps and finished third.
Reutter had opened up with a victory in the 1,500 on Friday, when she became the first U.S. woman since Bonnie Blair in 1986 to win a world title.
