International Capsules: Funding cuts force Special Olympics to ax events

INDIANAPOLIS — Tommy Sliva takes great pride in his Special Olympics medals because they show he can ski better than many of his friends without special needs.

But the 19-year-old with Down Syndrome won’t get to compete in the giant slalom at the Indiana winter games this year because they have been canceled.

"He was very sad. He said, ‘Why, Mom?’ Of course, he doesn’t understand all of the financial situation," said Veronika Sliva, of Indianapolis.

It’s been a rough two years for the Special Olympics, which endured the death of founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver in August and has seen sponsorship money dry up because of the poor economy. The Washington-based parent organization lost tens of millions of dollars when the stock market tanked in 2008. And many state affiliates have had to cut costs by trimming staff, canceling entire competitions or eliminating certain events.

Kirsten Suto Seckler, a spokeswoman for Special Olympics, said the movement has recently expanded into 20 new countries and now has more than 3 million participants from 160 nations. But she acknowledged that the decline in sponsorship and fundraising has forced some state affiliates to make tough decisions.

State affiliates raise their own funds and operate on their own budgets, but they also receive support and programming help from headquarters.

Groups across the country say they have tried to cut administrative costs first so that athletes aren’t affected. But that hasn’t been possible everywhere.

In Northern California, a lack of funding forced the cancellation of mountain sports like snowboarding and alpine skiing at its upcoming winter games. Affiliate spokeswoman Kirsten Cherry said it was hard to have to cut events, but that the snow sports were axed because they had relatively few participants and cost a lot.

"Most of our athletes are involved in two or three sports. They can move on and still have something to do in the year," Cherry said.

She said many athletes were disappointed by the decision but understood the reasons.

"They see people losing jobs, they see the cutbacks," Cherry said.

Oregon canceled its games last year and doesn’t expect to reinstate them this year. But spokesman Mark Evertz said the organization tried instead to send athletes to smaller competitions in the state.

Jeff Mohler, vice president for programs for Special Olympics Indiana, said the skiing and snowshoeing events made sense to cut. They were the most expensive events and had seen 20 percent declines in participation each of the last two years. Only 147 of more than 10,000 athletes statewide participated in the two sports.

North Dakota plans to stage its winter games this month after taking 2009 off because of a lack of funding. The affiliate has taken steps to reduce administrative costs, including reducing staff and travel and having employees take turns shoveling when it snows.

Special Olympics Tennessee hasn’t cut athletic events, but it has stopped allowing new participants in some events, and cut participation in come cases. It has also frozen salaries, canceled retirement contributions, limited travel and reduced office expenses, president Alan Bolick said.

"If contributions don’t come back this year, or if we can’t find new avenues for donations, then we will likely be faced with both eliminating some events and some staff by end of the year," Bolick said.

Dave Kerchner, who heads the Kentucky affiliate, said his group has left some staff positions vacant for the first time in memory.

"I’ve been on enough discussions with other execs to know the consternation over this been equal in all states. It’s very difficult times," Kerchner said.

And Massachusetts has curtailed special events such as dances and opening ceremonies to save costs. It is paying for participants in its March winter games to stay overnight for one instead of two nights, saving about $175,000.

Special Olympics Inc. saw its year-end assets fall to $58.4 million in 2008 from $87.8 million in 2007, a 33 percent drop, according to its most recent annual report. Much of that was due to a 36 percent decline in its trust from sales of the "A Very Special Christmas" albums. Due to investment losses while the stock market tanked, the size of that trust fell to $38.9 million in 2008 from $60.7 million in 2007.

2009 was particularly hard on the Special Olympics because of the death of Kennedy Shriver, who founded the organization in 1968 and remained a daily presence at its Washington headquarters well into her 70s. Her son, Timothy Shriver, is the group’s chairman and CEO.

Veronika Sliva said it’s sad her son won’t get to compete in the Indiana games this year and to hear the crowd cheering his name as he hurtles down the slopes. Skiing is special for him because it distinguishes him from friends without special needs who can’t ski, she said.

"He feels like this is something he can do better than normal kids," she said.

USOC’s new CEO aims to repair global relationships

The new boss of the U.S. Olympic Committee is setting out to restore respectability to the organization and repair relationships around the globe. To do that, he is taking a cue from the Wizard of Westwood.

"In my opinion, it’s the world’s greatest brand and we haven’t been good stewards of the brand," Scott Blackmun said Wednesday when he was introduced as the USOC’s new chief executive officer. "So, first and foremost we need to act with transparency and integrity.

"I’m a big fan of John Wooden and he talks about success being defined as making sure you gave it your best shot and making sure you acted with integrity and honesty in your dealings with others. And that’s going to be the foundation of this organization going forward."

Blackmun succeeds acting CEO Stephanie Streeter, who faced constant criticism after her sudden, unexpected ascension to the top position in March.

Blackmun, a 52-year-old Colorado Springs attorney, is returning to the USOC, where he worked as general counsel, then senior managing director and later as interim CEO from 1998 through 2001. He will officially take over on Jan. 26 after a week’s vacation in Hawaii and will be in place for the start of the Vancouver Olympics on Feb. 12.

USOC chairman Larry Probst said Blackmun’s four-year deal includes a base salary this year of $450,000 — a revelation that Blackmun said points to the organization’s attempt at transparency.

Although incentives could push that figure higher, it’s a big drop from the eyebrow-raising $1 million-or-so pay package that Streeter received, which included a base salary of $560,000. Former CEO Jim Scherr made just under $620,000 in 2008 with a base salary of $428,243.

Although Chicago’s first-round failure to land the 2016 Summer Games, which went to Rio de Janeiro, was widely viewed as an international rebuke of the USOC, Blackmun said he thinks the IOC was motivated more by delivering South America its first Olympic Games.

"So, I don’t lay the blame for what happened there at the feet of the USOC," he said.

Nevertheless, Blackmun said he plans to burnish the USOC’s standing around the world, and he intends to do that by becoming more engaged with the worldwide Olympic community.

"Internationally, it’s just a lot of blocking and tackling," Blackmun said. "At the end of the day, relationships are a function of time and commitment and we need to start spending that time and making that commitment and becoming engaged in the movement. We are part of the worldwide Olympic movement. The IOC is the leader of that movement and we intend to become a much more regular guest over there.

"It’s not something that we can fix overnight," Blackmun added, "but it is something that we can address overnight."

If reaction to the USOC’s choice is any indication, Blackmun’s hiring has already begun to smooth things over both at home and worldwide.

Probst said he spoke with IOC president Jacques Rogge on Wednesday.

"He was very enthusiastic about Scott’s appointment. He thinks we made a terrific hire and he’s looking forward to meeting him in Vancouver," Probst said.

"We are clearly pleased at the appointment of a new chief executive officer at the United States Olympic Committee," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "Our relationship with USOC is a key one for the future of the Games, and having an experienced operator in the post is clearly to be welcomed.

IOC executive board member Gerhard Heiberg, a Norwegian who is part of a three-man panel that will negotiate a new revenue-sharing deal with the IOC, told The Associated Press: "I welcome the decision. ... I think that Larry Probst and he will be a good team and a good speaking partner for the IOC."

Heiberg said he hoped Blackmun’s appointment would usher a new period of stability and credibility for the USOC, which has had seven CEOs since the start of 2000.

Probst said he and Blackmun will resume negotiations with the IOC on revenue sharing — an issue that colors almost everything in the USOC’s international relations — after the meet-and-greets in Vancouver next month.

Blackmun’s hiring also was hailed by several leaders of the U.S. team’s national governing boards, several of whom attended his introductory news conference.

"The USOC conducted an open and transparent selection process which led to an outstanding choice in Scott Blackmun. He will build a strong management team and establish meaningful partnerships throughout the Olympic movement," said Bill Marolt, president and CEO of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association.

Probst said Blackmun "has the unanimous support of the USOC board as well as our independent search committee," which spent the last three months looking for a replacement for Streeter.

Blackmun, he said, augmented his credentials since his first stint at the USOC by serving as CEO from 2002-06 of Anschutz Entertainment Group in Los Angeles, overseeing operations for the sports and events company.

But it was Blackmun’s vision for the USOC’s global role that apparently struck a chord with the search committee.

"I think just being present is going to be an improvement," Blackmun said. "I think we need to make the effort to spend time with them, not only with the IOC but with the international federations, with the people who are otherwise influential in the world. I don’t think we’ve invested that kind of time at the senior leadership level to the extent that we could have or should have.

"I think we’ve left that for the most part to our international relations experts, and I think at the end of the day, the IOC is the leader of the worldwide Olympic movement and we need to respect that and spend some time listening."

-- Arnie Stapleton

Winter Sports

Davis and Clark win on inspirational day

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. — The winners were Kelly Clark and Danny Davis.

The day, however, belonged to Kevin Pearce.

With signs in the stands paying tribute to the injured snowboarder, Clark secured a trip to her third Olympics and Davis won by pulling off a rare feat of landing three double-cork jumps — double back flips with a series of different twists — in the same run Wednesday.

"This was, by far, the heaviest contest I’ve ever been in," said 2006 Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, who finished second to Davis.

Davis and third-place finisher Scotty Lago are close friends of Pearce, who was upgraded from critical to serious condition at a Salt Lake City hospital Wednesday, six days after he endured severe head trauma in a training accident.

"I had Kev on my mind and right before every run I was making sure I had him in spirit," Davis said. "I know we’re sending vibes back to each other and it was good. I asked Kev to help me through that one. He’s not up, but we’re mentally on the same wavelength now. He’s helped me through my runs and it’s been nice to have him."

Doctors said Pearce is slowly regaining consciousness and responding to commands. They said he is recovering more quickly than anticipated but still has a long road ahead of him.

"I’ve been snowboarding for 18 years and had never seen anything like that, and never want to see anything like that again," Clark said of Pearce’s accident last week in Park City, Utah. "We just keep praying a lot and hoping he’s staying strong."

Clark defeated 2006 gold medal winner Hannah Teter to make her 2 for 2 this season in the U.S. Grand Prix events, which are being used to determine the riders who will represent the U.S. in Vancouver next month.

"Before the last Olympics, I qualified last," Clark said of the 2006 effort, where she was a late qualifier and finished fourth at the Games. "So, yeah, this feels really good. It gives me a chance to use the rest of the season to work on things, practice my harder jumps in competition."

There are three more Olympic qualifiers this month, starting Friday with another event at Mammoth Mountain. The team will be selected at the end of January.

White won the first qualifying event, last month in Colorado, and along with Davis, is in good position to make the U.S. team.

Davis said he had never landed three double corks in practice but decided this was the day to try — a day when everyone was doing it for Kevin.

"It feels good. It’s snowboarding. It’s supposed to be fun, so as long as I have fun, then that’s what matters," he said.

Doctor: Injured snowboarder’s condition improving

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah doctor says American snowboarder Kevin Pearce is improving in a Salt Lake City hospital.

Dr. Holly Ledyard says in a statement Wednesday that Pearce’s breathing tube has been removed. She says he’s slowly regaining consciousness and is able to follow commands.

Pearce suffered a severe brain injury Thursday in Park City while preparing for Olympic qualifying events. The 22-year-old from Norwich, Vt., is a top-ranked halfpipe rider.

Pearce remains in the intensive care unit at the University of Utah Hospital, where his condition has been upgraded from critical to serious. Ledyard says he’s improving faster than anticipated, but still has a long recovery ahead.

Randall, Southam take classic distance ski titles

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A pair of Anchorage skiers overcame a storm of new-fallen snow to win classic distance titles Wednesday at the 2010 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships.

Olympian Kikkan Randall solidified her reputation as America’s best female cross-country skier with her third victory in five days, winning the women’s 20-kilometer race in 1:14.19, her 13th national title.

James Southam enhanced his chances for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, winning by more than a minute over Kris Freeman of Andover, N.H. It was Southam’s fifth national title.

Randall on Saturday finished first in the freestyle sprints, a four-heat race over 1.4 kilometers. She also won the 10-kilometer freestyle Wednesday and has a chance to sweep the championships with a victory Friday in the 1.4-kilometer classic sprint.

"I was just happy to feel really good even after two days of racing already," Randall said. "I still had a pretty good feeling in my body."

Skiers had to contend with thick snow that began falling two and a half hours before the mass start of the women’s race. The fresh snow sent skiers and waxers to test tracks in the Kincaid Park stadium to find the right combinations of kick and glide wax. Many were adjusting wax until minutes before the start.

Forerunners ski the tracks ahead of racers, but the first racer through faces the obstacle of skiing over new snow that they smooth for competitors.

"With the snow falling in the tracks, there was definitely a disadvantage to leading, so we had to work together and take turns out there," Randall said.

By the start of the third lap and final lap, Randall and Holly Brooks, who trains with Randall at Alaska Pacific University, held a 20-second lead on the next group of skiers. But up a hill just outside the stadium, Randall took a turn in the lead and slowly pulled ahead.

"I really just focused on keeping a good tempo," Randall said. "I felt my muscles begin to cramp in my arms a bit so I knew I needed to keep a good rhythm going to keep those muscles from shutting down.

"It wasn’t a real decisive point and I don’t have eyes in the back of my head but I was concerned that Holly was there the whole way. I guess I just got a little bit of a gap with two K to go."

The gap was 10 seconds by the finish line.

"She just had a little more pep to her step and my technique was starting to get a little sloppy, and I slipped a few times," Brooks said.

Brooks is hoping to be chosen for the Olympic team.

"Hopefully this was one of the races where the coaches were looking to see who could classic ski and who could classic ski for a long time," she said.

Brooks finished in 1:14.29. Caitlin Compton of Minneapolis was third in 1:15.04.

Another Olympic hopeful is Southam, who was disappointed with his third-place finish Monday in the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle. He went out fast in that race, held the lead after one lap, then watched Freeman take over during the second and third laps.

"I knew that I needed to do something today if I wanted to show I should be on the Olympic team," he said.

On Wednesday, he controlled his nerves early and hung behind Freeman. They were in a group of five at the head of the pack after the first lap. By the end of the second, it had become a two-man race until junior racer David Norris, who skis for the University of Alaska Fairbanks, ran them down. Southam answered on a hill.

"I didn’t put on a real move. I just kind of surged a bit just to try and get rid of David because I knew he probably killed himself to catch us. I looked back once we got to the top and I was alone."

He found himself 21 seconds ahead of Freeman near the end of the third lap. Freeman closed to within 10 seconds, then fell back.

He finished more than a minute behind in 1:33.18. Bryan Cook of Rhinelander, Wis., caught Norris to finish third in 1:33.43. Norris finished fourth in 1:33.57.

-- Dan Joling

Razzoli wins slalom for 1st World Cup victory

ZAGREB, Croatia — Giuliano Razzoli earned his first World Cup victory on Wednesday, leading Italy to a 1-2 finish in a slalom.

Razzoli was second after the opening run on the Crveni Spust course and finished in an aggregate time of 1 minute, 50 seconds to beat Manfred Moelgg by 0.23 seconds.

Julien Lizeroux of France was 0.49 seconds back in third.

"What a fantastic day," said the 25-year-old Razzoli, whose third place last year here was his first career podium finish. "You can’t describe this. The atmosphere is fantastic and the hill really suits me."

Jimmy Cochran was the top American finisher in 25th. Ted Ligety went out when he fell just before the finish of the first run. Bode Miller skipped the race to rest a sore ankle. He is expected to return to the World Cup circuit for Saturday’s giant slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland.

Reinfried Herbst of Austria held a big lead over Razzoli after the opening leg, but made a mistake early in his second run and finished 0.84 back in fifth.

"In slalom, you always push it to the limits. Maybe I overdid it a bit in the second run," Herbst said. "That mistake doesn’t really hurt me. If you finish fifth, you can’t be dissatisfied."

Herbst won the two previous slalom races this season and remains atop the discipline standings.

"It was difficult. The course is hard and bumpy, but OK," Herbst said.

Benjamin Raich of Austria regained the lead in the overall World Cup standings after placing 11th. Carlo Janka of Switzerland trails Raich by 12 points after skipping the race.

Slalom world champion Manfred Pranger of Austria also went out on the first run, straddling final gate.

Ligety was attacking at the bottom of the course when he lost balance on one ski.

"I was skiing OK. It wasn’t super clean," Ligety said. "The course preparation is good considering they had no snow and it’s kind of warm here."

Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic, who finished second here last year, also failed to finish after he missed a gate halfway down the course.

-- Eric Willemsen

Schild, Fischbacher fastest in downhill training

HAUS IM ENNSTAL, Austria — Martina Schild of Switzerland and Andrea Fischbacher of Austria posted the fastest time Wednesday in a World Cup downhill training session.

Defending World Cup downhill and overall champion Lindsey Vonn, who won both previous downhill races this season, had the fourth-fastest time at 0.58 off the leaders.

Schild and Fischbacher sped down the Krummholz course in 1 minute, 40.72 seconds, while Fischbacher’s teammate Elisabeth Goergl was 0.23 back in third.

Maria Riesch, who leads the overall standings ahead of Vonn, was in fifth place.

Another downhill training session is scheduled for Thursday. The meet consists of two downhill races and a super-G beginning Friday.

Anderson, Sauerbreij win WCup parallel GS races

KREISCHBERG, Austria — Jasey Jay Anderson of Canada won a snowboarding World Cup parallel giant slalom race Wednesday and increased his lead in the discipline standings.

Anderson beat Andreas Prommegger of Austria in the final for his second win of the season and 26th overall. Benjamin Karl of Austria was third, followed by Tyler Jewell of the United States.

Former overall World Cup champion Nicolien Sauerbreij of the Netherlands beat Alexa Loo of Canada in the final of the women’s event.

Fraenzi Maegert-Kohli of Switzerland was third. Amelie Kober of Germany lost in the qualifying round but stayed atop the discipline standings.

Northug wins 36K-race to take Tour de Ski lead

CORTINA, Italy — Petter Northug of Norway has won a three-man sprint to capture a 36-kilometer freestyle race and reclaim the overall lead in the Tour de Ski.

Northug pulled away from Dario Cologna of Switzerland and Marcus Hellner of Sweden on the final stretch to finish in 1 hour, 25 minutes, 38 seconds on Wednesday.

Cologna was 0.4 seconds back and Hellner finished third, 0.8 behind in a race that featured a handicap start based on skiers’ positions in the tour standings.

After five of eight events, Northug leads the standings with a total time of 2:17.28.2. Cologna is 0.4 seconds behind.

Arianna Follis moved to the top of the women’s standings by winning the 16K freestyle race in 34:34.8, ahead of Petra Majdic of Slovenia and Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland.

Kofler wins 4 Hills tournament

BISCHOFSHOFEN, Austria — Andreas Kofler of Austria has won the Four Hills ski jump tournament after finishing fifth in the final event behind winner Thomas Morgenstern.

Kofler jumped 129 and 133.5 meters on Wednesday to maintain his lead over Janne Ahonen of Finland and defending champion Wolfgang Loitzl of Austria in the overall standings.

Kofler is the eighth Austrian to win the prestigious Four Hills tournament.

Former World Cup champion Morgenstern beat Ahonen to claim his first win since February 2008. Simon Ammann of Switzerland finished third.

Russian women win biathlon World Cup relay

OBERHOF, Germany — Russia has edged Germany by three-tenths of a second to win a women’s biathlon World Cup relay race.

Russians Anna Bogaliy-Titovets, Anna Boulygina, Olga Medvedtseva and Svetlana Sleptsova had three fewer misses on the shooting range than Germany, whose competitors needed to reload 11 times. Russia finished the 4x6-kilometer race in 1 hour, 14 minutes, 23.6 seconds on Wednesday.

France was third, 1:00.9 behind the winners.

Auto Racing

American Miller captures 1st Dakar Rally stage

SANTIAGO, Chile — American Mark Miller captured his first stage win in the Dakar Rally on Wednesday, winning the fifth leg to lead a Volkswagen sweep that gave Carlos Sainz the overall lead.

Miller won the grueling 300-mile run across the Atacama Desert from Copiapo north to Antofagasta, finishing 5 hours, 6 minutes, 15 seconds. Sainz was 2:10 behind and Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah was third, 4:27 back.

NASCAR driver Robby Gordon finished fourth in a Hummer, 4:48 off Miller’s pace.

Sainz leads Al-Attiyah by 4:37 overall, and Miller is 9:39 off the pace in third.

Miller was jubilant, declaring the real race had just begun as the rally will spend five stages in the Atacama, one of the driest places on Earth.

"I would say it was the perfect day," Miller said. "Today was the first big day of the Dakar. We were aware of it — all of us. The Dakar really started today and we are in the top positions. Today we stopped playing kiddies. There are still a few long days in the sand dunes."

In motorbikes, defending champion Marc Coma’s Sherco blew a rear tire while leading by six minutes, allowing Contardo Lopez to win the stage on an Aprilla in 5:52:40. Cyril Despres’ KTM was 1:30 behind, allowing the Frenchman to extend his overall lead to 37:37 on Lopez.

Chile’s Lopez attributed part of his victory to racing at home.

"I had had problems in Argentina and now I am really happy to win a stage on home turf," he said. "Now I can think about the overall standings. In Chile all is fine — even gas is better."

Rally great Stephane Peterhansel, who started the day as overall leader by more than 7½ minutes, stalled twice with mechanical problems and finished more than two hours behind Miller, probably costing him a 10th Dakar title.

Peterhansel broke his BMW’s rear axle at 84 miles and it took an hour to fix. He stopped for another half-hour after 134 miles and also got lost, ending up plunging to 10th overall, more than two hours behind Sainz.

"We lost the rally today," the Frenchman said. "We stand no chance of even dreaming about victory ... that is sure."

Sainz, the former two-time world rally champion from Spain who began his Dakar quest in 2006, had minor problems but nothing compared to Peterhansel’s nightmare.

"Too bad we had a flat tire," he said. "We changed the wheel and must have lost about two minutes. But I am really happy that we got through this section against the clock that was really long and really tough. Obviously the time lost by Stephane Peterhansel is an advantage for us, but it’s only the fifth stage.

"Personally, I intend to keep going at my own pace, the pace I have held since the beginning — and the pace that is delivering."

The sixth stage on Thursday takes the rally 260 miles farther north from Antofagasta to Iquique.