International Capsules: History or no mystery? IOC has a statement to make

COPENHAGEN — Rio or Chicago? Risk vs. reliable.

For the International Olympic Committee, the biggest decision in choosing the city to host the 2016 Games is what statement it wants to send the world.

Does it make the bold, transformational choice of Rio de Janeiro, giving the Olympics to South America for the first time? Or does it play it safe and head for the familiar shores of the United States and, perhaps, a more lucrative games?

"Policy wise, the IOC has to decide if we’re ready to go to a new continent," longtime IOC member Dick Pound said recently. "That’s the biggest paradigm shift. Is the time right?"

Rio certainly thinks so.

The city didn’t even make the finals when it bid for the Olympics in 2004 and 2012. Now, however, Brazil has one of the world’s largest economies and its international stature is growing. South America is also home to 400 million people, bid committee leader Carlos Arthur Nuzman said, a population that could ensure the Olympic movement’s legacy for generations to come.

And, Rio leaders say, given any chance they get, it is time.

When Rio traveled to Switzerland in June to present its bid to IOC members, the highlight of its passionate appeal was a large map showing where all the Olympics have been held. Dots blanketed Europe, Asia and North America.

The entire South American continent was bare.

"The Olympic movement is a global movement, so it has to be global. It has to go to all the continents, all the countries, all the areas of the world," Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes said Tuesday. "We’re pretty emotional here at this moment because we know it’s a very important moment for a city that has a lot to give. It’s going to change forever the Olympic movement."

IOC members acknowledge there is large appeal in going somewhere new. That Rio’s plan is technically strong only strengthens its case, making it a slight favorite over Chicago ahead of Friday’s vote.

Madrid and Tokyo both seem to have faded, done in largely by geography. Though the IOC doesn’t have an official continental rotation, European cities are hosting the 2012 and ‘14 games, while last year’s Beijing Olympics are still fresh in members’ minds.

Of course, for all the handicapping, nothing is ever as certain as it seems.

The vagaries of the IOC’s voting system make it that any of the four could go out in the first round, and ballrooms across the globe are littered with supposed favorites who didn’t win the ultimate prize. In fact, the key to victory often depends on picking up those second- and third-choice votes.

The city receiving the fewest votes is eliminated after each round until one candidate has a majority. The vote is expected to go the maximum three rounds.

And Rio is not without its drawbacks.

Though the homicide rate in the city of 6 million dropped to 33 per 100,000 people last year from 39 per 100,000 the year before, that’s still well above Chicago, Madrid or Tokyo. Major highways, including one that links the international airport to the beaches, are periodically shut down by shootouts.

Rio also has to convince the IOC that it can pay for $11 billion worth of infrastructure projects and complete them on time — on top of staging the World Cup just two years earlier. Hosting the world’s two largest sporting events back-to-back could prove to be a marketing challenge, with advertisers deciding they have the money for one or the other, not both.

Then again, FIFA’s endorsement might be what’s needed to convince IOC members that now is the right time.

"It’s a big, sophisticated international federation, so maybe that’s a signal," Pound said.

More like a loud alarm, Rio said.

"It’s the absolute historical moment for our country, for our continent, for our state," said Sergio Cabral, governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro.

But what if it’s not?

While Chicago doesn’t have the international flair of, say, Los Angeles, New York or even San Francisco, it is an American bid and those are the ultimate security blanket for the IOC. Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City all staged successful games that made money. Lots of it, in Los Angeles and Salt Lake.

Chicago may not have the architectural masterpieces that typically define a host city, but its plan to use city parks and existing or temporary venues also makes it less vulnerable to the massive cost overruns that London and Vancouver have seen. Its bid committee is run by insurance magnate Pat Ryan, who didn’t get rich by making bad decisions, and is filled with people who worked on the Sydney and Salt Lake games.

And by returning to the United States for its first Summer Games since 1996, the IOC will have an attractive property for American advertisers and broadcasters. That’s no small thing, considering the IOC’s largest chunk of revenue comes from its $2.2 billion deal with NBC to broadcast the 2010 and 2012 Olympics. Negotiations for the U.S. TV rights to the 2014 and 2016 games won’t begin until after the vote, and the IOC can expect that a Chicago games will increase both the number of bids and dollar amounts attached to them.

There is also the Obama factor.

President Barack Obama is a popular figure overseas, an adopted son of Chicago and an ardent supporter of the city’s bid and the Olympic movement. So much so he is taking a few hours away from all-important health care reform to come to Copenhagen for Chicago’s final presentation, the first sitting U.S. president to personally lobby the IOC at a host city vote.

Although Ryan is thrilled Obama will be part of the final presentation, he cautions that it isn’t a contest of heads of state. "This is really about cities that would be the best host city for the games," Ryan said.

Obama is just one of four big name leaders being brought in by the cities. Rio will have Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Madrid will have King Juan Carlos, and Japan will have new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

"We believe we can make a great impact on the future of the Olympics," said David Robinson, one of the original Dream Teamers. "That’s no comment against the other great cities. We just feel like we bring some great things to the table."

Obama’s Olympic pitch draws GOP complaint

NEW YORK — President Obama’s decision to travel to Copenhagen to boost Chicago’s chances of winning the 2016 Olympics has drawn criticism from some Republicans, who call it a boondoggle for Obama’s hometown allies and evidence the president has blurred his priorities.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele denounced the visit on a conference call with reporters Tuesday. Calling it "noble for the president to pitch his home city, Chi-town," before the International Olympic Committee Friday, Steele said it nonetheless was a distraction from more pressing issues such as health care, job creation and other urgent demands on Obama’s time.

However, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and 2008 Republican presidential contender, said Obama was right to make an appearance.

"In the current environment, the presence of a head of state is important to get the Games," Romney, who headed the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, said, noting that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair had set a new standard by personally lobbying for his country’s succesful 2012 Olympic bid.

Steele said it raised questions about Obama’s priorities.

"Where is the focus?" Steele asked. "At a time of war, at a time of recession ... I think this trip is nice but not necessary for the president. The goal should be creating job opportunities not seven years from now, but job opportunities today."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs laughed when told of Steele’s criticism of Obama’s trip.

"Who’s he rooting for?" Robert Gibbs said. "Is he hoping to hop a plane to Brazil and catch the Olympics in Rio? I don’t know. Maybe it’s Madrid."

Steele’s comments echoed those of Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking GOP member of the House Intelligence Committee, who told reporters Obama should focus on the escalating conflict in Afghanistan.

"Mr. President, identify what is important and focus on what’s important. Not everything rises to the level of needing presidential involvement," Hoekstra said.

Just last week Obama said he wouldn’t make the trip to Copenhagen, citing his need to press for health care reform legislation instead. White House officials mentioned the economic benefits the U.S. would receive from a winning Olympics bid in explaining the president’s sudden change of heart.

First Lady Michelle Obama was originally slated to represent Chicago before the IOC but will now share the duties with her husband.

The city’s bid is competing with bids from Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Spain and Tokyo, and the heads of state from Brazil, Spain and Japan are appearing in person to make their countries’ pitch.

Indeed, Curt Hamakawa, director of the Center for International Sport Business at Western New England College in Massachusetts, said Chicago would likely lose the bid if Obama had chosen not to go.

"For the president not to attend would send a signal, and it would not be helpful to Chicago’s bid. Almost certainly it would result in Chicago not having a chance," Hamakawa said, adding that if Obama had stayed home and Chicago wasn’t selected, "Republicans would have been crabbing that he didn’t do enough."

GOP strategist John Feehery said it was important for Republicans to pick their battles in deciding how and when to criticize Obama.

But Feehery, a Chicago native who said he is rooting for the city to win the Games, said GOP complaints about Obama’s trip were well-founded.

"He’s taking a bunch of Chicago cronies on an all expense paid trip to Copenhagen for just one reason, to get the Olympics," Feehery said. "For me it makes him seem unserious and look slightly desperate."

Grumbling about Obama’s trip began to bubble up on conservative blogs and Web sites soon after the White House announced Obama’s trip Monday.

"It’s not like the president doesn’t have anything to do, nothing important on his plate at the moment, right?" the blog Rightwing Nuthouse.com asked, while the conservative Drudge Report posted a television news story about a Chicago teen beaten and murdered in gang warfare there last week.

"Olympic Spirit," the Drudge Report declared in a headline.

-- Beth Fouhy

Chicago designers to outfit Olympic delegation

CHICAGO — Fashion designer Maria Pinto has been a favorite of first lady Michelle Obama. President Barack Obama has worn suits from menswear maker Hart Schaffner Marx.

Both Chicago labels have been chosen to dress members of Chicago’s Olympic delegation, along with tiemaker Lee Allison, for outfits debuting at this Friday’s International Olympic Committee vote on the 2016 Summer Games.

Chicago is in a tight race for the bid with Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Chicago 2016 officials say it’s customary for members of a city’s delegation to wear the official wardrobe "to signify teamwork and cohesion."

Details of the apparel have been scarce — Chicago 2016 officials say the designs are to be unveiled Friday at the vote — but Allison described the clothing as an integrated, sporty but professional look for the men, with a more feminine silhouette for the women.

"The whole goal was to project an air of confidence and competence," Allison said. "In a sense the ties, they’re very discreet. They say we’re a professional team and we’re here to get the job done."

The president and first lady will lead the Chicago delegation along with Oprah Winfrey, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Mayor Richard Daley. Fourteen Olympic and two Paralympic gold medalists, including Michael Johnson, Nadia Comaneci, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Nastia Liukin made the trip to Denmark.

Chicago fashion experts say they expect a classic, tailored look.

"The clothes are going to be on the conservative side, which lends itself to some of the philosophy of Chicago," Chicago fashion commentator and image consultant Barbara Glass said. "We’re not a flashy city."

Glass said she also expects lots of red, white and blue.

Allison said the fact that all local designers were chosen is a sign the city is ready to host the world. "It’s like a coming-out party for the town in all aspects, including its fashion industry," he said. "They can outfit this team and they don’t have to leave the hometown."

Kristen Amato, president of the Chicago Fashion Foundation, said the selection demonstrates a certain caliber of work within the city’s small-but-strong style community.

"This gives a lot of credibility to Chicago," said Amato, who designs her own jewelry line, K. Amato.

Amato said she expects Pinto to design for many different female body types.

"They’ve got to be able to speak to masses of people," Amato said. "They’ll see a very polished, classic American style. I don’t think we’re in for any huge fashion surprises or shocks."

Mrs. Obama has worn Maria Pinto designs to important events in her husband’s political career, including the day he announced his candidacy in Springfield and the night she spoke at the Democratic National Convention.

Chicago 2016 said in a news release that the designers donated their time and will provide the clothing to the delegation at cost.

"On October 2, Chicago will be on an international stage, and our city’s fashion designers will share in the spotlight," Chicago 2016 chairman Patrick Ryan said. "Our bid plan celebrates Chicago and we are proud to showcase the talents of the art and design community that thrives here."

Allison will offer one hint: The ties, he said, contain a hidden message.

"I can’t tell you what it is," he said. "But it’s an inspirational, aspirational thing there for the delegation."

-- Caryn Rousseau

Brazil’s message: Live up to Olympic principles

Brazilians are confident that if the International Olympic Committee practices what it preaches, then Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Summer Games.

After all, a defining principle of the modern IOC is "universality" — the idea that every country should have the chance to participate actively in what it calls the Olympic Movement. Another of its buzzwords is "legacy" — the concept that hosting an Olympics is not just a two-week spectacle but a catalyst for remaking a city, a country and a people.

When the IOC’s 100 or so members choose from among 2016 finalists Rio, Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo on Friday, the Brazilians think they’ve got their rivals beat on both counts.

South America has never hosted an Olympics — which Rio’s charismatic bid team will certainly remind the IOC at every turn this week — and the games could play a part in transforming the world’s favorite party city, but also one with crime-ridden slums.

"No other city needs to host an Olympics," Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said last week in New York. "Brazil needs it."

Spoiled for choice, the IOC might go for making what’s seen as a blow for social change.

"In principle, yes, it would be nice for the universality of the games that we go to a new continent that has never organized games," IOC executive board member Denis Oswald said in a recent interview. "But only if we are confident that all the technical and other requirements are met."

In practice, universality has meant traditional Olympic powers in Europe and North America conceding some entries to athletes from developing nations, many of whom go on IOC-funded training programs to help get them to the show.

It is largely the reason that Afghanistan won a first-ever medal in Beijing last year. Rohullah Nikpai won bronze in the taekwondo under-58 kilogram (128 pounds) weight class after he spent 45 days training in South Korea with the backing of its national Olympic committee.

Giving the games to an emerging nation in a new part of the world for the Olympics would expand the concept of universality immeasurably.

Rio’s team understands this. When the four finalist cities came to Lausanne, Switzerland, to make presentations in June, Rio’s team made its formal pitch using a world map marked with dots to show cities that have hosted a Summer or Winter Games. South America was blank.

Senior IOC member Dick Pound explained then that previously no South American city had the stadiums and infrastructure to cope. But the Canadian official recently agreed that "for the first time, (South America) is a realistic choice."

Rio’s Olympic concept follows its hosting plan for the 2007 Pan American Games.

However, some promised transport links did not materialize two years ago and the Olympic bid calls for capital investment of $11.1 billion — half earmarked for road, tunnel and rail projects — without allowing for typical delays and budget overruns.

The 2007 security plan would be repeated. Back then, 15,000 police, plus agents of the elite National Force, were deployed to calm the city’s streets for an estimated 700,000 visitors. The Pan-Ams were free of major incident and Rio points to its annual success welcoming the world for Carnival and New Year celebrations.

Yet the IOC harbors concerns. An evaluation team was sent to visit all four bid cities in the spring and its report noted that Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo are "capable of providing the level of security and safety required for the games." Rio’s report card had no such praise. On Monday, it was announced that Brazil’s justice minister, Tarso Genro, will go to Copenhagen to address any lingering worries.

While Rio would face undoubted challenges to meet hosting standards, the IOC might decide that many teething troubles and pre-event anxieties could be borne by soccer’s world governing body FIFA.

When Brazil hosts the 2014 World Cup, the only sports event to rival the Summer Olympics for scale and global attention, Rio’s fabled Maracana stadium will be the venue for the final, and the city home to FIFA’s administration.

As such, the World Cup could serve as a spectacular test event, giving Rio’s organizing committee two years to work out what its needs to change and finesse.

That committee would be headed by Carlos Arthur Nuzman, an elegant and experienced IOC member who presides over the bid committee and sees potential benefits for the whole country.

"We are certain that the Rio 2016 project, as well as making a difference to the Olympic Movement, will also positively influence the socio-economic trajectory of Brazil," he said. Nuzman was responding to a University Of Sao Paulo study which aimed to show that for each $1 invested, $3.26 would be generated across the nation by 2027.

Rio de Janeiro state Governor Sergio Cabral, speaking to the Brazilian sports daily Lance before flying to Copenhagen, agreed.

"The legacy for Rio will be extraordinary," he said. "So what do Rio citizens get? They get more with improved environment, subway system, urban streets, accommodation, more jobs, new forms of entertainment, a modernized airport, new sporting facilities, international visibility."

Brazilians hope hard-to-read IOC voters think the citizens of Rio need those things more than people in Chicago, Madrid or Tokyo.

-- Graham Dubar

Rio puts President Lula at heart of Olympic bid

COPENHAGEN — Rio de Janeiro focused its bid to host the 2016 Olympics on Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and sidestepped questions Tuesday about U.S. President Barack Obama’s influence over the voters.

Obama’s presence could have an impact on Chicago’s bid when the International Olympic Committee votes Friday, but Rio’s team noted Silva had 80 percent approval ratings in Brazil.

Bid leader Carlos Nuzman said the president — known as Lula — was the most popular in the country’s history since his second election win in 2006.

"When he was re-elected he had 65 (percent), and now it’s going up," Nuzman said at Rio’s first briefing since arriving in Denmark. "During these last two years President Lula works this long campaign, not only beside us, (but) inside this bid team."

Silva arrives in Copenhagen on Wednesday and will meet with IOC members the next day, ahead of Friday’s vote.

Obama arrives Friday and will take part in Chicago’s final presentation to the IOC.

Rio and Chicago are seen as the front-runners in a tight, four-city race with Madrid and Tokyo for hosting rights.

The Rio team hopes it can sway voters after they meet the president whom Obama famously called "the most popular politician on earth" at the London G20 Summit in April.

Sergio Cabral, governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, said Silva had been involved "body and soul" with the bid which was backed by national, regional and city authorities.

Cabral then borrowed an Obama campaign slogan in an appeal for the Olympics to be awarded to South America for the first time.

"As he asked the American people, we are now asking members of the IOC," Cabral said. "Yes we can, yes we can, hold the Olympics in South America.

"It is absolutely a historic moment for our country, our continent, our state. This is our moment. The moment of Brazil, our economy, our people."

Rio’s historic appeal made a strong impression when the four candidate cities presented their cases in Lausanne, Switzerland, in June. But it must persuade the IOC’s near-100 voters that urban crime levels can be controlled, and $11 billion of infrastructure projects can be financed and completed on time.

Nuzman said that Rio was ready, and would rise to the challenge in Copenhagen.

"We have the adrenaline, and the best players love to have high adrenaline," he said.

-- Graham Dunbar

Pele unfazed by Obama backing Chicago’s bid

COPENHAGEN — Brazilian soccer great Pele isn’t worried President Barack Obama’s star power could help Chicago win the bid for the 2016 Olympics at the expense of Rio de Janeiro.

Rio is seen as a slight favorite ahead of Friday’s vote by the International Olympic Committee, but Obama’s decision to fly into Copenhagen for the final presentation could swing the ballot in Chicago’s favor. Madrid and Tokyo are the other candidates.

However, Pele said Tuesday that Rio "doesn’t compete with Obama. We are competing against Madrid, against Tokyo, against Chicago."

The 68-year-old Pele pointed out that Rio is also bringing some big names.

"If they have Obama, we have Lula, we have Pele," he said, referring to Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Obama announced Monday that he will go to Copenhagen, joining first lady Michelle Obama to support his adopted home town’s bid.

Rio also has a charismatic bid team, and is arguing that it is South American’s turn to host its first Olympics.

"We have some reason to believe in Rio de Janeiro, not only Rio but South America, because we have never had the Olympics," Pele said after watching Danish teenagers playing soccer in two Copenhagen neighborhoods.

Rio gained IOC praise for having strong public support, a stable economy and experience from hosting the Pan American Games in 2007. Rio also is hoping to gain points for its fun-loving people and natural beauty, with mountains covered with thick green jungle towering above gorgeous beaches.

The Brazilian candidate has been successful in reducing crime recently, but news about crime in Brazil’s second-largest city remains a common occurrence.

"Rio doesn’t have any problems," Pele said. "The city, the economy is very good. The only country that didn’t suffer with the (financial crisis) is Brazil."

-- Jan M. Olsen

It’s contest for Olympics, not best head of state

COPENHAGEN — Chicago wants the focus to be on the Olympic Games and the athletes, not that guy from Washington arriving later this week.

President Barack Obama’s decision to travel to Denmark to support his adopted hometown’s bid for the 2016 Olympics is still big news Tuesday, a day after he made the announcement. Although Chicago 2016 chairman Pat Ryan is thrilled Obama will be part of the final presentation, he cautions this isn’t a contest of heads of state.

"This is really about cities that would be the best host city for the games," Ryan said.

Chicago is in a tight contest with Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, and all four cities are bringing big name leaders. Brazil will have Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and Madrid is bringing King Juan Carlos. New Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama said Monday he will go, too.

IOC tells 2016 bidders not to knock rivals

COPENHAGEN — The International Olympic Committee has told the four cities vying for the 2016 Summer Games to steer clear of criticizing their rivals.

The official reminder for fair play came after Rio de Janeiro’s bid leader said Tuesday that the IOC’s Ethics Commission had been informed of comments from Chicago about the Brazilian city’s prospects.

Rio and Chicago are competing with Madrid and Tokyo to host the 2016 Olympics.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley suggested last week that Rio’s part in hosting soccer’s World Cup in 2014 would count in Chicago’s favor when IOC members vote Friday.

"We are aware of the issue," the IOC’s communications director Mark Adams told the Associated Press in a telephone interview.

"We would remind all cities that they must be careful of what they say. They must not criticize other bids."

Rio has been sensitive about its role in soccer’s biggest event ever since the IOC evaluation commission’s report said the 2014 World Cup represented a "challenge" to the 2016 marketing and communications strategies.

Asked about Daley’s remark, Rio bid president Carlos Nuzman told reporters it was made known to the ethics panel.

"It is not for myself to make any comment about the Mayor of Chicago," he said.

Chicago 2016 chairman Pat Ryan defended Daley later Tuesday.

"I think the mayor did not intend to offend Rio," Ryan said. "We’re just going ahead with our game plan."

Opponents protest Chicago Olympic bid

Olympians Ohno, Vonn among P&G endorsers

CINCINNATI — Five-time Olympic medalist Apolo Anton Ohno is among the athletes endorsing Procter & Gamble Co. products as part of the company’s 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics marketing.

Cincinnati-based P&G recently announced sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic team for the next two Olympics. Company officials Tuesday said they have also reached agreements with six athletes so far, with more expected.

Speedskater Ohno, a medalist in the past two Winter Olympics, added to his popularity with his 2007 victory in ABC’s "Dancing With the Stars." Seattle native Ohno and snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis will be featured in Vicks cold medicine advertising.

Speedskater Allison Baver, ice dancer Tanith Belbin, bobsledding’s Vonetta Flowers and skier Lindsey Vonn will promote P&G beauty brands such as Pantene shampoo and Olay skin cream.

Kirk Perry, P&G’s vice president for North America, said the consumer products maker plans substantial promotions, including online and mobile advertising, beginning in the weeks leading to the Feb. 12-28 games.

"We’ve got tremendous athletes representing our brands," he said. "These folks are all medal contenders."

He expects to add to the endorser lineup before and after the games.

The world’s biggest advertiser has been expanding its sports marketing, in August making a major sponsorship deal with the National Football League. Perry said P&G likes the ability to reach multiple key demographic groups through sports.

-- Dan Sewell

Volleyball

Beach players want autonomy within USA Volleyball

Beach and indoor volleyball have little in common except a few rules, a few athletes and a national governing body that beach players say hasn’t always looked out for the sandier, sexier and more lucrative side of the sport.

Now, with qualifying for the 2012 Olympics coming up, they want more control over their game.

"We’re different sports," 2004 and ‘08 Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "There’s a lot going on in each of them, and we need to be run by people who absolutely put beach volleyball first."

In the proposal to be sent to USA Volleyball this week, a copy of which was obtained by the AP, a group that includes three of the four beach gold medalists from Beijing asks for a Beach Oversight Committee within USA Volleyball that would be made up of beach athletes and executives and exercise complete autonomy over the discipline.

"We’re not asking for anything other than a place at the table, and for people to be unconflicted," said Ryan Morgan, an agent whose clients include Walsh and men’s gold medalists Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser. "The people responsible for the growth of the sport and advocating for the athletes should be focused on beach."

USA Volleyball chief executive officer Doug Beal said he had not received the proposal and couldn’t comment on the specifics. But he noted that the organization restructured once, creating dedicated seats on the board to the beach side, after a 2006 lawsuit from more than 50 players seeking their own governing body.

"From my perspective, beach is significantly represented on our board," Beal said. "They essentially have exactly the same representation that the indoor sport has. So I’m not sure exactly what could be done that could be more specific."

The proposal, which would be debated at an Oct. 30 board meeting held in conjunction with the Volleyball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Holyoke, Mass., stops short of asking for a complete sand schism and instead uses a "One sport, two surfaces" approach.

It would set up a five-person Beach Oversight Committee within the national governing body that would control Olympic qualification and other matters unique to the beach.

"Olympic qualification — that’s a huge deal," Rogers said in a telephone interview with the AP. "You need a separate USA Beach Volleyball to make sure the right people are in charge of putting on the tournaments."

Indoor volleyball was invented in 1895 by a western Massachusetts YMCA instructor who needed something for older members who couldn’t handle the rigors of pre-jumpshot basketball. The beach game developed as a diversion for beachgoing families in California in the 1920s before its popularity spiked when a nudist camp outside Paris adopted the game.

Ever since, the two disciplines have been on separate trajectories.

And, the beach players say, the national governing body that was formed long before their discipline became a respectable sport — and Olympic event — hasn’t kept up with the changes. Beach players have chafed over everything from selection of the Olympic team leader to a perceived lack of support in dealing with the international federation.

"The history has not been a wonderful history. There’s been animosity and a feeling by the beach players that indoor is being taken care of first, foremost and always," Rogers said.

Beach volleyball, with its shirtless men and bikini-clad women cavorting on the shore, has the advantage of a pro tour and its TV contract.The NCAA is also moving toward recognizing sand volleyball as a college sport.

But for years, beach players say they faced lopsided representation in their national governing body. They were willing to ignore it because the AVP Tour was where they made their money, and Olympic teams were picked based on performance at international events controlled by the FIVB.

That changed when the international federation turned the Olympic qualification over to the national governing bodies this spring. Although the AVP and USA Volleyball announced this month they were working together to come up with a fair process, the players remain concerned that they will have to play in a separate qualifying tournament that would detract from the pro tour or force them to choose where to compete.

"It’s accurate to say the players are loyal to their tour," Morgan said. "The AVP has carried the torch for the sport in this country for a long time. But for the AVP, there’s no pro volleyball in the United States — beach or indoor."

The players think it won’t wind up in court this time. Although they anticipate some resistance, they hope the governing body will decide that both disciplines are better served by having a board dedicated to their individual needs.

"It will help the indoor sport as well," said Walsh. "We need the separation, but we need to work together."

A two-time NCAA champion and a 2000 Olympian indoors, Walsh switched over to the sand and won gold medals in Athens and Beijing with partner Misty May-Treanor. Dalhausser and Rogers won the men’s gold; the U.S. indoor men and women won gold and silver, respectively.

"They’re in an impossible position where they’ve got to wear two hats," Morgan said.

Beal disagreed.

"That’s sort of like saying in track and field there should be a subcommittee that is responsible for every single event," he said. "That, generally, the national governing body can’t focus on any single event."

With its sweep of the gold medals in Beijing, the Americans earned bragging rights over top rival Brazil as the kings of the beach. But changes on the international level are threatening to tilt the sands toward the Brazilians as the 2012 Games approach.

FIVB changes to the bonus pool structure, designed to encourage participation in international tour events, forced U.S. players to chose between their home tour and the prospect of losing their bonuses. (Brazil’s pro tour takes place in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter, so it does not conflict with the FIVB events.)

Rogers said a stronger beach presence in the federation could have represented their interests. Instead, he and Dalhausser forfeited a match at the World Championships this summer in protest.

"I was told by USA Volleyball, ‘There’s nothing we can do.’ So I ended up fighting the battle myself," Rogers said. "USA Volleyball has got to be one of the strongest volleyball federations in the world. You’ve got to have some clout, I would think. I just don’t see it being thrown around at all."

-- Jimmy Golen

Swimming

Rio cancels swimming event over lack of funding

ROME — A World Cup swimming event scheduled for Rio de Janeiro next month has been canceled after organizers failed to come up with enough funding.

The announcement comes at a particularly delicate moment, with Rio competing against Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo in Friday’s vote to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

"There are no financial resources. They cannot find any funding. They say they cannot do it," Cornel Marculescu, the executive director of swimming governing body FINA, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The World Cup page on FINA’s Web site has a line crossing out the Rio meet, with the word "canceled" printed twice.

Marculescu said Rio informed FINA of the decision "two or three weeks ago," adding that the Brazilian city has also pulled out of hosting World Cup events from 2010-13.

Marculescu refused to speculate if the cancellations would have any effect on the IOC vote.

"I only know about my own sport, and there will be no World Cup in Rio for the next four years," he said. "The Olympic Games is a different budget. Rio’s proposals for aquatics venues are very good."

The move is also surprising because of interest generated after Cesar Cielo swept the 50 and 100-meter freestyle events in Rome a few months ago for Brazil’s first gold medals in 27 years at a swimming world championship.

Belo Horizonte has hosted a World Cup event for the last several years, but the Brazilian federation wanted to move the meet to Rio to attract a better international field.

"Belo Horizonte is difficult to get to," Marculescu noted. "You have to change planes in Rio or Sao Paulo."

Without Rio, only five World Cup events will be held this year — in Durban, South Africa; Moscow, Stockholm, Berlin and Singapore.

From 2010-2013 there will be seven short-course meets — in Berlin, Stockholm, Moscow, Dubai and Singapore; and at sites to be determined in China and Japan.

-- Andrew Dampf

Skiing

Swiss skier Gut dislocates hip in training fall

SAAS-FEE, Switzerland — Swiss skier Lara Gut has dislocated her right hip in a training accident just weeks before the World Cup season starts.

The Swiss ski federation says the 18-year-old fell during giant slalom practice and was flown by helicopter Tuesday to a hospital in Viege, where her hip was reset. She then was transferred to see a specialist in Bern.

Gut is expected to be out one month and miss the opening of the World Cup season on Oct. 24.

She won silver medals in downhill and super-combined at the world championships in Val d’Isere, France, last February.

Finnish skier Sandell badly injured in crash

VIENNA — Finnish Alpine skier Marcus Sandell has had his left kidney removed in a hospital in Innsbruck, Austria, after badly crashing during a training run on the nearby Pitztaler glacier.

According to Finnish news agency STT, the 22-year old Sandell hurt his kidney, spleen and back and broke his nose and hand Monday after coming off the course and falling.

Doctors at the Innsbruck hospital said Sandell was doing well and is likely to make a full recovery, STT reported.

Sandell’s best result on last season’s World Cup circuit was 10th in a giant slalom in Sestriere, Italy, in February.

Volleyball

Beach players want autonomy within USA Volleyball

Beach volleyball players who say they’re given second-class status in their own national governing body are asking USA Volleyball to restructure and give them more control over their sport.

The long-simmering feud became a concern this summer when the international volleyball federation turned control of the Olympic qualifying over to the governing bodies in each country. Beach players say they want to control how their 2012 Olympic team is chosen.

USA Volleyball CEO Doug Beal said he hasn’t seen the proposal. He said the beach discipline has plenty of say as it is, and an equal representation to the indoor players.

-- Jimmy Golden

Track & Field

Meb Keflezighi of US to run New York City Marathon

NEW YORK — Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi will run this year’s New York City Marathon.

The 34-year-old American won silver in the marathon at the 2004 Athens Games and was also the runner-up in New York later that year. Other top Americans announced Tuesday for the Nov. 1 race include Abdi Abdirahman and Magdalena Lewy Boulet.

Ryan Hall and Brian Sell, both 2008 Olympians, had been previously announced.

Abdirahman is a three-time Olympian who finished fifth in New York in 2005. Lewy Boulet was second at the 2008 U.S. women’s marathon Olympic trials.

Jorge Torres, a U.S. Olympian in the 10,000 meters, will be making his marathon debut.

The race will double as the U.S. men’s marathon championship, with the top American finisher receiving $150,000.