International Capsules: IOC sees 'no reason for concern' over Sochi Games
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) — The International Olympic Committee inspection found "no real burning issues" in Sochi preparations for the 2014 Games, with organizers promising to complete construction of all sports venues by the end of 2012.
The International Olympic Committee, which has monitored the building construction since Sochi was awarded the 2014 Olympics five years ago, said Tuesday that the multi-billion-dollar project is going according to plan.
"We are very satisfied," IOC coordination commission chairman Jean-Claude Killy said after his latest inspection visit. "Two years are left, and these will be the most challenging two years. But we see no reason for concern.
"There are no real burning issues. The worries are the same as other games, the same as for London and Rio — transport, accommodation, security," the French ski great added, referring to the next two Summer Olympics. "(Construction) is being carried out on schedule."
Building is ongoing at the coastal cluster along the Black Sea, where indoor sports will be held. There's also construction of a massive Olympic Village and the Alpine venues halfway up the mountain.
A rail link, new highway connection and new hotels and resorts are being built.
"All of the sport venues will be completed in 2012 and be ready to use by the end of the year," said Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, who is overseeing the Sochi project for the government.
IOC officials also met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
"He told us this project is one of the top priorities of Russia," Killy said.
Killy, who was co-organizer of the 1992 Albertville Games and led the coordination commission for the 2006 Turin Games, suggested that Sochi surpasses anything he's seen.
He held up a blank white piece of paper at one point during Tuesday's press conference to explain how Sochi "began with nothing."
All of the venues are being built from scratch in an area that was previously known only as a summer resort. In the Alpine area, a handful of new resorts are being built, and they'll eventually all connect through an intricate series of gondolas, chairlifts and cable cars.
"They are showing the whole world what they are capable of," Killy said. "The IOC truly believes in the abilities of the organizing committee."
The construction budget for Sochi's Olympic infrastructure is about $6.5 billion, with more than half coming from private funding, Sochi organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said.
More money is being spent to redevelop the entire region, while the operating budget for the venues and games is about $2 billion, Chernyshenko said.
Kozak said the sliding center for luge, bobsled and skeleton will be certified in March. The track come under scrutiny following the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili during a training run in Whistler just hours before the opening of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
More than 60 test events are scheduled before the Sochi Games. One test event, at the ski jumping venue, was moved because of construction delays.
The IOC described as "very successful" the men's World Cup Alpine ski races last weekend, the first major test event.
"The organization was very good, the athletes were satisfied and the International Ski Federation was also satisfied," Killy said "Sochi has really put itself on the world map."
One of the few criticisms of the ski races was that the stands were half-empty, likely because of security. Kozak said that will change.
"Next year there will be no restrictions for spectators to visit all events, and we are sure there will be many more visitors," the deputy prime minister said.
Rome's 2020 Olympic bid scrapped by Premier Monti
ROME (AP) — Rome dropped its bid for the 2020 Olympics on Tuesday after Premier Mario Monti said the Italian government would not provide financial backing for an estimated $12.5-billion project at a time of economic crisis.
Monti announced after a Cabinet meeting that it would be an irresponsible use of taxpayer money to fund the Olympics with a guarantee that the government would cover any deficit.
"We arrived at this unanimous conclusion that the government didn't feel it was responsible to assume such a guarantee in Italy's current condition," Monti said. "We studied the plans with great care.
"Italy can and must have ambitious goals. Our government is focused also on its growth, not just on strictness, but at this time we don't think it would be fitting to commit Italy to this type of guarantee, which could put at risk taxpayers' money."
The decision came a day before the deadline for formal submission of bid files to the International Olympic Committee. The IOC requires government financial guarantees from bid cities.
Rome's exit leaves five cities in the 2020 race: Madrid; Tokyo; Istanbul; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan. The IOC will select the host city in 2013.
Italy's financial woes ended the country's hopes of landing its second summer Olympics following the 1960 Games in Rome.
Italy's government has tried to reassure financial markets that its serious about cutting public spending and reviving the country's sluggish economy by passing a series of austerity and growth measures. The efforts appear to be working in the short term, with Italy's borrowing costs dropping in recent weeks.
Monti was installed late last year after the resignation of Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who struggled with sex scandals and a loss of confidence to push through necessary financial reforms.
By scrapping Rome's bid for the Olympics, Monti gave an important message to the markets that Italy is serious in its pledge to cut its debt.
Gianni Petrucci, president of national Olympic body CONI, understood the need for cuts, but hoped there was room for the games.
"Monti has told us no, it's a great sadness," Petrucci said. "It's a dream that has vanished after two years of hard work, the bid was a serious one. You need to cut and think about investments, and the Olympics are a future investment."
The bid was considered Italy's best chance of hosting the Olympics because postponing the candidacy until 2024 would put it against possible bids from the United States, France and South Africa.
"We spent hours talking, but (Monti) was unshakable on the subject of the accounts linked to the general economic situation," bid chairman and IOC Vice President Mario Pescante said. "We have to resign ourselves to the fact that for at least 10 more years, we won't talk anymore about having the games in Italy."
Madrid and Baku submitted their bid files to the IOC on Tuesday, a day after Tokyo and Doha delivered their documents. Istanbul will do so on Wednesday.
Madrid is bidding for a third consecutive time despite Spain's severe financial downturn.
"It's a tough moment for Spain due to the economy," bid leader Alejandro Blanco said Tuesday. "But in these moments of crisis there are two solutions: Hide or say 'Here I am presenting the bid because I think it is good for the city and for the country and because we can offer a games what will be among the greatest ever.'"
Sixty leading Italian athletes — including soccer star Francesco Totti, as well as Olympic canoer Antonio Rossi and Alpine skier Deborah Compagnoni — had signed an appeal urging Monti to back the bid.
However, former 200-meter world record holder Pietro Mennea applauded the government's decision.
"The Olympics won't go away. We can bid again in a few years," Mennea said.
-- Victor Simpson
Velodrome may be sprinter's paradise at Olympics
LONDON (AP) — Blink and you may miss the top track cycling sprinters at the London Olympics. A super-fast track in the new $125-million Olympic velodrome has been called a sprinter's paradise Tuesday, raising the prospect of world-record times at the summer games.
Many of the world's leading cyclists get their first run this week on the track, made of Siberian pine and built by renowned Australian designer Ron Webb.
"Obviously, he wants to evolve his tracks to make sure they are as fast as possible," Simon Lillistone, cycling manager for London's organizing committee LOCOG, said of Webb's track. "And the feedback from riders so far in training is that it seems to be showing up that way."
More than 340 riders from 48 countries will compete in the final round of the Track Cycling World Cup starting Thursday at the 6,000-seat Velodrome, distinctive because of its double-curved roof. It's located in the north of the Olympic Park in east London.
The sold-out meet is doubling up as an Olympic test event, with organizers assessing technology, scoring systems and spectator flow in preparation of the games.
The event gives cyclists such as British pair Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton, sprint champions at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a chance to try out the home track.
"Nobody with ambitions later this year is going to miss out on the opportunity of training and racing on the new track," Hoy wrote in his column in Tuesday's edition of The Daily Telegraph. "Any chance to get on the boards and become familiar with the venue is valuable."
Hoy — a triple gold medalist four years ago — could have a field day this summer.
Webb, a former Australian cycling champion, has designed tracks for recent Olympics at Seoul, Sydney and Athens but is attempting to raise the bar inside the London velodrome.
By moving the finish line further along from the center of the track, riders get the chance to build up speed along the home straight.
"That will give us faster times in the sprints, for example," Lillistone said. "He's also got a very smooth transition from the straights to the banking, which will be very good for the team pursuiters. He's concentrated on those elements."
This will be the 13th of 24 test events ahead of the Olympics — and the most challenging so far, according to Debbie Jevans, LOCOG's director of sport.
"There will be almost double the amount of athletes that will be here for the Olympic Games," Jevans said.
Anna Meares, the women's sprint world champion from Australia, will be competing along with Germany's Robert Forstemann, who is top-ranked in the men's sprint and team sprint World Cup standings.
The meet offers cyclists one of the final opportunities to gain ranking points toward Olympic qualification.
-- Steve Douglas
Volleyball spikes video replay for London Olympics
MADRID (AP) — Volleyball spiked video replay for the London Olympics.
The International Volleyball Federation said Tuesday the technology, similar to the systems used by the NFL and rugby, could not be implemented in time for the July 27-Aug. 12 games.
FIVB spokesman Richard Baker said Hawkeye ball-tracking technology has been discussed, but such a system is "not feasible yet as we are still evaluating and discussing which way to proceed."
"We're not even close to incorporating it into an FIVB event at the moment," Baker said.
The FIVB congress does not meet again until September, when it would have to seek a rule change that would allow the system to be used. It must first be tried at an internationally sanctioned event, with the 2014 world championships the closest possibility.
The video challenge system allows a team to challenge a call, with the captain and referee then reviewing the play on a courtside monitor. The system is in place in Brazil and it is expected to be used next month in Poland for the Champions League Final Four.
Hawkeye is currently used on the ATP and WTA tennis tours as well as in cricket. Taekwondo is introducing a new electronic scoring and video replay systems at the Olympics.
-- Paul Logothetis
Fire breaks out at Olympic Park; No injuries
LONDON (AP) — A fire that broke out at Olympic Park caused no major damage or injuries, London 2012 event organizers and the city's fire brigade said Tuesday.
The brigade said the fire in containers holding 100 kilos (220 pounds) of dry wood ash at the renewable energy center on the north plaza of the park started late Monday .
Four engines and 25 firefighters responded to the 10:30 p.m. GMT (1730 EDT) blaze, extinguishing it in the early hours of Tuesday. Some remained at the park for safety reasons.
Olympics organizers described the cause of the blaze as mechanical, but did not elaborate.
"It was dealt with quickly and safely," the committee said in a statement. "There is no permanent damage and work on the Olympic Park continues as usual. We are working with the fire brigade and contractor to investigate the cause."
Licensing from Rio 2016 to bring $750M in revenue
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio Olympic organizers expect the 2016 Games to generate $750 million in revenue for local businesses. The organizing committee launched the games' licensing program on Tuesday, saying at least 150 companies have shown interest in becoming licensees for official products of the Olympics.
Organizers say the aim is for 60 licensed companies, producing 12,000 products and opening 6,000 stores. About 150 official shops will be opened between 2014 and 2016. Eighty percent of those will be in Rio, including a megastore on the sands of Copacabana beach.
The first official Rio 2016 products will be sold during the 2012 Olympics in London.
The committee is reportedly expected to earn $100 million in licensing revenue.
Figure Skating
Ten years after Salt Lake, skating a shadow of self
With colorful characters, beautiful clothes, juicy rivalries and whispers of behind-the-scenes shadiness, figure skating was the original reality show, commanding attention well after the Olympic flame was extinguished, and turning skaters into millionaires.
Then came the French judge, swathed in fur and instructed to vote "in a certain way."
Ten years after the pairs judging scandal rocked the Salt Lake City Olympics, some say figure skating has yet to recover. Interest in skating in the United States has faded, and critics say a judging system adopted to prevent cheating has not only failed but has stripped the beauty from the sport.
"I really don't think it was that worth it, all the hubbub after Salt Lake City," Johnny Weir said.
Judging shenanigans have always been skating's dirty little secret. But it was one thing to look at scores and try to guess what countries were conniving and which judges were swapping marks, quite another to have it confirmed as it was in Salt Lake.
Russia's Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze initially won the pairs gold over Canada's Jamie Sale and David Pelletier by the slightest of margins, despite Sikharulidze stepping out of a double axel. But judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne tearfully told her fellow judges afterward that she had been pressured by French federation president Didier Gailhaguet to put the Russians first.
"It's surreal that it happened to us. I never thought anything like that — big stories happen to others, I've never been involved in such a thing," Pelletier said. "We were just puppets in a show. I never took it personal. We just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. Or the right place at the wrong time, I don't know."
Le Gougne later recanted, but the damage was done. Scott Hamilton's howl of protest on the NBC broadcast could be heard clear across the country, Canadian Olympic officials demanded an investigation and everyone from politicians to previously wronged athletes weighed in on what should be done. As the scandal threatened to overshadow the rest of the games, new IOC president Jacques Rogge told the International Skating Union something had to be done.
On Feb. 15, four days after the pairs final, the Canadians were awarded duplicate gold medals. Three days after that, ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta unveiled a proposal to replace the century-old 6.0 mark with a system that would assign a point value to every technical element.
Figure skating will always be a subjective sport because there is no clock to race, no finish line to cross ahead of an opponent. But skating had to find a way to bring more objectivity — more transparency — to its judging, Cinquanta said.
"The question was, is this a sport or is that a show? If it's just a show or exhibition, you do not need judges. You do not need to measure the performance," he said. "But sport is another story. You need rules and you cannot leave it to judges to say, 'This is the best.'"
The ISU adopted its new judging system in June 2002, and began using it at Grand Prix events a year later. Skaters still receive two scores, one for technical elements and another for components, but everything is now quantified. Jumps, spins, lifts, skating skills, choreography — there are now specific criteria for judging every part of a program, and a point value to go along with it.
"You cannot keep this subjective decision of the judges," Cinquanta said.
Skaters say they like being able to look at the judges' marks and see where, exactly, they need to improve. And the judging system has revolutionized ice dancing, once so corrupt medals may as well have been handed out before the event started. North American ice dancers, who once had little hope of doing more than cracking the top 10, now dominate the sport. Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are the reigning Olympic champions, while Meryl Davis and Charlie White last year became the first Americans to win a world dance title.
"Tessa and Scott, they were superb (in Vancouver) and I thought this was exactly what this system does: It rewards people who are able to be the most seamless and most technically proficient," said Sarah Hughes, the 2002 Olympic champion. "And I think that's the goal of any kind of scoring system."
But critics say the current system has flaws, as well.
There is room to manipulate marks or prop skaters up through the component scores, largely still a matter of personal opinion even with established criteria to judge the individual components. A judge with a music background, for example, may view a skater's interpretation of "Tosca" very differently than someone without, and it's hard to challenge their interpretations.
Another criticism is that the points system doesn't penalize mistakes enough. Reigning world champion Patrick Chan had to put both hands down on a quadruple toe loop in the short program at Four Continents last Thursday, but it wasn't counted as a fall so he didn't receive a one-point deduction off his total score. He did get the maximum negative execution scores for the element, but the 7.30 points he received for the quad were still a point higher than Ross Miner got for a clean triple flip.
"To get more points, the skaters execute elements beyond their capabilities. As a consequence, the programs are filled with errors and falls which, of course, damage the general presentation," Sonia Bianchetti, a former Olympic-level judge and the first woman elected to an ISU office, said in an email. "Is it better to see a beautiful program, with a good choreography, skated to the music with good speed and flow and maybe an easier jump or jump combination, less-intricate footwork or more simple spins? Or rather programs with two or three falls on quads or triple-triple combinations, with travelled, slow and ugly spins or step sequences?
"To make the sport too difficult and demanding means that in a field of 30 skaters, let's say, maybe only a couple can do a decent program. The rest of the event is a falling contest," she added. "Is this good for our sport?"
Fans also have struggled to grasp what are good scores and what are not. Under the old system, even the most casual of fans knew that the closer a skater was to 6.0, the better the program was. Now, even the die-hards don't always know what to make of a 200 — a near-record for the women or pairs, not even good enough for a man to crack the top 10.
That complexity, in a sport once known for its simple beauty, coupled with the lack of a female American star, has been blamed by many for the drop in interest in skating in the U.S.
Ten years after "Champions On Ice" alone had a schedule of 90-plus shows, "Stars on Ice" is the only U.S. tour left and has just 10 dates, beginning Saturday in Salt Lake City. Stars also will do 12 shows in Canada.
At last month's U.S. championships, there were empty seats for most of the sessions, even with portions of the arena curtained off. NBC's prime-time coverage of the women's final Saturday drew a 2.4 rating and 3.7 million viewers. The men's final on Sunday afternoon had a 1.8 rating and 2.8 million viewers.
"The perception of skating, it changed a lot," Pelletier said. "It had such a bad rap and I think it was well-deserved, the bad rap. I think it could have been avoided.
"But at the same time, skating was never as bad as what people made it seem. Every sport has its problems," Pelletier added, pointing to concussions in hockey and football and an entire era of baseball tainted by performance-enhancing drugs. "The ISU did the best they could to clean whatever they thought the mess did. It's not my place to say if they did it the right way."
-- Nancy Armour
Ten years later, Olympic champs return to Salt Lake
The lavender dress Sarah Hughes wore for the long program is in a museum, and her Olympic gold medal is tucked away for safekeeping. Her memories of the Salt Lake City Games, however, are always with her.
"When they said 10 years, I was kind of blown away," the 2002 Olympic champion said. "In my mind I can remember everything as if it was just yesterday. But at the same time, it feels like a different lifetime because my life is so different now. I was a child then, I was 16."
Hughes is returning to Salt Lake City on Saturday night for a "Stars on Ice" show celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the Winter Games. Also appearing are Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, in their first trip back to the Olympic arena since they were caught up in the judging scandal that rocked the Salt Lake City Games.
Sasha Cohen, the silver medalist in Turin, and Olympic champions Ekaterina Gordeeva and Ilia Kulik also are part of the show.
"I assume it's going to be excellent memories because I have only excellent memories of the Olympics," Pelletier said. "Even though I'm not a nostalgic person, I'm very much looking forward to it."
Though Hughes had won the bronze medal at the 2001 world championships, her gold in Salt Lake City remains one of the sport's great upsets.
In fourth place after the short program, the teenager still had a slim chance of winning a medal. But gold? Few outside her family would have predicted that. Michelle Kwan and Irina Slutskaya, the gold and silver medalists at three of the previous four world championships, were in front of her, as was Cohen. Hughes would have to be spectacular, and all three would have to make mistakes.
With all the focus — and pressure — on everyone else, Hughes took the ice with a carefree air, so loose she actually laughed when the audience greeted her with a roar. She breezed through the technical elements of her program, doing not one, but two triple-triple combinations, and seven triple jumps in all. She was so light on her blades she seemed to float across the ice, and she skated with the joy of someone alone in an empty rink.
She was so dazzling that her coach, Robin Wagner, bounced up and down as if on a trampoline for the last 15 seconds of the program. Fans were on their feet, too, getting louder with every second. When Hughes finished, she doubled over with glee and clapped her hands.
"When you hit the mark, when the dice rolls onto the winning numbers, it's like you hit the lottery," Hughes said.
With four skaters left, Hughes and Wagner headed back to the locker room to wait. Kwan two-footed a triple toe loop in combination, and fell on a triple flip. Slutskaya skated conservatively, and didn't even try any of the triple-triple combinations that had become her trademark.
When the final marks were posted, showing Hughes in first, Wagner wrapped Hughes in such a big hug it pulled both of them off a bench and onto the floor. The shrieks of joy could be heard clear into the arena.
"It was a dream come true. I couldn't have wished or hoped for anything better," said Hughes, who graduated from Yale in 2009. "A lot of times, when I think about it, it still seems surreal. But it makes me feel proud, it makes me feel happy. It fulfilled a lot of my goals and dreams in skating."
Sale and Pelletier's gold medal was equally hard won, though in an entirely different manner.
Russia's Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze initially were awarded the gold over Sale and Pelletier by the slightest of margins, despite Sikharulidze's step-out on a double axel. There was a howl of protest on television and in the stands, and Sale and Pelletier wept as they stood on the medals podium and listened to the Russian anthem.
But judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne told fellow judges afterward that she had been pressured by French federation president Didier Gailhaguet to put the Russians first. She later recanted, but the damage was done. With the scandal threatening to overshadow the rest of the Olympics, the decision was made to award Sale and Pelletier duplicate gold medals.
"I made my peace with it that night," Pelletier said. "The joy of having it done and having it well done that night, the joy of skating great that night under that much pressure, overshined the fact that we came in second."
-- Nancy Armour
Track & Field
Jamaica's Clarke wins 60-meter race at Lievin meet
LIEVIN, France (AP) — Fast in Arkansas, faster in France.
Lerone Clarke set the world-leading time for 60 meters in Fayetteville over the weekend. The Jamaican then crossed the Atlantic and shaved 0.02 seconds off that time to win in 6.50, beating Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre.
At 30, Clarke has only broken the 10-second mark for the 100 once and has never been a force in Jamaican sprinting, but this indoor season he looks like the man to beat at next month's world championships in Istanbul.
On Tuesday, his job was made easier when the season's second-best performer, France's Jimmy Vicaut, false started.
Lemaitre, the European sprint champion, had his typical slow start and finished in 6.57, still strong enough to come back and beat Jamaica's Mickael Frater at the tape for second.
The French hope for two sprint medals at the Olympics redeemed himself in the 200, again coming from behind to edge Antoine Adams of Saint Kitts and Nevis with a time of 20.92.
"It leaves me happy," Lemaitre said, referring to his first indoor race this year. He won the bronze at that distance at the world championships last August. "I'm on track."
Yelena Isinbayeva won the pole vault in 15 feet, 9¼ inches and was followed by Cuba's Yarisley Silva (15-5½). The Russian missed three times at 16-1¼, which would have been a world record. Jenny Suhr holds the mark at 16-0.
"It was a very good jump, a good performance," Isinbayeva said. "My shape is getting better and better."
But at this stage in an Olympic year, only victories count, and it followed on the heels of two wins in Eastern Europe. "Step by step, I am trying to improve myself."
She will be going for her third straight gold at the Olympics and after two years of bad results, she feels she is getting back to her peak.
In the women's 800, Morocco's Malika Akkaoui set a world-leading time of 1:59.01, clawing her way back into the race to beat Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo of Kenya at the tape. Jelimo, who is coming back after a season lost to injury, was looking for a sub 2-minute race and finished in 1:59.10.
In the men's 800, Poland's Adam Kszczot had another great outing, improving on the world leading and personal best, this time with 1:44.57.
-- Raf Casert
