News of the Day

In the past day, I have seen the USOC refer to ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White as Charlie Davis and Meryl White and list their hometowns as those of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. ESPN also said that the London Olympics would be held in 2010. Good job media organizations.

Speaking of the 2012 Olympics, the UK plans on sending 500 athletes. A 377-foot twisting tower will be built next to Olympic Stadium. It will feature a viewing platform and a restaurant near the top.

Bode Miller will decide this summer if he will return to competitive ski racing. He opted to skip the remaining World Cup races held after the Olympics and has been working with disabled veterans that participate in adaptive skiing.

It was confirmed that Bridget Sloan went on a recruiting trip to Georgia. It is also rumored that she went on one to Penn State. I can see her at either of those schools or Utah.

Tony Benshoof's back surgery was successful. Lindsey Vonn will appear in the Law and Order season finale. Caster Semenya's lawyers criticized the Stellenbosch for not letting her run.

An interesting profile on up and coming speedskater Jonathan Kuck can be found here.

Update Time

Caster Semenya publicly announced her return to competition. However, she was denied a spot in the race she intended to enter in Stellenbosch. A gender ruling is expected in June.

At the USA freestyle skiing championships, Hannah Kearney and Joey Discoe won the moguls titles, Jen Hudak and Tucker Perkins won the halfpipe, and Emily Cook and Matt DePeters won aerials. Tyler Jewell and Lindsay Lloyd won the parallel giant slalom while Lloyd and Chris Klug won the parallel slalom.

Hiroshima is considering bidding for the 2020 Olympics.

Troy Dumais (diving), Erin Hamlin (luge), Sanya Richards (track), and Rebecca Soni (swimming) were nominated for Sullivan Awards.

The US women qualified for the field hockey world cup.

The US women's curling team finished fifth at the world championships, their best finish since 2007.

Learn about America's power Judo family here.

News and Notes

Caster Semenya, the 2009 world champion in the women's 800 meters, is hoping to compete in a meet on Tuesday, the first time she will have run since the world championships. Semenya is a the center of a gender controversy after many opponents thought she might be a man due to rapid improvement and muscle definition. The IAAF is still reviewing her gender test results. She is not formally banned from running but has agreed not to compete until test results are released. My opinion: just let the girl run.

Track and Field's Diamond League, a new series of summer meets, begins in May. It has been confirmed that Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt will race each other in Paris in July. Tyson Gay, Kenenisa Bekele, Yelena Isinbayeva, Sanya Richards and Blanka Vlasic have also committed to compete.

It is rumored that Bridget Sloan is making a recruitment visit to Georgia. I can see her as a Gym Dawg.

Top American male luger Tony Benshoof is undergoing spinal surgery for the second time in 15 months. He will make no decisions about his future in racing until after surgery.

Weekend Update (Part 2)

At track cycling world championships, Tara Whitten won the omnium and the points race. Gregory Bauge won the sprint. Simona Krupeckaite won the women's kerin. Edward Clancy won the men's omnium. Taylor Phinney won the men's individual pursuit while Sarah Hammer won the women's. Australia won the men's and women's pursuits along with the women's sprint. Germany won the men's sprint. Teun Mulder won the men's 1K time trial. Alex Rasmussen won the men's scratch race. Anna Meares won the 500-meter time trial and Cameron Meyer won the men's points race.

30 different men notched podium finishes on this year's biathlon world cup circuit, showing the degree of parity in the sport. Dominik Landertinger won the season's final race today. Russian biathlete Olga Medvedtseva, who was stripped of her 2006 Olympic medals following doping violations, retired.

Olympics on TV

Watching the NCAA basketball tournament primarily online has further made me see how poor of a job NBC does of covering the Olympics in the US. CBS streams every game live online for free. There coverage also includes legitimate commercial breaks like those seen on TV, not the 30 second spots that are on Hulu.

NBC could easily take this approach to the Olympics and stream everything live online instead of waiting to put their video up until after the event is over. That way, people that really want to see complete events live could.

For the Vancouver Games, CTV and their partner networks broadcast everything live on TV and online. Why NBC still thinks that Americans only have the attention span to watch short packages in primetime featuring American stars is beyond me. For most events, they only showed Americans, foreign winners, and spectacular crashes. It is really quite frustrating.

NBC already has the rights to the 2012 Games, but ESPN will be bidding for 2014. The network has already said that between all of their TV channels and the internet, they will show everything live. They will also put together a packaged show much like NBC's current primetime to be broadcast in primetime on ABC. I really like this solution because it will give people who closely follow the Olympics a chance to see everything live while giving those that do not follow the Games very closely but enjoy them a chance to see the highlights. I hope ESPN's bid is successful.

Weekend Update

Mao Asada won the women's figure skating world title. Kim Yuna came back from her disappointing short program to win the long program and take second overall. Laura Lepisto was third. Mirai Nagasu melted down and finished 11th in the long program and seventh overall. Rachael Flatt was ninth, so the US will again only have two women at next year's world championships. Nagasu is great when there are no expectations on her, but she needs to learn how to hold it together under pressure. I would love to see her as a force in the future, but I have my doubts.

In Jesolo, the US won the women's gymnastics team competition followed by Russia and Italy. Aly Raisman won the all-around, followed by Ksenia Semonova and Vanessa Ferrari. Mackenzie Caquatto was in a position to win, but melted down on floor, falling 3 times and going out of bounds twice. Raisman also won vault and floor while Tatiana Nabieva won bars and Caquatto and Tatiana Solovyeva tied for the beam title. In the junior competition, Russia won the team event followed by Italy and Japan. Anastasia Grishina won the all-around followed by Kyla Ross and Andrea Foti and Erica Fasana. Ross won vault, Grishina won bars, beam, and floor.Grishina received a very high 9.4 E score on bars.

Emil Hegle Svendsen and Magdalena Neuner won the men's and women's biathlon overall world cup titles respectively.

Surplus medical and dental supplies and equipment from the Vancouver Olympics are being donated to Canadian medical teams in Haiti. It's nice to see them being put to a good use.

A Short Update

I should be back regularly now. In the surprise of the day, Mirai Nagasu is in first place after the short program at figure skating world championships and Kim Yuna is in 7th. Virtue and Moir beat Davis and White ice dancing while Daisuke Takahashi won the men's title and Pang and Tong won pairs.

American tennis player Wayne Odesnik faces a possible lifetime ban for importing HGH to Australia. Though not particularly well known, he might be the best clay-court player in the US.

A Jamaican completed the Iditarod.

Congratulations to Washington University's women's basketball team for winning its fifth national title.

Since Aunt Joyce doesn't think I embed enough You Tube videos, here are a couple.





More detailed blogging will resume tomorrow.

Catching Up With Aunt Joyce

Recently, I also got a chance to interview David Lease, the voice behind Aunt Joyce's Ice Cream Stand (http://auntjoyceicecreamstand.blogspot.com). The blog mainly covers the world of skatenastics (his word for skating and gymnastics) in a particularly hilarious and enlightening manner. The blog will make you laugh, but will also make you think ( this is a personal favorite). Prior to writing Aunt Joyce, Lease wrote a more serious blog found at http://theolympiceffect.blogspot.com/. Enjoy what he has to say!

Favorites

Hi everyone. I am going out of town this afternoon and will have a visitor next week, so my apologies if blogging slows down. Here are a few classics to watch while I am gone. Enjoy!

News and Notes

Nodar Kumaritashvili's family received an insurance settlement from VANOC. The amount, as well as when the family will receive the settlement is unknown.

Joannie Rochette will now be able to skate in "Thin Ice." It was confirmed the Polish cross country skier Kornelia Marek officially doped in Vancouver. In other drug news, the case against Andre Agassi for crystal meth usage has officially been closed due to a statute of limitations expiration.

Even in the USA Speedskating shake-up, Jae Su Chun will remain the head coach for the short track team. Russian cross country skier Elena Vedeneeva was given a two-year ban for refusing a drug test. The puck used to score the winning goal in the men's hockey gold medal game will be put in the Hockey Hall of Fame along with Sidney Crosby's stick and gloves.

Usain Bolt will attempt to break the world record in the 300 meters on May 27th in the Czech Republic. Nikita Kriukov beat Petter Northug in today's cross country 1.1K. Anna Olsson won the women's race, followed by Justyna Kowalczyk and Marit Bjoergen.

For an interesting read, click here to learn about the visually impaired biathlon.

Breaking away from the Olympics, congratulations to Washington University's women's basketball team for reaching the Final Four. Bring home a national title!

Catching Up With The Couch Gymnast

I recently had the opportunity to interview The Couch Gymnast via email. The Couch Gymnast is an Australian PhD student who writes a fantastic blog which can be found at http://couch-gymnast.blogspot.com/. In addition to commenting on gymnastics competition throughout the world, she has run special features such as contests to name the best and worst leotards in gymnastics competition. She also regularly posts entries entitled "Cartwheels in...," giving readers an opportunity to learn about gymnastics in countries with less developed programs. Overall, the blog ranges from very intelligent discussions about serious issues to hilarious rants that are impossible not to love.

What inspired you to begin your blog?

I think that it was the discovery that blogging existed at all, and that it was something I could participate in that inspired me to start TCG. I started a blog called “A List a Day” where I wrote up various lists on everything from where I'd like to travel, to my favourite floor routines. I realised after a while I really only wanted to write about gymnastics. Beijing had just finished. I was only just (I am a late bloomer!) realising how much the internet was having an effect on a sport that is generally - except during the Olympics - under-covered by the media. I had all this information and access to my favourite sport at my fingertips.

See, I grew up in a culture where if you tell someone you are a gymnastics fan and you are not an actual gymnast, they kind of tilt their head, or cock an eyebrow and look confused. Before I really began to cotton onto the blog thing, I really had no way to discuss or share my thoughts on all the gymnastics I could now watch thanks to Youtube, and read about thanks to the many brilliant gymnastics sites because no one I know even thinks about, let alone likes gymnastics.

Why did you decide to begin a magazine as well?

I decided to start the magazine late last year. I just thought that there were so many people who would write these insanely long, amazing comments on my blog, or even write me long emails about their feelings on the sport, that I thought why not give them a place to contribute? Not everyone has the luxury of a full time research scholarship like mine that gives them time to maintain a writing project like a blog or website. Then I just started contacting some of those people to see if they wanted to contribute. Generally, people were excited and it went from there.

What are you favorite things to blog about?

I love, as you can probably guess, to look at the silly side of the sport. I love gymnastics so much, but any fan has to admit, it is a faintly ridiculous sport - the outfits, the hairdo's, the pretense at always being totally ladylike, the crazed coaches, the mind-boggling controversies, the floor choreography - all these things are fun to write about. I also like to cover gymnastics history and talk about nations that don't get talked about at all. It's hard sometimes, with language and translation issues, but I like to at least try. I also love to write about the crazy, irreverent, naughty or just plain odious personalities of the sport; the Khorkinas, the Karolyi's, the Schwikerts, the Yoculan's. They are fun too.

What are you hoping to accomplish with your blog and magazine?

I'd like sports blogs to get a bit more recognition for what they contribute to sports coverage, though, and that is what I am writing my PhD thesis about. And I always want more readers, because more readers means more people who might enter the conversations that start from what I write.

With the magazine, I just hope I keep getting people enthusiastic enough to want to write for it. With the second issue I was blown away by the fact that people were coming to me with interviews they had done with international gymnasts, but I also have such a great time talking to people who wanted to write about the fact they are just getting back into the sports, or who went to major competitions in the seventies and can remember seeing the Soviet stars.

What is something your readers would be surprised to know about you?

They might be surprised that I am an indy-music listening, arthouse film-loving, vintage clothes wearing boho arts student? I only say that because when people at this end find out I am writing about sports, and am into sports, they think it is weird because of the way I look! I am definitely no jock! In fact, I would only wear sneakers to a costume party! And track pants are for bed only!

When and how did you develop an academic interest in sports? What do you hope to do with this interest long-term?

I actually come from a creative writing/literature background, though I did a double English/media studies major as an undergraduate. I think it took me a long while to realise I could blend my interest in media studies with what I do with this blog (my teachers must have thought they taught me NOTHING!). The guiding academic principle of cultural studies is to 'interrogate the obvious” - to examine the practices of everyday life. Well, blogging is the way I use media every single day, whether to write a post or read someone else's. So, I decided to interrogate that fact.

That is when I decided to write about sports bloggers. I think they have become an important and integral part of the sports media landscape. And while so many journalists are giving us just the bare bones coverage on 'newsworthy' events in the under-represented sports we love, a lot of bloggers are covering the same stuff with depth, sincerity and with a critical eye turned toward the political issues of gender, race and economics, aspects I think we should never, ever ignore.

What do you think are the best parts of your blog and magazine? The worst?

The best part about writing the blog is firstly just the act of having somewhere to put my thoughts down, and secondly, the responses I get from people. I especially love it when I ask a question like are they pro or anti Khorkina or if I ask if they are they Nationalistic fans and people really take the time to give their responses. I love to read the range of serious, funny and crazy responses I get from these questions and I love the sense of a kind of conversation happening because of the post.

Then, of course, the worst thing would have to be those weeks when I get few or no comments and I feel discouraged. I have an analytics site, so I know that people are still reading it, and maybe just don't have much to say about what I have written. But sometimes it has happened when I have worked really hard, or had to do lots of research for a post.

With the magazine, the best part is the enthusiasm of the contributors. I also love the fun email exchanges I have had with people along the way.

The worst part? It's a heck of a lot of work. Finding photographers who will answer my emails about using their pictures is frustrating too. But I am scraping for something here, because really, I love doing it!

Anything else you want to add?

Just that I am definitely on team Khorkina! I can never understand people who could not appreciate her on some level - especially considering there are so many ways she lit up the sport. We need another force of personality like hers in this sport.

A Day of Politics

Organizers believe that a proposed cut to Rio's oil revenue would hinder their ability to host the 2016 Olympics and 2014 World Cup. In other wonderful Olympic venue news, the UN Environmental Program is criticizing Sochi for not taking appropriate action to protect wildlife and natural ecosystems in the region.

Joannie Rochette withdrew the World Championships. Rochette is scheduled to skate her Celine Dion exhibit on ABC's "Thin Ice" on Friday. However, this event is not sanctioned and the ISU is threatening to end her eligibility if she skates at the event because she should give priority to the World Championships. Has it even crossed their mind that her mom just died and that she might want to skate in the show as a tribute to her mom as Celine Dion was her mom's favorite singer. Rochette has never screamed consistency and gave the performance of a lifetime in Vancouver. Maybe she just also wants to end her competitive career on a high note.

In other figure skating news, Evgeni Plushenko, the most humble figure skater on the planet, announced his intentions to compete in Sochi. Stars on Ice officially said that Johnny Weir's presumed sexual orientation was not the reason he was not included on the tour. We all know that is not true. To sign GLAAD's petition, click here.

The IAAF recommended that the 2004 women's 4x400 meter Olympic relay team be stripped of their gold medal due to Crystal Cox's doping suspension. Cox ran in the preliminaries. I hate seeing relay teams lose medals because one athlete screwed up. This case is especially disheartening because the team probably could have easily qualified without her.

USA Speedskating fired its executive director, high performance director, and communications director, following a somewhat underwhelming performance in Vancouver.

For an interesting read on what happens to athletes after they win gold medals, click here.

Weekend Update (Part 2)

Kanako Murakami won the women's figure skating junior world title, becoming the first Japanese woman to win the event since Mao Asada did in 2005. American Agnes Zawadzki was second and Russian Polina Agafonova was third. Christina Gao, my personal favorite out of the skaters, finished eighth after popping a jump in the short program.

Shani Davis won the final 1,000 meter race of the season over Stefan Groothius and Mark Tuitert. Davis finishes the season as the overall champion for all events as well as the overall champion at the 1,000 and 1,500. Christine Nesbitt took the women's 1,000 meter overall crown, finishing seventh in today's race won by Yekaterina Shikhova.

Erin Hamlin, Chris Mazdzer, Christian Niccum and Dan Joye won the titles at the US Luge Championships. The doubles team of Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin, who who finished second, announced their retirement following the competition. The team has been sliding together since 1996 and have competed in four Olympics together. Grimmette also competed in 1994 with a different partner.

Overall champion Simon Ammann won the final ski jumping competition of the season. In what has recently become an often recurring pattern, Adam Malysz was second. Martin Fourcade and Darya Domracheva won today's biathlon World Cup races. Anders Gloersen and Marit Bjoergen won today's cross country sprint races. Kikkan Randall finished second in the women's race. Petter Northug secured the men's overall title.

The teams led by Erika Brown and 2006 Olympic bronze medalist Pete Fenson won the curling national championships. Amy Wright's team, which included my friend Jordan Moulton, finished third.

At the indoor world track and field championships, Bernard Lagat won the 3,000 meters. Brittany Reese won the long jump. Teddy Tamgho set a world record in the triple jump while Dayron Robles and Veronica Campbell-Brown were also victorious.

Weekend Update

Marlies Schild won the final women's World Cup race of the season today, a slalom. Kathein Zettel was second and Maria Riesch was third. Riesch eked out a three point win over Zettel for the overall title in slalom.

Felix Neureuther won today's men's slalom. Reinfried Herbst won the overall title.

Tucker Fredricks won the 500 meters overall world cup in speedskating today by finishing four in the season's final race. Jan Smeekens won the race and finished second in the overall standings. Jenny Wolf won the women's 500 title and took the overall title while Havard Bokko won the men's 5,000. Kristina Groves won the won's 1,500 meter race today to take the overall title. Canadian Jeremy Wotherspoon retired following today's races. Shani Davis won the men's 1,500 today. Martina Sablikova took the overall title in the women's 3,000 and 5,000.

At the track and field indoor World Championships, Americans LoLo Jones, Brian Clay, Christian Cantwell, and Debbie Dunn all won gold medals. Australia beat Germany to win the field hockey world cup. Norway had a solid day in Nordic events, winning the team Nordic combined world cup race. Petter Northug won today's men's 50K cross country skiing race while Marit Bjorgen won the women's 30K race.

News of the Day

I re-watched Cool Runnings last night and discovered that Al Trautwig was a bobsled commentator in 1988. Another sport impacted by the strange commentator...

Lindsey Vonn clinched her third World Cup overall title today with a win in the Super-G. This was also the 33rd individual World Cup title of her career, the most for any American. Elisabeth Goergl was second, Nadia Styger third, and Maria Riesch four. Vonn has decided to skip tomorrow's slalom. Even if the race has no implications for her, I think she would come off as a better sport if she raced.

Ted Ligety finished third in today's giant slalom, clinching the overall title. Carlo Janka won the race to clinch the overall title. Scott Macartney retired after 12 years on the US Ski team.

Lindsey Jacobellis won today's snowboard cross World Cup race in Italy.

Patti Lank's team's fortunes have changes at the US curling championship, slipping to third overall. Amy Wright's team (including the awesome Jordan Moulton) is the top seed. They will play Erika Brown's team Saturday morning for the right to advance directly to the finals. The looser will play in the semi-finals. The teams led by Mike Farbelow and 2006 Olympic bronze medalist Pete Fenson took the top two spots in the men's tournament.

News Update

Lindsey Vonn crashed in today's World Cup giant slalom in Germany. Maria Riesch finished third and is now only 165 points back on Vonn with two races to go in the season. Tina Maze won the race and Kathrin Hoelzl finished second to clinch the overall giant slalom title. Vonn was officially awarded the overall super-combined title.

Erik Guay won today's men's Super G to clinch the overall title. He was third going into today's race. Ivica Kostelic was second in today's race and Aksel Lund Svindel was third. Svindal also finished third in the overall standings, just two points behind Michael Walchhofer.

Wenjing Sui and Cong Han won the pairs junior world title in figure skating. Takahashi/Tran of Japan were second and Stolbova/Klimov of Russia were third. Ilinykh/Katsalapov have an eight point lead on the rest of the field following the original dance. Paul/Islam are in second, Monko/Khaliavin are in third and the Shibutanis are in fourth.

Usain Bolt was named Laureus Sportsman of the Year. Serena Williams won the women's award. Sidney Crosby's missing equipment has been found. It was mistaking put in other equipment bags following the game. In the first doing incident from Vancouver, Polish cross-country skier Kornelia Marek tested positive for EPO.

The International Luge Federation is donating money to reubuild the house belong to Nodar Kumaritashvili's family. It was destroyed in a fire several years ago. In Haiti's return to international sporting competition following the earthquake there, the team fell 9-0 to the U-17 women's soccer team from the USA in CONCACAF qualifying.

Favorites of the 1950s

Gymnastics used to look a lot different. Below are some of my favorite routines from the 1950s:



Keleti is one of my all-time favorites. Not only does she show great extension, flexibility, and control in this routine, but she has one of the best back stories in all of gymnastics. A Hungarian Jew, she survived the Holocaust and achieved most of her gymnastics success in her 30s.



I love how dynamic this routine is.



This is specifically included for the illusion turn to split about 20 seconds into the video.

More News

I promise, I have an entry ready for later that is more than just news of the Olympic world. Check back tonight and see for yourself!

Johnny Weir has withdrawn from the figure skating world championships and will be replaced by Four Continents and two time Junior World champion Adam Rippon. Olympic bronze medalists Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin have also withdrawn from the competition. At junior worlds, Wenjing Sui and Cong Han let pairs after the short program. Britney Miller and Nathan Simpson are in fourth and Felicia Zhang and Taylor Toth are in sixth. The free skate is later today. Grant Hochstein and Keegan Messing are in first and second place respectively after the men's short program while Denis Ten and Armin Mahbanoozadeh are in fourth and eighth. Stephane Lambiel has officially retired (again).

In gymnastics, Jordyn Wieber is rumored to be training a second vault. Kristina Goryunova has been suspended for a year for a doping violation and will therefore not be eligible to compete at the 2012 Olympics.

Maria Riesch won the final downhill of the World Cup season in her hometown of Garmisch-Partenkirchen preventing Lindsey Vonn, who finished second, from clinching the overall title. Anja Paerson was third. Carlo Janka won the men's downhill, giving him a 54 point lead over Benjamin Raich in the overall standings.

Short Track speed skating double gold medalist Zhou Yang has caused quite a stir, neglecting to thank her country and government for its part in her medals. More on that can be found here.

Disgraced Olympic sprinter Marion Jones signed a contract to play for the WNBA's Tulsa Shock. A former collegiate national champion while playing for UNC, Jones has not played on an organized basketball team since the mid 1990s. In more fun news surrounding drugs and sprints, top American indoor sprinter Ivory Williams tested positive for marijuana and will miss this weekend's indoor track world championships.

The end of the round robin phase is nearing at the US women's curling championships. Patti Lank's team is dominating the field and currently boasts a 6-0 record. My friend Jordan Moulton (yay Kamaji!), playing on skip Amy Wright's team, currently sits in a 3-way tie for third place. In the men's competition, Matt Hames' and Matt Stevens' teams are currently tied for first at 4-1 each. American Cheyenne Lewis won a gold at the junior wrestling world championships while teammates Seth Wolfe and Giuliana Gil took home bronze medals.

An interesting interview with bobsled gold medalist Steven Mesler can be found here. USA Team Handball launched a Handball for Haiti drive. More information can be found here. Spots are still available at fantasy luge camp in April. More information is here and a Paralympic broadcast schedule can be found here.

News and Notes

My favorite story of the day, the case of the Chinese curler. Wang Fengchun, the team's skip, was not allowed to attend the celebration for Olympians in Beijing, but was instead sent immeadiately home to Harbin. The team manager Li Dongyan said that "It'll be very helpful to heavily slap him down him with pain," but that they hope to bring him back to the team if his attitude improves. Wang wore a USA cap on the plane home and his father is rumored to have had a heart attack upon hearing that his son had been sent home. Gotta love sports under communism.

American Margaux Isaksen finished second in the first modern pentathlon event of the season. Germany's Lena Schoneborn won the event. Christie Ramapone, the captain of the US Women's National Soccer Team gave birth to her second daughter on Saturday. Seven-time Olympic medalist biathlete Kati Wilhelm of Germany has decided to retire at the end of the month to focus on her studies. It is nice to see that, even in an era of professionalism, athletes still makes this decision sometimes. Bode Miller will miss the last week of the world cup season due to an injured ankle. Indoor track world championships begin on Friday.

After the compulsory dance, Russians Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov hold a three point lead over Americans Maia and Alex Shibutani at the junior world figure skating championships. Russians Ekaterina Pushkash and Jonathan Guerreiro are in third.

Scam Cup

The American Cup can now be viewed on YouTube here . I really wish Jonathan Horton could go six-for-six one of these days. He has been working on his pommel horse routine and it was sad to just see him miss it on the parallel bars. If he does not have it together by this year's World Championships, he might unfortunately be a lost cause as an All-Arounder.

It bothers me that Elsa Garcia gave up a scholarship to UCLA to continue to compete internationally. Why can't women be both elites and collegians like men? I get that their skill sets develop at different ages, but I hate the fact that women have to choose between the NCAA and elite gymnastics and men do not. Doing both should not be a rarity. Even if the NCAA women use the JO code, it teaches a lot about consistency and hitting under pressure. Plus, the women could always choose to do harder skills at meets.

In other news, Brian Fleischmann and Sarah Haskins won the USA Triathlon Elite Development race. Christopher Lutz, Tommy Zaferes, William Huffman, Alexandra Weber, Gwen Jorgenson, and Lauren Gross earned their elite licenses at the race. Michael Phelps broke the short course 200 yard fly record, swimming the distance in 1:39.65 at the Maryland State Championships.

The next gymnastics selection camp begins in 10 days to choose teams for Jesolo. UGA beat UCLA and Oklahoma beat Alabama. Figure skating junior world championships begin tomorrow! Get excited!

Weekend Update (Part 2)

Swiss skier Dominique Grisin won today's women's Super-G, denying Lindsey Vonn her 33rd World Cup title. Vonn finished second and Julia Mancuso was third. Canadian Eric Guay won the men's Super-G. Hannes Reichelt of Austria was second and Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal and Switzerland's Tobias Gruenfelder tied for third. Michael Walchhofer of Austria still leads the Super-G overall standing, but Svindal and Guay could catch him in the final race. Carlo Janka of Switzerland is also only now only 46 points behind overall World Cup leader Benjamin Raich of Austria heading into the final weekend.

Swiss ski jumper Simon Ammann won his sixth world cup title of the season Sunday. Poland's Adam Malysz, the runner up to Ammann in both events at the Olympics, was second and Austrian Thomas Morgenstern was third. In cross country skiing, Norway 2 defeated Norway 1 in a World Cup relay in Finland. Germany beat Russia in a photo finish for third. Norway also won the women's relay followed by Germany and Italy. Maksim Burtasov of Russia won the title at the under 26 biathlon European Championships.

Aiko Uemura of Japan won a women's moguls world cup race this weekend. Canadian Jennifer Heil, the overall leader, was second and American Shannon Bahrke was third.

In the first modern pentathlon World Cup event of the season, David Svoboda of the Czech Republic won gold. Russia's Serguei Karyakin was second and Andrejus Zadneprovskis was third.

USA Cycling named its track cycling world championship team on Friday. The squad will be led by individual pursuit defending world champion Taylor Phinney. Daniel Holloway, Colby Pearce, and Giddeon Massie round out the rest of the men's squad. Sarah Hammer, Lauren Tamayo, Dotsie Bausch, and Shelley Evans were named to the women's team.

Also, feel free to comment on any of my entries. I would love to hear what readers are thinking!

Weekend Update

Rebecca Boss and Maxim Devyatovskiy won the American Cup. Bross was followed by Aly Raisman and Jessica Lopez while Devyatovskiy was followed by Jonathan Horton and Chris Brooks. Horton actually managed to put together a decent pommel horse routine for himself, scoring a 14.1, but fell on parallel bars. I thought Bross was overscored on beam and floor, but she had a decent day. I also really hate pink leotards and think that I am a better reporter than Andrea Joyce because I know not to interrupt the people I am interviewing.

Lexie Priessman won the inaugural Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup last night. The junior elite from Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy completed several impressive skills including a full twisting double layout uneven bar dismount, a double twisting Yurchenko, and a full-in dismount on balance beam. To bad she is 23 days too young to compete in London. Hopefully she will not be completely broken and still have a shot at 2016.

USA Gymnastics has announced spring international assignments for men. Jonathan Horton and Danell Leyva will compete at the Paris-Bercy World Cup. Leyva, Christopher Cameron, Steve Legendre, Dylan Akers, C.J. Maestas, and John Orozco will compete at the Pacific Rim Championships. Tim Gentry and Samuel Mikulak are the alternates. In a final bit of gymnastics news, Cathy Rigby, Henrietta Onodi, Yuri Korolev, Mikhail Voronin, and Eileen Langsly will be inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Lindsey Vonn won Saturday's Downhill in Switzerland, tying Bode Miller's American record of 32 World Cup victories. Johanna Schnarf of Italy was second and Switzerland's Marianne Abderhalden was third. She has now clinched the overall Downhill and Super-G titles and increased her lead for the overall title. She may have also won this year's Super-Combined title as she is in the lead with no races left. However, only two Super-Combineds have been run this year and FIS requires three.

Didier Cuche won the men's Downhill in Norway after failing to medal in Vancouver, clinching the Downhill season title. The host country's Aksel Lund Svindel was second and Klaus Kroell of Austria was third. American Andrew Weibrecht dislocated his shoulder in a bad crash and will miss next week's World Cup season finale. Bode Miller, who skipped this race, is auctioning off a helmet we wore in Vancouver to raise money for Pam Warman, a former US Ski Team technician that was recently diagnosed with breast cacner.

Finland's Hannu Manninen won his 48th World Cup title in Nordic Combined. Jason Lemy Chappius of France clinched the overall World Cup title with a third place finish. Maurice Manificat of France won a cross-country skiing 30K pursuit to claim his first World Cup victory. Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic was second, allowing him to begin to close the gap on Norway's Petter Northug, who sat out the race. Triple Olympic gold medalist Marit Bjoergen of Norway won the women's 15K pursuit. Overall World Cup leader Justyna Kowalczyk was second. Norway also beat Austria in a team ski jumping event. A World Cup parallel giant slalom was held for the first time on an artificial slope in Moscow. Aaron March of Italy and Doris Guenther of Germany won the event.

Shani Davis clinched his third straight World Cup overall title after winning his fifth 1,000 meter title this season. Though he does not have the best reputation in the US, I really admire him and think he is unbelievably talented. Mark Tuitert finished second in the race. Jenny Wolf won the 500 meters for her 47th World Cup title. Jan Smeekens won the men's 500 meters and Monique Angermueller won the women's 1,000. German skaters Heike Hartmann and Bente Kraus were on the list of skaters with blood levels too high.

Reebok is offering a $10,000 reward, no questions asked, for the return of the gloves and stick Sidney Crosby used to score his gold medal-winning goal. Nagano gold medalist Hiroyuki Shimizu officially retired from speed skating. Austrian runner Bettina Mueller-Weissima faces a lifetime ban for violating anti-doping rules for a second time in her career.

Michael Phelps nearly broke the US short course record in the 200 IM at the Maryland swimming championships. Natalie Coughlin won the 100 backstroke at the Austin Grand Prix on Friday. Matt Grevers held off Nick Thoman and Aaron Peirsol in the men's event. Rebecca Soni won the women's 100 breast, Mike Alexandrov won the men's race, Ariana Kukors won the 400 IM, Peter Vanderkaay won the men's 200 free, and Dana Vollmer won the women's race. Today, Vollmer, Soni, and Alexandrov each captured additional titles. Vollmer won the 200 butterfly and 100 free while Soni and Alexandrov each won their respective 200 breast races. Caesar Cielo won the men's 100 free while Pedro Oliveira won the men's 200 fly. Chloe Sutton and Vanderkaay won the 1,500 free races and Thoman and Henriette Stenkvist won the 200 back races.

Women's Sports and the Olympic Games

The Olympics are the biggest stage for women in sports. Women's sports do not have a Superbowl or World Series and the men's World Cup generates far more attention than the women's. The Olympics are the stage on which female athletics get the same amount of attention as that of their male counterparts and, in some cases like figure skating and gymnastics, even outshining them. The Olympics promotes female sports and allows them to progress, or at least the Games are supposed to.

Following Vancouver, there has been lots of talk of removing women's hockey from the Winter Olympic program, mainly because no other countries can come close to challenging the United States and Canada. After seeing scores such as Canada's 18-0 defeat of Slovakia, it is easy to see where that idea comes from. However, more should be done to promote women's hockey throughout the world instead of just axing it. Throughout the world, women's hockey budgets cannot be compared to those of men's teams. Perhaps the biggest thing the women have going for them is that men's hockey is not going anywhere and they share venues.

The IOC eliminated softball from the Olympic program beginning in 2012. This was unfortunate because softball had been a sport that was developing internationally thanks to being a part of the Olympic program. Signs of parity finally began to emerge in Beijing as Japan upset the US 3-1 in the gold medal game. The Americans had easily won the three previous Olympic tournaments. It takes time for sports to develop.

As part of his reasoning for thinking about eliminating women's hockey, IOC president Jacques Rogge has said that the sport has been dominated by two countries and only two countries have won gold medals. Women's hockey has only been a part of the Olympics since 1998, 4 total Olympiads. Men's basketball has been a part of the Olympics since 1936. In 17 Olympiads, the US men have only lost 5 games (3 of which were in 2004) and won all but four gold medals (or 3 if you do not count the 1980 boycott). In fact, the US men won the first eight gold and, to my knowledge, no one suggested removing basketball from the Olympic program.

The IOC seems to hold a double standard. 39 women from 13 countries participated in women's ski jumping world championships last year, but the IOC did not think there was enough female participation internationally to include the sport in the Olympics. Female ski jumpers took their case for inclusion to Canadian courts, but, though the courts thought the women should be included in Vancouver, they decided against forcing the IOC to include them. According to a Sports Illustrated article, world champion Lindsey Van thinks that the IOC does not want to include her sport is because female jumpers jump similar distances to their male counterparts, thereby diminishing their accomplishments. Rogge has said that things look positive for women's ski jumping to be included in the 2014 Olympics. Van says that she heard the same thing in 2002 and 2006. Canadian IOC member Dick Pound has even gone as far as to fear that women's ski jumping will not be added in 2014 because these athletes embarrassed the IOC by suing them.

Women's sports need the Olympics to thrive. Sports like golf and tennis mixed doubles have replaced softball. This decision is particularly unfortunate because an Olympic gold medal will never be the highest prize available for a golfer or tennis player; these sports do not need the international exposure the Olympics provide. Four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero, a member of the US women's hockey team, was recently elected to IOC athletes' commission. Hopefully she will be another strong voice for women at a critical time in a body controlled by European men.

New Update

Just a quick news update on random Olympic happenings:

Images of Lindsey Vonn, Seth Wescott, and Shaun White will grace Wheaties boxes. Vonn placed third in a downhill training run in Switzerland this week.

Joannie Rochette eulogized her mother at her funeral in Quebec on Thursday.

Soviet great gymnast Natalia Laschenova, who won a gold medal as a member of the 1988 Olympic team is in danger of being deported from the United States after living and working in Ohio for 10 years. If deported, it is possible that she might not be granted citizenship in Latvia if she cannot prove that she speaks fluent Latvian. her daughter's gymnastics scholarship to Auburn is also now in question.

The USA Youth Luge Championships were last weekend. Jacob Hyrns and Elisabeth Underwood won the Youth A men's and women's races respectively and Johnny Gustafson and Caroline Goyette won the Youth B division races.

Evan Lysacek will dance his way to post-Olympic glory on the next season of Dancing with the Stars.

A Hidden Side to the Olympics

According to an article in this week's Sports Illustrated (available here), there were 108,500 condoms distributed free of charge at the athlete's village. It makes sense that sex would be a part of the Olympics as it is a large gathering of very fit people who have been very singularly focused for a long time. However, with approximately 2,600 athletes competing in Vancouver, nearly 42 condoms per athlete is a little mind boggling. Maybe they were stocking up on some to take home.

On Shawn Johnson's Knee

Dancing with the Stars champion (and Olympic gymnast) Shawn Johnson suffered a "minor" knee injury while skiing last month. The minor injury was a partially torn ACL and a torn meniscus. As someone who did the same thing, I can assure you there is nothing minor about the injury. I am far from an elite athlete, but was told if I ever wanted to participate in sports again, I should have a complete ACL reconstruction. Her agent said that most people would not have even had the surgery. That's only true if most people never want to ski or play soccer for fun again. She has a long recovery ahead of her and I wish her the best of luck.

In other news Ivana Hong is rumored to have also suffered a torn ACL at Martha's latest "please break me" camp. Kytra Hunter was named the alternate for the Scam Cup along with Danell Leyva for the men.

Welcome

Just because the Olympics are over doesn't mean Olympic sports are out of action. Alpine ski racing resumes this weekend in Crans Montana for the women and Kvitfjell for the men. Evan Lysacek and Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto withdrew from the figure skating world championships and will be replaced by Ryan Bradley and Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre respectively. Ashley Wagner and Ross Miner withdrew from the figure skating junior worlds team and will be replaced by Kiri Baga and Keegan Messing. The Tyson American Cup will also take place this weekend. It is rumored that Aly Raisman will join Rebecca Bross as the American women participants. Stay tuned!