News and Notes

American Sarah Hammer set a world record of 3 minutes 22.269 seconds in the 3,000 meter individual pursuit in track cycling at the Pan American Cycling Championships.

Bob Bradley announced the 30-man roster for the US's World Cup Team. Standout forward Charlie Davies is not on the roster following an October car crash.

Pacman Jones signed with the Bengals. He'll fit right in...

2008 judo Olympic gold medalist Tong Wen tested positive for Clenbuterol and has been suspended for two years. The IOC will decide if she will keep her medal.

Ice dancers Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre officially retired.

Michelle Kwan, aka my favorite figure skater since she was a 14-year-old in 1994, gave a commencement address at Southern Vermont College. Videos can be found below.

Weekend Update

At the USA Diving Grand Prix, Li Shixin won the men's 3 meter springboard while American Troy Dumais and Kristian Ipsen won the 3 meter synchronized event. Ma Sinou won the women's 10 meter platform and Wu Shengping and Zhu Jiaming won the synchronized event.

Veronica Campbell-Brown won the 100 meter sprint at the Osaka Grand Prix track meet. Michael Rogers won the men's 200, Ginnie Powell won the 100 meter hurdles, and Joanne Cuddihy won the women's 400.

Lena Schoneborn won the modern pentathlon Budapest World Cup.

Brady Ellison won two gold medals at the archery world cup stage one finals.

TGIF

In gymnastics news, Chellsie Memmel is not retiring, Kayla Williams is now at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy with Mary Lee Tracy, and the US will not be sending a female competitor to the Youth Olympics, ostensibly because the the Games are too close to US Nationals. I am intrigued by the Williams/MLT pairing. Vault tends to be a weak event for most CGA girls. Hopefully Kayla will get bar upgrades out of this, but I believe CGA's bar coach recently relocated.

Greg Louganis is going to mentor American divers. I have a ton of respect for him and hope he enjoys that role.

2008 Olympian Mary Wineberg received an elite development from USA Track and Field. We went to the same high school and she recently had her first child, so I am excited to see her get back into the groove.

Olympic Controversy

Double Olympic gold medalist in short track speed skating Lee Jung-su of South Korea and Olympic teammate Kwak Yoon-gy have been suspended for three years each following a race fixing scandal. Lee failed to qualify for the national team try-outs in March. Though he cited a knee injury, it was later discovered that the national team coach had coerced Lee to give up his spot to Kwak. Lee has denied his involvement, but Kwak has admitted to being part of the fixing.

Countries will only be allowed to enter one racer in each event in track cycling in the 2012 Olympics. This decision is meant to encourage more track cycling development throughout the world, but I think it seems like another attempt to short-change a sport that was already forced to drop five events following Beijing.

Check out the third issue of the Couch Gymnast's magazine here.

News and Notes

Shawn Johnson announced that she intends to resume intensive gymnastics training in hopes of competing in the 2012 Olympics. She returned to the gym four days ago. I am really indifferent towards both her and Nastia. Please let me know when Miller, Lysenko, Onodi, Mo, Podkopayeva, or Silivas decides to return to competitive gymnastics shape. Or even Courtney Kupets from the "actually realistic list."

The New York Times published a great story on Kevin Pearce's return home following his traumatic brain injury suffered in December. It can be found here along with a video clip of Pearce's appearance on the Today Show. He has made an impressive recovery and intends to snowboard again. For the record, his dad is also a super talented glass artist.

Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova will play doubles together in a Legends match at Wimbledon. Since when did Anna Kournikova become a tennis legend? She's attractive, but was not a particularly remarkable tennis player.

Iran's Women's Soccer Team Will Play in Youth Olympics

The Iranian women's soccer team will be allowed to play in the Youth Olympics after agreeing to wear "a cap that covers their heads to the hairline, but does not extend below the ears to cover the neck." I am happy that they will be allowed to compete in the tournament, though I think the dress restrictions were ridiculous to begin with. In this case, I do not agree that a hijab is a safety concern; they are not particularly loose fitting and tuck into a shirt. It is just as much of a safety concern as a ponytail.

FIFA's other argument for banning hijabs is that they do not allow any religious symbols on the field. This argument has more bearing in my mind, but it is more important to allow teams to play than to ban them over clothing. I am glad that a compromise could be reached.

Weekend Update

In a week of changing the results of Olympics past, Polish cross country skier Kornelia Marek was officially disqualified from the Vancouver Games after testing positive for EPO.

Justin Gatlin will return to competition July 24th following a four year doping suspension. The sprinter is a former world record holder in the 100m. In other track and field news, sprinter LaShawn Merritt accepted a provisional suspension following a positive drug after. He used an over-the-counter male enhancement product that contained a banned stimulant. Some people need to learn how to read labels...

The Bryan brothers won their 60th ATP tour title this weekend. With two more titles, they will hold the all-time tour record. Justine Henin won her first WTA tour title since un-retiring, winning the Porsche Grand Prix while playing with a broken finger.

Ian Thorpe is considering making a comeback to competitive swimming. I love the Thorpedo.

Sidney Crosby fails at growing a play-off beard. The joys of being a 22-year-old star...

Mark Grimmette was named Sports Program Director for USA Luge, a nice way to begin retirement for the five-time Olympian.

Jordyn Wieber's much talked about new floor exercise from Pacific Rims: