Thomas Bach elected new IOC President

Thomas Bach, an Olympic fencing gold medal winner from Germany was elected IOC President today replacing outgoing IOC President Jacque Rogge of Belgium. Bach will serve at least an 8 year term with the option for another 4 year term.
Bach was the IOC Vice President and head of the German Olympic Committee. He is also an attorney. Bach is the 9th IOC President and the 8th European to hold the job. The only American to hold the job was Avery Brundage who ran the IOC from 1952-1972.

Bach received 49 votes in the second round to win the IOC Presidency. Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico finished second with 29 votes.
Ng Ser Miang of Singapore received six votes, Denis Oswald of Switzerland five votes and Sergei Bubka of Ukraine four votes. C.K. Wu of Taiwan was eliminated in the first round after an initial tie with Ng.
Bach's term begins Immediately.

Olympic updates,,, IOC selects Tokyo as 2020 summer games host city and reinstates Wrestling back into 2020 games

The IOC is currently having their session in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

On Saturday, Sept. 7 the IOC chose Tokyo, Japan as host of the 2020 summer games.
Tokyo was chosen over Madrid, Spain and Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul and Madrid tied for second place behind Tokyo in first round voting. A tie-breaker vote was cast and Madrid was eliminated. In the second round of IOC voting Tokyo was named the host city of the 2020 summer games and was chosen over Istanbul. Tokyo lasted hosted the games in 1964.

On Sunday, Sept. 8 the IOC chose Wrestling over Baseball/Softball and Squash. Wrestling will be included in the 2020 and 2024 summer games as part of 25 core sports and 3 additional sports. Golf and Rugby were added to the 2016 and 2020 summer games as voted on by the IOC. The 25 core sports concept was adopted in 2007.
According to the IOC, wrestling had made the changes necessary to be voted back in to the 2020 summer games which included having more women compete, appointing more women to leadership positions within wrestling and making rule changes easier to understand and more exciting.

Next up: A new IOC President will be chosen.

IAAF World Track and Field Championships/P&G USA Gymnastics Championship/Gymnastics World Championships

The IAAF World Track and Field Championships are being held in Moscow, Russia from August 10-18, 2013.

Results

Men's 10,000 - Galen Rupp, USA- 4th

Women's Marathon - Deena Castor, USA - 9th

Women's 10,000- Shalane Flanagan, USA - 8th

Decathlon
Ashton Eaton, USA, gold - 8809 points
Michael Schrader, Germany, silver - 8670 points
Damian Warner, Canada, bronze - 8512 points
Gunner Nixon, USA 13th - 8312 points
Trey Hardee, USA, Did not finish

Women's Long Jump
Brittney Reese, USA - gold
Blessing Okagbare, Nigeria - silver
Ivana Spanovic, Serbia - bronze

Men's 100M
Usain Bolt, Jamaica - gold - 9.77
Justin Gatlin, USA - silver - 9.85
Nesta Carter, Jamaica - bronze - 9.95

Men's Pole Vault - Brad Walker, USA - 4th

Women's Shot Put - Michelle Carter, USA - 4th

Women's 400M - Natasha Hastings, USA - 5th
Francena McCorory, USA - 6th

Men's 110M Hurdles
David Oliver, USA, gold - 13.00
Ryan Wilson, USA, silver - 13.13
Sergey Shubenkov, Russia, bronze - 13.24

Women's 100M
Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jamaica, gold - 10.71
Murielle Ahoure, Ivory Coast, silver - 10.93
Carmelita Jeter, USA, bronze - 10.94

Women's Pole Vault
Elena Isinbaeva, Russia - gold
Jenn Suhr, USA - silver
Yarisley Silva, Cuba - tie for silver

Men's 800M
Mohammed Aman, Ethiopia, gold - 1:43.31
Nick Symmonds, USA, silver - 1:43.55
Ayanleh Souleiman, Djibouti, bronze - 1:43.76

Men's 400M
LaShawn Merritt, USA, gold - 43.74
Tony Mcquay, USA, silver - 44.40
Luguelin Santos, Dominican Republic, bronze - 44.52

Men's High Jump - Erik Kynard, USA - 5th

Men's 3000M Steeplechase - Evan Jager, USA - 5th

Women's 400M Hurdles
Zuzana Hejnova, CZE, gold - 52.83
Daliliah Mohammed, USA, silver - 54.09
Lashinda Demus, USA, bronze - 54.27

Men's 400 Hurdles
Jehue Gordon, Trinidad and Tobago, gold - 47.69
Michael Tinsley, USA, silver - 47.70
Emir Bekric, Serbia, bronze - 48.05

Women's 1500M
Abeba Aregawi, Sweden, gold - 4:02.67
Jenny Simpson, USA, silver - 4:02.99
Hellen Onsando Obiri, Kenya, bronze - 4:03.86
Mary Cain, USA - 10th

Men's Long Jump - Dwight Phillips, USA - 11th

Men's Shot Put
David Storl, Germany - gold
Ryan Whiting, USA - silver
Dylan Armstrong, Canada - bronze
Reese Hoffa, USA - 4th

Men's 5000M - Bernard Lagat, USA - 6th
Galen Rupp, USA - 8th

Women's 200M
Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jamaica, gold - 22.17
Murielle Ahoure, Ivory Coast, silver - 22.32
Blessing Okagbare, Nigeria, tie for silver - 22.32
Jeneba Tarmoh, USA - 5th
Allyson Felix, USA, Hamstring injury - Did not finish

Men's 4 by 400M relay
USA - gold - 2:58.71
Jamaica - silver - 2:59.88
Russia - bronze - 2:59.90

Men's Marathon - Jeff Eggleston, USA - 13th

Women's High Jump
Svetlana Shkolina, Russia - gold
Brigetta Barrett, USA - silver
Ruth Beitia, Spain - bronze

Women's 5000M - Molly Huddle, USA - 6th
Shannon Rowbury, USA - 7th

Women's 4 by 400M relay
Russia - gold - 3:20.19
USA - silver - 3:20.41
Great Britain - bronze - 3:22.61

Women's 100M Hurdles
Brianna Rollins, USA, gold - 12.44
Sally Pearson, Australia, silver - 12.50
Tiffany Porter, Great Britain, bronze - 12.55
Dawn Harper, USA - 4th

Men's 200M
Usain Bolt, Jamaica, gold - 19.66
Warren Weir, Jamaica, silver - 19.79
Curtis Mitchell, USA, bronze - 20.04

Men's Triple Jump
Teddy Tamgho, France - gold
Pedro Pablo Pichardo, Cuba - silver
Will Claye, USA - bronze
Christian Taylor, USA - 4th

Men's 1500M
Asbel Kiprop, Kenya, gold - 3:36.28
Matthew Centrowitz, USA, silver - 3:36.78
Johan Cronje, South Africa, bronze - 3:36.83

Women's 800M
Eunice Jepkoech, Kenya, gold - 1:57.38
Mariya Savinova, Russia, silver - 1:57.80
Brenda Martinez, USA, bronze - 1:57.91
Alysia Montano, USA - 4th

Women's 4 by 100M relay
Jamaica, gold - 41.29
USA, silver - 42.75
Great Britain, bronze - 42.87

Men's 4 by 100M relay
Jamaica, gold - 37.36
USA, silver - 37.66
Canada, bronze - 37.92


Analysis: Although the USA won as many total medals in Daegu, Korea(25) as they did in Moscow the result was too many silver medals. The USA had just 6 gold in Moscow compared to 12 gold in Daegu. The USA won 14 silver and 5 bronze. Russia had 7 gold to top the USA 7-6. Russia had 17 medals overall.
The USA seems to be losing to Jamaica more and more as Jamaica's track program gets even stronger.
The USA lost to Jamaica in both 4 by 100M relays, both 100M and both 200M races. The USA did beat Jamaica in the 4 by 400M relay. It was a mixed bag for the USA, lots of medals won, not enough gold.



P&G USA national gymnastics championships


In the men's USA national gymnastics championships held in Indianapolis, IN from Aug. 15-18, Sam Mikulak placed first in the all around competition, beating Alex Naddour. Jake Dalton finished third, and John Orozco finished fourth. London Olympic bronze medalist Danell Leyva finished seventh.

The USA Men's team was named for the World Championships to be held in Antwerp, Belgium from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6 2013. The team consists of Sam Mikulak, Alex Naddour, Jake Dalton, Steven Legendre, John Orozco, and Brandon Wynn. Alternates are Eddie Penev,and Paul Ruggeri.

The women's team that will compete in the World Championships are:
Kyla Ross, McKayla Maroney, Simone Biles,and Brenna Dowell.


Results of the World Gymnastics Championships:

USA 3 gold 6 silver 3 bronze - 12 total
Japan 4 gold 1 silver 2 bronze - 7 total
Russia 1 gold 1 silver 2 bronze - 4 total

USA medal winners:

USA Women:

Individual All Around: Simone Biles - gold
Kyla Ross - silver

Vault: Mckayla Maroney - gold
Simone Biles - silver

Unvens: Kyla Ross - silver

Balance Beam: Kyla Ross - silver
Simone Biles - bronze

Floor: Simone Biles - gold

USA Men:

Individual All Around: Sam Mikulak - 6th

Vault: Steven Legendre - silver

Rings: Brandon Wynn - bronze

Parallel Bars: John Orozco - bronze

Floor: Jacob Dalton - silver

FINA World Swimmming Championships

Missy Franklin of the USA wins six gold medals to lead the USA contingent at the FINA Swimming World Championships in Barcelona, Spain held July 20-August 4, 2013.

Franklin won gold in the 100 backstroke, 200 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 4 by 100 free relay(Missy Franklin, Natalie Coughlin, Shannon Vreeland, Megan Romano), 4 by 200 free relay(Katie Ledecky, Shannon Vreeland, Karlee Bispo, Missy Franklin), and 4 by 100 medley relay(Missy Franklin. Jessica Hardy, Dana Vollmer and Megan Romano).

Katie Ledecky of the USA wins gold in the 400 free, 800 free, 1500 free and 4 by 200 free relay.

Shannon Vreeland wins gold in both the 4 by 100 and 4 by 200 freestyle relays.

Haley Anderson wins gold in the open water 5k.

Megan Romano wins gold in the 4 by 100 medley relay and 4 by 200 freestyle relay.

Natalie Coughlin wins gold in the 4 by 100 free relay.

Dana Vollmer wins gold in the 4 by 100 medley relay.

Karlee Bispo wins gold in the 4 by 200 free relay.

Eva Fabian wins bronze in the open water 25k.

Jessica Hardy wins bronze in the 50 and 100 breaststroke and 4 by 100 medley relay.

Micah Lawrence wins bronze in the 200 breaststroke.

Elizabeth Beisel wins bronze in the 400 IM relay.

In women's high diving the USA finished first and second with Cesilie Carlton winning gold and Ginger Huber winning silver.



For the USA Men...

Ryan Lochte wins gold in the 200 backstroke, 200 IM and 4 by 200 freestyle relay and silver in the 4 by 100 freestyle relay.

Matt Grevers wins gold in the 100 backstroke and silver in the 50 backstroke.

Charlie Houchin wins gold in the 4 by 200 freestyle relay.

Ricky Berens wins gold in the 4 by 200 freestyle relay.

Conor Dwyer wins gold in the 4 by 200 freestyle relay and silver in the 200 free.

Jimmy Feigen wins silver in both the 100 free and 4 by 100 freestyle relay.

David Plummer wins silver in the 100 backstroke.

Michael McBroom wins silver in the 800 free.

Eugene Godsoe wins silver in the 50 butterfly.

Chase Kalisz wins silver in the 400IM.

Nathan Adrian win silver in the 4 by 100 freestyle relay and bronze in the 100 free.

Anthony Ervin wins silver in the 4 by 100 freestyle relay.

Connor Jaeger wins bronze in the 400 free.

Tyler Clary wins bronze in the 200 backstroke.

The USA 4 by 100IM relay team of Matt Grevers, Kevin Cordes, Ryan Lochte and Nathan Adrian were disqualified for going too early(did not touch when swimmer entered pool). France wins gold. The USA did finish first before they were disqualified.

In men's 10M Platform Diving David Boudia of the USA wins silver.

Olympic updates: FIVB Indoor and Beach Volleyball championships

The FIVB Men's World League Indoor Volleyball championships ended in late July.

Russia defeated Brazil 3-0(25-23, 25-19 and 25-19) for gold.
Italy beat Bulgaria 3-2(21-25, 25-21, 25-20, 21-25 and 15-7 for silver.

The USA men's team finished 12th. They finished 4-6.
Here is a recap of their World League play.

June 7 - Lost to Argentina 3-1(18-25, 21,25. 25-22 and 24-26).
June 8 - Beat Argentina 3-1(22-25, 27-25, 25-19 and 25-16).
June 14 - Beat France 3-0( 25-15, 29-27 and 25-16).
June 15 - Beat France 3-2( 22-25, 24-22, 24-26, 30-28 and 15-9).
Jene 28 - Beat Bulgaria 3-0(25-19, 25-22, and 25-21).
June 29 - Lost to Bulgaria 3-1( 20-25, 25-18, 23-25 and 21-25).
July 5 - Lost to Poland 3-2(22-25, 25-19, 25-13, 28-30 and 16-18).
July 7 - Lost to Poland 3-1(23-25, 25-17, 21-25 and 23-25).
July 13 - Lost to Brazil 3-1(22-25, 18-25, 25-20 and 26-28).
July 14 - Lost to Brazil 3-0(21-25, 24-26 and 23-25).


The Inaugural FIVB World Series of Beach Volleyball Cup/Grand Slam was held in Long Beach, CA and ended on July 28.

Jennifer Kessy/April Ross of the USA wins gold beating Tiana Lima/Talita Antunes of Brazil 15-21, 21-18 and 17-15.

In an all American Semifinals Jennifer Kessy/ April Ross beat Kerri Walsh-Jennings/ Whitney Pavlik 18-21, 21-17 and 16-14.


On the men's side in the World Series Cup the USA Team of Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson defeated Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins of Latvia 22-20 and 21-11.

Earlier in the Grand Slam final Americans Phil Dalhausser/Sean Rosenthal beat Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira of Spain 21-15 and 21-18.

Olympic Updates-American Tyson Gay tests positive for banned substance

Another prominent athlete has tested positive for banned substances. Tyson Gay of the USA admitted his positive test on Sunday July 14. Gay pulled out of the Track and Field World Championships next month in Moscow, Russia.

Gay has admitted responsibility in what goes in his body and makes no excuses for the failed out of competition doping test. Gay's "B' sample will be tested this week.

Gay has run the three fastest 100m times in the world this year.
Gay faces a possible suspension of up to two years from the sport.

Also Jamaican track star Asafa Powell also tested positive for Oxilophrine which is a banned substance. He was tested during the Jamaican track and field championships held in early June.

Both Gay and Powell said they would not knowingly take any substances that are banned.

I'm now wondering who's next to fail a doping test.

In more positive news the head of the USOC, Larry Probst has been nominated for IOC membership.


Update on Tyson Gay: Gay will return in early July 2014 from a one year ban.

USA National Track and Field Championships

This is a few weeks late..

The USA National Track and Field Championships were held in Des Moines, Iowa at Drake University on June 20-23. Athletes who do not achieve the A standard by July 15 will not qualify for Moscow for the World Championships even though they placed in the top 3. Also a fourth qualifer in some events for the World Championships will also compete in Moscow and get a bye because they are Olympic Champions.

The US Team that will be heading to Moscow for the World Championships to be held August 10-18, 2013 are:

Mens 100- Tyson Gay, Justin Gatlin and Charles Silmon
Women's 100- English Gardiner, Octavious Freeman and Alexandra Anderson
Men's 200- Tyson Gay, Isiah Young and Curtis Mitchell
Women's 200- Kimberlyn Duncan, Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh
Men's 400- Lashawn Merritt, Tony Mcquay and Arman Hall
Women's 400- Natasha Hastings, Francena McCorory and Ashley Spencer
Men's 800- Duane Soloman, Nick Symmonds and Brandon Johnson
Women's 800- Alysia Montano, Brenda Martinez and Ajee Wilson
Men's 1500- Matthew Centrowitz, Leo Manzano and Lopez Lemong
Women's 1500- Treniere Moser, Mary Cain and Cory McGee
Men's 5000- Bernard Legat, Galen Rupp and Ryan Hill
Women's 5000- Jenny Simpson, Molly Huddle and Shannon Rowbury
Men's 3000 Steeplechase- Evan Jager, Daniel Huling and Deshawn Turner
Women's 3000 Steeplechase- Nicole Bush, Ashley Higginson and Shalaya Kipp
Men's 110 Hurdles- Ryan Wilson, David Oliver and Aries Merritt
Women's 100 Hurdles- Brianna Rollins, Queen Harrison and Nia Ali
Men's 400 Hurdles- Michael Tinsley, Kerron Clement and Bershawn Jackson
Women's 400 Hurdles- Dalilah Muhammed, Georganne Moline and Christine Spence

Men's Pole Vault- Brad Walker, Jeremy Scott and Jack Whitt
Women's Pole Vault- Jennifer Suhr, Kylie Hutson and Amber Campbell
Men's High Jump - Erik Kynard JR, Dustin James and Ronnie Black, JR
Women's High Jump- Brigetta Barrett, Inika McPhearson and Maya Pressley
Men's Javelin- Riley Doleezal, Sam Humphries and Sean Furay
Women's Javelin- Brittany Borman, Ariana Ince and Kara Patterson
Men's Triple Jump- Omar Craddock, Will Claye and Ryan Grinnell
Women's Triple Jump- Andrea Geubelle, Toni Smith and Amanda Smock
Men's Long Jump- George Kitchens, Jr, Jeffrey Henderson and Ronald Taylor, Jr.
Women's Long Jump - Janey Deloach Soukup, Tori Polk and Funmi Jimoh
Men's Hammer- AG Kruger, Chris Cralle and Andrew Loftin
Women's Hammer- Amanda Bingson, Jeneva McCall and Amber Campbell
Men's Shot Put- Ryan Whiting, Reese Hoffa and Zack Lloyd
Women's Shot Put- Michelle Carter, Tia Brooks and Alyssa Haslen
Men's Discus- Lance Brooks, Russ Winger and James Plummer
Women's Discus- Gia Lewis-Smallwood, Whitney Ashley and Elizabeth Podominick

Olympic updates-Jamaican track athlete faces possible suspension

I usually post about American athletes but because of the intense rivalry between Jamaican and US Track and Field athletes I decided to add this to my blog.

A few weeks ago there was a brief scandal of an unknown Jamaican track athlete who tested positive for using a banned substance. The press wouldn't say who for a few days so I had every Jamaican track athlete's name running through my mind. It turned out to be Jamaican spinter Veronica Campbell-Brown. She tested positive for a banned diuretic in May. She was suspended by the Jamaican Athletics Federation and is under investigation. The banned substance she used is called furosemide. It has been used by athletes to mask other illegal substances.

Reports say she can be given a punishment from just a warning to a two year doping ban and because its a lesser offense Campbell-Brown will likely get a six month suspension. Campbell-Brown is a seven time Olympic medalist and a two time 200M world champion.
Campbell-Brown's possible suspension comes four years after another Jamaican track athlete Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce tested positive for Oxycodone and was suspended for six months.

Olympic Updates

At the end of May 2013 the IOC Executive Board narrowed the inclusion of several sports to be incorporated into the 2020 summer Olympics.

Moving on to a vote before the IOC in September are:
Wrestling, Squash and Baseball/Softball.

The sports that were eliminated are:
Roller Sports, Karate, Sport Climbing and Wushu.

What is good about this is that one big American and Worldwide sport has a two-thirds chance of making it back to the Olympics in time for the 2020 summer games, Wrestling and Baseball/Softball. While Squash(a indoor racquet sport) would be a different sport for the Olympics, Wrestling should have never been dropped in the first place.

Wrestling has made many changes over the past several months to be considered when that was not the case several months ago.
The International governing body(FILA) has adopted rule changes to make the sport easier to understand, elected a new president and incorporated more women in decision making roles.
Whether this helps wrestling get back to the 2020 summer games remains to be seen.

By dropping softball after the 2008 Beijing summer games the IOC eliminated hundreds of women athletes from competing. That fact is what I believe why the IOC is reconsidering the sport.

Squash is played in 185 countries and is similar to tennis except the balls are hit off indoor wall courts.

My vote is for Wrestling, with Baseball/Softball second.



The IOC will elect a new President on Sept. 10 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The finalists were announced this week:

Thomas Bach of Germany, a lawyer and 1976 team foil gold medalist for West Germany; Richard Carrión of Puerto Rico, a financier; Ng Ser Miang of Singapore, I.O.C. vice president; Denis Oswald of Switzerland, a 1968 rowing bronze medalist; Wu Ching-kuo of Taiwan, an architect and the head of the International Boxing Association and Sergei Bubka of Ukraine, a Russian pole-vaulter.

I don't know IOC internal politics or who would be best to run the IOC but I do know who we do need. We need a pro American IOC president like Juan Antonio Samaranch which, as president, awarded the US two Olympic games in a six year stretch. The US was awarded four Olympic games in a 22 year stretch, 1980, 1984, 1996 and 2002. Jacque Rogge, current IOC President from Belgium is pro Europe and anti western. The USA has been awarded no Olympics under his leadership. Included were two failed USA bids, 2005 New York City and 2009 Chicago. Chicago was eliminated in the first round of IOC voting to host the 2016 Olympics that were awarded to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and New York was eliminated in the third round that gave us Paris and London as finalists for the 2012 games.


Lastly, Adam Nelson of the USA moved up from silver to gold in the shot put at the 2004 Athens Olympics because Yuriy Bilonog of Ukraine was stripped of the gold medal for doping.
Doping tests can be done and redone as more substances are identified. Eight years later medals switch hands yet again. I'm sure there will be more dopers found from the 2004 games. Stay tuned.

Olympic updates

This blog has not been updated in a few months so I am adding a few updates...

The AVP pro beach volleyball tour will now be on the CBS affiliate, The CBS Sports Network.. NBC used to cover beach volleyball until 2010. The finals only will be televised. The preliminary rounds will be streamed live on AVP.com The AVP season starts August 16 in Salt Lake City and ends October 20 in Huntington Beach, CA. There will also be stops in Cincinnati, OH, St. Petersburg, FL and Santa Barbara, CA.
I wonder if the CBS Sports Network can get Chris Marlowe to cover the AVP like he did on NBC..

A doping scandal may be unfolding in women's track and field. Turkish female athlete Asli Cakir Alptekin, who was the 2012 London 1500M Olympic champion, was cited for doping and could lose her gold medal. The Turkish athletic federation is investigating. Gamze Bulut also of Turkey was second and would move up to gold, Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain was third and could move up to silver and Tatyana Tomashova of Russia finished fourth and would win bronze.

IOC President Jacque Rogge's 12 year term ends in September. The IOC elects a new President on Sept. 10 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

USOC selects cities in running for 2024 games

The USOC has selected 35 cities it considers worthy of bidding to become the USA chief bid city for the 2024 summer Olympic games.

The USOC has two years to select the US city when or if they bid in the 2024 games. The IOC will select the host city for the 2024 Olympic games in 2017.

The cities who the USOC selected to bid are: Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Sacramento, Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Denver, Las Vegas, Boston, Washington DC, San Diego, San Francisco, Charlotte, Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Detroit, St. Louis, Tulsa, Portland, OR, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Minneapolis, Nashville, Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Rochester and Seattle.

These are the only cities that will mount a serious bid and or will be selected by the USOC to be the bid city:
New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Boston..

All the other cities I didn't list are either too small, won't want the games in their city or don't have the facilities/space to host the games and will be eliminated over time by the USOC by Sept. 2015.

Only time will tell...

Oscar Pistorius accused of murder- Updates Included

South African Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee sprinter who inspired millions with his performance at the 2012 Summer Olympic games in London has been accused of murder in the shooting death of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. It happened on February 14 at the Pistorius home which is in a gated community in the South Africa capital, Pretoria. Pistorius appeared at a hearing last week.

South African police found the 9mm pistol used in the shooting and arrested Pistorius on February 15. His court date was changed to today, February 19, so thats why I decided to post this today instead of when it happened, last week.

Pistorius who has a love of guns appeared in a South African court today and admitted he shot Steenkamp because he thought there was a robber in his home. Steenkamp was shot 3 times while in the bathroom of the Pistorius home after an argument. Prosecutors say that Pistorius premediated the murder of his girlfriend and plan to charge him with murder. Prosecutors want the highest bail money allowed by South African law imposed on Pistorius.

There had been a history of domestic incidents at the Pistorius home police say.

I will add or change the facts and details of this story depending on evidence presented or learned in the next few weeks..

Its a sad story to talk about considering how popular Pistorius is in his native country of South Africa.

Update: Pistorius was granted $113,000 US dollars bail and now is free until his trial on June 4. He cannot live at his gated residence in Pretoria and has to turn in his passports and guns. Pistorius also cannot leave Pretoria.

June 2013 Update: The trial was postponed until August 19 so that the prosecution can gather more evidence for his Indictment.

August 2013 Update: The Pistorius murder trial has been set to begin on March 3, 2014.

May 2014 Update: There has been a disruption in the Pistorius murder trial for psychiatric evaluations tied to several outbursts/sobbing. Pistorius could not recall events in his testimony and the defense raised the issue of Pistorius having Anxiety disorder and then the trial has halted for 30 days for psychiatric evaluation. His trial resumes on Monday June 30.

September 2014 Update: Pistorius's trial has concluded and the verdict is in. Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty of culpable homicide, which is the U.S. equivalent of involuntary manslaughter. He will be sentenced Oct. 13. South Africa law for this kind of crime carries a sentence of between zero and 15 years. Pistorius had been acquitted of the more serious murder charges and now is awaiting sentencing. Pistorius is free on bail until his sentencing.

October 2014 Update: Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to 5 years in prison for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius can be released from prison in 10 months because the law he was sentenced under only provides someone serve one-sixth of their sentence before being released. Pistorius would serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
After serving half of his sentence Pistorius can apply for parole. Pistorius's family will not appeal the sentence.

June 2015 Update: Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison on August 21, 2015 and go on house arrest after serving the minimum 10 month sentence. There is an effort to appeal the decision to acquit Pistorius for murder. This will start in November 2015 through the Supreme Court of Appeal.

August 2015 Update: There was a ruling by South African Justice Minister Michael Masutha which will delay Pistorius's release from prison. The ruling says that Pistorius should have served the entire ten months before granting a release date. The release date was not set.

October 2015 Update: After being denied parole on October 5, Oscar Pistorius was released from prison on October, 19, 2015. Pistorius will serve the rest of his 5 year sentence under house arrest at his Uncle's home in a Pretoria suburb and perform community service.

December 2015 Update: The South African Supreme Court overturned Pistorius's culpable homicide conviction on December 3, 2015 and found him guilty of murder. Pistorius has appealed the decision to the South African Constitutional Court and was granted bail of $688 US dollars. Pistorius will remain under house arrest. A date for sentencing has not been set.

March 2016 Update: The murder appeal of Oscar Pistorius has been denied by South Africa's Consitutional Court. Sentencing will occur at a hearing scheduled for April 18.

April 2016 Update: Oscar Pistorius appeared in a Pretoria court on April 18 and the judge decided on a June 13-17 sentencing hearing for murder.

June 2016 Update: Pistorius sentencing hearing concluded. Pistorius' attorney asked him to remove his prosthetic legs and walk in front of the judge to show his vulnerability. Pistorius will be sentenced July 6.

July 2016 Update: Pistorius will serve a 6 year prison sentence. This sentence can be considered 'light" because the typical sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years. After serving about one-sixth of his sentence, Pistorius will be eligible to be released from prison and placed under house arrest to serve out the remainder of his sentence.

November 2017 Update: Oscar Pistorius had his sentence increased to 13 years and five months by the South African Supreme Court for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013. Pistorius originally had a lighter sentence of six years and was considered lenient by South African standards. Pistorius was supposed to be paroled by 2019, now he won't be paroled until 2023.

April 2018 Update: All legal appeals have been exhausted in the 13 year sentence handed down by the South African Supreme Court to Oscar Pistorius. Pistorius will have to serve half of his sentence before parole can be considered.

IOC drops wrestling

The IOC executive committee voted today to drop wrestling from the 2020 summer Olympic games. It was a secret ballot vote. The IOC wants to cap the summer Olympics growth and athlete participation at 10,500. The IOC voted to include golf and rugby in time for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. There are currently 25 medal sports in the summer Olympics.

Wrestling is a Olympics founding sport and has been around since 708 BC and was included in the first modern Olympics in 1896. The IOC was expected to cut modern pentathlon but decided on wrestling instead. The IOC based its decsion based on things like global participation and popularity. USA wrestling and FILA( Wrestling International Federation) will try to lobby the IOC to reinstate the sport to the IOC executive board in May. The IOC will vote on which sport to add in September 2013. The seven other sports lobbying to be included in the 2020 Olympics are baseball, softball, sport climbing, squash, karate, roller sports, wushu and wakeboarding.

There were 344 athletes who competed in 11 medal events in freestyle wrestling and seven medal events in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2012 London Olympics. The USA has won 124 total medals in wrestling since its inception while the USSR won 116.
The USA had two gold medalists at last summer's London games, Jake Varner and Jordan Burroughs. Clarissa Chun won bronze along with Coleman Scott in women's freestyle. American women have won four medals since its inclusion at the 2004 Athens games.

The USOC does not have a seat on the 15-member IOC executive board. In 2005 The IOC voted to drop baseball and softball.

I, as well as, the USOC and USA wrestling are shocked at the IOC decision.

One year until Sochi winter games

Today marks one year before the 2014 winter Olympic games take place in Sochi, Russia. The games are scheduled from Feb. 7-23, 2014,

In other news American women Skier Lindsey Vonn suffered a knee injury during the world Championships in Austria this past week. She sustained tears to the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligament in her right knee and will be out for the rest of this season. Vonn hopes to be back in time for the winter Olympics in Sochi.

British swimmer Rebecca Adlington retired from competitive swimming at age 23. Adlington decided she couldn't compete against the younger swimmers.

2013 new mens beach volleyball teams named

1. Phil Dalhausser/Sean Rosenthal
2. Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson
3. Todd Rogers/Ryan Doherty