Thursday, December 31, 2015
Olympic Updates
In late November 2015, the people of Hamburg, Germany voted against their 2024 Olympic bid by a 51.6% to 48.4% vote. Polling was close to 60% in favor of Hamburg's bid in the days before the referendum. This leaves Paris, Rome, Budapest and Los Angeles as the remaining cities competing to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Olympic updates - Rio 2016
Polluted Waters
Polluted waters in Rio are a major concern as the games grow near. The IOC selected Rio back in 2009 because Rio organizers promised the IOC that 80% of all sewage flowing into Rio area waters like Guanabara Bay would be treated. Rio organizers say about half of all sewage is currently being treated. Rio organizers admit the goal will not be reached.
Tests by the AP(Associated Press) for bacteria in Rio waters have been conducted in July and August 2015 and then again results of more testing were released this past week and tests came back mostly within normal limits of fecal bacteria.
The WHO(World Health Organization) only mandates testing for bacteria and not viruses because its cheaper and easier. Although this has been changing due to advances in technology to include viral testing of the water as well. July 2015 virus levels in Brazil waters are over a million times what is considered unsafe in USA and European waters.
About seven percent each of Olympic sailors and rowers got sick(diarrhea, vomiting, respiratory problems) at test events over the summer. That number is double the acceptable level in the USA.
Viral testing was done by the AP recently in Guanabara Bay and the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon area where Olympic sailing and rowing will take place. The results released this past week that from along the shoreline to deeper waters away from the shore, viruses were detected in all of these places. The levels were consistent for raw sewage. Even high levels of fecal bacteria in the lagoon were detected. Samples were taken from Guanabara Bay, Marina da Gloria, Copacabana Beach and Ipanema Beach this past summer with similar results. These two AP tests since August suggest no improvement in the water quality. In fact, the waters are more contaminated than previously known.
Updates to this serious issue will be provided in future blog entries.
Visa Waiver
The government of Brazil has approved a 90 day waiver of visa requirements during the Olympic and Paralympic games. The USA, Canada, Australia and Japan will all benefit from this visa waiver as not all countries will be granted the visa waiver. The waiver starts in June 2016 and last day of the waiver is Sept. 18, 2016, which is the last day of the Paralympics. The waiver is in effect for people with or without Olympic tickets.
Budget Cuts
Rio Organizers announced in October 2015 a 30% reduction($520 million US dollars)of the games budget to try to contain operations costs. The total games budget is $1.9 billion US dollars. Organizers are trying to avoid a ten percent overspend of the budget. The Brazilian government in 2009 promised $700 million US dollars to Rio 2016 organizers to make up any budget overspend. The country is in recession and Brazilians won't tolerate lavish spending on the Olympics.
Cuts will be made in the following:
The Opening Ceremony will be ten percent of the cost of the 2012 London Games.
Fixed structures will be minimized wherever possible as tents will be used.
Reducing the number of volunteers by up to 10,000 and cutting 500 staff positions from the original number of 5,000.
Less printed materials, promotional videos done in house and less backstage structures.
This past week Rio Organizers decided to scrap free air conditioning in the athletes village, instead providing fans for each room. They said it wasn't essential. That decision was reversed quickly. Also there will be no TV's in the athletes bedrooms.
Olympic Security
Even though Brazil has no enemies, there is concern that after the November 13, 2015 Paris attacks that Brazil may not be prepared in case of a terrorist attack on the games. Brazil's borders are long and shared with ten countries. Not enough security measures have been enacted in areas with little population. Rio 2016 plans to use 65,000 police and military troops to protect the games. Another 15,000 security agents can be called upon in an emergency. Rio security agents are training on anti-terrorism tactics like defusing bombs and chemical warfare. French police are training Rio security forces on how to contain protests and rioting. 40,000 security forces were used in the London 2012 games.
The biggest concern right now besides terrorism is street crime. There are several favelas(slums) where drug trafficking and guns go hand in hand. Police are outnumbered and are often killed fighting crime in these favelas. The Rio 2016 security plan ahead of the games is to clean up violent favelas. The Rio 2016 security plan is to have agents spread throughout the city near tourist sites and Olympic venues. Over the past year waves of robberies have taken place at Copacabana Beach and other affluent tourist areas by poor people who live in these favelas. These crime waves come and go as police have trouble catching these thieves who pickpocket and steal cell phones and wallets from tourists. These grab and run robberies are also the priority of police as the games near.
Construction of Olympic venues
The Olympic village which consists of about 30 buildings, is 97% complete according to the Rio 2016 official website. As of December 2015, construction of Barra Olympic Park venues is 95% complete. There are three Carioca arenas, which are at least 96% complete, the Olympic Velodrome is 76% complete, the Olympic Tennis Centre is 90% complete, Future Arena is 100% complete, the Olympic Aquatics Center is 96% complete, the International Broadcast Centre is 100% complete, the Main Press Center is 92% complete, the Olympic hotel is 88% complete, the Olympic golf course is 100% complete.
In the Deodoro Park area, the Mountain Bike Center, Olympic BMX Center and Whitewater Stadium are all 100% complete. The Olympic Hockey Center is 99% complete and finally the Youth Arena is 75% complete.
Polluted waters in Rio are a major concern as the games grow near. The IOC selected Rio back in 2009 because Rio organizers promised the IOC that 80% of all sewage flowing into Rio area waters like Guanabara Bay would be treated. Rio organizers say about half of all sewage is currently being treated. Rio organizers admit the goal will not be reached.
Tests by the AP(Associated Press) for bacteria in Rio waters have been conducted in July and August 2015 and then again results of more testing were released this past week and tests came back mostly within normal limits of fecal bacteria.
The WHO(World Health Organization) only mandates testing for bacteria and not viruses because its cheaper and easier. Although this has been changing due to advances in technology to include viral testing of the water as well. July 2015 virus levels in Brazil waters are over a million times what is considered unsafe in USA and European waters.
About seven percent each of Olympic sailors and rowers got sick(diarrhea, vomiting, respiratory problems) at test events over the summer. That number is double the acceptable level in the USA.
Viral testing was done by the AP recently in Guanabara Bay and the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon area where Olympic sailing and rowing will take place. The results released this past week that from along the shoreline to deeper waters away from the shore, viruses were detected in all of these places. The levels were consistent for raw sewage. Even high levels of fecal bacteria in the lagoon were detected. Samples were taken from Guanabara Bay, Marina da Gloria, Copacabana Beach and Ipanema Beach this past summer with similar results. These two AP tests since August suggest no improvement in the water quality. In fact, the waters are more contaminated than previously known.
Updates to this serious issue will be provided in future blog entries.
Visa Waiver
The government of Brazil has approved a 90 day waiver of visa requirements during the Olympic and Paralympic games. The USA, Canada, Australia and Japan will all benefit from this visa waiver as not all countries will be granted the visa waiver. The waiver starts in June 2016 and last day of the waiver is Sept. 18, 2016, which is the last day of the Paralympics. The waiver is in effect for people with or without Olympic tickets.
Budget Cuts
Rio Organizers announced in October 2015 a 30% reduction($520 million US dollars)of the games budget to try to contain operations costs. The total games budget is $1.9 billion US dollars. Organizers are trying to avoid a ten percent overspend of the budget. The Brazilian government in 2009 promised $700 million US dollars to Rio 2016 organizers to make up any budget overspend. The country is in recession and Brazilians won't tolerate lavish spending on the Olympics.
Cuts will be made in the following:
The Opening Ceremony will be ten percent of the cost of the 2012 London Games.
Fixed structures will be minimized wherever possible as tents will be used.
Reducing the number of volunteers by up to 10,000 and cutting 500 staff positions from the original number of 5,000.
Less printed materials, promotional videos done in house and less backstage structures.
This past week Rio Organizers decided to scrap free air conditioning in the athletes village, instead providing fans for each room. They said it wasn't essential. That decision was reversed quickly. Also there will be no TV's in the athletes bedrooms.
Olympic Security
Even though Brazil has no enemies, there is concern that after the November 13, 2015 Paris attacks that Brazil may not be prepared in case of a terrorist attack on the games. Brazil's borders are long and shared with ten countries. Not enough security measures have been enacted in areas with little population. Rio 2016 plans to use 65,000 police and military troops to protect the games. Another 15,000 security agents can be called upon in an emergency. Rio security agents are training on anti-terrorism tactics like defusing bombs and chemical warfare. French police are training Rio security forces on how to contain protests and rioting. 40,000 security forces were used in the London 2012 games.
The biggest concern right now besides terrorism is street crime. There are several favelas(slums) where drug trafficking and guns go hand in hand. Police are outnumbered and are often killed fighting crime in these favelas. The Rio 2016 security plan ahead of the games is to clean up violent favelas. The Rio 2016 security plan is to have agents spread throughout the city near tourist sites and Olympic venues. Over the past year waves of robberies have taken place at Copacabana Beach and other affluent tourist areas by poor people who live in these favelas. These crime waves come and go as police have trouble catching these thieves who pickpocket and steal cell phones and wallets from tourists. These grab and run robberies are also the priority of police as the games near.
Construction of Olympic venues
The Olympic village which consists of about 30 buildings, is 97% complete according to the Rio 2016 official website. As of December 2015, construction of Barra Olympic Park venues is 95% complete. There are three Carioca arenas, which are at least 96% complete, the Olympic Velodrome is 76% complete, the Olympic Tennis Centre is 90% complete, Future Arena is 100% complete, the Olympic Aquatics Center is 96% complete, the International Broadcast Centre is 100% complete, the Main Press Center is 92% complete, the Olympic hotel is 88% complete, the Olympic golf course is 100% complete.
In the Deodoro Park area, the Mountain Bike Center, Olympic BMX Center and Whitewater Stadium are all 100% complete. The Olympic Hockey Center is 99% complete and finally the Youth Arena is 75% complete.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
World Gymnastics Championships
The World Gymnastics Championships were held in Glasgow, Scotland from October 23 - November 1, 2015
The USA women's gymnastics team wins gold for the third consecutive year. China wins silver and Great Britain wins bronze. Simone Biles wins her third straight All Around world title.
Women's team results:
USA - 181.338
Vault - 46.665 Unevens - 45.433 Balance Beam - 43.432 Floor Exercise - 45.808
China - 176.164
Vault - 45.233 Unevens - 45.632 Balance Beam - 42.300 Floor Exercise - 42.999
GBR - 172.380
Vault - 45.049 Unevens - 42.299 Balance Beam - 41.733 Floor Exercise - 43.299
Women's All Around
Simone Biles - USA - gold - 60.399
Vault - 15.833 Unevens - 14.900 Balance Beam - 14.400 Floor - 15.266
Gabrielle Douglas - USA - silver - 59.316
Vault - 15.300 Unevens - 15.033 Balance Beam - 14.400 Floor - 14.583
Larisa Iordache - Romania - bronze - 59.107
Vault - 15.066 Unevens - 14.800 Balance Beam - 14.766 Floor - 14.475
Simone Biles of the USA wins gold on Balance Beam in Individual event finals.
Madison Kocian of the USA wins gold on Unevens in Individual event finals.
The USA men's gymnastics team finished 5th in team competition with 267.853 total.
Japan wins gold with 270.818 total, Great Britain wins silver with 270.345 total and China wins bronze with 269.959 total.
USA Men's All Around results:
Donnell Whittenburg - 8th
Danell Leyva - 17th
Men's All Around results:
Kohei Uchimura - Japan - gold
Manrique Larduet - Cuba - silver
Shudi Deng - China - bronze
Donnell Whittenburg of the USA wins bronze on vault in Individual event finals.
The USA women's gymnastics team wins gold for the third consecutive year. China wins silver and Great Britain wins bronze. Simone Biles wins her third straight All Around world title.
Women's team results:
USA - 181.338
Vault - 46.665 Unevens - 45.433 Balance Beam - 43.432 Floor Exercise - 45.808
China - 176.164
Vault - 45.233 Unevens - 45.632 Balance Beam - 42.300 Floor Exercise - 42.999
GBR - 172.380
Vault - 45.049 Unevens - 42.299 Balance Beam - 41.733 Floor Exercise - 43.299
Women's All Around
Simone Biles - USA - gold - 60.399
Vault - 15.833 Unevens - 14.900 Balance Beam - 14.400 Floor - 15.266
Gabrielle Douglas - USA - silver - 59.316
Vault - 15.300 Unevens - 15.033 Balance Beam - 14.400 Floor - 14.583
Larisa Iordache - Romania - bronze - 59.107
Vault - 15.066 Unevens - 14.800 Balance Beam - 14.766 Floor - 14.475
Simone Biles of the USA wins gold on Balance Beam in Individual event finals.
Madison Kocian of the USA wins gold on Unevens in Individual event finals.
The USA men's gymnastics team finished 5th in team competition with 267.853 total.
Japan wins gold with 270.818 total, Great Britain wins silver with 270.345 total and China wins bronze with 269.959 total.
USA Men's All Around results:
Donnell Whittenburg - 8th
Danell Leyva - 17th
Men's All Around results:
Kohei Uchimura - Japan - gold
Manrique Larduet - Cuba - silver
Shudi Deng - China - bronze
Donnell Whittenburg of the USA wins bronze on vault in Individual event finals.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Los Angeles 2024!
The USOC today named Los Angeles the US bid city for the 2024 summer Olympic games. LA is trying to become an Olympic host for the third time. LA hosted games in 1932 and 1984. Today, the LA City Council voted 15-0 to give the LA mayor Eric Garcetti approval to bid on the games.
The games budget proposed is 4.1 billion dollars. Another 6 billion will be spent on infrastructure, mostly by the private sector. Games insurance would cost 150 million and 400 million would be raised to cover cost overruns. The bid calls for a 161 million dollar surplus.
A one billion dollar athletes village is proposed. 500 million dollars of improvements to the LA Coliseum will be paid for by USC. The Coliseum would host the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field.
Other venues included in the bid include the Staples Center which would host gymnastics and basketball. The Galen Center would host boxing and basketball would be played at the Pauley Pavillion. Santa Monica beach would host beach volleyball. The Rose Bowl would host soccer and the Inglewood Forum would host indoor volleyball. There are approximately 30 venues in the bid book.
Over 80% of LA residents support having the games which is a far cry from Boston's 40% approval rating. On January 8, 2015 the USOC first picked Boston but after 8 months of strong local opposition they finally pulled the bid.
Toronto probably won't bid on the 2024 games so besides Los Angeles, the remaining bidders on the 2024 games are Paris, Rome, Hamburg and Budapest.
Let's bring the games back to the USA! This bid seems strong and has community support. From watching the USOC press conference today, its a different feel from Boston's bid. USA Olympian Janet Evans leads a host of Olympic athletes in support of the games. Greg Louganis, Peter Vidmar, Bryan Clay, Alex Morgan and others all lend their support of LA 2024. This is the city the USOC should have picked the first time. I supported Boston because at that time they were the US bid city, now I support LA because they are the new bid city. The LA bid looks stronger than Boston based on more LA existing venues already in place and LA is a two-time summer games host.
Go LA 2024! The IOC will choose the 2024 host city in 2017.
The games budget proposed is 4.1 billion dollars. Another 6 billion will be spent on infrastructure, mostly by the private sector. Games insurance would cost 150 million and 400 million would be raised to cover cost overruns. The bid calls for a 161 million dollar surplus.
A one billion dollar athletes village is proposed. 500 million dollars of improvements to the LA Coliseum will be paid for by USC. The Coliseum would host the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field.
Other venues included in the bid include the Staples Center which would host gymnastics and basketball. The Galen Center would host boxing and basketball would be played at the Pauley Pavillion. Santa Monica beach would host beach volleyball. The Rose Bowl would host soccer and the Inglewood Forum would host indoor volleyball. There are approximately 30 venues in the bid book.
Over 80% of LA residents support having the games which is a far cry from Boston's 40% approval rating. On January 8, 2015 the USOC first picked Boston but after 8 months of strong local opposition they finally pulled the bid.
Toronto probably won't bid on the 2024 games so besides Los Angeles, the remaining bidders on the 2024 games are Paris, Rome, Hamburg and Budapest.
Let's bring the games back to the USA! This bid seems strong and has community support. From watching the USOC press conference today, its a different feel from Boston's bid. USA Olympian Janet Evans leads a host of Olympic athletes in support of the games. Greg Louganis, Peter Vidmar, Bryan Clay, Alex Morgan and others all lend their support of LA 2024. This is the city the USOC should have picked the first time. I supported Boston because at that time they were the US bid city, now I support LA because they are the new bid city. The LA bid looks stronger than Boston based on more LA existing venues already in place and LA is a two-time summer games host.
Go LA 2024! The IOC will choose the 2024 host city in 2017.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
IAAF Track and Field World Championships
The IAAF Track and Field World Championships are being held in Beijing, China from August 22-30, 2015.
Results: USA Athletes medals or places in finals only. Includes record performances.
Women's Shot Put
Christina Schwanitz - Germany - gold
Lijiao Gong - China - silver
Michelle Carter - USA - bronze
Men's 10,000
Mo Farah - GB - gold
Galen Rupp - USA - 5th
Men's Shot Put
Joe Kovacs - USA - gold
David Storl - Germany - silver
O'Dwayne Richards - Jamaica - bronze
Reese Hoffa - USA - 5th
Men's 100
Usain Bolt - Jamaica - gold - 9.79
Justin Gatlin - USA - silver - 9.80
Trayvon Brommell - USA - bronze - 9.92
Andre Degrasse - Canada - tie for bronze - 9.92
Women's 10,000
Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot - Kenya - gold - 31:41.31
Gelete Burka - Eithiopia - silver - 31.41.77
Emily Infeld - USA - bronze - 31:43.49
Molly Huddle - USA - 4th
Shalane Flanagan - USA - 6th
Men's 3000 Steeplechase
Daniel Huling - USA - 5th
Evan Jager - USA - 6th
Don Cabral - USA - 10th
Women's 100
Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce - Jamaica - gold - 10.76
Dafne Schippers - Netherlands - silver - 10.81
Tori Bowie - USA - bronze - 10.86
Men's 400 Hurdles
Kerron Clement - USA - 4th
Michael Tinsley - USA - 8th
Women's 1500
Shannon Rowbury - USA - 7th
Jenny Simpson - USA - 11th
Women's 400 Hurdles
Zuzana Hejnova - CZE - gold - 53.50
Shamier Little - USA - silver - 53.94
Cassandra Tate - USA - bronze - 54.02
Women's 3000 Steeplechase
Emma Coburn - USA - 5th
Men's 400
Wayde Van Nekerk - South Africa - gold - 43.48
Lashawn Merritt - USA - silver - 43.65
Kirani James - Grenada - bronze - 43.78
Men's Triple Jump
Christian Taylor - USA - gold
Pedro Pichardo - Cuba - silver
Nelson Evora - Portugal - bronze
Women's 400
Allyson Felix - USA - gold - 49.26
Shaunae Miller - Bahamas - silver - 49.67
Shericka Jackson - Jamaica - bronze - 49.99
Men's 200
Usain Bolt - Jamaica - gold - 19.55
Justin Gatlin - USA - silver - 19.74
Anaso Jobodwana - South Africa - bronze - 19.87
Women's Long Jump
Tianna Bartoletta - USA - gold
Shara Proctor - GBR - silver
Ivana Spanovic - Serbia - bronze
Janay Deloach Soukup - USA - 8th
Women's 200
Dafne Schippers - Netherlands - gold - 21.63
Elaine Thompson - Jamaica - silver - 21.66
Veronica Campbell Brown - Jamaica - bronze - 21.97
(3rd and 4th fastest times ever recorded)
Men's 110 Hurdles
Sergey Shubenkov - Russia - gold - 12.98
Hansle Parchment - Jamaica - silver - 13.03
Aries Merritt - USA - bronze - 13.04
David Oliver - USA - 7th
Women's 100 Hurdles
Brianna Rollins - USA - 4th
Sharika Nelvis - USA - 8th
Men's 5000
Mo Farah - GBR - gold
Galen Rupp - USA - 5th
Ben True - USA - 6th
Ryan Hill - USA - 7th
Men's Decathlon
Ashton Eaton - USA - gold - 9045 (world record)
Damian Warner - Canada - silver - 8695
Rico Freimuth - Germany - bronze - 8561
Women's 4 by 100 relay
Jamaica - gold - 41.07
USA - silver - 41.68
Trinidad & Tobago - bronze - 42.03
Men's 4 by 100 relay
Jamaica - gold - 37.36
China - silver - 38.01
Canada - bronze - 38.13
USA - DQ - 37.77
Men's High Jump
Erik Kynard - USA - 8th
Women's 5000
Nicole Tully - USA - 13th
Men's 1500
Matthew Centrowitz - USA - 8th
Leonel Manzano - USA - 10th
Robby Andrews - USA - 11th
Women's 4 by 400 relay
Jamaica - gold - 3:19.13
USA - silver - 3:19.44
GBR - bronze - 3:23.62
Men's 4 by 400 relay
USA - gold - 2:57.82
Trinidad & Tobago - silver - 2:58.20
GBR - bronze - 2:58.51
Final Medal Count - Top 3 countries
Kenya - 7 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze - 16 total
Jamaica - 7 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze - 12 total
USA - 6 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze - 18 total
Lowest total medal count for USA at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships since 2003.
Results: USA Athletes medals or places in finals only. Includes record performances.
Women's Shot Put
Christina Schwanitz - Germany - gold
Lijiao Gong - China - silver
Michelle Carter - USA - bronze
Men's 10,000
Mo Farah - GB - gold
Galen Rupp - USA - 5th
Men's Shot Put
Joe Kovacs - USA - gold
David Storl - Germany - silver
O'Dwayne Richards - Jamaica - bronze
Reese Hoffa - USA - 5th
Men's 100
Usain Bolt - Jamaica - gold - 9.79
Justin Gatlin - USA - silver - 9.80
Trayvon Brommell - USA - bronze - 9.92
Andre Degrasse - Canada - tie for bronze - 9.92
Women's 10,000
Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot - Kenya - gold - 31:41.31
Gelete Burka - Eithiopia - silver - 31.41.77
Emily Infeld - USA - bronze - 31:43.49
Molly Huddle - USA - 4th
Shalane Flanagan - USA - 6th
Men's 3000 Steeplechase
Daniel Huling - USA - 5th
Evan Jager - USA - 6th
Don Cabral - USA - 10th
Women's 100
Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce - Jamaica - gold - 10.76
Dafne Schippers - Netherlands - silver - 10.81
Tori Bowie - USA - bronze - 10.86
Men's 400 Hurdles
Kerron Clement - USA - 4th
Michael Tinsley - USA - 8th
Women's 1500
Shannon Rowbury - USA - 7th
Jenny Simpson - USA - 11th
Women's 400 Hurdles
Zuzana Hejnova - CZE - gold - 53.50
Shamier Little - USA - silver - 53.94
Cassandra Tate - USA - bronze - 54.02
Women's 3000 Steeplechase
Emma Coburn - USA - 5th
Men's 400
Wayde Van Nekerk - South Africa - gold - 43.48
Lashawn Merritt - USA - silver - 43.65
Kirani James - Grenada - bronze - 43.78
Men's Triple Jump
Christian Taylor - USA - gold
Pedro Pichardo - Cuba - silver
Nelson Evora - Portugal - bronze
Women's 400
Allyson Felix - USA - gold - 49.26
Shaunae Miller - Bahamas - silver - 49.67
Shericka Jackson - Jamaica - bronze - 49.99
Men's 200
Usain Bolt - Jamaica - gold - 19.55
Justin Gatlin - USA - silver - 19.74
Anaso Jobodwana - South Africa - bronze - 19.87
Women's Long Jump
Tianna Bartoletta - USA - gold
Shara Proctor - GBR - silver
Ivana Spanovic - Serbia - bronze
Janay Deloach Soukup - USA - 8th
Women's 200
Dafne Schippers - Netherlands - gold - 21.63
Elaine Thompson - Jamaica - silver - 21.66
Veronica Campbell Brown - Jamaica - bronze - 21.97
(3rd and 4th fastest times ever recorded)
Men's 110 Hurdles
Sergey Shubenkov - Russia - gold - 12.98
Hansle Parchment - Jamaica - silver - 13.03
Aries Merritt - USA - bronze - 13.04
David Oliver - USA - 7th
Women's 100 Hurdles
Brianna Rollins - USA - 4th
Sharika Nelvis - USA - 8th
Men's 5000
Mo Farah - GBR - gold
Galen Rupp - USA - 5th
Ben True - USA - 6th
Ryan Hill - USA - 7th
Men's Decathlon
Ashton Eaton - USA - gold - 9045 (world record)
Damian Warner - Canada - silver - 8695
Rico Freimuth - Germany - bronze - 8561
Women's 4 by 100 relay
Jamaica - gold - 41.07
USA - silver - 41.68
Trinidad & Tobago - bronze - 42.03
Men's 4 by 100 relay
Jamaica - gold - 37.36
China - silver - 38.01
Canada - bronze - 38.13
USA - DQ - 37.77
Men's High Jump
Erik Kynard - USA - 8th
Women's 5000
Nicole Tully - USA - 13th
Men's 1500
Matthew Centrowitz - USA - 8th
Leonel Manzano - USA - 10th
Robby Andrews - USA - 11th
Women's 4 by 400 relay
Jamaica - gold - 3:19.13
USA - silver - 3:19.44
GBR - bronze - 3:23.62
Men's 4 by 400 relay
USA - gold - 2:57.82
Trinidad & Tobago - silver - 2:58.20
GBR - bronze - 2:58.51
Final Medal Count - Top 3 countries
Kenya - 7 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze - 16 total
Jamaica - 7 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze - 12 total
USA - 6 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze - 18 total
Lowest total medal count for USA at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships since 2003.
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
P & G USA Gymnastics Championships
Simone Biles won her third all around title at the P & G USA Gymnastics Championships held August 13-16, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
For the USA men, Sam Mikulak won his third straight all around title as well.
Results - Women's All Around judges combined - (prelims and finals) totals for 4 events
1. Simone Biles - 124.100
2. Maggie Nichols - 119.150
3. Aly Raisman - 118.550
4. Bailie Key - 118.350
5. Gabby Douglas - 117.950
10. Kyla Ross - 114.550
Individual Results- Women's Vault - combined totals
1. Simone Biles - 31.550
2. MyKayla Skinner - 30.125
Women's Uneven Bars - combined totals
1. Madison Kocian - 31.100
2. Ashton Locklear - 30.850
3. Bailie Key - 30.500
4. Gabby Douglas - 30.400
5. Simone Biles - 30.100
11. Aly Raisman - 28.250
12. Kyla Ross - 28.100
Women's Balance Beam - combined totals
1. Simone Biles - 30.700
2. Alyssa Bauman - 30.200
3. Kyla Ross - 29.500
4. Nia Dennis - 29.050
4. Maggie Nichols - 29.050
7. Aly Raisman - 28.700
9. Gabby Douglas - 28.650
Women's Floor Exercise- combined totals
1. Aly Raisman - 31.050
2. Simone Biles - 30.750
3. MyKayla Skinner - 29.150
3. Bailie Key - 29.150
5. Maggie Nichols - 28.700
6. Gabby Douglas - 28.650
12. Kyla Ross - 27.350
Results of USA Men's All Around - judges combined (prelims and finals) for 6 events
1. Sam Mikulak - 183.650
2. Donnell Whittenburg - 179.300
3. Chris Brooks - 177.150
4. Alex Naddour - 175.600
5. Marvin Kimble - 175.400
6. Danell Leyva - 175.100
6. Steven Legendre -175.100
8. Paul Ruggeri - 174.850
9. Jonathan Horton - 174.550
Individual Results- Men's Floor Exercise - combined totals
1 Steven Legendre - 31.300
2. Donnell Whittenburg - 31.100
3. Stacey Ervin - 30.950
4. Eddie Penev - 30.800
5. Paul Ruggeri - 30.650
7. Sam Mikulak - 30.150
8. Jonathan Horton - 30.150
26. Danell Leyva - 28.000
Men's Pommel Horse - combined totals
1. Alex Naddour - 30.600
2. Donothan Bailey - 30.000
3. Sam Mikulak - 29.900
4. Michael Reid - 29.700
5. Alec Yoder - 29.550
8. Donnell Whittenburg - 28.250
12. Danell Leyva - 27.950
19. Steven Legendre - 27.050
29. Jonathan Horton - 26.150
33. Paul Ruggeri - 24.700
Men's Still Rings - combined totals
1. Donnell Whittenburg - 32.000
2. Brandon Wynn - 31.500
3. CJ Maestras - 31.150
3. Steven Lacombe - 31.150
5. Sam Mikulak - 30.750
7. Steven Legendre - 30.300
8. Jonathan Horton - 30.250
17. Paul Ruggeri - 28.750
23. Denell Leyva - 28.400
Men's Vault - combined totals
1. Sam Mikulak - 30.850
2. Paul Ruggeri - 30.700
3. Donnell Whittenburg - 30.650
4. Kevin Wolting - 30.450
5. Eddie Penev - 30.250
16. Danell Leyva - 29.400
25. Steven Legendre - 28.850
27. Jonathan Horton - 28.650
Men's Parallel Bars - combined totals
1. Sam Mikulak - 31.550
2. Chris Brooks - 31.150
3. Danell Leyva - 31.050
4. Jonathan Horton - 30.400
5. Akash Modi - 30.150
9. Donnell Whittenburg - 29.550
11. Steven Legendre - 29.450
15. Paul Ruggeri - 29.300
Men's High Bar - combined totals
1. Chris Brooks - 31.350
2. Paul Ruggeri - 30.750
3. Sam Mikulak - 30.450
4. Danell Leyva - 30.300
5. Donothan Bailey - 29.550
7. Jonathan Horton - 29.050
19. Steven Legendre - 28.150
26. Donnell Whittenburg - 27.750
For the USA men, Sam Mikulak won his third straight all around title as well.
Results - Women's All Around judges combined - (prelims and finals) totals for 4 events
1. Simone Biles - 124.100
2. Maggie Nichols - 119.150
3. Aly Raisman - 118.550
4. Bailie Key - 118.350
5. Gabby Douglas - 117.950
10. Kyla Ross - 114.550
Individual Results- Women's Vault - combined totals
1. Simone Biles - 31.550
2. MyKayla Skinner - 30.125
Women's Uneven Bars - combined totals
1. Madison Kocian - 31.100
2. Ashton Locklear - 30.850
3. Bailie Key - 30.500
4. Gabby Douglas - 30.400
5. Simone Biles - 30.100
11. Aly Raisman - 28.250
12. Kyla Ross - 28.100
Women's Balance Beam - combined totals
1. Simone Biles - 30.700
2. Alyssa Bauman - 30.200
3. Kyla Ross - 29.500
4. Nia Dennis - 29.050
4. Maggie Nichols - 29.050
7. Aly Raisman - 28.700
9. Gabby Douglas - 28.650
Women's Floor Exercise- combined totals
1. Aly Raisman - 31.050
2. Simone Biles - 30.750
3. MyKayla Skinner - 29.150
3. Bailie Key - 29.150
5. Maggie Nichols - 28.700
6. Gabby Douglas - 28.650
12. Kyla Ross - 27.350
Results of USA Men's All Around - judges combined (prelims and finals) for 6 events
1. Sam Mikulak - 183.650
2. Donnell Whittenburg - 179.300
3. Chris Brooks - 177.150
4. Alex Naddour - 175.600
5. Marvin Kimble - 175.400
6. Danell Leyva - 175.100
6. Steven Legendre -175.100
8. Paul Ruggeri - 174.850
9. Jonathan Horton - 174.550
Individual Results- Men's Floor Exercise - combined totals
1 Steven Legendre - 31.300
2. Donnell Whittenburg - 31.100
3. Stacey Ervin - 30.950
4. Eddie Penev - 30.800
5. Paul Ruggeri - 30.650
7. Sam Mikulak - 30.150
8. Jonathan Horton - 30.150
26. Danell Leyva - 28.000
Men's Pommel Horse - combined totals
1. Alex Naddour - 30.600
2. Donothan Bailey - 30.000
3. Sam Mikulak - 29.900
4. Michael Reid - 29.700
5. Alec Yoder - 29.550
8. Donnell Whittenburg - 28.250
12. Danell Leyva - 27.950
19. Steven Legendre - 27.050
29. Jonathan Horton - 26.150
33. Paul Ruggeri - 24.700
Men's Still Rings - combined totals
1. Donnell Whittenburg - 32.000
2. Brandon Wynn - 31.500
3. CJ Maestras - 31.150
3. Steven Lacombe - 31.150
5. Sam Mikulak - 30.750
7. Steven Legendre - 30.300
8. Jonathan Horton - 30.250
17. Paul Ruggeri - 28.750
23. Denell Leyva - 28.400
Men's Vault - combined totals
1. Sam Mikulak - 30.850
2. Paul Ruggeri - 30.700
3. Donnell Whittenburg - 30.650
4. Kevin Wolting - 30.450
5. Eddie Penev - 30.250
16. Danell Leyva - 29.400
25. Steven Legendre - 28.850
27. Jonathan Horton - 28.650
Men's Parallel Bars - combined totals
1. Sam Mikulak - 31.550
2. Chris Brooks - 31.150
3. Danell Leyva - 31.050
4. Jonathan Horton - 30.400
5. Akash Modi - 30.150
9. Donnell Whittenburg - 29.550
11. Steven Legendre - 29.450
15. Paul Ruggeri - 29.300
Men's High Bar - combined totals
1. Chris Brooks - 31.350
2. Paul Ruggeri - 30.750
3. Sam Mikulak - 30.450
4. Danell Leyva - 30.300
5. Donothan Bailey - 29.550
7. Jonathan Horton - 29.050
19. Steven Legendre - 28.150
26. Donnell Whittenburg - 27.750
Thursday, August 13, 2015
2015 FINA World Swimming Championshps- USA medal winners
Katie Ledecky led the USA with 5 gold at the FINA World Swimming Championships held in Kazan, Russia from July 24- August 9, 2015.
The USA led all countries with 23 total medals 8 gold, 10 silver, 5 bronze(USA Swimming says 26 total medals that includes open water medals). Australia was second with 16 total medals and China finished third with 13 total medals.
List of medal winners for USA Women:
Katie Ledecky - 5 gold - 400 free, 1500 free, 200 free, 800 free relay and 800 free.
Missy Franklin - 2 gold - 800 free relay, mixed 400 free relay. 1 silver - 200 back. 2 bronze - 200 free, 400 free relay.
Katie Mclaughlin - 1 gold - 800 free relay. 1 silver - mixed 400 free relay.
Haley Anderson - 1 gold - open water 5K.
Simone Manuel - 1 gold - mixed 400 free relay. 1 bronze - 400 free relay.
Shannon Vreeland - 1 gold - 800 free relay(prelims). 1 bronze - 400 free relay(prelims).
Margo Geer - 1 gold - mixed 400 free relay(prelims). 1 silver - mixed 400 medley relay. 1 bronze - 400 free relay.
Leah Smith - 1 gold - 800 free relay.
Cierra Runge - 1 gold - 800 free relay(prelims).
Chelsea Chenault - 1 gold - 800 free relay(prelims.)
Abbey Weitzeil - 1 gold - mixed 400 free relay(prelims).
Cammile Adams - 1 silver - 200 fly.
Micah Lawrence - 1 silver - 200 breast.
Lia Neal - 1 silver - mixed 400 medley relay(prelims). - 1 bronze - 400 free relay.
Maya DiRado - 1 silver - 400 IM(Individual Medley.)
Kendyl Stewart - 1 silver - mixed 400 medley relay(prelims).
USA Men Medal winners:
Ryan Lochte - 3 gold - 200IM, mixed 400 free relay, 400 medley relay(prelims). 1 silver - 800 free relay.
Nathan Adrian - 2 gold - mixed 400 free relay, 400 medley relay.
Matt Grevers - 1 gold - 400 medley relay(prelms). 1 silver - 50 back. 1 bronze - 100 back.
Kevin Cordes - 1 gold - 400 medley relay. 2 silver - 200 breast, mixed 400 medley relay. 1 bronze - 50 breast.
Ryan Murphy - 1 gold - 400 medley relay. 1 silver - mixed 400 medley relay.
Conor Dwyer - 1 gold - mixed 400 free relay(prelims). 1 silver - 800 free relay.
Jordan Wilimovsky - 1 gold - open water 10K.
Tom Shields - 1 gold - 400 medley relay.
Cody Miller - 1 gold - 400 medley relay(prelims).
Tim Phillips - 1 gold - 400 medley relay(prelims).
Alex Meyer - 1 silver - open water 25K.
Connor Jaeger - 1 silver - 1500 free.
Reed Malone - 1 silver - 800 free relay.
Michael Weiss - 1 silver - 800 free relay.
Michael Klueh - 1 silver - 800 free relay(prelims).
Chase Kalisz - 1 bronze - 400IM.
The USA led all countries with 23 total medals 8 gold, 10 silver, 5 bronze(USA Swimming says 26 total medals that includes open water medals). Australia was second with 16 total medals and China finished third with 13 total medals.
List of medal winners for USA Women:
Katie Ledecky - 5 gold - 400 free, 1500 free, 200 free, 800 free relay and 800 free.
Missy Franklin - 2 gold - 800 free relay, mixed 400 free relay. 1 silver - 200 back. 2 bronze - 200 free, 400 free relay.
Katie Mclaughlin - 1 gold - 800 free relay. 1 silver - mixed 400 free relay.
Haley Anderson - 1 gold - open water 5K.
Simone Manuel - 1 gold - mixed 400 free relay. 1 bronze - 400 free relay.
Shannon Vreeland - 1 gold - 800 free relay(prelims). 1 bronze - 400 free relay(prelims).
Margo Geer - 1 gold - mixed 400 free relay(prelims). 1 silver - mixed 400 medley relay. 1 bronze - 400 free relay.
Leah Smith - 1 gold - 800 free relay.
Cierra Runge - 1 gold - 800 free relay(prelims).
Chelsea Chenault - 1 gold - 800 free relay(prelims.)
Abbey Weitzeil - 1 gold - mixed 400 free relay(prelims).
Cammile Adams - 1 silver - 200 fly.
Micah Lawrence - 1 silver - 200 breast.
Lia Neal - 1 silver - mixed 400 medley relay(prelims). - 1 bronze - 400 free relay.
Maya DiRado - 1 silver - 400 IM(Individual Medley.)
Kendyl Stewart - 1 silver - mixed 400 medley relay(prelims).
USA Men Medal winners:
Ryan Lochte - 3 gold - 200IM, mixed 400 free relay, 400 medley relay(prelims). 1 silver - 800 free relay.
Nathan Adrian - 2 gold - mixed 400 free relay, 400 medley relay.
Matt Grevers - 1 gold - 400 medley relay(prelms). 1 silver - 50 back. 1 bronze - 100 back.
Kevin Cordes - 1 gold - 400 medley relay. 2 silver - 200 breast, mixed 400 medley relay. 1 bronze - 50 breast.
Ryan Murphy - 1 gold - 400 medley relay. 1 silver - mixed 400 medley relay.
Conor Dwyer - 1 gold - mixed 400 free relay(prelims). 1 silver - 800 free relay.
Jordan Wilimovsky - 1 gold - open water 10K.
Tom Shields - 1 gold - 400 medley relay.
Cody Miller - 1 gold - 400 medley relay(prelims).
Tim Phillips - 1 gold - 400 medley relay(prelims).
Alex Meyer - 1 silver - open water 25K.
Connor Jaeger - 1 silver - 1500 free.
Reed Malone - 1 silver - 800 free relay.
Michael Weiss - 1 silver - 800 free relay.
Michael Klueh - 1 silver - 800 free relay(prelims).
Chase Kalisz - 1 bronze - 400IM.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
One year until 2016 Rio Games
Today marks one year until the 2016 Rio Summer Games. Celebrations will be held in the USA and Brazil. The games will take place August 5-21,2016.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Beijing awarded 2022 Winter Olympic games/IOC Session - Bid Revamp
Today as part of the 128th IOC session held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Beijing, China was awarded the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The vote was 44-40 in favor of Beijing over Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Beijing will be the first city to host a summer and winter games. Beijing's Olympic budget is 1.5 billion dollars. Beijing has most venues in place so costs are low and reflects the IOC Olympics Agenda 2020 of sustainability. Almaty was seen as the riskier bid.
The Beijing bid has venues in Yangqing and Zhangjiakou which are 40 and 90 miles away, respectively. A high speed rail line will be built to cut travel time to these venues. China's mountains require man made snow, which was seized upon by Almaty as a Beijing weakness during the two cities 45 minute presentations to the IOC held before the vote.
The IOC saw Beijing as more reliable based on the delivery of the 2008 summer games.
Also at the IOC session, the bid selection process has been streamlined. From now on all bid cities will be considered as candidates and there will be no shortlist(which meant that cities could be dropped before the final vote).
There will be three phases. All cities that get their bid in before the deadline(which is Sept. 15) will go through these phases.
The three phases are:
Vision, Games Concept and Legacy (September 15, 2015 to May 2016).
Governance, Legal and Venue Funding (May to December 2016).
Games Delivery, Experience and Venue Legacy (December 2016 to September 2017).
So far Paris, Rome, Hamburg and Budapest are bidding on the 2024 summer games. Los Angeles and Toronto are expected to bid as well.
Beijing will be the first city to host a summer and winter games. Beijing's Olympic budget is 1.5 billion dollars. Beijing has most venues in place so costs are low and reflects the IOC Olympics Agenda 2020 of sustainability. Almaty was seen as the riskier bid.
The Beijing bid has venues in Yangqing and Zhangjiakou which are 40 and 90 miles away, respectively. A high speed rail line will be built to cut travel time to these venues. China's mountains require man made snow, which was seized upon by Almaty as a Beijing weakness during the two cities 45 minute presentations to the IOC held before the vote.
The IOC saw Beijing as more reliable based on the delivery of the 2008 summer games.
Also at the IOC session, the bid selection process has been streamlined. From now on all bid cities will be considered as candidates and there will be no shortlist(which meant that cities could be dropped before the final vote).
There will be three phases. All cities that get their bid in before the deadline(which is Sept. 15) will go through these phases.
The three phases are:
Vision, Games Concept and Legacy (September 15, 2015 to May 2016).
Governance, Legal and Venue Funding (May to December 2016).
Games Delivery, Experience and Venue Legacy (December 2016 to September 2017).
So far Paris, Rome, Hamburg and Budapest are bidding on the 2024 summer games. Los Angeles and Toronto are expected to bid as well.
Monday, July 27, 2015
USOC drops Boston 2024 bid
The Facts
Today, Monday July 27, 2015 marked a watershed day in the Boston 2024 bid. First, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh held a press conference saying that he couldn't sign the financial taxpayer guarantee today to the IOC as the USOC requested. Mayor Walsh said he would give up the Boston bid because he could not mortgage the city's future. Mayor Walsh wanted more time to study the insurance and to see how Massachusetts taxpayers were going to be protected from cost overruns. The USOC wanted to get the support of the Boston Mayor and the Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker. Governor Baker said he couldn't say he would support the games until a $250,000 feasibility study done by the Brattle Group comes back in mid August. Boston 2024 said they were confident poll numbers were moving in the right direction and they just needed more time.
The bid was still alive at that point but in early afternoon there were discussions between Boston 2024 and the USOC. Boston Mayor Walsh said he could not support the bid if the taxpayer guarantee had to be signed today. The USOC said they could not support the bid without Boston Mayor Walsh and Massachusetts governor Baker. The USOC also could not support the bid because of low poll numbers and support. July polls put support in the low 40's with opposition about 50%. The numbers did not move much in the past three months. A joint decision was made between Boston 2024 and the USOC to end Boston's 2024 Olympics bid. The USOC said they were under a strict timeline and couldn't give the bid any more time. IOC president Thomas Bach blamed Boston 2024 for not keeping promises to the USOC while Boston 2024 blamed the USOC for pressuring them to sign the bid contract.
The USOC has expressed interest in finding another US city to host the games. Speculation is on Los Angeles but the USOC did not pick a city today, instead the USOC will make an announcement when they have negotiated a bid with the selected US city. The deadline for the USOC to submit a bid to the IOC is September 15, 2015. The IOC will pick the 2024 Olympics host city in 2017. Host cities bidding on the 2024 summer games are Paris, Rome, Hamburg and Budapest, Toronto and Los Angeles are likely bid cities as well.
My take
Clearly, the USOC made a mistake in picking Boston. I wanted the USA to get the 2024 games so I backed Boston's bid because the USOC selected Boston as our bid city. There was a few periods of time in May 2015 where I thought Boston 2024 made some big mistakes and my bid support wavered but had to keep quiet. The biggest mistake was not being transparent enough on bid 1.0 so the Boston media released the bid while some of Boston 2024 were overseas meeting with the IOC. The other major mistake at that time in May 2015 was major shoutdowns by Boston 2024 supporters to opposition groups. I tweeted then later deleted the tweets saying I was no longer in favor of the bid. Later I noticed No Boston groups were disrespecting Boston 2024 staff, supporters and USOC employees so I started supporting the bid again.
I was also trying to get employed with Boston 2024 so I blogged the Boston 2024 from a neutral stance. I presented both sides. In late March I contacted Boston 2024 and was about to send them my resume but rumors that the USOC might pull Boston's bid surfaced so I waited until June 30. June 30 was the day Boston 2024 released bid 2.0. On that day the USOC showed support for Boston's bid. I submitted my resume in early July and within two weeks I was told they weren't hiring. In March and April 2015 Boston hired several community relations positions at $42,000 a year. That was the position I was trying to get but by early July 2015 those community positions disappeared from the Boston 2024 website. Those were 3 month positions. Good thing I didn't relocate to the Boston area as I was considering doing.
Ultimately, I was supporting a USA 2024 Olympic games. If Boston didn't work out I would support a Los Angeles 2024 bid. I was thinking the longer the USOC waited on Boston 2024 poll numbers to turn around the harder it would be for the USOC to pick another city. The USOC pulled Boston's bid at the right time. Any later I didn't see the USOC having enough time to find another city and to finalize another bid by the September 15, 2015 IOC deadline.
It turns out that Los Angeles and San Francisco may be working together on a joint bid. The USOC will officially announce the US bid city later in August.
Today, Monday July 27, 2015 marked a watershed day in the Boston 2024 bid. First, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh held a press conference saying that he couldn't sign the financial taxpayer guarantee today to the IOC as the USOC requested. Mayor Walsh said he would give up the Boston bid because he could not mortgage the city's future. Mayor Walsh wanted more time to study the insurance and to see how Massachusetts taxpayers were going to be protected from cost overruns. The USOC wanted to get the support of the Boston Mayor and the Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker. Governor Baker said he couldn't say he would support the games until a $250,000 feasibility study done by the Brattle Group comes back in mid August. Boston 2024 said they were confident poll numbers were moving in the right direction and they just needed more time.
The bid was still alive at that point but in early afternoon there were discussions between Boston 2024 and the USOC. Boston Mayor Walsh said he could not support the bid if the taxpayer guarantee had to be signed today. The USOC said they could not support the bid without Boston Mayor Walsh and Massachusetts governor Baker. The USOC also could not support the bid because of low poll numbers and support. July polls put support in the low 40's with opposition about 50%. The numbers did not move much in the past three months. A joint decision was made between Boston 2024 and the USOC to end Boston's 2024 Olympics bid. The USOC said they were under a strict timeline and couldn't give the bid any more time. IOC president Thomas Bach blamed Boston 2024 for not keeping promises to the USOC while Boston 2024 blamed the USOC for pressuring them to sign the bid contract.
The USOC has expressed interest in finding another US city to host the games. Speculation is on Los Angeles but the USOC did not pick a city today, instead the USOC will make an announcement when they have negotiated a bid with the selected US city. The deadline for the USOC to submit a bid to the IOC is September 15, 2015. The IOC will pick the 2024 Olympics host city in 2017. Host cities bidding on the 2024 summer games are Paris, Rome, Hamburg and Budapest, Toronto and Los Angeles are likely bid cities as well.
My take
Clearly, the USOC made a mistake in picking Boston. I wanted the USA to get the 2024 games so I backed Boston's bid because the USOC selected Boston as our bid city. There was a few periods of time in May 2015 where I thought Boston 2024 made some big mistakes and my bid support wavered but had to keep quiet. The biggest mistake was not being transparent enough on bid 1.0 so the Boston media released the bid while some of Boston 2024 were overseas meeting with the IOC. The other major mistake at that time in May 2015 was major shoutdowns by Boston 2024 supporters to opposition groups. I tweeted then later deleted the tweets saying I was no longer in favor of the bid. Later I noticed No Boston groups were disrespecting Boston 2024 staff, supporters and USOC employees so I started supporting the bid again.
I was also trying to get employed with Boston 2024 so I blogged the Boston 2024 from a neutral stance. I presented both sides. In late March I contacted Boston 2024 and was about to send them my resume but rumors that the USOC might pull Boston's bid surfaced so I waited until June 30. June 30 was the day Boston 2024 released bid 2.0. On that day the USOC showed support for Boston's bid. I submitted my resume in early July and within two weeks I was told they weren't hiring. In March and April 2015 Boston hired several community relations positions at $42,000 a year. That was the position I was trying to get but by early July 2015 those community positions disappeared from the Boston 2024 website. Those were 3 month positions. Good thing I didn't relocate to the Boston area as I was considering doing.
Ultimately, I was supporting a USA 2024 Olympic games. If Boston didn't work out I would support a Los Angeles 2024 bid. I was thinking the longer the USOC waited on Boston 2024 poll numbers to turn around the harder it would be for the USOC to pick another city. The USOC pulled Boston's bid at the right time. Any later I didn't see the USOC having enough time to find another city and to finalize another bid by the September 15, 2015 IOC deadline.
It turns out that Los Angeles and San Francisco may be working together on a joint bid. The USOC will officially announce the US bid city later in August.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Boston 2024 Update
A week after Boston 2024 released its 2.0 bid, a new poll was released. The poll was conducted July 6-8 by WBUR/Mass Inc. Polling group. 500 Registered voters were polled.
In the state of Massachusetts, 42% approved of bid while 50% opposed it, that is a 3 point improvement from June.
In the Boston area, 40% approved of bid while 53% opposed it. That's virtually unchanged from June numbers.
In this 2.0 bid that was released on June 30, 28 of 34 venues were accounted for, while 6 venues location has not been figured out yet. Yet to find a location are the Media Center, Aquatic Center, Velodrome and 3 others. Some of these venues have to be built from scratch. The Olympic Stadium will be a temporary stadium and seat 69,000.
Boston 2024 will purchase 128 million dollars of Insurance to safeguard the games against cost overruns from construction delays to extra construction costs. The 2.0 bid has a 4.8 billion dollar budget and 4.595 billion in expenses. Boston 2024 says there will be a 210 million dollar surplus. Opposition groups are still skeptical.
On July 23, 2015 there was a televised Olympics debate between Boston 2024 Chairman Steve Pagliuca/USOC Board Member Daniel Doctoroff and No Boston Olympics head Chris Dempsey/Smith College Economist Andrew Zimbalist. They sparred over cost overruns, financial guarantees, traffic, the Olympic budget, surpluses, ticket prices and tax breaks. I watched the debate online and I'm hoping that because Boston 2024 had the majority of the speaking time that the poll numbers will move more in Boston 2024's favor.
Boston 2024 has released the entire 1.0 bid on July 24. There were two chapters that were not released to the public because Boston 2024 said it was private information that only the USOC should see. Bid 1.0 was scheduled to operate at a 500 million dollar deficit, at taxpayer expense. The 1.0 bid did not count on any major opposition. The rest of the 1.0 bid was released ahead of a subpoena threat from Massachusetts legislators.
On Monday, July 27 the USOC will meet with Boston 2024 to determine the fate of the bid. USOC officials wanted Massachusetts governor Baker's decision to endorse or not endorse the bid on Friday July 24, which he did not do. The USOC also wanted Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to say he was going to sign the financial guarantee that the IOC requires for a city to host the games. Mayor Walsh has not promised to sign the guarantee. The IOC General Assembly Meets in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia this coming week. The USOC may pick Los Angeles as the USA 2024 bid city. Stay Tuned.
In the state of Massachusetts, 42% approved of bid while 50% opposed it, that is a 3 point improvement from June.
In the Boston area, 40% approved of bid while 53% opposed it. That's virtually unchanged from June numbers.
In this 2.0 bid that was released on June 30, 28 of 34 venues were accounted for, while 6 venues location has not been figured out yet. Yet to find a location are the Media Center, Aquatic Center, Velodrome and 3 others. Some of these venues have to be built from scratch. The Olympic Stadium will be a temporary stadium and seat 69,000.
Boston 2024 will purchase 128 million dollars of Insurance to safeguard the games against cost overruns from construction delays to extra construction costs. The 2.0 bid has a 4.8 billion dollar budget and 4.595 billion in expenses. Boston 2024 says there will be a 210 million dollar surplus. Opposition groups are still skeptical.
On July 23, 2015 there was a televised Olympics debate between Boston 2024 Chairman Steve Pagliuca/USOC Board Member Daniel Doctoroff and No Boston Olympics head Chris Dempsey/Smith College Economist Andrew Zimbalist. They sparred over cost overruns, financial guarantees, traffic, the Olympic budget, surpluses, ticket prices and tax breaks. I watched the debate online and I'm hoping that because Boston 2024 had the majority of the speaking time that the poll numbers will move more in Boston 2024's favor.
Boston 2024 has released the entire 1.0 bid on July 24. There were two chapters that were not released to the public because Boston 2024 said it was private information that only the USOC should see. Bid 1.0 was scheduled to operate at a 500 million dollar deficit, at taxpayer expense. The 1.0 bid did not count on any major opposition. The rest of the 1.0 bid was released ahead of a subpoena threat from Massachusetts legislators.
On Monday, July 27 the USOC will meet with Boston 2024 to determine the fate of the bid. USOC officials wanted Massachusetts governor Baker's decision to endorse or not endorse the bid on Friday July 24, which he did not do. The USOC also wanted Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to say he was going to sign the financial guarantee that the IOC requires for a city to host the games. Mayor Walsh has not promised to sign the guarantee. The IOC General Assembly Meets in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia this coming week. The USOC may pick Los Angeles as the USA 2024 bid city. Stay Tuned.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
400 Days until Rio games!
Today marks just 400 days until the Rio summer games in 2016, held Aug. 5-21. I usually do posts at one year, six months and 100 days but I decided to start at 500 days for Rio. Next time update will be one year out on August 5!
Also Boston 2024 revealed bid 2.0 on June 30 and was given the stamp of approval by the USOC.
Also Boston 2024 revealed bid 2.0 on June 30 and was given the stamp of approval by the USOC.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
USA Track and Field Championships
The USA Track and Field Championships were held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon from June 25-28, 2015.
Below will be the list of all the athletes who qualified for the World Championships in Beijing, China to be held from August 22-30, 2015.
There are byes by certain USA athletes to the World Championships so there will be 4 qualifiers in some events and there are athletes who have not achieved the Beijing A standard who placed in the top 3.
I will start with prominent athletes who did not qualify for Beijing in August. Sometimes who doesn't go is as important who actually does qualify.
Carmelita Jeter in the women's 100M, Lolo Jones in the women's 100M Hurdles, Bernard Lagat in the Men's 5000M, Sanya Richards-Ross and Francena McCorory in the women's 400M, Jason Richardson in the men's 110M Hurdles, Maggie Vessey in the women's 800M, Georganne Moline and Lashinda Demus in the women's 400M hurdles. All do not qualify for Beijing.
The USA World Championship Track and Field Team:
Men's 100- Tyson Gay, Trayvon Bromell and Mike Rogers
Women's 100- Torie Bowie, English Gardner and Jasmine Todd
Men's 200- Justin Gatlin, Isiah Young and Wallace Spearmon, Jr.
Women's 200- Jenna Prandini, Candyce McGrone and Jeneba Tarmoh
Men's 400- David Verburg, Lashawn Merritt and Vernon Norwood
Women's 400- Allyson Felix, Natasha Hastings and Phyllis Francis
Men's 800- Nick Symmonds, Eric Sowinski and Casimir Loxsom
Women's 800- Alysia Montano, Brenda Martinez and Ajee Wilson
Men's 1500- Matthew Centrowitz, Leo Manzano and Robby Andrews
Women's 1500- Jenny Simpson, Shannon Rowbury and Kerri Gallagher
Men's 5000- Ryan Hill, Galen Rupp and Ben True
Women's 5000- Nicole Tully, Marielle Hall and Abbey D'Agostino
Men's 3000 Steeplechase- Evan Jager, Donn Cabral and Daniel Huling
Women's 3000 Steeplechase- Emma Coburn, Stephanie Garcia and Colleen Quigley
Men's 110 Hurdles- David Oliver, Ronnie Ash, Aries Merritt and Aleec Harris
Women's 100 Hurdles- Dawn Harper-Nelson, Kemi Harrison and Sharika Nelvis
Men's 400 Hurdles- Bershawn Jackson, Johnny Dutch and Kerron Clement
Women's 400 Hurdles- Shamier Little, Cassandra Tate and Kori Carter
Men's Pole Vault- Sam Kendricks, Brad Walker and Jacob Blankenship
Women's Pole Vault- Jennifer Suhr, Sandi Morris and Demi Payne
Men's High Jump - Erik Kynard JR, JaCorian Duffield and Jesse Williams
Women's High Jump- Chaunte Lowe, Elizabeth Patterson and Amy Acuff
Men's Javelin- Sean Furay, Riley Doleezal and Samuel Crouser
Women's Javelin- Kara Winger, Brittany Borman and Hannah Carson
Men's Triple Jump- Omar Craddock, Will Claye and Marquis Dendy
Women's Triple Jump- Christina Epps, April Sinkler and Keturah Orji
Men's Long Jump- Marquis Dendy, Jeffery Henderson and Michael Hartfield
Women's Long Jump - Tianna Bartoletta, Brittney Reese and Janay Deloach
Men's Hammer- Kibwe Johnson, Conor McCullough and A.G. Kruger
Women's Hammer- Amber Campbell, Deanna Price and Amanda Bingson
Men's Shot Put- Joe Kovacs, Christian Cantwell and Jordan Clarke
Women's Shot Put- Michelle Carter, Tia Brooks and Jeneva Stevens
Men's Discus- Jared Schuurmans, Russ Winger and Andrew Evans
Women's Discus- Gia Lewis-Smallwood, Whitney Ashley and Shelbi Vaughn
Men's Decathlon- Trey Hardee, Jeremy Tiawo and Zack Ziemek
Women's Heptathlon- Barbara Nwaba, Sharon Day- Monroe and Erica Bougard
NBC Track and Field coverage note: Todd Harris has replaced Dwight Stones as the field commentator going forward.
I really liked Dwight Stones. I met Dwight at the 1998 Indoor Track and Field Championships in Atlanta. I was able to get his autograph. I will miss his coverage.
Below will be the list of all the athletes who qualified for the World Championships in Beijing, China to be held from August 22-30, 2015.
There are byes by certain USA athletes to the World Championships so there will be 4 qualifiers in some events and there are athletes who have not achieved the Beijing A standard who placed in the top 3.
I will start with prominent athletes who did not qualify for Beijing in August. Sometimes who doesn't go is as important who actually does qualify.
Carmelita Jeter in the women's 100M, Lolo Jones in the women's 100M Hurdles, Bernard Lagat in the Men's 5000M, Sanya Richards-Ross and Francena McCorory in the women's 400M, Jason Richardson in the men's 110M Hurdles, Maggie Vessey in the women's 800M, Georganne Moline and Lashinda Demus in the women's 400M hurdles. All do not qualify for Beijing.
The USA World Championship Track and Field Team:
Men's 100- Tyson Gay, Trayvon Bromell and Mike Rogers
Women's 100- Torie Bowie, English Gardner and Jasmine Todd
Men's 200- Justin Gatlin, Isiah Young and Wallace Spearmon, Jr.
Women's 200- Jenna Prandini, Candyce McGrone and Jeneba Tarmoh
Men's 400- David Verburg, Lashawn Merritt and Vernon Norwood
Women's 400- Allyson Felix, Natasha Hastings and Phyllis Francis
Men's 800- Nick Symmonds, Eric Sowinski and Casimir Loxsom
Women's 800- Alysia Montano, Brenda Martinez and Ajee Wilson
Men's 1500- Matthew Centrowitz, Leo Manzano and Robby Andrews
Women's 1500- Jenny Simpson, Shannon Rowbury and Kerri Gallagher
Men's 5000- Ryan Hill, Galen Rupp and Ben True
Women's 5000- Nicole Tully, Marielle Hall and Abbey D'Agostino
Men's 3000 Steeplechase- Evan Jager, Donn Cabral and Daniel Huling
Women's 3000 Steeplechase- Emma Coburn, Stephanie Garcia and Colleen Quigley
Men's 110 Hurdles- David Oliver, Ronnie Ash, Aries Merritt and Aleec Harris
Women's 100 Hurdles- Dawn Harper-Nelson, Kemi Harrison and Sharika Nelvis
Men's 400 Hurdles- Bershawn Jackson, Johnny Dutch and Kerron Clement
Women's 400 Hurdles- Shamier Little, Cassandra Tate and Kori Carter
Men's Pole Vault- Sam Kendricks, Brad Walker and Jacob Blankenship
Women's Pole Vault- Jennifer Suhr, Sandi Morris and Demi Payne
Men's High Jump - Erik Kynard JR, JaCorian Duffield and Jesse Williams
Women's High Jump- Chaunte Lowe, Elizabeth Patterson and Amy Acuff
Men's Javelin- Sean Furay, Riley Doleezal and Samuel Crouser
Women's Javelin- Kara Winger, Brittany Borman and Hannah Carson
Men's Triple Jump- Omar Craddock, Will Claye and Marquis Dendy
Women's Triple Jump- Christina Epps, April Sinkler and Keturah Orji
Men's Long Jump- Marquis Dendy, Jeffery Henderson and Michael Hartfield
Women's Long Jump - Tianna Bartoletta, Brittney Reese and Janay Deloach
Men's Hammer- Kibwe Johnson, Conor McCullough and A.G. Kruger
Women's Hammer- Amber Campbell, Deanna Price and Amanda Bingson
Men's Shot Put- Joe Kovacs, Christian Cantwell and Jordan Clarke
Women's Shot Put- Michelle Carter, Tia Brooks and Jeneva Stevens
Men's Discus- Jared Schuurmans, Russ Winger and Andrew Evans
Women's Discus- Gia Lewis-Smallwood, Whitney Ashley and Shelbi Vaughn
Men's Decathlon- Trey Hardee, Jeremy Tiawo and Zack Ziemek
Women's Heptathlon- Barbara Nwaba, Sharon Day- Monroe and Erica Bougard
NBC Track and Field coverage note: Todd Harris has replaced Dwight Stones as the field commentator going forward.
I really liked Dwight Stones. I met Dwight at the 1998 Indoor Track and Field Championships in Atlanta. I was able to get his autograph. I will miss his coverage.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
USA Women's Volleyball Cup vs. China/ USA Men's Volleyball World League/USA Women's Volleyball Grand Prix
USA Women's Volleyball Cup results
June 5- China W 3-0, 25-22, 25-15, 25-22
June 6- China L 0-3, 21-25, 23-25, 12-25
June 9- China L 2-3, 29-27, 21-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-17
June 12- China W 3-0, 25-22, 27-25, 25-22
USA Men's Volleyball FIVB World League results
May 30- Iran W 3-1, 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23
May 31- Iran W 3-1, 25-16, 25-16, 20-25, 25-20
June 5- Russia W 3-1, 25-18, 24-26, 25-15, 28-26
June 6- Russia W 3-0, 25-23, 25-21, 25-16
June 12- Poland W 3-2, 23-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 15-9
June 13- Poland W 3-1, 23-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-17
June 19- Iran L 0-3, 19-25, 27-29, 20-25
June 21- Iran L 0-3, 20-25, 21-25, 19-25
June 26- Russia W 3-0, 25-21, 25-20, 25-19
June 27- Russia W 3-1, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 25-18
July 3 - Poland L 2-3, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 20-25, 12-15
July 4 - Poland W 3-1, 25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23
First 6 Matches in the USA, last 6 matches abroad.- W 9 L 3
FIVB World League Finals- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
July 16 - Brazil L 1-3, 26-28, 25-22, 22-25, 25-27
July 17 - France W 3-1, 25-21, 25-22, 24-26, 25-20
July 18 - Serbia L 2-3, 23-25, 21-25, 27-25, 25-20, 12-15
July 19 - Poland W 3-0, 25-22, 25-23, 25-23
USA wins bronze, France wins gold, Serbia wins silver
USA Women's Volleyball Grand Prix
Ankara, Turkey
July 3 - Italy W 3-1, 25-27, 25-21, 25-22, 25-23
July 4 - Turkey W 3-1, 25-20, 17-25, 25-16, 25-21
July 5 - Belgium W 3-0, 25-19, 25-20, 25-18
Kalingrad, Russia
July 10 - Russia W 3-0, 25-22, 25-20, 25-19
July 11 - Turkey W 3-1, 25-12, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21
July 12 - Serbia W 3-2, 25-18, 24-26, 30-28, 19-25, 15-9
Hong Kong
July 16 - Japan W 3-0, 25-23, 25-22, 26-24
July 17 - Thailand W 3-1, 25-21, 25-18, 23-25, 25-16
July 18 - China L 2-3, 25-22, 13-25, 22-25, 25-19, 12-15
After Pool Play W 11 L 1
Final Round- Omaha, Nebraska
July 22 - Japan W 3-0, 25-12, 25-15, 25-18
July 23 - Italy W 3-1, 25-17, 25-14, 15-25, 25-18
July 24 - Russia W 3-1, 26-24, 19-25, 25-16, 25-22
July 25 - Brazil W 3-0, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21
July 26 - China W 3-0, 25-23, 25-19, 25-18
USA wins gold medal
June 5- China W 3-0, 25-22, 25-15, 25-22
June 6- China L 0-3, 21-25, 23-25, 12-25
June 9- China L 2-3, 29-27, 21-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-17
June 12- China W 3-0, 25-22, 27-25, 25-22
USA Men's Volleyball FIVB World League results
May 30- Iran W 3-1, 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-23
May 31- Iran W 3-1, 25-16, 25-16, 20-25, 25-20
June 5- Russia W 3-1, 25-18, 24-26, 25-15, 28-26
June 6- Russia W 3-0, 25-23, 25-21, 25-16
June 12- Poland W 3-2, 23-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 15-9
June 13- Poland W 3-1, 23-25, 25-23, 25-15, 25-17
June 19- Iran L 0-3, 19-25, 27-29, 20-25
June 21- Iran L 0-3, 20-25, 21-25, 19-25
June 26- Russia W 3-0, 25-21, 25-20, 25-19
June 27- Russia W 3-1, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 25-18
July 3 - Poland L 2-3, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 20-25, 12-15
July 4 - Poland W 3-1, 25-20, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23
First 6 Matches in the USA, last 6 matches abroad.- W 9 L 3
FIVB World League Finals- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
July 16 - Brazil L 1-3, 26-28, 25-22, 22-25, 25-27
July 17 - France W 3-1, 25-21, 25-22, 24-26, 25-20
July 18 - Serbia L 2-3, 23-25, 21-25, 27-25, 25-20, 12-15
July 19 - Poland W 3-0, 25-22, 25-23, 25-23
USA wins bronze, France wins gold, Serbia wins silver
USA Women's Volleyball Grand Prix
Ankara, Turkey
July 3 - Italy W 3-1, 25-27, 25-21, 25-22, 25-23
July 4 - Turkey W 3-1, 25-20, 17-25, 25-16, 25-21
July 5 - Belgium W 3-0, 25-19, 25-20, 25-18
Kalingrad, Russia
July 10 - Russia W 3-0, 25-22, 25-20, 25-19
July 11 - Turkey W 3-1, 25-12, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21
July 12 - Serbia W 3-2, 25-18, 24-26, 30-28, 19-25, 15-9
Hong Kong
July 16 - Japan W 3-0, 25-23, 25-22, 26-24
July 17 - Thailand W 3-1, 25-21, 25-18, 23-25, 25-16
July 18 - China L 2-3, 25-22, 13-25, 22-25, 25-19, 12-15
After Pool Play W 11 L 1
Final Round- Omaha, Nebraska
July 22 - Japan W 3-0, 25-12, 25-15, 25-18
July 23 - Italy W 3-1, 25-17, 25-14, 15-25, 25-18
July 24 - Russia W 3-1, 26-24, 19-25, 25-16, 25-22
July 25 - Brazil W 3-0, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21
July 26 - China W 3-0, 25-23, 25-19, 25-18
USA wins gold medal
Friday, June 12, 2015
Olympic Updates- Boston 2024
Its been a few months since I posted an update to the Boston 2024 Olympics bid.
In May 2015, Boston 2024 made a change in its leadership with a nudge by the USOC and low poll ratings. John Fish stepped down as Boston 2024 Chairman and stepped into a Vice Chair position while Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca is now Boston 2024 CEO.
Over the past two months Boston 2024 has had several meetings across Boston and the discourse has intensified. While the opposition has grown louder so has intimidation from Boston 2024 supporters. At a Boston 2024 Dorchester meeting last month, a supporter of Boston 2024 shouted down a woman who was asking about how the games might affect poor people. Civility and tone has given way to venom and disrespect.
Also in May, a USOC board member Angela Ruggiero suggested that Boston was still being vetted and they were not guaranteed to be the USA bid city as the Sept. 15 deadline approaches. Ruggiero suggested that Los Angeles could wind up as the USA bid city instead of Boston.
The last few days of May have been damaging to Boston 2024. While they were reassuring the IOC that the bid was strong Boston Magazine and the Boston Business Journal were able to publish the complete bid book and not the redacted version used by Boston 2024. The bid reveals dependence on public money to pay for land acquisition for an Olympic stadium and infrastructure costs related to building that stadium. The public money would come in the form of city or state issued tax increment financing bonds. Also Boston 2024 would use a one billion dollar expansion of the city's convention center for Olympic events. The Governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker froze that expansion due to budget issues.
That same week in late May the city of Brookline, Massachusetts voted against the Boston bid because Boston 2024 did not inform the city of Brookline for use of its country club for golf.
Steve Pagliuca will present a new Boston bid (2.0) by June 30. Boston 2024 has been taking input from citizens at Boston 2024 meetings for the past few months. Speculation is that the games will spread out throughout the state of Massachusetts instead of being a compact games. This is being done to tamp down opposition in the Boston metropolitan area.
Lastly, a new poll was released this week. 39% of Massachusetts voters support the bid while 49% oppose it. The poll was conducted between June 4-6 and had 502 registered voters responding.
In May 2015, Boston 2024 made a change in its leadership with a nudge by the USOC and low poll ratings. John Fish stepped down as Boston 2024 Chairman and stepped into a Vice Chair position while Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca is now Boston 2024 CEO.
Over the past two months Boston 2024 has had several meetings across Boston and the discourse has intensified. While the opposition has grown louder so has intimidation from Boston 2024 supporters. At a Boston 2024 Dorchester meeting last month, a supporter of Boston 2024 shouted down a woman who was asking about how the games might affect poor people. Civility and tone has given way to venom and disrespect.
Also in May, a USOC board member Angela Ruggiero suggested that Boston was still being vetted and they were not guaranteed to be the USA bid city as the Sept. 15 deadline approaches. Ruggiero suggested that Los Angeles could wind up as the USA bid city instead of Boston.
The last few days of May have been damaging to Boston 2024. While they were reassuring the IOC that the bid was strong Boston Magazine and the Boston Business Journal were able to publish the complete bid book and not the redacted version used by Boston 2024. The bid reveals dependence on public money to pay for land acquisition for an Olympic stadium and infrastructure costs related to building that stadium. The public money would come in the form of city or state issued tax increment financing bonds. Also Boston 2024 would use a one billion dollar expansion of the city's convention center for Olympic events. The Governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker froze that expansion due to budget issues.
That same week in late May the city of Brookline, Massachusetts voted against the Boston bid because Boston 2024 did not inform the city of Brookline for use of its country club for golf.
Steve Pagliuca will present a new Boston bid (2.0) by June 30. Boston 2024 has been taking input from citizens at Boston 2024 meetings for the past few months. Speculation is that the games will spread out throughout the state of Massachusetts instead of being a compact games. This is being done to tamp down opposition in the Boston metropolitan area.
Lastly, a new poll was released this week. 39% of Massachusetts voters support the bid while 49% oppose it. The poll was conducted between June 4-6 and had 502 registered voters responding.
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Olympic update- 2012 London games- USA men's Track 4 by 100M relay team stripped of silver medals/Gymnastics (FIG) to reduce teams by one
The USA men's 4 by 100 relay team at the 2012 London Olympics were stripped of their silver medals today by the IOC because of the Tyson Gay doping case. The USA athletes besides Tyson Gay stripped of their medals are: Trell Kimmons, Ryan Bailey, Justin Gatlin, Darvis Patton and Jeffrey Demps. Other athletes have been stripped of their medals on track relays but the rule was changed recently to disqualify all athletes on a relay team, not just the primary doper. This is not the first time medals have been stripped from USA relay teams. Marion Jones was stripped of a gold medal from the 2000 Sydney games in the 4 by 400M relay and bronze in the 4 by 100M relay. The rest of the relay team appealed successfully to keep their medals in 2010. Also the USA was stripped of the men's 4 by 400M relay gold from the 2000 Sydney games after Antonio Pettigrew admitted to doping. In 2012 the USA women's 4 by 400 relay team from 2004 was stripped of the gold medal because of Crystal Cox admission of doping.
Tyson Gay served a one year ban that ended in July 2014 but all of Gay's results were erased from June 2012 to July 2013.
The USA had finished second in 2012 in the 4 by 100M relay in a USA record 37.04 seconds while Jamaica won gold in a world record 36.84 seconds.
The silver medal now goes to Trinidad and Tobago finishing in 38.12 seconds while France wins bronze in 38.16 seconds.
FIG to reduce gymnastics teams by one
Starting with the 2020 Tokyo games, both men's and women's gymnastics teams will only have four members, This is a reduction from five gymnasts on a team at the London Games and six gymnasts on a team at the Beijing and Athens games. In Atlanta seven gymnasts were on each team.
According to the Federation of International Gymnastics(FIG) the four gymnasts will compete on each apparatus and three scores count. Countries will be able to qualify two gymnasts for Individual competition as well. Individuals can qualify through certain cups and championships. The exact details hasn't been finalized. Reaction by USA gymnastics coaches and athletes have been negative as elite gymnasts will be left off of the USA teams. More gymnasts will be able to compete as Individuals but on gymnastics teams there will be no room for specialists to compete on a certain apparatus.
Tyson Gay served a one year ban that ended in July 2014 but all of Gay's results were erased from June 2012 to July 2013.
The USA had finished second in 2012 in the 4 by 100M relay in a USA record 37.04 seconds while Jamaica won gold in a world record 36.84 seconds.
The silver medal now goes to Trinidad and Tobago finishing in 38.12 seconds while France wins bronze in 38.16 seconds.
FIG to reduce gymnastics teams by one
Starting with the 2020 Tokyo games, both men's and women's gymnastics teams will only have four members, This is a reduction from five gymnasts on a team at the London Games and six gymnasts on a team at the Beijing and Athens games. In Atlanta seven gymnasts were on each team.
According to the Federation of International Gymnastics(FIG) the four gymnasts will compete on each apparatus and three scores count. Countries will be able to qualify two gymnasts for Individual competition as well. Individuals can qualify through certain cups and championships. The exact details hasn't been finalized. Reaction by USA gymnastics coaches and athletes have been negative as elite gymnasts will be left off of the USA teams. More gymnasts will be able to compete as Individuals but on gymnastics teams there will be no room for specialists to compete on a certain apparatus.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Centennial Olympic Park visit observations
On May 8, 2015 I visited Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. I had previously visited the park in March 1998, Sept. 2001, 2005, Nov. 2011 and May 2013. Over the past several visits I noticed the slow aging of my brick and several sections of bricks in the park. Last week I was able to speak to a park employee. This park employee had been there 12 years. He said that the bricks were not supposed to be life lasting and that my $35 contribution was to build the park. He had concern that the bricks were aging and that if enough bricks could not be read the park could take action to replace the bricks, but it was unlikely. There is significant wear on some bricks like mine but others were in much better shape. I thought the weather played a part but in my opinion, that is not the case. The park is heavily used for concerts and events. My brick is in section 54 light bricks, which is near the fountains in the main part of the park. Some 54 light bricks are in much better condition than mine. I also noticed some cracked areas where numbering was along the grass in certain areas of the park. The park does replace those. They were replacing the grass when I visited last week.
When people purchase commemorative bricks it usually means a lifetime. In 5-10 years at this rate most bricks wont be readable. The park needs to replace the most worn ones soon. My brick will not be readable in 5 years. If Centennial Olympic Park does not slow the aging process I will take action to save my brick. In my opinion, it is the reason lots of people visit the park. Please don't let the bricks become unreadable. Some already are.
Update: On May 22, 2015 I scrubbed my brick and rinsed it off. Actually I cleaned about 9 bricks total but only could really rinse mine. Looks a lot better! The engraving is in better shape than I thought. Also that day a family from New York was visiting the park and was trying to find their brick. I was talking to them. They had not ever seen their brick. After a few minutes they found it, It was readable but dirty. Another reason for the park to power wash the bricks.
When people purchase commemorative bricks it usually means a lifetime. In 5-10 years at this rate most bricks wont be readable. The park needs to replace the most worn ones soon. My brick will not be readable in 5 years. If Centennial Olympic Park does not slow the aging process I will take action to save my brick. In my opinion, it is the reason lots of people visit the park. Please don't let the bricks become unreadable. Some already are.
Update: On May 22, 2015 I scrubbed my brick and rinsed it off. Actually I cleaned about 9 bricks total but only could really rinse mine. Looks a lot better! The engraving is in better shape than I thought. Also that day a family from New York was visiting the park and was trying to find their brick. I was talking to them. They had not ever seen their brick. After a few minutes they found it, It was readable but dirty. Another reason for the park to power wash the bricks.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Boston 2024 Update - April poll numbers
According to a new poll taken by Gravis Marketing on April 9 and 10, numbers have not moved at all for support of Boston 2024. According to the poll sample of 2,182 Massachusetts residents 37% support bringing the games to Boston and 49% do not with 14% unsure.
According to the new poll, in a question about use of taxpayer dollars to bail out the Olympics The margin is 66%-24% against using public funds.
Poll respondents support a statewide referendum on the 2024 games by a margin of 61%-23% while poll respondents do not think that the Olympics would not benefit the state by a 46%-40% margin.
Gravis Marketing is a non partisan Florida based research firm. This poll was compiled for the Howie Carr radio network.
The other poll taken by WBUR April 10-13 of 509 registered voters living in Boston area inside/along route 128 has support for a Boston games at 40% while 50% oppose. This is an improvement from March poll numbers of 36% supporting the bid while 52% oppose. In the city of Boston support is at 47% while 41% oppose. This is the first time since January more people support the games inside of the city of Boston! Also the poll indicates 90% of respondents think there will be cost overruns.
According to the new poll, in a question about use of taxpayer dollars to bail out the Olympics The margin is 66%-24% against using public funds.
Poll respondents support a statewide referendum on the 2024 games by a margin of 61%-23% while poll respondents do not think that the Olympics would not benefit the state by a 46%-40% margin.
Gravis Marketing is a non partisan Florida based research firm. This poll was compiled for the Howie Carr radio network.
The other poll taken by WBUR April 10-13 of 509 registered voters living in Boston area inside/along route 128 has support for a Boston games at 40% while 50% oppose. This is an improvement from March poll numbers of 36% supporting the bid while 52% oppose. In the city of Boston support is at 47% while 41% oppose. This is the first time since January more people support the games inside of the city of Boston! Also the poll indicates 90% of respondents think there will be cost overruns.
Monday, April 6, 2015
Olympic updates - AVP Beach Volleyball And Athlete Update
In 2015 all AVP beach finals will be televised by NBC and the NBC Sports Network. There will be 17.5 hours of coverage on NBC's networks. NBC will televise 10 hours while the NBC Sports Network will televise 7.5 hours. Universal Sports will also air the AVP as well. NBC Sports live will stream the finals online. The first AVP Finals televised by NBC will be the New Orleans Open on May 22-24. There are currently 7 stops on the AVP tour in 2015.
The 6 other planned US AVP Tour Stops are:
New York City Open - July 17-19
Seattle Open - Aug. 7-9
Manhattan Beach Open - Aug. 14-16
Chicago Open - Aug. 28-30
Cincinnati Open - Sept. 4-6
AVP Championships at Huntington Beach - Sept. 11-13
Also the AVP will be presenting the FIVB St. Petersburg Grand Slam held from June 15-21.
Athlete Update:
Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang has announced his retirement at age 31. Xiang won gold at the 2004 Athens games in the 110M hurdles. Injuries kept him from medaling at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
The 6 other planned US AVP Tour Stops are:
New York City Open - July 17-19
Seattle Open - Aug. 7-9
Manhattan Beach Open - Aug. 14-16
Chicago Open - Aug. 28-30
Cincinnati Open - Sept. 4-6
AVP Championships at Huntington Beach - Sept. 11-13
Also the AVP will be presenting the FIVB St. Petersburg Grand Slam held from June 15-21.
Athlete Update:
Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang has announced his retirement at age 31. Xiang won gold at the 2004 Athens games in the 110M hurdles. Injuries kept him from medaling at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Olympic updates - Doping samples and Boston 2024
Doping samples
The IOC is going to retest hundreds of doping samples from the 2008 Beijing games as part of a crackdown to catch cheaters. The IOC has retested a small amount of the 4,000 samples from the Beijing games already and now has a window of 10 years to retest doping samples under a new world anti-doping code. The old code limited doping testing to 8 years. The IOC hopes to retest the majority of the Beijing games samples before the statute of limitations runs out in 2018. The IOC realistically would like to test several high profile athletes competing in Rio in 2016. No positive tests have been found from any Beijing 2008 samples as of now.
Testing samples from the 2004 Athens games wrapped up in 2012 and five athletes were caught and stripped of their medals.
The IOC has already carried out retesting on a few samples from the 2010 Vancouver games and 2012 London games with no positive results. For the 2016 Rio games, the IOC will be testing roughly 5,000 and that number is the same number tested in London.
Boston 2024 Update
The USOC selected Boston as the US city to bid on the 2024 Summer Olympic games back in early January. Since then support for these games has been declining. In January 51% supported the bid and 33% disapproved. A poll was taken in February and those numbers slipped to 44% approve and 46 % disapprove. The last poll taken this month(March) with 36% approve and 52% disapprove. Boston 2024, the organization leading the bid, has agreed to a statewide referendum to take place in Nov. 2016. For the IOC to consider strongly the Boston bid, approval ratings need to be close to 70%. Hamburg, Germany has officially decided to bid on the 2024 games and Hamburg has approval ratings of 64%. Boston 2024 has said the bid will not go forward If the majority of statewide voters don't approve. They won't go forward if there is not a majority of voters approving the bid within the City of Boston itself. Boston has to submit their final bid to the IOC by January 2016. This means if the referendum fails the USOC will not be able to bid on the 2024 games at all.
Boston 2024 has an extensive public relations and social media/marketing campaign set up to try and stop the decline in poll numbers. Boston 2024 is led by John Fish. Fish is the CEO of Suffolk Construction. It is the largest construction company in the northeast.
There are several opposition groups that have formed. No Boston Olympics and No Boston 2024 are two of the groups. Bostonian's say they think they will be on the hook for cost overruns while Boston 2024 says there will be none. Opposition groups plan to talk to state legislators who could introduce legislation to make sure state taxpayers are not responsible for cost overruns. Boston 2024 has said that they won't submit a final bid if they cannot insure the bid against overruns. Boston 2024 has a 10 point plan of a cost effective, compact Olympics with temporary venues and plenty of jobs and housing created. Bostonian's do not want resources taken away from their city and are unsure about a transportation system that shut down several times during the winter of 2014/15.
Boston 2024 has said they have a plan to ease the concerns of Bostonians through 20 meetings spread out through Boston and the State of Massachusetts over the next several months. Boston 2024 will listen to concerns and change the bid to meet Bostonians needs.
Boston 2024 has recruited over 1,000 volunteers to fan out all over the city to pitch the 2024 Games to Bostonians.
The latest development is a rumor that the USOC might pull the bid on Boston 2024 soon if poll numbers don't go up. This was reported in a CNBC tweet. The USOC has denied the report.
Lastly, 2012 Olympian Jordyn Wieber has retired from gymnastics at the age of 19.
The IOC is going to retest hundreds of doping samples from the 2008 Beijing games as part of a crackdown to catch cheaters. The IOC has retested a small amount of the 4,000 samples from the Beijing games already and now has a window of 10 years to retest doping samples under a new world anti-doping code. The old code limited doping testing to 8 years. The IOC hopes to retest the majority of the Beijing games samples before the statute of limitations runs out in 2018. The IOC realistically would like to test several high profile athletes competing in Rio in 2016. No positive tests have been found from any Beijing 2008 samples as of now.
Testing samples from the 2004 Athens games wrapped up in 2012 and five athletes were caught and stripped of their medals.
The IOC has already carried out retesting on a few samples from the 2010 Vancouver games and 2012 London games with no positive results. For the 2016 Rio games, the IOC will be testing roughly 5,000 and that number is the same number tested in London.
Boston 2024 Update
The USOC selected Boston as the US city to bid on the 2024 Summer Olympic games back in early January. Since then support for these games has been declining. In January 51% supported the bid and 33% disapproved. A poll was taken in February and those numbers slipped to 44% approve and 46 % disapprove. The last poll taken this month(March) with 36% approve and 52% disapprove. Boston 2024, the organization leading the bid, has agreed to a statewide referendum to take place in Nov. 2016. For the IOC to consider strongly the Boston bid, approval ratings need to be close to 70%. Hamburg, Germany has officially decided to bid on the 2024 games and Hamburg has approval ratings of 64%. Boston 2024 has said the bid will not go forward If the majority of statewide voters don't approve. They won't go forward if there is not a majority of voters approving the bid within the City of Boston itself. Boston has to submit their final bid to the IOC by January 2016. This means if the referendum fails the USOC will not be able to bid on the 2024 games at all.
Boston 2024 has an extensive public relations and social media/marketing campaign set up to try and stop the decline in poll numbers. Boston 2024 is led by John Fish. Fish is the CEO of Suffolk Construction. It is the largest construction company in the northeast.
There are several opposition groups that have formed. No Boston Olympics and No Boston 2024 are two of the groups. Bostonian's say they think they will be on the hook for cost overruns while Boston 2024 says there will be none. Opposition groups plan to talk to state legislators who could introduce legislation to make sure state taxpayers are not responsible for cost overruns. Boston 2024 has said that they won't submit a final bid if they cannot insure the bid against overruns. Boston 2024 has a 10 point plan of a cost effective, compact Olympics with temporary venues and plenty of jobs and housing created. Bostonian's do not want resources taken away from their city and are unsure about a transportation system that shut down several times during the winter of 2014/15.
Boston 2024 has said they have a plan to ease the concerns of Bostonians through 20 meetings spread out through Boston and the State of Massachusetts over the next several months. Boston 2024 will listen to concerns and change the bid to meet Bostonians needs.
Boston 2024 has recruited over 1,000 volunteers to fan out all over the city to pitch the 2024 Games to Bostonians.
The latest development is a rumor that the USOC might pull the bid on Boston 2024 soon if poll numbers don't go up. This was reported in a CNBC tweet. The USOC has denied the report.
Lastly, 2012 Olympian Jordyn Wieber has retired from gymnastics at the age of 19.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
500 Days Until Rio Games!
Today marks the 500th day until the Rio 2016 Olympic Games! The games will be held August 5-21 2016.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
IOC considers cutting track and field events from Olympics
In December 2014 when the IOC passed their Olympic 2020 agenda I was not aware that the IOC was thinking of cutting any events to cap the summer Olympics participants to 10,500 across 310 events for future Olympics. This story eluded me for two months until I read a tweet from Dwight Stones that the IOC is considering just that, cutting major track and field events in time for the Tokyo 2020 summer games. The events being considered being dropped are: 200M, 10000M, shot put, triple jump and 20K race walking. The IOC wants to cut 231 athletes from the 2,231 track athletes that competed at the 2012 London games, leaving 2000 athletes as a cap for track and field at future summer games. Track and Field has the most athletes competing with over 20% of all athletes participating at the summer games. This is so the IOC can add more sports like surfing and karate that suit younger viewers at future games.
I learned the 10000M event is being cut out from European meets so that may be ok for the IOC to cull along with any race walking events. The 200M is a marquee event and should not be tampered with along with the shot put and triple jump. I'm hoping the IAAF stands up to fight this injustice to the sport of track and field and the history of the Olympic Games.
I learned the 10000M event is being cut out from European meets so that may be ok for the IOC to cull along with any race walking events. The 200M is a marquee event and should not be tampered with along with the shot put and triple jump. I'm hoping the IAAF stands up to fight this injustice to the sport of track and field and the history of the Olympic Games.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Boston 2024!
The USOC has chosen Boston as the USA bid city to host the 2024 summer Olympic Games! Boston was chosen over Los Angeles, Washington and San Fransisco. Boston was chosen because of the frugality of their bid. Boston will depend upon area colleges to house Olympic athletes. Area colleges and universities in the Boston area will use venues built for the games after the games have finished. The USOC will submit Boston's bid by Sept. 2015. Other international cities that may bid on the 2024 summer Olympic Games are: Paris, Rome, Istanbul, Hamburg and Berlin Germany and finally Melbourne, Australia.
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