The female basketball team of Jeddah United warm up in Jordan on April 21, 2009. Jeddah United is the only private sports company with women’s teams. © 2009 Reuters

Prince Nayef ibn Abdulaziz has said women can represent Saudi Arabia at the Olympics this summer as long as they don’t contradict Islamic laws, a sign of change after human rights activists campaigned against the exclusion of Saudi women from sports.

But Human Rights Watch, which has lobbied the International Olympic Committee to make sure Saudi Arabia includes women in athletics, says sending a few women to the Games doesn’t solve the problem.

“You cannot pull a token woman out of your hat to say everything is hunky-dory,” said Christoph Wilcke, the lead researcher behind a scathing Human Rights Watch report on female athletes in Saudi Arabia. “This is a good step — but we need to start a sporting culture for women in Saudi Arabia.”

His report last month laid out obstacles Saudi women face in playing sports. They include public schools not holding gym classes for girls and the government shuttering private gyms for women, allowing only “health clubs” that are too expensive for many women and offer fewer activities. The report argued that Saudi Arabian rules were incompatible with the Olympic charter banning discrimination.

Saudi Arabia is one of three countries that have never sent a woman to the Olympics. The IOC has been in talks with the country over including women, but has shied away from ultimatums or deadlines that would hitch Saudi involvement in the Games to changing its ways.

Media reports from Saudi Arabia have indicated that female athletes might be sent to the Summer Olympics in London to compete in riflery or horseback riding. Last week, the group was given a list of Saudi women who might participate, to be studied by the IOC to assess the readiness of the athletes.

A formal proposal is expected in May.

“The IOC is confident that Saudi Arabia is working to include women athletes and officials at the Olympic Games in London in accordance with the International Federations’ rules,” the group wrote in a statement on its website Monday.

In addition, a Saudi female sports commentator and amateur soccer coach, Reema Abdullah, will be one of the 8,000 people to carry the Olympic torch, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

With little access to athletics for girls in Saudi Arabia, it’s possible that Saudi women living elsewhere might be tapped to represent the country in the Games. One of the names that has been floated is Dalma Rushdi Malhas, who won a bronze medal in show jumping at the Youth Olympics two years ago but who grew up in Italy and lives mostly in France.

Wilcke noted that there was one sign of broader change: One article in the Saudi media quoted a lawmaker saying they were ready to implement physical education for girls “soon.”

“It’s a strong signal,” he said. “But there’s still no time line and we’ve heard these promises before.”

Being blocked from sports is just one of many barriers faced in Saudi Arabia, where women were only recently given the right to vote. Saudi women are still banned from driving and must get permission from a male guardian to work, study, travel or marry.

source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/03/saudi-arabia-women-athletes.html

Ian Thorpe reacts after seeing his time in the 100m freestyle heats, which failed to get him a place in the semi-finals and propel him to a spot in the Olympic team. Source: Getty Images

Five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe said he’ll continue his swimming comeback after missing out on a London Games berth at the Australian selection trials.

Thorpe blew his last chance to secure a spot in the squad by failing to advance out of the 100-meter freestyle heats in Adelaide yesterday. The 29-year-old also failed to make the 200- meter freestyle final three days ago.

Thorpe had been bidding to compete in his third Olympics and first in eight years. He returned to racing in November, five years after retiring from swimming as Australia’s most successful Olympic athlete.

“I’ve missed out on what was a huge goal for me to accomplish in this short period of time, but still the desire I had before this, it’s still there,” Thorpe said in a news conference. “I still want to swim.”

Thorpe, who needed to finish in the top 16 to reach the 100-meter semifinals, posted the 21st fastest time of 50.35 seconds. World champion James Magnussen went quickest in 48.26 in the heats before topping last night’s semifinals with a season-best time of 47.93.

Australia’s policy is to pick the top two from each event at the trials, with a top-six finish in the 100-meter or 200- meter freestyle securing a place on the Olympic relay squad.

“Thorpie’s been someone I’ve always admired as a swimmer so it is upsetting for him and the rest of us do feel his pain,” said Magnussen, who is the bookmakers’ favorite to win the 100-meter freestyle Olympic gold this year. “It would have been great to have him there in London.”

Thorpe had last raced at a major meet in January 2006 at the Australian Commonwealth Games trials, 17 months after winning two golds, one silver and one bronze in Athens to lift his Olympic medal tally to a national-record nine.

No Regrets

After announcing his comeback 13 months ago, Thorpe wasn’t eligible to compete again until November. Even after missing out on the Olympics, he said that he’d still made the right decision to return after an extended period away from the sport.

“I don’t regret giving this a go,” Thorpe said. “Compared to how I’ve raced and how I’ve competed and the success I’ve had, this does look like doom, but I’m glad I was willing to put myself out there to give this a shot.”

Thorpe said he would take some time off before discussing his next targets with Leigh Nugent, the head coach of Australia’s swim team, and his coach Gennadi Touretski.

The 15th world championships take place in Barcelona next year before the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

“What he’s attempted was incredibly difficult and coming here and doing what he’s done is an achievement in itself,” Nugent told reporters. “He got to the point in his races where he committed himself but just couldn’t go on with it and that’s a training and condition factor. He’s got it all. You’ve just got to train it.”

source: http://www.businessweek.com

This handout picture released on March 18, 2012 by the Austrian Ski Federation shows Overall World Cup winner Lindsey Vonn from the US posing with her World Cup crystal globe trophies at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup in Schladming. Photograph by: Erich Spiess , AFP/Getty Images

Lindsey Vonn and Marcel Hirscher have ended their best-ever World Cup seasons, though neither of the overall champions finished on a high note.

Vonn lost her right pole before finishing 24th in the last women’s giant slalom and failed to set a record for the most World Cup points scored in one season. Vonn will have to let Hermann Maier’s 12-year-old mark of 2,000 points stand for at least another year.
Hirscher straddled a gate in the final men’s slalom and missed out on the discipline title, one day after the Austrian gave a ski-mad nation what it had been longing for since 2006 — the overall title.“I have never lost a pole in my life and I have been skiing since I was two years old,” Vonn said. “Obviously I am disappointed. I am pretty focused on goals. These 2,000 points will have to wait until next year. But I am very proud of what I did achieve this season.”

The American standout had already re-established herself as ski racing’s undoubted leader by reclaiming the big crystal globe from best friend Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany.

It was Vonn’s fourth overall crown. Also, she successfully defended her discipline titles in downhill, super-G and super-combined.

“I am extremely happy with my season, I am very satisfied,” Vonn said. “But I always feel like I can do better.”

During a brief visit to the World Cup finals, Bill Marolt, the President and CEO of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, said Vonn’s achievements could not be rated high enough.

“She is totally committed to the sport, works 12 months a year,” Marolt said. “There is no secret to her success, she just works hard. And she works hard because she loves it.”

Vonn’s season kicked off on a high as she became only the fifth female skier to have won in all five Alpine disciplines, immediately followed by a low as her four-year marriage to Thomas Vonn came to an end.

She went on to win more races (12) and more points (1,980) than ever before.

“For the future, I hope to win more,” Vonn said. “There are few people who have achieved a lot more than me so I will try to get close to them in the coming years.”

Vonn’s teammate Julia Mancuso also had a consistent season and finished fourth overall, one spot higher than last year.

“I definitely like where my skiing is right now,” Mancuso said.

From a winner’s perspective, Vonn regaining the overall title was the only change on the women’s side. Austria’s Marlies Schild held on to her slalom dominance and Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg proved again she is the leading GS racer.

It was all change on the men’s side, though, starting with Hirscher.

“It’s completely unreal, a whole new feeling,” said the Austrian, who beat Switzerland’s Beat Feuz in a gripping finish to the season. “A lot could happen and it felt like playing poker. Luckily, I had full house.”

Hirscher claimed his first overall title ahead of Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic, who also lost his slalom title to Andre Myhrer of Sweden.

Kostelic’s battle for the championship was spoiled by knee surgery, which forced him to sit out nine races in February. A minor consolation for Kostelic was once again topping the super-combined standings.

Swiss standout Didier Cuche had to hand over both of the crystal globes he won last year for downhill and super-G to Austria’s Klaus Kroell and Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal, respectively.

It hardly put a stain on the lengthy career of Cuche, who, like Anja Paerson on the women’s side, was the most prominent men’s skier to end his career.

Ted Ligety won three giant slaloms and earned more points in the discipline than ever before, but still lost his GS title to Hirscher.

“For me it was a good year,” the American said. “It’s just that someone else was better.”

Ligety’s American teammate Bode Miller skipped the World Cup finals to recover from knee surgery. The veteran scored a downhill victory in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in December and had three more podium finishes.

Asked about Miller’s future, Marolt said, “We don’t know that. As long as Bode enjoys what he’s doing and he’s having success, he will continue … He has to do rehab. That could be good motivation for next year. Bode is unique in many ways.”

With or without Miller, the next World Cup season will start at Soelden, Austria, in October.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

source: http://www.washingtonpost.com

Ian Thorpe swam his fastest 200-meter freestyle time since coming out of retirement to reach the semifinals of the Australian Olympic trials, continuing his quest to qualify for London 2012.

The screaming from the crowd started the moment the five-time Olympic champion stepped onto the blocks in lane seven Friday morning and didn’t end until he’d finished in a dead-heat for second place in heat seven to ensure he’d progress to the next round.

Thorpe and David McKeon finished in 1 minute, 49.16 seconds, tied for the fifth-fastest time going into Friday night’s semifinals. Ryan Napoleon won that heat and was the fastest qualifier for the semifinals in 1:48.27.

“It’s a pretty decent time,” said the 29-year-old Thorpe, who will swim in lane three in the second semifinal Friday night. “I’m happy with that swim.”

Thorpe’s personal best is 1:44.06 from the 2001 world championships, which stood as a world record for eight years—from 2001 to 2009— and remains the Commonwealth and Australian records.

Most of the focus on the Australian trials is on Thorpe, who announced his comeback last year after deciding to retire in 2006. He was the reigning 200- and 400-meter freestyle Olympic champion when he quit swimming competitively, and had set 13 individual world records after bursting onto the international scene as a teenager with size 17 feet in 1999.

His times since returning to competition late in 2011 have been modest by his standards and have led some critics to say he has been “foxing,” or swimming slower than he’s capable of just to keep the competition guessing.

Before the Australian trials, where he’s also swimming the 100 freestyle and must finish first or second in the 100 or 200 to qualify for an individual spot at London, he said he’d hadn’t had the luxury of foxing and was as nervous now as he was ahead of his first Olympics at Sydney in 2000.

His best chance of qualifying is as a relay swimmer, which means he has to finish at least in the top six in the finals and gamble on selectors giving him a chance.

Thorpe has dispensed with the sleek, black full-length bodysuit at the trials and was wearing only knee-length swimming trunks, showing off a trimmed-down but still hulking physique.

He has plenty of competition from younger contenders in the 200, with McKeon upsetting Napoleon on the opening night of the trials to win the 400 freestyle and 20-year-old Thomas Fraser-Holmes—the fastest 200 freestyler in Australia last year—setting the national record to win the 400 individual medley on Thursday night.

read more at the source: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news;_ylt=Atukov9_m5c5TXzJBqZJJ3rNycIF?slug=ap-swm-australiantrials

US skier Lindsey Vonn secured her fourth straight super-G World Cup trophy here Thursday, as Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg won the discipline’s final race of the season.

With the overall, downhill and super-combined trophies already in the bag, 27-year-old Vonn also made it an even four this season with the super-G crystal globe, ahead of second-placed compatriot Julia Mancuso.

Rebensburg won the race with a time of 1min 24.54sec, 0.18 seconds ahead of Mancuso.

Although a two-time junior world champion in the super-G, this was the 22-year-old German’s first ever World Cup win in the discipline.

France’s Marion Rolland, who had her first World Cup podium finish on Wednesday in the downhill, came third in the race with 1:24.75.

Vonn had a superb run and was due for victory but made a crucial mistake near the end of the course and finished just sixth.

Her lead in the crystal globe standings meant she secured the trophy anyway, ahead of Mancuso, who overtook Austria’s Anna Fenninger to finish second in the super-G standings.

Vonn however failed to break the season record of 2,000 points set by Austria’s Hermann Maier, as she hoped. Thursday’s performance took her to 1,948 points.

“It was a great opportunity to make these 2,000 points but I still have the giant slalom (Sunday) and I’ll try everything,” she said after the race.

“Everything’s still possible. Unfortunately, today it didn’t work out.”

And the super-G World Cup trophy was no small consolation.

“I’m very happy with my performance (this season). Every crystal globe is nice.”

Rebensburg meanwhile looks set to take the giant slalom trophy over the weekend.

“It looks good but still you never know. In any case, I’ll have to ski well and hopefully there’ll be a good result for me.”

source: http://sports.yahoo.com/ski/news;_ylt=Aq618X6fqtaECiKJDePu6cjNycIF?slug=afp-ski_world_women_20120315

Overall champion Lindsey Vonn notched her 12th win of the season and remained on course for the highest score recorded in the women’s World Cup when she won the downhill at the finals on Wednesday. Vonn’s victory in one minute and 46.56 seconds meant she broke her personal record for wins in a season and took the American to 1,908 points, 62 behind the best of 1,970 set by Croatia’s Janica Kostelic in 2006. “Victory in the season opener and another at the finals, its’ important to have this consistency, to never give up,” she said. “It’s a great win in the sense that the world championships will take place on the same course next year,” Vonn added. The 27-year-old, whose season started with the announcement of her divorce from husband and coach Thomas Vonn, said the support of her friends in the American team had been crucial. “The team spirit helped me reconsider things. It rejuvenated me,” she said.

Vonn, who has also won the downhill and super-combined World Cup titles, is almost certain to win the Super-G crystal globe on Thursday and is still on course for the giant slalom competition. Despite winning almost everything her sport can offer, Vonn said she still had goals to achieve. “To win my 50th victory in Garmisch was a highlight, as was my first home win in Beaver Creek. But I still have a lot to achieve in the next three seasons. I want to keep skiing for the fun of it but also to leave a mark in the history of the sport,” she said. France’s Marion Rolland finished 0.92 seconds behind Vonn for her first World Cup podium. Rolland is best known for crashing after only three seconds in the 2010 Olympic downhill in Whistler, and images of her fall have been shown repeatedly on television and websites. “I knew I had the potential to go for a podium I was looking for at the start of the season. The piste suited me perfectly and I managed to let the skis go for once,” she said. Slovenia’s Tina Maze, Vonn’s nearest rival this winter, was third. The giant slalom world champion has made the podium in every discipline this season but has yet to win a race.

source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk

A beer after playing a game of football, a long run, or a strenuous round of golf can be good for the body, scientists say.

In a rare piece of good news for those who like a pint, Spanish researchers say beer can help someone who is dehydrated retain liquid better than water.

Prof Manuel Garzon, of Granada University, also claimed the bubbles in beer help to quench the thirst and that its carbohydrate content can help to replace lost calories.

Prof Garzon asked a group of students to do strenuous exercise in temperatures of around 40ºC (104ºF). Half were given a pint of beer, while the others received the same volume of water.

Prof Garzon, who announced the results at a press conference in Granada beneath a banner declaring “Beer, Sport, Health“, said the hydration effect in those who drank beer was “slightly better”.

Juan Antonio Corbalan, a cardiologist who worked formerly with Real Madrid football players and Spain’s national basketball team, said beer had the perfect profile for re-hydration after sport.

He added that he had long recommended barley drinks to professional sportsmen after exercise.

Previous studies have shown most alcoholic drinks have a diuretic effect – meaning they increase the amount of liquid lost by the body through urination.

Dr James Betts, an expert on nutrition and metabolism at Bath University, said a moderate amount of beer might be just as good as water at helping the body retain liquid, but that he doubted it could be any better.

Dr Betts said: “If you are dehydrated to start with following exercise, a beer, as opposed to a spirit, probably does not have a high enough concentration of alcohol to induce a diuretic effect.”

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn wants to cap another successful season by becoming the first skier to win more than 2,000 World Cup points.

Vonn needs 193 points in the remaining four events to overtake Austrian great Hermann Maier, who set the record of 2,000 points 12 years ago.

The World Cup finals start Wednesday, and Vonn has already clinched the overall, downhill and combined titles. The super-G trophy is all but secured.

“My mindset is good, but physically I am a little bit tired,” Vonn said a day before the men’s and women’s downhill races. “I have to stay focused because it’s about the 2,000 points. I am not sure whether I can do it, but I will go for it.”

On Saturday, Vonn skied out on the second run of a World Cup slalom.

Austria’s Marcel Hirscher is a strong favorite to claim the giant slalom title, leading defending champion Ted Ligety by 92 points. The American must win the race Saturday and hope Hirscher finishes outside the top 15.

Vonn’s finish to the season contrasts with last year’s drama, when she lost her overall title to German rival and friend Maria Hoefl-Riesch by just 3 points after the final giant slalom race was canceled because of soft snow.

“Last year, I thought I had good chances, but didn’t manage to take them,” said Vonn, who last weekend became the first American to win four overall titles. “This year, I planned to give everything and go full-risk in every race.”

Vonn said that following the divorce from her husband Thomas after the start of the season, “from a personal perspective, it was all very difficult. But when I am on the snow, it’s all good and I can really enjoy it. I think I have the best job in the world.”

Vonn is likely to add one more crystal globe to her season’s total on Thursday. She leads Austria’s Anna Fenninger by 94 points in the super-G standings.

Vonn also has a slim change in giant slalom, though she’ll have to win the race Sunday and leader Viktoria Rebensburg must go scoreless to close the 95-point gap with the German.

As a result, slalom is the only discipline title that’s been out of reach for Vonn. World champion Marlies Schild has won that globe, and could earn her 34th victory in the discipline on Saturday to match Swiss great Vreni Schneider’s record.

On the men’s side, five of six crystal globes are still up for the grabs, including the most important for the overall title.

Defending overall champion Ivica Kostelic has already won the combined title and is favorite in slalom, leadingHirscher by 50 and Sweden’s Andre Myhrer by 66 points.

However, the Croat is well behind in the fight for the overall championship. Switzerland’s Beat Feuz tops the standings with 1,250 points, 55 clear of Hirscher and 186 ahead of Kostelic.

“You can’t start calculating,” Feuz said. “I just need two top results in downhill and super-G, otherwise it won’t be enough. Marcel has shown this winter that this hill suits him for the technical disciplines.”

Hirscher failed to take the lead in the standings when he straddled a gate early in his opening run of a slalom Sunday in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

Swiss standout Didier Cuche looks to earn a seventh career crystal globe in one of the speed events before retiring. Cuche trails Austria’s Klaus Kroell by 48 points in downhill and Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal by 42 in super-G.

“I am under pressure as well though I have nothing left to prove,” Cuche said after dominating the downhill training run Tuesday.

If Cuche also wins on Wednesday, he matches the 29-year-old record of five World Cup downhill titles held by Austrian great Franz Klammer.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20120313/lindsey-vonn-world-cup-finish/#ixzz1p43nyQJj

ARE, Sweden (AP) — Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany won a World Cup slalom on Saturday, while overall champion Lindsey Vonn skied out during her second run.

Hoefl-Riesch edged Veronika Zuzulova of Slovakia by just one hundredth of a second. She finished in 1 minute, 49.85 seconds to win the 23rd World Cup race of her career. Canadian Marie-Michele Gagnon was third.

“With one hundreth, you can’t say it’s better or worse. Sometimes you need some luck,” Hoefl-Riesch said. “I think I won this race in the middle. I risked a lot there and made up a lot on the time.”

Lindsey Vonn, of the United States, crashes during the second run of an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Are, Sweden, Saturday, March 10, 2012. (Alessandro Trovati / AP)

Vonn was 15th after the first run. She skidded out on the last third of the course, failing to improve on her 1,808 overall points. The American is bidding to become the first female skier to break 2,000 points in one season.

On Friday, Vonn became the first American to clinch four overall World Cup titles by winning a giant slalom race.

Four races worth a total 400 points remain at the finals in Schladming, Austria.

Hoefl-Schild won her third World Cup race win this season. She won a downhill race last month in Sochi, Russia, and a super-combined race in January in St Moritz.

Hoefl-Riesch won the World Cup overall title last season, finishing just three points ahead of Vonn when the final race was canceled because of soft snow.

“Last season, everything was perfect. I was consistent from beginning to end and I had something like 16 or 18 podiums. This year, I went out so many times,” she said. “It’s special to win a slalom this year, especially with Marlies Schild being almost unbeatable.”

Schild, who had already secured the slalom World Cup title for the fourth time in her career this season, tied for sixth place with Swede Frida Hansdotter, 0.29 behind the winner.

World champion Schild, a winner of six slalom races this season, was bidding to equal Swiss Vreni Schneider’s record of 34 slalom World Cup wins.

American 16-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin was fourth after the first run. But she had a slower second run and finished tied for ninth with Swede Anna Swenn-Larsson. The pair finished 0.39 behind Hoefl-Riesch.

“I’m really excited about racing in Schladming,” Shiffrin said. “It feels good, but honestly, I’ve been dreaming about winning World Cup races since I was 5 years old.”

The top 25 of the discipline make it into the finals.
OLIVER GRASSMAN, Associated Press
Source: http://www.timesunion.com

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/Hoefl-Riesch-wins-slalom-Vonn-skis-out-in-Sweden-3396453.php#ixzz1oyFozEew