The real XXX Olympic Games – sexy sports women

Two-time Olympian Natalie Darwitz will captain the U.S. women’s hockey team in Vancouver.
Angela Ruggiero and Jenny Potter, both heading into their record fourth Olympics, will be Americans’ alternate captains along with two-time Olympian Julie Chu, USA Hockey announced Thursday.
Darwitz was the American captain during the past two international seasons, leading the U.S. team to IIHF world championships in 2008 and 2009. The former University of Minnesota star has played in 197 games for the American team, scoring 231 points.
“She’s a great scoring threat,” Ruggiero told The Associated Press. “She’s someone that definitely doesn’t say a lot, but she has a strong presence on the team and has proven to be successful.”
Potter has been on the U.S. team since 1997, while Ruggiero has played in a record 244 games for the team. Chu has been in the American program since 1999.
The U.S. team is in training in Minnesota before its final push toward Vancouver. The American women will play Finland in two final games in Colorado Springs, Colo., in early February before beginning Olympic competition Feb. 14 against China.

Natalie Darwitz

source: sports.espn.go.com – Associated Press

The Swiss skier Lara Gut announced Thursday that she had not recovered from a hip injury and would miss the Vancouver Olympics.

Gut broke the news on her Web site, confirming what many in the sport had suspected because of the severity of her injury. She sustained a dislocated right hip when she crashed during a training run in October. She had surgery and had hoped to be back on the slopes this week and compete in a World Cup before the Olympics. Now, she said, she is unable to start skiing for at least another month.

Lara Gut

Gut, 18, won two silver medals in the world championships last February and in December 2008 became the youngest skier to win a World Cup event, a super-G in St. Moritz. She is one of skiing’s bright up-and-coming stars, both photogenic and marketable, and was expected to challenge the American Lindsey Vonn in the downhill and super-G in Vancouver.

Miki Ando

Figure skater Miki Ando smiles while holding a ”Stitch” stuffed animal, a gift from a fan, at Narita International Airport, east of Tokyo, before leaving for the United States on Jan. 5, 2010. The 22-year-old Olympic athlete will be at the training base in Hackensack, New Jersey, before heading straight to Vancouver in February for the Winter Olympics.

from: home.kyodo.co.jp

Sasha Cohen‘s coach says the Olympic silver medallist intends to skate at the U.S. championships later this month in Spokane, Wash., with an eye on participating at the Vancouver Olympics.

Cohen has been working “very, very hard,” long-time coach John Nicks says. The Chicago Tribune first reported Cohen’s plans Monday, with the skater telling the paper: “I’ve really put myself on the line for this.”

Cohen’s participation in Spokane had been in doubt after she withdrew from two Grand Prix events because of tendinitis in her right calf. She hasn’t skated competitively since the 2006 worlds.

Associated Press
Source:Toronto Star

Sasha Cohen

A decision on whether two Chinese gymnasts were old enough to compete at the Sydney Olympics is expected in February after the athletes appeared before a disciplinary commission.
Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun, along with their parents and two Chinese gymnastics officials, met Saturday and Sunday with the International Gymnastics Federation’s disciplinary commission. Dong and Yang are suspected of being as young as 14 in Sydney, where China won the bronze medal and Yang also won a bronze on uneven bars.
Gymnasts must turn 16 during an Olympic year to be eligible to compete.
The three-person disciplinary commission will submit its opinion to the FIG’s executive committee at its Feb. 26 meeting. If the commission decides Dong and Yang were underage, it also could recommend sanctions.

Chinese gymnasts Yang Yun and Dong Fangxiao, Sept. 19, 2000, after receiving the bronze medal in the women's gymnastic team finals © AP

Because the case involves the Olympics, however, it would be up to the International Olympic Committee to decide if China should lose any medals. The IOC has said previously it would take “necessary measures” if the FIG finds Dong and Yang were underage.
Questions about their ages arose during the FIG’s investigation into the eligibility of members of China’s team that won the gold medal at the Beijing Games. The 2008 gymnasts were eventually cleared, but the FIG said it wasn’t satisfied with “the explanations and evidence provided to date” for Dong and Yang.
Yang said in a June 2007 interview that aired on state broadcaster China Central Television that she was 14 in Sydney. Yang later told The Associated Press she had misspoken, but declined further comment.
Dong’s official birthdate is listed as Jan. 20, 1983, but the FIG said accreditation information for the Beijing Olympics, where Dong worked as a national technical official, listed her birthdate as Jan. 23, 1986.
That would have made Dong 14 in Sydney.
Dong’s blog also said she was born in the Year of the Ox in the Chinese zodiac, which dated from Feb. 20, 1985, to Feb. 8, 1986. Dong has not denied that, but she refused to answer any questions about her age when reached by the AP.

source: sports.yahoo.com/olympics

Female ski jumpers set their sights on 2014 after losing their final bid to compete at the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear an appeal of two lower-court rulings that said Canada’s Charter of Rights cannot dictate which sports are included in the Winter Games.
The women contend that Vancouver organizers are breaking the charter by hosting only men’s ski jumping.
American jumper Lindsay Van, who won the first women’s world championship in February in the Czech Republic, said she was disappointed but not surprised by the court’s action.
“I feel totally opposed to everything the Olympics stand for,” Van said. “They’re not fulfilling their charter.”
Van said she has spent years training alongside men who will compete in February.
“It’s definitely going to be hard to watch,” she said.
The lower courts ruled that the charter does not apply to the International Olympic Committee, which decides which sports and events are included in each games.
“We are very disappointed the Supreme Court of Canada does not view this as matter of national importance,” said Ross Clark, attorney for the female jumpers.
The Supreme Court, as is its custom, gave no reasons for its decision.
The IOC has said it hopes that women’s ski jumping will meet the requirements for inclusion at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
Deedee Corradini, president of Women’s Ski Jumping USA, said the women will not give up in their fight to be in the Olympics.
“No qualified athlete should be denied the right to participate in the Olympics because of gender,” Corradini said. “We knew it was a long shot. This really has been a David versus Goliath story.”
Corradini said the group will continue to press the IOC to include women ski jumpers in the 2014 Olympics.
“Without this fight, I don’t think the women would have a chance at 2014,” Corradini said.
The women first launched a lawsuit against local organizers in May 2008, 18 months after the IOC decided against the inclusion of women’s ski jumping.
They dropped a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission when the federal government agreed to lobby the IOC. When that failed, they pursued a court case.
The women wanted the courts to force Vancouver organizers to either add a women’s event or cancel the men’s competition. Organizers said they could do neither.
The IOC voted not to include women’s ski jumping at the 2010 Winter Olympics because the sport didn’t meet the necessary criteria for inclusion. The IOC requires that a sport must have contested at least two world championships before it can become an Olympic event. There are also rules dictating how far in advance a sport can be added to the Olympic program.
The IOC has decided to include women’s ski jumping at the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012 at Innsbruck, Austria, and will consider adding the event to the 2014 games.

source: sports.yahoo.com/olympics

Christine Nesbitt of Canada has won the women’s 1,000 meters at the final long-track speedskating World Cup before the Vancouver Olympics.
Nesbitt skated the distance in 1 minute, 13.36 seconds Sunday at the Utah Olympic Oval.
Wang Beixing of China was second in 1:14.01. Nao Kodaira of Japan was third in 1:14.17.
Heather Richardson was the top American finisher, in ninth place. Two-time Olympian Jennifer Rodriguez was 10th and Elli Ochowicz 13th.
Four-time Olympic medalist Anni Friesinger-Postma of Germany was 11th.

“I have the self-belief to win gold. I know it sounds crazy when I’ve never finished on the podium yet… but I know what I am capable of.”
Britain’s top skier Chemmy Alcott is certainly not shy about her Winter Olympics aspirations but it’s time for the talking to stop and for her to start registering results to back up her words.
The countdown to the Vancouver Olympics next February starts in earnest when the World Cup season begins with the traditional curtain-raiser in Soelden, Austria, on 24 October.
Alcott will be there, competing in the giant slalom and hoping for a performance like last year when she won the second leg of the race to finish 10th overall.
“I’ve proved I’ve got what it takes to win,” the 27-year-old told me, “and this is the biggest year of my life and my career as a ski racer.”
Alcott is extremely strong-willed, her enthusiasm and determination to succeed is infectious and she will stop at nothing – including putting her boyfriend on hold for a few months – to concentrate on Olympic glory.
She even took it in her stride when the governing body, Snowsports GB, ran into financial problems earlier this year which meant the British World Cup ski and snowboard teams, also featuring Noel Baxter, Ed Drake and Zoe Gillings, had to secure large amounts of their own funding to continue as the Olympics loomed on the horizon.
“That’s the nature of the situation. It’s Olympic year. I’m not going to sacrifice all the work I’ve done over the last 12 years. I will put money in, they know that, but you really feel you should be fully supported,” she said.
“I just want to do what I can in the sport. I don’t want to quit it as a bitter British alpine racer going ‘if I had had the money I could’ve done this’ because I put so much into the sport and sacrifice so much and know that I can win I just need the right programme.”
Alcott, who has four top 10 finishes in the World Cup and an 11th place in an Olympic downhill under her belt, wants a good result in Soelden but does not want to peak too soon as her main aim is a medal at the Olympics, which start on 12 February next year.
She has five shots at becoming Britain’s first alpine ski medallist (Alain Baxter’s bronze in the 2002 Winter Olympics was wiped from the records for failing a drugs test) as she is aiming to compete in the slalom, giant slalom, downhill, super-G and combined.

Chemmy Alcott

“The Olympics always throw up surprises. I believe the top 30 girls are all of the same talent level, it’s down to confidence, luck and if you can handle the pressure,” says Alcott.
It’s also about keeping fit and not crashing – something she is very aware of after missing most of last season with a broken ankle.
But fingers-crossed for her fitness as her brothers Rufus and Alex will be there to cheer her on in Canada after Alcott managed to secure a house-swap with a woman in Whistler who seems to be the only local not interested in watching the Games.
She will instead spend February at Alcott’s cottage near Hampton Court in the London suburbs.
Alcott is delighted her brothers will be joining her in Whistler but frustrated that their ticket applications were unsuccessful for her favoured events, the giant slalom and super-G: “It’s very annoying but what can you do?” she says philosophically.
Alcott has been impressive in pre-season in Chile and New Zealand, blitzing the German and Italian teams she has been training with but it’s the actual races that count.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is a mini-game collection for the Nintendo Wii which, like its predecessor, differentiates itself from the crowd of similar titles by featuring the casts of two of the most well-loved franchises in video gaming history. Developed by SEGA, the game does its best to replicate the fun of Wii Sports, but it never quite manages to provide the same level of pleasure that Nintendo’s genre-defining title does. There are too many mini-games that are just not fun or don’t control well, and some of the concepts are just not as fully explored as they should be and come across a bit shallow. The game is presented well, though, with functional graphics and sound, and a level of polish that is too often lacking from third-party Wii games. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is by no means a bad game, and compared to some of the sub-par mini-game efforts that have appeared over the last few years, it is actually quite decent. The problem is that like the contrast in the recent fortunes of the two title characters, the game has its high points, and its low points, and in this instance the game has far more ’Sonic’ moments than ’Mario’ ones.

Following on from its predecessor, which covered the summer Olympics, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games lets players compete in a selection of Winter Olympic events as Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario, or one of a number of supporting characters from both franchises. This time around the game features 27 events divided across the standard Winter Olympics-style sports and the ’dream’ events. Events include variations on skiing, ski jumping, snowboarding, bobsleighing, figure skating, speed skating, hockey, and curling. Some events are more fun than others and individual players will find they enjoy different events based on their own preference. The standout mini-game is surprisingly curling, which plays like a more strategic version of bowling from Wii Sports.
Players can choose to play each mini-game individually or participate in the festival mode which features an entire Winter Olympics experience, including opening and closing ceremonies. Special dream events can be unlocked by winning coins in the normal events. These dream events are over-the-top fantasy events that add typical video game-style challenges and obstacles to the more traditional rules of the sports. Coins can also be used to purchase items and other unlockables in the shop. There is nothing mind-blowing to unlock, but it is a nice little extra, especially the library section, which provides some brief information about the history of each event.

There are a number of control options available to players, including balance board support in many of the mini-games. The implementation of the motion controls is generally good, but there are a few games which are hit and miss. While none of the mini-games are outright broken, there are definitely some that could have really benefited from a little more time in development. The balance board implementation also feels a little bit tacked on, too.

The game features workable graphics which suit the concept of the game quite well. The environments have a nice balance between the necessary realism and the visual design of both the Mario and Sonic franchises. The game is animated well, and the whole thing moves along at a nice frame rate, too. The audio is pretty standard fare for Mario and Sonic, and again, nicely straddles the reality/fantasy divide. Technically, the game is fine with no obvious faults or glitches getting in the way of the gameplay.
The game should last most players quite a long time, especially with the online leaderboards providing an extra challenge for those without a decent competitor to play against locally. There are plenty of options and modes to explore, and the events themselves offer loads of replay value.

One of Germany’s favourites to win a medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics – speed skater Claudia Pechstein – has lost an appeal against a doping ban.
The five-time Olympic speed skating champion’s two-year ban for blood doping was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.
Pechstein has never failed a drugs test and denied doping but her blood showed abnormalities when tested.
She had hoped to be in Vancouver and win a medal in her fifth Games.
Pechstein is Germany’s most successful Winter Olympian with nine medals.
The International Skating Union banned her for two years after blood samples taken at the World Allround Championships last season showed a high level of immature red blood cells or reticulocytes, suggesting she had had a transfusion.

Claudia Pechstein

She becomes the first athlete to be banned over screenings in her biological passport.
Pechstein was allowed to continue training but not allowed to compete. Her ban will run out in February 2011.
Her lawyer Simon Bergmann said she would take the case to the Swiss supreme court.
She said in a statement: “It’s incredibly hard for me to accept it.
“After weeks of unworthy comings and goings the verdict was predictable. I am not shocked by the outcome but more by how it came about.
“It remains unimaginable for me how I could get banned for one single indication that is also very contested scientifically.”
Pechstein won her first Olympic gold medal in the 5000m at Lillehammer in 1994, and took the same distance in Nagano in 1998 and Salt Lake City in 2002.
She also won the 3000m in Salt Lake City, and was part of Germany’s winning team in the pursuit in Turin in 2006.