The real XXX Olympic Games – sexy sports women

Sasha Cohen, trying to qualify for her third Olympics this winter, will miss the upcoming Skate America event because of a calf injury and will try to be ready for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January.
Cohen, the 2006 Olympic silver medal winner, has tendinitis in her right calf. She also missed an event in October because of the injury.
“I have been battling this injury for a while,” Cohen said in a release through U.S. Figure Skating. “After meeting with my orthopedic surgeon, it was determined that in order for me to fully recover, I should not compete this week.”
The U.S. Figure Skating Championships are scheduled for January 14-20 in Spokane, Washington. Only two women will represent the U.S. at the upcoming VancouverOlympics.
Cohen is trying to make a comeback to competitive skating after a three-year absence. She burst onto the scene at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake with a fourth-place finish at age 17.
The California native won the 2006 U.S. title after four previous runner-up finishes.

Sasha Cohen

Fourteen women ski jumpers will appear in a British Colombia court today to continue their legal battle for the opportunity to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. After the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rejected the inclusion of women’s ski jumping in the 2010 games, the athletes brought the issue to court as a sex discrimination case, reports the Associated Press.

The athletes argue that the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) is subject to Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and therefore should not allow sex discrimination in the Olympic events it will host. The British Columbia Supreme Court ruled in July that while the exclusion of women’s ski jumping is discriminatory, only the IOC has the authority to determine which events are included, according to the Associated Press. The British Columbia Court of Appeals will hear the case again today and tomorrow. If the court rules in favor of the athletes, it could force VANOC to either hold a women’s ski jump competition or cancel the men’s event, reports CBC News.

The IOC says it will not stage a women’s ski jump event because there are not enough women competing at the highest levels of the sport, reports the Christian Science Monitor. However, men’s ski jumping also does not fully meet the IOC’s criteria for inclusion but was grandfathered into the 2010 games, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Members of the IOC also acknowledge that commercial appeal is a factor in what sports are chosen for the games.

VANOC argues that while they support the ski jumpers’ bid for inclusion, their hands are tied by the IOC. Cathy Priestner-Allinger, vice-president of sport and operation for VANOC, told CTV, “We will continue to do everything we can to help these athletes achieve their goal. We provided them with free access to the jumps at Whistler Olympic Park; we helped sponsor and stage several elite national and international competitions; we helped create programs to introduce more women to the sport; we welcomed one of these young ladies to participate in the Torch Relay on the first day of the relay,” referring to torchbearer Charlotte Mitchell, one of the athletes involved in the suit. American ski jumper Lindsey Van set a record for the 90-meter jump at Whistler Olympic Park when it opened last year, reports the CS Monitor.

Media Resources: Associated Press 11/11/09; CBC News 11/12/09; Christian Science Monitor 11/12/09; CTV 11/11/09

According to the Canadian Press, Le Soleil, a Quebec City newspaper, reported Saturday the city will make a bid for the 2022 or 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Le Soleil reports Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume are expected to name Quebec Remparts president Clause Rousseau to head what is being called “Team Quebec”.
The committee’s mandate will be to ensure the provincial capital region has top-of-the-line sports facilities to attract high-level competitions in the run up to an eventual bid.
Last month Charest and Labeaume said they hoped to see the Olympics come to Quebec City, and the mayor recently unveiled plans for a $400 million arena that would seat 18,000, reports the Canadian Press.
Quebec City will also reportedly promote its bid at the Vancouver 2010 Games with a cultural pavilion near the Olympic village featuring Quebec artists and athletes.
Quebec City had losing bids for the 2002 and 2010 Games.

Britain’s Jenny Meadows has been promoted to the top tier of the lottery funding programme following
her 800m bronze at the World Championships.

Heptathlete Jessica Ennis, triple jumper Phillips Idowu and Paralympian David Weir also make the list of 67 on the programme for the 2009/2010 season.
Meadows, 28, moves up from Development status with her award increased from around £8,000 to a maximum of £26,142.
There are no places for sprinters Mark Lewis-Francis and Christian Malcolm.
Coming on the back of UK Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos setting a target of 10 medals for GB to win at London 2012, the national governing body revealed the latest winners of their investment plans.
The programme, which runs annually from December to November, is split into two levels of funding – Podium and Development – each with strict criteria and standards which must be met in selection and maintained with the support of UKA staff.
Since a disappointing haul of four medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Britain’s athletes overall have performed impressively over the last 12 months with six medals at the Worlds in Berlin this summer.

Jenny Meadows

The Podium level of funding is split into three categories, including those who have medalled or had a top-eight finish at Olympic or World Championship level or are likely to be major championship performers, and also covers Podium relay teams.
World heptathlon champion Ennis and World triple jump gold medallist Idowu are at the top level, along with Meadows, 1500m silver winner Lisa Dobriskey and the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams.

Wheelchair racer David Weir, winner of five medals at the 2008 Paralympics and is currently ranked number one in the world, also makes the list of top recipients.

The figure skating season gets underway in Paris on Thursday at the first of six Grand Prix events. Here are five things to know before event No. 1:

Postponed (?) start
2006 Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen was slated to make her return to competition in Paris, but announced her withdrawal last week, citing calf tendonitis. In the press release, Cohen said she still plans to compete at Skate America, where she will face Kim Yu-Na and 2009 U.S. silver medalist Rachael Flatt in mid-November. Cohen has not competed in an ISU competition since the 2006 World Championships. While her withdrawal from Paris leads many to question her comeback, from the beginning she has said the goal is to be ready by Nationals in January. In a sport where most top athletes are injured to some degree, Cohen withdrawing because of calf tendonitis suggests that she has yet to regain the technical arsenal necessary to be competitive.

Kim v. Asada
The ladies’ event should prove the most competitive of the series with two of the top contenders for Olympic gold meeting in Paris. South Korean Kim Yu-Na and the woman most likely to challenge her, Mao Asada of Japan, have never competed against one another this early in the season. The past three seasons they have met for the first time at the series finale in December having settled in after two Grand Prix events.

At the Torino Games, observers said one the best ladies’ competitors was absent, with Asada 86 days too young to compete in 2006. Kim was skating in the junior ranks, and just 20 days older than Asada, was also age ineligible for Torino. Fast forward four years and the 19-year-olds are favored to go 1-2 in Vancouver. In head-to-head competition, they are tied at five-all, but with Kim winning the last matchup at 2009 Worlds, where she won her first world title and Asada finished off an ISU podium (fourth) for the first time in her career.

Carolina Kostner

With her consistency, the South Korean superstar has the early edge in Paris. Asada, the 2008 world champion, may risk a triple Axel in the short program and possibly two in the free skate. The duo may not be in peak form four months from Vancouver and at a typical Grand Prix event a few mistakes are permissible, but in a stacked field in Paris, Italian Carolina Kostner, American Caroline Zhang and Yukari Nakano from Japan could challenge the two world champions. Should Kim and Asada arrive in competitive form, Paris may prove to be a sneak peek of February 2010.

Joubert and the quad
In the past, Brian Joubert has struggled competing at the event in his home country, but could use two solid skates in Paris (about 200 miles from his hometown of Poitiers). Coming off a disappointing bronze medal at the world championships in March, he needs to prove he’s still the quad king. At the 2009 Worlds, he was the only man on the podium who attempted a quad, with American Evan Lysacek and Canadian Patrick Chan sticking to their consistent triples. For Joubert, good performances at the first Grand Prix can set the standard for the rest of the season-a season where the quad will likely regain its former importance with the return of 2006 Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko of Russia. Joubert has attempted quads in competition since he finished 14th at the 2002 Salt Lake Games. The Frenchman finished 6th in Torino and at the past two Olympics the quad was a must-have to land on the medal podium. Joubert, 25, has won every accolade in figure skating except an Olympic medal, and with serious experience completing the quad, he is a leading contender for gold in Vancouver at his third Games.

Back on track
At 2009 Worlds, team Canada won medals in the men’s, ladies’ and dance fields to set up multiple podium contenders for its home Olympics. The one hole was in pairs, where 2008 world bronze medalists Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison dropped to seventh in 2009. The team was out-of-sync all season and unable to come together in time to land on another world podium. The two-time Canadian champions re-grouped in the off-season and went back to their comfort zone artistically. With their more romantic-style free skate, the Canadians look to rebuild in Paris by challenging two-time world champions Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy from Germany. Dube and Davison were young upstarts in 2006 where they finished 10th and will rely on their strong individual skating and emotional connection to land them on the podium at their second Olympics.

Injury free
Canadians Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir return to the Grand Prix series after missing 2008 because of Virtue’s surgery last October. Following the team’s 2008 world silver medal, over training in the off-season led to Virtue experiencing pain in her shins, which required surgery on both legs to relieve chronic exertional compartment syndrome. They came back in time to win a bronze medal at 2009 Worlds, but many expect them to challenge for gold at a home Games. Injury free in 2009, Virtue and Moir are one of four teams in contention for a medal in Vancouver. The Canadians will take on 2006 Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto, 2009 world champions Oksana Domnina & Maksim Shabalin of Russia, and 2008 world champions Isabelle Delobel & Olivier Schoenfelder of France. The French team competed at its home Grand Prix for 13 consecutive years and won the past two seasons, but will not compete this week as Delobel gave birth to her first child on Oct. 1. Virtue and Moir look to claim Delobel & Schoenfelder’s top spot at the Grand Prix of France and their spot on the Vancouver podium.

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating France Schedule
Friday, Oct. 16
- Compulsory Dance
- Men’s Short
- Pairs Short
- Ladies Short
- Original Dance

Saturday, Oct. 17
- Men’s Free
- Pairs Free
- Ladies Free
- Free Dance

Former top-ranked player Justine Henin will announce her return to competitive tennis Tuesday, according to two top Belgian newspapers.
La Derniere Heure and Le Soir reported the comeback Monday
Her spokeswoman did not return phone calls and Henin’s Web site had no comment on the rumors.
Last year, Henin shocked the tennis world by announcing her retirement while still ranked No. 1.
As recently as May, she complained that the sport had left her with so many physical ailments that a return was unthinkable.
Henin, a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, has begun training again, but has refused to comment on plans for a possible return over the past month.
At 27, it would certainly not be too late for a comeback, as compatriot Kim Clijsters proved when she won the U.S. Open earlier this month.

Justine Henin

Having played barely a month on the tour after 2 1/2 years in retirement, Clijsters won the last Grand Slam of the season, beating both Venus and Serena Williams on the way to the final.
After Clijsters’ victory, Henin praised her performance on her Web site.
“What you have come to achieve there is incredible,” wrote Henin. “I very warmly congratulate you on your magnificent victory.“

Elana Meyers claimed the women’s U.S. national bobsled push championship title at Canada’s Olympic Park Ice House in Calgary, Canada today.
“We knew after last season that we had the most competitive group of push athletes for the women’s team heading into the Olympic year,” said Darrin Steele, U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation CEO. “We just didn’t realize how much improvement all of the women would make as a group. This was a highly impressive and aggressive competition.”
Meyers made the world cup debut in her rookie season, and solidified herself as one of the world’s best push athletes during the 2008-09 season. Meyers pushed driver Shauna Rohbock to gold on the 2010 Olympic track at the world cup event in Whistler, British Columbia, and a world championship silver medal in Lake Placid, N.Y.
“Elana has always been a strong athlete with raw talent,” said Steele. “She has built on her talents from last season and made huge improvements in her technique. She has officially transitioned from an athlete with high potential into a world class push athlete.”
The athlete with the lowest combined time in two pushes was named push champion. Meyers powered off the starting block with the two fastest start times of the competition, a 5.40 and 5.41, to claim the title with a combined time of 10.81 seconds.
Michelle Rzepka (Novi, Mich.) finished just six-hundredths of a second from teammate Meyers with a total time of 10.87 seconds. Rzepka, who slid a bronze medal performance with driver Erin Pac in Whistler last season, pushed times of 5.44 and 5.43 seconds.
2006 Olympic silver medalist Valerie Fleming (Park City, Utah) was in the mix after pushing start times of 5.52 and 5.56 for a combined time of 11.08 seconds. Fleming pushed Rohbock to two medals last season, including gold in Königssee, Germany.
In fourth was Ingrid Marcum (Elmhurst, Ill.) with a total time of 11.11 seconds. Marcum is a dual athlete, splitting her time between bobsled and weightlifting, and most recently won the 69k snatch at weightlifting national championships.
Emily Azevedo (Chico, Calif.) finished fifth with a total time of 11.15. In sixth was Jamie Greubel (Newtown, Pa.) with a two push total of 11.16, and in seventh was Jazmine Fenlator (Wayne, N.J.) with a time of 11.71 seconds.
The U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation would like to thank Experimental Design & Analysis Solutions, Inc./Ripxx (EDAS/RIPXX) for assisting the team today by providing testing services, equipment, analysis and reporting for the competition.
For additional information, please contact Amanda Bird, USBSF Marketing & Communications Manager, at (518) 523-1842, ext. 106, or abird@usbsf.com.

Results:

1. Elana Meyers 5.40, 5.41 (10.81); 2. Michelle Rzepka 5.44, 5.43 (10.87); 3. Valerie Fleming 5.52, 5.56 (11.08); 4. Ingrid Marcum 5.54, 5.57 (11.11); 5. Emily Azevedo 5.56, 559 (11.15); 6. Jamie Greubel 5.55, 5.61 (11.16); 7. Jazmine Fenlator 5.87, 5.84 (11.71);

Former top-ranked player Justine Henin will announce her return to competitive tennis Tuesday, according to two top Belgian newspapers.
La Derniere Heure and Le Soir reported the comeback Monday
Her spokeswoman did not return phone calls and Henin’s Web site had no comment on the rumors.
Last year, Henin shocked the tennis world by announcing her retirement while still ranked No. 1.
As recently as May, she complained that the sport had left her with so many physical ailments that a return was unthinkable.
Henin, a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, has begun training again, but has refused to comment on plans for a possible return over the past month.
At 27, it would certainly not be too late for a comeback, as compatriot Kim Clijsters proved when she won the U.S. Open earlier this month.

Justine Henin

Having played barely a month on the tour after 2 1/2 years in retirement, Clijsters won the last Grand Slam of the season, beating both Venus and Serena Williams on the way to the final.
After Clijsters’ victory, Henin praised her performance on her Web site.
“What you have come to achieve there is incredible,” wrote Henin. “I very warmly congratulate you on your magnificent victory.”

First Lady Michelle Obama will ‘pitch hit’ for her husband the president and fly to Copenhagen to pitch the bid for Chicago to host the 2016 Olympics. Some say that signals defeat for the city, and the bid. However, the Chicago Tribune notes that the city’s mayor, Richard Daley, says he’s “honored” Chicago native and first lady Michelle Obama will travel to Denmark to lobby for the city’s bid for the 2016 Olympics.
Chicago is in a contest with Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo and according to a report from the Associated Press the city in America most associated with political corruption outside of Washington, DC is at a disadvantage as they “can’t even bribe the voters anymore, a sport in which Chicagoans excel.”
Tim Dahlberg writes in a report titled, “No (President) Obama a sign Chicago Oly bid is shaky,” that “It’s too early to take down the Olympic banners just yet. But Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympics seems to be sputtering just as the finalists make one last sprint toward the finish line.”

Michelle Obama

The Sun-Times cites Ed Hula, who runs the Atlanta-based Olympics Web site aroundtherings.com, has been told President Obama’s presence is crucial. “I had an IOC member tell me this morning if Obama goes to Copenhagen, Chicago will win; if he doesn’t go, it will be a very close race.” Can Michelle pull off the upset?

Russia has broken a national drought in women’s water polo by claiming the gold medal at the 8th FINA World Women’s Junior Water Polo Championships which took place in Khanty-Mansiysk (RUS) from August 9-15, 2009. The score of the final against the Netherlands was 14-9 (3-2, 0-4, 3-3, 3-5). Team Netherlands, which also played sharply and with equal skills, fired out of the blocks to lead 3-0 but were gradually out-played.

The Russians bided their time, pouncing in the second quarter to lead 6-3 at halftime and 9-6 at the final break before riding the wave of Russian fervor that was spilling out of the elevated grandstand. This gold medal for Russia gives its junior teams a complete medal set to go with the silver from Perth in 2005 and the bronze, also from Perth, in 2001.

The fast and agile Ekaterina Prokofyeva (RUS), who was among the finest players at the Western Siberian tournament (generating a total of 15 goals), gave Russia a virtual eighth player in the golden game. Also forces to be reckoned with were sisters Alexandra and Diana Antonova (RUS), who scored eight between them from close range. Meanwhile, Netherlands goalkeeper Michelle Slobbe had a fine concluding performance – continuing a trend she displayed throughout the Championships – and was named tournament goalkeeper.

For the bronze, USA collected its sixth medal (three bronze, two gold and two silver) at this level by holding off Hungary 11-8 (4-2, 3-3, 2-2, 2-1). Victory was built on a 4-1 start, but Hungary had nearly wiped out that deficit by the start of the final quarter when they were just one goal behind at 9-8. However, when Maggie Steffens (USA) – one of the stars of the tournament – scored the late winner, the game was over.

In the game for fifth-sixth, Italy controlled the game to defeat Canada (7-5 1-1, 1-4, 2-1, 0-1), and in the game for seventh-eighth, the outgoing champion Australia beat Spain 11-6 (3-1, 3-4, 3-1, 2-0).

Tournament All-Stars: Goalkeeper: Michelle SLOBBE (NED), Centre Forward: Annika DRIES (USA), Field Players: Cristina TSOUKALA (GRE), Ekaterina PROKOFYEVA (RUS), Dora ANTAL (HUN), Maggie STEFFENS (USA), Rita KESZTHELYI (HUN).

The competition, which was held at the Sports and Health Centre of the Ugra State University, welcomed 15 teams from Greece, Canada, Germany, Australia, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Hungary, Uzbekistan, South Africa, Brazil, Netherlands, USA, and Russia.