The Inquisitr » olympics

Track Competitor, Cyclist Stripped Of Beijing Medals For Alleged Doping

AHN — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:55:55 +0000

Lausanne, Switzerland (AHN) – Olympic 1500 meter champion Rashid Ramzi and cyclist Davide Rebellin, silver medalist in the road race, have been stripped of their medals after testing positive for doping at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Ramzi and Rebellin were among the five athletes who tested positive for CERA, an advanced version of the blood-boosting drug EPO.

Included in the list were cyclist Stefan Schumacher of Germany, Greek 20km walker Athanasia Tsoumeleka and Croatian runner Vanja Perisic, who were also sanctioned.

All five denied doping.

The new tests for CERA made used of retroactive blood samples taken at the Games.

Moroccan-born Ramzi, who competed for Bahrain, where he had moved to in 2001, is the highest profile athlete to fail the new test.

As a result, Bahrain is set to lose its first gold in Olympic track and field.

Runner-up Asbel Kipruto Kiprop of Kenya will now claim the gold in the 1,500m, with New Zealand’s Nicolas Willis moving up to take the silver. Mehdi Baala of France will gain the bronze.

Under IOC rules all five will be banned from the 2012 Olympics in London.

The International Olympics Commission gets to keep being sexists – no female ski jumpers allowed

Steven Hodson — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:07:35 +0000

I’m sorry but I have to say this from the very beginning – this is utter and total bullshit.

Word has come down from the British Columbia Court of Appeals that the International Olympics Commissions can not be forced to allow female ski jumpers on the grounds that their rules go against the Canadian Charter of Rights.

Justice Ann Rowles, one of the three appeal court judges who heard the case over the last two days, said she was aware a decision was needed quickly. Reasons for the decision will be released next week.

The women could seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but lawyer Ross Clark, who is representing the ski jumpers, said such an appeal would need to overcome a lot of hurdles.

The appeal to B.C.’s highest court was an attempt to overturn a B.C. Supreme Court decision that found that while excluding the women from competing is discriminatory, the International Olympic Committee is not subject to the Charter and cannot be forced to hold a women’s ski jumping event.

Source: The Toronto Star

I’m not blaming the British Columbia Court of Appeals for their decision because in fact they were right. However that doesn’t change the fact that the IOC policy against female ski jumpers is archaic and just plain wrong. The IOC argument has always been thatthere are not enough competitions to merit making a woman’s ski jumping an Olympic sport.

Like I said at the beginning this is bullshit and the IOC is totally wrong in excluding woman from participating in a female ski jumping category.

Could the US Border policy impact future world events?

Steven Hodson — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:14:32 +0000

There was a lot of hope for the Olympics to come to Chicago. The President and Mrs. Obama did everything they could to help promote their home town win the bid to win the bid for the next Summer Olympics. However it was all for naught as the winning bid went to Rio de Janeiro and while some might point to the recent increase in violent crime in the city that doesn’t seem likely considering Rio de Janeiro’s crime problems,

That does seem to have been the big drawback to Chicago winning the bid is the United State’s border policies. As it is international travel to the US has dropped by 10 percent with much of the finger pointing as to why centering on the country’s current border policies,

“It’s clear the United States still has a lot of work to do to restore its place as a premier travel destination,” Roger Dow, U.S. Travel’s president, said in the statement released today. “When IOC members are commenting to our President that foreign visitors find traveling to the United States a ‘pretty harrowing experience,’ we need to take seriously the challenge of reforming our entry process to ensure there is a welcome mat to our friends around the world, even as we ensure a secure system.”

Source: In Transit – Chicago’s Loss: Is Passport Control to Blame?

One has to wonder if this is a problem that will only escalate as time goes by and more restrictions end up being put in place.

Chicago and Tokyo knocked out of 2016 Olympic voting

Paul Montgomery — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:51:11 +0000

Despite appeals by the Obamas and Oprah, Chicago has been fallen out of the running for hosting the 2016 Summer Olympic Games at the first hurdle, gaining the least amount of votes in the first round of voting by the International Olympic Committee, quickly followed by Tokyo in round two.

This leaves Rio de Janeiro and Madrid as the two remaining candidates. The votes have already been cast in the third and final round of voting between the two cities, with the announcement due within an hour.

Chicago had been installed as favourite by betting agencies, but failed to survive the first round in an embarrassing result for President Obama, who became the first sitting US president to lobby directly for an Olympic bid.

Madrid’s bid may be hurt by the relative recency of the Barcelona games of 1992, while the fact that the continent of South America has never hosted an Olympics of either season may get Rio over the line.

Maybe it won’t be all bad for American interests. Perhaps the 2016 Rio Olympics will be sponsored by Amazon.

Obama Travels To Copenhagen; Makes Push For 2016 Olympics In Chicago

AHN — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:18:34 +0000

President Barack Obama has decided to accompany his wife and First Lady Michelle Obama to Copenhagen.

The first couple is representing the United States as the International Olympic Committee decides on a site for the 2016 games.

They’re appearing in an attempt to bring the Olympics to Chicago, IL.

President Obama will travel Thursday night and return following the IOC’s Friday meeting.

The First Lady will travel Tuesday.

They’ll both make presentations to the IOC during Friday’s session.

They’ll discuss the city that pushed President Obama to prominence and how the United States is eager to bring the world together through the Olympic games.

It’s big news in Denmark, however, some reports say the President may only be there for about five hours.

The president and first lady also plan to meet with Queen Margrethe II and His Royal Highness, the Prince Consort.

President Obama also plans to meet with Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

The White House is planning to hold a press conference to make an official announcement.

Chicago is competing with Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo for the 2016 summer games.

Whoops: Michael Phelps caught getting stoned (picture)

Duncan Riley — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:06:34 +0000

Being the most successful Olympian of all time can be stressful, so what better way than a few cones to keep things in perspective.

That’s apparently how Michael Phelps copes.

Photos of the US Olympic swim star smoking from a bong have appeared in the UK tabloid News of the World, who claim that due to “four-year bans for drug-taking, Phelps’ dreams of adding to his overall 14 gold medal tally at the 2012 games in London could already be OVER.”

The photos are said to have been taken in November 2008. Neither the US Olympic and swimming bodies, nor Phelps’ agent has commented on the shots, although News of the World claims Phelps’ representatives tried to offer the paper incentives to not publish the photograph.

Caz Pal: Michael Phelps Mystery Girlfriend Pics

Samantha DeWitt — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:15:53 +0000

Vegas Confidential reported earlier this week that Michael Phelps new girlfriend is Caz Pal, a 26-year-old cocktail waitress at Moon nightclub at the Palms.

According to Norm at Vegas Confidential, her MySpace page lists her hometown as Long Beach, California, and that she attended Cal State Northridge. She doesn’t list swimming or the Olympics or Olympians as interests.

Being a 14 times Olympic medallist must give you some serious pulling power because Caz Pal is undeniably hot, although in a very “obvious way”. I suppose at least she doesn’t list her occupation as “dancer”. Wonder what his mom will think when she sees the photo below. Soon find out, since Michael took Caz home to meet the family this Thanksgiving.

Via SportsbyBrooks

Michael Phelps Will Kick Off Saturday Night Live’s New Season

Meieli Sawyer — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:45:34 +0000

Saturday Night Live announced their season premiere host: it’ll be Olympic supahstar Michael Phelps! Let’s hope that this fares better than his pre-/post-performance interviews, where things can get a little awkward. Come September 13th (11:30 pm, on NBC, people!), I’ll be wishing that he doesn’t suck out after riding high on his gold awesomeness. I hope there’s a surprise lurking and he turns out to be a comedic genius, because otherwise it’ll be kinda sad.

Who am I kidding? It’s not like people will worship him any less if he has an off day in the comedy world.

Image: Getty

Report: GoDaddy Banned in China

JR — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:37:40 +0000

China has blocked all access to domain registrar GoDaddy, according to a report by censorship blog Moonlight. The block started before the end of the Olympics, Moonlight says, and can be traced to a router within China’s China Telecom service provider.

So what’s the real story here? We checked with the folks at GoDaddy, who initially acknowledged having seen the reports but ultimately came back with a “no comment” on the matter. Moonlight speculates the move may have an Olympic connection, and its logic makes sense: The Chinese government had banned anyone but the nation’s Olympic gold medalists from registering domains based on the athletes’ names within the “.cn” suffix. It even “advised” anyone who already owned such a domain to turn it over to the medalist “as a gift.”

Moonlight says the government wants to go a step further and force people to turn over those domains if they don’t do so on their own. If the domain is registered with an outside company such as GoDaddy, however — as opposed to with China’s own CNNIC domain registry service — the government won’t be able to gain control and seize the name.

That theory, of course, is no more than speculation at this point — though, from the looks of it, an official explanation may not be in our sights any time soon.

Go Daddy

China Fired Rockets to Stop Olympic Rain

JR — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:11:14 +0000

No doubt, the Beijing Olympics were full of one surprise after another. Here’s one final step to seal the package: The nation used “weather modification technology” to try to keep rain away for the ceremonies, a Chinese news agency is reporting.

Government scientists apparently fired nearly 250 rockets full of a “rain dispersal” chemical into the clouds prior to Sunday’s closing event. They used a combination of planes and ground-based launching devices to do the deed, according to Xinhua News.

It wasn’t just this weekend, either: A government official told Xinhua they did the same thing on opening night, using a full 1,000 rockets that time.

So did they actually make a difference? Hard to say. China spends $40 million a year on weather-making technology like this, some of which is believed to create rain as well. It’s also been tested in Russia, Australia, and the United States — though the U.S. government has stopped most of its federal funding for the research. While some swear the technology works, many scientists say there just isn’t enough evidence to demonstrate it has a reliable effect.

Hey China: The Olympics Haven’t Helped Your Image

JR — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:56:21 +0000

It was meant to be the event that showed the world how China had evolved, but the latest news coming out of Beijing this final Friday of the Olympics only adds to the list of newly exposed negative imagery.

The newest tidbit is about iTunes and China’s apparent blocking of the site in the midst of its international moment. Computer users in Beijing say they haven’t been able to download songs all week. Speculation points the sudden silencing to a Tibet-themed album made available on the service. The Art of Peace Foundation says several dozen athletes downloaded its work “in an act of solidarity,” and the site was blocked soon thereafter.

China’s government officials have not responded to any press inquiries. Apple, for its part, is only saying it’s “aware of the logon problems” but has “no comment at the moment.”

Oh yeah, and those medal-winning Chinese gymnasts? Newly uncovered documents may finally prove what everyone’s suspected all along: that more than one of them is underage and not eligible to be competing.

Add all of this to the opening ceremony saga, the questions over judging validity, and the backing down of promises for “complete media freedom” for press — not to mention the hoards of quickly quieted and slyly arrested protesters all throughout the days — and the Games haven’t exactly brought China the glory it wanted. It’s a damned shame, too. But beneath the eerily plastered-on smiles being shown for the cameras, the entire world has seen a disturbing and consistent picture of censorship, dishonesty, and questionable treatment of people.

You can put on all the fake fireworks and lipsynced performances you want, but when the charades are over, there’s little to celebrate — and no one is being fooled.

Now, THAT’S a Lot of Condoms

JR — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:30:02 +0000

Here’s an Olympic record for you: The International Olympic Committee is handing out a whopping 100,000 condoms at this month’s games in Beijing.

Organizers have been upping the number of rubbers every year since they started offering them to athletes back in ‘92. Apparently, they severely underestimated the athletes’ abilities in 2000: The original supply of 70,000 ran out in no time and cartons of extras had to be rushed in.

This year, it’s not just your average Trojanman making the rounds, either. All sorts of varieties are floating around, including some condoms with the Olympics mascots printed right on them. Here’s where it gets good. The 2008 Olympics mascots are Beibei the fish, Jingjing the panda, Huanhuan the Olympic flame, Yingying the Tibetan antelope, and — I kid you not — Nini the swallow.

One guess which design is the most popular.

No related posts.

Online Play: Olympic Water Sports

Duncan Riley — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 00:30:39 +0000

Not everyone can participate in the Olympic games, but there’s always online play for those looking for some fun.

For that moment where Kazakhstan is going for the gold and you’re completely bored, presenting round one of our Olympic sport substitution list: water sports.

Note that the following games require Flash and will not work on an iPhone

Rowing

The heats of the rowing are already under way at Shunyi, Beijing’s Olympic rowing venue, and you can be part of the action with Extreme Rowing!

Diving

Not everyone’s favorite sport, but Monkey Cliff Diving adds new dimensions.

Kayaking

Olypmic kayaking delivers excitement galore as men meet whitewater in a race for the gold.

Yachting

Join Captain Chaos in the race for Olypmic Yachting gold….

Swimming

Join Teddy as he swims for gold by following this link. (we won’t embed it because of audio autoplaying).

No related posts.

Jajah Babel Offers Free Phone-Based Translations

JR — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:24:10 +0000

Jajah Babel is a fun little new service to kick off your Beijing Olympics weekend. The feature — demoed by Webware’s Josh Lowensohn here — will translate anything you want into Mandarin Chinese via phone in a matter of seconds.

All you do is dial in to the access number and speak. The automated system will confirm what you said in English, using its monotone computer voice, then repeat it back to you in Mandarin. Babel can also translate from Mandarin into English.

This may not have any earth-shattering applications, but it’s novel. And hey, you never know when you might have a random need to communicate with someone in Chinese (outside of ordering the Kung Pao, which you probably already know how to do).

The service is free for the U.S., the U.K., and Australia using the numbers below:

U.S.
+1-718-513-2969
+1-718-513-2968
U.K.
+44-203-3557628
+44-203-0516561
Australia
+61-390-015794
+61-390-011061

Incidentally, Google has also just revealed an iPhone-friendly version of its web-based Translate tool, accessible via mobile browser at translate.google.com. I’ve never felt so linguistically enabled.

Happy translating!

JAJAH

Google

The Beijing Olympics – Are They A Trap?

Duncan Riley — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:59:17 +0000

As the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics is only hours away as I write this, The Onion asks an important question: The Beijing Olympics – Are They A Trap?

‘In The Know’ panelists discuss whether athletes will be able to escape the bamboo cages the Chinese government will try to imprison them in.