sochi winter olympic

Bracy wins 100 meters in Beijing after Gatlin exit

2015-05-20T21:16:00.011-07:00

BEIJING -- Marvin Bracy clocked 9.95 seconds to win the men's 100 meters at the World Challenge Beijing meet Wednesday, a day after American teammate Justin Gatlin withdrew from the event.

Sidney Crosby joins IIHF Triple Gold Club

2015-05-20T21:16:00.009-07:00

Armstrong 'cult' hurts fight against doping - Cooke

2015-05-20T21:16:00.007-07:00

Lance Armstrong has the media in thrall to his "cult", according to 2008 Olympic road-race champion Nicole Cooke, who claims that it still "pays to dope" for young cyclists.

Disgraced drugs cheat Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and given a life-time ban by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in 2012, but is set to ride the Tour route again in July for charity.

"The role of the media and the coverage given to it is very sad," Cooke said in The Times. "The whole Livestrong charity was a massive cover for Armstrong. He used it as a justification for what he did and it was a convenient operation for him.

"It reflects poorly on the media that Lance Armstrong can come back and be welcomed, but they are still absolutely in awe of him; not everyone, but the majority. It's the cult of Lance.

"We're still seeing the fallout of Lance Armstrong. The mechanisms that were going on then are still in the sport.

"You've got George Hincapie, big-brother domestique, running his own team. I can't see things changing."

A recent report by the Cycling Independent Reform Commission had found there to be high-level corruption and cover-ups in the sport, but Cooke still believes efforts by the UCI to curb doping are laughable.

The Briton pointed to the world governing body's treatment of doping compared to their willingness to hand out six-month bans to riders found guilty of using electric motors on bikes, with teams facing fines of SWFr 1 million (about £600,000).

"Brian Cookson [UCI president] says it's beneath contempt. What about doping?" she added. "We're good at sanctions for mechanical cheating, but with doping it's still very, very weak. Not enough is being done.

"Why has the guy who created the biological passport, Michael Ashenden, resigned [from the passport panel]? He should be running it. What's wrong with the culture when this guy is not driving everything along?

"I think young cyclists weighing up the pros and cons would probably still decide that it pays to dope."

Rehm wants study into advantages of prosthesis

2015-05-20T21:16:00.005-07:00

BERLIN -- German Paralympian Markus Rehm is calling for a new scientific study to determine whether his carbon-fiber prosthesis gives him an unfair advantage.

Rehm, who won the long jump at the German nationals last year but wasn't nominated for the European Athletics Championships because of his prosthesis, told Sport Bild "the investigation last year didn't take enough factors into account. Only the potential advantages were considered. But the disadvantages that I have through the prosthesis have to be included in the results."

German athletics federation president Clemens Prokop had said there was a "significant difference" between jumps with a blade-like prosthesis and natural jumps in the run-up and liftoff, and that Rehm's artificial limb might give him an unfair "catapult effect."

Rehm says he doesn't believe he gets any advantage from the prosthesis.

IOC president to Vizer: 'I'll get back to you'

2015-05-20T21:16:00.003-07:00

LONDON -- IOC president Thomas Bach is keeping Marius Vizer waiting on his invitation for a clear-the-air meeting.

Vizer, who heads the umbrella body SportAccord, wrote to Bach on Tuesday asking for a meeting to mend fences following his blistering attack on the International Olympic Committee in Sochi, Russia, last month.

At least a dozen sports federations have suspended or cut ties with SportAccord in protest over Vizer's speech, with rowing and modern pentathlon the latest to withdraw on Wednesday.

Bach replied to Vizer's invitation on Wednesday, saying he would need to discuss the matter with his executive board and the "representatives of our main stakeholders, in this case, the international federations."

A copy of Bach's letter was obtained by The Associated Press.

"As the president, I have the obligation to express the opinion of my organization rather than just a personal one," Bach said. "Therefore, I will come back to you after the next IOC executive board meeting."

The next board meeting is scheduled for June 7-8 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In Vizer's letter, also obtained by the AP, he said a meeting with Bach would be "for the benefit and the unity of the world sports movement" and also "for the clarification of some essential aspects in the activity and development of the sport family."

Vizer asked Bach for a place and dates that would be convenient. Separately, Vizer also requested a meeting with the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, which represents the 28 sports in the Games.

Bach's noncommittal reply indicated he would not be dictated by Vizer's wishes and preferred to deal with him from a position of strength with the backing of his board and the federations.

SportAccord represents a grouping of about 100 Olympic and non-Olympic sports federations. It also organizes some multisports events, such as the World Combat Games.

Vizer, who also heads the international judo federation, has been increasingly isolated since delivering his strongly-worded speech at the opening of the SportAccord convention in Sochi a month ago.

Vizer called the IOC system "expired, outdated, wrong, unfair and not at all transparent," said Bach's reform program was of little use to the federations and accused him of blocking SportAccord's plans for more multisports competitions.

ASOIF and at least 12 individual federations have suspended ties with SportAccord. Vizer has accused the IOC of pressuring them to leave.

Rowing and modern pentathlon follow weightlifting, triathlon, wrestling, taekwondo, boxing, athletics, archery, canoeing, shooting and bobsled in suspending or cutting relations with SportAccord. Others are expected to follow suit.

Boxing and taekwondo also have pulled out of the 2017 World Combat Games in Lima, Peru.

The IOC has had a tense relationship with Vizer ever since he was elected in 2013 to succeed former cycling federation president Hein Verbruggen as head of SportAccord.

Vizer ruffled Olympic leaders by proposing to organize a "United World Championships" for all federations every four years, a potential direct challenge to the IOC and the Olympics. The plan has never materialized.

Semenya 'couldn't have survived' without family

2015-05-20T21:16:00.001-07:00

Caster Semenya, the former 800m world champion who was forced to take a humiliating gender test aged 18, says she "couldn't have survived" the resulting furore without her family.

Semenya, now 24, burst onto the scene after winning gold for South Africa in 800m at the World Championships in Berlin six years ago.

However, her muscular build and rapid improvement - she improved her personal best by seven seconds in nine months - led to accusations that she was not eligible to run as a woman.

The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) was condemned after demanding Semenya take a gender test. She passed the test, but remains indignant at how she was treated.

"It was upsetting, you feel humiliated," she told the BBC. "If it wasn't for my family, I don't think I could have survived."

The IAAF was particularly criticised for its decision to make the test public, with Dame Kelly Holmes among those who questioned why the IAAF kept suspicious drugs tests private until an athlete had been charged, but chose to publicise Semenya's situation.

Semenya continued: "I was world champion but I was never able to celebrate it. It was a joke for me. When I grew up, I grew up like that. I grew up with boys, I grew up around boys, I cannot change it.

"You cannot control what people think. It is about yourself, controlling yourself - what is in you. But now I want to focus more on the future, I don't want to go back there. What is done, is done."

Despite her abhorrent treatment at such a young age, Semenya never entertained ideas of quitting athletics.

"Running is what I will always do," said Semenya. "Even if, maybe, the authorities could have stopped me from running in 2009, they could not have stopped me in the fields. I would have carried on with my running, it doesn't matter. When I run I feel free, my mind is free."

Semenya has struggled in recent years after dislocating her knee, but is determined to represent South Africa at the Olympics again, four years after taking silver in London.

"Coming back from a 24-month setback is hard," she says.

"I am a dreamer. And what I dream of is to become Olympic champion, world champion, world record holder - I can't stop running because of people.

"If you have a problem with it, you have to come straight to me and tell me. I cannot stop because people say 'no, she looks like a man, this and that.' It is their problem. Not mine."

Semenya 'couldn't have survived' without family

2015-05-20T09:20:00.001-07:00