Olympic Briefs -- Women's Boxing Proposed for Olympics; Plant Named 2010 U.S. Chef

International Boxing Federation (AIBA)President C.K. Wu tells Around the Rings that AIBA will send a proposal to the IOC sports department by the end of the month requesting that women be allowed to compete in the tournament at the 2012 Olympics in London.

He says the weight classes will be worked out in the coming weeks by the AIBA Technical and Rules Commission. Included in the changes to make room for women will be a streamlining of the 11 weight categories for men.

The women’s competition was endorsed in a unanimous vote Wednesday, the last of three days of meetings of the ruling AIBA Executive Committee in Milan.

Wu says other notable decisions included awarding the 2011 world championships to Busan, South Korea, the 2010 women’s world championships to Barbados and the 2010 youth championships to France. The youth tournament will select the 66 competitors who will box later in the year at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

Wu says the contracts have been signed with IMG to handle the organization and promotion of what will be called the World Series of Boxing. The worldwide tournament is supposed to be held for the first time next year.

The AIBA president says he is also pleased with the reorganization of the five continental confederations within AIBA. All five now follow AIBA rules and regulations, a standardization he says is important for a sport that is judged subjectively.

The AIBA committee met in Milan as a prelude to the 2009 championships, set for the north Italian city from Aug. 28 to Sep. 13. Wu says plans for the event are in good shape, singling out for praise the marketing and promotional work taking place for the tournament.

Plant Named U.S. Chef De Mission for Vancouver 2010

The U.S. Olympic Committee has named Mike Plant, the executive vice president of business operations for the Atlanta Braves, as its chef de mission for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

In his duties as chef de mission, Plant will be the senior representative for the U.S. delegation with VANOC, the IOC and other NOCs.

Plant, a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic speedskating team, is the first American Winter Olympian to serve as a chef de mission for a Winter Games.

“Mike will be an outstanding leader for the U.S. Team at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games,” USOC chairman Larry Probst said.

“As an Olympian and former chair of the USOC Athletes Advisory Council, he knows firsthand the needs and pressures faced by athletes in the Olympic Games environment. He has longstanding relationships within the IOC and VANOC and he will be able to speak with authority and credibility when handling the many issues that arise during the Games.”

USATF Names New Board of Directors

USA Track and Field continued its restructuring with a newly-constituted 15-member board of directors on Wednesday.

The new board consists of national track hall of famers Willie Banks and Evie Dennis, along with business executive Steve Holman, USATF official Kim Haines and businesswoman Elizabeth Phillips. International sports executive Max Siegel, longtime federation official Kenneth Taylor and retired health-care industry executive Jack Wickens were also chosen.

Athletes on the board are 2004 Olympic women’s marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor, four-time U.S. 50-km race walk champion Philip Dunn and 2003 Pan Am Games discus gold medal winner Aretha Hill Thurmond.

USATF President Stephanie Hightower and IAAF council member Robert Hersch were the other members named on Wednesday. The federation’s 5E member organizations – the NCAA, NAIA and National Federation of State High School Associations – will come forth with their collective board member in early March.

Judges Rules Against USA Boxing in Funding Dispute

An El Paso County, Texas district court judge has ruled that USA Boxing overreached its boundaries in revising the bylaws of its fundraising body to procure around $2 million for pre-Olympics programming.

Judge Larry Schwartz decided in favor of the USA Boxing Foundation, stating that USA Boxing “did not have the authority to unilaterally make changes” to statutes which gave the national governing body access to a $4 million endowment fund controlled by the foundation.

USA Boxing spent $1.815 million on grassroots organization, membership promotion and scholarships after 11 trustees with links to the NGB were elected to the foundation’s board in January, 2008.

Schwartz voided the amended bylaws, though he didn’t order USA Boxing to reimburse the federation. The two organizations are negotiating a settlement in the case to avoid more legal actions.

World Winter University Games Open in China

The 24th World Winter University Games opened on Wednesday in Harbin, China. The city hopes to use the event as a test run as part of its bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Around 6,000 people gathered at the Harbin International Conference, Exhibition and Sports Center Gym to witness the two-hour opening ceremonies, which featured the parade of athletes from the 45 competing nations.

A total of 2,000 athletes are scheduled to compete in 12 sports during the 10-day event, which is held every two years. The competition will end Feb. 28.

Organizers say $370 million has been invested in the Universiade, with venues and facilities constructed to world championship and Olympic standards.

Briefs…

…The BBC has announced they will work with U.K. mobile carriers to improve coverage of the 2012 Olympics. Acknowledging mistakes with Beijing coverage, Roger Mosey, director of London 2012 for the BBC, says the broadcast company will work to ensure users don't incur huge data bills. BBC will conduct a partner search to meet this goal.

…Denver-based XP Events has been selected to oversee retail concessions at the 2010 Olympic Games. They will operate 60 retail kiosks at 15 venues, recruiting 250 part-time workers. The company recently handled merchandise sales at the NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix.

…Olympic beach volleyball player Mike Whitmarsh was found dead inside the garage of a Solana Beach, Calif. home on Tuesday. He was 46. Whitmarsh teamed with Mike Dodd to win a silver medal in the men’s beach volleyball competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

…British gold medal-winning cyclist Chris Hoy says he still intends to compete at the world track cycling championships in Pruskow, Poland March 22-25 despite suffering a bruised shoulder and hip in a crash at the World Cup in Denmark last weekend. Hoy, who won gold medals in the sprint, keirin and team sprint races at the 2008 Winter Olympics in Beijing, will try to defend his world championships in those three disciplines.

…Dave Currie, who was New Zealand’s chef de mission at the previous two Summer Olympics, has been named as manager of the country’s national cricket team. Currie will retain his role as chef de mission for New Zealand for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and the 2012 Summer Games in London.

Written by Greg Oshust.