Olympic Newsdesk -- Australian NOC; YOG Mascots; Mother of Judo

AOC Prepares Legal Challenge Over Report

The Australian Olympic Committee is planning to take legal action against the company behind an Australian government report that funding be cut for Olympic sports.

According to The Age, the AOC is preparing to take action against the Gemba Group which backed the Crawford Report. The report suggested directing money to sports already popular in Australia at the expense of some of the less-practiced Olympic sports.

The AOC claims the report is a gross misrepresentation of facts on sports funding.

Nine of the sports suggested as priorities for sports funding are clients of the Gemba Group, which provides consulting on sports sponsorships.

''I am unaware of legal action and we were employed because we have a broad cross-section of experience with sport - most of our work in the past 18 months has been with Olympic sports rather than commercial sports,'' said Robert Mills, one of the owners of the company.

Bolt, Richards, IAAF Athletes of the Year

Jamaican Usain Bolt and American Sanya Richards were named the 2009 IAAF World Athletes of the Year on Sunday at the World Athletes Gala in Monte Carlo.

This was the second consecutive year that Bolt received the award. Bolt, an Olympic gold medalist, set world records in the 100 meters and the 200m at the 2009 IAAF Championships in Berlin.

“It’s been an amazing season, but also a trying season,” said Bolt. “To be named athlete of the year is such a great honor, it shows that all the work we put in pays off.”

This was the second time that Richards won the award after she received the honor in 2006. Richards won a world title in the 400m and recorded seven of the 10 fastest times in the event.

“I was asked if this feeling would be the same as being World champion and it really is,” Richards, an Olympic gold medalist said. “Considering the other athletes I was up against this year, I know this must have been a really tough decision.”

Her coach Clyde Hart was named the 2009 IAAF World Coach of the Year at the gala.

German Gustav Schwenk received the Inaugural IAAF World Journalist Award. He was the only journalist to have reported from every Summer Olympics from 1952-2004.

On Sunday, IAAF president Lamine Diack said he did not think top athletics events would head to South Africa anytime soon.

Diack said at a press conference "It is still but a dream. It is not for tomorrow. Hopefully the opportunity will crop up."

New YOG Mascots

Lyo and Merly, a lion and merlion, will be the mascots of the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

Unveiled by sports minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Lyo (prounounced like "leo") "embodies the values of Excellence and Friendship, while Merly, a merlion, personifies the values of Excellence and Respect."

Goh Kee Nguan, ceo of YOG organizing committe, said, "As mascots for Singapore 2010, Lyo and Merly have to appeal to the international community and the youth. At the same time, they must also possess a strong Singapore’s identity.

“As the host city for the inaugural YOG,we hope to share our culture with friends around the world. What better way to do it than to have Lyo and Merly represent us and the youth, and be the faces of the first YOG."

Mother of Judo, 74

Rena Kanokogi, “the Mother of Judo” died of leukemia Saturday aged 74. Kanokogi was credited with helping to bring women’s judo into the Olympics.

Kanokogi competed against male judokas in the 1950s and helped start the women’s judo world championships, first held in 1980.

Never able to compete at the Olympics, Kanokogi, Rusty as she was called, coached the U.S. women’s team at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the first Games with women’s judo. She provided commentary on judo for NBC at the 2004 Olympics.

“I hesitate to think where women in judo and other Olympic sports would be today if it were not for the fully inclusive notion that Rusty fought for relentlessly every day – that men and woman are truly equal to pursue their dreams within the same sports and set of rules” said USA Judo president Lance Nading.

Kanokogi is survived by husband Ryohei Kanokogi and children Jean and Ted Kanokogi. She lived in New York City.

Briefs…

…Miriam Moyo, president of the National Olympic Committee of Zambia announced she will run for reelection. "Definitely, I am re-contesting because we have a lot of programs and projects which we need to finish off," she told Zambian media. Elections are scheduled to take place at the NOCZ’s annual general meeting in Ndola, Zambia Dec. 19. Nominations for all positions are due by Dec. 5, none have been submitted thus far.

… Asbel Kipruto Kiprop of Kenya says he is disappointed in the way he has become the gold medalist from Beijing. Kiprop stepped up to gold last week after the disqualification of Rashid Ramzi for doping. Speaking to Reuters Television, Kiprop said "I don't feel happy in the way I should have felt. We cannot go back to Beijing again and recite the national anthem."

Media Watch

Rob Retzlaff writes about Vancouver’s work to clean up the city ahead of the Games.

Olympic sponsor Panasonic is also getting ready for a large presence in Vancouver.

Trouble is brewing in the elections of two African NOCs. A plea to keep the Rwandan NOC free from government interference is found in The New Times while an article claims the Nigerian NOC engaged in “lies and misrepresentation” to disqualify sports commission chair Sani Mohammed Ndanusa from challenging incumbent chief Habu Gumel.

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Written by Ed Hula III.