2012 Medal Projections; 3x3 Basketball, Beach Soccer Olympics-Bound?

FIBA Rebrands 3x3 Hoops

Newly rebranded 3x3 basketball is gearing up its campaign for Olympic inclusion.

FIBA unveiled Tuesday a logo and web platform for its half-court, three-to-a-side discipline debuted a year ago at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

"Welcome to 3x3 Planet. Let’s take 3x3 basketball from the streets to the Olympics," says the preview website’s only reference to the Games.

"The full version of the site will be launched in early 2012," says FIBA, "with the aim of rapidly becoming the world’s largest online sports community."

3x3 hoops features non-stop music, fast-paced action and games lasting less than 15 minutes.

IOC Executive Board members will decide in 2013 whether to include any new disciplines on the Olympic program ahead of the 2016 Olympics.

Beach Soccer Bound for Rio?

Reports in Rio de Janeiro suggest basketball isn’t the only sport that could have a new discipline on display when the Games come to Brazil five years from Friday.

According to O Globo, FIFA president Sepp Blatter recently spoke with Rio 2016 president Carlos Nuzman about possible inclusion of beach soccer.

The sport is already a staple of several regional Games, and FIFA organizes its own World Cup every two years.

Brazil traditionally dominates the discipline.

China Leads Projected London Medal Count

Olympic expert Luciano Barra predicts China will top the medal tally at the 2012 London Olympics.

According to his most recent projection, Chinese athletes are favored to win 97 total medals – 36 gold, 34 silver and 27 bronze.

Barra’s latest revisions are based upon performances at recent world championships in beach volleyball, archery, women’s soccer, aquatics and bicycle motocross.

Behind China are the U.S. with 78 total medals – 35 of them gold – and Russia with 86 total – only 27 of them gold.

Barra, the former director of sport for the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) and deputy CEO of the Torino 2006 organizing committee, has been making Olympic projections for well over a decade. He begins with the results from the previous Games, then constantly updates as each major championship occurs.

The next projections are due at month’s end after world championships in badminton, canoe, kayak, judo, rowing, mountain biking and athletics.

Hingis-Federer Pairing Doubtful for 2012

Former world number one Martina Hingis is shrugging off rumors of an Olympic comeback to play alongside fellow Swiss tennis great Roger Federer in London.

"I'm not really thinking about it at all," she said Monday during a pro-am appearance in San Diego.

"The invitation has been blown a bit out of proportion. I may be retired but the competitive instinct is still there."

According to the five-time Grand Slam champion and 1996 Olympian, she was approached earlier this year by Federer’s camp – but not Federer himself – about playing mixed doubles together in 2012. The event was last contested at the Games in 1924.

Hingis, 30, retired from professional tennis for a second time in 2007 after testing positive for cocaine. At the time, she declared her innocence but did not fight the result.

Should she wish to return for the Olympics, drug testing is among the responsibilities she must fulfill in the meantime.

She would also need to rejoin the WTA tour, make herself available for the Swiss Fed Cup team and – in order to secure direct qualification – rack up a fair amount of ranking points. Only the top 56 singles players and top 10 doubles players receive direct entry into the Games, and the mixed doubles draw will be formed only from those athletes already on site.

Written by Matthew Grayson and Ann Cantrell.