Billions for Brazilian Public Transport; Bach Talks Bid; Crosby Out for Worlds

Billions for Brazil Public Transportation

Brazilian president Dilma Rouseff said on Tuesday that Brazil plans to invest $17 billion in funding for mass transit related to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

In a speech in Brasilia, the country’s capital, she said the monies will come from federal, state and local governments, according to a report from Agence France-Press.

The projects were not given a deadline but Rouseff said there is a target for who will be most served from the infrastructure developments.

"Young people, children and adults use these transport systems and mass transit most serves people with the lowest incomes," she was quoted as saying.

Bach: No News on German Bid

Thomas Bach, president of the German Olympic Committee (DOSB), says "there is nothing new" relating to a future German Olympic bid.

He said a bid for either the Winter or Summer Games would be welcome "if the underlying conditions and reasonable prospects of success are there."

Both Berlin and Hamburg expressed interest in bidding for the 2024 Olympics, and talks continue to surface of a Munich 2022 bid.

Crosby Out of Worlds

Sidney Crosby will not repeat his Olympic glory-winning performance at the upcoming IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships in Finland and Sweden.

Crosby, who scored the overtime goal in the gold-medal game against the United States in Vancouver, will skip the championships.

"Sidney feels there is an opportunity ahead to spend the next four months getting ready for next season," Crosby’s agent Pat Brisson said. "He really didn't have a full summer to train last year as he was injured."

The world championships are scheduled for May 4 to 20.

Boxing Boss to Bulgaria

International Boxing Association chief C.K. Wu is fresh off a visit with Bulgarian president Rosen Plevneliev.

Also included in Monday’s meeting in Sofia were AIBA vice president and European Boxing Confederation president Humbert Furgoni as well as Bulgaria’s prime minister Boyko Borisov, sports minister Svilen Neykov, NOC president Stefka Kostadinova and national federation president Krassimir Ininski.

"All parties agreed during these talks that Bulgaria had a vital role to play in the future of the sport and that the new cooperation between AIBA and the Bulgarian Boxing Federation, under its new leader Mr Ininski, would bring back the glory days to one of the traditional leading nations in boxing," says a statement on AIBA.org.

"They also discussed possibilities of holding future major AIBA events in the country."

Honorary Doctorate for Hockey Honcho

International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel is the newest recipient of a diploma from Hanyang University in Seoul

"This is a huge honor for me," he said of the honorary degree.

"I am especially proud of the fact that this is a doctorate in medicine."

Fasel, a doctor of dental surgery since 1977, published an IOC report titled "Sports Dentistry and the Olympic Games" in 2005.

2012 Qualifying

…Henrique Barbosa became the latest Brazilian to earn a spot at the London Olympics. Barbosa won the 200m breaststroke event at the Maria Lenk Trophy competition in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday and now does not need to earn a spot at the Brazilian Olympic trials in May. For a list of Brazilians who will go to the London Olympics, click here.

…David Florence (men’s C1 and C2), Richard Hounslow (men’s K1 and C2), Lizzie Neave (women’s K1), Etienne Stott (men’s C2) and Tim Baillie (men’s C2) will represent Team Great Britain following a three-day selection event at Lee Valley White Water Centre, canoe slalom’s Olympic venue at London 2012.

Written by Ed Hula III.

20 Years at #1: