Federations Roundup -- Rio 2016 Sailing Program; Women's Volleyball World Championships

Sailing Picks Events for Rio

Mixed multihull will replace men’s keelboat on the Olympic sailing program for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Council approved Friday a slate of 10 classes put forward Wednesday by the Events Committee at the sailing federation’s week-long conference in Athens.

Men’s Laser, women’s Laser Radial, men’s 49er, men’s Finn, mixed 470 and women’s Elliot 6m keelboat are also sailing toward Rio.

Men’s and women’s boards, women’s two-person skiff and mixed multihull are also on the program, but equipment evaluations are still to come.

Whether ISAF will choose windsurfing or kite-boards remains to be seen. Tornado’s comeback will also be up-in-the-air until the federation decides which multihull to use.

Tornado was contested from Montreal 1976 to Beijing 2008 but nixed from the 2012 Summer Games last August.

All 10 events are subject to confirmation at ISAF’s mid-year meeting in May.

Also in Athens, ISAF awarded the 2014 Youth World Championships to Tavira, Portugal and approved the 2014 Sailing World Championships as the first Rio qualifier. Bidding for the event is underway, and a host will be selected early next year.

Russia Wins Volleyball Worlds

Russia won their second straight women’s volleyball world championship Sunday.

They defeated Olympic champions Brazil while hosts Japan claimed bronze over the United States.

This is Russia’s seventh women’s world championship and extends their medaling streak at the championships to six tournaments.

"It wasn't just about Volleyball today," Russia coach Vladimir Kuzyutkin said. "Brazil played very well, and both of us together could demonstrate a great quality of Volleyball. I'm very thrilled that we could win, and I'm very happy for my team.This wasn't only about sport today, it was about character. "

Playoffs for other spots were held Sunday. Italy defeated Turkey for fifth place, Germany finished seventh ahead of Serbia, Poland beat China for ninth place, and the Netherlands defeated Cuba to finish 11th.

Hockey Outlines 2012 Qualification System

Qualifying for London 2012’s hockey competition is underway.

The International Hockey Federation, FIH, outlined Saturday the qualification quotas at its biennial congress in the Swiss town of Montreux.

Eight men’s and eight women’s teams will earn Olympic berths at the five continental championships slated through the end of 2011.

Among those five is the Asian Games that kicked off over the weekend.

A win in Guangzhou will automatically book one lucky team a trip to London in less than two years’ time.

Top finishers at the Africa Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Guadalajara 2011 Pan American Games, EuroHockey Nations Championship and Oceania Cup will enjoy the same treatment.

Three additional spots on the men’s side will go to the top non-qualifiers from the EuroHockey Nations Championship and Oceania Cup. On the women’sside,runners-up at the EuroHockey Nations, Ocenia Cup and Guangzhou 2010 will earn Olympic berths.

The winnersof three last-minute qualification tourneys spread throughout the first half of 2012 round out the 12-strong fields in London.

Archery Federation Dishes Out Events

The 2015 World Archery Championships will be contested in Copenhagen, Denmark.

That and other event allocations were at the top of the agenda for a World Archery Council meeting held over the weekend in Istanbul.

Las Vegas, Nevada will stage the 2012 World Archery Indoor Championships and Wuxi, China the 2013 World Archery Youth Championships.

The Council shortlisted Paris, Tokyo and Lausanne for the 2012 and 2013 World Cup finals. Decisions will come in January.

Also in Istanbul, the International Archery Federation tweaked its competition formats for the 2010 season.

Compound archers will now shoot 15-arrow matches on 10-5 scoring rings, and six set points will win the match for recurve archers.

China Tops Trampoline Worlds

China is atop the medal count at the TrampolineGymnastics World Championships that wrapped up over the weekend in Metz, France.

More than 260 athletes from 34 countries competed at the Les Arènes Sports Complex in individual trampoline, tumbling, double mini-trampoline and synchronized trampoline.

No team event was held this year.

Chinese gymnasts won the men’s and women’s individuals as well as the men’s synchro, while Russia took the women’s synchro and women’s tumbling.

Both finished with six total medals, but China edged Russia three to two in golds.

Canada, Portugal and Ukraine also won a gold a piece.

Spots in London 2012 won’t be at stake until the 2011 worlds in Birmingham, England.

Fencing Worlds Conclude

Italy topped the medal tally at the Fencing World Championships which wrapped up on Saturday in Paris.

Seven medals were claimed by the Italian squad, including two golds. France and Russia tied for second with five medals.Both countries won two golds as well. Italy also finished first in the 2009 edition.

A total of 13 countries earned medals.

In all, nearly 1000 fencers from 110 countries competed in the tournament, held in the Grand Palais.

The 2011 tournament is scheduled for November 8 – 16 in Catania, Italy.

Russian Federation Fined

The International Biathlon Union’s executive board fined the Russian Biathlon Union almost $70,000 for multiple doping violations.

According to IBU rules, the union may impose fines on a national federation if more than one athlete from a NF violates anti-doping regulations within a 12 month period.

Five Russian biathletes failed drug tests in 2009.

In a statement IBU said the RBU "imposed all necessary disciplinary consequences internally and has taken very serious action to prevent doping in the future. The IBU Executive Board wishes to emphasize that it highly commends and respects the initiatives taken by the new leadership in the Russian Biathlon Union in the fight against doping."

Written by Ed Hula III and Matthew Grayson.