Hockey "Happy" With New Rio Venue; Yu Na Kim Dominates Skating World Championships

Hockey Closer to Rio 2016 Venue Approval

International Hockey Federation (FIH) CEO Kelly Fairweather tells Around the Rings the FIH board is in principle "happy" with new venue proposals presented by Rio 2016.

On Friday, Rio 2016 sport director Agberto Guimarães presented the new plan to re-house hockey at the Deodoro Zone to an FIH board meeting in Lausanne.

The plans call for a 10,0000-capacity venue that would be downsized after the Games and a temporary 5,000-seat stadium. Two training pitches are to be built at the federal university near the airport.

Despite concerns over Rio 2016’s plans to relocate hockey away from the main hub of the Games, Fairweather said the new concept is a "huge improvement" on previous proposals.

"In principle our board is happy with the proposals but there are some details to sort out before we accept," he told ATR Monday.

Rio 2016’s ramped-up legacy plans for hockey have helped win over a previously skeptical FIH board; the training pitches at the university would benefit its 50,000 students and national team training.

Fairweather said the FIH will study the venue plans in greater detail before offering feedback to Rio 2016 next week. He hopes the hockey federation can sign off on the plans in early April.

The Rio 2016 presentation also included details of transport routes from the Deodoro Zone to the Olympic Village and the second Games hub to the training center – both journey times are said to be around 30 minutes.

"We are quite comfortable with that. But it is contingent on the transport networks being delivered," he said.

"There is a huge amount to be done in terms of delivering them."

Yu Na Kim Dominates World Championships

After a two-year hiatus, South Korea’s Yuna Kim posted the highest score ever at a figure skating world championships.

Kim posted an overall score of 218.31, second only to her record-setting performance at the Vancouver Olympics. With her performanceon Saturday makes her the clear favorite to repeat as gold medalist in Sochi.

"It'd be nice if I post good results," She said about expectations for the next Winter Olympics. "But if I think too much about results, I will be stressed out. So I am trying to relax."

Canadian Patrick Chang won the men’s title, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia earned gold in the pair’s event and the U.S. team of Meryl Davis and Charlie White took home gold in the ice dance.

Competition took place March 10-17 in London, Ontario.

…Briefs

…Ugur Erdener was reelected as president of the Turkish National Olympic Committee on Saturday. Erdener isalso an IOC member and president of the World Archery federation. Hasan Arat, leader of the Istanbul 2020 Olympic bid was reelected as vice president, and Nese Gundogan was reelected as Secretary General. Their terms will run for four years.

…Igal Carmi is the new president of the Olympic Committee of Israel. Carmi replaces Zvi Varshaviak, who led OCI for 16 years. Carmi has worked with the Maccabiah Games. His first act was to create a committee that will improve sporting performance in Israel. Yael Arad, Israel’s first medalist will chair the committee.

…Former Belgian Olympic Committee (COIB) president François Narmon has died aged 79. He was NOC chief from 1998 to 2004. He was elected an IOC member in 2002, a post he held until 2004. "With Baron François Narmon, Belgium has lost a great man, a fighter, a man of unusual courage and determination," the COIB said in a statement.

…Galbaatar Uuganbaatar is Mongolia’s first athlete to qualify for the Winter Olympics. The speedskater posted qualifying times in the 500m and 1500m events at a qualification tournament this weekend. All of Mongolia’s Winter Olympians went to the Games through wild card slots.

Written by Ed Hula III.

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