Monday Memo - BOA/CAS Verdict; London Mayoral Election; Test Events Galore

2012 Test Events

LOCOG juggles a total of six test events this week – three of them Olympic and the other three Paralympic.

The Visa International Invitational Hockey Tournament runs Wednesday to Sunday at Riverbank Arena with Australia, Germany, Great Britain and India competing on the men’s side. Argentina, China, Great Britain and South Korea make up the women’s field.

Wheelchair tennis follows Thursday to Sunday at Eton Manor, the lone Paralympics-only venue in Olympic Park.

Women’s water polo teams from Australia, Great Britain, Hungary and USA will square off Thursday to Sunday in the Visa Water Polo International at the Aquatics Center.

Paralympic archery at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich also lasts Thursday to Sunday with boccia at the Basketball Arena in Olympic Park beginning Saturday.

And the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) Visa Outdoor Athletics Championships – the first test event for Olympic Stadium – rounds out the week with up to 1,500 athletes from around 100 of the host country’s higher education institutions competing Friday to Monday.

BOA/CAS Verdict

A verdict on the British Olympic Association’s controversial doping bylaw is expected sometime this week from the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

If CAS upholds the World Anti-Doping Agency’s ruling, then the BOA’s lifetime Olympic ban of athletes sanctioned for drugs violations would be scrapped, paving the way for previously banned Brits such as cyclist David Millar and sprinter Dwain Chambers to qualify for Team GB and compete at the Games.

Olympic Hoops Draws

Draws for the men’s and women’s Olympic basketball tournaments will take shape Monday at a meeting of FIBA’s Central Board.

Fibatv.com will stream the ceremony live from Rio de Janeiro at 16:00 CET.

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Great Britain, Spain, Tunisia and USA are the nine teams qualified for the men’s competition so far with Angola, Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, Russia and USA on the women’s side. The remaining three men’s and five women’s berths will be up for grabs at a trio of Olympic qualifying tournaments in late June and early July.

London Mayoral Election

Thursday’s mayoral election will determine who leads London through the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

Boris Johnson, the incumbent, is considered the favorite but faces challenges from Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick and Ken Livingstone, the Labour Party politician who ran London during the bidding stage for the Games.

Ice Hockey World Champs

Helsinki and Stockholm share hosting duties for the 2012 IIHF Men’s Ice Hockey World Championship beginning Friday. Group play runs through May 15 with the final scheduled for May 20.

FEI Sport Forum

The International Equestrian Federation will welcome almost 300 delegates from 39 national federations to Lausanne this week for the first FEI Sport Forum. Sessions on jumping, eventing, endurance and veterinary matters will allow participants to propose and debate rule changes for the consideration of the FEI General Assembly.

ExCeL Readies for WSB Final

Around the Rings will be on the scene for Wednesday night’s World Series of Boxing team finals between Dolce & Gabbana Milano Thunder and Dynamo Moscow at ExCel, the sport’s Olympic venue for London 2012.

Correction

Around the Rings apologizes for any misunderstanding stemming from an April 26 item in "Olympic Newsdesk" about London 2012 CEO Paul Deighton and British sports minister Hugh Robertson. They complimented Istanbul’s candidacy for the 2020 Olympics, but did not endorse the bid.

Written by Matthew Grayson.

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