Olympic Briefs -- Charges Dropped Against Stevens; Women's Boxing Decision Pending

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will not pursue corruption charges against former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. (Getty Images)Ted Stevens, the U.S. Senator who wrote the United States’ Olympic laws, will not face corruption charges.

According to National Public Radio, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the decision was made due to prosecutorial misconduct.

"After careful review, I have concluded that certain information should have been provided to the defense for use at trial," Holder said in a statement Wednesday. "In light of this conclusion, and in consideration of the totality of the circumstances of this particular case, I have

determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial."

In 1998 Stevens was the leader in Congress for the current version of the law governing the Olympics in the U.S. Now called the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, the law spells out the authority of the U.S. Olympic Committee over national governing bodies for sports. The law also establishes the USOC as the guardian of Olympic trademarks in the U.S.

The 85-year-old Republican from Alaska was found guilty of charges he failed to report the true value of work on his home carried out by a contractor. Prosecutors say Stevens tried to hide $250,000 worth of improvements to the property. Stevens says he believed the work was covered by $160,000 he paid to the contractor.

Women’s Boxing Decision in August

The decision whether or not to include women’s boxing at the 2012 Olympics in London will be announced in August.

According to an Associated Press report, the IOC is looking at the international boxing federation’s request to add the discipline to the Olympic program.

The IOC said in a statement that the Olympic Programme Commission The IOC’s Executive Board will determine the fate of women’s boxing in the Olympics in August. (Getty Images)will "make a recommendation to the executive board," which will meet in Berlin on Aug. 13, during the athletics world championships.

Boxing is the only sport in London that lacks a discipline for women. An attempt to add women’s boxing to the program for Beijing failed because the IOC deemed that it was not a worldwide sport.

IWF Re-elects Ajan President at Congress

Tamas Ajan was re-elected president of the International Weightlifting Federation at the organization’s 104th electoral congress in Madrid on Wednesday.

Ajan, who has served as IWF president since 2000, was selected for another term by acclimation in a vote of the 128 delegates who participated in the election.

Ma Wenguang of China is the federation’s new general secretary after outpolling Jean-Paul Bulgaridhes of France 68-59. Ma replaces Yannis Sgouros of Tamas Ajan was re-elected president of the International Weightlifting Federation at the organization’s electoral congress in Madrid. (ATR/Panasonic:Lumix)Greece, who has held the post since 2000.

Chang Chao-Kuo of Chinese Taipei was selected first vice president. Nicu Vlad of Romania, Hasan Akkus of Turkey, Sam Coffa of Australia, Zygmunt Wasiela of Poland and Dragomir Cioroslan are the other vice presidents.

Executive Board members are Tikire Boukar of Cameroon, Basilio Chalak of Argentina, Emilio Estarlik Louano of Spain, Intarat Yodbangtoey of Thailand, Roland Frere of France and Poh Eng Ong of Malaysia.

On the first day of the congress on Tuesday, the IWF ratified Gambia, Laos and Mauritania as new members to increase the number of countries affiliated with the federation to 187.

The delegates also approved a new constitution, technical and competition rules and annual reports for the 2009-12 period and heard preparation reports from prospective hosts of future major competitions.

The congress will conclude on Thursday with the first meeting of the newly-elected executive board.

Delegates from 132 countries attended the congress, which was held at Madrid’s Meila Castilla hotel.

Andrea Mead Lawrence, 76, 1933-2009

The only U.S. woman to win two skiing gold medals at the same Olympics died of cancer on Tuesday, just weeks before her 77th birthday. She was first diagnosed with the disease in 2000.

Andrea Mead Lawrence won the slalom and giant slalom events at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway. Among the superlatives she earned was "Greatest Winter Olympian of All Time" from Olympic documentarian Bud Greenspan and greatest athlete from her state of Vermont, as decided by Sports Illustrated.

She also competed at the 1948 and 1956 Winter Olympics.

Lawrence became an environmental activist after her Olympic career, founding the nonprofit Andrea Lawrence Institute for Mountains and Rivers.

She is survived by her five children.

Briefs…

…AVP has fortified its financial position in the midst of the global financial downturn after U.S. beach volleyball signed contract extensions with broadcast partner NBC and major sponsor Anheuser-Busch. The tour’s deal with NBC has been extended for two years, while an extra three years has been added to its agreement with Anheuser-Busch. NBC, which has been broadcasting the AVP since 1990, will televise six tournaments in July and August, including the tour’s championships in Chicago.

Media Watch

Columnist for the The Chicago Tribune, Rick Morrissey says the IOC should take Chicago the way it is.

The London Free Press has an article about the mystery surrounding the first Canadian athletics team at an Olympics.

A Reuters article claims Chicago might have an advantage in the race to host the 2016 Olympics.

Brazil is helping to develop football in Kenya, and the Kenyan government wants Brazil’s support for Kenya’s 2020 Olympic bid.

Written by Ed Hula III.