Olympic Briefs - Rio Mayor Chief of Staff on Missing Plane; U.S. Gold Medal Wrestlers to Receive Big Award

Marcelo Parente, chief of staff to Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes, and his wife, Marcelle Valpaços Fonseca Lima, were among the 228 victims aboard Air France Flight 447, which disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean late Sunday night.

Parente, 38, and Paes were also personal friends. According to a statement from City Hall, Parente and his wife were on a personal trip. Both were lawyers, and Parente was also a law professor at the Catholic University. He began working as an assistant to Paes in 1993 at the administrative department for the Barra da Tijuca and Jacarepaguá areas. The couple had been married for seven years and had no children.

Rio 2016 expressed sympathy for all of the victims and their loved ones on its Web site: "The Rio 2016 Bid Committee and the Brazilian Olympic Committee deeply regrets the loss of 228 lives aboard flight AF 447. We extend our sincere condolences to families and friends of the passengers and crew."

Olympic Gold to Pay Big for U.S. Wrestlers

USA Wrestling will award $250,000 to gold medal winners at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London as part of a new program that it has established.

The large cash award for gold medals is part of USA Wrestling’s Living the Dream Medal Fund, which will boost the financial rewards for U.S. wrestlers who win Olympic and World Championship medals for the next four years leading up to the London Games.

In addition to the $250,000 for a gold medal, the program will award $50,000 to silver medalists and $25,000 for wrestlers who claim bronze in 2012.

USA Wrestling will also provide $50,000 for a world championship gold medalist for the next three years. World silver medal winners will get $25,000, with $15,000 being awarded for a bronze.

Funding for the Living the Dream Medal fund will come from a group of stewards as well as a public fundraising program and support from USA Wrestling and the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Adlington Receives OBE

British Olympic gold medal swimmer Rebecca Adlington was awarded an OBE from Queen Elizabeth at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.

The 20-year Adlington won the 400- and 800-meter freestyles at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and is now preparing for the FINA world championships in Rome in July.

The presentation of Adlington’s OBE follows the awarding of a MBE to fellow British Olympic gold medalist Christine Ohuruogu last week.

Also receiving an OBE was British Olympic sailing manager Stephen Park. Park led British sailing team to six medals – four gold, one silver and one bronze – at the Beijing Games last year.

New Field Hockey Body Created in India

The Indian Olympic Association has formed a new field hockey federation in response to the International Hockey Federation’s threats to strip next year’s men’s World Cup from India.

Hockey India will govern both the men’s and women’s game in the country, a condition laid down by the IHF for India to remain as World Cup host in 2010.

“The International Hockey Federation told us that India will only host the men’s World Cup next year if it can form a unified national association for men and women,” Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi told reporters. “If this had not been done, even India’s participation in international events was under threat.”

The IOA has been acting as the governing body for men’s field hockey in India for a year through an administrative panel after suspending the Indian Hockey Federation after a bribery scandal.

Schwarzenegger to Aid U.S World Cup Effort

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is the latest to join the U.S. bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups as he joins the board of directors for the USA bid committee.

Schwarzenegger joins U.S. national team players Landon Donovan and Mia Hamm and former American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on the bid committee.

“Soccer is the world’s most popular sport and California has been home to some of its most exciting games and I am proud to be part of bringing the World Cup back to the United States,” said Schwarzenegger in a statement. “The millions of fans from around the globe that will travel to the United States to cheer their teams will prove a great benefit for our state, our nation and the world of soccer.”

The U.S. bid has also received an endorsement from President Barack Obama, who wrote a letter of support to FIFA. http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_14647296.html

Briefs…

…A total of 202 of the 213 IAAF member federations say they will participate in the world athletics championships in Berlin August 15 to 23, according to the federation. http://www.iaaf.org/WCH09/news/kind=100/newsid=50880.html

…The International Baseball Federation will hold a series of events in Spain through the month of June as part of its plan to develop the sport throughout Europe. The event include a baseball clinic in Madrid on Saturday and the semifinals and finals of the European Cup in Barcelona June 20 to 21.

…The Ghana Olympic Committee will start the second part of its national four-year sponsorship for international competitions at a ceremony in Kumasi on Saturday. The international competitions will include the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore, the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the 2011 All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Written byKaren Rosen, Greg Oshust and Isia Reaves