Olympic Newsdesk- Dubai Drops Aquatics Championships, Vonn 'Law & Order'

Dubai drops 2013 FINA Championships

The International Aquatics Federation, FINA, is looking for a new city to host the 2013 world championships. The federation and Dubai jointly decided they would not go forward in organizing the event.

"We believe that, at this stage, it is of paramount importance to further improve the impact of the aquatic disciplines in this Middle East region before staging a FINA World Championships with our five sports" said FINA president Julio Maglione in a statement.

Dubai won the right to stage the event last year. The 25m world championships are scheduled to take place in Dubai in December. Moscow and Hamburg, Germany, were the two other cities vying to stage the event.

It is unclear how FINA will proceed in selecting a new venue.

To stage the championships, Dubai needed a $434 million infrastructure investment. The emirate was hit hard by the financial crisis and needed a bailout from Abu Dhabi.

The Dubai Sports Complex was the proposed site of the championships.

Vonn in "Law & Order"

Gold medalist skier Lindsey Vonn is hoping she does not appear in the final episode of her favorite television show "Law & Order".

Vonn will appear in the episode "Rubber Room" airing May 24 on NBC. In the season finale, she appears as an administrative assistant at a teachers' union.

The segment was taped April 9 after Vonn won two medals in the Vancouver Olympics.

NBC announced last week that it will not renew "Law & Order" for another season. The show’s producer hinted Tuesday that the show is not dead yet.

Vonn started a Facebook group "Save Law & Order!" last Thursday.

"The show has been running for 20 seasons and I can't believe they want to cancel it," Vonn wrote. "Maybe if we all get together and support the show they will keep it on air."

Skating Ban Reduced

The Korean Skating Union reduced a three year ban to one year for speed skaters Jung-Su Lee and Yoon-Gy Kwak. The skaters have one week to appeal the suspension to the Korean Olympic Committee.

KSU notified the skaters on Wednesday of the reduction in their ban from competition. KSU disciplined the pair for race-fixing at the national team trials in March.

Lee took won three medals in Vancouver including two golds in the 1,000m and 1,500m events. Lee and Kwak were a part of the team that won silver in the 5,000m relay.

New Logo for Birds Nest

The Birds Nest stadium has a phoenix for its new logo.

The National Stadium Co., Ltd. selected "Return of the Phoenix" out of 812 submissions. The phoenix is the king of birds in Chinese culture.

Beijing Zhengbang Culture and Arts Development Co., Ltd designed the logo.

Since the 2008 Games, the Birds Nest has been seen as a white elephant, as it struggles to find a use after the Games. The stadium cost $423 million to build.

Written by Sam Steinberg.