Olympic Newsdesk: FINA World Champs in Rome, London Stadium, LA 25th

Synchronised swimming is one of the main events at the FINA 2009 World Championship held in Rome. (Getty Images) FINA Worlds Begin in Rome

New world champions will be crowned as FINA launches its 13th world championships in Rome on Friday.

The 17-day event will conclude on Aug. 2.

The 2009 edition of the event is setting a new record for most athletes and participating nations, with 2,556 competitors from 185 countries scheduled to take part. The previous marks were set at the 2007 worlds in Melbourne, Australia, with 2,158 athletes from 167 countries.

The Foro Italico will host the swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming events, while Ostia Beach is the site for the open swimming competition.

A number of the athletes who made their mark at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing will be on hand to compete for world championships, with 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps the main attraction.

The diving competition kicks off the FINA worlds on Friday, with water polo, synchronized swimming and open water swimming beginning on Sunday and swimming on July 26. The FINA championships take place at the historic Foro Italico complex. (Getty Images)

FINA will hold its congress in conjunction with the world championships on July 24. Election of new leadership for the federation will be the top priority, with Julio Cesar Maglione to be elected as the new president along with 22 members of the ruling FINA council.

On Sunday, a decision on the host for the 2013 world championships will be made by the FINA Bureau, with Dubai, Moscow and Hamburg, Germany the candidates.

Moscow’s bid for the 2013 worlds may be affected by the Russian capital’s hosting of the 2013 IAAF championships, which is scheduled to take place soon after the usual time for the FINA event.

Talks are underway to delay the start of a concert by rock superstar Bruce Springsteen, which is scheduled to be held on Sunday night at an arena next to the Foro Italico and which may present problems for the diving competition.

NBC will broadcast a combined six hours of competition on July 26 and Aug. 1 and 2, while Universal Sports is showing a two-hour prime time show every night of the championships as well as a daily two-hour live program during the swimming finals from July 27-31.

On the internet, UniversalSports.com will provide live streaming coverage of the entire swimmingcompetition.

London Stadium Outer Shell Complete

London 2012 organizers reached a milestone in the construction of the Olympic Stadium as work was completed on the external structure on Thursday.

The completion of the outer shell comes 14 months after the beginning of the construction of the stadium and three years before the start of the 2012 Games. The Olympic Stadium site in London. (Getty Images)

The announcement by London organizers came at the same time the Olympic Delivery Authority published its annual report for 2008-09.

The 80,000-seat stadium, which is scheduled to be completed by June, 2011, will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics competition.

L.A. Games 25th Anniversary to be Celebrated

The 25th anniversary of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics will be celebrated in a gala event at the L.A. Coliseum on Saturday.

The Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games and the Los Angeles Sports Council will hold the event at the peristyle end of the Coliseum. The 25th anniversary of the Los Angeles Olympics will be celebrated this weekend. (Getty Images)

The event will include a dinner and a show by David Wolper, who organized the opening and closing ceremonies in ’84.

A number of the top athletes from the ’84 Games will be in attendance, including athletics competitors Edwin Moses, Evelyn Ashford and Valerie Briscoe-Hooks, gymnasts Mary Lou Retton and Peter Vidmar, swimmer John Naber and diver Greg Louganis.

Peter Ueberroth, the L.A. Olympic organizing committee chief executive, will be there, as well as Rafer Johnson, who lit the cauldron at the opening ceremonies.

Broadcasters Keith Jackson and Jim Lampley, who covered the Games for ABC, are the co-hosts for the event.

Briefs…

…A group of women ski jumpers who were denied by a British Columbia judge last week the right to participate in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver are planning to appeal the ruling. Ross Clark, the lawyer representing the ski jumpers, said the appeal will be based on the contention that Vancouver 2010 organizers must adhere to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Written by Greg Oshust.