Olympic Newsdesk -- World Champions Win at Skate America; Equestrian Federation Elections

Kim, Lysacek Winners at Skate America

Yu-Nam Kim of Korea fell on her opening triple flip but still edged out her opponents to win gold at Skate America in Lake Placid this weekend.

Despite the fall, the Korean skater had a record breaking performance in the short program and led by nearly 20 points afterwards giving her enough to win her seventh straight Grand Prix title.

“My first jump, I was shaking a little bit. I tried to concentrate for the rest of my program, but I could not,” Kim said.

“I didn’t used to think about the pressure too much. But this season is an Olympic season, so I feel pressure because many people are anticipating and expecting high scores.”

U.S. skater Rachel Flatt had the best score in the free skate with 116.11 points, but it wasn’t enough to win gold. Flatt had the strongest performance for U.S. female skaters this year.

Another U.S. skater, Evan Lysacek, took gold for the men’s category after finishing with 237.72 points. He scored 158.55 points in the long program.

Lysacek had competed at Skate America five times before, never capturing gold.

“I have a lot of silvers and I really wanted to win a gold out there,” Lysacek said.

Lysacek has emerged as a favorite to win the gold in Vancouver.

“To be competitive at the Olympics, it’s going to take perfection, so I have a lot of work to do,” Lysacek said.

Shawn Sawyer of Canada finished second with 203.91 points. Ryan Bradley of the U.S. finished third with 198.12 points.

Skate America is one of six global events within the ISU Grand Prix Series.

Equestrian Federation Elections Tuesday

The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) votes for a new board on Tuesday.

Elections take place at the Extraordinary General Assembly, part of the General Assembly taking place at the Copenhagen Marriott, Nov. 17 – 19. Elections take place at 9AM local time and can be seen live on FEI TV. After the elections, the FEI Geographical Groups will meet for the rest of the day.

An update on London 2012 preparations is scheduled for Wednesday.

The General Assembly takes place on Thursday and will be shown in its entirety on FEI TV.

Sailing Discusses London 2012

Sailing leaders held lengthy discussions about the London 2012 Olympics at their conference.

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Annual Conference concluded Saturday in Busan, South Korean. Before it disbanded for the year, the ISAF Council approved a new match racing format and qualification system for 2012. In addition, ISAF President Goran Petersson promised delegates that he would examine training costs at the 2012 Olympic venue in Weymouth.

Olympic training costs were a hot topic at Friday's council meeting. One proposal by Poland called for the ISAF to control costs and access at Weymouth.

“This is a very serious matter we have here," said ISAF member Kurt Lonnqvist of Finland. "For smaller countries this is a huge cost and it’s really creating a big difference for different countries for preparing for the Olympics.”

ISAF Treasurer and Technical Delegate for London 2012 David Kellett said that any substantial changes needed changes to the bid document.

The proposal was withdrawn after Petersson assured delegates that the ISAF was confronting the issue.

"The message we have got is crystal clear," he said. "We recognize how serious this issue is and we’re taking it up in three different ways: we’re talking to LOCOG, the IOC, the [Association of Summer Olympic International Federations] Council. Next step is to talk to the Olympic Director of the IOC to get it into the bid document of the IOC.”

The council did approve of a race matching formation for London 2012. The new system will consist of 12 teams competing in a single-round robin with the top eight advancing to a playoff.

The council approved a qualification system that grants the host country a place in each event. Other spots would be decided at the 2011 Perth ISAF Sailing World Championships and at events in 2012. The IOC must approve the new system before it becomes official.

NBC Universal Still Has 2010 Ad Space to Sell

Feeling the pinch of the recession, NBC Universal still has between 30 and 35 percent of ad space to sell before the Vancouver Olympics in February according to media agency estimates.

“NBC will be on a price rollercoaster until they firm things up,” Larry Novenstern, executive vp of Optimedia was quoted by Mediaweek.

NBC Universal sold ad space for $500,000 to $700,000 per 30 second ad for the 2006 Turin Winter Games. Ads for the 2010 Games could fetch as much as a reported $800,000.

The network had sold about 85 percent of its ad space at this same point ahead of the 2006 Games.

“There may be some good opportunities between now and then, and at this point, they’re willing to listen to anything,” Novenstern said.

Briefs...

...The budget for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is increasing by $136 million to $764 million. Glasgow 2014 based the increase on a budget review. A number of factors led to the budget increase including legislative changes and rising broadcasting costs, according to a press release. The Scottish government will provide an additional $99 million, the Glasgow City Council will provide an extra $15 million and the organizing committee will raise an additional $22 million.

Written by Isia Reaves, Ed Hula III and Sam Steinberg.