Rowing President Race; Canada Begins Olympic Selection Process; Sports Visit Rio

Three Running to Replace Oswald

Three candidates are vying to assume the helm of FISA, the international rowing federation. Incumbent Denis Oswald is stepping down in his campaign to become IOC President.

John Boultbee from Australia, Jean-Christophe Rolland from France and Tricia Smith from Canada are the three candidates.

Boultbee is a former FISA general secretary, Rolland is a three-time Olympian with a gold medal and he managed EDF’s sponsorship of London 2012 while Smith is also four-time Olympian.

The election will take place Sept. 2 at the FISA Ordinary Congress in Chungju, South Korea.

Smith is also running against vice president Anita DeFrantz for the FISA vice president.

Sarasota, Fla. and Plovdiv, Bulgaria will face votes to host the 2017 and 2018 world championships respectively.

Benin, Botswana, Mali, Saudi Arabia and St. Vincent & Grenadines all applied for FISA membership and could join the federation.

Canada Nominates First Olympians

Ten Canadian short track speed skaters were nominated to compete for the first spots on Canada’s 2014 Olympic team.

"Speed Skating Canada is very proud to be the first National Sport Federation to nominate our Short Track athletes contending for a spot on Canada’s Olympic Team," said Marie Claire Rouleau, President of Speed Skating Canada.

"I know that our athletes, coaches and support team are looking forward to competing in Sochi and I am sure that their exceptional performances leading up to the Games will prepare them well to lead our Olympic team to podium success."

Canadians won five short track speedskating medals in Vancouver.

Busy Month for Rio 2016, Federations

Ten federations on the 2016 Olympic Program will visit Rio de Janeiro in September.

UCI, they cycling federation, paid a visit earlier this week to inspect mountain bike preparations. For the first time, mountain bike competition will take place in the Olympic Park.

"We walked the course several times and the potential of the venue is amazing," said Peter Van Den Abeele, UCI Manager Off-Road Disciplines. "It will be very exciting, more compact and more attractive than ever. London 2012 was amazing, but we are aiming even higher; it is going to be spectacular."

Athletics, badminton, basketball, equestrian, golf, hockey modern pentathlon and table tennis are all scheduled for a visit.

"The strong partnership with the International Federations is vital for the fulfillment of our mutual goal; to provide the very best facilities and environment to allow the athletes to perform to the absolute maximum of their potential," said Rio 2016 sport director Agberto Guimares.

2014 YOG Ambassador

Five-time Youth Olympic Games medalist Clad Le Clos was announced as an ambassador for the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games.

The South African swimmer went on to win the 200m butterfly in the London 2012 Olympics after competing in the Singapore in 2010 YOG.

"The Youth Olympic Games were a huge stepping stone for me and helped me enormously in preparing for the pressures of my first Olympic Games in London," said Le Clos

"But more than the sport, the memories and friends that I made will last forever, and I’m excited to be part of the YOG experience once again."

Istanbul Team Reaches Buenos Aires

The committee endeavoring to bring the 2020 Summer Games to Turkey has arrived in Buenos Aires.

This is Istanbul's fifth bid for the Olympics.

"This is our Olympic Games, so just like an Olympic team, we are taking to time to acclimatize to new surroundings, bond with our teammates, and fine-tune our strategy for the main event next week," said bid chairman Hasan Arat. "We don't feel pressure - we feel great excitement."

He added that the city "has never been better prepared to host the Games."

Written by Ed Hula III.

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