Sprint Speed Skating Champs; FIBA Basketball World Cup; NHL Players for Sochi?

Sprint Speed Skating Worlds

Chief organizer Alice Humeny tells Around the Rings this weekend’s sprint speed skating world championships at Calgary’s Olympic Oval are good to go.

"Everyone’s here training. The gun goes [Saturday] at noon. We’re ready for the skaters and teams and the sponsors and the spectators," she says.

"There’s always finishing touches on a Friday, but we’ve been doing this since the preview event in 1987 [for the 1988 Winter Games], so I can tell you, we’re ready."

These world champs will feature 65 skaters from 20 countries racing one 500m and one 1,000m each day with medals to be awarded Sunday for men and women.

"Canada has a very good chance of Christine Nesbitt defending her title," Humeny tells ATR.

"USA, Netherlands and Korea also wouldn’t be huge surprises."

Lee Kyou-Hyuk of South Korea is the reigning two-time men’s champ.

Putin Prioritizes NHL Players for Sochi

Vladimir Putin is lobbying the NHL to release Russian hockey stars for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

"I have asked Minister of Sport [Vitaly Mutko] to hold consultations with our friends and colleagues from Canada," the Russian prime minister was quoted by state news agency RIA Novosti.

"It also has a certain meaning because we have to ensure that our players, who play in the NHL, come to the 2014 Olympic Games, [and] to have the NHL calendar put together accordingly."

He was speaking Wednesday to two-time Olympic ice hockey champion Alexander Yakushev, who led the Soviets in scoring throughout the 1972 Summit Series.

Putin told his countryman he would invite NHL officials to Moscow next month to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the famous eight-game stand, won four to three by Canada with one tie.

"We will come to an agreement with them," Putin said. "We can do it not only for the result but as a show of respect to what you and your friends did for the advancement of hockey."

It’s expected talks for a new collective bargaining agreement in 2012 could decide whether the NHL pauses mid-season to allow professionals to play in the Sochi Winter Games.

FIBA Joins World Cup Craze

It’s out with the old and in with the new for international basketball’s flagship tournament.

Federation leaders unveiled Thursdayin Madrid the FIBA Basketball World Cup, successor to the FIBA World Championship.

"The new name is short and catchy. The term ‘World Cup’ is known by people all over the globe and resonates in different languages: Copa del Mundo, Coppa del Mondo, Coupe du Monde," FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann said at a ceremony in the Spanish capital.

"This new name reflects the prestige that our tournament has as a premier international competition and allows for it to be recognized as what it truly is: one of the biggestglobal sporting events, along with the FIFA World Cup, the Rugby World Cup and the Cricket World Cup."

Thursday’s change coincided with a logo launch for the 2014 edition of the newly named event as well as a formal presentation of the six host cities – Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville, Granada and Las Palmasde Gran Canaria.

Written by Matthew Grayson.

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