Triathlon Reschedules Japan Race; WADA, Cycling Investigate Leak

Yokohama Triathlon Rescheduled Post-Quake

Top triathletes will make the trip to Japan after all.

Monday’s rescheduling means the ongoing Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series will stop in Yokohama on Sept. 19, four months later than originally planned.

"We would like to thank the Japan Triathlon Union, the city of Yokohama and the Japanese Olympic Committee," ITU president Marisol Casado said in a statement.

"We are confident a world class event will be delivered in Yokohama on its new date."

Previously slated for May 14, the race would have had athletes swimming 1.5 km in Yokohama Harbor - located 300 km south of the damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor from which millions of liters of radioactive water have leaked into the Pacific Ocean since a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck March 11 – just two months after the disaster.

Yokohama would have been the second of seven stops on the World Championship Series, a competition in which athletes vie for the title of world champion while earning Olympic qualification points.

Instead, the event will be staged after the grand final in Beijing on Sept. 11, meaning the Olympic qualification points will still go towards London 2012 but the WCS points at stake will go toward crowning next year’s world champion.

Because the year-end bonus pool of $500,000 will have already been awarded in Beijing, a separate purse totaling $150,000 will be up for grabs in Yokohama.

WADA, UCI Investigate Leaked Doping Document

The World-Anti Doping Agency and International Cycling Union (UCI) will conduct separate investigations into the leak of a UCI document ranking riders at last year’s Tour de France on a scale of doping suspicion.

"I don’t think there’s any possibility that there is a WADA person involved," agency director David Howman said Sunday in a press conference following weekend meetings of WADA’s executive committee and foundation board.

"I have already conducted an initial inquiry as soon as I received a phone call to suggest that it might have come from us. I just can’t stand that sort of thing, so let’s wait and see what comes out."

Howman added that UCI will have WADA’s full support during its own search for the source of Friday’s leak to French sports daily L’Equipe.

The list ranked all 198 riders at last year’s Tour from zero to 10 based on their biological passport profiles, including blood samples drawn two days before the start of the race.

"It is essential to note that the list published by L’Équipe, entitled "Index of suspicion", is liable to be interpreted in an incorrect and prejudicial manner," the UCI said in a statement.

"It contains only an initial summary assessment of the results of the analyses for the sole purpose of establishing an order of priorities for testing and therefore cannot under any circumstances prejudge the possible guilt of the persons whose names appear on the list."

Most riders scored below 4, but several were eight and above. Denis Menchov of Russia was a nine, and both Carlos Barredo of Spain and Yaroslav Popovych of Ukraine were listed as 10s.

Seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong scored a four, and the rankings of hisRadioShack teammates ranged from zero (Christopher Horner) all the way to 10 (Popovych).

2010 winner Alberto Contador, the only rider to test positive during the race, scored a five. He blamed the result on tainted meat and was later cleared by the Spanish cycling federation, an acquittal the UCI and WADA are jointly appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. CAS is expected to hear his case before the Tour de France begins July 2.

BOA Recruits Commercial Experts to Boost Finances

The cash-strapped British Olympic Association has made two key appointments under efforts to improve its financial affairs in the coming years.

Andy Anson, CEO of England's failed 2018 FIFA World Cup bid, and Denise Jagger, a commercial lawyer with a background in corporate finance, were appointed Monday as independent non-executive directors of the BOA.

Both have been appointed to voluntary positions for a two-year term. They will participate in the BOA Board's next meeting on Wednesday.

"Both Denise and Andy bring strong assets to complement the existing skill set of the Board. In particular their expertise in the legal and commercial fields will add great value to our strategic planning to ensure that long-term partnerships are developed successfully beyond the London 2012 Olympic Games," BOA chairman Colin Moynihan said.

Anson's appointment had been an open secret for some time. For the former commercial director of Manchester United, it's his first major role after England's defeat in the Dec. 2 FIFA World Cup ballot; England picked up only two votes.

"I will use my global commercial insight from my work in football, tennis and the media to provide advice and guidance to support the wider family of Olympic sports and look forward to strengthening connections with the BOA’s key stakeholders," he said in a statement.

A third independent non-executive director will be join the BOA Board later this year to chair its audit committee.

Australia Doubles Down on Illegal Betting

Australian athletes at all involved in betting or gambling will be sent packing from London 2012.

"If the AOC Team Membership Agreements do not already make it clear that being involved in betting or gambling on the Games or themselves or providing inside information for such activities is conduct we will not tolerate, they will now," Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates said Sunday during a speech at the AOC’s annual general meeting.

The newly revised membership agreement also requires Olympians to allow the AOC to collect information from them related to betting activity and provide that information to law enforcement agencies, including a national sports betting authority Coates called on Australian prime minister Julia Gillard to set up back in September.

Coates added that he wants this theoretical authority to possess phone-tapping privileges and be exempt from privacy legislation. Under his suggestions, offenders would have their names listed on a public registry and be subject to prison terms of up to 10 years.

The AOC has prohibited betting among its athletes since before the Sydney Games.

Olympic Marathon Champion, 24

Reigning marathon gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru is dead at 24 after a fall from a balcony in his native Kenya.

A national police spokesman told The Associated Press the death was a suicide, while an official in the runner’s hometown of Nyahururu – also the scene of the crime – told the AP he jumped in an attempt to keep his wife from leaving the house after she found him with another woman.

Both accounts agree Sunday’s fall followed a domestic dispute, the second such incident reported since December.

Wanjiru was due to appear in court later this month to face a charge of illegal possession of a firearm. Other charges stemming from the Dec. 29 disturbance – including wounding his security guard with the butt of an AK-47 and threatening to kill his wife and maid – were dropped in March.

Pan American Squash Federation President, 52

Former treasurer of the Colombian Olympic Committee and current Pan American Squash Federation president Sergio Rodriguez Jaramillo is dead at 52.

Police say gunmen attacked a car in which he was passenger Friday in his hometown of Medellin, Colombia. He was pronounced dead from gunshot wounds upon arrival at a hospital.

Jaramillo helped organize the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, was part of Colombia’s delegation to the Beijing Olympics and was mayor of the athletes’ village during last year’s South American Games in Medellin.

Written by Matthew Grayson.