U.S. Names Olympic Bid Panel; Brazil 2014 Check-Up; Team GB Parade

USOC Names Olympic Bid Panel

The U.S.Olympic Committee names a five-member committee to explore whether to bid for the 2024 Olympics – or some other Games in the future. The USOC has signaled that it would not bid for the 2022 Winter Games.

"Today the USOC announced the members of the board who will be part of our previously announced bid working group. This group of individuals will be tasked with looking at the process and timetable of a potential Olympic bid from the United States. Given the experience this group of people bring to the table, we are confident that they will make great progress on this issue by our December board meeting," said USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun.

All five on the panel serve as members of the USOC board of directors:

Anita DeFrantz and Angela Ruggiero, both IOC members; USA Hockey chief exec Dave Ogrean; Mike Plant, executive with the Atlanta Braves MLB team; Susanne Lyons, former chief marketing officer for Visa USA.

The establishment of the committee to explore a new U.S. bid is the next step in a process announced in June, just a month after the USOC and IOC came to terms on a new revenue sharing agreement. The prior agreement was seen as an impediment to future bids after losses by New York City for 2012 and Chicago for 2016.

Brazil 2014 World Cup Check-Up

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valke today began his latest inspection of Brazil 2014 World Cup preparations amid mounting concerns over delays in stadia and infrastructure projects.

"Just landed in Brazil, and now with Ronaldo on our way to Manaus. Cannot wait to discover the heart of the Amazon," he tweeted Tuesday morning.

Manaus is the capital of the state of Amazonas. Valcke is accompanied by Ronaldo, a member of the Brazil 2014 organizing committee board, and Luis Fernandes, executive secretary of the Ministry of Sport.

Valcke was scheduled to meet with the governor of the state, Omar Aziz, and the Manaus mayor, Amazonino Mendes before a joint visit to the stadium. The FIFA delegation heads to Cuiaba this evening.

On Wednesday in Cuiaba, located in the center of the South American continent, Valcke and Brazil 2014 officials will visit the World Cup stadium and discuss other areas of the city's preparations for tournament.

Valcke's visit to Brazil wraps up with a board meeting of the 2014 organizing committee in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.

The Frenchman has promised to visit all 12 host cities for Brazil 2014 by the end of this year. After tours of Brasilia, Fortaleza, Natal, Recife and Salvador in the first six months of 2012, he still has Porto Alegre, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Curitiba to inspect.

For more on FIFA's inspection tour, visit World Football INSIDER.

London Parade to Celebrate Team GB

Nearly 800 athletes will take part in the "Our Greatest Team" parade on Sept. 10 in London to celebrate the achievements of Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic teams.

A total of 21 floats will carry the athletes along the route from Mansion House to Buckingham Palace.

The parade is organized by the Mayor of London, the British Olympic Association and the British Paralympic Association.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson compared the celebration to those organized for Olympians in ancient Greece.

"No sporting heroes will have been more lauded, no achievements more celebrated, and no nation more passionately proudthan at the Our Greatest Team Parade, which will sweep through central London in a glorious miasma of color, noise and excitement," he said.

U.S. Paralympic Flagbearer Announced

Five-time Paralympian Scott Danberg will bear the flag for USA at the opening ceremony of the Paralympics on Wednesday.

"For four Games, I have walked behind our nation's flag proudly and now I am so honored to carry it into the stadium," he said in a statement. "I was so pleased to be nominated by the U.S. Paralympic Track and Field Team."

Over the years, Danberg has competed in shot put, javelin, discus and power-lifting at the Games. He will compete in the F40 men’s discus event in London on Sept. 4.

G4S Losses from Games

The failure of private security contractor G4S to fulfill its commitments for the London Olympics cost the firm $79 million. The loss was revealed in its interim financial results announced Tuesday.

The British government and LOCOG were forced to draft in several thousand military troops just two weeks before the Games after G4S announced it had been unable to train enough guards to cover venue security.

G4S chief executive Nick Buckles apologized for the company's failure to deliver its $448 million contract. Despite its inability to provide the promised 10,400 security guards for Olympic venues, G4S claimed it had deployed 8,000 staff during the Games and delivered 83 percent of contracted shifts.

The company claimed there would be no problems in staffing the Paralympics.

World Squash Day to Smash Records

More than 10,000 squash players have signed up to participate in what is set to be the biggest squash game in history as part of World Squash Day.

World Squash Day was organized to rally support for squash to be included in the Olympic program.

"The response has been overwhelming. New clubs are coming on board every day and it's great to have already reached 10,000 players," World Squash Day UK coordinator Vicky Clark said in a statement. "This is the biggest squash match in history and certainly one of the biggest sports fixtures ever held."

The central "2020 Challenge" of the day will use scores from every club to calculate an overall global result between Team Squash and Team 2020.

Squash is one of seven sports vying to join the Olympic program in 2020. The IOC will make its decision at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires in 2013.

Written by Mark Bisson and Ed Hula III.

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