U.S. Olympians, Paralympians to Meet Obama
The United States Olympic and Paralympic teams will visit President Barack Obama at the White House on Sept 14.
The announcement came from the White House on Wednesday.
The traditional reception for the athletes will be the second for Obama, who played host to the 2010 Winter Olympians and Paralympians after those Games.
The date comes just before the president goes into high gear for his re-election. His opponent, Mitt Romney, attended the White House ceremony in 2002 after Salt Lake City, for which he served as CEO.
Paralympic Debuts
Fifteen countries are sending athletes to the Paralympics for the first time in London.
Antigua and Barbuda, Brunei, Cameroon, Comoros, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, North Korea, San Marino, Solomon Islands, and the US Virgin Islands are the first-time participants.
The Paralympians from Cameroon and Liberia will compete in power-lifting, Comoros and North Korea will compete in swimming, and the US Virgin Islands will compete in equestrian. The rest will compete in athletics events.
A total of 4,280 athletes from 166 countries will participate in the 2012 Paralympics, the largest Games ever.
Sochi "70 Percent" Ready for Paralympics
The 2014 Paralympic host city is almost ready for the Paralympics.
Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Kozak said Wednesday in London that Sochi is "70 percent" ready for a barrier-free Paralympics.
"Today, the plan is 70 percent completed," he was quoted by RSport. "We are confident that after we finish this work, Sochi will be one of the country's exemplary cities when it comes to creating a barrier-less environment."
He said of London’s accessibility: "We have something to aim for."
The 2014 Paralympics will take place March 7 to 16.
Russian Volleyball Coach, 43
Sergey Ovchinnikov, the coach of the Russian women’s volleyball team in London, has reportedly died of suicide.
Russian media report that Ovchinnikov, 43, killed himself due to Russia’s failure to win a medal at the London Olympics.There has been no official cause of death published. However, some media reports say the coach was found hanged in his room before his club’s pre-season training camp.
"This is so stupid," former coach Vladimir Kuzyutkin told the Russian News Service. "He was my friend, my colleague. No one said a bad word about him. Yes, there was a blunder at the Olympics, well, to hell with it. I don’t know why he couldn’t cope with it."
Russia lost to Brazil in the quarterfinals, despite being a medal favorite in women’s volleyball.
Mongolian PM Greets Olympic Medalists
Mongolia’s medal-winning Olympians met with Prime Minister Norovyn Altankhuyag on Sunday.
A report in The Ulan Bator Post says the PM also gave financial rewards to the medalists, with some pocketing $45,000.
"Our athletes have competed in London Olympics so successfully, bringing five medals to their home country," he was quoted as saying. "Mongolia has been ranked 7th in the all-time rankings of Olympic medals per capita. This shows our high potential, second-to-none strength and the great intellect of Mongolians. Our Mongolian athletes have earned success at a major international event in which thousands of athletes compete. They managed their strength in harmony with their intellect."
Written by Ed Hula III.
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