World Briefs--ISAF Annual Conference, Colangelo Elected USA Basketball Board Chairman, FIVB Sets 2010 World Championship Calendar

Multi-Hulls Won’t Sail in 2012 Olympics

(ATR) The tornado class multi-hull boast is cut from the sailing events for the 2012 Olympics.

The ISAF Council approved a list of ten events for Olympic sailing at the ISAF Annual Conference in Madrid, Spain on Friday. That’s one fewer than in Beijing.

The events and equipment selected by the Council for the 2012 Games include: Men’s One Person Dinghy (Laser), Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy (Finn), Men’s Two Person Dinghy (470), Men’s Two Person Dinghy High Performance (49er), Men’s Windsurfer ( RS:X), Men’s Keelboat (Star), Women’s One Person Dinghy (Laser Radial), Women’s Two Person Dinghy (470), Women’s Keelboat Match Racing (Elliott 6m (modified)) and Women’s Windsurfer (RS:X).

Nine of the ten choices for equipment have a proven track record at the Olympics. The Elliott 6m, selected for the Women’s Keelboat Match Racing event making its debut in 2012, is the one new class selected which has not been previously used at the Games.

“The choice of the equipment and events for the Olympic Sailing Competition is one of the ISAF’s greatest responsibilities.” ISAF President Goran Petersson said. “The importance of today’s decision was reflected by the length and depth of the discussion we heard around the table today.

Congratulations to all the equipment selected. I am confident it will provide a great platform for the world’s best sailors both during and on the pathway towards the sailing events of London 2012.”

The 10 sailing events at the 2012 London Olympics will be held at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, on the south coast of Great Britain.

Toronto Backs Pan Am Bid

The Toronto City Council’s Executive Committee is backing the 2015 Pan American Games bid, voting on Monday to support the plan.

The Canadian government has committed $500 million, while Ontario has pledged $621 million. The total budget is expected to be $1.8 billion.

The formal bid is due in April, 2009 for the Pan American Sports Organization, with the decision expected in October.

Toronto, which is competing with Lima, Peru and Bogota, Columbia for the 2015 Games, is bidding to become the first North American Pan Am host since Winnipeg in 1999.

The next Pan Am Games is in 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

India Could Lose 2010 Commonwealth Games, says Official

India could miss out on hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games if a dispute over the construction of the athletes’ village is not resolved, a senior Games official said on Wednesday.

The athletes’ village, which is being built on the banks of the Yamuna River, has been embroiled in a legal dispute after environmental groups argued the construction would ruin the river bed.

Austin Sealy, the chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation co-ordination committee, said after a routine inspection of the venues that he was concerned by the ongoing dispute.

“Any change at this late stage to the Games village arrangements would seriously jeopardize India’s hosting of the Games,” Sealy said.

The Delhi High Court has asked an environmental expert to probe if the village that is to house 8,500 athletes and officials should be built on the site.

The Games, featuring 71 teams from the British Commonwealth nations, are due to be held in New Delhi October 3-10, 2010.

Colangelo Elected Chairman of USA Basketball Board of Directors

Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and Managing Director of USA Basketball’s 2006-08 Men’s Senior National Team program, has been elected Chairman of the organization’s Board of Directors for the 2009-12 term.

The announcement was made Wednesday during the USA Basketball annual Board of Directors meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Colangelo succeeds Val Ackerman, who was the 2005-08 USA Basketball President.

“I’m honored to have this opportunity and I look forward to serving USA Basketball over the next four years,” Colangelo said. “There’s a great legacy at USA Basketball and my goal is to continue to grow our game on every level.”

Quebec Premier Calls for Another Winter Games Bid

Quebec Premier Jean Charest says Quebec City should launch another bid for the Winter Olympics, perhaps for 2022. His comments come as he campaigns for re-election in a Dec.

Vancouver beat Quebec City and Calgary in 1998 for the Canadian Olympic Committee endorsement to bid for the 2010 Games.

Charest has announced $50 million for a new hockey arena and $9 million to upgrade a speedskating oval, venues which would figure into an Olympic bid.

Hunt Appointed BOA Chief Executive

The British Olympic Association announced on Friday the appointment of Andrew Hunt as BOA Chief Executive, effective Nov. 18.

Hunt is the Managing Director of Reliance, a security service company, and has held executive positions with several other companies. He is also a competitive sailor and is a member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club.

“I look forward to working with a Host Nation National Olympic Committee which puts the interests of the Olympic athletes as its priority,” Hunt said. “I strongly believe in the Olympic Movement and I am very enthusiastic about the difference London 2012 can make to the British sporting landscape. I look forward to working with the BOA staff, Team GB, the Olympic Governing Bodies and the wider Olympic family in taking forward the BOA’s objective.”

FIVB Sets Tournament Calendar for 2010 Men’s and Women’s World Championships

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has set its calendar for its 2010 Men’s and Women’s World Championships.

A total of 214 national teams are competing for a place in the 2010 FIVB Men’s World Championship Finals in Italy Sept. 23-Oct. 10 and the women’s finals in Japan Oct. 29-Nov. 14, with 68 tournaments and three preliminary rounds preceding it.

Of the 24 teams scheduled to participate in each of the finals, Italy has qualified as hosts and Brazil as defending champions in the men’s competition, while Japan as hosts and Russia as title holder have earned their spots among the women.

In accordance with FIVB regulations, the men’s final round will include eight European teams, six from the North, Central America and Caribbean federation (NORCECA), four Asian, three African and two South Americans squads, while the women’s finals has eight European, six NORCECA and four Asian teams, along with two South American and African representatives each.

Briefs…

Australian Olympian Geoff Huegill has confirmed his returned to competitive swimming in an interview with the Melbourne Age newspaper. The 29-year old Huegill, a bronze medalist at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney in the 100 butterfly, retired after a disappointing showing at the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece. He plans to train for the 50 and 100 butterfly, with the aim of competing at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Dehli, India.

Speed Skating Canada announced on Tuesday that Brian Rahill will be in charge of Canada’s teams heading into the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Rahill assumes the jobs of high performance and Olympic program director for both the Canadian long-track and short-track teams. The move relieves some planning and management work from long-track director Finn Halvorsen and short-track director Yves Hamelin so they can concentrate on getting their teams ready for the 2010 Olympics. Rahill will be in charge of planning, management and implementation of the plan for the 2010 Vancouver Games. He will also be the federation’s liason with Sport Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Own the Podium program and Canadian Sports Centers.

Malaysian Youth and Sport Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob expressed his wishes that the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) multi-million dollar Center of Excellence will help the nation in its bid to win more gold medals in the sport as he toured the site where the facility is being built in Taman Maluri Cheras on Thursday. Ismail hopes the new facility will develop more Olympic badminton medalists like Lee Chong Wei, who won silver at the Beijing Games, the first medal in badminton for Malaysia in 12 years. Following Chong Wei’s silver medal-winning performance in Beijing, the BAM were given a piece of land near their previous training center at the Sri Garden School in Taman Maluri Cheras. The center is expected to be ready by the end of the year.

Written by Greg Oshust.