Athletics Bidding Confusion; 100 Days to Women's World Cup; SportAccord Director

Four Cities Line Up for 2017 Athletics Bidding

The race for hosting rights to the 2017 athletics world championships takes a confusing twist.

A week after Britain confirmed its plans to bid and a day after Qatar did likewise, the IAAF released a list of five member federations that submitted letters of intent prior to Thursday’s deadline.

Berlin, the Hungarian capital of Budapest and an as-yet-undetermined city in Spain joined London and Doha in what briefly appeared to be a five-horse race.

Hours later, a report from Sportcal indicated the German athletics association had long since withdrawn its letter of intent, submitted only on the off-chance that no other European city put forth a bid.

The IAAF will announce its official candidates on Sept. 1. Evaluation visits and presentations will follow in October, and a decision is expected from the IAAF Council at its November meeting in Monaco.

The athletics world championships present one of sport’s largest stages for events bidding, rivaled only by the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup and perhaps the Super Bowl.

Daegu, South Korea will host this year’s edition from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4. Moscow will do the honors in 2013 and Beijing in 2015.

100 Days to Women’s World Cup

Friday marks 100 days to the Women’s World Cup in Germany.

FIFA is marking the countdown by unveiling the latest ranking of women’s teams and starting a series of quizzes on fans’ knowledge of the tournament.

For 30 work days, questions such as "Which country holds the record for the most consecutive appearances at a FIFA Women’s World Cup?" will be posted to FIFA’s website for the event.

Whoever answers the most questions correctly will win two tickets to the opening match in Berlin on June 26 — airfare and accommodation included.

Click here to visit the website.

Matches will take place June 26 – July 27.

New SportAccord Director

Vincent Gaillard will serve as the new director general for SportAccord, the umbrella organization for international sport federations.

He will start work with the organization on July 1 after being appointed to the post.

Gaillard was in charge of activation of Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

"We are proud that Mr. Gaillard has chosen to join SportAccord after many successful years at Coca-Cola," said Hein Verbruggen, SportAccord president.

"SportAccord is a rapidly developing organisation and the range of projects and services is increasing. We are convinced that with his professionalism and profound experience, Mr. Gaillard is the best person to support SportAccord in facing the challenges that arise thereof. He will bring the perfect skill-set and leadership that SportAccord needs today."

"One of my main tasks will be to consolidate recent developments and, at the same time, further develop multi-sports games and various other initiatives" Gaillard said in a statement.

More than 100 federations and sport organizations comprise SportAccord.

Artistic Gymnastics Champs Staying Put

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) concluded that the 2011 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships will remain in Tokyo.

A statement posted to FIG’s website says the venue, Tokyo Municipal Gymnasium, was undamaged by the March 11 earthquake.

FIG TV and Marketing Manager Olivier Strebel conducted the inspection March 12 to 14.

Strebel inspected competition and training venues as well as accommodations.

"As for preparation for the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, he reports that the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, the competition venue, is impressive in terms of both size and facilities, which underpins his expectation that the World Championships will continue to evolve year after year, from London to Rotterdam and on to Tokyo" a FIG statement said.

Competition is scheduled for Oct. 7 to 16.

"Deeply troubled regarding the disaster, Strebel extended his sympathy to the Japanese people, saying he hopes the country can get back on its feet and see restoration as quickly as possible" the statement added.

The 2011 Tokyo World Championships are a qualifying event for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Archery Renews Sponsorship

Geologic renewed its sponsorship with the International Archery Federation, FITA.

The company produces archery equipment for Decathlon and supplies target faces to the federation.

Geologic's brand manager Florent Rabouin said: "We are happy to continue our collaboration with FITA. Our brand added value is to make the pleasures of archery accessible to everyone through efficient and solid products at the lowest prices.Some of our products are particularly safe in order to introduce archery to kids at earliest age, whether it is at home, in clubs or in schools."

Playoffs Near for World Series of Boxing

World Series of Boxing’s inaugural regular season wraps up Saturday.

The Los Angeles Matadors qualified for a playoff spot Tuesday with a 4-1 win over the Mexico City Guerreros. Paris United and the Baku Fires clinched earlier this month, leaving Astana and Milan to battle for the final two spots.

Playoffs are slated for April ahead of the May 6-7 team championship recently relocated to Guiyang, China. Three weekends later, the league’s top-ranked boxers will square off during the individual championships with five spots at London 2012 up for grabs.

Curling World Champs

The curling world championships for women kick off Friday in Esbjerg, Denmark and run through March 27.

The men’s edition is slated for April 2-10 in Regina, Canada. World championships for mixed doubles as well as seniors will follow April 15-24 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Briefs ...

... The International Tennis Federation is further extending its use of Hawk-Eye technology in both Davis Cup and Fed Cup, its premiere team competitions. The electronic line-calling system will now be used in Fed Cup semifinals as well as Davis Cup quarterfinals, in each case a one-round advance from previous years. The change will not apply to clay court matches.

... A first-time winner is guaranteed at Sunday’s world cross-country championships in Punta Umbria, Spain. No former champions will line up for the premiere men’s event, making 2009 runner-up Moses Kipsiro of Uganda one of the favorites. Women’s and junior races are also on the program, and Kenya will try to win its sixth straight team title and 24th in the past 26 years.

... Rio de Janeiro is the sole bidder to take over hosting rights of the 2013 canoe sprint world championships originally allocated to Szeged, Hungary. Germany, Portugal, Italy and Czech Republic are vying for the 2015 edition. Austria, Poland or the U.S. will get the 2014 slalom champs, and the 2015 race is between France and Great Britain. Presentations to the International Canoe Federation’s Board of Directors are slated for April 15 in Paris.

... The matchups for FIBA’s U19 women’s world championship will take shape Friday at a draw ceremony in host country Chile. The tournament is slated for July 21-31 in Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas.

Media Watch

NPR profiles World Series of Boxing as its debut regular season comes to a close.

Written by Matthew Grayson and Ed Hula III.