Golfers, Rugby Sevens Prep for 2016 Olympics -- Media Watch

(ATR)In 2016, golf returns to the Summer Olympic Program for the first time since 1904.

"In advance of golf's return to the Olympics next year in Rio de Janeiro, athletes will be under the aegis of the World Anti-Doping Agency,"New York TimescolumnistKaren Crouse says.

"The agency operates its testing program much differently from what golfers, especially those from the United States, have come to expect."

Another sport returning to the Summer Olympic Program in 2016 following a long absence is rugby sevens.England's World Cup-winning rugby union captain Katy McLeandiscusses her Olympic aspirations withThe Guardian'sDonald McRae.

"The Olympics was never an option until now," McRae says."It's great to have a new challenge and I'd love to go to the Rio Olympics and also play in the 2017 World Cup."

Nick Zaccardi, editor for NBC's OlympicTalk, discusses rumors that Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis wants to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics. According to French reports, the 34-year-oldwants to play in the Fed Cup for the first time since 1998--at least in part because Fed Cup play is mandatory for Rio Olympic eligibility.

Hingis competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games at age 15.She went on to win five Grand Slam singles titles in the 1990s, and has exclusively played doubles the last two years, Zaccardi says.

Boston 2024

The editors of the Boston Globe say if Boston is chosen to host the Summer Olympics in 2024,the federal government should foot part of the bill.

"In most countries, the central government pays a sizable portion of the cost," the Globe's editors say. "Here, however, the financing has been done largely by the host cities or private organizations that raise funds for their city's hosting effort."

"When a U.S. city is selected, the Games should be considered a national event of sorts," the editors add. "A predictable slice of federal funds would make it easier for smaller cities to undertake the big challenge of hosting."

In an op-ed for the Globe, sports economist Andrew Zimbalist says the proposed budget for a Boston 2024 Olympics points to overruns.

"Expensive details, such as land ownership, could sink Boston's budget," Zimbalist says.

Daniel W. Drezner, a professor of international politics at Tufts University and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, weighs in on the media's assessment of the city of Boston.

"Based on my own experiences, Boston has changed since my first time here, in almost every way for the better," Drezner says in an op-ed for the Washington Post. "The reasons for this leave me more sanguine about the prospect of hosting the Olympics than would have otherwise been the case."

Boston.com writer Adam Vaccaro highlights "three things that stick out" after reviewing Boston 2024's bidding documents.

"Boston 2024 has said time and again that the plans for a 2024 Boston Olympics will likely change as the bid moves forward," Vaccaro says. "But these are the plans that got the city the nod from the United States Olympic Committee, so they’re well worth scrutinizing."

USA Today's Rick Hampson discusses "questions haunting the local psyche" in Boston.

"Is this really a world-class city If not, does it want to be? Did its football team let the air out of the ball?"

In Other News

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games looming, Masami Ito, writer for Japan's English-language newspaper The Japan Times,examines the debate surrounding anti-smoking legislation in the capital.

Los Angeles Times columnist Jeffrey Fleishman saysa new documentary titled "Red Army," and directed by Gabe Polsky, explores "Russia’s soul through Olympic hockey."

Compiled byNicole Bennett

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