Singaporean Leading IOC Earthquake Work; Putin and Sochi Mascot; Nowitzki in 2012?

Singaporean IOC Member Leading Relief Efforts

Ser Miang Ng, IOC member from Singapore tells Around the Ringshe will lead the IOC’s work to provide relief to Japan, following the tragic March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Speaking to ATR, Ng said "I have to go back and see what is happening", as he left the CISA convention in Marrakech for his home in Singapore.

"I have just been asked to be coordinator so I have to go back and sum things up".

He added, just exactly what needs to be coordinated remains to be seen.

"[I am] trying to figure out what form and shape it is going to take."

IOC president Jacques Rogge tapped Ng on Thursday for the job.

"Nothing is firm, nothing is set."

Rogge met with Tsunekazu Takeda, president of the Japanese Olympic Committee in Lausanne on Friday.

Takeda was in Lausanne to work on the 2018 Evaluation Commission report.

"We are appalled at the destruction the earthquake and tsunami wrought," President Rogge said. "The entire Olympic Movement is with Japan at this tragic time and we will do whatever we can to help the country recover."

Following the March 11 earthquake, the IOC has "remained in close contact" with the JOC, according to a statement.

Rogge previously sent a letter of condolence to the JOC and Japanese IOC members Chiharu Igaya and Shun-Ichiro Okano.

A statement from the IOC says it will work with the Olympic Council of Asia to find "ways in which sport can provide relief to Japan once the most pressing concerns facing the nation have been solved."

Putin Praises Sochi Snow Leopard

Vladimir Putin says the snowboard-toting leopard chosen as one of three Sochi 2014 mascots is a symbol of a new Russia.

"[Russia] is beautiful for its diversity, and the fact that one of the symbols of the Olympics has become an animal that we are reviving, and which was destroyed by humans [in the 1950s], suggests that Russia is becoming different," the prime minister told a Russian TV channel over the weekend.

"[Russia] cares for nature, cares about its resources, restoring it for future generations. This is a sign of modern Russia."

The snow leopard, Putin’s self-declared favorite, led all voting last month when Sochi held a countrywide contest to determine its mascots, the first-ever Olympic emblems chosen by the public. The other two mascots are a polar bear and a hare.

Putin had a chance to visit a real snow leopard over the weekend. He described it as "a beautiful little cat" while standing behind a wire fence looking at the leopard. The visit was to remind Russians that Putin is an "ordinary guy".

CACSO Reelections

Héctor Cardona will serve another term as president of the Central American and Caribbean Sports Organization.

Cardona was reelected at a CACSO meeting that took place over the weekend. He is the former president of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee.

Andres Botero, IOC member from Colombia was reelected as CACSO secretary general.

The terms of the new CACSO executive board will last until 2015.

Nowitzki Eyes Olympics as Lockout Looms

NBA star Dirk Nowitzki will take his talents elsewhere should a lockout significantly shorten next season.

"The Olympics for me in Beijing were so much fun," the German national told ESPN Dallas over the weekend.

"I'd love to go to London, but we have to qualify for it first. We have that this summer; if we're locked out and I know it's going to be a little longer and I don't have anything going anyway, I might as well stay in shape and play."

Two spots at London 2012 are at stake during the EuroBasket 2011 tournament slatedfor Aug. 31 through Sept. 18 in Lithuania. The NBA season kicks off in late October.

Shouldhe lead the Dallas Mavericks deep into the NBA playoffs, Nowitzki said he would perhaps reconsider joining his countrymen.

"If we have a long run to June, I might not," he told ESPN. "Everything's kind of up in the air with the lockout."

The 10-time NBA All-Star carried the German flag at the Beijing Olympics, where he averaged 17 points and nearly eight rebounds en route to a 10th place finish.

Nowitzki is widely regarded as the best basketball player ever not to be born in the U.S.

Biathlon Season Comes to a Close

Olympic champion biathlete Tarjei Boe has a World Cup title to go with his gold medal from Vancouver.

The 22-year-old Norwegian finished eighth Sunday in Oslo at the final event of the season, earning the points he needed to secure the overall WC crown.

Kaisa Makarainen of Finland took the women’s overall title. Both also won multiple medals at the world championships earlier this month in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

Greek Triple Jumper Quits After Ban

A two-time Olympic medalist in the triple jump is retiring because of a doping ban.

Hrysopiyi Devetzi, 35, was made ineligible for the London Olympics by a newly activated International Association of Athletics Federations suspension stemming from a May 2009 failure to submit a sample.

The Greek hopped, skipped and jumped her way to silver in Athens, to bronze in Beijing, then to retirement after the ban’s activation.

Media Watch

A full-page article in Sunday’s New York Times Travel section says Nanjing is a city that "thrives on youth" but makes no mention of the 2012 Youth Olympic Games.

Written by Ed Hula III and Matthew Grayson.