(ATR) The son of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro is helping the bid to bring baseball and softball back to the Olympics.
The World Baseball Softball Confederation announced on Tuesday that Antonio Castro will serve as global ambassador for the federation.
A WBSC release says Castro "has been a strong advocate of sports diplomacy and baseball softball’s bid to return to the Olympic stage."
In the same release, WBSC announced that Washington, D.C. attorney Edward Colbert will join the bid as general counsel. Colbert is a leading intellectual property attorney and the brother of American comedian Stephen Colbert.
A spokesperson for the federation told Around the Rings, "The WBSC is truly honored to have such key supporters helping to represent and amplify the voices of the millions of baseball and softball athletes in over 140 countries around the world, who are hoping to have an opportunity and the highest honor of one day winning an Olympic gold medal for their countries."
Castro has served as a member of the International Baseball Federation executive committee since 2009 and will assume a non-voting role on the WBSC executive board. He was also part of the unsuccessful push in 2013 to have baseball and softball added to the Olympic program for 2020 and 2024.
His father Fidel, who led Cuba for nearly 60 years until stepping down in 2008, played baseball as a youngster and attended many games as leader of the country. It was under the elder Castro that the country welcomed the Baltimore Orioles, an American professional team, into the country for an exhibition game against the Cuban all-stars in 1999.
The IOC passed a reform in December which will allow Olympic hosts to add one or more sports to the Games. Other sports bidding to join the program include squash, surfing, rollersports, and karate.
Bach Hints at Additional Skiing Discipline
(ATR) IOC president Thomas Bach foreshadowed positive news for a new Olympic alpine skiing discipline this week.
During his press conference on Monday at the FIS alpine skiing world championships in Vail/Beaver Creek, Colorado, the IOC chief seemed to show favor for the dual gender nation’s team event, one for which FIS president Gian Franco Kasper has been lobbying hard for Olympic inclusion.
"We’re in fact discussing the program for 2018 and also 2022 with FIS at this time, and you may have good news in the next couple of months," Bach said.
"We’re hoping to finalize this with FIS before the IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur in July."
Archery Recognizes Sport’s Best
(ATR) The first World Archery Gala will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A total of six awards will be handed out on Feb. 6 before the Indoor Archery World Cup final the next day.
Competition in Las Vegas will wrap up on Feb. 8 with the finals of the Vegas Shoot. The tournament is open to amateurs and professionals and is expected to draw over 3,000 participants, according to a release from World Archery.
The awards handed out will be men’s and women’s athlete of the year in recurve and compound bow competition, international coach of the year, and newcomer of the year.
"I am sure this inaugural World Archery Gala will be a spectacular celebration of everything that makes our sport grow, and continue growing," World Archery president and IOC member Ugur Erdener said in a statement.
Written by Nick Devlin, Brian Pinelli and Aaron Bauer
Homepage photo: Getty Images
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