World Briefs -- Bach Optimistic About Munich 2018 Bid; Hoy Knighted

IOC Vice President Optimistic About Munich’s 2018 Olympics Chances

IOC Vice President Thomas Bach said on Monday that Munich, Germany has a good shot at winning the rights to host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The German Olympic official cites the readiness of most of Munich’s venues as the main reason it is among the favorites to secure the Winter Games.

Munich is putting together a bid for the 2018 Games with Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Koenigssee, with Munich to hold ice events, Garmisch-Partenkirchen snow events and Konigssee sliding events.

If Munich wins the 2018 Olympics, it would be the first city to host both the summer and winter Olympics. The Bavarian capital hosted the 1972 Summer Games.

France and Harbin, China are also expected to prepare bids for 2018. The IOC will decide on the host city at its session in Durban, South Africa in 2011.

British Gold Medal Cyclist Knighted

British cyclist Chris Hoy was knighted and was among a number of Great Britain’s 2008 Olympians to be recognized in the country’s New Year’s Honors list.

Hoy won three gold medals in cycling at the Summer Games in Beijing, becoming the first British athlete in 100 years to win three golds at an Olympics.

Bradley Wiggins, who won two gold medals in cycling at the Olympics, and Ben Ainslie, who won a gold medal in sailing, were awarded CBEs. Rebecca Adlington, who won gold in swimming in Beijing, received an OBE and boxer James DeGale was honored with an MBE.

Disabled swimmer David Roberts, who won four gold medals at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, also received a CBE, along with British Olympic cycling performance director Dave Braisford and rowing performance director David Tanner.

Former Olympic Boxing Coach Arrested on Sex Charge

Former Canadian Olympic boxing coach Adrian Teodorescu, who coached former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis to a gold medal at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, has been charged with sexually assaulting a 21-year-old female boxing trainee.

The 65-year-old Teodorescu is charged with eight counts of sexual assault, two counts of forcible confinement, threatening death, assault and criminal harassment against the woman, who has been training under his guidance since September 2007.He was arrested at the airport in Toronto Dec. 24 after arriving in the city from Vancouver, B.C. where he attended a boxing tournament.

Teodorescu was the coach of Canada’s Olympic boxing team when Lewis won the gold medal in the super heavyweight division in Seoul in 1988 and served as an advisor to the heavyweight champion later in his professional boxing career.

Singapore to Initiate Olympic Education Programs in 2009

Singapore plans to introduce a number of special Olympic education programs to all of its schools in 2009, according to a statement issued by the country’s Ministry of Education and the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee (SYOGOC).

The programs are part of Singapore’s preparations for the first Youth Olympic Games, which it will host in 2010.

A specially designed education resource package on the Olympic movement will be offered at all primary and secondary schools and pre-university colleges and institutions in Singapore. A program called Friends@YOG, in which each school will be paired with one of the 204 national Olympic committees and local students will take part in various activities with athletes during the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, will also be offered.

“Teachers can draw on the various interesting ideas in the package to develop innovative learning activities for students to acquire knowledge about the Olympics and understand the Olympic spirit in a fun way,” the statement said.

Table Tennis Tournaments to Offer Record Prize Money in 2009

A couple of tournaments on the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) pro tour – the Kuwait Open and Qatar Open -- will offer a record $300,000 in prize money in 2009.

In the two tournaments, the winner of the men’s and women’s singles event will receive $30,000 each, with the runners-up earning $15,000 and prize money also going to players who advance to the round of 32.

Doubles champions in each tournament will receive $8,000.The Kuwait Open and Qatar Open are among the 17 tournaments on the 2009 ITTF pro tour, with Seoul hosting an event for the first time since 2001.

Preparations Going Well for 2010 Asian Games

Preparations for the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China are moving along in spite of the global financial downturn, according to executive secretary-general Xu Ruisheng.

“No one can avoid the impact of the financial crisis, it will be a huge test for us,” said Xu, who is also the vice mayor of Guangzhou. “But what we have to do is turn the challenge into an opportunity. Construction work at all of the planned venues is moving ahead smoothly. Everything is right on track.”

Xu added that 15 companies have signed sponsorship deals, with negotiations taking place with an additional 30 firms.

The 2010 Asian Games includes 42 sports, with 14,000 athletes and team officials expected to participate.

Briefs……

Nomura Holdings, the top broker in Japan, said Tuesday it will not renew its sponsorship of the Japanese Olympic Committee. The company made the decision after losing more than $1.5 billion in the six-month period that ended in September. Nomura’s four-year contract with the JOC expired on Wednesday. The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported the deal was for $3.3 million over four years.

... Roland Burris, who was appointed to Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat by controversial Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is a Chicago 2016 Committee Member. He is one of about 300 members of the Chicago 2016 Committee. The list includes Olympians, such as Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps; CEOs and presidents of companies; leaders of universities and foundations and former U.S. Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert. 

Burris, 71, is also a former Illinois attorney general and ran for mayor of Chicago in 1995, losing to current mayor Richard M. Daley."I have faith in the record that I have forged over the past four decades, and I'm proud of my accomplishments as a public servant," said Burris, a former Illinois attorney general. However, top Senate Democrats have vowed to block him from being seated because he was appointed by Blagojevich, who was arrested last month on corruption charges that allege he tried to sell the Senate seat.

…Cambridge, England has reached an agreement with the Mozambique Olympic Committee (MOC) to allow the African nation’s Olympic team to train there before the 2012 Games in London. The Mozambique team will set its training base at Comberton Village College, a sports school located west of Cambridge. Mozambique was one of the smallest teams to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, sending only five athletes – including track and field athlete Maria Mutola, the gold medalist in the 800-meter run at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

…British Diving has named Alexei Evangulov, the head coach of the Russian national diving team, as its national performance director. He replaces Steve Foley, an Australian who is returning home after 10 years at the helm. Evangulov has been the Russian diving coach for the last 16 years, leading Russia to three silver and two bronze medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

…Weightlifter Hoang Anh Tuan, who won a silver medal in the 56 kg (123 pound) division at the 2008 Summer Games, was selected as Vietnam’s Sportsman of the Year. Tuan’s silver medal in the weightlifting competition in Beijing is only the second medal won by a Vietnamese athlete in Olympic history. He also won two golds and a bronze at the Asian Weightlifting Championship last year. The selection was conducted by the 2008 Vietnamese National Outstanding Athletes committee, with 166 sports correspondents and experts also participating.

Written by Greg Oshust.