Rio Golf Course; Women's World Cup; IOC Nominee for Japan?

7/14/2011

Rio Golf Course Selected

Riserva Uno will be the golf course for the 2016 Olympics.

Peter Dawson, International Golf Federation president, made the announcement Wednesday.

"Within the last three weeks or so the Rio organizing committee and the city of Rio confirmed that Riserva Uno ... will be the site," Dawson said.

Currently, the venue is a plot of land next to a residential development.

"It is a site close to the Olympic Village and quite close to the sea in the Barra area of Rio. A course will be designed by an architect yet to be determined.

"In order to be in time we need to get the architect appointed, his designs approved and start breaking ground in 2012 in order to make the timetable for a 2015 test event."
 
Dawson also said 60 male and 60 female golfers will compete at the 2016 Games in a 72-hole tournament.

JOC Nominee

Japan’s absence from the IOC may not last long.

On Wednesday, The Mainichi Daily News reported that the Japanese Olympic Committee nominated gold medalist hammer thrower Koji Murofushi as its nominee to the Athletes Commission.

Elections take place during the Olympics for the commission, which represents athletes' views at the IOC.

Murofushi was the Japanese nominee at the Beijing Olympics.

He won gold at the 2004 Games and finished fifth in 2008.

Murofushi comes from a strong family of throwers. His father Shigenobu held the Japanese record in hammer throw (now Murofushi’s title), his sister Yuka represented Japan in discus and hammer throw and his mother, Serafina Moritz, represented Romania in javelin.

Lviv 2022

The deputy chairman of Ukraine’s parliamentary sports committee says Lviv could stage an Olympic Games.

Elbrus Tedeyev, also a member of the Ukraine National Olympic Committee, looks favorably upon a Lviv bid, according to state radio broadcaster NRCU.

Tedeyev reportedly “considers as quite realistic the perspective of western Ukrainian Lviv to become the capital of Winter Olympic Games in 2022,” the network posted to its website.

“Friendly Wager” for Women’s World Cup

Sake from Japan and a case of beer from the U.S. is on the line for the Women’s World Cup final.

The U.S. Olympic Committee announced Thursday that its president, Larry Probst, offered a “friendly wager” over the outcome of the match with his Japanese counterpart, Tsunekazu Takeda.

Japan faces the U.S. in Frankfurt on Sunday.

Should Japan win, Probst will ship a case of Budweiser, “direct from the Anheuser-Busch Brewery”, along with a cowboy hat and pair of cowboy boots to Takeda.

Takeda, on his end, wagered one case of the famous Japanese spirit sake and other traditional Japanese crafts.

Going into the match, the U.S. appear to be the favorites. The U.S. is the number one team in the world and have never lost to Japan. However, Japan are no easybeats, coming in fourth in the FIFA rankings.

No Smoking in Sochi

Sochi 2014 will be the 12th straight Olympic Games to outlaw smoking.

The blanket ban announced Thursday will keep more than 155,000 athletes, officials and volunteers safe from the dangers of tobacco, according to the organizing committee.

All venues in Sochi, Olympic Park bars and restaurants as well as all public areas will be smoke-free during the Games. Only specially designated areas outside the competition venues will allow the use of tobacco. Its sale is also prohibited in the venues.

The measures follow a recent meeting in Sochi among representatives of the World Health Organization, international non-smoking foundations, regional government and the organizing committee.

“There is a well known rhyme in Russia which says ‘stop smoking, go skiing’ and I would like this philosophy to be adopted during the Sochi 2014 Winter Games,” Sochi 2014 president Dmitry Chernyshenko said in a statement.

“If as a result of this anti-smoking drive we can significantly reduce the number of Russians who smoke, then I will feel that Sochi 2014 will have made yet another vital contribution to bringing about transformative social change in our country.”

Media Watch

While Koreans are euphoric over PyeongChang’s victory, The New York Times reports on a dark cloud hanging over Korean sports – a massive match-fixing scandal in the country’s football league. The article discusses some of the questionable practices of many leaders of Korean sport, including some with Olympic connections.

A new archaeological find at Olympia – site of the ancient Olympics – may make us re-think the site’s history.

The Badminton World Championships in London have a unique promotion.

Korea will be the focus of the sporting world’s attention this summer, when Daegu hosts the athletics world championships.

Writing for the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, Tony Care wonders if Michael Phelps' reign as king of the pool is coming to an end.

Tainted meat is a concern at the world’s top aquatics meet. The AP writes about meat possibly being contaminated with a banned substance at the aquatics world championship in Shanghai.

Written by Ed Hula III and Matthew Grayson.

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