Ryan Lochte’s future? Even he isn’t sure what’s next

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida — Ryan Lochte doesn’t know when he’ll be in another race.

And that worries him.

What’s next for Lochte is a mystery, even to himself. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to suspend the 12-time Olympic swimming medalist because he broke a rule by getting an intravenous infusion of vitamins will keep him from competing in any major meet through July 2019.


So essentially, the only opponent he’ll be facing other than training partners as he preps for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is rust.

“I’m worried about that 100 percent,” Lochte said Monday, shortly after USADA announced his ban. “I know I’ll be able to swim in 2020, but in swimming, you have to compete. You have to race. It doesn’t matter how well you train. That doesn’t matter. It’s how you compete when you get on those starting blocks. And the less chance I have of getting on those blocks, the worse it’s going to be for me.”

The suspension was handed down by anti-doping officials, who made clear that Lochte was not taking any banned substance. His mistake was getting an IV that exceeded the legal level of 100 milliliters — something he and his wife did together at a Gainesville, Florida, clinic on May 24 in an effort to bolster their immune systems after their infant son got sick.

Lochte posted a photo of the scene on his Instagram account, and USADA opened an investigation after seeing that image.

Lochte cooperated with the USADA probe, but apparently was shown no leniency. His penalty: A 14-month sanction, going back to the date of the photo. It will cost him the chance to swim at this week’s U.S. national championships, the Pan Pacific Championships later this year, and next year’s world championships.

Hence, his concern about rust.

“It’s something I’ll have to deal with,” Lochte said.


He said he will continue his daily training regimen. It’s possible Lochte could race in some unsanctioned events during the suspension — he said he would review options. He hasn’t raced often since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where he left in shame after his story about how he and three teammates were victims of an armed robbery unraveled and ultimately led to him being suspended for 10 months by U.S. officials.

“As soon as you get to a certain point or level, in any kind of sport career, you’re always going to have an eye on you,” Lochte said. “I think I’ve learned it the hard way, definitely — especially since Rio. And now this.”

And now, he’s on the deck again, over what he insists was an honest mistake. He simply didn’t know the rule about IVs. Under most circumstances, athletes cannot receive IVs unless related to a hospitalization or when allowed under the terms of a USADA-approved exemption, and Lochte fell into neither of those categories.

So instead of heading to California to compete at nationals, Lochte was holding a news conference inside a hotel conference room in South Florida — vowing that this experience will only stoke his fire to be at those 2020 Tokyo Games.

“I definitely made myself a better person after Rio,” Lochte said. “I was back in training. I was feeling good. I was swimming fast. My son being born, everything was happening, everything was perfect. And then this happened. And it’s devastating. But we’re a family, we’re going to stick together and we’re going to get through this.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Olympic figure skating unveils new, modern soundtrack

GANGNEUNG, South Korea — When the International Skating Union made the popular decision to allow lyrics in all performances, the Paul Simon classic “The Sound of Silence” seemed like it would be a natural choice.

The folk tune is light and airy and fits neatly within the confines of traditional figure skating.

Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres went in another direction.

Yes, the French pairs team chose the 1960s hit for their free skate last year, and will bring it back for their Olympic program Thursday. But rather than the melodic version performed by Simon and Art Garfunkel, they opted for a haunting, heavy metal cover by American rock band Disturbed .

“It was our coaches who found it,” James told The Associated Press. “They were like, ‘We really think it could be a hit.’ And Morgan listened to it and was like, ‘I don’t like it,’ because we weren’t used to it. And I was like, ‘OK, let me see if I can get into this.’ I thought it could be amazing, and I was like, ‘Morgan, let’s trust them.’ And we were so right to have trusted them.”

That’s because the stirring rendition, coupled with the pair’s dramatic program, became such a fan favorite that they replaced this season’s program with it for the Pyeongchang Games.

“When you have a powerful voice and words to express,” James said, “it changes everything.”

Now, nobody is throwing tradition out the window. Fans still will see four Olympic programs set to “Carmen” and three to “Swan Lake.” Two programs are set to the figure skating staple “Moonlight Sonata,” including one by ice dance favorites Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron.

But the decision by skating’s governing body after the 2014 Sochi Games to allow lyrics in all disciplines expanded the breadth of what is available, and skaters have taken broad liberties with it.

Ed Sheeran and Coldplay will provide popular soundtracks to the rest of the Olympic skating scene. The rock bands Imagine Dragons and Snow Patrol, English vocalist Benjamin Clementine and pop musicians Lorde, Christina Aguilera and Adele also have music in the mix.

“At the beginning, people were just choosing random music,” Cipres recalled, “but after some time I think people realized it didn’t work. You have to choose your music carefully.”

Many skaters, such as James and Cipres, wound up choosing covers over an original. They may like the lyrics or message of a song but they also want it to have a different rhythm or feel.

Two-time world champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada wanted “With or Without You” for their short program, but they decided U2’s original was a bit monotone. Their choreographers unearthed a little-known cover by singer-songwriter April Meservy that worked better for their routine.

“There are people who are like, ‘Why aren’t they skating to the original?’ But if you listen to the original, it doesn’t lend itself well to a figure skating program,” Radford explained. “April’s version just has more ebb and flow, and it just works better for us.”

Worked out well for Meservy, too. An anonymous donor provided funds for her to travel from the U.S. to South Korea and watch Duhamel and Radford perform to her rendition on Olympic ice.

“‘With or Without You’ is a popular song,” Duhamel said, “but we always try to find unique versions of things. We try to veer off the path and pick obscure versions of songs.”

That’s what German skater Paul Fentz thought he was doing when asked his choreographer to find a 1950s-style jazz tune, and wound up doing Paul Anka’s version of the Oasis hit “Wonderwall.”

Fentz performed to it during his short program for the team competition last week, and he quickly became a trending topic on social media as fans debated whether it was cool or cringe-worthy.

“That’s the risk you take,” said Fentz, whose free skate set to music from “Game of Thrones” ought to win back some skeptics. “I know the Oasis song, I really like it. But it wasn’t like I was trying to make something new or something. I just wanted something a little smoother.”

The Austrian pairs team of Miriam Ziegler and Severin Kiefer will perform to the well-known song “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” when they step on the ice Wednesday for their short program.

Rather than the pop-fueled original by The Proclaimers , though, Ziegler and Kiefer chose a soaring version by the cast of “Sunshine on Leith” — a British musical set to the Scottish duo’s music.

Jeff Buckley’s popular version of the Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah” will make an appearance, but so will two covers by K.D. Lang , including the one chosen by pairs favorites Han Cong and Sui Wenjing.

“We have so much more music to choose,” Fentz said. “Many skaters picked Ed Sheeran or something, and you can’t skate to Ed Sheeran without lyrics. You can’t pick that.

“With lyrics,” Fentz said, “it’s just better.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Bowie gets gold, and Jamaica fails to win medal in the 100

LONDON — The American sprinter took a mighty tumble. Nobody, however, has fallen harder than Jamaica so far at this year’s world championships.

The evening after Usain Bolt’s improbable loss to a pair of U.S. runners, the world’s best sprint island watched the red, white and blue paraded around the track once again at its expense.

Tori Bowie leaned over the line for her 100-meter victory, then stumbled and crashed down to the track to put the exclamation point on the second straight sprint shock of the meet. Her .01-second victory Sunday over Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast was a photo-finish thriller. The fact that the defending Olympic champion and the most dominant female sprinter of 2017, Elaine Thompson of Jamaica, finished fifth was every bit as stunning.

“The past few years, Jamaica has dominated,” Bowie said. “We’ve had no harsh feelings toward them, no negative thoughts. We’ve been extremely focused on ourselves. Just trying to get where they’re at.”

In snapping a stretch of four straight Jamaican wins at the Olympics and worlds, Bowie became the first U.S. woman to win the world title at 100 meters since Carmelita Jeter in 2011. This marks the first U.S. sweep of the 100 at the worlds since 2005.

Bowie’s time, 10.85 seconds, was nothing spectacular. Her race, though, was something to behold.

She trailed Ta Lou by two paces as they headed into the last 20 meters but Bowie just kept charging. She caught Ta Lou at the end, and Bowie’s lean at the line was textbook. The photo finish actually shows Ta Lou’s foot ahead of Bowie’s, but Bowie beats her where it counts — her torso is over the line a fraction of an inch ahead of Ta Lou’s.

Dafne Schippers, the 2015 world champion in the 200, took bronze in 10.96.

“It’s not like there’s a training session for a lean,” said Bowie’s coach, Lance Brauman. “She did what she had to do to get to the line first. She’s scraped up and won and that’s all that really matters.”

The lean was so extreme, it sent Bowie off balance and careening into Lane 8, where she landed on her left hip while the runner in that lane, Murielle Ahoure, had to slow down, then jump to avoid landing on her.

Bowie stayed down for a few seconds. The “7” sticker on her left hip was torn almost completely off. She gathered herself and walked gingerly around the track for the victory lap. Afterward, she spent about an hour receiving treatment for abrasions on her shoulder, back and hip. The pain will go away. That gold is hers forever.

“The plan was to just come out here and execute, leave it all on the track,” Bowie said. “I didn’t want to come back saying, ‘Oh, I should’ve done this. I should’ve done that.’ That for sure wasn’t the case.”

Much as Bolt did the night before, Thompson moved awkwardly out of the blocks. Her 0.2 second reaction time was the worst in the field, and from there, she was never a factor in the race.

Quite a stunner, given the way she’s dominated the sprint game over the past year. Since she beat the previous champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, at the Olympics last year on her way to a 100-200 double, Thompson has been virtually untouchable. She came to London on a 17-race winning streak at 100 meters and her season-best time of 10.71 was the fastest in the world by more than 0.1 second.

One thing: She had been dealing with an Achilles’ injury this year and ran — and won — a race last month in training shoes, not spikes. She refused to use injuries as an excuse.

“I can’t complain,” she said. “I can’t re-run that race. I have to give those girls a lot of credit. It didn’t go as I planned.”

Like Bolt, Thompson won’t be running in the 200, raising the distinct possibility that the Jamaicans could get completely shut out of individual sprint gold at the worlds.

But Bowie will be there. The one-time long jumper who took up the sprint game only a few years ago posted a 21.77 at the Prefontaine Classic earlier this year, which is the fastest in the world this season.

First, though, some time to heal.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll feel much better tomorrow,” Bowie said.

DAY 3 WINNERS: Rose Chelimo and Geoffrey Kirui took the titles in the marathon doubleheader. … Tomas Walsh won the gold in shot put for New Zealand — a result that was verified after Joe Kovacs lost an appeal over his last throw. The throw would’ve been a winner but the American was ruled to have foot faulted, and the call was held up on appeal. … Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece held off Sandi Morris of the United States to claim pole vault gold. … Nafi Thiam of Belgium added a world championship gold medal in heptathlon to her Olympic title.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Ink or swim? Tattoos on show at worlds

World records have tumbled and gold medals won but the colourful array of tattoos on show at the world swimming championships have proved just as eye-catching, be they designs of sharks, dolphins or even the lion adorning the arm of Adam Peaty’s grandmother.

A vast array of images, script, and secretive symbols adorned the bodies of competitors, from flowing and harmonious waves to powerful and speedy creatures of the deep.

The Olympic rings — a proud stamp on the skin of the swimmers who competed at a Games — are also common place, but some of the world’s fastest have explained the thinking behind the art work on their bodies.

Britain’s Peaty has been one of the stand-out performers at the Duna Arena with two world records and golds in the men’s 50m and 100m breaststroke.

Peaty had a large tattoo of a lion inked onto his left shoulder after winning the Olympic 100m breaststroke title last year in Rio de Janeiro.

“The tattoo is more about training for me,” said the 22-year-old in Budapest.

“When you wake up, you look in the mirror and you go to the pool. It reminds me of the hard work I put in to win in Rio, while I am swimming.

“It also keeps me grounded and passionate about what I do, it reminds me of how I got there.

“It is great to have a reminder, it’s getting extended in a few days,” he added without wanting to give away the future design.

Peaty’s wheelchair-bound grandmother, Mavis Williams, 74, got a temporary tattoo, a copy of his lion tattoo, which delighted the British swimmer.

“That was crazy, I actually thought she had had a proper tattoo done, I thought ‘oh my god, what has she done, but she loves it,” said Peaty with a grin.

Bruno Fratus, who took silver in the men’s 50m freestyle on Saturday behind Caeleb Dressel of the USA, explained how his winged tattoo was done on a whim.

“I trust the guy who does my tattoos so badly that I just give him my arms and say ‘do whatever you feel like as long as it’s not too crazy’ as I still got to wear short sleeves,” the 28-year-old told AFP.

‘It’s who I am’

“As long as I have space and money I’ll keep doing it, and time off because every time you tattoo something you need 10 days off water.

“That’s a graffiti I saw in Miami in Wynwood, I just took a picture and give it to him as a reference. That one’s just a wing.

“I woke up one morning and thought ‘I think I would look good with a wing on my arm’.”

His compatriot, Etiene Medeiros won the women’s 50m backstroke gold on Thursday and explained the differing motivations for her tattoos.

“I have an ocean mermaid on my forearm to bring its energy into my life, beneath it a lotus flower, which is rising from the ashes like a phoenix,” said the 26-year-old Brazilian.

“Beneath that, an ‘ohana’ tattoo to remind me how blessed I am to have my family and friends.

“On my ankles, I have the name of my father and mother, I also have other ones which are hidden.”

South African-born Dutch swimmer Kyle Stolk boasts a springbok and an Irish shamrock displayed on a resplendent Dutch flag.

“I wanted to incorporate the three places that have made me where I am today,” said the swimmer, who learned his trade in Dublin, before moving to the Netherlands who he represented at the Rio Olympics.

“It might be a too flamboyant for some people but it means a lot to me, it’s who I am,” he said

source: sports.inquirer.net

LeBron considering return to US Olympic team under Popovich

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — LeBron James might make another run at Olympic gold with Gregg Popovich.

James, who already has two gold medals, said that Popovich taking over as coach of the U.S. team will influence his decision on whether to play in the 2020 Tokyo Games.

“It factors a lot,” James said Saturday as the Cavaliers prepared to host Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs. “I’ve said that before. He’s just a great mastermind of the game of basketball.”

James skipped last summer’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro to get rest after leading Cleveland to an NBA championship. But he’s still connected with Team USA and Popovich replacing outgoing coach Mike Krzyzewski could be enough to draw James back to the Olympics.

James will be 36 in 2020, but his game is showing no signs of decay and the three-time NBA champ has relished his previous Olympic appearances. He was a key member of the American teams that captured gold in Beijing (2008) and (2012), performances that helped him and the U.S. squad erase some of the disappointment from taking bronze in Athens (2004).

Krzyzewski, the Duke coach who led the U.S. team to three consecutive gold medals, had a hand in naming Popovich as his successor.

For James, the pick was perfect.

“Team USA is in good hands with him,” James told The Associated Press in 2015. “It was in good hands with Coach K. It’s almost like ‘The Godfather.’ We hand it off to Michael Corleone now.”

Earlier this week, James said he considers Popovich, who has led the Spurs to five NBA titles, “the greatest coach of all time. I’ve said that over and over and over. You have to be sharp, mentally and physically, when you go against his ballclub. If you were an NFL player, it’s probably the same as going against a (Bill) Belichick team.

“What they’re going to do, they’re going to do and you have to try to figure it out.”

Popovich joked that James said nice things about him because he owed the coach money.

“He thinks that I’ll forget his debt if he says something nice about me,” Popovich said before Saturday’s game. “He’s also trying to set us up. Devious dude.”

As for James calling him the greatest coach Popovich said, “it’s flattering, it’s hyperbole and untrue.”

James has lost twice to teams coached by Popovich in the NBA Finals — in 2007 with Cleveland and in 2014 with Miami. He admires the way the 67-year-old coach has adjusted and adapted over the years.

“A guy that’s been able to do what he’s done in an era of basketball where it’s changed so much and he’s been able to have a growth mindset and be able to change with the game,” James said. “Obviously Tim Duncan was a huge part of that because Timmy was allowed to change with the game as well, but he’s just continued to build around Timmy and Manu (Ginobili) and Tony (Parker) and bring pieces in and out throughout his whole tenure.”

On Saturday, the Spurs will play their first game without center Pau Gasol, sidelined indefinitely with a broken left hand.

James said that won’t change San Antonio much — because of Popovich.

“It doesn’t matter who is in the lineup for the Spurs,” James said. “They’ll play Spurs basketball and Pop will have them ready. I mean, what’s their record, 33-9, I believe? And if you asked me how things would change without Timmy D., they still pushing forward, man. It’s just nothing out of the ordinary.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

PSA: Female Olympians Wear Makeup for Self-Expression

Two commentators Mark Simone and Bo Dietl debated about the looks of female Olympians like Simone Biles and Simone Manuel instead of talking about their success and achievements. You totally missed the mark, Fox News.

Every second of that video made me cringe as I watched two men talk about women’s physical appearance and they even asked the male Olympians like Michael Phelps to do the same—look good when you accept that medal.

“The whole point of the Olympics, the whole reason for this training, for this work to get there, is product endorsements,” said Mark. It did not stop there, Bo added fuel to the flame by talking about zits on their faces and saying, “I like to see a person who wins that gold medal go up there and look beautiful.” As if their medals and record-breaking performance are not enough.

To clarify, female athletes who choose to wear makeup do it because they want to, because they are empowered and they feel much more confident—and there is nothing wrong with that. But if one chooses not to do it, do not give them flak.

The Fox News segment was based on the piece published on USA Today and I suggest you read that instead of listening to those two men.

[Nylon]

 Photo by Ben Stansall for AFP

source: preen.inquirer.net

Shiffrin wins WC slalom in first race after 2 months out

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland — Mikaela Shiffrin is definitely back.

Two perfect runs saw the American win a women’s World Cup slalom by almost a half-second on Monday in her first race after two months out with injury.

Crossing the line smiling after her second run, Shiffrin turned to look at the timings board then put her head in her hands at the realization she had won.

“I came in blind a little bit,” she said. “I knew my training skiing was some of the best I was doing but I just wasn’t sure. It was kind of close your eyes and go, see what happens at the end of the run.

“I didn’t know what to expect from the rest of the girls. I was just watching on television and wasn’t sure of the pace. I could see it but it’s different from being there.”

It was Shiffrin’s first race since tearing a ligament in her right knee in December. The Olympic and world slalom champion started skiing again only two weeks ago.

Shiffrin won two slaloms in Aspen, Colorado, and both by big margins, before the training mishap in Sweden. She has won her last six slaloms stretching back to last season.

This was Shiffrin’s 18th win on the circuit, moving her level with Tamara McKinney for the second-most wins by an American woman. She turns 21 next month.

Leading after the first run, Shiffrin finished 0.45 seconds faster than Nastasia Noens of France and 0.50 ahead of Marie-Michele Gagnon of Canada as several of her rivals struggled in difficult conditions.

Three of the top 10 after the first run did not finish: Michelle Gisin, Petra Vlhova and Erin Mielzynski. Lila Lapanja of the United States also skied out.

“That was a tough race, tough for all the girls,” Shiffrin said. “Some of the girls had really bad visibility. I had OK visibility, I was struggling to see but at least I could see a bit. I’m relieved with the luck of having better visibility.

“I was at the top, looking at the start and I was thinking, ‘Oh it doesn’t look too bad.’ Then I closed my eyes for about a minute, visualizing the course, and then when I opened them again I was like, ‘Hey, where did the slope go?'”

World Cup slalom leader Frida Hansdotter finished sixth, 5.89 behind Shiffrin. The Swede has 545 points, 99 more than second-best Veronika Velez-Zuzulova of Slovakia, who was 10th.

Shiffrin, who has won the past three titles, is 245 points behind Hansdotter. There are only two slalom races left along with a parallel event this month in Stockholm that counts in the slalom standings.

“The slalom globe’s out. I’m going to focus on GS a little bit now, try to see how quickly I can get back, see how many points I can get overall,” Shiffrin said.

Shiffrin is targeting the super G and super combined in Soldeu at the end of the month, but added, “That depends how training goes.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Phelps facing toughest challenge yet

Michael Phelps has been swimming against the tide all his life. Time and time again he has proved the doubters wrong, setting the standard for Olympic achievement with his 18 gold medals.

But now, almost two years after retiring from swimming and two months shy of his 29th birthday, the American is plunging into uncharted waters by attempting a comeback where the risk-reward ratio is heavily stacked against him.

If all goes well, Phelps could be back on the winner's podium at Rio, although he insists he is still undecided about whether he wants to go to the 2016 Olympics.

If it goes wrong, he will join a long list of great athletes who were lured back to competition but failed to reproduce the form that took them to the top of their chosen sports.

His legacy is already assured. Nothing he does in the future will take away from what he did in the past but as Muhammad Ali, Mark Spitz, Michael Jordan, Bjorn Borg and Michael Schumacher all discovered, it can still become a permanent footnote.

Phelps has not yet given a full explanation for his decision to come back or his plans for the future. That will come on Wednesday when he and longtime coach Bob Bowman face the media before the April 24-26 Grand Prix meet in Mesa, Arizona, where he will make his return.

A global sporting icon, Phelps has already amassed a fortune through his endorsements so money is unlikely to be the driving motivation to get him back in the pool for the gruelling training required to be an Olympic swimmer.

Nor is he likely to top his past achievements so anything he does is likely to be less than before. He won six gold medals at Athens in 2004 and an unprecedented eight at Beijing in 2008 when he was at his absolute peak.

At the 2012 London Games he won four gold and by the law of diminishing returns would be hard-pressed to match that in Rio, when he will be 31, past the age when most elite swimmers have hung up their goggles but not too old to be totally discounted.

At the Athens Olympics, Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands won the women's 50 metres freestyle gold medal days before her 31st birthday.

Four years later in Beijing, Jason Lezak teamed up with Phelps to win gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay at 32 while Dara Torres won three silvers in the Chinese capital at age 41.

For Phelps, his biggest asset is his physique and perfect technique. He stands 1.93m (6ft 4in) tall but has a wingspan of 2.01m (6ft 7in) giving him greater pulling power in the water.

But the natural evolution of swimming looms as his biggest obstacle. Even if he can match his best times, his younger opponents are getting faster all the time.

This week's meet will offer few real clues to what Phelps might do in Rio, if he were to go that far. He has deliberately picked a relatively light programme of three races - 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle.

"It's just a start," Bowman told Reuters last week.

The first big test for Phelps will come in August when the U.S. national championships, which will double as the trials for next year's world championships in Russia, are held in California.

Then in mid 2016, the U.S. Olympic trials will take place in Omaha, Nebraska.

Phelps only needs to finish in the top six in either the 100m or 200m freestyle at the 2016 U.S. Olympic trials to make the relay team and if he did, he would have a realistic chance of adding to his collection of Olympic medals.

For mere mortals, that would be a lifelong achievement but for Phelps, he is likely to want to swim at least one individual event, possibly the 100m butterfly which would also secure him a place on the medley relay and a chance at four golds in Rio.  — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Michael Martinez's road to Sochi was rough and expensive

A lot has been said about the Philippines' lone bet at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, but perhaps those who joined him on the ice know a little bit more.

SM Skating continues to operate three rinks: one in SM Southmall, one at the SM Mall of Asia, and a recently re-opened third in SM Megamall. Proximity to these locations isn't even half the battle in learning to skate. Aspirants who wish to be world-class figure skaters like Martinez need a lot of time and money to get there.

"A skater has to go the extreme, he has to choose between going to a regular school and training," said Noel C. Resultay, Senior Operations Manager - Ice Skating and Bowling for the Southmall branch, who divulged that Martinez had to train for 4-to-6 hours a day. "A skater has to have a determination to achieve his/her goals, he has to strictly follow training schedules and always listen to advice from his coaching team. Michael opted to have a home study program to concentrate fully on his training."

Aside from time, money is also a big factor in staking. Resultay shared that a top caliber skater may end up shelling out P50,000 to P75,000 per month for lessons and equipment.

The mall chain shared that it has also done its part in supporting Martinez.

"Aside from giving him free ice time at all SM Ice Skating Rinks, SM Prime President Mr. Hans T. Sy, thru the Philippine Skating Union, has given Michael a total amount of Php 1.5 million to defray cost of his training locally and abroad," shared Raymund Retumban, Division Manager of SM Ice Skating Rinks. "The Philippine Skating Union has also solicited Php 500,000 from individuals which was also given to him last November 2013."

Resultay added that the tropical weather condition in the country is never a source of discouragement for your figure skaters, as passion powers young performers on ice:

"Ice Skating is a unique sport in a tropical country like the Philippines. The Philippine skaters are very passionate about it, and of course their parents have been very supportive of their children when it comes to sports. Filipinos in figure skating are known to be versatile and expressive like how they easily interpret music through their gracefulness of movements seems natural."   - AMD, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Bjoerndalen matches record 12th medal with biathlon win

ROSA KHUTOR - After almost two years without an individual win, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen stamped his authority on the Olympics by winning Saturday's (Sunday, PHL time) biathlon sprint to claim a record-equaling 12th Winter Games medal.

After skiing 10km, punctuated with two shooting sessions, the 40-year-old Norwegian became the oldest Winter Games gold medallist and matched compatriot Bjorn Daehlie's medals mark.

Bjoerndalen now has seven golds to his name, trailing eight-time Olympic cross-country skiing champion Daehlie only on 'golds difference'.

"I did everything the way I should today," Bjoerndalen, whose previous individual victory came in a pursuit on Feb. 12, 2012, told Norway's TV2.

"It was a perfectly paced race. I did things the way I know best."

He missed one of 10 targets but shot fast and skied flawlessly to beat Austrian Dominik Landertinger, who took silver, by 1.3 seconds.

Bronze medalist Jaroslav Soukup of the Czech Republic finished 5.7 seconds off the pace.

Pre-race favorites Martin Fourcade of France and Norwegian Emil Hegle Svendsen were sixth and ninth.

Russian Anton Shipulin ended a frustrating fourth, 0.7 seconds from the podium as the host nation were left still waiting for their first medal of the Games.

It was clear early on that Bjoerndalen was back to his best.

A perfect prone shooting session put him in good position and despite a mistake in the standing shooting, Bjoerndalen used perfectly-prepared skis to make up for lost time.

Missing a shot in the sprint event means the biathlete incurs a 150 metre penalty lap, roughly equal to 20-25 seconds.

Overall World Cup leader Fourcade underlined the importance of the skis.

"There are a lot of things to analyze," he told reporters. "The speed on the skis, for example."

Motivation not a problem

It was Bjoerndalen's third sprint Olympic title after his 1998 and 2002 triumphs.

He failed to win a title in Turin in 2006 and snatched gold four years ago in Vancouver in the relay event, but never lost faith he could be at the very top again.

"There were some problems for some years but motivation was never a problem," the softly-spoken Bjoerndalen told a news conference.

"This medal means a lot to me. It's one of the most important."

Bjoerndalen now looks set to beat Daehlie's medals haul as he will take part in a relay event Norway will start as one of the favorites.

Daehlie told Norway's TV2 Bjoerndalen had surprised his opponents.

"I'm deeply impressed," he said. "He's 40 and he's the fastest skier ... I don't think his competitors had expected that."

Fourcade said: "Last year, everybody talked about him and that he needed to retire.

"But I was one of the ones who trusted him and I always told him that he had to follow his own way. Today he shut the mouths of all the people who were speaking about him."

With 51 podium places he has more Olympic and world championships medals than birthdays. He will start Monday's pursuit in first position as he carries Saturday's time advantages into the 12.5 km race. - Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Olympics: Nostalgic Dream Teamers fancy Team USA's chances for hoops gold

BARCELONA - Original "Dream Team" members David Robinson and Chris Mullin renewed their love affair with Barcelona 20 years after the squad's gold medal triumph and are confident the current crop of U.S. Olympians will match their achievement.

"Old great memories," Mullin, a jump-shooter on the all-conquering 1992 team, told Reuters after watching the U.S. practice at Palau Sant Jordi on Monday (Tuesday, PHL time), a day ahead of the Olympic champions' final tune-up before London against Spain.

"I love the city, it's a beautiful place to be. I think there's a connection with Barcelona and that team. I think we embraced the city and I think that the people that were around at that time have a connection. It's a distant home."

Robinson also basked in the memory of the 1992 Dream Team experience, when he along with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird ushered in an era of National Basketball Association (NBA) stars competing on the Olympic stage.

"We went back to the arena out there in Badalona and it was a lot of fun," Robinson said about the arena where they enthralled fans around the globe.

"It brought back memories of how nice the people were, how crazy it was out on the Rambla. There's always zillions of people around. It made it a lot of fun."

Robinson, Mullin and teammate Clyde "The Glide" Drexler were honored during halftime of Sunday's U.S.-Argentina friendly to enthusiastic cheers from the Barcelona crowd.

Despite a tight 86-80 scoreline in favor of the Americans, the Dream Team alumni said they were impressed by the latest squad.

"They can put the ball in the basket," Robinson said. "They've got a few guys that are virtually unstoppable when they want to be.

"You've got a LeBron James and a Kevin Durant. You've seen guys like Russell Westbrook go off and Kobe [Bryant], you know what he can do. These guys are unstoppable. It's going to be tough for any team to slow us down."

Said Mullin: "Offensively, there are so many gifted players sharing the ball and creating good shots for each other."

Force turnovers

Robinson said defensive pressure was the U.S. key.

"They have to work together a little bit better, especially on perimeter defense. Giving wide open three-point shots, people are going to make those shots out here," he said.

"You have to at least get a hand in their face to challenge some shots. They get a little better on their rotations and they're going to be OK."

Mullin saw it differently.

"Perimeter-wise they're phenomenal. Defensively they're off the charts. They can really apply pressure and force turnovers and take other teams out of their offensive sets."

Neither former Dream Teamer thought a lack of size, brought about by injuries that ruled out Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh, would derail the Americans.

"They can play Carmelo [Anthony] at the 4 [power forward], LeBron at 4," said Mullin. "They can do it a little bit differently than a traditional lineup."

Spain, losers to the U.S. team in the 2008 Beijing final, will have a size advantage inside, while the U.S. team has greater depth, quickness and athleticism.

They figure to give the United States a good challenge, unlike the series of routs registered by the '92 Dream Team, who went 8-0 with an average victory margin of 43 points.

"We weren't exactly tested, whereas these guys will be tested probably a few times in this Olympics," Robinson said. "But that's great. It's great to see basketball on the world stage get better and better."  - Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com