The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) announced today DICK'S Sporting Goods as its latest sponsor.
The Pittsburgh-based sports company will provide Team USA athletes with sportswear and will also donate sporting goods to US Olympic Training Centres ahead of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Perhaps the most innovative part of the deal is the Team USA Store Ambassador Programme, where DICK's will offer employment to budding Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls in one of its more than 550 shops in 46 states.
DICK's, founded in 1948 in Binghamton, New York, will accommodate the needs of the athletes by fitting their working pattern around their training schedules, and they hope the participants will be able to share their passion with customers.
"We believe in the spirit of athletes and the power of their dreams," Lauren Hobart, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer of DICK's.
"We plan to be there to support the athletes who need it most, in a way that no other sporting goods retailer possibly can."
Kerri Walsh Jennings, the three-time Olympic beach volleyball gold medallist, also heralded the agreement between USOC and DICK's and claimed the deal will be of great benefit to American athletes.
"A lot of us have to work as well as compete so the help DICK's will provide us with is amazing," she said.
"It's great to be here today and I want to welcome DICK's to the team.
"Get ready to win gold."
"I don't think about winning bronze or silver and I know we're going to achieve great things."
The agreement, effective from today, is the first time DICK's have been involved in sponsorship in sport and USOC chief marketing officer Lisa Baird echoed the sentiments of Jennings.
"We are thrilled to welcome DICK'S Sporting Goods to our great family of USOC partners," she added.
"DICK'S support of Team USA athletes, including opportunities for employment in the communities where they live and train, opens up new pathways for America's elite athletes to achieve their dream of competing on the biggest stage in sport."
Mario Vázquez Raña’s passing is the end of an era, says TTOC
The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) has received the news of the passing of the President of the Pan American Sport Organization (PASO) Mario Vazquez Rana with sadness.
The TTOC extends sincerest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Pan American Sport Organization(PASO) President Mario Vazquez Rana.
President Rana's contribution to the growth and development of the Olympic movement in the Americas is immense , unquestioned and influential .
PASO is in a strong financial position. The organization is highly respected in the global Olympic movement.
Whatever differences of opinions there may have been during his long and illustrious tenure was a reflection of his honesty, integrity, passion , enthusiasm and commitment for the Olympic movement.
The Americas is preparing to stage its first Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next year.
The PASO region will also host both the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and the IOC Session at which the host of the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics will be selected in Lima in 2017.
President of PASO since 1975. He has left a strong,dynamic and vibrant legacy one that PASO and its member countries will be able to build on in a positive way. The TTOC is deeply appreciative of his outstanding efforts and contribution.
Its the end of an era. May he rest in Peace.
Brian Lewis
President
TTOC
Mario Vázquez Raña dies aged 82
Mario Vázquez Raña, one of the most powerful actors in the Olympic Movement in the latter part of the 20th century, has died at the age of 82.
The Mexican newspaper magnate had been ill for some time and had been unable to attend last month's General Assembly of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) in Puerto Vallarta on Mexico's Pacific coast.
He remained PASO President at the time of his death.
His passing is set, accordingly, to trigger a leadership election for the post he had held since 1975, with Brazil's Carlos Nuzman and José Joaquín Puello from the Dominican Republic widely seen as front runners.
In a statement on the Mexican Olympic Committee (COM) website, Carlos Padilla Becerra, COM President, described Vázquez Raña's death as "an irreparable loss".
He added: "The Olympic family in Mexico and the world is in mourning for this loss...
"A man who had the intelligence to raise American sport to its highest level has gone away."
As well as PASO, Vázquez Raña presided over the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) for 33 years before resigning unexpectedly in March 2012.
He also spent 10 years from 2002 in the highly influential post of head of Olympic Solidarity, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) programme that manages the share of IOC broadcasting income, running into hundreds of millions of dollars, belonging to the National Olympic Committees and redistributes these funds via a variety of programmes.
Vázquez Raña's death comes as South America is preparing to stage its first Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next year.
The PASO region will also host both the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and the IOC Session at which the host of the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics will be selected in Lima in 2017.
New Zealand seal home triumph at the sevens World Series Rugby
New Zealand claimed victory at the fourth leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series in front of their home fans in Wellington today.
The two teams had already met in the tournament in Pool B, with New Zealand coming out on top 24-5, but the final was a much closer affair albeit with the same outcome, with the All Blacks earning a 27-21 victory.
They appeared to be cruising to the title as they led at half time by 15-7 but the England team put in an improved display to close the deficit in the second half.
Yet they were unable to turn the match around with New Zealand claiming five tries to England's three, with Rieko Ioane crossing the line twice for the hosts.
New Zealand's win was the first of this year's series and moves them up to second in the overall standings behind South Africa, who they overcame by a 17-7 scoreline in the semi-final stage, with 17-year-old debutant Ioane having excelled in that match as well.
England's hard fought journey to the final might have had a factor in their narrow defeat, having overcome Fiji and Scotland in sudden death extra time in the quarter and semi-finals respectively.
Despite their defeat Scotland will leave New Zealand positive about their performances having appeared in the fourth ever Sevens World Series semi-final and only their first outside of Britain.
But they were outplayed by South Africa with their third place match ending in a 40-7 defeat.
South Africa have retained their advantage in the overall standings with 76 points with New Zealand closing the gap as they sit on 69 points, while Fiji and Australia make up the top four although England are now close behind.
The next leg of the World Series will be held in Las Vegas, with New Zealand drawn in Pool A alongside Fiji, Samoa and Wales, while beaten finalists in Wellington England will face off against Argentina, Canada and Kenya in Pool B.
Overall leaders South Africa will face Japan, Portugal and the US in Pool C, while hosts of the Olympic tournament Brazil will come up against Australia, France and Scotland in a very competitive Pool D.
There are four guaranteed qualifying positions for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games available while the remaining places will be sealed in continental competitions.
Marsden sets Gasparee Open Water record
Top Trinidad and Tobago Open Water swimmer Christian Marsden smashed the course record on his way to a convincing victory yesterday in the 11th Kia Around Gasparee Open Water swim.
Marsden, who became the youngest qualifier for the Pan Am Games Men’s 10k at last November’s Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, México, splashed to a one hour 15 minute and 27 second clocking for the 5.6k event to eclipse Ryan Mendes’ one hour, 18 minute standard set in calmer conditions back in 2009.
The win represented back-to-back wins for the top T&T marathon swimmer after his win in one hour, 24 minutes last year.
The swell and rough current conditions that obtained in 2014 were less a factor in this year’s edition.
But strong currents still persisted on the southern side of the island as Marsden ploughed his way through the water with teammate Graham Chatoor in tow and Tidal Wave Aquatics’ Gabriel Bynoe and UTT’s Aleem Mohammed a few metres back.
Marsden would soon drop Chatoor and establish an unassailable lead in a race against the clock, passing Winn’s Bay and Border Bay.
By the time the 16-year old reached Point Baleine, he had overhauled the top swimmers in the first wave. Marsden and fellow Carifta-aspiring swimmers had left in the fifth wave, 25 minutes after the first.
Marsden was greeted by calmer waters on the coast side of the Isla D and stroked powerfully through, past St Madeleine before making the round past Goodwill’s Bay.
There he and the other swimmers encountered the toughest conditions of the race, including choppy waters and swirling currents. But Marsden dug in and weathered the rough seas before angling into Bombshell Bay for the finish.
Marsden was followed home by the plucky Bynoe who had surpassed Chatoor who finished third. Mohammed and Bynoe’s teammate Sebastián Marchand competed stroke for stroke over the last 800m and could not be separated at the finish, both swimmers being declared as tied for fourth place.
Among the girls, Shania David took advantage of her elder sister Syriah’s absence to power to the win in one hour and 31 minutes. She was followed in by her TWA teammate Briana Patterson and Chisara Santana.
And TWA girls rounded out the top five, with Toni Pierre and Sabrina David taking fourth and fifth respectively.
The Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and Tobago (ASATT) is expected to use the Kia swim to select the T&T 2015 Carifta Open Water squad for the Games scheduled to take place in Barbados from April 4-8.
World Taekwondo Federation offer olive branch to rival organisation
Representatives from the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), including its President Ung Chang, have been invited to the attend the 2015 World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Championships in order the continue the recent collaboration between the two bodies.
It follows a historic Protocol of Accord signed between the Seoul-based WTF and the North Korea-centred ITF in August in Nanjing in the presence of International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.
Since then, there has been much dialogue between the two bodies, with the presence as the Championships, scheduled for Chelyabinsk in Russia from May 12 to 18, another positive step.
"The WTF is always looking at ways to develop and evolve taekwondo for the benefit of athletes and fans around the world and opening up our relationship with the ITF is a key way of doing this," said WTF President Chungwon Choue.
"President Chang and the ITF taekwondo demonstration team's presence at the upcoming 2015 WTF World Taekwondo Championships would be a very significant step towards uniting our global taekwondo family.
"While we are two separate organisations, we share a common history and a common passion for our great sport.
"We want to work with the ITF to ensure that every athlete, regardless of their federation, nationality, race or gender all have the opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games."
The WTF is currently the only taekwondo body recognised by the IOC but the ITF is the older body having been founded in 1966 by general Choi Hong Hi in Seoul.
Following his exile from South Korea by the Park Chung-hee administration, Choi moved to Canada and established the ITF headquarters in Toronto, moving it to Vienna in 1985.
Following Choi's death in 2002 Chang was elected as the new President of the ITF, following backing from the North Korean administration in Pyongyang.
Divisions over the years, namely with Choi's son Choi Jung Hwa and Master Trần Triệu Quân, has led to rifts within the ITF and caused three separate organisations to be established.
The ITF, which has close links with North Korea, due partly to Choi's exile from South Korea, but also through Chang, the country's only current IOC member, has been in discussions with the WTF for a number of years.
Under the latest agreement, athletes registered with the WTF and the ITF are free to compete in the other Federation's competitions, under the rules and formats of the separate organisations.
This will create "exciting new opportunities as the world's very best taekwondo athletes will have the chance to compete against one another, regardless of which Federation they belong to", it is claimed, with North Korean participation at the Olympic Games in the sport one such possibility.