Stephen Colbert endorsement has fast effect on U.S. Speedskating coffers

By Philip Hersh

The deal all but fell into U.S. Speedskating's lap.

And it quickly has made the sport's athletes feel more confident they won't be lapped by the competition in this Olympic year for financial reasons.

I'm talking about the fundraising arrangement between the Colbert Report and the speedskating federation, making the Colbert Nation the official sponsor of U.S. Speedskating.

It was announced Nov. 2 on the show, barely a week after the U.S. media -- me among them -- reported that the collapse of Dutch bank DSB had left a $300,000 hole in the federation's budget with the 2010 Winter Olympics on the horizon.  (The deficit actually was bigger, as DSB's contract gave U.S. Speedskating $350,000 in cash, of which $50,000 went directly to athletes and $300,000 to federation programs.)

Host Stephen Colbert told viewers to send donations to U.S. Speedskating through www.colbertnation.com. He promoted the effort again last Thursday with an appearance by 2006 Olympic speedskating champion Joey Cheek, who played along with a Colbert riff about lambasting Canada for its decision to limit U.S. athletes' training time on the 2010 Vancouver oval.  The segment (below) ended with cheers of "U-Ice-A!''

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
On Notice/Dead to Me - Canadian Iceholes
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

Monday night, Colbert announced on the show that $202,000 had been raised in the first week.

"We are exuberant,'' said Bob Crowley, the executive director of U.S. Speedskating.  "The skaters are really pumped.''

Crowley first heard from the Colbert people Oct. 27.  The next day, he was on a teleconference with Colbert. Sunday, Nov. 1, when he was at a World Series game in his native Philadelphia, Crowley got a call saying the Colbert Report wanted him on the Nov. 2 show. He was joined by 1994 Olympic speedskating champion Dan Jansen, who had run the New York Marathon the day before.

"We signed the deal that night,'' Crowley said.

Since then, Crowley said the link to Colbert has prompted interest from several other potential sponsors.

"Most of them want something we don't own -- mentions on the show,'' Crowley said.  "But we have some other leads as well because of our partnership with the Colbert Nation.''

Nearly all the athletes began wearing skin suits with the Colbert Nation logo at last weekend's short- and long-track World Cup meets. Olympic champions Shani Davis and Apolo Anton Ohno, the leading U.S. long- and short-track skaters, respectively, so far have chosen not to wear the logo.  Some skaters are wearing a mix of old warmup gear with the DSB logo and new racing gear with the Colbert Nation logo.

"It's not an issue for us,'' Crowley said of Davis and Ohno's non-participation.  "Anyone who has not signed our athlete agreement (which provides some funding in return for endorsing federation sponsors) is under no obligation. We are talking to Shani and Apolo about it, but our main focus is supporting their efforts to do the best they can this season.''

Davis, who had a personal endorsement deal with DSB end two years ago, is off to a fast start.

At the U.S. trials for the World Cup team in Milwaukee two weeks ago, the Chicagoan told reporters he was faster and stronger than ever before at this point in the season.

At the opening World Cup meet in Berlin last weekend, Davis set track records in winning the 1,000 and 1,500 meters.

But Davis didn't get a mention in the segment on Monday's Colbert report about World Cup successes (see below) because he wasn't wearing the logo.

The props went to Colbert Nation citizens Tucker Fredricks, who won a 500-meter rave in Berlin, and Katherine Reutter of Champaign (left), who won the 1,500 at the short-track meet in Montreal.

Maybe that will convince Davis to buy into what could be a significant endorsement for Olympic sports.

Olympic leaders lately have noted  difficulty in attracting younger audiences.

Comedy Central's "Colbert Report" reaches just that demographic.  And it looks as if the host is going to play this for all it's worth leading up to the Vancouver Olympics. It already is worth plenty to U.S. Speedskating.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
U.S. Speedskating Team Takes Gold
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

(Photo of Katherine Reutter:  David Boily / Getty Images)

To gain long-term clout, U.S. needs longer term for Olympic boss

Larry Probst needs to be the U.S. Olympic Committee chairman for at least eight years.

That is the only way to begin addressing issues highlighted in postmortems after the dismal failures of the last two U.S. bids to host a Summer Olympics.

1.  The United States has no clout in the Olympic world.

2.  The U.S. Olympic Committee leadership has changed so frequently in the past decade it has developed none of the relationships to create such clout.

The current situation:

The United States has ZERO presidents of international federations with sports still on the Olympic program.

And ZERO places on the 15-member executive board of the International Olympic Committee.

And just two IOC members -- compared, for instance, with five each for Italy and for Switzerland.  Neither U.S. member -- Anita DeFrantz nor Jim Easton -- is considered a major player in the IOC.

Switzerland and Italy have so many IOC members because they have people who qualify as leaders of international federations as well as athletes selected to the IOC in a vote of current Olympic athletes.

Those paths to membership were created in the 1990s. (Previously, no country could have more than two IOC members.  As the late international track federation president, Primo Nebiolo of Italy, famously said in 1991 when he was pushing successfully for a rule change allowing the IOC president to appoint more members per country -- notably him:  "The pope should have the right to choose his own cardinals.'')

Another path to IOC membership is being the leader of an important National Olympic Committee, like that of the United States. But no USOC president/chairman has been an IOC member since Sandra Baldwin in 2002, and her stay lasted less than four months because she resigned as USOC chair after admitting to falsifying her academic history.

Peter Ueberroth, USOC chairman from 2004 through 2008, made too many enemies on the IOC to be considered as a member.

That brings us to 2009 and Probst, who succeeded Ueberroth as chairman.

Probst, who has admitted to surprise over the time demands of the unpaid USOC position, vowed after Chicago finished dead last of the four finalists for the 2016 Summer Games (New York was next-to-last of five for 2012) to devote full time -- or as much time is necessary -- to the USOC job.

That commitment was evident last week when Pan American Sports Organization President Mario  Vazquez Rana of Mexico asked Probst to fill the PASO executive board position vacated when Bob Ctvrtlik resigned as USOC vice president to work for the Chicago 2016 bid committee.

Probst immediately accepted.

Before Chicago's defeat, Probst had told several people privately that he was unsure about staying in the chairman's job beyond the 2010 Olympics. He told me in a recent conversation that he intends to serve the full four-year term mandated by the USOC board when it made him chairman last year.

The current USOC bylaws allow board members to serve one six-year term and allow the board to define the length of the chairman's term when he or she is selected.

The time has come for the USOC board to amend its bylaws and extend that term to at least eight years.  Or more.

And not just for Probst's sake. For the sake of the USOC and any U.S. hopes to be an Olympic host again.

A longer term is the only way the USOC can have its leader become an effective IOC member.

And, referring specifically to Probst, why would the IOC want to select someone who is an almost immediate lame duck?

How much relationship-building could Probst do in less than three years, anyway?

Any decision on extending the chairman's term must wait until after the USOC selects a new chief executive, which Probst said should happen before the end of the year, although it might take until mid-January.

If the USOC board does as badly with this CEO choice as it did in forcing Jim Scherr out last March and naming Stephanie Streeter acting CEO, all of its members should resign. (And quickly, before the mob of angry National Governing Body leaders reaches their doors.)

The CEO selection is not an easy task. As a person close to the search said, only half in jest, "All we need is someone with a cape on his or her shoulders and an S on the chest who is willing to live in Colorado Springs and work for a dollar a year.''

I wonder whether the firm hired by the USOC to do the CEO search has contacted Kim Bohuny. She is the NBA's VP of international basketball, in charge of its Basketball Without Borders program; she has experience in TV (Turner Broadcasting), and she is on the board of USA Basketball, the sport's National Governing Body. Bohuny may not be a caped crusader, but she should be put in the mix.

No matter who becomes CEO, the chairman's position still retains an infinitely higher profile among other international sports leaders.

The person in it needs more time to flesh out that profile.

-- Philip Hersh

Sasha Cohen out of Skate America; Emily Hughes in [Updated]

Sasha Cohen is out of this week's Skate America with tendinitis.

It is the second Grand Prix event this fall from which the 2006 Olympic silver medalist has withdrawn because of the problem in her right calf.

This time, the withdrawal casts significant doubt on whether she can make a successful comeback after three seasons away from Olympic-style skating.

She will replaced at Skate America in Lake Placid, N.Y., by Emily Hughes, who finished seventh at the 2006 Olympics as an eleventh-hour replacement for an injured Michelle Kwan.

[Updated at 10:17a.m. Hughes, 20, who is taking a year off from Harvard University to train full time, missed the last two U.S. Championships with injuries. She has finished two years at Harvard.

By virtue of her 2006 Olympic medal, Cohen is an automatic qualifier for January's U.S. Championships, at which U.S. Figure Skating will pick its two women's singles entrants for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Hughes now will also receive a bye to nationals because the final qualifying event, Eastern Sectionals, begins just three days after Skate America.  She finished second in last month's North Atlantic Regionals, her first competition in a year.]

-- Philip Hersh

Team Canada beats U.S., 5-1, for women's Four Nations hockey title

Canada scored five straight goals to overcome a first-period deficit and defeat the U.S. women's national hockey team, 5-1, in the championship game of the Four Nations Cup in Tikkurila, Finland.

Jocelyne Lamoureux of Grand Forks, N.D., scored the only goal for the U.S., which had won its previous four major tournaments -- the 2008 World Championships, 2008 Four Nations Cup, the 2009 World Championships and 2009 Hockey Canada Cup.

Canada scored three times on the power play today to win its first tournament since the 2007 Four Nations Cup.

The U.S. and Canadian women's teams are expected to be among the medal contenders at the Vancouver Olympics in February.

Team USA will resume its pre-Olympic preparation on the Qwest Tour on Nov. 22 in Durham, N.H., against the Hockey East All-Stars.

-- Helene Elliott

U.S. women's hockey team to play Canada for Four Nations Cup

The U.S. women's hockey team will play Canada on Saturday for the 2009 Women's Four Nations Cup.

The tournament, which began on Wednesday and is taking place in Finland, brought together the top four women's hockey teams in the world -- the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden -- and is the last international women's hockey tournament before the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in February.

In today's match, the final one in the preliminary round, the U.S. beat Canada 3-2 behind Natalie Darwitz, who had a goal, Hilary Knight, who tallied a goal and an assist, and Meghan Duggan, who scored the game-winning goal late in the second period after an assist from Kelli Stack. 

Team USA finished first in the preliminary round standings with a perfect 3-0-0-0 record.

Also Friday, Sweden beat Finland 2-1 with an overtime goal; they will play for third place Saturday.

The Americans are the defending champions after beating Canada in a penalty shootout last year. Saturday's championship is at 8 a.m. PST. USAhockey.com will have a live webcast of the game.

-- Debbie Goffa

A hundred days until the Vancouver Games is just another day to Evan Lysacek

While Olympic organizers marked the 100-days-out point before the Vancouver Games, world figure skating champion Evan Lysacek on Wednesday did what he’ll do with 99 days left, 98 days, and just about every other day before the Olympics.

He trained long and hard, skating powerfully through a morning practice session at the Toyota Sports Center.

Although a surprise blizzard delayed his return from last week’s Cup of China competition in Beijing, he was on the ice Wednesday as usual, sharing the surface with Italy’s Carolina Kostner, 2008 U.S. champion Mirai Nagasu, Bebe Liang and others. Afterward, he pondered whether 100 days is a long time or a short time to wait for what looms as the biggest moment of his career.

“Both. I have mixed feelings,” said Lysacek, who pulled up from third after the short program to finish second at the Cup of China behind Japan’s Nobunari Oda.

“I feel like I’m really in a good place physically and mentally for this season, but at the same time, 100 days is a long time to stay calm. As it gets closer, anxiety will start to kick in a little more than it already has, but I feel like the last several years for me have been so rewarding.

"I’m really satisfied with the way things are going. I don’t feel the constant need to be proving myself, and proving myself and proving myself, and I think with that, I’ve found an inner peace where I truly love skating every single day and being with my friends and traveling.”

That, he said, has helped him rediscover the essential joy of skating.

“I’ve sort of come full circle. I feel like I’m right back where I started where I’m just doing it because I love it,” he said. “And I really hope I can keep that, because I want to have that feeling at the Olympics and be able to enjoy the experience and not be so hung up on how every tiny little detail is going in my skating.

"I know it’s about the sport as a whole, but like any athlete will tell you, we’re ambassadors for our sport, our country, each of our families and cities and clubs and coaches.”

That sounds like a lot of responsibility, but not to him.

“No. It’s an honor,” he said.

Lysacek also said he was happy with his performance at the Cup of China.

“I just had a couple of questionable calls on edges,” he said. “I sort of had my list of what I wanted to work on, but reviewing them, I don’t so much. It seemed like just calls. I’ll just try to make it more obvious, I guess. What they say with this system is, ‘Don’t leave any gray area.’ Even though I think it was correct, what I did, I did leave a gray area so that’s what I have to correct.

“I’ve seen great skating so far this season. It’s going to be a really exciting season leading up to the Games.”

And, as of Wednesday, there were only 100 days left until the Feb. 12 Opening Ceremony.

-- Helene Elliott

San Jose to host 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

The 2012 U.S. Figure Skating Championships will take place in San Jose, the U.S. Figure Skating Assn. announced today. The nationals will be held at the HP Pavilion on Jan. 22-29, 2012.

San Jose also hosted the nationals in 1996 when Michelle Kwan won the first of her nine championships.

The 2010 nationals and Olympic trials will be held in Spokane, Wash., in January.

-- Austin Knoblauch

Dates set for announcements of men's Olympic hockey rosters

Circle the dates on your calendars.  The International Ice Hockey Federation today announced the dates that teams participating in the Vancouver Olympics will announce their 23-man rosters.

In alphabetical order, the list is:

Belarus: Dec. 23
Canada: Dec. 31
Czech Republic: Dec. 30
Finland: Dec. 30
Germany: Dec. 30
Latvia: Dec. 29
Norway: Dec. 29
Russia: Dec. 25
Switzerland: Dec. 30
Slovakia: Dec. 29
Sweden: Dec. 27
U.S.: Jan. 1 (during NHL Winter Classic)

Each team can name 20 skaters plus three goaltenders. There will be no taxi squads.

The last day to change the roster will be Feb. 15, when members of the directorate -- the mucky-mucks in charge of the tournament -- will meet on the eve of the first men's game.

Here's the men's Olympic schedule.

In honor of today being the 100-days-out point before the Games, the IIHF unveiled a new hockey page on its website with links to Olympic hockey rules, trivia and other information.

-- Helene Elliott

U.S. men's Olympic hockey team to be announced Jan. 1; U.S. women win Four Nations Cup opener

The 23-man roster for the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team will be announced Jan. 1 during the NHL's Winter Classic game at Fenway Park.

The announcement of the team that will compete at the Vancouver Games in Canada will be made during NBC's national telecast of the Philadelphia Flyers playing the Boston Bruins on a temporary rink set up in the middle of Fenway Park.

"It’s terrific to have partners like NBC and the NHL,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey, in a news release. "I think by announcing our men’s Olympic team as part of the broadcast of the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, we all feel like it will add to the pageantry of what is sure to be a spectacular event."

The men's hockey tournament at Vancouver will begin Feb. 16 and will end with the gold medal game Feb. 28.

The U.S. women, who have most of their team in place and will make only a few cuts before Vancouver, continued their Olympic preparation by defeating host nation Finland, 4-0, in the first game of the Four Nations Cup.

Goaltender Molly Schaus of Natick, Mass., got the shutout by stopping 15 shots. The U.S. women took 52 shots and got goals from Monique Lamoreux, Erika Lawler,Jinelle Zaugg-Siergiej and Hilary Knight.

-- Helene Elliott

Jennifer Kirk blog: U.S. women must hope a weak beginning turns into a strong ending

Jennifer Kirk, who won the 2000 world junior figure skating championship, finished third at the U.S. championships in 2004 and fourth in 2005, will write a weekly blog for The Times providing insights into the skating world during the months leading into the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Since retiring from figure skating in 2005, Kirk, 25, has been working on obtaining a college degree in broadcast journalism and has spent the last few months blogging about skating at Trueslant.com/jenniferkirk.

Americans Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu came to the weekend’s Cup of China event with high hopes. Facing a relatively weak field, both had a reasonable shot at medaling. 

It was shocking, then, when the ladies’ podium was void of an American flag. After dealing with their respective struggles in Beijing, Flatt and Nagasu were left with disappointment and empty hands heading home from their first Grand Prix event of this Olympic season.

What’s most significant about the weekend’s event isn’t that Flatt and Nagasu left a relatively mid-level Grand Prix event without a medal, but rather what it means for the larger hopes for American ladies’ figure skating.

Without a clear standout star among the American women, to some degree, the hopes of an Olympic medal rests in the hands of a relatively unpredictable group of young women who have yet to establish themselves as consistent threats for international medals. 

This week’s Cup of China served as a microcosm of this predicament. That said, it’s important to note that although the Cup of China was a disappointment, Flatt and Nagasu have the ability to rebound from the weekend’s setbacks and revive American ladies’ skating. But it will take some work.

Olympic flame arrives in Canada in advance of Vancouver Games

The Olympic flame completed its journey from Greece and landed in Canada early this morning. The first two torchbearers were two-time speed-skating gold medalist Catriona Le May Doan and triathlete Simon Whitfield, who won gold for Canada at the 2000 Sydney Games and silver at Beijing in 2008.

They handed it off to rower Silke Laumann, a three-time Olympic medalist, and diver Alexandre Despatie, a two-time medalist and the first Canadian man to win an Olympic diving medal.

The Vancouver Olympic website has a nifty section about the torch relay, with an interactive map, videos and stories on some of the 12,000 folks who will carry the torch across the country and back in time for the Feb. 12 Opening Ceremony. 

Among the higher-profile torchbearers: NHL standout Sidney Crosby, who is scheduled to carry the flame in his home province of Nova Scotia on Nov. 18. Crosby was left off Canada's Olympic team for the 2006 Turin Games but that won't happen this time.

-- Helene Elliott

USOC boss vows transparency. Maybe even in CEO search?

There were two noteworthy aspects to the United States Olympic Committee's announcement Thursday of the nine-member search and selection committee charged with finding a new USOC chief executive by the end of the year.

One is the committee, as previously promised by USOC board Chairman Larry Probst, includes representatives of every USOC constituent group, including two members of the Athletes Advisory Committee.

The other is that it does not include any of the U.S. sports federation (NGB) leaders who have been publicly critical of the current USOC leadership --  Probst and acting CEO Stephanie Streeter.

But there are valid reasons for not having the two most outspoken NGB leaders, Steve Penny (gymnastics) and Skip Gilbert (triathlon).

Since Penny's name has been bandied about as a candidate for CEO, it makes sense that he would not be on a search committee.  Gilbert was not interested in the role. And the NGBs backed the choice of USA Hockey boss Dave Ogrean -- a former USOC deputy marketing director -- as their representative in the search process, for which the USOC announced Thursday it has hired Spencer Stuart as its search firm.

And the search committee does include the one USOC board member, Mike Plant, willing to be loyal opposition -- both to the previous chairman, Peter Ueberroth, whose ideas had been essentially rubber-stamped by a board full of Ueberroth appointees, as well as to Probst.

Penny and Gilbert were, however, among several NGB leaders who met with Probst on Tuesday at his office near San Francisco. Probst also had a private meeting with Gilbert, who recently had called for him to resign as chairman. The feeling that emerged, sources said, is that Probst does not bear grudges.

During the general meeting,  Probst let all the NBG leaders candidly air their grievances and suggestions. A key one was that the new CEO needs real familiarity with the world of sports (and preferably the Olympic movement) to avoid a long learning curve. Whether Probst agrees remains to be seen.

Streeter and two of her three immediate CEO predecessors, Lloyd Ward and Norm Blake, all came from corporate backgrounds, were unsuited for the USOC post and spent little time in the job.

Maybe that is why the USOC won't a) pay the search firm until 18 months after the CEO is in place and b) retained the right to set the amount of the payment.  If the result is another short-term stiff, the USOC should stiff Spencer Stuart, selected from nine search firm candidates.

The search committee can recommend one or more CEO candidates to the board.

Probst reiterated to the NGB leaders what he had told the media when Streeter announced Oct. 7 she did not want to be considered for the permanent post:  That he now is willing to devote full time to the chairman's job and that he is in it for the long haul, which presumably means his four-year term that ends after the 2012 Summer Olympics. 

The most significant promise Probst made at the Tuesday meeting was for more transparency in the USOC board's activities, a move NGB leaders have been advocating for the last three years.  That will include having NGB leaders among  outside observers at the board meetings and publishing minutes of the meetings.

Now everyone interested can only hope the board doesn't sidestep that scrutiny by going into executive session to discuss everything.  I want to know what they ordered for lunch.

--Philip Hersh

Olympic all-around champions Mary Lou Retton (left) and Carly Patterson, with USA Gymnastics Chief Executive Steve Penny, a potential candidate to lead the USOC.  Photo: USA Gymnastics.

Countless hours of coverage in NBC's 2010 Olympic countdown [Updated]

Want to know why the International Olympic Committee immediately backed NBC when it became angry over the prospect of a U.S. Olympic Network?

Yes, the $5.7-billion NBC paid for U.S. broadcast rights to the Summer and Winter games from 2000 through 2012 had something to do with it. So when NBC was angry the U.S. Olympic Committee did not cut a deal with its "mini'' Olympic network, Universal Sports, the IOC told the USOC to cease and desist on the launch of its own planned network for the immediate future.

But there is another reason why the IOC loves its U.S. rights-holder, and that will start to be evident Nov. 4 when NBC launches its "Countdown to Vancouver,'' 100 days before the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Games.

The IOC wants to drum up interest in both the next Olympic Games and the idea of the Olympics.

Never has a U.S. broadcaster committed to an effort of the scope that NBC has planned to promote both its own upcoming Olympic coverage and the Olympics in general.

Using all its broadcast platforms, including NBC, Universal Sports, MSNBC, CNBC and the Weather Channel, NBC will air more than 1,250 hours of pre-Olympic winter sports competition, plus a variety of other Olympic-related segments beginning with the Nov. 4 "Today" show.

That night there will also be a prime-time Olympic segment across all the networks featuring U.S. Olympic champions Shaun White (snowboard) and Apolo Anton Ohno (short track speedskating) and the designated star-to-be of the 2010 Winter Games, alpine skier Lindsey Vonn.

[Updated 4:45 p.m. Tuesday] Expect NBC to give Vonn the Michael Phelps treatment as she goes after medals in several events. The difference is skiing is so much less predictable than swimming that no one would dare suggest Vonn should win multiple gold medals, even if she is the favorite in downhill, Super-G and combined. (An earlier version of this article said: The difference is skiing is no much less predictable than swimming that no one would dare suggest Vonn should win multiple gold medals, even if she is the favorite in downhill, Super-G and combined.)

The things Vonn can't control, like wind gusts that might hit during her run but affect none of the other skiers (which is entirely possible), mean her superior ability can be negated. That's just the inherent injustice of the sport, which is why skiers chant the mantra that the season-long World Cup is a better reflection of an athlete's prowess.

Vonn opened the 2009-10 World Cup season last Saturday with a solid ninth in giant slalom, her weakest event.

You can see plenty of Vonn on the NBC pre-Olympic event coverage, since it will broadcast (on NBC Sports, Universal Sports and Universalsports.com), the entire World Cup seasons of alpine skiing, long and short track speedskating, snowboard, bobsled and luge plus some events in freestyle skiing, ski jumping and cross-country skiing; the figure skating Grand Prix series; and the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Beginning Dec. 1, Universal Sports will have a "Countdown to Vancouver'' show every night (5 p.m. Pacific).

And if that's not enough for Olympic and winter sports junkies, nbcolympics.com will be up and running Nov. 4. 

And I will be frequently blogging about things Winter Olympic as well.

-- Philip Hersh

Photo: Lindsey Vonn figures to be the star of NBC's enormous pre-Olympic and Olympic coverage this winter. Credit: Thomas Vonn  

Jennifer Kirk: Plushenko must be reckoned with

Jennifer Kirk, who won the 2000 world junior figure skating championship, finished third at the U.S. championships in 2004 and fourth in 2005, will write a weekly blog for The Times providing insights into the skating world during the final months leading into the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Since retiring from figure skating in 2005, Kirk, 25, has been working on obtaining a college degree in broadcast journalism and has spent the last few months blogging about skating at Trueslant.com/jenniferkirk.

When reigning Olympic gold medalist Evgeni Plushenko announced his plans to compete this season following a 3½-year hiatus from the competitive arena, most were initially skeptical about the success of his return. Would he be in competitive form? Was he going to be able to adapt to the various changes in the judging system? Would he regain his standing as the No. 1 male skater in the world?

Last weekend Plushenko answered those questions.

Winning his first and only Grand Prix event of the season, Plushenko kicked off his return to competitive skating with a bang. Skating a squeaky-clean long program and commanding the ice in Moscow, he picked up exactly where he left off in 2006. Not only did Plushenko take the gold, but he crushed the competition, winning by 25 points over Takahiko Kozuka of Japan.

What was most impressive about Plushenko’s skating in Moscow was his unwavering confidence. Though  his victory dance after the completion of his long program could be perceived as cocky by some, this blend of cockiness and confidence proved to be the reigning Olympic champion’s winning ingredient. Plushenko seems incredibly committed to his quest of winning a second Olympic crown, and after two events of the Grand Prix series he’s the front-runner heading into the Games.

4-time Olympian Swider-Peltz sees her Olympic hopefuls get closer to Winter Games

MILWAUKEE --  It was a great weekend for Olympian-turned-coach Nancy Swider-Peltz until her husband, Jeff Peltz, drove back to their Wheaton, Wis., home with her car keys Sunday.

Jeff would be the one who paid for that mistake, having to drive nearly all the way back to the Pettit National Ice Center to give his wife the keys.

Before that little inconvenience, it was all good for the Swider-Peltz family.

Two of the skaters Nancy coaches made the U.S. team for the fall World Cup circuit, where the results will determine how many 2010 Olympic places the United States gets in long track speedskating -- and which skaters get most of the spots.

One of the two is Nancy's daughter, Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr. The other is Brian Hansen of Glenview, Ill., a 2009 graduate of Illinois' Glenbrook South High School.

Rules leave uncertainty in speedskating team pursuit selection

An update to the Shani Davis team pursuit situation now that U.S. Speedskating officials have taken a closer look at their 2010 Olympic selection rules:

Even if Davis is offered one of the five team pursuit spots on the World Cup circuit today and declines it, that does not definitively rule him out of skating team pursuit at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The U.S. Speedskating rules say the four Olympic team pursuit members may or may not be from the five team pursuit members selected for the fall World Cup events.

There appears to be a Catch-22 in the situation, though.

The rules also say the Olympic team pursuit members will be chosen, in part, based on performances in the fall World Cups.

If Davis chooses not to skate pursuit on the fall World Cups, he would have no such performances as selection criteria.

Forget all these scenarios. The best thing for everyone involved would be for U.S. Speedskating and Davis to give a definitive yes or no about team pursuit today and not leave uncertainty that could cause a repeat of the 2006 Olympic controversy on this very issue.

-- Philip Hersh

Chicago's Olympic loss is a gain for London 2012

Chicago's loss in the race for the 2016 Summer Olympics has turned into a gain for the London 2012 organizing committee.

That's because Doug Arnot is going to work as director of games operations of the London Summer Games.

Arnot was director of sport, venues and Games operations for Chicago 2016. His star did not fall when Chicago's burned out in the first round of the Oct. 2 voting that made Rio de Janeiro the 2016 Olympic host city.

During Chicago's final presentation, Arnot began and ended by speaking French (the only Chicago presenter to deliver a sentence in anything but English), therein recognizing and honoring the idea that French is one of the two official languages of the Olympic movement.  Such a gesture was, of course, too little, too late for a bid that foundered at least partly because of the United States Olympic Committee's inability to communicate, through either the words or actions of its leadership, a real desire to be part of the Olympic world as more than an occasional Games host.

Arnot went to Chicago 2016 after resigning as the chief executive of USA Rugby. (Coincidentally, rugby was voted onto the 2016 Olympic program a week after the host city selection.). He had been managing director of operations for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games and managing director of venues for the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games. He has worked on eight Olympics as a consultant or organizing committee staffer.

Arnot, an avid cyclist, is part of a group of Olympic nomads that go from Games to Games, bid to bid, passing on their knowledge. If Chicago had won, Arnot would have been in line for a top organizing committee position, perhaps even chief operating officer.  

It figured Arnot wouldn't be out of Olympic work for long.

-- Philip Hersh

Photo: Doug Arnot addresses the International Olympic Committee this month during Chicago's final presentation before the vote for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Credit: Michael Tercha / Chicago Tribune

Controversy shouldn't pursue Shani Davis again

Shani Davis skating to second place in the 1,500 meters Saturday in the U.S. World Cup team selection meet.  He has made the team in two events already. (Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images)

By Philip Hersh

MILWAUKEE -- The only question left for Olympic speedskating champion Shani Davis of Chicago to answer at the long track World Cup team selection meet that ends Sunday is the one that led to an enormous controversy at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

And that is whether he wants to be considered for the team pursuit event at the 2010 Olympics.

Davis, 27, who has shown again the last four days that he is the country's preeminent speedskater, must tell U.S. Speedskating officials Sunday whether he wants to be in the five-man pool for the team pursuit, four of whom will be selected for the 2010 Olympics in the event. (Three skate in the race.)

Saturday, after he finished second to Chad Hedrick in the 1,500 meters by 2/100ths of a second, Davis was asked what he intented to tell U.S. Speedskating about his interest in the team pursuit.

"We'll just have to see,'' Davis said.  "I can't predict the future.''

That seemed to sound like a no, but one thing is certain: No matter what Davis decides, the current U.S. Speedskating leadership won't hang him out to dry the way their predecessors did in 2006.  Instead, they intend to make a public statement of support for his choice.

Although Davis told the federation well before the 2006 Olympics began that he did not want to skate the pursuit, preferring to concenrate on his individual events, its officials never corrected reports that he had chosen to withdraw at the last minute.  That left him open to a firestorm of criticism, especially when Hedrick accused Davis of betrayal for not skating the pursuit, saying Davis' decision cost Hedrick and the U.S. team a gold medal.

Hedrick would like Davis to on the pursuit team next February but he too will simply accept whatever Davis prefers to do.

"I would love for him to be part of it,'' Hedrick said.  "If he wants to, we're going to have a great team.  If he doesn't, we're still going to have some great skaters to fill that spot.

"There would be nothing better than for him to want to be a part of it.  Gold medals are hard enough to win, and we've got one sitting right in front of us.''

The way both skated Saturday, either could wind up with gold in the 1,500.  And the third finisher, Trevor Marsicano, could make it a U.S. sweep in Vancouver.

Hedrick won in one minute, 44.47 seconds, shaving 1/100th from the Pettit Center track record Davis set a year ago.  Davis clocked 1:44.49.  Both were well under the time of 1:46:17 in which Davis won the event in the 2009 World Single Distance Championships last March on the 2010 Olympic oval, where the ice conditions are similar to here.

"That's a big message we're delivering to the whole world by skating 1:44s in October,'' Davis said.

And the effect of that message on the U.S. skaters' rivals?

 "I think they are going to be pretty scared,'' Davis said.  ``In all fairness, I think they are going to be pretty afraid.''

Davis won Thursday's 5,000 against Hedrick by 2/100ths of a second.  Davis also finished third in the 500 and won the first of the two races in the 1,000.  The world team meet finishes Sunday with the second 1,000 (the winner is based on the better of the two times) and the 10,000.  Davis has qualified for the World Cup team in the 500 and 1,500 and is a lock to make it in the 1,000 and the 5,000/10,000 combo.

Each country gets Olympic spots based on results in the five World Cup meets this fall.

"I'm stronger and faster than I have ever been in my life,'' Davis said.

That says something for a guy who has won Olympic gold and silver medals, world all-around and sprint titles, world single distance titles and set multiple world records.

To Hedrick, beating Davis also said something.

"To beat a guy of that stature, who was so consistent last year. . . . I'm trying to work my way back to the top, and that's a big step for me,'' Hedrick said.

Hedrick won a medal of each color at the 2006 Olympics.  He was third and Davis second in the Olympic 1,500, but their achievements were subsumed in the controversy Hedrick started.

"I think it would be a great story for him and I to enjoy (the 2010 Olympics),'' Hedrick said.  ``I feel like last time we worked so hard for America to be proud of us and everything happened and it went south from there.  I hope everyone enjoys it a little more than they did last time.''

Davis agreed.

"I would love to enjoy an Olympics,'' Davis said.  ``One out of my three would be nice.''

In 2002, Davis' selection to the Olympic short track team was mired in controversy that also was not of his doing. He did not compete in those Winter Games.

"Let's just say I haven't had the best Olympics, having fun-wise,'' Davis said.  ``Every day, I'm having more and more fun.  I enjoy the level of competition and going out there trying to be the best I can be.''

He is already the sport's gold standard.

-- Philip Hersh

U.S. speedskating, rich in Olympic gold, has to hold out tin cup

Anyone want to help what almost certainly will be the most successful U.S. sport at the 2010 Winter Olympics?

That is what U.S. Speedskating Executive Director Bob Crowley is asking after a bank failure knocked $300,000 out of his federation's $3.8-million annual budget.

Dutch bank DSB, which had sponsored individual skaters as well as the U.S. federation, went under in September, spurring Crowley to seek additional help if he wanted to avoid a repeat of the situation after the 2006 Olympics, when U.S. Speedskating had a deficit of about $700,000.

"Our goal is to be break-even after the 2010 Olympics," Crowley said.

Speedskaters Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick took a financial hit when DSB dropped its individual sponsorship programs last season. Each had six-figure deals with the bank.

The U.S. federation had used DSB's money for individual-athlete funding.

And the bankrupt bank still might be advertised on U.S. skaters' legs unless someone can figure out how to remove the large logo on the skin suits.

Crowley was meeting with U.S. Olympic Committee officials Saturday in Milwaukee, where the long track World Cup team selection meet was taking place. The competition is a showcase for 2006 Olympic champions  Davis and Hedrick as well as new star Trevor Marsicano, who won a world single distance gold last year.

Olympic spots will be allocated to each country based on results of the five fall World Cup meets.

"We're not going to let anything disrupt our Olympic preparations," said Crowley, who added that he expected any major cuts to come from development programs. "We think we can win 10 to 12 medals" in short and long track at Vancouver.

The USOC is likely to kick in some funding -- maybe it can use some of the $25 million to $50 million a year it would have been wasting on the indefinitely delayed U.S. Olympic Network.

Crowley also will ask some of the federation's remaining nine sponsors if they are able to increase their support.

"What we're really looking for is a company that wants to come in and be a hero,'" Crowley said.

-- Philip Hersh

Plushenko's back and there's gonna be trouble

 

TGIF: A six-pack of figure-skating observations to kick off the weekend:

1. Yes, he was overscored. Yes, his arm movements are distracting, annoying, useless. And for all that, after watching Evgeny Plushenko's comeback performance Friday at the Rostelcom Cup Grand Prix event in Moscow, I have no doubt the 2006 Olympic champion will be a medal contender in Vancouver. The guy tossed off a quad-triple combination and a triple axel with almost disdainful ease, looking like someone who had been doing them every day the last four years instead of someone who had not been in an Olympic-style event since the 2006 Winter Games. (I'm not counting the meaningless Russian Cup 10 days ago in Perm.)

2. No, Plushenko is not headed to Skate America. That's what U.S. Figure Skating publicist Scottie Bibb told me after I e-mailed her to ask about the rumors that began hitting figure skating message boards as soon as the Russian finished his short program. When a Skate America spot opened up recently after Takahito Mura of Japan withdrew, it was filled by Igor Macypura of Slovakia.

3. If Plushenko, who turns 27 on Nov. 3, can come back that strong after a three-season absence, why can't Sasha Cohen, who turns 25 Monday? (Yes, I am aware the Russian long has had the jumping consistency Cohen always has lacked.)

4. Having watched three of the top five U.S. women (Caroline Zhang, Ashley Wagner, Alissa Czisny) at Rostelcom and last week's Grand Prix event in France, it seems clear only Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu have even an outside chance at an Olympic medal. Both Flatt and Nagasu make their Grand Prix debuts next week in China, where the women's field is weak once you get past them and Canada's Joannie Rochette.

5. Mao Asada is in trouble. The 2008 world champion from Japan slopped through her short program today, meaning she has given three straight seriously flawed performances (two in France last week). She is deservedly sixth going into Saturday's free skate. Is that a coaching change I hear coming?

6. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard Miki Ando's short-program music -- choral passages from the Mozart Requiem, including the haunting "Lacrimosa'' and the terrifying "Dies Irae'' -- "Day of Wrath.'' It's music that she has been using in an exhibition program, some of the most powerful and beautiful music ever written, but what is the 2007 world champion mourning? And why the mood-spoiling schlock separating the opening notes, which are Mozart's, and the two passages from his Requiem at the end? And is this music choice an inside joke on the idea that the "Dies Irae" is a poem about the Last Judgment? A stanza from the poem:

For now before the Judge severe

all hidden things must plain appear

no crime can pass unpunished here.

Does that mean the fires of damnation await Ando if she misses a triple jump? Or just really bad scores?

--Philip Hersh

Photo: Arms and The Man: Contortions aside, Evgeny Plushenko showed he still had a firm handle on skating Friday in Russia; credit: Yuri Kadobnov / Getty Images