With two years to run, Coe says London in 'killing zone' of its Olympic preparations race

The London 2012 Olympic Stadium as it looked earlier this month. (Associated Press / Kirsty Wigglesworth)

By Philip Hersh

Tuesday marks two years to go to the July 27, 2012 opening of the London Summer Olympics.

To the man running the 2012 organizing committee, it is like being in the back straightaway of an 800 meters you are expected to win.

``It's the killing zone in the 800,'' Seb Coe said Friday.  ``Everything you do in the back straight determines the platform you create in the finishing straight.''

And who knows that feeling better than Coe, one of the greatest middle-distance runners in history, who won two Olympic silver medals in the metric half mile and held the world record for the distance from 1981 through 1997?

``I broke 13 world records, and I don't intend to break the 14th by being the first president of an organizing committee not to have it ready on the day we're supposed to,''  Coe said during a conference call with international media.

And the biggest danger at this point in a race that began when the International Olympic Committee awarded London the Games in July, 2005?

``That you're not in the right position to get it across the line,'' Coe said.  ``This is the business end of the race now.  You don't want to make errors, you don't want to be off the pace.''

As boss of the London 2012 organizing committee, the two-time Olympic champion at 1,500 meters has run an operation that flew on the fast track of the world economic boom and now must deal with the consequences of the world economic bust.

While London 2012 is responsible only for the operation of the Olympics and Paralympics,  it inevitably is seen as sharing guilt for the tremendous cost increases involved in the government's massive urban redevelopment project that is part of London's Olympic Park.

The government's Olympic budget has more than doubled from the $6.1 billion projected in 2005, and the Olympic Park costs continue to be the flash point for critics of the London Olympics. 

The head of Britain's treasury this week announced an austerity budget that will include higher taxes and across-the-board government spending cuts of 25 percent over the next four years.  Coe said that situation will not affect London 2012 planning, although the government said in May it was cutting some $42 million from the Olympics budget.

``I don't think we're doing anything today we wouldn't have been doing any way,''  Coe said.  ``We won the bid in the high water mark of the world economy, but at the time it was central to the bid that we deliver the Games in a responsible, sustainable way.

``Of course, you wake up each morning wanting to do it in a more cost effective way but one that doesn't impact the client groups you're out to deliver a memorable Games for.   I recognize we are in an economic climate where we have to make a very strong argument that this is a project of national interest.''

Coe insisted the jobs being created and maintained by Olympic venue construction and Olympic Park rehabilitation are a boon to the British economy, particularly during the current economic crisis.

Asked whether London 2012 felt any discomfort with having BP as a principal sponsor, given its image as the villain in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Coe simply reaffirmed his support for a company that has been London's Olympic partner since the bid phase.

``We have a world-class business that shares our vision and are a fabulous partner and will be our partner right the way through,'' Coe said of BP.

On a more mundane matter, Coe said there have been no ongoing discussions with NBC, the U.S. television rights-holder, about moving event times to accommodate a U.S. audience.  That would be very difficult, given that London is only five hours ahead of New York -- but some have speculated about midnight events for NBC's benefit.

NBC got Beijing organizers to switch swimming and gymnastics finals to the morning in China so, with a 12-hour time difference to New York,  they aired during U.S. prime time.

``In one of the first conversations I had with Dick (NBC sports chief Dick Ebersol), he raised the subject, and he was very clear he was working in a very benign time zone with us and was very happy to allow us to set the time schedule as we felt it most benefited the Olympic movement.  There has been no pressure at all (for time changes).''

Coe knows time, in the general sense, no longer is his ally in preparing for July 27, 2012.  For a man who spent decades racing not only rivals but the clock, that pressure is welcome.

``I get more excited every day the Games gets closer,'' he said.  ``I'm a competitor.  Bring it on.''

Lower photo: Sebastian Coe beats teammate Steve Cram for the 1,500-meter gold at the 1984 Olympics, when Coe became the only man to win two golds in the metric miler.  (Associated Press / Dave Tenenbaum.)

Cycling's ageless wonder Longo still improving at 51

Old gold: Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli riding to her 57th national title June 24 in France and, below, holding the gold medal. (Photos: AP / David Vincent)

By Philip Hersh

A few things have slipped by lately while I was working on other things.  I'm getting to them one-by-one and linking you back (below) to the two I have already covered.

3.   French cyclist Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli wins her 57th national title at four months shy of her 52nd birthday -- and 31 years after winning her first.

This happened in late June, when the always controversial Longo crushed her competition in the time trial event at the French championships in Chantonnay.

While it would be easy to attribute Longo's victory to a lack of new French talent (the runner-up, Edwige Pitel, is 43), other factors argue for just how remarkable Longo is.

Longo covered the 15.35 mile course in 34 minutes, 51 seconds, an average speed of 26.4 miles perr hour.  She beat Pitel by 1 minute, 19 seconds.

That is faster than Longo rode over the same course four years earlier, when she averaged 25.6 miles per hour while beating Pitel by 7 seconds.

``I rode the same (as 2006),'' Pitel told reporters.  ``The difference was she (Longo) went faster.''

Longo, who also finished third in the 2010 national championship road race, will represent France in the 2010 worlds.

The way she is riding, it seems likely Longo will make an astounding 8th Olympic team in 2012.  She has won one gold, two silver and one bronze medal; two years ago, at age 49, she finished fourth in the 2008 Olympic time trial.

``I know I don't have a lot of room for improvement, but there are always things to do,'' Longo told the French newspaper, L'Equipe.  ``So, this year I worked on leg speed.''

 Even calling her the greatest women's cyclist in history -- a title she already had earned 20 years ago and which has gone unchallenged since -- seems to fall short of summing up her career.  As for her complex personality and relationship with her sport, it took me 2,167 words to try to sum it up in 2004.  To read that story, click here.

The previous installments:

1.  Hurdler Allen Johnson leaves competitive track and field at age 39.

2.  The U.S. Olympic Committee board last week rejected the Tagliabue committee's recommendation to stop having immediate past chairmen serve as honorary president and attend board meetings.

Hurdler Lolo Jones sees a different picture of herself in London Olympics

For four years after the 1996 Olympics, legendary Moroccan runner Hicham El Guerrouj kept a photo on his bedroom wall of the fall in the 1,500-meter final that likely kept him from winning the race in Atlanta.  Haunted by the memory, El Guerrouj, the greatest miler in history, used it as motivation for an exorcism that eventually took place at the 2004 Summer Games, when he finally took home Olympic gold and became the second person -- after Finland's Paavo Nurmi in 1924 -- to win the 1,500 and 5,000 at the same Olympics.

U.S. hurdler Lolo Jones needs no such personal daily reminder of how she finished seventh in the high hurdles final at the 2008 Olympics.

When she runs in a televised meet in the United States, they replay the video of her stumbling over the penultimate 33-inch-high barrier with the gold medal almost in her grasp.  When she lines up for a start, no matter where, they nearly always introduce her as the "girl who was leading the Olympic race..."'

"You know they're not going to forget it; I'm not going to forget it,'' Jones said before winning her second U.S. high hurdles title Saturday before family and friends from her high school days in Des Moines. "So the only way to wash this away is to kind of fix what happened.''

People kept telling Jones, 27, the cleansing would begin at last year's world championships.  But she failed to make the U.S. team for that meet after locking arms with Michelle Perry going over the fourth hurdle in the semifinals at the 2009 nationals.  Thrown off-balance, Jones stopped running before the next hurdle.

"That was like two slaps in the face -- two major hits,'' she said,  "I'm like: 'There's no redemption. There's nothing.'  That's when people start saying: 'Maybe she still can't come back.  Maybe she'll never be on top again.'  I think I used all the hurts and the painful things as motivation to train.''

Her goal for 2010, a year without a major outdoor international championship for U.S. athletes, was a second straight world indoor title. Jones won that in March.

"I can't be sour about what has happened,'' she said. "I can only look at the positive sides of it.''

One came from the public reaction to how graciously she handled the Olympic defeat, congratulating her rivals and fighting through tears to handle media obligations. Several people sent e-mails to the customer service address of Asics, her shoe and equipment sponsor, saying how much Jones' behavior had inspired and impressed them.

That is why Asics never wavered in its decision to renew a contract with Jones that had expired after the 2008 Olympics.  Not only that, the company increased the contract in each of the upcoming four years (through the 2012 Olympics) by giving her part of what would have been the gold medal bonus.

"So there I [was], an athlete who just lost a gold medal, and the Olympics is our money-maker,'' Jones said. "Every four years, we have a chance to secure our future.

"I know of athletes who won medals and got cut" by their sponsors.  Asics "could have dropped me, but they didn't. For them to do that (re-sign her and add the bonus) was huge. I couldn't believe it.''

Said Ben Cesar, the Asics athletes' representative in the United States: "She could have easily thrown a tantrum or shunned the media [in Beijing], but instead she showed the world the kind of person she is.''

(Asics America, something of a "boutique'' shop in track and field -- 27 athletes, only one of whom, marathoner Deena Kastor, has won an Olympic or world outdoor medal --  was similarly magnanimous to Kara Patterson after she set a U.S. record in the javelin last week. It not only gave Patterson a contractual record bonus of $25,000 but also added that amount to her base contract for each of the next two years.  The Japanese sporting goods manufacturer seems to take seriously its adaptation of the Latin epigram that became the company name:  Anima sana in corpore sano -- ``a sound spirit in a sound body.'')

With her income guaranteed, Jones saw no reason to change anything about her training.  She stayed in Baton Rouge, La., to continue working with her college coach, LSU's Dennis Shaver.  She uses the same workouts as she did nine years ago as a college freshman.

Jones had the world's fastest time in 2008, was second in 2009 and is fastest so far this season.  But she has yet to get over the stumbling block of winning a medal at the Olympics or outdoor worlds.  She wonders if working with a sports psychologist might help.

"They're really expensive,'' Jones said.  "I need a sponsorship.  Any sports psychologists who want to work with an Olympic hurdler to get over the ninth hurdle, please contact me.''

She knows that hurdle will loom larger as the 2012 Olympics approach.  She thinks about the London Games several times a week. "I know that going into London, everybody is going to play up that sobby story,'' she said.  Lolo Jones gets the big picture without having to look at it every day.

-- Philip Hersh in Des Moines

Photos, from top: Lolo Jones looks in disbelief at the replay of the stumble that cost her Olympic gold; credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times;  Jones exults after winning the high hurdles Saturday at the U.S. Championships; credit: Charlie Niebergall / Associated Press

U.S. strength with iron ball no one-shot deal

When a guy with a 6-foot-6, 320-pound body and an Olympic silver medal talks about creating a competitive monster, you figure he knows a little about the subject.

So you can take Christian Cantwell's word on how his success and that of veterans Adam Nelson and Reese Hoffa have spawned a new generation of young giants for the United States in the shot put.

After all, no other country could boast of having a shot put field in its national championships like the one that heaved the iron ball Sunday at Drake Stadium:

• The three 2008 Olympic team members -- Cantwell, 30 in September; Hoffa, 32; and Nelson, 35 next week -- who each won a gold medal at one of the last three outdoor World Championships.
• The two twentysomethings, Corey Martin, 25, and Ryan Whiting, 23, who have, respectively, the second- and third-longest throws in the world this season (behind the leading Cantwell).
• And Mason Finley, 19, a 6-8, 320-pound rising sophomore at Kansas who ranks 16th among the world's putters in 2010.

"Unfortunately, we're creating our own competitors,'' Cantwell said.  "There were always one or two young kids coming through; now there is a plethora. It's self-inflicting" for the veterans.

"But I ain't gonna let them take me down.  I may be old, but I ain't slow.''

That was apparent Sunday when reigning world champ Cantwell won his third U.S. title and had five of the six longest throws in the competition, topped by a heave of 71 feet, 1/2 inch -- and still was bummed over not breaking the meet record of 72 feet, 11 inches.

"To throw 21.65 [meters] today and be disappointed, that's a good life,'' Cantwell said. "There were times when I'd take a 21.65 and be tickled pink.''

Hoffa and Nelson aren't ready to step aside yet, either.  They finished 2-3 Sunday, each with his best throw of the season, 69-11 3/4 and 68-4 1/2.

Martin was fourth at 67-8, nearly 5 feet under his 2010 best. Whiting, who earlier this month won a second straight NCAA title in the shot for Arizona State, took fifth at 67-7 1/2, some 4 feet off his season best.  And Finley, the recent NCAA runner-up, was eighth at 64-9 1/4, 4 feet under his season best.

"These [young] guys are phenomenal,'' said Nelson, a two-time Olympic silver medalist.  "They are throwing distances I couldn't have dreamed of at their age.''

But the event becomes more mental than physical in the noncollegiate arena, which means more experience in big competitions is crucial.  No shot putter in the 2008 Olympic finals was younger than 26.

"They are still trying to figure out how to compete at this level, against bigger people throwing farther,'' Nelson said. "You've got to go execute every time.''

Cantwell, a three-time world indoor champion, had a related point of view about the transition from college.

"When you're a professional, everyone likes you but nobody is going to hold your hand and try to help you out,'' Cantwell said. "You lose that [support), and you have to find it in a different place.''

The younger U.S. throwers are stepping into an environment in which their countrymen have regained their world dominance during the two decades since the breakup of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany.

From 1983 through 1991, when the outdoor worlds were quadrennial, U.S. shot putters won just one bronze medal at the meet; in the nine biennial world meets beginning with 1993, the U.S. record is six gold, four silver, two bronze.

"I've been in this game almost 10 years, and I think it's time to let the younger generation have a chance,'' Hoffa said.

But it was clear Hoffa doesn't want that time to come soon.

If he and Nelson retire as expected after 2012, Hoffa noted, Cantwell and Dan Taylor, 28, the 2009 U.S. runner-up, still should be around.

"That will push the younger guys ... into the 2016 Olympics,'' Hoffa said.

-- Philip Hersh in Des Moines

Photos: Christian Cantwell on Sunday at the U.S. Championships, top; Credit: Andy Lyons / Getty Images.  Ryan Whiting winning a second straight NCAA title; Credit: Greg Wahl-Stephens / Associated Press 

USOC, British Olympic Assn. to share resources, expertise

The U.S. Olympic Committee has signed an bilateral agreement with Britain's Olympic Assn. to share resources and expertise in preparation of the 2012 and 2014 Olympic Games.

USOC Chairman Larry Probst and British Olympic Assn. Chairman Colin Moynihan signed the agreement in San Francisco this week.

The agreement allows the organizations to discuss matters "of mutual interest" ahead of the next two Olympic Games. It also paves the way for the formation of a British skiing and snowboarding governing body after the financial collapse of Snowsport GB before the Vancouver Games.

The contract "represents an invaluable opportunity," Moynihan said.

The agreement could help bolster Britain's effort at the Sochi Games after winning just one medal (gold in women's skeleton) in Vancouver. Britain finished fourth overall with 47 medals at the 2008 Beijing Games and is looking for an even stronger showing on home soil in two years.

-- Austin Knoblauch

The Associated Press was used in compiling this report.

Sarah D. Morris: An appreciation for ice dancing

Monday night Olympic history was made. For the first time since Olympic ice dancing debuted in 1976, a pair of dancers from North America won the gold medal. On home ice, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who skated with grace and elegance, were clearly above other pairs. The American pair of Meryl Davis and Charlie White showed power and speed as they earned the silver. For one of the few times since ice dancing has become an Olympic sport, the Russians didn't earn the gold but Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin captured the bronze.

Ice dancing doesn't have jumps and spins. Its lifts must be unique because the men can't lift the ladies over their head. Lifts shouldn't stop the flow of the dance. Everyone agreed who won a well skated competition. 

Since ice dancing doesn't have eye-catching moves like most figure skating, many people don't have an appreciation for the sport. Footwork sequences are crucial. Ice dancing has a close correlation to ballroom dancing and ballet. Russia has a rich ballet background, so it is understandable Russians have dominated ice dancing.  Great pairs make the audience feel what they want us to feel. The ice dancers need to be dramatic and need to relate to their chosen music. Although ice dancing is an art form, it is a sport. The ice dancers might not wow us with their breathtaking triple and quadruple jumps, but they must be accomplished skaters, arguably the best pure skaters in the Olympic figure skating competition.

In most Olympic skating competitions, flaws mar the beauty of the performances. However, on Monday no one made a noticeable mistake, and it was nice to see. Mostly in the past, I have found ice dancing boring because I didn't understand the specific difficult elements. However, this Olympic Games I have a better understanding, so I found the top ice dancers incredible. With their unbelievable grace and understanding of the music, I developed a new appreciation for the endurance-demanding sport. 

Heavy metal meets curling, Swedish-style

Ever wonder what it would look like if a heavy metal band ever tried its hand at curling? Yeah, me neither.

But thanks to the Swedish women's Olympic curling team and the Swedish metal band Hammerfall, this almost incomprehensible combination is finally a reality. Sure, it might not be the best sports-themed music video ever, but it's definitely better than "Ram It."

Check it out:

-- Austin Knoblauch

Snowboarder Scott Lago update

Snowboarder and Olympic bronze medalist Scott Lago, he of the quick, self-imposed exile, showed that his sense of humor remains intact.

This came over his verified Twitter feed in the last half-hour: @scottylago "Got home this morning to all my homies. Such a good Olympic experience. Keeping my medal in a safe spot for now haha."

Lago, who placed third in the halfpipe Wednesday, apologized to the U.S. Olympic Committee and voluntarily returned home after racy photos surfaced on TMZ.com.

A woman was shown leaning over and kissing the medal below his waist.

And thus launching, oh, a few too many jokes on Twitter and everywhere else.

--Lisa Dillman

Bobby Ryan: 6-1 victory eases some of the pressure

 

Hello Times readers! We just finished our game against Norway today and came away with a 6-1 win at Canada Hockey Place. I think the guys on the team are a little more comfortable and the locker room is a little looser now. That’s important.

Today we struggled for some offense until later in the game when we kind of took over physically. Goaltender Ryan Miller stood on his head and made some big-time saves.

It’s busy in Vancouver, to say the least. I just walked from the rink after our game to meet my family, and the whole city was on high alert. Everyone was getting ready for the Canada-Switzerland game. People were walking around with Canadian flags all over the place. It’s pretty incredible right now.

One of the funniest things I’ve seen so far was a guy at our game today who grew his facial hair like Abe Lincoln. He made it on the JumboTron a few times after we scored. We don’t have a lot of support up here but that was cool to see.

Last night, we sat around the Athlete’s Village and watched snowboarder’s Shaun White’s run to the goal medal. That was pretty incredible. The Village is beautiful and I’ve heard the condos we’re staying in will be sold for over a million dollars each once the Games are over.  Vancouver has just done an amazing job.

I’ve been able to spend a little time outside the village. My mom and girlfriend are here with me and we’ve had dinner each night other than the nights before a game. I’ll spend the whole night with them tonight as tomorrow is the first day off we’ve had since we arrived. I’m looking forward to seeing some sights around town! Talk to you again soon!

-- Bobby Ryan

Winger Bobby Ryan of the Ducks and the U.S. Olympic hockey team is joining The Times' Olympic blog and will be posting his thoughts periodically during the Vancouver Games. Ryan, 22, is playing in his first Olympics.

Photo: Alexander Bonsaksen of Norway battles Bobby Ryan of the United States. Credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images.

 

British anti-doping authorities to issue biological passports

In another effort to deter would-be cheaters, British anti-drug officials announced Friday they will provide its country's athletes with biological passports during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

The passport program, which is similar to a system already used by the International Cycling Union, will allow scientists to better detect abnormalities or unusual readings in blood samples.

Typical drug tests compare substance levels in the blood to the average levels found in the general population. Under the new system, scientists can compare results with each individual athlete's normal readings.

"We believe that this will act as a powerful deterrent for the good of all healthy athletes and maintain the integrity of sport," said Professor David Cowan, Drug Control Center director at the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory at King's College in London.

-- Austin Knoblauch

The Associated Press contributed to this report.