USC salutes Olympians in run-up to 2012 London Games

USC has begun a yearlong celebration of Trojan athletes who have participated in the Olympics with a salute themed “Cardinal and Gold Medal Heritage,” the school announced.

In the run-up to the 2012 London Games, USC will have displays and banners in Heritage Hall and introduce Olympians at sports events. Video vignettes to be displayed at stadiums and other events and programs also are planned.

Since 1904, 393 USC athletes representing 57 countries have competed in the Olympics, winning 122 gold medals, 76 silver and 60 bronze, the school said.

“We are extremely proud of our unparalleled Olympic heritage and, with the 2012 Olympic Games on the horizon, we felt it was important to salute and acknowledge that tradition,” USC Athletic Director Pat Haden said in a statement. “I know our fans will be as excited as I am to see our past and current Olympians and to relive the many successes that Trojan athletes have had in Olympic competition.”

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U.S. men lose to Hungary, 9-8, at water polo World Championships

U.S. Water Polo Coach Terry Schroeder has been sending reports from the FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China. Here's his latest, after the team's loss Tuesday to powerful Hungary.

Hungary vs. the USA turned out to be a great battle that was fought hard down to the very end. After Team USA took a commanding 5-2 lead, Hungary fought back to tie the game, 5-5, and then took the lead. From there the momentum of the game seemed to swing back and forth. We would catch them and tie the game, and had a chance to take the lead, but we never again regained the lead.

The tempo was in our favor. We actually beat them six-on-six. Our defense was playing very strong. We came to played and played one of our best games since the Olympic Games in Beijing.

The underlying story of the game was the six-on-five and five-on-six. They scored five out of 11 and also had a penalty shot and we scored only three out of 11. Often in these big games that is where the games are won and lost, and Tuesday this proved to be our downfall.

In fact, in the fourth quarter we had four six-on-five opportunities. We scored on only once. The Hungarian goalie made a few very nice saves to shut us down. It was tough, and to make matters worse, on two of our power play opportunities Hungary came down and scored on the very next possession to make these in effect two-goal turnarounds.

Swimmer Jessica Hardy back on international stage

The quick looks of appraisal have a different look about them … for lack of a better word.

At least that’s the way swimmer Jessica Hardy has been feeling, of late, having been under a certain sense of scrutiny since the summer of 2008. Hardy tested positive for the banned substance clenbuterol and missed the Beijing Olympics, ultimately serving a one-year suspension. She said the positive test came via a contaminated supplement.

More recently, Hardy and her legal team were successful in an appeal to the International Olympic Committee for clearance to compete for the chance to swim in the 2012 Olympics. Her biggest meet, and stage, since the Olympic trials in 2008 will be the world championships, which start Sunday in Shanghai.

She is expected to compete in the 50-meter freestyle, the 50 breaststroke and, possibly, other events, in addition to relays.

“I feel a different kind of attention,” said Hardy in an interview last month at a swim meet in Santa Clara. “It's definitely not like a scared curiosity from other people any more. Now it's kind of like recognition or a happiness, encouragement. That's how I feel.

“I feel more welcomed and less self-conscious, more excited and genuinely happy. … To just see the international people I haven't seen in a long time and to watch the American flag get raised, it will be really exciting and awesome to see that.”

On the ESPYs red carpet [Video]

Some great athletes were in attendance at the 2011 ESPYs on Wednesday, including Blake Griffin, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Russell Westbrook. 

Yet a scrawny 17-year-old named Justin Bieber drew the most excitement (read: screams) from fans on the red carpet outside of the Nokia Theater. 

Welcome to Los Angeles.

Though Beiber deftly avoided any contact with the media (sorry to disappoint), we were able to chat with some of the athletes as they strolled by looking dapper in fine suits and flashy dresses. 

Nowitzki said that if he could play with any player in the league, he would choose Kobe Bryant. Former Laker Robert Horry said the Lakers needed a new point guard. Griffin said he was excited to see Beiber. Then he giggled. I'm not 100% sure whether he was joking. 

Kevin Love said Griffin was his greatest competition in the league. Jason Kidd said his was anyone under the age of 30. 

Does that include Bieber?

At the awards ceremony, Nowitzki was named male athlete of the year and skier Lindsey Vonn was named female athlete of the year. 

-- Melissa Rohlin 

 

South Korea selected to host 2018 Winter Olympics

The Olympic Games will be heading back to South Korea after a 30-year hiatus.

The International Olympic Committee announced Wednesday it has selected Pyeongchang, South Korea, as the host of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said the city received a majority of votes after just one round of voting among its 95 members. It marks the first time a city has won an Olympic bid in the first round of voting since 1995 when Salt Lake City was awarded the 2002 Winter Games.

Pyeongchang, which was also a candidate city for the 2010 and 2014 Winter Games before losing out to Vancouver and Sochi, Russia, will be the third Asian city to host the Winter Olympics. Winter Olympic Games were previously held in Japan in 1972 and 1998.

Munich, Germany, which hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics, and Anecy, France, were the other two candidate cities. Munich was vying to become the first city to host the Summer and Winter Games.

Vancouver riots show darker side of feel-good host city of 2010 Winter Olympics

Last winter the world watched with pride as Vancouver, Canada, celebrated into the night after the closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics, just hours after an already successful Games for Canada culminated in a dramatic gold-medal victory over the U.S. in the national sport of hockey.

Wednesday night the world watched the Vancouver riots in horror following the Canucks' loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.

PHOTOS:  Hockey riot in Vancouver

Vancouver was such a feel-good story following the Winter Olympics. Here's how Chicago Tribune writer Philip Hersh described the citizens following the closing ceremonies:

One cannot overlook the passion and general goodwill of the people who both put on the Games and celebrated them until all hours in a city that never before had allowed itself such continuous, unrestrained fun.

This is how the Associated Press described the scene in the same city after Wednesday night's loss:

Angry, drunken fans ran wild after the Vancouver Canucks' 4-0 loss to Boston in the decisive Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, setting cars and garbage cans ablaze, smashing windows, showering giant TV screens with beer bottles and dancing atop overturned vehicles. Later, looters smashed windows and ran inside department stores.

Here's what International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge had to say following the Olympics:

What will stand out is the communion between the citizens and Games -- the way they participated on the streets, the unique atmosphere we have experienced.

And here's what Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said about Wednesday night's incidents:

We have a small number of hooligans on the streets of Vancouver causing problems. It's absolutely disgraceful and shameful and by no means represents the city of Vancouver. … We have had an extraordinary run in the playoff, great celebration. What's happened tonight is despicable.

Quite a big difference -- as big as the difference between winning and losing.

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Top photo: Vancouver Canucks hockey fans take part in a riot in downtown Vancouver after the Canucks' 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins. Ryan Remiorz / Associated Press / The Canadian Press

 

Olympics will stay on NBC through 2020

The Olympics will remain on NBC through 2020, thanks to an aggressive bid that will see the network paying $4.38 billion for the next four games.

According to The Times' Company Town blog, NBC faced stiff competition from Walt Disney Co., owner of ESPN and ABC, and News Corp. parent of Fox:

Many industry observers expected Disney to walk away with the games. However, while NBC and Fox each made bids for both the next two and next four Olympic Games, ESPN only bid for the 2014 and 2016 games and its bid was not as competitive, people close to the process said. The ESPN bid was for $1.4 billion, one person with knowledge of the matter said, and its presentation was shorter than pitches from NBC and Fox.

Read more: "NBC holds on to Olympics through 2020 with $4.3-billion bid."

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Photo: People stop to look at a set of Olympic rings illuminated in the harbor outside the Vancouver Convention Centre in 2009. Credit: Darryl Dyck / Associated Press / Canadian Press

Olympic marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru dies; police say he jumped from balcony [Updated]

The first Kenyan to win an Olympic gold medal in the marathon has died at age 24 after jumping from a balcony during a domestic dispute, police said Monday.

Sammy Wanjiru died late Sunday at his home in the town of Nyahururu, Kenya. Although national police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said Wanjiru committed suicide, area police chief Jasper Ombati offered another theory.

“Wanjiru came home with another woman friend at around 11:30 p.m. and then when his wife came home and found them she inquired who the lady was,” Ombati said. “They got into an argument. His wife locked them in the bedroom and ran off.

“He then jumped from the bedroom balcony. He is not here to tell us what he was thinking when he jumped. We do not suspect foul play. In our estimation we think he wanted to stop his wife from leaving the compound.”

[Updated at 9:39 a.m.: Wanjiru's agent, Federico Rosa, confirmed there had been a domestic dispute over another woman but said the runner would not have killed himself.

Freddie Roach will help coach USA Boxing team

Freddie Roach, the five-time trainer of the year who has supervised Manny Pacquiao's rise to superstardom, has agreed to take on a prominent role in coaching U.S. Olympic boxers.

Roach announced Saturday he will open his Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood to U.S. boxers, and will work closest with the most elite Olympic qualifiers who have the best chance to claim a medal at the 2012 Summer Games in London.

The U.S. hasn't won a gold medal since 2004, when current super-middleweight champion Andre Ward of Oakland accomplished the feat.

"With the experience I have, I believe I can help the team and get some gold medals," Roach said at a news conference hours before Pacquiao was scheduled to defend his world welterweight title in Las Vegas against Shane Mosley.

Roach is scheduled to begin officially consulting with USA Boxing national coach Joe Zanders of Long Beach when Olympic team candidates gather for a high-performance retreat May 19-22 in Mobile, Ala., Roach's agent, Nick Khan, said. Khan and Los Angeles power broker Casey Wasserman helped craft the partnership.

In a prepared statement, the U.S. Olympic Committee said the Roach program will be "an add-on to the 2011-12 approved high-performance plan with the intent of providing a unique and valuable resource for the designated athletes as a supplement to the existing coaching structure."

Part of the U.S. team's problems in its medal-less skid has been inconsistent teaching, with the amateurs' personal coaches being denied from participating in Olympic coaching in Colorado Springs.

Roach said personal coaches will be allowed at Wild Card.

"My strongest feature is I can get to these people, I'm going to make them part of the team and make them understand what I'm teaching is correct. It will make them better coaches down the line."

Swimmer Jessica Hardy after IOC ruling: London Calling?

Jessica Hardy’s long legal battle ended when it was determined that she will be eligible to compete for a spot in the 2012 Olympics in London. The Long Beach swimmer, who tested positive for a banned substance not long before Beijing Olympics, was informed by the IOC she would not be subject to Rule 45, also known as the six-month rule.

"I am ecstatic that the IOC has recognized my unique situation, and that the rule does not apply to me," Hardy said Thursday in a statement issued by her lawyer Howard Jacobs.

"With this final hurdle now behind me, I can now focus 100% of my efforts on preparing for and representing my country at next year’s Olympic Games, a lifelong dream that was taken away from me in 2008.  I continue to be grateful for the numerous expressions of support I have received from teammates, competitors, and fans all over the world during this ordeal.”

Hardy had received a one-year suspension and that specific IOC rule could have kept her out of the London Games. That edict, put in place before the 2008 Olympics, prevents any athlete from competing in the next Olympics if the length of the suspension is more than six months.

Tribune colleague Philip Hersh offered his take on the IOC's show of common sense.

Hardy, perhaps, had the best take it all when she quoted Aristotle on her tweeter feed Thursday afternoon:

"Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet."

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Photo: Jessica Hardy smiles after winning the women's 50-meter freestyle final at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Irvine on Aug. 21. Credit: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

Michelle Kwan to co-chair International Olympic Committee conference in L.A.

The Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games announced Thursday that figure skater Michelle Kwan, a five-time world champion, nine-time U.S. champion and twice an Olympic medalist, and movie producer Frank Marshall, a five-time Oscar nominee, will be co-chairs of the fifth International Olympic Committee Women and Sport 2012 Conference, to be held early next year in Los Angeles.

The event will take place Feb. 16-18 at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live.

The Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, which promotes Olympic ideals and organizes bids to hold the Games here, will organize and stage the event in conjunction with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

“It’s an honor to co-chair and participate in such an important international event,” Kwan, a U.S. public diplomacy envoy, said in a news release. "Historically, this conference has played a meaningful role in identifying ways to improve and increase participation of women in the world of sport around the globe. Women athletes are making progress; for the very first time, the 2012 Olympic Games in London will showcase women competing in every sport on the program. I look forward to this conference and to the continued advancement of women in sports.”