Reuters The (quite futuristic looking) Torch for the 2014 Sochi Games was unveiled in Moscow Monday, along with tentative plans for what will be the longest Torch relay in Olympics history. Get excited.
“The Olympic torch is one of the key symbols of the Games,” Sochi Games chief Dmitry Chernyshenko told reporters outside the Kremlin. “In our case, it symbolizes the beauty and diversity of Russia.”
The 37-inch aluminum feather-shaped Torch, designed by Vladimir Pirozhkov, was inspired by the Firebird from Russian folklore and represents ”the luck and happiness that we are all after.”
It will depart from Olympia, Greece on Oct. 7 for the longest Torch relay in history, stretching all the way to the North Pole (and possibly space) before being carried through 2,900 towns and villages of Russia on its way to Sochi for the Feb. 7 Opening Ceremony.
It will be carried by 14,000 torchbearers during its 124-day journey. I’ve not yet been named as one of them.
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YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/GettyImages
There’s still three months until the IOC determines which city – Tokyo, Madrid, or Istanbul – will host the 2020 Olympics. But two anonymous IOC officials told the Japan Times that Tokyo has the bid nearly locked up. All its officials need to do is avoid any major mistakes before the vote. Tokyo Governor and…
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Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
A new rule set in place by the International Boxing Association that would allow pros with fewer than fifteen bouts on their records to compete in the upcoming Olympics is in jeopardy after protests from boxing organizations and promoters. Now North American Boxing Federation President Joseph Dwyer is getting into the fight, and said his…
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Following the recent failed drug test and impeding suspension of Jamaican Olympic champ Veronica Campbell-Brown, Usain Bolt’s coach Glen Mills said it was time for the government to create an accredited anti-doping lab to “ensure the purity of substances” the athletes are using for training. “It just re-emphasizes the need for all involved to be…
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Courtesy of Lindsey Vonn via Facebook
Despite the budding relationship between Lindsey Vonn and Tiger Woods, the Olympic champ said she’s been able to go relatively unnoticed at this week’s U.S. Open just outside Philadelphia. “I can be normal by myself; no one notices me,” she told the New York Times Friday. “But wherever he’s around, we’re living in a fishbowl.…
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Decorated Jamaican Olympian tests positive for banned substance
Jun 15, 2013, 10:53 AM EDT
Olympic champion sprinter Veronica Campbell-Brown is facing a two-year suspension from racing after samples taken at the Kingston Invitational last month tested positive for a banned substance. Testers reportedly found a diuretic in her system that was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency because of its use a masking agent for performance enhancing drugs. Campbell-Brown…
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Before Usain Bolt dominated the Bislett Games 200m race in Oslo Thursday – running a 2013 world’s best of 19.79 seconds to beat the field by 0.57 seconds – the world record sprinter, showman, and noted auto enthusiast excited the crowd when he arrived in a Formula 1 car. He may be a six-time Olympic…
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AP
Hurdler turned bobsledder (and now back to hurdler, we guess) Lolo Jones has apparently decided that the best way to land a date with Olympics legend Michael Phelps is to build a pool and invite him over for a swim. Or maybe she just wants him to bring one of his 22 career medals, after…
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Getty Images
In not so surprising news, Oscar Pistorius has been left off the South African Paralympic team for the World Championships next month in France. The once inspiring Olympic sprinter and Paralympian champion ruled out racing in 2013 back in May so he and his team could focus on his upcoming murder trial. Pistorus has admitted…
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Canadian Press
After his loss to Justin Gatlin in Rome last week, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt was looking for redemption and looking to make a statement with his 200m race in Oslo Thursday. He didn’t disappoint, breaking the tape in a meet record and 2013 world’s best 19.79 seconds, well clear of the pack. “I’m not in as…
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Madrid hopes new anti-doping law will strengthen Olympics bid
Jun 13, 2013, 11:43 AM EDT
DOMINIQUE FAGET/AFP/Getty Images
On top of Madrid’s relatively minuscule budget of $1.9 billion for the 2020 Olympics – one-tenth of the $19 billion Istanbul has earmarked – Spain hopes the introduction of a new doping law three months before the vote will strengthen its bid. The new “Law for the Protection of Athletes’ Health and the Fight Against…
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OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images
Istanbul 2020 Officials said Wednesday that the recent violent protests in their nation will have “no bearing” on whether or not Istanbul is chosen to host the 2020 Olympics when IOC members meet for a final vote in Buenos Aires this September. “The feedback Istanbul 2020 has received from IOC members and the wider Olympic…
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Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
During his annual quasi-State of the Union address Wednesday before the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said that time is running out on locking up a deal between the NHL and the Olympics. The talks between the NHL, IOC, and IIHF have been ongoing since January, after the NHL…
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All-time Olympic great Ole Einar Bjørndalen, 39, said Wednesday he finally plans to retire from the biathlon following the Sochi Games in February. “It’s clearly a heavy decision,” he told NRK Wednesday. “I think it’s fun to take part, to train hard and sacrifice everything – to put everything else aside to be the best…
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GEPA pictures/ Christian Walgram
Despite Olympic champ Ted Ligety becoming the first man since 1968 to win three golds at the Alpine Ski World Championships, his career has been a bit overshadowed this year by both the injury and social life of fellow skier Lindsey Vonn. And now, so has his drug test. While Vonn being surprised by USADA…
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EPA
After his only-somewhat-surprising loss to Justin Gatlin in the 100m at the Rome Diamond League meet last week, Usain Bolt has vowed to bounce back from the rare defeat when he runs the 200m at the Bislett Games in Oslo on Thursday. “I’m feeling pretty good,” Bolt told reporters. “I think I’m in shape to…
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Darren Calabrese/National Post
Disgraced 1988 Olympic 100m champ Ben Johnson ran in his first “competitive” race in about two decades on Tuesday, as he took part in a celebrity 4x100m relay at the Toronto International Track and Field Games. So how did he feel after anchoring his team to victory in two heats? “Exhausted,” Johnson admitted to the…
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As the USOC continues to consider the Olympic potential of about ten American cities, chairman Larry Probst said officials will keep a keen eye on the current 2020 Olympics bidding process to see if they can glean anything from the presentations of hosting hopefuls Tokyo, Madrid, and Istanbul. Meanwhile, after a board meeting in Colorado…
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Olympic champ McKayla Maroney returned to Karolyi Ranch this week for the first time since last May, when she was preparing for London. And even though she’s arguably more famous for her unimpressed face on the podium, the Fierce Fiver showed why she’s one of the best vaulters in the world, and then added some…
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The work ethic of the all-time sports greats has been well-documented through the years: Michael Jordan trained tirelessly every summer to prove his doubters wrong, even after the world began to worship him. Tiger Woods has constantly evolved his game as he’s aged. And Tom Brady famously watches more film than anyone else can stand.…
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With a couple of Mike Krzyzewski’s former Team USA Basketball assistants choosing to focus on their respective NBA coaching careers – Mike D’Antoni is holding the Lakers together with Scotch tape while Nate McMillan is hunting for a job – Coach K had to dig into his rolodex for a new staff. And apparently he’s…
