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Wake Boarding’s History: Run by the International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation, which has actually been around since 1936. Go figure. Wake boarding is a first time bidder and would join sailing, rowing, and canoe/kayak on the water as their hipper, younger subjectively-judged relative. Notable Stats: The WF has almost 100 nations and first held its…
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Baseball/Softball’s History: The two sports joined forces to create the World Baseball Softball Confederation earlier this year to strengthen the 2020 bid. America’s pastime was an Olympic sport form 1992 to 2008, but both were ousted in a 2005 IOC vote for failing to be universally played by all the participating Olympic nations. Notable Stats:…
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Squash’s History: Run by the World Squash Federation, which was founded in 1967. Stereotyped as a “country club sport” in the States, but wildly popular internationally. World No. 1′s Nicol David and Ramy Ashour (seen above) will make the sport’s pitch at Wednesday’s IOC meeting in St. Petersburg. Notable Stats: 185 countries participate and five…
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Wrestling’s History: Run by FILA. One of the original ancient sports and a part of every modern Olympics except 1900. Recommended for removal from the Games by the IOC in February. Notable Stats: 71 nations competed in London last summer, with 29 taking home medals. The Pitch: It’s wrestling. Everyone loves wrestling, or at least…
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Seoul Olympics pole vaulting champ Sergei Bubka of Ukraine entered the race to replace Jacques Rogge as IOC President Tuesday, making his announcement in St. Petersburg just ahead of this week’s IOC executive board meeting. Bubka, a six time world champ who set the vaulting record 17 times (and still holds it), competed for both…
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Whether or not the IOC’s recommendation to remove wrestling from the Olympics holds in the coming months, the decision has served as a wake-up call for a number of sports that they will look to evolve for the Games. First up: fencing. International Fencing Federation Secretary General Frédéric Pietruszka told Inside the Games this weekend…
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The wind and rain held London 800m gold medalist David Rudisha to nearly five seconds slower than his world record pace, but there’s no keeping down the champ: he still won the New York Grand Prix by more than a second Saturday, clocking 1:45.14 to dominate the field. “The time does not matter,” the Kenyan…
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It was an unseasonably ugly day at the Adidas Grand Prix on New York’s Randall Island Saturday, with rain, wind, and cold temperatures slowing times all over the track. But American record holder Tyson Gay still somehow shined, winning the 100m and staying healthy, too. Gay clocked 10.02-seconds into a headwind to dominate the competition,…
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Dozens of Olympic gold medalists, record holders, and world champions are descending on New York’s Randall Island this weekend to square-off at the adidas Grand Prix Diamond League Meet. You can catch all the action Saturday afternoon live on NBC starting at 1pm EST. Here’s a list of marquee match-ups you won’t want to miss:…
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Amid the ongoing fight against steroids, the World Anti-doping Agency said Thursday it’s planning to administer a record 2,500 tests at February’s Sochi Olympics, which is roughly 350 more than at the Vancouver Winter Games four years ago. Alexei Slautin, the head of the Sochi 2014 doping control committee, told the Russian Sports Ministry’s website…
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An announcement from NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman about whether players will be able to participate in the Sochi Games was expected sometime this month, but May is drawing to a close with no word yet from the league. Now Bettman’s top deputy Bill Daly is saying that talks are still ongoing between the NHL, NHLPA,…
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The IOC’s recommendation to remove wrestling from the Olympics shocked FILA and the community, but IOC President Jacques Rogge said Thursday that he’s thinks FILA reacted well, and that last week’s meeting in Moscow, which included naming new leadership and making significant rules changes, was good for the sport. “I think they had the good…
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We’ve already got one great Olympic comeback story Thursday with the official return of Coach K to Team USA Basketball. But the rumors surrounding his return were short-lived, and pale in comparison to the questions about whether Michael Phelps will be back for Rio. Fort Myers NBC anchor Peter Busch, gold medalist Rowdy Gaines, and…
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It’s like he never left. Mostly because he really didn’t. But Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski made his return to Team USA official at a press conference on campus in Durham Thursday. “I really thought I wasn’t going to do it,” Krzyzewski told reporters. “But now that I am doing it, I can tell you…
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As an eight-year-old in the early-90s, I had a mild panic attack of joy when I heard the first Dream Team was being put together for the Barcelona Games, with personal favorites Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley headlining the team. My life goal immediately became playing for Team USA some day. Which didn’t actually happen.…
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Amateur boxing association president C.K. Wu of Taiwan officially entered his name on the ballot for the next IOC president, becoming the fourth world sports leader to step forward with a bid. Wu made his announcement Thursday afternoon at a news conference in Taipei, saying that the goal of his time spent as the IOC’s…
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Despite all the rumors that swimming legend Michael Phelps will return to the pool for one more go at the Rio Games, he seems to be pretty content spending his first year of retirement golfing with the likes of his idol, Michael Jordan. But Phelps’s friend and top-rival Ryan Lochte said he thinks it’s just…
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After spending all of nine months away from his post as the men’s USA Basketball coach, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski will return to the team through the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio Games. Coach K had stepped away from the team after last summer’s London Games, but over the weekend he told SI’s Pete…
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Any American still looking for a decent reason to support the “Keep Olympic Wrestling” movement need look no further than Cornell wrestler Kyle Dake: The four time NCAA national champ who was also the only USA wrestler to score a win against Iran at last week’s “Rumble on the Rails.” And now, on top of…
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Scouts, analysts, and casual onlookers have had nothing but good things to say about rookie defensive end Lawrence Okoye, the British Olympian who inked a free agent deal with the team despite having never played American football. Now the rest of the world is starting to notice. Check out Bleacher Report‘s look at Okoye’s early…
