Olympic Sports Blog

New URL

fetch — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:56:43 +0000

nothing major, but I have updated the blog URL to http://olympicsblog.wordpress.com/ so update your rss feeds accordingly (funny joke I know)

U-17 Girls Basketball Wins Group at World Championships

fetch — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:30:26 +0000

Not to be outdone by the U-20 soccer team winning their group, the U-17 basketball team won theirs in impressive fashion, defeating Japan 133-71.

Future UConn Husky Breanna Stewart had 30 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks for the Americans, who moved to 5-0 in the tournament. The Americans outscored Japan 96-28 in the paint. The US shot 64.4% from the field and had 37 points in the 3rd quarter alone.

All 12 girls on the roster scored, and 6 were in double figures. Ariel Massengale had 10 assists for the victors.

By virtue of winning their group, the US girls will play the #4 seed from Group B, which has yet to be determined.

United States Women Defeat Korea, Win U-20 World Cup Group

fetch — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:42:31 +0000

Sydney Leroux is going for back to back golden boots

The defending champion Americans needed to not lose to assure themselves of a place in the quarterfinals, and they did better than that, snatching a 1-0 win from Korea to win their group. UCLA star Sydney Leroux scored the lone goal in the game, coming in the 21st minute just after she had missed another chance on net.

A native of Canada, Leroux had two caps with Canada’s U-20 team before switching to the United States. She had 5 goals in the last U-20 World Cup to win the golden shoe, and is well on her way to doing so again.

With the win, the United States gets an automatic berth into the final 8 as winners of their group and they will face Nigeria on Sunday.

Jennie Finch to Retire

fetch — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:38:21 +0000

One of the best pitchers in the history of the sport will hang them up after the KFC World Cup of Softball this week when Jennie Finch plays in her last tournament.

Finch has won numerous awards and titles over the course of her career, including the 2001 national title with Arizona, a Gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and a Silver in Beijing in 2008. Finch is also one of the most popular players ever, both due to the fact that she has appeared in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, but also because of her camps and her work to get softball back into the Olympics.

Finch will work with ASA director Ron Radigonda to lobby the IOC for softball’s re-instatement into the Olympics, and she will also finish the season for her professional team, the Chicago Bandits.

The KFC World Cup of softball features Team USA, Japan, Canada and a USA Futures team. It is a round robin competition with a 3rd place game and a championship game after pool play.

Due in part to Finch’s popularity and success, softball has grown around the world. The professional league National Pro Fastpitch was formed in 2004, and is increasing in popularity and legitimacy every year. Hopefully Finch will be able to do as much off the field as she did on it.

Rogers, Dalhausser win again in Hermosa Beach

fetch — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:47:11 +0000

Matt Prosser and John Mayer (seriously) had a great run to get to the finals at Hermosa Beach, but they ran into the best team in the world. Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser won in straight sets, demolishing the cinderella bid 21-14 and 21-11. The best team in the world won their fourth AVP Tour title on the year and they are undefeated domestically in 2010.

The two also have 5 FIVB titles on the year, and are easily the best team in the world. Rogers and Dalhausser can each do it all: serve (although Dalhausser seems much better since he’s probably the best in the world), block, dig and set. Dalhausser had an incredible 11 blocks in the championship match and at times it seemed that Rogers could have just laid out a sleeping bag and watched.

The title puts the duo into 3rd place all time with their 54th career title.

Qatar to bid for 2022 World Cup

fetch — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:14:28 +0000

It is expected that England will get the 2018 cup, and that the United States will get the 2022 World Cup, but the tiny Arabian nation of Qatar is expected to put up a strong and extravagant bid for that 2022 World Cup. The Qatar 2022 bid has released their proposal for five of the stadiums and the surrounding areas, and as you would expect, it is awesome:

Olympians at the ESPYs

fetch — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:13:12 +0000

Softball pitcher Jennie Finch

There were tons of current and former Olympians at the ESPYs last night, so to save you the time and effort of looking around the interwebs for them all, I have collected them in one place. If I missed any please feel free to let me know in the comments or email me.

More after the jump

skiier Lindsey Vonn and husband

skiiers Julia Mancuso and Aksel Svindal

swimmer Dara Torres

Basketball player Lisa Leslie

Lindsay Vonn Wins Best Female Athlete ESPY

fetch — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 03:15:55 +0000

Olympic skiier Lindsey Vonn won the ESPY for the Best Female Athlete at tonight’s awards show.

In 2010 Vonn became the first American woman to win gold in the downhill, and she followed it up with a bronze in the Super-G.

Vonn also had 11 victories and 17 podiums in the 2010 World Cup season, 6 in the downhill, 4 in the Super G and 1 in the Super combined. Vonn also won the overall World Cup title for the third year in a row, the first American to do so.

South Africa to bid for 2020 Summer Games

fetch — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:57:41 +0000

On the heels of their World Cup success, South Africa will try to be the first African country to host the Olympics when they bid for the 2020 Summer Games. Cape Town, SA finished 3rd in the 2004 voting. Due to the large improvements in transportation and infrastructure leading up to the World Cup, it is very likely that the country will have to spend very few dollars updating these areas, and the Olympic stadium would already be built.

With Jacque Rogge putting the first Olympics in South America, it is likely his successor will want to build a similar legacy by putting the first games in Africa.

Expected challengers are expected to be Budapest, Hungary; Delhi, India; Taiwan and Dubai.

Rogers, Dalhausser Win 5th Gold of the Year

fetch — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:42:41 +0000

2008 gold medalists Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser won their 5th title of the beach volleyball season when they won in Gstaad, Switzerland. Their 5th title was their career high for a single season. They avenged last week’s loss in Norway to David Klemperer and Eric Koreng 21-18 and 21-13 to win the title.

Rogers and Dalhausser won the tournament without going undefeated for the 5th time this year. The team, who has competed in every tournament of the season, fought tired legs to win and now have been in 10 straight semifinals. They are the only team in the world who has made the semis in every tournament this season, and they have failed to win a medal only once.

They will next compete in Marseille, France from July 19-25, where they will try to continue their semifinal streak.