Monthly Archives: April 2022

MADRID Gerard Piqu asked for help from the president of the Spanish soccer federation to play at the Tokyo Olympics, audio stolen from the federation revealed Wednesday.

The details, published by the El Confidencial newspaper, came after other audio had revealed that the Barcelona defender helped to negotiate a $26 million commission to take the federations Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.

Piqu can be heard asking federation president Luis Rubiales to talk to Olympic team coach Luis de la Fuente and set up a meeting between them.

You have to do this for me, Rubi, you have to make it happen, Piqu said. We have to keep it a secret and talk to the coach Ill go to Madrid and we sit with him. We have to do it in a way that its not out anywhere. The three of us have to keep this very secret until the end, dont you think?

Rubiales agreed to talk to the coach but said it would be up to De la Fuente to decide what to do.

Yes, we have to keep it a secret, and if the coach wants to do it, lets go ahead with it, Id be thrilled, Rubiales said.

Piqu said he didnt want the information leaked to keep other players from trying to request the same thing. He said he had heard that Sergio Ramos also wanted to play and likely leaked that to the media to try to pressure the coach.

The president eventually talked to De la Fuente and said the coach asked to wait until the national team had secured its qualification for the Olympic tournament.

He said that after the team qualifies he will talk to you, Rubiales said. I dont want to pressure him. He said he would like to talk to you, but after the team qualifies.

Rubiales spoke publicly for the first time in a news conference on Wednesday and said that Piqu was not the only player who talked to him about going to the Olympics.

I talked to De la Fuente about him and about other players as well, Rubiales said. I told him that some called and that he had to make his own decision. Piqu wasnt the only player who called.

Neither Piqu nor Ramos made it to the Olympic squad, which ended with the silver medal after losing to Brazil in the final. The over-23 players called up to the team were Mikel Merico, Marco Asensio and Dani Ceballos.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Read more here:

Gerard Pique asks for help to play at Olympics in leaked audio - Home of the Olympic Channel

Maybe the name "Own The Podium" was a problem.

Canada has posted some of its biggest medal hauls in Olympic Games over the last dozen years, but how the country has gone about owning the podium is now under the microscope.

Established in 2005 after Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., won the bid to host the 2010 Winter Games, Own The Podium's goal was to strategize athletes onto the podium and rank Canada number one among countries in total medals at a home Olympic Games.

That label, and the ceaseless pursuit of medals inherent in its messaging, raised eyebrows in light of Canada's international reputation of polite people who are quick to apologize.

One of OTP's previous chief executive officers, Alex Baumann, said the name was aspirational, but has it landed that way?

"We entered into this conversation that squarely put all the PR pressure directly on the athletes and the outcomes they were able to create," said Russell Reimer, whose agency represents several Olympians.

Canada ranked third in total medals with 26 in 2010 two more than in 2006 and nine more than in 2002. While it wasn't the stated goal, the host team won the most gold medals with 14 in Vancouver and Whistler.

Twenty-nine medals in 2018 was a Winter Olympics record for Canada and ranked the country third. Twenty-four last year in Tokyo for 11th was the most by Canada at a non-boycotted Summer Olympics.

Through consultation with the national sport organizations, who oversee athletes' competitive lives, OTP makes funding recommendations directing about $70 million of Sport Canada money to NSOs for athletes with medal potential, while also providing technical advice to the NSOs.

All sports receive core funding out of a pot of $150 million.

OTP's funding recommendations, which require federal ministerial approval, is additional, targeted funding to assist athletes onto the world, Olympic and Paralympic podiums.

"Before the targeted excellence funding came into play, the approach was funding was spread a mile wide and an inch deep," OTP CEO Anne Merklinger said. "Our results on the world stage showed the impact of that.

"With the introduction of the targeted excellence funding, Canada has achieved a level of excellence on the global stage that is quite positive."

WATCH | Anne Merklinger on importance of Own The Podium:

But in the weeks since the close of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing four of 26 medals were gold to rank fourth overall a wave of athletes have demanded cultural change from the organizations that oversee them.

In what new Canadian Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge has called a crisis, there's been accusations of maltreatment, sexual abuse or misuse of funds made against at least eight national sport organizations in her first five months in office.

A sport system under pressure has blown a gasket.

St-Onge scrambled with an emergency roundtable, the announcement of $16-million in safe sport funding in last week's budget and the appointment of a sport integrity commissioner on the job May 1.

Merklinger insists how Canadians win medals is as important as the medals themselves.

"We have been changing the way we pursue excellence on a world stage," Merklinger said. "We've been working in the culture space, trying to make sure that we're providing everyone involved in high-performance sport a safe environment in order for them to achieve their goals.

"We were doing that two years before the pandemic. Culture is a critical contributor to high-performance sport in our country.

"Every conversation that we've had with key stakeholders over the last six weeks, everyone is committed to this, everyone is looking at ways that we individually and collectively can address the concerns that are being expressed by the athletes."

Funding decisions create tension between the athletes, their NSOs and OTP, however.

"Organizations will literally use them as a scapegoat, like 'Own The Podium needs to see this and if you guys don't get a medal, we won't get funding,"' said former alpine skier Allison Forsyth, who now works with athletes in the field of safe sport.

"The pressure that puts on an athlete is what leads I think a lot of the times to mental-health challenges."

Merklinger acknowledged there is system strain over money.

"We know that there are many organizations that are concerned about the funding model in the country," she said.

"There's $150 million a year annually that goes to core support. That money goes to every sport in Canada and that has not been increased in 13 to 14 years.

"The sport system needs an injection of new funding so national sport organizations are less reliant on targeted excellence funding."

Two-time Olympic trampoline champion Rosannagh MacLennan believes OTP fulfils its mandate.

"They've been pretty successful in transforming medal potential into medals and helping NSOs create training environments that are set up for high performance," she said.

She also says she's felt the undercurrent of funding pressure.

"My desire to win medals was purely my own goal," MacLennan said. "I did feel there was pressure to perform on that one specific day at the Olympic Games.

"I felt a burden that the future of my sport's success was in some ways dependent on my performance in one minute, every four years."

OTP, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee have backed off setting hard targets in recent Olympic Games.

The COC, which contributes roughly $15 million annually to OTP's targeted funding, prepares athletes for Olympic and Pan American Games, and looks after athletes' needs on the ground. The COC funds its operations via corporate sponsorships.

"I have just uniquely come off of two Olympic Games in the span of seven months where I saw the incredible power of Canadian sport," COC CEO David Shoemaker said, pointing to Olympic gold won by the women's soccer and hockey teams and Damian Warner's decathlon gold medal.

"I feel compelled to point out that I'm a supporter of Own The Podium. I believe in our high-performance strategy. Moments like this though should cause us to say 'OK, what may have been appropriate in 2010 needs a refresh.'

"I think this is an inflection point where we have to take a hard look at the high-performance strategy, we need to listen to our athletes, we need to reflect on the feedback and decide on whether the strategy needs a tweak."

OTP is providing a culture assessment and audit tool for NSOs "to assess their culture and a key part of that is mental health," Merklinger said.

A "Gold Medal Profile for Sport Psychology" developed by six mental performance consultants has mental health as an overriding theme, she said.

"It definitely reinforces the interplay between mental health and mental performances," Merklinger said. "Now that has been developed, we have a group of experts in this area to engage with sports and make sure there aren't any gaps."

Changing the name "Own The Podium" hasn't been discussed during Merklinger's decade at the helm.

"That doesn't mean that it doesn't warrant a conversation," she said.

View post:

Own The Podium chief says athletes' cries for change have been heard - CBC Sports

The big question for any athlete after winning Olympic gold is what do you do once youve reached the summit?

For some, rebuilding that motivation to go again just is not possible, whereas others are driven to do it all over, to taste glory once more.

In the case of Tokyo 49er champions Stuart Bithell and Dylan Fletcher-Scott, those diverging paths meant for a parting of ways, the former calling it a day while the latter continued with the target of Paris.

That left Fletcher-Scott looking for a new partner and the search quickly narrowed to 2017 European Under-23 champion Rhos Hawes.

The duo officially joined forces in January with the clock already ticking for the 2024 Olympic Summer Games with just a three-year cycle following the postponement of Tokyo.

Fletcher-Scott explained his thought process: I think the most important factor is do you still have that fire and hunger to do it again? After the Olympics I spent some time thinking about that.

I was always quite keen but you never really know how you are going to feel having won a medal. Once I was happy that I wanted to do it again and thought it was worth it, always in the back of my mind was sailing with Rhos, wed talked about it on the previous cycle if Stu stopped and I wanted to carry on.

You still never know, its a big thing at the end of the day. From a lot of aspects, it felt like it was a really good fit.

It takes a while to sink in (that you have won Olympic gold). Its staggering to be Olympic champion. A lot of athletes go through it where you get a little depressed. You have done it and have this period where you are not sure what you are doing.

Your life has been so structured from the day-to-day point of view. Then you think What do I do?. A lot of the other athletes I have spoken to went through the same thing. Then you get out the other side and set new challenges and you are straight back into it. Its still surreal to think we did it. Every time I watch the video of the medal race it makes me a bit emotional.

Where there was a necessary period of reflection for Fletcher-Scott, the equation was rather simpler for Hawes.

He said: From my point of view, I always wanted to be the crew in Paris and it was a case of what was going to get me there.

If Dylan came back and didnt really want to, then I dont know. But once he did, Id have been an idiot to turn down the opportunity. Its a good fit and hes got the hunger so it works well.

Filling the void left by Bithell is quite the challenge for Hawes, who knows that it would be a mistake to try to imitate his predecessor.

When asked about his approach, he said: Its an interesting balance because you look at how Dylan and Stu operated before and it was at the top level, gold-medal winning.

Theres a real balance of taking learnings from that without trying to mirror it and copy it. I am my own sailor with my own strengths and weaknesses. You can take inspiration from what has been done before but realistically you have to go about your own goals.

With Fletcher-Scott taking an extended break after Tokyo, the pair are currently looking to make up for lost time. Remarkably the Olympic trials will start in a years time so it is not a case of easing into the new partnership.

Equipment changes in the 49er class have made the first few months tricky, to the point that the pair are yet to complete a full regatta, a recent trip to Palma having to be cut short because of more breakages.

As part of the executive in the 49er class, Fletcher-Scott has been working hard to try to get to the bottom of the equipment issues which have blighted the early-season racing.

He explained: All the proto kit was fantastic and now we are experiencing a lot of issues. Its to the point that every fitting on the mast is having to be redesigned. The carbon tube is fine, that is built by a good manufacturer with good issues but everything else is terrible which is why we have had so many breakages.

Im part of the executive and we are working really hard to get over these problems.

Palma was a nightmare to be honest. Every day was a really long day fixing equipment and we were broken before the regatta actually started.

The plan now is to focus on resolving those equipment issues rather than racing, with the next trip to Marseille, the sailing venue for the 2024 Games, in mid-May.

That should give the duo an idea of the little adjustments that will be necessary by the Olympics, whether it is their equipment or even their own weight.

While both have already raced in Marseille before, it remains a relatively unfamiliar venue so any chance to scope it out will be invaluable.

After that trip, the schedule builds towards the big target for the year, the World Championships in Halifax in September.

Results are not generally the priority a year on from the previous Games, but the Worlds are the exception to that rule.

Fletcher-Scott said: The plan is to be on the podium at the World Championships because that is a good goal but its also a really good indicator for medalling at the Games.

He speaks from experience when he says this. The year after the Rio Olympics, Fletcher-Scott and Bithell claimed World Championship gold in Portugal to set them on their way to Tokyo success.

If Hawes can slot in and do the same in Nova Scotia later this year, then the signs will be looking good for Paris.

Sportsbeat 2022

View original post here:

Fletcher-Scott begins quest for more Olympic glory with Hawes - Team GB

Advertisement

The Diplomat author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy.This conversation with Dr. Susan Brownell professor of anthropology in the department of history at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and internationally recognized expert on the Olympics and Chinese sports is the 315th in The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.

What image did China intend to showcase through the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics?

The main selling point of the bid was that the Games would push forward the growth of winter sports in China. That goal was systematically pursued from beginning to end, which rarely happens with the high-flying goals in bid proposals. But in Chinas case, it was part of a national strategy to develop northeastern China as a winter sports destination, stimulating economic development in poor mountain areas. Ski resorts have a huge appeal in East Asia because they represent the leisured lifestyle of global elites, so entering into the worldwide circuit of luxury ski resorts was one more demonstration that China has arrived.

Explain the role of sports in Chinas projection of soft power.

Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific.

Sports also occupy a crucial role in Chinas pursuit of soft power (the power of an attractive national image). South Korea and Japan had just hosted Olympic Games in 2018 and 2021, and Chinese leadership wanted to keep up with them in the symbolic arms race in East Asia. Winning gold medals is important, and the increased government investment in winter sports helped China to its best-ever third-place ranking in gold medals with nine golds, one more than the U.S.

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.

Following Japan and South Korea, China started recruiting foreign-born athletes to the Olympic team, in apparent violation of the prohibition against dual citizenship. The two gold medals in freestyle skiing won by American-born Eileen Gu, representing China, put China ahead of the U.S. Her popularity with Chinese and American fans, as well as with sponsors (some 30 of them, based in both China and the U.S., including luxury brands like Estee Lauder, Tiffany & Co, and Cadillac) suggested that the dream of Chinese soft power is becoming a reality.

Analyze the effectiveness of the diplomatic boycotts of the U.S. and other countries.

There is no convincing evidence that any Olympic boycotts have accomplished their goals. The anti-apartheid boycotts of the 1970s were at least successful, but they were part of a much larger movement. The U.S.s boycott of the Moscow 1980 Olympics was a complete failure the Soviet Union did not pull its troops out of Afghanistan for another nine years and the U.S. later occupied Afghanistan twice as long as the Soviet Union had, discrediting the entire concept. Over a dozen heads of state boycotted the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games by not attending, but today no one remembers it, and it had no effect on Chinas domestic policies toward Tibetans (the main source of protest at the time). Most of these public relations and diplomatic campaigns have had little or no impact in China or any host country, and the absence of the politicians has been quickly forgotten. The reasonable conclusion is that the 2022 diplomatic boycott will have little to no impact on Chinese governance.

What was the impact of the February 4 meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin at the Beijing Winter Olympics on the principles of the Olympic games?

During the Beijing 2008 Olympics, U.S.-China relations had seemed better than ever, seen in President Bushs large entourage and friendly interactions with the Chinese public and leaders. The Chinese leadership might have hoped that this would happen again: The high-profile celebration of the 50th anniversary of ping-pong diplomacy in fall 2021, which emphasized the long and close relationship between the two countries, might have been intended as an overture that U.S. leadership failed to pick up. I believe that President Biden missed an opportunity and, by insulting China with his diplomatic boycott, opened the door for President Putin to step in. Perhaps things would have played out differently if Joe and Jill Biden had been in China during the Games, using the spotlight to express a commitment to the Olympic ideal of world peace while simultaneously articulating their concerns about Chinese (or Russian) policies.

Many Western observers interpreted Putins presence and the China-Russia joint statement as a violation of the Olympic spirit, but that is forgetting that the U.S. violated the Olympic spirit first. President Bidens absence left a vacuum on the stage that was filled by the largely symbolic partnership with Putin which, as experts suspect, Xi may be regretting now.

Assess how the politicization of sports might impact future Olympic Games.

The media frenzy can mislead the audience into thinking that the politics surrounding the Olympic Games have become more heated than ever. Actually, since the end of the Cold War, no nations have kept home their athletes in protest and no head of state or national Olympic committee has called for a national boycott. The voices calling for boycotts now come from media-savvy non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are most influential that take advantage of the international media scrutiny to draw attention to their causes and raise funds. China has been a particularly strong magnet: In 2022 nearly 200 NGOs were involved in Olympic campaigns. But every host country receives harsh criticism.

Politicians also play a role U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi launched the call to boycott the opening ceremony in 2008 and diplomatic boycott in 2022, and then NGOs picked up the call and pressured other world leaders to do the same. President Bush did not heed her call in 2008; President Biden did in 2022. Having partly mobilized it, politicians use the pressure created by these advocacy groups to advance their domestic and international agendas.

Olympic Games play a positive role in global society by amplifying the voices of advocacy groups, raising public awareness about injustice, and providing talking points for debates across national borders. I am concerned that the NGOs, politicians, and critics could engage in self-destructive behavior by turning the public away from the games with their extreme negativity, in the process damaging the Olympic platform that benefits their own causes.

See the rest here:

Assessing the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics: Soft Power, Politics, and the Future of the Games - The Diplomat

The Stars on Ice cast was in attendance for anElton Johnconcert on Tuesday night, and somebody must have tipped off the music legend.

In Greensboro, N.C., John shouted out Nathan Chenfor using the musicians songs, most notably Rocket Man, in his free skate to win the Olympics.

It took on a new meaning when I watched the Winter Olympics this year, John said at the concert in a video posted by Olympic teammate Madison Chock. Professionalism, athleticism, just incredible. I was just so honored that he chose my song.

After Chen won gold in Beijing, John tweeted congratulations.

Its nuts to think that he even knows that I exist, Chen said on Access Hollywood in February.

Chen first used an Elton John medley in 2019 after one of his choreographers, Marie-France Dubreuil, saw the film Rocketman and felt she could put together a strong program for him using its music.

I love to listen to Elton John, Chen said in 2019. I dont feel like Im an embodiment of his character. [The program] is a way for me to enjoy his music and allow other people to enjoy it as well.

Chen originally had a different free skate for the Olympic season, then switched back to the Elton John medley in December.

NBC Sports research contributed to this report.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

See the original post:

Elton John shouts out Nathan Chen at concert - Home of the Olympic Channel

Devon Allens introduction to Eagles fans wont come at Lincoln Financial Field. Instead, the Birds new wide receiver will get his welcome to the city at a stadium the team used to call home.

Allen will run in the mens 110-meter hurdles at the Penn Relays next weekend, right after he arrives in town for the Eagles first days of OTAs. The 27-year-old will get to show off his other sports passion, one that earned him trips to the 2016 and 2021 Olympics after running track and playing football at the University of Oregon.

So far, the city and the fans have shown a lot of love, Allen said Thursday during a news conference at Franklin Field. Ive had a pretty good track career, I still have a lot of things I want to accomplish, and I love track and field. But my first love has always been football, and the Philadelphia Eagles [have] given me that chance to go after that again and contribute and help the Eagles win a Super Bowl in the next few years.

The Eagles signed Allen earlier this month after he worked out for scouts at the Ducks pro day a few weeks ago. Currently the worlds No. 1-ranked mens 110-meter hurdler, he plans to run in the World Athletics Championships in July coincidentally at Oregons track stadium before returning to Philadelphia for Eagles training camp.

READ MORE: Eagles sign WR Devon Allen, a former Olympic hurdler who played football at Oregon

Allen said he grew up watching the Penn Relays on TV, and still has vivid memories of Usain Bolts legendary 2010 visit that drew Franklin Fields biggest crowd in decades.

Now that Ive got the whole city of Philly behind me, it feels like home to go to the Penn Relays for the first time, Allen said.

Of course, Eagles fans will want to know how hell transition between the gridiron and the track. He took the question head-on.

Im not going to say its like riding a bike, because its not easy, but its something Ive done so much and so often that I just need a refresher, he said. Once my body gets used to doing it again, I think Im going to have no problem going back and forth in terms of going to football when the track season is over. This season specifically is probably the fastest and strongest Ive been since being a pro.

Although there wont be a traditional USA vs. the World competition at the first Penn Relays in three years, there will be some traditional star power.

The American contingent will be headlined by track legend Allyson Felix, in her last visit to Franklin Field before she retires at the end of the year; Philadelphias Aje Wilson, a two-time Olympian who just won the World Indoor Championships 800-meter title; Penn alum Nia Akins, and Trentons Athing Mu, who won an electric gold in the 800 in Tokyo last summer.

READ MORE: Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis and 125 years of thrills: Penn Relays documentary celebrates its history

Ive gotten to come to the Penn Relays so many years in a bunch of different vantage points, said Wilson, who grew up in Neptune, N.J., and went to college at Temple. In high school, it was always a big deal driving here from Jersey wed always have our matching pants, wed make special T-shirts to come. And we loved going to the vendors village and just interacting with other athletes, and also getting to mix it up with the college athletes, asking them for advice.

Wilson has kept competing at the Relays as a pro, and noted that she even comes as a spectator in the years when she hasnt run.

Jamaicas delegation will be led by Natoya Goule, her countrys record-holder in the indoor and outdoor 800; and Omar McLeod, who won 110 hurdles gold at the 2016 Olympics and 2017 World Championships. He and Allen have competed against each other for years, and are good friends.

Remarkably, it will be Mus first time running at the Relays. She never did in college at Texas A&M, and she never did in high school because she didnt run for Trenton Central only in AAU events for the Trenton Track Club.

I think its going to be super-loud, Wilson said. To be able to have someone that people have come to recognize her performance at the Olympics was incredible I think it will just be exciting. Im sure shell be overwhelmed a bit, but any time you get that type of love from people youre running in front of, its amazing.

She also offered a local insiders advice for Allen.

If you hear people saying, Wooooo! thats the Penn Relays call to know youre about to get walked down, she said to laughter in the room. Youre going to have a lot of the Jamaican crowd because Omars in the race going loud, going hard. So just be mindful of that noise and if you hear it, run fast so its not you that gets caught.

Allen said hell be ready.

See more here:

Before Devon Allen debuts as an Eagles wide receiver, hell run at the Penn Relays - The Philadelphia Inquirer