On the same day hearings are scheduled in the trial of two of the city’s former Olympic bid executives Tom Welch and Dave

On the same day hearings are scheduled in the trial of two of the city’s former Olympic bid executives, Tom Welch and Dave Johnson, accused of conspiring to bribe International Olympic Committeee members. Unhappy coincidence, or what?insidelines independent.co.uk. Sergei Bubka, the world’s premier pole-vaulter, officially retired today, but said that although his life will be earthbound it won’t be slow. Sergei Bubka, the world’s premier pole-vaulter, officially retired today, but said that although his life will be earthbound it won’t be slow.
“I was elected a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board, so there will be many conferences, meetings that will take main time,” Bubka said in the retirement ceremony at the Pole Vault Stars competition in Donetsk that he founded.”There is my club in Donetsk, its work, and, of course, my family to take my time,” he said.In his long career, the 37-year-old Bubka set world records 35 times and still holds the both the indoor and outdoor marks of 20 feet 2 inches (6.146 meters) and 20 feet 1 3/4 inches (6.141 meters) respectively.

No one else has come close.He also won six consecutive world championships and took an Olympic gold medal.The competition at Donetsk underlined Bubka’s domination of the sport. The winner, Israel’s Aleksandr Averbukh cleared 5.85 meters (19 feet 2 1/4 inches), followed by Okkerts Brits from South Africa at 5.8 meters (19 feet 1/4 inches) and Ukrainian Denys Yurchenko with 5.7 meters (18 feet 8 1/4 inches).Bubka received a bouquet and a roar of approval from the crowd as he retired, as well as praise from the country’s president.”Thanks to you, the world learned about Ukraine in a new sense,” said President Leonid Kuchma in an open letter to Bubka.. Citing 24 years of service to the Olympic movement, Anita Defrantz announced her candidacy for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee, today. Citing 24 years of service to the Olympic movement, Anita Defrantz announced her candidacy for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee, today.
DeFrantz, the highest-ranking American on the committee, becomes the first woman and first black ever to run for IOC president.The 48-year-old former Olympic rower is the second declared candidate in the race to succeed Juan Antonio Samaranch when he steps down in July after 21 years as president. Pal Schmitt, a Hungarian diplomat and former fencer, is the other.”I have served the Olympic movement for 24 years, which is half my life,” DeFrantz said “I want to make sure the games endure That’s my responsibility as an IOC member.

I believe I can fulfill my responsibilities best as president.”DeFrantz made the announcement on the eve of IOC executive board meetings in Dakar, Senegal, a former French colony and west African slave-trading center.She spoke shortly after visiting the house on Goree Island where slaves were kept in cells and chained together before being shipped off to the Americas.”It was quite emotional for me, especially hearing what was done to children there,” DeFrantz said.She said the words of two songs were going through her head: “Before I be a slave, I be buried in my grave,” from the hymn “We Shall Overcome,” and “All I want to hear is songs of freedom,” from Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”The slave trade in Senegal lasted from 1536 to 1848.”I haven’t been able to (trace my roots) back this far, but I went timidly to that place it says you can’t come back,” DeFrantz said, referring to the door through which slaves passed on their “trip of no return.”DeFrantz declared her candidacy in the absence of Samaranch, who had the flu and was advised by his doctors not to travel to Dakar on Sunday.As the ranking first vice president, DeFrantz will chair Monday’s opening of the three-day board meeting. IOC officials said the 80-year-old Samaranch may still make the trip Monday or Tuesday.DeFrantz won a bronze medal in rowing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and has held numerous posts as a sports administrator.She has been a powerful advocate for the promotion of women in sports, campaigning for the increase of female athletes at the games and greater representation of women in executive roles in Olympic organizations.”I know the games are strong,” she said. “The legacy of president Samaranch is the unity of the games. I believe the next step is inclusion.”DeFrantz acknowledged her role as a symbol for minority rights.”I bring that with me to this candidacy, as well as being an athlete,” she said. “The issue of opportunity has been something that has informed my life. Knowing of the struggles my parents, my grandparents and their ancestors have faced has been an important part of my life.

Respect for others is something I believe in and I make part of everything I do.”DeFrantz will be considered an outsider in the presidential race against the two men viewed as the leading contenders, Belgium’s Jacques Rogge and Canada’s Dick Pound. While neither has yet declared his candidacy, both are considered certainties to run.Another potential contender is South Korea’s Kim Un-yong, a longtime IOC power broker.The deadline for declaration of candidacies is April 10. The election will take place July 16 at the IOC session in Moscow, where Samaranch was elected in 1980.DeFrantz would be by far the youngest candidate in the race Rogge, Pound and Schmitt are all 58. Kim turns 70 next month.Asked to rate her chances, DeFrantz said, “Every time I raced (as a rower) I had a 50 percent chance of winning. You either win or not, every time you race.”As the senior IOC member in the United States, DeFrantz came under intense scrutiny in the wake of the bribery scandal stemming from Salt Lake City’s winning bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics.Dave Johnson, one of the two Salt Lake bid executives indicted on bribery charges, has alleged that DeFrantz knew everything about the money, scholarships and other lavish inducements doled out to IOC members and their families. She has denied this.Asked whether questions over her role in the scandal will cast a cloud over her credibility, DeFrantz told a reporter: “Look at me in the eye – I live my life with integrity.”DeFrantz said she had notified Samaranch of her decision to run. On Friday, Samaranch welcomed her prospective candidacy.”She is a vice president, she is a woman, very intelligent, a medalist in the Olympic Games,” Samaranch told The Associated Press “She fought against the boycott of the United States.

She can be a good candidate.”DeFrantz was a vocal opponent of the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which was ordered by President Jimmy Carter following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.She was a vice president of the organizing committee for the 1984 Los Angeles Games. A lawyer, DeFrantz is president of the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, vice president of the international rowing federation and a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee executive board.She was elected to the IOC executive board – the organization’s powerful inner cabinet – in 1992 and became the first woman vice president in 1997.. Well, here we go again Another month, another tour, another Test, another bed. If that sounds as if I am a trifle weary about being back in the old routine, it is not intended Now, not being on another tour, that’s when you suffer

Well, here we go again Another month, another tour, another Test, another bed. If that sounds as if I am a trifle weary about being back in the old routine, it is not intended. Now, not being on another tour, that’s when you suffer.
But the six weeks since the great triumph in Pakistan have flown by much more quickly than our time there.