International Games News July 2000

Alphabetic List of Games	Games in July

Games in Africa	World Medical Games, Cannes, France, July 1-8
Games in Asia	International School Children's Games, Hamilton, Canada, July 1-8
Games in Europe	Stockholm Summer Games, Stockholm, Sweden, July 2-8
Games in North America	Can-Am Police-Fire Games Milwaukee, USA, July 2-10
Games in South America	Firefighters World Games, Mantes-en-Yvelines, France, July 6-13
Games in Oceania	Gorge Games Hood River, USA, July 8-15
Games for Disabled Athletes..	World Corporate Games, Aberdeen, Scotland, July 13-16
Masters/Seniors Games	FISEC Games, Nantes, France, July 19-25
Games for Youth	Great Outdoor Games, Lake Placid, USA July 20-23
Winter Games

The Maccabi World Union announced that The Pierre Gildesgame Maccabi Sports Museum reopened on 21st May. The museum had been closed since August, 1999, for renovation and replacement of the permanent exhibitions. The changes were made in order to facilitate the use of new technologies for exhibiting the history of the movement and displaying its activities throughout the world. The exhibit combines rare photographic material, authentic artifacts, a unique multi-screen movie, a computerized data bank of Maccabiah results and multimedia educational quiz games. The building was purposely designed for the exhibit, which also includes all 15 Maccabiah games, the establishment of Maccabiah clubs throughout Europe at the end of the 19th century and out- standing Jewish sportsmen.

Open: Sundays to Thursdays, 10 am till 3 pm, Fridays & Holiday Eve, 9:30 am till 12 noon

In the wake of the Elian Gonzalez dispute and the Javier Sotomayor drug controversy, Cuban and American sports officials have been working behind the scenes towards an agreement to improve sports relations, the first since Fidel Castro took power in 1959. The agreement was signed in early July by William Hybl and Jose Ramon Fernandez - the leaders of the two nations Olympic Committees. The aim of the accord is to promote training and competition while attempting to combat the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The Association of British Olympians is hosting a 50 year reunion of competitors that participated in the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland. The reunion will be held in Much Wenlock, England, July 8, 2000 and will be part of the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Much Wenlock Games.

The brand new Principes de Espana Pavillon in Palma de Mallorca. Spain, used for gymnastics and judo during the 99 Summer World University Games burned to the ground in May. Spanish authorities say it will be rebuilt. The pavilion is home for the national gymnastics team and has been used for various national level competitions since the Games.

The U.S. softball team is embroiled in controversy. An arbitrator cleared the roster for a second time in May and ruled it must be chosen again. No date has been scheduled for the committee to meet.

The team selected at the end of the tryout camp on Sept. 5, 1999 did not include either second baseman Julie Smith, a member of the '96 Olympic team, or pitcher Amanda Scott. Each appealed the decision; only Smith's appeal was approved. When the selection committee announced a new team May 4, 2000, Scott was added as an alternate and Kelly Kretschman was dropped. This decision brought more appeals: from Scott, Smith, and Kretschman.

In the past, team selection was based on one short tryout camp. But players campaigned for the roster to be selected based on the evidence of their performance over several months or years, including results at the Olympics, World Championships and exhibition tours. The U.S. Olympic Committee approved the new criteria last August. But USOC rules prohibit a sport from choosing its Olympic team based on events that happened before the criteria were approved That means USA Softball can such "discretionary criteria" as leadership, conduct, attitude, maturity and experience, but it can't use any event before last August as evidence of these traits.

On the field the US team is 45-0 in international competition since the '98 World Championships.

Canada has picked its softball team, and has selected on of its silver medalists from the Women's ice hockey team in Nagano to play the outfield.

Having already competed in the high-pressure environment of the Olympics, Wickenheiser will have some valuable experience to offer her teammates. "I'll just try and lead by example and having been to an Olympics before and being under many pressure situations I think I know how to handle them," Wickenheiser said. "Certainly I think I can help the team not only on the field but off as well and that will be my role."

If Canada wins a medal in Sydney, Wickenheiser would be the first Canadian to do so in both the Summer and Winter Games.

Another Canadian, Sue Holloway competed in the 1976 Winter Olympics in cross-country skiing and in the 1976 and 1984 Summer Games in kayaking. She won bronze and silver medals in kayaking in 1984.

Harry Usher, the driving force behind the profits made at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, died in June.

As executive vice president and general manager of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Usher kept a tight rein on spending and ended up with an unheard of $225 million surplus after the games.

Sixty percent of the surplus was given to the USOC and distributed to the various sports federations that were represented in Los Angeles. The rest was used to create the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, which supports youth sports in Southern California.

"His gift to the Olympic movement was his extraordinary management of the 1984 Olympic Games. And he certainly will be remembered for his enormous skills as a manager" said AAF President Anita DeFrantz.

A black bear suspected to have killed Canadian biathlon competitor Mary Beth Miller while she was out training in early July was captured and killed. Canadian military and wildlife officials identified the bear by the size of the teeth and jaws and the markings left on Millers body. The bear was captured a few days after Miller' s body was found in a wooded area on a military base near Quebec City.

The USOC has won a lawsuit against a New Jersey man after he registered the domain name of www.usolympicstore.com speculate on the resale value when the NOC might be needing it for their online store to sell official Olympic Merchandise.

Syed Hussein initially agreed to turn over the domain for $1000 then on second though retracted his offer under the supposition that 'domain names can cost between $10,000 to several million dollars'. USOC Attorney Kelly Maynard filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitrator and Mediator Center who found Hussein's intentions in bad faith and ordered the domain name immediately relinquished to the USOC.

In April the IOC officially launched OTAB.com the website of the Olympic Television Archive Bureau (OTAB). The bureau has 20,000 hours of Olympic footage from the London 1908 to Nagano 1998, and is the largest online sports film collection in the world.

The archive is managed by Trans World International (TWI) in London who has overseen the research and restoration of the film footage since the start in 1995.

European Olympic Committees Sign Cooperation Agreement with the Continent of Africa

The European Olympic Committees (EOC) and Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) signed an agreement in May to continue to develop sport in Africa.

The agreement includes training and technical support, internet website exchanges, and possible participation by the African athletes in the European Youth Olympic Days events.

The Armenian government has promised its Olympic gold medal winning athletes $40,000, silver medallists $30,000 and bronze finalists $20,000 with coaches receiving 45% of their athlete's prize money. The head coach for each discipline stands to gain 55% of the total prize money accumulated overall in his sport.

Uzbekistan has offered $100,000 for gold, $50,000 for silver and $25,000 for bronze in a country where wages average $600 a year.

The IAAF has rendered its decision suspending Javier Sotomayor until July 31, 2001, for cocaine use. Sotomayor, will not compete at the Olympics in Sydney.

An arbitration panel of track and field's world governing federation ruled that Sotomayor, violated IAAF drug rules last year at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The three-person panel overturned a ruling of last Aug. 6 by the Cuban Athletics Federation, that allowed Sotomayor,to continue competing domestically and in other non-sanctioned meets. Sotomayor tested positive for cocaine at last year's Pan Am Games and was stripped of his gold medal in the high jump.

Cuban President Fidel Castro and the country's track federation still stand behind their claim that Sotomayor is innocent and that his urine samples had been manipulated.

Vietnam's communist party has officially endorsed the country's bid to host the the Southeast Asian Games in 2003. If the bid is successful, it will be the first time that Vietnam has hosted the games.

The Government has already approved US$165 million, for sports complex in Hanoi which would include a main stadium, swimming pools, tennis courts and a velodrome as well as a feasibility study for the games.

The venue for the 2006 Asiad will be decided in November in the South Korean city of Pusan, host of the next Asian Games in 2002. Doha is in a contest with Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and New Delhi to become the first Arab host of the games.

The president of the Olympic Council of Asia, Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah of Kuwait, is backing Qatar to host the 2006 Asian Games. "Kuwait supports Qatar's bid to organize the 2006 Asian Games. We should support the aspirations of Qatar and work for this dream to become reality," he said on a visit to Qatar.

Lake Placid, New York and Montreal, Quebec have entered early discussions about a possible joint bid for the 2104 Olympic Winter Games. Groups from both cities plan to meet in late July to discuss the possibilities.

With Montreal still paying off its bills from the 1976 summer games, and Montreal residents still in a sour mood from those games it would seem unlikely that the citizens of Montreal would support such a bid.

Representatives from the Greater Montreal Tourism and Convention Bureau, and Adirondack Sports Commission said they might start with the cities collaborating on a major winter sporting event using Montreal's arenas and international airport and Lake Placid's speed-skating, ski-jumping, alpine and Nordic skiing runs and the new bobsled and luge track.

Bangkok, Beijing, Cairo, Havana, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Osaka, Paris, Seville, and Toronto have all turned in documents to the IOC stating their intentions to bid for the 2008 summer Olympic Games.

A group from the IOC administration and external experts will examine the documents and evaluate each city's capacity to host the games. These findings will be reported to the IOC Executive Board which will meet August 28-29 in Lausanne to determine which cities will become Candidate Cities.

New research has turned up another "sister cities" games, this one between the cities of Havana, Cuba and Atlanta Georgia and known as the Havalanta games. The games were held in the late 1940s and early 1950s, presumably up until the time of the Cuban revolution. More details when they become available.

A multi-sport competition for unicycling sports? Looks like it. check the web site for Unicon 9 held in Germany, with unicycle athletics, unicycle hockey, unicycle basketball artistic, and freestyle competitions. Unicon 10 will be held in China August 2000.

30 years ago Dutch Commonwealth Games, Oranjestad, Aruba, July 31- Aug. 9, 1970

20 years ago Summer Paralympics, Arnhem, Netherlands, June 21 - July 5, 1980

20 years ago Summer Olympic Games, Moscow, Soviet Union, July 19 - Aug. 3, 1980

10 years ago North American Indigenous Games, Edmonton, Canada, July 1-7, 1990

10 years ago World Peace Games, Fes/Ifrane/Meknes, Morocco, July 17-22, 1990

10 years ago European Special Olympics, Strathclyde/Glasgow, Scotland, July 20 - 27, 1990

Games in August 2000

X Games, San Francisco, USA, Aug. 17-22

International Law Enforcement Games, Cocoa Beach, USA, Aug. 3-13

JCC Maccabi Games, Tucson, USA, Aug. 6-11

JCC Maccabi Games Boca Raton, USA, Aug. 13-18

JCC Maccabi Games St. Louis, USA, Aug. 13-18

JCC Maccabi Games Cincinnati, USA, Aug 20-25

JCC Maccabi Games, Staten Island, USA, Aug 20-25

Asian Children's Games