International Games News August 2002

Bern, Salzburg, Pyeongchgang and Vancouver were accepted by the (IOC) Executive Board Candidate Cities to host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Andorra La Vella, Andorra, Harbin, China, Jaca, Spain and Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina were eliminated from the running.

In a repeat of the Sydney Olympic Games Agreement, South and North Korea will march together at the opening and closing ceremonies of the upcoming Asian Games. Both countries will wear the same uniforms and march under the same "One Korea" Flag.

But the two sides have agreed to follow the charter of the Olympic Council of Asia and allow the North Korean delegation to use their flag during the games. Currently, displaying the North Korean flag is against the law in South Korea.

Asian Games Organizers have agreed to set up 10 hotlines linking the athletes village and North Korea for the convenience of the North Korean delegation.

A group of North Korean tourists will use a North Korean cruise liner to travel directly to Pusan.

The US Olympic Committee has selected New York and San Francisco as semi-finalists in the race to be the US candidate city for the 2012 Olympic Games. A finalist will be selected in November.

San Francisco has hosted the 1982 International Law Enforcement Games, the 1982 and 1986 Gay Games, 1988 World Corporate Games and the X Games in 1999 and 2000.

New York hosted the World Transplant Games in 1980, Paralympics in 1984, Gay Games in 1994 and Goodwill Games in 1998.

The prevailing thought is that issue of the US candidate city for the 2012 Olympic Games might be a moot point for two reasons; the IOC may want to take the Summer Olympic Games to other continents first, and if Vancouver wins the 2010 Olympic Winter Games bid, the IOC would be reluctant to return to North America two years later.

On August 28, the IOC will announce a list of final candidates for those 2010 games.

Brazil used fortunate timing to convince voters that it was the best city for the 2007 Pan American Games.

Brazil, recently rescued the South American Games, which were originally scheduled to be held in Colombia in April of this year. Brazil stepped in and held the games in four Brazilian cities. Rio also took advantage of the current world climate and claimed to be a "terror-free city."

San Antonio had been considered the front runner for the games in many circles, but the vote went 30-21 in Rio's favor. San Antonio's newspaper said that San Antonio's bid committee members were "reeling in disbelief." San Antonio, has been trying for 15 years to get the Pan American Games, and has during that period has successfully hosted numerous international events in many sports.

"For the United States, this would have been just another event,'' said Marcelo Itajiba, head of Rio's federal police. "For Brazil, this is the event.''

"We have no problems with terrorism or terrorist groups,'' said Carlos Arthur Nuzman, president of Brazil's Olympic Committee.

San Antonio's bid noted that it had every needed venues already built, except for the main stadium for track and field and a velodrome.

Brazil still needs to build seven of the required 23 facilities, and a new parkway, and athletes' village.

Brazil is throwing its hat into the ring for the 2012 Olympic Games. The 2012 Olympic Games host will be chosen in 2005 so the implementation of the 2007 games will have no bearing on that decision.

Officials from San Antonio had expected the Caribbean nations to vote as a bloc for San Antonio, but said that based on the numbers on the secret ballot, this did not happen.

Gold and silver medal winners from the 2003 All Africa Games in Abuja, Nigeria will automatically qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games.

Africa has been given 66 entries to the Olympic Games boxing tournament. With 11 weight divisions, the African Games will fill one-third of those positions.

Another 22 boxers will be chosen at the All Africa Amateur Boxing Championships in Gaberone in December, 2003, the rest at the final qualification tournament in Casablanca in March, 2004.

Nigeria has provisionally approved the inclusion of three more sports as exhibition events in the 2003 Games.

Ayo is a wisdom game played among Ibo people in southeast Nigeria, and Dambe and Kokawa, similar to wrestling and boxing, are indigenous to the Hausa people in north Nigeria.

Details of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games event schedule are under discussion, specifically, when to hold the athletic (track and field) events.

Traditionally the swimming events are held in the first week and athletics the second week.

The games in 2006 are scheduled from March 15-26, which conflicts with the longstanding traditional dates of the annual IAAF World Cross Country Championships, always scheduled for the last weekend in March.

The head of Athletics Australia, Simon Allatson has a solution. He proposes that Australia host the 2006 world indoor championships on March 9-11, the Commonwealth Games and the World Cross Country Championships in succession.

The IAAF wants the athletics to be held in the first week of the Commonwealth Games.

The Manchester Commonwealth Games switched the schedule this year, with athletics in the first week, to avoid a conflict with the European championships.

ESPN has announced that the seventh Winter X Games will be held January 30 - February 2, 2003, in Aspen, Colorado, host venue for last years games.

All events are free and open to the public. The games will be televised January 30 - February 5 on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Sports, in 10 languages to more than 145 countries.

On August 24, PASO, the Pan American Sports Organization will choose the city for the 2007 Pan-American Games. San Antonio, Texas and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are the bidders. Brazil is hoping that the recently concluded South American Games, which they organized with just four months preparation after Colombia cancelled, will put them over the top.

On August 27, the USOC will choose two cities out of the four still left in the running to be the US candidate for the 2012 Olympic Games. San Francisco, New York, Washington DC and Houston are still in the running. The final candidate will be chosen in November.

The marketing company that was given the marketing rights of the 13th All Africa games, BDS/Sportsworld Media Group, has gone into receivership.

The company had put itself up for sale but has since run out of cash.

The choice of the company last year was controversial in Nigeria because the Sports Ministry reportedly made the choice without open or competitive bidding.

The games are scheduled to be held in October 2003 and organizers are once again looking for a plan or company to market the games.

In terms of preparing Nigerian athletes for the games Nigeria's sports minister Stephen Akiga has promised that Nigeria will start preparing early.

"I know that whatever we achieve here in Manchester 2002 is not our best, but with early preparation for the All Africa Games, heaven will be Nigeria's limit in terms of medal haul," Akiga said.

Akiga went on to say that "most nations that do well in big meets like this do have long term planning and preparation of athletes."

The Secretary to the Federal Government promised to release of funds so that athletes could have funding to prepare for the games.

USOC to sponsor new games?

The USOC website is proposing the possibility of a new games, for combat and power sports, called the "Titan Games." The games would include boxing, weightlifting, judo, taekwondo, wrestling and karate, and pit a US team against a combined team from the rest of the world.

2006 Central American and Caribbean Games awarded

The 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games have been awarded to Cartagena, Colombia.

Colombia has cancelled two games this year, the South American Games and Central American and Caribbean University Games.

With the announcement that North Korea will join in the Asian Games this year, the number of the reporters applying for credentials took a sharp jump. Nearly 6000 reporters have asked for credentials, well over the capacity of the press center. Busan organizers have said that they will make sure that every reporter is accommodated.

Busan organizers are also working to repair parts of stadiums and equipment which were reportedly damaged by recent storms.

Police in Korea have made 577 arrests in a recent drug crackdown, hoping to send a message before the Asian Games.

"With the Asian Games approaching, we are preparing for a massive influx of drugs from abroad. Further operations against illegal substances, particularly newer ones like Ecstasy, will be conducted," said one police spokesman.

Sponsors for the Asian Games, reported to be shy earlier this year, and focusing on the World Cup instead of the Asian Games, are now turning their attentions to the games. Samsung Electronics, an Official Partner of the Asian Games, plans to provide audio and video equipment, and wireless communication devices to
games organizers. Samsung will also support the Asian Games torch relay.
Samsung, hoping to gain in the Chinese market, announced it plans to provide mobile phones to 1,000 Chinese athletes and officials. After the Asiad, the company plans to feature Chinese medallists in its commercials.

Telecom giant KT is providing communication technology and equipment to all venues during the Games as the official communications sponsor. KT also sponsored the World Cup.

Dwain Chambers of Great Britain is putting the pain of the Commonwealth Games race behind him. Chambers cramped up and finished 8th and last in the race in Manchester.

Chambers won the European Championships in Munich in 9.96 seconds the week after the Commonwealth race and won the British Grand Prix 100 meters in 9.98 seconds at Crystal Palace. In the latter race Chambers defeated Olympic and world champion Maurice Greene for the fourth time this season.

August 27, 2002
Nigerian wrestler Victor Kodei has tested positive and has been stripped of the silver medal for the 96 kilogram class at the Commonwealth Games. The Nigeria Olympic Committee has requested an investigation.

Kodei lost the final to Dean Schmeichel of Canada.
India's Anil Kumar will now be awarded the silver medal, Muhammad Bashir Bhola of Pakistan will gain the bronze.

Nigeria loses one silver medal, India converts a bronze to a silver,
Pakistan gains a bronze.

The final Manchester Commonwealth Medals table will be revised based on the outcome of the drug test results of Indian weightlifter Satheesha Rai.

Rai has been told to return two gold medals and one bronze after failing a drug test for strychnine at the games.

Overall
Gold	Dave Morgan	Wales
Silver	Renos Doweiya	Nauru
Bronze	Scott McCarthy	Canada
DQ Satheesha Rai (Gold)

Clean and Jerk
Gold	Dave Morgan	Wales
Silver	Renos Doweiya	Nauru
Bronze	Scott McCarthy	Canada
DQ Satheesha Rai (Gold)

Snatch
Gold (unchanged)	Damien Brown	Australia
Silver (unchanged)	Dave Morgan	Wales
Bronze	Craig Blythman	Australia
DQ Satheesha Rai (Bronze)

The suspensions mean that a total of seven medals will change hands. Five nations are involved. Wales gold medal total will go up by two, silver down by two. Nauru's silver medal total will rise by two, bronze medal total go down by two. Canada's bronze total will go up by two and Australia's bronze medals go up by one. India's gold medal numbers will drop by two and bronze medals by one.

Krishnan Madasamy, another Indian weightlifter, was stripped of three silver medals after testing positive for nandrolone. (Those medals had already been accounted for in the medals table.)

India's original total of 32 golds now go to 30, dropping India from third to fourth in the final medal count. The third place finish had been India's best ever Commonwealth Games medal finish.

as of August 22, 2002

Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total

Australia	82	62	63	207
England	54	51	60	165
Canada	31	41	44	116
India	30	21	18	69
New Zealand	11	13	21	45
South Africa	9	20	17	46
Cameroon	9	1	2	12
Malaysia	7	19	18	34
Wales	6	13	12	31
Scotland	6	8	16	30
Nigeria	5	4	11	20
Jamaica	4	6	7	17
Kenya	4	8	4	16
Singapore	4	2	7	13
Bahamas	4	0	4	8
Nauru	2	5	8	15
N. Ireland	2	2	1	5
Cyprus	2	2	1	5
Pakistan	1	3	3	7
Namibia	1	0	4	5
Fiji	1	1	1	3
Zambia	1	1	1	3
Zimbabwe	1	1	0	2
Tanzania	1	0	1	2
Bangladesh	1	0	0	1
Guyana	1	0	0	1
Mozambique	1	0	0	1
St. Kitts / Nevis	1	0	0	1
Botswana	0	2	1	3
Samoa	0	1	2	3
Uganda	0	2	0	2
Trinidad and Tobago	0	1	1	2
Barbados	0	0	1	1
Cayman Islands	0	0	1	1
Ghana	0	0	1	1
St. Lucia	0	0	1	1
Lesotho	0	0	1	1
Malta	0	0	1	1
Mauritius	0	0	1	1

South and North Korea are conversing almost daily regarding the North's participation in the Asian Games next month.

Already the north has agreed to assist and light the games sacred flame from Mt. Paekdu which will be united with another flame from the South lit on Mt. Halla. North Korea has stated it will send a 665-member delegation, including 168 athletes, 44 coaching staff, 103 additional staff and 350 supporters.

Still on the discussion table, transportation and accommodations, the use of the North Korean flag within stadiums by North Korean supporters and in the athletes village, the playing the North's national anthem, and whether or not the two nations will march together or separately in the opening ceremony.

South Korea's National Security Law, bans producing and carrying the North Korean flag. The South Korean government issued a guideline Aug. 12, allowing the use of the North's flag "in limited areas in accordance with international regulations and practices."

"Hoisting the North's flag and playing its national anthem during official ceremonies will be unavoidable. But we will not allow use of the flag on a random basis" said a government source.

Almost 90 percent of South Koreans who responded to a telephone survey said they welcome North Korea's participation in Games. 88 percent welcomed it while 11.3 percent did not.

Six out of 10 said they would accept the use of North Korean national flags during the Asiad. 37.6 percent replied that hoisting the North Korean flag should be allowed unconditionally, 25.3 percent said it should be permitted on a limited basis, and 31.6 percent opposed it.

Prior to the games, the North and South will participate in a "2002 South-North Unification Football Match." The sides agreed not to use national flags or anthems for the event.

The championship series of the Korean Baseball Organization, will be postponed to November for the first time in the league's 20-year history. The league missed several games while playing a minimal schedule during the World Cup and play will be stopped during the period of the Asian Games.

Samsung is sponsoring a contest in Malaysia which will award 100 patriotic Malaysians the chance to go to the Asian Games in Busan.

Interest has been high with Samsung receiving thousands of applications for the contest which began July 23 and will run until September 13.

The 100 Malaysian superfans will be chosen on Sept. 18, fly to Busan on Oct 7 and watch athletics, badminton, bowling, boxing, karate, taekwondo, weightlifting and wushu at the Asian Games for five days.

The fans will also get to meet Malaysian athletes, shop in Pusan and visit Korea's national parks.

Last month, a Pakistani, five athletes from Bangladesh, several Nigerians and one Kenyan reportedly defected during the Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Three weeks later, reports are coming out that 19 of 21 athletes from Sierra Leone have not returned from England and their whereabouts are unknown.

The government of Sierra Leone is reportedly embarrassed and through Dennis Bright, the Sports Minister, said "we did everything we could to avoid this kind of thing, but it appears the athletes had other designs." "We will do what we can to catch them."

Bright said the athletes would be "shamed if they returned home, but they would not be harmed."

The authorities have left the athletes' airline tickets at the office of Sierra Leone Airlines at Gatwick Airport in London.

Great Britain was very strict with entry visa requirements for the games this year to try and head off possible defections.

After viewing the well-run Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Nigerian Sports Minister Stephen Akiga has expressed doubts on Nigeria's preparedness to host the next Africa Games in 2003.

Akiga expressed concerns regarding the state of facilities, which are still being constructed, and the lack of time to test those facilities and procedures. "All these facilities should have been ready by now. They should have been test run to confirm they are going to be okay for the games." Akiga told a BBC affiliate in Canada.

When the BBC questioned if the organization of the games was not his responsibility as minister, Akiga responded, "it is a responsibility I have been given. I'll see what we would do to see that it is right." The question was a but unfair as Akiga only recently assumed the duties of sports minister after the death of the previous minister, Ishaya Mark Aku was killed in a play crash in early May.

Akiga said that he is confident that Nigeria will rise to the occasion and that the country is actually looking to host the 2012 Olympic Games and probably the 2010 World Cup.

An article in the Vangaurd paper in Nigeria strongly criticized the materials that were handed out in Manchester to promote the 2003 African Games.

"The official brochure presented by COJA in a manner of speaking cannot be said to be of low quality because it has no quality at all. The print quality of the brochure is so poor any high school would not want its name associated with the work."

The paper said that the brochure succeeded in "what could be termed a display of the affluence and the who-is-who in Nigeria." The brochure features the President, vice-President, National Assembly and various high-level influential backers.

At one point the document mentions Sports Minister Steven Akiga, then later, Ishaya Mark Aku, Nigeria Minister of Sports "President in Office," the Minister who died in early May.

Finally the paper reported, the issue of sharia and how it will affect the games in northern Nigeria is ignored.

Wang Zhizhi, the NBA's first Chinese player, has stayed in the United States to train, and so far has not reported for duty with the Chinese national team for the upcoming World Championships and Asian Games.

The Chinese Basketball Association has asked Wang to join the team as soon as possible. An agreement between the Dallas Mavericks and the CBA allows Wang to participate on China's National team when needed.

A letter sent from the CBA to Wang in July published in the China Sports Daily read in part, "If only you return from abroad to train and play with the national team, the CBA and the Bayi Rockets will not make any punishment to you."

The CBA said, "In the last three months, we have been waiting anxiously for Wang Zhizhi to join the national team. We sent him messages time and again, informing his national duties and asking him to come back, but he kept staying in the United States and never gave direct responses."

The CBA was forced to list Wang as an alternate for the World Championships to be held in Indianapolis.

Travis Pastrana, now a wisened 18 year-old, learned a lesson it seems from his penalty at the 1999 X Games in San Francisco.

Competing at this years Gravity Games in Cleveland, Pastrana mentioned that he had wanted to take his motorcycle for a flying leap into Lake Erie as the final stunt of his Moto X performance. However, the harbor patrol and police heard about the plan and according to Pastrana, "They said they would fine me as much as $500,000 and take me straight to jail if I jumped into the ocean, I mean the lake."

Pastrana pulled the same stunt off the Pier in San Francisco in 1999. Pastrana crossed the environmental line, was scolded by event organizers, and was forced to give his $10,000 prize money to organizations that keep the waters San Francisco Bay clean.

Pastrana thought twice about jumping into Lake Erie, and kept his $23,000 from the Gravity Games.

Pastrana won another $8,000 for winning the Best Trick competition, a backflip off the step-up, but in a third event, the Step Up for height, Pastrana met with misfortune, severely dislocating his knee. He'll be out three months and has been seen handling a microphone on the sidelines for ESPN at the X Games.

Another contestant, BMX rider Allan Cooke, attempted to jump his bicycle into the lake. He made it, but his bicycle, did not, instead striking an NBC cameraman in the head.

Perhaps a knock in the head is what NBC needs. ESPN, and ABC are showing the X Games live and with same-day coverage this month.

NBC Sports on the other hand, will do what it has always done, delay the games by two months. NBC will air 11 hours of the Gravity Games on seven consecutive weekends: from Oct. 6 to November 16. When will NBC ever understand the words, "live-coverage."

Athens 2004 Olympic Games organizers are building an "Integration Laboratory" in Athens which will run a sort of "virtual Olympics" to test all of its essential computer systems.

The lab will run simulations of all 36 sports, and all other essential services such as accreditation and room reservations and the dissemination of information to the press.

The tests will also train personnel, and the capability to run the equipment under a variety of conditions and non-ideal situations.

The planned system is being built with two networks at all venues with one main and two auxiliary systems.

The smooth running of information systems, especially results systems has been a difficult task at most international games for the past two decades, on that the media has complained about loudly.

Sydney's Gay Games organizers are celebrating the fact that with 100 days to go until the games, " the event is already bigger than the Sydney Olympics!"

Sydney has announced about 11,500 registrations, above 10,651 competitors at Sydney's Olympic Games. 67 nations are currently represented, compared to the 199 of the Olympic Games.

This seems to be a real apples and oranges comparison doesn't it? Comparing a competition that has stringent qualifying requirements, to an event that takes all-comers? A weekend football tournament for kids might have 200 teams, does that make it a bigger event than the World Cup?

Let's wait and see if Sydney will accredit more than 195,000 athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers, media personnel and the like before comparing the two.

The games, as in past editions, are once again concerned over financing. The CEO of the games Geoffrey Williams resigned as of July 31, less than three months from the start of the event, without comment on his reason for resignation.

In another comparison with the Olympic Games, the magazine The Advocate writes, of the Gay Games "traditional Olympic events are included-swimming, diving, triathlon, wrestling, track and field, figure skating, and others-as well as events the Olympics overlook, such as bowling, badminton, dancing, martial arts, table tennis, and physique."

Badminton has been on the Olympic program since 1996, table tennis since 1988 and and judo, a martial art, since 1964. Overlooked?

In contrast, triathlon was first included on the Olympic program in 2000. Traditional?

Nigeria, India, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore have all mentioned bids for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Now Wales is looking even further ahead. Intrigued by the success of the Manchester Commonwealth Games, Wales is creating a taskforce to look at hosting the 2014 edition of the games. Cardiff's new Millennium stadium area would anchor the bid.

The Olympic Family has lost two key members this month, Canada's Jim Thompson, who was named as CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee just this past March, and John Argue of Los Angeles, who was a key figure in the organization of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Thompson, 60 years of age, died of a heart attack, while attending meeting for the 2010 Vancouver winter Olympic bid.

Thompson began his career in sports television, eventually working his way up to the position of Executive Producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and was one of the founders of The Sports Network.

Thompson worked in various capacities on the Television broadcasts for the 1967 Pan-American Games, the Commonwealth Games of 1974, 1978 and 1982, the 1983 World University Games and Olympic Games, both Summer and Winter between 1968 and 1988.

John Argue was a worker, many times behind the scenes, in the Los Angeles business and philanthropic communities and was one of the key figures who helped Los Angeles get the 1984 Olympic Games. He was also Chairman of the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles, which was established after the games to manage the proceeds that resulted from those games. He was awarded an Olympic Order by the IOC in 1994 for his Olympic work.

Organizers have announced two new events for 2005. Summer and Winter version of the Millennium Senior Games.

The winter version is preliminarily scheduled for February 2005 in Canmore, Alberta, Canada, the inaugural summer games in August in Calgary.

August 15, 2002

Several new loans have been announced so that Pan-American Games construction projects can continue in Santo Domingo.

A US $15.8 million loan from Venezuelan Banco de Desarrollo Economico y Social has been signed for renovation of the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center.

Another US $54.1 million loan from a US government Eximbank lending program has also been signed.

RD$400 million (US 25 million) more would be borrowed to complete the athletic village, and RD$600 million (US 37 million) for the games 2003 budget.

Early in 2001 the Dominican Republic's El Caribe newspaper expressed concern over the amount of money the government would need to put on the games.

The Pan American Games village is to be constructed so that the apartments can be sold after the games. The RD $400 million loan is to bail out the private company that was not able to secure its own financing. There is concern that the government may be stuck with the apartments after the games if there are no buyers. The apartments will sell for about twice the price as other housing in the area.

The Japanese Taekwondo Federation could not resolve its internal differences, and the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) decided that because of this it will not send any athletes in taekwondo to the Asian Games.

The Olympic Committee had given the federation two extra months to resolve issues and choose a team which the federation failed to do. Now it is the athletes who have to suffer because of political infighting at the administrative level.

If the disputes are not resolved, the JTF could be removed as the national federation for the sport. This is the first time in Japan that athletes have not been able to participate due to a dispute within the federation.

Afghanistan will send 25 athletes to the Asian Games, the first time that Afghanistan will participate in an international games since the Taliban came to power. Afghanistan last participated in an international games at the 1994 Asian Games in Japan.

Afghan's male athletes will participate in taekwondo, wrestling, boxing, cycling, shooting and wushu.

Japan and South Korea have sent coaching assistance for boxing, wrestling and taekwondo.

Afghanistan is not expecting to win any medals at the games, but participating again will be enough. Afghanistan has little funding for any sport and no sports facilities to speak of in the country.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) or North Korea reportedly will send about 600 athletes and officials to the upcoming Asian Games. North Korea participated in the recently concluded Asian Championships in Athletics.

Drug suspensions seem not to raise as much surprise as they did ten years ago, but a very big fish was caught this month. 2000 and 2001 World Cross Country champion Mohammed Mourhit, a Belgian born in Morocco, tested positive for EPO in an out of season test May. Mourhit denied that he had used any illegal substance or supplement, but after an appeal was given a three-year suspension.

Brazil pulled off a well run South American Games, having had just four months to prepare. Medellin, Colombia had cancelled the games earlier this spring.

There was one positive drug test, Brazilian 1500 meter runner Eliane Pereira tested positive for stanazolol at the South American Games, and had her gold medal taken away.

Eliana Vasquez of Chile was given the gold medal, Susana Aburto the silver Silvia Yucallia of Ecuador the bronze.

It was the only reported positive test of the games.

With twelve new venues completed, 31 venues renovated, 17,000 volunteers and 7,500 employees trained, the Busan Asian Games are nearly ready to open. The organizing committee will use the next seven weeks to make final equipment installations and tests, and install security personnel in time for the athletes to arrive.

Special arrangements are being made to provide adequate security for the North Korean delegation while they are in South Korea. If North Korea does follow through and compete in the games, it will be the first time the North has participated in an international sporting event held in the South.

At one point, it was rumored that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il might attend the Opening Ceremony of the Games. This now looks unlikely, but it would be the first time a leader from the North had visited the South.

Some South Korean groups are taking the opportunity of North Korean participation to push for reunion visits from family members from the north in conjunction with the Games.

The South Korean athletes have admitted that catching China in the medals table might be too challenging a task, but have set their sights on finishing second overall on the medals table, hoping for strong performances in archery, shooting, fencing, taekwondo and wrestling, with additional medals in swimming, baseball, bowling, tennis, and possibly bodybuilding and modern pentathlon.

Meanwhile a group of some 350 Korean national wrestling team athletes and coaches threatened to strike from their Asian Games training if they did not get more pay and better treatment. The Korean sports Council said they would look at it and the team continued training.

The wrestlers pointed out that the S. Korean football team was being paid 150,000 ($125 US) won per day and a 300 million won bonus ($249,274 US) at the end of the World Cup. Other sports have been getting 5,000 ($4.15c US) per day during training.

Weightlifter Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim, was Malaysia's big winner at the Commonwealth Games, sweeping three gold medals, and setting three records,
in his weight category. The Malaysian National Sports Council's (NSC) will pay RM80,000 ($21,053 US) for each gold medal and RM10,000 ($2,632 US) for each record.

In addition, the government in Amirul's home state, Pahang, will also provide a financial reward. From the State, Amirul will pick up an extra RM50,000 ($13,158).

Amirul's total would reach some $84,213 US, with the possibility of more in the upcoming Asian Games.

Amirul said that he will use the money to improve the standard of living for his family. He would also like to pay for his parents pilgrimage to Mecca and help his mother upgrade her small restaurant.

The Pahang State will also reward two bronze medalists with RM 15,000 ($US 3,957) and, three players on the women's field hockey team with RM4,000 ($US 1,053). The field hockey players were on a team that did not win a game, losing four, including one to Australia 18-0. The State representative said that winning or losing wasn't the issue, but " representing the country in an international event was commendable enough."

The Indian state of Punjab has also decided to reward its Commonwealth medallists.

Nine medals; 5 gold medals, 2 silver and 5 bronze were won by athletes from Punjab.

The gold medallists received 700,000 rupees ($US 14,467), silver medallists 500,000 rupees ($US 10,333) and bronze medallists 300,000 rupees ($US 6,200).

Reports from the Jang group of Pakistani newspapers are claiming that Pakistan possibly lost a Commonwealth boxing medal because the Ugandan judge was bribed with 5000 British pounds.

The paper quoted the President of the International Amateur Boxing Anwar Chowdhry, also from Pakistan, who said that David Agon, the referee from Uganda, took the money.

Some sources have said that Agon has been suspended, other sources, that he was suspended then reinstated. The AIBA website carries no news.

Abid Hussain, the Pakistani swimmer who left the Commonwealth Games could be both fined and court martialed in the unlikely event that he returns to Pakistan. Hussain, it turns out, was also a soldier in the Pakistan army.

Pakistani sports authorities took the passports and plane tickets of all Pakistani athletes when they arrived in England.

Abid, 24 years old, stayed at the village July 22, rather than participate in a training session at the pool. When Pakistani officials returned, they discovered him missing.

The parents of each Pakistani athlete signed a bond before the games, that they would pay one million Pakistani rupees, about $16,500 dollars US, to guarantee that the athletes would not defect. The same system will be in place for the Asian Games later this year.

Pakistan Sports Board Director, Brig Saulat Abbas said,
"Abid's parents are old and poor but they signed the bond on his behalf and we are bound to take legal action against him.".

"There is no way this matter can be brushed aside, Abid belongs to the Pakistan army and they can court martial him if he returns."

Five athletes from Bangladesh, several Nigerians and one Kenyan reportedly defected during the Manchester Games.

Commonwealth Games wrap up

In somewhat typical fashion for large multisport gatherings, the Commonwealth Games have had their triumphant highs and embarrassing lows.

Among the highs; Kim Collins stunned the two British favorites to win the first ever Commonwealth Gold Medal for St. Kitts and Nevis.

India surprised everyone by finishing (so far) in the third spot on the medals table. A few drug tests need to be verified, and if one turns up positive, India could lose three medals and fall back to fourth behind Canada. But otherwise, a stunning performance for India. India's best overall medal performance was 5th in 1990 and 6th on five other occasions. The team is very hopeful going into the Asian Games.

Ian Thorpe winning six gold and one silver medals in swimming to become the winningest athlete in Commonwealth Games history.

Mike East of England, redeeming the men's distance runner from Britain with a win in the 1500 meters.

England's women 800 meter runners, not medalling, but it was the first time in history that three British women had broken 2:00 minutes in the same race.

The Australian women winning the 4x400 meter relay with Cathy Freeman contributing. One wonders if Freeman, who first competed on the 4x400 team for Australia in 1990 will continue on for another four years an compete in Melbourne at the Commonwealth Games in 2006.

Manchester was praised for its organization and for raising British stock in chances for bids on future games, with a possible 2012 Olympics for London.

As in any large international games there were lows however. There were questions of drug use in rugby, shooting and track and field, and squabbles over officiating in boxing, field hockey, swimming and table-tennis.

In boxing, David Agong, a judge from Uganda was first suspended and then reinstated for making "political decisions" during a first-round bout.

Anwar Chowdhry, president of the Amateur International Boxing Association, met officials personally to tell them that he was unhappy with the level of judging in the games.

Agong was banned indefinitely by the Pakistani Chowdhry for his scoring in a light-middleweight between boxers from Scotland and Pakistan.

Agong was suspended even though his decision matched three of the other four judges.

Agong had threatened to pursue legal action, claiming his reputation had been soiled, if Chowdhry did not apologize. "I do not know what he means by political decisions. Uganda has no problems with Pakistan and I've never been to Scotland. Dr Chowdhry owes me an apology."

A day later Agong said he had spoken to Dr. Chowdhry who told him he could judge again. Agong said " my reputation is intact again."

Chowdry also suspended another boxing judge, Stephen Antwi, for two days. Later, Ghanians were upset after judges decided against their boxer in a match against a Scottish boxer.

In the table tennis arena, during the men's doubles quarterfinal between Ryan Jenkins and Adam Robertson of Wales and Johnny Huang and Pradeebani Peter-Paul of Canada, Huang stormed off the floor after disputing a wide serve. The umpire disagreed and the match was forfeited to the Welsh team.

"There was a lot of name-calling and swearing, which was totally unnecessary," said Roberton's father and coach, Barry. "There are a lot of points which go against you in table tennis, you just have to get on with it. But he (Huang) is renowned as a bit of a hothead anyway."

Several participants were told to stay home after failing pre-games drug tests, but the most high-profile case was that of Kim Collins, gold-medallist in the 100 meter dash on the track.

Collin's sample contained amounts of Salbutamol, and asthma medication, that was deemed to be therapeutic. Collins was allowed to keep the medal, though his delegation had technically broken the rules by not filing the required paperwork for substances for medical purposes.

One Australian swimmer. Jenny Reilly was at first disqualified, then re-instated, for an illegal turn. Another Aussie swimmer, Matt Welsh, was disqualified for a false start, but intimated that he home-country officials may have been unfairly biased against him. Welsh argued that he was certain that he had not false started in the race.

In the Women's field hockey final between India and England more protests were lodged over a dispute whether India's final goal, in overtime, had crossed the line before time had run out.

The goal was not allowed at first, then India protested, and the technical official for the game ruled that the goal would be allowed.

England then filed a protest, but after reviewing the rules and videotape officials let the goal stand.

The Indian team took a victory lap around the field, with the home fans jeering disapprovingly.

The English team then issued a statement through their chief media officer, "In the spirit of the 'Friendly Games' we have decided to accept the situation."

Manchester played host to a wonderful games. The next games are less than four years away, currently scheduled for March 15-26, 2006 in Melbourne, Australia.

After months of talks, North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, has decided to accept the invitation of South Korea and the City of Busan and take part in the 2002 Asian Games. This will be the first time in the history of the games, which began in 1951, that all member nations will be present at the games.

North Korea may send as many as 300 people to Busan. South Korea and the Olympic Council of Asia will provide transportation and full support for the entire North Korean delegation.

Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, expressing his satisfaction with a well-run Commonwealth Games also said that it is essential for all Olympic venues to be near one another for the benefit of spectators, ruling out a possible two-city London-Manchester bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Officials in Manchester still think the city could host Olympic football (soccer) matches if London hosted the games.

One British Olympic Association spokesperson mentioned "Sydney and Barcelona set the precedent that the Olympic football tournament is played in four cities around the country."

The idea pre-dates Barcelona by at least eight years. The Los Angeles Olympic Games soccer tournament was held in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, just outside Los Angeles, in Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, near San Francisco, at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland and Harvard Stadium in Boston.

Fans of Commonwealth field hockey have demanded refunds in protest of India being left out of the tournament.

Only one team from each region, and the hosts, England, and the defending champions, Australia, were allowed to qualify.

Pakistan won the berth from Asia, leaving India at home, though both teams are generally at the very top of the world rankings each year. Both Canada's men and women's teams qualified - Canada is the only Commonwealth country from the region of the Americas.

One Manchester fan of the Indian side said "whoever made these rules is an idiot," Fans felt deprived of not being able to see in person a possible match between India and Pakistan.

Games organizers defended the move. "Where else will Wales or Barbados get a chance to play against Pakistan or Australia. "These are, after all, the friendship Games."

On the women's side pre-games reports picked Australia the reigning Olympic, World and Commonwealth champions as the overwhelming favorite.

Australia however lost their semifinal match to England, and ended up beating New Zealand for the bronze medal match.

India met England in the final and won 3-2 on a controversial goal that went into the net just as time was expiring in the first overtime period.

Reporting last month on the unforeseen win of Kim Collins of St, Kitts and Nevis, praising the athlete for his persistence and performance, we jokingly ended with "Oh man, I sure hope he passes his drug test."

It turns out there was a problem with Kim Collin's drug test. Collin's tested positive for salbutamol, a type of steroid in asthma medication. The use was deemed consistent with therapeutic use, not performance enhancing use, but the team managers from St. Kitts and Nevis had forgotten to turn in the required paperwork for athletes on legal medications.

The World Anti-Doping Agency said that they intend to investigate the matter further.

The incidence of athletes being diagnosed with asthma has tripled since 1984. At the Los Angeles Olympic Games, 1.7% of the athletes filed paperwork allowing them to use asthma medication. In 2002 in Salt Lake, the figure had risen to 6.1%.

Drugs news constantly puts a damper on international sports competition, but also provides for an occasional chuckle.

The wife of top Tour de France finisher Raimondas Rumsas was returning home when officials inspected her bag and found performance-enhancing drugs.

French newspaper France-Soir reported one prosecutor commenting on the case, "This is clearly not for individual use but intended for a group of cyclists. If my mother-in-law had taken all this stuff, she might have had a chance to make it to the winners' podium on the Tour de France as well."

Adesoji Adekunle, who blazed to a gold medal in 100 meter dash for blind athletes at the Commonwealth Games, setting of celebration in Nigeria, was questioned by officials about his status as a blind athlete.

Adekunle broke the world record in both the heats and finals, eventually running 10.76 seconds.

The time raised many eyebrows, leading officials to inquire about Adekunle's blindness. Dr. Frank Oye of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) medical commission, explained, somewhat mysteriously, "the athlete hailed from the part of Nigeria where almost all the inhabitants are blind." "They actually beg for money to eke out a living for themselves."

The explanation, it seems, avoids answering the question. Do the eligibility rules state that blind athletes must come from "a part of their country where almost everyone is blind", or that the athletes sight must be limited?

Mr. John Scott, Director of International Relations and Major Events at UK sport has sent an update on the fate of the Manchester Commonwealth Games track.

Earlier this month, referring to the lack of specificity in a Manchester Guardian article regarding the track, I wrote on this page that the track would probably be chopped up and used for floor mats or to cover mud puddles.

It turns out that there are more concrete plans for the track. Mr. Scott writes in reply to the mud puddle suggestion, "nothing could be further from the truth."

According to Mr. Scott, the track "will be removed and used to replace the indoor track and infield at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham." Birmingham will host the 2003 World Indoor Championships in Athletics. The rest of the track will be used to replace worn sections of the track at Crystal Palace in London . The type of track, Mondo, can be laid much like a thick carpet, as opposed to the type of all-weather track that is laid with different layers of molten rubber with granules on top. This allows it to be cut into pieces and used in other places.

Mr. Scott continued, "The use of the Manchester Stadium for football post Games was always the plan and is the ideal solution to a potential white elephant. In the UK , athletics crowds rarely exceed 20,000 except for the mega events like the Commonwealth Games which only come to a nation once in a generation (or more as is the case of England ). Maintaining a 38,000 seat stadium for such a use was economic suicide and the use of the stadium by a premiership football club at least ensures proper use of this magnificent stadium."

It's great news that the track surface will be used in some fashion Especially for the National Indoor Arena and 2003 World Championships.

It seems, however, that athletics have been given short shrift over the past several years in regards to facilities. The track was torn out of the past two Olympic Stadiums, in Sydney and Atlanta. Four of the last seven Olympic Games stadiums do not have a track and currently can not be used for track and field events.

It would be nice to see more often the approach taken with the 1994
Commonwealth Games athletics stadium or the Sydney Olympic swimming venue, both medium-sized permanent facilities, with temporary seating arrangements for large events. Both of these facilities are still used for world-class events and the historical legacy remains.

This would solve both the issues of legacy for athletics and the economic issues involved with maintaining these facilities. The money spent to build a stadium, then reconfigure that same facility after a major games, could be spent on creating both a large permanent football stadium that would not need to be modified after a games and a permanent 10,000 to 20,000 seat athletics venue, that could be expanded as necessary for future larger events.

In what is becoming a games tradition, the track for the Commonwealth Games will be ripped out immediately after the games, and the stadium converted for football (soccer) use.

The same fate met the tracks for the Olympic Games of 2000, 1996 and 1984, when all three stadiums were converted for the exclusive use of other sports..

The Manchester track will be "rolled up and used in arenas around the country" according to the Manchester Guardian. This is a smokescreen, as the track will not be used as a track in any one spot, but will be parceled out perhaps pieces used as field event runways in various stadia, or simply to cover up mud puddles or to be used as floor mat.

England's 5000 meter runner Paula Radcliffe, and triple jumper Jonathan Edwards, both of whom have won gold medals at this years games have voiced their frustration at the destruction of the track facility.

"The atmosphere in the stadium was so special and it's got a lot of great memories for me and for other British athletes," said Radcliffe. "You get a great atmosphere like that and it's a fast track as well where we've produced some great performances. So to rip that up is a big shame."

"It's a disgrace they're making it into a football stadium and basically, it seems, handing it to Manchester City on a silver platter for nothing," "It's shocking. It's public money we're talking about, yet it's just going to go to a few people who support Man City," said Edwards,

The City of Manchester and the Manchester City football team reached an agreement before the games to create the football only venue and essentially split the profits.

Kiran Khan and Sana Abdul Wahid will become the first two Pakistani Muslim females to compete outside a Muslim country when they compete in the Commonwealth Games in swimming.

Bodysuits for swimming, which cover more than a conventional swimsuit, now allows women to participate within the Islamic culture," said team manager Veena Masud.

The first women's swimming competitions in Pakistan were held under strict Islamic codes. The first national championships six years ago had women-only technical officials and no men allowed as spectators."

Pakistan sent swimmers to the second and third Islamic Women's Games in Iran - "the only place where the rules are observed strictly enough to permit it" - and Masud said they performed well. "And then bodysuits became the vogue in swimming and it meant it was possible to consider bringing our swimmers to competitions like the Commonwealth Games," she said.

Kahn is twelve years old, Wahid eighteen. Wahid has said that one goal for her in the games is to "meet Ian Thorpe."

Canadian triathlete's coach spouts more lame drug excuses

A Canadian triathlete, Kelly Guest, was sent home from the Commonwealth Games before the games began. Metabolites of nandrolone an anabolic steroid were found in his sample taken at a race July 14.

Immediately, as is the standard procedure these days, a spokesperson, this time a coach, went on the defensive. The excuse however, by Guest's coach, Luke Watson, contained some critical logical errors.

Watson called the test baffling and said "It's a trace amount (of nandrolone) in his system rather than a gross performance-enhancing amount that some athletes have had in the past." Watson continued "It seems like it's the little guys who get caught using a cough syrup, while the professionals (drug cheats) get away with it.

Watson makes two fatal flaws.

One) The standards applied to drug testing are such that a certain level of a given substance must be reached for a sample to be reported a positive. If the sample was reported positive, then that level was reached. It could not have been a trace amount.

Two) Cough Syrup? Come on. We're talking a steroid metabolite here! The drugs in cough syrups would generally be some kind of stimulant, depending on the product, but absolutely not a steroid metabolite.

Guest claims that perhaps some of his supplements could be to blame. This could very well be the case. There have been a rash of athletes who have run afoul of drug testing because of muscle- building and energy products that have been falsely advertised or contaminated.

This is still not an excuse, as athletes are responsible for what substances go into their systems.

Coaches know this, and Watson is either stupid or dishonest, figuring that the rest of us don't quite know how this drug test thing works.

Nigeria may throw their hat into the 2010 Commonwealth bid ring. Sports Minister Steven Akiga has said: "Our intention is to file a bid for the games in 2010. "

Nigeria is hoping that hosting of the eighth All-African Games next year will convince selectors that Nigeria can also host the Commonwealth Games.

With the ebb and flow of national fortunes in track and field, the British women's 800 meter stock rose just a bit at the Commonwealth Game, while the men continued to stagger.

Three British women ran under two minutes for the 800 meters, in the Commonwealth Games final, the first time ever that three British women had accomplished the feat in the same race.

The trio finished just out of the medals: fourth place went to Scotland's Susan Scott in 1:59.30, Charlotte Moore, a 17-year-old was sixth in 1:59.75 and Jo Fenn seventh in 1:59.86. The times would rank the three around 6th, 8th and 11th on the all-time British 800 meter list for women.

And the British men? This time, not a single Brit made the final, an event in which Steve Cram still holds the games record in 1:43.22 from 1986.

England's two runners, Neil Speaight and Joel Kidger ran 1:47.22 and 1:48.12 respectively in their semifinal races. Kidger's time was his all-time best.

On the all-time world list, Sebastian Coe still ranks #2 in the with his 1:41.73 from 1981, Steve Cram ranks #12, Peter Elliot # 14 and even Steve Ovett's 1:44.09 from 1978, which at the time was the 8th fastest time ever run in the world, still ranks 80th on the all time world list.

For today's British men to roughly equal, based on national all-time rankings, the British women, they would need to have three men run 1:43.98, 1:44.55 and 1:44.65 all in one race.

That would have swept the medals at this years Commonwealth Games. South Africa's Mbulaeni Mulaudzi won the event in 1:46.32. Six of the eight finalists were from Africa.

Britain's Paula Radcliffe, a long-time campaigner against drug-use in sport, who runs every race with a red ribbon pinned to her racing vest, took control early in the 5,000 meters at the Commonwealth Games and never looked back, winning the gold and finishing three seconds outside the world record. The World Record, that is, if one accepts the times run at the 1997 Chinese National Games. Without the times from Shanghai, Radcliffe's time would be the second fastest time ever run behind Gabriela Szabo's 14:30.88 in 2000.

Chinese sports officials are attempting to lower expectations for the upcoming Asian Games, saying it will be difficult to compete in Korea, where Chinese teams have had difficulty in the past.

At the 1998 Olympic Games China won just five gold medals, its lowest output of any Olympic Games it has participated in. At the 1986 Asian Games, China was disappointed when it finished just one gold medal ahead of South Korea.

In some of China's stronger sports such as badminton, judo and table tennis, the top rivals in the world are from Asia.

China competed in the 1954 Asian Games finishing seventh on the medals table and did not participate in the games until 1974. After finishing second in 1974 and 1978 to Japan, China has topped the medals table at the last five games, usually by large margins.

Houston, Texas is counting on a high tech, climate controlled bid to convince the USOC, and eventually IOC members, to award the city the Olympic Games.

The Houston bid includes an idea to convert Houston's indoor stadium, The Astrodome, into a "world-class" track and field facility, indoors and air-conditioned.

Bottom line, sports are meant to be played outside, in the elements, and athletes need to learn to respond to the heat, cold, sun, wind, whatever the conditions might be.

Houston is selling the bid as a high-tech climate controlled Olympics, with all venues fully air conditioned.

If its that hot and uncomfortable, then there are other options. Move the dates, or don't hold the games there at all.

For athletes, moving in and out of various "climate-controlled" environments, invariably set at different temperatures, risking catching colds or worse. It just doesn't work. Proposing to hold the Olympic track and field events indoors is not a good idea.

Four cities are left in the running to be the US candidate for the 2012 games. The USOC will trim the list to two cities in September, then choose their candidate in November.

Kenyan cyclists wreaking havoc in Manchester

Two Kenyan cyclists who arrived in Manchester without bicycles, have had a memorable week, without the competition having begun.

The two riders had to leave their bicycles home for lack of funds, hoping to remedy the situation on arrival in Manchester.

A local bike shop was sympathetic to their plight and donated them equipment and riding gear.

The two cyclists quickly headed for the biggest road in town, the M61 motorway, and were clocked moving along at over 40 miles per hour in one stretch!

After they were stopped by police, the two Kenyans mentioned that it was not against the law to ride on the highway in Kenya. Police assured them that it was against the law to ride on the highway in England.

The two promised to find another safer place to train!

New Zealand Lawn Bowler sent home for Sexual Harassment

New Zealand sent home a disabled lawn bowler from the Commonwealth Games after an investigation over allegations of sexual harassment.

The bowler, an amputee, was competing in the physically disabled triples event at the Games.

"We had a complaint about inappropriate behavior by one of our team members from a female volunteer," said a New Zealand team spokesman.

"We spoke to the organizers, we spoke to the volunteer, we investigated it with the other members of the team and, as a result of that, we have removed that athlete from the team."

The incident is reminiscent of the 2001 Francophone games when two athletes were spoken to by police after two female volunteers that they received hugs from the athletes that made them feel uncomfortable.

Alphabetical List of Games	Games in August

	Commonwealth Games, Manchester, England, July 25 - Aug. 4
Are all Paralympians Elite athletes?	North American Indigenous Games, Winnipeg, Canada, July 25 - Aug. 4
Gay Games or Gay Olympics?	Gravity Games, Cleveland, USA July 27 - Aug. 4
Gay Games or Gay Olympics?	South American Games, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil August 1-10
Ron Clarke on Drugs?	International Law Enforcement Games, Ottawa, Canada August 1-10
Nationalism or Factionalism?	European Union Scholar Athlete Games, Limerick, Ireland, August 11-16
Is Yao Ming the next big thing?	Central American and Caribbean University Games, Medellin, Colombia August 2-11 Canceled
Quotes	JCC Maccabi Games, Omaha, USA Aug. 4-9
Off the Topic	JCC Maccabi Games, Memphis, USA Aug. 4-9
Games in Africa	CANUSA Games, Flint, USA Aug. 9-11
Games in Asia	Burlington International Games, Burlington , Canada Aug. 9-11
Games in Europe	Can-Amera International Games, Saginaw, USA Aug. 9-11
Games in Europe	JCC Maccabi Games, Baltimore, USA Aug. 11-16
Games in North America	X Games, Philadelphia, USA Aug. 15-19
Games in North America	JCC Maccabi Games, Montreal, Canada Aug. 18-23
Games in South America	JCC Maccabi Games, Springfield, MA, USA Aug. 18-23
Games in Oceania
Games for Disabled Athletes..	Games in September
Games for Disabled Athletes..
Masters/Seniors Games	World Equestrian Games, Jerez, Spain Sept. 10-22
Masters/Seniors Games	Ataturk Dam International Sports Festival, Turkey, Sept. 21-22
Games for Youth	Asian Games, Busan, South Korea, Sept. 28 - Oct. 14
Winter Games