Paralympics Scandal Continues

Spain's Paralympic basketball team is returning gold medals from the Sydney Games because 10 of  its 12 players were not handicapped.  The fraud has led to the resignation of the vice president of the Spain's Paralympic Committee and president of the Sports Federation for the Intellectually Handicapped Fernando Martin Vicente

Just after the Paralympics in an article in Spain's Capital magazine basketball player Carlos Ribagorda who writes for the magazine said he and other medal winners were not mentally deficient.  Ribagorda claimed that up to15 members of Spain's Paralympic team, in categories such as track and field, table tennis and swimming, were not handicapped.  Rafael de Lorenzo, vice
president of the committee, said the investigation will continue to
determine the eligibility of four other athletes who participated in the games in October.  "Of the 200 Spanish athletes at Sydney, 186 are handicapped. All the sham was in the mentally handicapped," de Lorenzo said, adding that in the future they will ask the sportsmen to pass medical and psychological tests when entering international competitions.  

2003 Pan-Ams still under discussion.

The fortunes of Santo Domingo's Pan-American games are evidently still on shaky ground, despite claims in October to the contrary.

PASO the Pan-American Sports Organization will vote Jan. 19 on whether the games should be moved, said Mario Vazquez Rana, PASO president. "One day there's one plan, the next there's another," Vazquez Rana said of the Dominican preparations. 

Santo Domingo was chosen over Guadalajara, Mexico, as host, but there has been internal disagreement ever since whether or not the Dominican Republic should and is able to spend money on the games when there are other pressing needs in the nation.

Doha Qatar to host 2006 Asian Games.

The Olympic Council of Asia selected Doha Qatar as host for the 2006 Asian Games over bids from Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and New Delhi. The OCA met in Pusan, Korea to review plans for the 2002 Asian Games to be held there It is the first major international games for Qatar. Qatar hosted small delegations from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates at the Special Olympics Gulf Games in 1998

2004 Arctic Winter Games

Wood Buffalo in Northern Alberta was selected in December as the host for the 2004 Arctic Winter Games.

Preparations are in full swing for the 2002 AWG which will be jointly hosted by Iqaluit, Nunavut and Nuuk, Greenland.

2001 Baltic Sea Games 

The 2001 Baltic Sea Games have suffered from lack of organizational interest with no Baltic Sea countries stepping forward to host the games. Bids from Sweden and Latvia failed for lack of  resources. The Baltic Sea Games Committee is meeting in mid January to decide the future of the games.

Women's swimming at 2001 South Asian Federation Games

Women will swim at the 9th SAF Games scheduled for Islamabad in Pakistan this year. but under the strict Islamic laws of the host nation

"Women will take part in the competitions with full track suit wearing. No male will be allowed and competition will not be covered by television or the press. Women judges will conduct the contests. However after the competition will be over, winner will be snapped at the victory stand." said Latif Butt, the secretary of Pakistan's Olympic Committee.

More Criticism of Beijing's Olympic Bid

In September, U.S. politicians argued once again that the Olympic Games should not go to Beijing without improvements in civil liberties.

In November the foreign affairs select committee of the British House of Commons criticized China's failure to ratify international human rights accords and harsh treatment of Tibetan political prisoners.

Now Roland Baar, an IOC athlete representative from Germany has criticized the plan to hold portions of the triathlon and beach volleyball in Tiananmen Square if Beijing should win the 2008 bid.

"There are a couple of fundamental conditions for me for staging the Olympic Games,'' Baar said. "The political position of a country belongs to them.''

IOC puts Drug Testing Labs on Notice

Last month the International Olympic Committee threatened to downgrade 11 accredited drug labs around the world if they fail to comply with regulations by May 1. 

The labs would not be certified for testing samples collected out-of-country but could still screen samples collected within the country, as long as any positive A-samples were confirmed by another IOC accredited laboratory.  

Labs in Bangkok, Ghent, Lausanne, Lisbon, Madrid, Montreal, Moscow; Paris; Penang, Prague, and Rome were warned. 14 other labs passed accreditation without warnings.

25 labs were accredited for 2000. The labs in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Indianapolis did not reapply for 2001.

Admehar Da Silva Brazilian Champion dies at 72

Adhemar Ferreira da Silva, the only Brazilian ever to win two Olympic Gold medals has died this month (Jan. 12) of a heart attack during a bout with pneumonia at the age of 72.

In addition to his Olympic Championships, da Silva won three consecutive Pan-Am Games titles in the triple jump (1951, 1955, 1959) and set seven world records in the event during his career.

Da Silva spoke six languages, earned degrees in fine arts, physical education and law, and was cultural attaché to Nigeria from 1964-1966.

Marty Glickman 

Marty Glickman, a track star who was pulled from the 1936 Berlin Olympics because he was Jewish died Wednesday January 3, at the age of 83 after complications from heart bypass surgery.

Glickman and teammate Sam Stoller were told by American team officials that the Germans were hiding their best sprinters and put Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe back on the team.  Glickman new otherwise.  "It was blatant anti-Semitism," Glickman said.  Two years ago, Glickman was honored by the U.S. Olympic Committee with the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Award for service to the Olympic community.  "His life should serve as a blueprint for any American Olympian who seeks success beyond the rewards of the playing field alone,"

After the Olympics, he returned to Syracuse University where he began a broadcast career that spanned 55 years broadcasting college basketball, the New York Knicks, Giants and Jets. He is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Sportscasters Hall of Fame and the New York Sports Hall of Fame.

Anniversaries

50 Years

University Sports Week Winter (FISU) Bad Gastein, Austria, Jan. 22- 28, 1951

World Student Championships Winter (UIE)(IUS)  Poiana, Romania, Jan 28 - Feb 7, 1951

30 Years

Winter Deaf Games Adelboden, Switzerland, Jan. 25-29, 1971