International Olympic Committee : News

Racing: Grand National result

4/6/2013 3:48:17 PM

Result of the Grand National staged at Aintree racecourse here on Saturday (jockey, trainer, odds):

1. Auroras Encore (Ryan Mania, Sue Smith, 66-1)

2. Cappa Bleu (Paul Maloney, Evan Williams, 12-1)

3. Teaforthree (Nick Scholfield, Rebecca Curtis, 10-1)

4. Oscar Time (Sam Waley-Cohen, Martin Lynch, 66-1)

Distances: (9 lengths, neck, 11 lengths

Favourite - Seabass (11-2) unplaced

afp13

Racing: Jockey stable following neck surgery

3/16/2013 9:44:38 AM

Irish jockey JT McNamara is said to be in a stable condition following surgery on a serious neck injury suffered in a fall at Cheltenham on Thursday.

The 37-year-old remains in an induced coma, though, having been airlifted to hospital following his fall from Galaxy Rock in the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup.

He underwent surgery Friday at the Frenchay Hospital in Bristol on fractured C3 and C4 vertebrae.

Dr Adrian McGoldrick, Irish Turf Club senior medical officer and Lisa Hancock, CEO of the Injured Jockeys Fund, have jointly issued a statement on behalf of the McNamara family.

It read: "We can report that following lengthy surgery yesterday (Friday) JT McNamara is in a stable condition. He remains in an induced coma."

GB stars of Equestrian competition - London 2012 - Equestrian

8/10/2012 12:00:00 AM

The traditional Olympic forces such as Germany and the Netherlands still excelled, with Germany taking home only one gold medal fewer than Great Britain.

But it was the Host Nation that left a lasting impression at Greenwich Park. Five Equestrian medals - two above target - was the team's best performance in Olympic history.

Before London 2012, Great Britain had never won an Olympic Dressage medal, but they are now double gold medallists through their team of Charlotte Dujardin, Carl Hester and Laura Bechtolsheimer.

The 27-year-old Dujardin also won the Individual title and set three Olympic records for good measure.

Germany had won seven Dressage Team titles in succession, yet despite strong performances by Helen Langehanenberg, Kristina Sprehe and Dorothee Schneider, they had to settle for silver.

The Netherlands took Individual Dressage silver thanks to Adelinde Cornelissen, who was beaten only by Dujardin's brilliance in a competition when Anky van Grunsven's double Olympic champion Salinero made his farewell appearance before retirement. Bechtolsheimer took the bronze for Britain.

When it came to Eventing, there was no doubting Germany's dominance.

They arrived as European champions and duly swept to Team and Individual gold, spearheaded by Michael Jung.

Jung is now the only eventer in history to hold Olympic, world and European titles simultaneously, although his Individual mission would have ended in silver had Swede Sara Algotsson Ostholt not knocked down the final jumping fence.

Jung's German colleague Sandra Auffarth won Individual bronze, and they were joined by Peter Thomsen, Ingrid Klimke and Dirk Schrade to deny Great Britain the Team gold, with New Zealand and 56-year-old double Olympic champion Mark Toddthird.

Perhaps the Equestrian schedule's most exhilarating showcase came in the Team Jumping.

It all boiled down to an 'extra time' jump-off between Great Britain and the Netherlands, and it was the British quartet of Nick Skelton, Ben Maher, Scott Brashand Peter Charles that prevailed, landing the country's first Jumping gold for 60 years.

The event was equally as notable for heavyweights Germany, France and Belgium being eliminated in round one, and also the continued emergence of Saudi Arabia as a world force being underlined by a team bronze.

Dujardin celebrates second gold - London 2012 - Equestrian

8/9/2012 12:00:00 AM

The 27-year-old was the last rider to go, and she broke her third Olympic record of London 2012 by scoring 90.089 per cent.

She eclipsed Dutch rider Adelinde Cornelissen and Parzival's score of 88.196, while Britain's Laura Bechtolsheimer and Mistral Hojris won bronze.

Dujardin, who had not even ridden a competitive grand prix test 20 months ago, added Individual gold to the Team gold she won earlier this week with Bechtolsheimer and Carl Hester.

Dujardin's routine to music was crammed with patriotic British tunes, such as Land of Hope and Glory and I Vow to Thee, My Country, and also included the chimes of Big Ben.

'That was unbelievable,' said Dujardin following the Victory Ceremony.

'It is always something I've known the horse could achieve, but I didn't really know how I was going to find the atmosphere and the expectation.

'But when I got that phone call (last month) to say I had made the team for London, I was so determined.

'Not many people are going to have the chance that I've had to get to the Olympics in a year and a bit of competing in grand prix. I wanted to go out there and enjoy it.

'All I could do was to do my best. Valegro was feeling tired, but he got in there and he gave his all.'

Saudis are the team to beat - London 2012 - Equestrian

8/5/2012 12:00:00 AM

Team medals will be decided tomorrow, and the Saudis are the surprise leaders, ahead of Great Britain, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands on four faults.

Eight teams move into the second and decisive stage tomorrow, but strongly-fancied France and Belgium are already out.

And the German quartet of Marcus Ehning, Janne Friederike Meyer, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Christian Ahlmann also exited as Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada, the USA and Brazil went through.

London's most famous landmarks were reflected in British designer Bob Ellis' course, which featured scaled down reproductions of Tower Bridge, Big Ben, 10 Downing Street and a London double-decker bus.

And Prince Abdullah said: 'What with the weather, the London bus and Tower Bridge, I felt like I was sight-seeing today. I cannot describe my feelings, I am so happy.'

However, Ellis' course was too much for some, with the latest batch of riders knocked out of the Individual competition including Ireland's Billy Twomey, French star Penelope Leprevost and USA teenager Reed Kessler.

'Eight faults is never good enough,' Twomey said after his round. 'I am very disappointed, and I can't lay the blame anywhere other than with myself.'

Twomey's fellow Irishman Cian O'Connor is still in the Individual hunt, though, with the current field of 46 whittled down by another 11 after tomorrow's action.

Todd on course for unique treble - London 2012 - Equestrian

7/30/2012 12:00:00 AM

The 56-year-old New Zealander lies third going into tomorrow's medal-deciding jumping phase.

But he is just 0.2 penalties behind joint leaders, German Ingrid Klimke and Swede Sara Algottson Ostholt.

Todd, who was named rider of the 20th Century by equestrian's governing body, won the second of his Olympic titles in Seoul 24 years ago.

But no rider in Olympic history has ever won three, and that is the prize that could await him tomorrow.

Todd revealed that he had to cope with loose reins from an early stage of the cross-country course on NZB Campino, but he completed and collected only 0.4 time penalties.

'I didn't have the smoothest ride ever - it felt a bit rough in places,' Todd said. 'By about fence six my reins came completely undone.

'It was a big ask for a horse like that to go that quick round a track like this, and certainly not his ideal track because he is such a big, long-striding horse.

'I knew I just had to keep pushing and asking the questions, and he kept responding. I am absolutely thrilled with the horse.'

Like Todd, 44-year-old Klimke is no stranger to being at the business end of an Olympic competition.

She won Team gold four years ago and was fifth individually, while she has also been on previous German world and European title-winning teams.

She could end up with Team and Individual Eventing gold at Greenwich, a feat that was last achieved by Britain's Richard Meade in Munich 40 years ago.

'I knew the course was really challenging, and I am so thrilled with my wonderful horse (FRH Butts Abraxxas)," she said.

'He made it easy for me. Four years ago in Hong Kong he did the same thing, and I am very privileged to have him.'

Algotsson Ostholt matched Klimke's faultless display, as she did in dressage over the weekend.

'The course was much better than I had thought,' she said. 'We were very fluent in the beginning, but later on we lost both front shoes.

'I walked the course six times beforehand, and that really helped me. You need to ride the course like driving a sports car.'

Waiting in the wings tomorrow will be world and European champion Michael Jung, who is a brilliant jumper, and could easily pounce for gold if the top three slip up.

Singapore 2010 adopts new sport formats

8/12/2010 3:39:00 PM

The first Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore will feature all 26 sports currently on the programme of the London 2012 Olympic Games. What will differ in some cases are the disciplines and format, such as 3 on 3 street basketball, a mixed gender relay in the swimming pool, a medley relay on the track or events in which athletes from different National Olympic Committees compete on the same team. Read on to see what your favourite sports will consist of in Singapore...

Aquatics (diving and swimming)

Aquatics comprises diving and swimming. There will be two diving events for both men and women, 3m springboard and 10m platform. Swimming events include freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and medley, both individual and relay. As a first, a mixed gender event for 4 x 100m freestyle relay and 4 x 100m medley relay is included.

Archery

Archery will feature individual men, women and mixed team competitions. The distance that athletes will be shooting is 70m.

Athletics

Athletics comprises a total 36 events for both men and women. The track events will include 1000m and 3000m races as well as a 2000m steeplechase and a medley relay. There will be eight field events (four jumps and four throws).

Badminton

Badminton will feature men’s and women’s singles events in Singapore.

Basketball

Basketball 3 on 3 will be played at the YOG. There will be two teams of three players on court at any one time. This fast-paced game is played on a half court, with one basketball hoop. It includes two periods of five minutes each. The winner is the first team to score 33 points, or the team that is leading the game at the end of the fifteen minutes of play.

Boxing

Boxing will feature men’s events. There will be 11 different weight categories, ranging from 48kg to the 91kg+ division.

Canoe-Kayak

Canoe-Kayak will feature four events for men and two for women. Both will race
in head-to-head sprints and obstacle slaloms in the kayak category. The men will also compete in the same events in canoes.

Cycling

The Cycling competition will involve teams. Each team consists of three men and one woman. The three men are required to compete in one discipline each (BMX, MTB and Time Trial), while the woman has to compete in all three disciplines. All male riders also have to compete in the Road Race.

Equestrian

In Equestrian, only the jumping events will take place (team and individual). The Organising Committee will provide the horses, which will be assigned to riders by draw. For the team event, there will be six teams representing each FEI regional zone.

Fencing

Fencing will feature individual competitions in the foil, epée and sabre for men and women, and a mixed team competition.

Football

Football will consist of a six-team competition, representing all continents, for both men and women.

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is split into artistic and rhythmic, as in the Olympic Games. The artistic competition will feature eight individual men’s events and six individual women’s events. The rhythmic competition consists of two events – individual and team – for women.

Handball

Handball is a six-team tournament, representing all continents, for men and for women.

Hockey

Hockey is the same as football and handball – a six-team competition, representing all continents for both men and women.

Judo

There are a total of eight weight categories for both men and women in the Judo competition. There is also a mixed team event.

Modern Pentathlon

The Modern Pentathlon competition consists of four of the five modern pentathlon disciplines: fencing, swimming, running and shooting. The fifth discipline, riding, will not be competed at Singapore 2010. The run-shoot format will be competed. In the Combined event, laser shooting is being used for the first time.

Rowing

Both the men and women will compete in two events in Rowing – single sculls and pairs.

Sailing

The Sailing competition comprises four events, with men and women sailing in either the one person dinghy or the windsurfing.

Shooting

In Shooting, the men and women will compete in both air rifle and air pistol.

Table Tennis

Table tennis will consist of men’s singles, women’s singles and a mixed team competition.

Taekwondo

Taekwondo will see athletes competing in five weight categories per gender.

Tennis

There will be both men’s singles and doubles and women’s singles and doubles in the Tennis tournament.

Triathlon

The Triathlon competition format for individual competitions includes a 750m swim in open water, a 20km cycle ride and a 5km run. The 4 x mixed team relay competition includes a 250m swim in open water, a 7km cycle ride and a 1.7km run.

Volleyball

Volleyball is a six-team men’s and women’s competition.

Weightlifting

Weightlifting sees men competing in six weight categories, while women will compete in five weight categories. The combined results of the Snatch and the Clean & Jerk will produce the champion of each weight category.

Wrestling

The Wrestling competition will see men compete in Greco-Roman (five weight categories) and freestyle (five weight categories) and women in freestyle (four weight categories).