USA eyes Rio 2016 rugby qualification to defend 90-year-old title

The reputation of USA as the most successful rugby nation in the history of Olympics will be under discussion this weekend when the rugby seven’s emerging force will try to secure their place for Rio 2016. Rugby is returning to Olympic games after the absence of nearly a century. 92 years ago a group of American amateurs beat France in an upset to win the gold at the 1924 Paris Olympics.

It implies that USA who was also Olympic champion in 1920 but have become secondary rugby team in the modern age will have to defend the title when the sevens rugby tournament starts in Brazil. However first of all the USA must ensure their place in Rio which they can confirm on Sunday if they win the Olympic qualifiers of North America Caribbean Rugby Association in North Carolina.

Canada which is the dominant force in North American Rugby poses threat to American hopes so far. However the balance e of regional power may have shifted towards the United States with the recent results which also includes an outstanding win in the London leg of the World Sevens Series. The London win including a 45-22 win against Australia in the final after an England win in the quarterfinals was the first ever win of USA in a sevens tournament.

Seminar held to train Brazilian officials to manage Rio 2016 arrivals

A customs seminar was arranged to train Brazilian officials in wake of preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The objective of the three-day seminar was to teach officials to receive about 10,500 athletes and supporting officials. Several guests who has the experience of such events attended the seminar. Canadian Customs Attache in Brazil, Mark Bond explained his experience of hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games and attache of Russian embassy in Brazil outlined her countries experience to deal issues during Sochi 2014.

The customs officials will have to face several thousands fans and tourists expected to arrive Brazil during the games along with professionals such as press and doping control. A customs official Lyne Goodwin from the UK described the experience of  Heathrow Airport how it dealt with its busiest period of London 2012 when No. of arrivals was 126,000. The officials who attended the seminar include general coordinator of international relations at the Inland Revenue Service Antonio Flavio Araujo along with adviser to the office of the Undersecretary of Customs and International Relations of the IRS, Ronaldo Medina and Joel Benin who is the head of the special advisory coordination of major sporting events of the Ministry of Sports.

Medina said this is the first time that an event has been conducted with foreigners who has the experience of managing major sporting events. He added the custom sector of the IRS is certainly facing a big challenge in the form of a big event. He further said they have arranged the Pan American Games in Rio in 2007 and the world cup last year which are noting as compared to Olympic and Paralympic Games in complexity. 

Ryan Archibald joins Black Sticks men to boost Rio Olympics chances

Experienced midfielder of New Zealand Ryan Archibald will help the Black Sticks men in their effort to qualify for the Rio Olympics at the World League semifinal which is starting in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. The 34-year-old midfielder with 284 test caps missed the International Challenge in Hobart last month where the New Zealand hockey side faced three defeats and won just in one game. They must finish in top three at the 10-nation tournament in Argentina to secure their place in Rio 2016 while a top four finish will see them going through to the World League final in India in November. Already experienced squad selected by head coach Colin Batch is enhanced by the experience of Archibald.

Just 6 of the 18-strong squad have played less than 100 tests while Phil Burrows, skipper Simon Child and Shea McAleese have over 200 caps for their country. Although world No 1 Australia beat them in Hobart but South Korea, who will be their rival in pool match in Buenos Aires, also defeated New Zealand 3-1. The meeting of world No 7 Black Sticks and World No 8 Koreans in Buenos Aires will decide who finishes second in pool A. New Zealand will start their campaign with match against Egypt on Thursday followed by Japan, the Netherlands and Korea on Friday, Monday and Wednesday respectively.   

Pakistan Satisfied with Preparations of Rio Olympics Hockey Qualifiers

Captain of Pakistan hockey team Muhammad Imran is satisfy with preparations of team for the semi-finals of Hockey World League starting from June 20 in Antwerp which will also work as Rio Olympics qualifiers. The national team has already made two preparatory trips where they participated in the Four-Nation Hobart International Challenge in Australia finishing second and played four matches in Korea losing one and drawing two. Imran thinks that they have spotted their weak points during the tours which they will try to remove in the training camp starting from the first week of June.

Imran said they have learned from both the tours. He added they have found faults and weak areas on which they will work to overcome during the final part of the training camp. The Pakistan Hockey Federation wants to train the players a week before departure of the team to Belgium which means 12 days before the starting of the event so that the players can adjust to the playing conditions of the venue.

In the meantime head coach Shahnaz Sheikh has urged players to improve their fitness level after analyzing performance of team on the tours as he thinks this will play a key role to achieve their objective. Sheikh added the players, who were participating in game since March without a break, have been asked to rest for a week while the remaining have been stressed to work hard for their fitness. Sheikh said the players should be at their maximum for the qualifiers. 

Pentathlon GB Seek Help of Engineering Company in Rio 2016 Medal Hunt

Pentathlon GB signs a two year support agreement with Avon Valley Precision Engineering to get a technological enhancement ahead of Rio Olympics 2016. The two worlds of engineering and sports will work together in this new relationship to harbour quality and attention in both planning and management following national body has signed similar commercial contracts like with swimwear product blueseventy. The experience of AVPE spans over 20 years working in aerospace and defence aiming to invest in people and the best practice. They hope to develop Pentathletes across Britain with this Philosophy. Pentathlon GB’s chief executive Nigel Laughton said they are happy AVPE has decided to sponsor Pentathlon GB which will boost the preparations for next year’s Olympics.

He noted their podium potential athletes are facing a tough year ahead to be selected for Olympics and AVPE’s sponsorship has come just at the right moment because the European Championship is taking place at home in August. Pentathlon GB will concentrate to extend their record of winning a female medal for example Stephanie Cooke’s gold at Sydney 2000, Heather Fell and Samantha Murray’s silver at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 respectively and bronzes for Kate Allenby at Sydney 2000 and for Georgina Harland at Athens 2004. AVPE managing director Mark Summers added they are happy to work with the best pentathletes of the world and it is astonishing for them to see how these athletes find time for training for five different games.

Olympic Gold Medalist Jessica Ennis-Hill Secures Place for Rio 2016

London Olympics champion Jessica Ennis-Hill clinchs berth for Rio Olympics 2016 in her first participation of heptathlon since winning gold in London, finished fourth in Gotzis and scoring 6520 points total which is above her initial points target. She said she still can compete and drill hard. She knew she would complete the first of heptathlon’s disciplines easily but it was difficult to judge could she hurdle, high jump, shot put and run 200m in he same day being ready to perform some other tasks some more 24 hours later. She said before competition on Friday it is difficult to know what you are expecting but she could say by Sunday afternoon that she is the fourth best heptathlete in the world although her training was disturbed by Achilles.

Score of Ennis-Hill was just 11 points below third place and 27 points from second despite she might have thought she did not perform upto the mark. Coach of Ennis-Hill, Toni Minichiello said it is excellent comeback. The Canadian Brianne Theisen-Eaton, who won the event, scored 300 points more than the ex world champion recording the highest score by a heptathlete since the win of Briton in London. European double sprint champion Dafne Schippers booked second place recording two personal bests before she was unable to run the 800m due to injury.

European indoor pentathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson was not in Austria being unable to defend her title after a knee injury. Former Olympic champion Denise Lewis says Johnson-Thompson and Thiessen-Eaton will compell Jess to think. She said it is challenge to find another 300 points. She added Jess can get the same level back she was at when she left.

Women to Lead Olympic and Paralympic Squad of Australia

The Olympic and Paralympic sides of Australia departing for Rio de Janiero in 2016 will be led both by women. Kate McLoughlin will work as Paralympics Chef de Mission next September. McLoughlin originally was named Chef of the Winter Paralympic team of Australia in 2014 but she withdrew due to serious family illness. But McLoughlin has the honour now to work as the first Chef de Mission of a Paralympic team. Kitty Chiller has been appointed as Chef of Olympic team of Australia in Rio. It is interesting to note that both Chiller and McLoughlin were Olympics and Paralympic deputy chefs at London 2012 respectively.

McLoughlin played a key role for Australia to finish 5^th on medal table of London initially parallel with Ukraine for 4^th place with 32 gold but the Ukraine had won one more silver medal. President of APC Glenn Tasker said planning, expertise and leadership of McLoughlin will come to the role. Tasker added Kate is the ideal leader of Australian team because she can excel in the unique and challenging environment of games due to her leadership skills, work ethic and ability. He further said APC has confidence in her skills because she knows how to run a comprehensive game plan.

McLoughlin said Chef de Mission is a huge honour and a responsibility. She added team is already strong one because the results issued by Sports Commission of Australia are encouraging and team is able to accept any challenge. McLoughlin said there is much excitement because seven networks are to broadcast the Rio Paralympic games. Olympic Charter governs both Olympic and Paralympic movements which is a philosophy combining balanced qualities of body, will and mind. Both Olympism and Paraolympism unite sports with culture and education to derive joy found in effort. 

Israel Looks First European Games as Stage of Preparation of Olympics

The first European Games are going to start in Baku from June 12-28 featuring more than 6,000 athletes from 50 nations participating in 20 sports which excites secretary general Gili Lustig of Israel Olympic Committee. Lustig is working for the preparations of the event. Israel will participate in it with its largest ever delegation of 142 athletes. Lustig thinks this tournament can give invaluable experience to athletes of Israel for Rio Olympics.

He said this offers real rehearsal for the events like judo and gymnastics of Rio.He presented example of yarden Gerbi who is former world champion but has never participated in events of this kind. Lustig is focusing on the group of athletes who are preparing for the qualification of Rio. Athletes can either get ranking points in games like judo and taekwondo as part of qualification process while participants of table tennis, shooting and triathlon can secure place in Rio.

If participants of swimming and athletics events set the Olympic qualifying time standards then they can grab a spot in the Olympics. European Championships and European Games will share this year’s winners which adds to the importance of these events. Organizers of Baku have provided facilities of Olympic standards to ensure first ever European Games end in success. Many of Israel’s athletes will have varied hopes in the competition but most of them will be considering it as mile stone in the way of Olympics.

Brazil Football Olympic Team Hires Coach Dunga Again

Brazilian Olympic football team will work under the coaching of Dunga again on home ground at Rio Olympics 2016. Dunga will replace coach Alexandre Gallo to lead Brazil to win gold in Olympic football for the second time. Brazil could only win a bronze in Beijing under the current coach’s combined senior job and the Olympics duties in 2008. Brazil reached the final of London Olympics under Mano Menezes in the presence of star players like Neymar, Thiago Silva and Oscar but they were defeated by Mexico.

Gallo was appointed coach of Under-20 team of Brazil for next year’s Olympic games. Gallo was removed from national set up because he could lead the youth side of Brazil to South American Youth Football Championship’s fourth place only earlier this year. Dunga was given the job for senior team in July last year after Brazil had disastrous world cup at home ground. Dunga has won all of his games since resuming the duty as coach. 

Tokyo Olympics Invite Applications for the Addition of New Sports

Officials of Olympics have started a procedure where organizations of the sports of the world can apply to include new sport events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics which can result in adding and dropping of some games. The International Olympic Committee initially opened an application period on Monday for the addition of new sports to Tokyo Olympics. It has been controversial matter for the IOC to finalize the list of Olympic sports for many years. The committee decided to review the list of 26 Olympic sports after the London 2012 and imposed a cap of 28.

Wrestling was initially dropped but then added again on an IOC vote because there was no sport to replace with it while squash and baseball/softball were not included in the final shortlist. The IOC however decided to review the limit of 28 games in December and new sports are being considered to be added. The Tokyo organizing committee will announce a shortlist on June 22 of the applications of 33 international sports bodies submitted before 8 June. It is expected, the governing body will not make its final decision until its meeting in August 2016 ahead of Rio Olympics. 

Sports fans and contenders want cricket, cue sports, roller skating, baseball/softball, climbing, karate, squash, skateboarding and surfing to be included in the already existing sports list for Tokyo Olympics. There is more chance to include those games which are popular among the host nation of 2020 Olympics. The Rio Olympics were also initially missing a couple of games which were added later on which include golf, rugby sevens and kitesurfing. The addition of new sports to Rio Olympics and Tokyo Olympics will boost the motto and values of Olympics attracting more fans to the world of sports.

Cheyenne Cousineau Hopes for Olympics after Earning All American Award

Cheyenne Cousineau does not know her score at the NCAA championships’ platform diving even after several weeks and she knows only she has secured third place at All-America honors. She said she was concentrating on the procedure of her dives because her coach demanded to focus on how she was performing and not on the result. A sports psychiatrist was helping Cousineau to sharpen her focus. She also told a University Miami teamfellow that she remained under the water intentionally because she did not want to hear the announced score. She adopted the same technique at the NCAA meet.

Cousineau scored 318.05 points at NCAA finals. Cousineau said on this she was able to do some good dives as she focused on some key points taught by her coach and she is happy to secure third place. Cousineau has earned All-America status second time because she finished fourth in 2013. Her college career has finished but she will continue to dive to chase her dream of playing 2016 Olympics with trials starting in Russia in a few weeks.

Cousineau wants to participate in synchronized diving at Olympics but she is not finding a partner at the moment. She said on this, 10-meter synchronized diving has been a problem in the U.S. last year because they were trying to find a match. She added she was really anxious about it but a synchro camp is coming up where she can hopefully find a partner. Cousineau’s performance at NCAA finals should make her thinking she can perform not only in synchronized diving in Olympics.

Jessica Springsteen Set to Become U.S. Olympics Equestrian Team Member

Jessica Springsteen who is daughter of famous singer Bruce Springsteen is looking favorite to find a place in the U.S. Olympics equestrian team. Jessica who is second child of Bruce Springsteen participated in the fifteen-city Global Champions Tour in Madrid last Friday which is the third stop of the International Horse Jumping Contest. Jessica secured sixth place in the first round of the contest in Madrid with her horse Carolina 31. She also won another important contest  Spy Coast Farm speed class at the Winter Equestrian Festival of Florida back in February.

Springsteen who is graduate of Duke University started riding since age 5 and began to take part in horse shows at age 15. She took part in 2012 Olympics trials but could not secure place in the team. She said about 2012 trials that she participated just as a test. There were many signs after it that she is serious for the Rio Olympics where she also bought a London Olympics gold medal winning horse.

2016 Olympics are going to start in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from August 5 to August 21. Sports fans are waiting keenly for the event. Athletes from different nations will participate in numerous categories of sports. Sports lovers like to support their favorite players making their presence sure in the ground. Olympics fanatics who want to enjoy the tournament live stay in touch with this blog for more Olympics news and updates. 

Beijing Medalist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep of Whitby Eyes Rio Olympics

Most Canadians know acme of Lopes-Schliep’s career. She astonished the nation by winning a bronze in the 100 meter hurdles, which was first track-and-field medal of the country in a dozen years, at 2008 Beijing Olympics. Bronze medal was result of training and concentration of many years. She still dreams the Olympics at 32 and being mother of two young daughters. She has maintained her shape amazingly but her coach is away at a distance of 22 hour drive with the non-availability of proper track nearby which makes the task difficult. She said if she has tracks and indoors for training, then there is possibility of Rio participating.

She added if she jumps and trains again she would feel as she did it before provided she has good stretch and she knows how to hurdle. She said further if she organizes here then it can become a reality. Lopes-Schliep will not be able to take part in Pan Am Games in Toronto this summer to resume his athletic career. Participation in such a high level contest in her homeland would have been loved by her but she is busy in her personal life where his brother’s wedding is coming in March and she has to look after her two younger daughters.

The medalist further explained she is talking to her agent to see if there is anything competing for her involvement but she added she has not been able to get indoor practice so it will be difficult. The medal winner further said that she has trained a lot before so her body can jump back to it but for the level she wants to attain, she wants to try her best and does not want to perform poorly. She has belief in herself regardless how Rio evolves. She said God has the knowledge of the best and she is doing what she can and the way will be shown according to the situation. 

Opening Ceremony of Olympics 2016 to Take Place at Maracana Stadium

Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro will see the commencement of the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics at its ground on the evening of Friday 5 August begininng at 20:00 BRT (UTC-3). Ceremony will constitute the formal opening of the international event where welcoming speeches will be delivered and flags will be hoisted along with parade of athletes combining with the display of culture of host nation as granted by the Olympic Charter.

A big plan was launched for the reconstruction of the Maracana Stadium to host 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. Two-tier configuration of the original seating arrangement of bowl was changed to one-tier seating bowl. The original roof of the stadium was in concrete which was replaced with polytetrafluoroethylene coated fiberglass tensioned membrane. 95% seats of the seats inside the stadium are covered by the new roof unlike the earlier design.

Olympic Wrestler Bilyal Makhov Eyes Rio Olympics and Signs with UFC

Olympic bronze medalist wrestler Bilyal Makhov still eyes on 2016 Olympics gold medal but he has set another objective to win the UFC heavyweight title. Makhov signed with UFC despite he has no MMA fighting experience. First priority of Makhov is to win gold medal at Rio Olympics in either freestyle or Greco-Roman wrestling and the 27-year-old will concentrate on MMA after that. Murat Keshtov who is trainer of Makhov said the wrestler can win the UFC heavyweight championship after half year of training. Keshtov said if he works six months with him, Russia can be owner of UFC heavyweight belt.

Makhov has won freestyle wrestling world championship three times. He lives in the area where he saw the flourishing of MMA fighters. He has also worked with ex UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski which increaed his interest in the sport. He said on this he always likes to challenge himself. He presented as an example that he decided to switch to Greco-Roman style after successful career of freestyle wrestling and he would focus on MMA afterwards. The Olympic medalist said he has focused on hard work, time and attention in his career and if he can work in the same way In MMA then he can achieve highest level of success in the sport.

Wrsetling is liked and played all over the world. Olympics has two wrestling categories for men Greco-Roman Style and Freestyle. Rio Olympics wrestling competitions will take place at Hall 3 of Olympic Training Center in Barra da Tijuca from 14 to 21 August. Sports fans who want to get updates on Olympic wrestling should remain connected with this blog for fresh information.

Hotel Bookings Continue in Rio de Janeiro for 2016 Olympics

A process of hotels’ bookings has started in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Summer Olympics, with the option of other places to stay being depended upon to make sure the capacity for fans. Around 380,000 visitors from other countries are expected to come in the city for the Olympic Games, which will take place in August 2016. The International Olympic Committee demanding at least 40,000 hotel rooms for clients and guests, various supporters are expected to stay in guesthouses.

Rio had exceeded its lodging target, with the opening of new hotels up to an additional 15,000 rooms since 2010, said the Brazilian Hotel Industry Association (ABIH). The most recent to start is the first Hilton hotel in Rio, which started out a couple of weeks ago and which is on the drive of five minutes from the Olympic Park in Barra da Tijuca. It will offer double rooms also from August. An estimated 80 percent of the entire space in the city will be occupied by teams, sponsors and officials.

“Generally, it has been seen in any mega event that extra places also offer for the public to stay, which needs to assess other possibilities with different kinds and cost levels,” said Alfredo Lopes, the president of ABIH. Rio de Janeiro is the first ever city in South America which is going to host Summer Olympics 2016. The opening ceremony will be held on August 5, while the closing ceremony will be held on 21^st of the same month. Stay connected with this blog to know about more updates from Rio 2016.

Silva Eyes to be Brazil Taekwondo Team Member to Fight in Rio Olympics

Anderson Silva who is mixed martial arts fighter of Brazil will try to secure a place in the Brazilian taekwondo team to compete in the Rio Olympics 2016. This was announced after a meeting with Brazilian taekwondo officials. Silva who is regarded as one of the best mixed martial arts fighter of history said he is trying to give back to sports which he got from it. Silva who is black belt in taekwondo said it will be difficult but it is a challenge for him. Carlos Fernandes who is Taekwondo confederation president said it is historic moment but emphasized Silva will have to qualify for Olympics and his fighting championship stardom will not be helpful.

The 40-year-old said he knows it will be difficult to compete at high level so he needs to resume training to fulfill his dreams because it is the greatest event of the world and every athlete wants to take part in it. The competitions to decide Brazilian Olympic squad will start on early 2016. Guilherme Felix who is one of Brazil’s top fighting player previously called the statement of Silva to participate in Olympics as a joke but later he declared his return good for Brazilian sports. Doping tests of Silva were positive in January and is trying to come out of temporary bans levied by UFC. He said he will not retire from MMA but his current focus is on taekwondo.

India Identifies 45 Athletes can Win Medals at Rio Olympics

Indian government has classified 45 athletes from 6 departments who can be medal winners at Rio Olympics and they will be included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme. These athletes belong to athletics, badminton, boxing, shooting, wrestling and sailing. About 30 more athletes from archery and athletics are to be identified. The 37 out of these 45 athletes have sent consent through email, 23 have signed the deal and 18 have sent requests to prepare for the Rio Olympics. The sports ministry said around Rs. 1 crore has been allocated for six athletes who are Vikas Gowda of athletics, Abhinav Bindra, Heena Sidhu, Manavjit Singh Sandhu of shooting, Aishwarya and Varsha from sailing.

A sum of Rs. 88 lakh will also be sanctioned when athletes from archery, shooting, wrestling and athletics submit their documents after clarification. Around Rs. 40-45 crore have been estimated to support the 75 athletes under the TOP plan. The support being provided to National Sports Development Fund is below this amount. The TOP plan has been started by the sports ministry to discover athletes who can win medals at Olympics and to provide funds to them so that they can be ready for the mega event. 

Brazil Aims to Increase Number of National Medalists at Rio Olympics

China performed excellent at 2008 Olympic games at home. Same was the case with Britain in 2012 London Olympics. Brazil will try its best to continue this chain by showing historic performance at its home ground. The nation is trying very hard by investing record money to make sure its players can be successful at home ground of 2016 Rio Olympics and perform well in front of the nation. Nations have good record of Olympics at home but Brazil may be different case because this is a country where football is favorite and it has not invested much in Olympics sports.

Brazil began to invest more on its Olympic athletes only after Rio was selected as 2016 Olympic host in 2009. The Brazilian Olympic Committee has target to double the 17 medals won at London Olympics that kept Brazil in the top 10. Brazil spent about $350 million since its selection as host in 2009 until London Olympics and a record $700 million were estimated to be invested over the four years untill Rio Olympics. The government started a plan in 2012 by building new training centers and hiring expert coaches to boost the performance of national athletes.  

Indian Race Walker Trio Qualify for 2016 Rio Olympics

Three race walkers of India Khushbir Kaur, Manish Rawat and Sandeep Kumar will compete in Rio Olympics 2016 after they showed good performance in the IAAF Race Walking Challenge at Rio Maior in Portugal. Khushbir Kaur who is the record holder of National women’s 20km walk took time of 1:33:58 which is less than Rio 2016 qualification time of 1:35 although she got 13th position in the race. Manish Rawat’s qualification time was 1:22:50 which is better than qualification time 1:24 of Rio Olympics and he finished in top 10.

Sandeep Kumar who is record holder of National 50Km race walk got 14th position with a time of 1:23:32 to secure place in 2016 Rio Olympics although he received one warning. Devender Singh could not qualify for the men’s 20km race walk with 18th position in time of 1:24:57. The fourth participant Ganpathy Krishnan was on 29th position with time of 1:27:05. Race walking squad of India took part in the IAAF Race Walking Challenge to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.