#ICMYI -- In Case You Missed It ... Sometimes the best stories don't get the attention we think they deserve. Here are our staff picks for articles this week they really want you to know about.
Penny Testimony Not Surprising But Still Damaging
Steve Penny's testimony, or lack thereof, before Congress this week shows there is potential for criminal liability against U.S. sport administrators, legal experts tell Around the Rings. It also shows changes could be coming to the law that established the United States Olympic Committee.
Penny was subpoenaed and compelled to testify before Congress this week as part of ongoing hearings into how sport bodies can protect athletes from abuse. He was called to testify along with former Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon and former U.S. women’s national gymnastics team coach Rhonda Faehn.
All three figures were related to the ongoing Larry Nassar abuse scandal. Faehn had reported gymnasts' concerns with Nassar to Penny in her position as coach. Penny reported Nassar to the FBI, but not until days after first hearing allegations of abuse and warning Nassar that he was under investigation. Simon was president of MSU while Nassar worked there.
Both Faehn and Simon apologized to victims in their statements and took multiple rounds of questioning from Senators.
Click here to read the full story.
ATR Radio - The Heritage of Athletics
IAAF is putting its history on display. IAAF Heritage, a branch of the federation tasked with bringing the story of sport to the public, is currently showcasing the "World / Continental Cup - 1977 to 2018" exhibition in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
The exhibition comes ahead of the IAAF Continental Cup in September and will run through the duration of the event. Items from the Ancient Olympic Games to the present are included in the project, including artifacts from the Continental Cup, which began in 1977.
IAAF council member Sylvia Barlag was in Ostrava representing Sebastian Coe this week. Barlag is a physicist and has been a council member for IAAF since 2011. She also competed in the modern pentathlon at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. She speaks with Around the Rings Editor Ed Hula about the Russian doping saga.
Click here to listen to the full interview.
Pele, Lula Deny Rio Bribery
Football great Pele and the ex-president of Brazil Lula say they knew nothing about vote-buying for the Rio de Janeiro bid for the 2016 Olympics.
Both appeared separately by video in a Rio de Janeiro court.
Pele said he met in 2009 with then IOC member Lamine Diack. The Senegal sports leader allegedly delivered the votes of other African members. But in his testimony, Pele denied making any bribes.
The Santos great player was a defense witness for Carlos Arthur Nuzman, the former president of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee and the Brazilian Olympic Committee.
Nuzman is accused, along with former governor Sergio Cabral and former Rio 2016 director Leonardo Gryner of paying $2 million dollars to Diack and his son Papa Massata Diack to obtain the support of votes from Africa.
Lula, imprisoned for corruption charges, appeared as a witness for Cabral.
Click here to read the full story.
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