USA Sits Out FIBA Americas
Olympic berths are up for grabs at the FIBA Americas Championship just underway in Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Team USA is sitting the two-week tournament out after securing its trip to London with last year’s world championships win.
Beijing bronze medalist Argentina is the favorite with NBA stars Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola taking part. Defending champ Brazil is expected to battle with Canada, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic for silver status. Each of the four is fielding multiple NBA players.
Teams finishing third, fourth and fifth in Argentina will move onto a special qualifying tournament to be staged in London just prior to the Games. Three of the 12 teams involved then will advance to the Olympics.
FIBA Americas competition runs through Sept. 11 at the Polideportivo Islas Malvinas Stadium.
Taekwondo Launches iPhone App
A new iPhone and iPad application gives taekwondo fans easy access to competition footage from the sport’s top tournaments.
The World Taekwondo Federation teamed with new media partner Dartfish on the project, essentially a mobile extension of the existing WTF Web TV channel.
A back catalog of more than 8,000 matches is already available on the app with new videos to be added after each competition.
AFC Olympic Qualifiers Coming to America
Asian qualifying matches for London 2012’s football tournament will be broadcast in North America thanks to One World Sports.
"The AFC Asian Qualifiers multi-platform rights are on strategy with the long-term commitment of One World Sports to deliver Asia’s bestfootball events live to U.S. sports fans on any device," OWS COO Preston Bornman said in a statement.
"Exclusive coverage of the AFC Asian Qualifiers is a natural follow-up to the American response to the Women’s World Cup, and we expect the men and women’s Asian qualifying matches to generate great interest among U.S. football and sports fans, particularly among the Asian population."
Women’s qualifying begins this week while men’s third-round action continues later this month with Asia’s top 12 teams squaring off for spots at the Summer Games.
IAAF Aids JapaneseTsunami Relief
The athletics family is doing its part to assist the rebuilding efforts underway in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year.
"In March only a few days after the tsunami hit I was in Tokyo visiting our partners," IAAF president Lamine Diack said in a statement.
"What I saw was a lesson for us all, to see a country which had been through such a disaster, continue to live and determinedly get on with daily life. I was so moved that when I returned I was determined that the IAAF should contribute some help to Japan."
That help came Tuesday in the form of a $250,000 check presented to Japan Association of Athletics Federation president Yohei Kono in the sky-box of Daegu Stadium just as countryman Koji Murofushi captured world championship gold in hammer throw down on the field below.
Morofushi will be one of the candidates for a seat on the IOC Athletes Commission, the election to be held during the London Olympics by athletes competing at the Games. Winners (four will be elected) will take seats as IOC members, as well.
Written by Matthew Grayson.
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