Florida City Ends Equestrian Games Bid
Just two bidders remain for the 2018 Equestrian Games after Wellington, Florida chose not to further pursue its bid.
The event will be staged in North America with Lexington, Kentucky - the 2010 host - and Bromont/Montreal, Canada left standing.
The announcement came after city officials met with senior officials from the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).
"While I believe we had a very strong technical bid, and I am confident we could have run a very exciting, unique, and successful [games], the marketing conditions would have precluded us from honoring our commitments to a valued sponsor," said Wellington bid leader Mark Bellissimo.
The two remaining candidates will present bids before the FEI at its spring meeting, after which the host will be chosen.
Curling Pleased With Beijing
The president of the World Curling Federation has no issues with the facilities she’s seen in Beijing while there for the men’s World Curling Championship.
"The venues is first class. The infrastructure is in place. The ice is good," said WCF president Kate Caithness told Xinhua.
"The teams are happy. We are happy."
She’s also encouraged by the sport’s growth within China, pointing out that 660 million viewers watched curling on Chinese television during the Sochi Games.
"I think it’s growing like crazy," she said.
Russia Tops Sportcal Poll
According to Sportcal’s Global Sports Nations Index, Russia is the top sporting nation in the world.
The finding was influenced by the country’s success in hosting the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. China, the top country in each of the previous two years, dropped to fourth behind Canada and the United Kingdom.
The poll analyzes over 450 major multi-sport games and world championships, according for a 12-year period encompassing the prior six years and the six coming years. The current edition includes the years from 2009 to 2020.
The United States rounds out the top five.
IOC Launches Educational Platform
The IOC is using a new online platform to ensure athletes don’t sacrifice education while focused on their sporting careers.
In a collaboration among a number of its commissions, the IOC will offer free educational content to athletes worldwide as part of the IOC Athlete Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).
The project features lectures, video, live events, and discussion boards.
Three exclusive courses were added at the unveiling: Smarter Eating for Better Performance, Can Champions Be Made, and Athlete Career Transition.
Written by Nick Devlin
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
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