December 2007/January 2008
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headlines
Oscar Pistorius - otherwise known as 'Blade Runner' looks unlikely to compete against able-bodied athletes in Beijing in July 2008. The Paralympic champion wants to race on his prosthetic 'blades' but the IAAF consider that it will give him a considerable advantage over his able-bodied competition. Although Billie Jean King won 12 Grand Slam titles as part of her 67 singles titles, plus 101 doubles titles and 11 mixed doubles titles over a career which spanned around 30 years, she still only amassed US$2 million in prize-money.  Compare this to today's purses! In 2007 the prize purse for the women's Wimbledon tournament matched the men for the first time. Compare this to the US Open which started offering 'equal pay' in 1973! Ice hockey in the USA has handed out a record 30 game ban. New York Islanders' left wing, Chris Simon stamped on the foot of a Pittsburgh Penguin and the authorities 'stamped' all over him!  Top Italian player, Potito Starace has been suspended by the ATP for 6 weeks and ordered to pay around US$30,000 for betting on tennis matches. Marion Jones' lawyers are asking the court to go easy on the athlete when it comes to handing out a potential six-month prison sentence for taking banned substances.  Jockey Fergal Lynch has been cleared to race again by the British Horseracing Authority after a police investigation into alledged race fixing.   LeBron James became the youngest player at the age of 22 to score 9,000 NBA career points.  Manchester United topped the Premier league in 2006/7 by receiving around US$20 million as its share of TV revenues. Charity fundraising reached the peak of good taste this holiday season as the Stade Francais rugby team took their kit off for a video.  Only the French can provide such a stylish gift to their fans... and of course - thanks to YouTube - it's available to everyone. Success in the diving world as 13 year-old Tom Daley became the youngest ever GB senior men's champion.  He hopes to qualify for Beijing.

spotlight on: The Dancing Bug

While the IOC remains a firm fan of the world of dance - even though it is not an Olympic sport, it is the professional athletes that have really put the world of dance on the front pages of every newspaper.

Two worldclass athletes showed a new side to their personality.  The first - a big favourile in the USA - is Floyd Mayweather.  His dancing feet (ref. to Mohammed Ali) may have given him an edge when he recently met Ricky Hatton in a world welterweight title in Las Vegas in Dec 2007. 

With career earnings in excess of US$100 million Mayweather did not enter a talent competition to raise his profile; but his talent on the dance floor has certainly paid off.

Back in the UK a number of sportsmen have shone in the various dance related, highly acclaimed celebrity TV competitions.  Kyran Bracken - former England Rugby star won the commercial television celebrity Dancing on Ice reality show; and a few weeks later won the 'Champion of Champions'.
And now he has a new career - far away from the world of muddy knees and rugby scrums. He is starring in "Romanza", and will be touring the UK in sequins and on a new surface. 

Is this change of direction a good thing for some of the 'giants' of sport?  Only time will tell if they are best remembered for their success in celebrity competition or 'the real thing'!

hot spot: cancelled!

The Dakar Rally is an endurance and navigation event between Lisbon and Dakar for cars, trucks, bikes and quads.  It is made up of fifteen stages. 

Planning the 2008 Dakar began, rather appropriately, with the challenge of mapping out the route. The stages - which would have given competitors a path across Africa just as diverse as in the past - had been modified to give an even more sporty edge as a result of longer specials than in previous years. As a result the new course, the road sections would have been shorter.  The competitors who thrive on thrills were to embark on an almost 6,000 km road and off-road adventure.....BUT it was not to be.

For the first time in its 30 year history, the race has been cancelled due to a potential terrorist threat based on the murder in December 2007 of a French family on holiday in Mauritania.
The race - which has seen more fatalities in its history than almost any other event - nearly 50 deaths - will next take place in 2009.

hot shot: banned

The latest of the victims of being caught - Justin Gatlin - has been given a four-year ban for testing positive for drugs.
The Olympic 400 metre champion looks as if he has missed his chance to defend his 2004 title; but all is not lost!  There is always the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, where disgraced athletes can appeal against a ban - although a successful appeal will likely be challenged by the IAAF.
While these inconsitiences just keep rolling on and on, the door is always left open for World record breakers to set the world alight once again; although on this occasion Gatlin will have a fight on his hands because although he accepted that he had committed a doping offence in 2006, he appealed for a 'reduced sentence' on the grounds that he had been a victim of sabotage and that a masseur had rubbed testosterone into legs. This explanation was denied by the masseur and for the time being the 25-year old remains banned from Olympic competition. 

Watch this space for updates!


sidelines: waiting to shine

fashion icon...... the tennis dress

When we next see Serena Williams on court in Melbourne defending her 2007 title at the Australian Open, she will definitely be sporting her latest look - and this time it has some elements of 1980's retro. A Nike short dress teamed with purple shorts gives her that stylish and flattering must-have look; but it is sister, Venus who recently finished her studies in fashion design who will make the biggest fashion statement in her own EleVen designs which are carried by a US chain.
Venus has developed her interest in design over time and she certainly laid down a marker when in 2003 she worked with Diane Von Furstan berg and looked hot in a pretty dress with a corset like back.

Thanks to the Williams sisters particular (alongside some of their colleagues) has certainly entered the 21st century.

home and away: straight up or on the rocks?



The Barcelona World Race provides its crews with a series of strategic decisions - not least of all whether to take on ice or not.
The route - which takes in the Southern Ocean - offers two options.  And while the crew of the French boat Paprecd-Virbac took a pragmatic snow and ice of the Alps position and did not hesitate to retain their lead by sailing a more southerly route, the more fair-weather Brits - who like most of their countrymen rarely see frost let alone icebergs - opted for a course which involved a less 'icy' option.

sport culture: the Race of Champions

It's not enough that world champions win world records driving in their 'vehicles'.  Boys and toys equal cars; and rally drivers mix and match with Formula one racers to win the annual Race of Champions.

The December 2007 Race of Champions brought together sixteen drivers from eight countries.   First hosted in 1988 for rally drivers only, 2007 participants experienced the new Wembley, with a tarmac track built over the prized soccer turf.
The runners and riders among others included Michael Schumacher (F1); Andy Priaulx (World Touring); Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR), and Tom Kristensen )Le Mans 24-Hour Race).... but who stood out from the crowd over the two lap races and which car from a fine selection including an Aston Martin V8 Vantage; a Ford Focus RS WRC07 and a Fiat Grande Punte S2000 Abarth would shine in a reverse simulated Scalextric boys and their toys day out?

Not dissimilar to Racing on Ice - an annual event at Stade de France in Paris - where champions slide around a man made ice/snow track.. Fascinating!

starting blocks: not so tall after all!
the x-factor
Following on from an X-factor style of finding top rowers in China to win medals at Beijing 2008, a similar recruitment drive has been taking place for team GB and its plans for London 2012.  The Sporting Giants initiative was launched by 5 times Olympic Gold rower Steve Redgrave in a search to find men of a minimum height of 6'3" and women of a minimum of 5'11".  The height criterion made them eligible for three 'tall sports' - volleyball, handball and rowing.  And yes they did have to be aged between 16 and 25 years old.
Four thousand applied, and by the end of 2007 seventy-three Olympic hopefuls remain - 23 picked for handball, 18 for volleyball and 32 for rowing.
How many will actually claim their prize of participating in the 2012 Summer Games remains to be seen but like many other host nations, the strategy is to enter at least one competitor/team for each of the current 28 Summer Olympic sports.

life after..... politics

  Changes in established rules are always debated and scrutinized at length as they might favor some players/teams over others.  One very topical example is the fact that the laws of Rugby Union are about to be 'tackled' as we 'speak'; and these new rules will apply to all the 115 countries where the game is played.
The very exciting and dramatic recent Rugby World Cup in France will be remembered for its final and the 91 times the ball was kicked.  This emphasis on kicking the ball is seen as a direct result of the severity of the penalties handed out by the referees if an 'isolated' player holds onto the ball (an anathema to fans of American Football).   This past amendment to the games laws has made a significant difference to the sport and to many it is seen as a step backwards.
And although the recent proposed changes are not complicated - and could be seen as a way of attracting the attention of even more fans to this increasingly popular sport, not all changes are seen as good; and the new can often alienate the fans of the sport who know and love the good old game!

So it would appear that politics rules in sport! Or does it?

  For example, Zimbabwe's cricket team may be banned from touring England. This protest is seen as a response by the cricket authorities to Robert Mugabe's brutal regime.  Zimbabwe may also be banned from participating in the Twenty20 World Cup in England; and England could withdraw from matches scheduled in the African country in 2012.  But the 'sabre-waving' discussions - as expected - remain ineffectual as sport and politics rarely mix well together and decisions regularly remain controversial.