LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP)—Italian cyclist Davide Rebellin lost an appeal Friday of a decision stripping him of his 2008 Olympic silver medal for doping. He could now be suspended by cycling’s governing body and stripped of other race results.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the International Olympic Committee was right to disqualify Rebellin after he tested positive for the banned blood-boosting drug CERA.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP)—With the economy spiraling downward and sponsors running away faster than Usain Bolt, the Olympics needed money.
Big money.
And fast.
So, leaders of Olympic organizations started thinking outside the box, peddling their famous rings to new companies, selling multimillion-dollar sponsorship deals to pretty much anyone willing to pay the price.
In the past few weeks, the International and U.S. Olympic committees have announced a flurry of deals—a long-awaited sign that big-money sponsors are returning to the rings. The deals, however, have made for some strange bedfellows—a handful of partnerships that, at first blush, don’t look like natural fits:
By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.(AP)—With the economy spiraling downward and sponsors running away faster than Usain Bolt, the Olympics needed money.
Big money.
And fast.
By STEPHEN WILSON AP Sports Writer
LONDON(AP)—The world’s largest consumer products company signed on as a global Olympic sponsor Wednesday, the second multi-million-dollar marketing deal this month for the International Olympic Committee.
IOC president Jacques Rogge unveiled the 10-year agreement with American-based giant Procter & Gamble Co. at a news conference in London.
P&G will
be an official Olympic worldwide partner in the ‘personal care and household
products’ category until 2020, including the
London 2012 Olympic Games. As part of the agreement, P&G will also partner
the IOC and the National Olympic Committees around the world.
By Neil Maidment
LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - Olympic quadruple gold medallists Chris Hoy and Michael Johnson tried out London’s 2012 Games facilities on Tuesday, two years to the day before the Games begin.
Cyclist Hoy took to the track in the Velodrome, watched by construction workers who enthusiastically downed tools to witness the Scotsman do a couple of laps.
Sports Editors:
The U.S. Olympic Committee will accept requests from media organizations starting Tuesday for accreditation to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The application form is available through the USOC’s media-specific site, USOCPressbox,org. Click here to go to the request site: http://pressbox.teamusa.org/Pages/Credentials.aspx.
The deadline for making the request is Oct. 1, 2010. This process is open to print, Internet and photographic media organizations that are based in the United States and meet the guideline standards included in this press release. All non rights-holding broadcasters will be accredited by the International Olympic Committee. The form will be available March, 2011, on the IOC website www.olympic.org and the deadline for submission for all non-rights holding broadcasters will be in May, 2011.
NEW DELHI (AP)—The Indian government is threatening to cut off funding to sports federations that refuse to comply with controversial age and tenure limitations, a move that is likely to put the authorities further at odds with the International Olympic Committee.
Angry that more than a third of the 68 associations have ignored the new regulations, Sports Minister M S Gill told the Press Trust of India that only those that comply will be eligible for financial grants and other benefits.
LONDON (AP)—The International Olympic Committee is ready to announce a new global sponsorship deal with the world’s largest consumer products company.
A news conference is planned Wednesday in London, where IOC president Jacques Rogge will unveil a multi-million-dollar agreement with American-based giant Procter & Gamble Co.
The IOC and the company wouldn’t name P&G as the new sponsor, but two people familiar with the deal confirmed it to The Associated Press. They did so on condition of anonymity because the announcement hadn’t been made yet.
ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece (AP)—Greek officials have conducted a full dress rehearsal for the lighting of the Olympic flame that will burn at the inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore next month.
Standing in front of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera, an actress dressed as an ancient priestess used a concave mirror to light a silver torch with the sun’s rays Thursday.
