January 20, 2006 TO HILL AND BACK Filed under: Torino 2006 SUPERSONIC Roger Cruickshank is heading for the Winter Olympics - just 10 months after doctors feared he’d never ski again. The trainee fighter pilot will fly the flag in Great Britain’s downhill ski team next month in Turin. Last March, Roger, from Banchory, Aberdeenshire, shattered his leg in a horrific accident at an international giant slalom race in Arber, Germany. A smashed tibia meant he needed a metal plate with nine pins inserted in his left leg. Roger, 23, a flight lieutenant based at RAF Leuchars, said: “I slid on my hip into a bank of fresh snow. My leg stopped dead but the rest of my body carried on. As a pilot, I don’t get scared flying at 700mph upside down. read all on Daily Record Comments (0) January 19, 2006 Gebrselassie Sets World Record in Half Marathon Filed under: Results, Athletes haile gebresilassieHaile Gebrselassie shattered the world half marathon record by 21 seconds Sunday while running the last half of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Arizona marathon. He also broke the 20-kilometer world mark en route. It marked the 19th and 20th times the diminutive Ethiopian has broken world records in his career. “This one is so fantastic because this is my first one in America,” he said. “It’s a little special to me. It’s really, really wonderful.” His half marathon time of 58 minutes, 55 seconds on a clear, crisp morning through the streets of Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe broke the mark of 59:16 set by 18-year-old Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, last Sept. 11. Whole article on Friends of Ethiopia Comments (0) London Olympics to light IT flame Filed under: Olympic Bids The 2012 London Olympics will demand major investments in IT for transport management, security and other areas of the public sector, according to a new report from Kable The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) has a projected budget of £204m for information systems, £63m for telecommunicaitons and £12.5m for internet applications to help make the games a success. The Role of IT in the 2012 Olympics shows that information technology will be needed for far more than the management of the competitions. A major effort will be needed to ensure the smooth flow of competitors, officials and spectators to and from the events. According to London’s ‘bid book’ for the Olympics, the sector will account for £7.2bn of the £9.9bn of capital investment, and there will be significant upgrades of the relevant information systems. Comments (0) Georgia 2014 Presents Bid Filed under: Olympic Bids Georgia presented a bid Tuesday for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, reports the Novosti-Gruziya news agency. The bid must be submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by next month.There are six other countries bidding for the 2014 Games and the IOC is expected to narrow the race to three in July. Georgian officials said securing a place in the final three was the current priority for the bid. The agency reports that building the infrastructure for the Games would cost Georgia about $3 billion which authorities expect would be partially covered by private capital. Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli told members of the National Olympic Committee that much of the construction work for the Olympics would be completed well before 2014. Comments (0) Grenoble Mayor Wants To Bid For 2018 Winter Games Filed under: Olympic Bids Grenoble Mayor Michel Destot said Monday that he wants the French city to launch a bid for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Grenoble hosted the 1968 Olympics. The Mayor said that a survey showed 75 per cent of Grenoble residents approved of the city bidding for the 2018 Winter Games. He said, “it’s an event that can mobilize all the elected people and mayors no matter their political persuasion”. Comments (0) 2006 Winter Olympics Preview: Skeleton Filed under: Torino 2006 Returning to the Olympics for the second time, skeleton has become one of the more daring sports and is attracting plenty of attention from curious onlookers.Sometimes called backwards luge, riders slide down an icy chute on their stomachs head-first in the prone position on steel-framed sleds weighing as much as 94.6 pounds. Women riders cannot have a sled that exceeds 77 pounds. The speeds are as fast as 80 mph on sleds that don’t have devices for braking or steering. Skeleton’s 2002 program in Utah was the first time it was held at the Olympics since the 1948 Games at St. Moritz, Switzerland. The only other time it was contested was in 1928 when the Winter Games were also held in St. Moritz. This will be the second Olympics for women’s skeleton. The town of Cesana, which is about 55 miles from Torino, will be the site of the luge, bobsled and skeleton events. The women’s event takes place Thursday, February 16 and the men will race the following day. Both men’s and women’s singles participate with two runs per competition. The winners are determined by total time of the runs. Read all this article by Eric Gold Comments (0) January 18, 2006 2006 Winter Olympics Preview: Ski Jumping Filed under: It’s hard to imagine such a dangerous sport taking place in the 1924 Olympics in Chamonix, but it was a marquee event in those historic Games. Back then there was just one generic brand of ski jumping, whereas, today it is broken up into three separate events. The oldest of the events is the individual large hill (140 meters high), which was part of the 1924 Games. The individual normal-hill competition (106 meters) was added at the 1964 Innsbruck Games and the team large-hill competition was unveiled at the 1988 Calgary Games. The origins of ski jumping can be traced back to Norway in the 1860s. Throughout the mid-1800s, ski jumping was part of ski carnivals in Norway, but legendary Norwegian nordic athlete Sondre Nordheim is credited with the first officially measured ski jump in 1860… Read all this good article by Dan Di Sciullo, Contributing Olympic Editor >> Comments (0) Avril Lavigne to play for Olympics closer Filed under: Torino 2006 avrilCanadian rocker Avril Lavigne has been tapped to sing during the official closing ceremony of the Games. Lavigne will be the center of a special 8-minute production looking forward to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Quebec, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Tuesday. The choice of a singer from Ontario is a sign the Vancouver 2010 Committee is determined to make the 2010 Olympics ‘Canada`s Games.’ Comments (0) January 17, 2006 Fellini-inspired ceremony to close Turin Olympics Filed under: Torino 2006 Federico Fellini-inspired clowns, acrobats and high-wire acts will perform at the closing ceremony for the Turin Olympics. The circus theme also will include aspects from Italy’s winter Carnival, a masked celebration based in Venice each February. A preview of the Feb. 26 ceremony was attended by about 200 people in a Milan theater Monday. Actual costumes featured in Fellini’s 1971 film “The Clowns” will be used. They were made by Academy Award-winning designer Danilo Donati. Tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform and Canadian rocker Avril Lavigne will sing during the handoff to representatives of the 2010 Winter Games to in Vancouver, British Columbia. The “Sparks of Passion” bladers, futuristic performers zipping around on roller blades with flames shooting from the back of their helmets, also will appear. The group is to be introduced at the Feb. 10 opening ceremony. Before the flame is put out, the final medals will be awarded for the men’s 50-kilometer cross country race. Comments (0) January 16, 2006 Fifth consecutive victory for Rocca in slalom Filed under: Athletes, Torino 2006 Wengen, Switzerland — Giorgio Rocca fought back from fourth place after the opening run to extend his perfect season record with a fifth straight World Cup slalom victory yesterday.Rocca, who had 0.30 seconds to make up on the second run, won with an aggregate time of 1 minute 42.28 seconds to join compatriot Alberto Tomba, Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark and Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg as the only men to have won five consecutive World Cup slalom races. “It is a big honour to have my name in the history of skiing,” Rocca said.

January 20, 2006 TO HILL AND BACK Filed under: Torino 2006 SUPERSONIC Roger Cruickshank is heading for the Winter Olympics - just 10 months after doctors feared he’d never ski again. The trainee fighter pilot will fly the flag in Great Britain’s downhill ski team next month in Turin. Last March, Roger, from Banchory, Aberdeenshire, shattered his leg in a horrific accident at an international giant slalom race in Arber, Germany. A smashed tibia meant he needed a metal plate with nine pins inserted in his left leg. Roger, 23, a flight lieutenant based at RAF Leuchars, said: “I slid on my hip into a bank of fresh snow. My leg stopped dead but the rest of my body carried on. As a pilot, I don’t get scared flying at 700mph upside down. read all on Daily Record Comments (0) January 19, 2006 Gebrselassie Sets World Record in Half Marathon Filed under: Results, Athletes haile gebresilassieHaile Gebrselassie shattered the world half marathon record by 21 seconds Sunday while running the last half of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Arizona marathon. He also broke the 20-kilometer world mark en route. It marked the 19th and 20th times the diminutive Ethiopian has broken world records in his career. “This one is so fantastic because this is my first one in America,” he said. “It’s a little special to me. It’s really, really wonderful.” His half marathon time of 58 minutes, 55 seconds on a clear, crisp morning through the streets of Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe broke the mark of 59:16 set by 18-year-old Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, last Sept. 11. Whole article on Friends of Ethiopia Comments (0) London Olympics to light IT flame Filed under: Olympic Bids The 2012 London Olympics will demand major investments in IT for transport management, security and other areas of the public sector, according to a new report from Kable The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) has a projected budget of £204m for information systems, £63m for telecommunicaitons and £12.5m for internet applications to help make the games a success. The Role of IT in the 2012 Olympics shows that information technology will be needed for far more than the management of the competitions. A major effort will be needed to ensure the smooth flow of competitors, officials and spectators to and from the events. According to London’s ‘bid book’ for the Olympics, the sector will account for £7.2bn of the £9.9bn of capital investment, and there will be significant upgrades of the relevant information systems. Comments (0) Georgia 2014 Presents Bid Filed under: Olympic Bids Georgia presented a bid Tuesday for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, reports the Novosti-Gruziya news agency. The bid must be submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by next month.There are six other countries bidding for the 2014 Games and the IOC is expected to narrow the race to three in July. Georgian officials said securing a place in the final three was the current priority for the bid. The agency reports that building the infrastructure for the Games would cost Georgia about $3 billion which authorities expect would be partially covered by private capital. Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli told members of the National Olympic Committee that much of the construction work for the Olympics would be completed well before 2014. Comments (0) Grenoble Mayor Wants To Bid For 2018 Winter Games Filed under: Olympic Bids Grenoble Mayor Michel Destot said Monday that he wants the French city to launch a bid for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Grenoble hosted the 1968 Olympics. The Mayor said that a survey showed 75 per cent of Grenoble residents approved of the city bidding for the 2018 Winter Games. He said, “it’s an event that can mobilize all the elected people and mayors no matter their political persuasion”. Comments (0) 2006 Winter Olympics Preview: Skeleton Filed under: Torino 2006 Returning to the Olympics for the second time, skeleton has become one of the more daring sports and is attracting plenty of attention from curious onlookers.Sometimes called backwards luge, riders slide down an icy chute on their stomachs head-first in the prone position on steel-framed sleds weighing as much as 94.6 pounds. Women riders cannot have a sled that exceeds 77 pounds. The speeds are as fast as 80 mph on sleds that don’t have devices for braking or steering. Skeleton’s 2002 program in Utah was the first time it was held at the Olympics since the 1948 Games at St. Moritz, Switzerland. The only other time it was contested was in 1928 when the Winter Games were also held in St. Moritz. This will be the second Olympics for women’s skeleton. The town of Cesana, which is about 55 miles from Torino, will be the site of the luge, bobsled and skeleton events. The women’s event takes place Thursday, February 16 and the men will race the following day. Both men’s and women’s singles participate with two runs per competition. The winners are determined by total time of the runs. Read all this article by Eric Gold Comments (0) January 18, 2006 2006 Winter Olympics Preview: Ski Jumping Filed under: It’s hard to imagine such a dangerous sport taking place in the 1924 Olympics in Chamonix, but it was a marquee event in those historic Games. Back then there was just one generic brand of ski jumping, whereas, today it is broken up into three separate events. The oldest of the events is the individual large hill (140 meters high), which was part of the 1924 Games. The individual normal-hill competition (106 meters) was added at the 1964 Innsbruck Games and the team large-hill competition was unveiled at the 1988 Calgary Games. The origins of ski jumping can be traced back to Norway in the 1860s. Throughout the mid-1800s, ski jumping was part of ski carnivals in Norway, but legendary Norwegian nordic athlete Sondre Nordheim is credited with the first officially measured ski jump in 1860… Read all this good article by Dan Di Sciullo, Contributing Olympic Editor >> Comments (0) Avril Lavigne to play for Olympics closer Filed under: Torino 2006 avrilCanadian rocker Avril Lavigne has been tapped to sing during the official closing ceremony of the Games. Lavigne will be the center of a special 8-minute production looking forward to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Quebec, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Tuesday. The choice of a singer from Ontario is a sign the Vancouver 2010 Committee is determined to make the 2010 Olympics ‘Canada`s Games.’ Comments (0) January 17, 2006 Fellini-inspired ceremony to close Turin Olympics Filed under: Torino 2006 Federico Fellini-inspired clowns, acrobats and high-wire acts will perform at the closing ceremony for the Turin Olympics. The circus theme also will include aspects from Italy’s winter Carnival, a masked celebration based in Venice each February. A preview of the Feb. 26 ceremony was attended by about 200 people in a Milan theater Monday. Actual costumes featured in Fellini’s 1971 film “The Clowns” will be used. They were made by Academy Award-winning designer Danilo Donati. Tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform and Canadian rocker Avril Lavigne will sing during the handoff to representatives of the 2010 Winter Games to in Vancouver, British Columbia. The “Sparks of Passion” bladers, futuristic performers zipping around on roller blades with flames shooting from the back of their helmets, also will appear. The group is to be introduced at the Feb. 10 opening ceremony. Before the flame is put out, the final medals will be awarded for the men’s 50-kilometer cross country race. Comments (0) January 16, 2006 Fifth consecutive victory for Rocca in slalom Filed under: Athletes, Torino 2006 Wengen, Switzerland — Giorgio Rocca fought back from fourth place after the opening run to extend his perfect season record with a fifth straight World Cup slalom victory yesterday.Rocca, who had 0.30 seconds to make up on the second run, won with an aggregate time of 1 minute 42.28 seconds to join compatriot Alberto Tomba, Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark and Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg as the only men to have won five consecutive World Cup slalom races. “It is a big honour to have my name in the history of skiing,” Rocca said.