J.R. Celski of the United States (pictured above) captured the Gold at the Short Track Speedskating World Championships in Vienna this past weekend in the men’s 3000m event. He was followed by South Korea’s Lee Ho-suk and Canada’s Charles Hamelin. In the men’s 1000m, former Olympic champion Apollo Anton Ohno was bested by Lee and finished second. Celski finished third in that event. The US won the men’s 5000 relay, with China and Japan finishing second and third respectively. (photo credit: Newscom) [Read more]

Olympic trials have begun now that we’re within one year of the Vancouver Games in February of 2010. Most recently held were the US qualifier for curling. Making the US team were Debbie McCormick and her team for the women and John Schuster and his team for the men. Schuster is a returning Olympian. He was part of the Bronze-Medal-winning team in Turin in 2006. This is McCormick’s first Olympic opportunity. Curling is a game played on ice with teams of four players each, who take turns pitching a granite stone towards a target (called a house) on the ice. Team members help the stone along with brooms. (photo credit: Newscom) [Read more]

John Davis, a three-time Gold Medalist in swimming, is getting his medals back after they were stolen in San Antonio while he was on his way back home from the airport after showing them to kids at a swim meet presentation in St. Louis last week. The three Gold and one Silver Medal were left outside of an area Boys and Girls Club and will be re-presented to Davis in a press conference over the weekend. The 36-year-old Davis won three Golds in the 1996 Atlanta games and the silver in Sydney in 2000. All of his medals were in relay events. [Read more]

It’s just a year until athletes from around the world will converge on Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games. Recently SportsWorld’s Brendan Conner checked up on the preparations. Here’s his report: [Read more]

The Winter Games of the 2009 Special Olympics began on February 7 in Idaho. The Games, which give individuals with intellectual disabilities a chance to compete, are featuring almost 3000 athletes from 100 countries. Participants will compete in seven sports, including figure skating, speed skating, floor hockey, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, shoeshowing, and snowboarding. The Games continue until February 13. The Special Olympics were founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who had started a summer camp for those with intellectual disabilities at her home in Maryland in 1962. The first Winter Games were held in 1977. The organization is recognized by the International Olympic Committee, the only sports group permitted to use “Olympics”... [Read more]