Jorge Lorenzo congratulates Rossi on his seventh MotoGP Premier Class Championship

There’s a certain swagger that goes with being a successful athlete, especially one who has achieved at the level of Rossi, who just clinched his seventh MotoGP Premier Class World Championship with his twelfth podium finish of the 2009 season at the race in Malaysia, the 163^rd time he has stood on the podium in his Hall of Fame MotoGP career. Not to say that he has an arrogant walk, because I don’t think that he does, not like an athlete like Alex Rodriguez, a baseball player who is considered by some to be the greatest player to ever play on a field of dreams. Rossi has a calm kind of serenity as he walks around the track that is confident, yet humble in a way, which is something that must come with years of treading the racing paddock.

Winning a single MotoGP Premier Class Championship is a major achievement for any racer, let along seven, and nine in all classes in total. Rossi has been pushed all season by Jorge Lorenzo and in a funny kind of way Valentino owes the young Spaniard a debt of thanks for being as good as he has been and making Valentino rise to the occasion, which is a major one in history. Jorge is learning from the best in the business what it takes to be a seven time MotoGP Premier Class World Champion and in the coming years we’ll see if Jorge has what it takes to achieve the feats of a racer like Rossi. Rossi’s achievements on a bike should never be down played, it’s often hard enough to ride a bike efficiently without doing harm to ourselves and others, let along race at speeds that are commonly hazardous to life and limb for years on end and come out on top time after time.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Valentino Rossi Gracious in Victory

Lewis Hamilton just warming up?

Hamilton battled through the race, showing the spirit and drive that makes him a world champion, but kept losing ground to the Brawn cars, no matter how well he drove. Starting 18th on the grid Hamilton fought through the race, narrowing avoiding trouble when Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica collided, and was happy to capture six points despite his cars problems with competing.
Give the world champion and his crew a few races to get the car back up to speed, and for him to get an idea of how he has to drive to compete, and he’ll be back strong and competing for the world championship again.
The Australian Grand Prix was an excellent learning lesson for Hamilton, he had to come from behind to reach third, along with a little bad luck for other drivers and good luck for him, but showed patience in hanging in and keeping his car in one piece and on the road. Give him time, probably by the third Grand Prix we’ll see him starting to pick up speed and momentum, and start to close the point’s gap on the fast-running Brawn offerings.
By the time the Grand Prix of China comes around expect the Formula One point’s race to be a lot closer and Brawn’s race team to be sweating a little more then they are at the moment. Hamilton will certainly not give up, despite his car’s problems competing, and its not uncommon for him to come from sixth or seventh in a race, so coming from behind in the Formula One point’s race, is just the kind of challenge the British love.
Images newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Lewis Hamilton Ready to Challenge

Kennie and Kennivic Asuncion, the country’s top badminton pair, face an uphill climb in their bid to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in August.

For falling short in their recent stints in Europe, the siblings need an extraordinary effort in their next tournaments to keep their dream of playing in the quadrennial tournament alive.

The two, according to RP team coach Errol Chan, should come up with strong performances in major tournaments to make it to the magic 16.

Only the top 16 teams in the world are allowed to take part in the Beijing Games slated on Aug. 8 to 24.

A short tidbit, I first came across their names when I blogged about the Badminton MVP Cup – Asia vs Europe last held in Manila.

Well, anyway. August is still a few months away. Kennie and Kennivic Asuncion can still work on their bid to be part of the Olympics. The article said that the two are hoping to compete (for credit) in the Asian Badminton Championships, which is going to be held from April 15 to 24 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Source: Olympic stint looks bleak for Asuncions, Manila Bulletin

Post from: EveryJoe

Tough Trek for the Asuncions, Philippines’ Top Badminton Pair

During the Opening Ceremony of the IV IOC World Conference on Women and Sport in Jordan, IOC President Jacques Rogge announced that the World “Women and Sport” Trophy has been awarded to the first female and youngest Minister of Youth and Sports in Malaysia, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said. Azalina was honoured for boosting the number of women practising sport in Malaysia – and this just under four years since her appointment.

As well as the World Trophy, five continental trophies were presented to women who have made outstanding contributions to strengthening the participation of women and girls in sport around the world. The 2008 winners – a mix of political personalities and former top athletes – were selected by the IOC Women and Sport Commission from 70 candidatures submitted by the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and International Federations (IFs):

- Trophy for Africa: Ana Paula Dos Santos (Angola)

- Trophy for the Americas: Abby Hoffman (Canada)

- Trophy for Asia: Lingwei Li (China)

- Trophy for Europe: Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria)

- Trophy for Oceania: Debbie Watson (Australia)

The ceremony took place at the Dead Sea in Jordan, in the presence of HM King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; HRH Prince Feisal bin Al-Hussein, President of the Jordanian NOC; IOC President Jacques Rogge; Anita DeFrantz, IOC member and Chairwoman of the IOC Women and Sport Commission; the members of the IOC Women and Sport Commission; and the attendees of the IV IOC World Conference on Women and Sport.

During the next two days, more than 600 participants from across the globe will debate the topic “Sport as a vehicle for social change” and the role women and girls can play in this. Keynote speakers include former top athletes, representatives from governments, businesses, UN agencies and the media, and academics. The event is under the patronage of Their Majesties King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and is jointly organised by the IOC and the NOC of Jordan.

Information on the winners:

Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said

As the first female and youngest Minister of Youth and Sports in Malaysia, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said has completely revolutionised the participation of Malaysian women in sport. In addition to her role as Youth and Sports Minister, Azalina is a sports book author, a founder of a sports festival and a women’s sport and fitness foundation and, last but not least, an enthusiastic sports woman. She set up the Women’s Games, attracting 3,400 Malaysian women in 2007; developed the power walk manual, which currently reaches some 60,000 people across the nation; and established 580 community centres, enabling about 100,000 female participants to practise sporting activities.

Ana Paula Dos Santos

The First Lady of the Republic of Angola has taken a hands-on approach to help develop Paralympic sport in her country. Ana Paula Dos Santos is founder and President of the Lwini Foundation – a body that promotes and financially supports the interests of land mine victims. Using sport as a means to bring back hope, she started a collaboration with the Angolan Paralympic Committee and set up the Lwini Cup. During this event, which has already been successfully held six times, people with a disability get the opportunity to enjoy sports activities such as athletics, wheelchair basketball and football.

Abby Hoffman

It was an incident in her childhood that made Canadian Abby Hoffman fight against gender, race, political or unfair discrimination in sport throughout her athletic and professional career. At the age of nine, Hofmann was banned from playing hockey with a boys’ team that she had joined as there were no girls’ teams. She made a career in athletics instead, and participated in four Olympic Games. Later she became the first woman to serve as Director General of Sport Canada. As an IAAF Council member since 1995, she has advocated equality across female and male competition programmes and a minimum 20% female representation in all IAAF committees and commissions.

Lingwei Li

Li Lingwei from China is one of the very few icons who continue to share their experience and expertise even after giving up active competition. As badminton champion in the 1980s and having won over 50 Grand Prix and international titles, she has been the catalyst to attract women and girls to her sport. Later she became the coach of China’s badminton women’s national team and inspired young athletes to greater heights. Today she demonstrates how women can lead by example by being a Council member of the Badminton World Federation, a member of the IOC’s Olympic Programme Commission and Deputy Director General of BOCOG’s International Relations Department.

Stefka Kostadinova

Determination, dynamism and passion have enabled Stefka Kostadinova to become an Olympic champion in the high jump in Atlanta 1996, but also to develop into a successful sports manager in her home country, Bulgaria. After retiring from competition in 1999, Kostadinova decided to provide her expertise to national sports bodies, and is currently Chairwoman of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee. Through her inspirational athletic performance as well as her management skills, Kostadinova has significantly developed the participation of women and girls in athletics, not only in Bulgaria, but also in the whole Balkan area.

Debbie Watson

After being a professional water polo player for 17 years, Australian Debbie Watson is committed to passing on to the next generation what sport has given to her. She is a campaigner for drug-free sport and actively contributes to Australian Olympic Committee’s (AOC) “Live Clean” drug education programme. More recently, she has also become a key presenter in the AOC’s “Winning Attitudes Seminar”, which helps first-time Olympians understand the challenges of competing at the Olympic Games. Who else could be more credible in this role than the Olympic gold medallist from Sydney 2000 who played a record of 315 international games for Australia?

www.olympic.org/jordanconference

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Source

Post from: EveryJoe

Press Release | IOC Honours First Female and Youngest Sports Minister in Malaysia

I reckon that the US have been the leader in International Aquatic Competitions, eh? I learned over the past few months that Australia’s pretty big on Swimming so finding that they come close to what the US have in terms of quality in training, didn’t come as a surprise to me.

I guess foreign athletes from Malaysia, Canada and China, see the advantages in competing in American swimming and diving competitions. Not only do they train with other Olympic hopefuls, they also will be receiving support as they try to reach their full academic potential.

NCAA Championships provide a good preview for future international competition. Because, for the world’s 2008 Olympic hopefuls in swimming and diving, the road to Beijing probably passes through a U.S. university.

Read full article here.

Post from: EveryJoe

World athletes opt to train in the US?

• AUSTRALIA

84 69 68 221

• ENGLAND

36 40 34 110

• CANADA

26 29 31 86

• INDIA

22 17 11 50

• SOUTH AFRICA

12 13 13 38

• SCOTLAND

11 7 11 29

• JAMAICA

10 4 8 22

• MALAYSIA

7 12 10 29

• NEW ZEALAND

6 12 13 31

• KENYA

6 5 7 18

• SINGAPORE

5 6 7 18

• NIGERIA

4 6 7 17

• WALES

3 5 11 19

• CYPRUS

3 1 2 6

• UGANDA

2 0 1 3

• GHANA

2 0 1 3

• PAKISTAN

1 3 1 5

• PAPUA NEW GUINEA

1 1 0 2

• ISLE OF MAN

1 0 1 2

• TANZANIA

1 0 1 2

• NAMIBIA

1 0 1 2

• SRI LANKA

1 0 0 1

• MAURITIUS

0 3 0 3

• NORTHERN IRELAND

0 2 0 2

• BAHAMAS

0 2 0 2

• CAMEROON

0 1 2 3

• NAURU

0 1 1 2

• BOTSWANA

0 1 1 2

• MALTA

0 1 1 2

• LESOTHO

0 1 0 1

• GRENADA

0 1 0 1

• BANGLADESH

0 1 0 1

• TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

0 0 3 3

• SEYCHELLES

0 0 2 2

• MOZAMBIQUE

0 0 1 1

• BARBADOS

0 0 1 1

• FIJI

0 0 1 1

• SWAZILAND

0 0 1 1

• SAMOA

0 0 1 1

Light the Torch congratulates all the winners!

Post from: EveryJoe

Medal Tally – Melbourne 2006