August 29, 2008

Individual athletes up for the award include figure skater Mao Asado, swimmer Natalie Coughlin, golfer Lorena Ochoa,  fencer Rebecca Ward. Team athletes include paralympian Patty Cisneros, doubles partners Venus and Serena Williams, basketball player Candace Parker, beach volleyball Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh.

Cast your vote by midnight, September 2, and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win one of five items autographed by your favorite sportswomen. 

And the nominees are:

August 26, 2008

The way Olympic medals work is that a medal for a team sport - such as the golds won by each of the women on the U.S. soccer team  - counts as just one. If, instead, the medals awarded to each individual are counted, the totals underscore the American commitment to team sports. They read like this:

Americans: 315 medals
Chinese: 186

Notable medal heads include:

• Basketball: The U.S. team, led by Lisa Leslie, claimed a fourth straight Olympic gold medal with a 92-65 blowout of Australia.
• Beach Volleyball: Kerri Walsh and Misty Misty May-Treanor are the first pair, male or female, to repeat as Olympic champions in beach volleyball.
• Cycling/BMX: Two American women took home medals - Kristin Armstrong won gold and BMXer Jill Kintner captured bronze.
• Equestrian: A number of women from the U.S. team medaled including Laura Kraut,  Beezie Madden and Gina Miles.
• Fencing: Americans Mariel Zagunis, Sada Jacobson and Becca Ward swept women’s sabre.
• Gymnastics: Nastia Liukin became the third American woman to take the individual all-around in gymanstics and Shawn Johnson won a gold medal on the balance beam. The pair of gymnasts won five and four medals respectively.
• Pole Vault: Jenn Stuczynski, making her first Olympic appearance, captured a silver medal.
• Rowing: The U.S. women’s eight won gold for the first time since 1984.
• Soccer: In stellar fashion, and without injured striker Abby Wambach, the U.S. women took gold by beating arch rival Brazil.
• Softball: In their first Olympic loss, the U.S. team garnered a silver medal in what may be the last softball match played at the Summer Games.
• Swimming: Americans won 31 medals including six by Natalie Coughlin, the most by a U.S. woman in Beijing. Dara Torres, the oldest swimmer at the Olympic Games, won three medals as did Rebecca Soni, Margaret Hoelzer and Katie Hoff. Swimming Medals
• Taekwondo:  The Lopez family kicked its way into history as Diana Lopez captured a bronze medal.
• Tennis: Venus and Serena Williams won gold medals as doubles partners.
• Track & Field: Allyson Felix and Sanya Richards took home two medals each. Stephanie Brown-Trafton won a bronze medal for discus.
• Volleyball: The U.S. women’s team took home a silver medal after failing to upset Brazil in the gold medal match.
• Water Polo:  The women on the U.S. water polo team captured a silver medal.

Fun Fact: The hardware handed out at the Beijing Games included a nod to the Olympics’ Greek roots and a ring of jade, representing honor and pride in Chinese culture. Each medal weighs about five ounces.

August 25, 2008

Well, the YWCA wanted answers and they just released a new report revealing the impact of idealized, airbrushed beauty and body image obsession on the economic well-being, health and interpersonal relationships of American women and girls.

The report, Beauty at Any Cost, shows alarming new trends and money spent on cosmetic surgery alterations, including dramatic increases among young women, and other serious health risks.

Standards perpetuated by a youth-obsessed media culture literally send thousands of messages, 24 hours a day. “We believe that the obsession with idealized beauty and body image is a lifelong burden that takes a terrible toll on all young girls and women in this country,” said YWCA USA CEO, Dr. Lorraine Cole. 

Some highlights of the Beauty at Any Cost report:

•  Americans fork over nearly $7 billion a year to cosmetics, beauty supply and perfume stores, and nearly 11.7 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed — an almost 500% increase in such procedures from 1997.
• If women put the average amount of money they spent on monthly manicure-pedicures ($50) into an interest-bearing retirement account every year for 10 years, they would have almost $10,000 saved.
• Over half of teenage girls use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting and taking laxatives.
• Forty percent of newly diagnosed cases of eating disorders are in girls 15 to 19 years old, but symptoms can occur as young as kindergarten. Girls who spent the most time and effort on their appearance suffered “the greatest loss of confidence.”
• In the U.S., cosmetics are not subject to testing by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Individual companies are responsible for substantiating the safety of their products.

“We felt the problem had reached such a crisis proportion that we needed to speak up and draw a line in the sand that this must stop,” said Nancy Loving, director of communications for YWCA USA who added that the group will use the report as a jumping-off point for educational programs in its 300 locations in the U.S.

To help raise awareness and start a national conversation about these issues, the YWCA USA has teamed up with documentary filmmaker Darryl Roberts to become the distribution partner of his new documentary film, “America the Beautiful.”  The film provides an in-depth look and critical analysis of the harm inflicted by beauty obsession on young women and girls.

What do you think? Does America have an unhealthy obsession with being beautiful? 

August 21, 2008

By most accounts goalkeeper Hope Solo, who made six saves to earn the shutout victory, was the star of the game but let’s not forget the other 17 members of the team who all contributed whether on the field or on the bench. This was USA’s third gold medal since women’s soccer was added in 1996.

Hopefully injured striker Amy Wambach, as well as Leslie Osborne and Cat Whitehill who are out with ACL tears, were able to celebrate some of that much-deserved glory.

Source: US Soccer

August 21, 2008

Located in Huntsville, Alabama, the Tigers will play their first season in the spring of 2009. However, these ladies are no strangers to football. Many of them have played on other women’s football teams; some for over 8 years! These women are excited to play new teams and enjoy old rivalries.

Look out! The Clarksville Fox, located in Clarsksville, Tennessee is made of women who have played against the Huntsville-based team before. And there’s no love loss between these two teams. The Kentucky Nightmare is another new team made of women the Tigers have played. With old frenemies and a new league, the TN Valley Tigers hope to continue the tradition of women’s football in the South.

You can visit the Tigers’ website at www.tigersiwfl.com for more information. Please support your local women’s football team - from Canada to Miami, Maine to California, this sport is taking over!

Beach Volleyball:
May-Treanor, Walsh one step away from gold - May-Treanor and Walsh, ranked second, advanced to Thursday’s gold-medal match by defeating Brazil’s No. 6 Talita Antunes and Renata Ribeiro, 21-12, 21-14.

Gymnastics:
Shawn Johnson wins gold in balance beam-Shawn Johnson finally got her Olympic gold medal in the last event of the women’s competition, the balance beam.

Track & Field:
Dawn Harper wins hurdles gold medal- Dawn Harper of the U.S. won the 100 m hurdles in a personal best 12.54 seconds.

Basketball:
U.S. routs Mali in women’s hoops - Lisa Leslie set a U.S. Olympic record going 7-for-7 from the field as the women’s team continued its unblemished run through the Beijing Games with a 97-41 victory against Mali.

Cycling:
Kristin Armstrong gets Olympic gold -  becomes only second U.S. woman to win cycling gold.

Swimming:
Americans Hoff, Ziegler miss out on swimming gold - Neither Hoff nor Ziegler advanced to the finals -  a stunning result for the U.S., which has won the event seven times, including five straight from 1984-2000.

Tennis:
Venus Williams loses in Olympic tennis quarters - Venus Williams is the latest upset victim in Olympic tennis, losing to Li Na of China in the quarterfinals.
Serena Williams loses in Olympic tennis quarters -  Serena Williams lost her quarterfinal match at the Olympics to Elena Dementievaof Russia.

Water Polo:
U.S. women tie Italy 9-9 - Late goal by Italy leads to draw for U.S. Olympic Team for Women’s Water Polo

August 12, 2008 - Back in May, we posted an article called See Mommy Run in honor of Mother’s Day. Taking the theme one step further, we wanted to shine the spotlight on some of the Medaling Mamas competing in Beijing at the Summer Games.

Xian Dongmei is the first mother to capture a gold medal in China. She already had one under her belt for judo from the 2004 Games but after an injury she retired. Xian gave birth to her daughter last year and claims to be the only “mama judoka” in China. She couldn’t stay away from the training center and the 33-year old won her second gold medal on Sunday.

2008 marks the fifth Olympics for Uzbeck turned German Oksana Chusovitina - a gymnastics record. Her son, Alisher, 8, was diagnosed with leukemia at age two and Oksana used her gymnastics earnings to pay for his treatment.

Just how many “mommy” Olympians are out there? On the U.S. Olympic squad alone there are at least 20 - most with kids under the age of 6.  Here’s a list provided by the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Basketball
• Lisa Leslie is the mother of Lauren Jolie Lockwood, born June 15, 2007. A three-time Olympic gold medalist, three-time MVP of the WNBA, and the first woman ever to dunk in a professional basketball game, Lisa Leslie is considered one of the greatest players in the history of women’s basketball. 
• Tina Thompson is the mother of Dyllan, born May 2005. She is a 2004 gold medalist, 2002 World Championships gold medalist and won four WNBA titles with the Houston Comets.

Equestrian
• Show Jumper Laura Kraut has a son, Bobby.
• Eventer Gina Miles has two children, Taylor and Austin
• Dressage rider Debbie McDonald has a son, Ryan.

Judo
• Valerie Gotay began competing at the international level by the age of 14 and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team in 1992 at the age of 18. After the Barcelona Games she retired from competition to pursue a degree in psychology. In 1996 Gotay got married and gave birth to her first of two children.  She returned to competition in 2004 and converted much of her home into a training facility to better help her juggle motherhood and competition.

Shooting
• Brenda Shinn’a son, Kenneth (born January 16, 1987) is the oldest child of a current American Olympian mother. Shinn, 46, is competing in her first Olympics.

Soccer
• Kate Markgraf, defender, Bloomfield Hills, Mich. (living in Milwaukee, Wis.), has one son Keegan, who is 21 months. 
• Christie Rampone, defender, Point Pleasant, N.J. (living in Redondo Beach, Calif.), has a daughter Rylie, who is almost three years old. 

Softball
• Stacey Nuveman, catcher, La Verne, Calif., has one son, Chase, who was born June 6, 2007.
• Jennie Finch, pitcher, La Mirada, Calif., has one son, Ace Shane Daigle, who was born May 2006.

Swimming
• Four-time Olympian Dara Torres has one daughter (Tessa) who was born in April 2006. Torres, a four-time Olympian with 9 (now 10) medals under her belt, never dreamed of competing after she had children. She used swimming as a way to stay fit during her pregnancy and discovered she still had the drive, and, apparently, the talent to compete with the best.

Tennis
• 2000 Olympic gold medalist Lindsay Davenport, Laguna Beach, Calif., has one son, Jagger Jonathan Leach, born June 10, 2007.

Track & Field
• 2008 Olympic Trials marathon runner-up Magdalena Lewy Boulet (son, 3).  She made the Olympic Team in the women’s marathon. An immigrant from Poland Boulet was sworn in as a citizen on 9/11/01.
• 2005 World Championships silver medalist Chaunte Howard has a child  who is almost 1.
• Aretha Thurmond: 3-time Olympian in the discus has a son, Theo, who was born in June 2007. She competed 18 days later at the 2007 Outdoor Championships.
• Tiffany Ross-Williams: Two-time USA champion in the 400m hurdles (’07 and ’08 Olympic Trials) has a daughter Samya born 2005.
• Joanne Dow: Four-time USA outdoor champion (including ‘08 Olympic Trials Champion) has two children: Hannah (born 1989) and Timmy (born 1992).

Volleyball
• 2004 Olympian Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, Honolulu, Hawai’i, has one son, Jordan Nohili Ah Mow Santos, who was born on Feb. 2, 2003.  During the 2004 Olympics, she kept a portrait of her baby under her uniform.

Weightlifting
• Next time you think you have a busy life consider that of Melanie Roach for some perspective. She’s the mother of three small children under the age of six, one of whom is autistic, owner/operator of a gymnastics training facility with over 500 students, wife of a fourth term incumbent Washington State House of Representatives legislator, Sunday school teacher and a U.S. Olympic Hopeful.

How fortunate we are to be living during a time when moms can be anything, do anything, and succeed at any age. These gals are truly an inspiration and proof that just because a woman is someone’s mom, that doesn’t mean she can’t kick your a**.

Check out this great photo gallery from NBC Olympics.

Beach Volleyball:
May-Treanor, Walsh extend match winning streak -The U.S. beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Kerri Walsh (Orinda, Calif.) continued their march through pool play at the 2008 Olympic Games on Tuesday with a 21-15, 21-16 defeat of Cuba’s Dalixia Fernandez Grasset and Tamara Larrea Peraza marking their 103rd-straight match victory.

Soccer:
US women rout New Zealand to reach quarterfinals  The U.S. advances to Olympic Quaterfinals with 4-0 victory over New Zealand while Japan steamrolls Norway 5 - 1 to knock them back to #2 in Group G. Tue Aug 12, 9:44 AM ET

Tennis:
3 wins for Venus, Serena at Beijing Olympics - Venus and Serena Williams won in singles and doubles Tuesday, and the toughest match was the one they played together.

Beach Volleyball:
Branagh, Youngs defeat Germans in two sets - Enjoying relatively mild temperatures and a light breeze, Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) and Elaine Youngs (El Toro, Calif.), ranked fifth, defeated Germany’s eighth-ranked Stephanie Pohl and Okka Rau, 21-17, 21-16 in 47 minutes in an Olympic pool play match on Monday at the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground.

Swimming:
Hoff comes up short in Olympic pool - Katie Hoff is collecting Olympic medals — just not in the color she expects of herself. Hoff took silver in the 400-meter freestyle, losing the Olympic gold in an upset to Rebecca Adlington of Britain. She also won a bronze in the 400-meter IM where she went in as a record holder.

Natalie Coughlin defends gold in 100 m backstroke - Coughlin didn’t take back the world record from Kirsty Coventry but she defended her Olympic title, stretching for the wall in what NBC analyst Rowdy Gaines called “the finish of a lifetime.”

Tennis:
Tearful Mirza joins Beijing casualty list. A tearful Sania Mirza retired from the Olympic singles tournament with a right wrist injury on Monday, shattering her “dream” to play here and dealing a blow to Indian hopes. Mon Aug 11, 7:43 AM ET