October 9, 2008 - Here’s the details of an upcoming event we thought might interest you -

What: Celebrate Columbus Day with silver-medal winning USA Women’s Softball Team

When: Monday, October 13, 2008 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

10 a.m. - 11 a.m: One-on-one interviews with Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman and the USA Softball team in the Billie Jean King International Sports Center

11 a.m. - 1 p.m.: Jennie Finch, Cat Osterman and the USA Women’s Softball Team in the Museum’s special event space for autograph signing

1 p.m. - 4 p.m.:  Kym Hampton (NY Liberty) skills clinic and autograph signing in the Museum’s special event space

Where: Sports Museum of America - 26 Broadway (at Beaver Street) - Lower Manhattan

More info

From the NY Daily News:

If you want to be even more baffled by the International Olympic Committee’s decision to end women’s softball but keep curling, come to the Sports Museum of America, at Broadway and Beaver St., at lunchtime on Columbus Day. The whole team will be there, including outfielder Jessica Mendoza, who’s been named the new head of the Women’s Sports Foundation…  Word is the IOC doesn’t like sports that Americans keep winning.

Filed under: News Bytes, Olympics, Softball by jane
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October 7, 2008 - Shalane Flanagan won the bronze medal in the women’s 10,000-m at the Beijing Olympics in August. Since the event was added to the Olympics for women in 1988, only one other American has medaled: Lynn Jennings in 1992.

Flanagan shattered her own American Record in the process, running 30:22.22. That’s 4:53 per mile, for more than 6 miles in a row. She crossed the finish line absolutely dumbfounded, asking “Did I do it?” and covering her mouth with her hands as she watched the big screen and learned that she did, in fact, do it.

Flanagan has been known to keep to herself; she trains mostly alone or with her husband, unlike many professional women runners who live near each other and train together. You don’t see her writing blogs, showing up in commercials, or giving speeches. The only commercial I’ve seen her in is a Johnson & Johnson one that honored mothers; Shalane looked into the camera and thanked her mother for all of her support.

Watch Shalane open up a bit to Runners World, below:

Filed under: Athletics, Beijing Summer Games 2008, Running, Sports A-Z, Track & Field by anngaff
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October 3, 2008 - If you’ve got some spare change in your wallet, you might consider joining wealthy supporters of the 2010 Winter Games who are being offered an Olympic dream.  Members of the Vancouver 2010 Club receive 100 prime tickets to the events of their choice, a car and driver, concierge service and even a spot in the torch relay.

Among the benefits:

* 100 premium tickets to any event, including up to eight tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies, a guaranteed four tickets to prime events such as the gold-medal finals of men’s and women’s hockey, curling, figure skating, speed skating and snowboard.

* Premium seating at every victory ceremony.

* A vehicle and driver for four for the Olympic period.

* Admission for two to the International Olympic Committee’s “prestigious Opening Ceremony” of its annual session.

* The right for one person to run in the torch relay, and to keep a torch and torch-relay uniform.

* Entrance to other hospitality functions.

* Contribution of 100 event tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Charitable Ticketing Fund. 

The cost: $285,000. Not including a tax of $14,251. But hurry, because there are only 100 packages available.

Filed under: Vancouver Winter Games 2010 by maddy
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September 17, 2008 - The fashion world is often criticized for a lack of healthy role models but there were plenty of athletic bodies at designer Stella McCartney’s show of Adidas sportswear which opened London’s Fashion Week.

Junking the traditional catwalk motif,  McCartney turned an empty hall into a futuristic health club on Tuesday and filled it with ace athletes wearing her new active wear line for adidas.

Gymnasts did somersaults off trampolines, performed Olympic-style feats on the balance beam, and set a fast pace on treadmills to show the clothes in action.

The show featured two genuine Olympic gold medallists - US track star Allyson Felix and British cyclist Victoria Pendleton - along with members of the British Olympic team, unfazed by their move from Beijing to fashion central. With the Summer Games heading to London in four years, it’s great that McCartney recognized the GB athletes.

Now entering it’s ninth season, the adidas by Stella McCartney Collection continues to be a leader in chic style meets performance gear - however many women opt to rock the gear for everyday wear as well.

The Spring/Summer 2009 Collection provides clothes for tennis, golf, yoga, and swimming, as well as an eco-friendly line featuring organic cotton and footwear made with sustainable materials.  The range included futuristic green running tops, dancewear influenced by the loose tops and layering of the 1980s, and geometric patterned swimwear.

Swimsuits had curvy mesh panels aesthetically inspired by corsetry, but were designed for maximum freedom of movement. The yoga range included leotards worm under loose cropped leggings inspired by men’s long johns. Tennis players were supremely elegant, in feminine, Gatsby-esque tennis dresses with fluted sleeves and lace applique detailing. Runners on treadmills, wore futuristic sheer white hooded sweatshirts and short shorts.  

McCartney’s way of blending a feminine fashion aesthetic with high-performance wear gives the new line powerful female energy and just the right feminine vibe.

“This collection tries to provide for all the needs of a modern woman. Style meets performance is crucial for women today, and I’ve tried to address this in my most recent collection. Remembering you’re alive is key, health is wealth!” says Stella McCartney.

Stella never fails to be on top of the game when it comes to “style meets performance”, and this new collection seems to be the perfect combination of pretty & tough. It definitely gets our stamp of approval!

Filed under: Fashion, Olympics by jane
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September 17, 2008 - So the competition for the gold medals is over. But if you’re still jonesing for more Olympic action, check out the following:

Gymnastics Superstars Tour - Gold medal winner Nastia Liukin, silver medalist Shawn Johnson and teammates join musical artists Jordan Pruitt, KSM and others on a two-month 37-city trek across the United States. Can’t make it to one of the arenas? There will be a two-hour special airing on TV on Sept. 26th.

Achieve Your Gold Tour - If you’re a fan of the gold medal winning U.S. Women’s Soccer Team, they’ve hit the road for a a post-olympic tour playing a series of matches around the county. Check schedule here.

Miss beach volleyball? Catch gold medalist Misty May-Treanor when she partners with Maksim Chmerkovskiy on the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars which premieres Sept. 22nd.

May-Treanor will also play herself in an upcoming episode of The Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place.” The episode air date has not yet been announced.

Still want more?  Here’s a vid that recaps some of the great moments from the Olympics. How many athletes can you identify? 

Filed under: Olympics by jane
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by Ann Gaffigan
 The 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials was not just a track meet; it was a track-a-palooza. 

I landed in Portland, Oregon, and took the Athlete’s shuttle to Eugene, where the meet took place.  As we approached “Track Town USA”, I started to see billboards with phrases like “Home of the Hardest Team to Make” and “Where You’re Fired for Being 0.01 Seconds Late”, punctuated by the Nike swoosh. 

As the shuttle neared my drop-off at the Living Learning Center, a dormitory rented out to athletes during the Trials, we passed the famous Track Town Pizza and a bar that had a large Adidas banner hanging above its front door.  The time had finally come.

I competed in the 3000m steeplechase in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials.  I won and set an American Record in the process.  But I did not go to the Olympics in Athens.  The steeplechase was not yet an Olympic event for women (it has been an Olympic event for men since the first Games).  So for the past 4 years, I put the rest of my life on hold and trained. 

I stayed in Lincoln, Nebraska, to be coached by my collegiate coach, Jay Dirksen.  I worked hard to balance the training, the recovery and sleep, the proper nutrition, and the job to pay the bills.  The 2008 Trials were the light at the end of the tunnel. 

Since 2004, more women have tried the steeplechase and those who already were doing it honed their hurdling skills, water jump technique, and training to perfect the art of the event.  The American record had been re-set twice since I had set it and several women were threatening to break it again SOON.  It was definitely going to be one of the “hardest teams to make”. 

Only the top three women in the final would qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team and many more than three wanted to make that team.  BADLY.  This was the first shot at the Olympics for all of us steeplechasers. 

(more…)

Filed under: General, Olympics, Profiles, Sports A-Z, Steeplechase, Track & Field by anngaff
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September 8, 2008 - Right on the heels of great success at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, U.S. Olympians traveled to Chicago last week for a taping of “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. 

Fans began lining up at 6 a.m. on Saturday for a chance to snag free tickets to show’s season premiere featuring 150 U.S. Olympic athletes.

By noon, the line of Winfrey fans and U.S. Olympic supporters stretched nearly six city blocks in Chicago’s Millennium Park. The show will air Sept. 8 and include appearances by gold medalists Nastia Liukin, Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh, Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker and members of the gold medal Women’s Basketball Team, cyclist Kristin Armstrong and fencer Mariel Zagunis. Also, silver medalist Jennie Finch & members of the Women’s Olympic Softball Team, the silver medal Women’s Water Polo Team, and more.

Tickets for the Winfrey’s tapings are usually available only by phone and nearly impossible to get, so fans were itching for the 2,000 seats up for grabs for the taping.

Winfrey’s Harpo Productions said the show is a “welcome home celebration” for the athletes and a chance to feature Chicago in the city’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Chicago is a finalist for the 2016 games along with Tokyo; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Madrid, Spain. The International Olympic Committee will choose the 2016 host next year.

Check out behind-the-scenes clips from today’s show.

Filed under: Entertainment, Olympics, TV by jane
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September 4, 2008 - The London Games are four years away but already Britain is on the hunt for Olympic Gold.  An all-woman sporting version of The X-Factor has started auditioning for fast-track training in cycling, canoeing, rowing, sailing and modern pentathlon. It’s all part of the effort to identify athletic girls who have what it takes to stand on top of the podium.

More than 900 hopefuls are participating in Britain’s increasingly sophisticated talent hunt for London 2012. Contestants leap their way through a high-jump series, pedal a static bike and haul away at two rowing machines as a first step to possible Olympic gold.

A force behind this recruitment drive for young athletic women is Girls4Gold - an organization spearheaded by cycling champion Victoria Pendleton and Olympic silver medallist Shelley Rudman.

The aim is to uncover hidden talent with the potential to rise to the podium at London 2012 and beyond. Girls4Gold’is the latest in a series of talent identification initiatives led by UK Sport and the EIS on behalf of targeted national governing bodies.

It will introduce promising female athletes into specific sports and boost Britain’s overall talent pool by embracing those sports where female athletes have a real chance of medal success.

British women aged 17-25, who have competed at county level or above in any sport, are invited to apply.

China made a concerted effort to win a record number of gold medals at the Beijing Games and it looks like the UK is following suit. With this newly fueled interest in female competitors, look out world - London’s calling!

Filed under: London Summer Games 2012, Olympics by jane
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August 26, 2008 - You won’t find them at Ozzfest. They won’t be in the mosh pit or headbanging. But the U.S. Olympic team has a record number of medal heads. In fact, Americans won the overall count with 110 medals; more than half of those were won by women.

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.

Filed under: Beijing Summer Games 2008, General by jane
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August 26, 2008 - Miss the games? Then, check out some of NBC’s and USA Softball’s post Olympic games coverage.  

1. Check out eight things you might not know about Andrea Duran.  

2. Read this article about the player’s reactions to the IOC’s decision to keep softball out of the 2012 games.  

3.  View Vicky Galindo’s inspiring story about overcoming an injury here. 

4.  Check out player blogs, including Jennie Finch’s heartfelt reaction to the gold medal game. 

Filed under: Beijing Summer Games 2008, Olympics, Softball by keri mikulski
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