After the baseball/softball fiasco, where some of the Lords of the Rings apparently thought the sports were the same when they dropped both from the next Games, the IOC has revamped its system for 2016. Next time, the executive board will offer a list of sports to be voted on as a whole, with only a majority (instead of two-thirds) needed to pass. If the members turn thumbs-down, they'll then vote on each sport separately ... With the addition of skicross, the freestyle version of snowboardcross, the 2010 program is complete. Left off the list, as expected, were women's ski jumping, team competitions in Alpine skiing, bobsled, and skeleton, a biathlon mixed relay, and curling mixed doubles. Women's jumping, which won't be included in the world Nordic championships until 2009, was deemed unready. "Not enough athletes and not enough countries," said IOC vice president Gunilla Lindberg ... Boxing finally may be on the way to cleaning up its act now that Pakistani octogenarian Anwar Chowdhry has been dumped as president of the international federation after two decades. Chowdhry, whom critics charged was corrupt, was beaten by Taiwan's Wu Ching-kuo in the recent elections. Even though some of Chowdhry's cronies are still in the mix, the IOC is sufficiently satisfied that AIBA is reforming itself that it has begun releasing the $1 million in subsidies that it's been withholding since the Athens Games, which were marred by scoring and judging selection issues.
Ice spills
Downer for the US figure skaters, who didn't medal at the Grand Prix Final in Russia despite qualifying for three of the four events. The tone was set when their best bet, dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, pulled out beforehand after he was injured. Then Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek withdrew after falling during the competition, Rena Inoue and John Baldwin missed the pairs podium after twice faltering on their signature throw triple axel, and dancers Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov finished last. Biggest upset was South Korea's Kim Yu Na dethroning Japanese defending champion Mao Asada, who finished fourth in the free skate after botching her triple axel ... While the Russians' skating fortunes are declining (just one medal at the Final), the Americans' are rising. They made up more than half of the field at the junior Grand Prix Final, where they won all four events (including a gold by Wakefield's Stephen Carriere) and grabbed 10 of 12 medals, including a 1-2-3-4 sweep in the women's competition ... Though Sasha Cohen says she's simply taking some time off, her odds of making it to Vancouver in 2010 are long. By then she'll be 25 and will need to upgrade her programs significantly to make a third Olympic team. As it is, Cohen doesn't do triple-triple combinations and has never tried a triple axel in competition. Skipping a full season won't help her. The Olympic runner-up would have been hard-pressed to retain her US title next month against world champ Kimmie Meissner, who's already got the technical goods that Cohen needs.
US run halted
The US skiers, who were on a historic run (nine World Cup medals by five skiers in six days across all four disciplines) before the holiday break, finally came up empty yesterday as Bode Miller skied off the downhill course in Bormio, Italy, and Julia Mancuso finished fourth in the giant slalom in Semmering, Austria. Michael Walchhofer's victory ended Austria's 13-race winless streak on the men's side. Miller, despite his wrangling with the federation over bunking requirements, has three titles (with another downhill shot today) and is pushing Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal for the World Cup lead. And Lindsey Kildow, with two titles and five medals, is sitting fifth behind a quartet of Austrians ... Gone mum is US speedskater Shani Davis, who wouldn't talk to the media last week while he was winning his fourth straight domestic all-around long-track crown, beating top rival Chad Hedrick in three of the four races. "Shani doesn't want to talk to anybody," his mother Cherie told the New York Times. "He doesn't want to have to explain himself anymore." Claiming her fifth women's crown was Catherine Raney, still cruising at 26 ... The US skeletors, who had a nightmarish Olympics on and off the ice last winter, have been on fire this season. Zach Lund, who was booted off the Turin team after testing positive for a steroid masking agent, has won two of three men's races and Katie Uehlander has taken all three women's. Sliding well again (two medals) is Noelle Pikus-Pace, whose broken leg early last season sabotaged her Olympic hopes ... Off to a flying start is US bobsledder Shauna Rohbock, who's tied for first in the women's World Cup standings with Germany's Catherine Martini after winning two of the first three races. Steven Holcomb, the top men's driver now that Todd Hays has retired, has won three straight silver medals in two-man and is third overall behind German leader Andre Lange.
Huge in luge
The German women, who've won 68 straight World Cup luge races, are dominating the circuit after four events, sweeping all 12 medals behind overall leader Silke Kraushaar-Pielach. It's been a barren season so far for the Americans, who haven't made a podium. Best performer has been Westborough's Ashley Hayden, who's sixth in the women's standings ... As expected, China dominated this month's quadrennial Asian Games in Qatar, piling up 316 medals (165 of them gold) to Japan's 198 and South Korea's 193. But the youngish Chinese team was only so-so in track and field and swimming, the two sports where they'll need to grab fistfuls if they want to top the Olympic table in Beijing. Japan won three more than China did in swimming and was within four in track and field ... The US men, who'll be competing in the Olympic Trials the day before next year's New York City race, will be at a distinct disadvantage in the inaugural World Marathon Majors chase that ends that weekend. Unless they want to run in Chicago or Berlin, leaving themselves just a few weeks' recovery time, Meb Keflezighi and Alan Culpepper will have only one chance (Boston or London in April) to catch leader Robert Cheruiyot, who'll get a final chance to grab the $500,000 prize in the Apple. "They can make some hard decisions," muses New York race director Mary Wittenberg. "It is a challenge." After the first year of the two-year point cycle, Latvia's Jelena Prokopcuka (first in New York, second in Boston) leads the women's standings, followed by Ethiopia's Berhane Adere and Kenya's Rita Jeptoo. The X factor is Great Britain's Paula Radcliffe, who's having her first child next month and may or may not be ready for a spring marathon. "It totally depends on how the birth goes," says the world champion. "I'm certainly missing racing." ... The 12th annual Reebok Boston Indoor Games, scheduled for Roxbury's Reggie Lewis Center Jan. 27, will feature Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba, the double distance world champion. Tickets are available at BostonIndoorGames.com or by calling 1-877-TIX-TRAC ... The 10th-place finish by the US men's volleyball team at the recent world championships in Tokyo was a huge comedown after a fourth-place effort in Athens two years ago. "This has been a tough couple of weeks for us," acknowledged coach Hugh McCutcheon, whose not-inexperienced squad lost to the Venezuelans. Brazil retained its crown by beating Poland in the final ... Williams grad Brad Nichol and Andy Horton from Newport, R.I., who finished fourth in the Star Class world championships, were named Team of the Year by US Sailing. Nichol, who captained both the skiing and sailing teams for the Ephs, grew up on Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire. To make it to Beijing, Nichol and Norton will have to earn the US entry at next summer's world championships, then win next fall's Olympic Trials.
John Powers can be reached at
