Snowboard qualifying process OK'd by IOC

The IOC has officially approved the qualification processes for all FIS events, including ski and snowboard halfpipe and slopestyle, in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. The qualification-process was submitted to the IOC Executive Board for approval by top-level members of the International Ski Federation (FIS) on Friday in Korea, and it looks to be virtually identical to the one in place for the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

This news indicates that the FIS executive committee has chosen to disregard the work of a joint task force that was established this past May by members of FIS Snowboarding, FIS National Associations, athletes, judges and the TTR to address the Olympic qualification processes for snowboarding. According to the official FIS Snowboard Freestyle Task Force timeline, the group had planned on submitting its recommendation for a new qualification system to the FIS Council during the FIS fall meetings in October.

"While we believe FIS snowboarding staff had/have the best intentions," says USSA Program Director and Task Force Chairman, Jeremy Forster, "it also is the case that these [Olympic qualification] discussions are strictly between FIS/IOC directly and no input from sport committees or our group will be solicited."

Of the decision to submit its proposal to the IOC in August rather than October, FIS General Secretary Sarah Lewis (who is, essentially, second in command at FIS) states that, "there appears to be a misconception that one of the tasks [of the Task Force] was to advise the Snowboard Committee or even the IOC about the qualification systems for the Olympics, which is not the case."

The Olympic qualification process has been the center of a hot-button debate in the snowboard community ever since speculation over slopestyle's inclusion in the Olympic program first began. Among the issues is what many competitors believe to be an already-overcrowded competition calendar that promises to become unmanageable when mandatory Olympic-qualifier FIS contests come into direct scheduling conflict with long-established, important snowboard events like those in the TTR World Tour, Dew Tour and X Games.

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Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/olympics/post/_/id/1733/snowboard-qualifying-process-okd-by-ioc

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It's 1 Year to go

Although the Opening Ceromony is on the 27th July 2012, the London 2012 Games begins on the 25th July 2012, 1 year from today !

Oh yes, there are two Olympic events taking place before the Opening Ceremony on Friday 27th July 2012. One of these is the Archery, whose preliminary ranking round starts that morning at 9am. And the other is the Football, poor old unloved Football, whose matches kick off even earlier.

Thanks to DiamondGeezer

Source: http://insidelondon2012.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-1-year-to-go.html

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Make This Time Count!

In light of yesterday's sad news about the death of top U.S. marathoner, Sally Meyerhoff, I thought I'd post some words of inspiration and motivation from my very good friend, Janeth Salazar-Ohst. Janeth qualified for and competed in the 1996 U.S. Olympic Marathon. Now a wife and mother of two, she continues to run competitively and is a source of inspiration for many young (and not so young) athletes.

Someone asked me why I was training so hard for the Olympic Trials if I didn?t have a realistic shot at making the Olympic team.  I simply said, ?Because it IS my Olympics.?  The Olympic Trials represented the very best I could be.   It may have not been the international stage but it was a grand stage nonetheless.  I worked hard to qualify, I met the standard and I was going to give that race everything I had. 

Watching your video about Heather reminded me of this.  I think she is right on the money when she says she has to keep her focus on the race that she will attempt to use to qualify for the trials.  All steps lead to a possible qualification and the focus needs to be on the here and now.  I?m sure it is different for the top professional elites in our country as making a qualifying mark is not a big concern for them.  Heather isn?t responsible for them, she?s responsible for herself.  You can dream big but the details of the work involved must be attended to, day in and day out.  

My advice to potential qualifiers is, for this short time in your life, make all the necessary sacrifices to make this dream your reality.  The Trials only come around once every four years.  You want to be there and you want to be on that line with the very best you have.   Life has a way of really changing in four years when you don?t necessarily make your living off of racing.  MAKE THIS TIME COUNT!

Source: http://milesandtrialsfilm.blogspot.com/2011/03/make-this-time-count.html

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Everything is Bigger in Texas!

Houston, here we come! Thanks to the generous donations from folks around the country who want to help me get this film made, I will be leaving for Houston tomorrow to shoot the next segment at the USA Half Marathon Championships on 1/29 and the Chevron Houston Marathon on 1/30.

As a lifelong fan of distance running and track & field, there is nothing more exciting than being at the start to witness so many talented elite athletes toe the line. What makes this even more special is that the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials will be held on this very course a year from now, and many of our top distance runners and Olympic hopefuls will be testing it out in advance of the Trials. I plan to interview a handful of the top Elite Women, including Magdalena Lewy Boulet, Zoila Gomez, Dot McMahan, Katie McGregor and Tera Moody (who has a cameo in our film), among others. I also hope to meet and interview some of the sub-elite women from across the U.S. who are also racing, so if anyone knows of a talented woman who is racing in Houston this weekend, please post their name and info here.

Stay tuned to this blog for updates from Houston as I'm able to post them. You can also check in on our Facebook Fan Page!

Source: http://milesandtrialsfilm.blogspot.com/2011/01/everything-is-bigger-in-texas.html

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Seven Day's 'til the Eugene Marathon & Christina's on her way!

Christina Overbeck departed Chicago yesterday and is getting ready to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials in the Eugene Marathon. (Her goal time is 2:45:00, one minute under the B qualifying standard.) Two weeks after Eugene, she'll be getting married and settling in Portland, Oregon, where she'll be sure to make new running friends. Go, Christina, go!!

Source: http://milesandtrialsfilm.blogspot.com/2011/04/seven-days-til-eugene-marathon.html

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50 More Day's 'til Eugene!

Christina and Heather are five weeks into their training cycle for the Eugene Marathon, where both hope to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials by running under 2:46. The marathon's on May 1st, which is only 50 days away! If you'd like to support the production of this film and help our crew get to Oregon to film the ladies, please click on the Donate link on the upper-right side of this page.

Here's a little video of Christina in her first running event of 2011...

Source: http://milesandtrialsfilm.blogspot.com/2011/03/50-more-days-til-eugene.html

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How wonderful and random to meet one of our "Miles & Trials" film fund donors and supporters while on location shooting at the Cleveland Marathon on 5/15. Even cooler was that she recognized me while she was on her way to a big PR in the half marathon! Thanks, Maryclare!

Source: http://milesandtrialsfilm.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-wonderful-and-random-to-meet-one-of.html

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