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“Sports Illustrated” announced their Sportsman of the Year this morning and it’s, who else but, Olympian Michael Phelps. The 23-year-old winner of eight Gold Medals in Beijing is the first swimmer to be so honored by the venerable magazine. “Sports Illustrated” editor, Terry McDonell called the selection of Phelps “the easiest choice I have made.”

Last year’s winner was more traditional, former Green Bay Packers quarterback, Brett Favre. Congrats to Michael.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

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One down, dozens to go… The first Olympic venue for the 2012 London Games has been completed. The Olympic sailing venue at Portland Harbour in Weymouth was unveiled on Friday. On hand for the ceremony were Olympic Gold Medal sailors, Paul Goodison and Jonathon Edwards as well as members of the London Olympic Organizing Committee. Said Chairman, Sebastian Coe:

“We will stage a world-class Olympic and Paralympic Games and the ODA’s completion of construction work on our world-class sailing venue, three and a half years before the event, is a major milestone on our journey to 2012. We have put athletes at the heart of the 2012 Games and the facilities at Weymouth and Portland will provide competitors from all round the world the best possible arena for medal-winning performances.”

^{(photo courtesy of the London Olympic Committee)}

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The Modern Pentathlon, the five-event sport created by Modern Olympics founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin as a test of the perfect soldier’s skills, will combine the shooting and running segments of the sport in an effort to streamline the event and make it more enjoyable for spectators.

The Modern Pentathlon involves shooting, fencing, swimming, riding an unfamiliar horse around the jumping track, and running. In Beijing the event took place in three venues over a span of 12 hours, making it cumbersome for the media to cover and for spectators to follow. The new format, which will take effect January 1, will reduce the necessary venues to two and also reduce the time.

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The organizers of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games have announced the route of the torch relay leading up to the event. Once the torch arrives from Athens, the relay will be solely within Canada, traveling 45,000 kilometers and visiting 1000 communities in all parts of the country. The relay begins on October 30, 2008 in Victoria and will end at the Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver Games on February 12, 2009. For a map of the relay route, visit the Vancouver Olympics Web site.

If you are a Canadian citizen age 13 or older and able to run at least 300 meters, you can apply to be a torch bearer. For an application form, click here.

^{(image © Newscom)}

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Excluding womens ski jumping from the 2010 Vancouver Games has nothing to do with gender, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Olympic governing body ruled in 2006 to omit the sport from the Vancouver Games because there are so few participants worldwide to represent the sport. Not so says a group of female ski jumpers. They have filed a discrimination suit in the Canadian courts. They will get their day before a judge on April 20.

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For the first time in more than two years, Olympian Bode Miller got a chance to stand on the medal podium this weekend. The 31-year-old Olympic Silver Medalist (Salt Lake City), two-time world champion, and last year’s overall World Cup leader, was just beat out by France’s Jean-Baptiste Grange in the first Giant Slalom of the season, in Levi, Finland over the weekend.

Miller has concentrated on the downhill and Super-G in recent years at the expense of the slalom, but his 2nd place finish in Levi could mean that he’ll be a contender in the event this season.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

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Katie Hoff, who failed to live up to the hype surrounding her at the Beijing Olympic Games, has announced that she will be training under Michael Phelps’ coach, Bob Bowman in the future. The 19-year-old fellow Baltimore native earned two Bronze Medals and one Silver Medal in Beijing–no small achievment, but was overshadowed by her teammates, especially Phelps.

Hoff holds the American record in the 200m freestyle and is the world champion in the 400m and 4×200m events. It’s clear that she has a lot of swimming (and winning) ahead of her.

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So, I was wrong about Maurice Greene’s making through another round in ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” The 34-year-old, former Olympic Golf Medalist (100m and 4×100m in 2000) and his professional dancing partner, Cheryl Burke were voted off after Monday’s show, missing the semi-finals by one episode. Still want to see Maurice dance? He’ll be performing on the “Dancing with the Stars” 37-city tour, which begins December 18.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

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Seven sports are competing for two open slots for the 2016 Games. In addition to baseball, the committee heard presentations from softball, golf, karate, roller sports, rugby, and squash. Softball and baseball were eliminated from the Olympic roster after the Olympic Games.

The IOC Committee will meet next June and offer their recommendations to the full IOC membership, which convenes in October.

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Liu Xiang of China, the 2007 world champion and 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 110m hurdles event, will be having surgery to remove calcifications around his Achilles tendon in the United States, his coach announced on Friday. The 24-year-old was forced to withdraw from the 110m hurdles event in Beijing and hobbled off of the track in obvious pain. He has been in the United States for a week consulting with physicians. No date was given for the surgery, but the coach indicated the prognosis was very good.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

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At least one prospective 2016 Olympic city is worried that the election of Chicagoan, Barack Obama as president of the United States will give Chicago an advantage in the selection process. Japanese organizers have reportedly been concerned that all of Chicago’s recent attention from the presidential election will catch the notice of International Olympic Committee (IOC) members. It’s also no secret that President-Elect Obama supports the efforts to host the 2016 Summer Games in his home city. Time will tell.

Chicago and Tokyo are two of four cities in the running to be the 2016 Olympic host city. The others are Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Madrid, Spain. The IOC will choose a winner when it meets next October.

^{(photo of President-Elect Obama and Chief-of-Staff prospect, Rahm Emanuel at a Chicago Olympic rally this summer © Newscom)}

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Peter Farkas (pictured above at right), who won the Gold Medal at the 1992 Games in the 82kg class of Greco-Roman wrestling, fled a Hungarian courtroom on November 3 during a break in the proceedings after being sentenced to a five-year prison term for operating a marijuana growing facility. The 40-year-old was arrested in 2004 along with his brother, Karoly (pictured at left). Karoly’s whereabouts are also unknown.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

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Mens: Patrick Chan (Canada), Ryan Bradley (USA), Evan Lysacek (USA). Below is the Gold-Medal-winning performance:

Ladies: Joannie Rochette (Canada), Fumie Suguri (Japan), Alissa Czisny (USA).

Pairs: Yuko Kawaguchi/Alexander Smirnov (Russia), Jessica Dube/Bryce Davison (Canada), Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker (USA).

Ice Dancing: Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA), Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirier (Canada), Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat (France).

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Four-time Olympian, Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain was the fastest female finisher at this weekend’s New York Marathon, a 26.2 mile race that snakes through all of the city’s five boroughs. Radcliffe is one of just two women to win the race three times. She won in 2007 and in 2004.

Radcliffe has competed in four Olympic Games. She finished 5th in the 5000m event in 1996 and 4th in the 10,000m in 2000. Her best finish in the Olympic marathon was 23rd in 2008 in Beijing.

Russian Ludmila Petrova, 40, finished second in New York. She was followed by Kara Goucher of the US.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

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Marion Jones won five Olympic Gold Medal at the 2000 Games in Sydney. About a year ago, Jones admitted to using steroids during that time (for which she was stripped of her medals) and to lying to Federal prosecutors (for which she was sentenced and served six months in prison). She was released from prison on September 5, 2008. Yesterday, she appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

If you didn’t see the show, the reviews are mixed about her “performance.” Some say Oprah was too easy on her. Some say that she is still lying and deluding herself about her role in the 2000 doping scandal. I think that she’s probably gone through enough and we should give her the benefit of the doubt.

When Oprah asked her about her prison time, she replied:

“There were moments, Oprah, where I felt like my world was over. I wasn’t with my family. I wasn’t with my kids. I had made such a huge mistake, let so many people down, disappointed myself,” she says. “And there were remarkably days where I just felt empowered almost. It’s almost like I got this renewed energy where I felt that, ‘I’m here for a reason.’ The searching for that reason, I think, is what really changed my life.”

Jones still has to serve two years probation and to complete 800 hours of community service. She will have to disclose that she’s a convicted felon for the rest of her life.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

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The Opening Ceremonies for the 2012 London Olympic Games may just be worth the price of an airline ticket “across the pond.” Reportedly the show will include performances by the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Elton John, Phil Collins, Sting, and other British rockers. All I can say is “WOW.”

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Beginning January 1, all junior and senior gymnasts who represent their countries at most international meets will need a license from the FIG. This license will include gymnasts’ name, sex, country and birthdate and will be their proof of age for their entire career. Although this licenses could potentially be falsified, it will be much more difficult as most Olympic class gymnast begin competing in at the international level in their early teens. For example, Olympic all-round Gold-Medalist Nastia Liukin first competed in an international event at age 13.

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Australian Olympic, long-distance swimmer, Grant Hackett is announcing his retirement from swimming at Australia’s Swimmer of the Year awards banquet this evening. The 28-year-old has seven Olympic Medals to his name, including three Golds. Hackett competed in the Sydney, Athens, and Beijing Games. He is best known for winning the 1500m freestyle in 2000 and 2004. He finished second in that event in Beijing.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

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Eighteen-year-old Korean, Yu-Na Kim handily won the womens individual competition at Skate America in Everett Washington yesterday. Although Kim’s performance wasn’t perfect, it had a grace and fluidity that the other skaters’ routines lacked. Even more amazingly, this was her first appearance at Skate America, the first ISU Grand Prix event of the year.

Kim is definately a name to keep in mind for the Vancouver Games in 2010. She is a former world junior champion and two-time bronze medalist in the World Championships. Kim, who is ranked #2 in the world, is coached by former Olympian, Canadian mens singles two-time Silver Medalist, Brian Orser.

Below is Kim’s winning performance from yesterday afternoon:

^{(photo © newscom)}

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Ice Dancing: the Gold Medal went to Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder (France), whose winning performance is featured below. Taking the Silver Medal were Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto of the United States. Sinead Kerr and John Kerr of the United States finished in third place.

The mens individual Gold went to Takahiko Kozuka of Japan. Johnny Weir of the United States won the Silver and Evan Lysacek, also of the United States, won the Bronze Medal.

The Pairs Gold went to Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany. The Silver was awarded to Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker of the United States and the Bronze went to Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov of Russia.

The womens individual competition is still underway as I write this. We will have the results of that competition tomorrow.

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It’s been quite a year for Spanish tennis player, Rafael Nadal. He won two Grand Slam tennis tournaments; he won the Gold Medal in the men’s individual competition in Beijing; and he replaced Roger Federer as the #1 mens tennis player in the world. Now add to that list the Prince of Asturias Award for Sport.

The Prince of Asturias Awards, established in 1981, are one of Spain’s highest honors and are bestowed to individuals from around the world for excellence in a number of disciplines. Nadal was given his award on Friday, October 24 at a ceremony in Orvietas, the capital of the Asturias province for which the awards are named. His fellow award winners include the British author, Margaret Atwood; Columbian former hostage, Ingrid Betancourt; and the Internet giant, Google.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

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For those of us eager for the Winter Olympic Games to get here, there was a teaser this weekend as the season began for world cup skiing at the FIS Audi Alpine World Cup event in Solden Austria. Results included:

Men’s Giant Slalom: Daniel Albrecht (Switzerland), Didier Cuche (Switzerland), Ted Ligety (USA)

Women’s Giant Slalom: Kathrin Zettel (Austria), Tanja Poutiainen (Finland), Andrea Fischbacher (Austria)

The next event will be November 15 and 16 in Levi, Finland.

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Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 2001, announced this week that he will seek relection to the post. The 66-year-old Belgian is expected to be unopposed for this position when the IOC votes in October of 2009. Rogge, the eighth president of the IOC, has presided over four Olympic Games, the 2002 and 2006 Winter Games and the 2004 and 2008 Summer Games. He is eligible for a second term of four years.

^{(photo © Newscom)}

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Next week, the remaining six pairs will learn two dances, one individual performance and a group dance. We continue to wish Maurice well.

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A $200 gift certificate to Amazon to do whatever you please.

How do you win?

That’s easy.

All you have to do is leave a comment on any five of these blogs. You can choose which posts that you want to comment on, but one of them MUST be the horse racing blog - Thoroughbred Fever.

• All Poker Addicts
• BCS Frenzy
• College Fast Break
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• Every Morning Quarterback
• Girls Dig Sports
• Green Posse
• Hockey Beat
• Hoops Fantasy
• Jab and Grapple
• Knuckle Curve
• Light the Torch
• NBA Obsessed
• Sneaks ‘N Gear
• Squib Kick
• The Fantasy Kickoff
• The Footie
• Thoroughbred Fever

Contest ends at 9:00am on Monday. On Monday morning, we will track all the entries and draw a random winner who will be emailed the $200 gift certificate.

Easy right?

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