We talked about Oscar Pistorius a while ago, and I never did update you on his progress. He did win his appeal with the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) a couple of weeks ago, which means he would be allowed to compete at this summer's Olympics in Beijing. But as some of you know, he's not fast enough (needs to improve about 8/10ths of a second over the 400m) to qualify. So he's stuck as the world's fastest Paralympic athlete. Which isn't too bad...
Moving on to triathlon and Olympic team stuff... The absolute last date for nations to name their Olympic team is next weekend's ITU (and huge money) race in Des Moines, Iowa. Unfortunately, this area is pretty much in the epicentre of the recent catastrophic flooding, and the swim venue might not be ready for the athletes due to flooding and dangerous bacteria levels. So the organizers are already contemplating running the $200,000-for-the-winner race as a duathlon. Plus this race is supposed to be the final US qualifier and if this race is run as a duathlon then it doesn't count, which means Andy Potts and Sarah Haskins would get the final spots, leaving Hunter Kemper (#1 in the world in 06) home.
Two more quickies about Team Canada in Beijing...this year Canada managed to get all 6 spots. We are one of only 5 countries to have both a complete mens and womens teams of 6 athletes heading to Beijing! First time ever for Canada (we join Germany, Switzerland, the US, and New Zealand) while superpowers like Russia, Spain, and Australia do not have full Olympic squads. Ha ha...go Canada!
And last thing, the women's team for Canada (Groves, Murray, and Tremblay) appear to not have to worry about team goals in Beijing. Unlike the men, who have to help Simon Whitfield win a medal, the women are being allowed to compete for themselves. This is probably because all 3 women are capable of having a great day. A medal might be unlikely, but all 3 women could sneak into the Top-10...
And just because I love watching them do this...here's another look at that epic treadmill video featuring Whitfield, Jenkins, and Tichelaar from this winter.
Thought this was interesting...on the same week that the UCI claims their "biological passport" is helping to eliminate doping from cycling (most of us are still skeptical but...), there is now news that the next generation of doping might be around the corner. Gene doping, or altering one's DNA to improve performance, is getting close to reality, and WADA is starting to get ready. They allegedly have 22 projects on the go to prepare for gene dopers, but since they still have problem catching steroids, HGH, and EPO, I doubt that the jails will be full of gene dopers anytime soon. But interesting nonetheless...
Two neat cycling stories to end with this week...one, check out what a million dollars buys you in the Netherlands...
Ok, not that impressive. But that's what it cost to test, design, and develop this bike for Theo Bos (Dutch track cyclist) for Beijing. Supposedly the bike is so stiff that "normal people cannot ride it". Sounds like a challenge...
And yes, despite my personal misgivings, I have decided to link to a great article about the little bike company that could, Canada's Cervelo. This article appeared last week in the Globe and Mail, and i thought you might enjoy it.
Next week i'll update everyone on what's happening in the Track and Field world, and updates on some weekend Ironman races...see you Friday!
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