воскресенье, 16 сентября 2012 г.

COUNTDOWN TO ATLANTA: SPORT-BY-SPORT - The Washington Post

FENCING: Ann Marsh of Rochester, N.Y., finished seventh lastmonth at a women's foil 'A' World Cup in Turin, Italy. Marsh losther quarterfinal match to 1995 world champion Laura Badea ofRomania, 15-13.

FIELD HOCKEY: The U.S. women's team posted a 4-2-1 recordagainst semi-professional and national squads during a month-longtour in Australia. The Americans had three wins against the semi-pro South Australia Suns and split two matches against the Argentinenational squad. Antoinette Lucas of Crozier, Va., scored asecond-half goal with three minutes remaining to give the Americansa 1-0 win over the Argentine team in their first match.

SOCCER: Defender Tony Soto of Dallas, midfielder Mike Gentileof Livonia, Mich., and forward Nate Friends, a former University ofVirginia star, have been added to the men's full-time training camproster at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.They replace midfielders Brian Kelly of Shavertown, Pa., and BillyBaumhoff of St. Louis and forward Pete Marino of Pompano Beach,Fla., who were released. Coach Bruce Arena will make final cuts inJune.

GLOBETROTTING

Olympic news from around the world:

Baseball: Cuba, the world amateur champion, will play fivepre-Olympic games in the United States: against the U.S. team onJune 29 in Zebulon, N.C.; July 1 in Chattanooga, Tenn.; and July 2in Knoxville, Tenn., and against Nicaragua July 5 in Hoover, Ala.,and July 6 in Huntsville, Ala.

Water polo: Six teams qualified for Olympic berths at atournament in Berlin last month: Germany, Romania, Yugoslavia, theNetherlands, Greece and Ukraine. They are joined by Hungary, Italy,Spain, Russia, Croatia and the United States.

Notes: Olympians from Bosnia-Herzegovina will train in PellCity, Ala., before the Games. Pell City is located about 30 mileseast of Birmingham. . . . Officials of Rio de Janeiro's Olympic bidset fire to a pyre at the foot of the statue of Jesus Christoverlooking the city last week. The pyre will burn until September,when the International Olympic Committee will decide on the hostcity for the 2004 Olympics. . . . The Brazilian men's basketballteam will train at East Carolina and possibly take on NBA players inan exhibition on campus. The team plans to arrive in Greenville,N.C., on July 4 or 5 and stay until July 17 or 18. . . . TheGrateful Dead sponsored the Lithuanian men's basketball team at the1992 Barcelona Games by designing and selling tie-dyed T-shirts. Nowthat the Dead is no more, the Phoenix Suns have stepped in as themarketing agent for Lithuania, according to the Los Angeles Times.The connection is Suns assistant Donn Nelson, who was an assistantcoach for Lithuania in '92. The team's jerseys in Atlanta willinclude a black patch in memory of the late Jerry Garcia.

LEWIS' TEAM EFFORT

A new Carl Lewis trading card is being unveiled at a newsconference today in Atlanta, but it's not your average sportstrading card. On one side is Lewis's picture and his statistics,including mention of his eight Olympic gold medals. On the other isan organ donation form.

Lewis is co-founder of the Wendy Marx Foundation for Organ DonorAwareness, named for a friend who underwent a successful lifesavingliver transplant in 1989. The Marx Foundation and the Mickey MantleFoundation have joined to distribute millions of organ donor cardsbearing the likeness of either Lewis or Mantle, the late baseballstar.

'The beauty and power of donation is the way it transforms theend of one life into the fresh beginning of another or severalothers,' Lewis said.

A total of 500,000 Lewis donor cards have been printed and willbe available free of charge at the U.S. indoor track and fieldchampionships Saturday in Atlanta, as well as throughout the year atvarious track and field meets and special events before and duringthe Olympic Games.

WRESTLER'S GREAT ESCAPE

Two-time Olympic wrestling champion Bruce Baumgartner managedto get on the last flight out of Cuba before the ban on commercialtravel went into effect. Baumgartner had just won a week-longpre-Olympic tournament when President Clinton banned air travel fromCuba in response to the shooting of two private planes.

Newscasts in Cuba had 'no sense of urgency,' but the 15 U.S.wrestlers at the international Cerro Palado tournament in Havanawere aware of the increasing tension, Baumgartner said. His wife,Linda, warned him in a phone call Sunday night that commercialtravel from Cuba might be banned.

Baumgartner won golds in 1984 and 1992 in the 286-pound weightclass. He also won a silver in 1988. He is training for his fourthOlympics.

AROUND THE TURN

March

1-4: Canoe/Kayak trials, Chula Vista, Calif.

3-9: Boxing, Eastern qualifier, Atlantic City.

6-12: Swimming trials, Indianapolis.

22-25: Archery, third and fourth of six team-selectionevents, Austin.

HEPTATHLON

TRIAL DATES: June 15-23, Olympic Stadium, Atlanta.

OLYMPIC DATES: July 27-28.

LOCATION: Olympic Stadium, Atlanta.

EVENTS: 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 meters,long jump, javelin, 800 meters.

WOMEN'S SWIMMING

TRIAL DATES: March 6-12, Indianapolis.

OLYMPIC DATES: July 20-26.

LOCATION: Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.