NBA Execs Talk Olympics; Romney Clinches Nomination

5/31/2012

NBA Execs Rethink Olympics Role

Deputy commissioner Adam Silver suggests NBA veterans won’t necessarily be eligible for Olympics duty after London 2012.

"What we have told FIBA and what [commissioner] David [Stern] has announced several times is that we are all in through the London Olympics, and then post-London Olympics, we want to step back together with USA Basketball, led by Jerry Colangelo and Patrick Baumann in FIBA, and […] take a long-term view of what makes sense both for the NBA and for the game," he was quoted in an Associated Press report.

"We think international soccer has an excellent model," he added Wednesday in a press conference alongside Stern.

FIFA World Cups every four years feature the game’s top players, whereas countries field only 23-and-under squads – with some exceptions – for the Games.

According to Stern and Silver, the NBA will consider a similar system in which top players compete in the newly rebranded FIBA World Cup with the Olympics reserved for basketball’s young stars.

“When you have the Olympics [and] the World Cup of Basketball, we are taking a very close look at whether it makes sense from an NBA standpoint and a global basketball standpoint for the top players to be playing at that level on a year-round basis, and somewhere [every] summer,” Silver said.

FIS Selects Host Cities

St. Moritz will host the 2017 Alpine World Ski Championships.

The Swiss chalet was selected as the host city at the ongoing International Ski Congress in Kangwonland, South Korea.

St. Moritz defeated Cortina d'Ampezzo and Are, Sweden for the rights.

Also selected as organizers was Lahti, Finland, tapped for the 2017 Nordic Skiing World Championships.

Sierra Nevada, Spain will host the 2017 Freestyle Ski & Snowboard World Championships and Kulm, Austria is set to stage the 2016 Ski Flying World Championships.

German President Visits Olympic Terror Survivors

During an official visit to Israel, German President Joachim Gauck visited with survivors of the 1972 Munich Olympic terror attack.

Gauck met with the Israeli Olympians in Jerusalem and according to reports, paid his respects to the 11 Israelis killed in the attack and discussed his 2012 Olympic plans.

“The President mentioned that he will attend the opening of the Olympic Games and he will speak with the chairman of the International Olympic committee,” Shaul Ladani, a member of the 1972 Israeli Olympic team, about an official memorial for the victims during the Olympics. “I said, I told him I know in advance what will be the answer. It will be a diplomatic answer.”

Danny Ayalon, deputy foreign minister for Israel wrote to IOC President Jacques Rogge asking for an official memorial in London, the 40th anniversary of the attack. Rogge said the IOC would not make an official memorial in London, noting the IOC has paid tribute in the past.

Former SLOC Chief Clinches Nomination

Mitt Romney is now the presumptive Republican nominee for President.

On Tuesday, Romney won the Texas Republican presidential primary election, earning him enough delegates at this summer’s GOP Convention to secure his party’s nomination. Romney has routinely touted his Olympic experience on the campaign trail as a Presidential asset.

Romney’s victory means will pit perhaps the United States’ biggest Olympic backers against each other.

He faces Barack Obama, who lobbied for Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid.

New Istanbul Bridge

Istanbul 2020 announced the city plans to build a third bridge over the Bosphorus Strait.

The 4,000-foot long suspension bridge will be completed by 2015 and cost $2.5 billion.

“This story proves that Istanbul continues to invest significantly in transport and infrastructure,” bid leader Hasan Arat said. “Each new project adds to the city’s capacity to host the 2020 Games and this announcement represents the latest milestone in our bid journey.

"A third bridge will greatly enhance the Games time comfort and ease of travel for all Olympic and Paralympic client groups."
When complete, the bridge will link the Northern Marmara Highway and the Trans-European Motorway and is designed “to redirect everyday traffic and improve the flow of vehicles throughout the city”, the bid says.

Written by Ed Hula III and Hannah Reid.

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