LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Cycling’s governing body confirmed Wednesday it will deliver proposals to the IOC for a track race program at the 2012 London Olympics that offers equal gold medal opportunities for men and women, and likely would deny Boulder phenom Taylor Phinney a chance to compete in his specialty event.
The Dec. 3 meeting with the International Cycling Union will work toward an International Olympic Committee target of gender equality at the games. Last year’s Beijing Games had seven track events for men and three for women — a bias the UCI acknowledged is “out of line” with other Olympic sports.
Phinney is the reigning world champion in the individual pursuit, one of five endurance races targeted for elimination. He has launched a campaign on Twitter in hopes of saving his event.
• Fifteen months after the Beijing Olympics, Bahraini runner Rashid Ramzi was stripped of his 1,500- meter gold medal and four other athletes were disqualified because of doping at the games.
The IOC also stripped Italian cyclist Davide Rebellin of his silver medal in the road race. The others disqualified were German cyclist Stefan Schumacher, Croatian 800-meter runner Vanja Perisic and Greek race walker Athanasia Tsoumeleka. The latter three did not win medals. All five athletes are ineligible for the 2012 London Olympics.
• The prosthetic legs of double- amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius give the South African a 10-second advantage over a 400-meter race, according to a study by researchers Peter Weyand of SMU and Matthew Bundle of the University of Wyoming.
Shaq to rest sore shoulder
WASHINGTON — Center Shaquille O’Neal could miss the Cleveland Cavaliers’ next couple of games with a strained shoulder.
• Portland Trail Blazers forward Travis Outlaw had surgery on his left foot and will be sidelined three to five months.
Cal’s Best hopes to return
BERKELEY, Calif. — California tailback Jahvid Best, who was injured Nov. 7 when he hurdled an Oregon State defender at the end of a touchdown run, has targeted the Golden Bears’ season finale — Dec. 5 vs. Washington — as a possible return date. Best said the symptoms from his concussion have cleared, but he still has a sore back.
Footnotes.
Karen Cunagin Sypher, accused of trying to extort money from Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, was charged with retaliating against the coach by falsely claiming he raped her.
• The NCAA’s latest graduation numbers show nearly 4-of-5 student-athletes earn their diplomas on time, an all-time high, and federal statistics show athletes are still more likely to graduate on time than other students.
• Jamie McMurray has been hired to drive the No. 1 Chevrolet for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.
• After Jeff Cunningham gave the United States a 1-0 lead in the first half, Denmark scored three goals in the first 10 minutes of the second to win a World Cup warm-up 3-1 in Aarhus, Denmark.
The Associated Press
