ADVENTURE SPORTS BY WINA STURGEON 5/28
RAFFERTY "VACATIONING" IN IRAN?
Nathan Rafferty, well-known head honcho of Ski Utah, is currently wandering around Iran with his brother, checking out the sights.
"I have heard it's beautiful there, and the people of Iran really like Americans. Iran was one of the places where civilization began," Rafferty told me from London, just before he boarded his flight to the Middle Eastern country.
The staff at Ski Utah will not admit that they are worried, only "concerned" about the controversial timing of his visit. At the moment, more U. S. ships are converging off the Iranian shore, the Iranian government is even more strongly rebuffing U. N. and American demands to end its nuclear program, and five Americans have just been grabbed and "detained" by Iranian authorities.
Raelene Davis, Ski Utah Marketing Director, says, "We had no idea what would be going on. Nathan's trip had been planned very far in advance, you can't just arrange a trip to Iran at the last minute."
She added, "He couldn't be talked out of it. Nathan has a real sense of adventure, and he has always wanted to visit some of the historical sites there. He and his brother have a hired driver, so they should be safe."
The U. S. State Department has issued strong travel warnings for Americans traveling to Iran. Another problem: there is no U. S. embassy there. Any "incidents" involving U. S. citizens are handled by the Swiss embassy.
Adventuresportsweekly.com will have the full story of Rafferty's trip when he returns in two weeks. Meanwhile, since he may read this on his laptop, here's some info for you, Nathan, hope you don't need it: the Swiss Embassy's address is Africa Avenue, West Farzan Street, no. 59, Tehran. Their telephone number is 021-8878-2964 and 021-8879-2364. Have uneventful fun, and we all hope you're right about Iranians liking Americans.
OHNO, IT'S OHNO!
Dancing champion Apolo Ohno is moving to the Kearns area of Salt Lake to be near his new training site: the Olympic Oval.
Fresh off his victory on Dancing with the Stars, Ohno is now turning to training for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. The national short-track speedskating team will be working out there on most week days during the summer.
The coolest thing about it (besides the ice) is that the staff of the Oval doesn't mind spectators coming in to watch the national team train. It's a good chance to catch the Olympic vibe from the athletes who are the best in the world at their sport. The skaters are also friendly. When their session is done, they don't mind spending some time talking about their training, and Ohno especially is a font of knowledge for any other athlete.
For details on when the team will be at the Oval, and how to get in, email info@adventuresportsweekly.com
U.S. TEAM HOME AGAIN, SCHLOPY SICK
U. S. ski team racers are now back from their first off-season camp in Mammoth, Ca.; but Erik Schlopy was not able to train. First, the articular cartilage tear that ended his season early this year, is not healed enough to run gates. But even skiing was out; Schlopes ended up with a nasty bug that made training impossible. He spent much of the camp time in bed.
The hardest part for this hard-working Park City racer is that he is now the oldest racer on the World Cup, and knows he has to train harder just to keep up. After missing half a season, not getting practice gates because of his knee or technique training because of a virus is a real setback for this top racer.
RECORD SETTING RACING
This year's Indy 500 set a record for the sloshiest race ever, as you probably already know. Heavy rain forced the event to be called off at 415 miles instead of the full 500. Most of the 250,000 fans stayed for the three-hour hold in a futile wait for the downpour to stop.
But the real record was set by those who followed Danica Patrick: two additional women in the male-dominated race. Sarah Fisher, 26; competed for the seventh time at Indy. Milka Duno, 35, was the first Hispanic woman in the race.
Patrick, 25, was the only one of the three to break into the top ten; she took eighth, beating both Michael Andretti, who crashed; and A. J. Foyt. Fisher came in four places behind Foyt, in 18th place. The winner of this year's 500 had not been predicted by most sports pundits; the unheralded Dario Franchitti.
CURLING GETS BIG BUCKS: JOB OPENING?
Want a job? USA curling, the governing body for the sport of sweeping and skipping, is now hiring.
A Chicago group that is a supporter of the sport has donated $15,000 to USA Curling to "help increase public participation in curling." The Curling Federation plans to use most of those funds to hire a consultant with experience in sports marketing; a hefty $12,000. Hello? Anyone out there?
But wait! Before you dis the idea, here's some news: the same group, the Chicago Community Trust, donated $60,000 to USA Curling in 2006 for the exact same purpose.