ADVENTURE SPORTS BY WINA STURGEON 8/12
SWIMMER FIGHTS BACK AGAINST DOPING ACCUSER
Olympic champion Ian Thorpe is fighting back against L'Equipe, the French newspaper that frequently accuses successful American athletes of doping.
Thorpe, who has won nine Olympic medals in swimming, including five golds, is suing L'Equipe for defamation. The newspaper claimed that a urine sample Thorpe gave in Australia in 2007 tested positive for testosterone, but the Australian anti-doping agency said there was no evidence that Thorpe used performance enhancing drugs; and swimming's governing body, FINA, made the same conclusion.
L'Equipe's accusations against Americans have several times been proven to be wrong, but the newspaper continues to publish stories alleging that U. S. athletes cheat. One of their victims whose career was tarnished by a doping accusation was Lance Armstrong. Maybe Thorpe's lawsuit will end the paper's bad reporting---at least where doping is concerned.
NEW U. S. SKI TEAM NAMED
The 2008-2009 U. S. alpine ski team has just been named by USSA, and there are some surprises.
Carolyn Lalive, an incredibly talented racer whose many injuries have prevented her from ever achieving her potential, has come back and been named a reserve athlete and is training with the team, which is currently in South America and New Zealand. Erik Schlopy, the oldest athlete on the World Cup circuit at 34, has been demoted to the B team, and will race on the Europa Cup circuit. Reigning world champion Bode Miller will continue to race on his own, setting his own rules that obviously work better for him than the dictates of the U. S. ski team.
The A team top athletes include World Cup winners Ted Ligety and Lindsay Vonn, as well as Olympic gold medalist Julia Mancuso. There are 25 men and 21 women racers who have been named to the U. S. national team. This is a pivotal season for all 46 athletes, 12 of whom are former Olympians. This is the year to get the points and rankings which will determine how many slots U. S. racers will have for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and who will be eligible to race in those Games.
UTAH DRIVER JAILED FOR HITTING CYCLIST WITH TRUCK
A Utah man who yelled at a group of cyclists to "get off the road," swerved his truck at them and deliberately hit one rider, kept his mouth shut when he appeared in court Monday on a felony charge of aggravated assault and two lesser charges, including driving his pickup without any registration.
Alexander Barto aimed his truck at one group of bike racers who were riding tight on the right side of the road, scaring them. A short distance away, he swerved into another group of riders, screaming at them and hitting one with his mirror. When the mirror broke off, he deliberately turned his wheel to knock down the cyclist he had hit with his mirror. That rider jumped off his downed bike, and Barto rode over it, crushing the bicycle with his truck and destroying it.
Utah is said to have the most aggressive drivers in the country, and bike-vehicle injuries and deaths have made the bike community extremely pro-active about their own protection. Barto is not going to get off easy.
KILTS CATCHING ON AMONG AMERICAN MEN
The men in kilts were a surprise at first, but as their numbers increased, they began to look positively normal.
The Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City, Utah, featured a company called "Utilikilts," which sell plain pleated kilts with cargo pockets (no sporran). Retailers who had come to the show to purchase product for their shops began buying kilt samples and wearing them in the 90 + degree Salt Lake weather. They found them to be comfortable and not at all like wearing a woman's skirt.
One kilt-wearing man, who did not wish to be named, said the sudden popularity of the garment was because of the "comfort factor." He said that the breezy kilts were much cooler in the hot weather than pants. However, he refused to reveal what he was wearing under his kilt.
OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST BANNED FROM CHINA
Joey Cheek, who won a speedskating gold medal in the 2006 Torino Olympics, has been banned from China during the Beijing Games.
Cheek founded Team Darfur, a group of international athletes dedicated to bringing peace to the war-torn section of Sudan, where thousands of civilians have been murdered by government-backed militias. China is Sudan's largest financial supporter, and China also supplies weapons to the Sudanese government for Darfur's military.
Cheek donated his $40,000 winnings from the 2006 Olympics to Team Darfur, and was planning on protesting China's support of the violence in Darfur at the Beijing Games. But the Chinese government, terrified of any attention brought to its well documented human rights abuses during the Olympics, yanked Cheek's visa the night before he was to leave for Beijing.
Cheek also slammed the International Olympic Committee for not protecting athletes in Beijing, and for making excuses about actions by China that have violated the Olympic Charter the Chines government signed and agreed to before being awarded the Games.