Active Endurance Sports

Endurance Weekly: 5/5

Active Toby — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:46:25 GMT

The latest comic from Frazz creator and noted triathlete Jef Mallett:

Check out this roster of 15 green sports stars

Active Expert, Bruce Hildenbrand previews the Giro d'Italia that starts Saturday

Even with the torch atop Everest, Olympics are clouded
Climbing Everest because it's there is inspiring. Climbing Everest because it's in Tibet is not nearly so heartwarming, particularly to an international audience that is still trying to sort through the ethics of getting enthusiastic about August's Beijing Olympics. Read full story

Make doping a crime, says Lewis
Olympic legend Carl Lewis has called on governments around the world to make the use of banned substances in sport a criminal offense. Read full story

Shave valuable time in you bike-to-run triathlon transitions by installing a quick-lace system:

One Year Out

Jesse@Active — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 21:20:00 GMT

Today, August 8th, begins the one-year countdown to the 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing, China. Spending more money than any other host city ever, Beijing's venues are nearly ready for competition, with several staging test events in the next six months. To say that China is excited to show itself off to the world would be an understatement.

Fans of the Olympics should also be excited to learn that NBC will broadcast over 3,600 hours of coverage. The majority of it will be available via live streaming video online, a first for American viewers. This amount of coverage is more than the total of all previous Summer Games combined. Prime-time coverage will feature live swimming, gymnastics and beach volleyball.

Check out www.amazingawaits.org for a pretty inspirational video of Olympic highlights.

Beijing's Water Cube impresses Phelps

Active Toby — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:50:00 GMT

During a visit to Beijing earlier this month, swimmers Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff caught an early glimpse of the National Aquatics Center. Also referred to as the Water Cube, the futuristic square building -- which will host swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming -- looks like it's covered in bubble wrap.

"It's definitely pretty cool," Phelps told reporters. The structure is located in the Olympic Green, adjacent to the National Stadium, and is one of the centerpieces of Beijing's Olympic venues for the 2008 Games.

"I think it's going to paint a picture for Katie and me in our minds, to really help us prepare for next year and get us more and more excited," Phelps said.

Scheduled for completion in October of this year, the Water Cube's exterior is made up of membrane structures which comprise over 3,000 pneumatic cushions. Low-pressure air is inflated into the cushions to resist wind and provide insulation.

For the Olympics, temporary seating will allow a capacity of 11,000. Permanent seats number 6,000. In comparison, the largest indoor pool in the U.S., the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind., can hold 4,700 spectators. It will host this year's U.S.A. Swimming National Championships.

For more on Michael Phelps, visit here. And be sure to check out how Beijing is working toward staging an environmentally-friendly Olympics.

A question of timing

Active Toby — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 09:30:00 GMT

By Jesse Hammond

On the heels of an incredible World Championships in Melbourne, the swimming world was suddenly rocked last week when the French newspaper L'Equipe reported that retired Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe showed high levels of two performance-enhancing substances in a drug test in May 2006.

Thorpe, who retired last November at the age of 24, denies ever cheating. He will not face losing his records (except, perhaps, to Michael Phelps) or medals, because he did not fail the test, according to swimming and doping officials. The substances, testosterone and luteinizing hormone, are both naturally occurring in a male's body, but high levels can have steroid-like effects.

In fact, the biggest controversy surrounding the report has been the actual leak itself. FINA, swimming's world governing body, plans to investigate how the confidential information reached a French newspaper. The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) performed the test and maintains they aren't the source of the leak.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has called the report a "serious breach of confidentiality." WADA is not yet involved in the case because it "has not led to an analytical positive result, but is rather an unusual situation which is subject to further inquiry," it said in a statement.

Blind Skier Looks Golden

Active Toby — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 04:01:00 GMT

By Trish Oberhaus

I just read an amazing and inspiring story. The New York Times ran an article about Brian McKeever, a cross country skier who has his sights set on Olympic gold and who is also legally blind.

McKeever has had his share of success in his career, winning four cross-country skiing gold medals at the Paralympics so far. He made his debut with the Canadian team at this year's world Nordic skiing championships in Sapporo, Japan. This was a first step toward a goal of racing in the Olympic and the Paralympic Games when they both come to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2010.

Brian's life changed abruptly after he raced in the world junior championships in 1998. He was 19 and noticed that he could no longer make out street signs. He was found to have Stargardt disease, an inherited degenerative condition that causes the loss of central vision. "In one semester at university, I went from being able to read everything from the back of a lecture hall for 400 people to moving to the front row and not being able to read a thing," McKeever said.

Still, McKeever continued to ski, with his brother serving as his guide. However, McKeever's first move toward reaching the Olympics in 2010 was qualifying for Canada's national team at races earlier this season and to do so required skiing without his brother as a guide.

In Sapporo, McKeever's best result was also the Canadian team's best showing. "From a skiing perspective, his goal for 2010 is completely realistic," said Dave Wood, the coach of the Canadian national team and McKeever's coach as a junior.

The best of luck to him!