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• Remote control Mini Coopers being used for retrieval at track and field throwing events (Video)

  August 05, 2012 by sawleyv

  It's not the first time remote-operated carriers have been used to retrieve track and field throwing implements at the Olympics. But as long as you're going to hold the Games in a country with as storied an automobile history as Great Britain's, you might as well model them after one of Britain's most iconic cars.

  Yes, watching the throwing events at Olympic Stadium, you might see remote-controlled miniature Mini Coopers, zipping up and down the field, lugging javelins, shots, discuses, and hammers back to competitors. It's part of an effort to save time and exhaustion for officials.

  Here are some of the specs of the R/C cars, which are being dubbed, you guessed it, "Mini Minis":

  -Quarter scale of a full-sized Mini Cooper

  -18-pound carrying capacity

  -35 minutes of battery life

  -80-minute charging time

  -Functioning headlights. (You know, in case the power goes at Olympic Stadium and they decide to still throw sharp sticks and heavy metal balls in the dark.)

  So why a Mini? Why not something more sexy and stylish, such as a Jaguar XK or an Aston Martin Vanquish? Or a Range Rover or a Bentley Continental? Why can't discuses or javelins travel in uber-luxury with a Rolls Royce Phantom?

  It's probably because BMW, which owns Mini, has an official sponsorship deal with the Olympics. Yep, that explains it.

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• Mickey Rourke claims to have beaten Usain Bolt in late-night sprint outside London club

  July 24, 2012 by sawleyv

  

  The fastest man in the world vs. a (probably drunk) 59-year-old actor. That was the tale of the tape when Mickey Rourke challenged Usain Bolt to 4 a.m. sprint outside of a London nightclub earlier this year and actually defeated the defending Olympic 100 and 200 meters champion.

  Rourke, perhaps best known for his Oscar-nominated role in "The Wrestler," told Yahoo! Sports about his apparent late-night encounter with the Olympic legend.

  "We were outside the Wellington in Central London, and it was four in the morning," Rourke, a legendary partier, said. "It was just that time of the night, you know, when anything can happen. So I went up to him, and I said, 'Come on, you are the world's fastest man, let's go.'"

  Bolt humbly agreed.

  Rourke was no slouch of an athlete in his heyday. The veteran actor briefly competed as a professional boxer in the 1990's, amassing an impressive 6-0-2 record. But pushing 60, Rourke smartly asked for a head start.

  "There was a space in the street of about 30 meters," Rourke said. "I got him to back up about four paces, we set off and I got him by a few inches."

  Assuming what Rourke is saying is absolutely true, here are a few questions to consider: How drunk was Rourke? (The answer to that question might be in this quote by him also in Yahoo!'s story: "I had been drinking tequila with these guys from the Huddersfield Giants rugby team.") Was it really Usain Bolt? (Answer to first question plays into that.) Did Bolt not care about winning this race, or did he really not care about winning this race?

  These are important questions.

  Photos: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

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• Carl Lewis has doubts Usain Bolt can repeat Beijing success in London

  July 18, 2012 by sawleyv

  

  Usain Bolt has made no secret of the lofty expectations he has for himself at the Summer Olympics this year. But when Carl Lewis thinks about the Jamaican speedster's prospects in London, doubt settles in.

  The Olympic legend questions Bolt's chances at repeating his dominance in Beijing four years ago based on past trends of former sprinters.

  "The reason it hasn't been done is because it's hard to stay at that level for a long period of time," Lewis told the IANS. "People are always trying to beat you when you are a champion."

  Lewis ought to know. He claimed gold in both the 100 and 200 meters at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. But four years later, in Seoul, Lewis fell short of repeating that success, winning gold in the 100, but settling for silver in the 200, the only of his 10 Olympic medals not colored gold.

  After similarly sweeping the gold in both the 100 and 200 at the 2008 Beijing Games, Bolt comes to London with expectations of running the 100 in an astonishing 9.4 seconds (Bolt has the world record at 9.58 seconds) and promises of declaring himself a "living legend."

  However, Bolt already may be making Lewis look like a genius before even setting a spike on the London track.

  It was earlier this month at the Jamaican Olympic Trials where a disappointing Bolt could win neither of his marquee events. Instead, he placed second in both the 100 and 200 to Yohan Blake, whose times of 9.75 seconds and 19.8, respectively, are world bests this year.

  Blake is no stranger to beating Bolt on the big stage. Blake won gold in the 100 meters at the 2011 World Championships after Bolt was disqualified for a false start in the final.

  "Blake has beaten Bolt two years in a row now after the World Championships in 2011 and we don't know what Bolt's head is like when he loses," Lewis said.

  Bolt has a habit of running races without giving maximum effort. Call it part of his inflamed ego, if you want. Most notably, in Beijing he notably pulled up considerably early before the finish line for the 100 final and still set a world record. It's not clear if that was the case at the Jamaican trials, but you can't put it past him. But if that wasn't the case, then Bolt got the biggest wake-up call he could have asked for.

  H/T Fourth-Place Medal
  Photo: Thomas Campbell-US PRESSWIRE

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• Michael Johnson: Slave descendants have 'superior athletic gene'

  July 03, 2012 by LBSports

  

  Retired Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson believes there is a scientific reason that explains why so many of the top sprinters in the world are black. The four-time gold medalist, now a commentator for BBC, believes slave descendants have genes that make them superior athletes.

  "All my life I believed I became an athlete through my own determination, but it’s impossible to think that being descended from slaves hasn’t left an imprint through the generations," Johnson said on a documentary called "Michael Johnson: Survival Of The Fastest," according to the Daily Mail.
  

  "Difficult as it was to hear, slavery has benefited descendants like me – I believe there is a superior athletic gene in us."

  According to the Daily Mail, some scientists support that notion. Their report states that only the fittest and strongest African people were picked to board the slave ships. Once aboard the ships, conditions were so terrible that only the strongest/healthiest/fittest people of an already select group survived. Additionally, the Daily Mail says some scientists believe that some slave owners selectively bred to create even stronger and more athletic people, which set the groundwork for dominant athletes decades later.

  The documentary states that 14 of the 15 100-meter finalists at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing were descendants of slaves. Johnson is of West African descent, a DNA test confirmed.

  The former "world's fastest man" recognizes this is a controversial subject matter, but that doesn't prevent him from exploring it.

  "It’s a taboo subject in the States but it is what it is. Why shouldn’t we discuss it?" he wonders.

  In 1988, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder posited that:

  "The black is a better athlete to begin with because he's been bred to be that way, because of his high thighs and big thighs that goes up into his back, and they can jump higher and run faster because of their bigger thighs and he's bred to be the better athlete because this goes back all the way to the Civil War when during the slave trade'n the big… the owner… the slave owner would breed his big black to his big woman so that he could have a big black kid see."

  He was fired in 1988 by CBS for the comments.

  Below is a clip teasing the documentary, which aired last week on Channel 4 in the U.K.

  H/T Sports by Brooks Live

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• Usain Bolt plans more antics for world championships

  August 26, 2011 by RumorsandRants

  

  Usain Bolt is known for two things: his entertaining personality and running very, very fast. The reigning world's fastest man plans to showcase both of those things this week at the track and field world championships.

  It's almost a given that the 25-year-old Bolt will perform well at this week's meet in Daegu, South Korea. But what has become even more expected from the goofy Jamaican are his pre and post-race antics.

  "That's just who I am. I like to have fun, like to make people laugh," Bolt told the AP. "The fans like seeing me being me and trying to enjoy the championships as much as possible."

  Whether he's celebrating before crossing the finish line, doing an awkward post-race dance or just striking a pose, Bolt likes to enjoy himself after he wins. And really, who can blame him? He's so absurdly fast he doesn't just break records, he shatters them.

  After winning three gold medals at the 2008 Olympics - with victories in the 100 meters, 200 meters and the 4x100 meter relay - Bolt has only solidified his position as the world's top sprinter. In Beijing Bolt set world records in each of his events, finishing the 100 in 9.69 seconds, the 200 in 19.30 and his Jamaican team finished the 4x100 in 37.10.

  At the 2009 world championships in Berlin, Bolt was even more impressive. He re-set his world record in the 100 with a mind-boggling 9.58, and in the 200 he blew away his previous mark by finishing in 19.19 seconds.

  Bolt has been dealing with nagging back issues since 2010 and does not expect to re-break his records this week. In fact, his best time this year in the 100 meters has been 9.86 - which is pedestrian by his standards.

  That said, it would be a huge disappointment if Bolt loses this week in Daegu. Fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell withdrew from the competition with a groin injury and top American sprinter Tyson Gay is out as he recovers from hip surgery.

  So this should come down to Usain Bolt racing against the ridiculous expectations his past performances have created. He doesn't seem to be backing away from them either. "A lot of people have their own goals. My goal is to become a legend. I'm working on it," Bolt said.

  He's well on his way, and we will definitely be watching over the next week to see what he does before, during and after his races.

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• Oscar Pistorius close to earning spot at 2012 games

  July 21, 2011 by RumorsandRants

  

  Remember Oscar Pistorius? He's the South African double amputee who has been trying to prove he can compete with able-bodied athletes for years now. Well, consider me convinced.

  The 24-year-old, who runs on carbon-fiber legs known as blades, blazed to a time of 45.07 seconds in a 400 meter race in Italy on Tuesday. That puts him inside the "A" standard time set forth by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). As it stands now, Pistorius will most likely be selected by South Africa's team for the 2012 Olympics.

  His previous best time was 45.61 seconds, which put him inside the "B" standard, but meant he was unlikely to be picked, because that time only made him the fourth-fastest South African. He now stands as the second-fastest.

  How good was Pistorius' time on Tuesday? Consider that the current world record in the 400 is Michael Johnson's mark of 43.18. Additionally, Pistorius' time from Tuesday would would have placed him fifth at the Beijing Olympics. He referred to his performance as "a dream race."

  Know as Blade Runner, Pistorius has won four gold medals at the Paralympics, and currently holds world records in the 100, 200 and 400 meters for disabled athletes.

  Pistorius won a legal battle in 2008 that allowed him to compete at the highest levels of track and field. The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a previous ruling by the IAAF that said Pistorius' prosthetic blades gave him an advantage. The CAS decided that the evidence was inconclusive, and that he actually might be at a disadvantage because he has less blood in his body and no calf muscles.

  Born without fibulae, a decision was made to amputate both of Pistorius' legs below the knee when he was just 11 months old.

  I don't really understand why anyone would complain about Pistorius possibly competing at the Olympics. It would be a great story and, frankly, I think the guy deserves a shot.

  H/T to Sports Girl

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