Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbooks) - The inaugural Youth Olympic Games began this week in Singapore. The brainchild of IOC President Jacques Rogge, the YOG welcomes approximately 3,600 athletes ages 14-18 from more than 200 countries competing in 26 sports.
In taekwondo, Gregory English (Chicago Ill.) won bronze. Fencer Celina Merza (Wayne, N.J.) kept her silver run going as well as she added a silver medal for the U.S. contingent. The 17-year old rallied from down 8-4 at the break to pull off the victory.
Diving and gymnastics also had packed weeks as the 2010 AT&T National Championships and Visa National Championships concluded. Olympians Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) and Haley Ishimatsu (Seal Beach, Calif.) both had strong showings.
BASEBALL: USA Routs Korea at World Cup
The IBAF Women's Baseball Team beat Korea 21-0 in World Cup action August 15th in Marcay, Venezuela. Tamara Holmes (Oakland, Calif.) became the first USA Baseball Women's National Team player to hit an out-of-the park home run in the team's win.
BASKETBALL: Men's World Championship tops France in Exhibition
In its first official exhibition game, the 2010 USA Men's World Championship Team outdistanced France in the second half for an 86-55 exhibition victory on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y.
Playing in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,763 and an ESPN2 nationally televised audience, the USA squad was led by 19 points off the bench from Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies), while Player of the Game Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets) scored 17 points and Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) added 14.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Eight is Great for Rogers and Dalhausser; Kessy, Ross take fourth
Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) captured their eighth SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal of the 2010 season August 15 in Kristiansand, Norway. Dalhausser and Rogers now share the overall international record for team titles in a season. Sunday's title was the 16th gold medal for the partnership.
The fifth seeded team of Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) placed fourth at the Otera Open in Kristiansand, Norway after losing to Brazil in the bronze medal match. The duo is expected to play this week in Finland at the Paf Open.
BOBSLED: Janis Kipurs Hired as U.S. Women's Bobsled Driving Coach
The U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (USBSF) announced that Janis Kipurs has accepted the position as women's bobsled driving coach, effective immediately. Kipurs joins recently hired women's bobsled head coach, Dave Owens, to lead the program through the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. His main responsibilities as the U.S. women's bobsled driving coach include pilot feedback during training and competitions, analyzing drive lines on the track, and managing video review.
BOWLING: O'Neill Golden in Singles at World Men's Championships
The United States topped Korea for the singles gold medal Saturday night at the 2010 World Tenpin Bowling Association World Men's Championships.
Team USA's Bill O'Neill (Southampton, Pa.) defeated Korea's Choi Bok-Eum, 244-202, in the one-game gold-medal match at Dream Bowl Palace. England's Dominic Barrett and Team USA's Chris Barnes (Double Oak, Texas) shared the bronze medal after falling in the semifinals.
CYCLING: Holloway wins at AT&T USA Cycling Professional Criterium National Championship
Daniel Holloway (Morgan Hill, Calif.) earned the stars and stripes jersey at August 14 at the AT&T USA Cycling Professional Criterium National Championships at the Glencoe Grand Prix while junior Matthew Baranoski (Perkasie, Pa.) took home the first medal for the United States at the 2010 UCI Juniors Track World Championships on Saturday winning bronze in the men's keirin.
DIVING: Boudia Breaks American Record at AT&T Nationals
2008 Olympian David Boudia (Noblesville, Ind./West Lafayette, Ind.) scored 605.40 points to break his own American record and win the men's 10-meter national title Saturday at the AT&T National Diving Championships.
Three-time Olympian Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) won his 31st and 32nd career national titles with victories on 3-meter and synchronized 3-meter with Kristian Ipsen (Clayton, Calif.) on Sunday to close out the 2010 AT&T National Diving Championships. Other winners were Olympian Haley Ishimatsu (Seal Beach, Calif.) in women's 10-meter and Laura Ryan (Elk River, Minn.) and Amy Cozad (Decatur, Ind.) in women's synchronized 10-meter.
EQUESTRIAN: Konyot Dominates 2010 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Grand Prix National Dressage Championship
Tina Konyot closed out the 2010 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Grand Prix National Dressage Championship in impressive fashion to sweep the four legs of competition and win her very first National Grand Prix Championship. Konyot's sweep of the National Championship also meant that she won the USEF Selection Trial for the US Dressage Team for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, which will be held in Lexington, Ky., September 25-October 10 at the Kentucky Horse Park.
GYMNASTICS: Bross & Horton Win All-Around Titles at Visa Championships
Rebecca Bross (Plano, Texas) won her first Visa Championships all-around title at the 2010 Visa Championships at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. She took top honors on both the balance beam and uneven bars, with a silver medal for the floor exercise while Mattie Larson (Los Angeles,Calif.) finished second in the all-around and grabbed the floor title. Alexandra Raisman (Needham, Mass.) claimed the bronze. 2008 Olympian Alicia Sacramone (Winchester, Mass.) became the first U.S. women to win five national vault titles.
Julie Zetlin (Bethesda, Md.) won three of the four senior individual event titles to win the senior all-around rhythmic title while Rebecca Sereda (Staten Island, N.Y.) won the junior all-around. Shelby Kisiel (Missouri City, Texas) claimed the fourth individual event title.
In men's action, 2008 Olympic high bar silver-medalist Jonathan Horton (Houston, Texas) defended his all-around title with a total of 181.650 points. Danell Leyva (Miami, Fla.) took second followed by Brandon Wynn (Voorhees, N.J.).
SAILING: USSTAG Wins Two Bronze Medals at Sail for Gold; Team Wins Two Silvers, Bronze ISAF Sailing World Cup Medals
The world's best Olympic class sailors battled it out for regatta medals and ISAF Sailing World Cup titles this past weekend at Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta. Held at the venue of the 2012 Olympic Sailing Regatta, the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) fought hard finishing with two bronze medals: Erin Maxwell (Stonington, Conn.) and Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar (New York, N.Y.) took third in the Women's 470 and Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), Molly Vandemoer (Redwood City, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) also made the podium in Women's Match Racing.
ISAF awarded Sailing World Cup medals for the top three teams in each class. Team Tunnicliffe won silver in Women's Match Racing, Andy Horton (Boston, Mass.) and James Lyne (Burlington, Vt.) won silver in the Star class, and Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) won a bronze in the Laser Radial.
SOFTBALL: USA Softball Junior Women's National Team wins Gold Medal in Bogota, Colombia
The 2010-11 USA Softball Women's National Team (9-0) took home the gold at the III Pan American Championship following a 3-1 defeat of Canada. The win qualified the U.S. for the International Softball Federation (ISF) Junior Women's World Championship, December 2011, in Cape Town, South Africa.
TRACK & FIELD: Felix Sparkles as she Completes Diamond League Double
Allyson Felix (Los Angeles, Calif.) completed her double Saturday, winning the women's 400m in 50.79. Earlier in the week, she won the 200m. Felix battled European champion Tatyana Firova and World Indoor champ Debbie Dunn down the final straight, but was able to hold them off as Firova took second in 50.84 and Dunn finished third in 50.89.
Jeremy Wariner (Arlington, Texas) claimed victory in the men's 400m while David Oliver (Denver, Colo.) equaled the meet record in the men's 110m hurdles Saturday after Tyson Gay (Lexington, Ky.) won in the men's 100m Friday at the Aviva London Grand Prix, part of the Samsung Diamond League.
TRIATHLON: Chrabot Takes Fourth in Kitzbuhel
Matt Chrabot (Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished fourth on Saturday in the penultimate Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series event, posting his second top-10 finish of the series and the best WCS finish by an American this year. Chrabot covered the Olympic-distance course in one hour, 53 minutes, 35 seconds - 63 seconds behind winner Stuart Hayes of Great Britain.
USA Triathlon National Team athletes Laura Bennett (Boulder, Colo.) and Sarah Groff (Hanover, N.H.) posted top-10 finishes on Sunday.
Bennett continued her impressive streak of top finishes since her return from injury. The 2008 Olympian has finished fifth, seventh, and eighth in her past three WCS races. Her result in Kitzbuhel moved her from 13th to 11th in the WCS rankings, passing teammate Sarah Haskins (St. Louis, Mo.) who did not race in Kitzbuhel.
WATER POLO: USA Women Take Second Place in Six Nations Tournament In Sydney
The USA Women's Senior National Team fell to Australia 10-8 in final of the Six Nations Tournament held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Center Thursday, August 12. The bout was a rematch of the famed Gold Medal match from 10 years ago in the first Olympic Games for water polo. Despite the loss, Team USAs Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, Calif.) was named tourney MVP and was joined on all the all-tournament squad with Brenda Villa (Commerce, Calif.), Anne Belden (Newport Beach, Calif.), and Lolo Silver (Long Beach, Calif.). Now the United States readies for the FINA World Cup starting on August 17 in Christchurch, New Zealand.
WRESTLING: Rob Hermann named head coach of USA Wrestlings Training Program at Northern Michigan University
Rob Hermann (Pensacola, Fla.) was named the head coach for USA Wrestlings Greco-Roman program at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University. He served as head coach for the 1996 Olympic team and assistant coach for the 2000 Olympic team. On the womens side, Link Davis (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Keith Wilson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) will assist Terry Steiner (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and the 2010 Womens Freestyle National team.
VOLLEYBALL: Women Roll Over Puerto Rico at FIVB World Grand Prix
Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.) lead the U.S. National Team to a victory over rival Puerto Rico Sunday evening during Pool D action of the 18th FIVB World Grand Prix.Team USA, now 4-2 in this years World Grand Prix and in fifth place with 12 points, travels to Hong Kong for the final preliminary round weekend.
WEEKLY PREVIEW - August 16-23
SWIMMING: Top U.S. and International Swim Stars will compete at the 2010 Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships, August 18-22 in Irvine, Calif. The strong U.S. team is lead by 27 Olympians including Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.), Natalie Coughlin (Vallejo, Calif.), Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.), Aaron Peirsol (Irvine, Calif.), Rebecca Soni (Plainsboro, N.J.), Jason Lezak (Irvine, Calif.) and Amanda Beard (Irvine, Calif.)
WATER POLO: The Women's FINA World Cup will take place in Wellington, New Zealand.
TENNIS: The Olympus US Open series takes place in New Haven, Conn., at Yale University, August 22-28. Local James Blake (Fairfield, Conn.) headlines the last warm-up tournament before the US Open in Flushing, N.Y.
VOLLEYBALL: The fourth-ranked U.S. Women's National team will conclude the preliminary round at the FIVB World Grand Prix with matches against Germany on Aug. 20, Thailand on Aug. 21 and China on Aug. 22. The U.S. Men's Junior National Team is in Gatineau, Quebec this week for the NORCECA Men's Junior Continental Championship, which begins today.
