Int'l Boxing Federation (AIBA) President Ching-Kuo Wu said that professional boxers will feature at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics "as long as a constitutional change goes through in June." Last month's decision by AIBA to begin procedures to open the door for pro boxers to compete alongside amateurs at the Games "means the sport could get increased exposure with potentially big-name fighters taking part." The move, though, has also "earned a lot of criticism as many argue it would be unfair to the thousands of amateurs who have trained for the Games for years and now have to possibly make way for the pros." Wu: "Professional boxers will be at Rio. I don't know how many but they will be" (REUTERS, 3/1).
STILL TRAINING: Barred from int'l competition, Russia is training its athletes at a series of special domestic tournaments and "banking on hopes a doping ban will be lifted in time for this year's Rio Olympics." While rivals will "pit their strength" at the world indoor games in the U.S. in March, Russian athletes have "had to make do with a winter season supplemented with five additional Grand Prix events." As things stand, Russian athletes "will be barred from competing," the first time Russia has missed the Olympics since the Soviet Union boycotted the L.A. Games in '84. Officials recognize there is "little substitute" for high-level competition in the approach to the Olympics and "some are worried Russian athletes will lose out in Rio after spending months sequestered away" from their int'l rivals (REUTERS, 3/1).
SOAKED: Heavy rain delayed the laying of the athletics track for this year's Rio Olympics but "there is little chance it will not be ready for test events in May," the man in charge of the project said on Tuesday. The laying of the track was supposed to begin in February but "carnival holidays followed by unusually heavy rains have contributed to delaying the scheduled start." Playpiso Pisos Esportivos Dir Decio Chusid said, "The material is there, it is all ready. We are just waiting for the rains to stop and then we will get going, it shouldn't be long" (REUTERS, 3/1).
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| Abeba Aregawi |
BRIEFLY ...
Sweden's Ethiopian-born 1500m former world champion
Abeba Aregawi has "tested positive for doping," according to the Swedish Athletics Association (
SFIF). The test for banned substances was conducted by the IAAF and a "full investigation will be conducted." The 25-year-old Aregawi has been "provisionally suspended by the SFIF, effective immediately" (
AP, 2/29).
The general secretary of Ethiopia’s anti-doping agency has said that nine of the country’s runners, five of them "top athletes," are under investigation for doping. Solomon Meaza told the AP that his agency "is investigating the five athletes he described as high-profile" after they returned "suspicious" results in doping tests. Solomon declined to name the athletes or "give details of the substances they are suspected of using as investigations are ongoing" (AP, 2/29).
Japan's Robot Taxi aims to "forge partnerships with carmakers to develop a driverless taxi service in time for the 2020 Olympics," holding its first tests on public roads and "joining a global race to develop self-driving cars." The joint venture between gaming software maker DeNA Co and robotics developer ZMP has "set the 2020 Games in Tokyo as a target to develop software to operate driverless cars and an online service to ferry athletes and tourists between Olympic venues and the city's transport hubs" (AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW, 3/1).
