Olympic Notes: GB Basketball Team Must Finish In EuroBasket Top 6 To Secure Funds

Great Britain's men's basketball team heads to the EuroBasket in Slovenia knowing the future of its Olympic funding "hangs in the balance." For funding to extend beyond an initial 12 months, it "set the target of a top-six finish at the EuroBasket." The team begins "against Israel on Wednesday" (BBC, 9/4). ... IOC inspectors have seen "strong, solid progress" but think organizers need a sharper focus in the countdown to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The IOC coordination commission, headed by former Olympic hurdles champion Nawal El Moutawakel, "finished a two-day inspection visit on Monday and seemed to take a stronger tone than on its previous four visits" (AP, 9/4). ... The Sochi 2014 organizing committee said Wednesday that "tickets for the first Russian Paralympic Winter Games will go on sale Sept. 27" (MOSCOW TIMES, 9/4).