IOC drops wrestling from 2020 Olympics

The IOC executive board decided Tuesday to drop wrestling from the 2020 Games.  The decision to scrap one of the oldest and most basic sports in the Olympic program is a surprising one.

IOC leaders decided to retain modern pentathlon — which was considered most at risk — and remove wrestling instead from its list of "core sports," reports The Associated Press.

Wrestling — which combines freestyle and Greco-Roman events — goes back to the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.  The sport featured 344 athletes competing in 11 medal events at last year's London Games.

Wrestling will now join seven other sports in applying for inclusion in 2020.  The others are a combined bid from baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu.  They will be vying for a single opening in 2020.

Modern Pentathlon combines fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting — all sports which already have their own individual Olympic events — so dropping the whole sport of wrestling seems illogical. Pentathlon's governing body, the UIPM,  lobbied hard to protect its Olympic status and it seems to have paid off.

The IOC executive board will meet in May to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020 inclusion. The final vote will be made at the IOC general assembly in September in Buenos Aires.

The last sports removed by the Olympics were baseball and softball, voted out in 2005, and out of the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games.  Golf and rugby will be joining the program at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The IOC program commission report analyzed more than three dozen criteria, including television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity. With no official rankings or recommendations contained in the report, the final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors.

Gabby Douglas: I almost quit gymnastics to work at Chick-fil-A

Things got so bad for Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas that, for a while, the best gymnast in the world had flirted with leaving the sport to sling chicken sandwiches at a Chick-fil-A right before she was on the brink of stardom.

Douglas, a member off the Fierce Five darlings of the London Games, confessed to friends that she was homesick and tired of the grueling training routine and longed to head home and be anything but a gymnast.

"Gymnastics is not my passion anymore," the then 15-year-old texted her mother — only seven months before claiming Olympic gold in the individual all-around gymnastics in London last summer.

"I can get a job at Chick-fil-A in Virginia Beach and live off the 14-grand I just won at World Championships," she writes in her new autobiography, "Grace, Gold & Glory: My Leap of Faith.  The book will be published Dec. 4.

"I just want to be a normal teenage kid," she wrote.

Dubbed The Flying Squirrel, Douglas became the first black woman to win the all-around gold in the sport.

The young athlete's mom, Natalie Hawkins, who supported the family while Gabby's father served in the Air National Guard, let her daughter move to Iowa and train.  She was heartbroken that Gabby wanted to drop out of the sport. It was only after the gymnast's big brother John convinced her to stick it out that she returned to the gym.

Little sis went on to win two medals in London, after beating two Russians and teammate Aly Raisman, including the top medal in her sport.

Douglas has already admitted an affinity for fast food and, shortly after The Games, told Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" that she celebrated her Olympic medals with a couple of Egg McMuffins.

The only problem was that first lady Michelle Obama was sitting next to her and gave the carb-deprived pixie a little lecture about the dangers of a bad diet.

Missy Franklin dedicates Olympic races to Colorado shooting victims

U.S. Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin said Thursday she was so deeply affected by the movie shootings in the suburb of Aurora, Colo. last week, she will be dedicating all of her races at the London Games to her home state of Colorado.

The 17-year old swimming star is from Aurora and attends high school and trains there.  Although Franklin has family and friends residing there, she said she did not know any of the victims but will take the heartbreak of the tragedy into the pool as inspiration.

"Right now, all I can do is swim my heart out and hopefully make my state proud," she said.

Franklin is expected to compete in seven events at the 2012 London Games and the world-record holder is a favorite to get Olympic gold in more than a few.

The mature beyond her years Franklin, one of the U.S. Olympic team's brightest and biggest stars, just might make the whole country proud.

Blade Runner dating Russian supermodel

Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee athlete known as "Blade Runner," may get a lot of stares on the track but he seems to get a lot of attention from the runway too.  The South African runner has caught the eye of Russian supermodel Anastassia Khozissova and the two are dating, says The New York Post.

Pistorius— who qualified to run in the 400 meter relay at the London Games— and Khozissova, a model who has graced the catwalks for Chanel, Prada, Giorgio Armani and Marc Jacobs, have been "dating for just over a month," said the newspaper.

The pair reportedly met in New York and were spotted holding hands while strolling the streets of Chelsea.  The track star recently broken up a relationship with a longtime girlfriend.

Pistorius will make history this summer as the first amputee to compete in any Olympics. There has been controversy concerning the fact that he runs on two prosthetic J-shaped, carbon-fiber blades  which some critics claim gives Pistorius an unfair advantage on the track.  A court cleared him to compete against able-bodied athletes in 2008.

Khozissova is an Olympic-class model in her own right.  The stunner is ranked as the world's third-top model on the website Modelinia— ahead of such beauties as Victoria's secret Angels Doutzen Kroes and Candice Swanepoel.  She's also an instructor at the Maybelline Stiletto Boot Camp— which shows women how to strut down the runway in high heels.

Carbon-fiber blades and six-inch stilettos— sounds like a match made in heaven.

U.S. Olympic uniforms are 'Made in China'

The new Ralph Lauren-designed U.S. Olympic outfits — replete with a U.S. Olympic patch and Polo's "Big Pony" logo on each side of the blazer— have not only offended fashionistas for their snobby country club look, they have politicians up in arms about the "Made in China" label inside.

New York politicos like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Steve Israel have expressed their disgrace that the U.S. athletes will be wearing outsourced uniforms— while millions of Americans are out of work— in a letter to U.S. Olympic Chairman Lawrence Probst.

This is the third Olympics Lauren has outfitted the U.S. team.  The designer's preppy navy and white ensemble topped with a beret will be worn at the opening and closing ceremonies at the London Games and Polo will be providing casual clothes for athletes while they lounge around the Olympic Village.

Nike has made most of the competition uniforms and outfits the athletes for the medal stand.

Lauren's Hampton's lawn party look already has critics giving his design a bronze medal.  Now politicians feel China has already gotten the gold.

Ralph Lauren's Opening Ceremony uniforms for U.S. Olympic Team say 'Ahoy Matey'

Ralph Lauren unveiled images of the U.S. Olympic team outfits for the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 London Games and— if you like to look like a flight attendant mixed with a little prep school and topped off with a little military chic— these unis are right up your alley.

The navy, red and white ensembles completed with white pants (skirts for women) and red, white and blue neckties.  They blazers will even be branded with Polo's "Big Pony" logo on one breast and an embroidered U.S. team logo on the other.  Each suit is capped off with a military style beret.  These double-breasted outfits would look quite at home on your typical luxury yacht or some upscale lawn party.  I'm sure Thurston Howell III would approve.

You can't blame Lauren for outfitting the U.S. team for the third time.  He gets to showcase his preppy fashion-sensibility to television viewers around the globe.  Where else can a billion people see your Polo logo on some of the best bodies in the world.  Abercrombie would have snuffed Fitch for that kind of exposure.

And if you can't wait for the Olympics to start, you can always pretend to be Michael Phelps or Hope Solo on your own pretend country club right now.  The outfits are already for sale at the Ralph Lauren website.  It might be cheaper to buy makeup for the whole synchronized swim team because the women's two-piece will  set you back about $1100.

Come to think of it, I do remember Lovey Howell sporting the same look on a few episodes "Gilligan's Island."  Furthermore, a Gilligan hat would be better than a French beret any day.

Olympics-social media bans imposed on gun-slinging swimmers

The pair of Australian Olympic swimmers who posed with guns at a California shooting range and posted the photo to Facebook last week will be forced to leave the Olympics after the swimming competition ends and will be banned from using social media— such as Facebook and Twitter— for a month-long period as part of the punishment for posting the controversial picture.

Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk will be forced to leave London on the second Sunday of the Olympic Games when the swimming portion is completed and — starting July 16— not be allowed to tweet or comment on ant social media for one month.

I wonder if the duo's ban from the Olympics coincides with the men's and women's pistol and rifle events?

The swimmers took the punishment like men and told reporters that they will institute a self-imposed social media ban on themselves before the required date, according to Yahoo! Sports.

"At this stage it would just serve as a distraction," said Darcy of the personal ban.  "It's really important in these last seven weeks to be really focused on training and focused on what I'm doing in the pool because at the end of the day I'm going to be coming up against some of the greatest swimmers in the world especially Michael Phelps."

D'Arcy has had issues in the past and the uproar this photo caused last week forced the Australian Olympic Committee to quickly remove it from Facebook— even though what they did is totally legal.

D'Arcy and Monk went public on television with an explanation.  Monk said they went to the gun range to duplicate a similar trip the Australian swim team made in 2007.  Photos of gold medalist Libby  Trickett firing an antique pistol during the team-sanctioned trip have been making the rounds and have led to accusations of hypocrisy.

Now it's turned into a case of gun control and creating a public relations headache for the AOC who are afraid the two swimmers could embarrass the country on a worldwide stage when— in reality— it's a goofy mistake by two young men whose only "crime" was posting it on Facebook.

I wonder what measures the AOC will take to make sure the two swimmers don't smuggle any firearms into the Olympic pool.  Is that a gun in your Speedo or are you just happy to be here?

Women's beach volleyball players can cover up at London Olympics

Female beach volleyball players will have the option of wearing less revealing uniforms at the London Olympics this summer.

In  an attempt by the sport's governing body to respect the the cultural beliefs of various countries, the International Volleyball Federation says it will allow shorts and sleeved tops at the Olympics— in addition to bikinis and body suits.

Think male viewership will drop off?

Bikinis have been part of the player's wardrobe since beach volleyball became an Olympic medal event at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Players typically opted for body suits in chillier weather.

There will be a 24-team beach volleyball lineup in London this summer and the rule already applied to Continental Cup qualifiers for the Olympics involving 142 nations.

Federation spokesman Richard Baker tells The Associated Press that "many of these countries have religious and cultural requirements, so the uniform needed to be more flexible."

The modified rule permits "shorts of a maximum length of (1.18 inches) above the knee, and sleeved or sleeveless tops."

Beach volleyball at the London Games will be played July 28-Aug. 12 in a stadium at Horse Guards Parade near Buckingham Palace.

The sport is usually dominated by the U.S. and Brazilian teams.

Lin unlikely to make U.S. Olympic team; China is waiting

Will Jeremy Lin be playing on the U.S. Olympic basketball team in this summer's London Games?  Don't count on it.

Jerry Colangelo— the current director of USA Basketball— said Lin was "a great story for the NBA, for the Knicks, for this young man and what he's accomplished in such a short period of time."

The key word is "short."

The longtime sports executive also added," The players who already have time invested in the system have equity built up."

Could Colangelo be making the same mistake that big-time colleges and NBA teams did when they let Lin fly under their radar in the past?

In three weeks, Lin has made plenty of athletic directors, general mangers and coaches look back at how they missed out on giving the point guard his shot.