SOELDEN, Austria (AP & Staff) — Bode Miller is accusing the international ski federation of “ruining” the sport with new equipment regulations that will take effect next year. The 34-year-old skier calls the FIS rule changes regarding minimum size and radius of skis “a complete joke” and “going backwards every time they do a regulation.” Miller says that longer skis with a wider radius will not make ski racing any safer but instead will wipe out all technical developments that have made the sport more appealing to racers and fans in recent years. The new equipment rules have been widely criticized by athletes and manufacturers since the governing body announced them in July.
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ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP & Staff) — The heat-scorched desert nation of Turkmenistan has opened a winter sports complex in a lavish ceremony overseen by the country’s authoritarian president. Some 10,000 people waving white and green balloons packed the arena to capacity Wednesday evening to watch an opening show of performers singing songs in praise of the president and a display by international figure skaters and circus artists. Turkmenistan, which gained independence amid the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, has never taken part in the Winter Olympics, but plans to send a team to participate in the Sochi 2014 Games in southern Russia. The weather in this largely desert nation varies between warm and blistering for most of the year. Snow is a rare sight. On the other hand, the NHL plays in Phoenix.
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TOKYO (AP & Staff) — Catalina Ponor strutted onto the floor, and all eyes immediately turned toward her. The triple Olympic gold medalist is the center of attention at the world gymnastics championships, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Back in her element after deciding — again — that she’s not cut out for the sedate life of a retiree, the 24-year-old is giving the Romanians some badly needed swagger as they rebuild their once-proud women’s program. “We need to have a star, a leader on our team,” Romanian coach Octavian Belu said Monday. A star? Ponor is more like a galaxy. Her three Olympic gold medals — she won the beam and floor titles in Athens in addition to Romania’s team gold — alone are enough to solidify Ponor’s place among gymnastics’ greats. But it was the way she carried herself that made judges and competitors alike stop and stare, with a sass and attitude even the world’s biggest divas would admire. When the Romanian national team was based in Deva, Ponor was the one gymnast who didn’t train there. Her flaming red convertible was a familiar sight in Bucharest. She once got busted for going to a nightclub without permission. And woe to anyone, even her teammates, who got in her way, as Ponor would fix them with an icy stare. Bad knees forced Ponor to retire after she won the beam title at the 2006 European championship. She made a brief return in 2007, but called it quits again at the end of that year because of her knees. She lived comfortably on the healthy stipend awarded to Olympic champions by the Romanian government, and tried coaching. After watching the Romanians struggle at last year’s worlds, however, Ponor decided to make one last comeback. “She’s coming back because maybe she feels like we feel, the place of a gymnast is in the hall,” said Belu, who resumed his old post as coach of the national team last year after spending five years in politics. “A gymnast like Catalina, with three gold medals in the Olympic Games, it’s better to have in the hall like a symbol than, I don’t know, in the museum.” Romania certainly needs her. After the Soviet Union broke up, Romania became the world’s most dominant team. It won five straight world titles from 1994 to 2001, as well as the team [...]
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