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Nothstein picks family over dollars
U.S. cycling star Marty Nothstein won't be cashing in on his Olympic success in Japanese Keirin races after all. The popular two-month circuit, which begins this month, is the most lucrative in the world for track cyclists, who can earn as much as $1 million a year in prize money and appearance fees. Nothstein, the Olympic gold medalist in the match sprint and a former world champ in the Keirin, would have commanded a top price. Yet negotiations didn't actually stall over money. Because the Keirin circuit has a checkered history of race-fixing, organizers require cyclists to remain in virtual lockdown during the season. Nothstein offered to fly his family to Japan at his own expense, but officials refused to allow him visitation time. So Nothstein declined the money and will instead compete domestically in both road and track races. Records tumble at Olympic speedskating ovalIf this month's World Single Distances Championships in Kearns, Utah, were an accurate barometer, you can expect speedskating records to fall in most of the 10 races at the Salt Lake City Olympics next February. Skaters set 57 national records and 127 personal bests, and world records fell seven times in five events during the first competition ever held at the Olympic oval. Ironically, the event nearly had to be moved from the Kearns site when it was discovered a year ago that the underlying concrete would have to be repoured because it had not set properly. The facility sits 4,675 feet above sea level, making it the world's highest indoor oval by more than 1,000 feet. Yet the fast ice, which offers a well-designed balance between grip and glide, more than compensates for the air at high altitude, even at longer distances. Marathons will start blood testingIt is only a matter of time before the world's major marathons require athletes to submit to blood testing in addition to the standard urine tests given to the top three finishers. Race directors of five of the world's top marathons (New York, Chicago, Boston, London and Berlin) have signed a declaration asking the IAAF, track's governing body, to change its rules by Aug. 31 and mandate that elite races blood test the top finishers. Behind the scenes, the directors are digging in against the misgivings of many of the racers' agents, insisting that the tests will lend credibility to long-distances results, which are far more susceptible to manipulation by blood doping than by use of performance-enhancing drugs on the International Olympic Committee's banned substances list. An equestrian face offExpect a messy court battle over the next few months between the American Horse Shows Association, which has national-governing-body status for equestrian sports in the United States, and the U.S. Equestrian Team, which wants to assume the governing position itself. The USET oversees training, financing and squad selection for international competitions. Many of its members feel they are being ill served by the AHSA, which handles national competitions and rules enforcement. Sports Illustrated staff writer Brian Cazeneuve covers Olympic sports for the magazine and is a frequent contributor to CNNSI.com.
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