Cookson Responds to Swiss Withdrawal; Badminton Player Questions Federation

Cookson Responds to McQuaid Withdrawal

Swiss Cycling withdrew its nomination of Pat McQuaid for UCI president, a move fellow candidate Brian Cookson called a "development…of real significance."

"It leaves Mr. McQuaid in a very difficult position," said Cookson today in a statement posted to his website, "particularly when viewed alongside his failure to receive a nomination from his own national federation as required under the constitution of the UCI."

Cookson, the president of British Cycling, is the only challenger to the incumbent McQuaid. Without Switzerland’s support, however, McQuaid is no longer supported by a home federation after having already been dropped by Cycling Ireland.

In reference to a proposed rule change by McQuaid in a last-ditch effort to maintain eligibility, Cookson said, "The important principle in any democracy is that you must respect the rules as they are, not how you’d like them to be."

McQuaid has the support of Moroccan and Thai federations, but he can claim neither as his home. A rule change will be voted on the morning of the election to determine whether a candidate can gather nominations from two federations outside his home to gain candidacy.

Continued Embarrassment for India

Another group of Indian athletes have been sent home from the Asian Youth Games for being overage.

Three weightlifters - Chandrika Tarafdar, Jyoti Mal, and Akshay Bhagwan - were found to be born in 1996. The requirements for competition say all competitors must be under 18 for the AYG.

Anonymous officials told Indian media they interpreted an International Weightlifting Federation rule that allowed lifters born in 1996 to compete, but discovered that was not the case only on arrival in Nanjing.

Over the weekend, 18 other Indian athletes were kicked out for being too old. The Nanjing 2013 website describes the event as "a gathering of athletes aged between 14 and 17."

Competition runs until August 23.

No Doping for FINA

There were no doping rule violations at the 2013 International Swimming Federation World Championships in Barcelona.

820 tests were performed before and during the competition, yielding no irregularities.

ISAF Athletes Commission

The International Sailing Federation announced its Athletes Commission for 2013-16.

Fernanda Oliveira of Brazil, Sarah Gosling of Great Britain, Lijia Xu of China, Pieter-Jan Postma of the Netherlands, and Yann Rocherieux of France were elected to four-year terms.

They will join Ben Barger of the United States, Malcolm Page of Australia, and Marcelien de Koning of the Netherlands, who will be serving their second terms.

The first Athletes Commission meeting will be in September, where they will choose a chairman for the next four years.

Chinese Badminton Player Takes Shot at BWF

In an interview with China.org.cn, Lin Dan criticized the Badminton World Federation over the controversy that has surrounded his fifth world championship.

The stadium air conditioning at this month’s world final in Guangzhou, which was affecting players at one end of the court, went off at the start of the second game, which is when Lin switched to the drafty side.

Having already lost the first game, Lin won the second to tie the match and took the title when his opponent, world number one Lee Chong Wei, was stretchered off the court with heat-related cramps in the third game on match point.

"Many people, including those from the BWF, don’t really understand what the main problems in badminton are, and what it most needs, because many officials are not competitors," Lin said to the site via email.

"The biggest problem for badminton is wind direction and lighting," he added. "If a high-level player's performance is affected by these factors, they suffer setbacks and cannot be fully satisfied on the court."

Chinese officials denied turning the air conditioning off.

Slopestyle Course Details Revealed

The International Ski Federation (FIS) has released details of the slopestyle course that will be in play during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Ski and snowboard slopestyle will be part of the Olympics for the first time next year. A judged event, competitors will be tested with a course that integrates a variety of jumps along with "jib features" like rails and boxes.

The course was designed by Anders Forsell, who has designed a number of previous courses for FIS World Cup and World Championship Events. It will stage a total of 20 freestyle skiing and snowboard competitions and is located at the Rosa Khutor ski area.

Written by Nick Devlin, Aaron Bauer and Ed Hula III.

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