CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Brian Boitano, Olympic Figure Skater, Comes Out As Gay

Brian Boitano is a former Olympic figure skater who won the 1988 Gold medal in Men's Figure Saking and was named this week by President Obama to a delegation to the Winter  Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The Sochi Olympics are becoming a media controversy because they are being held in a notoriously homophobic country so it was notable that the American delegation did not include any high-ranking elected or appointed officials but did include two openly LGBT individuals: tennis great Billie Jean King  and hockey player Caitlin Cahow.

Boitano, 50, was also named to the Sochi delegation and although his sexuality had long been gossiped about, Boitano made it official that he is a gay man by releasing this statement:

I am currently skating in Europe but want to provide a statement regarding my appointment to the Olympic delegation. I have been fortunate to represent the United States of America in three different Olympics, and now I am honored to be part of the presidential delegation to the Olympics in Sochi. It has been my experience from competing around the world and in Russia that Olympic athletes can come together in friendship, peace and mutual respect regardless of their individual country's practices. 

 

It is my desire to be defined by my achievements and my contributions. While I am proud to play a public role in representing the American Olympic Delegation as a former Olympic athlete, I have always reserved my private life for my family and friends and will continue to do so. I am many things: a son, a brother, and uncle, a friend, an athlete, a cook, an author, and being gay is just one part of who I am. First and foremost I am an American athlete and I am proud to live in a country that encourages diversity, openness and tolerance. As an athlete, I hope we can remain focused on the Olympic spirit which celebrates achievement in sport by peoples of all nations.

So, now there are three openly gay members of the delegation to the Sochi Olympics. This should get interesting!

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: Greg Louganis Marries Johnny Chaillot

Olympic diving medalist Greg Louganis got married last weekend to Johnny Chaillot. This is how People magazine reported the nuptials:

 Louganis, 53, married paralegal Johnny Chaillot, 52, Saturday evening at Geoffrey's in Malibu.  

 "It was amazing because I have so many people from all facets of my life here tonight and they are all here and celebrating it is all wonderful," Louganis told PEOPLE immediately following the sunset ceremony. "I already feel different. The ceremony was so reflective and representative of who we are."  

 The recent Splash coach and Chaillot began dating in 2012 after finding each other on the online dating site Match.com and became engaged almost exactly a year later on April 8.

Louganis is well-known for winning multiple Gold medals in diving for the United States, and later revealing in his 1995 autobiography Breaking the Surface that he competed and won his medal at the 1988 Olympics (in Seoul, Korea) after becoming HIV-positive. During a 1996 interview with Oprah Winfrey he discussed publicly his sexual orientation and HIV-positive status for the first time. Breaking The Surface was made into a televised movie starring Mario Lopez.

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Celebrity Friday: Boxer Orlando Cruz Comes Out!

Orlando Cruz, the #4 ranked professional boxer in the world in his featherweight division, has come out as openly gay. Cruz, 31, has been boxing for an astonishing 24 years and first came to fame when he represented his homeland of Puerto Rico in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney Australia.

He is today's Celebrity Friday because of this statement he made this week to USA Today, will surely make him one of the most famous people in sports:

"I want to try to be the best role model I can be for kids who might look into boxing as a sport and a professional career. I have and will always be a proud Puerto Rican. I have always been and always will be a proud gay man."

¡Felicidades, Orlando!

Rod 2.0 has more background information on Orlando and the context of his coming out in the sport of boxing.

Federer Loses 2nd Grass Court Match in 7 Years!

Roger Federer lost his 2nd grass court match in 7 years in the final of Halle to Lleyton Hewitt 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4, the first time in 16 consecutive matches the former Australian #1 had not lost to the 16-time major champion. Federer's only other loss on grass had come at the hands of Rafael Nadal in the epic 2008 Wimbledon final, which many observers call the greatest tennis match ever played.

Federer had a 29-match win streak on grass at Halle dating back to 2002, and after losing to Robin Soderling in the French Open quarterfinals this year and failing to defend that title he faces defending his Wimbledon title for the first time with a loss in a grass court warm-up tournament. Federer is going for his record-tying 7th Wimbledon title, this times as World #2, behind Nadal.

As Federer approaches the end of his storied career the shock defeats will become more frequent and the major wins will become less frequent. However, with 16 Grand Slam singles title, 2 more than the previous record, he is playing for the record books, and I expect him to win at least two more, ending his caeer with 18 or 19 after the 2012 London Olympics.

Usain Bolt DESTROYS 100M World Record: 9.58s!

Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who won the 100m and 200m Gold medals in world record time (19.30s and 9.69s) at the Beijing Olympics one year ago shattered his own record in the 100m dash with a staggering 9.58s run yesterday at the World Championships in Berlin. See the video above.

Tyson Gay, the top American sprinter, ran a career-best 9.71s, the third-fastest time in history, but even that time would not have beaten Bolt's time from last year, and was nowhere close to the Jamaican 22-year-old's stunning mark of 9.58s, a full .11 second faster than the previous world record. The largest delta (or change) in the history of digital record keeping which began in 1977.

Hat/tip Rod 2.0

FRENCH OPEN 2009: Kuznetsova Wins 2nd Major Title

Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Dinara Safina 6-4 6-2 to win her second major title, the 2009 French Open, in Paris on Saturday. Safina is the World #1 and will remain there on Monday. She has appeared in 3 major finals, 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open and the 2009 French Open and lost all 3. She also lost the Gold Olympic medal match to Elena Dementieva in Beijing in August 2008.

Kuznetsova won the 2004 US Open and lost the 2006 French Open final and the 2007 US Open finals to Justine Henin. She is now at 2-2 in major finals, with a surprising 11 wins and 18 losses overall in WTA tour finals.

On to Wimbledon!

Eye Candy: Olympic Decathlon Winner Bryan Clay

America Bryan Clay won the Gold Medal in the Decathlon at the Beijing Olympics. And he's phyne!

Openly Gay Aussie Wins Diving Gold; Ignored By NBC

Openly gay Australian diver Matthew Mitcham scored an incredible upset at the Beijing Olympics and won the gold medal in the 10m platform diving event, preventing the Chinese from winning gold medals in all eight Olympic diving events. The 20-year-old was behind Chinese diver Zhou Luxin by over 30 points going into the final dive and was assured of at least silver. When the Chinese diver slightly messed up his entry, the door was opened slightly for an upset by the Australian, who nailed his dive, and edged Zhou by 4.8 points for the gold.

NBC covered the event but never mentioned or showed Mitcham's mother or partner. This slight has not gone unnoticed. NBC had previously aired coverage of Michael Phelps' mother and sisters in the stands as well as endless mentions of Kerri Walsh losing (and recovering) her wedding ring during beach volleyball competition.

Outsports.com has a great Youtube video of Mitcham talking to the media, flanked by his mom Vivienne and his partner Lachlan.

Mitcham was the only openly gay male athlete out of 10,078 athletes who competed in Beijing, according to Outsports, who said that there were 10 out athletes total at the start of the Games. During the games,

EYE CANDY: U.S. Men's Gymnastic Team

Thanks to the fun site Hunk du Jour.com

Usain Bolt Wins Olympic 200m in World Record Time

Jamaican track and field phenom Usain Bolt won the 200 meter dash at the Beijing Olympics in world record time of 19.30secs, a few days after winning the 100m in a world record of 9.69secs. He becomes the first man to win the 100-200 double since the legendary Carl Lewis did it at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and the first to do so with world record times in both events.

In the 200m he broke Michael Johnson's 1996 Atlanta record of 19.32secs which many people had thought would last longer than a mere 12 years.

Caribbean Athletes (Nearly) Sweep 100m Medals

Caribbean-born athletes are beginning to sweep the most prestigious track and field events at the Beijing Olympics. Usain Bolt of Jamaica set an Olympic and World record of 9.69s in the 100m dash, ahead of Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago (9.89s) and American Walter Dix was third in a person best of 9.93 seconds. Bolt, is a 6-foot-5-inch 21-year-old (lawd have mercy!) who just started running the 100 meter dash in 2008--his speciality is the 200 m dash. Former world record holder Jamaican Asafa Powell placed 5th with 9.95, behind Churandy Martina of the Netherland Antilles with 9.93. Another Jamaican, Michael Frater was 6th with 9.97, the first time 6 of the 8 competitors ran sub-10 second times in the Olympic gold medal100m final.

In the women's 100 meter final Jamaicans (Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart) swept the top 3 positions.

Nadal and Dementieva win Singles Gold

Spain's Rafael Nadal won the gold medal match 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3 over Chile's Fernando Gonzalez with Serbia's Novak Djokovic won the bronze medal by defeating American James Blake.

Russia swept the women singles medals with Elena Dementieva (eight years after winning the silver medal in Sydney) by defeating Dinara Safina 3-6 7-5 6-3 (who double faulted 17 times). Vera Zvonareva won the bronze by defeating Li Na 6-0 7-5.

Williams Sisters Win Doubles Gold

African American sisters Venus and Serena Williams won their second Women's doubles gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, eight years after winning in Sydney by defeating the Spanish team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2 6-0 on Sunday.

Federer and Wawrinka Win Doubles Gold

Swiss tennis players Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka celebrate after winning the Beijing Olympics Men's Doubles gold medal by defeating the Swedish team 6-3 6-4 6-7(3) 6-3.

Safina versus Li, Dementieva versus Zvonareva

Russia will win two of the three medals in Women's Singles at the Beijing Olympics.Russian Dinara Safina beat World #1 Jelena Jankovic 6-2 5-7 6-3 and will need to defeat Li Na for a chance to win the Gold Medal. In the other semi-final, Vera Zvonareva will face Elena Dementieva, insuring there will be at least one Russian (and most likely two) in the Gold Medal match.

MadProfessah's pick: Safina defeats Li, Dementieva defeats Zvonareva.

Federer Will Win Olympic Medal (in Doubles)

Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka defeated the top doubles team in the world, American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6(4) 6-4 to reach the Beijing Olympics Men's Doubles final, assuring that 12-time Grand Slam champion Federer will win his first Olympic medal, something Pete Sampras was never able to do.

The Swiss team will face the unlikely Swedish team of Thomas Johansson and Simon Aspelin in the Gold Medal match on Saturday, who defeated the excellent French team of Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra in the longest tennis match in Olympic history, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 19-17 in 4 hours, 46 minutes.

Gonzalez Clips Blake, Djokovic Chokes Against Nadal

Fernando Gonzalez of Chile defeated American James Blake 4-6 7-5 11-9 in a controversial match and Spaniard Rafael Nadal defeated Serbian Novak Djokovic 6-4 1-6 6-4. Blake missed three match points but was most upset about the first point in the game where Gonzalez was serving 8-9 in the third set and a ball flew past the Chilean at the net and (in the television slow-motion replay) appears to clip his racquet before flying outof bounds. Blake lost the point, even after appealing to the umpire. In his post match press conference, Blake ripped into Gonzalez:

“Playing in the Olympics, in what’s supposed to be considered a gentleman’s sport, that’s a time to call it on yourself,” Blake said. “Fernando looked me square in the eye and didn’t call it.”

Gonzalez said he was uncertain whether the ball hit his racket.

“I didn’t feel anything,” Gonzalez said. “I mean, it’s just one point. There is an umpire. If I’m 100 percent sure about it, I mean, I will give it. But I’m not sure.”

Blake described Gonzalez as a great player who does everything in his power to win, “usually” within the rules.

Wowsa. I sort of am with Gonzalez on this one. There's lots of times when you're playing that you honestly can not tell if the ball has bounced twice, or even if the ball is in or out, which is why one needs external arbiters to make those calls. The umpire made the wrong call, but that happens. Even with that being said, I do think it is quite unusual for a player not to realize that a ball hit their racquet, though.

The Djokovic-Nadal match was excellent quality, with Nadal retreating to his circa 2006-2007 mega-spin style of play, which Djokovic handled easily and demolished him in the 6-1 middle set. In the third set, Djokovic started making more unforced errors, it was really a case of him losing the match, not Nadal winning it. Regardless, Nadal now is assured of winning his first Olympic medal, and for the second Olympics in a row, Fernando Gonzalez will win a medal in tennis. (He an partner Nicolas Massu won the doubles gold medal in Athens in 2004).

Venus, Serena, Safina, Dementieva, Jankovic All Reach Olympics Quarters

The following Women's Singles quarterfinal matches are all scheduled at the Beijing Olympics.

(7) WILLIAMS Venus (USA) vs LI Na (CHN)

(6) SAFINA Dinara (RUS) vs (2) JANKOVIC Jelena (SRB)

(4) WILLIAMS Serena (USA) vs (5) DEMENTIEVA Elena (RUS)

BAMMER Sybille (AUT) vs (9) ZVONAREVA Vera (RUS)

Federer, Blake, Nadal and Djokovic Reach Olympic Quarterfinals

Roger Federer, James Blake, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic all have reached the quarterfinals of the Olympic Tennis event in Men's Singles. Federer and Blake will meet in the quarterfinals, while Nadal and Djokovic could meet in the semifinals. Federer defeated Tomas Berdych 6-3 7-6(4), getting revenge for his 2004 loss to the Czech player, while the American defeated hot French player Gilles Simon 6-4 6-2. The other four players of the final eight quarterfinalists are Paul-Henri Mathieu and Fernando Gonzalez (in Blake and Federer's half) and Jurgen Melzer and Gael Monfils (in Nadal and Djokovic's half).

Smells like a Gold Medal showdown between Rafa and Raja on August 16th, to me.

Venus and Serena Winning in Beijing

Venus and Serena Williams of the United States are on a roll in Beijing. They teamed together to beat Iveta Benesova and Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic at 4-6 7-5 6-1. Individually they have both won two singles matches. Venus beat Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-3 6-2 in the first round and Benesova 6-1 6-4 in the second. Her sister Serena beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-3 6-1 and then Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-2 6-0.

Venus and Serena are in opposite sides of the draw.