Olympic Daily News: 4 June 2020!

In honour of the first International Corgi Day, let’s take a moment to look back at some famous Corgis (those of Queen Elizabeth II, of course) who made a very special appearance at the 2012 Olympics in London.

Gymnastics, athletics confirm Tokyo 2020 updated qualifications procedures

The International Gymnastics Federation and World Athletics announced Thursday revised qualification procedures to qualify to next year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Both had been interrupted by the worldwide suspension of sporting events due to the coronavirus pandemic and both have kept the major concepts the same.

In gymnastics, one notable change allows women’s artistic gymnasts born in 2005 to compete at Tokyo 2020. Previously, an athlete had to have been born on or before Dec. 31, 2004. The change could have big implications as it means athletes like Russia’s Viktoriia Listunova, the reigning World junior champion, are now eligible for the Games.

The Ultimate Garden Clash returns!

After some of the best men’s and women’s pole vaulters faced off virtually in May, the event returns Sunday, 7 June. This time the battle will be between three of the best decathletes in the world: world record-holder Kevin Mayer, reigning world champion Niklas Kaul and Maicel Uibo, the 2019 world championships silver medallist.

The event will include challenges in three disciplines. First, the trio will attempt to pole vault over 4m high as many times as possible in 10 minutes. Second, they move to the shot put where they will throw a 7.26kg iron ball beyond a 12m line for another 10 minutes. The competition wraps up with a shuttle run event, where the athletes run between two cones placed 20 meters apart for five minutes.

Eliud Kipchoge to run worldwide virtual relay marathon

World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge will join some of his NN Running teammates this weekend in a virtual marathon relay. Kipchoge, along with Kenenisa Bekele, Joshua Cheptegei and Geoffrey Kamworor, will be in teams of four, each running 10.5 kilometers.

Runners around the world can join in the event with teams of four of their own. If a participate is running alone, they will be matched with runners around the world to complete a team. NN Running Team athletes will be randomly assigned to 10 of the fan teams.

“I can say that myself and my teammates are really looking forward to join the relay in this wonderful initiative,” said world marathon record-holder Kipchoge.

Who's in?

Olympic Trivia…

The answer to yesterday’s question was London, which staged the Games in 1908, 1948 and 2012.

Here’s today’s question:

Why was Fred Lorz disqualified from the 1904 Olympic Games marathon?

1. He used a short cut
2. A friend ran some parts of the race for him
3. He used a bike in some parts of the race
4. He drove parts of the race in a car