Latvian weightlifter Scerbatihs planning to participate in 2012 London Olympic Games

Latvian weightlifter Viktors Scerbatihs could participate in the 2012 London Olympics, the athlete himself said in an interview to the International Weightlifting Federation's (IWF) web-site.

''If all goes well, it is possible I will lift in London 2012 as well,'' said the 34-year-old Latvian weightlifter, who added that he is training for the 2009 World Weightlifting Championships in South Korea.

The current World and four-time European Champion Scerbatihs admitted that working in the Latvian Parliament and the Education and Science Ministry's Sports Department forces him to adjust his practice schedule during the week, however, he said that he has a full training schedule on the weekends.

Speaking about his results at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where he won the bronze medal, Latvia's best weightlifter admitted that his result in the clean and jerk (242kg) was a disappointment.

''My result in snatch (206kg) was satisfactory, but clean and jerk (242kg) was a disappointment. Winning the bronze medal was OK, but I had my sight for the gold medal,'' said Scerbatihs.

As reported, Scerbatihs took home the bronze medal for Latvia at last summer's Beijing Olympics – in the 105 plus kilogram category, which was the long-awaited first medal for Latvia at the games.
In the snatch competition, Scerbatihs was in third place with 206 kilograms, and scored 242 in clean and jerk for a 448 total.

Germany's Matthias Steiner won the gold medal, while Russia's Yevgeniy Chigishev took the silver.


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Barr wins Olympic Basketball Arena contract

Barr Construction has won the £58m contract to build the 2012 Basketball Arena and rent it to the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) for the duration of the London Olympics.

The innovative deal means the Scottish contractor will build and own the 12,000-seat stadium.

The ODA will pay a rental fee for the portable structure throughout the games, then Barr will dismantle it and move the whole structure or parts of it on to the next major event.

Detailed designs for the temporary structure will be finalised in October, with construction work due to start on site in early 2010.

The £58m contract value covers the construction cost of the arena and dismantling it. Building it to permanent specifications would have cost nearly £120m.

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Williams: Ja creating basketball 'dream team'

PRESIDENT of the Jamaica Basketball Association (JABA), Ajani Williams, believes the current group of national players has laid the foundation for a "dream team" and will stay on court for a shot of the 2012 London Olympics.

Willilams, a former NBA player, has given credit to Samardo Samuels and Kimani Ffried with Jerome Jordan either next year or the following year as "the best front courts Jamaica has ever had".

Jamaican basketballers and members of the country's delegation to the Caribbean Basketball Championships in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, celebrate at the closing ceremony after winning the tournament last week.

Jamaica rallied last week to capture the Caribbean Basketball Championships in Tortola, British Virgin Islands (BVI). Though Team Jamaica lost their opening match to Trinidad & Tobago 88-76, they won their remaining matches, beating Cuba 98-93 in the semi-final and hosts BVI, 65-61, in the final and will now play in next year's Centrobasket Tournament.

Williams noted that "Team Jamaica" has few new components which it has never had before. It has three dynamic coaches, two of which are NBA coaches, and the third is Jamaican Julian Dunkley who coached the team to victory in 2006.

"Team Jamaica also has something which it has never really had before, which is private corporate support with KFC and Flow as joint lead sponsors, and also the backing of minister Olivia Grange and the warm and protective support of the Association of Jamaican residents in the BVI which helped rally hundreds of Jamaican fans who live in Tortola."

While the basketball boss wants to avoid using the term "Dream Team Jamaica" at this time, he feels that "it is the beginning of something very special in our country's history in sports and specifically basketball and really believes this group can and should make it to 2012 London".

He pointed out that under new leadership "these were all able to pull together to create the perfect storm of opportunity in a time when our country needs a refresher from our sports industry".

Williams noted that while Jamaica have won the CBC Championships before, "this victory and gold has a different polish to it and different value". He sees this achievement "as an opportunity to build one of the biggest sporting brands the region has seen and feels the team's value will continue to rise exponentially both with victories and the notoriety of players like Samuels, Oritseweyi Efejuku and Jordan (who didn't play), and will continue to explode after they are drafted or signed to the NBA.

"Let's not fall asleep at this unfolding of something potentially very special and with wide implications for local basketball and sports in general. Congrats to Team Jamaica for becoming 2009 CBC champions and for qualifying for their next tournament on their road to 2012 and beyond," he declared.

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Sources: Coach K staying with U.S.

Coach K and Team USA will be together for four more years.

ESPN.com learned Tuesday that coach Mike Krzyzewski has given word to USA Basketball officials that he will remain as coach of the national team at the 2010 world championship in Turkey and at the 2012 London Olympics.

Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a formal announcement will be made on the eve of the start of Team USA's minicamp later this month.

The story was first reported by The Boston Globe.

USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo has been lobbying Coach K for months to stay in the job he held when the Americans won the gold medal in Beijing last summer.

"With the success that we had, I would do everything in my power to keep everything intact," Colangelo told The Associated Press without confirming the decision.

"I'm a strong believer in not upsetting the apple cart."

Krzyzewski led the Americans to a 36-1 record from 2006 to 2008, and a return would give him a chance to fill one of the only holes on his Hall of Fame résumé. He is 0-for-2 in the world championships, also finishing third in 1990 with a team of college players. 

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Sources: Krzyzewski to coach Team USA in 2012

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will return to coach the Olympics in 2012.

Duke's Mike Krzyzewski will coach Team USA in the 2012 Olympics. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

According to sources close to the situation, Krzyzewski has decided to take on a return engagement with the team.

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said Tuesday that "all leads point to Coach K coming back," following a report by the Boston Globe that Krzyzewski has agreed to return as U.S. Olympic basketball coach.

An announcement is expected prior to Team USA's basketball minicamp in Las Vegas, which begins July 22.

Krzyzewski led the Americans to the gold medal in the 2008 Olympics, their first major championship in eight years. He also guided them to a bronze in the world championships two years earlier.

Colangelo said he was aware of the speculation regarding Krzyzewski, but wouldn't confirm a decision had been reached. However, he hoped the coach he picked in 2005 to guide the program would return.

"With the success that we had, I would do everything in my power to keep everything intact," he told The Associated Press.

"I'm a strong believer in not upsetting the apple cart."

Colangelo previously planned to name the next coach in the fall, but he and Krzyzewski agreed to move up the decision after a dinner meeting in June.

The 2012 Olympics will take place in London.

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