2016 Olympic Delivery Authority CEO; NBA Champ Considers Olympic Future

New Olympic Delivery CEO

Marcio Fortes will serve as chief executive of the APO, Brazil’s Olympic delivery agency.

The decision was made Tuesday by Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff.

Fortes is a civil engineer and politician. He previously served as minister of the cities.

He will manage the day-to-day operations of the APO. Henrique Meirelles serves as chairman of the board.

Brazil has an ambitious and large-scale construction effort for the 2016 Olympics. The APO will oversee and coordinate the government’s work.

Nowitzki Debates National Team Duty

Newly crowned NBA champion Dirk Nowitzki is weighing his Olympic options in the wake of his best-ever season.

The seven-footer from Wurzburg, Germany led his Dallas Mavericks over the Miami Heat earlier this month but must now plan the rest of his summer, a task made more difficult with a lockout perhaps looming.

"After a long, long season, one side is the rest factor and going strong into next season," he told an ESPN radio show on Monday. "On the other side is obviously my national team that's been good to me."

Nowitzki was instrumental in helping Germany earn its first Olympic basketball berth since 1992 at the Beijing Games. The time is fast approaching for the national team to make its stand for 2012.

Two tickets to London are at stake during the EuroBasket 2011 tournament slated for Aug. 31 through Sept. 18 in Lithuania. Germany must finish in the top six out of 24 teams to keep its Olympic hopes alive.

Training begins in mid-July, meaning Nowitzki must make his decision sooner rather than later.

"I'm just going to see how my body feels," he said. "I still have that splint on my finger [he tore a tendon in Game 1 of the Finals] and just see how I recover here these next couple of weeks. Then I think we can make an educated decision."

A 10-time NBA all-star, he is widely regarded as the best basketball player ever not to be born in the U.S. Thanks to his Finals MVP performance, he’s also now touted as perhaps one of the 20 greatest players ever.

Search Continues for USA Track & Field CEO

USA Track & Field is still looking for a leader more than nine monthsafter firing ex-CEO Doug Logan.

The national governing body noted Tuesday its board of directors will meet Saturday and Sunday in Eugene, Oregon to "continue to work toward a resolution" in the ongoing search.

USATF chief operating officer Mike McNees has functioned as interim CEO since the NGB’s board voted to pursue new leadership in September 2010. More than 100 candidates have been screened in the meantime with 25 receiving preliminary interviews. Three finalists interviewed before the board earlier this year.

"We have yet to find situation where all the pieces fit for both the candidate and USATF," search committeechair Steve Miller. "In Eugene our hope is to determine how we will move forward from a leadership perspective through the London 2012 Olympics."

Every four years, USA Track & Field sends one of the largest athlete delegations to the Summer Games, and routinely wins the largest number of medals.

Economic Forum Features Sochi Partners

Sochi 2014 is expecting strong returns from an economic forum in which some of its top sponsors participated over the weekend.

"We are pleased that our partners have successfully presented our joint projects at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum," organizing committee CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday in a statement.

"Annually, it attracts thousands of participants, including directors of large Russian and foreign corporations. It is a good opportunity to bring information to them during the preparations for the Games and attract new investors to our projects."

Giant "2014" digits made of plasma panels from Rosneft, the latest high-speed train models from Russian Railways and a 3D model of Sochi from PricewaterhouseCoopers were among the Olympic exhibits on display from Thursday to Sunday in St. Petersburg.

The economic forum was also the scene for a Saturday meeting between Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and IOC president Jacques Rogge, who later took part in a session titled "Northern Caucasus: Unlocking the Potential".

Media Watch

Fashion designers are turning to vintage Olympic uniforms for inspiration.

Ice hockey is spreading to Argentina via inline hockey.

Written by Edward Hula III and Matthew Grayson.