Canoe Sprint Champs Coming to U.S. -- Federations Focus

(ATR) Also: FIBA suspends Japan ... Luge set to open World Cup season in Austria.

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LAKE LANIER, GA - AUGUST 1:  Canadian Steve Giles (R) and Dan Howe race during the semi-final of the men's double canoe 1000m competition at Lake Lanier 01 August. The Canadians qualified with a time of 3:45.07. (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY)  (Photo credit should read IOP/AFP/Getty Images)
LAKE LANIER, GA - AUGUST 1: Canadian Steve Giles (R) and Dan Howe race during the semi-final of the men's double canoe 1000m competition at Lake Lanier 01 August. The Canadians qualified with a time of 3:45.07. (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (Photo credit should read IOP/AFP/Getty Images)

(ATR) A 1996 Olympic site is scheduled to host a major international event.

The 2016 Pan American Championships for Canoe Sprint will be held at the Lake Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club outside of Atlanta.

USA Canoe/Kayak high performance director for canoe sprint Michele Eray called it "great news."

"Having the Pan American Canoe Championships on home turf, which will serve as the continental qualifier for Rio 2016, is a real plus for our athletes."

Eray said Lake Lanier "did a fantastic job on their bid."

Other bids to host came from Montreal and Curitiba, Brazil. The date of the event has not yet been finalized.

Basketball Fed Suspends Japan

The suspension of the Japanese Basketball Association raises questions about the country’s ability to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

FIBA announced the suspension on Wednesday following a two-day executive committee meeting.

A statement released by FIBA says the JBA has failed to restructure to ensure it falls in line with FIBA’s general statutes, merge two existing leagues into one, or present a plan for the men’s and women’s national teams beyond 2020.

The suspension means Japan has no rights as a FIBA member federations and cannot participate in any FIBA or FIBA Asia activities.

"FIBA regrets that the situation has reached such a point of no return," said FIBA secretary general and IOC member Patrick Baumann. "However, we are convinced that after so many years of warnings and struggle, and for the good of basketball in Japan, it is absolutely time to make important changes to the structures of the JBA and of the domestic competitions in order to fully comply with FIBA's general statutes and also to embrace the opportunity that the 2020 Olympic Games will provide to basketball in Japan.

"We want a successful Tokyo 2020 basketball tournament with the participation of the Japanese men’s and women’s national teams."

Luge Opens World Cup Schedule

A former Olympic host welcomes the world’s luge elite for the first World Cup event on the season schedule.

Innsbruck hosts the artificial track event which will run Saturday and Sunday.

Written by Nick Devlin

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