Olympic Newsdesk -- More Medals for Triathlon; Paralympic Addition

Triathlon Lobbies for Stronger Presence at Olympics

Triathlon wants more athletes, more events and more medals at the Olympics.

International Triathlon Union president Marisol Casado told Reuters over the weekend her sport’s popularity is growing far faster than its representation at the Summer Games.

As the ITU World Championship Series came to a close in Hungary, Casado said the two existing events just aren’t enough.

"That is only two hours one day and two hours the other day during the whole Olympics," she told the news agency in reference to the traditional men’s and women’s competitions.

Casado cited triathlon’s increased profile in Europe, the U.S. and Oceania as the impetus behind her push to add a mixed gender relay to the Rio program.

Triathlon made its Olympic debut in Sydney and experimented with the team event at last month’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

The discipline featured groups of two boys and two girls racing for their continents in a relay format.

Casado told Around the Rings in Singapore that her federation was "very excited" before the tournament and "very confident that it was a very good format" after Europe 1 crossed the finish line to win team triathlon’s first gold medal.

A number of IOC members attended the event’s debut, and IOC president Jacques Rogge watched alongside Casado, herself an IOC member from Spain.

The earliest a discipline could be added to the Rio program would be 2013.

Brazil’s iconic Copacabana Beach will host the triathlon competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

ID Table Tennis at London Paralympics

Table tennis players with an intellectual impairment will compete at London 2012.

The International Paralympic Committee confirmed Tuesday the sport’s inclusion on the Paralympic program after a successful pilot earlier this month.

The IPC announced in November that international federations must produce sport-specific classification systems in order for their intellectually impaired athletes to have a place in the Games.

The International Table Tennis Federation, International Sports Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID) and researchers from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium spent the past year developing exactly that.

"This is another step forward in the process of re-inclusion and demonstrates the significant progress that has been made since the [IPC] General Assembly agreement last November," INAS-FID president Bob Price said in a statement.

The ITTF approved the sport’s inclusion earlier this month after a test on eight athletes in France.

"The ITTF is delighted that we can maintain our approach of ‘One Sport, One Family,’" said ITTF president Adham Sharara.

More than 270 Paralympians will vie for 29 gold medals at London 2012’s table tennis competition, slated for Aug. 30 – Sept. 8.

US Track & Field Fires CEO

USA Track & Field is without a CEO after firing Doug Logan.

The federation’s Board of Directors voted to pursue new leadership at a meetingin Las Vegas over the weekend.

COO Mike McNees willassume day-to-day leadership while the Board searches for Logan’s successor.

Logan was seen by some as a controversial figure.

Alan Abrahamson asks "why" in a post on his blog, 3 Wire Sports.

Felli to Deliver Keynote at Sports Event Conference

Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli will open the International Sports Event Management Conference in November.

Felli is involved in every aspect of summer, winter and youth Olympics and is expected to retire from the IOC after the London Games.

Representatives from Vancouver 2010, London 2012, Sochi 2014 and a host of other organizing committees, federations and suppliers round out the lineup of speakers.

ISEM 2010 is slated for Nov. 3-4 at London’s Twickenham Stadium.

Sponsorship Sellout for Volleyball Worlds

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) will have a full slate of sponsors when its world championship for men kicks off later this month in Italy.

Infront Sports & Media needed less than a year to sellout its sponsorship inventory to a who’s who of both Italian and international brands.

Intesa San Paolo, Enel and TIM are the tournament’s top sponsors.

Infront has also partnered with Asics to produce and sell licensed merchandise ahead of the Sept. 25 – Oct. 10 competition.

Ten venues throughout Italy will host the 24-team event.

Written by Matthew Grayson.