Chicago bid up in the air

City is a long shot to host 2016 Games

Though Chicago made the cut for the 2016 Summer Games along with Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro, the Windy City has some catching up to do. The International Olympic Committee's working group, which evaluated the seven bidders, put Chicago equal with Doha, Qatar, in third place on technical merit. Chicago wasn't listed first in any of the 11 categories and was fifth in sports venues, transport concepts, and government support/legal issues/public opinion. Its best areas were accommodations, past sports-staging experience, and safety/security.

Tokyo, the 1964 host, topped the table, followed by Madrid, which finished third behind London and Paris in the 2012 race. Dismissed were Doha, which had proposed October dates instead of the preferred window of mid-July through August, Prague (Czech Republic), and Baku (Azerbaijan).

Given the whimsical (at best) nature of the IOC members, the technical rankings haven't meant much. Underdogs have won five of the past six summer bids, and Sochi, the Russian resort that will host the 2014 Winter Games, was third behind Pyeongchang (South Korea) and Salzburg (Austria).

The Lords of the Rings will make their choice for 2016 in October of next year at their Copenhagen session.

Gatlin left in blocks

By affirming US sprinter Justin Gatlin's four-year-doping ban, the Court of Arbitration for Sport compromised between what Gatlin wanted (the two years he had already served and a chance to defend his 100-meter title in Beijing) and what the international track and field federation wanted (a lifetime ban). The unanimous vote by the three-member panel, which will issue its full decision later, extends Gatlin's ban until July 24, 2010, four years from when his doping sample was collected. It also wipes out his 9.77 clocking that equaled the world record, plus his 2006 US title. Under the IOC's new rules, Gatlin wouldn't have been able to run in Beijing in any case. Starting in 2010, any athlete suspended for six months or more for a serious drug offense will be banned from the next Games . . . As expected, the IOC suspended Iraq's interim national committee, citing "political interference" from the government, which dissolved the sitting committee last month and installed its own. The suspension is provisional, with the IOC urging the Iraqis to come up with an acceptable solution. If they don't, the IOC still could let the Iraqi athletes, who number around a dozen, compete in Beijing as "independent Olympic participants," as the committee did the Yugoslavs in 1992 when their country was banned from competing by the United Nations.

Guerette ready to row

Sculler Michelle Guerette is the surest bet to make the team at this week's US Olympic rowing trials for small boats in West Windsor, N.J. Guerette, the two-time global medalist, is odds-on in the women's single, and Caroline Lind and Elle Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine), who've won two World Cup medals this spring, are favored in the pair. With neither of last year's world entries returning, the men's pair and doubles are up for grabs. The man to watch in the pair is 31-year-old Sebastian Bea, who won the Olympic silver with West Newton's Ted Murphy in 2000. Bea and former Harvard oarsman Brodie Buckland won their heat yesterday. The trials already have been held in the men's single and the men's and women's lightweight doubles. Now, the winners have to qualify for the Games at next week's last-chance regatta in Poland. Already on the squad, based on their Cup performance, are the women's double of Ellen Tomek and Megan Kalmoe. The big boats - the eights, the fours, and the quads - will be chosen out of camps later this month.

Coughlin makes a splash

The most startling performance at last weekend's trio of tuneups for the Olympic swimming trials at the end of the month was Natalie Coughlin's American record (2:09.77) in the 200-meter individual medley at the Janet Evans meet in Los Angeles, an event she was swimming for only the second time in five years. "I didn't have anything else to swim today," said Coughlin, who missed breaking her own world record in the 100 backstroke by five-hundredths of a second because she misjudged the wall. "It was first on the schedule, that's why I swam it." Michael Phelps won three events (100 free, fly, and back) at the Swimvitational at the trials pool in Omaha, as did Kate Ziegler (400, 800, and 1,500 free). And Erik Vendt, who won the 400 IM by nearly seven seconds, might have to rethink his trials menu. Vendt, who claimed silvers in the event at the last two Games, was pondering swimming the 400 free, since it sets him up better for the 1,500. And in the Charlotte UltraSwim, Elizabeth Beisel , the 15-year-old Rhode Islander, swam a 2:11.07 in the 200 backstroke to wipe out the 16-year-old meet record set by Lea Loveless. By the way, Phelps and coach Bob Bowman, who've been at the University of Michigan since the last Games, will be heading back to Maryland after Beijing. Bowman, who coached the Wolverines to the Big 10 title this year, will become CEO at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, where Phelps will join him. "We'll always be working together," said Bowman, who has coached Phelps since he was 11.

Mutola keeps on running

Mozambique's Maria Mutola, the ageless half-miler, capped her amazing string of victories at the Nike Prefontaine Classic in Oregon at 16 in a row last weekend. "I've been running this for half my life," observed the 35-year-old Mutola, who'll retire after she competes in her sixth Games in Beijing. Mutola's résumé includes Olympic gold in 2000 and bronze in 1996, plus three world outdoor and seven indoor titles . . . A wasted transpacific ticket for Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang. After withdrawing from the Reebok Grand Prix in New York because of a sore right hamstring, he was disqualified at the Pre meet for a false start. "Not disappointed, just a pity," said Liu, the defending Olympic champion who is China's best bet for a track medal at the Games. "But it is already past." . . . Deena Kastor, who won the 10,000 meters at the last Olympic track and field trials, will be skipping the event this year. "This time around, I just really need to put in the work," said Kastor, who'll be focusing on another marathon medal in Beijing. "I've been antsy the last few weeks craving more mileage, more intensity." Magdalena Lewy-Boulet and Blake Russell, who also made the Olympic marathon team, will take a shot at the 10,000 at trials after competing in last weekend's New York Mini 10K, where Kastor (third) was the top domestic finisher.

Triathletes turn up heat

Good weekend for the US triathletes at last weekend's world championships in Vancouver despite numbingly-chilly water in English Bay. Sarah Haskins, who was 10th last year, won the silver behind Great Britain's Helen Tucker for the ninth American medal in eight years, while Matt Reed produced the best men's finish (fifth) since 1992 and earned a third Olympic spot for the American men, which will be determined at the final qualifying event in Iowa this month. Reed and Sudbury's Jarrod Shoemaker already are on the team, along with Laura Bennett and Julie Swail Ertel . . . Team Force, the Wakefield-based judo center run by former Olympic medalist Jimmy Pedro, figures to place at least one fighter on the Beijing team at this weekend's trials in Las Vegas. Ronda Rousey, the world silver medalist, has the best chance at 70 kilograms, but both Athens veteran Rick Hawn (90 kilograms) and Daniel McCormick (100+) are seeded second in their events. In all, Team Force will have seven entrants at the trials . . . Dremiel Byers, thwarted last time by now-retired Rulon Gardner, will be favored to make his first Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling team in his third shot at this weekend's trials in Las Vegas. The 33-year-old Byers, the world bronze medalist, is the top man at 120 kilograms . . . Look for an elbow-to-elbow scramble among world silver medalist Steven Cisar, Donny Robinson, and Mike Day at Saturday's men's Olympic trials in BMX cycling in Chula Vista, Calif. The winner joins three-time global champ Kyle Bennett on the team, with the coaches picking the third member . . . Anaheim Ducks general manager Brian Burke will be GM of the US Olympic men's ice hockey team for 2010. Assisting him will be Nashville GM David Poile.

Material from Olympic committees, sports federations, interviews, and wire services was used in this report.