OLYMPIC ROUNDUP || News and notes

U.S. women outnumber men: During this, the summer of the 40th anniversary of Title IX, American women have reached another milestone in sports: For the first time, they outnumber men on the U.S. Olympic team. The U.S. Olympic Committee released its roster for the London Olympics on Tuesday. There were 269 women and 261 men. CEO Scott Blackmun called it a “true testament to the impact of Title IX,” the 1972 law that increased opportunities for women in sports across America. Michael Phelps, who already has 14 Olympic medals, is one of 228 athletes making return trips to the games. Among those, there are 124 who already have medals; 76 of those were Olympic champions. This year’s oldest American athlete is 54-year-old equestrian rider Karen O’Connor, while the youngest is 15-year-old swimmer Katie Ledecky. Basketball player Tyson Chandler is the tallest American at 7-foot-1, while gymnast Gabby Douglas is one of the three shortest Americans, at 4-11. There are 53 dads and 11 moms on the team, two sets of twins (Bob and Mike Bryan in tennis and Grant and Ross James in rowing) and seven who come out of the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program. The U.S. team will have athletes competing in 246 out of 302 medal events.

WADA chief warns cheats: The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency urged drug cheats Tuesday to withdraw from their Olympic teams and stay away from the London Games. WADA President John Fahey said athletes will face the strictest ant-doping program in Olympic history and stand only a small chance of escaping detection. “I say this in the clearest way possible: If you are a doping athlete and you are planning to compete in London then you must withdraw from your Olympic team,” Fahey said in a statement, less than three weeks before the opening ceremony. “Even if a doping athlete were to win a medal, he or she would never be able to look at themselves in the mirror and say, ‘Well done, I deserved this.”’ Fahey noted that anti-doping bodies around the world are seeking to catch cheats before the games, and the IOC and London organizers will be carrying out up to 6,250 tests during the games. “These will be the most-tested games in Olympic history and doping athletes must know that they will be under the severe scrutiny of anti-doping officials from the moment they set foot in the Olympic Village,” Fahey said. Athletes suspected of doping are being targeted and will be tested at training camps before the games, which run from July 27 to Aug. 12. “Doping athletes should know that their chances of avoiding detection are the smallest they have ever been,” he said. He added it’s up to the athletes to keep the games clean. “The world’s anti-doping community can only do so much,” he said. “If every athlete decides not to dope then we will have a completely dope-free games, that’s the simple reality ... I urge them to collectively take more responsibility for the sake of clean competition.”

Bolt back in training: Usain Bolt is back in full training and “feeling good,” his agent said Tuesday, after concerns over an injury following successive defeats at the Jamaican Olympic trials. Ricky Simms said Bolt is fit ahead of the defense of his titles in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay at the London Games, which open July 27. The world record-holder in both sprint distances, Bolt lost to Yohan Blake in the 100 and 200 at his national trials and had his right hamstring stretched out by a trainer after the 200. Simms said Bolt would “train again hard next week so that he’s ready for the Olympic Games.”

Berets back for U.S. team: The U.S. Olympic Team unveiled buttoned-up, refined uniforms designed by Ralph Lauren Tuesday for the opening ceremony at the London Olympics. Men will wear navy blue blazers with the Olympic team patch, along with a red and navy tie, and cream-colored flat-front pants. Women will pair the blazers with scarves with red, white and blue stripes, and a knee-length cream-colored skirt. All the team members will top off their uniforms with navy berets highlighted with red and white stripes. The marketing folks can only hope these berets go over as well as they did in 2002, when the U.S. team wore powder-blue berets at the Winter Olympics that became instant hits and quickly sold out at stores around Salt Lake City.

Associated Press