Posts from — April 2008

If you hired a prostitute and “she” turned out to be a man, can you sue that prostitute for breach of contract? We think so provided the incident happened in a country where prostitution is legal.

Anyways, we don’t think soccer superstar Ronaldo — and 1996 Atlanta Games Olympian — is thinking about suing anyone but he did hire three hookers who, to his dismay, turned out to be men.

UPDATE: More on this story here.

From The Sun:

Soccer superstar Ronaldo cried foul when three hookers he booked turned out to be blokes.

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Here at The Olympics Blog, we love it when someone makes a prediction regarding the Beijing Games. Why? Because come August, we will either jeer that person when it turns out that s/he got it wrong or bow before him/her if s/he proves to be as good as Nostradamus.

Anyways, according to a Reuters report, five-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson made the following predictions:

* American sprinter Tyson Gay will beat Asafa Powell in the 100 meter dash.

* American Jeremy Wariner, who Johnson manages, will win the Beijing 400 meters and some day break Johnson’s world record of 43.18 seconds.

* Ethiopian world record holder Haile Gebrselassie will change his mind and run the Olympic marathon.

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“Asafa Powell is a great talent but he can never get it done. He’s failed time after time at the championships.”

Uggh. Kinda unsportsmanlike to say something like that but maybe Michael Johnson knows whereof he speaks? Or is he just trying to psych out Asafa Powell? Come on Asafa, prove him wrong.

For the first time in its history, Canada will be awarding monetary incentives to its Olympic medal winners. From CBC:

A gold medal will be worth $20,000, a silver worth $15,000 and a bronze $10,000.

This would be the highest we’ve tracked so far. But we’ve only tracked four countries so far so maybe its not the time yet to make valid comparisons. Do check out what Malaysian, Azerbaijani, and Palestinian athletes receive as assistance/incentive in the links below.

Update: A listing of financial incentives to Olympic athletes from different countries is published at How Much Money Do Olympians Make.

Related:
The Money Report: Malaysia’s Incentives for Olympic Medalists
The Money Report: How Much Do Malaysia’s Olympic Athletes Make?
Money Stuff: Incentives for Azerbaijani Olympic Medalists
Palestine: How Much Money Do Olympians Make?

The Himalayan kingdom is sending seven athletes to the Olympics. From xinhua:

Nepal is set to send a total of seven athletes to attend Beijing Olympics, according to Nepal Olympics Committee (NOC) Tuesday.

Talking to Xinhua, Secretary General of the NOC Jeevan Ram Shrestha said that Nepal received official confirmation about securing two more seats in Judo and Shooting events through wild-card entry.

“The NOC has decided to send Phool Ms Maya Kyapchaki in Shooting event and Mr Debu Thapa in Judo to represent the country in the Olympics,” said Shrestha.

After securing two more seats through wild-card entry, the number of athletes representing the country has reached seven. Prior to this, the NOC received confirmation to send five athletes with Deepak Bista securing Olympic berth in Taekwondo by winning qualification round and four seats allocated by the International Olympics Committee (IOC).

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