Kosmetik » has signed LI to a three-year contract to act as the tourna

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Within minutes of being elected to the top job in the Olympics, Thomas Bach got a phone call from a powerful leader hell work with closely in the next few months: Russian President Vladimir Putin. Bach, a 59-year-old German lawyer, was elected Tuesday as president of the International Olympic Committee. He succeeds Jacques Rogge, who stepped down after 12 years. Bach, the longtime favourite, defeated five candidates in a secret ballot for the most influential job in international sports, keeping the presidency in European hands. The former Olympic fencer received 49 votes in the second round to secure a winning majority. Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico finished second with 29 votes. One of the first congratulatory phone calls came from Putin, who will host the IOC in less than five months at the Winter Olympics in the southern Russian resort of Sochi. The Sochi Games are one of Putins pet projects, with Russias prestige on the line. "He congratulated and (said) there would be close co-operation to make (sure of) the success of the Sochi Games," Bach told The Associated Press. The buildup to the Feb. 7-23 games has been overshadowed by concerns with cost overruns, human rights, a budget topping $50 billion, security threats and a Western backlash against a Russian law against gay "propaganda." Bach and the IOC have been told by the Russians there would be no discrimination against anyone in Sochi, and that Russia would abide by the Olympic Charter. "We have the assurances of the highest authorities in Russia that we trust," Bach said. It remains unclear what would happen if athletes or spectators demonstrate against the anti-gay law. Rogge said this week the IOC would send a reminder to athletes that, under the Olympic Charter, they are prohibited from making any political gestures. "We will work on our project now and then it will be communicated to the NOCs (national Olympic committees) and then athletes," Bach said. "It will be elaborated more in detail." At his first news conference as president, Bach was asked about how the IOC would deal with human rights issues in host countries. The IOC has been criticized for not speaking out against abuses in countries like China and Russia. "The IOC cannot be apolitical," Bach said. "We have to realize that our decisions at events like Olympic Games, they have political implications. And when taking these decisions we have to, of course, consider political implications. "But in order to fulfil our role to make sure that in the Olympic Games and for the participants the Charter is respected, we have to be strictly politically neutral. And there we also have to protect the athletes," he said. A former Olympic fencing gold medallist who heads Germanys national Olympic committee, Bach is the ninth president in the 119-year history of the IOC. Hes the eighth European to hold the presidency. Of the IOCs leaders, all have come from Europe except for Avery Brundage, the American who ran the committee from 1952-72. Bach is also the first gold medallist to become IOC president. He won gold in team fencing for West Germany in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He received a standing ovation for nearly a full minute after Rogge opened a sealed envelope to announce his victory. Bach bowed slightly to the delegates to acknowledge the warm response and thanked the members in several languages. "This is a really overwhelming sign of trust and confidence," Bach said. "I want to be a president for all of you," he told the members. "This means I will do my very best to balance well all the different interests of the stakeholders of the Olympic movement. This is why I want to listen to you and to enter in an ongoing dialogue with all of you. You should know that my door, my ears and my heart are always open for you." Bach was viewed as the favourite because of his resume: former Olympic athlete, long-serving member of the policy-making IOC executive board, chairman of the legal commission, head of anti-doping investigations and negotiator of European TV rights. "It is what I and many of the others had anticipated," said IOC member Prince Albert of Monaco. "I think it was very clear. You cant argue with his experience and his leadership and his great knowledge about the Olympic movement and the world of sports, and also the outside world. I think we are getting a great president." Bach was elected to an eight-year term. In 2021, he would be eligible to run for a second and final four-term term. Bach presented the 71-year-old Rogge with the IOCs highest award, the Olympic gold order. After awarding the 2020 Olympics to Tokyo and bringing wrestling back into the games, the IOC completed the last of its three critical votes — choosing the person to lead the body for the most powerful job in international sports. Bachs supporters had hoped for a first-round win, but a second-round victory still showed that he had a big base of support. Carrion, who chairs the IOCs finance commission and negotiates lucrative U.S. TV rights deals, wound up being Bachs only serious challenger. The votes fell off after that with Ng Ser Miang of Singapore getting six, Denis Oswald of Switzerland five and Sergei Bubka of Ukraine four. C.K. Wu of Taiwan was eliminated in the first round after an initial tie with Ng as low vote-getter. In the first round, Bach got 43 votes, followed by Carrion with 23, Bubka eight, Oswald seven and Ng and Wu six each. Ng then beat Wu 56-36 in a runoff. Ng had been considered a strong contender, but his chances were dented after Tokyos win because the IOC was unlikely to give Asia two major prizes in a row. Much of the pre-election talk among the members has been about the power of Sheik Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, the Kuwaiti who heads the Association of National Olympic Committees. The sheik was a key backer of Bach. With his influence in Asia and among the national Olympic committees, the Kuwaiti was seen as playing a key role in Tokyos victory, even helping Istanbul get to the second round of voting to keep Madrid out of the final. ___ AP Sports writers Stephen Wade and Tales Azzoni contributed to this report. ___ Follow Stephen Wilson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stevewilsonap Junior Seau Youth Jersey .com) - The St. Nasir Adderley Youth Jersey . Rajne Soderberg, the director of the Stockholm Diamond League event, said in an email Friday that the ban still holds. Euromeetings, the organization representing Europes top track events, "will continue to recommend that members do not invite athletes who we believe cause disrepute to our meetings and our sport. http://www.chargersauthenticofficialonline.com/authentic-drue-tranquill-jersey.html . When New Zealand finally held on for an 8-7 win, France No. 8 Imanol Harinordoquy collapsed to the ground, having given every drop of energy he could muster, and lay prone as All Blacks danced around him in celebration. Few critics had given France any chance, but coach Marc Lievremonts team rallied from 8-0 down and came within one kick of taking the lead with 15 minutes remaining, only for flyhalf Francois Trinh-Ducs 49-meter effort to drift wide. Antonio Gates Jersey . - Mike Magee converted two penalty kicks in a 10-minute span of the first half and the Chicago Fire beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 on Sunday. Melvin Gordon III Chargers Jersey . Pominville scored in all three of Minnesotas games last week to help the Wild (8-4-3, 19 points) earn four out of a possible six points. His best performance was in a 4-3 win over Montreal on Friday, where he posted a season-high three points (two goals, one assist), including the game-winning goal.MELBOURNE, Australia - With Li Na in retirement and not defending her title at the Australian Open, there are far fewer Chinese flags and fans with red-and-yellow-streaked faces in the stands at Melbourne Park.So much so that when Peng Shuai, now Chinas top-ranked tennis player, was beating Magdalena Rybarikova in a second-round match, there was just one fan shouting encouragement in Mandarin with a solitary Chinese flag.Contrast that scene with a stadium in the Australian capital on Sunday where thousands of red-shirt wearing Chinese supporters cheered on Chinas soccer team as it defeated North Korea in a group match at the Asian Cup.With Li transitioning from tennis star to soon-to-be-mother, her departure from the sport raises an interesting question in China: Can tennis keep its nascent fan base and continue to grow in the country without its global superstar?Its literally the billion-dollar question. Ultimately, no one knows, said Richard Heaselgrave, the commercial director for Tennis Australia, which has a considerable stake in the answer as host of the Australian Open, the self-described Grand Slam of Asia-Pacific.Theres no doubting that tennis popularity has grown immensely in China due to Lis success. According to the WTA, a Chinese television audience of 116 million watched Li become the first Asian player to win a major at the French Open in 2011.Adding the Australian Open title last year cemented her status as one of Chinas top celebrities — she now has more than 23 million followers on Sina weibo, Chinas Twitter equivalent, more than almost all other athletes.Sensing a golden opportunity, the WTA jumped on Lis success to expand aggressively in Asia, with a record seven tournaments in China this year, second only to the U.S.Now that Chinas biggest star is no longer playing, though, some believe this rapid growth may have been premature.Zhang Bendou, the tennis writer for Titan Sports, the largest sports newspaper in China, said the crowds were visibly thinner at thhe Shenzhen Open tournament earlier this month without Li there to defend her title from the year before.ddddddddddddIts embarrassing to see the pictures, he said. If the tournaments cannot attract enough sponsors and spectators and media interest, (China) will lose them eventually. I think they are in danger, some of them.Part of the problem is that because tennis is relatively new to the country, Chinese fans typically only pay attention to the big-name stars and local players, Zhang said.This partly explains why the mens tennis tour has been more cautious to expand in China — there are no bankable Chinese mens players yet. Only one made the main draw at the Australian Open — Zhang Ze, who lost in the first round to 33-year-old Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt.Heaselgrave is optimistic the Australian Open will retain its Chinese fan base. To help ensure this, Tennis Australia has signed LI to a three-year contract to act as the tournaments unofficial ambassador in China and recently signed a new contract with China Central Television to produce bespoke TV and digital content from the tournament for Chinese consumers.Theres talk of opening Tennis Australia training centres for casual and club-level players in Shanghai and Beijing, as well.Were absolutely nowhere near being the Grand Slam of Asia-Pacific that we want to be, but weve made a big start, Heaselgrave said.The Chinese Tennis Association, meanwhile, is busy trying to find the next homegrown star.There are now 11 female players ranked in the top 200, led by Peng Shuai, the recent U.S. Open semifinalist, at No. 22. But the one Chinese Fed Cup captain Peng Wang is most excited about is 17-year-old Xu Shilin, the No. 2 girl in the junior rankings, who goes by the English name Coco. The top seed in the girls draw at the Australian Open, she has the potential to be the next Li Na, Peng said.Everyone I think in China has confidence now, the coaches, the players, he said. So they work hard, more than before. ' ' '