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Lindenwood University has added men’s and women’s Olympic weightlifting to its varsity sports menu.

Lindenwood University has added men's and women's Olympic weightlifting to its varsity sports menu. The new programs represent the 45th and 46th teams at LU - the most of any college in the nation - and will begin operation during the 2009-10 school year. Lindenwood alumnus Derrick Johnson, a weightlifter and coach in the St. Louis area, will coordinate the school's program. With the addition of Olympic weightlifting, Lindenwood now sponsors 30 sports that are represented in the Olympics. Collegiate weightlifting's biggest prize is the National Collegiate Championships each

Finalists for the 2009 Laureus Sports Awards have been announced

A glittering collection of the world's greatest sports stars have been nominated for the 10th Laureus World Sports Awards, following a ballot by the world's media. Many of the nominations reflect the highly successful Olympic and Paralympic Games held in Beijing. The Laureus World Sports Awards is the premier global sports awards honouring the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year. A selection panel of the world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters vote to create a shortlist of six nominations in each of seven categories: World Sportsman of the Year, World Sportswoman of the Year, World Team of the Year, World Breakthrough of the Year and World Comeback of the Year,World Sportsperson of the Year, Sportsperson of the Year with a DisabilityAmong the major contests between Olympians for Laureus Awards which have been triggered by the votes of the media from 112 countries. Among 7 categories there is Laureus World Comeback of the Year. Among 6 nominees there is Matthias Steiner (No one can forget the moment in Beijing when Matthias Steiner climbed on to the rostrum to receive his super-heavyweight gold medal, clutching a picture of his wife Susann who died in a car crash a year earlier. They had planned that she would come to Beijing with him. Since the accident, Steiner had flung himself into his sport as if it was the only thing that could make life bearable and in his very last lift in the competition he triumphantly raised 258kg to take the gold medal. He said: "I managed to lift it because I had this strong, innermost urge.")Vitali Klitschko (Ukraine) - regained World Heavyweight Championship at 37 after four years outAnna Meares (Australia) - won Olympic silver medal eight months after breaking neck in cycle crashGreg Norman (Australia) - finished 3rd in British Open golf at the age of 53, while on his honeymoonMatthias Steiner (Germany) - won weightlifting Olympic gold a year after his wife died in car crashMaarten van der Weijden (Netherlands) - won Olympic swimming gold medal after beating leukaemiaTiger Woods (US) - returned two months after serious knee injury to win US Open golf championship further details: http://www.laureus.com/awards/2009/nominees Laureus World Sports Academy Chairman Edwin Moses said: "This has been a great year for sport and the Academy are going to find it extremely difficult to decide who to vote for as winners. This is always the case in an Olympics year, but we have has some very strong performances from the non-Olympic sports. I congratulate all the

Volunteer recruitment for Asian Games begins next week

The 16th Asian Games (www.gz2010.cn/en), part of the worldwide Olympic movement and governed by the Olympic Council of Asia announced that the recruitment of more than 560,000 Asian Games volunteers will begin next week."We look forward to receiving volunteer applications for the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games from all social sectors and from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, overseas Chinese, Chinese students studying abroad and international friends," said Wang Huanqing, Director of the Volunteer Department of the Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (GAGOC).Mr. Wang announced at a press conference the volunteer recruitment program for Asian Games will begin on April 21.The program will be divided into two parts - the Games-time Volunteer Project (60,000 people) and City Volunteer Project (half million people).About The 16th Asian GamesThe 16th Asian Games (www.gz2010.cn/en) is approved and governed by the Olympic Council of Asia and will be held in "Flower City" of Guangzhou from November 12 - 27, 2010. More than 14,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions will compete in 42 sports. More than 10,000 accredited and non-accredited worldwide media are anticipated to cover the Games with more than three million spectators expected to

The first ever weightlifting coaching clinic in Malawi

The first ever weightlifting coaching clinic in the Malawi started in Blantyre with 22 participants. Egyptian weightlifting expert Maged Salama is conducting the week-long course.Weightlifting Association of Malawi chairman Charles Ulaya said the course marked a new era in the Olympic sport. "This is the fist ever technical course since the inception of weightlifting some three years ago. I am sure after this clinic we will start winning medals," Ulaya said.National Olympic Committee(NOC) general secretary Hellen Mpinganjira urged the participants to take advantage of the Egyptian instructor's presence in the country. "With the expertise that the instructor has brought, we are hopeful that we can start winning medals at international competitions." she said. Salama, who is Egypt weightlifting coach pointed out that he was impressed by the participants' enthusiasm to learn more about the sport. "I hope to take them through the basics of the sport and the important training techniques. By the end of the week the participants will be able to select and train other athletes in the basic exercises and techniques," Salama said. (Malawi