In surreal turn, condemnation of IAAF leaders exempts President Sebastian Coe

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In surreal turn, condemnation of IAAF leaders exempts President Sebastian Coe

Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, I was able to watch a theater of the absurd drama live from Munich, Germany Thursday morning.

All it lacked were sets by either Dali or Magritte behind the dais occupied by Richard Pound of Canada and his fellow luminaries on the World Anti-Doping Agency independent commission that investigated the sordid behavior that festered inside the international track and field federation.

The production was meant to elucidate a commission report that iterated and reiterated top elected officials of the IAAF – its Council – had to be aware of the rot within the organization.

It will be remembered instead for the surreal plot twist in which Pound repeatedly and unwaveringly defended the idea of letting 12-year Council member Sebastian Coe of Great Britain lead the federation out of the mess.

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To clean up track and field, Seb Coe too must go

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To clean up track and field, Seb Coe too must go

When the other size 20EEE clodhopper drops in the international track and field doping and corruption scandal Thursday, let’s hope somebody quickly puts the shoe back on to boot the entire compromised leadership of the sport’s global governing body, the IAAF.

That would necessarily include the federation’s new president, Sebastian Coe of Great Britain, whose vow he can be part of the solution means less because he did not see how he was part of the problem and apparently still doesn’t fully grasp it.

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At 11, a blazing performance makes South Korea's You Young a senior (!) national figure skating champion with time on her hands

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At 11, a blazing performance makes South Korea's You Young a senior (!) national figure skating champion with time on her hands

A Korean girl shot across the figure skating universe like a comet over the weekend.

And while she certainly could blaze another such trail in the future, it may seem for a while that You Young is on a path like Halley’s Comet, which comes around about every 75 years.

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Brown on skating rival Hanyu: "He is changing the sport"

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Brown on skating rival Hanyu: "He is changing the sport"

An injury kept Jason Brown from having a rinkside seat for the first of Yuzuru Hanyu’s two history-making performances last fall.

Even from afar, though, the reigning U.S. champion was blown away by what the reigning Olympic champion from Japan did at November’s NHK Trophy and, astonishingly, improved upon at December’s Grand Prix Final.

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With defending champ out, U.S. Skating team selection process could be muddle again

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With defending champ out, U.S. Skating team selection process could be muddle again

It won’t stir a relatively widespread public reaction like the one that followed the selection of the U.S. women’s singles figure skating team for the 2014 Olympics.

But defending champion Jason Brown’s injury withdrawal from the upcoming U.S. Championships in St. Paul may lead to hot debates within the sport’s ever-shrinking fan base about the choices of the U.S. men’s team for the March World Championships in Boston.

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