There was some confusion last week surrounding the possible future of former cycling world champion Romans Vainsteins (photo). The Latvian daily Diena reported that the Lampre rider had been unable to find a Pro Tour team willing to take him on and meet his salary demands for the 2005 season, and that, as a result, Vainsteins had decided to hang up his lycra in exchange for a more secure position in the furniture trade, working alongside his brother. But the 31-year-old sprinter then issued a statement insisting that he wished to continue with his cycling career: "I will still race with all my passion and with my heart. I wish to reach the same professional results that I achieved up to now. I have full trust in the Pro Tour teams, and I'd like to find a good agreement with one of them for the next season," the statement read.
The Austrian energy drink company Red Bull has bought the F1 team Jaguar just hours before its closure deadline. The deal safeguards 340 jobs at the team's Milton Keynes base in the U.K. and means there will still be 10 teams on the F1 grid next season. The new Red Bull team will use engines made by Cosworth, which Jaguar-owners Ford had also put up for sale. Red Bull, owned by Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, was a sponsor of Jaguar. No financial details about the deal were released but Ford was reported to have asked for a symbolic $1 if the new owners guaranteed to invest $400 million into the team over the next three Grand Prix seasons.
London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games was presented to the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland on Nov. 15. The bid was described by the campaign's chairman, former Olympic gold medalist Lord Sebastian Coe (photo), as a "winning formula." The 600-page candidate file, which outlines the case for staging the games in Britain for the first time since 1948, was delivered to the committee by Amber Charles, a 14-year-old basketball player from east London. IOC officials will then scrutinize the plans from London, along with those of rivals Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow, and visit each of the cities, before producing a report. IOC members will vote for the winner at their congress in Singapore on July 6.
