While elite riders of today are preparing for this year's World Equestrian Games, tomorrow's equestrian stars will be getting a taste of international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.Though the idea was originally proposed by the International Olympic Committee in 2001, this year's competition will be the first ever Youth Olympic Games.

The Games will run from August 14-26 and features athletes between the ages of 14-18 competing in 26 sports. Unlike the traditional Olympics, the Youth Olympics will feature show jumping as the only equestrian sport.In another departure from traditional equestrian competition, riders at the Youth Olympics will not ride their own horses. Instead, riders will be mounted on horses provided to them by the competition. This helps to level the playing field and keep expenses in check for the equestrian athletes.

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The 2010 Winter Olympics, which have just ended in Vancouver, were the most successful in history for the Czech Republic, whose athletes are bringing home six medals. Czechoslovakia took the same number in Sarajevo in 1984, but the crucial difference is that this time the tally includes gold. In fact, speed skater Martina Sáblíková took two gold medals, becoming the first ever Czech to top the podium twice at one Winter Olympics.

She also earned a bronze medal, as did cross-country skier Lukáš Bauer, the men’s cross country relay team (which included Bauer), and downhill skier Šárka Záhrobská. Záhrobská was the last Czech medallist after the 25-year-old came third in the slalom on Friday to reach the podium at the Olympics for the first time.

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Fellow students, I am happy to announce the Winter Olympics have finally ended.Sometime between watching U.S. figure skater Johnny Weir emasculate himself as he pranced with his fur and feather-covered costume, and the always disappointing winter cross-country, it finally hit me — the Winter Olympics are mind-numbingly dull. There must be a better way.

Americans thrive on reality television, dramatic and near-impossible stunts and the occasionally hilarious cat video. Yet not one of these great American trademarks took place during the 2010 Winter Olympics. Surprising, considering how well we owned Vancouver by the end. (Suck it, Russia!)

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LAREDO, Texas  - The University of Oklahoma men's golf squad heads to Saturday's final round in second place at the Border Olympics in Laredo, Texas, after rounds of 293 (+5)  and 287 (-1) on Friday.Bolstered by its second under par team tally in its last three rounds, the Sooners are just seven shots off the lead of Lamar's two-round cumulative score of 3-under-par 573.

OU's 36-hole team score of 580 (+4) marked a season low for the Sooners, eclipsing the nine-over total set at last week's Puerto Rico Classic."This is something that we have been waiting for all year," said head coach Ryan Hybl.  "An opportunity to finish the job and win a respectable golf tournament.  We are gaining more confidence each week and our guys need to believe in the process in which we lay out.  Even more importantly, believe in themselves."

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Hockey is a game of battles. In the course of a game, there are hundreds of battles that take place in the corners, in front of the net, along the blue lines, and in the minds of the combatants. Most of these battles result in a benign stalemate as the opposing players both do their jobs and play continues. Sometimes a goaltender bails out a defenseman that was pantsed  on the blue line.

More often than not, a lapse in focus or effort signals a lost battle and the puck winds up in the back of your net as the host country’s syrup suckers toast Molson and blast Brian Adams.

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The 2010 Winter Olympics are finally over. For some those two weeks went by in a flash but for others they seemed like an eternity. The 21st Olympiad was one of numerous highs and numerous lows and a good portion of America watched those games every day ... giving it some of the highest ratings of any Winter Olympics ever. Covering the games for both NewJerseyNewsroom.com and working with a top notch crew at NBCOlympics.com has been a career high point for this reporter. So after two sleepless weeks and countless hours spent in front of a television watching everything that could be watched, my Best and Worst Moments List is finally ready.

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There were millions of words used to tell the stories of the 2010 Winter Olympics, but the best place to look for the truth was John Furlong's face. As the chief executive officer of the Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee, he didn't just run the Games, he lived them.

In the early, glitchy days, his Irish eyes never smiled. The colour was gone from his cheeks, and the answer to the question of whether he was having any fun was a quiet and shaky "not really."It was one of only two short replies he gave to questions during the Games, the other in response to a query about whether he had anything to say to the British press who had savaged the Olympics.

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Disappointingly, her sled – which she famously named Arthur – was not given its own seat and had to travel with the rest of the baggage. Attractive, outgoing and imbued with a very British eccentricity, Williams is sure to be hotly pursued by sponsors in the coming days and weeks. As she admitted: "I now have quite a few meetings and interviews." But she promised that all the fanfare would not distract her from her goal: to win more international titles. "The attention is not something I'm used to but I'll have to get comfortable with it," she said. "I'm starting to get the hang of talking and answering questions but it's not natural to me. I don't know what's going to happen next – we'll have to wait and see what's out there and who's interested.

"The gold medal has been a life-changing experience in that I'm now speaking to the media. But, ultimately, we're athletes – we train hard and work hard. We go to the gym every day, slide down slopes and travel the world. That will always be inside me. The other stuff is a massive bonus but I'm not going to change. I'll be the same person training hard to reach the next level. Proudly wearing her medal, she said it was the stuff that dreams are made of, adding: "It is absolutely amazing. I cannot really believe it is real but this is making it real by the second.

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The U.S. finished strong in the 2010 Winter Games with a total of 37 medals overall spanning events from bobsled to snowboard. During the weekend, the U.S. continued its winning spree bringing in medals in three speed skating events. On Friday, the team of J.R. Celski, Travis Jayner, Jordan Malone and Apolo Ohno earned the bronze in the men's 5000-meter speed skating relay. On Saturday, another U.S. team of skaters, Jonathan Kuck, Trevor Marsicano, Chad Hedrick and Brian Hansen, won the silver in the men's team pursuit speed skating event.

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When Vancouver won the 2010 Winter Olympics in 2003 in Prague, John Furlong said "Today we have absolutely moved a mountain."By the time the 21st Olympic Winter Games had ended Sunday, it was clear that he had moved a country. Canada's wondrous 3-2 win over arch-rival United States in men’s hockey left a country delirious with glee as Vancouver closed out a Games marked by both astonishing highs and the deepest of tragedies.

This was a Games that got off to a dark start with the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, and moved into shaky ground plagued by little missteps and uncooperative weather. But it finished in a crescendo of cheers from red-drenched crowds that poured into streets across the country after Sidney Crosby punctuated sudden-death overtime with a goal that not only gave Canada the country's 14th gold medal, but a license to party for years to come.

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