Thursday’s Sports In Brief – Washington Times

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – A test event for 2016 Olympic equestrian began in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, following an outbreak of the highly contagious and deadly disease, glanders.

Authorities have insisted the disease, which was discovered this year among horses stabled near Rio’s Olympic Equestrian Center and can also infect humans, poses no threat to horses or riders.

The exact details of the outbreak at the Deodoro military complex, a sprawling installation in northern Rio that also houses facilities for other Olympic sports, remain murky.

In April, one horse stabled at Deodoro tested positive for the disease, and results for another animal came back inconclusive, said an Agriculture Ministry official, who declined to give his name in line with ministry policy.

The Rio outbreak followed the diagnosis of another case this year in neighboring state Espiritu Santo. That horse, which was euthanized, was thought to have taken part in a competition at the Deodoro complex, the official said, though he was unable to provide any more details.

The sick horses have been quarantined in Sao Paulo state, and the hundreds of other animals once stabled at Deodoro have been moved, said Mario Andrada, a spokesman for the local organizing committee.

TOKYO (AP) – Baseball called on Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh and karate used a live demonstration as eight sports made their case Friday to be included on the program for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Baseball and softball are making a combined bid. The other sports making presentations to organizers were squash, surfing, bowling, roller sports, sport climbing and wushu.

Under the “Olympic Agenda 2020” reforms, the IOC agreed to abolish the 28-sport limit to the Summer Games and instead use an events-based system that would allow new competitions to come in without increasing the current size of about 10,500 athletes and 310 medal events.

Host cities are allowed to propose the inclusion of one or more additional events for their games. After the presentations are finished on Saturday, Tokyo organizers will make their recommendations to the International Olympic Committee by Sept. 30.

The IOC decision on which sport or sports to add will be made in August 2016, just ahead of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

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MARATHON

MONACO (AP) – Former Russian marathoner Liliya Shobukhova’s doping ban was extended by 14 months to March 2016 by sport’s highest court on Thursday following an appeal by the IAAF.

Shobukhova’s two-year suspension by the Russian athletics federation was to end in January, but the IAAF appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, citing “aggravating circumstances.”

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