Women sport news

The Copper halfpipe was stacked with big air and beauty Thursday as the best women in the sport hit up the 22-foot walls for qualification runs at the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix. And, to no ones surprise, Olympic medalists Gretchen Bleiler (Aspen, CO) and Kelly Clark (Mt. Snow, VT) were the first and second place qualifiers of the day.

Britain’s women skeleton sliders produced impressive performances but finished just outside the medals at round four of the Skeleton World Cup in Winterberg, Germany today (Friday).

Please find below a statement from Dave Brailsford regarding todays IOC announcement of the approved new cycling events for London 2012. photo John Coxon

USA Hockey will formally announce the 2010 U.S. Olympic Womens Ice Hockey Team at a ceremony in the Best Buy® Rotunda at Mall of America® in Bloomington, Minn., on Thursday, Dec. 17 at 4:30 p.m. CST.

With the deadline for applications having closed on November 30, the International Volleyball Association (FIVB) is pleased to announce that eight countries have applied to host the 2011 editions of the FIVB Junior and Youth World Championships. photo FIVB

An official dinner summing up the 2009 season for the Polish Beach Volleyball community was organized at the end of November at the Jan III Sobieski Hotel in Warsaw. photo FIVB

Tanzania collect their first win out of Africa at the Nations Cup 2009. Today marked the halfway stage of the round-robin portion of the Netball Nations Cup 2009. Some teams continued to fire while others hit a slump in form three games into the tournament.

The Dutch and Argentina hockey stars, Naomi van As and Luciana Aymar have been voted joint World Hockey Players of the Year , the result being announced by the FIH during the ABN AMRO Champions Trophy in Melbourne, Australia today. photo John Coxon

England womens cricket coach Mark Lane was named UK Coach of the Year at the UK Coaching Awards on Tuesday evening in London.

Loughborough University student Una Hong has been recognised as Asia’s top female referee at the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) annual awards ceremony hosted in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur last month (24 November).

With less than 300 days until the Delhi Commonwealth Games commence, Australia officially kick started its campaign in Sydney today (8/12) under the guidance of newly appointed national coach Rex Johnston.

SYDNEY (2010 FIBA World Championship for Women) - Suzy Batkovic-Brown is warming up for Australia\'s world title defense in style while playing for the Sydney University Flames in the Women\'s National Basketball League. photo FIBA

American great Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) earned her 13th downhill title and 23rd overall World Cup victory on Friday in Lake Louise, gliding through the course in snowy, windy conditions that led to slow times for many other skiers.

Natalie von Bertouch and Renae Hallinan have capped off an exceptional 2009 by taking home two of the biggest netball prizes at the Australian Netball Awards tonight.

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND, December 3, 2009 - The world championships in Norway followed by SWATCH FIVB World Tour Grand Slam events in Switzerland, Russia, France and Austria highlighted the 2009 international Beach Volleyball campaign as US$7.2-million in prize money was distributed at 18 events in 15 countries. photo FIVB

Following GB Hockeys Squad announcement on 27th November , yesterday we learned that Argentina will make several key changes to their squad for the five friendlies planned between12th and 18th December in Salta. photos and report John Coxon

Judging by Karen Carney’s cameo appearance against Turkey, the England Women’s team could benefit greatly from Hope Powell’s decision to rest the attacking midfielder for the opening World Cup Qualifier against Malta last month. photo FA

The Ladies European Tour will make an historic first visit to Slovakia with the latest addition to its 2010 schedule.

Teenage Phenom Carissa Moore Wins Gidget Pro Sunset Beach. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 21, has claimed her third consecutive ASP Womens World Title today at the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing presented by Rockstar Energy Drink in Hawaii.

Following detailed discussions with boat manufacturers over the past six months, the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) has just announced a major six-year official tow-boat agreement with MasterCraft, the premium manufacturer of inboard wakeboard, waterski and luxury performance boats.

Britain’s Shelley Rudman returned to the scene of her 2006 Olympic Winter Games skeleton silver medal winning performance to capture World Cup gold today (Friday).

The U.S. women had a slew of successes as four others joined Vonn in the top 20. They were led by Keely Kelleher (Big Sky, MT) in 12th, Chelsea Marshall (Pittsfield, VT) in 15th, Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA) in 16th and Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) in 19th.

After my last two races in Belgium I made the trip back to the UK to see my family and to do some base miles around the country lanes of Lincoln, we have just moved to a new house so Im still learning new routes with the help of my partner Rick.

Heather Foundling - Hawker, covering 159.657km finished third woman in the NO FINISH LINE 24 HOUR Race held in the Port of Monaco.

The Roxy Wahine Cup has become one of the most popular contests on the South African surfing calendar, attracting female surfers of all ages from across the country to this unique event.

The British Gas Disability Team claimed five world titles on the third day of the IPC Swimming World Championships (25m) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil .