Tim Morehouse wants his legacy in fencing to go beyond his silver medal from the Beijing Olympics.
In addition to training for this summer's London Games, Morehouse has spent much of the past four years trying to generate attention and enthusiasm for his sport. He taught President Barack Obama how to fence on the White House lawn, played tennis in a charity event with Bode Miller and helped organize a fencing tournament in New York that he hopes will appeal to both fans and corporate sponsors alike.
"They're all opportunities to show people what fencing is all about," Morehouse said Thursday. "I think our future (in U.S. fencing) looks really bright. The key to U.S. fencing is we've had talent come through, but we have to keep them fencing until they reach their full potential. It's about creating ways for them to do that."
After winning 18 medals between 1896 and 1960, one of them gold, U.S. fencers didn't make the Olympic podium again until Mariel Zagunis won gold in saber at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Since then, however, the Americans have been piling up the precious metal.
Zagunis defended her gold medal in Beijing as part of a 1-2-3 U.S. sweep in women's saber. Morehouse, Jason Rogers, Keeth Smart and James Williams won the silver medal in men's team saber in Beijing, while Zagunis, Sada Jacobson and Becca Ward won bronze in the women's event. The U.S. also won a silver in women's team foil. At the 2010 world championships, Zagunis won her second straight saber title, while the U.S. men won the silver medal in team epee.
That success has begun to bring crossover appeal — Zagunis is sponsored by mainstream companies like Nike and Ameritrade, while Morehouse has deals with TechnoGym and BistoMD — but Morehouse hopes to carry it even further.
"Over the last quadrennium, this is probably the most amount of press our sport has gotten. You have a lot more people paying attention now," Morehouse said. "The opportunities are there, so it's taking those things and trying to sustain on them and build on them. We have some momentum. But, at the end of the day, it's the same as it is for an athlete, you have to have a strategy of where you're going."
His biggest undertaking is the Fencing Masters tournament, which will bring much of the U.S. Olympic team to the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York's Manhattan Center on June 26. Tickets go on sale next month, and Morehouse said he hopes at least 2,000 will attend; the first Fencing Masters in 2010 drew 1,800 people. He also hopes to have the event televised.
"It will be the introduction of our team to the world, our country," he said, "so people will know our athletes going into games."
The Olympic team has not been named yet, but Morehouse is in good position to be one of those athletes. The U.S. will take three men to London for saber fencing, along with an alternate, and Morehouse currently leads the standings with 5,750 points, more than 400 ahead of Williams.
Morehouse isn't ready to say London will be his last Olympics. But at 33, he knows he's closer to the end of his career than the beginning.
"Your motivation changes a little bit," he said. "I've been to two Olympic Games. Now the motivation is, obviously, to qualify for the Olympic Games and win another Olympic medal. But I want to do so while raising the profile of our sport. We have great stories, great athletes, and we want to continue to show that."
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KOBE'S STATUS: The torn tendon in Kobe Bryant's right wrist hasn't kept him off the court this season, and it's not likely to keep him out of the London Olympics, either.
The 12-man roster will be announced in June, and USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo and U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said they will monitor Bryant's health over the coming months. But Bryant has been playing through the injury, scoring 40 points in four straight games from Jan. 10-14, and Krzyzewski said he expects the Los Angeles Lakers guard to be part of the U.S. team in London.
"I think Kobe really wants to be in London, and again, depending on injury, that will be his choice," Krzyzewski said Monday after the 20-person player pool for London was announced. "But it would have to be something very, very serious, because — I know he has a number of years still left, but I know he would want another Olympic championship. He's about championships."
Bryant was part of the gold medal team at the 2008 Olympics.
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WELCOME TO THE TEAM: Sophia Young has been added to the U.S. women's basketball national team pool, four months after becoming a citizen.
A native of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the 28-year-old Young has lived in the U.S. since she was 15 and became a citizen Sept. 2.
"When you think about all the players in the WNBA, there are so many great players who can be on the USA National Team," said Young, a four-time WNBA All-Star who has averaged 15.5 points and 6.2 rebounds over her career. "To be among these players is great. I know that a lot of people in the WNBA would like this opportunity and so I feel very blessed."
The 6-foot-1 forward started all five games of the U.S. team's European tour in September.
"The thing that impressed me the most about Sophia when we went on the European Tour is how versatile she is, how easily she moves from one position to another and how well she's able to get her shot off against players much bigger than she is," said Geno Auriemma, 2009-12 USA National Team and University of Connecticut coach. "Defensively, she's versatile enough to guard both inside and perimeter players."
The London Olympic team will be chosen from the 27-member pool that includes Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings, Candace Parker and Sylvia Fowles, as well as Baylor junior Brittney Griner. The roster isn't expected to be finalized until sometime this spring.
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CALLING IT A CAREER: Carrie Lingo's field hockey career is ending a few months earlier than she'd hoped.
Lingo, who has played in 190 international matches with the U.S. team, had intended to go through this summer's London Olympics. But she announced her retirement earlier this month, saying her right knee, which has already been operated on seven times, isn't up to it.
The U.S. field hockey team qualified for London at the Pan American Games, where they upset Argentina to win the title.
"My leg just can't take the training anymore," Lingo said in the statement announcing her retirement. "I am not physically able to give 100 percent to the team and that is what is needed from each and every player to put USA Field Hockey on the podium in London."
The 32-year-old Lingo has been a mainstay on the U.S. team since 2002 and helped the Americans earn a spot at the 2008 Games in Beijing, their first Olympic appearance since 1996.
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SECOND ACT: Ilke Wyludda, the 1996 Olympic champion in discus, is preparing for a comeback in London — in wheelchair shot put.
Despite her imposing physique, Wyludda battled health problems throughout her career and had 15 different operations for various injuries. One left her with an open wound that became infected, and her right leg was amputated above the knee shortly before Christmas in 2010.
"I haven't had a shot put or a discus in my hand for years, I am starting from scratch," Wyludda, who retired in 2000, recently told the German news agency dapd. "There is a lot of room for improvement."
Wyludda took part at a wheelchair competition in the United Arab Emirates in December and finished third.
"It was my first competition in the Paralympic sport," she said. "The important thing was to see how the competition evolves, how the athletes handle the wheelchairs, how do you concentrate. It's all different to what I was used to."
Wyludda now wakes up at 5 a.m. several days a week to train with her former coach, Gerhard Boettcher, who is retired.
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NEW COUNTRY, NEW NAME: Just call short-track speedskater Ahn Hyun-soo Viktor.
And do it in Russian.
The three-time Olympic gold medalist from South Korea has changed his name to Viktor Ahn and is now competing for Russia. He was granted Russian citizenship Dec. 26 by President Dmitri Medvedev, and is expected to represent his new country at the European short-track championships, Jan. 27-29 in the Czech Republic.
The addition of Ahn is a boost for Russia, which has won only one medal in short-track, a bronze in the women's 3,000-meter relay in 1992. Ahn is the first short-track speedskater to win four medals at a single games, taking gold in the 1,000 meters, 1,500 meters and 5,000-meter relay at the Turin Olympics, and winning a bronze in the 500 meters. He also won five straight world titles from 2003 to 2007.
Ahn missed the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 after injuring his knee in a training accident two years earlier.
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FIVE RINGS: The Royal College of Art will be the hospitality base for the U.S. Olympic Committee during the London Games. The venue, located across from Kensington Gardens in west London, will be used to host athletes, staff, sponsors and other guests. The RCA is a public research university specializing in art and design. ... Steven Gluckstein's 10th-place finish at the Jan. 13 test event earned the United States a spot in men's trampoline at this summer's London Olympics. ... Mary Killman and Maria Koroleva, silver medalists at the Pan American Games, will be the U.S. duet in synchronized swimming at the Olympic qualifier in April. ... Ukranian archer Viktoriya Koval, who competed at the 2008 Olympics, is a candidate for the International Olympic Committee's athlete commission.
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AP Sports Writers Doug Feinberg, Nesha Starcevic and Steve Wilson contributed to this report.
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