Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

Gavin Smellie

Former Western Kentucky University Gavin Smellie is no longer on the bubble.

He’s in the Olympics.

Smellie was named to the Canadian Olympic track and field squad in the 4-by-100-meter relay over the weekend.

However, it was not certain at that time that Canada would be among the 16 relay teams to qualify for the Summer Olympic Games in London.

Word came Tuesday, though, that Canada will run as the No. 11 seed.

Smellie is the second Hilltopper to qualify for the London Olympics.

Claire Donahue qualified for the U.S. Swim Team last week, placing second in the 100-meter butterfly.

The Canadian track relay team qualified with a two-race average time of 38.64 seconds.  Jamaica qualified with the fastest time of 37.56.

A native of Etobicoke, Ontario, Smellie twice earned All-America honors during his career on the Hill from 2006-10.  He was part of the 2008 All-American 4-by-400-meter relay team at the 2008 NCAA Indoor championships, and won individual All-America recognition in the 200 meters at the 2009 Outdoor championships.  He was also the 2009 Mideast Regional champion in the 200.

Smellie was named all-Sun Belt Conference multiple times during his career, and was selected as the  Most Outstanding Performer at both the 2008 SBC Indoor Championships and 2009 Outdoors.

Among his international competition, Smellie ran in the 2009 World Championships in Berlin and finished sixth in the 200 at the 25th Summer Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia.

Okoro wins title in Africa

Former University of Louisville and Russell High School standout Chinwe Okoro won the women’s discus competition last weekend in the 18th African Senior Athletic Championships at Porto-Novo, Benin Republic.

Representing Nigeria, Okoro moved from fourth place to third by reaching 178 feet, 11 inches on her fourth attempt. She won on her sixth and final throw, 185-8.

Okoro also placed second in the shot put with a distance of 53-2 1/4.

In June of 2011, Okoro won the shot put at the 65th All Nigeria/Cross River State Athletics Championships.

Of Nigerian descent, Okoro is a native of Darien, Ill., and a three-time national All-Academic Team honoree who graduated with a 3.88 grade-point average in biology. Recently, she was named a 2011-12 Big East Conference Scholar-Athlete Sports Excellence Award winner.

Okoro helped U of L to a fifth straight Big East Conference outdoor title, winning her first league title in the shot put. She graduated as a three-time outdoor All-American.

Meanwhile, former Card and two-time NCAA champion Matt Hughes placed second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at last weekend’s Canadian Olympic Trials, clocked in 8:47.65. And current U of L team member Michelle Theophille placed second in the women’s high jump by clearing 6 feet.

Neither performance Hughes nor Theophille met the Olympic standard, though.

With the Summer Olympic Games in London little more than two months away, the United States Olympic Committee has a fund-raising program that is a stitch.

The program, dubbed Raise Our Flag, “gives every American the chance to support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes by contributing a stitch to the American flag that will accompany the U.S. Olympic Team” to the Games, according to a USOC press release.

For $12 (visit TeamUSA.org to donate through July 12), supporters purchase one stitch in the flag.  Each purchased stitch is designated by a number and will be noted on the web site Donor Wall, where it can be dedicated to a friend, family member or Team USA athlete, and easily shared through Facebook and Twitter.

“Unlike many of the teams our athletes will compete against in London this summer, the U.S. Olympic Team receives no government funding, and our athletes rely on individual donations and corporate support,” Scott Blackmun, CEO of the USOC said int he press release. “This program invites every American to become a member of the team behind the team.”

In addition to the searchable Donor Wall, the program website (TeamUSA.org) features a running total of stitches donated, stitch totals by state, and a library of new images and videos featuring Olympians, Paralympians and hopefuls.

Lee Kiefer, a senior at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, is among 25 athletes named by USA Fencing to compete in the Senior World Championships, Oct. 8-16, at Catania, Italy.

Team USA, which swept all 12 gold medals two weeks ago in the Pan American Championships at Reno, Nev., will be competing in the largest qualifying event for the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games.

Kiefer and her World Championships teammates were selected based on USA Fencing senior point rankings at the end of the 2010-11 World Cup season in June. They will compete for Olympic qualification points in both individual and team events for women’s epee, men’s saber, and men’s and women’s foil. Men’s epee and women’s saber will not be contested as team events in London and, thus, the World competition in those disciplines will not count towards Olympic qualification.

Kiefer, at 17 a two-time Pan American champion in women’s foil, will be competing in her third Senior World Championships. She won the 2010 World Cadet championship.

Doris Willette, 23, from Lafayette, Calif., is the veteran of the women’s foil squad and will be competing in her fourth Worlds. Nzingha Prescod, the reigning World Junior champion from Brooklyn, N.Y., joins Kiefer as a three-time World Senior member. Nicole Ross of New York is on the team for the second time.

Team USA Women

Foil — Lee Kiefer (Lexington); Nzingha Prescod (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Nicole Ross (New York); Doris Willette (Lafayette, Calif.). Saber — Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.); Ibtihaj Muhammad (Maplewood, N.J.); Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.); Daria Schneider (New York). Epee — Lindsay Campbell (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Courtney Hurley (San Antonio); Kelley Hurley (San Antonio); Maya Lawrence (Teaneck, N.J.).

Team USA Men

Foil — Miles Chamley-Watson (Philadelphia); Alexander Massialas (San Francisco); Gerek Meinhardt (San Francisco); Race Imboden (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Saber — Daryl Homer (New York); Ben Igoe (Staten Island, N.Y.); Tim Morehouse (New York); James Williams (New York). Epee — Ben Bratton (New York); Seth Kelsey (Colorado Springs, Colo.); Cody Mattern (Colorado Springs, Colo.); Soren Thompson (New York).