The International Olympic Committee says it's trying to connect with young people. Young people like snowboarding and skateboarding. Snowboarding adds cool to the Winter Games. Isn't it time for skateboarding to make it into the Summer Games?

Nawal El Moutawakel, gold medalist turned influential leader within the International Olympic Committee, is a forceful advocate for the role of sport, and for increased opportunity for girls and women in sport.

Russia's paltry medal count in Vancouver sparked political outrage back home and it is clear the nation has not figured out how to adapt its outdated Soviet system to 21st century anti-doping realities. With the next Winter Olympics headed to Sochi, the Russians will go all-out to win in 2014, and with the U.S. as its main target, the next Games could have a Cold War feel.

The first week of the Vancouver Games brings 18 medals for the U.S. team even as U.S. Olympic Committee officials make plain a sense of mission and purpose.

Michael Phelps, unshaven, swimming in back-to-the-future jammers, throws down a time in the 400yd individual medley at the Long Beach Grand Prix. Olympic Insider Alan Abrahamson writes that the performance perhaps portends even more Phelps greatness, maybe even as soon as this summer.

Scott Blackmun, the U.S. Olympic Committee's new chief executive, and Larry Probst, its board chairman, say and do all the right things amid Blackmun's introduction to staff and the press. Maybe it is a sign of things to come?

After a lengthy search, the United States Olympic Committee has settled on Scott Blackmun to be its new chief executive officer, replacing Stephanie Streeter. Olympic insider Alan Abrahamson writes that after a series of bungled hires, the USOC could not have done better than bringing its former interim leader back into the fold.

Joe Moglia, chairman and former chief executive of TD Ameritrade, is reportedly on the USOC's CEO search short-list. He's also the Nebraska football team's volunteer "life skills and leadership consultant." Is any of that relevant in any way to leadership in the Olympic movement?

A snowy afternoon in a Montreal suburb with the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games flame relay, and the violence that marked the 2008 Beijing Games relay seems long ago, indeed, as the flame travels in a spirit of celebration and possibility.