This has nothing to do with Winter Olympics, but it's worth mentioning.

Bernard Lagat, one of WSU most accomplished athletes, made U.S. Track history Wednesday by becoming the first American to win a World Championship. A few years ago it would have been just another Kenyan win, but Bernard became a U.S. citizen in 2004 and now runs for the U.S. team
Read more here.

Lagat's career highlights include:
- U.S. Records in the 1,500, and indoor 1,500, mile and 3,000.
- Bronze at the 2000 Olympics
- Silver at the 2004 Olympics
- Silver at the 2002 World Championships
- 2002 African championship
- Two U.S. Championships (1,500 and 5,000)
- 11-time All-American at WSU.
- Indoor NCAA champ in teh mile and 3,000 in 1999.
- 1999 NCAA Indoor athlete of the year.
- 1999 NCAA 5,000-meter Outdoor National Champ.

Lagat lives in Tucson.

Here's some Olympic updates you can read in tomorrow's TNT Adventure section.

2010 OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN
897 Days … until the Winter Olympics come to Vancouver, B.C.

LOCAL ATHLETES
- Marni Yamada of Seattle made the U.S. snowboard cross C team on Aug. 15.
- Vic Wild of White Salmon made the U.S. snowboard alpine C team.

TEAMS USA UPDATES
- U.S. cross country physical therapist Aaron Saari summited Mount McKinley – North America’s tallest peak at 20,320-feet – this month.
- When the national snowboard teams were announced this month the list included the following former Olympians: Tommy Czeschin, Gretchen Bleiler, Tricia Byrnes, Lindsey Jacobellis, Hannah Teter, Jayson Hale, Nate Holland, Seth Wescott, Jason Smith, Graham Watanabe, Tyler Jewell, Chris Klug and Michelle Gorgone.
- Eric Warren of Vermont, a three-time top 10 finisher on the World Cup circuit, retired from the U.S. snowboarding team Aug. 14.
- The U.S. alpine ski team trained on hockey skates in late July. They played hockey and did speed training with coaches from the Utah Grizzlies, a minor league hockey team.
- Sasha Rearick was promoted to the U.S. Ski Team’s men’s slalom and giant slalom coach. Rearick, who coached the Europa Cup team the last two years, replaces Mike Morin who left to coach college skiing.
- U.S. mogul skiers recently wrapped up training on Mt. Hood.

FACILITY UPDATES
- The Whistler Nordic Center is due to be complete in November.
- A slide show detailing construction of the Whistler Blackcomb Olympic sliding center can be seen at vancouver2010.com.
- Whistler is seeking contractors for its athletes village.
- According to a survey conducted by the Vancouver Organizing Committee, Olympic fans are looking forward to the completion of the Richmond speed skating oval more than any other venue for the 2010 games. The facility is schedule to be complete next fall.

OTHER OLYMPIC NEWS
- Aug. 8 marked the one-year mark to the 2008 summer games.

COMING UP
- The snowboard World Cup season starts Friday in New Zealand. The first snowboard cross competition is Sept. 25-29 in Chile.
- The next meeting of VANOC directors is Sept. 19.
- Whistler Blackcomb, host of the Olympic alpine and sliding events, will host a Kiss concert on its slopes Sept. 15.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for the 2010 Winter Olympics do not go on sale until 2008. Ticket sale information will be announced this fall. To receive an e-mail notification when tickets go on sale, sign up vancouver2010.com.

Vic Wild of White Salmon was named to the U.S. National Snowboard team today. He is an alpine boarder.

Click below to read the release.

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Just when you thought you've heard everything, check out this story from the Associated Press:

Jason Bausher didn’t expect a legal fight when he put together a little travel guide to his favorite places on Washington state’s rugged Olympic Peninsula.
Intellectual property lawyers at the U.S. Olympic Committee had other ideas. Worried that his “Best of the Olympic Peninsula” might tread on the committee’s valuable trademarks, the USOC pushed the part-time park ranger to drop his request for a trademark.
A few years back, the whole thing might have ended with a simple disclaimer that allowed Bausher to sell his book in local tourist shops.
But thanks to widespread Web publishing and ubiquitous Internet access, Bausher’s $12 booklet was suddenly reaching the world.
That’s made it a much bigger problem for the USOC, and a reminder of how quickly technology can blow past old notions of commerce and law.
“It is amazing how the Web has empowered laypeople,” said Bob Jarvis, author of a book on sports law. “But it has also given them all kinds of opportunities to get into legal trouble.”