(Getty)Figure skater Ashley Wagner has a big task to accomplish this week. Along with U.S. teammate Gracie Gold, she has to place high enough to qualify the United States for three spots for next year's Olympics.

But it will be tough for her to do without her ice skates.

Wagner's skates were lost by the airline on the way to London, Ontario for the world championships on Tuesday morning. They were in her checked luggage, and with all of the traveling she's done as an elite skater for five years, her bags have never been lost. She now has to wait for the airlines to find her bag, and is trying to remain calm.

"OK, I don't have my skates. I have to relax a little bit. It makes me take a step back and realize it's just skating. It's an event, it's a huge event, but I'll do better that way," Wagner said to USA Today.

She tweeted that fellow skaters have given her workout clothes to wear.

I've rounded up tights and a top, thx to @weaverpoje and makeup from my lovely roommate..now searching 4 shoes and oh yeah, skates!#practice

— Ashley Wagner (@AshWagner2010) March 12, 2013

Figure skates are specially fitted to their wearer. Borrowing a pair or running to a sporting goods stores to pick up some new skates could lead to blistering or injuries, which is not what Wagner needs heading into worlds.

While the Transportation Security Administration does allow skates on carry-on luggage, Wagner's never had trouble checking her baggage before. It can make you forget that bags do get mishandled by airlines everyday.

Though she has a practice scheduled for Tuesday night, she doesn't compete until Thursday. Hopefully, Wagner will get her skates by then.

UPDATE: Huzzah! The skates have been found. Nancy Armour of the Associated Press reports:

A @usfigureskating official picked up @ashwagner2010 skates, took thru customs, drove thru Toronto rush hour. Arrived just as warmup began

— Nancy Armour (@nrarmour) March 12, 2013

Oscar Pistorius. (Getty Images)

Oscar Pistorius is "on the verge of suicide," a close friend says, even as his attorneys are seeking lighter bail terms that would allow Pistorius to travel. [UPDATE: The Pistorius family has taken issue with that characterization. See below.]

Pistorius, free on bail but charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, is the subject of a new BBC3 documentary, "Oscar Pistorius: What Really Happened." Pistorius maintains that he shot Steenkamp by accident, but South African police believe he intentionally killed her in the course of a heated argument.

[Related: Oscar Pistorius' lawyers appeal bail conditions]

In the course of the BBC3 documentary, Pistorius family friend Mike Azzie has some dire words about the Olympic and Paralympic star: "I would say that, just speaking to him, that he is a broken man and that I would go as far to say that he would be on the verge of suicide. It really worries me."

Azzie also notes that Pistorius continues to speak of Steenkamp, asking



When American Evan Lysacek won gold in figure skating at the Vancouver Olympics, Yahoo! Sports' Elvis Stojko had a huge problem with the result. Though he had no problem with Lysacek's performance, he did have a problem with the way the skate was scored.

At the time, skaters were not given more consideration for trying difficult jumps, like the quadruple jump. When competing for Canada in the 90s, Stojko became the first man to cleanly land a quad jump at the World Championships. With Lysacek not trying to repeat his difficult feat, Stojko said the 2010 result had set back the sport 20 years. In the video above, he stands by his words.

But as they traditionally do after the Olympics, figure skating officials reviewed how to score different skating elements. Quads were encouraged in the new scoring system. Canadian Patrick Chan, the reigning world champ, is expected to throw a quad at the world championships in London, Canada, next week. Top Japanese skaters Daisuke Takahashi and

You know what's worse than achieving your life's goal? Thinking you've achieved your life's goal and then getting it yanked away from you. Above, you can see Renaud Lavillenie of France, a gold medalist who thought he'd just achieved the second-highest pole vault in history at the European Indoor Championships.

Not so fast, Renaud. He tipped the bar off its pegs, and in an amazing sequence of events, the bar ended up perched on a ledge rather than falling to the mat. A judge raised the red flag, signaling a foul, and that was that ... well, except for Lavillenie's world-class tantrum.

Renaud remains one of the few men to clear the six-meter mark (for perspective, that's about like vaulting onto the roof of a two-story building), but still falls short of pole vaulting legend Sergei Bubka's 6.09 meters.

Oh, and Lavillenie still won gold. For what that's worth.

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-

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Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius in November 2012. (Getty Images)Already, the Oscar Pistorius trial is shaping up to be one of the most fascinating and highly publicized ones in recent memory. Now comes word that Pistorius is planning to hold his own ceremony to honor his late girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius shot Steenkamp on Valentine's Day, but the motivation for the shooting and Pistorius' responsibility remain the focus of the impending trial for premeditated murder.

Pistorius has been released from prison on 1 million rand ($113,000) bail, and has said he wants a private memorial service to be held at the home of one of his family members.

"Oscar has asked for a private service with people who share his loss, including family members who knew and loved Reeva as one of their own," Vuma Reputation Management, which Pistorius has contracted, said in a statement, adding, "he remains in deep mourning for the loss of his partner Reeva."

Steenkamp's family has already held a memorial service for her in the South African city of Port Elizabeth.

(Getty)Remember Mo Farah, the British runner who won two golds in London? His win over training partner Galen Rupp was one of the most thrilling moments of the 2012 Olympics. The British crowd roared as he crossed the finish line, and he became one of the biggest celebrities of the Olympics.

But an anchor at a New Orleans television station must not have remembered the moment. After Farah won the New Orleans Half Marathon with a time of 61 minutes, she asked him if he had ever run before.

It also appears that she doesn't know the difference between a half-marathon (13.1 miles) and a marathon (26.2 miles.)

Regardless of her gaffe, Farah completed an amazing run. After spending most of his career on distances of 5,000m - 10,000m, he transitioned to a half-marathon by running it in an hour and 59 seconds and setting a course records.

Thanks, Deadspin.

Oscar Pistorius in court. (Getty Images)

One of the more explosive "revelations" to come from the Oscar Pistorius bail hearings has been discounted by the prosecution.

Medupe Simasiku, the case's prosecutor and a member of South Africa's National Prosecution Agency, indicated that an investigating officer erred when he identified a substance found in Pistorius' home as testosterone.

Detective Warrant Officer Hilton Botha, the investigating officer at the scene, had earlier indicated that he had discovered boxes of needles and testosterone. However, while the needles were indeed discovered, the exact makeup of the substance discovered remains under investigation.

[Related: Oscar Pistorius' lawyers counter claims of alleged murder ]

The alteration is significant from a public-relations standpoint, as attorneys for Pistorius claimed that it gave a negative connotation to Pistorius' actions and behaviors. The International Paralympic Committee said shortly after Botha's statement that Pistorius passed two dug tests last year.

Oscar Pistorius leaves the Boschkop Police Station in Pretoria, South Africa on Thursday. (Getty Images)

A new report out of South Africa indicates that Oscar Pistorius carried Reeva Steenkamp downstairs from the bathroom where he had allegedly shot her, and attempted to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while attempting to save her life. The report comes via Beeld, an Afrikaaans-language newspaper in South Africa.

The newspaper reported that Steenkamp was still breathing when local security guards and neighbors arrived at Pistorius' house, but died shortly afterward. She had been shot four times through the bathroom door. While the first reports indicated that Pistorius had believed he was firing at an intruder, more recent police reports have backed off that allegation.

According to the Beeld report, there were blood spatters in Pistorius' house tracing the route Pistorius carried Steenkamp, and bloody towels near where she passed. Forensic teams continue to work in the Pistorius home in the exclusive Silver Woods Country Estate community, and have removed the bullet-riddled