Spanning the globe to bring you more GLBT sports coverage, we take you on a scenic travelogue, where Bay Area athletes competed through the summer.

Hawaiian rainbow

Over 2,000 masters athletes (ages 30-90) participated at the U.S. National Masters Championships, held August 4-7 at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu.

Some may recall a controversy a few years back over the mascot, a rainbow, being presumed "too gay." The disgruntled anti-rainbow athletes' demands to change the mascot were later denied.

Today, even the university's track lanes are still rainbow-colored. What better place for two gay track athletes who met decades ago while competing in high school to compete later, and as partners, no less?

For Dave Dibley and Drew Monaghan, the meet in Hawaii was the first national championships for both men, who competed in the 40-44 age group.

"We both ran hurdles in high school and college, and were excited to be trying this event," said Monaghan, who competed for San Ramon Valley High School (class of 1983) and the University of California, Berkeley. Dibley ran for Livermore High School (class of 1982) and the University of California, Davis. At that time, the two often competed against each other.

They met again when they both joined SF Track & Field to compete in Sydney's Gay Games VI, where Monaghan won a silver medal in the 110 hurdles and a bronze in the 400 hurdles. Dibley won gold in the hammer throw. Both won five more bronze medals running for various relay teams.

Returning to track later in life proved their mettle. "It was a test for us to see if we really thought the decathlon would be a plausible event for us next year in Chicago," Monaghan added, referring to next year's Gay Games. "We loved the multi-event competition and are both excited about training for and competing in the decathlon in the Games next year."

In javelin competition, Monaghan managed a personal best, while Dibley threw 123-9 and maintained his overall lead. Dibley beat his javelin mark in the pentathlon in the open javelin with a throw of 38.96 meters, placing him third in the nation in that event.

Monaghan went on to win the 400m intermediate hurdles, beating last year's national champion, with a time of 1:04.57, making him national champion in this event. In discus, Dibley once again finished second in the age group with a throw of 101-3. Monaghan finished fourth at 74-7. In the 1500-meter race, Monaghan managed to run just ahead of one of the competitors to grab the third overall place, while Dibley ran quick enough to win the pentathlon gold medal, winning by 26 points.

Dibley's first place totaled 2,489 points, and Monaghan took third with 2,357 points. "All in all, we loved the experience of the multi-event competition," said Dibley. "The camaraderie that developed among the athletes was terrific. The competition was exciting, exhausting, and rewarding."

SF Track & Field's Gwynn Villegas placed 12th overall in the 100 meters for his age group and sixth in the 110-meter high hurdles. Villegas, Dibley, and Monaghan capped the four-day meet with a fifth place in the 4x100 meter relay at 49.0 seconds, recruiting Michael Burke from Philadelphia to anchor the race.

"This is a tremendous showing considering it's the first time either of them had competed in this event," said Rick Thoman, SF Track & Field's team coordinator.

SF Track & Field practices take place Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Kezar Stadium, and on Sundays at 10 a.m. at McAteer High School. For more info, call or e-mail Thoman at (415) 550-7966 or RguyinSF@hotmail.com.

For info on Gay Games VII, visit www.gaygameschicago.org.

Utrecht tracks

Another SF Track & Field member, Giampiero Mancinelli, competed in track and field events on the other side of the planet at EuroGames 2005, held in June in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Mancinelli played for an Atlanta team, as did three players from Germany and one Canadian. For one relay, Mancinelli's team, composed of athletes from several countries, even ran a nude victory lap (wearing only shoes and medals)! Talk about taking the Greek ideal to its extreme.

The Netherlands swept the EuroGames, winning almost 200 gold medals, 140 silver, and 129 bronze medals. Germany came in second, winning over 400 medals, with Great Britain in third place overall. For full results and photos, visit www.eurogames.info/2005

Cope in 'Hagen

Members of the San Francisco Spikes Soccer Club competed in this year's International Gay and Lesbian Football Association World Championship, held in Copenhagen, Denmark July 31-August 6.

With 145 women players, 278 male players, 29 referees, and hundreds of volunteers, this was the soccer event of the global GLBT sports community.

Patrick Johnston, Jay Higa, Matthew Shambroom, Orien Richmond, Patrick Unemori, and his brother Mark Unemori (of Hilo, Hawaii) played on a combined team of San Franciscans and Australians.

Their matches against D.C.-Americas resulted in a 0-1 loss for their division-2 team. In a subsequent match, Samurai Japan defeated them 4-0.

Patrick Unemori scored the first goal in a match with Manchester. The Spikes and Rangers combined team ended up in the lower brackets, playing teams from Copenhagen and Czechoslovakia to avoid last place, which they did. The newly formed Prague team won that honor.

In the men's final, Paris PAEC defeated Village Manchester 5-3. In the men's bronze match, Florida Storm Soccer defeated Vorspiel Berlin 3-2. In the women's final, Pan Fodbold and The Hilde Brand defeated the Copenhagen Babes 6-1. For more info a results, visit www.vm2005.dk.

Alpine fine

The hills were alive with the sound of skating, along with cowbells, men in lederhosen, snow capped peaks, and flowing beer, when two local skaters, Jay Kobayashi and Alan Lessik, competed in the International Skating Union's first International Adult Figure Skating Championships in July, held in Oberstdorf, a Bavarian town in the German Alps.

Over 125 competitors participated from 12 countries, including the U.S., France, Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand. The event was the first opportunity for most of the competitors to skate under the new international judging system, developed by the ISU after the Salt Lake Winter Olympics scandal.

Kobayashi skated fourth in the gold men category while Lessik captured third place in bronze men, only .1 of a point behind the second place contender from Belgium.

The championship was also a reunion for a number of gay and lesbian skaters that had participated in the Gay Games in Sydney, including Frank Garber from Switzerland, Bettina Keil from Germany, and Edward van Camppen from New York.

Lessik also participated in a skating competition in St. Ouen (near Paris), where he took first place in the bronze men, the first time that he placed first in any competition. For more info about local skating, visit www.skateout.org.

Swiss mister

Trekking over the hills into Switzerland, you might have seen Glenn Galang among the hundreds of triathletes who competed in the Iron Man competition in Zurich, Switzerland, July 17.

Galang finished the daylong multi-event competition (cycling, swimming, and running) at a time of 15 hours and 37 minutes. Cheered on as he rode up the city's tallest hill, spectators rang cowbells in support (yes, more cowbells). Galang wore his club singlet for the San Francisco Triathlon Club during the running segment of the race.

In completing the Iron Man event, Galang raised over $4,000 for the Asian Liver Center. He also visited Paris, where he saw the final leg of the Tour de France cycling race. To read about Glenn's full experience, visit http://ggalang.pledgepage.org.

For more columns, visit www.sportcoimplex.org.