Welcome to The Sports Examiner SPEED READ, a 100 mph (44.7 m/s) review of what happened this week in Olympic sport:
LANE ONE
Wednesday: Two athletes who won medals and then stood at attention as their awards ceremonies have caused a sensation at the FINA World Championships in Gwangju, Korea. Both were sending a message against doping, what FINA is or isn’t doing about it and about China’s lightning-rod Freestyle star, Yang Sun. We have all the details … through Wednesday morning, Korean time.
Friday: In discussing whether Katie Ledecky should swim in the 800 m Free, ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser belittled the FINA World Aquatics Championships – and all Olympic-sport world championships as unimportant. That’s a hard one to swallow, but there could be solutions available if someone will take advantage of the opportunities.
HEARD AFTER HALFTIME
Wednesday: A three-time wrestling gold medalist becomes a two-time loser when he was disqualified for doping at the London Games… the Tokyo 2020 medals are unveiled, made from metals recycled from donated electronics … updating Katie Ledecky’s conditions, in her own words … remembering the first “10″ in Olympic gymnastics, 43 years ago … will multi-country bids become the norm for the FIFA World Cup? There is one country which won’t want any partners.
PAN AMERICAN GAMES
Friday: The 18th Pan American Games start tonight in Lima, Peru and it’s the largest ever. The true attraction of the 2019 edition is 100 Olympic medal winners expected to compete and 2020 Olympic qualifying opportunities in 21 disciplines.
ATHLETICS
Previews: An event-by-event look at the USATF National Championships that started Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa. with places on the U.S. World Championships team on the line: Men and Women.
Wednesday: USA Track & Field names a new Pan American Games team, and helps U.S. marathoners with an IAAF designation that will really help. Plus, tickets for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene could cost you $900!
Thursday: Opening night of the USATF Champs, with Lopez Lomong needing to run faster than he ever has at 10,000 m … and he did! Plus a shocker in the discus and Allyson Felix returns to the 400 m and advances to the second round.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Tuesday: Many of the top teams in the world are in Tokyo for an FIVB World Tour event that doubles as the test event for the 2020 Games. Both of the world’s no. 1-ranked pairs are entered: Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum and Americans Alix Klineman and April Ross.
CYCLING
Tuesday: The UCI BMX World Championships are on in Belgium, with 21 men’s and women’s Olympic and Worlds medal winners vying for hardware, including four U.S. medal winners, including prior champions Corben Sharrah and Alise Willoughby, and Olympic gold medalist Connor Fields.
Thursday: Brilliant riding by France’s downhill madman Julian Alaphilippe keeps him in the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, with three stages left to go. But the next two are still in the Alps and contenders are ready to pounce.
Friday: Egan Bernal takes the yellow jersey from France’s Julian Alaphilippe as stage 19 is cut short due to dangerous conditions at the bottom of the biggest climb of the entire Tour de France.
FENCING
Tuesday: The 2019 FIE World Championships have concluded, with Russia heading the medal table with three golds. The U.S. looked like it might get shut out altogether, then won a women’s Team Foil bronze and the U.S. men’s Foil squad made history with the first-ever men’s Team gold in a full World Championships!
SWIMMING
Monday: Freestyle superstar Katie Ledecky withdraws from the 200 m Freestyle heats due to illness, and then withdraws from the final of the 1,500 m Freestyle at the FINA Worlds.
Tuesday: American world-record holder Lilly King continued her mastery of the 100 m Breaststroke with another win over arch-rival Yuliya Efimova of Russia at the FINA World Championships.
Wednesday: A Michael Phelps world record in the 200 m Butterfly is erased by Hungarian teenager Kristof Milak in a FINA World Championships stunner, plus a good day for Italy with two golds, including Federica Pellegrini defeating Father Time (and the rest of the field) in the 200 m Free!
Thursday: Sensational 100 m Freestyle win by Caeleb Dressel in the third-fastest time in history as U.S. wins six medals in five events, including a splendid 200 m Free relay split from Katie Ledecky.
Friday: Fabulous Friday night in Gwangju, with world records from Americans Caeleb Dressel in the 100 m Fly and Regan Smith in the 200 m Back in the semifinals (!), and a gold-medal and world-record performance by Russia’s Anton Chupkov in the 200 m Back. Just as impressive: Simone Manuel’s repeat Worlds gold in the women’s 100 m Free … from lane one!
WATER POLO
Friday: The amazing United States women’s team won their third straight World Championships gold medal, this time with an 11-6 win over Spain. The Americans worked as a true team, and got terrific goaltending, especially from Ashleigh Johnson.
PREVIEWS
● Badminton: BWF World Tour Tokyo Open has both no. 1-ranked Singles players entered!
UPCOMING
Highlights of the coming days, with coverage on TheSportsExaminer.com:
● Athletics: the USA Track & Field Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa;
● Cycling: Climax of one of the wildest Tour de France races in years!
● Swimming: Finish of the FINA World Championships in Gwangju!
And the Pan American Games finally gets started in Peru.
