SPEED READ: Headlines from The Sports Examiner for Monday, 15 April 2019

Welcome to The Sports Examiner SPEED READ, a 100 mph (44.7 m/s) review of what happened over the last 72 hours in Olympic sport:

LANE ONE

Monday: The International Olympic Committee hosted its ninth International Athlete Forum in Lausanne, with the first presentation all about the IOC’s revenues, expenses and support of the Olympic Movement. It was remarkable in many ways, and the hosts got exactly what they wanted out of it.

ATHLETICS

Saturday: The third Grenada Invitational took place on Saturday, with two world leaders in the men’s 200 m and women’s 100 m hurdles. But what happened in the 200 was the story: American sprint star Justin Gatlin pulled up and Canada’s comebacking Andre De Grasse was second. But it was Britain’s Miguel Francis who was the actual winner!

BADMINTON

Sunday: Impressive wins for the top-ranked singles players in the world in the Singapore Open: Japan’s Kento Momota and Chinese Taipei’s Tzu Ying Tai. But Momota, especially, had to work hard.

CANOE-KAYAK

Sunday: Reigning national champions won six of the eight races in the National Team Trials in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, including two wins for Nevin Harrison. The 16-year-old from Seattle is trying to raise enough money on her GoFundMe page to be able to get a shot at making the U.S. Olympic Team for Tokyo!

CURLING

Sunday: Upset wins for Brendan Bottcher and Kerri Einarson of Canada in the final regular-season tournament in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, the Players Championship. Both had to be more famous competitors to hoist the trophy!

CYCLING

Saturday: In a major multi-stage race, the mountain races are usually decisive and that’s how Spain’s Ion Izagirre posted an important victory in the Itzulia Basque Country event in Spain. His charge over the final two stages made the difference.

Sunday: The 117th running of the famed Paris-Roubaix race resulted in a dramatic victory for Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert, who joined an elite group of just eight others have ever won four or more of the prestigious “Monument” races.

FIGURE SKATING

Saturday: The 2018-19 figure skating season closed with the ISU World Team Trophy competition in Japan, with the U.S. winning its fourth title in the six editions of the event. The highlights included two brilliant performances by World Champion Nathan Chen and bronze medalist Vincent Zhou.

GYMNASTICS

Sunday: The big stars at the second Rhythmic World Cup were expected to be Russian Aleksandra Soldatova and Israel’s Linoy Ashram and they didn’t disappoint, with two wins apiece, with Ashram taking medals in all five events!

ICE HOCKEY

Sunday: The United States lost, and then somehow won their fifth straight IIHF Women’s World Championship in a bizarre, stunning and historic final against home-standing Finland in a shoot-out!

MODERN PENTATHLON

Sunday: A new star? Mexico’s Manuel Padilla used a brilliant Laser Run to win his first-ever World Cup medal – a gold – in the UIPM World Cup in Bulgaria. France’s Marie Oteiza dominated her division, but runner-up Laura Asadauskaite, the 2012 Olympic Champion, had a lot to celebrate as well in her first racing in 10 months!

RUGBY

Sunday: South Africa won the men’s Sevens Series in Singapore, but the U.S. finished fourth and maintained its first-place standing after eight of the 10 legs in the series. The Eagles can clinch a berth in the Tokyo 2020 tournament in the London leg coming up!

SPORT CLIMBING

Sunday: Olympic favorite Janja Garnbret of Slovenia showed why with her second straight Bouldering victory in the IFSC World Cup series, this time in Moscow.

SWIMMING

Saturday: Four world-leading performances at the third stop on the Tyr Pro Swim Series tour, this time in Richmond, Virginia, with three wins for Katie Ledecky, four wins for Caeleb Dressel and a shocker from 19-year-old Michael Andrew!

Friday: Sprint star Caeleb Dressel is back in form, with four wins (so far) at the Tyr Pro Swim Series meet in Richmond.

UPCOMING

Highlights of events you’ll find on TheSportsExaminer.com this week:

Athletics: We’ll have rapid coverage of Monday’s Boston Marathon, with excellent fields, but with a weather forecast that shows more wind and rain!

Shooting: The finish of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, with another win for the immortal Kim Rhode!

And a look at more events coming this summer!