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 will decide next week on the host region(s) for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games between Stockholm-Are in Sweden and Milan-Cortina in Italy. The Swedes, especially, seem to have forgotten that sports and athletes will be involved. Is that a good strategy?
HEARD AFTER HALFTIME
Saturday: IOC chief Thomas Bach slows down talk of awarding the 2032 Games next year … Caster Semenya’s attorneys complain she wasn’t invited to the Rabat Diamond League … Badminton superstar Chong Wei Lee (MAS) retires … An equestrian legend dies in a possible suicide after being suspended by the U.S. Center for SafeSport … World Beach Games are awarded to Qatar after being removed from San Diego, and more.
ARCHERY
Sunday: It had been 34 years since the U.S. had won the men’s World Archery Championship in the Recurve (Olympic) discipline, but Brady Ellison changed all that in Holland on Sunday. He was joined by fellow American Jimmy Lutz, who won the men’s Compound division world title in a championship week that was loaded with surprises.
ARTISTIC SWIMMING
Sunday: The FINA World Series Super Final had one constant theme: Marta Fiedina and her Ukrainian teammates, who won almost every event and took him the team title and $100,000!
ATHLETICS
Sunday: The IAAF Diamond League meet in Rabat (MAR) was headlined by a great 1,500 m from Ethiopian star Genzebe Dibaba, but might be remembered more for how Jamaica’s Fedrick Dacres won the men’s discus with the longest throw in a couple of years … after the meet ended and someone else was announced as the winner!
Sunday: Noah Lyles false-started, but was allowed to run – and win – the 200 m at the adidas Boost Boston Games. The best performance might have been the 9.92 100 m win by South Africa’s Akani Simbine on a wet, elevated track!
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Sunday: It looked like Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum were unstoppable, but then they ran into a Brazilian team that was one-half Olympic Champion and one-half World Champion … in Warsaw! Plus an unheralded U.S. women’s duo makes it all the way to the final!
CANOE-KAYAK
Sunday: The first Slalom World Cup was held at Lee Valley, site of the 2012 Olympic competition, so of course British paddlers won three of the four events! That included a rare C-1 and K-1 double from a delighted (and surprised) Mallory Franklin!
CYCLING
Sunday: Two important, multi-stage road races finished over the weekend. Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang won his second Criterium du Dauphine in France, a major tune-up race for the Tour de France, with American Tejay van Garderen second. Britain’s Lizzie Deignan shows she’s fully recovered from injury with an inspiring win in the OVO Energy Women’s Tour in England and Wales.
FOOTBALL
Sunday: The U.S. women were again outstanding in defeating Chile, 3-0, to close the second of three round of group-play matches, with two goals from Carli Lloyd and one from Julie Ertz. But as the numbers show, this year’s tournament is still all about Europe.
RUGBY
Sunday: How about this! The U.S. women’s Eagles won their first-ever World Rugby Sevens Series stage with a 26-10 flattening of seasonal champion New Zealand in Biarritz (FRA)! Even better, the U.S. women finished a best-ever second on the season and qualified for the 2020 Tokyo tournament!
SWIMMING
Saturday: The final leg of the Tyr Pro Swim Series was held in Clovis, California, with impressive performances by 17-year-old Luca Urlando and emerging distance Freestyler Erica Sullivan. And Canada’s Sydney Pickrem won four events!
Friday: Urlando was sensational in the 200 m Fly, breaking a U.S. age-group record held since 2003 by someone named Michael Phelps …
Friday: The Australian World Championships Trials concluded in Brisbane with three world-leading marks and a powerful team nominated for the Worlds in Korea.
Saturday: The FINA Marathon Swim Series in Hungary provided a showcase for home favorite Kristof Rasovszky, who finally won in his home lake! And Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha won for the third time this season, again with a sprint to the final touch!
TABLE TENNIS
Sunday: China swept all five divisions in the important Japan Open tournament and star Xin Xu was everywhere, winning the men’s Singles, men’s Doubles and the Mixed Doubles. Wow!
WRESTLING
Saturday: USA Wrestling held its final Final X competition in Lincoln to select the last 15 members of its World Championships team. Most of the favorites – like Olympic gold medalists Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder got through – but the most impressive performers might have been women Freestylers Alli Ragan and Adeline Gray.
UPCOMING
Even The Sports Examiner needs a day off now and again, so we will be posting less frequently this week, but we’ll be keeping an eye out for breaking news. Look for new posts in the latter half of this week.
