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: An Associated Press story quotes one economist as saying the use of volunteers at an Olympic Games is “economic exploitation.” More than 186,000 applicants for volunteer positions at Tokyo 2020 disagree with him, as do other economists who realize there is more to life than money. How did the whole volunteer thing with the Games start, anyway? We take you back to the Los Angeles organizers of the 1984 to tell the story.
ALPINE SKIING
Friday: A sweet World Championships gold medal for Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen in the men’s Giant Slalom, finally beating his long-time rival, Marcel Hirscher of Austria.
Saturday: History for American star Mikaela Shiffrin, who became the first skier to win gold medals in a single event in four straight Alpine World Championships, in her case, the Slalom. It wasn’t easy, but she did it!
Sunday: The Alpine Worlds concluded with a win by Hirscher, who won at least one gold in his fourth straight World Championships. But he was also part of a historic 1-2-3 sweep of the medals by his Austrian teammates!
ATHLETICS
Saturday: The IAAF World Indoor Tour stop in Birmingham (GBR) had plenty of highlights, including a world 1,500 m record from Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera, and not favored countryman Yomif Kejelcha. Plus the third-fastest performance in history in the women’s mile from Britain’s Laura Muir, and a world-leading 6.47 in the 60 m from China’s Bingtian Su.
Saturday: The U.S. swept the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Cross Country Championships, winning the men’s and women’s team title and the individual races behind Biya Simbassa and Breanna Sieracki.
BIATHLON
Sunday: In the return of biathlon to the 2002 Olympic site at Solider Hollow outside Salt Lake City, Norway’s Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen won his first career World Cup gold medal, and the first tour stop this season in which seasonal leader Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR) did not win a medal.
BOBSLED & SKELETON
Sunday: The IBSF World Cup came to North America – and Lake Placid – and American Elana Meyers Taylor (with Lake Kwaza) won her second World Cup race in a row. Germany’s Francesco Friedrich won his seventh World Cup race in a row this season, but Canada’s Justin Kripps ended Germany’s perfect record in the four-man World Cup season. American Kendall Wesenberg won a bronze medal in the women’s Skeleton, the first U.S. medal in the discipline in two years.
CROSS COUNTRY SKIING
Sunday: First win of the season for American Olympic gold medalist Jessica Diggins at the World Cup stop in Cogne, Italy. Italy’s Federico Pellegrino won the men’s Sprint and the distance races were won by Alexander Bolshunov (RUS: 15 km) and Kerttu Niskanen (FIN: 10 km).
CURLING
Sunday: Familiar names at the trophy presentations at the USA Curling National Championships, with John Shuster’s rink winning for his seventh national title, and Jamie Sinclair’s team taking in the women’s division for their third straight nationals win.
FREESTYLE SKIING
Sunday: American David Wise, 28, won his seventh career World Cup Halfpipe gold medal but first outside the U.S., in Calgary. Canada’s Cassie Sharpe won her sixth World Cup gold in the same event, but the first inside Canada! In the Ski Cross World Cup in Feldberg (GER), Sweden’s Sandra Naeslund won both of the weekend races to close in on the seasonal Ski Cross lead.
GYMNASTICS
Sunday: The U.S. Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas was a showdown between 2017 U.S. All-Around champ Yul Moldauer and 2018 champ Sam Mikulak. Moldauer won the All-Around title on Friday, but Mikulak took five medals in Sunday night’s event finals, including wins on the Floor and High Bar.
Sunday: A contest between World Champions in Baku saw China’s Lingling Liu and Canada’s Rosie MacLennan of Canada resulted in a tight win for Liu in the opening Trampoline World Cup of the 2019 season. The U.S. pair of Cody Gesuelli and Isaac Rowley won a bronze medal in the men’s Synchronized event.
ICE HOCKEY
Sunday: The U.S. women lost the finale of the Rivalry Series with Canada, 2-0, in Detroit. The American out-shot the visitors, 38-17, but Canadian keeper Shannon Szabados turned away all of the U.S. chances.
KARATE
Sunday: The second Karate 1 Premier League event in Dubai (UAE) had three winners each from France, Japan and Turkey, but Iran won the most medals with seven.
SKI JUMPING
Sunday: A good weekend for the World Cup leaders, Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN) and Maren Lundby (NOR). Kobayashi won on Sunday and took the overall title in the three-day Willingen 5 competition in Germany. Lundby won both jumps off the 137 m hill in Obertsdorf (GER) to further pad her seasonal World Cup lead.
SNOWBOARD
Sunday: Czech star Ester Ledecka returned from the Alpine World Championships in Sweden to compete at the scene of her greatest triumph: PyeongChang (KOR). She won the Saturday Parallel Giant Slalom and was third in Sunday’s race to move into the seasonal lead in the PGS World Cup. In the Halfpipe events in Calgary, Japan’s Yuto Totsuka and Spain’s Queralt Castellet were the victors.
SWIMMING
Saturday: The first Marathon World Series event was held in Doha (QAT), with wins for Germany’s Florian Wellbrock and three-time World 25 km Champion Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA). American Jordan Wilimovsky came on for the bronze medal in the men’s event.
UPCOMING
Highlights of the coming week, with previews in the coming days on TheSportsExaminer.com:
● Athletics: The USATF National Indoor Championships in Staten Island, New York.
● Basketball: Final two games of the FIBA Americas Qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup.
● Nordic Skiing: Start of the FIS Nordic World Championships in Seefeld (AUT).
And much more coming in a busy week: we’re tracking 24 events in international sport!
