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: In the aftermath of the suit filed by the U.S. Women’s National Team, U.S. Soccer Federation chief Carlos Cordeiro did a remarkable thing: he contacted some of the players! There are good reasons for him to do so, especially given how poorly the U.S. women are playing at present.
GLOBETROTTING by Phil Hersh
Saturday: Projections of the medal winners at next week’s World Figure Skating Championships, but even Phil admits his crystal ball is a little foggy …
ALPINE SKIING
Sunday: An amazing finish to the World Cup for American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin, who ended up winning the seasonal title in the Super-G, Giant Slalom and Slalom, another historic achievement.
BADMINTON
Sunday: China sweeps the singles competitions at the Yonex Swiss Open, with no. 2-ranked Yuqi Shi and Yufei Chen taking the honors.
BASKETBALL
Saturday: The 2019 FIBA World Cup Draw took place in China and the U.S. will play the Czech Republic, Japan and Tunisia in Shanghai!
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Sunday: The four-star, men’s tournament in Doha (QAT) showcased the Chilean cousins Marco and Esteban Grimalt, who won their second tournament in a row. They beat Americans Nick Lucena and Phil Dalhausser – both 39 – who made the final in their first tournament since last summer.
CROSS COUNTRY
Sunday: Another victory for the unbeatable Therese Johaug of Norway, with another distance win in Sweden, plus a bronze medal for American star Jessica Diggins. In the men’s events, Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo and Alexander Bolshunov (RUS) traded wins and the seasonal title is still in the balance.
CYCLING
Sunday: Colombia’s Egon Bernal has been projected as one of the next great stars, and he and teammate Nairo Quintana went 1-2 in the famed Paris-Nice race. In the Tirreno-Adriatico continuing in Italy, Britain’s Adam Yates is leading with two stages left and Italy’s Marta Bastianelli won the Women’s World Tour Ronde van Drenthe race in the Netherlands with a final sprint against two Dutch rivals.
FREESTYLE SKIING
Sunday: World Cup competition wrapped up in the Big Air and Ski Cross events, with Swiss Andri Ragettli and Elena Gaskell (CAN) winning the Big Air titles in Quebec, while Fanny Smith (SUI) and Bastien Midol (FRA) took the Ski Cross events. At the U.S. Moguls Championships, Jesse Andringa and Jaelin Kauf won the national titles in both Moguls and Dual Moguls.
GYMNASTICS
Sunday: Huge win for American superstar Simone Biles in the FIG All-Around World Cup in Stuttgart, while two-time Worlds medalist Jade Carey of the U.S. won two events at the FIG Apparatus World Cup in Azerbaijan.
JUDO
Sunday: No. 1-ranked Marie-Eve Gahie of France won the 70 kg class to highlight the Ekaterinburg Grand Slam.
NORDIC COMBINED
Sunday: The World Cup season concluded with another win by the season’s big star, Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber, who won 12 out of 21 events held during the season. Wow!
SKI JUMPING
Sunday: The men’s and women’s Raw Air tournaments concluded, with yet another win for Japan’s World Cup champ Ryoyu Kobayashi in Norway, plus the first Raw Air tourney for women is won by Maren Lundby (NOR), who also clinched the seasonal World Cup.
SNOWBOARD
Sunday: Japan sweeps the Big Air titles in Quebec with Takeru Otsuka and Reira Iwabuchi winning the seasonal crowns, while in Switzerland, Czech Eva Samkova wins the SnowCross event and the seasonal title over American Lindsey Jacobellis.
WRESTLING
Sunday: The U.S. sent a young team to the men’s Freestyle World Cup in Siberia and ended up third, as Russia won for the seventh time, stomping Iran in the championship match.
UPCOMING
Highlights of the coming week, with previews in the coming days on TheSportsExaminer.com:
● Cross Country: The FIS World Cup Final in Canada; can Therese Johaug complete a perfect distance season?
● Figure Skating: The ISU World Figure Skating Championships begins in Saitama City, Japan.
● Gymnastics: FIG World Cups in All-Around and Apparatus in Doha and Birmingham.
And a look at what we learned from the winter-sports seasons …
