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: This is not a joke: FINA has a man who is accused of murder in Hungary as a member of its governing board, its executive committee and as the technical delegate for Artistic Swimming for the 2019 World Championships later this year in Korea. Sorry to say, we’re not kidding.
HEARD AFTER HALFTIME
Friday: A Community College sprinter runs a wind-aided 19.49 (!) at the national championships … the concessions menu at the Mountain Bike World Cup in Germany … the latest filing in the USA Gymnastics cases … good news on the Moscow Lab data from the World Anti-Doping Agency and a disappointing apparel collection from Lacoste that is supposed to “celebrate” the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
ATHLETICS
Saturday: Sensational Shanghai Diamond League meet, with six world-leading marks and a men’s 100 m for the ages as Noah Lyles came from nowhere to catch and pass Christian Coleman at the line in 9.86!
Sunday: That guy who ran a windy 19.49 for 200 m? He just won both the 200 m and 400 m at the National Junior College Champs and became the second man ever to run sub-20 and sub-45 on the same day! Plus the secret of how U.S. putter Chase Ealey became a world beater!
BADMINTON
Saturday: Preview of the prestigious Sudirman Cup in Nanning (CHN), a team event that figures to be a fight to the finish between China and Japan.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Sunday: Impressive win for the on-fire pair of April Ross and Alix Klineman, winning the FIVB four-star tournament in Itapema, Brazil, just as they did at the AVP Huntington Beach Open a couple of weeks back!
CYCLING
Sunday: The Giro d’Italia stops for a rest day on Monday after nine stages. Favored Primoz Roglic (SLO) took the lead after the first-stage time trial, but a calamitous sixth stage put him way back in the field. Not to worry; Sunday’s second time trial put him right back into contention and into second place overall behind Italy’s Valerio Conti.
Sunday: American Kate Courtney won the Mountain Bike Cross Country world title last season, but had never won a World Cup race. No worries; she routed the field in the Cross Country season opener in Albstadt (GER)!
Saturday: The Amgen Tour of California was decided for both men and women on the brutal climb up Mt. Baldy. For the men, it brought Tadej Pogacar (SLO) to the front of the leaderboard and he collected his first World Tour victory on Saturday. For the women, Dutch star Anna van der Breggen took the lead on the first stage and kept up with Mt. Baldy winner Katie Hall of the U.S., and that turned out to be the difference.
DIVING
Sunday: China didn’t send its best team to the final FINA Diving World Series, but still won five of the 10 events. The big winner was Australia’s Maddison Keeney, who won three events, including two synchronized events, and British stars won the other two.
FENCING
Sunday: More gold for World Champions Alessio Foconi (ITA) and Inna Deriglazova (RUS) in the Foil Grand Prix in Shanghai. But the U.S. won two medals there, and two more at the women’s Epee World Cup in Dubai. Not a bad weekend …
SHOOTING
Saturday: The U.S. continued its good shooting in the Trap events of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup, winning a Mixed Team silver and Ashley Carroll won a bronze. With five medals in all, the U.S. led the medal table in Changwon!
SPORT CLIMBING
Sunday: Janja Garnbret stayed perfect, winning her fifth straight World Cup in Bouldering, in Munich (GER). She can complete an undefeated season in Vail in June. The men’s Bouldering title was taken by Jakob Schubert (AUT).
SWIMMING
Friday ~ Saturday ~ Sunday: A very good Tyr Pro Swim Series meet in Bloomington, Indiana with world-leading marks in the 50-10-200 m Breaststrokes. Two were from Indiana star Lilly King, but Sunday’s stunner came from emerging star Annie Lazor! Plus more great swimming from Katie Ledecky. Check out our full report from the last three days.
TAEKWONDO
Sunday: A memorable World Championships in Manchester (GBR), in which home favorite Bianca Walkden won a third world title, but was booed by the home fans due to her unusual tactics. After all, she was losing, 20-10, with a minute left … but she won! British fighters won two more titles, but Korea was the best team overall.
TRIATHLON
Saturday: She’s perfect! Katie Zaferes wins her third ITU World Series race in a row, leading a historic U.S. sweep of the podium at Yokohama (JPN).
UPCOMING
Highlights of the coming week, with previews in the coming days on TheSportsExaminer.com:
● Cycling: Second week of the famed Giro d’Italia!
● Football: U.S. women finish their pre-World Cup schedule vs. Mexico in New Jersey.
● IOC: Executive Board meeting on 22 May to announce what happens to Olympic boxing and AIBA for Tokyo 2020!
And previews, results and reports on almost two dozen events scheduled for the week of 20-26 May!
