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 inaugural FINA Champions Swim Series finished in Indianapolis on Saturday, but was it a success? There was a lot to like, but there was one major element missing that will determine its future relevance.
THE BIG PICTURE
Saturday: The Russian Athletics Federation may be in hot water again after British reports indicate a cover-up was attempted to try and avoid an imposed suspension on 2018 World Indoor High Jump Champion Danil Lysenko!
HEARD AFTER HALFTIME
Saturday: The International Olympic Committee disqualifies another weightlifter from London 2012, there are new doping rules on contaminated meat, and just how cold was it at the Stockholm Diamond League? Pretty c-o-l-d … and more.
ARTISTIC SWIMMING
Sunday: Overlapping FINA World Series events in Quebec City and Barcelona showcased Japan’s Yukiko Inui in Canada and World Championships silver medalist Ona Carbonell in from of her home fans in Spain.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Sunday: Third title in a row for the unstoppable Norwegians, Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, in the Ostrava four-star tournament, plus another good showing for Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat.
CANOE-KAYAK
Sunday: The second ICF Sprint World Cup had some surprises, but none bigger than Hungary’s Virag Balla and Kincso Takacs beating World Champions Laurence Vincent-Lapointe and Katie Vincent. But the Canadians also collected some hardware on the weekend and eight boats swept the two-stage World Cup season!
CYCLING
Sunday: History for Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz, who became the first from his country to win the prestigious Giro d’Italia, plus a nifty final-day prize for American rider Chad Haga: a win in the Stage 21 Time Trial!
Sunday: The big stars of Mountain Bike Downhill won their races at Ft. William in Scotland, with reigning World Cup champ Amaury Pierron (FRA) and six-time World Champion Rachel Atherton taking the titles. In France, two U.S. teenagers – Justin Dowell and Hannah Roberts – swept the men’s and women’s titles in the second UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup.
FOOTBALL
Sunday: The U.S. men’s U-20 team is into the knock-out round of the FIFA men’s U-20 World Cup in Poland after winning two of three games in their group play. The tournament scoring champ is probably already decided after one Norwegian guy scored nine goals in one game …
GYMNASTICS
Sunday: Hungary’s Zsofia Kovacs, you know her as the 2017 European All-Around silver medalist, was the only gymnast to collect two wins in the FIG Artistic World Challenge Cup in Koper (SLO).
JUDO
Sunday: The U.S. National Championships finished in Las Vegas, with five judoka competing a title defense from 2018, including Nina Cutro-Kelly, who won her sixth national title!
RUGBY
Sunday: Well, the U.S. Eagles can’t beat Fiji, losing their seventh straight playoff-round game in the final Sevens Series tournament, in Paris, but the American squad makes history and qualifies for the Tokyo 2020 tournament.
SURFING
Sunday: France had the home-surf advantage at the 2019 World Longboard Championships and they used it to good advantage, winning the women’s title and taking silver and bronze in the men’s championship … plus the team title!
SWIMMING
Friday: Fans in Indianapolis for the final leg of the FINA Champions Swim Series were treated to two races pitting American star Lilly King and Russian rival Yuliya Efimova in the Breaststroke, with King impressing in both. Swedish star Sarah Sjostrom won two events, as did U.S. Medley star Chase Kalisz.
Saturday: Final day of racing at the FINA Champions Swim Series, with a total of five new world leaders during the meet, including a very impressive 200 m fly from Hali Flickinger of the U.S. Oh yes, there was another Breaststoke win for Lilly King over Russian World Champion Yulia Efimova.
TABLE TENNIS
Sunday: China’s Long Ma and Meng Chen – both previous winners – headlined the China Open in Shenzhen with Singles wins, but duos from three different countries made history in winning the Doubles titles.
UPCOMING
Highlights of the coming week, with previews in the coming days on TheSportsExaminer.com:
● Athletics: The IAAF Diamond League heads to Rome on Thursday and Noah Lyles makes his 200 m season debut!
● Football: At long last, we’re ready to start the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France!
● Wrestling: The first of two Final X events to select the U.S. teams for the 2019 World Championships!
And much more from around the world as the Olympic sports summer gets started!
