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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● In a move by the State of California budget office, $18 million is apparently being channeled to the L.A. Metropolitan Transportation Authority to assist with the “Games Route Network,” by siphoning off some of the state’s gas tax revenues.
State Sen. Roger Niello (R-Carmichael) complained to FoxBusiness.com:
“The infrastructure will be exactly the same when they’re done as it was before they start – and gas tax money is intended for infrastructure improvements; new infrastructure; repairing infrastructure, and that’s not what they’re doing here.
“I don’t have a problem with helping LA out with their logistics for the Olympics, but I don’t think the state should pay for it, regardless of where it comes from.”
Even with $18 million in help, Metro is looking for an estimated $210.9 million for the Games Route Network aspect of its 2028 Games transit plan, for which it has asked the Federal government for $3.2 billion in funding.
● Athletics ● Sad news that Bill Dellinger, the 1964 Olympic 5,000 m bronze medalist and a legendary coach at Oregon, passed away on Friday (27th) at age 91. Coached by Bill Bowerman at Oregon, Dellinger was a collegiate star, winning the NCAA mile in 1954 and the 5,000 m in 1956. He went on to compete in three Olympic Games – 1956-60-64 – and won the Tokyo bronze.
He turned to coaching, eventually joining Bowerman at Oregon in 1968 and becoming head coach in 1973. He coached legendary Oregon stars including Steve Prefontaine, Matt Centrowitz, Paul Geis, Rudy Chapa, Alberto Salazar, Joaquim Cruz and more. His teams won four NCAA men’s cross-country titles and 1984 NCAA track & field title.
He coached 23 cross-country All-Americans and 58 track & field All-Americans and more than a dozen Olympians. Dellinger was quiet, but direct, and was beloved by his teams.
● Basketball ● Jordan forfeited Sunday’s Group C game against Israel in the FIBA men’s U-19 World Cup, in Lausanne (SUI) in response to Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
FIBA has not taken any action against Jordan, which is 0-2 in the group and slated to play the host Swiss on Tuesday (1st). Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1994, but Jordan has a significant Palestinian population which has railed against Israel’s response to the 7 October 2023 raid by Hamas which instigated the Israeli response.
≡ RESULTS ≡
● Athletics ● Hot sprinting at the Jamaican national championships in Kingston, with Olympic silver winner Kishane Thompson, 24, running the fastest men’s 100 m in 10 years (!), winning the final in 9.75, with just 0.8 m/s of aiding wind.
That makes him no. 6 on the all-time list and no. 4 all-time Jamaica; only countrymen Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell have run faster, along with Americans Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin.
Behind Thompson in Kingston were Oblique Seville (9.84) and Ackeem Blake (9.88 lifetime best), now nos. 2-6 on the 2025 year list.
The women’s 100 had Tina Clayton with lifetime bests in the semifinals (10.93) and final (10.88 +0.1) to move to no. 3 in the world for 2025, ahead of rapidly-returning Shericka Jackson (10.88) and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (10.91), qualifying for her ninth Worlds team! Twin sister Tia Clayton equaled her lifetime best of 10.86 in the semis, but did not finish in the final.
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At the ATX Sprint Classic in Georgetown, Texas, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill finally beat a Lyles, but it was young brother Josephus, in a wind-aided heat of the men’s 100 m.
Hill finished third in heat two of six in the 100 – aided by a +2.7 m/s wind – with Lawrence Johnson (10.00w), David Foster (10.08w) and Javonte Harding (10.09w) ahead of him, with Hill at 10.10w, his fastest ever. Lyles was fifth at 10.25w.
Hill ditched the finals, with East Texas A&M’s Ibrahim Fuseini (GHA) putting up the fastest time among the five finals races at 9.85w (+2.4).
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Two-time World Champion Chase Jackson set her second American Record and claimed the world lead in the women’s shot at 20.95 m (68-8 3/4) at the annual Iron Wood Classic in Rathdrum, Idaho.
Her big throw came in round one and she fouled the next two, then uncorked a 20.45 m (67-1 1/4) bomb in the fourth round, and had two more fouls. It’s not just another American Record, but the furthest throw in the world since 2012, when New Zealand star Valerie Adams reached 21.11 m (69-3 1/4)!
Jackson now ranks 35th all-time, but beyond the drugged-up Eastern Europeans of the late 20th Century, Jackson is no. 4 among putters with their bests in the 21st Century. That’s impressive.
Maggie Ewen of the U.S. was second at 19.69 m (64-7 1/4). World Champion Lagi Tausaga of the U.S. won the women’s discus at 66.59 m (218-5) and 2019 World Champion DeAnna Price won the women’s hammer at 76.82 m (252-0). In the men’s shot, Payton Otterdahl got a seasonal best of 22.09 m (72-5 3/4).
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At the European Team Championships, emerging star Jan Stefela (CZE), the 2025 European Indoor silver star, climbed over 2.33 m (7-7 3/4) for a new world-leading mark, and Olympic long jump supremo Miltiadis Tentoglou (GRE) exploded out to a world-leading 8.46 m (27-9 1/4) in the second round. That’s also a world leader and his eighth-best meet ever.
Dutch star Femke Bol moved to no. five on the 2025 world list in the women’s 400 m with a 49.48 win, her fifth-fastest ever.
● Badminton ● At the BWF World Tour U.S. Open in Council Bluffs, Iowa, American star Beiwen Zhang reached her ninth career BWF World Tour final and third in the U.S. Open, facing India’s Tanvi Sharma.
She came through for the home crowd, winning her fourth career World Tour title, 21-11, 16-21, 21-10.
In the men’s Singles final, fourth-seed Ayush Shetty (IND) swept three-seed Brian Yang (CAN), 21-18, 21-13. Chinese Taipei teams won the men’s and women’s Doubles, and Denmark won the Mixed Doubles.
● Basketball ● Spain and the Netherlands won their first-ever FIBA 3×3 World Cup golds in Ulaanbaatar (MGL), with the Spanish men defeating first-time finalist Switzerland, 21-16, in the final.
Spain was only third (2-2) in Pool D, which was won by the Swiss (3-1), but beat Germany in its semifinal, 21-15, while the Swiss ousted top-ranked Serbia, 21-11. The U.S. men’s team of Henry Caruso, Mitch Hahn, James Parrott and Dylan Travis finished fifth, winning their four group matches, but then losing to Germany, 22-14, in the quarters.
The Dutch women (2-2) were third in Pool B and Mongolia was the runner-up in Pool D, but both fought their way to the final. The Netherlands won a play-in game over Hungary (21-9), then beat Australia (21-11) in the quarters and Canada (21-15) in the semis. Mongolia needed overtime to get past China in the play-in, then got past the U.S. and Poland – in overtime (18-17) – in their semi. The Dutch won the final by 15-9.
The American women – Morgan Maly, Sarah Strong, Mikaylah Williams and Sahara Williams – finished sixth, also winning their four group matches but falling to Mongolia, 18-15 in the quarterfinals.
● Canoe-Kayak ● At the ICF Slalom World Cup in Prague (CZE), Olympic women’s C-1 bronze medalist Evy Leibfarth of the U.S. collected her first career World Cup gold, winning the K-1 in 97.76 with zero penalties. That was enough to beat two-time World Cup winner Camille Prigent (FRA: 98.48/0), and her first victory after seven other medals (0-5-2).
Leibfarth came back to get a bronze in the women’s Kayak Cross final, with Czech Tereza Kneblova the winner, ahead of Prigent. Zuzana Pankova (SVK/103.29/0) won the women’s K-1 over Slovenia’s Eva Alina Hocevar (103.92/0).
France dominated the men’s event, with Paris Olympic silver medalist Titouan Castryck (86.35/0) and Anatole Delassus (87.38/0) going 1-2 in the K-1. The French swept the C-1 with Paris Olympic champ Nicolas Gestin (94.11/2), Mewen Debliquy (94.14/0) and Yohann Senechault (94.19/0). New Zealand’s Finn Butcher won the men’s Kayak Cross.
● Fencing ● The U.S. dominated the Pan American Championships in Rio de Janeiro (BRA), five of the six individual titles, and five of six team events.
The men’s Foil was won by three-time Olympic medalist Alexander Massialas over teammate Nick Itkin, the Paris 2024 bronzer, 15-14; the men’s Epee went to Tristan Szapary over Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Ruben Limardo Gascon (VEN), 15-7, and the Sabre was another all-American final, as Colin Heathcock edged William Morrill, 15-14.
The U.S. men won the Team Foil, 45-18, over Canada; Venezuela defeated the U.S. in the Team Epee final, 45-32, and the Americans took the Sabre Team final over Canada, 45-17.
Olympic champ Lee Kiefer of the U.S. won the women’s Foil final, 15-12 over Canada’s Eleanor Harvey; the Epee final went to Isabel Di Tella (ARG) over Ruien Xiao (CAN), 13-12, and the Sabre final went to American Maia Chamberlain by 15-12 over Natalia Botello (MEX).
The American women won the Foil Team final over Canada, 45-31, the Epee Team final over Canada, 41-25, and the Sabre final against Argentina, 45-28.
● Rowing ● Romania took three wins to highlight World Rowing’s World Cup II in Lucerne (SUI), winning both Pairs events and the women’s Eight. Florin Arteni and Florin Lehaci won the men’s Pair in 6:17.57; Maria Rusu and Olympic silver star Simona Radis took the women’s Pair in 6:59.04 and the Romanian women – the Paris winners – won the Eight in 6:02.92.
Britain won the men’s Quadruple Sculls (5:39.65) and the women’s Single Sculls with Paris Olympic Quadruple Sculls gold winner Lauren Henry (7:15.21).
The U.S. had a large presence, and won the women’s Four with Alexandria Vallancey-Martinson, Camille Verdermeer, Azja Czajkowski and Etta Carpender in 6:21.31. American boats claimed a third in the men’s Quadruple Sculls, sixth in the Four and fifth in the men’s Eight. Katheryn Flynn and Grace Joyce were fifth in the women’s Double Sculls and Teal Cohen and Kaitlin Knifton were fifth in the women’s Pair. The women’s Eight was second to the Romanians by less than two seconds.
New Zealand’s Logan Ulrich won the men’s Single Sculls (6:44.92) and Serbia won the men’s Double Sculls with Marvin Mackovic and Nikolaj Pomenov (6:10.48). Australia took the men’s Four and Germany won the Eight.
China’s Yunxia Chen and Ling Zhang took the women’s Double Sculls in 6:45.20.
● Sailing ● The Kieler Woche – “Kiel Week” – which dates back to 1882, concluded on Sunday, with the French scoring three wins in the Olympic classes. Erwan Fischer and Clement Pequin won the 49er class (56.6 net points), Tim Mourniac and Aloise Retornaz took the Nacra 17 title with a very low 23.0 score, and Marion Courturier, Ambar Papazian and Lucie Belbeoch swept the top places in the women’s IQ Foil.
Britain got two wins, including Freya Black and Saskia Tiday in the women’s 49erFX class (42.0) by winning the medal race to come from behind, and from Martin Wrigley and Battine Harris (17.0) in the mixed-crew 470.
Italy’s Lorenzo Chaicarini won the ILCA 7 (23.0 net points), Anna Munch (DEN: 43.0) won the women’s ILCA6 class and German Fabian Wolf won the men’s IQ Foil final.
● Sport Climbing ● Slovenia’s two-time Olympic champion Janja Garnbret dominated the IFSC World Cup in Innsbruck (AUT).
She won the women’s Boulder event with a sensational 99.8 score to 69.8 for 2023 Worlds silver winner Oriane Bertone (FRA) and then took the Lead title on Sunday at 41, to 33 for Italian Laura Rogora.
Paris Olympic Combined gold medalist Toby Roberts (GBR) won the men’s Boulder final, 69.8 to 68.6 over Japan’s Olympic runner-up Sorato Anraku, who clinched his third straight seasonal Boulder title.
Five men got to the top in the Lead final, with Neo Suzuki (JPN) winning on his semifinal score, and Roberts second.
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