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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● A clownish, anti-Donald Trump pout of a column posted last Thursday in the Los Angeles Times insisting L.A. abandon the 2028 Olympic Games was answered by 25-year Times Sports Editor Bill Dwyre – now retired – in an opinion piece Tuesday titled, “Stop trash-talking the LA28 Games.” Dwyre noted of the formation of the White House Task Force in a ceremony including LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman:
“Simply put, that history, those local glories of 1932 and 1984, are too precious, too meaningful, to walk away from over dislike of Donald Trump, political fears or even naysayers’ money fears. When the 1984 Games worked, spinning off into two weeks of joy, celebration, achievement and emotional wonder, it was all about the athletes. Every Olympics is. What they do and how they do it understandably push politics, international bickering and egotistical showmanship and fundraising to the background. …
“Casey Wasserman understands what he has undertaken and how difficult it is, and will continue to be, for three more years. Yucking it up right now with the president is survival, a purchase of time to organize and progress. Not surrender.
“For a while, Angelenos need to put away their knee-jerk Olympic prognostications. There may come a time for doom and gloom, but not now.”
● World Games 2025: Chengdu ● Tragedy at the 12th World Games:
“Mattia Debertolis was found unconscious during the Men’s Middle Distance competition of Orienteering on the morning of Friday, 8 August 2025 in Chengdu, China, during the 12th edition of The World Games. Despite receiving immediate expert medical care at one of China’s leading medical institutions, he passed away on 12 August 2025.”
The International Orienteering Federation noted that Debertolis, 29, “was a member of the Italian national team and participated in several World Championships and World Cups. The 5th place with the Italian team in the World Cup Final 2022 Relay is one of several highlights on the international stage. …
“Mattia was not only an elite athlete, but also a highly skilled civil engineer, with studies in progress for a PhD at the university in Stockholm, where he lived and was part of the orienteering club IFK Lidingö. In addition to this impressive combination with his athlete career, he supported his family with their local hotel in his home valley Primiero.”
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Squash, to see its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028, concluded on Tuesday, with defending World Games men’s champ Victor Crouin shutting out Balazs Farkas (HUN), by 11-9, 11-9, 11-5. Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez took the bronze medal.
The women’s final saw 2022 Asian Games bronze medalist Satomi Watanabe (JPN) claim the gold, defeating France’s Marie Stephan, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7. Marta Dominguez of Spain won the bronze.
● Athletics ● The Lausanne Diamond League organizers noted on Tuesday, ahead of their meet on 20 August:
“Originally announced, Julien Alfred will not compete in the three Diamond League meetings in August due to injury.”
However, Alfred told the St. Lucia Times that she scratched out of Saturday’s Diamond League meet in Poland and from Lausanne, but is continuing training and is still planning to compete in the Diamond League Final in Zurich at the end of August.
The St. Lucia star, the Paris Olympic 100 m champ, ranks no. 2 in the world in 2025 in the women’s 100 m (10.75) and no. 1 in the 200 m (21.71). The World Athletics Championships in Tokyo starts on 13 September.
Korea’s two-time World Indoor high jump champ Sang-hyeok Woo is leaving the European tour and the Diamond League after feeling some calf pain during a meet in Germany on Sunday. He will now concentrate on the Worlds.
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In addition to all his other issues, with law enforcement and others, the Athletics Integrity Unit posted Tuesday:
“The AIU has provisionally suspended Fred Kerley (USA) for Whereabouts Failures.”
Kerley has had two run-ins with police in Florida this year, one last year, ran in one Grand Slam Track meet and two Diamond League meets this year with a best of 9.98. The 2022 World 100 m champion in Eugene, he rebounded off the loss of his ASICS sponsorship and a May 2024 domestic violence charge by his wife, Angelica, to win the Olympic 100 m bronze in Paris.
Now 30, he faces a possible two-year sanction. A message from his attorney was posted on his X page:
“Kerley has already notified the AIU that he intends to contest the allegation that he has violated the anti-doping rules related to whereabouts failures, as he strongly believes that one of (sic) more of his alleged missed tests should be set aside either because he was not negligent or because the Doping Control Officer did not do what was reasonable under the circumstances to locate him at his designated location. Fred will not comment further at this time out of respect for the process, and he looks forward to presenting his case to the appointed hearing panel.”
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Sha’Carri Richardson, the 2023 World women’s 100 m champion and Olympic silver medalist, posted an Instagram video with an apology to boyfriend Christian Coleman, the 2019 World men’s 100 m winner, for her outburst at the SeaTac Airport on 27 July that resulted in an arrest (and detainment) on a fourth-degree domestic violence charge.
Richardson wrote of Coleman, “I love him & to him I can’t apologize enough.”
● Lacrosse ● The U.S. took the World Games women’s Sixes gold by 16-8 over Canada on Monday, with World Lacrosse chief executive Jim Scherr (USA) explained in an AIPS feature the next steps toward the LA28 Olympic Games, where the sport will be on the medal program for the first time since 1908:
“We’ll have continental qualifiers, which will qualify teams for the 2027 Sixes World Championship. We will take a number of teams from that event directly to the Olympics, and then they will also qualify some additional athletes at a last-chance qualifying tournament after the 2027 World Championships. So it’s a three-step process.”
He sees the LA28 Games as a gateway to the future:
“Engagement is on the rise. It’s still a growing sport around the world. Our social media numbers are among the best of all Olympic International Federations.
“So we know that our game has a major following and is continuing to grow in popularity. We have more than two million players in North America, and we believe that number will double globally. So we’re very excited about our future prospects.”
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