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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Winter Games 2034: Salt Lake City-Utah ● More from the startling “Podium34” announcement by the 2034 SLC-Utah organizers on Monday (8th), with Executive Chair Fraser Bullock noting that the Larry H. And Gail Miller Family Foundation was the first to commit, as a Founding Captain, to pledged donations of $20 million or more.
Bullock also spoke about the role of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, rarely mentioned publicly in relation to the Games. Bullock, however, recognized senior members of the Church at the announcement and added:
“It’s very important to us that you support us. As we all know, support by the Church was critical to the success of the 2002 Games. The prominent Medals Plaza would not have been possible without their support.
“And we thank the Church for its early support and commitments for 2034: the time, talent and resources that the Church and its members brings to these Games tells the story of friendship and volunteer service that is appreciated and unique.
“We are aware the Church will make its contributions public in the coming weeks. Thank you.”
● Youth Sports For All ● An energetic campaign to create a comprehensive, new approach to the current, fragmented youth sports environment has achieved another milestone with passage of AB749 by the California State Legislature.
The bill requires the California State Public Health Officer to “establish and convene the Blue Ribbon Commission on the Development of a California Department of Youth Sports or an Equivalent Centralized Entity to conduct a comprehensive study to review the need for and feasibility of creating a centralized entity charged with supporting and regulating youth sports.”
The commission would examine the current landscape of youth sports and make recommendations for establishing a central entity to ensure fair access to quality sports programs for all youth in California. At present, the situation is confused, with pay-to-play models, lack of facilities, lack of coaching standards, and inaccessible community sports programs that deny many children opportunities for wellness, academic success and positive personal development.
Introduced in February, the Youth Sports For All Act – a major policy initiative of the Play Equity Fund – passed in the Assembly by 62-3 on 2 June, was amended and passed in the State Senate by 29-10 on 8 September and the Assembly concurred with the amended version on 10 September, by 61-7.
It now goes to Governor Gavin Newsom.
● Anti-Doping ● The World Anti-Doping Agency declared Kenya as non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code as the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) has not resolved issues which surfaced in an audit from May 2024.
ADAK has 21 days to contest the allegation of non-compliance and carry the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. If not, bans on hosting events will be in force as of 2 October; no penalties for loss of flag or anthems would apply unless non-compliance carries on for more than a year.
Further, the WADA Executive Board, meeting in Prague (CZE), added Cote d’Ivoire to its compliance “watchlist,” with sanctions to come if “non-conformities” to the World Anti-Doping Code are not resolved within four months.
No comment was made in the meeting summary about the continuing battle with the U.S. over unpaid dues from 2024.
● Russia ● Russian authorities have re-issued an arrest warrant for former Russian Anti-Doping Agency Moscow Laboratory head Grigory Rodchenkov, who left for the U.S. in 2015 and continues living in an undisclosed location.
Rodchenkov provided detailed information on his work as head of the RUSADA lab from 2006-15, including how the state-sponsored doping program was initiated in 2011. According to the Russian new agency TASS, he is “accused of abusing his authority, obstructing justice, and illegally trafficking potent or toxic substances.”
● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● Three U.S. National Governing Bodies – U.S. Figure Skating, USA Hockey and US Speedskating – have combined to create the “Ice House” in Milan to offer a hospitality space for their guests and sponsors, as reported by Sports Business Journal.
The USOPC does not have a “U.S. House” for Milan Cortina with events spread over a wide area, in Milan and in the mountains. The hotel Aethos Milan will be the Ice House site, with space for 300 and a private dining room.
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The USOPC wants to be more “strategic” for its Olympic and Winter Games programs and is now looking for Senior Directors of strategy for summer and winter sports. The job (summer version):
“The Senior Director, Summer Sport Strategy is responsible for leading the implementation and operationalization of the USOPC’s Summer Sport Plan across Olympic and Paralympic disciplines. The role oversees a team of high performance professionals and directly partners with summer National Governing Bodies (NGBs) to develop and execute performance plans that maximize the probability of medal success. A critical leader within the Olympic & Paralympic High Performance team, this position is entrusted with overseeing the allocation, deployment, and impact of a multimillion-dollar pool of combined resources (cash, Olympic & Paralympic Training Center access, and human capital) annually.”
Interestingly, the jobs are listed as remote, although with “frequent travel” to Colorado Springs. Both positions report to Kelly Skinner, the long-time USOPC Vice President/High Performance.
● Archery ● In the men’s Recurve final of the World Archery Championships in Gwangju (KOR), Spain’s Andres Temino, ranked no. 12 worldwide, took down no. 3 Marcus D’Almeida (BRA) in a shoot-out.
They were tied, 5-5, after a 28-28 fifth end, and in the sixth, Temino shot 10 while D’Almeida managed a nine, for the 6-5 final. For Temino, it was his second gold of the tournament, having won the Mixed Team title with Elia Canales on Wednesday. D’Almeida now has three Worlds individual medals: silver in 2021, bronze in 2023 and silver in 2025.
Korea’s Je-deok Kim won the bronze, 7-3, over Matteo Borsani (ITA).
● Athletics ● World Athletics is worried about heat at the Tokyo World Championships, already changing the start times from 8 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. for the 35 km walks on Saturday (13th), the women’s marathon on Sunday (14th) and men’s marathon on Monday (15th).
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On the eve of the Tokyo Worlds, the Athletics Integrity Unit has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport of the 27 August decision to clear Ethiopian middle-distance star Diribe Welteji, for refusal to provide a sample:
“The AIU obtained the case file from the Ethiopian National Anti-Doping Organisation on 1 September 2025 and, following review, filed its appeal with CAS on 8 September 2025.
“As part of the appeal, the AIU has requested provisional measures from CAS declaring the athlete ineligible to compete pending the outcome of the appeal. That application will be heard by the CAS Division President who will determine whether Welteji may compete at the forthcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.”
Welteji ranks third in the world in the women’s 1,500 m (3:51.44) and the heats in the event begin on Saturday (13th).
● Bobsled ● Wednesday’s Panorama post mistakenly identified USA Bobsled & Skeleton women’s push athlete Jasmine Jones as also being the Paris Olympic women’s 400 m hurdler. Nope.
Jasmine Jones the bobsledder is 29 and a member of the U.S. Air Force; Jasmine Jones the hurdler is 23, attended USC and was fourth in the 2024 Olympic women’s 400 m hurdles and is in Tokyo for the 2025 World Athletics Championships. The post has been corrected.
● Cycling ● Italy’s time-trial star Filippo Ganna, a two-time World Champion in the event, won the shortened, 12.2 km time trial in and around Valladolid in 13:00.89 in the 18th stage of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana.
The course was shorted to avoid the pro-Palestinian protests which have increased in intensity as the race has gone on. Australia’s Jay Vine was second by 0.9 seconds, with Portugal’s Joao Almeida at +7.57.
However, race leader Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) finished at +18.02, so Almeida closed his deficit to 40 seconds with three stages remaining, and a mountain stage on Saturday.
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At the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Switzerland, the Mixed Team Relay – with Junior, U-23 and Elite riders – went to France in 1:05:14, well ahead of Italy (1:05:48) and the home Swiss (1:06:47). The U.S. was sixth in 1:08:40.
The Cross Country Olympic races will be held over the weekend.
● Football ● The Russian Football Union said it was negotiating with U.S. Soccer on a Russia-U.S. match, to be held in Moscow or Washington, D.C., with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov already involved since March in the negotiations.
Russia is banned from international competitions held by UEFA and FIFA over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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