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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● The now-built Olympic Village (but not yet furnished) in Milan for the 2026 Winter Games was toured by International Olympic Committee officials on Thursday, including President Kirsty Coventry (ZIM). An IOC review of the tour noted:
“There will be six Olympic Villages during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, in Milan, Cortina, Predazzo, Bormio, Livigno and Anterselva – with a mix of existing, temporary and newly built facilities. … Milano Cortina 2026 will be hosted across two cities, Milano and Cortina, two regions, Lombardy and Veneto, and two Autonomous Provinces, Trento and Bolzano.”
The new Milan village, completed in July, includes 1,200 bedrooms – to house 1,700 athletes during the Games – and will be student housing after the Games.
● Athletics ● Attendance at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo has been strong, with six of the nine days completed:
● 13 Sep.: 32,739 a.m. // 56,819 p.m.
● 14 Sep.: 30,080 a.m. // 57,528 p.m.
● 15 Sep.: 33,144 a.m. // 53,124 p.m.
● 16 Sep.: 37,462 p.m. only
● 17 Sep.: 35,975 p.m. only
● 18 Sep.: 57,327 p.m. only
The first three days were on the weekend and a Monday national holiday, but the all-sessions average is 43,800 and for the six evening sessions, 49,706. Impressive.
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Olympic super-statistician Dr. Bill Mallon shared on X on Wednesday (not including Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s women’s 400 gold and the Curtis Thompson men’s javelin bronze):
“Last 7 World Athletics Championships for USA
“2011 USA 28
“2013 USA 26
“2015 USA 18
“2017 USA 30
“2019 USA 29
“2022 USA 33
“2023 USA 29
“Prior to Tokyo people were asking if we can get to 30 medals.
“We currently have 10 medals (7 gold). I don’t see anyway we can get more than 23.
“So fewest medals likely since 2015.”
¶
The Athletics Integrity Unit disclosed that 1,200 doping tests were being taken during the World Championships, with 650 at the athlete hotel and 550 during the competitions. Moreover, targeted testing of the 145 athletes from the five “category A” countries requiring added scrutiny – Bahrain, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Ukraine – were tested 1,209 times over the 10 months prior to the meet, an average of 8.34 tests per athlete.
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A Grand Slam Track spokesperson told Britain’s The Guardian:
“The rumors that Michael Johnson has received $2 million or profited in any way from Grand Slam Track are categorically false.
“In fact, Michael has actually put over $2 million of his own money into the project. We are working hard in real time to secure additional funds, and Michael has asked for patience while we try to fix this.”
¶
The Berlin Marathon comes on Sunday, also the final day of the World Championships. The top entries by time:
Men:
● 2:02:05 ~ Sabastian Sawe (KEN ‘24)
● 2:03:00 ~ Gabriel Geay (TAN ‘22)
● 2:03:17 ~ Milkesa Mengesha (ETH ‘24: defending champ)
● 2:03:31 ~ Haymanot Alew (ETH ‘24)
● 2:03:46 ~ Guye Adola (ETH ‘17: 2021 champion)
Women:
● 2:16:14 ~ Rosemary Wanjiru (KEN ‘24)
● 2:17:58 ~ Degitu Azimeraw (ETH ‘21)
● 2:18:32 ~ Dera Dita (ETH ‘25)
● 2:18:52 ~ Mestawut Fikir (ETH ‘24)
● 2:18:52 ~ Tigist Girma (ETH ‘22)
Prize money is €30,000-15,000-10,000-8,000-6,500-5,000-4,000-3,000-2,000-1,500 for places 1-10 for men and women. In all, some 80,000 people from 160 countries are expected to participate, with 55,146 runners registered to start.
● Boxing ● Major announcement from World Boxing President Boris van der Vorst (NED) on Thursday:
“My time as President has been fulfilling and inspiring, but it has also been relentless. After years of global travel and the daily demands of building World Boxing from the ground up to meet the requirements of the IOC and other stakeholders, I have concluded that I will not commit to another term as President.
“World Boxing is firmly established and recognised, and it is time for new leadership to guide the organisation towards Dakar 2026 and Los Angeles 2028.”
The next Congress will be in New Delhi (IND), after the conclusion of the World Boxing Cup from 15-22 November. World Boxing’s announcement explained:
“The window for nominating candidates to take part in elections at the World Boxing Congress in November is now closed. In line with the processes set-out in World Boxing’s ‘Election process And Voting Regulations’ policy … all of the candidates will be assessed for eligibility by an independent Vetting Panel using open-source materials.
“The Vetting Panel is made-up of three independent, external experts that do not have any involvement or knowledge of World Boxing and will be supported by the leading independent provider of sport-specific arbitration and mediation services, Sport Resolutions.
“Once the vetting process has been completed a final list of eligible candidates will be published no later than 30 days before the elections take place.”
Van der Vorst won with 63% of the vote against Elise Seignolle of the U.S. in the November 2023 election for World Boxing President, for an initial two-year term.
● Cycling ● The UCI World Road Championships start on Sunday in Kigali (RWA) with the men’s and women’s Time Trial, with the stars of the sport lined up to race.
The men’s course is 40.6 km, with three modest climbs and a slightly uphill finish, with two-time defending champion – and Paris Olympic winner – Belgian Remco Evenepoel looking for no. 3 and 2022 champ Stefan Kung (SUI) looking for a second. No one has won three in a row since Tony Martin (GER) in 2011-12-13.
But everyone will be looking at Slovenian star Tadej Pogacar, the Tour de France winner, who was second (stage 5) and first (stage 13) in the two time trials during the Tour.
The women have a 31.2 km route, with two small climbs and a modest uphill finish. Two prior champions are back: American Chloe Dygert, who won in 2019 and 2023, and Dutch star Anna van der Breggen, the 2020 champ. Olympic silver winners Marlen Reusser (SUI: 2020) and Anna Henderson (GBR: 2024) are in, as well as Dutch star Demi Vollering, who was fourth in her only time trial this year, the opening stage of the Vuelta Espana Femenina.
● Volleyball ● Group play concluded at the FIVB men’s World Championship in the Philippines, with the playoffs to start on Saturday (pool standings shown):
Upper bracket:
● Tunisia (A1) vs. Czech Republic (H2)
● Serbia (H1) vs. Iran (A2)
● United States (D1) vs. Slovenia (E2)
● Bulgaria (E1) vs. Portugal (D2)
Lower bracket:
● Poland (B1) vs. Canada (G2)
● Turkey (G1) vs. Netherlands (B2)
● Argentina (C1) vs. Italy (F2)
● Belgium (F1) vs. Finland (C2)
The quarterfinals will be on the 24th and 25th, the semis on the 27th and finals on the 28th.
● Wrestling ● Big day for Japan’s women wrestlers, winning three of four classes at the UWW World Championships in Zagreb (CRO):
● 53 kg: Haruna Murayama d. Lucia Yepez (ECU), 5-0
● 62 kg: Sakura Motoki d. Ok-ju Kim (PRK), 5-4
● 68 kg: Ami Ishii d. Yuliana Yaneva (BUL), 4-2
● 72 kg: Alla Belinska (UKR) d. Nesrin Bas (TUR), pinfall
Murayama, 26, won her fourth Worlds gold, also in 2017-18-23; Motoki won her first Worlds gold to go with her Paris 2024 victory, and Ishii won her second title in a row. Japan, of course, won the women’s team title with an overwhelming 162 points, to 115 for North Korea; the U.S. was fourth at 83. American Kennedy Blades, the Paris Olympic 76 kg runner-up, won bronze at 68 kg.
The championships will conclude over the weekend with the Greco-Roman classes.
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