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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Mediterranean Games 2026: Taranto ● The Rome daily Il Fatto Quotidiano (“The Daily Fact”) reports that a clash between the International Mediterranean Games Committee (CIJM) and the Taranto 2026 organizers has reached a boiling point and a meeting will be held on 8 October in Rome to try to find the way forward.
The story says that while CIGM has sponsors which are service providers for the events – such as the timing service MicroPlus and broadcaster EuroVision – who are required to be used by the organizing committee, the costs proposed are too high. Moreover, the Taranto 2026 Games are funded primarily by the Italian government, which prefers that the spending remain with Italian companies.
The CIJM is also highly concerned about delays in the organizing effort; the CIJM General Assembly will meet in Athens (GRE) on 28 November and could possibly decide on a postponement, cancellation or other measures.
● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● Part of the 2025 U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Assembly in Salt Lake City, Utah was the annual USOPC Awards Reception, held at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah.
Among the recipients was longtime International Olympic Committee member Anita DeFrantz, who received the Olympic & Paralympic Torch Award for her impact on the Olympic and Paralympic movements.
Rings of Gold Awards for helping children through sport were long-time wrestling supporter Andy Barth and the BlazeSports America Youth Programs. The Jack Kelly Fair Play Award was presented to the 2022 U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team and the 2025 U.S. men’s National Ice Hockey Team.
● Anti-Doping ● The Court of Arbitration for Sport handed down four-year suspensions to four Georgian athletes, who had been cleared by a Georgian court of doping positives in 2023 for ostarine, a prohibited muscle-building drug. The athletes claimed that their drinking water had been spiked during training sessions at a sports camp.
The athletes are weightlifters Gurami Giorbelidze (23: 2024 European Junior 109 kg silver) and Revaz Davitadze (26: four-time Worlds medalist at 89 & 96 kg), and wrestlers Dato Piruzashvili (28: Freestyle 97 kg) and Nika Kentchadze (28: 2021 Worlds Freestyle 79 kg bronze).
The World Anti-Doping Agency appealed all four cases and won. The wrestling decisions noted:
“The CAS arbitrator carefully considered the alleged spiking scenario and found that the Tbilisi City Court Judgement lacked the factual investigation necessary to support the sabotage theory and was contradicted by scientific evidence. It is scientifically proven that ostarine is not soluble in water, which undermines the alleged method of administration. The Arbitrator concluded that the Athletes were unable to establish that the ADRVs were not intentional.”
All four are suspended as of 30 September.
● Boxing ● The World Boxing Congress, at which the next President of the organization will be elected, has been moved from New Delhi (IND), where it was to follow the World Boxing Cup finals, to Rome (ITA) on 23 November.
Boxing Federation of India President Ajay Singh said in the statement: “After positive discussions with our colleagues at World Boxing, we have mutually agreed to relocate the Congress to Italy. The decision was guided by logistical factors – such as travel-processing timelines – so that all delegates can participate smoothly.”
● Canoe-Kayak ● France (men) and the Czech Republic (women) won the ICF Slalom Worlds Canoe team events on Wednesday and repeated on Thursday with wins in the K-1 team finals!
The French men, with a completely different team from the C-1 final, won in 95.30, with Japan a very close second in 95.36. The Czech women, with one holdover from the C-1 winners (Gabriela Satkova), won in 103.22, with Germany at 106.48 (2 penalties) for silver. For Satkova, still just 23, it’s her fourth career Worlds Team gold!
The U.S. women’s team finished sixth (110.35/0); the U.S. men were 17th (108.92/6).
● Fencing ● Carolina Stutchbury, a 19-year-old British Foil fencer who was the 2025 European Championships silver winner, is transferring allegiance to the U.S.
Currently a sophomore at Columbia University, she said in a statement, “I have lived in the U.S. for much of my life and plan to remain here long term; the upcoming L.A. Games is a unique opportunity to realize my ambition to fence as part of a team in the Olympics.”
Interestingly, British Fencing chief executive Georgina Usher noted:
“We understand that, at this time, the USA provides senior athletes with a level of support and host-nation opportunities to compete at the next Olympic Games which are not currently available to GBR athletes … In the meantime, we wish Carolina success in achieving her goals and ambitions.”
● Figure Skating ● Russian skater Kamila Valieva, famously disqualified for doping from a positive test on 25 December 2021, before she won the 2022 European Championships and as a member of the Russian squad which won the Team event on the ice at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (CHN), will come off of suspension on 26 December 2025.
Still just 19, she is allowed to practice formally as of 26 October 2025 and has announced that she will join Tatyana Navka‘s school in Svetlana Sokolovskaya‘s training group. She had previously worked with Eteri Tutberidze.
● Football ● FIFA Vice President and CONCACAF Victor Montagliani (CAN) said at a Leaders Week London 2025 session that FIFA – not U.S. President Donald Trump – is responsible for where FIFA World Cup 2026 games will be played.
“If I have to react every time a politician makes a statement, whether it’s a president, a senator, a congressman or even in my country and Mexico, then I wouldn’t be doing my job. We’re focused on the 16 venues and making sure they’re ready to go.
“He is the president, fair enough, and words are a little heavier when it’s a president, but from an operational perspective it wasn’t really taken into consideration.
“At the end of the day it’s FIFA’s tournament, FIFA makes those decisions. Even in the early days when we were deciding on the cities, it was our decisions based on the standards. If FIFA wanted to, for whatever reason, move a knockout game, it is ultimately their jurisdiction.”
¶
Here’s what the U.S. Soccer Federation expects out of hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup:
“Hosting the World Cup next year is projected to drive a transformational spike in U.S. soccer fandom, with fandom expected to surge to over 154 million people, a 48% increase compared to pre-tournament levels. Participation follows a similar trend, growing from a baseline of 20 million in recent years to an estimated 29 million in 2026 and 34 million in 2031.”
The projection was part of an announcement of the “Soccer Forward Foundation,” the prime 2026 World Cup legacy project, designed to spread the accessibility and impact of the sport.
● Gymnastics ● Dulcy Caylor, 17, won the 30 September women’s All-Around at the USA Gymnastics selection camp at Crossville, Tennessee for the 2025 World Championships, scoring 55.250. She co-led on Floor and was second on Vault, third in the Uneven Bars and third on Beam.
She was followed by Leanne Wong (55.05), Joscelyn Roberson (54.90), and Ashlee Sullivan (54.25). Wong and Roberson were named to the U.S. Worlds team along with veteran Skye Blakely, with Sullivan and Jayla Hang as non-traveling alternates. Wong, Roberson and Blakely all have gold-medal-winning World Championships experience.
In the apparatus competition on Thursday, Wong had the highest average on Vault (14.40), Blakely was the clear winner on Uneven Bars (14.45) and Beam (14.05) and Sullivan was the only performer on Floor (13.55). U.S. Championships A-A winner Hezly Rivera is out due to injury.
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