★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★
★ To get the daily Sports Examiner Recap by e-mail: sign up here! ★
≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● If you thought “Black Friday” was mostly an American post-Thanksgiving tradition, think again.
The Milan Cortina 2026 organizers unveiled their own “Black Friday” sales program on Wednesday in a news release:
“Starting today, Wednesday 26 November at 4 p.m., the Flash Price Promo will be available for three days only, offering a 20% discount on a selection of events. Tickets for the Cross-Country Skiing of the Nordic Combined competitions will be available at €25 for category B and €60 for category A, offering the opportunity to watch only Cross-Country Skiing competitions of the Nordic Combined that will award medals.
“The special offer also includes the release of additional tickets for Women’s Ice Hockey (starting from €30), as well as Curling, Luge, and Skeleton.
“The 26 of November also marks a symbolic milestone: only 100 days remain before the start of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games.
“To celebrate this moment, tickets starting at €10 will be available for the Paralympic Alpine Skiing, Para Biathlon, and other scheduled disciplines.”
Who knew? (€1 = $1.16 U.S.)
● Commonwealth Games ● At the Commonwealth Sport General Assembly in Glasgow (SCO), 57-year-old Dr. Donald Rukare (UGA) was elected as President, following his role as Interim following the resignation of Chris Jenkins (WAL) on 14 April 2025.
A lawyer by trade with a love for swimming, Rukare has been the Chair of the National Council of Sports in Uganda since 2020 and was elected as the President of the Uganda Olympic Committee in 2021.
● World University Games ● Following up an its earlier expression of interest, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) formally awarded the 2027 Winter World University Games to Changchun in the Jilin Province in northern China.
China hosted the 2009 Winter WUG in Harbin and has been host for three summer Universiades, in Beijing in 2001, in 2011 in Shenzhen and Chengdu in 2021. The 2025 Winter WUG in Turin (ITA) had 1,503 athletes from 54 countries competing in 11 sports.
● Team USA ● USA Hockey unveiled the jerseys for the U.S. men’s and women’s ice hockey teams for the Olympic Winter Games at Milan Cortina in 2026, with a special reference to a past champion:
“Designed by Nike and available in white and royal blue, the jersey features bold diagonal ‘USA’ lettering across the chest and a gold-accented USA Hockey crest, a nod to Team USA’s success on the world stage. Inside the collar, the words ‘land of the free, home of the brave’ serve as a powerful reminder to every athlete that wearing this jersey represents something greater than themselves.
“The design pays homage to hockey history, honoring the jersey worn by the 1960 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team that captured the first-ever Olympic gold medal for the United States.”
Of course, the jerseys will be available for sale, starting on 4 December.
● Equestrian ● The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) has suspended American Eventing rider Andrew McConnon for 20 months, ending on 8 September 2026 for horse abuse, and was fined CHF 2,500 (about $3,100 U.S.).
McConnon has competed as a member of the U.S. team at a 2022 Nations Cup competition in Canada; he was being investigated for hitting horses in the head from the saddle during training rides.
● Fencing ● The annual awards from the Federation Equestre Internationale (FIE) were handed out at the FIE Congress in Bahrain last week, including the top performer of the year in women’s Foil, awarded to Olympic champion Lee Kiefer of the U.S.
USA Fencing was also recognized for the top teams in women’s Junior Foil and men’s Junior Sabre, and the Grand Prix of Nations for the top combined teams in three classes: Cadets, Juniors and Veterans.
● Flag Football ● While the U.S. men continued to lead the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) world rankings by a wide margin, Mexico took over the no. 1 spot for the first time from the U.S.
Mexico’s women beat the U.S. at the 2025 World Games and at the IFAF Americas championship and stand no. 1 with 10,987 points to 10,817 for the Americans. Great Britain (8,879), Canada (8,870) and Japan (8.643) are 3-4-5.
The American men are on top with 7,915 points to 7,109 for Austria, 6,871 for Mexico, 6.248 for Italy and 6,121 for France.
Flag football will make its debut as a medal event at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
● Football ● FIFA announced that nearly two million tickets have been sold so far for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the Final Draw coming up on 5 December.
Sales have been made in 212 countries and territories and beyond the host countries, the next-highest sales have been in England, Germany, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Argentina and France. The entry period for the third phase of ticket sales will open on 11 December.
● Ski Jumping ● Slovenia’s two-time Worlds Team champion Anze Lanisek moved from second to first on the second of his jumps – amid difficult wind conditions – off the 132 m hill in Falun (SWE) to win the FIS World Cup competition on Wednesday.
He scored 262.9 points to edge Stephen Embacher (AUT: 259.9) and Slovenian star Domen Prevc (258.7).
● Swimming ● The draft minutes of USA Swimming’s 25 September 2025 Board meeting were obtained by Swimswam.com, which posted them on Wednesday. The federation budget projections for all of 2025 were included and showed:
● Overall revenue was projected down from 2024 from $44.707 million to $37.912 million, primarily due to the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, which had a surplus of $5.152 million.
● Membership income was projected down from $24.309 million to $23.987 million and sponsorship income was also down from $5.753 million to a projected $4.719 million.
● Operating expenses were down from $41.523 million (in part due to the Trials) to $38.228 million, so the net was down from $3.185 million surplus in 2024 to a projected loss of $315,221, almost $415,000 short of projections, which had a slight surplus.
After non-operating reserve investments and investment performance was added in, the predicted 2025 net loss will be $2.041 million against a budgeted loss of $1.018 million, a little more than a million more than expected.
This was after budget cutting during the year trimmed expenses by $1.423 million, so it could have been worse.
¶
World Aquatics, continuing its push for sustainability, is looking for a partner to offer an alternative to single-use plastics for open water swimming:
“World Aquatics is seeking sustainable, vegan or biodegradable feeding bottles suitable for use in elite open water swimming competition, and is calling on manufacturers, designers and material specialists to collaborate.”
Innovation has not yet caught up in this area, with endurance swimmers taking in hydration and nutrition during races approaching two hours. The announcement adds, “If your company can support this mission, we want to hear from you.”
● Weightlifting ● Iraq’s 2023 World Championships men’s 96 kg bronze winner Qasim Al-Lami agreed to a seven-year ban for the use of the steroid stanozolol from a positive out-of-competition test on 30 October 2024.
He had previously served a four-year sanction for doping from 2017-21 and as a second-time doper, his penalty is for eight years, with a reduction for accepting the ban, through 8 December 2031. He did not challenge the finding or the penalty.
¶
★ Receive our exclusive, weekday TSX Recap by e-mail by clicking here.
★ Sign up a friend to receive the TSX Recap by clicking here.
★ Please consider a donation here to keep this site going.
For our updated, 850-event International Sports Calendar for 2025, 2026 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!
