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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 1984: Los Angeles ● A quiet, sad case over a family trust originally filed in April 2025 in Orange County, California came into public view last week as The Athletic reported on a filing by Vicki Ueberroth Booth, to remove Michael McKee as the trustee.
Ueberroth Booth is the daughter of Peter Ueberroth, the head of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1984 Games and afterwards, Commissioner of Major League Baseball. He is now 88 and his wife Ginny, 86, have both seen their health erode and Peter was diagnosed with dementia in March 2024. McKee has been working with Ueberroth’s Contrarian Group since at least 2018.
Ueberroth Booth is asking the court to remove McKee as trustee after certain transactions were made, allegedly without the knowledge or input from others. Her attorney, Gabrielle Vidal, noted in a statement, “Filing this petition – and bringing sensitive and private family matters into a public forum – was not a decision made lightly, but a necessary one to protect their parents, safeguard what they built, and ensure that their wishes are honored.”
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● On Friday, the Trump Administration’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2027 was released and the 92-page summary noted $12.5 billion in funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, of which a listed activity is to “keep U.S. citizens safe during large-scale events such as the 2028 Olympics.”
There is a small addition of $36 million for the U.S. Secret Service budget, of which a part will be used for preparation for operations for the 2028 Presidential campaign and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. There was no listing of a major allocation for security cost reimbursement to local agencies for the 2028 Games, something the City of Los Angeles and the LA28 organizers are asking for.
There was no mention of any additional funding for transportation support for the 2028 Games, with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Agency looking for $2 billion in support for the Games, down from its original request of $3.2 billion.
The released blueprint is only that, as the Congress will finally decide what gets funded.
● Pan American Games ● Applications are in for the third Junior Pan American Games in 2029, with three candidates now confirmed: Rosario (ARG), Guatemala City (GUA) and Panama City (PAN).
The three bidders must submit a formal proposal by 15 June and the actual candidates will be certified by 19 June. The selection will be made in August at the Panam Sports General Assembly in Lima (PER).
● SportAccord ● The annual SportAccord convention, which brings together the business and political worlds of the Olympic Movement has been postponed. Slated for 24-28 May in Baku (AZE), the ongoing conflict in Iran has made travel too difficult.
SportAccord announced that it is committed to holding the event, which draws about 1,700 attendees, in Baku, but at a later date.
● Basketball ● The Class of 2026 for the Naismith Hall of Fame was announced Saturday, with the 1996 U.S. women’s Olympic Team to be enshrined 30 years after dominating the Atlanta Games.
Also to be inducted in August are 2016 Olympic gold medalist Elena Della Donne, 2000 team member Chamique Holdsclaw, 2008 and 2012 gold winner Candace Parker and men’s 2004 gold medalist Amar’e Stoudamire.
Among the coaches, long-time NBA coach Mike D’Antoni (2008 and 2012) and Gonzaga’s Mark Few (2024) were Olympic assistants.
● Weightlifting ● The clean-up of doping issues in weightlifting is continuing with the International Testing Agency noting lifetime bans on former Pakistan federation head Hafiz Imran Butt and coach Irfan Butt imposed by the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport:
“[T]he CAS ADD found that both athlete support personnel had been directly involved in the administration of prohibited substances, including steroids, to Pakistani athletes, including minors, and had played central roles in large-scale doping in Pakistan, having actively and continuously engaged in doping practices.”
The offenses took place between September 2014 and November 2016.
≡ RESULTS ≡
● Athletics ● As the outdoor season gets going, some noteworthy world-leading marks included a 9.89 men’s 100 m from Botswana’s Collen Kebinatshipi at the national championships in Gaborone on Friday. He posted the same time – a lifetime best – in both his heat and the final!
LSU’s Ella Onojuwevwo (NGR) ran the women’s 400 m in a lifetime best of 49.59 to win at the Battle on the Bayou and take the world outdoor lead. BYU frosh Jane Hedengren took the world women’s 10,000 m lead at 30:46.80 to win at the Stanford Invitational and move to no. 7 all-time U.S.
Olympic women’s hammer champ Cam Rogers (CAN) got a huge third throw at the Texas Relays, reaching 81.13 m (266-2), making her the no. 2 thrower of all time! Only Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk has throw further at 82.98 m (272-3) in 2016. Rogers’ mark is the no. 8 throw in history (Wlodarczyk has three meets and seven throws further)!
At the Miramar Invitational in Florida, 2024 Olympic men’s 100 m silver winner Kishane Thompson (JAM) won the men’s 150 m – apparently on a turn – in 14.92; statisticians note that Usain Bolt passed 150 m in 14.44 en route to his 2009 world 200 m record of 19.19. Bolt also ran 14.35 for 100 m on the straight in 2009.
The men’s 100 m was won in a wind-aided 9.84 by Ackeem Blake (JAM); Lavanya Williams (JAM) won the women’s 100 m in 10.99w. American Jamal Britt got a world-leading win in the 110 m hurdles in 13.07 and Monae Nichols of the U.S. took the world lead in the women’s long jump at 6.95 m (22-9 3/4) and won with a wind-aided 7.07 m (23-2 1/2).
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On the roads, at the Urban Trail de Lille races in France, 10,000 m World Champion Jimmy Gressier (FRA) won the men’s 5 km in 12:51, the world lead in 2026 and the equal-third performance of all-time! He finished just ahead of Addisu Yihune (ETH: 12:54, no. 5 all-time) and fellow Frenchman Yann Schrub (12:57, no. 7 all-time). Ethiopia’s Khairi Bejiga won the 10 km in 26:51.
Ethiopia swept the medals in the women’s 5 km, with Marta Alemayo (17) winning in 14:15, also moving to no. 3 in history. She was well ahead of Hawi Abera (14:22), who is the sixth-fastest ever! The women’s 10 km was another burner, this time for Kenya’s World Cross Country champ Agnes Ngetich – the world-record holder – a runaway winner in 28:58, the no. 3 performance ever.
● Curling ● The 67th World Curling men’s World Championship concluded in Ogden, Utah, with a familiar face on top once again: Sweden’s Niklas Edin.
Edin’s Swedish side, Canada (Matt Dunstone) and Scotland (Ross Whyte) all tied for the best mark in the round-robin at 10-2, with the U.S. (2018 Olympic champ John Shuster) also qualifying for the opening playoff round.
The U.S. advanced over Switzerland, 9-8, in the top of the bracket and faced Sweden, with the score knotted at six after 10 ends. Edin managed to score two in the 11th for the 8-6 win and a place in the final.
Canada and Dunstone edged Italy by 9-7 in the play-in, then took on Whyte in the semis and Dunstone again managed a 9-7 win and a place in the final.
The Swedes were up right away in the final, by 4-1 after three ends and the sides traded two-point ends in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, with Edin up 8-6 after eight. Both scored once more but Edin won his eighth Worlds gold with a 9-6 final. Canada hasn’t won this title since 2017 and has finished second in six of the last eight championships.
The bronze-medal match was a see-saw affair, with Scotland up 3-0 after one, but it was 5-5 after five ends. Shuster closed to 7-6 after eight, but the Scots came up with four in the ninth for an 11-6 win.
● Cycling ● The second “Monument” race of the season was the 110th Ronde von Vlaanderen – Tour of Flanders – in Belgium, a 278.2 km route from Antwerp to Oudenaarde with the famous cobbled sections to irritate the peloton.
But it did not stop Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogacar. He attacked with about 55 km to go, breaking away with 2023 World Champion Mathieu van der Poel (NED), double Olympic winner Remco Evenepoel (NED) and Belgian star Wout van Aert.
About 3 km later, Van Aert and Evenepoel had been dropped and it was van der Poel – a three-time winner of this race – and defending champ Pogacar, going for his third win. Finally, with about 17 km left, Pogacar attacked and it was over. He won in 6:20:07, with van der Poel at +0:34, Evenpoel at +1:11 and van Aert at +2:04.
Pogacar has already won Milan-Sanremo and will go for a third Monument this season next week at Paris-Roubaix.
The women’s Tour, over 164.1 km, was a decisive win for Dutch star Demi Vollering, who won this race for the first time in 4:16:37, attacking with 18 km left. She finished 0:42 up on France’s 2024 Olympic Mountain Bike winner Pauline Ferrard-Prevot and Puck Pieterse (NED).
● Sailing ● The Olympic-class Trofeo Princesa Sofia regatta off Palma de Mallorca (ESP) was extra-competitive in 2026, with multiple classes coming down to the final race. But only the French managed more than one winner.
Nicolas Goyard won the men’s IQ Foil final, ahead of Noah Lyons of the U.S., and Lauriane Nolot, the 2023 World Champion, won the Formula Kite final. The other eight titles were evenly distributed.
Paris Olympic Laser champion Matt Wearn (AUS) took the ILCA7 class win, and two-time World Formula Kite champ Maximilian Maeder (SGP) won the men’s Formula Kite final. In the men’s 49er class, Germans Richard Schultheis and Fabian Rieger won a tight battle with Americans Nevin Snow and Ian Macdiarmid for gold and silver.
The other women’s winners were Tamar Steinberg (ISR) in the IQ Foil; Georgia Lewin-Lafrance and Antonia Lewin-Lafrance (CAN) in 49erFX, and Ireland’s Eve McMahon in ILCA 6.
The Mixed 470 win was by Spanish three-time Worlds medal winner Jordi Xammar, now with Marta Cardona; the Nacra 17 victory was taken by Sweden’s 2023 Worlds bronze winners Emil Jarudd and Hanna Jonsson.
● Ski Mountaineering ● The final ISMF World Cup of the season was in Villars-sur Ollon (SUI), with Swiss Remi Bonnet and France’s Axelle Gachet Mollaret dominant as usual.
World Champion Bonnet won the Vertical Race in 23:31.2, almost 30 seconds ahead of the field and then won the Individual Race in 1:27:43.1, more than 1:15 up on the pack. Gachet Mollaret, who won both events at the 2023 Worlds, took the women’s Vertical in 27:19.6, 15.2 seconds ahead of teammate Emily Harrop, and then the Individual Race in 1:30:53.7, ahead of Harrop by 57.5 seconds.
In the Sprints, Swiss Jon Kistler, an Olympic silver winner on the Mixed Relay, was the men’s winner in 2:32.8, beating France’s Olympic bronze winner Thibault Anselmet (2:33.8). Harrop, the Olympic silver winner, took the women’s Sprint in 2:56.1.
Spain’s Ana Alonso and Oriol Cardona Coll, the Olympic relay bronzers, won the Mixed Relay in 33:55.6 by more than 12 seconds.
● Swimming ● Two Paris 2024 Olympians dominated the USA Swimming Open Water Nationals in Sarasota, Florida: Mariah Denigan and Ivan Puskovitch.
Denigan, third in the women’s 10 km open-water champs in 2025, won the 10 km women’s title on Thursday, in 2:03:54, edging Brinkleigh Hansen (2:04:02 and five-time Worlds medal winner Ashley Twichell (2:04:04).
Denigan then came back on Friday to win the 3 km Knockouts, winning the 500 m final over 2024 World Junior 5 km champ Hansen and Brooke Travis. And Denigan completed the sweep by winning Saturday’s 5 km race in in 1:00:46, ahead of Twichell (1:00:53).
Puskovitch did the same, winning the 10 km title in 1:55:05, just ahead of defending champion Dylan Gravley (1:55:08) and Colin Jacobs (1:55:25). He then won the 3 km Sprints over Jacobs and finally took the 5 km win in 56:02, with Gravley second in 56:10.
● Table Tennis ● The reigning World Champions were on top at the ITTF World Cup in Macao, as China’s Chuqin Wang won the men’s final over Sora Matsushima (JPN), 4-3, and Yingsha Sun took the women’s final from teammate Manyu Wang, 4-1.
For Wang, this was his first World Cup gold after finishing third in 2024 and 2025. For Sun, it continued her dominant run in this event, with her third straight win. Wang was second for the second time, also in 2024.
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