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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The International Olympic Committee announced an expanded Olympic qualifier series for multiple sports in 2028: 3×3 basketball, beach volleyball, BMX freestyle, climbing, flag football and skateboarding. The four stops:
● 04-07 May: Tokyo (JPN)
● 11-14 May: Shanghai (CHN)
● 01-04 June: Montreal (CAN)
● 08-11 June: Orlando, Florida
Now called the “Olympic Q-Series,” each stop will have a different mix of sports with athletes seeking to qualify for the LA28 Games. The 2028 schedule expands on the two events held in advance of the Paris 2024 Games.
● Olympic Games 2040 ● Britain is considering a bid for the 2040 Olympic Games, with a statement from the government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport including:
“Initial work examining whether the UK could host the Olympic and Paralympic Games for the first time since London 2012 will assess key factors such as potential cost, socioeconomic benefit and any bid’s chance of success.”
Multiple other events are also being considered.
● Olympic Winter Games 2030: French Alps ● FrancsJeux.com reported that the Prefect of the Tarn-et-Garonne region, Vincent Roberti, in office since 2023, will be recommended to be the new Director General of the French Alps 2030 organizing committee.
He will be proposed for approval to the Games board on 11 May.
● Olympic Winter Games 2038: Switzerland ● The latest poll on the possible Swiss bid for the 2038 Winter Games shows 61% of respondents in favor. A gfs.bern poll showed 33% “clearly in favor” and 28% “somewhat in favor” and only 34% opposed.
The Swiss Olympic Committee and the Swiss government have been working together to craft a bid package that will be satisfactory to the IOC, which needs to be completed in 2027. If not, the IOC has said it will re-open bidding for the 2038 Winter Games.
● Goodwill Games ● Television entrepreneur Ted Turner, whose response to the Soviet Bloc boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles was the Goodwill Games, first held in Moscow in 1986, died Wednesday, 6 May 2026 at age 87.
Turner created the first “superstation” – nationally available via satellite – with his WTBS project in 1976, then reimagined television news with the creation of Cable News Network – CNN – in 1980. He added more CNN channels, Turner Network Television (TNT), Turner Classic Movies and others, eventually selling to Time Warner in 1996.
He came up with the Goodwill Games as a way to get the USSR and the rest of the world to come together in some way, at least in sports. After the 1986 opener in Moscow, the 1990 Games was held in Seattle, Washington, then in Saint Petersburg (RUS) in 1994, New York in 1998 and 2001 in Brisbane (AUS). A Winter Goodwill Games was held in Lake Placid, New York in 2000.
As the Olympic Movement had been patched back together by the International Olympic Committee, with mass boycotts ended after Los Angeles in 1984, the need for the Goodwill Games ebbed and ended. But the effort has been remembered as well-intentioned, something Turner was never short on.
● International Olympic Committee ● President Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) confirmed at Thursday’s news conference that the IOC’s Esports Commission is on hold, as is the IOC’s future direction with digital sport. She explained:
“Esports is sitting under my Executive Office. I have been working with an expert in the field.
“But for now we are focusing in on our core business and trying to make strong future strategies for the core business first while still working very clearly on what potential there could be for esports and what that would look like.”
An “Olympic Esports Games” had been approved by the IOC Session in 2024, in cooperation with the Saudi National Olympic Committee, to begin in 2027. But the agreement with the Saudis was cancelled by mutual agreement in 2025.
Also, the IOC membership terms of World Athletics President Sebastian Coe (GBR) and Canadian Olympic Committee President Tricia Smith (CAN) have been recommended to be extended as allowed by the rules once a member reaches 70 years old. But by extending their terms, they can continue to serve while they are still in their offices. Coe will finish at World Athletics in 2027 and Smith at the COC in 2028.
● SportAccord ● After the postponement of the 2026 SportAccord convention in Baku (AZE) over the shooting conflicts in the Middle East, the event has been announced to be held there from 9-13 May in 2027.
● Memorabilia ● The 29th International World Olympic Collectors’ Fair is returning to the U.S. from 22-24 May at the Antlers Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with free admission on all three days.
A Saturday gala dinner and tour at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum ($90) and other activities are planned; the collector sales floor will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
It’s the third WOCF to be held in the U.S., previously in Chicago in 2011 and in Long Beach, California in 2018.
● Athletics ● The London Marathon announced that a record 1,338,544 applications were submitted for the 2027 London Marathon, with 1,008,091 from Britain, an 18% increase overall from requests for the 2026 race.
The announcement noted that the million-Brits total means “that 1.8% of the entire UK population has been inspired to get active and apply to take part in next year’s TCS London Marathon.” Further, 35% of the British applicants were aged18-29. Outside of Britain:
“There were a further 330,450 applications from non-UK residents – from more than 200 countries – including more than 92,000 from the US, over 34,000 from France, more than 21,000 from Ireland and over 14,000 from Germany.”
Charitable fund-raising from this year’s race has already been reported at £87.5 million (about $118.8 million U.S.) and is expected to rise about £90 million ($122.2 million U.S.) when reporting is finalized in September.
● Cycling ● The 109th Giro d’Italia begins on Friday, this year in Nessebar (BUL) with the first three stages in that country before moving to Italian soil for the fourth stage on 12 May. The 21 stages break down:
● Flat (8): Stages 1, 3, 4, 6, 12, 15, 18, 21,
● Hilly (7): 2, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13, 17
● Climbing (5): 7, 14, 16, 19, 20
● Time Trial (1): 10
The route covers 2,149.4 miles in all, with two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) the clear favorite. This is his first Giro d’Italia; he won the Tour in 2022 and 2023 and the Vuelta a Espana last year. There are four prior medalists in the field: 2021 champion Egan Bernal (COL) and runner-up Damiano Caruso (ITA), 2022 winner Jai Hindley (AUS), and 2020 bronzer Wilco Kelderman (NED).
The race finishes on 31 May in Rome.
● Fencing ● The continuing fight over the direction of fencing with the Federation Internationale d’Escrime (FIE) and Russian President Alisher Usmanov – who recused himself from the office on the day after his last election – is now over a 5 May 2026 letter signed by 2,981 athletes and coaches.
The letter asks the IOC and the FIE Executive Committee for a third-party investigation into the FIE over governance, transparency and the reinstatement of background checks for “neutral” athletes. Further, the letter states “The governance failures and corruption within International Fencing Federation (FIE) are threatening the credibility and stability of the sport and must be formally addressed.”
On Thursday, the FIE responded, questioning whether some of the signatories agreed to be included and stated “we have always supported the principles of democracy, openness, transparency and equal treatment.” And it closed with:
“The FIE will always take the necessary actions to defend itself against any defamatory statements that harm its reputation.”
The IOC did not mention any actions regarding the FIE during its Thursday briefing.
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“USA Fencing has commissioned Laura Karpman to compose the official fencing anthem for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games. This marks the first time that a sport has had its own Olympic and Paralympic anthem.”
Karpman actually fences, having taken it up in 2020 in Epee and now using Foil. Some 1,082 USA Fencing members identified themselves as musicians, potentially available to help on the anthem. No timeline has been shared yet.
● Gymnastics ● Romanian gymnast Ana Maria Barbosu, 19, famously involved in the fight over the Paris 2024 women’s Floor Exercise bronze medal, has been provisionally suspended for “whereabouts” failures.
The International Testing Agency charged Barbosu with three missed tests over 12 months and the case is now with the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Barbosu and American Jordan Chiles have contested the Floor bronze in various legal forums since Chiles was awarded the medal during the victory ceremony in Paris, based on a protest by the U.S. team. Barbosu was awarded the bronze – and was presented with the medal by the IOC – after a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling in Paris, which did not consider all of the available evidence.
The Court of Arbitration was ordered by the Swiss Federal Tribunal to review the available evidence and reconsider the matter; this is ongoing.
● Luge ● Three-time Olympian Tucker West, 30, announced his retirement after a lengthy and successful career, including three World Championships medals in the Team Relay.
West was the top American men’s luger for almost a decade, winning World Cup (including Nations Cup) golds in 2017 (2), 2019 (1), 2023 (1), 2024 (1) and 2025 (1). His best Olympic finish was 13th in China in 2022. His best seasonal finish was sixth in the 2014-15 season.
● Swimming ● USA Swimming announced a deal with AI applications and agentic analytics firm Sigma as its “Official AI-Powered Business Intelligence Platform.” The goal:
“The platform will provide self-service analytics and AI-powered data workflows to coaches and clubs, enabling them to evaluate performance trends, manage operations more effectively, and support long-term athlete development at the local level.”
For Sigma, it’s a way to expose its computing products to the wide variety of USA Swimming members who might become AI users.
● Table Tennis ● SportBusiness further reported that the International Table Tennis Federation, following a $14 million loss in 2025, sold a 10% stake in its World Table Tennis commercial arm to “existing Chinese investors” for $12 million, to reverse a negative equity status of $8 million U.S.
The sale means the ITTF still retains a 75% ownership and control of World Table Tennis.
● Water Polo ● The U.S. women’s national team won Group A of the World Aquatics Division 1 tournament in Rotterdam (NED) that finished Wednesday.
The Americans were 2-1 in group play, losing to 3-0 Spain in a penalty shoot-out. In the second round, the U.S. was 3-0, edging The Netherlands, 12-10, Spain by 7-5 and Italy by 13-3. That moves them on to the World Aquatics Super Final in Sydney (AUS) in July. The Dutch finished at 2-1, Spain at 1-3 and Italy at 0-3, but all advanced to the Super Final.
The U.S. women, long dominant, finished fourth at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and then fourth again at the 2025 World Championships.
● Weightlifting ● Belarusian lifter Yauheni Tsikhantsou, 27, the 2019 World Champion at 102 kg and Paris Olympic bronze medalist, was provisionally suspended for an anti-doping violation by the International Testing Agency.
His sample from an out-of-competition test on 8 March 2026 returned a positive for Human Growth Hormone; Tsikhantsou can now ask for the B-sample to be tested.
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