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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 1984: Los Angeles ● The LA84 Foundation, the living legacy of the 1984 Olympic Games, awarded $1.9 million in grants to 27 organizations in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Diego Counties, projected to reach 400,000 young people through sport.
Included are five grants for school-based programs, which “utilize structured sports activities during after-school hours that promote students’ academic, social and emotional success. They include Beyond the Bell, a sports program at 107 middle schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.”
There were grants to 19 organizations to provide access to less available sports, such as golf, lacrosse, surfing and equestrian. And an unusual in-school program:
“The Monarch School Project in San Diego County received funding to support the school’s athletic department. The K-12 school is the lone school in the nation dedicated exclusively to serving unhoused youth, and is designed to meet their students’ academic, social, emotional, and life skills needs.”
The LA84 Foundation was created from the Los Angeles share of the surplus from the 1984 Olympic Games and is dedicated to serving youth through sport.
● Olympic Games: Germany ● The Berlin candidacy for a future Olympic Games was unanimously approved by the city’s Senate last week. Per the announcement:
“The Berlin+ concept, presented by [Mayor Kai] Wegner and Sports Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) for a bid to host the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Summer Olympics, assumes that 97 percent of all the sports venues needed for the competitions are already in place.
“Spranger estimated the cost of organizing the Games at 4.82 billion euros. In contrast, revenue of 5.24 billion euros is expected, meaning that a profit of around 420 million euros would be generated ‘for Berlin’s schools and grassroots sports.’” (€1 = $1.18 U.S.)
The German sports confederation (DOSB) will decide in September which of four cities or regions – Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Rhine-Ruhr – will be the national bidder for a future Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044.
● International Olympic Committee ● The annual report for the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity program was released, with increased funding for support for athletes, coaches, teams and National Olympic Committees.
A total of $650 million – up from $590 million – is allocated for the 2025-28 quadrennial.
It is not widely appreciated that the IOC does pay athletes directly, through the Olympic Scholarship program. For the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, 449 athletes from 90 National Olympic Committee received $5.7 million in funding. For 2028, more than 1,000 scholarships to athletes from 125 NOCs have already been allocated with more to be approved.
Teams were also supported: 175 teams from 122 NOCs received support grants for summer and winter sports. The largest number were in beach volleyball (27), volleyball (23) and 5×5 basketball (21).
The IOC is also supported its Refugee Olympic Team project with its first “Refugee Athlete Scholarships” for 2025-28, providing $1.2 million for 47 athletes working with 13 host NOCs, across 15 sports.
● Athletics ● While the International Olympic Committee has recommended bringing back Belarusian athletes and teams without restrictions, World Athletics is not in agreement.
The federation told the BBC last week:
“As a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, World Athletics sanctions implemented in March 2022 excluding Belarusian and Russian athletes, officials and supporting personnel from competition remain in place.
“Our Council has made a clear decision that when there is tangible movement towards peace negotiations it can begin to review its decisions. We all hope this will be soon, but until that happens the council continues to be united in standing behind the decision it made in March 2022 and revisited in 2023 and 2025.”
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Russ Hodge, the one-time world-record holder in the decathlon, passed away on 6 May at age 86, in Johnson City, New York. The son of 1936 Olympic high jumper Alice Arden, Hodge was a unique competitor in the decathlon, at 6-3 and 225 pounds. He had enormous speed – he ran 10.2 for the 100 m in 1970 – and strength, competing in the shot, discus and javelin while at UCLA in 1968 and 1969.
He made the 1964 U.S. Olympic team and finished ninth, then set the world record of 8,230 in Los Angeles in July 1966 (8,119 on today’s tables). Hodge fought injuries his entire career and missed the Olympic team in 1968, 1972 and 1976, but he won a Pan American Games silver medal in 1971. He was a four-time runner-up at the U.S. championships in 1965-66-70-71.
After his athletic career, Hodge was active in coaching and in the early vitamin and supplement business.
● Figure Skating ● At a sports conference in Lausanne (SUI) on Thursday, International Skating Union Director General Colin Smith (GBR) emphasized modernization, explaining:
“We can’t present Figure Skating the same way in 2026 as it was presented in 1966. The way we present our sport, the way our sports are consumed, is very different. Everything has moved on – and we need to evolve and move on as well.”
One important area to look for is the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI), along with computer-vision tools “to support judging in Figure Skating, building on two years of behind-the-scenes camera-based machine learning. These systems will be used next season as a support tool for judges, with the potential to be progressively integrated into the formal scoring system.”
So: computerized judging is coming and the ISU is not alone, with World Gymnastics also working to find automated judging possibilities and remove the inevitable personal, prejudicial factors that are an inevitable part of human judges.
● Football ● “There’s always a risk of bad behaviour from a few dickheads at every public gathering, but police and security will be on site and there’ll be zero tolerance for it. The World Cup should bring us together, not keep us apart.”
That’s Victoria state Premier Jacinta Allen last week, reversing a decision of the Melbourne Arts Precinct, which had banned showing FIFA World Cup matches in Federation Square because of past chaos caused by “simply unacceptable and damaging behaviour” – including the throwing of flares – by some fans.
World Cup watch parties have been mounted there since 2006, but after the storming of venue barricades during the Australia-England semifinal in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the showing of the third-place match was canceled.
● Taekwondo ● Rio 2016 Olympic men’s 80 lg bronze medalist Maicon de Andrade Siqueira (BRA) was suspended for two years by the International Testing Agency for “whereabouts” failures. Now 33, his ban is from 19 January 2026 until 18 January 2028.
● Wrestling ● United World Wrestling announced the 2027 World Championships will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Thomas & Mack Center, from 11-19 September. The Worlds were last held in the U.S. in 2015, also in Las Vegas.
≡ RESULTS ≡
● Archery ● China’s Mengqi Li won the men’s Recurve final over Tokyo Olympic champion Mete Gazoz (TUR) at the World Archery World Cup in Shanghai (CHN), 6-4. South Korea’s 2025 World Champion Chae-young Kang took the women’s title, 6-2, against China’s Jingyi Zhu.
South Korea won the men’s team title over Turkey, and India took the women’s team gold against China. But China’s Li and Yuwei Huang won the Mixed Team gold.
In Compound, Mexico’s Sebastian Garcia won the men’s final in a 145-145 shoot-off with Nicolas Girard (FRA), and Lisell Jaatma (EST) won the women’s gold, 145-144, over Andrea Becerra (MEX). American Alexis Ruiz won the bronze.
The American pair of Ruiz and James Lutz won the Compound Mixed Team final, 157-154 over Turkey; the event will debut in the Olympic Games in 2028. Turkey won the men’s Compound Team final, 234-231 over the U.S. trio of Lutz, Louis Price and Gaius Carter. And the Turks won the women’s Compound Team final over the U.S. (Ruiz, Kaylee Gurney, Olivia Dean), 233-232.
● Athletics ● The 2026 USATF 25 km Championships were held in Grand Rapids, Michigan in conjunction with the Amway River Bank Run on Saturday, with Andrew Colley winning in 1:14:00, followed by Bati Mohammad (1:14:19) and 2025 winner Casey Clinger (1:14:32). Colley ran away for the win in the final 3 km.
Emma Grace Hurley dominated the women’s race, winning in 1:22:51, to 1:23:39 for Kasandra Parker and 1:25:03 for Biruktayit Degefa (ETH).
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At the annual World Athletics Race Walk Tour Gold races at Podebrady (CZE), Peru’s double 2022 World Champion Kimberly Garcia rolled to an impressive 1:31:44 win in the women’s Half Marathon, improving her best in the new event and winning big over Tokyo 2020 20 km Olympic champ Antonella Palmisano (ITA: 1:32:21).
Spain’s Lucia Redondo was third in 1:34:22, followed by American Lauren Harris, with a U.S. record 1:36:04. Ruby Ray of the U.S. was 25th in 1:48:06.
Italy’s Francesco Fortunato won the men’s Half in 1:23:00, over 2025 World 20 km champ Caio Bonfim (BRA: 1:23:40 and German Christopher Linke (1:23:46). American Nick Christie was 25th and got a U.S. record of 1:28:35!
● Canoe-Kayak ● The stars were out at the opening ICF Sprint World Cup in Szeged (HUN), with Olympic and World Championships medalists winning multiple events.
Paris Olympic C-2 gold medalist Bowen Ji (CHN) won the men’s C-1 500 m in 1:44.43, over Brazil’s C-1 1,000 m Paris silver medalist Isaquias Quieroz (1:44.73). The Paris C-1 1,000 m winner, Czech Martin Fuksa, tied with 2025 C-1 500 m World Champion Zakhar Petrov (RUS “neutral”) in 3:41.46 in the C-1 1,000 m.
Petrov and Ivan Shtyl won the 2025 Worlds C-2 500 m and won that event in 1:35.90. The Olympic K-2 500 m winners, Jacob Schopf and Max Lemke (GER) won that event in 1:27.12.
Five-time World Champion Fernando Pimenta (POR) won twice, taking the K-1 1,000 m over 2025 World Champion Balint Kopasz (HUN), 3:22.25 to 3:22.33.
The women’s star was Ukraine’s Lyudmila Luzan, who won four 2025 Worlds golds and won here in the C-1 200 m in 43.23 and with Anastasiia Rybachok in the C-2 500 m in 1:51.55.
World K-1 1,000 m champ Zsoka Csikos (HUN) won her specialty in 3:50.12 and 2025 World champ Melina Andersson (SWE) took the K-1 5,000 m in 24:46.25. Worlds K-1 500 m runner-up Natalia Drobot (AUS) won the K-1 500 m over New Zealand’s 2021 World Champion Aimee Fisher, 1:46.43 to 1:46.54.
● Cycling ● The first three stages of the 109th Giro d’Italia were in Bulgaria, with a major crash with less than 1,000 m to go on the flat, 147 km first stage that took down several riders. The expected bunch sprint formed up with France’s Paul Magnier getting the win in 3:21:08 over Tobias Lund Andresen (DEN) and Ethan Vernon (GBR).
The hilly, 221 km second stage saw a breakaway that was finally caught with 22 km left and then another major crash with 17 km left impacted many of the riders, with two hospitalized. The race was stopped and finally restarted, with race favorite Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) and two others racing away to a 24-second gap. But as they concentrated on each other, the peloton caught up with 500 m left and it was Uruguay’s Guillermo Silva with the win in 5:39:25, ahead of Florian Stork (GER) and Giulio Ciccone (ITA); Vingegaard was 21st, in the same time.
Sunday’s third stage of 175 km to Sofia had a major climb in the first half and then a descent to the finish, and a group of three broke away and had a lead of more than three minutes. But with the downhill ride to the finish, the peloton finally caught up with just 500 m to go. Italian star Jonathan Milan attacked first, but was caught by Magnier and Dylan Groenewegen (NED), with Magnier winning his second stage at the line. The first 168 riders received the same time.
The “Maglia Rosa” leader’s jersey belongs, for now, to Silva by four seconds over Stork and Egan Bernal (COL).
¶
At the 12th Vuelta Espana Femenina in Spain, home favorite Paula Blasi, 23, continued her rise on the UCI Women’s World Tour, taking her second victory and fourth medal of the year with a solid victory in the seven-stage ride in 22:17:03. Dutch star Anna van der Breggen was 24 seconds back and Marion Buinel (FRA: +0:49) was third.
Blasi didn’t win a stage and entered Saturday’s final stage behind sixth-stage winner van der Breggen by 18 seconds. But the final stage ended with a major climb and while Blasi was second to Petra Stiasny (SUI) by 23 seconds at the line, van der Breggen was 59 seconds back and that gave the Spaniard the overall win. Dutch riders had won this race five times in a row.
● Fencing ● The final Epee Grand Prix of the season was in Medellin (COL); results will be posted when available.
● Judo ● The IJF Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam in Astana (KAZ) welcomed 295 judoka from 36 countries, with France and Russia both winning three classes. The French earned wins by Blandine Pont (52 kg), Faiza Mokdar (57 kg), Clemence Eme (FRA), while Danil Lavrentev (men’s 73 kg), Inal Tasoev (+100 kg), and Elis Startseva (women’s +78 kg) were the Russian winners.
● Shooting ● A world record for Paris 2024 women’s Trap bronze medalist Penny Smith (AUS) at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Astana (KAZ) with 30 hits in 30 shots to win over Spain’s 2015 World Champion Fatima Gomez (25). Smith’s perfecto crushed the old mark of 24 by Wan-Yu Liu (TPE) from the Asian Championships in January 2026.
Turkey’s Tolga Tuncer, the 2024 World Cup Final bronze winner, took the men’s Trap, scoring 29 for another world record, to edge American – and 2022 World Champion – Derrick Mein, at 28. The world mark had been 27/30 by Muhammad Nadeem (PAK) at the 2026 Asians.
● Sport Climbing ● American Annie Sanders, 18, scored an impressive win over Slovenian star – and three-time Lead World Champion – Janja Garnbret at the World Climbing Series in Wujiang (CHN) in the women’s Lead final. Both scored 43+, but Sanders led the semifinal and was awarded the gold. It was sanders’ fourth career World Cup win.
Japan’s Asian Champion Neo Suzuki was a clear winner in the men’s final at 44+, over Alberto Gines Lopez (ESP: 39+), the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Combined champion.
China went 1-2 in the men’s Speed final, with 16-year-old Yicheng Zhao winning over 2025 World Champion Jianguo Long, 4.61 to 5.63. The all-American bronze medal race had 2024 Paris Olympic bronzer Sam Watson defeating Michael Hom, 4.71 to 4.98. Zhao improved the world record in the semifinals, winning in 4.54, taking 0.04 off of his 28 April mark of 4.58.
Poland’s Paris Olympic bronze winner Aleksandra Kalucka won the women’s final in 6.12, over Elizaveta Ivanova (RUS “neutral”: 7.62).
● Table Tennis ● The ITTF Team World Championships were held in London (GBR) to celebrate the centennial of the sport, in which the 1926 Worlds were also held in London.
Both the men’s and women’s finals pitted powerhouses China and Japan. The Chinese came in having won the last 11 men’s team titles in a row, and six straight on the women’s side. Japan was a seven-time men’s champion, but last in 1969, and an eight-time women’s winner, most recently in 1971.
China swept the men’s final, 3-0, and the women’s final by 3-2, coming back from a 1-2 deficit with wins by 11-time Worlds gold medalist Yingsha Sun and eight-time Worlds gold winner Manyu Wang.
● Taekwondo ● Brazil dominated the Pan American Championships held in Rio de Janeiro (BRA), winning five men’s golds and three women’s titles, including 2025 men’s 80 kg World Champion Henrique Marques, who defeated 2023 Worlds silver medalist C.J. Nickolas of the U.S. in the final, 2-1.
The U.S. won twice, with Isaiah Young at 87 kg and 2025 Worlds bronzer Jonathan Healy at +87 kg.
In the women’s classes, Brazil won three golds, including two-time Worlds silver medalist Caroline Santos at 62 kg. For the U.S., Faith Dillon earned the gold at 57 kg.
● Wrestling ● As expected, a powerful U.S. team dominated the Pan American Championships in Coralville, Iowa.
The American men’s Freestyle golds started with Austin DeSanto (61 kg) and World Champion Zahid Valencia (86 kg); the Sunday results will be posted when available.
In the women’s Freestyle, Americans won eight of 10 weights, with Katie Gomez (50 kg), Everest Leydecker (55 kg), Amanda Martinez (57 kg), Abigail Nette (59 kg), Adaugo Nwachukwu (62 kg), Kayla Miracle (65 kg), Precious Weiser (72 kg), and Kylie Welker (76 kg).
The U.S. took seven golds in the Greco-Roman discipline, by Max Nowry (55 kg), Landon Drury (63 kg), Benjamin Peak (72 kg), Joel Adams (77 kg), 2023 Pan Am Games champion Kamal Bey at 82 kg, Beka Melelashvili (87 kg) and 2023 Pan Am silver winner Cohlton Schultz at 130 kg.
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