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LANE ONE: Paris 2024 program approved, with four added sports, eight event changes and punishment for weightlifting

By
Rich Perelman
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There was no question that Monday’s announcement of the approved sports program for the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris for 2024 was going to leave some federations unhappy.

Let’s be clear that the International Weightlifting Federation is at the front of that line.

The International Olympic Committee Executive Board approved a program of 317 events among the 28 “permanent” Olympic sports and another 12 events for the added sports of Break Dancing (2), Skateboarding (4), Sport Climbing (4) and Skateboarding (2) for a grand total of 329.

That’s a little less than Tokyo’s total of 339, but Paris eliminated the Tokyo add-ons of Baseball and Softball and Karate.

The approved program of sports, events and athlete quotas for each also reduced the total number of athletes to 10,500 from the expected 11,092 for Tokyo (-592) and crowed that the program is perfectly balanced with 5,250 men and 5,250 women. The event balance isn’t perfect, but awfully close with 156 men’s events, 151 women’s events and 22 mixed events (up from 18 in Tokyo).

So, for the most part, the Paris program will look a lot like Tokyo (events and athletes), but there are differences. It’s a lot to look at, but let’s check the details:

● Aquatics: MODEST LOSSES: 49 events (49 in Tokyo), 1,370 athletes (vs. 1,410 in Tokyo).

Swimming had its quota reduced from 928 to 896; Artistic Swimming was shaved from 104 to 96, with Diving and Water Polo staying the same. FINA asked for many more events and got none, so the 50 m events in Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly stay out of the Games.

● Archery: STATUS QUO: 5 events (same), 128 athletes (same).

● Athletics: MODEST LOSSES: 48 events (same); 1,820 athletes (vs. 1,900).

Track & field lost 90 athletes from its quota total, but this will not impact the competition much. The 50 km walk for men (only) was eliminated in favor of another mixed-gender event of some type, which World Athletics said would be a mixed walking event of some kind. Cross Country was not approved as an addition, a major disappointment for the federation.

● Badminton: STATUS QUO: 5 events (same); 172 athletes (same).

● Basketball: STATUS QUO: 4 events (same); 352 athletes (same).

● Boxing: LOSER: 13 events (same); 252 athletes (vs. 286)

This may not look terrible, but the IOC slapped the International Boxing Association (AIBA) again, changing the event line-up from eight men’s events and five women’s events to 7 + 6, with the same number of men and women (126). And there’s more: the IOC – not AIBA – will decide the weight classes by the end of 2021. Ouch.

● Canoeing: STATUS QUO: 16 events (same), 318 athletes (vs. 328).

The International Canoe Federation asked for, and received, inclusion of Extreme Canoe Slalom, contested on a short course and during which the contestants roll over in their boats and get wet. It’s a novelty event, and the serious K-1 200 m Sprint was eliminated. The men’s K-1 1,000 m and women’s K-1 500 m remain. Sad.

● Cycling: MODEST LOSSES: 22 events (same); 518 athletes (vs. 528).

The quota for BMX Freestyle was increased slightly, with small changes in the numbers for Mountain Bike. Track added one athlete. Road cycling was substantially re-arranged for gender equity; Tokyo will have 130 men and 67 women; for Paris, the total quotas for road cycling will be 90 men and 90 women, a major shift to gender equity, but also a loss of 17 athletes in cycling’s premiere events.

● Equestrian: STATUS QUO: 6 events (same); 200 athletes (same).

● Fencing: STATUS QUO: 12 events (same); 212 athletes (same).

● Football: STATUS QUO: 2 events (same); 504 athletes (same).

● Golf: STATUS QUO: 2 events (same); 120 athletes (same).

● Gymnastics: STATUS QUO: 18 events (same), 324 athletes (vs. 318).

There was a small reduction of a couple of athletes for Artistic and Rhythmic.

● Handball: STATUS QUO: 2 events (same); 336 athletes (same).

● Hockey: STATUS QUO: 2 events (same); 384 athletes (same).

● Judo: STATUS QUO: 15 events (same); 372 athletes (vs. 386).

The total quota across 15 events went down just 14 athletes and the competitions will be little affected.

● Modern Pentathlon: STATUS QUO: 2 events (same); 72 athletes (same).

Even with the same program as for Tokyo, the UIPM was deeply disappointed not to have the Mixed Relay added, an event already part of its World Championships and designed specifically for Olympic inclusion.

● Rowing: WINNER: 14 events (same), 502 athletes (vs. 526).

True the quota was reduced by 24 athletes across 14 events, but the Lightweight Double Sculls was maintained for men and women. The IOC has, in the past, asked to remove this category, but it’s in the program for one more Games at least and that’s a win for World Rowing.

● Rugby: STATUS QUO: 2 events (same); 288 athletes (same).

● Sailing: INCOMPLETE: 10 events (same); 330 athletes (vs. 350).

The Sailing program got shook up for 2024. For Tokyo, there will be one mixed-gender events, the multi-hull Nacra 17 class. For Paris there will be four: Nacra 17, two-person Dinghy (470 class), Kiteboarding and an event to be determined. The men’s and women’s individual 470 classes were eliminated, the Finn Class for men was eliminated and the proposed mixed-crew offshore event – think ocean racing – needs more discussion “in order to properly assess the key considerations around the cost, safety and security of the athletes.” This event is controversial within the sailing community – how many nations can afford such a boat? – and is to be settled by 31 May 2021. Look for a noisy discussion on this one; it’s a major play for added attention by the federation.

● Shooting: STATUS QUO: 15 events (same); 340 athletes (vs. 360).

Small reduction in the overall quota will hardly be felt on the shooting line. The Mixed Trap event was replaced by Mixed Skeet.

● Table Tennis: STATUS QUO: 5 events (same); 172 athletes (same).

● Taekwondo: STATUS QUO: 8 events (same); 128 athletes (same).

● Tennis: STATUS QUO: 5 events (same); 172 athletes (same).

● Triathlon: STATUS QUO: 3 events (same); 110 athletes (same).

● Volleyball: STATUS QUO: 4 events (same); 384 athletes (same).

● Weightlifting: LOSER: 10 events (vs. 14); 120 athletes (vs. 196).

The IWF got hammered for its continuing doping and governance troubles, with its quota reduced to 120 after being 260 for Rio! Moreover, the 14 classes for Tokyo are to be reduced to 10 for Paris, with the IWF to finalize the weights by the end of 2021. The IOC statement also included the dreaded: “It also reiterated that the place of weightlifting on the programme of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 continues to be subject to ongoing review by the IOC.”

● Wrestling: STATUS QUO: 18 events (same); 288 athletes (same).

In the added sports:

● Breaking: WINNER: 2 events; 32 athletes.

Amazing that this will become an Olympic sport in 2024 without having appeared in almost any continental Games and really only seen at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018. Even the World Dancesport Federation may not believe its luck.

● Skateboarding: WINNER: 4 events (same), 88 athletes (vs. 80).

A few more athletes, ahead of an expected third Games in a row in Los Angeles in 2028.

● Sport Climbing: WINNER: 4 events (vs. 2); 68 athletes (vs. 40).

Many climbers complained that while Bouldering and Lead made sense as a combined event, Speed is totally different. The IOC agreed and the three-part combined event for Tokyo will be Bouldering and Lead for Paris, with Speed now separate.

● Surfing: WINNER: 2 events (same); 44 athletes (vs. 40).

This sport is slated to be held in Tahiti, although there is some pushback on the island. A few more athletes were added and most observers will be shocked if it is not on the LA ‘28 program.

The biggest losers were Baseball/Softball (2 events and 234 athletes in Tokyo) and Karate (8 events and 80 athletes), which are not on the Paris program. Baseball and Softball are locks for Los Angeles, but Karate appears to be a one-and-done in Tokyo. The reduction from 339 events for Tokyo to 329 for Paris is strictly due to the removal of these sports. The IOC statement added:

“Although the IFs had requested a total of 41 additional events, the IOC EB decided not to increase the number of events across any of the 28 sports in the initial programme, ensuring a fair and objective approach in applying this principle to its review of the event programme.”

The four added events in Breaking – still hard to believe – and Sport Climbing were offset by the four fewer weight classes in weightlifting. So, the 28 “permanent” sports in the Games will have 317 events, with 12 for the added sports, still a significant increase over the 306 events in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

The IOC did not yield to the pleadings of some federations who asked for many added events – FINA was the leader in this area – but there was bitter disappointment for those athletes whose events were substituted for those with more television potential, like the Canoeing sprinters.

And, while the Games did not grow – and the reduction in athletes will be accompanied by fewer officials as well – there is little doubt that the size of the Olympic program is still enormous, now 49% larger than the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, the last edition whose total costs were fully covered by its revenues.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: Kandie blows up world Half Marathon mark; Crouser out to 74-1 indoors; Loch comes from 17th to 1st in Luge World Cup!

By
Rich Perelman
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World Half Marathon record for Kenya's Kibiwott Kandie in Valencia (Photo: World Athletics)

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Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Alpine Skiing ● Croatia’s Filip Zubcic made a sensational second run in Saturday’s Giant Slalom in Santa Caterina (ITA) and despite heavy snowfall, moved from sixth to first and took his second career World Cup win.

Zan Kranjec (SLO) looked like a possible winner after leading the race following the first run, but faded to 11th-fastest on the second run and ended up with the silver. Swiss Marco Odermatt finished third, placing second on the first run, but eighth in the second round. American Tommy Ford skied well and finished sixth; Ted Ligety was 19th.

The second race, scheduled for Sunday, was postponed to Monday to due even heavier snow.

The women’s World Cup circuit was supposed to be in St. Moritz (SUI) for two Super-G races, but was canceled due to heavy snows and wind.

● Athletics ● Lots of hot running in Valencia, Spain, with a new world mark in the men’s Half Marathon.

Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie, 24, crushed countryman Geoffrey Kamworor’s 2019 mark of 58:01 with a startling 57:32, the first of four men who finished under 58 minutes: Jacob Kiplimo (UGA: 57:37), Rhonex Kipruto (KEN: 57:49) and Alexander Mutiso (KEN: 57:59).

Six runners were clear of the field by 10 km, then it wasn’t until 18 km when Kandie pushed the pace and only Kiplimo could stay close. Kiplimo took the lead with 900 m to go, but Kandie surged ahead for the final time with 500 m left and reversed the order from the World Half Marathon Championships, when Kiplimo won and Kandie was second.

“I can’t believe it, I have beaten Kamworor’s world record by half a minute,” said the winner.

Kipruto’s third-place 57:49 is the fastest ever debut in the event.

The women’s race marked the Half Marathon debut of Ethiopian star Ginzebe Dibaba – the world-record holder in the 1,500 m – who won in style in 1:05:18, easily ahead of Kenyans Sheila Chepkirui (1:05:39) and Senbere Teferi (1:05:51). Dibaba now ranks equal-13th fastest on the all-time list.

American Emily Sisson finished fifth in 1:07:26, the second-fastest performance in American history, just one second behind Molly Huddle’s 1:07:25 run in Houston in 2018!

There was more brilliant running in Valencia on Sunday with marathons for men and women, both won in blistering times by Kenyans Evans Chebet and Peres Jepchirchir.

Already the 2020 World Champion in the Half Marathon, Jepchirchir ran away from the women’s field in 2:17:16, moving her to no. 5 all-time in the event. She broke free in the second half of the race, distancing herself from Joyciline Jepkosgei (KEN: 2:18:40, no. 15 all-time) and Helaria Johannes (NAM: 2:19:52).

Jepchirchir ran 1:09:01 for the first half of the race, but finished in 1:08:15 on the friendlier half of the route.

The men’s race went to Kenyan Chebet, who screamed to a lifetime best of 2:03:00, edging fellow Kenyan Lawrence Cherono (2:03:04) and Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese (2:03:16), with Amos Kipruto (KEN: 2:03:30) also under 2:04:00.

The amazing mark moves Chebet to no. 6 all-time, with the seventh-fastest marathon ever; old best was 2:05:00 from 2019. Cherono is now no. 7 on the all-time performers list with the no. 9 performance in history.

Chebet was one of 11 in the lead pack at the halfway mark, but only four were left by 30 km. The winner made his move with about 3 km remaining, with enough at the end to separate from Cherono as Kipruto and Legese faded.

Said Chebet: “The experience has been great as I improved my PB by two minutes on a fantastic circuit. Anyway, my main goal was to be among the top three Kenyans thinking of the Tokyo Olympics selection.”

In Fukuoka, Japan, Yuya Yoshida won the famed Fukuoka Marathon in 2:07:05, a lifetime best and now the ninth-fastest Japanese marathoner ever. He was well ahead of Shohei Otsuka (2:07:38, lifetime best) and Natsuki Terada (2:08:03 lifetime best).

In the latest edition of athletes-only meets at (more or less) undisclosed locations, dozens of U.S. distance stars gathered at the Junipero Serra High School track in San Juan Capistrano, California for “The Track Meet,” aimed at Olympic qualifying standards.

None of the men’s 5,000 m races produced qualifying times, with the fastest races won by Matthew Centrowitz (13:32.92) and Luis Grijalva (GUA: 13:16.75).

The faster men’s 10,000 m race provided four qualifiers, led by Eric Jenkins, the winner in a lifetime best of 27:22.06, a huge improvement over his 27:48.02 best from 2016 and now ninth on the all-time U.S. list. Also under the 27:28.00 qualifying mark were Patrick Tiernan (AUS: 27:22.55), Edward Cheserek (KEN: 27:23.58), and Sam Atkin (GBR: 27:26.58).

Among the women, Shelby Houlihan won the fastest section of the 5,000 m in 15:02.55, ahead of Elise Cranny (15:04.88), both of whom achieved the standard of 15:10.00. The top eight finishers in the 10,000 m all finished under the 31:25:00 standard, led by Rachel Schneider’s debut in the event in 31:09.79, moving her to no. 8 on the all-time U.S. list.

Weini Kelati (ERI) was second in 31:10.08, followed by Alicia Monson (31:10.84, now no. 10 al-time U.S.), Sharon Lokedi (KEN: 31:11.07), Natosha Rogers (31:12.28), Kellyn Taylor (31:15.65), Danielle Shanahan (31:22.86) and Stephanie Bruce (31:24.47).

In Manhattan, Kansas, the University of Arkansas’ volunteer assistant coach Ryan Crouser (USA) continued to re-write the record books, reaching 22.58 m (74-1) in the indoor shot put on Saturday.

That’s the no. 3 performance all-time indoors, behind only the 22.66 m (74-4 1/4) world record by Randy Barnes (USA) in 1989 and Crouser’s own 22.60 m (74-1 3/4) win at the U.S. Nationals in Albuquerque, New Mexico this year on 15 February.

As always, Crouser was consistent: 21.71 m (71-2 3/4), 21.91 m (71-10 3/4). 21.78 m (71-5 1/2), 21.96 m (72-0 3/4), then 22.58 m (74-1) and finally 21.97 m (72-1). He now has four career indoor meets at 22.00 m (72-2 1/4) or better, tied with Ryan Whiting (USA) behind only East German Ulf Timmermann between 1985-89.

● Biathlon ● The second week of the World Cup races in Kontiolahti (FIN) were family affairs, with Tarjei Boe (NOR) winning the 10 km Sprint while younger brother (and World Cup champ) Johannes Thingnes Boe was third and German Arnd Peiffer second.

The younger Boe repeated his bronze-medal performance in the 12.5 km Pursuit, behind Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson and France’s Fabien Claude.

The sisters Hanna Oberg and Elvira Oberg were also 1-3 in the women’s 7.5 km Sprint, with France’s Anais Chevalier-Bouchet second. In the 10 km Pursuit, Norway scored a 1-2 finish with Tiril Eckhoff and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, followed by Hanna Oeberg in third.

The circuit continues this week Hochfilzen (AUT).

● Freestyle Skiing ● The Aerials and Moguls seasons opened in Ruka (FIN), with a Russian sweep on Friday in the men’s Aerials and a great showdown in the women’s Moguls.

Maxim Burov won his sixth World Cup gold to lead the first-ever Russian sweep in a World Cup Aerials event, scoring 126.24 in the finals to edge teammates Pavel Krotov (120.36) and older brother Ilia Burov (118.10). American Justin Schoenefeld was fifth (110.41).

Australia’s Laura Peel – the reigning World Cup champion – took the women’s Aerials, scoring 83.87 points to edge two first-time World Cup medalists, German Emma Weiss (80.95) and Russian Anastasiia Prytkova (71.53). American Winter Vinecki (62.04) was sixth.

Japanese veteran Ikuma Horishima won the men’s Moguls – his eighth World Cup gold – at 80.86, in front of Marco Tade (SUI: 78.93) and Ludvig Fjallstrom (SWE: 76.09). American Dylan Walczyk (75.26) was fourth.

The women’s Moguls was a great competition between 2018 Olympic winner Perrine Laffont (FRA) and two-time World Championships medal winner Jaelin Kauf of the U.S. The two were less than a point apart in qualifying, but Laffont managed a 79.18 score in the finals, enough to win as Kauf ended up with 75.74 and Anastasiia Smirnova (RUS) was third at 74.27. Hannah Soar and Kai Owens of the U.S. finished fifth and sixth.

● Judo ● The Pan American Open in Lima, Peru concluded late Sunday, with a modest field of 47 athletes from six countries. The U.S. scored wins from Adonis Diaz (-60 kg) and L.A. Smith in the +100 kg class for the men, and Katelyn Jarrell (-52 kg) and Mariah Holguin (-57 kg) for the women.

● Luge ● Germany’s Felix Loch continued to dominate the FIL World Cup circuit, this time in Altenberg (GER), with an amazing come-from-behind victory on his second run.

Strong winds played havoc with the track conditions and Loch, starting near the end of the first round, could manage only 17th. But that put him in the middle of the second round and he improved considerably, with what ended up as the third-fastest run and catapulted him to the win by 0.303 over countryman Max Langenhan (16th and 6th in his two runs) and Kristers Aparjods (LAT: 13th and 8th). The first-run leader was Russian Roman Repilov, who then fell to 17th in the second run and ended up fifth.

Loch has now won all three races this season, looking for a seventh seasonal World Cup title.

Austrians Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller continued their win streak this season, winning their third Doubles race without a loss. They were second-fastest in both races and won by just 0.008 – eight/1000ths – over perennial stars Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken (GER) and 0.019 over Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt (GER).

Russian Tatyana Ivanova won the women’s races, edging superstar Natalie Geisenberger (GER) by 0.113 and countrywoman Ekaterina Katnikova by 0.200. Ivanova had the second-fastest time in both races and her consistency was the difference. Seasonal leader Julia Taubitz (GER) was fifth.

Italy won the team relay ahead of Germany and Latvia.

● Nordic Skiing ● The Cross Country sprint and Skiathlon races in Lillehammer (NOR) were canceled, as was the Nordic Combined program and the women’s Ski Jumping.

The men’s jumping tour was in action in Nizhny Tagil in Russia, jumping off the 134 m hill in night events on Saturday and Sunday. Norway’s emerging star Halvor Egner Granerud won both to extend his win streak this season to three in a row and take the overall points lead for the season.

He scored 270.0 on Saturday for his second-ever World Cup win, ahead of Daniel Huber (AUT: 255.7) and Norwegian teammate Robert Johansson (254.1). On Sunday, Granerud won with 241.5 points, just edging Johansson (240.7) and teammate Marius Lindvik (240.6) for a Norwegian sweep!

● Weightlifting ● The in-person USA Weightlifting National Championships, scheduled for 3-6 December, was canceled and an online competition is being held instead.

It’s still going on; results are posted here as completed. Thus far, four-time World Junior Champion Clarence Cummings won the men’s 73 kg class at 330 kg combined (727 pounds) and 2019 World Championships medalist Mattie Rogers won the women’s 64 kg class at 222 kg (~489 lbs.) combined.

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For our 526-event International Sports Calendar from October 2020 to June 2021, by date and by sport, click here!

THE TICKER: Bach’s path to re-election is clear; Tokyo move to 2021 costs $2.82 billion; U.S. women’s soccer team & USSF agree to partial settlement

By
Rich Perelman
-

(★ Friends: Well, the new server and support bill has arrived. Your generosity covered the June bill and part of this one. This isn’t the easiest time to ask, but if you would like to help, please donate here. Your enthusiasm is the reason this site continues. ★)

The latest news, notes and quotes from the worldwide Five-Ring Circus:

● International Olympic Committee ● To the surprise of absolutely no one, Germany’s Thomas Bach was confirmed as the only candidate in the forthcoming election for the Presidency of the International Olympic Committee, to be held next March.

Bach won an initial term of eight years back in 2013 and can serve for another four years when re-elected next March, into 2025. While he has detractors, he has overseen a stunning change in IOC policies, procedures and – perhaps most of all – attitude, to the relief and in many quarters, disbelief, of long-time observers.

On Wednesday, the IOC released a 44-page report on “Recommendations for an IOC Human Rights Strategy,” commissioned in 2019. It cheered the inclusion of United Nations principles in the Host City agreements from 2026 forward, but also warned that there are significant challenges ahead:

“Notwithstanding the many positive steps taken by the IOC in recent years to protect athletes and other stakeholders from various harms connected to the practice of sport across the Olympic Movement, or to the hosting of Olympic Games, media reports of various abuses persist stubbornly. …

“Turning to the second sphere of the IOC’s operations – the organization of upcoming Olympic and Youth Olympic Games – there are a number of urgent issues for the IOC to engage with. In 2019, we saw that persistent allegations of supply chain human rights (and environmental) violations connected to the organization of the Tokyo Games could not be effectively resolved. In the case of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing in 2022, in our view, the human rights impacts that could be connected to the Games are severe – as our consultations with expert civil society stakeholders also confirmed – and addressing them remains challenging. In the case of Paris 2024, the national legislative context is supportive of human rights; the IOC and its OCOG partner are still working out how to integrate the additional expectations contained in the new ORs into its existing Games management approach. While the YOG in Senegal in 2022 [sic] offers substantial opportunities to advance respect for human rights, achieving this will depend on a coherent strategy to address chronic child protection issues in connection with the event, implemented through a new type of relationship between the IOC and the government as its official counterpart.

“In summary, the IOC will need to take on new kinds of roles if it wants to see its new human rights expectations of hosts realized in practice.”

Even with regard to the IOC’s TOP sponsors, the report foresees difficulties:

“It will be a struggle for the IOC to monitor compliance with its expectations; the organization will need to think creatively about how to use leverage to push its partners to address severe risks to people connected to their operations, and be prepared for some difficult conversations.”

Naturally, the report recommends the creation of a new staff entity – a “Human Rights Unit” – to be established within the IOC by June of this year.

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● Agreement was announced between the Tokyo Olympic organizers, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Japanese national government on the projected costs and shares of the delay of the Games to 2021:

(1) The cost of postponing the Games by a year are estimated at 198 billion yen (~$1.90 billion), with the organizers paying ¥103 billion (~$989.4 million), the Tokyo government paying ¥80 billion (~$768.5 million) and the national government, ¥15 billion (~$144.1 million).

(2) Coronavirus countermeasures are estimated at ¥96 billion (~$922.0 million), with the national government contributing ¥56 billion (~$537.9 million) and the Tokyo government, ¥40 billion (~$384.2 million).

(3) Added up, the total added expense is projected at ¥294 billion (~$2.82 billion). The Tokyo organizers will pay ¥103 billion (~$989.4 million), the Tokyo government will contribute ¥120 billion (~$1.15 billion) and the national government, ¥71 billion (~$681.7 million).

The organizing committee’s actual expenditures could be reduced by applying the existing budget contingency of ¥27 billion (~$259.2 million) to its share.

The actual postponement costs of $1.90 billion are far less than the wild estimates of up to $6 billion made immediately after the announcement of the date changes, but the added costs and anxiety of the pandemic has undermined – for now – the enthusiasm for the Games in Japan.

Comment: The costs are significant, but all credit to the Tokyo organizers and the governments for keeping their promises of transparency on the added expense and the shares that each entity will cover. This should not be taken for granted.

An interim report from a joint panel of governmental and Olympic organizing officials on coronavirus countermeasures for next summer’s Olympic Games was released on Wednesday. It included:

● Recommendations that athletes be tested for the virus upon arrival in Japan and every 96 to 120 hours when in the Olympic Village, even if no symptoms are apparent;

● Athletes will be asked the leave the Olympic Village once their competitions are concluded;

● Admission to Japan of foreign spectators could be allowed from countries with “controlled virus conditions,” with strict contact-tracing requirements.

Kyodo News reported Wednesday that the Tokyo organizers “received requests for refunds for about 18 percent of the tickets bought for the Olympics due to the one-year postponement caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Organizers said they received some 810,000 applications for Olympic ticket refunds out of about 4.45 million tickets sold in the domestic lottery, and are considering reselling the refunded tickets in the future.”

Refunds will be issued during December; the organizers should have no trouble re-selling the returned tickets given enormous demand during the ticket-selling period.

The International Testing Agency announced the formation of a 10-member team of national anti-doping experts and International Federation representatives to ramp up scrutiny on athletes expected to compete in Tokyo.

“The ITA Tokyo 2020 Pre-Games Expert Group is responsible for reviewing available anti-doping information on athletes who are likely to compete in the Games. It performs a risk assessment and shares testing recommendations with other anti-doping organisations (ADOs) to ensure that effective testing is conducted globally through a coordinated effort. …

“In the past six months, it re-calibrated its efforts in order to start issuing recommendations in line with an updated risk assessment and adapted qualification lists. Throughout the entire pre-Games period, the group will issue up to 25,000 recommendations on 33 sports disciplines to ADOs all over the world and also monitor their implementation.”

Some 6,000 testing recommendations were made this week, of 124 national teams. During the Tokyo Games, the total number of tests is expected to also number about 6,000.

● Games of the XXXIII Olympiad: Paris 2024 ● The fury over which events will be held in Paris in 2024 is coming to a head and the program is expected to be confirmed during next Monday’s IOC Executive Board meeting, to be held via videoconference.

The long-running fight over the International Federation for the sport of Parkour – usually a street event with competitors moving through essentially a predetermined obstacle course by jumping, climbing, or running – is one of the flash points in the 2024 discussion.

The sport has its own IF, known as Parkour Earth, but the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) has claimed the sport for Olympic purposes and is proposing it for the Paris program.

This prompted an open letter to the IOC from Parkour Earth on Tuesday, asking it “to reject any submission by the FIG to include Parkour on the Olympic programme” and continued in part:

“As you know, parkour has been recognised as a sovereign, distinct, and independent sport in its own right, and as such cannot be considered a discipline of, or subsidiary to, gymnastics or any other sport. …

“Unfortunately, FIG’s encroachment and misappropriation of our sport continues.”

The letter notes the federation’s understanding that a similar request by the FIG to include Parkour for the Tokyo Games was rejected in 2017, and asks for a similar result now.

The IOC has said that it wants to maintain the size of the 2024 Games at 310 events (as well as a hard cap of 10,500 athletes), so for any event to be added, something must be dropped. It will be fascinating to see the outcome of the dozens of requests for new events when the list is revealed next week.

● Athletics ● The World Athletics Council met by videoconference earlier this week and considered the situation of the Russian Athletics Federation at some length.

While the Russians paid the $6.31 million in fines and costs by 15 August 2020 as required, the roadmap for reinstatement submitted by 31 August “required significant elaboration” to be viable. The deadline for such a plan was set for 1 March 2021.

Rune Andersen (NOR), the chair of the federation’s Russia Task Force noted in his report:

“On Monday of this week (30 November 2020), Mr Piotr Ivanov was elected as the new President of RusAF, together with a new Praesidium. I had a good introductory call with Mr Ivanov yesterday. I told him that previous RusAF regimes had let down badly both Russian athletes and the global athletic community; but the Taskforce is ready to help him turn things around, if he is ready, willing, and able to commit to the fundamental changes that are required in Russian athletics.”

An agreement on the next steps in the process had been agreed with the RusAF management in place prior to the election of Ivanov, but Andersen reiterated, “We will now all need to see whether RusAF is ready to grasp this last opportunity.”

Ivanov comes to the track & field federation with a background in international sport, as the head of the Russian Triathlon Federation since 2016; his day job is as the chief executive of a Russian state company specializing in high-speed rail transit.

Andersen’s recommendations included that the Council consider at its March 2021 meeting whether to allow a limited number of Russian athletes (10) to compete as “Authorized Neutral Athletes” in international competitions, including the Tokyo Games … or if a vote of the World Athletics Congress should be held to expel Russia from the federation.

The Wanda Diamond League program for 2021 will see a return to a two-hour broadcast window and staging of 32 events instead of the reduced package of 24 installed for 2020.

Total prize money will reach $7 million, with the triple jump, discus, 200 m, 3,000 m steeplechase and 5,000 m reinstated. However, 2020’s experimental “Final 3″ concept will be installed for the long and triple jumps, shot put, discus and javelin. Only the top three competitors will advance and the marks in the “final” will determine their actual placings.

● Basketball ● The U.S. men’s AmeriCup qualifying team skipped past Mexico, 94-78, on Monday at the Indianapolis Convention Center to remain undefeated in Group D and clinch its spot in the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup.

Mike Fratello’s American squad of mostly G League players was up by 52-34 at halftime and while Mexico closed to within 11 points in the fourth quarter, the U.S. extended the lead back out to win by 16. Center Yante Maten led the U.S. with 21 points (8-10 from the field), followed by guards Joshua Magette (19), John Jenkins (16) and Travis Trice (14), and forward Levi Randolph (12). The U.S. shot 54.4% from the field and limited Mexico to 41.8%.

There are two more games remaining in group play for the U.S.: at The Bahamas on 18 February 2021 and at Mexico on 21 February. Mexico now stands at 2-2, with Puerto Rico and The Bahamas at 1-3.

● Football ● The U.S. Soccer Federation announced a settlement of the “working conditions” section of the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Women’s National Team on Tuesday, reaching agreement on issues regarding staffing, travel conditions and field conditions at the venues selected for each game.

USSF President Cindy Parlow-Cone – herself a former national team star – told reporters:

“I hope that the women and their lawyers see that we are taking a new approach. The way we reached this settlement was in a collaborative way. There was a lot of back and forth and trying to understand where each side was coming from, and that’s how we reached this resolution. So it is my hope that we continue down this path and are able to find a resolution on all aspects of this litigation.”

However, before anyone gets their hopes up of an agreement on the “equal pay” aspects of the women’s team’s suit, Parlow-Cone noted:

“Our aim is to find a resolution with our women’s national team and we’re committed to doing that. We’ve reached out to them. We have offered them the same contract as the men for all games that are controlled by U.S. Soccer. But unfortunately the response has been that they didn’t want to negotiate with U.S. Soccer unless U.S. Soccer was willing to make up the FIFA World Cup prize money, which you all know is the vast majority of the $66 million that they’re requesting in back pay. And we all know that this just isn’t possible from a U.S. Soccer standpoint to make that up. Even pre-COVID this would be devastating to our budget and to our programming. But given COVID and not to be overly dramatic, but it would likely bankrupt the Federation.”

The agreement by the women’s team is strategic, in that if it is accepted by the U.S. District Court, it would clear the way for an appeal to the U.S. Ninth Circuit of the summary judgement handed down by Judge R. Gary Klausner last May of their “equal pay” claims. Klausner determined that the women’s team insistence on, and agreement to, a collective bargaining agreement that differed significantly from the men’s agreement created no triable issue of “equal pay” as alleged.

U.S. Soccer’s collective bargaining agreement with the Women’s National Team expires at the end of 2021.

● Gymnastics ● The long-running USA Gymnastics bankruptcy case and the disagreement between the federation and its insurers over the Nassar scandal cases got even more convoluted this week.

Liberty Insurance Underwiters filed a new lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, asking that court to keep Epiq eDiscovery Solutions from ending its services in the Indianapolis-based bankruptcy case over non-payment alleged by Epiq of about $1.8 million.

Counsel for USA Gymnastics replied quickly and showed their irritation by noting that Liberty had been instructed by the U.S.. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana to provide a “complete defense” for USA Gymnastics in the Nassar matter, and the insurer has appealed this order to the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, adding:

“To be sure, USAG’s insurers as a group have adopted a recalcitrant attitude to their duty to defend, but LIU’s latest maneuver may take the cake.”

An emergency hearing was held in the Bankruptcy Court via teleconference on Thursday, and the matter was continued, with filings and replies due by 14 December and a hearing scheduled for 16 December.

If it’s possible, the proceedings are getting uglier by the day. In the meantime, Bankruptcy Court Judge James Carr is beginning the second-try, court-ordered meditation to try and get the insurers, survivors, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic to settle the case.

● The Last Word ● Further to the tug-of-war continuing between the World Anti-Doping Agency and the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy over U.S. dues and representation on the WADA Executive Committee came good news for WADA.

The U.S. ONDCP has threatened not to pay its $2.7 million dues as it has done in prior years, but the agency’s budget is apparently no longer under threat. WADA announced on Wednesday:

● “[T]he Government of India has pledged an additional USD 1 million, Saudi Arabia USD 500,000 and Egypt USD 100,000, while WADA has already received the USD 992,694″

● “The contributions are additional to the Governments’ annual contributions to WADA’s regular budget, which are matched by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on behalf of the Sports Movement … which means that these contributions will yield almost USD 5.2 million extra for the global anti-doping system.”

That’s almost double the amount of the U.S. dues which may be in question. Next …

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LANE ONE: Remembering the timeless humanity of Olympic track & field stars Rafer Johnson and Arnie Robinson

By
Rich Perelman
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Rafer Johnson at the 2015 Special Olympics World Games opening ceremony (Photo: Cory Hansen)

This has been a tough week for American track & field fans, with the passing of two great stars: 1976 Olympic long jump champion Arnie Robinson on Tuesday (1st) and 1960 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Rafer Johnson on Wednesday (2nd).

If I’m laden at all
I’m laden with sadness
That everyone’s heart
Isn’t filled with the gladness
Of love for one another

It’s a long, long road
From which there is no return
While we’re on the way to there
Why not share
~ from “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” by The Hollies (1969)

We often honor our cultural icons by shortening their names to one word.

Babe. Bird. Elvis. Elton. Rafer.

There was only one Rafer Johnson, but we should hope for many more. Tall, lean and muscular, he looked like he was ready to come back to the decathlon decades after his gold-medal performance in Rome in 1960.

When he walked into a room, all eyes looked his way. Everyone stood a little straighter. Voices were lowered. Decorum was suddenly in vogue. And to those who whispered, “Who is that?” the reply was a hushed, “Rafer.”

Until he broke out his winning smile and extended his hand to the first person he met, and if he didn’t know them already, he said. “Hi, I’m Rafer Johnson.”

Much of Rafer’s story is well known, from his modest start in Texas, move to California in 1945 and the start of his brilliant athletic career at Kingsburg Joint Union High School in Fresno County. But after 60 years, just how great Rafer was is largely unappreciated.

As a freshman at UCLA, he won the Pan American Games decathlon in March, then set his first world record in the decathlon at age 20 in June of 1955, scoring 7,985 points on the then-current scoring tables at the Central California AAU Championships to erase Bob Mathias’s 1952 total of 7,887.

(There has been considerable anxiety over Rafer’s age. Many sources – for many years – carried his birthdate as 18 August 1935, but his family confirmed he was born in 1934, making him 86 when he passed on Wednesday. Our original posting had him as 85, but has been corrected.)

Competing under the direction of UCLA coach Ducky Drake, he led UCLA to the 1956 NCAA track & field championship – its first in the sport – with 16 points from runner-up finishes in the high hurdles and long jump. He made the Olympic team in the long jump and just missed making the hurdles final at the Final Trials at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. At the separate Olympic Trials for the decathlon, he won by 191 over Milt Campbell with 7,755 despite injuring a knee during the discus.

He had a lot more trouble with the knee at the Melbourne Games and had to abandon the long jump altogether, and finished second to Campbell, 7,937 to 7,587.

There were more injuries in 1957, but by 1958, he was back on the track – as well as being Student Body President at UCLA – and emerged as the world’s best decathlete. His 1955 world mark had been broken by Soviet Vasiliy Kuznetsov in May (8,014), but Rafer took it back – head to head – at the USA vs. USSR dual before 75,000 spectators in Moscow, scoring 8,302 to 7,865 for Kuznetsov.

He was a starter on the 1958-59 UCLA basketball team under John Wooden, scoring 8.2 points a game for a 16-9 Bruin squad and despite never having played college football, was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the 28th round of the 1959 NFL Draft.

But his focus was clearly on the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. Long-time track & field statistician Barry Schreiber notes that he was in a serious auto accident in 1959, resulting in a significant back injury.

He could barely jog in the early days of 1960, but by April he was sprinting again and training with a new Bruin, Taiwanese C.K. Yang. By the time of the Olympic Trials in July, Johnson smashed Kuznetsov’s 1959 world record of 8,357 by scoring 8,683, ahead of Yang – a guest competitor – who scored 8,426, also better than the old record.

Their duel in Rome is well known, with Johnson winning by staying with Yang during the 1,500 m – and finishing with a lifetime best of 4:49.7 – and then collapsing with his friend after the finish line. Rafer won by just 8,392-8,334.

That’s where his track career ended and Rafer’s incredible life story began. He appeared in several movies, was a sports anchor at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, worked for the Peace Corps and was with Sen. Robert F. Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in 1968 when he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan, holding the assailant down with Rams tackle Rosey Grier and actually taking his gun away.

Soon after, Johnson was invited to go to Chicago and witness the beginnings of what became the Special Olympics, organized by Kennedy’s sister, Eunice Shriver. Rafer came back and helped found Special Olympics California and raised the profile of a fledgling organization into one of the most important support programs for the intellectually challenged worldwide.

In 1971, he joined Continental Telephone as a Vice President, for community and government relations, and its personnel departments, in 42 states, and remained there until retirement. At one time the third-largest independent telco in the country, ConTel was later acquired by GTE, which itself is part of today’s Verizon conglomerate.

Johnson was also never far from the Olympic Movement. He was a key member of the 1970s President’s Commission on Olympic Sports, which led directly to the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 (now the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act), which turned control of the U.S. Olympic efforts to the United States Olympic Committee and largely ended the war for athlete control by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and NCAA.

He was a charter member of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee’s Board of Directors and played a key role in the selection and confirmation of Peter Ueberroth as its President in 1979. And, of course, he was the final torchbearer at the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Games, ascending a rising, narrow staircase – despite a charley horse in one leg – and lighting the Olympic flame once more in the Coliseum.

At the Opening Ceremony of the 1984 Olympic Games (Photo courtesy Rene Henry)

His work with Special Olympics was crowned by having its World Games return to Los Angeles in 2015, where Rafer marched in with one of the teams during that Opening Ceremony, again at the Coliseum.

And if he was in Los Angeles, he never missed a UCLA home track & field meet at Drake Stadium – named for his coach – and the track was dedicated to he and wife Betsy in 2019.

Rafer slowed considerably after a stroke in 2018, and he passed with his family in his Sherman Oaks home early Wednesday morning.

Of his friend and a man who changed his life, Ueberroth said, “He’s one of those rare individuals that thinks about the other person first, and basically helped everybody that he has touched in his lifetime.”

Giants of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles (l-r): Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, Rafer Johnson, Peter Ueberroth (Photo courtesy Peter Ueberroth)

His 1960 Olympic teammate, swimmer Donna de Varona – then just 13! – remembered her lifelong friend thus:

“He had an elegance about him. He was as strong as he was gentle.

“He was humble, so humble. I recall asking him why he was so devoted to the Special Olympics movement. He told me, in many ways he identified with the struggles of those he championed.

“As the founder of the Special Olympics organization in Southern California, Rafer was unstoppable. Financing the World Games was a full-time job and Rafer was not going to fail. He never missed meetings, outings or interviews. During the 2015 Games Rafer, at age 81, seemed as if he had boundless energy as he raced from one venue to another. He was happiest when mingling with the Special Olympic competitors and their families.”

His UCLA track & field teammate Stan King, also a fraternity brother at UCLA and a long-time track & field official in Southern California, stayed close with Rafer over the decades. He added:

“If anyone, during our lifetime, has made an indelible impact on all peoples, it has been Rafer. A humble man with a charming smile and a caring heart, he made a profound difference in this world. His accomplishments were incomparable, but his integrity and kindness were his trademarks.”

In contrast to today’s coarse, discordant, angry public culture, Rafer demonstrated again and again a powerful force of presence that made dignity, patience and calm the tools that can solve problems of all kinds. He was one of a kind and irreplaceable. But we need many more Rafers and we need them now.

● For an excellent summary of Rafer’s life and achievements, please see the family’s announcement following his passing, masterfully constructed by longtime family friend Michael Roth, the communications chief for the Anschutz Entertainment Group.

● UCLA’s first tribute to one of its true icons is here. There will be more.

● The LA84 Foundation, of which Johnson was a founding Board member, saluted him with an exhibition earlier this year, which can be viewed in part online here.

On Monday, the track & field world lost another champion, long jumper Arnie Robinson, who lost his battle with a brain tumor on Tuesday morning, aged 72.

His quiet demeanor hid a steely determination to be the best in the world, as his competitors well knew. He was a San Diego legend, attending Morse High School, San Diego Mesa Community College and then San Diego State, where he was the 1970 NCAA Champion.

Robinson was the finest long jumper of the mid-1970s, winning the U.S. national title in 1971-72-1975-76-77-78, earning a gold medal at the 1971 Pan American Games and the silver in 1975 and two Olympic medals: a bronze in 1972 in Munich and the gold in Montreal in 1976. His lifetime best of 8.35 m (27-4 3/4) came under the greatest pressure meet of all: the 1976 Olympic Games.

Lanky, even frail-looking at 6-2 and just 165 pounds, Robinson developed excellent speed at the takeoff point and almost always fell forward, making the most of his jumps.

Because he was so quiet, he was widely overlooked by sponsors and went into construction after his athletic career wound down. In 1982, he began coaching at Mesa and became a professor in Health and Exercise Science, a position he maintained until retirement. Robinson retired from coaching and teaching in 2010 as both a teacher and track coach; his 1998 women’s team won the California Community College State Championship.

In a 2018 feature in the San Diego Union-Tribune, his start in the sport was remembered:

“‘The way it started, he would train himself,’ recalled his sister, Carolyn Johnson. ‘I remember one day specifically, he took an old mattress our mom had set out. He put it in the driveway by the garage. That’s how he started the long jump. I thought it was crazy.’”

What was Robinson about? The story noted:

“The more you learn about the 70-year-old, the more you come to understand that he’s a find-a-way guy. When he didn’t have enough money to buy a house near his childhood neighborhood, he built one from the ground up. When he picked up bowling, he polished his game in a Lemon Grove league until he recorded a 230 average with one of those devastating hooks the pros deliver.

“When youth track in San Diego lacked a caretaker, he chalked the lines for the lanes himself. When the youngest in the sport needed timing equipment, [son] Paul Robinson said his father spent more than $35,000 of his own money to make it happen.”

Robinson was nearly killed in a 2000 auto accident, but recovered. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2005 and was expected to live just another six months, but he only succumbed some 15 years later. Family friend Brian Kyle said at the time:

“You can’t be attached to someone like Arnie and be a quitter.”

Rich Perelman
Editor

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ATHLETICS: Olympic Decathlon gold medalist Rafer Johnson passes at 86

By
Rich Perelman
-
Rafer and Betsy Johnson at the October 20198 dedication of the Betsy and Rafer Johnson Track at UCLA (Photo: UCLA)

Sad news from Los Angeles, where Rafer Johnson, one of track & field’s iconic performers, passed away this morning, aged 86.

Johnson had been in fragile health since a stroke in 2018 and passed away at his home this morning (2nd), with his family.

At the dedication of UCLA’s Drake Stadium track in October 2019, his daughter, Jenny Johnson Jordan, told more than 500 attendees of Rafer and his wife, Betsy:

“Growing up, my brother [Josh] and I were asked many times the question, ‘who do you look up to?’ And in most instances, I can tell people wanted to name a famous athlete, a popular athlete at the time, but the truth was that never really felt authentic to either one of us. The only two people that came to mind in terms of role models would be our parents. The people that were living in our home, that we got to see, each and every day. They were our role models then, and they still are to this day.”

The scope of Rafer Johnson’s impact on UCLA and Los Angeles has been lost over time, but it’s quite amazing. Beyond his Olympic triumphs in Melbourne (decathlon silver medal) and Rome (decathlon gold medal), he was also a member of the 1956 NCAA title team for Coach Ducky Drake – the only one Drake won – and was UCLA’s Student Body President, graduating in 1959.

His life and the story of Los Angeles have been intertwined ever since. He worked on the 1968 presidential campaign of then-Sen. Robert Kennedy and after Kennedy’s assassination in Los Angeles, teamed with Kennedy’s sister, Eunice Shriver, to create Special Olympics California. Now known as Special Olympic Southern California, he helped bring the Special Olympics World Games to Los Angeles (and UCLA) in 1972 and again in 2015.

As a founding Board member of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, he is said to have cast the deciding vote that named Peter V. Ueberroth as president, and later was the final torchbearer in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the Opening Ceremony on 28 July 1984. He has served as a Board member of the charitable legacy of the Games, the LA84 Foundation, ever since.

More to come.

LANE ONE: Two track & field stars confront the dangers of not competing enough: no one cares when you do

By
Rich Perelman
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Rio Olympic 1,500 m champ Matthew Centrowitz (USA) (Photo: Erik van Leeuwen via Wikimedia Commons)

There is a lot of trash on Twitter. But last week there was a remarkable conversation between two former University of Oregon stars which pinpointed a substantial issue that is depriving the sport of a higher profile.

The talkers were 2013-14 NCAA 1,500 m champion Mac Fleet (best of 3:38.35 in 2013) and 2016 Olympic 1,500 Champion Matthew Centrowitz, both of whom are still active. Last Friday morning, Fleet reacted to a Citius Magazine post and the discussion went on from there (tweets are shown as published):

● Nov. 24: Citius Magazine:

People asking ‘How do you make track more entertaining?’ are asking (and answering) the wrong question.

Track is entertaining. People that don’t think so simply aren’t paying attention. I know because I used to be one of them.” – @DanielWinn

● Nov. 27: Fleet:

While all of this is true, it absolutely needs to be presented in a non-train wreck fashion, which most Track & Field coverage is. You shouldn’t have to explain to your friend they missed a race move while NBC does a 5 minute cutaway story on someone not in contention at [Olympic Trials].

[2-3-4-5] Finding commentators that are professionals first needs to be a priority. Being a mega fan or former pro shouldn’t be automatically qualifying to be on TV or stream. Trying to “get into” a new sport while the commentators can’t even get anyone’s names correct is a huge issue.

Predetermined “interesting” cutaway stories need to be banished. Every race is more interesting while its happening live. Commentators need to tell the story that’s happening LIVE in front of them.

Track & Field meet directors should seriously consider hiring an action sport company/sponsor (think redbull types) to put their spin on producing a track meet. These companies excel at presenting niche sports and would likely come up with a better fan experience.

We need Tony Romos not Jason Wittens.

● Centrowitz:

While this would all be nice, I don’t think this is still THE solution. To keep it simple, track athletes need to compete/race more. 82 games are the least amount played in the major sports. Most athletes race 10 or less times. We need more exposure. We need to incorporate sports

[2] gambling to track & field. We need to allow spectators to drink beer (like at some European meets). We need to fill track & field on days when no other sport is being televised. Imagine if we had a meet on a random Wednesday and some people were looking for a sports outing or

[3] something to bet on tv. We can’t just put track races on the weekend when other big sporting games are on. The Olympics are in August when NBA is done. Football hasn’t started. Before the playoffs in baseball start. People are looking for anything.

● Fleet:

Imagine even a free Diamond League betting app using DL “points”. Watch a meet, get 100 pts to gamble, win DL gear and trips to meets. Keeps people engaged long term and short term.

● Centrowitz:

100%. There are so many ways you could do it. At the end of the day, when gambling gets involved, people will show more of an interest to track and follow athletes. Imagine people showing up to workouts to see how an athlete is getting on. Imagine people reading scout reports.

[2] It’d almost be no different than horse racing

● Then this from @TrackSuperFan Jesse Squire:

T&F’s biggest challenge past high school is that our athletes compete less often than in any other sport save horse racing and boxing. Not coincidentally, these are the only sports whose popularity dropoff are larger than T&F’s.

● And from NBC Sports at-large writer and long-time observer Tim Layden:

What is the target fan base?

1) People who love T&F but are frustrated with the current model?
2) NFL/NBA/MLB/NHL/College sports/X-Games fans who are barely aware of T&F except Oly?

The first is a worthy endeavor. The second feels like very heavy lifting.

There were a lot of replies and many more tweets from Fleet, which you can follow from the links above. Replies to Centrowitz noted football (both kinds) plays less than 82 games (true, but the NFL plays for 22 consecutive weeks and Major League Soccer for 34 straight weeks).

But that’s not the point.

The head of the world’s most successful sport – Gianni Infantino (SUI) of FIFA – made the point during his 3 March 2020 speech at the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Ordinary Congress. He told the heads of European soccer that it’s time to look into changing everything:

“I think that this will be really the topic – the international match calendar – that we have to focus on for the future of football. … It has to be fine-tuned. It has to be debated. It has to be discussed by all stakeholders.

“We have to ask ourselves many questions that maybe we avoided to ask ourselves in the past. ‘How many matches can a player play in a year?’ ‘How many competitions do we have?’ ‘How many competitions should we have?’ ‘What kind of competitions do we need for the future?’ ‘Do we play too much or don’t we play enough, maybe, in some parts of the world?’ And we have to realize that the international match calendar is a global match calendar which has to take into account many issues such as, of course, climate and geography.

“And, you know, [in] this we need to consider the fans as well. The fans are the lifeblood of football. I had the pleasure to assist in Belfast on Saturday the quarterfinal of the Irish F.A. Cup between Glentoran and Crusaders, and it was freezing cold. But there were a few thousand people watching this game and supporting their team. These are the true, core football fans and we have to work for them, of course, and offer them what they want to see, and if possible even a little bit more.”

This is even more crucial for track & field in the U.S. with the Olympic Trials and Tokyo Games in 2021 – it looks like they will happen – and then the World Championships in Eugene in 2022, followed by the 2023 Worlds, 2024 Olympic Games, 2025 Worlds and the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

Infantino is worried about players being stressed with too many matches. Centrowitz has correctly pointed to track & field’s problem of the sport’s stars competing too sparingly, almost invisible outside of their national championships and when their events are in the Wanda Diamond League circuit of 14 meets across 16 weeks (with a month’s gap in the middle).

This issue is especially timely given the recent conclusion of the second season of the International Swimming League. Funded by Ukranian energy billionaire Konstantin Grigorishin, this concept places swimmers on 10 teams, with contracted pay, who compete in quadrangular meets.

In this Covid-19-challenged year, the ISL shoehorned a 10-meet schedule plus two rounds of playoffs into just 37 days (!) in a sequestered program in Budapest (HUN). That meant star swimmers who usually race once or twice a month at most during the spring and summer now were racing multiple events – as in college dual meets – in two-day meets as often as twice a week!

And they loved it.

Whether ISL can survive will depend on whether it can attract sponsors, television support and spectators, all impossible to do in 2020. But it’s out there and with high, if overwrought, television production values. And it has raised the profile and set the table for emerging U.S. Olympic superstars like sprinter Caeleb Dressel and breaststroker Lilly King.

Centrowitz has identified one of the keys to future success for track & field, especially in the United States, in the availability (and promotion) of its stars … not just the availability of meets. Whether gambling is the right way to achieve this needs more discussion, but as Infantino said, more discussion among the stakeholders – athletes, coaches, meet directors, broadcasters and sponsors – is exactly what is needed right now.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: Tokyo postponement might cost $2.88 billion, de Varona and Naber elected to USOPC Board; Lolo Jones wants a ‘22 Beijing trip

By
Rich Perelman
-

News, views and noise from the non-stop, worldwide circus of Olympic sport:

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● Reports across Japanese media on Sunday indicated that the current estimate for the added cost of postponing the 2020 Olympic Games to 2021 will be about 200 billion Japanese yen (~$1.92 billion U.S.) and another 100 billion yen (~$0.96 billion U.S.) for coronavirus countermeasures.

That’s as much as $2.88 billion U.S. on top of the current budget of $12.6 billion U.S., depending on how the budgeted contingency of $0.3 billion is shown.

The figures are from unnamed sources and provided no breakdown of the costs and whether these are costs only, or net figures of the added expense of postponement less any new revenues. The Kyodo News Service reported:

“The organizing committee, the Tokyo metropolitan government and Japanese government are planning to decide in December how much of the burden each will shoulder after discussing the added cost of implementing measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus at the games next summer.

“Additional costs are expected to include expenses related to securing games’ venues, equipment rental and storage fees, and expenditures on labor.”

The Tokyo organizers have repeatedly said that its cost estimates would be disclosed publicly by the end of the year and did not confirm the published figures appearing over the weekend.

● Games of the XXXV Olympiad 2032 ● A potential joint bid by the Chinese cities of Chengdu and Chongqing appears to be over before it got started.

The South China Morning Post reported that Jizhong Wei, the former secretary general of the Chinese Olympic Committee, downplayed the bid concept:

“‘It’s just an idea in someone’s head,’ Wei told the Post. ‘Anyone can say anything but it’s only an idea. The Chinese Olympic Committee has not said anything and I’m not taking it seriously for now.

“‘For me, we have to give a chance to other cities around the world. We already have the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing and according to IOC policy, they want to reduce costs. This allows other cities around the world to make realistic bids.’”

The bid concept came from a proposed sport development program for the Sichuan region.

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● The two representatives to the USOPC Board from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Alumni Association (USOPA) will be swimming gold medalists Donna de Varona and John Naber, according to a posting on the private USOPA Facebook page today.

De Varona won two swimming golds at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo at age 17 after being part of the American team in Rome in 1960 at 13! She has had a long career in broadcast television as well as in social activism. Naber was the four-time Olympic gold medalist – plus a silver – in swimming at the 1976 Montreal Games and has long been active in athletics governance, including as a Board member of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1984 Games.

De Varona will serve for four years and Naber for two in the staggered Board-seat system now in use at the USOPC, both starting on 1 January 2021. They collected more votes in the month-long election period than former track & field athletes Benita Fitzgerald-Mosley and Rich Kenah.

Fitzgerald-Mosley was the 100 m hurdles Olympic gold medalist in Los Angeles in 1984 and has served as a senior staff members with USA Track & Field and with the USOC in the past. Kenah was a World Track & Field Championships bronze medalist in the 800 m and now heads the Atlanta Track Club, which organized the successful 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials in February.

● Athletics ● Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw, 21, ran the second-fastest Half Marathon in women’s history with her 1:04:46 victory at the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon.

Only the world record of 1:04:31 by countrywoman Yeshaneh Ababel on 21 February of this year in Ras Al Khaimah (UAE) is faster.

Yalemzerf was sixth in that race (1:06:35) a close third at the World Half Marathon Championships in Poland last month (1:05:19 personal best) – even after slipping with 80 m left – but shattered her best by 33 seconds in New Delhi. She broke away with 3 km to go and collected prize money of $37,000 for the win and a race record.

● Basketball ● In the final game of Sunday’s FIBA Americup qualifying matches, Mexico defeated Puerto Rico, 81-56. Monday’s games at the Indianapolis Convention Center:

● Puerto Rico (0-3) vs. Bahamas (1-2)
● United States (3-0) vs. Mexico (2-1)

There are two more games to be played in this group in February, with the U.S. facing Bahamas and Mexico again en route to the 2022 Americup Championship tournament.

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The continuing difficulties of international travel during the coronavirus pandemic has led to the cancellation of the planned IBSF World Cup events in Beijing next March, as well as – just as importantly – the training week on the 2022 Olympic Winter Games track.

This follows the cancellation of the World Cup and training period for luge as well, with the training period for both sports re-scheduled for October 2021, a few months prior to the Beijing Winter Games.

● Football ● After a 0-0 draw with Wales and a 6-2 win over Panama, the U.S. Men’s National Team will face one more opponent in 2020, in a friendly on 9 December against El Salvador in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Said U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter: “Playing against El Salvador gives us an opportunity to face a CONCACAF opponent that we haven’t seen yet and will be a valuable experience. We want to build on this year’s work while continuing to evaluate the player pool as we head into a busy 2021.”

The Inter Miami CF Stadium will have fans in attendance, but limited to 2,500. The game will be televised by ESPN, Unimas and TUDN beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. The U.S. holds a 17-1-5 record in the all-time series that began in 1977.

● Sailing ● Sad news of the passing of American sailor Kevin Burnham, a two-time Olympic medalist on 27 November. World Sailing posted a tribute, including:

“It is with great sadness that World Sailing reports the passing of Kevin Burnham, aged 63, on Friday 27 November 2020 after a long, courageous battle with pulmonary disease.

“Burnham is a three-time Olympic sailor and a two-time Olympic medalist for Team USA. He won Athens 2004 Olympic [470 class] gold with Paul Foerster and a [470] silver medal with Morgan Reeser at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. Burnham and Foerster were named Rolex Yachtsman of the Year for their gold medal performance and were nominated for Rolex World Sailor of the Year. Burnham also won a gold medal at the 1986 Goodwill Games.”

Cory Sertl, President of US Sailing, added: “Kevin’s accomplishments as a sailor are extraordinary and his Olympic spirit is iconic. We will remember the energy he had for coaching and teaching sailing. Kevin was an inspiration to so many and will be missed by all who had the pleasure to know him.”

He is survived by wife Elizabeth Kratzig, son Eddie Burnham, daughter Kyla Burnham, brother Greg Burnham, and his father Bruce Burnham.

● Swimming ● Although the International Swimming League season has passed, the record books continue to be altered, with a short-course world mark last Friday by 19-year-old Australian Kaylee McKeown.

She smashed the six-year-old mark in the short-course 200 m Backstroke, finishing in 1:58.94 at the (virtual) national short-course championships in Brisbane. Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu had the prior best of 1:59.23 from the 2014 World 25 m Championships in Doha (QAT) in 2014.

Swimmers competed across the country, but reportedly under proper conditions for record purposes. Said McKeown:

“I didn’t actually know till a few minutes later.

“It feels good and definitely different in a year where I have had my ups and downs. It’s the hardest year that I’ve gone through with my father passing away in August.

“He has been a motivation behind me so I just want to give it my best while I can.”

● Weightlifting ● Ace Olympic statistician Dr. Bill Mallon posted a fascinating series of tweets that showed the depth of doping in weightlifting during the 2012 Olympic Games in London in the aftermath of three more doping positives announced by the IOC last week. Mallon noted:

● There are now 143 confirmed doping positives from London, across 10 sports: 92 in track & field, 37 in weightlifting, four each in cycling and wrestling and one in six other sports.

● For track & field, 92 positives vs. 2,080 entrants is 4.4%. For weightlifting, 37 positives vs. 252 entrants is 14.7%.

● In track & field, 19 athletes or teams lost medals (7-10-2) across 47 events; in weightlifting, 18 athletes lost medals (5-5-8) across 15 events ~ more than one per event!

The IAAF (now World Athletics) set up the independently-operated Athletics Integrity Unit in April, 2017 to contain doping, gambling and other issues in the sport. The International Weightlifting Federation finally agreed to turn its anti-doping program over to the International Testing Agency in September, 2019.

If you agree with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the break-up of the USSR was a tragedy, take heart: Of the 143 doping positives in 2012, 101 were from former Soviet republics (Russia 47, Ukraine 17, Belarus 15, Kazakhstan 6, Moldova 4, Uzbekistan 4, Armenia 3, Azerbaijan 3, Georgia 2).

The passing of actor David Prowse, 85, who was the physical (but not vocal) presence of Darth Vader in the Star Wars film series, was noted by the British weightlifting federation, for his outstanding career as a weightlifter.

Prowse, who stood 6-7, passed last Saturday after a short illness. He was the national heavyweight champion in 1962-63-64 and was a member of the British team at the 1962 World Championships and the 1962 Commonwealth Games.

● At the BuZZer ● Lolo Jones has her sights set on Beijing, again.

Jones, now 38, made her fifth U.S. national team in bobsled this month and tweeted that she is ready to return to Beijing after her ill-fated, near-medal performance in the 100 m hurdles in 2008:

“I have not returned to Beijing China since I lost Olympic gold.

“…after years of counseling (lol), Xanax and faith from one teammate to try one last time, I will make an effort to end my career there.”

She told The Associated Press:

“I would love to have the biggest failure of my life turned into the biggest success, and I would love for people to be encouraged by that persistence, determination, all these cliche things that Olympians say.”

Jones won the U.S. Olympic Trials in the hurdles in 2008 and won her heat and semi at the Games in Beijing, but hit the ninth hurdle on her way to victory in the final, finishing seventh as American Dawn Harper-Nelson won the Olympic title.

She thought she was done with bobsled after missing the 2018 team. But she was encouraged by two-time Olympic champ driver Kaillie Humphries to try one more time, for a second trip to Beijing.

HIGHLIGHTS: Winter season starts in earnest, first World Cup medal for U.S.’s Moltzan; U.S. crushes Bahamas in FIBA Americup qualifying

By
Rich Perelman
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Celebrating the first-ever Alpine World Cup medal for U.S.'s Paula Moltzan (Photo: U.S. Ski & Snowboard Federation)

Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Alpine Skiing ● The re-scheduled parallel races at Lech in Austria saw Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova extend her winning streak to three in the new season.

Vlhova defeated American Paula Moltzan in the final on the Parallel Giant Slalom course, winning both races decisively. But this was the first-ever World Cup medal for Moltzan, 26, after breaking into the top 10 for the first time in the season opener in Soelden (also a Giant Slalom). Swiss Lara Gut-Berhami took third; American Mikaela Shiffrin did not compete.

France’s Alexis Pinturault took his 30th World Cup win in the men’s racing, winning the final against Norwegian veteran Henrik Kristoffersen by two races to none. German Alexander Schmid was third.

The men will head to Santa Caterina (ITA) for Giant Slalom racing next weekend, while the women will be in St. Moritz (SUI) for two Super-G races.

● Basketball ● The 2022 Americup qualifying competition continued this weekend, with all of the Group D games held at the Indianapolis Convention Center to minimize travel and Covid-19 complications.

The U.S. came in with a 2-0 mark after two wins against Puerto Rico last February and raced out to a 53-29 lead at halftime against the Bahamas in the first senior-level meeting between the countries. The American team is made up primarily of G League players; forward Amile Jefferson (Lakeland Magic) had 11 points and eight rebounds to lead the first-half attack.

Coach Mike Fratello saw five players finish in double figures, led by Jefferson (17 and 11 rebounds) in the 99-59 final. Guards Tyler Hall and John Jenkins both had 12; forward Levi Randolph had 11 and guard Travis Trice had 10. The U.S. shot 51.3% from the floor and held the Bahamas to 30.2%.

The U.S. will play Mexico on Monday to complete this round.

The final window in this round comes in mid-February, with the U.S. to play the Bahamas and Mexico once again.

● Biathlon ● The IBU World Cup season opened in Koniolahti, Finland on Saturday, with a surprise victory for Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid, 23, who won in just his fourth World Cup start. His perfect, 20-for-20 shooting was key to defeating superstar countryman Johannes Thingnes Boe, 48:57.0 to 49:16.4. German Erik Lesser was third in 50:00.6.

Two-time defending World Cup champ Dorothea Wierer won the women’s 15 km opener, with a 35.1-second edge after the final shooting stage, but tiring and finishing just 0.8 seconds ahead of Denise Hermann (GER) in 44:00.9. Johanna Skottheim (SWE) finished third in 44:25.0.

On Sunday, order was restored as Boe won his 49th individual World Cup race in the 10 km Sprint, incurring no penalties and finishing 44.1 seconds up on Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson, 23:53.0-24:37.1, with Martin Ponsiluoma (SWE) third.

Swede Hanna Oberg dominated the women’s 7,5 km Sprint, also shooting clean and winning by 23.9 seconds in 21:01.4, ahead of Norwegians Marte Olsbu Roeiseland and Karoline Knotten.

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The IBSF World Cup remained in Sigulda, Latvia for a second week in a row to keep virus exposure down, but the top of the podium hasn’t changed much.

Double Olympic gold medalist Francesco Friedrich (GER) won the first two-man race for his third straight win on the season, this time with Thorsten Margis as brakeman. Latvia’s Oskars Kibermanis (with Matiss Miknis) won the silver, just 0.1 back (1:38.78 to 1:38.88), and Swiss Simon Friedli (with Gregory Jones) was third (1:39.20).

On Sunday, Friedrich won again – this time with Alexander Schueller in the sled – in 1:38.38, 0.44 seconds clear of Swiss Michael Vogt (Sandro Michel, in 1:38.82) and Germany’s Johannes Lochner and Christian Rasp (1:38.91).

Germany continued its winning ways in the two-women race, but this time it was Laura Nolte (with Leonie Fiebig aboard) who claimed the victory. They finished in 1:42.37, well ahead of the two second-place finishers, Mariama Jamanka/Vanessa Mark (GER) and Kim Kalicki/Ann-Christin Strack.

In Skeleton, six-time World Champion Martins Dukurs won again on his home track, edging his older brother Tomass, 1:38.91-1:39.10, and winning both runs. Britain’s Marcus Wyatt was impressive in third (1:39.85), putting up the no. 3 time on the second run to move up from sixth.

Austria’s Janine Flock also repeated as the Sigulda winner, this time over former World Cup champ Elena Nikitina (RUS), 1:42.93 to 1:43.58, with Kimberley Bos (NED) and German Tina Hermann tying for third at 1:43.73.

The sliders will have a couple of weeks until the next set of races in Innsbruck (AUT) in mid-December. The U.S. did not compete in Sigulda, but may be able to race in December.

● Figure Skating ● The ISU Grand Prix’s NHK Trophy competition was held in Osaka, Japan from Friday through Sunday, with an almost all-Japanese entry list.

The men’s competition was dominated by World Junior silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama, 17, who nailed three quadruple jumps and won by 275.87-226.62 over Kazuki Tomono, and Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda (217.56). Kagiyama won both the Short Program and Free Skate by wide margins.

The 2018 Four Continents champion, Kaori Sakamoto, similarly dominated the women’s division, piling up 229.51 points to win by almost 29 points over Wakaba Higuchi, 229.51-200.98, with Rino Matsuike third (198.97).

Pairs was not held and Misato Komatsubara and Tim Koleto won the three-entrant Ice Dance event, scoring 179.05 to hold off Rikako Fukase and Eichu Cho (157.89).

This was the last of the Grand Prix meetings to be held; the Grand Prix Final in Beijing (CHN) has been postponed, but might be rescheduled in some other location.

● Luge ● The FIL World Cup season opened in Innsbruck, Austria, with familiar faces on the podium once again, led by Germany’s Felix Loch.

The Olympic gold medalist in Vancouver and Sochi, Loch won both runs and finished in 1:39.941, well ahead of countryman Johannes Ludwig (1:40.057) and Dominik Fischnaller (ITA: 1:40.121) in the all-European field. Loch also won the Sprint race, with Austrians David Gleirscher second and Jonas Mueller third.

Austria’s Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller won the Doubles in 1:19.253, in a tight battle with countrymen Yannick Muller and Armin Frauscher (1:19.478). Three-time World Champions Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken (GER) finished third in 1:19.533. Steu and Koller triumphed in the Sprint as well, winning in 30.118 over Andris and Juris Sics of Latvia (30.209).

Defending World Cup champ Julia Taubitz (GER) was the women’s winner, ahead of 2014-18 Olympic gold medalist Natalie Geisenberger (GER), 1:20.289-1:20.409, with Datjana Eitberger (1:20.559) completing the German sweep. The standings were the same for the Sprint, with Taubitz winning by 30.138-30.205.

● Nordic Skiing ● The 11th edition of the “Nordic Opening” was held successfully in Ruka, Finland, featuring all three disciplines and strong results, as expected, for Norway.

The Cross Country competitions all had Norwegian winners: Erik Valnes in the Classical Sprint, and two-time World Cup champion Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo in the 15 km Classical and 10 km Freestyle Pursuit. Klaebo won medals in all three races – silver in the Sprint – and Emil Iversen (NOR) and Russia’s reigning World Cup winner Alexander Bolshunov each won two medals.

The women’s racing showed that Norway’s 32-year-old Therese Johaug, the 2020 World Cup champ, isn’t going anywhere, as she won both the 10 km Classical (+21.8 seconds) and 10 m Freestyle Pursuit (+47.0), as well as the combined time award. Sweden swept the Classical Sprint with Linn Svahn, Maja Dahlqvist and Jonna Sundling taking the medals. Sweden won two more medals behind Johaug in the 10 km Classical with Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson and Andersson was third in the Pursuit on Sunday.

In Nordic Combined, two-time defending World Cup champ Jarl Magnus Riiber of Norway showed he will be heard to beat, winning the 142 m jumping/5 km race on Friday, the 10 km event on Saturday and then saw teammate Jens Luras Oftebro – third in the 5 km event – win Sunday’s 10 km effort. Riiber did not compete on Sunday as high winds made the jumping impossible and having been disqualified in the provisional competition jumping round on Thursday, he was not allowed to start.

Austria’s Johannes Lamparter was second in the 5 km race, 2014-18 Olympic gold medalist Eric Frenzel (GER) was runner-up in the first 10 km race (Saturday) and Fabian Reissle (GER) was second in Sunday’s 10 km event.

In Ski Jumping, the 142 m hill in Ruka saw Germany’s Markus Eisenbichler win easily on Saturday with 313.4 points, well ahead of Poles Piotr Zyla (294.1) and Dawid Kubacki (293.9). Eisenbichler and Kubacki won medals on Sunday as well, but had to settle for silver and bronze thanks to the surprise first World Cup medal (and victory) for Norway’s Halvor Egner Granerud, 282.0-272.1-265.6.

● Sport Climbing ● The European Championships in Moscow produced two more Olympic qualifiers, with Russians Alexei Rubtsov winning the Combined men’s title and Viktoriia Meshkova taking the women’s competition.

Rubtsov won the Bouldering stage to take the lead and then finished fourth in Lead to complete his victory. Swiss Sascha Lehmann finished second with 24 points (placing 4th in Speed, 3rd in Bouldering and 2nd in Lead) to 20 for Rubtsov; Sergei Luzhetskii (RUS) was third (30).

Meshkova was second in Speed, and won the Lead event to take the women’s championship with an impressive 12 points, ahead of Serbia’s Stasa Gejo (15) and Eliska Adamovska (CZE: 64). Gejo was third in Speed, won the Bouldering event, but could not keep up with Meshkova in Lead and had to settle for silver.

THE TICKER: Athletes will be in-and-out of Tokyo; IOC unhappy with AIBA, IWF and Belarus; appeals filed in the Coleman and Naser doping cases

By
Rich Perelman
-

The latest news, notes and quotes from the worldwide Five-Ring Circus:

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee provided a summary of a “joint project review” from 16-18 November with the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee in which planning for coronavirus countermeasures was the highlighted topic.

Both the Japanese national government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government were involved and considered multiple open questions including:

● Immigration control: “If it is not possible to enforce a 14-day isolation period and avoid use of public transportation, then what additional quarantine measures (screening tests, codes of conduct, limited business destinations) should be enforced that guarantees the same level of safety?”

● In-venue operations: “Based off criteria set by the host country, Japan, as a general rule a two-meter distance should be observed by athletes (with exceptions during competitions), and at least a one-meter distance (if possible two meters) at other times. The venue capacity for spectators will follow guidelines set by the Government of Japan.”

Kyodo News reported that “Indoor venues will be ventilated at least every 30 minutes, according to the plan.

“In the Olympic Village, people will only be allowed to stay at its cafeteria for 30 minutes for breakfast and one hour for lunch and dinner to prevent infections. To avoid congestion, they will receive daily menus on their smartphones, the sources said.”

The testing protocols will vary by sport, according to the intensity of contact between the participants; for example, rugby and swimming are quite different in this regard. A comprehensive report on the measures to be taken is expected to be filed by the end of the year.

SwimmingWorldMagazine.com reported that an announcement on Australia’s “Channel 7 Sunrise” program included:

● “Athletes would almost certainly fly into Tokyo five days before the Games and fly out when finished;

● “They would be tested before and on arrival and tested almost on a daily basis

● “Swimmers, rowers and track and field athletes would not march in the Opening Ceremony.

● “That only 7000 people would be in the Village at any one time and not the 16,500 originally touted and;

● “Athletes would have to return home straight after their events and miss the Closing Ceremony”

That this information comes from Australia is significant in that the head of the IOC’s Coordination Commission is Australian John Coates, so these conditions are likely to come right out of the meetings with the Tokyo organizers and governments.

Have no doubt that these measures, if implemented successfully in 2021, will be integrated – at least in part – into the organizational blueprint of future Games.

The Tokyo organizers also announced a large program of 18 test events to take place from March through May of 2021 (schedule here). Many will be held at Games venues and test not only the competition preparation, but also Covid-19 countermeasures.

The Japanese government is considering requiring foreign visitors for the Games to have private health insurance as well as testing negative for the virus prior to admission to Japan. Under current Japanese law, anyone with the virus would be treated at government cost, which could run into millions of dollars.

The IOC also provided a summary of a planning meeting of its Executive Board on Wednesday, with significant comments on three pending situations:

(1) The IOC has decided to open an investigation into complaints from athletes in Belarus concerning possible retaliation against athletes who are part of the political protests in that country and whether funds provided by the IOC are being used as intended;

(2) AIBA, the international boxing federation now on suspension, is scheduled to hold a constitutional congress and elect its president on 12-13 December. However, the IOC’s continuing unhappiness was clearly expressed:

“The IOC EB took note that the IOC recommendation to put the AIBA reforms and their implementation first has not been respected to date. For this reason, the IOC will consider the position of AIBA only after seeing that the reforms are being adopted and implemented.

“On this occasion, the IOC will also have to take into consideration the concerns which have been raised against some of the candidates for the AIBA presidency and their potential impact on recognition.”

(3) On the continuing drama at the International Weightlifting Federation, the IOC noted the new accusations of a doping cover-up by former chief Tamas Ajan (HUN) related to Azerbaijani athletes and multiple doping positives from Vietnam. And the sport is in more political trouble:

“Finally, with regard to governance, it has been noted that Maxim Agapitov last weekend won the presidency of the Russian Weightlifting Federation for a second term. He will also run for the European Weightlifting Federation presidency in April 2021, with an election due to take place in Moscow.

“When Agapitov was an athlete, he tested positive in 1994 and was banned for two years.”

And to pile on further, the IOC also announced three more doping positives from the 2012 London Games, all concerning Romanian weightlifters:

● Razvan Martin, the men’s 69 kg bronze medalist, was disqualified for the presence of a banned substance;

● Gabriel Sincraian, who did not place in the men’s 85 kg class, was disqualified for the use of the steroids Metenolone and Stanozolol;

● Roxana Cocos, the women’s 69 kg silver medalist, was also disqualified for the presence of a banned substance.

With these three disqualifications, the Romanian weightlifting squad for 2012 earns the dubious honor of having its entire squad of four athletes – three men and one woman – all disqualified for doping.

These three findings bring the London total to 80 disqualifications for doping, the most of any Games in history.

As regards Russian participation in Tokyo, the Court of Arbitration for Sport is expected to release its decision on the appeal of the four-year sanction handed down by the World Anti-Doping Agency. In the latest slam against the proceedings, Russian Cross-Country Ski Federation chief Yelena Vyalbe said last week on the Rossiya-24 television channel:

“The most deplorable scenario will see our country banned; we will be without the national flag and anthem, but we have been through all of this already and are now braced for everything.

“I believe that it’s high time to wrap it up, to simply call it quits at some moment. If Russia loses, it will become the moment of truth, because there will be nothing left to do for the International Olympic Committee and all decisions will be made by WADA.

“The IOC must think twice now, but I believe that the truth will remain on our side.”

● Games of the XXXIII Olympiad: Paris 2024 ● The Paris organizers confirmed recent discussions of slimming the number of venues to be used at the 2024 Olympic Games in order to save more money.

The new plan will eliminate temporary facilities for swimming and volleyball and one less football stadium will be used. Some facilities will be used for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games to further save on installation costs.

Agence France Presse reported earlier that these proposed change could save as much as €150 million (~$178 million U.S.). Paris 2024 has promised to maintain the planned total cost of €3.8 billion (~$4.5 billion U.S.).

International Federations are all jockeying for additional events for Paris 2024 as the IOC Programme Commission gets set to confirm its recommendations to the IOC Executive Board next week.

Canoeing is proposing adding Extreme Slalom – which includes boats turning over during the course – while cutting two sprint events to keep the sport’s total the same. The reason, according to ICF chief Jose Perurena (ESP):

“It’s fast, popular with athletes and spectators alike, and comes across very well on television. It sits nicely inside the IOC brief to introduce new, adrenalin-charged events that appeal to younger audiences.”

The UIPM has proposed a radical change for the modern pentathlon, proposing a 12-competitor final of just 90 minutes in length in an all-in-one stadium format:

(1) 20 mins.: Equestrian
(2) 10 mins. rest
(3) 15 mins.: Fencing
(4) 10 mins. rest
(5) 10 mins.: Swimming
(6) 10 mins. rest
(7) 15 mins.: Laser Run

In addition to the men’s and women’s individual event, the UIPM is proposing a mixed relay, which is already a part of its World Championships.

There are many more proposals; the IOC has mandated that the total number of events is limited to 310.

● Athletics ● To the surprise of absolutely no one, men’s World 100 m Champion Christian Coleman (USA) filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport of his two-year suspension by the Athletics Integrity Unit for filing failures and missed tests in a 12-month period. Coleman is asking that the suspension be annulled or reduced.

At the same time, the Court also announced that World Athletics has filed an appeal against the AIU Disciplinary Tribunal’s holding in the case of women’s World 400 m Champion Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain. That decision found that despite the athlete providing misinformation as to her whereabouts, the Doping Control Officer should have somehow found her and obtained a sample. The federation is asking for a two-year penalty in the case.

According to the Court’s announcement:

“The CAS arbitrations are in progress and the parties will exchange written submissions in the coming weeks. Simultaneously, separate Arbitral Panels are being appointed to decide each matter.”

● Badminton ● The 2019 Memorandum of Understanding between the Badminton World Federation and Special Olympics International is expanding access to the sport to the Special Olympics community worldwide.

The BWF reported that 370,000 players with intellectual disabilities are now playing, and

“The partnership between BWF and SOI is already seeing results. Over the last year, 16 new national-level federation partnerships between national Special Olympics programmes and national badminton federations were formalised. Five of the new national federation partnerships supported the introduction of badminton to a Special Olympics programme (Special Olympics Fiji, Special Olympics Guam, Special Olympics Papua New Guinea, Special Olympics Lithuania, and Special Olympics Norway).”

A very good way to grow the game.

● Football ● The U.S. Women’s National Team played its first match in 261 days at the Rat Verlegh Stadion in Breda (NED) on Friday, in a re-match of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup final against the Netherlands, winning comfortably by 2-0.

U.S. striker Tobin Health almost created a goal in the first minute, but Lynn Williams could not connect with her cross from the left endline. The rest of the half was a physical battle, with Williams just missing on a shot that curved over the crossbar from the left side of the box in the 18th minute. The U.S. kept the pressure on, playing most of the half on the Dutch side of the field. Christen Press scored in the 30th minute, but was called offside.

Finally, another U.S. attack turned into a goal in the 41st minute as Press broke free in the midfield and then passed to Rose Lavelle on the right side. She cross over to free herself for a shot, then lofted a left-footed floater over the head of Dutch keeper Sari van Veenendaal for a 1-0 lead. Heath nearly added another in the 44th minute, as her shot got behind van Veenendaal, but she turned and covered it before it crossed the line. The U.S. women ended the half with only 41% of the possession, but had 12 shots to none for the Dutch.

The U.S. continued to dominate the second half and Williams flicked on a pass to Kristie Mewis, who sent a line drive from the left side of the box to the far side of the goal for a 2-0 lead. It was Kristie Mewis’s first goal for the national team since 2014; she’s the older sister of midfield star Sam Mewis (they are only the second set of sisters to play for the U.S.).

The final statistics showed the Dutch with 62% of the possession, but the U.S. not only pitched a shutout, but had a stunning 14-2 advantage on shots! Indeed, the truly impressive aspect of this friendly was the U.S. defense, which completely shut down a usually competent Dutch attack. The American offense showed some rust, but plenty of star power, in its last match of 2020.

The U.S. women finished 9-0 for the year, and “new” coach Vlatko Andonovski is now 11-0 in his short stint as American head coach.

● Swimming ● In a stunt similar to Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge’s pursuit of the sub-2:00 marathon, American super sprinter Caeleb Dressel will see if he can become the first swimmer to swim 50 m in less than 20 seconds on 10 December.

Suit maker Speedo announced Wednesday that Dressel, the short-course Freestyle world-record holder at 20.16, would swim a short-course 50 m using the now-banned Speedo LZR Racer, which took over the sport from 2008 until eliminated from use in 2010. The full-body suits were made of 50% polyurethane and swimmers wearing them re-wrote the record books.

It’s a publicity stunt for sure: it marks the 20th anniversary of Speedo’s Fastskin swimsuit range, and it will not count for record purposes. Said Speedo brand director Rob Hicking (GBR):

“The impact of the Speedo LZR Racer suit remains a seminal moment in the world of swimming – known as the ‘Super Suit’ era. We have always been committed to finding an edge for our swimmers and have tried everything from sharkskin modelling to testing alongside NASA in the past 20 years under our Fastskin banner.”

The results were be shown on Speedo’s social-media platforms on 10 December.

The International Swimming League stated it plans to pay all its creditors, in view of continuing criticism of its operations over the first two seasons. It announced last weekend:

“Our head-down approach to deliver Season 2020 may have caused friction with some suppliers but we will honour all obligations, which are less than 5 percent of last year’s overall expenditure.

“Going forward, and before planning starts for Season 3, we will need to close all outstanding issues from the past and we will adjust our internal organisation and processes to improve our operational discipline to continue being a reliable partner to all our suppliers. …

“For the first two seasons, we have been mostly focused on showcasing athlete talent and our product to the widest audience possible. We had hoped for meaningful revenues to come in but alongside the impact of the pandemic our commercial operations have also failed significantly with most projections not materialising.

“The way we approach the market will need to be different going forward.”

Complaints from been lodged from staff members and suppliers of communications and broadcast services, dating back to the first year of the program in 2019. ISL concluded its compacted 2020 program of 10 meets, semifinals and finals, all held in Budapest (HUN) last weekend, but has committed to paying monthly stipends to its contracted swimmers well into next year.

● The Last Word ● The latest entrants into the 2032 Olympic derby are the Chinese cities of Chengdu and Chongqing. A joint bid by the two cities was suggested by the Sichuan Sports Bureau, replying to a local official asking for a plan for spots development.

“As part of a national strategy to develop the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, the two cities will bid for the Olympics together to try to host a Games with strong urban and cultural characteristics of the two cities, and to enhance the international influence of the two cities.”

Chengdu, the Sichuan provincial capital, will host the 2021 World University Games, with a population of 16.3 million, while Chongqing sits at the intersection of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers and is one of world’s biggest metropolitan areas at 30.5 million. The two are about 402 km apart (~250 miles).

The front-runner for 2032 has been the Queensland region in Australia, led by Brisbane. But there is also interest in Germany, Indonesia, Qatar, India and possibly a joint Korean bid for Seoul and Pyongyang.

HEARD AT HALFTIME: Dane and Reese first appointees to EOPAAA Commission; NBC signs for 10 years with World Ath; Maroulis loves salsa dancing

By
Rich Perelman
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Will weigh the performance of the USOPC: Olympic long jump champ Brittney Reese (Photo: Mohan via Wikimedia)

News, views and noise from the non-stop, worldwide circus of Olympic sport:

(Errata: Some of our e-mail recipients received a version of Monday’s Lane One story about Caeleb Dressel’s possible chase for nine medals at the Tokyo Games with an incorrect lead stating only Michael Phelps (USA) had won eight medals at one Games. Olympedia.com founder Dr. Bill Mallon notes that Soviet gymnastics Aleksandr Dityatin also did it (3G-4S-1B) at the 1980 Moscow Games. Thanks, Bill!)

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● “As the host city, I’m determined to achieve the Games whatever it takes.”

That’s Tokyo Metropolitan Governor Yuriko Koike, speaking to a Tuesday news conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club.

“The best case scenario of course would be something where athletes would be able to come here to Japan in safety and with ease of mind and the Olympics, as in previous years, could be held with full spectators present as well, but at the same time with stringent and thorough Covid-19 related measures.

“When we are talking about measures, the situation of Covid-19 is different from country to country at the moment, therefore we need to be constantly monitoring this situation to being able to adopt and these measures can fit what the current situation is. …

“The Tokyo 2020 Games can also symbolize the resilience of humanity as we work together to defeat this invisible enemy, COVID-19.”

In a video recorded during his Tokyo visit and released today (24th), International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach (GER) urged athletes to keep up their preparations to come to Tokyo in 2021. Speaking from the Olympic Village in Tokyo, he said:

“This is the place to be nine months from now. I am very happy to be able to greet you here from the Olympic Village in Tokyo. …

“Get ready for these Olympic Games and train even harder, even under these very difficult circumstances many of you, and most of you, are in at this moment. But if you look around again, I think it’s worth the effort. I am looking forward to seeing you at Tokyo 2020, in Tokyo 2020 plus one.”

● EOPAAA Commission ● It’s not like we need another acronym in the Olympic world or from the U.S. government, but look for more appointments coming to the “Empowering Olympic and Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act” Commission on the State of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics.

This group of 16 individuals – half of whom must be current or former athletes – is charged with reviewing the activities of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, with a report to be provided at the end of next July.

The first appointees came from Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. He has four nominations, as do ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington and the chair and ranking member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey) and Greg Walden (R-Oregon).

Wicker named two from his state to the Commission, sailor John Dane and long jumper Brittney Reese. Dane, now 70, was a 2008 Olympian in the Star class and was the 1970 (!) World Championships silver medalist in Soling. Reese, 34, who is still competing, is a seven-time World Champion – four outdoor and three indoor – in the long jump and won Olympic gold and silver medals in 2012 and 2016.

Look for more appointees in the coming days as the time for the Commission to do its work is short.

● XXIV Olympic Winter Games: Beijing 2022 ● The chatter over a possible boycott or demonstration – or something else – continues, but the IOC’s senior member, Richard W. Pound (CAN), told The World:

“If your objective is to change Chinese policy, it has no chance of working. Anybody who thinks it has a possibility of working is just way off the mark.”

He added that if individual nations decide to boycott the 2022 Winter Games, the IOC would reach out to their athletes directly:

“We will invite them ourselves — as if they were refugees. Leave it to the athletes to decide.”

● Athletics ● World Athletics announced a 10-year agreement with NBC Sports to televise the federation’s championship events from 2020-2029.

This includes the World Championships in 2022-23-25-27-29 and five editions of the World Indoor Championships, World Cross Country Championships, World Athletics Relays and the World U20 Championships, among others.

The organizing committee for the 2022 Worlds in Eugene, Oregon, launched its revamped Web site and branding elements on Monday as well.

World Athletics released the names of its five finalists for Men’s Athlete of the Year: Joshua Cheptegei (UGA: distances), Ryan Crouser (USA: shot put), Mondo Duplantis (SWE: pole vault), Johannes Vetter (GER: javelin) and Karsten Warholm (NOR: 400 m hurdles).

The women’s finalists include Letesenbet Gidey (ETH: distances), Sifan Hassan (NED: distances), Peres Jepchirchir (KEN: distances), Yulimar Rojas (VEN: triple jump), Elaine Thompson-Herah (JAM): sprints).

The awards ceremony, to be hosted by NBC track & field analysts Ato Boldon and Sandra Richards-Ross, will be held online on 5 December.

The 2021 Wanda Diamond League schedule was released, to begin – maybe – on 23 May in Rabat, Morocco, followed on 28 May on Doha (QAT). The Prefontaine Classic in Eugene at the new Hayward Field is slated for 21 August, sandwiched between the two meets in China on 14 and 22 August, after the close of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● USA Bobsled & Skeleton competed its national team selection races over the weekend and named the 2020-21 women’s national team on Saturday.

Superstar drivers (and Olympic medalists) Kaillie Humphries and Elana Meyers-Taylor – back from maternity – both made the squad, along with Nicole Vogt. The push athletes on the squad include Lauren Gibbs, the 2018 Olympic silver medalist with Meyers-Taylor, plus five-time national team selection Lolo Jones, plus veterans Lake Kwaza, Sylvia Hoffman and Nicole Brungardt. The two newcomers to the squad are Colleen Fotsch and Emily Renna.

Codie Bascue swept the two men’s selection races, with the men’s selections to be announced.

The U.S. Skeleton team for the World Cup will be led by three-time Olympian John Daly – the winner of the selection races – and also includes Austin Florian. The three U.S. women are Megan Henry – winner of the selection races – as well as Olympians Katie Uhlaender and Savannah Graybill.

● Equestrian ● The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) held its General Assembly online this year, with its financial reports showing a surprising impact of the coronavirus.

The 2019 financial statements were published, showing total revenues of CHF 54.45 million against operating expenses of CHF 55.32 million, but a good investment return of CHF 3.07 million for a net gain of CHF 2.198 million. (1 CHF = $1.10 U.S.)

The FEI showed healthy reserves of CHF 24.33 million in cash and another CHF 21.66 million in designated fund balances.

For 2020, the projections showed that revenues would suffer by CHF 28.98 million (!) while expenses would also be reduced by CHF 34.71 million, for an actual savings of CHF 5.73 million. Wow!

However, the 2021 budget is likely to show a loss of CHF 1.32 million as the impact continues to be felt. But the FEI is certainly weathering the coronavirus storm nicely, at least on the financial side.

● Gymnastics ● USA Gymnastics’ latest report of operations was filed on 19 November, with legal fees in its bankruptcy case now totaling $12.47 million. However, only $7.55 million has been paid and for the rest … the lawyers will have to wait.

● Weightlifting ● Hillary Evans, the “Olympic Statman” on Twitter, noted on Monday the latest list of weightlifting federations whose doping activities have reduced or eliminated their participation in Tokyo in 2021:

● Banned from Tokyo (4) for various doping activities: Egypt, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam

● Limited to 1 male/1 female entry (6): Russia (36 doping positives), Kazakhstan (20), Azerbaijan (33), Belarus (24), Armenia (20), Romania (20); also Thailand (20).

● Limited to 2 male/2 female entries (8): Bulgaria (18), Ukraine (18), Uzbekistan (16), Moldova (14), India (13), Iran (13), Turkey (13), Albania (11); also Egypt (13) and Malaysia (12).

That’s 18 federations out of a total of 187 national federations or almost 10%. Ten percent!

● Wrestling ● Rio Olympic 53 kg champion Helen Maroulis of the U.S. gave a lengthy interview to United World Wrestling and underscored her desire to compete at the highest level in Tokyo in 2021:

“I always take things one at a time and I always do it to pursue excellence. So, to me, I committed to this goal, I committed to four years. I’ve been through a lot with all these physical injuries, mental, all this stuff, so for me, I made a commitment and made a decision, so I am seeing this through.

Now recovered from two years of injuries that included a concussion, Maroulis qualified the U.S. for the 57 kg class with a brilliant Olympic qualifying tournament in February 2020, stomping reigning World Champion Linda Morais (CAN) by 12-2 in her opener and then outscored her next three opponents by 26-2. Maroulis still has to make the U.S. team, but was asked about the difficult field she could face at 57 kg in Tokyo, including Japan’s Risako Kawai, the reigning 57 kg World Champion. Maroulis was unafraid:

“This is my dream come true, right? When you think about winning Olympic gold, it’s not just like you want the medal for the sake of the medal, , you’re like, I want it to be the toughest competition because the point of being the best is you want to know that you beat everyone else who you think is incredible.”

Off the mat, she shared her new interest in salsa dancing, where she is learning a lot and said, “I enjoy it just as much as wrestling.” Is that in her future? Maybe, but she also sees herself giving back to wrestling as a coach, helping others to learn as she has.

● At the BuZZer ● A very happy Thanksgiving to our American readers. Even with all of the misery we have shared in 2020, there is still plenty to be grateful for. Please stay safe as you enjoy the holiday!

LANE ONE: It’s probably impossible, but here’s how Caeleb Dressel could win NINE medals in Tokyo next year

By
Rich Perelman
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Five-time Olympic gold medalist Caeleb Dressel (USA)

(Updated ~ see end note) Eight Olympic medals in one Games. Only two men have done it.

They would be Michael Phelps, the American swimming icon who collected six golds and two bronzes in 2004 (at age 19) and then eight golds in 2008 (at age 23), and Soviet gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin, who won 8 medals (3-4-1) at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Four others have won seven medals in a single Games, back as far as 1920.

But in Tokyo in 2021, one has to consider the possibility that American swimmer Caeleb Dressel could win nine.

Crazy? Impossible? Why even talk about it?

Because of what Dressel, 24, did over the weekend at the International Swimming League final in Budapest, Hungary, in a short-course (25 m) pool. He won five events in stunning fashion: the 50 m Free (world record), 100 m Free (American record), 50 m Fly (0.05 off his own American record), 100 m Fly (world record), and 100 m Medley (world record)

Stack that on top of seven gold medals at the 2017 World Championships and six golds at the 2019 World Championships (plus two silvers = eight total medals) and you have to consider it.

And, in 2016, Dressel – having just finished his sophomore season at Florida – entered seven events at the U.S. Olympic Trials, including the 50-100-200 m Freestyles, 100 m Backstroke, 100 m Breaststroke, 100 m Butterfly, and the 200 m Medley.

He finished fourth in the 50 m Free, was second in the 100 m Free – eventually winning two relay golds in Rio – and seventh in the 100 m Fly. He skipped 100 m Back, 100 m Breast, competed in the 100 m Fly heats but withdrew before the semis, was eliminated in 200 m Free heats and disqualified in the heats of the 200 m Medley.

In Omaha next year, he could be looking at the 50-100-200 m Frees, 100 m Fly and 200 m Medley: five events vs. five in 2016. This is doable.

His path to the most medals ever won at an Olympic Games will be significantly harder than his eight-medal performance at the 2019 Worlds because the 50 m Butterfly is not an Olympic event. But it’s possible thanks to a potential four relay medals and Dressel’s stated desire to compete in the 200 m Free and after his ISL final, perhaps also in the 200 m Medley.

Dressel will be a heavy favorite for the U.S. team in the 50 and 100 m Frees and the 100 m Fly. Let’s assume he makes the team – top two, remember – in the 200 m Free (a tall order) and the 200 m Medley (another tall order).

Then, let’s go day by day with Dressel in Tokyo; the events are in order and are shown by day in local time:

Day 1: 24 July ~ evening:
No events

Day 2: 25 July ~ evening:
● Men’s 200 m Freestyle heats
● Men’s 4×100 m Freestyle heats (not likely to swim)

Day 3: 26 July ~ morning:
● Men’s 200 m Freestyle semifinals
● Men’s 4×100 m Freestyle FINAL (U.S. favored for gold)

Day 4: 27 July ~ morning:
● Men’s 200 m Freestyle FINAL (could he really win a medal here?)

Day 4: 27 July ~ evening:
● Men’s 100 m Freestyle heats
● Men’s 4×200 m Freestyle heats (may have to swim this round)

Day 5: 28 July ~ morning:
● Men’s 100 m Freestyle semifinals
● Men’s 4×200 m Freestyle FINAL (possible medal if he’s on the team)

Day 5: 28 July ~ evening:
● Men’s 200 m Medley heats

Day 6: 29 July ~ morning:
● Men’s 100 m Freestyle FINAL (Dressel favored for gold)
● Men’s 200 m Medley semifinals

Day 6: 29 July ~ evening:
● Men’s 100 m Butterfly heats
● Mixed 4×100 m Medley heats (not likely to swim)

Day 7: 30 July ~ morning:
● Men’s 100 m Butterfly semifinals
● Men’s 200 m Medley FINAL (really, a medal here too?)

Day 7: 30 July ~ evening:
● Men’s 50 m Freestyle heats
● Men’s 4×100 m Medley heats (not likely to swim)

Day 8: 31 July ~ morning:
● Men’s 100 m Butterfly FINAL (Dressel favored for gold)
● Men’s 50 m Freestyle semifinals
● Mixed 4×100 m Medley FINAL (U.S. favored for gold)

Day 9: 1 August ~ morning:
● Men’s 50 m Freestyle FINAL (Dressel favored for gold)
● Men’s 4×100 m Medley FINAL (U.S. favored for gold)

This schedule is difficult, but certainly not impossible – 20 swims in eight days, with five on relays – as the events are fairly well spread out across the last eight days of the schedule, with the first day off.

Dressel is absolutely favored for medals in the 50-100 m Frees, 100 m Fly and three relays, which would be six medals. He will have a lot of work to do just to make the U.S. team, let alone win medals, in the 200 m Free and 200 m Medley, but who is to doubt him after his showing in Budapest? And if he is on the U.S. team in the 200 m Free, he’s sure to be on the 4×200 m Free relay squad.

This will make the USA Swimming Olympic Trials in Omaha in mid-June of 2021 the gateway for Dressel to try for something even Phelps did not do. The drama starts now.

Rich Perelman
Editor

(Update: Thanks to Olympic super-statistician Dr. Bill Mallon for correctly noting Dityatin’s eight-medal performance in Moscow: 3 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze.)

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For our 526-event International Sports Calendar from October 2020 to June 2021, by date and by sport, click here!

HIGHLIGHTS: Dressel re-writes short-course record book in ISL Final; Vlhova sweeps Slaloms in Levi as Shiffrin scores silver; big GP win for Tuktamysheva

By
Rich Perelman
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World and American Record machine and ISL superstar Caeleb Dressel (USA)

Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Swimming ● Make no mistake, the 2020 ISL Final was one of the greatest short-course meets in history. Although the International Swimming League officially disdains times – it doesn’t even keep official records for each event – the weekend final in the 25 m pool at the Duna Arena in Budapest (HUN) was one for the ages.

Short-course swimming – in 25 m pools vs. the 50 m length for Olympic competitions – does not get a lot of attention in most years and the concentrated schedule, all in Budapest, were unique features of the 2020 season that may never be duplicated. But the results were stunning:

World Records (6):
● Men’s 50 m Free: 20.16, Caeleb Dressel (USA); old, 20.24, Dressel, 2019
● Men’s 100 m Back: 48.58 relay lead-off, Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS); old, 48.88, Jiayu Xu (CHN), 2018
● Men’s 100 m Breast: 55.41, Adam Peaty (GBR); old, 55.49, Peaty, 2020
● Men’s 100 m Fly: 47.78, Dressel (USA); old, 48.08, Chad le Clos (RSA), 2016
● Men’s 100 m Medley: 49.28, Dressel (USA); old, 49.88, Dressel, 2020

● Women’s 4×100 m Medley: 3:44.52, Cali Condors (all USA): Olivia Smoliga, Lilly King, Kelsi Dahlia, Erika Brown; old, 3:45.20, United States, 2015

World Bests (3: mixed nationality teams):
● Men’s 4×100 m Free: 3:02.78, Energy Standard (Evgeny Rylov/RUS, Kliment Kolesnikov/RUS, Chad le Clos/RSA, Florent Manaudou/FRA); WR: 3:03.03 United States, 2018
● Men’s 4×100 m Medley: 3:18.28, Energy Standard (Kliment Kolesnikov/RUS), Ilya Shymanovich/BLR), Clad le Clos/RSA), Florent Manaudou/FRA); WR: 3:19.16, Russia, 2009

● Women’s 4×100 Free: 3:25.37, Energy Standard (Siobhan Haughey/HKG, Pernille Blume/DEN, Femke Heemskerk/NED, Sarah Sjostrom/SWE); WR: 3:26.53, Netherlands, 2014

American Records (12, in addition to the World Records by U.S. swimmers above):
● Men’s 100 m Free: 45.18 relay lead-off, Dressel; old, 45.20, Dressel, 2020
● Men’s 100 m Free: 45.08, Dressel; old, 45.18, Dressel, 2020
● Men’s 200 m Free: 1:40.49, Townley Haas; old, 1:41.08, Ryan Lochte, 2010
● Men’s 50 m Back: 22.54, Ryan Murphy; old, 22.63 Murphy, 2018
● Men’s 100 m Breast: 56.16; old, 56.29, Ian Finnerty, 2019
● Men’s 200 m Breast: 2:20.20; Fink; old, 2:02.33, Cody Miller, 2015
● Men’s 200 m Fly: 1:48.66, Tom Shields; old, 1:49.02, Shields, 2020

● Women’s 100 m Back: 55.04, Olivia Smoliga; old, 55.47, Smoliga, 2018
● Women’s 50 m Breast: 28.77, Lilly King; old, 28.86, King, 2020
● Women’s 100 m Breast: 1:02.50, King; old, 1:02.92, Katie Meili, 2016
● Women’s 200 m Breast: 2:15.56, King; old, 2:15.80, King, 2020
● Women’s 50 m Fly: 24.80, Madeline Banic; old, 24.93, Kelsi Dahlia, 2018

Dressel was just astonishing, setting World or American marks in four of his five individual events, among eight winners of two or more individual events:

● Caeleb Dressel (USA): Men’s 50 m Free (WR), 100 m Free (AR), 50 m Fly, 100 m Fly (WR), 100 m Medley (WR)
● Adam Peaty (GBR): Men’s 100 m Breast, 50 m Breast Skins

● Beryl Gastaldello (FRA): Women’s 100 m Free, 100 m Fly, 100 m Medley
● Lilly King (USA): Women’s 50-100-200 Breast, 50 m Breast Skins
● Hali Flickinger (USA): Women’s 400 m Free, 200 m Fly
● Sarah Sjostrom (SWE): Women’s 50 m Free, 50 m Fly
● Olivia Smoliga (USA): Women’s 50-100 m Back
● Sydney Pickrem (AUS): Women’s 200-400 Medley

The amazing King won all three of her Breaststroke events (two American Records) and the 50 m Skins and finished her second ISL season with an individual race record of 42-3! 42-3!!

As expected, the Cali Condors – featuring Dressel and King – finished undefeated and won the seasonal title with 561.5 points to 464 for Energy Standard, 391 for the London Roar and 298 for the L.A. Current.

Dressel finished as the league’s leading scorer with 463.50, way ahead of King (350.00) and Gastaldello (340.50).

The recurring reports of lagging payments by ISL, leading to the departure of its head of marketing, leads to doubts whether there will be a third season of this experiment. What it did do for those who followed it was raise even higher the profile of Dressel and King, who will now head into an Olympic year with plenty of attention paid to them. For Dressel, his success in the Medley raises the question of whether he could add the long-course 200 m Medley to his program in a possible quest for eight medals in Tokyo?

● Tennis ● Upsets were the key to the Nitto ATP Finals held in London (GBR), as fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev (RUS) defeated third-seed Dominic Thiem (AUT) by 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 to take a title most thought would go to one of the top two seeds.

But Medvedev won out over Rafael Nadal (ESP) by 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 in his semi and Thiem upset Novak Djokovic (SRB), 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 in a thriller, to advance to the final.

The Doubles crown went to Wesley Koolhof (NED) and Nikola Mektic (CRO) over Jurgen Metzer (AUT) and Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA), 6-2, 3-6, 10-5.

● Table Tennis ● China swept the ITTF Finals held in Zhengzhou, China, with both Long Ma and Meng Chen setting new marks for excellence.

Rio Olympic gold medalist Ma extended his own record with his sixth ITTF Finals title, reversing last week’s loss to no. 1 seed Zhendong Fan (CHN), 4-1. Ma cruised through the tournament, winning his matches by a combined 16-5 sets.

Chen won her fourth ITTF Women’s Finals in a row, zipping past Manyu Wang – in a replay of the 2019 ITTF Final match – by 4-1. Chen also compiled a 16-5 sets record on the way to another title.

● Skiing ● Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova, the reigning World Cup Slalom champ, won both of the Slalom races at Levi, Finland.

Vlhova got out to a good lead in the first race, 0.15 ahead of American star Mikaela Shiffrin and had the fastest second run for a 1:50.11-1:50.29 win over Shiffrin and Austria’s Katharina Liensberger.

On Sunday, Vlhova and Swiss Michelle Gisin both clocked 54.32 for the first run, with Shiffrin fourth at 54.69. But while Liensberger had the fastest second run and moved up to third, Vlhova was close at 54.73 and won with a combined time of 1:49.05. Gisin was second (1:49.36) and Shiffrin faded to fifth after logging the ninth-fastest time on her second run (total: 1:49.98).

It was Shiffrin’s first time back in competition since the death of her father in 2019. After Sunday’s runs, she said, “It’s incredible to be here. I had two really solid races and it was an incredible weekend. I feel really grateful that I’m able to do these races and I was able to participate again.”

● Ski Jumping ● The FIS World Cup schedule opened in Wisla (POL), with a 1-2 for Germany, by Markus Eisenbichler and Karl Geiger.

Eisenbichler had the longest jump off the 134 m hill on both trials and piled up 267.6 points for the win, nine points in front of Geiger (258.6) and +11.9 over Austria’s Daniel Huber (255.7).

Austria won the team competition held on Saturday, scoring 1,078.00 to edge Germany (1,069.3) and Poland (1,061.5).

● Judo ● The re-scheduled Pan American Championships were held in Guadalajara (MEX) in all weight classes, with Brazil and Canada both winning four classes.

Eric Takabatake (-60 kg) and Daniel Cargnin (-66 kg) won Brazil’s men’s golds, with American Adonis Diaz finishing second at -60 kg. Antoine Bouchard (-73 kg) and Shade Elnahas (-100 kg) won for Canada; the U.S. won a bronze from Colton Brown at -90 kg.

In the women’s division, Brazilian veterans Maria Portela (-70 kg) and Maria Suelen Altheman (+78) won their classes; American Chantal Wright was third at -70 kg. Ecaterina Guica (-52 kg) and Catherine Beachemin-Pinard (-63 kg) won for Canada; American Alisha Galles was third at -63 kg. The U.S. also won silvers at -57 kg (Leilani Akiyama lost to Miryam Roper of Panama) and -78 kg (Nefeli Papadakis lost to Vanessa Chala of Ecuador).

● Freestyle Skiing ● The Freeski World Cup season opener in Stubai (AUT) showcased Slopestyle, with defending champion Andri Ragettli taking the first honors of the season.

The Swiss star scored 94.00 on his second run to come out on top, over first-run leader Christian Nummedal (NOR) and teammate Ferdinand Dahl (87.25). U.S. stars Nicholas Goepper (86.25) and Colby Stevenson (83.25) finished fourth and fifth

France’s Tess Ledeux won the women’s Slopestyle, scoring 89.00 on her first run and easily outdistance the field. Norway’s Johanne Killi was second (81.00, also on her first try) and China’s Eileen Gu scored 77.00.

● Figure Skating ● The ISU Grand Prix continued with the mostly-Russian Rostelecom Cup in Moscow, with a big win for 2015 World Champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.

Reigning European Champion Alena Kostornaia led after the Short Program at 78.84 to 74.70 for Tuktanysheva, but the nearly 24-year-old – her birthday is 17 December – topped the Free Skate by 148.69-141.94 and won by 223.39-220.78. Russia’s Anastasia Guliakova was third (199.03).

Another veteran triumphed in the men’s division, with 2018 Worlds bronze medalist Mikhail Kolyada winning over Russians Morisi Kvitelashvili and Petr Gumennik, 281.89-275.80-268.47. Favored Dmitri Aliev, the current European Champion, was fifth (265.11).

Russia’s European Champions Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii won the Pairs as expected (232.56) over Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov (225.80), as did Ice Dance European Champions Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov (RUS: 217.51) ahead of Tiffani Zagorski and Jonathan Guerreiro (RUS: 206.91).

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The 2020-21 World Cup season got started with some familiar faces in the winner’s circle in Sigulda, Latvia.

German superstar Francesco Friedrich, double Olympic champ in 2018 and three-time defending World Champion in both of the two-man races, taking each by fractions of a second over countryman Johannes Lochner. Friedrich and Thorsten Margis won the first race by 0.04 over Lochner and Christian Rasp, then Friedrich teamed with Alexander Schueller to best Lochner and Eric Franke, 1:39.14-1:39.35.

The Swiss duo of Michael Vogt and Sandro Michel were third in both races.

Reigning Olympic champ Mariama Jamanka (GER) teamed with Vanessa Mark to take the two-women race, 1:42.56-1:42.69 over Katrin Beierl and Jennifer Onasanya (AUT), with Kim Kalicki and Anabel Galander (GER) third.

More familiar faces won in Skeleton. Latvia’s six-time World Champion Martins Dukurs won the men’s event easily, clocking 1:40.44 to 1:41.23 for the second-placers Felix Keisinger Alexander Gassner, both of Germany. Three-time European champ Janine Flock (AUT) won the women’s race at 1:43.85, well ahead of Kimberly Bos (NED: 1:44.68) and Endija Terauda (LAT: 1:45.25).

THE TICKER: Athletes may have shorter stays in Tokyo Village; Semenya going back to court; Shiffrin to win another reindeer in Finland?

By
Rich Perelman
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Another win - and another reindeer - coming up for American star Mikaela Shiffrin in Levi?

The latest news, notes and quotes from the worldwide Five-Ring Circus:

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach completed a four-day visit to Tokyo, met Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, saw the Athlete’s Village and the new Olympic Stadium, gave some comments to reporters and left.

Bach did meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday (18th); Morrison was in Japan to meet with Suga. Morrison underscored the interest of Queensland to host the 2032 Games, for which discussions have continued, but any actions have been stopped by the pandemic.

There was other news.

A three-day meeting of the IOC Coordination Commission with the Tokyo organizers resulted in further anti-virus steps for the Games, including a request for social distancing in the Olympic Village and asking athletes to limit their stays in the Village.

Said Coordination Commission Chair John Coates (AUS), “The number of athletes is not going to reduce, that will be the same. Staying longer in the village increases the potential for problems.”

● Olympic Winter Games ● The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games continued its march toward a future OWG bid with the release of a letter to IOC President Bach on 30 October and a quick reply, welcoming their interest.

The committee met on Tuesday (17th) and shared their letter and Bach’s response, which noted the full set of existing venues that are continuously used for world-class events and:

“It is also very promising to see that the project to bring future Olympic Winter Games to Salt Lake City enjoys political support at all levels and has such high public support.”

It’s highly unlikely that the 2030 Winter Games would be held there, given that the Los Angeles will host the Olympic Games in 2028. But 2034 looks very good.

The tug-of-war within Italy over control of spending for Olympic programs in that country were further muddied this week after Sports Minister Vincent Spadafora wrote to IOC chief Bach that the IOC’s concerns over the independence of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), including

“The framework recognizes that CONI, with extreme clarity and as perhaps isn’t the case in many other countries, has all the functions it is due according to Article 27 of the Olympic Charter.”

However, The Associated Press reported that “CONI president Giovanni Malago said earlier Tuesday that ‘it doesn’t seem that the problems have been solved.’”

At the extreme end of the possible sanctions could be a suspension of the country for the Tokyo Games or even the removal of the hosting rights for the 2026 Winter Games.

● Athletics ● American triple jump star Omar Craddock was placed on the “Provisional Suspensions” list by the Athletics Integrity Unit on 13 November for “whereabouts” failures.

According to the AIU:

“Under the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules, any combination of 3 whereabouts failures (Filing Failure and/or Missed Test) within a period of 12 months constitute an anti-doping rule violation, for which the applicable sanction is 2 years’ ineligibility subject to a reduction to a minimum of 1 year depending on your degree of fault.”

Craddock, 29, made the U.S. team for three outdoor World Championships, in 2013, 2015 and 2019, finishing fourth in 2015. He won the 2019 Pan American Games TJ and with a lifetime best of 17.68 m (58-0 1/4) from 2019, he is a serious contender for the 2020 Olympic Team. That is now in doubt.

Another chapter in the Kemoy Campbell story is happily closed, with the Jamaican government stepping in to pay the remaining roughly $71,000 on his medical costs after his near-death experience in 2019 while pace-setting at the Millrose Games in New York.

Campbell fell off the track and was taken to a nearby hospital and was eventually revived and received an implantable cardioverter defibrillator. After another incident, he was fitted with a pacemaker. He retired from competition in September of 2019.

A 2016 Olympian for Jamaica in the 5,000 m (bests of 13:14.45 indoors ‘17; 13:20.39 outdoors in 2015), Campbell’s medical bills surpassed $100,000, for which he had some personal insurance, plus $31,677 from the Jamaica Athletes Insurance Plan. But about $7,000 remained, with the Jamaican Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport stepping in.

“The Ministry felt duty bound to assist Kemoy,” said Minister Olivia Grange.

“He has performed well for Jamaica and in fact, as we know, he fell ill on the track. And so, the least we could do to show appreciation and gratitude to him was to assist in his time of need.”

South Africa’s double Olympic 800 m champion Caster Semenya will now take her appeal of the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which affirmed the World Athletics regulations for women with high testosterone levels in events from 400 m to the mile, to the European Court of Human Rights.

Her attorney, Greg Nott, confirmed the appeal: “We remain hopeful that World Athletics will see the error it has made and reverse the prohibitive rules which restrict Ms Semenya from competing.”

World Athletics noted in a statement that both the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the Swiss Federal Tribunal had approved of the regulations already:

“In its decision in early September, the SFT concluded, ‘Based on these findings, the CAS decision cannot be challenged. Fairness in sport is a legitimate concern and forms a central principle of sporting competition. It is one of the pillars on which competition is based. The European Court of Human Rights also attaches particular importance to the aspect of fair competition. In addition to this significant public interest, the CAS rightly considered the other relevant interests, namely the private interests of the female athletes running in the ‘women’ category’.”

Semenya has indicated she will attempt to make the South African team for Tokyo in the 200 m, an event not impacted by the World Athletics regulations.

● Basketball ● The new National Basketball Association schedule could run as late as 22 July 2021, which would make it extremely unlikely that players on either of the final two teams could participate in the Tokyo Games.

Given the pandemic-driven late finish of the 2020 season – into October – the 2020-21 schedule will open on 22 December with a 72-game regular season, then play-in games for the playoff rounds prior to the traditional playoff format.

The Tokyo Games open on 23 July and while it is possible that players on the final two teams could rush to join their national teams at the Games, would they? It’s a headache that national teams are going to have to solve, not just at the last moment, but in assembling their teams and including more alternates (and the accompanying flights, equipment and rooms).

● Figure Skating ● The ISU Grand Prix will continue this week with the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow (RUS), featuring primarily Russian skaters with others from nearby countries.

Among the entries are European Champions Dmitri Aliev (RUS), Alena Kostornaia (RUS), Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii (RUS/Pairs) and Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov (Ice Dance/RUS).

The ISU Grand Prix Final, scheduled to be held in Beijing (CHN) on 10-13 December, has been canceled due to the pandemic, although a replacement site with new dates is possible.

● Football ● FIFA announced two initiatives, for women’s football and for coaches from its Football Stakeholders Committee:

● Minimum labor conditions for female players, including 14 weeks for maternity leave, suitable facilities for reintegration into her team upon return, temporary addition of a replacement player during maternity and protection from dismissal due to pregnancy.

● Clarity of contracts for coaches, including termination payments and overdue payments.

These provisions will be forwarded for final approval to the FIFA Council in December.

● Ice Hockey ● The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Council received a comprehensive report on the status of its 2021 Men’s World Championship, scheduled to be held in Minsk (BLR) and Riga (LAT) from 21 May-6 June.

The continuing political protests in Belarus and the disinterest of the Latvian government to co-host with Belarus have roiled the preparations. The IIHF statement noted:

“[IIHF President Rene] Fasel emphasized that based on the report the IIHF questions whether the tournament in Minsk/Riga can be played if the current situation remains as it is presently, but equally that the IIHF cannot be put in a position where it is unable to deliver a World Championship. He agreed together with the Council that more time would be needed to review the situation and decide on the best course of action. …

“‘We will take what we learned, go back to the organizing committees and the governments and find the best way forward for the IIHF and its members.’”

● Skiing ● American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin is ready to go in her first competitive race in 300 days at the FIS Alpine World Cup stop in Levi, Finland.

Located above the Arctic Circle, the site annually hosts a Slalom for men and women, with one of the best gimmicks in sport: each winner is “awarded” a reindeer, which they don’t get to keep, but get to name.

Shiffrin has “won” four reindeer, which she has named Rudolph, Sven, Mr. Gru and Ingemar.

Shiffrin was well on her way to a fourth straight Alpine World Cup overall title in the 2019-20 season, but abandoned the tour after the unexpected death of her father, Jeff, on 3 February 2020. She was ready to come back for the World Cup Finals, but the races were called off due to the coronavirus pandemic. She skipped the World Cup season opener at Soelden (AUT) due to a back injury. But she appears to be ready to go for Levi.

● Swimming ● The International Swimming League final is on this weekend, bringing to a close a frantic month of swimming in the short-course pool at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

All of the swimmers have been sequestered in Budapest for the duration, but the original 10 teams are down to four for the final: defending champion Energy Standard, defending runner-up London Road, the undefeated Cali Condors and L.A. Current.

In the only match between them this season – the opener back on October 16-17 – the Condors stomped on Energy Standard and the L.A. Current by 567.0-463.0-420.0. The Condors are led by sprint superstar Caeleb Dressel, the runaway leading scorer with 367.5 seasonal points, ahead of sprinter Beryl Gastaldello (L.A. Current/France: 296.0) and backstroker Ryan Murphy (L.A. Current/USA: 292.5). Breaststroke star Lilly King (Condors/USA) was undefeated for most of the first two seasons of the league and has 279.0 points, fourth best in the league this season. She will be favored in the 50-100-200 Breast events, but will face stiff competition from Molly Hannis (USA) and Alia Atkinson (JAM).

The final is scheduled for 8-10 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday and 12-2 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, on either CBS or the CBS Sports Network.

ISL has been plagued with complaints of non-payment to its suppliers, including the news agency LaPresse for the 2019 season, and the withdrawal of two executives, head of commercial operations Hubert Montcoudiol and Jean-Francois Salessy, general manager of the Energy Standard Paris team.

SportBusiness reported Thursday that television partner IMG is also owed money from the first season for its television production work. It is not involved in the TV effort for this season. The report noted:

“It is understood that a six-figure sum (in pounds sterling) remains unpaid with only a portion of the payment having been settled for IMG’s provision of outside broadcast facilities and personnel.

“The development comes after LiveWire Sport, the UK-based digital content agency, said recently that it was considering legal action over missed payments by the ISL, claiming that the swimming league fell behind on instalments in December last year and still owes a six-figure sum.”

Could this weekend’s seasonal final be the last of the ISL experiment?

● United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● A potentially important new athlete-sponsorship connector was unveiled by the USOPC this week, called the “Athlete Marketing Platform,” designed to better present possible athlete engagements to sponsors and suppliers.

It is described as a pilot program and “an opt-in [digital marketplace] program that connects Team USA sponsors and licensees directly with athletes, providing incremental revenue opportunities and marketing exposure for Team USA athletes.”

The program will begin in January and

“Athletes who opt in to participate in the pilot in 2021 will benefit from the unprecedented and compressed window encompassing the Tokyo and Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, and will receive a guaranteed payment in exchange for their commitment to shape the program and participate in group marketing.”

This is a really interesting concept, and could spread well beyond the USOPC umbrella, potentially in a revised form to the NCAA’s Name-Image-Likesness compensation concepts for college athletes. But it has yet to be proven; 2021 can’t come soon enough!

● The Last Word ● The International World Games Association (IWGA) held its first-ever Annual General Meeting by video conference on 6 November, underlining its support for the IOC’s Agenda 2020 concepts. Most important among these:

“[T]he leading, sustainable, principle of The World Games remains that host cities are not required to build new facilities. The maximum number of athletes will be raised from 4200 to 5000, and the invitational sports programme will be replaced with a more flexible display programme. Additionally, the IWGA will move towards financially supporting the International Federations taking part in The World Games.”

That last sentence is extremely significant and is new, with the World Games Association celebrating its 40-year anniversary; 2021 will mark the 40-year anniversary of the World Games itself, first held in Santa Clara, California in 1981.

In Birmingham, Alabama, the site of the 2022 World Games, the organizing committee’s online store opened, with 18 items in the men’s section, 11 in the women’s department and four items for youth. The most fashionable item was clearly the Women’s Mountainside Heavyweight Sherpa coat at $107.95, but does it really get cold enough to wear this in Alabama?

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For our 526-event International Sports Calendar from October 2020 to June 2021, by date and by sport, click here!

LANE ONE: Rodchenkov Act passes U.S. Senate and sent to Trump for signature, as USADA’s Tygart cheers and WADA moans

By
Rich Perelman
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The new, de facto head of worldwide anti-doping? U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart

By unanimous consent, the United States Senate passed H.R. 835, the “Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019” on Monday, and cleared the way for it to be sent to U.S. President Donald Trump for signature.

It’s not a long statute, and it has clear purposes:

“To impose criminal sanctions on certain persons involved in international doping fraud conspiracies, to provide restitution for victims of such conspiracies, and to require sharing of information with the United States Anti-Doping Agency to assist its fight against doping, and for other purposes.”

Sounds good, right? But the bill’s passage drew a quick and huffy reply from the World Anti-Doping Agency:

“WADA supports Governments who use their legislative powers to protect athletes in the fight against doping in sport. However, while recognizing positive elements of this legislation, WADA and other stakeholders continue to believe that some very important elements of the Act will have unintended consequences and will disrupt the global legal anti-doping framework recognized to date by 190 nations, including the U.S., through the UNESCO International Convention Against Doping in Sport. …

“No nation has ever before asserted criminal jurisdiction over doping offences that occurred outside its national borders – and for good reason. It is likely to lead to overlapping laws in different jurisdictions that will compromise having a single set of anti-doping rules for all sports and all Anti-Doping Organizations under the World Anti-Doping Code (Code). …

“This Act may lead to other nations adopting similar legislation, thereby subjecting U.S. citizens and sport bodies to similar extraterritorial jurisdictions and criminal sanctions, many of which may be political in nature or imposed to discriminate against specific nationalities. This will be detrimental to anti-doping efforts everywhere, including in the U.S.”

In the meantime, Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, was thrilled:

“The Act will provide the tools needed to protect clean athletes and hold accountable international doping conspiracies that defraud sport, sponsors and that harm athletes. …

“It is a monumental day in the fight for clean sport worldwide and we look forward to seeing the Act soon become law and help change the game for clean athletes for the good.”

So, what’s all the fuss about?

The bill, already referred to “RADA” – as if we needed another acronym in the Olympic world – includes this:

“SEC. 3. MAJOR INTERNATIONAL DOPING FRAUD CONSPIRACIES.

“(a) In General.—It shall be unlawful for any person, other than an athlete, to knowingly carry into effect, attempt to carry into effect, or conspire with any other person to carry into effect a scheme in commerce to influence by use of a prohibited substance or prohibited method any major international sports competition.

“(b) Extraterritorial Jurisdiction.—There is extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over an offense under this section.”

Moreover, the applicability of this Act is exceptionally broad, including competitions of all kinds in which one or more American athletes compete and:

● “[T]he competition organizer or sanctioning body receives sponsorship or other financial support from an organization doing business in the United States” or

● “[T]he competition organizer or sanctioning body receives compensation for the right to broadcast the competition in the United States.”

That’s going to be almost any major event held anywhere in the world. If we count dual citizens, it’s even possible to imagine that this would apply to a program like the Asian Games, which has no U.S. participants, but which could be sponsored by U.S.-based companies like Coca-Cola through a subsidiary incorporated in another country, or simply televised in the U.S. for a rights fee of $1!

And the bill gives U.S. authorities including the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation – and others – permission to find and prosecute folks planning or aiding doping for up to 10 years after the date of the offense.

Interestingly, athletes are not to be punished under the Act; they are expected to be caught by the anti-doping organizations operating under the World Anti-Doping Code! The Act is aimed at the planners, aiders and abetters of doping.

The penalties are pretty severe, including, but not limited to:

“Whoever violates section 3 shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment for not more than 10 years, fined $250,000 if the person is an individual or $1,000,000 if the defendant is other than an individual, or both.”

There is also forfeiture – to the U.S. – of any property used to commit the violation and any proceeds from it and required restitution.

The Act also places the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency literally in the center of potentially the most widespread anti-doping net in the world:

“[T]he Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Food and Drug Administration shall coordinate with USADA with regard to any investigation related to a potential violation of section 3 of this Act, to include sharing with USADA all information in the possession of the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, or the Food and Drug Administration which may be relevant to any such potential violation.”

Does this make Tygart, 49, the de facto worldwide head of anti-doping? He has earned a sterling reputation as a tireless anti-doping investigator, but how are his diplomatic skills?

The supreme irony in the “RANA” bill is that it is named for Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian national anti-doping laboratory in Moscow, who directed much of the country’s state-sponsored doping program from 2011-15 and would be subject to prosecution under this statute.

Rodchenkov turned whistleblower in 2016 and left Russia for the U.S., where he lives today – out of sight – as part of the U.S. Witness Protection Program. He told the Financial Times in July, “Sport won’t be clean. Never.”

The logical follow-up to the passage of the Rodchenkov Act is that other countries will adopt similar statutes, allowing them to reach out and touch individuals for doping activities, potentially creating the mess that WADA is worried about.

Will that mean U.S. athletes will stop competing in those countries? Will China pass a similar bill, that might impact U.S. participation in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing? Will foreign agents be allowed to carry on investigations in the U.S.? Will Tygart and USADA be asked to coordinate these conflicts, or does the U.S. Department of State get involved?

These are all questions for which there are no answers right now. But if the man who helmed the Russian doping scandal simply wanted sport to be cleaned up, he may have instead opened a new chapter in the continuing diplomatic conflict between East and West.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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For our 526-event International Sports Calendar from October 2020 to June 2021, by date and by sport, click here!

HEARD AT HALFTIME: WADA-U.S. war of words continues; Bach visits Tokyo; Dressel and Shields claim records in ISL semi

By
Rich Perelman
-
Another win for U.S. sprint superstar Caeleb Dressel!

News, views and noise from the non-stop, worldwide circus of Olympic sport:

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach (GER) met separately with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike in Tokyo, confirming the mutual desire to make the Tokyo Games a reality:

“In this meeting [with Suga], we were totally aligned in the full determination and confidence to make the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the Paralympic Games a great success next summer here in Tokyo. Together we can make these Olympics Games and the Olympic flame the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Said Suga:

“I explained that we are making various considerations on the premise of having spectators and agreed with President Bach to work closely together toward realizing a safe and secure Olympics.”

During a news conference, Bach explained “We will undertake every effort so that as many participants as possible accept a vaccine for Tokyo 2020. This is the first endeavor. It is not about making it obligatory or a requirement. We want to convince as many foreign participants as possible.”

Bach made a special presentation to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who steadfastly supported the Games effort, of the Olympic Order in Gold, the highest honor bestowed by the IOC. Bach plans to visit the new Olympic Stadium and the Athlete’s Village during the remainder of his trip.

● Anti-Doping ● Reuters reported a continuation of the flare-up between the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy and the World Anti-Doping Agency over possible reactions if the U.S. does not pay its $2.9 million in promised dues to the agency. ONDCP Acting General Counsel Anthony Jones told the WADA Foundation Board during its meeting last week:

“The United States strongly opposes any attempt to amend the Code to penalize public authorities that decide to withdraw funds from WADA.

“We see it as a personal attack on the United States and it would be contrary to WADA’s stated desire to improve relationships with the United States government.

“The WADA 2021 Code has not even come into effect yet, yet WADA is seeking to revise the Code to single out the United States government.

“We view this as an affront to the sovereignty of the law of public authorities and it would undermine the legitimate authority of governments to independently evaluate whether to spend public funds.”

All of this is a reaction to a discussion about amending the World Anti-Doping Code in case an agreed-upon dues payment is not made from one of the governmental contributors to WADA. The current code carries no penalties.

WADA’s chief financial officer indicated that the agency had prepared two budgets, with and without the U.S. contribution; the full-year budget for 2021 is expected to be $43.4 million.

A posting on the Play The Game Web site on 12 November “makes a number of new allegations concerning the former President of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), Tamas Ajan. In particular, the article alleges to have uncovered letters from 2013, which WADA saw for the first time today, indicating that Mr. Ajan intervened to delay the results management process of adverse analytical findings involving weightlifters from Azerbaijan.”

WADA President Witold Banka (POL) replied on a statement last Thursday:

“These latest allegations of wrongdoing by the former IWF President are infuriating. According to WADA [Intelligence & Investigations], which was the first to initiate an investigation, as well as media reports and Prof. McLaren’s findings, there was a culture of doping in weightlifting that was tolerated, facilitated and hidden for a long time. Clearly, this is unacceptable to WADA and all those around the world who care about clean sport. WADA will continue to do all it can to help the athletes of this sport to compete on a level playing field in a safe and healthy environment.”

Comment: This is the latest in a continuing wave of allegations against the IWF, which is now skating on very thin ice to keep its place on the Olympic program for Paris 2024. Although the federation’s anti-doping activities have now been out-sourced to the International Testing Agency, the IOC has indicated great concern over the continued governance problems within the IWF, with the federation losing credibility by the day.

From the Play the Game story:

“What we have read confirms: Cleaning up of the IWF is hardly the target for the majority of the current Executive Board. If there ever was a sigh of relief after Aján’s departure, it had nothing to do with a wish for a new culture at his court.”

● Athletics ● The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport of the arbitration decision in favor of World 400 m champ Salwa Eid Naser (BRN).

The AIU had charged Naser with an anti-doping violation due to a combination of three missed tests or “whereabouts” failures over a 12-month period. The arbitrators in the case decided that one of the missed tests was due to a “comedy of errors” over an improper address given by Naser that the Doping Control Officer guessed almost correctly, but knocked on the wrong door and was unable to find the athlete.

Comment: The arbitrators in the first appeal were quite generous to Naser. It is not at all clear that the CAS panel will be as forgiving to an athlete who provided clearly incorrect information for the Doping Control Officer to follow.

On 10 November, the AIU suspended Elijah Manangoi, 30, Kenya’s 1,500 World Champion in 2017, for two years due to whereabouts failures. He missed tests on 3 July, 12 November and 22 December of 2019 due to a missed flight connection, a traffic jam for the second test and another bad flight connection for the third test (in which his location was supposed to have been updated by a third party). The decision can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Associated Press reported that 2016 Olympic Steeple champion Conseslus Kipruto “has been charged with having sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old girl and was released on bail Monday after pleading not guilty.”

Kipruto made headlines after going missing after the girl’s parents registered the complaint, but he was arrested on 11 November. According to the AP story:

“Kipruto was charged with what is referred to as ‘defilement’ in Kenyan law — sexual intercourse with a minor under the age of 18. Because the girl is under 16, Kipruto faces at least 20 years in prison if convicted, according to Kenya’s sexual offenses laws.”

● Boxing ● The first comprehensive manifesto for the December election for AIBA President has been issued by Azerbaijani candidate Suleyman Mikayilov.

Among the major points made are a “100 Days” promise of an independent review of AIBA’s governance structure in order to satisfy the IOC’s requirements for restoring AIBA as the governing body for boxing, create a “Boxing Integrity Unit” a la the World Athletics model, more anti-doping education for boxers (especially younger fighters), and clear AIBA’s $16 million-plus debt.

Mikayilov says that the debt will be eliminated through the formation of a “United Boxing Alliance” as the marketing arm of AIBA, and that the UBA “will secure 25 million CHF from identified sponsors and partners from Azerbaijan and other European countries to create a sustainable AIBA operation for the future.”

Comment: This sounds a lot like the promises from Russian candidate Umar Kremlev, the general secretary of the Russian Boxing Federation, who has provided no public indication where this money would come from. Mikayilov is a former boxer who was a member of the National Junior team in the USSR in the 1970s; according to his biography: “Mikayilov became a government official in 1995, working in various ministries and serving as governor of several regions in Azerbaijan. Since 2010, he has been the Governor of the Garadagh Region near Baku, the Azeri capital.”

That would indicate that he has considerable access to the Azerbaijan business community at a minimum, but does that compromise his position as a regional governor? Mikayilov has been a member of the existing AIBA Executive Committee for three terms. But his manifesto is a lot more information than anyone else is making publicly available, at least to this point.

The AIBA election is slated for 12 December by video conference.

● Cycling ● The horrific crash that sent Denmark’s Fabio Jakobsen crashing into the street barriers at the finish line of the opening stage of the Tour de Pologne on 5 August has resulted in a nine-month ban for Dutch rider Dylan Groenewegen.

Groenewegen’s aggressive finishing push sent Jakobsen into the barricades and caused the crash of several other riders on the downhill finish in Katowice. Jakobsen’s injuries were severe and he has undergone multiple surgeries for facial injuries, especially to the jaw and teeth.

The UCI statement noted Groenewegen “acknowledged that he deviated from his line and committed a violation of the UCI Regulations.”

● Football ● The U.S. Men’s National Team got three first-half goals from Giovanni Reyna and two from Nicholas Gioacchini to take a commanding 3-1 halftime lead over Panama on the way to a 6-2 victory in a friendly at the Wiener Neustadt Stadion in Austria.

These were the first international goals from Reyna (free kick in the 18th minute) and Gioacchini (22nd minute on a rebound and a 26th-minute header), after Jose Fajardo’s header gave the Panamanians a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute. Fajardo scored again in the 79th minute to close to 3-2, but then the Americans got quick goals from Sebastian Soto in the 83rd minute (his first international score), then Sebastian Lleget in the 87th minute and then Soto again at 90+1.

The U.S. dominated possession, 61-39% and had 15 shots to eight for Panama, including an 8-3 edge in shots on the goal. It was the fourth straight win for the U.S. since October 2017, now by a combined score of 14-2; Fajardo’s early goal was the first for Panama against the U.S. since July of 2017 (a 1-1 draw).

U.S. Coach Gregg Berhalter indicated he would like to score one more match in 2020, but the details are yet to be determined.

● Swimming ● While the official International Swimming League line is that times don’t matter, the record books were rewritten during the league’s second semifinal that finished on Monday in the short-course (25 m) pool of the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

The man of the meet was American sprint superstar Caeleb Dressel, who set a world (short-course) record in the 100 m Medley, after edging his own American Record in the 100 m Free.

Swimming for the Cali Condors, Dressel became the first swimmer in history to complete the 100 m Medley in less than 50 seconds, finishing in 49.88. That smashed the 50.26 standard set by Russia’s Vladimir Morozov twice in 2018 and raises questions about his program for the Olympic Trials in 2021.

Dressel had already improved his American Record in the 100 m Free, finishing in 45.20 – the no. 7 performance in history – clipping 0.02 off of his winning time from the ISL final in Las Vegas in 2019. Wow!

Not to be left out was U.S. butterfly star Tom Shields, who won the 200 m Fly in 1:49.02, improving his five-year old American Record of 1:49.05. He remains no. 5 on the all-time performers list.

In the team race, the Cali Condors won as expected (605.5 points), with L.A. Current second (462.0) and both will advance to the ISL finals this coming weekend. Iron and the Toronto Titans finished third (340.5) and fourth (303.0).

There were nine swimmers who won two or more individual events:

● Caeleb Dressel (USA): Men’s 50-100 m Free, 100 m Fly, 100 m Medley
● Ryan Murphy (USA): Men’s 50-200 m Back, 50 m Back Skins
● Emre Sakci (TUR): 50-100 m Breast
● Townley Haas (USA): 200-400 m Free
● Leonardo Santos (BRA): 200-400 m Medley

● Beryl Gastaldello (FRA): 100 m Free, 100 m Fly, 100 m Medley
● Lilly King (USA): 100-200 m Breast, 50 m Breast Skins
● Olivia Smoliga (USA): 50-100 m Back
● Hali Flickinger (USA): 400 m Free, 200 m Fly, 400 m Medley

The final will take place on 21-22 November, also in Budapest, with the Cali Condors and defending champion Energy Standard expected to battle for the title.

SportBusiness.com reported that two ISL executives have left the league over claims of non-payment:

“Managing director and head of commercial operations Hubert Montcoudiol and Jean-François Salessy, general manager of the Energy Standard Paris team and agent of French swimmer Florent Manaudou, both quit the league over the course of this weekend, citing a lack of payment among other issues.”

Salessy sent an open letter to ISL founder and funder Konstantin Grigorishin (UKR), noting (per SwimmingWorld Magazine.com):

“The creation of a professional league in a sclerotic and dusty sport was attractive. I was convinced that you would ask me to choose between my role as swimmer’s agent and management’s role of elite swimmers, which delighted me with the human and sporting perspectives. The salary conditions that you clearly offer me that day also suited my expectation. I still believe in a sense of honour and the face of the word. …

“This is illustrating the fact that ISL is an icebergs with an attractive visible part and an immersed dark side.

“I must admit that you put a lot of energy into building a competition format, an attractive audiovisual product, and only taking care of the main actors of the film with prize money: the swimmers and their coaches who were underpaid until then.

“The swimmers’ agents, GMs, service providers, technicians and support staff are just extras in this movie, replaceable at will, therefore malleable at will. Therefore picky agents and too overly curious journalists are not welcome. You don’t pay the GMs, the administrative staff and the suppliers who can in any case be replaced in a perpetual turnover. …

“Your Billionaire’s status prevents the candid and passionate to ask you for guarantees, for legal contracts (my case among others), and from worrying about a minimum of formalism. …

“ISL is boat without governance but with only one shareholder and generals without powers.

“You can argue that I have not found any sponsors (I have found some for others in the meantime by the way). No one has found any for you, could be in France, Europe, USA or elsewhere. It is therefore easier to incriminate sellers than the product itself. An age-old process.”

This isn’t the first time allegations of missed payments have arisen; the LaPresse news agency claimed unpaid bills of about $225,000 from season one, back in June.

Australian sprint star Shayna Jack was found guilty of an unintentional doping positive by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, acting as a first arbitrator, and suspended from competition for two years.

Jack’s suspension dates from 12 July 2019, which will end prior to the start of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, but she would be ineligible to compete in the Australian Trials, essentially prohibiting her from making the team. She was found to have the prohibited substance Ligandrol in her system during an out-of-competition test on 26 June 2019.

Jack, 22, won four relay medals at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships, including silvers in the 4×100 m Free and 4×100 m Mixed Medley.

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LANE ONE: He’s doing it again! Bach and IOC pave the way to cut many (most?) test events for future Games organizers

By
Rich Perelman
-
IOC President Thomas Bach of Germany

One of the ways you can measure the true values of a leader is to watch them when the pressure is off.

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the International Olympic Committee president, German Thomas Bach, continues his relentless march to make the organization of the Olympic Games less expensive and less trying for the organizing committees.

The headline of Friday’s news release spells it out a common-sense approach to a specific problem raised by the pandemic which has far-reaching implications for the future:

“The Beijing 2022 Organising Committee, winter Olympic International Federations (IFs), International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) have jointly decided to develop an adapted sports testing programme in preparation for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. The adapted programme will replace the organisation of a series of international test events originally planned for the first quarter of 2021.”

This is completely unthinkable in normal circumstances, but the coronavirus makes 2020 anything but normal. The explanation:

“With the Beijing competition venues all scheduled for completion by the end of 2020, and the successful pre-homologation of the Yanqing Sliding Centre and IF venue visits last week, it was felt that the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 are well on track, and that adapted testing will reduce the complexity of this season for all involved, including the athletes. Beijing 2022 will now enter into discussions with each IF to determine the details of the adapted testing programme, in liaison with the IOC and IPC.”

Now what an “adapted sports testing programme” looks like for an Olympic Winter Games is unknown, but it will surely limit athlete participation to those already in China to ensure good virus control and eliminate all of the work required to put on a full-fledged competition, including support for media, fans and sponsors. All of this will save the Beijing organizers substantial costs in organizing a series of competitions in all of the winter-sports venues.

Some of those tests would have been existing World Cup events, so the savings might be modest there, but consider the impact for a summer Games, with 28 sports and even more disciplines!

The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee scheduled a lot of test events, but out-sourced the production of some of them to outside companies, while the organizing committee essentially watched.

So, can Olympic organizing committees in Paris for 2024, Los Angeles in 2028 and beyond start thinking about jettisoning test events? You bet they can.

As the IOC noted:

“Testing of the venues is a requirement for IFs to approve use at the Games so that athletes can rest assured that the venues in 2022 will be of the highest possible standard and in the safest and securest environment.”

That doesn’t mean a competition. Remember that Bach stated, in 2017, that “What we will do, starting from the 2026 winter Games bid process, is that every venue that has hosted a world championship or a World Cup (sports) event will be considered as approved” for bidding purposes.

It doesn’t make a big leap to think of using a youth or junior or even a Masters event – wouldn’t that be new! – to “test” a venue from the IF perspective, a much easier task.

Eschewing test events does leave the organizing committee untested in terms of its capabilities, but perhaps this will change as well, especially if one or two large events are held in the year prior to the Games that actually test the whole organization. The obvious choice would be – as suggested here – to move the Paralympic Games to the year prior to the Olympic Games. This will advance the organizing committee’s development as nothing else can, and will have a significant, positive impact in providing a higher profile for these remarkable athletes.

Cutting out some or most of the plethora of test events now demanded by the IFs not only benefits the organizing committee – financially and in the staff time spent to support them – but the IFs as well. The reduced cost to the organizers actually helps the federations, to continue to evade some of the mounting pressure on the number of events to be held during the Games, although the total number of participants continues to shrink, back to the 10,500-athlete limit first installed for the 1992 Games in Barcelona.

This is a continuation of Bach’s relentless drive to reduce the cost of the bidding process and the Games, which he undertook from the moment he became IOC President in 2013. The former IOC insistence on new venues and infrastructure is a memory, with Bach repeating the new mantra that the Olympic Games, Winter Games and Youth Olympic Games will be tailored to fit the selected host city, not the reverse.

This new approach was formalized with the IOC’s passage of the “Agenda 2020″ program in December 2014, and expanded with the 118-point “The New Norm” protocols in February 2018. And it has not stopped.

Although only applicable to the Youth Olympic Games, the IOC introduced the concept of athletes coming in “waves” to the Youth Olympic Village, instead of coming for the entire duration. There is no doubt that – over time – this will be applied to the Olympic Games to help lessen the need for host cities to build athlete villages to house 15,000+ people, but of smaller size which make sense for that community.

This is Bach’s true legacy and it came at a crucial time in the IOC’s history, when the reputation of the Games was at a low point, especially after the reported $40 billion spent on the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and $51 billion for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. Paris 2024 planned to build a couple of arenas and an athlete’s village, with the remaining venues either existing or temporary, but even that program has been reduced, with two temporary facilities scrapped last month in favor of existing facilities for swimming and diving, and volleyball.

Los Angeles, of course, will famously build nothing for the 2028 Olympic Games.

Has Bach saved the future of the Olympic Games? Well, there are other threats on the political front and in truth, the IOC is quite dependent on the long-term health of American television giants NBCUniversal and Discovery, which hold billion-dollar contracts for the Games for the U.S. (through 2032) and Europe (through 2024), respectively.

But the massive changes in the IOC’s approach have completely changed the way cities, regions and countries look at a possible hosting of the Games, a situation which very few long-time observers could have imagined just a few years ago. And, as Bach is showing, he’s not done.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: Two world records in ISL semi one; Claire Curzan is the latest U.S. butterfly star; China sweeps ITTF World Cups

By
Rich Perelman
-

Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Football ● The U.S. Men’s National Team will face Panama on Monday (16th) in a friendly in the unusual venue of Wiener Neustadt, Austria. The game will start at 2:45 p.m. Eastern time and will be shown on FS1, TUDN and UniMas in the U.S.

The U.S. Women’s National Team will return to action on 27 November in a re-match of the 2019 Women’s World Cup final against The Netherlands. This time, the game will be held in Breda (NED) at the Rat Verlegh Stadion. Start time is 12:35 p.m. Eastern time, televised by ESPN2 and TUDN.

It will be the first for the U.S. women in 261 days; the Americans last played on 11 March with a 3-1 win over Japan to take the SheBelieves Cup. The U.S. is 8-0-0 in 2020 and 10-0-0 under coach Vlatko Andonovski.

● Swimming ● The unique, multi-site U.S. Open produced several noteworthy performances, despite being held across nine different cities from 12-14 November:

● Men/100 m Fly: Guatemala’s Luis Martinez, swimming in Huntsville, Alabama, won in 51.50, which places him no. 4 on the world list for 2020!

● Men/200-400 m Medley: Chase Kalisz posted the fastest 200 Medley time of 1:59.72 in Greensboro, ahead of Carson Foster (San Antonio: 1:59.82) and Ryan Lochte (Sarasota: 2:01.05). Foster came back to post the fastest time in the 400 m Medley in 4:16.51.

● Women/100-200 m Back: Current and former world-record holders were both present as former record-setter Kathleen Baker (59.82) posted the best 100 m time in Indianapolis, ahead of current record-holder Regan Smith (now 18: 59.95) and Phoebe Bacon (1:00.18) – both in Des Moines – with Claire Curzan fourth (1:00.30).

Bacon came back in the 200 m, clocking 2:09.16 – no. 6 on the world list for 2020 – over Katharine Berkoff (Greensboro: 2:10.12), Baker (2:11.38) and Smith (2:11.74).

● Women/100 m Fly: Swimming in Greensboro, 16-year-old Curzan moved to no. 2 in the 2020 world rankings – and equal-12th all-time and no. 3 on the all-time U.S. list – with a win in 56.61. It’s a U.S. age 15-16 record; remember that name for next year’s Olympic Trials.

The ISL semifinals are underway, with the first semi completed on Sunday morning and the first half of the second semi also held on Sunday, all in the short-course pool at the Duna Arena in Budapest (HUN).

The first semi produced two world short-course records (!), with Dutch backstroker Kira Toussaint winning the 50 m in 25.60, clipping 0.07 off the 2014 mark of Etiene Medeiros (BRA). On Sunday, British breaststroke superstar Adam Peaty finished the 100 m in 55.49, shaving 0.12 from Cameron van der Burgh (RSA)’s mark from 2009.

Defending champion Energy Standard won the team chase, piling up 580.0 points to 517.5 for the London Roar; the Tokyo Frog Kings (380.5) and New York Breakers (239.0) were eliminated. Nine swimmers won two or more individual events:

● Chad le Clos (RSA): Men’s 50 m Free, 100-200 m Fly
● Duncan Scott (GBR): Men’s 200 m Free, 200 m Medley
● Adam Peaty (GBR): Men’s 50-100 m (world record) Breast, 50 m Breast Skins
● Florent Manaudou (FRA): Men’s 50-100 m Free
● Guilherme Guido (BRA): Men’s 50-100 m Back

● Sarah Sjostrom (SWE): Women’s 50 m Free, 100 m Fly, 50 m Fly Skins
● Kira Toussaint (NED): Women’s 50 m (world record)-100 m Back
● Siobhan Haughey (HKG): Women’s 100-200 m Free
● Yui Ohashi (JPN): Women’s 200-400 m Medley

In Sunday’s first day of semi two, sprint superstar Caeleb Dressel of the U.S. scared the 50 m Free world record, winning in 20.28, against his 2019 mark of 20.24. The team race is tight, with the Cali Condors leading L.A. Current, 282-255, with Iron (Hungary) third at 173 and the Toronto Titans at 171. Two men won two events on the first day:

● Caeleb Dressel (USA): Men’s 50 m Free, 100 m Fly
● Ryan Murphy (USA): Men’s 50-200 m Back

In the hotly-contested women’s breaststroke races, American Molly Hannis scored her second straight win over Lilly King (USA) in the 50 m Breast, but King won the 200 m Breast and the two are likely to face off in the Skins races on Monday.

The second semi will conclude tomorrow; the final is scheduled for 21-22 November.

● Table Tennis ● Although the ITTF World Tour has been imploded by the coronavirus, the men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments were played, both in China, the first major tournament in eight months.

In the women’s World Cup from 8-10 November, it was an all-China final with no. 1-ranked Meng Chen defeating Yinsha Sun, 4-1. Chen edged Ying Han (GER), 4-3, in her semi, while Sun skipped past Mima Ito (JPN), 4-2.

It was Chen’s 19th ITTF tournament win.

The men’s World Cup (13-15 November) produced another all-China final with veteran star Zhendong Fan winning his fourth World Cup title with a 4-3 struggle over Rio Olympic Champion Long Ma.

Fan crushed Korea’s Woojin Jang, 4-0, in his semi while Ma survived a 4-3 final over Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN).

The no. 1-ranked Fan won his third consecutive World Cup and with four total titles, equaled the most ever in the event with countryman Lin Ma.

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THE TICKER: Tokyo planning to allow some foreign fans in ‘21; how much NCAA athletes might earn; U.S. men draw with Wales, 0-0

By
Rich Perelman
-

The latest news, notes and quotes from the worldwide Five-Ring Circus:

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● A government panel indicated that foreign spectators may be allowed to enter Japan for next summer’s Olympic Games from countries where the coronavirus is less prevalent.

Kyodo News reported:

“The government plans to draw up guidelines for spectators that include requiring them to wear face masks, carry out thorough disinfection and banning them from talking too loudly.

“It is looking at punitive measures for violations, such as denying entry or ejection from venues, the panel said.”

The decision on which countries and how many people is not expected to be made until next spring.

● NCAA ● Although hardly authoritative, ESPN posted a story on 9 November which projected possible earnings for college athletes, based on comments from “experts,” who were primarily from companies which are in the nascent business of promoting name, image and likeness income.

The earning estimates were broken down into four scenarios:

● All-American Athlete: Based on large social-media followings, earnings are estimated at $500,000-$1 million annually.

● Olympic Athlete: $15,000-$75,000 annually, based on social-media following, such as “Promoting or endorsing a product via a YouTube channel, Twitter post or Instagram account can be worth nearly $2,000 per post for an athlete of that caliber in a non-revenue sport with 150,000 followers.”

● Revenue Athlete: $5,000-20,000 annually, based on social-media following.

● Non-Revenue Athlete: $1,000-$3,000 annually, based on social-media following.

All of the projections were made on the basis of social-media standing, but there are also opportunities for autographs, personal appearances and other options. But as shown, it’s much better to be a basketball or football player than a water polo star.

● World Anti-Doping Agency ● The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) held meetings of its Executive Committee and Foundation Board over 11-12 November, focusing on governance reform, including

“Of the 70 reform recommendations made by the WADA Governance Reforms Working Group in November 2018, all have now been actioned to some degree – the vast majority having been fully implemented. In particular, WADA now has an independent President and Vice-President, there is at least one athlete and one representative of National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs) on each Standing Committee (except for the independent Compliance Review Committee as it relates to NADOs), and there is a limit of three terms of three years each for members of the ExCo, Board and Standing Committees.”

WADA has asked its Athlete Committee to recommend ways to increase the athlete voice, but these have not yet been delivered.

There was good news on the budget front, with an approved 2021 plan for $43.4 million, an 8% increase from 2020.

Prior to the WADA meetings, Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations (iNADO) chief Jorge Leyva (MEX) issued a statement which included:

“In our field [of] anti-doping, there is still work ahead of us to give athletes the recognition they deserve. The World Anti-Doping Agency announced that it will develop a model that one day would allow athletes to hold voting rights within their structure. Given the implications of anti-doping to their careers and private lives, giving athletes a seat at the decision table in WADA must be a top priority. Equally, International Sport Federations, National Governing Bodies of Sport, and not last National Anti-Doping Organisation must also continue to work to integrate athletes into their structures.”

This was the latest – and one of the loudest – calls for WADA reform, especially in the area of athlete representation on its Board and committees.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency also posted a similar call on behalf of itself and other anti-doping organizations:

“WADA’s major stakeholders unite to call yet again for substantive change and meaningful reform at WADA. Athletes bear all of the anti-doping testing, and National Anti-Doping Organizations carry out a majority of it, yet neither are properly represented in WADA’s governance nor the review of it. While WADA says its priority is in engaging and empowering athletes, the Agency still does not give them the place they deserve.

“We all will benefit from a stronger and more effective WADA that builds trust with athletes and effectively carries out its mission. WADA’s standing can only be improved through meaningful reforms that embrace both independent athlete representatives and NADOs as essential components of global anti-doping governance.”

● Athletics ● The North American, Central American and Caribbean Confederation (NACAC) has asked for additional review of the 20 October arbitration decision that revoked a sanction issued by the Athletics Integrity Unit against Salwa Eid Naser (BRN), the 2019 World Champion in the women’s 400 m.

Naser was suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit on 5 January of this year for a combination of three filing or “whereabouts” failures during a 12-month period. The appeal identified some misunderstandings of instructions and locations on one of the tests that was not carried and determined that one of the cited missed tests was not to be held against her. So, no sanction.

Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH), the 2016 Olympic 400 m gold medalist and runner-up to Naser at the 2019 Worlds, protested the decision, stating

“It’s with the international federation and the integrity unit that was assembled to protect this sport. In my opinion, the World Athletics and the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) were caught with their hands in the cookie jar as it pertains to this case. I was interested to see how this turn of events would transpire.

“I think this strengthens the need for an independent body to serve alongside the World Athletics appointed athlete representatives. With the independent athletes’ body, more accountability will be given as we try our best to rebuild trust and integrity in our beloved sport. … I cry foul play and I believe there is a deeper explanation on how the World Athletics along with the AIU allowed this to carry on to this extent.”

● Football ● The U.S. Men’s National Team played for the first time since February, dominating possession but unable to score in a 0-0 tie with Wales in Swansea’s spectator-free Liberty Stadium.

The U.S. ended with 61% of the possession and pressed forward multiple times, generating seven total shots to just four for the Welsh.

The best scoring chance was actually by Wales’ Brennan Johnson, who hit a right-footed screamer in the 63rd minute, saved cleanly by U.S. keeper Zach Steffen. A try by Konrad de la Fuente for the U.S. from the right side of the goal in the 33rd minute went too high and sailed well over the Welsh goal. Lots of action, but no results.

The U.S. will play Panama on Monday (16th), but in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

● Gymnastics ● Only a small matter in the larger scheme of things, but USA Gymnastics was authorized by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana to move from its current offices to a new headquarters, smaller in size, but with considerable cost savings.

The current, 17,000 sq. ft. office lease will end on 31 December 2020, and the Court approved a new sublease arrangement in a different building, extending as far as 30 April 2026 at a savings of about $190,000 annually vs. a total cost of $360,000 in the current facility. According to the court documents, “The Debtor will invest that money in its initiatives to enhance athlete safety and wellness.”

A minor savings in the overall context of the USA Gymnastics bankruptcy proceeding, but a positive sign that the federation is trying to conserve resources.

● Shooting ● Amidst the election-season brouhaha in the U.S. over blocking or deletions of social-media posts on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) has been having its own tug-of-war with Facebook, on which it has about 615,000 followers.

On 5 November, the ISSF Facebook page was deleted without warning, resulting in a considerable uproar and requests to the social-media platform for restoration.

A story in the Times of India noted “Posts related to guns and ammunition can be one of the reasons for the deletion of the ISSF page. As per their policy, Facebook prohibits promotion of ‘firearms, ammunition, weapons of any kind, fireworks and explosives and ads promoting the brandishing of firearms’.” Inquiries from the ISSF to Facebook received no response.

On 11 November, the page came back; the ISSF posted a note that included

“Dear friends, we are glad to inform you that with your help we returned our page on the Facebook!

“We would like to thank you for all your support which we have all these days!”

There was no indication of any communications from Facebook about why the site was deleted or reinstated.

● Swimming ● The Toyota U.S. Open will take place from 12-14 November, but at nine different locations (all long-course), with the results aggregated to create final standings.

The schedule follows the usual format and the normal $1,500-1,000-500 prize money will be awarded for the top three finishers. It’s the first “national” event for USA Swimming in months and while not a showcase for some of the nation’s top performers – those in Budapest for the International Swimming League – it’s an opportunity to compete, even if on a local level. Stars such as Ryan Lochte, Regan Smith, Carson Foster and Nathan Adrian are all expected to compete in various locations.

The ISL semifinals are on schedule for this weekend in Budapest in the short-course pool at the Duna Arena. On Saturday and Sunday (14-15 November), defending champion Energy Standard (Paris) will compete against the New York Breakers, Tokyo Frog Kings and the London Roar.

On Sunday and Monday (15-16), the undefeated Cali Condors – led by American superstars Caeleb Dressel and Lilly King– will try to hold off Team Iron, the Toronto Titans and and the L.A. Current. The final will be on 22 November.

Television coverage in the U.S. will be on the CBS Sports Network.

● Triathlon ● The coronavirus pandemic made a shambles of the International Triathlon Union’s elite-class schedule for 2020, with just one World Series race held, four World Cups and three European Cup races.

But those seven formed the basis for the final 2020 triathlon world rankings, with the three best finishes counting in the point totals.

The 2020 World Champion, France’s Vincent Luis, topped the men’s rankings with 2,000 points, followed by Jelle Geens (BEL: 1,647) and reigning Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee (GBR: 1,426). The top American was Kevin McDowell in 11th (816).

The women’s rankings showed a tie between Bermuda’s Flora Duffy and World Champion Georgia Taylor-Brown at 1,925, with American Katie Zaferes third with 1,300 points.

● The Last Word ● Great salute to two of the greatest Florida athletes ever – World Champion swimmer Dressel and World Champion hurdler Grant Holloway – by Shelby Granath on Twitter:

“Oh wow one year ago I referred to 2 of the greatest @FloridaGators student-athletes of all time as “surf & turf”

“How was I allowed to host a show?

“@caelebdressel and @Flaamingoo_ I miss you both like crazy #GoGators”

Granath was a host on GatorVision TV and had them both on a football pre-game program at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, and is now a editor/anchor working with the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL.

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LANE ONE: Bach heading to Tokyo next week; “very confident” on 2021; athletes OK with no podium protests?

By
Rich Perelman
-
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach at Wednesday's news conference (Photo: IOC video screenshot)

“Given the toolbox we are putting together and given the latest and very recent developments with regard to rapid testing and vaccination, we are very confident that we can offer a safe environment for all the athletes from all the National Olympic Committees and from the IOC Refugee Olympic Team” at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad next year in Tokyo, Japan.

That was the theme of International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach (GER) in a 57-minute news conference on Wednesday concerning the IOC Executive Board meeting held earlier in the day.

Bach announced that a small IOC delegation will visit Tokyo next week to see first-hand the progress of the organizing effort, but the Athlete’s Village, the Olympic Stadium and the plans concerning the control of the coronavirus. He was decidedly optimistic:

● “The significance is high at this moment, not only with regard to Covid countermeasures, but for the overall organization of the Games, which of course, the countermeasures are key. So the message, you know, I want to deliver in Tokyo in Japan, to the Japanese people is that we are fully committed to the safe organization of the Games. This is the principle we have applied and this is the principle to which we remain committed: these Games will happen in a safe environment.”

● “And for this we are undertaking all the efforts, and these, we hope, will help to change some people’s minds, exactly in the way that the gymnast described it, that we are discussing how we will manage this safe environment and there is a huge, huge toolbox already underway.

“I can’t and will not go into the details, because we would then still sit here in an hour, but this is starting from the travel restriction, with immigration, to quarantine, to tracing, to rapid testing, to vaccination, to social distancing … you name it. And this will reassure, will give confidence there to the participants but also to our gracious Japanese hosts that these Games will offer a safe environment for everybody, and also for the hosts.”

● “Tokyo and Japan has demonstrated that you can organize there, international events, even under the restrictions in place now, and even under the conditions in place now. In nine months from now, I think we can now be sure – given the latest developments with regard to vaccination and rapid testing – we will even have more and better tools in the toolbox than the [Federation International de Gymnastique] and the organizing committee had now [for the trial meet successfully held last Sunday.]”

Bach was also optimistic about not only holding the Games in Tokyo next year, but with spectators as well:

“We are very confident there about having the Olympic Games next year, starting on 23 of July. I’m sorry that I will not be able to give you the exact number of spectators, but having seen now the different tests in Japan, I think we can become more and more confident that we will have a reasonable number of spectators then also in the Olympic venues. How many and under which conditions again depends very much on the future developments and the experience, you know, we are all making with the organization of big sports events at this moment in time.

“But there, Japan has set some very good examples; we have the baseball events [with spectators] in Yokohama and others in the last weeks, and we had this wonderful FIG gymnastics event, and there is more to come, then, at the beginning of next year. So we are taking this step by step, again, always first priority to ensure the safe environment for everybody.”

Bach also announced a 16% increase – to $590 million from 2021-24 – of the Olympic Solidarity program, which funds athlete scholarships, supports competition travel and the National Olympic Committees. In specific, the amounts earmarked for direct athlete support is being increased by 25% from the 2017-20 budget, as is the amount for the NOCs.

The IOC’s Olympic Solidarity chief James Macleod (GBR) noted that from 2017-20, the IOC “supported over 25,000 athletes through Olympic Solidarity programs, whether that’s at the youth level, continental/regional level or indeed at an elite level, for athletes training and preparing for the Olympic Games and Winter Games or the Youth Olympic Games. That includes 3,000 individual Olympic Scholarships for athletes in winter and summer sports and those are for athletes preparing for the Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games, the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Beijing Games.”

From 2021-24, the IOC plans to pay at least $103 million in support payments directly to the NOCs. This will not satisfy the IOC’s critics, but more money for athletes is always welcome.

Bach was also asked about the continuing discussions about Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, which bans protests at the Games:

“We received a short update by the Athletes Commission today. They informed us that they had already a number of qualitative assessments and consultations by some national organizations and athlete’s commissions, and with such athlete’s commissions where there so far these qualitative assessments have been made in this number of countries where they said that there is a majority of athletes of the opinion that the field of play and the ceremonies should be protected, while at the same time they are looking for new and creative ways how they can express their support for the Olympic values. …

“[Q]uantitative research will start shortly and that then after the conclusion of this quantitative research then they will come back to the IOC Executive Board with their proposals, reflecting all these consultations they will have had by then. And, you know, this is the procedure the IOC Executive Board supported from the very beginning, and we will not interfere into these consultations and are waiting for the hopefully creative and innovative proposals coming the athletes.”

But the outcome looks to be clear already. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee is expected to make the recommendations from its Athlete Advisory Council public in the coming days.

Bach was also asked about the standing of the International Weightlifting Federation, which has been in turmoil since a January document from Germany’s ARD network alleged doping cover-ups and financial mismanagement within the federation. Bach was not happy:

“We see on the one hand progress with regard to anti-doping because the cooperation with ITA has been extended, which was very much important to ensure there the integrity of the qualification system which will resume in the IWF most likely in February next year. So there on the actual side with regard to anti-doping, there is some progress.

“On the other side, also with regard to anti-doping, there are still many, many questions open. You know about the inquiries going on by WADA, in different directions, and with regard to different countries and with regard to the role of IWF itself. There, we have to wait for the results of these inquiries of WADA, and then to see whether these can or must have consequences for the future.

“With regard to the governance reforms, there again, it’s pretty ambiguous . We have, for instance, not seen any progress with regard to having the athletes on the Executive Committee of IWF, we have seen plans and projects, but we don’t have seen any kind of implementation. Nothing has been put into action, and the same applies then to the composition of the Board; there, we have seen no changes: it’s still the old Board, with the exception of former President [Tamas] Ajan. We need to have further information on how the governance reforms and by whom they will finally be passed and be implemented. This is why the Executive Board reaffirmed its position that after Tokyo, we will have to review the position of weightlifting for the program for Paris, taking into consideration the governance reforms, taking into consideration also the results of the Tokyo competition, whether there finally a clean competitions in weightlifting and thirdly also, taking into consideration the results of the inquiry which on the way by WADA.”

Bach did get an inquiry from the Jiji Press in Japan about next week’s meetings in Tokyo that provoked a smirk:

“The answer to your question whether cancellation will be discussed, the answer is ‘no.’”

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: WADA-U.S. tensions thaw; Japan easing athlete entry for Games; Wrestling Worlds implode; King wins two, loses two!

By
Rich Perelman
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News, views and noise from the non-stop, worldwide circus of Olympic sport:

● Anti-Doping ● The highly-publicized conflict between the World Anti-Doping Agency and the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy has simmered down with two developments over the past week.

On Saturday (7th), a joint statement noted positive results from a meeting between WADA President Witold Banka (POL) and James Carroll, head of the ONDCP:

“In what was a very positive meeting, the two organizations agreed that the U.S. Government was vital for the protection of clean sport around the world, and that they would pursue strong and open bilateral communication going forward.

“Mr. Banka and Mr. Carroll were united in the view that this was an important meeting, where WADA and the ONDCP were able to discuss a number of areas of mutual concern in an open and honest way. Mr. Carroll reaffirmed the U.S. Government’s commitment to work with WADA, from within WADA. They both agreed that the partnership between WADA and the U.S. Government was vitally important for the protection of clean sport around the world. As such, they committed to strengthening this partnership going forward and saw this meeting as an important step along a renewed path of dialogue and collaboration.”

The situation was, of course, colored by the U.S. election results in which Democrat Joe Biden is projected to defeat incumbent (Republican) Donald Trump. Carroll’s appointment as head of the ONDCP came from Trump in January 2019 and his future in the position is, at best, unlikely in a Biden administration.

The 17 June ONDCP report to the Congress on U.S. participation in the world-wide doping control system criticized WADA and claimed that U.S. representation should be keyed to the amount of dues it pays to WADA. This was rebutted by a WADA reply a few days later and the possibility of the U.S. being declared non-compliant by WADA opened. The situation, however, has changed and appears to be calming.

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● Kyodo News reported that the Japanese government is planning special provisions to allow athletes and support staff to enter Japan for the purpose of training or competing in the Tokyo Games in 2021:

“Foreign athletes and staff, including those from countries and regions on which Japan imposes an entry ban, will be allowed to enter the country provided they submit proof of having tested negative for the coronavirus and take sufficient precautionary measures while in the country, according to the sources.

“They can compete in international tournaments or participate in training camps, even during a 14-day quarantine period, if all conditions are fulfilled, with the same rules applying to Japanese athletes who come back to the country from abroad, the sources said.”

Approval of this plan is expected to discussed on Thursday (12th).

“There were parties somewhere every night. It seemed like almost the same people showed up. I have always wondered whether it is okay for the Olympics to spend this much money.

“Those involved with the games such as the Olympic family were able to party every night with free alcoholic beverages. They may not like it that the same will not be offered (in Tokyo), but I believe it will serve as a good model.”

That was Tokyo 2020 organizing committee President Yoshiro Mori, speaking to reporters at a news conference last month, noting one of the many measures being undertaken to narrow the added cost of postponing the Games for a year. The organizing committee has promised a report at the end of the year which identifies the revised budget for the delayed Games, as the organizes and the governments involved look for savings everywhere.

The real beneficiaries of these reviews of service? Future organizing committees, most especially Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028.

● XXV Olympic Winter Games: Milan-Cortina 2026 ● The Italian government has approved €1 billion (~$1.2 billion U.S.) for infrastructure work “for road and railway projects in the Lombardy and Veneto regions and the autonomous provinces of Bolzano and Trento that will host the games.”

The competition venues and athlete housing are being financed privately, either through the organizing committee, or as independent programs which will simply be used for the Games.

● Athletics ● On the same day that William & Mary announced that it would be restoring the seven sports it cut in September – including men’s indoor and outdoor track – Clemson announced that it was dropping men’s cross country, indoor track and outdoor track as of June 2021.

This is in a program with a budget of $131.9 million in 2019, having increased from $74.7 million just five years earlier. But Athletic Director Dan Radakovich wrote in a Web site post:

“After a long period of deliberative discussion and analysis we concluded that discontinuing our men’s track and field program is in the best long-term interests of Clemson Athletics. …

“The annual $2-million plus in savings will be reinvested into other athletic department initiatives, including our remaining Olympic sports and will help to provide additional financial stability moving forward. The Department of Athletics has already undertaken several significant measures to address a projected resource shortfall of $25 million this fiscal year.

“In our long-term planning, we looked at the changing demographics of the Clemson campus. Of Clemson’s men’s sports, only men’s track and field and cross country could provide the Department with both substantial cost savings as well as the ability for long-term Title IX compliance.”

This comes a month after the University of Minnesota saved men’s outdoor track, but eliminated indoor track & field. Minnesota’s athletic department is reported to have a $123 million budget for 2019-2020.

This is all part of the panic caused by the coronavirus, but the damage to track & field and other under-fire sports such as men’s gymnastics, are worrying.

● Cycling ● The Union Cycliste Internationale held its 2020 Congress by video conference last week, with representatives from 115 nations participating. Beyond a review of the difficult year in cycling in 2020, the UCI expanded its membership to 197 national federations, but also took the highly unusual step of replacing three national federations:

“[T]he UCI Congress decided to exclude the Cycling Federation of Chile, the Bulgarian Cycling Union and the Cycling Association of Montenegro for serious violations of their obligations pursuant to the UCI Constitution, in particular concerning governance and financial obligations. Three new Federations were then affiliated for these three countries: the National Federation of Chile, the National Federation of Bulgaria and the National Federation of Montenegro.”

This is an important development, especially for those in the U.S. who may think that the removal of National Governing Bodies by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee or the U.S. Congress (under the now-law S. 2330) won’t happen due to ties with the relevant International Federation. In short, it happens.

There was also a significant discussion concerning the financial implications of the coronavirus. UCI’s financial statements for 2019 were presented, showing CHF 40.7 million in revenues and CHF 46.7 million in expenses for an operating loss of CHF 6.9 million (1 CHF= $1.09). After some good investment gains, the loss for the year was CHF 3.5 million. The UCI finished 2019 with reserves of CHF 41.6 million, quite solid. There are also deferred revenues already in hand of CHF 13.6 million from future events.

A discussion of the 2020 finances revealed that the cancellation of the 2020 Olympic Games would have an impact of about CHF 18 million on the federation. For the 2020 calendar year, the loss of the normally-due Olympic revenue and the implosion of the racing calendar resulted in about CHF 33.2 million in lost revenue. After 2020, reserves will fall to about CHF 20 million, with the hope that the Games will be held in 2021.

The development of women’s cycling was deeply hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the annual survey of more than 100 riders by The Cyclists Alliance. While a few stars are able to collect more than €100,000 in salary, only 25.5% earned more than €30,000 and 32% earned less than €15,500 (including 25% who earn no salary at all).

There are eight teams on the Women’s World Tour for 2020, all of which are obligated to pay a minimum salary to their riders. The 47 “continental” level teams are not so required; some of these teams operate on a tiny annual budget of €100,000 or so (€1 = $1.18). Also:

“72 per cent of riders who took the survey indicated that they would consider leaving the sport due to financial reasons, 56 per cent would leave the sport to start a family, and 40 per cent would leave to start a new career. However, 87 per cent indicated that they would prolong their careers in cycling if assisted with increased funding, while 46 per cent indicated a need for parental policy in order to start a family while still competing.”

● Figure Skating ● The coronavirus continues to rearrange the 2021 sports schedule as the U.S. Figure Skating nationals will now take place from 11-21 January at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The event was to be held in San Jose, California from 11-17 January, but given the success of the closed environment used for the Skate American competition in Las Vegas, it was felt the event was safer there. San Jose was awarded the 2023 U.S. nationals instead.

● Swimming ● The final two matches of the International Swimming League’s “regular season” were held on concurrent days in the 25 m short-course pool at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

Match 9 saw defending champion Energy Standard (Paris) win with 573.0 points to 428.0 for the Tokyo Frog Kings and 415.5 for Iron (Budapest). Eight swimmers won multiple individual events, led by Swedish superstar Sarah Sjostrom with four:

● Chad le Clos (RSA): Men’s 100-200 m Fly
● Danas Rapsys (LTU): Men’s 200-400 m Free
● Emre Sakci (TUR): Men’s 50-100 m Breast
● Kosuke Hagino (JPN): 200-400 m Medley
● Nicholas Santos (BRA): 50 m Fly, 50 m Fly Skins

● Sarah Sjostrom (SWE): Women’s 50-100 m Free, 100 m Fly, 50 m Free Skins
● Benedetta Pilato (ITA: age 15): Women’s 50-100 m Breast
● Yui Ohashi (JPN): Women’s 200-400 m Medley

The final regular-season match was a showcase – once again – Cali Condors, who completed an undefeated schedule with a 558.0-495.0-398.0 victory over the L.A. Current and the London Roar.

The meet’s stunner was Annie Lazor’s 200 m Breaststroke win over fellow American Lilly King by 2:17.04-2:17.18, King’s first defeat in two seasons of ISL competition. She had won 27 individual races in a row.

King also lost to fellow American Molly Hannis, 29.17-29.18 in the 50 m Breast (Lazor was sixth), then won the 100 m Breast, 1:03.15-1:04.43 over Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson (Lazor fourth, Hannis sixth). She finished off the meet with three crushing wins in the 50 m Breast Skins races, clubbing Hannis by 29.24-29.85 in the final.

Including King, there were eight swimmers with multiple wins:

● Caeleb Dressel (USA): Men’s 50-100 m Free, 100 m Fly, 100 m Medley
● Ryan Murphy (USA): 50-100-200 m Back, 50 m Back Skins
● Nicolo Martinenghi (ITA): 50-100 m Breast

● Lilly King (USA): Women’s 100 m Breast, 50 m Breast Skins
● Beryl Gastaldello (FRA): Women’s 100 m Free, 50-100 m Fly, 100 m Medley
● Beata Nelson (USA): 200 m Back, 200 m Medley
● Hali Flickinger (USA): 400 m Free, 200 m Fly
● Olivia Smoliga (USA): 50-100 m Back

The seasonal MVP standings showed Dressel with 277 total points to 246.5 for Gastaldello, 233.0 for Murphy and 228.0 for King.

The Condors finished with 16 points in the seasonal team standings to 15 for Energy Standard and 13 for the London Roar. The semifinals will be held on 14-15 and 15-16 November with the final on 21-22 November, all in Budapest.

Swimming-mad Australia could lose its 2012 Olympic bronze medal in the men’s 4×100 m Medley Relay as breaststroke Brenton Rickard has been charged with a doping violation during the continuing re-tests of the London samples.

Rickard indicated in an e-mail to teammates that he had been found to have a small amount of the masking agent furosemide in his system, a prohibited substance. A hearing was held by video conference on Monday with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Agence France Presse reported that Australia has never lost an Olympic medal to doping before.

● Wrestling ● The fate of the 2020 United World Wrestling World Championships has now been decided:

“UWW had set a benchmark requiring that at least 8 of 10 of the top nations from the 2019 World Championships, and 70% of total athletes, participate in 2020. With many nations reinstating travel restrictions in response to COVID-19 the participation hurdles were not met.”

Scheduled for 12-20 December in Belgrade (SRB), an “Individual World Cup” will be held instead, with CHF 300,000 in prize money available across the 30 classes in men’s and women’s Freestyle and Greco-Roman. The dates are still to be confirmed.

Three major federations – USA Wrestling and those from Cuba and Japan – had decided not compete in the 2020 Worlds in advance of the decision.

● World University Games ● The endangered Winter World University Games in Lucerne, Switzerland was re-scheduled from January 2021 to 11-21 December 2021, when the impact of the coronavirus is expected to have significantly lessened.

Baylor University’s men’s basketball team will represent the U.S. at the 2021 World University Games in Chengdu (CHN) in August 2021. The U.S. International University Sports Federation (US-IUSF) selected the Bears, which is expected to be one of the powerhouse teams in NCAA play this coming season. It’s the fifth time an individual men’s college team has been chosen to represent the U.S. at the WUG, after Northern Iowa (2007), Kansas (2015), Purdue (2017) and Clemson (2019).

The future of the WUG is looking promising, with interest for the 2025 edition expressed from both Germany and Italy. The U.S.-IUSF is looking into the possibility of hosting the 2027 edition. The 2023 Winter World University Games will be held in Lake Placid, New York.

● At the BuZZer ● Reader Barry Schreiber sent a reminder that 9 November marked the 125th anniversary of what was essentially the start of organized women’s track & field, the first Field Day at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

The six events included the 100 and 220-yard sprints, the 60-yard hurdles, high jump and running broad jump, with the Class of ‘97 winning by 24-14-5 over the classes of 1898 and 1896. The event was such a success that the number of events was doubled in 1896 and 42 editions of the Field Days at Vassar were held until ended the 1937 meet.

Those early meets were the catalyst for many more events at high schools and colleges throughout the area and spread across the nation. Now you know.

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LANE ONE: With the Paris 2024 program about to be approved, how will Los Angeles embrace its historic “youth culture” for 2028?

By
Rich Perelman
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Does Ultimate Frisbee have an Olympic future? Here's action from the 2012 World Championships between Japan and the U.S. (Photo: World Flying Disc Federation)

In December, the International Olympic Committee is expected to approve the competition program for the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris in 2024.

The French organizers have proposed, in addition to the 28 core sports listed in Rule 45 of the Olympic Charter, four more sports with limited numbers of competitors:

● Break Dancing: 2 events with 32 total athletes
● Skateboarding: 4 events with 96 total athletes
● Sport Climbing: 4 events with 72 total athletes
● Surfing: 2 events with 48 total athletes (to be held in Tahiti!)

All together, these four sports account for 12 events and 248 athletes, which will come out of the 10,500 athlete quota for the 2024 Games. Skateboarding, Sport Climbing and Surfing are also scheduled to be part of the 2020 Tokyo Games, which requested five added sports – including Baseball/Softball and Karate – for its Games (which added a total of 18 events and 474 athletes).

The Paris proposal was provisionally accepted by the IOC membership in 2019 and final approval is expected to be a formality. The IOC sports directorate is in conversations with all of the International Federations about reductions in the number of athletes allowed in almost all sports to make room for these additions.

Complicating the picture are the situations in boxing and weightlifting, where the respective federations – AIBA and IWF – are so dysfunctional that both sports could be eliminated for 2024. Boxing has 286 athletes in its quota for 2020 and weightlifting has been reduced – due to its horrific doping history – to 196. That’s 482 in total and if both sports are kicked out, no other federations will have to reduce their quota for Paris.

It’s also important to note that these “added” sports for Tokyo and Paris do not share in the IOC’s distribution of television rights sales monies, as do the 28 “core” sports. They are in for one Games at a time, to be re-evaluated on a Games-by-Games basis.

So what about Los Angeles in 2028?

Having lived nearly all of my life in Southern California, it’s easy to see how some of the added sports for Tokyo and Paris would be a good fit, aesthetically and historically, for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles:

● Let’s start by including Baseball and Softball, both deeply ingrained in Los Angeles for decades. The enormous popularity of Major League Baseball’s Dodgers and Angels, and with the pre-eminent power in collegiate softball – UCLA – in the area, these are no-brainer additions to the 2028 program. Done.

● Although traces of what is now called “Breaking” have been identified as early as the 19th Century, it developed into a defined dance style in the U.S. in the late 1970s. It actually has a minor tie to the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles; at the pre-Games welcome party for news media held on the outdoor pool plaza of the Bonaventure Hotel, the L.A. Olympic Organizing Committee featured servers on roller skates with pitchers of drinks, and break dancers performing twists, head spins and popping-and-locking, coordinated with a live DJ. As the head of Press Operations for the Games, I gave several interviews to German media, all asking “Was ist das ‘break dancing’?”. I did my best to explain, in a few seconds, the free and open nature of the Southern California lifestyle.

Primarily an art form, “Breaking” is presented as a judged sport and will make its debut in Tokyo next year. Whether its inclusion actually expands the Olympic audience is certainly up for debate.

● Skateboarding has been a Southern California youth tradition since the 1960s and was immortalized in the Jan & Dean hit “Sidewalk Surfin‘” from 1964, which included

So get your girl and take her tandem down the street
Then she’ll know you’re an asphalt athlete …

Although approved for Tokyo and Paris, there is pushback from sectors of the skateboarding community against Olympic inclusion. One petition states “Skateboarding is not a ‘sport’ and we do not want skateboarding exploited and transformed to fit into the Olympic program. We feel that Olympic involvement will change the face of skateboarding and its individuality and freedoms forever. We feel it would not in any way support skateboarders or skateparks.”

But there can be little doubt that as part of the Southern California culture, it will be proposed for inclusion in 2028. It is also a judged sport, with multiple professional exhibitions and tours.

● Surfing, like skateboarding, has been a part of the SoCal cultural scene, but for about 100 years now. Made famous by Jan & Dean starting in the late 1950s, then guitarist Dick Dale and The Beach Boys in the 1960s, the “surf sound” has been inextricably tied to Southern California, making surfing a heavy favorite to be included in 2028.

Surfing as a sport has been well accepted for decades, but it is again a judged event, rather than scored. And whether it will actually add interest to the 2028 Games is again open to debate.

Sport Climbing, although part of the 2020 and 2024 programs, is not strongly tied to Southern California history. The first World Championships was held only in 1991 and the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) was founded in 2007. All of its World Championships have been held in either Europe or Asia.

There are advantages to this sport in that it is fairly easy to stage, requires only a large open space and could be contested inexpensively in any of the mid-sized college football stadiums in the Los Angeles area. It is also a scored and timed sport, rather than judged.

There are many other possibilities, and Karate has pledged an all-out effort to regain a spot in the Games for 2028. But as regards youth participation, family fitness and a history closely tied to Southern California, there is another option.

Already a part of the World Games, the multi-sport behemoth that will be held in Birmingham, Alabama in mid-2022, the World Flying Disc Federation – yes, Frisbee – is proposing to join the 2028 Games as well.

The concept for a light, flying disc apparently originated on an L.A. beach in the late 1930s and a model was commercially sold as early as 1948. The plastic “Frisbee” was created in 1957 and took off as a sporting item in the 1960s, quickly leading to the creation of competition teams in football-style and golf-style games.

In fact, 2016 Olympic javelin champion Thomas Rohler (GER) uses Frisbees in his training routine:

“For me, disc golf, is the best warmup or recovery game there is. I really appreciate the reverse movement for shoulder prehab. I got a new understanding of precision and flight characteristics when I started testing many different discs. I love the challenge of hitting a good throw with multiple discs. As a training aspect.”

Now, Ultimate Frisbee – with scoring similar to American Football, but with one point for catches in an end zone – is played in about 125 countries and the World Flying Disc Federation – founded in 1985 – has 88 member nations. The game has seven players per team and is played in 90-minute games on a 40×70-yard field plus end zones of 20 yards deep, a little smaller than a regulation American Football field. A tournament with eight countries could be held with mixed-gender teams, alternated between 4 men/3 women and 4 women/3 men; the total number of athletes would be 112.

Equipment costs are field markers and 100 Frisbees; you can buy a competition model today for $10-20 apiece.

This is a true Southern California sport, and has to be one of the least expensive to stage. It further offers the LA28 organizers an opportunity to have a sport in East Los Angeles, which hosted field hockey at East Los Angeles College and judo in Cal State Los Angeles in 1984, but is currently uninvolved in the 2028 plan. ELAC’s stately Weingart Stadium, now seating 22,355, could be used and also includes nearby space for warm-up and administration.

The WFDF is so excited about the possibilities for 2028 that it will stage its 2021 World Beach Ultimate Championships in the Los Angeles area in November; the area is already the site of two major annual beach Ultimate tournaments every January.

The LA28 organizers are already being bombarded with concepts for added sports for the third Los Angeles Games. Already committed to $160 million in funding for youth sports through the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, it will be fascinating to see how its drive for future fitness and family participation will be aligned with its choices for added sports to an Olympic program that may be more open than normal, especially if boxing and weightlifting are eventually excused.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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For our 526-event International Sports Calendar from October 2020 to June 2021, by date and by sport, click here!

HIGHLIGHTS: Roglic defends Vuelta a Espana title (barely), Dressel wins five events and King streaks to 27 straight wins in ISL match 8

By
Rich Perelman
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Back-to-back Vuelta a Espana champion Primoz Roglic (SLO) (Photo: ProCyclingStats)

Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Archery ● The final event of the U.S. Archery Team Qualifier Series was held in Newberry, Florida with the Easton Foundations Gator Cup completed while observing the multiple safety measures that have marked almost all of 2020.

The competition included a 72-arrow ranking round and then elimination matches for senior and masters archers. In a year where seemingly nothing has gone to form, there were some surprises on the final day (Sunday).

World Youth Championships team gold medalist Jack Williams – age 20 – won the men’s Recurve title with a 6-4 finals over emerging star Joonsuh Oh, with Nicholas D’Amour winning the bronze medal, 6-0, vs. Josef Scarboro.

Eliana Capps scored an impressive win in the women’s Recurve class, edging star teen (16) Casey Kaufhold in the semis, 6-5, and then sailing past Caitlin Noriega, 6-2, in the final. Kaufhold won the bronze over Erin Mickelberry, 6-4.

Cole Frederick and Savannah Vanderweir won the men’s and women’s senior Compound titles.

● Cycling ● As expected, the 75th edition of the Vuelta a Espana, the final Grand Tour of the season, was decided on the penultimate day, with the brutal final climb up to the 1,959 m summit of the Alto de la Covatilla.

After defending champion Primoz Roglic (SLO) extended his lead to 45 seconds over Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz on Friday, everything rested on Saturday’s stage. While France’s David Gaudu picked off competitors on the climb and rode solo into the finish for a win by 28 seconds over Swiss Gino Mader, the real action was behind him.

Britain’s High Carthy, who started the day third (-0:53), attacked on La Covatilla, with Carapaz, Roglic, Enric Mas (ESP) and Aleksandr Vlasov (RUS) chasing. Carapaz broke clear about halfway up the climb and then Carthy gave chase again. Roglic couldn’t keep up, but held on for 10th, 2:56 behind the winner, but losing only 21 seconds to Carapaz and six seconds to Carthy. It was enough.

Sunday’s easy rise into Madrid was another win for Pascal Ackermann – his second of the tour – over Sam Bennett (IRL) and Max Kanter (GER). Roglic eased home in 39th and won the 2020 Vuelta a Espana by 24 seconds over Carapaz and 1:15 over Carthy, with Dan Martin (IRL: -2:43) in fourth.

For Roglic, the victory was his second in a row and highlights a great year in which he won the national road title, was second in the Tour de France, and won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic. He’s the first repeat champion in La Vuelta since Spain’s Roberto Heras won in 2003-04-05. He’ll have a shot at that triple next year.

In the three-stage Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta for women, German Lisa Brennauer also defended her 2019 title, finishing 12 seconds ahead of Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini and 13 seconds ahead of Lorena Wiebes (NED).

Wibes won the first stage from Toledo to Escalona in a sprint over Elisa Balsamo (ITA) and Brennauer, but Brennauer’s win in the Individual Time Trial on Saturday was decisive. She won by one second over Longo Borghini and four seconds up on Ellen van Dijk (NED). Coupled with a mass-finish sprint on Sunday in Madrid, Brennauer managed to hold on for a repeat win. Balsimo got a consolation prize by winning Sunday’s stage ahead of Wiebes.

The Covid-19-shortened schedule for 2020 showed Britain’s Lizzie Deignan the seasonal winner, piling up 1,622.33 points over Longo Borghini (1,567.33) and Brennauer (1,424.67).

● Figure Skating ● The all-Chinese Shiseido Cup of China was highlighted as expected with a big win for two-time Worlds medal winner Boyang Jin in the men’s division.

Jin won convincingly, taking both the Short Program and the Free Skate, ending with 290.89 points vs. Han Yan (264.81) and Yudong Chen (226.21).

Hongyi Chen won the women’s event, also by a big margin, with 186.53 points to 148.33 for Angel Li and 135.43 for Minzhi Jin.

Heavily-favored Cheng Peng and Yang Jin won the Pairs event, scoring 223.90 to 175.40 for runner-ups Yuchen Wang and Yihang Huang. The Ice Dance event was the closest of the event, with Shiyue Wang and Xinyu Liu winning by 206.84 to 192.26 for Hong Chen and Zhuoming Sun.

The next scheduled stop for the ISU Grand Prix series in 20-22 November in Moscow for the Rostelecom Cup.

● Gymnastics ● The “Friendship and Solidarity Competition” in Tokyo on Sunday was much less of a major confrontation of major powers than a hopeful exercise to show that the anti-virus procedures being considered could lead to the staging of the 2020 Olympic Games next summer.

Just 32 competitors from four countries – Japan, Russia, China and the U.S. – competed on multi-national “Friendship” and “Solidarity” teams. The actual winners of the events, however, included reigning All-Around World Champion Nikita Nagornyy of Russia, who won three events:

Men:
● All-Around: Nikita Nagornyy (RUS), 86.600, over Kazuma Kaya (JPN: 86.200).
● Floor: Dimitrii Lankin (RUS), 14.400 over Boheng Zhang (CHN), 14.300.
● Pommel Horse: Kaya, 14.800 over Nagornyy, Yul Moldauer (USA) and Dehang Yin (CHN: 14.200).
● Rings: Nagornyy and Zhang tied at 14.700.
● Vault: Nagorbyy and Lankin tied at 14.600.
● Parallel Bars: Wataru Tanigawa (JPN), 14.800, over Nagornyy and Kaya, 14.700.
● High Bar: Kohei Uchimura (JPN), 15.200, over Tanigawa, 14.400.

Women:
● All-Around: Angelina Melnikova (RUS), 56.700 over Zhang Jin (CHN: 54.900).
● Vault: Shilese Jones (USA), 14.800 over Melnikova and Jin (14.700).
● Bars: Melnikova, 14.500, over Zhou Ruiyu (CHN: 14.400).
● Beam: Jin, 14.400, over Ruiyi, 14.400.
● Floor: Melnikova, 13.400, over Asuka Teramoto (JPN: 13.200).

International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach (GER) tweeted a comment shortly afterwards:

“Perfect 10 – a big thank-you to gymnasts from US, China, Russia and Japan and to FIG under the great leadership of IOC member Watanabe Morinari. An important milestone for successful Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with their Friendship and Solidarity competition in Tokyo.”

Did this prove anything? Only that competitions can be held under controlled conditions, as shown by the major U.S. sports and European football. But at a minimum, it’s a confidence builder for the athletes involved, the organizers and the IOC.

● Swimming ● The International Swimming League’s seventh and eighth matches (out of 10) were held on the same days in morning and evening sessions at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary (short-course).

Match 7 featured the return from a back injury of Swedish sprint star Sarah Sjostrom, who was one of nine swimmers to win multiple events:

● Chad le Clos (RSA): 100-200 m Fly
● Danas Rapsys (LTU): 200-400 m Free
● Emre Sakci (TUR): 50 m Breast, 50 m Breast Skins

● Sarah Sjostrom (SWE): Women’s 50-100 m Free, 50 m Skins
● Kelsey Wog (CAN): Women’s 200 m Breast, 200 m Medley
● Kylie Masse (CAN): 50-100 m Back
● Anastasia Shkurdai (BLR): 100 m Fly, 100 m Medley
● Siobhan Haughey (HKG): 200-400 m Free
● Ida Hulkko (FIN): 50-100 m Breast

Energy Standard (France) won the team scoring with 613.0 points to 448.0 for Iron (Hungary) and 391.0 for the Toronto Titans.

Match 8 showcased the seemingly-unbeatable Lilly King of the U.S., who won her three Breaststroke events for the seventh straight meet and then the 50 m Breaststroke Skins races. Over two seasons, she is unbeaten over 27 individual races. Wow!

She was one of six swimmers with multiple event wins, including five for superstar Caeleb Dressel:

● Caeleb Dressel (USA): Men’s 50-100 m Free, 50-100 m Fly, 100 m Medley
● Adam Peaty (GBR): Men’s 50 m Breast, 50 m Breast Skins

● Lilly King (USA): Women’s 50-100-200 m Breast, 50 m Breast Skins
● Kira Toussaint (NED): Women’s 50-100 m Back
● Beata Nelson (USA): Women’s 200 m Back, 100 m Medley
● Freya Anderson (GBR): Women’s 100-200 m Free

Not surprisingly, the Cali Condors – with King and Dressel – won the meet at 507.0, but after a substantial argument from the London Roar (491.5) and the Tokyo Frog Kings (419.0).

The ISL “regular season” finishes with matches 9 and 10 on Monday and Tuesday (U.S. television on CBS Sports Network).

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For our 526-event International Sports Calendar from October 2020 to June 2021, by date and by sport, click here!

THE TICKER: World Athletics offers 20 for Athletes of the Year; three ARs for Huddle; 28% of AIBA federations can’t vote; unhappy cyclists forming new union

By
Rich Perelman
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Three American Records in one hour for U.S. distance star Molly Huddle (Photo: KT Tape)

The latest news, notes and quotes from the worldwide Five-Ring Circus:

● Athletics ● World Athletics announced its nominees for its Athletes of the Year for men and women, with fan voting through 15 November. Ten candidates are being offered in each vote:

Men:
● Donavan Brazier (USA), 800 m
● Joshua Cheptegei (UGA), 5,000-10,000 m
● Tim Cheruiyot (KEN), 1,500 m
● Ryan Crouser (USA), shot put
● Mondo Duplantis (SWE), pole vault
● Jacob Kiplimo (UGA), 3,000-5,000 m/Half Marathon
● Noah Lyles (USA), 200 m
● Daniel Stahl (SWE), discus
● Johannes Vetter (GER), Javelin
● Karsten Warholm (NOR), 400 m hurdles

Women:
● Femke Bol (NED), 400 m hurdles
● Letsenbet Gidey (ETH), 5,000 m
● Sifan Hassan (NED), 10,000 m
● Peres Jepchirchir (KEN), Half Marathon
● Faith Kipyegon (KEN), 800-1,000 m
● Laura Muir (GBR), 1,500 m
● Hellen Obiri (KEN), 3,000-5,000 m
● Yulimar Rojas (VEN), triple jump
● Elaine Thompson-Herah (JAM), 100 m
● Ababel Yeshaneh (ETH), Half Marathon

The fans have a small say in the outcome, with 25% of the vote, all on the World Athletics Facebook/Instagram/Twitter platforms, while the World Athletics Council (50%) and World Athletics Family (25%) has three-quarters of the vote.

But it’s a fun exercise, especially in such an odd year, perhaps the strangest year in the sport ever! The awards will be handed out in a remote-staged, online awards program on 5 December.

Two-time U.S. distance Olympian Molly Huddle ran for an hour in the rain on a track in Attleboro, Massachusetts last Sunday and crushed the American Records for 15,000 m (50:07.82), 10 miles (53:49.9) and the Hour (17,930 m). All three of the records had belonged to the late Nancy Conz, who ran 53:06/55:58/17.273 m, way back in 1981.

Now 36, Huddle’s three American standards bring her total of U.S. record performances to 10, as she has already set marks at 5,000 m (2), 10,000 m (1), 5 km road (1), 10 miles road (1), 20 km road (1), and Half Marathon (1). She will be looking to win her first medal in a major championships in Tokyo in 2021.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport posted a new schedule for the appeals by Alberto Salazar and Dr. Jeff Brown against sanctions handed down by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. These were to be held next week, but have been moved to 3-12 March 2021, which may allow for in-person presentations as against a procedure by remote video.

Track & field is not the most heavily-covered sport in the country and it is poorer now for the retirement of Ken Goe of The Oregonian.

From 1977, Goe has covered sports in the state, but didn’t come to track until later. In a parting Q&A with the paper, Goe said:

“It wasn’t natural. I’m not a track person, I didn’t compete in the sport and I didn’t follow it. There’s so much special knowledge in the sport. And it’s not something you can just jump in and pick up… when the University of Oregon got the Olympic Trials in 2008, 2012, 2016 it became a much bigger story regionally a lot of the time and nationally during the big events. It was during that time that I discovered a lot of people in track are interesting people. If I didn’t have a great affinity for the sport, I really liked the people. They’re interesting, smart, analytical and introspective people. They’re really fun to talk to and that is what happened — I fell in love with the people of the sport.”

He will be missed. All the best for a pleasant retirement and all that comes next, Ken.

● Basketball ● While the 2020 season just ended on 12 October, the 2020-21 National Basketball Association season will apparently start just weeks later, on 22 December.

After intense negotiations with the NBA Players Association, the league voted on Thursday to plan for a 72-game schedule that would begin late this year and be concluded prior to the start of the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo (starting on 23 July).

There is significant pressure from players – especially international players – for a schedule which allows Olympic participation. And, of course, with all players available, the U.S. will be a prohibitive favorite for yet another Olympic victory.

● Boxing ● The deadline passed for candidates to enter the race for the AIBA Presidency, and of course, interim chief Mohamed Moustahsane (MAR) threw his hat into the ring at the 11th hour, making for a total of seven choices:

● Ramie Al-Masri (GER), referee
● Anas Al Otaiba (UAE), President of the Asian Boxing Confederation
● Umar Kemlev (RUS), Secretary General of the Russian Boxing Federation
● Suleyman Mikayilov (AZE), AIBA Executive Committee member
● Dr. Mohamed Moustahsane (MAR), Interim AIBA President
● Bienvenido Solano (DOM), AIBA Honorary Vice President
● Boris van der Vorst (DEN), President of the Dutch Boxing Federation

Long-time observers of Olympic sports recognize the danger signs from Moustahsane here: interim officers who refuse to give up their positions. It’s a bad look for AIBA, but not the only one related to this election.

In a separate announcement, AIBA declared that 144 of its 200 national federations will be eligible to vote in the AIBA Congress on 12-13 December. That’s only 72% of its membership, and the totals by continent are shocking:

● 90% in Europe: 45 of 50 can vote
● 88% in Asia: 38 of 43 can vote
● 67% in Africa: 32 of 48 can vote
● 49% in Americas: 21 of 32 can vote
● 44% in Oceania: 7 of 16 can vote

This is based on the “payment of membership fees,” which is not controlled by AIBA at all, but by the federations – nearly all government funded – in each country. Regardless of what the candidates say about how they will save AIBA in the future, can the International Olympic Committee afford to support boxing as an Olympic sport in the future when more than a quarter of the national federations can’t (or won’t) pay their dues?

● Cycling ● The 75th Vuelta a Espana – the last of the Grand Tours for 2020 – is roaring to the finish this weekend, with defending champion Primoz Roglic (SLO) in an excellent position to win again.

After sharing the lead – down to the second! – with Ecuadorian star Richard Carapaz after stages 10 and 11 and then trailing by 10 seconds after stage 12, Roglic put the hammer down at the 33.7 km Individual Time Trial on Tuesday for Stage 13. He won the stage by just one second over Will Barta of the U.S., but by 49 seconds over Carapaz to take a 39-second lead.

There was no change on Wednesday’s hilly, 204.7 km stage, won by Belgium’s Tim Wellens in a final sprint over Canada’s Michael Woods. Thursday’s hilly, mostly ascending 230.8 km route from Mos to Puebla de Sanabria resulted in the peloton catching Italy’s breakaway rider Mattia Cattaneo with 3.5 km left and then Belgian Jesper Philipsen won the sprint to the line ahead of Pascal Ackermann (GER).

Roglic maintained his 39-second edge over Carapaz, 47 seconds over Hugh Carthy (GBR) and 1:42 on Dan Martin (IRL).

Looking toward the finish, stage 16 is another hilly stage with two significant climbs, before the difficult, triple-climb route on Saturday (178.2 km) with an uphill finish to the Alto de la Covatilla. Sunday’s final stage – the race was shortened this year to 18 stages due to the coronavirus – is a flat ride into Madrid.

This weekend also brings the three-stage Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta for women, with racing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from Toledo to Escalona, then an Individual Time Trial in Boadilla del Monte and the final stage in Madrid. This is the final leg of the 2020 UCI Women’s World Tour.

The last two champions are entered and among the favorite: German Lisa Brennauer (2019) and Dutch star Ellen van Dijk (2018). However, all eyes will be on Dutch stars Annemiek van Vleuten and Lorena Wiebes, along with Italians Elisa Longo Borghini and Marta Bastianelli as possible winners.

All is not happy within the peloton as a new riders union is being proposed to counter the current Cyclistes Professionnels Associes (CPA) group. This is an outgrowth of the determination of some riders not to undertake the planned 258 km route for the 19th stage of the recently-completed Giro d’Italia, a stage which was shortened to 124 km after a tiring climbing stage the day prior and inclement weather for racing.

Said Luuc Eisenga, Acting President of the new Riders Union: “We have decided to try to shape and build a new union of cyclists from scratch, one that is based on transparency, a program, a vote and a clear mandate so that everyone knows who is voting on what … [to] defend the interests of professional riders.”

The most significant complaints with the CPA concern its perceived weak voice in the sport at the elite level, voting controlled by groups rather than as individuals and more emphasis on safety.

The UCI reacted with a statement:

“The Union Cycliste Internationale takes note that a group of riders’ agents has created an association which they claim will act on behalf of riders. The UCI wishes to clarify that it only recognises three bodies, part of the Professional Cycling Council in charge of the UCI WorldTour, representing men’s professional road cycling: the CPA for riders, the AIGCP for teams and the AIOCC for the organisers.”

Stay tuned.

● Figure Skating ● The ISU Grand Prix continues in Chongqing (CHN) with the Shiseido Cup of China this weekend. The expected stars include home favorite Boyang Jin, a two-time World Championships bronze medalist and three-time national Pairs champs Cheng Peng and Yang Jin.

The competition is on Friday and Saturday, with an exhibition on Sunday. For the sake of safety during the pandemic, the event includes only Chinese skaters.

● Gymnastics ● A small, four-nation meet is being held on Sunday at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, an early test of whether and how sports competitions can be held in advance of the Olympic Games scheduled for 2021.

The field will include 32 artistic gymnasts from Japan, Russia, China and the U.S., with up to 2,000 spectators to be allowed in the venue. The top U.S. entry is men’s star Yul Moldauer, the 2017 World Championships Floor Exercise bronze medalist. Three-time Olympic All-Around gold medalist Kohei Uchimura is scheduled to compete for Japan.

According to the Kyodo News Service, “Overseas gymnasts were required to take polymerase chain reaction tests within 72 hours before they departed ahead of the arrival in Japan starting Wednesday, while all gymnasts have to undergo daily testing in the lead up to the event.”

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana approved a minor settlement between USA Gymnastics and National Travel Systems regarding travel services and hotel rebates due to the federation. Under the agreement, NTS will pay USA Gymnastics $185,000 in full settlement of all claims.

● Sailing ● World Sailing concluded its Annual Conference last week, and elected China’s Quanhai Li as President, defeating incumbent Kim Andersen (DEN), by 68-60. In his first address, Li noted:

“First of all, our most important responsibility is to solve the enormous financial situation that World Sailing is facing. We look forward to the Olympic Games next year in Tokyo as scheduled. Otherwise, World Sailing will be in a challenging time.

“We must effectively manage finances, control unreasonable expenses, increase revenue, and ensure a balance of income and expenditure.

“We have to find the causes of this economic crisis and come up with solutions to make sure that we can operate safely in the future.

“I am confident in all our power to change the current situation. Please give us time to ensure we solve the current financial situation, but also to lay a platform for the future.”

The federation’s 2018 financial statements showed reserves of just $5.3 million after a net loss for the year of $5.6 million (converted from GBP). There is a lot to be done.

● Swimming ● The seventh and eighth matches (of 10) in the second season of the International Swimming League are being held on 5-6 November, all in the 25 m (short course) pool at the Duna Arena in Budapest.

Once again, Olympic and World Champion Lilly King (USA) has been unbeatable in the breaststroke, winning first the 200 m race in 2:15.80, then defeating countrywoman Molly Hannis and Jamaican star Alia Atkinson in the 50 m race, 29.20-29.25-29.65. King has now won all 23 of her individual races in ISL competition over almost two complete seasons.

Sprint star Caeleb Dressel (USA) won the 50 m Free (20.65) and 100 m Fly (49.33) and the Cali Condors – with King and Dressel – had the first-day lead over the London Roar.

In the seventh match, held earlier in the day, the only double winner on the first day was Kelsey Wog (CAN), who won the 200 m Breaststroke and the 200 m Medley. Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom returned from injury and won the women’s 50 m Free.

Competition in both matches concludes tomorrow.

● Doping ● Never one to keep quiet for long, former Moscow Laboratory chief Grigory Rodchenkov – still in an undisclosed location in the U.S. after exposing the heavy details of the state-sponsored doping program he managed from 2011-15 – gave an interview with the British newspaper The Evening Standard and had no good news to share about the current situation in his Russian homeland.

“The situation in Russia is becoming even worse. Sabotage is aggravated with falsifications, with lying and denying continuing in the top-down bureaucracy.

“Russian authorities were so proud and optimistic of their fraud and wrongdoings that in November 2019 they aired a propaganda film named Blurred WADA, that contains not a single word of truth.”

He is worried that Russia will somehow escape punishment in its appeal of a four-year sanction by the World Anti-Doping Agency, now concluded at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with a decision expected at the end of the month. He is in favor of more stringent oversight procedures:

“Within this flawed sports governance system, Russian cheaters might be able to escape proper sanctions and punishments yet again, and then somehow participate in the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year.

“If this happens, the fight against doping will lose even more credibility — as difficult as that is to imagine.”

● The Last Word ● Bad news for naysayers on the future of the Olympic and Winter Games, as the City Council of Vancouver, British Columbia voted by 7-4 on Wednesday to have the city’s staff to compile a preliminary report on the feasibility and costs of a bid for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games.

The question of a possible bid will be reopened during the first quarter of 2021. A bid by Calgary, Alberta for the 2026 Winter Games was crushed by 56.4-43.6% in a civic referendum in November 2018. Other bids for the 2030 Winter Games are being considered in Japan and Spain.

Also on Wednesday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo directed his Youth and Sports Ministry to form a bid committee and develop a budget for the 2032 Olympic Games. GamesBids.com noted that the 2032 race already includes an advanced bid from the Queensland (AUS) plus interest from Germany, Qatar, India and a possible joint Korean bid.

So much for the Games losing interest for bidders, at least for the next dozen years.

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For our 526-event International Sports Calendar from October 2020 to June 2021, by date and by sport, click here!

LANE ONE: Being an elite athlete isn’t all training and competing, and it is not for those who value privacy

By
Rich Perelman
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The ADAMS system is the principal way athletes update their Whereabouts to allow testing (Photo: Screen shot of a World Anti-Doping Agency page)

There are a lot of attractive aspects to being an Olympic-sport athlete. The feeling of fitness, the opportunity to compete against others – sometimes in pretty exotic places and occasionally on behalf of your country – and for a few, enough pay to make a reasonable living.

But there are plenty of downsides as well. The stress, especially at the world-class level, is intense and injuries, the struggle for most to balance sports and the rest of their lives (including finances) and trying to deal with anti-doping requirements are seemingly full-time jobs on their own.

The impact of doping on an athlete’s regimen is almost impossible to overstate and it’s not much appreciated by those who aren’t part of it, or see it on a daily basis. The fight against doping, especially in light of the state-run programs in the USSR, East Germany and nearby nations that became public after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact in 1991, began a series of reforms that has expanded into a significant commitment of time and attention for every athlete who wants to compete at the international level.

It’s not enough just to avoid taking steroids or other banned substances. Athletes have to be on constant guard against ingesting anything – even restaurant meals – that could include contaminating chemistry. American long jumper Jarrion Lawson, fourth at the Rio Games and now a medal threat for Tokyo in 2021, was suspended for steroids in his system in 2018; he appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and was cleared in March of this year as “more likely than not that the origin of the prohibited substance was contaminated beef consumed in a restaurant the day before the test.”

Now we read with increasing frequency about “Whereabouts” failures, meaning an athlete missed a test or failed to file their location to be tested three times within a 12-month period.

Let’s think about that. An athlete who is part of the “Registered Testing Pool” – meaning they are subjecting themselves to the anti-doping protocols of their national anti-doping organization and applicable international anti-doping organizations in order to compete internationally – must tell those organizations where they are essentially every day of their competitive life. All so that they can be tested, unannounced, at varying times and as many times as the anti-doping folks want to test them.

This is the life of an Olympic-class athlete, and this part is no fun. The specifics:

● The World Anti-Doping Code’s International Standard for Testing and Investigations (2020 edition) states in Annex I:

“I.1.1 An Athlete who is in a Registered Testing Pool is required:

“a) to make quarterly Whereabouts Filings that provide accurate and complete information about the Athlete’s whereabouts during the forthcoming quarter, including identifying where he/she will be living, training and competing during that quarter, and to update those Whereabouts Filings where necessary, so that he/she can be located for Testing during that quarter at the times and locations specified in the relevant Whereabouts Filing, as specified in Article I.3. A failure to do so may be declared a Filing Failure;

“and

“b) to specify in his/her Whereabouts Filings, for each day in the forthcoming quarter, one specific 60-minute time slot where he/she will be available at a specific location for Testing, as specified in Article I.4. This does not limit in any way the Athlete’s Code Article 5.2 obligation to submit to Testing at any time and place upon request by an Anti-Doping Organization with Testing Authority over him/her. Nor does it limit his/her obligation to provide the information specified in Article I.3 as to his/her whereabouts outside that 60-minute time slot. However, if the Athlete is not available for Testing at such location during the 60-minute time slot specified for that day in his/her Whereabouts Filing, that failure may be declared a Missed Test.”

● In Annex sec. I.3.1, the athlete further agrees to:

“c) specific confirmation of the Athlete’s consent to the sharing of his/her Whereabouts Filing with other Anti-Doping Organizations that have Testing Authority over him/her;

“d) for each day during the following quarter, the full address of the place where the Athlete will be staying overnight (e.g., home, temporary lodgings, hotel, etc);

“e) for each day during the following quarter, the name and address of each location where the Athlete will train, work or conduct any other regular activity (e.g. school), as well as the usual time- frames for such regular activities.”

● In Annex sec. I.3.2:

“Subject to Article I.3.3, the Whereabouts Filing must also include, for each day during the following quarter, one specific 60-minute time slot between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. each day where the Athlete will be available and accessible for Testing at a specific location.”

Do you know where you will be every day for the next three months? An athlete who is part of the Registered Testing Pool has no choice:

“It is the Athlete’s responsibility to ensure that he/she provides all of the information required in a Whereabouts Filing accurately and in sufficient detail to enable any Anti-Doping Organization wishing to do so to locate the Athlete for Testing on any given day in the quarter at the times and locations specified by the Athlete in his/her Whereabouts Filing for that day, including but not limited to during the 60-minute time slot specified for that day in the Whereabouts Filing. More specifically, the Athlete must provide sufficient information to enable the [Doping Control Officer] to find the location, to gain access to the location, and to find the Athlete at the location. A failure to do so may be pursued as a Filing Failure and/or (if the circumstances so warrant) as evasion of Sample collection under Code Article 2.3, and/or Tampering or Attempted Tampering with Doping Control under Code Article 2.5. In any event, the Anti-Doping Organization shall consider Target Testing of the Athlete.”

● And when plans change, the responsibility continues, as noted in sec. I.3.5:

“Where a change in circumstances means that the information in a Whereabouts Filing is no longer accurate or complete as required by Article I.3.4, the Athlete must file an update so that the information on file is again accurate and complete. In particular, the Athlete must always update his/her Whereabouts Filing to reflect any change in any day in the quarter in question (a) in the time or location of the 60-minute time slot specified in Article I.3.2; and/or (b) in the place where he/she is staying overnight. The Athlete must file the update as soon as possible after the circumstances change, and in any event prior to the 60-minute time slot specified in his/her filing for the day in question. A failure to do so may be pursued as a Filing Failure and/or (if the circumstances so warrant) as evasion of Sample collection under Code Article 2.3, and/or Tampering or Attempted Tampering with Doping Control under Code Article 2.5. In any event, the Anti-Doping Organization shall consider Target Testing of the Athlete.”

The failure to notify the anti-doping folks of a change in location was one of the factors that led to the two-year suspension of World 100 m Champion Christian Coleman of the U.S. on 22 October. While his Whereabouts information for 26 April 2019 indicated he was at home in Kentucky, he was in fact at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa and had not changed his status, even though he knew he would not be at home at least three days earlier. His suspension is being appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

There are filing aids available to athletes, most especially the availability of a custom, online application created by the World Anti-Doping Agency called the “Anti-Doping Administration & Management System” better known as ADAMS. Whereabouts filing can be made through this app and changed fairly conveniently using a mobile phone or tablet. So while onerous, the tools are available for athletes to stay current with the ADAMS system. Coleman did not.

No athlete is excited about these requirements, but as the Russian doping scandal from 2011-15 showed, it’s now part of the life of being an Olympic-candidate athlete. It’s a tribute to the professionalism of many athletes that “Whereabouts” failures are relatively rare, even though the numbers as edging up.

In Athletics, which has the largest number of participants in any Games – the quota for Tokyo is 1,900 – the Athletics Integrity Unit showed only four suspensions for Whereabouts in its list of ineligible persons for October 2020, out of 542 names on the list. There were 30 suspensions for evading tests and 484 for the presence or use of a banned substance.

That speaks to the vast majority of athletes who deal with the Whereabouts burden, and the actual provision of specimens at varying hours of the day on any day that the testers want to show up. Yes, many star athletes have been tested on consecutive days.

It isn’t all free shoes and glory.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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For our 526-event International Sports Calendar from October 2020 to June 2021, by date and by sport, click here!

HEARD AT HALFTIME: IOC liaison group signals no eSports tie-up coming; Nike’s interest in running; harsh words during the Giro d’Italia

By
Rich Perelman
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The IOC and Esports? Getting cozier ...

News, views and noise from the non-stop, worldwide circus of Olympic sport:

● International Olympic Committee ● The IOC’s E-Sports and Gaming Liaison Group declared that the IOC does not plan to recognize a single group as the worldwide federation for eSports. In a letter circulated last week, the liaison group noted:

“The IOC position is that it does not and is not planning to recognise an e-sports federation.

“We have strong existing relations with the different stakeholders in the e-sports and gaming community, such as games publishers, platforms, athletes and players. We will maintain these direct relationships rather than working through a third party.

“Both of the organisations [International E-Sports Federation and Global E-Sports Federation] who reference themselves as e-sports federations have representatives on the ELG and we will continue to welcome the contribution of these individuals. However, the IOC does not endorse or recognise any specific federation as a representative body in this area.

“This is a position shared by ASOIF, AIOWF and GAISF, and as a result we do not encourage IFs to enter into a formal relationship with these organisations.”

The IOC’s liaison group is due to provide more perspective in its year-end report ahead of the Olympic Summit on 12 December.

From the perspective of the eSports industry, The Esports Observer noted:

“Chris Chan, who is secretary of the Singapore National Olympic Council and COO of the GEF, said GEF was formed [in 2019] as a way to have esports included in the Olympic Games.

“The race to become the world governing body of esports as whole is still being run frantically as the GEF was in some part built as a way to overshadow the South Korean upstart, International eSports Federation (IeSF). The IeSF was started in 2008 and looks to promote esports as a legitimate competitive space akin to traditional sports.

“The difference between the two organizations is that the GEF is looking to have Olympic sports become members of the GEF while the IeSF looks to promote and facilitate international competitions. However, there have been a handful of Olympic sports that have acquired membership with the GEF, including archery, canoeing, karate, and tennis.”

Former long-time IOC marketing chief Michael Payne (GBR) gave the best interpretation of these events last week on Twitter:

“[J]ust because IOC refusing to recognise one esport federation over another (which makes total sense, not for IOC to judge until sport has clear leader) does not mean ioc not moving or engaging with industry.”

● Athletics ● From Kenya’s K24 TV site:

“Police in Nandi County have launched a hunt for Olympic and world 3000 metres steeplechase champion Conseslus Kipruto, who is accused of eloping with a Form Two student.

“According to a report filed at Mosoriot police post by the teenager’s parents, Kipruto eloped with the girl three days ago.

“The girl’s parents allege that their daughter, who went missing from home, was putting up at the athlete’s home in Chesumei.”

A girl in school at the Form Two grade level would be a teenager, certainly under the age of 18. The report was filed last week, but no report of Kipruto’s whereabouts has been found as yet.

For those who worry that Nike’s change of management may lead to less support for track & field, the review of Matt Hart’s Win At All Costs: Inside Nike Running and Its Culture of Deception, last month’s review in The Washington Post importantly noted:

“Nike’s annual earnings report indicates running is still its biggest wholesale earner — $3.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year, which included a spring devastated by the pandemic, and $4.5 billion the fiscal year before that. In both years, running was bigger than every category except sportswear.”

And:

“But supporting running is different from funding track and field. Nike’s high-tech Vaporfly shoes created a stir for aiding elite marathoners, but the company needs to sell them to a larger audience to make money. Sponsoring high-profile athletes is good for brand awareness when the Olympics come around, but it doesn’t always correlate to shoe sales. So Nike must decide whether it will continue bankrolling both elite athletes training for the Olympics and young runners in the early stages of their careers; whether it will continue funding community races and global events; and whether, post-Phil Knight, it will continue propping up an entire sport.”

But with so much at stake in its running business, does it make sense to abandon the highest profile runners? That’s the question that the Nike management is wrestling with as it considers its post-pandemic plans.

● Cycling ● While the 2020 Giro d’Italia will be applauded for even being held, and the tense race to the finish that ended with Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR) winning the overall title, there were some tense moments, not the least of which was the turmoil over stage 19.

This was supposed to be a long, 258 km ride in rainy conditions, four days after a tough climb up the Piancavallo to end Stage 15 and just a day after a brutal, four-climb stage that included the famed Passo di Stelvio that reached an altitude of 2.,746 m in freezing weather.

While the reports are conflicting, race director Mauro Vegni (ITA) said that complaints about Stage 29 were only voiced on the day of the stage and not before. In the end, the route was shortened to 124 km on a flat course. But Vegni was not happy; in an interview with the RAI national television service (translation per CyclingWeekly.com):

“We didn’t receive any request yesterday. We have been approached by some of the Lotto-Soudal riders [at the start of the stage]. I pointed out that [their] bus wasn’t there and they would’ve been stuck in the cold. Then we started and the Lotto-Soudal bus wasn’t there.

“I think there are going to be some words with lawyers because I don’t feel it’s been respectful to the race, to the people who want to watch the race…there will be consequences because of the behaviour of the riders today.”

“The stage was announced a year ago, they knew it was going to happen in October and a rainy day in October is quite a usual thing and 13°C [55 F] is not cold. We haven’t accepted the riders’ proposal, we have suffered it.

“What happened today will overshadow everything we did about [the race being held during the coronavirus pandemic]. This is what happens when riders don’t show up at the start. Someone will pay for it.

“This isn’t over. Let’s finish the race and reach Milan, then someone will pay.”

Coverage of athlete and team reactions showed a lot of emotion and disagreement about who wanted what and when. To be continued …

● Swimming ● Match 6 of the International Swimming League was completed on Monday at the Duna Arena in Budapest (HUN) with reigning champion Energy Standard (FRA) winning easily, even without injured sprint star Sarah Sjostrom (SWE): 609.0 to 448.0 over Toronto.

The star of the match was French sprinter Florent Manaudou, now 29, who won the 50 m Free, the 100 m Medley and the 50 m Free Skins races to lead the Energy Standard charge. Teammate Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong also won thrice in the short-course (25 m) pool, in the 100-200-400 m Freestyles. Other multiple winner in individual events included:

● Chad le Clos (RSA): Men’s 100-200 m Fly
● Shane Ryan (IRL): Men’s 50-100 m Back
● Danas Rapsys (LTU): Men’s 200-400 m Free
● Ilya Shymanovich (BLR): Men’s 50-100 m Breast

● Kylie Masse (CAN): Women’s 50-100 m Back, 50 m Back Skins
● Anastasia Shkurdai (BLR: age 17): Women’s 100 m Medley-100 m Fly
● Benedetta Pilato (ITA: age 15): Women’s 50-100 m Breast

The next match comes on 5-6 November.

● At the BuZZer ● “[S]he will be urging city council to consider the 2030 Olympics as a major tool that will assist in the economic recovery of the city and the region, in the same way the 2010 Olympics have been credited for keeping Metro Vancouver’s economy afloat during the years-long recovery period from the 2008 recession – before and after the Games.”

That’s from the Vancouver Urbanized site, describing a motion by city council member Melissa de Genova to explore the feasibility of a bid for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games. This was originally to be considered last April, but the pandemic wiped that out and the issue is now up for review again.

The request is for study only, which would involve the local, provincial and Canadian national governments, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and local First Nations representatives.

Vancouver, of course, staged the 2010 Winter Games. De Genova said she was impressed with the vision of 2010 organizing committee chief executive John Furlong at a 10-year celebration event back in February, asking for consideration of a 2030 bid.

It’s an amazing turn of events to see a city touting the Games as an economic support vehicle after so many years of scorn for the cost of the event. For Vancouver, the situation is much more comfortable than in 2010, due to the existing of the venues being available from that Games.

The 2026 Winter Games will be held in Milan and Cortina, Italy and the IOC is not due to select a city for 2030 until 2023. Sapporo (JPN), Barcelona (ESP) and possibly Salt Lake City (USA) would be in the mix for 2030, but all of these are merely at the inquiry stage, and Salt Lake City is best positioned for the 2034 Winter Games.

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LANE ONE: Trump signs S. 2330 into law, so now what happens?

By
Rich Perelman
-

The legislative chapter of the Larry Nassar scandal has been completed with the signing of S. 2330, the “Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020” on 30 October by President Donald Trump.

The bill modifies the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act (36 U.S.C. 2205 et seq.), but what exactly does it do? And how much has already been done by the various by-law changes undertaken by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee?

Happy to help! Let’s go through the checklist of what S. 2230 actually does … and what it is expected to do:

● The introduction to the bill explains its purpose, rooted in the Nassar abuse cases:

“Ending abuse in the Olympic and Paralympic movement requires enhanced oversight to ensure that the Olympic and Paralympic movement does more to serve athletes and protect their voice and safety.”

The bill also stated as a finding that “USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee knowingly concealed abuse by Larry Nassar, leading to the abuse of dozens of additional amateur athletes during the period beginning in the summer of 2015 and ending in September 2016.”

There are hundreds of cases pending concerning the Nassar situation, but the Congressional finding is an important backdrop to what will happen next.

● A new subchapter was added which allows the Congress, by Joint Resolution of both the House and Senate, to either (1) dissolve the USOPC Board of Directors and prescribe “adequate procedures” for the formation of a new Board, and (2) to terminate the recognition of a National Governing Body which “has failed to fulfill its duties.”

These aren’t empty threats and if undertaken, are clear violations of the Olympic Charter’s prohibition again governmental interference in sport, which could lead to a suspension of the USOPC by the International Olympic Committee. In fact, these provisions violate the Charter now, but the IOC has many bigger fish to fry at present.

However, this section will be tested sooner than later. While dissolving the USOPC Board isn’t on the table at this moment, there is no doubt that the proponents of S. 2330 – Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) – want USA Gymnastics to be removed as the National Governing Body for gymnastics. This is further underscored later in the bill in a section which prevents a bankruptcy filing under 11 U.S.C. 362 (b) from keeping the USOPC from pursuing de-certification of an NGB under its existing powers.

The problem for Moran, Blumenthal and the Congress is that the USOPC and USA Gymnastics are essentially on the same side – for the time being – in proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana, trying to squeeze more money out of their insurers to meet the demands of the Survivors Commission of the Nassar-related lawsuits. These parties are currently in a court-ordered settlement mediation period, of which the outcome is uncertain. But once (or if) the mass settlement is finally agreed, have no doubt that the Congress will expect USA Gymnastics to be removed by the USOPC, and if not, by the Congress (which will then get the USOPC Board in hot water).

Important: these Congressional powers will become available in a year: on 30 October 2021, not sooner.

It’s worth noting that if the USOPC goes through the de-certification procedure and removes USA Gymnastics, that federation has the right of appeal in arbitration, and could win there. Then, the Congress could step in and remove USA Gymnastics, from which there is no avenue of appeal except to file a Federal lawsuit and call into question the legality of such an action.

● There is a lengthy modification to the “purposes” of the USOPC and to its membership and representation requirements.

First, the previous-open question of how much USOPC oversight of the NGBs is required is now defined:

“[T]o effectively oversee the national governing bodies with respect to compliance with and implementation of the policies and procedures of the corporation, including policies and procedures on the establishment of a safe environment in sports…”

Athlete representation on the USOPC Board of Directors is a major focus of the bill, now requiring that:

(1) At least 33.3% of the USOPC Board is made up of current or former U.S. national team athletes who are directly elected by athletes, and

(2) that 20% of the Board be made up of athletes who are either currently competing or have represented the U.S. in international competition within the last 10 years.

So, 20% of the Board is current or recent athletes and the other 13.3% can be older athletes.

There is a continuing, annoying reference in S. 2330 to “amateur athletes,” which incorrectly describes today’s Olympic athletes, many of whom – if not a majority – are professionals. Perhaps this will be fixed by the forthcoming Commission on the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics. It certainly opens a small hole for challenging provisions of this bill and the Ted Stevens Act as a whole.

● There are significant prohibitions on conflicts of interest in S. 2330, including against the hiring of an athlete representative from the USOPC Board of Directors by the U.S. Center for SafeSport within two years of the end of an individual’s Board service period.

There is also a prohibition against USOPC staffing assisting a former staff member from getting a job “if the individual knows that such member or former member violated the policies or procedures of the [Center for SafeSport] related to sexual misconduct or was convicted of a crime involving sexual misconduct with a minor in violation of applicable law.”

Further, no bonuses or severance pay can be made by the USOPC to anyone who is part of an ethics investigation until that inquiry is completed and the individual is cleared.

● Instances of child abuse must be reported to law enforcement and to the U.S. Center for SafeSport if made known to either the USOPC or to any of the National Governing Bodies.

● The “Office of Athlete Ombuds” was defined to offer “independent advice to athletes at no cost about the applicable provisions of this chapter” and especially with regard to disputes over participation in the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and so on. The law essentially extends an attorney-client privilege to discussions between athletes and the Athlete Ombuds office, and prohibits reprisals against anyone who uses this service.

This office is to be funded by the USOPC.

● The USOPC is required to file a detailed annual report to the Congress, including “Data concerning the participation of women, disabled individuals, and racial and ethnic minorities in the amateur athletic activities and administration of the corporation and national governing bodies” as well as a financial audit, description of any lawsuits filed and reports on compliance with S. 2330 and any complaints of retaliation.

The question is well asked whether anyone in the Congress will read it after, say, 2023.

An annual survey of athletes – the number to be queried is not specified – is also required, to gauge satisfaction with the USOPC and the National Governing Bodies.

● The revisions to the rules governing National Governing Bodies notably now require selection procedures for U.S. national teams that are “fair” and “clearly articulated in writing and properly communicated to athletes in a timely manner.”

The 33.3% minimum for athlete representation is extended to the NGB Boards as well.

All NGBs must also submit annual reports that include financial disclosures and a description of its SafeSport programs and procedures. The same conflict of interest and immediate reporting of abuse to law enforcement language is included in the NGB section as well.

● The section concerning the U.S. Center for SafeSport allows for the use of a standard of “preponderance of the evidence” – a 51% standard – in its decisions. The USOPC is now required to fund the Center for SafeSport at $20 million per year on the first business day of the new year.

The Center for SafeSport is also required to make a quarterly report to the USOPC relating to the statistics of cases taken, investigated and disposed of. An annual report to the Congress is also required.

● The final section of the bill concerns a new “Commission on the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics,” which is tasked with reviewing the USOPC, especially as to reforms, diversity, finances and goals. The clock is ticking: the report of the Commission is due in 270 days from 30 October, or essentially, the end of July 2021.

There will be 16 members of the Commission, half of whom must be athletes. It is required to hold at least one public hearing and has subpoena power.

This effort will certainly fail if it does not also include some good lawyers who understand how to read statutes and some folks who actually understand the Ted Stevens Act and what it requires and what it doesn’t.

S. 2330 adds a significant reporting and oversight burden to the USOPC, as well as more than $10 million in new costs for compliance. The easy part will be to add more athletes to the Board of the USOPC and the National Governing Bodies, actions which are already underway.

The future success or failure of this bill will come from the work of the new Commission and then how much interest the Congress has in following up on its own, new oversight responsibilities. If it does maintain sharp interest in the USOPC and its related organizations, S. 2330 could be a great success. But it would be ironic indeed if a bill designed to better the U.S. Olympic Movement ends up getting the United States suspended from participation in a future Olympic Games.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: Rupp wins Row River Half, Carapaz back in front at La Vuelta, more ISL wins for Gastaldello

By
Rich Perelman
-
New Vuelta a Espana leader Richard Carapaz (ECU)

Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Athletics ● U.S. distance star Galen Rupp won the Row River Half Marathon in Dorena, Oregon on Friday, winning in 60:23 and setting a U.S. road record for 10 miles along the way.

His time of 45:54 shattered the existing mark of 46:13 by Greg Meyer from way back in 1983. Rupp’s winning time is the eighth-fastest U.S. Half Marathon performance ever (he has run 59:47 previously) and was well ahead of runner-up Suguru Osako of Japan (61:16).

● Cycling ● The 75th Vuelta a Espana ran through two difficult mountain stages over the weekend, with Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz re-taking a small lead over defending champion Primoz Roglic (SLO).

The two were tied heading into Saturday’s four-climb, 170.0 km ride from Villaviciosa to the Alta de la Farrapona, with an uphill finish. The winner was David Gaudu of France, who managed a four-second margin over Marc Soler (ESP), with no one else within another 48 seconds. Carapaz and Roglic finished together in ninth and 10th place, so they stayed tied into Sunday’s punishment.

Stage 12 was a five-climb route of 109.4 km, with the hills getting bigger and bigger and then finishing with a formidable climb to the Alto de l’Angliru at 1,555 m! Britain’s Hugh Carthy, still a contender for the overall title, won in 3:08:40, 16 seconds clear of Aleksandr Vlasov (RUS), Enric Mas (ESP) and Carapaz in fourth. But Roglic was another 10 seconds back in fifth and so Carapaz, the 2019 Giro d’Italia winner, is back in front and wearing the Maglia Rosa alone. Carthy is third, 32 seconds back and Dan Martin (IRL) is 35 seconds behind.

Monday is a rest day, followed by a mean Individual Time Trial of 33.7 km, with an uphill finish to the Mirador a Ezaro. Roglic should be strong here, but how much do any of the riders have left for the final week?

The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup continued with a Downhill-only program in Lousa, Portugal, with two races for both men and women, that determined the seasonal standings.

The men’s races went to Greg Minnaar (RSA) and Loic Bruni (FRA), but it was Britain’s Matt Walker who took his first seasonal title. Walker was runner-up in the first race, with Bruni third and Americans Aaron Gwin third and Dakotah Norton fourth. On Sunday, it was Bruni, Minnaar and Walker as the top three. Over the four races in the 2020 “season,” Walker’s consistency mattered most, as he finished with 687 points to 677 for Bruni and 627 for Minnaar.

The women’s events saw a French sweep, with Myriam Nicole and Marine Cabirou winning and Cabirou claiming the seasonal crown. Nicole, Cabirou and Tahnee Seagrave (AUS) were 1-2-3 on Saturday and then Cabirou, Nina Hoffmann (GER) and Seagrave won Sunday’s medals. With Nicole only fourth, Cabirou piled up 825 seasonal points to outdistance Nicole (775) and Hoffmann (664) in the seasonal standings.

● Swimming ● Match 5 of the International Swimming League was completed on Halloween, with the London Roar taking a tight win over the L.A. Current and Tokyo Frog Kings, 499.0-478.5-446.5.

The big winner was once against France’s Beryl Gastaldello, who won four times, in the 50-100 m Fly and 50-100 m Free for the L.A. Current. Other multiple event winners:

● Guilherme Guido (BRA): Men’s 50-100 m Back
● Tom Shields (USA): Men’s 100-200 m Fly, 50 m Fly Skins

● Alia Atkinson (JAM): Women’s 50-100 m Breast, 50 Breast Skins
● Yui Ohashi (JPN): Women’s 200-400 m Medley
● Kira Toussaint (NED): Women’s 50-100 m Back

Match 6 concludes on Monday.

THE TICKER: WADA vs. RUSADA in Court of Arbitration for Sport starts Monday; World Ath expands indoor tour; what the Leeper decision really means

By
Rich Perelman
-

The latest news, notes and quotes from the worldwide Five-Ring Circus:

● WADA vs. RUSADA ● On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear an appeal by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) against a four-year sanction imposed in December 2019 by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Scheduled for 2-5 November, the appeal take place in Lausanne, Switzerland and have remote participation in the case as well. No decision will be announced at the end of the proceedings; that will be revealed later. The issue, as summarized in the CAS news release:

“In this CAS procedure, WADA, as the Claimant, seeks a finding of non-compliance by RUSADA and requests that a variety of consequences (and reinstatement conditions) be imposed on RUSADA, including, in particular, (1) a prohibition against Russian athletes from competing in the Olympic and Paralympic Games (and other Major Events) unless they are able to demonstrate that they are not implicated in any way by the non-compliance; (2) a prohibition against government representatives being appointed to boards, committees or other bodies of Signatories and/or participating in/attending the Olympic and Paralympic Games (and other Major Events); and (3) a prohibition against Russia hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games (and other Major Events) during a four-year period.” (numbering added)

WADA imposed these penalties on 9 December 2019; then-President Craig Reedie (GBR) noted at the time:

“For too long, Russian doping has detracted from clean sport. The blatant breach by the Russian authorities of RUSADA’s reinstatement conditions, approved by the ExCo in September 2018, demanded a robust response. That is exactly what has been delivered today. Russia was afforded every opportunity to get its house in order and re-join the global anti-doping community for the good of its athletes and of the integrity of sport, but it chose instead to continue in its stance of deception and denial. As a result, the WADA ExCo has responded in the strongest possible terms, while protecting the rights of Russian athletes that can prove that they were not involved and did not benefit from these fraudulent acts.”

Most especially, the data demanded from the Moscow Laboratory, the epicenter of the state-run doping program from 2011-15, was concealed, doctored and covered up to mask further positive tests vs. Russian athletes.

Even without any public access, there will be many more parties involved than just the two adversaries. The CAS release noted:

“The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC), the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the European Olympic Committees (EOC) and several Russian athletes have been admitted as intervening parties.”

● Athletics ● World Athletics announced Friday (30th) that the World Athletics Indoor Tour for 2021 is being expanded in a parallel version of the outdoor Continental Tour, with 26 meets offered from 24 January to 28 February … if the pandemic allows.

What was the annual six-event World Indoor Tour is being maintained as the “Gold” level meets, with nine more “Silver”-level meets being added, as well as 11 “Bronze” events.

The “Gold” meets will offer $7,000 prize money for each event ($3,000 for the winners); “Silver” events will have at least $30,000 total prize money, with at least $4,000 per event, and Bronze” meets will have at least $12,000 in total prize money, with at least $2,500 per event.

The calendar shows that the U.S. has two meets on tour, both in the “Gold” program”: the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Roxbury, Massachusetts on 6 February and the Millrose Games in New York on 13 February. Those are the only two (of the 26) meets to be outside of Europe; the breakdown by nation includes Belgium (2), Czech Republic (4), France (6), Germany (5), Ireland (1), Luxembourg (1), Poland (1), Serbia (1), Slovakia (1), Spain (1), Sweden (1).

Comment: This is a nice expansion of the indoor program, but who knows how many meets will actually be held?

The 109-page decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the Blake Leeper vs. World Athletics was posted by the Court and contains a number of interesting elements beyond the specific holding in the case.

Perhaps the most important holding was stated at the top by the Court:

“[T]his appeal is not about the broader question of whether or not disabled athletes should be permitted to compete against able-bodied athletes in elite level international athletics competitions, and if so on what terms.”

The case did decide whether Leeper would be eligible to compete in open (World Athletics) competitions – including the Olympic Games – with the set of prostheses he currently uses.

The decision made two holdings: first, that the burden of proof is on World Athletics – not the athlete – to show that the prostheses being used create an advantage for the athlete vis-a-vis an athlete not using the prostheses, and second, that the prostheses used by Leeper give him an advantage and cannot be used in World Athletics competitions.

The movement of the burden of proof from the athletes to World Athletics creates a new standard for such cases moving forward and is highly significant. The holding on the prostheses applies to Leeper only.

In reviewing the conflicting claims and evidence provided, the panel established what will be a new position on the question of how such decisions are to be taken in the future:

“[T]he Panel concludes that the only logical, principled and workable construction of the Rule is one that, in the case of disabled athletes who use a mechanical aid to overcome a disability, requires a comparison to be undertaken between the athlete’s likely athletic performance when using the mechanical aid and their likely athletic performance had they not had the disability which necessitates the use of that aid. A disabled athlete who uses a mechanical aid which does no more than offset the disadvantage caused by their disability cannot be said to have an ‘overall competitive advantage’ over a non-disabled athlete who is not using such an aid.”

This importantly eliminates any comparative issues between how fast an athlete like Leeper can run vis-a-vis an athlete with biological legs. However, the decision of whether Leeper can use his existing prostheses then turned on what his hypothetical performance would have been if he had biological legs.

The Panel pointed out that the contentions of Leeper’s experts as to his disadvantages using prosthetics would produce – relative to his actual lifetime bests – performances of 9.50 in the 100 m and 42.57 in the 400 m, both world records! Against these unlikely scenarios, the Panel held that Leeper’s prostheses are of such a height that it allows him to run “unnaturally tall,” that is “which is significantly taller than his maximum height if he had intact biological legs.”

The holding was then

“Having carefully considered all the evidence, the Panel concludes that the IAAF’s experts are correct when they state that there is a direct relationship between leg length and running speed.”

The Panel felt that if Leeper’s prostheses had been of a lower height, consistent with the Paralympic “maximum allowable standing height” formula (known as “MASH”), his 400 m times could be as much as eight seconds slower. So, Leeper is not allowed to use his current prosthetics in open competition; he plans to appeal.

The Athletics Integrity Unit issued suspensions of six years and eight years to Russian officials Elena Orlova and Elena Ikonnikova in the cover-up case of Danil Lysenko, the former World Indoor Champion high jumper who was suspended for a whereabouts failure that was attempted to be hidden – via forged medical documents – by the Russian Athletics Federation.

Orlova refused to provide the mobile phone which she used to communicate with the Russian Federation and possibly Lysenko concerning his situation and “has sought … to rely on every possible excuse to avoid compliance.” Ikonnikova, the federation’s anti-doping coordinator (!), also maintained a refusal to provide information from her mobile phone, which the arbitrator described as

“Her defence to the demands is a concoction devised to avoid exposing material on her telephone that would itself evidence the involvement of her and others in RusAF in the Lysenko violation.”

Wow.

Another casualty of the coronavirus in 2021, the Boston Marathon will not be held in April as usual. The Boston Athletic Association announced

“The B.A.A., which has been meeting regularly with its COVID-19 Medical & Event Operations Advisory Group to determine when and how the Boston Marathon can be held again, will begin working with local, city, and state officials, sponsors, organizing committee members, and other stakeholders to determine if a fall 2021 date is feasible.”

● Bobsled ● The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the challenge by four Russian bobsledders from the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, from which they were disqualified for doping as later revealed in investigations by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Aleksander Zubkov won gold in the two-man race (with Alexey Voyevoda) and Aleksander Kasyanov was fourth (with Maxim Belugin). Zubkov drove the winning four-man sled and Kasyanov, Aleksander Pushkarev and Ilvir Khuzin were members of the fourth-place sled. All were disqualified for doping in 2019 and the Court upheld the disqualifications and the subsequent invalidations of results and competition bans.

● Cycling ● The 75th Vuelta a Espana continues in Spain, with defending champion Primoz Roglic (SLO) re-joining the lead in the race with Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz in impressive fashion.

Sitting fourth after the first seven (of 21) stages, Roglic won the 8th stage on Wednesday, conquering the final uphill to the Alto de Moncalvillo over Carapaz by 13 seconds, with Ireland’s Dan Martin third. This cut Carapaz’s overall lead to 13 seconds.

On Thursday, the hilly stage for the sprinters saw German Pascal Ackermann cross first in a huge mass finish. Belgium’s Gerben Thijssen was just behind, followed by Max Kanter (GER). The first 110 riders all received the same time.

Roglic won his second stage in three days on Friday, winning another hilly stage with a sprint finish over Felix Grossschartner (AUT), Andrea Bagioli (ITA) and five more … that did not include Carapaz. He finished with the chase group that was three seconds back, but with the time bonus for winning (10 seconds), Roglic joined Carapaz as co-leaders after 10 stages.

Only Martin (IRL: -0:25) and Britain’s Hugh Carthy (-0:51) are within a minute of the leaders in second and third; fifth-place Enric Mas (ESP) is 1:54 back.

Things get tougher now. Saturday’s brutal 170 km race with a quadruple climb, ending with an uphill finish to the Alto de La Farrapona; the route starts in Villaviciosa at 75 m altitude and ends at 1,706 m! Sunday’s route is just as rough, with five climbs, but at least the route is shorter at 109.4 km.

● Weightlifting ● USA Weightlifting chief Phil Andrews (GBR) was interviewed at some length by BarBend.com and was asked specifically if a new international governing body for the sport is needed in view of the issues at the International Weightlifting Federation:

“It’s possible, but not really a viable solution. And the reason I say that, is it’s just the way sports governance works. It doesn’t necessarily mean if you have an IWF that disintegrates, the IOC will go, ‘Oh, look, there’s the World Weightlifting Federation over there. Well, that’s great. We’re going to put them in charge.’

“That is not necessarily how that works. I think you can draw a parallel with powerlifting where there’s the [International Powerlifting Federation], there’s also several other international federations, one of which is recognized by the World Games Federation and, indeed, by the Olympic structure, which is the IPF. You can draw that sort of parallel if you think about it. I’m not sure that that is a particularly viable idea or solution. You’re seeing a similar thing in boxing where you’ve really got to reform [AIBA], and that might mean taking it back down to the bare bones and starting again, but you’ve really got to build it up again.”

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● The Tokyo organizers announced that ticket buyers who want refunds can ask for them between 10-30 November. Buyers of Paralympics tickets can ask for refunds from 1-21 December.

At a Tokyo news conference on Friday:

“The Tokyo organizing committee has sold roughly 4.48 million tickets for the Olympics and around 970,000 for the Paralympics through the official website.

“Ticket holders outside of Japan, who bought tickets through Authorized Ticket Resellers, will be asked to follow those sellers’ refund procedures.”

If venue capacities are reduced to deal with the virus, impacted ticket holders would go through a separate refunding procedure in the future.

● Games of the XXXIV Olympiad: Los Angeles 2028 ● The International Olympic Committee’s Coordination Commission for the 2028 Games held its first meeting – remotely – of course and issued a complimentary comment on the work currently underway at the LA28 organizing committee.

Commission chair Nicole Hoevertsz from Aruba – herself a synchronized swimming competitor from the 1984 Games in Los Angeles – noted:

“The extensive dialogue we’ve had over the past two days has been very encouraging, reinforcing LA28’s determination to deliver a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will leave a legacy for generations of Americans to enjoy. They’ve made a great start and, over the coming years, we look forward to working closely with them, drawing upon the abundance of event expertise within the city and utilising the experience of those within this Commission to deliver truly memorable Games in 2028.”

● The Last Word ● While the future of the Olympic Games seems well assured, it’s a much tougher time for other events, such as the Commonwealth Games, which had been held quadrennially since 1930 and skipped only in 1942 and 1946 due to World War II.

With the 2022 Games in Birmingham, England, the question is now whether there will be a host for 2026, or whether the Games may have to be moved to 2027. The Commonwealth Games Foundation has been trying to prod Hamilton, Ontario (CAN) to host in 2026; the site held the first British Empire Games in 1930. But a conflict with the 2026 FIFA World Cup has caused the provincial government in Ontario to cool on the idea, and authorities in Adelaide (AUS) are also uninterested in the Games in 2026.

Hamilton has shown more interest in 2027, and, if no other candidates pop up, there might not be any other choices. While the cost of an Olympic bid continues to go down, with much of the operating cost underwritten by the IOC, there is no such funding available for the Commonwealth Games, and that’s a problem.

You can receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here, and can donate here to keep this site going.

For our 526-event International Sports Calendar from October 2020 to June 2021, by date and by sport, click here!

HEARD AT HALFTIME: Bach stresses unity; Coleman suspended for two years; Leeper loses CAS appeal over prostheses; is NFL’s D.K. Metcalf really so fast?

By
Rich Perelman
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2019 World 100 m Champion Christian Coleman (USA)

News, views and noise from the non-stop, worldwide circus of Olympic sport:

● International Olympic Committee ● IOC President Thomas Bach of Germany has been all over the news in the past few days, with a written reflection on his experience as an athletes appearing widely as an editorial in worldwide news media, and being awarded the Seoul Peace Prize for his work in creating positive links with North Korea that helped the 2018 Olympic Winter Games take place in PyeongChang (KOR).

Bach’s op-ed piece was titled, “The Olympics are about diversity and unity, not politics and profit. Boycotts don’t work” and remembered his first Olympic experience in 1976″

“Shortly before the opening ceremony, I looked outside the window of our room in the Olympic Village to see a large group of African athletes with packed bags. Many were in tears, others hung their heads in despair. After asking what was happening, I learned they had to leave because of a last-minute decision by their governments to boycott the Games. Their devastation at having their Olympic dream shattered at the last possible moment after so many years of hard work and anticipation still haunts me today.”

And he remembered how the tables were turned on him four years later, when West Germany skipped the 1980 Games in Moscow:

“I strongly opposed this boycott because it punished us for something that we had nothing to do with – the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet army. I had to realise that the sports organisations had very little, if any, political influence, while on the athlete side we had very little say. Our voices were heard neither by the politicians nor by our sports leaders. This was a very humiliating experience.”

And he noted both the IOC’s limits and its possibilities:

● “The unifying power of the Games can only unfold if everyone shows respect for and solidarity to one another. Otherwise, the Games will descend into a marketplace of demonstrations of all kinds, dividing and not uniting the world.”

● “The Olympic Games cannot prevent wars and conflicts. Nor can they address all the political and social challenges in our world. But they can set an example for a world where everyone respects the same rules and one another.”

Any changes to the IOC’s Rule 50, which opposes on-field and ceremonies demonstrations, will have to overcome Bach’s obvious preference to leave it intact.

In a lengthy address delivered remotely during Monday’s Seoul Peace Prize ceremony, Bach echoed the same themes, adding:

“At the Olympic Games, there is no discrimination, everyone respects the same rules, regardless of social background, gender, religion or political belief. At the Olympic Games, we are all equal.

“In this way, the Olympic Games show us that despite all our differences it is possible for
humankind to live together in peace and harmony.”

and

“We know that our ideals are not shared by everyone in this world, they are contrary to the zeitgeist. But a disregard of our Olympic ideals does not negate their inherent value. On the contrary: it demonstrates the importance of our mission, to strive to uphold these values and ideals in a world where peace and solidarity are under threat.”

The theme of “unity” was strongly stressed by IOC chief Juan Antonio Samaranch (President from 1980-2001), who created the IOC Athletes’ Commission in 1981 and invited Bach – then a German fencer – to be a member. This concept has been the core principle of the IOC ever since, and Bach is working energetically to expand it.

● Athletics ● The fastest man in the world has been stopped, at least for now, from competing in Tokyo in 2021.

American sprint star Christian Coleman, the 2019 World Champion in the 100 m, was found to have committed an anti-doping violation and was suspended for two years by the arbitration panel of the Athletics Integrity Unit.

The 22-page decision reviewed the “whereabouts” failures that led to the violation, including a missed test on 16 January 2019 (not contested), a filing failure on 26 April 2019 (contested) and a missed test on 9 December 2019 (contested). The decision noted specifically that “there is no suggestion that the Athlete has ever taken a Prohibited Substance.” But three missed tests within 12 months equal a violation.

On 26 April 2019, Coleman had listed his home address in Lexington, Kentucky, but was called prior to his testing time by telephone and told the Doping Control Officer that he was, in fact, at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa at the time. Coleman updated his location online prior to the specified testing time, but the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency recorded the situation as a “filing failure” rather than a missed test. The panel held that since Coleman didn’t change his location until after being called by the Doping Control Officer, and two days after going to Des Moines, that the filing failure stands.

Regarding the missed test on 9 December, Coleman was required to be available for testing between 7:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. at his home in Lexington. The Doping Control Officer was there, rang the bell every 10 minutes and then left. Coleman claims he was back prior to 8:15 p.m., but the panel did not “accept the Athlete’s evidence,” given that he had a receipt time-stamped at 8:22 p.m. from a nearby store.

Thus, Coleman was found to have committed three “whereabouts” violations within a 12-month period and was suspended for two years, ending on 13 May 2022. This would keep Coleman out of the 2020 Olympic Games, but would allow him to compete for a spot on the U.S. team for the 2022 World Championships, which will be held in Eugene, Oregon.

The decision further noted that Coleman had barely escaped a prior “whereabouts” suspension for three failures between June 2018 and April 2019. Although this had no impact on the length of the suspension, the panel noted “Unfortunately, we see this case as involving behaviour from by the Athlete as very careless at best and reckless at worst.”

The finding will undoubtedly be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, for which a filing must be made within 30 days.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced its long-awaited decision in the appeal by American Paralympic sprinter Blake Leeper to be able to compete in open competition using his prostheses.

Leeper, now 31, won silver and bronze medals at 2012 Paralympic Games, but stunned the track & field world at the 2019 USA Track & Field National Championships, winning his 400 m semifinal in 44.38 and then finishing fifth in the final in 44.48. He could have been selected for the U.S. 4×400 m relay pool for the 2019 World Championships, but was not allowed to enter by the IAAF (now World Athletics). In February of this year, World Athletics denied Leeper’s request to use his current prostheses to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games.

The CAS panel agreed with Leeper that it is not his responsibility to prove “that the use of such mechanical aid will not provide the athlete with an overall competitive advantage over an athlete not using such an aid” and that the burden rests with the relevant federation, in this case World Athletics. Even with the burden shifted however:

“[T]he Panel considered the extensive evidence put forward by the parties’ experts and concluded that the running-specific prostheses used by Blake Leeper indeed gave him an overall competitive advantage in the 400m event over an athlete not using such a mechanical aid since they enabled him to run at a height that was several inches taller than his maximum possible height if he had intact biological legs. Accordingly, the Panel ruled that Blake Leeper may not use his particular running-specific prostheses WA-sanctioned 400m events, including WA Series competitions and the Olympic Games.”

Since the holding would allow prosthetics which provide no advantage vs. a non-disabled athlete, World Athletics issued a statement noting that its rules will be reviewed. It also noted of the ruling:

“Specifically, the CAS found that Mr Leeper’s prostheses make him 15cm taller than he would be if he had biological legs (he would be 5’9’’ with biological legs, but his prostheses give him the legs of a 6’8” man); and that this increased leg length gives Mr Leeper an artificial performance advantage over 400m of ‘several seconds’.”

Leeper’s attorneys released a furious statement which included:

“Mr. Leeper will file a legal action to challenge this racially discriminatory decision of the CAS panel to preclude him, as a Black athlete, from competing at the same height, on the same prostheses, that he has been using in world competitions for five years. He has already met the qualification time to run in the Tokyo Olympics, which is his dream, and he will not give up his fight to compete against able-bodied athletes on the Olympic stage on the basis of a racist study that does not include any data from Black athletes in its database.”

World Athletics replied:

“World Athletics strongly rejects the (new) allegation from Mr Leeper’s legal team that the finding that he ‘runs tall’ is based on a ‘racist’ Paralympic rule. The IPC rule on ‘Maximum Allowable Standing Height’ (MASH) is based on the best available evidence of body dimensions and has been applied for several years to all Paralympic athletes (including African-American athletes) without issue. World Athletics is aware of no proof that African-American athletes have significantly different bodily dimensions (proportionality), and certainly not to the extent identified in this case. The 15cm disparity found in Mr Leeper’s case between his prosthetic leg length and his natural leg length is not due to racial differences in body dimensions.”

Leeper’s avenue of appeal of the CAS decision, if desired, is to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

Applications are being taken through Sunday (1 November) for emergency grants from the USA Track & Field Athletes Advisory Committee. A total of 25 grants of $1,000 each are available, to be paid to third parties for expenses such as rent or mortgage payments, car payments, medical expenses and similar items:

“The Athletes Advisory Emergency Relief Fund’s mission has been expanded to consider 2020 and the extraordinary challenges that the COVID-19 global pandemic has presented to track and field athletes.”

● Biathlon ● The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s Anti-Doping Division handed down a decision confirmed a doping violation by Russian star Evgeny Ustiugov for the period of 2010-14, based on changes recorded in his Athlete Biological Passport profile. The announcement noted:

“Furthermore, the CAS ADD, which serves as the Disciplinary Tribunal under the new IBU Constitution, found that Mr Ustyugov had the benefit of protection and support to artificially augment his performance through doping and to avoid detection, which could not have been achieved other than with a significant degree of orchestration or common enterprise. In light of those aggravating factors, the CAS ADD imposed the maximum period of ineligibility of four years.”

Ustiugov’s performances from January 2014 through the end of the 2013/14 season (in March 2014) were annulled, which wipes out his 2010 Vancouver gold in the 15 km Mass Start and bronze in the 4×7.5 km relay. His gold from the 2014 Sochi 4×7.5 km relay was already revoked last February due to a doping violation.

Ustiugov, who retired in 2014, can appeal to the CAS Appeals Division within 21 days.

● Boxing ● The days are narrowing for candidates to be nominated to run for the AIBA Presidency, with the nominating period to close on 2 November 2020.

Thus far, announced candidates include:

● Anas Al Otaiba (UAE), President of the Asian Boxing Confederation
● Umar Kremlev (RUS), Secretary General of the Russian Boxing Federation
● Suleyman Mikayilov (AZE), AIBA Executive Committee member
● Bienvenido Solano (DOM), AIBA Honorary Vice President
● Boris van der Vorst (DEN), President of the Dutch Boxing Federation

Kremlev told a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday that he will not only wipe out AIBA’s $16 million debt, but “We will find $50 million in the next two years for the development of AIBA.” But no details of how the money will be found were provided.

Mikayilov announced Monday that he has retained Global Sports Investigations, a British-based sports integrity joint venture, to advise on remaking AIBA’s reputation and operations.

The approved ballot will be sent to the national federations on 12 November and the vote will take place during the online AIBA Congress on 12-13 December 2020.

Still under suspension by the International Olympic Committee, AIBA has massive credibility and governance problems, but also needs to convince the IOC that it can be organized as a going concern in the future. None of the candidates other than Kremlev have volunteered an answer for that yet.

● Cycling ● The hilly seventh stage of the 75th Vuelta a Espana was a hard-earned win for Canada’s Michael Woods, who took his second career stage win in the race (also in 2018).

Woods finished the 159.7 km course from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Villanueva de Valdegovia in 3:48:16, just four seconds up on Spain’s Omar Fraile and Alejandro Valverde.

The overall leader, Richard Carapaz of Ecuador, remains 18 seconds ahead of Hugh Carthay (GBR), 20 seconds up on Dan Martin (IRL) and 30 seconds up on defending champ Primoz Roglic (SLO).

The race figures to change with three mountain stages coming this week. On Wednesday, the 164 km route has two major climbs, including a tough uphill finish to the Alto de Moncalvillo at 1,489 m altitude. Thursday’s stage is flat and the Friday stage is hilly. That sets the stage for Saturday’s brutal 170 km race with a quadruple climb, ending with an uphill finish to the Alto de La Farrapona; the route starts in Villaviciosa at 75 m altitude and ends at 1,706 m! Sunday’s route is just as rough, with five climbs, but at least the route is shorter at 109.4 km.

● Figure Skating ● Last weekend’s Skate America did not go well for comebacking 2014 Olympic Team bronze medalist Gracie Gold. Now 25 and looking to move into contention for a spot at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, she fared poorly in Las Vegas, finishing 12th in both the Short Program and Free Skate, and was 12th overall at 127.82, more than 26 points behind all other competitors.

● Swimming ● The fourth ISL match, all taking place in a 25 m (short course) pool at the Duna Arena in Budapest (HUN), featured the Cali Condors, so far the top team in the league and led by Olympic gold medalists Lilly King and Caeleb Dressel.

On Monday, King extended her all-time ISL individual-event win streak to 21-for-21 with victories in the 50 m, 100 m and 200 m Breaststroke events. She set an American (short course) Record with her 2:16:04 in the 200 m event, as USA Swimming does not recognize the 2:14.57 world record by Rebecca Soni from 2009 since it was made using a non-textile suit.

Dressel was really busy, winning twice on Monday, in the 100 m Fly and 50 m Free, plus a third in the 50 m Breaststroke! On Tuesday, he won the 100 m Medley and was second in the 100 m Free – behind Zach Apple’s sterling 45.94 – and second in the 50 m Fly and the 50 m Breaststroke Skins!

The other multi-(individual) event winners included:

● Emre Sakci (TUR): Men’s 50-100 m Breast, 50 m Breast Skins
● Hali Flickinger (USA): Women’s 400 m Free, 200 m Fly
● Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED): Women’s 100 m Free, 50 m Fly
● Melanie Margalis (USA): Women’s 100-200 m Medley
● Olivia Smoliga (USA): Women’s 50-100 m Back, 50 m Back Skins

Margalis’s winning mark of 57.94 for the 100 m Medley set an American short-course record, breaking the 2016 time of 58.02 by Katie Meili.

The Cali Condors won the team chase easily, scoring 610.5 to 418.6 for Iron, 394.0 for the New York Breakers and 287.0 for D.C. Trident.

● XXIV Olympic Winter Games: Beijing 2022 ● “Britain may not be able to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 if evidence mounts of the abuse of Uighur Muslims in China, the foreign secretary Dominic Raab has said.”

The Guardian was one of many outlets which reported Raab’s remarks at a Parliamentary hearing, including

“Generally speaking, my instinct is to separate sport from diplomacy and politics, but there comes a point when it is not possible. Let’s consider in the round what further action we need to take.”

The issue is China’s treatment of the Uighur people, which has led to 39 countries asking the United Nations Human Rights Council for an independent investigation into their treatment; a joint statement read in part:

“We have seen an increasing number of reports of gross human rights violations. There are severe restrictions on freedom of religion or belief and the freedoms of movement, association and expression as well as on Uighur culture.”

In the meantime, the U.N. membership voted on 15 October to have Cuba, China and Russia sit on the Human Rights Council for three-year terms, starting next year.

● At the BuZZer ● Lots of folks marveled at how Seattle Seahawks receiver D.K. Metcalf ran down Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker from behind on a touchdown-saving tackle during an interception return on the Sunday Night Football game on 25 October.

So how fast did Metcalf run? At his top speed during his sprint, he reportedly hit 22 miles per hour. Maintained for an entire race, that would equate to about a 10.17 in the 100 m, which would rank him equal-40th in the world for 2020; the world leader is American Michael Norman at 9.86.

No wonder USA Track & Field tweeted:

“For everyone asking if we have a spot open on our relay team for @dkm14, @NFL players are welcome to come test their speed against real speed next year at the Olympic Trials.”

By the way, the men’s 100 m Trials qualifying standard is 10.05, with a preferred field size of 32.

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LANE ONE: If the Tokyo Games don’t take place, it won’t be for a lack of trying on Japan’s part

By
Rich Perelman
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If you listen to the experts, the open-mouthed sharpies and all the crystal-ball wizards, there’s no way the Games of the XXXII Olympiad will take place in Tokyo next summer.

If you look at what’s happening on the ground in Japan, the story looks a lot different.

The Tokyo 2020 organizers and the governments within Japan are incrementally re-opening the country and its sporting venues, while the incidence of Covid-19 has been held to remarkably low levels within the country. Consider:

● Reuters reported on 15 October that tests are on now for professional baseball games with 80% spectator capacity in Yokohama, a significant upgrade over the current 50% capacity arrangement now in force:

“As well as having their temperature checked upon entry and disinfectant being available throughout the venue, which can host up to 45,000, all fans had to give their contact details to staff in case of an outbreak.”

In Tokyo, Yomiuri Giants staff member Masatoshi Yamada told Reuters:

“‘After being able to accept spectators, we have done various anti-coronavirus measures that we hadn’t done before.

“‘We have proposed a new cheering style, which is to cheer without shouting, as well as disinfection of seats and distribution of alcohol wipes.’”

● A late September meeting of a government-led panel on athlete safety for the Games was reported to approve athlete entry into Japan, but with conditions:

“[A]thletes wishing to enter Japan must also be tested within 72 hours before their departure time and submit negative results.

“The panel agreed that athletes can train or compete within 14 days of their arrival, which is currently the required quarantine period, if they also follow measures such as carrying a smartphone with a contact tracing app and keeping a record of their health condition.”

This program is modeled on a protocol worked out to allow business travelers from specified countries to enter Japan.

As to athletes from highly-infected countries, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (GER) said on social media last week that

“The athletes are not responsible for [the virus rate in their home nations]. If the athletes test negative, if they respect the anti-coronavirus guidance … we should give them the chance to participate.”

Further, a discrete clinic is being considered for the Athlete’s Village to deal specifically with coronavirus issues, away from the usual polyclinic for medical issues.

● For spectators, the Tokyo organizing committee demonstrated a possible process for spectator entry into the sports venues last week. Kyodo News Service reported:

“Three different methods for measuring temperature were utilized in the experiment, including thermography, contactless temperature sensors and a ‘temperature sticker’ that can indicate whether a person has a fever when affixed to their wrist.

“An attempt was also made to keep people waiting in line separated by intervals of 1 to 1.5 meters, while security guards conducting inspections wore masks and face shields.”

The three-day trial of the protocol also included the usual metal-detector scans of bags for disallowed items as part of an integrated program, more with training sessions to be done as the Games come closer.

● Further, a program of facial recognition technology is being considered to help prevent any spread of the virus. Kyodo News reported:

“According to the sources, one plan is to station security cameras equipped with the technology at stadiums and venues to record spectators’ faces and body surface temperatures, and to see if they are wearing masks.

“The recorded data is expected to help prevent cluster infections in case an individual at a game is discovered to be infected later, by helping pinpoint possible virus carriers, tracing their routes and notifying those who were in close contact.

“The government is also considering placing cameras at the entrances to athletes’ villages and training camps to record the dates and times athletes entered and left, the sources said.”

Civil libertarians won’t like that plan, but if your son or daughter is competing in Tokyo and you want to go, you will have to comport with the Japanese plan for the Games. After all, you aren’t required to go.

● The doubts over whether the Tokyo Games will be held at all look a little less threatening when one looks at the control of the spread of the coronavirus within Japan itself. While a highly industrialized country with high-density cities, Japan’s total reported cases now total just 97,503.

That out of a population of 126 million, which is no. 11 on the world’s population list. But the reported caseload ranks 49th worldwide, well behind countries such as Belgium, Qatar and Panama.

No one can forecast what the situation will be in six months – when the go/no go decision will have to be finalized – but the environment for the Games within Japan itself is looking better and better. If professional baseball games are being played with full spectator capacity or near-full capacities, the Olympic Games can certainly go on.

Perhaps the major question about the viability of the 2020 Games in 2021 will come from outside Japan – as it did last March – when the virus paralyzed Europe and North America. Some athletes will be infected and won’t be able to go. Spectators from some countries – perhaps many countries – may not be able to attend the Games.

But given that the thirst for tickets to the Games within Japan was almost endless – prior to the pandemic – this may not matter in terms of filling those seats allowed to be used. And it sets up perfectly for television and social-media platforms which can show/Webcast home viewing parties in countries around the globe.

And what if a vaccine comes onto the scene in the first quarter of 2021?

New Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has been telling lawmakers and the public that “I am determined to host the Games as proof that humanity has defeated the pandemic.” If the Tokyo Games are staged in 2021 as planned – even with reduced spectator capacity – it will be a considerable affirmation of Japan’s ability, determination and capacity to overcome what has appeared to be an intractable blight on the globe. Rising sun indeed.

Not that the sharpies will care. They’ll be braying just as loud about the next disaster, which, if not immediately apparent, will be manufactured to suit their needs.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: Geoghegan Hart takes Giro d’Italia on final day; Chen, Bell, Hubbell+Donohue all win at Skate America; who is Beryl Gastaldello?

By
Rich Perelman
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It was just this close at the end of stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia, with Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR, right) edging Australia's Jai Hindley, Geoghehan Hart won the overall race on the final day. (Photo: ProCyclingStats)

Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Athletics ● The season is just about over, but Rio Olympic 50 km Walk champ Matej Toth (SVK) claimed a world-leading mark in the men’s 50 km Walk in the Dudince Fifty on Saturday.

Competing in the tiny spa town of Dudince, Slovakia, Toth led from the start and won easily in 3:41:15 – best of the year by more than two minutes – with Poland’s Rafal Augustyn second in 3:47:42 (no. 4 on the 2020 world list) and Ecuador’s Andres Chocho third in 3:48:57 (no. 6).

● Cycling ● The mountain stages are usually the deciders in major cycling tours like the 103rd Giro d’Italia, but in 2020, it was only the table-setter.

On Saturday, the 20th stage was a misery-inducing triple climb that finished uphill at the Sestriere ski resort, with Australia’s Jai Hindley and Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart finishing together, with the Geoghegan Hart declared the winner in 4:52:45 over 190.0 km. Dutch star Wilco Kelderman finished 1:35 back in eighth place and lost the lead to the top two finishers, who were tied going into Sunday’s time trial!

Italy’s time-trial star Filippo Ganna won his second time trial and third stage in this year’s Giro, clocking 17:16 over the 15.7 km flat route to Milan, 32 seconds ahead of Victor Campanaerts (BEL) and Australia’s Rohan Dennis.

Behind them, Geoghegan Hart finished 13th, some 58 seconds behind Ganna, but good enough to beat Hindley (38th: -1:37) and Kelderman (11th: -0:55). Geoghegan Hart finished the 21 stages in 85:40:21, 39 seconds better than Hindley and 1:29 ahead of Kelderman. Portugal’s Joao Almeida, who led for 15 of the 21 stages in the race, was fourth, 2:57 behind.

Geoghegan Hart, 25, had never won a UCI World Tour race coming into the Giro, but took two stages and the grand prize. This was also the best-ever performance in a World Tour race for Hindley, 24, who won one stage and the silver medal.

The formidable triple-climb route of Stage 6 ended the first week of racing in the 75th Vuelta a Espana with a shuffling of the leaderboard.

Home favorite Ion Izagirre took the stage with a 25-second win over Canada’s Michael Woods in 3:41:00 for the 146.4 km route. The uphill finish to the Aramon Formigal ski resort in the Pyrenees took its toll and while Ecuadorian star Richard Carapaz finished 55 seconds back, leader – and defending champion – Primoz Roglic (SLO) was 1:38 behind and gave up the lead.

Going into Monday’s rest day, Carapaz now leads by 18 seconds over Hugh Carthy (GBR), 20 seconds over Dan Martin (IRL) and 30 seconds against Roglic. Those four are all within a minute; next best is Ernic Mas (ESP) at 1:07 back. But there is a long way to go.

● Figure Skating ● Two-time World Champion Nathan Chen of the U.S. dominated the spectator-free Skate America at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, winning by almost 24 points.

This was the first event in the annual ISU Grand Prix Series, but was limited to mostly American performers and others training in the U.S. due to the coronavirus pandemic. Chen won his fourth Skate America title, charging to a big lead after the Short Program — 111.17 to 99.36 for Vincent Zhou – and then scored 187.98 in the Free Skate for a total of 299.15. Zhou finished second at 275.10 and Canada’s Keegan Messing was third with 266.42.

American Mariah Bell won her first Skate America title, racing to a 76.48-73.29 lead over Bradie Tennell, then holding on after scoring only fourth-best in the Free Skate. Tennell won the Free Skate, scoring 137.78, followed by Karen Chen (136.77), Audrey Shin (136.38) and then Bell (136.25). But Bell’s total of 212.73 was good enough to win, with Tennell second (211.07) and Shin third (206.15).

The new Pairs combination of Alexa Scimera Knierim and Brandon Frazier won easily, taking both the Short Program and Free Skate with a total of 214.77. That was well ahead of Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson (USA: 207.40) and Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov (USA: 189.65).

Worlds medalists Madison Hubbell and Zach Donohue won their third straight Skate America, scoring 211.39 and well ahead of Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker (USA: 202.47) and Christina Carrera and Anthony Ponomarenko (USA: 185.78).

Next week’s Skate Canada International has been cancelled, so the ISU Grand Prix circuit will continue in Chongqing, China for the Shiseido Cup of China from 6-8 November 2020.

● Judo ● The IJF World Tour emerged from the pandemic this week with the Budapest Grand Slam, showcasing 405 judoka from 61 countries.

Russia dominated the men’s competition, providing the 1-2 finishers in four of the seven weight classes, and claiming five golds from Yago Abuladze (-60 kg), Abdula Abdulzhalilov (-66 kg), Mikhail Igolnikov (-90 kg), Niyaz Ilyasov (-100 kg) and Inal Tasoev (+100 kg).

France was the only country with more than one winner in the women’s classes, with two-time Worlds medalist Amandine Buchard winning at -52 kg, and Audrey Tcheumeo taking the -78 kg division. Slovenia’s Tina Trstenjak (SLO), the Rio 2016 gold medalist, won at -63 kg. Kosovo’s Worlds bronze medalist at -48 kg, Distria Krasniqi, scored a noteworthy win over Argentina’s Olympic winner, Paula Pareto.

● Swimming ● The third match of the ISL season featured the new Tokyo Frog Kings and Toronto Titans in action on Saturday and Sunday in short-course swimming at the Duna Arena in Budapest (HUN), but the L.A. Current managed a close victory.

The big individual winner was 25-year old, third-generation French Olympian Beryl Gastaldello, who won the 50 m Free (tie), 100 m Free, 50 m Back, 50 m Fly and 50 m Free Skins for L.A. Current. There were six other multi-event winners:

● Ryan Murphy (USA): Men’s 50 m Back (tie), 200 m Back, 50 m Back Skins
● Tom Shields (USA): Men’s 100 m Fly, 200 m Fly
● Vladimir Morozov (RUS): Men’s 50 m Free, 100 m Medley
● Anton McKee (ISL): Men’s 100 m Breast, 200 m Breast
● Kosuke Hagino (JPN): Men’s 200 m Medley, 400 m Medley
● Yui Ohashi (JPN): Women’s 200 m Medley, 400 m Medley

The Skins wins by Gastaldello and Murphy salted the meet away for L.A. Current, which finished with 535.5 points to 506.5 for Tokyo and 401.0 for Toronto, with the Aqua Centurions (Italy) forth with 260.0.

Another match will be held on Monday and Tuesday, notably including Breaststroke star Lilly King (USA), working on a perfect 18-for-18 streak in ISL races over two seasons.

● Coming Attractions ● It’s a thin schedule this week with cycling’s Vuelta a Espana continuing into its second week in Spain, a possible Zagreb Grand Slam in Croatia and a Pan American Open in Ecuador in Judo.

The USA Track & Field National 5 km Championships, scheduled for 31 October in New York, has been cancelled.

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THE TICKER: S. 2330 sent to White House; USA Wrestling skips 2020 World Champs; WADA could get more investigative powers; new Giro d’Italia leader

By
Rich Perelman
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The latest news, notes and quotes from the worldwide Five-Ring Circus:

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● The “Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020″ – also known as S. 2330 – has been forwarded to the White House for signature, veto or inaction.

The bill was presented on Tuesday, 20 October, meaning it must be acted on within 10 days, excluding Sundays. That means the last day for action on the bill will be Saturday, 31 October.

If S. 2330 becomes law, the next action of note will be the appointment of a 16-person “Commission on the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics,” which must complete a whirlwind effort and provide its findings and recommendations to the Congress by the end of July 2021.

The bill provides for four appointments each by the chair and ranking members of the:

House Energy and Commerce Committee:
● Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey)
● Greg Walden (R-Oregon)

Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee:
● Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi)
● Maria Cantwell (D-Washington)

There is already considerable chatter among the Olympic intelligentsia in the U.S. about potential Commission members, possibly university presidents, corporate titans and all manner of political types. Half of the members must be “former Olympic or Paralympic athletes” and the others must be or have been an athlete, elite-level coach, professional advocate for minority participation in sports, public service related to sports, or sports administration and all are required to have “[e]xpertise in bullying prevention and the promotion of a healthy organizational culture.”

This will be interesting.

● Wrestling ● “The health and safety of U.S. athletes, coaches and staff is always the No. 1 concern for USA Wrestling. After reviewing updated medical, scientific and government data, and providing an opportunity for athlete and stakeholder input, the Executive Committee concluded that it would not be in the best interest of all involved to organize a delegation to travel to and participate in the Senior World Championships in Serbia.”

That statement, from USA Wrestling President (and four-time Olympic medalist) Bruce Baumgartner, was issued on Tuesday (20th) and concluded a multi-level discussion within the organization, described thus:

“USA Wrestling held a series of meetings with stakeholders and subject experts to fully discuss the issue of sending a U.S. team to the Senior Worlds and allow for input. Included were two meetings of the Executive Committee, as well as a USA Wrestling’s Athlete Advisory Committee meeting. In addition, a survey was sent to 117 Senior athletes, including current National Team athletes and athletes who placed in the top eight at the 2020 Senior Nationals. The athlete survey collected data on whether athletes would attend or not attend the Senior Worlds under a variety of different possible conditions.”

The statement also noted that some athletes asked to be able to compete individually and were willing to assume the risks. However, athletes can only enter the UWW Worlds with the permission of their national federation, and

“The Executive Committee carefully considered that sentiment, but decided that it was not in the best interest of USA Wrestling or any member of a World Championships delegation to put anyone’s health and safety at risk under current conditions.”

It’s not clear that the World Championships – scheduled for 12-20 December in Serbia – will happen at all. Entries are due by 5 November and the United World Wrestling Board will meet on 6 November to confirm the event, or cancel it.

This is not the first time the U.S. has skipped the World Championships. In 2002, the U.S. did not participate as the event was held in Tehran, Iran and the safety of the U.S. team could not be assured.

A news conference was held via Zoom on Wednesday (21st) with Baumgartner, Dr. Bernard J. Feldman, Athlete Advisory Committee Chair Veronica Carlson and USAW Executive Director Rich Bender, which can be viewed here.

● Weightlifting ● The International Weightlifting Federation announced it has signed an agreement with the International Testing Agency to handle the federation’s anti-doping activities through the end of 2024.

This was specifically requested by the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board and comes a day after the IWF was slammed by a report from the World Anti-Doping Agency for pro-doping actions during the last decade and more.

Interim IWF President Dr. Michael Irani (GBR) commented on the WADA report, saying

“The provisional outcomes of WADA’s investigation into doping within weightlifting make for shocking reading. The IWF is firmly committed to empowering the ITA with the resources necessary for followup of any intelligence provided to it by WADA.”

Irani may have been shocked, but he has also been a member of the IWF’s Medical Committee since 1992, so he was hardly absent from the scene when the abuses noted in the WADA report were taking place.

The WADA report raised an important issue regarding access to federation information, noting in its conclusion:

“While the I&I Department remains highly motivated to contribute to positive change to the sport of weightlifting, it is important to acknowledge the obvious impediments to detecting wrongdoing.

“More specifically, Professor McLaren’s ability to access the IWF’s internal records, correspondence and documents played a vital role. This kind of evidence would not have been otherwise accessible to WADA, including through its monitoring role of Anti-Doping Organizations’ compliance.

“To this end, WADA has no legal power to compel the production of internal documents of the kind made accessible to Professor McLaren by the IWF’s new leadership. WADA compliance audits, which enable WADA to identify an ADO’s nonconformities with the World Anti-Doping Code and the International Standards and to require corrective actions, are not a vehicle by which WADA can discover entrenched and systemic wrongdoing as these audits are reliant upon the cooperation of the audited party. Only law enforcement or internally mandated investigations, like that conducted by Professor McLaren on behalf of the new IWF leadership, have the necessary power and means to discover such entrenched wrongdoing.

“To prevent a re-occurrence of the situation observed within the IWF, a discussion should be initiated whether WADA should be empowered to compel access to information of the kind uncovered by Professor McLaren under specific and strict conditions.”

Translation: without the help of removed Interim President Ursula Papandrea (USA), who essentially forced the turnover of IWF physical and electronic records to the McLaren Sport Solutions team, the IWF cover-up could have continued in significant sections.

Watch for more regulations in these areas, already called for by WADA President Witold Banka (POL).

The International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board posted a rare notice that acknowledged receipt of the WADA report, but no action. One of its next moves should be an award of the Olympic Order to Papandrea.

● Cycling ● The103rd Giro d’Italia is heading toward its final weekend, with a big shake-up at the top of the leader board.

Portugal’s Joao Almeida maintained his lead through the 17th stage on Wednesday, a four-climb bruiser of 203 km that finished at the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort, with Australia’s Ben O’Connor scoring his first career World Tour victory in a runaway.

But on Thursday’s 18th stage, Almeida was broken on another four-climb meat grinder, this time up and over the Stelvio with an uphill finish at the Laghi di Cancano in the Italian Alps. The 207 kn stage was won by Australia’s Jai Hindley, just ahead of Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart, both of whom vaulted into overall contention.

By finishing fifth, even though he was 2:18 back, Dutch rider Wilco Kelderman took the overall lead and the famed Maglia Rosa jersey from Almeida, who had led for 15 straight stages, but finished seventh and 4:51 behind the leaders.

Kelderman edged ahead by just 12 seconds over Hindley and 15 seconds over Geoghegan Hart and those three are the contenders remaining. On Friday’s flat 19th stage, Czech Josef Cerny was the winner over Victor Campenaerts (BEL) by 18 seconds, but with no change in the top three.

Saturday’s 20th stage is another beast, with a triple climb in the last half of the 190 km route, finishing at the famed Sestriere ski resort. Normally that would be the decider, but the final stage into Milan on Sunday is a 15.7 km Individual Time Trial, which should favor Kelderman, but in this crazy year, who knows?

The 75th Vuelta a Espana continues in its first week, with Marc Soler winning stage 2 from defending champion and race leader Primoz Roglic (SLO) and Ireland’s Dan Martin and then Martin, Roglic and 2019 Giro d’Italia winner Richard Carapaz (ECU) taking top honors in stage 3.

On Friday, a sprinter’s stage of 191.7 km finished downhill in Ejea de los Caballeros and was won by Ireland’s Sam Bennett, just ahead of Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen. The overall lead remains with Roglic, just five seconds ahead of Martin and 13 seconds up on Carapaz, with 17 stages left.

Saturday’s stage is a hilly, triple climb from Huesca to Sabinanigo in northeast Spain of 184.4 km and then Sunday offers an uphill finish to Aramon Formigal in a short stage of 146.4 km.

The 44th men’s AG Driedaagse Brugge-DePanne was held on Wednesday over a flat, 188.6 km course, with a sweep for the home team, as Belgians Yves Lampaert, Tom Declercq and Tom Merlier took the medals. Lampaert won the race for the first time, finishing 21 seconds up on Declercq and 32 seconds ahead of Merlier.

● Athletics ● The newest ruckus in the sport came from a decision by the Athletics Integrity Unit’s appeals forum, which voided the suspension of Bahraini 400 m star Salwa Eid Naser.

Naser had been suspended for four “whereabouts” failures between March 2019 and January 2020. The decision found that tests had been missed on 16 March 2019 (to be treated as if on 1 January 2019), on 12 March 2019 and on 24 January 2020. Because the 16 March 2019 test is considered to be as of 1 January of 2019, there are only two tests in a 12-month period and Naser’s sanction was revoked.

What of the 12 April 2019 test, which the AIU also says Naser missed? This was the crux of the case, and the evidence showed that the Doping Control Officer went to the listed address for Naser in the doping-control system (ADAMS), but the address was incorrect. The Doping Control Officer looked around, tried to find Naser in another building (which was the correct one), but knocked on the wrong door, trying to find her. There was no telephone number provided.

The Doping Control Officer then tried to find Naser at the Bahraini National Stadium, but to no avail.

But despite all this, the arbitrators held that Naser should not be charged with a missed test, and therefore, avoids sanction. Amazing.

This decision can be appealed by the AIU to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. WADA chief – and former 400 m man himself – Banka tweeted:

“As it relates to Salwa Eid Naser and the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal decision on her case I am concerned. WADA will analyse it carefully and exercise its right to appeal if necessary.”

Russian high jump superstar Mariya Laskitskene, in limbo while the Russian Federation is suspended, was furious, writing on Instagram:

“It turns out it is faster to break the rules by missing four doping tests and be freed than remain a hostage to being Russian for many years.”

Another formulation of the once-popular World Cup was announced by UK Athletics, to be held at the London Olympic Stadium on 14-15 July 2021.

It will feature a team competition with Great Britain, the United States, China, Germany, France, Jamaica, South Africa and Poland, with events up to 1,500 m only and a full schedule of field events.

● XXIV Olympic Winter Games: Beijing 2022 ● U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida) reiterated his request to remove the 2022 Winter Games from China in an essay that appeared in The Washington Post. Scott wrote in part:

“In a letter to IOC President Thomas Bach last October, I outlined the Chinese Communist Party’s numerous human rights abuses, including attacks on free speech, detention of international journalists, the imprisonment of more than 1 million Uighurs (an ethnic and religious minority in Western China), the sinister surveillance of citizens and tyrannical actions against citizens of Hong Kong. Bach responded to me by saying the IOC must remain ‘politically neutral.’ Without referring specifically to Beijing, he doubled down on his stance against boycotts in a speech in July, criticizing the ‘misuse of sport for political purposes.’

“Since I first wrote to the IOC, the human rights situation in China has only worsened. The Communist Party and Chinese President Xi Jinping have effectively eliminated the autonomy of Hong Kong, stripping the basic rights of free speech and free assembly from more than 7 million citizens. New reports confirm the Xi regime’s forced abortions and forced sterilizations of Uighur women.”

The issues cited are real enough, but the 2022 Winter Games will not be moved, especially since the only ready host is Salt Lake City, Utah; with the U.S. continuing to suffer through the coronavirus pandemic, moving the Games there is not a realistic possibility.

● Games of the XXXIII Olympiad: Paris 2024 ● While the IOC approved the request of the Paris 2024 organizers to hold the surfing competition in Tahiti, some of the locals there aren’t so sure it’s a good idea.

A Tuesday (20th) story on TheInteria.com noted the concerns of folks who now live in the Teahupo’o area that is designated to host the event:

“‘We do not want our little piece of paradise to be devastated. We want to continue to live in harmony with Mother Nature,’ says Tahurai Henry, a native of Teahupo’o and one of its longtime regular surfers. ‘A part of me was proud when I heard Teahupo’o was selected for the Olympics Games but quickly, I was upset about the future [infrastructure] such an event requires.’ …

“‘We have a wonderful playground for our children and we don’t want all of this to be touched. Our rivers are clean and we are afraid of a potential change because of these Olympics,’ Henry says. ‘It’s us who live with it before and after for only a few days of competition.’”

Commented former IOC Marketing Director Michael Payne on Twitter:

“Now it begins. Still trying to understand how @Paris2024 bounced the IOC into making this decision. Surfing in Tahiti?”

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LANE ONE: Stunning WADA report shows IWF, some national weightlifting federations “allowed doping to thrive” with “virtual impunity”

By
Rich Perelman
-

On Tuesday, the International Weightlifting Federation posted a note celebrating the support of “more than one hundred Member Federations” for a Constitution Reform Congress and Electoral Congress to be held next March, concluding

“The IWF would like to express its gratitude and acknowledge the Member Federations in question. Together, we can deliver the reform our sport needs to ensure a brighter future.”

It may be too late. Way too late.

On Thursday, the World Anti-Doping Agency released a 14-page report from its Intelligence & Investigations Department summarizing its work on weightlifting and both confirmed the malfeasance raised by the IWF’s own report from Canadian law professor Richard McLaren, but going much further into the culture of doping that has run rampant within the sport for years.

The key outcome of the WADA findings, in a still-ongoing probe, was summarized on page 10:

“The McLaren IWF investigation and the I&I Department investigations point to a system of
patronage for protection directed by former IWF President, Mr [Tamas] Ajan. This system appears to have allowed certain National Federations to operate with virtual doping impunity.

“Operation Extra intelligence suggests that the mismanagement of some National Federations represents a major weakness, which has allowed doping to thrive within the sport.

“Operation Extra intelligence also suggests that, among certain National Federations, promising young athletes were protected, while those with less potential were either encouraged to dope or used as donors of clean urine.

“The allegations received by Operation Extra would suggest the problems faced by weightlifting are not centralized in any particular country or region but are more global.”

The reference to “Operation Extra” was just one of four separate inquiries into the IWF, all which returned damning conclusions against the sport:

(1) Operation Outreach, on allegations that a “high-ranking member of the IWF” ran a bribery scheme to conceal doping of Russian athletes and non-Russian athletes whose performances would “promote Russian interests.”

(2) Operation Heir, on advance notice of testing on Romanian lifters and a program of either sample substitution or using surrogates to provide samples in place of the actual competitors.

(3) Operation Extra, concerning improper practices of national weightlifting federations, and

(4) Operation Arrow, focused on the methodology of sample substitution or surrogate sample givers.

The report underlined the importance of WADA’s “Confidential Information Unit” (CIU), which collected advice, evidence and tip-offs from whistleblowers and similar sources. The report noted in detail the importance of this information and underscored the need for continued and improved communications by such interested parties with WADA on a completely protected basis.

For Operation Outreach:

“In short, the Confidential Sources detailed a history of protection orchestrated from within the highest levels of the IWF to the benefit of ‘doped’ Russian weightlifters. More specifically, between 2012 and 2016, a high-ranking member of the IWF purportedly received about $5,000,000 USD from Russian entities to cover up allegations of doping by Russian weightlifters. These monies were concealed within the IWF under the banner of “fines” (Administrative Fines) imposed under the IWF Anti-Doping Policy …

“In September 2019, Operation Outreach identified additional Confidential Sources willing to provide information about the President of the IWF at that time, Mr Tamas Ajan. These Confidential Sources claimed that Mr Ajan routinely used the influence of his honorary Hungarian ‘diplomatic passport’ to transport large sums of money in and out of Hungary undisturbed. A diplomatic passport ordinarily ensures that the holder and their luggage
are exempt from any interference or inspection by border control.

“In October 2019, discrete, covert investigations by Operation Outreach revealed a significant discrepancy (almost $3,000,000 USD) between the total value of Administrative Fines received by the IWF as published on the IWF website, and those recorded internally by the IWF. This discrepancy partially corroborated the claims of the Confidential Sources.”

For Operation Heir:

“In early 2018, the CIU began receiving information from Confidential Sources alleging that an organized doping and protection scheme operated within Romania to the benefit of select weightlifters. The scheme allegedly included, trafficking of Prohibited Substances, advance notice of testing missions and urine substitution (via the use of doppelgangers). Allegations included the involvement of “officials” and encouragement of the ‘clean’ athletes to remain quiet and not to speak up.”

The WADA report noted much of the information from this effort has been turned over to law enforcement authorities in undisclosed countries. But it did note that a 2018 doping sample collection from Romanian athletes did provide evidence of the use of surrogate sample providers.

Operation Extra was the most troubling of all, as it confirmed – as quoted above – the worldwide extent of doping support provided by national weightlifting federations. The report does not name the countries involved, but does 10 primary allegations of infractions:

● “Use of synthetic urinary devices by international-level athletes to swap dirty urine with clean urine.

● “Urine substitution to protect doped athletes.

● “Use of ‘clean’ athletes to provide samples in place of ‘doped’ athletes.

● “Use of ‘undetectable’ growth hormones to evade doping controls.

● “Use of transfusions to clean an athlete’s system prior to competing at the Olympic Games.

● “Coaches who provided athletes with doping programs.

● :Officials who provided bribes to protect athletes.

● “Officials who provided advance testing to coaches and athletes.

● “Doping Control Officers (DCOs) who provided advance notice for testing.

● “A coach who doped athletes from different nations by acting as a doping consultant.”

This is what high-level doping evasion looks like. The evidence has been turned over to the International Testing Agency, which is now the contracted doping-control agency for the IWF. The WADA report further noted:

“A disturbing trend which emerged during Operation Extra was an apparent culture of silence and fear that exists within the sport. Operation Extra intelligence indicates that many weightlifters had little to no confidence that their national and international federation was protecting their best interests and the sport’s best interests.”

While the countries involved were not named, it’s worthwhile to note the sanctions already imposed for the Olympic Games in Tokyo:

● Banned (3): Egypt, Malaysia, Thailand.

● Allowed only 2 competitors (5): Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia.

● Allowed only 4 competitors (8): Albania, Bulgaria, India, Iran, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

The WADA report further commented that “This culture of silence provided an almost
guaranteed level of impunity to those individuals who sought to corrupt the sport for their own personal gain. The CIU was fortunate and grateful that a small number of individuals accepted to share their full stories. Others would only agree to provide anonymous information. Potential sources declined to provide their contact information or allow follow-up communications. Some only wished to share information about their specific cases but did not provide names. Others were simply too afraid of the potential consequences to come forward.”

Operation Arrow is a continuing look into urine substitution practices and identified more than two dozen certain or near-certain instances of substitution from at least five countries. One aspect of the inquiry uncovered a practice of some anti-doping laboratories destroying samples after 90 days – the minimum required – instead of holding them for up to 10 years for re-analysis with better techniques. This is also part of the pro-coping problem in the sport.

WADA President Witold Banka (POL) was unsparing in his comments:

“WADA is appalled by what its Intelligence and Investigations Department has uncovered in this investigation. For too long, clean weightlifters have had to deal with an entrenched culture of doping in their sport, where the promotion of fear ensured that the truth remained hidden and that those who wanted to do the right thing were isolated. …

“WADA will continue to do all it can to help provide clean weightlifters with a safe and healthy environment for their sport. To do that more effectively in general, I believe this report shows clearly that it is time to start a discussion as to whether WADA should be granted additional powers of investigation, including unfettered access to all relevant internal documents and servers within the organization under investigation.”

It’s worth noting that as of today, the listed 18-member IWF Executive Board includes individuals from seven sanctioned federations: Egypt, India, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia, Thailand and Uzbekistan.

With the IWF’s credibility on doping, finance and governance shattered, the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board has another dysfunctional federation to deal with at its next meeting on 11 November. Already running boxing for the Tokyo Games, it may well be operating weightlifting as well.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: S. 2330 in repose for now; LA28 funds $2.48 million for youth sports; Russian hackers indicted; Klay Thompson respects T&F

By
Rich Perelman
-

News, views and noise from the non-stop, worldwide circus of Olympic sport:

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● What has happened to S. 2330, the “Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020″?

Nothing, as it turns out.

The bill passed the Senate on 4 August and the House on 1 October, but nothing more.

August Wolf, founder of the Olympians Rising athlete activist group and a 1984 Olympian in the shot put, reports that the bill has not been forwarded to President Donald Trump for signature or veto and therefore the 10-day timer on action on the bill has not yet started:

“I guess they often present them in batches (lots of bills at a time) and they’re out of session so not happening at the moment. Might be post-election, might be next week, but nothing out of the ordinary.”

Now you know.

Two new positions on the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Board of Directors were created for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Alumni Association, and elections are just starting to choose among four candidates:

● Donna DeVarona, the two-time Olympian in swimming (1960-64) and winner of two gold medals in 1964 in Tokyo, before beginning a long career in television and in public activism, especially in women’s sports and the Special Olympics.

● Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, the 1984 Olympic Champion in the 100 m hurdles, who had senior roles at USA Track & Field and the U.S. Olympic Committee, then led Laureus USA and is now President of FundPlay for LeagueApps.

● Rich Kenah, a 2000 track & field Olympian in the 800 m and a 1997 Worlds 800 m medalist. He is the Executive Director of the Atlanta Track Club and managed the well-received 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials held in Atlanta.

● John Naber, winner of four gold medals in swimming in 1976 and one of the dominant athletes of that Games, with long service to the Olympic Movement. He was a Board member of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee and the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games.

In terms of past experience with the U.S. Olympians Association, Naber has been a past president of the organization. The balloting will continue into mid-November.

The USOPC announced that $1.42 million has been raised from more than 6,000 donors over two months for the COVID Athlete Assistance Fund of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation. This will allow an additional $1,163 grant to 1,220 U.S. athletes training for the Olympic, Olympic Winter and Paralympic Games.

● Games of the XXXIV Olympiad: Los Angeles 2028 ● The City of Los Angeles Recreation & Parks Department filed a report noting its activities to date from funding provided by the LA 2028 organizing committee.

The SwimLA programs over the past two years spent $2,000,713 and a new request for $2,480,992 was made for its Fall 2020 Project plan. This will include:

(1) $472,082 for weekly classes in Badminton, Dance, Sports & Games and Fitness, at 50 different sites, with a $10 registration fee.

(2) $1,280,847 for bi-monthly clinics at 50 sites in Basketball Skills, Baseball and Softball, Field Hockey and Tennis

(3) $322,151 for instruction in Track & Field for ages 5-15, including sprints, middle distance, long distance, high jump, long jump, triple jump, shot put and javelin, at 15 different sites. The Parks & Recreation Department also committed to renovating 6-8 facilities with crushed-granite running surfaces.

(4) $30,912 to support Golf instruction for ages 10-15, in weekly sessions at four different courses.

(5) $275,000 for marketing outreach and branding of the program, and

(6) $100,000 for “continued development of the Safe Sport partnership with the U.S.
Center for Safe Sport.”

LA28 committed a total of $160 million to these programs from 2018 through 2028, with annual funding of $19.2 million from July of this year through June of 2028.

● XXIII Olympic Winter Games: PyeongChang 2018 ● The U.S. Justice Department announced on Monday that indictments had been returned on six computer hackers who are officers in the Russian Main Intelligence Unit (GRU):

“These GRU hackers and their co-conspirators engaged in computer intrusions and attacks intended to support Russian government efforts to undermine, retaliate against, or otherwise destabilize: (1) Ukraine; (2) Georgia; (3) elections in France; (4) efforts to hold Russia accountable for its use of a weapons-grade nerve agent, Novichok, on foreign soil; and (5) the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games after Russian athletes were banned from participating under their nation’s flag, as a consequence of Russian government-sponsored doping effort.”

The news release detailed the group’s Olympic mischief to include:

● “PyeongChang Winter Olympics Hosts, Participants, Partners, and Attendees: December 2017 through February 2018 spearphishing campaigns and malicious mobile applications targeting South Korean citizens and officials, Olympic athletes, partners, and visitors, and International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials;

● “PyeongChang Winter Olympics IT Systems (Olympic Destroyer): December 2017 through February 2018 intrusions into computers supporting the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, which culminated in the Feb. 9, 2018, destructive malware attack against the opening ceremony, using malware known as Olympic Destroyer;”

None of the attacks had any significant impact on the PyeongChang Games.

The defendants were listed as Yuriy Sergeyevich Andrienko, 32; Sergey Vladimirovich Detistov, 35; Pavel Valeryevich Frolov, 28; Anatoliy Sergeyevich Kovalev, 29; Artem Valeryevich Ochichenko, 27; and Petr Nikolayevich Pliskin, 32.

All were charged with conspiracy to conduct computer fraud and abuse, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, damaging protected computers, and aggravated identity theft. All are in Russia, but are now subject to arrest by the U.S.

● Cycling ● Just ahead of the major climbing stages that will decide the winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia, Slovenia’s Jan Tratnik scored his first Grand Tour stage win on the hilly, 229 km course from Udine to San Daniele del Friuli on Tuesday.

He outsprinted Australian Ben O’Connor over the last 800 m to secure the win by seven seconds, with Italy’s Enrico Battaglin edging two others in the dash for third. Further back, race leader Joao Almeida (POR) gained a couple of seconds on chaser Wilco Kelderman (NED) and now leads by 17 seconds overall, with five stages remaining.

It sounds crazy, but the final Grand Tour of 2020, the 75th La Vuelta de Espana got underway on Tuesday, with Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic taking the hilly first stage from Irun to Arrate.

Although the climbs were not huge, the 173 km course offered four significant rises in the final half, with Roglic moving fastest at the finish to cross ahead of five challengers: Richard Carapaz (ECU), Dan Martin (IRL), Esteban Chaves (COL), Felix Grossschartner (AUT) and Enric Mas (ESP).

Stages 2 and 3 are both serious climbing routes, with tomorrow’s race over 151.6 km from Pamplona to Lekunberri and featuring a major climb and then sharp descent into the finish over the final 25 km. Thursday’s stage has an uphill finish to La Laguna Negra de Vinuesa, but is not as demanding as Stage 2.

The compacted UCI Women’s World Tour schedule for 2020 had its penultimate race at Tuesday’s AG Driedaagse Brugge-De Panne, with Lorena Wiebes (NED) conquering the flat, 156.3 km course to De Panne in 3:39:43, just ahead of Lisa Brennauer (GER) and Lotte Kopecky (BEL).

The men’s race will be held tomorrow (21st). The final race of the Women’s World Tour comes from 6-8 November at the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta.

● Gymnastics ● A scheduled Monday hearing on some minor matters in the USA Gymnastics proceedings at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana was cancelled, with an omnibus hearing now scheduled for 30 November.

A report on operations showed that through 30 September, the total legal fees in the case totaled $12,149,931, of which $6,947,803 have been paid so far.

USA Gymnastics also filed a motion to settle its claims against Texas-based National Travel Systems, with whom it had arranged travel services for several years. If approved, NTS will pay $185,000 to the federation to settle all claims between them.

● Swimming ● The final day of the second ISL match of the season – all in Budapest, Hungary – finished Monday with an easy win for the London Roar, with seven multiple-event winners in the 25 m pool at the Duna Arena:

● Christian Diener (GER): Men’s 50-200 m Backstrokes, 50 m Back Skins
● Szebasztian Szabo (HUN): Men’s 50-100 m Butterflys
● Alia Atkinson (JAM): Women’s 50-100 m Breaststroke
● Katinka Hosszu (HUN): Women’s 200 m Butterfly, 400 m Medley
● Maria Kameneva (RUS): Women’s 50 m Backstroke Skins, 100 m Medley
● Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED): Women’s 50-100 m Frees, 50 m Butterfly
● Marie Wattel (FRA): Women’s 200 m Free, 100 m Butterfly

The next set of matches comes with two more matches from Saturday through next Tuesday. U.S. coverage is on the CBS Sports Network.

The first weekend of matches brought a distinct improvement on television, thanks to the presence of 1984 triple Olympic champ Rowdy Gaines. Although play-by-play man Bernie Guenther returned for season two, the entire tenor of the commentary has changed. In place of endless braying about how “revolutionary” the league is, Gaines has brought his laser focus on the swimmers themselves: who they are, what can be expected, their strategy in the water and even some insight into how the team coaches are deploying their roster. He made the telecasts almost watchable.

The same presentation problems as seen in 2019 – especially the poor lighting, the hard-to-read graphics and some silly interviews (although there were less of those) – continued. While the league has standardized the use of colored caps to help tell the teams apart, the program still begs for each team to be outfitted in a distinctive color suit, so they can be easily identified. Maybe in the future.

And the aversion to showing times in a sport which is based on times, continues to undermine its credibility. Happily, Gaines didn’t get the memo and is all about the clock in his comments.

“We are still strongly unbalanced in our finances, which is normal and it makes sense. But from here we have to push on. It has to be profitable within three, four years, and I’m very optimistic and positive about that, because the fans are supporting, the athletes are supporting, and we know what we have to do to keep going.”

That was ISL managing director Hubert Montcoudiol (FRA) in an interview with SportBusiness appearing Tuesday. He acknowledged that the first-year cost of the league was about $20 million and that the rights fees from broadcasters such as beIN and CBS has been minimal. Montcoudiol noted that the direct-to-consumer ISL-AND platform is important for the league, which sees itself as appealing to the same demographic that follows esports:

“When we talk about ISL, we don’t say it is swimming. It’s not sport. It is ‘sport-tainment’, and what we’re trying to do here is trigger a new kind of fanbase. We want to promote our athletes, to make them personalities and people who are competing for themselves and for their teams, not just as part of their countries.”

● Weightlifting ● The carnage continued within the International Weightlifting Federation in the aftermath of the removal of Interim President Ursula Garza Papandrea (USA) last week.

In protest of the move, Italian Executive Board member Antonio Urso, also the head of the European Weightlifting Federation, resigned from both positions and Garza Papandrea also resigned from the IWF Executive Board.

The online petition to remove the IWF Executive Board offered on Change.org by IWF Athletes Commission head Sarah Davies (GBR) had gathered almost 12,000 signatures by noon Tuesday (Pacific time). She intends to present it to the IOC Executive Board, which will next meet on 11 November.

Garza Papandrea sent a letter to the IWF Executive Board which was leaked late last week, cataloging a long list of issues, including deliberately trying to mislead the IOC about her activities and trying to revert to prior practices.

She importantly noted:

“My belief that your interests are not reflective of all member federations or athletes, and exhibit more concern for nations with a gross number of positives rather than clean athletes” and that the IWF Executive Board’s actions showed “absolute disregard for the IOC, thereby endangering the sport on the Olympic programme.”

In Tuesday (20th), an “Update to Member Federations” was posted on the IWF Web site, signed by Interim President Dr. Michael Irani (GBR) and Secretary General Mohammad Jalood (IRQ).

It noted that a special IWF Congress would be held to select a new President and to consider constitutional reforms on March 2021 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Further, Irani commented:

“As the fourth IWF President within six months, I am very much aware that different people have different versions of recent events. Ursula Papandrea has, for example, voiced criticism. The [Executive Board] has already addressed a number of the issues she raised with the IOC, while concentrating on moving weightlifting forward.”

The IOC is sure to review this situation with interest at its forthcoming Executive Board meeting on 11 November.

The IWF further underscored its historical doping issues with a reported suspension of Russian Svetlana Shimkova – now 37 and retired – who won the women’s 69 kg championship in 2010. The suspension was based on data provided by the World Anti-Doping Agency from its retrieval of Moscow laboratory data in 2019.

● At the BuZZer ● Lots of respect from NBA superstar guard Klay Thompson in a video posted by Citius Magazine. Said Thompson, clearly in recovery after a workout on the track:

“I got so much respect for track athletes. They’re out here every day, for a different type of grind, man. Boy, just sprintin’, long distance, jumpin’. [I’m] done. Cashed.”

USATF retweeted the post, adding “We know.”

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LANE ONE: One of the lasting effects of the pandemic may be the way news media cover the Olympic Games … or don’t cover

By
Rich Perelman
-

No one knows when the coronavirus pandemic will end, but everyone is sure that it will have brought changes to the way we live and work.

That includes the Olympic Games and all of the other large-scale international sports events that now take place, drawing thousands – even tens of thousands – of media of all kinds to cover them.

But even before the pandemic, the situation was changing, and the pandemic is accelerating it.

Let’s start with the recent media attendance at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Both met the “25,000 media attend the Games” threshold, but a look inside the numbers gives the real picture:

In London 2012:
● 15.8% writing press (3,965)
● 6.1% photographers (1,528)
● 1.5% support staff (390)
● 1.7% non-rights-holding broadcasters (429)

● 27.3% Host Broadcaster staff (6,876)
● 47.6% Rights-holding broadcast staff (11,974)

● 25,162 total media accreditations

In Rio 2016:
● 14.2% writing press (3,651)
● 5.7% photographers (1,472)
● 1.3% support staff (331)
● 1.7% non-rights-holding broadcasters (443)

● 26.8% Host Broadcaster staff (6,887)
● 50.3% Rights-holding broadcast staff (12,912)

● 25,696 total media accreditations

So the actual number of reporters and photographers made up only 21.9% of all media in 2012 and 19.9% in Rio in 2016. It’s becoming more and more a television Games, with 74.9% of all media credentials in London and 77.1% in 2016.

But perhaps the greatest changes are coming to the television and video side of the Games and this will impact the head count significantly.

Up until now, broadcasters had to set up enormous operations inside an International Broadcast Center (“IBC”) at each Games, in order to receive the master signal from all of the venues being produced by the Host Broadcaster. They then added their own commentary – whether from venue commentary positions or their IBC studios – and some extra video (usually interviews) and then sent the combined, finished product by satellite to their home markets for broadcast.

But a major breakthrough for broadcasters is being showcased in Tokyo for 2021, as part of a TOP sponsorship with China’s Alibaba Group, in which the signals previously only available in the IBC will be available via “cloud” service in any broadcaster’s headquarters studios via 13 Olympic Broadcast Services cloud data centers.

According to Joey Tan, Alibaba’s head of global strategic services:

“The budget implications alone are huge. Broadcast technology leaders know they are no longer immune from the ‘get more done with less’ pressures that have pushed cloud efficiencies into other B2B and B2B2C services. Using OBS Cloud radically changes the need for location-based infrastructure and physical presence for remote broadcasting through the availability of cloud infrastructure. … [T]he cost implications of scaling back feet on the ground and physical asset deployments are clear.”

The pandemic has only exacerbated the needs of broadcasters to save money. In July, Austrian national broadcaster ORF announced significant cuts in its Olympic staffing plan for Tokyo due to budget pressures … and the availability of the OBS Cloud service. Hans Peter Trost, ORF’s head of sport, told reporters:

“Digitalisation makes it possible to a large extent to use remote production for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. This means that there is a substantially smaller number of employees on site, the director is mostly in Vienna and the camera images will be edited in real time here in Vienna. This saves a lot of money, for example in travel expenses.”

The same discussions have been underway for months at NBCUniversal, in advance of the Tokyo Games. For Rio, the network had 2,000 people (!) working in Rio de Janeiro, with travel alone costing more than $10 million, with another 1,200 working at its production hub in Stamford, Connecticut and elsewhere in the U.S.

The savings will be enormous if NBC can move several hundred people home; the reality is that a studio in New York, Los Angeles or Orlando, Florida – home of The Golf Channel – can look just the same as if it were in Tokyo.

The pandemic has already shown the way forward. The production of the 2020 Tour de France was radically different from prior years; instead of covering from portable trailers that moved from stage to stage, most of the race commentators were in studios in their home countries (or sometimes just working from home). NBC ran its coverage from Stamford and its on-site team was reduced from 65 to 10.

Predicted veteran European commentator Rob Hatch (GBR), “I think fewer people will go to the races in the future when the paymasters realize they can save money by not sending them.” Especially when the on-screen product was almost indistinguishable from what viewers have been used to.

On the press-and-photo side, there is considerable concern about future coverage of the Games as print media of all kinds are in a financial – and therefore, staffing – free fall in many countries (not just the U.S.!).

This is a concern for the International Olympic Committee, which desires the widest-possible distribution of publicity for the Games. Television is one thing, but the place of the writing press – online or in print – as the instant historians of the Games is far from being replaced by television. But if writers and photographers cannot get to the Games, then what?

There’s no way to help photographers if they can’t be on site, and the biggest increases in accreditation for the Games over the last 30 years have been in the photo area. But there is a lot that can be done to help writers.

Some of that has already been undertaken on the results and scoring side by the IOC’s technology partner Atos, whose Games Web sites have made an enormous amount of information available fairly easily.

But there has been no way to obtain interviews with athletes at the venues. That is changing.

At the USA Wrestling National Championships on 10-11 October in Coralville, Iowa, a continuous series of athlete interviews was made available to accredited media on Zoom. Athlete after athlete was brought in front of the camera and media had an opportunity to signal their interest in asking questions, essentially creating an online mixed zone. This is the future.

The IOC’s media operations chief, Lucia Montanarella (ITA), told an AIPS online audience in April that the plan for Tokyo is to provide remote viewing of the medal-winner news conferences from most, if not all of the events. This is a new level of service for press who cannot attend the Games and allows “local” coverage for at least the medal winners.

That’s a small portion of the athletes who participate; some National Olympic Committee communications teams are working on trying similar set-ups to accommodate their media who cannot attend. Future venue managers and media operations teams will find the need to expand the mixed zone areas to allow for individual NOCs to set up their own cameras (and high-speed links) for USA Wrestling-style remote “mixed zones” for their media at home.

Even the glamour and excitement of the Olympic Games will not change the reality of tighter budgets in news media around the world. Technology will help to reduce the costs for broadcasters, but the future of the writing media at the Games may well depend on how they can report on events with many fewer being present.

(Let’s not forget that this situation will impact media attendance at regional Games such as the African Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games and so on even more deeply than the Olympic Games. These events will need such alternative-coverage solutions even more.)

The coronavirus pandemic has shown that remote coverage is possible, although not preferable. But as the economic performance of online and print media continues to contract, maintaining – and expanding – the deep, worldwide reach of the Olympic Games may depend on it.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: Record win for Jepchirchir in World Half Marathon; King streak reaches 18 straight races in ISL opener; just two fighting for Giro d’Italia title

By
Rich Perelman
-
Three more national titles for Olympic and World Breaststroke champ Lilly King (USA) (Photo: USA Swimming)

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Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Athletics ● Cold and wind made no difference to Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir, who collected her second World Half Marathon Championships gold medal in Gdynia, Poland on Saturday, breaking her own mark for the best in a women’s-only race.

The four-lap course has some difficult twists that resulted in several falls, including among the leaders at the 18 km mark. After the lead pack of seven had reached 15 km in 46:24, Ababel Yeshaneh (ETH) and Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei fell and lost contact, then Ethiopia’s Zeineba Yimer and Turkey’s Yasemin Can also fell back.

That left Ethiopian-born Melat Yisak Kejeta (now running for Germany), Jepchirchir and Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw in the lead and with 1,000 m remaining, were clearly going to be the medalists. Jepchirchir had the fastest finishing sprint and ran to a 1:05:16 victory, bettering her women’s-only world mark of 1:05:34 from the Prague Half in September. It’s her second title, also having won in 2016.

Kejeta, 28, won her first international medal and improved her lifetime best in the event from 1:08:11 to 1:05:18 (!), while Yehualaw, just 21, clocked a lifetime best of 1:05:19 for the bronze medal.

Yimer recovered to get fourth in 1:05:39, with Yeshaneh fifth in 1:05:41 and Jepkosgei sixth in 1:05:58. Pretty good running in 46-degree (F) weather!

Although a women’s-only race record, Jepchirchir’s time ranks as the no. 15 performance in history; Jepchirchir herself has run 1:05:06 in Ras Al Khaimah (UAE).

The men’s race confirmed that Uganda’s “other” breakout 5,000 m star – Jacob Kiplimo, who has run 12:48.63 this season, no. 3 on the world list, at age 19 – is the real deal. He won with a race record of 58:49 – the second-fastest time of the year – with Kibiwott Kandie (KEN) second in 58:54 and Ethiopian Amedework Walelegn third in 59:08.

There were 11 running together entering the fourth and final lap of the course. With 3 km to go, it was Kiplimo and Kandie together at the front and they dueled to the finish, with Kiplimo winning by five seconds. Behind Walelegn was world 5,000 m recordman Joshua Cheptegei in a lifetime best of 59:21, one of a remarkable 10 men who broke 60 minutes!

Owing to the coronavirus, neither the U.S. or Canada sent a team to Gdynia, although teams from Mexico and several Central American and South American nations did compete.

● Badminton ● The pandemic kept some of the top stars away, but the Denmark Open was a stirring success in Odense nonetheless, in the first BWF World Tour event since March.

The home favorites came through in the men’s Singles, with an all-Denmark final as Anders Antonsen – ranked third worldwide – defeated 17th-ranked Rasmus Gemke in the final, 18-21, 21-19, 21-12.

The women’s final saw Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara (rank: 4) won her first final in the last eight tries (!) with a 21-19, 21-17 victory over reigning Olympic champ (no. 6) Carolina Marin (ESP).

The Doubles crowns went to Britain’s Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge for the men, in three sets over Russia’s Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov; to top-seeded Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in an all-Japan women’s final over Mayu Matsutomo and Wakana Nagahara and to Germans Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Herttrich, in three sets over Chris and Gabrielle Adcock (GBR).

● Canoe-Kayak ● Competition returned to the ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup with competition in Ljubljana (SLO).

The K-1 finals were held on Saturday, with Swede Isak Ohrstrom completing the course in 73.39, stunning home favorite – and 11-time World Cup winner – Peter Kauzer (73.89) and Brazil’s Pedro Goncalves (74.32). It’s the first-ever Slalom World Cup gold for Sweden. Americans Michal Smolen and Josh Joseph were ninth and 10th.

The women’s K-1 gold and silver went to French cousins Romane and Camille Priget, who finished in 83.98 (no penalties) and 85.86 (two penalties). Sixteen-year-old Evy Leibfarth of the U.S. continued to impress with another World Cup medal, a bronze, in 85.99 (two penalties).

Slovenian Luka Bozic won Sunday’s C-1 men’s final, his second World Cup C-1 win, timing 78.17, well clear of France’s Nicolas Gestin (79.81) and Jules Bernandet (80.24).

Brazil’s Pan American Games champion Ana Satila won the women’s C-1, her first in this discipline. Despite two penalties, she finished at 93.64 seconds, ahead of Lucie Prioux (FRA: 95.37, with two penalties) and the ever-present Leibfarth, who had no penalties and finished in 96.76.

Leibfarth won two World Cup medals last season, including a bronze in C-1 and a silver in Extreme K-1 and now has two in the first of two World Cups in 2020! Despite her youth, she appears to be a real contender for Tokyo in 2021; the last American Olympic Slalom medalist was in 2004, when Rebecca Giddens won a K-1 silver.

● Cycling ● The second week of the Giro d’Italia has been completed and the race has settled down to essentially a duel between Portugal’s Joao Almeida and Dutch rider Wilco Kelderman. The weekend’s races re-shaped the race and essentially eliminated everyone else.

Thursday’s hilly 12th stage was won by Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narvaez, his first victory in a UCI World Tour race, who ran away to a 1:08 margin over Mark Padun (UKR) and 6:50 over Simon Clarke (AUS). Americans Joey Rosskopf and Brandon McNulty were fourth and sixth.

Friday’s race looked like a sprinter’s special, but the two late, hard climbs left the stage to the stars, with Italy’s Diego Ulissi just ahead of race leader Almeida, with the first 20 finishers given the same time of 4:22:18 for the 192 km route.

Then came the individual time trial on Saturday. The stage itself was once again a showcase for Italian star Filippo Ganna, who won his third stage of this year’s Giro to go along with his world road race title. He finished the 34.1 km route in 42:40, well clear of Australia’s Rohan Dennis (+26 seconds) and McNulty (+1:09).

But behind them the leaderboard blew up. While Almeida finished sixth (-1:31) and Kelderman was ninth (-1:47), the other contenders broke. Spain’s Pedro Bilbao was 22nd, some 2:53 back of Ganna and Italian hope Vincenzo Nibali – a two-time winner – was 23rd (-2:54). Now only Kelderman was within a minute (-0:56) of Almeida.

Sunday’s brutal four-climb stage that finished 1,288 m up the Piancavallo was a victory for Britain’s Tao Geohagen Hart, who won in 4:58:52 over the 185 km route, but also for Kelderman, who was just two seconds back at the finish, ahead of Jai Hindley (AUS: -0:04). With Almeida finishing fourth, but 37 seconds behind the leader, Kelderman – aided by a six-second finishing bonus for second place – closed from 56 seconds down after the time trial to just 15 seconds back with six stages remaining. Both Hindley and Geohagen Hart moved up seven spots on the leaderboard and stand 3-4 now, some 2:56 and 2:57 behind the leader.

After Monday’s off day, the race will conclude a hilly stage on Tuesday, followed by major mountain stages – four climbs each – on Wednesday and Thursday, a flat stage on Friday and then one more mountain stage on Saturday before a final time trial finishing in Milan next Sunday.

The 104th Ronde van Vlaanderen – Tour of Flanders – was a sprint to the finish between Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel and Belgian rival Wout van Aert. After 243.3 km from Antwerp to Oudenaarde, it came down to whether van Aert’s surge to the line was enough, but van der Poel’s throw of his bike at the line proved to be enough for the win, in 5:43:17. Dane Alexander Kristoff won the second-group sprint and claimed the bronze medal for the second straight year.

The women’s race had much less drama, as Chantal van der Broek-Blaak broke away with 19 km remaining and no one could match on the way to a win by 1:01 in the 135.6 km women’s race (3:29:57). Countrywoman Amy Pieters was second, outlasting Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky at the finish.

Coming Tuesday (20th) is the start of the final Grand Tour of the season, the 75th Vuelta a Espana, in the most condensed major-event schedule in cycling history. Prior champions Alejandro Valverde (ESP: won in 2009), four-time Tour de France champ Chris Froome (GBR: won in 2017) and defending champ Primoz Roglic (SLO) are expected to be among the contenders.

The first Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup races of 2020 got started in Maribor (SLO), with French riders taking three of the four races.

In the men’s races, it was a sweep for 2014 World Junior Champion Loris Vergier (FRA). On Saturday, he led through most of the checkpoints and finishing in 3:07.933 over the 2.018 km course in cool and cloudy conditions at the top of a French sweep, ahead of Remi Thiron (3:10.555) and Thibaut Daprela (3:10.902). On Sunday, he defeated four-time World Champion Loic Bruni, 3:07.771-3:07.828, with Britain’s Matt Walker third in 3:08.174.

France’s Marine Cabirou, the 2019 Worlds bronze winner, led from start to finish in the first women’s race in 3:43.595, ahead of 2019 World Champion Myriam Nicole (FRA: 3:49.710) and Tracey Hannah (AUS: 3:50.774). On Sunday, German Nina Hoffmann as the strongest in the second half of the race and won in 3:38.602, well clear of Cabirou (3:40.501) and Eleonora Farina (ITA: 3:42.814).

● Skiing ● The FIS Alpine World Cup season opener took place as scheduled on Soelden (AUT), with Giant Slaloms for women and men on the Rettenbach Glacier.

Saturday’s women’s race was a 1-2 for Italy, with Marta Bassano, 24, scoring the second World Cup win of her career over reigning World Cup overall (and Giant Slalom) champion Federica Brignone. They were 1-2 over the first run and were 0.34 clear of their closest competitors and ended on the top two steps of the podium. Slovenia’s Petra Vlhova, expected to contend for the win, was only 10th after the first run, but had the fastest second run to move up to the bronze medal. In the absence of the injured Mikaela Shiffrin, the top American finisher was Paula Moltzan in 10th.

On Sunday, Norway’s Lucas Braathen, 20, stole the show with his first World Cup victory, coming from fifth to first on the second run. He managed the second-fastest second run to edge Swiss Marco Odermatt – who had the fastest second run – by just 0.05, 2:14.41-2:14.46. Swiss Gino Caviezel scored the bronze, his first World Cup medal. Tommy Ford was the top U.S. finisher in 22nd.

The Alpine World Cup is on break now until mid-November.

● Swimming ● The first weekend of the compressed ISL season got underway on Friday with the first of 10 total quadrangular matches among the 10 teams at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

The long competitive layoff did not appear to hurt the swimmers much and three American Short-Course (25 m pool) records were set, all on Friday:

● Women/50 m Back: 25.74, Olivia Smoliga (old, 25.88, Smoliga, 2018)
● Women/50 m Breast: 28.86, Lilly King (old, 28.90, King, 2019)
● Women/200 m Medley: 2:04.06, Melanie Margalis (old, 2:04.18, Margalis, 2019)

King established herself as the star of the show, winning her three individual events – the 50, 100 and 200 m Breaststrokes – but then also taking all three rounds of the Skins races in the 50 m Breast.

Over two seasons of the ISL, King is undefeated, winning the 50-100-200 m Breast events in all four meets last season, all three in this first match and all three Skins races. That’s 18-for-18! She was the top scorer in the match with 87.5 points.

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom won four events, including the 50 and 100 m Freestyles, the 100 m Fly and the 100 m Medley and was second in the 50 m Fly. American sprinter Caeleb Dressel won the 100 m Free, 50 m Fly and the 100 m Medley, and claimed second in the 50 m Free and 100 m Fly.

Reigning Olympic 100/200 m Backstroke champ Ryan Murphy of the U.S. won the 50 and 100 m Back events, was second in the 200 m Back and then won all three rounds of the 50 m Back Skins races for three event wins.

In the team scoring, the Cali Condors won by 567-463 over defending champions Energy Standard (Paris), the first loss for the reigning champs. The L.A. Current was third (420) and the New York Breakers (266) finished fourth. (Match 1 results here).

On Sunday’s first day of the second match, Germany’s Christian Diener was the only double winner in the individual events, winning the 50 and 200 m Backstrokes. Turkey’s Emre Sakci, the 2019 European Short-Course Champs silver medalist in the 50 m Breast, took down the 2016 Olympic 100 m Breast champ Adam Peaty (GBR) in the 50 m Breast, 25.74-26.06, moving Sakci to no. 9 on the all-time list.

The second match will finish on Monday, and will be shown in the U.S. on the CBS Sports Network.

LANE ONE: The IOC’s new balancing act: sometimes being “athlete-centered” isn’t enough

By
Rich Perelman
-

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One of the core beliefs of the International Olympic Committee and almost all other international governing bodies is that sport brings people together.

When we see mega-events such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, with billions of people around the world watching the same thing at the same time, there is a connection, a shared experience.

But who is at the center of that experience?

In what will be remembered as one of the most tumultuous periods in sports history – from the close of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to the postponement of the 2020 Games in Tokyo – the International Olympic Committee has led the charge to declare “athletes” at the core of the Olympic Movement.

Fine. But which athletes? And how are they to be served?

These questions now face the IOC and other sports governing bodies, as the goal of being “athlete-centric” is becoming less the answer and more of the question. Just take the current ruckus over “athlete-centered” issues in weightlifting, boxing and in Iran:

● Weightlifting

Almost overnight, the sport has blown up. In the aftermath of being confirmed – but still on probation – for the 2024 Paris Games after decades of excessive doping, the International Weightlifting Federation had its long-time president accused of doping mismanagement, financial irregularities and governance faults, leading to his ouster in April.

Interim President Ursula Garza Papandrea (USA) drew high marks from the IOC for her work in reforming the IWF, but during an emergency meeting of the federation’s Executive Board – to which she was not invited – “the EB decided to revoke the appointment of Ursula Papandrea as Acting Interim President.” British doctor Michael Irani, head of the IWF Medical Commission, was named Interim President on Thursday (15th).

The IOC responded with a statement that it is “very worried” about the decision to depose Garza Papandrea and is asking further questions. Phil Andrews, the British-born head of USA Weightlifting, left his appointment as Interim Deputy Director General of the IWF on Tuesday (13th) and noted on Twitter:

“We tried, we worked hard, we persuaded some of the very best in the world to help us become the World Class organization we should be.

“However, some just didn’t want that.

“The only way now is for every nation who desires Olympic participation, who desires clean sport, to fight.”

USA Weightlifting’s Board of Directors posted a statement on Monday which read in part:

“Today is a dark day for Weightlifting.

“On behalf of the 24,000 members of the USA Weightlifting federation, we strongly condemn the actions of the IWF Executive Board today in removing Ursula Garza Papandrea as interim president and removing Phil Andrews as the interim deputy director general. Furthermore, we are disgusted and outraged that a majority of the IWF Executive Board continues to block efforts to create real and substantive change in the areas of governance, anti-doping reform and Athlete representation.

“These transparently corrupt actions serve only one purpose: rewarding and empowering nations who can only win by cheating.”

The Board also sent a message to all 187 member federations in the IWF, petitioning for an immediate Congress to elect an Interim President and for the formation of a reform commission. A total of 38 signatories are required to call such a Congress.

The new head of the IWF Athletes Commission, Sarah Davies, started a petition “to help push for a vote of no confidence of the IWF Executive Board that we can present to the IOC on behalf of all athletes involved in the sport of weightlifting.” Her call also noted, critically:

“There is no athlete representation though we had been invited to the previous two meetings, we received no invitation to this meeting, called by Nicu Vlad of Romania. As athletes, we are not represented at all on the Board by a current athlete and there is constitutionally no voting right for the athletes.”

The petition was posted on Thursday (15th) and has already drawn almost 8,000 signees in less than a day.

The easy answer to all this, of course, would be for the IOC to simply suspend – or even expel – the IWF. But what then about the athletes?

Weightlifting’s footprint in Tokyo has already been reduced from 260 to 196 athletes because of the sport’s horrific doping past. It would be easiest to simply get rid of weightlifting, but what about its athletes, who have been of the Olympic program since 1920? Should the IOC help form a new federation? How can it be sure it’s not the same old people?

● Boxing

The weightlifting situation is hardly a new one for the IOC, as it was already dealing with the problems of AIBA, the International Boxing Federation, for years. The situation finally got so bad that the IOC suspended AIBA – and cut off all funding – in May of 2019 and appointed a task force to run qualifying events and the Olympic tournament in Tokyo.

The athlete quota for boxing has remained at 286 from Rio to Tokyo, but where there were 10 men’s divisions and three for women in 2016, there will be 8 + 5 for Tokyo.

AIBA is $16+ million in debt, has no income to speak of, and has still not selected a new President since Gafur Rakhimov (UZB) resigned in July 2019; Moroccan Mohamed Moustahsane has served as interim president while an election by videoconference is slated for December of this year. IOC chief Thomas Bach (GER) summarized the IOC Executive Board’s view thusly on 7 October:

“With regard to AIBA, we have received the report of the [IOC] monitoring group, and I can summarize the reaction of the EB in one sentence, that we are very worried about the lack of progress with regard to the governance reform of AIBA. There is talk of presidential elections, but we do not see any progress about these governance reforms which are very important.”

Again, what’s the solution? Beyond making governance changes – which AIBA has promised it will make – can AIBA ever become a going concern? It’s worth noting that since its already-scheduled World Championships in 2019, AIBA has held no tournaments of its own. No future World Championships have been scheduled.

Wouldn’t the IOC like to jettison the whole boxing mess? But what about the athletes?

● Iran

Greco-Roman wrestler Navid Afkari was executed by the Iranian regime on 12 September for actions the state says he took during public protests in 2018. No one is exactly sure what took place, but Afkari is dead.

Asked about what the IOC could do, Bach noted that the organization’s mandate is “limited to sport.” But now a group of Iranian athletes called United4Navid is asking the IOC to suspend Iran from the Olympic Movement!

Sardar Pashaei, a former national team Greco-Roman wrestler and coach said on a video:

“In Iran, Kurdish, Baloutch, Arab, Sunni, Bahai and even female athletes face systematic discrimination.

“I personally witnessed Iranian authorities forcing athletes to refuse to compete with Israeli athletes… Athletes who take part in civil disobedience protests in the streets are arrested, tortured and even executed, especially the innocent young athlete, Navid Afkari.

“I ask where else in the world is a young athlete arrested, tortured and hanged?”

Iran sent 64 athletes to the Rio Games and won eight medals. Are they all to be excluded?

Also brewing now are the issues of political interference with the selection of athletes for national teams in Belarus – 124 athletes in Rio and nine medals – and possible sanctions based on letters received directly from athletes in the country.

Then there is the issue of Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, specifically section 2, which prohibits protests or demonstrations at the Games. The IOC Executive Board turned the question of any changes over to its Athletes’ Commission, which is soliciting recommendations and views from athletes around the world.

Reported recommendations from athlete groups in Australia, Ireland, Germany, Canada and in the Pan American region have shown no strong interest in allowing protests on the awards podium or in the Opening or Closing Ceremonies. But what of the loud voices still to come?

Even if substantially alone, what if the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s athlete survey demands no restrictions at all? What then?

Being “athlete centric” is an easy, feel-good touchpoint for the IOC, and its transformation over the past 10 years has been astonishing to its long-time observers. But as it is well knows now, being for the athletes brings a whole new set of issues in which the choice is not between athletes wellness and athlete ignorance, but which athletes will prevail in disputes over others.

And the list is getting longer.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: IOC “very worried” about weightlifting coup d’etat; FIS dismisses long-time Sec. Gen. Lewis; Minnesota saves outdoor track

By
Rich Perelman
-

(★ Friends: Your 69 generous contributions paid our semi-annual server and support costs, and starts to help with December’s bill. If you would like to join in, please donate here. Your inspiring enthusiasm is the reason this site continues. ★)

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News, views and noise from the non-stop, worldwide circus of Olympic sport:

● Weightlifting ● The already-troubled International Weightlifting Federation is on the verge of implosion after a wild week in which its president was apparently deposed in a secret meeting of a portion of its executive board.

According to the InsideTheGames Web site, which is sponsored by part by the IWF (!), Interim President Ursula Garza Papandrea (USA) was removed from her post on Tuesday at an “emergency” Executive Board meeting to which she was not invited.

It is not clear whether this meeting was properly held, but the attendees apparently named Intarat Yodbangtoey of Thailand as the new Interim President. This is a new embarrassment for the federation, as Thailand is already banned from participating in the sport at the Tokyo Olympic Games due to its high number of doping positives.

The catalyst for the internal turmoil within the federation has apparently been the discussions over qualifying regulations for Tokyo and accusations of favoritism on behalf of one country or another. The InsideTheGames site noted in its Tuesday story that “Seven of 19 members on the Board are from countries that are banned from Tokyo or can send only a reduced number of athletes because of multiple doping violations.”

All of this has further irritated the International Olympic Committee, which issued a statement on Wednesday, including:

“The IOC is very worried to learn about the reported decision made by the Board of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) to replace the Acting President, Ms Ursula Garza Papandrea, the way the decision was taken and the chosen replacement. The IOC enjoyed excellent cooperation with her during her time in office, and is fully supportive of the reforms she has initiated in the IWF. Currently the IOC has not received all the information to fully assess the situation in its entirety.”

The back story to the entire affair is well summed up in a separate statement issued by Phil Andrews, the head of USA Weightlifting, who had been helping Garza Papandrea with reform efforts at the IWF as an Interim Deputy Director General, but who resigned on Tueaday (13th):

“Weightlifting’s reputation has been damaged beyond imagination this year after revelations regarding corruption at the highest level and I was honored to be given the opportunity to restore the sport’s status as one of the Olympic Movement’s most iconic competitions.

“However, it has become clear over recent months that not everyone has the best interests of the sport in mind and our attempts to reform the sport have been met with incredible resistance.

“In these challenging Covid-19 times, sport’s core principles of respect, collaboration and integrity have been ignored in favour of short-termism and greed that has become impossible to defy.”

The IOC voiced concerns at its Executive Board meeting last week about IWF governance and threatened a further review of the sport’s place on the 2020 Olympic program. Given the new eruption over qualifying for Tokyo, the IOC may be forced to look at how the 2020 Olympic weightlifting tournament is to be held, and who will be in charge.

● Wrestling ● United World Wrestling canceled its 2020 World Junior Championships, scheduled to be held in early December, on Monday (12th) over concerns about how many participants would actually be able to compete.

The UWW confirmed that the 2020 World Championships, scheduled for 12-20 December in Belgrade (SRB) is still on, after receiving commitments from more than 70% of its national federations on attendance. But, UWW President Nenad Lalovic cautioned:

“We are cautiously optimistic about wrestling’s return in December. The safety of our athletes, coaches, and staff is our top priority and we will be taking every measure to ensure that happens in Belgrade.”

The UWW Board will consider the status of the event once again on 6 November and is expected to either confirm or cancel. A USA Wrestling statement noted that the notification stated that “UWW has asked national federations to only send Teams Staff that is necessary to assist the athletes, and to buy refundable airline tickets.”

● Skiing ● Only a week prior to the opening of the FIS Alpine World Cup season in Soelden (AUT) this weekend, the Federation Internationale de Ski Council approved a contribution equal to 20% of the prize money paid in all World Cup events to rebated to the organizers (including National Ski Federations) to help cover the added costs of Covid-19 testing and lost spectator revenue.

The FIS Council also delivered a shocker:

“At its meeting today, the FIS Council, including the members of the Marc Hodler Foundation, has decided by a great majority vote to terminate the employment relationship with Sarah Lewis (in accordance with its contractual terms) and that she is released from her work duties as the Secretary General of FIS, effective 9th October 2020.”

A former British Alpine skier, Lewis had been Secretary General since 2000 and just last September, FIS was recognized as having the best governance among all of the Olympic Winter sport federations at 170 out of a possible 200 points. But the Swedish newspaper Expressen posted a story on Saturday (10th) explaining (via Google Translate):

“In a brief press release, FIS stated that Secretary-General Sarah Lewis was forced to leave the day as a result of ‘a total lack of confidence.’ But no more details than that were released. …

“According to information, Sarah Lewis has for a long time had a conflict with FIS chairman Gian-Franco Kasper and after additional people within FIS experienced difficulties in cooperating with Lewis, the situation eventually became unsustainable.

“Therefore, she had to leave.”

Kasper, the Swiss head of FIS since 1998, will step down next year; the reported candidates are Urs Lehmann (SUI), and Swedes Mats Arjes and Johan Eliasch, although Lewis was also considered a possibility.

● Cycling ● The Giro d’Italia continues this week with fairly mild stages, won on Tuesday by Slovakian star Peter Sagan for his first win of the season!

Sagan had finished second in three sprint stages at this year’s Giro, but broke away for good with 13 km to go, at the top of the final climb and was unchallenged on the run-in to Tortoreto, finishing 19 seconds ahead of American Brandon McNulty and 23 seconds up on race leader Joao Almeida (POR).

The complexion of the race was also changed with coronavirus positives announced for Australian sprinter Michael Matthews and Dutch star Steven Kruijswijk and removal of the Jumbo-Visma and Mitchelson-Scott teams.

On Wednesday, Sagan was in the mix again, but was beaten to the line for the fourth time in this year’s race by France’s Arnaud Demare. The top three overall remained the same, with Almeida 34 seconds up on Wilco Kelderman (NED) and 43 seconds ahead of Pello Bilbao (ESP).

There is a very hilly stage on Thursday, a flat sprint stage on Friday and an individual time trial on Saturday. The next mountain stage comes Sunday with a misery-inducing quadruple-climb route that ends uphill to the Piancavallo at 1,288 m, before the rest day on Monday.

● Athletics ● A partial victory for the University of Minnesota’s men’s track & field team on Friday (9th) as the university’s Board of Regents agreed to reinstate the outdoor track & field program, but finalized cuts for men’s gymnastics, tennis and indoor track & field.

The cuts will save the Gopher athletic department $1.6 million vs. the $2 million expected to be saved if the outdoor track program had been axed as well.

None of this, however, changes the situation of continuing financial pressure on athletic programs around the country. A survey of college presidents and athletic directors by the Knight Commission released Tuesday (13th) showed:

“[A]n openness to consider reforms that would either reorganize competition within the current structure or even radically restructure Division I’s most competitive levels – such as creating a new division for Power 5 sports, in all sports except basketball, or separating Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football from the NCAA. However, nearly 8 in 10 of all respondents believe it is ‘essential’ to keep all current Division I schools in the same men’s basketball tournament.

“Across Division I, the survey found, college sports leaders are troubled about the growing divide between the have and have-nots athletic programs, with almost four in five respondents (79 percent) saying that there is too much financial resource disparity among schools. About three in five FBS leaders (59 percent) acknowledge that they spend too much on FBS football ‘to keep up’ with other schools – including half of Power 5 campus leaders and about two-thirds of their Group of 5 counterparts.”

Change may be coming, but some commentators have noted that, today, NCAA finances are all about football and that’s why nothing will change. Even for the smaller schools, which live off the big checks written by Power 5 schools for non-conference match-ups early in the season.

● Aquatics ● Japan’s Daiya Seto, reigning World Champion in the 200 m and 400 m Individual Medley, has been suspended by the Japanese swimming federation for the remainder of the year because of an extramarital affair. Kyodo News reported:

“In an extraordinary online meeting, the federation determined that the 26-year-old Seto had breached its standards for sportsmanlike conduct under its qualification rules. The federation decided not to revoke his right to compete at the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games next year, however.”

Seto also agreed to withdraw from his sponsorship with All Nippon Airways.

● Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games ● The hugely-impactful Ready, Set, Gold! Program, a legacy of the Los Angeles bid for the 2020 Olympic Games, has not been stopped by the coronavirus pandemic.

Designed to directly reach youth through repeated visits by designated Olympians to schools in the Los Angeles area, the program has gone to video this fall to continue its mission. The RSG! Fall Series includes eight weeks of instruction to keep students active. It’s free and began on 12 October for students across many Southern California school districts.

Sessions are hosted by Classroom Champions and feature Olympians and medal winners including volleyball gold medalist Kim Glass, swimmers John Naber, John Moffet and Kristy Kowal, British Olympic medalist Tasha Danvers (GBR: track & field), U.S. artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez and water polo player Alex Roelse and Paralympic medalists Samantha Bosco (cycling) and Rudy Garcia-Tolson (swimming).

The programs are sponsored by The Foundation for Global Sports Development and Sidewinder Films.

● At the BuZZer ● For our math-averse readers, Olympic statistician extraordinaire and surgeon Dr. Bill Mallon was intrigued by Monday’s Lane One story on the International Swimming League and its new rankings system concept:

“I just looked at the formulas for the ISL rating system. It’s basically a variant of the Elo Rating System, which started out as a way to rate chess players, and many sports now use a version of it (see FiveThirtyEight, which uses it frequently to compare teams/players).

“Basically everybody gets a rating and if you defeat an athlete with a higher rating, your rating goes up, and theirs goes down. How much it goes up or down depends on the differential between the 2 ratings.”

Now you know.

LANE ONE: As the Int’l Swimming League starts a second season, it aims to be post-modern, post-timing and in a different universe. What?

By
Rich Perelman
-
International Swimming League founder Konstantin Grigorishin (UKR), introducing the second season of the league on 9 September (Photo: ISL video screen grab)

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The future of swimming has nothing to do with the Olympic Games. Nothing to do with times, only with superheroes. Spectators will be just as much in action as the swimmers.

If this sounds like an alternate universe, welcome to “post-modern” sport according to International Swimming League founder and funder Konstantin Gregorishin, a Ukrainian billionaire in energy and heavy industry.

His ISL program enters its second season on 16-17 October, with all 10 teams in the league sequestered in Budapest, Hungary, for a series of 10 short-course (25 m) matches finishing on 14-15, followed by semi-finals – likely on 19-20 November – and then a championship match, possibly in Tokyo, Japan.

The soft-spoken Grigorishin introduced the second season during an 87-minute presentation and question-and-answer with international reporters on 9 September, explaining his view on the future of sport and of swimming:

“[W]e are different. We’re not fighting with Olympics, we’re living in different universes. We’re in sportainment, we’re in gamification, we are in post-modernity. And Olympics, they in tradition sport, in archaic sport, it’s a different format. So we’re not competing with Olympics.

“Maybe Olympics is a good addition to ISL or ISL is a good addition to Olympics. It depends on your angle of view. For instance, NBA players: of course, for them, NBA – the league – is a major competition in their life. But they enjoy Olympics, once in four years, they come to Olympics and play there. And they enjoy this.”

Further, he posited that the reliance on time in the sport – its mainstay since competitive swimming began more than a century ago – is outmoded.

“For us, records and time is not a big issue any more. Time is [a] more modern thing, it’s more like a scientific experiment. But when we are talking about post-modern competition, it means we don’t have time, we have to have something eternally human.

“You are creating superheroes; if you are creating legends, it should be [an] eternal achievement. I can give you an example, for instance, Johnny Weissmuller – the swimmer who first swam faster than one minute [in the] 100 meter freestyle – now, even 13-years girls can do this. I cannot, anyway, no, unfortunately.

“But it doesn’t mean that Johnny Weissmuller was not a superhero. But because he was the best of the best, he was the best swimmer of that time. And it should be some eternal achievement. So in our competition, you have just to be the first one. Time is not so important.”

Grigorishin’s love for mathematics is clear when you read his published explanation of the new ISL ratings system, which is designed to “objectively assess their present condition and determine who has the best chance of winning that particular race.” Rating points are amassed in individual races, in relays and in “skins” events, in which four swimmers advance from an 8-athlete quarterfinal, then two from a 4-person semifinal, leading to a 2-person final, which team points scored at each of the three stages. The individual race ranking is compiled according to:

(Please see the link above for definitions of the elements of the equations.)

There are other formulas for the relays and skins races, leading to a ranking for each swimmer in each match and then an aggregate ranking for the season. Whomever has the highest ranking, Grigorishin believes, will be the “superhero” of the season, as extra points are won for beating other athletes with higher rankings.

He has every right to believe this. He is further correct is recognizing the importance of emotion vs. times in predicting who will beat who in any specific race. By creating this system, Grigorshishin hopes to bring his league into a new sporting reality he calls “post-modernity.”

He explained it this way during the news conference:

“So for today, now, sport lives in two different paradigms: one is archaic, traditional pre-modernity and another one is modernity.

“ISL is not in the second part [modernity]. Of course, ISL has to take the best achievements which has been made in the second part, by the best sports in the world like American leagues like football, like tennis, like golf, etc., but at the same time, we’re now in transition period for a new epoch which we call post-modernity.

“No one knows what it means – post-modernity – but I think my vision, my opinion that [the] new generation, they are not able to be just an observer of even fantastic sport events. They would like to be part of that. They would like to be interactive.

“They would like to interact. They would like to be actors.”

He expanded on this concept of the future this way, essentially proposing swimming as the vanguard of a new vision of sport:

“This is the platform of ISL, the platform how to engage people, through gamification, intensification and legendarization, a mythology, ISL universe. Why this platform is so important, because it’s just a platform? It’s a start to launch people to change their lifestyle, to be more healthy, to be more engaged with a new lifestyle.”

That’s a stretch. Noting his belief that spectators must be actively involved, the obvious end-point of “gamification” would be live, online betting. In his explanation of the system, Grigorishin wrote:

“The whole system brings swimming into a new era and makes it a new sport. Time is no longer the only performance factor. By encouraging unpredictability and real competition among athletes, ISL gives new impetus to the future of the sport by reconciling gamification and performance.

“The key point of what looks like a genuine revolution is that everything has been designed, built and implemented to provide the best immersive experience for spectators and viewers. In this way, ISL takes swimming competition far beyond a sporting event to extend it into the realm of entertainment and strategic gaming to finally re-enchant the sport.”

He noted that this concept would come in ISL’s third season, since the original scheduling concept was wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic.

His position is undermined, however, by one of his league’s new innovations, the “jackpot” scoring scheme. Consider a typical event during a four-team match, with two swimmers from each team, so eight in the water. The placers score 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 from first to eighth (37 total), but now if a swimmer’s time – which now matters a lot – is more than a pre-set amount behind the winner, he or she forfeits their points to the team of the winner. In the extreme, if Swedish star Sarah Sjostrom wins the women’s 100 m Freestyle by more than 2.05 seconds over the runner-up, she would score all 37 points for her team, taking all the available points in the race.

So time does matter. But Grigorishin insists:

“You can [win the] full ‘jackpot.’ So you can show how strong you are. It should be eternal achievement. You should be superhero, you should be a god.”

Horse racing handicappers have long known that an emphasis on head-to-head competition as the only basis for comparison works only in a closed circuit in which all of the best horses are competing against each other consistently. But even in ISL, with up to 320 contracted swimmers on the 10 teams, this is not a surety, since some athletes have opted out.

Australian swimmers such as sprint star Cate Campbell are not competing this season due to pandemic travel restrictions. In response, ISL issued an angry statement including “It is unacceptable that some national swimming federation’s leaders, knowingly and cynically use the pandemic to intimidate athletes who wish to participate in other competitions. … The recent bullying and pressure on some of the athletes who are already in a precarious position is a political manoeuvre and contrary to the very spirit of sport.”

The ISL rankings system is compromised when a swimmer does not compete in a full schedule of matches, so if Campbell came onto a team for the final only, she would be a heavy “underdog” to Sjostrom in the rankings (assuming Sjostrom swam a full schedule). Same for American Simone Manuel, who is not part of the ISL program at all. Yet those three, based on achievements and times, are the top three sprinters in the world.

Moreover, statistics make stories. The value of times in sports like swimming is that they allow comparison across geography, across competitions and across eras. A victory which includes a world-record time is more impressive than just a victory. We all know it.

Beyond the mathematics and a plan to essentially turn swimming into a gambling platform, there is the question of whether ISL can make it as a business. As a billionaire, Grigorishin can spend his money as he pleases, but in response to a question on 9 September, he stated that the budget for season two is confidential.

The league has television agreements for this season with Eurosport for Europe, beIN Sports for the Middle East and North Africa and a deal with CBS Sports (including the CBS Sports Network). On this Friday and Saturday, the opening matches, which feature defending champ Energy Standard (London) and U.S. teams the Cali Condors, L.A. Current and New York Breakers, will take place from 10 a.m.-noon Eastern time on the CBS Sports Network on Friday and 2-4 p.m. Eastern on Saturday on CBS (with the Georgia at Alabama SEC football game beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern). Fifteen of the remaining 18 regular-season matches will air in the morning on Thursdays through Mondays from 24 October through 15 November.

Give Grigorishin credit for trying to find new ways to engage the public and trying to feature world-class swimming. But he would also find it useful to talk with folks with a lot of experience in “gamification” – i.e., betting – to find the right mix of mathematics, promotion and how to stay away from the long-feared problem of betting integrity.

That’s when it stops being a game.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: World Mountain Bike wins for Sarrou and Ferrand-Prevot; Nadal and Swiatek make history at French Open; Gray wins fifth 76 kg title

By
Rich Perelman
-
Five-time World Champion Adeline Gray of the U.S. (Photo: UWW)

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(● For our 526-event International Sports Calendar from October 2020 to June 2021,
by date and by sport, click here! ●)

Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Athletics ● The specially-created FBK After Summer distance meet in Hengelo (NED) resulted in a quick 10,000 m for local star Sifan Hassan, despite heavy rain.

The World Champion in the 1,500 m and the 10,000 m, Hassan had ideas of chasing the world record, but slowed in the wet and cold conditions in the second half of the race to finish in a world-leading 29:36.67 – a European record and moving her to no. 4 all-time – only the ninth women’s 10,000 m ever under 30 minutes. Ethiopia’s Tsehay Gemechu was second in 30:57.73.

Kenya’s Olympic 1,500 m champ Faith Kipyegon wanted to take a shot at the 1,000 m world mark, but that was impossible in the conditions, so she settled for a win in 2:32.82, with Winnie Nanyondo (UGA) second in 2:40.50.

The men’s 5,000 m was an easy win for Ethiopian star Yomif Kejelcha in 13:21.84, ahead of Australia’s Stewart McSweyn (13:16.05) and Matthew Kimeli (KEN: 13:24.54).

● Cycling ● The 103rd Giro d’Italia rolled through its first week with a first UCI World Tour victory for Portugal’s Ruben Guerreiro in the ninth stage (of 21), a mountainous, 208 km route that ended uphill in Roccaraso in the central Italian mountains.

Only Spain’s Jonathan Castroviejo was close, eight seconds back, with Mikkel Bjerg (DEN) finishing third (-0:58). Race leader Joao Almeida (POR) finished 19th and Wilco Kelderman (NED: 8th) moved up from third to second overall, now 30 seconds back of the lead. Spain’s Pedro Bilbao had a tough day(17th) and fell to third (-0:39). Italy’s Domenico Pizzovivo (-0:53) and Vincenzo Nibali (-0:57) are fourth and fifth.

The star of the week was French sprinter Arnaud Demare, who won the mass sprint finishes in Stage 6 (over Australia’s Michael Matthews) and Stage 7 (over Slovakian star Peter Sagan, with Mathews third). Stage 8, a hilly route with one major climb, went to Britain’s Alex Dowsett, who won by 1:15 over Salvatore Puccio (ITA); it was Dowsett’s second career win in the Giro.

The race has a day off on Monday; there are three hilly stages coming up and two sprint stages (one a time trial) before next Sunday’s quadruple climb with an uphill finish in Piancavallo in the Italian Alps.

One of the best-loved Classics of the spring season, Belgium’s Gent-Wevelgem, was held on Sunday and Dane Mads Pedersen posted his third win of the season with his first-ever Classics win in a sprint finish after 232.5 km, over Florian Senechal (FRA) and Matteo Trentin (ITA), all in 5:19:20.

Belgian cycling fans – perhaps the most fanatical in the world – were overjoyed with a 1-2 finish by Jolien D’Hoore and Lotte Kopecky over the 141.4 km route. D’Hoore managed the final sprint best, finishing just ahead of Kopecky, Lisa Brennauer (GER), Sarah Roy (AUS) and Marta Cavalli (ITA).

Coming up next Sunday is one of the annual features, the Ronde van Vlaanderen – the Tour of Flanders – for both men and women.

The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships was full of surprises at Leogang, Austria, as a new set of champions was crowned during a busy (and rainy) week of racing.

In the featured Cross Country Olympic division, Swiss star Nino Schurter was looking for a sixth world title in a row, but he was well off the lead from the start and finished ninth.

France’s Jordan Sarrou took the lead quickly and was never headed, maintaining his advantage for a 45-second win over Swiss Matthias Flueckiger, 1:25.37 to 1:26:22 on a muddy, 22.5 km track. France collected the bronze medal as well with Titouan Carod in 1:26:32.

The women’s Cross Country saw two-time winner – and defending champion – Pauline Ferrand-Prevot of France smoke the field, finishing in 1:27:33, more than three minutes clear of Eva Lechner (ITA: 1:30:34) and Rebecca McConnell (AUS: 1:30:34).

The 2019 World Champion, American Kate Courtney, did not finish. Erin Huck was the top U.S. finisher in 17th. Denmark’s Annika Langvad, the 2016 World Champion, withdrew and announcer her retirement at age 36.

Sunday’s Downhills saw Britain’s Reece Wilson move from third to first in the last section of the 2.3 km course and finish in 3:51.243, decisively quicker than fast-closing David Trummer (AUT: 3:54.440) – who went from ninth-fastest to second in the final segment – and Remi Thiron of France (3:57.196).

French star Myriam Nicole was looking for a second consecutive title in the women’s Downhill but Swiss Camille Balanche was unstoppable, riding cleanly in the tough conditions in the final section to win in 5:08.426. Nicole finished in 5:11.556 for second and Slovenia’s Monica Hrastnick was a distant third in 5:25.392.

● Golf ● Korea’s Sei-Young Kim shot a brilliant final-round 63 to run away with the Women’s PGA Championship at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newton Square, Pennsylvania.

That followed her third-round 67 that gave her the lead, but Sunday’s round included seven birdies and no bogeys to give her a first LPGA Major victory and her 11th career LPGA Tour title. She finished at 266, 14 under par for the tournament.

Fellow Korean Inbee Park, a three-time winner of this event, finished with a 65 on Sunday to move from fourth to second (271: -9) and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and Nasa Hataoka (JPN) tied for third at 273 (-7).

● Skiing ● American superstar Mikela Shiffrin announced on Instagram on Friday that she suffered a back injury and won’t compete in the FIS Alpine World Cup season opener in Soelden (AUT) this week:

“After tweaking my back skiing last week, I have been advised to sit Soelden out to let my back heal so I can race the rest of the season. Having started in Soelden for the last eight years straight, this feels…really frustrating and strange (for lack of better words). Luckily, this injury will heal and I will be back in the start soon.”

Shiffrin has not raced on the World Cup circuit since 26 January, leaving the tour after he father’s death and then having the last events of the 2019-2020 season canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. She is the active leader with 66 World Cup wins so far and needs 16 more to tie countrywoman Lindsay Vonn for the most all-time in the women’s division.

● Tennis ● The French Open was completed successfully in Paris, with more history from Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who defeated Serbian Novak Djokovic, 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 to win his 20th career Grand Slam title, tying Swiss Roger Federer for the most ever.

It was the 13th career French Open title for Nadal, the most ever and he defeated the 2020 Australian Open winner in Djokovic.

The women’s final made more history, this time for Poland’s Iga Swiatek, who defeated American Sofia Kenin, 6-4, 6-1 in Saturday’s final. Swiatek, 19, became the first Pole to win a Grand Slam singles title. She swept through her seven matches without losing a set.

Kenin, 21, won the Australian Open way back in January and this was her second Grand Slam final.

In Doubles, three of the four finalists were mixed-nationality teams. Germans Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies won the men’s event over Mate Pavic (CRO) and Bruno Soares (BRA), 6-4, 7-5; Hungary’s Timea Babos and France’s Kristina Mladenovic won the women’s Doubles over Alexa Guarachi (CHI) and Desirae Krawczyk (USA), 6-4, 7-5.

This was the final Grand Slam event of 2020,with Wimbledon canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 2021 Australian Open is scheduled for 18-31 January.

● Wrestling ● The 2020 USA Wrestling National Championships was another showcase for the brilliant, five-time World Champion Adeline Gray, who won her fifth U.S. title at 76 kg with a 10-0 technical fall against Victoria Francis (results here and here) in Coralville, Iowa.

Worlds medalist Sarah Hildebrandt was the class of the field as expected in the 50 kg class, defeating Amy Fearnside by 8-0 in the final. Katherine Shai won at 53 kg by 10-0 over Rhonda Heaton, and Lauren Louive pinned Xochitl Motts-Pettis in 2:47 at 57 kg.

Oft-injured Jennifer Page returned to the mat to claim her third national title at 62 kg, winning the title over Macey Kitty by 4-3 in the final. Forrest Molinari, the favorite at 68 kg, won her matches at 68 kg by pinfall and technical fall to that her class.

The men’s Freestyle division saw ninth-seeded Andrew Alirez win the 65 kg division by shutting down third-seeded Evan Henderson, 5-1 in the final; Alirez was named Outstanding Wrestler. Vitali Arujau won his first national title at 57 kg; other winners included Logan Massa (repeater at 74 kg), Gabe Dean (86 kg), Kollin Moore (97 kg) and Mason Parris at 125 kg.

In Greco-Roman, Benji Peak won the 67 kg title and was named Outstanding Wrestler of the division after winning his matches by 9-0, 11-0, 9-0, 9-0 and 8-0. Alex Thomsen (60 kg), Kendrick Sanders (77 kg), Alan Vera (87 kg), Nick Boykin (97 kg) and Cohlton Schultz (130 kg) won the other national titles.

Many of the top wrestlers in the country did not compete in Coralville; if the UWW World Championships are held in December as scheduled, the 2020 Nationals will be the primary selection meet.

THE LATEST INTEL: USOPC files suit vs. insurers on Nassar coverage; Rule 50 athlete recommendations due by Halloween; no worries on S. 2330?

By
Rich Perelman
-

(★ Friends: Thank you once again for your 69 contributions, to cover our semi-annual server and support costs. The next bill comes in December. If you would like to help, please donate here. Your inspiring enthusiasm is the reason this site continues. ★)

(● For our 526-event International Sports Calendar from October 2020 to June 2021,
by date and by sport, click here! ●)

The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee leadership underscored its commitment to an all-out charm offensive to all of its critics, announcing a lawsuit against its insurers in the Larry Nassar matter and waving off any concerns about any possibility of suspension if S. 2330 becomes law during the following week.

In a teleconference with reporters, USOPC Board Chair Susanne Lyons explained:

“We announced today that we are going to be filing our own lawsuit against our insurance carriers as part of the gymnastics mediation to achieve fair and just resolution for the victims and the survivors. For nearly a year and a half, we have actively participated in the mediation process and because the insurance companies in our belief, have not lived up to their contractual obligations to the USOPC, including not acting fairly and in good faith and in exploring whether a reasonable settlement could be achieved, we were forced to file this lawsuit.

“And the lawsuit seeks to have a court resolve the issues related the insurer’s obligations as part of our efforts to achieve a fair resolution for the victims and survivors.

“I want to say that we have a deep respect and empathy for the survivors and victims of abuse. They have shown tremendous bravery and strength in the most difficult of circumstances and we deeply regret the amount of time this complicated mediation has taken and we want nothing more than a swift and fair resolution to give some closure to the survivor community.”

It is not at all clear whether this suit will speed up anything, but it reinforces what is now effectively a joint position of USA Gymnastics, the USOPC and the Survivors Committee that the insurers should pay whatever is being asked by the survivors. Lyons added later:

“This is not about the USOPC’s financial condition. It’s about getting justice, appropriate justice for the survivors and we have insurance for just these types of situations and we’ll just continue to play out this mediation and hope that we can get to a timely settlement so that the survivors can have some closure.”

USOPC Chief Executive Sarah Hirshland acknowledged that S. 2330 (the “Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020”) as written could be problematic, but waved off any immediate concerns:

“It’s important to understand, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee is a federally-chartered organization and as such, Congress and the Federal government has authority and that has existed for some time. This bill does provide a provision that would allow Congress to essentially unseat the USOPC Board. Should Congress take such an action, we do understand that the IOC may consider that a violation of the IOC Charter. But the bill itself as it’s written, without that action being taken, is not a violation of the Charter.

“So it does create a provision that frankly, the Federal government likely has that authority and had that authority even before the bill, but we are acutely aware and we’ve had ample conversation between our organization, the IOC and members of Congress on that topic as the bill was being drafted. And we all understand the implications of that should the Federal government make a decision to take action.”

This is hardly a conclusive answer, given that the United States Olympic Committee existed without a Federal Charter at its inception in 1894 and did not receive Federal recognition until 1950. But the key is Hirshland’s comment that discussions with the IOC have taken place and Lausanne may have decided to live with this bill given the political situation at present in the U.S. — which requires the USOPC to accept S. 2330 as is — and move on. But that stance would be completely contrary to the IOC’s current position about potential new laws in Italy, and prior situation in India and Kuwait, among others. Also true: the IOC has more pressing matters on its plate.

Hirshland also noted the ongoing work that places athletes front and center – just as the Congress wants it – on two key issues: protests and demonstrations at the Olympic Games and the fight against doping:

● On the USOPC response to the IOC Athletes’ Commission request for input on Rule 50 against demonstrations, Hirshland explained:

“You’re all familiar with the Team USA Council on Racial and Social Justice. That Council has formed with four pillars of working groups; perhaps the most urgent and the most visible at the moment is the work that they’re doing around Rule 50 itself and the protests and demonstrations focus.

“That group is due to bring their recommendations forth to us by the end of the month, at which point, as we said and as we committed to back in June, it is our motivation, our intent and our desire to remove barriers, to change the rules and to empower Black voices to be heard. We are eagerly awaiting the recommendations of that Council and then we’ll take actions according to those recommendations once we have them, including advocating on a global basis, which we said back in June.”

What appears to be key here is that these recommendations will be passed on as is to the IOC and not further reviewed by the USOPC Board. And Hirshland is promising to lobby for the recommendations, whatever they are.

● On the anti-doping front, Hirshland made a point to mention expanding contact with the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, which has been so critical of the World Anti-Doping Agency and threatening not to pay the U.S. dues for the World Anti-Doping Agency.

WADA, in its detailed response to the ONDCP broadside, pointed out that the U.S. did not even attend the last meeting of the Americas continental anti-doping association and put up no candidates for the WADA Executive Committee. This did not go unnoticed in Colorado Springs; said Hirshland:

“[We’ve] put forth nominations of several athletes to help serve on global [anti-doping] committees. Some of those are sort of sub-committees of WADA, some in the Athlete Commission itself. We’re hopeful for those nominations to come through and for our athletes to be selected in these roles. We’re proud of the athletes for being willing to step up and serve in this global capacity. It is a time commitment and they, as you all know, do this as volunteers. But we’re very committed to the effort and to making sure that clean sport is a top priority and it’s something that our athletes enjoy. It is simply unacceptable to be in any other place.”

Hirshland was also asked about support for the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019 (H.R. 835), which has passed the House. Both WADA and the IOC have expressed concerns about this legislation, which could create the extra-territorial jurisdictional reach that allowed the U.S. Department of Justice to prosecute misconduct within FIFA. Said Hirshland, again showing solidarity with the Congress and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency:

“We support the Act. We’ve also been in conversations on this with the IOC, with USADA, with our own community and as I said at the outset … we believe strongly that we need to do everything we can to promote and enforce clean sport. We believe the Rodchenkov Act is a step in helping to do that.”

Lyons also emphasized the passage of the third phase of governance reform, which requires athlete representation of at least 33 1/3% of the board and committees of National Governing Bodies (another Congressional priority).

Hirshland announced that the U.S. Olympic Training Centers in Colorado Springs and Lake Placid have been re-opened, with 288 athletes now resident. Substantial medical procedures are in place and the coronavirus incidence has so far included just one positive test on the campuses.

Substantial discussions about the financial pressures on collegiate sports took place. Hirshland reviewed the outreach work being undertaken now:

“[Our] position is needing to do more and needing to make sure we open our eyes to new and creative solutions; frankly, to work more closely with our National Governing Bodies and the NCAA programs. And that’s what this [Collegiate Sports Sustainability] Think Tank is going to explore: opportunities to create better connections between the National Governing Bodies, the USOPC and the collegiate programs around what many of us affectionately refer to as ‘Olympic sports’ at the collegiate level. …

“Certainly, the hope is for better alignment and better integration. You know, the National Governing Bodies in those sports that are also NCAA sports, there is absolutely overlap in the work that they are doing, there’s enormous overlap that each of our respective organizations are serving and so the first goal is, let’s look at where the integration is, can we find opportunities to be creative and can we find opportunities for efficiencies, can we find opportunities to create better scale together than separately. Historically, we’ve operated relatively separately.”

Hirshland also stated that the financial plan undertaken earlier in the year is holding up well and that fundraising goals are expected to be met. On the preparations for Tokyo, the work continues, but what will actually happen is anyone’s guess, as the situation changes daily.

Based on the comments from Lyons and Hirshland, the USOPC would dearly love to return to thinking more about working with athletes on the road to Tokyo and Beijing, and less about external threats from the Congress, the White House ONDCP and other loud voices calling for its destruction. Based on the much-welcomed increases in current and former athlete representation at all levels of the U.S. Olympic Movement, we may soon see arguments over its future be between the athletes. Who wins then?

THE TICKER: Get our 526-event Int’l Sports Calendar; how Tokyo will save $283 million; USATF gets $8 million pledge; more Russian weightlifters banned!

By
Rich Perelman
-

(★ Friends: Thank you once again for your 69 contributions, to cover our semi-annual server and support costs. The next bill comes in December. If you would like to help, please donate here. Your inspiring enthusiasm is the reason this site continues. ★)

The latest news, notes and quotes from the worldwide Five-Ring Circus:

● Our International Sports Calendar ● Even though the coronavirus has scrambled most of the international sports schedule for 2020, sports are re-starting and so is our International Sports Calendar!

This edition shows 526 events as of 5 October 2020 through the end of June 2021, with a few more after that date thrown in for good measure!

Be warned: this listing will change! The coronavirus will see to that, but this edition is a good checklist for following many of the events coming up, especially in the winter sports.

Two calendars are included in the single PDF download: an 11-page listing in chronological order and a 12-page listing by sport (and in date order within each sport).

It’s free! Get your download right now here!

● Coming Attractions ● The calendar shows that activity is picking up in some sports, with more action expected this weekend. Highlights are expected to include:

● Cycling: End of the first week of the Giro d’Italia, plus the Gent-Wevelgem Classic for men and women in Belgium on Sunday.

Having completed the opening stages in Sicily, the 103rd Giro d’Italia is now on the Italian mainland. After the close of the sixth stage (of 21), Portugal’s Joao Almeida – just 22 – has a 43-second lead thanks to his third-place finish on the punishing third stage that ended at Mt. Etna! While Almeida has been the most consistent, there have already been two double-stage winners: Italy’s Filippo Ganna (stages 1 and 5) and France’s Arnaud Demare, winner of stages 4 and 6. Only four riders are within 1:01 of Almeida, including Pello Bilbao (ESP: -0:37) and Wilco Kelderman (NED: -0:48). Two-time winner Vincenzo Nibali is fifth, 1:01 behind, with a long way to go.

● Cycling: Even though most of the World Cup season was wiped out, the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships are on this week in Leogang (AUT). Swiss superstar Nino Schurter is going for a sixth Cross Country title in a row and has won a total of eight individual world titles in his career. Two-time winner Pauline Ferrand-Prevot is the defending women’s champion and 2018 gold medalist Kate Courtney of the U.S. is a strong contender once again.

France has both of the Downhill defenders as Loic Bruni won his fourth world title in the Downhill in 2019 and Myriam Nicole won her first.

● Wrestling: The USA Wrestling National Championships are on in Coralville, Iowa, with strong fields including Rio Olympic 97 kg Freestyle champ Kyle Snyder and five-time World 76 kg Champion Adeline Gray, 2018 Worlds 50 km silver medalist Sarah Hildebrandt and two-time Worlds 57 kg silver medalist Alli Ragan.

This is the first major competition of the year for U.S. wrestlers and if the UWW Worlds is held as scheduled for 12-20 December in Belgrade (SRB), the team would be selected from this event.

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● Where did the announced ¥30 billion (~$283.42 million U.S.) in savings for the Tokyo Games come from? A detailed Kyodo News story broke most of it down:

● ¥ 15.0 billion (~$141.71 million): reducing temporary venue facilities and lighting
● ¥ 3.0 billion (~$28.34 million): reducing organizing committee staffing
● ¥ 1.0 billion (~$9.45 million: reducing venue decor at venues & villages
● ¥ 1.0 billion (~$9.45 million): reducing non-athlete participants by 10-15%
● ¥ 800 million (~$ 7.56 million): reducing torch relay staff and vehicle support

That’s $196.51 million, or 70% of the total expected savings. Toshiro Muto, the organizing committee chief executive, expects further savings to be found in the coming months.

● Athletics ● Billionaire investor and philanthropist Stephen A. Schwarzman confirmed another generous donation of $8 million to the USA Track & Field Foundation, to be used for further direct-to-athlete grants.

This pledge will be funded over the next four years, providing 65 grants of $30,000 each to USATF athletes, and will be matched by the USATF Foundation for a total of $16 million for 2021-24. Schwarzman, by far the most generous individual patron of the sport, has now provided and/or pledged athlete funding of $12 million from 2013-24, with 290 grants already distributed through 2020.

● Cycling ● Good news for American road star Chloe Dygert, who was released from the Hospital Maggiore in Bologna (ITA) late last week after crashing out of the UCI World Road Championships time trial in Imola in late September.

Leading and looking like a repeat winner, Dygert lost control and sailed over a guard rail – bike and all – late in the race and was finally retrieved by a medical rescue team. She suffered injuries to her left leg and right wrist and will continue her recovery in the U.S.

● Figure Skating ● Two-time World Champion Evgenia Medvedeva withdrew from the Cup of Russia competition due to a recurrence of a spinal injury.

Now 20, Medvedeva caused a sensation when she left coach Eteri Tutberidze for Canadian coach Brian Orser, but has now rejoined Tutberidze.

Famed Russian coach Alexander Zhulin told reporters, “This was the right decision to renew partnership with Tutberidze. She returned to her first coach who had taught her to skate. If she doesn’t succeed here, this would mean that her time has passed. This is her last attempt to return to elite sport.”

● Weightlifting ● As a follow-up to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s investigation of the Russian doping scandal from 2011-15, the International Weightlifting Federation announced 14 doping cases against Russian lifters in 2019 and 2020. The first conclusions have been made, with six lifters suspended for doping, with action on the other eight in process.

In addition, three more provisional suspensions were posted on Wednesday (7th), for a total of 17 current cases.

The six suspended athletes from the first group included five World, Olympic or European medal winners, but almost all of their medal performances came prior to the dates of their suspensions:

● Ruslan Albegov: four years from 12 November 2017
(2012 Olympic +105 kg bronze; 2013-14 World Champion)

● Egor Klimonov: four years from 9 December 2017
(2018 World Championships 96 kg: ninth)

● Dmitriy Lapikov: four years from 9 December 2017
(2006 World Champs 105 kg silver; 2008 Olympic 105 kg bronze disqualified for doping)

● Maxim Sheyko: four years from 9 December 2017
(2012 European Champs 105 kg silver)

● Yulia Konovalova: four years from 9 December 2017
(2014 European Champs +75 kg silver)

● Tima Turieva: four years from 9 December 2017
(2013 World 63 kg Champion, 2014-15 Worlds silvers)

The three provisional suspensions of Aleksey Emelyanenko, Arsen Boraganov and Feliks Khalibekov are as of 7 October 2020 and are being handled by the International Testing Agency, which is now responsible for IWF anti-doping activities according to contract. Kalibekov won a European silver medal in 2016 in the 62 kg category.

None of this is good news for a federation once again under review for possible contraction or exclusion from the 2024 Olympic program, this time because of governance issues.

● Wrestling ● The International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board discussed, but did not take any action against the Iranian National Olympic Committee in the aftermath of the government’s execution of Greco-Roman wrestler Navid Afkari.

International pressure for action against Iran over what IOC President Thomas Bach called a “deplorable” incident has continued. Prior to Wednesday’s meeting, requests for action were noted from multiple human rights groups and activists. The National Union for Democracy in Iran’s letter to the IOC noted sanctions against South Africa for apartheid and against Afghanistan when controlled by the Taliban and asked for similar action against the government of Iran.

Even one of the most colorful characters in professional wrestling history chimed in: Hossein Khosrow al Vaziri, known to U.S. fans as “The Iron Sheik” tweeted:

“IOC PRESIDENT THOMAS BACH @Olympics @iocmedia YOU NEED TO HELP ME TEACH THE WORLD ABOUT THE IRAN SANCTION ON THE CHAMPION WRESTLER NAVID AFKARI.”

Although the matter was discussed, the IOC Executive Board took no action.

● United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● Concerns over the possible implosion of college sports in the U.S. has led to the creation of a “Sustainability Think Tank” to consider shoring up future opportunities in Olympic sports in which the NCAA system is an especially important part of the elite-athlete “pipeline” in the U.S.

The announcement noted that the process will include athletes, the U.S. National Governing Bodies, collegiate leaders and USOPC staff. The goals:

“Together the group will explore sport-specific regulatory adjustments, new revenue options, cost saving mechanisms, sport sponsorship incentives and partnership opportunitites across conference and/or national-level programming.”

This program is an outgrowth of the USOPC’s Collegiate Advisory Council, headed by Duke Athletic Director Kevin White, who is also a member of the USOPC Board of Directors.

● XXXI World University Games: Chengdu 2021 ● If future organizers are looking for ways to cut down on the development costs of their opening ceremony, perhaps the Chengdu organizers can offer a suggestion.

An open call for ideas; the organizers reported that “From 16 January [to] 31 May, a total of 1,597 proposals were received from all around the world, with the creators ranging from five years old to 79-years-old. The majority of the submission were from university students and professional agencies. …

“The two ceremony directors are currently reviewing the shortlisted proposals. The 200 shortlisted proposals will be rewarded with free tickets to Chengdu’s main tourist attractions.

“Finally, the best 20 entries will receive an ‘Outstanding Award’ as well as round-trip tickets to visit Chengdu, a five-day stay and admission to the opening ceremony of the FISU World University Games. The top 10 entries will receive a ‘Gold Award’ and RMB100,000, as well as an official invitation to the Games.”

● The Last Word ● IOC President Bach was asked at Wednesday’s news conference about possible cost savings for the always-expensive Opening Ceremony in Tokyo next year.

Noting how important the ceremony is to any Games – with about a billion people watching around the world – he also had a laugh when contemplating some advice for the organizers:

“[W]hat is important – like all the other measures being taken – that we should not and we will not touch on the athlete’s experience. We will therefore have these parts included in the Opening Ceremony. The way how the country is showing its culture is mostly up to the country and they may have some ideas. I have not been advised about these ideas so far. …

“[M]aybe we have gotten an indication – I’m speculating now, which I should not do – but we may have got a hint in the ‘One Year To Go’ ceremony, which was a very sober, but still emotional ceremony, which was very well appreciated. And if I would be the artistic director of the organizing committee, I would look into this matter. But I should not give advice and not over the media, so better forget it!”

THE BIG PICTURE: Lyons says Olympic world expects U.S. leadership; Hirshland worried about future of elite sport as USOPC Assembly opens

By
Rich Perelman
-
USOPC Chief Executive Sarah Hirshland

(★ Friends: Thank you once again for your 69 contributions, to cover our semi-annual server and support costs. The next bill comes in December. If you would like to help, please donate here. Your inspiring enthusiasm is the reason this site continues. ★)

(● For our 526-event International Sports Calendar from October 2020 to June 2021,
by date and by sport, click here! ●)

The annual U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Assembly opened online on Thursday with remarks from U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Board Chair Susanne Lyons and chief executive Sarah Hirshland, both of whom offered lists of accomplishments, but outlined many more challenges ahead

The 40-minute opening session also included comments from U.S. Biathlon chief Max Cobb, head of the U.S. National Governing Body Council, and Han Xiao, the head of the USOPC Athletes Advisory Council.

(The prepared remarks of Lyons and Hirshland are available here; quoted comments that follow are based on transcription of the live addresses.)

Lyons spoke first, noting the financial pressure brought on by the pandemic:

“Collectively, we had to make some very difficult budget decisions, but we did so with the knowledge that we needed to adapt or face more serious outcomes up the road.

“Despite significant cuts, her team strove to keep the majority of NGB and athlete support funding intact and have added resources for important areas like athlete mental health and training support during this pandemic.”

The only mention of the just-passed S. 2330, the “Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020″ skipped any mention of possible conflicts with the Olympic Charter:

“The Bill ensures that the governance structure of Olympic and Paralympic sports in the United States will receive renewed oversight aimed at protecting young athletes from abuse. It also calls for an oversight commission charged with a top-to-bottom examination of the USOPC and the 1978 Amateur Sports Act. It aims to increase athlete representation in governing bodies, and calls for more funding and independence for the U.S. Center for SafeSport. …

“We worked with the bill sponsors to address concerns, give input, and help ensure that actions recommended and entered into by the legislation would serve the intended purpose. We are satisfied with the collaborative process, and we support this legislation.”

Lyons also spoke of the continuing court actions over the Nassar abuse scandal, wrapped up in the bankruptcy proceedings of USA Gymnastics:

“Yet no measure of true progress related to the safety of Team USA athletes is complete without mentioning the ongoing mediation with the Nassar victim and survivor community. We remain steadfast in our resolve to reach a fair and equitable settlement with the survivor groups, and we regret that the process has gone on this long, and that the complexities of this type of mediation have delayed resolution for the athletes and their families, and we hope there will be closure before year-end.”

Perhaps her most interesting comments concerned the role that the USOPC sees for itself in the current world of sport:

“[W]e also need to be very aware of our role in the global sport environment. It’s no secret that the world is looking to us to lead. The USOPC and NGBs have an important role to play, but our reputation as a country internationally is at times complicated.

“We’ve worked very hard to cultivate relationships with international leadership. Through collaboration, we earn trust and respect, and we build consensus. And, we pledge to working tirelessly with our international colleagues as we advance critical topics such as anti-doping, athlete compensation through Rule 40 and athlete demonstration through Rule 50 all in the very near term. …

“Much of the work internationally is the work of diplomacy. Just because it is not always conducted publicly or spotlighted in the media, does not mean that significant negotiations and advocacy are not occurring.”

Hirshland echoed some of the same themes, but also recognized a key goal for the future: that to do all of the things needed, the USOPC and the National Governing Bodies are going to need more money:

“We should also celebrate the collective support this community has shown for those who have suffered financial hardships.

“Our national sport organizations, while faced with their own untenable revenue loss, have stepped in to help their clubs and membership and athletes so that local and grassroots sport development can continue.

“And as our Team USA athletes’ earning opportunities vanished, many organizations jumped in to help. International Federations, NGBs and the USOPC all rose to the occasion.

“And this is just the start, because, simply put, we need to find more ways to expand in order to support and drive all the aspirations we have for sport in this country.

“We need to channel our energy into discovering and implementing new ideas, and collectively finding ways to grow the pie – to infuse more money into the Olympic and Paralympic movements.”

Her comments further went on to focus on what needs to happen:

“We know where the barriers to participation exist. We need access to sport for all, safety, fragmentation in sport administration, adequate funding and infrastructure.

“And we know that combined, these barriers are putting intense pressure on participation and sport development. And as we are seeing firsthand, the pipeline is at risk – from grassroots youth programs to the NCAA – and with it, the sustainability of elite sport in this country

“But just as we know where the barriers exist, we can articulate a roadmap to attack them. …

“We need to think differently – more creatively – about funding sources and how to ensure that we have the resources required to set the global standard for excellence in sport.”

Athletes Advisory Council chair Xiao welcomed the changes in attitude within the U.S. Olympic Movement and the promise this can bring for the future:

“Out of all our accomplishments this far, I’m most proud that as a Movement, we have seen a profound shift in attitude. Specifically, we have seen a growing willingness to accept problems rather than deny them.

“From the beginning of our terms, we have sought to bring attention not only to the very public issue of sexual abuse, but also – among many others – the power imbalances that make athletes particularly vulnerable to abuse and retaliation in all forms, the need for whistleblower channels and whistleblower protections, the need to re-evaluate athlete compensation within our Movement, re-imagining the way we think about high-performance pipelines, especially given the reliance of many sports on the NCAA and driving the continued growth and exposure of women’s sports, adaptive sports and other under-represented populations within our family.

“I’m really pleased to say that many of the conversations I’m having about these issues have changed really dramatically, especially over the past year. More and more people in our Movement are willing to acknowledge these types of problems, and come to the table to talk about solutions.”

Xiao went on to ask for more changes in the future, as his term will end in a few months. Chief among these was a new way of defining what success looks like:

“I challenge us to revolutionize the way we measure success and reduce our reliance on results-oriented analysis. To me, medals are an outcome while revenues and committee appointments are means to an end. Let’s measure the value we provided to our people: our athletes, staff and volunteers. We have some of the best athletes and people in the world who are part of our family. And if we take care of those people, especially our athletes, I have no doubt that the results will come.”

The USOPC Assembly is being held online this year and will conclude tomorrow. Lyons and Hirshland will give a news conference tomorrow morning.

SPECIAL: Our International Sports Calendar for 2020-21 now available!

By
Rich Perelman
-

Even though the coronavirus has scrambled most of the international sports schedule for 2020, sports are re-starting and so is our International Sports Calendar!

This edition shows 526 events from October 2020 through the end of June 2021, with a few more after that date thrown in for good measure!

Be warned: this listing will change! The coronavirus will see to that, but this edition is a good checklist for following many of the events coming up, especially in the winter sports.

Two calendars are included in the single PDF download: an 11-page listing in chronological order and a 12-page listing by sport (and in date order within each sport).

It’s free! Get your download right now here!

LANE ONE: Bach says Tokyo measures will save $280 million; boxing and weightlifting again in trouble with the IOC for 2024

By
Rich Perelman
-
IOC President Thomas Bach (GER)

(★ Friends: Thank you once again for your 69 contributions, to cover our semi-annual server and support costs. The next bill comes in December. If you would like to help, please donate here. Your inspiring enthusiasm is the reason this site continues. ★)

Discipline was the dominant theme of International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach’s news conference on Wednesday morning, but he was full of confidence about the forthcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo.

He mentioned, for the first time the savings to the organizing committee’s budget from the simplification measures and his continued belief in the preparations:

“There, a savings of about 280 million dollars will be achieved from the operational budget by applying 50-plus measures which had been agreed between the organizing committee and the IOC Coordination Commission in the last meeting.

“We also see that the work on the Covid countermeasures is making good progress and there, more and more measures are added, including the potential availability of vaccines and rapid testing, where we are very confident that they will be available. So all these new methods will be added to the toolbox which then will be available when we will have to take the final decision which tools – finally – we have to take, and can take out of this toolbox, and to apply them for the safe organization of this Olympic Games, about which both the organizing committee and the IOC are both very confident.”

The savings of $280 million from a $5.6 billion organizing committee budget (for a Games in 2020) represents a 5% savings, which Bach was pleased with:

“I think it’s a significant result considering the circumstances. So you have to realize that most of the expenditure had already been made before, because everybody was preparing for the Games taking place this year. It’s not that you could start to draw on a white piece of paper; you have very limited room to maneuver there.”

Asked about whether savings could or should be made in the Opening Ceremony, Bach pointed out that a lot is at stake in this one program:

“[T]he Opening Ceremony is the showcase for the host country to show its culture, to show its perception of the Olympic Games, of the Olympic values, and it is also the opportunity for the athletes to march in the Opening Ceremony, belonging to their Olympic team and then having also the very significant protocol part of the Olympic Opening Ceremony. All these reasons together, of course, with the fact that this Opening Ceremony is normally followed by more than one billion people around the world led to the joint decision there with the organizing committee that we should maintain the format of this Opening Ceremony while the content may be adjusted one way or the other. … [W]hat is important – like all the other measures being taken – that we should not and we will not touch on the athlete’s experience.”

But much of the deliberations of the IOC Executive Board were taken up with disciplinary matters, with boxing and weightlifting again in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons:

● On AIBA, the International Boxing Federation, currently suspended and not involved in the Tokyo preparations:

“[W]e have received the report of the [IOC] monitoring group, and I can summarize the reaction of the EB in one sentence, that we are very worried about the lack of progress with regard to the governance reform of AIBA. There is talk of presidential elections, but we do not see any progress about these governance reforms which are very important.”

Boxing is scheduled to have 286 total competitors in Tokyo.

● On the International Weightlifting Federation, Bach complimented its progress on doping control, having delegated it to the International Testing Agency in accord with the IOC’s preference. But:

“With regard to governance, we have, however, strong concerns. We have strong concerns about the lack of progress with regard to the reforms of the IWF Constitution and about the lack of acceptance of independent advice in this procedure. And another point of concern with regard to governance was the representation of athletes within the federation, which definitely needs to be strengthened.

“We will communicate these concerns to IWF and we will advise them, at the same time, that we are reviewing the event program and the quota that exists for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. We will also advise them that we reserve the right, if need be, to take further measures which are including, but not limited there also, to review the place of weightlifting on the program of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.”

So weightlifting is back on the razor’s edge. There were 260 lifters in Rio, but as punishment for the sport’s horrific doping history, the athlete quota for Tokyo was cut to 196, across 14 weight classes. If boxing and weightlifting were dropped from the Paris 2024 program, it would create considerable breathing space for the other federations against the IOC’s new cap of 10,500 athletes for that Games.

There were also significant reports concerning conduct related to the National Olympic Committees of Belarus, Italy and Iran.

In Belarus, which had 124 athletes and won nine medals in Rio in 2016, continuing political unrest against President Alexander Lukashenko – the only president the country has ever had and also the Belarus NOC president – has been going on since the national elections in late September.

On 30 September, retired basketball star Yelena Leuchanka, who played in the WNBA, was sentenced to 15 days in prison for taking part in protests.

Bach noted that the IOC had inquired about this and other matters and had received some answers back:

“[T]he NOC stressed that her condemnation to 15 days in prison was according to the national legislation in the country. …

“We are very concerned about the information we are getting and again [from athletes in Belarus], the last ones last night. This is why we are looking into it and we will strengthen our investigation because what we are hearing there that, in fact, athletes are saying they are discriminated by their NOC just for political reasons. And non-discrimination is an essential value of the Olympic Movement and the Olympic Charter. This is why we are so concerned and this is why we are taking it so seriously.”

Bach was also asked about the question of governmental interference in Italy, but replied that he had high hopes for continuing discussions between the National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sport.

He was also asked about the execution of Greco-Roman wrestler Navid Afkari in Iran. Here, Bach admitted the limits of what the IOC can do as a sports organization dealing with governments:

“With regard to the deplorable case of Navid Afkari, we have addressed this case both in my report to the Executive Board as well as in the report of the chair of the Athletes’ Commission, Kirsty Coventry, where we have informed the Executive Board about the measures we have been taking from the very beginning after we learned of the case together with United World Wrestling. We have taken several actions at the time in consultation with a number of non-governmental organizations and also some governments. I myself had written a letter to the Supreme Leader of Iran as well as to the President of Iran, asking for mercy for Navid Afkari. And, you know, unfortunately, all these efforts did not lead to the result, I think we all wanted to see: mercy for Navid Afkari.”

No further action against Iran was detailed.

There were no questions about the possible new law in the U.S. that would allow the Congress to de-certify a U.S. National Governing Body, or dismiss the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s Board of Directors. Passed by the House and Senate, the fate of S. 2330 will be known next week.

Bach was again and again in the questions about whether Tokyo 2020 will take place in 2021. His key word was “confident”:

“We cannot speculate about what will be in 10 months from now, a third or fourth wave [of the virus], or a fifth wave, whatever. We are seeing the experience that in the last couple of weeks, during this second wave – which is obviously underway – that you can organize big and complex sporting events already now, and with all the restrictions in place now. We are almost more confident that at the beginning of the next year, we can add to the tools for the counter-measures which we will have available that we can add new and even more reliable rapid tests and that there also vaccines even will be available.

“And this makes both the organizing committee and the IOC very, very confident about the Opening Ceremony on the 23rd of July next year.”

Rich Perelman
Editor

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ATHLETICS: World records for Cheptegei at 10,000 m and Gidey at 5,000 m in Valencia!

By
Rich Perelman
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A world record of 26:11.00 for Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei in Spain! (Photo: World Athletics)

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Custom world-record challenges don’t always work, but at the NN Valencia World Record Day in Wednesday in Spain, it couldn’t have gone better.

Both the men’s 10,000 m and the women’s 5,000 m races resulted in world marks for new superstars Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda and Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia.

Up first was the women’s 5,000 m at 9:35 p.m. at the Estadi di Turia in Valencia, with eight runners on the start line. But all eyes were on Gidey, who was aiming for the 14:11.15 mark by countrywoman Tirunesh Dibaba at the Bislett Games in Oslo (NOR) in 2008.

Among the pacesetters was Steeple world-record holder Beatrice Chepkoech, who led the field through 2,000 m and 3,000 m, after which Gidey took over. Aided by the “new” pacing-lights system – which debuted at the old International Track Association meets of the 1970s – Gidey charged home over the final 2,000 m to finish in a stunning 14:06.62, slashing almost five seconds off of Dibaba’s time.

Gidey’s prior best had been 14:23.14 – ninth on the all-time list – in 2018, at age 20. Kenya’s Winnie Nanyondo was the only other finisher, trotting home at 15:57.16.

That brought 13 men onto the track for the 9:55 p.m. start of the men’s 10,000 m, with Cheptegei out for Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) and his 26:17.53 mark from the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels (BEL) in 2005.

Now Cheptegei, 24, had already erased one Bekele record, at 5,000 m, with his 12:35.36 mark to win the Diamond League meet in Monaco on 14 August. The Ugandan star also set the world record for 5 km on the road at 12:51 Monaco on 16 February of this year. So he’s been hot all season.

There were a bevy of pacers for this race, including 3:51 miler Matthew Ramsden (AUS), who led at the 2,000 m and 3,000 m marks before giving way to Nicolas Kimeli (KEN), who entered the race as the world leader for 2020 at 10,000 m at 26:58.97! He led at 4,000 m and then crossed 5,000 m in a speedy 13:07.73!

Then Cheptegei took over and led the rest of the way, running away from the field of eight finishers and steaming home with kms of 2:37.33, 2:36.54, 2:37.48, 2:37.27 and 2:33.75, with a final lap of 60 seconds, to finish in 26:11.00 for his third world mark of the year!

There was a real race him, too, with Kimeli finishing in a very creditable 27:12.98, followed by Shadrack Kipchirchir of the U.S. at 27:28.97, his third-fastest ever. Stephen Kissa of Uganda also went under 28:00 in fourth at 27:34.48.

This is not the last made-for-time meets this season. The folks who put on the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo (NED) are organizing a special meet for Saturday (10th) with the women’s 1,000 m and 10,000 m and a men’s 5,000 m. Headlining the fields is Dutch star Sifan Hassan, the reigning World Champion at 1,500 m and 10,000 m, who previously set the Hour record in Brussels on 4 September.

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon will try again for the 1,000 m mark; she ran 2:29.15 in Monaco to miss Russian Svetlana Masterkova’s 1996 mark of 2:28.98.

The men’s 5,000 m will pit Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha (PR 12:46.79 ‘18) vs. emerging Australian star Stewart McSweyn (PR 13:05.23 ‘18).

LANE ONE: After 79 years, the Paralympic Games deserves to have the world stage to itself … in 2027!

By
Rich Perelman
-
Clodoaldo Silva lights the Rio Paralympic cauldron in 2016. (Photo: Tomaz Silva/Agencia Brasil via Wikipedia)

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Those who marvel at the breadth, scope, complexity and grandeur of today’s massive spectacle that is the Olympic Games are often surprised to learn of how difficult it was to revive after Roman Emperor Theodosius I ended all “pagan festivals” in 394.

But French Baron Pierre de Coubertin’s campaign took hold in the 1890s and a modest modern Olympic Games was held in Athens, Greece in 1896, with 176 athletes from 12 countries. In Tokyo in 2021, more than 11,000 athletes from 206 nations are expected.

This extravaganza will consume 17 days and nights and be televised to a worldwide audience of more than 5.2 billion, beginning on 23 July and ending on 8 August.

Just 16 days later, the 16th Paralympic Games will begin on a Tuesday and continue for 12 more days, ending on 5 September, with about 4,400 athletes from more than 150 countries.

The International Paralympic Committee proclaimed that some 4.1 billion people worldwide sampled at least some of the 2016 Rio Paralympics, with Italian broadcasters showing a total of 557 hours and Japanese national broadcaster NHK airing 401 hours. In the U.S., NBC Universal showed 77 hours, compared to 2,084 hours on broadcast television (on 11 networks) for the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.

One of the great hopes of the IPC for the future is to continue to expand the awareness and interest of the Paralympic Games, especially in the U.S. For the 2028 in Los Angeles, the Olympic Games is planned for 21 July to 6 August, followed quickly by the Paralympics from (likely dates of) 22 August to 3 September.

This is right in line with the vision of Dr. Ludwig Guttmann, the father of the entire Paralympic movement, whose Stoke Mandeville Games began on the same day – and about 40 miles away – as the 1948 Olympic Games in London.

Guttmann, a renowned German-born, Jewish neurosurgeon left Nazi oppression in 1939 for Great Britain and worked tirelessly with war-injured servicemen to return them to fuller lives than anyone had imagined up to that time.

He was a firm believer in the value of sport; in the recent book Wheels of Courage, Los Angeles-based author David Davis wrote:

“Guttmann preached the value of sport at every opportunity. He decided to turn the Stoke Mandeville Games into an annual event, and invited cabinet ministers, royalty, and prominent sports officials and athletes to observe the action. On his travels abroad, he urged other nations to get involved. …

“‘The idea [of games],’ he wrote, ‘is to distract the patient’s attention from his disability, to keep the man’s intelligence and concentration lively, to promote a good blood circulation, to keep his healthy limbs supple, and to invigorate the body.’”

He lived to see his idea blossom into the Paralympic Games we know today and shortly after his death in 1980, some 1,973 athletes from 42 countries attended the Paralympics in Arnhem (NED). By 1988, the Olympic and Paralympic Games would be presently consecutively in the same city.

Davis wrote that at the opening of the first Stoke Mandeville Games in 1948, “Guttmann proclaimed that, one day, what he called the ‘Grand Festival of Paraplegic Sports’ would become ‘truly international and … achieve worldwide fame as the disabled men and women’s equivalent of the Olympic Games.’”

Guttmann’s vision has been realized, but it is now worth considering where the Paralympic movement goes from here. It is a hit in some countries and less so in others, notably the U.S.

IPC President Andrew Parsons (BRA) has said of the 2028 Games:

“This is a huge opportunity for us to engage the U.S. market in terms of awareness, spectator numbers, TV viewership, commercial support and participation; it is an opportunity that we have to grasp with both hands.

“The U.S. market in terms of awareness is still fairly under developed compared to other markets around the world. We must seize this opportunity so that as many people as possible in the US are aware of the Paralympic Games and the impact they can have in transforming society.”

Perhaps there are new possibilities, with the extended preparation period afforded to Los Angeles with the award of the 2028 Games some 11 years prior. Already, the LA28 organizers have worked diligently to showcase Paralympians in its emblem launch from 1 September:

● Seven of the 26 individually-created emblems were Paralympics-themed and created by Paralympians Lex Gillette, Oz Sanchez and Scout Bassett, Para-athletes Jamal Hill and Ezra Frech, actress Lauren Lolo Spencer and Los Angeles taquero Jorge “El Joy” Alvarez.

● In the 39-item merchandise store opened after the brand launch, three commercial emblems incorporating the Paralympic logo were used: the Retro-Stripe (a nod to the 1984 Star-in-Motion), the Camo and the Prism.

Even so, the Paralympic share-of-voice is less than for the Olympic Games. Perhaps this is the opportunity to place the Paralympic Games front and center, eliminating the impact of coming after an exhausting two weeks of Olympic Games.

Hold the Paralympic Games in 2027. Alone.

Focus all the attention on the Paralympians and their stories. The IPC will have to face up to a real revision of its complicated competition system so that everyone can understand the classifications better. But if the Paralympic Movement is to grow, especially in the U.S., it must stand on its own. And 2027 is the time; already it’s too late to consider this for Paris in 2024.

There are many advantages for a 2027 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. The commercial, ticketing and other revenue opportunities will be far greater than for 2028, away from the Olympic shadow. The visibility of the Games will be enormously expanded, especially for news media in the U.S., who will not be burdened with the forthcoming college football and NFL seasons and the options for television coverage will explode.

For the LA28 organizers, such a switch would offer a first-of-its kind showcase, a real opportunity not to simply test out venues in meaningless, made-up competitions, but to put on a world-class sports festival in 2027 which will make the 2028 Olympic Games – almost 250% the size of the Paralympics – even better. And Angelenos will love it, as spectators, supporters and volunteers.

Moreover, this can be handled well within LA28’s budget format; just ask those of us who helped organize the 2015 Special Olympics World Games – 6,163 athletes from 164 nations who competed in 290 events in 23 sports over nine days – for a ridiculous $50.1 million (not billion) in cash. It can be done, and done very, very well.

Guttmann knew he had to try bold, new treatments to change the lives of those servicemen he was caring for in the aftermath of the brutality of World War II. It’s time to take his idea even further and give it solo billing in the Southern California sunshine seven years from now. Mr. Parsons, your future is ringing; Hollywood calling …

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: Kosgei defends, but Kipchoge eighth in London Marathon as Kitata wins; Ulissi takes Giro d’Italia stage 2

By
Rich Perelman
-

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Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Athletics ● In a year of shocking, unbelievable news, the 40th edition of the London Marathon delivered more.

The elites-only races were run on a cold, rainy morning in central London and while defending women’s champion Brigid Kosgei of Kenya confirmed her status as the world’s finest, superstar countryman Eliud Kipchoge lost a marathon for the first time in seven years.

The women’s race was run first, essentially in the dark at 7:15 a.m., on a 2.15 km loop course in St. James Park. Kosgei led right from the start and the race had formed by 15 km, with five Kenyans separated from the rest by 18 seconds: Kosgei, current World Champion Ruth Chepngetich, Sheila Chelangat, Vivian Kiplagat and Valary Jemeli.

By the halfway mark, Kiplagat, Chepngetich and Kosgei had 53-second gap on the field and then Kiplagat was dropped by 25 km. With five laps remaining, Kosgei broke away and was 46 seconds clear by 35 km and breezed home in 2:18:58, the third-fastest time of the year.

Behind her, there was quite a race going on. After being dropped from the lead before 32 km, Chepngetich still had a big lead on Ethiopia’s Ashete Bekere and American Sara Hall, who had moved up from ninth to fourth since the half.

With a lap to go, Chepngetich was still 40 seconds up on Hall as Bekere had dropped to fourth. But Hall was closing and passed Chepngetich on the finishing straight for an astonishing second-place finish in a lifetime best 2:22:01!

The effort involved showed on Hall’s face as she finished, more in pain than anything else, but with a stunning career comeback. In her last five marathons – including the U.S. Olympic Trials in February – Hall, 37, had been crushed: did not finish-15th-5th-did not finish-did not finish. Her 2:22:01 maintains her place as the sixth-fastest American ever.

Chepngetich finished third in 2:22:05 and Bekere was fourth in 2:22:51. American Molly Seidel, a member of the U.S. team for Tokyo, was a creditable sixth in 2:25:13, a lifetime best in her second marathon ever! She moves to no. 9 all-time U.S. The third American in the race, Lindsay Flanagan, was 17th in 2:37:16.

The men’s race followed, again in damp and cool conditions, with Kipchoge seeming to have no peer. He had won 11 of his 12 career marathons and 10 in a row since finishing second in Berlin in 2013. And he showed no signs of giving anything away as he ran in the lead pack of 10 through the halfway point in 1:02:55.

By 35 km – a little more than three laps to go – the lead group remained at nine. But on the penultimate lap, Ethiopians Sisay Lemma, Mosinet Geremew, Shura Kitata and Mule Wasihun, plus Kenyan Vincent Kipchumba, surged ahead and dropped Kipchoge.

On the final lap, Wasihun and Geremew were dropped and Kipchumba sprinted to the lead heading to the line, but Kitata has the most finishing speed and crossed first in 2:05:41, no. 7 on the season. Kipchumba was one second behind and Lemma finished in 2:05:45, with Geremew fourth in 2:06:04. Kipchoge was eighth in 2:06:49 – his second-slowest ever – and American Jared Ward was 17th in 2:12:38.

Kitata’s win was his first since Frankfurt in 2017; he loves London, having finished second in 2018 and fourth last year. His three fastest career marathons: 2:04:49-2:05:01-2:05:41 have all comes in this race.

Kipchoge tweeted after the race, “After 25 kilometers my ear blocked and it couldn’t open anymore. But this is how sport is, we should accept defeat and focus for the winning next time.” He will turn 36 on 5 November and now will face the inevitable questions about his health and fitness, ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games. If anyone doubted his motivation to continue after such dominance in the event, he has plenty to run for now.

In Nairobi (KEN), the Kip Keino Classic – a World Athletics Continental Tour event – was held Saturday, featuring strong performances by World Champions Tim Cheruiyot and Hellen Obiri.

Distance star Ferguson Rotich (1:44.78) won the 800 m while Cheruiyot won his ninth straight 1,500 m race in 3:34.31, just ahead of Kumari Taki, who scored a near-lifetime best of 3:35.00. World 10,000 m leader Nicolas Kimeli took the 5,000 m in 13:08.32.

Former Kenyan Nelly Jepkosgei – for running for Bahrain – won the women’s 800 m in 2:02.07, ahead of Eunice Sum (KEN: 2:03.73) and Obiri outlasted countrywoman Agnes Tirop in the 5,000 m, 15:06.36 to 15:06.71. World-record holder Beatrice Chepkoech won the Steeplechase in 9:29.05.

● Cycling ● The re-arranged UCI World Tour saw the start of the 103rd Giro d’Italia in Sicily with World Time Trial Champion Filippo Ganna winning once again, this time in 15:24 over the downhill, 15.1 km course that finished in Palermo.

He was well clear of Joao Almeida and Mikkel Bjerg (DEN), who both finished 22 seconds back.

Ganna led the pack with 5 km left on Sunday, a 149 km route from Alcamo to Agrigento with an uphill finish over the final 3.7 km. On the climb, Valerio Conti (ITA) took the lead with 1.4 km to go, followed by attacks from Luca Wackermann (ITA) and Slovakian star Peter Sagan. But the best finish came from Italian veteran Diego Ulissi, who got to the line first ahead of Sagan and Mikkel Froelich Honore (DEN).

Ganna retains the pink leader’s jersey, up 22 seconds on Joao Almeida (POR) and 23 seconds on Britain’s Geraint Thomas.

There are two more stages in Sicily, including a punishing uphill finish in Etna on Monday, before the race moves to the mainland. The 21 stages include five mountain routes, three time trials and seven hilly route along with six sprinter’s stages.

The 16th BinckBank Tour, held strictly in Belgium this year due to the coronavirus regulations in The Netherlands, was cut down to four stages and finished on Saturday with Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel scoring a tight win over Soren Kragh Andersen (DEN).

Dane Mads Pedersen had a seven-second overall lead after the three flat stages, but on Saturday’s hilly finale, van der Poel managed a four-second win over Belgium’s Oliver Naesen, Sonny Colbrelli (ITA) and Kragh Andersen, and moved from fifth to first overall, as Pedersen finished 18th.

Van der Poel, 25, scored his first career win in a multi-day stage race on the UCI World Tour.

The 106th running of Liege-Bastogne-Liege over a hilly, 257 km course, and the fourth women’s edition, on a 135 km route, were both held on Sunday.

The women’s race finished first, with Britain’s 2015 World Champion Lizzie Deignan attacking with 30 km remaining and finishing nine seconds ahead of Australia’s Grace Brown in 3:29:48. Deignan decided that she had to push hard to get away from Dutch stars Anna van der Breggen and Annemiek van Vleuten and it worked.

Seven other riders, led by 3-4-5 finishers Ellen van Dijk (NED), Marianne Vos (NED) and Amy Pieters (NED) were in a chase pack. Van der Breggen, looking for a fifth straight win on the roads, finished 26th.

The men’s race came down to a final sprint between four of the stars of the season as Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic edged World Champion Julian Alaphilippe (FRA), emerging star Marc Hirschi (SUI) and Tour de France champ Tadej Podgacar (SLO). Alaphilippe attacked and Hirschi countered with 11 km to go and the top four were clear with 10 km remaining.

Dutch star van der Poel, riding just a couple of days after winning the BinckBank Tour, finished sixth, 14 seconds behind the winner!

THE TICKER: USOPC chief calls S. 2330 “a big win,” Paris 2024 cuts costs; London Marathon Sunday; Operation Aderlass doping doctor confesses

By
Rich Perelman
-
A fourth London Marathon win for the unbeatable Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) in 2019.

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The latest news, notes and quotes from the worldwide Five-Ring Circus:

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● Following the passage of S. 2330 in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland posted a short statement on Twitter that included:

“Team USA athletes had a big win in the halls of Congress today with the passing of the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act. … It will cement increases in athlete representation in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movements, improvements in athlete safety protections, and bolster accountability and transparency in our system.

“The USOPC board has already approved two of the most sweeping governance reform updates in recent history, and a third phase is before the board this fall. This legislation codifies many of those reforms, with the USOPC now positioned to move quickly to address any outstanding provisions and support the work of the Commission. …”

No mention was made of the contentious aspects of the bill, most especially the possible dissolution of the USOPC Board or de-certification of a U.S. National Governing Body by a joint resolution of the Congress.

Is this whistling past the graveyard? Or perhaps a happy face on what the USOPC Board has already achieved, and more action to come behind the scenes on the problematic aspects of the bill that has the International Olympic Committee considerably concerned?

● Games of the XXXIII Olympiad: Paris 2024 ● The Paris organizing committee announced a series of important cost-control measures on Wednesday, impressively demonstrating its serious intentions to keep within its announced spending limits:

● The temporary venues for swimming and water polo, and for volleyball will not be built and existing facilities will be used for both.

● Rugby Sevens will be moved to the Stade de France, meaning the Stade Jean-Bouin will not be used.

● Football venues will be reduced from eight to seven.

The climbing facility will be moved and a permanent site will be created and an existing facility in Lille will also be used.

All of this is designed to keep the overall Games budget at €6.8 billion (~$7.97 billion U.S.), with the Paris 2024 share at €3.8 billion (~$4.45 billion U.S.)

These will not be the last cuts, nor should they be. However, the politics of these moves are thick, with concern from the Seine-Saint-Denis area, which has been promised most of the development action from the Games. The release noted:

“With over 80% of public Solideo investment earmarked for this area, representing a total of nearly €1 billion, Seine-Saint-Denis continues to stand out as the main beneficiary of the Paris 2024 Games.”

Not as flashy, but also noteworthy was a further announcement:

“The Board of Directors also approved the creation of the Academy, the official Paris 2024 training body, to enable all those involved in organising the Games (employees, volunteers and service providers) to expand their knowledge and develop the skills they need to make the event a success and officially recognise the learnings drawn from the experience. Set up in collaboration with the French National Olympic and Sports Committee and the French Paralympic and Sports Committee, the Paris 2024 Academy will also help to boost sporting performance by also offering a complete training package.”

Organizing committees always have a difficult time in figuring out how to engage the local population interested in the Games in the years prior, whether they become volunteers or just ticket buyers. Involving the national Olympic and Paralympic organizations in the effort can help to create a lasting corps of fans and supporters for the longer term.

● Athletics ● What was an expected highlight of the fall road racing season has become another likely showcase for Kenyan marathon superstar (and world-record holder) Eliud Kipchoge.

This Sunday’s 40th London Marathon is being held as an elite-only race, with the world-class fields racing on a flat, 2.15 km loop course in St. James’s Park in central London and finishing on The Mall. Barring inclement weather, the race was expected to pit Kipchoge against Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele in a possible world-record challenge.

Then came Bekele’s announcement earlier today on Twitter:

“An unfortunate calf injury has forced Kenenisa Bekele to withdraw from the London Marathon. ‘This race was so important to me. My time in Berlin last year gave me great confidence and motivation and I was looking forward to show that again, I have worked so hard for it.”

So the top of the men’s field looks like this:

2:01:39 (‘18) Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) ~ Olympic champ ‘16, four-time London winner
2:02:55 (‘19) Mosinet Geremew (ETH) ~ 2019 London runner-up
2:03:16 (‘19) Mule Wasihun (ETH) ~ 2019 London bronze medalist
2:03:36 (‘19) Sisay Lemma (ETH) ~ 2019 Berlin Marathon bronze medalist
2:04:06 (‘18) Tamirat Tola (ETH) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalist

Rio Olympian Jared Ward (2:09:25 ‘19) is the lone listed American entry.

Women:

2:14:04 (‘18) Brigid Koskei (KEN) ~ World-record holder; defending champion
2:17:08 (‘19) Ruth Chepngetich (KEN) ~ 2019 World Champion
2:18:31 (‘18) Vivian Cheruiyot (KEN) ~ 2016 Olympic 5,000 m gold; 2018 London champ
2:19:10 (‘19) Valary Jemeli (KEN) ~ 2019 Frankfurt Marathon champ
2:19:26 (‘19) Degitu Azimeraw (ETH) ~ 2019 Amsterdam Marathon winner

The top American entry is Sara Hall (2:22:16 at Berlin ‘19). Molly Seidel, who was second at the U.S. Olympic Trials in February (2:27:31 PR) will also race; should we call her a “2020 Olympian” or “2021 Olympian”?

Due to the pandemic, the prize purse has been reduced to $30,000-15,000-10,000-7,500-5,000-3,500-2,500-2,000-1,500-1,000-750-500 for the top 12 places for men and women ($79,250 total per gender). There is a $125,000 bonus for a world record for men or women.

The race had 42,096 starters in 2019, but will hold a “virtual” race in 2020, with 45,000 signed up to participate wherever they are.

The race will be shown in the U.S. on NBCSN starting at 2 a.m. Eastern on Sunday morning (11 p.m. Saturday evening Pacific time).

The new dust-up in international sport is the election of national federation officials in Belarus, where Ivan Tikhon was elected as president, succeeding Vadim Devyatovskiy. The ruckus is over the fact that both served doping bans!

Tikhon is 44 and was World Champion in 2003 and 2007 and the 2016 Rio silver medalist and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist from Beijing. He served a two-year ban from 2012-14 for steroid use. He hasn’t competed much in 2018 or 2019, but did reach 80.04 m (262-7) in 2017 and could compete for an Olympic slot in 2021!

● Cycling ● The UCI World Tours for men and women are continuing, with the famed Giro d’Italia starting on Saturday and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege races coming on Sunday.

Usually the first Grand Tour of the season, the 21-stage Giro will begin in Sicily in Monreale and head to Palermo in a 15.1 km Individual Time Trial. Even with the short respite from the Tour de France, the race is loaded with stars, including two-time champion Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), former bronze medalists Miguel Angel Lopez (COL) and Thomas de Gendt (BEL), fourth-placer Steven Kruijswijk (NED) and fifth-placer Domenico Pizzovivo (ITA).

World Time Trial champ Filippo Ganna (ITA), sprint star Peter Sagan (SVK), former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas (GBR) and fellow British star Simon Yates are all entered. Rio Olympic silver medalist Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) could be one to watch as well.

On Wednesday, Marc Hirschi (SUI) and Dutch superstar Anna van der Breggen took the titles at La Fleche Wallonne in Belgium.

Hirschi, 22, has been one of the breakout stars of 2020, winning a Tour de France stage and taking third at the World Championships road race. He scored his first win in a World Tour Classics race, ahead of Benoit Cosnefroy (FRA), Michael Woods (CAN) and Warren Barguil (FRA), all timed in 4:49:17.

The unstoppable van der Breggen took both titles at the World Championships and added a sixth straight La Fleche Wallonne title by just two seconds over Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (DEN) and six seconds on Demi Vollering (NED).

On Sunday, the 106th running of Liege-Bastogne-Liege has new World Champion Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) atop the field, plus Rio Olympic champ Greg Avermaet (BEL), four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome (GBR), 2020 Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar (SLO), Britain’s Adam Yates and many more.

The women’s race from Bastogne to Liege has van der Breggen out for yet another win – her fifth in a row in 2020 – and will be challenged by countrywomen Annemiek van Vleuten, Marianne Vos, Ellen van Dijk and Vollering, and familiar foes such as Kasia Niewiadoma (POL), Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA), Lizzie Deignan (GBR), Ludwig (DEN) and Arlenis Sierra (CUB).

The 16th BinckBank Tour in Belgium and the Netherlands has one more stage to go on Saturday, with Danes Mads Pedersen and Soren Kragh Andersen (-0:07) atop the leaderboard. Belgian Jasper Philipsen won the first stage; the second stage was canceled due to the virus; Pedersen won stage three in Aalter and Andersen won the stage 4 time trial. Saturday’s final route is a hilly, 183.6 km ride from Ottignies-Louvain-la-Nueve to Geraardsbergen.

There was a major development on Tuesday (29th) in the Operation Aderlass trial in Munich (GER) as German physician Mark Schmidt “made a comprehensive confession and has admitted [doping] manipulation since 2012.”

Schmidt has been charged with 150 allegations of assisting doping in cycling and in winter sports, mostly with blood doping procedures. From the Westdeutsche Zeitung (via Google Translate):

“‘I have not made a profit with doping,’ said the doctor. From the athletes, Mark S. normally received 5000 euros per season as a basic amount for medical care – more intensive measures cost more, and there was also a surcharge if the athletes were successful. He had large expenses, for example through special equipment for blood preparation as well as travel and hotel expenses.”

The case exploded in February 2019 with a raid on five athletes during the FIS World Nordic Championship in Seefeld (AUT). Multiple bans were imposed by the FIS and the case against Schmidt and four others is expected to reach a decision by the end of the year.

“Last year, I followed a stage of the Vuelta [de Espana] with the Prime Minister of Andorra. Before the last climb, a rider emptied everything he had in his pockets. [The Prime Minister] asked me what he was doing…and asked ‘is that allowed? It is unacceptable.’ We could have problems obtaining permission to use the road if efforts are not made.”

That’s UCI chief David Lappartient (FRA), complaining about the recurring problem of litter during UCI World Tour races, and he’s going to more to stop it.

Such behavior is already subject to fines, but “It will undoubtedly be time fines in a stage race. It’s clear that it cannot stay this way. There are efforts that have been made by the organizers and riders but, unfortunately, this is not the case everywhere.

“It is clear there was unacceptable behaviour during the Tour de France. When you throw away a can and there are people, no problem, but when you get rid of waste in nature…it’s unacceptable.” Lappartient intends to have such penalties in place by the start of next season.

● Figure Skating ● A USA Today report on Tuesday announced the retirement of French figure skating pair Morgan Cipres and Vanessa James after allegations of lewd conduct involving a minor.

The matter is being investigated by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, as Cipres trains in Florida and the activity – a photograph sent by social media in December 2017 – took place there. The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office is also involved.

Cipres and James won the World Championships bronze in Pairs in 2018 and the European Championships gold in 2019. They were expected to be among the medal contenders at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.

● Gymnastics ● USA Gymnastics filed its latest report on operations with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana, with total legal expenses in the case nearing the $12 million mark.

For the eight law firms and related entities involved, total fees since the case was filed on 5 December 2018 through the end of July 2020 totaled $11,962,301. Of that total, some $6,961,446 in fees and $219,193 in expenses has been paid.

Wow.

● Modern Pentathlon ● Team USA lost its oldest living medal winner on Wednesday (30th). USA Pentathlon chief executive Rob Stull sent a note explaining:

“[W]e lost a legend in both the equestrian and Modern Pentathlon families. Col. John Russell passed away at noon today at his home in Texas. He was America’s oldest living Olympic medalist aged 100 years, 7 months and 28 days. He was a decorated soldier serving on General Patton’s staff in WWII and coached and mentored thousands of athletes in his career. A true legend and a monumental loss for sport.”

Russell competed in the 1948 Olympic Games in London following the end of the war, during which he received a Bronze Star, the Soldier’s Medal and a Purple Heart; he was wounded in Italy during the battle for Cassino. He finished 21st in Individual Jumping in London and then 24th in Helsinki in 1952. He won a bronze medal as a member of the 1952 U.S. Team Jumping squad.

He eventually moved to San Antonio, Texas, and became the head of the U.S, Modern Pentathlon team in 1956. Over his career in that sport, he was the U.S. coach at six Olympic Games and 22 world championships; American athletes won six Olympic medals under his guidance between 1956-2000.

Russell helped organize the 1959 and 1977 World Modern Pentathlon Championships, and ran the modern pentathlon competition at the 1959 Pan American Games. He will be missed as a stalwart in both sports. Rest in Peace.

THE BIG PICTURE: U.S. House passes S. 2330 in eight minutes; bill that could suspend U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee heads to White House

By
Rich Perelman
-
The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

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With all the drama of checking out a book from a library, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 2330, the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020, sending the bill to President Donald Trump for signature or veto by 13 October.

The bill potentially places the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee on a path to suspension by the International Olympic Committee, but that was never mentioned in the perfunctory remarks on the bill by Democratic Rep. Karen Bass (D-California) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pennsylvania). Said Bass:

“This comes in the wake of Larry Nassar‘s sexual abuse scandal. Bi-partisan investigations launched in the House and Senate revealed systemic failures within the Olympic Committee that contributed to widespread instances of sexual abuse of athletes, including minors. These include a lack of effective oversight of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and National Governing Bodies, the failure of these organizations to uphold their duty to protect athletes from abuse by failing to report allegations of wrongdoings to appropriate law enforcement authorities, and concealing these failures and neglecting to enact serious reforms.

“S. 2330 addresses these issues through a series of governance and oversight reforms, including increasing the liability of the USOPC and NGBs, providing Congressional authority to decertify NGBs, increasing the level of amateur athlete representations on the USOPC board and NGB governing structures and requiring the USOPC to establish clear procedures and reporting requirements to protect athletes. It strengthens the work of the nonprofit organization that is responsible for investigating allegations of sexual abuse against athletes.

“The bill requires $20 million in funding for the Center for SafeSport each year to cover its operating costs. The bill also prevents potential conflicts of interest by prohibiting individuals who are employed by the USOPC or an NGB from serving the Center for SafeSport and limiting the ability of former employers and Board members from serving.

“S. 2330 is supported by the USOPC, the Center for SafeSport and a coalition of hundreds of Olympic and Paralympic athletes, sports leaders and sexual abuse survivors. The bill was passed by the Senate by unanimous consent on August 4, 2020, and its companion bill has bi-partisan support here in the House as well.”

Reschenthaler added:

“In 2016, we were shaken by the revelations of abuse that permeated USA Gymnastics in the Olympic community. While the blame for this abuse falls squarely at the feet of the predator, USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee also failed the victims. …

“S. 2330 supports the work that [the U.S. Center for SafeSport] is doing. It helps address the shortcomings in the Committee that allowed the abuse to occur. One of the most important reforms in this bill is a requirement that athletes serve on the governing bodies that oversee their sports, ensuring that athletes finally get a seat at the table.”

The entire process of approving the bill – under suspension of the House rules – and the accompanying S.Con.Res. 46, took eight minutes, ending at 2:35 p.m. Eastern time.

The bill requires multiple reforms within the USOPC and the U.S. NGBs which have either already taken place, or are in process within the USOPC’s own structure. However, it also alters the current operating scenario for the USOPC and the NGBs:

● If signed into law by President Trump, a 16-member Commission on the State of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics would have to be formed almost immediately, with a report due back to the Congress as early as 9 July 2021.

● As Bass noted, the USOPC will be required to fund the U.S. Center for SafeSport with $20 million annually, to be delivered each year by 4 January, with daily penalties for any delay. It’s a remarkable requirement for the U.S. Government to require a private corporation which receives no government funding to be required to pay a specified amount to another entity!

● The most controversial part of the bill is sec. 220552, which allows the Congress, by joint resolution, to dissolve the USOPC Board of Directors, or to de-certify a U.S. National Governing Body.

The latter provision “shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act,” which could be as soon as 13 October 2021. That’s after the close of the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games and before the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China.

The International Olympic Committee has already voiced its concerns over sec. 220552 as in violation of the Olympic Charter (Rule 27) and has the potential to lead to a suspension of the USOPC. That could mean that the size of the American team for Beijing 2022 could be limited and that it would not be allowed to use the U.S. flag in any ceremonies and any victory ceremonies would use the Olympic Hymm instead of the American national anthem.

In the meantime, the bill now moves to the White House. President Trump has 10 days – excepting Sundays – to sign it, veto it or do nothing, in which case the bill will become law. That means the fate of the bill should be known by Tuesday, 13 October (Monday is Columbus Day, a Federal holiday).

Lausanne is watching, with interest. It’s worth noting that the IOC Executive Board will meet remotely on 7 October; this could be a new item on the agenda.

Another bill of importance to the U.S. Olympic Movement also was approved in the House with little fanfare on Tuesday (29 September): H.R. 5373, the United States Anti-Doping Agency Reauthorization Act of 2019.

Similarly whisked through on a suspension of the rules, the bill approves U.S. government funding totaling $178.1 million for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency from fiscal 2021 through 2029, with increasing amounts each year:

“(1) for fiscal year 2021, $15,500,000;
“(2) for fiscal year 2022, $16,200,000;
“(3) for fiscal year 2023, $16,900,000;
“(4) for fiscal year 2024, $17,700,000;
“(5) for fiscal year 2025, $18,500,000;
“(6) for fiscal year 2026, $21,900,000;
“(7) for fiscal year 2027, $22,800,000;
“(8) for fiscal year 2028, $24,900,000; and
“(9) for fiscal year 2029, $23,700,000.”

This bill now heads to the Senate for its consideration.

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