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LANE ONE: World Athletics finally unveils potentially huge new World Road Running Championships for 2023

By
Rich Perelman
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(Concerning U.S. House action on S. 2330, the “Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020,” the bill is listed for consideration this week, but was not brought to the House floor on Tuesday or Wednesday. Stay tuned.)

Tuesday’s announcement that World Athletics would create a “World Road Running Championships” for 2023 hardly sent ripples through the track & field world, but it should have.

For a federation which has a significant need for new sources of funding, a higher profile and desires a direct link to personal fitness in the 214 nations with member federations, this could be the start of something really good.

The posted notice was unfortunately short on details and vision, other than:

“The Road Running Championships will encompass the existing World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, but will also feature the world 5km championships as a new event, and could potentially include other distances such as a road mile in the future.

“It is also envisioned that mass races will be held alongside the elite championships to allow recreational runners to be part of a global festival of road running.”

Yawn. For a look at what this event could be, one only need to check out the UCI World Road Championships, first held in 1921! For 2020, this event was supposed to be held in Switzerland from 20-27 September, but had to be canceled there due to the coronavirus on 12 August. It took the UCI all of 21 days to find a new venue, at Imola, Italy, where the Worlds were held last weekend (24-27 September).

The current bid guide for the UCI World Road Champs notes:

● Eight days of road racing and time trials, including public-participation events
● Television coverage by 250 million viewers in 100+ countries
● 220,000 unique spectators at Innsbruck (AUT) in 2018
● 2018 visitors accounted for €35.7 million (~$41.8 million U.S. today) in spending
● Current UCI fee for the host region is CHF 8 million (~$8.7 million U.S.)

A World Athletics World Road Running Championships has the same opportunities or more. One of the big costs for cycling road-race organizers is preparation of the course, which requires extensive infrastructure and security supervision over more than 100 miles of roads. For road racing on foot, the costs are only a fraction, especially when loop courses are used.

Consider this Sunday’s London Marathon, which will be an elites-only race on a compacted course from the normal route. The 26.2-mile (42.2 km) course will be held on closed-loop course consisting of 19.6 clockwise laps of 2.15 km each around St. James’s Park, ending on The Mall in central London. The same concept was used in Vienna (AUT) in 2019 for Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge’s 1:59:41 marathon time-trial in The Prater, with the course consisting of 9.6 km loops, allowing easy spectator access.

So for a World Athletics World Road Running Championships, a full week of racing (maybe even nine days, with two weekends!) could be envisioned – all using the same course – including a ginormous raise in profile for the race walks:

● World Half Marathon Champs
● World 10 km Champs
● World 5 km Champs
● World Road Mile Champs
● World 20 km Walk Champs
● World 50 km Walk Champs

Among these events, World Athletics only holds stand-alone World Championships events in the Half Marathon (the next is coming up on 17 October in Gdynia, Poland), although there is a World Race Walking Team Championship event. The marathon is not included, as it is part of the World Athletics Championships.

Current road-racing world record distances include the 5 km, 10 km and Half Marathon, plus both walks.

Clearly, senior (men and women) and junior (U-20 men and women) divisions can be held, plus public-participation events before or after. And by using a park or similar facility – perhaps an auto raceway, as was used for the UCI Road Worlds this year in Imola – any impact on civic traffic would be minimized, so any city of a significant size (with good hotel stock) could be a quality venue.

There are many ancillary events which can be added to this program, including – but not limited to – a runner’s expo, fitness and wellness conference, “hall of fame” events honoring past stars, concerts, exhibitions and many more. All of these add to the attractiveness of the event for potential visitors, whether spectators or public-participation competitors, or both.

Happily, World Athletics has an innovative, fearless Director of Competitions in Dane Jakob Larsen, who organized the memorable 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus. Complexity relative to size and scope will not stop him.

Interested cities are being asked to signal interest in the event. Hopefully, many will. The potential for this event is almost unlimited and the costs should be manageable, especially in Europe or the U.S., for any city with significant parks and recreation facilities (or, as noted above, a big auto racing facility) and an appetite for increased tourism.

Only the 2023 event has been announced and the usual format for World Athletics is to hold such major events every other year. Let’s hope that this new program is annual and becomes the most important annual demonstration of the benefits from the oldest form of exercise: walking and running. Everyone will benefit from that.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: Tokyo 2020 announces “simplification” measures; IOC concerns mount on Italian government meddling; more time for Russia on re-entry plan

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● The Tokyo organizers and the International Olympic Committee jointly announced “over 50 measures have been designed to maximise cost savings and increase efficiencies in Games delivery” last Friday.

An actual list of the 52 items decided upon during the latest meeting of the IOC’s Coordination Commission was not provided. The most important was a 10-15% reduction in the number of “stakeholder” officials, with an accompanying reduction in amenities, such as hospitality and transportation. That alone will shave several millions from the cost of the event.

In addition, Village welcoming ceremonies for the teams are to be eliminated, fewer complimentary tickets will be available for the major ceremonies (and therefore more public tickets), plus reductions in transportation support for officials, reductions in civic and venue decor (which had been previously decried by some International Federations as insufficient already), later opening dates for training sites and the Main Press Center, reductions in Village cleaning frequency, trimming of spectator festivals and venue activity options, holding some pre-Games meetings remotely, and reviews of lighting and temporary power at venues. The total number of volunteers will be reviewed, perhaps filling more shifts with existing staff instead of bringing in replacements.

No specific amount of cost savings was announced, yet. The Tokyo organizers have promised to provide a revised estimate of the total cost of the Games as soon as solidified.

The president of the Tokyo organizing committee, former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, told a group of Liberal Democratic Party on Monday that “No matter what happens, we will be able to hold the Olympics.”

Last Friday, new Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told the United Nations General Assembly – in a pre-recorded address – that

“In the summer of next year, Japan is determined to host the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as proof that humanity has defeated the pandemic. I will continue to spare no effort in order to welcome you to Games that are safe and secure.”

On the sustainability front, Tokyo 2020 announced the collection of more than 24.5 tons of recycling plastics for use in the creation of the medal podiums:

“Launched in June 2019, the Recycled Plastic Victory Ceremony Podium Project mobilised citizens to donate used household plastics for recycling, with the cooperation of major retailers and 113 schools from across Japan and the active participation of P&G Group offices and organisations.”

This program extends the organizing committee’s manufacture of the more than 5,000 medals for the Games from the recycling of used mobile phones and similar devices from the Japanese public.

● XXV Olympic Winter Games: Milan-Cortina 2026 ● While the U.S. Congress is considering legislation which could lead to a suspension of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee has signaled its continuing, grave concern over the Italian government’s control of the country’s sports funding via a new agency, Sport e Salute.

The Italian all-sport newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reported (in English via Google Translate) reported the explicit comments of IOC President Thomas Bach to reporters at the UCI World Road Championships in Imola, Italy over the weekend:

“We are very worried about the situation of the CONI [Italian National Olympic Committee] and its functioning according to the new reform requested by the politicians. A National Olympic Committee that does not function and is not independent, and which is subject to orders from external bodies, does not respect the Olympic Charter. I had a meeting scheduled for October 15 with the Minister of Sport, [Vincenzo] Spadafora, but frankly at the moment I do not see the conditions for this meeting. Earlier this month we wrote a letter to the Ministry of Sport expressing our concern but we have not received any answers.”

and

“The general secretary of CONI needs to be put in a position to work in full capacity. Now, however, the general secretary is subject to the instructions of companies outside the CONI.”

Spadafora dismissed Bach’s comments, saying that “Bach is in an unusual and non-institutional way talking about a draft law that frankly I can hardly believe he personally read.” Spadafora believes there is no conflict, said there is no meeting scheduled and does not believe that the current dust-up even merits discussion of any suspension of the CONI, which would result in Italian athletes competing in Tokyo next year under the Olympic flag.

Bach also noted IOC concerns over the plans for the bobsled, luge and skeleton run and the speedskating venue for 2026, to be discussed further.

● Athletics ● World Athletics extended the deadline for the Russian Athletics Federation to submit a comprehensive plan to 1 March 2021. The federation’s Russian Task Force noted:

“Although the draft plan was better than what has come before (in particular, in acknowledging the doping culture in Russian athletics, and in identifying some of the systemic issues that have to be addressed to change that culture), it is nevertheless seriously deficient and does not meet most of the requirements set out in Council’s decision, particularly in relation to details of how RusAF’s strategic goals will be implemented and in relation to identification of the performance indicators to be used to assess progress towards those goals.”

And added:

“This failure appears to be due not to a lack of willingness but rather a lack of knowhow and resources. There is currently a void at RusAF – they have no board, no senior management, and very few experienced staff. They need to fill that void urgently with people who share the vision to change the culture of the organisation and the sport, and who have the skills to do so. We understand they are in the process of organising the election of a new President and management board, which will obviously be an important step.”

The World Athletics statement further specified the needed program for reinstatement must include:

“These requirements are: to ingrain throughout Russian athletics (including coaches and other support personnel employed by the Centre for Sports Preparation and/or through regional Ministries of Sport) a culture of zero tolerance for doping; and to rehabilitate RusAF so that it becomes a trusted ally of World Athletics in the fight for clean sport.”

The World Athletics Council will take up the question of re-authorizing the Authorized Neutral Athlete program – previously used to allow some Russian athletes to compete internationally – in December.

The next stage of the Lamine Diack saga in the French court is underway, as the former IAAF President and IOC Member was “interviewed” last Thursday (24th) concerning bribes in the IOC’s selection of the hosts of the 2016 Rio Games, 2020 Games awarded to Tokyo and the 2015, 2017 and 2019 IAAF World Championships. According to Agence France Presse:

“With his son, Diack is suspected of taking bribes, some disguised as lobbying contracts, in return for lending support to the host cities.

“French authorities are probing payments of $1.197 million and $1.685 million by the Tokyo bid committee to Black Tidings, a Singapore-based firm linked to Papa Massata Diack, before and after the Japanese capital was awarded the 2020 Games in 2013 by the International Olympic Committee.”

An NBC News analysis of banking records “include a spreadsheet listing 112 transactions totaling more than $55 million flowing in and out of bank accounts linked to the Diacks, including accounts tied to the Russian doping scandal.”

/Updated/ It’s been a tough year on the track and infield, but you wouldn’t know it from American Nick Ponzio after his win in the Diamond League meet in Rome on 17 September:

“I am on cloud nine! A win is a win, no matter if it is not a season’s best. I makes me feel amazing: This is my first Diamond League meeting and it is my first victory. I switched coaches, now I train with Ryan Whiting. I owe him everything.

“It is my first competition in Italy; it made a lot of sense to me to compete here. Hopefully I will get Italian citizenship. My mom and dad are Italian. Given the hard competition in men´s shot put in the U.S., I really would love to compete for Italy in the future. But I will continue to train in the U.S. with my coach.”

With a lifetime best of 21.72 m (71-3 1/4) this season, Ponzio, 25, ranks no. 4 on the world list for 2020. But matched against the full-season list in 2019, his mark would have ranked 11th worldwide but fourth in the U.S. He would easily have been the best in Italy last year, but second in 2020 to Leonardo Fabbri (no. 2 worldwide at 21.99 m/72-1 3/4).

(Thanks to Mel Watman of Athletics International for noting Fabbri’s superb 2020 performance.)

● Gymnastics ● Stung by revelations of athlete abuse, mostly in Artistic Gymnastics, the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) announced an online conference for 26-27 October “to encourage and reinforce the safeguarding of everyone involved in Gymnastics.”

The FIG announcement noted:

“A global reflection is all the more necessary in light of numerous testimonies from athletes, not only in Gymnastics but also in many other elite sports, revealing how mistreatment, intimidation and even physical and psychological abuse are considered, in many regions, to be an integral part of the experience of high-performance athletes.

Although methods differ according to traditions and countries, and what might be considered as controversial methods in one country could be accepted in others, the FIG intends to set up global norms in the world of Gymnastics, inviting everyone interested to contribute towards improving the sport and making it safer.”

● Weightlifting ● The controversies over the activities of former International Weightlifting Federation chief Tamas Ajan (HUN) are expanding.

The InsideTheGames Web site reported Friday that 130 doping samples – unprocessed and collected over a period of years – were “hidden” at the IWF headquarters in Budapest. The World Anti-Doping Agency is aware of the issue and the federation’s anti-doping activities are now carried out by the International Testing Agency.

● XXII Commonwealth Games: Birmingham 2022 ● A unique sponsorship agreement was announced for the 2022 Games, with the University of Birmingham (England) becoming a commercial partner of the event.

Universities are usually contracted venues for major Games, but the school – founded in 1825 and with 35,445 total students – sees outreach possibilities in an event which has a high profile in the 72 Commonwealth countries.

The agreement will make the university the lead sponsor of the international legs of the 21022 Queen’s Baton Relay, and offer volunteer opportunities for staff and students. The school will provide the largest share of the athlete housing for the Games and be the competition venue for field hockey and squash.

● At the BuZZer ● Sunday marked the 32nd anniversary of one of the low points in Olympic history, but perhaps the true start of the anti-doping movement. The tireless Walt Murphy, who was the in-booth statistician for NBC at the Seoul Games recalled in his daily “This Day in Track & Field”:

“[T]he off-day was going to offer those of us who were working on the NBC production crew a chance to get an extra hour or two of sleep and maybe take care of some laundry needs.

“But that all changed in the early morning hours as the word started to spread that [Canada’s 100 m winner Ben] Johnson had failed his drug test and would be disqualified! I received a call at about 6 a.m. from Pete Cava, who was working with NBC as an Olympic researcher.

“Announcers Charlie Jones, Frank Shorter, and Dwight Stones were going to discuss the breaking news with Bryant Gumbel and Jane Pauley, who were serving as the hosts for NBC’s broadcast, and I needed to be with them to offer any background information if the need arose.

“When we arrived on the set, Gumbel, realizing the gravity of the situation, put everyone at ease by saying, ‘All right, boys and girls, let’s have some fun with this.’ The segment went as well as could be expected, but there was no fun on the minds of those of us who were deeply involved in the sport.

“This would turn out to be our ‘Day of Infamy.’ a day when the general public’s perception of our sport was changed forever. Up until this point, most people looked upon T&F as a pure amateur sport, one in which athletes did all the right things as they pursued their Olympic dreams. Johnson’s subsequent trial and admission of guilt meant that things would never be the same again.”

LANE ONE: EXCLUSIVE ~ U.S. House set to vote on key Olympic reform bill as soon as Tuesday

By
Rich Perelman
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The U.S. government will contribute $9.15 million to the staging of the Oregon22 World Championships

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A bill which could place the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee in jeopardy of suspension by the International Olympic Committee is set to come to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives as soon as Tuesday, 29 September.

The U.S. Senate passed S. 2330, the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020 by unanimous consent on 4 August.

The bill is primarily concerned with the athlete abuse protection in the wake of the Larry Nassar gymnastics scandal and increases current and retired athlete participation in the USOPC, requires mandatory funding of $20 million annually to the U.S. Center for SafeSport by the USOPC, increases USOPC oversight requirements of the U.S. National Governing Bodies and forms a 16-member “Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics.”

It also includes sec. 220552, which would allow:

“(a) Dissolution Of Board Of Directors Of Corporation.—Effective on the date of enactment of a joint resolution [of the Congress] described in section 220551(2)(A) with respect to the board of directors of the [U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee], such board of directors shall be dissolved.

“(b) Termination Of Recognition Of National Governing Body.—Effective on the date of enactment of a joint resolution described in section 220551(2)(B) with respect to a national governing body, the recognition of the applicable amateur sports organization as a national governing body shall cease to have force or effect.”

All this for an organization which was formed in 1894, received a Federal Charter in 1950, but which receives no – as in zero – money from the U.S. government (the USOPC raises its revenue in the private sector).

Both the IOC and the USOPC have signaled concerns; USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland sent a letter last November that included:

“The USOPC should be the sole entity with authority to terminate NGB recognition in order to eliminate any confusion surrounding NGB accountability. Additionally, the International Olympic Committee has made clear that Congress assuming the power to dissolve the USOPC board would violate the Olympic Charter and endanger our recognition by the IOC as a National Olympic Committee.”

A request by one U.S. Senator to remove this section was brushed aside. Sec. 220552 would take effect one year after the date becomes law, which could be as soon as 10 October 2021. That’s after the postponed Tokyo Games of 2021, but before the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in China.

Nevertheless, Hirshland issued a positive public statement about S. 2330 after its passage, noting

“We would like to thank Chairman [Jerry] Moran and Senator [Richard] Blumenthal for their work in drafting and advancing this important legislation. It will cement increases in athlete representation in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movements, improvements in athlete safety protections, and increases in transparency and accountability in our system. The USOPC board recently approved the second phase of the most sweeping governance reforms in recent history. Building on that commitment and this legislation, we will move rapidly to implement reforms to address any outstanding provisions from this bill.”

The bill was forwarded to the House on 7 August, while a companion bill, H.R. 7881 was introduced on 30 July and assigned to the Judiciary Committee and the Education and Labor Committee. No hearings have been held on the House side, but there was significant activity on the bill in the last 10 days:

● On 18 September, House Concurrent Resolution 118 was introduced, asking for minor changes to S. 2330 as passed by the Senate. The motion was referred to the Judiciary Committee and the House Administration Committee.

● On 23 September, the Senate agreed, passing Senate Concurrent Resolution 46 to amend S. 2330 as requested by the House. The revised bill is now back in the hands of the House of Representatives.

Informed sources within the U.S. Olympic Movement have confirmed that the bill is due to come up for consideration as early as Tuesday (29th) under a suspension of the House rules. This is a procedure for expedited passage:

“When a bill or some other matter is considered ‘under suspension,’ floor debate is limited, all floor amendments are prohibited, and a two-thirds vote is required for final passage.”

There are procedures which could allow the bill to be passed by a simple majority if it fails to obtain a two-thirds majority (of the members present) on the first try.

If passed, the bill would be sent to President Donald Trump, who would have 10 days to sign it, veto it, or do nothing (in which case the bill would become law).

Amazingly, the umbrella group of the U.S. National Governing Bodies – the NGB Council – is not opposing the bill, despite having the fate of individual NGBs being subject not only to the USOPC, but also to the whim of the Congress.

Sources note that this is not from a lack of interest, but abject fear by many smaller NGBs of being seen as adverse to the SafeSport requirements, even though their size and budgets will not even begin to allow them to actually monitor the activities of their sport’s coaches, clubs and teams across the nation.

If the bill becomes law, one outcome is almost certain: USA Gymnastics will be vaporized as soon as sec. 220552 is activated a year after enactment.

The IOC has apparently hired its own representatives to explain its position on the bill, no doubt explaining that it has used its power to enforce the Olympic Charter before.

At least one Senator has scoffed at this, but this underestimates the IOC’s resolve and excellent leverage in this case. It famously expelled South Africa for its government-mandated apartheid policy from 1970-1991. Much more recently, the NOC of India (population: 1.27 billion at the time) was suspended from 2012-14 due to governmental interference in its elections, and the Kuwait NOC was on suspension for similar reasons from 2015-18.

The future could well be an IOC suspension in late 2021, significantly cutting the size of the U.S. team for Beijing, with American athletes marching in the Opening Ceremony under the Olympic Flag and, for any victory, seeing the Olympic Flag raised and the Olympic Hymm played instead of The Star-Spangled Banner.

The long-term implications of penalizing – and humiliating – the United States would send a thunderous signal to EVERY National Olympic Committee and International Federation that the IOC is gravely serious about its non-interference rules, which will immediately be far more respected everywhere else. The impact of such an action could last 50 years.

Such a sanction would require a renegotiation of the IOC contract with NBC Universal for U.S. television rights for the 2022 Winter Games. But with $2.51 billion in reserves, and as long as all of this is worked out in advance of the 2024 Paris Games, the IOC can handle it. Remember that its U.S. broadcast agreement runs through 2032 and many of its TOP sponsorships are agreed through 2028 or 2032 as well.

Even if the bill becomes law, there is a possibility for revision before the worst comes. The bill’s “Commission on the State of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics” requires a report within nine months after the enactment date, which could recommend deletion of the two offending clauses. The key to getting the right advice from such a group – 16 political appointees – will depend on the hiring of a quality staff director, such as the now-retired Mike Harrigan, the person most responsible for the drafting and passage of the original Amateur Sports Act of 1978 and one of the few people in the world who actually understands its terms and requirements.

Many of the provisions of S. 2330 have already been implemented by the USOPC through its three rounds of governance reforms and the Commission could be a useful program for further fine-tuning. But there is danger ahead if the proposed bill becomes law.

The Congress cannot say it was not warned, and despite its insistence that its actions will help American athletes, it is athletes – once again – who are likely to be hurt.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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CYCLING: Van der Breggen & Alaphilippe score historic Worlds road wins in Imola

By
Rich Perelman
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France's Julian Alaphilippe (right) takes off on the way to the 2020 UCI World Road Championship in Italy (Photo: UCI)

At 28, France’s Julian Alaphilippe is now widely known for his brilliant riding in the 2019 Tour de France, where he held the yellow jersey for 14 of the 21 stages before giving way on the next-to-last day and fading to fifth overall.

But that’s not the same as winning and on Sunday, he claimed victory in the UCI World Road Championships with another of his patented late attacks.

That came near the end of a grueling 258.2 km route, including nine laps that each featured dual climbs up the Mazzolano and the Cima Gallisterna and then a downhill finish into the Autodromo Ferrari in Imola, Italy. Each lap included 550 m of incline!

There were attacks galore during the race, with Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar (SLO) sprinting out of the seventh lap (about 40 km to go) and taking a 25-second lead into the final circuit. But he was caught on the ride on the Mazzolano and then the Italian team attacked with 20 km left, but not decisively.

A group of about a dozen riders jockeyed for the position up the final climb of the Cima Gallisterna, then Alaphilippe charged just at the top and teamed into the lead, breaking away from a group including Marc Hirschi (SUI), Primoz Roglic (SLO), Michal Klwiatkowski (POL), Wout van Aert (BEL) and Dane Jakob Fuglsang.

But Alaphilippe is an especially gifted downhill rider and he maintained a gap of 10-15 seconds all the way into the raceway, winning by 24 seconds. It was the first French victory in the World Road Championships since Laurent Brochard in 1997.

“For this moment it’s really hard to say something. I want to say ‘thank-you’ to all my teammates who really believed in me today. Everybody did a great job. It was a dream of my career. Sometimes, I was so close, and I was never on the podium. I came here with a lot of ambition and it’s just a dream day for me.”

Behind him, the race for second got tactical at the end and van Aert had the best finish to claim second over Hirschi, with Kwiatkowski fourth and Fuglsang fifth.

The UCI World Tour is now in full swing, with the famous La Fleche Wallonne classic coming in Belgium on Wednesday (30th), and the five-stage BinckBank Tour in Belgium and Holland starting Tuesday (29th). The Giro d’Italia comes on 3 October.

On Saturday, Dutch star Anna van der Breggen completed a historic double by taking off with 42 km remaining on the hilly, 143 km loop course in and around Imola. No one could stay with her and she won easily in 4:09:57, some 1:20 ahead of teammate Annemiek van Vleuten, the defending champion.

It was only the second time ever and the first time since 1995 that one woman won both the Road Race and the Individual Time Trial at the World Championships, matching the feat of France’s Jeannie Longo.

Said the winner, “It’s incredible. It was a really hard race, we were fighting from the beginning. The climbs were really tough. In the fourth lap, I felt strong. We made the race hard and I just went for it. I felt good but it was really hard. The circuit had some flat parts but it was very hard. I never expected this. This season is pretty good for me so far.”

The silver was itself a remarkable achievement for van Vleuten, who broke her left wrist just nine days ago in a crash during the seventh stage of the Giro Rosa. She out-sprinted Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini at the line, with both given the same time. Three-time World Champion Marianne Vos (NED) finished fourth.

The Dutch domination of women’s cycling continues unabated. Van der Breggen won her third Worlds gold – also the 2018 Road Race – and Dutch women have won the last four World Road Races and three of the last four Time Trials.

Van der Breggen has to be excited about the next three weeks, with six one-day races in Belgium and Holland, starting with La Fleche Wallonne Feminine on Wednesday in and around Huy (BEL), a race she has won each of the last five years!

HIGHLIGHTS: World leaders for Kipyegon and Obiri in Doha Diamond League; Ganna overpowers field for World Time Trial title in Italy

By
Rich Perelman
-
Italy's Filippo Ganna closing in on a world title in the Individual Time Trial before home fans in Imola, Italy (Photo from UCI video)

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Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Athletics ● The Wanda Diamond League finale in Doha (QAT) took place without fans and in hot conditions, but still produced some stirring competitions and two world-leading marks:

● Women/800 m: 1:57.68, Faith Kipyegon (KEN)
● Women/3,000 m: 8:22.54, Hellen Obiri (KEN)

The distance races were especially impressive, with temperatures at the Qatar Sports Club Stadium hovering between 34-35 C (93-95 F) during the entire meet. Highlights:

● Men/400 m: American Kahmari Montgomery raised his right fist during his introduction, then slept through the first 200 m. He woke up in time to blast into contention around the turn and then charged down the straight to win in 45.55. Kuwait’s Yousef Karam was second in 45.72.

● Men/800 m: One of the highlight events of the meet came down to the final 200 m, with Kenyan Ferguson Rotich exploding around the turn and taking the win in 1:44.16, a season’s best. Elliot Giles showed he is another British half-miler to be taken seriously, with second in a lifetime best of 1:44.56. American Bryce Hoppel was fifth in 1:45.86.

● Men/1,500 m: Australia’s Stewart McSweyn came in as the favorite, with the idea of taking the national record away from Ryan Gregson (3:31.06 ‘10), who was also in the race. But McSweyn had full control of this race, storming to the lead with 330 m left and sailing home in 3:30.51. It’s a lifetime best, an Australian record and still no. 5 on the 2020 world list.

● Men/110 m hurdles: Two false starts trimmed the field to seven, leaving the race to improving American Aaron Mallet. He started the day with a lifetime best of 13.23, but even while hitting hurdles two and nine, he ran away to a lifetime best of 13.15 with just a 0.3 m/s aiding wind. The former Iowa All-American is likely to end the season no. 3 on the world list!

● Men/Pole Vault: The three big names – Mondo Duplantis (SWE), Sam Kendricks (USA) and Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) separated themselves as the only ones to clear 5.82 m (19-1 1/4). The bar then went to 5.92 m (19-5), with Kendricks and Lavillenie missing three times. Duplantis missed twice, but as the winner, he moved to 6.00 m (19-8 1/4) and missed, but was the winner with his perfect chart through 5.82 m.

● Women/100 m: This wasn’t close, as reigning Olympic gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah got off well and breezed to victory in the third-fastest time of the year in 10.87, backing up her 10.85 world-leader in Rome on the 17th. Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV) was second in 11.21.

● Women/800 m: An excellent field produced a world-leading mark. Off a strong pace. Spain’s Esther Guerrero led the field down the back straight, but reigning Olympic 1,500 m champ Faith Kipyegon unleashed a spectacular charge on the last half-lap to win easily in 1:57.68. That’s the fastest time in 2020, and a lifetime best by 0.34. Guerrero was a clear second with a seasonal best of 1:59.22.

● Women/3,000 m: A great field was towed through the first six laps at 8:30 pace, then Kenya’s distance star Hellen Obiri took over with 700 m remaining, with only countrywoman and Steeple world-record holder Beatrice Chepkoech close. This pair continued in front with Chepkoech in the lead at the bell, but then Obiri turned on the jets with 300 left and no one could catch her. She finished in a world-leading 8:22.54, her second-fastest ever!

Chepkoech was run down in the final 10 m by fellow Kenyan Agnes Tirop (8:22.92) and finished third in 8:22.92, both personal bests. In fact, placers 2-6 all got lifetime bests, including Kenyans Margaret Kipkemboi (8:24.76) and Hyvin Kiyeng (8:25.13) and Gudaf Tsegay (ETH: 8:25.23).

● Women/100 m hurdles: Strong performances for two lesser-known American hurdlers, taking advantage of being on the circuit while others stayed home. Payton Chadwick took control mid-race from British star Cindy Ofili and won in 12.78, while Taliyah Brooks came on in lane seven and grabbed a lifetime best in 12.86 for second. Ofili was third in 13.02. Chadwick moves to no. 6 on the year list.

● Women/Long Jump: The oddball system of using the last round to rank the top three saw Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk (UKR) actually get off the best jump of the day at 6.91 m (22-8) to take the win. Five-round leader Khaddi Sagnia (SWE) managed only 6.55 m (21-6) in the last round and ended up third, despite her 6.85 m (22-5 3/4) in the second round. Nigeria’s Ese Brume ended up second with 6.68 m (21-11) in the final and a full-day best of 6.71 m (22-0 14).

While this was the last Diamond League meet for the season, there are still Continental Tour stops in Nairobi (KEN) on 3 October, Osaka (JPN) on 24 October and Sao Paulo (BRA) on 6 December.

● Cycling ● Australia’s Rohan Dennis came into Friday’s UCI World Championships Time Trial as the two-time defending gold medalist and primed to ride, but had not won any of his three time-trial races this season.

He got off to a good start, but not as good as the second-seeded Filippo Ganna of Italy, riding on home soil in Imola. He was considered a favorite after winning the Italian national time trial title in August and then the final stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico – a time trial – on 14 September.

Ganna burst off the start and ripped through the course in Imola, Italy with abandon, piling up a huge lead by the mid-way point of the 31.7 km course. Britain’s Geraint Thomas had set a fierce pace and was the race leader for a while; his 14.9 km split of 18:41 was not touched until Ganna came through in an amazing 18:05, signaling he was going to be the leader when he finished.

That left Dennis as the last challenger, but while he timed 18:26 at 14.9 km, he looked no better than silver as Ganna did not let up. In fact, Dennis finished fifth, 39 seconds behind the winner.

Belgium’s Wout van Aert, another of the favorites, steamed through the second half of the course to win silver (+0:26) and Swiss Stefan Kung (+0:29) was third. Thomas finished just off the podium in fourth (+0:37).

Ganna – a four-time World Champion on the track in the Individual Pursuit – became the first-ever Italian winner of the Worlds Time Trial, first run in 1994; he won bronze in this race in 2019. Van Aert’s silver gave Belgium a medal for the third straight year (3-2-2. Kung won Switzerland’s first medal in this event since 2013.

“It’s incredible, I’m really happy,” said Ganna. “I had an amazing support from the car in the final kilometres. I wasn’t feeling too much pressure. I stayed with friends these last days, to just talk and think about anything but the Worlds. It’s a dream, I don’t have words. I already wore the rainbow jersey on the track but never on the road, so this will be a new experience for me.”

The UCI Worlds conclude on the weekend, with the women’s Road Race on Saturday and the men’s road Race on Sunday. NBC’s Olympic Channel has coverage in the U.S.

Fairly good news on American Chloe Dygert, who was well positioned to win another world title in the women’s Individual Time Trial, but crashed after the halfway mark. USA Cycling posted a statement including:

“She sustained a laceration to her left leg as a result of the crash. …

“Dygert was immediately treated by event medics at the site of the crash. She was transported to a hospital in Bologna, Italy where she was treated by their medical team. She is out of surgery, resting comfortably and is expected to make a full recovery.”

Dygert tweeted:

“I remember thinking what if I can get my bike can I still win? The first thing I remember was asking [USA Cycling Sports Performance chief] @JimMiller_time if I was done. Then I looked down and saw my leg.

“Thank you for all the well wishes.

“I’ll be back.”

THE TICKER: Bach has “cautious optimism” on Tokyo; more Mondo in final Diamond League meet Friday; van der Breggen wins women’s time trial as Dygert crashes

By
Rich Perelman
-
World Champion Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands (Photo: Innsbruck 2018)

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach (GER) posted his second letter on Olympism and the coronavirus on Tuesday, celebrating the return to competition in some sports. But what about the Tokyo Games?

“[T]hese recent weeks have shown that we can organise big sports events in a safe way even without a vaccine. On the other hand, we have to realise that even testing methods and vaccines are not the ‘silver bullet’ that will solve all our problems. We just do not yet know the full impact of any potential vaccine. But, altogether, there are good reasons for cautious optimism.

“The IOC will continue to study these developments closely. We are also evaluating what consequences they would have for the organisation of sports events, ranging from the need to change certain rules of our respective organisations to medical, economic, social and logistical aspects. To this end, we continue to cooperate closely with the World Health Organization, public authorities, medical and scientific experts, as well as pharmaceutical companies. We are also drawing from the experience of those sports organisations that have recently organised successful events. We of course will share any insights with all those concerned among you, so that all of us in the Olympic Movement can benefit.”

On Wednesday, Kyodo News reported:

“Japan will allow the entry of foreign athletes for next summer’s rescheduled Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics if they meet a set of requirements, such as presenting negative test results for the novel coronavirus upon their arrival, a government-led panel said Wednesday.

“The agreed-upon criteria also include not using public transportation in principle and consent to movement restrictions within Japan.”

The Japanese government currently has entry restrictions on individuals from 159 nations, but a special task force is looking at a protocol for the Games which would allow athletes to enter and compete. A report on the suggested program is expected by the end of the year.

● Athletics ● The final edition of the abbreviated Wanda Diamond League season comes Friday in Doha (QAT), with some excellent fields lined up:

● Men/800 m: Four sub-1:45 performers, with world no. 2 Bryce Hoppel of the U.S. (1:43.23) the fastest on time, but he will have his hands full with Australia’s Peter Bol (1:44.96 in 2020), Elliot Giles (GBR: 1:44.68) and Kenyan Ferguson Rotich (1:44.34). Will 1,500 m superstar Tim Cheruiyot have enough speed to win his first 800 m race in a year? His last race was a win at the 2019 Kenyan Nationals in 1:43.11!

● Men/1,500 m: Australia’s Stewart McSweyn has become one of the more dangerous metric milers in the world this season, with a lifetime best of 3:31.48 in Stockholm (SWE) last month. He will be chased by Kenya’s Bethwell Birgen (3:30.77 lifetime best), who hasn’t run since February, Ethiopian distance star Selemon Barega and even super steeplers Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR) and Conseslus Kipruto (KEN).

● Men/110 m hurdles: French champ Wilhem Belocian, no. 3 on the world list for 2020 (13.18), takes on Americans Aaron Mallet (5th: 13.23) and Freddie Crittenden (9th: 13.30).

● Men/Pole Vault: Almost all of the usual suspects are here, including world-record holder – indoors and out – Mondo Duplantis (SWE), reigning World Champion Sam Kendricks of the U.S.; 2012 Olympic champ Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) and one of the surprises of the season, American Matt Ludwig, who has cleared a lifetime best of 5.90 m (19-4 1/4) in 2020.

● Women/100 m: World leader Elaine Thompson-Herah (JAM: 10.85) is a big favorite over familiar foes Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV: 11.14 in 2020) and Americans Aleia Hobbs (11.12) and Kayla White (11.18).

● Women/800 m: Olympic 1,500 m champ Faith Kipyegon (KEN) comes down in distance, to be challenged by Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo as well as three 2:00 performers this season: American Kaela Edwards (2:00.38), Spain’s Esther Guerrero (2:00.56) and Brit Adelle Tracey (2:00.99).

● Women/3,000 m: The final event, and for good reason with 16 entries and eight from Kenya. World 5,000 m Champion Hellen Obiri has to be the favorite, from her world-leading 14:22.12 in the 5,000 m in Monaco last month. But she will get a considerable argument from Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, the Worlds 1,500 m bronze winner in Doha in 2019; Britain’s onrushing Laura Weightman, who has lifetime bests at 1,500 m and 5,000 m this season, world Steeple record holder Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) and 2016 Olympic Steeple silver medalist Hyvin Kiyeng (KEN) and Kenyan Agnes Tirop, the 2015 World Cross Country champ.

In other events, France’s Christophe Lemaitre leads the field in the men’s 200 m, against Americans Michael Rodgers, Demek Kemp and Chris Belcher, among others, and former U.S. 400 m champion Kahmari Montgomery is one of the favorites in the men’s 400 m.

The meet will be televised in the U.S. by NBCSN, beginning at noon Eastern time on Friday.

Although the season is drawing to a close, world leaders were logged in the last few days in the men’s 10,000 m by Kenyan Nicholas Kimeli (26:58.97) on the 19th in Leiden (NED), and in the 50 km Walk by China’s Zhaxi Yangben (3:52:19) in a race in Taian on 20 September.

● Cycling ● Dutch star Anna van der Breggen finally won the UCI World Championship in the Individual Time Trial, but only thanks to a terrible crash that ended the race for defending champion Chloe Dygert of the U.S.

Van der Breggen had won the Worlds silver in the three previous years as well as in 2015 and rode smoothly on the hilly, 31.7 km course in Imola, Italy. Seeded second, she was in a tight battle on the clock with third-seed Marlen Reusser of Switzerland, who eventually finished second (+15.58 seconds). Van der Breggen’s winning time was 40:20.14..

But Dygert was racing at a torrid pace and was 26.54 seconds ahead of Reusser and 36.25 seconds ahead of van der Breggen at the 14.9 km checkpoint. But soon after, her front wheel wobbled badly while on a right-turn descent and she not only plowed into a guard rail, but flipped over into the vegetation below.

Reports showed Dygert, 23, being placed on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to a hospital. She was conscious and speaking, but the extent of her injuries has been disclosed.

For van der Breggen, 30, the title just about completes her career as one of the greatest women’s riders ever. The reigning Olympic road gold medalist from Rio, she won the 2018 Worlds Road Race, three editions of the Giro Rosa and European titles in both the Road Race and Time Trial. She has said she will retire at the end of 2021.

Said the winner, “Getting second for many years, I cannot really believe it yet. I said to my director ‘Don’t tell me split times, I just want to go as fast as possible to the finish line’.”

Ellen van Dijk of The Netherlands won the bronze (+31.46) and two Americans finished in the top 10: former World Champion Amber Neben (6th: +1:20.32) and Lauren Stephens was ninth (+1:43.03).

The men’s Time Trial comes on Friday, the women’s Road Race on Saturday and the men’s Road Race on Sunday. NBC’s Olympic Channel has live coverage in the U.S.

The astonishing Stage 20 time trial by Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar that keyed his win in the Tour de France, as well as an investigation by French authorities into the Arkea-Samsic team headed by Colombian star Nairo Quintana, has started the chatter about doping in the sport once again.

You can read about the chirping here; two staff members of Quintana’s team were taken into custody, but both have been released. Said French rider Guillaume Martin, who finished 11th overall: “This is the price of the sport’s troubled past. One has to live with it.”

● Figure Skating ● At age 20, Maria Sotskova’s figure skating career appears to be over. Really over.

The 2017 ISU Grand Prix Final silver medalist was banned for 10 years (!) by the Russian Anri-Doping Agency (RUSADA) for forging documents:

“RUSADA’s Disciplinary Committee has disqualified Maria Sotskova for 10 years for forging a medical certificate while trying to explain why she failed to comply with doping test obligations.

“A prohibited substance was also detected on one of Sotskova’s doping probes.”

She had announced her retirement last July, and RUSADA will ensure she stays that way.

● Gymnastics ● USA Gymnastics filed two motions with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana this week, asking for time extensions for the filing of its revised plan of reorganization and for the movement of suits to federal court. These motions will allow the planned court-supervised mediation to go forward in October. In the motion to extend the deadline for removing suits from state court to federal court to 31 December 2020:

“The parties are currently finalizing the logistics for the Settlement Conference and the Debtor anticipates that preparing its Settlement Conference presentation will demand a significant investment of resources. In addition, the Debtor continues to revise its proposed plan of reorganization and disclosure statement. The Debtor also continues to prosecute in this Court, the District Court, and the Seventh Circuit certain insurance coverage disputes with the goal of increasing the amount of insurance proceeds available for a settlement fund.”

So the strategy of trying to twist more money from insurers continues in force.

● Wrestling ● The U.S. will announce sanctions against an Iranian court, judge and prison facility today (24th) in the wake of the execution of wrestler Nafid Afkari. FoxNews.com reported:

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will announce Thursday afternoon sanctions against Judge Seyyed Mahmoud Sadati, Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz and Adelabad Prison for their involvement in the trial, imprisonment and execution of Navid Afkari, said a U.S. official. Afkari was a wrestler arrested in 2018 for participating in protests. He was accused of murder, tortured and executed Sept. 12, according to a U.S. official.

“‘These so-called ‘revolutionary courts’ are not what anyone in the United States would recognize as a court. Their purpose is to maintain the regime’s stranglehold on power and put Iranians who seek freedom into prison – or even to order their execution,’ said Elliott Abrams, U.S. Special Representative for Iran. ‘They take orders for their verdicts from the ayatollahs and they make a mockery of justice.’”

● Doping ● Add another log on the Russian doping fire. According to a story on the Russian Sport-Express site, a massive 2017 investigation which led to doping inquiries of about 60 junior athletes and a physician – the “Chuvash case” – has nearly collapsed.

The criminal case eventually was dismissed but the Russian anti-doping process continued. Five athletes had hearings during the summer, with three acquitted and two others sanctioned (but for periods which had already expired). Another 16 cases were recently dismissed, with all of the athletes being minors.

According to the athlete’s attorney, Anna Antseliovich (per a computer translation from the original Russian):

“During the hearings, we were able to prove that the athletes, all of whom were minors at the time of 2017, could not realize that they were committing an anti-doping rule violation, and completely relied on the professionalism of the medical staff.”

So who was giving these youngsters these medications? Where are the charges against them?

Antseliovich indicated that there are still about 30 cases in process, with varying circumstances.

Sounds like the World Anti-Doping Agency might want to raise some questions.

● XXII Olympic Winter Games: Sochi 2014 ● The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced decisions in three doping cases from the Sochi Games concerning Russian biathletes.

Olga Vilukhina won the silver in the 7.5 km Sprint and was seventh in the 10 km Pursuit (among five total events), Yana Romanova was in four events and Olga Zaytseva was in six. All were disqualified by the IOC for doping violations as part of the Russian cover-up scandal at the Games.

The CAS panel decided that not enough evidence was shown to adequately charge Vilukhina and Romanova with doping violations and their individual results (and Vilukhina’s silver medal) are restored. However, Zaytseva’s sanction for substitution of her sample and for using a prohibited substance was upheld. Her lifetime ban, however, was reduced to ineligibility for the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea. Now 42, she retired in January 2015.

The Russian women’s 4×6 km Relay won silver in Sochi, with all three women participating, and that disqualification stands, as does the Mixed Relay, where Vilukhina and Zaytseva competed and the Russian team finished fourth.

● The Last Word ● David Woods, the veteran Olympic writer for the Indianapolis Star, is worried about the future of the Games, commenting in a recent e-mail:

“I kinda think we will have an Olympics but am prepared for them to be cancelled, too. I thought back in March that it would be smart to postpone Tokyo to summer 2022.

“1940, 1980, 2020. No city should bid for 2060 Olympics.”

The 1940 Games was originally awarded to Tokyo, but was cancelled due to World War II; the 1980 Moscow Games suffered a massive, U.S.-led boycott, and now the unprecedented delay of the 2020 Games to 2021. Thankfully, no one has signaled interest in the Games of the XLII Olympiad!

LANE ONE: U.S. collegiate sports cuts pressure schools, networks and even football with name-image-likeness looming in ‘21; is there hope?

By
Rich Perelman
-

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Stanford’s decision to discontinue 11 varsity sports last July and the University of Minnesota’s 10 September announcement that men’s gymnastics, tennis and indoor and outdoor track & field will be cut sent shock waves through the collegiate sports community.

Minnesota’s decision brought this tweet from University of Virginia coach (and USA Track & Field President) Vin Lananna:

“Tone deaf is the elimination of the track and field program at the flagship university in the city that has been at the center of social injustice. TF is one of the sports that provides access to students of color”

and followed by

“College track and field provides access to education for 1000’s of students of color every year. As these programs are eliminated what happens to these student athletes and their coaches? Speak up!”

Former 100 m world-record holder Leroy Burrell, head coach at Houston and President of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) circulated a letter on 15 September that included:

“Thursday’s announcement … is a shot-across-the-bow that threatens every Division I men’s track & field/cross country program in the country. It is clear to me that our sport is being made a scapegoat due to years of athletic administration mismanagement and poor decisions that have led to departments that are highly leveraged. Looking for excuses in the name of temporary financial shortfalls as a result of COVID-19 and ‘Title IX compliance’ is unacceptable. The ‘difficult choices’ cited by Minnesota and others to drop men’s track & field and/or cross country does little to nothing to rectify their temporary financial situations, while permanently eliminating student-athlete opportunities. …

“Going forward, I am directing our national office to seek out a public relations firm interested in providing pro bono professional assistance to create and execute a national campaign to educate university administrators and the general public on the values and benefits of a track & field/cross country program. In addition, I am requesting the national office to identify a law firm and/or lobbyist to assist in guiding our campaign’s direction. Further, I plan to challenge our association’s board of directors, executive committees, and all member coaches to engage in our messaging as we move forward.”

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit full-force in March, some 66 Olympic-sport programs have been cut by NCAA Division I schools, including:

● 18 in Tennis: 11 for men, seven for women
● 10 in Swimming & Diving: five for men and five for women
● 9 in Track & Field (all men): two in outdoor T&F, five in indoor T&F, two in Cross-Country
● 5 in Gymnastics: three for men, two for women
● 5 in Golf: three for men, two for women

That’s the bad news, and it gets worse when one considers the losses being sustained with limited football seasons and games with few or no fans. The financial pressure on all intercollegiate sports at almost all universities is going to increase.

The NCAA is moving steadily toward a liberalized policy on athlete name, image and likeness use, with the Division I rules expected to be voted on in November and in place for the 2021-22 school year. The NCAA has asked the U.S. Congress for legislation in order to create a national set of rules, rather than a state-by-state patchwork, but whether this is even possible in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and the 2020 election season, is unknown.

The great danger of the so-called “NIL” rules is that corporate support of university athletic programs may be impacted (or vanish) due to companies deciding to make agreements with individual stars – perhaps starting in high school – and not the university. California, Colorado and Florida have passed NIL laws and the Florida statute will be the first to take effect, on 1 July 2021. Florida Statutes sec. 1006.74 does offer some protection to the schools, with a provision that no NIL agreement is allowed “if a term of the contract conflicts with a term of the intercollegiate athlete’s team contract.”

The potential good news is that (1) college football is being played, more or less; (2) it appears there will be a college basketball season and an NCAA Tournament, and (3) there are cost-control and funding options available going forward. These require change, which will not go down well in some quarters:

● For collegiate programs outside of the main revenue producers of football and basketball, schedules have to be re-thought. Many schools are moving toward regional competitions to cut travel costs. Regional conferences for some sports can be introduced. This hardly a new idea; the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation is made up of Pac-12, Big West, Mountain West, West Coast Conference and other schools for the sports of gymnastics, indoor track, lacrosse, swimming & diving, volleyball and water polo. Travel would be restricted to championship events.

● More schools are looking at endowments for specific sports, in order to assure their continuation. This concept should not be underrated, especially for larger schools.

● U.S. National Governing Bodies have a role to play in this, too. USA Gymnastics, alarmed at the 10 men’s and women’s gymnastics programs which have been vaporized, is coordinating with the Collegiate Gymnastics Association, with added interest from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, in the search for long-term stability in men’s gymnastics.

● Just asking: how many schools are working together to create revenue-generating ideas for sports other than football and basketball? Do any of them try? What about a week-long NCAA Championships Festival each spring, including women’s beach volleyball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track & field, men’s volleyball and women’s water polo? How about a winter festival including men’s and women’s fencing, gymnastics, ice hockey, swimming & diving, indoor track & field and men’s wrestling … in Las Vegas! Hello?

● Finally, let’s look at football. Despite widespread commentary that the sport cannot be changed, lest its revenue impact be reduced, history shows this not to be true.

In fact, it is entirely likely that substantially more money may be poured into the sport fairly soon. While the Atlantic Coast Conference has television agreements set through 2035-36, there are four major conference agreements up soon: 2022-23 for the Big 10; 2023-24 for the Pac-12; 2023-24 for the Southeastern Conference Tier 1 rights (currently held by CBS; other rights secured through 2033-34) and 2024-25 for the Big XII. These could land each conference another huge payday, whether from CBS, ESPN, Fox Sports, TBS or another media player, or some combination.

Next, football itself needs to be looked at. It has not been always been as it is now, and it may be time for change again. Through 1972, there were no limits on the number of athletic scholarships which could be provided by any school. For 1973, a limit of 105 scholarships was adopted, in part due to the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. Scholarship reductions were made in 1978 (to 95) and to the current 85 in 1992. That was 28 years ago.

If we look at the NFL, its new roster rules will allow 55 players on a team for during-the-week practices and a 14-member practice squad (as of 2022): that’s 69 total players. Isn’t that enough? It’s worth noting that NCAA Football Championship Subdivision teams have an 85-player limit, but only 63 scholarships available.

Further, the current NCAA rules require that all Football Bowl Subdivision team players be on full scholarships: 85 scholarships, 85 players. This also applies to men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s gymnastics, volleyball and tennis. This needs to be changed. While the total team size should remain limited, partial scholarships should be allowed, with the ability – as in other sports – to also qualify for academic or other scholarship assistance.

That would place football players on the same footing as all other students at a university, and may be required in any case to comply with name-image-likeness legislation in some states.

The quality of football will not be impacted – as it wasn’t when the limits went from 105 to 95 to 85 – but there will be more schools in contention, more excitement, more attention … and less cost. Potentially, much less. And with 69 scholarships for football, it will make athletic department compliance with Title IX much easier.

That will save sports like tennis, swimming & diving, track & field, gymnastics, golf and more, and expand total scholarship opportunities. The smart schools will even have a football player or two who is on a baseball or track & field scholarship.

By the way, this isn’t about coaches, who screamed at each reduction and then found ways to work within the new structures. This is about university presidents and chancellors and their athletic directors. They are the NCAA and can affect the change that is needed.

Collegiate sports is in the midst of a revolution, accelerated by the pandemic. It has to be leaner, more efficient and more focused on supporting the students who participate on its teams. Easy? No. Possible? Absolutely.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: German athletes barely care about Rule 50; Canadian athletes split on podium protests; a FIFA Women’s World Cup every two years? Key retirements at Nike

By
Rich Perelman
-

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● The debate over athlete protest rights at the Tokyo 2020 Games next summer heated up considerably with the public release of athlete input – or the lack thereof – from Canada and Germany.

The “Athletenkommission” of the German National Olympic Committee (DOSB) made available a 28-slide presentation (in German) which covered the results of a questionnaire on Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter, sent to 1,708 athletes from 52 sports. The staggeringly-low return rate of 335 – just 19.6% – is the most illuminating finding of the entire project.

The leading sports with athletes replying included track & field (87 = 25.9%) and aquatic sports (67 = 20.0%).

The response of those who did reply showed that the question of protest rights wasn’t top-of-mind either. Asked if they were informed or well informed about the protest rules, 48% said yes and 47% said no.

Some 54% said they agree with the current rules (no protests in Olympic ceremonies) vs. 29% opposed and 18% not sure. But 58% (vs. 37%) also stated a preference to express their views more liberally, including at ceremonies and other places not allowed under the rule. So what can be drawn from these contradictory replies?

The study notes (per a computer-generated translation): “The contrary response behavior of the respondents suggests that possibly also a lack of knowledge regulation 50.2 is a possible influencing factor. Therefore, the significance of the answers to evaluate questions is only to a limited extent.”

The preferred venues for athlete expression were social media (23.7%) and interviews (22.2%), but 35.8% felt this was a private matter. Some 77% felt they do not have a specific concern that they moves them so strongly as to make a public showing. But only 22% said they would be upset if other athletes made a protest or demonstration.

The Canadian recommendations, finalized on 26 August, came from a three-part program of one-on-one discussions with Canadian national federation athlete representatives (50+), a 7 July online discussion (110) and a survey of 104 current and former Olympians.

Recognizing that there were views on both sides of the issue, the recommendations suggested better definitions of what a “demonstration” or “protest” is under the Charter, and to allow

“some forms of demonstration in support of peace, unity, mutual understanding, the preservation of human dignity, the celebration of rights and freedoms (in accordance with generally accepted principles of Human Rights), and athlete safety, while protecting from and restricting those that are contrary to Olympic values or are otherwise discriminatory, political, hate speech, or harmful in nature.”

This third recommendation further included:

“There was a clear delineation between Demonstrations dealing with matters relating to Human Rights, which garnered more support, and those that are considered Political Demonstration, which had little support.”

Recommendation 5 asked to “Maintain neutral or protected spaces as they are an important component to the success of the Olympic Games” and

● “Demonstrations should not interfere with the competition itself. Thus, the Field of Play, exclusive of the Mixed Zone, should be protected space.

● “Establish a designated space within the Olympic Village where athletes can peacefully Demonstrate, creating space for dialogue and opportunities to learn.

● “With respect to other spaces, including the podium, Opening and Closing Ceremonies, there is no clear majority that supports whether or not to demonstrate in such places.”

There was also a desire to understand what sanctions would apply in case of a violation, and a request to consider “other opportunities to meaningfully celebrate unity and inclusion, taking a stand against racism and discrimination.”

These are two important countries in the Olympic Movement. The 80% lack of interest in Rule 50 in Germany is surprising and study of the replies in the Canadian surveys shows about an even split on podium protests. More opportunity for programs in the Olympic Village seems like an obvious addition for future Games at this point.

The U.S. athlete community has not been heard from yet, but the survey process is in process.

Japan’s Kyodo News Service reported that $367,000 was transferred to Papa Massata Diack, son of former IAAF President and IOC member Lamine Diack (SEN) in 2013 by the Tokyo bid committee, just before and just after the IOC vote that selected Tokyo as host city for the 2020 Games.

Some $150,000 was wired to Papa Massata Diack’s personal account by January 2014, and an additional $217,000 had been transferred to Diack’s company, PMD Consulting SARL in November and December of 2013. Tokyo won the vote for 2020 on 7 September 2013.

Some $2 million was paid by the Tokyo bid organizers to a Singaporean “consulting company” called Black Tidings, which appears to be have been a front for Diack and his associates. French prosecutors are still investigating whether a significant amount of that money was used for bribes or other vote-buying measures incident to the Tokyo candidature. It’s still not clear.

Lamine Diack and his son were among six defendants found guilty in French court last week of covering up Russian doping positives and using the money for political campaigns in Senegal, or for themselves. While Lamine Diack was sentenced to four years in prison, with two years suspended, a fine of €500,000 (~$592,000 U.S.) and ordered to pay €5 million (~ $5.92 million) in damages to World Athletics. The son was found guilty in absentia (he’s still in Senegal), having received $15 million for various schemes, and sentenced to five years in prison and fined €1 million (~ $1.18 million).

Another trial of both Diacks is expected on vote-buying and other corruption charges.

● Athletics ● The Oregonian reported Friday that significant retirements at Nike could bring into question the company’s allegiance to track & field in the future.

The story confirmed that John Capriotti, the company’s long-time Director of Athletics, former USA Track & Field chief executive Craig Masback, the Vice President, Sports Marketing/Greater China, Japan & Global Business Affairs, and Tim Phelan, Director of North American Sports Marketing have all retired from the company. The story noted:

“Since Nike brought in John Donahoe as its new CEO and chairman in January, there has been speculation about the ramifications for the company’s sports marketing arm, and for its track and field operations in particular. Donahoe’s athletic background is unknown. But outsiders speculate that the longtime technology executive does not share the passion for track and field of his predecessors Phil Knight and Mark Parker.”

The long-term sponsorship deal between USA Track & Field and Nike, announced in 2014 and extending to 2040, was negotiated on Capriotti’s watch. The company has supported the sport with more athlete sponsorship agreements than any other, by far.

● Cycling ● No rest for the weary, as the UCI World Road Championships will take place in Italy starting on Thursday, only four days after the close of the Tour de France for the men and the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile for women.

The women’s Time Trial will be held Thursday, followed by the men’s Time Trial on Friday, the women’s Road Race on Saturday and the men’s Road Race on Sunday. The usual U-23 and junior races are not being held this year due to the travel difficulties getting to Italy; because of the Tour and Giro Rosa, most of the top riders are already in Europe and can travel to Imola.

NBC’s Olympic Channel will have coverage of all four races from Italy.

● Football ● The FIFA Congress of all 211 member federations was held online on Friday – a first, of course – with a revised budget approved for 2018-21, and a significant opening address from Swiss Gianni Infantino.

In an impressive 32-minute speech, delivered in English, Spanish, French and German (!), Infantino positioned FIFA as looking to the future:

● “Health comes first, even before football. FIFA is not facing a crisis, but football is. In the new FIFA, my friends, the money doesn’t disappear anymore. The money goes where it has to go: to football.”

● “I said that we were going to see the explosion of women’s football. My friends, I think that was a euphemism. Why? Because what we experienced in France last year, it was the summit of football. We must commend, we must congratulate all of the women’s players, referees, everyone who was involved and worked had to organize the teams. France, who hosted the world for the most beautiful Women’s World Cup in history. …

“This is why we have decided, over the next four years, to invest $1 billion in order to develop the women’s game. This $1 billion will not be impacted by the Covid crisis; we have invested and we will continue to invest in women’s football.

“Why do we need to invest? To change the game, to create more events. We don’t want to copy what the men are doing, we want something specific for women and for the women’s game. We need to think about different suggestions that think outside the box. We know that some of you have put things on the table, for example, final tournaments between confederations, on the continental level, every two years, well then every four years; maybe even a World Cup every two years rather than every four years, to have a Club World Cup for the women’s game.

“We need to think about this, we need to get those crazy juices flowing, and, my dear friends, if we want to, we can and we will. If you want this to happen, we can help you make this a reality.”

● “We are also talking about equality and racism and discrimination. Racism is a virus that has seen a re-emergence this yea. We could say: racism, discrimination, it’s part of society and therefore it’s part of football. But no. No. No. We can’t say that and we won’t say that. At the FIFA Congress in 2017, I said clearly that corruption has no place in football and today I would like to repeat equally clearly that racists do not have a place in football.

“We have to apply a zero-tolerance policy against any form of racism and discrimination. We have to keep and strengthen that approach and policy. We need awareness-raising, we need to talk about the topic instead of hiding it. We need training for our youth, and we need strict sanctions.”

● He announced a new agreement with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, to work on three areas:

“Never again corruption in football. We witnessed it, we saw, it, we kicked it out, we will not let it come back. …

“Match fixing is eating football in its soul. It is a crime, it is very difficult match fixers because of the international environment. Well together, with the UNODC, [we] will fight match fixing to make sure the matches are not decided before the beginning of the game. …

“I’m advocating for the creation of a new, independent entity, jointly organized by governments, intergovernmental organizations and sports bodies, to receive and investigate abuse cases. Because we must make sure that our children, when they go to play any sport – not only football – are in a safe environment. We as sports bodies are trying to do what we can, but on our own, we are not geared up to tackle these crimes. We have to admit that. We have to search for collaboration, we have to give our full commitment and collaboration, and I’m proud that we have found a partner like the UNODC to fight together with us, these fights.”

● Infantino also spoke directly about the investigation of former Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber, accused of “abuse of office” in meetings with Infantino. Said the FIFA President:

“In 2015, FIFA was toxic, was pronounced dead, an organization that had served itself from football, had used football instead of serving football. So why was I meeting the Swiss Attorney General? Well, because it was my duty, my duty as FIFA President. I had to do my due diligence, because I want to liberate FIFA from those old, toxic values. No organization can be led into the future if you don’t resolve the past. I thought I could do it, but it was not possible.

“You have to deal with your past. And that’s precisely why, even two days ago, I was meeting the U.S. Attorney General, the Attorney General in D.C., to prove that we don’t want to go back to our past, to prove that FIFA had been reformed and to express our gratitude, to say ‘thank you’ that the D.O.J., at the time, saved FIFA from itself, while others were just standings on the sidelines, watching.

“I can only put it as bluntly and clearly as possible. We will continue to fight against corruption in football and we will continue to cooperate with all authorities all over the world that will help us save and reform football, clean it up and today, I am more convinced than ever to fight for these values, that this is the right thing to do.

“Eventually, we’ll see that those who have made up conspiracy theories, and want to cause damage by spreading them, that they will be victim to their own schemes. They will reveal themselves.”

The budget showed a coronavirus-induced reduction in the 2019-22 four-year projections from $6.56 billion to $6.44 billion (-$120 million), with a parallel reduction from $6.46 billion in expenses to $6.34 billion. This leaves FIFA with a $100 million surplus for the quadrennial and a $1.6 billion reserve.

FIFA has distributed (or is distributing) $1.5 billion in coronavirus relief payments to its member federations. For the 2019-22 period, its revenue projections are backed by contracts in place for 94% of its broadcast revenue and 72% of its expected sponsorship income.

And what of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar? Said Infantino: “By the way, in 2022 – I give you an little advanced warning – we will see in Qatar the best-ever World Cup, so get ready for that.”

● At the BuZZer ● It was a happy day for Swede (via Louisiana) Mondo Duplantis, who finally got the world outdoor best in the pole vault at 6.15 m (20-2) at the Rome Diamond League on 17 September. After the win (and the record), he said:

“World record: well, I would not say that I am used to it. It is crazy. It was a really strong competition for me, so long. In the last two jumps I found my rhythm again. Maybe I will party a bit, just hang out with the guys, but trying to stay a little focused because I have one last meeting in Doha in one week. After this last meeting in Doha, I can really party and chill.

“How have I achieved this result? It has been a long time coming. Coming into the season, we did not know if we were able to do any competition at all. This world record is really unexpected and I am very grateful.

“Finally! It is sooo cool. I wanted to get over these 6.15 m so badly. Everybody kept talking about it, it was a big chip on my shoulder and I feel I had to do it to have people stop asking me this question. When I did it, it was more relief than joy.”

LANE ONE: LA28 revenue chief Kathy Carter on the planning effort: “we’re looking at how do we re-imagine elements” of the Olympic Games

By
Rich Perelman
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Was is really the third anniversary of the award of the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad to Los Angeles on 13 September? Has the record-breaking 11-years-in-advance timetable shrunk to “just” eight years?

How has the coronavirus pandemic impacted the LA28 organizers?

Some of the answers and a look forward came during a 7 September interview with Kathy Carter, the Chief Revenue Officer for the LA28 organizing committee and the head of the newly-formed U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Properties (USOPP), the joint marketing arm of LA28 and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).

She spoke with Brian Berger on the Sports Business Radio Roadshow podcast and explained the current situation, the impact of the 1 September launch of the unique LA28 brand “emblems” program and how she sees the road to the third Los Angeles Games unfolding.

First and foremost, she’s optimistic.

“We have really an incredible opportunity ahead of us for a couple of different reasons. You know, we often talk a lot about the fact that it’s not as if we have better ideas than anybody else. We just have the ability and the time to actually implement those ideas for two reasons. …

“[A]t the time we were awarded the Games, we were 11 years out of hosting, and … we’re able to enter into the Games knowing that we don’t have to build a single permanent venue. Yes, we’ll have some temporary venues, but that pales in comparison to what most Olympic organizing committees have to build as they look to host the Games.

“So with that in our sights, it really is incumbent on us now to say, OK, how do we actually evolve the experience, evolve the opportunity for us to have an impact on our community, to have an impact on the Games, and, for L.A., with such a rich tradition of hosting the Olympic Games, this will be the first time that we actually host the Paralympic Games. So what we believe will be able to do for equality, diversity, inclusion and opportunity, we just think it’s an unlimited opportunity that’s ahead of us.”

Again and again, the word “experience” came up, as in:

● “[R]ight now we really have the opportunity to think strategically before we really scale our organization, and think about what’s important, which is why launching our brand, building our culture, figuring our ways that we can actually develop and inculcate the overall experience of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements to Los Angeles are some of the key things we’re really focused on.”

● “[Gold medalist Janet Evans, the Chief Athlete Officer for LA28] did a lot of work as we were in the bid phase, to really understand what are some of the things that would make it a little easier for an athlete to participate in the Olympic or the Paralympic Games. And you know there’s a whole swath of things that are easy for us to accomplish. Simple things like helping have their families actually watch them compete. You know it’s been hard for them to potentially get tickets and so we actually have looked at, and will have, every athlete will have availability for tickets for their family for the races or the competitions that they are in.

“Outside of that, it’s providing them things that make their experience much easier like, more towels. That sounds really simple, and silly, but they are important when you are an athlete. But then there’s bigger ideas like how do we actually create programming in the Olympic Village and the Paralympic Village that actually provides opportunity for them to really think about their future. So we have a whole host of ideas and ways that we want to integrate into the Olympic Village and the Paralympic Village which will be unique and different, let alone the fact that the ease of living on the UCLA campus, the access to training facilities even [within] the confines of the Olympic Village, it’s all right there. And the weather will be great. And we’ll find ways that if they lose their key to their room, they can still get in. So there’s lots of things that we’re already starting to think about that sound really simple and silly, but we think will be very, very cool.”

She hinted that this is where technology can play a role; perhaps a retinal scan to ensure the right people are admitted into the Olympic Village (and the wrong people are kept out)?

● “[A bubble-type environment is] something we’ve obviously started to take a look at. But we’ll start with the simple things. And then from there we’ll layer on. And so I think that’s the piece that we’re most excited about is to start to dig in because the athletes are the core of everything that we’re doing. This is their moment. You know, 14,000 [team members] will be in Los Angeles in 2028 and how do we make sure that the experience is perfect for each and every one of them? That’s a key part of what we want to do and that’s not just in L.A., that’s actually leading into the Games and ultimately after the Games as well.”

The question of legacy is also being considered, but in a far different – and more forward-looking way – than brick-and-mortar stadiums:

“What we like to talk a lot about is how do we start to build the human legacy that will be a part of the journey for LA28. And ultimately one of the things that we will leave, which is an industry full of people that will have gotten the experience as a result of the 2028 Games. …

“But there is a lot ahead of us. We are very, very excited and we like to say if the only thing that we deliver are the Games in 2028, we will have missed our window of opportunity to change the Games and to change our country for the better.”

On the sales side, Carter explained that the pandemic has changed the way they are doing business, but while it hasn’t stopped it, it hasn’t helped:

“[W]hile it has been different and it’s been difficult, I think for us, it’s forced us to get a lot more focused on what we have to do and what’s right ahead of us and a lot for us overall like everybody else, on Zoom calls and calls all day long, we haven’t really slowed down. In fact, I would say we have sped up a little bit. So I think we’ll come out of this in a pretty decent position, although time will tell. But I would say we’re pretty fortunate that our Games are in 2028 right now.”

Just as with the athletes, making the Games easier to navigate on the ground in 2028 is clearly a developing theme. Carter emphasized this once again when speaking of working with the sponsors and suppliers that her team is recruiting (to fill a $2.52 billion line item in the $6.88 billion budget):

“[W]e’ve really looked at it and said ‘we’ve got to create the ease of execution for our partners’ and a way that they can continue to innovate, and by making it so they don’t have to acquire more rights, but rather try to put as much into the overall program as we can and make it easy for them to start to activate, that allows them far greater ability to innovate which we think is where we’ll [eventually] see groundbreaking ideas over the next eight years and around the Olympic and Paralympic Movement.”

She also noted that the unprecedented combined sales effort of LA28, the USOPC and NBCUniversal will also offer sponsors more opportunity:

“[I]t allows them the ability to have a much longer plan for how they want to gain and get a return-on-investment with us, so that they can focus on activating the partnership as opposed to acquiring more and more rights as they get through the process.”

Asked about whether Tokyo 2020 will actually take in 2021, she was clear:

“Paris will definitely stay at 2024 and L.A. will definitely stay at 2028 although – just to put a pin in the first part of the statement – Tokyo will happen. And that is not in my mind in question. I think we’ve seen an incredible evolution in how sports are being played, whether it’s in a bubble or controlled environment, whether it is with a variety of ways that they are delivering events in Europe, but all in all, I think that Tokyo will happen.

“Will it look exactly the way it was going to look in 2020, as it was originally contemplated, I think that still remains to be seen, but it will happen. So I think starting there, Tokyo will happen in 2021, Paris will happen in 2024 and L.A. will happen in 2028.”

And what will Los Angeles be like? Carter noted that the emblem launch represents a fresh look at how a diverse community can find a common cause:

“[B]y actually creating the first dynamic and digital emblem that has existed in the Olympic and Paralympic Movement, we actually used the brand as a way to tell the story of Los Angeles, of which there’s thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of ways to articulate what anyone’s L.A. is. …

“I think it speaks to both Los Angeles and the Olympic and Paralympic Movements which are really all about diversity, inclusion and opportunity. We are really excited about what this starting point for us really means.”

Rich Perelman
Editor

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CYCLING: Pogacar’s stunning time trial earns him the Tour de France as a rookie at age 21

By
Rich Perelman
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Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar on his way into Paris to win the 2020 Tour de France (Photo: Chabe1 via Wikipedia)

Heading into the final weekend of the coronavirus-delayed Tour de France, there was little doubt that Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic would be the winner, holding a 57-second lead over countryman Tadej Pogacar with just the Individual Time Trial and the ride into Paris remaining.

But Yogi Berra was right – it isn’t over until it’s over – and the 21-year-old Pogacar authored a brilliant ride, gaining time all the way up to the finish at La Planche des Belles Filles and won the stage, clocking 55:55.

How good was that? No one was within 1:21, with veteran time trial stars Tom Dumoulin (NED) and Riche Porte (AUS) both finishing that far back, and Roglic in fifth, some 1:56 behind.

That flipped the leaderboard and gave Pogacar, in his first Tour de France, the yellow jersey, which he carried right through the finish line in Paris on Sunday. The result is a stunner in so many ways:

● Pogacar won at age 21 (his 22nd birthday is Monday!), the second-youngest rider ever, behind only the 1904 winner Henri Cornet (FRA), who was 19 when he second the second Tour. He follows Egan Bernal (COL), who won in 2019 at age 22.

● Pogacar became the 12th rookie to win the Tour; the last to do so was Laurent Fignon (FRA) in 1983. Two five-time winners of the Tour also won as rookies: Eddy Merckx (BEL) in 1969 and Bernard Hinault (FRA) in 1978.

● Pogacar won not only the overall title, but also the Young Rider title (white jersey) and the King of the Mountains crown (polka dot jersey). No one had won three jerseys in a single race since Merckx took the overall win, Points (green jersey) and King of the Mountains in 1969. Wow!

● Pogacar and Roglic finished 1-2, the first time since 2012 that one country has produced the top two finishers. Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome (GBR) did it eight years ago.

Roglic, who held the yellow jersey from the finish of stage 9 through stage 19, finished second, just 59 seconds back of the winner, the 10th-closest Tour finish in history. Australia’s Riche Porte was third (-3:30), followed by Mikel Landa (ESP: -5:58) and Enric Mas (ESP: -6:07).

The final stage ended in the usual mass sprint, with Sam Bennett of Ireland capping a fabulous performance with a win at the line over Mads Pedersen (DEN) and Slovakian star Peter Sagan. Bennett won the Points classification (green jersey), outlasting Sagan, 380-284, and breaking Sagan’s streak of seven straight Points win at the Tour.

Pogacar won the Tour by winning three of the 21 stages and finishing in the top 11 on six more stages. Sprinters Bennett, Wout van Aert (BEL) and Caleb Ewan (AUS) each won two stages, as did Soren Kragh Andersen (DEN).

It was a memorable tour, but there is little rest for most of the stars with the UCI World Road Championships starting up later this week in Italy.

The biggest race of the Women’s World Tour is annually the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile, this year held over nine stages. Just as with the men, the apparent winner turned out not to be the winner after all.

Already the two-time defending champion, Dutch star Annemiek van Vleuten took charge of the race in the second stage and looked to be an easy winner once again, and become only the second to win three consecutive editions of the Giro Rosa.

But during the final downhill into Maddaloni at the end of Stage 7, van Vleuten and Mitchelton-Scott teammate Amanda Spratt (AUS) crashed and both had to abandon the race. Van Vleuten suffered a broken left wrist and Spratt ended up with a concussion and a bruised right shoulder.

Amazingly, both finished the stage, and with just two stages remaining, van Vleuten still led the race by a huge 1:48 over Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma and 2:03 over another former Dutch winner, Anna van der Breggen.

But with van Vleuten out, the hilly eighth stage made the difference. Van der Breggen lost the stage at the line to Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini, but the pair were well ahead of the field after the uphill finish and flipped the overall standings.

Van der Breggen took over, with a 1:10 lead on Niewiadoma and 2:23 on Longo Borghini with the final ride around Motta Montecorvino, including another uphill finish. France’s Evita Muzic won the stage in 3:16:30 with Longo Borghini-van der Breggen-Niewiadoma finishing 22-24-27 and that kept the trophy in the Netherlands for another year.

Van der Breggen won her third Giro Rosa after 2015-17 and became the fourth three-time winner of the event. Niewiadoma finished 1:14 behind and Longo Borghini was third, 2:20 behind. It’s the fourth straight win for a Dutch woman in this race, and eight of the last 10.

THE TICKER: Duplantis clears outdoor-best 6.15 m (20-2) in Rome; Diack gets two years in prison; Roglic set to take Tour de France

By
Rich Perelman
-
Three world records in 2022 for Sweden's Mondo Duplantis ( Photo: World Athletics)

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

● Athletics ● It’s must-watch TV anytime that Norway’s Karsten Warholm and Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis are competing, as at Thursday’s Golden Gala Pietro Mennea at the iconic Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy.

Both were chasing record performances in the 400 m hurdles and the pole vault, respectively, and both authored historic performances.

Duplantis won the competition at 5.85 m (19-2 1/4) as Ben Broeders (BEL) and Ernest Obiena (PHI) managed 5.80 m (19-0 1/4) for second and third. Duplantis then cleared 6.00 m (19-8 1.4) easily and put the bar at 6.15 m (20-2) to try for Ukrainian Sergey Bubka’s all-time outdoor best of 6.14 m (20-1 3/4) from 1994.

It was Duplantis’s 15th win this season – with no defeats – and he cleared 6.15 m on his first attempt, but touched the bar with his right elbow on the way down for a miss. The second attempt was his 15th outdoor try at the height this year, and in his fifth straight meet trying the height, he snaked over cleanly with room to spare and exploded with joy in the pit.

Duplantis now owns the world record at 6.18 m (20-3 1/4), set indoors in February and the world’s best outdoor jump … at age 20.

Warholm shouted “Watch this!” to the television camera before getting in the blocks and started in lane seven, with American David Kendziera in lane nine, giving him someone to pull toward in the early going.

The Norwegian had the lead by the fourth hurdle and tore around the turn, well in front with 100 m left. He was flawless over the hurdles and sprinted to the finish, timed in 47.07. It’s the ninth-fastest performance of all time, and Warholm now owns four of the top 10 times ever.

Ludvy Vaillant (FRA) finished second with a seasonal best of 48.69; Kendziera finished fourth in a seasonal best of 49.35.

At the pre-meet news conference, Warholm said he and Duplantis had been talking about their unique situation in which fans are expecting record performances:

“I spoke to Mondo in Berlin (at the ISTAF meeting last Sunday) and we are in a situation where we are going really fast and jumping very high and people are disappointed. I am three-tenths from the world record, he jumps a few centimeters off the world record and people are asking if we are disappointed.

“We are in a situation where we can talk about these records and it’s great, but for us, at least for me, I have to keep my focus on doing the best I can and getting my potential out. That’s what it’s all about. I am considering less and less about the record because I know that if I chase it, I probably won’t get it.”

Said Duplantis, “Everybody expects these things out of us and pressure is put on us at each meet, but I have been competing against a lot of great guys, the best in the world at pretty much all the meets that I’ve been at, so going into each one I try not to underestimate them.

“The first goal, and pretty much the only goal, is to go out there and try to win. Of course, I’m going to try to do the best that I can do and I’m going to try to jump as high as I can jump. The shape is coming along nicely and those high bars are getting easier and easier so it should be good tomorrow.”

The men’s 3,000 m was another tug-of-war between Norway’s Jakob Ingrebrigtsen and Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo. Australia’s Stewart McSweyn set a fast pace in the middle of the race, passing 2,000 m in 4:59.47, but Ingebrigtsen had the lead over Kiplimo with a lap to go. But Kiplimo had the best finish on the final straight, passing Ingebrigtsen with 50 m left and finishing in a world-leading 7:26.64, a national record. Ingebrigtsen and McSweyn also got national marks at 7:27.05 and 7:28.02. Kiplimo’s mark moves him to no. 8 all-time and Ingrebrigtsen is now no. 9.

South Africa’s Akane Simbine won the men’s 100 m in 9.96, with Arthur Cisse (CIV) second in 10.04. Britain’s Andrew Pozzi won the men’s 110 m hurdles, out-lasting Americans Aaron Mallet and Freddie Crittenden, 13.15-13.23-13.31. Pozzi’s mark is the equal-third fastest of the season. Americans Nick Ponzio and Payton Otterdahl went 1-2 in the men’s shot at 21.09 m (69-2 1/2) and 20.85 m (68-5).

Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah showed that she may well defend her Rio 100 m title with a brilliant women’s 100 m win in a world-leading 10.85 (wind +0.2 m/s). She took the lead almost immediately and ran steadily, winning easily over American Aleia Hobbs, who got a season’s best of 11.12 in second.

Britain’s Jemma Reekie scored an impressive win in the women’s 800 m in 1:59.76, just ahead of world leader Hedda Hynne (NOR: 2:00.24) and Reekie’s training partner, Laura Muir (2:00.49).

In the women’s 100 m hurdles, world leader Nadine Visser (NED) won with the no. 4 time of the season in 12.72. In the 400 m hurdles, Femke Bol (NED) has been the best in the world in 2020 and posted the second-fastest time of the year with a victory in 53.90, over Anna Ryzhykova (UKR: 54.54). Bol now has the top four marks of the season.

Ukraine’s Yuliya Levchenko scored another win over countrywoman Yaroslava Mahuchikh in the women’s high jump, as the only one to clear 1.98 m (6-6). Mahuchickh got second at 1.95 m (6-4 3/4).

A pretty amazing competition – three outdoor world leaders – for another meet without spectators. There’s one more Diamond League meet this season, in Doha (QAT) on 25 September.

At the Gala dei Castelli in Bellinzona (SUI) on Tuesday, Rio Olympic 400 m champ and world-record holder Wayde van Niekerk (RSA) returned to competition after nine months with a win in 45.58. Simbine won the men’s 100 m in 10.02 and Norway’s Hynne won the women’s 800 m in a world-leading 1:58.10.

While the story isn’t over, a French court finally rendered a verdict in the long-running IAAF corruption trial, with former IAAF President and IOC member Lamine Diack (SEN) found guilty of corruption, for covering up Russian doping positives and then using extorted funds for other purposes, including financial support for the campaign of current Senegal President Macky Sall.

French judges determined that Diack, now 87, had solicited bribes totaling $4.1 million between 2011-13 and covered his tracks by paying off other federation officials. He was sentenced to four years in prison, with two years suspended, a fine of €500,000 (~$592,000 U.S.) and ordered to pay €5 million (~$5.92 million) in damages to World Athletics. Diack will remain under house arrest in Paris during his appeal, and given his age, is unlikely to actually serve any prison time.

His son, Papa Massata Diack, who has remained in Senegal, was also found guilty (having received $15 million for various schemes), sentenced (in absentia) to five years in prison and fined €1 million (~$1.18 million). The other four defendants were also found guilty, including:

● Habib Cisse (SEN), former IAAF counsel, sentenced to three years in prison (two years suspended);

● Gabriel Dolle (FRA), former IAAF anti-doping chief, sentenced to two years in prison (sentence suspended) and fined €140,000 (~$165,837);

● Valentin Balakhnichev (RUS), the former head of the Russian federation and IAAF treasurer, sentenced in absentia to three years in prison, and “confiscation of nearly 1.9 million euros ($2.2 million) from his account in Monaco, where World Athletics is based”;

● Alexei Melnikov, former Russian team head coach, sentenced in absentia to two years in prison.

The Associated Press reported that “The court also awarded 16 million euros ($18.9 million) in damages to the IAAF, roughly one-third to be paid by the Diacks and the rest by them and the four others found guilty.”

Beyond the expected appeals, Diack isn’t done yet with the French courts, as a separate case about vote-buying relative to selection of Olympic host cities is still to come.

World Athletics posted a statement, including:

“[W]e are grateful for the strong and clear decisions that have been taken against the individuals involved and charged with these crimes, and we would like to reassure everyone that the reforms our Congress approved in 2016 will ensure that similar actions by individuals can never happen again in our sport.

“We are grateful for the damages awarded by the Paris Criminal Court totalling €16 million for embezzled funds and for reputational damage suffered as a direct consequence of these crimes and the resulting media coverage. As the Court acknowledged, this damage has impacted World Athletics’ finances and had a negative impact on World Athletics’ image and reputation in a deep and lasting way. We will do everything we can to recover the monies awarded, and return them to the organisation for the development of athletics globally.”

World Athletics has a separate civil suit against the Diacks in process.

● Cycling ● The meanest stages of the 2020 Tour de France have passed, with defending champion Egan Bernal (COL) having abandoned the race and Slovenians Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar ready to take the top two places on the podium.

On Wednesday’s horrific Stage 17, which featured two mammoth climbs of 1,542 m to the Col de la Madeleine and an uphill finish rising 1,300 m to the Col de la Loze in Meribel, it was Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez who rode best, taking the lead with 2.5 km left and winning by 15 seconds over Roglic.

The race leader did not break on the climbs, waited for his opportunities and earned a 15-second gap over Pogacar plus a time bonus to place him 57 seconds in front. American Sepp Kuss earned an impressive fourth, 56 seconds behind the winner.

On Thursday, the last major climbing stage, Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski and Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz came to the line almost together, with Kwiatkowski given the win after handling six different rises and the downhill finish. Roglic and Pogacar were again right together, finishing 4-5, both 1:53 behind the winners.

The two Slovenians ride for different teams: Roglic for Jumbo-Visma and Pogacar for UAE-Team Emirates, but are positioned to be the first 1-2 from the same country since 2012, when Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome took gold and silver for Britain.

Behind the 57-second gap from Roglic to Pogacar, Lopez is 1:27 back of the leader and then Richie Gate (AUS) is 3:06 back in fourth. Friday’s stage is hilly, but not punishing and Saturday’s 36.2 km Individual Time Trial has a trying uphill finish that could pose problems. Sunday’s ride into Paris is mostly flat.

In the women’s Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile, Dutch star Annemiek van Vleuten continues her ride toward a third straight title in the most important women’s event of the year.

Belgian Lotte Kopecky won Thursday’s Stage 7 in a mass finish ahead of Lizzie Deignan (GBR: -0:02) and Pole Kasia Niewiadoma (-0:03). With two stages left, van Vleuten leads Niewiadoma by 1:57 and Anna van der Breggen (NED) by 2:03.

Van Vleuten won the second stage to take control of the race, but countrywoman Marianne Vos – herself a former winner of the Giro Rosa – has won three stages thus far.

● Football ● Reuters reported a FIFA estimate that a total of about $14 billion in economic activity has been lost in the sport due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Finland’s Olli Rein, who heads FIFA’s pandemic relief committee, “said that FIFA, along with financial consultants, had estimated the club game to be worth between $40 billion and $45 billion worldwide.

“He said the figure of $14 billion was based on the current scenario, where football is slowly restarting after a three-month hiatus earlier this year, but it would be a ‘different ball game’ if the pandemic did not let up.”

The FIFA Congress is being held by videoconference today (17th).

● Swimming ● The International Swimming League took an important step toward credibility with a multi-year agreement with CBS Sports in the U.S. to televise events on its over-the-air, cable and digital channels.

The cable CBS Sports Network will show the first ISL event of 2020 on 16 October from Budapest (HUN) and CBS Sports will show the 17 October (Saturday) competition. The mix between the channels will be announced later.

This is uncharted territory for CBS, which has not been active in the Olympic sports area, but which needs more programming for its cable and digital channels, which lag far behind leader ESPN. ISL meets were shown in the U.S. last year on the all-digital ESPN3 network.

An early indicator of how interested CBS is in this series will be whether it sends its own announcer team instead of using the ISL-provided promotional artists of 2019. There are excellent ways to create broadcast interest in team-scoring events in what are usually considered individual sports, but ISL didn’t use any of them in its first-year broadcasts.

● Wrestling ● The International Olympic Committee is unlikely to suspend or expel Iran as a result of the execution of Greco-Roman wrestler Navid Afkari last Saturday (12th), according to IOC member John Coates (AUS), an attorney and close advisor to IOC chief Thomas Bach (GER).

Coates told the Sydney Morning Herald:

“‘We talked about it last night in my regular meeting with the president,’ Coates said on Tuesday. ‘The week previously he’d written to the supreme ruler, the president. We’d been part of other attempts. The difficulty for us is this execution didn’t relate to a sporting event. He was certainly a great athlete.

“‘And the other difficulty is of course that there is probably 50 of the national Olympic committees that come from territories that still have capital punishment.

“‘We’ve been getting two sides to the story as to whether he got a fair go or didn’t get a fair go.’”

The IOC Executive Board could take up the issue at its next Executive Board meeting on 7 October.

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● As expected, Yoshihide Suga, 71, a close advisor to retired Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was elected as the new Prime Minister of Japan and took office today (17th).

Suga’s term will continue through the end of Abe’s term, to September 2021, after the close of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Eight ministers in the 20-member cabinet retained their posts, seven were moved to new posts and five new members have been seated. Seiko Hashimoto, 55, the Olympics and Paralympics Minister, continues.

Suga has confirmed a strong commitment by the government to the success of the 2020 Games.

● XXIV Olympic Winter Games: Beijing 2022 ● Human rights groups continue to campaign against holding the 2022 Winter Games in China. A letter from more than 160 groups was delivered to the International Olympic Committee last week, arguing that the event should not be held in China:

“The letter said that the 2008 Olympics had failed to improve China’s human rights record, and that since then, it has built ‘an Orwellian surveillance network’ in Tibet and incarcerated more than a million Uighurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic group, in the Xinjiang region. It listed a litany of other alleged abuses from Hong Kong to the Inner Mongolia region, as well as the intimidation of Taiwan.”

Comment: Although there may be protests ahead of the 2022 Winter Games, as seen prior to the 2008 Olympic Games, this activity comes far too late to be effective. The only possible alternate site is Salt Lake City, Utah and with the continuing pandemic, it’s impossible to consider moving the 2022 event now. A campaign against Beijing 2022 would have had to start in 2019 to have any potential impact. It will have little to none now.

LANE ONE: Gwen Berry’s Pan Am protest: “I had to make my stance in history, to let people know where I stand and how I feel, because I was not at peace with myself”

By
Rich Perelman
-
Today's LA84 Foundation Youth Sports Summit session on athletes and their voice (left to right, top to bottom): Gwen Berry, Pam Oliver, Dave Roberts, Lindsay Kagawa-Colas, Rudy Garcia-Tolson

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When American hammer throw star Gwen Berry took to the podium to receive the gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, she knew she had an opportunity to make a statement. She raised her right fist during the playing of the anthem and became a central figure in the discussion over athlete protest rights at the 2020+1 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

She shared that moment as part of the second session of the LA84 Foundation’s 2020 Youth Summit for #PlayEquity, focusing on athletes using their voice for social justice:

“I feel like the main thing that was in my heart was the fact that, you know, when I put on my uniform, when I wear the flag, I’m very proud. I’m so proud. I sacrificed my life, I’ve sacrificed time with my family, I’ve sacrificed things and memories that I can’t get back.

“So, on the podium, when I stood there, I just knew that everything that I sacrificed and everything that my country says it stands for, is not necessarily true or fair to everybody in the country, especially people who look like me. People who live like me. People who are part of the American system. And I am that individual: I’ve lived it, I’ve seen it, I’ve learned it.

“Every time I go back home to St. Louis, I see how Black people live. And it just broke my heart and it hurt my feelings, so on the podium, I just knew that something had to happen. I had to make my stance in history, to let people know where I stand and how I feel, because I was not at peace with myself. It was just traumatizing to me to just not say anything, when I knew that my voice had power.”

Now 31, Berry is a significant contender for medals in Tokyo. Her lifetime best of 77.78 m (255-2) ranks no. 5 on the all-time world list and no. 2 all-time U.S. behind reigning World Champion DeAnna Price. Asked about Tokyo and the International Olympic Committee’s Rule 50 that bans protests during ceremonies, you might think she would be all-in for unlimited, free speech.

But the former Southern Illinois standout had a much broader perspective:

“I feel like, as far as the NFL, NBA, WNBA, it’s easier for them because it is a smaller organization. It is just in the United States, whereas the IOC, they deal with athletes worldwide, it’s international.

“So every country is different, they have their own morals, their own objectives, their own religious beliefs or beliefs in general, their government is different, their policies are different, so I feel like the IOC has a lot of work to do and they have a lot on their plate because they have to appease to everyone.

“That’s their job. They have to create the best entertainment in the best sporting event in world history, the Olympic Games. So I feel like, for them it’s going to be hard to create reform immediately, but like going forward to 2021, they can do small things that will make a big impact. And it can start there.

“I don’t know what those will look like. I figure like, if they allow athletes to wear pins representing what they want to represent, T-shirts, some of those things like the WNBA is doing, I feel like that could be something that they could do to help with the cause, and help say that ‘we believe in this, we believe that Black lives matter, we believe that everyone is important, so we want to show that.’”

Berry was part of an online panel moderated by Fox Sports Senior Correspondent Pam Oliver and included Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, four-time Paralympian Rudy Garcia-Tolson and Lindsay Kagawa-Colas, the Executive Vice President-Talent for The Collective-Wasserman.

Asked about the difficulty in making a public protest in light of possible blowback, Berry was clear about the dangers:

“I think the biggest challenge the athletes face is being defunded. Major corporations, major sponsors, major companies, they don’t necessarily want to take risks when there’s conflict. I feel like they want everything to be, you know, ‘kumbaya,’ they want everything to run smoothly, so when athletes protest they see that as, you know, ‘oh, you’re interrupting something,’ or ‘you’re disturbing something,’ or you’re bringing life issues that we don’t want to talk about right now. We want to keep this playing field equal for everyone, we want to keep it safe for everyone and we want to keep politics out of sports.

“So I feel like most athletes feel like, they can’t say things that they want to say, or that they face or endure all the time coming on the field of play because no one wants to see it, no one wants to hear it. All they want us to do is perform and entertain. And it’s not fair to us. So we lose a lot and we sacrifice a lot.”

Kagawa-Colas noted that the environment is beginning to change:

“Four percent of sports coverage is about women. As that changes, it is easier for sponsors to make choices. As the demographics of who is spending the money for sponsors changes, that then changes who gets sponsorship, right?

“So I think the movement that we’re seeing is the diversity and the inclusion and people waking up to understand that they need to align themselves with athletes that advance the values that they want their brands to stand for, and so we’re starting to see that spend on athletes who do stand for something.”

Berry followed up on sponsorships:

“Like Lindsay said, these companies are starting to wake up because they honestly have no choice. Like the times are changing; it will never go back to normal. Like this is the new normal. It’s beginning to become the new normal. So I would tell the children: make sure you are educated, make sure you are encouraged and if this is something you want to do, make sure you go in 100%, just like you do anything, your athletics, with your discipline, with your regimen for the day, make sure it is something you really want to do and make sure you put your best foot forward because it can change somebody’s life. And it’s worth it.”

Roberts concurred on the next steps:

“The question is – what I hear is – you know, what can we do as an organization and as an industry? It’s like: hire more people of color, and hire more women, you know, and that’s what we need to do.

“We can’t keep talking about it, because people feel comfortable with people that look like them, that’s just the way it is. And so you can talk about it all you want, but I think that being with the Dodgers and I think that now people are feeling that – whether it’s obligation or guilt, whatever it might be, I don’t really care – it’s like now they’re being more intentional about the conversations and doing better.”

Oliver asked Berry about the divisive nature of U.S. politics and how that impacts her:

“I feel like, in this country, our biggest problem is we don’t focus on what everyone can agree on. We always focus on each other’s differences, and that causes anxiety, trauma, disagreements. It doesn’t help our core progression as a country. And so it can be quite frustrating. Sometimes I get disheartened, when I have to put on the American uniform, you know even though I am proud and I’ve worked for this, it’s like at the end of the day, I still feel some type of resentment because I know that I’m representing a place that does not care about my people.

“You know, I see it. It’s like I’m evidence of it. You know I was pregnant at 14 years old because my family had to work, lived in a house with 13 people. Like I was that kid. I am that kid. And so I feel like, you know, it can get disheartening. I think the systemic oppression and the systemic racism, it speaks to a lot of athletes, it speaks to a lot of non-athletes, it speaks to all of us, a lot of people from a lot of different demographics and, you know, it’s the most challenging thing.

“The political aspects of America is the most challenging. Like I said, because it’s a democracy, it’s always hard to agree on something and we don’t focus on that. And I feel like, that’s where we need to go. We have to agree on something, so that everybody can be honestly equal, and free and have equal opportunity and, I don’t know, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Berry summed up her message thus:

“So I feel like we have to keep protesting, we have to keep speaking, we have to keep making statements, we have to keep putting ourselves out there so that eventually the world has no choice but to continue to change, and to change indefinitely, especially here in the United States.

“There has to be more opportunity for these Black kids. There has to be more help for these places that are, and these people that are marginalized and discriminated against, like we have to see more help. Because the only way this country will truly be equal is that equity and equality is given to the people who are lesser than. And that’s just what it is.”

The 2020 Youth Sports Summit has three more sessions scheduled for 23-30 September and 7 October, focusing on coaching, careers in sports and progress and equity in women’s sports; you can sign up to see them here.

Rich Perelman
Editor

(Apologies to those readers who received yesterday’s e-mail with the wrong headline. It should have read: “Crouser awesome again in Zagreb; Lake Placid loses IBSF 2021 Worlds; WADA still concerned by U.S. noise & Rodchenkov Act”)

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: Crouser awesome again in Zagreb; Lake Placid loses IBSF 2021 Worlds; WADA still concerned by U.S. noise & Rodchenkov Act

By
Rich Perelman
-
Shot Put superstar Ryan Crouser (USA)

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

● Athletics ● There was a time not so long ago when a throw of 72-2 1/4 – 22.00 m for those of you on the metric system – in the men’s shot put was looked at with awe.

Ryan Crouser has made it absolutely commonplace, once again at the 70th Hanzekovic Memorial in Zagreb (CRO), part of the World Athletics Continental Tour.

On Monday evening, he crushed an excellent field in a special competition in the downtown City Fountains Park, throwing four times beyond 22 m, topped by his third toss of 22.74 m (74-7 1/4)! That was well better than 2019 World Champion Joe Kovacs of the U.S. (21.30 m/69-10 3/4) and 2011-13 world champ David Storl (GER: 21.20 m/69-6 3/4).

Crouser’s series included 21.03 m (69-0), 22.10 m (72-6 1/4), 22.74 m (74-7 1/4), four, 22.59 m (74-1 1/2) and 22.31 m (73-2 1/2). He spun so hard on his winning throw that his baseball cap came off!

He’s competed nine times this year and won them all, reaching 22.00 m or better in eight of nine and has a staggering total of 31 throws beyond 22 m in 2020 alone. He is simply amazing.

Tuesday’s meet on the track featured a 1:44.09 explosion in the men’s 800 m by Great Britain’s Daniel Rowden, who sprinted down the home straight to run away with the win, with Elliot Giles (GBR: 1:44.75) and Jake Wightman (GBR: 1:44.85) making it a British sweep. American Bryce Hoppel faded to fourth in 1:44.95. Australia’s Stewart McSweyn, at 25 a rising star, scored his fourth-fastest time ever with an excellent 3:32.17 in the men’s 1,500 m.

Arthur Cisse (CIV) got another strong start in the men’s 100 m, but American Michael Rodgers came on strongest and got to the line first, 10.16-10.19. French champion Wilhem Belocian won a tight 110 m hurdles fight with American Freddie Crittenden, 13.32-13.34.

Sweden’s reigning World Champion, Daniel Stahl, rebounded from his disappointing showing in Berlin with a 68.87 m (225-11) win in the men’s discus. This time it was former world champ Andrius Gudzius (LTU) who finished second, at 68.22 m (223-10). Croatian discus superstar Sandra Perkovic won the women’s disc at 64.67 m (212-2).

Next up is the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in the Wanda Diamond League in Rome (ITA) on Thursday (17th).

Other recent world-leading marks of note include an 8.36 m (27-5 1/4) men’s long jump from China’s Changzhou Wang in Shaoxing on Tuesday (15th), a world-leading-tying 19.53 m (64-1) from Chinese star Lijiao Gong on 4 September and a stunning 80.72 m (264-10) bomb from American Rudy Winkler at a meet in Middleton, New York on 13 September.

Winkler, 25, who won the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials in the event while a collegian at Cornell, already had the world lead at 80.70 m (264-9) with his lifetime best from July, but showed that was no fluke last Sunday. His best prior to this year was 77.06 m (252-10) in 2019!

● Cycling ● The Tour de France began its final week with another climbing stage in the French Alps, with three major rises and an uphill finish at Villard-de-Lans. German Lennard Kamna earned his second career win – and first in the Tour de France – by 1:12 over Richard Carapaz (ECU) and 1:56 over Swiss Sebastien Reichenbach.

Among the overall contenders, Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic (leader) and Tadej Pocagar (second) finished Stage 16 together some 16:48 behind the winner and remained 40 seconds apart. The top eight places did not change at all; Colombians Rigoberto Uran (-1:34) and Miguel Angel Lopez (-1:45) remained third and fourth and Adam Yates (GBR: -2:03) is fifth.

Tomorrow’s 170 km stage from Grenoble to Meribel features two enormous climbs, with an uphill finish to the Col de la Loze. If Roglic is to be dislodged, this is the stage where it could happen, although Thursday’s 18th stage, with six climbs and a downhill finish, is no picnic.

The 55th Tirreno-Adriatico finished on Monday, and the win by Britain’s Simon Yates on the climbing stage last Friday (11th) proved decisive.

Yates took the overall lead after Stage 5 and held off countryman Geraint Thomas for the overall win by 17 seconds. During Monday’s Individual Time Trial, Italy’s Filippo Ganna was fastest, beating Victor Campanaerts (BEL) by 18 seconds and Thomas by 26. But with Rafal Majka (POL) fading to 35th, Thomas was able to move up from third to second overall.

The biggest women’s race of the season, the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile, completed the fifth stage of nine on Tuesday, with a 110 km course in and around Terracina.

Dutch star Marianne Vos won her second stage of the race, finishing just ahead of Lotte Kopecky (BEL) and Lizzie Deignan (GBR) in 2:47:27 on the flat finishing route. The overall leader remains Annemiek van Vleuten (NED), who holds a huge, 1:56 lead over Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma and countrywoman Anna van der Breggen (-2:03).

Barring a crash, van Vleuten will win her third straight Giro Rosa title, the most since Itaky’s Fabiana Luperini won four in a row from 1995-98.

● Gymnastics ● USA Gymnastics formally announced its new mission statements and organizational values last week, including:

“[The] shared vision is set forth in a deliberately crafted mission statement: To build a community and culture of health, safety and excellence, where athletes can thrive in sport and in life.

“USA Gymnastics also introduced five foundational values that further demonstrate the organization’s commitment to creating meaningful change within the sport: safety, accountability, integrity, transparency and listening.”

The statement importantly noted:

“As part of its larger organizational transformation, USA Gymnastics seated an entirely new Board of Directors in the summer of 2018, and CEO Li Li Leung joined the organization in March 2019. Since that time, USA Gymnastics has established a completely new executive leadership team, which includes a Chief of Athlete Wellness position.”

This is important. Once a resolution is made – someday – to the federation’s bankruptcy filing and either a settlement or a series of trials with the Nassar abuse survivors, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee will resume its de-certification process with USA Gymnastics. Even if the USOPC decides to remove USA Gymnastics as the National Governing Body for the sport, the ultimate determination will be in arbitration, which the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act grants as an appeal. The current USA Gymnastics leadership can say it has no relationship to the “old” USAG, with a new Board and new staff replacing those in place and responsible at the time of the Nassar scandal.

USAG has another problem on its hands, however, with the closing of multiple NCAA men’s gymnastics programs:

“We currently find ourselves having lost three major NCAA programs, and the potential for more losses to come. So, the question becomes ‘what do we do?’

“Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to that question and no simple fix to this complex, global problem. However, we can assure you all that we are not throwing in the towel. We care far too much about these NCAA programs to give up. We will continue to develop short-term initiatives to provide support, while reimagining how we can create a sustainable model for remaining a top program in the world, despite the new reality we are all facing.”

USAG’s statement noted that the federation, the USOPC and the Collegiate Gymnastics Federation are working together “trying to formulate an action plan to preserve the remaining NCAA programs. And while USAG and the USOPC are not able to provide the financial assistance needed to make a dent in the deficits facing collegiate athletic departments, the CGA has presented a number of cost-saving measures to be taken back to school Athletic Directors.”

On Monday, the Collegiate Gymnastics Federation debuted its “Stronger Together Campaign,” a fund-raising program to help NCAA programs survive. Just 16 collegiate programs were listed.

● Wrestling ● Athleten Deutschland, the German athlete organization issued a statement on Tuesday (15th) calling for the expulsion of Iran from international sport in the wake of the execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari. From its statement:

“His execution is the appalling culmination of repeated attacks on the values that form the foundation of the international sports community. The actions of the Iranian regime are fundamentally irreconcilable with Iran’s continued membership in this group.

“Maximilian Klein, Representative for International Sports Policy at Athleten Deutschland: ‘The International Olympic Committee and the International Sports Federations must exclude the Iranian regime from the international sports system with immediate effect. The inaction of the IOC is unacceptable. Iranian athletes should continue to be allowed to compete under a neutral flag and should be protected. Sanctions must be directed against the regime and the political leadership. The Iranian Olympic Committee must also be suspended by the IOC.’

“Considering the events, the rules of the [Olympic Charter] provide sufficient grounds to justify the expulsion of the Iranian NOC. Expelling a NOC has happened before and would not set a precedent.

“Other mandatory sanctions include the suspension of Iranian federations by the respective international federations and a ban of hosting any international sporting events in Iran. The Iranian regime and its representatives must not be allowed to gain positive public attention from international sports. The sponsors of the Olympic Movement must clearly distance themselves from the Iranian regime.

“The elevated position of sport can make such atrocities, which are inflicted on countless people every day, visible worldwide.”

● Bobsled & Skeleton + Luge ● The coronavirus pandemic continues to rip through the worldwide sports calendar, with the two sliding-sport World Championships for 2021 both moved out of North America.

The International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) announced Tuesday (15th) that the 2021 World Championships would be moved from Lake Placid, New York (USA) to Altenberg (GER):

“We have discussed this decision extensively within the Executive Committee and have coordinated it closely with the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), as well as USA Bobsled and Skeleton” said IBSF Secretary General Heike Groesswang.

“The decision wasn’t easy as you can imagine, the bulk of athletes competing in the championships are based in Europe, so our strategy was to have less time spent in quarantine. The Organizing Committee has already done incredible work showing their unique passion to set the best stage for our athletes in Lake Placid, the birthplace of our sports in North America.”

The IBSF indicated that the 2025 World Championships would be held in Lake Placid, conveniently following the 2023 Winter World University Games there.

The Federation Internationale de Luge (FIL) announced on Monday that “Due to the worldwide corona pandemic, the FIL Executive Board had to relocate the 50th Luge World Championships from Whistler in Canada to Berchtesgaden/Koenigssee in Germany. The new date for the 2021 FIL World Championships is set for January 29 to 31, 2021.”

Both federations listed their 2020-21 World Cup season, with no bob & skeleton events in North America, but with the possibility of one luge event … if the pandemic permits.

● Anti-Doping ● The World Anti-Doping Agency Executive Committee concluded a two-day meeting by videoconference on Tuesday (15th), with governance reforms among the top priorities.

WADA has been criticized for not having enough athletes in the middle of its decision-making processes – ironic, since the new President, Pole Witold Banka, is a former 400 m runner of distinction – and for not having enough money to do enough testing and investigations.

On governance, a four-member working group to closely monitor the reform programs and progress is to be formed, with “one independent expert as chairperson, two experts nominated from each of the Sports Movement and the Governments, and one athlete,” hopefully by November of this year. Discussions with athletes are continuing on “how to ensure athlete perspectives can best be represented within WADA and how linkages might be improved between these athlete members and their WADA Athlete Committee colleagues, and ultimately all athletes affected by anti-doping.”

There was also discussion of the ongoing rift between WADA and the U.S., especially the White House Office of National Drug Policy Control and the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019 (S. 259):

● Regarding U.S. funding: “There was overwhelming support among ExCo members to maintain the model of equal partnership between the Sports Movement and Governments and, on that basis, for dialogue between WADA and the U.S to be restored.”

● On the Rodchenkov Act: “The meeting also received an update on the status of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act that is currently before the U.S. Senate for consideration. There remain widely held concerns among other governments, the Sports Movement, and other anti-doping stakeholders over the Act’s extra-territoriality, its negative unintended consequences and the fact that it was amended specifically to exclude the American professional leagues and college sports, which account for more than half a million athletes within the U.S.”

And what about Russia?

“While RUSADA’s appeal of WADA’s assertion of non-compliance and related consequences will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in early November, WADA is communicating with the authorities in Russia to ensure it has all of the information needed to assess the latest situation. WADA continues to monitor closely RUSADA’s programs and activities, including testing, to ensure its operational independence is maintained, and will continue to provide regular updates to the Agency’s independent Compliance Review Committee.”

If you’ve ever wanted to know what an athlete faces in terms of testing, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has posted an excellent summary here. If you think about everything an athlete is doing to get ready for competitions and training, and possibly school and family life, it isn’t easy.

● At the BuZZer ● Tomorrow (16th) promises to be a lively day in the courtrooms. The verdict in the first trial of former IAAF President Lamine Diack (SEN) and others is expected in Paris, while the Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear two appeals of sanctions by the Iranian Judo Federation against the International Judo Federation.

LANE ONE: Navid Afkari executed in Iran; lots of regrets, but is any action coming?

By
Rich Perelman
-

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On Saturday (12th), Human Rights Watch posted the notice that so many had hoped not to see:

“Iran authorities executed Navid Afkari, who confessed to crimes under torture. This cruel act, in defiance of an international outcry for a fair retrial, shows an utter disregard for the most fundamental human rights norms.”

Afkari, a Greco-Roman wrestler, was 27 and had been arrested along with two brothers in 2018 for their part in a protest against the Tehran regime. All three were convicted in 2019; the other brothers getting long prison sentences. Navid Afkari was sentenced to death for allegedly killing Hasan Turkeman, which Human Rights Watch noted “appears to have been a law enforcement agent during protests in August 2018 in Shiraz” but possibly also “an employee of the National Water and Water Waste Management Company.”

The facts now are secondary to the reaction, which was swift:

● The International Olympic Committee released a statement:

“The execution of wrestler Navid Afkari in Iran is very sad news. The IOC is shocked by this announcement today. In letters, Thomas Bach, the IOC President, had made direct personal appeals to the Supreme Leader and to the President of Iran this week and asked for mercy for Navid Afkari, while respecting the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is deeply upsetting that the pleas of athletes from around the world and all the behind-the-scenes work of the IOC, together with the NOC of Iran, United World Wrestling and the National Iranian Wrestling Federation, did not achieve our goal. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Navid Afkari.”

● The IOC Athletes’ Commission released a statement on Twitter:

“We are devastated to learn about the execution of our fellow athlete Navid Afkari . In the past days, the IOC has been working with our full support to save Navid’s life. We are very saddened that ours and the efforts of the athlete community didn’t achieve the desired result.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Navid’s family and friends in these very difficult times.”

● United World Wrestling, which had been silent about Afkari, also posted this comment on Twitter:

“United World Wrestling has learned that the scheduled execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari took place this morning in Iran.

“It is deeply upsetting that the pleas of athletes from around the world and all the behind the scene work of United World Wrestling and the National Iranian Wrestling Federation, the IOC together with the NOC of Iran did not achieve our goal. The news is devastating and the entire wrestling community mourns his death.

“Our thoughts are with the family and the friends of Navid Afkari.”

None of the statements called for actions against Iran. But the Global Athlete group did just that; its statement included:

“We call on athlete solidarity to demand that the International Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling immediately implement sanctions that expel Iran from world sport for this heinous execution. The actions of the Iranian government are a clear breach of human rights; such acts cannot go unpunished. For executing an athlete, this government no longer deserves the privilege of competing in international sport. …

“We must not remain silent.”

Iran has already run afoul of one International Federation for discriminatory actions against Israel, when 2018 World 81 kg Judo Champion Saeid Mollaei was told to throw a match at the 2019 Worlds so that he would not face eventual winner Sagi Muki of Israel. Mollaei had to leave the World Championships and flee to Germany; he eventually landed in Mongolia and has gained citizenship there (and hopes to compete in Tokyo in 2021). The International Judo Federation reviewed this case and suspended the Iranian federation in October 2019.

FIFA was also ready to suspend Iran last October, when it would not allow women to attend football matches in the country in person, but 3,500 were finally allowed to attend a FIFA World Cup 2022 Asian Qualifying match vs. Cambodia in Tehran.

Now what?

The IOC, especially, is now in a difficult position. It certainly has the power to suspend or expel Iran, but only under the provisions of the Olympic Charter, since any of its decisions is subject to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

It’s not like old times, when the IOC could do as it pleased.

IOC chief Bach recognized this in comments during his news conference last week:

“We have to stick to our principles, and this principle is to respect the sovereignty and the judicial system of sovereign countries, but on the other hand, Navid Afkari is an athlete and therefore, we feel close to him.”

So what does the Olympic Charter say?

Rule 27 covers the National Olympic Committees, whose responsibility is, inter alia, “to ensure the observance of the Olympic Charter in the countries” and to “to take action against any form of discrimination and violence in sport.”

Pretty tough to hammer the Iranian NOC for actions of its government. However, Rule 27.5 states:

“In order to fulfil their mission, the NOCs may cooperate with governmental bodies, with which they shall achieve harmonious relations. However, they shall not associate themselves with any activity which would be in contradiction with the Olympic Charter.”

If the Iranian National Olympic Committee interceded on behalf of Afkari, then they cannot be blamed for actions beyond its control. But then there is Rule 27.9:

“Apart from the measures and sanctions provided in the case of infringement of the Olympic Charter, the IOC Executive Board may take any appropriate decisions for the protection of the Olympic Movement in the country of an NOC, including suspension of or withdrawal of recognition from such NOC if the constitution, law or other regulations in force in the country concerned, or any act by any governmental or other body causes the activity of the NOC or the making or expression of its will to be hampered. The IOC Executive Board shall offer such NOC an opportunity to be heard before any such decision is taken.”

Read strictly as written, this would allow the IOC Executive Board to suspend Iran if, in fact, the Iranian NOC did ask the government not to execute Afkari. And if it did not, the IOC could fall back on Rule 27’s prohibition against “violence in sport.”

From a legal perspective, these are not straightforward and obvious. Afkari was not killed because he was an athlete, but accused of political activity and the purported killing of Turkeman.

Suspensions are hardly new territory for the IOC. South Africa was memorably thrown out of the Movement from 1964-88 for its apartheid policies and both India and Kuwait have been suspended in recent years for governmental interference with the autonomy of the respective National Olympic Committees. But this case is much different.

Further, Bach and his IOC colleagues know that the key to the worldwide success of the Games is international unity, even it means tolerating some unsavory characters and nations. Russia has been suspended for four years and could miss three Olympic Games – 2020+1, 2022 Winter and 2024 – if its sanction is confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in November. Could a suspension of Iran start the dominoes toward an Iranian-Russian alliance that could try to organize boycotts of future Games?

Navid Afkari’s death could be the catalyst for more international sanctions for Iran, and an ouster from sport would be not only highly public, but likely quite unpopular in a country which takes its sports seriously.

The next time we are likely to hear from the IOC on this topic is not far off. An Executive Board meeting – by videoconference – is scheduled for 7 October, little more than three weeks away. That’s enough time to determine a response, or – if necessary – to set up another of the IOC’s famous ad hoc committees to figure out the right sanction.

Sadly, none of these will being Navid Afkari back to life, or release his brothers from prison.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: Warholm sensational again (47.08) at ISTAF; Pogacar & Roglic break defending champ Bernal in Tour de France

By
Rich Perelman
-
Olympic and World Triple Jump champ Christian Taylor of the U.S. (Photo: Mohan via Wikipedia)

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Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Athletics ● Another brilliant performance for Norwegian super-hurdler Karsten Warholm was the highlight of the 79th ISTAF Berlin on Sunday, in a meet with three world-leading marks:

● Men/Triple Jump: 17.57 m (57-7 3/4), Christian Taylor (USA)
● Women/1,500 m: 3:57.40, Laura Muir (GBR)
● Women/Steeple: 9:06.14, Hyvin Kiyeng (KEN)

Despite a limit of just 3,500 fans in the historic Olympiastadion, there was plenty of noise, which was much appreciated by the athletes. “ISTAF is the best meeting in the world,” said Warholm. “To be honest, I got chills coming out here. Everybody is making a lot of noise, although they are not allowed to have a lot of people in here. The atmosphere was the best this year.”

Still chasing the 400 m hurdles world record of 46.78, Warholm blasted out of the blocks – as usual – from lane seven and ran perfectly through the first nine hurdles, but sailed (instead of hurdled) over the final hurdle and finished strongly in a sizzling 47.08.

That broke the 40-year-old (!) meet record of American Edwin Moses of 47.17, which actually points out how great Moses was in his prime. Warholm’s 47.08 is the no. 9 performance all-time; he now owns five of the top 12 times in history (no one else has more than two).

Swede Mondo Duplantis won the pole vault as expected, clearing 5.91 m (19-4 3/4) on his second try. He then went – as usual – to 6.15 m (20-2) to try for the best-ever vault outdoors, but wasn’t close on any of his tries. Poland’s Piotr Lisek cleared 5.82 m (19-1) for second; American Sam Kendricks managed 5.57 m (18-3 1/4) and was sixth.

In the triple jump, Olympic and World Champion Christian Taylor was leading at 17.02 m (55-10 1/4) into the fifth round when home favorite Max Hess (GER) boomed a season best 17.17 m (56-4) to take the lead. No problem for Taylor – one of the best clutch jumpers of all time – who responded with a world-leading 17.57 m (57-7 3/4) to seal the win.

Lithuania’s Andrius Gudzius, the 2017 World Champion, upset Sweden’s Daniel Stahl in the discus, winning with his final throw of 66.72 m (218-11). Stahl managed 65.89 m (216-2) in the second round, but did not improve, ending his 15-meet win streak from late June.

The women’s distances both produced world-leading marks, with Britain’s Laura Muir and Laura Weightman running 1-2 in the 1,500 m. Muir ran away from the field in the last 200 m and scored a world-leading 3:57.40 victory, while Weightman got a lifetime best of 4:00.49. American Shannon Rowbury got a seasonal best of 4:02.56 in fifth.

The 2015 World Champion in the steeple, Hyvin Kiyeng (KEN) surprised world-record holder Beatrice Chepkoech over the final lap and scored a 9:06.14-9:10.07 win.

Other highlights included 100 m wins for Arthur Cisse (CIV: 10.10) and Dafne Schippers (NED: 11.26), Johannes Vetter (GER) at 87.26 m (286-3) in the men’s javelin, and Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk upset World Champion Malaika Mihambo (GER) in the women’s long jump, 6.87 m (22-6 1/2) to 6.77 m (22-2 1/2).

The next major meets on the schedule include the Hanzekovic Memorial in Zagreb (CRO) on Monday and Tuesday – Ryan Crouser of the U.S. is entered in the shot – and then the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in the Wanda Diamond League in Rome (ITA) on Thursday (17th).

● Cycling ● Sunday’s brutal, triple climb stage from Lyon to Grand Colombier was too much for defending champion Egan Bernal (COL), but was another showcase for the two Slovenian stars, Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar in the Tour de France.

Slovenians Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic went 1-2 in Stage 15 of the Tour de France and are 2-1 in the overall standings (Photo: PCS)

The final, 17 km climb up the Grand Colombier was the undoing for Bernal, who remained within striking distance of leader Roglic coming into Sunday’s stage at 59 seconds behind. But four km into the climb, Bernal fell back and ended up 25th, some 7:20 behind the winners.

It was the third time that the two Slovenians finished 1-2 in a stage in this year’s Tour: Roglic won Stage 4 and Pogacar won stage 9 and now Stage 15. Both were given the same time, so with the time bonus for winning, Pogacar now trails Roglic by 40 seconds, with Colombian Rigoberto Uran third, 1:34 back. Bernal dropped to 13th overall.

Having Bernal out of the picture signals the end of a five-Tour streak of winners for the INEOS team: Chris Froome (GBR) in 2015-16-17, Geraint Thomas (GBR) in 2018 and Bernal in 2019.

On Saturday, the 194.0 km stage featured a downhill finish and was won by Norway’s Soren Kragh Andersen, who sprinted away from the field for a 15-second win over Luka Mezgec (SLO) and Simone Consonni (ITA).

There is a rest day on Monday, then three straight climbing stages on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, then a hilly stage on Friday and a time trial on Saturday before the ride into Paris next Sunday.

The seventh of eight stages of the 55th Tirreno-Adriatico was held on Sunday, with a win for Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel, his first on the UCI World Tour this season. With only a time trial remaining on Monday, Britain’s Simon Yates leads the standings, up 16 seconds on Poland’s Rafal Majka and 39 seconds ahead of Geraint Thomas (GBR).

The biggest race of the season in the UCI Women’s World Tour, the 31st Giro d’Italia Internazionale Femminile, is underway with Dutch stars in control as expected.

After a Team Time Trial in Stage 1, two-time defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) romped to victory in Stage 2 over two-time winner Anna van der Breggen (NED: +1:16) and Pole Kasia Niewiadoma (+1:16) on Saturday. Sunday’s hilly third stage was win for three-time champion Marianne Vos, who outlasted Cecile Ludwig (DEN: +0:02) and Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini (+0:05) at the finish.

Overall, van Vleuten has a 1:22 edge over van der Breggen and 1:37 over Niewiadoma with six stages remaining. The mountainous fifth and sixth stages should be the deciders.

● Skiing ● Swiss Alpine star Wendy Holdener, a two-time World Champion in the Combined, suffered a “non-displaced fracture of the head of the right fibula” during Slalom training on 6 September and is off the slopes for a while.

Swiss-Ski medical officer Walter Frey was not optimistic, however, about her immediate future: “Although surgery is not imperative, the time required for healing could compromise Wendy Holdener’s participation in the World Cup opening in Soelden in mid-October.”

● Swimming ● The International Swimming League announced plans for its second “season” on Wednesday (9th), to be held primarily in Budapest (HUN) from 16 October to 15 November.

The league has expanded to 10 teams, adding the Tokyo Frog Kings and Toronto Titans to the eight first-season teams. Eight teams will qualify for a semi-final (19-22 November) and four teams for the final, possibly to be held in Tokyo.

ISL has promised that all of its contracted swimmers will be paid $1,500 per month from September 2020 to July 2021.

Doubling down on his breakaway approach to the sport, ISL founder (and funder) Konstantin Grigorishin (UKR) said during a streamed news conference:

“For us records and time is not a big issue any more. Time is more a modern thing. It is more like a scientific experiment but when we are talking about post-modern competition: we don’t have time, we have to have some eternal achievements.”

Will this approach – completely contrary to the way swimmers have trained for more than a century – actually work? Despite what Grigorishin says, only time will tell.

● More to come ● Sunday’s schedule includes the final day of two important events widely reported elsewhere (so no need for us to cover): the U.S. Open in tennis and the ANA Inspiration major in women’s golf.

You can follow the U.S. Open here and the final round of the ANA Inspiration here.

THE BIG PICTURE: World Athletics releases 2019 financials, with better-than-expected results (and reserves), while Roglic takes charge of Le Tour

By
Rich Perelman
-

(★ Friends: Your 65 generous donations have paid our semi-annual server and support costs, and started to help with December’s bill. If you would like to help, please donate here. Your interest and support are the reasons this site continues. ★)

On Thursday, World Athletics finally joined all of the other Olympic-sport federations in making their financial statements public and actually showed better results than expected.

Founded as the International Amateur Athletic Federation in 1912, the federation had never made its finances public, although its audited 2018 statements were made available by The Sports Examiner back in June (here and here).

The 88-page “World Athletics Annual Report” included an overview of the federation’s activities as well as the financial statements. At first glance, the financial report from 2019 looks fairly grim:

● $51.14 million revenues in 2019
● $67.84 million expenses in 2019
● $17.42 million loss for the year

That’s pretty bad, but not as bad as had been expected!

At the 2019 IAAF Congress in Doha, the Council Report showed the budget for 2019 with a forecasted loss of $26.12 million! Yikes! Income was expected to be just $36.75 million and operating expenses of $62.87 million.

In fact, revenues were much higher at $51.14 million and expenses only slightly higher than forecast. So the federation ended 2019 with reserves of $34.30 million, much better than the projections, which showed reserves down to about $20 million.

That’s a long way from the $93.81 million on hand at the end of 2016, which was reduced to $73.78 million by the end of 2017 and $46.16 million at the end of 2018. During the 2017-18-19 period, the federation has posted losses of $20.03 million-$27.61 million-$17.42 million for a cumulative loss of -$65.06 million. Ouch.

(These figures are slightly different that previously reported, due to a change in accounting standards; World Athletics changed from the U.S.-based General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to the international-standard International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) reporting system, endorsed by the European Union.)

Expenses for the federation went down from $72.46 million in 2018 to $67.84 million in 2019 – that’s good – but revenues remained low. The revenue total of $51.14 million was better than the $45.21 million in 2018, but most of that was due to the $3.38 million in reimbursements from Russia for doping investigations expenses and $1.00 million contributed to the Athletics Integrity Unit anti-doping efforts in road racing by races, agents and athletes.

Revenue from television rights and sponsorships was up only slightly: $43.86 million in 2019 vs. $42.40 million in 2018. The notes to the financials explained:

“The exclusive broadcast partners payment is received twice per year and covers the broadcast rights for all World Athletics events for the year. The current agreement was signed in April 2018 and covers the period from 1 January 2018 to December 31, 2023.

“Commercial sponsorship income is split in three parts: the first part corresponds to the commercial rights and yearly invoices amounts to $11m per year. The second part relates to the TV rights in Japan and generates a revenue of $7m per year. The third part corresponds to commission based on the value in kind under sponsoring contracts.”

Also:

“During 2018, an amendment to the agreement for the period of 2020-2029 was signed. This new agreement calls for a minimum guarantee over the 10-year period of $130m. The agreement with commercial sponsorship also includes a profit-share income clause.”

This isn’t going to be enough. True, if the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are held, World Athletics will receive about $39.5 million or so from the International Olympic Committee, but no one knows if the Games will take place (or in what form, which could impact rights fees).

For a federation whose sport is practiced in thousands of meets and races annually, the $14.73 million in television rights and $22.79 million in sponsorships ($18.0 million rights + $4.79 million in profit-sharing for 2019) just seems low. The Annual Report shows just four World Athletics sponsors: Asics, Qatar National Bank, Seiko and TDK, three television distribution partners: Eurovision, Tokyo Broadcasting and ESPN, and one supplier (Mondo). There is also the Wanda sponsorship of the Diamond League, which is a technically separate entity.

But World Athletics got through 2019 reasonably well and if the Tokyo Games are held, the federation’s finances should hold well enough to allow for a more energetic marketing effort in the post-pandemic era. The now-under-discussion World Running Championships – showcasing the World Athletics World Championships in the road events – could become a significant new revenue source.

It’s worth noting that the federation put $4.55 million into the Diamond League in 2019, along with $8.32 million for the Athletics Integrity Unit and $2.41 million in legal fees; the latter should go down now that the appeals against the women’s competition regulations have concluded.

The release of the financials this late in 2019 was not what was hoped for. The coronavirus pandemic caused some delays, but there was also a time-consuming shift from GAAP to IFRS as noted above. If you’re starting to doze off, you only need to know that the two systems create only minor differences in reporting, but in order to make the change, transactions back to 2017 had to be reviewed so that meaningful comparisons with 2018 could be made. That’s done now, but it explains some of the delay.

This is a big step forward for World Athletics, which has significant challenges ahead, but no longer in secret.

The Tour de France has moved into the central mountain region and Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic took another significant step toward a possible victory in a little more than a week.

On Friday’s misery-inducing Stage 13, with seven climbs and finishing uphill at the Pas de Peyrol, it was Roglic who was able to maintain momentum among the race leaders and extended his overall lead once. He finished 12th, 6:05 behind winner Daniel Felipe Martinez (COL), but 38 seconds ahead of defending champion Egan Bernal (COL) and even with countryman Tadej Pogacar.

With just eight stages left, Roglic now leads Pogacar by 44 seconds and Bernal by 59. Only seven riders are within two minutes of Roglic; behind Bernal are three more Colombian riders: Rigoberto Uran (-1:10), Nairo Quintana (-1:12) and Miguel Angel Lopez (-1:31). Early leader Adam Yates is seventh, 1:42 back.

The sprint stages earlier in the week also produced a shake-up, especially to the hopes of Slovakian star Peter Sagan, looking for an eighth straight Tour Points title. Irishman Sam Bennett won Tuesday’s 168.5 km dash to Ile de Re, ahead of Caleb Ewan (AUS), but then Ewan won on Wednesday, ahead of Sagan and Bennett in the 167.5 km route to Poitiers.

At the finish, Sagan was penalized for a too-aggressive push at the finish, last Belgium’s Wout van Aert. The sanction dropped him from second to 85th (!) and put Bennett in the green jersey of the Points leader.

Thursday’s hilly stage from Chauvigny to Sarran saw Tour rookie Marc Hirschi (SUI) win his first professional race with a brilliant breakaway, finishing 47 seconds clear of Pierre Rolland (FRA).

Saturday’s stage has one major and two minor climbs, but finishes downhill to Lyon. Sunday is a horrific triple climb that finishes uphill at Grand Colombier and rises from 237 m to 1,497 m at over the final 18.5 km. Whomever conquers that route may well be the overall winner, even with three more climbing stages on Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday of the final week.

LANE ONE: On Tokyo 2020+1: “The only thing we can always say is: it will be about offering a safe environment for all participants”

By
Rich Perelman
-

(★ Friends: Your 65 generous donations have paid our semi-annual server and support costs, and started to help with December’s bill. If you would like to help, please donate here. Your interest and support are the reasons this site continues. ★)

A five-hour meeting of the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board – by videoconference – produced some new programs against harassment in sport, but no definitive answers about the Tokyo Olympic Games scheduled for 2021.

IOC President Thomas Bach explained:

“With regard to Tokyo, there we are very much satisfied and happy that we can feel – not only feel, we know – about the full support from everyone involved, of course the organizing committee, but given the recent announcement of resignation by Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe, also from the Japanese government and from the so-important Tokyo Metropolitan Government. …

“Overall, we will of course continue to follow the principle that has driven all our decisions so far with regard to Tokyo. And that means to organize Olympic Games in a safe environment for all people involved next summer.”

He returned to this theme of safety again and again in response to questions about fans and comments from fellow IOC member John Coates (AUS) that the Tokyo Games would go on “with or without Covid”:

● “[T]he Task Force has to prepare for different scenarios, not knowing which one will be the environment next year. That’s not easy, but of course social distancing is under consideration, many other questions we are also following very closely: what’s happening with the development of rapid testing, developments of vaccinations and vaccines, because also these could have an effect and could facilitate the preparations. But it’s just too early to give a concrete answer, to what will be the final scenario and the final approach. The only thing we can always say is: it will be about offering a safe environment for all participants.”

● “I’m only sure about one thing in this uncertain world, in these uncertain developments: that the environment in July and August – and this also applies to August-September because we are fully aligned with the International Paralympic Committee – that the environment when it comes to Tokyo will be different than from the environment today. We only do not know in which way.”

● “We don’t know how the world looks like tomorrow, so how can you expect from us to know how the world looks in three hundred-and-how-many days – 320 days – from today?”

● “With regard to the comments made by Mr. Coates, you have to see it in the context he made it. At the same [he] was also speaking about the countermeasures against Covid-19, so Mr. Coates, like the entire IOC is fully committed to the principle we always apply: Olympic Games in a safe environment for all participants of these Games.”

But Bach did allow a note of optimism in one of his answers:

“[M]aybe, hopefully, I think we can be cautiously optimistic according to our information and the contact we have with experts, the World Health Organization, with also pharmaceutical companies and what we are seeing also on the market, that we will see great progress with regards to rapid testing, for instance, which can greatly influence, then, the planning and the scenario and that we also are informed about encouraging news concerning the development of vaccines.”

Bach also announced a new set of IOC programs aimed at prevention of harassment and abuse in sport:

“I don’t need to explain to you how important this topic is given, in particular, developments in the last couple of months. And therefore, the IOC Executive Board has decided today to drive our initiatives further. …

“First, the Executive Board approved the development of the ‘International Safeguarding Officer in Sport’ certificate. Second, 11 webinars for National Olympic Committees, in four different languages, will start next month. Third, an Athlete365 campaign to build awareness for safe sport in the run-up to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

“With regard to the International Safeguarding Officer in Sport course and certificate, I have to say that this is a first of its kind because there exists neither a certificate or a minimum standard of education or training for safeguarding officers in sport, on an international level. This will be [a] five-month education course and will be developed by an international advisory board of experts.”

No one asked him about that program, but there were other inquiries:

● The always-incisive Graham Dunbar of the Associated Press asked about the Rule 50 (protest) discussions now taking place, cited multiple comments from the U.S. and then asked: “How close can the Athletes’ Commission, in their consultation, come to fulfilling these American wishes to say that these are not political acts; these are social acts?”

Bach’s answer: “These consultations are ongoing. You know, we have said from the very beginning that the IOC Executive Board nor the IOC President will interfere in these consultations. We have seen different opinions; you mentioned some, there are other ones we have been informed and read about consultations among athletes in different countries with other results. But we will not comment there in any of these right now. We are waiting for the report of the Athletes’ Commission once all these consultations have been finalized and as many athletes as possible have the chance to contribute to this discussion.”

● Bach was asked about the death sentences on Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari:

“We have to stick to our principles, and this principle is to respect the sovereignty and the judicial system of sovereign countries, but on the other hand, Navid Afkari is an athlete and therefore, we feel close to him. This is why the IOC, together with United World Wrestling, were and are extremely concerned about this case and we have taken contact with our respective partners: that means, for the IOC, the National Olympic Committee and for United World Wrestling, the national wrestling federation, and both are doing their utmost to facilitate a solution of this athlete’s case.

“You may understand that due to the particular circumstances and the still-ongoing efforts, I cannot offer more details at this stage.”

● Bach was also asked an LA28 question: “Following on the earlier question about athlete demands to speak out and protest for black lives, Black Lives Matter in L.A. is expressly opposed to the 2028 Olympics. How do you respond to their and other critiques that the Los Angeles Olympics and indeed all Olympics increase policing and surveillance and put marginalized groups in further danger?”

Bach, without hesitation, was ready with the answer:

“The Olympic Games, by uniting athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees, plus the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, are maybe one of the most powerful demonstrations against discrimination in this world. Furthermore, you know, in the Olympic world, we are going even beyond non-discrimination because, for us, it’s about not about not discriminating and tolerating diversity … for us, it’s addressing these issues and trying to remedy these issues by having solidarity among all the diverse group of athletes, nations, National Olympic Committees and this is what makes the Olympic Games so special, and, you know, this is what has been expressed and appreciated also by many who have been fighting and are fighting there for equality, in particular in the U.S., just to mention maybe one of the most prominent ones, Muhammad Ali.”

There was a lot that Bach couldn’t answer about Tokyo, but about why the Olympic Games is a positive force in the world, he was ready.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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THE TICKER: Swiss Tribunal dismisses Semenya appeal; Warholm, Crouser, Kiplimo, Taylor star in Ostrava; Tokyo 2020 “at any cost”?

By
Rich Perelman
-

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

● Athletics ● The Swiss Federal Tribunal announced Tuesday the dismissal of the appeals by Athletics South Africa and twice Olympic 800 champion Caster Semenya of the World Athletics rules for women with Differences in Sex Development (DSD).

Semenya and her federation were appealing against a 2019 decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that upheld the World Athletics regulations for testosterone levels in women competing in events from 400 m to the mile only. The Swiss Federal Tribunal is the last stop for appeals and these regulations are now in effect, without doubt. The Swiss Tribunal noted:

“[I]ts examination of the content is limited by law to the question of whether the CAS decision violates fundamental and widely recognized principles of public order (‘ordre public’). That is not the case. …

“[T]he CAS has issued a binding decision based on the unanimous opinion of the experts who were consulted that testosterone is the main factor for the different performance levels of the sexes in athletics; according to the CAS, women with the ‘46 XY DSD’ gene variant have a testosterone level comparable to men, which gives them an insurmountable competitive advantage and enables them to beat female athletes without the ‘46 XY DSD’ variant. 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. … 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.”

The Swiss Tribunal also commented on the issues raised concerning “forced” use of drugs:

“[The CAS] decision is also compatible with public order from the point of view of Caster
Semenya’s alleged violation of her personality and human dignity. The medical clarifications and any necessary drug-related lowering of the testosterone level represent a considerable interference with physical integrity. However, the core area of this right is not affected. It should also be noted that the examinations are carried out by qualified doctors and under no circumstances against the will of any female athletes. Ultimately, the CAS decision is also compatible with the guarantee of human dignity. Implicated female athletes are free to refuse treatment to lower testosterone levels. The decision also does not aim to question in any way the female sex of implicated female athletes.”

For her part, Semenya has said she plans to try to compete in Tokyo in the 200 m, an event not impacted by the World Athletics DSD regulations. She tweeted:

“Chills my people. A man can change the rules but the very same man can not rule my life. What I’m saying is that I might have failed against them the truth is that I have won this battle long ago. Go back to my achievements then you will understand. Doors might be closed not locked.”

The 59th Golden Spike meet in Ostrava (CZE) turned out to be a good one, with superb performances from Karsten Warholm (NOR), Jacob Kiplimo (UGA), Ryan Crouser (USA) and a world-leading triple jump from American Christian Taylor.

Much of the focus was on Warholm, who was continuing his assault on American Kevin Young’s 1992 world mark of 46.78 in the 400 m. Running in lane eight in fairly good conditions, he rocketed out of the blocks as usual and was running strongly until he chopped his steps badly in front of the ninth hurdles and hesitated slightly over the 10th and won in 47.62, his 10th win in a row. Said Warholm:

“It is always to nice to get the victory and to win. I was a bit surprised tonight, I really thought it was a bit faster and I was also checking the board. Maybe I was getting a bit tired in the end. But still, it is very much, this is a sport and you have to take whatever you get. I actually asked the organisers to move this event [on the time schedule] and I am glad they did it. You never know.”

Crouser is also looking for a world mark in the shot and while he didn’t get close in Ostrava, he did put together an impressive win at 22.43 m (73-7 1/4), with one other throw over 73 feet. “My ambitions were to go far tonight and to throw well. This is my 4th day in the country so I am a little bit jet-lagged, a bit flat and tired today. But 22.40 – I was really happy with that and I also executed it well.

“The conditions and the circle was good and when I kind of get used to the time change, maybe a couple more meets and I will throw far. This season has been a challenge after the training in my garage.”

No one quite expected the men’s 5,000 to be such a stirring race, but it was a stunner. Last year’s Worlds silver winner Selemon Barega (ETH) was the big name in the race, but he was matched stride-for-stride by Uganda’s 19-year-old Jacob Kiplimo, the 2019 World Cross Country Championships silver medalist.

The two were all alone after the last of the pacesetters dropped at 3,000 m and it appeared that Barega has plenty of gas in the tank, but it was Kiplimo who flew ahead with 200 m to go and won easily in a lifetime best of 12:48.63, moving him to no. 12 on the all-time list.

His prior best had been 13:13.64 from 2017!

Barega finished in 12:49.08, a season’s best and his second-fastest race ever.

The one world-leading performance came on the final jump of the final field event, the men’s triple jump. World leader Hugues Fabrice Zango (BUR) led almost the entire way with his second-round jump of 17.42 m (57-2), Olympic and World Champion Taylor of the U.S. stormed into the lead on his sixth and final jump at 17.46 m (57-3 1/2) and won the event and took over the outdoor world lead for 2020.

There were numerous other strong performances, in front of a modest crowd thanks to the coronavirus restrictions. Great Britain’s Jake Wightman impressed with a lifetime best 1:44.18 in the men’s 800 m and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) won the 1,500 in 3:33.92 with a strong run down the home straight. Swede Daniel Stahl won the discus at 66.42 m (217-11), but said “I really liked the atmosphere here in Ostrava. Most of today was just about power; my technique was bad, and mentally it was bad also. It is pretty bad result for me: 66 meters.”

The women’s distances saw imposing wins for Laura Muir (GBR) at 800 m in 1:58.84, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon in 3:59.05 at 1,500 m (season’s best) and 14:37.85 for Sifan Hassan (NED), just four days after setting the world mark for the Hour, ahead of a lifetime best 14:40.51 from Kenyan Sheila Chelangat. Home favorite (and Olympic champ) Barbora Spotakova surprised herself with a win in the javelin at 65.19 m (213-10):

“This win is very important to me because it is not a secret that I usually do not do well in Ostrava. Finally, I broke the spell. I did not expect it, really, I thought that the javelin would fly somewhere to the level of 61 m. This performance really surprised me.”

The next Diamond League meet comes in Rome (ITA) on 17 September; there are seven more meets over the next eight days on the Continental Tour schedule, including the famed ISTAF in Berlin on 13 September.

Also on Tuesday was a meet in Dessau (GER), where German World Champion Malaika Mihambo became the first 7 m women’s long jumper of the season with a win at 7.03 m (23-0 3/4). German javelin star Johannes Vetter won again, but with a more “normal” 86.17 m (282-8) after scaring the world record with a monster 97.76 m (320-9) bomb in Chorzow (POL) a couple of days before.

Last Saturday, Venezuela’s World Champion Yulimar Rojas claimed an outdoor world lead in the women’s triple jump at 14.71 m (48-3 1/4).

● Cycling ● The Tour de France resumed with a flat, sprinter’s stage on Tuesday that saw the usual mass finish, but this time with Irish star Sam Bennett eking out a win over Caleb Ewan (AUS) and Peter Sagan (SVK).

The top of the race standings was not affected as the top contenders all finished in a group; Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic continues as the leader. They will likely do so again on Wednesday as another sprinter’s stage is scheduled as the race reaches halfway.

At the Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy, Pascal Ackermann (GER) won Stage 2 just as he did Stage 1, with a tight, sprint victory over Colombia’s Fernando Gaviria. Things should get a little wilder on Wednesday for Stage 3, with five minor climbs and an uphill finish in Saturnia. A total of 155 riders are within a minute of the lead, with six stages remaining.

● Football ● The coronavirus continues to implode the schedule, with CONCACAF announcing that World Cup qualification matches for Qatar 2022 will not begin until March 2021, instead of in October and November of 2020:

“Many parts of the region continue to have very challenging public health situations, and that has been a key factor in this decision. Additionally, several countries across the confederation have travel restrictions and quarantine requirements, which would make international football involving 30 national teams extremely difficult.”

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● Will the Games be held? Yes? No? Does anyone know?

Australian John Coates, the head of the International Olympic Committee’s Coordination Commission, told Agence France Presse:

“It will take place with or without Covid. The Games will start on July 23 next year. …

“Their job now is to look at all the different counter-measures that will be required for the Games to take place. Some countries will have it (Covid) under control, some won’t. We’ll have athletes therefore coming from places where it’s under control and some where it is not.

“There’s 206 teams … so there’s a massive task being undertaken on the Japanese side.”

Those comments were the subject of a Tuesday news conference by Japanese Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto, who said:

“All the people involved with the Games are working together to prepare, and the athletes are also making considerable efforts toward next year under the circumstances they’ve been handed.

“I think we have to hold the Games at any cost. I want to concentrate all our efforts on measures against the coronavirus.”

● (Hopefully Not) The Last Word ● The international fury is continuing over the fate of Iran’s Navid Afkari, 27, a wrestler who was sentenced to death – twice – by a court in Shiraz for participating in a peaceful protest in 2018.

The Global Athlete group posted a message indicating the sentence could be carried out as soon as Wednesday (9th), including:

“Iran is using Afkari’s popularity to set an example against protesting the Iranian government. This attempt to penalize an athlete for using their voice must be stopped.

“Sport leaders must enforce the highest sanction possible on the Iran sporting federations to deter the Iranian government’s infringement of basic human rights.”

It will be fascinating to see whether Afkari’s case comes up during tomorrow’s IOC Executive Board-by-video conference meeting, or is mentioned by IOC chief Thomas Bach during his news conference. Let’s hope so.

HEARD AT HALFTIME: WR watch for Warholm & Crouser in Ostrava tomorrow; Roglic leads Tour de France; Luis & Taylor-Brown win Triathlon Worlds

By
Rich Perelman
-
Unstoppable: Norway's Karsten Warholm!

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

● Athletics ● The assault on two 20th Century world records continues tomorrow in Ostrava (CZE) at the 59th Golden Spike meet, with Norway’s Karsten Warholm and American Ryan Crouser expected to compete.

Warholm just missed breaking American Kevin Young’s 46.78 mark in the 400 m hurdles at the Bauhaus Galan in Stockholm, clipping the final hurdles and finishing in 46.87. He’ll run in late eight once again and make another try for the record.

Warholm is the only man in history to run sub-47 in this event more than once and has four of the top 11 times in history.

Crouser is also in form to challenge the 1990 world shot mark of 23.12 m (75-10 1/4) by American Randy Barnes and just authored a 22.70 m (74-5 3/4) win in Chorzow (POL), his third meet this year over 74 feet! He will get a challenge from Pole Michal Haratyk, himself a 22.32 m (73-2 1/4) thrower at his best.

There are several other interesting events, with Britain’s Laura Muir in the women’s 800 m, Olympic champ Faith Kipyegon (KEN) in the women’s 1,500 m and Sifan Hassan (NED) – just off her world record in the Hour – trying the 5,000 m and saying she wants a new personal best (already 14:22.12, no. 8 all-time).

In the other men’s events, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen faces Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) and Australia’s Stewart McSweyn in the men’s 1,500 m, and Kenyan Selemon Barega (no. 5 all-time at 12:43.02 in 2019) in the 5,000 m.

The field-event line up includes Sweden’s Daniel Stahl in the discus (71.37 m/234-2 this year), world-record holder Barbora Spotakova (CZE) in the women’s javelin, American Sam Kendricks and 2012 Olympic champ Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) in the men’s vault and a great triple jump with Olympic and World Champion Christian Taylor (USA), two-time Worlds silver medalist Pedro Pablo Pichardo (POR) and world leader Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina-Faso (17.43 m/57-2 1/4).

The meet Web site is here.

There’s another record under siege, this time from German Johannes Vetter, the 2017 World Champion in the javelin.

Competing in the Skolimowska Memorial (a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet) in Chorzow (POL), he unleashed a mighty third throw that reached all the way to 97.76 m (320-9), the no. 2 throw in history! Just to be sure no one thought this was a fluke, he followed up with another heave of 94.84 m (311-2)!

Those are the nos. 2 and 6 throws ever, and only the second time in history that one person has thrown past 94 m twice in the same series! Czech Jan Zelezny’s world mark from 1996 is 98.48 m (323-1).

Ace statistician Jon Mulkeen (GBR), writing for World Athletics, further explained:

“It’s worth noting that the track in Jena where Zelezny set the world record is a far more open facility that would have benefitted more from strong winds. That’s also true of most of the other big throws at the top of the world all-time list. Vetter’s effort in Silesia is the best ever throw achieved inside a full-sized stadium by quite some margin. The next best is Zelezny’s 92.80m from the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton.”

Still just 27, Vetter will have many more chances!

There was a lot of other good action in Chowzow, including Piotr Lisek (POL), who scored a 5.82 m-5.72 m (19-1 to 18-9 1/4) win over Kendricks, an 11.29 100 m for Dafne Schippers (NED) in the women’s 100 m, a great 3:58.24 1,500 m victory for Muir in the women’s 1,500 m, with Poland’s Sonia Ennaoui second in a lifetime best of 3:59.70.

Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir won the Prague Half Marathon in a speedy 1:05.34 last Saturday (5th), setting a world record for a women’s-only race. She crushed the 1:06:11 standard of Ethiopia’s Netsanet Gudeta from 2018.

Jepchirchir burst away from the field after the first 6 km and was unchallenged, winning by more than a minute-and-a-half over pacesetter Brenda Jepleting (KEN: 1:07:07).

Although the best ever in a women’s race, Jepchirchir’s mark is only the equal-18th fastest women’s Half in history (she has run 1:05:06 in a mixed races). The world record under all conditions remains Ethiopia’s Yeshaneh Ababel’s 1:04:31 in the Ras El Khaimah Half on 21 February of this year.

● Cycling ● /Updated/ As expected, the harsh, back-to-back climbing stages in the French Pyrenees blew open the Tour de France over the weekend and placed one of the favorites, Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic, in the yellow jersey.

On Saturday, the triple-peaked, 141 km stage from Cazeres to Loudenvielle was won by France’s Nans Peters, while Britain’s Adam Yates maintained a slim, three-second overall lead. But the route punished possible winners like Ricardo Carapaz (ECU) and Dutch star Tom Dumoulin, who finished well back and are essentially out of the race in the overall standings.

On Sunday, another punishing three-peak course of 153 km from Pau to Laruns blew the race open. Yates finished 15th, almost a minute behind stage winner Tadej Pogacar (SLO), with countryman Roglic right on his wheel and defending champion Egan Bernal (COL) close behind.

The finish shuffled the leaderboard, with Roglic now wearing the leader’s jersey, 21 seconds ahead of Bernal and 28 seconds in front of France’s Guillaume Martin. There are now only seven other riders within 1:02 of Roglic, also including Romain Bardet (FRA: -0:30), Nairo Quintana (COL: -0:32), Rigoberto Uran (COL: -0:32), Pogacar (-0:44) and Yates (-1:02). Barring some sort of mass catastrophe, everyone else is done.

Racing continues on Tuesday, with two sprinter’s stages, then a hilly stage on Thursday and a difficult, uphill finish on Friday.

(Thanks to sharp-eyed reader Francisco Campo, who noted the correct national affiliation for Carapaz of Ecuador, now corrected above.)

The condensed UCI World Tour schedule meant that even the Tour de France is not alone this year. In Italy, the 55th Tirreno-Adriatico is on, starting with a win for Germany’s Pascal Ackermann, who won a mass sprint over Fernando Gaviria (COL) and Dane Magnus Cort on the 133 km loop course in and around Lido di Camaiore.

There are a lot of big names in this race, including prior Tour de France winners Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas from Great Britain, Simon Yates (Adam’s brother), Poland’s Rafal Majka, Australian sprinter Michael Mathews, Italian star Vicenzo Nibali and more. It will finish next Monday.

● Luge ● The long arm of the coronavirus has reached the Luge World Championships, with the removal of the 2021 Worlds scheduled for 5-7 February from Whistler, Canada.

Site of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games competition, the site is world-renowned, but Canadian Luge Association Executive Director Tim Farstad said in a statement:

“[O]ver the past few weeks, we have had extensive meetings with all of our key stakeholders, and after weighing all of our options, it has been decided to press pause on hosting the FIL World Championships here in Canada.

“The biggest challenge we currently face is a 14-day quarantine for all foreign athletes coming into Canada, which we cannot guarantee will be lifted by February. As a result, the FIL informed us it will not be possible to host the event this year.”

The FIL will now look for an alternate venue, most likely in Europe to allow international travel among athletes on that continent, which provide the majority of entries.

● Triathlon ● The World Championships for 2020 were held in good conditions at the Hamburg Wasser event, using a sprint course that crowned Vincent Luis of France and Georgia Taylor-Brown of Great Britain.

Luis won his second straight world title, this time in the sprint, with a 750 m swim, 20 km bike phase and 5 km run. He was with the leaders out of the water, with reigning Olympic champ Alistair Brownlee (GBR) leading the bike field after the transition. But the lead had passed to Portugal’s Vasco Vilaca and France’s Leo Bergere on the run and Luis soon joined them as Brownlee faded.

Luis surged with 350 m to go and won, with Vilaca holding for second and Bergere claimed third, 49:13-49:15-49:18.

The women’s race was also close through the swim and the bike, with a half-dozen contenders rushing into the second transition. But 2019 World Champion Katie Zaferes of the U.S. – a superb runner – had trouble and lost contact with the front of the race.

Britain’s Jessica Learmonth and Bermuda’s Flora Duffy led the run and were quickly joined by Taylor-Brown. But the latter had the best form and opened a lead after 1,000 m and kept widening her advantage. Duffy settled into second position and the real battle in the final half of the run was for third, with German Laura Lindemann maintaining her lead over Taylor Spivey of the U.S., and Zaferes, all the way to the finish.

Taylor-Brown won her first world title in 54:16, followed by Duffy in 54:25 and Lindemann (54:39). Spivey was another eight seconds back and Zaferes, who worked her way back into contention, fifth in 54:10.

On Sunday, France won its third straight World Mixed Relay title, with Dorian Connix on anchor.

Taylor-Brown led the field after the first leg, as expected, but Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt had Norway in the lead after the second segment. France’s Cassandre Beaugrand surged into the lead on her leg, however and put Connix in an excellent position to win, with Britain (Learmonth) and the U.S. (Zaferes) on the anchor.

On the anchor, Connix came out of the water first and his bike phase developed a big gap over American Morgan Pearson and Alex Yee (GBR) and that’s how they finished, in 1:18:25, 1:18:33 and 1:18:59.

● At the BuZZer ● Last weekend marked the 48th anniversary of the worst day in Olympic history, the 5 September 1972 murder of 11 members of the Israeli delegation in the Munich Olympic Village by a Palestinian terrorist organization.

A memorial service was held at the Olympiastadion in Munch on 6 September, where IOC President Avery Brundage (USA) said during his speech, “The Games must go on.”

The massacre changed the way the Games and all other large, international events are staged. Less well appreciated, is that Palestine has competed in the Olympic Games since 1996, having been given provisional recognition in 1993. Its largest delegation of six – four men and two women – attended the Rio Games in 2016.

The Olympic Movement really does bring the world together, if even for a short time.

LANE ONE: Conspiracy theorists alert! IOC and WADA could BOTH suspend U.S. for Beijing 2022 Winter Games!

By
Rich Perelman
-

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The war of words between the United States and the World Anti-Doping Agency is heating up and the ultimate losers could be American athletes. And it’s only one of two fires which are burning out of control.

Reuters posted an explosive story last Thursday (3rd), in which Witold Banka (POL), the new WADA President, noted that a recommendation by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy that Congress allow it to withhold part or all of the U.S.’s annual $2.7 million contribution to the annual budget if the U.S. doesn’t get a “proportionate voice in WADA decision-making” is the first step on the road to ruin:

“We have been approached by a number of governments of the world that were shocked by the threats from the U.S. government supported by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency).

“These governments want us to consider an amendment to the compliance standard meaning that non-payment by a government of its WADA contribution could lead directly to that country’s NADO (National Anti-Doping Organisation) being declared non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code.

“Inevitably this could have serious repercussions for athletes from that country including their participation in major international sporting events.”

A country’s athletes cannot compete at the Olympic Games unless their national anti-doping agency is in compliant status with WADA. The chief executive of the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations (iNADO), Jorge Leyva (MEX) added:

“It would be very bad.

“If the U.S. were to pull its share of the funding to WADA then the consequences for USADA – they quite simply would be outside the system and it would be a non-compliance issue working with the Olympic Games and things like that.

“That would simply be a catastrophe for American athletes and the anti-doping system.

“When declared non-compliant testing gaps are definitely created and then it becomes an arduous logistical challenge to close them.”

The 17 June 2020 report by the U.S. ONDCP criticized the pace of reforms within WADA just months after Britain’s Craig Reedie had left office and Banka’s term had begun. But the key recommendation was:

“Moreover, ONDCP recommends that Congress provide ONDCP with discretion in paying annual WADA membership dues. As noted above, the United States is the single largest contributor nation to WADA, with an annual dues bill of nearly $3 million. The United States Government has a duty to ensure that American taxpayer dollars are spent effectively for the purpose to which they are appropriated. The United States government also has a responsibility to ensure that American interests are adequately represented in institutions funded by U.S. taxpayers. American taxpayers should receive a tangible return on their investment in WADA in the form of clean sport, fair play, effective administration of the world anti-doping system and a proportionate voice in WADA decision-making.”

WADA shot back with a detailed reply, significantly challenging the ONDCP report and pointing out:

● The funding formula relative to government contributions to WADA was created in 2002 through the “Cape Town Declaration” which included: “the following allocations to be paid by each region: Africa: 0.50% Americas: 29.00% Asia: 20.46% Europe: 47.50% Oceania: 2.54%” and:

“As for the Americas funding formula, in 2008, it was developed by the 42 governments of North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The United States led the development of the regional funding formula, which was agreed to unanimously within the region, and has been adhered to by all governments in the Americas. As stated in the Americas political document, signed in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2008, the U.S. ‘agrees and commits to paying 50% of the America’s region’s 29% of WADA dues.’”

● With regard to not having a U.S. representative on the WADA Executive Committee:

“[I]t is important to mention that, in February 2020, nations of the Americas met in Ecuador for their annual inter-governmental meeting to discuss mutual anti-doping interests; including, the important topic of representation on WADA’s Board and ExCo for the 2-year period following the meeting. To our knowledge, the U.S. government did not attend that meeting to seek a seat on the WADA ExCo.” (Emphasis added)

and

“Unlike previous years, for 2020, the U.S. government did not submit any nominations for U.S. members or Chairs to any Standing Committees, including the Athlete Committee. Two nominations were received from US sports bodies, of which one (former track & field and bobsled star Lauryn Williams) was appointed to the Finance and Administration Standing Committee.”

The U.S. contributed a total of $2.61 million in 2019; Canada actually paid the most at $2.86 million, followed by Japan ($1.70 million) and China ($1.63 million). The big donor is, of course, the International Olympic Committee, which pays half of WADA’s annual budget, about $18.7 million for 2020.

WADA’s position that the U.S. could be declared non-compliant via a rule change was dismissed in the article by U.S. Anti-Doping head Travis Tygart, a longtime WADA critic. Actually, the procedure for adding the regulation Banka noted isn’t that difficult. According to the World Anti-Doping Code, sec. 23.7.3 shows:

“Amendments to the Code shall, after appropriate consultation, be approved by a two-thirds majority of the WADA Foundation Board including a majority of both the public sector and Olympic Movement members casting votes. Amendments shall, unless provided otherwise, go into effect three months after such approval.”

There are 38 members on the WADA Foundation Board: 19 from the public sector and 19 from sport. If such a rule change were to be undertaken, it would have to be started quite soon, but it is certainly possible. The U.S. has a seat on the WADA Foundation Board (ONDCP Director James Carroll himself!), but that would vanish if the U.S. does not pay its agreed-upon dues.

That’s one.

The other fire, gaining size and strength, is S. 2330, which recently passed the U.S. Senate by unanimous consent and is now starting its path through the U.S. House of Representatives. This bill includes sec. 220552, which would allow:

“(a) Dissolution Of Board Of Directors Of Corporation.—Effective on the date of enactment of a joint resolution [of the Congress] described in section 220551(2)(A) with respect to the board of directors of the [U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee], such board of directors shall be dissolved.

“(b) Termination Of Recognition Of National Governing Body.—Effective on the date of enactment of a joint resolution described in section 220551(2)(B) with respect to a national governing body, the recognition of the applicable amateur sports organization as a national governing body shall cease to have force or effect.”

Both the IOC and the USOPC have cautioned against this clause; USOPC chief executive Sarah Hirshland sent a letter last November that included:

“[T]he International Olympic Committee has made clear that Congress assuming the power to dissolve the USOPC board would violate the Olympic Charter and endanger our recognition by the IOC as a National Olympic Committee.”

Some observers believe the House will also pass this legislation by unanimous consent, which would send it to President Donald Trump for signature. There are also some urging more caution, especially with this clause, which would go into effect one year after the enactment of the bill. If approved, that would likely mean the end of 2021, after Tokyo but before the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in China.

Think a country as big as the U.S. is immune from sanctions? Think again.

Russia, of course, is on the verge of a four-year WADA suspension, pending its hearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in November. As for the IOC enforcing the Olympic Charter, don’t forget that India (population: 1.27 billion at the time) in December 2012, and was not cleared to return until February 2014 during the Winter Games in Sochi. In that case: “The IOC suspended India in December 2012 for holding elections in defiance of the Olympic charter and appointing officials facing corruption charges related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games.”

Looking at both of these situations, it’s almost impossible to imagine the U.S. not being allowed to send a full team to Tokyo in 2021, if for no other reason than the U.S. was compliant – on both counts – when the Games would have taken place in 2020 but for the coronavirus pandemic.

But the 2022 Beijing Winter Games is a different story. As noted in a 2019 Lane One, “the long-term implications of penalizing – and humiliating – the United States would send a thunderous signal to EVERY National Olympic Committee and International Federation that the IOC is gravely serious about its non-interference rules, which will quickly be far more respected. The impact of such an action could last 50 years.”

Such an action would require a renegotiation of the IOC contract with NBC Universal for U.S. television rights for the 2022 Winter Games. But with $2.51 billion in reserves, and as long as all of this is worked out in advance of the 2024 Paris Games, the IOC can handle it.

Is this scenario likely? No. Possible? Yes.

The clock is ticking and these fires are getting hotter. As usual, it’s athletes who would get burned.

Anyone in D.C. got a hose?

Rich Perelman
Editor

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THE TICKER: Three “world records”: for Farah, Abdi and Hassan in Brussels; another win for van Aert at Le Tour; double death for Iranian wrestler?

By
Rich Perelman
-
World record in the Hour for British star Mo Farah in Brussels (Photo: World Athletics)

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

● Athletics ● /Updated; please see below/ It was a greatly-reduced AG Memorial Van Damme in Brussels (results here) with only nine events, but it turned out to be a memorable one, with three “world records”!

● The men’s Hour had nine starters (and four pacesetters) trying for Ethiopian legend Haile Gebreselassie’s 2007 world mark of 21 km, 285 m. Only six finished, but five set national records in the event.

Britain’s four-time Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah, running in his race on the track since 2017 and first event of 2020, was expected to challenge the record and he and training partner Bashir Abdi (BEL) were well clear of the rest of the competitors by 12,000 m and ran together behind the pacesetters.

But it was Farah in the end, winning in style by sprinting away from Abdi in the final minute of the race, winning with a new mark of 21,330 m (~ 13 miles, 447 yards).

Abdi did not come away empty-handed, however. He was the leader at 20,000 m at 56:20.02, breaking Gebreselassie’s 56:26.00 mark en route in 2007 and now holds the world best (not a world record) in the event. Farah was close behind at 56:20.30, the no. 2 performance of all-time.

(Update: Reader and ace statistician Phil Minshull notes that the IAAF “deleted” the 20,000 m, 25,000 m and 30,000 m marks as world-record distances in November 2019, even though these events are still shown in the World Athletics page of “World Records”! So Abdi gets a “world best,” but not a world record.)

● In the women’s Hour, Dutch double World Champion Sifan Hassan took the lead from Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei with less than a minute remaining, finishing with a world record of 18,930 m (about 11 miles, 1,342 yards). Kosgei was disqualified for running out of her lane, when she stepped on the interior curb late in the race, leaving Israel’s Lonah Salpeter second at 18,571 m.

Hassan stomped the existing mark of 18,517 m by Ethiopia’s Dire Tune from 2008, and Salpeter recorded the no. 2 distance in history.

Other highlights:

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen was all alone on the final lap of the 1,500 m and won by more than 50 m in 3:30.69, ahead of Spaniard Jesus Gomez (3:34.64) and Boaz Kiprugut (KEN: 3:37.93).

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, the reigning Olympic 1,500 m champ, made a game run at the world record in the women’s 1,000 m, winning in 2:29.92, well ahead of Spain’s Esther Guerrero (2:35.64). It’s the no. 5 performance in history for Kipyegon and only the fifth-ever performance under 2:30.

Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis won the pole vault as the only one to clear 5.80 m (19-0 1/4), ahead of Belgium’s Ben Broeders, who cleared 5.70 m (18-8 1/4). Duplantis then moved up to 6.00 m (19-8 1/4), but missed three times at 6.15 m (20-2), again trying to claim the best-ever vault outdoors.

The next to last Diamond League stop of the season will be in Rome on 17 September. There is a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet in Chorzow, Poland on Sunday, with American shot superman Ryan Crouser, pole vault World Champion Sam Kendricks and British distance star Laura Muir, among others, scheduled to compete.

● Cycling ● The Tour de France moves toward its second weekend with no change on the leaderboard, as Britain’s Adam Yates holds a small lead, with 14 more riders within 41 seconds of the lead. This week’s stages in review:

● Stage 2: 30 Aug. (Sunday): An emotional win for French star Julian Alaphilippe on the twin-peaked, 186 km stage in and around Nice, just edging Tour rookie Marc Hirschi (SUI) and Yates in 4:55:27.

● Stage 3: 31 Aug. (Monday): A sprint stage from Nice to Sisteron, with a mass finish won by Caleb Ewan (AUS), ahead of Sam Bennett (IRL) and Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA). Alaphilippe maintain his small overall lead.

● Stage 4: 1 Sep. (Tuesday): A short, 160.5 km stage, but with an uphill finish, perfect for Slovenia’s star climber Primoz Roglic, who won over countryman Tadej Pogacar and France’s Guillaume Martin.

● Stage 5: 2 Sep. (Wednesday): Belgian Wout van Aert, 25, added the Tour de France to his list of race wins in 2020, in a mass finish sprint over Dutch rider Cees Bol and Bennett (IRL). Van Aert already won the Strade Bianche and Milan-Sanremo, and a stage at the Criterium du Dauphine, so it’s his fourth World Tour triumph this season. Yates took the overall lead when Alaphilippe was penalized 20 seconds for taking food during the final 20 km.

● Stage 6: 3 Sep. (Thursday): A major uphill finish to the Mont Aigoual by Kazakhstan’s Alexey Lutsenko, who broke away and won by 55 seconds over Jesus Herrada (ESP).

● Stage 7: 4 Sep. (Friday): Another win for van Aert, who was best on the mass finish in the mostly-downhill second half of the 168 km route from Millau to Lavaur. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) was second, as 41 athletes received the same finishing time.

Yates holds a three-second lead over Roglic, nine seconds over Martin and 13 seconds over seven riders that includes defending champ Egan Bernal (COL), Dutch star Tom Dumoulin, Colombia’s Nairo Quintana and France’s Roman Bardet and Thibaut Pinot. Alaphippe is 15 seconds back.

Coming up is a major climbing stage on Saturday, a 141 km race from Cazeres to Loudenvielle and then a tough, double-climb stage on Sunday of 153 km from Pau to Laruns. Monday will be a rest day, so look for the climbers to make moves for the yellow jersey on one or both days.

● Triathlon ● The only World Triathlon Series event remaining in 2020 takes place tomorrow in Hamburg (GER), which has been recognized as the 2020 World Championships.

A specially-designed sprint course with a 750 m swim, a six-lap bike ride of 20 km and a 5 km run will be used. Defending World Champions Vincent Luis (FRA) and American Katie Zaferes are expected to be on the starting line. The World Mixed Relay Championships will be held on Sunday.

● Wrestling ● Iran is being scorned internationally for a double death sentence – plus six months imprisonment and 74 lashes! – was handed down against 27-year-old wrestler Navid Afkari on Monday (31st).

Afkari, 27, was “convicted” by a court in Shiraz, Iran over peaceful protests held in 2018. His two brothers were also “convicted”: Vahid was sentenced to 54 1/2 years in prison and 74 lashes and Habib is to be imprisoned for 27 1/4 years and receive 74 lashes.

The sentences have resulted in outrage from many quarters, including one comment on Twitter noting that Iran sits on the U.N. Commission on Criminal Justice.

According to the International Organization to Preserve Human Rights:

“It has been reported that Navid Afkari was tortured and forced to confess. A letter from him states that he was subjected to brutal torture – including covering his head with plastic bags and pouring alcohol in his nostrils — in order to “confess” to fabricated statements on which the charges against him were then based.”

The IOPHR stated that the execution could happen at any time. According to a letter from Afkari posted by the IOPHR:

“I want to say, if I was executed, I want the world to know that in the 21st century even with the existing international community, UN and human rights orginations [sic] around the world, the Iranian regime are killing innocent persons.”

Protests on Twitter are grouped at #NavidAfkari and #StopExecutionsInIran.

LANE ONE: LA28 introduces 11 more logos and merchandise store; Judge orders USA Gymnastics settlement conference

By
Rich Perelman
-

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Tuesday’s colorful launch of the LA28 emblem series featuring 26 different designs by athletes, activists and Angelenos was promised as only the start. No kidding.

On Wednesday, a full line-up of 39 LA28 merchandise items was displayed – using 11 new emblems – in the new LA28 online store, using the Fanatics sales engine and featuring Nike-branded apparel. You can buy:

● T-shirts in black or white: 16 styles for men, women and youth, in short and long sleeve;

● Hooded sweatshirts: 5 styles;

● Sweatpants: 1 style;

● Jacket: 1 style;

● Baseball-style caps: 8 styles;

● Pins: 6 styles;

● Sticker set of the new logos, and a mug

Almost all of the items are in black or white and not much else.

Of the 26 emblems that debuted on Tuesday, only one was used on the first set of merchandise: the hands-in-hands design by streetwear star Bobby Hundreds (Bobby Kim). Most of the items featured new “A” logos not shown at the launch, but covering the familiar ground expected, as shown in the first pin set of the 2028 Games, shown on Twitter by Olympic Broadcast Service chief executive Yiannis Exarchos (GRE):

The merchandise showcases seven of the new logos on at least one item:

● “Retro Stripe“: a blue-white-red homage to the 1984 Star-in-Motion logo;

● “Script“: an Old English-style “A” with a mix of colors;

● “Graffiti“: a splashy magenta style;

● “Space Travel“: showing a take-off!

● “Skateboarding“: with a skull & lightning theme;

● “Camo“: with a military camouflage pattern;

● “Prism“: with vertical and angled lines.

The other logos include designs with three stacked basketballs, an A in a block-serif style, a red-and-magenta painted style, and a hot background with a blue “equals” sign for the crossbar.

All the bases have been covered, including a U.S. colors emblem and what is surely the first authorized appearance of a skull & bones logo in conjunction with the Olympic rings!

Whether you like these items or not, or the added emblem treatments, is irrelevant. Los Angeles 2028 chair Casey Wasserman said after the Games was awarded that the event would be successful “if we don’t make any big mistakes.” This roll-out of the individualized “As” followed by the merchandized “As” shows that both sides of the street – creative and commercial – are being covered. With a budget of $6.884 billion to cover, that’s a necessary balance that will have to be respected for an event which is expected to pay for itself … and have money left over to find youth sports for generations.

We’re only in the first inning, but so far, well played.

Meanwhile, back at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana, the showdown over a forced settlement conference in the USA Gymnastics case was resolved in favor of such an event, but with special arrangements.

Judge Robin L. Moberly clearly wants a settlement to end the 517 abuse cases filed as part of the USA Gymnastics bankruptcy proceeding, but there were significant concerns that a court-led settlement conference might prejudice coverage disputes already made by the insurance companies participating in the case. So:

“[T]he undersigned judge will not preside over the settlement conference. The Survivors’ Committee, USAG, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (”USOPC”) and their respective insurers are ordered to participate in a telephonic settlement conference/mediation to be conducted by the Honorable James M. Carr, Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Indiana. Not only is Judge Carr a well-known litigator and judge, he has successfully mediated cases for other judges since he ha assumed the bench. Judge Carr is willing to act in a mediator role provided the June 19 Order and rules of mediation under which the parties have heretofore mediated fully apply, including but not limited to confidentiality.”

Moberly’s order indicated that Carr would discuss the prior, failed mediation sessions with Judge Gregg Zive, who had been mediating the dispute up to this time.

The parties now have 14 days to object to Carr, if they choose, and assuming he is agreed to, a date will then be set for yet another round of mediation talks.

One of the filings by the insurers in replying to the request for a court-led settlement conference filed by USA Gymnastics and the Survivors’ Committee indicated “it is clear that the parties continue to have a fundamental disagreement regarding the appropriate range for resolution of these claims.” So Carr will have his hands full trying to bring everyone together.

Moberly’s order dismissed the requests to have the chief executives of the participating insurers present for which a conference, agreeing with the insurers that this was a waste of time.

Time is an issue here. If the claims are not settled, then a massive race to the courthouse on behalf of all 517 claimants and at least two more trying to get into the action would ensue, leading to individual trials that will take many years to resolve.

There is $217.125 million on the table right now, based on the USA Gymnastics plan of re-organization already offered earlier this year. Apparently, that’s not close to enough and it will be up to Carr – if approved by all sides – to try and close the gap. Maybe before 2028?

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: Russia anti-doping in turmoil as Ganus dismissed; Duplantis clears 19-11 (really 21 feet!) in Lausanne; Yates new Tour leader

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

● Anti-Doping ● The anti-doping world is in tumult with the dismissal of Yuriy Ganus as the head of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency and the resignation of second-in-charge Margarita Pakhnotskaya last Friday (28th).

Ganus had been under fire for “financial irregularities” and was dismissed by the “founders” of RUSADA, which are the Russian Olympic Committee and Russian Paralympic Committee. But his dismissal is seen as a bad sign for the anti-doping efforts in Russia, for which Ganus had been praised. Said Pakhnotskaya, “I do not like the current situation and, yes, I have resigned voluntarily as I see no sense in continuing.”

Mikhail Bukhanov, who formerly worked for RUSADA as an attorney, will serve as the acting director general of RUSADA until an election is held.

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s statement noted “These developments reinforce the concerns expressed by WADA in its statement of 5 August in relation to the manner in which the Founders reached the decision regarding Mr. Ganus following a recommendation by RUSADA’s Supervisory Board; and, re-emphasize the critical importance for RUSADA to maintain its operational independence going forward.”

Further, WADA emphasized that its Compliance Review Committee, “when it issued its recommendation to declare RUSADA non-compliant with the [World Anti-Doping] Code that was unanimously endorsed by the Agency’s Executive Committee on 9 December 2019, made it a condition of RUSADA’s reinstatement that WADA remains satisfied that RUSADA’s independence is being respected and there is no improper outside interference with its operations. The current situation will be monitored in light of this condition.”

The Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations (iNADO) issued its own statement, noting that it is “deeply concerned by the control that the Russian Olympic and Paralympic Committee exercise over the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). This was made evident today in the dismissal of Yuriy Ganus as Director General by these two organisations.

“The clean sport movement’s effectiveness rests on anti-doping organisations’ ability to maintain full independence, with no interference from sport. It is, therefore, a clear conflict of interest when sport organisations have the power to remove the head of a national anti-doping agency unopposed.”

The appeal to the WADA sanctions against the RUSADA will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in November, but these developments do not help the Russian situation.

In the meantime, the required “roadmap” for anti-doping compliance for the Russian Athletics Federation was submitted by the Russian federation to World Athletics well in advance of the deadline:

“World Athletics can confirm that the Independent Taskforce has received a draft Reinstatement Plan from the Russian Athletic Federation (RusAF), as required under the conditions imposed by the World Athletics Council on 30 July 2020. The Taskforce will now review the plan and advise RusAF of any improvements it requires, which must be incorporated to the Taskforce’s satisfaction by 30 September 2020.”

● Athletics ● Perhaps the greatest vault of all time was made on the streets of Switzerland as Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis cleared 6.07 m (19-11) to win the Lausanne Diamond League pole vault on Wednesday.

The setting was absolute fun, held in downtown Lausanne at the Place de l’Europe, with side-by-side runways and pits for men and women. There were lots of masks, but no social distancing, with fans placed into pens of about 250 people each. Plenty of music and hyped-up announcing made for an engaging competition.

The serious vaulting started at 5.82 m (19-1), with Duplantis and American Sam Kendricks both clearing easily and continuing on, one-on-one. The 2016 and 2012 Olympic champs. Thiago Braz (BRA) and France’s Renaud Lavillenie went 3-4 at 5.72 m (18-9 1/4).

Duplantis’ clearance at 5.82 m (19-1) was so good, the crowd gasped, seeing him clear by perhaps two feet, so this was in fact a 21-foot vault! He did the same at the next height of 5.87 m (19-3), with even the announcers speculating that he could have cleared 6.30 m (20-8)!

But Kendricks matched him at 5.87 m, 5.92 m, 5.97 m (19-7) and then both cleared 6.02 m (19-9), with Kendricks snaking over and Duplantis again sailing clear.

At 6.07 m (19-11), the issue was decided, with Duplantis brushing the bar on his first try, but still clearing for his seventh try without a miss on the evening. Kendricks had two good tries at what would have been an American Record, but missed all three times and had to settle for second.

Duplantis tried for an outdoor world best of 6.15 m (20-2) and missed once, then retiring as evening took hold. His clearance of 6.07 m is the equal-8th performance all-time and the highest vault outdoor since 1994 (Sergey Bubka)!

Kendricks finished at 6.02 m (19-9), his second-best vault ever. This was the sixth time that a vaulter had cleared 6.00 m and lost (four times outdoors, once indoors), and is the highest “losing” height ever. Wow!

The women’s vault was won by Swede Angelica Bengtsson, who cleared 4.72 m (15-5 3/4) on her third try. Holly Bradshaw (GBR), Anjelica Moser (SUI) and Michaela Meijer (SWE) finished 2-3-4, all clearing 4.64 m (15-2 3/4).

● Cycling ● The Tour de France has a new leader, but not because France’s Julian Alaphilippe was out-raced in Wednesday’s stage.

Alaphilippe maintained the grip on the yellow jersey through Tuesday’s mountain stage, won by Slovenian star Primoz Roglic, one of the top contenders for the overall title. But during Wednesday’s stage, Alaphilippe cruised in with the main pack, earning the same time as winner Wout van Aert (BEL), but was penalized for taking food during the last 20 km of the 183 km route from Gap to Privas and suffered a 20-second penalty.

Thus, he fell to 16th overall and Britain’s Adam Yates has the lead, with Roglic three seconds behind, countryman Tadej Pogacar seven seconds back and Guillaume Martin (FRA) nine seconds behind. Defending champ Egan Bernal (COL) sits in fifth, 13 seconds back. There are 22 riders within a minute of the lead.

Stage 6 is a misery-inducing 191 km climb, with the finish uphill on the Mont Aigoul and the race finishing at 1,559 m … after starting at 136 m elevation! This will be another test for Roglic, Bernal and the other climbers in the race and an early indication of fitness.

Even with the virus pandemic, the appetite for major events has not subsided, at least in Italy, where Imola and the Emilia-Romagna region have stepped forward to host the 2020 World Road Championships on short notice from 24-27 September.

The event was moved from Switzerland due to the pandemic, and the events this year will not include junior and U-23 racers due to travel restrictions into Europe. However, with almost all of the world’s elite cyclists already competing in Europe, attendance at the Worlds will be possible.

● Skiing ● One of the stars of the Giant Slalom, German Viktoria Rebensburg, 30, announced her retirement from the FIS Alpine World Cup on Tuesday (1st):

“I have decided to end my career with immediate effect after 13 years. I made this decision with a heavy heart & after much consideration over the last few weeks. After my injury in spring & the past two months of snow training, I realised that I would no longer be able to reach my absolute top level.”

Three times the seasonal World Cup champ in the Giant Slalom, she won Olympic gold in the event in Vancouver in 2010 and bronze in PyeongChang in 2018. She scored 19 World Cup wins in her career (14 in Giant Slalom) and won 49 medals. She fractured a tibia in February and then another injury in the spring and decided to retire.

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● The “Team USA Council on Racial and Social Justice” was announced last Friday, comprising 44 individuals who will work in four main groups:

(1) The right to protest and demonstrations, to assess current policies and alternate options.

(2) Athlete voice and advocacy, to empower athlete voices on Team USA platforms.

(3) Institutional awareness and cultural change, to review USOPC and NGB diversity and hiring policies.

(4) Racism and acts of discrimination, to enhance reporting and dispute resolution processes.

According to the announcement:

“The 44-member council consists of 23 Team USA athletes, five Team USA alumni representatives, five NGB representatives, five USOPC liaisons and six external consultants and thought leaders – all serving in voluntary roles. Thirty-six individuals will sit on one of four subject-specific steering committees dedicated to addressing four areas of focus. Overseeing each of the four steering committees will be an eight-member leadership team, with the assistance of a distinguished team of outside experts.”

The Protests and Demonstrations Steering Committee includes Olympic protest icon John Carlos from the 1968 Mexico City Games and Pan American Games fencing gold medalist Race Imboden, who took a knee during the victory ceremony in Lima (PER) last year.

The Racism and Acts of Discrimination Steering Committee includes three-time Olympic gold medalist Tianna Bartoletta, who has written brilliantly about her challenges in life, as an athlete and the racism challenges she has faced and that she sees elsewhere.

A set of recommendations is expected to lead to an action plan “by early 2021.”

● World University Games ● Apparently the memo about containing costs for major events has not been received in Russia.

The organizers of the 2023 World University Games, to be held in Yekaterinburg (RUS) announced that budget for the 11-day event has been increased by 6 billion rubles, or about $80.8 million U.S. Per the TASS news agency:

“According to the Sverdlovsk Region authorities’ decree published on the website, ‘the total amount of finances envisaged for the implementation of the program currently stands at 64.721 billion rubles [over $871.791 million].’

“Earlier reported budget figures for the organization of the 2023 FISU Summer Universiade in Yekaterinburg stipulated an overall sum of 58.6 billion rubles, which included 28.5 billion allocated by the authorities of the Sverdlovsk Region, 13.8 billion rubles allocated by the federal budget and 16.2 billion rubles expected to come from private sponsors.”

An athletes’ village and several new sports venues are scheduled to be built as part of the Games program. But $872 million for a University Games? Really?

The coronavirus pandemic has struck the 2021 Winter World University Games, scheduled to held in Lucerne (SUI). On Monday, the organizers noted the strict requirements of the Swiss government and indicated “A potential later date will be discussed over the next two months in consultation with all involved parties, including the international winter sports federations.”

The event was slated for 21-31 January 2021; new dates are hoped to confirmed by the end of October.

● Pan American Games ● PanAm Sports confirmed that the first Junior Pan American Games will be held in and around Cali, Colombia from 9-19 September 2021, coronavirus permitting.

The event will be for athletes from 14-22 years of age, depending on the sport; about 3,500 athletes are expected, competing in 27 sports. Each of the winners will be automatically qualified to compete in the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago (CHI).

Cali is suddenly a hotspot for sport, as World Athletics announced that its 2022 World U-20 Championships will take place there. About 1,200 athletes from 143 countries are expected to compete in the Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero.

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● Last Friday’s announcement that two-term Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will retire due to illness brought many expressions of concern and thanks from throughout the Olympic Movement. IOC President Thomas Bach stated:

“His engagement was crucial to making the Tokyo Organising Committee the best prepared ever. Throughout these years, Prime Minister Abe was a strong partner who always stood up for the interests of Japan, and who at the same time could always be trusted. In this way, we were able to find solutions, even in the most difficult circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, which allow his vision for Japan to still come true, even if with one year’s delay.”

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga appears to be the frontrunner to succeed Abe, with the election within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to be held by 14 September. The formal election by the Diet will be held on 16 September.

● Vox Populi ● Reader Franco Fava, the esteemed Italian journalist who was a two-time Olympian in the steeple, 5000 m and marathon, chimed in:

“In your report of last 12 August ‘Why is World Athletics so timid about grabbing an opportunity to dominate the 2024 Paris Olympics?,’ you touched a very concrete and sensitive question. But I think the real question to ask is: ‘Why is the International Olympic Committee doing everything to curb the visibility of its major sport at the Games?’

“I agree with you that the re-introduction of Cross Country at the Games 100 years after its last appearance at the Games right in Paris in 1924 should have taken place with a different formula from that announced by World Athletics. I understand that two factors so dear to the IOC have prevailed: 1) To limit the number of athletes (1,900); 2) Encourage female participation.

“You mentioned the fact that FINA proposed the introduction to Paris 2024 of additional 10 events (or more). FINA is also asking for more participants in open-water swimming and water polo.

“But the point is: SINCE SEOUL 1988 AQUATICS EVENTS HAVE INCREASED FROM 38 TO 49 IN TOKYO 2020 (PLUS 11). ATHLETICS WILL HAVE ONLY 48 EVENTS FROM 42
(PLUS 6). SO ONE LESS.

“Since the 70s, Athletics is not only Track & Field any more. But it includes a large scale of Road, Country and Mountain, Elite and Mass Events. Many of which have become very popular in the past few decades all around the world and in every country.

“So, again: ‘Why is the IOC holding back the presence of Athletics, the main stakeholder at the Games?’ The re-introduction of X-C at the Games is a good news, but it would have been better to have in Paris 2024 a real X-C event, with Individual and Team competitions. Instead of a relay with very limited participation.

“There is still time until the end of this year to rethink which formula to adopt for 2024. I hope there can be a fair assessment by both the IOC and the Paris organizing committee.

“I am confident that following the appointment of Lord Seb Coe as a member of the IOC, World Athletics can promote a major overhaul of his presence at the Olympic Games. As in the same way it has already begun to do with regard to the program of its major championships, expanding the panorama of activities.

“The affirmation of this vision (so dear to Seb Coe also with a view to sustainability and a healthier lifestyle for future generations), will be good for Athletics, but even more will be for the good of the Olympic Games.”

Concerning our Lane One column on changes to the leotard tradition in gymnastics:

“Have you seen the suits being worn by female divers in recent competitions?

“They leave very little to the imagination, and I’ve wondered how the divers felt about wearing them. Let’s just say that some parts of the anatomy are really ‘out there’! Slightly offensive even to dirty old men like me.

“Curious minds want to know.”
~ Ron Brumel (Los Angeles, California)

THE BIG PICTURE: LA 2028 launches new, dynamic logo concept, starting with 26 versions!

By
Rich Perelman
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The LA28 emblem designed by Olympic gold medalist swimmer Simone Manuel (USA)

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“I think the days of ‘command and control’ are over, and the days of engagement and co-creation are upon us and that’s going to require us – frankly – to be a little, and maybe less, us, and move the Olympic Movement a little out of its comfort zone.”

That’s how Casey Wasserman, chair of the LA28 Organizing Committee, described the innovative – even wild – emblem program for the Los Angeles 2028 Games. During a half-hour, pre-launch videoconference with reporters, Wasserman explained the program and the process. Highlights:

● “There’s not one way to represent Los Angeles and there is strength in our diverse cultures. Every neighborhood, every block, every person has their own unique story, and because of this, Los Angeles defies a singular identity. We’re all Angelenos, shaping the future, together.”

● “The LA28 Olympic and Paralympic emblem is strong and bold and allows for endless storytelling opportunities. It reflects the spirit of Los Angeles is ever-evolving and looking towards the future. The ‘L,’ the ‘2′ and the ‘8′ create a strong foundation and anchor an ever-changing and dynamic ‘A,’ which represent the infinite stories of Los Angeles and the Games.

“Animated and dynamic, the emblem is built for the digital age, thriving on broadcast, digital and social platforms. And most importantly, with an unprecedented eight-year runway to the Games, the LA28 emblem is designed to stay relevant and keep people engaged for our entire journey.

“And because there is not one way to represent L.A., we want to make sure – right off the bat – that the LA28 emblem captures the infinite storytelling possibilities through a collection of voices.”

● “This is not about the old days of command and control of creating a singular logo and push it to the world.”

There are 26 initial versions of the emblem – all of which are animated – designed (or collaborated on) by a collection of athletes, activists and Angelenos, including eight Olympic medalists: Gabby Douglas (gymnastics), Allyson Felix (track & field), Michael Johnson (track & field), Chloe Kim (snowboard), Simone Manuel (swimming), Alex Morgan (soccer), Ibtihaj Muhammad (fencing) and Adam Rippon (figure skating). Emblems were also contributed by five Para athletes Ezra Frech, Jamal Hill, and Paralympians Lex Gillette, Oz Sanchez and Scout Bassett; and junior boxer Chantel Navarro.

The LA28 emblem designed by Paralympian Scout Bassett (USA)

Emblems from artists and performers include actress Reese Witherspoon, singer Billie Eilish, multimedia artists Alex Israel and Steven Harrington, graffiti artist Chaz Bororquez, storyteller Lilly Singh and tattoo artist Dr. Woo. The remaining five were created by activists, community leaders and entrepreneurs such as Jorge “El Joy” Alvarez, Bobby Hundreds, Aidan Kosaka, Lauren “Lolo” Spencer and Rachel Surnekh.

Six of the emblems combined the LA28 mark with the Paralympic logo and the other 20 are paired with the Olympic rings. You can sample the 26 “As” (and see the animations) here or walk through them (with animations) here.

Wasserman was asked about the process of creating the concept:

“So, this process started maybe 18 months ago and we always set the bar high for ourselves in terms of really representing L.A. and we struggled for a while with this tension between traditional emblems in all the sports, which are static, and L.A., which is a dynamic and changing city, and a journey that is eight years long.

“And the design team came up with this incredible combination of the two, this really strong foundation that the ‘L,’ the ‘2′ and the ‘8′ provide and this opportunity for dynamism and individuality in the ‘A.’

“And that process was complete towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year. And so recent events didn’t shape the approach, but we love the opportunity to share incredible stories from the diverse nature of Los Angeles through this platform and are excited to have the ‘L’, ‘2′ and the ‘8′ be a vessel – if you will – for sharing the stories of the community of Los Angeles.”

He acknowledged that this was a different kind of visual identity program, but still grounded in the intellectual property world of today:

“So, all the ‘As’ that you’ve seen and that will go out are all protected and registered through copyright. We’ve done that in close coordination with the IOC’s copyright team and ours. I think in the ones we intend to use commercially, we will clearly protect from a copyright perspective. …

“[I]if we’re going to commercially use an ‘A,’ clearly it’s something we need to be thoughtful and careful about, but that doesn’t mean we need to protect and control all “As,’ that are shared out in the world.”

The typography for the “L” and the “28″ characters is a custom design with Los Angeles designer Jeremy Mickel. The LA28 announcement credits Work Collective, Stink Studios, Media Monks, Cashmere Agency, Giant Spoon, Clarus and the Nike Design Team as creative collaborators.

(Wasserman wore a burgundy top during the videoconference with a highly-visible Nike logo, further teasing a future sponsorship announcement with the sportswear giant.)

First impressions?

Wasserman has promised that LA28 would re-imagine what the Games can be, and the organizing committee delivered with this “emblem” concept. It is decidedly fresh and different, clearly digital-friendly and embraces the rush for user-created content that is everywhere these days.

Those are the good things. The launch makes a series of statements:

● The emblems as illustrated by the first 26 styles stamp 2028 as a Los Angeles Games, not a Games held in the U.S. Not one of the emblems shown has a red, white and blue theme, or uses the Stars and Stripes. There is no requirement to do this, of course, but the message is strikingly clear. Paris for 2024 is using a golden flame design which incorporates the national theme of “Marianne, the personification of the French Republic.”

No doubt there will be user-created versions of the LA28 emblem with national-themed “As,” but these are not now part of the first group of symbols.

(You also have to wonder what the reception will be in Oakland, where the American League As play and have a famed “A’ logo stretching back decades.)

● The push for co-creation and co-promotion with users is timely and cutting-edge, just as has been hoped for from LA28. Skipping a static image for one which can be individualized mirrors today’s availability of personal brands on shared media platforms. But, sad to say, this freedom will also be abused and the organizing committee will now have to police its usage, locally, nationally and internationally.

That will not be easy, both as to content and as to sharing on buttons, flags, T-shirts and other items which might end up being sold without any license or permission.

● The infinite-option emblem program makes an important statement about Los Angeles in 2020 and the near future. The collective decision of the designers to eschew a single image around which people could come together for a template from which everyone can create their own says L.A. is not one, but many. How will that square with the Olympic concept of bringing the world together in one place at one time for peaceful competition?

The design can be interpreted as showing Los Angeles as 75% community – in the “L” and “28.” and 25% individual, but a close inspection of the design shows a slightly different appearance in each character. Southern California has been described as a giant mosaic: this logo accurately reflects that sentiment.

It was disappointing that the first 26 emblems shown did not include any from the icons of the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad in 1984. Perhaps a couple more – to get to 28 – could be added from any of the great stars of the Games, such as Edwin Moses, Mary Lou Retton, Carl Lewis, Greg Louganis, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Michael Jordan or others.

There is a faint echo of the 1984 Games design program in the 2020 brand concept, not from the Games itself, but from the unique 1983 poster series which featured 15 highly individual visions of the Games from storied artists including John Baldessari, April Greeiman and Jayme Odgers, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg and others. The 2020 brand idea is very much in line with their wide range of visual expressions of the Games. (You can see these posters on pp. 572-573 of the PDF scan of the Official Report of the 1984 Games.)

Perhaps the most important takeaway from the LA28 brand launch is that the organizing committee didn’t take the easy, convenient or conventional route in creating its visual identity. It imagined a new, flexible and endlessly inventive platform instead of a simple statement.

That’s a reflection of the way technology connects us today, especially in major American cities. It’s a positive sign for the 2028 Games and for the future of the Olympic Movement that the organizing committee takes its role as both custodian and innovator very, very seriously.

LANE ONE: First there was abuse from a physician, then from coaches, now, the newest fight in gymnastics is over … leotards!

By
Rich Perelman
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World Championships Team gold medalist Riley McCusker (USA)

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While the USA Gymnastics bankruptcy case drones on and the sport’s competitions are essentially shut down, a recent story from New Zealand takes aim at a new flashpoint in the sport:

Leotards.

Senior Sports Reporter Zoe George from stuff.co.nz reported late last week on women’s uniform rules as an emerging issue in women’s gymnastics. The issues are fairly obvious:

● “The leotard – a tight-fitting, often embellished one-piece garment that covers the shoulders to crotch – has been used as a mechanism of control, intimidation, violence and period shaming in gymnastics, according to athletes and leading academics, in NZ and globally.”

● “At one of the country’s leading clubs, a rule was introduced by a male head coach stating young women and girls who wanted to be on the ‘elite’ squad must wear leotards to training. They trained more than 30 hours a week.

“Athletes had to fight to wear shorts while they were on their period. The fact athletes had to fight to wear shorts has been described as ‘disgusting’ by a parent and ‘degrading’ by a former club coach.”

Observers note that this is only one element in the historically-based lack of “gender equity” in artistic gymnastics, not the least of which is the program of events:

● Men: 6 events, including Floor Exercise, Vault, High Bar, Parallel Bars, Pommel Horse and Rings. This program has been fixed since the 1934 World Championships.

● Women: 4 events, including Floor Exercise, Vault, Balance Beam and Uneven Bars. This program has remained the same since the 1950 Worlds, when the Uneven Bars was added.

As far as attire, the men’s uniform regulations emphasize simplicity and (apparently) comfort, from Article 2.3 of the 2017-2020 Men’s Code of Points:

“a) They must wear long gymnastics pants and socks on Pommel Horse, Rings, Parallel Bars, and Horizontal Bar. Long gymnastics pants, socks and/or slippers that are black or the darker shades of blue, brown or green are not permitted.

“b) They have the option of wearing short pants with or without socks or long gymnastics pants with socks on Floor Exercise and Vault.

“c) The wearing of a gymnastics singlet on all apparatus is compulsory.

“d) They have the option of wearing of gymnastic footwear and/or socks.”

The women’s uniform rules are a bit more specific, from Article 2.3.2 of the 2017-2020 Women’s Code of Points:

“a) They must wear a correct sportive non-transparent leotard or unitard (one piece leotard with full length legs – hip to ankle), which must be of elegant design. She may wear complete leg coverings of the same color as that of the leotard; under or on top of the leotard.

“b) The neckline of the front and back of the leotard/unitard must be proper, that is no further than half of the sternum and no further than the lower line of the shoulder blades. Leotards/unitards may be with or without sleeves; shoulder strap width must be minimum 2 cm.

“c) The leg cut of the leotard may not extend beyond the hip bone (maximum). The leotard leg length cannot exceed the horizontal line around the leg, delineated by no more than 2 cm below the base of the buttocks.

“d) They have the option of wearing gymnastic slippers and socks.”

So, no problem right? Unitards for everyone and the issue should be resolved!

Of course not.

In her story, George noted that she spoke with several New Zealand gymnasts about unitards and wrote that they “were unaware that FIG also introduced a rule stating female gymnasts could wear full-length unitards that cover wrist to ankle in 2009.”

Where’s the blame for this? It has to be …

Coaches.

In many ways, the Larry Nassar story is truly odd in that the greatest abuse scandal in sports history came from a volunteer team physician. Anyone who has been around sports for any length of time – at any level – has observed coaches with wildly different approaches to teaching and training.

Some are supportive. Some are screamers. Some are stoic. Some are abusive: before or during or after practice, and sometimes away from sports altogether. Investigations are now underway in multiple countries concerning individual coaches after reports of improper behavior have surfaced.

It’s important that the abusers be removed, especially in women’s gymnastics, where so many competitors are so young. The opportunity to wear a unitard, or some other style of uniform which allows judges – there’s another issue – to evaluate their routines properly and maintains pride in appearance, is an obvious need.

This change has already been undertaken in other sports, most especially in swimming, where the tiny men’s trunks of the 1960s and 1970s – made famous by Speedo – have changed to waist-to-knee suits. Most women now wear shoulder-to-knee suits, instead of the old, one-piece suits. This is better.

The same is true in beach volleyball, where the bikini alone is no longer compulsory for women, especially helpful in bad weather, and in track & field, where a variety of uniforms can be worn, depending on the event.

Is it time for all (1) female gymnasts (and parents), (2) judges of women’s gymnastics and (3) coaches of women’s gymnastics to receive the equivalent of a “Miranda warning” about the uniform options available – including the unitard – and including a clause that states that no deductions shall be made for the type of uniform worn, so long as it is within the rules?

In truth, having more area that can be decorated on a uniform can offer more opportunities for individual expression. Three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas (USA) wore a specially-designed leotard in 2016 that featured the Hebrew word “Elohim” – one of the Hebrew names for God – on one arm to salute her participation in Jewish religious services earlier in her life. What more could be done with the legs, in line with “elegant design”?

Rule changes are the province of the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), whose next Congress was slated for October of this year, but put off – due to the coronavirus pandemic – to October of 2021.

No matter. The question of gender equity between men’s and women’s events is something that will take a commission to figure out and some years. But a revision of the women’s uniform rules – whether to allow short or long pants in addition to leotards and unitards, or a mandatory notice about the availability of unitards – is something which can be done by an e-mail vote and implemented quickly.

This is not about Olympic competitions or the World Championships, but especially for youngsters and non-elite gymnasts who simply want to participate in the sport.

USA Gymnastics also has an opportunity to lead here; this has nothing to do with the bankruptcy proceeding, but can send a clear message to its 192,686 members (as of 2016) and to the FIG as well. As with so many aspects of society today, the door to change is open.

Ensuring understanding of the rules on women’s gymnastics uniforms is one more small step in the right direction.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: Crouser explodes to 22.72 m (74-6 1/2) in Des Moines; Tour de France starts with wins by Kristoff and Alaphilippe!

By
Rich Perelman
-
Shot put superstar Ryan Crouser (USA)

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Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Athletics ● Continuing to re-write the record book in the men’s shot put, American Ryan Crouser authored the second-best series in history with a stunning win at 22.72 m (74-6 1/2) at the “Blue Oval Showcase” at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

The pandemic version of the Drake Relays, the one-day meet on Saturday included 11 events, with only a handful of spectators. But Crouser showed that he might be the best putter of all time:

● He won a Tuesday competition at the same site at 22.56 m (74-0 1/4), ahead of Payton Otterdahl, far behind at 21.14 m (69-4 3/4). .

● His first throw on Saturday was 22.27 m (73-0 3/4), followed by monster throws of 22.72 m (74-6 1/2), 22.70 m (74-5 3/4), 22.63 m (74-3), 22.68 m (74-5), 22.44 m (73-7 1/2).

● That’s six throws, all beyond 22 m, only the second time that’s happened. Italy’s Alessandro Andrei did it in 1987, and his series included three consecutive world records of 22.72 m (74-6 1/2), 22.84 m (74-11 1/4) and 22.91 m (75-2) on throws 3-4-5.

● Crouser averaged 22.57 m (74-0 3/4) on his six throws; only 11 men have ever thrown further than his average! Andrei in ‘87 was the only better series, averaging 22.62 m (74-3), with all six over 22 m. In his 1990 world-record series at the Pepsi Invitational at UCLA, American Randy Barnes averaged 22.52 m (73-10 3/4) and had one throw under 22 m.

● Only 15 men in history have thrown 22.44 m (73-7 1/2) or further; Crouser did it five times in one series!

Track & Field News posted an all-time list of 74-foot puts (including in-series); there have been 41 in all and Crouser has 15 all by himself. Next is East German Ulf Timmermann, who had five between 1985-88. In the 21st Century, there have been 23 throws beyond 74 feet and Crouser has 15! (T&FN’s list does not include Barnes’s throws from 1990, or Kevin Toth’s 2003’s throw as these were years in which they recorded a drug positive, but their marks have been re-inserted for the above statistics.)

Said Crouser: “I was really, really happy with it. I wanted that big one, 23 meters (75-5 1/2), it felt like it was there, but all I can really do is set myself up as best I can and just try to let it happen the day of. I felt like I did that really well. The consistency I had out there showed that. So I was really, really happy with the consistency and the execution. It just didn’t quite connect on that big throw. But any time you’re consistent like that you kind of know it’s there.”

Given his brilliant condition, he said he would be looking for more meets, but recognized the difficulties, given the restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. But already the Rio 2016 Olympic Champion, he could be a world record away from being the best putter of all time.

Highlighting the other events in Des Moines on Saturday were wins for Jeff Demps (10.09) and Josephus Lyles (20.32) in the men’s sprints and Michael Dickson in the 110 m hurdles (13.54). Lynna Irby continued her comeback season with a 22.52w (+3.7 m/s) win in the women’s 200 m (world leader Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas did not finish) and Sandi Morris (4.65 m/15-3) won the vault.

The USATF Road Mile Championships were run, with Sam Prakel edging Colby Alexander and Joe Klecker as all three ran 3:59 in the men’s division, while Emily Lipari won the women’s mile in 4:30, ahead of Marisa Howard (4:32).

There was some money for the top finishers, with $3,000 for the winners ($1,500 for the winners of the men’s 200 m, women’s 100 m and long jump). Crouser and Irby were the men’s and women’s performers of the meet and won an extra $1,500.

● Cycling ● The 107th Tour de France got underway on Saturday with a full complement of riders, but many fewer fans along the route and especially at the start and finish. But the racing was tremendous, with Norway’s Alexander Kristoff finishing with a tremendous sprint to win the first stage, held in and around Nice. The mass finish had 132 riders given the same time.

Sunday’s second stage, again in and around Nice, featured two major early climbs and then two short climbs near the end, and off of the Col des Quartre Chemins, about 11 km from the finish, France’s Julian Alaphilippe surged to the lead. He was quickly joined in the breakaway by Britain’s Adam Yates and Tour rookie Marc Hirschi of Switzerland. Yates looked like a possible winner with 200 m to go, but Alaphillipe and Hirschi had more left and the Frenchman won by inches after 4:55:27 in the saddle.

The win put Alaphilippe in the leader’s yellow jersey again, by four seconds over Yates, seven over Hirschi and 17 seconds over the main contenders. Alaphilippe held the yellow for 14 stages in 2019, finally succumbing in the end to the superior climbing ability of eventual winner Egan Bernal (COL) and some bad weather. Can he hold on? For how long?

The next couple of stages are good for Alaphilippe; racing continues daily through 6 September.

On Friday, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announced that the automatic disqualification of teams in the Tour de France for two positive COVID-19 tests had been relaxed:

“In the case of two or more riders from the same team testing positive for COVID-19 within a period of seven days at a Grand Tour, the UCI will give the event organiser authorisation to announce the withdrawal of the team for health reasons.”

The riders had complained that a false-positive test could cause a team to be disqualified. Second tests and blood tests could also be carried out to confirm any positive prior to the next stage being run.

Britain’s Lizzie Deignan showed she’s back in championship form with two wins on the UCI’s Women’s World Tour with two wins this week:

● At the 19th Grand Prix de Plouay, Deignan won a sprint to the finish on the flat, 101.1 km course over countrywoman Elizabeth Banks, both timed in 2:43:40.

● On Saturday, Deignan beat the best in the world at the one-day, 96.0 km La Course by Le Tour de France in and around Nice. The course had two major climbs, but was downhill over the final 24 km, so the expected mass final sprint saw Deignan edge Dutch stars Marianne Vos (2nd), Demi Vollering (3rd) and Annemiek van Vleuten (5th), plus Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma (4th), with all five given times of 2:22:51.

Vos attacked during the downhill run and looked like the winner, but Deignan led a mad dash that win the race in the final meters and denied Vos a repeat victory.

● Swimming ● Japan’s Rikako Ikee was looking forward to a run at medals in front of home fans at the 2020 Olympic Games, but was felled with leukemia in 2018.

But perhaps her Olympic dreams are alive again after she competed for the first time in 592 days since her diagnosis at a two-day event at the Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Centre.

Ikee was obviously not in top form and looked quite thin, but won her heat in the timed-final 50 m Free in 26.32, finishing fifth overall.

“I was extremely nervous, but I still blew past my target (26.86),” she told the Japan Times. “I recognized many areas for improvement. If I can iron those out, my results will get better in leaps and bounds.”

● Tennis ● The most successful doubles team of all time, brothers Mike and Bob Bryan announced their retirement on Thursday (27th), just before the 2020 U.S. Open got underway.

Identical twins, the pair – both now 42 – won a staggering 119 tournaments together (Mike won five more while Bob was recovering from injuries) and were finalists in another 59 tournaments. The pair won 16 majors together, including six Australian Opens, three Wimbledons and five U.S. Open titles.

Both were two-time Olympians, winning bronzes in Beijing in 2008 and golds in London in 2012.

Said Mike: “We feel it’s the right time to walk away. We’ve given over 20 years to the tour, and we are now looking forward to the next chapter of our lives. With that said, we feel very blessed to have been able to play the game of doubles for so long. We are grateful to have had the opportunities in the beginning of the year to play and say our goodbyes to the fans. Winning our final event in Delray Beach and clinching the Davis Cup tie in Honolulu are moments we’ll forever remember and cherish.”

The brothers announced in 2019 that 2020 would be their final year and end after the U.S. Open, but the coronavirus pandemic led to an early end of their careers.

HEARD AT HALFTIME: Gymnastics case judge considers settlement conference, while World Rowing faces hard choice on LA ‘28 site

By
Rich Perelman
-

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

● Gymnastics ● Wednesday’s hearings in the USA Gymnastics case at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana ended with no decision on a possible settlement conference, but a rejection of two pleas for late inclusion.

Judge Robin Moberly heard oral arguments – remotely – on the motion by USA Gymnastics and the Survivors’ Committee for a forced, court-led settlement conference, but did not rule on the matter, taking it under advisement. Taking the filings in the case as a whole, the motion appeared to be aimed at forcing the insurers in the case to come up with a lot more money, even outside the limits of the policies they issued. But there is no decision on what happens next … yet.

Moberly rejected both requests for late inclusion as claimants by Olympic silver medalist Terin Humphrey and an unnamed gymnast. Both filed their claims well after the deadline in 2019 and were refused by a single-sentence order. If the format of the current settlement plan moves forward – the specifics of the plan will change – there is a provision to handle late-filed cases and money set aside for possible award and both Humphrey and the unnamed gymnast could apply for compensation in that way.

The USA Gymnastics operations report through 31 July 2020 was also filed, showing that total legal fees and expenses in the case are now at $11.58 million, with $6.27 million paid so far.

● Rowing ● The Federation Internationale des Societes d’Aviron (FISA) – better known these days as World Rowing – is one of the best of the International Federations in presenting in maintaining transparency in governance. This week’s release of its forthcoming 2020 Congress agenda and reports is another illustration of this.

All of its committee reports, including financial, are publicly available, well in advance of the 16-18 October dates (the event will be held remotely). If you are willing to read them, you’ll find some interesting items:

● FISA President Jean-Christophe Rolland (FRA) presented a lengthy report, which provides the current status on the possible site of rowing at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles:

“As announced, we have pursued our assessment and analysis of the historic site of the 1932 Games in Long Beach as an alternative course to Lake Perris (the venue originally proposed and presented in the bid submission). The analysis concluded that the proposal is feasible but implies a regatta course limited to 1500 metres. The FISA Council will finalise its decision, considering and carefully weighing up its implications on the sporting aspects and on the future of the sport.

“One essential point must be emphasised here, a point which has raised many questions during our exchanges with the federations and representatives: under no circumstances shall the fundamentals of our sport be changed, and should Long Beach be selected as the venue for Los Angeles 2028, only the Olympic and Paralympic regattas would be raced on that distance. This would be an exceptional, one-off adjustment to a very particular situation. All World Rowing championships and regattas, including the Olympic and Paralympic qualification regattas will be raced on the official distance of 2000 metres.” (Paragraph expanded for readability)

By placing the 2028 regatta in Long Beach, the rowers would presumably be able to stay in the Olympic Village at UCLA instead of being in separate accommodations closer to Lake Perris (which is about 87 miles east of the campus, in Riverside County). Flatwater canoeing is also scheduled for Lake Perris, so the International Canoe Federation would also have to consider a move, but the Long Beach Marine Stadium could accommodate the normal canoeing competition program without compromise.

(For more on the Long Beach Stadium site and why the course has to be shortened, see our discussion from February 2019 here.)

● Further to the Olympic program, World Rowing disclosed a major change in its proposed event list for Paris 2024, submitted for approval to the International Olympic Committee. The IOC has been pushing the federation to drop its “lightweight” category from the Games and World Rowing has now agreed, asking for six events for men and women – Single, Double and Quadruple Sculls, Pairs, Fours and Eights – and adding three new events in Coastal Rowing (in open water): Solo for men and women and a Mixed Double Sculls. This will be voted on at the Congress.

● The financial report is fairly grim, as expected, and underscores World Rowing’s reliance on its share of the IOC’s television revenue.

For 2019, the federation lost CHF 345,270 on operations after transferring CHF 4.13 million from reserves. Investment gains helped and the income statement showed a “surplus” of CHF 355,424. But the reserve account is now down to CHF 8.94 million, and the forecast for 2020 is that the end-of-the-year will be down to CHF 4.28 million. (1 CHF = $1.10 U.S.)

Looking forward, there is a proposal to retire the use of the FISA name and logo and only use “World Rowing” in the future.

Also in the news today:

● Athletics ● The track & field world is still buzzing about the 46.87 400 m hurdles win by Norway’s Karsten Warholm – no. 2 all-time – at the Bauhaus Galan in Stockholm (SWE) last Sunday (23rd). Said the winner afterwards, “I hit that last hurdle because I went really hard for the first nine, and stuff like this happens. But I think I was rewarded by just going all in at the end and I got a great time. It’s a great lesson for me to always run until the finish line.”

He got appreciation from another speedster, American Noah Lyles, who tweeted:

“I’m not even surprised that @kwarholm PR’d. I’m actually more shocked he didn’t break the world record.”

Replied Warholm: “Wow! Means a lot”

Sad news from last week, with the announcement that British actor Ben Cross passed away at age 72 on 18 August, from cancer, in Vienna, Austria.

Cross performed for almost 50 years, rising to stardom as British sprinter Harold Abrahams, who won the 1924 Olympic 100 m in Paris, in the 1981 Oscar winner, “Chariots of Fire.” He continued in multiple roles well into 2019, playing Sarek in the 2009 film “Star Trek.”

Jamaica’s sprint legend Usain Bolt, now 34, reported he tested positive for the coronavirus and is in self-quarantine, despite having no adverse symptoms.

With no sports going on, both now and in the foreseeable future in the Pac-12, the University of Southern California ran a poll on Twitter, asking fans to name the school’s greatest Olympian of all time.

The results showed that wearing a Trojan uniform has little to do with being a great Trojan Olympian.

The top vote-getter was Allyson Felix, who attended USC, but never competed for the school, becoming a professional straight out of high school. She’s won six Olympic golds and three silvers and could be in line for more in Tokyo in 2021. She has trained for much of her career at UCLA’s Drake Stadium.

Second was Louis Zamperini, who won nothing at the Games, but was made famous by the movies “Unbroken” (2014), “Captured by Grace” (2015) and “Unbroken: Path to Redemption” (2018). He finished eighth in the 5,000 m in Berlin in 1936 as a high schooler, then was NCAA champion for USC in the mile in 1938 and 1939.

Third was another star who never wore USC colors, swimmer Janet Evans. She attended Stanford and won seven NCAA titles there, then left college when the NCAA limited the number of training hours per week. She went to the University of Texas, then returned to Southern California to finish her degree in communications at USC in 1994. She owns four Olympic golds and a silver from 1988-92.

Fourth in the poll is perhaps the best-ever Trojan to wear a USC uniform, the brilliant John Naber, who dominated the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal winning four golds and a silver, including the 100 and 200 m backstrokes and 4×100 medley relay and 4×200 m freestyle relay.

Fifth was Lisa Leslie, who could also be the best ever, having won Olympic golds in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 as the star of the U.S. women’s basketball team.

Comment: Naber and Leslie get my votes, along with ignored shot star Parry O’Brien, who won Olympic golds in 1952 and 1956, silver in 1960 and was on the 1964 team. But he didn’t get a movie made about him.

● Cycling ● The annual centerpiece of cycling, the Tour de France, begins this Saturday (29th) in Nice, starting three weeks of riding with many restrictions in place in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to strict crowd, media and sponsor controls, the 2020 medical rules state “If two persons or more from the same team present strongly suspect symptoms or have tested positive for COVID-19 the team in question will be expelled from the Tour de France.”

The Tour field also looks a lot different this year, without four-time Tour winner Chris Froome (GBR) and 2018 winner Geraint Thomas (GBR), both of whom ride for Team Ineos. Defending champ Egan Bernal (COL) and 2019 Giro d’Italia winner Ricardo Carapaz (ECU) will be racing for Ineos and are among the favorites.

Slovenian Primoz Roglic, France’s Thibaut Pinot and former Giro d’Italia winner Tom Dumoulin (NED) and perhaps Colombian Nairo Quintana figure to be among the leaders when the race finally finishes in Paris on 20 September. And what about last year’s surprise, France’s Julian Alaphilppe?

British star Mark Cavendish, winner of 30 individual stages in his Tour career – the most ever – will not be riding this year. Slovakian star Peter Sagan, with 12 career Tour stage wins, is the leader going into the 2020 race among active riders, with Germany’s Andre Greipel (11) right behind. Sagan has won the Tour points title seven times and twice in a row.

The 21 stages features eight mountain stages with four summit finishes, nine flat stages, three hilly stages, and one individual time trial, on the next-to-last day.

● Triathlon ● With almost the entire 2020 ITU World Series canceled, the International Triathlon Union announced that the 5 September Hamburg Wasser World Triathlon event as the World Championships for 2020. Per the ITU:

“Elite start lists for the event are currently full for the male, female and Mixed Relay races, with current World Champions Katie Zaferes (USA) and Vincent Luis (FRA) ready to toe the start line along with double Olympic medallist Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) and multiple World Champions such as Mario Mola (ESP), Flora Duffy (BER) or Vicky Holland (GBR), among many others. Elite quotas will be increased in 10 athletes per gender.”

The remainder of the ITU World Series has been canceled for 2020.

● Weightlifting ● The folks at ARD in Germany are back at it, posting a story last week that former International Weightlifting Federation president Tamas Ajan (HUN) arranged the transfer of € 356,000 (~ $421,000) to himself in February and March of this year.

According to the story (via Google Translate from the original German):

“At that time Ajan was no longer authorized to conduct any unauthorized financial transactions. The American Ursula Papandrea led the IWF as interim president due to the ongoing investigation by the Canadian special investigator Richard McLaren against the IWF and Ajan.

“Papandrea was not informed about the fact that Aján, despite the serious allegations against him (including abuse of office, corruption, cover-up of positive doping tests, electoral fraud) transferred his annual salary of 350,000 euros plus a further 6,000 euros. Papandrea emphasized this in an online meeting of the IWF executive board this week.”

The IWF is considering a lawsuit to recover the money. In the meantime, the McLaren Report identified $10.4 million in IWF funds which is unaccounted for and there are criminal investigations underway in both Hungary and Switzerland.

Another doping positive from the London 2012 Games was reported this week by the IOC, this time of Turkish weightlifter Erol Bilgin, who finished eighth in the men’s 62 kg class.

The IOC’s tally of doping positives now shows London 2012 with a total of 77, with nine announced during the Games and 68 more in the re-tests. This is the most of any Games.

● International Olympic Committee ● The IOC’s Athlete365 site formally announced its “consultation process” regarding Rule 50 on protests at the Olympic Games.

“The IOC [Athletes’ Commission] has already started the consultation process by holding calls with the [Athlete Commissions] of [National Olympic Committees] and International Federations (IFs) that had asked to be involved, to discuss key issues related to athlete protests and gather initial feedback. …

“Once we have collated the initial thoughts and feedback from these regional and sport-specific consultations, we plan to launch a global survey this autumn to collect feedback from athletes from all over the world. This will be a mixed quantitative and qualitative survey to ensure that we capture all the nuances of the topic.”

An accompanying document noted that the survey is expected to be distributed in October, with a report to the IOC’s Executive Board in December and a finalized recommendation submitted in the first quarter of 2021.

Announced with great hopes in 2016, 21 August marked the fourth anniversary of the IOC’s Olympic Channel.

The online service, which has led to discrete cable “Olympic Channels” in the U.S., Brazil and elsewhere, has created 25,000 pieces of content, had more than 3.3 billion video views, with an average watch time of more than eight minutes per session.

Some 5,400 live events have been shown, with 95 different federation partners. Service is available in 12 different languages.

Back in 2016, Yiannis Exarchos (GRE), chief of the IOC’s Olympic Broadcasting Service, told reporters that the success of the Olympic Channel will be “measured by a change in attitude of younger people toward sports. … It is an effort from the Olympic Movement to bring the younger generation closer to the sport and closer to an active lifestyle. This is our chief objective.”

Against that metric, the four-year report card showed 10.4 million social-media followers of the Channel, with 74.9% of those under age 35. Certainly not a significant force as yet, but a good start. The IOC spent $82.37 million on the Olympic Channel in 2019.

● VIII Olympic Winter Games ● The owners of the Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows resort announced that the name of the facility will be changed since the word “squaw” is to be considered derogatory. The Associated Press reported:

“The decision was reached after consulting with local Native American groups and extensive research into the etymology and history of the term ‘squaw,’ said Ron Cohen, president and COO of Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows.”

A new name is to be announced sometime in 2021. The resort and the surrounding area hosted the 1960 Olympic Winter Games.

● At the BuZZer ● It’s an unfortunate anniversary, but an anniversary nonetheless, as noted by track & field statistician Walt Murphy in today’s “This Day in Track & Field” e-mail:

“It was a sad hint of things to come as more than a dozen athletes in various sports tested positive for steroid use at the Pan-American Games (August 23-28) in Caracas, Venezuela. Adding to the scandal was the fact that quite a few members of the U.S. track and field team left Caracas before they competed, ostensibly to avoid the drug-testing (some cited other reasons for leaving).”

Many athletes were not aware that testing would take place at the Games, then dozens scrambled to leave Caracas as soon as they heard that tests would be taken. A lot of sudden “injuries” showed up overnight, publicly exposing widespread concerns within Olympic sports – especially in track & field – about doping.

THE BIG PICTURE: Insurers to USA Gymnastics’ & survivors’ request for forced settlement conference: stop the “rank speculation and baseless accusation”

By
Rich Perelman
-
The tug-of-war in the Nassar abuse survivors case is now between USA Gymnastics and the Survivors Committee on one side and the myriad insurers in the case on the other!

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Shortly after Monday’s story on the joint motion of USA Gymnastics and the sexual-abuse Survivors Committee asking U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robin Moberly to force a settlement conference, long-time athlete’s rights attorney David Greifinger suggested:

“The demand for a settlement conference as framed appears to be a strategic tactic by the victims and USAG to set the insurers up for bad-faith claims. That gets you past the policy limits, especially if policy-limit demands were made and rejected.”

He was proved right in the succeeding hours as the insurers struck back, sometimes in very plain language, opposing the motion, and especially the demand that the insurance company chief executives personally participate. Highlights:

● TIG Insurance Company “respectfully states” that the Motion is trash:

“Movants premise their motion on grounds found somewhere in the fog between rank speculation and baseless accusation. Any suggestion that TIG did not comply with the Court’s June 19, 2020 Order (both with respect to submission of a confidential meaningful settlement offer prior to the mediation and direct participation at the mediation on August 11 and 12, 2020 by representatives with ultimate settlement authority) is not based on the true facts. Movants cite – and can cite – no facts that support such a suggestion. There is no basis for so accusing TIG, let alone grounds for ordering TIG’s CEO to participate directly in a court-ordered settlement conference.”

And the TIG reply crucially added this paragraph, getting to the heart of the matter:

“Successful settlement negotiations require all parties’ meaningful participation, and the Joint Motion noticeably omits any discussion of the Movants’ own obligations and conduct. The June 19 Order likewise required the Committee to make a meaningful demand. Without divulging mediation details in breach of mediation privilege, it is clear that the parties continue to have a fundamental disagreement regarding the appropriate range for resolution of these claims.” (Emphasis added)

● Replied ACE American Insurance (formerly Chubb):

“To the extent the Motion’s allegations are directed at ACE, USAG and the Committee have no basis to allege that ACE acted in ‘bad faith.’ ACE fully complied with the Court’s order requiring a ‘meaningful’ settlement offer, within the terms of the coverage that ACE underwrote and the limitations of that coverage, including those limitations addressed by the Court’s ruling of November 14, 2019 … . USAG also has no basis to allege that the ACE representatives who attended the August 11 mediation lacked full authority (although again, it is unclear if this allegation is directed at ACE in the first instance), or that ordering a higher-ranked executive would accomplish anything other than harassment.”

● Opined the Great American Assurance Company:

“[T]he terms that Debtors and the [Survivors Committee] have proposed are aimed at gaining leverage for litigation; they are neither reasonably calculated to advance settlement prospects nor are they appropriate under these circumstances. The Court should not grant the relief in the form that Movants have requested here.”

● Per Liberty Insurance Underwriters:

“The fact that USAG’s insurers did not offer amounts that USAG and the Committee are willing to accept does not mean that they violated this Court’s order directing the mediation, failed to make meaningful settlement offers, or are acting in bad faith to delay this case, as the Motion claims. It just means that the insurers have a different view of the merits of this case, whether as to the merits of the claims of Nassar’s victims or as to the insurance coverage issues.

“Instead of facing that possibility, USAG and the Committee have violated the mediation privilege in order to present vague (and unsubstantiated) claims about the insurers’ (including, presumably, LIU’s) participation in the mediation. But LIU cannot respond to these claims without violating the mediation privilege.”

● Declared National Casualty Company:

“[T]hrowing the Appointment Order and related confidentiality provisions to the wind, the Debtor and the Committee filed a Motion requesting that this Court interject itself anew into the mediation process and schedule a settlement conference, based on false, unfounded, and/or self-serving characterizations that breach this Court’s confidentiality orders.”

● Stated National Union Fire Insurance Company:

“In their Joint Motion, the Debtor and the Survivors’ Committee attempt to enlist the Court to inappropriately influence the parties into a unilateral settlement based on terms that only USAG and/or the Survivors’ Committee deem appropriate. Over the course of the last year, National Union has actively participated in good faith in six separate mediation sessions, attending each time with fully informed corporate representatives vested with full authority to resolve the claims asserted against the Debtor that fall within National Union’s policy period.

“Despite this record of good faith active engagement in settlement discussions, the Debtor and the Survivors’ Committee baselessly assert in their Joint Motion that ‘the carriers have acted in bad faith,’ and contend therefore that the insurance carriers’ chief executive officers should be required by the Court to personally attend their requested settlement conference. That request in the Joint Motion is legally and factually unsupported and should be denied.”

And its brief also added:

“[D]uring the entirety of the ongoing mediation, both the Debtor and the Survivors’ Committee have consistently rebuffed National Union’s attempts to directly and meaningfully engage, with the lone exception of a brief discussion between Debtor’s counsel and National Union’s counsel toward the close of the January 2020 mediation session.”

● Noted Virginia Surety Insurance (formerly Combined Specialty Insurance):

“In order to avoid violating the mediation privilege, Combined Specialty will not be drawn into discussing what, to its knowledge, in fact took place in the most recent mediation sessions.

“We can state unequivocally that Combined Specialty approached and participated in those sessions in good faith. The mediators who presided over the mediations sessions never suggested otherwise. Therefore, there is no basis to support the unorthodox request that the CEO responsible for the Combined Specialty policies at issue, is a necessary participant or would add anything to the settlement process.

“That said, Combined Specialty has no objection to this Court participating in future settlement talks in this case. Such involvement, though, may preclude the Court’s involvement in certain other contested matters in the case such as disputed coverage issues in this case.”

There were additional replies, including from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, stating that it would join a Court-ordered settlement conference if requested to do so.

Several of the insurers noted with care a significant issue that may be the key in Wednesday’s hearing (26th) on the matter: whether the Bankruptcy Court is, in fact, not involved in other aspects of the case. While the Bankruptcy Court will not hear the sex-abuse claims, it continues to be in the middle of multiple claims by insurers against USA Gymnastics as to what they actually owe under their policies. Those decisions will eventually determine the actual amount of money to be available to the survivors in either a settlement, or in individual trials.

Some of the insurer replies suggested that another set of mediators be appointed, or perhaps a federal magistrate, but not Judge Moberly.

Greifinger identified with precision the tactic at work here: charge the insurers with bad faith and try to force them to meet the demands by the Survivors Committee, which are apparently well in excess of the $217.125 million on the table since January’s proposed re-organization plan.

Moberly will hear the matter tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. by videoconference. Stay tuned!

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LANE ONE: Stunning joint request by USA Gymnastics and Nassar survivors to order USOPC and insurer CEOs to a settlement conference

By
Rich Perelman
-
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana

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It’s a little hard to believe that USA Gymnastics and the survivors of abuse by former team physician Larry Nassar could be on the same side about anything. But, more and more, they are.

Last week, the two sides joined forces to oppose the petitions by 2004 Olympic silver medalist Terin Humphrey and an unnamed former gymnast to join the list of claimants now, having missed the filing deadline by more than a year.

Then, the two groups – USA Gymnastics and the group representing the survivors in settlement negotiations, the “Additional Tort Claimants Committee of Sexual Abuse Survivors” – filed a remarkable joint motion late Thursday evening (20th), asking Judge Robin Moberly of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana to order “certain parties to participate in a settlement conference conducted by this Court.”

Those “certain parties” are the insurers involved in the case and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

The motion itself then went into substantial detail about its request, in unusually frank language:

● “Judge [Gregg] Zive conducted mediations on August 11 and 12, 2020 with the participation of Mr. [Paul] Van Osselaer. No settlement was reached. The members of the Survivors’ Committee attended the mediation sessions as did USAG’s Chief Executive Officer, Li Li Leung, and its Board Chair, Kathryn Carson. The insurers for USAG and USOPC did not bring their CEOs to the mediation session. Moreover, not all of the carriers brought persons with ultimate, unrestricted settlement authority.”

● “The insurance carriers for USAG and USOPC did not comply with this Court’s June 19 Order to make meaningful settlement offers. USAG and the Survivors’ Committee consider the insurance carriers’ positions to be in violation of this Court’s June 19, 2020 Order and believe that the carriers have acted in bad faith with the goal of delaying this case for their own economic benefit.”

● “By this Motion, USAG and the Survivors’ Committee seek entry of an order directing the Committee, USAG, USOPC, and the insurance carriers for USAG and USOPC to attend a settlement conference to be conducted by this Court via teleconference.

“The Debtor and the Survivors’ Committee further request that the Court direct each of the insurance carriers to bring their chief executive officers and all other persons necessary for final, unrestricted settlement authority to attend the settlement conference.

“USAG and USOPC should be directed to bring their leadership teams, including their chief executive officers and board chairs. The Debtor and the Survivors’ Committee also request that the Court extend the deadline for filing an amended plan and disclosure statement to a date following such settlement conference.” (Single paragraph expanded for readability.)

The legal argument that followed in the motion also contained the first public statement from the Survivors’ Committee indicating a preference for a settlement:

“Before launching another round of litigation on these and other issues, USAG and the Survivors’ Committee believe that it is in everyone’s best interests for this Court to conduct a settlement conference to determine if costly and protracted litigation can be avoided.”

The motion states that the Bankruptcy Court is in an especially good position to try and bring all sides together since it will not be the site of any trial for any of the abuse cases (most of which will be in state courts in Michigan). And the motion did not mince words about the requested compliance:

“To ensure that all parties participate fully, the Survivors’ Committee and the Debtor further request that the insurance carriers be ordered to bring their chief executive officers and all persons necessary for final, unrestricted settlement authority to the settlement conference. USAG and USOPC should be directed to bring their leadership teams, including their chief executive officers and board chairs.”

A companion filing requested that a hearing be held this Wednesday (26th) to shorten the time required to inform all parties, so that (1) a pre-conference can be held to structure the settlement conference itself and (2) schedule the settlement conference – to be held by videoconference – for sometime in September.

This is a radical change in the flow of this case, which has droned on since the original 5 December 2018 filing date. For months, the apparent goal of the Survivors’ Committee has been to frustrate any settlement attempts by USA Gymnastics and attack not only the insurance proceeds available to USAG, but also the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, even asking for an advisor to determine how much the USOPC could pay and still function (that request was denied by the Court).

Now, the Survivors’ Committee appears to be willing to settle, perhaps in part due to the passage of time – and a lot more time will pass if there is no settlement and each survivor will have to file her own case – as well as the economic uncertainties on all sides due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Let’s be clear, the money in this case belongs to the multiple insurers and to the USOPC. The proposed re-organization plan submitted by USA Gymnastics and its insurers last February offered a total of $217.125 million to 517 claimants already certified in the case, who would not have to go to trial to claim their shares. The Survivors’ Committee has said that’s not enough and it is not clear what will suffice. But any other money can come only from the insurers – whose exposure is defined by the limits of the policies they issued – or the USOPC.

(And it is worth noting that for the USOPC, neither Chief Executive Sarah Hirshland nor Board Chair Susanne Lyons have “unrestricted settlement authority,” which belongs to the USOPC Board of Directors.)

Replies are due today and ACE Insurance Company (formerly Chubb) filed an objection this morning, stating:

“ACE does not oppose a settlement conference, but does oppose ordering any particular senior executive of ACE or any parent company to participate, as no basis is provided for that extraordinary measure. The Motion contains several vague, unsupported broadsides against ‘the insurers for USAG and USOPC.’”

Judge Moberly has some scheduling options open to her. In addition to the already-scheduled hearing for this Wednesday (26th), there is also a hearing schedule for 3 September, all to take place remotely. Stay tuned!

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: Norway’s Warholm scares WR with 46.87 over 400 m H, then wins flat 400 m at Stockholm Diamond League! Wow!

By
Rich Perelman
-
Unstoppable: Norway's Karsten Warholm!

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Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Athletics ● The most endangered world record on the track right now has to be Kevin Young (USA) and his 46.78 from the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona in the 400 m hurdles. On Sunday’s Bauhaus Galan Wanda Diamond League meet in Stockholm’s spectator-free Olympic Stadium, Norwegian star Karsten Warholm should have taken it for his very own.

Riding an eight-meet win streak over two seasons, Warholm rocketed out of the blocks from lane eight and flew away from the field immediately. He ran all alone coming around the final turn, but he was tiring from the pace and the wind inside the stadium and clipped the final hurdle, slowing him to the finish in … 46.87!

No doubt he would have had the record if not for his stumble (and if there had been a crowd to cheer him on), but it’s the no. 2 performance ever and Warholm now claims the nos. 2, 3, 10 and 11th-fastest races in history. His 46.87 was a European Record, of course, as well as a Diamond League record.

Warholm won the race by a stunning 2.23 seconds over France’s Wilfried Happio (49.14), who summed up the race for everyone other than Warholm later:

“It was very windy out there today. For us Warholm doesn’t exist! There is a lot of work to do to improve my times and compete against Warholm. Warholm has been running for 5 weeks so he is a little tired; however today was a good track and good conditions for him.”

American David Kendziera ran a season’s best for fifth in 49.47.

Warholm wasn’t done, however! He came back to run the flat 400 m 94 minutes later. Again in lane eight, he took a more conservative approach, starting slowly, but came on to the lead with about 150 m to go and cruised home to win in 45.05. Slovenia’s Luka Janezic was second in 45.85.

For Warholm, it’s his third-fastest 400 m ever – his lifetime best is 44.87 from 2017 – and it has to be the best-ever, one-day 400/400H double, right? All of this at age 24. Wow!

There were other events as well; highlights:

● Men/800 m: After a fast opening lap by Slovenia’s Zan Rudolf in 49.90, the trio of Marco Arop (CAN), Swede Andreas Kramer and American star Donavan Brazier took the first three spots. It stayed that way into the home straightaway and Brazier turned on the afterburners to collect another Diamond League win in 1:43.76, well ahead of Arop (1:44.67) and Kramer (1:45.04). Said Brazier:

“Given the way I felt, I’d give myself a good grade; I don’t know if my coach would! Since I’ve been in Europe I’ve kind of been having problems with my foot, so I’m very pleased with that [win].”

● Men/1,500 m: Here was the much-anticipated rematch of Kenya’s World Champion Tim Cheruiyot and Norway’s new European record holder Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Cheruiyot once again stayed at the front, just behind pacesetter Tim Sein (KEN), then took over with a lap to go.

Cheruiyot maintained the lead from Ingebrigtsen, Australia’s Stewart McSweyn and Jesus Gomez (ESP), and was never headed. He out-lasted Ingebrigtsen, 3:30.25-3:30.74, extending his lead in the final meters, with McSweyn third (3:31.48, a lifetime best) and Gomez fourth (3:33.46). American Craig Engels was sixth in 3:37.55. Cheruiyot ran his last 400 m in 55.55 to score his 10th straight 1,500 m/mile win.

● Men/Pole Vault: Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis was the attraction, and won easily, clearing 5.73 m (18-9 1/2) on his first try. Sam Kendricks of the U.S. missed three times at that height, and Ben Broeders (BEL) was second with a third-try clearance. Duplantis cleared 5.83 m (19-1 1/2) on his first try, while Broeders missed three times. Now the winner, Duplantis cleared 6.01 m (19-8 1/2) on his first try – the outdoor world leader for 2020 – and went right to 6.15 m (20-2) to try for the best-ever jump outdoors, but missed three times.

● Men/Long Jump: In the odd “final three” experiment, exactly what the critics warned of happened. South Africa’s Ruswahl Samaai was the favorite and got out to 8.07 m (26-5 3/4) on his first jump, but the leader at the end of five rounds was Swede Thobias Montler at 8.13 m (26-8 1/4), who jumped that distance twice (once windy, once legal wind). But the winner was whomever had the longest jump in the final round and Samaai got out to 8.09 m (26-6 1/2) and Montler, 8.06 m (26-5 1/2), with Kristian Pulli (FIN) third with a foul (8.02 m/26-3 3/4 earlier). Said an exasperated Montler:

“I’m happy with my four times over 8 m, but I’m not so happy with the competition system!”

● Men/Discus: Sweden’s Daniel Stahl was the heavy favorite coming in and left no doubt with his second-round screamer that got out to 69.17 m (226-11). His countryman Simon Pettersson, having his best season ever, scored another lifetime best for second at 67.72 m (222-2) with 2017 World Champion Andrius Gudzius (LTU) third at 66.80 m (219-2).

● Women/100 m: Swiss Alja del Ponte made in two in a row in the Diamond League, winning this time in 11.20 (wind +1.3) over Marije van Hunenstijn (NED: 11.28), with Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV) third in 11.32.

● Women/400 m: American Wadeline Jonathas continued her strong running this season with a win in 51.94, well ahead of Britain’s Laviai Nielsen (52.16).

● Women/800 m: Britain’s Jemma Reekie won impressively in 1:59.68, taking the lead with 200 m to go. American Raevyn Rogers was second with a season’s best of 2:01.02.

● Women/1,500 m: British stars Laura Muir, Laura Weightman and Melissa Courtney-Bryant swept the top three places in 3:57.86 (world leader and he sixth-fastest ever), 4:01.62 and 4:01.81. Muir took over at the bell and maintained per lead to the finish, clocking the final 400 m in 59.86. American Shannon Rowbury got another seasonal best in sixth at 4:03.04.

● Women/High Jump: The Ukrainian duo of Yuliya Levchenko and Yaroslava Mahuchikh continued their seasonal duel, with Mahuchikh equalling Levchenko’s world-leading mark of 2.00 m (6-6 3/4) on her final trial to win. Levchenko cleared 1.98 m (6-6) for second.

● Women/Long Jump: The “final three” experiment here saw Sweden’s Khaddi Signia lead with a lifetime best of 6.83 m (22-5) after five rounds. But in the final round, 2019 Worlds silver medalist Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk (UKR) reached 6.85 m (22-5 3/4) for the win, with Rio Olympic triple jump champ Caterine Ibarguen (COL) jumping 6.61 m (21-8 1.4) for second and Signia finishing third, jumping only 5.73 m (18-9 3/4) on her final try.

Not as embarrassing as the men’s long jump, but still kind of silly. Complete results can be found here.

There was one other World Cup event of note on the weekend, in Sport Climbing, for Lead only, held in Briarcon, France. World Champion Adam Ondra (CZE) won the men’s division, reaching the top, just ahead of Domen Skofic (SLO: 41) and Austria’s Worlds bronze medalist, Jakob Schubert (38+). It’s Ondra’s 23rd career World Cup win.

Italy’s Laura Rogora, 19, upset World Champion Janja Garnbret (SLO) in women’s Lead, as both reached the top. Regora had a better semifinal score for the tie-breaker, and her first-ever World Cup win (and World Cup medal). France’s Fanny Gibert was third.

THE TICKER: Athletics Diamond League moves to Stockholm; Lyles wins two; USA Gymnastics and Nassar survivors at impasse in mediation

By
Rich Perelman
-
Another Stockholm win coming for Kenyan star Tim Cheruiyot?

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(Update: Some readers received an e-mail version of yesterday’s Lane One listing “Border Commission” in the headline instead of the correct “Borders Commission.” Our apologies for the error; the Web site story was/is correct.)

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

● Athletics ● After the great success of the Wanda Diamond League opener in Monaco last Friday, there is considerable excitement about Sunday’s Bauhaus Galan in Stockholm’s famed 1912 Olympic Stadium. Among the expected highlights:

● Men/800 m: Seven men ran under 1:45 in Monaco, led by a brilliant 1:43.15 from World Champion Donavan Brazier of the U.S. He will again face off with Canada’s Marco Arop (1:44.14 in Monaco), and Peter Bol (AUS: 1:44.96), plus emerging British star Max Burgin (1:44.75 at age 18!).

● Men/1,500 m: The race of the meet on paper, with Kenya’s World Champion and world-leader Tim Cheruiyot (3:28.45) in a rematch with Norway’s 19-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who set a European Record of 3:28.68, older brother Filip Ingebrigtsen (3:30.35), Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha (3:32.69) and others. Reigning U.S. national champ Craig Engels ran a very creditable 3:35.42 in Monaco … and was 11th!

Cheruiyot has won nine races in a row at 1,500 m/mile over the last two seasons and 12 of his last 13 going back to 2018, and he had something in reserve to deal with the Ingebrigtsens down the final straightaway in Monaco.

● Men/400 m Hurdles: Norway’s Karsten Warholm opened with a sensational 47.10 in Monaco – equal-seventh fastest race in history – and here he is again, maybe with the world record in mind? He is certainly capable and is the overwhelming favorite here, ahead of Olympic and Worlds medalist Yasmani Copello (TUR) and American David Kendziera.

● Men/Pole Vault: World-record holder Mondo Duplantis (SWE) will be going for another Diamond League win, but this time World Champion Sam Kendricks of the U.S. is expected to have his poles available and ready to compete. Also in the mix: Poland’s Worlds silver medalist Piotr Lisek, who is up to 5.90 m (19-4 1/4) on the season.

● Men/Discus: Sweden’s Daniel Stahl is the best in the world and a big favorite here. He’s already out to 71.37 m (234-2) this year, but he thinks there is much more to come.

● Women/100 m: Swiss Ajla del Ponte (11.16) shocked American Aleia Hobbs and Marie Josee Ta Lou (CIV) in Monaco. Does lightning strike twice?

● Women/400 m: American Wadeline Jonathas – the 2019 NCAA champ at South Carolina – is getting her feet wet on the European circuit. She was second to Lynna Irby of the U.S. in Monaco (51.40), but is the lone U.S. entry here. She’ll be the favorite, but Czech Lada Vondrova (51.35) has the fastest seasonal best in the field.

● Women/1,500 m: A star-studded field, with Hellen Obiri (twice 5,000 m World Champion) facing off with British stars Laura Muir (3:55.22 personal best), Laura Weightman (4:00.97) and Eilish McColgan (4:00.97), and former American Record holder Shannon Rowbury (3:56.29).

● Women/400 m Hurdles: World leader Femke Bol (NED: 53.79) will have her hands full with two-time World Champion Zuzana Hejnova (CZE) and Swiss Lea Sprunger. No Americans in this race.

The meet is also a testing ground for a novelty format in the men’s and women’s long jump called the “Final Three.” The top three jumpers after five rounds will advance to a sixth-round final – no one else will jump – and the sixth-round marks will determine the order of finish for the top three. Ties will be broken by the next-best jump from the first five rounds.

Triple jump superstar Christian Taylor (USA) echoed the thoughts of many jumpers with this tweet:

“I hope this idea DOES NOT continue after this season. I also wish @WeAreTheSport could speak with the athletes or working group that believed this was a ‘good’ idea. I would like to understand how this could possibly be better than the traditional format.”

The meet will be shown on the NBC Sports Gold subscription channel; check your listings for possible airing on the NBC Olympic Channel as well.

At Thursday’s Irena Szewinska Memorial meeting in Bydgoszcz (POL), Ukraine’s Yulia Levchenko – the 2017 Worlds high jump silver medalist – became the first to clear 2.00 m (6-6 3/4) this season, winning in a tight battle with countrywoman Yaroslava Mahuchikh (1.97 m/6-5 1/2).

American Sam Kendricks – now with his poles – won the vault at 5.80 m (19-0 1/4) over Poland’s Piotr Lisek, who had to retire with an injury while trying 5.90 m (19-4 1/4).

At the Istvan Gyulai Invitational in Szekesfehervar (HUN) on Wednesday, American sprint star Noah Lyles stormed to wins in the 100 m (10.05) and 200 m (20.13), winning by comfortable margins both times.

Americans Kahmari Montgomery (400 m:45.40), Donavan Brazier (600 m: 1:15.07) and David Kendziera (400 m H: 50.00) won their races, while 110 m hurdles world champ Grant Holloway was edged by Spain’s Orlando Ortega, 13.21-13.22.

Lynna Irby of the U.S., having an excellent comeback season so far, won the women’s 200 m at 22.55 and Wadeline Jonathas took the women’s 400 m in 52.09.

No one is surprised any more at world-record performances from Swedish – via Louisiana – vault star Mondo Duplantis, but he was helped with what might have been a world-record performance from mom Helena.

A world-class heptathlete from Sweden, Helena Hedlund married U.S. vaulter Greg Duplantis and, as always, wanted to help her youngest son compete at the Wanda Diamond League opener in Monaco last Friday. When the airlines would not accept his poles as special cargo, Helena strapped the poles to the top of her car and drove the 25 hours – about 1,550 miles – from Sweden to Monaco in time for him to compete and win at 6.00 m (19-8 1/4).

As if that wasn’t enough, she then had to drive back with the poles to Uppsala in Sweden for Sunday’s national championships … which Mondo won at 5.63 m (18-5 1/2).

No worries for Sunday’s meet in Stockholm; it’s much closer!

The only World Athletics Continental Tour meet in the U.S. for 2020 will be at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa at the “Blue Oval Showcase”on 29 August.

It’s a third-tier (Bronze) meet on the Continental Tour, but some quality U.S. athletes are expected, including 2008 Olympic 100 m hurdles gold medalist Dawn Harper-Nelson and twice U.S. 400 m champ Shakima Wimbley. No fans will be allowed, however. The meet will be live-streamed on Runnerspace+.

In yet another demonstration of keeping up with technology, World Athletics published a compilation of approved shoes – yes, shoes – based on the new rules released in July regulating sole thickness.

The ultra-thick 40 mm-soled shoes used in road running and walking are not allowed on the track, where the sole thickness is limited to 20 mm for events from 100-600 m, and then 25 mm for events from 800 m and up, including the Steeplechase. Road-running shoes with soles of 25 mm of thinner are allowed on the track.

Field-event shoes are limited to 20 mm, except for the triple jump (25 mm).

The World Athletics notice included:

“Under Rule 5 of the Technical Rules, athletes (or their representative) have the responsibility to provide World Athletics with specifications of the new shoes the athlete proposes to wear in competition. World Athletics accepts shoe specification and samples submitted by manufacturers for further examination. …

“If the competition referee has a reasonable suspicion that a shoe worn by an athlete might not comply with the rules then at the conclusion of the competition the referee may request the shoe be handed over for further investigation by World Athletics.”

Note to officials: include a caliper in your equipment bag for future meets.

● Badminton ● The delay from 2020 to 2021 for the Tokyo Olympic Games was too much for Japanese star Ayaka Takahashi, the 2016 Olympic women’s Doubles gold medalist.

She announced Wednesday that she will retire as of the end of this month in an online news conference, saying:

“For me it has always been all or nothing. When I train I train, when I rest I rest. The moment I started questioning my ability to win gold [in 2021] I knew it was time. I don’t want to play half-heartedly. It doesn’t feel right.

“I had doubts about my mind and body getting through another year.”

Takahashi, 30, was joined by her playing partner (and co-gold medalist) Misaki Matsutomo, who will continue.

● Football ● FIFA released the agenda, schedule and supporting documents for its 70th Congress, to be held online on 18 September, including a detailed review of its 2019-22 financial plan and budget for 2021.

The finances were especially interesting, showing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020:

● The pandemic is estimated to cost FIFA about $200 million in revenue in 2020, but the targeted surplus for the 2019-2022 period of $100 million is expected to be achieved thanks to significant ongoing savings in operations (as well as events not played). In all, FIFA expects a total deficit for 2020 of $794 million.

● FIFA maintains a minimum reserve of $1.5 billion, and has an additional $1.245 billion in additional funds available from the 2015-18 quadrennial. The financial commitments to women’s football development of $1 billion for 2019-22 were reconfirmed.

● The forecast for the 2019-22 quadrennial shows both revenues and expenses to be down by about $120 million: $6.44 billion in revenue and $6.34 billion in costs. As of the end of May 2020, some 76% of all 2019-22 revenues have been secured by contract (mostly television rights and sponsorships).

It’s worth noting that the expected revenues from the FIFA World Cup in Qatar 2022 are forecast at $1.656 billion, with the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France generating $157 million.

The CONCACAF federation confirmed the schedule for the new format of the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers, to begin June 2020 and continue through March 2022. Eight teams will play in a double round-robin, with the U.S., Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras and Jamaica already qualified and the 30 remaining teams in the confederation playing for the three remaining spots.

The U.S. Men’s National Team will open with four games in June 2021, on the road against a qualifier, home to a qualifier and then an away match vs. Honduras and a home match vs. Jamaica. The American team will have four home matches in the first round and three in the second.

● Gymnastics ● Within a Wednesday filing objecting to the applications for two gymnasts to join the survivors list, both USA Gymnastics and the Survivors Committee included this:

“Mediation was last conducted on August 11, 2020. After that session, the mediators informed the parties that the mediation is at an impasse.”

This is not what was hoped for by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robin Moberly, who asked the two sides to come with their best offers for settlement in July. A hearing on the USA Gymnastics Disclosure Statement – its offer for settlement, now being revised – is currently set for 19 October.

Both USA Gymnastics and the Survivors Committee filed objections to the requests for late inclusion in the survivors group from 2004 Olympic silver medalist Terin Humphrey and an unnamed gymnast. The objections began with:

“At this stage of this chapter 11 case, it would be irresponsible to allow additional claims to be asserted against the USA Gymnastics (the “Debtor”). This case has been widely reported in the general media, as well as sports and gymnastics focused media. The bar date was widely noticed and publicized. As such, there is no basis for a finding of excusable neglect to allow claims to be filed sixteen months after the bar date.”

The deadline for filing was set by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana on 25 February 2019 and declared to be 29 April 2019. A hearing on the motion for inclusion by Humphrey and the unnamed gymnast will be heard on 26 August.

The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee won a round in court on Wednesday, as a federal judge in Colorado dismissed a suit by the Philadelphia indemnity Insurance Company, asking to deny coverage in the Nassar abuse scandal because the court has no jurisdiction over the USOPC. This is the second try for the insurer, which has leave to appeal further if it desires.

● Luge ● It’s a program that’s almost 35 years old, but still one of the “coolest” sponsorships in sports is the White Castle USA Luge Slider Search, introducing the sport to children from 9-13. White Castle … sliders … get it?!

With extra precautions in place and strictly limited to 10 kids at a time, the first session this season comes on Sunday, 23 August in Lake Placid, New York. The sleds are on wheels; the program includes:

“Once the participants master the ability to maneuver the sled in both directions, they will then slide from the White Castle USA Luge ramp onto the road surface to negotiate a shallow, gentle cone course.

“Under the guidance of national team coaches, the event will give these youth an opportunity to learn luge and qualify to join the USA Luge Junior Development team. This is the first rung on the ladder to national and Olympic team status. Children selected from the White Castle USA Luge Slider Search will be invited to learn the sport on ice next winter in Lake Placid on the same track where national team athletes train and compete each season.”

No, it’s not being televised. Yet.

● Skiing ● The Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) announced the cancellation of the North American leg of the Alpine Skiing World Cup in November. Races were scheduled at Lake Louise in Canada (Downhill/Super-G for men and women) and Beaver Creek, Colorado (men: Downhill/Super-G/Giant Slalom) and Killington, Vermont (women: Giant Slalom/Slalom).

Per FIS Chief Race Director Markus Waldner: “The training set-up and races in USA and Canada are very much appreciated by the teams. But ultimately, the unique logistics and situation for the early season alpine races has current travel restrictions and corresponding quarantine regulations in both directions, which led to this joint decision.”

The World Cup tour will stay in Europe and try to make up the races at later stops.

● The Last Word ● The organizers of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England announced last week that due to the time crunch created by the coronavirus pandemic, the building of an athlete’s village has been scrapped.

Instead, three existing sites will be used: The University of Birmingham (for 2,800 athletes), The University of Warwick (1,900) and The NEC Hotel Campus (1,600). Some $653 million in public construction costs will be saved in Perry Barr area of Birmingham, but there is an ongoing need for added housing stock in the area, an issue which does not now concern the Commonwealth Games.

This is important because cities were repeatedly told – for decades – that campus housing was insufficient for major Games and that new facilities were de rigeur, even after the success of the 1984 Olympic Games, for which villages were created at UCLA, the University of Southern California and U.C. Santa Barbara (for rowing). The much-expanded UCLA housing complex will be the sole site for the 2028 Olympic Village in Los Angeles, and a new student-housing project will be the main athlete site for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan (ITA).

Hopefully, these developments have sealed the issue that student housing – if available – is more than sufficient for two weeks of Olympic, Paralympic or Commonwealth (or other) Games.

LANE ONE: Australian and Irish athletes say no protests on the podium, while USOPC gets 87% completion grade on one-year Borders Commission review

By
Rich Perelman
-

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You don’t normally hear too much about National Olympic Committees on a day-to-day basis. But 2020 is the year that is anything but normal.

Going into this year, the main object of concern among athletes in western countries was about the ability to publicize their personal sponsors during the Olympic Games period, taking advantage of one of the few times they might have some public visibility due to the popularity of the Games vs. the usual profile of their sport or event. But Olympic Charter Rule 40 controls this exposure and the International Olympic Committee broadened its view to allow NOCs to determine the amount of visibility allowed.

This tussle got lost in the aftermath of the 25 May killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with loud voices calling for the deletion of Olympic Charter Rule 50.2, which states:

“No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”

A set of guidelines was issued in January by the Athletes’ Commission of the International Olympic Committee, prohibiting protests on the field of play, on the victory stand, during ceremonies and in the Olympic Village. But protests were welcomed on social media, within team meetings and in interactions with news media.

The IOC’s Executive Board asked its Athletes’ Commission to take another look at the issue and the Commission in turn has asked National Olympic Committees to submit their recommendations on how the rule should be amended, deleted, or replaced.

In June, the Global Athlete group, which purports to be an “international athlete-led movement that will inspire and lead positive change in world sport, and collectively address the balance of power between athletes and administrators,” issued its own call “to immediately abolish” Rule 50, saying “Athletes will no longer be silenced.”

Issue over, right?

Wrong.

Over the past few days, the “athlete voice” from two western countries – Australia and Ireland – declared that protests on the victory stand, a la Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos in 1968 and Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett in 1972, are not favored venues for demonstrations.

● Australia: 80+ percent against podium demonstrations

The Australian Olympic Committee released its survey results of 496 current and prior Olympians and 2020 Olympic hopefuls last Friday (14th). In response to the question of whether “A protest on the field of play would detract from the performance or experience of athletes,” only 348 answered the question.

But about 85% indicated that such protests would detract, with about 65% saying they “strongly agree” and 20% stating “Agree.” Roughly 9% said they were unsure.

As to where protests should NOT take place, the replies emphasized the Olympic Village, in the field of play, on the podium or just “at sporting events” or at the Olympic Games.

The survey showed almost 41% said the Games should not be a place for protest at all, and another 39% said OK “under some circumstances.” As to what those circumstances included, only 122 answered the question, with the responses favoring (1) NOT on the field if play, (2) NOT on the podium or at the Opening or Closing Ceremonies, (3) perhaps through “physical tokens” such as an armband or ribbon on the uniform, (4) a designated area in the Olympic Village, (5) in post-race interviews, news conferences or on social media. One highlighted comment:

“I believe post-competition interviews, social media, press conferences are an excellent opportunity to express such views, where the focus is solely on the individual. Thus, medal ceremonies and other group or engagements where other athletes are involved are not good times to express views as this can detract from the other individuals sharing that moment.”

There was also a desire to understand the Rule 50 guidelines better, with more specifics about what is allowed, what is not and possible penalties.

● Ireland: Only 19% of those polled answered the questionnaire

The Athletes’ Commission of the Olympic Federation of Ireland sent a survey to an undisclosed number of Irish athletes, asking their opinion about Rule 50. The full survey details were not provided, but a news release on the results included:

“While the response rate of 19% could represent a limited depth with regards Rule 50 amongst many Irish athletes the majority of those who did respond (62%) indicated that some form of protest should be allowed with a strong preference for forms of protest that would not involve or impact the podium. This view was further re-enforced as 67% of respondents indicated they would not be in favour of unrestricted protest.”

The next step:

“Tokyo Olympic hopefuls and Olympians are now invited to take part in an open forum to discuss how to define a ‘considerate’ protest, which will take place online on the 3rd September. Following this the OFI Athletes’ Commission will establish a more concrete position from Team Ireland to present to the IOC.”

While the sentiment for an appropriate protest forum is similar to that heard from Australia, the stunning statistic is that only 19% of those surveyed responded. This is a metric to be watched closely in survey results from other countries.

Members of the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission have voiced interest in collecting survey results by the end of September so that a recommendation can be forwarded for possible action to the IOC’s Executive Board in advance of its 7 October meeting. There are many more voices to be heard before then, but the Australian and Irish surveys are hardly in line with what have been the loudest voices so far.

Loud voices have also been calling for the destruction, reconstruction or re-arrangement of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, but a one-year review of the progress since the issuance of the Borders Commission report last year indicates good progress.

The review, authored by group chair Lisa Borders – the former President of the WNBA – with counsel from Commission member (and 1984 Olympian) Michael Lenard and counsel Davis Butler, focused on whether the USOPC has acted on the 34 “Implementation Steps” listed in its July 2019 report.

The USOPC got a good grade, with a “full implementation” grade on 34 of the 39 items (87.2%) listed, with “in progress” marks on the other five. Not all of those items graded “full” have been implemented completely, some due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic; ten of the items included a note that the “Expectation is that USOPC will deliver as recommended.”

The review importantly noted that significant structural changes within the USOPC’s operating regulations had been made, but that:

“[T]he ultimate success of changing the culture cannot be fully gauged at this time.

“Second, in adopting most of those new or revised documents, the USOPC was inclusive in a manner that it had not been for over twenty years. The input of, and importantly agreement among, athletes (via the USOPC Athletes Advisory Council and US Olympic and Paralympic Alumni) and the sports (via the National Governing Bodies Council) was actively sought, and their representatives served and will continue to serve on important working groups and committees of the USOPC.”

The USOPC scored 13 full-implementations of 15 in the area of prioritizing athletes; the review also found:

● “Historical [NGB] funding based upon and tied to only the winning of medals has been expanded to include a broader and more holistic look at NGB performance”

● “The new model of collaborative efforts with athletes and NGBs in the development of the
criteria is significant”

● “Significant and commendable efforts have been made by the USOPC to transform its culture into an ‘athlete-centric culture’ providing protection of, service to and advancement of athletes as evidenced by revised Mission statement and other policy documents are commendable”

The review was favorable toward some of the proposed changes in the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, but did not mention the possible clashes with the Olympic Charter in the legislation since this was outside the purview of the Borders Commission scope of inquiry.

A good review to be sure, but one that will have to be followed up again to see if the momentum is maintained once competitions – and Olympic Games – resume.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: Judo basks in catalyst role for Israel-UAE peace agreement; Leung says USA Gymnastics “not going anywhere”; “fascist salute” statue moved

By
Rich Perelman
-
Historic gold-medal ceremony at the 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, with (l-r) UAE Judo Federation head Mohamed bin Thaaloob Al Derei, Israeli Sports Minister Miri Regev, 81 kg winner Sagi Muki and IJF President Marius Vizer (Photo: IJF).

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

The surprise announcement of the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates declared last Thursday (13th) was a happy day for the International Judo Federation.

A lengthy story on the IJF Web site celebrated the agreement and noted:

“What if we also told you that it is a judo-inspired agreement? Many would not believe us, although they should.”

With echoes of the odd “ping-pong diplomacy” incidents of 1971 that led to the historic 1972 visit of U.S. President Richard Nixon to China, the IJF story recalled the sporting breakthrough between Israel and the UAE in 2018.

In 2015 and 2017, an Israel team competed in the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam event under the conditions that any national identification on its uniform be covered and that its anthem and flag would not be presented in case of an Israeli victory in any division. In 2017, Tal Flicker won the men’s 66 kg class and saw the IJF flag raised instead of his own. He made up for the absence of his national anthem by singing it himself.

The UAE had claimed that such measures were needed to assure the “safety” of the Israeli delegation. IJF President Marius Vizer (ROM) had informed the UAE hosts that “all delegations, including the Israeli delegation, shall be treated absolutely equally in all aspects, without any exception.”

The following June, the IJF suspended the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam tournament in view of its actions against the Israel competitors. In the IJF story:

“They were months of many pressures, of a pulse between the correct and the standard. In silence, without agitating the media or organising propaganda campaigns, it was a low-key but tough diplomatic fight. Judo and its spirit won and until today the world has not offered thanks properly for the Herculean work of Marius Vizer and [IJF Treasurer] Naser Al Tamimi [of the UAE].”

The result was an agreement to abide by the IJF rules and the tournament was reinstated. In October 2018, Israel Sagi Muki – now World Champion – won the 81 kg class. He was presented with his medal by Israeli Sports Minister Miri Regev – specially invited for the event – and both stood while the Israeli flag was raised the its national anthem was played.

More from the IJF:

“That was history, and we are proud of that, especially now. Judo smashed down the walls of misunderstanding and anger and for that we want to congratulate the signatories of the agreement from here. If Donald Trump wishes to appropriate the success and paternity of the gestation of the pact, it seems great to us because, after all, Trump himself organised an international judo tournament in Florida a few years ago, before he was ever a candidate for the White House. Maybe he drew on memories, maybe our values were a source of inspiration. In any case, his mediation has been decisive. But, if you allow us an ephemeral exercise of false modesty, we claim our share in this historic development.”

Is the IJF claiming too much credit? Maybe, maybe not. But Vizer and his federation has stood firm against anti-Israeli activities by other Arab countries and especially by Iran and deserves praise for its actions when so many others have looked the other way.

● Athletics ● Just a day before the powerful re-start of the Wanda Diamond League in Monaco, bad news for the sport in one of its strongest markets: reports that the BBC will not renew its six-year deal with U.K. Athletics.

The agreement to televise national meets – not the Diamond League – was apparently worth about £3.0 million a year (~ $3.9 million), but the BBC did not feel that it was getting its money’s worth.

Beyond losing the money, the reports further noted that the federation’s major sponsorships with Muller (a dairy firm) and Nike could be endangered, since much of their exposure was tied to the television exposure offered through the BBC deal.

● Cycling ● It was a wild weekend of racing on the UCI World Tour as the Tour de France draws nearer, set to begin on 29 August.

In France, the five-stage Criterium du Dauphine, a closely-watched Tour warm-up event, looked to be the property of Slovenian star Primoz Roglic, one of the favorites for this year’s Tour. But although he led after the fourth stage, he suffered a crash during the stage and limped in, unable to ride in the final segment.

That left France’s Thibaut Pinot in front, but with six riders within a minute going into the hilly, 142.5 km final ride. And while American Sepp Kuss won the stage, Colombia’s Daniel Felipe Martinez was second and Pinot seventh and Martinez won the overall title by 29 seconds over the Frenchman. No word yet on the extent of Roglic’s injuries.

At last Saturday’s 114th running of Il Lombardia from Bergamo to Como, Belgian star Remco Evenpoel crashed and suffered a fractured pelvis and a right lung contusion while riding with the leading group in the descent from the Colma di Sormano – the highest point in the race.

“Evenepoel crashed inside the last 50 kilometre hitting a bridge wall and going over it into a ravine,” reported his team, Deceuninck-Quick Step.

“Remco was conscious at all times as he underwent a series of examinations to reveal the extent of his injury. Unfortunately, the X-rays showed a fractured pelvis and a right lung contusion, which will keep Evenepoel on the sidelines for the upcoming period.”

The 231 km race was won by Jakob Fuglsang (DEN), who sprinted away from the field, with New Zealand’s George Bennett second and Russia’s Aleksandr Vlasov third.

● Gymnastics ● USA Gymnastics held a “virtual” National Congress on 8-9 August, opening with an 11-minute presentation by federation chief Li Li Leung that emphasized not only its continuing activity, but also it’s continuing status:

“I want to assuage any doubt about the future of USA Gymnastics, and some rumors that might be swirling lately. We are still here and we don’t plan on going anywhere. To be clear and specific about it, we are still planning to exit bankruptcy later this year, or early next year, and are engaging in mediation to help move that along, and hopefully find mutually-agreeable resolution with the survivors. We have not been de-certified and we are 100% committed to the future of this sport and serving the gymnastics community.”

She praised the resilience of the membership, but also noted that “virtual sanctions” are being explored “so you all can continue the competitive atmosphere in a safe and socially-distanced way.”

Leung also noted that a new leadership at USAG has been built over the last year and a half and that the organization’s mission has been redefined as:

“To build a community and a culture of health, safety and excellence, where athletes can thrive in sport and in life.”

She also previewed a forthcoming “Athlete Bill of Rights,” developed after wide consultations and which will include, in part, the right to:

● Participate in gymnastics
● Train and compete safely
● Have their personal health and wellness prioritized
● Provide input on matters that directly affect them
● Voice opinions on issues that may affect the gymnastics community

Leung noted several training initiatives that will incorporate social-justice elements and then dropped a bombshell on judging and scoring:

“We’re looking at ways implicit bias may impact judging and have identified two researchers from top, prestigious universities tp analyze our competition data. They are in the process of reviewing our data and mapping out the scope and length of the project.”

She also mentioned new commercial partnerships to be announced “which can deliver real value to our members and companies which show the same commitment to athletes that we do” and a commitment to highlight “the power of positive coaching.”

Leung closed with a thank-you to the coaches, judges, families and volunteers who have been largely forgotten while USAG tried to “improve the athlete experience” and fight through its current bankruptcy proceedings.

While USAG has a long way to go in all of the areas Leung outlined, these kinds of activities are important not only in actual reform of the sport in the U.S., but in whether the federation will be de-certified in the years ahead as the U.S. National Governing Body for gymnastics. The U.S. House is now considering S. 2330, which allows the U.S. Congress to vaporize any U.S. NGB via joint resolution, a stance which may run afoul of the International Olympic Committee’s rules on national autonomy of sport.

● Swimming ● FINA, the international federation for swimming, announced a six-leg World Cup schedule for 2021 in September (2 meets) and October (4) in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. All six will act as qualifiers for the December 2021 World Short-Course Championships in Abu Dhabi (UAE).

By itself, the announcement was commonplace, but it also places the events in the midst of a possible International Swimming League (ISL) season, which took place in October, November and December of 2019. Although the rhetoric between the two sides has cooled, there are still two ISL-related lawsuits against FINA still moving – glacially – through the discovery process, with trial slated for January of 2022!

It’s an open question as to whether ISL will still exist by then; its Solidarity Program is to begin paying its 300+ contracted swimmers $1,500 monthly beginning 1 September and continuing through 1 July 2021.

Italy’s reigning Olympic 1,500 m Freestyle champ, Gregorio Paltrinieri swam the second-fastest time in the history of the event, winning the Italian national championships race in Rome last Thursday (14th) in 14:33.10.

Only the 14:31.02 world record by Yang Sun (CHN) from the London Games in 2012 is faster. Paltrinieri’s also won the 800 m Free in 7:40.22, the no. 8 mark ever. Said the star:

“It’s too good. I didn’t know how fast I was going, I knew I was going strong because I felt the swim like never before. 14:33 is really strong, I would never have dreamed of it.”

It’s another demonstration of how special a 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo might have been.

● World Games 2022 Birmingham ● A unique ruling by the International World Games Association and the Birmingham 2022 organizers will allow the Haudenosaunee Nation to compete in the 2022 World Games if approved by World Lacrosse.

The Haudenosaunee is a group of six nations of pre-Columbian Americans also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, living in southeastern Canada and in the northeast U.S.

Competing as an independent entry, the Haudenosaunee finished third in the 2018 World Lacrosse Championships and would merit entry (the women finished 12th in the 2019 women’s Worlds). World Lacrosse sponsored the petition to the IWGA emphasizing “the position of honor held by the Haudenosaunee Nation, as the originators of the game.”

Naturally, the talk instantly turned to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, which is targeted by lacrosse for inclusion. According to an editorial on one fan site, “If the creators of the game aren’t there, then the game, as a whole, shouldn’t be there either.” The Haudenosaunee have no National Olympic Committee and while World Lacrosse is a recognized International Federation, it is not close to Olympic recognition on its own.

While not burning now, this may be a log thrown into a future fire at the feet of the Los Angeles organizers for 2028.

● At the BuZZer ● A statue of an athlete with his right arm raised in salute outside the Olympic Stadium for the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam (NED) has been removed after an inquiry determined that the salute had fascist connotations.

The statue was erected in honor of Baron Tuyll van Serooskerken, who helped bring the Olympic Games to the city. A story on nltimes.nl explained:

“The Foundation concluded in its investigation that Baron de Coubertin, a founding member of the International Olympic Committee who spearheaded the the launch of the modern Olympic Games, introduced the right armed raised gesture in 1924 at the Paris Games. That was at the same time as the rise of fascism in Italy under Mussolini, the Foundation determined. The Italian fascist movement adopted the gesture as a salute. Later, the Nazis in Germany did the same.

“[Foundation director Ellen] Van Haarem stressed that artist Gerarda Rueb did not have bad intentions when creating the sculpture. ‘You have to keep the two lines well separated from each other. You have the historical fact that the salute dates from a fascist era, and you also have the intention of the maker of the statue to express the so-called sporty greeting from 1924,’ she said to [the Dutch newspaper] Trouw, but added: ‘Once you have established that the salute itself can be traced back directly to fascism, you have to take action.’”

The statue was moved to inside the stadium, where it can be properly explained in the context of its times.

Update: Thanks to reader Waikiki Jim for recognizing a typo in the swimming story; Abu Dhabi will host the 2021 World Short-Course Championships.

LANE ONE: Wheelchair basketball, the Paralympics and another legacy of the Greatest Generation revealed in forthcoming “Wheels of Courage”

By
Rich Perelman
-

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It is today quite fashionable to wring one’s hands, shake the head and declare that these are dark times for our country, for the world and for this group or that.

The soon-to-be released Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War II Invented Wheelchair Sport, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired Nation explains that individuals can change their – and our – future for the better, aided by the inevitable march of technology and the goodwill of people who are willing to help.

In expanding an article originally written for Los Angeles Magazine, Los Angeles-based author David Davis uncovered the astonishing story of how World War II veterans overcame devastating injuries that had doomed their World War I predecessors to death less than three decades earlier. We are introduced early to three of them:

● Johnny Winterholler, a 1939 honorable-mention All-American in football at the University of Wyoming, who was taken prisoner by the Japanese in the capture of the Philippines in 1941, eventually suffering paralysis of both legs due to maltreatment as a prisoner of war.

● Stan Den Adel of Corte Madera, California was shot and paralyzed in combat on the German-Austrian border a week before the end of fighting in Europe in May of 1945.

● Gene Fesenmeyer of Shambaugh, Iowa was on Okinawa in late May of 1945 when he was hit by a sniper’s bullet and lost the use of his legs.

For centuries, severe spinal injuries were “certain death and are ‘an ailment not to be treated.’” In World War I, victims of paralysis of the lower body and legs – “paraplegia” in medical terms – had died up to 90% of the time within one year following injury. But major advances such as the discovery of penicillin in 1928, sulfa tablets to restrict the growth of bacteria and revolutionary methods of collecting, maintaining and transporting blood and plasma to the front lines started saving lives in the 1940s.

Some 2,500 paralyzed veterans survived the war. Davis notes, however, “They were, at once, medical marvels and medical enigmas.” What to do with them now?

A new set of heroes emerge in this post-victory setting, including Dr. Ernest Bors of Hammond General Hospital of Staten Island, New York, who fled Czechoslovakia to escape Nazi oppression in 1940, and Dr. Howard Rusk from the Jefferson Barracks Hospital outside St. Louis, who convinced new U.S. Veterans Administration head Gen. Omar Bradley that rehabilitation was just as important as surgery: “We have to treat the whole man. And we also had to teach his friends and family how to accept him and help him in his new condition.”

The Veterans Administration established seven spinal-cord injury treatment centers across the nation, with Bors heading the new Birmingham General Hospital in Van Nuys, California; two additional naval hospitals were also designated for specialized care.

Den Adel was transferred to Birmingham General in November 1945 and saw similarly-paralyzed vets playing a simplified form of volleyball – with a lowered net – outdoors in the huge, wooden wheelchairs typical of the time, that had the main wheel in the front and small, stabilizing wheels in the back:

“When one of them accidentally steered his wheelchair into a wall, the others lambasted the poor soul: ‘Hey, Crip, do you have a license to drive that thing?’

“Den Adel couldn’t help laughing. Being together with others who were facing the same disability, all of them figuring out how to accommodate and assimilate their altered condition, was enormously therapeutic. ‘Every day somebody did something we didn’t know could be done from a wheelchair,’ he later wrote. ‘We shared our experiences with each other, speeding up the whole rehab process.’”

At the same time, there was a strong push to support veterans who had come home with varying difficulties, not only with treatment, but with jobs. News media were strongly supportive, as the times and trials of 16,000,000 U.S. veterans impacted every community in the nation.

Oldsmobile started offering cars with special hand controls to allow paraplegics to drive. Everest & Jennings, a Los Angeles firm, now offered a lightweight, foldable wheelchair made of chromed steel, vastly improving mobility.

In 1946, Birmingham Hospital’s assistant athletic director, Bob Rynearson, started offering basketball to the veterans, with some modest rule changes: two wheel pushes before dribbling, passing or shooting, 20 seconds to advance the ball past half-court and six seconds in the lane. Although the hospital’s gym was cramped, the vets quickly showed interest in the game, a highly competitive spirit and no trouble with getting back in action after a spill (often caused by a hard foul).

This was all in less than a year following V-J Day. While excruciating slow from the inside, and amazingly fast from the outside, Davis does a well-paced job of running the camera of your mind through the progress from shock to sorrow to exercise to competition to a future life.

On 25 November 1946, Rynearson had his “team” face off against a team of doctors from the hospital, who used borrowed wheelchairs. The vets won easily, 16-6, in what is considered the first wheelchair contest.

Then they started playing other, non-disabled teams in wheelchair games at the Pan-Pacific and Shrine Auditoriums in Los Angeles, and at the Long Beach Auditorium, with growing fan attendance and media interest.

At the same time, vets at Cushing General Hospital in Framingham, Massachusetts, were experimenting with their own brand of basketball. Their rules allowed racing downcourt without dribbling or passing, and even slight touches of chairs were called as fouls. On 5 December 1946, they played in a preliminary game in the Boston Garden against the Boston Celtics, prior to the Celtics-Detroit Falcons game in the new Basketball Association of America. Cushing won easily, 18-2.

Fesenmeyer and Winterholler were both recovering at the Naval Hospital at Corona (California), when it began offering wheelchair basketball, using Rynearson’s rules and methods from Birmingham. Inevitably, the two sides met in February 1947 in Corona, with Birmingham’s “Flying Wheels” defeating the “Rolling Devils,” 21-6, in the first match between organized wheelchair teams.

Playing with Winterholler in the line-up two months later, the Devils won the rematch, 41-10.

Now the Rolling Devils began making road trips, playing non-disabled teams in wheelchairs, including a 38-16 win over the semi-pro Oakland Bittners before 8,000 at the Oakland Auditorium, in a game sponsored by the Oakland Tribune. The net proceeds, as always, went to veterans’ relief funds.

Newspaper and newsreel coverage made the wheelchair game a national sensation. Teams sprung up at veterans’ hospitals everywhere, especially in the New York, an area already crazy for basketball. Halloran Hospital on Staten Island became the primary challengers to Cushing General from Massachusetts.

Out west, the active-duty Corona hospital facility required that the recovering, but discharged, vets go elsewhere, but Birmingham’s V.A. hospital team was still playing. A barnstrorming tour was arranged, but when the V.A. would not allow it, the players checked out of the hospital and boarded a plane. Fundraising was led by L.A. Herald-Express columnist John Old, with help from sportscaster Bob Kelley, star singer Bing Crosby and a young public-relations man named Tex Schramm, who went on to greater heights with the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL.

Wins in Kansas City, Chicago and Buffalo led to a February 1948 match-up of west vs. east in Framingham, as Cushing General – the “Clippers” – routed Birmingham, 18-7, using their “eastern” rules in what was hyped as the “world wheelchair basketball championship.”

There were more games in New York, in Richmond and Washington, D.C., which also included lobbying Congress for more benefits for veterans, and then more games before returning home.

A few days later, on 10 March 1948, some 15,561 fans filled Madison Square Garden in New York to see a doubleheader of Halloran General vs. Cushing General, won by Halloran, 20-11, prior to St. Louis’s 82-73 win over the Knicks in Basketball Assn. of America action. Wrote Davis:

“When the game started, the chatter in the stands gave way to uneasy, muted murmuring. Halloran’s Jack Gerhardt was speeding around the court like racecar driver Mauri Rose cornering at the Indianapolis 500 when he collided with another player and spilled out of his chair. Matrons gasped and dabbed at their eyes with handkerchiefs; crusty sportswriters complained that the smoke from their Lucky Strikes was causing them to tear up. But after Gerhardt muscled his body back into his chair and demanded the ball, and after the Cushing crew brayed their displeasure at the officials – ‘Whatsamatta, ref, can’t you hear either?’ – the mood inside the arena relaxed, and the fans began to cheer and whistle as if they were witnessing a miracle.”

All of this in two-and-a-half years after the end of the war. But as the veterans continued to recover, they yearned for the same things as their fellow brothers-in-arms: marriage, family, a home of their own and a career.

Slowly, the story of wheelchair basketball grew beyond the purview of WWII veterans, especially after the Korean War, and companies like Bulova and Pan American Airways saw promotional benefits from sponsoring teams, as well as from hiring wheelchair-bound veterans. Davis chronicles the long road from the novelty and wonder of injured veterans putting on a show on the basketball floor to the formation of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association to passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act in the 1990s.

And the rest of the world was not asleep. What started as a wheelchair archery tournament named the Stoke Mandeville Games, held concurrently with the 1948 Olympic Games in London, eventually became the Paralympic Games, now formally attached to the Olympic Movement and which will host 4,400 athletes in 22 sports in Tokyo in 2021.

Davis includes rich details of the support for these veterans, especially in the late 1940s, from Hollywood stars to fawning news coverage, as well as the eventual in-fighting between these pioneer teams and the expansion of disabled sport within the U.S. and worldwide. The pace of the book slows in the final third, as the V.A. narrowed its support for sports that took patients out of their hospitals for more than two days in 1950, the same year as the Birmingham Hospital was closed (it’s now the site of Birmingham High School, with the appropriate nickname of the Patriots.)

Published by Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Group, the book will launch officially on 25 August, which was to have been the date of the opening of the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. But you don’t have to wait a year to enjoy the story of how veterans and those who believed in them changed their world and ours for the better: you can pre-order it here.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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THE TICKER: Sensational Diamond League opener, with 12:35.36 5,000 m WR for Cheptegei; Aussie aths say no to OG protests; remembering Sport Intern’s K-H Huba

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. sprint superstar Noah Lyles

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

● Athletics ● It was a long time coming, but maybe it was worth the wait for the opening of the 2020 Wanda Diamond League season, thanks to sensational marks in nearly all of the events and a world record in the men’s 5,000 m by Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei!

There were world-leading marks in 11 of the 14 events on the program:

● Men’s 200 m: 19.76, Noah Lyles (USA)
● Men’s 800 m: 1:43.15, Donavan Brazier (USA)
● Men’s 1,500 m: 3:28.45, Tim Cheruiyot (KEN)
● Men’s Steeple: 8:08.04, Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR)
● Men’s 5,000 m: 12:35.36, Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) ~ World Record
● Men/110 m H: 13.11, Orlando Ortega (ESP)
● Men/400 m H: 47.10, Karsten Warholm (NOR)
● Men/Pole Vault: 6.00 m (19-8 1/4), Mondo Duplantis (SWE)
● Women/400 m: 50.50, Lynna Irby (USA)
● Women/1,000 m: 2:29.15, Faith Kipyegon (KEN)
● Women/5,000 m: 14:22.12, Hellen Obiri (KEN)

The highlight turned out to be a near-solo performance by Cheptegei, 23, the 10,000 m World Champion in 2019 and world-record setter in the road 5 km earlier this year (12:51).

He didn’t just run with the pacesetters, he launched a world-record attempt all by himself, actually running faster laps after the pacers left the track. He ran 59.97 for his penultimate lap and 59.64 for the final lap to finish in 12:35.36, shattering the thought-to-be-safe 2004 mark of 12:37.35 by Kenenisa Bekele (ETH).

He won by more than 16 seconds over Kenya’s Nicholas Kimeli (12:51.78), finishing his final four laps (1,600 m) in 4:00.12 and his last 2,000 m in 5:00.22! Wow! Cheptegei is now the second-ever Ugandan world-record holder on the track, after John Akii-Bua’s stunning 47.82 win in the 400 m hurdles at the 1972 Olympic Games.

Cheptegei said later: “I think Monaco is a special place and it’s one of these places where I could break the world record. It took a lot of mind setting to keep being motivated this year because so many people are staying at home but you have to stay motivated.

“I pushed myself, I had the right staff with me, the right coach. I’m also usually based in Europe, but being based in Uganda with my family was actually great. I will for sure celebrate the world record when I get home.”

The much-anticipated men’s 200 m started with Noah Lyles in his favorite lane seven, raising a gloved right fist during the event introductions. He ran to the lead right away and came off the turn in the lead and then turned on the speed down the home straight for a world-leading 19.76 (wind +0.7 m/s). His younger brother Josephus was strong down the straight as well, finishing second in 20.30. Said Noah afterwards, “I’m just happy to be racing again.”

In the men’s 800 m, World Champion Donavan Brazier ran easily over the first 600 m, took over on the final turn as expected from Canada’s Marco Arop, but with countryman Bryce Hoppel hot on his heels. Hoppel essentially shadowed Brazier throughout the race and although he didn’t have the speed to overtake him, he was right there at the finish and scored a lifetime best of 1:43.23 for second. Brazier improved his world-leading mark to 1:43.15, his third-fastest time ever. Hoppel’s time moves him to no. 7 all-time U.S.

But Brazier wasn’t that impressed, “The time wasn’t the best for me.” Hoppel was happy: “Training has been weird for me because I currently don’t have a team to train with, but running here turned out amazing, a lot better than I thought.”

Kenya’s World Champion Tim Cheruiyot decided he needed to make a statement, and was the only one to run with the pacesetters through 800 m, in 1:51.24. Cheruiyot led three others at 1,200 m in 2:47.64, but even with strong challenges by Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) and Jake Wightman (GBR), Cheruiyot steamed to the finish in 3:28.45. Ingebrigtsen got a European Record of 3:28.68 in second and Wightman was third in a lifetime best of 3:29.47.

Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali won the Steeple as expected, finishing with a world-leading 8:08.04, out-lasting Kenya’s Leonard Bett (8:08.78).

In the straight hurdles, World Champion Grant Holloway got out strongly, but it was Spain’s Orlando Ortega who came on strongest over the last three hurdles to grab the win in a world-leading 13.11. Britain’s Andrew Pozzi equaled his personal best at 13.14 and Holloway faded to fourth in a season-best of 13.19. Said Holloway, “13.19 is a good season best. With everything going on, I’ll take it. It is what it is, 2020 is a lot of chaos.”

In the 400 m hurdles,. Norway’s Karsten Warholm stepped on the gas from the start and was way out in front from the beginning. He won easily, finishing in an astounding 47.10, a meet record and the equal-eighth fastest race in history. Only five other men – including himself – have ever run faster! He said afterwards, “This was a very, very good season opener. I felt very strong, things I’ve been working on actually worked!”

Most of the drama in the men’s vault vanished when American Sam Kendricks’s poles did not arrive, so Swedish world-record holder Mondo Duplantis won the event with a clearance at 5.80 m (19-0 1/4). He then cleared 6.00 m (19-8 1/4) and went to 6.15 m (20-2), missing three times at what would have been the highest-ever jump outdoors.

A complete shock in the women’s 100 m, with Ajla del Ponte of Switzerland taking the lead in the middle of the race and running away from Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV) and American Aleia Hobbs in 11.16. Hobbs was second in 11.28; Ta Lou was fourth in 11.39.

American Lynna Irby, the 2018 NCAA champ in the 400 m, won in impressive fashion in a world-leading 50.50, passing Wadeline Jonathas – the 2019 NCAA winner – off the final turn, who finished second in 51.40.

The women’s 1,000 m also looked like world-record possibility and reigning Olympic 1,500 m champ Faith Kipyegon took charge with 300 m left and ran away with the win in 2:29.15, the no. 2 time in history, just 0.17 over the world record. Britain’s Laura Muir finished second in 2:30.82, making her the no. 7 performer all-time.

In the women’s 5,000 m, the expected battle between superstars Sifan Hassan (NED) and Kenya’s Hellen Obiri evaporated when Hassan retired with 2 1/2 laps to go. Obiri took over with two laps to go from Letesenbet Gidey (ETH), then lost it again as Gidey took the bell. Gidey strayed from the curb on the back straight and Obiri stormed inside her with a half a lap to go – to Gidey’s surprise – and ran away to an easy win in 14:22.12, her fourth-best ever.

The women’s high jump was an all-Ukrainian showdown as expected, with Yaroslava Mahuchikh out-dueling Worlds silver winner Yuliya Levchenko, with both clearing 1.98 m (6-6); Mahuchikh won with a first-time clearance at 1.95 m (6-4 3/4).

Venezuela’s two-time World Champion Yulimar Rojas won the triple jump as expected at 14.27 m (46-10).

The conditions appeared to be excellent, with a new track and an appreciative crowd – a limit of 5,000 was in place – plus some nifty new lighting effects that were nice to see. More than anything else, the meet was a glimpse of what could have been seen in Tokyo in the Olympic Games had been held this year. “Spectacular” would appear to be an understatement; maybe “historic”?

The Wanda Diamond League will continue in Stockholm (SWE) on 23 August.

The Russian Athletics Federation confirmed on Wednesday (12th) that it had forwarded the $6.31 million owed to World Athletics prior to the 15 August deadline and avoided potential expulsion.

The funds were provided by the Russian Sports Ministry through the intervention of Minister Oleg Matytsin, after the Russian federation missed an earlier deadline due to lack of funds. According to a ministry statement:

“Taking into account the crisis situation, which erupted in the Russian track and field athletics, the Russian Sports Ministry made an unprecedented decision to allocate the All-Russia Athletics Federation a one-off subsidy for the development of this sport and for the federation to repay its debt to World Athletics.”

This is, however, only one step in the road to reinstatement for RusAF. A comprehensive plan for Russian anti-doping efforts in athletics is due by the end of the month.

The Athletics Integrity Unit published its annual report for 2019, noting it collected samples from 2,632 athletes in 135 countries

The ratio of sample collection shows 2.46 samples collected out-of-competition to every in-competition sample. That’s good. Interestingly, of the 10,921 samples collected, 49% were from distance runners (sprinters next at 18%) and 41% from Africa (North America next at 24%).

There were a total of 376 disciplinary cases brought in 2019: 95 of these were by the AIU itself and 277 national anti-doping cases (plus four others). Of the 98 investigations opened in 2019, 37 were completed and the remainder are ongoing.

The cost of operations for 2019 was $8.70 million, with testing and compliance the largest single area at $3.41 million (39.0%) and $1.76 million for case management.

● Cycling ● Switzerland extended its ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people through the end of September, which wiped out the 2020 UCI World Road Championships, scheduled for 20-27 September in Aigle-Martigny.

This is a major loss for the world calendar, with 1,200 riders from 90 countries expected to compete in 11 races over eight days in senior, junior and U-23 divisions.

The UCI noted in a statement:

“Given the sporting importance of the UCI Road World Championships for cycling, the UCI would like to clarify that it will work towards finding an alternative project to ensure the 2020 edition of the event can take place, with the priority being in Europe and at the dates initially scheduled. It could include all or some of the planned races.”

An announcement is planned for 1 September at the latest.

In the meantime, the five-stage Criterium du Dauphine is continuing in France, with Belgium Wout van Aert, Slovenian star Primoz Roglic and Davide Formolo of Italy winning the first three stages. Roglic is the overall leader, 14 seconds ahead of Thibaut Pinot (FRA) with two more hilly stages on Friday and Saturday still ahead.

Coming up tomorrow (15th) is the second of the season’s “monument” races, the 114th Il Lombardia, from Bergamo to Como. Italian fans will be hoping for a third career win for Vincenzo Nibali, but defending champion Bauke Mollema (NED) will make a strong argument for a repeat.

● Fencing ● It’s not a new comment, but a nice reminder about fencing and social distancing from reader Jim Bendat:

Fencing is the ultimate COVID-19 sport:
o You wear a mask
o You wear gloves
o If anyone gets within six feet of you,
o You stab them!

Like everyone else, the FIE international calendar is on hold for now.

● Ice Hockey ● So much for trying to keep politics and sport apart. The newest dust-up is over the 2021 IIHF World Championships, scheduled to take place in Belarus and Latvia in May 2021.

In the aftermath of the election of Alexander Lukashenko’s re-election for a sixth term on 8 August, reportedly with 80% of the vote over Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, civic protests have erupted daily.

Reports indicate that more than 6,700 people have been detained, and questions are now being raised about holding the event in Belarus.

Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said in a television interview: “I think that the events in Belarus are dramatically changing the situation. Now I do not see how we, as a country, can arrange a championship together with Belarus.”

IIHF head Rene Fasel (SUI) is steadfast: “We are following the situation, we are seeing protests after Lukashenko’s election as president, but it is not up to an international sports federation to make any political statements at this time.

“The 2014 IIHF World Championship in Belarus was a huge success – the attendance was over 600,000. The organisation of the tournament was great. We have no grounds to make a political statement on this subject. As we have decided, the tournament will be held from 21 May. Our position is quite clear. We are ready to go to Belarus.”

● Skiing ● Yet another injury for American downhiller Steven Nyman, who is suffering through more frustration after tearing his right Achilles tendon during a training run at Mt. Hood in Oregon.

He wrote on Instagram: “Had surgery, but I am moving forward. I’ve been through this before and have full intention to comeback this season and compete through the next Olympics. Thank you to the @usskiteam medical team I have been working with, and others around the world sending me in the right direction.”

● Weightlifting ● Congratulations to USA Weightlifting, which completed its month-long fundraising campaign with Snap! Raise at $71,292, surpassing its $70,000 goal.

The goal was “to help drive money into local clubs and ensure that they are able to keep their facilities open for the foreseeable future.” Said USA Weightlifting chief executive Phil Andrews:

“We are very grateful to over 600 of the individuals who donated and I’m sure they will take pleasure in the fact that the funds raised will go directly towards supporting our member clubs. It’s vital to work together during times of uncertainty and our partnership with Snap! Raise, through the innovation shown by Jessie Stone and her team, has shown the benefits of collaboration among likeminded organizations.”

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020+1 ● Among all the chatter about athlete pressure to eliminate Rule 50, prohibiting protests at the Olympic Games, a contrary opinion from Australia. Per Reuters:

“More than 80% of 496 respondents said protesting on the field of play would ‘detract from the performance or experience of athletes,’ according to the survey by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) Athletes’ Commission.”

According to AOC Athletes Commission chair Steve Hooker, the 2008 Olympic pole vault champ:

“It should be more read that the majority of athletes … their passion is their sport and their focus is on sport. And they want to go to the Olympic Games and focus on that. That doesn’t mean that other people, other members of the team, don’t feel differently.”

The story noted that “In the AOC survey, nearly 41% of athletes who responded said the Olympics were ‘not a place for athletes to publicly express their views.’ Some 40% believed in self-expression ‘depending on the circumstances,’ and 19% believed in self-expression ‘in any circumstances.’”

The International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission has asked national athlete commissions for advice and comment on Rule 50 before making a recommendation to the IOC Executive Board, possibly ahead of its meeting in October.

● The Last Word ● Sad news from Lorsch, Germany, of the passing of one of the most influential Olympic journalists of all time, Karl-Heinz Huba.

Huba passed away on 12 August at age 90, less than two years after retiring from his Sport Intern newsletter, which he had published in multiple formats since 1968.

He was way ahead of any competitor for years, supplying news, quotes and perspective about the workings of the Olympic Movement while almost no one else was looking. Supported early in this effort by adidas chief exec Horst Dassler and later very close with International Olympic Committee chief Juan Antonio Samaranch, Huba was sometimes characterized as a “sore thumb,” but he had information no one else could get, for decades.

Always printed on bright, extra-thin, goldenrod paper, Huba’s issues were an immediate-read as soon as they arrived in the mail. He really had no competitors in the field until Ed Hula founded Around The Rings in 1992.

Huba changed – grudgingly – with the times, going to an e-mail delivery option in early 2008 and to e-mail delivery only in May 2009. He retired after the 31 October 2018 issue and handed the reins to Lausanne-based Richard Baker.

Born in 1930, Huba was well known as one of the top football writers in Germany, authoring more than a dozen strong-selling books on the sport in the 1960s and 1970s, including the highly-respected Fussball Weltgeschichte (“World Football History”) starting in 1973. In his early 20s, he was the head of the United Press sports department in Germany, then became the deputy sports editor of Die Welt in 1960. He became the editor of Sport-Illustrierte three years later.

The top of Huba’s final issue on 31 October of 2018:

LANE ONE: Why is World Athletics so timid about grabbing an opportunity to dominate the 2024 Paris Olympics?

By
Rich Perelman
-
Should World Athletics be asking to add a Half Marathon and other road events to the 2024 Paris Games? Yes! (Photo: World Athletics)

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At his best, British distance superstar Sebastian Coe was unbeatable, simply outrunning his competitors on the way to nine individual world records – indoors and out – at 800 m, 1,000 m, 1,500 m and the mile during his competitive career in the 1970s and 1980s.

But he also developed a keen tactical sense of how to set himself up for victory, and then to strike in major championships, as he did for his Olympic 1,500 m golds in 1980 and 1984. So as the President of World Athletics and now a member of the International Olympic Committee, it seems odd that Coe would champion a timid approach to the future of his sport in its biggest showcase.

True, the nicely presented World Athletics Strategy for Growth for 2020-23 incorporates a concept which has been a proven winner for cycling since 1927, with the introduction of a future World Road Championships around the World Half Marathon Championships and other events, and a World Off-Road Championships, including the World Cross Country Championships and possibly trail or mountain running.

And the plan for these events extends to having mass-participation races alongside the championship events, bringing the sport closer to the public.

So where is this future vision for Athletics at the Olympic Games?

At the end of last month, the World Athletics Council approved a plan for a single added event to the Paris 2024 program, a 20 km mixed-relay event with a maximum of 15 nations. Each team would include two men and two women, each of whom would run two legs of 2.5 km each.

It would mark a return for cross country to the Olympic Games exactly 100 years after it was last held, in Paris in 1924.

Nice, but that’s it?

Compare this tepid proposal to that being made by FINA, the international federation for aquatic sports, which is pounding the table – politely – for an additional 10 events (or more), including:

● Artistic Swimming: Mixed Duet events (1 or more);
● High Diving: 20 m for women and 27 m for men (2);
● Swimming: 50 m backstoke for men and women;
● Swimming: 50 m breaststroke for men and women;
● Swimming: 50 m butterfly for men and women;
● Swimming: Mixed 4×100 m freestyle relay (7).

FINA is also asking for more participants in open-water swimming and water polo, even though the International Olympic Committee is cutting total participants in the Games back to 10,500 from more than 11,000 expected in Tokyo in 2021.

This isn’t only about supporting more athletes in the Games and insiders know it. FINA officials point with pride to the IOC’s private, post-Games studies showing the massive combined in-person attendance at the Games for aquatic events and enormous number of television viewing hours offered by its four disciplines in swimming, artistic swimming, diving and water polo. FINA events are held every day of the Olympic program; track & field events have recently been held over only the final 10 days of the Games.

The new opportunity for World Athletics is the first-of-its-kind interest by the Paris 2024 organizers to have mass-participation programs in conjunction with at least the marathons, and possibly other events. In fact, this may be the signature innovation of the Paris Games, with thousands of people running on the same course – and possibly on the same days – as the men’s and women’s Olympic marathons are held.

Shouldn’t World Athletics take advantage of this and ask the IOC to include an extended program of events for 2024 which can also include complementary mass-participation opportunities? Clear candidates for new events for Athletics in Paris could include:

● 10 km road run for men and women
● Half Marathon for men and women

In addition, the long-suffering race walking events could get a significant upgrade if presented in conjunction with a non-competitive fitness walk event taking place before or after:

● 20 km walk for men and women (coupled with a 5 km fitness walk)
● 50 km walk for men and women (coupled with a 10 km fitness walk)

All of these events should take place during the first week of the Games, before any of the track & field competitions are held. This will bring more attention to Athletics during the entire length of the Games instead of only in the second week and offer considerably more possibilities for public participation in the event … and worldwide television viewing.

Best of all, the four new road events listed above (and one new walk) can be accommodated by just a minor revision to the size of the existing fields in the other events on the track & field program (currently 1,900 total athletes).

And if desired, the cross-country relay could be included as well – also during the first week – with competitors coming from those already entered in other events (as is done by most countries that enter the 4×100 m and 4×400 m relays).

Having cross country back in the Paris Games would be nice, but it’s not the kind of bold strike that Coe – and many of his fellow World Athletics Council members – was known for during his running days. Leveraging the new thinking of the Paris 2024 organizers and the IOC’s interest – concurrent with that of World Athletics – to better promote personal fitness and a healthy lifestyle can allow the sport to expand to all 16 days of the Games and to welcome future Olympians who can walk and/or run in the footsteps of those participating in the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad.

More great sprinting from Monday at the Star Athletics Sprint Showcase in Monteverde, Florida, including a new world -leading mark from Kenny Bednarek (USA).

After exploding on the scene with a high-altitude 19.82 win at the National Junior College nationals in 2019, Bednarek, 21, was injured later in the year, but has come all the way back with a win on Monday in PR of 19.80. He finished well ahead of Canada’s Andre DeGrasse (20.31) and Kyree King (USA: 20.54).

Trayvon Bromell (USA) continued to show that he’s to be taken seriously once again, winning a wind-aided 100 m in 9.87 (+2.5 m/s), after winning his heat in 9.99. Justin Gatlin was second in the final (10.02w), with Bednarek third (10.02w, after a lifetime best of 10.09 in the heats).

The 2019 NCAA sprint sensation from LSU, Sha’Carri Richardson, is also running well again, winning the women’s 100 m in 10.83 with the wind just over the allowable at 2.1 m/s. Richardson set a season’s best of 10.95 in the heats (no. 3 in the world for 2020) and then won the 200 m in 22.00 (also no. 3 in the world for 2020), ahead of 400 m star Shakima Wimbley at 22.88.

Pretty impressive!

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: Lyles featured in Diamond League opener; Jakobsen out of coma; another Nassar victim asks to join the proceedings

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. sprint superstar Noah Lyles

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

● Athletics ● It may be hard to believe, but it appears that the annual Herculis meet in the Principality of Monaco is on for Friday, with an all-star line-up led by American sprint star Noah Lyles ready to go.

Although there have been faux Wanda Diamond League meets in Oslo and Zurich, this is a real track meet, with live coverage in the U.S. on the NBC Olympic Channel beginning at 2 p.m. Friday afternoon. Among the attractions:

● Men/200 m: Lyles ran 19.65 on this track in 2018 – his second-fastest ever – and appears to be in brilliant shape. Something special this time? He should be in a happy place with his brother Josephus (20.24 this season) running, as well as old rivals like former World Champion Ramil Guliyev (TUR: 19.76 best) and Britain’s Adam Gemili (19.97).

● Men/800 m: World Champion Donavan Brazier is already the world leader at 1:43.84; can anyone challenge him? Kenyan Ferguson Rotich (1:42.54 lifetime best) and Amel Tuka (BIH) will try, as well upcoming American star Bryce Hoppel (1:44.25).

● Men/1,500 m: We finally get to see the usually-unbeatable Tim Cheruiyot (KEN) lock up with two of the three Ingebrigtsens – Filip (3:30.01 lifetime best) and Jakob (3:30.16). Is Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha in good enough shape to spoil the party?

● Men/110 m Hurdles: World champ Grant Holloway of the U.S. is in, along with Spain’s star Orlando Ortega, France’s Pascale Martinot-Lagarde and 2020 world leader Andy Pozzi of Great Britain.

● Men/400 m Hurdles: A small field of five, but anytime World Champion Karsten Warholm (NOR) is running, it’s worth watching.

● Men/Pole Vault: Another showdown between world-record holder Mondo Duplantis of Sweden (via Louisiana) and World Champion Sam Kendricks of the U.S. Duplantis is the world leader at 5.94 m (19-5 3/4).

● Women/1,000 m: Intriguing match-up with Britain’s Laura Muir, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo and American Raevyn Rogers.

● Women/5,000 m: World 1,500 m and 10,000 m Champion Sifan Hassan (NED) will cross swords once again with Kenya’s Hellen Obiri, the 2017-19 World Champion at 5,000 m. There are many more stars, including Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen and American Shannon Rowbury.

The final event, the men’s Steeple, was to be another match-up between Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali, the 2017 World Champs silver medalist and arch-rival (and Olympic and World champ) Conseslus Kipruto, but the latter is out with the coronavirus. The crowd – such as there is; it was reported that up to 5,000 will be allowed – will cheer El Bakkali against Kenyan Leonard Bett and Getnet Wale (ETH), among others.

The Paavo Nurmi Games was held – really – in Turku, Finland today (11th), with world-leading performances from Britain’s Pozzi (13.17) in the 110 m hurdles, Germany’s Johannes Vetter in the javelin (91.49 m/300-2) and Dutch hurdler Nadine Visser (12.68).

There was some fast sprinting in Jamaica last Saturday (8th), where Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the 100 m in a world-leading 10.87 and Elaine Thompson-Helah running 10.88 in a separate section.

Sweden’s Daniel Stahl extended his world lead in the discus with a monster toss of 71.37 m (234-2) in Sollentuna (SWE) on Monday. Stahl has had a remarkable 11 competitions in 2020, winning 10, with two meets beyond 70 m already.

The soap opera which is the Russian Athletics Federation continued on Monday (10th) with the announcement that Yevgeny Yurchenko, who resigned as federation president on 13 July, would stay on until 30 November when a new president will be elected.

Coming up on Saturday (15th) is the deadline for World Athletics to receive the $6.31 million it is owed for fines and expenses from the Russian federation. Russian sports minister Oleg Matytsin has promised that it will be paid by that date.

● Cycling ● The best news of the weekend was that Dutch star Fabio Jakobsen came out of an inducted coma following his brutal crash at the finish of the opening stage of the Tour de Pologne on 5 August:

“The hospital in Sosnowiec, southern Poland, said that Jakobsen will have to go through a long rehabilitation process, but his condition is good and he does not show any neurological symptoms.”

The hospital medical director said he believed that Jakobsen, 23, can return to the sport.

In the meantime, the Tour de Pologne did continue, with the hilly fourth stage determining the winner. Belgium’s Remco Evenpoel climbed from 19th to first by winning the stage by 1:48 over Dane Jakob Fuglsang and Simon Yates (GBR) and they finished 1-2-3 in the final standings.

For Evenpoel, 20, it’s his first UCI World Tour multi-stage race victory and his fourth win in four events this season; the other three were at lower-level events in Argentina, Portugal and Spain.

The 111th edition of the famed Milan-Sanremo race was another showcase for Belgian star Wout van Aert, who followed up his win at Strade Bianche in and around Siena (ITA), with a lean to at the finish to edge France’s Julien Alaphilippe.

This was a long race at 305 km, but it came down to a sprint between van Aert and Alaphilippe, with the Frenchman attacking off the final climb and van Aert trying to keep close. But van Aert had the lead going into the final straight and just held off Alaphilippe for another win after an exhausting 7:16:09 of riding!

The UCI World Tour continues this week with the Criterium du Dauphine, a five-stage race which usually a preview of the Tour de France, which starts on 29 August. On Saturday comes another of the “monument” races in cycling, the 114th Il Lombardia, from Bergamo to Como.

● Gymnastics ● A hearing will be held on 26 August at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana to determine whether to allow a new claimant into the USA Gymnastics bankruptcy case.

Terin Humphrey, now 33, was a two-time silver medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games in the Team event and on the Uneven Bars, declared on a 30 July filing that she was abused by Larry Nassar during a 2002 meet in Virginia during an examination for a hip injury.

Although the filing date for all abuse claims was 29 April 2019, Humphrey’s motion states:

“Although Claimant received notice of the Bankruptcy and of the opportunity to file a claim in the Bankruptcy prior to the Bar Date, she did not do so because it was only within the past month that Claimant came to recall and realize that she had been abused by Nassar.”

Humphrey’s motion further declares that during and after her recent pregnancy – she gave birth in January 2020 – she suffered “distressing memories and flashbacks” and “first began to realize that she may have suffered abuse by Nassar” in June of 2020.

The motion also asks for her to be placed in Class 6A for elite athletes, which would entitle her under the currently-proposed plan to $1.25 million in settlement funds.

While Humphrey’s motion will be heard, discussions should now be underway between mediators for the committee of survivors – the negotiating entity for those alleging abuse by Nassar – and USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and its insurers. A hearing on a potential settlement plan is currently scheduled for 9 October.

● U.S. National Governing Bodies ● The “Giving Games,” a donation portal for 21 of the U.S. National Governing Bodies finished its primary fund-raising effort during what would have been the period of the 2020 Tokyo Games, ending on 9 August.

Created in collaboration with the Colorado-based CFC Collective fund-raising consultancy, the Giving Games allowed (and still allows) individuals to donate to one of 21 NGBs, including both Olympic and Paralympic sports. While the total amount of donations has not been disclosed, the Giving Games site did show the top donations to each sport. The top 10 individual donations:

$36,240 to the U.S. Equestrian Team by an anonymous donor
$35,000 to USA Bobsled & Skeleton by Oscar Tang & Agnes Hsu-Tang
$10,000 to USA Bobsled & Skeleton by Mac Riley
$10,000 to USA Bobsled & Skeleton by Sherry Cushman
$10,000 to the U.S. Equestrian Team by the Ziegler Family Foundation
$10,000 to USA Judo by Joe and Enid Ragan
$7,500 to the American Canoe Assn. by Sara Perkovic
$5,540 to USA Artistic Swimming by Chris Leahy
$5,100 to the U.S. Equestrian Team by Karen Long Dwight
$5,100 to USA Pentathlon by Neal Linthicum

The largest total to a single sport might have been the $72,480 donated to the U.S. Equestrian Foundation, which also had the largest single donation (be far).

USA Swimming, in conjunction with the USA Swimming Foundation, announced a second round of grants to local clubs totaling more than $1.52 million.

The federation noted that “722 clubs requested and received funding through the program, totaling more than $3 million thanks to the USA Swimming Foundation” and that 59 USA Swimming Local Swimming Committees also made grants, bringing the total amount of support to local organization to more than $9 million so far.

At the same time, USA Weightlifting has been busy with its own, unique program of fund-raising to help its member clubs during the pandemic, in collaboration with SnapRaise.

Chief executive Phil Andrews reported that the $66,000 goal has nearly been reached, with the rest of today (11th) remaining. At posting time, an impressive $65,507 had been received!

● At the BuZZer ● Long-time sponsorship guru Michael Payne (GBR) tweeted on Monday (10th):

“Major news – surprised not more coverage to this breaking story. China’s Vivo pulls out of their $330m Indian cricket sponsorship due to China / India border tensions. Don’t ever recall a similar case sponsor and politics! Hold tight”

Vivo is a Chinese smartphone maker and title sponsor of cricket’s Indian Premier League. The Times of India reported that “had retained the IPL sponsorship rights for 2018-2022 for nearly 22 billion rupees ($293 million).”

A member of the IPL council “said Vivo had withdrawn partly because of the weak business environment due to the Covid-19 pandemic and because of widespread anti-China sentiment in India following a border clash.” IPL officials expected Vivo to be replaced quickly, for this season at least.

LANE ONE: Track & field ($10.5 million), ski & snowboard ($9.3 million) and swimming ($7.4 million) biggest recipients of USOPC cash & services in 2019

By
Rich Perelman
-

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The trove of financial data released last week by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee included a novel new report called the “Sport Benefits Statement.” This compilation displayed the total amount of money – direct and indirect – poured into each U.S. National Governing Body in 2019. The components included:

(1) High Performance Programs
This includes direct athlete stipends, prize money given for Pan American Games performances, coaching education, health insurance and medical services, sports science and “High Performance Grants,” a sum given to each NGB for athlete support, coaching support, travel to competitions and training camps.

(2) Olympic & Paralympic Competitions
This was, in 2019, travel and support for the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

(3) Athlete Training Facilities
This is for athlete stays, based on an averaged daily user rate, at the USOPC Training Centers in Colorado Springs, Colorado or Lake Placid, New York, or the facilities at the former USOPC training center in Chula Vista, California, or the Utah Olympic Legacy sites in and around Salt Lake City, Utah.

(4) Athlete & NGB Foundational Programs
Covers administrative support and NGB rent if on the USOPC campus, athlete career education, grassroots coaching and development programs and collegiate program outreach.

(5) Team USA Media & Promotion
Communications support, including public relations, digital and Web programming, licensing and international relations grants for advancing U.S. candidatures within the International Federations.

As it turns out, the amounts provided to some of the NGBs were far beyond the direct-grant amounts that are reported on the USOPC’s Form 990 tax return. There were 61 Sport Benefits Statements issued; for the 33 permanent summer Olympic NGBs and eight permanent winter Olympic NGBs, in order of total support received:

● $10,485,866: Track & Field: $3,796,780 direct; $6,689,086 additional
● $7,435,980: Swimming: $3,548,924 direct; $3,887,056 additional
● $5,000,793: Wrestling: $1,791,846 direct; $3,208,947 additional
● $4,872,696: Volleyball: $2,038,587 direct; $2,834,109 additional
● $4,252,369: Gymnastics: $2,227,033 direct; $2,025,336 additional

● $4,036,847: Rowing: $1,704,229 direct; $2,332,618 additional
● $3,870,948: Cycling: $2,211,900 direct; $1,659,048 additional
● $3,514,053: Rugby: $1,349,481 direct; $2,164,572 additional
● $3,294,415: Shooting: $1,950,373 direct; $1,344,042 additional
● $2,965,313: Triathlon: $1,162,334 direct; $1,802,979 additional

● $2,758,203: Boxing: $1,047,588 direct; $1,710,615 additional
● $2,648,440: Water Polo: $1,375,391 direct; $1,273,049 additional
● $2,115,139: Archery: $868,428 direct; $1,246,711 additional
● $1,975,922: Sailing: $1,356,198 direct; $619,724 additional
● $1,975,071: Fencing: $1,052,920 direct; $922,151 additional

● $1,868,937: Hockey: $1,096,307 direct; $772,630 additional
● $1,847.210: Basketball: $1,295,890 direct; $551,320 additional
● $1,771,857: Equestrian: $1,358,940 direct; $412,917 additional
● $1,611,337: Diving: $1,095,908 direct; $515,429 additional
● $1,339,490: Judo: $788,618 direct; $550,872 additional

● $1,295,594: Football: $750,000 direct; $545,594 additional
● $1,188,257: Softball: $626,876 direct; $561,381 additional
● $1,156,248: Taekwondo: $673,050 direct; $483,198 additional
● $630,266: Weightlifting: $431,731 direct; $198,535 additional
● $613,743: Handball: $270,893 direct; $342,850 additional

● $544,237: Table Tennis: $317,767 direct; $226,470 additional
● $365,821: Canoeing: $171,280 direct; $194,541 additional
● $322,042: Tennis: $50,000 direct; $272,042 additional
● $305,518: Artistic Swim: $195,941 direct; $109,577 additional
● $280,226: Badminton $137,172 direct; $143,054 additional

● $274,082: Modern Pent.: $88,003 direct; $186,079 additional
● $62,712: Golf: $28,400 direct; $34,312 additional
● $0: Baseball (yes, really: $0)

Winter:

● $9,307,196: Ski & Snowboard: $6,315,000 direct; $2,992,196 additional
● $3,854,179: Bob & Skeleton: $2,066,163 direct; $1,788,016 additional
● $3,055,466: Ice Hockey: $1,649,251 direct; $1,406,215 additional
● $2,784,665: Figure Skating: $1,307,741 direct; $1,476,924 additional
● $2,540,944: Speedskating: $1,896,212 direct; $644,732 additional
● $2,451,746: Luge: $1,335,952 direct; $1,115,794 additional
● $1,792,471: Biathlon: $1,048,439 direct; $744,032 additional
● $1,651,926: Curling: $1,186,960 direct; $464,966 additional

There were no surprises in the top five summer sports receiving USOPC support; these are where the U.S. has been strong and brings home medals in bunches in almost every Games. Beyond these, however, few would have guessed that rowing would receive the sixth-most support, or that rugby, shooting and triathlon would rank 8-9-10.

There are plenty of critics of the USOPC Training Centers in Colorado Springs and Lake Placid, and arrangements with the former USOPC facility in Chula Vista and the Utah Olympic Legacy facilities in and around Salt Lake City. But these were widely used by many NGBs; the highest bills – reported using an averaged daily rate for each site – were run up by:

● $1,788,125: Wrestling: Colorado Springs
● $956,731: Track & Field: Chula Vista & Colorado Springs
● $947,310: Rugby: Chula Vista
● $843,798: Bob & Skeleton: Lake Placid and Salt Lake City
● $683,795: Boxing: Colorado Springs
● $546,364: Archery: Chula Vista
● $526,975: Luge: Colorado Springs, Lake Placid & Salt Lake City
● $540,800: Gymnastics: Colorado Springs & Lake Placid
● $491,235: Ski & Snowboard: Lake Placid & Salt Lake City
● $450,340: Biathlon: Lake Placid & Salt Lake City

There were six more NGBs who ran up bills of more than a quarter-million: rowing ($369,279), shooting ($346,050), cycling ($344,339), figure skating ($282.770), triathlon ($263,340) and basketball ($250,515). That’s 16 of 41 at a quarter-million or more and swimming was at $249,720.

Significant other foot-stamping, hand-wringing and tearing of hair is being recorded – as always – by those who claim that the financial statements and Form 990 details show that a “total” of just $18.48 million out of $248.31 million in functional expenses was given to athletes in 2019 (these figures from Form 990).

Nice try, but no. However, the USOPC could help itself with a little more effort.

The actual amount paid for “direct athlete support,” including cash payments, health insurance, education tuition and medical services was $31.88 million. Last I checked, I had to pay for all of those things out-of-pocket, so they count just like cash as far as I am concerned.

Another $76.10 million was distributed to the NGBs, and a significant amount of that money went to athletes through distribution programs operated by those federations. The USOPC should obtain the information on distributions to athletes by NGBs and publish a separate tally of the total count of athletes supported and monies expended to provide a fuller picture.

One of the elements included in U.S. Senate Bill S. 2330 that passed last week and the accompanying House bill just introduced is a commission to study the USOPC’s operations. If this commission comes into being, it will be urged to take up the question of not only what the USOPC is doing, but how it is doing it.

Long accused of inefficiency, the USOPC’s 2019 Form 990 lists 567 employees and the financial statements show these people cost $54.10 million, with another $35.06 million spent for outside services such as accounting, legal and fundraising. One observer with long experience suggested the same work could be done with as little as 150 people. Others would simply like to know what all those people do.

The Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act (here) allows, but does not require that the USOPC recognize a National Governing Body for each sport on the Olympic, Paralympic or Pan American Games program. Would the USOPC save money, time and people by simply absorbing some of the smaller NGBs? Most of the NGBs? Those NGBs which cannot function without USOPC subsidies?

If the review commission required by S. 2330 survives review in the House and a bill actually becomes law, it will be fascinating to see whether it will insist on a flatter USOPC/NGB administrative structure to try and save money.

Then again, we are talking about a federal commission; can anyone really expect more efficiency?

Rich Perelman
Editor

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THE TICKER: Exclusive ~ U.S. to try for World Univ. Games in 2027; drama in Russia over drive to oust RUSADA head; USOPC bill now in House

By
Rich Perelman
-
The Winter World University Games is coming to Lake Placid in 2023; will the summer WUG return to the U.S. in 2027?

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

● Miller Time ● Veteran British Olympic observer David Miller considers whether a postponed 2020+1 Olympic Games in Tokyo may be devalued by the absence of countries where the coronavirus may not yet be under control. Like the United States!

● World University Games ● The U.S. has had a mostly-disinterested relationship with the World University Games, established in 1959 and designed to be for athletes who are in college or recently completed student work and are between 17-25 years old.

That appears to be changing.

The U.S. Olympic Committee (now Olympic & Paralympic Committee) supported American participation in the WUG in the 1990s and up to about 2003, primarily with support staffing, travel and uniforms, but decided the event was not a core program and U.S. participation is now in the hands of the U.S.-International University Sport Federation (US-IUSF).

Longtime chair Gary Cunningham, the former UCLA basketball coach from 1978-79 and later athletic director at the University of California, Santa Barbara, retired at head of the US-IUSF and recently-retired UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero has assumed the lead role.

Over lunch on a patio in a rare open restaurant in Los Angeles, Guerrero explained that he is looking for a more active role for the US-IUSF in the future: “We’re excited about what’s coming up and bringing the World University Games back to the U.S.” He noted:

● Despite the pandemic, the US-IUSF is planning to field at team at the 2021 Winter World University Games in Lucerne, Switzerland from 21-31 January. This is especially important since the 2023 Winter World University Games will be held in Lake Placid, New York, from 12-22 January.

It’s only the second time the Winter WUG will be held in the U.S. The first was also in Lake Placid, back in 1972, with 410 athletes competing in seven sports. The last event, in Krasnoyarsk (RUS) in 2019, attracted 3,000 athletes competing in 11 sports.

● The 2021 World University Games is scheduled for Chengdu, China from 18-29 August, and in Kazan (RUS) for 2023. The last WUG, in Naples (ITA) drew 5,971 athletes, but as many as 12,885 have attended for the 2015 WUG in Gwangju (KOR).

● Guerrero said that interest in the WUG is increasing, with a possible host city in Germany for 2025 and the U.S. for 2027.

A U.S.-based World University Games would be pretty interesting in 2027, one year prior to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The U.S. hosted a summer WUG only once before, in Buffalo, New York in 1993, with 3,582 athletes competing in 12 sports.

The current program includes 15 required sports and up to three optional sports. Guerrero indicated that preliminary discussions are underway about a bid city or area.

(The best choices would be areas with large universities already in place that can offer athlete housing and competition and training facilities. Obvious options would be the “Research Triangle” area of Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, which hosted the 1987 U.S. Olympic Festival; Houston, Texas, which constructed an excellent bid to be the U.S. candidate city for the 2012 Olympic Games and perhaps also Austin, Texas, site of the University of Texas and an increasingly popular site for conferences and events, or Indianapolis, site of the 1987 Pan American Games.)

To get all of this done, Guerrero has a building job on his hands. He and Secretary General Delise O’Meally, Executive Director of the Institute for Sport & Social Justice at the University of Central Florida – both volunteers – operate on an annual budget of only about $60,000, enough for paying dues to the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and travel to some meetings. But Guerrero was a prolific fund-raiser – in the hundreds of millions – during his 18 years as Director of Athletics at UCLA and will look to expand the US-IUSF profile.

The FISU, under the leadership of Russian Oleg Matytsin, has also shown more vigor since his election in 2015. In fact, his efforts were noticed nationally and he was named as Russian Minister of Sport on 21 January of this year. Guerrero believes Matytsin will remain as the head of FISU and has ambitious plans to make the organization more visible within the worldwide Olympic Movement.

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● As S. 2330, the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020, was making its way to the U.S. Senate floor for unanimous approval on Tuesday (4th), a companion bill was finally introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

H.R. 7881, To amend the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act to provide for congressional oversight of the board of directors of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and to protect amateur athletes from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and for other purposes, was introduced on 31 July by Ted Lieu (D-California), with five co-sponsors: John Curtis (R-Utah), Dianna DeGette (D-Colorado), Susan Brooks (R-Indiana), Ann Kuster (D-New Hampshire) and Michael Burgess (R-Texas).

The bill was sent to the House Judiciary Committee and to the House Committee on Education and Labor. Lieu is a member of the Judiciary Committee, but none of the five co-sponsors are on either committee.

While the USOPC has made many of the changes requested during the four Senate sub-committee hearings that led to the filing of S. 2330, there are significant problems with this bill and the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019 (S. 259). In the Moran-Blumenthal bill (S. 2330), the Congress would have the power to – by resolution – to decertify a U.S. National Governing Body or to dismiss the entire Board of the USOPC. Both of those actions would be contrary to the Olympic Charter and invite a suspension of the USOPC by the International Olympic Committee.

Let’s see what happens in the House.

● Doping ● As if there wasn’t enough drama already in Russia concerning doping in sport, the Supervisory Board of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) recommended the dismissal of the head of that agency, Yuriy Ganus, to the Russian National Olympic Committee.

Ganus has been given high marks for revamping RUSADA into a working and competent anti-doping organization, and allegations against him for financial mismanagement over taxi fares and English lessons – among other things – have left the World Anti-Doping Agency considerably concerned.

The Russian Olympic Committee and Russian Paralympic Committee commissioned an inquiry into RUSADA finances and came up with conclusions of mismanagement against Ganus. On 5 August (Wednesday), WADA issued a statement noting:

“Today’s recommendation has presented further very important questions as to the validity of the legal process that has been followed and the motives behind the recommendation. …

“It is a critical element of the World Anti-Doping Code that National Anti-Doping Organizations, such as RUSADA, remain safe from any interference of the relevant National Olympic and Paralympic Committees in their operational decisions and activities in order to conduct their work effectively. This is why WADA’s independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC), when it issued its recommendation to declare RUSADA non-compliant with the Code that was unanimously endorsed by the Agency’s Executive Committee on 9 December 2019, made it a condition of RUSADA’s eventual reinstatement that WADA remains satisfied that RUSADA’s independence is being respected and there is no improper outside interference with its operations.”

Ganus, for his part, has been strident in condemning the allegations on Twitter and last Sunday issued a remarkable three-panel tweet (in Russian and English) which included this:

“The root of our problems lies not in the western countries unlike it has been portrayed. The problems are internal. The greatest fear is the fear of change, fear to break the old disastrous patterns and methods. The tasks related to sports, se by the Russian President, are not accomplished and can not be accomplished because of the corrupt and inefficient old approaches and methods. …

“In a considerable part of our sports, the need for changes in attitude to doping, and the plausibility of such changes are either not understood or underestimated, or deliberately ignored.”

In the meantime, Russia has been slapped with a four-year sanction by WADA which could keep it out of the 2021-22-24 Olympic Games; its appeal will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in November.

● Athletics ● The London Marathon announced Thursday that it will hold only the elite-athlete portion of its 2020 race on 4 October, on a course that will be devoid of spectators.

Event Director Hugh Brasher’s announcement included:

“Despite all our efforts, the fantastic support from all of our partners and the progress that has been made on planning for the return of smaller mass participation events that are not on the roads, it has not been possible to go ahead with a mass socially distanced walk or run.

“In parallel with the work on the plans for the socially distanced mass event, we had a team working on planning the elite races for men, women and wheelchair athletes in a biosphere environment in St James’s Park and another team creating a truly inspiring Virgin Money London Marathon which means participants across the UK and abroad can still be part of The 40th Race from their home or wherever they might be on 4 October.”

The date for the 2021 race was also moved to 3 October, “to give the best chance for the mass race to return.”

The Athletics Integrity Unit has been busy, issuing bans to Ukraine’s Nataliia Krol for 20 months from 16 January 2020 and to Turkish steepler Gulcan Mingir, for two years from 3 February 2020.

Krol was hit for use of a prohibited substance (hydrochlorothiazide, a diruretic used for high blood pressure) and Mingir for DHCMT (the steroid Turinabol) in a re-test of her 2012 specimen given at the London Olympic Games.

As Nataliia Pryshchepa, she won the European 800 m titles in 2016 and 2018 with a lifetime best of 1:58.60 in 2016. Her last competition was in October, 2019.

The now-retired Mingir was the 2012 European steeple champ and was a 2012 Olympian in that event (eliminated in the heats). Her marks from 4 August 2012 to 4 August 2014 were erased, eliminating her Olympic results and her World University Games victory in 2013.

The clock is ticking on the 15 August deadline for payment of the $6.31 million in fines and costs due to World Athletics from the Russian Athletics Federation. At the same time, a detailed plan for reinstatement is due to be filed by the end of August, by the RusAF Reinstatement Commission.

This body consists of Russian Anti-Doping Agency, the Russian Olympic Committee and Russian sports ministry, and at least two athletes, and is expected to meet for the second time on Friday, 7 August.

Said acting RusAF President Alexei Plotnikov, “We have enormous work ahead. We held the first reinstatement commission meeting on July 27, when the decision was made to draft a detailed plan for RusAF to steer clear out of the crisis and submit it to World Athletics for approval. We will discuss the draft of this vital document at the second meeting, which should take place August 7. We will also talk about all the recommendations that were voiced at [the World Athletics] Council meeting.”

If this plan is not submitted on time, it could trigger a decision for formal expulsion of the Russian Athletics Federation.

● Cycling ● A horrific crash marred the finish of the first stage of the Tour de Pologne, with Dutch rider Fabio Jakobsen declared the winner, but suffering severe injuries due to interference in the final sprint by fellow Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen.

On the downhill sprint finish at the end of the 195.8 kg kick-off leg from Stadion Slaski to Katowice, Groenewegen (who rides for the Jumbo-Visma team) moved from the center of the road to the right side. According to CyclingNews, “His actions forced Jakobsen into the barriers at high-speed with the Dutch national champion smashing through the roadside safety equipment and into a race official who was left unconscious.”

Jakobsen, who rides for Deceuninck-Quick Step, was taken to a hospital and underwent 5 1/2 hours of facial reconstructive surgery and was in intensive care in an induced coma overnight. On Twitter, Groenewegen – who suffered a broken collarbone – wrote:

“I hate what happened yesterday. I can’t find the words to describe how sorry I am for Fabio and others who have been crashed or hit. At the moment, the health of Fabio is the most important thing. I think about him constantly.”

The race reported that the injured official was in stable condition.

Dane Mads Pedersen won the second stage on Thursday and the race continues through Sunday.

● Figure Skating ● The French Ministry of Sports stated that more than 20 coaches working with French skaters are the subject of accusations into abuse, harassment or violence.

The inquiry was launched after multi-time French champion Sarah Abitbol alleged sex abuse by her coach in the early 1990s. The ministry stated that “The volume of cases identified is indicative of practices and behaviours that have been replicated through generations of coaches. It is unparalleled internationally.”

The report will be forwarded to the government prosecutors in Paris.

The International Skating Union confirmed on Monday that its Grand Prix season of six competitions will be held – maybe – but with only competitors from the host country, skaters training in the country where the event will take place and skaters in nearby countries who can meet the requirements for entry in the applicable country.

The results will not count for world rankings, or for qualification for ISU Championship events. The Grand Prix season is slated to start on 23 October at Skate America in Las Vegas.

● Short Track Skating ● A unique milestone for the sport as Eddy Alvarez, who grew up in Miami as a roller-blader and later became a U.S. Olympian in Short Track in 2014, was called up to the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball.

Alvarez won a silver medal in the 5,000 m relay in Sochi in 2014 and competed in the 500 m (finishing 31st), 1,000 m (11th) and 1,500 m (19th). He then turned his attention to baseball and after six minor-league seasons, he joined Miami this week as an infielder.

He debuted on Wednesday in Baltimore against the Orioles in a 1-0 Marlins win, going 0-3 and handling one chance defensively at second base.

● Swimming ● Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis could be the site of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials, with a temporary pool placed on the existing football field.

The Indianapolis Star reported that a bid is being developed for USA Swimming to bring the Trials back to Indy, which has hosted the event six times previously, most recently in 2000.

The story noted that St. Louis is also interested in bidding and Omaha, the site of the 2008-12-16-21 Trials, will almost certainly request the event again. The CenturyLink Center held about 14,000 for swimming in 2016, but Lucas Oil Stadium would be able to host more than 70,000 for each session.

Like the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four, however, those swimmers will look awfully small from the upper reaches of a football stadium. A decision on the 2024 Trials host could be made as early as this December.

● The Last Word ● Naturally, the amazing 50 m swim by U.S. distance superstar Katie Ledecky with a glass of chocolate milk on her head has spawned imitators.

Australia’s Susie O’Neill, 47, who won eight Olympic medals as a freestyler and butterfly swimmer from 1992-2000, got into the act on Wednesday, trying to balance a glass of beer on her head for 25 m.

She almost got there, but the glass fell off just before the finish as O’Neill turned her head slightly. Maybe she should have used a snorkel for breaking as Ledecky did!

Although some of the beer fell off into the water, O’Neill gulped down what was left so it wouldn’t go to waste!

LANE ONE: U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee annual report says to Congress: “Hey, we heard you!” but is it too late?

By
Rich Perelman
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First came the thunder, followed a day later by the lightning. The question is whether anyone got hurt, or will be.

On Monday, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee released its largest-ever package of organizational and financial reports, which chief executive Sarah Hirshland said showed “2019 was a year of remarkable progress in which we listened to our community, changed our culture and implemented a strategic plan that will allow us to better support, serve and partner with all the stakeholders.”

This is quite true and the level of detail was impressive, but Hirshland skipped mentioning one of the main targets of the package, the U.S. Congress.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate passed – without any dissenting votes – S. 2330, the “Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athlete Act” introduced in 2019 by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut). The product of a series of Senate sub-committee hearings, the bill as drafted requires a lengthy series of oversight measures by the USOPC over itself and the U.S. National Governing Bodies, more enforcement against athlete abuse, more funding for the U.S. Center for SafeSport, more athlete representation and a possible “legislative mechanisms by which Congress can dissolve the Board of the U.S. Olympic Committee and decertify NGBs.”

But in fact a lot of the requests made in the bill and during the four hearings held to produce it have already been integrated into the USOPC programming. The organization’s “Impact Report” – formerly the “Annual Report” – showcased these items strongly and emphasized their “co-creation” by all of the stakeholders:

● Priorities

The report noted four “strategic priorities”:

(1) “[C]reating a better experience for our athletes;”

(2) “[I]mproving the effectiveness of all the organizations that serve our athletes;”

(3) “[E]stablishing an athletes-first culture;” and

(4) “[P]reparing for the awesome, transformational opportunity represented by hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in LA in 2028.”

● Athlete support

“Approximately 82% of the USOPC’s budget has a direct impact on its mission of supporting athletes via a variety of programs for both athletes and their National Governing Bodies. In addition to (1) performance grants and rewards, additional support is provided in the form of (2) training facilities, (3) sports medicine and science, (4) coaching education, (5) health insurance, (6) promotional opportunities, (7) education and career services, (8) outfitting and travel, and (9) athlete safety, well-being and (10) anti-doping programming.” (Numbering added.)

This is a direct response to the many complaints that the USOPC spends only a tiny percentage of its funding on athletes. In fact, an extraordinary effort was made to identify athlete-support funding, not only at the USOPC level, but in 61 first-time “Sport Benefit” reports, which detail both the direct-grant and support-service finding by the USOPC to the U.S. National Governing Bodies for Olympic and Paralympic sports.

The breakdown of USOPC spending was specifically noted as

“Eighty-three percent of our quad resources go toward programs and activities that directly support Team USA athletes—while 10% is invested in generating revenue through fundraising and commercial activities and another 7% on general administration.”

(Yes, readers, there’s a 1% discrepancy there, but let’s get on with the main themes.)

● High-performance support

The report noted that for 2019, “$83 million was distributed directly to athletes, National Governing Bodies and High Performance Management Organizations. Funds given to NGBs and HPMOs were utilized for elite athlete programming, such as training camps, coaching and travel to international competition” and

“The USOPC increased its Athlete Performance Pool to 1,484 athletes, expanding the number of athletes qualified for monthly monetary stipends to supplement the training and competition resources provided. Additional support is offered via Operation Gold—which totaled $3.4 million in payments to 595 athletes for their top finishes in each sport’s most competitive senior international competition of 2019—and Elite Athlete Health Insurance benefits, which amounted to $7.3 million in support to 1,326 athletes.”

At the USOPC training centers in Colorado Springs and Lake Placid, some 16,429 athletes in 1,072 programs were supported during 2019.

● Support for athlete inquiries, legal matter and safety

One of the items specifically requested in the Senate hearings was a USOPC-funded program of athlete assistance in legal, protest and safety areas. This has been met with an expansion of what used to be called the Athlete Ombudsman. In 2019:

“The [Office of the Athlete Ombuds] responded to approximately 1,200 requests for assistance, with the most prominent areas of inquiry being team selection, anti-doping and athlete safety issues. The office has continued to improve its visibility, resulting in an increase of access to dispute resolution opportunities prior to formal proceedings and a reduction of the accumulation of costs and fees for athletes. The office also distributed more than $65,000 in legal aid to athletes and improved the quality of its services with an updated website, usathlete.org …”

With regard for the U.S. Center for SafeSport, for which the Moran-Blumenthal bill requires a flat annual contribution of $20 million in perpetuity, the USOPC noted that its support for that organization was $4.5 million in 2018, rising to $7.5 million in 2019 and a promised $11.5 million in 2020. As to its performance – it is completely separate from the USOPC – the report stated:

“In 2019, the Center received 2,770 reports, opened 1,151 cases based on exclusive jurisdiction (sexual misconduct), asserted discretionary jurisdiction over 144 allegations of emotional or physical misconduct” (the latter must be turned over to the National Governing Bodies for follow-up).

The centralized SafeSport database of disciplinary actions had 1,218 individuals listed at the end of 2019, of which 235 had been added by the U.S. Center for SafeSport itself.

The USOPC’s education and career programs provided tuition grants of $530,067 to 173 athletes (52 competing Olympians, 72 hopefuls, 49 retired athletes); about 400 athletes received $2.4 million in educational support from donors and USOPC partner DeVry University, and 83 athletes gained job placements through USOPC partners ACE and Adecco Group.

This is a lot of what varying witnesses were looking for in the Congressional testimony. In addition, the USOPC has implemented – and is continuing to increase – scrutiny over the National Governing Bodies with recent by-law and operating rule changes. The program of NGB audits is continuing and the report stressed that 20 audits were completed in 2019 (17 National governing bodies and three Paralympic governing bodies).

It’s worth noting that the USOPC report wasn’t shy and noted the Moran-Blumenthal bill directly:

“This is an important bill aimed at increasing the voice of athletes and strengthening the USOPC’s oversight of the Olympic and Paralympic community in the U.S. While the legislation had yet to officially pass at the close of 2019, we continue to broadly support the bill, which is consistent with many of the reforms our organization had already implemented or began to shape in 2019.”

Now passed by the Senate, a companion bill in the U.S. House was announced, co-sponsored by Susan Brooks (R-Indiana), John Curtis (R-Utah), Diana DeGette (D-Colorado) and Ted Lieu (D-California).

There are significant problems with the bill from the International Olympic Committee’s standpoint, notably the ability of the Congress to – by resolution – dissolve the USOPC Board or dismiss a National Governing Body, but this may yet be worked out in the House version.

But make no mistake, the USOPC has seen the dangers and has done much of what has been requested of it in terms of organizational and structural reform. Whether this satisfies its critics – and/or the Congress – is another matter.

The actual financial report was not that dramatic. As is usual in a non-Olympic year, the USOPC posted a loss in operations; in 2019, this was $38.80 million in revenue of $205.16 million and expenses of $243.95 million. However, thanks to strong investment performance in 2019, the combined assets of the USOPC, U.S. Olympic Endowment and the USOPC Foundation rose to $605.73 million at the end of 2019.

One very positive sign for the future was the increase in public fundraising by the Foundation, which attracted 49,722 contributors, who gave a combined $40.60 million, a new high; the number of individual donors rose by almost 20% from 2018.

The USOPC’s financial strength will help it through the coronavirus pandemic, but if the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and/or the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing are canceled, the organization could be in trouble, not to mention the already-precarious situation of the National Governing Bodies. A note on the post-2019 issues revealed a possibly important contract issue between the IOC and U.S. broadcaster NBC:

“A Right of Abatement clause was also triggered [by the postponement], whereby after completion of the Games in 2021, NBC and the IOC shall negotiate in good faith an equitable reduction in the applicable Broadcast Rights payments. In addition, the USOPC is negotiating with multiple current sponsors, [U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Properties] and various vendors in Tokyo to accommodate the postponement, and further assessment of near- or long-term impact is ongoing.”

What will actually happen is unknown, by the IOC, by NBC, by the USOPC, its sponsors and the Congress. But this 2019 report shows that the USOPC was listening during the Congressional hearings and has been making progress. But that may still not be enough to avoid being struck by lightning … multiple times.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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MILLER TIME: How Risk Averse Is Tokyo’s Postponement?

By
David Miller
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(It’s a pleasure to present this guest column by one of the most knowledgeable observers of the Olympic Movement, Britain’s David Miller. For more than 50 years, the former English footballer has covered the Olympic Games and the sports within it, including 15 years as the Chief Sports Correspondent of The Times of London, with stints at the Daily Express and the Daily Telegraph. Author of books on athletics, football and the Olympics, he was Official Historian of the IOC from 1997-2018. His opinions are, of course, his own alone.)

The Olympic Games, postponed and rescheduled for next summer in Tokyo 124 years after de Coubertin’s resurrection, are normally distinguished on two counts: the simultaneous presence of the world’s elite performers from all but a handful of contemporary non-motorised sports, together with representatives of almost every nation great or small in the shared egalitarian ambiance of a communal village (bar a venue-separated minority such as rowing).

A reluctant question-mark hangs over Tokyo’s face saving, financially stretched, commendable wish to rescue humanity’s foremost cultural festival: is this virus-wracked occasion inevitably going to be second rate on many estimates? In performance levels, absent superstars, some absent nations – U.S.? Brazil? Russia (suspended by WADA) – fewer spectators, probably some absent sponsors and… critically absent dollars?

Will Tokyo, perhaps ultimately encouraged by the Olympic ‘owners’, the International Olympic Committee, sooner or later reach a calculation, on both economic and emotional levels, that in the manner of World War cancellations of 1916 and 1940-44, the sensible option is discontinuation of this mammoth operation until, optimistically, Paris ’24?

Seized news-wise at age 13 by stand-in U.S. sprinter Harrison Dillard at London’s make-do austerity Games of 1948 – a sprint outsider whose autograph I gained sixty years later – my life’s pulse has synchronised with the Olympics. I’m the last to wish their cancellation, yet might it not make common sense? Can we not all remember going on a seaside holiday and it rained?

Some will say, “If London’s ‘recovery’ worked in ’48, why not now in Tokyo?” Yet London then was a different scenario. There did not exist, in that era, multiple world championships in many sports establishing a familiar global ranking order: it was the Olympics which provided that, and it had been a whole twelve years earlier at that time. Track legends such as neutral Sweden’s Gunder Hagg were ineligible professionals.

What London ’48 did was to help reunite the post-War free world, along with a small number of new heroes: the phenomenal Czech distance runner Emil Zatopek and Dutch matronly sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen; teenage American decathlon champion Robert Mathias; rare world champion British cyclist of 1947, Reg Harris, left with silver behind Mario Ghella of Italy; remarkable Hungarian Laszlo Papp’s first of three middleweight boxing crowns; Sweden and Yugoslavia revealing expertise that was to re-shape FIFA’s map.

The supposedly ‘damaged’ Games of Montreal ’76, Moscow ’80 and L.A. ’84, all torn by boycotts, held different perceptions: absentees, whether nations or individuals, were victims of government authority. The concept of loss, of some performance reduction and of blame, was emotionally very different.

What Tokyo ’21 will likely do is remind us what we will NOT have: a Usain Bolt, a Steve Redgrave, maybe no acrobatic Simone Biles; no equivalent of Fiji’s miraculous Sevens rugby squad, probably no poolside Michael Phelps or Katie Ledecky; no phenomenal equivalent to Brazil’s unknown canoe hero Isaquias Queiroz; perhaps no emergent star from a minor nation such as tennis champion Monica Puig for Puerto Rico’s first ever gold medal.

This is the risk: a Games in which an alert television audience, informatively armed with contemporary elite pre-Covid ‘league tables’ in every sport and prompted by commentators, will day-by-day be able to measure sub-standard results.

Yes, there will be some unexpected heroes and heroines – but for what may be for some International Federations, or Japan, and for many competitors – a serious financial loss.

Comments are welcome here and or direct to David Miller here.

HEARD AT HALFTIME: Allman opens 2020 with American discus record; World A-A champ Chellsie Memmel un-retired at 32; Rodchenkov says doping will never be conquered

By
Rich Perelman
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The first American women to throw the discus past 70 m: Valarie Allman

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

● Athletics ● Ex-Stanford star Valarie Allman continued her climb from national to world class with an American Record throw of 70.15 m (230-2) on Saturday at the Iron Wood Throws Center Invite in Rathdrum, Idaho.

She wasted no time, powering an enormous throw in her first meet of the season that measured 70.11 m on the laser-measurer. That’s 230-0 and way past the U.S. standard of 69.17 m (226-4) by Gia Lewis-Smallwood in 2014. Once the steel-tape measurement was done, the final mark was confirmed as 70.15 m (230-2).

Allman fouled her next two throws, then reached 65.86 m (216-1) and 66.03 m (216-7) before a final effort of 62.09 m (203-8). A three-time NCAA scorer for Stanford in 2015-16-18, she is now no. 25 all-time an is the 26th thrower to surpass 70 m. It’s worth noting that Allman is only the third 70 m thrower whose lifetime best came in this century: Sandra Perkovic (CRO) did 71.41 m (234-3) in 2017 and Cuba’s Denia Caballero reached 70.65 m (231-9) in 2015.

That wasn’t all for the Iron Wood meet, with Chase Ealey getting the outdoor world lead in the shot at 19.41 m (63-8 1/4) and Kara Winger taking the American lead in the javelin at 64.44 m (211-5). Winger was the busiest person at the meet, also acting as the recorder for the discus and the lead official for the shot put!

In the men’s javelin, Riley Dolezal scored an American-leading 79.39 m (260-5).

There was quite a bit of action elsewhere during what would have been the 2020 Olympic Games if not for the coronavirus pandemic. At the Big Friendly meet in Newberg, Oregon, World 800 m Champion Donavan Brazier ran a world-leading 1:43.84 in what was little more than a time trial, winning by almost six seconds. Britain’s Josh Kerr ran a world-leading 3:34.53 for the 1,500 m. Shannon Rowbury won the women’s 1,500 m in a speedy 4:03.62.

In yet another Bowerman Track Club intrasquad meet in Portland, the women’s foursome of Colleen Quigley, Elise Cranny, Karissa Schweizer and Shelby Houlihan ran a world-record 16:27.02 for the 4 x 1,500 m, shattering Kenya’s 16:33.58 from 2014. With only two teams in the race, it’s not clear if the mark can be ratified, however.

A men’s foursome of Evan Jager, Grant Fisher, Sean McGorty and Lopez Lomong ran an American Record of 14:34.97, the second-fastest ever; this has a better chance of being approved as an American mark by USA Track & Field.

In the fifth American Track League meet in Marietta, Georgia, Katie Nageotte cleared 4.92 m (16-1 3/4) for the world outdoor lead in the women’s vault.

Did he or didn’t he?

A story in the Italian daily La Gazzetto dello Sport reported that reigning Olympic 400 m champ Wayde van Niekerk tested positive for the coronavirus prior to a meet in Trieste (ITA) last Saturday, but this was denied by his agent and by a teammate.

However, none of the South African squad scheduled to run in the meet showed up. Van Niekerk was reported to have taken a second test, which came back negative. Will we see him soon?

The pandemic has been tough on everyone, including World 200 m Champion Noah Lyles. On Sunday, he tweeted:

“Recently I decided to get on antidepressant medication. That was one of the best decisions I have made in a while. Since then I have been able to think with out the dark undertone in mind of nothing matters. Thank you God for mental Health”

He added later:

“I didn’t realize how bad it was till I started taking the medicine”

The response was overwhelmingly positive, with more than 500 retweets, likes and comments.

The campaign to restore Jim Thorpe as the actual winner of the 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon continues, with a petition being circulated on the sidelines of the production of a feature film about Thorpe.

“Bright Path: The Jim Thorpe Story” is being produced by Pictureworks Entertainment. Writer Jeff Benjamin notes that “Native American Kyle Kauwika Harris is one of the writers and Martin Sensmeier will be portraying Jim Thorpe.”

Robert Wheeler, who wrote Jim Thorpe: World’s Greatest Athlete in 1981, is serving as Executive Producer of the film.

Thorpe was heroically portrayed by Burt Lancaster in the 1951 Warner Brothers release, “Jim Thorpe – All-American.” The film was well received, earning $1.55 million in the U.S. alone, and Thorpe had a hand in the scripting of the film, just two years prior to his death in 1953.

● Cycling ● After being sidelined since March, the UCI World Tours resumed over the weekend with the Strade Bianche races for both men and women.

Belgium’s Wout van Aert won the men’s 184 km race that started and finished in Siena (ITA) with an extended attack, finishing 30 seconds ahead of Davide Formolo (ITA) and 32 seconds faster than German Maximilian Schachmann.

The women’s Strade Bianche was also a runaway, this time for Dutch star Annemiek van Vleuten, who won by 22 seconds on the 136 km course. Spain’s Mavi Garcia was second and American Leah Thomas was third, 1:53 back of the winner.

The five-stage Tour de Pologne starts on the 5th and the famed Milan-Sanremo is scheduled for this Saturday (8th).

While the World Tour has restarted, the head of the new Cycling Events Task Force issued a report for race directors, calling attention to holding standard-style road races during the pandemic.

Said Task Force chair Steve Brunner, “I don’t see an issue with time trials, and I could even see some sort of mass-start [event], done in small waves of six or fewer. But you don’t want 50 to 100 people riding together for an extended period of time.”

He said that mountain bike races could be held, with staggered starts.

● Football ● Further evidence of the implosion of the 2021 world sports schedule came last week as England withdrew from the women’s SheBelieves Cup tournament in the U.S., to be held in the early spring.

“The [Football Association] has taken the decision not to enter next year’s SheBelieves Cup in the USA. England Women have been privileged to play in the tournament since its inception in 2016, challenging some of the best teams in the world. Our withdrawal from the competition in 2021 is based on existing uncertainties around the future trend of the Covid-19 pandemic, together with a detailed review of our technical priorities for England Women.”

The coronavirus has potentially impacted the U.S. Women’s National Team’s upcoming suit vs. the U.S. Soccer Federation in Los Angeles. The remaining issues advanced to trial concern training and game arrangements with the Women’s National Team maintains were discriminatory.

A trial before Judge R. Gary Klausner has been scheduled for 15 September, but a request by the Women’s National Team for a jury trial was made. Klausner told both sides that a jury trial would require postponement to 26 January 2021 due to the difficulty of empaneling a jury during the pandemic.

Klausner said the two sides had to agree to a bench trial by 6 August (Thursday) if they wished to maintain the 15 September date for a bench trial.

● Gymnastics ● The 2005 World All-Around Champion, Chellsie Memmel, announced a comeback at age 32 to try to make the U.S. team for the 2020+1 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

She has been posting videos of her in the gym and said in a video made available last Friday that she is looking toward Tokyo.

At her best, Memmel – a mother of two – won six World Championships medals in 2003-05-06, including a gold in the Uneven Bars in 2003 and a silver in 2005.

The U.S. women’s team will be one of the hardest to make in any sport, with superstar Simone Biles a certainty and a host of Worlds medalists – including former World All-Around Champion Morgan Hurd – competing for the remaining spots. There is also te possibility of qualifying for an individual event through the FIG World Cup circuit, but how many of those opportunities will be available before the Tokyo Games in anyone’s guess.

New Zealand became the latest country to voice concerns about the abuse of young gymnasts.

Reacting to reports noting “club and elite gymnasts had complained of being verbally abused, body-shamed or forced to train while injured, with complaints going back to the 1990s,” the country’s sports minister, Grant Robertson, said these were “deeply concerning” revelations and asked anyone who had been abused, or their parents, to come forward with more information.

Other countries including Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Switzerland and the U.S. have all reacted to allegations of abuse and asked for more information.

● Swimming ● OK, this is corny and it’s an obvious promotion for her sponsor Chocolate Milk.

But when coaches talk about the perfect stroke, you might think about a video posted on Monday showing distance superstar Katie Ledecky in the pool, using a snorkel and placing a glass of chocolate milk on her head and swims the length of a 50 m pool … with the glass remaining in position.

Has to be a world record for longest swim with a glass of any kind of milk perched on top of your head, right?

● Weightlifting ● USA Weightlifting’s August update to its membership reflected the strain of not being in Tokyo for the 2020 Games, but reflected on the progress the organization has made over time.

Chief executive Phil Andrews noted:

“USA Weightlifting in collaboration with the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee, hosted our strategic planning meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Some attended in person, while others attended via videoconference in a somewhat unique hybrid. This time provided us an opportunity to look back over the significant and exciting changes that have been made in USA Weightlifting in the last four years on and off of the field of play including our stipend system moving from $1000 in total athlete stipends in 2010 to just a shade short of $1,000,000 now, the implementation of athlete mental health programs, the almost doubling of the revenue and the significant growth in our sport, as well as of course our sporting achievements.”

He added:

“We’ve also engaged in a significant amount of fundraising activity in the last month, which continues into early August. We are raising money on behalf of our member clubs in partnership with Snap Raise, so far over $32,000 is headed directly to our member clubs and we hope that will grow in the coming week or so left of the campaign. We are also participating in the Giving Games, which is a 24-NGB effort to raise money for each Team USA to help fund next year.”

Andrews acknowledged the financial crunch that the pandemic has caused, but also promised to continue the NGB’s quarterly financial updates “so members can see how we are doing.”

Every NGB should be doing this.

● Doping ● The Rodchenkov Affair: How I Brought Down Russia’s Secret Doping Program”has been published by Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the infamous Moscow Laboratory that was at the center of the Russian doping scandal from 2011-15.

The promotion for the book promises a 320-page “breathtakingly candid journey [that] reveals a rigged system of flawed individuals, brazen deceit and impossible moral choices.”

Rodchenkov, now 61, is living in the U.S. in an undisclosed location under government protection. In an interview with The Financial Times last week, he noted:

“‘We reach limits in political corruption, because the groups around Putin are absolutely criminal,’ he says. ‘We have the most huge and worst tradition: not fighting against doping, but promoting doping. We have the best researchers in my laboratory. No other country could even reach halfway what we did. There may be corruption and collusion … but not so widespread.’”

Rodchenkov says that he found Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson doping at the 1986 Goodwill Games in Moscow, but the positive test was covered up … two years in advance of his infamous positive at the Seoul Olympic Games.

He further explained that the Russian doping program for the Sochi Winter Games in 2014 was made possible by the FSB security service, which found a way to tamper with doping specimens provided by Russian athletes … and swap them for clean samples.

Rodchenkov wrote in the introduction:

“You have heard about the fox and the henhouse?
“Well I was the fox, I built the henhouse.
“Then I ate the chickens”

Separated from his wife and family, who remain in Russia, he has a gloomy outlook for the future, saying “Sport won’t be clean. Never.”

● At the BuZZer ● Reader and longtime Olympic writer Karen Rosen sent over a strange story about a 1996 Olympic torch that was presented by Formula 1 chair emeritus Bernie Ecclestone to the International Olympic Committee, supposedly the one used by Muhammad Ali to light the cauldron during the 1996 Opening Ceremony.

As it turns out, the torch used by Ali is actually housed at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

The torch purchased by Ecclestone and donated to the IOC was signed by Ali and was won at an auction last year, but was not used at the Atlanta opening. Still a nice additional piece to the collection at the IOC Museum in Lausanne, especially with Ali’s signature.

LANE ONE: PanAm Sports Rule 50 forum asks “what does the Olympic Games become?” as John Carlos notes he first saw racism in swimming

By
Rich Perelman
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The seeds of the iconic 1968 medal-stand protest following the men’s 200 m at the Mexico City Olympic Games started in a swimming pool in New York, and there is no clear-cut outcome to the ongoing discussion of whether such protests should be allowed on Tokyo in 2021.

The turbulent discussion over the protest prohibition of the Olympic Charter in Rule 50 has mostly been between athletes, in online meetings thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, or in conference calls or exchanges of messages.

But last Thursday (30th), three important voices came together for the weekly “Athletes Connect” program on the PanAmSports channel, offering impressive insights into the views of athletes in the Americas and the current status of the review of Rule 50. PanAm Sports marketing director Alexandra Orlando (CAN: 10-time Pan Am Games medalist in rhythmic gymnastics) moderated the 66-minute discussion with:

● John Carlos (USA), the 200 m bronze medalist in 1968;

● Aliann Pompey (GUY: four-time Olympian in Athletics at 400 m), head of the PanAm Sports Athlete Commission, and

● Kikkan Randall (USA: 2018 Olympic gold medalist in Cross Country Skiing), member of the International Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission

The short story is that nothing has been decided yet, but there has been lots of discussion, with more coming. A significant roundtable with 68 athletes from 38 out of the 41 countries in the Pan American region was held on 14 July and Pompey noted there was hardly unanimity:

“What we found from that conversation is that the athlete’s views fell across an entire spectrum of reactions. There were a few who thought the Rule should outright be abolished. Some felt that it should be left as it is, while some felt that there is a need for change. Of those who felt there should be some change, there were those who felt that the Rule was fine, but the way the Rule was interpreted needed to be fixed. And then there were others that felt that the Rule itself was the problem. …

“I think our starting point has to be common ground, right? Now, the guidelines allow for expression of opinion on social media, in interviews and press conferences and team meetings, but the cusp of all this is what happens to the podium. That’s where, I think, the main point of contention becomes. …

“I don’t know if anyone else was as surprised as I was but I thought – and I don’t know why – would be that a lot more people are calling for this Rule to be abolished.

“And that’s not the case. People are asking to be allowed to do certain things that fall within the values of the Olympic Games.”

Randall added what appeared to be a developing consensus about part of the solution going forward:

“I think it was really encouraging to see that the IOC Executive Board really understood the magnitude of this right away and they empowered us – the Athletes’ Commission – to go out and conduct like a true consultation with athletes across the globe to find out, you know, what needs are we not addressing, what are the concerns and how can we all come together creatively to find solutions to empower our athletes to use their amazing platforms as role models, to bring light to the issues that are important, to drive for change and to really support what the Olympics are all about. I mean, that’s excellence, respect and friendships.” (Emphasis added)

and

“So, in really gathering all of these viewpoints and seeing the spectrum, what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to, like, grow the pie a little bit bigger and say, OK, is there a way to still protect celebrating performance on the podium, trying to keep the Olympics a little bit removed from too much politics – coming from all sides – can we find ways to amplify the platform of the athletes, in particular because the podium only allows those athletes who actually make the podium to make a stand and we want to grow it so that all athletes can have that spectrum.” (Emphasis added)

And Randall and Pompey are both well aware of the potential issues in simply allowing anyone to do anything on the victory stand. Randall:

“You could imagine a situation where every athlete that goes on the podium has something to talk about, something to demonstrate for and so then it becomes a duel of who can get the most attention. Then you’re completely not even talking about the athletic achievements of day; you’re having this battle. If it’s not prohibited, then who knows if [protests] would get attention?

“I think, ultimately, what athletes are telling us is, you know, we want to avoid that situation by creating better platforms to talk about this stuff and finding some really creative ways for athletes to come together in unity, in solidarity, to like everybody stand for these really important [issues], for equality and social justice and those kinds of things. I think I have some more productive discussions on those kinds of solutions as opposed to who’s going to the referee on who can do what on the podium.”

Both acknowledge the deep desire of athletes to make a stand for justice, which was illuminated by a rarely-remembered story from Carlos about his earliest Olympic ideas. Growing up in Harlem, he was a good swimmer and had a clear goal in mind:

“For 2 1/2 years, I prepared myself mentally and physically to get ready, because I was going to be the first Black swimmer to represent the United States. And I remember after that two years or 2 1/2 years, my father called me – and you can always look in your mom or dad’s eyes when they have to tell you something that’s going to be so hurting to you, and more hurting to them when they tell you – and he said ‘Johnny, we have to talk.’

“‘What’s up, Daddy?’

“He said, ‘Son, I know you want to go to the Olympics as a swimmer, but you are never going to be able to go in swimming in New York.’ He said, ‘I understand, son, but you’re not going to be able to go.’

“I said to him, ‘Daddy, we can’t afford it? He said, ‘Oh no, I can afford it.’ And I said to him, I said ‘why wouldn’t I be able to go?’

“And he took his arm and he put his arm out like that and he rubbed it on his hand, and when he did it, I thought he was rubbing a bug bite. But he told me, in essence, he said ‘Son, merely because of the color of your skin, you will never be able to fulfill your dream as an Olympic swimmer.’

“And he said to me, he said, ‘Son, when you went up to Highbridge Pool with us’ … and [in] just a matter of seconds, I can close my eyes even to this day and see mothers and fathers call their kids out of the water because the young black kids jumped in the water.

“And that made me realize right then that we had a problem, a very serious problem.”

Carlos never forgot that after switching to track and coming cross-country to run at San Jose State, along with fellow to-be-Olympians Tommie Smith and Lee Evans. Although almost a certain medal winner in 1968, he initially thought he should boycott the Games as a race-relations protest. But then a friend told him:

“‘John, you can go home and stay home. But there is someone who is going to go to the Olympic Games in your place and they are going to go the victory stand in your place. The question is, will they represent you the way you feel you need to be represented?’

“Right then, it was imperative that I got my boots back on and went back out to start to train to make this team. Not to disrupt the Games, not to make society disenchanted with the name Carlos, but just merely to pull the shades up and let them see and let them the pain of individuals that will supersede all medals, all glory of that day, is far more important to me and society at the time than my standing with my hand on my heart and tears in my eyes and make believe, just for that 15 minutes in the sun, that everything was right for everyone. All we wanted was an even playing field.

“Here we are, 53 years later, and we’re still at ground zero.”

Pompey and Randall both noted the difficulty in trying to get thousands of athletes worldwide on the same page in terms of awareness and information, including on the IOC’s dedicated Athlete365 site. But there have been some ideas about solutions:

● Randall: “One of our IOC Athletes’ Commission members, our liaison, said ‘Could we do something together at the Opening Ceremonies? Is it a minute of silence, that everybody stands there together in unity to take a stand together?’ That could be a really powerful statement to the world.

“Is it something we agree upon, something that’s allowed on the uniform to represent the Olympic values? I think there are some really creative ways to do that. How can we use our platform, Athlete365, to share the stories of athletes – I think a lot of people assume because you’re an Olympian or Paralympian, you haven’t faced racism, discrimination, all these things, so kind of sharing the stories of what athletes have faced, but how they have used sport to find common ground, to maybe be a role model, to help address these issues.

“We’re also really talking about how we make this a main priority and use some of the IOC’s resources to really tell these stories.”

● Pompey: “A lot of the responses we’ve gotten has fallen along a spectrum that the Rule is fine, that we address these issues in another forum and leave the Olympics to sports and that’s it. That still, I think, needs further discussion; in talking to these people, it’s not that they don’t believe in social justice or not that they don’t believe that racism doesn’t exist. I think more so their focus is on protecting this idea – this ideal – that everything is perfect on the podium, everything kind of withers away at the Olympics and we’re supposed to share this moment together.

“And for some of the people that are in that experience, the battles that they fought to get there don’t go away and they want to share that moment differently. I think looking at solutions … the idea and the suggestion [is] if there’s a way to collectively with the member nations and the IOC address these issues before they come up, before we get to the podium; at the Opening Ceremonies or maybe making available other venues of the Olympics where that sort of thing is allowed, it protects the podium and it protects the view that everyone is used to seeing from the Olympics.”

Randall noted the next steps: “We’re continuing to collect feedback. We hope to come out with a survey by the end of the summer that’s really going to give some quantitative data on how athletes are feeling and then we hope by the Executive Board meeting in October that we have a proposal put together.”

This is one area where the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Games – which would be in its second week right now – is actually a positive development for all concerned.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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THE TICKER: World Athletics gives Russia until 15 August to pay up; FIFA’s Infantino faces Swiss criminal charges; time for IOC to investigate gymnastics?

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

● Athletics ● The World Athletics Council offered yet another reprieve to the Russian Athletics Federation, after the Russian Minister of Sport promised that the $6.31 million in fines and costs related to the country’s many doping offenses would be paid by 15 August.

During its prior Council meeting in March, World Athletics imposed a $10 million fine on the Russian Athletics Federation, with $5 million due on 1 July and the remainder suspended. In addition, there was $1.31 million in expenses from the continuing work of the Russia Task Force, for a total due of $6.31 million.

RusAF missed the payment and the Council appeared ready to call for the expulsion of Russia, save for a letter received from Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin, a well-known figure in Olympic circles as the head of the FISU, the federation for university sports competitions.

From the Task Force report:

“This morning [30 July] a letter was received from the Russian Minister of Sport, Mr Oleg Matytsin, stating that the two outstanding RusAF invoices (in the amount of $5 million, for the fine instalment; and in the amount of $1.31 million, for the costs) will be paid before 15 August 2020.

“If payment is indeed received in full by that date, the Taskforce would be ready, if Council so wishes, to re-engage with the reinstatement process on the basis specified by Council in March 2020. If the promised payment is not received by that deadline, however, or if the promised plan is not provided and implemented properly thereafter, in the view of the Taskforce it will be time to expel RusAF from membership of World Athletics.”

The report further recommended not only to expel the Russian federation if the fines and costs are not paid by 15 August, but to call a special Congress “as soon as possible” to vote on this question, and that no Russian athletes be allowed to compete internationally.

Even if the fine and costs are paid, the expulsion can go forward if the “RusAF Reinstatement Commission” – an all-Russian body tasked by World Athletics to design and implement a plan to install a doping-free environment into the sport in Russia does not file a detailed plan by 30 August and begin implementation by 30 September 2020 after review by the Russia Task Force.

If this program is implemented, then no more than 10 Russian athletes will be allowed to compete as neutrals in World Athletics Series events if approved by the World Athletics Doping Review Board. The ability of neutrals to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games will be reviewed in December; this may be moot if the Russian appeal of World Anti-Doping Agency sanctions fails at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Council could also require the Russians to pay the remaining $5 million of the fine at a future date, but for now, the next steps are up to the Russian Sports Ministry and the Russian federation. Wrote Task Force chair Rune Andersen (NOR):

“Over the last five years, the Taskforce has spent an enormous amount of time and effort trying to help RusAF reform itself and Russian athletics, for the benefit of all clean Russian athletes. The Taskforce has made itself available at all times to RusAF, and has responded expediently to all requests for help, but ultimately has seen RusAF achieve very little in terms of changing the culture of Russian athletics.”

In the meantime, the hoped-for Wanda Diamond League season is rapidly disintegrating, with cancellations of the two meets in China and the meet in Gateshead (GBR). What’s left, at this point:

(1) 14 August: Monaco (MON)
(2) 23 August: Stockholm (SWE)
(3) 02 September: Lausanne (SUI)
(4) 04 September: Brussels (BEL)
(5) 17 September: Rome (ITA)
(6) 09 October: Doha (QAT)

World Athletics also set up specific date windows for national championships from 2021-24; these are not mandatory on national federations, but will be clear of other major events so that star athletes do not have to choose between selection meetings and paydays.

The organizers of the 2021 World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst (AUS) have asked for a delay from the current 20 March 2021 date, owing to the possible travel-ban situation from the coronavirus pandemic.

● Cycling ● One of the saddest reports of the week came from Austria, where three-time Austrian Olympic cyclist Johann “Hans” Lienhart received a 10-year ban from the Austrian Anti-Doping Legal Committee for providing prohibited substances to his son.

The 60-year-old Lienhart, who competed in the Olympic road race and/or Team Time Trial in 1980-84-88, from provided Fabian Lienhart with EPO, testosterone and other drugs from at least December 2018 to February of 2019. Fabian, a two-time national champion in triathlon, was caught for doping and was banned for four years in February 2020.

● Football ● Swiss special prosecutor Stefan Keller has begun criminal proceedings against FIFA President Gianni Infantino concerning meetings held in 2017 regarding ongoing corruption inquiries that date back to when Infantino was the Secretary General of UEFA, the governing body for European football.

According to a statement from the Swiss Federal Council on Thursday, Keller “reached the conclusion that, in connection with the meetings between Attorney General Michael Lauber and the Fifa president Gianni Infantino and the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Upper Valais, there are indications of criminal conduct” and that there are “concerns [of] abuse of public office, breach of official secrecy, assisting offenders and incitement to these acts.”

Keller also asked to be able to file charges against Lauber; a Swiss court determined that he had covered up the meetings and lied to his superiors, while the Attorney General’s office was investigating corruption allegations in football.

A FIFA statement noted:

“FIFA, including the FIFA President, remains at the disposal of the Swiss authorities and will, as we have always done, cooperate fully with this investigation.

“‘People remember well where FIFA was as an institution back in 2015, and how substantial judicial intervention was actually required to help restore the credibility of the organisation,’ said the FIFA President earlier today. ‘As President of FIFA, it has been my aim from day one, and it remains my aim, to assist the authorities with investigating past wrongdoings at FIFA. FIFA officials have met with prosecutors in other jurisdictions across the world for exactly these purposes. People have been convicted and sentenced, thanks to FIFA’s cooperation, and especially in the United States of America, where our cooperation has resulted in over 40 criminal convictions. Therefore, I remain fully supportive of the judicial process, and FIFA remains willing to fully cooperate with the Swiss authorities for these purposes.’”

The Bureau of the FIFA Council made good on Infantino’s promises from June to distribute up to $1.5 billion in coronavirus relief to its 211 national federations. This is the third phase of FIFA’s relief project and the one with the most direct impact:

“Grants: a universal solidarity grant of USD 1 million is being made available to all FIFA member associations, and an additional grant of USD 500,000 is being allocated specifically to women’s football. In addition, a grant of USD 2 million is being made available to each confederation. The full amount will be made available by January 2021.

“Loans: all FIFA member associations will be able to apply for interest-free loans amounting to up to 35 per cent of their audited annual revenues. In the interest of solidarity, a minimum loan entitlement of USD 500,000 and a maximum loan entitlement of USD 5 million will be available. In addition, each confederation will have access to a loan of up to USD 4 million.”

This is, of course, by far the largest distribution of funds to national federations by any of the International Federations.

● Gymnastics ● A steady stream of abuse allegations against young gymnasts has been surfacing, now in multiple countries on multiple continents. Beyond the well-known expose of the Larry Nassar crimes as a USA Gymnastics team physician, inquiries are now underway in:

● Australia
● Belgium
● Great Britain
● The Netherlands
● Switzerland

And the issue has been reviewed in Canada as well. Japan’s Morinari Watanabe, President of the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, issued a lengthy statement on Tuesday which included:

“I want to tell the gymnasts who have the courage to speak out that their voices matter.

“I want to tell them that it is never too late to get involved and to push for reform, at any level.

“When I became President of the FIG in 2017, just months after the Larry Nassar scandal came to light in the United States, I promised to undertake whatever was needed to avoid that such cases of massive sexual abuse could happen again in our sport. …

“In the wake of this affair, the FIG has established the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation to encourage anyone to report any form of rules violation, abuse and harassment, and to provide a safe, confidential mechanism to do so.

“The task was not easy, but today the Foundation is fully operational and is investigating several cases.

“As well as any form of physical violence clearly being intolerable, insults and threats have no place in any training hall. Whatever is at stake, Gymnastics must remain, above all, a fun sport to practice.

“More can be done to draw a clear separation between what is acceptable and what is not. The FIG is working on initiatives to that end. We all know plenty of positive tales in the sport. Those are the ones that need to be shared and replicated.”

The countries where abuse has been reported are all democracies with considerable freedom-of-expression safeguards. What about abuse in other countries? Does the IOC have to put more pressure on the FIG to institute a change in culture?

● Games of the XXXV Olympiad: 2032 ● Sydney Morning Herald sports columnist Phil Lutton essentially lost his mind when Qatar sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee, asking for discussions about hosting the 2032 Olympic Games.

“Qatar bid should put Queensland’s 2032 Olympic hopes on red alert” read the headline, followed by:

“The Queensland bid, which has been put on hold amid the COVID-19 crisis, was considered a clear front runner against possible bids from Indonesia, Spain, India and Germany, among others, before the Qatar Olympic Committee decided to add its name to the process.

“It could bring back nightmares for Australia when it comes to bidding for major global events. Qatar will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022 after winning a controversial ballot amid allegations of bribery and corruption. Australia also bid for the event and polled just one vote.”

It’s hard to see how Qatar can be a serious player since the Olympic Games need to happen in the Northern Hemisphere summer – July and August – to achieve maximum worldwide exposure on television, especially in the Americas and Europe. But the story did have some interesting comments about the importance of the Games from the omnipresent John Coates, the important IOC member in Australia and a confidant of IOC chief Thomas Bach (GER).:

“It provides tremendous stimulus, not just to high-performance sport. What an Olympic Games does is bring sport into the community and society again, and encourage people to practice at any level.

“At the AOC, we love it when our athletes win medals at the Olympic Games. But the target for us is to provide an opportunity for all of our sports to participate in the Olympics, particularly the smaller sports in this country.

“By hosting a Games here, you do stimulate the numbers of grassroots participation and that’s very, very important.”

More important than worrying about Qatar, certainly.

● The Last Word ● The worldwide sports schedule is now being impacted into 2022. In the last few days, Panama City (PAN) renounced its hosting of the 2022 Central American and Caribbean Games and Liverpool (GBR) said it could not host the Special Olympics National Summer Games in Great Britain in 2022.

The driver, once again, is the coronavirus pandemic, which is now not only a medical issue, but also stopping all marketing, sponsorship and ticket sales efforts. Expect more of these announcements as the months drag on before a vaccine is found and distributed.

LANE ONE: Remembering 10 people and things you didn’t know (or remember) about the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles

By
Rich Perelman
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The magnificently-decorated peristyle end of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Opening Ceremonies of the 1984 Olympic Games (Photo: Wikipedia)

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For many of us who worked on the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad in Los Angeles, 28 July is a special day on the calendar, a day which many critics said would never come: the Opening Ceremony in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

It launched a revolutionary Games, one which changed the course of the Olympic Movement and was a defining experience for those of us involved in the planning and staging of the Games.

Much has been written about the 1984 Games, including my own work as the Editor-in-Chief of the Official Report of the Games (volume 1 available here and volume 2 here) and the summary work of facts and figures, called Olympic Retrospective: The Games of the Los Angeles (available here). But there are many more people and memories which did not make big headlines, but deserve to be remembered:

● The Los Angeles effort was initially nicknamed the “Spartan Games.” This was not an advertising agency-inspired branding campaign, but in the aftermath of the billion-dollar deficit run up by the Montreal organizers for 1976, the introduction to the thick bid document responding to the questionnaires from the International Olympic Committee and the International Federations began with:

“Arrangements are to be spartan.”

The author was John Argue, the head of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, who had also led the L.A. campaign for the 1980 Games. Argue, the individual most responsible for bringing the Games to Los Angeles, passed up the chance to head the organizing committee, feeling a businessman would be a better fit than a lawyer. He was right.

● Peter Ueberroth was selected as to head the organizing committee on 26 March 1979 and, already a millionaire from his First Travel company – which included the popular Ask Mr. Foster agency – put down a deposit on office space in a Century City office building. When he went to open the door on the first day of occupancy, the key wouldn’t work. The leasing agent couldn’t find any credit information on a “Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee” and assumed the company was a fraud.

Needless to say, Ueberroth eventually got the office going. Starting with a shoebox of bills of about $300,000, and with some brilliant guidance from LAOOC Board member David Wolper, the organizing committee had in excess of $2 million in the bank by the 14th of April (how is another story).

● After receiving and dismissing several concepts for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Ueberroth turned to Wolper to run the project in 1983. One of the memorable elements of the 1980 Moscow opening was the fabulous card-stunt section that featured the mascot Misha and messages of welcome.

But that was memorably topped during the 1984 Opening by a stupendous stunt that converted the entire Coliseum (sans the press section, of course) into a continuous card section, showing the flags of the nations attending the Games. The credit goes to Mark Flaisher, who had plenty of prior experience as the card-stunt coordinator for the UCLA Rally Committee, which staged many memorable student-section card shows during football games, including night games using flashlights! He’s still at it today, and produced the on-stage show for the 25th anniversary gala held on the Coliseum floor in 2009.

● The organizing committee was guided by a folk-rock group – as we liked to call it – of “Peter, Paul and Harry.” That was Ueberroth, of course; Paul Ziffren, who succeeded Argue was the chair of the Board of Directors and had a major, behind-the-scenes impact on making the Games work within the L.A. political environment, and Harry L. Usher, a well-known entertainment attorney who became the Executive Vice President/General Manager in 1980. Both Ziffren and Usher have passed away, but both contributed mightily to the Games success, and for the staff, Usher’s impact on making the Games work was incalculable (and he was a fun guy … most of the time).

● Because of the financial pressure of having to put on the Games without government guarantees, every department and every requirement was scrutinized thoroughly. The results often changed the way the Games were implemented.

The normal “youth” activity for the organizing committee had been an “International Youth Camp,” with about 1,500 youngsters from around the world coming for the Games period to experience the Olympic spirit and their own mini-village. This offered no benefits for a metropolitan region like Los Angeles and despite IOC objections, the idea was trashed in favor of a four-year program of sports, education and cultural activities.

Some 23 different programs were created under the direction of long-time educator Dan Cruz and paired sports and sponsors for multi-year programs in archery, athletics, basketball, football, handball, judo, sailing, swimming, synchronized swimming, tennis, volleyball, band and drill team and art projects. Combined with a curriculum study for ages 12-17, the program reached 1.25 million participants over four years and was the direct lead-in to the post-Games LA84 Foundation programs that continue to this day.

Same for the cultural program. Often a series of exhibitions and performances during the Games featuring only artists from the host country, the concept was exploded to cover 10 weeks, with most of the action taking place in the eight weeks prior to the Games period.

The “Olympic Arts Festival” was developed by CalArts President Robert Fitzpatrick and staff director Hope Tschopik and was a stunning success all across Los Angeles, thanks to its inclusionary vision and high-profile participants such as the Pina Bausch Wuppertaler Tanztheater from West Germany, Britain’s Royal Opera of Covent Garden and many, many more. Total attendance was in excess of 1.26 million.

● Two not-widely-known but critical senior staff members were Joel Rubenstein and Dick Sargent, both of whom were among the earliest people hired.

Rubenstein and Ueberroth were the early drivers of the LAOOC’s sponsorship sales program that redefined sports marketing worldwide. During Rubenstein’s interview, an impressed Ueberroth asked “how long can you do without being paid?” Joel didn’t have to wait that long for his first check, and after two years in the marketing area, he was asked to lead the thankless Olympic Family Services group, dealing with the IOC and the National Olympic Committees. Rubenstein was nicknamed “Mr. No” for refusing almost any request which might cost more than a nickel, but was lauded during the Games when those things which were promised were actually delivered … and much more. He also was first in line at every hot restaurant in L.A. when entertaining Olympic guests, including the impossible-to-get-into Ma Maison.

Sargent, a friend of Ueberroth since college days at San Jose State, took on the impossible tasks, starting with negotiating the venue leases. His first major deal was with Dr. Jerry Buss, then the owner of the NBA Lakers, NHL Kings and The Forum. Considered the sharpest operator in sports at the time, Buss agreed to very fair terms with the LAOOC for use of The Forum after Sargent proposed to place boxing there – The Forum had an active boxing program – instead of basketball. But Buss wanted basketball and so the deal got done on reasonable terms. That made the rest of the agreements easier.

Among his other tasks? Arranging for the first-ever cross-country Torch Relay, on a scale never before attempted and which raised $10.31 million for charity (about $25.58 million today). And a lot of other, smaller projects that Dick still won’t reveal to this day.

● The worst venue owner to deal with was the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission. Trying to get an agreement for the Coliseum and the since-demolished Memorial Sports Arena was maddening, so much so that Usher asked me – given my long background in track & field – if the sport could be held in the Rose Bowl!

(There actually had been meets there in June of 1966 and 1967, but on a weird, 385-yard rubberized track. Today, new construction technologies would actually allow Olympic track & field to be held there!)

A deal was finally completed in 1983 and as the construction effort inside the Coliseum was underway in spring 1984, the LAOOC’s brilliant head of architecture & construction, the 6-foot-8 Ed Keen, said the decor could be installed as a semi-permanent feature in the stadium. Nope; the Commission insisted it all had to come down immediately after the Games.

But it was so spectacular (see above) that the Commission asked Keen to leave it up. Of course, since it was not weather-proofed, it decayed rapidly and finally fell apart and was removed in December 1984. Keen is still shaking his head about that one.

● One of the surprises of the Games was the tremendous popularity of soccer (men only), which had the highest total attendance of all sports at 1.42 million (next was track & field at 1.13 million).

There is a direct line between that success and the first FIFA World Cup to be hosted in the U.S. in 1994 and the launch of Major League Soccer in 1996. A key figure in all three was Los Angeles attorney Alan Rothenberg, who served as the LAOOC’s Commission for soccer and went on to head the World Cup ‘94 organizing committee, with another LAOOC alumnus, Scott LeTellier as President.

● If you believed the reporting about the LAOOC in the Los Angeles Times, we were resolutely incensed by criticism of any kind. But that was hardly true, as illustrated by a lengthy, negative critique of the committee’s design program in the January/February 1984 issue of the influential Communication Arts magazine. The author, Larry Klein, impressed Usher so much during the interviews for the story that Klein was himself hired as Director of Design and did a brilliant job integrating the imaginative Festive Federalism concept into every corner of the 1984 Games.

● Even after the Games were over, the LAOOC was being ripped – after announcing an initial surplus estimate of $150 million – for not refunding the Village costs of about $7 million to the National Olympic Committees. Truth be told, the LAOOC was willing to do so, happily, but the United States Olympic Committee – which was to receive 40% of any surplus with another 20% going to the National Governing Bodies – said no.

The 1984 Games was a remarkable success and began a new era of prosperity for the Olympic Movement, which it continues to enjoy today. But it was the people within the LAOOC, from many countries and with many different interests and talents, which made the Games work so well.

We have lost many of our friends, but there are still many left who continue to mark 28 July as a special day. Me too, always.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: Comebacking Bromell steams to 9.90 win in Florida; honors for Jim Ryun; will Simone Biles compete in 2024?

By
Rich Perelman
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Back to the top: former Baylor star Trayvon Bromell!

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

● Athletics ● The comeback story of 2020 is 2016 Olympic sprinter Trayvon Bromell, who finished eighth in Rio and ran 9.84 in 2015 and 2016, then was felled by injuries.

Could he come back? Would he come back? Yes to both.

He impressed with a 10.04 clocking on 4 July in Monteverde, Florida, then stormed to a 9.90 win (wind: +1.4 m/s) in Clermont, Florida on Friday, besting Noah Lyles (10.04) in heat three.

Lyles went on to win in the final in 9.93w (+2.3), then took the 200 m final in a speedy 19.94, the world leader for 2020. Steven Gardiner (BAH) showed he’s in good form with a win in the second section of the 200 m, winning in 19.96, ahead of Lyles’ brother Josephus, who ran a lifetime best of 20.24.

With Bromell’s return from injury, the U.S. sprint corps is as solid as ever; using combined 2019 and 2020 times, the top Americans:

9.76 Christian Coleman ‘19 (provisional suspension as of 14 May)
9.86 Noah Lyles ‘19
9.86 Michael Norman ‘20
9.87 Justin Gatlin ‘19
9.90 Trayvon Bromell ‘20
9.93 Cravon Gillespie ‘19

Adding in 2018, Ronnie Baker ran 9.87 before his own injury issues, veteran Mike Rodgers was at 9.89, Isiah Young ran 9.92 and Cameron Burrell timed 9.93. Wow!

Other marks of note last week:

● Men’s 110 m Hurdles: 13.35 for world champ Grant Holloway (USA) in Clermont;

● Men’s Shot Put: Another contender to watch, as Nick Ponzio reached 21.72 m (71-3 1/40 for a lifetime best in a small meet in Kutztown, Pennsylvania last Friday.

● Men’s Discus: Colombia’s Mauricio Ortega got a national record and a world leader at 70.29 m (230-7) in a meet in Portugal on 22 July.

● Men’s Hammer: Impressive 80.70 m (264-9) for American Rudy Winkler, the world leader and making him the no. 3 American of all time. He had the series of his life, reaching lifetime bests of 77.97 m (255-9) on his first throw and 79.45 m (260-8) on his second try before his explosion in round five.

● Women’s 100 m: 10.98 world-leader for Shaunae Miller-UIbo (BAH) in Clermont; also a windy 10.79 for Sha’Carri Richardson at the AP Ranch High Performance II meet in Ft. Worth and a windy 10.73 from Jamaica’s reigning Olympic 100 m champ Elaine Thompson-Helah in Kingston, Jamaica.

● Women’s 200 m: 21.98 for Miller-Uibo, another world leader, at Clermont.

● Women’s 1,500 m: Ex-Missouri star Karissa Schweizer continued her rampage, running a lifetime best and world-leading 4:00.02 to win the third Portland Intrasquad meet on 21 July, shattering her prior best from 30 June of 4:02.81. Before the season started, her best was 4:06.77!

On Friday (24th), legendary American distance runner Jim Ryun, now 73, was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

One of the sport’s all-time distance icons, Ryun came to prominence at Wichita East High School, becoming the first prep to run the mile under four minutes and then went on to amazing success at Kansas.

He set four world records in his career, including 1:44.9 for 880 yards in 1966 (also equaling the 800 m record of 1:443.3), 3:33.1 for 1,500 m (1967) and 3:51.3 (1966) and 3:51.1 (1967) for the mile. He was an Olympian in 1964, 1968 and 1972. Favored to win the 1,500 m in Mexico City in 1968, he finished second to Kip Keino (KEN) and then fell in his heat of the 1,500 m in Munich in 1972.

He ran in the International Track Association for a couple of seasons, but finished racing in 1974. He then ran a series of popular sports camps and was a motivational speaker for more than 20 years.

Ryun later become the U.S. Representative for the 2nd District of Kansas as a Republican, serving from 1996-2007.

On the same day that Ryun was honored, Kenyan great Ben Jipcho died in Eldoret, at age 77.

One of the world’s great distance runners of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Jipcho paced eventual gold medalist Keino in the final of the 1968 Olympic 1,500 m in a tag-team effort that was successful in defeating Ryun, who won silver.

Jipcho won a silver medal himself at the 1972 Munich Games behind Keino in the 3,000 m Steeplechase and then went on to set two world records in the race in 1973, at 8:19.8 (hand) and 8:13.91.

He finished with sensational lifetime bests of 3:33.16 at 1,500 m and 13:14.30 for 5,000 m, both in 1974 at the British Commonwealth Games, where he won the 5,000 m and finished third in the 1,500. He joined the short-lived International Track Association for a few meets in 1974 and 1975, but retired during the 1975 season.

The Los Angeles Marathon announced that its “Stadium to the Sea” race course has been revised, beginning with the 2021 race, to finish in Century City, on Avenue of the Stars.

The race had finished on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica from 2011-19, but the race was canceled for 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The reason given for the finish line move concerned more space in the finish area, but the driver was the enormous costs for holding the final four miles of the race in Santa Monica at an annual cost to the race of about $400,000, or as one observer put it, “$100,000 a mile.” Future costs will be considerably less, with the race still taking place in Los Angeles, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

The new course will be nicknamed “Stadium to the Stars,” which makes good sense since Century City itself was built on the old 20th Century-Fox Studios backlot, sold for development in 1961 as the cost for the epic “Cleopatra” soared out of control.

● Gymnastics ● Superstar Simone Biles participated in an Instagram chat, which included:

“[T]he four-time artistic gymnastics Olympic champion did not explicitly rule out competing at Paris 2024, where she would be 27 years old. Her coaches, Laurent and Cecile Landi, are both from France, and Biles said they often mention it during practice sessions.

“‘You know, Cecile and Laurent joke about that a lot. It’d be really crazy because I don’t get any younger as time goes on,’ Biles noted. ‘I try to pass it on to the younger girls, telling them ‘I’ll probably be there to watch you. But I’ll be there, one way or another. Probably in the stands.’”

Of dealing with the one-year delay of the 2020 Games:

“Obviously there were times where I was like, I don’t know if I can do this. It’s a major setback for everybody, it’s not just me, so that’s what kept my spirits and hopes up. That made it easier. I know I have a great team surrounding me so with all of that I know we’ll be solid. Don’t give up, we’re all in this together, literally the entire world is in this together so you’re not alone.”

● International Olympic Committee ● The IOC announced the passing of Flor Isava Fonseca, its first-ever female member, last Saturday (25th) at age 99.

A Venezuelan Olympian in equestrian in the 1956 competition held in Stockholm (SWE), she was elected in 1981 and with Finland’s Pirjo Haggman, were the first women members of the IOC. Fonseca was the first to take the oath as a member of the IOC.

Fonseca became the first female member of the IOC Executive Board, in 1990 and served into 2002 and then became an honorary member. She will forever be remembered as a barrier breaker in the Olympic Movement.

The IOC was slammed for tweeting a video of the 1936 Berlin Games last Thursday (23rd) as part of a series to highlight the history of the torch relay, which was first held as a part of that Games.

Response to the video was quick, and the IOC deleted the tweet. The Associated Press reported an IOC statement on Friday that included “We apologize to those who feel offended by the film of the Olympic Games Berlin 1936.

“We have deleted this film, which was part of the series of films featuring the message of unity and solidarity, from the @Olympics Twitter account.”

Among those condemning the video was the museum at the site of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps: “For 2 weeks the Nazi dictatorship camouflaged its racist, militaristic character. It exploited the Games to impress foreign spectators with an image of a peaceful, tolerant Germany. Later, Germany’s expansionism, the persecution of Jews & other ‘enemies of the state’ accelerated.”

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● A new fund-raising program has been started by the USOPC in conjunction with its Athletes Advisory Council and the U.S. National Governing Bodies.

The COVID Athlete Assistance Fund was announced on the year-to-go date of 23 July, using the U.s. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation “to work with its network of donors to raise funds, 100% of which will go directly to eligible athletes who are currently training and in contention to represent the U.S. at the Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Games.”

The fund-raising effort is slated to run through the end of September and has already had success:

“An anonymous long-time USOPF supporter has made an initial contribution of $500,000 to help launch the fund, and Ralph Lauren, an official Team USA Outfitter since 2008, is committing 25% of the purchase price from each unit from its Team USA One-Year-Out Collection to this effort.”

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● Although the Tokyo Games have been put off for a year, two of the venues already built are opening for athlete training.

The Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center, which will host water polo, will open on 21 August 2020 for elite-athlete use only, and the Canoe Slalom Centre will be available for training usage starting today (27th July).

● Games of the XXXV Olympiad: 2032 ● Now Qatar has sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee, “explore our interest further and identify how the Olympic Games can support Qatar’s long-term development goals.”

It’s the latest move in an aggressive period for Qatar, which hosted a poorly-attended version of the IAAF World Championships last year in Doha and which will play host to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The obvious problem for Qatar is its summer heat, which forced the IAAF Worlds into the fall and has the FIFA World Cup in November and December. The IOC wants the Olympic Games to be held in July and August, the most convenient slot for its American and European broadcasters.

● At the BuZZer ● The sixth “Sporlympic” auction of Olympic memorabilia was held on Saturday by Vermot & Associes of Paris (FRA), including multiple Olympic torches. Highlights:

● Lot 106: 1936 torch (Berlin), sold for € 2,100 (~$ 2,468)
● Lot 107: 1992 torch (Barcelona), sold for € 1,500 (~$ 1,763)
● Lot 108: 1996 torch (Atlanta), sold for € 2,300 (~$ 2,703)
● Lot 110: 2000 torch (Sydney), sold for € 5,000 (~$ 5,876)
● Lot 112: 2012 torch (London), sold for € 3,000 (~$ 3,526)

Torches from Moscow 1980, Nagano 1998 and Rio 2016 did not sell. A set of seven of the official posters from Moscow 1980 did sell, for € 150 (~$177).

The Associated Press reported that an original drawing of the Olympic rings by Pierre de Coubertin from 1913 was sold an auction in Cannes (FRA):

“‘The drawing was sold to a Brazilian collector for a price of €185,000 plus 27% costs, or €234,950,’ [$276,055] associate director of Cannes Encheres Alexandre Debussy told French media.”

The rings symbol debuted at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp (BEL), the first Games held after the conclusion of World War I.

(Thanks to readers Jim Bendat for correcting Ryun’s 3:51.3 mile world record to 1966, not 1965 as originally shown, and Brian Springer for a grammatical error.)

LANE ONE: LA 2028 might be the quietest organizing committee in history, but things are happening

By
Rich Perelman
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(★ Friends: Very grateful to have received 40 donations over the past month toward our server and support costs, covering about 81% of our current bill. But we could use your help to cover the rest; if you wish, please donate here. Thank you. ★)

If you can’t remember hearing much about the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles – even if you live in Los Angeles – you’re not alone.

The International Olympic Committee’s 17 July Session-by-teleconference offered a rare opportunity to see a report by the LA 2028 folks and some commentary by the IOC’s Coordination Commission.

The LA28 report was short: a six-slide presentation that underlined that while its public profile is almost non-existent, it is continuing to work on its plans for the Games.

Beyond the technical planning, the current efforts are focused on sponsorship sales, creation of a solid “brand” identity and continuing support for the youth programs promised at the time of its selection:

● Hiring continues as a modest pace; the presentation noted there are 65 staff across three offices – to support the sales effort in conjunction with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee in Colorado Springs and NBC television in the New York area – with almost everyone working from home at present.

● The first sponsorship agreement was announced with Delta Airlines on 2 March. The “ticketing and hospitality business model” is being determined in coordination with the IOC’s Hospitality Working Group.

Although only the Delta agreement has been announced, the first page of the presentation focuses on what appears to be an image of Olympic superstar Allyson Felix in the starting blocks, prominently clad in Nike shoes (a brand she is not presently associated with). A portent of the next deal to be revealed?

● The “LA28″ brand is set to be launched soon, although the timing is being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and the postponement of the 2020 Games by a year. The slide notes: “LA28 views the brand launch as a shift from a low-profile and local approach to the start of a more active engagement strategy.”

● The youth program has begun with pilot programs with the Swim L.A. project in 2018 and 2019, and an agreement with the City of Los Angeles for funding through 2028 was concluded in March 2020 (more on this below). All of the programming is, of course, on hold for now due to the pandemic.

The IOC Coordination Commission report was also short, at four pages. Its key takeaway was:

“In order to achieve the financial target announced during the candidature phase (balanced budget of USD 6.9 billion), a significant portion of the OCOG staff is working in this specific area.”

More sponsorship announcements are expected by the end of the year and sponsor promotion of the Los Angeles Games can begin in 2021.

Other documentation has also become available from the LA28 organizers, notably its 18 March 2020 agreement with the City of Los Angeles concerning youth programs. The agreement states that:

● LA28 will contribute all $160 million of the promised donation to youth sports programs of the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks.

● Payments of $4.8 million will be made quarterly, beginning 1 July 2020, through 31 August 2028. That’s $19.2 million per year for nine years, plus an earlier payment of $6.4 million due by the end of June 2020.

● The agreement notes that the City Parks & Recreation requested $1.31 million from LA28 in 2018 for the Swim L.A. program, with registration expanding from 18,193 to 36,073, and an additional $1.46 million for 2019, with registration again rising to 40,000. Those early payments of $2.77 million were credited against the first payment of $6.4 million.

● The concept of the project is simply stated thus: “The Parties acknowledge and agree that the majority of any year’s Grant Funds shall be reserved for use by [Parks & Recreation] to offset Direct Costs of participation in Quality Youth Sport Leagues and Classes.”

Combined with the LA84 Foundation’s Play Equity Fund and the new “A11iance” of the 11 Los Angeles-area professional sports teams, this could be a powerful start to providing significantly-increased access to sports and facilities for all Los Angeles-area youth.

● There are, as would be expected for a government program, a slew of plans and reports required, and the agreement notes that “the City may use up to 4% of total Grant Funds, six million four hundred thousand dollars ($6,400,000) to recoup or otherwise cover expenses that are consistent with the Parties’ shared goal to increase the number of City youth participating in sport and fitness programs but do not quality as Direct Costs, including but not limited to community engagement and outreach, program Start-Up costs, Safe Sport, marketing, program branding, and reporting requirements.”

The success of the program will be judged against the baseline total of engagement in both classes and sports leagues in the City’s 123 parks and recreation centers, which had 103,948 total participants in fiscal 2018/19. Remember those numbers.

Important, too, is that the City’s Recreation and Parks division is operating this program, not LA28. The latter is just supplying money.

LA28 also filed its Form 990 tax return with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for the year 2018 in November of 2019. This was the first return for LA28 as an organizing committee rather than a bid committee. Highlights:

● As expected, there wasn’t much revenue: $566,535, mostly reimbursements and some investment income. Costs were $16.65 million, consisting of salaries, an office lease and build-out, a $1.15 million donation to the City of Los Angeles for youth programs and other items.

AECOM Technical Services was paid $1.3 million for continued development of the Games master plan and The Boston Consulting Group was paid $938,500 for work on the Games budget plan.

● As of 31 December 2018, the organization had a negative net worth of $18.53 million, but $26.61 million in assets thanks to the IOC’s advance payments that will total $180 million through the end of 2022 (shown as “deferred revenue”).

● The staff count through the end of 2018 was low at 28 (now 65 in the middle of 2020). Including the two senior members of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Properties group – the folks doing the sponsorship sales – there were 12 staff members earning $171,726 or more.

This is an interesting time for LA28 thanks to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. What might have seemed like a firm plan for the Games last year could be trimmed considerably in the future as Tokyo “simplifies” its Games and the Paris 2024 report insists that use of existing, qualified operators can reduce the staff head count and save money vs. hiring organizing committee employees.

Those are good opportunities for the Los Angeles organizers, for whom less requirements opens new possibilities of how to refresh the event, make it more impactful both locally and worldwide and spend less on items which quite recently were requirements, but may now just be options.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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THE TICKER: Tokyo 2020+1 marks year-to-go; FINA relief project up to $6.46 million; Michael Norman now a triple threat for Tokyo?

By
Rich Perelman
-
The Olympic Flame inside the new Olympic Stadium in Tokyo (Photo: Tokyo 2020)

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● The Tokyo Games were slated to open on Friday, 24 July 2020, but instead a short program was held inside the new Olympic Stadium to mark one year to go to the postponed Games, now expected to begin on 23 July 2021.

Star swimmer Rikako Ikee (JPN), who has returned to training after taking 10 months off to receive treatment for leukemia, participated as part of a three-minute video (available here).

Said organizing committee President Yoshiro Mori:

“I cannot imagine how athletes set to take centre stage must have felt about the first-ever postponement of the Games.

“Inspired by the beacon of hope that lit up the Olympic Stadium today, the Organising Committee will put forth every effort toward preparing for next year’s Games, ensuring they remain in our memory forever as a symbol of unity and solidarity, as together we work to overcome the challenges of COVID-19.”

● Aquatics ● FINA previously approved a $4.46 million aid package for its national federations, with block grants of $25,000 for the 160 national federations, plus another $460,000 to the continental federations. This money was to be used first for emerging elite athletes and then for coaching, facilities and training expenses.

On Tuesday, FINA announced another $2 million “to athletes selected to participate in the FINA Scholarship Programme, either at FINA Training Centres or at National Federation training facilities.” This brings the total coronavirus aid project to $6.46 million.

The FINA Scholarship Program is especially impressive, described as:

“[to] include 100 athletes from National Federations that do not currently have athletes with Olympic Qualifying Standards – 80 swimmers and 20 divers – and enable intensive training at FINA Training Centres in Senegal [Dakar], Thailand [Phuket], Russia [Kazan], and the United States [Spite Institute in Geneva, Ohio]. Each athlete is eligible for up to $2000 USD monthly for living and training expenses, with world class coaches in outstanding facilities.”

The total amount dwarfs almost all other announced pandemic relief programs from other federations (excepting FIFA, of course). It also appears to work in concert – theoretically anyway – with the elite-swimmer support program from the International Swimming League.

ISL announced a Solidarity Program last April, with payments of $1,500 per month from September 2020 to July 2021 for its contracted swimmers (up to 320 = $5.28 million) and a five-week training and competition program from mid-October to mid-November of this year that will be turned into a television series.

Reuters reported the total package is estimated at “$11 million set aside to cover wages, bonuses, ambassador payments and prize money in a condensed season” with the overall cost as high as $20 million. But that is in the future.

● Athletics ● His 2019 injuries fully healed, Michael Norman went to a small meet in Ft. Worth called the AP Ranch High Performance Invitational on Monday and ran his first 100 m since high school.

Running with roommate Rai Benjamin in heat three, Norman enjoyed a favoring wind of 1.6 m/s and screamed to a win in 9.86, the best in the world for 2020. Benjamin also ran a huge lifetime best of 10.03 in second, ahead of Ronnie Baker (10.23) in third.

Justin Gatlin ran in heat two, but managed only third in a wind-aided 10.83.

Norman hadn’t run a 100 m since high school in 2016 (10.27) and now has sensational lifetime bests of 9.86/19.70/43.45. He’s only the second man in history to run sub-10:00/sub-20.00/sub-44:00: 400 m record holder Wayde van Niekerk (RSA) was the first at 9.94/19.84/43.03.

Norman now ranks no. 8 on the all-time U.S. list, tied with Carl Lewis (1991) and Noah Lyles (2019).

Benjamin’s prior 100 best was 10.69 from 2015 (!) and is close to joining van Niekerk and Norman, with lifetime bests of 10.03/19.99/44.31 … and none of these are close to being his best event!

So what about Norman for Tokyo? He’s going to have to choose; look at the schedule:

Day 2: 100 m heats
Day 3: 400 m heats (a.m.), 100 m semis and finals (p.m.)
Day 4: 400 m semis
Day 5: 200 m heats (a.m.), 200 m semis (p.m.)
Day 6: 200 m final
Day 7: 400 m final

If he tried all three, he’d be running nine races in six days, but wouldn’t the heats be nothing more than training runs?

Kenya was hit with more disciplinary actions by the Athletics Integrity Unit:

● Elijah Manangoi, the 2017 World Champion at 1,500 m and a medal threat for Tokyo, was provisionally suspended for Whereabouts failures. Per the AIU, “the applicable sanction is 2 years’ ineligibility subject to a reduction to a minimum of 1 year depending on your degree of fault.”

● Patrick Siele (2:11:00 marathon ‘19) was provisionally suspended for “Evading Refusing or Failing to Submit to Sample Collection.”

● Kenneth Kiprop Kipkemoi (2:05:44 marathon ‘18) was suspended for two years from 25 February 2020, with his results annulled from 12 September 2019, for the use of the astham treatment Terbutaline.

● Mercy Jerotich (2:26:52 marathon ‘17) was suspended for eight years for use of the steroid metabolite Norandrosterone after previously having a doping positive in 2015.

● James Kibet was suspended for the use of Norandrosterone on 7 July.

World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe (GBR) has noted that the situations in Russia and Kenya are completely different, since the Kenyan doping problem is not state-sponsored. But isn’t it time for a World Athletics task force to be created for Kenya, to better monitor and solve the spread of doping there?

The famed ISTAF meet in Berlin (GER) is scheduled for 13 September in the historic Olympiastadion and the promoters announced Tuesday that they expect to be able to accommodate about 3,500 fans in the stands.

That’s not much in a 74,475-seat stadium, which was expected to have as many as 45,000 in attendance for this year’s meet, but it’s something.

“We are very happy that we can at least allow several thousand fans to attend thanks to our comprehensive safety and hygiene concept,” noted meet director Martin Seeber in a statement.

“Our planning is based on the safety and health of everyone.”

For a meet which usually ranks in the top two annually among worldwide, one-day invitationals, ISTAF is a study in discipline. It dropped from the IAAF Golden League when the Diamond League was formed in 2010 and is now part of the third-tier World Athletics Continental Tour Silver circuit. The result? It can put on the events it wants, on the date it wants, in the manner it wants, and with a budget it can afford.

USA Track & Field announced that an end-of-season “elite event” for 2020 has been abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic. The statement noted that the decision came after “a unanimous recommendation advising against conducting a large mass gathering event involving travel by participants from all regions of the country” by the Covid-19 Working Group.

● Skiing ● The Federation Internationale de Ski finalized the program for the Nordic World Championships in 2021 in Obertsdorf, Germany, with the large hill event for women added for the first time.

Large hill competitions for women have slowly been added to the FIS World Cup program for several years and the 2021 addition came about in part because the Obertsdorf facility has already hosted large-hill events for women multiple times.

Said German jumping star Katharina Althaus, “The level of performance in our World Cup is definitely high enough so that now is the right time to also have a women’s World Champion from the large hill.”

● Triathlon ● The Endurance Sports Coalition, a trade group of long-distance running, triathlon and similar events has asked the U.S. Congress for additional help during the coronavirus pandemic.

Its letter stated in part, “Mass participation sports can be a key payer in economic recovery. Our events fill hotels and restaurants in all corners of the country, often during off-season when communities need the activity most. They also help raise awareness and tens of millions of dollars for charitable causes large and small.

“Without your help, the hometown races which have become fixtures in many communities may not be there when it is safe to run, bike, swim, and compete in large groups again.”

The worry is that with an estimated 95% of revenue – registrations and sponsorships – drying up due to the pandemic, as many as 80% of all events for 2020 could be canceled and may not be able to return.

● Wrestling ● Amid long lists of canceled events in 2020, USA Wrestling announced that it’s national championships would be held in Coralville, Iowa – near Iowa City – from 9-11 October 2020.

Subject to whatever happens with the coronavirus pandemic in the area, the event will be one of the first to be held in the new Xteam Arena, slated to open in September, with a seating capacity of 5,100.

● Foundation for Global Sports Development ● A total of 10 grants of $10,000 each is being offered to athletes whose training regimens have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The application process is all online and the selection criteria are based on the impact of the pandemic on the athlete’s training and competition program, pre-COVID-19 community service efforts and “trajectory to becoming a high-performance athlete.”

The application deadline is 10 August, with the winners to be notified in mid-September.

● International Olympic Committee ● The IOC honored American member Anita DeFrantz with a story noting her ascension to First Vice President of the organization in the aftermath of last week’s IOC Session.

DeFrantz, a bronze medal winner in rowing at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, was on her way to Moscow for 1980 when the U.S. led a boycott in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. She sued the U.S. Olympic Committee unsuccessfully, but was recognized by the IOC for her work with the award of the Olympic Order in 1980.

Six years later, and after her successful term as a Vice President of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee – she led the planning effort for the Olympic Villages – DeFrantz was elected to the IOC in 1986 and to the Executive Board in 1992.

It’s the second time DeFrantz has held this rank; she was also First Vice President during her 1997-2001 term as an IOC Vice President.

“The year 1980 certainly changed my life in many ways. Becoming an IOC Member never crossed my mind, but the path I took led me to that opportunity. For me, to be serving right next to another athlete who was denied the opportunity to compete at those Games means a lot. It means we will never let an athlete be denied that opportunity again. It’s a great responsibility.”

● United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● The long-awaited U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum will open on 30 July, in Colorado Springs.

The facility spans about 60,000 sq. ft. and will open with 12 galleries to salute American participation in the Games, sating back to 1896. A special exhibition to honor the 1980 team, which did not participate, will be mounted during the opening months.

The Associated Press reported that the facility is projected to cost $91 million, some $15 million more than expected when ground was broken in 2017. Private funding covered $65 million and $26.2 million in support was provided by the Colorado Economic Development Commission.

● Games of the XXII Olympiad: Moscow 1980 ● The IOC’s list of doping violations for each Olympic Games held since testing began in 1968 skips the Moscow Games of 1980 entirely.

According to the document, there were no positives. According to a story on the Current Time network (run by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), we now know why:

“Soviet athletes and former members of the KGB allege that the Soviet authorities were using dirty tricks to boost performances while maintaining the appearance of a clean competition”

and

“the Soviet authorities allegedly oversaw a broad effort to tamper with athletes’ drug tests.”

A KGB department was set up to ensure that there would be no doping violations, and substituted clean specimens in place of all athlete samples:

“Konstantin Volkov, who won a silver medal in the pole vault for the Soviet Union at the 1980 games, told Current Time that when it came time to hand in his urine sample for testing, an employee at the Moscow lab informed him that ‘we throw all this out’ and handed him a different container already filled with urine.

“’I said, ‘Well, I don’t have anything [in my urine]. I’m not scared,’ according to the 60-year-old Volkov. But the former pole vaulter said the lab employee insisted that ‘we don’t need accidents, so go turn this one in.’

“When asked if other athletes, including from the 70 other countries competing in the games, were doing the same, the lab employee confirmed that they were.

“’Yes, everyone is the same; no exceptions,’ Volkov recalled the lab employee saying. ‘No one will have anything [in their samples].’”

And they didn’t. Volkov was also told to take part in a doping program to ensure his success at the Games, but refused since he was not sure how the drugs would affect him in his event.

Not at all surprising. And the Soviets had prepared an elaborate doping program to ensure they would win the most medals in Los Angeles in 1984, but never got the chance, as the USSR boycotted the Los Angeles Games in retaliation for 1980.

LANE ONE: IOC’s 2019 financial statements show $2.1 billion in advances to organizing committees; will that money actually come back?

By
Rich Perelman
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The International Financial Reporting Standards principles are designed to allow comparison of financial information on a worldwide basis and are considered the authoritative “best practices” in the presentation of financial information.

But even a report under IFRS doesn’t tell the whole story, at least at first glance.

Take the International Olympic Committee’s just-released 2019 Annual Report, which contains detailed financial statements for last year.

The Report appears to show, at first glance, that the IOC had a pretty good year in 2019, despite not receiving a penny in television rights fees:

● For 2019, revenue totaled $694.49 million, with $548.23 million (78.9%) from its TOP sponsorship program and another $119.10 million from licensing and the IOC’s share of Tokyo 2020’s domestic marketing program.

That’s just a fraction of the $2.205 billion received in 2018, but that was an Olympic Winter Games year, with $1.436 billion received in television rights payments. But for a non-Olympic year, not bad, and marginally better than the $661.41 million surplus in the prior non-Olympic year of 2017.

● Expenses for 2019 were shown as $588.53 million, with an operating surplus of $79.96 million.

This included distributions of TOP sponsor program revenues totaling $283.41 million, primarily to the Tokyo 2020 organizers ($100.66 million), Beijing 2022 ($2.54 million), National Olympic Committees ($82.92 million) and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ($88.24 million).

There was also $124.32 million paid out for the “Promotion of the Olympic Movement,” which includes the IOC’s payments for the Olympic Broadcasting Service – which includes operation of the Olympic Channel – of $82.37 million and $41.95 million for cultural and heritage programs (such as the Olympic Museum).

A total of $158.00 million was used for Olympic Solidarity programs, including $13.66 million for athlete scholarships, and smaller amounts for Refugee Athlete support, Youth Olympic Games athlete support, NOC administration development, coaching programs ($6.45 million), local sports medicine programs and many more.

Spending also included $17.65 million for half of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s budget, $7.55 million to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, $2.00 million to the International Paralympic Committee and another $12.75 million in assistance to other Olympic-related organizations (like the Association of National Olympic Committees).

General operating expenses for staff salaries, office costs and the like were $188.56 million.

● The operating surplus of $79.96 million was added by good investment results, which added $142.52 million to the bottom line. So for 2019 as a while, the income statement showed the IOC with a net surplus for the year of $222.49 million.

Great, right? Not so fast.

Accounting rules classify regular income and expense items as you would expect, but when the IOC acts as a bank – advancing money to its clients, with the expectation of later payback – the numbers get harder to follow.

In 2019, the IOC advanced a total of $792.61 million in television rights money to the Tokyo 2020 organizers and $248.18 million to the Beijing 2022 organizers. And there were TV rights money advances to Paris 2024, Milan-Cortina 2026 and Los Angeles 2028. In all, the statements show that $1.069 billion was advanced in 2019.

In all, the outstanding advances to all of these organizers over time is shown as $2.092 billion in the “liabilities” section of the IOC’s balance sheet and not as expenses, since they were anticipated to be repaid in 2020 when the IOC was to receive the main share of television rights payments for the Tokyo Games.

Now those television payments are scrambled, depending on whether the Tokyo Games will be held in 2021 and whether and when the IOC will receive that TV money … or receive insurance coverage funds due to the cancellation of the Games.

● At the end of the year, the IOC’s statements showed total assets of $5.34 billion and reserves of $2.51 billion, still very, very impressive. But not as good as one might think, looking at just the bottom line.

For the current Olympic quadrennial, from 2017-19, the IOC reported total revenues of $3.6 billion, with distributions to organizing committees, International Federations, National Olympic Committees and related groups of $3.1 billion or 86.1%.

As the IOC itself notes, the organization is in “a healthy and strong financial position.”

And that position got a little stronger with Wednesday’s announcement that U.S. retail giant Proctor & Gamble had agreed to extend its TOP sponsorship commitment through the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

P&G began its sponsorship in 2010; P&G Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard commented:

“As we look forward to the next decade, we recognize the opportunity and the responsibility to use our sponsorship of the Olympic Games for broader impact. In the spirit of the Olympic Movement, we’re making a shared commitment through our partnership to create positive change in the world in the areas of equality and inclusion, environmental sustainability and community impact.”

The company announced a new “Athletes for Good” program which “will issue grants to the causes that Olympic and Paralympic Games athletes and hopefuls are supporting to advance important work with shared core citizenship values.” Some 52 grants will be available over the course of the next year.

But the most meaningful part of the sponsorship might be this:

“As part of the partnership, P&G will lend its expertise and thought leadership to the IOC on how to grow, accelerate and bring innovation to the IOC’s digital capabilities, products and assets. This effort supports the IOC’s strategy to engage people with the Olympic brand and maintain long-term relevance both during and outside Games time.”

Now P&G makes the IOC – and the whole Olympic Movement – look tiny. The Cincinnati-based home goods company had revenue of $67.68 billion in 2019 and produces dozens of familiar brands like Tide, Gillette, Olay, Crest and many more. Its reach could be a key for the Olympic Games to reach more deeply into everyday life, around the world.

This is a partnership to keep an eye on. At the same time, the IOC’s finance team is keeping an eye on the pharmaceutical sector and whether a vaccine is on the way prior to the Tokyo Games in 2021.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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THE BIG PICTURE: Tokyo 2020 moves forward slowly, but talk about the Games is in the fast lane + “Misha” creator passes at 84

By
Rich Perelman
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Misha the bear featured in a card stunt during the Opening Ceremonies of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow

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A story from Japan’s Kyodo News Service summed up the current situation for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 perfectly:

“[I]t seems that nothing more than a wait-and-see approach can be taken, at least for now.”

But that hasn’t stopped lots of people from talking, some of whom are worth listening to:

● The head of the Tokyo organizing committee, Yoshiro Mori – a former Prime Minister of Japan from 2000-01 – is fully aware of the issues, but also knows that the 2020 Games have a role to play in history:

“There are many things that should be fixed in Olympic operations. Even if we can’t realize it this time, it will help next time. I hope senior IOC officials will say the Tokyo Games have been a turning point for streamlining the Olympics.

“I feel they should continuously review what parts are necessary, remove a sport when a new one is introduced, or not selecting sports that require a new venue costing 30 billion to 50 billion yen ($28 to $47 million).”

He is also concerned not only with having spectators as part of the Games, but also with giving athletes the best possible Olympic experience. For example, as to ceremonies:

“If athletes have the strong will to take part (in ceremonies), we can’t tell them things from our side. (The parade) also uplifts spectators. Doing away with it is not an option.”

● The Tokyo organizers also had the problem of how to operate the Games in a “hands-off” manner, completely contrary to the pre-COVID-19 planning. A Kyodo story noted:

“Up to 28,000 journalists and technical staff have been accredited for the Olympic Games, and with the scale of media coverage varying widely between countries, outlets and sports, there is not going to be a one-size-fits-all way to manage athlete interviews.

“The organizing committee had hoped to recruit some 80,000 volunteers as well as cleaners, sales vendors and security guards but now, an organizing committee staffer said, ‘We will have to keep physical contact with athletes to a minimum.’

“Prof. Hiroyuki Kunishima, an infectious diseases expert at St. Marianna University School of Medicine in Kawasaki, said, ‘Pro baseball and J-League will serve as a test case.’”

● On the costs issue, the Tokyo organizers are also beginning meetings with their domestic sponsors, asking for more money.

Both the organizers and sponsors are in a tough spot. While the organizers need more money, sponsors have (1) already pitched in billions to support the Games, (2) are in financial peril themselves due to the coronavirus pandemic, but (3) won’t get the full impact of their sponsorship without continuing – at an additional cost – through 2021. But that decision has to be weighed against (4) the likelihood that the Games won’t happen at all, or that (5) it will take place on a reduced basis that will not generate the enthusiasm for their sponsorship that was expected.

It’s almost a no-win situation. What happens? Sponsors could chart a middle course by opting to provide some additional support, and hope for the best.

● Canada’s Dick Pound, the senior member of the International Olympic Committee told Kyodo:

“I think the principle that made the Olympic Games such a worldwide celebration still exists (and) the idea of international competition in various sports is still of interest. I think people recognize the Olympics are special.

“The concept has a universal appeal and therefore people motivated by solidarity will find a way to make it work.”

He emphasized that the Tokyo Games must be held in 2021 if at all, and that the idea of allowing only Japanese spectators at the Games really doesn’t work either:

“I think that will not be the Olympics in a sense that we understand them. We don’t know what the travel restrictions will be (in 2021), whether there are some countries that may not be permitted to travel, or permitted to enter Japan. That needs to be decided on the basis of scientific assessment of the risk on a country-by-country basis.”

At present, Japan has travel/quarantine restrictions on visitors from 129 (!) countries.

He also expanded on his comment from last week that if the Tokyo Games are not held in 2021, the Beijing Winter Games in 2022 could also be at risk:

“The political, boycott aspect about it is more problematic, in a sense that nobody knows how that develops over time. We had, back in 2008, there were many, many calls to boycott because of China’s human rights record, and in the end there was no concerted boycott. Maybe this time the situation is more serious.”

The situation in Tokyo and the existing pressure being exerted on the cost of the Games by the International Olympic Committee is being felt elsewhere, especially in Paris, the site of the 2024 Games.

As part of its report to the IOC Session last week, organizers confirmed a substantial change, reducing the size of the to-be-built Olympic Village by 16%:

“Thanks to the work in consultation with 18 NOCs, the size of the village has been optimised by reducing the total capacity to 14,250 beds. Land developers have been selected for all the village lots. Cleaning and demolition works, launched at the end of 2019, are gaining speed so that village construction can start in 2021 for a completion by the end of 2023, as planned.”

That will save millions. It will be fascinating to see whether the IOC will encourage further savings by extending its concept of housing athletes in “waves,” as proposed for the 2022 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar (SEN), now to be held in 2026. That could bring the needs for the Olympic Village down to perhaps 10,000 beds, an even more manageable project.

The Paris organizers also have the idea to hire existing organizations to run their competitions where possible, aiming for possible savings in staff. The most obvious candidates would be the management teams for the Tour de France for the road cycling races and the French Open for tennis, but who knows whether they would cost the organizing more or less than an in-house team. The Paris report noted the goal “of optimising the Games delivery model by maximising the use of existing expertise in the organisation of sport events, in France and within the Olympic and Paralympic movement.

“In this context, all the International Federations have been consulted regarding the involvement they would like to have in the delivery of their sport during the Paris 2024 Games.”

Those answers would be fascinating to read!

A sad note, on the passing of Russian illustrator Viktor Chizhikov, 84, who created the memorable “Misha” mascot for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.

Reuters reported that more than 60 different candidates for the Moscow mascot were submitted, but Misha was selected.

Although the Moscow Games was hit by the U.S.-led boycott, there was unanimous praise for the mascot, a smiling bear wearing a belt in the Olympic colors. It adorned countless souvenirs, especially pins of every kind, and was part of the amazing card stunts used in both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games.

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