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LOS ANGELES 2028: Metro wants help to plan and execute its 2028 Olympic transportation system, issues a 693-page request for proposals

By
Rich Perelman
-

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

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≡ PIVOT POINT ≡

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told her colleagues at the 28 March 2024 Board meeting of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“Metro”):

“We took a delegation to Paris to prepare for the 2028 Olympics and to make sure – here we are on the 40th anniversary of the ‘84 Olympics – but to make sure we have the same kind of outcome and legacy in 2028 that we did in 1984, where, to this day, we continue to benefit from those Olympics. …

“And I think it was an exciting trip, but I also think it put fire under us to realize that we need to get far more involved in Olympic preparation and all that it might mean.”

What it means right now is that Metro needs help to make the public transportation aspects of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games work, a lot of help. And it is asking for it, now.

So, on 15 November, Metro issued a 134-page Request for Proposal PS127282, for “2028 Games Support Services,” – with an additional 48 exhibits, forms and lists, running the total to 693 pages – asking:

“Metro is seeking a consultant team to lead the enhancement and implementation of transportation infrastructure and operations for the 2028 Games, in alignment with the Mobility Concept Plan across Los Angeles. The consultant will support multiple workstreams to ensure the region is fully prepared for the 2028 Games, with the goal of leaving a lasting legacy of improved transportation infrastructure and reduced inequities.”

The scope of work description – one of the exhibits – for the project comprises 126 pages (of the 693), with the requirements including:

● “Work under this contract will encompass strategic planning, project management, and the execution of various interconnected projects, each contributing to the overarching mobility strategy for the Games. This solicitation for Games Support Services (GSS) seeks to provide comprehensive assistance in validating, planning, modeling, and operationalizing the MCP [Games Mobility Concept Plan] workstreams, ensuring all necessary elements are in place for a successful and sustainable transportation network.”

● “Key outcomes to be achieved include:

“• Support Metro’s Games governance functions, including strategic/financial advice to ensure Metro can capitalize on opportunities to innovate as the agency advances projects that can directly support the Games, leave a legacy, and address historic inequities.

“• A clear roadmap for implementation of the MCP [Games Mobility Concept Plan].

“• Overall oversight and program management support for the implementation of MCP projects.

“• Planning support and delivery of a Games Enhanced Transit Service (GETS) (formerly known as supplemental bus system), including but not limited to confirming overall resource needs, developing and implementing a procurement strategy, and overseeing the development of all transit operational plans for the Games.

“• Take advantage of numerous large-scale sporting events planned for the LA Region between 2024 and 2028 to pilot innovative strategies, programs and initiatives with cross-sector stakeholders.

“• Demonstration of well-defined approach to ensure that Cultural Competency is considered and executed in the scope of services in support of the 2028 Games.”

(“Cultural Competency requires awareness of self, reflection on one’s own cultural position and potential biases, awareness of others’ positions and assumptions, and the ability to interact genuinely and respectfully with others across cultural differences …”)

The proposal must specifically identity six key managers for the project and up to 15 additional individuals to support the technical work required, and fill a list of 99 positions specified to complete the project. The program parameters are stated as:

“to secure approximately 2,700 buses (or the required number), 6,000 drivers and 5,000 staff (mechanics, schedulers, management stewards at park and ride/mobility hubs) to operationalize the GETS [Games Enhanced Transit Service] to meet the estimated 1.2 million daily trips to/from venues expected during the busiest day of the 2028 Games. Metro will need to procure these buses by borrowing, leasing or other means.”

Areas specified for staffing include bus operations, first-last mile operations, the Games Route Network, park-and-ride, equipment acquisition, service planning, station safety, workforce management, marketing (including corporate sponsorships), communications and media relations, public outreach, inter-agency coordination, freight, customer experience and ticketing, accessibility, digital interfaces and liaison with the LA28 organizers and others.

It’s massive and will cost millions and millions of dollars for the planning alone.

(None of this, by the way, has to do with Olympic or Paralympic athletes, coaches, news media, officials or volunteers. Those folks are the responsibility of the LA28 organizers, who will be running their own transport system.)

Proposals are due by 7 January 2025, with oral interviews to take place the week of 3 February or 10 February, with pricing proposals to be submitted only after interviews, to those firms selected to continue in the process. Funding is expected to come – all or in part – from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Metro sent a follow-up, 30-page question-and-answer supplement on 25 November (added to the 693), which also included a list of 190 companies which had downloaded the documents, and 83 companies who signed up to attend an online pre-proposal conference on 22 November.

Even with all the documentation, the proposals are expected to be fairly concise:

“The number of pages for the Proposal shall not exceed 75 (excluding table of contents, front and back covers, list of current and completed projects, resumes, and certification forms).”

Metro is asking for help from some of the largest consulting, architecture and engineering firms in the country, with the simple requirement that “GSS [Games Support Services] will manage and coordinate all project phases from inception to close-out, ensuring alignment with Metro’s 2028 Games goals.”

Good luck to the winner!

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PANORAMA: Nomination period for WADA Presidency opens; Ingebrigtsen father indicted for abuse; horrific Guinea stadium crush kills at least 56

By
Rich Perelman
-

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Olympic Games 2024: Paris ● Japan held a modest parade for about 100 of its Olympic and Paralympic athletes from 2024, walking Saturday on a packed Tokyo’s Chuo Street in front of an estimated 10,000 spectators.

The attendees included second-time men’s gold medalist Hifumi Abe (Judo: 66 kg), women’s 53 kg wrestling winner Akari Fujinami and Paralympic women’s badminton Singles victor Sarina Satomi. The parade was not held after Tokyo 2020 – held in 2021 – due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A French court in Bobigny, north of Paris, banned an Australian man – unnamed – who tried to rush the start of the men’s 100 m final on 4 August at the Stade de France.

The defendant, 24, received – in absentia – a three-year stadium ban and was fined €8,000 (about $8,400 U.S.). He ran onto the track wearing a shirt reading “Free Palestine, Free Ukraine, Jesus”, and was quickly subdued and removed by French security staff.

● World Anti-Doping Agency ● WADA opened the nomination process for its elections for President and Vice President, to take place on 29 May 2025.

The terms of office of both the current President – Witold Banka (POL) – and Vice President – Yang Yang (CHN) – will expire on 31 December 2025, and nominations are due by 31 January 2025. Candidate files will be reviewed and eligible candidates will be certified by 31 March.

To be nominated, a candidate must submit an application, a resume, a declaration of no conflicts and two nomination referrals, one from a member of the Olympic Movement seats on the WADA Foundation Board (20 members) and one from a member of the Public Authorities seats (20 members).

Both Banka and Yang are eligible to run for a third and final term of three years, through 31 December 2028.

Observed: It will be fascinating to see whether Banka will be challenged, notably from the U.S., or by a candidate with U.S. backing, in view of the continuing turmoil over WADA’s handling of the January 2021 Chinese doping incident involving 23 swimmers who tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine, but were not sanctioned.

● Athletics ● The father of the three star Ingebrigtsen distance runners, Gjert Ingebrigtsen, will be tried in Norway in 2025 on charges of abuse.

Henrik Ingebrigtsen (now 33), Filip (now 31) and Olympic star Jakob (24) shared claims of mental and physical abuse in 2023; Gjert was their coach until 2022. The father was charged with abuse by Norwegian authorities in April.

Now 58, Gjert was indicted on 29 November; his lawyers issued a statement:

“Gjert Ingebrigtsen maintains what he has said all along, that he does not admit criminal guilt for the offences he has been charged with and that he has never subjected any of his children to either physical or mental abuse.”

The BBC reported that “Gjert was charged with one offence in April – but five cases were dropped on the strength of evidence and one other because of time constraints,” and prosecutor Birgitte Budal Lovlund explained, “I can confirm that Gjert Ingebrigtsen on November 29th was indicted by our office for physical and mental abuse of his son Jakob Ingebrigtsen.”

The German athletics federation announced that Ilke Wyludda, the 1996 Olympic women’s discus champion, has passed away at age 55 on Sunday (1st).

She threw for East Germany until 1990, then for Germany until retiring in 2000. She was ninth at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, won in Atlanta and was seventh at Sydney in 2000; she retired after the 2000 season. She won World Championships silvers for Germany in 1991 and 1995. She finished with a best of 74.56 m (244-7) from 1989, still equal-second all-time.

Due to sepsis, she had her right leg amputated in 2011 and became the first German athlete to compete in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games when she participated at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

● Football ● A horrific scene in Nzerekore, the second-largest city in Guinea, saw fans storm the field on Sunday after the referee called a penalty and sent off two players from the visiting team from Labe near the end of the game.

Labe fans rushed onto the field, throwing stones, with police responding with tear gas. The resulting race to get out of the Stade du 3 Avril caused spectators to be crushed. At least 56 have died, but the total could be much higher.

Guinea is one of five countries which are not allowed by the Confederation of African Football to host international matches because of sub-standard facilities.

FIFA posted the nominees for its “The Best” awards, with fan voting open to 10 December 2024, for men, women, coaches, keepers, the “Best 11″ and more.

U.S. Soccer has multiple nominees, including women’s coach Emma Hayes (GBR), and women’s players Lindsey Horan, Mallory Swanson, Naomi Girma, Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman (five of the 16 nominees) and keeper Alyssa Naeher. Rodman is also up for the first Marta Award, celebrating the best goal of 2024.

Three-time men’s award winner Lionel Messi of Argentina is once again a nominee.

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OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES: On Location unveils initial hospitality options for Milan Cortina 2026, from €250 up to €10,000!

By
Rich Perelman
-

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

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≡ MILAN CORTINA 2026 ≡

If you’re looking for a hospitality experience at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the prices are out as On Location, the International Olympic Committee’s hospitality provider, posted a live order form on Friday (29th).

There are lots of options, not only for sports and sessions, but for programs including hotels, and in some locations, choices of “classic” hospitality or “premium” hospitality lounges. There is also an off-site hospitality option, with access to an in-town “Clubhouse 26″ instead of on-site hospitality.

But strictly in terms of sports and prices, here’s an overview, with starting prices varying by session (all of the different starting prices for each sport are shown; €1 = $1.05 U.S.):

Alpine Skiing:
● 10 sessions, starting at €1,500-2,000-2,500

Biathlon:
● 10 sessions, starting at €425-475

Cross Country Skiing:
● 10 sessions, starting at €750-850-900

Curling:
● 46 sessions, starting at €300-375-450-650

Figure Skating:
● 12 sessions, starting at €2,250-2,500-2,750-3,750-4,500

Freestyle Skiing:
● 19 sessions, starting at €750-800-850-1,500

Ice Hockey:
● 51 sessions, starting at €325-500-600-725-1,000-1,250-1,500-2,250-6,750

Short Track:
● 6 sessions, starting at €1,000-1,250-1,500

Ski Jumping:
● 6 sessions, starting at €1,250-1,500

Ski Mountaineering:
● 2 sessions, starting at €250

Snowboard:
● 13 sessions, starting at €800-900-950-1,000-1,100-1,200-1,250-1,750

Speed Skating:
● 12 sessions, starting at €600-675

As might be expected, the most expensive packages are for the ceremonies.

● Opening at the San Siro Stadium (75,817 capacity): starting at €7,750.

● Closing at the Arena di Verona (20,000 capacity): starting at €10,000.

There are no listings yet for the under-construction sliding track for Bobsled, Skeleton and Luge; those will undoubtedly come later.

The most expensive sports event by starting price is the men’s ice hockey final at €6,750, with the figure skating exhibition gala next at €4,500. The women’s ice hockey final is a comparative bargain at €1,500!

More choices will be available as the Winter Games get closer, but On Location has opened the doors for its first Winter Games with the IOC, after its debut as the official hospitality provider for Paris 2024.

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FOOTBALL: FIFA evaluation report positive on Saudi Arabia as 2034 FIFA World Cup host; Amnesty decries “astonishing whitewash”

By
Rich Perelman
-

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

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≡ FIFA WORLD CUP 2034 ≡

“[T]he Saudi Arabia bid for the FIFA World Cup 2034 presents a very strong all-round proposition, reflected in the results of the technical evaluation, which assesses the proposed infrastructure (both sporting and general) as well as its commercial potential.

“The bid proposes a portfolio of new, state-of-the-art infrastructure blending what is industry leading with novel elements, in some cases even exploring new terrain in terms of design and how stakeholders interact with the competition. From a commercial standpoint, the bid provides a very good financial platform, based on a combination of competitive revenue potential and clear cost efficiencies.”

That’s the key message of the FIFA evaluation report on the Saudi Arabia bid for the 2024 FIFA World Cup, for which Saudi Arabia is the only bidder and will be formally selected at the Extraordinary FIFA Congress on 11 December.

The 110-page report notes the question of when the tournament will make place, since summer temperatures in the Arabian Peninsula are far too high. Timing similar to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar of 20 November to 18 December can be expected, dates which will interrupt the seasons of many domestic leagues in Europe and Africa.

And the report did not shirk from the human rights questions raised about the Saudi regime, but maintained an optimistic outlook that the presence of the FIFA World Cup can be leveraged to benefit the human-rights situation in the country.

In the section on human rights, the report explains:

“In the bid’s Human Rights Strategy, the bidder commits to ensuring equitable wages and decent working and living conditions for all individuals involved in the preparation and delivery of the FIFA World Cup, including through the establishment of a workers’ welfare system to monitor compliance with labour rights standards for tournament-related workers. The Human Rights Strategy also includes commitments to continued country-wide labour reform. In that respect, the host government commits to engaging with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in relation to its commitment to upholding international labour standards in all activities associated with the competition and to favourably consider a collaboration with the ILO in that respect.

“Clarification was sought on existing and plans for collaboration with the ILO. The bidder confirmed that there is an existing cooperation program in place and that meetings and visits with the ILO were held this year regarding further cooperation to ensure a decent work environment in the context of hosting the competition, should the bid be successful.

“The effective protection of tournament-related workers would depend on the timely implementation (or otherwise) of a continued reform agenda, as well as the establishment of robust workers’ welfare systems to protect workers connected to tournament infrastructure. Through the implementation of these commitments, there is also the potential for the tournament to help contribute to ongoing labour reforms that benefit workers far beyond those involved in tournament-related activities.

“Clarification was sought on whether the proposed worker’s welfare system proposed under the Human Rights Strategy has already been implemented for the stadiums where construction-refurbishment has commenced (given some will be part of the AFC Asian Cup 2027). The bidder confirmed this is the case and further elaborated on various measures being taken to improve the labour welfare system for current workers, which is encouraging.”

The report also noted that its policy regarding bids is to evaluate “how effectively bidders intend to address human rights risks connected with a tournament. It is not about peremptorily excluding countries based on their general human rights context”

and

“[I]n view of the significant ten-year timeframe for implementation and the rate of progress seen in recent years, it is believed that there is good potential for the tournament to serve as a catalyst for some of the ongoing and future reforms, and contribute to positive human rights outcomes for people in Saudi Arabia and the region that go beyond the scope of the tournament itself.”

The report assesses human rights at a “medium risk” level. The overall score was 419.8 out of 500 (or 4.2 out of 5).

Not surprisingly, the response from Amnesty International was angry; with Head of Labour Rights and Sport Steve Cockburn (GBR) saying:

“As expected, FIFA’s evaluation of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid is an astonishing whitewash of the country’s atrocious human rights record. There are no meaningful commitments that will prevent workers from being exploited, residents from being evicted or activists from being arrested.

“By ignoring the clear evidence of severe human rights risks, FIFA is likely to bear much responsibility for the violations and abuses that will take place over the coming decade. Fundamental human rights reforms are urgently required in Saudi Arabia, or the 2034 World Cup will be inevitably tarnished by exploitation, discrimination and repression.”

That’s the politics of the Saudi bid. There are also the football aspects, which are daunting, remembering that FIFA now has 48 teams in the tournament, not 32 as in Qatar in 2022. The Saudi bid proposes:

● Five host cities and 15 stadia to host the tournament.

● Eight stadia must be built, and three others are now under construction in advance of the 2027 Asian Cup. Four existing stadia will all be upgraded for the tournament. That’s a lot of construction, even with a 10-year run-up. 

● Eight of the stadia are in the Riyadh area – the capital city – with four more in Jeddah and three others spread around the country.

● Stadiums, accommodations and transportation are all assessed at “medium risk,” with much of the transportation infrastructure also yet to be built.

The opening and final matches are planned for the King Salman International Stadium, a planned venue of 92,760 seats. Twelve of the other 14 venues are from 45,000-47,000 seats, with two others at 58,432 in Jeddah and 70,200 in Riyadh.

On finance, the report noted that the projected costs for FIFA to stage the tournament in Saudi Arabia were less than their baseline amounts – by $450 million – and that revenues could be 32% above the baseline or $240 million more, thanks to extensive hospitality sales. That makes the tournament a good business proposition for FIFA.

In the introduction to the report, FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafstrom (SWE) wrote:

“We trust that you will deem we have performed our evaluation with the necessary objectivity, rigour and transparency and laid the foundation for a 2034 edition of the FIFA World Cup that showcases and celebrates football’s truly global dimensions.”

Saudi Arabia’s critics are hardly satisfied with the FIFA evaluation of the Saudi bid, but it will be selected anyway on 11 December. And the criticism will continue for the next 10 years.

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RUSSIA: Putin declares World Friendship Games to be postponed indefinitely

By
Rich Perelman
-
Russian President Vladimir Putin during a June 2023 address (Photo: Russian government via Wikipedia)

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≡ WORLD FRIENDSHIP GAMES ≡

“In order to protect the right of athletes and sports organizations to free access to international sports activities, I hereby decree to postpone the holding of the World Friendship Games international competition until further instructions from the President of the Russian Federation.”

That’s from Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday (2nd), sending the World Friendship Games into oblivion for now.

Putin ordered the creation of the event in October of 2023, to have 5,500 athletes and a prize pool of 4.6 billion rubles (about $43.2 million U.S. today), and held from 15-29 September this year, a month after the close of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The International Olympic Committee attacked the event bitterly, issuing a March statement that included:

“The IOC notes that, contrary to the Fundamental Principles of the Olympic Charter and the resolutions by the UN General Assembly, the Russian government intends to organise purely politically motivated sports events in Russia. The Russian government created and funded the ‘International Friendship Association’ (IFA), in order to host the summer and winter ‘Friendship Games.’

“Apparently, the first edition of the ‘Summer Friendship Games’ is planned to be held in Moscow and Ekaterinburg, Russia, in September 2024, and the ‘Winter Friendship Games’ in Sochi, Russia, in 2026.

“For this purpose, the Russian government has launched a very intensive diplomatic offensive by having government delegations and ambassadors, as well as ministerial and other governmental authorities, approaching governments around the world. To make their purely political motivation even more obvious, they are deliberately circumventing the sports organisations in their target countries. This is a blatant violation of the Olympic Charter and an infringement of the various UN resolutions at the same time.

“It is a cynical attempt by the Russian Federation to politicise sport. The IOC Athletes’ Commission, representing all the Olympic athletes of the world, clearly opposes using athletes for political propaganda. The Commission even sees the risk of athletes being forced by their governments into participating in such a fully politicised sports event, thereby being exploited as part of a political propaganda campaign.”

Whispers of a delay became known in mid-July, ahead of the Paris 2024 opening, and it became clear on 10 August – when IOC chief Thomas Bach (GER) announced he would end his presidency in 2025 and called for elections next March – that the World Friendship Games were not needed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted Monday that concerns over being able to attract athletes to the Friendship Games was a concern, saying “The event must be competitive. If there is no list of participants, then there is no competition.”

But Peskov also said that Russia remains interested in creating an alternative to the existing sports competition structure:

“They talked about the need to provide professional athletes with a set of international competitions. It doesn’t always work out in terms of composition; we are only at the beginning of this path. At the beginning of the path to creating an alternative competition system.”

Russia is now on a charm offensive, signaled by sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev on 18 November, who told a conference in Moscow that despite Russian isolation in sport, discussions are continuing:

“The dialogue is being conducted, non-publicly, through various channels and on neutral territories.

“I meet with international officials, there are various means of communication. The convergence of positions has begun. I believe that we need to stop with accusations, insults, we need to start moving towards softening the IOC’s position towards our athletes.”

Degtyarev will be elected as the President of the Russian Olympic Committee on 13 December, running unopposed.

All of this is pointed at the IOC Session in Greece in March 2025, where a new IOC President will be elected. Russia politicians and officials have spoken with some optimism about candidates David Lappartient (FRA), head of the Union Cycliste Internationale, Japan’s Morinari Watanabe, head of the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, and long-time member Juan Antonio Samaranch, whose father was a transformational IOC President from 1980-2001.

Russian hopes that Britain’s Sebastian Coe, head of World Athletics, is not elected; he has been steadfast in saying that if Russian wants to be readmitted to international athletics competitions, it needs to leave Ukraine.

Fewer comments have been made about candidates Feisal Al Hussein (JOR), Olympic champion swimmer Kirsty Coventry (ZIM), or International Ski & Snowboard Federation chief Johan Eliasch (GBR).

According to the Russian news agency TASS:

“Putin also ordered the government to introduce legal amendments that would make it possible to forward the profits from Russia’s gambling industry to a fund that would provide additional support to youth and mass sports, sports schools, the Olympic and Paralympic Committees of Russia, national and regional sports federation, organizing and holding new competitions and events, as well as developing sports infrastructure.”

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PANORAMA: Stolz wins four more skating World Cups, Diggins wins 24th x-country World Cup gold; Russian billionaire is FIE President again

By
Rich Perelman
-
Another win for American cross-country star Jessie Diggins!

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Athletics ● First-time marathoner Sabastian Sawe Kimaru of Kenya won the 2024 Maraton Trinidad Alfonso in Valencia (ESP) in a world-leading 2:02:05, taking the lead for good after 36 km and running away to move to no. 5 all-time, with the eighth-fastest performance in history.

It’s also the second-fastest debut marathon ever, and Sawe out-distanced Deresa Geleta (ETH) to the finish by 33 seconds. Geleta’s 2:02.38 makes him no. 7 all-time. Kenya’s Daniel Kibet got a lifetime best of 2:04:24 in third, with the top nine all getting lifetime bests. American Abbabiya Simbassa was 17th in 2:06:53, also a lifetime best, moving him to no. 4 all-time U.S., with the no. 7 performance.

Ethiopia’s Megertu Alemu, who did not finish the Paris Olympic women’s marathon, got her third career marathon win in 2:16:49, her second-best time ever. She broke away from runner-up Stella Chesang (UGA: 2:18:26) after 22 km, with Tiruye Mesfin (ETH) third in 2:18:35.

Sara Hall was the top American finisher in 10th at 2:23:45. The race was dedicated to the victims of the devastating floods in Valencia on 29 October, which killed 229 people; a moment of silence was held at the start of the race.

● Badminton ● India placed finalists in all five events of the BWF World Tour Syed Modi India International in Lucknow (IND) and claimed three wins with top-seeded Lakshya Sen (IND) winning the men’s Singles over Jia Heng Jason (SGP), 21-16, 21-7, and no. 1 seed V. Sindhu Pusarla (IND) took the women’s title by 21-14, 21-16 against Luo Yu Wu (CHN).

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela (IND) swept aside Li Jing Bao and Qian Li (CHN) in the women’s Doubles by 21-18, 21-11. However, Indian finalists lost the other two events.

Di Huang and Yang Liu (CHN) won the men’s Doubles over Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Sai Pratheek.k (IND), 21-14, 19-21, 21-17, and Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran (THA) took the Mixed Doubles with a 18-21, 21-14, 21-8 victory against Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto (IND).

● Biathlon ● The IBU World Cup kicked off with relay races in Kontiolahti (FIN), with Sweden taking wins in the Single Mixed Relay with Ella Halvarsson and Sebastian Samuelsson in 36:17.6, more than 10 seconds ahead of France. The U.S. pair of Deedra Irwin and Maxime Germain finished 10th in 37:41.1.

The 4×6 km Mixed Relay was a win for Norway in 1:09:59.6, well ahead of France (1:10.00.4). The French won the men’s 4×7.5 km relay over Norway, 1:18:24.4 to 1:18:50.2, and Sweden won the women’s 4×6 km in 1:17:09.0 to 1:18:38.0 for the French.

Individual events will follow in Kontiolahti, from 3-8 December.

● Boxing ● Brazil won four classes to highlight the World Boxing Cup Finals in Sheffield (ENG), with victories in the men’s 57 kg division (Luiz Oliveira), 63 kg class (Breno de Carvalho) and at +92 kg (Joel Ramos Da Silva), plus the women’s 57 kg class (Jucielen Cerquiera Romeu).

English boxers took three titles, in the men’s 71 kg (Odel Kamara), men’s 80 kg (Dimeji Shittu) and women’s 66 kg (Dione Burman).

● Cross Country Skiing ● The FIS World Cup opener for 2024-25 was in Ruka (FIN), with the hone fans cheering immediately for three-time Olympic gold medalist Iivo Niskanen, who won the men’s 10 km Classical on Friday in 23:00,6, ahead of Norwegians Harald Amundsen (23:13.1) and Martin Nyenget (23:14.7). Gus Schumacher was the top American, in 18th (24:04.8).

Four-time seasonal World Cup winner – and two-time defending champ – Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) won the men’s Classical Sprint in 2:25.25, ahead of teammate Eric Valnes (2:27.28) and Finn Lauri Vuorinen (2:28.95).

Sunday’s 20 km Freestyle Mass Start was a Norwegian sweep, for Amundsen (46:04.0), Jan Jenssen (46:04.9) and Nyenget (46:05.9). The U.S. finished 7-8 with Zanden McMullen (46:14.1) and Schumacher (46:15.3).

Sweden’s Frida Karlsson, a 10-time Worlds medal winner, took the women’s 10 km Classical in 25:16.2, ahead of comebacking Therese Johaug (NOR) – the 14-time World Champs gold medalist – in second in 26:02.7 after three years off and at age 36. Jessie Diggins of the U.S., the defending World Cup overall champ, was seventh at 26:29.2 with teammate Rosie Brennan in ninth (26:37.2).

Swede Johanna Hagstroem won the women’s Classical Sprint in 2:49.95, over Julie Myhre (NOR: 2:50.33).

In Sunday’s Freestyle Mass Start, Diggins made up a 13-second deficit on the final lap and won her 24th World Cup gold with a tight victory, 51:19.3 to 51:19.6 over Jonna Sundling (SWE), with Heidi Weng (NOR: 51:21.8) in third. Fellow American Sophia Laukli was 10th in 51:43.1.

Said the winner: “It was an epic battle. I was trying to be smart with the draft, but in the last kilometer, I saved it up, found a line, and played it well in the end. I also had amazing skis, so thank you to our wax techs.”

● Curling ● Scotland’s Bruce Mouat, the 2023 World champion and 2022 Olympic runner-up, won a tight battle with 2014 Olympic champ Brad Jacobs of Canada to win the men’s final at the Grand Slam of Curling The National in St. John’s (CAN).

Jacobs had a 2-1 lead after five ends, but Mouat scored twice in the sixth and twice in the eighth to get a 5-3 victory.

Canada’s Rachel Homan, a two-time World Champion, also had to come from behind to win over 2018 Olympic gold medalist Anna Hasselborg (SWE), 6-5. Homan was down 3-2 after three, and 5-4 after seven, but scored twice in the eighth end to pull out the win.

It’s the third Grand Slam win of the year for Mouat (in three tournaments) and second for Homan.

● Cycling ● the second and third legs of the UCI Track Champions League were in Apeldoorn (NED) on Friday and Saturday, with 21-year-old Russian sprinter Alina Lysenko – competing as a “neutral – making a statement by sweeping all four women’s Sprint events.

She took the Sprint on Friday over Olympic champ Ellesse Andrews (NZL) by 0.062 in 11.035, and the Keirin over Andrews by 0.038. On Saturday, she won the Sprint over Colombia’s Martha Bayona Pineda by 0.140 in 11.227, and the Keirin over Dutch rider Steffie van der Peet, by 0.09. Lysenko leads the women’s Sprint division – with two legs to go – with 115 points to 86 for Bayona Pineda.

The Friday women’s Endurance events went to Sarah Van Dam (CAN) in the Scratch race and Anita Stenberg (NOR) in the Elimination race with British star Katie Archibald second in both. On Saturday, Czech Petra Sevcikova won the Scratch over Lara Gillespie (IRL) with Van Sam third and Archibald won the Elimination race over Yareli Acevedo (MEX) with Sevcikova third. Archibald, a six-time Worlds gold medalist, leads this division with 98 points to 71 for Van Dam.

The men’s Sprints saw the return of three-time Paris 2024 gold medalist Harrie Lavreysen (NED), who won the Friday Sprint over Nicholas Paul (TTO) by 0.593 in 10.651, then finished second in the Keirin to Cristian Ortega (COL) by just 0.042 with Paul third. On Saturday, Lavreysen won the sprint over Paris silver winner Matthew Richardson (GBR) by 0.184 in 9.870. But Richardson won the Keirin over Ortega by 0.436, with Lavreysen third. The overall standings now show Lavreysen in front over Richardson by just 106-101.

On Friday, the men’s Endurance winners were Tobias Hansen (NOR) in the Scratch and Dylan Bibic (CAN) in the Elimination race. Bibic, the 2022 World Champion in the Scratch, was second in that race and Hansen was second in the Elimination race.

On Saturday, American Peter Moore took the Scratch race over France’s Oscar Nilsson-Julien, and Hansen beat Bibic in the Elimination race. Bibic, still just 21, has the overall lead in the Endurance division with 94 points to 85 for Hansen.

● Fencing ● Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, 71, won a fifth term as President of the International Fencing Federation (FIE), returning to the post after stepping down to fight sanctions against him in early 2022, related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He won an overwhelming victory by 120-26 over Swede Otto Drakenberg at the federation Congress in Tashkent (UZB).

He released a statement which included:

“I am grateful to the international fencing family for their trust and support, which convinced me that my decision to run for the FIE Presidency is the right one. I could not ignore the opinion of the 103 national federations that supported my nomination and I thank each federation that voted for my candidacy. …

“As is well known, I am still subject to unjustified restrictions, which I am currently challenging in court. In this regard, I declare that I have always acted in the best interests of the FIE and will continue to take all necessary measures to prevent the legally unfounded restrictions imposed on me being extended to the FIE and its activities.”

Usmanov has played a crucial role in the FIE finances, contributing more than $80 million by the end of 2019 to support the federation, and is expected to continue to do so. It remains to be seen what impact a Russian president will have on the federation going forward.

One of the most influential fencers in U.S. history, Peter Westbrook, passed away at 72 on Friday. A U.S. Olympian in the Sabre in 1976-84-88-92-96, plus the 1980 team that did not go to Moscow, he won a bronze medal in 1984 and three Pan American Games golds in 1983 and 1995.

But he made an even greater contribution through his New York-based Peter Westbrook Foundation, which used fencing as a vehicle to promote personal and academic skills among youth in the New York area. The program, which continues today, produced seven Olympic fencers beginning in 2000.

● Football ● The U.S. women played European champions England to a scoreless draw in London on Saturday before a huge crowd of 78,346 at Wembley Stadium, despite having 54% of possession and a 10-4 edge on shots.

The U.S., playing with Lynn Williams, Alyssa Thompson and Emma Sears at forwards with the “Triple Espresso” line – Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson and Tiffany Rodman – all out with injuries, had a second-half goal from midfield star Lindsey Horan wiped out by an offsides call and lost a penalty shot opportunity when it was overturned on video review.

U.S. keeper Alyssa Naeher, who will retire after the next match against The Netherlands, got the 69th shutout of her career. The U.S. extended its unbeaten streak to 19 and coach Emma Hayes (GBR) is now 12-0-2 in her first 14 matches. The U.S. women will play The Netherlands at The Hague on Tuesday.

Toronto FC coach John Herdman (CAN) resigned on Friday, at the end of his first season with the club. He was implicated in the drone-spying scandal of the Canadian women’s national team at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, a practice which apparently began during his tenure as head coach; successor head coach Bev Priestman and two assistants banned for a year by FIFA and all were let go by Canadian Soccer.

As to any further implications for Herdman, Canada Soccer’s statement noted, “We will evaluate the appropriate course of action and determine the next steps to take in this matter.”

● Freestyle Skiing ● Norway’s Tormod Frostad scored his first World Cup gold in the Big Air season opener in Beijing (CHN), scoring 183.00, ahead of 20-year-old Miro Tabanelli (ITA: 182.25) and Canada’s Dylan Deschamps (181.00). Mac Forehand as the top U.S. finisher, in eighth (156.75).

The women’s winner was two-time World Champion Tess Ledeux (FRA: 168.25), a comfortable winner ahead of Swiss Sarah Hoefflin (163.00) and Italy’s Flora Tabanelli – Miro’s younger sister (17) – was third at 159.50.

The Moguls season opener was in Ruka (FIN), with World Cup wins record holder – and three-time Olympic medalist – Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) won his 91st career World Cup gold at 83.90. Swede Walter Wallberg, the 2022 Olympic winner, was second at 81.14 and 2017 World Champion Ikuma Horishima (JPN: 80.51) was third. American Cole McDonald was fifth (77.33).

Perrine Laffont (FRA), the 2018 Olympic champ, opened the season with a win at 81.13, ahead of last season’s World Cup winner, Jakara Anthony (AUS: 80.00) and American Olympian Olivia Giaccio (76.95). Two other Americans made the final: Tess Johnson in fifth (75.02) and Kai Owens in sixth (41.16).

● Luge ● The FIL World Cup season opened in Lillehammer (NOR), with strong results for the U.S. women.

German 2021 World Champion Julia Taubitz won the women’s Singles at 1:33.898, just ahead of 2019 Worlds bronze medalist Emily Sweeney of the U.S., who won the second run and finished at 1:33.990. Two more Americans made the top 10: Summer Britcher in sixth (1:34.321) and Ashley Farquharson in eighth (1:34.350).

The U.S. scored an impressive win in the women’s Doubles, with Worlds bronze medalists Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby winning the first run and then second on the second run for a combined time of 1:34.929. That was 17th/1000ths better than World Champions Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal (GER) at 1:34.946.

World Champion Max Langenhan (GER) started the new season with a win in the men’s Singles in 1:37.338, winning the first run. Wolfgang Kindl (AUT), the 2022 Beijing Olympic silver winner, was second in 1:37.365, with two-time Olympic champ Felix Loch (GER: 1:37.522) taking third.

American Jonathan Gustafson finished fifth in 1:37.627 and Tucker West was 12th (1:38.259).

The men’s Doubles was a win for Germany’s five-time World Champion Toni Eggert, with new partner Florian Mueller, in 1:33.846, ahead of Latvia’s Martins Bots and Roberts Plume (1:33.978) and Austria’s defending seasonal champions Thomas Steu and Kindl (1:34.070). Dana Kellogg and Frank Ike were the top American duo, in eighth at 1:34.419.

● Nordic Combined ● Norway’s Jarl-Magnus Riiber scored 16 wins in the 21 FIS World Cup events held last season and started the new season that way in Ruka (FIN), taking Friday’s Compact 142 m jumping and 7.5 km race in 19:05.9, ahead of Vinzenz Geiger (GER: 19:07.9) and Julian Schmid (GER: 19:09.7).

Saturday’s Gundersen 142 m jumping and 10.0 km race was a German sweep, but with Johannes Rydzek, the six-time Worlds gold medalist between 2015-17, winning his first World Cup stage since January 2019, and the 18th in his career, in 23:56.8. Schmid was second this time, in 24:56.6 and Geiger took third (24:57.6). Rieber was fourth and American Niclas Malacinski was 13th (25:55.1.).

Sunday was the Mass Start (10.0 km race), with Geiger getting the gold – he won a medal of each color! – in 23:40.7, ahead of Riiber (23:46.6) and Manuel Faist (GER: 23:42.8). That’s seven medals out of nine for the Germans to start the season!

● Rugby Sevens ● The HSBC Sevens season opened in Dubai (UAE), with four-time series winners Fiji taking the men’s final by 19-5 over Spain.

In the pool play, Argentina and Fiji won their groups at 3-0 and South Africa was 2-1 to win Group A. By the semis, Fiji eliminated Argentina, 43-21 and Spain edged New Zealand, 19-14. Argentina then shut down New Zealand, 14-0, in the third-place match.

In the women’s tournament, only New Zealand (seven times) and Australia (4) have ever won the seasonal title and Australia started well again, defeating New Zealand by 28-24 in the final.

Australia and New Zealand won their women’s groups at 3-0, with the U.S. taking Group B at 2-1, and Australia swamped Great Britain in the semis, 35-7, and New Zealand edged France, 28-14. The French, who eliminated the U.S. in the quarters, won the bronze over Britain, 15-12.

● Ski Jumping ● The second stop in the 2024-25 FIS World Cup was in Ruka (FIN), off the 142 m hill, with German Pius Paschke winning his second event in three held so far with 326.6 points to 317.7 for Jan Hoerl (AUT) and 315.2 for defending World Cup champ Stefan Kraft (AUT).

On Sunday, the 2018 Olympic Normal Hill gold medalist, German Andreas Wellinger, took the win with 143.4 points in a final reduced to one round due to excessive wind. Kraft scored 138.0 for second and Karl Geiger (GER: 134.3) was third.

● Snowboard ● Italian Edwin Coratti won the FIS World Cup in men’s Parallel Giant Slalom in Mylin (CHN) on Saturday over Sang-kyum Kim (KOR), and then teammate Maurizio Bormolini won the Sunday Parallel Slalom.

Bormolini defeated three-time World Slalom Champion Benjamin Karl (AUT) in the men’s final.

Czech star Ester Ledecka, the two-time Olympic Parallel Giant Slalom gold medalist, took the women’s season PGS opener, winning the gold-medal final over Aleksandra Krol-Walas. In the Parallel Slalom, Austria’s 2023 Worlds bronze winner, Sabine Payer (nee Schoeffmann) got her eighth individual World Cup win, over Tsubaki Miki (JPN) in the final. Ledecka was fourth.

In the Big Air opener in Beijing (CHN), Japan’s Hiroto Ogiwara took his second career win, scoring 169.50 to win the men’s competition, ahead of Ian Matteoli (ITA: 165.50) and Wenlong Yang (CHN: 159.25).

Britain’s 17-year-old star, Mia Brookes, the 2023 World Slopestyle champ, won the women’s event at 179.75, ahead of Mari Fukada (JPN: 176.75) – also 17 – and two-time Olympic champ Anna Gasser (AUT: 169.00).

● Speed Skating ● The second ISU World Cup of the season was in Beijing (CHN), with American sensation Jordan Stolz once again sweeping the field in all four of his events.

He won Friday’s men’s 500 m in a track record of 34.27, over Jenning De Boo (NED: 34.39), with fellow American Cooper McLeod fourth in 34.58. Stolz then won the 1,500 m in 1:43.94, easily outdistancing World 1,000 m runner-up Zhongyan Ning (CHN: 1:44.26) and triple Olympic gold medalist Kjeld Nuis (NED: 1:45.05).

On Saturday, Stolz won the 1,000 in another track record of 1:07.62, ahead of De Boo (1:07.82) and Ning (1:07.91), with McLeod fifth in 1:08.26.

Then on Sunday, Stolz won the second 500 m race in 34.39, with De Boo at 34.47; McLeod was fifth in 34.71. That’s eight wins for Stolz in the first two World Cups of the season!

Norway’s Sander Eitrem won the men’s 5,000 m over Olympic 10,000 m champ Davide Ghiotto (ITA), 6:09.48 to 6:10.04. Bart Hoolwerf (NED), the 2023 Worlds runner-up, won the men’s Mass Start in 7:48.08.

The U.S. was second in the men’s Team Sprint, 1:18.35 to 1:18.50, to the Dutch, with a team of Austin Kleba, McLeod and Zach Stoppelmoor.

Japan’s Miho Takagi, the reigning World Champion in the women’s 1,000 m and 1,500 m, won both of those races, over Antoinette Rejpma-De Jong (NED) in the 1,000 by 1:14.62 to 1:14.72, and over Joy Beune (NED) in the 1,500 by 1:55.07 to 1:55.19.

Teammate Yukino Yoshida won the 500 m in 37.68 – a track record – with Jutta Leerdam (NED: 37.89) second, and Olympic champ Erin Jackson of the U.S. sixth in 38.08. Poland’s Kaja Zionek-Nogal won the second 500 m in 37.82 over Beijing 2022 runner-up Suzanne Schulting (NED: 37.88) with Jackson fourth in 38.02.

Norway’s Ragne Wiklund, the 2023 World Champion, won the 3,000 m in 4:00.10 and 2024 Worlds bronze winner Marijke Groenewoud (NED) took the Mass Start in 8:27.62.

The Dutch won the women’s Team Sprint (1:26.35), with the U.S. team of Jackson, Kimi Goetz and Brittany Bowe third (1:27.07).

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ATHLETICS: Grand Slam Track and Michael Johnson are stirring the pot: Davis-Woodhall explodes, Lyles waiting to hear the TV deal

By
Rich Perelman
-
People are talking about Michael Johnson's new Grand Slam Track! (Image: Grand Slam Track)

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≡ GRAND SLAM TRACK ≡

The 19th Century American showman P.T. Barnum is often quoted as having said “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” and the Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde wrote “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about,” in his 1890 novel The Picture of Dorian Grey.

Michael Johnson is clearly getting people to talk about his new track & field project, Grand Slam Track, a four-meet program in 2025 that will debut at Jamaica’s National Stadium in Kingston on 4-6 April.

Each meet will be a three-day program with only track events for men and women – 100-200-400-800-1,500-5,000 m and the 100/110 m and 400 m hurdles, with each athlete competing in two events, and $12.6 million in prize money in the first season.

Johnson, the iconic Atlanta 1996 gold medalist in the Olympic 200 m and 400 m, told the BBC in an interview last month:

“Grand Slam Track is track, that is what we’re doing. I am going to save what I think I can save; I think I can save track, I don’t think I can save track and field.

“Putting the two together works at the Olympics and World Championships, but I’m not sure it works when you’re trying to create a professional sport outside of those global competitions.”

Well, that got tongues wagging, including Paris Olympic women’s long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall and husband, Paris Paralympic men’s 400 m T62 champion Hunter Woodhall, who posted a minute video ripping Johnson, including:

● Tara Davis-Woodhall: “About my sport, it doesn’t need saving, at all. It’s actually, Michael, you’re ruining the sport if you’re trying to save just track.

“[It’s] Track and field for a reason. The field events actually do have a lot of impact on this sport. Hi, if you can’t tell [pointing to herself as a field-event performer].

“We don’t need your saving. You’re long gone, your time has passed. If you wanted to change the sport, you have changed it a long time ago. Instead, you were skipping out of the sport.”

● Hunter Woodhall: “Stop coming back and being so self-important and just saying wild things to try and get a rise out of people, because no one cares, to be honest, at all. And we’re doing just fine. We’re doing great.

“I don’t know if you saw the Olympics. They were great!”

Tara Davis-Woodhall added, “But you weren’t there.”

Observed: It’s worth noting, for the sake of accuracy, that (1) Johnson was in Paris, as a BBC commentator as he has been since 2001, and (2) let’s observe that both Davis-Woodhall and Woodhall were born in 1999, three years after the Atlanta Games Olympic Games, and a year before Johnson retired after the 2000 season, when he won the Sydney men’s 400 m.

As for Woodhall’s saying Johnson’s time has passed, it’s worth asking who else is raising money to stage high-end meets and trying to raise interest in the sport. Actors are great, but they need plays, films and shows to star in and that’s what Johnson and his fellow investors are trying to create. It’s badly needed, but bitterness on the part of field-event performers is completely understandable.

And that’s what we get on the video.

On the other side of the equation is Noah Lyles, the three-event World Champion in 2023 and the Olympic men’s 100 m champ in Paris in 2024.

He was on an 18-minute podcast with LetsRun.com’s Jonathan Gault and Weldon Johnson, and was asked about his participation in Grand Slam Track:

“It’s still in the same position it has been all year. Until I see a TV sponsor, I can’t make a decision.

“Because, I’m not gaining anything, I should say. For a lot of athletes it’s a great opportunity, it’s a really great opportunity. And I think they are in a position where they can do a lot of different, nuanced things.

“Unfortunately for me, being the Olympic champion, I’ve already come in with a lot of accolades and a lot of things where I don’t need monetary value, but I really need marketing value. And if a tree falls in the woods … did it make a sound?

“So if I race and it’s not seen, where the marketing for it?

“My first step is I have to make sure that whatever I do is seen.”

But Lyles noted that for many athletes, the Grand Slam Track program is a potential game-changer:

“If they handle it right, it has the potential to rock a lot of shoe contracts, because if these athletes are making more money than their shoe contracts, then they get to go back to their sponsors say, ‘hey, you know, I don’t really need you any more, because I can run Grand Slam Track and make more money and then decide what brand I want to wear because I can just go buy it.’

“That’s a very powerful position to be in and it really sets the bar and makes a difference on what we can do.”

Lyles was also asked about where the sport is overall and he reiterated his concerns:

“I don’t think the sport wants to change, almost, they’re very content where they are. And now I have to make the decision. Do I go off on my lonesome and do my thing and hope that maybe a few athletes come along, and we make our own identity or do I just stay where it is and just say, ‘Hey, I’ll just rack up as many medals as possible and stay where track is.’

“I think a lot of people already know the answer to that. I’m not going to stay where I am. I’m always going to try and push the envelope, but of course I got to keep the main thing, the main thing.”

Lyles indicated that a race with Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is becoming more and more of a possibility, for sometime in 2025. He said he will be concentrating more on the 100 m in 2025, but still has his eyes on the Olympic 200 m title in Los Angeles in 2028.

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ALPINE SKIING: Shiffrin crashes out in Saturday’s Giant Slalom, so Hector and Rast take Killington wins

By
Rich Perelman
-
American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)

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≡ FIS ALPINE WORLD CUP ≡

“Following her crash in yesterday’s giant slalom at the Stifel Killington Cup, Mikaela was taken down by sled and transferred by ambulance to be evaluated at Rutland Regional Medical Center.

“– There was no ligament damage assessed.
“– Bones and internal organs look OK.
“– There is a puncture wound into the right side of her abdomen and severe muscle trauma.

“Her return to snow is TBD and more information will be forthcoming.”

That’s from the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team on Sunday on the condition of superstar Mikaela Shiffrin, who crashed on the second run in Saturday’s FIS Alpine World Cup Giant Slalom in Killington, Vermont.

Shiffrin herself offered some information on her status after her crash on Saturday, posting:

“Quick update. Thank you for your cheers and support. Wishing the best of luck to my teammates tomorrow!! I’ll be cheering from the sidelines on this one.”

Shiffrin was in position to win her 100th FIS Alpine World Cup race on Saturday in Killington, with impressive 0.32 lead on the field after the first run.

American Paula Moltzan took the lead on the second run, starting in 25th position, at 1:54.57, but was passed immediately by Zrinka Ljutic (CRO), with the fastest second run so far at 57.00 and a 1:53.62 total.

Next up was Camille Rast (SUI), who posted a 57.60 to move into second at 1:54.13, moving Moltzan to third. No. 28 on the start list was Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund, third after the first run, and she skied smoothly into third at 1:54.14.

Now came Sweden’s Sara Hector, who was 0.32 seconds behind Shiffrin after the first run, and she rolled down the hill in 56.98, best so far in the second run and took the lead at 1:53.08 – by 0.54 – and giving Shiffrin a considerable challenge.

Then came the first-run leader, with Shiffrin looking for history.

Shiffrin was flying down the hill, up on the field by 0.20 after the first split, and 0.17 after the second split, but she fell about two-thirds of the way down the course, tumbled and then rolled into the safety netting at the side of the course.

That left Hector as the winner with her sixth career Giant Slalom gold in 1:53.08, then Ljutic in 1:53.62 and Rast at 1:54.13. Moltzan finished fifth in 1:54.57 and fellow American Nina O’Brien (1:54.81) was sixth.

On Sunday, it was Rast claiming her first World Cup win, in the Slalom, moving from third to first on the second run and winning in 1:46.87 over Anna Swenn Larsson (SWE) and Wendy Holdener (SUI), who tied for second at 1:47.44. First-run leader Lena Duerr (GER) ended up fourth at 1:47.47. Holdener had the fastest second run and moved from ninth to the silver.

The women’s World Cup schedule lost next weekend’s Giant Slaloms at Mont Tremblant (CAN), due to insufficient snow, with a make-up to come later in the season. The next racing will be at Beaver Creek, Colorado with a Downhill on 14 December – the possible return of comebacking U.S. star Lindsey Vonn – and a Giant Slalom on 15 December.

Shiffrin is no stranger to injuries, having missed time from a crash in December 2015 that affected her right knee, and a left-knee injury from a crash in a downhill in January 2024.

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ATHLETICS: Hassan and Tebogo win World Athletes of the Year; USATF selected as federation of the year

By
Rich Perelman
-
The amazing Sifan Hassan (NED), a triple medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Photo: Bank of America Chicago Marathon/Kevin Morris)

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≡ WORLD ATHLETICS AWARDS ≡

Sunday’s World Athletics Awards in Monaco showcased some of the greatest athletes of the year, with two Paris 2024 gold medalists receiving the top honors as World Athletes of the Year: Dutch marathon winner Sifan Hassan and men’s 200 m champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana.

Hassan, now 31, was going to be hard-pressed to repeat her sensational Tokyo 2020 performances, when she won the women’s 5,000 m and 10,000 m and earned a bronze in the 1,500 m.

But she pulled off a stunner by winning a bronze medal in the women’s 5,000 m on 5 August, then another bronze in the 10,000 m on 9 August and then, two days later, won the women’s marathon in 2:22:55, beating Ethiopian world-record holder Tigst Assefa by three seconds in Olympic Record time.

Hassan’s amazing capacity to run and win at a world-class level made her the winner of the women’s Out of Stadium award for 2024 and she received the most votes as the women’s overall World Athlete of the Year.

Tebogo, just 21 at the time of the Paris Games, was at his best in Paris, running a lifetime best of 9.86 to get sixth in the men’s 100 m final, the blasted to a world-leading 19.46 to win the 200 m ahead of Americans Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles, moving to no. 5 all-time.

The 100 m Worlds silver medalist in 2023, he appears to be ready to challenge the world in both sprints for years to come. He won the men’s Track Athlete of the Year honors and the men’s World Athlete of the Year.

There were four more athletes who were honored for their best-of-the-world performances in 2024:

● Men/Field Athlete of the Year: Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis was honored for the third straight year and fourth time overall as the top field athlete of the year, after repeating as Olympic champ in Paris, winning the European title and setting three world records of 6.24 m (20-5 1/2) in April, 6.25 m (20-6) in Paris and 6.26 m (20-6 1/2) in Chorzow, Poland on 25 August. Simply the best in history.

● Men/Out-of-Stadium Athlete of the Year: Tamirat Tola, Ethiopia’s 2022 World Champion in the marathon, added to his trophy case with a 2:06:26 Olympic Record win in the men’s marathon in Paris. He only ran three races in 2024: seventh in a Half in the UAE in February, his Olympic win in August and a strong fourth at the New York City Marathon in November. But his Paris win was superb.

● Women/Track Athlete of the Year: American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone delivered what everyone was hoping for in Paris: another world record in the women’s 400 m hurdles at 50.37, improving on her own 50.65 world record set at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June. These were her fifth and sixth world records in the event across the last three years. But she wasn’t done, breaking open the women’s 4×400 m relay final on the second leg as the U.S. cruised to victory in a world-leading 3:15.27, the no. 2 performance in history.

● Women/Field Athlete of the Year: Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh had a dream season in 2024, winning the European Championship in Rome, the Olympic gold in Paris and setting the world record of 2.10 m (6-6 3/4) at the Paris Diamond League meet on 7 July. That broke the seemingly unapproachable 1987 mark by Bulgarian star Stefka Kostadinova of 2.09 m (6-10 1/4).

Beyond McLaughlin-Levrone’s award, the U.S. earned three more awards during the evening:

● USA Track & Field was honored as the National Federation of the Year, not least for its dazzling performance in Paris, where American athletes won 34 medals (14-11-9), with Kenya next with 11.

● USA Track & Field Chief Operating Officer Renee Washington was recognized as the World Athletics Woman of the Year.

● The World Athletics President’s Award was given to Nike co-founder Phil Knight, who has been a force in the sport for decades. Said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe (GBR): “His love of athletics runs through Nike. It is a business created and driven by runners, with Phil never afraid to be the front runner.”

British coach Trevor Painter, who guided women’s 800 m star Keely Hodgkinson to the 2024 Olympic title, was honored as the Coach of the Year.

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BRISBANE 2032: Queensland formally launches 100-day review of Brisbane 2032 venues with A$7.1 billion limit hanging over the project

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ SPOTLIGHT ≡

“Today we fire the starters gun on Brisbane 2032, this is day 1 of 100 in fixing the Games chaos and locking in a plan for the world’s biggest event.”

That’s Queensland Premier David Crisafulli, the Liberal National Party leader and new head of the state government, in a Friday statement on the formal beginning of the review of the public-funded building program for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.

Crisafulli accused the former Labor government – which brought the Games to Brisbane – of mishandling the selection of the main stadium for the Games as a significant campaign issue and did not let up on Friday:

“We’re out of the blocks and finally on the track after three years of false starts. Seven experts in their fields will help guide planning for a world class Games we can be proud of, and a legacy future generations will rely on.

“Today marks the end of the embarrassing chaos and the start of a groundswell of pride in 2032. Queensland will deliver a world-class event and lasting legacy for all. We will put Queensland back on the path to victory for 2032.”

Crisafulli named seven members of the review committee, whose initial report will be due in 86 days, or 21 February 2025 (a Saturday), with the final report due on 8 March 2025 (also a Saturday).

Beyond the political hyperbole, the Terms of Reference for the review group outline the process, but also significant constraints on Queensland’s options.

Number one is money:

● “Evaluate affordability: Examine all proposed infrastructure investments for their economic viability and value for money. This includes ensuring investments within the venues program remain within the agreed $7.1 billion funding envelope from the State and Australian governments, and other investments for athlete’s villages and transport infrastructure meet legacy and Games needs.”

The $7.1 billion “funding envelope” is in Australian dollars; about $4.63 billion U.S. today, and already includes A$2.5 billion to build a 15,000-seat Brisbane Arena for swimming during the Games.

Then there are the questions of building and logistics:

● “Assess infrastructure demand alignment: Confirm that infrastructure projects are strategically chosen based on demand, ensuring they are located in the right places to meet the needs of the Games and support Queensland’s long-term legacy outcomes.”

● “Assess connectivity and integration: Evaluate the interconnectivity of venues, transport systems, athlete’s villages and precincts within the infrastructure network including the need to facilitate access during the Games and promote long-term mobility solutions.”

● “Evaluate deliverability: Assess the feasibility of completing infrastructure projects on time and within budget, considering resource availability, Olympic Host Contract and Games commitments and other risk factors. This includes reviewing infrastructure procurement, staging strategy and delivery models, including those that involve private investment, and evaluating industry capacity.”

The scope of the review involves all venues, villages, transport and infrastructure aspects of the 2032 Games, also including governance. The instructions to the review group also emphasized:

“The review will prioritise the utilisation of existing venues and infrastructure to minimise new construction, thereby enhancing cost-efficiency and promoting sustainability.”

The Terms of Reference barely mentions the privately-funded Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee, which will actually organize and stage the Games. That’s interesting.

The main focus of most observers for this review is the issue of the facility for the opening and closing ceremonies and track & field. The original proposal was to renovate the historic Brisbane Cricket Ground (the “Gabba”), estimated at A$2.7 million. A prior venue review under Labor Premier Steven Miles, led by a former Brisbane Mayor, recommended skipping the Gabba and building a brand new stadium in the Victoria Park Area for A$3.4 billion.

Miles refused to spend that kind of money and preferred his own third solution featuring existing venues, to fix and expand the 48.500-seat Queensland Sport and Athletic Centre (QSAC) in nearby Nathan, Queensland for track & field, and upgrade 52,500 Lang Park – now known as Suncorp Stadium – for the ceremonies.

Crisafulli mocked this less-costly solution, saying during the campaign:

“QSAC is not the right venue. I haven’t met a Queenslander who thinks that’s either visionary or value for money, other than Steven.

“I don’t think there’s any scenario where any Queenslander looks at that plan and doesn’t see anything but cringeworthiness from a desperate government.”

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said in Friday’s statement, however, that the budget does matter:

“We asked Queenslanders for 100 days to fix this mess and that’s what we’re delivering. The Board will now get on with preparing for a world-class event driving economic growth into the regions, once in a generation infrastructure.

“This Board has the right mix of skills, experience and regional representation to get the job done and I look forward to working with them to ensure all of Queensland benefits from the Games.

“The Review will identify the infrastructure required to fulfill the Games’ vision while aligning with long-term planning, budget priorities, and legacy objectives.”

This will be fascinating.

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BULLETIN: Shiffrin fails to finish, as Sweden’s Hector takes Killington women’s Giant Slalom

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ FIS ALPINE WORLD CUP ≡

U.S. star Mikaela Shiffrin was in position to win her 100th FIS Alpine World Cup race at Saturday’s Giant Slalom in Killington, Vermont, and had an impressive 0.32 lead on the field after the first run.

American Paula Moltzan took the lead on the second run, starting in 25th position, at 1:54.57, but was passed immediately by Zrinka Ljutic (CRO), with the fastest second run so far at 57.00 and a 1:53.62 total.

Next up was Camille Rast (SUI), who posted a 57.60 to move into second at 1:54.13, moving Moltzan to third. No. 28 on the start list was Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund, third after the first run, and she skied smoothly into third at 1:54.14.

Now came Sweden’s Sara Hector, who was 0.32 seconds behind Shiffrin after the first run, and she rolled down the hill in 56.98, best so far in the second run and took the lead at 1:53.08 – by 0.54 – and giving Shiffrin a considerable challenge.

Then came the first-run leader, with Shiffrin looking for history.

Shiffrin was flying down the hill, up on the field by 0.20 after the first split, and 0.17 after the second split, but she fell about two-thirds of the way down the course, she rolled into the safety netting at the side of the course.

That left Hector as the winner with her sixth career Giant Slalom gold in 1:53.08, then Ljutic in 1:53.62 and Rast at 1:54.13. Moltzan finished fifth in 1:54.57 and fellow American Nina O’Brien (1:54.81) was sixth.

No immediate word on Shiffrin’s condition; the women’s Slalom comes on Sunday, with Shiffrin – if healthy – favored to get that 100th World Cup win.

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PANORAMA: Tamberi says “I don’t love” high jumping; Jamaica chooses Puma over adidas; tennis star Swiatek gets 30-day doping ban for TMZ

By
Rich Perelman
-
Tokyo Olympic high jump co-gold medalist Gianmarco Tamberi (Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images for World Athletics).

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Athletics ● Italian high jump star Gianmarco Tamberi, the Tokyo 2020 co-Olympic champion, said in a RAI television interview:

“I played basketball until I was 17, if I had continued I would have been less proud but happier, because it’s not so nice to jump a bar. I had to make that choice but I don’t love what I do.”

He explained further (computer translation from the original Italian):

“In 2009, I found myself at the crossroads of whether to continue my journey as a basketball player, the sport I loved with all my heart, or choose the high jump, the discipline I was probably born for.

“As you can imagine, if I had only followed the emotional part I would not be here today talking and looking at what has been done in this long journey. In that case, the rational part prevailed and objectively putting together the information I had on my possible athletic path, made me lean towards a more logical choice towards the high jump and I was only 17 years old. If I had not started there I would not have arrived here today.”

Tamberi competed at the London 2012 Games in the qualifying round, missed Rio 2016 due to injury, shared the gold with Mutaz Essa Barshim (QAT) in Tokyo and was sick in Paris, but managed to finish 11th in the final. As for 2028, it’s a possibility, but he will be 36.

In a closely-watched decision, the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) announced Tuesday that it will continue its sponsorship agreement with Puma.

It was reported that adidas had offered the federation close to JMD 6 billion (about $38.1 million U.S.) in total over eight years, but the Puma agreement was said to be worth considerably more.

● Cycling ● The 2025 NATO World Forum will be held in The Hague (NED) from 24-26 June, but training and preparations for it will impact the availability of police to help control the spring cycling season. According to the Dutch cycling federation:

“The impact of the NATO summit on the 2025 cycling calendar is disastrous. From Jan. 1, 2025 to Aug. 31, 2025, there will be no capacity available for motorcycle police to supervise cycling races.”

Federation chief Maurice Leeser told The Associated Press:

“It is bitter and disappointing to have to conclude that the two-day NATO summit results in an absence of motorcycle officers at cycling races for a period of no less than eight months, which is almost the entire cycling season.”

● Gymnastics ● The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) posted a list of the 10 best-remembered moments in men’s artistic gymnastics in 2024. Number one:

“A Men’s Team final (rotation) for the ages. Three Horizontal Bar routines were all that stood between the People’s Republic of China and Paris 2024 Olympic team gold, but nobody informed the Japanese. In a stunning reversal of fortune, mistakes from the Chinese wiped out its [sic] three-point lead, leaving an ecstatic, disbelieving Japanese team holding gold. All was not lost for China, of course: They still won silver, and Liu Yang (Still Rings) and Zou Jingyuan (Parallel Bars) added golds in apparatus finals.”

U.S. Pommel Horse star Stephen Nedoroscik’s clutch routine to clinch the men’s Olympic Team bronze medal came in at no. 5.

● Skating ● The International Skating Union announced an amendment – approved by the ISU Council – to allow suspensions by another organization to be recognized by the ISU. So:

“Subsequent to this decision, as regards the case of the Skater Ivan Desyatov (USA) who has been temporarily suspended for alleged sexual misconduct by U.S. Safe Sport on October 18, 2024 pending disciplinary decision by the competent authority, and the case of the Skater Nicolaj Soerensen (CAN) who has been suspended for sexual maltreatment for a minimum of six years by Canada’s Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner on October 4, 2024, while recognizing the presumption of innocence, considering the seriousness of the alleged offences the ISU Council has decided to expand the suspensions, considered as interim, to all ISU activities and Competitions sanctioned by the ISU. The Council also recommends that all ISU Members expand the suspensions to all activities and events under their control.”

● Tennis ● Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek (POL) accepted a one-month suspension from the International Tennis Integrity Agency after she failed an out-of-competition test for trimetazidine on 12 August:

“The ITIA accepted that the positive test was caused by the contamination of a regulated non-prescription medication (melatonin), manufactured and sold in Poland that the player had been taking for jet lag and sleep issues, and that the violation was therefore not intentional. This followed interviews with the player and their entourage, investigations, and analysis from two WADA-accredited laboratories.

“In relation to the Player’s level of fault, as the contaminated product was a regulated non-prescription medication in the player’s country of origin and purchase and considering all the circumstances of its use (and other contaminated product cases under the World Anti-Doping Code), the player’s level of fault was considered to be at the lowest end of the range for ‘No Significant Fault or Negligence’.”

Swiatek was provisionally suspended from 12 September to 4 October 2024 and will forfeit her prize money from the Cincinnati Open, the tournament following her test, and has eight days remaining in her 30-day ban, to 4 December.

● Water Polo ● The U.S. women won the Pan American Championship in Ibague (COL) on Monday (25th) by 18-5 over Argentina, which also qualified the Americans for the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

Emily Ausmus, Charlotte Raisin, and Anna Pearson led the scoring with three goals each and keeper Amanda Longan registered 12 saves. It was 13-2 at halftime.

The U.S. finished 6-0 in the tournament and outscored their opponents by 130-24!

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ALPINE SKIING: Record-setting U.S. star Shiffrin goes for World Cup win no. 100 on home snow in Vermont this weekend

By
Rich Perelman
-
American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin (Photo: Reese Brown/U.S. Ski & Snowboard)

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≡ THE RECORD SETTER ≡

In an essentially storybook setting, American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin returns to where she went to high school to try and extend her all-time record for most World Cup wins to 100 at the Stifel Killington Cup, in Vermont.

Shiffrin, still just 29, attended Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont from 2009-13, and debuted on the FIS World Cup circuit while still in school there, in 2011! Killington is about 80 miles southwest of Burke, and Shiffrin will have plenty of fans in attendance to see her try for 100 World Cup wins.

The Killington schedule:

● 30 Nov. (Sat.): Giant Slalom
● 01 Dec. (Sun.): Slalom

In the U.S., the races will be shown on NBC and Peacock beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern on Saturday and 12:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. Steve Schlanger, 1998 Olympic women’s Super-G gold medalist Picabo Street and former U.S. team member Steve Porino will be on the call, with Heather Cox as the field reporter.

Shiffrin has been hot out of the gate this season, winning two of her three races:

● 26 Oct.: Giant Slalom in Soelden (AUT): 5th
● 16 Nov.: Slalom in Levi (FIN): 1st
● 23 Nov.: Slalom in Gurgl (AUT): 1st

Even at the season opener – where she finished fifth – Shiffrin led after the first run, but then faded on the second.

She has been sensational in the Slalom, but less so in the Giant Slalom. She has 22 career wins – the most in women’s history – in the Giant Slalom, and 43 career medals. But in the Slalom, she has more wins than anyone – 62 – and a staggering 86 World Cup medals.

At Killington, she has been unstoppable in the Slalom, winning six times, in 2016-17-18-19-21-23, but less so in the Giant Slalom, with a silver in 2017 and bronzes in 2019 and 2023. She said after her win in Gurgl that getting to no. 100 will not be easy:

“It’s not impossible, but so many things have to go right. I think from outside it looks it looks easy, or it looks like it’s supposed to happen this way, but even today took so much energy to bring out my top skiing.

“So, it’s not easy, and everybody’s pushing and catching up. And so, I’m not taking that for granted.”

Shiffrin has averaged more than eight wins a year in her career so far and looks to be on the way to that many or more in 2024-25:

● 2013: 4
● 2014: 5
● 2015: 6
● 2016: 5
● 2017: 11
● 2018: 12
● 2019: 17
● 2020: 6
● 2021: 3
● 2022: 5
● 2023: 14
● 2024: 9
● 2025: 2 so far

That’s 99 and counting, with the next opportunity on Saturday. She also can tie and possibly set another World Cup record, for the most medals. She has 154 so far, one behind all-time leader Ingemar Stenmark (SWE: 1973-89), who she passed for the most career wins. She can tie him in the medal count at 155 on Saturday and become the all-time leader on Sunday.

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VOLLEYBALL: New FIVB chief Azevedo wants volleyball to connect with 1.6 billion people by 2032

By
Rich Perelman
-
New FIVB President Fabio Azevedo of Brazil (Photo: FIVB).

★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

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≡ SPOTLIGHT ≡

Brazil’s Fabio Azevedo ascended from Secretary General of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) to President at the federation’s 39th World Congress in Portugal in mid-November and was eager to share his plans for growth.

Like getting 1.6 billion people involved annually with volleyball, and growing the FIVB’s annual revenues to over $100 million.

He shared his vision – and considerable enthusiasm – with reporters during an online roundtable on Tuesday, explaining in a concise way where he wants to take the sport:

“Basically today, in the ecosystem of the FIVB, we have what we call ‘the trilogy’: we have the FIVB as the international governing body managing the sport; we have Volleyball World, our private company in partnership with CVC Capital, taking care of business, promotion, marketing and commercialization of our events, and we have the Volleyball Foundation, which we launched this year in May, which is focused on the social responsibility and attending every single project promoting the values of the sport in the world.

“So basically, if I may explain, we have volleyball empowerment, led by the FIVB, helping the national teams. We have development, helping those national teams that do not get yet a national team program, and we have now the Volleyball Foundation, fighting for mass participation.”

He explained that the FIVB now has a reasonable idea of how many people are touched by the sport annually:

“We have nowadays, by research and using research, a number of 800 million people somehow connected with the sport in the world , and we want to make our sport more accessible and we want to double this fan base, this market share, in the next eight years.”

Key to this is the commercial development of the sport, keyed by the FIVB’s unprecedented joint venture with CVC Capital Partners in 2021. Azevedo was at the ready with details on just how important this partnership has been already and will be the future:

“We have started this journey, having volleyball as a business. The valuation, let’s call it, the valuation of volleyball was about $27 million EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] average per annum, in the Olympic cycle.

“The expectation of the next Olympic cycle, to 2028, is moving from $27 million to $60 [million], so doubling, all right, and the expectation from 2028 to 2032 is almost doubling again, to $105 [million]. So what does that mean?

“That means there is no way for the business to grow if the sport does not grow together. So what we are doing is investing massively in the quality and consistency of our events – again, TV production, content production and content distribution – you saw that we got for the second year in a row, the best IF in terms of social-media evaluation, social media importance, meaning that the way we are investing in our product – in our competitions, in our athletes, our stars – is really to make the sport better.”

The Volleyball World joint venture was initially valued at $300 million, with $100 million in cash invested by CVC. Azevedo believes that value could be $1.3 billion by 2032, a 4.3/1 increase in just 11 years. Azevedo observed:

“That was a great initiative of the FIVB partnering with CVC and professionalizing completely our commercial arm. This one moved our sport to the next level and as you can see, in the next two Olympic cycles as well. …

“In 2023, we distributed 53% of our entire revenue in prize money and volleyball empowerment. Next two years, it has been approved by the FIVB Congress in Porto – next two years – average of 59%. We’re expecting 70% of our revenue to be distributed in 2028. So, meaning that … the money that comes from sport is going back invested into the sport.”

As for revenue, Azevedo noted, in rough terms, that 35% of revenues come from hosting fees, another 35% from media rights, distribution and betting, 10-15% from sponsorship and 5% from the Volleyball World streaming channel.

The FIVB financial report distributed to the Congress showed CHF 28.9 million in revenue for 2023 and CHF 50.21 million in revenue for 2022 (CHF 1 = $1.13 U.S.). The FIVB report explained that the federation receives a dividend from the Volleyball World profits: $38.9 million in 2022 and $18.2 million in 2023.

How is the FIVB going to get to these new heights?

Azevedo stressed “content production and distribution is making the sport more accessible and it is equally inspiring a new generation of fans.”

He pointed specifically to beach volleyball:

● “We know that beach volleyball is nowadays a great success in the Olympic Games, like in Paris for example, very recently, but we are still having a gap of beach volleyball between the Games, and we want to make the same investment we made for volleyball – for the Volleyball Nations League – into beach volleyball annual competition, so we want to have the turnaround of beach volleyball.”

● “We do believe here, the professional team of the FIVB, that beach volleyball is the focus for the future in terms of the mass participation and making the sport more accessible.”

He also wants to get more national indoor teams involved. For example, out of the 222 national federations in the FIVB, only 86 men’s teams and 77 women’s teams are listed in the FIVB world rankings.

“We want to double this number in the next four years, and how are we going to do that? Once again, empower every single member of our family.”

One way to do this is to get less-qualified national teams involved in zonal association tournaments, where they can play at a competitive level and earn world ranking points. This sets them up to receive FIVB Volleyball Foundation support to identify talent and improve their teams. More participation means better national-team performance and can inspire new interest from players and fans.

The FIVB has distributed $40 million in development funding to 201 countries and wants to do more.

Looking ahead to 2028, Azevedo was asked about venues for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, which have not been confirmed. He was enthusiastic about the final outcome of the venue arrangements:

“Obviously, defining the venues of the Olympic Games is absolutely important. However, I have to say to you that it’s quite normal having these sorts of discussions four years in advance.

“We had the same thing in Rio, same thing for Tokyo, same thing for Paris as well if you remember, so I would say nowadays we have got a great relationship with LA 2028 … so we are confident, very confident that we’re going to soon announce the venues for both beach volleyball and volleyball and both will be spectacular in L.A. as well, like we had in Paris.”

The FIVB has an unusual arrangement in that new Secretary General Hugh McCutcheon (NZL) is in Minneapolis (and not at the Lausanne headquarters), where he was a long-time coach, but is now in a position to help with promotional activities in the under-developed – from a volleyball perspective – U.S. market, as well as liaise with the LA28 Olympic organizers.

Azevedo does not lack for enthusiasm and the early returns from the Volleyball World partnership are quite promising. As he was elected for the period of 2024-32, he has eight years to achieve his vision, one which has volleyball expanding dramatically around the world.

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PANORAMA: Paris 2024 torch on auction in Paris on Tuesday; BAA to pay back Boston Marathon prizes for those cheated by dopers!

By
Rich Perelman
-
The Paris 2024 torch, pictured over the Seine River (Photo: Paris 2024)

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Memorabilia ● The Sportlympique X auction comes on 3 December, with 327 lots offered by Vermot & Associates of France. The stars of the auction are Olympic torches from 11 different Games, including a 2024 Paris Olympic torch, the first to be auctioned in France (€1 = $1.06 U.S.):

● 1948 London Olympic torches (2): €1,800-2,500 estimate for each
● 1964 Tokyo Olympic torch: €4,000-5,000 estimate
● 1968 Mexico City Olympic torch: €3,000-5,000 estimate
● 1988 Seoul Olympic torch: €3,300-4,000 estimate
● 1992 Barcelona Olympic torch: €2,000-3,000 estimate
● 2004 Athens Olympic torch: €1,800-2,400 estimate
● 2006 Turin Olympic Winter torch: €1,500-2,000 estimate
● 2008 Beijing Olympic torch: €2,000-3,000 estimate
● 2010 Vancouver Olympic winter torch: €1,800-2,400 estimate
● 2016 Rio Olympic torch: €1,800-2,500 estimate
● 2024 Paris Olympic torch: €13,2000-20,000 estimate

The 1968 Mexico City torch is especially interesting, as it was specially engraved for the final torchbearer, hurdler Enriqueta Basilio, the first woman to be the final Olympic torchbearer.

Also of interest is an early copy of the Olympic flag, this one a framed, 26-by-35 model from about 1914, mirroring the flags ordered by modern Games founder Pierre de Coubertin of France at Le Bon Marche. It’s estimated to bring from €300–500. Two other lots feature lesser-known books by de Coubertin.

● Athletics ● The Boston Athletic Association, owners and operators of the Boston Marathon, announced Tuesday:

“The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) has elected to issue voluntary payments to athletes who were adversely affected by doping offenses at B.A.A. events. …

“The B.A.A. is identifying and contacting athletes whose results were re-ranked due to a disqualification within prize money placings since 1986, when prize money was first offered.

“The B.A.A. is working to ensure voluntary payments are received by impacted athletes. For any athlete whose finishing place among the prize money positions was adversely affected by the ultimate disqualification of another athlete, the B.A.A. will issue a voluntary payment for the difference the athlete did not receive due to re-ranked results.

“The B.A.A. continues to attempt to re-claim prize money that has been paid out in the past. The process of identifying all affected athletes has begun.”

Payments will begin in January 2025. The B.A.A. had previously had a policy of paying the legitimate winners of prize money only after recovering previously-paid money from athletes later disqualified for doping.

● Cycling ● The annual seminar for the UCI World Tour and Women’s World Tour was held in Nice (FRA) on Monday and Tuesday and included an important medical note:

“Seminar participants were also brought up to date on the current knowledge of the effects on performance of repeated carbon monoxide (CO) inhalation. The UCI clearly asks teams and riders not to use repeated CO inhalation. Only the medical use of a single inhalation of CO in a controlled medical environment could be acceptable. The UCI is also officially requesting the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to take a position on the use of this method by athletes.”

● Sailing ● A new strategy document from World Sailing – “Ready for the Future” – describes the federation’s plans for 2025-29, in a 15-page presentation now posted. The priorities, per World Sailing chief executive David Graham (GBR):

● Commercial and Events: “Embracing digital technologies, we will enable delivery of world-class events which are exciting to watch, easy to understand and easy to find,
underpinned by a commercial strategy which strengthens our investment in the sport.”

● Growth: “We will work with our National Federations, Classes and Continental Associations to provide more opportunities for more people to reach their potential through sailing.”

● Governance: “We will implement our newly transformed governance model, enabling us to operate efficiently, transparently and collaboratively in the best interests of our members and our sport as a whole.”

● Impact: “We will generate measurable economic, environmental and social impact for our global sailing community.”

In the events area, the goal is to simplify the World Sailing events schedule all the way to 2032 to draw better focus to specific races, and to develop a new, transformational presentation of the sport by 2028.

This will be a considerable challenge, with 140 member national federations and about 120 different equipment class which hold championship events.

● Weightlifting ● Doping nearly cost weightlifting its place on the Olympic program. So the International Weightlifting Federation was pretty happy to announce that all 120 of the lifters who competed in Paris this summer were tested prior to the Games. Per IWF President Mohammed Jalood (IRQ);

“These numbers and unprecedented level of testing demonstrate our full determination in the fight against doping in our Sport. It also certifies that we had a fair and clean competition in Paris. The IWF, together with the ITA, is taking this matter very seriously and we are happy to see that this strategy is proving successful. I take the opportunity to thank our National Federations for their effort and commitment to keeping weightlifting going in the right direction.”

The IWF announcement also underlined preventative measures in place, adding “100% of the athletes who qualified for the Paris Olympic Games received anti-doping education as per the mandatory IWF/ITA requirements.”

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ATHLETICS: Michael Johnson explains his Grand Slam Track “can save track, I don’t think I can save track and field.”

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ GRAND SLAM TRACK ≡

“I love this sport. But I have had time to reconcile the fact that if we continue to just do the same thing, tell people that ‘you should love this’ or ‘you should understand this’ – that doesn’t work.

“Grand Slam Track is track, that is what we’re doing. I am going to save what I think I can save; I think I can save track, I don’t think I can save track and field.

“Putting the two together works at the Olympics and World Championships, but I’m not sure it works when you’re trying to create a professional sport outside of those global competitions.”

That’s Atlanta 1996 Olympic sprint star Michael Johnson, from an interview with the BBC in which he explains what his Grand Slam Track project is working toward as it readies for its first season in 2025.

There will be four Grand Slam Track meets – each a three-day program – in 2025, which he said grew out of discussions with a lot of people, including from the World Athletics governing body:

“We have had numerous conversations with World Athletics and we have listened to a lot of what they have said over the years. They want to grow the sport in the U.S., for athletes to be paid more, to encourage more innovation in the sport.

“When we sat down to build Grand Slam Track we listened to that; we built Grand Slam Track to do all those things.”

The schedule for 2025 is now set:

● 04-06 April: National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica
● 02-04 May: Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida
● 30 May-01: Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
● 27-29 June: UCLA’s Drake Stadium in Los Angeles, California

The Grand Slam Track meets will include 96 athletes in track events only: 48 seasonally-contracted “Racers” (38 signed so far) and 48 single-meet “Challengers” in a two-race format:

“Racers and Challengers will be assigned to compete in one of the following categories, and will all race in two events during each Slam: short sprints (100 m/200 m), short hurdles (100H or 110H/100 m), long sprints (200 m/400 m), long hurdles (400H/400 m), short distance (800 m/1500 m), or long distance (3000 m/5000 m).”

Prize money of $100,000 down to $10,000 for eighth place will be available in each race.

Johnson said that UK Athletics did not refuse to have a Grand Slam Track meet in Britain; he explained:

“We engaged with 10 interested cities around the globe and we decided for year one that we wanted to focus our energy on the U.S.”

The Grand Slam Track format purposely did not include any field events or combined events, and does not include the 3,000 m Steeplechase or the 10,000 m. That has drawn criticism, of course, from athletes in those disciplines, but Johnson’s view of what can be attractive to new fans is a concentrated racing experience, unburdened by the traditional “three-ring circus” of track & field meets with multiple events going on at the same time.

Grand Slam Track has said that tickets for the 2025 meets will go on sale on 6 December. Johnson added:

“My objective is to create the opportunities that athletes have always wanted and to put them on a stage that is worthy of their greatness, with races that mean something.”

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BOXING: Taiwan’s Olympic women’s champ Yu-ting Lin out of World Boxing Cup Finals over more gender questions

By
Rich Perelman
-
Henri Vidal's Caïn venant de tuer son frère Abel (Cain, after having murdered his brother Abel), in the Tuileries Garden, Paris (Photo: Wikipedia)

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≡ INTEL REPORT ≡

The controversy over gender classification in boxing initiated by the International Boxing Association in 2023 over two boxers that engulfed the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has now spread to the World Boxing Cup Finals in Sheffield, England, which began on Wednesday.

While Algerian Imane Khelif, who won the Paris Olympic women’s 66 kg class, has been quite public about her situation at the Games and since, Chinese Taipei’s Yu-ting Lin – who won at 57 kg – has been quiet.

But that changed this week when Lin was ready to fight at the World Boxing Cup Finals, her first tournament since Paris, but was apparently not officially entered. The Taiwan Sports Administration, a unit of the country’s Education ministry, said that the World Boxing federation had questioned her gender, and explained in a statement:

“She is female, meets all eligibility criteria, and successfully participated in the women’s boxing event [in Paris], winning a gold medal.

“Unfortunately, as World Boxing is newly established and still navigating the development of its operational mechanisms, it lacks the clear regulatory policies of the IOC that ensure the protection of athletes’ rights.

“Additionally, World Boxing’s medical committee has yet to establish robust confidentiality procedures to safeguard the medical information submitted by Taiwan regarding Lin Yu-ting.”

The Taiwanese statement noted that Lin offered to have a “comprehensive medical examination locally,” which was refused, and Lin was then withdrawn “proactively” to avoid any further harm.

World Boxing replied:

“World Boxing’s current eligibility policy does not prevent Lin Yu Ting from taking part in the World Boxing Cup. Selection decisions are made by national federations and the boxer was not entered in the event.

“At World Boxing, we put boxers first and the safety of athletes is absolutely paramount. We have recognised for some time that gender clarity is an extremely complex issue with significant welfare concerns and our medical committee has a dedicated working group committed to examining every aspect of this area so that we can strengthen our policy and ensure it prioritises the health of boxers and delivers sporting integrity while endeavouring to make the sport as inclusive as possible.”

Like Algeria’s Klelif, Lin – now 28 – has always competed in the women’s division. She won the AIBA World Championship title at 54 kg in 2018 and the IBA Worlds at 57 kg in 2022. She was disqualified by the IBA in 2023 for “failing” the federation’s eligibility standards – but with no details provided – after she won a bronze medal at 57 kg.

Lin has been strongly supported at home, and Taiwan Prime Minister Jung-tai Cho said the government would “actively work to protect and secure” Lin’s rights to compete in future international competitions.

Observed: This is unfortunate for Lin, but worse for World Boxing, which should have seen this possibility coming. This is going to come up again soon, as Algeria’s Khelif has indicated she plans to fight at the World Boxing World Championships in September 2025, also in England, in Liverpool.

By then, the International Olympic Committee will likely have decided whether World Boxing will be recognized as the governing body for Olympic boxing. But in any case, World Boxing will have to be ready to clear the situation regarding Khelif and Lin, preferably well before the tournament even gets close.

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LOS ANGELES 2028: L.A. Metro asks Trump transition team for $3.2 billion for 2028 Olympic projects

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ SCENE & HEARD ≡

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority – known as Metro – has asked the transition team for President-elect Donald Trump for assistance with $3.2 billion in support services for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The Metro Board’s letter explained:

“With 10 to 15 million ticketholders projected, these Games will be the largest sporting event held in our Nation’s history. Effectively delivering a safe, secure, efficient, and accessible mobility system to support these games will require the full support of the Federal Government.”

The story noted:

“Among the list of 10 projects that Metro is asking to be funded, the most expensive is a $2-billion request to pay for an estimated 2,700 buses – double its current fleet – that the region is projected to need to move the millions of spectators expected to attend the Games. None of the projects have yet to be funded.”

An October report to Metro’s Ad Hoc 2028 Olympic & Paralympic Games Committee indicated:

● Of the $3.129.2 billion budget for Games-related projects, funding of $170.2 million (5.4%) had been secured.

● For the Games Enhanced Transit Service, priced at $2.042.0 billion, only $2.0 million in funding has been made available.

● Nine applications for Federal funding totaling $840.5 million had been submitted to the Biden Administration, with four granted totaling $228.5 million and five not funded.

The Chair of the Metro Board, Los Angeles County supervisor Janice Hahn told The Times regarding its letter to the Trump transition team:

“This isn’t just the L.A. Olympics, it is our entire nation’s Olympics. I would think that President-elect Trump would want to make sure they are a success and reflect well on our country.”

The letter asked for a White House coordinator to assist with transport issues and for senior officials in the U.S. Department of Transportation to be designated to work directly with Metro.

The Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles lobbied the Reagan Administration to create a White House Task Force – under the supervision of then-Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Deaver – to assure coordination across the entire Federal government for Olympic-related matters. That group was set up in 1982 and operated through the Games period.

The Federal government provided direct funding for security services for the 1984 Games, but did not provide funding support for transportation. According to a General Accounting Office report in 2001, the 1996 Atlanta Games received $274.3 million (in 1996 dollars) in Federal support. The 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City had $342 million in Federal support, including $106 million for transportation assistance; additional funds were added late for security after the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001.

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FOOTBALL: Two U.S. Senators oppose Saudi selection for 2034 FIFA World Cup; FIFA gives $50 million to Qatar Legacy Fund

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ FIFA WORLD CUP ≡

“We strongly oppose FIFA’s plans to award the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s uncontested bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, and we urge you to seek out a host country with a record of upholding human rights. Approving Saudi Arabia’s bid this December endangers workers, athletes, tourists, and members of the press, and it runs counter to FIFA’s own human rights policies. Given the high stakes and scope of these games, FIFA cannot accept any assurances offered by the Saudi government nor aid the Saudi government in its effort to sportswash its bloody record.”

That’s the opening of a two-page letter sent by United States Senators Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) to FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI) in advance of the official selection of Saudi Arabia to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup on 11 December. It continued:

“The Saudi regime has long violated human rights and has made no progress toward meaningful reform and accountability. The Kingdom continues to torture dissidents, engage in extrajudicial killings, discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community, oppress women and religious minorities, exploit and abuse foreign workers, and restrict almost all political rights and civil liberties. In fact, Saudi Arabia hit a new record high in annual executions this year. Further, the Saudi government has continued to crack down on media, labor unions, civil societies, and more. If Saudi Arabia assumes the responsibilities of hosting the World Cup, these human rights abuses are sure to escalate throughout the planning, execution, and conclusion of the tournament.”

The letter also castigated FIFA for its choice of Qatar to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup:

“FIFA knows firsthand what is at stake hosting the World Cup in countries without a
demonstrated commitment to human rights. In the lead up to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, scores of domestic and migrant laborers worked in egregious conditions on tournament-related projects, resulting in widespread wage theft and a high death toll. Despite numerous workers and civil society groups issuing warnings, FIFA could not curb these abuses or adequately remedy harm.

“Similarly, FIFA could not ensure the safety of the LGBTQ+ community, women, and journalists in Qatar. For example, Qatari officials detained journalists ahead of the tournament. These experiences in Qatar clearly demonstrate that promises of reform and accountability in bidding documents by repressive regimes do not actually ensure compliance with human rights and labor laws at the tournaments. These experiences also raise serious concerns about FIFA’s ability to mitigate harm once planning is underway for the games. The Saudis have put forward an ambitious proposal to host 48 teams through 15 state-of-the-art stadiums across five cities for World Cup 2034 with no sincere intention of upholding human rights.

“While FIFA appears poised to confirm Saudi Arabia’s bid on December 11, your organization has a responsibility to uphold and promote human rights. We strongly urge FIFA to take all steps necessary to thoroughly re-evaluate Saudi Arabia’s ill-equipped World Cup bid ahead of December and select a rights-respecting host country for World Cup 2034.”

FIFA President Infantino famously defended FIFA’s selection of Qatar for the 2022 World Cup in a stunning news conference on 19 November 2022, beginning with:

“Today, I feel Qatari. Today, I feel Arab. Today, I feel African. Today, I feel gay. Today, I feel disabled. Today, I feel a migrant worker.”

Across 37 minutes of remarks, Infantino blasted the assembled news media for their negative reporting on having the World Cup in Qatar, including:

● “So I wonder why nobody recognized the progress that has been made, since 2016. The kafala system was abolished, minimum wages were introduced, heat protection measures were taken. ILO [International Labor Organization], international unions acknowledge that, but media don’t, or some don’t.”

● “So we have been seeing [1] there is a permanent office of ILO, or there will be – and we will be back, we will be here to check, don’t worry, because you will be gone – [2] compensation for workers who are not paid or who have accidents, exists, in very significant amounts, and [3] FIFA has a legacy fund for this World Cup.”

His address was bitterly attacked by media attending as well as human rights organizations, but the tournament that followed was one of the most memorable in history.

The choice of Saudi Arabia is being similarly criticized, but FIFA is expected to approve Saudi Arabia as the 2034 World Cup host without incident on 11 December.

In a clearly-related announcement on Wednesday, FIFA announced a $50 million contribution to the FIFA World Cup 2022 Legacy Fund – a concept first installed for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and continued in Brazil in 2014 and Russia in 2018 – to be used for four initiatives, three of which are with major international partners:

● Refugees: In partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “the Legacy Fund will support programmes that empower communities and promote resilience and self-sufficiency for some of the world’s most vulnerable people with a view to enhancing access to basic services, improving social inclusion and strengthening national systems.”

● Public Health and Occupational Health and Safety: In partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), “the Legacy Fund will foster initiatives that will build on the role played by the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 for promotion of health and wellbeing and will extend to improving working conditions. FIFA will join forces with WHO to support Beat the Heat, a flagship initiative to mount action to safeguard the health and safety of high-risk individuals from extreme heat and the related occupational and environmental hazards and impacts in the context of climate change.”

● Education: Working with the World Trade Organization and the International Trade Centre, “FIFA will support the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy Fund, which aims to economically empower women entrepreneurs by leveraging the potential of digitalisation to help them access global value chains.”

● Football: The Qatari Aspire Academy and the FIFA Talent Development Scheme “will collaborate in identifying promising young talents in remote areas in a dedicated number of developing countries, with the objective of giving more talent around the world a chance to shine.”

This new funding from FIFA was immediately blasted by Amnesty International, whose statement included, “It is shameful that FIFA and Qatar have launched their long-awaited legacy fund without any recognition of their clear responsibility towards the vast number of migrant workers who were exploited and, in many cases, died to make the 2022 World Cup possible. While providing money to global efforts to support refugees and protect workers from the impacts of extreme heat is important, the fund currently does absolutely nothing for the families who lost loved ones in Qatar and were plunged into poverty as a result.”

Observed: The choice of Saudi Arabia for the 2034 FIFA World Cup is sure to continue the criticism that accompanied the choice of Qatar for the 2018 event. But Infantino will be at the ready with his own view, and will point out that his promise of a legacy fund has come to pass, and that the promised ILO office in Qatar was, in fact, opened in 2018.

Let’s see what happens in Saudi Arabia, a country which appears to be in a transitional phase, but with no clear end result for the end of this decade, or by 2034.

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CYCLING: Australian cycling bans triple Olympic medalist Matthew Richardson for life for switch to Great Britain

By
Rich Perelman
-
Former Australian, now British track cycling star Matthew Richardson (Photo: Matthew Richardson on Instagram).

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≡ SPOTLIGHT ≡

“Richardson will not be eligible to rejoin the Australian Cycling Team at any point in the future.”

That’s a life ban for track cycling star Matthew Richardson from Australia Cycling (AusCycling) following his move from Australia to Great Britain to continue his cycling career. Richardson made his first appearance for Great Britain at last weekend’s first leg of the UCI Track Champions League in France.

Monday’s AusCycling statement had more:

“AusCycling has finalised a review of the circumstances which saw track cyclist Matthew Richardson announce a change of nationality from Australia to Great Britain following the Olympic Games in Paris.

“The review, which involved a thorough investigation of Richardson’s actions, has determined he acted in a way which conflicted with the values of AusCycling, the Australian National Team and the broader cycling community.”

The life ban includes no use of AusCycling “resources” or awards. The review also found Richardson acted improperly, specifically:

“● Richardson requested that the world cycling body, the Union Cycliste Internationale, delay official disclosure of his nationality change until after the Olympic Games. This request was supported by British Cycling.

“● He also withheld news of his decision from AusCycling, his teammates, and key stakeholders prior to the Games.

“● After the Games, but before announcing his decision, Richardson asked to take AusCycling property including a custom bike, cockpit, and Olympic race suit to Great Britain. This represented an unacceptable risk to AusCycling’s intellectual property.”

Although discussions apparently began in February, Richardson himself did not post a notice about the change of allegiance on his Instagram page until 19 August, more than a week after the close of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games:

“I have made the decision to pack up my entire life and move half way across the world to begin the next chapter in my cycling career. It is with a sense of excitement and renewal I announce I have joined the Great British Cycling Team.

“Switching nationality was a difficult decision, and not one I took lightly. It was a personal choice, made after careful consideration of my career and future. It’s not something I decided on quickly or easily. I deeply respect Australia and the Aus Cycling Team and it will always be a part of who I am.

“As this new chapter in my life begins, I would like to sincerely thank the coaches and support staff who have worked with me over many years in Australia. Special mention to Midland Cycle Club, WAIS and Aus Cycling with personal thanks to the two biggest coaching influences in my career, Clay Worthington and Matt Crampton. I want to say a huge thank you to my teammates for everything we’ve been through together. You’ve been there for the highs and the lows, and I’m so grateful for all the support, laughter, and hard work we’ve shared.

“But this decision is about following my passion and pushing myself to new heights. This isn’t about leaving something behind, but about embracing a new chapter in my journey and chasing a dream, a dream that is to race for the country in which I was born.

“I hope you can understand and support me as I continue to give my best in the sport I love.”

The back story is that Richardson was born in England, but moved with his family to Australia when was nine. He is reported to hold dual citizenship.

He had been a star for Australia, winning Paris Olympic silvers in the Sprint, Team Sprint and Keirin, and five World Championships medals, including a gold in the Team Sprint in 2022. Richardson has already shown that, at 25, he’s at his peak, after scoring Sprint and Keirin wins over Olympic champ Harrie Lavreysen (NED) at the UCI Track Champions League opener last weekend.

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PANORAMA: Milan Cortina to have 10,001 Winter Olympic torchbearers; Gabby Thomas signs with Grand Slam Track; world treadmill champs?

By
Rich Perelman
-
The route of the Milan Cortina 2026 torch relay ahead of the Olympic Winter Games (Image: Milan Cortina 2026).

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Olympic Games 2036 ● The Times of India reported that discussions around a 2036 Olympic bid for India have centered about New Delhi and Agra, site of the iconic Taj Mahal, instead of previously-championed Mumbai and/or Ahmedabad.

The superb use of the iconic Eiffel Tower by the French for the Paris 2024 Games lends added significance to the potential of the Taj Mahal as a symbol for an Indian Olympic bid. Moreover, New Delhi is the national capital, with the accompanying support for visitors, and available land space for new construction that would be needed.

● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● The Milan Cortina 2026 organizers unveiled the 2026 Torch Relay on Tuesday, with a planned 10,001 torch bearers to take the flame to 60 locations across 63 days and 12,000 km (7,456 miles).

The flame will be lit at ancient Olympia on 26 November 2025 and then arrive in Rome on 4 December, beginning its journey throughout Italy.

The Paralympic Torch Relay will begin in Stoke Mandeville, England on 23 February 2026, with a 12-day relay to follow with 500 torchbearers covering 2,000 km (1,243 miles).

● Pan American Games 2027 ● Official dates for the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru were announced Tuesday as 16 July to 1 August.

The dates are close to the 2019 dates for the PAG held in Lima of 26 July to 11 August and a near-exact match for the 2028 Olympic Games dates of 14-30 July in Los Angeles.

This will be the eighth Pan American Games – out of 20 through 2027 – to open in July, the most of any month. August has been the start for five editions.

● Russia ● The newest sports diplomacy move by Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev is the signing of a cooperation agreement with the North Korean sports minister, Il Guk Kim, in Pyongyang on Sunday. Wrote Degtyarev on his Telegram page (computer translation from the original Russia):

“We attach great importance to the development of sports cooperation, as well as constructive dialogue, with North Korea. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement signed earlier by the heads of our states is clear proof of the unmatched high level of relations between our countries.”

Further:

“Starting in 2025, I proposed holding the Russian-Korean Summer Games on a biennial basis [alternating between the countries]. We are ready to hold at least 10 sports competitions on the program of the possible Games. The North Korean side was all for this.”

● Athletics ● Grand Slam Track announced a major new signing of Olympic 200 m gold medalist Gabby Thomas of the U.S., who also ran legs on the winning 4×100 m and 4×400 m relays in Patis.

This brings the “Racer” total to 38 signees out of 48 planned. Thomas is the sixth Paris Olympic champion to commit to the new project, also including Quincy Hall (USA: men’s 400 m), Cole Hocker (USA: men’s 1,500 m), Marileidy Paulino (DOM: women’s 400 m), Masai Russell (USA: women’s 100 m hurdles) and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA: women’s 400 m hurdles).

A story in the London Daily Mail newspaper reported that World Athletics is developing a “World Treadmill Championships” to keep up with similar events already staged in rowing and cycling.

World Athletics chief executive Jon Ridgeon (GBR) explained:

‘There are millions of people around the world that just go to the gym and run on the treadmill. We should create products for those people. We should have a Treadmill World Championships.

‘You are an athlete if you go for a 30-minute run on a treadmill or if you win an Olympic gold medal in the 100 metres. It is all athletics.

‘We are working it out at the moment. We will be announcing a tech partner that we are going to work with to develop the virtual running scene.”

No indication on a possible date for a first championship.

● Biathlon ● Russian Evgeny Ustyugov, the 2010 Vancouver men’s Olympic Mass Start winner and a relay gold medalist at Sochi 2014, had his appeal rejected at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, confirming his sanctions for abnormalities in his Athlete Biological Passport.

He was retroactively banned from 24 January 2010 to the end of the 2013-14 season, at which point he retired. This wipes out three Olympic medal performances in 2010 and 2014, and two 2011 World Championships silver medals.

The disqualification from the Mass Start win at Vancouver 2010 should allow French star Martin Fourcade to move from silver to gold, giving him a total of seven Olympic golds from 2010-14-18.

Another doping penalty on Ustygov, now 39, from information obtained from the Moscow Laboratory by the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2019 relating to the state-sponsored Russian doping scheme, is being appealed. That sanction wiped out results from August 2013 to the end of the season in 2014.

The Russian news agency TASS reported that the International Biathlon Union has reiterated its total ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes for the coming season, in view of the continuing invasion of Ukraine. The IBU has no provision for “neutral” athletes.

● Boxing ● To the surprise of absolutely no one:

“World Boxing has welcomed the creation of a new Asian confederation to represent and promote boxing in the region, marking a significant milestone for the sport.”

The new confederation, to be made up of the 15 national federations from Asia which are members of World Boxing, was announced by Asian Boxing Confederation President Pichai Chunhavajira (THA), following last weekend’s vote for the ASBC to remain allied with the International Boxing Assocation.

● Equestrian ● Another demonstration of the impact of being the host of a forthcoming Olympic Games was demonstrated on Saturday, with a temporary show jumping arena sent up at the site of the 1984 Olympic equestrian events – Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California – for the first Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Los Angeles, with $400,000 in prize money.

The event was not related in any way to the 2028 Olympic organizing committee, but was an expansion of the FEI Jumping World Cup tour in North America. There will be many more such events in the L.A. area in the coming years in various sports to familiarize athletes and officials with the area.

Karl Cook, a member of the U.S.’s Paris 2024 Team Jumping silver, won the eight-entry jump-off to win on Caracole de la Roque, with no penalties and the fastest time through the course at 41.19 seconds. Israel’s Daniel Bluman was second with no penalties and 42.87.

● Football ● Iconic American keeper Alyssa Naeher, now 36, announced her retirement from national-team play on Tuesday, but will be available for the upcoming games against England and The Netherlands in December.

Naeher compiled a brilliant career over 11 season as a national-team keeper, with an outstanding 0.50 goals-against average; the U.S. was 88-6-14 (W-L-T) in her matches. She played on three World Cup teams, on title winners in 2015 and 2019, and was on three Olympic teams, including the 2024 Paris gold-medal winners. Her first game in goal for the U.S. was a 7-0 win against Argentina in December 2014; she had 68 career shutouts. She said:

“This has been a special team to be a part of and I am beyond proud of what we have achieved both on and off the field. The memories I have made over the years will last me a lifetime. I know one chapter is ending, but I am so excited to continue to see the growth of this team going forward and what more they can accomplish.”

Naeher plans to play for the NWSL Chicago Red Stars for the 2025 season.

● Shooting ● One of the goals of the International Paralympic Committee is to eventually have International Federations take over all of the sports it currently administers. One of those is shooting and the effort is underway as the IPC and International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) met last week discuss the process for the ISSF to integrate Para Shooting.

● Swimming ● Although Australian Freestyle star Emma McKeon said she would be retiring after the Olympic Games in Paris, she made it official on Sunday with a post on Instagram:

“Today I am officially retiring from competitive swimming.

“Leading into Paris, I knew it would be my last Olympics, and the months since have given me time to reflect on my journey, and think about what I wanted my future to look like in swimming.

“I am proud of myself for giving my swimming career absolutely everything, both physically and mentally.

“I wanted to see what I was capable of – and I did.

“Swimming has given me so much. From the dream igniting at 5 years old, right through to my third Olympic games- I have so many lessons, experiences, friendships and memories that I am so thankful for. Along with every person who supported me, worked hard with me, and cheered me on. THANK YOU.

“Now I am excited to see how I can push myself in other ways, and for all the things that life has in store.”

Now 30, McKeon finishes with a sensational 14 Olympic medals (6-3-5), including individual golds in the 50-100 m Frees at Tokyo 2020, and 20 World Championships medals (5-11-4).

● Wrestling ● The Court of Arbitration for Sport imposed a five-year ban on Serbian Greco-Roman wrestler Zurabi Datunashvili, who won the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medal in the 87 kg class.

The decision confirmed a prohibited method – urine substitution – and fabricated evidence to justify missing a test in January 2022, resulting in a nullification of all of his results since 27 May 2021 to 11 April 2023.

This wipes out his Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze (won in 2021) and his World Championships gold in 2022, but Datunashvili has appealed the urine substitution charge and the disqualification of results. He retired in 2023.

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INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: IOC draws order of Presidential election presentations for January briefing

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ IOC PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ≡

The International Olympic Committee announced the order of presentations by the seven candidates for President for the 30 January 2025 private briefing to the IOC members. According to the statement:

“The draw was conducted by a Lausanne-based public notary on 25 November. The order, determined by the draw, will also be used consistently in all official documents subsequently. This process ensures fairness and transparency as the candidates outline their visions for the future of the IOC.

“The election for the IOC presidency will take place during the 144th IOC Session, which will be held from 18 to 21 March 2025 in Greece. The new President will succeed Thomas Bach, whose term ends in June 2025.

“The order as determined by the draw is:

“HRH Prince Feisal AL HUSSEIN

“Mr David LAPPARTIENT

“Mr Johan ELIASCH

“Mr Juan Antonio SAMARANCH

“Mrs Kirsty COVENTRY

“Lord Sebastian COE

“Mr Morinari WATANABE”

There is no obvious advantage to any candidate in this draw, although Coe’s placement near the end might be helpful. But there will also be six weeks between the presentations and the IOC Session.

Several of the candidates face age-qualification issues which could hamper their candidacies:

● Prince Feisal Al Hussein (JOR): 61, elected personally to the IOC in 2010, would reach the age limit of 70 in 2033, at the end of a first, eight-year term if elected.

● Sebastian Coe (GBR): 68, elected to the IOC in 2020, tied to his presidency of World Athletics. To be elected, his membership would have to be converted to individual status and he would reach age 70 in 2026, only a year into a first term, but could be extended to 2030, still three years short of a full, eight-year term. A change to the Olympic Charter would be needed to extend him further.

● Kirsty Coventry (ZIM): 41, elected to the IOC in 2013 as an athlete, personally in 2021. No age issues and by far the youngest candidate. If elected, she would be the first female head of the IOC.

● Johan Eliasch (GBR): 62, elected to the IOC in 2024, tied to his presidency of the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS). He will reach 70 in 2032 and could be extended to 2036, allowing him to serve a full first term (to 2033) and most of a second, four-year term. If elected, he would also have to be converted to an individual member.

● David Lappartient (FRA): 51, elected to the IOC in 2022, tied to his presidency of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). No age issues, but if elected, he would have to be voted in as an individual member.

● Juan Antonio Samaranch (ESP): 65, elected personally to the IOC in 2001. He will turn 70 in 2029, in the fourth year of an eight-year first term, but could be extended to 2033, completing a full first term.

● Morinari Watanabe (JPN): 65, elected to the IOC in 2018, as president of the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). If elected, he would have to be converted to individual membership, and would need a four-year extension to complete a full first term in 2033.

Yes, there are early odds posted on the IOC race at an Antigua and Barbuda sportsbook, with Coe at 3/2, Samaranch at 4/1 and Lappartient at 5/1.

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LANE ONE: Pierre de Coubertin’s 1892 call to re-start the Olympic Games failed, but it created the modern Olympic Movement

By
Rich Perelman
-
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Movement

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≡ THE BIG PICTURE ≡

At a banquet during the 1908 Olympic Games in London, Pierre de Coubertin, the French visionary who revived the Olympic Movement, told the guests:

“What counts in life is not the victory, but the struggle; the essential thing is not to conquer, but to fight well.”

He knew this from personal experience, because his first try at creating a modern Olympic Games was a failure.

That was on 25 November 1892, at a lecture given as part of the fifth anniversary program of the Union des Sociétés française de Sport athlétiques (USFSA) at La Sorbonne in Paris. The talk actually dealt with physical fitness, with the Olympic Games mentioned only as the final two works of the address.

In fact, when actually read, it’s no wonder that what the 29-year-old Frenchman had hoped was a “call to action” fell completely flat.

In 1994, then-International Olympic Committee chief Juan Antonio Samaranch directed that de Coubertin’s manifesto be re-printed in French and translated into English in a thin volume called “Le Manifeste Olympique” and published under the auspices of the IOC.

Some highlights:

● “The century which began so tragically and which is ending today in a troubled and uncertain peace follows one of great intellectual activity and veritable physical inertia.”

● “All [sports in France] was dead, and when the Directoire, steeped in memories of Ancient Greece, wanted to set up on the Champ de Mars in Paris something akin to an Olympic Games, one indispensable element was missing: competitors.”

● “I said that German gymnastics was energetic in its movements. On that condition alone, it is effective. Now, for this energy to be maintained, gymnasts must perpetually be under a warlike influence. The idea of war must never cease to inspire them.”

● [In England] “if boxers were seen to be killing each other here and there, or a rowing competition was held in the Thames, it as between professionals to give spectators the pleasure of losing their money on exaggeratedly high bets. There was nothing sporting or athletic about it.”

● “English athletics, Gentlemen, began only recently, and already it is taking over the world. … sixty years have sufficed for this prodigious transformation. … A certain philosophical glow surrounded them: reminders of Greece, respect for the stoic traditions and a fairly clear idea of the services that athletics could render the modern were now slow in drawing attention to them. When the movement gained ground, they were furiously and angrily attacked. But their work was already under the protection of youth.”

● “A special press has been set up to cover the interests of the athletic world. … On the days of major [sports] meetings business stops, offices empty, and there is a truce like in Ancient Greece to applaud the young people as they pass.”

● “Finally, how could one forget fencing? Is it not our national sport, in which only Italy can rival us for supremacy, the one which allows us to savor honorably the joy of fighting, the greatest after the joy of living?”

De Coubertin went on to note that an important step had been made within France in 1887, when competitions were expanded to include matches between sports clubs, and not merely within a specific club. He attached great importance to this, and led directly to his conclusion.

Saying “the role of a prophet is one full of danger,” he nevertheless exhorted his audience:

“It is clear that the telegraph, railways, the telephone, the passionate research in science, congresses and exhibitions have done more for peace than any treaty or diplomatic convention. Well, I hope that athletics will do even more. Those who have seen 30,000 people running through the rain to attend a football match will not think that I am exaggerating. Let us export rowers, runners and fencers; this is the free trade of the future, and the day that it is introduced into the everyday existence of old Europe, the cause of peace will receive new and powerful support.

“That is enough to encourage me to think now about the second part of my programme. I hope that you will help me as you have helped me thus far and that, with you, I shall be able to continue and realize, on a basis appropriate to the conditions of modern life, this grandiose and beneficent work: the re-establishment of the Olympic Games.”

The speech drew applause, but almost no action; that’s hardly surprising given the absence of any argument that the revival of the Olympic Games would solve his perceived crisis of physical fitness in France, or would be a catalyst in the expansion of competitions.

But in reading de Coubertin’s remarks, one can see his genius, especially in the marketing of the idea of “English athletics” which had developed rapidly since the 1860s. Why not have competitions on an inter-national level instead of on a purely intra-national basis as a way to promote exercise and healthier living … without the goal of training for war!

This was the true breakthrough in this speech, and de Coubertin – with help from others – persevered and finally saw the formation of the International Olympic Committee on 23 June 1894, again at La Sorbonne.

The first modern Games was held in 1896 in Athens, and de Coubertin retired from the IOC in 1925, after the second Games held in his beloved Paris in 1924. He came back into public view in the 1930s and in a radio address in 1935, he looked back on what he had helped create, but instead of a worldwide fitness movement, he found he had created a cult:

“The ancient as well as the modern Olympic Games have one most important feature in common: They are a religion. When working on his body with the help of physical education and sport – like the sculpturer at a statue – the athlete in antiquity honored the gods. By doing the same today, the modern athlete honors his homeland, his race, and his flag.

“I think, I was right, therefore, when reconstituting the Olympic Games to have connected them with a religious feeling from the beginning. It is transformed and even elevated by internationalism and democracy — the features of our time — but basically it is still the same as in antiquity when it encouraged the young Greek to employ all of their strength for the highest triumph at the feet of the statue of Zeus . . . The religious idea of sport, the religio athletae, has entered very slowly into the consciousness of the athlete, and many of them act accordingly only by instinct.”

De Coubertin died two years later, in 1937, having seen his concept brutalized by Nazi Germany for its own purposes in Berlin in 1936. But despite two stoppages for war, the Olympic Games has survived and grown. What de Coubertin started has morphed far beyond his original idea, and with the coming inclusion of public-participation events at the third Paris Games in 2024, the founder’s dream has finally been realized … 132 years later.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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ATHLETICS: New Russian federation chief will focus on returning Russian athletes to international competitions

By
Rich Perelman
-
New All-Russian Athletics Federation Chair Petr Fradkov (Photo: Wikipedia)

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≡ ALL-RUSSIAN ATHLETICS FED. ≡

With the late withdrawal of Moscow Athletics Federation head Oleg Kurbatov, there was only one candidate for the Chair of the All-Russian Athletics Federation, Petr Fradkov. He was elected last Saturday.

The head of Russia’s Promsvyazbank, Fradkov, 46, has been involved with the ARAF as the head of its Board of Trustees since 2022. His candidacy was supported by the Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev, ensuring his election whether Kurbatov remained in the election or not.

Fradkov told the Russian news agency TASS that he was optimistic about the future of the Russian federation, despite its continuing ban from international competitions:

“Of course, the situation is not simple, some people think that it is complicated. Not at all, I don’t think so.

“We went through a difficult period of the anti-doping ban, and successfully emerged from it in 2023 – this is an important event. Now we will establish relations based on the principles of openness and professionalism.

“Like other [Russian] federations, we have restrictions related to not allowing our athletes with our flag. But I think it’s not a big deal. This time should be used to hold better quality internal competitions, strengthen the federation in terms of competition and use windows of opportunity to interact with friendly countries.”

World Athletics banned Russian athletes beginning in November 2015 in view of the state-sponsored doping program operated from 2011-15, finally lifted in 2023. However, World Athletics instituted a continuing ban on Russian participation in international meets owing to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Fradkov talked about his focus for the immediate future:

“The ARAF will have to solve a wide range of issues that meet national priorities in the sports sphere, and the first step on this path will be the development of a comprehensive strategy for the development of athletics in the Russian Federation.

“We will focus on the development of children’s, youth and junior sports, mass and professional sports and high-performance sports. It is also necessary to overcome the consequences of long periods of isolation: this includes attracting foreign athletes to our competitions, and the participation of Russian athletes in championships in other countries, and inviting specialists from all over the world to exchange experience, all this is a lot of work that will help us restart relations with the international athletics federation [World Athletics] in order to provide Russian athletes with the opportunity to participate in world competitions.”

Fradkov noted that special attention will be paid to the development of track and field infrastructure:

“It is necessary to conduct an audit of arenas, stadiums and throwing fields, and also, based on the needs of the regions, develop a plan for the development of infrastructure for organizing the training process and high-level competitions.

“Particular attention will be paid to the preparation of track and field athletes and the retention of talented coaches, which will allow the creation of a sports reserve in the country. In addition, among the priority tasks is the development of positions for import substitution.”

Russian track & field athletes have not competed in an Olympic Games since Rio in 2016, and there, only one performer – women’s long jumper Darya Klishina, who lived in the U.S. and was tested by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency – was allowed to participate (she finished ninth).

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PANORAMA: South Africa exploring 2036 Olympic bid; is USA Gymnastics moving to Colorado Springs? Stolz wins four in World Cup opener

By
Rich Perelman
-
Unstoppable: American speed skating star Jordan Stolz (Photo: ISU).

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Olympic Games 2036 ● South African Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie met with International Olympic Committee officials in Lausanne (SUI) last week to signal the country’s interest in the 2036 Olympic Games. Said McKenzie:

“The trip this week is the proud culmination of our meeting last month with [IOC President Thomas] Bach during his visit to South Africa. It became clear in discussions with him that bidding for an Olympics is no longer as difficult, prescriptive and expensive as it used to be, and that it would be a very constructive and progressive experience.”

The next step will be a feasibility study from the IOC after a visit, to possibilities for a potential future bid for the Games. The IOC already has perhaps a dozen countries interested in future Olympic Games to be held in 2036 or 2040; South Africa staged the FIFA World Cup in 2010.

● U.S. National Governing Bodies ● Lots of chatter over Friday stories in Colorado media over the potential move of a U.S. National Governing Body to Colorado Springs, which is also the home of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

The Colorado Springs Gazette wrote:

“The national governing body for an unnamed major Olympic sport overseeing six disciplines is considering building a large-scale Training and Wellness Center in Colorado Springs, envisioned to be the ‘heart and hub’ of the sport in the United States.”

Economic incentives for the move were made by the Colorado Economic Development Commission last week, including five-year development funding of up up to $552,500 from the Strategic Fund Job Growth Incentives and up to $1 million Strategic Fund Initiative.

While the NGB being wooed was not named, language used to refer to the target matches with that used by USA Gymnastics, now headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The unnamed NGB is also considering two other locations, including Indianapolis.

● Alpine Skiing ● Sunday’s FIS World Cup men’s Slalom in Gurgl (AUT) was another showcase for Olympic champ Clement Noel (FRA), who won his second straight World Cup race in 1:46.25 after leading by a huge 0.88 seconds following the first run. Swede Kristoffer Jakobsen moved from eighth to second on the second run (1:46.68) and Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath was third in 1:46.69.

Benjamin Ritchie was the top American in 21st (1:48.12). It’s Noel’s 12th career World Cup gold.

● Athletics ● Harvard’s Graham Blanks defended his 2023 title at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, breaking the race open by the 9 km mark and winning in 28:37.2.

New Mexico soph Habtom Samuel (ERI) was second for the second straight year at 28:38.9, with Dylan Schubert of Furman third in 28:39.6. Blanks won back-to-back for the first time since Conner Mantz of BYU in 2020 and 2021. Favored BYU won the men’s team title, its second ever (also in 2019), by 124-137 over Iowa State.

The women’s 6 km race saw BYU win its sixth team title, scoring 147 points to 164 for West Virginia. Alabama’s Doris Lemngole (KEN) – the 2024 NCAA Steeple winner – moved up from second last year to win decisively in 19:21.0, to 19:27.8 for New Mexico frosh Pamela Kosgei (KEN) and 19:28.7 for Florida junior Hilda Olemomoi (KEN).

It was the first time one school won both the men’s and women’s titles since Colorado in 2004.

Grand Slam Track announced five more “Racer” signings, bringing the total to 37 out of 48 for its inaugural season in 2025. This new group is led by Kenyan Mary Moraa, the 2023 women’s World Champion at 800 m, 2019 World women’s 400 m champ and Paris silver winner Salwa Eid Naser (BRN) and Britain’s 2024 European 200 m women’s silver medalist Daryll Neita.

Also signed were distance runners Elise Cranny, a five-time U.S. national champ, and Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka, a two-time Olympian in the women’s 1,500 m and 5,000 m.

The Athletics Integrity Unit banned Kenyan women’s distance runner Emmaculate Anyango for six years from 26 September 2024 for use of testosterone and erythropoietin. Her results are nullified from 3 February 2024.

Anyango was fourth at the 2024 World Cross Country Championships (result now nullified), but still ranks no. 2 all-time in the road 10 km at 28:57 from her second at Valencia (ESP) on 14 January of this year.

● Badminton ● Two wins for the host country at the 2024 China Masters in Shenzhen (CHN), with Yan Zhe Feng and Dong Ping Huang taking the Mixed Doubles from Pang Ron Hoo and Su Yin Cheng (MAS) by 21-23, 25-23, 21-16, and in an all-China women’s Doubles final, second seeds Sheng Su Liu and Ning Tan defeated Yi Jing Li and Xu Min Luo, 21-10, 21-10.

Denmark’s three-time Worlds medalist Anders Antonsen won the men’s Singles over Jonatan Christie (INA), 21-15, 21-13 and top seed Se Young An (KOR) defeated Fang Jie Gao (CHN), 21-12, 21-8 in the women’s Singles final.

Yong Jin and Seung Jae Seo (KOR) won the men’s Doubles final in straight sets – 21-16, 21-16 – over Sabar Gutama and Moh Reza Isfahani (INA).

● Baseball ● In the final of the Premier12 championship at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, Chinese Taipei upset undefeated Japan, 4-0, thanks to home runs from catcher Chia-Cheng Lin and centerfielder Chieh-Hsieh Chen and shutout pitching from four pitchers. The U.S. team of free agents and minor leaguers won the bronze, 6-1, over Venezuela.

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● Beijing 2022 Olympic Skeleton champ Christopher Grotheer (GER) won his third straight IBSF World Cup race this season, in Yanqing (CHN), beating Britain’s 2023 World Champion Matt Weston, 2:01.93 to 2:01.94. Grotheer was second in both runs, while Weston was the first-run leader, then was third on the second run.

Austin Florian was the top American, in 14th place (2:03.34).

China’s Dan Zhao, the Chinese flagbearer at the 2022 Winter Games, won the women’s race in 2:04.27, beating Olympic champ Hannah Niese (GER: 2:04.64). Mystique Rho was the top American finisher, in 10th (2:06.07).

At the Pan American Championships in Bobsled in Whistler (CAN), Canada’s Taylor Austin and Shane Ohrt won the Two-Man in 1:46.18 over Americans Geoffrey Gadbois and Collin Storms (1:46.47).

Canada swept the women’s Monobob with Bianca Ribi (1:53.10), Erica Voss (1:53.11) and Mackenzie Stewart (1:54.05). American Riley Tejeck was fourth (1:54.45).

● Cycling ● Olympic medal winners Matthew Richardson and Katie Archibald were the stars of the first round of the UCI Track Champions League, in St. Quentin-en-Yvelines (FRA).

Richardson, who is now competing for Great Britain after five years representing Australia, won the Sprint silver in Paris, and won the Sprint over Olympic champ Harrie Lavreysen (NED) by 0.564 seconds, and then won the Keirin over Lavreysen by just 0.258. Richardson leads the Sprint group by 40-34 over Lavreysen.

In the men’s Endurance group, defending champ Dylan Bibic (CAN) won the Scratch race, but Britain’s William Perrett took the Elimination race. Bibic leads the seasonal table with 33 points, to 25 for Oscar Nilsson-Julien (FRA).

Britain’s Emma Finucane, a Team Sprint gold medalist in Paris, won the women’s Sprint over Colombia’s Martha Bayona Pineda by 0.042, then finished second in the Keirin to Russian Alina Lysenko, competing as a “neutral.” Finucane leads Lysenko, 37-35, in the seasonal table.

Archibald, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was unable to compete in Paris due to injury, won both the Scratch and Elimination races and leads the Endurance standings with 40 points to 27 for Yareli Acevedo of Mexico.

The series moves to Apeldoorn (NED) next week.

● Diving ● One of the greatest coaches in history, Ron O’Brien (USA) passed away at age 86 on 19 November.

He was most famously the coach of Greg Louganis, but began as a diver himself at Ohio State, just missing qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team in 1960. As a coach, he mentored stars such as Louganis, the double gold medalist in 1984 and 1988, 1976 women’s 3 m gold medalist Jennifer Chandler, two-time women’s Olympic 10 m silver winner Michele Mitchell, and two-time Olympic women’s 10 m bronze medalist Mary Ellen Clark.

O’Brien retired from coaching in 1996 and became the USA Diving technical director.

● Fencing ● At the FIE Foil World Cup for men and women in Tunis (TUN), the U.S. enjoyed an all-American final with three-time Olympic medalist Alexander Massialas getting the win by 15-12 over Bryce Louie, the 2024 NCAA champion for Penn.

The U.S. team of Massialas, Louie, Nick Itkin and Chase Emmer faced off against Italy in the men’s team final, losing a tight battle, 45-43, earning the silver medal.

Italy went 1-2 in the women’s Foil, with two-time Team World Champion Martina Favaretto defeating two-time World Champion Ariana Errigo in the final, 15-10. Japan won the Team event, defeating Ukraine in the final by 24-22.

Israel’s Yuval Freilich won the men’s FIE Epee World Cup in Vancouver (CAN), winning the final over Eugeni Gavalda (ESP), 15-13. Korean Sera Song, the 2022 World Champion, took the women’s title, beating Katrina Lewis (EST), 15-8.

Hungary defeated Japan for the men’s team title, 45-31; Korea won the women’s team event over Ukraine, 45-34.

● Figure Skating ● American Amber Glenn, the 2024 national champion, scored her second ISU Grand Prix victory of the season, winning the Cup of China in Chongqing, moving from second to first by winning the Free Skate to score 215.54 points. That was enough to edge ahead of Short Program winner Mone Chiba (JPN: 211.91). Glenn now qualifies for the Grand Prix Final in Grenoble (FRA) from 5-8 December.

Japan’s Shun Sato, second in the men’s Singles at Skate Canada International, won in Chongqing with 278.48 points, ahead of Mikhail Shaidorov (KAZ: 276.17), who won the Free Skate. France’s Adam Siao Him Fa, the 2024 European Champion, was third at 252.53.

Italy’s 2023 European Champions Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii won the Pairs at 211.05, winning the Short Program, ahead of Germans Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin (209.36). Conti and Macii were second at the Grand Prix de France and got their first win of the season. Americans Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman finished fifth at 159.92.

In the Ice Dance, two-time European champs Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri won both segments to pile up 209.13 points and win comfortably against Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha (CAN: 205.16). Americans Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko took the bronze at 198.18, their fourth career Grand Prix medal.

● Freestyle Skiing ● The FIS World Cup in Slopestyle in Stubai (AUT) saw American Colby Stevenson, the 2022 Olympic Big Air runner-up, take the season opener in windy conditions, scoring 92.00 on his second run to win over Swiss Andri Ragettli (91.00 on his first run) and Norway’s Tormod Frostad, who scored 90.00 on his second run. American Mac Forehand was fourth at 89.00.

France’s Tess Ledeux, the 2017 Slopestyle World Champion, won the women’s division, scoring 87.00 on her second run, enough to win over Mathilde Gremaud (SUI: 85.00 on first run) and Sarah Hoefflin (SUI: 82.25 on second run). American Marin Hamill was fourth at 80.00.

● Ski Jumping ● The seasonal FIS World Cup opener was in Lillehammer (NOR) off the 140 m hill, for both men and women, with good conditions on Saturday, but snowy on Sunday, with a lower start for safety.

Germany’s Pius Paschke scored 317.1 to get his second career World Cup win in the first men’s competition, trailed by Daniel Tschofenig (AUT: 309.2) and Maximilian Ortner (AUT: 307.1). Tate Frantz (USA) was the top American, in 10th at 292.2.

On Sunday, Austria’s Jan Hoerl, a Team gold medalist at Beijing 2022, handled the conditions best and won at 285.3, posting the best jump in the second round to take the event. He passed Paschke, the first-round leader, who ended up second (277.8). Tschofenig was third at 273.8. Frantz was 10th again (246.5).

Slovenia’s Nika Prevc was a decisive winner in Saturday’s women’s jumping, scoring 269.9 for her eighth career World Cup win, well ahead of Germans Katharina Schmid (247.6) and Selina Freitag (244.4).

Two-time Olympic silver medalist Schmid and Freitag moved up to 1-2 on Sunday, scoring 238.9 and 236.1, respectively, with Lisa Eder (AUT: 231.7) in third. Paige Jones of the U.S. was 29th (145.1).

● Speed Skating ● The ISU World Cup opener was in Nagano (JPN), with American Jordan Stolz once again dominating the competition.

A triple World Champion at 500-1,000-1,500 the last two years, Stolz won the men’s 500 m on day one at 34.43, ahead of 2021 World Champion Laurent Dubreuil (CAN: 34.58), then breezed to a track record 1:43.65 win in the 1,500 m, beating Sander Eitrem (NED: 1:44.59).

On Friday, Stolz won the 1,000 m in a track record of 1:07.18, well ahead of Jenning De Boo (NED: 1:08.29) and Cooper McLeod of the U.S. (1:08.43). Then Stolz won the second 500 m race on Saturday in 34.41, with Japan’s Tatsuya Shinhama second (34.49); McLeod was fifth (34.81). Four races, four wins.

Italian Davide Ghiotto, twice a 10,000 m World Champion, took the 5,000 m in a track record of 6:12.71, followed by Beau Snellink (NED: 6:13.99). American Casey Dawson was eighth (6:21.35). Timothy Loubineaud (FRA) won the Mass Start at 7:52.12, with Daniele de Stefano (ITA: 7:54.35) second.

Italy also won the men’s Team Pursuit at 3:39.82, with the U.S. (Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman, Ethan Cepuran) second in 3:41.83.

The U.S. women got a win from Olympic champ Erin Jackson in the 500 m (37.78), ahead of Dutch star Dione Voskamp (37.84), with fellow American Kimi Goetz in third in 37.98.

Japan’s Miho Takagi, the Olympic 1,000 m gold medalist, won the 1,000 m and 1,500 m – she’s the reigning World Champion in both – in 1:14.60 and 1:55.02. Brittany Bowe of the U.S. was third in the 1,000 m in 1:15.77, with Goetz in fifth at 1:15.56. Bowe was also sixth in the 1,500 m at 1:55.77.

Canada’s Ivanie Blondin, a five-time Worlds gold medalist, won the 3,000 m from Norway’s Ragne Wiklund, 4:03.78 to 4:04.60, then finished second in the women’s Mass Start, behind 2024 Worlds bronze medalist Marijke Groenewoud (NED), 8:36.64 to 8:36.71. American Mia Manganello was fifth in 8:37.81.

The Dutch won the women’s Team Pursuit, with Japan second and the U.S. (Bowe, Manganello and Greta Myers) in third.

● Sport Climbing ● The U.S. won two golds and eight medals at the Pan American Championships in Santiago (CHI).

In the men’s Lead final, Nathan Sato (USA) won at 40+, just ahead of Joaquin Urrutia (CHI: 38+) and fellow American Declan Osgood (34+). The men’s Speed title went to Carlos Granja (ECU) at 5.51, ahead of Thomas Lin (USA: 5.79).

Canada’s Matthew Rodriguez took the Boulder final at 1T4Z ~ 4/13 over American Hugo Hoyer (1T2Z ~ 3/2).

Valentina Aguado (ARG) won the women’s Lead at 41+, ahead of Americans Olivia Ma (38+) and Kyra Condie (37). Andrea Rojas (ECU) won the Speed final over Anahi Riveros (CHI), 7.87-8.71, with American Liberty Runnels winning the third-place final.

The women’s Boulder title went to Adriene Clark of the U.S. at 2T2Z ~ 6/8, ahead of Aguado, who cleared 2T3Z ~ 6/5.

● Swimming ● Tokyo 2020 Olympic open-water gold medalist Florian Wellbrock (GER) triumphed in the finale of the World Aquatics Open Water World Cup in Neom (KSA), swimming in the Red Sea.

Wellbrock won by more than four seconds in 1:50:17.7, ahead of Sacha Velly (FRA: 1:50.21.8) and French teammate (and two-time Worlds open-water gold medalist) Marc-Antoine Olivier (1:50:25.6). Olivier won the seasonal title with 3,100 points ahead of Dario Verani (ITA: 2,850) and Marcello Guidi (ITA: 2,558).

In the women’s 10 km, Olympic silver winner Moesha Johnson (AUS) was a dominant winner at 1:58:52.2, with Lea Boy (GER: 1:59:23.5) second and Paris bronze medalist Ginerva Taddeucci (ITA: 1:59:24.1). Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha won the seasonal title with 2,750 points over Boy (2,638) and Tadeucci (2,200).

In the Mixed 4×1,500 m relay, the German team with Boy on lead-off and Wellbrock on anchor won in 1:07:13.5, ahead of Italy (1:07:34.6) and France (1:08:04.3).

● Table Tennis ● China swept the singles title at the WTT Finals in Fukuoka (JPN), with 2023 Worlds runner-up Chuqin Wang sweeping aside Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN) in the final by 4-0 (11-2, 11-8, 11-7, 11-5). It’s Wang’s third WTT Finals win in a row.

Second-seed Manyu Wang (CHN), the 2021 World Champion, won the all-Chinese women’s final from Xingtong Chen by 4-3: 13-11, 9-11, 4-11, 11-5, 5-11, 11-8 and 11-5.

In the men’s Doubles final, France’s Paris Team bronze medalists Felix LeBrun (18) and Alexis LeBrun (21) won a 3-2 final over Hiroto Shinozuka and Shunsuke Togami (JPN), 12-14, 14-12, 11-6, 7-11, 11-4.

The women’s Doubles final was an all-Japan affair, with Hitomi Sato and Honoka Hashimoto defeating Sakura Yokoi and Satsuki Odo, 3-0 (11-5, 12-10, 11-8).

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SWIMMING: Olympic stars Finke and Huske honored as U.S. swimmers of the year

By
Rich Perelman
-
Golden: Torri Huske, Olympic women's 100 m Butterfly champion! (Photo: USA Swimming)

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≡ GOLDEN GOGGLE AWARDS ≡

USA Swimming’s annual gala, the Golden Goggle Awards, was held in Indianapolis on Saturday evening, with Olympic champions Bobby Finke and Torri Huske winning the athlete of the year honors.

Finke, the Tokyo 2020 gold medalist in the men’s 800 m and 1,500 m Freestyles, set a world record in Paris to win the men’s 1,500 m Free, and also won a silver in the men’s 800 m Free. He was also honored as the men’s “Race of the Year” winner for the world record in the 1,500 m Free.

In her second Olympic Games, Huske won five medals in Paris, taking the gold in the 100 m Butterfly, 4×100 m Medley and Mixed 4×100 m Medley, and silvers in the 100 m Freestyle and 4×100 m Freestyle.

Huske’s 100 m Fly gold-medal swim, a 55.59 to 55.63 win over teammate and world-record holder Gretchen Walsh, was honored as the women’s “Race of the Year.”

Her anchor leg on the women’s 4×100 m Medley finished off a world record 3:49.63 victory with Regan Smith, Lilly King, and Walsh, which was recognized as the “Relay Performance of the Year.”

Walsh was the Breakout Performer of the Year, with a world record in the 100 m Fly at the U.S. Trials, and then four medals in Paris: silver in the 100 m Fly, gold on the 4×100 m Medley and the Mixed 4×100 m Medley, and a silver on the 4×100 m Freestyle.

The Perseverance Award was given to Paige Madden, who made her second Olympic team in 2024, taking a bronze medal in the women’s 800 m Freestyle and a silver on the second leg of the women’s 4×200 m Freestyle.

The Fran Crippen Open Water Swimmer of the Year was awarded to 18-year-old Katie Grimes, the first U.S. qualifier for Paris in swimming, and who finished 15th in the Paris 10 km open-water event, best by an American. She won a silver in the pool in the women’s 400 m Medley.

Todd DeSorbo, the women’s Olympic coach and at the University of Virginia, was the Coach of the Year winner, with five swimmers on the U.S. Olympic Team in Paris.

The Alumni Award – new in 2024 – was given to 1984 Olympic triple Freestyle gold medalist and long-time analyst and commentator Rowdy Gaines. He started with NBC with Olympic commentary at Atlanta in 1996, and ever since; he says he will retire after the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

A special thanks was extended to Arlene McDonald of the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis, the meet director for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2008-12-16-20 and at the record-setting 2024 Olympic Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium. She was honored with the USA Swimming Impact Award.

The USA Swimming Foundation Impact Award was given to Scott and Lorraine Davison, sponsors of learn-to-swim efforts in Indiana. Scott Davison, the Chair of OneAmerica Financial, was a co-Chair of the 2024 Olympic Trials organizing committee.

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ANTI-DOPING: German report says 18 national anti-doping agencies upset with WADA over 2021 Chinese doping incident and USADA vendetta

By
Rich Perelman
-
Headquarters of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Photo: U.S. Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party)

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≡ INTEL REPORT ≡

The ongoing war of words between the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency has boiled over, according to a new report from the German ARD channel’s doping watchdog team.

A new feature on Sunday’s “Sportschau” program explained:

“There is growing resentment about how the World Anti-Doping Agency is handling the suspected doping case involving the 23 Chinese swimmers. 18 leading national anti-doping agencies – including from France, Germany and Japan – have sent a joint letter with questions and demands to the international supervisory organisation.”

ARD’s doping editorial team, led by Hajo Seppelt, quoted the head of the German anti-doping agency, Lars Mortsiefer concerning the actions (and inactions) of the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency in regard to the positive tests of 23 Chinese swimmers for trimetazidine in January 2021 that resulted in no provisional suspensions and eventually no sanctions at all:

“We can see that an institution, a NADO, has not adhered to the rules set out in the World Anti-Doping Code.

“And in this context, it was important to us that the consequences of this are also independently investigated.”

The story also quotes the heads of the anti-doping agencies of France and South Africa, and further noted the current status of the WADA-USADA feud:

● “WADA have confirmed to the ARD doping editorial team that they have filed a lawsuit in Switzerland against the United States Anti-Doping Agency, USADA, for defamation.”

● It was further reported that WADA is not allowing in-person participation of USADA personnel on WADA committee or commission meetings, but only online.

● There is concern that the incoming Trump Administration will delay or refuse to pay its agreed-on WADA dues – as it did previously – in view of what it may be considered to be inappropriate bias against the USADA.

The USADA posted a furious reply on 20 November to WADA’s September “response” letter to the Central European Anti-Doping Organisation (CEADO); the WADA letter questioned the competence, efficiency and political motives of the U.S. agency.

USADA posted two letters, from USADA Board Chair Dr. Tobie Smith and from USADA chief executive Travis Tygart. Smith’s letter included:

“[T]the CEADO Chair directly and through the NADO [Expert Advisory Group] has now engaged in an informed, fact-based discussion, bringing to light the extent of the falsehoods in CEADO’s letter to you, which we now understand was prompted by WADA. The baseless and defamatory claims outlined in your letter and the CEADO letter are being revealed for what they are – a politically motivated diversion to undermine the credibility of USADA and to attempt to weaken trust in the U.S. sports governance at the very time the world is demanding answers from you as to why you allowed China to violate the rules.”

The ARD story indicates that the heated atmosphere over the USADA frustration concerning the handling of the 2021 Chinese doping incident is now spreading to anti-doping organizations elsewhere, increasing the pressure on WADA and specifically its President, Witold Banka (POL) and Director General Olivier Niggli (SUI).

WADA has confirmed previously that USADA’s status is being considered by the organization’s Compliance Review Committee. At the end of all the talk, it is possible that WADA could move toward a suspension of USADA, which – if implemented – would have follow-on effects, including a ban on the holding of major international events in the country until reinstatement.

That would directly impact the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the 2034 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, but possibly also the 2026 FIFA World Cup and many smaller events.

The next act in the drama comes on 5 December in Riyadh (KSA), where the WADA Executive Committee and Foundation Board – including Dr. Rahul Gupta from the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy – are scheduled to meet.

Beyond that will be the attitude toward all of this by the next IOC President, to be elected in March at the IOC Session in Greece.

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BOXING: Asian confederation votes to stay with IBA, then President and Secretary General both resign, with a rival confederation to be formed!

By
Rich Perelman
-
ASBC President Pichai Chunhavajira of Thailand, resigning his position at the end of the ASBC Extraordinary Congress (Photo: ASBC live stream screen shot).

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≡ ASIAN BOXING CONFEDERATION ≡

An Extraordinary Congress of the Asian Boxing Confederation on Saturday saw the group vote to stay affiliated with the International Boxing Association, with the result causing the ASBC President and Secretary General to resign and a second Asian confederation to be created.

The three-and-a-half hour session in Bangkok (THA) focused on one issue: whether the ASBC is to become an independent organization, not affiliated with the IBA, requiring a change in the ASBC Constitution.

Ultimately, the decision was made to remain affiliated. The voting total showed 10 in favor of independence, 23 against and one abstention (34 votes total).

This was the second time that the ASBC – which has 42 members – has voted to remain with the IBA, although 15 member federations have joined World Boxing. A prior Extraordinary Congress, on 31 August, rejected membership for the ASBC in World Boxing by 21-14, with one invalid vote.

The impact of the decision on Saturday resulted in the resignations of the ASBC President, the Thailand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Pichai Chunhavajira, and Secretary General Ali Salameh (JOR).

Both resignations will be effective as of the end of the ASBC Asian Elite Men and Women Boxing Championships, to be held in Chiang Mai (THA) from 28 November to 12 December.

In closing remarks to the Congress, Chunhavajira, 75, a long-time executive in the energy industry, told the delegates:

“While I respect the decision made by the Congress today, I must always acknowledge the journey we have undertaken over the course of this Congress to make this crucial decision.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation – my resignation, one more time – as ASBC President, effective after the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships in Chang Mai.

“I will dedicate myself fully to ensuring that boxing remains in the Olympics, embarking on a new path to protect and promote the sport we all cherish. Thank you for your trust, support and passion for Asian boxing.”

Chunhavajira then added some more remarks just after the meeting was declared formally closed, in his capacity as the head of the Thai Boxing Association:

“I have a short message to deliver to members, you know, not in the ASBC agenda. As a representative of Thailand Boxing Association, and in order to achieve our commitment of safeguarding boxing’s place within the Olympic Movement, I would like to announce the initiation of a new Asian confederation under the umbrella of World Boxing.

“This step is crucial to strengthen the voice of Asia, protecting the rights of our athletes, and ensuring transparent, fair and sustainable futures for our sport. Together we will build a structure that prioritizes the interest of federations and boxers align with Olympic standards, and promote unity and growth across the continent.

“Let’s work together with dedication and transparency to preserve the legacy of Asian boxing and its rightful place in the global Olympic community. I would like to share my idea. Thank you.”

Chunhavajira was elected as the ASBC President in March 2022; Salameh has been ASBC Secretary General since 2019.

All of this is a result of the 2023 expulsion of the IBA from the Olympic Movement and the danger that boxing will not be included on the Olympic program at Los Angeles in 2028. The International Olympic Committee has been clear that it will require a new International Federation to govern Olympic boxing and it will not be the IBA.

World Boxing was formed in November 2023 to take that position, and has 55 members so far, of which 15 are from Asia. That’s the core of the new Asian confederation that Chunhavajira will be leading, but it will need more members to receive IOC recognition.

The IBA, was, of course delighted, with Secretary General Chris Roberts (GBR) noting:

“This is a significant moment for our organization as a whole. The ASBC Congress has spoken loud and clear: Asian nations are committed to staying with the IBA. I’m thrilled to see that the Congress delegates respected the Constitution and stood firm.”

The IOC expects to make a decision about boxing and LA28 in the first quarter of 2025.

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ATHLETICS: $10 million Ultimate Championship in 2026 to have 28 events, but no shot, discus or steeplechase

By
Rich Perelman
-
The National Athletics Centre in Budapest (HUN), site of the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

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≡ ULTIMATE CHAMPIONSHIP ≡

World Athletics provided more details on its new “Ultimate Championship,” designed as a season-ending, high-prize-money meet in each year that a World Athletics Championship is not held.

In this position, it will take over the spotlight from the annual Diamond League Final and from the Olympic Games, which will take place in mid-July in 2028.

The 26 individual events and two relays:

● Sprints: 100 m, 200 m, 400 m for men and women
● Distance: 800 m, 1,500 m, 5,000 m for men and women
● Hurdles: 100/110 m hurdles, 400 m hurdles for women and men
● Jumps: High Jump, Pole Vault, Long Jump for men and women
● Jumps: Triple Jump for women only
● Throws: Javelin for men and women
● Throws: Hammer for men only
● Relays: Mixed 4×100 m, Mixed 4×400 m

Not on the program are the men’s and women’s 4×100 and 4×400 m relays, the 3,000 m Steeplechase, the 10,000 m and the shot put and discus throw. No reason was given for the exclusion of these events – notably the shot and disc – but the meet is to be held within a three-hour window over three nights on 11-12-13 September 2025.

The outlines of the meet were announced in June:

● $10 million in prize money, with $150,000 for each winner, but no further details on other payments.

● Eight to 16 entries per event, with selections primarily based on the World Athletics world rankings.

● Finals only in the field events, but semifinals in the shorter running events.

World Athletics stated that “athletes [will be] representing both themselves and their national teams, wearing national kit.”

This is also an important experimental meet for World Athletics. As a new event and not part of the existing World Athletics Series or Diamond League, it is not covered by the existing agreement that gives the Japanese advertising giant Dentsu exclusive rights – “all marketing and licensing rights worldwide and all media rights worldwide outside of Europe and Africa” – to existing World Athletics events through 2029.

Friday’s announcement on the Ultimate Championship added:

“World Athletics has also appointed Infront to lead the charge on international media rights sales for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, working in true partnership with World Athletics on a new and coordinated approach to market this made-for-TV event.”

The Budapest National Athletics Centre, which hosted the very successful 2023 World Athletics Championships in a stadium built with an expanded capacity of 36,000, has been reduced to a permanent capacity of 14,000.

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ALPINE SKIING: Amazing Shiffrin gets 99th career World Cup in Austria, could get no. 100 in Vermont next week

By
Rich Perelman
-
American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin

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≡ ALPINE WORLD CUP ≡

American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin makes history almost every time she put on her skis and did it again on Saturday with a win in the Slalom at Gurgl (AUT).

It’s her 99th career World Cup win, extending her own World Cup record for the most victories ever.

As usual, she got off to a hot start, recording the fastest first run at 51.08, 0.13 up on Wendy Holdener (SUI), the 2018 Olympic Slalom silver medalist.

That placed Shiffrin as the 30th racer for the second run and she needed a 49.68 time to win the event. No problem; she had the fifth-fastest run on the field at 49.14 and had a two-run total of 1:40.22 to win easily from surprising 18-year-old Albanian Lara Colturi (1:40.77) – who won her first World Cup medal – and Camilla Rast (SUI: 1:40.79). Holdener ended up fourth.

Shiffrin said afterwards she had her doubts at the start of the second run:

“I was really nervous on the top. I could hear all the women going down and their teams were cheering and that always means they had a really good run. And it was getting darker and I was like … I don’t think it’s happening today.

“I knew all the struggles I would have, or challenges and I tried to push anyway.”

She did and now has the chance to reach 100 career World Cup wins – she passed Sweden Ingemar Stenmark’s former record of 86 wins in March 2023 – in front of American fans at next week’s races at Killington, Vermont, with a Giant Slalom on Saturday and a Slalom on Sunday. She knows it will not be easy:

“It’s not impossible, but so many things have to go right. I think from outside it looks it looks easy, or it looks like it’s supposed to happen this way, but even today took so much energy to bring out my top skiing.

“So, it’s not easy, and everybody’s pushing and catching up. And so, I’m not taking that for granted.”

But Shiffrin has won the Slalom six times in Killington, in 2016-17-18-19-21-23, so she will be favored. And at just 29, she has averaged more than eight wins a year in her career so far:

● 2013: 4
● 2014: 5
● 2015: 6
● 2016: 5
● 2017: 11
● 2018: 12
● 2019: 17
● 2020: 6
● 2021: 3
● 2022: 5
● 2023: 14
● 2024: 9
● 2025: 2

Getting to 100 next week might simply be another milestone to putting the record for World Cup wins away for decades.

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PANORAMA: FIFA opens hospitality “deposit” program for 2026 World Cup; ski jump suits now controlled with chips; star triathlete Brownlee retires

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Boxing ● With the Asian Boxing Confederation Extraordinary Congress coming up on Saturday (23rd) in Bangkok (THA) to vote on whether it should be an independent organization until a new governing body for Olympic boxing is recognized, the International Boxing Association once again posted a message reminding everyone about money, including:

“Through initiatives like the Financial Support Programme (FSP), launched in 2021, IBA has become an indispensable partner for all our National Federations. This program, which allocates up to $20,000 annually per federation, ensures financial stability, supports grassroots development, and funds participation in major international tournaments. The unparalleled scale of IBA’s investment — over $80 million in prize money through 2028 — further cements its position as the only organization capable of providing the resources and opportunities necessary for the growth of the sport.”

The problem for the IBA and for the Asian confederation is that there is no international federation for boxing recognized by the International Olympic Committee after the IBA was expelled from the Olympic Movement in June 2023. So the IBA is not going to be involved with Olympic boxing going forward, and, for the Asian federations, participation in the Olympic Games in 2028 and beyond is crucial. The next step comes Saturday.

● Cycling ● At the USA Cycling Madison National Championships in Detroit, Michigan on 15-16 November, Ashlin Barry and Enzo Edmonds won the men’s Madison with 47 points, and Jessica Chong and Stephanie Lawrence won the women’s Elite with 35 points.

● Football ● The race for tickets for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. has started. From a Thursday announcement:

“Fans now have the chance to secure priority access to FIFA World Cup 26 hospitality packages via the tournament’s first-ever hospitality deposit programme. … Deposit vouchers will begin at USD 500 and will be fully refundable.

“On Location, appointed by FIFA as the Official Hospitality Provider of the FIFA World Cup 26, will manage the programme. The launch represents the first time that FIFA has used a deposit programme ahead of a general sales period, giving fans a simple and secure route to guarantee priority access to ticket-inclusive hospitality packages for the FIFA World Cup 26.”

The tournament is expanding to 48 teams and 104 matches for 2026, beginning on 11 July 2026 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The deposit program will be open for about three months:

“From today and until Sunday, 16 February 2025, a priority access deposit window will be open to enable fans to purchase a fully refundable deposit voucher through a secure platform. A conversion window will then follow, and holders of a deposit voucher will be contacted by On Location to explore a range of options to suit their needs before any purchase is necessary.”

No pricing on the actual packages has been posted yet.

FIFA announced a new batch of “Team Base Camp” options for the 2026 World Cup, with 26 new pairings of training sites and hotels for teams.

A total of 49 sites are now being offered, with six in Mexico and the others in the U.S. None are in Canada. Among the sites are MLS stadiums in Cincinnati, Dallas and Philadelphia and the NFL’s Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin!

The 2026 World Cup Draw will be held in December, 2025, determining which teams will play where. The Team Base Camp options list will be continue to be expanded during 2025.

● Modern Pentathlon ● An update of Wednesday’s story on the UIPM Congress in Saudi Arabia added details on long-time UIPM Treasurer John Helmick (USA). He withdrew as a candidate for re-election after giving his report on Saturday and prior to the UIPM Presidential election. Also, the UIPM posted the result of his disciplinary hearing, which found “no willful misconduct,” but was negligent with authority given to a third party.

The story has been updated.

● Shooting ● The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) posted a notice that all athletes must complete a new “Athlete Declaration” for the 2025 season and beyond, which among other requirements includes:

“I agree that, for the purposes of promoting shooting sport worldwide, immediately after each Final of the ISSF competition, I will make myself available for interviews with TV rights holders and ISSF TV production team in the TV Mixed Zone of the respective competition, upon their request, to the extent, quantity and scope that is reasonable and that can be expected of an international athlete.”

No requirements to talk to online or print media, but shooters will have to speak with the ISSF’s own camera crews and those who have purchased television rights.

● Ski Jumping ● The International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) has implemented new rules on … jumping suits:

“The custom-made suits worn by ski jumpers are among the most scrutinized equipment in winter sports, and for good reason. As well as having a thickness of 4-6mm, and possessing a specific permeability, excess slack (tolerance) can unfairly aid ‘flight.’

“Coaches and athletes continue to ask suit manufacturers to push the boundaries in terms of materials used to maximize distances. And while jumpers from top nations can use multiple outfits in a competition – some getting through 40 or 50 in a season – those from smaller nations may only be able to source a handful for an entire campaign.”

So, a new regulation: “an athlete can only wear one suit per competition and a maximum of eight per FIS Ski Jumping World Cup season with an extra two for FIS World Championships.”

Enforcement has been an issue with past rules, but now a radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip has been designed to be inserted in seven sections of men’s suits (nine pieces in a men’s suit) and five for women (out of 11 pieces). What’s the impact? The season starts in Lillehammer (NOR) on Friday (22nd) and then we will see.

● Triathlon ● Two-time Olympic gold medalist Alistair Brownlee (GBR) announced his retirement on Thursday, at 36, closing one of the sport’s most memorable careers.

He explained after last a bronze-medal finish at Sunday’s T100 race in Dubai (17th):

“I have been doing it for a long time and there’s so many other things in sport I want to be able to do. I want to be able to do all kinds of endurance challenges. I want to stay fit and healthy and be part of sport, hopefully into my old age. And I’m definitely aware, you know, putting the miles on the clock and wearing things down. So I want to retire fit and healthy and not be forced to retire by injury and illness or whatever.”

He won individual World Championship titles in 2009 and 2011, four European titles and 22 World Triathlon Series, the most ever. He was appointed to the IOC Athletes’ Commission in 2022 and continues to serve.

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NCAA: Ohio State Athletic Director tells Buckeye Nation all sports will be supported, but with less athletes and more scholarships

By
Rich Perelman
-
Ohio Stadium at The Ohio State University (Photo: The Ohio State University).

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≡ SPOTLIGHT ≡

The Ohio State University athletic department, powered by its championship-caliber football team, set a record for revenue in fiscal 2023 with a staggering $279,549,337 total from July of 2022 to the end of June in 2023.

That supports 36 sports, with 16 men’s teams, 17 women’s teams and three mixed-gender teams, about 1,000 student-athletes, with total expenses of $274,948,554.

In an open letter published Thursday, OSU Athletics Director Ross Bjork explained that the proposed settlement in the House vs. NCAA lawsuit is going to change the landscape, for both Ohio State and all other Division I NCAA athletic departments.

In short: more money for fewer athletes, but the same number of sports. Wrote Bjork:

“Recently, the U.S. District Court issued preliminary approval of the settlement agreement, with a final decision scheduled for April 7, 2025. Once finalized, this landmark settlement will reshape collegiate athletics and bring much needed clarity, not only for Ohio State but also our peers in the Big Ten and across NCAA Division I.

“When the settlement is approved, here are the key changes that will go into effect July 1, 2025:

“● Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Payments also referred to as “revenue sharing” for student-athletes: Ohio State University will be permitted to directly compensate student-athletes through NIL licensing agreements, anticipated to be $20.5 million in 2025-26. This new allocation of our department’s resources will increase annually by at least 4%.

“Previously, student-athletes could only receive scholarships and be compensated for NIL agreements supported by external entities.

“● Roster and Scholarship Adjustments: New NCAA roster limits will set a cap on the number of athletes eligible for each team, and programs will now be permitted to fund as many scholarships as there are roster spots.

“● NIL Backpay for Eligible Athletes: All Division I athletes who participated in collegiate sports between 2016 and 2024 are eligible for backpay for NIL earnings.”

“With support from President [Ted] Carter, and our Board of Trustees, we are committed to maintaining 36 intercollegiate sports and athletic scholarships for all 36 programs, while also fully funding the $20.5 million dollars of direct payments to student-athletes. After a thorough review of factors such as Title IX compliance, national and conference sport sponsorship trends, our history of competitive success, and a sound fiscal plan, we are excited to announce the addition of 91 new scholarships across both women’s and men’s sports.”

It isn’t all Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows, however.

The Ohio State news release concerning the letter also noted:

“The NCAA will now implement roster limits nationally rather than scholarship limits for each sport. As a result, the number of Ohio State varsity student-athletes will decrease by approximately 150, but the total number of Ohio State athletic scholarships available will increase by 91 scholarships. This new investment will allow Ohio State’s programs to continue to compete for and win championships.

“Currently, most Ohio State student-athletes do not receive a full scholarship and 30% receive no athletic aid. As the department transitions from scholarship limits to roster limits, the number of student-athletes provided full or partial scholarships is expected to increase for most sports. All varsity sports will continue to offer scholarship opportunities.

“In addition, and unrelated to the House settlement, the athletics department has determined that the co-ed rifle and pistol teams will become women-only sports by 2029.”

Bjork closed his message with a call for more giving from Ohio State fans, this time to be used – in part – to pay students to play sports. And:

“We will also continue to work diligently to further reduce operating expenses while uncovering many of the new revenue sources that fit Ohio State traditional values.”

Observed: Ohio State was the biggest athletic department in the country by revenue in 2023, so it will be able to do more than just about anyone else. So the reality of the new athlete landscape coming in 2025 is more money for players (but mostly for football and men’s basketball), more scholarships for athletes and less athletes on teams.

The days of the walk-on at Division I schools appear to be numbered, but it is not at all clear how schools outside of the big-time Football Bowl Subdivision will be impacted, and opportunities at non-football and Division II or III schools may be more open-ended.

All of this is to be determined. But where Ohio State – the biggest-money school in the U.S. – goes, others are sure to at least try to follow.

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MODERN PENTATHLON: New UIPM chief Stull looking for an “iconic venue” for 2028, says sport “not a rescue operation” at all

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ THE BIG PICTURE ≡

Before last week’s 73rd Congress of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM), Rob Stull was a two-time Olympian and head of the USA Pentathlon national federation.

Now he’s the UIPM President and responsible for taking the sport forward after Klaus Schormann (GER) exited the federation presidency after 31 years. Modern pentathlon barely made it onto the program of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles after replacing riding with obstacle racing, at the behest of the International Olympic Committee.

In a Thursday morning online session with reporters, Stull is looking forward to a bright future for the sport:

“Absolutely it’s not a rescue operation. In fact … what I tell people is, I don’t look at our sport defensively. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been involved for, you know, 40-plus years; there have been challenges. And I acknowledge that.

“However, I do not look at our current position in a defensive mode at all. In fact, we’re quite the opposite. It’s very much an offensive action in terms of building the sport, growing the sport, new audiences.

“Don’t forget, pentathlon is five disciplines. So we have a new fifth discipline [obstacle] which is 20% of the sport. But certainly not everything. … I’ve got a background in a lot of other things and we’re excited about all of it.

“So what I’m hoping to see is what we saw in Paris, but even elevated, if you can imagine. [Paris] was just so exciting.”

As for Los Angeles, no venue has been announced for modern pentathlon, but it’s a priority for Stull:

“I have some ideas that are that are exciting. I want to try very hard for that iconic venue, right? That’s the thing. I want to deliver on that. It was a campaign promise. I met with the LA28 leadership in Paris. It was wonderful. The folks who came out from LA28, they brought their whole team out to pentathlon, so they saw, they saw what it can be.”

No, the Hollywood sign is not available as a venue.

Asked about the future of obstacle events to be added as a part of the Olympic modern pentathlon program, Stull explained he is focused on the here and now:

“My job is to take the road to L.A. 2028. Paris was a huge success for, I would say, probably everybody, but certainly for pentathlon. And, boy, the numbers were off the charts and so that bar has been raised and set, and we need to meet and exceed that in the modern pentathlon. Beyond that, my crystal ball is cloudy; I don’t know what it’s going to say.”

Stull was always doing multiple things as an athlete – he made the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team in both fencing and pentathlon – and was on the board of World Obstacle as late as 2021, in addition to being head of USA Pentathlon. He explained his initial interest in obstacle was related to the future of pentathlon:

“Well, my beginnings in obstacle really had nothing to do with where it is today.

“What I was looking for was, pentathlon, as you know, founded by [Pierre] de Coubertin – you all know the history, I’m sure – it wasn’t designed as a mass-participation event. initially. And so I was looking for something that would add that mass participation element to it.

“And I found obstacle and it fit the Coubertin narrative, and that was literally a way to build the sport, to find a way to get to a lot of kids and find that very few, that very narrow margin of individuals that want to continue on into a true multi-sport event which modern pentathlon is. It’s really as a recruiting tool, that’s that’s how it happened.”

Stull was also asked about the future of the UIPM and all of the drama that has surrounded the sport since the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the horse-hitting incident that ended up challenging its place on the Olympic program and eventually changing the nature of the sport itself. He was positive about what’s next:

“[O]ne of the exciting things that come out of the Congress was the fact that we turned over, you know, nearly half the board. And so we have a bunch of new faces – not necessarily new to the sport, of course – but new to the Executive Board. And that’s a very exciting thing. …

“[T]he people that are involved, I think, are going to [be] insisting on transparency, insisting on better governance.”

Stull said he was not yet aware of what increase the federation may receive from the International Olympic Committee in terms of a television rights share, a key opportunity for more resources for the UIPM looking forward to 2028. It received $12.98 million for both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

Modern pentathlon has been the smallest sport on the Olympic program for some time, and Schormann’s major achievement in 31 years in office was to maintain its place in the Games. Stull now has the challenge of trying to go beyond that narrative. It won’t be easy, but he is enthusiastic to try.

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LOS ANGELES 2028: LA28 organizing committee revenue streams to date confirmed; IOC contribution a bit lower than projected

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ THE BIG PICTURE ≡

In November 2021, LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman told the Los Angeles City Council:

“[A]s we sit here today, with well over half our revenue contracted, and we are prepared to deliver the Games – if we had to – with the revenue we have today.

“Now we don’t believe that [$6.884 billion] will be our final revenue number. We feel very confident in our ability to drive revenue over the next seven years because of the economic platform that is both Los Angeles and the United States, and our ability to leverage incredible venues, incredible universities, incredible civic locations to make these Games truly unique.”

Three years later, Wasserman and others – including Chief Financial Officer Karen Sturges last July – have told City Council committees that LA28 has 64% of its $6.884 billion revenue target already under contract. Sturges told the Ad Hoc Committee on the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games:

“On the revenue side of the $6.9 [billion budget], we do have 64% of that number secured. The cash has not come in, we haven’t recognized it, but it is contractually secured. We feel very good about that. We feel like we’re ahead in terms of other organizing committees at this time and have a path to achieve 100%.

“By the end of this year, we will publish a new budget, which will show the contingency amount with a lot greater fidelity on the costs of commodities, services and what not.”

Last week, Wasserman was asked about the sources of that 64% at a news conference with the International Olympic Committee’s Coordination Commission, and explained that beyond the funding from the IOC:

“Our revenue streams that are contracted today are hospitality-ticketing, sponsorship and licensing.”

It’s the first time those specific areas have been confirmed, to make up the $4.4 billion in contracted revenue. So, that 64% is coming from:

● International Olympic Committee, via the Host City Contract (more on this below);

● Sponsorships, of which more than $1.6 billion has been contracted, according to comments Wasserman made to the Los Angeles Times;

● Hospitality and ticketing commitments, led by hospitality provider On Location, with ticketing services being provided by AXS and Eventim;

● Licensing, led by a large commitment by Fanatics, and an already long list of licensees of various categories and products.

What’s the breakdown?

The IOC’s 2028 Host City Contract, signed in 2017, promises $898 million to LA28 from television rights sales and an estimated $437 million share of the IOC’s TOP sponsorship revenues. The contract also projects an additional $200 million to LA28 from renewals and renegotiations of sponsorship agreements. That’s a total of $1.535 billion.

However, the IOC has lost three TOP sponsors post-Paris, with Japanese companies Bridgestone, Panasonic and Toyota stating that they will not be renewing their sponsorship agreements.

At last week’s news conference, Wasserman confirmed that the IOC payments are now expected to be “a little less than $1.5 [billion].”

So if the 64% contracted revenue number is about $4.4 billion, where does LA28 stand? Wasserman demurred on any details, but let’s project it this way:

● The IOC is now covering perhaps $1.4 billion now, instead of $1.535 billion. But there could be more, perhaps, with a share of significant increases in television rights sales for the IOC, notably in India with the addition of cricket to the program?

● Wasserman told The Times last December that LA28’s own sponsorship commitments were up to $1.6 billion out of a planned $2.52 billion. With a handful of added partners announced since then, perhaps the total is $1.7 billion?

● Hospitality and ticketing guarantees, especially from On Location, could be as high as $1.0 billion, out of an expected $1.93 billion total in the LA28 budget.

● Licensing and merchandising would then be left at about $300 million in guarantees to get to $4.4 billion overall.

Those are guesses, but they add up to $4.4 billion, or 64% of the $6.884 billion revenue target. The loss of IOC monies below the $1.535 billion number creates a hole – that $200 million in renewals was included – but there is time yet.

On the LA28 Web site now – more than three-and-a-half years out – 30 companies are listed as partners, sponsors, supporters and licensees of the organizing committee:

● 2: Founding Partners: Comcast, Delta
● 3: Hospitality & Ticketing: AXS, Eventim, On Location
● 2: Official Sponsors: Cisco, Lilly
● 5: Official Supporters
● 3: Official Licensees for various apparel
● 15: Licensees, led by Fanatics

In contrast, by mid-2021 – three years prior to the 2024 Games – the Paris organizers had announced three “Premium Partners” and four “Official Partners.” By the year-to-go mark, there were six Premium Partners, 14 Official Partners and 28 Official Supporters.

By the time of the Games in 2024: seven Premium Partners, 13 Official Partners and 50 Official Supporters, a total of 70 companies in the top three tiers, 63 of whom came on in the final 36 months prior to the Games. LA28 has a lot of selling to do, but also has time to do it.

All of this, of course, assumes that the $6.884 billion cost budget does not increase significantly – there is a $615 million contingency allowance – and Sturges indicated a revised forecast will be available by year’s end.

A lot of folks will be counting on that.

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PANORAMA: LA84 Foundation reaching for systemic change via sports; NBC to spin off cable channels; player strike at FIFA Club World Cup possible

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Olympic Games 1984: Los Angeles ● The living legacy of the 1984 Olympic Games is the LA84 Foundation, established with a 40% share of the $232.5 million surplus from the staging of that Games.

The Foundation has expanded its reach beyond the original concept of “putting bats and balls in the hands of boys and girls” in the Los Angeles area. Chief executive Renata Simril explained the change in approach in a new post in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. In part:

“[W]e had to innovate. We had to do something different if we were going to live up to the legacy of the 1984 Olympics. The world has changed, and our approach had to change with it. Our focus could no longer simply be on how many kids we reached or how many grants we awarded. We needed to address the systemic barriers that were preventing kids on the margins from accessing the benefits of sports and play. We needed to think bigger and act more boldly.

“This shift in thinking led to the creation of the Play Equity Fund, a 501(c)3 public charity focused on building youth voice and creating pathways to enriched opportunities through sports, play, and movement. We understood that we needed to go beyond traditional grantmaking models and adopt an enterprise approach to philanthropy. Two organizations with one mission. Through this model, we have built a play equity movement aimed at creating collective impact, and yes—with a laser focus on equity and social justice.

“At its core, our work at the Play Equity Fund is about more than just giving kids a chance to play; it’s about addressing the deep, systemic inequities that prevent marginalized communities from accessing the opportunities that sports, play, and movement provide. It’s a concept that recognizes sports and play are essential for a child’s physical, emotional, social, and academic development and that disparities in access to sport and play can perpetuate inequality in other areas.”

The results have gone far afield of simple grant-making, for example $15 million of public funding for organizations using sports as a took for social intervention in Los Angeles County, and creating a fund for regional approaches to systemic change, to complex issues such as mental health, obesity and personal isolation in the digital age. Observed Simril:

“Sports, play, and movement can reconnect our youth to their communities, build resilience, and offer them a sense of purpose.”

● NBC ● A major announcement Wednesday from Comcast Corporation, parent company of U.S. Olympic rights-holder NBC, said that seven of its cable television channels – CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MSNBC, Oxygen, Syfy and USA Network – will be spun off into a separate company.

Comcast will retain the NBC broadcast network, NBC News, NBC Sports, the Peacock streaming service and the Bravo cable channel.

This will necessarily thin the cable-channel space available for NBC’s Olympic-related programming; for Paris 2024, NBC placed Olympic events on CNBC, E!, Golf Channel and especially USA Network. Such programming could simply be shuffled off to Peacock to continue its growth, but may not be helpful to sports looking to grow their profile.

● Aquatics ● The Russian news agency TASS reported that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be able to compete – as “neutrals” – in relays and team events in artistic swimming and diving.

Prior approvals for “neutrals” were for individual events only.

● Athletics ● World Athletics announced its nominees for national federation of the year, with USA Track & Field as one of the finalists. The six nominees are Ghana, India, Paraguay, Portugal, Solomon Islands and USATF. Of the American federation, the nomination notes:

“US athletes achieved 34 medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, securing the top spot on the medal table, with performances including world records by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the 400m hurdles and by the mixed 4x400m team. The team’s Olympic performance in Paris was driven by a diverse range of medals in sprints, jumps and throws.

“The federation also showcased its strength by achieving first place in the medal tables at the World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24 and the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24. One of the key factors behind these successes has been the implementation of an athletics development programme that covers all categories and events.”

The winner will be announced in December.

● Football ● “We have seen players’ strikes in different sports. We also have seen it in professional football and the players (have) proactively talked about it.

“I think it’s quite a unique moment in terms of how connected players are on this issue. So I, personally, would also not rule anything out at this point.”

That’s from Alexander Bielefeld (GER), the FIFPRO director of policy and strategic relations, as reported by The Associated Press on Wednesday. The FIFA Club World Cup, expanded from seven to 32 teams for 2025, is scheduled for 15 June to 13 July in the U.S. at 12 sites and has drawn continuing criticism from player groups concerned over the expansion of matches being played at clubs and national teams.

● Weightlifting ● U.S. lifters have steadily improved, winning two medals (1-0-1) at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with other promising performances pointing to future success.

So, USA Weightlifting has taken the next step and announced a new National Team Program, creating a program for “youth, junior, and senior-aged U.S. weightlifters and offers numerous developmental opportunities, including regular training camps, biomechanical analysis, and consultations with National Team coaches and performance experts, along with the opportunity to receive performance-based funding and bonuses. …

“The National Team Program splits athletes into gold, silver, bronze, and developmental levels based on age and performance history. The top-12-ranked athletes in each gender, which make up the gold and silver levels, have the opportunity to receive monthly funding and expense reimbursement opportunities to aid their continued success. The bronze level focuses on developing the two highest-ranked U23 lifters in each gender after the gold and silver levels, and the developmental level focuses on setting the foundation of the future of United States weightlifting by developing the top-25 youth and junior athletes who aren’t already in the gold, silver or bronze levels.”

● Enhanced Games ● Not much has been heard about the Enhanced Games recently, the doping-welcomed event, but it’s still in formation, with promoter Aron D’Souza (AUS) telling GearJunkie.com, “So much scientific progress has been held back by a bunch of sports bureaucrats.”

The event has been harshly criticized by anti-doping authorities and International Federations on health grounds, but no dates or site information has been shared. D’Souza said the venue and dates will be revealed in December 2024 or January of 2025. Competitions will be held in combat events, gymnastics, swimming, track and field and weightlifting.

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ANTI-DOPING: USADA calls WADA’s September letter savaging U.S. anti-doping “defamatory” and “unacceptable”

By
Rich Perelman
-
From Michelangelo's immortal "The Last Judgment" (1535-41) in the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

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≡ USADA vs. WADA ≡

On 6 September, the World Anti-Doping Agency sent a three-page letter to the Board Chair of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, Dr. Tobie Smith, complaining vociferously about its performance, noting a letter from the Central European Anti-Doping Organization (CEADO):

“The letter expresses alarm that athletes competing at a very high level, such as within the college sports system and professional leagues, do not receive the protection of the Code and are not bound by its provisions. In addition, the signatories to the letter appeared to be concerned that the U.S. was sending athletes to major events, such as the Olympic Games and World Championships, without being sufficiently tested in advance.”

On Tuesday, USADA made public two letters, a two-page reply from Smith and a six-page roasting from USADA chief executive Travis Tygart, ripping WADA for a variety of misstatements and abuse.

Smith’s letter to WADA President Witold Banka (POL) included:

● “[W]e have repeatedly offered to meet with you and even offered to have others from sport and/or the anti-doping community join in such a meeting, but you continue to refuse. Your rejection of dialogue in favor of a steadfast campaign of division shows the lengths you will go to avoid answering basic questions about your failed handling of the 23 Chinese TMZ positives [from January 2021].”

● “What we now clearly see is that your defamatory letter in September was not merely an attempt to undermine the credibility of USADA and Travis Tygart but also a baseless and false attack on the integrity of U.S. athletes and their athletic accomplishments. It is difficult to reconcile your actions with your background as a former athlete and your current responsibility to lead the global fight for clean sport. The Olympic and Paralympic movements, and all athletes, deserve a higher standard of leadership and integrity.”

● “Your letter reflects not just a misunderstanding, but what appears to be an intentional misrepresentation of the U.S. sports system which has caused harm to USADA and to U.S. athletes. …

“[T]the CEADO Chair directly and through the NADO [Expert Advisory Group] has now engaged in an informed, fact-based discussion, bringing to light the extent of the falsehoods in CEADO’s letter to you, which we now understand was prompted by WADA. The baseless and defamatory claims outlined in your letter and the CEADO letter are being revealed for what they are – a politically motivated diversion to undermine the credibility of USADA and to attempt to weaken trust in the U.S. sports governance at the very time the world is demanding answers from you as to why you allowed China to violate the rules.”

The 2,827-word reply from Tygart pulled no punches and noted:

“When you eventually responded to our requests for dialogue, you declined offers of collaboration, and you mischaracterized our statements, pursued a costly and unfounded lawsuit against USADA, and sought to exclude Dr. [Rahul] Gupta, the White House Director and the duly elected representative of the America’s region to the WADA Executive Committee, from discussions on the failures of WADA outlined in the Cottier report based on a bad-faith ethics complaint, which you later agreed to withdraw. While you state in your September 6, 2024 letter that you stand ready to collaborate, your actions indicate otherwise, which is regrettable for the collective efforts to support clean athletes and to strengthen the global anti-doping movement.

“It is concerning that significant time and resources, including U.S. taxpayer funds, are being directed toward ongoing criticisms and unfounded, defamatory statements about the United States, USADA, and U.S. athletes. These efforts to create a false narrative are both evident and counterproductive. Your decision not to engage with the U.S. Congress, German Bundestag, and the Council of Europe has raised concerns, and your continued efforts to discredit the United States only further damages WADA and the credibility of the global anti-doping system.

“It is unfortunate that the political and legal efforts devoted to casting aspersions on the United States, USADA, and U.S. athletes was not directed toward ensuring that all nations, including China, played by the rules. Your letter, which was publicly released as it was being sent to USADA Board Chair Dr. Tobie Smith, came as an unexpected surprise. It is fair to say that both she and our entire Board found your actions deeply concerning and unacceptable.”

Tygart went on to state that the CEADO letter was not only initiated by WADA, but that some of the members of CEADO did not authorize it. And Tygart focused on WADA’s own actions that were the genesis of the continuing war of words between the organizations:

“It has become evident that the United States has been singled out for seeking accountability regarding WADA’s lack of enforcement of its own rules following the positive tests of 23 elite-level Chinese swimmers for a powerful performance enhancer in the lead-up to the 2021 Games. Leveraging these NADOs to support a strategy of division and retaliation runs counter to the kind of leadership essential for strengthening the global anti-doping system.

“Equally as disappointing, the defamatory letter WADA published is riddled with falsehoods and gross mischaracterizations. Your claim that ‘90% of American athletes compete outside the protection of the Code’ is unfounded and lacks any factual basis. This figure appears to have been created for effect, as no evidence supports it. In fact, millions of athletes are under the jurisdiction of the World Anti-Doping Code in the United States. And all U.S. college athletes competing at the elite Olympic level are fully subject to the WADA Code. At this summer’s Paris Olympic Games, one hundred percent (100%) of U.S. college athletes who participated were tested in accordance with the WADA Code. Your unfounded statements can only be explained as another deliberate misrepresentation aimed at diverting attention from WADA’s own failings and advancing your agenda of division.”

Tygart also went after WADA’s criticism of the volume of testing done by USADA, which it called “far from optimal.” Tygart slammed back:

“[Y]our letter’s characterization of USADA’s testing numbers relies on inaccurate comparisons and flawed assumptions. Specifically, WADA has referenced USADA’s total budget, including funding from non-Olympic and non-Paralympic sport programs, while only accounting for testing numbers from our Olympic and Paralympic programs.

“You conveniently left out over 6,000 of our tests, leading to a deceitful representation of our efforts and the testing of U.S. athletes. If a proper apples-to-apples comparison was made-considering our full· budget alongside our comprehensive testing numbers and types of tests relative to others-it would be clear that your statements are false and misleading.”

Finally, Tygart made no doubt about where he places blame for all of the conflict:

“It is profoundly regrettable that USADA’s strong and collaborative relationship with prior WADA leadership, which spearheaded innovative and creative tactics in the fight against doping, has changed so drastically.”

Observed: Although there had been signals that communications had improved, the temperature is not going down between USADA and WADA and this is regrettable. Eventually, there has to be some discussion between the two, and WADA is continuing to move forward with a revision of possible penalties for World Anti-Doping Code signatories who have not paid agreed-upon dues.

That’s aimed partly at Russia and partly at the U.S. Relations between WADA and the Biden Administration have been better than they were with the Trump Administration from 2017-21, but Trump is on the way back to the White House in January.

This could get ugly, to the benefit of absolutely no one, and places U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Chair and new International Olympic Committee member Gene Sykes in the difficult role of being the man-in-the-middle, at least for now.

Happy holidays?

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MODERN PENTATHLON: Outgoing chief Schormann’s shadow almost overwhelmed the UIPM Congress, but not quite

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ UIPM CONGRESS ≡

/Updated/German Klaus Schormann was the President of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne from 1993 until last week’s UIPM Congress in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but while he played a decisive role in shaping what happened there. But he did not get everything he wanted.

Multiple sources have confirmed that Schormann played an important role in eroding sentiment for France’s Olympic medalist Joel Bouzou, the former long-time UIPM Secretary General, and the favorite to succeed Schormann as President.

Instead, Bouzou was eliminated in the first round and American Rob Stull, a two-time modern pentathlon Olympian and the Managing Director of USA Pentathlon, was elected on the third ballot, by 53-48 over Egypt’s Sharif El Erian.

The push to switch from Bouzou came late, within the final days prior to the Congress, but proved to be decisive.

The election of Stull would have had a follow-on effect of eliminating the candidature of long-time UIPM Treasurer John Helmick, also from the U.S. The UIPM rules state that “There cannot be more than one member from one nation in the Executive Board or in any UIPM Committees or UIPM Commissions at the same time.” However, Helmick withdrew his candidature on Saturday after giving his Treasurer’s report and prior to the Presidential election.

Helmick had been the UIPM Treasurer since 2000, but was dismissed from the Olympic Games in Paris, with the UIPM explaining in a statement:

“UIPM confirms that UIPM Treasurer, John Helmick, has handed in his accreditation for Paris 2024 and left the Olympic Games pending an investigation by a specially-convened UIPM disciplinary panel into alleged credentials irregularities.”

Helmick was certified for the elections in Riyadh, against Brazil’s Helio Meirelles, a UIPM Auditor, who was elected Treasurer. The UIPM Disciplinary Panel outcome was published on Sunday (17th), after being decided on Friday (15th), that “there was no wilful misconduct” and that Helmick “acted with negligence and had been lacking the level of diligence that could be expected from a person entrusted with valuables.” The Disciplinary Panel outcome does not mention Helmick by name, but it was confirmed that he was the subject of the announcement.

Schormann apparently got who he wanted as UIPM President in Stull, but did not quite achieve all his goals.

A motion to the Congress – “EB2″ – proposed significant new options for the involvement of an Honorary President – a post to which Schormann was elected at the Congress:

“16.2 The Executive Board may avail itself of the support and advice of any Honorary President. The Executive Board may task any Honorary President with representing the interests of UIPM in specific international relations, special development projects and/or any other tasks the Executive Board deem fit.

“16.3 The Executive Board may assign to any Honorary President funds to perform the tasks assigned pursuant to article 16.2.”

If approved, this section could allow Schormann to continue as a shadow President. And it got a majority of the votes cast:

● 54: Yes
● 37: No
● 8: Abstained (three did not vote)

But the UIPM rules require changes to statutes to receive a 2/3rds majority at a Congress, meaning with 102 votes in the room, 68 votes would have been needed for passage. Further, the motion also allowed an Honorary President to speak at the General Assembly (but not to vote) and this was also voted down.

Schormann is Honorary President, but the title carries no privileges.

A test of how far modern pentathlon can go in the direction of obstacle racing – which has replaced riding for Olympic competitions beginning in 2028 – was defeated as well.

Motion “EB3″ proposed to broaden the definition of the sport ever further:

“2.3 ‘UIPM Sports’ encompass Modern Pentathlon and every combination of its disciplines outlined in article 2.2, as well as obstacle sport. This includes Tetrathlon (any four disciplines), Triathle (swimming laser run or any three disciplines), Obstacle Laser Run, Biathle (continuous run/swim), Laser Run (a combined event of running and laser shooting), and standalone disciplines of Obstacle sport not limited to ninja, obstacle course racing (OCR), and adventure racing.”

This expansion into all forms of obstacle-style racing almost passed, but fell short of the 2/3rds majority required:

● 62: Yes
● 31: No
● 4: Abstained (five did not vote)

Again, 68 votes were needed to pass. But an amended version proposed by the federations from Italy and Malta removed the reference to “not limited to ninja, obstacle course racing (OCR), and adventure racing” and left it at “standalone disciplines of Obstacle sport.”

This passed, barely:

● 70: Yes
● 30: No
● 1: Abstained (one did not vote)

This will be important for Stull going forward, as World Obstacle is being integrated with the UIPM and includes competitions in Adventure, Hybrid Racing and Ninja as well as Obstacle. The UIPM is now restricted to “Obstacle Racing” only and not the other formats.

Stull was a board member of World Obstacle in 2021 as the continental representative of the Americas, at the same time he was heading USA Pentathlon and was a board member of the UIPM, so he is at the vanguard of the obstacle movement inside the sport.

Two motions from Belarus were defeated, including a request to hold annual modern pentathlon world championships with riding as a “non-Olympic discipline”; this lost by 52-36 with eight abstentions. Another motion to remove sanctions on Russia and Belarus lost by 58-29.

Observed: One of the questions going forward will be how Stull points the UIPM in terms of obstacle racing as an added event on the Olympic program, or for obstacle racing to have a bigger profile with the absorption of the World Obstacle federation.

But as always, the UIPM has very limited resources, and Stull will be under pressure to create new revenues, or see modern pentathlon fall further behind other federations on the Olympic program.

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PANORAMA: Paris 2024 security costs at $1.21 billion; near 90% of Paris medalists were dope-tested pre-Games; Shiffrin names 8th reindeer!

By
Rich Perelman
-
Mikaela Shiffrin with “Rori,” the eighth reindeer she has named after a Slalom win in Levi, Finland (Photo: Mikaela Shiffrin on X).

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Olympic Games 2012: London ● The Athletics Integrity Unit announced Tuesday that no appeal was filed by Russian runner Tatyana Tomashova over her disqualification for doping at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Tomashova, originally fourth in the women’s 1,500 m in London, was moved up to second in view of two doping disqualifications ahead of her. But she was disqualified in September by the AIU based on data from the Moscow Laboratory concerning Russia’s state-sponsored doping program from 2011-15.

So, with Tomashova officially disqualified, the medal winners are now Maryam Jamal (BRN: 4:10.74), Abeba Aregawi (ETH: 4:11.03) and Shannon Rowbury of the U.S. (4:11.26), who was originally sixth. The International Olympic Committee has been notified and can proceed with a re-allocation of medals.

● Olympic Games 2024: Paris ● A French Senate budget report for 2025, detailed by the Le Monde daily, said that the security costs related to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris cost €1.14 billion or about $1.21 billion U.S.

The primary components were the police force (€813.9 million from 2020-24) and the gendarmerie staff (€327 million from 2022-25), including personnel costs, operations and equipment. There were bonus payments made as part of this total for having everyone available during the normally more relaxed summer months.

The International Testing Agency reported that its pre-Olympic testing program for 2024 reached almost 90% of all athletes who ended up coming in Paris:

“A total of 31,8963 tests were implemented on the 10,720 athletes who participated in the Games. Out of these 10,720 athletes, 1,108 (10.3%) were not tested in the six months before the Games. This represents a significant improvement compared to the corresponding period before Tokyo 2020 where 14 to 15% of the athletes were not tested.”

This testing level was increased by about 45% over the prior six months, with 59% of all tests done by national anti-doping agencies and 41% by the International Federations.

Based on a pre-Games evaluation of potential doping risks, 76.3% of athletes were tested at their estimated risk level or above. Another 13.4% were tested once, below their risk level and 10.3% were not tested at all. In individual events, some 75.4% were tested at the recommended level, 16.2% tested once and 8.4% not tested at all.

In terms of medal winners, 89.5% were tested prior to the Games according to their risk level; 7.1% were tested once and 3.4% were not tested pre-Games.

The U.S. (98% of all athletes tested according to recommendations), China (99%) and Hungary (99%) were the most-tested teams, followed by Germany (96%) and Japan (95%).

● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● Work on the new Cortina sliding track is continuing at an accelerated pace and is on schedule for certification tests next March.

The Associated Press shared a report from Fabio Saldini, the head of the government’s Societa Infrastructure Milano Cortina (SiMiCo), saying “The timeline is being respected in view of the pre-homologation in March.”

A SiMiCo report added, “The top part of the track is being finalized. Checks on several different parts of the track are ongoing, with specific attention being made to the refrigeration system.” More than 180 workers are at the site, with others assembling components elsewhere in Italy.

● International Olympic Committee ● Vault coach Vitaliy Petrov and diving coach Jane Figueiredo were named as the IOC’s Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award winners for 2024. Petrov, a long-time coach and teacher in Ukraine, was the coach of Ukrainian superstar and world-record holder Sergey Bubka and later Philippine star E.J. Obiena.

Figuieredo, born in Zimbabwe, was a diving Olympian for Portugal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. She became the diving coach at the University of Houston from 1990-2014 and then took over the British diving program in 2014, helping Olympic stars Tom Daley and Matty Lee, among others.

● Russia ● The Russian Olympic Committee reported income of 643.1 million rubles for November 2023 to September 2024, about $6.39 million U.S.

The story posted by the Russian news agency TASS said “the ROC has not received funds from the federal budget for 12 years.” The ROC reported reserves of 3.657 billion rubles, or about $36.36 million U.S.

● Alpine Skiing ● American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin posted the name for her eighth reindeer “won” at the Levi World Cup Slalom in Finland:

“Meet ‘Rori’ short for ‘Aurora Borealis’…which I was so excited to see for the first time earlier this week!!”

She previously named Rudolph (in 2013), Sven (2016), Mr. Gru (2018), Ingemar (2019), Sunny and Lorax (2022 races), and Grogu in 2023. The victory was Shiffrin’s 98th career World Cup gold, extending her own all-time record.

● Basketball ● Three U.S. stars who won Olympic gold medals – Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles and Cappie Pondexter – were voted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, and will be inducted on 14 June 2025 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Bird won five Olympic golds in 2004-08-12-16-20 and four World Championship titles with the U.S. in 2002-10-14-18, as a playmaking guard, plus four WNBA titles with the Seattle Storm.

Fowles, a 6-6 center, won four Olympic golds in 2008-12-16-20 and a world title in 2010 with the U.S., and two WNBA titles with Minnesota. Pondexter, a 5-9 guard, was a member of the 2008 Olympic gold-medal team and was a two-time WNBA champion with Phoenix.

● Boxing ● The Asian Boxing Confederation will meet in an Extraordinary Congress on 23 November to consider whether to be “an independent organization until any new international organizations is recognized by the International Olympic Committee.”

This would essentially be a transitional move away from the International Boxing Association and toward World Boxing, which is trying to become the IOC-recognized governing body for Olympic boxing.

So, the IBA, following its usual script, has injected money into the debate, announcing last Friday that it “has allocated $500,000 prize money fund for medallists and quarterfinalists of the ASBC Asian Boxing Championships that will take place in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 28 November – 12 December.”

The top three finishers will receive $8,000-4,000-2,000 with $1,000 for the quarterfinalists in all divisions. The IBA was expelled from the Olympic Movement in June 2023 and the International Olympic Committee has stated that it will not recognize fighters from national federations still affiliated with the IBA.

● Equestrian ● Olympic Jumping champion Christian Kukuk (GER) was honored as the Peden Bloodstock FEI Best Athlete Award winner for 2024, at the FEI Awards Gala in Abu Dhabi (UAE).

● Football ● The U.S. men’s National Team has little trouble with Jamaica in the second leg of their CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal on Monday in St. Louis, Missouri, winning 4-2 and finished with a 5-2 combined total.

Midfield star Christian Pulisic scored in the 13th minute, Jamaican defender DiShon Bernard suffered an own goal in the 33rd off a Pulisic shot that deflected into the net, and striker Ricardo Pepi made the lead 3-0 before halftime with a 42nd-minute goal. Jamaican forward Demarai Gray got two second-half goals, but Tim Weah scored in the 56th for the U.S. and the final was 4-2.

The U.S. had 67% possession and a 16-9 shots advantage. The CONCACAF semis will take place in March.

Multiple reports confirmed that the ban on Russian teams is being continued by FIFA and UEFA, meaning a Russian team will not play in the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and will not participate in the tournament.

FIFA has followed the International Olympic Committee’s call for a continuing ban on Russian teams since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

● Freestyle Skiing & Snowboard ● “The Snow League,” a four-stop circuit of halfpipe skiing and snowboarding led by three-time Olympic champion Shaun White of the U.S., will debut on 7-8 March in Aspen, Colorado, to be televised by NBC.

The other three stops are to be announced; the circuit is to pay $1.5 million in prize money.

● Gymnastics ● Simone Biles’ “Gold Over America” tour concluded in early November and she posted on Instagram:

“7 weeks, countless memories, and endless gratitude. Thank you to everyone who came out and supported this journey after the success we had in Paris Your energy and love fuel everything I do. Forever thankful, forever inspired”

Biles, 27, told reporters in Paris after her Olympic individual event finals:

“This is my last, definitely Yurchenko double pike [vault]. I mean I kind of nailed that one. So never say never. … The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know. But I am getting really old.”

● Volleyball ● As a final show of support for his 12 years as FIVB President, Brazilian Ary Graca was elected as FIVB Honorary President during the FIVB World Congress that closed Sunday in Porto (POR).

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LOS ANGELES 2028: City of L.A. report asks LA28 organizers for request to re-arrange venues, do a new economic impact study

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ SPOTLIGHT ≡

“Pursuant to Games Agreement C-139679 between the City and LA28, LA28 is required to obtain the City’s consent prior to implementing actions that move events out of the City and amend the current Venue Plan approved by Council.”

That’s from a Monday report by the City of Los Angeles’ Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA), the principal staff oversight team on the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic organizing effort.

The 35-page report from the CAO Matthew Szabo and CLA Sharon Tso asks the City Council to begin the process of discussion on the approval of the multiple shifts of sports and venues for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games that were disclosed in June of this year:

Olympic sports and disciplines moved out of Los Angeles:
● Aquatics/Artistic: Dedeaux Field at USC to Long Beach
● Aquatics/Swimming: Dedeaux Field at USC to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood
● Basketball: Crypto.com Arena to Intuit Dome in Inglewood
● Canoe/Slalom: Sepulveda Basin to Oklahoma City
● Equestrian: Sepulveda Basin to Galway Downs in Temecula
● Shooting: Sepulveda Basin to an out-of-L.A. location

Olympic sports and disciplines moving into Los Angeles:
● Archery: SoFi Stadium to Sepulveda Basin
● Cycling/BMX: Long Beach to Sepulveda Basin
● Gymnastics: The Forum to Crypto.com Arena

In addition, LA28 announced that the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area would host cycling/BMX and skateboarding, as well as archery, and that softball, an added sport, would be held in Oklahoma City.

There are still multiple sports with venues unannounced, including the cycling road races and mountain bike, football preliminaries, modern pentathlon, sport climbing, surfing, beach volleyball and indoor volleyball, plus the added sports of baseball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash.

Boxing is in limbo, but was originally proposed to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center in the downtown area.

The LA28 analysis of the changes it has announced so far has a financial benefit of $162 million from lowered costs for almost all of the venue changes and better revenue opportunities.

The CAO/CLA report asks the City Council:

● To ask the LA28 organizers for a formal request for the changes it wants to make from the original, 2017 bid plan for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

● “Assert City authority to consider and approve all amendments to the Venue Plan,” a position LA28 does not agree with.

● “Council to request for LA28 to conduct an independent economic impact study to highlight the anticipated impacts of the 2028 Games on the City and the region, which incorporates the requested venue changes, added sport disciplines, and lessons learned from the 2024 Paris Games, and to submit the report to the City no later than June 30, 2025.”

The second request is a disagreement between LA28 and the City, over a technical point in the Games Agreement between the parties from 2021. LA28 states in its June 2024 letter to the City that it is only required to seek City approval for venue changes where sports are moved out of the City from the 2017 bid plan. The CAO/CLA report insists that the City must approve any and all venue assignments which differ from the 2017 bid plan, including venue assignments for sports not part of the 2028 program at the time the Games was awarded to Los Angeles.

This will have to be worked out, but the new report outlines what could be a long process of approvals if the CAO/CLA recommendation is adopted by the City Council.

The likely next step for the CAO/CLA report is assignment to the City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games for discussion and a hearing.

The economic impact study will be important for the City to understand what it stands to gain from having the Olympic and Paralympic Games in terms of direct, indirect and induced employment and spending impacts and potential tax revenues that would flow from the holding of the Games in 2028. The report states that LA28 is in the process of having this done and completed in 2025.

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RUSSIA: Russian Sports Minister says it “needs to stop with accusations, insults” toward the IOC, pay up its WADA dues

By
Rich Perelman
-

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≡ INTEL REPORT ≡

A major change in the Russian approach to the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Movement was signaled in Moscow Monday by the Russian Minister of Sport, Mikhail Degtyarev.

Speaking at the All-Russian Forum of New Media, he explained that there is continuing dialogue between Russia and the IOC, with a view to the future:

“The dialogue is being conducted, non-publicly, through various channels and on neutral territories.

“I meet with international officials, there are various means of communication. The convergence of positions has begun. I believe that we need to stop with accusations, insults, we need to start moving towards softening the IOC’s position towards our athletes.”

Sanctions were imposed on Russian athletes quickly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, shortly after the conclusion of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. The IOC recommended banning all Russian and Belarusian athletes and teams from international competitions, which was enforced by almost all of the International Federations.

The IOC eased this stance at the end of 2022, and in March 2023, issued recommendations to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes who do not “actively support the war” to be able to compete as “neutrals.” Many federations follows this guideline, but some – World Athletics in particular – maintained a full ban.

In October 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee for taking over regional sports organizations which are part of the structure of the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee, and that sanction remains in place.

Finally, the IOC determined its own procedure for reviewing “neutral” athletes for the purpose of competing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, with 15 Russian and 17 Belarusian athletes finally competing in the Games as “neutrals.”

The Russian response has been continuing, harsh criticism of the IOC and especially of President Thomas Bach (GER). Now, with the IOC to elect a new President next March, Russian sport has taken on a new look:

● Russian sports minister Oleg Matytsin, 60, stepped down and Degtyarev, 43, was named to replace him in May 2024.

● Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov, 51, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in fencing, also a harsh critic of the IOC and Bach, announced he would step down in October after six years at the head of the ROC.

● Soon after, Degtyarev said he would stand to be the Russian Olympic Committee President as well as Minister of Sport. With the approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Degtyarev will be elected as ROC President in December, unifying the country’s sports leadership.

All of this is aimed at removing Russia’s harshest critics in order to promote a rapprochement with the IOC in advance of its March election.

Of the seven candidates for the IOC Presidency, the Russians are sternly against Sebastian Coe (GBR) from World Athletics, who has been resolute in maintaining sanctions against them. They are more hopeful of the election of veteran IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch (ESP), whose father was a transformational IOC leader from 1980-2001, or UCI President David Lapparetient (FRA) or Japan’s Morinari Watanabe, head of the International Gymnastics Federation.

Fewer comments have been made about candidates Feisal Al Hussein (JOR), Olympic champion swimmer Kirsty Coventry (ZIM), or International Ski & Snowboard Federation chief Johan Eliasch (GBR).

As another indicator that the Russian charm offensive is in full gear, Degtyarev also said that arrangements are being made for the Russian Anti-Doping Agency fees to the World Anti-Doping Agency to be paid in full.

“The dialogue is ongoing, the money is there,” Degtyarev said. “A trial payment was made in June, with great difficulty. Everything will depend on WADA’s position toward the Russian Anti-Doping Agency.”

The Russian news agency TASS reported:

“In 2024, WADA expects Russia to pay a contribution of $1,335,860. Russia’s contribution for 2023 is $1,267,023. At the beginning of the summer, $53,237 was paid, which is 4.2% of the total amount. Russia still has $1,213,786 to pay.”

Russia has reported some difficulty in making transfers due to financial sanctions imposed on it, but is now seeking to bring its accounts up to date, no doubt earlier than the IOC Session next March in Greece.

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PANORAMA: Shiffrin “wins” eighth reindeer in Levi Slalom; Paris 2024 torch brings $26,000 at auction; four wins for U.S. speedster Stolz!

By
Rich Perelman
-
The men's World Allround Champion, American Jordan Stolz (Photo: International Skating Union)

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Olympic Games 2036 ● The Hungarian Supreme Court rules Thursday that a referendum can be held on the question of whether Budapest should bid for a future Olympic Games.

Budapest is in “dialogue” with the International Olympic Committee in the informal discussion process of future hosing of Olympic Games, but the Momentum Party – which rose to prominence in opposing Budapest’s 2024 Olympic bid – has asked for a public vote on the issue.

The request was blocked by the National Election Committee, but has now been successfully appealed. Voter concerns center primarily on the potential costs of an Olympic Games in the country; they will now have a chance to vote on it.

● Memorabilia ● Auction 97 from Ingrid O’Neil closed on Saturday evening, with five items bringing more than $5,000:

● $35,000: Athens 1896 second-place (bronze) medal
● $30,000: Tokyo 2020 silver medal for cycling
● $26,000: Paris 2024 Olympic torch
● $20,000: London 2012 silver medal for artistic gymnastics
● $6,500: Los Angeles 1932 silver medal

There were no bids on the ultra-rare 1968 Grenoble Olympic Winter Games torch, one of only 33 made, with a starting bid of $180,000.

● Alpine Skiing ● American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin “won” her eighth reindeer and 98th FIS World Cup gold in the Slalom in Levi (FIN), leading the first run and then sixth-fastest on the final run to win in 1:47.20.

She was a clear winner over Katharina Liensberger (AUT: 1:47.99) and German Lina Duerr (1:48.03). Fellow American Paula Moltzan was eighth in 1:48.71.

On Sunday, the men’s Slalom went to Olympic champ Clement Noel (FRA), who led after the first run and had the second-fastest second run to win in 1:53.98 over Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR: 1:54.78). Benjamin Ritchie was the top American, in 13th (1:56.11).

It’s Noel’s first win at Levi and his 11th career World Cup gold.

● Archery ● At the World Archery Indoor World Series GT Open in Strassen (LUX), France’s Anthony Barbier won the men’s Recurve win by 6-4 over Alen Remar (CRO), and in the all-Korean women’s final, Duna Lim defeated Hana Lim, 6-2.

● Athletics ● USA Track & Field posted its 2024 award winners, with the men’s Athlete of the Year – the Jesse Owens Award – going to Olympic 110 m hurdles champ Grant Holloway and the women’s Jackie Koyner-Kersee Award to Olympic 200 m winner Gabby Thomas.

The USATF Nike Coach of the Year winner is UCLA head coach Joanna Hayes, who mentored Rai Benjamin, the winner of the men’s 400 m hurdles. Prep sensation Quincy Wilson, 16, who won an Olympic gold for his lead-off leg in the prelims of the men’s 4×400 m relay that eventually won the final (with Benjamin on anchor), won the Youth Athlete of the Year.

● Badminton ● China scored two wins at the BWF World Tour Kumamoto Masters Japan in Kunamoto, with Shi Feng Li taking the men’s Singles over Jun Hao Leong (MAS), 21-10, 21-13, and Sheng Shu Liu and Ning Tan winning the women’s Doubles against Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto (JPN), 21-15, 21-5.

Japan got a win in the women’s Singles from second-seed Akane Yamaguchi, 21-12, 21-12 over Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (INA), but Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi (JPN) lost the men’s Doubles final to third-seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto (INA), 21-15, 17-21, 21-17.

The new pairing of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran (THA) won in the men’s Doubles, 21-16, 10-21, 21-17, over Thom Qicquel and Delphine Derue (FRA).

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● A big surprise at the season-opening IBSF World Cup for Skeleton only in PyeongChang (KOR), with Britain’s Amelia Coltman getting her first World Cup medal – a victory – coming from 15th after the first run to first after the second!

Coltman had the second-best second run to vault past the top 14, finishing in 1:48.41, ahead of three-time Worlds medal winner Austria’s Janine Flock, the first-run leader (1:48.49), and Nicole Rocha Silveira (BRA: 1:48.54).

Katie Uhlaender was the top American in 14th (1:49.08) and Mystique Ro was 15th (1:49.10).

Britain scored again in the women’s second race, with Freya Tarbit winning both runs to finish at 1:44.68 for her first career World Cup victory, ahead of Olympic champ Hannah Niese (GER: 1:45.64) and Flock (1:45.70).

Sara Roderick was the top U.S. finisher, in 12th (1:46.49).

Three-time World Champion Christopher Grotheer (GER) won the men’s first run and finished the first race in 1:46.32, ahead of British riders Marcus Wyatt (1:46.47) and 2023 World Champion Matt Weston (1:46.95).

Grotheer completed a sweep with a second-race victory in 1:42.81, coming from third after the first run. Wyatt and Weston were 2-3 again, in 1:42.87 and 1:43.31, with Wyatt the first-run leader. Austin Florian was the top American, in 11th (1:43.93).

● Figure Skating ● Japan scored men’s and women’s victories for the second week in a row in the ISU Grand Prix Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki (FIN), led by three-time men’s Worlds silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama.

He won the Short Program by more than 13 points, but was only fifth in the Free Skate. Still, he finished with 263.09 points, ahead of teammate Kevin Aymoz (FRA: 259.15) and Italy’s Daniel Grassl (258.55), the Free Skate winner. American Camden Pulkinen finished ninth (195.18).

For the second week in a row, Japan went 1-2 in the women’s Singles, with Hana Yoshida – the 2024 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist – winning at 199.46, just ahead of Rino Matsuike (199.20). Lara Gutmann (ITA: 198.49) was third, with American Sarah Everhardt fourth (191.17), and Lindsay Thorngren of the U.S. in ninth (170.64).

In Pairs, Canada’s 2024 World Champions, Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, won their second Grand Prix title of the season, winning both segments and scoring 207.44 points. Hungary’s Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko finished second (184.21).

Americans Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe were fifth (174.40) and Naomi Williams and Lachlan Lewer finished eighth (153.34).

The Ice Dance victory went to Britain’s European Championship runner-ups Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, who won the Free Dance to vault from second to first with 203.22 points. Just behind were Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (CAN), the Rhythm Dance leaders, who scored 200.79, ahead of Finland’s Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis (196.60).

Americans Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik placed third in the Free Dance and finished fifth overall at 189.48, with Eva Pate and Logan Bye in seventh (180.35) and siblings Oona Brown and Gage Brown in eighth (176.57).

The circuit moves on to the Cup of China in Chongqing from 22-24 November, the last event before the Grand Prix Final in Grenoble (FRA) in December.

● Lacrosse ● World Lacrosse elected American Bob DeMarco as its new President during its online 2024 General Assembly, succeeding Sue Redfern (GBR), for a four-year term.

DeMarco, a board member since 2017, was selected over Jakob Grossehagenbrock (GER) and Ronald Jones (NZL). DeMarco played football and lacrosse at Hofstra University in New York and was a long-time coach at Old Bridge High School in Matawan, New Jersey and an assistant at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Lacrosse Sixes has been added to the 2028 Olympic program for Los Angeles, and World Lacrosse chief executive Jim Scherr had his contract extended through 2028. Scherr joined the federation as chief executive in 2017 and led the charge for Olympic inclusion. The first World Championships for Sixes will take place in 2027.

● Rugby ● The World Rugby Council elected Australian Brett Robinson as Chair at its interim meeting in Dublin (IRL). Robinson competed with Abdelatif Benazzi (FRA) and Andrea Rinaldo (ITA), with Robinson receiving 22 votes in the first round to 21 Benazzi and nine for Rinaldo, who was eliminated.

The vote was again close in the second round, with Robinson winning with 27 to 25. A former Australian player with 16 national-team appearances, Robinson was the Australian Rugby Union’s General Manager of High Performance for 10 years, leaving in 2005. He will serve a four-year term and could be re-elected for a second, four-year term.

● Speed Skating ● The U.S. scored seven wins at the ISU Four Continents Championships in Hachinohe City (JPN), with triple World Champion Jordan Stolz leading the way.

The World Champion at 500-1,000-1,5000 m two years in a row, Stolz won all three events, in 34.47, 1:08.04 (track record) and 1:44.45 (track record). Stolz beat 2024 Worlds runner-up Laurent Dubrueil (CAN: 34.68) in the 500 m, 2020 World Sprint Champion Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN: 1:08.38) in the 1,000 m and China’s 2024 Worlds runner-up Zhongyan Ning (1:45.84) in the 1,500 m.

American Cooper McLeod was fourth in the 500 m (34.99), and Zach Stoppelmoor was seventh (35.21), plus a fifth in the 1,000 m (1:09.79). Emery Lehman was fifth at 1,500 m at 1:47.77.

Canada’s Graeme Fish, the 2020 World Champion at 10,000 m, won the men’s 5,000 m in 6:18.06, a track record, and Vitaliy Chshigolev (KAZ) won the Mass Start race in 8:22.05, with Ethan Cepuran of the U.S. fifth in 8:23.48.

The U.S. won both relays. In the Team Sprint, Austin Kleba, McLeod and Stoppelmoor (1:19.43) won over China (1:19.78), and Cepuran, Emery Lehman and Stolz won the Team Pursuit in 3:43.13, with Japan second at 3:44.47.

American stars Erin Jackson and Brittany Bowe won the women’s 500 m and 1,000 m. Jackson, the Olympic champ, timed 38.16 to win over Kurumi Inagawa (JPN: 38.26), with fellow Americans Kimi Goetz fifth (38.53) and Bowe sixth (38.56).

Bowe, the three-time World Champion at 1,000 m, won that race in 1:15.65, ahead of Nadezhda Morozova (KAZ: 1:17.16) and Goetz (1:17.23).

World Champion Miho Takagi (JPN) was an easy winner in the 1,500 m at 1:54.86, beating Mei Han (CHN: 1:56.53), and teammate Momoka Horikawa took the women’s 3,000 m in 4:06.91. Canada’s Ivanie Blondin, the 2022 Olympic runner-up, won the Mass Start in 9:23.28, with American Mia Manganello second in 9:23.36.

Canada also won the women’s Team Sprint, with China taking the Team Pursuit.

● Volleyball ● Brazilian Fabio Azevedo was elected by acclimation for an eight-year term as President of the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) at the FIVB Congress in Porto (POR).

He succeeds fellow Brazilian Ary Graca, termed out after 12 years. Azevedo’s first action was to appoint his replacement as Secretary General, naming New Zealand’s Hugh McCutcheon, already an FIVB advisor. McCutcheon was a highly successful coach, leading the U.S. men to a Beijing 2008 Olympic gold medal, and the U.S. women to a London 2012 Olympic silver.

He was the University of Minnesota women’s head coach from 2012-22, retired and has been an Assistant Athletics Director and Sport Development Coach at Minnesota.

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GYMNASTICS: Iconic coach of Romanian and U.S. stars, Bela Karolyi, passes at 82

By
Rich Perelman
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Famed gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi, in 2009 (Photo: Taty2007 via Wikipedia).

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≡ SPOTLIGHT ≡

USA Gymnastics announced Saturday that famed coach Bela Karolyi, who mentored stars such as Nadia Comeneci and Mary Lou Retton, passed away at age 82 on Friday, 15 November.

The announcement noted:

“He served as U.S. Women’s National Team coordinator from November 1999 through January 2001 and continued to be involved in the sport after [his wife] Marta assumed duties as National Team coordinator from 2001-2016.

“Karolyi was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997, and he was inducted along with Marta into USA Gymnastics’ Hall of Fame in 2000 as a coaching team.”

Born 13 September 1942 in wartime Hungary in a town that was later part of Romania, Karolyi rose to prominence as the national team coach of Romania, beginning in 1974. One of his star early pupils was Comaneci, who made history at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal as the first gymnast to ever be awarded a perfect, 10.0 score on the Uneven Bars during the team qualifying competition. Comaneci earned seven 10.0 marks in Montreal and won three golds – including the All-Around – a silver and a bronze.

The Romanian women won seven medals in 1976 (3-2-2), second only to the USSR. At Moscow in 1980, Karolyi was again the women’s coach, and Comaneci won two more golds and the team again won seven medals (2-3-2).

Karolyi and his wife defected to the U.S. in 1981 and he soon found his next protégé, a 4-foot-9 bundle of energy named Mary Lou Retton. Just 15 years old in 1983, she won the American Cup and progressed rapidly, facing new Romanian star Ecaterina Szabo for the Olympic women’s All-Around title at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Retton won that All-Around and became a U.S. Olympic icon for her performance, loudly exhorted by Karolyi – as her personal coach – during the competitions. Retton also won two other silvers and two bronzes in 1984, in her only Olympic appearance.

Karolyi’s impact was widely noted, and he was in the spotlight again at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta as the personal coach for U.S. gymnast Kerri Strug and others. Suffering from an ankle injury after her first vault in the team competition, Strug was loudly encouraged by Karolyi to maintain her composure and complete a second vault, which helped the U.S. women take the team gold medal. Karolyi carried Strug to the podium in a picture that drew worldwide attention.

Karolyi then became the U.S. national team coach from 1999 to 2001 and Marta took over from 2001 to 2016, during which time the American women became the dominant force in the sport.

The often-outspoken Karolyi was famous for hard workouts and strong discipline and was accused of abuse by some athletes, but was also defended by others. Marta’s approach was a bit less stringent and the U.S. performances were unparalleled.

The Karolyi Ranch gymnastics center outside of Houston, Texas was the venue for many U.S. training camps, and abuses against gymnasts by long-time USA Gymnastics national team doctor Larry Nassar were reported to have been committed there. The Karolyis filed suit, refuting any allegations of responsibility, but the matter never came to trial, being settled as part of the comprehensive settlement agreed to by abuse survivors in 2021.

USA Gymnastics cut ties with the Karolyi Ranch in 2018, two years after Marta Karolyi finished her time as the national team coordinator.

Bela Karolyi will always be remembered for his coaching successes, especially with two of the sport’s most iconic performers in Comaneci and Retton. But he also coached in a time when his methods – formulated in the Cold War Era – produced stars who rose to dizzying heights, but eventually became much less acceptable.

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LANE ONE: The best explanation yet why traffic will be handled for the 2028 Olympic & Paralympic Games: “no different than Carmageddon”

By
Rich Perelman
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LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman at the IOC Coordination Commission news conference on 14 November 2024 (TSX photo).

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≡ LOS ANGELES 2028 ≡

The LA28 Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee doesn’t say much publicly, at least not yet. But at every news conference, the same two questions come up: the infamous Los Angeles traffic and homelessness in the area.

LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman was dependably asked about both at Thursday’s session following the visit of the International Olympic Committee Coordination Commission. He has answered these questions before, but might have been his clearest, best answer yet, especially on transportation:

“The first point is, when we bid for the Games, what we bid for was, in terms of transportation, all that existed at the time we bid, in 2016. So our plan, our ability to deliver the Games is completely reliant on an existing plan we had from 2016, for the infrastructure and the public transportation that we built – not even in progress to be built – in 2016.

“Obviously, there’s been a ton of investments in public infrastructure in Los Angeles – public transportation, airports and the like – and so our responsibility is to take the best advantage of that as we can, as we finalize our Games plan, and so we’re very focused on it.

“But just remember that the Olympic Games is not like a normal, two-week period and all of a sudden, we show up with the Olympics. No different than ‘Carmageddon”’ for those of you from Los Angeles, or other times in L.A., we’re going to make people aware of when there’s events, where there are events, traffic patterns, traffic changes, obviously having dedicated lanes, and so we get to adjust traffic patterns and adjust fan flow and athlete and participant and constituent flow, to fit our city, not just show up on a Friday night with an opening ceremonies and say, ‘oh, by the way, tomorrow’s night’s opening ceremonies,’ it’s a normal Friday night of rush hour in the summer.

“That’s not how it works. We feel very confident about, frankly, living up the legacy of 1984, which was an incredible experience, when people drove around and there was no traffic.

“So, we think that’s sort of our future.”

The “Carmageddon” reference is especially important and a key to understanding why traffic can be – not necessarily will be – managed properly in 2028.

For non-Angelenos, “Carmageddon” refers to a 53-hour, Friday-evening-to-Monday-morning closure of 10 miles of the heavily-trafficked San Diego (405) Freeway from 15-18 July 2011 required as part of a freeway-widening project. With enormous publicity beforehand, the feared-for traffic crush never materialized as people simply avoided the impacted zone of that critical freeway.

A year-later review by the Rand Corporation noted how the community handled this catastrophe-in-the-making:

“So how did the roughly 300,000 travelers who traverse the affected stretch of the San Diego Freeway each day respond? There was a 61 percent decrease in traffic volume heading northbound on the 405 toward the West L.A. closure on Carmageddon Saturday, compared with a typical summer Saturday. Southbound traffic on the 405 in the San Fernando Valley dropped even more: 73 percent.

“Traffic did not simply take detours around the closure. In virtually every location we examined, traffic levels were way down along potential Carmageddon detours. On the Ventura Freeway just north of the closure, westbound traffic volumes were down by 43 percent, and eastbound by 45 percent. Likewise, traffic leaving the 101/405 interchange was down 34 percent in the west/northbound direction and 31 percent east/southbound.”

People knew what to do to avoid problems and did it. A 2014 retrospective from Access Magazine added:

● “Officials delivered print, radio, online ads, and email blasts to over 6,000 organizations. They configured electronic billboards to broadcast messages alerting highway drivers to the impending closure weeks in advance of the event. Metro used traditional websites, created Facebook pages for the events, and broadcast messages on Twitter, even leveraging celebrity star power for the first event, including Ashton Kutcher and Kim Kardashian.”

● “It is also clear that travelers absorb information quickly and respond accordingly.”

● “[D]isseminating information can also be enormously effective – even more effective than providing alternative travel modes. As real-time information becomes more available to travelers, that information can complement system capacity to reduce cost and delay.

“Finally, crying wolf presents a dilemma and should be employed judiciously. Going overboard to scare people off of the roads ensures that the promised chaos will fail to materialize, but encourages the traveling public to take future dire warnings with a grain of salt.”

There is no doubt that Los Angeles will take the Olympic period seriously, especially in the downtown area, with a large concentration of venues. But as in 1984, the traffic will be shaped by dozens of measures implemented by government, the organizing committee, businesses and both residents and visitors to be able to get around as they need to during the 17 days of the Olympic Games.

Traffic demands for the Paralympic Games will be lower, as the scale of that Games is less.

There is a lot of work to be done and the best news is that the area transportation authorities, starting with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“Metro”) is already obsessing over the 2028 Games period. That’s the necessary first step; if followed by concrete actions, traffic need not be an issue during the 2028 Games, as it was not in 1984.

On homelessness, Wasserman again gave the same answer as he has before, but perhaps more concisely expressed this time:

“I will speak to homelessness only as a person who was born and raised in Los Angeles. It’s a really sad and difficult situation that is not unique to Los Angeles. As Angelenos, we better care about because it’s about the future of our city, it’s not about 17 days in the summer of 2028, or 30 days in the summer of 2028.

“This is about what are we doing about to support the people who live and work and make Los Angeles their home and how do we make it the best possible place for them. And we should be worrying about that today, and tomorrow and every day forward , including the 30 days in the summer of 2028, but not exclusively for those 20 or 30 days.

“So, it’s a situation that L.A. needs to come together to help work on, because that’s what it requires.”

An indication of the priority being placed on this issue by Los Angeles County residents was the passage of Measure A on election day, replacing the existing Measure H quarter-cent sales tax increase enacted in 2017 that will expire in 2027, with a half-cent sales tax (doubling the tax) to raise $1.076 billion annually, with no sunset date.

The measure passed overwhelmingly, with 57.6% of the vote as of 15 November.

An estimated 75,000 people in L.A. County are considered homeless according to the latest count. Voters have put their money where their mouths are, and want the issue fixed. It’s now up to the local governments to do that.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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MODERN PENTATHLON: Stunner as U.S.’s Rob Stull elected UIPM President, only second American to head an International Federation

By
Rich Perelman
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New UIPM President Rob Stull (USA) congratulated by outgoing President Klaus Schormann (GER) (Photo: UIPM).

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≡ UIPM CONGRESS ≡

Bucking the odds, USA Pentathlon Managing Director Rob Stull won election as the President of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM), in a dramatic, three-round voting sequence at the 73rd UIPM Congress in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Three candidates ran, with France’s Joel Bouzou, 69, seen as the favorite; he had been the UIPM Secretary General for 15 years and a 1984 Olympic bronze medalist. Egypt’s Sharif El Erian, 54, was a 1992 Olympian and the head of the Egyptian federation, which has become one of the best in the sport.

American Stull was a four-time U.S. Olympian in the sport, and a long-time advocate for the inclusion of obstacle racing. Now 64, he was the Managing Director of USA Pentathlon, and has been a UIPM Executive Board member since 2016.

The UIPM statement explained the drama of Saturday’s vote:

“In the first round, Sharif El Erian of Egypt won 42 votes, Stull (USA) won 38 and Joel Bouzou of France was eliminated after winning 22 votes.

“In the second round, El Erian (EGY) again scored the highest with 51 votes, one more than the 50 votes of Stull (USA), with one abstention. This caused loud celebrations and congratulations from supporters of the UIPM Vice President, but according to Article 10.2 of the UIPM Election Rules, where the rule of absolute majority applies:

“‘Absolute majority’ requires the successful candidate to receive at least one more than half of the total number of votes cast. In assessing the total number of votes cast in relation to a requirement for an absolute majority, odd numbers are to be rounded up.

“A third round of voting was organised, and this time Stull (USA) won 53 votes against 48 for El Erian (EGY), with one abstention.”

Stull was no doubt aided by the reality that the 2028 Olympic Games will be held in the U.S. and that an American will be better positioned to safeguard modern pentathlon’s place with the IOC and the LA28 organizers. But it’s still a surprise.

Said Stull:

“It hasn’t sunk in yet. The rules are the rules and, at the end of the day, that’s the way it went. There was a five-vote margin at the end, which is still very close.

“We have to get right to work, because Paris 2024 was phenomenal for Modern Pentathlon. The bar has been raised, and we have to meet that bar. We will get straight to work.

“It’s exciting with the new fifth discipline, and it’s here now. There are more opportunities for Modern Pentathlon now. Every sport has to innovate, but we have done that innovation and now it’s time to reap the rewards. I will man the helm and we will work with a great team and go from there.”

The UIPM has more elections to come, notably on what role exiting President Klaus Schormann (GER) will play, potentially as an “Honorary President.” But Stull joins David Haggerty of the International Tennis Federation as the only Americans to currently head an International Federation.

And Stull has a lot of work in front of him, as the UIPM continues as the smallest and least well-known of all of the Olympic-program sports. It will receive about $15 million for its share of the International Olympic Committee’s Paris 2024 television rights, which will have to stretch across four years, unless Stull can accelerate his sport’s visibility, popularity and commercial attractiveness.

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ATHLETICS: Grand Slam Track’s first-year finale at UCLA’s Drake Stadium; USATF wants ‘28 Olympic Trials at the Coliseum

By
Rich Perelman
-
Artist’s rendering of track & field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at the 2028 Olympic Games (provided by LA28)

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≡ INTEL REPORT ≡

The schedule is now complete for the first year of the new Grand Slam Track program founded by Atlanta 1996 Olympic sprint icon Michael Johnson, with UCLA’s Drake Stadium confirmed as the fourth venue and the final meet of the 2025 series:

● 04-06 April: Grand Slam Track in Kingston, Jamaica (28.500)
● 02-04 May: Grand Slam Track in Miramar, Florida (5,000)
● 30-May-01: Grand Slam Track in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (52,593)
● 27-29 June: Grand Slam Track in Los Angeles, California (11,142)

Drake Stadium has been a long-time favorite for major meets since opening in 1969 and hosted the then-AAU National Championships in 1974-76-77-78 and a major invitational meet – best remembered as the Pepsi Invitational – from 1977-87 and then sponsored by Jack in the Box in 1989 and 1990.

USA Track & Field has staged its L.A. Grand Prix meet there in 2023 and 2024, and the third edition of that meet is scheduled for 8 June 2025.

The final Grand Slam Track schedule is artfully placed to avoid the early-season Wanda Diamond League meets, but that became impossible with the late June dates:

● 04-06 April: Grand Slam Track in Kingston, Jamaica
● 26 April: Diamond League I in Xiamen (CHN)

● 02-04 May: Grand Slam Track in Miramar, Florida
● 03 May: Diamond League II in Suzhou (CHN)
● 10-11 May: World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou (CHN)
● 16 May: Diamond League III in Doha (QAT)
● 25 May: Diamond League IV in Rabat (MAR)
● 30 May-01: Grand Slam Track in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

● 06 June: Diamond League V in Rome (ITA)
● 08 June: USATF L.A. Grand Prix in Los Angeles, California

● 27-29 June: Grand Slam Track in Los Angeles, California
● 29 June: USATF NYC Grand Prix in New York
● 05 July: Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon

Johnson’s project has been modeled, at least in name, on the tennis Grand Slams – Australian, French, Wimbledon, U.S. Open – but the schedule closely parallels the PGA Tour’s golf majors, which place The Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and British Open in four consecutive months beginning in April. So it is with the new Grand Slam Track.

The Grand Slam Track meets will include 96 athletes in track events only: 48 seasonally-contracted “Racers” and 48 single-meet “Challengers” in a two-race format:

“Racers and Challengers will be assigned to compete in one of the following categories, and will all race in two events during each Slam: short sprints (100 m/200 m), short hurdles (100H or 110H/100 m), long sprints (200 m/400 m), long hurdles (400H/400 m), short distance (800 m/1500 m), or long distance (3000 m/5000 m).”

Prize money of $100,000 down to $10,000 for eighth place will be available in each race.

Speaking in Colorado Springs, Colorado during the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee General Assembly, USA Track & Field chief executive Max Siegel told The Associated Press that it wants to stage the 2028 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials at the Olympic venue at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum:

“It is no secret that our desire is to have something in the West Coast, and preferably in L.A. We’re going to do everything that we possibly can to try to have our Trials [at the Coliseum].”

The Coliseum was the site of the U.S. Trials in 1952, 1956 and 1964, each time over two days. Beginning in 1972, the Trials expanded to essentially mirror the Olympic schedule, becoming a 10-day program. The 1984 Olympic Trials were held at the Coliseum from 16-24 June, prior to the ‘84 Games track program held in August.

Siegel said that considering the logistics involved – the Coliseum floor was lowered in the 1990s for football and must be raised to hold a temporary track – a 2028 Olympic Trials would be shortened. The story said that “Siegel is hoping to have the issue settled by January.”

For the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, the Trials were also held at the Olympic venue from 14-23 June.

Asked about the comments, the LA28 organizers said in a statement:

“We are exploring the possibility of hosting the 2028 Track and Field Trials at the Coliseum in Los Angeles.”

Scheduling will be the issue, as on-field construction of the new floor and then the installation of the track and infield facilities would start only at the beginning of December 2027 after the USC football season is completed. Moreover, the 2028 Olympic Games will open early, on 14 July 2028, with track & field starting on 15 July.

An Olympic Track & Field Trials scheduled as in 2024 would take place six weeks ahead of the Games, meaning the start of June, very early on the calendar. The 2028 NCAA Division I track & field championships, for example, have already been awarded to Eugene, Oregon for 7-10 June 2028.

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LOS ANGELES 2028: IOC Coordination Commission praises LA28’s progress, but also expects to be “wowed”

By
Rich Perelman
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(l-r) LA28 chief executive Reynold Hoover, Chair Casey Wasserman, IOC Coordination Commission Chair Nicole Hoevertsz and IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi (TSX photo).

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≡ IOC COORDINATION COMM.≡

“During three days we were here, it was great, absolutely, to be back on the ground in Los Angeles for the first time in person since 2022. …

“It is always good to be back and sense the passion and the enthusiasm of the Angelenos about the Olympics, and anything that has to do with sports.”

That’s International Olympic Committee Los Angeles 2028 Coordination Commission Chair Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba, speaking at a Thursday news conference, enthusing over the prospects for a successful Olympic Games in four years.

“I think that Paris 2024 really took the global appetite for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to new heights, something really historic, I should say. … It demonstrated the importance of engaging everyone and bringing them along on the journey. LA28 also has the capacity to energize the Games, with L.A.’s culture of innovation and through its vision of harnessing the power of sports and community to collectively create ‘what’s next’ for new generations. …

“Our visit this week reaffirms that LA28 is poised to inspire the next generation and make a positive impact.”

But Hoevertsz also said much is expected, turning to LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman, adding:

“L.A. is the land of imagination, Casey, and when the world looks at the city, it expects to be ‘wowed.’ And with its spectacular venues and landscape, the passion for sport, vibrant communities and its breadth of culture and innovation, L.A. has all the ingredients to to exceed those expectations.”

The Commission visit included venue trips to the Rose Bowl, to be the site of the semifinals and finals of men’s and women’s football in 2028, as well as the Long Beach Convention Center, the Long Beach waterfront and the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood, the site for basketball.

Special visits were made to showcase the “PlayLA” youth sports program sites as part of the unique Youth Sports Partnership with the City of Los Angeles, funded by the IOC with $160 million.

A significant amount of time was given to debrief from the Paris 2024 Games, including with Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet (FRA) and chief executive Etienne Thobois (FRA); Estanguet will now join the LA28 Coordination Commission to help with continuity.

Wasserman said the staff count is still about 150, but with expansion coming and information on hospitality, ticket sales, volunteer efforts and the torch relay coming in 2026.

Hoevertsz made a special mention not only of the wealth of existing venues – none will be built – but also expertise, teasing Wasserman in the process:

“L.A. has a culture of having [events]; they know every well how to organize big events and big sporting events. They have games operators, stadium operators that are very well known in this field, so that is something that is going to be beneficial. …

“That doesn’t mean it’s going be easy. You have made it very difficult, Mr. Wasserman, by adding another few sports and making the sports program a little bit complicated, so it is up to us all together, and Casey said it very well, we have to do this together.”

Wasserman said that while placing cricket on the East Coast has been mentioned – “it’s a big footprint, so we want to find the right place for cricket which has the greatest chance for success” – it’s not likely to see many more sports placed outside of Southern California beyond canoe slalom and softball in Oklahoma City:

“I don’t think you’d see as many as five or six sports. There are natural things that require multiple venues because of field-of-play issues … but these Games are incredibly focused on L.A. and Southern California, and being responsible and making hosting the Games fit our city and our community.”

Wasserman also noted that LA28 will be working with its third President and its fourth administration with the second Trump Administration beginning in January, and that coordination efforts are continuing without incident.

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PANORAMA: Shiffrin goes after 98th World Cup and eighth reindeer (!) in Levi; U.S. men beat Jamaica, 1-0, in Kingston

By
Rich Perelman
-
American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin (Photo: Reese Brown/U.S. Ski & Snowboard)

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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Olympic Winter Games 2034: Salt Lake City ● One of the reasons Salt Lake City was chosen to host the 2034 Winter Games is its continuous hosting of national and international events at its 2002 Winter Games venues.

Same for the 2024-25 winter season, as the Utah Sports Commission detailed the schedule, to include 12 events:

● Bobsleigh & Skeleton North American Cups (2)
● Freestyle Skiing North American Cups (2)
● Freestyle Skiing Intermountain Health International
● Luge Youth Continental Cup
● Speed Skating World Cup Qualifier
● U.S. Junior Championships in Biathlon, Cross Country Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Nordic Combined and Short Track skating

Summer-sport events are also scheduled in judo and volleyball.

● World University Games ● The third FISU Americas Games concluded on Thursday in Cali (COL), with about 1,000 athletes from 17 countries, contesting 13 sports.

Host Colombia won the most medals with 111 (39-40-32), with Brazil taking the most wins with 60 (106 total: 60-30-16). Mexico was third with 100 medals (32-37-31) and the U.S. was fourth with 76 total medals (27-21-28).

● Alpine Skiing ● The weekend brings the annual FIS World Cup slalom races at Levi (FIN) at the Arctic Circle, with the race winners being gifted with a reindeer. Sort of.

What they get to do is name the reindeer and American star Mikaela Shiffrin has a record seven reindeers named since the gimmick started in 2013. She has named Rudolph (in 2013), Sven (2016), Mr. Gru (2018), Ingemar (2019), Sunny and Lorax (2022 races), and Grogu in 2023.

She’ll be going after no. eight, as well as a record 98th career World Cup win on Saturday.

● Football ● The U.S. men got a goal from striker Ricardo Pepi in the fifth minute and made it stand up for a 1-0 win in Kingston, Jamaica in the first leg of the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals.

The U.S. enjoyed more than 59% possession in the game, but Jamaica had 12 shots for the game to six for the U.S. It was, as usual, a physical game with 25 fouls, but midfielder Christian Pulisic’s through-ball to Pepi on the right side of the Jamaica goal was the difference, as Pepi sent a shot from right to left that struck the far post of the Jamaican goal and ricocheted in for the only score of the match.

U.S. keeper Matt Turner got the shutout, including a 14th-minute penalty-shot save against midfielder Demarai Gray after Turner committed the foul against striker Shamar Nicholson.

The two teams will play the second leg in St. Louis on Monday, with the winner on aggregate score advancing to the semifinals in March 2025.

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INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: Coe tells BBC he wants stronger protection for women’s sport, changes in NOC funding

By
Rich Perelman
-
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe (GBR) (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images for World Athletics)

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≡ IOC PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ≡

World Athletics President and two-time Olympic champion Sebastian Coe (GBR) continued on his interview circuit, promoting his candidature to head the International Olympic Committee, with elections to take place next March in Greece.

He told the BBC in a story published Thursday that while his federation provided prize money for the winners at the 2024 Paris Games, he recognizes that not every one can do so:

“I also have to recognise that some sports are not going to be best placed to create those budgets. That’s why it is important that there is a readjustment in the way sport is being funded, the way National Olympic Committees are being funded.”

He did not offer specific details, but explained:

“I think there are some changes that need to be made and fundamentally around just enabling the membership, the athletes, the National Olympic Committees, the International Federations, partners, broadcasters, to have greater skin in the game and to help structure the future.

“This isn’t the efforts of just one person. I think it needs a collaborative, team-building transition.

“It would be a mistake to conclude that everything is rosy, the red carpet is out in front of us, but we do have to travel down it. I’m very keen to provide structures, governance structures, particularly that allow talented members to be able to shape the direction of the movement, and their voices to be not just heard but acted upon.

“There are some big fundamental challenges that [the Olympics] confronts. Geopolitically, commercially, the relevance of the Games… you don’t want to be so disruptive, but I do think it needs to change.”

He was absolutely positive, however, on strengthening the position of women in sport and protecting the women’s category, something he has championed at World Athletics:

“I think the International Olympic Committee needs a very, very clear policy in this space.

“And the protection of the female category, for me, is absolutely non-negotiable.

“If you are not prepared to do that, and that is where the international federations expect a lead to be taken, then you really will lose female sport and I’m not prepared to see that happen.

“I’m not sure that policy is clear enough at the moment.”

The IOC’s “Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations” was issued in November 2021 and threw out a prior, one-size-fits-all qualification level for serum testosterone.

Instead, the IOC offered guidelines for each International Federation to follow as they saw fit, but with special attention to non-invasive and dignified measures to protect the mental health of athletes.

World Athletics and other federations, such as World Aquatics and the Union Cycliste Internationale, have adopted stringent testosterone levels and banned transgender women who have gone through male puberty, to eliminate competitors with physical advantages in the female classification.

Coe has been on an interview tear, a tactic which is allowed under the IOC’s rules for the Presidential campaign. He is one of seven candidates, four of whom are from International Federations. Five of the seven candidates, including Coe, require status or rule changes from the IOC membership in order to serve out a full first term of eight years, or two terms over a total of 12 years.

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ATHLETICS: Final Grand Slam Track first-year venue to be revealed: Philadelphia’s Franklin Field from 30 May-1 June

By
Rich Perelman
-
Historic Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania, in 2019 (Photo: University of Pennsylvania)

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≡ GRAND SLAM TRACK ≡

The final venue for the first year of the Grand Slam Track project was unveiled Thursday as Franklin Field in Philadelphia, site of the famed Penn Relays, to be held on 30-31 May and 1 June.

The 2025 schedule now includes:

● 04-06 April: Grand Slam Track in Kingston, Jamaica
● 02-04 May: Grand Slam Track in Miramar, Florida
● 30 May-01: Grand Slam Track in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The fourth meet has been confirmed to be in Los Angeles, but the date is expected to be announced on Friday. Based on the first three, dates at the end of June are to be anticipated.

The Philadelphia meet comes a month after the 24-26 April Penn Relays, so no conflict there. Because the Grand Slam Track concept does not include field events, Franklin Field, with its limited infield facilities and odd track arrangement for the inner lanes, presents no problems in presentation.

The three venues chosen so far are quite different in size:

● 52,593 capacity for Franklin Field in Philadelphia
● 28,500 capacity for the National Stadium in Kingston
● 5,000 capacity for the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar

The Grand Slam Track meet dates have mostly avoided direct clashes with the Wanda Diamond League, except for the Miramar meet, which is on top of the second Diamond League meet in China:

● 04-06 April: Grand Slam Track in Kingston, Jamaica
● 26 April: Diamond League I in Xiamen (CHN)

● 02-04 May: Grand Slam Track in Miramar, Florida
● 03 May: Diamond League II in Suzhou (CHN)
● 10-11 May: World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou (CHN)
● 16 May: Diamond League III in Doha (QAT)
● 25 May: Diamond League IV in Rabat (MAR)
● 30 May-01: Grand Slam Track in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

● 06 June: Diamond League V in Rome (ITA)
● 08 June: USATF L.A. Grand Prix in Los Angeles, California

If the Grand Slam Track meet in Los Angeles is held at the end of June or beginning of July, it could conflict with the 29 June USATF NYC Grand Prix or the 5 July Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. More on that on Friday.

The Grand Slam Track meets will include 96 athletes in track events only: 48 seasonally-contracted “Racers” and 48 single-meet “Challengers” in a two-race format:

“Racers and Challengers will be assigned to compete in one of the following categories, and will all race in two events during each Slam: short sprints (100 m/200 m), short hurdles (100H or 110H/100 m), long sprints (200 m/400 m), long hurdles (400H/400 m), short distance (800 m/1500 m), or long distance (3000 m/5000 m).”

Prize money of $100,000 down to $10,000 for eighth place will be available in each race.

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ALPINE SKIING: Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn officially returns to racing

By
Rich Perelman
-
American skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn

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≡ INTEL REPORT ≡

“U.S. Ski & Snowboard is excited to announce that alpine great Lindsey Vonn will rejoin the Stifel U.S. Ski Team.

“Vonn’s decision to try and return to ski racing comes after careful consideration following successful knee surgery earlier this year. She has been able to get back to training and test her knee over the past couple of months and will be continuing her progression with the Stifel U.S. Ski Team in Colorado and beyond, representing a new exciting chapter in her already storied career.”

That’s from the breathless U.S. Ski & Snowboard announcement that Vonn, 40, will resume her competitive career, after retiring after continuing injury issues at the end of the 2018-19 season.

She said in the statement:

“Getting back to skiing without pain has been an incredible journey.

“I am looking forward to being back with the Stifel U.S. Ski Team and to continue to share my knowledge of the sport with these incredible women.”

Her return has been whispered for some time and the organizers of the season-opening Soelden Giant Slalom in Austria even said she was ready to race there at the end of October. She did not.

Vonn is a speed racer and one of the best ever. She owns 82 FIS World Cup wins, no. 3 all-time behind countrywoman Mikaela Shiffrin (97) and Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark (86):

● 43: Downhill
● 28: Super-G
● 4: Giant Slalom
● 2: Slalom
● 5: Alpine Combined

Vonn ranks no. 1 all-time for Downhill wins – men or women – and no. 1 all-time in the Super-G; Shiffrin is no. 1 in Giant Slaloms (for women) and no. 1 overall in the Slalom.

Vonn won four seasonal World Cup titles in 2008-09-10-12 and 16 discipline titles in 18 seasons on tour. She won the Olympic Downhill in Vancouver in 2010, plus a Super-G bronze and a Downhill bronze in 2018. She also won the 2009 Worlds golds in the Downhill and Super-G, among a total of eight career Worlds medals.

How good will she be? That will depend on her fitness and on staying away from injuries; her comeback follows a successful partial knee replacement surgery in April. She was strong almost to the end of her career, winning four races – all Downhills – in the 2017-18 season, just one season before retiring.

The announcement made no mention of a schedule. The early-season World Cup races are Slaloms and Giant Slaloms; the first speed races are in the U.S.: a Downhill and Super-G at Beaver Creek, Colorado on 14-15 December.

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