THE TICKER: Foreign fans expected to be barred from Tokyo 2020; IWF committee member Chinen calls out Exec Board “gangsters”!

March 5, 2021

tsx pix 2021-305 gangsters 750 — The International Weightlifting Federation Executive Board has gangsters?!

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● “We would really like people from around the world to come to the full stadium, but unless we are prepared to accept them and the medical situation in Japan is perfect, it will cause a great deal of trouble also to visitors from overseas.”

That’s Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto, setting the stage for an announcement later this month that no foreign fans will be allowed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Kyodo News reported:

“The heads of the organizing bodies of the Summer Games are expected to hold a virtual meeting in mid-March to make a decision on the issue, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But one of them said, ‘Practically, the course has already been set.’”

The target date for announcing the decision on foreign spectators is 25 March, the starting date for the Olympic Torch Relay. The question of how many fans can be admitted to each site is to be made in April.

● Athletics ● A run at the men’s American Indoor 5,000 m record last night (4th) resulted in the no. 2 performance in American history as Emmanuel Bor win the FireFly Recovery 5,000 m in 13:05.60 at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.

The race had been set up for Paul Chelimo to take a shot at Galen Rupp’s 2014 mark of 13:01.26, but Bor was a clear winner, with Chelimo second in 13:12.51 and Willy Fink third in 13:34.00.

At the European Championships in Torun (POL), two world-leading marks came out of the second day (Friday), as Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou reached 8.35 m (27-4 3/4) in the long jump and reigning Olympic Heptathlon Champion Nafi Thiam (BEL) won the Pentathlon at 4,904, moving her to no. 7 on the all-time list.

Czech Tomas Stanek won the men’s shot at 21.62 m (70-11 1/4), ahead of Pole Michal Haratyk (21.02 m/68-11 3/4).

More cancellations from the coronavirus, as USA Track & Field announced the elimination of the 2021 U-20 Championships from the schedule on Wednesday (3rd). As for the 2021 Pan American Junior Championships in Chile in July, selections will be “based on performance rank order for the period Friday, January 1, 2021 through Sunday, June 13, 2021.”

The 2021 Penn Relays will also not held in its usual format. The University of Pennsylvania announced on Thursday (4th) that a program of three meets will be held., with a collegiate-only meet for Philadelphia-area Division I-II-III teams on 24 April. In addition, “The Penn Relays will also aim to host a meet for open and professional athletes in the coming months and a scholastic meet this summer.” The elite-athlete meet will be held prior to the deadline for Olympic qualifying marks.

The Athletics Integrity Unit sanctioned ex-Kenyan 800 m runner Nelly Jepkosgei with a three-year sanction for “Tampering with any part of Doping Control,” nullifying marks from 15 June 2020 and suspending her through 1 February 2024.

Now 29, Jepkosgei was scheduled to run for Bahrain beginning on 13 August 2021 and has bests of 1:58.96 from 2018 and 4:00.99 in the 1,500 m (also 2018). She missed a doping test scheduled for 18 March 2020 and then said she missed the test because she was at a local hospital in Kapsabet (KEN) following up on her sister, who had been in a car crash. The excuse was a lie and the “supporting” documentation from the hospital was faked. Hence, the suspension.

● Figure Skating ● The Russian TASS News Agency reported on Wednesday (3rd) that Alena Kostornaia, 17, the 2020 European Champion, wants to return to her old coach, Eteri Tutberidze. Kostornaia had left in July 2020 to train with Evgeni Plushenko, but after contracting the Covid-19 virus and then some uneven performances, she prefers to be trained by Tutberidze again … if the coach will agree.

The 2016 and 2017 World Champion, Evgenia Medvedeva, 21, reunited with Tutberidze in 2020 after two years with Canadian coach Brian Orser. Medvedeva also had the virus in late 2020 and has competed sparingly during the current season due to back injuries.

Retired Russian skater Maria Sotskova, eighth at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games and twice an eight-place finisher in the ISU World Championships, was suspended for 10 years for doping by the Russian Skating Federation. According to Reuters, she “submitted a forged document to explain a doping violation.” Sotskova announced that she was retiring from the sport in 2020.

● Football ● U.S. announced two European dates for the American men’s team, both in Europe. The U.S. men will play Jamaica on 25 March at the Wiener Neustadt Stadion in Wiener Neustadt (AUT) and then Northern Ireland on 28 March in Windsor Park in Belfast.

Playing Jamaica in Austria? Huh?

● Weightlifting ● The ongoing saga of the International Weightlifting Federation is now taking on the quality of a soap opera. The latest developments:

● Following the IOC’s letter of 24 February listing its concerns over the IWF’s management of the sport (and itself), the IWF issued a letter from Interim President Dr. Michael Irani (GBR) and Secretary General Mohammed Jalood (IRQ) to all member federations confirming that – in accordance with the IOC’s wishes, a Constitutional Congress will be held ahead of elections, instead of vice versa.

A draft Constitution has been prepared and is proposed to be circulated for comments, to be received by 31 March 2021.

● Later on Wednesday, Japan’s Reiko Chinen, a member of the IWF Technical Committee opined on Twitter:

“Changing order of Electoral and Constitutional Congresses is not enough. #IWF [Executive Board] hasn’t understood deeply yet #IOC Christophe De Kepper addressed, ‘in a satisfactory and TIMELY way’ – means Constitutional [congress] must be done at latest by end of [April] and Election by OG”

and

“Actually there exist wise and normal Members in #IWF board, who has same opinion as mine. Unfortunately we have too many gangsters in its [Executive Board], therefore we need more [Member Federations] realize our problem and speak out same opinion as mine.”

● Separately, former Interim IWF President and now candidate Ursula Papandrea of the U.S. sent out her own letter on Thursday (4th) to the IWF Executive Board and the member federations, including:

“My intent is to express my enduring concern that the Board has reacted to the IOC concerns insufficiently. I am particularly alarmed at the risks this presents to our sport and athletes.

“My concern extends to the reactive versus proactive decision making. While I congratulate you on reacting to part of the IOC warning letter, you have only addressed a fraction of their message by changing course on several points. I request that you address all facets of the warning letter from the IOC by addressing ALL of the listed concerns.”

Papandrea suggested a more aggressive timeline, with comments on the new constitution back by 25 March, the resulting document circulated by 24 April and a Congress by videoconference by 25 May. That would be followed by elections, with a 5 May deadline for applications, 4 June confirmation of the ballot and elections on 4-5 July, well prior to the start of Tokyo 2020.

In addition, she asked for action on anti-doping programs:

“As we have been given notice of a zero positive tolerance warning for the upcoming Olympic Games, it seems prudent to identify the Olympic athlete pool for out of competition testing as soon as possible. Once the testing pool has been identified, the IWF should require ADAMS registration to be maintained from now until the time of the Olympic Games, approximately four months. Waiting on continental championships, that may or may not happen, and the potential that some athletes may not be capable of participating shall the continental championships proceed as scheduled, does not seem to be a fair process.”

● The IWF issued a notice on its Web site on Thursday, posting its new constitution and expecting a Constitutional Congress in June, with elections in October!

Expect the IOC Executive Board to have more to say about this at its meetings next week.

● The Last Word ● The Commission on the Study of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics is at a standstill, before it has held even a single meeting. The reason is Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington).

While 12 members of the Commission have been named, with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) the last to announce his selections on 27 January, Cantwell has been silent. Well, not exactly silent: her office has posted 33 news releases since that date, but none about the Commission.

The statute (S. 2330) requires the Commission to complete its work essentially at the end of July, while the 2020 Tokyo Games are going on. An extension is obviously going to be needed, but unless Cantwell awakens, the Commission may not meet until after Tokyo is over. Maybe Beijing 2022 too?

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LANE ONE: IOC’s preference for Brisbane shows the bids of the future, and is perfect for Salt Lake City

Rich Perelman

March 4, 2021

tsx pix 2021-304 speed and technology world 750 — Queensland combined speed and perseverance and was rewarded with an opportunity to be selected to host the 2032 Olympic Games. Who else is ready to step up?

The International Olympic Committee’s announcement last week that the bid from the Queensland region of Australia – centered around Brisbane – was now “targeted” as the first-in-line choice for the Games of the XXXV Olympiad in 2032 was a surprise to a lot of people.

It shouldn’t have been.

IOC chief Thomas Bach told reporters during his online news conference that this selection was the outcome of the enormous changes made in the Olympic bid process, which were badly needed:

“We had to face there a situation where we could see that because the candidates were put against each other in this kind of [voting] contest, that we had exponentially less and less candidates because the candidates were being eliminated or losing a vote could not justify towards their community to come back with another candidature right after. …

“And these were the reasons why we said we have to change this procedure and, there again, to follow the examples from the business world or other sports events organizers where you avoid this kind of situation, where one candidate is attacking the other, and ‘I am better here’ and ‘I am better here and the best’. I don’t need to explain [to] you; you have experience enough, having followed all these procedures, but I can understand that this is interesting for journalists, for media to follow such a situation. But you also know from this work that this was not the best procedure, neither for the future of the Games, nor for the reputation of the IOC.”

So what happened? A bid effort which was developed with serious intentions, moved forward with significant support from the National Olympic Committee in its country and all levels of government and which pushed all of the IOC’s hot buttons has the opportunity to land the 2032 Games.

Good for Queensland and Australia. Hard work paid off. Sloth, talk and speeches did not. The IOC noted in its announcement that:

“The main reasons why Brisbane 2032 was proposed for the targeted dialogue are:

● “The very advanced Games concept, which is fully aligned with Olympic Agenda 2020 and using 80 to 90 per cent existing or temporary venues.

● “The venue masterplan, which has already been discussed with International Sports Federations and the International Paralympic Committee. …

● “The existing and planned transport infrastructure and experience in traffic management, which can adequately meet the demands of the Olympic Games and were successfully implemented for the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

● “The existing hotel accommodation inventory, which already meets Games requirements.

● “Strong support from all three levels of government, as confirmed on several occasions by highest-level representatives from the City of Brisbane, the Southeast Queensland Council of Mayors, the State of Queensland and the federal government.”

There was plenty of head-shaking from other potential bidders for the Games who were caught flat-footed by the Queensland selection. Jurgen Kessing of the German Athletics Federation (DLV) asked the pertinent question:

“I think we have to ask ourselves how we can get into pole position with possible future Olympic bids.”

They, and others had their chance; they talked while Queensland walked. Norwegian IOC member Kristen Kloster Aasen, chair of the Future Hosts Commission, told reporters:

“In December, we asked the interested parties for a full update on their status and had discussions with all of them. The Commission gave the opportunity of a presentation and discussion to the interested parties that were in continuous dialogue and this resulted in meetings on the 3rd, the 8th and 9th of February this year. The Commission has also engaged with those NOCs which have chosen not to be in continuous dialogue at this stage.”

The German NOC indicated it was not ready to be part of the “continuous dialogue.” The disconnect between one or more potential German bidders and their National Olympic Committee eliminated them. Same for other bids which were more an idea than a reality, in Hungary, Indonesia, India, Korea and others. They were asleep while Queensland was awake, and its bid – more than two years in the making – won after originally targeting 2028, then being disappointed that Los Angeles was awarded that Games. Queensland didn’t whine, they got on with trying to win for 2032.

This is business. The first mover has the advantage, but has to be highly credible. Queensland did that while others talked about it. That’s the future.

Which brings us to Salt Lake City, Utah, which staged a brilliant Winter Games in 2002 and is ready to do so again. It already formed a bid committee a year ago, after being designated as the bid city for the United States by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee in 2018. In addition to having existing venues, accommodations and infrastructure in place, it also has the advantage of multiple veterans of the 2002 organizing committee deeply involved, including former chief Operating Officer Fraser Bullock, and Colin Hilton, now the head of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, which cares for many of the Olympic venues, continuously in use since 2002.

Salt Lake City is in line to be awarded a Winter Games, probably for 2034, with the only question on how to coordinate the timing to follow the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad in Los Angeles in 2028.

The IOC is also moving forward. The introduction of its “Agenda 2020+5” provides clear, new opportunities for countries and regions to show off their attributes in partnership with the IOC in future Olympic qualifying competitions, a clear gateway to future Olympic bids without the expense of a pricey continental Games or a Youth Olympic Games. The “Agenda 2020+5″ recommendation 6 explanation includes:

“Depending on the definition, there are hundreds or even thousands of events which act as Olympic qualifiers. However, today, there are very few opportunities to connect these events with the Olympic Games through branding and other initiatives. The Olympic and OCOG brands effectively have no visibility and therefore the Road to the Olympic Games is not as visible as it should be.

“An opportunity therefore exists to create additional associations between the Olympic Games and Olympic qualification events. This would have benefits for all parties – the Hosts of the events, the NOCs / NFs of the athletes, the IFs governing the events and the athletes themselves. …

“New types of qualifying events could also be explored. Beyond the individual stand-alone events, some multi-sports qualification events could be developed by the IOC in collaboration with IFs, which would help streamline the qualification calendar and also potentially add value for the Hosts, IFs and athletes involved. These events, grouping sports by type or by culture (e.g. combat sports, urban sports), could also serve to build excitement for the Olympic Games.” (Emphasis added)

There is little doubt that the “2020+5″ package will be passed by the IOC Session later this month. Potential Olympic bid cities and regions should then be calling on Kloster Aasen and her Winter Games Commission counterpart, Octavian Morariu (ROU), about these events – which don’t even exist yet – and how they can help create, develop and stage these programs; one good starting point is just to catalog all of the seasonal World Cup events already staged in a city, region or country!

(The IOC’s concept is hardly a new idea, either, especially in Germany. Berlin combined 10 national championships into a single week in 2019, called “Die Finals,” and drew 178,000 spectators!)

The 2032 Games should be in Queensland, but nothing is sure until the event is officially awarded, perhaps in 2021. The “losers” may be sulking now, but the IOC’s new process saved them the embarrassment of explaining how millions of publicly-provided dollars, euros or other currency were spent on nothing after losing an election.

Queensland is now the standard and Salt Lake City is not far behind. As the Sugar Hill Gang famously advised in 1981:

Tonto, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it
Kemosabe, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it
Custer, jump on it, jump on it, jump on it
Apache, jump on it, jump on it!

Rich Perelman
Editor

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SKIING & SNOWBOARD: Norway celebrates 12th Worlds gold for Johaug, second for Lundby; Russia’s Nadyrshina the teen queen in Snowboard

Rich Perelman

March 3, 2021

tsx pix 2019-227 johaug therese 750 finish — Norwegian Cross Country superstar Therese Johaug wins again!

Congratulations to the Federation Internationale de Ski, which is managing to get its 2021 World Championships in Nordic Skiing and Snowboard staged during the pandemic, albeit in unusual fashion. Here’s what happened since the weekend:

● Cross Country Skiing ● Norway – and distance superstar Therese Johaug – continued their winning ways at the Nordic World Champs in Obertsdorf (GER) with Johaug’s dominant win in the women’s 10 km Freestyle event on Tuesday (2nd).

Leading essentially from the start, the 32-year-old Johaug raced away from everyone in the final half and won in 23:09.8, a staggering 54.2 seconds ahead of runner-up Frida Karlsson (SWE). The win gives Johaug 12 World Championships gold medals, nine of which are in individual events. It’s her second gold of this Championships and she will be the overwhelming favorite in the 30 km Mass Start event on the weekend.

The fight for third saw American star Jessie Diggins holding the bronze-medal position into the final kilometer, but she faded to fourth as Swede Ebba Andersson took third at 24:16.7, with Diggins at 24:21.8.

The men’s 15 km Freestyle was a Norwegian sweep, their second in these Championships, with Hans Christer Holund winning in 33:48.7, trailed by Simen Hegstad Krueger (34:08.9) and Harald Ostberg Amundsen (34:24.3). Holund won his second medal of 2021, following his third in the Skiathlon; he also owns a 2019 Worlds golds for the 50 km Freestyle, coming up this weekend.

● Nordic Combined ● The next competition comes on Thursday (4th), with the men’s Gundersen off a 137 m hill and 10 km race. Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber, already the winner of the Normal Hill-10 km event, is again the favorite.

● Ski Jumping ● The women’s Large Hill (137 m) competition on Wednesday (3rd) was once again a Norwegian showcase, with Maren Lundby winning her second medal of these Championships and winning the first large-hill event for women in the Nordic Worlds.

After finishing second in the Normal Hill event (106 m) on 25 February, Lundby produced technically excellent jumps in both rounds to compile 296.6 points, ahead of Japan’s Sara Takanashi – the Normal Hill bronze medalist – by 8.7 points (287.9). Slovenia’s Nika Kriznar won the bronze at 287.1 points.

The Normal Hill winner, Eva Klinec (SLO) produced the longest jump of the day, in the second round, at 139.5 m (~458 feet!), but scored only 146.3 points; she finished sixth overall.

After 16 events in the Nordic Worlds, Norway leads with 22 of the 48 medals awarded; Sweden (2-2-2) and Slovenia (1-1-4) have six each.

● Snowboard ● The World Championships in Parallel events was held in Rogla (SLO) on 1-2 March, with strong results for Russia and Germany.

The Russians are, of course, required to compete as the “Russian Ski Federation” during their suspension period, but that did not stop Dmitry Loginov and Andrey Sobolev from winning half of the men’s medals available.

In the Parallel Giant Slalom, Loginov – still only 21 – defended his 2019 Worlds victory successfully, finishing ahead of Italian veteran Roland Fischnaller by just 0.01, with Sobolev winning the bronze by 0.21 over Korea’s Sangkyum Kim. It was Fischnaller’s sixth Worlds medal from 2011-21 and an amazing feat at age 40!

Sobolev, who was Parallel Giant Slalom World Champion in 2015, won his fourth career Worlds medal.

The Parallel Slalom was a 1-2 finish for Austria, with Benjamin Karl, 35, winning his fifth World title by 0.09 over countryman Andreas Prommegger, 40, who won his first career Worlds medal. Loginov won the bronze in the all-Russian third-place race by 0.02 over Sobolev.

The women’s Parallel races were dominated by Germany’s Selina Joerg and Russian Sofia Nadyrshina, who each won two medals. Joerg, 33, defended her 2019 Parallel Giant Slalom title with a 0.12 edge in the final against Nadyrshina – age 17 – who won her first Worlds medal. Austria’s Julia Drujmovits won the bronze over teammate Claudia Riegler by 1.05 seconds.

In the Parallel Slalom, Nadyrshina took the gold over Germany’s Ramona Theresia Hofmeister, 24, who did not finish in the final. Joerg won the bronze by 0.08 in a tight duel with Canadian Megan Farrell.

The final stage of the Snowboard Worlds, broken into pieces for 2021, will feature Big Air, Aerials and Moguls, and will be held in Aspen, Colorado (USA), from 10-16 March.

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: Tokyo 2020 to elect 12 women to board; massive changes to Olympic TV coverage; Russia’s 20-step path to T&F reinstatement

Rich Perelman

March 2, 2021

tsx pix 2021-302 broadcast center 750 (ioc) — Technology is bringing major changes to the way the Olympic Games are broadcast worldwide (Photo: IOC)

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

● Games of the XXXV Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee voted Tuesday (2nd) to expand its executive board from 35 to 45 members, accepted one resignation and then nominated 12 women to fill the open spots.

Once confirmed – the advisory committee vote is expected on Wednesday – the new members will bring the total number of women to 19 out of 45, or 42.2%, slightly ahead of the 40% goal set by new organizing committee chief Seiko Hashimoto.

She noted “We need to deal with the issue quickly to restore (public) confidence in the organizing committee and to produce results.” Reported as among the nominees are 2000 Sydney Olympic marathon gold medalist Naoko Takahashi and two-time Paralympic alpine skiing champion Kuniko Obinata.

A major change in the way the Olympic Games are televised is underway as the combination of new technologies and the pandemic is shrinking one of the biggest users of space, power and people.

The IOC Web site posted an important story on Tuesday (2nd), entitled “Olympic Games broadcasting via the cloud: technology at the service of storytelling,” underscoring the massive changes taking place in Tokyo.

Key to this is the introduction of a cloud-based signal distribution (noted in detail last October), which eliminates the need for a broadcaster to actually be on-site in Tokyo to produce live coverage of the Games.

Said Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) Chief Executive Yiannis Exarchos (GRE):

“We were lucky in the sense that we have the TOP partnership with Alibaba. Alibaba is one of the key players in the world in cloud technology, and together with them we developed what we call the OBS Cloud, which is a platform which allows broadcasters to receive content remotely on the cloud and even to work on this content remotely on a cloud basis.

“The major thinking, and what we want them to do and help them to do, is reduce the presence [of broadcast staff] that can happen anywhere in the world. To be shipping servers and setting up equipment in a city for things that can happen on the cloud is one of the things we want to avoid.

“If you have a journalist in the mixed zone you can receive everything [else] back in your home country.”

This is a major change in Games organization and will have far-reaching impacts:

● The massive amount of space, time and money needed to assemble an International Broadcast Center in the host city will be dramatically reduced. This is a benefit to the organizers, to the broadcasters and to fans, who will be able to access thousands of hotel rooms used by broadcast technicians.

● The space needed for broadcast commentary positions inside stadia will be markedly reduced over time, again freeing up hundreds of seats for spectators at most sites. Broadcasters pay for these positions to be installed and each one takes up 6-12 spectator seats, depending on the configuration in each venue. The experience of commentators calling events remotely during the pandemic will be a permanent change for many Olympic events that will now be available in real time anywhere in the world.

● The “mixed zone” area, where media can meet athletes as they exit the field of play, will become increasingly important. Introduced on a Games-wide basis in Los Angeles in 1984, the space needed for this function, and for formal news conference-style settings, will now increase exponentially, especially for Paris 2024 and beyond.

The IOC story notes:

“The International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in Tokyo is going to be 25 per cent smaller than the Rio IBC, with 27 per cent fewer broadcasters present. This trend is going only one way. The IBC for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 is already small enough for the Organising Committee to have combined it with the Main Press Centre.”

All of this opens substantial new opportunities for Games coverage, and the rights-holders, press, photographers and non-rights-holding broadcasters will be scrambling to take advantage. How future organizers and the IOC are able to adapt to this could allow for a huge expansion of the impact of the Games worldwide; it’s one of the most exciting changes to Games coverage ever.

● Games of the XXXIV Olympiad: Los Angeles 2028 ● The Los Angeles City Council tabled until 17 March discussion of the “2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games Public Safety Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2028 (LA 2028), and the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) to establish the California Olympic and Paralympic Public Safety Command (COPPSC).”

The memorandum spends no money and authorizes nothing except to have the City join the new COPPSC to begin joint planning and collaboration on public safety for the 2028 Games. Four public comments were posted on this item – three of which were anonymous – all repeating what will be a recurring theme of trying to use the 2028 Games as a straw man for protests on other issues. The most pithy: “Do no [sic] support, Defund the police.”

● National Olympic Committees ● Last December, the IOC sanctioned the NOC of Belarus, with IOC chief Thomas Bach stating that “The IOC has come to the conclusion that it appears that the current leadership has not appropriately protected the Belarussian athletes from political discrimination within the NOC, their member federations or the sports movement.” It banned then-NOC President Alexander Lukashenko – also the country’s President – and his son, Viktor, from attending any Olympic functions.

Last Friday (26th), Alexander Lukashenko left his NOC post with Viktor appointed in his place. The father has been under pressure from political protests against him following elections last fall, which have been criticized as unfairly held; the results gave him a sixth term. The IOC is sure to be irritated by the results and further sanctions may be forthcoming.

In the U.S., 19 National Governing Bodies, including USA Archery, USA Artistic Swimming, USA Baseball, USA Bobsled & Skeleton, USA Cycling, USA Diving, USA Fencing, USA Field Hockey, USA Football, USA Gymnastics, USA Hockey, USA Karate, US Lacrosse, US Ski & Snowboard, US Soccer, US Speedskating, USA Taekwondo, USA Triathlon and USA Wrestling, have signed on for the new CrashCourse Concussion Story Wall produced by the Brain Injury Association of America.

The program features an interactive database of 700 individual’s stories relating to how a brain injury occurred, the symptoms experienced, and personal suggestions from those who have been injured by a concussion (also known as a mild traumatic brain injury). It is intended as a comprehensive resource to help develop an understanding of the injury and appreciation for the whole person for the many who are impacted (athletes, parents, coaches, officials, teachers and military veterans).

It’s free to access here.

● Alpine Skiing ● The brutal injuries to alpine skiers Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR) and Rosina Schneeberger (AUT) during the Super-G races at Val di Fassa (ITA) last weekend are healing, according to reports.

Vickhoff Lie suffered a broken left leg from her crash and had surgery on Sunday in Innsbruck (AUT). The Federation Internationale de Ski Alpine Twitter feed noted:

“[A]fter yesterday’s crash, Rosina Schneeberger was diagnosed with a fracture of the right tibia and fibula. She was successfully operated in the evening in Innsbruck. The fracture was stabilised with an intramedullary nail.”

Both are recovering in the same room!

● Athletics ● The World Athletics Council approved a detailed program for the reinstatement of the Russian Athletics Federation on Monday (1st), including a 31-page plan with dozens of requirements to be met. The Plan reviewed the situation, noting:

● “A history of extensive and sometimes blatant anti-doping rule violations involving athletes, coaches and officials is acknowledged. The root causes of an extensive doping and covering-up culture involving athletes, coaches and officials arose from inheriting a post-Soviet doping culture aimed at winning by all means including doping.”

● “The Strategic Plan, together with the Operational Roadmap that supports the Plan, are designed to deal with the root causes of previous systemic and systematic doping issues and achieve positive changes in both culture and practice regionally and nationally. To do this, the entire system of RusAF’s operations and Russian athletics must be changed, with core integrity-based behaviours and anti-doping values at its heart and at all levels within the sport.”

● “Pathways for clean athletes to come to the fore must exclude old coaching approaches based on doping practices. Measures to reward regions changing to clean athletics are required, and to punish those regions resisting changes. Increased athlete representation to support clean athletics must occur.”

● “It would be extremely erroneous to suggest that RusAF reinstatement per se is the ultimate goal of the Plan. Indeed, RusAF reinstatement is an important landmark, but it is merely a step towards a better future for Russian athletics. The main goal of this plan is to ingrain the sustainable change in culture throughout RusAF’s processes and decision-making and rehabilitate RusAF’s management and oversight of athletics in Russia so that doping no longer occurs in a systemic and systematic way in Russian athletics, and through its emphatic actions to deal with doping violations RUSAF becomes a trusted ally of World Athletics in the fight for clean sport.”

The plan explains that “[t]he consequences of ‘the Lysenko case’ were almost fatal for RusAF” and that the prior plan to reinstate the federation collapsed under the cover-up of “whereabouts” failures for former World Indoor High Jump champ Danil Lysenko. So, everything started over.

The new project specifies goals in nine groups are required to be met by 1 April, 1 September and reviewed with an audit by 2 March of 2022. There are 20 items with specific deadlines to be implemented – in the anti-doping and governance areas – by 1 April (8 items), 1 June (6), 1 July (1), 1 August (3) and 1 September (2).

The question on reinstating the “Authorized Neutral Athlete” program in time to allow some Russian athletes to compete in Tokyo will be considered by the World Athletics Council at its meeting from 17-18 March. In terms of incentive to implement the Plan requirements, perhaps provisional approval of Authorized Neutral Athletes, conditioned on meeting the 15 requirements for April, June and July, could be adopted.

The USA Track & Field National Championships in the men’s 50 km walk and women’s 35 km walk were held in Santee, California on Sunday. Nick Christie, 36, won the men’s 50 km race for what is believed to be his 18th national title at various distances in 4:10:53, ahead of A.J. Gruttadauro (4:19:18) and Joel Phahler (4:47:45), with 1992 and 1996 Olympian Allen James fourth (4:52:00). Defending champion Andreas Gustafsson was disqualified.

The women’s 35 km walk was taken by 37-year-old Robyn Stevens for her third straight national title, this time at the new distance, in 3:01:11. Stephanie Casey was second (3:05:21) and Amberly Melendez was third (3:23:14). The top finishers in each race received $8,000-6,000-4,000-3,000-2,000-1,000-1,000 for the top eight places, but only six men and five women finished.

(Thanks to U.S. Olympic walker and sharped-eyed reader Elliott Denman for a correction on A.J. Gruttadauro’s name and spelling!)

USA Track & Field announced a 10-meet “Journey to Gold” spring series from April into June, with six events already specified with a date and location. Three of those will be held at Prairie View A&M on 3 April, 25 May and 6 June. Prize money totaling $1 million is promised for the series, with details to come later.

World Athletics confirmed the final points standings of its World Indoor Tour and the event winners who earned a wild-card entry into the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade (SRB) and $10,000 prize money:

Men/400 m: Pavel Maslak (CZE)
Men/1500 m: Selemon Barega (ETH)
Men/60 m hurdles: Grant Holloway (USA)
Men/High jump: Gianmarco Tamberi (ITA)
Men/Long jump: Juan Miguel Echevarria (CUB)

Women/60 m: Javianne Oliver (USA)
Women/800 m: Habitam Alemu (ETH)
Women/3000 m: Lemlem Hailu (ETH)
Women/Pole vault: Iryna Zhuk (BLR)
Women/Triple jump: Liadagmis Povea (CUB)
Women/Shot put: Auriol Dongmo (POR)

● Cycling ● The organizers of the 2023 UCI all-disciplines World Championships in and around Glasgow (SCO) are working with the UCI to market “purpose-led sponsorships” which bring companies together with “key societal themes and outcomes.”

In an interview with SportBusiness, organizing committee commercial director Jonathan Rigby (GBR) explained, “So if we want to get more people on bikes more often, then there’s a fantastic opportunity for a mobility partner to work with us and identify how cars and bikes can co-exist in future cities.”

A technology partner could focus on second-screen engagement with the races and encouraging participation in cycling. An automaker could showcase electric or hybrid vehicles and/or promote road safety with cyclists. Whether this is the future of sponsorship or more of an experiment to yet to be seen.

The report noted that “Ahead of Scotland being awarded the hosting rights, it was forecast that the hosting budget would be £45.8m (€53m/$64.8m), with Glasgow City Council providing £15m in support.”

● Judo ● The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision in the appeal of sanctions by the Iran Judo Federation “concluded that the kind of sanction (unlimited suspension) imposed in the challenged decision of 22 October 2019 had no legal basis in the IJF regulations. Accordingly, the Panel partially upheld the appeal and annulled the decision taken by the IJF Disciplinary Commission on 22 October 2019. The matter has been referred back to the IJF Disciplinary Commission for its eventual further.”

The International Judo Federation posted only a short note on its Web site in reply that the federation “is currently considering what further action and decisions will be taken.”

One item clearly on the agenda of a future IJF Congress is to amend its rules to allow indefinite suspensions for political interference.

● Volleyball ● An in-depth review of the massive investment in the creation of a new “Volleyball World” commercial agency to promote the sport worldwide by SportBusiness revealed that $100 million was contributed to the new venture by Luxembourg-based CVC Capital Partners, which represents one-third of the ownership of the new entity.

FIVB Secretary General Fernando Lima (BRA) explained that volleyball has huge opportunities for growth based on its enormous viewership at the Olympic Games, a metric which other sports have tried to leverage but found difficult. Said Lima: “Most international sport federations, like basketball and football, or even market-specific sports like rugby and cricket, found ways to connect with fans in the last century via different platforms and media. Volleyball missed that trajectory – its mission was to deliver the events and competitions, hand out the medals and then we’d all go home. We didn’t create a strong brand.”

The revenue opportunities targeted to start will include events, the fan experience, media rights strategies, data/digital opportunities and sponsorship.

● Weightlifting ● While the International Weightlifting Federation immediately conceded to the IOC demands for athlete representation on the Executive Board and the re-scheduling of the Congresses for adopting a new constitution and then for elections, the IOC’s letter also included other matters that can have a long-lasting impact. The letter, from IOC Director General Christophe de Kepper (SUI) objected to:

● “The large number of candidates for the upcoming elections that have been involved with the IWF leadership over the recent period”;

● “Lack of any age restrictions or restrictions on candidates from suspended or sanctioned national federations” and

● “The lack of engagement with the elected athlete representatives …”

The letter also notes concerns with the anti-doping program for the upcoming Olympic qualification events and the resolution of issues raised by the McLaren Global Sport Services Report and ongoing investigations by the World Anti-Doping Agency, the International Testing Agency and Hungarian police!

As the IOC’s dealings with the AIBA over boxing have shown, the IWF’s path out of the Games is clearer than its path to staying in.

● Wrestling ● USA Wrestling has re-scheduled its Olympic Trials for Ft. Worth, Texas for 2-3 April, moving it from its original site at Penn State due to the pandemic. In that announcement was some good news for wrestling fans: “there were 12,000 tickets sold for the Olympic Trials at Penn State before the pandemic began.”

That’s good news for wrestling in the U.S. and not to be taken lightly for the future. The new capacity at the Dickies Arena will be limited to 4,900.

● At the BuZZer ● A significant auction of sports memorabilia is scheduled for Paris on 6 March called “SPORLYMPIQUE VI.”

On offer are 471 lots, with some significant Olympic items including two participation medals from the 1896 Athens Games (expected to sell individually for €400-800 each) and Olympic torches from Tokyo 1964 (expected €2800-3000), Montreal 1976 (€2500-3500), Moscow 1980 (€1500-1800), Lillehammer 1994 (€20,000-30,000!!!), Sydney 2000 (€2500-3500), Athens 2004 (€1800-2000) and London 2012 (€2500-3500).

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LANE ONE: Coronavirus, Beijing, Larry Nassar, weightlifting, doping: is the apocalypse right around the corner?

Rich Perelman

March 1, 2021

tsx pix 82318 last judgement damned man750 — From Michelangelo's immortal "The Last Judgment" (1535-41) in the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Our Highlights of last weekend’s noteworthy competitions around the world is here.

In December, 1776, American political activist Thomas Paine began his first American Crisis pamphlet with the words, “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

Those words apply now – to men and women – just as they have for many periods since the Revolutionary War. For those in the world of international sport, the last month seems like the planet is spinning off of its axis:

● Tokyo 2020’s Mori implodes, but the coronavirus still looms

The Tokyo 2020 organizers already had their hands full when committee chief, former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, complained on 3 February about women talking too much during Board meetings. It took only about 10 days for him to resign, with federal Olympics Minister Seiko Hashimoto taking his place.

Many more women will be added to the Tokyo 2020 Board in what may be (or may not be) a catalytic moment for women in Japanese society. But none of this changes the coronavirus situation, the question of whether fans – foreign or domestic – will be able to attend the Games this summer, the difficulty in holding qualifying events, and the low public enthusiasm for the Games in Japan itself.

Hashimoto said last week that the spectator question should be clearer by the time the Olympic Torch Relay begins on 25 March; IOC chief Thomas Bach thought the decision will be needed by the end of April or beginning of May. But how many people will care?

● Beijing 2022 boycott talk continues, ominously

The consensus in the sports world is that athlete boycotts do not create the kind of change required to make them worthwhile. After all, the Nazi-organized Games of 1936 gave us Jesse Owens, while the U.S.-led boycott of 1980 hardly impacted the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

But that does not mean that politicians aren’t enamored of the idea to prick Chinese pride by having their country’s athletes skip the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. The continuing brutality of the Chinese regime in Hong Kong, against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang Province, the threats against Taiwan and more has energized elected officials in Australia, Canada, Great Britain and elsewhere. Those governments are the primary funders of their National Olympic Committees.

Even in the U.S., last Thursday’s comment by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki showed the question of what to do about the Beijing Winter Games was on the radar. Asked whether U.S. President Joe Biden would “participate” in the Games, Psaki replied, “There hasn’t been a final decision made on that. And, of course, we would look for guidance from the U.S. Olympic Committee.”

The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee is not in favor of a boycott, of course. But it will be fascinating to see if the USOPC and its Team USA Council on Racial and Social Justice and Athletes’ Advisory Council will take a stand on the issue, or take a pass.

Interestingly, the new Chair of the Athletes’ Advisory Council is former Bobsled and Skeleton racer Bree Schaaf, whose LinkedIn profile lists her as a Program Manager for the athlete’s rights start-up Global Athlete. Concerning Beijing 2022, that organization tweeted on 27 February:

“Thousands of athletes are caught in the middle. For most, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance for fame and a medal. But they’re on their own. Those who speak out may be banned by @Olympics bodies, dropped by sponsors, and threatened by the Chinese state.”

The USOPC is hardly an individual athlete; the U.S. will have one of the largest teams in Beijing. And it could undertake – and lead other nations in – a silent protest that would speak volumes; one suggestion on how to do so is here. It will be fascinating to see what the USOPC and Schaaf do, or don’t do.

● Geddert suicide only complicates the endless Nassar scandal

The story of the Larry Nassar abuse scandal took a deadly turn last week when former U.S. Olympic gymnastics coach John Geddert, the long-time owner of the Twistars USA Gymnastics club in Michigan, was charged with 24 felony counts by state prosecutors last Thursday (25th) and then shot himself later that day.

Geddert had been charged with 20 counts of human trafficking, two counts of criminal sexual conduct, criminal racketeering and lying to police. He killed himself in his car while at a rest stop off I-96 in Grand Ledge, Michigan. According to clickondetroit.com, “Nassar worked for Geddert as a team physician and Twistars’ medical expert for about 20 years.”

In the meantime, there is no end in sight to the ongoing USA Gymnastics bankruptcy case at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of Indiana. A court-mandated settlement conference that was ordered last September, mediated by Judge James Carr, has produced no results to date, after a proposed $217.1 million settlement offered in February 2020 for the abuse survivors was rejected.

● International Weightlifting Federation in chaos after IOC letter reiterates complaints

After stating for months its displeasure with the activities of the International Weightlifting Federation, the International Olympic Committee sent a letter to the IWF President and General Secretary listing its issues, and copying it to all IWF national federations and the 206 National Olympic Committees last Wednesday (24th).

After doing very little for a long time, the IWF Executive Board held an emergency meeting on Saturday (27th) and immediately reversed course in a number of areas. Postpone its electoral and Constitutional Congresses scheduled for March and April, so that a Constitution can be adopted before elections? Done. Allow the Chair and Vice Chair of the Athletes Commission to vote at Executive Board meetings? Done. Tell us what else to do? Sure, absolutely.

The future of weightlifting on the Olympic program, and perhaps as an international sport of any significance, depends on its reforms along the lines that the IOC is demanding. But very few people give up power willingly and the IOC is essentially telling the IWF that anyone who has been part of the governing effort while potentially criminal activities have been taking place in IWF finances, doping cover-ups, bribery and more, must go. The elections, to be held sometime this spring, will likely determine the IWF fate for Paris 2024 and beyond.

The same goes for AIBA and boxing, which the IOC has already said is so far behind the curve in its reform efforts that its review committee will not even meet with them.

● Court of Arbitration for Sport lets Iran off the hook, for now

The celebrated case of judoka Saeid Mollaei, a former World Champion, who was forced to lose matches at the 2019 Worlds in order not to face, and not to have to stand on the podium with, Israeli star Sagi Muki (the eventual winner), resulted in the Iranian Judo Federation to be suspended indefinitely by the International Judo Federation.

Mollaei fled the World Championships in Japan for Germany and was eventually welcomed to Mongolia, for which he now competes. The Iranian Judo Federation appealed its indefinite sanction to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

On Monday, the arbitration panel decision “annulled” the sanction, stating:

“The CAS Panel determined that the I.R.I. JF committed severe violations of the IJF rules and that sanctions compliant with the IJF regulations should be imposed on it. However, the CAS Panel concluded that the kind of sanction (unlimited suspension) imposed in the challenged decision of 22 October 2019 had no legal basis in the IJF regulations. Accordingly, the Panel partially upheld the appeal and annulled the decision taken by the IJF Disciplinary Commission on 22 October 2019. The matter has been referred back to the IJF Disciplinary Commission for its eventual further decisions.”

So while the Iranians are not off the hook, they get to complain about how unfairly they have been treated. What was the reinstatement criteria required? According to the Court, “Iran Judo Federation [must give] strong guarantees and proves that they will respect the IJF Statutes and accept that their athletes fight against Israeli athletes.”

Perhaps we will see shirts with “Israeli judokas matter” in Iran? Not likely, at least any time soon.

All of this makes one wonder if international sport is headed off of a cliff, even after the pandemic is tamed thanks to widening use of vaccines.

The answer will come this summer, and in February of 2022 when the Olympic Winter Games take place. If people around the world – and especially in the United States and Europe – watch the Games in droves, all will be well.

The reality is that most – but not all – of the sports that make up the Games program are dependent on the IOC’s distribution of its enormous television revenue. If the Games viewing audience shrinks, the IOC’s ability to support these sports, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and the World Anti-Doping Agency and so on, will be compromised.

You see, it really isn’t all about the athletes. Television viewership of this summer’s Games and the 2022 Winter Games will be the ultimate arbiter of the future of the Olympic Movement, and will either reinvigorate Pierre de Coubertin’s project, or begin the slow path to its last judgement.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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GYMNASTICS: Bock, Chiles claim USA Gymnastics’ Winter Cup All-Around titles

Rich Perelman

February 28, 2021

tsx pix 2021-228 chiles, jordan 750 — Winter Cup All-Around champion Jordan Chiles (Photo: Facebook page of Jordan Chiles)

The first step toward the U.S. Olympic Team in Artistic Gymnastics came this weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana with the USA Gymnastics Winter Cup, with Cameron Bock and Jordan Chiles claiming top honors in the All-Around competitions.

There was considerable anticipation for the first appearance since 2016 for women’s Olympic Team member and gold medalist Laurie Hernandez, but Saturday’s All-Around competition belonged to Chiles, 19, the 2017 U.S. All-Around silver medalist.

Chiles won or tied for the best score on the Vault (14.900), Beam (14.500 tie) and Floor (13.600) and was fourth on the Uneven Bars (14.050) to score 57.050, winning by almost two points. She was followed by Shilese Jones (2: 55.100), Emily Lee (3: 53.400), Lilly Lippeatt (4: 53.250) and Amari Dayton (5: 52.950). The top four qualified for the U.S. National Team for 2021.

Among the U.S. national-team stars who competed in some of the events, Jade Carey was second on Vault (14.800) and sixth and ninth on Uneven Bars and Beam; Riley McCusker was second on the Uneven Bars (14.650) and 10th on Vault and 19th on Beam; Sunisa Lee won the Uneven Bars (15.050) and was third on Beam (14.250).

Hernandez competed on Beam and was fifth (13.950) and Floor, finishing 13th (12.050). Other stars, including World Champions Simone Biles and Morgan Hurd, did not compete.

Among the men, the University of Michigan’s Bock was the most consistent of the men’s performers on Friday’s All-Around, finishing second or third on four of the six apparatus to finish with 84.150 points, almost a full point up on Riley Loos of Stanford (83.250). Third went to veteran star Shane Muldauer (82.600), followed by Shane Wiskus (Minnesota: 81.250), Allan Bower (Oklahoma: 81.150) and Paul Juda (Michigan: 79.850). The top six qualified for the 2021 national team.

The individual event winners were determined by the two-day scores on each apparatus. Wiskus won the Floor (28.550 two-day score); Alec Yoder took the Pommel Horse (29.500); Alex Diab won Rings at 29.800; Eddie Penev won the Vault at 29.150; Moldauer won the Parallel Bars with 28.150 and Genki Suzuki was tops on the High Bar at 27.250.

The USA Gymnastics National Championships in Artistic Gymnastics are from 3-6 June in Ft. Worth, Texas, and the Olympic Trials will be in St. Louis, Missouri from 24-27 June.

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HIGHLIGHTS: Gut-Behrami on fire on snow; A&M frosh Mu runs 1:58.40; 42 sub-2:10 finishers in Lake Biwa Marathon!

Rich Perelman

February 28, 2021

tsx pix 2021-228 mu 158.40 WJR 750 (TxAM) — Texas A&M's amazing Athing Mu wins the SEC Indoor title with a World U-20 Record of 1:58.40! (Photo: Texas A&M)

Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Alpine Skiing ● The FIS Alpine World Cup got back into action this weekend, with Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami sprinting into the overall lead with two wins and a silver in Val di Fassa (ITA).

Gut-Behrami won the last two races prior to the World Championships – both Super-Gs – then won the Super-G and Giant Slalom, plus a bronze in the Downhill at the Worlds. This time, she won the Downhills on Friday and Saturday and then claimed a silver medal in the Super-G on Sunday.

Her Swiss teammate, Corinne Suter – the Downhill World Champion – also won three medals in three days, finishing third in Friday’s Downhill, second in Saturday’s Downhill and third in Sunday’s Super-G. That left only Sunday’s gold for home favorite Federica Brignone, her 16th career World Cup win, a silver for Ramona Siebenhofer (AUT) on Friday and a bronze for Kira Weidle (GER) in Saturday’s Downhill as the remaining medal winners.

Sunday’s Super-G was marred by two severe crashes. Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR), the 13th starter, skied off the course and into the safety nets, and then Rosina Schneeberger (AUT) also ran off into the nets. Both had to be removed from the site by helicopter for further attention.

Once all of the results were tallied, Gut-Behrami – who won the overall World Cup title in 2016 – with the overall lead after 25 of 33 races. She leads Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova by 1,227-1,040, with Swiss Michelle Gisin third (892). The schedule favors Vlhova, with four slaloms left, two Giant Slaloms, one Downhill and one Super-G, but Gut-Behrami is on a roll.

The men’s racing was in Bansko (BUL) for two Giant Slalom races. Filip Zubcic, the Worlds silver medalist in the Parallel, won his third World Cup gold on Saturday, just ahead of the Giant Slalom World Champion, France’s Mathieu Faivre, 2:20.62-2:21.02, with Austria’s Stefan Brennsteiner third (2:21.55).

Faivre got to the top of the podium on Sunday, winning his second career World Cup race – and first since 2016 – by 75/100ths of a second over Swiss veteran Marco Odermatt, 2:25.29-2:26.04, with French star Alexis Pinturault third (2:26.10).

Pintuault remains in the overall lead by 1,034-824 over Odermatt after 29 of 38 races, with Marco Schwarz (AUT) well back in third with 718 points.

● Athletics ● The track & field season is heating up as the indoor season ends and outdoors starts, but nowhere more so than Fayetteville, Arkansas at the SEC Indoor Championships:

● Men/200 m: Three world leads in this event, with Georgia soph Matthew Boling running 20.37 in the heats, then Joe Fahnbulleh (Florida soph) winning the first section of the finals in 20.32, followed by a win in the second section for Terrence Laird (LSU senior) in 20.28! That puts Laird in the no. 8 spot all-time U.S. What about Boling? He was disqualified for a lane violation in the final, but still claimed a school record from his heat time.

● Men/400 m: LSU junior Noah Williams won in 45.26 for sixth on the 2021 world list, with Georgia junior Elija Godwin second in 45.37, good for ninth in the world.

● Men/Long Jump: LSU senior JuVaughn Harrison equaled the world lead at 8.33 m (27-4) and also won the high jump at 2.20 m (7-2 1/2)!

● Men/Triple Jump: Tennessee junior Carey McLeod (JAM) won at 17.17 m (56-4) to move to no. 3 on the 2021 year list on his final jump.

● Women/400 m: Florida freshman Talitha Diggs ran a lifetime best 51.14 to win, placing her no. 5 on the 2021 world list, while Florida senior Taylor Manson was second at 51.82, now ninth on the world list.

● Women/800 m: The amazing Athing Mu (Texas A&M) won in 1:58.40, the no. 2 performance in U.S. history behind Ajee Wilson’s 1:58.29 from 2020. Mu won by almost four-and-a-half seconds and set a World U-20 Record in the process, a Collegiate indoor record and is the best-ever all-conditions Collegiate mark at 800 m, as the outdoor record is 1:59.40 by Oregon’s Raevyn Rogers from 2017. Wow!

Mu had a clear lead after a lap and just keep pouring it on, splitting 28.65, 29.32 [57.96], 29.64 and 30.81 to win by 1:58.40-2:02.85 over Florida soph Gabrielle Wilkinson!

At the “All-Star Perche” meet in Aubiere (FRA), the 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the men’s vault, France’s Renaud Lavillenie cleared 6.06 m (19-10 1/2), his highest clearance since 2014!

It’s the =14th best performance of all-time indoors, showing that at age 34, he cannot be counted out coming Tokyo time. He won the event at 5.96 m (19-6 1/2) from Menno Vloon of The Netherlands (26), who set a national record, but cleared on this third try, while Lavillenie cleared on his second. Lavillenie also tried 6.20 m (20-4), but missed all three times. Chris Nilsen (USA) was third at 5.86 m (19-2 3/4).

The latest mystery meet was the Texas Qualifier, a distances event in Austin, Texas on Friday and Saturday, with Olympic qualification in mind. The top marks:

● 10,000 m: German Konstanze Klosterhalfen won the fastest women’s section easily in 31:01.71, well under the Olympic qualifying mark of 31:25.00. Her mark was also good for a German national record in her first 10,000 m track race ever. Keira D’Amato was second in 32:16.82.

● 5,000 m: Ellie Purrier continued her hot running with a win in 15:08.61 in the fastest women’s section, easily making the Olympic qualifying time (15:10.00) and taking the world outdoor lead. Eritrea’s Weini Kelati was second in 15:13.12, a lifetime best.

● 800 m: Ajee Wilson took the world outdoor lead by winning in 1:58.93, ahead of Kaela Edwards (1:59.86) and Hannah Seagrave (2:01.33). Isaiah Harris won the fastest men’s 800 race in 1:46.19, also the fastest outdoor time this year.

A World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meet was held in Auckland (NZL) on Saturday, with two-time Olympic women’s shot champ Valerie Adams (NZL) taking the world outdoor lead with a win at 19.65 m (64-5 3/4). That’s her best since 2016!

In the men’s shot, New Zealand stars Tomas Walsh and Jacko Gill faced off again, but with Walsh winning this round, 21.60 m (70-10 1/2) to 21.44 m (70-4 1/4).

Unbelievable might be too tame for the results of the 76th Lake Biwa Marathon in Otsu, Japan on Sunday, with Kengo Suzuki won with a lifetime best and national record of 2:04:56.

In his fifth career marathon, Suzuki left the field behind with a break at 36 km and was never headed, setting a PR by more than five minutes from his old best of 2:10:21 from 2018.

“I never imagined such a time was possible, so, I am the one most surprised with the record,” Suzuki said. “The big factor of my success was that I was able to train for a year without any injury. My training since the new year went great.”

There was more to it than that; the entire race was a record-maker. An elites-only race with 369 starters, Hidekazu Hijikata finished second at 2:06:26, and Kyohei Hosoya third with 2:06:35. World Athletics reported:

“[F]ive runners cracked the 2:07 barrier with personal bests. Fifteen ran under 2:08 (the record for a race is 17 from the 2020 Tokyo Marathon) and a record 28 runners cracked 2:09, breaking the previous record of 24, also set at last year’s Tokyo Marathon. A record 42 runners finished in under 2:10, smashing the previous best of 30 from last year’s Valencia Marathon.”

To answer your next question, no report was filed on the shoes worn by the top 42.

● Beach Volleyball ● The FIVB World Tour returned to the sand for the first time in almost a year, in Doha (QAT), with the home team taking the win at the one-star Doha Beach Volleyball Cup on Saturday.

Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan were the top seeds and won Qatar’s second World Tour gold with a 21-15, 21-19 victory over Swiss Quentin Metral and Yves Haussener. Cherif had been part of the first Qatari win in the World Tour in 2016, but this was the first win for Cherif and Ahmed together.

Russia’s Alexey Gusev and Pavel Shustrov won the bronze-medal match by 19-21, 21-15, 19-17 over Murat Giginoglu and Volkan Gogtepe of Turkey. The four-star Katara Cup in Doha will start on 8 March.

● Cycling ● After building a solid lead in the uphill fifth stage, Slovenia’s reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar won the UCI World Tour season opener, the UAE Tour, on Saturday.

He finished the seven-stage event in 24:00.28, thirty-five seconds ahead of Adam Yates (GBR) and 1:02 in front of Portugal’s Joao Almeida. Australian Chris Harper (+1:42) and American Neilson Powless (+1:45) were fourth and fifth.

The last two stages were flat routes for the sprinters, and Ireland’s Sam Bennett edged Elia Viviani (ITA) in the 165 km sixth stage (3:32:23), and Australian star Caleb Ewan got to the line first in the 147 km final stage in 3:18:29, just ahead of Bennett.

The first of the World Tour Classics races in Europe was on Saturday, the 76th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad from Ghent to Ninove in Belgium. The 200.5 km route ended in a bunch sprint, with Italian Davide Ballerini claiming his second career World Tour win, and his first in a one-day race.

Ballerini managed to get to the line just ahead of Jake Stewart (GBR) and Sep Vanmarcke (BEL), with the first 45 riders given the same time of 4:43:03.

● Freestyle Skiing ● The Ski Cross stars were in Bakuriani (GEO) for the resumption of the FIS Freestyle World Cup, with Swiss star Fanny Smith taking her fifth win of the season over long-time rival Sandra Naeslund of Sweden.

This was the eight medal of the season for Smith in nine races (5-2-1) compared to two for Naeslund and clinched the Ski Cross title for 2020-21 for Smith. France’s Marielle Berger Sabbatel was third, winning her second World Cup medal of the season.

The men’s race was the first career World Cup victory for Germany’s Florian Wilmsmann, 25, who got to the line first ahead of Swede David Mobaerg and Canada’s Jared Schmidt, 2, who won his first World Cup medal.

● Gymnastics ● The USA Gymnastics Winter Cup is being held in Indianapolis, Indiana; a separate report will be posted later today.

● Nordic Skiing ● The 42nd World Nordic Skiing Championships are on in Obertsdorf (GER), with Norway already running away with the medal count.

In Cross Country, Sweden’s Jonna Sundling won the first gold medal of the Championships, taking the women’s 1.2 km Classical Sprint in 2:36.76, just ahead of Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR) and Anamarija Lampic (SLO), just 2.32 and 2.35 seconds behind. American Jessie Diggins reached the quarterfinals, but did not advance.

The men’s 1.5 km Classical Sprint was a Norwegian sweep, with defending champion Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo winning a tight race from teammates Erik Valnes and Havard Solas Taugboel, 3:01.30-3:01.96-3:02.10.

The women’s 7.5 km Classical/7.5 km Freestyle Skiathlon was the eighth career individual world title for Norwegian superstar Therese Johaug, who won in 38:35.5, a cool 30.0 seconds ahead of Sweden’s Frida Karlsson (39:05.5) and 30.2 ahead of Ebba Andersson (39:05.7). Diggins was 15th at 40:35.0.

The men’s 15 km Classical/15 km Freestyle Skiathlon was the first career Worlds gold for Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov, who won at the finish by 1.1 seconds over Simen Hegstead Krueger (NOR), 1:11.33.9-1:11:35.0 and 1.7 seconds up on Hans Christer Holund (1:11:35.6) as Norway went 2-3-4-5-6.

Sunday’s Team Sprints were won by Norway (Klaebo and Valnes) for the men, over Finland and Russia, and Sweden (Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist), over Switzerland and Slovenia.

In Nordic Combined, the first-ever women’s World Championships event was held on a 106 m hill and 5 km race. Norway swept the medals behind Gyda Westvold Hansen, who won in 13:10.4, followed by sisters Mari Leinan Lind (13:24.2) and Marte Leinan Lund (13:39.2). American Tera Geraghty Moats finished fifth in 14:19.8.

The first of two men’s individual events, this one off the 106 m hill and a 10 km race, was a second straight world title for Norway’s star Jarl Magnus Riiber, who won in 23:01.2, just ahead of Finland’s Ilkka Herola (23:01.6) and Jens Luras Oftebro (NOR: 23:02.1).

The men’s team relay was an easy win for Norway (including Riiber and Oftebro), over Germany and Austria, 43:57.7-44:40.4-44:36.8.

In Ski Jumping, Slovenia’s Ema Klinec won the women’s Normal Hill title, scoring 279.6 points to edge defending champion Maren Lundby (NOR: 276.5) and Japan’s Sara Takanashi (276.3). The women’s team title was won by Austria (959.3) over Slovenia (957.9) and Norway (942.1).

The men’s Normal Hill title went to Poland’s Piotr Zyla for his first individual Worlds gold, scoring 268.8 to 265.2 for German Karl Geiger – his second straight Worlds silver – and 261.5 for Anze Lanisek (SLO).

The Mixed Team event was a win for Germany (including Geiger), over Norway and Austria.

The Worlds continue through this coming week. After 13 events, Norway owns 17 medals (6-6-5), with Slovenia next at 5 (1-1-3) and Sweden with four (2-1-1).

● Rowing ● A ticket to Tokyo was on the line in the women’s Single Sculls at the first stage of the US Rowing Olympic Trials in Sarasota, Florida, claimed by 2019 World Rowing Championships bronze medalist Kara Kohler.

The 2,000 m race quickly developed into Kohler vs. Gevvie Stone, the Rio silver medalist in the event, but Kohler opened the lead by 1,000 m, extending it to the finish in 7:23.37, with Stone at 7:27.17 and Kristina Wagner at 7:39.29.

Said Kohler: “It’s a huge relief. I’ve worked incredibly hard the past few years to race the single in Tokyo, so there was a lot riding on today’s race. But, I had fun and trusted everything I’ve done up to this point. So, that was what I was thinking about while racing – trusting my preparation, thinking about my teammates, my coach and my family.”

In the men’s Single Sculls, John Graves won in 6:59.08, ahead of Lucas Bellows (7:03.50) and Kevin Meador (7:04.73). The men’s Double Sculls winners were Kevin Cardno and Jonathan Kirkegaard (6:22.07), beating Justin Keen and Sorin Koszyk (6:23.03) and Charles Anderson and Eliot Putnam (6:24.87).

The winners in the men’s Single Sculls, Double Sculls and lightweight men’s and women’s Double Sculls must race at the World Rowing Final Olympic Qualification Regatta from 15-17 May in Lucerne (SUI) to confirm their Olympic spots.

● Shooting ● The first half of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Cairo (EGY) has been completed, including the men’s and women’s Skeet events and the three team Skeet events.

The men’s individual event was a 53-52 final victory for 2000 Olympic gold medalist Mikola Milchev (UKR) over Jesper Hansen (DEN), with Rashid Hamad (QAT) third at 48. Milchev and Hansen both hit of their first 20, then Milchev hit 18 of his next 20, while Hansen hit 17. In the last 20 shots, both hit 18.

The women’s title went to Czech Dante Bartekova, the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, who scored a 55-53 win over Russian Alina Fazylzyanova, with Konstantia Nikolaou (CYP) third at 43. The difference came in the final 20 shots, as Bartekova hit 19 and Fazylzyanova, 17.

Russia swept the team events, defeating Poland, 35-31, in the Mixed Team, and beat the Czech Republic in both the men’s and women’s team events, by 6-0 and 6-2, respectively.

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THE TICKER: Tokyo fan decision in April? Puma declares “war” on USOPC marks; hurdles world record for U.S.’s Grant Holloway!

Rich Perelman

February 25, 2021

tsx pix 2021-225 holloway WR madrid 750 — World record 7.29 in the 60 m hurdles for Grant Holloway (USA) in Madrid! (Photo via Twitter)

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● Asked about when a decision on spectator attendance at the Tokyo Games will be made, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (GER) said on Wednesday:

“[W]e are very well aware that there, even if we would like to, to benefit from positive developments with regard to the coronavirus, that if we would like to wait until the very last moment, but this is not possible because the ticketing program has to be organized, the logistics has to be taken into consideration and then organized; this is about also immigration rules and so on. … I would say maybe April, early May, roundabout, that we would have to take this decision, but this is very much based on the technical factors.”

The decision to allow fans at the Games will be separate from the determination whether Covid-19 protocols will allow foreign spectators to attend.

Kyodo News reported that “roughly 1,000″ of the planned 80,000 volunteers for this summer’s Games resigned in the aftermath of comments by former Tokyo organizing committee chief Yoshiro Mori on 3 February.

The blowback from the comments, critical of women serving as members of boards of directors, forced Mori to resign. He was replaced by veteran Olympic and politician Seiko Hashimoto, who had been the government’s Olympics minister.

● Games of the XXXIV Olympiad: Los Angeles 2028 ● The Los Angeles City Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on the Olympic Games reviewed the proposed creation of the California Olympic and Paralympic Safety Command and sent the Memorandum of Understanding to the City Council for final approval.

The committee voted 5-0 (with two absences) to forward the Memorandum for action.

● Games of the XXXV Olympiad 2032 ● Wednesday’s announcement that the bid from Queensland and specifically Brisbane for the 2032 Games has been selected for “targeted dialogue” raised the question of whether the IOC will now award the Games 10 or 11 years in advance instead of seven as has been the case since Seoul was awarded the 1988 Games back in 1981.

IOC member Kristin Kloster Aasen (NOR), Chair of the Future Host Commission for the Games of the Olympiad, answered it this way:

“The structure of the new process answers your question, because one of the [advantages] about the new approach is to actually see the world as it is at the moment and seize the opportunity when it presents itself. …

“This is an ongoing approach, where we assess the risks and the opportunities in terms of several different factors. It’s not a given, 11 years, or a given, seven years, it’s based on whichever context the world is in at that moment.”

Translation: the Commission saw a good opportunity to engage a quality, proven partner in Australia for 2032 and with the coronavirus still raging and some years of economic recovery ahead, thought this was a good time to get a deal done.

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● The USOPC filed suit on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Colorado against Germany’s Puma S.E and its North American affiliate, Puma North America, for “trademark infringement, unfair competition, and declaratory relief” against Puma.

The Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act grants the USOPC “the exclusive right to use and control the use of Olympic terminology and imagery within the United States.” The complaint explains the wide scope of the protections on so-called “Games Marks” and then declares:

“PUMA has declared war on Games Marks, tried to register them for itself, and petitioned to cancel Games Marks registrations. PUMA’s declaration of war on the Games Marks is a thinly veiled attempt to benefit from association with the Olympics without becoming a TOP [IOC] Sponsor.”

In specific, the complaint cites Puma’s filing trademarks for apparel, footwear and bags for “Puma Tokyo 2021,” “Puma Tokyo 2022,” “Puma Beijing 2022,” and “Puma Paris 2024.” The Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024 registration filings were rejected by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office; Puma then filed a new action asking for cancellations of multiple Games-related trademarks and that the USOPC “abandoned” the “Tokyo 2020″ and “Beijing 2022″ marks. The USOPC’s reply:

“This orchestrated global attack on Future Games Marks destabilizes the foundation of USOPC’s financial structure and threatens the ability of the USOPC to deliver on its mission, which includes the direct financial support of U.S. Olympic athletes.”

The USOPC asks for a jury trial, for cancellation of all of Puma’s suits, confirmation of the validity of the USOPC’s ownership of the marks and damages. By the way, Puma may not be Nike or adidas, but it had revenues of about $6.9 billion worldwide in 2019. Stay tuned.

● Athletics ● Even with multiple world indoor marks set during the 2021 indoor season, there hasn’t been anyone hotter than American hurdler Grant Holloway.

The 2019 World Champion in the 110 m hurdles, Holloway ran in five indoor meets and won them all, setting an American Record of 7.32 on 9 February. On Wednesday, he ran 7.32 in his heat of the Villa de Madrid meet in Spain and then improved on the 7.30 world record by Britain’s Colin Jackson in 1994 with a 7.29 time in the final. Britain’s Andrew Pozzi was second in 7.51.

Said Holloway: “I wouldn’t say it was a perfect race, but I tied my PR in the heat and that usually means I run faster in the final. I just went out there and executed my race to the best of my ability.

“I said before the race that if the record fell, it fell. But my main goal was just to have fun and that’s what I did. I know that it is not going to be in the record books forever and when I fall asleep tonight – if I fall asleep – it will already be in the past. Now I will start looking forward. I want to get back to Gainesville, talk to Coach [Mike] Holloway [who are not related], have a big old steak and go through the film.

“The world record outdoors (12.80 by Aries Merritt in 2012) is definitely in my sights but I want to let all this soak in first, then my priority is win the Olympic Trials and then the Olympic gold medal.”

That was not the only star performance in Madrid. Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay powered to a world-leading 8:22.65 in the women’s 3,000 m, moving her to no. 2 on the all-time list. Dutch hurdler Nadine Visser also claimed the world lead in the women’s 60 m hurdles, winning in 7.81.

On Wednesday on Belgrade (SRB), Swedish vault star Mondo Duplantis increased his world lead to 6.10 m (20-0) at the Serbian Open meet, with Brazil’s Thiago Braz and Pole Piotr Lisek tying for second at 5.70 m (18-8 1/4).

On Sunday in Moscow, Russia’s World Champion in the women’s vault, Anzhelika Sidorova, scored a world-leading 4.90 (16-0 3/4). In Ancona (ITA), star high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi cleared 2.35 m (7-8 1/2) in the men’s long jump for the world indoor lead.

Double Olympic 800 m champion Caster Semenya (RSA) is filing an appeal of the World Athletics regulations on women with “Differences in Sex Development” with the European Court of Human Rights.

This will be the third try in court for Semenya, who challenged the regulations in the Court of Arbitration for Sport and lost, and was unsuccessful in an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal. Even a judgement of the European Court of Human Rights is not final, as it can be appealed to a larger panel of the Court.

It is also not clear that the proceedings will be finalized prior to the Tokyo Games this summer, but Semenya’s attorneys will push for a prompt resolution.

The American Track League IV meet in Arkansas did not draw 200,000 viewers on ESPN on Sunday and was not reported on reports of weekly television ratings. The final round of the PGA Tour’s Genesis Open, held at the same time, drew a 2.24 household rating and 3.62 million viewers.

● Beach Volleyball ● The “bikini boycott” of the Katara Cup 4-star FIVB World Tour tournament in Doha (QAT) from 8-12 March is off, as the Federation Internationale de Volleyball declared:

“The FIVB believes strongly that women’s beach volleyball, as all sport, should be judged on performance and effort, and not on uniform. Therefore, during the competition in Doha, should players request to wear the standard uniform, they will be free to do so.”

German stars Julia Sude and Karla Borger had said they would not play in the Katara Cup if required to wear the Qatar-proposed “short sleeve t-shirt … and wear knee-long sports shorts.” However, on Tuesday, the FIVB “clarified” that there would be “no restrictions on female players wearing standard uniforms.”

● Cycling ● The UCI World Tour season opener, the UAE Tour, is heading toward the finish this weekend, but Thursday’s fifth stage may have been decisive. The most demanding of the race, the 170 km stage featured an uphill finish, and was won by Dane Jonas Vingegaard, just three seconds up on race leader Tadej Pogacar (SLO), the reigning Tour de France champion, with British star Adam Yates alongside.

Pogacar won the hilly third stage over Yates at the finish line, then was 20th in the fourth stage, a flat sprinter’s duel won by Ireland’s Sam Bennett. Going into Thursday’s fifth stage, he had a 43-second overall lead on Yates and 1:03 on Portugal’s Joao Almeida.

With two flat stages remaining, Pogacar is 45 seconds up on Yates and is almost a sure winner. Almeida is 1:12 back and then Chris Harper (AUS) is 1:54 behind.

● Football ● The U.S. Women’s National Team won the 2021 SheBelieves Cup in style with a 6-0 win over Argentina at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday night. Coupled with Brazil’s 2-0 win over Canada, the U.S. finished with a perfect 3-0 mark and nine points, trailed by the Brazilians (2-1: 6), Canada (1-2: 3) and Argentina (0-3: 0).

The American squad was hot from the start on Wednesday, with Megan Rapinoe scoring in the 16th and 26th minutes, followed by Carli Lloyd (35th) and Kristie Mewis (41st) for a 4-0 halftime edge. Alex Morgan scored in the 84th minute and Christen Press finished with a goal in the 88th minute for the 6-0 final. The U.S. had a 26-1 edge in shots.

U.S. midfielder Rose Lavelle was voted the SheBelieves Cup Most Valuable Player. The USWNT extended its unbeaten streak to 37 games, going back to January of 2019. Its next match won’t be until April.

● Gymnastics ● A former U.S. Olympic coach, whose gymnastics club has been sued in parallel actions with the Larry Nassar abuse scandal, has now been charged by the State of Michigan with sexual assault and human trafficking.

According to The Associated Press, John Geddert was charged with “sexual assault, 20 counts of human trafficking and running a criminal enterprise. Geddert is accused of injuring people through forced labor and recruiting minors for forced labor.”

Geddert, now 63, was one of the coaches for the gold medal-winning U.S. women’s gymnastics team at the 2012 London Games and owned the Twistars USA Gymnastics club in Lansing, Michigan. Twistars is a defendant in multiple suits entwined with the USA Gymnastics bankruptcy case now before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Geddert retired in 2018 and transferred ownership of Twistars to his wife. The club was sold and renamed earlier this month.

No word of any breakthrough in the court-ordered settlement conference between the parties in the USA Gymnastics bankruptcy suit at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana, but a report of operations through 31 January has been filed.

Total legal fees in the case from filing in December 2018 are now at $13.74 million, with $7.52 million actually paid so far. The rest is still due.

For January only, USA Gymnastics had $1.48 million in revenue, but spent $1.51 million for a loss of $33,435.

● Weightlifting ● Further to the forthcoming International Weightlifting Federation elections in March, a new controversy has arisen due to the proposed “hybrid” nature of the voting, with some delegates to be physically present in a room and others voting remotely.

The Samoa Weightlifting Federation, Weightlifting Fiji, USA Weightlifting and the Chinese Weightlifting Federation combined on a letter to the IWF Executive Board including:

● “We, hereby, request that the IWF Executive Board rescind their decision and proceed with a virtual election in order to ensure that all candidates and delegates be given an equal opportunity for participation. We also request that the name of the firm conducting the election be disclosed.”

● “We question the validity of the procedures used to vet candidates including the implementation and notification after the submission of candidacy; the lack of an appeals process; and notification of the eligibility of a candidate (March 15) in such close proximity to the election date (March 26, 27).”

● “Further, in the spirit of transparency and fair play, we additionally request that the eligible voting Member Federations, Delegate Names, and Positions, be circulated to all candidates and Member Federations; and contact emails be shared with all candidates.”

The letter also questioned the candidature of interim President Dr. Michael Irani (GBR) as he is a member of an appeals board of Sports Resolutions, the firm tasked by the IWF to provide the Eligibility Determination Panel for the elections.

In addition to the federations submitting the letter, candidates from Germany, Great Britain and Greece have also added their endorsement.

At a time when the IWF should be doing everything possible to avoid controversy, it only seems to create more problems.

As IOC chief Bach noted in his Wednesday news conference: “We then had to turn again, unfortunately, to the International Weightlifting Federation, whose situation, as I mentioned, is becoming more and more grave. The [Executive Board] expressed its extreme concern, particularly by the lack of significant changes, with regard to the management and the culture there in IWF.”

On Tuesday, the International Testing Agency, which now runs the IWF anti-doping program, recommended that the IWF’s independent sanctions panel penalize the Romanian Weightlifting Federation “as a consequence of numerous Anti-Doping Rule Violations.”

The sanctions relate to five doping positives dating back to the 2012 London Games, four of which were caught during the re-testing of samples in 2019 and 2020. Under the applicable IWF rules, “these circumstances lead to the imposition of sanctions against the RWF, which can go up to two years of suspension and a fine.”

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LANE ONE: Brisbane on the verge of getting 2032 Games; weightlifting on the verge of being thrown out of 2024 Games

Rich Perelman

February 24, 2021

tsx pix 2021-224 ioc bach news conf 750 — The IOC Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, with President Thomas Bach at right (Photo: IOC video screenshot)

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With just less than seven months left prior to the Tokyo Games, the news conference following the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board meeting was dominated by the news that the Brisbane 2032 bid is now the sole target to be host of the Games of the XXXV Olympiad.

However, IOC chief Thomas Bach (GER) also noted that significant discussion was also given to the unhappy situation of the International Weightlifting Federation. But Brisbane was the big news:

● Using the IOC’s new selection process, the Brisbane 2032 bid was selected by the Future Host Commission of the Games of the Olympiad to graduate from the “continuous dialogue” phase with multiple possible hosts to the “targeted dialogue” phase.

● Future Host Commission Chair Kristin Kloster Aasen (NOR) told reporters, “It’s not a done deal … It’s a process.” She explained:

“The objective of the targeted dialogue is to co-create an Olympic project with the preferred host. Where there was continuous dialogue, [there was] no formal submission by interested parties; the preferred host is now asked to submit some documents in the targeted dialogue, [including] in the form of guarantees. And these documents will be studied by the Future Host Commission and we will report back to the Executive Board in due course.”

The IOC’s announcement of the “targeted dialogue” phase with Brisbane 2032 was very specific as to why their proposal was preferred:

“- The very advanced Games concept, which is fully aligned with Olympic Agenda 2020 and using 80 to 90 per cent existing or temporary venues.

“- The venue masterplan, which has already been discussed with International Sports Federations and the International Paralympic Committee.

“- The high level of experience in hosting major international sports events.

“- The favourable climate conditions for athletes in July and August, despite the current global challenges caused by climate change.

“- The alignment of the proposed Games with South-East Queensland’s long-term strategy (“SEQ City Deal”, February 2019) to improve local transport infrastructure, absorb demographic change and promote economic growth.

“- Australia’s sporting success throughout modern Olympic history. The last Games in Oceania were Sydney 2000, which would mean the Games returning to the continent 32 years later.

“- The existing and planned transport infrastructure and experience in traffic management, which can adequately meet the demands of the Olympic Games and were successfully implemented for the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

“- The existing hotel accommodation inventory, which already meets Games requirements.

“- Strong support from all three levels of government, as confirmed on several occasions by highest-level representatives from the City of Brisbane, the Southeast Queensland Council of Mayors, the State of Queensland and the federal government.

“- The strong public support and that of the private sector.

“- Australia’s high scores on human development indices, in particular its great progress towards achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

“In evaluating Brisbane 2032’s proposal, the IOC also took into consideration detailed information from independent third-party sources, including the World Bank, the International Labour Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and numerous UN agencies including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).”

As to why this was done now, Kloster Aasen added:

“The decision to advance the process was taken now given the uncertainty the world is facing at this moment, which is expected to continue even after the Covid-19 health crisis is over. The IOC is seizing the momentum offered by the excellent prospect of Brisbane 2032 and the Australian Olympic Committee, in this way bringing stability to the Olympic Games, the athletes, the IOC and the whole Olympic Movement.”

There were no timeline provided for the ultimate selection of Brisbane, but the carefully-worded comments indicated that the next steps are to negotiate the Host City Contract for 2032 and likely award the Games not later than 2022, some ten years ahead of time.

Tokyo 2020 wasn’t exactly forgotten, but fell to the background at today’s briefing. However:

● The Executive Board did get a report from the Tokyo organizing committee, now led by former Olympic minister Seiko Hashimoto. Bach noted:

“She highlighted her strategic priorities, which will focus on safety, on gender equality and legacy and this is, as you know, fully aligned with the vision of delivered safe and secure Games for everybody.”

Bach also announced that the IOC is finalizing its refugee program for Tokyo, including:

“Related to Tokyo 2020, we have also discussed the IOC Refugee Olympic Team. There, Olympic Solidarity is currently supporting 55 promising refugee athletes, originating from 13 countries and being hosted by 21 NOCs across all five continents and representing 12 sports. Since the Olympic Games Rio 2016, Olympic Solidarity has invested more than two million U.S. dollars in support for refugee Olympic scholarship holders, preparing for the Olympic Games.”

As to the possibility for foreign spectators to attend the Games, Bach confirmed that the IOC and the organizers will wait as long as possible before a decision is taken, likely in mid-to-late April or possibly early May.

Then there is weightlifting. Said Bach:

“We then had to turn again, unfortunately, to the International Weightlifting Federation, whose situation, as I mentioned, is becoming more and more grave. The EB expressed its extreme concern, particularly by the lack of significant changes, with regard to the management and the culture there in IWF. We acknowledged that one change in the IWF anti-doping rules has been reversed after the intervention of the Executive Board, but we had also to note that many other requested changes and advice from the IOC, from the ITA, and from external experts, hae been ignored by IWF despite all the warnings we have issued.

“So there, the EB wants to be very clear by saying that if these concerns are not addressed in a satisfactory and timely way, the IOC EB will have to review the place of weightlifting on the program of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, and future Olympic Games.”

The IWF has scheduled elections for 26-27, with a separate vote on a new federation constitution to take place in April. As previously noted on this site earlier in February, many of the candidates for the “new” IWF Executive Board are veterans of the existing Board which has steered the federation into disrepute.

It’s an open question whether the IWF membership is awake enough to follow the IOC’s lead in reforming its operations. But it is certain that the debate in Queensland – and Australia – about whether it can afford to host the 2032 Games will be a hot topic for the next several months.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: New York Rep. Katko calls for Beijing boycott, modest T&F television ratings, a boycott over bikinis in Qatar!

Rich Perelman

February 23, 2021

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

● XXIV Olympic Winter Games: Beijing 2022 ● The drumbeat of government officials from multiple countries asking for boycotts of the Beijing Winter Games continues unabated.

Last week, Canadian Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to push for relocation of the Games, saying “I think Canadians would agree that it would violate fundamental ethical principles to participate in an Olympic Games hosted by a country that is committing a genocide against part of its population.”

Trudeau told reporters “We continue to be very, very vocal in standing up for human rights around the world and calling our human rights abuses … We know that the International Olympic Committee, the Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee and others are looking very closely at this issue and we will certainly continue to follow carefully.”

On Monday, the Canadian House of Commons voted 266-0, with two abstentions and 70 not voting, to support a motion declaring Chinese treatment of the Uyghurs a “genocide” under the 1948 United Nations definition. The motion further asked the Canadian government to ask the International Olympic Committee to remove the 2022 Winter Games from Beijing.

China’s ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, issued a statement, including “A few people in Canada and some other western countries are talking about upholding values, but one important part of the values should be: respect facts and stop spreading disinformation and even lies.”

Also on Monday, U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-New York 24th), the ranking member on the House Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden that started with:

“I write you to urge the boycott of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The United States must stand up and defend its commitment to human rights and the rule of law that this country was founded upon and act immediately to curb ‘the systematic attempt to destroy Uyghurs by the Chinese partystate.’ The actions taken by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are antithetical to the values of both the United States and its allies around the world. Participation in an Olympics held in a country that is openly committing genocide not only undermines those shared values but casts a shadow on the promise for all those who seek free and just societies.”

In the final paragraph, Katko wrote:

“Mr. President, the evidence is clear – the CCP is deliberately and systematically working to eliminate an entire population within its own borders. In doing so, it expects the rest of the world to be silent and, in the case of business operations and global supply chains, complicit in these actions. The United States simply cannot in good faith participate in an Olympic Games in a country that is committing genocide and continuously attempts to manipulate and lie to the global community about such atrocities.”

Comment: The calls for boycotts ask for the wrong solution to a difficult problem. Our 9 February column suggests that athletes of all nations should go to the Beijing Games, but a quiet, clear, inexpensive and continuously reinforcing message: “the uniforms of countries concerned with China’s behavior could be either all-black or all-white, with simple, identical block lettering for each country in the pale blue color of the protest flag used by the Uighurs.”

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● The USOPC’s College Sports Sustainability Think Tank announced its first set of concepts to help support the place of Olympic-focused sports in NCAA institutions:

(1) Sport sustainability: “Modifications of current [NCAA] policies may reduce operating costs, including recruiting expense reductions and streamlined regionalized competition, and open access to new resources, including increased collaboration with youth sport programs and national team partnerships.”

(2) Sport structure: After endorsing continuation of the requirement for a broad range of sports to be required for Division I membership – currently 16 sports – having the U.S. National Governing Bodies involved is suggested:

“Through partnerships with NGBs, the NCAA sport sponsorship umbrella could extend flexible membership requirements, agile season operations and sport-specific rules customization to help declining Olympic and Paralympic sports manage within the realities of each sport ecosystem.”

(3) Vertical Partnerships: “Many Olympic and Paralympic sports rights are bundled with football and basketball agreements, which may limit exposure and commercial opportunities. … Early efforts could include piloting partnerships around the NCAA championships and/or NGB events, and over time could expand to include content sharing plan and school recognition programs.”

This is a start and specific recommendations are to be developed and shared with the NCAA and college administrators.

● Athletics ● Television ratings information for February’s televised indoor meets has popped up with the New Balance Grand Prix doing the best by far:

● 24 Jan.: American Track League 1/ESPN: no rating; less than 200,000 total audience
● 31 Jan.: American Track League 2/ESPN2: 0.16 rating; 254,000 total audience
● 07 Feb.: American Track League 3/ESPN: 0.19 rating; 310,000 total audience
● 13 Feb.: New Balance Grand Prix/NBC: 0.64 rating; 969,000 total audience

Ratings were only available for programs with more than 200,000 total audience. Ratings for Sunday’s final American Track League meet won’t be available for another week.

For comparison, take the weekend of 30-31 January, where the X Games on ABC did household ratings of 0.57 and 0.54 on Saturday and Sunday. Also on Sunday (31 January), a highlights package of the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships on NBC did a 0.66 rating.

Comment: These ratings aren’t great, but they aren’t terrible, and are comparable to many lower-rated regular-season college basketball and NBA basketball games. The difference is that there are full schedules of basketball, hockey and soccer matches for networks to buy and then to show, and no such schedule of track & field events with recognizable names and a compelling, week-to-week story line. That’s been true for 50 years, but the American Track League was an excellent first move in the right direction; all credit to Paul Doyle and his team for creating this series.

Cue Spike Lee in his 1980s and 1990s appearance as “Mars Blackmon” for Nike’s Air Jordan basketball line: “It’s gotta be da shoes!”

The latest chapter in the shoe technology arguments came with Saturday’s “The TEN” distance races in San Juan Capistano, California. Winners Marc Scott (GBR) and Elise Cranny (USA) both set lifetime bests at 10,000 m of 27:10.41 (by 45.78 seconds, no. 2 in British History) and 30:47.42 (debut, no. 3 in U.S. history) and led a parade of lifetime bests behind them.

Referring to Scott, British commentator and former European Championships and Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Tim Hutchings chimed in on Twitter:

“Seriously? Despite the inevitable focus of plaudits on individual athletes, this isn’t meant to be personal. I’m don’t know @_MarcScott & am sure he’s a good bloke who trains hard & smart. But these big PBs pour out of one track meet after another & still nothing is done?”

Scott replied:

“You’re right, Tim. I have trained hard and smart for years and it’s finally showing! Maybe time to get off your high horse and give athletes some credit where it’s due rather than consistently nag about the shoe technology.”

A Monday story in The Guardian by Sean Ingle noted last week’s 1:43.63 indoor 800 m from Britain’s Eliot Giles – no. 2 ever, his fastest indoor time by almost two seconds and almost a full second lower than his outdoor best – observing:

“Not a single sponsored athlete appears to want to thank the spikes for their improved times. Giles, for instance, insisted his Air Zoom Victory spikes – which Nike claims offer a ‘paradigm shift’ – were not a key factor in his run. ‘Because I’ve done well, people say it must be the shoes,’ said Giles, who said he had been wearing them for a couple of years. ‘It’s a nonsense and a bit of an insult.’”

New Zealand middle-distance star Nick Willis – who has run sub-4:00 miles in a record 19 consecutive years(!) – also commented:

“Normally you’re asked by your sponsor to give a sales pitch, and it often seems so fake and contrived. And here’s your one opportunity to really preach about it. Yet they don’t.”

A report in The Times (London) declared that Nike was withdrawing a new “Viperfly” shoe line out of concerns that the new shoes would allow Jamaican legend Usain Bolt’s world marks at 100 m and 200 m to be eclipsed by “inferior sprinters.”

Caught in the middle is World Athletics, which has legislated requirements for distance-running shoes, but has not – so far – done much with spikes.

The brilliant Croatian high jumper Blanka Vlasic announced her retirement at age 37 on Friday (19th), leaving behind a great career in which she won two World Championships (2007-09) and two World Indoor Championships (2008-10), two Olympic medals (2008 silver, 2016 bronze) and finished with a best of 2.08 m (6-9 3/4) in 2009, ranking second on the all-time list. She wrote:

“Ever since Rio, I have been trying to overcome injury, a full four years of hope that I will stand in front of the bar and challenge myself once again. I have been breathing sports since I was born, the high jump is an integral part of me, and it will always be that way. So, I let the decision to end my career come naturally.

“Before I won bronze in Rio many people told me to give up as I have already done a lot in the sport. But if I had listened to them, I would not have won another Olympic medal, a medal that has a special meaning to me because I won it literally with one healthy leg. That competition took everything out of me, even what I didn’t know I had.”

● Beach Volleyball ● The FIVB World Tour has been shredded by the coronavirus and so the four-star season opener for women in Doha (QAT) from 8-12 March has been circled on everyone’s calendar. But three-time FIVB tournament winners Julia Sude and Karla Borger of Germany will not be there.

Agence France Presse reported that “female players have been asked to wear shirts and long trousers rather than the usual bikinis, a rule which the world beach volleyball federation FIVB claims is ‘out of respect for the culture and traditions of the host country’.”

Said Borger on radio station Deutschlandfunk on Sunday:

“We are there to do our job, but are being prevented from wearing our work clothes. This is really the only country and the only tournament where a government tells us how to do our job – we are criticising that. We are asking whether it’s necessary to hold a tournament there at all.”

Qatar has hosted World Tour events for men only for several years, but is allowing women in for the first time in 2021. Weather forecasts show that temperatures in Doha are expected to reach highs of 80 degrees (F) during the tournament. Their stance is supported by the German volleyball federation; the women have noted that events in Doha such as the ANOC World Beach Games and the 2019 IAAF World Championships allowed women to compete in two-piece suits without issue.

● Boxing ● The International Boxing Association (AIBA), on the verge of Olympic extinction, would be well advised not to “poke the bear,” defined as

“Deliberately provoke or antagonize someone, especially someone more powerful than oneself.”

Maybe someone didn’t get the memo on this, as AIBA posted a notice on Friday (19th), criticizing the IOC for cancelling – due to the pandemic – the final qualification tournaments for the Tokyo Games, and relying instead on rankings of boxers from prior years:

“We respect the decision of colleagues from the IOC Taskforce; it is important for us to find boxing in the Olympic program and fulfill the Olympic dream of our athletes. However, we believe that it was possible to retain the Qualifiers.

“We welcome the health care of our athletes, coaches and officials, this is also our priority in this pandemic situation. In this challenging time, AIBA strives to host as many tournaments as possible in compliance with all safety measures. Our experience and the experience of our National Federations suggest that it is possible to successfully conduct official competitions during the pandemic, and we would be ready to share this experience. …

“The situation with the division of quotas by continent is fair and democratic only in theory, however, in practice, it is not so unequivocally. …

“The Boxing Community is asking the IOC Taskforce to find a way to keep the dates of the European Qualifiers and not to cancel the World Qualifiers.”

AIBA is advertising for a Public Relations and Communications Director; it’s too bad the federation didn’t have that person in place last week …

● Cycling ● The UCI men’s World Tour for road cycling has finally begun, with the third UAE Tour now underway, beginning on Sunday (21st). The seven-stage race includes plenty of stars, including reigning Tour de France champ Tadej Pogacar (SLO), four-time Tour winner Chris Froome (GBR) and past Grand Tour stars such as Spain’s Alejandro Valverde and Italian Vincenzo Nibali.

The 176 km first stage was a 1-2 finish for Dutch stars Mathieu van der Poel and David Dekker, crossing the line in a mass finish of seven riders, including Pogacar. On Monday, the Individual Time Trial was won by World Time Trial Champion Filippo Ganna, who ripped through the flat, 13 km course in 13:56, followed by Stefan Bissegger (SUI: 14:10) and Dane Mikkel Bjerg (14:17). Pogacar retained the overall lead, by five seconds.

● Skateboarding ● Four-time Skateboarding Street World Champion Nyjah Huston was among five people charged with creating a nuisance by holding parties in violation of the anti-Covid regulations in the City of Los Angeles. These events were identified by the City as possible “superspreader” events and have been repeatedly shut down by police in September and October of 2020.

Per the Los Angeles Times: “It is the latest crackdown on the worst violations of emergency orders that seek to limit the spread of the virus, targeting a party scene driven in part by social media creators who make money by providing entertainment for the maskless mass gatherings. …

“Huston has gotten into trouble for house parties before. In September 2019, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace at a 2017 Los Angeles party. The multiple X Games gold medalist, who has 4.5 million Instagram followers, was originally charged with felony assault. In 2014, he was cited for noise violations after Orange County deputies responding to multiple complaints found 200 to 300 people at his south Orange County home.”

● Sport Climbing ● Despite the holding of the Court of Arbitration for Sport that sanctions against the Russian Anti-Doping Agency prohibit world championship events from being held in Russia in 2021 or 2022 unless no alternative is available, the International Federation for Sport Climbing (IFSC) is holding theirs in Moscow this year anyway:

“It is confirmed that the IFSC Climbing World Championships Moscow 2021 will take place in the Russian capital, as scheduled, from 15 to 22 September.

“The announcement follows the decision taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the case between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, and is the result of a series of fruitful meetings IFSC President Marco Scolaris has had with both the International Olympic Committee and WADA.

“The IFSC will continue working closely with the Climbing Federation of Russia to fully respect the CAS decision and, at the same time, deliver an event that lives up to the standards required of the IFSC flagship competition.”

Reports indicate that the IFSC felt no alternative host was available, even with seven months to go. This decision is sure to be reviewed further by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

● At the BuZZer ● The reigning World Champion in the 110 m hurdles, American Grant Holloway, is tired of hearing about how fast football players are. He tweeted on Saturday:

“When is the Combine? I wanna run a 40 …”

and

“Let’s have our own pro day…”

Replied sprint superstar Noah Lyles: “I’m kinda down with that.” Sounds like a made-for-TV show, right?

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LANE ONE: LA28 organizers, City of Los Angeles and State of California get a head start on public safety cooperative

Rich Perelman

February 22, 2021

la 2028 emblems set-10 2020-110 781x500 — A July poll said Americans like the 2028 Olympics being in Los Angeles by 78-4%!

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(Our Highlights of the weekend’s top Olympic-sport competitions are available here and here.)

One of the most complex, difficult and fluid efforts required to stage the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles will be in the security sector thanks to real, perceived, expired and forecasted threats from local, regional, national and international actors.

The effort to manage this sector is taking an important move forward with the establishment – seven years ahead of the Games – of the “California Olympic and Paralympic Safety Command.” A memorandum of understanding with the beginning outline of the program was released by the City Administrative Office (CAO) and Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA) of the City of Los Angeles late Thursday (18th).

This plan will be considered on the 23rd (Tuesday) by the City’s Ad Hoc Committee on the Olympic Games and must be approved by the City Council, by Mayor Eric Garcetti, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and LA28.

The 14-page document acknowledges that the outlined activities are only the start of a very long and involved process:

● A 2019 State bill directed the California Office of Emergency Services to create the Cooperative, to include the City of Los Angeles in the framework of an agreement by 31 March 2021.

● “To further the shared goals of the Cooperative as well as the interests of each of the three Participants (i.e. CalOES, City, and LA28), unanimous consent by the Participants is required for approval of various actions of the Cooperative.”

● “These actions include approval of: all costs and obligations of the Cooperative, financial policies, authorization of funding requests to State and Federal agencies, requests for designation of the 2028 Games to be a National Special Security Event (NSSE), decision making processes, and other terms of reference for the Executive Council and Cooperative.”

● “Funding is not currently identified for the activities of the Cooperative or the costs incurred by Participants. It is anticipated that the Cooperative will prepare a request for federal grant funding to support its planning and operational activities.”

Subcommittees or working groups are expected to be established to work on:

(1) Policies and procedures, including those related to equity, transparency, and accountability;
(2) Training;
(3) Community engagement;
(4) Procurement;
(5) Finance and administration, personnel, equipment and logistics management;
(6) Command and control, and related systems;
(7) Public Affairs;
(8) Technology; and,
(9) Threat Assessment.

At the core of the program is that “The Cooperative shall utilize a Unified Command Structure for planning with attention to resourcing, training, and management that must be common to all involved agencies and jurisdictions. The Cooperative will agree on common procedures for Members, aimed at improving collaboration, mutual aid, and connectivity among agencies and jurisdictions. Consistent with its Unified Command Structure, the Cooperative will respect the jurisdictional, legal, and functional responsibilities of its members.”

This will include many more organizations than the three initial members. Based on the existing LA28 venue plan, law enforcement agencies to be added would at least include:

● Anaheim Police Department
● Inglewood Police Department
● Long Beach Police Department
● Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office
● Riverside County Sheriff’s Office
● Santa Monica Police Department

Federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Secret Service and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will participate as observers.

An annual report on the activities of the Cooperative is to be issued at least annually. The initial points of contact for each member include L.A. Police Chief Michel Moore or Lt. Shannon White; Tom Osborne, the Deputy Director of CalOES and LA28 senior advisor Doug Arnot, an enormously-experienced mega-event executive who worked on the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City and the 2012 Olympic Games in London (GBR), among many other events.

There is no funding – or expenditure – accompanying the Memorandum of Understanding; the text notes “This Memorandum does not involve the exchange of funds, nor does it represent any obligation of funds by either Participant.”

The designation of the 2028 Games as a National Special Security Event (NSSE) is a foregone conclusion; this program was created was Congress in December 2000 (P.L. 106-544) and includes Presidential nominating conventions, Presidential inaugurations, “major international summits held in the United States and “major sporting events.”

The designation of an event as an “NSSE” is made by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Then:

“When an event is designated an NSSE, [U.S. Secret Service] becomes the lead federal agency in developing, exercising, and implementing security operations. The goal of these security operations is to ‘develop and implement a seamless security plan that will create a safe and secure environment for the general public, event participants, Secret Service protectees, and other dignitaries.’”

This is serious business, as attendees at any recent Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup or other major event will recognize. The Congressional Research Office summary of the NSSE program notes:

● “NSSE operational plans include the use of physical infrastructure security fencing, barricades, special access accreditation badges, K-9 teams, and other security technologies. To ensure consequence management, DHS pre-positions Domestic Emergency Support Teams, Urban Search and Rescue Teams, National Emergency Response Teams, Nuclear Incident Response Teams, and assets from the Strategic National Stockpile and Mobile Emergency Response System.”

● “Specific teams and groupings of teams are designed for each event based on coordination with other federal entities, state and local jurisdictions, available local resources, and mutual aid agreements.”

● “Additionally, USSS sponsors training seminars for command-level federal, state,
and local law enforcement and public safety officials to provide principles for managing security at major events and strategies for reducing vulnerabilities related to terrorism. The seminars also discuss key strategies and lessons learned from past NSSEs.”

A list of NSSE-designated events from 1998-2015 included two sports programs: the 2002 NFL Super Bowl in New Orleans, and the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, both following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Other editions of the Super Bowl have also been designated as NSSE programs.

This is a good start for security coordination for the 2028 Games, especially in view of the many law enforcement and security agencies in southern California. And it’s well ahead of the security effort for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, which did not formally kick off until October 1981 with the creation of the Olympic Law Enforcement Coordinating Council (OLECC).

This was a first-of-its-kind effort to bring area agencies together, and the inter-agency cooperation which was created by this working group was a continuing legacy of the Games well beyond 1984. An “Integrated Planning Group” brought in additional expertise from U.S. Customs, the Bureau of Arms, Tobacco & Firearms, the California Department of Transportation and local police forces such as the UCLA Police Department.

The Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee contracted and paid directly for security services that were above and beyond normal policing activities inside Olympic venue perimeters with six different agencies:

● $28.7 million to the Los Angeles Police Department
(of which there were unused funds that were refunded to the LAOOC);
● $282,881 to Orange County;
● $148,655 to Ventura County;
● $131,609 to the City of Monterey Park;
● $110,000 to the City of Anaheim;
● $35,000 to San Bernardino County.

In all, the LAOOC spent $35.3 million on the security function for the 1984 Games (~$88.9 million in 2021). The U.S. Congress made a one-time appropriation of $45.0 million for the Department of Defense, in December 1983, to support security efforts for the Games (P.L. 98-212). The equipment used for the Games was initially deployed for the 16-19 July Democratic National Convention in San Francisco and, after the Games ended, used again at the 20-23 August Republican National Convention in Dallas.

The ultimately-successful security effort in 1984 was due to excellent planning and good inter-agency cooperation, a new concept at the time. The effort for 2028 will be much larger and require much more coordination in our digital times, so the formation of an inter-agency working group seven years ahead of the Games is a welcome sign of progress.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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ATHLETICS: Felix & Crouser score impressive wins in American Track League IV, with 200 m prep record for Jaylen Slade!

Rich Perelman

February 21, 2021

tsx pix 2020-709 felix, allyson WKZ (kirby lee) — American superstar Allyson Felix, back in the winner's circle again (Photo courtesy Weltklasse Zurich, taken by Kirby Lee)

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Sunday’s final edition of the American Track League indoor series at the Randal Tyson Track Center at the University of Arkansas produced no world-leading marks, but a high school best in the men’s 200 m and a reminder not to forget about superstar Allyson Felix.

The nine-time Olympic medal winner was a beneficiary of the delay of the Tokyo Games from 2020 to 2021 and showed her rising form with an impressive win in the 200 m. She took an early lead in the one-lap race, but was pressed on the final turn by world-class hurdler Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico, then ran away to win by 22.59-22.91.

That’s a lifetime best for Felix in the indoor 200; she hadn’t run the distance since 2003 (23.14), but more importantly moved her to no. 4 on the 2021 world list at a time of the year when she’s rarely in competition.

Shot put superstar Ryan Crouser was thinking about another world indoor record – as at the first American Track League meet – but contracted food poisoning on Friday. He somehow made it to Fayetteville – “not exactly feeling great,” he said – and won his third American Track League meet at 21.93 m (71-11 1/2). That’s pretty ordinary for him, but still further than everyone else except he and reigning World Champion Joe Kovacs (USA) have thrown this year. American Payton Otterdahl was second at 21.40 m (70-4 1/2).

Former Central Arkansas sprinter Zachary Jewell produced two lifetime bests in the men’s 60 m and won in 6.58 before tripping and limping off the track. He held off Jackson Webb (6.59) and comebacking Jarrion Lawson, the 2016 NCAA outdoor champion in the 100-200-long jump, third in 6.62. Former Baylor star Wil London took over the men’s 400 m at the bell and won decisively in 46.36.

Kenyan Michael Saruni opened his 2021 season with a bold move at the bell in the men’s 800 m, winning easily in 1:45.34, no. 7 on the seasonal list. It’s his fourth-fastest race ever indoors. Trinidad’s Asa Guevara won the 300 m – his first race of 2021 – in 33.11, running, as he said afterwards, to “shake off the dust.” American Michael Dickson won the 60 m hurdles in 7.53, moving him to equal-4th on the 2021 world list.

American Andrew Irwin won the men’s vault as the only one who cleared 5.70 m (18-8 1/4). Marquis Dendy, the 2016 World Indoor Champion, won the long jump for the second time in this series, reaching 8.19 m (26-10 1/2) on his final effort.

The men’s high school 200 m race produced the fastest time in prep history, with Jaylen Slade (IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida) storming to a 20.62 win, 0.01 better than Noah Lyles’s mark of 20.62 from 2016. Wow! Also worth noting: the 20.84 runner-up mark for Gavin Schurr of Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado.

Britain’s Daryll Neita won the women’s 60 m in 7.24, just ahead of a charging 7.28 from Felix in second. Felix got a terrible start, but came on strongly after 20 m to move to second in what she called “a workout” afterwards.

American 400 m hurdle star Shamier Little continued working on her speed, winning the women’s 400 m in an indoor lifetime best of 50.57, running away from the field and moving to third on the 2021 world list, and no. 7 all-time U.S. Heather MacLean of the U.S. won the women’s 800 m in an indoor lifetime best of 2:00.54, now sixth on the 2021 world list and best in the U.S.

Jamaican star Danielle Williams came from behind to edge American Tonea Marshall, 7.86-7.89. That’s a seasonal best for Williams and equal-third on the world list.

Former two-time NCAA champion Olivia Gruver won the women’s vault at 4.70 m (15-5). The women’s shot was a close competition between Americans Raven Saunders (19.57 m/64-2 1/2), Maggie Ewen (19.54 m/64-1 1/4 ~ no. 5 all-time U.S.) and Jessica Ramsey (19.50 m/63-11 3/4 ~ no. 6 all-time U.S.), now standing 2-3-4 on the 2021 world indoor list.

Many of the athletes thanked meet promoter (and long-time agent) Paul Doyle for putting the series together and he deserves much credit for creating these opportunities in a safe and sane environment, when no one else did.

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HIGHLIGHTS: Shiffrin wins fourth Alpine Worlds medal, mystery meet produces 10,000 m world leaders, U.S. women top Brazil, 2-0

Rich Perelman

February 21, 2021

tsx pix 2021-221 cranny, elise 750 (citius) — Elise Cranny moved to no. 3 on the all-time U.S. list with her win at The Ten on Saturday (Photo: Citius Magazine)

Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Alpine Skiing ● The FIS World Alpine Championships concluded in Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA), with more upsets in the Slalom racing.

The final weekend began with the women’s Slalom, with American Mikaela Shiffrin the four-time defending champion. However, her rival Petra Vlhova (SVK) had won three of the five Slalom races on the World Cup circuit this season, to Shiffrin’s one.

Neither had much of a chance, as it turned one. Austria’s Katharina Liensberger, who tied for the gold in the Parallel Giant Slalom, turned in the fastest time by a huge 0.30 seconds on the first run, clocking 48.48 to 48.78 for Vlhova, with Shiffrin fourth.

Liensberger left no doubt, putting together the fastest second run as well to finish with 1:39.50, an easy winner ahead of Vlhova (1:40.50). Shiffrin came from fourth to third with the third-fastest time on the second run, finishing with a combined total of 1:41.48. Swiss Wendy Holdener was fourth at 1:41.84.

Just 23, Liensberger came into the World Championships never having won a World Cup race, but leaves with two golds and a bronze. Shiffrin, who has won four World Cup medals this season, claimed four Worlds medals – gold in the Combined, silver in the Giant Slalom and bronzes in the Super-G and Slalom – for a career total of 11. And still just 25.

This was a Worlds for the stars, with the 18 women’s medals won by just 10 skiers. Shiffrin won four medals, Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) and Liensberger each won three and Vlhova and Corinne Suter (SUI) each won two.

The men’s Slalom was another come-from-nowhere victory, this time for Norway’s Sebastian Foss-Solevaag, 29, who had won one World Cup race in his career – earlier this season – prior to the World Championships. He was third-fastest on the first run, then led the field in the second run to win with a combined time of 1:46.48. That was 0.21 faster than Austria’s Adrian Pertl, 24, the first-run leader, who had won one World Cup medal (last season) prior to the Worlds. The bronze medal went to veteran Norwegian star Henrik Kristoffersen (1:46.94), for his second career Worlds podium.

The overall medal count saw Switzerland win the most medals, with nine in total (3-1-5), with Austria at eight, but with five wins (one silver, two bronzes). France won five medals and the U.S. and Germany each had four. All of the American medals were won by the amazing Shiffrin.

● Artistic Swimming ● The first stage of the FINA World Series was “held” – on a remote basis – with the U.S. as host over the weekend, with very modest interest in terms of entries. All routines were filmed between 27-30 January, but the judging was done this weekend.

The one competition which was of interest was the women’s Solo Free, won by Canadian star Jacqueline Simoneau (90.1000) over American Anita Alvarez (87.1222). The Solo Technical event was won by American Nicole Dzurko (79.6044). The women’s Duet events were both won by Alvarez and Lindi Schroeder of the U.S., scoring 84.9222 in the Free and 82.4588 in the Technical event.

The men’s Solo Free was won by American William May (86.7333); Spain’s Fernando Diaz Del Rio Soto took the Solo Tech (68.5487). The Mixed Duets were both won by Spain’s Pau Ribes and Emma Garcia: 82.2000 in the Free and 81.6159 in the Technical.

The team events were won by the U.S. in the Free (87.5667), Belarus in the Technical (80.4160), the U.S. in the Highlights (85.9000) and Spain in the Combo (85.3667).

● Athletics ● Another mystery meet – except to the competitors – was held in San Juan Capistrano, California on Saturday evening called “The Ten” – 10,000 m – aimed at the Olympic qualifying standards of 27:28.00 (men) and 31:25.00 (women). Organized by Sound Running, the results were worth the secrecy.

Ten men started the race, with U.S. Steeple star Evan Jager leading through 5,000 m before dropping out, then Britain’s Marc Scott leading a pack of six through 8,000 m in 21:57.85. Only five continued, as Scott won the race to the finish with a 57.13 last lap to clock a world-leading and lifetime best 27:10.41, with Grant Fisher second (27:11.29), Woody Kincaid third (27:11.78), Ben True fourth (27:14.95) and Thai Kieran Tuntivate fifth (27:17.14), all well under the Tokyo standard.

Fisher moved to no. 5 on the all-time U.S. list, with Kincaid at no. 6 and True at no. 8.

The women’s race had a similar finish, with Elise Cranny storming past Karissa Schweizer on the way to a 65.11 last lap to finish in a world-leading 30:47.42 in her debut at the distance, with the no. 5 performance in U.S. history and making her the no. 3 performer.

This was Schweizer’s first 10,000 since 2018 and she lowered her best from 32:00.55 to 30:47.99 (65.74 last lap), moving her to no. 4 all-time U.S. (no. 7 performance).

Seven of the nine starters finished, with the next four placers all taking Olympic qualifying times: Eilish McColgan (GBR: 30:58.94 lifetime best), Emily Infeld (31:08.57 lifetime best: no. 10 all-time U.S.), Marielle Hall (31:21.78) and Kim Conley (31:30.25 lifetime best). Seventh-placer Gwen Jorgensen ran 32:39.96.

Prize money was raised online from fans and allowed the top two in each race – Cranny and Schweizer and Scott and Fisher – to receive $3,500 and $1,500, respectively.

(Separate report coming later on the fourth American Track League meet in Arkansas.)

● Basketball ● The United States won its final two games in the FIBA men’s AmeriCup qualifying tournament, defeating The Bahamas, 93-77, and then Mexico, 96-75, with both games at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In Friday’s game, the U.S. ran out to a 54-40 lead at the half and cruised home behind 19 points from guard Isaiah Thomas and forward James Nunnally, with 15 from guard Dakota Mathias. Forward Brandon Bass led all rebounders with 10 and the Americans held Bahamas to 35.3% shooting from the field.

On Saturday, the U.S. jumped out to a 31-15 lead after the first quarter and 58-33 at the half. Guard Ra’Shad James scored 21 to lead all scorers, followed by Bass (12) and forward Joe Johnson (11, and eight rebounds).

The wins gave the U.S. – coached by Joe Prunty – a perfect 6-0 record and 12 points in Group D, qualifying for the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup. Puerto Rico (3-3) and Mexico (2-4) also qualified out of the group.

● Biathlon ● The IBU World Championships in Pokljuka (SLO) finished on Sunday with the Mass Start events, with existing medal winners adding to their totals.

The men’s 15 km Mass Start was the second straight win and fourth gold medal of the Championships for 24-year-old Norwegian Sturla Holm Langreid. With only one shooting penalty, he raced to a convincing win in 36:27.2 over teammate Johannes Dale (+10.2 seconds; 2 penalties) and France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet (+12.8; 2 penalties). American Jake Brown was 29th.

Langreid won the 20 km Individual race on the 17th and both relays (see below) for his four wins. With seven races left in the season, he’s now in striking distance of overall leader Johannes Thingnes Boe, 871-839.

Austrian Lisa Theresa Hauser won her third medal at the Worlds and her first gold in the women’s 12.5 km Mass Start race. She shot clean and that helped to give her the win in 36:05.7 over three Norwegians: Ingrid Tandrevold (+21.7 seconds, 1 penalty), Tiril Eckhoff (+23.0, 2 penalties) and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland (+23.6, 3 penalties). American Susan Dunklee was 25th (+3:11.3).

Norway swept both of the team relays. Laegreid, Tarjei Boe, J.T. Boe and Vetle Sjastad Christiansen combined to win the men’s 4×7.5 km event by 33.1 seconds over Sweden and Russia (+50.9). The women’s quartet of Tandrevold, Eckhoff, Ida Lien and Roeiseland took the 4×6 km race in a tight duel with Germany, winning by 8.8 seconds in 1:10.39.0, with Ukraine 8.8 seconds back.

The Norwegians won the women’s race despite having 11 shooting penalties to only five for the Germans and seven for Ukraine.

The overall medal count confirmed the Norwegian domination, with 14 medals (7-3-4) out of a total available of 36. France (2-2-3) had seven and Sweden (1-3-2) had six. Eckhoff had the most individual medals with six (4-1-1), followed by Langreid (4: 4-0-0) and J.T. Boe (4: 2-1-1).

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The Women’s Monobob Series concluded in Koenigssee (GER) with the Swiss duo of Martina Fontanive and Melanie Hasler tying for the win, both with cumulative times of 1:48.37. Australia’s Breeana Walker was third in 1:48.91.

American Nicole Vogt won the seasonal series with 590 points, with four wins, ahead of Walker (502 points) and Brazil’s Marina Silva Tuono (502).

● Football ● The SheBelieves Cup continued on Sunday at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida, with the U.S. women facing Brazil in what is expected to be the deciding game of the tournament.

The U.S. put on the pressure from start and Christen Press took a pass from Lindsey Horan down the left side and struck a liner to the right side of the Brazil net in the 11th minute for a 1-0 U.S. lead. The game was increasingly open and fluid and Brazil – especially midfielder Debinha and striker Ludmila – made the U.S. defenders and keeper Alyssa Naeher increasingly uncomfortable as the half ended 1-0. The U.S. had 59% of the possession and led in shots, 12-5.

The second half went back and forth between the endlines, with both sides creating chances, but without any more scoring for the first 40 minutes. Brazil created big chances on a Marta pass to Debinha, who missed an open net in the 82nd minute, and then a curving shot toward goal by Ludmila in the 84th minute that was deflected.

Horan was on the attack in the 88th minute, running down the right side and sent a cross into the middle of the field that found the right foot of substitute striker Megan Rapinoe, who sent it into the net for a 2-0 lead and that’s the way it ended.

The U.S. extended its unbeaten streak to 36 matches (33-0-3) and 52 on home soil (47-0-5). Naeher had some scares, but posted her 10th consecutive shutout, a team record, and her 40th career shutout.

Today’s late game (6 p.m. Eastern start) had 0-1 Canada playing 0-1 Argentina. The final games of the tournament will be played Wednesday.

● Freestyle Skiing ● The Ski Cross World Cup resumed in Reiteralm (AUT), with new winners in this season for both men and women.

Austria’s Johannes Rohrweck, 30, won his first career World Cup gold and first medal in two years by defeating seasonal leader Reece Howden (CAN) in the final, with France’s Bastien Midol third.

Swedish star Sandra Naeslund, the 2021 World Champion, hadn’t won a World Cup race this season, but changed that, finishing ahead of season leader Fanny Smith (SUI) and Canadian Courtney Hoffos, who won first World Cup medal in two years.

● Judo ● Georgia’s men and the French women were the stars of the IJF World Tour Grand Slam in Tel Aviv (ISR), but the story was the return of former World Champion Saeid Mollaei at 81 kg.

The 2018 World Champion while competing for Iran, he was ordered by Iranian officials to lose matches at the 2019 Worlds to avoid facing Israeli star Sagi Muki, who eventually became World Champion. Mollaei was spirited away from the arena, left for Europe and finally obtained citizenship – and the ability to compete – for Mongolia.

There was the possibility of meeting Muki, but the Israeli star was surprised in the first round with a loss and eliminated. Mollaei got to the final, but lost to Uzbek Sharofiddin Boltaboev and had to settle for the silver medal.

Georgia won two men’s divisions, with Lasha Bekauri winning at 90 kg and heavyweight Gela Zaalishvili winning and 2018 World Champion Guram Tushishvili third, plus four other medals for a total of seven.

The French women scored gold medals by Shirine Boukli (48 kg), Margaux Pinot (70 kg) and Romane Dicko (+78 kg) to lead all countries, plus three other medals. Host Israel posted a win by Timna Nelson Levy at 57 kg, plus a silver from Gili Cohen at 52 kg.

● Nordic Skiing ● In Ski Jumping, both the men and women were in Rasnov (BUL), jumping off the 97 m Trambulina Valea Carbunarii, and it was a good weekend for Japan.

The 2019 World Cup winner, Ryoyu Kobayashi eked out a win, 257.9-256.3 over Polish star Kamil Stoch, with German Karl Geiger third (255.7) in the men’s event.

The women had two competitions, with Slovenian 20-year-old Nika Kriznar taking the opener for her second win of the season. Japanese star Sara Takanashi was second, 235.7-232.9 with Norway’s Silje Opseth third (230.1). But Takanashi came back to make history in the second event, winning for the third time this season and extending her record for World Cup wins to 60 (in 154 appearances). Opseth moved up to second this time, her fourth straight competition with a medal, but well behind Takanashi, 239.2-232.9. Kriznar was third (228.6) and with two medals, claimed the season lead in a tight race with Takanashi, 611-606, after nine of 16 events.

The Cross Country World Cup races in Nove Mesto (CZE) were cancelled due to the pandemic.

● Snowboard ● World Cup action in SnowCross resumed in Reiteralm (AUT), with familiar faces on the podium. Home favorite Alessandro Hammerle got to the line first in the men’s final, ahead of new World Champion Lucas Eguibar (ESP), with American veteran Mick Dierdorff third. It’s Hammerle’s 11th career World Cup gold.

Reigning Olympic champ and seasonal leader Michela Moioli won the women’s race, edging American star Lindsey Jacobellis, who won her first medal of the season and 55th of her brilliant career. French star Chloe Trespeuch finished third.

● Tennis ● The 109th Australian Open was unique, confusing and altogether frustrating for players, officials and fans, but turned out to, once again, offer compelling competition and demonstrate that where there is the will to overcome the coronavirus, it can be done.

In the end, it was defending champ Novak Djokovic (SRB) who won his ninth Australian Open title and his 18th Grand Slam tournament win. He ran past Russian Daniil Medvedev in the final by 7-5, 6-2, 6-2.

The women’s final was a straight-set triumph for Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who won her second Australian Open and fourth Grand Slam title over 25-year-old American Jennifer Brady, 6-4, 6-3. Osaka won her final eight sets of the tournament and lost only one set in her seven matches.

The Doubles titles were all decided in straight-set matches:

● Men: Ivan Dodig (CRO)/Filip Polasek (SVK) d. Rajeev Ram (USA)/Joe Salisbury (GBR), 6-3, 6-4.

● Women: Elise Mertens (BEL)/Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) d. Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova (CZE), 6-2, 6-3.

● Mixed: Barbora Krejcikova (CZE)/Rajeev Ram (USA) d. Samantha Stosur/Matthew Ebden (AUS), 6-1. 6-4.

The tournament’s pandemic rules required many players to be quarantined, and spectator attendance was capped at 50% of capacity until a snap lockdown was ordered on 12 February. That lasted for five days, with the final four days of the event allowing a maximum of 7,477 spectators per match. But the tournament got done, a positive of what can be done, even during a pandemic.

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THE TICKER: Hashimoto takes Tokyo 2020 reins; North Carolina to bid for 2027 WUG; more Worlds medals for Mikaela Shiffrin!

Rich Perelman

February 19, 2021

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee selected Japan’s Olympics Minister, Seiko Hashimoto, 56, as its new President on Thursday, replacing 83-year-old Yoshio Mori, who resigned after sexist comments about women at a Japanese Olympic Committee meeting on 3 February.

Hashimoto was the obvious candidate, despite expressing “reluctance” to take the role. She was an Olympic speed skater in 1984-88-92-94 and a track cyclist in 1988-92-96. She owns an Olympic bronze medal from the 1992 Albertville Winter Games from the 1,500 m.

She has been involved in politics since winning a seat in the House of Councillors in 1995, as a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. She was State Secretary for foreign affairs from 2008-09. She was Minister of State for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games from September 2019 until taking the organizing committee post.

Upon appointment, Hashimoto said, “It is my mission to host the games by prioritizing safety for both participants and the Japanese people, and create an atmosphere for athletes to go on the stage of their dreams without worrying.”

Tamayo Marukawa, 50, also a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, was named as the new Olympics Minister. She had previously held that role in 2016-17 and has also served as Japan’s Minister of the Environment and Minister of State for Nuclear Emergency Preparedness.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (GER) posted a warm endorsement on the IOC’s Web site, including:

“With her great Olympic experience, having won a medal, participated in seven editions of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Winter Games, and having led Japan’s delegation to the Olympic Games multiple times, she is the perfect choice for this position. She will ensure that the focus in the final months of preparation remains on the athletes’ experience while planning all the necessary COVID-19 countermeasures. …

“With the appointment of a woman as President, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee is also sending a very important signal with regard to gender equality, which is one of the topics we addressed in Olympic Agenda 2020, the reform programme for the IOC and the Olympic Movement.”

Hashimoto faces a difficult task – and one which was paramount before Mori’s comments and subsequent replacement – in restoring enthusiasm for the Games in Japan. Public support for hosting the Games this summer, vs. cancellation or another postponement, has fallen to as low as 14.5% in a Kyodo poll.

The IOC announced the “implementation guidelines” of the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s December decision in the case of the World Anti-Doping Agency vs. the Russian Anti-Doping Agency. Warning that enforcement will be strict, the notice includes:

“WADA’s independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC) has now confirmed that the guidelines are in line with the CAS decision and, if respected, would not lead to a non-compliance procedure against World Anti-Doping Code signatories.”

The guidelines include the use of the acronym “ROC” for Russian athletes – short for Russian Olympic Committee – and allow flag use with the logo of the Russian Olympic Committee (no text) and a “musical score” to be proposed by the Russian Olympic Committee for ceremonies at the Olympic Games in 2020 and Winter Games in 2022, which if approved must also be used for all sport world championships in lieu of the Russian anthem.

On uniforms and equipment, the guidelines require use of the Russian Olympic Committee logo instead of any other symbols and/or the words “Russian Olympic Committee.” If “Russia” or “Russian” text appears on the uniform, then the words “Neutral Athlete” must be shown as well, in an equivalent size.

The benefit of the guidelines is to standardize the implementation of the Court decision across all Games and World Championships, instead of a one-by-one series of decisions for events in 2021 and 2022. The Russian Olympic Committee declared its agreement to comport with the guidelines almost immediately.

“As a prefecture, we cannot pledge our full support if the current situation continues.”

That’s Tatsuya Maruyama, the Governor of Shimane, a sparsely-populated prefecture in western Japan, on the island of Honshu, declaring Wednesday (17th) that it may cancel the appearance of the Olympic Torch Relay if the coronavirus situation does not improve.

Kyodo reported that “The remarks by Maruyama, who also criticized the state and Tokyo government over their antivirus measures at a press conference last week, are seen as intended to increase pressure on them to improve their handling of the pandemic.”

The Torch Relay is scheduled to start on 25 March and would come through Shimane in May.

● Games of the XXXIV Olympiad: Los Angeles 2028 ● The coronavirus has reached out and touched – again – the 2028 Los Angeles Games, further delaying the completion of a detailed agreement between the LA28 organizing committee and the City of Los Angeles.

The City’s Chief Administrative Analyst sent a note to the City Council on Wednesday, explaining:

“The [Memorandum of Understanding between the City and LA28] currently requires the Parties to negotiate and execute a Games Agreement by March 14, 2021, to identify various obligations and actions between the Parties regarding the hosting of the 2028 Games. To continue negotiations in good faith, and as a result of the continued impacts of the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), the Parties require additional time to develop the Games Agreement. Approval of the proposed Third Amendment will extend the date for executing the Games Agreement from March 14, 2021 to October 1, 2021.”

Los Angeles County (population ~ 9.97 million) has been hit hard by the virus, with 1,174,340 million cases reported and 19,514 deaths as of 18 February.

● World University Games ● The U.S.-International University Sport Federation has designated the Raleigh-Durham area as its candidate in a bid to bring the 2027 World University Games to the United States.

The candidate area – Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Cary, North Carolina – is locally referred to as “The Triangle” and has hosted a major multi-sport event before, the 1987 U.S. Olympic Festival. That event set numerous attendance records and totaled 464,423 spectators, the most at a Festival up to that time.

The head of the bid committee is Hill Carrow, 66, who was the head of the 1987 Festival organizing committee and brings invaluable experience to the task of bidding and, if successful, staging the event.

After being fairly dormant in the international university sports arena for years, the U.S. is suddenly a central player, with the 2023 Winter World University Games coming to Lake Placid, New York. New U.S. International University Sports Federation President Dan Guerrero – the recently-retired athletics director at UCLA – announced the Raleigh-Durham candidacy this way:

“We are very excited about the possibility of bringing the Summer World University Games back to the U.S., where it has only previously been held one time, in 1993 in Buffalo, New York. The next available year to bid on the Games, 2027, holds a lot of promise for Olympic sports in the United States as it is the year prior to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California.

“In addition, our country has strong momentum for attracting the Summer World University Games, thanks to excellent work being done by the Local Organizing Committee in Lake Placid, New York, where they are slated to host the Winter World University Games in 2023 and are receiving very positive reviews for their Games preparations.”

The selection of the 2027 host is expected to be made in the spring of 2022 and the U.S. bid will be a favorite, as the FISU, the federation for university sport, is eager to raise its almost non-existent profile in the U.S.

● Alpine Skiing ● The FIS Alpine World Championships continues in Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA), site of the 2026 Winter Games, with more medals for Swiss star Lara Gut-Behrami and American Mikaela Shiffrin.

In Thursday’s Giant Slalom, Shiffrin scored the fastest first run at 1:13.22, but with only a lead of 0.02. While her second-run time of 1:17.46 was the fourth-fastest in the field, it was not enough to hold off Gut-Behrami, who jumped from third to first in 1:17.36 for a combined time of 2:30.66.

Shiffrin finished just 0.02 back, with Austrian Katharina Liensberger third (2:30.75); American Nina O’Brien was 10th overall (2:32.46).

Shiffrin has now won three medals in this Championships – one of each color – and now has a career total of 10 Worlds medals. Gut-Behrami has two golds and a bronze, and eight career medals and Liensberger now has a gold and a bronze for her first Worlds medals.

The men’s Giant Slalom was a wild affair, with France’s Alexis Pinturault – a 17-time World Cup winner in the event – leading after the first run. But he failed to finish his second run, as did German Alexander Schmid, standing third after the first run. That opened the door for France’s Mathieu Faivre, already the Parallel Giant Slalom gold medalist, who skied confidently down the Labirinti course and moved from fourth to first.

Italy’s Luca de Aliprandini was second after the first run and had a chance to win, but posted the 11th-fastest time on the second run and fell to second, 2:37.25-2:37.88. Austria’s Marco Schwarz, who won the Combined earlier in the week, posted the second-fastest second run in the field to move up from sixth to the bronze medal.

The results show once again the fluid nature of a World Championships or an Olympic Games: Faivre, 29, came into these Worlds with one career World Cup win … and has won two golds. Aliprandini, 30, had never won a World Cup medal in his nine-season career, but took silver.

The 2021 Worlds will finish this weekend with the Slalom races, with Shiffrin the four-time defending champion.

● Athletics ● One of the best indoor meets of the year was the Copernicus Cup in Torun (POL) on Wednesday, headlined by Britain’s Elliot Giles, who ran the second-fastest indoor 800 m of all time in 1:43.63. Only Dane Wilson Kipketer’s 1:42.67 from 1997 is faster, and runner-up Jamie Webb of Great Britain – in 1:44.54 – moves to no. 8 on the all-time list.

There were five other world leaders as well:

● Men/High Jump: 2.34 m (7-8), Maksim Nedasekau (BLR), Andrii Protsenko (UKR) and Gianmarco Tamberi (ITA)

● Women/60 m: 7.08 (=world lead), Javianne Oliver (USA)
● Women/3,000 m: 8:31.24, Lemlem Hailu (ETH)
● Women/60 m hurdles: 7.81, Christina Clemons (USA)
● Women/Triple Jump: 14.60 m (47-10 3/4), Paraskevi Papahristou (GRE)

In addition, Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega won the men’s 1,500 m in 3:32.97 to move to no. 8 on the all-time list; American Grant Holloway ran his 2021 win streak to four meets with a 7.38 victory in the men’s 60 m hurdles, and Sam Kendricks of the U.S. won the men’s vault over Piotr Lisek (POL) and Ernest John Obiena (PHI) as all three cleared 5.80 m (19-0 1/4).

Hailu’s 3,000 m win was especially impressive, coming at the expense of Steeplechase world-record holder (and last weekend’s 5 km road record-setter) Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN: 8:31.72).

The fourth and final American Track League meet comes on Sunday, once again in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Shot star Ryan Crouser will be back, looking for a third win in the series and trying to better his world indoor record 22.82 m (74-10 1/2) on 24 January.

Allyson Felix will make a rare indoor appearance, scheduled for some speed work on the 60 m and 200 m. ESPN will have live coverage beginning at 4 p.m. Central time.

Six members of Lamine Diack’s family are using a GoFundMe campaign to try to raise €500,000 (~$605,825) to post bail for Diack, now 88, to allow him to leave Paris and return to Senegal.

The fundraising group is shown to include Seydou Diack, N.K. Diack, Bineta Diack, Anta Diack, Mohamed Diack and Katifa Diack but interestly does not include the son Papa Massata Diack, one of the other primary figures in the charges for bribery and fraud brought against his father. The request includes:

“Our father Mr. Lamine Diack, who was the 5th President of the IAAF (World Athletics), aged 88 and sick, has been banned from leaving French territory since November 1, 2015.

“After the verdict delivered by the court, followed by an appeal from his lawyers, the ban was lifted on December 22, 2020, on the condition of paying a deposit of 500,000 € (327 million FCFA).

“We, his children, appeal for help in collecting the deposit, in order to make his return among us possible.”

Begun on 7 February, the appeal has thus far raised €17,398 (~$21,083) against the €500,000 goal.

Italian Alex Schwazer, now 36, was the Olympic gold medalist in the 50 km race walk in 2008 in Beijing, but was banned for doping prior to the 2012 London Games. Another doping test in January 2016 came back negative, but was re-tested and found to be positive, leading to an eight-year ban into 2024 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in an August 2016 decision.

However, on Thursday, Court of Bolzano Judge Walter Pelino issued a decision holding that:

“The preliminary investigation judge believes that it has been established with a high level of credibility that the urine samples taken from Alex Schwazer on Jan. 1, 2016, were altered with the aim of making them positive, and therefore obtaining the suspension and the discrediting of the athlete, as well as his coach Sandro Donati.”

This will not allow Schwazer to compete in Tokyo, but he could not appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal to nullify the 2016 decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The World Anti-Doping Agency issued a furious reply on Twitter, including:

“WADA is appalled by the multiple reckless and groundless allegations made by the judge against the organization and other parties to this case.

“During the course of the proceedings, WADA provided overwhelming evidence that was corroborated by independent experts, which the judge rejected in favor of unsubstantiated theories. …

“The agency stands by all the evidence it provided and rejects the defamatory criticism in the decision in the strongest terms. Once the full judgment has been analyzed, WADA will consider all options available, including what legal actions it may initiate.”

A rare news release from the Athletics Integrity Unit on Thursday announced and endorsed a holding by the independent Disciplinary Tribunal against a group of former Russian Athletics Federation officials, who actively interfered in a “whereabouts” failure case against former World Indoor Champion high jumper Danil Lysenko:

● Former President Dmitry Shlyakhtin: banned for four years
● Former Board Member Artur Karamyan: banned for four years
● Former Executive Director Alexander Parkin: banned for four years
● Former Senior Administrator Elena Orlova: banned for four years
● Former Anti-Doping Coordinator Elena Ikonnikova: banned for four years

The bans for Orlova and Ikonnikova will be served concurrently with existing bans (!) of six and eight years, respectively. The cases against Lysenko and coach Evengiy Zagorulko are still in process.

In essence, the conspirators worked together to create false documents to support claims that Lysenko was ill during his second “whereabouts” failure and had been in a car crash and unable to comply with what was the third “whereabouts” failure. The three-member panel found all were deeply involved in the plan and thus were sanctioned.

● Biathlon ● The IBU World Championships are continuing in Pokljuka (SLO), with the Individual races showcasing first-time winners in both the men’s 20 km and women’s 15 km competitions.

Czech Marketa Davidova, 24, was one of just two finishers not to suffer a shooting penalty and romped to a 27.9-second victory over Sweden’s 2019 World Champion Hanna Oeberg, 42:27.7 to 42:55.6. Davidova was hardly a favorite, having logged two wins in five years on the World Cup circuit and finishing 43rd and 37th in this race in the 2019 and 2020 Worlds, but was the best on Tuesday. Norway’s Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold was third in 43:31.7.

The men’s title went to Norway’s Sturla Holm Laegreid, 23, competing in his first World Championships, but clearly a rising star in the sport. He and Germany’s 2019 World Champion Arnd Peiffer both shot perfectly, but Laegreid managed a 16.9-second win, 49:27.6-49:44.5. Johannes Dale (NOR) was third in 50:08.5 (one penalty).

The Single Mixed Relay was held on Thursday, with a duel to the finish between France’s Julia Simon and Norwegian star Tiril Eckhoff, already a three-time winner at these Championships. Simon had two shooting penalties on her anchor leg after taking over from Antonin Guigonnat and although Eckhoff shot clean, Simon managed a 2.8 second win by 36:42.4 to 36:45.2. Eckhoff’s partner, superstar Johannes Thingnes Boe, had a tough time with a combined seven penalties on his two legs.

Sweden’s Sebastian Samuelsson and Oeberg combined for the bronze medal in 37:15.4.

The Worlds finish this weekend with the men’s and women’s relays and the Mass Start races.

● Figure Skating ● Figure skating coach Peter Oppegard, a U.S. Pairs skater who won – with Jill Watson – an Olympic bronze medal in 1988 in Calgary, has been reported to be under investigation for abusive behavior by the U.S. Center for SafeSport:

“Oppegard is accused of biting a skater in 2013 and throwing hot liquids on other trainees several times between 2005 and 2018, according to USA Today. During that time, Oppegard worked at East West Ice Palace in Artesia, Calif.”

● Football ● The SheBelieves Cup kicked off in Orlando, Florida on Thursday with Brazil and the U.S. winning the opening games in advance of their head-to-head meeting on Sunday.

The Brazilians defeated Argentina, 4-1, thanks to a penalty shot from Marta in the first half at the 30-minute mark, then three second-half scores from Debinha (47th), Adriana (54th) and Geyse (82nd minute). Mariana Larroquette scored for Argentina in the 60th minute. Brazil dominated with 57% of the possession time and six shots in the game to two for Argentina.

The U.S. struggled mightily against a tight, well-organized Canadian defense, but managed a 1-0 win, thanks to a 79th-minute goal from substitute striker Rose Lavelle. This was the most competitive game the American women had played in months and looked like it might end in a scoreless tie. But off of a failed clearance in the Canadian end following a free kick, Lavelle ripped a right-footed shot from just outside the penalty area that flew by Canadian keeper Stephanie Labbe. The U.S. had 53% of the possession during the game, but managed only five shots, but held Canada to just one.

● Rowing ● The first section of the U.S. Rowing Olympic Trials starts on 22 February in Sarasota, Florida, with five classes competing: men’s and women’s Single Sculls, men’s Double Sculls, men’s Lightweight Double Sculls and women’s Lightweight Double Sculls.

The selection for Tokyo 2020 will be decided for the women’s Single Sculls only, with the other selections finalized at the final Trials event in May.

There are 37 entries in the women’s Single Sculls, with the focus on Gevvie Stone, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist in the event, and 2019 Worlds bronze medalist Kara Kohler. Stone took a couple of years off after Rio to concentrate on her medical residency, but came back to the sport in 2019, losing to Kohler at the U.S. nationals, but teaming with Cicely Madden in the women’s Double Sculls and finishing fifth at the World Rowing Championships.

Heats will take place next Tuesday, repechages on Wednesday, semifinals on Thursday and finals on Friday.

● Weightlifting ● On Thursday (18th), the International Weightlifting Federation reversed a much-criticized decision on its anti-doping rules in hopes of currying favor with the already-angry International Olympic Committee. The posting on its Web site included:

“[The Executive Board] specifically approved a recommendation of the Independent Testing Agency (ITA) and the newly appointed independent IWF Anti-Doping Commission to restore Article 12 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules to a threshold whereby three anti-doping rule violations in a single year would trigger suspension proceedings, instead of four.”

The prior rule had required suspensions after three violations, but was relaxed earlier this year.

An independent panel, outside of the IWF, will be named to verify the eligibility of candidates for next month’s elections, instead of the IWF’s own Ethics and Discipline Commission. However, the eligibility rules themselves are being reviewed as well.

● The Last Word ● Happy to report that one of TheSportsExaminer.com entries in the third AIPS Sport Media Awards category of “Best Column” has advanced to the “shortlist” and will be considered further.

Our story from 4 October 2020 entitled “After 79 years, the Paralympic Games deserves to have the world stage to itself … in 2027!” has passed through two rounds of judging and will now compete with 34 other entries from around the world by an international panel of judges during the next month. Thanks for the honor!

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LANE ONE: IOC’s Agenda 2020+5 eyes massive commercial expansion, new multi-sport competitions, and eSports as future Games events

Rich Perelman

February 18, 2021

(★ Friends: THANK YOU to our 44 donors who have pitched in to cover our bill for server and support costs! If you would like to join in, please donate here. Your enthusiasm is the reason this site keeps going. ★)

For most of its 127-year history, the International Olympic Committee has mostly been about the staging of two events, the Olympic and Olympic Winter Games, now occurring for two weeks, every two years.

That’s about to change, big time.

The enormously ambitious Olympic Agenda 2020+5, released on Monday (15th), is nothing less than a declaration by the IOC to take charge – if not take over – the international sports calendar for much of every year, not just those years in which an Olympic or Winter Games will take place.

The release of this document in 2021, stating a plan through to 2025, is no accident. It comes 12 weeks after the IOC announced that German Thomas Bach would run unopposed for a second term as IOC President, which will run from 2021-25. So this new program is in effect Bach’s vision of his final term.

If read seriously, and with an appreciation of the ability of Bach and his executive team in Lausanne to create change – as it has done already during his eight-year first term – then Agenda 2020+5 is nothing less than the start of an IOC-led makeover of the quadrennial world sports calendar, as well as the Olympic event program. The centerpieces are Recommendations 6 and 9:

(1) Recommendation 6 is titled “Enhance and promote the Road to the Olympic Games”:

● “Elevate the profile of thousands of qualifying events by authorising the use of Olympic branding (e.g. OCOG marks) in a flexible manner”

● “Streamline calendars through new multi-sports Olympic qualifying events in the lead up to the Olympic Games Paris 2024″

● “The Olympic and OCOG brands effectively have no visibility and therefore the Road to the Olympic Games is not as visible as it should be.

“Beyond the individual stand-alone events, some multi-sports qualification events could be developed by the IOC in collaboration with [International Federations], which would help streamline the qualification calendar and also potentially add value for the Hosts, IFs and athletes involved. These events, grouping sports by type or by culture (e.g. combat sports, urban sports), could also serve to build excitement for the Olympic Games.”

Forget the cautious language. After 127 years, the IOC will now take charge of some (or all) of the Olympic qualification events for some sports, creating new, multi-sport events which will extend the Olympic brand to two years prior to each Games. This effectively makes the IOC a major event producer on its own, perhaps in collaboration with some of the IFs, perhaps with a continental association of National Olympic Committees, or perhaps by itself.

This is a major expansion – takeover? – of what has been the province of the IFs and groups like the Olympic Council of Asia and PanAm Sports. The proof comes in Recommendation 7 concerning the annual sports calendar: “Coordinate the harmonisation of multi-sports event planning across the Olympic Movement to ensure sustainability for all stakeholders,” which now includes the IOC.

What is the future of the Asian Games and Pan American Games if the IOC takes for itself all of the Olympic qualification aspects of these events? Or perhaps it will help to shore up these events and create a source of revenue for these continental associations? Those decisions will likely be for Bach’s successor.

The IOC got a taste of what will be involved in its close cooperation with the development and staging of the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires (ARG) in 2018 and the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne (SUI) in 2020. Add in the IOC-managed qualifying events for boxing for Tokyo, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and there is obvious confidence that the team at Olympic House can handle the workload.

The International Federations will still have their own world championships as primary qualifiers for the Olympic Games, but look for the IOC to consider taking over the rest.

(2) Recommendation 9 is “Encourage the development of virtual sports and further engage with video gaming communities”:

● “Strengthen the roles and responsibilities of IFs in establishing virtual and simulated forms of sports as a discipline within their regulations and strategies”

● “Consider the addition of physical virtual sports in the Olympic Programme in cooperation with the respective IFs”

The concept of “physical virtual sports” refers to activities like the virtual Tour de France one does on a connected home bike, or virtual golf using specially-programmed “clubs” that must be actually swung to create a shot.

Agenda 2020+5 is clear that these styles of electronic gaming, which include a significant physical component, are going to be included on the Olympic program, as early as the Los Angeles Games in 2028 (whose event program will be finalized in 2025), as long as they are under the control and supervision of the applicable International Federation.

How well that will sit with an existing game maker is unclear, but the question is now not whether electronic games will be included as Olympic events, but which ones and when.

The aggressive elements of Agenda 2020+5 do not stop there. The IOC’s desire to become an impact player in sport on a daily basis – not for two weeks every two years, but every day – are decisively declared in Recommendations 1 and 8.

In Recommendation 1:

● “Offer opportunities for people to get active through programmes such as initiation to Olympic sports or participation in events connected to the Olympic Games, both before and during the Olympic Games”

● “Develop ‘phygital’ experiences with both physical and digital components, such as for example an online platform during the Olympic Games for fans and stakeholders to access exclusive experiences, regardless of their location (e.g. chat with athletes, behind the scenes tour, etc.)”

● “Introduce innovative ways to facilitate direct and interactive relationships of fans around the world with Olympic Games events.”

In Recommendation 8, titled “Grow digital engagement with people”:

● “Use Olympic digital and social media channels to deliver engagement during and between the Olympic Games” leading to the construction of “a single people-centric digital platform, Olympics.com” that will incorporate “the Olympic Channel as the sports video section” and “[m]erging the websites and apps of Olympic Games into the single Olympic platform,” including the Web presence of Olympic organizing committees (here’s looking at you, LA28).

● “[T]he IOC Digital Strategy was approved and initiated, to reinforce IOC’s people-centric approach, aiming at creating one single digital platform that allows data capture for the
benefit of the IOC and of the Olympic Movement.” (Emphasis added)

The IOC’s stated goal now is to create an owned, addressable database in the millions to which it can promote its goals for physical fitness, worldwide solidarity and its other goals. Oh yes, there is a vision for how to turn this to the IOC’s financial advantage.

The final recommendation, no. 15, concerns new sources of revenue. It specifically includes “Further involving TOP Partners’ expertise and resources in the programmes and activities of the Olympic Movement” with revealing additional comments:

● “Purpose-led marketing has become one of the most impactful tools for companies, institutions and rights-holders to position themselves to target audiences, with a focus on the ambitions, purpose and values of the company, rather than solely putting their products or services at the heart of their marketing strategy. In the Olympic context, this means developing mutually beneficial projects and programmes with Partners that support the role of sport as an important enabler for Sustainable Development Goals. As a values-based organisation, this is what we offer to our partners.”

● “The IOC will continue to explore ways in which commercial partners can support [athletes] and how we can bring the athlete community into the value proposition that we provide for our partners – both in terms of how athletes can contribute, but also how they can benefit from the possibilities that we offer through our Partners.”

This future vision has the IOC offering global companies the opportunity for direct, digital access to millions – or tens of million or hundreds of millions? – of individuals spread across 206 countries, drawn to the popularity of the Olympic Games. Sponsorship, rather than broadcast rights, has the greatest growth potential for the IOC going forward and having a continuous roll of events and addressable access to consumers around the world makes for a compelling sales argument … even at Olympic prices.

The comments on Recommendation 15 also note further expansion by the IOC “by creating a global licensing programme and developing a marketing alliance with the [International Paralympic Committee], which began on 1 January 2021” and “[t]o continue maximising benefits for all Olympic stakeholders, we will extend this centralised approach to the
business model of the Hospitality sector.”

This is a massive expansion of the vision of the role that the IOC can make for sport, and for itself, and shows that Bach continues to push the boundaries of what has been considered possible for an organization which has become a billion-dollar business off of just four weeks of programming every four years.

There are numerous smaller impact items in the recommendations, including:

● From Recommendation 1: “Preserve the principle of universality through guaranteed continental representation within the Olympic qualification systems.” Translation: individuals and teams that don’t – competitively – belong at the Games will still be there, as in “This is the opportunity for us to contribute to a more inclusive society and to peace.”

● From Recommendation 2: “Work with stakeholders to streamline numbers of on-site participants and actively promote opportunities to perform Olympic Games-related tasks remotely.”

● From Recommendation 5: “Encourage Olympic Movement constituents to establish a Safeguarding Officer position within their organisations and to fill such positions with an Officer certified through the International Safeguarding Officer In Sport Certificate.” This is a new project on safe sports, complementing the long-time anti-doping effort that has been led by the IOC.

● From Recommendation 14: “The IOC to make compliance with the ‘Basic Universal Principles of Good Governance’ conditional for recognition and inclusion in the Olympic Programme and granting of patronage.” This will include auditing of more National Olympic Committees and International Federations to assure money provided to them by the IOC is being spent as expected.

The IOC also took some pains to underline its commitment to corporate citizenship, currently an expanding issue with calls by some governments for boycotts and demonstrations related to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in China. Recommendation 13 asks to “Adopt an overarching IOC human rights strategic framework with specific action plans for each of the IOC’s three different spheres of responsibility (the IOC as an organisation, the IOC as owner of the Olympic Games and the IOC as leader of the Olympic Movement).”

Its goal “to embed in a more systematic and comprehensive way human rights due diligence in its operations so as to reduce and mitigate risks of negative impacts on people, as well as ensure remediation in a proactive way” is, as always, couched within the context of mattes “that fall within its remit,” which is limited to sport. That won’t play well for 2022, but has better prospects for the Games to be held afterwards.

The recommendations do not include any comments guiding the selection of sports or events for the Games, other than the obvious interest in specific eSports related to existing Olympic sports. It does reiterate the IOC’s now-firm desire to avoid building facilities except where needed as part of a host city’s existing or long-term plan.

While some of the continental confederations of National Olympic Committees can be concerned about the future of their regional Games, the obvious losers in the document are the writing press and photographers. The only media entities even mentioned in the document are rights-holding broadcasters – who are Olympic “stakeholders” – and the comment that sustainability concerns should “actively promote opportunities to perform Olympic Games-related tasks remotely” could very well include press and non-rights-holding broadcasters. The IOC’s future vision is communicating to the public through its rights-holding broadcasters, its sponsors and its own database; all others are superfluous.

There is little doubt that the IOC members will confirm the document in March as the plan for the next four years. But that does not mean that all of it will be implemented, or be successful if implemented. The scope – and the stakes – are vast.

Are these good ideas, or is the IOC simply trying to vacuum up every possible opportunity for control and funding it can see in front of it? You can make a compelling case for both, but the IOC’s Agenda 2020+5 program is a reaction to the world it sees – where “unity and peace are at risk because of increasing social, political and economic polarisation” – and it is adopting many of the strategies and tactics for growth and impact already underway by other global marketers, including many of its own sponsorship partners.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: IOC presents “Olympic Agenda 2020+5″; new U.S. athlete leaders; Shiffrin wins Alpine Worlds Combined!

Rich Perelman

February 16, 2021

tsx pix 2020-1214 shiffrin, mikaela wins courchevel 750 — American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin: another World Championships gold!

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

● International Olympic Committee ● Since it’s 2021, the IOC’s turning-point reforms known as “Agenda 2020″ are now old news, so it is time for a new set of goals for the future. On Monday (15th), “Agenda 2020+5″ was unveiled and will be presented to the IOC Session for ratification – unanimously, no doubt – in March.

The program includes 15 points:

(1) Strengthen the uniqueness and the universality of the Olympic Games
(2) Foster sustainable Olympic Games
(3) Reinforce athletes’ rights and responsibilities
(4) Continue to attract best athletes
(5) Further strengthen safe sport and the protection of clean athletes
(6) Enhance and promote the Road to the Olympic Games
(7) Coordinate the harmonisation of the sports calendar
(8) Grow digital engagement with people
(9) Encourage the development of virtual sports and further engage with video gaming communities
(10) Strengthen the role of sport as an important enabler for the UN Sustainable Development Goals
(11) Strengthen the support to refugees and populations affected by displacement
(12) Reach out beyond the Olympic community
(13) Continue to lead by example in corporate citizenship
(14) Strengthen the Olympic Movement through good governance
(15) Innovate revenue generation models

All of these are familiar themes espoused by Bach during his term as President, but there is significant detail on each item, in a 37-page prospectus submitted to the membership. We’ll have a closer look at the specifics later this week.

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● The Tokyo 2020 organizers have started the recovery from the resignation of President Yoshiro Mori last week and a first meeting of the Candidate Selection Committee was held on Tuesday (16th). Five “criteria” for the new President were agreed on:

“(1) Profound knowledge of the Olympics, the Paralympics and sport in general.

“(2) Deep understanding of the principles of the Tokyo 2020 Games and the Olympic Charter, including gender equality, diversity and inclusion; ability to actualise them during the Games and as keystones of the Tokyo 2020 legacy.

“(3) Experience on the global stage; international profile and sense of awareness.

“(4) Understanding of the overall background of the Tokyo 2020 Games and their current state of preparation.

“(5) Organisational management skills and ability to bring together diverse stakeholders.”

A woman is widely expected to be named to the post, although Kyodo reported that the government’s Olympics Minister, Seiko Hashimoto – an Olympic cyclist and medal-winning speed skater – is “reluctant” to take up the post. The organizers are under significant pressure to fill the vacancy quickly, but also in a politically-sensitive way with “transparency.”

The magnitude 7.3 earthquake which struck northeastern Japan on Sunday (14th) apparently did no damage to the Olympic venues in the area. At issue were the Azuma Stadium in Fukushima, which will host baseball and softball games; and two football facilities: Miyagi Stadium near Sendai and Kashima Stadium in the Ibaraki Prefecture.

The impact of the coronavirus continues reaching into the qualification process for the Tokyo 2020 Games, with the final qualifying tournament in boxing, scheduled for June, set to be canceled. Kyodo reported on Tuesday:

“The rescheduling of the Olympic qualifiers saw the European qualifier moved from April to June, with some 53 Olympic spots supposed to be secured at the final world qualifier now set to be decided by point-based rankings, which reflect performance at international meets since 2017.”

The Olympic boxing program is being overseen by a specially-arranged IOC working group as the international federation for boxing – AIBA – is suspended.

● XXIV Olympic Winter Games: Beijing 2022 ● Republican firebrand Rep. Mike Waltz (Florida: 6th District) – a former Green Beret – introduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday, asking the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee to “propose the transfer of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games to a site other than within the People’s Republic of China,” and following the certain refusal of the IOC to do so, then the “United States Olympic Committee and the Olympic Committees of other countries should withdraw from the 2022 Olympic Games.”

For Waltz, the first difficulty is that the USOPC has already accepted the invitation to attend the Beijing Games, provided by video during one-year-to-go ceremonies on 4 February.

The resolution includes:

“[H]osting the 2022 Winter Olympics Games in the [People’s Republic of China], where organized atrocities in the [Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region] are ongoing; where the freedoms of Hong Kong‘s citizens are being trampled; where the fundamental right to worship is brutally persecuted; and in the wake of the ongoing global devastation from COVID-19; would be immoral, unethical and wrong.”

In an interview, Waltz asked, “Social justice applies only in the United States but not in international relations?” and added, “We’re marching toward the Winter Games – it is right around the corner. We’re going to bang this drum louder and louder.”

The chances of any movement concerning Beijing and the 2022 Winter Games are near-zero. But the political pressure from multiple countries, also including Canada, Australia and Great Britain, will create uncertain reactions from the hosts, as well as new scrutiny on the changes to be proposed by the IOC Athletes’ Commission to Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter, which bans all forms of protests at a Games.

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● The USOPC Athletes’ Advisory Council formally introduced its new officer team on 12 February, including:

● Chair: Bree Schaaf (Bobsled and Skeleton)
● Vice Chair: Chuck Aoki (Wheelchair Rugby)
● Vice Chair: Greta Neimanas (Para-cycling)
● At-Large: Tony Ervin (Swimming)
● At-Large: Mark Ladwig (Figure Skating)
● At-Large: Cody Mattern (Fencing)

Schaaf, 40, was a Skeleton racer from 2002-07, then switched to Bobsleigh and was the driver of the fifth-place U.S. sled at the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010. She retired in 2014 and was part of the NBC announce team at bobsled in Sochi in 2014 and PyeongChang in 2018.

She was destined to be involved in the Movement, having graduated from Olympic High School in Bremerton, Washington in 1998 and then from Portland State University in 2002. She lists her current employment with Global Athlete, which describes itself as “a progressive athlete start-up movement aiming to inspire athletes and drive change across the world of sport.”

The changes hoped for by Congress in the U.S. Olympic Movement have been stalled as the final four appointments to the Commission on the State of U.S. Olympic and Paralympics have still not been announced.

While 12 appointments have been determined, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) has not released her selections as yet, now 20 days after Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) formalized his nominees.

The Commission actually could start without Cantwell’s group, since S. 2330 as passed lists a quorum requirement of 11 members to meet!

The USOPC announced its Coaches of the Year for 2020 on Tuesday, with legendary fencing mentor Greg Massialas selected as the Olympic Coach of the Year and Para-Equestrian Dressage coach Michael Assouline as Paralympic Coach of the Year.

The full list of honorees, which includes several other categories of excellence, is here.

● Alpine Skiing ● The FIS World Championships continue in Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA), with American Mikaela Shiffrin winning her sixth Worlds gold on Monday in the Alpine Combined.

The Super-G came first and Shiffrin was third overall, just 0.06 behind leader Federica Brignone of Italy. But Brignone fell during the Slalom and Shiffrin, one of the world’s best in the Slalom, came on to post the fastest time of the day on the second leg and win with a total of 2:07.22. That was 86/100ths faster than Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova and 0.89 up on Swiss Michelle Gisin.

The conditions were difficult, with 17 skiers failing to finish one of the runs, but Shiffrin was in control. She said afterwards:

“It was quite nice to ski today again. Beautiful weather and really nice in the Super-G and again amazing in the Slalom. It was tough conditions – like a real Slalom – but I felt good and like I was pushing the whole time. It was nice when you feel like you’re skiing well and it works. Cool day.”

Shiffrin has a couple more shots at Worlds medals this week, with the Giant Slalom and Slalom still to come.

The men’s Combined was the third straight win for Austria in men’s racing, with Marco Schwarz winning his fourth Worlds medal, but his first gold. This was again a difficult event, with 20 racers failing to finish or abandoning the event after the Super-G. Schwarz was sixth after the Super-G, but like Shiffrin, had the fastest Slalom run and won with a combined 2:05.86. France’s Alexis Pinturault was second-fastest in the Slalom and second overall for his second medal of the Championships (2:05.90), with Swiss Loic Meillard third (2:06.98).

The Parallel races were held on Tuesday, with French star Mathieu Faivre defeating Croatia’s Filip Zubcic in the gold-medal final, 2-0, while Meillard won another bronze, this time over Alexander Schmid (GER), 2-0, in the bronze-medal final.

The women’s Parallel gold was a tie, for home favorite Marta Bassino and Katharina Liensberger (AUT); Tessa Worley (FRA) took the bronze over Paula Moltzan of the U.S., the latter’s best-ever finish in the World Championships.

● Athletics ● More great results from last weekend, with reigning men’s World Shot Champion Joe Kovacs of the U.S. reaching 22.05 m (72-4 1/4) at the B1G Invitational in Geneva, Ohio on Saturday (13th).

Arizona State junior Turner Washington set a men’s collegiate indoor shot mark of 21.85 m (71-8 1/4) at the Texas Tech Shootout in Lubbock, Texas, also on Saturday. Baylor junior K.C. Lightfoot claimed the men’s collegiate indoor mark in the vault, clearing the magical 6.00 m mark (18-8 1/4) on his second try. That equals the highest collegiate vault ever, done outdoors by Mondo Dupantis of LSU back in 2019.

Also, New Zealander Sam Tanner’s brilliant 3:34.72 third-place finish in the 1,500 m at the New Balance Grand Prix earned him the men’s collegiate indoor record as well. The Washington sophomore’s time bettered the 3:35.46 en route time by Oregon’s Cooper Teare (USA) the night before from the Tyson Invitational!

World women’s high jump leader Yaroslava Mahuchikh showed her 2.06 m (6-9) clearance was no fluke, winning the Ukrainian nationals at 2.00 m (6-6 3/4), with three close missed at 2.05 m (6-8 3/4).

The USA Track & Field Foundation awarded its first Maternity Grant to U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials winner Aliphine Tuliamuk, who gave birth to daughter Zoe in January. According to the announcement:

“The USATF Foundation Maternity Fund will assist elite women in Track & Field and running during their pregnancy and while recovering postpartum. This fund will allow elite females athletes confidence that there is financial assistance available, if needed.” The amount of the award was not disclosed.

Said Tuliamuk: “I am so grateful that the USATF Foundation chose me as their first recipient of the maternity grant; being a new mom is challenging enough, let alone being a new mom who’s representing her country in the summer Olympics 6.5 months postpartum. This grant will go a long way as it will cover our babysitting needs so that I can rest and get back to training soon.”

Russia says it is working hard toward reinstatement with World Athletics. The All-Russia Athletics Federation (RusAF) lost its President, Piotr Ivanov, to the World Anti-Doping Agency sanctions which prohibit any government officials from being involved in Olympic sport, but quickly installed 2000 Olympic 400 m hurdles winner Irina Privalova as interim head. She told reporters on Tuesday:

“We have sent to World Athletics on Saturday a strategic plan and all accompanying documents.

“RusAF has also asked the international federation to give Russian athletes as soon as possible an opportunity of participating in the European Athletics Indoor Championship under the neutral flag. This is because the deadline for submitting applications is February 24.”

The deadline for submission of a reinstatement plan is 1 March.

Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt told Zip 103 FM Jamaica that he is working diligently on his music career and wants to “not only dominate the Jamaican market but also to get into the international market.

“Music-wise we are working on some new rhythms to drop soon. Knowing the whole pandemic, we’re not trying to rush anything we’re taking our time to make sure the music comes out at the right time. We also have an EP that we are working on so that should be something interesting.

“We’re just trying to get a foothold, trying to make people understand that we’re not just here joking around. We’re serious about the music so we’re just going to take our time. Just like in track and field, it’s all about work and dedicating and just taking our time.

“We will get there. We believe in ourselves, and we believe in the product that we’re putting out there.”

● Boxing ● If you have experience in international sport and are “Robust and comfortable with operating in a challenging environment,” you may be interested in the newly-announced opening for the position of Secretary-General of the International Boxing Association (AIBA).

The federation desires to provide its Board with at least two candidates by 22 March. However, the federation is also deeply in debt, is currently suspended by the IOC and has no immediate prospects for revenue other than the promise of new President Umar Kremlev (RUS) that it will raise $50 million within six months.

The federation has listed openings for Secretary-General, Public Relations and Communications Director and Sport Director. The office, at least for now, is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.

● Figure Skating ● The WADA sanctions against Russia require that its national anthem cannot be played at world championships. But should a Russian national federation – for example, the Figure Skating Federation of Russia – be able to select its own music in place of the anthem?

It’s happening for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, to take place in March in Stockholm (SWE), where the Russian federation has announced that a one-minute selection from Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto no. 1 will be used if a Russian wins gold at the event.

This was apparently already used last weekend at the ISU World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen (NED), and is also scheduled for use at the ISU World Short Track Skating Championships in The Netherlands in March.

● Skiing ● The coronavirus has hammered Norway and new restrictions have eliminated all of the remaining FIS World Cup events in the country:

● Alpine Skiing: 4-7 March: Men’s World Cup in Kvitfjell
● Cross Country: 12-14 March: World Cup Finals in Oslo
● Nordic Combined: 11-14 March: World Cup in Oslo
● Ski Jumping: 12-21 March: Raw Air Tournament in Lillehammer-Trondheim-Vikersund

FIS is scrambling to replace these events, but at this late date, it will be tough.

The third replacement venue for the FIS Freestyle and Snowboard World Championships for Big Air, Halfpipe and Slopestyle was confirmed this last week for Aspen, Colorado, with World Cup events to follow shortly thereafter.

This was the last group of events to be re-assigned after the cancellation of the Freestyle and Snowboard Worlds in China.

● Swimming ● More trouble for five-time Olympic medalist Klete Keller, who was charged with three crimes for being in the U.S. Capitol during the 6 January riots.

Last Wednesday (10th), Keller was indicted by a grand jury, with seven charges, including civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering a restricted building, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

He was easy to pick out on video of the incident, as he stands 6-6 and was wearing a U.S. Olympic Team jacket!

Former Australian star Scott Miller, a two-time Olympic medalist in 1996 in Atlanta, was reported arrested in Rozelle, New South Wales, on charges of “supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, dealing with the proceeds of crime and directing a criminal group.”

Miller, 45, and one other man of smuggling about 4 kg (~8.8 pounds) of methylamphetamine, hidden in candles, into the country with intent to distribute it for sale.

● Wrestling ● USA Wrestling quickly found a new site for its Olympic Trials, announcing that the Dickies Arena in Ft. Worth, Texas will host the event on 2-3 April. The event was moved from Penn State due to the coronavirus.

The U.S. team for men’s and women’s Freestyle and men’s Greco-Roman will be decided at the Trials.

● At the BuZZer ● A long-standing fissure within the Kuwaiti ruling family that spilled over into the Olympic world will take another step forward on 22 February when a forgery case against Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah comes to a criminal court in Geneva, Switzerland.

According to The Associated Press, “The criminal complaint alleges that Sheikh Ahmad and lawyers acting for him later took part in a false arbitration case in Geneva, staged to try to prove a video that circulated on social media was authentic and implicated Sheikh Nasser al-Sabah, the former prime minister, in financial and political wrongdoing.” Sheikh Ahmad’s camp has insisted that the claims against him and four others are based on Kuwaiti in-fighting that has gone on since 2012.

Sheikh Ahmad was elected to IOC membership and 1992 and became the head of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in 2012, but suspended his activities in both when this action was filed in 2018. He has continued as the head of the Olympic Council of Asia (elected 1991). He was deeply involved in FIFA Council for several years, but withdrew after accusations by the U.S. Department of Justice of vote-buying.

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LANE ONE: IOC letter slams boxing “progress” and weightlifting on the brink of chaos; can either survive in the Games to 2024?

Rich Perelman

February 15, 2021

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”The IOC Special Monitoring Committee would just like to reiterate that, unless significant
progresses are made, it will present its recommendations to the IOC Executive Board, which may include the exclusion of boxing from the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and beyond.”

That’s from a letter sent Friday (12th) from Nenad Lalovic (SRB), head of the International Olympic Committee’s Special Monitoring Committee to the International Boxing Association, known as ”AIBA.”

This working group was formed in November 2018 to look into the continuing problems in boxing, including but not limited to finances (including debts of $17 million), governance and the long-standing issues with refereeing and judging.

The federation has been in disarray for years with its Taiwanese President C.K. Wu stepping down amid financial and governance questions in November 2017, followed by the election of Uzbek businessman Gafur Rakhimov in November 2018. He resigned in July 2019, in part because he was listed by the U.S. Treasury Department as linked to an Eastern European drug operation (Rakhimov’s bid to be removed from the sanctions list failed in 2020).

The IOC suspended AIBA as the international federation for boxing on 26 June 2019 and it remains so today. In response, AIBA took until 12 December 2020 to elect a new President, with Russian Boxing Federation Secretary-General Umar Kremlev winning the post. He told the delegates after election:

“Getting rid of AIBA’s debt will be the first priority. As I promised when I announced my run for the presidency, I will clear this debt in the first six months. My administration will aim to raise $50 million within two years, all of which will be used to rebuild AIBA.”

But none of this has impressed Lalovic, who is also the chief of United World Wrestling, a federation which itself faced elimination from the Olympic program in 2013, but was voted back in by the end of that year. Lalovic’s letter further noted that his committee has not seen any evidence of a plan to retire the debt and also included:

“Regarding the new leadership team we can only note that, despite the rebranding of the Executive Committee to a ‘Board of Directors’, those who were involved in AIBA’s leadership during the past years, specifically since the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and under Mr. [Gafur] Rakhimov’s mandate, are still in charge of the governance of AIBA, including yourself. …

“Therefore, the IOC Special Monitoring Committee can only reiterate that at this stage it is
not in a position to meet with you.”

Boxers are being punished for the malfeasance of their federation. On the Olympic program since 1904 (except for 1912), boxing had its athlete quota cut from 286 for the forthcoming Tokyo Games (186 men + 100 women) to 252 for Paris in 2024, with 126 men and 126 women.

Now its place in the Games is up for discussion, as the IOC has repeatedly stated its displeasure. And there are good reasons to eliminate boxing:

(1) The concept of the Olympic Games is to provide peaceful competition between nations. How can two people beating each other up with their fists be considered peaceful? (This rationale does not apply to boxing alone; others are also in this category.)

(2) Boxing as a sport has been around for more than a century and has a continuing professional presence which does not require the Olympic Games for its existence.

(3) How can AIBA, which has had corruption and judging issues for decades, ever be trusted? And does the IOC really want to deal with the creation of a new federation for the sport?

(4) The IOC agreed that the total number of athletes who will compete in Paris in 2024 will be limited to 10,500, down from 11,092 for Tokyo. Eliminating the boxers would create 252 new spots for other (non-combat) events to be added, if desired.

The advancing case against boxing foreshadows what may happen to weightlifting in the wake of continuing scandal within the International Weightlifting Federation. After it also escaped from elimination from the Paris program in May 2019, the IWF imploded in early 2020 with the airing of a documentary by the German ARD network called “Lord of the Lifters,” alleging widespread corruption, doping cover-ups and lack of financial and governance controls, leading to the subsequent resignation of former IOC member and 20-year IWF President Tamas Ajan (HUN), in April.

American Ursula Garza Papandrea became interim IWF President when Ajan “stepped away” from his role as President on 22 January 2020 (he formally resigned in April) and worked closely with the IOC and with the McLaren Global Sport Solutions investigators, who filed a damning report in June 2020.

But Garza Papandrea was ousted by the IWF Executive Board on 13 October 2020, with British Dr. Michael Irani taking over as interim President. This was especially galling to close observers as Irani had been a member of the sport’s so-called “Medical Commission” since 1992, during which time wholesale doping has gone on, mostly undetected across the elite sector of the sport.

At present, some 18 national federations – more than 10% of the total membership – is either suspended, on the brink of suspension or has already had sanctions placed against them.

A new IWF Constitution has been proposed, to be voted on at a special IWF Congress on 29-30 April, but after new elections for officers and the Executive Board on 26-27 March; isn’t this backwards?

Garza Papandrea, who resigned from the Executive Board after being voted out as Interim President – to the dismay of the IOC – is running for President, First Vice President, Vice President, Executive Board member and Secretary General. Last week, she released a campaign pledge, which included:

● “Upon election, I would immediately travel to Switzerland – Covid-19 permitting – to meet with the IOC. I want to ensure there is an agreed roadmap to guarantee the retention of weightlifting for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, as well as its return as a core sport. I will publish a comprehensive reform plan, including but not limited to operations, finance, commercial, and governance.”

● “The IWF’s reputation has been badly tarnished by the past and would benefit from a total re-branding to signify a new era. As part of this, I propose changing from the IWF to ‘World Weightlifting’ to signify this new chapter for our sport.”

● “Within the first 100 days of being appointed as President of the Federation, I will complete the move to our headquarters to Lausanne, Switzerland, and hire a permanent CEO to professionalise and update operations.”

● “Costs have been increasing while revenue has stagnated and previous regimes have relied unreasonably on the IOC for financial support. I will immediately start work to expand our sponsorship base by appointing a professional sponsorship agency focused on key markets for our sport, primarily in Asia, to enable us to attract diverse, high-profile partners who support a clean sport message for our newly branded organization.”

● “Additionally, I will review the IWF events model to provide spectator-friendly events made for TV and attractive to sponsors. It is clear that our current competition format can be improved to create a more exciting experience and I look forward to introducing options to a newly elected board.”

Although electing Garza Papandrea specifically is not required, weightlifting’s fate is very much in the hands of its federations as it will be subject to the same scrutiny that AIBA has received. On the “provisional” ballot posted by the IWF, multiple candidates are shown from countries which are either sanctioned, suspended or are existing members of the IWF Executive Board which has mishandled its affairs directly over the past year and, for some members, for years prior during Ajan’s reign:

● President: 6 of the 11 candidates are current IWF Executive Board members
● 1st Vice President: 6 of 17 are current IWF Board members
● Vice President: 12 of 41 are current IWF Board members
● Executive Board: 10 of 71 are current IWF Board members
● Secretary General: 4 of 11 are current IWF Board members

Wouldn’t the IOC’s statement to AIBA that “those who were involved in … leadership during the past years … are still in charge of the governance” apply equally to the IWF? Yes, of course it would.

Weightlifting has been severely hit by its horrific doping record – its anti-doping program has now been outsourced to the International Testing Agency – and has seen its Olympic participation shrink from 260 athletes in Rio in 2016 to 196 for Tokyo and just 120 over 10 weight classes for Paris in 2024 … if it remains on the program at all.

Weightlifting has been on the Olympic program since 1920, and unlike boxing, the Olympic Games is its primary showcase. It’s very much open to question whether the IWF could survive for very long without its quadrennial share of Olympic television revenue: it showed revenues of just $3.86 million in the non-Olympic years of 2017 and $4.10 million in 2018.

How strong you are as demonstrated by the amount of weight you can lift is a pretty basic test of humanity, and the only combat involved is against the weights, not other people. So weightlifting has a chance to remain on the program, but it will have to clean house – as AIBA has been told to do – to remain on the Paris program.

If boxing and weightlifting do not make it to Paris for 2024, they may find themselves in a life-or-death struggle in Los Angeles for 2028 as sports attuned to the Southern California lifestyle like baseball, softball, skating, surfing and even flying disc may be more amenable to the organizing committee and to an IOC membership exhausted by excuses.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: Kriechmayr sweeps Alpine speed events; three American Records at the New Balance Grand Prix; Worlds golds for Humphries, Mantia and Bowe!

Rich Perelman

February 14, 2021

tsx pix 2021-213 mantia, joey WCh Mass Start 750 (isu) — World Champion once again: American Joey Mantia wins the ISU Speed Skating Mass Start gold! (Photo: ISU)

Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Alpine Skiing ● The FIS Alpine World Championship are continuing in Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA), with the Downhills being held this weekend.

Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr made a major statement with a win in the Downhill on Sunday, winning his second Worlds gold in four days in 1:37.79 on the Vertigine course. He started first in the order and no one could catch him.

In fact, the gold and silver medals were decided in the first two runs, as German Andreas Sander – starting second – clocked 1:37.80 and had to settle for second, just 0.01 behind! Swiss Beat Feuz, the 2017 World Champion, finished third in 1:37.97.

Kriechmayr, 29, had eight wins in 11 World Cup seasons coming into the 2021 Worlds, but has been at his best when medals are at stake. He won a Super-G silver and Downhill bronze at the 2019 Worlds, but became the first to win both World titles for the first time since 2005, when American Bode Miller took the Downhill and Super-G, also in Italy (at Bormio).

The top American finishers in the Downhill were Bruce Bennett (tie for 10th) and Travis Ganong in 12th.

Earlier in the week, the delayed Super-G races saw Kriechmayr claim his third career World Championships medal – but first victory, in 1:19.41 – ahead of former Austrian star Romed Baumann (now GER: 1:19.48) and France’s Alexis Pinturault (1:19.79 for his fifth career Worlds medal).

Saturday’s women’s Downhill was a triumph for Switzerland, which logged its second winner in a single women’s Worlds since 1991 with Corinne Suter winning her fourth Worlds medal overall and first title.

Suter, 26, was the silver medalist in the 2019 Worlds Downhill and was second in the Super-G earlier in the week, 0.34 behind winner and fellow Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami. Starting seventh, Suter steamed down the Olympia delle Tofane course in 1:34.27 and no one could match her. Germany’s Kira Weidle, starting 11th, was the closest at 1:34.47 and Gut-Behrami was third for her seventh career Worlds medal in 1:34.64, ahead of Czech star Ester Ledecka (1:34.71). American Breezy Johnson finished ninth in a very creditable 1:35.17.

In the Super-G earlier in the week, Gut-Behrami won her seventh Worlds medal in the women’s Super-G, but first title, in 1:25.51, ahead of Suter (1:23.85) and American Mikaela Shiffrin (1:25.98). For Shiffrin, it was her eighth Worlds medal (5-1-2) and second in the Super-G, which she won in 2019.

The Worlds continue this week, with the Combined, followed by the Parallel races, Giant Slalom and Slalom.

American star Ted Ligety, who had announced his retirement, to take effect after the World Championships Giant Slalom, withdrew from the race due to sciatic nerve pain and concerns over injury. He leaves the sport at 36, having won Olympic golds in 2006 and 2014, five World Championships golds (and seven total medals) and five seasonal titles in the Giant Slalom. One of the finest American skiers ever.

● Athletics ● Big marks were expected at the New Balance Grand Prix meet, relocated to the Ocean Breeze Track & Field Athletic Complex on Staten Island, New York after the Reggie Lewis Center in the Boston area was unavailable due to its use as a Covid-19 vaccination site.

A great field of athletes looking for a way to start the season was assembled and resulted in eight world leaders and a batch of American-record performances:

● Men/800 m: 1:44.21, Donovan Brazier (USA) ~ American Record
● Men/1,000 m: 2:16.27, Bryce Hoppel (USA) ~ American Record
● Men/2-mile: 8:13.92, Justyn Knight (CAN)
● Men/High Jump: 2.33 m, Trey Culver (USA: 7-7 3/4)
● Women/300 m: 35.73, Gabby Thomas (USA)
● Women/400 m: 50.21, Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH)
● Women/2-Mile: 9:10.28, Elle Purrier (USA) ~ American Record
● Women/60 m hurdles: 7.82, Keni Harrison (USA)

Trayvon Bromell showed he is really ready for outdoors, winning the 60 m in 6.50, just 0.02 behind his world-leading mark of 6.48 in late January. His acceleration in the back half was impressive and bodes well for his spring at 100 m.

Noah Lyles won the 200 m in 20.80, ahead of Deon Lendore (TTO: 20.92), but was unimpressed with the time. “It’s indoors,” he said afterwards. The 400 m was an at-the-tape lean for Michael Norman over roommate Rai Benjamin, 45.34-45.39.

In the 800 m, Brazier was looking for a fast time, and separated from the field right away, passing the 400 m mark in 51.16 behind only pacesetter James Bias. He was never challenged, and came home in 53.05 for 1:44.21, shaving 0.01 from his own American Record, moving to equal-fourth on the all-time world list.

Hoppel ran away from the field over the final half-lap in the 1,000 m, taking with him the American Record of 2:16.76 of the late David Torrence from 2014. The mark moves Hoppel to no. 8 on the all-time world list.

Australia’s Oliver Hoare steamed past Britain’s Jake Wightman in the last half-lap to win the 1,500 m in 3:32.35, his best ever – indoors or out – and the no. 2 mark in the world for 2021, with Wightman in 3:34.48 (no. 3) and Sam Tanner (AUS) in 3:34.72 (no. 6). Hoare’s mark moves him to no. 7 on the all-time world list as well.

Culver equaled his best-ever jump, indoors or out, adding one cm to the world-leading mark, even though he hit the bar hard on the way over on his second try. He missed three times at 2.36 m (7-8 3/4).

Thomas came from behind on the final straight to edge Lynna Irby, 35.73-35.99, bettering her own world-leading time, and moving to no. 5 on the all-time list and no. 2 on the all-time U.S. list, just 0.02 behind Quanera Hayes’s American Record from 2017. Irby moves to no. 9 on the all-time world list.

Superstar Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH) went to the front early and cruised to a world-leading 50.21 in the 400 m, a national indoor record and equal-8th on the all-time world list. American Wadeline Jonathas was well behind in second at 51.95.

U.S. 800 m star Ajee Wilson took control over the final turn and won the 800 m in 2:01.79 from Kaela Edwards (USA: 2:02.17). Wilson said afterwards that she had scratched from the race due to a minor injury, but felt better on Saturday morning and looked comfortable throughout, emphasizing winning rather than a fast mark.

In the two-mile, Purrier finally broke former World Steeple champ Emma Coburn with 2 1/2 laps to go and ran away with the win in 9:10.28, an American Record (old: 9:18.35, Jenny Simpson in 2015) and the no. 3 mark of all-time in the event. Coburn finished in 9:15.71, also below Simpson’s mark, and no. 8 on the all-time world list.

Sandi Morris of the U.S. claimed the vault at 4.60 m (15-1).

Back at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Oregon senior Cooper Teare led teammate, soph Cole Hocker – both Americans – to a world-leading 3:50.39 men’s mile win, with Hocker at 3:50.55! That’s a collegiate indoor record for Teare, and he claimed the 1,500 m mark too at 3:35.46, with Hocker at 3:36.63.

The marks move Teare and Hocker to nos. 3-4 on the all-time U.S. indoor mile list, and positions 6 and 7 on the all-time U.S. 1,500 m list.

Florida State senior Isaac Grimes (USA) was second heading into the final round of the men’s long jump, but then he produced a lifetime best of 8.33 m (27-4) to win, a world-leading mark for 2021. He’d jumped 8.00 m (26-3) indoors coming into this season, but improved to 8.18 m (26-10) on 29 January and now this!

At the Orlen Cup in Lodz (POL), the ageless Mike Rodgers (USA) won the men’s 60 m over Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs, 6.52-6.53 for the no. 2 and equal-3rd positions on the year list, behind Bromell. Sam Kendricks of the U.S. won the vault over Ernest John Obiena (PHI), as both cleared 5.86 m (19-2 3/4).

On Sunday, Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay won the women’s 800 m in a sensational 1:57.52, moving to ninth on the all-time world indoor list, at the Meeting de L’Eure at Val-de-Reuil (FRA). Countryman Getnet Wale won the men’s 1,500 m 3:35.54 to 3:35.60 for fellow Ethiopian Lamecha Girma. American winners included Grant Holloway in the men’s 60 m hurdles in 7.41 and Javianne Oliver in the women’s 60 m in 7.14.

Outdoors, New Zealand’s Jacko Gill scored another win over star putter Tomas Walsh (NZL) in Hamilton on Saturday, once again reaching 21.52 m (70-7 1/4) to Walsh’s 21.45 m (70-4 1/2). Two-time Olympic champ Valerie Adams (NZL) had two world-leading throws to win the women’s shot at 18.68 m (61-3 1/2).

On the roads, Kenyan star Beatrice Chepkoech, the world-record holder in the Steeplechase, grabbed the 5 km road record by winning the Monaco Run in 14:43. That’s one second faster than the 14:44 mark by Sifan Hassan (NED) in the same race in 2019.

● Biathlon ● The 2021 World Championships are underway in Pokljuka (SLO), with competitions through next weekend and at the start, it’s the Tiril Eckhoff show.

The 30-year-old from Baerum, Norway had won nine Worlds medals coming into 2021, including two golds each in 2016 (Sprint and Relay), 2019 (both relays) and 2020 (both relays), but has won three golds in just the first five days of the 2021 championships.

She started with the third leg of Norway’s 4×7.5 km Mixed Relay on the 10th, handing a big lead to teammate Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, who finished off a 27.0-second win. Then she dominated the women’s 7.5 km Sprint, shooting clean and winning by 12.0 seconds over France’s Anais Chevalier-Bouchet, 21:18.7-21:30.7. Hanna Sola (BLR) was third, some 14.4 seconds behind. Susan Dunklee was the top American in 18th place, 1:17.9 behind the winner.

It was Eckhoff’s second world sprint title after her 2016 win. She then added a third gold in Sunday’s 10 km Pursuit, an event she where she won the silver medal in 2019. She had two shooting penalties, but still won by an impressive 17.3 seconds in 30:38.1 over Austria’s Lisa Theresa Hauser and by 33.0 over Chevalier-Bouchet. It was the first Sprint-Pursuit double at the women’s Worlds since 2008, when German Andrea Henkel managed the feat.

Dunklee was the top American in the Pursuit, 3:01.4 behind Eckhoff.

The men’s 10 km Sprint was won by surprise first-time World Champion Martin Ponsiluoma, who combined a perfect shooting performance with strong skiing to win in 24:41.1, 11.2 seconds ahead of France’s Simon Desthieux, with teammate Emilien Jacquelin (FRA: +12.9). Ponsiluoma, 25, wasn’t a total shock, having won two World Cup medals this season, but his best prior finish in a Worlds was 23rd in last year’s Pursuit!

Desthieux and Jacquelin were also first-time World Championships medal winners. The top American was Jake Brown in 12th, 44.8 seconds back of Ponsiluoma.

The men’s 12.5 km Pursuit remained in French hands, as Jacquelin defended his 2020 title in style, with no shooting penalties and a 7.3-second margin over Swede Sebastian Samuelsson in 31:22.1, with Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe third, 8.1 seconds back. France has now won this race in four of the last five Worlds and six of the last nine. Boe won his fourth Worlds medal in this race, having finished second three times in a row in 2017-19-20.

Brown was again the top American, finishing 25th, some 3:17.2 behind the victor. The Worlds continues this week, with all eyes on Eckhoff in Tuesday’s 15 km Individual race.

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The IBSF Worlds wrapped up in Altenberg (GER) this week, with more golds for superstars Kaillie Humphries of the U.S. and Germany’s Francesco Friedrich.

Humphries won the two-women race with Lolo Jones last week, but collected the first-ever women’s Monobob title on Sunday. After placing fourth in the first run, Humphries zipped to the fastest time in each of the last three races, compiling a total time of 3:59.62, ahead of Germans Stephanie Schneider (+0.50) and Laura Nolte (+0.80). American Elana Meyers Taylor had a tough competition, ranking 22-9-10-15 and finishing 15th overall (4:05.44).

Humphries now owns five Worlds golds from 2012-21 and is clearly one of the hot stories of the forthcoming 2022 Winter Games.

Friedrich continued his dominance in the four-man sled, winning his fourth title in a row and a medal in his fifth straight Worlds. There was little doubt about the outcome, as Friedrich’s sled posted the fastest time on all four runs and won in 3:35.02. That was 0.79 seconds faster than Benjamin Maier (AUT) and 1.51 seconds up on German teammate Johannes Lochner.

Friedrich has now piloted the winning two-man and four-man sleds in four World Championships in a row.

In the Skeleton races, there were few surprises, with another German sweep of the golds. Defending champion Christopher Grotheer only won one medal on the World Cup circuit this season – a bronze – but he was ready when it counted. After running third after the first race, he clocked the fastest time in each of the final three to win in 3:46.31, a tight 0.28 seconds ahead of Russian Alexander Tretiakov (3:46.59) and then German teammate Alexander Gassner (3:47.51).

Seasonal winner Martins Dukurs (LAT) finished 11th after the first run and was never in contention, ending in 16th (3:50.69) The top American was Austin Florian in 15th (3:50.67).

It was the second straight Worlds win for Grotheer and second bronze in a row for Gassner.

The women’s title was once again the property of Tina Hermann (GER), who won her fourth World Championships gold in the event and third in a row. It wasn’t easy, however, as Hermann logged only the 11th-fastest ride in the first round, but then won the last three runs to finish just 0.11 ahead of teammate Jacqueline Loelling, 3:52.97-3:53.08. For Loelling, it was her third silver medal. In the last six years, to go along with her 2017 Worlds gold. Russian Elena Nikitina was third (3:54.65).

American Katie Uhlaender, the 2012 Worlds winner, was the top American in sixth (3:54.88).

For good measure, Grotheer and Hermann teamed up to win the Mixed Team event, ahead of Loelling and Gassner, 1:55.41-1:55.55, with Russia’s Nikitina and Tretiakov third.

● Freestyle Skiing ● The FIS World Freestyle Championships have been split into three parts with the cancellation of the planned program in China; the first section saw the Ski Cross title decided in Idre Fjall (SWE).

Swiss Alex Fiva, a consistent contender on the World Cup circuit, took his first Worlds medal with a win in the final on Saturday (13th), edging defending champ Francois Place (FRA), and ahead of Erik Mobaerg (SWE) and Oliver Davies (GBR). For Place, it was his third straight Worlds medal, after a bronze in 2017 and the gold in 2019.

The women’s final saw familiar stars on the podium, with Swede Sandra Naeslund winning her second world title – also in 2017 – over Swiss Fanny Smith, who took her third straight Worlds silver in the event! France’s Alizee Baron won her second straight bronze medal, with Talina Gantenbein (SUI) fourth.

The 2021 Worlds in Big Air, Halfpipe and Slopestyle will be held in Aspen, Colorado (USA) from 7-17 March, and the Aerials and Moguls Worlds will be in Almaty (KAZ) from 8-11 March.

● Ski Jumping ● The men’s World Cup tour was in Zakopane (POL), jumping off of the 140 m hill, with 2019 World Cup champ Ryoyu Kobayashi claiming his first World Cup medal of this season with his 17th career gold. Poland’s Andrej Stekala who won his first career individual World Cup medal in second, 268.9-268.6, with Marius Lindvik (NOR) taking third (267.8) for his fifth World Cup medal of the season.

Seasonal leader Halvor Egner Granerud took his 11th win of the season on Sunday, out-pointing Slovenia’s Anze Lanisek, 298.1-295.2. Norway’s Robert Johansson – the man with the big moustache – was third at 293.8.

Granerud leads the seasonal standings, 1,542-1,017, over Germany’s Markus Eisenbichler.

● Snowboard ● The Ski Cross Worlds were in Idre Fjall (SWE), along with the Freestylers, with experienced former medal winners moving up to take their first Worlds golds.

Spain’s Lucas Eguibar won the Worlds silver in 2017, but was first to the line in the final, edging Austrian star Alessandro Hammerle, who won his first Worlds medal in second. Canadian Eliot Grondin was a surprise in third, ahead of Austria’s Jakob Dusek.

The women on the victory stand in 2021 were the same as 2019 … but in a different order. Britain’s Charlotte Bankes was runner-up two years ago, but was the winner this time, ahead of with three-time bronze medalist Michela Moioli (ITA) finishing second this time and defending champ Eva Samkova (CZE) third. Australia’s Belle Brockhoff was fourth.

However, Brockhoff and Jarryd Hughes came back to win the SnowCross Team title, ahead of Italy and France. Americans Hagen Kearney and Faye Gulini finished fourth.

● Speed Skating ● The ISU World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships, like the World Cups before them, was held in Heerenveen (NED) to assure the health and safety of the skaters, and turned into one of the most competitive Worlds ever.

The U.S. got strong performances that included big Saturday wins by Joey Mantia in the 16-lap men’s Mass Start race and Brittany Bowe in the women’s 1,000 m.

Mantia was in familiar territory as the World Champion in 2017 and 2019, but wasn’t sure of himself after have recovered from the coronavirus. “After having Covid in December I didn’t really know what to expect.

“I was skating pretty well in practice but I was really, really tired all the time. The last two World Cups were really rough. The races weren’t overly fast but I just felt I couldn’t keep up. I had no legs.

“I said to my coach, ‘Man, if I get on to the ice and my body gives me what I want it to give me, I’m going to win.’ I was extremely confident. I felt like I could do whatever I wanted and coming down to five laps, I was just licking my chops because I knew, given the opportunity and a clear line, I should be able to win.”

He worked his way into a striking position and then surged to the front to win in 7:32.470, ahead of Arjan Stroetinga (NED: 7:32.770) and Belgian star Bart Swings (7:32.830).

Bowe was the clear favorite in the women’s 1,000 m, a race in which she was the 2015 and 2019 World Champion and bronze medalist in 2013 and 2016, but she didn’t let it bother her.

“Pressure is definitely a privilege because not many people get to feel it. It’s whether or not you can embrace it. It doesn’t always go the way you want it to go. Sometimes you’re able to deal with it and sometimes you’re not. We’re not machines, we’re only humans.”

Bowe was in the next-to-last pairing with another of the favorites, defending champion Jutta Leerdam (NED). Fine for her: “The draw was good. You always want to be paired with the best competitor and starting from the inner lane is always nice in the 1000m because you can chase in that last inner [corner].

“The race went exactly how I replayed it time and time again in my head, and I was really happy to cross the line and see that green number next to my name.”

Bowe finished in 1:14.128 to best Leerdam (1:14.672) for a third world title in the event and her fourth career Worlds gold. Russian Elizaveta Golubeva was third (1:14.848).

In Sunday’s 1,500 m, Bowe was again the favorite, but had to settle for silver as 20-year-old Norwegian Ragne Wiklund, skating in the seventh pair, put up a stunning time of 1:54.613 that held up against the rest of the field. Bowe won her pairing at 1:55.034, and Russian Evgeniia Lalenkova was third (1:55.099). Bowe now owns a career total of 11 Worlds medals.

Overall, however, it was the skaters from the Netherlands who dominated the women’s racing. Russian Angelika Golikova won the 500 m in a modest upset over Dutch sprinter Femke Kok, 37.141-37.281, but then the Dutch took over. Antoinette de Jong won the 3,000 m in 3:58.470 over six-time winner Marina Sablikova (CZE), Irene Schouten took the 5,000 m in 6:48.537, Marijke Groenewoud won the Mass Start over Canada’s Ivanie Blondin with Schouten third, and the Dutch squad of de Jong, Schouten and legend Ireen Wust won the Team Pursuit over Canada and Russia. The Dutch won nine of the 21 medals in the women’s competitions, with Russia next best at six.

The men’s honors started with the Dutch again, who took three events: Kai Verbij won the 1,000 m (his second) in 1:08.052 over Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS: 1:08.313); Thomas Krol won his second 1,500 m world title, leading a Dutch sweep ahead of Kjeld Nuis and Patrick Roest, 1:43.752-1:44.110-1:45.493, and Roest teamed with Marcel Bosker and Beau Snellink to take the Team Pursuit over Canada and Russia.

Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil won the 500 m sprint in tight duel with Kulizhnikov and Dai Dai Ntab (NED), but the biggest surprises came in the 5,000 m and 10,000 m races. Sweden’s Nils van der Poel won both – the first-ever Worlds wins in these events for Sweden – defeating Dutch stars Roest in the 5 and Jorrit Bergsma in the 10, setting a world record of 12:32.952 in the 10,0000 m and a national record in of 6:08.395 in the 5,000 m.

Overall, the Dutch won 18 medals (7-6-5), with Russia at 11 (1-3-7). The Netherlands won seven golds, to two each for the U.S. and Sweden.

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ATHLETICS: Eight world leaders and three U.S. records at New Balance Grand Prix

Rich Perelman

February 13, 2021

tsx pix 2021-213 bryce hoppel AR 1000 m 750 — New American 1,000 m indoor record holder Bryce Hoppel, winner at the New Balance Grand Prix

Big marks were expected at the New Balance Grand Prix meet, relocated to the Ocean Breeze Track & Field Athletic Complex on Staten Island, New York after the Reggie Lewis Center in the Boston area was unavailable due to its use as a Covid-19 vaccination site.

A great field of athletes looking for a way to start the season was assembled and resulted in eight world leaders and a batch of American-record performances:

● Men/800 m: 1:44.21, Donovan Brazier (USA) ~ American Record
● Men/1,000 m: 2:16.27, Bryce Hoppel (USA) ~ American Record
● Men/2-mile: 8:13.92, Justyn Knight (CAN)
● Men/High Jump: 2.33 m, Trey Culver (USA: 7-7 3/4)
● Women/300 m: 35.73, Gabby Thomas (USA)
● Women/400 m: 50.21, Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH)
● Women/2-Mile: 9:10.28, Elle Purrier (USA) ~ American Record
● Women/60 m hurdles: 7.82, Keni Harrison (USA)

(All references below are to American athletes unless otherwise noted.)

Noah Lyles won the 200 m in 20.80, ahead of Deon Lendore (TTO: 20.92), but was unimpressed with the time. “It’s indoors,” he said afterwards. The 400 m was an at-the-tape lean for Michael Norman over roommate Rai Benjamin, 45.34-45.39.

Australia’s Oliver Hoare steamed past Britain’s Jake Wightman in the last half-lap to win the 1,500 m in 3:32.35, his best ever – indoors or out – and the no. 2 mark in the world for 2021, with Wightman in 3:34.48 (no. 3) and Sam Tanner (AUS) in 3:34.72 (no. 6). Hoare’s mark moves him to no. 7 on the all-time world list as well.

Culver equaled his best-ever jump, indoors or out, adding one centimeter to the world-leading mark, even though he hit the bar hard on the way over on his second try. He missed three times at 2.36 m (7-8 3/4).

Thomas came from behind on the final straight to edge Lynna Irby, 35.73-35.99, bettering her own world-leading time, and moving to no. 5 on the all-time list and no. 2 on the all-time U.S. list, just 0.02 behind Quanera Hayes’s American Record from 2017. Irby moves to no. 9 on the all-time world list.

U.S. 800 m star Ajee Wilson took control over the final turn and won the 800 m in 2:01.79 from Kaela Edwards (USA: 2:02.17). Wilson said afterwards that she had scratched from the race due to a minor injury, but felt better on Saturday morning and looked comfortable throughout, emphasizing winning rather than a fast mark.

In the two-mile, Purrier finally broke former World Steeple champ Emma Coburn with 2 1/2 laps to go and ran away with the win in 9:10.28, an American Record (old: 9:18.35, Jenny Simpson in 2015) and the no. 3 mark of all-time in the event. Coburn finished in 9:15.71, also below Simpson’s mark, and no. 8 on the all-time world list.

Sandi Morris of the U.S. claimed the vault at 4.60 m (15-1).

LANE ONE: Tokyo’s Olympic Kabuki sees Mori resign, and 14.5% popularity of the Games in Japan, but the show will go on

Rich Perelman

February 12, 2021

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Merriam-Webster’s short definition of “Kabuki” is “traditional Japanese popular drama performed with highly stylized singing and dancing.” That’s exactly where the Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizing committee finds itself now with the formal resignation on Friday of its President, Yoshio Mori.

Just nine days after speaking to a meeting of the Japanese Olympic Committee and making remarks about women talking too much at board meetings, Mori, 83 and a former Prime Minister of Japan, resigned during a specially-called meeting of Tokyo 2020 Executive Board and Council members.

Mori is reported to have told the attendees, “There has been much turmoil in recent weeks due to my inappropriate behavior, and for that I apologize” and “What is important is to hold the Olympics in July, so I cannot stand in the way of preparations. If I cause trouble by remaining in the job, our efforts will all be wasted.”

The next step is to select a successor to Mori as Tokyo 2020 President. Chief executive Toshiro Muto told a news conference on Friday that a selection board will be assembled quickly and “will consist of less than 10 members of the Tokyo 2020 executive board, Muto said, half of whom will be women.”

This is also a quick change from reports on Thursday that Mori had asked 84-year-old Saburo Kawabuchi, former head of the Japan Football Association, to take his place, and was willing to do so, as he is already serving as the mayor of the Olympic Village. But Kawabuchi reversed course and declined the invitation on Friday, clearing the way for the to-be-formed committee, to be headed by Fujio Mitarai, chairman of Canon Inc., who also serves as honorary president of the organizing committee.

The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee’s Web site included a short note on its home page under the headline declaring Mori’s resignation:

“With just over five months to go before the opening of the Tokyo 2020 Games, President Mori’s resignation may be a cause of concern to you. However, we ensure you that we will proceed with the appointment of a successor in a swift and transparent manner in order to limit the impact on our preparation for the Games.

“We will also consider specific actions to take, in light of opinions and recommendations voiced at today’s gathering, regarding how we can use this opportunity to further promote gender equality in society.

“Tokyo 2020 would be most grateful for your continued cooperation as we work towards hosting the Games this summer. All of us at the Organising Committee will do our utmost to re-earn your trust, as we renew our commitment to contribute to society through the hosting of the Tokyo 2020 Games.”

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, whose role in the Games is critical as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is, in fact, the leading supporter of the event, told a Friday news conference:

“All eyes are on the transparency of the selection process. The result will largely impact the image Tokyo broadcasts to the rest of the world.”

The International Olympic Committee posted two statements on Friday, with President Thomas Bach commenting:

“The IOC fully respects President Mori’s decision to step down and understands his reasons for doing so. At the same time, we would like to thank him for his outstanding contribution to the organisation of the postponed Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 over the course of the past years. Among his many accomplishments, President Mori helped to make Tokyo the best-ever prepared Olympic city. The IOC will continue working hand-in-hand with his successor to deliver safe and secure Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 in 2021.”

A second statement, of approval of the committee to replace Mori, included:

“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) welcomes the establishment and composition of a Candidate Review Committee for the appointment of the next President of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee. It applauds the decision to have equal gender representation on the Review Committee, including athletes’ representatives, and the commitment to transparency. This is a clear commitment to gender equality, which is fully in line with Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC’s strategic roadmap.”

So where are we now? Five points to consider:

● Mori’s comments have ignited a societal storm in Japan which may have implications far beyond the Games. A change.org petition to “properly address” his remarks drew 147,836 signatures by Friday and is still open.

What happens to the gender-equality movement in the country now is unknown, but could be significant. One example: the Kabuki concept in theater was created around 1600 featuring women, but by 1629, women were banned from this format and still are – at least formally – today. If Mori’s comments are the catalyst for major change in Japan, then the legacy of the 2020/2021 Olympic Games will indeed be dramatic and historic.

● The winner in all of this is Koike, 68. First elected to public office in 1992, she has served as Minister of the Environment and, for 54 days, Minister of Defense; she was elected as Tokyo Governor in 2016 and reelected in 2020 with 59.7% of the vote.

An independent, she clearly has her eyes on becoming Prime Minister, but the Liberal Democratic Party and allies hold 282 of the 465 seats in the Diet (60.6%) going into elections this October. Nonetheless, she is a power to be reckoned with.

● The organizing effort for the Games won’t change much with Mori’s departure. Most importantly, Muto is remaining as the senior executive in charge and while he doesn’t have Mori’s national profile, he continues to lead the more than 1,000 staff members getting ready to stage the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Remember, too, that the Tokyo organizers have been in crisis before, in fact just a year ago when the coronavirus was becoming a serious issue in Asia. Tokyo 2020 was ready to stage the Games, and will be ready this time.

Having served on multiple organizing committees myself, I can vouch for the usual reaction to crisis as “we will show you what we can do.” The staging of the Games continues in good hands.

● The coronavirus is still a problem, and the IOC and the Japanese organizers must continue to monitor the situation and perhaps adopt even more restrictive measures to allow the Games to take place.

The easiest step to implement will be to refuse entry to foreign spectators. This will free up hotel rooms across the Tokyo area, which could be partially filled by those National Olympic Committees with money and ease the number of people sleeping in the Olympic Village. The newly-announced restrictions on news media – especially press and photographers – is going to lessen their attendance in Tokyo and will hit the Paralympic Games especially hard.

Given the continuing cancellation and postponement of qualifying events worldwide, it may be that not all of the available quota places for the Games can be filled. Fine, so be it. In this case – and while no one will ever publicly say that every possible athlete slot should not be filled – less really will be more (and safer).

● Before he exited, Mori identified the significant issue threatening the success of the event: public apathy. While his comments caused a reported 400 or so volunteers to recuse themselves from the Games – out of about 80,000 – there was this:

“A Kyodo News survey conducted over the weekend [6-7 February] found that 47.1 percent think the Olympics and Paralympics should be postponed again due to the coronavirus pandemic, while 35.2 percent believe the games should be canceled. Just 14.5 percent said they should be held as planned.”

That’s not good. Host cities often do not get Olympic fever until late and the pivot point is often the beginning of the torch relay in the host country. The 2021 version is scheduled to start on 25 March from Fukushima – site of the 2011 nuclear disaster – and touch all 47 prefectures in the country.

The public reaction to the relay, and to competitions such as the U.S. Olympic Trials in gymnastics, swimming and track & field, where young men and women are giving every effort to try to make it to Tokyo, will be key in reviving – if possible – public interest and support of the Games, regardless of the number of spectators allowed in the venues.

Back in September 2013, when Tokyo was selected by the IOC to host the 2020 Games, then-BBC sports editor David Bond wrote:

“There is no doubt that after all the problems the IOC has been experiencing in Sochi and Rio, they were looking for a safe pair of hands. Tokyo’s bid was ranked number one in the technical assessment carried out by the IOC evaluation commission in June.

“Add to that the commercial allure of Japan’s well-established sports and media market and it’s easy to see why they were such a popular choice.”

Maybe not as popular any more, but without question still as safe a pair of hands as could be hoped for after the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 and the self-inflicted end of seven years of Yoshiro Mori as the head of what should turn out to be a very fine organizing committee in Tokyo.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: Mori expected to resign Friday; IOC wants U.S. rights enforcement help; world 1,500 m record for Ethiopia’s Tsegay

Rich Perelman

February 11, 2021

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● Reports indicate that Tokyo 2020 chief Yoshiro Mori, 83 and a former Japanese Prime Minister, will resign on Friday (12th) in the aftermath of remarks critical of women at a Japanese Olympic Committee meeting on 3 February.

Kyodo News reported that former Japan Football Association President Saburo Kawabuchi may be named to replace Mori. At 84, he is a year older than Mori and is recognized as the founder of the nation’s successful J. League. He is already serving the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee as the head of the Olympic Village.

The chief executive of Tokyo 2020 remains Toshiro Muto.

The International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 organizers posted the final “playbook” of the its first series, this time covering athletes and officials.

There were very few surprises in its 33 pages, as most of the requirements had been previously shared. Athletes and officials will be expected to test negative for the coronavirus within 72 hours of leaving for Japan and may be tested again on arrival, and then every four days while in Japan.

Use of public transit is only a last resort and athletes will be temperature checked when entering an Olympic site and will be admitted only with readings of less than 37.5 C (99.5 F). In line with the regulations already in use in Japan, athletes are asked to “[a]void unnecessary forms of physical contact such as hugs, high-fives and handshakes” and to “[a]void shouting, cheering and singing – find other ways to show support or celebrate during competition, such as clapping.”

There will be additional details for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies to be provided in the April update to the instructions. But for now, most of the people who will travel to Japan for the Games have an idea of what will be expected of them. The group most affected by the “playbook” program is clearly the press and photographers, with broadcasters also substantially impacted.

A major development on the relationship between the IOC and the U.S. government surfaced last week, with the public disclosure of a 28 January letter from IOC Chief Operating Officer Lana Haddad (GBR) and Legal Affairs Director Mariam Mahdavi (SUI) to Daniel Lee, the Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Innovation and Intellectual Property.

The two-page letter explains the IOC’s continuing concerns in Saudi Arabia: “we note the significant difficulties sports rightsholders have experienced in protecting their intellectual property rights despite the establishment of the [Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property Rights] (many of which were set out in our submission dated 6 February 2020) and stakeholders report that there are ongoing, significant challenges in Saudi Arabia with respect to IP protection and enforcement.

“We are extremely concerned of the impact that online piracy could create during the next 12 months, which will include extensive broadcast coverage of not only the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, but also the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. An effective IP protection system will be essential to ensure an environment which enables these Olympic Games editions to reach the broadest possible audiences in [Middle East and North Africa region], via our broadcasting partnerships, while protecting the longterm funding of the Olympic Movement by ensuring concerted action to curb satellite and online piracy of sports content.”

Haddad and Mahdavi asks the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative “maintains Saudi Arabia’s position on the Priority Watch List, engages with the Kingdom to protect and enforce the intellectual property rights of rightsholders and considers taking further appropriate steps in order to address the ongoing harm caused to rightsholders and broadcasters from copyright infringements and piracy activities.”

TorrentFreak.com reported “The most egregious offender was the streaming service beoutQ, which disappeared in 2019. By then, however, many Saudis had become used to cheap streaming options and many unlicensed services remain available today. This is a problem and the IOC calls for stronger enforcement in the region.”

Where the World Anti-Doping Agency and others have protested extra-territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. in their spheres, the IOC continues to ask the U.S. government to police Saudi Arabia with regard to its television rights sales. Amazing, and something worth considering as other U.S.-related issues bubble up on the way to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Separate from all of this is the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which is not funded by the U.S. government, but benefits from hundreds of millions of dollars each quadrennial from share of U.S. television rights sales and IOC sponsorships. But could this impact IOC discussions concerning the recent passage of S. 2330, which allows the Congress to dismiss the USOPC Board by a Joint Resolution? Stay tuned.

NBC announced on Wednesday that it would air its broadcast of the Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony live on 23 July, beginning at 6:55 a.m. Eastern time, with a prime-time enhanced broadcast that evening.

This is not completely new in that NBC has shown prior opening events via a live stream of the world feed, but without its own announcers, features and graphics.

● Alpine Skiing ● The 2021 World Alpine Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA) have been impacted by heavy snowfalls and fog, but hopes to get underway on Thursday (11th) with the Super-G for both men and women, with the Downhills on the 13th (women) and 14th (men).

American star Ted Ligety announced he will retire after the Giant Slalom in Cortina, capping a brilliant 17-year career. “I definitely achieved far more in my career than I would have ever thought as a 16/17-year-old kid when my coaches were telling me I’d be a good college athlete,” he said.

Now 36, Ligety debuted on the World Cup circuit in 2003 and piled up 25 World Cup wins (24 in Giant Slalom, one in Slalom), seven World Championships medals, including five golds and two Olympic golds, in the Combined in 2006 and the Giant Slalom in 2014. He won three golds in a single Worlds at Schladming (AUT) in 2013, taking the Combined, Giant Slalom and Super-G.

Ligety will be long remembered as a competitor, but will still be involved through his winter-wear apparel and equipment company Shred, but will get to spend more time with wife Mia and his three young children.

● Athletics ● The World Athletics Indoor Tour got hot in Lieven (FRA) on Tuesday night at the Hauts-de-France meet with a world indoor record and world-leading marks in six events, including a world 1,500 m record from Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay.

She had targeted the 2014 mark of countrywoman Ginzebe Dibaba of 3:55.17 and passed 800 m in 2:05.94 and finished with a final 400 m of 60.19 to chop more than two seconds off, finishing in 3:53.09. British star Laura Muir followed in a British indoor record of 3:59.58. The other world leads:

● Men/1,500 m: 3:31.80, Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)
● Men/3,000 m: 7:24.98, Getnet Wale (ETH)
● Men/60 m hurdles: 7.32, Grant Holloway (USA ~ American Indoor Record!)
● Men/Long Jump: 8.25 m, Juan Miguel Echevarria (CUB: 27-0 3/4)
● Women/3,000 m: 8:32.55, Lemlem Hailu (ETH)

Ingebrigtsen won easily and set a European indoor mark, moving to no. 5 on the all-time list. Wale, better known as a steepler, authored the no. 2 performance in history, scaring the 7:24.90 world mark by Daniel Komen (KEN) back in 1998! He led a 1-2-3-4 finish for Ethiopia, with Selemon Barega not far behind in 7:26.10 (no. 3 performance in history), then Lamecha Girma in 7:27.98 (no. 6 performer ever) and Berihu Aregawi (7:29.24: no. 8 performer ever).

Holloway improved his own American Record of 7.35 from earlier this year the 7.32 is the no. 2 performance ever, just behind Colin Jackson (GBR) and his 7.30 from 1994. Wow!

Swede Mondo Duplantis won the vault, but with a pedestrian – for him – clearance of 5.86 m (19-2 3/4), ahead of Chris Nilsen (USA: also 5.86 m) and Renaud Lavillenie (FRA: 5.80 m/19-0 1/4). World-record setter Hugues Fabrice Zango (BUR) won the triple jump with an impressive 17.82 m (58-5 3/4), the no. 8 performance in history.

Hailu’s won in the 3,000 m was especially impressive, as she beat Dutch star Sifan Hassan to the line, 8:32.55 to 8:33.62, as well as Kenya’s outdoor Steeple world-record holder, Beatrice Chepkoech (8:34.21).

The two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 110 m hurdles, Roger Kingdom, scored another distinction as the strength and conditioning coach of the Super Bowl champ Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In case you were wondering, Olympedia lists three Olympians who also played on winning Super Bowl teams: 1964 sprint winner Bob Hayes, who played with Dallas when it won the 1972 Super Bowl; Mike Carter, the 1984 shot silver medalist who won three titles as a defensive tackle with the San Francisco 49ers in 1985-89-90, and Nate Ebner, a Rugby Sevens Olympian in Rio in 2016 who was a member of the 2015-17-19 New England Patriots. Now you know.

● Basketball ● ESPN reported that USA Basketball is in the planning stages of a “bubble” training program prior to the Tokyo Games for its men’s team and medal-class teams from Australia and Spain. The NBA playoff schedule could go as long as 22 July – one day prior to the Opening Ceremony in Tokyo – but the U.S. team training camp is expected to open around 4 July.

Australia and Spain – the reigning World Cup champion – also have significant NBA participation on their rosters and so a U.S.-based camp environment would be attractive.

Because of the conflict of dates with the NBA playoffs, USA Basketball is asking to allow player substitutions during the tournament. Usually not allowed, the date conflict is a by-product of the coronavirus, so substitutes during the Games makes sense. However, the question of virus protocols will have to be worked out to the satisfaction of the Tokyo organizers (and medical staffs).

● Curling ● It had to happen, of course. One day after posting of our revised, 649-event calendar for the remainder of 2021, the World Curling Federation cancelled its 2021 Women’s World Championship.

Scheduled for Schaffhausen (SUI) from 19-28 March, the event “has been cancelled following a decision by the Swiss Local Health Authority not to support the event.

“The World Curling Federation and the event’s Local Organising Committee were informed that due to the current pandemic situation and concerns around the spread of new variants, permission to host an international sporting event will not be granted. This decision was made despite the extensive efforts by the World Curling Federation, the local organisers and Swiss Curling to develop a set of comprehensive safety protocols to deliver a COVID-safe event.”

● Cycling ● During a two-day meeting of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) management committee, multiple rule changes were made for road cycling to ensure better safety, but may not be so well regarded by riders.

Cycling World reported that riders will not be allowed to use the “forearms-on-bars” position except during time trials, and banned sitting on the top tube, known as the “super-tuck” position. Neither is expected to be well received.

The UCI promised serious action against littering on the course and “the sport’s governing body also confirmed that riders could be fined, docked ranking points and penalised time if they throw objects such as [water bottles] and waste in a careless or dangerous manner or outside of new litter zones.

“In stage races, a first infringement of throwing waste can be punished with a 30-second penalty, a second infringement with a two-minute penalty, while a third infringement could lead to disqualification.” Races are being told to create new disposal zones for litter every 30 to 40 km. The new rules come into effect on 1 April.

● Gymnastics ● The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) has cancelled the European legs of its All-Around World Cup Series in Europe:

“Despite the organisers’ best efforts, the reinforcement of entry bans in Europe in recent weeks has drastically reduced the ability of foreign athletes to take part in events in the continent, leading first to the cancellation of the World Cup in Germany last week, then of the World Cup in Birmingham this week.

“The World Cup in Tokyo on 4 May, which serves as a test event for the Games in Artistic Gymnastics, remains unaffected for the moment.”

The remaining quota places for the Tokyo Games will be determined through the Apparatus World Cup series later this year and the continental championships. The U.S. picked up an additional place for Tokyo in women’s gymnastics because of its placing at the qualifications at the 2019 World Championships!

USA Gymnastics won a round in court with the agreement of the plaintiffs in a suit filed in Las Vegas, Nevada against a gymnastics school to remove all claims against the federation.

The plaintiffs can continue their suit against the gym and its staff members, but have dropped USA Gymnastics. The federation’s attorneys had asked for relief from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana under the automatic stay granted in bankruptcy matters against litigation commenced after the bankruptcy filing date.

Sad news from Chicago, where Dianne Durham, age 52, passed away on 4 February. She was the first Black gymnast to win a U.S. All-Around title, in 1983. She won three events – beam, floor exercise and vault – and a silver on the uneven bars.

She was expected to make the 1984 Olympic squad, but had to withdraw from the Olympic Trials due to an ankle injury. She petitioned to make the squad, but was denied because she had not competed at the 1983 World Championships, despite a request from Olympic coach Bela Karolyi.

Following her competitive career, Durham remained deeply involved in the sport, as both a coach and judge.

● Ice Hockey ● Two of the biggest stars on the gold-medal-winning U.S. women’s national teams retired together on Tuesday: Monique Lamoreaux-Morando and Jocelyne Lamoreaux-Davidson.

The twins announced their decision together: “Our dream since as long we could remember was to wear the red, white and blue and become Olympic champions together.

“As twins, our hockey career and lives will forever be intertwined, so it is only fitting that we are retiring together as well. We want to thank USA Hockey for giving us the opportunity to represent our country for so many years. It is the right time for us to step away from the game as players but we will remain in hockey in some capacity moving forward. Thank you to all of our teammates, coaches and fans who have supported us during our hockey journey.”

The pair, both now 31, played on the U.S. squad for 14 years and Olympic silvers in 2010 and 2014 and gold in 2018. Monique, on defense, and Jocelyne, a forward, played on World Champion teams in 2009-11-13-15-16-17.

● Swimming ● Sprinter Margo Geer, 28, announced her retirement on Tuesday, despite being a contender for the U.S. team at the Tokyo Games.

She wrote on Instagram, “For 23 years you have been an enormous part of my life. …

“You ignited something deep inside of me – a competitive fire. One so strong that no disappointment could be too painful, and no success could be too gratifying to extinguish.”

Geer is the “head coach-in-waiting” at the University of Alabama. She won three NCAA titles for the University of Arizona in 2013-14 and won four FINA World Championships medals on relays in 2015 and 2019. She finishes with bests of 24.72 in the 50 m Free (no. 15 on the all-time U.S. list) and 53.44 in the 100 m Free (no. 38 all-time world and ninth all-time U.S.).

She will take over at Alabama in August of this year.

● Weightlifting ● The International Weightlifting Federation released a “provisional” list of candidates for its forthcoming elections, with 11 candidates for President, 11 for Secretary-General, 17 for First Vice President, 41 for Vice President and 71 for the IWF Executive Board. Many individuals are candidates for multiple offices.

The striking feature of the lists is the presence of candidates from countries which are already subject to sanctions. There are candidates for President and Secretary-General from Iran, Kazakhstan and Romania, all on the sanctions list.

Further, both of these offices have candidates from elected members of the existing, ineffective and under-observation IWF board from Finland, Greece, Great Britain, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Romania. Right at the top of the list are the Interim President, Dr. Michael Irani (GBR), who had indicated he would not run (but of course he is), and the existing Secretary-General Mohammed Jalood (IRQ).

American Ursula Papandrea, for a short time the Acting President of the IWF following the resignation of long-time chief Tamas Ajan (HUN), has declared her candidacy for President, Secretary-General, First Vice President and Vice President.

The IWF Executive Board met with IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell (NZL) on 5 February and promised quick reforms on athlete representation and governance. Elections are scheduled for 26-27 March with the final list of candidates (after vetting) to be announced at least 30 days prior.

● At the BuZZer ● American bobsledder – and now World Champion – Lolo Jones reveled in her win with driver Kaillie Humphries last week, as usual, on Twitter:

“Old.”
“Washed up.”
“You should retire.”
“Can’t medal.”

“11 years since my last World champs medal. 11 years of hate.”

“Ignore them all. Keep grinding.” Pretty good advice.

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For our 649-event International Sports Calendar for 2021 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

THE BIG PICTURE: Day-by-day in the Tokyo 2020 sexism fiasco and the future for President Yoshiro Mori

Rich Perelman

February 10, 2021

tsx pix 2021-210 yoshiro mori 750 (tokyo 2020) — Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori (Photo: Tokyo 2020 video screenshot)

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The furor over Tokyo 2020’s 83-year-old President, Yoshiro Mori, and his comments about women at a 4 February council meeting of the Japanese Olympic Committee continues unabated and has replaced concerns over the coronavirus as the no. 1 topic of discussion related to the Tokyo Games. Here’s a timeline, principally from coverage by Kyodo News, the principal Japanese news agency:

● 4 February: During a discussion of the Japanese Olympic Committee’s plan to increase the number of women on its Board from 20% to 40%, Mori said:

“The education ministry has been very insistent about choosing female directors. But a board meeting with plenty of women will make it drag on. Women have a strong sense of rivalry. If one [female] member raises her hand to speak, all the others feel the need to speak too. Everyone ends up saying something.

“Somebody told me that if we increase the number of women [on the Board], we have to also restrict their speaking time to an extent. Otherwise they’ll never stop, which is problematic.”

● 4 February: An immediate firestorm of criticism broke out, with JOC Director Kaori Yamaguchi – a former judo champion – responding, “Gender equality and consideration for people with disabilities were supposed to be a given for the Tokyo Games. It is unfortunate to see the president of the organizing committee make such a remark.”

● 4 February: Mori apologized for his remarks later in the day, saying “It wasn’t my intention for this to grow into a big thing. I thought it best to withdraw it.”

● 4 February: U.S.-based Human Rights Watch posted a story titled “A Gold Medal for Sexism in Japan” and which included: “The Japan Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, which Mori chairs, have an important role to play when it comes to gender equality and stopping abuse of athletes in sport. Women in Japan are grossly under-represented in sports federation leadership.”

● 4 February: Reuters reported a statement from the International Olympic Committee, including: “Mori has apologised for his comments today. With this, the IOC considers the issue closed.”

● 5 February: Mori apologized at a news conference, saying: “The expression I used ran counter to the spirit of the Olympics and Paralympics. It was inappropriate. I would like to retract the remarks and apologize to anyone I have offended.

“I have no intention of stepping down. I have worked hard and given a lot the past seven years, and don’t feel I need to.”

Kyodo reported: “Mori’s comments caused a storm of backlash in Japan and abroad, with a hashtag in Japanese meaning ‘Please retire, Yoshiro Mori’ being tweeted more than 65,000 times.”

● 5 February: Japan’s Olympics Minister, Seiko Hashimoto said “I would like him to respond adequately so he does not repeat what he did,” and, more importantly, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike told reporters:

“It is the mission of the metropolitan government and the organizing committee to host a safe and secure games, but now we are facing a serious situation.

“The IOC has said the matter is closed, but I have heard that games volunteers have resigned and people have made phone calls in protest, so we need to look into that.”

JOC President Yasuhiro Yamashita said “He has apologized and retracted [the remarks]. I understand there are many opinions, but I would like him to serve in his position until the end.”

About 90,000 people had signed an online petition in one day, asking “to properly address” Mori’s comments.

● 6 February: The Tokyo organizers e-mailed the roughly 80,000 volunteers for the Games with a message of apology for Mori’s remarks.

● 6 February: The first female Board member of the Japan Rugby Football Union, who served when Mori was the head of the organization, said that she thought Mori’s comments were directed at the memory of her service.

Yuko Inazawa, 62, said “Instinctively I thought he was referring to me,” noting that she had only modest knowledge of the sport when she joined that Board in 2013. “I think conferences dragged on as I was asking questions from my standpoint as an amateur,” said Inazawa, a Showa Women’s University professor. “But that is absolutely not the same thing as saying women make conferences drag on.”

Kyodo reported that “Inazawa said Mori did not show any discriminatory behavior toward female board members during his time in charge.”

● 7 February: Kyodo reported “Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in parliament that Mori’s remarks ‘completely diverge from the important Olympic ethos of gender equality’ but declined to directly address calls for his resignation.

“Education minister Koichi Hagiuda said the comments were ‘inappropriate’ but that he also had no intention to call for the resignation of Mori, who holds powerful sway in the political, business and sporting arenas.”

Kyodo quoted a “government source” saying “If he resigns, there’ll be no Olympics. We need him to continue whatever the cost.”

● 8 February: Kyodo reported that 390 Olympic and/or Paralympic volunteers had resigned over Mori’s remarks, and “Two people have also pulled out of the torch relay, while the organizing committee’s call center received around 350 phone calls and 4,200 emails in a five-day span following the comments.”

● 8 February: A special meeting of the Tokyo 2020 Executive Board will be held this week, possibly Friday, to consider any further actions needed. Per Kyodo: “An online petition calling for the central and Tokyo metropolitan governments, as well as the organizing committee and the JOC, to ‘properly address’ Mori’s behavior has collected nearly 140,000 signatures as of late Monday.”

● 9 February: A Kyodo story extrapolated Mori’s remarks to a wider issue of sexism in Japan, reporting “‘Mr. Mori has been gaffe-prone, but this remark should not be attributed to his character. This is a problem of how decisions are made in Japan and how men in power are biased,’ Kiriu Minashita, a sociology and gender studies professor at Kokugakuin University, said of the 83-year-old former prime minister.”

● 9 February: Per Kyodo: “A group of female Japanese lawmakers wore white in parliament Tuesday in protest of recent comments by Tokyo Olympic organizing committee chief Yoshiro Mori widely criticized at home and abroad as sexist against women.

“Opposition members of the House of Representatives attended a plenary session wearing white jackets with white roses on their lapels, an homage to the early 20th century U.S. women’s suffrage movement.

“Their male colleagues also sported white roses in a show of solidarity, while members of the House of Councillors wearing white attended as observers.

“The protest was organized by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan with lawmakers from other opposition parties including the Japanese Communist Party and the Democratic Party for the People participating.”

● 9 February: The International Olympic Committee released a lengthy statement about its commitment to gender equality and noted:

“The recent comments of Tokyo 2020 President Mori were absolutely inappropriate and in contradiction to the IOC’s commitments and the reforms of its Olympic Agenda 2020. He apologised and later made a number of subsequent comments. …

“For all these reasons, the athletes, all Olympic stakeholders and the general public can rest assured that the IOC will continue to deliver on its commitment to gender equality, inclusivity, solidarity and non-discrimination.”

● 10 February: Koike pulled out of a four-party meeting on the Games scheduled for 17 February, and added that Mori’s comments “made everyone feel uncomfortable at a time when we are trying to overcome the pandemic and gear up toward the games. I am very disappointed as the head of the host city.”

● 10 February: Reuters reported: “Tokyo 2020 said its council and executive board would meet on Friday to ‘express their opinions’ on Mori’s remarks and discuss ‘future gender equality initiatives of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee’.”

And that’s where we stand now. Kyodo has reported that, as of Wednesday (10th), about 400 volunteers have pulled out and the online petition has been signed about 140,000 times.

Will Mori stay? Resign? Be fired? The decision will depend, as noted above by an unidentified source, on how the Games preparations, execution and – importantly – its impact, status and legacy – will be affected by his departure.

While she has not called publicly for Mori’s departure, Koike’s view is crucial. As the head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which has invested a lot more money than any other partner in the Games, the 68-year-old has the highest ground in this discussion and how she wields this power may be a pivot point for the Games … and her political future.

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LANE ONE: Calls for a Beijing 2022 boycott grow louder, but is the reference point 1980, or 1936? So what now?

Rich Perelman

February 9, 2021

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As if there was any confusion remaining about whether sports and politics are inextricably intertwined, consider Sunday’s tweet from Xijin Hu, the Editor-in-Chief of the Global Times, self-described as “China’s national English language newspaper, under the People’s Daily”:

“Boycotting 2022 Beijing Winter Games, an unpopular idea, won’t receive wide support. IOC and athletes will both oppose it, and China will seriously sanction any country that follows such a call.”

No one knows exactly what this means, but a seven-word tweet supporting political freedom in Hong Kong from then-Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey in October 2019 cost the National Basketball Association some $150-200 million in Chinese broadcast and sponsorship income. The NBA can handle that, but presumably the Beijing 2022 Games are a more serious matter.

The Beijing 2022 organizers and the International Olympic Committee held one-year-to-go celebrations last Thursday (4th), which included a special ceremony that was nationally televised in China, plus the debut of the Olympic Torch and a special film produced by the IOC. President Thomas Bach (GER) said:

“These Games will connect the Chinese people with the world.

“Having seen how China is overcoming the coronavirus crisis, we are very confident that our Chinese hosts will ensure safe and secure Olympic Games in full cooperation with the IOC. Every time that I have visited China, I am so impressed by the enthusiasm and support for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. This is why, we can say already now with great confidence: China is ready. Ready to welcome the world’s best winter sports athletes for unforgettable Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. We all are looking forward to this global celebration of sport.”

The reception was not as warm elsewhere. Politicians in the U.S. – in both the Trump and Biden administrations – as well as Australia, Canada, Great Britain and elsewhere have condemned the 2022 Winter Games as a propaganda show which should not be allowed to be held in China due to – as the British news site, TheGuardian.com summarized:

“China is under growing international pressure over its widely documented abuses and detention of Uighurs and other ethnic Muslims in Xinjiang, as well as its crackdown on dissent domestically and in Hong Kong, surveillance and enforced labour programmes in Tibet, suppression of language and culture in Inner Mongolia, and aggressive posturing towards Taiwan.”

On Tuesday, a letter signed by 13 Canadian Members of Parliament asked for the Games to be removed from Beijing. Said Green Leader Annamie Paul, “If an ongoing genocide is not reason enough to relocate a sporting event, then my question is, what is?”

Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive David Shoemaker and Canadian Paralympic Committee chief executive Karen O’Neill wrote in an op-ed piece in Toronto’s The Globe and Mail on 4 February:

“In no way are we, at the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee, trying to minimize what is happening in China. But a boycott is not the answer. …

“[C]ritics are calling for us to stop Canadian athletes from participating as the first order of business to reshape our relationship with China.

“We believe this amounts to little more than a convenient and politically inexpensive alternative to real and meaningful diplomacy. Boycotts don’t work. They punish only the athletes prevented from going, those they were meant to compete against and those who would have been inspired by them.

“This is not speculation. In 1980, a group of countries led by the United States boycotted the Moscow Olympic Games to object to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Games went ahead – and the Soviets remained in Afghanistan for almost another decade. It also led to a retaliatory boycott four years later of the Olympics in Los Angeles. Few other measures were taken, and in the end only the athletes paid a price.”

But what if the true comparison is not with the Soviet Union in 1980, due to its 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, but the furor in advance of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin? That Games was awarded during the Weimar Republic, but was organized in Nazi Germany which had enacted its infamous Nuremberg Laws in 1935, which eliminated all rights of citizenship to German Jews, and extended to Romani (also known as “gypsies”) and “Black Germans” (of African descent).

There was considerable debate in the U.S. about whether to go to Berlin, but the American Olympic Committee decided to do so, with urging from its President (and German sympathizer) Avery Brundage, later the IOC President from 1952-72.

So Shoemaker and O’Neill’s position is that the athletes should play on while 10 million Uighurs in Xinjiang are brutalized and so on?

It’s not that insensitive, especially given their quite-right point that a boycott could be “little more than a convenient and politically inexpensive [first] alternative” and that “They punish only the athletes.” For example, the same politicians haven’t said a thing about the many World Cup and other seasonal events that take place in China in many sports. Why aren’t they subject to the same condemnation, even though the audience is smaller?

But even if their participation is not placed in jeopardy, this is a test for athletes too. Many U.S. athletes have taken a stand against racial injustice at home, with some support abroad, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee formed a 44-member Team USA Council on Racial and Social Justice. On 10 December 2020, the Protests and Demonstrations Steering Committee announced its recommendations for changes to Rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter, which bans protests at the Olympic Games:

“It calls for the IOC and IPC to update guidelines to allow for peaceful actions that specifically advocate for human rights and racial and social justice, and distinguishes those acts from to-be-defined ‘divisive demonstrations’ – including, but not limited to, currently prohibited acts of hate speech, racist propaganda, political statements and discrimination.”

The IOC Athletes’ Commission has undertaken its own surveys and has telegraphed that “the majority” want to “emphasise the right of free speech which is respected at the Olympic Games” and “express support for preserving the ceremonies, the podium and the field of play.”

That means no demonstrations or protests at the opening or closing of the Games, or during the competitions or award ceremonies. But that hardly leaves Shoemaker, O’Neill and the athletes of many countries without options to express their concerns about their hosts, well short of a boycott … if they care about the racial and social justice issues in China.

One of the problems with a boycott is that the protesters – so to say – are absent. You don’t see them, because they aren’t there. And as the Olympic Games are now a television event, it is critical to be there, as protesters in many countries have shown over many decades.

There are many smarter people than me in the protest space, but it seems to me that all the athletes from all eligible countries should attend the Beijing Winter Games, providing it is safe, secure and the issues with the Covid virus have been neutralized.

One twist, however. Rather than their national colors, the uniforms of countries concerned with China’s behavior could be either all-black or all-white, with simple, identical block lettering for each country in the pale blue color of the protest flag used by the Uighurs.

Quiet. Clear. Inexpensive. Endlessly repeated on television around the world and continuously reinforcing the message without a word being spoken or a hand raised in the air.

Imagine Hitler’s outrage of all of the teams had entered Berlin’s Olympiastadion in 1936 in white suits with a bright blue sash to symbolize support for Germany’s Jews! Instead, the French team gave the Fascist salute, less than four years before it was overrun.

Just an idea. No doubt there are better ones, and a year to figure them out.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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For our updated, 649-event International Sports Calendar for 2021 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

SPECIAL: Updated! Our revised, 649-event International Sports Calendar for 2021 now posted!

Rich Perelman

February 9, 2021

The continuing pandemic continues to cause mayhem within the worldwide sports calendar, so it’s time for an update to our 28 December 2020 edition.

Our updated International Sports Calendar for 2021 shows 649 events, but is far from complete as several sports have not yet posted complete (or any) lists of events due to the continuing effects of the virus.

Be warned: this listing will change! The coronavirus will see to that, but this edition is a good checklist for following many of the events coming up.

Two calendars are included in the single PDF download: an 14-page listing in chronological order and a 15-page listing by sport (and in date order within each sport).

It’s free! Get your download right now here!

HIGHLIGHTS: Humphries & Jones win women’s World Bobsled title; Kessler gets prep mike mark; U.S.’s Kai Owens, 16, wins Dual Moguls World Cup

Rich Perelman

February 7, 2021

tsx pix 2021-207 humphries-jones WCh 750 — On top of the world: Americans Kaillie Humphries (top) and Lolo Jones celebrate their IBSF World Championship! (Photo from Jones' Twitter feed)

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Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Alpine Skiing ● With the World Championships starting soon in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, the World Cup circuit finished early, with racing on Friday and Saturday.

The men’s tour was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER), with Italian star Dominik Paris taking the Friday Downhill ahead of 2017 World Downhill champ Beat Feuz (SUI: +0.37) and 0.40 ahead of Austria’s Matthais Mayer. American Travis Ganong was seventh (+1.10).

Saturday’s Super-G was an Austrian 1-2, with Vincent Kriechmayr winning his second race of the season – both in the Super-G – ahead of Mayer, 1:12.68-1:1285, with Swiss Marco Odermatt third. Ganong was 12th. Mayer has to be considered a hot medal favorite, as he has won a medal in each of the last five speed races – Downhill and Super-G – on the World Cup tour.

The women’s tour finished its pre-Worlds schedule on 1 February. The World Championships start on 8 February.

● Athletics ● The third American Track League meet was on Sunday at the Tyson Center at the University of Arkansas, with world leads from Marquis Dendy (USA) in the men’s long jump at 8.21 m (26-11 1/4) and Sandi Morris in the women’s vault (4.88 m/16-0).

American Ronnie Baker blasted to an impressive 60 m win in 6.53, edging world leader Trayvon Bromell (USA: 6.58) and Andrew Hudson (USA: 6.61).

In the men’s mile, Algeria’s Takieddine Hedeilli held on to edge New Zealand’s Nick Willis, 3:56.79-3:56.82, but the story was in third with Hobbs Kessler. The senior from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, paced himself beautifully and finished in 3:57.66, a new national high school indoor best, shattering his lifetime best and taking 0.15 off of Drew Hunter’s mark of 3:57.81 from 2016. He’s the third American prep to run sub-4:00, along with Hunter and Alan Webb (2001). Combining indoor and outdoors, it’s the no. 4 performance by a U.S. prep in the mile ever.

Said Kessler on the ESPN broadcast, “I did not expect that. All those guys are in a league above me. I just waited and waited and waited and then I had juice at the end.” He’s committed to Northern Arizona.

After surviving a recall and a possible false start, Jamaica’s Olympic champ Omar MacLeod won the 60 m hurdles in 7.53, moving him to no. 3 on the year list. Michael Cherry of the U.S. won the 400 m in 45.24, no. 2 in the world this season.

Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare won the women’s 60 m in 7.10, emerging in the final meters; it’s the second-fastest mark in the world this year. She came back to run 23.01 to win the first section of the 200 m, but Jenna Prandini (USA) won the second section (and the race overall) in 22.55, followed by Quanera Hayes (USA: 22.70); the three of them are now 2-3-5 on the 2021 world indoor list.

U.S. high jump star Vashti Cunningham set a new indoor best of 2.00 m (6-6 3/4) – equaling her best ever – clearing on her second attempt, becoming the fourth American to clear 2.00 m or more indoors. The bar was raised to 2.03 m (6-8) for a try at the American Record, but she missed three times.

American vault star Morris won the event at 4.83 m (15-10), despite coming right down on the bar … but it stayed on! Olivia Gruver made 4.78 m (15-8 1/4) for second. Morris moved up to 4.88 m (16-0) and brushed the bar again on her third try, but it stayed on for another world lead. She tried a world-record 5.07 m (16-7 1/2), but missed three times.

New world leaders keep coming, with two at the ISTAF Indoor meet in Berlin (GER) on Friday (5th) for American Christina Clemons in the women’s 60 m hurdles (7.83) and Germany’s World Champion in the women’s long jump, Malaika Mihambo, at 6.77 m (22-2 1/2). On Saturday, Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega won the men’s 1,500 m in 3:34.62 in Metz (FRA) for the fastest time this year, just ahead of countryman Bethwel Birgen (3:34.67) and Britain’s Elliott Giles (3:34.61). Dutch star Femke Bol won the women’s 400 m in 50.81, a national record. Also of note, American Javianne Oliver won the women’s 60 m in Metz in 7.10 to move to no. 2 on the 2021 world indoor list.

A pole vault-only meet in Rouen (FRA) on Saturday produced world leaders for both men and women. World-record holder Mondo Duplantis (SWE) won at 6.03 m (19-9 1/4), ahead of Chris Nilsen of the U.S. and France’s Renaud Lavillenie, both t 5.93 m (19-5 1/2) and reigning World Champion Sam Kendricks (USA), who cleared 5.83 m (19-1 1/2). Britain’s Holly Bradshaw won the women’s vault at 4.85 m (15-11), surpassed on Sunday by Morris.

On Sunday, the PSD Indoor meet in Dortmund (GER) had women’s world leaders in the 1,500 m by Caterina Granz (GER: 4:10.33) and in the long jump by Swede Khaddi Sagnia at 6.82 m (22-4 1/2).

The first stop on the World Athletics Continental Tour outdoors was in Christchurch, New Zealand, with a fabulous shot put duel between two Kiwi stars: 2017 World Champion Tomas Walsh and Jacko Gill.

Gill, a former World Youth Champion, World Junior Champion and an Olympic finalist in 2016, exploded on his first throw, reaching 21.52 m (70-7 1/4) for a lifetime best that held up for the rest of the event. Walsh reached 21.46 m (70-5) in round three, but that was his best of the day. Gill added a 21.44 m (70-4 1/4) throw later for his fourth-best throw ever.

In the women’s shot, four-time World Champion Valerie Adams (NZL) won at 18.41 m (60-4 3/4).

At Offenburg, Germany, javelin star Johannes Vetter got the spear out to 87.27 m (286-4).

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The IBSF World Championships are underway in Altenberg (GER) with the two-person sleds racing this weekend and then continuing with the four-man and Skeleton races this week.

When Canada’s two-time Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries quit the Canadian federation in 2018 and asked to be released to drive for the U.S., the expectation was that medals would follow her.

Expectations met.

Humphries won a second straight world title for the U.S., repeating her 2012 and 2013 back-to-back titles for Canada, this time with Lolo Jones aboard, the latter’s first World Championship gold since winning the IAAF World Indoor titles in the 60 m hurdles in 2008 and 2010. Humphries’ total of four world titles is the most ever in women’s bobsled.

Humphries and Jones posted the fastest times on the first and second runs, slipped to third on the third run and then were fastest again on the final run to win in 3:48.26. That was 0.35 seconds faster than Germans Kim Kalicki and Ann-Christin Strack (3:48.61) and their teammates Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi (3:49.27). Former World Champion Elana Meyers Taylor, driving with Sylvia Hoffman aboard, was fourth-fastest after the first run, but managed 6th, 8th and 8th-fastest times on the last three to finish fifth (3:50.14).

“We’re not the youngest spring chickens out there right now, but Lolo and I have faith in each other,” said Humphries, 35. “We believed in each other.

“It’s such a huge relief. This was a giant team effort. To be able to cross the finish line and see that number one and know everything worked according to plan is the biggest relief ever. There’s a huge wave of happiness and elation that comes over you. It’s super cool to share this with Lolo and with Team USA.”

Said Jones, 38: “I didn’t think I would be emotional. I don’t know if the snow was hitting me at the braking stretch or if I was crying, but I think I was crying.”

“I’m the first hurdler to win back-to-back golds in indoor, so I know the pressure that Kaillie was under. I credit Kaillie for being the vet she is, holding it together, staying composed, and executing. She just really killed it.”

Out of 17 World Championships for the two-women sleds, the U.S. has won at least one medal in 14, and gold in three of the last four and four of the last six.

The two-man race was yet another coronation for German superstar Francesco Friedrich, who won his seventh world title in a row – extending his own record for consecutive wins – but his first with Alexander Schueller aboard as brakeman. They had the fastest time on all four runs and won with a combined time of 3:39.78, a staggering 2.03 seconds better than teammates Johannes Lochner and Eric Franke, and 2.23 seconds up on countrymen Hans Peter Hannighofer and Christian Roeder.

Lochner’s silver was his fifth Worlds medal, with now four silvers and one bronze. The German sweep was historic: the first ever in the history of the 2-man sled event at the Worlds, which started back in 1931! Friedrich led a first-ever sweep in the 4-man sled last year and the Germans will try again later this week.

● Freestyle Skiing ● World Cup action reached the U.S. this weekend with competition in Moguls and Aerials in Deer Valley, Utah, with Canadian star Mikael Kingsbury continuing his domination of the events.

In Friday’s Moguls, Kingsbury claimed his 64th career World Cup gold (extending his own record for wins) with a 88.10-85.25 victory over France’s Benjamin Cavet, with Matt Graham (AUS: 84.44) third. Saturday’s Dual Moguls found the same three on the podium, with Kingsbury defeating Graham in the final by 20-15, while Cavet settled for the bronze medal over Kosuke Sugimoto (JPN), 27-8.

France’s Perrine Laffont, the 2018 Olympic Moguls champ, won her third Moguls competition without a loss this season on Friday, scoring 83.23, ahead of Anri Kawamura (JPN: 80.94) and teammate Kisara Sumiyoshi (79.55). American youngster Kai Owens was fourth (77.35).

Saturday’s Dual Moguls was an American sweep, with Owens, 16, winning her first-ever World Cup medal (and victory) by defeating Hannah Soar in the final, 22-13. Tess Johnson of the U.S. won the bronze medal by29-6 over Yuliya Galysheva (KAZ), with Laffont fifth after losing to Johnson in the quarterfinals.

The Aerials competitions on Saturday produced first-time winners this season, with Swiss Noe Roth ending Russian Maxim Burov’s streak of five straight wins. Roth scored 126.70 to edge American Justin Schoenefeld (123.08) and Pirmin Werner (SUI: 114.93); Burov did not compete.

Australian Danielle Scott, 30, won the women’s Aerials, scoring 90.59 for her second career World Cup victory, ahead of Americans Winter Vinecki (87.77) and 17-year-old Kaila Kuhn (74.82).

● Luge ● The 2020-21 FIL World Cup wrapped up in St. Moritz (SUI) this weekend, with some surprise winners.

Austria’s Nico Gleirscher, who had won one World Cup medal during the season, took the final men’s Singles race, clocking a combined 2:15.852 to edge Max Langenham (GER: 2:15.912) and seasonal champion Felix Loch (GER: 2:15.926). Loch finished with 1,095 points for his seventh career title, third-best all-time. Fellow German Johannes Ludwig was second overall (716) and Russian Semen Pavlichenko (673) was third.

The Doubles victory in St. Moritz went to the unheralded Latvian pair of Martins Blots and Roberts Plume (1:48.274), ahead of teammates Andris and Juris Sics (1:48.338) and Italy’s Ludwig Rieder and Patrick Rastner (1:48.461). The season title went to the ultra-consistent Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller (AUT), who ended a eight-year German hold on the Doubles crown. They finished with 942 points, followed by Sics & Sics (834) and former champs Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken (830).

Thanks to a heavy snowfall and fog on the course, the women’s Singles produced another shocker, as Latvia’s Elina Ieva Vitola – huh? – won ahead of six-time winner Julia Taubitz (GER), 1:53.618-1:53.870. Swiss Natalie Maag was third for her first medal of the season in 1:53.897. Seasonal leader Natalie Geisenberger finished 13th (1:55.150) and failed to medal for the only time this season. But her 995 points won her the overall title, ahead of teammates Taubitz (976) and Dajana Eitberger (698).

● Nordic Skiing ● A busy weekend of sprinting in Cross Country at Ulricehamn, Sweden and great results for the home team.

The men’s Freestyle Sprint was won by Swede Oskar Svensson, his second Sprint victory this season, just 0.14 seconds ahead of Russian Gleb Retivykh and 0.31 in front of Federico Pellegrino (ITA).

The women’s Freestyle Sprint was the fifth win in seven races this season for Sweden, this time for Maja Dahlqvist, in 3:20.59. She won by a right 0.30 seconds over teammate Johanna Hagstroem and 0.39 seconds over American Jessie Diggins. The amazing Diggins has now piled up 1,234 points for a big lead over Russia Yulia Stupak (904) and U.S. teammate Rosie Brennan (879).

In Nordic Combined, two competitions were held in Klingenthal (GER), on a 140 m hill and 10 km race. Saturday was the third win of the season for Vinzenz Geiger (GER), who won by 3.5 seconds in 24:59.6 over fellow Germans Fabian Riessle and Eric Frenzel (+3.6).

Geiger doubled up on Sunday, winning in 23:28.0, 4.1 seconds ahead of Akito Watabe (JPN) and 4.6 up on Austrian Lukas Greiderer. Seasonal leader Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR) skipped the weekend, but maintains a 940-754 lead over Geiger after 13 of 17 events.

The Ski Jumping World Cup was also in Klingenthal, with seasonal leader Halvor Egner Granerud (NOR) scoring his ninth win of this season on Saturday by 284.2-271.6 over Polish star Kamil Stoch and Bor Pavlovcic (SLO: 270.8). Granerud won again on Sunday, totaling 288.5 on his two jumps vs. 287.8 for Pavlovcic – who won his first World Cup medals on the weekend – and 285.7 for German Markus Eisenbichler.

The women’s World Cup was in Hinzenbach (AUT), jumping off a 90 m hill, with Slovenia’s Nika Kriznar, 20, taking her first individual World Cup gold by 237.4-236.6 over teammate Ema Klinec, with Norway’s Eirin Maria Kvandal third (226.6).

Kriznar scored again on Saturday, but with a silver medal as Japan’s Sara Takanashi scored her 58th career World Cup win, 238.4-238.0, with Norway again claiming the bronze with Silje Opseth (232.4). Sunday was the same: Takanashi, Kriznar and Opseth in that order, scoring 234.1-231.0-223.5. As a result, the seasonal race is oh-so-close: Marita Kramer (AUT) leads at 460, but with Kriznar at 451 and four-time winner Takanashi at 426.

● Snowboard ● A Parallel Giant Slalom and Parallel Slalom at Lake Bannoye (RUS) was the only action this weekend. Russians dominated the men’s Giant Slalom, with reigning World Champion Dmitry Loginov defeating countryman Igor Sluev by 2.10 seconds in the men’s final. The all-Italian bronze-medal final saw Mirko Felicetti finish 0.25 seconds ahead of veteran Edwin Coratti.

Loginov doubled up in Sunday’s Parallel Slalom, winning over fellow Russian Stepan Naumov, who did not finish in the final. Andrey Sobolev made it a Russian sweep with a 0.12 win against Swiss star Dario Caviezel.

The women’s Giant Slalom was a German 1-2, as Ramona Theresia Hofmeister slid home with her fifth medal in six World Cup races this season, beating Cheyenne Loch by 0.54 seconds in the final. Austria’s Sabine Schoeffmann edged Selina Joerg (GER) by 0.26 in the third-place race.

Swiss vet Julie Zogg scored her first win (and second medal) of the season in the Parallel Slalom, winning by 5.50 seconds in the final over Loch. Tomoka Takeuchi (JPN) took the bronze as Schoeffmann did not finish in the third-place race.

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LANE ONE: If you’re a journalist and you can’t interview the athletes, would you go to cover the Tokyo Games? That may be the reality.

Rich Perelman

February 5, 2021

(★ Friends: So many thanks to our 42 donors toward our December bill for server and support costs; we’re now at 97% of our goal. If you would like to help, please donate here. Your enthusiasm is what keeps this site going. ★)

On Thursday, the International Olympic Committee published two more editions of its “Playbooks” for stakeholders in the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer, for rights-holding broadcasters and for all other news media, under the banner of “Press.”

While a lot of the information on travel, testing and contact tracing is the same as that published in the International Federations Playbook, the critical regulations for both groups is contact at the Games with athletes, and with each other in facilities like the International Broadcast Center and the Main Press Center. The main principles remain the same: “it is important to minimise social interaction, wear a mask, and avoid the 3Cs: spaces that are closed, crowded or involve close contact.”

For the broadcasters, their primary work positions in the venues are the commentary boxes for their announcers and the post-competition mixed zones for interviews. The regulations make sense, at least in the abstract:

“All [rights-holding broadcasters] will be permitted to conduct interviews and film with athletes at the Venue Mixed Zones and at the Olympic/Paralympic Village Plaza Mixed Zone. Where dedicated transport is available, interviews may also take place at the [International Broadcast Center] and RHB TV studios. These locations must have temperature checks conducted on entry including the Olympic Village Plaza Mixed Zone and be able to guarantee physical distancing of athletes along with the highest standards of sanitation and personal protection equipment [to be defined further later].

“Please note that capacities in venue broadcast facilities will be adjusted in order to comply with the adopted physical distancing measures. These facilities include Mixed Zones, Dedicated Camera Platforms, Announce Positions/Occasional Presentation Positions (OPPs), Commentary Positions, Observer Seats and Broadcast Compounds, as well as at the Olympic/Paralympic Village Plaza Mixed Zone and the TV Studios.

“All ENG Mixed Zone positions, ENG platforms and Observer Seats will require booking through [Olympic Broadcast Services].”

But the details make it clear that the broadcast situation in Tokyo will look far different than ever before:

● Commentary positions and observer seats:

“At least a one-metre distance will be maintained without enlarging the overall footprint:

– “In order to maintain a one-metre distance, two people will be allowed in each three-seater position (EP03/UP03). One person to be allowed in each two-seater position (EP02/UP02) and one person in a one-seater position (EP01)

– “Clear acrylic partition to be installed where physical distancing is not possible

– “Observer Seats to follow physical distancing measures for Spectator Seats.” (Emphasis added)

● Mixed zones:

– “At all venues, a maximum crew of two people will be allowed at all dedicated TV positions (MZ01). In Radio positions (MZ02), only one person will be allowed

– “The use of a boom microphone will be mandatory in order to ensure the two-metre distance between athletes and interviewers is maintained

– “The floor of the Mixed Zone will be marked at all venues to ensure physical distancing: Athlete position < two metres > RHB position

– “The number of people accessing the Broadcast side of the Mixed Zone will be strictly controlled”

Mixed zones are always crowded, but are going to be much less so in Tokyo. The result is that the production effort will be even more chaotic that normal as broadcasters try to do their work while trying not to get in the way of other networks, and athletes and officials just trying to get by.

● International Broadcast Center:

– “RHBs will have to ensure at least one-metre distancing from others within their private
broadcast areas and the IBC, and two-metre distancing from athletes

– “If unable to keep the one-metre distance in certain operational areas, clear acrylic partitions should be installed by the Broadcaster …

“Athletes will have to be able to be transported from the Olympic/Paralympic Village to the
dedicated drop off points by dedicated RHB and NOC/NPC vehicles.”

These are not insignificant restrictions when one considers that in Rio for 2016, the Rights-Holding Broadcasters claimed 12,912 accreditations (!), with another 6,887 personnel from the host broadcaster team. Some 16,771 of these folks (85%) were assigned to work in the competition venues.

The restrictions for the press are even more difficult. In Rio, the “press” contingent (accreditation category “E”) was made up of 5,897 individuals from various groups, including:

● 3,651 writers
● 1,472 photographers
● 443 non-rights-holding broadcasters
● 331 technicians and support staff

All of them will have to face this situation:

“All press and photo areas across the competition and non-competition venues of Tokyo 2020 Games have been redesigned in order to ensure the required measures for physical distancing are respected at all times by the E-accredited Press. This has been done to guarantee a safe environment for all reporters, photographers and their support staff covering the Games. Similarly, access to the Olympic/Paralympic Village Plaza Mixed Zone will be limited. …

“Requirements for physical distancing at the MPC, venue media centres, press tribunes, press conference rooms, mixed zones, photo positions and media lounges has resulted in a significant reduction of capacities for all press and photo areas, with an average loss of 50 per cent in capacity for both. (Emphasis added)

“As a result, a booking system [to be later defined] for daily access to competition venues will be in place throughout the Games that will require every member of the accredited press to make a daily request in advance. Requests will be approved in accordance with the venue capacity for the different press and photo areas. (Emphasis in original)

“Approval of requests will be based on similar principles applied for the high demand events:

– “to guarantee international coverage of the events;

– “to ensure access to accredited press representing the NOCs/NPCs whose athletes and teams are competing in the events; and

– “to ensure an efficient and safe working environment for all media …

“While the priority is always to facilitate and support the accredited press in their work in covering the Games, the movements of reporters and photographers within the venues and their access to press and photo areas will be subject to physical distancing requirements. Additional measures and processes for access to press tribunes, mixed zones, photo positions and press conference rooms might have to be followed once in the venues.

“All press conferences will be available online and dedicated platforms will be used to allow for live Q&A for the Olympic Games …

“If dedicated transport is available for the athletes, interviews may also take place at the IBC/MPC and the Olympic/Paralympic Village Plaza Mixed Zone. These locations must have temperature checks conducted on entry and be able to guarantee physical distancing of athletes along with the highest standards of sanitation and personal protection equipment.”

The statement of “an average loss of 50 per cent in capacity” for “all press and photo areas” is no idle estimate. The reality is that the field-of-play and mixed-zone footprints cannot be expanded much from the pre-Covid space allocation – since the venues have remained the same – and that the first priority for space, especially in the mixed zones, will go to the rights-holding broadcasters.

Which raises the question of just how much can a reporter or photographer actually get done in Tokyo? So, can reporters – at least – stay home and cover the Games remotely, with access to ask questions via the Games information system?

The answer appears to be no, according to the IOC’s Head of Media Operations, the highly-experienced Lucia Montanarella (ITA). From a summary story of a 26 January video conference hosted by the International Sports Journalists Association (AIPS):

● “We redesigned the venues and all the Press areas had been adjusted for the requirements of physical distancing: 2 meters from athletes and 1 meter from the rest of the stakeholders. By applying these restrictions, we obviously lost an enormous capacity of Media positions, especially for photographers.”

● “For the first time ever, video coverage press conferences with the medallists will be available for use by the accredited media once the live events finish. There’s going to be a feed on the info system to provide as much content as possible.”

● Montanarella explained that there is not going to be virtual accreditation to cover the Games remotely: “We are going to prioritise those that are making the effort of travelling, with all the difficulties and investment that this brings, in a way to offer them more opportunities, as we need to have a proper balance.”

To go or not to go? Even space in the Main Press Center workroom is not assured; while access will not be restricted:

“The MPC working areas will be reduced to allow for physical distancing and will be available on a first come first serve basis.”

This is the impact of Covid on a group that the IOC deeply wants at the Games to chronicle the triumph of having the event at all.

One group which will be deeply impacted by this will be the press officers from the National Olympic Committees. The big NOCs will have significant teams working at the event to help with athlete access; the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee media support team has been in the dozens for decades, but smaller NOCs might have one media officer to support its entire delegation. Never will these people be more challenged, or more needed by their country’s news media; look for some clever, innovative arrangements to deal with this from the more experienced teams.

Media which have been selected by their NOCs for accreditation are being requested to re-confirm their attendance later this month, and given the costs involved and the new restrictions, the decisions will not be easy.

Further details will be forthcoming in an April revision and expansion of these Playbooks, but for now, it’s worth sending good wishes for success (and patience and understanding) to Montanarella and Tokyo 2020 press operations head Ryo Nishimura.

As the Press Operations chief for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, let me say – as the Paris 2024 organizers would put it – Bonne Chance! All the best!

Rich Perelman
Editor

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THE TICKER: First Tokyo 2020 playbook released; WADA declines to appeal RUSADA decision; $300 million to market volleyball!

Rich Perelman

February 3, 2021

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● The first “playbook” for participants in the Tokyo Games was released today (3rd) by the International Olympic Committee.

Aimed at the International Federations and its competition officials, the 33-page presentation walks through the varying stages of coming to Tokyo, getting ready for the Games and then working at the Games. This is the first of four editions, with much of the information to be the same in each; highlights:

● Principle: “[I]t is important to minimise social interaction, wear a mask, and avoid the 3Cs: spaces that are closed, crowded or involve close contact.”

● Officials are to be tested within 72 hours of leaving their home country, follow specific restrictions for their first 14 days in Japan, then have regular screening if required, isolate if symptoms appear.

Temperature checks will be made when entering an Olympic venue; those showing 37.5 C or higher (99.5 F) will not be allowed to enter, after a second, confirming check.

● “During your stay in Japan, you will be expected to limit your activities to what is required in order to carry out your role.”

● “You must only leave your accommodation to go to Official Games Venues and limited additional locations, as defined by the ‘List of Destinations and Movement’ (to be provided):

– “You must not visit Games venues as a spectator
– “You must not visit tourist areas, shops, restaurants or bars, gyms, etc.

“Do not use public transport, unless given permission.”

● “Support athletes by clapping and not singing or chanting” and “Avoid unnecessary forms of physical contact such as hugs, high-fives and handshakes.”

Each of the International Federations will have a designated Covid-19 liaison officer to coordinate with the Tokyo organizers. Each participant will be expected to complete an “Activity Plan” for at least 14 days in Japan, including all daily movements.

The Playbook on vaccines: “You will not be required to have received a vaccine in order to participate in the Games – and all of the rules outlined in this Playbook will apply, whether or not you have received the vaccine.”

Even in the face of the pandemic, however, commercial and sponsorship branding rules still apply! Page 16 notes: “Please also be aware of guidelines related to face mask branding.”

The requirements included were drawn not only from health experts inside and outside of Japan, but also from the experience of sports events successfully held in Japan and elsewhere over the past year. IOC President Thomas Bach has emphasized the success of the IHF men’s World Championship held in Egypt from 13-31 January, with 32 teams involved, as an exceptional proof of the success of good preparation and cooperation.

The IOC will hold briefings for four stakeholder groups: IFs on 5 February; broadcasters on 8 February; athletes (via National Olympic Committees) on 9 February and press and photographers on 10 February. Two more editions of the playbooks are expected to be published in April and June.

“No matter what situation would be with the coronavirus, we will hold the Games. We should pass on the discussion of whether we will hold the Games or not, but instead discuss how we should hold it.”

That’s from Tokyo 2020 organizing committee chief Yoshiro Mori, a former Prime Minister of Japan, in remarks to Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers on Tuesday (2nd).

“The biggest problem is the way Japanese people see the Olympics now, and secondly, how we should proceed with the preparations for the Games while combating the coronavirus. These two points are our primary focus.”

The Olympic Torch, which has revved up flagging local interest in past editions of the Games, is scheduled to start on 25 March, using 10,000 runners in all to visit many parts of Japan.

The IOC Athletes’ Commission held a Monday (1 February) conference call with 150 athlete reps from International Federations, National Olympic Committees, the International Paralympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Chair Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) explained that 3,547 athletes from 185 NOCs and all 41 Olympic sports had participated in the Commission’s survey on Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, with analysis of the responses now ongoing.

The Director General of the International Testing Agency, Ben Cohen (SUI) explained the heavy pre-Games anti-doping program undertaken, including “33 sports reviewed and 26,000 recommendations for athletes to be tested made to the responsible testing authorities such as [National Anti-Doping Organizations] and International Federations (compared with seven sports reviewed and 1,500 recommendations for Rio 2016).” Importantly, he also stressed that the ITA will follow up on the implementation of the recommendations.

International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons (BRA) indicated he is also confident that the Paralympic Games will be held as scheduled in 2021. In an interview with Kyodo News, he noted:

“We know more about the virus compared to March last year, when we needed to make the decision to postpone. So we know more about how the virus behaves.

“As we have seen since the postponement, the health and safety of everyone is the number one priority here,” he said, adding parties concerned are much more knowledgeable on how to organize safe sport events during the pandemic as well.

“We had the UEFA Champions League, we had the Japanese football league, the Japanese baseball league. We’ll have (the NFL) Super Bowl now in a matter of days. So I think we are learning how to deliver sports under the current circumstance.”

As to spectators, Parsons indicated those decisions are yet to come:

“It will be the decision of the Japanese government. If they decide to go ahead with less spectators, with a (certain) percentage of the spectators, with no spectators, (or) only Japanese spectators, we have to respect the decision that is going to be made by the Japanese authorities.”

The Paralympic Games will kick off on 24 August and continue through 5 September.

● World Anti-Doping Agency ● WADA announced on Tuesday (2nd) that it has decided not to appeal the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision in the WADA vs. Russian Anti-Doping Agency case.

“[T]he grounds of appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal are limited to procedural matters such as jurisdiction, the composition of the Panel and the right to be heard. The Swiss Federal Tribunal does not conduct a review of the merits and would therefore not interfere with the Panel’s assessment of the proportionality of the consequences. As a result, and following unanimous advice from in-house and external legal counsels, WADA strongly believes an appeal would have served no useful purpose and decided to refrain from doing so.”

Comment: This is a weak and unfortunate decision by WADA. It is true that the grounds for appeal are narrow, but there is an opportunity at a strike for proper application of WADA’s own rules as ignored by the Court of Arbitration for Sport panel. It’s now an opportunity missed.

● Athletics ● Great marks at the World Indoor Tour high jump meet in Banska Bystrica (SVK) as Yaroslava Mahuckikh (UKR) cleared a sensational 2.06 m (6-9) to move to equal-10th on all-time world combined list and equal-third on the all-time world indoor list.

It’s the highest jump indoors since 2012 and a national record for Mahuchikh, still 19, who cleared 2.03 m (6-8) on her first try and 2.06 m, also on her first attempt. Fellow Ukrainian Yuliya Levchenko was second at 1.96 m (6-5).

Italy’s Giancarlo Tamberi, the world leader in the men’s high jump at 2.32 m (7-7 1/4) in a meet in Ancona (ITA) on 30 January, won at Banska Bystrica at 2.31 m (7-7) on his first attempt. That was enough to get past Luis Zayas (CUB), who cleared 2.31 m on his third try.

USA Track & Field announced the results of its Board elections, with three new independent directors joining the group:

“Jerry Canning, Mori Taheripour and Rick Wade join as independent members. Canning has spent the last 20 years as a digital thought-leader, including long management stints at Google and Facebook. Taheripour is a globally recognized executive and an award-winning educator, while Wade is senior vice president of Strategic Alliances and Outreach at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.”

Canning was a key player in the Foot Locker Athletic Club from 1990-97 and has significant experience in sponsorship programs with the major U.S. professional leagues.

Jim Estes was elected as the new Board rep for long-distance running and was a long-time administrator in the USATF office during Craig Masback’s term as chief executive. Norine Richardson is the new youth-athletics rep.

There are now seven current and former athlete representatives: Wallace Spearmon, Ryan Wilson, Kendall Spencer, Michelle Carter, Nicole Leach, Amy Begley and Allen Johnson.

Vin Lananna, the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country at the University of Virginia, was re-elected as President of the organization in December, but in a vote of the Board, was passed over as Chair for Mike Conley, also a former USATF staff member and Interim Chair from February 2019 to December 2019 when Lananna was suspended “to avoid any conflict of appearance of conflict of interest” with a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the award of the 2021 (now 2022) World Championships to Eugene. He was reinstated only after an order following a hearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Under the recently-passed USATF Bylaws, Lananna now becomes Vice Chair. Make no mistake: after having been re-elected in December and not being made Chair by the Board, Lananna’s demotion is a message of clear disrespect by the Board to the membership.

● Basketball ● The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced the groups for the men’s and women’s Olympic Tournament on Tuesday (2nd):

Men/Group A: France, Iran, United States, winner of Victoria (CAN) qualifier
Men/Group B: Australia, Nigeria, winners of Split (CRO) and Belgrade (SRB) qualifiers
Men/Group C: Argentina, Spain, Japan, winner of Kaunas (LTU) qualifier

The U.S. men will open with France on 25 July, followed by Iran on 28 July and the Victoria qualifier on 31 July, before the quarterfinals on 3 August.

Women/Group A: Canada, Spain, Serbia, Korea
Women/Group B: France, Japan, Nigeria, United States
Women/Group C: Australia, Belgium, China, Puerto Rico

The U.S. will play Nigeria on 27 July, then Japan on 30 July and France on 2 August, before heading to the quarterfinals on 4 August.

The Americans are the defending gold medalists in both divisions and overwhelming favorites to repeat. In fact, the U.S. women – along with the American women’s water polo team – might be the most dominant teams in any sport at the Games.

● Gymnastics ● USA Gymnastics continues to be under siege by new claimants in its bankruptcy case and allegations of abuse.

On 19 January, suit was filed in Las Vegas, Nevada by eight plaintiffs against Brown’s Gymnastics, a gym in Las Vegas, gym owner Dayna Waroe and USA Gymnastics, alleging:

“This action arises out of the disturbing pattern of grotesque child molestation, and sexual physical, psychological, and emotional abuse that TERRY GRAY inflicted on Plaintiffs while he was a registered gymnastics coach at BROWN’S GYMNASTICS LAS VEGAS, INC. d/b/a BROWN’S GYMNASTICS from approximately 2009 to 2015. He has been charged by way of indictment with fifteen (15) counts of Open and Gross Lewdness, twenty-five (25) counts of Lewdness With A Child Under the Age of 14, and five (5) counts of Sexual Assault.”

The filing drew immediate attention from the attorneys representing USA Gymnastics, who filed a motion against the suit (vs. USA Gymnastics only) as a violation of the automatic stay from the Bankruptcy Court against all actions against it that could have been commenced prior to its bankruptcy filing.

The federation’s filing notes “Plaintiff’s disregard for the automatic stay is particularly egregious given that seven out of the right plaintiffs were served directly with notice of USAG’s bankruptcy case and the bar date for filing abuse claims, and that USAG gave broad, nationwide public notice of its bankruptcy … Indeed, one of the Plaintiffs filed a claim (by different counsel) in the bankruptcy case.”

The USAG attorneys asked for the matter to be dismissed, but was refused, so a hearing will now take place at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana on 10 February.

● Ice Hockey ● The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on Tuesday (2nd) that all of the games in the 2021 men’s World Championship will be held in Riga, Latvia.

After the decision to remove Belarus as a co-host due to the political consternation there, the IIHF looked at new co-hosts such as prior hosts Denmark or Slovakia, but chose to consolidate the tournament in the remaining host country.

To deal with this situation and the continuing pandemic, the tournament will now be held at the already-booked Arena Riga, with additional use of the Olympic Sports Centre, with a 6,000-seat rink being installed. All 16 teams will be housed at the same hotel, and

“With teams housed in one location and the Arena Riga and Olympic Sports Centre competition venues located approximately 150 metres away from each other, the IIHF would be able to implement a bubble concept if needed.”

No spectators are expected for the games, but if allowed, could be accommodated if the Latvian government permits. The tournament dates are 21 May to 6 June.

● Skiing ● After the FIS World Freestyle Skiing Championships were cancelled in China due to the pandemic, the federation has been distributing pieces of the event to different hosts. It announced last Friday (29th) that the Aerials and Moguls Worlds will be held in Almaty (KAZ) from 8-11 March.

The same venue is already scheduled to host a World Cup for Aerials and Moguls a few days later, essentially just expanding the existing competition. Smart.

● Swimming ● Very interesting development in Australia, where Amazon.com has purchased the television rights with Swimming Australia, starting with the Olympic Trials in June:

Per SportBusiness: “The exclusive, two-year agreement allows Amazon to stream the various Australian Swimming Championships globally, including in Australia, on its Prime Video subscription service.”

This is really interesting and portends the future of U.S. sports as well.

● Volleyball ● A potentially significant opportunity for volleyball was announced on Tuesday (2nd), with the creation of a commercial partnership between the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and CVC Capital Partners Fund VII to form Volleyball World:

“Volleyball World will become the commercial entity for the sport around the world, initially for FIVB and aiming at working later alongside other leagues and federations, with the goal of increasing the profile and popularity of the sport, through fresh investment for the benefit of fans, players and National Federations.

“Volleyball World will be responsible for the commercial operation of key volleyball and beach volleyball international events, including: the World Championships, Olympic Qualifiers and the Volleyball Nations League. The partnership will focus on event hosting, fan experience, media, data/digital opportunities, and sponsorship to grow commercial revenues for reinvestment, which will ensure the long-term success of the sport.”

So here is an international federation teaming up with an experienced and capable capital fund to exploit volleyball’s commercial possibilities. The initial chief executive will be Finn Taylor (CAN), recently in charge of Cirque du Soleil’s Global Touring show business overseeing significant geographic expansion and growth. Reports indicate that CVC will put $300 million into the partnership.

This is a potential blockbuster for the business of volleyball, but it was noteworthy that the announcement mentioned Taylor and Board members including the current FIVB Director General and former FIVB Secretary General, but no athletes, whose future will be impacted – for good or bad – by this venture. Their buy-in will be needed to make this project work.

● Weightlifting ● More bad news on the doping front, as the International Testing Agency informed the federation of doping violations on Romanians Gabriel Sincraian (85 kg Olympic bronze medalist 2016) and Razvan Martin (77 kg Olympic bronze medalist 2012). Per the announcement:

“The ADRVs bring to four the number to have been asserted against Athletes from the Romanian Weightlifting Federation over a 12-month period. The Romanian Weightlifting Federation is therefore subject to disciplinary sanctions by IWF based on Article 12 of the IWF Anti-Doping Policy, which has previously resulted in the suspension of a number of IWF Member Federations.”

The IWF needs to be exceptionally vigilant on this, as its place on the Olympic program for 2024 is on the razor’s edge.

The IWF also failed to publish the list of candidates who have filed for March’s elections, claiming that “After the eligibility checks have been concluded the Member Federations will be duly notified and the list will be published on the IWF website.”

This is a bad look, and the IWF should have published the candidates list as “provisional” and then announced the results of its vetting process afterwards.

● The Last Word ● Even in a pandemic, sports is still about achievement and excitement. Ask Olympic hurdler and bobsledder Lolo Jones:

“!Big news! I made the World Championships Team! I still can not believe the turnaround my season has had. From barely making USA Team [because] I was coming in from a reality tv show. Being an alternate for races to now being one of the final two that will rep USA at Worlds.”

Jones teamed with driver Kaillie Humphries to win the final World Cup race of the season last weekend in Innsbruck, Austria. The IBSF World Championships start on Friday in Altenberg, Germany. Good luck, Lolo!

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LANE ONE: New BCW report on International Federation communications begs the question: how really important is social media?

Rich Perelman

February 2, 2021

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The tumult over the Tokyo Games, the worldwide pandemic and a raft of other international sports competitions, scandals and schemes overshadowed the release of a fascinating report on international sports and their fans.

The sports division of the international communications giant BCW – which stands for Burson Cohn & Wolfe – issued its fourth annual International Sports Federations Social Media Ranking on 19 January. Despite running on for 28 pages, it’s not a complete report of social-media activity by all of the various IFs for Olympic and other sports, but offers the leaders in multiple categories.

It also offers a proprietary measuring tool for the “true reach” of a single, social-media post by an IF. So, by the numbers:

● Largest number of total IF social followers in 2020, combining Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube:

(1) 59.0 million ~ ICC (Cricket)
(2) 37.8 million ~ FIFA (Football)
(3) 12.2 million ~ FIBA (Basketball)
(4) 5.4 million ~ FIVB (Volleyball)
(5) 5.1 million ~ World Rugby
(6) 4.0 million ~ World Athletics
(7) 3.8 million ~ FITEQ (Teqball)
(8) 3.4 million ~ International Cheer Union
(9) 3.3 million ~ UCI (Cycling)
(10) 3.1 million ~ BWF (Badminton)

Note the presence of non-Olympic federations in three of the top 10: Cricket, Teqball and Cheer. Compared to the Olympic-sport federations, most of which have 175-200 or more member national federations, the International Cricket Council has 105; Teqball claims 95 and the Int’l Cheer Union has 116.

But that does not keep them from being listed as among the giants in terms of total social-media followers.

● The BCW measure of “true reach” is a unique estimate of the actual impact of these federations on their audience. Per the report:

“The indicator is based on a machine-learning algorithm (Klear.com) that predicts the number of total views an account gets per post. ‘True Reach’ is able to identify patterns that correspond with real users, as opposed to automated bots or the sporadic users. …

“Here it becomes evident how ‘True Reach’ works: No regular interaction with followers and a mass of passive subscribers results in a low number”:

(1) 4.5 million ~ ICC (Cricket)’s projected views per post
(2) 333,080 ~ World Rugby
(3) 242,737 ~ FIBA (Basketball)
(4) 210,728 ~ FIVB (Volleyball)
(5) 153,896 ~ UCI (Cycling)
(6) 121,601 ~ FIA (Automobile)
(7) 116,671 ~ FEI (Equestrian)
(8) 114,448 ~ BWF (Badminton)
(9) 100,870 ~ FIS (Ski & Snowboard)
(10) 96,450 ~ UWW (Wrestling)

This list looks a lot different than the total-followers ranking, with four new entries for the international auto-racing federation and Olympic federations for Equestrian, Ski & Snowboard and Wrestling. (FIFA was not included in this ranking because it does not use Instagram; we can guess that it would have ranked second overall.)

● So how do the successful federations do it? The report cites constant engagement as most important, with the leaders in the larger platforms as:

Facebook: 105 active IF accounts have a combined audience of 63.6 million
(1) 23.0 million ~ ICC (Cricket: average of 28.3 posts per day)
(2) 6.9 million ~ FIBA (Basketball: avg. 4.3 posts per day)
(3) 4.5 million ~ FIFA (Football)
(4) 3.4 million ~ Int’l Cheer Union
(5) 3.0 million ~ FITEQ (Teqball)

Twitter: 120 active IF accounts have a combined audience of 40.7 million
(1) 23.8 million ~ FIFA (Football: average of 21.7 tweets per day)
(2) 11.4 million ~ ICC (Cricket: avg. 23.8 tweets per day)
(3) 541,778 ~ FIA (Automobile)
(4) 438,040 ~ World Rugby (Sevens avg. 8.3 tweets per day)
(5) 437,960 ~ FIBA (Basketball: 23.4 tweets per day)

Instagram: 93 active IF accounts have a combined audience of 30.3 million
(1) 15.7 million ~ ICC (Cricket: average of 18.42 posts per day)
(2) 1.4 million ~ World Rugby (avg. 2.24 posts per day)
(3) 1.3 million ~ FIVB (Volleyball: avg. 4.78 posts per day)
(4) 1.0 million ~ FIBA (Basketball: avg. 2.33 posts per day)
(5) 921,945 ~ FIA (Automobile)

(Posts per day were not provided for all federations; the report lists the top 10 by category.)

The BCW report notes that Facebook and Instagram are “both better suited when it comes to generating engagement and establishing relationships with audiences,” but what about social media and money?

There is some correlation, but not a lot. Based on our exclusive survey of IF finances last May, FIFA (Football: $4.6 billion) and FIBA (Basketball: $102.2 million) are the only two worldwide federations which grossed more than $100 million for their sports in 2018. The other Olympic federations who were social-media leaders in several categories included FIVB (Volleyball: $65.3 million), World Athletics ($51.1 million), UCI (Cycling: $41.9 million), World Rugby ($33.5 million) and BWF (Badminton: $25.8 million) per their 2017 or 2018 financials.

What about Cricket? In 2019, when the men’s World Cup was held, the federation generated an impressive $612.6 million in revenue compared to $52.2 million in 2018. The federations for Teqball and Cheer do not post financial statements on their Web sites, but generate very modest revenues compared to their social-media standing.

So what can be said for the place of social media as a driver of fan engagement leading to more spending on one sport over another? For comparison, let’s check the annual survey of the Content Marketing Institute, which has been surveying businesses for years on their contact activities.

Their 10th annual business-to-consumer (B2C) benchmarks and trends report for 2020 showed social media, Web site and e-mail communications as the preferred channels, but with different uses for each:

● To build awareness: 31% said blog posts and social media performed best.

● To secure leads: 16% cited e-mail newsletters, 13% said social media and 13% said in-person events performed best.

● To nurture leads: 24% cited e-mail newsletters, 17% said social media performed best.

● To convert to sales: 22% said in-person events and 21% cited e-mail newsletters performed best.

Social media has its place, but is not an all-in-one panacea. Let’s remember as well that all of this discussion is around communications tools vs. straight-out advertising. That’s beyond the financial reach of many Olympic federations and social media offers a much less expensive way to touch fans in the 21st Century.

But traditional media, especially television, has not gone away. And the MediaKind 2021 Sports D2C Forecast makes the point that streaming video – sometimes via social platforms, but primarily Web-based – has not yet reached premiere status:

“The rights-holders who collaborated with this research project stated that having a direct relationship with their fans will be critical to their business medium to long term. This goes
beyond the creation of an official website. It means offering fans live content and in a medium that opens up a two-way relationship to provide a richer experience for the viewer and essential fan data and potential revenue for the sports body. …

“The proportion of the hundreds of clubs, leagues, federations, confederations, and private promoters currently operating a D2C OTT [direct-to-consumer] service with rich content remains small. But all rights-holders, even those currently without their own platform, are exploring the commercial opportunities which D2C OTT throws up. The sector looks certain to be the biggest growth area in sports media in the coming decade. New launches are announced every week, and new models and strategic relationships are being studied to ensure a return on investment for sport.

“However, it is likely to be a decade or more before D2C becomes the primary distribution method for premium rights-holders. Further, this research suggests, the pivot could be a two-speed process, with the US leading the way and Europe following.” (Emphasis added)

Social media is important now and will continue to be throughout the 2020s. But it’s a platform and not a solution. Terrence Burns, a 15-year communications and marketing executive at Delta Airlines, joined the Olympic Movement as part of Delta’s action team for its 1996 Olympic sponsorship in Atlanta. He left to become involved full-time with the Olympic Games and related events ever since, and his advice at the 2018 FINA World Water Polo Conference rings just as true today:

“Before talking about promotional tactics, we should go way back. I think that you have to create a strong brand narrative, a real story about water polo. You need to identify why it is important to the consumers and the fans. And then the tactics follow. …

“During my presentation I was really referring to the Why. You have to come up with the Why before you come up with the How. In this case, why is water polo unique? Why is it different from any other team sport? And why is that valuable to the consumer?”

A post on Facebook, or Instagram or Twitter is only the “How” and not the “Why.” That’s a much harder challenge that underscores both the promise and the problem of social media today.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: Tokyo cancellation would not implode most sports federations; Tokyo 2021 speculation reaches new lows; Diacks probe continues

Rich Perelman

February 1, 2021

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told the World Economic Forum via teleconference last Friday:

“We are holding the Olympics and Paralympics this summer. I am determined to achieve the games as a proof of human victory against the pandemic, a symbol of global solidarity and to give hope and courage around the world.”

Although only a small part of his 25-minute address, Suga’s comments are important, because as long as the Japanese government remains committed to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, it is almost sure that the events will happen.

International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates of Australia spoke in detail with Sky News Australia show host Chris Smith about the Tokyo Games last Thursday, explaining the approach to the preparations for the Tokyo Games in 2021:

“We spent the first three months identifying all of the scenarios, from the worst-case scenario of Covid continuing to be there and there won’t be a vaccine, and it’s on that basis that our planning is still taking place, because we’ve had a second wave of Covid as you know in winter.

“So, we’re planning on the basis that it will take place without a vaccine. We have planned something like 40-odd countermeasures and we’ll just decide which ones we need from our ‘tool kit’ as it were. We will be releasing next week a series of we call them, ‘playbooks’ – 20 pages – which say for the athletes on the Australian team, we’ll give them instruction on what is required from them before they go to the Games, to use that as an example.

“They must undertake testing – saliva and nose – within 72 hours of traveling to Tokyo, like we’ve now introduced in Australia for people coming here. They’ll be tested on arrival. Then they’ll be tested, if they continue to be negative, every four days.”

Coates noted there will be no quarantine required. “They will be limited just to the Olympic Village and the transport to their venue for competition and training. That’s it. No going downtown. We’ll have lockdown, virtually.”

On whether spectators will be admitted – domestic, foreign or both – Coates said the decision will taken in April or May, saying “we should leave those decisions as late as possible.”

“But if the very worst comes to the worst of course federations would suffer. Some budgets would have to go. But by and large federations would not declare themselves bankrupt.”

That’s from Andrew Ryan, Executive Director of the Association of summer Olympic international federations (ASOIF), in an interview with Reuters last Thursday (28th). Ryan noted that about half of the 28 summer Olympic federations took loans from the IOC, totaling about $40 million.

Said Ryan, “It is always thought that the international federations are all very dependent on the Olympic revenues. But if you took an average across all federations [other than FIFA] about 30 percent comes from the Olympic Games.

“The ones with the exposure are the bigger federations that burn a lot of money from their reserves. That is where the risk lies. If a total catastrophe happened there would be painful cuts to budgets and difficult choices to make. But I don’t think there are federations thinking ‘it is all over for us’ if it was not to happen.”

Ryan is being optimistic; check on our exclusive analysis of International Federation finances from May 2020 here.

Former Dentsu executive Haruyuki Takahashi, who controversially received $8.2 million to spend on lobbying during Tokyo’s bid campaign in 2013, then joined the executive committee of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee and suggested last June that the Games should be further delayed after being postponed to 2021, has opened his mouth and stuck his foot in it again.

He told the Wall Street Journal last week that

“It’s up to the U.S. I hate to say it, but Thomas Bach and the IOC are not the ones who are able to make the decision about the Games. They don’t have that level of leadership.”

He called instead of U.S. President Joe Biden to make a positive statement. The International Olympic Committee replied with a statement:

“It is regrettable that Mr. Takahashi does not know the facts. First: It is USOPC that decides about the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic team. Second: USOPC has never left a doubt about their participation. Therefore, his comments are obsolete.”

No word about when Takahashi last had a drug test.

Japan’s Kyodo News Service posted a story on Saturday that the French judge reviewing allegations of vote-buying by the Tokyo has deemed the Japanese investigation that cleared former Japanese Olympic Committee head and IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda “flawed.”

Takeda was questioned about a payment of about $2 million for bid lobbying paid to a company called Black Tidings, essentially a front for Papa Massata Diack (SEN), the son of then-IOC member and IAAF President Lamine Diack (SEN). The Japanese investigation cleared Takeda, but the story noted that

“In the eyes of the French investigators, their Japanese counterparts’ probe was unsatisfactory, with the preliminary judge quoted by the sources as telling Takeda that Japanese prosecutors ‘failed to question all the witnesses or seize documents’ that had been requested from the French side.”

Said Takeda in 2017, “It is true that I signed off the contract with Black Tidings as the final decision-maker, but I was not involved with the selection of all the consultants.”

The French probe into potential vote-buying on behalf of Tokyo in 2013, with the Diacks as the center of attention, is continuing.

FoxBusiness.com posted a story on Thursday from its “Cavuto: Coast to Coast” show that Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis “met with the International Olympic Committee” last Wednesday.

In the 4:27 interview with anchor Neil Cavuto, Patronis did not mention who he spoke with. No surprise there.

During his news conference last Wednesday, IOC chief Bach was asked about Patronis’s letter; he said he was unaware of it.

The IOC made a major commitment, announced last Wednesday, to sustainability, promising to “reduce its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent, by 2030″ and by 30% by 2024.

This will not be done by eliminating or reducing its activities, but “[t]his will be mainly done through the Olympic Forest project, which is part of the Great Green Wall – an existing UN-backed initiative to combat desertification in Africa’s Sahel region. These offsets will make the IOC climate positive by 2024, meaning that it will be removing more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits.”

Whether this is real sustainability or simply trading theoretical “credits” can be discussed, but the IOC’s statement also included:

● “All upcoming Olympic Games, including Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022, have committed to carbon neutrality.”

● “From 2030 onwards, each Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG) will be contractually obliged to:

– minimise and compensate its direct and indirect carbon emissions; and

– implement lasting zero-carbon solutions for the Olympic Games and beyond.”

This raises real questions for each upcoming Games organizing committee, in providing the correct experience to athletes, officials, staff members and attendees: Will the ubiquitous bottles of seated water or isotonic drinks available to athletes and staff at each venue be replaced with some kind of common dispenser and does this open the possibility of sabotage, especially regarding doping? Will all paper records, start lists and results be eliminated, and what happens if one or more electronic systems go down? What about concessions, or is food service at venues to eliminated? How about souvenirs, even something as simple as a list of entries, for spectators? Is such information to be unavailable to those without smartphones or other electronic devices? Does recycling count for carbon neutrality?

These are only some of the questions to be considered by Games organizers, especially for the more massive summer Games. The answers will very likely determine, in a significant way, what the future Games experience is like for everyone involved.

● World Anti-Doping Agency ● Good news for WADA, as it announced new contributions from the governments of Cyprus, France, Greece and Poland of $195,501 for scientific research and investigations and intelligence activities.

The IOC will match, as it has promised, these contributions dollar-for-dollar, bringing the added funding to $391,000. The initiative to raise additional funds for research and investigations has attracted donations from China, Egypt, India and Saudi Arabia, with a total impact of $5.58 million.

A defamation suit brought by three retired Russian biathletes – Olga Zaitseva, Yana Romanova and Olga Vilukhina – against Russian doping whistleblower Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov has been withdrawn from a New York court in view of changes in state law.

The Russian TASS news agency reported that the three women, who retired in 2017, had been banned for life by the IOC, but filed successful appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. They sued Rodchenkov for defamation in 2018, but their efforts became much more difficult after New York’s 2020 changes to its expanded protections afforded (retroactively) to defendants in lawsuits brought based on the exercise of free speech rights, known as “anti-SLAPP” laws (SLAPP stands for “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation”).

Said Scott Balber, the U.S.-based attorney for the three plaintiffs, “To this end, we will continue to pursue all avenues open to us in European courts to defend the reputations of all three biathletes.” Rodchenkov, who is under U.S. protection, continues to wanted in Russia, which has unsuccessfully asked for his extradition.

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) announced, in cooperation with Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) his selections for the “Commission on the State of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics” last Wednesday (27th).

Wicker had already announced that Olympians Brittney Reese (track & field/long jump) and John Dane (sailing) would be appointed. His final two nominations were for former U.S. Olympic Committee President (and IOC member) Bill Hybl and Metro Denver Sports Commission founder Robert Cohen.

Hybl is currently the Chair of the U.S. Olympic Endowment, and was President of the United States Olympic Committee from 1991-92 and 1996-2000. He was a member of the IOC from 2000-02. His longtime experience with the Olympic Movement at the executive level brings a dimension lacking in the make-up of the Commission so far.

Cohen is the head of IMA Financial Group and was a founder of the Metro Denver Sports Commission. He currently serves on the United States Olympic Museum Board of Directors and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Foundation.

This brings the total number of Commission nominees to 12, with only Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) remaining to appoint the final four members. According to the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020, the Commission’s report is due at the end of July, but an extension of this date and funding for a staff are being arranged.

● Athletics ● The postponement of the Olympic Games from 2020 to 2021 created casualties. Those include the Weeks twins, now Lexi Jacobus and Tori Hoggard, both of whom were NCAA champions at Arkansas. At age 24, they both announced their retirements on Instagram on 8 January, and both will pursue careers in pharmacy.

Lexi cleared a lifetime best 4.70 m (15-5) to make the U.S. Olympic Team in 2016 and won for NCAA titles, while Tori was the 2019 NCAA champ, with a best of 4.61 m indoors (15-1 1/2).

Wrote Hoggard, “After much thought and prayer, I have decided to retire and switch my focus to my professional career in pharmacy. For those of you who don’t know, I took a year off after I graduated from the U of A to commit wholeheartedly on training for the Olympics … The Olympics were postponed a year, but I decided to start my 4-year pharmacy program and train simultaneously. …

“This last year has proven that it is impossible to commit 100% to both school and training. I found myself physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. … While it was an extremely difficult decision to make, I am confident I am making the right one.”

Said Jacobus, “I think I am ready to close this chapter and wholeheartedly open the next
one. The decision was not an easy one, but it is the best decision for me in this point in my life.”

● Football ● Japan withdrew from the 18-24 February SheBelieves Cup tournament to be played in Orlando, Florida due to concerns over the coronavirus. Argentina was quickly named as the replacement team and will face Brazil in the opening game.

The U.S. and Canada are the other teams in the tournament.

● Weightlifting ● IOC chief Bach said during his news conference last week:

“With regard to the International Weightlifting Federation, there, our – again – great concerns are about the apparent weakening of their anti-doping rules and about also other governance issues. But concentrating on the anti-doping rules, we had to note that obviously, IWF wants to change the anti-doping rules which were the basis for the approval of the IOC for their qualification system [for Tokyo]. This is really something upsetting, and even more so that all this happened without any consultation with the IOC.”

The IWF replied in a posting on Friday (29th), which included:

“The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) notes with deep concern the recent news that raised serious concerns about an apparent weakening of the anti-doping rules by the IWF seeking to change these rules approved by the IOC as part of its qualification system for Tokyo 2020 with the qualifications already in place and without any consultation with the IOC.

“Faced with these public considerations, the IWF is obliged to make some clarifications. The IWF categorically denies any action that violates the standards set by the IOC.”

In fact, the 2021 edition of the IWF’s anti-doping rules do contain a couple of important changes, especially in the penalties section:

● Sec. 12.5 of the 2018 rules list specific sanctions for three or more doping violations by a member national federation in a calendar year, from three up to nine. The 2021 rules, in sec. 12.3, changed this to four violations within any 12-month period and lowered the highest fine amount from $500,000 to $300,000.

● Sec. 12.7 of the 2018 rules, which allowed almost unlimited penalties for “conduct connected or associated with doping or anti-doping rule violations [that] brings the sport of weightlifting into disrepute,” was eliminated.

Also on Friday, the European Weightlifting Federation posted a statement heavily criticizing the IWF, including:

“We have also noticed that the IWF Executive board has changes the anti-doping rules and made them weaker, in a way that most probably will make it easier to nations with a doping problem to avoid reactions. The changes are in our opinion a direct neglection of the demands from the IOC to work even harder to defeat doping. This neglection is totally unacceptable and we are shocked that the IWF Executive board does not understand this.

“We are really afraid that the demonstration of lack of understanding within the IWF executive board will be a disastrous message to the world. …

“The entire board should resign, and an interim executive board, should be put in charge until a new executive board are elected.”

Weightlifting’s future is in peril.

● At the BuZZer ● Best Tweet of the week has to go to Chad Gunnelson, coach at the University of Dubuque in Iowa. Over a photograph of U.S. President Joe Biden signing executive orders, @CoachGunny wrote:

“BREAKING NEWS – President Joe Biden signs executive order stating field events must have equal air time on all track and field broadcasts.”

Plenty of replies, some of which were just as clever:

● “Hoping there’s also a clause to report English measurements along w metric in all field event results. *especially US college results.”

● “Also, in that Executive Order, I think, it, also, stated that each lap of the 10,000m, Steeple Chase, and 5,000m are to be aired.”

There were also some replies appeared to take Gunnelson’s original Tweet seriously! Nooo…

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HIGHLIGHTS: Crouser wins again at 74-4 1/4; Bowe ices two World Cup titles, Denmark defends World Handball title

Rich Perelman

January 31, 2021

tsx pix 2019-726 crouser, ryan pre 750 — Shot put superstar Ryan Crouser (USA)

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Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Alpine Skiing ● With just a couple of weeks to go to the 2021 World Championships in Italy, the Slalom specialists warmed up with two very competitive races at Chamonix (FRA).

Saturday’s race was a showcase for home favorite Clement Noel, who had the third-fastest first run and then fell all the way back to 15th on the second run. But even that was enough to give him the win and all of the leaders faltered. His combined time of 1:38.58 was 0.16 seconds better than Swiss Ramon Zenhaeusern (1:38.74), who was second on the first run and 22nd on the final, and Austria’s Marco Schwarz (1:38.77), who was fastest and then 24th.

Things were just as confused on Sunday, as Norwegian veteran Henrik Kristoffersen led after the first run and then fell back “only” to sixth and held on for the win in 1:37.81. Zenhaeusern moved up from 11th after the first run and had the second-fastest second run to finish second in 1:38.09. Swiss Sandro Simonet went from 30th to third by having the fastest second run in the field.

The women’s tour was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) for two Super-G races, with 2016 World Cup overall winner Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) looking very much like a possible champion once again with her third victory of the season.

Her 1:15.70 run was enough to hold off Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR: 1:16.38) and Canadian Marie-Michele Gagnon (1:16.63) for the second win in the last three races in the circuit. The second Super-G, scheduled for Sunday, was postponed to Monday due to heavy fog on the race course.

● Athletics ● The second American Track League meet in Fayetteville, Arkansas was held on Sunday, with Ryan Crouser again scaring the world indoor shot record and re-writing the all-time list.

After his 22.82 m (74-10 1/2) indoor world record last year, Crouser opened with 21.40 m (70- 1/2), a distance no one reached on the day. He then exploded to 22.66 m (74-4 1/4), the equal-third-best throw in history and what proved to be the winning toss.

He wasn’t done, with throws of 22.19 m (72-9 3/4), 22.26 m (73-0 1/2), 22.65 m (74-3 3/4 ~ no. 5 ever) and 22.43 m (73-7 1/4 ~ no. 10 ever). The all-time indoor list (! = secondary throws in series):

22.82 m Ryan Crouser (USA) ‘21 (74-10 1/2) ~ 24 January
22.70 m Crouser! ‘21 (74-5 3/4) ~ 24 January
22.66 m Randy Barnes (USA) ‘89 (74-4 1/4)
22.66 m Crouser ‘21 (74-4 1/4) ~ 31 January
22.65 m Crouser! ‘21 (74-3 3/4) ~ 31 January
22.60 m Crouser ‘20 (74-1 3/4)
22.58 m Crouser ‘20 (74-1) ~ 5 December
22.55 m Ulf Timmermann (GDR) ‘89 (73-11 3/4)
22.48 m Crouser! ‘21 (73-9) ~ 24 January
22.43 m Crouser! ‘21 (73-7 1/4) ~ 31 January
22.40 m Adam Nelson (USA) ‘08 (73-6)
22.33 m Crouser ‘19 (73-3 1/4)

Said Crouser afterwards:

“I was actually really happy with today. I came back after the big throw last week, and that’s difficult to do, coming off a big throw. It’s really easy – when you know there’s more there – to force it, and I threw a really consistent series, all but one over 22, with a couple throws in the 22.60s.

“Consistency-wise, this week was better. I didn’t feel quite as good, I would say, as I had hoped; the first meet of the year kind of took a little bit out of me, so I’m excited to see where I can go from here. I had the energy last week and had the execution today, so we’re off next weekend, be back in two weeks and hopefully we can put those together.”

There were other highlights and four world leaders:

● American Bryce Hoppel confirmed his world-class status and breezed to a win in the 800 m in 1:44.37, making him the no. 6 performer in history and no. 2 all-time U.S. Wow!

● Shaunae Miller-Uibo won the women’s 200 m impressively in 22.40, now equal-9th fastest ever.

● Heather MacLean of the U.S. scored a world lead in the women’s mile in 4:27.54.

● American vault star Sandi Morris claimed the women’s world lead in the vault, clearing 4.81 m (15-9 3/4) on her first try, then trying 4.96 m (16-3 1/4), but missing three times.

The World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meet in Karlsruhe (GER) on Friday (29th) saw nine world-leading marks, the most impressive of which was France’s Renaud Lavillenie with a 5.95 m (19-6 1/4) clearance in the vault. Americans Matt Ludwig (5.80 m/19-0 1/4) and Cole Walsh (5.72 m/18-9 1/4) were second and third.

Elliot Giles (GBR) won the men’s 800 m in 1:45.5 (hand time) and Juan Miguel Echevarria (CUB) won the long jump at 8.18 m (26-10). Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith won the 60 m in 7.08, and Kenyan Beatrice Chepkoech won the 3,000 m in 8:41.98.

Vienna (AUT) was the scene of a good meet on Saturday, with notable women’s world leads in the 400 m by Femke Bol (NED: 50.96) and in the 800 m, by 18-year-old Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) in 1:59.03, a world U-20 indoor record.

Lavillenie extended his world lead in the vault on Sunday, cleaning 6.02 m (19-9) at a smaller meet in Tourcoing (FRA). In Dusseldorf (GER), world-record holder Mondo Duplantis won at 6.01 m (19-8 1/2) and then missed on one try at a new world mark of 6.19 m (20-3 3/4).

● Badminton ● The 2020 BWF World Tour Finals was finally held – a little late – in Bangkok (THA) over the weekend, with $1.5 million in prize money at stake. But it was worth waiting for. It looked for a while like the results would follow those of the two prior World Tour events in Thailand, but not everyone was in on the plan.

The men’s all-Denmark final pitted Viktor Axelsen – on a 29-match win streak – against Anders Antonsen, but it was Antonsen who persevered to a 21-16, 5-21, 21-17 victory that the winner said even surprised him! Same in the women’s final, where Rio Olympic champ Carolina Marin (ESP) had won two straight finals matches against no. 1-ranked Tzu Ying Tai (TPE), but Tai fought back from a first-set loss to win, 14-21, 21-8, 21-19.

Recent form held in the Doubles matches, as Yang Lee and Chi-Lin Wang (TPE) won their third straight title, this time over Indonesian stars Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, 21-17, 23-21. The all-Korean women’s final saw So-Hee Lee and Seung Chang Shin flip the script on the Toyota Thailand Open winners, So-Yeong Kim and Hee-Yong Kong, by 15-21, 26-24, 21-19.

Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapirsee Taerattanachai also won for the third straight tournament, defeating Seung-Jae Seo and YuJung Chae (KOR) for the second straight week by 21-18, 8-21, 21-8.

The Singles winners took home $120,000 in prize money to $60,000 for the losing finalists. The Doubles winners got $126,000 to $60,000 for the losing finalists.

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The 2020-21 IBSF World Cup series concluded on Sunday in Innsbruck (AUT), with seasonal champions crowned in five disciplines.

To the surprise of no one, the two-man race was won by seasonal (and Olympic) champ Francesco Friedrich of Germany, who won for the 11th time in 12 races this season (he was second in the other). This time, with Alexander Schueller as brakeman, he won with 1:43.08, easily ahead of Oskars Kibermanis and Matiss Miknis (LAT: 1:43.80) and Russians Rostislav Gaitiukevich (1:43.90). On the season, Friedrich overwhelmed the field with 2,685 points to 2,453 for countryman Johannes Lochner (GER), with Dominik Dvorak (CZE: 1,880), to win his fourth career World Cup title.

Friedrich won his third 4-man World Cup title and completed a perfect season with a tight, 1:42.08-1:42.30 win over Austria’s Benjamin Maier, who won medals in all four events this season. Canada’s Justin Kripps was third (1:42.47) and won medals in three of the four events. For the season, Friedrich piled up a perfect 900 points, ahead of Maier (830) and Kripps (794).

The U.S. broke through in the final two-women race of the season for a 1-2 finish, with Kaillie Humphries and Lolo Jones combining to win in 1:47.07, followed closely – by 0.04 – by Elana Meyers Taylor and Lake Kwaza (1:47.11). Austria’s Katrin Beierl and Jennifer Onasanya finished third (1:47.13), but became the first Austrian winners of the seasonal World Cup title! Beirel piled up 1,506 points to finish ahead of Kim Kalicki (GER: 1,431) and Olympic champ Mariama Jamanka (GER: 1,363).

The women’s Monobob will make its Olympic debut in 2022, and continued its World Cup racing with a second seasonal win for Australia’s Breeana Walker, who won in 1:50.84, ahead of American Meyers Taylor (1:51.07) and Melissa Lotholz (CAN: 1:51.22). Three more races remain on the season.

In Skeleton, Russia’s Alexander Tretiakov won for the third time this season at 1:45.59, 0.23 ahead of Britain’s Craig Thompson (1:45.82: first medal of the season) and Samuel Maier (AUT: 1:45.86, first medal of the season). The amazing Martins Dukurs (LAT), now 36, won his 10th career World Cup title with 1,456 points, ahead of Alexander Gassner (GER: 1,396) and older brother Tomass Dukurs (LAT: 1,226) in third.

Russian Elena Nikitina won the women’s Skeleton competition over seasonal winner Janine Flock (AUT) by 1:47.73-1:48.12, with Kimberley Bos (NED: 1:48.37). Flock had three wins and medals in all eight events on the season; her 1,695 points was well ahead of Tina Hermann (GER: 1,515) and Bos (1,326).

● Football ● /Updated/The U.S. Men’s National Team opens its 2021 campaign vs. Trinidad & Tobago at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida on Sunday evening, cruising to a 4-0 lead at half and a 7-0 final.

The U.S. squad, using solely Major League Soccer players, took control immediately with first career National Team goals for Jonathan Lewis in the second minute and Jesus Ferreira in the ninth minute. Paul Arriola scored in the 22nd minute and then again in the 41st minute. Ferreira scored once and assisted on the three others. The U.S. had 77% of the possession and a 12-0 advantage on shots in the half.

The second half was more of the same. Miles Robinson scored his first career National Team goal with diving header in the 52nd minute. Lewis got a second goal with a right-footed rocket in the 55th minute, and Ferreira got his second in the 62nd minute. The U.S. finished with 72% of the possession and 19-2 on shots.

With the win, the U.S. is 20-3-4 all-time against Trinidad and Tobago and 15-0-1 in games on U.S. soil.

● Freestyle Skiing ● The FIS Freestyle World Cup tour was in Raubichi (BLR, near Minsk) for the fifth stop out of seven on the Aerials circuit, but with the same result in the men’s competition: a win for Russian Maxim Burov.

Burov scored 126.24 to best teammate Stanislav Nikitin (124.43) with Canadian Lewis Irving (118.14) third. American Christopher Lillis finished sixth.

The women’s Aerials was a 1-2 finish for the U.S., with Megan Nick (89.88) taking her second career World Cup victory, beating Australian Laura Peel (AUS: 89.04) and Winter Vinecki third (88.12). There are two more Aerials events remaining on the season.

The eighth of 11 Ski Cross events was slated to be in Feldberg (GER) on Sunday, but was cancelled.

● Handball ● For the 26th time in 27 editions of the IHF men’s World Championship – beginning in 1938 – there was an all-Europe final, with Denmark defending its world title via a tight, 26-24 victory in Cairo (EGY).

The Swedes were in the final for the first time since 2001, emerging from a 3-0-2 record in the first two stages. They crushed Qatar, 35-23, in the quarterfinals, and then defeated France, 32-26 in the semifinals, thanks to 11 goals from Hampus Wanne.

The Danes breezed through the group and main stages at 5-0, scoring 169 goals and giving up 116 (+53). They barely got by host Egypt in the quarterfinals, winning by 39-38 in extra time, with Mikkel Hansen scoring a team-high 10 goals. Things were almost as tight in the semis against Spain, a 35-33 win as Hansen had 12 goals to lead all scorers.

In the final, the teams were tied at 13-13 at halftime, and 20-20 with 17 minutes to go. But Jacob Holm scored three goals in four minutes to give the Danes a 23-20 lead that they never relinquished. Hansen led the winners with seven goals, followed by Nikolaj Nielsen with five and Holm with four. Wanne led Sweden with five scores.

Hansen was named Most Valuable Player, for the fourth time in his career, also in 2011-15-18. He scored 48 goals in seven games and had 26 assists. The All-Star team included wings Wanne and Spain’s Ferran Sole Sala, backs Hansen, Jim Gottfridsson (SWE) and Mathias Gidsel (DEN), with Ludovic Fabregas (FRA) as line and Andreas Palicka (SWE) as keeper.

Spain won the bronze medal with a 35-29 win over France in the third-place match.

Denmark’s two straight World Cup wins follows France’s two straight titles in 2015 and 2017; Romania (twice) and Sweden have also won back-to-back titles.

● Luge ● The 50th FIL World Championships was in Koenigssee (GER) this weekend, with Germany dominating as expected.

There was a huge upset in the men’s Singles, with Roman Repilov of the “Russian Luge Federation” – courtesy of the Court of Arbitration for Sport – winning his third Worlds gold by 0.62 seconds over favorite Felix Loch (GER), the six-time Singles champion, 1:37.810-1:37.872. Austria’s David Gleirscher was third (1:38.027). Olympic silver winner Chris Mazdzer (1:38.682) was 10th and the top American.

The men’s Sprint saw another upset, with 23-year-old Nico Gleirscher (AUT) – the younger brother of 26-year-old David Gleirscher – winning his first World Championships medal – a gold – in 38.375 seconds. That was just 0.041 seconds better than Russian Semen Pavlichenko (38.416) with David Gleirscher third (38.417). Tucker West was the top American in 12th (39.031).

German pairs won four of the six medals in Doubles. Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken won their third straight and fourth overall Worlds title, ahead of countrymen Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, 1:39.931-1:40.086, with Latvia’s Andris and Juris Sics third (1:40.591). The U.S. pair of Mazdzer and Jayson Terdiman was 16th (1:41.816).

Wendl and Arlt came back to win the Doubles Sprint in 39.126, just ahead of Sics and Sics (39.140) and Eggert and Benecken (39.161). For Wendl and Arlt, the 2014 and 2018 Olympic Doubles gold medalists, this was their third Worlds Sprint title and sixth Worlds Doubles golds of all types.

The women’s races belonged to Germany, which swept all six medals in the two distances. Julia Taubitz won both the standard race and the Sprint for her first two Worlds golds in individual events. Taubitz timed 1:41.132 in the standard distance to win over four-time World champ Natalie Geisenberger (1:41.447) and Dajana Eitberger (1:41.604). Summer Britcher and Emily Sweeney of the U.S. finished sixth and seventh.

The women’s Sprint saw Taubitz win in 39.101, ahead of Anna Berreiter (39.112) and Eitberger (39.300); Britcher was seventh.

Austria won the Team Relay (2:43.139) over Germany (2:43.177) and Latvia (2:43.571).

● Nordic Skiing ● An American skier hasn’t won the Cross Country World Cup title since the legendary Bill Koch did it back in the 1981-82 season. But it might happen again.

A full schedule was on tap in Falun (SWE), with the amazing Jessie Diggins of the U.S. claiming her fourth win of the season in the 10 km Freestyle race (23:35.9), winning by 2.1 seconds over seven-time World Champion Therese Johaug (NOR), with Swede Ebba Andersson third. American Rosie Brennan was eighth.

Sweden’s Linn Svahn, best known as a sprinter, won the 10 km Classical Mass Start race in 25:57.1, ahead of Yulia Stupak (RUS: 25:57.6) and Johaug (25:58.0), with Diggins seventh (26:05.4). Svahn came back on Sunday to take the Classical Sprint over Anamarija Lampic (SLO) and Swedish teammate Jonna Sundling.

Diggins now has a 1,174-904 lead over Stupak in the seasonal standings, after 22 of 32 races.

The men’s racing saw the accustomed results as seasonal leader Alexander Bolshunov (RUS) won the 15 km Freestyle and 15 km Classical Mass Start, with Norwegians taking the other medals. Simen Hegstad Kruger was runner-up in the 15 km race, ahead of teammate Sjur Rothe, while Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo led Pal Golberg in second and third in a blanket finish in the Mass Start race, both just 0.4 behind.

This was Bolshunov’s first appearance after he slashed and then slammed into Finnish anchor Joni Maki at the finish of the 4×7.5 km relay in Lahti (FIN) the week prior, sending Maki to the ground. Bolshunov’s team was disqualified and two criminal reports were filed against the Russian star to local police.

Klaebo, a two-time World Cup overall champ, came back to win the Classical Sprint over Oskar Svensson (SWE) and teammate Havard Taugbol.

The Nordic Combined World Cup tour was in Seefeld (AUT) for the annual “Seefeld Triple,” with jumping off of the 109 m hill and racing at 5 km, 10 km and 15 km. And it might have been the season-decider for Norway’s defending World Cup champion Jarl Magnus Riiber, who won all three!

Riiber won the 15 km and 10 km races over former World Cup champ Akito Watabe of Japan, with Vinzenz Geiger (GER) and Ilkka Herola (FIN) third and third. The first race was a photo finish as Riiber and Watabe were both timed in 11:32.2., but Riiber won by 33.3 on Saturday. On Sunday, Riiber’s win was over Herola, with Watabe third, by just 1.3 and 3.2 seconds. On the season, Riiber leads Geiger by 940-554 with Watabe third (540).

The men’s Ski Jumping tour was in Willingen (GER) for the annual “Willingen Six,” which ended up being shortened to just three events due to the weather. The actual World Cup jumps were on the weekend, with this season’s star, Norway’s Halvor Egner Granerud, winning both to extend his seasonal lead to 1,206-888 over German Markus Eisenbichler. Norway’s Daniel Andre Tande was second on Saturday’s jumping off the 147 m hill, followed by Poland’s Kamil Stoch. On Sunday, Pole Piotr Zyla claimed the silver and Eisenbichler the bronze.

The women’s jumpers were back in action in Titisee-Neustadt (GER) off a 142 m hill, with Austria’s Marita Kramer winning both events, first over Silje Opseth (NOR) and Ema Klinec (SLO) on Saturday and then Sara Takanashi (JPN) and Opseth on Sunday.

● Shooting ● After a long layoff, the ISSF Grand Prix circuit has started up again, this time in Rabat (MAR), with competition continuing through this week. The Skeet finals were held on Sunday, with Rashid Hamad (QAT) winning over Saif Bin Futais (UAE) in the men’s final by 54-52 in the final round.

The women’s title went to Russian Alina Fazylzyanova, who out-scored teammate Zilia Batyrshina, also by 54-52.

● Snowboard ● The FIS Snowboard World Cup was in Moscow (RUS) for Parallel Slalom racing for men and women and happy results for the home team.

Dmitriy Karlagachev won the men’s race over Zan Kosir (SLO) and Edwin Coratti (ITA) for his first career World Cup medal and first win. The women’s race was taken by Austrian Daniela Ulbing for her first medal of the season, but with seasonal leader Sofia Nadryrshina (RUS) second and Ramona Theresa Hofmeister (GER) third.

● Speed Skating ● The second and final ISU World Cup of the season was again in Heerenveen (NED) in a sequestered format to protect against the coronavirus. But that did not stop American Brittany Bowe from racking up more wins … and two more seasonal titles.

After winning the 1,000 m and 1,500 m last week, Bowe clinched the seasonal title at 1,500 m on Saturday. “The time doesn’t lie,” she said, “I could tell I pushed myself harder than last week, Antoinette [de Jong] going before me. She had an awesome 300 m first split and all three of the splits I saw of her were faster than I did last week, so I knew I had to put the paddle down and go for it.”

Bowe finished in 1:53.455 to give her the season sweep, finishing ahead of Dutch star de Jong (1:53.813) and the legendary Ireen Wust (NED: 1:54.228). The win was the 29th World Cup title of Bowe’s career.

She followed up with a second straight win (and a seasonal title) in the 1,000 m on Sunday, winning in 1:13.960 over Russia’s Angelina Golikova (1:14.054) and Dutch sprint star Femke Kok (1:14.475). Bowe’s perfect score of 120 out-paced Jorien ten Mors (NED: 97) and Kok (96).

In the 500 m sprint, Kok completed a perfect season with wins in the third and fourth World Cup races. She won on Saturday in 37.233, from Golikova (37.290) and Vanessa Herzog (AUT: 37.409), with Bowe 10th in 38.031. On Sunday, Kok won in 37.333, with Russians Golikova and Daria Kachanova going 2-3 in 37.372 and 37.637. Kok finished at 240 points, with Golikova second (216) and Olga Fatkulina (RUS) third with 177.

Russian Natalia Voronina won the 3,000 m in 3:56.853 from de Jong (3:58.908) and Irene Schouten (NED: 4:00.153). Schouten won the season’s series at 108, with de Jong second but also at 108 and Voronina at 94.

Schouten won all three of the women’s Mass Start races for a perfect total of 300, trailed by Canadian Ivanie Blondin (270) and Russian Elizaveta Golubeva (236). They were 1-2-3 in Saturday’s seasonal finale, with Schouten winning at the line by 8:21.750-8:21.770-8:22.030.

In the men’s racing, the 500 m sprints were won by Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS: 34.475) on Saturday and Ronald Mulder (NED: 34.555) on Sunday. The seasonal winner, however, was Dutchman Dai Dai N’tab, who scored a total of 200 points, ahead of Canada’s Laurent Debreuil (182) and Mulder (180).

The men’s 1,000 was won by Kai Verbij (NED: 1:07.355), ahead of teammate Thomas Krol (NED: 1:07.581) and that was enough to give Verbij the seasonal crown although he and Krol both scored 114 points. The Dutch swept the seasonal honors with Hein Otterspeer third (83 points).

Dutch star Krol also swept both week’s races the 1,500 m in the men’s division, winning this time in 1:43.428 to 1:44.222 and 1:44.759 for teammates Kjeld Nuis and Patrick Roest. Krol (120 points), Nuis (102) and Roest (102) finished as the top three for the season.

Roest won the 5,000 m in 6:05.959, well ahead of Nils van der Poel (SWE: 6:08.393) to give him a sweep of the two races this season and the World Cup title. Dutch legend Sven Kramer was second (97 points) with Russian Sergey Trofimov (96) third.

In the Mass Start races, Belgium’s Bart Swings won the men’s seasonal title with 302 points, ahead of Livio Wenger (SUI: 280) and Jorrit Bergsma (NED: 270), with Americans Joey Mantia seventh (228) and Ian Quinn in ninth (213). Bergsma won the double-points finale on Saturday in 7:43.470, ahead of Swings (7:45.080) and Wenger (7:45.210), with Mantia fourth (7:45.260).

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THE TICKER: ASOIF chief calls for “spartan games” in Tokyo! Rule 50 recommendations coming to IOC in April; Biathlon report rips former chief Besseberg

Rich Perelman

January 28, 2021

tsx pix 2020-723 tokyo one year to go 750 — The Olympic Flame inside the new Olympic Stadium in Tokyo (Photo: Tokyo 2020)

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● Way back in 1977, Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games chair John Argue wrote that the Los Angeles bid for the 1984 Games had to take into account the $1 billion-plus loss suffered by the Montreal Games in 1976.

Argue wrote in the introduction of the Los Angeles responses to questionnaires from the International Federations: “Arrangements are to be spartan.”

After the enormous financial, logistical and aesthetic success of the ‘84 Games and the succeeding explosion in the size and cost of the Olympic Games since, no one ever thought those words would be spoken again.

Wrong.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Francesco Ricci Bitti, the Italian head of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) said:

“At the moment, we’re positive that the games will be held.

“They will be different games. But we, the federations, are open to accepting these changes. They will be spartan games, with all of the usual services reduced.

“There will be all the counter measures which we are studying sport by sport. We need to be ready to have games that won’t be COVID-free.

“That’s the situation at the moment. All of the negative things are speculation right now. In Olympic circles we are very positive. We strongly want these games.”

The moral: No matter the subject, never say never, because truth is stranger than fiction. Argue, who passed at age 70 in 2002, is smiling.

In addition to all the coronavirus questions, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach also commented during Wednesday’s news conference on the status of the ongoing review of the “no protests allowed” section of Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter.

“We have been informed today in the Executive Board by the Chairwoman of the Athletes’ Commission, Kirsty Coventry [ZIM], about the progress in their study with the athletes worldwide. You know, they did this in two steps: there was a qualitative part and then the quantitative part, and this quantitative part is being constructed based on the advice of independent experts who know about how to organize these kind of inquiries and consultations.

“There was a great, as we have heard, international participation from around more than 3,000, if not 3,500 athletes from all across the globe, across all the Olympic sports. And now these answers will be evaluated by, and with these independent experts; they will then present the results of this evaluation to the IOC Athletes’ Commission. Then, based on these findings, the Athletes’ Commission will come with recommendations and proposals to the IOC Executive Board, mostly in April with regard to this Rule 50 discussion.”

● Athletics ● The 2015 World Champion in the 110 m Hurdles, Russian Sergey Shubenkov was alleged to have tested positive for a prohibited substance in a post on the News.ru Web site which was quickly repeated on social media.

Shubenkov, 30, refuted the charge on his Instagram account, stating:

“All information that I took furosemide, which was discovered in a [doping] sample, is brazen defamation invented by an unknown ‘source’. It never happened. Meanwhile, news feeds rushed to ardently repost this fake news without checking where it came from.

“Indeed, I received a letter from the [Athletics Integrity Unit]. It was not about furosemide at all; I cannot disclose the details of this confidential letter due to legal concerns. I will only emphasize that I am not subjected to any restrictions and train as normal.”

The AIU’s Twitter feed has not mentioned Shubenkov at all.

● Biathlon ● A long-awaited report on possible pro-doping activities by former President Anders Besseberg (NOR) and Secretary General Nicole Resch (GER) of the International Biathlon Union was published on Thursday.

The report of the External Review Commission “concluded that both Mr Besseberg and Ms Resch have cases to answer for breach of the IBU’s rules, based on their apparent protection of Russian interests, particularly in the anti-doping context, without good justification.”

The publicly-posted version of the report is clear:

“This final report of the independent IBU External Review Commission (the Commission)
identifies what the Commission considers to be evidence of systematic corrupt and
unethical conduct at the very top of the IBU for a decade (2008 to 2018) and more, by a
president (Anders Besseberg, IBU President 1993 to 2018) who appears, in the view of
the Commission, to have had no regard for ethical values and no real interest in protecting
the sport from cheating. Enabled by a complete lack of basic governance safeguards that
left integrity decisions in the sole hands of the President and his allies on the IBU Executive Board, with no checks and balances, no transparency, and no accountability
whatsoever to keep them honest, Mr Besseberg’s proclaimed commitment to clean sport
was, in the Commission’s view, a charade. …

“The long list of proven doping cases that is set out at Section 6A.4 of this Final Report reveals not only that blood doping and steroid abuse were widespread within the Russian national biathlon team in the period 2008 to 2014, but also that the Russian conspirators intervened at every stage to cover up that doping and to enable the cheating to continue.”

Although redacted in parts, the report logs significant details of how Besseberg and Resch assisted Russian athletes in avoiding doping positives, including testimony from Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Moscow Laboratory for the Russian Anti-Doping Agency who was at the center of the Russian doping program.

The report also notes significant concerns over funds received by Besseberg from Russia, with the amounts redacted; these have been estimated in news reports as up to $300,000, along with sexual favors.

Another section notes how Resch was “groomed” by Russian sports officials through gifts and extra attention to help support Russian athletes entwined in the doping process, including potential positive tests prior to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi (RUS).

The Russian Biathlon Union apparently also tried to “buy” votes in the 2014 IBU elections, but this was not followed up with any investigation or sanctions. In addition:

“The [World Anti-Doping Agency] I&I investigation report stated that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that at the 2016 IBU Congress members of the Russian delegation offered and potentially paid unknown IBU Congress members between €25,000 and €100,000 each to vote in support of their bid to host the 2021 World Championships in Tyumen.”

Near the end of the report and before a 23-page section that was completely redacted, the report includes a comment on the holding of the 2018 IBU World Championships in Russia, despite the overwhelming evidence of state-sponsoring doping there:

“Once again, the facts set out in this section of the report repeat the clear pattern of Mr Besseberg [redacted] doing everything possible to stifle debate and avoid holding Russia to account for its doping misconduct. Once again, there is no evidence that they truly cared about a clean sport, or about the concerns raised by their athletes, coaches, and even their main media partner, the EBU.”

Both Besseberg and Resch are the subjects of continuing criminal investigations in Norway and Austria, respectively, and both have denied any wrongdoing; no charges have been filed against either.

The report turns further decisions regarding biathlon over to the IBU’s independent Biathlon Integrity Unit.

● Football ● FIFA declared that the process to select the cities and venues for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States would be completed in 2021, if the pandemic conditions allow.

Individual meetings with the interested sites will begin in February (maybe), with site visits in July (maybe). The candidate cities include:

● Canada: Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto

● Mexico: Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey

● United States: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York/New Jersey, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C.

The 2026 World Cup will be the first under the new format of 48 teams.

● Gymnastics ● USA Gymnastics announced a 2021-25 agreement with FloSports, the ubiquitous online channel for Olympic (and other) sports to show numerous events not now available:

“Beyond providing enhanced access to USA Gymnastics Premier Events, FloSports’ content will also include rarely-featured access to events across all disciplines, and never-before-broadcast grassroots events featuring some of the best up-and-coming athletes in the country. Scheduled programming will include various state and regional championships, Level 9 Eastern & Western Championships, National Elite Qualifiers, USAG Development Program Championships, USAG Collegiate Championships, and numerous Rhythmic, Trampoline & Tumbling, and Acrobatic events. Programming will be available through FloSports’ dedicated gymnastics channel, FloGymnastics.”

There’s money in this for USA Gymnastics, which also announced where it will be spent:

“As a key part of the partnership, FloSports and USAG have committed to making a significant annual investment directly toward supporting athlete health and wellness initiatives. FloSports believes in building a supportive infrastructure for young athletes and is committed to assisting with their development by providing additional funds to augment existing USAG programs. This year, the funds will be used to bolster USA Gymnastics’ existing mental health programming by increasing awareness around mental health, providing additional services for National Team members and providing educational resources for the larger gymnastics community.”

● The Last Word ● Olympic critics will cringe at the news that the Hungarian Olympic Committee voted on Thursday to explore the possibility of a bid for the 2032 Olympic Games.

Budapest had been an interesting candidate for the 2024 Games, but its withdrawal due to the threat of a public referendum led directly to the agreement to have Paris host the 2024 Games and Los Angeles to be host in 2028.

In the meantime, Budapest has been one of the capitals of Olympic sport, hosting major events including the FINA World Aquatics Championships in 2017 and will be the host of the World Athletics Championships in 2023.

This adds to a long list of countries which are interested in 2032, including Australia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Qatar, the Netherlands, Turkey and possibly multi-city bids from China and North and South Korea. To their dissatisfaction, even naysayers will conclude that’s a good sign for the future of the Games.

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LANE ONE: IOC chief Bach: “We are not speculating on whether the Games are taking place, we are working on how the Games will take place”

Rich Perelman

January 27, 2021

tsx pix 2021-127 bach news conference 750 — International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach of Germany (Photo: Screenshot of IOC video news conference)

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“Our task is to organize Olympic Games, not to cancel Olympic Games. And our task is to make [sure] the Olympic dreams of the athletes are coming true.”

That’s where International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (GER) placed the focus following a meeting of the IOC Executive Board by videoconference on Wednesday. He reiterated in response to a question:

“[W]hat we are saying is we have to concentrate on the essentials. And the essentials are the field of play and a fair and safe competition. Everything else has to have second priority, but we want not to destroy any Olympic dream of any athlete.”

Bach detailed the current status of the Tokyo situation, starting with “we are fully concentrated on, and committed to, the successful and safe delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.” And he addressed the chatter over cancellation directly in some lengthy, but very well-prepared opening remarks:

“The organization of Olympic and Paralympic Games, as such, is already an extremely complex challenge. But this complexity is multiplied when it comes to organize postponed Olympic Games for the first time ever, and this under the conditions of pandemic.

“So, there is no blueprint for this, and we are learning every day. This fight against the virus – as you all know from your personal circumstances – this fight against the virus is a tough one. But we are fighting this fight for, and like, Olympic athletes. This means, with full determination, with a will to win, with hard work every day and with all the physical and mental strength we can have.

“There, if we have to address the different issues, nobody – nobody – at this moment can predict the health situation in 206 National Olympic Committees for the time of the Olympic and Paralympic Games from late July to September this year. Not even the most prominent scientists in this area.

“This leads, you may say naturally, but it leads you can also say, unfortunately, you could say of course, this leads to many speculations. But all these speculations are hurting the athletes in their preparations who have already to overcome the challenges in their daily training and competition with all the restrictions they are facing, either in their country or when it comes to traveling.

“So there is speculation about cancellation, about a ‘Plan B,’ about everything. Some even make the proposal to postpone the Olympic Games in Tokyo to the year 2032. I want to say, ‘good luck,’ if you would have to discuss this with an athlete who is preparing for the Olympic Games 2021.

“There are some proposals to move it to another city, which everybody who knows about the complexity of Olympic Games, is not possible, in such a short period of time. So, for all these reasons, we are not losing our time and energy on speculation, but we are fully concentrated on the Opening Ceremony on the 23rd of July this year, so we are not speculating on whether the Games are taking place, we are working on how the Games will take place.

“That means, we have to put Covid countermeasures together for every possible scenario. And in this, we are relying on the advice of all the different authorities there: the Japanese government, the health authorities, the World Health Organization , we are talking with the manufacturers of vaccines, with all the experts. And also from these consultations, we can conclude it is too early to tell which of the many Covid countermeasures will finally be the appropriate one when it comes to the time of the Games.

“We just have to ask for patience, and understanding, and we are asking for this patience, you know, from the athletes, from the National Olympic Committees, the IFs, the Japanese people, the organizing committee; everybody. We have to be patient and diligent in the same way.

“So, soon we will be able now to release the first version of the so-called ‘playbooks’ for the Games, which will explain the measures for the different stakeholder groups to protect themselves and to protect others. These playbooks will be first, in the first version, will be presented to the National Olympic Committees and to the chef de missions in the beginning of February. There, they all – the NOCs, the athletes, everybody – can trust that we are providing the facts and our planned countermeasures as the situation develops and according to the situation, what is needed.

“The priority is always the same: safe and secure Games, by everybody. And in this we are gaining even more confidence from the effectiveness of the countermeasures which are being applied right now in sports events across the world. We have seen this during the winter season: more than 7,000 events have been organized by the International Federations, with 175,000 Covid tests, and only 0.18 [percent] were positive. The competitions could be run, could be organized and none of the competitions developed into hotspots or anything like this.”

Asked if holding the Games is actually irresponsible, Bach emphasized the facts on the ground today:

“It is clearly not irresponsible. We are able and in a position to offer the relevant countermeasures and this already starts with the figures you were giving, you are speaking about 10,500 athletes, we took already the measure that these 10,500 athletes will not be there in the Olympic Village at the same time by reducing the staying of the athletes to five days in principle and having a kind of a ‘wave’ system. The same will, of course, apply to their coaches and officials and others, so this is one of the measures we have been undertaking.

“Take Handball now [the IHF men’s World Championship is ongoing]. In Egypt, a country which is considered to be a high-risk country, and you have 3,000 people in a bubble and this being organized in a couple of weeks only, or a couple of months. While we have much better conditions, we could prepare much longer, and we have much better conditions because again the Olympic Village, because we have with the National Olympic Committees partners who can take care of their teams from now on already, and they do with many of the athletes and many other issues more. So if we think it would be irresponsible and if we would think the Games could not be safe, we would not go for it.”

Bach could not state when a decision might be made about spectators at the Games, and asked for patience. There were also some other issues of importance, especially as he noted “We had also to address the very sad stories with regard to two international federations again.”

● “This concerns [the international boxing federation] AIBA; there, we are still very much – very much – concerned about the lack of progress in AIBA with regard to the requested reforms of management, of governance, and also of refereeing and other issues and we will inform AIBA about these concerns immediately.”

● “With regard to the International Weightlifting Federation, there, our – again – great concerns are about the apparent weakening of their anti-doping rules and about also other governance issues. But concentrating on the anti-doping rules, we had to note that obviously, IWF wants to change the anti-doping rules which were the basis for the approval of the IOC for their qualification system [for Tokyo]. This is really something upsetting, and even more so that all this happened without any consultation with the IOC.

“There, we will request a clear explanation and have already put this topic on the agenda of the next Executive Board meeting, which will take place in February.”

Bach expressed satisfaction with the decree of the Italian government on assuring the autonomy of the Italian National Olympic Committee on the management of its own finances. Asked if the IOC was “really ready to suspend the Italian Olympic Committee in case of non-compliance of the Italian government?” Bach answered back:

“The answer … is yes. We were ready. There is no doubt. We have there to apply the same rules, and have to treat everybody in the Olympic Movement and all the NOCs equally.”

The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and the forthcoming Commission on the State of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics should take note of that answer.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: Florida offers itself as Tokyo replacement (?); new USOPC Board opening; USA Swimming splits Trials in two

Rich Perelman

January 26, 2021

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● One of the great benefits of observing the Olympic Movement is the laughs you get from announcements like this, from Jimmy Patronis, the Chief Financial Officer of the State of Florida, in an open letter to International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach (GER), which included:

“Today, I am writing to encourage you to consider relocating the 2021 Olympics from Tokyo, Japan to the United States of America, and more specifically to Florida.

“With media reports of leaders in Japan ‘privately’ concluding that they are too concerned about the pandemic for the 2021 Olympics to take place, there is still time to deploy a site selection team to Florida to meet with statewide and local officials on holding the Olympics in the Sunshine State. I would welcome the opportunity to pitch Florida and help you make the right contacts to get this done. …

“Whatever precautions are required let’s figure it out and get it done. Please contact my office at 850-413-4900 to schedule a meeting.”

Never mind that Florida has had 1.66 million reported cases of the coronavirus and 25,445 deaths compared to 368,143 cases for all of Japan (and 5,193 deaths). But credit Patronis for grabbing a headline and looking out for more tourism for his state.

Maybe he should invite Bach to be his guest on 7 February at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa for the NFL’s Super Bowl LV?

More seriously, BBC sports editor Dan Roan considered the actual Tokyo 2020 situation ahead of tomorrow’s IOC Executive Board meeting by videoconference:

“Organisers appear furious with the suggestion that the Japanese government has already secretly decided to cancel the Games, and some insiders insist the motivation of the anonymous source behind the story is to destabilise the country’s coalition government with a general election on the horizon.

“Whether the story proves accurate or not, the problem the authorities have is that last year there were similar denials, and expressions of confidence, right up until the day before a seemingly inevitable postponement was confirmed.”

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● The USOPC is accepting applications for a suddenly-open Independent Director post after the resignation of Dr. Vivek Murthy, the former Surgeon General of the United States from 2014-17, who has been tapped by U.S. President Joe Biden to serve in the same post once again.

Murthy joined the USOPC Board in February 2020, meaning his term will not expire for another three years. The USOPC invitation to submit applications notes that candidates:

“The Nominating and Governance Committee is seeking candidates with the qualifications described in the “Position Description and Qualifications” document. Qualified applicants must be persons of the highest personal and professional integrity who have demonstrated exceptional ability and judgment and who will be most effective, in conjunction with other members of the Board, in collectively serving the long-term interests of the USOPC and our athletes.”

Applications will be accepted until 1 February.

● National Olympic Committees ● The Russian Anti-Doping Agency released an eight-page comment on the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision in its appeal of sanctions from the World Anti-Doping Agency, howling about the outcome, but saying it considers the matter closed and will not appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

“As RUSADA has already stated publicly, it strongly disagrees with the findings in the CAS Award regarding the alleged data manipulations, which – in RUSADA’s view – are based on a flawed and one-sided assessment of the facts and were not sufficiently proven. RUSADA regrets that the Panel did not take into account the detailed submissions and evidence submitted by RUSADA and the intervening parties over the course of the arbitral proceeding. …

“In light of these important rulings by the Panel rejecting or significantly reducing the excessive sanctions requested by WADA, and putting the interests of Russian athletes and Russian sport first, as well as taking into account the need for legal certainty, RUSADA has made the decision not to challenge the CAS Award before the Swiss Supreme Court, despite the fact that it disagrees with many of the central findings and statements contained in the award’s reasoning.”

The CAS Award was published on 14 January 2021 and it appears that there is a 30-day period for appeal; WADA has been silent on whether it will appeal the decision to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

The Italian government announced Tuesday a decree to assure the autonomy of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) in order to stave off potential sanctions from the IOC:

“In order to ensure the full operation of the Italian National Olympic Committee and its autonomy and independence as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the text gives CONI its own organic endowment of personnel, including management.”

The Italian government had set up a “Sport e Salute” organization in 2019 that was to manage CONI’s finances, among other functions, but this ran afoul of the IOC’s rules on the autonomy of the National Olympic Committee in each country to run its own programs. Possible sanctions could have included a loss of use of national flags and anthems for Tokyo and beyond, as has been done with the Russian NOC due to the suspension of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

● Alpine Skiing ● Racing continued into the week on the FIS Alpine World Cup tour, with events on Monday and Tuesday.

The men’s Super-G in Kitzbuehel was held on Monday, with Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr claiming the win in 1:12.58, just 0.12 in front of Marco Odermatt (SUI) and 0.55 ahead of Matthias Mayer (AUT).

A Slalom was held in Schladming (AUT) on Tuesday, with Swiss Marco Schwarz moving from sixth to first on the second run and winning in 1:44.04, a healthy 0.68 ahead of France’s Clement Noel (1:44.72) and teammate Alexis Pinturault (1:44.86).

The women’s World Cup was in Kronplatz (ITA) for a Giant Slalom, with France’s Tessa Worley claiming the victory in 2:11.38, decisively ahead of Swiss Lara Gut-Berhami (+0.27) and home favorite Marta Bassino (+0.73). Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. was fourth, 1.08 seconds behind the winner and missing the podium by 0.35.

● Athletics ● The VirginMoney London Marathon announced a massive plan on Monday to create a hybrid race on 3 October with a goal of 100,000 participants.

Building off of the 37,966 who completed the “virtual” race in 2020, plans for a 50,000-person race on the streets will be complemented by a 50,000-person “virtual” race for a total of 100,000.

The largest-ever in-person race was in 2019, with 42,549 finishers. Some 457,861 applied to run in 2020, with the in-person race scratched due to the pandemic. But given the number of “virtual” runners in 2020, a 100,000-finisher total appears to be within reach.

The New Balance Grand Prix indoor meet, always held at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury, Massachusetts, is being moved this year since the venue is being used for Covid-19 vaccinations. The new site for the 13 February event is now the Ocean Breeze Track & Field Athletic Complex in Staten Island, New York. At least for now.

● Gymnastics ● The USA Gymnastics bankruptcy case has moved into its fourth calendar year, with total legal fees in the case now at $13,063,518 as of 31 December 2020.

Of this total, some $7,297,803 in fees and $252,383 in expenses have been paid by USAG’s insurers, with no end in sight.

A court-ordered settlement conference is ongoing under the supervision of Bankruptcy Court Judge James Carr, but with no breakthrough as yet.

At the end of 2020, USA Gymnastics showed (not including its insurance receivable to cover sex-abuse claims) $10.4 million in assets, including $7.3 million of cash on hand.

● Handball ● The 27th IHF men’s World Handball Championship is now ready for the knock-out round, with the quarterfinals to start tomorrow (27th):

● Upper bracket: Spain (4-0-1) vs. Norway (4-1) and Denmark (5-0) vs. Egypt (3-1-1)
● Lower bracket: France (5-0) vs. Hungary (4-1) and Sweden (3-0-2) vs. Qatar (3-2)

The semifinals will be played on the 29th and the final and third-place matches on 31 January.

The top scorers in the tournament so far include Qatar’s Frankis Marzo with 53 goals, followed by Sander Sagosen (NOR: 50) and Andy Schmid (SUI: 44).

● Modern Pentathlon ● Just days after the UIPM removed the 2021 World Championships from Minsk (BLR) due to the continuing political unrest in the country, the event was awarded to Cairo (EGY), already a popular World Cup host city.

The dates of 7-13 June remain the same, and Egypt will host the World Junior Championships in Alexandria in July.

● Swimming ● USA Swimming announced that the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska will be split into two “waves” due to the continuing pandemic:

“As of January 20, 2021, 1,305 (unique) athletes had qualified for the Olympic Trials since the qualifying window opened on Nov. 28, 2018. Given the current environment, and the need to address concerns related to over-crowding in the athlete areas, warm-up pool and athlete seating areas, the decision was made to divide the event into two.”

The first section of the Trials will be held from 4-7 June 2021 and the second from 13-20 June.

Essentially, the new format creates a qualifying event for the main Trials, with new qualifying standards posted for each. Those swimmers who have reached the “Wave II” standard will compete directly in the second meet, while those who have reached the “Wave I” standard will compete for two spots in the Wave II competition in each event.

The new format will add perhaps “50-60 athletes per event in the four months leading into the Olympic Trials, generating a final field of approximately 750 total athletes.”

● Weightlifting ● The under-siege International Weightlifting Federation has postponed its planned revision of its constitution from late March of this year to 29-30 April 2021 in order to debate and vote on an entirely new constitution:

“In place of the constitutional amendments originally envisaged, the independent members of the Reform and Governance Commission have now proposed an entirely new document that replaces the current IWF Constitution. This approach has been welcomed by the IWF Executive Board.”

“Based on a comprehensive look at the IWF’s governance by the independent members of our Reform and Governance Commission, it became clear that amendments would not be enough to bring us up to the highest standards and meet the targets suggested to us by the IOC. Instead, complete revision is called for and that is what we will now deliver,” said IWF Interim President Dr. Michael Irani (GBR).

The elections for new officers will be held as scheduled on 26-27 March 2021. American Ursula Papandrea, who was briefly the federation’s Interim President after the resignation of former long-time chief Tamas Ajan (HUN), is running for President, and there are reports of Jinqiang Zhou, head of the Chinese Weightlifting Federation, also running, but a confirmed list of candidates has not yet been released.

The International Olympic Committee has indicated its disapproval of the IWF’s financial, governance and anti-doping situation and is reviewing its place on the 2024 Olympic program.

● At the BuZZer ● The NBCSN cable sports channel will be shuttered at the end of 2021, according to an announcement by NBCUniversal last Friday (22nd). The announcement included:

“The company said programming that aired on the cable channel will eventually be broadcast across other platforms within NBCUniversal, including the cable channel USA Network and the streaming platform Peacock. As part of the change, USA Network will air NHL Stanley Cup Playoff games and NASCAR races.”

No mention was made about the extensive coverage of European football matches, or cycling events such as the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana, or occasional coverage of the Wanda Diamond League track & field events.

What does that mean for NBC’s “Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA”? Its ratings are certainly much lower than NBCSN, but one long-time observer felt that the channel will survive, at least for now: “Not about the ratings in this instance.”

NBC has been clear since the launch of the Olympic Channel on cable in July of 2017 that the goal was to support the network’s Olympic commitment. Mark Lazarus, then head of NBC Sports said at that time, “The launch of the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA reinforces our unwavering commitment to the Olympic Movement and our valuable relationships with the IOC and USOC.” Lazarus has since been promoted to Chairman, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.

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LANE ONE: IOC chief Bach on the offensive, says “the prospects are good” for Tokyo Games to be held, perhaps without spectators, and what else?

Rich Perelman

January 25, 2021

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Already dealing with doubts about whether the Tokyo Games will actually take place, the short story in The Times (London) last Thursday (21st) claiming the Japanese government had privately concluded that the event could not take place sent the International Olympic Committee into an all-out offensive on Friday (22nd).

In addition to refuting the story on Twitter, the IOC came out with a seven-and-a-half minute video news release on Friday which featured IOC President Thomas Bach speaking from Lausanne about the situation. He noted that conference calls were held that day with the National Olympic Committees and the IOC membership. And he was resolute about the Games:

● “Six months ahead of the Games the entire Olympic Movement is looking forward to the Opening Ceremony on 23rd July. I had the opportunity today to speak there with all 206 of the National Olympic Committees of the world and they are all fully committed, they are looking forward to these Games.

“We are enjoying the full support of the Japanese government and we had another consultation with all the IOC Members yesterday. Everybody is really determined to make these Olympic Games in six months from now the light at the end of the tunnel in which at this moment we are all still in. But all the prospects are good, we are working hard, and these Games, the first priority will be to make them safe and secure for all participants.”

● “We have been talking with our Athletes’ Commission and they are in regular contact with
the entire athletes community across the globe, and they have all confirmed to us that
the athletes, while being in difficulties at this moment with their training, with the
competition, with the qualification in some sports even, but they are all enthusiastic.

“They are preparing for these Games, they are looking forward to these Games, and I will take the opportunity also in a couple of days to speak with the athletes community also
personally, and to get then a first-hand impression on their attitude. But we know how
passionate Olympic athletes are and this is why we know they will be flexible enough and
they will adjust to this situation we are all in now, and then they will enter the Olympic stadium on 23rd July with full pride and sending an important message not only to the world of sports, but to the entire world – a message of resilience, of Olympic passion and of Olympic values like solidarity and peace.”

● “We are working to prepare for all the potential scenarios we may face in July-August this year and this is a wide range. So we are putting together a huge toolbox of measures and then we will decide at the appropriate time which of the tools we need to address the situation.

“This goes from immigration rules, from quarantine rules, over to social distancing in the Olympic Village, to the question of rapid testing methods, to the question of vaccination, to the question of spectators. How many? Can there be spectators? How will life in the Olympic Village be organized?

“So it’s really a huge undertaking but we are very much encouraged in this because we can see already now that big sports events, even World Championships, are happening and being organized in a safe and secure way, even without having access to any kind of vaccination. So everybody can rest assured our first priority is a safe and secure Olympic Games and when we are talking about the measures there can be no taboo for securing safe and secure Olympic Games for every participant.”

The last sentence is the most important: “there can be no taboo for securing safe and secure Olympic Games …”

This crystalizes the position of the IOC and, for now anyway, the Tokyo organizers and the Japanese governments involved in the Games. If there is any possible way to hold the Games, it will be held:

● If without foreign spectators, fine.

● If without any spectators, fine.

● If without sponsor hospitality, tickets and sales programs, fine. This is also true for commercial partners of the International Federations and NOCs.

● If the Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony are whittled down to a limited number of athletes, or even just a flagbearer from each country, fine.

● If there are athletes or teams which cannot be qualified for the Games in some sports due to complications of the pandemic, fine. There may be teams substituted to fill the spots, or just as likely, some slots will be left open (and reduce the athlete population).

● Athletes are already being limited to entry into the Olympic Village five days ahead of their first day of competition and to leave a maximum of two days afterwards; this may be slimmed down even further to keep the Village population down. Fine.

At its core, the Olympic Games in the 21st Century is a television show, with a cast of thousands. As long as the Games is held – and televised – most of what the Games is today is preserved.

Look for the IOC and Tokyo 2020 to seek further opportunities for reduce the number of people at the Games where possible. This could apply not simply to spectators, but because the international television signal from all of the Tokyo venues will – for the first time – be available to rights-holding broadcasters in real time in their own home studios, the number of on-site broadcasters could be significantly reduced.

The IOC’s plan to share post-event news conferences online, in real time, could reduce the number of writers coming to cover as well (but not photographers).

The Tokyo organizers, with the approval of the IOC, could also ask all of the International Federations to forego their usual Congresses at the Olympic Games as well (some have done so already).

There will be further costs attendant to these changes, of course. But in the context of the Japanese national governmental budget for 2021 of 106.6 trillion yen (about $1.03 trillion U.S.), the added costs of $700 million for the postponement to 2021 are certainly manageable. Same for the $1.0 billion costs to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, out of a budget of more than $68 million.

The experience of the postponement in 2020 and the tumult caused by the story in The Times last week points to one crucial truth: any retreat from having the Games of the XXXII Olympiad will come from the Japanese, not the IOC.

What we see now is that to hold the Games under any circumstances will be declared a victory for Japan itself, for the Tokyo organizers, and the IOC. Keep that in mind as we approach what Tokyo 2020 chair Yoshio Mori has called – on many issues – “a very difficult decision from February to March.”

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: World Indoor shot record for Ryan Crouser; Chloe Kim and Jamie Anderson score Snowboard golds, two skating wins for Brittany Bowe!

Rich Perelman

January 24, 2021

tsx pix 2021-124 brittany bowe 750 (isu) — American speed skating star Brittany Bowe (USA). (Photo: ISU)

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Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Alpine Skiing ● The women’s racing at Crans-Montana (SUI) was a showcase for 2018 Olympic Downhill champ Sofia Goggia and continued the breakthrough season for American Breezy Johnson.

Two Downhills and a Super-G were on tap, and Goggia won both, giving her medals in all five Downhills this season and four golds. She won the first in 1:10.20, just 0.20 in front of Czech star – and fellow 2018 Olympic gold medalist – Ester Ledecka (CZE: 1:10.30), with Johnson third in 1:10.67. It’s the fourth straight bronze medal in a World Cup Downhill for Johnson, who had never won a World Cup medal coming into the season.

Goggia followed up with a second win in 1:27.75, 0.27 seconds ahead of Lara Gut-Berhami (SUI) and 0.60 in front of Elena Curtoni (ITA). Johnson finished fifth in 1:28.64, missing a medal by just 0.30. These results keep Goggia in front in the seasonal Downhill points table with 480 after five races, with Johnson second at 285.

Gut-Berhami, the 2016 World Cup overall champion, won Sunday’s Super-G, ahead of Austrian Tamara Tippler and Italian star Federica Brignone. It was Gut-Berhami’s 28th career win, of which half have been in the Super-G.

The men’s speed racers were in Kitzbuehel (AUT), with weather affecting the expected schedule. Friday’s Downhill was the 14th career World Cup gold for Swiss star Beat Feuz, and came 370 days after his last win, at Wengen (SUI) on 18 January 2020. Feuz’s 1:53.77 time was just 0.16 better than home favorite Matthias Mayer (1:53.93), with Italy’s Dominik Paris third (1:54.33).

Saturday’s Downhill had to be postponed to Sunday and the Super-G to Monday (25th). No problem for Feuz, however, who won again in 1:55.29, 0.17 better than France’s Johan Clarey and 0.38 in front of Mayer.

● Athletics ● The first American Track League meet, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, drew a star-studded field hungry to compete, and they did not disappoint.

Ryan Crouser did what he almost always does: throw well past 22 m, but he exploded for a world indoor shot put record of 22.82 m (74-10 1/2) in the first round, besting the old 22.66 m (74-4 1/4) mark set by Randy Barnes (USA) at the Sunkist Invitational in 1989!

He reached “only” 21.03 m (69-0) in the second round, surpassed Barnes’s mark again in the third round, at 22.70 m (74-5 3/4), then fouled in the fourth and fifth rounds. He finished at 22.48 m (73-9) and now owns the two best indoor throws in history and four of the top six.

“Quite a start for me for 2021,” Crouser said afterward. “It feels like it’s been a long road to get back. I felt like I had a ton of energy on the first throw. I just wanted to relax and feel the rhythm. You was just really patient on that.

“I feel like there’s more there: first meet, first throw. The consistency was pretty good. We’re in heavy training right now, I’m excited for when we taper down.”

In addition to Crouser, world-leading marks were set in:

● Men/60 m: 6.48, Trayvon Bromell (USA)
● Men/400 m: 45.03, Fred Kerley (USA)
● Men/60 m Hurdles: 7.35, Grant Holloway (USA)

● Women/300 m: 35.92, Gabby Thomas (USA)
● Women/400 m: 51.76, Quanera Hayes (USA)
● Women/60 m Hurdles: 7.86, Tonea Marshall (USA)

Holloway ran away from the field on the way to a clear win; his 7.35 equals his all-time best from 2019 and the equal-fourth-fastest ever. His 7.38 in the heats was also a world leader and was the equal-15th fastest ever at the time.

Thomas’s 300 m win moves her to no. 7 all-time, and no. 2 all-time U.S. Among the other women’s winners was Vashti Cunningham, in the high jump at 1.90 m (6-2 3/4).

At College Station, Texas, Texas A&M frosh Athing Mu continues to impress, winning the women’s 600 m at the Texas Aggie Invitational in 1:25.80, shattering the collegiate mark of 1:26.56 by Delisa Walton-Floyd (Tennessee) from 1981! Even so, it’s not as fast as Mu’s 1:23.57 from 2019, the no. 2 performance ever.

Baylor junior K.C. Lightfoot backed up his collegiate record of 5.94 m (19-5 3/4) with a win at 5.90 m (19-4 1/4). He missed three times at 5.05 m (19-6 1/4).

● Badminton ● The $1,000,000 Toyota Thailand Open finished on Sunday with some of the same results as the Yonex Thailand Open a week ago, especially in the men’s and women’s Singles.

Another match between no. 1-ranked Tzu Ying Tai (TPE) and Spain’ 2016 Olympic Champion Carolina Marin ended with another Marin win, this time in straight sets by 21-19, 21-17. The men’s Singles title was won again by Dane Viktor Axelsen, this time in an all-Denmark final against Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghaus, 21-11, 21-7.

More of the same in the doubles finals, as Yang Lee and Chi-Lin Wang took the men’s title for the second week in a row, again over a Malaysian pair, but this time it was Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh, 21-13, 21-18. In Mixed Doubles, the Thai duo of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai took their second straight title, beating Seung-Jae Seo and YuJung Chae (KOR) by 21-16, 22-20.

The only new winners in this week’s tournament were So-Yeong Kim and Hee-Yong Kong (KOR), who won the women’s Doubles over So-Hee Lee and Seung-Chan Shin (KOR), 21-18, 21-19.

● Biathlon ● The IBU World Cup stopped in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy, for the last competition before the World Championships in Slovenia in February.

The women’s competition marked the first World Cup without a Norwegian winner. Austria’s Lisa Theresa Hauser won the 15 km Individual event and was third in the 12.5 km Mass Start as the only women’s double medalist. France’s Julia Simon won the Mass Start event for the second straight week, followed by Swede Hanna Oberg and Hauser. Ukraine’s Yuliia Dzhima won her country’s first World Cup medal of the season – men or women – in the 15 km and Anais Chevalier (FRA) was third. Seasonal leader Marte Olsbu Roeiseland (NOR) was 31st and 7th in the two races, but is still in front.

Seasonal men’s leader Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR) won his fourth race of the season in Sunday’s 15 km Mass Start (35:44.2), trailed by France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet (+31.3) and Slovenia’s Jakov Fak (+44.2). Russian Alexander Loginov won the 20 km Individual race on Friday (48:41.8), almost a minute ahead of Sturla Holm Lagreid (NOR: +58.5) and Fillon Maillet (+1:10.6).

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The IBSF World Cup reached its penultimate stop in Koenigssee (GER), for a full slate of races, but with the usual results: Germany in the winner’s circle.

Superstar Francesco Friedrich piloted the winning men’s 2-man and 4-man sleds once again: that’s 10 of 11 in the 2-man this season and 3 for 3 in the four-man. Countryman Johannes Lochner, his most consistent challenger – and the only pilot to beat Friedrich this season – was second for the sixth time this season in the 2-man, 1:38.69-1:38.89, with Benjamin Maier (AUT) third. Friedrich won the 4-man race over Maier for the second straight week, with Lochner third.

Germany’s Kim Kalicki, who had won medals in five of the prior six races in the 2-women sled, won for the first time this season, edging teammate Stephanie Schneider, 1:41.71-1:41.96. American Elana Meyers Taylor, riding with Sylvia Hoffman, finished third in 1:42.17; Kaillie Humphries and Lauren Gibbs of the U.S. were sixth (1:42.30).

Humphries and Meyers Taylor ran 1-2 in the women’s Monobob races, which will debut in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Humphries won her second race of the season, won both runs and was 0.62 better than Meyers Taylor. Germany’s Schneider was third (+0.75).

For the second consecutive stop, Germans swept the Skeleton races, with Alexander Gassner winning for the second time in a row, and Jacquelline Loelling winning her third medal in the last four races.

Gassner was second-fastest on both runs, totaling 1:39.88, just good enough to get by PyeongChang Olympic champ Sung-bin Yun (1:39.92) and Russian Alexander Tretiakov (1:40.01). Loelling won her 12th career World Cup gold, coming back from third-fastest after the first run to fastest on the second. Her total time of 1:42.30 was 0.47 better than Anna Fernstaedt, a first-time medalist this season, and 0.63 ahead of overall leader Janine Flock (AUT), who finished third (tied with Canadian Jane Chanell). American Katie Uhlaender was seventh (+1.25).

● Football ● The U.S. Women’s National Team defeated Colombia, 6-0, on Friday in Orlando, Florida to sweep the two-friendly series by a combined 10-0 score.

The game got out of hand early, with Catarina Macario scoring her first National Team goal just three minutes in. Megan Rapinoe scored in the 33rd minute and on a penalty just before halftime for a 3-0 advantage. The three second-half goals came from Lynn Williams (60th minute), Lindsey Horan (73rd) and Midge Purce (86), her first National Team score.

The U.S. had 67% of the possession and out-shot the visitors by 33-2. Next up is the SheBelieves Cup, also in Orlando from 18-24 February.

● Freestyle Skiing ● A massive Ski Cross program was held at Idre Fjall (SWE) from 20-24 January, with three competitions each for men and women at the site of this year’s World Championships next month.

The first race was a tight final with French star Bastien Midol crossing first, ahead of Viktor Andersson (SWE) and Francois Place (FRA). But the Saturday and Sunday races both belonged to Canadian Reece Howden, 22, who won his third and fourth career World Cup golds. On Saturday, he finished ahead of Swiss Jonas Lenherr and German Niklas Bachsleitner, and on Sunday, it was Swiss Ryan Regez taking silver and Lenherr collecting the bronze.

Howden, the seasonal points leader, has now won four of the seven races this season.

Four-time World Championships medalist Fanny Smith (SUI) has been even more dominant on the women’s side, winning the first and third races for her fourth and fifth wins in the seven races this season. She won the first race (on the 20th) over Canada’s Marielle Thompson and Swiss Talina Gantenbein, and Sunday’s slide, just ahead of Alizee Baron (FRA) and Thompson.

Saturday’s racing saw Baron win her second career World Cup gold, beating teammate Marielle Berger Sabbatel and Smith to the line.

The Aerials competition in Moscow (RUS) was a showcase for Russian star Maxim Burov, the 2019 World Champion, who won his fourth straight event without a loss this season. He was a clear winner, scoring 126.24, with American Christopher Lillis second (116.74) and Swiss Noe Roth third (103.54).

The U. S. picked up a win in the women’s Aerials, with the aptly-named Winter Vinecki winning her first-ever World Cup medal! Already a noted marathoner and triathlete, the 22-year-old from Michigan scored 94.11 to edge Australia’s Laura Peel (92.72) and Marion Thenault (CAN: 90.59).

● Handball ● The 27th IHF men’s World Championship continues in Egypt, with the group stage complete and the second round almost complete, and the competition heading to the quarterfinals starting on the 27th.

The winners in the group stage included Hungary, Spain, Croatia, Denmark, France, Portugal, Sweden and the “Russian Handball Federation.” In the second round, Hungary and Spain are poised to advance to the knock-out round in Group I, but will finish play on Monday. In Group II, defending champ Denmark is through to the knock-outs, and Monday’s play will determine the second qualifier among Argentina, Croatia and Qatar.

In Group III, France finished undefeated at 5-0 and qualified with Norway (4-1) for the quarterfinals. Sweden (3-0-2) and host Egypt (3-1-1) advanced from Group IV.

● Luge ● The next-to-last World Cup of the season was in Innsbruck, Austria, with mostly the same results: German victories.

German superstar Felix Loch kept his record perfect in the standard races this season with his eighth straight win in 1:39.771, coming from second on the first run to the fastest on run no. 2. He finished just 0.006 better than first-run leader Semen Pavlichenko (RUS) and 0.216 faster than third-placer Johannes Ludwig (GER).

Loch had won one of the two Sprint races coming into the weekend, but managed a bronze this time, with Pavlichenko winning over Italy’s Kevin Fischnaller, 32.341 to 34.421. Loch timed 32.428.

The Doubles provided a huge shock with a win by Italy’s Ludwig Rieder and Patrick Rastner, who had the fastest first run and second-fastest final run to edge the Latvian brothers Andris and Juris Sics, 1:19.436-1:19,517, with seasonal leader Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller third (1:19.520). For Rieder and Rastner, it was their second medal of the season, as they won a bronze in the season-opening Spring race in Innsbruck last November!

Andris and Juris Sics won the Doubles Sprint, ahead of Steu and Koller, with Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken (GER) third.

The women’s race saw a GeGlennrman 1-2 as Natalie Geisenberger won for the second week in a row, 1:19.728-1:19.810 over Julia Taubitz, maintaining Geisenberger’s seasonal lead. American Summer Britcher was third (1:20.014) for the first U.S. medal of the World Cup season; teammate Ashley Farquharson was eighth.

Taubitz came back to win the Sprint, 30.041-30.070 over Geisenberger, with Dajana Eitberger completing the German sweep in third (30.132). Britcher was fourth, Farquharson was seventh and Emily Sweeney eighth for the U.S.

The sliders head to Koenigssee (GER) next week for the World Championships.

● Nordic Skiing ● The FIS Cross Country World Cup continued in Lahti, Finland, after a two-week break following the Tour de Ski, with Norway’s stars returning to the startling line in a big way.

Distance superstar Theresa Johaug won her third gold of the season, in the 15 km Skiathlon, with a 7.5 km Classical and 7.5 km Freestyle leg. She led a Norwegian sweep, followed by Helene Marie Fossesholm and Heidi Weng, but Johaug finished 28.1 seconds ahead of everyone. American Jessie Diggins, the seasonal leader, was fifth, and leads with 991 points over teammate Rosie Brennan (824 points) and Yuliya Stupak (RUS: 802).

The men’s 30 km Skiathlon (15 km Classical + 15 km Freestyle) was another Norwegian sweep, but this time of the top four places, with Emil Iversen first across the line in 1:10:18.4, followed by Sjur Roethe (+0.4), Paal Golberg (+6.6) and Simen Hegsted Krueger (+9.5). It was Iversen’s second medal of the World Cup season and his first win.

The Nordic Combined World Cup was also in Lahti, jumping off the 130 m hill and in a 10 km race, with 2017-18 World Cup champ Akito Watabe (JPN) claiming his first win of the season, by 10.8 seconds over seasonal leader Jarl Magnus Riiber of Norway. Japan’s Ryota Yamamoto was third (+25.1).

The men’s Ski Jumping World Cup, again in Lahti, was a showcase for the best moustache in winter sports – that’s Robert Johansson of Norway – who scored 265.9 on the 130 m hill to best Germans Markus Eisenbichler (264.2) and Karl Geiger (264.0). Norway’s Halvor Egner Granerud still has the seasonal lead by 1,006-796 over Eisenbichler.

The women’s Ski Jumping World Cup tour was in Ljubno (SLO), for the first competition in more than a month, this time off a 94 m hill. Norway’s Eirin Maria Svandal, 19, won her first World Cup gold, scoring 244.2 to edge Ema Klinec (SLO: 242.8) and Marita Kramer (AUT: 238.1).

● Snowboard ● The first and only scheduled Halfpipe event of the season was held in Laax (SUI), along with the first of three events in Slopestyle.

Japan’s Yuko Totsuka, the 2019 Worlds silver medalist, won the Halfpipe at 95.25, 1.5 points up on three-time World Champion Scotty James (AUS: 93.75) and well ahead of teammate Ruka Hirano (JPN: 88.25).

PyeongChang Olympic champ Chloe Kim of the U.S. won the women’s event (and the seasonal title) with a score of 89.75, easily defeating Japan’s Mitsuki Ono (76.50) and Sena Tomita (75.75). It was Kim’s third win at Laax and eight career World Cup gold.

The U.S. also got a gold in the women’s Slopestyle from veteran Jamie Anderson, 30, who collected her 10th World Cup victory. Her second-try jump scored 84.35 and was the best of the day, ahead of Australians Zoi Sadowski Synnott (82.96) and Tess Coady (74.18).

The men’s Slopestyle event was won by Swede Niklas Mattson, his second career World Cup win. He scored 84.28 to out-pace Leon Vockensperger (GER: 78.90) and Norwegian veteran Marcus Kleveland (78.30).

The Snowcross World Cup season finally got started in Chiesa in Valmalenco (ITA), with two events each for men and women. The last two World Cup champions, Italy’s Michela Moioli and Czech Eva Samkova won the two races, with American Faye Gulini second in both. Samkova finished third on Saturday and Julia Pereira (FRA) was third on Sunday.

The men’s Snowcross races were won by Glenn de Blois (NED) on Saturday, his first World Cup medal, at age 25. He edged Eliot Grondin (CAN: 19), who won his second career World Cup podium, and Lorenzo Sommariva (ITA), who took his third career World Cup medal. American veteran Hagen Kearney was fourth.

● Speed Skating ● The ISU World Cup season opened in a sequestered environment for the first of two straight weeks in Heerenveen (NED), with the Dutch sweeping the men’s events, but American Brittany Bowe taking the women’s 1,000 m and 1,500 m.

Bowe, now 32, a three-time World Champion, won the 1,500 m in 1:53.881 over Dutch stars Irene Wust (1:54.575) and Antoinette de Jong (1:54.710), then won the 1,000 m on Sunday ahead of Dutch skaters Jorien ten Mors and Femke Kok, 1:13.607-1:13.943-1:14.076.

Said the winner: “I came into that race really confident. But you never know what you’re going to get or give at World Cup level. For that to be the fastest time I ever did in Thialf, it goes to show that I’m really strong.”

“We had to wear masks in training and only at times where we gave full effort were we allowed to take it off. You just kind of adapt and go. Anytime I started feeling sorry for myself, I would think of the Canadians who had no ice [the Calgary Olympic Oval was shut down in September due to a mechanical malfunction]. Someone’s always got it worse than you.”

Kok won the 500 m over Russian Angelina Golikova, 37.809-37.304, with Bowe finishing 14th. In the 3,000 m, Irene Schouten led a Dutch sweep in 3:57.155, follow by de Jong and Joy Beune, and Schouten won the Mass Start race, ahead of Canada’s Ivanie Blondin.

The men’s sweep by the Netherlands included wins for Dai Dai Ntab at 500 m, Thomas Krol at 1,000 m and 1,500 m (American Joey Mantia was seventh), then Patrick Roest and Sven Kramer finishing 1-2 in the 5,000 m. The Mass Start race was won by Arjan Stroetinga (NED); Mantia finished 15th.

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THE TICKER: Japanese government denies Games cancellation decision, for now; EOPAAA Commission deadline likely extending; USWNT vs. Colombia tonight

Rich Perelman

January 22, 2021

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● In the aftermath of Thursday’s report in The Times (London) that Japan’s ruling coalition had internally decided that the Tokyo Games cannot be held, all of the stakeholders dismissed the report, more or less.

Kyodo News reported Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Manabu Sakai telling reporters:

“We would like to fully deny [The Times report] by saying there is no such fact.

“Of course we have to take into account the situation abroad, and we will decide on whether to actually hold the event at some point, but until then, the Japanese government will do what needs to be done.”

While saying “we will decide on whether to actually hold the event at some point” is hardly a ringing assurance that the Games will be held, a further statement was released, with more vigorous language:

“Some news reports circulating today are claiming that the Government of Japan has privately concluded that the Tokyo Olympics will have to be cancelled because of the coronavirus. This is categorically untrue.”

The IOC added that “Together with its Japanese partners and friends, the IOC is fully concentrated on and committed to the successful delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 this year.”

The International Paralympic Committee issued a lengthy statement, which added some interesting details:

“The IPC, IOC, Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and all delivery partners are fully committed and focussed [sic] on delivering safe and secure Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. This position has not changed and has been confirmed once again today by the IOC, Tokyo 2020 and the Japanese government. …

“In early February, the IOC, IPC and Tokyo 2020 will publish the first editions of Playbooks targeting Games stakeholders. These Playbooks will start to explain exactly how we aim to deliver this summer’s event and outline the personal responsibilities each person attending the Games must follow to ensure safe and secure Games.”

Also on Thursday, Kyodo posted comments from Dick Pound (CAN), the senior member of the IOC concerning spectators at the Games:

“The question is, is this a ‘must-have’ or ‘nice-to-have.’ It’s nice to have spectators. But it’s not a must-have.

“Nobody can guarantee (that the Olympics will go ahead as planned). But I think there’s a very, very, good chance that they can, and that they will. …

“In the end, the decision will be based on risk. And the bottom line, they say, is that it’s better to have the games, even if there are no spectators, than it would be to cancel them because there are no spectators.

“I think the IOC and the organizers are committed to going ahead with the Games, if at all possible. And so they’re not going to cancel unless there’s a consensus among the government, health authorities and the IOC that it would be too dangerous.

“But at the moment, the plans are in place. All the indications are that we should go ahead. There’s no reason why the Games can’t go on.”

That’s probably the best summary of where we are right now. Forgotten in the news cycle of the last 24 hours are the likely prophetic 12 January comments of Tokyo 2020 chair Yoshiro Mori – a former Prime Minister of Japan – regarding spectators, foreign spectators and even the Games:

“I think we will have to make a very difficult decision from February to March.” It’s still January; stay tuned.

As if Thursday’s frenzy over The Times story wasn’t enough, Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui told reporters on Wednesday:

“The whole world is facing unprecedented times. Japan should assume the role of negotiating with the IOC while aiming for 2024.

“The worst-case scenario is to cancel the Olympics. I think that Paris is also facing extreme difficulties for preparations as the host of 2024, so the Games should be pushed back by four years each.”

That would obviously also impact Los Angeles for 2028, and multiple countries with interests in a 2032 Games.

The national Mainichi Shimbun carried a discussion with Japanese Olympic Committee Executive Board member Kaori Yamaguchi – a five-time World Judo Championships finalist at 52 kg – on Wednesday, which included:

“It’s a matter of how you think the games should be. They could probably be held if you’re willing to go through with them in whatever form is possible. I could say that (the games should be postponed) last year because it was just postponement. It was hard to extend contracts with sponsors and so on, to put the games off by a year. This time, the discussion is about whether to hold the games at all, instead of whether to suspend or postpone. Even if I said the games should be canceled, my statement would do nothing but confuse athletes. I think it should be clarified early who will decide this question by what process and by when.”

She added, and this was prior to Thursday’s story in The Times:

“In sports communities as well as in politics, Japanese organizations have a unique character. The prevailing atmosphere has it that talking about this (whether to hold the games) equals ‘being defeatist’ and people avoid the discussion because they don’t want to be considered weak.”

● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● The Commission on the State of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics remains with 10 named members out of the authorized 16, with four members yet to be named by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) and two by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi).

The Commission’s report is due by the end of July, but indications are that the deadline will be pushed back to allow enough time for a thorough process to be concluded. No funding was included in the enabling legislation and this is being worked through now as well. Given the busy schedule of the current Congress, it may be some time before the details are confirmed.

The USOPC tweeted a reply to The Times story about cancellation of the Tokyo Games:

“We have not received any information suggesting the Games will not happen as planned, and our focus remains on the health and preparedness of Team USA athletes ahead of the Games this summer.”

● World Anti-Doping Agency ● Potentially good news for WADA, as the change of U.S. administrations has impacted the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

The director had been Jim Carroll, whose highly-critical report of WADA last year caused a highly-publicized split over the payment of dues by the United States of $2.71 million. But all mention of Carroll was deleted from the agency’s Web site after Wednesday’s inauguration.

Assuming better relations with a new director (and the U.S. dues), WADA will then be able to enter discussions about its concerns with the extra-territorial jurisdiction element of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019.

● Fencing ● The return of Russian opposition leader Alexsei Navalny to Moscow last Sunday (17th) was met with a court order that he be jailed for 30 days.

Forbes reported comments from Kremlin critic Bill Browder, a U.S. hedge-fund manager:

“‘Western governments, particularly the U.S., have realized that Putin holds his money through oligarchs,’ Browder said over the phone on Monday. ‘The best way of hitting Putin is to hit the oligarchs closest to him.’

“In a tweet Monday that quoted Vladimir Ashurkov, an ally of Navalny, Browder circulated the names of potential billionaire targets, including Roman Abramovich (net worth: $13.9 billion), who is the owner of the Chelsea Football Club, and former Arsenal stakeholder Alisher Usmanov (net worth: $16.2 billion).”

If Usmanov’s name sounds familiar, it should. He’s the President of the FIE, the international federation for fencing. He was also the buyer of the original, 1892 copy of Baron Pierre de Coubertin’s Olympic manifesto last February for $8.8 million, which he donated to the Olympic Museum.

● Figure Skating ● A correction to Tuesday’s Heard at Halftime post, which noted that Todd Eldredge won five U.S. national titles. He actually won six, in 1990-91-95-97-98-2002.

The most ever is seven, by Roger Turner (1928-34) and Dick Button (1946-52).

● Football ● The U.S. Women’s National Team will be back in action tonight, playing Colombia in the second of two matches, once against at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida. Game time is 7 p.m. Eastern time, to be shown on ESPN2.

The U.S. won Monday’s match, 4-0, thanks to three goals from Sam Mewis and one by older sister Kristie Mewis.

The first game of 2021 for the U.S. Men’s National Team was announced, against Trinidad & Tobago on 31 January, also at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, at 7 p.m. Eastern time. A limited audience of 4,500 will be permitted in the stadium.

“In light of recent media speculation about the creation of a closed European “Super League” by some European clubs, FIFA and the six confederations (AFC, CAF, Concacaf, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA) once again would like to reiterate and strongly emphasize that such a competition would not be recognised by either FIFA or the respective confederation. Any club or player involved in such a competition would as a consequence not be allowed to participate in any competition organised by FIFA or their respective confederation.”

This statement was posted on the UEFA Web site yesterday, drawing a line in the sand vis-a-vis a proposed European “Super League” that would include 20 clubs, with 15 permanent members such as Real Madrid, Manchester United and Liverpool. This would be a multi-billion-dollar league, playing 18-23 games per year, compared to a minimum of six in the existing UEFA Champions League.

This is all about money, of course, and FIFA and the continental confederations are out to protect their own competitions – which benefit national federations rather than clubs – and the FIFA World Cup, a competition between national teams.

● Ice Hockey ● A member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Council indicated that Belarus would receive compensation for losing the co-hosting rights for the 2021 IIHF men’s World Championship.

Petr Briza (CZE) told sport.cz: “These are not sanctions, but a compensation for the Belarusian organizers. This is clearly written down in the agreements. We are waiting for a report and analysis [of the decision to abandon Minsk as a site] from the office of the IIHF Secretary General, which will define the volume of expenses and [financial] consequences of this decision in the coming weeks.”

An offer from Lithuania for co-hosting with Latvia will not be considered according to IIHF President Rene Fasel, who told the Russian TASS news agency, “We are already in discussions with Denmark, Latvia and Slovakia. We had experience in Denmark and Slovakia in 2018 and 2019.”

Fasel said that the decision on the arrangements for the 2021 Worlds will be discussed by the IIHF Council on the 26th or 27th of January.

● Modern Pentathon ● The question of Belarus and world championships has reached modern pentathlon, which had scheduled its 2021 Worlds in Minsk. UIPM President Klaus Schormann (GER) said in a Friday statement that “the [Executive Board] voted to move the UIPM Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships in Minsk to a future date because of a growing concern that the present instability in the host nation could jeopardise the success of UIPM’s flagship competition.”

The plan is to hold the 2021 on the same dates of 7-13 June, but at another site. The federation also committed itself to awarding a future Worlds to Minsk, when conditions are stabilized.

● Skiing ● After the December cancellation of the 2021 FIS Freestyle and Snowboard World Championships in China, new sites were needed. FIS announced this week that the Freestyle Ski Cross and Snowboard SnowCross Worlds will be held from 11-13 February in Idre Fjall, a favored spot for World Cup competitions.

On Wednesday, the planned replacement Worlds for the other Freestyle and Snowboard events in Calgary (CAN) was also cancelled. A replacement for the replacement – scheduled for 24 February to 11 March – has not yet been announced.

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THE LATEST INTEL: Bach says Tokyo Games will go on; The Times (London) reports Japanese govt. ready to go to 2032

Rich Perelman

January 21, 2021

In an interview published by Japan’s Kyodo News Service early Thursday morning (21st) – Tokyo time – International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (GER) said:

“We have at this moment, no reason whatsoever to believe that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will not open on the 23rd of July in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.

“This is why there is no plan B and this is why we are fully committed to make these games safe and successful. …

“You may not like it but sacrifices will be needed. This is why I’m saying, safety first, and no taboo in the discussion to ensure safety.”

A few hours later, The Times (London) reported:

“The Japanese government has privately concluded that the Tokyo Olympics will have to be cancelled because of the coronavirus, and the focus is now on securing the Games for the city in the next available year, 2032.”

The two-paragraph story attributed the decision to a “senior member of the ruling coalition” and emphasized that a delicate way out of the hosting duties is being discussed, which would no doubt also end the hosting of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo as well.

As of 5 p.m. Pacific time, the IOC has not posted any statement on its Web site, or on its Twitter feed. What is true is that any decision to cancel must come from the Japanese and would require a coordination of the national government, Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the organizing committee, not only with the IOC, but with the hundreds of venues, sponsors and contractors who would be left in limbo by the abandonment of the Games this year.

The IOC does have significant event-cancellation insurance, but the impact of missing a Games would wreak financial havoc with most of the International Federations and many of the National Olympic Committees, including the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

Conveniently, the IOC Executive Board is scheduled to meet next Wednesday, 27 January. Stay tuned …

LANE ONE: Canadian calls for a Beijing 2022 boycott echo Jimmy Carter almost exactly 41 years ago

Rich Perelman

January 21, 2021

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Just by chance, last week’s comments by the chief executive of the Canada Olympic Committee against a boycott of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in China came almost exactly 41 years after U.S. President Jimmy Carter forcefully proposed a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games.

In the case of Canada, it’s both principle and personal. There is continuing concern among Canadian ministers and Members of Parliament over the crackdown on Hong Kong, and the persecution of the Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region, labeled as “genocide” by outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday (19th).

Then there is this:

“How can we even contemplate sending the cream of our athletes, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looking on, and watching them gleefully enter Beijing’s Olympic Stadium for glitzy opening ceremonies while Canadians remain behind bars in a Chinese prison?”

That’s from Alan Freeman, a former Assistant Deputy Minister in Canada’s Department of Finance and now an Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa, writing last October.

The “Canadians behind bars” refers to the “two Michaels”: Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat who was working as an adviser for the International Crisis Group think tank, and businessman Michael Spavor. They were detained by the Chinese government in 2018 shortly after Canadian police picked up Huawei Technologies’ Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. warrant.

Freeman noted that “the British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, suggested that if evidence continues to mount that the rights of Uyghur Muslims are being trampled, the U.K. will consider boycotting the Games. ‘Generally speaking, my instinct is to separate sport from diplomacy and politics, but there comes a point when this is not possible,’ Raab told a parliamentary committee.

“In Australia, where anti-China sentiments are even more ingrained than in Canada, Parliament will soon be asked to support a boycott of the Games. ‘The time has come for the freedom-loving countries to say to Beijing: ‘Enough is enough,’‘ according to an Australian Liberal senator, Eric Abetz. He also wondered why individual Australian athletes would want to lend their credibility to such a regime.”

These are elected officials and ministers talking, not athletes. Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive David Shoemaker told CTV News in a statement issued last week (13th):

“We have concerns about what we are hearing is occurring in the host country and we know the Government of Canada is addressing these issues on a government-to-government basis.

“The Canadian Olympic Committee believes that sport has a unique power to bring the world together, to create dialogue and build understanding through important people-to-people connections. …

“Past Olympic boycotts such as Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 punished athletes, further entrenched governments in their positions, and achieved little else. If the end goal is to see a change, we believe a boycott would be counterproductive.”

Yesterday, 20 January, marked exactly 41 years since U.S. President Carter told NBC’s Bill Monroe on “Meet the Press”:

“Neither I nor the American people would support the sending of an American team to Moscow with Soviet invasion troops in Afghanistan. I’ve sent a message today to the United States Olympic Committee spelling out my own position: that unless the Soviets withdraw their troops within a month from Afghanistan, that the Olympic Games be moved from Moscow to an alternate site or multiple sites or postponed or canceled. If the Soviets do not withdraw their troops immediately from Afghanistan within a month, I would not support the sending of an American team to the Olympics. It’s very important for the world to realize how serious a threat the Soviets’ invasion of Afghanistan is.”

In Carter’s letter to the USOC, he noted:

“In the Soviet Union international sports competition is itself an aspect of Soviet Government policy, as is the decision to invade Afghanistan. The head of the Moscow Olympic Organizing Committee is a high Soviet Government official.

“The Soviet Government attaches enormous political importance to the holding of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, and if the Olympics are not held in Moscow because of Soviet military aggression in Afghanistan, this powerful signal of world outrage cannot be hidden from the Soviet people, and will reverberate around the globe. Perhaps it will deter future aggression.”

Nelson Ledsky, head of the Olympic Task Force in the U.S. State Department said at the time: “There is something repellent about Soviet troops in Afghanistan at the same time flights of doves are being let loose in Moscow.”

In a speech a few months later, Carter quoted from the 1980 edition of the Handbook for Party Militants in the Communist Party:

“The idealogical struggle between East and West is directly involved in the selection of the cities where the Olympic Games take place. The decision to award the Olympic Games to the capital of the world’s first socialist state is convincing testimony of the general recognition of the historic importance and correctness of the foreign policy course of our country, and of the enormous service of the Soviet Union in the struggle for peace.”

A study of government documents related to the boycott, compiled in 1982 by Ray Morrison at the University of Illinois, noted that alternatives had been proposed:

“Some U.S. athletes proposed that they be allowed to participate in the Moscow Games, but not take part in the opening, closing or medal ceremonies.

“The National Olympic Committees of several European countries suggested that the Games be held in Moscow but without the usual political trappings. All nations would march under the Olympic flag, all athletes would wear the same uniform, no national anthem would be played, and no flags would be raised at the medal ceremonies. The I.O.C. decided to allow teams the option of not using the national flags or anthems at Olympic ceremonies, but ruled out the other suggestions.”

In retrospect, the 1980 Olympic boycott did not move the Soviets to retreat from Afghanistan, and the retaliatory boycott of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles by most of the Warsaw Pact countries kept their athletes home (but also prevented performances by what would have been the most thoroughly-doped-up teams in history).

So the question is raised about how governments can show their displeasure with Olympic hosts while still supporting their athletes?

It’s actually quite difficult if you look at the Olympic Charter (2020 edition), which requires National Olympic Committees such as Canada, in Rule 27.6:

“The NOCs must preserve their autonomy and resist all pressures of any kind, including but not limited to political, legal, religious or economic pressures which may prevent them from complying with the Olympic Charter.”

Let’s say the Canadian government required its 2022 Winter Games team to wear a uniform that included “Free the two Michaels.” That would run afoul of Rule 27.6 quoted above as well as the already-under-scrutiny Rule 50.2, which states:

“No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”

Banning Chinese athletes from competing in Canada would no doubt be looked at as grounds for suspending the Canadian Olympic Committee due to government interference with the Olympic Charter.

It’s a difficult position that the International Olympic Committee has, in fact, been unable to solve since the infamous 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin; awarded to the city during the Weimar Republic, but then held under the Nazi government by the time the event took place. And political issues bedeviled the 1976, 1980 and 1984 Games and could have carried on to the 1988 Games in Seoul, Korea if not for vigorous diplomacy by then-IOC chief Juan Antonio Samaranch of Spain.

Beyond the usual economic and diplomatic sanctions, a country can prevent any of its government officials from attending a Games. Or require its domestic broadcaster to include messages about its view of the host in its coverage. Or fly a special flag at its embassies and consulates in the host country, or in countries around the world during the Games. It could issue postage stamps or coins calling for change in China (these actually would have some serious worldwide implications!). A special Olympic pin, perhaps? All of these are beyond the scope of the IOC, which will not appreciate these gestures, but also cannot do anything about them.

The IOC Executive Board may need to consider the Beijing 2022 political situation in its upcoming deliberations about any changes to Rule 50.2 of the Charter. Even the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s own request for allowing protests at the Games does not handle this situation cleanly:

Any of the above-noted actions by Canada that are aimed at the 2022 Winter Games would certainly be condemned by China as “divisive” and “political statements” and possibly by its allies as well.

It’s an unhappy place for everyone: athletes, officials, governments such as Canada which allocate millions of dollars annually to support its Olympic athletes, the IOC, the Beijing organizers, the winter-sport federations, and of course the Chinese government, which has its own ideas about what right and wrong are from their perspective.

In his “Meet the Press” interview back in 1980, Carter said “I do not want to inject politics into the Olympics” – just as he was doing so – and suggested Greece as a permanent site for the Games. That’s not going to happen, but perhaps the best post-2022 hope for more tranquility might be IOC chief Thomas Bach’s reform of the Games bidding process which has eliminated head-to-head votes, but instead develops host selections through discussions that lead to a simple confirmation by the IOC membership.

Bach has said he prefers this approach in order to ensure there are “no losers.” The IOC itself may be among those being saved as well, if it can get past the Covid-ravaged Tokyo Games and the now-in-controversy Beijing Winter Games in 2022.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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THE BIG PICTURE: Former USOC Executive Director Baaron Pittenger passes at 95

Rich Perelman

January 20, 2021

tsx pix 2021-120 pittenger, baaaron 1987 (750) — Baaron Pittenger, Jr. (1925-2021). (Photo: USOC Fact Book 1987)

Baaron Pittenger, Jr., whose long career in sports included two stints as Executive Director of the United States Olympic Committee, passed away at age 95 on 15 January 2021.

The notice of his death was posted by the Swan-Law Funeral Directors in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He followed his wife of 72 years, Anne, who passed in September 2019 (at 92) and their son, Baaron III, who died of cancer in 2016 at 55. He is survived by his daughter-in-law Sara Thompson Pittenger, and grandson Baaron Steven Pittenger.

Pittenger came to the USOC in 1977 after a very successful career in collegiate athletics, having served as the Sports Information Director at Brown University from 1955-59 and at Harvard University from 1959-70, then as Associate Director of Athletics from 1970-77.

He was hired by Executive Director Don Miller to come west to Colorado as the USOC moved from its long-time New York office on Park Avenue to abandoned Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. Pittenger was initially the Director of Special Events, but quickly was assisting former Olympic decathlon champion Bob Mathias in the renovation of the base.

“It was a mess,” Pittenger recalled to the Denver Post in 2008. “There was chain-link fence with barbed wire all around the area. The base had been abandoned for a while, and many of the buildings were unusable. There was an awful lot of work to be done to refurbish the usable buildings just to bring them up to reasonable standards.

“In one instance, the light fixture in a building we were looking at suddenly caught on fire. That pretty much was the state of things.”

Not only did the base become functional as office space, it was turned into the United States Olympic Training Center and has been continuously expanded to include dining, sports medicine and National Governing Body headquarters.

Beyond the rehabilitation of the base, Pittenger was the organizer of the first National Sport Festival in 1978, a project designed to give American athletes a summer competition in the United States and a taste of what an Olympic or Pan American Games experience would feel like. Some 1,803 athletes attended the first Festival, expanding to 2,125 in Colorado Springs in 1979, televised to a national audience on NBC, which had the U.S. rights to the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.

By 1981, Pittenger had become the USOC’s Assistant Executive Director, responsible for many more departments and remained in that position when Don Miller retired in 1985 and was replaced by George Miller (no relation). When the latter resigned in August 1987, Pittenger became Executive Director through the end of the year when Harvey Schiller took over as Executive Director.

But Schiller returned to his prior post as Commissioner of the Southeastern Conference on 21 January 1988 and Pittenger once again became Executive Director.

This time, he served all of 1988 and 1989, with Schiller returning to take over at the beginning of 1991.

Pittenger was competent, very competent. Approachable. Gentle. Considerate. Calm. A very good listener. A consensus builder. More comfortable behind the scenes than in front of a camera, although he was good when needed. Clear-thinking, he said “no” often, but always with a kind manner.

The USOC was in a significant growth period during his tenure as interest in the U.S. of all things Olympic grew following the success of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid and the revolutionary 1984 Games in Los Angeles. His National Sports Festival had expanded dramatically into the United States Olympic Festival, held in larger U.S. cities such as Houston, Raleigh-Durham, Oklahoma City and Minneapolis.

Pittenger left the USOC and became Executive Director of USA Hockey from 1990-93, and chaired the USOC’s anti-doping committee from 1994-2000 before really retiring in Colorado Springs.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri in 15 July 1925, but raised in Connecticut, Pittenger had come a long way since attending Penn State (‘47) and then working as a reporter in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and Hartford, Connecticut, before moving to Brown. He was a member of the NCAA Public Relations Committee from 1959-65 and chair of the committee in his last two years.

Those who knew Pittenger described him as a “great gentleman”; his easygoing, understated manner overshadowed his insight and ability to create a cohesive executive team while asserting a calming influence on the U.S. Olympic Movement during a time of great change.

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: German doping doctor gets 58-month sentence; 146 more IWF doping cases; U.S. women footballers d. Colombia, 4-0

Rich Perelman

January 19, 2021

(For our review of last weekend’s competition highlights, click here.)

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

● Doping ● The German physician at the center of the cycling and Nordic skiing doping investigation known as “Operation Aderlass” was found guilty and sentenced last Friday (15th) to four years and 10 months in prison.

Dr. Mark Schmidt, 42, admitted that he had been operating a doping program in multiple sports since 2012. CyclingNews.com reported:

“In a Munich court, the 42-year-old was found guilty on 24 counts of using doping methods and a further two counts of prohibited use of drugs.

“He was also fined €158,000 [~$190,965 U.S.] and banned from practicing medicine for a further three years. Four of his helpers were also sanctioned – two with suspended prison sentences and two – including Schmidt’s father – with fines of between €5,000-10,000.”

The ring was broken during the 2019 FIS World Nordic Skiing Championships when Austrian police raided team hotels and German authorities later raided Schmidt’s office in Erfurt.

The World Anti-Doping Agency tweeted:

“Assisted by WADA, Operation Aderlass was a joint investigation led by the Austrian Criminal Police Office and German Prosecution Office, targeting a criminal group involved in a blood doping scheme in different sports across several European countries. …

“WADA encourages and supports Governments in using their legislative powers to strengthen the global anti-doping system as it relates to the athlete’s entourage and this is a clear example of strong, sensible legislation working for the protection of clean sport and athletes.”

As if the International Weightlifting Federation needed any more bad news, the International Testing Authority – which now runs the IWF anti-doping program under contract – announced on Monday that it was working through a staggering total of 146 new doping cases.

These are an outgrowth of the January 2020 documentary, “Lord of the Lifters” aired on the German ARD channel and the subsequent investigation led by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren.

The ITA announced specific actions in three cases. Thai lifter Rattikan (Siripuch) Gulnoi – the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist at 58 kg – charged with an anti-doping violation; she is already provisionally suspended. Lifters Dumitru Captari (ROM: European Champion at 77 kg in 2017) and Nijat Rahimov (KAZ: 2015 World 77 kg winner and 2016 Olympic 77 kg champ) have been charged with urine-swapping violations dating from 2016. Both of them are also under provisional suspension.

According to the statement, “The review of these 146 files discovered in the wake of the McLaren report is progressing and the ITA should be able to complete it and resolve the pending matters by spring 2021.”

The Swiss Federal Tribunal released details of its decision to vacate the Court of Arbitration for Sport judgement and eight-year suspension of Chinese swimmer Yang Sun on Friday, explaining:

“[T]he arbitrator had taken up the cause of animal protection in the contested tweets. In principle, an arbitrator can also defend his convictions on social networks, but with the restraint required of judges. The choice of words and the repeated use of violent expressions is problematic in the specific case. In his tweets, the arbitrator castigates a Chinese practice of dog slaughter and denounces the consumption of this meat at a local festival in China. Some expressions refer to the skin colour of certain Chinese people he targets. In addition, the arbitrator also made the said remarks in tweets after his appointment as president of the panel of arbitrators deciding in the Sun Yang case. In view of all the relevant circumstances, the Federal Supreme Court therefore considered that the doubts as to the impartiality of the arbitrator were objectively justified.”

The arbitrator in question was Italian Franco Frattini, and the Swiss Federal Tribunal ordered that “The CAS will therefore have to render a new award in a different composition of the panel in the doping case against Sun Yang.”

The watered-down sanctions against Russia ordered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport were further exploited last week as Reuters reported:

“Russian athletes on Thursday proposed playing patriotic folk song ‘Katyusha’ at international sporting events for the next two years, while Russia’s national anthem is banned over doping violations.

“’Katyusha’ is a song that gained huge popularity during World War Two and, according to some accounts, inspired the name of the Soviet Union’s Katyusha rocket launchers.”

Written in 1938, the Wikipedia entry about the song describes it as:

“The song is about a Russian woman called Katyusha. Standing on a steep riverbank, she sends her song to her beloved, a soldier serving far away. The theme of the song is that the soldier will protect the Motherland and its people while his grateful girl will keep and protect their love.”

So while the Russian anthem in banned, a possible substitute is a patriotic song from World War II. If the U.S. was in the same situation, would the “Battle Hymm of the Republic” be appropriate?

● Athletics ● U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials winner Aliphine Tuliamuk, 31, gave birth to a baby daughter Zoe Cherotich Gannon on 13 January.

She and fiancé Tim Gannon planned the pregnancy and she expects to race at the Tokyo Games.

● Bobsled ● Sunday’s third women’s World Cup Monobob race at Park City, Utah was won by Jamaica’s Carrie Russell (1:49.08), who had been second on Saturday. American Nicole Vogt was second, 19/100ths behind, after winning the first two races. Brazil’s Marina Silva was third (1:49.83), winning her third medal in three races, after a second and third.

● Figure Skating ● /Updated/ The U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada are continuing this week with junior competitions. Nathan Chen’s victory in the men’s Singles was his fifth in a row – at age 21! – and moves him into very elite company. Five straight wins had not been done since Dick Button won seven in a row from 1946-52. It had been done three times prior to World War II, by Sherwin Badger from 1920-24, by Roger Turner from 1928-34 and Robin Lee from 1935-39. Todd Eldredge won six titles, but not in a row, from 1990-91-95-97-98-2002.

Alexa Scimera Knierim won her fourth Pairs title; three with now-husband Chris Knierim and her first this year with new partner Brandon Frazier, who won his second title (with Haven Denny in 2017).

Four titles in Pairs has been done multiple times before; the most recent was by Kyoko Ina, who won five non-consecutive titles as recently as 1997-98 and 2000-01-02; the first two were with Jason Dungjen and the last three with John Zimmerman.

U.S. Figure Skating agreed to pay $1.45 million to settle a 2019 suit by former skater Adam Schmidt over sexual abuse from famed coach Richard Callaghan. This is in addition to the $1.75 million settlement that Schmidt received from the Onyx Ice Arena in Michigan, where he trained.

The federation and Callaghan were sued last July by former skater Craig Maurizi over abuse from the 1970s and 1980s.

Callaghan was suspended by U.S. Figure Skating in 2018, with further investigation now in the hands of the U.S. Center for SafeSport.

● Football ● The U.S. Women’s National Team opened its 2021 season with an easy win in a friendly with Covid-thinned Colombia in Orlando, Florida, by 4-0.

The American women took charge quickly, as Sam Mewis scored on a left-footed shot from the middle of the box in the fifth minute, off a cross from the left side from Megan Rapinoe. After numerous missed chances, Carli Lloyd took a left-side cross from Lindsay Horan in the middle of the box and headed the ball to Mewis – standing in front of the foal – who finished with a header of her own in the 33rd minute for a 2-0 edge.

The U.S. had 63% of the possession in the first half and an 11-0 advantage in shots.

Mewis got a hat trick with a penalty kick in the 46th minute after Lindsey Horan was brought down in the box following an aggressive charge into the Colombian half on the second-half kickoff. Kristie Mewis – Sam’s older sister – added a fourth goal in the 86th minute, left-footing an end-line laser from Carli Lloyd into the goal.

The U.S. ended with 64% possession time and a 22-0 shutout on shots. It was the 38th career shutout for American keeper Alyssa Naeher, and one of the easiest.

It was the first U.S. home game since March of 2020, and the U.S. women now have a 33-match unbeaten streak and 49-game home unbeaten streak, and a 6-0-1 all-time record against Colombia. U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski is now 12-0-0 to start his tenure, which began in October, 2019.

The U.S. will play Colombia again on Friday – also in Orlando – beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern time and televised on ESPN2.

CONCACAF announced on Thursday that the men’s Olympic qualifying tournament for Tokyo will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico from 18-30 March, with initial play in two groups:

● Group A: Mexico, United States, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic
● Group B: Honduras, Canada, El Salvador, Haiti

The top two in each group will advance to the semifinals, and the two semifinal winners will qualify for the Tokyo Games. These are U-23 teams, although with the delay of the Games for a year, players under 24 will be eligible for the Olympic Tournament, with three overage players also allowed.

This item was reported by the Russian News Agency TASS; it speaks for itself:

“The Russian Supreme Court has ruled that it is illegal to fire employees for attending a football match under condition that the employee agreed to take an unpaid day off, the court’s press service told TASS.

“‘The Supreme Court studied the case of a Yeisk resident who was dismissed for missing a working day for travelling to attend a football match. According to the court’s decision, if the employee warned the manager in advance and, even more so, agreed to take an unpaid day off, it should not count as a missed day of work. In this case, the planned and organized trip to a football match is a sound reason to leave the workplace before the end of working hours,’ the agency was told.”

Does this apply to other sports?

● Ice Hockey ● “Due to safety and security issues that are beyond the IIHF’s control, the IIHF Council confirmed today that the decision to move the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship from Minsk, Belarus is unavoidable. The decision was reached by Council following the conclusion of an extensive due diligence process.”

The International Ice Hockey Federation’s announcement on Monday removes the 2021 men’s Worlds from Belarus in view of the continuing unrest there after the controversial election of Alexander Lukashenko to a sixth term last August. The Latvian government notified the IIHF last September that it would not co-host the tournament with Belarus.

Pressure was also applied to the IIHF by at least three of its sponsors, including automobile maker Skoda, personal care products maker Nivea and car additive company Liqui Moly, said they would cancel their involvement if games were played in Belarus.

The change leaves the tournament in Riga (LAT) as planned and the federation could choose to hold the event there, or add co-hosts, possibly in Denmark (which hosted in 2018), Slovakia (host in 2019) or elsewhere. The event is scheduled for 21 May to 6 June.

● Swimming ● Twice Olympic gold medalist Klete Keller turned himself in to authorities last Thursday (14th) and was formally charged with one felony and two misdemeanors related to his presence during the riots at the U.S. Capitol on 6 January. He was reported to have been released without bond.

Errata: Reader – and FINA Bureau member – Dale Neuburger corrected our Thursday story which stated that Keller’s five Olympic medals were in relays. In fact, Keller won three relay medals (two gold) and scored bronze medals in 2000 and 2004 in the 400 m Freestyle.

● U.S. Collegiate Sport ● Lots of reporting last week on one of the early cases of a college athlete earning money from her name/image/likeness: freshman volleyball player Chloe Mitchell of Aquinas College of Grand Rapids, Michigan, an NAIA school.

The NAIA rules were changed in October to allow name/image/likeness payments and in Mitchell’s case, it had nothing to do with volleyball. She has 2.7 million followers on TikTok. She earned the huge following from videos during last Spring while she was renovating a shed in her backyard. The story noted that her father, Keith, “co-founded a company and mobile application with his daughter called PlayBooked that helps athletes connect with social media sponsors — a tool that his daughter says has been a big advantage.”

She got a first sponsor in the beverage packing reduction/printing company Smart Cups – for $3,000 – and with the new rules, is no longer worried about losing her volleyball eligibility. The story notes that:

“Mitchell exemplifies what may become a common trend among future college athletes: balancing school, sport and significant, but modest, social media side hustles — rather than the full-time scenarios athletic administrators have historically warned of.”

The NCAA expected to adopt new rules this month, but announced a delay last week after a warning of possible anti-trust action by the U.S. Department of Justice.

● XXII Commonwealth Games: Birmingham 2022 ● Ian Ward, the leader of the Birmingham (ENG) City Council said on Friday (15th):

”We can’t be certain what is going to happen going forward – indeed, the Olympic Games that were postponed to the summer of this year are now looking in some doubt again – so we can’t be certain.

“Who knows what will happen next? There may be another variant to the virus and we may all be back to square one.

“But I’m going to take an optimistic view and optimistically look to the future and the hosting of the Commonwealth Games, as a benefit not just for Birmingham but for the whole of the region.”

With the 2022 Games still a year and a half away, any decision on a cancellation or delay is a long ways off, but even 2022 events are now being considered for review. BirminghamLive reported that £218 million [~ $297 million U.S.] of public money is being spent on the 2022 Games.

● At the BuZZer ● The latest chuckle among the U.S. track & field cognoscenti is “Have you heard about Michigan’s Tom Brady?”

No, not the Super Bowl-winning quarterback who played at Michigan from 1996-99, but a sophomore in Ann Arbor, who debuted with a win at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational on Saturday with a lifetime best of 7:58.06 at 3,000 m.

So when you hear about Tom Brady and Michigan, be sure to ask about which one!

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LANE ONE: Ex-IOC member Gosper thinks United Nations could help “in arbitrating whether the Games go ahead or not”

Rich Perelman

January 18, 2021

Rule 58 of the 2020 edition of the Olympic Charter reads:

“The authority of last resort on any question concerning the Olympic Games rests with the IOC.”

Rule 7.2 states, “The Olympic Games are the exclusive property of the IOC which owns all rights relating thereto, in particular, and without limitation …”

Which makes the recent comments by Australia’s Kevan Gosper, an important and trusted member of the International Olympic Committee from 1977 to 2013, twice an IOC Vice President and now an Honorary Member, all the more amazing. On Saturday (16th), he said on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio program, “The Ticket“:

“If you are looking for a third party that recognises this has gone beyond an issue just related to sport, or just related to national interests … then there could be a case to go to the United Nations and seek their involvement in arbitrating whether the [Tokyo] Games go ahead or not.

“It’s in the interests of the general health of the athletes, administrators, viewers, and the rest of the world because we are talking about something that is potentially going to involve representatives of 205 countries.

“We’ve done this before in the IOC, we’ve gone to the United Nations to give us assistance.

“We did that with the set-up of the refugees representation at the Games, we did it — and I was personally involved — with getting East Timor up even though they weren’t a national entity to take part in the Sydney Games, and we are not strangers in our relationships with the United Nations.

“There are only two players in this — Tokyo and the IOC — and frankly with all of the uncertainties and the extra costs it’ll only take one of them to blink and then the whole thing will come unstuck.”

Gosper, now 87, is not someone to be taken lightly. An Olympic track & field silver medalist from 1956 in the 4×400 m relay, he also competed in 1960, and was the Chair and Chief Executive of the massive oil firm Shell Australia from 1980-91.

Gosper knows the IOC and knows his comment will stir reaction:

“Always there will be a pushback because the IOC and John Coates [an Australian IOC vice-president and Tokyo Coordination Commission chair] exemplifies this, he doesn’t like any outside interference but this is not interference.

“This I would believe is a resort to good advice, good counsel and maybe good decision-making, which takes the stress out of the only two parties who are involved at the moment.

“We must credit the Japanese for the way they’ve held their nerve. I think if it wasn’t Tokyo in charge we might have had a closed shop by now.”

True enough. Japan’s fortitude and perseverance are admirable, and if you read athlete posts on social media, they desperately want the Tokyo Games to happen if acceptable, safe circumstances are possible.

So what about the U.N.?

IOC chief Thomas Bach (GER) wrote in 2016 about the organization’s relationship with the United Nations, including:

“Although IOC had been granted Permanent Observer status by the General Assembly in 2009, this first-ever memorandum of understanding between the United Nations and IOC [in 2014] created a formal framework for collaboration in many important areas where sport can promote social integration and economic development. Such areas include quality education, health, the empowerment of women and girls, and peacebuilding. Under this framework, IOC, together with National Olympic Committees, international sports federations, Organising Committees and individual athletes, will work together with Member States, Special Envoys, Special Advisers and Goodwill Ambassadors, as well as United Nations specialized agencies, funds and programmes.”

Deciding whether an Olympic Games can or should be held is not listed.

Former IOC marketing chief Michael Payne, still very much in touch with what happens at Olympic House in Lausanne, responded on Twitter:

“The UN has been a useful ally to the Olympics over the years, but think it might be a bit if a stretch to imagine the covid bug is going to respect the [U.N.-adopted] Olympic Truce.”

In fact, Bach has been crystal clear on who will advise the IOC and Japan on what happens with the Games. He said so last March when the decision to postpone the Games from 2020 to 2021 was announced:

“What made us taking this decision were the developments, with the dynamic spreading of the coronavirus [in Africa]. We have always, from the very beginning, communicated that we are monitoring the situation day by day and 24 hours a day and that we will adapt there to any changes and that we will follow the advice of the World Health Organization.”

That’s it. Who will help the IOC and Tokyo decide what to do? W.H.O., indeed. The United Nations has no role on this, nor should it.

Bach himself will see to that. As he told reporters during a news conference in early March of 2020: “I can assure you I will not get tired and to repeat the statement I made: the IOC is fully committed and we are not participating in any kind of speculation.”

The decision to postpone the Games was announced on 24 March of 2020. The Olympic Torch Relay is scheduled to start on Thursday, 25 March 2021. The situation in place then will determine whether the Opening Ceremony takes place on 23 July.

Bach knows it. The Tokyo organizers, and the local and national governments know it. And as Gosper said, they are the ones who count.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: Chen storms to fifth U.S. men’s figure skating title; world TJ record for Zango; Maroulis wins Nice 57 kg gold by 40-1!

Rich Perelman

January 17, 2021

tsx pix 120918 chen nathan isu gp final (ISU) 750 — Five-time U.S. National Champion Nathan Chen (Photo: ISU)

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Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

International sport has not returned to a full schedule, but at least this week was refreshingly busy, with quite a bit of late-finishing action in the U.S.!

● Alpine Skiing ● After Tuesday’s Slalom win for American star Mikaela Shiffrin in Flachau (AUT), the FIS Alpine World Cup tour for women was supposed to head for Maribor in Slovenia, but was moved to Kranjska Gora instead for two Giant Slalom races.

Italy’s Marta Bassino had won two of the prior three GS races this season, with Shiffrin winning the other and Bassino was all in for this weekend’s races. She immediately took the lead in Saturday’s race with the fastest time on the first run and then was second-fastest on the second by just 0.05 to win easily, 2:11.90-2:12.70 over France’s Tessa Worley and Swiss Michelle Gisin. Shiffrin was fourth on the first run, but only 12th on the second and finished sixth.

On Sunday, Bassino trailed after the first run by 0.30 as Shriffin skied brilliantly and had the lead. But the Italian came back with the fastest second run in the field and won again in 2:18.06, with Gisin moving from third to second overall (2:18.72). Shiffrin faded on the second run, with the 15th-fastest time, and was sixth again, as Meta Hrovat (SLO) ended up third.

The men’s tour was supposed to be in Kitzbuehel (AUT) for Slalom races on the weekend, but these had to be moved to Flachau. Home favorite Manuel Feller won Saturday’s race for his first career World Cup gold, followed by France’s Clement Noel and Marco Schwarz (AUT). Sunday’s race was another first career gold, this time for Norway’s Sebastian Foss-Solevag, with Schwarz second and World Cup overall leader Alexis Pinturault (FRA) third, his fifth medal of the season.

● Athletics ● The first world record of 2021 came in a small meet in Aubiere, France as Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso triple-jumped 18.07 m (59-3 1/2), the first ever to surpass 18 m indoors.

He was already the easy winner at 17.70 m (58-1) in the fifth round, then zoomed to 18.07 m for the eighth-best jump in history, moving him to no. 6 on the all-time list. Zango, 27, was the 2019 World Championships bronze medalist and improved on the 17.92 m (58-9 1/2) mark by his coach, Teddy Tamgho (FRA), in 2011.

At the Texas Tech Corky Classic in Lubbock, Texas, 2019 USATF Nationals bronze medalist K.C. Lightfoot set a U.S. collegiate indoor record by clearing 5.94 m (19-5 3/4) on his first try. That’s one centimeter better than the 5.93 m (19-5 1/2) by Chris Nilsen (South Dakota) cleared in 2020 and places Lightfoot, a junior at Baylor, no. 10 on the all-time U.S. list.

● Badminton ● The BWF World Tour finally kicked off in Bangkok this week, at the Super 1000-level Yonex Thailand Open.

Although far from complete, the field still included many of the sport’s stars, and the women’s final was a tantalizing clash between no. 1-ranked Tzu Ying Tai (TPE) and the 2016 Olympic champ, Spain’s Carolina Marin. Now fully recovered from injury, Marin dominated the match, winning in straight sets by 21-9 and 21-16.

The men’s Singles final was a straight-sets win for world no. 4 Viktor Axelsen (DEN) over no. 8 Ka Long Angus Ng (HKG) by 21-14, 21-14.

Yang Lee and Chi-Lin Wang (TPE) won the men’s Doubles over V. Shem Goh and Wee Kiong Tan (MAS) in three sets and Indonesia’s Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu won the women’s Doubles in straight sets over Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai.

The Mixed Doubles final was a showdown between the top two seeds, with home-standing and top-seeded Thais Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapirsee Taerattanachai winning over Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan and Melati Oktavianti, 21-2, 20-22, 21-18.

● Biathlon ● The second week of racing in Oberhof (GER) was another good for Norway, which has dominated the World Cup this season.

The two men’s races were won by the brother Boe, with Johannes Thingnes Boe – the younger – winning the 10 km Sprint by 12.4 seconds over countryman Sturla Holm Laegreid, with Arnd Peiffer (GER) third. It was the third win of the season for J-T Boe.

His older brother, Tarjei Boe, took the 15 km Mass Start event on Sunday with a final loop surge, winning in 37:41.9, just 3.6 second up on Felix Leitner (AUT) and Benjamin Weger (SUI: +7.8). J-T Boe continues as the seasonal leader.

Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff won her third straight World Cup race with a 9.3-second win in the women’s 7.5 km Sprint, even with one shooting penalty. Italian star Dorothea Wierer won the silver, with Lisa Theresa Hauser (AUT) third.

France’s Julia Simon broke through to win the women’s 12.5 km Mass Start race on Sunday for her second career World Cup gold, ahead of Franziska Preuss (GER: +3.9) and Swede Hanna Oberg (+11.7). Norway’s Marte Olsbu Roeiseland continues to lead the seasonal standings.

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The sixth of eight stops on the 2020-21 World Cup Tour was in St. Moritz (SUI), but no matter the venue, the results are usually the same: Germany sweeps the 2-man, 4-man and 2-women races, with Francesco Friedrich taking both men’s title.

Teaming with Alexander Schuller this time, Friedrich drove the winning 2-man sled for the ninth time in 10 races this season. Their total of 2:11.92 was well ahead – in bobsled terms – of runner-up Johannes Lochner (with Florian Bauer: 2:12.37) and Canadian star Justin Kripps (with Cameron Stones: 2:12.84).

In the 4-man, Friedrich had the fastest time on both runs, and won with a 2:09.56 total, some 29/100ths up on Benjamin Maier (AUT) and Kripps was third again (+0.49), with Lochner fourth (+0.54).

The 2-women racing was won by Germany’s Stephanie Schneider, riding with Leonie Fiebig, in 2:16.54, just 8/100ths ahead of American Elana Meyers Taylor and Sylvia Hoffman (2:16.62), with Melanie Hasler (SUI: 2:16.73) third. It was Schneider’s second win of the season. American Kaillie Humphries, driving with Lauren Gibbs, finished seventh.

The women’s Monobob will make its Olympic debut in Beijing in 2002 and the IBSF has a new World Cup Series running in the event. Three events were scheduled this week in Park City, Utah, with Nicole Vogt (USA: 1:48.55) winning on Friday, ahead of Marina Silva (BRA: 1:49.70) and Riley Compton of the U.S. (1:49.94). Vogt won again on Saturday (1:48.24), with Jamaica’s Carrie Russell (1:49.18) second and Silva (1:49.64). Results from Sunday’s race were not yet available.

At Innsbruck (AUT) on Thursday, Canada’s Melissa Lotholz and Cynthia Appiah went 1-2 at 1:54.26 and 1:54.68, with Karlein Sleper (NED) third in 1:54.86.

In St. Moritz (SUI), U.S. star Humphries – the reigning Olympic champ in the two-women sled, won in her seasonal debut in 2:22.35, barely ahead of German Laura Nolte (2:22.55) and Swiss Martina Fontanive (2:22.64). American Meyers Taylor was fifth in 2:22.78.

In Skeleton, also in St. Moritz, German Alexander Gassner won his first World Cup gold in his 44th race, finishing in 2:16.85, just 0.01 ahead of Latvian superstar Martins Dukurs (2:16.86), with 2018 Olympic champ Sung-Bin Yun (KOR) third in 2:17.32. Germany’s Tina Herrmann won her first race of the season, besting seasonal leader Janine Flock (AUT) by 2:20.68-2:21.00, with Jacqueline Loelling (GER) third (2:21.54).

● Figure Skating ● The U.S. National Championships was held at The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, with familiar faces on the top of the podium.

Superstar Nathan Chen, the four-time defending champion – and still just 21 – led the Short Program scoring by more than six points, 113.92-107.79, over Vincent Zhou, with Jason Brown third (100.92). He then crushed everyone on Sunday, scoring 208.36 points in the Free Skate to win by almost 31 points with a monstrous total of 322.28.

Vincent Zhou (age 20), the 2017 World Junior Champion, finished second for the third time in this event, was second in the Free Skate and second overall, with 291.38. Jason Brown finished in the top three for the fourth time in the last five years, winning the bronze medal at 276.92, with Yaroslav Panoit fourth (266.97).

The women’s title was a second national championship for Bradie Tennell, who won both the Short Program and the Free Skate by wide margins. She scored 79.40 in the Short Program, the best by more than three points and then took the Free Skate with a 153.21 score, almost nine points ahead of Amber Glenn. Tennell’s total of 232.61 easily outscored Glenn (215.33), who jumped from fifth place to second – her best finish ever at the Nationals – thanks to her Free Skate score.

Second after the Short Program, two-time defending champion Alysa Liu – still just 15 – fell to fourth in the Free Skate and ended up fourth overall. Karen Chen was fourth in the Short Program and third in the Free Skate and won the bronze medal.

In Pairs, Alexa Knierim won her fourth U.S. title, but first with new partner Brandon Frazier. But the new combo were the best ever at the Nationals, setting new highs for scores in the Short Program, Free Skate and total: 77.46, 150.64 and 228.10, respectively.

Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson were second in the Short Program, third in the Free Skate and second overall (for the second straight year) at 205.29. Defending champs Ashley Cain-Gibble and Timothy LeDuc were third, at 200.52.

The 2018 and 2019 Ice Dance national champs, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, won their third title, scoring 224.56 to edge two-time winners, Madison Chock and Evan Bates (222.93). Hubbell and Donohue came from second after the Rhythm Dance to win the Free Dance to win the title. Kaitlin Hawayak and Jean-Luc Baker scored 212.55 points to win their third straight Nationals bronze medal.

● Freestyle Skiing ● The second Aerials meet of the season was on in Yaroslavi (RUS), with Russia’s reigning World Champion Maxim Burov the favorite off of his season-opening win in Finland in December. He did not disappoint, winning both on Saturday and Sunday, for his seventh and eighth career World Cup titles.

He led a 1-2 Russian finish on both days, ahead of Pavel Krotov, 127.60-120.81, on Saturday, with Noe Roth (SUI) third and American Justin Schoenefeld fourth. On Sunday, Burov scored 125.34 to best Stanislav Nikitin by just 1.36 points (123.98) with Lewis Irving of Canada third (120.36).

The women’s Aerials started as a showcase for Australia’s Laura Peel, the 2015 World Champion, who won her second World Cup gold of the season in a tight duel with American Ashley Caldwell, 96.59-96.23, with Russian Liubov Nikitina third (93.41). On Sunday, it was American Megan Nick on top, winning her third career World Cup and first gold! She scored 89.88 to best Alla Tsuper (BLR: 89.82) and 17-year-old fellow American Kalia Kuhn (87.25), who won her first-ever World Cup medal and earned the U.S. half of all women’s medals on offer!

● Handball ● The 32-team IHF men’s World Championship continues in Egypt, with two-thirds of the first-round group games completed. The nine remaining undefeated teams (2-0) include host Egypt, Sweden, Portugal, France, defending champion Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Argentina and Qatar. The first round will conclude on the 19th.

● Judo ● French and Korea judokas dominated the Doha Masters, the first event of the International Judo Federation’s World Tour for 2021. The opener drew a big field of 398 fighters from 69 countries.

France’s heavyweight superstar, 10-time World Champion Teddy Riner won the +100 kg division, defeating Russian Inal Tasoev in the final, and moving closer to defending his Olympic title in Tokyo.

French women won four classes, with Amandine Buchard at 52 kg, four-time World Champion Clarisse Agbegnenou at 63 kg, Madeleine Malonga at 78 kg and Romane Dicko at +78 kg. Korea took home golds in the three lightest-weight men’s divisions, with Won Jin Kim at 60 kg, Baul An at 66 kg and Changrim An at 73 kg. Japanese fighters reached seven finals, but only Tsukasa Yoshida (women/57 kg) and Yoko Ono (women/70 kg) managed wins.

● Luge ● The racing in Oberhof (GER) had familiar faces on the top of the podium, but included a surprise!

Of course, Germany’s Felix Loch dominated the men’s Singles races, winning in 1:25.380 ahead of Austrians Jonas Mueller (+0.247) and David Gleirscher (+0.443). It was Loch’s eighth win in the nine World Cup races of the season.

But in the women’s Singles, 2014-18 Olympic gold medalist Natalie Geisenberger finally broke through with a win after finishing second in eight straight races this season! Her combined time of 1:22.121 was just better than Madeleine Egle (AUT: 1:22.349) and German Anna Berreiter (1:22.357). Summer Britcher of the U.S. was seventh.

Austrians Thomas Steu and Lorenz Koller were the unexpected stars of the Doubles racing early in the season, winning the first three races, but finally managed a fourth win in Oberhof. Their 1:21.682 total fended off German stars Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt (1:21.691) and Latvia’s Andris and Juris Sics (1:21.698).

● Nordic Skiing ● While the cross-country skiers had the weekend off, the Nordic Combined World Cup continued in Val di Fiemme (ITA), with two more wins for seasonal leader (and defending World Cup champ) Jarl Magnus Riiber of Norway.

Jumping off a 104 m hill and in 10 km cross-country races, Riiber won for the fourth and fifth time this season – out of seven total races so far – finishing 8.4 seconds ahead of Finn Ilkka Herola on Saturday (with German Vinzenz Geiger third), and then by just 0.1 seconds over five-time World Cup seasonal winner Eric Frenzel (GER) and Geiger in a mass finish. The top six all finished within one second!

In Ski Jumping, the World Cup tour landed in Zakopane (POL) to jump off the 140 m Wielka Krokiew hill, with 22-year-old Marius Lindvik scoring his third career World Cup victory. His 296.5 total was enough to edge Anze Lanisek (SLO: 294.2) and Norway’s Robert Johansson (292.9). Norway’s Halvor Egner Granerud remains the seasonal leader.

● Snowboard ● Amid many cancellations, the mid-week Parallel Slalom races were held in Bad Gastein (AUT) last Tuesday (12th) with Russia’s Sofia Nadyrshina taking her second straight win this season.

She finished ahead of German Cheyenne Loch in the final, while Selina Joerg (GER) claimed her third medal in four races on the season with a bronze-medal match victory over Julie Zogg (SUI). The men’s race was won by Italy’s Aaron March for his second medal of the season; he defeated Dmitry Loginov (RUS) in the final, while Andreas Prommegger (AUT) out-lasted Igor Sulev (RUS) in the third-place match.

● Speed Skating ● The European Championships were held in Heerenveen (NED) on Saturday and Sunday, the first major event of the season, with Heerenveen being used as a central location for sequestering athletes for multiple meets to come.

To the surprise of no one, Dutch skaters prevailed, with Patrick Roest winning the 1,500 m and 5,000 m on the way to the All-round title with 147.745 points, ahead of teammate Marcel Bosker (149.806) and Norway’s Sverre Lunde Pedersen (149.828), who won the 500 m.

The Sprint title (500 m x2, 1,000 m x2) was another Dutch 1-2, with Thomas Krol winning (137.955, won both 1,000 m races), ahead of Hein Otterspeer (138.645), with German Joel Dufter third (138.770).

In the women’s All-round, Dutch stars Antoinette de Jong and Irene Schouten were 1-2 at 159.303 and 160.056, with de Jong winning the 1,500 m and Schouten taking the 3,000 m. Czech star Martina Sabilkova was third (160.320) and won the 5,000 m.

The women’s Sprint was “only” a 1-3 finish for the Dutch, as Jutta Leerdam won with 149.385 points, winning the second 1,000 m race to clinch the title. Russian Angelina Golikova took the silver (149.855) and won both of the 500 m sprints. Femke Kok (NED) was second in both 500 m races and third in both of the 1,000 m races and finished third overall (149.870).

● Swimming ● It wasn’t a normal edition of the Tyr Pro Series, but the first meet in the series was held in two sections, in San Antonio, Texas and Richmond, Virginia. A large contingent of the U.S. National Team was in San Antonio, but that didn’t mean that best marks weren’t posted in Richmond.

At the top of the list was Emily Escobedo in the 100 m Breaststroke, who timed 1:01.11, just better than Olympic star Lilly King (1:07.14) in San Antonio, and then again in the 200 m Breast. Escobedo won in Richmond in 2:23.46, with King winning in 2:25.83.

In San Antonio, University of Florida star Kieran Smith won three events, taking the 200 m Free, 400 m Free and the 200 m Medley. Zane Grothe was the distance star, winning both the 800 m and 1,500 m Frees, double Olympic champ Ryan Murphy won the 100-200 m Backstrokes, and Nic Fink doubled in the 100-200 m Breast finals.

Beyond King’s two women’s Breaststroke wins, 18-year-old Backstroke superstar Regan Smith won the 100 m Butterfly in addition to the 100 m Back, Ally McHugh compiled an impressive distance double with the 400 m Medley and the 1,500 m Freestyle, with open-water star Haley Anderson second in the latter. Anderson won two other distance swims: the 400 and 800 m Frees.

Multi-event winners in Richmond included Ashley Twichell in the 400-800-1,500 m Frees and 16-year-old Josh Parent in the 400 m Free, 1,500 m Free and 400 m Medley for three wins each. Escobido won the 200 m Medley in addition to her Breaststroke victories. The other two-event winners included Justin Ress in the 100 m Free and 100 m Back, and Catie DeLoof in the 50-100 m Frees.

● Wrestling ● The 47th Henri Deglane Grand Prix in Nice (FRA) featured a bevy of strong teams competing for the first time in 2021, including a significant contingent from the U.S. And the American wrestlers did not disappoint, winning an impressive total of 15 medals over the weekend, all in the Freestyle divisions.

The U.S. won four men’s divisions, with Nick Suriano taking the 57 kg crown over Islam Bazarganov (AZE) by 7-1; Yianni Diakomihalis won at 65 kg in an all-American final over former Worlds 70 kg medalist James Green, 5-0; the 79kg World Champion Kyle Dake took a default win at 74 kg as Georgia’s Daviti Tlashadze was injured and Rio Olympic champ Kyle Snyder won at 97 kg with an impressive 14-3 thrashing of Georgian Givi Matcharashvili.

Reigning World Champions Beka Lomtadze (61 kg) and Geno Petriashvili (125 kg) – both from Georgia – won their divisions.

Three Americans won bronze: Tom Gilman at 57 kg, Zahif Valencia at 86 kg and Nick Gwiazdowski at 125 kg.

The American women were completely dominant, winning four of six divisions; in fact, two of the finals were U.S. vs. U.S. finals. Rio Olympic champ Helen Maroulis showed she is back from concussion issues, winning at 57 kg by scores of 13-0, 10-0, 13-0 and 4-1 in the final against German Laura Mertens.

The all-American finals came at 62 kg, where Kayla Miracle defeated Macey Kilty, 8-2, and at 68 kg, where World Champion Tamyra Mensah-Stock out-pointed Forrest Molinari, 6-1. Sarah Hildebrandt stomped Evin Demirhan (TUR) by 13-2 at 50 kg, but Swede Sofia Mattsson won over World Champion Jacarra Winchester, 8-4, at 53 kg.

Turkey dominated the Greco-Roman divisions, winning six of the 10 classes: 55 kg (Serif Kilic), 60 kg (Kerem Kamal), 63 kg (Abdurahman Altan), 72 kg (Selcuk Can), 77 kg (Fatih Cengiz), and 82 kg (Emrah Cus).

● Coming Attractions ● The U.S. Women’s National Team will make its 2021 debut with a friendly against Colombia on Monday and Friday, with both games at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida. Monday’s game is at 7 p.m. Eastern time, and will be shown on FS1.

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For our 709-event International Sports Calendar for 2021 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

THE TICKER: Arbitration panel “all about the athletes” to trim WADA sanctions on Russia; Rio 100mH champ McNeal suspended; U.S. withdraws from Handball Worlds

Rich Perelman

January 14, 2021

tsx pix 2020-114 double bladed axe 750 — As the Court of Arbitration for Sport decision in WADA vs. RUSADA shows, saying "it's all about the athletes" cuts two ways!

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

● WADA vs. RUSADA ● The Court of Arbitration for Sport released its 186-page decision in the World Anti-Doping Agency vs. Russian Anti-Doping Agency case today (14th), with the three-member panel essentially using an “it’s all about the athletes” reasoning to significantly narrow the WADA-requested sanctions on Russian athletes.

The panel repeatedly cited a requirement of “proportionality” in the decision, noting that athletes affected by the 2011-15 doping program are most often not those competing now:

“Although the history of improper conduct which has ultimately led to these proceedings is long and serious, the Panel considers it would be disproportionate to impose severe restrictions on the next generation of Russian athletes. In particular, as the doping schemes addressed in the McLaren Reports occurred between 2012 and 2016, the Panel considers it very unlikely that any athletes who will be participating in the Youth Olympic Games were involved in those schemes.”

The decision then dismissed sanctions on Russian athletes for the Youth Olympic Games, holding those teenagers to be innocent in the context of the RUSADA scandal and then pushed aside sanctions against participation in continental events such as the European Championships on hyper-technical grounds, holding that participation bans on “‘events organized by Major Event Organizations’ lacks the specificity that is desirable in an Award of this nature.”

Regarding the Olympic and Olympic Winter Games, the Panel interpreted the WADA sanctioning rules to impact participation only to the next editions of the Olympic and Winter Games and since the Tokyo Games were postponed to 2021 and the Beijing Winter Games are in 2022, only a two-year sanction – instead of four, that would have extended to Paris 2024 – is required.

As concerns athletes, the arbitrators simply fell back on the refrain of “it’s all about the athletes” and no one should be kept from participating if at all possible:

“[T]he Panel finds that the [International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories] permits the exclusion of Athletes and Athlete Support Personnel as a Signatory Consequence for [National Anti-Doping Organization] non-compliance, subject to a requirement that consideration be given to mechanisms for those persons to be permitted to compete (including in a neutral capacity).

“For reasons given below, the Panel is of the view that it would be excessively burdensome and inappropriate in the circumstances to require Russian Athletes and Athlete Support Personnel to bear the onus of proving they were not affected in any way by the manipulation of the Moscow Data in the manner proposed by WADA in its proposed Notice to Signatories (Exhibit C-51). Nonetheless, the Panel considers it is necessary and appropriate to impose requirements for Russian Athletes and Athlete Support Personnel to compete in a neutral capacity (though a less restrictive one than that proposed by WADA).”

The decision emphasized the impact of competing as a neutral athlete vs. under their country’s flag as highly impactful and a severe sanction in itself. So in addition to banning those athletes or coaches already restricted or excluded from competing – either under doping suspensions or under a general exclusion as World Athletics has done for Russian track athletes – “the Panel is satisfied that the ISCCS expressly provides a basis for the Panel to then impose conditions of neutral participation.”

This was emphasized in a concluding paragraph, no. 791:

“The Panel finds that it is appropriate to impose a modified and less restrictive version of the [Neutral Participation Implementation Criteria] to that proposed by WADA. The Panel considers that the conditions under which Russian athletes may participate should allow some limited association with the name (for example, ‘Neutral Athlete from Russia’) and colours of their homeland where necessary, but subject to restrictions as to the use of the Russian flag, national symbols and the Russian national anthem in a sport, recognition or awards capacity. This accommodates a balance between the WADA submission that the purpose of the consequences is that the athlete will not be associated with Russia, and the opposing concern that clean athletes should not be affected by neutrality conditions for any longer than is justified.”

It’s all about the athletes.

Comment: This is an abominable exercise in pretzel-making, as the Panel acknowledged and then ignored, Article 10.2.5 of the International Standard for Code Compliance:

“10.2.5 Above all else, the Signatory Consequences imposed should be sufficient to maintain the confidence of Athletes, other stakeholders, and of the public at large, in the commitment of WADA and its partners from the public authorities and from the sport movement to do what is necessary to defend the integrity of sport against the scourge of doping. This is the most important and fundamental objective, overriding all others.”

The Panel decision regarding Russian participation, deciding on its own instead of by reference to the governing text above, that neutral status – “with some limited association” – to the national flag and colors, is the most preferable outcome is ludicrous. The focus in the decision was strictly on the impact on entrants from a country which systematically subverted the anti-doping process for years – and may still be doing so – and completely ignored the impact on participants from other countries, who are wholly unsure of whether they are competing against doped-up competitors. The WADA Code requires this to be included in the calculation of consequences and the arbitrators simply ignored it.

As suggested on this site in December, this decision should be appealed to the Swiss Federal Tribunal. There is time to do so, as the 30-day filing deadline is likely from the release of the full decision, which was today (14th).

It’s up to WADA now.

● Athletics ● The Athletics Integrity Unit provisionally suspended Rio 100 m hurdles gold medalist Brianna McNeal (USA) on 13 January for “Tampering with any part of Doping Control.”

No other details were provided, but a full charge should be filed soon. McNeal was suspended for a year in 2017 for missing three tests within a 12-month period, and could, as a two-time loser, be suspended for up to eight years.

McNeal has had a tough time since winning Olympic gold in Rio, having also false-started out of the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar last October.

Things have gone from bad to worse for South African long jump star Luvo Manyonga. He was suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit on 23 December 2020 for “whereabouts” failures, and now, TheSouthAfrican has reported that he has lost his Nike sponsorship and has gone missing.

Now 29, Manyonga was World Champion in 2017, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist and a favorite for Tokyo. The news story included an unattributed comment:

“Nike pulled the plug on Luvo. He is broke and owes a lot of people money. Nike has zero tolerance for drug abuse. The boy got paid big money every month, but he messed things up. He got nice sports gear on top of the big money they paid him every month.”

Paralympic star Blake Leeper is back in action, filing a new application with World Athletics to be allowed to use a new set of prostheses to compete with “able-bodied” athletes.

His attorneys posted a news release on Tuesday (12th), reaffirming his appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal of a Court of Arbitration for Sport decision against him and in favor of World Athletics for disallowing his use of the prostheses with which he ran a sensational 44.38 400 m in the 2019 USA Track & Field Championships.

The decision noted that his prostheses gave him an advantage in that they heightened his body beyond the Maximum Allowable Standing Height (MASH) rule used for Paralympic competitions. Leeper’s lawyers complained that the MASH rule was not developed considering “Black disabled athletes of African heritage,” and was therefore racially discriminatory.

Now, he is using a new set of prostheses which still does not meet the MASH rule, but:

“The new prostheses are the same type as the [running-specific prosthetics] that Mr. Leeper previously used, but are set so that his so-called MASH height would be 6 feet, 1 inch (185.42 cm), approximately one-and-a-half inches shorter than his prior RSPs. Mr. Leeper has worked with his coaches and training team since the CAS decision, re-learning to run at this lower height using these RSPs. However, the height is still higher than that permitted by the MASH rule, and Mr. Leeper cannot learn to run competitively at any lower height, which is unnatural for him.”

Leeper is asking for an expedited – and expected to be negative – ruling from World Athletics, so that it can be appealed quickly to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

● Gymnastics ● Rio gold and silver medalist Laurie Hernandez announced her return to competition on her Twitter feed on Tuesday (12th), for the Winter Cup Challenge in Indianapolis on 27 February.

One of the stars of the U.S. team in Rio in 2016, Hernandez – then 16 – won gold as a member of the U.S. team, then took a silver medal on Beam. She left the sport and now 20, is making a comeback, looking toward a possible berth on the U.S. team for Tokyo.

● Handball ● The 27th IHF men’s World Championships got going in Egypt – without spectators or media – with Egypt scoring a 35-29 win over Chile in Group G in the opener on Wednesday (13th).

Although the U.S. had expected to compete in its first Worlds since 2001, it was announced on Tuesday (12th) that the American team had withdrawn as tests “indicated that a majority of our players and staff members tested positive for the virus. Each affected individual is now in quarantine and unable to travel to Cairo.”

The tournament rolled on and Switzerland took the place of the U.S. in Group E and won its first match, 28-25, over Austria on Thursday (14th).

Russia made its first appearance in a World Championship since the CAS decision trimmed the WADA sanctions on participation (see story above). The Russian Handball Federation team tied with Belarus, 32-32, on Thursday. The team wore a familiar red uniform, but the word Russia was not seen, although there were plenty of sponsor logos. The logo of the Russian Handball Federation was on the front of the jersey, but without any text.

● Ice Hockey ● The continuing tussle over whether half of the 2021 IIHF men’s World Championship will be held in Belarus led to a meeting earlier this week between the federation and the political leaders of the country, including President Alexander Lukashenko.

A posting on the IIHF Web site included a question-and-answer session with federation chief Rene Fasel (SUI), who noted “Under the current circumstances, a visit with the government was absolutely vital for the IIHF to address its concerns directly to the Belarus President, concerns that related not only to the organization of the tournament but to the whole situation in Belarus.”

The outcome? Fasel reported:

● “[T]he IIHF is deeply concerned over the capability of the organizer in Minsk to deliver the tournament safely in a COVID-19 environment, there is an ongoing investigation by the IIHF into the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association President, and there is unrest within the country that has significantly impacted tournament preparations and raised a number of justifiable concerns from teams, fans, and government officials.”

● “We came in with specific requirements that the government should fulfill in order that the World Championship can take place in Minsk. Among these was a pledge to find peaceful solutions towards improving the socio-political situation within the country, and to allow all Belarusian athletes the opportunity to return to and compete in their respective sports.

“Most importantly, the Belarusian government agreed to an open and constructive dialogue with the opposition to take the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship out of the political focus and to use sports as a mean to bring people together. We acknowledge that our requests are outside sport and going into the direction of politics, but we feel the end results of our requests were necessary to ensure a safe championship.”

Fasel also referenced the recent past as a reason to try and salvage Minsk as a co-host of the tournament:

“We are not naive to think that hosting a World Championship in Minsk will solve all problems in the country, but that does not mean we cannot explore whether the IIHF can use some degree of influence to initiate positive change in the country’s future.

“Back at the Olympics in PyeongChang 2018, while it led to historic meetings between them, a Unified Korea team did not solve the problems or magically change relations between the two countries of Korea and DPR Korea. But was it worth it? Absolutely.”

The Latvian co-organizers have indicated they will not participate in a joint hosting with Belarus. Fasel said a special IIHF Council meeting is being scheduled and that the situation is being monitored, with no back-up plan in place … yet. The Worlds are scheduled for 21 May-6 June.

● Swimming ● At 6-6, two-time Olympic gold medalist Klete Keller stands out in a crowd, and among the crowd during the riot at the U.S. Capitol on 6 January, he was captured on video inside the Capitol itself. His identify was noted in a Monday (11th) story on SwimSwam.com.

The former star swimmer was charged with obstructing law enforcement engaged in official duties, unlawfully entering Capitol grounds and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Keller, now 38, won five Olympic and five World Championships medals between 2000-08, all on relays. He was a member of the winning U.S. teams in the 4×200 m Freestyle relays at the 2004 and 2008 Games. He has been a commercial real estate professional in the Colorado Springs, Colorado area, but separated from the firm he was associated with after his appearance on videos of the riot confirmed his presence.

U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee chief executive Sarah Hirshland released a statement yesterday before Keller’s identity was confirmed, but which stated that the organization needed to “wait for law enforcement to confirm the identity of the individual and determine necessary action, and then evaluate any appropriate actions of our own.”

A USA Swimming statement noted: “It is very simple and very clear. Mr. Keller’s actions in no way represent the values or mission of USA Swimming. And while once a swimmer at the highest levels of our sport – representing the country and democracy he so willfully attacked – Mr. Keller has not been a member of this organization since 2008.”

● Weightlifting ● The International Weightlifting Federation is in a mess, in part because it dismissed American Ursula Papandrea Garza as Interim President following the ouster of Tamas Ajan (HUN) last year.

Her efforts led directly to significant findings in the McLaren Global Solutions report, especially her demand – reluctantly followed – to provide IWF documents and electronic files to the investigators.

Her dismissal alarmed the International Olympic Committee, which noted its positive working relationship with her, and now Papandrea has announced her candidacy for the IWF Presidency, to be voted on in March.

She declared in a Thursday announcement:

“When I took over as Acting President of the IWF, I knew some of the vital and necessary changes could not wait until a new permanent President was appointed.

“What I have discovered is a toxic culture of corruption, self-interest and doping that prioritises maintaining the status quo.

“The governance of the IWF has tarnished the reputation of our great sport almost beyond repair and its Olympic status remains under threat.

“The current board comprises of members with a catalogue of misdemeanours, sanctions violations and red flags that lacks the genuine will to support the essential changes the organisation needs in order to survive.

“Only when we remove those who have been complicit in corruption within the organisation can weightlifting restore its integrity and rebuild its status in world sport.”

“I have seen with my own eyes how deeply corrupt the IWF is and a root-and-branch transformation is essential to give our great sport a chance to recover.

“When Board Members, who should have the sport’s best interests at heart, ignore the counsel of the IOC and block all attempts at reform, it underlines the scale of the challenge ahead.

“Only when the old guard and their methods have been completely removed and barred from future involvement in weightlifting at any level can we transform the IWF’s culture and provide confidence for our athletes, our coaches, our staff and our fans.

“Be under no illusions – the future of weightlifting is at stake – and if elected I will invoke the real change required to ensure we set the standards for good practice in international sports governance to make us fit for purpose in future.”

The IOC will be watching closely and the Olympic future of weightlifting may be at stake.

● Wrestling ● “The intent of the series is to provide unrestricted access for every college coach and recruiter to the single-highest concentration of high school talent, with every match available online through host broadcaster Trackwrestling.”

In a brilliant demonstration of what can be done to support young athletes and preserve the “pipeline” of college wrestling, USA Wrestling announced its High School National Recruiting Showcase, to take place from 26-28 March at a site to be named.

All current state champions are automatically invited, as are National Prep winners, and prior state winners can qualify through regional competitions – National Recruiting Showcase Qualifiers – to be held earlier in March.

This is an outstanding example of offering athletes an opportunity to make up for the lost opportunities of their high school seasons in terms of exposure to college coaches for potential scholarships and other opportunities. It’s an idea probably worth keeping and likely should be expanded to other sports.

● The Last Word ● When considering the situation of Olympic sports compared to the National Football League, it hardly seems that the NFL needs much help. But last weekend, the NFL teamed with the kid-focused Nickelodeon Channel, owned by ViacomCBS, to offer a special edition of the Chicago vs. New Orleans playoff game on Sunday (10th).

The production started with a SpongeBob SportsPants Countdown Special and then offered a special, Nickelodeon-themed version of the game, with its own announcers, Nickelodeon-themed graphics, a special halftime show and other elements.

The result? According to SportBusiness.com, the game ”drew an average audience of 2.061 million viewers, marking the channel’s largest audience since 2017 and up 245 per cent from Nickelodeon’s comparable programming window a year ago” and was heavily cited on social media during its Sunday afternoon window.

It’s a worthwhile lesson for all sports marketers for the future.

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LANE ONE: Appointment of Edwin Moses and Han Xiao gives EOPAAA Commission 10 of 16 members needed; where are the others?

Rich Perelman

January 13, 2021

tsx-pix-72618-han-xiao-senate-hearing-2-750x500 — USOPC Athletes' Advisory Chair Han Xiao in Senate testimony

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Hurry up!

Amid all the tumult in Washington, D.C. these days, Tuesday (12th) was a significant day for the in-formation Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics. Four new members were announced by House Energy & Commerce chair Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey):

● Edwin Moses, the legendary two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 400 m hurdles and Emeritus Chair of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency;

● Han Xiao, the Chair of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Athletes’ Advisory Council;

● Patty Cisneros Prevo, a three-time Paralympian in basketball in 2000-04-08 and winner of gold medals in Athens and Beijing;

● Karin Korb, a 2000 and 2004 Paralympian in tennis.

This brings the named members of the Commission to 10, with six appointments remaining: two from Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and all four from Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington).

Already named were Olympians John Dane (sailing) and Brittney Reese (track & field) by Wicker and former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens, Paralympian Melissa Stockwell, and former Department of Defense Inspector General Joe Schmitz by retired Rep. Greg Walden (R-Oregon).

But with a report due to the Congress by the end of July 2021, the clock is already ticking. Beyond simply naming the Commission members, there are staff to hire, a meeting must be held not later than 30 days after the naming of the last member and at least one public hearing must take place (or more if desired).

The Commission’s responsibilities are set out in the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020 (“EOPAAA”: Public Law 116-189):

(1) “a review of the most recent reforms undertaken by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee;”

(2) “a description of proposed reforms to the structure of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee;”

(3) “an assessment as to whether the board of directors of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee includes diverse members, including athletes;”

(4) “an assessment of United States athlete participation levels in the Olympic and Paralympic Games;”

(5) “a description of the status of any United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee licensing arrangement;”

(6) “an assessment as to whether the United States is achieving the goals for the Olympic and Paralympic Games set by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee;”

(7) “an analysis of the participation in amateur athletics of (I) women; (II) disabled individuals; and (III) minorities;”

(8) “a description of ongoing efforts by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee to recruit the Olympic and Paralympic Games to the United States;”

(9) “an evaluation of the functions of the national governing bodies (as defined in section 220501 of title 36, United States Code) and an analysis of the responsiveness of the national governing bodies to athletes with respect to the duties of the national governing bodies under section 220524(a)(3) of title 36, United States Code; and”

(10) “an assessment of the finances and the financial organization of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee.”

(Sec. 220524(a)(3) requires NGBs to “keep amateur athletes informed of policy matters and reasonably reflect the views of the athletes in its policy decisions”)

Xiao’s inclusion in the Commission is especially important in view of his impressive testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security in July, 2018. Many of the suggestions he made there were included in S. 2330, the bill which became law in October 2020. However, one item was not included and could come up again in the Commission:

“I recommend establishing an autonomous Inspector General’s Office, reporting to Congress and the AAC. The role of this office would be to hear athlete concerns confidentially, without fear of retaliation, about the governance and operation of the USOC and NGBs, to independently investigate issues in the Olympic and Paralympic Movement, and to determine necessary corrective actions.

“Establishing this office and providing additional oversight would contribute greatly to a necessary cultural shift within our movement toward a focus on serving our country’s athletes.”

Some of these functions were included in an expansion of the “Athlete Ombuds” office in the final bill, but without the wider investigative authority of an Inspector General, or the reporting to the Congress. Well, Schmitz was the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Defense from 2002-05; his insight will be helpful.

What else could the Commission consider? Perhaps:

● Should members of U.S. “national” teams or Olympic teams be paid a salary – or “training stipend” or whatever you want to call it, from the time from the Games until the next “national team” event such as a World Championship, is named?

USA Swimming already does this and more, in its Quad Athlete Support Program – and doesn’t enough credit for it – offering monthly stipends of $3,244 for its medal-class performers as well as smaller amounts to college and even high school swimmers.

● The USOPC runs training centers in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Lake Placid, New York and has agreements for training center usage at 11 other sites in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Utah. Are these good uses of money vs. other possibilities?

● Current law does not allow the USOPC to itself operate as the permanent National Governing Body in Olympic sport. For some of the small sports, with limited budgets, does it make sense to allow the USOPC to absorb and operate them, in order to conserve resources? It already does some of this in Paralympic sport.

● Further to the question of NGBs and training, USOPC critics alternate between red and purple when discussing the number of USOPC staff. Is the number of people employed too high, too low or just right? The USOPC’s Form 990 tax return for 2019 showed 567 employees during the year, plus 660 volunteers.

● The USOPC has seen significant declines in its public fund-raising, from – according to its financial statements – $37.2 million in 2014, $32.6 million in 2016, $23.3 million in 2018 and $8.8 million in 2019. If significantly increased, wouldn’t this allow more payments and services for athletes, from elite to grass roots?

At the same time, the USOPC’s corporate sponsorship revenue, from its share of IOC sponsorships and its own, have been all over the place: $185.0 million in 2014, $103.8 million in 2016, $144.9 million in 2018 and $134.9 million in 2019. The USOPC has not been able to create any significant, new revenue sources for itself since the 1990s; that’s a problem.

● In part, the lack of new donations and revenue are the result of a modest communications presence and profile for the USOPC and Olympic sports across the U.S. Even with the introduction of the Olympic Channel – Home of Team USA cable channel by NBC in 2017, media – and public – attention to U.S. Olympic athletes remains spotty at best.

In terms of followers on Twitter – certainly an inexact measure, but instructive on order of magnitude – the TeamUSA feed has 1.9 million followers. But that’s well behind Major League Soccer (3.3 million), the National Hockey League (6.3 million), Major League Baseball (8.7 million), the National Football League (25.9 million) and the National Basketball Association (32.0 million). That’s a gap that needs to be closed, at least a little.

● The International Olympic Committee is not happy with the ability of the U.S. Congress to dissolve the USOPC Board of Directors or to de-certify a National Governing Body – such as USA Gymnastics – in the EOPAAA statute. The World Anti-Doping Agency is unhappy with the extra-territorial jurisdiction aspect of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019. Should these be amended?

Today (13th) marks the 44th anniversary of the issuance of the landmark report of the President’s Commission on Olympic Sports from 1977. A product of two years of work, it was the foundation of the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, which solved the long-running power struggle between the NCAA and the Amateur Athletic Union and centralized the U.S. Olympic Movement as the responsibility of the United States Olympic Committee.

Led by Executive Director Mike Harrigan – now retired, but a valuable and under-appreciated resource in this area – that Commission also had major business, governmental and sports stars including, but not limited to Donna de Varona, Rafer Johnson, Micki King, Willye White, Bill Toomey, Dr. Ernie Vandeweghe, House members Jack Kemp, Ralph Metcalfe (the Olympic 100 m silver winner in 1932 and 1936), Bob Michel and Norm Mineta, and Sen. Ted Stevens, for whom the bill was named for years later.

They created a structure which continues to work today, but not as well as the original Commission intended. Harrigan has explained why in private and public comments over the years, but the new Commission would do well to learn what went right and what went wrong over the last 44 years from one who knows.

But the clock is ticking; Sens. Cantwell and Wicker, what are you waiting for? Hurry up!

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: It’s 2021 or bust for Tokyo; LA28 sponsor agency sold; fabulous mascot for troubled IHF Worlds in Egypt; Shiffrin wins again!

Rich Perelman

January 12, 2021

tsx pix 2021-111 ihf wch-horus mascot 750 — Horus, the mascot for the 2021 IHF men's World Championships in Egypt!

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● It’s 2021 or bust for the Tokyo Games, as organizing committee chief Yoshio Mori – a former Prime Minister of Japan – said on Tuesday that it is “absolutely impossible” to consider a further postponement due to the coronavirus.

Kyodo News reported Mori explaining that “putting off the games again is not an option because many officials who have played a key role in the preparations are loaned from other organizations, including the Tokyo metropolitan government.”

“I think we will have to make a very difficult decision from February to March,” said Mori, adding that “Having even a slight sense of uncertainty impacts everything. All I can say is that we will go ahead with our preparations. There will always be morning even after a long night. Let’s work together to overcome this major challenge.

“Believing in that, to give joy and hope to many people, we will do our best until the end.”

Mori has been consistent in saying that the Games must be held in 2021, or be cancelled.

A Kyodo poll over the new year showed continued anxiety over the Games in Japan, colored by a surge in Covid-19 infections in the country. Some 14.1% supported the Games being held in Tokyo in 2021, with 44.8% preferring postponement and 35.3% suggesting cancellation.

● Games of the XXXIV Olympiad: Los Angeles 2028 ● A 51% interest in the sports hospitality, sales and sponsorship firm Legends is reportedly being sold to private equity firm Sixth Street.

Sixth Street’s total stake will be valued at more than $685 million, with original owners the New York Yankees and Jones Concessions, affiliated with the Dallas Cowboys. The management at Legends is expected to remain in place.

Legends is part of the sponsorship sales team for the 2028 Olympic Games, in an agreement with the 2028 organizers in Los Angeles and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. According to the October 2018 announcement, Legends will help “develop, identify, and secure sponsorship opportunities for the Los Angeles 2028 and Paralympic Games” and create “a comprehensive sales and marketing plan for LA28 and Team USA.”

The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Properties joint venture between LA28 and the USOPC has announced one sponsorship, from Delta Airlines, so far. The pandemic has significantly set back the pace of announcements, although sponsorship discussions have continued.

Los Angeles lost one of its most devoted promoters and a key supporter of the city’s Olympic history with the unexpected passing of former City Councilman Tom LaBonge on 7 January.

Just 67, LaBonge was a key behind-the-scenes player in the run-up to the 1984 Olympic Games as the chief deputy to Councilman John Ferraro, who served as City Council President during that time. The two worked quietly to ensure consistent City planning and operations support – reimbursed by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee – for the organization of the Games, often made difficult by bombastic statements and requests from then-Police Chief Daryl Gates.

LaBonge succeeded Ferraro as Council member for the Fourth District, serving from 2001-15 and was a proud booster of his city and its activities locally, nationally and internationally. He vibrantly supported Los Angeles bids for the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games – both shot down by the U.S. Olympic Committee – and the 2024 Olympic bid that eventually turned into the award of the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad in 2018.

Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, who knew LaBonge well, wrote that “For LaBonge, every day in Los Angeles was a touchdown pass” and “In Tom LaBonge’s mind, the city was the center of the universe, with more niceties than negatives, a place full of hope.”

Special thanks to reader Patrick Escobar, a fellow LAOOC alumnus, who wrote of LaBonge, quite rightly, “He loved this City and its people and will be greatly missed.”

● XXV Olympic Winter Games: Milan-Cortina 2026 ● Former RAI television executive Antonio Marano has joined the Milan-Cortina Foundation 2026 and will take over the commercial marketing division.

SportBusiness.com reported that “sales of sponsorships would be sold not just on their commercial value, but based on the values that Olympism and the Paralympics represent to modern Italy.”

The 2026 domestic sponsorship target is currently shown as €500 million (~$607.7 million U.S.) with three levels of participation expected. This compares with the much larger summer Games sponsorship targets of €1.1 billion (~$1.34 billion U.S.) for Paris 2024 and about $2.5 billion for Los Angeles 2028.

● Alpine Skiing ● American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin was back in the winner’s circle on Tuesday (12th) with an impressive win in the Slalom at Flachau in Austria.

She screamed through the Hermann Maier Weltcupstrecke on the first run, clocking the fastest time in the field at 54.04, although just 0.08 ahead of Swiss Wendy Holdener. Shiffrin had to pour on the gas to win, however, as Austrian Katharina Liensberger took the lead with a 53.74 second run.

Shiffrin was quite as fast, but her 53.88 finish was second-fastest on the second run and gave her a 1:47.92-1:48.11 win over Liensberger, with Holdener third (1:48.35). American Paula Moltzan was ninth (1:50.71).

Every time Shiffrin wins, she writes history. This was her second win of the season and 68th of her career, keeping her to third all-time in total wins behind Ingemar Stenmark (SWE: 86) and American Lindsey Vonn (82). It also extends Shiffrin’s all-time record for most Slalom wins, now 45. It was also her 100th World Cup medal.

“I definitely wasn’t thinking about records today,” said Shiffrin. “I just wanted to ski well. This slope has kind of tripped me up the last several years. I just wanted to ski strong. It was really fun.”

● Athletics ● Ukraine’s 2019 Worlds silver medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, still just 19, got her 2021 season off to a great start by equaling her World U-20 Record at 2.02 m (6-7 1/2) in an indoor meet in Kiev (UKR) last Saturday (9th).

Teammate Yulia Levchenko was second at 1.95 m (6-4 3/4). Also on the books for 2021 is a 2.30 m (7-6 1/2) world-leader indoor for Russia’s Mikhail Akimenko in Yekaterinburg (RUS) on the seventh of January.

Suspensions of quality Kenyan runners for whereabouts failures continues with sanctions against 24-year-old Alfred Kipketer, the 2014 World Junior Champion and a 2016 Olympic finalist, who ran 1:42.87 in 2016 and 1:44.50 in 2019.

Kipketer missed four tests in less than 11 months between 27 November 2018 and 11 September 2019. It’s his first doping suspension and he will be ineligible to compete for two years, from 26 November 2019 to 25 November 2021.

● Badminton ● While doping gets most of the attention concerning “integrity” in sports, the spectra of match-fixing is very much on the minds of law enforcement and federation officials.

The Badminton World Federation made a significant statement last Friday, announcing decisions arising from whistleblower complaints.

Eight Indonesian players who competed at lower-level tournaments were investigated for match-fixing, with three banned for life – Hendra Tandjaya, Ivandi Danang and Androw Yunanto – and the other five were suspended from six to 12 years each, and fined between $3,000 and $12,000 each.

The allegations stemmed from activities at the 2015 Scottish Open and the 2017 New Zealand Open and 2017 U.S. Open and bribes were accepted for matches at the 2016 Hong Kong Open and Macau Open and the 2017 Syed Modi International Championships in India, Thailand Open, Chinese Taipei Open, New Zealand Open and Vietnam Open. The bribe amounts varied from 4 to 14 Indonesian rupiah, worth $284 to $995 U.S.

The sentences were handed down on 22 December 2020 and can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within 21 days.

● Football ● Former U.S. World Cup star and interim U.S. Soccer Federation President Cindy Parlow Cone will run unopposed for a final year of the term started by Carlos Cordeiro in 2018.

The USSF Annual General Meeting will be held online on 27 February. Parlow Cone was elected as Vice President on February of 2019, then moved up to President when Cordeiro resigned last March. An election for President is required under USSF rules at the next annual meeting following a non-elective change. A vote for a four-year term will be available in 2022.

Parlow Cone has been working to settle the suit between the U.S. Women’s National Team and the federation and closed the working conditions portion of the dispute at the end of 2020. But the USWNT is now appealing the judgement against it by the U.S. District Court over its “equal pay” action.

Further, the collective bargaining agreement between the USSF and the women’s team ends late this year and the men’s team has not had a new work agreement since 2018. But having continued stability with a former star player at the helm is a clear benefit for the federation.

The 2021 schedule continues to expand, as the USSF announced the dates and teams for the sixth SheBelieves Cup, to be held in February in Orlando, Florida.

Brazil, Canada and Japan will join the U.S. in playing six matches at Exploria Stadium from 18-24 February, to be televised on FS1 and TUDN.

● Handball ● The 27th IHF World Championship for men begins on Wednesday in Egypt and runs through the end of January, with 32 teams from five confederations set to play at four different venues.

European teams are expected to dominate the tournament, with defending champ Denmark a slight favorite over 2019 runner-up Norway, 2020 European Champion Spain, a French squad which has won four of the last six World titles, 2020 European runner-up Croatia and 2007 World Champion Germany.

The organizers have bowed to pressure from the European Handball Players Union and are allowing no spectators at any games and no live coverage by news media!

This is the first world championship competition being held since the World Anti-Doping Agency’s sanctions against Russia were trimmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Far from removing Russia from competing, the Russian team is in Egypt – as a wild-card selection – and ready to start its first match on 14 January. However, its uniforms will only include the Russian Handball Federation logo, without any text and it will be recognized as the “Russian Handball Federation” instead of “Russia.”

The U.S. is playing in the IHF Worlds for the seventh time, but for the first time since 2001, but is in a difficult draw in Group E with Norway, Austria and France.

About the only happy thing about the 2021 IHF Worlds is the use of the ancient Egyptian deity Horus as the tournament mascot. A familiar figure in Egyptian commercial usage, the mascot uses a falcon’s head; worshipped into the Roman period, Horus was the god of kings and the sky.

● Ice Hockey ● The question of what to do about Belarus as a co-host of the 2021 IIHF men’s World Championship tournament was front-and-center on Monday as a federation delegation met with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.

Said IIHF chief Rene Fasel (SUI): “The situation today is different than it was in 2014 when we despite some resistance had a perfectly organized World Championship. We were all there and can remember it well. The circumstances in Belarus have been different since last summer. We are here to address the situation and to find constructive solutions.”

Protests against Lukashenko started before the 2020 elections last August and intensified after Lukashenko was declared the winner for a sixth consecutive, five-year term. The European Union imposed sanctions last October against government officials accused of political repression and vote rigging. Marches have continued into 2021 and Latvian officials – co-hosts for the 2021 IIHF Worlds – have said they will not co-host the tournament with Belarus.

Fasel is leading an International Ice Hockey Federation delegation to Minsk – planned as the site of the games in Belarus – and said on Monday:

“As part of a careful evaluation of Minsk’s capability to co-host the World Championship, we are discussing the issues with different groups and are grateful for the possibility to meet with representatives of the Belarusian government and the Organizing Committee to hear their inputs to ensure a balanced approach. The process has started this morning and will be continued with more meetings in Minsk and with discussions within the IIHF Council.”

The IIHF Worlds are scheduled for 21 May-6 June 2021. Belarus athletes have also sounded the alarm on political interference with their training and competition programs related to the protests against the government and the International Olympic Committee is investigating the issues with concern.

● Nordic Skiing ● Further to the issue of Russian participation in world championship events, the Russian Ski Federation told the Russian TASS news agency that for the upcoming Nordic Skiing World Championships – Cross Country, Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping – in Germany in late February and early March, Russian athletes would compete under the flag of the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS).

Further, Russian competitors will wear uniforms designating them as “National Athletes of Russia” and if a Russian wins an event – highly likely in cross country – the FIS anthem will be played instead of the Russian anthem.

This is not what the World Anti-Doping Agency had in mind with its sanctions against Russia, but these were trimmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

● Wrestling ● Another Iranian wrestler may be executed for alleged crimes in 2015.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Mehdi Ali Hosseini, 29, was charged with murder during a brawl in 2015 and may be executed shortly. This follows the killing of Greco-Roman wrestler Navid Afkari in September for crimes allegedly committed during an anti-government protest in 2018.

Protests against an execution of Hosseini have come from inside Iran; organizations outside the country have asked United World Wrestling and the International Olympic Committee to ban Iran from international competition. Neither has done so, in part because these actions are not directly related to sports but to civil or political issues.

A United World Wrestling statement posted on Monday (11th) included:

“We are currently still gathering information. At this stage, it appears that this a criminal case only, with no sports-related background. So far, we have learned from the Iranian Wrestling Federation that Mehdi Ali Hosseini was a regional level wrestler, who did not participate in national or international level competitions. United World Wrestling will not comment on this case before it has a clear picture of the situation.”

● At the BuZZer ● The World Anti-Doping Agency issued a “Guidance Note” concerning “substances of abuse” – recreational drugs – in conjunction with the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code.

Bad news for fanciers of cocaine, heroin, meth-amphetamine and THC, the active element of marijuana, as the Code states:

“if the Athlete can establish that any ingestion or Use occurred Out-of-Competition and was unrelated to sport performance, then the period of Ineligibility shall be three months Ineligibility. In addition, the period of Ineligibility calculated under this Article 10.2.4.1 may be reduced to one month if the Athlete or other Person satisfactorily completes a Substance of Abuse treatment program approved by the Anti-Doping Organization with Results Management responsibility.”

That’s hardly the same as a four-year sanction for steroids, but much more than simply inconvenient. Much more.

On Tuesday (12th), the Court of Arbitration for Sport held that a doping specimen from Canadian equestrian athlete Nicole Walker which showed positive for a metabolite of cocaine at the 2019 Pan American Games was grounds for her disqualification and of her fourth-place squad in the Team Jumping competition.

Now she knows, and you do, too.

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LANE ONE: “If the U.S. becomes a rogue state I think we will start looking at whether the Games in Los Angeles should proceed”

Rich Perelman

January 11, 2021

Commonwealth Games gold medalist and Canadian Olympic swimmer Richard W. “Dick” Pound became a member of the International Olympic Committee in 1978 and has been one of the most important, influential and consequential players in international sports ever since.

In a story posted on Friday (8th) by Steve Keating of Reuters, he dropped a bomb on the U.S. Olympic Movement and potentially the hosting of the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad in Los Angeles in 2028:

“We will have to wait and see but at some point if the U.S. becomes a rogue state I think we will start looking at whether the Games in Los Angeles should proceed.

“They are not performing their obligations under the convention and they’re trying to destabilize not only the structure but funding of WADA and that’s not acceptable behaviour especially since they participated in all the decisions for continental funding right from the beginning.”

When Pound speaks about Olympic matters and especially about doping, listening is required. Not only is the senior member of the International Olympic Committee, but was one of the architects of the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA] when it was formed in 1999, through 2007, with its headquarters in his hometown of Montreal, Quebec.

His reference to U.S. obligations not being followed stems from a report last June by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy which openly suggested that American representation on the WADA Executive Committee should be calibrated to its 2020 dues contribution of $2.71 million, which is the largest annual dues payment by any government (the IOC pays 50% of WADA’s annual budget, matching the combined governmental dues dollar-for-dollar).

WADA’s reply pointedly noted: “In February 2020, nations of the Americas region met in Ecuador for their annual inter-governmental meeting American Sports Council (CADE) to discuss mutual anti-doping interests, including representation on WADA’s Board and ExCo for the two-year period following the meeting. Unfortunately, the U.S. chose not to attend that meeting.”

and

“WADA cannot be governed solely by the few richest countries. Athletes who compete against U.S. athletes come from all over the globe and in fairness to U.S. athletes, we want to ensure their competitors are subject to the same stringent rules as they are. To make sure that happens, there needs to be representation from all regions of the world.”

The U.S. ONDCP report was issued under the authority of Jim Carroll, who was Acting Director of the $35 billion agency from 2018-19 and Director since 31 January 2019. As a Trump appointee, his future is unclear at best.

Pound also brought up the recently-passed “Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020,” which includes sec. 220552:

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

The Congress can also, by the same means, de-certify a U.S. National Governing Body [NGB]. Pound remarked:

“The Congressional legislation focusing on the U.S. Olympic Committee gives Congress the power to rule over the board of directors is on the statute books and is clearly a violation of the Olympic Charter, kind of like it is in Italy at the moment.

“All these things are not just going to go away just because it is the U.S.”

The Italian reference is to laws being considered in that country to take control of the Olympic-sport finances away from the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) and given to a recently-formed government agency. IOC President Thomas Bach (GER) told reporters last September, “At the beginning of the month we had to write a letter to the minister of sport expressing these serious concerns. With this law CONI is not compliant with the Olympic Charter,” which insists on the autonomy of National Olympic Committees to operate Olympic sport in their countries.

Further in the doping context is the recently-passed Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019, which establishes U.S. criminal penalties for those assisting doping, but which also allows for “extra-territorial jurisidiction,” allowing the U.S. Department of Justice to go after violations of the law taking place anywhere in the world. This is an issue for WADA, which issued a strong statement against this provision after passage in November.

But Pound did not mention this in his comments to Reuters.

The threat against the 2028 Games in Los Angeles is hardly imminent. Said Pound:

“Not so much at this point because the principal effort now is trying to make sure that we find a way to have the Games in Tokyo. But as that picture evolves this kind of thing [about LA28] is going to bubble up to the surface.”

Let’s be clear, the Los Angeles organizers are not only completely innocent in all this, they are little more than bystanders. Pound’s concerns are with the U.S. government on both the WADA dues and Congressional power to vaporize the USOPC Board, as well as the Rodchenkov Act.

Under enormous pressure from the U.S. Congress over the Nassar abuse scandal in gymnastics, the USOPC has been publicly supportive of the “Empowering Olympic” Act, although chief executive Sarah Hirshland sent a letter to the Senate Committee considering the bill in November 2019 that included:

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

A proposed amendment to remove the offending language was defeated, but the fight may not be over. Pound is nothing if not clever, and his comments – given the timing – may be aimed at the in-formation Commission on the State of the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics. Only six members of this group have been named – out of 16 – and its report is due, under the statute, by the end of July 2021! It could recommend a change to the statute, and the power to displace the USOPC Board will only be activated on 30 October 2021.

Naysayers will point out that Pound, now 78, will retire from the IOC at the end of the year in which he turns 80, which is 2022. IOC chief Bach will be re-elected in 2021 – he is running unopposed – and will serve into 2025, at which point it would be too late to do anything about the 2028 Games. However, Bach has shown little tolerance for national governmental breaches of the Olympic Charter, but there are many who believe the U.S. – as the IOC’s key commercial partner – would not be touched.

Unlikely? Yes. Certain? No, especially since the issue could be taken up by the IOC in the fourth quarter of 2021 – post-Tokyo – with, astonishingly, another “safe hands” host city likely available in the Queensland (Australia) 2032 bid, already well advanced and which could possibly be activated for 2028. And penalizing the U.S. with the loss of an Olympic Games would send an in terrorem message to the rest of the Olympic Movement which will be remembered for generations.

As for the IOC’s finances, they would be untouched by the removal of the 2028 Games from Los Angeles to elsewhere, and could open the door for a consolation prize of a Salt Lake City hosting of the 2030 Olympic Winter Games, to be decided in 2022 or 2023.

Shaking your head in disbelief? Don’t; this is the Olympic Movement, where the unbelievable, the unthinkable and the impossible – whether on the field or off – is commonplace.

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HIGHLIGHTS: Jessie Diggins makes history with Tour de Ski win; Friedrich and Loch slide to European titles; Norway 4-for-4 in Biathlon World Cup

Rich Perelman

January 10, 2021

tsx pix 2021-110 diggins, jessie TdeSki 750 — She did it! Jessie Diggins becomes the first American to win an individual FIS World Cross Country Championships gold!

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Headline results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● Alpine Skiing ● The FIS World Cup tour is happily settling into a groove, with three events during the past week.

The men’s tour included a night Slalom in Zagreb (CRO) on the 6th (Wednesday), won by Linus Strasser (GER), his second career World Cup win and fifth career medal. He stood only eighth after the first run, but skied well enough on the second run to record the fifth-best time and as the leaders faded, he finished 0.10 seconds ahead of Manuel Feller (AUT). Fellow Austrian Marco Schwarz was third.

Three days of technical races in Adelboden (SUI) followed on the weekend, with identical 1-2 finishes for the Giant Slalom races on Friday and Saturday: wins for France’s overall World Cup leader Alexis Pinturault, followed by Filip Zubcic (CRO) by 1.04 seconds and 1.26 seconds, with Swiss skiers Marco Odermatt and and Loic Meillard third. These were Pinturault’s third and fourth wins of the season, all in Giant Slaloms.

Sunday’s Slalom saw Marco Schwarz (AUT) get his third career World Cup gold – and first in two years – by just 0.14 over Strasser, with a rare British World Cup medal for Dave Ryding in third.

The women’s tour was in St. Anton (AUT) for a Downhill and Super-G. Italy’s Sofia Goggia continued her mastery of the Downhill, winning for the second time in the three races this season (she was runner-up in the other). Austria’s Tamara Tippler won her sixth career World Cup medal and first in a Downhill in second and American Breezy Johnson continued her long-hoped-for ascent into medal class with her third bronze in the third Downhill of the season.

Sunday’s Super-G was a showcase for former World Cup overall champ Lara Gut-Berhami (SUI), followed by Marta Bassino (ITA: +0.16) and Swiss star Corinne Suter (+0.20).

● Biathlon ● The IBU World Cup picked up again in Oberhof (GER) for the first of two weeks of racing, with Norway sweeping all the men’s individual medals, but “only” three of the six women’s medals.

Seasonal leader Johannes Thingnes Boe led a family 1-2 with a win over his older brother, Tarjei Boe (+10.8), in the 10 km Sprint, with this season’s new star, Sturla Holm Lagreid, third (+21.6). Then Langreid took the 12.5 km Pursuit by 15.6 seconds over Johannes Dale with Tarjei Boe third (+25.4), with J.T. Boe eighth. It was Langreid’s fourth win of the year, the most so far.

The women’s races showcased Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff, who won both the 7.5 km Sprint and 10 km Pursuit. She won easily in the 7.5 km Sprint by 29.6 seconds over Swede Hanna Oberg and 40.2 against Austria’s Lisa Theresa Hauser.

Eckhoff had a much tougher time in the 10 km Pursuit, squeezing past teammate and seasonal leader Marie Olsbu Roeiseland by just 0.5; the finish was close thanks to two shooting penalties for Eckhoff and none for Roeiseland. Hauser was third again, this time 43.0 seconds back.

The schedule continues next week with Sprint and Mass Start racing beginning on Wednesday.

● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The fifth of eight stops on the IBSF World Cup was in Winterberg (GER), which also doubled at the European Championships.

The scene of location meant little in terms of results: Francesco Friedrich won both men’s events and Germans dominated the women’s race. Friedrich – the double Olympic gold medalist from PyeongChang – won the two-man (this time with Thorsten Margis) for the eighth time in nine races this season. He was well ahead of fellow German Johannes Lochner (with Eric Franke) by 1:50.08-1:50.75, with Austrians Benjamin Maier and Markus Sammer third (1:50.93).

In the first four-man races of the season, Friedrich won again, besting Canada’s Justin Kripps and Maier, 1:48.13-1:48.70-1:48.89.

This was the first appearance for the North American sleds in the World Cup; the U.S. entries finished 14th (Codie Bascue) and 17th (Geoffrey Gadbois) in the two-man and tied for 14th (Bascue) and finished 16th (Gadbois) in the four-man.

The two-woman racing was won by Germany’s Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi, who won their third title of the season. They finished well ahead of teammates Kim Kalicki (with Ann-Christin Strack) and Mariama Jamanka (with Leonie Fiebig), 1:53.60-1:54.02-1:54.39. Austrians Katrin Beierl and Jennifer Onasanya tied for third.

North American sleds also competed for the first time this season: Canada’s Christine de Bruin (with Sara Villani) was fifth, followed by the U.S. sleds of Kaillie Humphries (with Sylvia Hoffman: 1:54.45) and Elana Meyers Taylor (with Lolo Jones: 1:54.48) in sixth and seventh.

In Skeleton, Russia’s Alexander Tretiakov won his second World Cup of the season, edging four-time winner Martins Dukurs (LAT) by 1:52.36-1:52.53, with Alexander Gassner (GER) third. Americans Austin Florian and Austin McCrary finished 15th and 20th.

Russia’s Elena Nikitina won her fourth European title in the women’s races, followed by Tina Hermann (GER) and Austria’s Janine Flock, the seasonal leader. Flock continued her streak of medaling in each race this season, now up to five. The top U.S. finisher was Katie Uhlaender in 13th.

● Luge ● The sixth of nine stops on the FIL World Cup circuit was in Sigulda (LAT) – and included the European Championships – but it looked like the rest, as German superstar Felix Loch won for the seventh time in eight races this season. He completed a 1-2 finish with countryman Johannes Ludwig for the third time in 2020-21, 1:35.884-1:36.104, with Dominik Fischnaller (ITA) claiming his fourth bronze medal.

The U.S. joined the circuit for the first time, with Tucker West, Chris Mazdzer and Jonathan Gustafson finishing 12-13-15.

The men’s Doubles saw Latvia’s Andris and Juris Sics win for the first time this season, slipping past Germans Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, 1:23.610-1:23.639. Martins Bots and Roberts Plume (LAT) finished third. The U.S. pair of Mazdzer and Jayson Terdiman finished 10th.

The women’s races saw Russian Tatiana Ivanova win for the second time this season; she’s the only non-German to win in the eight races. Just as amazing was German Natalie Geisenberger in second place; the four-time Olympic gold medalist has now been the runner-up in all eight races this season! Russian Victoria Demchenko was third; American entries Summer Britcher, Brittney Arndt and Ashley Farquharson were 10-12-14 in the standings.

● Nordic Skiing ● She did it!

True, the Norwegians – winners of the last seven editions – did not compete, but American Jessie Diggins was nonetheless brilliant, winning two stages and in the top three in six of the eight races of the 15th Tour de Ski to become the first U.S. skier to win the Tour.

Diggins held the lead off five medal performances in a row in the first five stages – 3rd-3rd-1st-1st-3rd, then headed to Val di Fiemme (ITA) for the final weekend, with Russian Yulia Stupak in hot pursuit. In the 10 km Classical Mass Start on Friday, Diggins finished ninth while Russian Natalia Nepryaeva won by 2.4 seconds over Katharina Hennig (GER) and 4.1 ahead of Swede Ebba Andersson.

Then came the 1.27 km Classical Sprint on Saturday, with neither Diggins nor Stupak making the final. Sweden enjoyed a sweep, with Linn Svahn winning her third event of the Tour de Ski, ahead of Maja Dahlqvist and Emma Ribom. Stupak (8th), Diggins (10th) and Rosie Brennan (12th) of the U.S. reached the semifinals.

The final leg was Sunday’s 10 km Freestyle Mass Start. The race belonged to Andersson, who won in 36:45.6, 9.2 seconds ahead of Diggins, with Delphine Claudel (FRA) third, some 32.6 seconds behind the winner. Brennan was seventh.

Add it all up and Diggins’s cumulative time of 3:04:45.8 was the winner by 1:24.8 over Stupak, 2:00.8 over Andersson, with Brennan sixth (+3:27.6).

“This is a lifelong goal…it really means a lot,” said Diggins, 29, afterwards. “We have had an amazing team atmosphere this whole time, amazing support, and help, and so many cheers from all around the world, so that really gave me wings up the hill today.”

The men’s Tour de Ski was dominated by Russia’s defending champion, Alexander Bolshunov, who won five of the eight races, was second twice and third once. At Val di Fiemme, he won the 15 km Classical Mass Start, was third in the Classical Sprint and second in the 10 km Freestyle Mass Start.

Francesco di Fabiani (ITA) was second and Alexey Chervotkin (RUS) third in the 15 km Classical Mass Start, and Swede Oskar Svensson was the Sprint winner, with Gleb Retivykh (RUS) second and Bolshunov third. On Sunday, Russian Denis Spitsov won, with Bolshunov second and France’s Maurice Manificat third. That finish helped propel the Frenchman to second overall in the Tour de Ski with Spitsov third and Russia taking places 3-7.

In Ski Jumping, the men finished the Four Hills Tournament on Wednesday, with Poland’s Kamil Stoch taking his third career title, but there was no time for rest. The tour moved to Titisee-Neustadt in Germany for jumping on Saturday and Sunday off the 142 m Hochfirstschanze. And Stoch was in great form again, scoring his third straight win on Saturday, outscoring seasonal leader Halvor Egner Granerud (NOR)and Pole Piotr Zyla, 281.6-277.6-270.8.

On Sunday, it was Granerud taking his sixth win of the season – and first of 2021 – with a 299.4-297.0 margin over teammate Daniel Andre Tande, with Austrian veteran Stefan Kraft (291.3) third.

● Snowboard ● The FIS World Cup resumed with the Big Air opener in Kreischberg (AUT). Canadian vet Max Parrot was the only one to score more than 80 points on two of his three runs and compiled 165.00 points to edge Sven Thorgren (SWE: 164.00) and Norway’s Mons Roisland (163.20). Roisland had the best individual score of the event, with a final-round 91.00.

New Zealand’s Zoi Sadowski Synnott won her second career World Cup – and first in Big Air – by edging Japan’s Kokomo Murase, 162.40-161.80, with 2018 Olympic champ Anna Gasser (AUT: 161.40) third.

The third Parallel Giant Slalom of the season was held in Scuol (SUI), with Russian Igor Sluev winning his first career World Cup race, by just 1:08.45-1:09.11 Pole Michal Nowaczyk, with Slovenia’s Tim Mastnak third.

The women’s PGS had another first-time winner in Russian Sofia Nadyrshina, who won by more than a second over German Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER), 1:11.81-1:12.86, with Swiss veteran Julie Zogg third (1:14.32). Hofmeister is the only medalist all in three races so far this season.

● Coming Attractions ● Of this special interest this week are the Doha Masters in Judo – with the return to competition of 10-time World Champion Teddy Riner (FRA), and the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships in Las Vegas!

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THE TICKER: More Tokyo virus concerns; Luvo Manyonga suspended for whereabouts; Tommy Lasorda passes at 93

Rich Perelman

January 8, 2021

tsx pix 2021-108 us wins iihf world juniors 750 (usah) — The U.S. celebrates a IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton! (Photo: USA Hockey)

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

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● A state of emergency was declared for the Tokyo Metropolitan Area in view of escalating infections from the coronavirus. The International Olympic Committee provided a statement to the Kyodo News Service:

“The IOC has full confidence in the Japanese authorities and the measures they are taking.

“Together with our Japanese partners, we continue to be fully concentrated and committed to the safe and successful delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 this summer.”

Senior IOC member Dick Pound of Canada was less sure, telling the BBC, “I can’t be certain because the ongoing elephant in the room would be the surges in the virus.” The BBC story noted that “Pound added that competitors should be high up the priority list when it comes to getting vaccinated.”

Prediction: nothing is going to get decided until late March or early-to-mid April.

● Athletics ● Major announcement from the Athletics Integrity Unit of a provisional suspension of South Africa’s 2017 World Long Jump Champion Luvo Manyonga for “whereabouts” failures.

Manyonga, now 30, has been one of the favorites for Tokyo in the event, but could now face a lengthy suspension. “Whereabouts” failures often lead to two-year bans, but Manyonga was previously suspended for the use of Tik (a locally-used methamphetamine) for 18 months in 2012, potentially exacerbating any new penalty for several years.

“The 2021 USATF Indoor Championships, originally scheduled for Feb. 20-21 in Albuquerque, N.M., have been canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, USATF announced today (Friday).”

The 2020 Indoor was held in Albuquerque, but there will be no event this year. The World Athletics Indoor Tour is now scheduled to start on 24 January at the Tyson Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas (USA).

World Athletics released bid guides for three major upcoming events, including the 2023 World Relays and new Road Running Championships and the 2025 World Championships:

● The 2023 World Relays are projected to cost the host $3.5-4.0 million for a two-day event, with economic impact potential of $5.87 million, mostly from spending to organize the event. Really?

● The 2023 World Road Running Championships, built around the World Half Marathon Championships, is expected to run for a week and cost $2.0-2.5 million to stage, with a potential direct economic impact from tourism and event spending of $6.08 million.

● The 2025 World Championships, often whispered to preferably be placed in Africa, has a $70-80 million price tag, with potential direct economic impact of $104.1 million, mostly from tourism.

Expressions of interest are due by 1 March 2021.

Coach and NALAthletics.com founder George Perry had some time over the holidays to dig deeper into the Equity in Athletics database, which houses data on all collegiate athletic programs in the U.S.

His latest study is on the cost of performance at the NCAA Division I Championships, where he shows the cost-per-point from the 2019 meet. His presentation uses graphics, but he provided the tools for calculation in a text format. So here goes, from 59 schools that scored points in his database:

(Note that this is based on total costs – NOT net costs – of the men’s and women’s T&F programs taken together, with men’s and women’s points combined.)

● The most expensive cost-per-point schools:
1. $2.447 million per, for 3 points: Oklahoma
2. $1,703 million per, for 4 points: Nebraska
3. $525,601 per, for 7 points: Purdue
4. $479,242 per, for 5 points: Wichita State
5. $464,804 per, for 7 points: Missouri
6. $452,222 per, for 8 points: Auburn
7. $440,135 per, for 12 points: Michigan
8. $414,659 per, for 5 points: Georgia Tech
9. $362,497 per, for 13 points: Miami
10. $356,735 per, for 10 points: Iowa State

● The least expensive were the schools that scored the big points:
1. $48,821 per, for 38 points: North Carolina A&T
2. $59,160 per, for 27 points: New Mexico
3. $63,095 per, for 82 points: Florida
4. $69,084 per, for 63 points: Southern California
5. $70,529 per, for 70 points: Texas Tech
6. $75,171 per, for 83 points: Louisiana State
7. $88,270 per, for 52 points: Stanford
8. $91,444 per, for 13 points: Southern Mississippi
9. $91,859 per, for 67 points: Texas A&M
10. $94,770 per, for 37 points: Brigham Young

Of the schools which did not score an NCAA Outdoor Championships point in 2019, the largest investments in the sports – according to the school-provided data – came from Clemson (spent $4.715 million), Tennessee ($4.273 million), Mississippi (spent $4.261 million), Penn State ($4.107 million), and Duke ($3.976 million). Another 15 schools spent more than $3 million and a further 18 spent more than $2 million. Wow.

From just a single year’s set of data, it’s not possible to derive any meaningful trends, but it underscores – once more – that the leading sponsor of track & field in the United States is our universities.

Lee Evans, the 1968 Olympic champion in the 400 m in Mexico City, who later won a second gold in the 4×400 m relay, scored another major victory more than 40 years after his last race, when a Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria reversed a ban imposed by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria.

Evans, now 73, had been working as a coach for the Lagos State Government when suspended for allegedly giving banned substances to a Nigerian athlete. But in a decision apparently handed down last 21 December:

“The judge set aside the report of the AFN’s anti-doping committee fair hearing panel which sat on February 17, 2014, for being speculative, devoid of fair hearing and having been arrived at in a manner unknown to law.

“Justice Faji also awarded N46,430,000.00 in favour of the former Olympian, being the total money and special damages, which he ought to have earned within the four years that his appointment was unlawfully suspended.” That about $117,540 in U.S. dollars.

● Baseball ● Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda suffered a heart attack and passed away on Friday (8th) at age 93.

Most famous for managing the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1976-96, Lasorda’s teams won two World Series, four National League pennants and eight division titles. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.

He brought an infectious enthusiasm to his team – and to Los Angeles – that endeared him to Dodger fans and made him the target of abuse for others (which he often enjoyed). Less well appreciated was his lifelong devotion to the game of baseball.

He coached an underdog U.S. team to the Olympic title in 2000 in Sydney, Australia and was a key ambassador and promoter of the World Baseball Classic in its early editions in 2006 and 2009. On the international level, his impact was important and will be enduring.

● Coming Attractions ● The worldwide sports schedule is filling up a bit more.

U.S. Soccer announced that the U.S. Women’s National Team will play Colombia in two friendlies in Orlando, Florida on 18 and 22 January. The U.S. women last played against The Netherlands last November, winning 2-0.

The International Judo Federation announced a partial World Tour schedule for 2021, starting with the Doha Masters this weekend. The tournament will include the return of 10-time World Champion Teddy Riner (FRA) in the +100 kg category, looking for points for Olympic qualification for Tokyo. His nearly 10-year win streak of 154 matches was ended last February by Japan’s Kokoro Kageura in the Paris Grand Slam.

● Ice Hockey ● More on the amazing U.S. win by 2-0 over Canada in the final of the IIHF men’s World Junior Championship in Edmonton (CAN) on Tuesday (5th), which gave the Americans their fifth title.

Certainly the Canadians were favored, having won all four of their group games and outscoring their opponents, 41-4, and having given up one goal in their last four games. But the U.S., despite an opening loss to Russia, had shown considerable tenacity, especially in the 4-3 overtime semifinal win against Finland.

The U.S. took the lead just 13:25 into the game on a goal from Alex Turcotte, and stayed aggressive throughout the period, out-shooting Canada by 13-9. Canada had more action in the second period, with 10 shots on goal to seven for the U.S., but Trevor Zegras got the second goal of the game just 32 seconds into the period, putting the hosts on their heels.

The Canadians made a game effort in the third period, out-shooting the U.S. by 15-1 (!), but keeper Spencer Knight was perfect and maintained the shutout.

This was the fifth time that the U.S. and Canada had met in the World Junior final, and the fourth straight win for the Americans, also in 2004-10-17.

“We had a great start,” noted U.S. coach Nate Leaman. “We hadn’t had great starts our previous games. I thought the guys were tight, but today they were loose. They were loose all day. We had a really good first and then an excellent start coming out for the second. That second goal was really big. It just made it that much harder for Canada. They’re a great team. They pushed us in the third period, but we bent; we didn’t break. The bonus was that we got the first goal.”

Zegras was named the Most Valuable Player and was joined on the All-Star Team by Canada’s Devon Levi (goalie), Dylan Cozens (forward) and Bowen Byram (defense), plus defenseman Ville Heinola (FIN) and forward Tim Stutzle (GER). Zegras ended as the leading scorer with 18 points (7+11); Cozens had the most goals with eight.

● Nordic Skiing ● Two major skiing events are up this week, with Poland’s Kamil Stoch winning the famed Four Hills Tournament in ski jumping and Jessie Diggins possibly in line to become the first American to win the Tour de Ski.

At the Four Hills, Stoch – a three-time Olympic gold medalist – placed 2-4-1-1 to win his third career title. After winning in Innsbruck (AUT) on Sunday (3rd), he then won the final event at Bischofshofen (AUT) over Marius Lindvik (NOR) and Karl Geiger (GER) to finish with 1,110.6 points. Geiger was second at 1,062.5 and Poland’s Dawid Kubacki was third (1,057.8).

At the Tour de Ski, the men’s events have been dominated by Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov, who has won five in a row after finishing second in the opening Sprint. With two events left – both in Val di Fiemme, Italy, he has a 2:37 lead over France’s Maurice Manificat and 2:47 over Russian teammate Ivan Yakimushkin.

Diggins has a lead of 0:55 over Russian Yulia Stupak with two events left, and 1:42 over Swede Frida Karlsson. After a 1-2 finish with teammate Rosie Brennan on 3 January at Val Mustair (SUI) in the 10 km Freestyle Pursuit, Diggins and Brennan finished 1-2 again in the 10 km Freestyle race at Toblach (ITA) on Tuesday (5th) and the two were 3-4 on Wednesday in the 10 km Classical Pursuit in Toblach, with Stupak winning.

At Val di Fiemme on Friday (8th), Diggins finished ninth in the 10 km Classical Mass Start, with remaining races on Saturday (1.3 km Classical Sprint) and Sunday (10 km Final Climb Mass Start). No American has ever won the Tour de Ski.

This series, now in its 15th edition, has been dominated by Norwegian skiers, who dropped out in December after requesting that only five events be held (instead of eight) in view of the coronavirus.

● Water Polo ● An online petition launched by four former U.S. Olympians or alternates is calling for the dismissal of USA Water Polo Board Chair Michael Graff and chief executive Chris Ramsey, based on reports in the Orange County Register of their responses to allegations of abuse by a coach in 2017 and of a USA Water Polo official from 2009-15.

As of mid-day Friday, the petition had 661 signatures vs. the USA Water Polo membership total of about 45,000. The federation released a statement noting its concern over the veracity of the petition, including

“We have learned from a member of our staff that she was added as a signatory to this petition without her permission. In light of this, we have serious concerns about the agenda of the parties behind the petition and whether the parties purportedly supporting the petition in fact do so. As a consequence, we have launched an investigation regarding the petition.”

USA Water Polo’s annual meeting will be held on 30 January 2021; just as important – or more so – will be the reaction of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, which is already keenly scrutinizing all of the National Governing Bodies for compliance with the U.S. Center for SafeSport requirements and procedures.

● Games of the XXXIII Olympiad: Paris 2024 ● The “not in my backyard” or “NIMBY” syndrome is hardly limited to the U.S., as Agence France Presse reported a new lawsuit by opponents of the to-be-built media village for the 2024 Games in a portion of Georges Valbon Park in the Seine-Saint-Denis section of the city.

An environmental group and 12 park users filed the action against the Departmental Council of Saint-Denis, which approved the land sale for development. The project will create 1,300 homes and shops in the area, which needs housing. Some 32 acres (13 hec.) are to be cleaned up and converted to new parkland; the Georges Valbon Park is enormous, spanning 1,030 acres (417 hec.), compared to 840 acres for Central Park in New York!

AFP reported that “The summary suspension must be studied by the administrative court of appeal of Paris, competent for disputes related to the Olympic Games-2024.”

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LANE ONE: The top stories for 2021, from no. 5 to no. 1: will Tokyo really happen?

Rich Perelman

January 6, 2021

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We’re less than a week into 2021 and it’s already been a tumultuous year on ice, with the U.S. men upsetting Canada, 2-0, to win the IIHF men’s World Junior (U-20) Championship in Edmonton last night, and IIHF President Rene Fasel (SUI) conceded that the federation is looking at possible alternatives to Belarus as a co-host for the 2021 men’s World Championship in view of the continuing political unrest there.

Our preview of the year ahead has covered the expected stars of a Tokyo Games, including American stars Simone Biles, Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky, so let’s look ahead to our projected top-5 stories of 2021:

No. 5: The economy and revenue needs for Paris 2024, Los Angeles 2028 and beyond

Thanks to the emergence of vaccines for the coronavirus, something resembling “normal” life is expected to return in 2021. But the calendar is moving ahead for organizing committees in Paris and Los Angeles for the 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games, and for other events.

The Paris organizers state they have raised about half of their €1.1 billion (~$1.35 billion U.S.) domestic sponsorship target and have about two years remaining to obtain the rest. Time enough, but will the business environment rebound strongly enough in Europe?

When Los Angeles was awarded the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad back in 2017, it seemed very far away. It’s about 7 1/2 years away now and drawing closer by the day. The LA28 sponsorship target is an ambitious $2.5 billion (in a $6.9 billion budget) with one sponsorship announced – Delta Airlines – so far. Look for more agreements to be announced post-Tokyo.

The success of LA28 in the commercial marketplace will have a significant ripple effect, possibly impacting the hosting of the 2030 Olympic Winter Games. The best candidate available is Salt Lake City, Utah – host in 2002 – and ready to go again. But choosing Salt Lake City now would negatively impact LA28’s marketing opportunities, but if the L.A. team scores big on the sponsorship front in 2021, it might agree to have Salt Lake City bid for 2030 instead of the expected 2034 date.

Here in the U.S., two 2022 events will be looking for more commercial support as soon as the Covid crisis recedes at all: the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama and the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. It’s not the easiest time to be selling.

No. 4: Doping: the cases just keep on coming

The World Anti-Doping Agency will have its hands full in 2021, just from issues remaining from 2020, as will the Court of Arbitration for Sport! Among these:

● The judgement of the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 17 December that narrowed the WADA sanctions on Russia (specifically the Russian Anti-Doping Agency) has been vigorously denounced in many quarters. WADA can appeal this to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, but the 30-day filing period will close on 16 January. Will it pursue an appeal? It should.

● The impasse over payment of dues by the U.S. to WADA is still in discussions. A filing by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy last June criticized WADA and insisted that the U.S. should have more representation on the Executive Committee. WADA responded angrily in June, submitting a red-lined version of the U.S. ONDCP report rejecting its position and noting that the U.S. did not even submit any candidates for the Executive Committee at the last opportunity to do so.

About $2.71 million is at stake here, in a WADA budget of $43.4 million for 2021. Will the U.S. ONDCP position change with a new administration?

● The Court of Arbitration for Sport will be busy with further appeals of doping cases, including a remand of the Yang Sun case. The Swiss Federal Tribunal did not tinker with the CAS decision of 28 February 2020 of an eight-year ban for China’s triple Olympic swimming gold medalist, but ordered a re-hearing because of possible bias of one of the arbitrators. So the case has to be heard again.

Appeals have also been filed in two high-profile track & field cases from the Athletics Integrity Unit. World Athletics filed an appeal against the AIU’s no-fault finding for Bahraini sprinter Salwa Eid Naser in October, where she could have been suspended for up to four years for “whereabouts” failures.

World 100 m champ Christian Coleman of the U.S. has filed an appeal against an AIU decision that imposed a two-year ban for “whereabouts” failures. The hearing schedule for both cases has yet to be announced.

In addition to all this, WADA, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the rest of the anti-doping world will be watching what impact – if any – the extra-territorial jurisdiction of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019 will have. WADA continues to be under pressure from the U.S. and others to amplify the “athlete voice” within its governance structure, but this could be quickly overshadowed if the U.S. Department of Justice decides to aggressively pursue doping prosecutions for actions outside of the country’s borders.

No. 3: Pipeline, protests, oversight and finance worries for the USOPC

U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee chief executive Sarah Hirshland noted in a recent news conference that the organization will be especially busy now with three Games coming in a four-year period: Tokyo in 2021, Beijing Winter Games in 2022 and Paris in 2024.

But that’s not even half of the challenges the USOPC is facing.

Leaving aside for now the looming financial peril if the Tokyo Games are not held, the USOPC has significant issues all around:

● The “pipeline” that produces many members of the U.S. Olympic Team – collegiate sports programs, especially the NCAA schools – has been endangered by financial stress and the coronavirus pandemic.

Stanford is cutting 11 varsity sports. Clemson and Minnesota drew headlines for cutting track & field, although Minnesota reinstated outdoor track only. USA Gymnastics began working with the Collegiate Gymnastics Association and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee to find ways to save NCAA men’s programs.

Observed University of Arkansas Sport Management Professor Steve Dittmore: “[W]hile the Olympics needs college athletics, college athletics simply does not need Olympic sport, and the December 7, 2020 announcement from the IOC about inclusion of skateboarding, breaking, and surfing to the 2024 Paris Games should underscore this.”

The USOPC has responded, with the formation of a 34-member USOPC College Sports Sustainability Think Tank, but it will need to work fast.

● The USOPC formed a Council on Racial and Social Justice and has agreed to support its recommendations and “will not sanction Team USA athletes for respectfully demonstrating in support of racial and social justice for all human beings.” But what that means exactly to yet to be determined.

Moreover, the IOC Athletes’ Commission appears to be headed in another direction, as its chair, Olympic swimming champ Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) noted in a Twitter post:

“The IOC Athletes’ Commission (AC) has received the statement from the Team USA Council on Racial and Social Justice which elaborates on racial and social problems in their country. This statement will be taken into consideration among the other feedback it has received and continues to receive from the athletes of the other 205 NOCs. …

“While the consultation is still ongoing, from what we have heard so far through the qualitative process, the majority:

“emphasise the right of free speech which is respected at the Olympic Games, and
“express support for preserving the ceremonies, the [awards] podium and the field of play.

“Many have also recognised the practical question of how to choose between the opinions of hundreds of issues from different angles around the world. From the work we have done so far, we can see that it would be very difficult to make such a judgement without diving the athlete community across all 206 NOCs.” (Emphasis added)

If American athletes are protesting in force in Tokyo, what does the USOPC do, and what will be the reaction not just of the IOC, but of so many others in sport worldwide?

● Just as the Tokyo Games are scheduled to start, the work of the Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics should be wrapping up. Created by the passage of the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020, the 16-member group is tasked with reviewing the organization’s recent reforms, diversity, athlete participation, licensing agreements, goals, finances and performance of the National Governing Bodies, with its report due by the end of July 2021.

So far, only six of the 16 members – half of which have to be current or former athletes – have been nominated. It’s hard to know how the Commission is going to work, but it could ask for many more changes in the way the USOPC operates and spends its money.

● Which brings us to finances. If the Tokyo Games does not happen, the entire U.S. Olympic Movement is in trouble. The USOPC is supported primarily by the U.S. share of American television rights sales and IOC sponsorships. If Tokyo doesn’t happen, there will be a lot of trouble.

All of which adds up to a wild year ahead for Hirshland, USOPC Chair Susanne Lyons and the entire organization.

No. 2: What to do about Russia?

In the aftermath of the Court of Arbitration for Sport decision to trim the WADA-imposed sanctions on the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, the visceral reaction of many athletes and observers was to (1) decry the actual sanctions as little more than a “slap on the wrist” and to (2) continue to distrust Russian athletes as potential dopers.

The first demonstration of the “impact” of the CAS version of the sanctions will come on 14 January, when the Russian Handball Federation team – not “Russia” – will face Belarus in a group-stage match at the men’s World Handball Championships in Egypt. The uniforms can be in Russian colors – white, blue and red – and use the logo of the Russian federation, but without text. That’s a long way from banning Russia from any and all World Championships, as the WADA ban purported to do.

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency head Travis Tygart has called it a “re-branding” as opposed to sanctions.

The International Olympic Committee voiced its concern in its terse comment on the CAS decision:

“The IOC has taken note of the CAS decision. It will now carefully evaluate the award and its consequences for competitions within the Olympic Movement, in particular with regard to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. In this respect, the IOC will consult with the International Federations and the International Paralympic Committee with a view to having a consistent approach in the implementation of the award.”

The vanguard among the federations has been World Athletics, which still has Russia on suspension since 2015, but has indicated it might allow a small number of Russian athletes to compete as neutrals in Tokyo. But that decision is still to come.

Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin has been diplomatic and low-key, simply insisting that “clean Russian athletes” should be able to compete. As noted above, WADA would do well to file an appeal on the CAS decision to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

No. 1: Will Tokyo happen?

This is the no. 1 question for 2021. The unprecedented decision to move the Games from 2020 to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic brought with it controversy and costs.

Japan has done a very creditable job of working against the virus, but the rate of infections has been rising of late. The country did allow limited fan attendance at professional baseball games in the fall of 2020, showing that it’s likely that the Games could be held with at least some fans in attendance.

But no one can predict what will happen in the early months of 2020. Will the vaccine reach enough people to allow more fans to attend? Will athletes be able to train, compete in qualification events and be able to get ready for an Olympic Games?

What is sure is that the International Olympic Committee, the Tokyo organizers and the Japanese government will do everything they can to make the Games happen in some form. The overall budget now sits at ¥1.64 trillion or about $15.8 billion U.S. This is up from the ¥1.35 trillion (or ~$12.6 billion) figure expected for the Games to be held in 2020.

The organizers have pledged tight oversight to avoid the “three Cs” – confined spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings – among athletes and staff at the Games, especially at the Olympic Village. If such a plan can be implemented with confidence, and with requirements for pre-Games testing and reporting before admission to Japan, a Tokyo Games will take place.

But nothing is sure. Look for major go/no go points in late March and early April, with a definitive determination surely due by 14 April, exactly 100 days prior to the Opening Ceremony on 23 July.

This is going to be a year of surprises, wrong turns, strong words and unexpected – yes – joys. Quoting Star Trek engineer Montgomery Scott to whales expert Dr. Gillian Taylor in the 1986 classic, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: “Hold on tight, lassie. lt gets bumpy from here.”

Rich Perelman
Editor

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HEARD AT HALFTIME: Salute to Rafer; is surfing the new Olympic star? Spikeless sprint shoes? U.S.-Canada in IIHF World Junior finale tonight!

Rich Perelman

January 5, 2021

tsx pix-asics metasprint 750 2021-105 — The Asics MetaSprint spikeless sprint shoe

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

● Vox Populi ● Many thanks to the many readers who sent holiday greetings and good wishes for 2021. It will be a momentous year worldwide and especially in sport. Some interesting comments:

● On our no. 10 story of 2020, the passing of Olympic gold medalist Rafer Johnson:

“As an Adapted P.E. teacher in the L.A. City schools, I had the honor of meeting Rafer at the many California Special Olympics events that I coached, mostly prior to my becoming a full time T&F coach in the early 1990s.

“The many testimonials regarding his humanity and humility as a person, was reinforced to me in my encounters with him at the time. An unforgettable experience and as I said, a true honor.

“In summarizing Rafer’s abilities, there are a number of caveats regarding the marks that he made as an athlete:

“In the high jump, aside from using the straddle technique, he had to take off from a dirt approach, rather than a springy all weather surface.

“All running events also were accomplished on dirt surfaces, a fact that has been widely ignored by the likes of T&FN as having significant bearing on records in all events, from the long jump through the 10k.

“The use of non fiberglass poles needs no further explanation.

“RIP the real Greatest of All Time, Mr. Rafer Johnson.”
~ Ron Brumel, Los Angeles, California

● Our no. 5 story was the confirmation of the events for Paris 2024, which includes surfing in Tahiti. @TrackSuperFan Jesse Squire’s tweet about surfing “Stealing entries from legitimate Olympic sports” drew this reaction from long-time (and highly-respected) Olympic observer Alan Abrahamson:

“Jesse – I love t/f too. But you know what a reasonable person would call your observation: ‘Locking the barn after the horse is out.’ Better we figure out different strategies than barking at surfing. Which is gonna be a big hit at the Games.”

and

“If I’m wrong – and if after wave-pool technology spurred by the boom of surfing at the Games hasn’t taken over Middle America – get back to me after surfing rocks it at 2020, 2024, 2028 Games.”

And after track coach Steve Ritchie stated “I’ll need to be convinced,” Abrahamson shot back:

“Well, you’ll have lots of time and opportunity. Lots of surfing coming up at the Games. Start California dreamin’ – it’s not just a sport, it’s a culture and a way of life and endless summer is a real thing that cannot and will not be denied.”

● Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020 ● The calendar has changed, but the debate over whether the Tokyo Games will be held continues unabated.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach’s message for the new year underscored the determination to hold the Games:

“We can only thank our Japanese partners and friends for their great commitment and their determination, which is absolutely in line with our commitment and our determination to organise these Games in a safe and secure way for all the participants and to make these Olympic Games fit for the post-coronavirus world. We all will live unforgettable Games.”

He also emphasized the need for unity, and for calm:

“[W]hile preparing for Tokyo and Beijing, we all have to look into the further future. And that means: how we can even strengthen the role of sport for a more human-centred and inclusive post-coronavirus world.

“There we have learned one lesson. This one lesson is: we need more solidarity. We need
more solidarity within societies, and we need more solidarity among societies.”

Look for him to come back to this theme when the IOC Athletes’ Commission forwards its recommendations for changes to Rule 50 on allowable protests at the Olympic Games.

In Tokyo, the newest discussion point is the request by several prefectures – including Tokyo – for the declaration of a national state of emergency as the coronavirus inspection rate has spiked upwards.

Tokyo reported 1,337 infections last Thursday (31st), the most yet in an area of 9.27 million; by comparison, Los Angeles County – population 10.04 million – reported 18,404 new infections on 30 December, down from 20,664 the day prior.

A state of emergency would shut down many training facilities and raise again the question of whether the Games can be held. In truth, no decision will come until the end of March at the earliest, remember that the postponement in 2020 was announced on 24 March.

Former IOC marketing chief Michael Payne (GBR) tweeted on Saturday:

“If it comes to it, much easier and better to move to 2022 not 2032.”

Two Games in the same year? Youngsters should be reminded that the Winter and Olympic Games were always held in the same year from 1924 through 1992; the separate cycles began with the 1994 Winter Games in Norway.

● Athletics ● Much has been made of the improvement in shoe technology for distance runners, with records being set in most of the longer races in 2020. But the revolution in design is now in the sprints as well.

Asics introduced a spikeless sprint shoe – the Metasprint – in 2019 and put in on sale in 2020 for ¥39,600 (~$380 U.S., but seen on sale as low as $180) with surprising interest.

Japanese sprinter Yoshihide Kiryu, the country’s first sub-10 sprinter – 9.98 in 2017 – told the Asahi Shimbun he used them at the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha and now prefers the shoe to the usual spiked sprint style.

The shoe uses specially-made carbon – of course – fibers that are arranged into honeycomb-shaped cells. The idea:

“Asics officials said spikes often stick obliquely in the ground, thereby requiring the runner to use extra force. Research led the developers to conclude that the propulsion force could be made more efficient if the ground were to be clutched not at ‘spots’ but along ‘lines.’

“An Asics study showed the time to run 100 meters would be 0.048 second faster if the spikes were removed and propulsion increased.

“Protrusions [on the sole are] arranged in a honeycomb structure, or a tight, honeycomb-like pack of hexagonal cells, were conceived as an embodiment of the ‘lines’ along which to grip the ground instead of at the points of the spikes.”

The newest study on the impact of high-performance shoes on distance running compared runners competing in major marathons in 2018 and 2019 – when the first “super shoes” became available – and:

“The men got faster by 1:12, and the women by 3:42. These improvements represented percentage gains of 0.8% and 1.6 percent.”

The research entailed data from 10 years of top-50 results from the major marathons in Boston, Chicago, London and New York from 2010-19:

“The results showed a strong stability of performance through 2018. … The top 50 men in the four marathons had an average time of 2:21:18. The top 50 women had an average time of 2:43:24.

“Then came 2019, and the average top 50 times dropped to 2:18:30 and 2:39:06. This represented a 2 percent improvement for men, and a 2.6 percent improvement for women.”

The researchers concluded that the performance enhancement comes from “(1) curved carbon-fiber plates; (2) a lighter and more responsive midsole material; and (3) thicker midsoles.”

● Biathlon ● Just as the tumult over covered-up doping results appeared to have subsided in biathlon, it flared up again over strange events in a Russian junior competition at the end of 2020.

Andy Brown, writing on the SportsIntegrityInitiative site, reported today (5th) that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) is investigating the “mass withdrawal” of competitors from an event when it became known that doping-control officers had arrived.

The Izhevsk Rifle races for women was held in Chaykovsky – a town about 800 miles east of Moscow – from 24-27 December and a men’s event was held in Izhevsk itself (about 55 miles west) from 25-28 December. Russian cross-country skier Nikolai Pankratov commented on a Russian skiing Web site that numerous junior women withdrew after the Sprint race and that a day later, many of the men’s junior competitors withdrew.

Reports indicate that of the 69 starters in the women’s Sprint, 55 finished, with 12 withdrawals. In the men’s junior race on 28 December, 88 were entered, but only 21 competed. That these withdrawals are by junior athletes is especially worrying, since that is the first level where doping education and restraint should be taught.

Both RUSADA and the International Biathlon Union are looking into the situation further.

● Ice Hockey ● The IIHF men’s World Junior Championship will be decided today at the Rogers Centre in Edmonton, Canada, with the U.S. and Canada facing off at 9:30 local time.

In Monday’s semifinals, Canada dominated Russia, winning by 5-0 with goals from five different players, starting with Alex Newhook just 59 seconds into the game!

The U.S. edged Finland, 4-3, in a thriller. The teams were 1-1 after the first period, but the Americans ran out to a 3-1 edge with second-period goals from John Farinacci and Matt Boldy. But the Finns came back with goals in the 12th and 27th minutes of the final period to send the game into overtime. Arthur Kaliyev scored for the U.S. at 8:44 of the overtime and U.S. keeper Spencer Knight held on for the 4-3 final.

Canada is the defending champion from 2020 and has won this tournament 18 times. The U.S. won in 2018 – its fourth title – and last appeared in the final in 2019, losing to Finland. There have been four U.S.-Canada finals in this event – in 1997, 2004, 2010 and 2017 – with the U.S. holding a 3-1 edge, having won the last three.

● At the BuZZer ● Sad news of the passing of Germany’s Walther Troger, an enormously valuable member of the Olympic sports family for decades. He was 91.

A gentle but decisive man with a big laugh and a warm handshake, Troger served as the Secretary-General of the National Olympic Committee of West Germany from 1970-92 and then as President of the unified German NOC from 1992-2002.

He was a member of the IOC from 1989-2010, but many of his most important contributions came as the IOC’s sports director from 1983-90. He took over after the unexpected death of Hungarian Arpad Csanadi a year before the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and helped to smooth out multiple disputes between the LAOOC and some of the International Federations. He did the same on the way to Seoul in 1988.

Troger was the Mayor of the Olympic Village for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and saw the tragedy of the Palestinian terrorist attack on the Israeli Olympic delegation first-hand, and he was involved in the negotiations with the terrorists.

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