BADMINTON: Repeat titles for Momota, Tai and Gideon/Sukamuljo in Denmark

By

-

October 20, 2019

tsx pix 100318 tzu ying tai (BWF) 750 — No. 1-ranked Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei (Photo: BWF)

Fans attending the 2019 version of the Danisa Denmark Open might have thought they were watching a re-run of the 2018 tournament as three of the five events had repeat champions: Kento Momota of Japan, Tzu-Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei and Indonesia’s top-ranked Marcus Fernaldi Gideon & Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the men’s Doubles.

No. 1-ranked Momota has been on fire all season and won his seventh title in 2019: the All England Open, China Open, Japan Open, Singapore Open, Korea Open, German Open and now in Odense with a straight-set win over 2016 Olympic Champion Long Chen (CHN), 21-14, 21-12.

Tai, also ranked no. 1, won her third World Tour event of the season, sweeping aside no. 4 Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) in the final, 21-17, 21-14.

Indonesia’s no. 1-ranked Gideon and Sukamuljo won in an all-Indonesian final vs. Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, 21-14, 21-13. It’s their sixth win on tour this season. Their countrymen Praveen Jordan and Melati Oktavianti won the Mixed Doubles and Koreans Ha Na Baek and Kyung Eun Jung won the women’s Doubles: Finals:

BWF World Tour/Danisa Denmark Open
Odense (DEN) ~ 15-20 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men/Singles: Kento Momota (JPN) d. Long Chen (CHN), 21-14, 21-12. Men/Doubles:
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) d. Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan (INA), 21-14, 21-13.

Women/Singles: Tzu Ying Tai (TPE) d. Nozomi Okuhara (JPN), 21-17, 21-14. Women/Doubles: Ha Na Baek/Kyung Eun Jung (KOR) d. Qing Chen Chen/Yifan Jia (CHN), 9-21, 21-19, 21-15.

Mixed Doubles: Praveen Jordan/Melati Oktavianti (INA) d. Yilyu Wang/Dong Ping Huang (CHN), 21-18, 18-21, 21-19.

FIGURE SKATING: Chen takes third straight Skate America title; Brown second for U.S. 1-2

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 19, 2019

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Internationaux de France — World Champion Nathan Chen of the U.S. (Photo: ISU)

Americans Nathan Chen and Jason Brown took the gold and silver medals in Men’s Singles to kick off the ISU Grand Prix season at Skate America in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chen, the two-time defending World Champion, led after the Short Program with 102.71 points to 96.57 for Russia’s Dmitri Aliev. But while Chen ran away from the field in the Free Skate – scoring 196.38 points – countryman Brown was second with 171.64 and moved from fourth to second.

“I’m pretty happy with the performance today. This is the first Grand Prix of the season, the first real competition since the Worlds, so it’s nice to be able to put out both programs. I’m pretty happy with the score, but there are a lot of things to improve on. Overall it’s a good starting point,” Chen said.

Said Brown, “I’m super happy with the fight. I fought through bits and pieces of it, but I really felt happy that I was able to move past the mistakes from the short to make up for them in the long. It was great to debut both my programs here.”

It was Chen’s third straight win in Skate America, tying Scott Hamilton for the second-most wins in a row; only Todd Eldredge with four has more (and Eldredge win five total, the most ever).

The Pairs was won by China’s Cheng Peng and Yang Jin, who led after the Short Program and won the Free Skate as well. The U.S. went 3-4-5, with Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier winning the bronze.

In the Women’s Short Program, American Bradie Tennell was the leader, with the Free Skate on Sunday. Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue led after the Rhythm Dance. Summaries so far:

ISU Grand Prix/Skate America
Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) ~ 18-20 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Nathan Chen (USA), 299.09 (1st in Short Program + 1st in Free Skate); 2. Jason Brown (USA), 255.09 (4+2); 3. Dmitri Aliev (RUS), 253.55 (2+3); 4. Keegan Messing (CAN), 239.34 (3+8); 5. Kazuki Tomono (JPN), 229. 72 (8+4).

Pairs: 1. Cheng Peng/Yang Jin (CHN), 200.89 (1+1); 2. Daria Pavliuchenko/Denis Khodykin (RUS), 196.98 (2+3); 3. Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier (USA), 192.70 (4+2); 4. Jessica Calalang/Brian Johnson (USA), 180.52 (5+4); 5. Ashley Cain-Gribble/Tim LeDuc (USA), 177.54 (3+5).

CURLING: Canada goes undefeated to win Mixed World Championships

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 19, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1019 Bilawka-Kurz-Walter-Oliver wch team 750 — Canada wins again, thanks to (l-r) Colin Kurz, Meaghan Walter, Brendan Bilawka and Sara Oliver (Photo: WCF/Stephen Fisher)

With its third different team in three years, Canada defended its title the WCF World Mixed Curling Championship, this time held in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Skip Colin Kurz and teammates Meghan Walter, Brendan Bilawka and Sara Oliver completed their group play at 7-0 and then won a series of tight matches in the playoffs to win Canada’s second title in the five years that this event has been held.

Kurz & Co. defeated Sweden, 9-4, then skipped past Denmark, 6-4, to reach the semifinals. But they had to come from behind against Norway in the semis, scoring two in the seventh end to break a 4-4 tie, and then giving away only one point in the final end for a 6-5 win.

Germany, which had finished second to Canada in Group A, waited until the eighth and final end to score twice for a 6-4 win.

In the final, Canada got out in front to stay in the fifth end with three points to break open a 1-1 tie. But the Germans came back with three in the sixth end to tie and took the lead with a point in the seventh end. But in the final frame, Canada scored two to finish with another 6-5 win.

Norway defeated Korea, 6-5, to take the bronze medal. Summary:

WCF World Mixed Championship
Aberdeen (SCO) ~ 12-19 October 2019
(Full results here)

Final Standings (40 competed) 1. Canada (Kurz, Walter, Bilawka, Oliver); 2. Germany; 3. Norway; 4. Korea; 5. tie, Denmark, Hungary, Scotland, Switzerland. Also: 9. United States. Semis: Canada d. Norway, 6-5; Germany d. Korea, 6-4. Third: Norway d. Korea, 6-5. Final: Canada d. Germany, 6-5.

TSX REPORT: Check out our exclusive 718-event calendar of events for 2019-20; IOC wants to move marathons & walks to Sapporo & a USA Gymnastics legal update

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 17, 2019

≡ TSX REPORT ~ 17 October 2019 ≡

| 1. | LANE ONE: A big year ahead, as shown by 718 events in our new Stat Pack calendar for 2019-20

The coming year will be a busy one in international sport, with the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo and all of the build-up to it. Add in the non-stop schedule of winter events and trying to keep track of everything going on is almost impossible.

That’s why it was time to compile a new edition of our International Sports Calendar for 2019-20 with 718 events listed from 15 October of this year through the end of 2020.

There will be many more events added, but this is a start for those looking ahead. Among those events of special interest to U.S. fans ahead of the Games:

● February: U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials
● April: U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials
● June: U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials
● June: U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials
● June: U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials

A look ahead at these events and some others worth noting here. You can download the complete calendar here.

| 2. | ATHLETICS: IOC plans to move Tokyo 2020 marathons and walks to Sapporo

On Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee announced a plan to reduce athlete exposure to the heat in Tokyo during the 2020 Olympic Games by moving the marathon and walking events to Sapporo in northern Japan.

There are five events involved – men’s and women’s marathons, men’s 20 km and 50 km walks and the women’s 20 km walk – all of which are unticketed, so no refunds will be required from the existing ticket sales program.

Sapporo was the host of the 1972 Olympic Winter Games and wants to bid again in 2030. A review of the historical temperatures averages shows the daily lows to be about 11 degrees (F) lower in Sapporo – in the far north of Japan – than in Tokyo. More here.

| 3. | FIGURE SKATING: Skate America opens ISU Grand Prix in Las Vegas this weekend

World Champion Nathan Chen of the U.S. (pictured) is the headliner in the first ISU Grand Prix event of the 2019-2020 season, Skate America.

Held this year at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada for the first time, the event is the highest invitational series held by the International Skating Union.

Two-time World Champion Chen leads the entry list and is the favorite in the men’s Singles competition. The women’s division is expected to be a battle between last year’s women’s Worlds silver medalist Wakaba Higuchi of Japan and 2015 World Champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS).

The Ice Dance should be a showcase for two-time Worlds medalists Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the U.S.

Various NBC channels have excellent coverage of the event on all three days and there is prize money of $18,000-13,000-9,000-3,000-2,000 for the top five placers! More here.

| 4. | GYMNASTICS: Legal marathon for USA Gymnastics continues in Nassar affair clean-up

USA Gymnastics asked for and was granted a third extension by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana to file its reorganization plan pursuant to its voluntary filing under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

The federation’s request explained that it has not yet been able to complete its actions/negotiations with three of its insurers who are disputing their liability under policies issued to USAG during the time that convicted sex-abuser Larry Nassar was committing crimes against gymnasts.

In view of this, the mediation program with the abuse survivors has been stalled since no one knows how much money will be available to the claimants. The USAG filing states that the federation has more than 500 total creditors; the case-management Web site for the filing of abuse claims shows a total of 359 claimants. The USAG balance sheet shows an expectation of $75 million in insurance proceeds under its policies. More here.

| 5. | SWIMMING: Hot water again the question at World Beach Games

The ANOC World Beach Games in Doha (QAT) that ended on Wednesday drew very little notice outside the tight circle of contestants and Olympic Family insiders who follow the movement closely.

But the swimming community was engaged, based on the withdrawals of American stars Haley Anderson and Ashley Twichell and the entire Canadian open-water team over the water temperature off Katara Beach in Doha.

According to a post on SwimmingWorldMagazine.com, the open-water 5 km races were held in temperatures reported to be as high as 32.8 C (~91 F), above the limit of 31.0 C (~88 F) in the FINA rules. The story included this: “one world-class open water swimmer claimed: ‘The water temperature was 30.9C at 4am but by 6am it was somewhere between 31 and 32.’”

The races were won by Italy’s Marcello Guidi for the men and Brazilian star Ana Marcela Cunha for the women. Said Cunha of her training for 2020, “We are trying to compete in races in hot water. We know that it is going to be hot in Japan.”

In view of the heat-inspired plan to move the marathons and walks from Tokyo to Sapporo by the International Olympic Committee, will the open-water swim races be next?

| 6. | THIS WEEK: UCI World Tour ends in China; Speed title on the line in Climbing and Taekwondo in Sofia

The UCI World Tour, which began in Australia way back in January, ends with the GREE-Tour of Guangxi in Japan, now underway. The six stages are mostly flat, with some hills in the final four routes. Most of the top names are not racing, but Colombia’s Egan Bernal – the Tour de France winner – has already won the first stage and is the obvious favorite. He’s raced there previously, winning four stages but finishing 50th overall in 2017.

In Xiamen (CHN), the final IFSC World Cup in Speed will be held this weekend. China’s YiLing Song in the lead with 400 points to 320 for defending champ Anouck Jaubert (FRA) in the women’s division and should win, while the men’s race is close between defender Bassa Mawem (FRA: 300), Russia’s Vladislav Deudin (271), teammate Dmitrii Timofeev (260) and Indonesia’s Alfian Muhammad (253).

Four no. 1-ranked fighters are entered in the first World Taekwondo Grand Prix to ever be held in Bulgaria, specifically in Sofia. More here.

FIGURE SKATING Preview: U.S. stars Chen, Tennell and Hubbell/Donohue headline Skate America

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 17, 2019

2019 ISU World Figure Skating Championships Saitama — World Champion Nathan Chen of the U.S. (Photo: ISU/Atsushi Tomura)

The winter-sports season is here, with the top-line ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix starting this weekend at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Skate America beginning on Friday.

While the second-tier ISU Challenger Series has been ongoing, the Grand Prix is an invitation-only showcase, designed to put the very best skaters in the world on the ice. The top entries:

Men:
● Nathan Chen (USA) ~ World Champion 2018-19, Olympic fifth in 2018
● Boyang Jin (CHN) ~ Fourth at PyeongChang 2018, Worlds bronzes in ‘16-17
● Alexei Bychenko (ISR) ~ European silver in 2016
● Jason Brown (USA) ~ 2015 U.S. champ; Worlds fourth in 2015

Women:
● Wakaba Higuchi (JPN) ~ Worlds silver 2018
● Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) ~ Fifth at 2019 Worlds
● Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) ~ 2015 World Champion
● Bradie Tennell (USA) ~ 2018 U.S. Champion; 9th at PyeongChang ‘18

Pairs:
● Ashley Cain-Gribble/Tim LeDuc (USA) ~ Ninth at 2018 Worlds
● Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier (USA) ~ 2017 U.S. Champions, silver in 2019

Ice Dance:
● Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin (RUS) ~ European silver 2019, bronze 2018
● Madison Hubbell/Zachary Donohue (USA) ~ Worlds silver 2018, bronze 2019

Chen will be trying for his third Skate America title in a row; only Scott Hamilton (3) and Todd Eldredge (4) have done that or more. Japan’s Sakamoto has been second the last two years and looks to move up; Japanese skaters have won the women’s title for the last two editions.

The U.S. pair of Denney and Frazier have a good chance of being the first Americans to win this event in Pairs since 2006, while defending champions Hubbell and Donohue can extend the U.S. win streak in Ice Dance to 11 years in a row!

Prize money in the Grand Prix series is pretty good: $18,000-13,000-9,000-3,000-2,000 in all events.

NBC has heavy coverage of Skate America across multiple channels; the schedule is here. Look for results here.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: Cycling tour ends in China, Speed titles in Climbing, Taekwondo in Sofia

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 17, 2019

tsx pix 2019-317 bernal, egon 750 — Another win coming for Colombian star climber (and Tour de France winner) Egan Bernal?

A fairly quiet week of action, with the UCI World Tour ending and action in Sport Climbing and Taekwondo:

● CYCLING ● UCI World Tour 2019 ends in China with GREE-Tour of Guangxi

The third Tour of Guangxi in China is on this week and will conclude the 2019 UCI World Tour that started in Australia back in January.

Most of the big names on tour are not in this race and the seasonal standings are:

1. 4,635.28 Primoz Roglic (SLO)
2. 3,569.95 Julian Alaphilippe (FRA)
3. 3,472.50 Jakob Fuglsang (DEN)
4. 3,346.75 Egal Bernal (COL)
5. 3,297.00 Alejandro Valverde (ESP)

Bernal is in the race and has had success before, with four prior stage wins in 2017.

Only one prior medalist is back: Austria’s Felix Grosschartner, who was the runner-up in 2018.

There are six stages in this year’s race: two flat stages and four hilly stages, so the sprinters should be happy. Bernal won the first stage held on Thursday, a flat 135.6 km ride our and back from Beihai. Look for results here.

● SPORT CLIMBING ● Speed title on the line in Xiamen

The next-to-last IFSC World Cup comes this weekend in Xiamen (CHN), with the final competition in Speed on 19 October and the next-to-last Lead event on 20 October.

With the Speed title on the line, the current standings:

● Men:
1. 300 Bassa Mawem (FRA) ~ Won in Moscow, second in Wujiang
2. 271 Vladislav Deulin (RUS) ~ Second in Moscow, third in Chamonix
3. 260 Dmitrii Timofeev (RUS) ~ Won in Wujiang, second in Villars
4. 253 Alfian Muhammad (INA) ~ Won at Chongqing and Chamonix
5. 197 Reza Alipour (IRI)

● Women:
1. 400 YiLing Song (CHN) ~ Won at Moscow, Chongqing and Chamonix
2. 320 Anouck Jaubert (FRA) ~ Won in Villars, second in Moscow
3. 261 Elizaveta Ivanova (RUS) ~ Second at Chamonix
4. 247 Aries Susanti Rahayu (INA) ~ Second at Wujiang
5. 197 Anna Tsyganova (RUS)

Defending champ Mawem is in a good position, but with scoring of 100-80-65-55-51 and on down from there, he is not safe. Also, climbers drop their lowest score of the season, so only five count.

Among the women, defending champ Jaubert has a maximum score of 400 with a win, so Song would have to finish 17th or lower to lose the women’s title.

In Lead:

● Men:
1. 200 Adam Ondra (CZE) ~ World Champion
2. 165 Alexander Megos (GER) ~ World Championships silver medalist
3. 159 Sean McColl (CAN)
4. 152 Sascha Lehmann (SUI)
5. 134 Kai Harada (JPN)

● Women:
1. 380 Chae-Hyun Seo (KOR) ~ Fourth at World Championships
2. 243 Janja Garnbret (SLO) ~ World Champion
3. 180 Mia Krampl (SLO) ~ Worlds silver medalist
4. 179 Lucka Rakovec (SLO)
5. 176 Jessica Pilz (AUT)

Ondra and Megos were 1-2 at Worlds and are in a struggle for the seasonal title. Seo, who had a disappointing Worlds, would have to collapse in both of the remaining World Cups to allow Garnbret to win another title.

Look for results here.

● TAEKWONDO ● Five no. 1-ranked fighters in first Grand Prix in Bulgaria

The third World Taekwondo Grand Prix is in Bulgaria for the first time ever, in Sofia. The top seeds (with world ranking):

● Men:
58 kg: 1. Tae-hun Kim (KOR)
68 kg: 1. Dae-hoon Lee (KOR)
80 kg: 4. Nikita Rafalovich (UZB)
+80 kg: 2. Kyo-Don In (KOR)

● Women:
49 kg: 2. So-Hui Kim (KOR)
57 kg: 1. Jade Jones (GBR)
67 kg: 1. Nur Tatar Askari (TUR)
+67 kg: 1. Bianca Walkden (GBR)

Prize money is available: $5,000-3,000-1,000 for the top three places. Look for results here.

THE BIG PICTURE: USA Gymnastics’ legal marathon with abuse survivors and insurance cos. grinds on

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 17, 2019

The myriad of cases involving USA Gymnastics and the intertwined lawsuits from survivors of sexual abuse from Dr. Larry Nassar and the federation’s suits against its insurance carriers continues, with an extension of filing dates.

On Tuesday (15th), USAG received permission from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana for a third extension of a deadline to file a reorganization plan under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to 3 December 2019 and for the agreement to the plan by the plaintiffs suing the federation to 31 January 2020.

In its motion for the extension last September, the USAG attorneys noted:

“The Debtor has in excess of 500 creditors, the majority of which are survivors of sexual abuse. In July, the Debtor commenced a mediation with the Sexual Abuse Survivors Committee, the Debtor’s insurers, and other parties in interest to negotiate a consensual plan of reorganization. That mediation is ongoing and the Debtor does not expect that it will conclude before October 4, 2019. It is therefore not practicable for the Debtor to propose a plan before the Exclusive Filing Period expires.”

USAG has been busy in negotiations its insurers, who have objected to paying the abuse claims, with actions against Liberty Insurance Underwriters, TIG Insurance Company and Ace American Insurance Company. These are also in mediation and a special mediator has been appointed to hear these claims.

As the filing stated, “The resolution of the insurance coverage adversary proceeding and the mediation will determine the amount of insurance proceeds available for distribution to survivors.”

The September “operations report” filed monthly by USAG’s attorneys continue to show a $75 million liability for claims, to be offset by an equal amount for “Insurance Receivable.” The case management Web site shows a total of 359 claims have been made, ostensibly for sexual abuse; none of the claimant names are public.

A June decision by the Bankruptcy Court confirmed that the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee will produce documents it had regarding “insurance and indemnification” and medical records and safety policies and procedures. At this point, the process is focused on USA Gymnastics and not the USOPC.

LANE ONE: A big year ahead, as shown by 718 events in our new Stat Pack calendar for 2019-20

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 16, 2019

tsx pix 2019-606 norman vs lyles rome 200 — Noah Lyles (l) and Michael Norman, two of the expected stars of the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials next June. (Photo: IAAF)

Trying to cover 41 sports and all of the events on the Olympic and Winter Games program is an almost impossible task. One of the keys to being able to check on these events and report them to you is our in-depth International Sports Calendar, now available for the remainder of 2019 and well into 2020.

With events from every Olympic sport, plus all of the IOC’s scheduled meetings, this edition runs to 19 pages and 718 events, from 15 October right through the end of 2020. There will be many additions, as some federations have not confirmed all of their 2020 event as yet, but many have.

In reviewing all of these events, some stand out as more interesting than others; pay special attention to these:

● February: CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying

Two women’s teams will qualify for the 2020 Olympic tournament out of the North American, Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region and one of those should obviously be the United States.

However, the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup champions will be a year older, have a new coach and teams will be able to take only 20 players to Tokyo instead of 23 allowed at the World Cup.

And not everyone is happy with what happened in 2019. Carli Lloyd, now 37, commented on an ESPN podcast about her role as a substitute during the Women’s World Cup:

“It was absolutely the worst time of my life. It affected my relationship with my husband, with friends. It really was rock bottom of my entire career. But somehow, you see light at the end of the tunnel, and I can honestly say I’m having more fun now playing than I ever have in my career. I think I just learned a lot throughout it.

“There’s no denying it. I deserved to be on that field that whole World Cup, but I wasn’t. And I think I’ve grown as a person, as a player. It sucked. It absolutely sucked.”

New year, new coach, new challenges. It will be fascinating to see how the women get ready to try to win another Olympic title. The dates and places have yet to be announced.

● February: UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Berlin

The truth is that track cycling is a poor second to road racing in the cycling world … except during Olympic years. That’s because there are just four road events in the Games – the Road Race and the Time Trial, for men and women – and 12 events in the track program.

The World Track Cycling Champs from 26 February to 1 March will be a great opportunity to size up the possible heroes of the cycling summer.

● February: USA Track & Field Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta

The U.S. marathoners for the Tokyo Games will be decided in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday, 29 February. The all-or-nothing U.S. Trials system will select three men and three women to compete in Tokyo, out of fields that could swell to as many as 600 runners before the qualifying deadline of 19 January 2020.

The course will be challenging, with three eight-mile loops and a final, 2.2-mile loop tacked on at the end on a hilly course. Times will be slower and the race is likely to be tactical … meaning surprises are almost guaranteed.

● April: USA Wrestling Olympic Trials in State College

The U.S. men’s and women’s Freestyle teams are expected to be major medal contenders in Tokyo and the final selection will come on 4-5 April at Penn State, a hotbed of collegiate wrestling.

American wrestlers won five golds and seven total medals at the 2019 World Championships, but the Olympic program has only six weight classes in men’s and women’s Freestyle and in Greco-Roman, instead of 10 at the Worlds. So the competition will be that much more fierce.

● June: USA Track & Field Olympic Trials in Eugene

The Olympic qualification system set up by World Athletics has complicated the traditional top three-or-you’re-out system of the U.S. Olympic Trials, but the vast bulk of the American team will be decided by the 2020 Trials.

The meet, from 19-28 June, will be held at the new Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, touted to be the best track & field-only facility in the world once completed. No matter how good it is, it won’t be as fantastic as the competition, with all of the U.S. stars in attendance, starting with sprint stars Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles, Michael Norman, Grant Holloway and Rai Benjamin.

You can also be sure that the folks from World Athletics – formerly known as the IAAF – will be on hand to see how the facility performs ahead of the 2021 World Championships.

● June: USA Swimming Olympic Trials in Omaha

Held at the same time as the track & field trials to create a thrill-packed “Trials Week” that will fill the programming on NBC, NBCSN and NBC’s Olympic Channel is the U.S. swimming trials, to be held at the CHI Health Center – Omaha’s convention center – from 21-28 June. A temporary pool and stands are placed in the main exhibition hall for the event.

Caeleb Dressel, Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel and all the rest will be competing here, with only the top two qualifying for the Games. It’s the fourth time in a row for Omaha as the Trials host and the 2016 event attracted multiple crowds of 14,000-plus and 197,892 total over the eight days.

● June: USA Gymnastics Artistic Olympic Trials in St. Louis

The gateway to Tokyo for America’s performers in Artistic Gymnastics is the Olympic Trials goes through the 18,200-seat Enterprise Center in St. Louis from 25-28 June.

Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Morgan Hurd, Sam Mikulak and the rest must perform here to be named to the Tokyo team. The U.S. women crushed the rest of the world at the 2019 World Championships just concluded, and that team did not include 2017 World Champion Morgan Hurd or past U.S. champs Riley McCusker or Ragan Smith. And what of comebacking Laurie Hernandez from the 2016 Rio gold medalists?

● July: Games of the XXXII Olympiad: Tokyo 2020

After all of the budget concerns, heat concerns, ticketing concerns and a lot more, the 2020 Olympic Games will finally take place from Friday, 24 July through Sunday, 9 August.

More than 200 countries and about 11,500 athletes will pile into Tokyo for sports and events that very few people will pay attention to in 2021-22-23. But people around the world will be glued to their television sets, computers, tablets and phones for two weeks to follow the action.

Me, too.

There will be a lot of surprises and new stories to follow on the road to Tokyo; check out the calendar and look for your favorites here.

Rich Perelman
Editor

If you enjoyed this commentary, sign up to receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here.

STAT PACK: International Sports Calendar for 2019-20 now available

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 16, 2019

The Sports Examiner’s exclusive calendar of major international sporting events and highlighted U.S. domestic events for 2019-20: 718 events in all!

Events are listed chronologically and broken up by week (Monday-Sunday) for ease of reference. You can download it here:

[wpdm_package id=17305 template=”link-template-button-popup.php”]

This calendar was prepared with publicly-available information as of 15 October 2019, and there will be changes! Please send additions or corrections to [email protected]. Thanks in advance!

For the stories behind the stats, be sure to visit TheSportsExaminer.com!

VOX POPULI: “Hire Jill Ellis” and a new way to think about 1:59:40!

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 16, 2019

From our readers:

● On Tuesday’s 2-0 loss by the U.S. men’s National Team to Canada:

USSF should hire Jill Ellis to coach the men. She is a winner.
~ Rene Henry (Seattle, Washington)

¶

● On comparing Eliud Kipchoge’s amazing (even though staged) 1:59:40 marathon vs. Brigid Kosgei’s world-record 2:14:04:

If you’ve ever run track, you know how tough running those 400 repeats or intervals can be. Back when I was running in high school (on a 1/5 mile dirt track with square turns) I remember how tough it was to run sub-70’s. Obviously, I wasn’t a talented distance runner, just an average long sprinter/half miler.

So, out of curiosity, I divided Kipchoge’s sub-two-hour marathon by 105, equal to the number of quarter mile repeats he had to do, with zero rest.

The average came out to be 68.38 seconds. Or 26 x 4:34 miles.

Contemplate that? Totally mind-blowing.

But, Kosgei’s average of 5:07 per mile is similarly astounding.

So, I’d have to call it a draw, and understand that we’re in a whole other dimension of understanding the limits of human endurance, regardless of gender.
~ Ron Brumel (Los Angeles, California)

[≡The Sports Examiner encourages expressions of opinion – we really do – but preferably based on facts. Comments may be sent to [email protected] We do not guarantee publication of any comment, but all comments submitted will be considered and your submission implies your agreement to publication (and light editing if needed to meet our grammatical and punctuation standards) at our sole discretion. Please include your name and hometown on any comment submitted for publication.≡]

ATHLETICS Panorama: IOC pushing for Tokyo marathons and walks in Sapporo

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 16, 2019

The International Olympic Committee announced a plan to move the marathons and race walks for the 2020 Olympic Games from Tokyo to Sapporo to mitigate the impact of high summer temperatures in Tokyo.

The statement stressed that this was a plan and not a decision and that more discussion would be taking place with “in particular the host city Tokyo, along with World Athletics, the National Olympic Committees (NOCs), Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) and the Rights-Holding Broadcasters (RHBs).”

As Olympic fans will remember, Sapporo was the site of the 1972 Olympic Winter Games and the city has indicated interest in bidding for the 2030 Winter Games as well. The historical temperature averages show Sapporo to be as much as 11 degrees (F) cooler than Tokyo on the dates impacted (highs and lows shown in F; Sapporo shown first):

● 31 July: 75/62 vs. 84/63 ~ Men’s 20 km Walk
● 02 Aug.: 76/63 vs. 85/74 ~ Women’s marathon
● 07 Aug.: 77/63 vs. 85/74 ~ Men’s 20 km Walk
● 08 Aug.: 77/63 vs. 85/74 ~ Men’s 50 km Walk
● 09 Aug.: 77/63 vs. 85/74 ~ Men’s marathon

It’s worth noting that these measures can be taken in part because all of these events are non-ticketed and open to the public. The choice of course will be another opportunity to help the runners. There is an annual summer (!) marathon run in the Sapporo area: the Hokkaido Marathon, held on 25 August this year, with a 9 a.m. start and about 17,000 entries.

The IOC notice added that its working group on athlete safety has been busy with the organizing committee looking at ways to ensure better comfort: “Many of these measures have been trialled in test events this summer. These include better shade, water sprays, better access to water supplies and an initiative to help the athletes in their preparations via detailed information on Athlete365.”

This is just a plan so far and there will be questions as to how the races are to be arranged and who pays for what. But the IOC is paying attention.

TSX REPORT: U.S. men’s soccer team posts 1st loss to Canada in 34 years; new transgender regs in track & swimmer Conor Dwyer suspended, then retires

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 15, 2019

≡ TSX REPORT ~ 16 October 2019 ≡

| 1. | LEADING OFF: Canada beats U.S., 1-0, for first time since 1985 in CONCACAF Nations League Group A

In an incomprehensible show of ineptitude, the U.S. men’s National Team lost to Canada, 2-0, on a cold and windy evening in Toronto in a CONCACAF Nations League Group A game. It was the first goals scored against the U.S. by Canada since 2007 and Canada’s first win over the U.S. since a friendly in April 1985.

The home team had the better of play in the first half, but the game was scoreless. In the 63rd minute, poor defensive play by the U.S. gave possession to Canada and a cross over the head of American keeper Zack Steffen ended with a goal by striker Alphonso Davies for a 1-0 lead.

The U.S. showed no ability to challenge for a goal on offense and when the game appeared to be decided, Lucas Cavallini got behind the U.S. defense in stoppage time (91st minute) and added a second goal for the 2-0 final.

The U.S. ended the game with a meaningless 56% possession, but down, 9-7, in shots.

With two matches still to play on CONCACAF Nations League Group A, Canada leads with nine points (3-0), with the U.S. second with three (1-1) and Cuba with zero (0-3). The U.S. will play Canada and Cuba again in November.

This was the most horrific performance from the U.S. since Costa Rica thrashed them in San Jose, 4-0, during a World Cup qualifying match in November 2016.

Will next month’s result be any different?

| 2. | ATHLETICS: World Athletics adopts new transgender eligibility regulations

The international track & field federation – now known as World Athletics – released a summary of its two Council meetings held on Doha (QAT), with two important developments of concern to individual athletes:

The first is the adoption of a new set of “Eligibility Regulations for Transgender Athletes,” replacing the 2012 regulations. Following up on the female eligibility regulations that were upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for running events from 400 m to the mile, the same testosterone level was approved:

“Under the new regulations a Transgender female athlete is no longer required to be recognised by law in her new gender but should provide a signed declaration that her gender identity is female. She must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Expert Panel that the concentration of testosterone in her serum has been less than 5nmol/L continuously for a period of at least 12 months prior to being declared eligible, and must keep her serum testosterone concentration below that level to maintain her eligibility to compete in the female category.”

Unlike the female eligibility regulations, the transgender rules apply to competitors in all events.

This is an important step for more than just track & field, as the International Olympic Committee has been looking at this same issue, but has not yet adopted new regulations. Its existing rules allow testosterone levels of up to 10 nmol/L, which is at the lower end of the naturally-occurring male range. It will be interesting to see what the IOC’s own medical experts think of the new rules for track & field.

The Council also agreed to “principles” of a new set of athlete marketing regulations, specifically regarding advertising logos on uniforms. The actual text of the regulations won’t be presented for approval until November, but essentially the new rules would allow more logos, in larger sizes, on all apparel items – including shoes – for all events.

Special regulations will apply to World Athletics events, such as the Diamond League, and looser rules will be allowed for other meets.

This is generally good news for athletes and follows the IOC’s lead on its relaxation of Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter concerning non-official sponsors being recognized in advertising and social media during the Olympic Games period.

| 3. | SWIMMING: American swimmer Conor Dwyer suspended for doping, retires

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced that Conor Dwyer, a two-time Olympic relay gold medalist, has had his suspension for doping confirmed by an independent panel of arbitrators and has been suspended for 20 months.

The decision was announced on 11 October (Friday):

“Following a full evidentiary hearing, the Panel found that Dwyer had testosterone pellets inserted in his body in violation of the rules.”

Dwyer failed out-of-competition tests on 15 November, 27 November and 20 December of 2018; his results from 15 November have been nullified.

Dwyer, 30, announced his retirement on Instagram on the same day:

“Today I’m announcing my retirement from professional swimming. It has been an incredible ride and I have accomplished more than my wildest dreams. It was an honor to represent my country alongside my teammates.

“Thank you to my coaches for teaching me that you can achieve anything if you outwork everyone. To my mom who taught me how to swim, to my parents who took me to swim practice when it was 5am and subzero in Chicago and sacrificed so much for me because they believed in me and my dreams. Thank you to all my siblings and cousins for never missing a single meet, for being my rock throughout this unforgettable ride. To all the friends and teammates that have been there, old and new, I cherish every moment and memories we have made throughout the years.

“I have always felt that swimming chose me- it has and will always have a very special place in my heart.

“This is an unfortunate end to an incredible chapter of my life. I believe that things happen for a reason, and I can’t wait to share with you all the next chapter of my life.”

Dwyer’s career included Olympic gold medals on the U.S. 4×200 m Free Relay in 2012 and 2016, an Olympic bronze in the Rio 200 m Free and seven World Championships medals won between 2011-17.

| 4. | VOLLEYBALL: Brazil wins men’s World Cup, with U.S. third; Dominicans win NORCECA women’s title

The U.S. men’s team won the bronze medal in the round-robin FIVB World Cup in Japan, while the American women took the silver medal in the NORCECA Women’s Championship in Puerto Rico.

The FIVB World Cup usually is part of the Olympic qualifying program, but not for 2020. In its 14th edition, it’s a round-robin tournament among 12 invited teams. Brazil won for the third time in the last five tournament and was undefeated at 11-0. Poland and the U.S. were both 9-2, but the Poles took silver on the basis of losing fewer sets than the American squad.

In San Juan, the U.S. women went undefeated (3-0) in group play, swept past Canada in the semis, but quickly fell behind the Dominican Republic, losing the first two sets. The U.S. rallied to even the match, but lost the final set, 15-9. It was the fourth time the U.S. and the Dominicans had met for the title, and the first time that the Dominicans won in the final. More here.

| 5.| THE LAST WORD: The newest “sport” to get a headline about being in the Olympic Games is … thumb wrestling. What?!? More here.

VOLLEYBALL: Brazil wins men’s World Cup; Dominicans beat U.S. in NORCECA Women’s

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 15, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1015 dom rep d usa norceca 750 — A happy Dominican women's team after upsetting the U.S. in the NORCECA Championship final (Photo: NORCECA)

Although not impacting anything important like the Olympic Games, the FIVB men’s World Cup and the NORCECA Women’s Championship concluded over the weekend.

In Japan, the round-robin men’s World Cup – 14th edition – did not qualify teams for Tokyo 2020, but did reinforce who the contenders are: Brazil, Poland, the U.S. and Japan.

Brazil ran through the tournament undefeated (11-0) and won for the third time in the last five editions. Poland was second for the second time in the last three tournaments and the U.S. was third for the second time, after winning in 2015.

The Brazilians swept the U.S., 3-0, and beat Poland in a close, three-sets-to-two match. The U.S. inexplicably lost to Argentina in its first match and to Brazil, but beat Poland, 3-1. The Poles lost only to Brazil and the U.S. and finished second based on more points from losing fewer sets.

The awards:

● Most Valuable Player: Alan Souza (BRA)
● Best Setter: Micah Christenson (USA)
● Best Outside Spikers: Wilfredo Leon (POL) and Yuki Ishikawa (JPN)
● Best Middle Blockers: Maxwell Holt (USA) and Lucas Saatkamp (BRA)
● Best Opposite Spiker: Yuji Nishida (JPN)
● Best Libero: Thales Hoss (BRA)

In the NORCECA women’s tournament in San Juan (PUR), the host Puerto Ricans and the U.S. both won all three of their group matches and advanced to the semifinals. The U.S. swamped Canada, 3-0, but the hosts were upset by the Dominican Republic, 3-2 and faced the Americans in the final.

The U.S. had won their group match, 3-0, but the Dominican immediately won the first two sets. But the U.S. fought back to win the next two sets by 25-15 and 25-20. The fifth set was a 15-9 win for the Dominicans, giving them their second-ever title in the event and first win over the U.S. in four tries in a NORCECA final.

The awards:

● Most Valuable Player: Brayelin Martinez (DOM)
● Best Server: Bethania De La Cruz (DOM)
● Best Hitter: Kim Hill (USA)
● Best Opposite: Karsta Lowe (USA)
● Best Setter: Jordyn Poulter (USA)
● Best Digger: Justine Wong (USA)
● Best Libero: Maria Jose Castro (CRC)
● Best Scorer: Andrea Rangel (MEX)
● Best Blocker: Neira Ortiz (PUR)
● Best Receiver: Shara Venegas (PUR)

Summaries:

FIVB Men’s World Cup
Japan ~ 1-15 October 2019
(Full results here)

Final Standings: 1. Brazil (11-0); 2. Poland (9-2); 3. United States (9-2); 4. Japan (8-3); 5. Argentina (6-5); 6. Russia (5-6); 7. Italy (5-6); 8. Iran (4-7); 9. Canada (4-7); 10. Egypt (2-9); 11. Australia (2-9); 12. Tunisia (1-10).

NORCECA Women’s Championship
San Juan (PUR) ~ 6-14 October 2019
(Full results here)

Final Standings: 1. Dominican Republic (4-1); 2. United States (4-1); 3. Canada (3-2); 4. Puerto Rico (3-2); 5. Mexico; 6. Cuba; 7. Costa Rica; 8. Trinidad & Tobago. Third: Canada d. Puerto Rico, 3-0. Final: Dominican Rep. d. U.S., 3-2 (25-19, 25-23, 15-25, 20-25, 15-9).

FOOTBALL: Canada beats U.S., 2-0, for first time since 1985, in CONCACAF Nations League Group A

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 15, 2019

An absolutely dreary performance by the United States men’s National Team led to a surprising 2-0 victory by Canada in a CONCACAF Nations League match in Toronto. Canada had not defeated the American men since a 2-0 win in a friendly in April 1985.

In a word, the U.S. men were awful.

The conditions were difficult to start with at Toronto’s BMO Field, with winds of 14 miles an hour and temperatures at a chilly 54 degrees (F). But Canada came out much the better and more aggressive side. In the 16th minute, U.S. defender Cristian Roldan turned the ball over deep in the American end, leading to a Jonathan David shot that was blocked by U.S. keeper Zack Steffen. But the rebound came to David again, but a sprawl on the ground by Steffen forced David to take a wide shot past an open net.

There was pushing and shoving and 15 total fouls in the half, but Canada kept the pressure up. In the 41st minute, it was Canadian striker Alphonso Davies who had a chance on a ball played through into the box, but Steffen blocked his shot. The rebound had Steffen out of position, but it was headed to safety. Canada had 52% possession in the first half and out-shot the U.S., 4-3.

The Canadians started hot in the second half as well, with David missing a golden chance just wide of the U.S. goal in the 51st minute. The U.S. counter-attack had Jordan Morris set up Christian Pulisic for a right-footed shot in front of goal, but keeper Milan Borjan was equal to the challenge.

More poor clearing by the U.S. finally led to a Canadian score in the 63rd minute. After the U.S. could not play the ball out of the box, Scott Arfield sent a cross in front of the goal, over Steffen and it was popped into the goal by Davies. It was the first Canadian score against the U.S. since 2007!

Junior Hoilett nearly scored for Canada in the 72nd minute, but Steffen blocked it. Lucas Cavallini got behind the U.S. defense in stoppage time (91st minute) and ripped a right-footed shot from right of goal that found the net for the 2-0 final.

The U.S. didn’t get close to scoring in the second half and ended the game with a meaningless 56% of possession, but down, 9-7, in shots.

With two matches still to play on CONCACAF Nations League Group A, Canada leads with nine points (3-0), with the U.S. second with three (1-1) and Cuba with zero (0-3). The U.S. will play Canada and Cuba again in November.

The loss put the U.S. at 14-9-11 vs. Canada all time and ended a 17-match unbeaten streak (9-0-8) over the last 34 years. They meet again in exactly a month, on 15 November. Can it get worse?

TSX REPORT: Which marathon was better? 1:59:40 or 2:14:04? Plus a historic Worlds for Simone Biles & a new U.S. heavyweight world champion!

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 13, 2019

tsx pix 92417-berlin mar kipchoge 750 — Kenya's marathon superstar Eliud Kipchoge

= TSX REPORT ~ 14 October 2019 =

| 1. | LANE ONE: Two marathon milestones in two days, but which was better? 1:59:40 or 2:14:04? Kipchoge or Kosgei?

The two greatest days in the history of the marathon came this past weekend, with Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge breaking the two-hour barrier under carefully-controlled conditions in Vienna, Austria on Saturday, finishing in 1:59:40.

On Sunday and without any prior fanfare, Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei shattered the 16-year-old world record of Britain’s Paula Radcliffe (2:15:25) by running 2:14:04. She took off from the start and just kept going.

Which of the two performances was better?

There are various ways to compare them, including statistician-created scoring tables, but let’s take a deeper look into the two performances and compare them to their peers. The answer: it’s close. Your opinion?

| 2. | GYMNASTICS: Biles historic in winning five golds at FIG Artistic Worlds

The 2019 edition of the FIG World Championships in Artistic Gymnastics in Stuttgart (GER) has been completed and the star – as expected – was American Simone Biles.

Still just 22, Biles (pictured) won five gold medals, including with the U.S. team, then the individual All-Around and then on the Vault, Balance Beam and Floor Exercise, plus a fifth on the Uneven Bars.

That gave her an astounding career total of 25 Worlds medals, including 19 golds. Both are records for the Worlds, including both men and women. Biles passed Russian Vitaly Scherbo, who won 23 career Worlds medals from 1991-96 and it’s worth noting that the men have six apparatus to compete on and the women have four.

The U.S. also got apparatus medals from Jade Carey and Suni Lee and the American women won eight medals in all. Russia topped the medals table with nine and dominated the men’s events, starting with a 1-2 by Nikita Nagornyy and Artur Dalaloyan in the All-Around and the Vault.

There were plenty of upsets and new countries at the top of the podium. Did you know that Turkey and the Philippines are now gymnastics powers? TSX coverage of the Worlds can be found here.

| 3. | ATHLETICS: Greatest weekend in marathon history and doom for the Nike Oregon Project

The Ineos 1:59 Challenge proved to be successful as Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge – already the world-record holder in the marathon at 2:01:39 – ran a time trial on a specially-prepared course and with exceptional logistical support – in 1:59:40.2 to break the two-hour barrier in the marathon.

He had showed that this was possible in 2017, when he ran 2:00:25 in Monza (ITA) in a similarly-arranged race, but the preparations and the conditions were perfect this time, and so was he. Much more here.

What was not expected was that on Sunday, along with 44,000 others at the Chicago Marathon, Kenyan Brigid Kosgei took off at what seemed like an insane pace in the women’s division.

But she kept it up, felt good and kept going, all the way to the finish in 2:14:04, blowing up the world record of 2:15:25 by Britain’s Paula Radcliffe from 2003!

Kosgei’s prior best was 2:18:20, but she had the idea that she might be able to tackle the record if she got off to a hot start. She crossed the halfway mark at 66:59, which would be a world-class mark by itself for the Half Marathon, then finished just slightly slower in 67:05!

She won by more than six minutes and was, in fact, congratulated after the finish by Radcliffe herself. More here.

With the confirmation of the suspension for head coach Alberto Salazar and consultant Dr. Jeffrey Brown by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, Nike chief executive Mark Parker decided to close the Nike Oregon Project immediately.

The company will help the athletes on the roster, including current World Champions Donavan Brazier and Sifan Hassan (NED), to find another coaching situation. More here.

| 4. | BOXING: Women’s World Championships close with first-ever title match reversal

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has been plagued for decades by judging problems and it came up again at the 11th Women’s World Championships in Ulan-Ude (RUS).

There were complaints about results in the semifinals, but in the 81 kg class final, Dutch fighter Nouchka Fontijn was given a split (3:2) decision over Lauren Price of Wales. An appeal was filed by Price’s coaches and a post-match review of the judging reversed the decision and gave Price her first-ever world title.

That was possible thanks to a new rule installed during the time when the AIBA was trying – unsuccessfully, as it turned out – to avoid being suspended by the International Olympic Committee. But it worked out, at least for Price.

In the 10 weight classes, there were nine new champions, with only China’s Dan Dou repeated her victory, at 64 kg. The U.S. women won three medals, including the first gold since 2016, from Danielle Perkins in the heavyweight (+81 kg) class. More here.

| 5. | CYCLING: Mollema wins first Monument race with solo attack at Il Lombardia

The five “Monument” races in road cycling are among the most prized of all victories on the UCI World Tour. So it was for Dutch rider Bauke Mollema, 32, who had finished in the top 10 at the famed Il Lombardia race in Italy just once in his career.

But he attacked with about 18 km to go, on the penultimate ascent of the 243 km race, and no one followed until it was too late. He said afterwards, “I can’t believe I’ve won a Monument.” Spanish star Alejandro Valverde finished second. More here.

| 6. | FOOTBALL: U.S. clubs Cuba, 7-0, in CONCACAF Nations League opener

The U.S. men’s National Team has had plenty of trouble on the field in recent years, but not vs. Cuba in its first game in the new CONCACAF Nations League. Playing at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., Wes McKennie (pictured) scored after 30 seconds and added two more quick goals for a hat trick within the first 13 minutes.

That was en route to a 7-0 victory, which also included goals by Josh Sargent and Christian Pulisic among others. The U.S. will face a tougher test on Tuesday (15th) vs. Canada in Toronto. More here.

| 7. | SHOOTING: Skinner wins gold, Hancock loses to world record in ISSF World Cup final

The final World Cup of 2019 for the shotgun set was held in Al Ain (UAE) and featured two world-record performances.

One of the best-ever Skeet competitions in history had two-time Olympic gold medalist Vincent Hancock of the U.S. facing a strong field. He and Italy’s two-time Olympian Luigi Lodde made shot after shot and after both hit their first 50 targets, they were the only ones remaining for the final 10 shots.

Lodde never missed and equaled the world record with a perfect round of 60; Hancock missed his 54th shot and had to settle for silver with 59.

In women’s Skeet, China’s Meng Wei won with 59/60, breaking American Kim Rhode’s year-old mark of 58, to defeat Amber Hill (GBR) in the final. American Amber English was third.

In women’s Trap, Aeriel Skinner of the U.S. was the winner, 43-41, over Laetisha Scanlan of Australia. More here.

| 8. | SWIMMING: Kamminga and Campbell win World Cup cluster titles; Dressel dominates in ISL debut

The FINA Swimming World Cup completed its second cluster of meets over the weekend in Berlin (GER), with the $50,000 bonuses going to Dutch Breaststroke star Arno Kamminga and Australia sprinter Cate Campbell.

In both cases, they overcame perennial winners Vladimir Morozov (RUS) and Katinka Hosszu (HUN) by logging very fast performances that earned significant bonus points for being higher valued than all others in the meet in the men’s and women’s divisions.

Kamminga won two events and was second in a third – all in Breaststroke – and Campbell won only the 100 m Free, but in a very fast 52.51. They both ended up winning the $50,000 cluster first prize and Morozov and Hosszu had to settle for the $35,000 second-prize bonuses.

The third cluster will begin in Russia in November. More here.

The second International Swimming League meet was held at the 4,500-seat Piscina Felice Scandalone in Naples (ITA), with better crowd support than in week one in Indianapolis, but also with the presence of U.S. star Caeleb Dressel.

Swimming for the San Francisco-based Cali Condors, he swam in eight races and won four of his five individual events – including the 50 m Free Skins matches – plus three relays. His 57.5 total points (45 money points) earned him Most Valuable Player status for the second meet, just edging Indy MVP Sarah Sjostrom (SWE/Energy Standard), who had 52.0 MVP points and 43 money points.

France-based Energy Standard won the meet, catching the Condors at the end, 493.0-490.5, with D.C. Trident (USA) third with 322.0. More here.

LANE ONE: Two marathon milestones in two days, but which was better? 1:59:40 or 2:14:04?

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 13, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1013 kosgei, brigid 2018 750 — Women's marathon world-record-setter Brigid Kosgei of Kenya

The greatest weekend in the history of marathon running came and went with two astonishing and historic performances in two completely different settings:

● The Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria saw Kenya’s Olympic Champion Eliud Kipchoge become the first person to ever run the 26.2-mile distance in less than two hours, finishing in 1:59:40.2.

This was not a competition, but a time trial, as was his prior attempt in 2017 at the Monza auto-racing track in Italy. He was the only one running this time – there were three in 2017 – and he both paced and shielded from the wind by rotating teams of seven pacesetters, with five in front of him and two behind. The pacers ran in “lanes” shown in front of them by a specially-prepared truck which projected laser gridlines on the road.

Kipchoge, 34, ran in a specially-prepared lane, measured to ensure that he would run the correct distance and no more. Instead of having to pick up fluids at the side of the road, teams of cyclists provided bottles and nutrition to him, as well as the pacesetters.

The situation was perfect, with temperatures from 50-52 degrees (F) and a light fog for the start at 8:15 a.m. and a growing crowd at the Prater Hauptallee to see the event, run on a loop course of 4.3 km that allowed spectators to see much of the attempt.

And Kipchoge came through in style, breaking the two-hour barrier with almost 20 seconds to spare, and then having enough energy to celebrate with the crowd and his family afterwards.

A brilliant run, but not eligible to be considered as a world record, thanks to all of the extra assistance on the course.

● While Kipchoge’s assault on the two-hour barrier was planned, no one was thinking that British star Paula Radcliffe’s women’s marathon record of 2:15:25, run at the 2003 London Marathon, could be touched.

Except Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei, 25, getting ready to run in the 2019 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Since Radcliffe lowered her own record from 2:17:18 at Chicago in 2002, no one had run faster than Kenya’s Mary Keitany, who won the 2017 London Marathon in 2:17:01. In fact, only four women had ever run the marathon under 2:18 since 2005!

Kosgei was not one of them; her best was an impressive 2:18:20, run to win in London in April of this year. But it wasn’t close to 2:15:25.

But running in a World Marathon Majors race, with 44,000-plus other participants, she took off from the start. She broke away from the rest of the women’s field quickly and passed 5 km in a seemingly suicidal 15:28 … which if continued, would yield a record time of 2:10:30!

She slowed, but running through the streets of Chicago and helped by two male pacesetters and with the early-morning winds dying to just a zephyr, she plowed on, passing the halfway point in 66:59 and a lead of 1:23 over second-place Ababel Yeshaneh of Ethiopia.

Consider this: 66:59 ranks 20th on the 2019 world list for the Half Marathon! And then Kosgei kept going and put together another Half – coming home – in 67:05!

As with Kipchoge, she didn’t break the record, she shattered it – and with Radcliffe in attendance – by finishing in 2:14:04.

Two days, the two fastest marathons ever run: one a world record, the other a historic time-barrier breaker. One in a real race against other people, one in a race against the clock.

Which was the better performance?

The easiest reference is the IAAF Scoring Tables, a scientific statistical comparison which assigned points to performances in all events as away to compare their quality. The 2017 edition was based on the work of the late Hungarian statistician Dr. Bojidar Spiriev, who passed away in 2010, and updated by his son, Attila.

According to the 2017 edition, the comparison is simple. Looking up the value of each race:

● 1,354 points for Kipchoge’s 1:59:40;
● 1,295 points for Kosgei’s 2:14:04.

But it’s not that simple, since the conditions were so vastly different. Let’s look at this another way:

● Kipchoge owns the ratified world record in the Marathon at 2:01:39, set in winning the Berlin Marathon in 2018.

His performance in Vienna, a year later, improved on that time by 1.90%.

● Kosgei shattered Radcliffe’s 2003 mark 16 years later by a remarkable 81 seconds (1:21) or 1.04%.

So we can confirm Kipchoge’s mark as superior, yes?

Hold on.

● Let’s do one more comparison, because we have the data. Kipchoge ran 1.90% better in Vienna in comparison to his Berlin time, which took place in an actual race. Because he tried previously to break two hours under conditions similar to the Ineos 1:59 Challenge at the Nike Breaking2 in Monza two years prior, we can compare Saturday’s time to that.

And he improved on his Monza performance by 0.99%, slightly less than Kosgei’s 1.04% lowering of Radcliffe’s mark. So that points to Kosgei’s race as a slightly better performance.

For me, add in that Kosgei’s record effort in Chicago was not the product of a pre-planned effort with heavy logistical support, but a decision on race day to go hard fast and see how long she could continue, makes hers a slightly more impressive achievement … not to mention that no one had really touched Radcliffe’s mark in 16 years.

In fact, it’s worth going back to the IAAF Scoring Tables to check the value of the two in-race bests to compare more equal conditions:

● 1,295 points for Kosgei’s 2:14:04;
● 1,316 points for Kipchoge’s 2:01:39.

Spiriev still likes Kipchoge. The Kenyan star was magnificent in Vienna, but I’ll still take Kosgei in Chicago. Hey, who wants to sponsor a chance for her to break 2:10?

Rich Perelman
Editor

If you enjoyed this commentary, sign up to receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here.

TABLE TENNIS: Two golds each for Xin and Sun as China wins four in German Open

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 13, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1013 fan zhendong wins german open 750 — Happy: German Open men's Singles winner Zhendong Fan (CHN) (Photo: ITTF)

Chinese stars Xin Xu and Yingsha Sun both won two golds medals at the German Open in Bremen, but the star of the show was former world no. 1, Zhendong Fan.

The two-time Worlds Singles medalist hadn’t had a win on the ITTF World Tour for 343 days when he started the men’s Singles final against Xu – ranked no. 1, to no. 2 for Fan – but the outcome was clear. Fan won by four sets to one and took his first title since the 2018 Swedish Open.

“This is an enormously important victory for me. I am overjoyed to have won against Xu Xin,” said Fan afterwards. “Since we know each other so well it’s really hard for me to surprise him with anything. I never let up, always put pressure on him until the last rally. I had a lot of fun here, especially with this great crowd.” The win was the 12th career Singles title for Fan in ITTF World Tour play.

The silver for Xu was his third medal of the event, after winning the men’s Doubles with Jingkun Liang and the Mixed Doubles with Sun. Ranked no. 6 on the women’s Singles list, Sun won the women’s final over Japan’s seventh-ranked Mima Ito, also by 4-1. Summaries:

ITTF World Tour/German Open
Bremen (GER) ~ 8-13 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men/Singles: Zhendong Fan (CHN) d. Xin Xu (CHN), 4-1. Men/Doubles: Xin Xu/Jingkun Liang (CHN) d. Benedikt Duda/Dang Qiu (GER), 3-1.

Women/Singles: Yingsha Sun (CHN) d. Mima Ito (JPN), 4-1. Women/Doubles: Jihee Jeon/Haeun Yang (KOR) d. Miyuu Kihara/Miyu Nagasaki (JPN), 3-1.

Mixed Doubles: Xin Xu/Yingsha Sun (CHN) d. Chuqin Wang/Manyu Wang (CHN), 3-1.

SHOOTING: Skinner wins, Hancock loses to world record in ISSF Shotgun World Cup Final

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 13, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1013 lodde, luigi shooting 750 — World record-equaler Luigi Lodde (ITA), winner of the ISSF World Cup Skeet Final

The ISSF World Cup Final for Shotgun featured one of the most intense battles ever in the men’s Skeet final. Competing in Al-Ain (UAE), two-time Italian Olympian Luigi Lodde faced off against two-time Olympic champ Vincent Hancock of the U.S., among others.

The competition was remarkable, with Lodde and Hancock matched, shot-for-shot, through the first elimination after 20 shots, then after 30 shots and 40 shots.

The fourth round, through 50 shots, eliminated Egypt’s Azmy Mehelba, who had hit his first 37 targets, then missed one, and hit 13 more in a row … but it wasn’t good enough.

At 50-for-50 each, Lodde and Hancock continued in the final match. Both his three more in a row, but Hancock missed on his 54th shot and Lodde didn’t, finishing with a perfect score of 60, equaling the world record of Angad Vir Singh Bajwa (IND) at the 2018 Asian Championships in 2018.

That duel overshadowed another world record, by China’s Meng Wei, the 2019 Worlds silver winner in Skeet, who shot 59/60 in her final to pass American Kim Rhode’s mark of 58, set last year. Wei defeated Brit Amber Hill in the final, with American Amber English third.

Aeriel Skinner of the U.S. won the women’s Trap final, 43-41 over Australia’s Laetisha Scanlan and Mauro de Filippis gave Italy a sweep of the men’s titles with a 44-41 Trap win against Alexey Alipov of Russia.

Mixed Team events, with athletes from different countries on the same team, were held on Sunday. Catherine Skinner (AUS) and Khaled Almudhof (KUW) won the Mixed Trap event and Luke Peter Argiro (AUS) and American Caitlin Connor won the Skeet event. Summaries:

ISSF Shotgun World Cup Final
Al Ain (UAE) ~ 10-13 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men

Trap: 1. Mauro de Filippis (ITA), 44; 2. Alexey Alipov (RUS), 41; 3. Alberto Fernandez (ESP), 34; 4. Josip Glasnovic (CRO), 26; 5. James Willett (AUS), 22.

Skeet: 1. Luigi Lodde (ITA), 60 (equals World Record, Angad Vir Singh Bajwa (IND), 2018); 2. Vincent Hancock (USA), 59; 3. Azmy Mehelba (EGY), 49; 4. Jakub Tomecek (CZE), 38; 5. Gabriele Rossetti (ITA), 29.

Women

Trap: 1. Aeriel Skinner (USA), 43; 2. Laetisha Scanlan (AUS), 41; 3. Alessia Iezzi (ITA), 31; 4. Emilia Galvez (ESP), 27; 5. Ashley Carroll (USA), 23.

Skeet: 1. Meng Wei (CHN), 59 (World Record; old, 58, Kim Rhode (USA), 2018); 2. Amber Hill (GBR), 55; 3. Amber English (USA), 47; 4. Andri Eleftheriou (CYP), 37; 5. Chiara Cainero (ITA), 26. Also: 6. Caitlin Connor (USA), 17.

BOXING: More judging issues as Russia leads the medal table at Women’s World Championships

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 13, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1013 perkins, danielle boxing 750 — New World Champion Danielle Perkins (USA: +81 kg)

The 11th edition of the AIBA women’s World Championships were a good one for the home team, but there was more judging controversy in a couple of high-profile bouts that impacted the medals.

A total of 224 fighters from 57 nations competed in the Russian city of Ulan-Ude and Russia led the medals list with three wins and six total medals in the 10 weight classes. Ekaterina Peltceva (48 kg), Liliya Aetbaeva (51 kg) and Zenfira Magomedalieva (81 kg) all won and Liudmila Vorontsova (57 kg) made her final.

A new rule put in place by the AIBA to allow a post-match review of the decision changed the gold-medal result at 75 kg. Dutch fighter Nouchka Fontijn, who won the silver medal in this class in 2018, was declared the winner of a tight final with Commonwealth and European champ Lauren Price of Wales by 3:2 (30-27, 30-27, 29-28 vs. 28-29, 28-29).

But Price’s corner appealed and the jury awarded the match and the title to Price.

“I definitely thought I did enough to win; the first round was close but I definitely thought I won the second and third rounds,” said Price. “I need to thank my corner because they appealed when the decision was made and the judges went back and overturned the decision in the second round.”

Seven-time medal winner Mary Kom of India was also irritated by the judging, which eliminated her in the semifinals of the 51 kg division with Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey, 4-1. “I am certainly very unhappy with the judging. This loss is unacceptable to me,” she said.

“I could never imagine that something like this would happen to me. I am quite shocked.” Even so, Kom’s bronze medal gives her eight career Worlds medals (6-1-1), the most by any female boxer in the 19-year history of this event.

China was second on the medals table with five (1-3-1) and had the only repeat winner from 2018 in Dan Dou at 64 kg. Turkey (1-2-0) and the U.S. (1-0-2) each had three medals, with Danielle Perkins winning the heavyweight division (+81 kg) over defending champ Xiaoli Yang of China.

The U.S. also won three medals in 2018 (0-0-3), but this was the first gold medal since Clarissa Shields won at 75 kg in 2016. Summaries:

AIBA Women’s World Championships
Ulan-Ude (RUS) ~ 3-13 October 2019
(Full results here)

48 kg: 1. Ekaterina Peltceva (RUS); 2. Manju Rani (IND); 3. Chuthamat Raksat (THA) and Demie-Jade Resztan (ENG). Final: Peltceva d. Rani, 4 judges to 1.

51 kg: 1. Liliya Aetbaeva (RUS); 2. Buse Naz Cakiroglu (TUR); 3. Chol-Mi Pang (PRK) and Mary Kom (IND). Final: Aetbaeva d. Cakiroglu, 4-1.

54 kg: 1. Hsiao-Wen Huang (TPE); 2. Caroline Cruveillier (FRA); 3. Jumana Boro (IND) and Mikiah Kreps (USA). Final: Huang d. Cruveillier, 4-1.

57 kg: 1. Nesthy Petecio (PHI); 2. Liudmila Vorontsova (RUS); 3. Yu-Ting Lin (TPE) and Karriss Artingstall (ENG). Final: Petecio d. Vorontsova, 3-2.

60 kg: 1. Beatriz Ferreira (BRA) 2. Cong Wang (CHN); 3. Mira Potkonen (FIN) and Rashida Ellis (USA). Final: Ferreira d. Wang, 5-0.

64 kg: 1. Dan Dou (CHN); 2. Angela Carini (ITA); 3. Ekaterina Dynnik (RUS) and Milana Safronova (KAZ). Final: Dou d. Carini, 5-0.

69 kg: 1. Busenaz Surmeneli (TUR); 2. Liu Yang (CHN); 3. Lovlina Borgohain (IND) and Saadat Dalgatova (RUS). Final: Surmeneli d. Yang, 4-0.

75 kg: 1. Lauren Price (WAL); 2. Nouchka Fontijn (NED); 3. Tammara Thibeault (CAN) and Khadija El-Mardi (MAR). Final: Fontijn d. Price, 3-2; overturned on appeal and Price awarded bout.

81 kg: 1. Zenfira Magomedalieva (RUS); 2. Elif Guneri (TUR); 3. Lina Wang (CHN) and Thi Huong Nguyen (VIE). Final: Magomedalieva d. Guneri, 5-0.

+81 kg: 1. Danielle Perkins (USA); 2. Xiaoli Yang (CHN); 3. Dina Islambekova (KAZ) and Katsiaryna Kavaleva (BLR). Final: Perkins d. Yang, 5-0.

SWIMMING: Kamminga and Campbell win second World Cup clusters; Dressel MVP in ISL II

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 13, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1013 kamminga, arno 750 — The big winner in the FINA World Cup/Cluster 2: Dutch Breaststroke star Arno Kamminga

The second phase of the 2019 FINA World Cup finished on Sunday in Berlin (GER), with new winners in the cluster rankings in Arno Kamminga and Cate Campbell.

The favorites coming into the meet were perennial favorites Vladimir Morozov (RUS) and Katinka Hosszu (HUN). Both won three events in Berlin: Morozov in the 50-100 Frees and the 50 m Back, and Hosszu in the 200 m Fly and both Medleys.

But as is so often the case in the FINA World Cup, the bonus points for the best performances of the meet – 24-18-12 – according to the FINA points table, was decisive.

Dutch Breaststroke specialist Kamminga won all three events last week in Budapest and won the 100 and 200 m Breast events in Berlin. But even though he was upset by Serb Caba Siladi in the 50 m sprint in Berlin, he had the no. 1 performance (200 m Breast in 2:09.03) over Morozov and won the cluster with 117 points to 108 for Morozov.

Hosszu had 48 points in Budapest to 42 for Campbell, and although Campbell had just one win – in the 100 m Free – and a second (50 m Fly) and a third (50 m Fly), that 100 m Free win in 52.51 was the top performance of the meet and her total of 93 surpassed Hosszu (84), whose best performance did not earn any bonuses.

However, neither Morozov or Hosszu went away empty-handed as the cluster bonus package pays $50,000-35,000-30,000-20,000-10,000-5,000-4000-3,000 for the top eight. The third cluster starts on 1 November in Kazan (RUS). Highlights:

FINA Swimming World Cup
Berlin (GER) ~ 11-13 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Free: Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 21.55. 100 m Free: Morozov (RUS), 48.02 (3. Michael Andrew (USA), 22.03). 200 m Free: Danas Rapsys (LTU), 1:45.82. 400 m Free: Rapsys (LTU), 3:47.65. 1,500 m Free: Florian Wellbrock (GER), 15:10.82.

50 m Back: Morozov (RUS), 24.75 (2. Andrew (USA), 24.97). 100 m Back: Ryosuke Irie (JPN), 53.26 (3. Andrew (USA), 54.13). 200 m Back: Irie (JPN), 1:56.46.

50 m Breast: Caba Siladi (SRB), 27.18 (2. Arno Kamminga (NED), 27.21). 100 m Breast: Kamminga (NED), 59.15. 200 m Breast: Kamminga (NED), 2:09.03.

50 m Fly: Michael Andrew (USA), 23.22. 100 m Fly: 1. Kristof Milak (HUN), 51.78. 200 m Fly: Milak (HUN), 1:55.47.

200 m Medley: Jeremy Desplanches (SUI), 1:58.32 (2. Rapsys (LTU), 1:59.47). 400 m Medley: Yuki Ikari (JPN), 4:13.87.

Women

50 m Free: Michelle Coleman (SWE), 24.26 (3. Cate Campbell (AUS), 24.87). 100 m Free: C. Campbell (AUS), 52.51. 200 m Free: Barbora Seemanova (CZE), 1:58.78. 400 m Free: Seemanova (CZE), 4:10.06. 800 m Free: Maddy Gough (AUS), 8:34.98.

50 m Back: Kira Toussaint (FRA), 27.49. 100 m Back: Toussaint (FRA), 59.46. (3. Hosszu (HUN), 1:00.65). 200 m Back: Taylor Ruck (CAN), 2:08.21.

50 m Breast: Anna Elendt (GER), 31.27). 100 m Breast: Jessica Vall Montero (ESP), 1:07.76. 200 m Breast: Vall Montero (ESP), 2:27.14.

50 m Fly: Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 25.67 (2. C. Campbell (AUS), 26.12). 100 m Fly: Angelina Kohler (GER), 58.83. 200 m Fly: Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2:09.13.

200 m Medley: Hosszu (HUN), 2:10.38. 400 m Medley: Hosszu (HUN), 4:38.15.

Mixed

4×100 m Free: 1. Sweden (Seeliger, Persson, Coleman, Eriksson), 3:30.49. 4×100 m Medley: Japan (Irie, Teramura, Omoto, Matsumoto), 3:50.99.

¶

The second International Swimming League meet was held in Naples (ITA) in front of a much better crowd, and showcased a remarkable performance by American superstar Caeleb Dressel.

He swam in eight events on the weekend:

Saturday:
● 100 m Fly: 2nd, 49.36
● 50 m Free: 1st, 20.64
● 4×100 m Medley: Cali Condors third
● 4×100 m Free: Cali Condors second

Sunday:
● 100 m Free: 1st, 45.37
● 50 m Fly: 1st, 22.34
● Mixed 4×100 m Free: Cali Condors second
● 50 m Free Skins: 1st (21.05 quarters, 21.31 semis, 21.33 final) over France’s Florent Manaudou in the final

Four individual wins in five races – including three rounds in the Skins – and three relays is a heavy workload, but he was the top point-scorer in the meet and won the Most Valuable Player award (45.0 points); Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom was once again the top scorer for the women (43.0). Her schedule:

● Saturday: 100 m Fly (2nd: 56.63), 50 m Free (23.63) + 4×100 m Free Relay.
● Sunday: 100 m Free (51.66), 50 m Fly (24.98) and 50 m Free Skins.

Also impressive once again was Breaststroke star Lilly King (USA) for the Cali Condors, who won all three Breast events for the second week in a row.

Energy Standard (France) won the team scoring for the second straight meet, with 493.0 points to 490.5 for the Cali Condors (San Francisco). D.C. Trident (Washington, D.C.) was third with 322.0 and the home team, the Aqua Centurions (Italy) were fourth at 321.5.

GYMNASTICS: Biles historic with Beam and Floor wins as U.S. wins eight medals at Artistic Worlds

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 13, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1013 biles, simone wch floor 750 (fig) — The greatest women's gymnast of all time: American Simone Biles (Photo: FIG)

The gymnastics world likely saw the greatest women’s gymnast of all time for the final time in a FIG World Championships in Stuttgart (GER) on Sunday and she made a memorable final appearance.

American Simone Biles won the Beam and Floor to set the all-time record for most medals won by an individual gymnast in World Championships history. Her total of 25 total career medals breaks the tie she had with Russian star Vitaly Scherbo (1991-96) at 23 and she increased her existing record mark of career golds to 19.

This is an especially impressive achievement considering that women compete in four apparatus and men compete in six! In terms of career records, Biles is in a league by herself:

● Her 25 career Worlds medals is the most ever;

● Her 19 career Worlds golds is the most ever;

● Her 21 career Worlds medals in individual events is the most ever;

● Her 15 career Worlds golds in individual events is the most ever.

On Sunday, she was the penultimate competitor in the Beam and scored 15.066 to easily outdistance prior leader Tingting Liu of China (14.333). American Kara Eaker finished fourth with 14.000.

She was equally sensational on Floor, scoring 15.133, a full point ahead of teammate Suni Lee (14.133) who won her second apparatus medal and third medal in all in this year’s Worlds. Russian Angelina Melnikova won her third medal of the meet with the bronze.

In the men’s apparatus finals, Russians Nikita Nagornyy and Artur Dalaloyan, who finished 1-2 in the All-Around, finished 1-2 in the Vault, with Ukraine’s Igor Radivilov winning his third Worlds Vault medal with the bronze.

Britain’s Joe Fraser was outstanding on Parallel Bars, adding flips along the bar to the normal strength elements. His extremely high difficulty allowed him to score 15.000, despite having only the fourth-highest execution score. He edged Turkey’s Ahmet Onder (14.983) and Japan’s Kazuma Kaya (14.966), stunning even himself with the victory; he was lifted on the shoulders of his teammates after the last score was finalized.

Defending champion Tin Srbic of Croatia performed elegantly on the High Bar, but had to settle for second to first-time medalist Arthur Mariano of Brazil, , who had the equal-highest difficulty in the field and had the second-highest execution score to finish at 14.900 to 14.666 for Srbic.

Russia won the most overall medals with 9 (3-3-3), but the U.S. – thanks to Biles – had the most wins with five and had eight medals in total. China had a disappointing meet and ended with five total medals for third. Summaries:

FIG Artistic World Championships
Stuttgart (GER) ~ 4-13 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men

Team: 1. Russia (Ablyazin, Belyavskiy, Dalaloyan, Nagornyy, Stretovich), 261.726; 2. China (Deng, Lin, Sun, Xiao, Zou)), 260.729; 3. Japan (Hashimoto, Kamoto, Kaya, K. Tanigawa, W. Tanigawa)), 258.159; 4. United States (Sam Mikulak, Akash Modi, Yul Moldauer, Trevor Howard, Shane Wiskus), 254.578; 5. Great Britain, 251.611; 6. Chinese Taipei, 248.243; 7. Switzerland, 247.038; 8. Ukraine, 246.593.

All-Around: 1. Nikita Nagornyy (RUS), 88.772; 2. Artur Dalaloyan (RUS), 87.165; 3. Oleg Verniaiev (UKR), 86.973; 4. Ruoteng Xiao (CHN), 86.690; 5. Wei Sun, 86.523; 6. Kazuma Kaya (JPN), 85.899; 7. Sam Mikulak (USA), 85.692; 8. Joe Fraser (GBR), 85.098. Also: 16. Yul Moldauer (USA), 82.330.

Floor: 1. Carlos Yulo (PHI), 15.300; 2. Artem Dolgopyat (ISR), 15.200; 3. Xiao (CHN), 14.933; 4. Dalaloyan (RUS), 14.800; 5. Chaopan Lin (CHN), 14.700; 6. Nagornyy (RUS), 14.166; 7. Han-Sol Kim (KOR), 13.833; 8. Dominick Cunningham (GBR), 13.566.

Pommel Horse: 1. Max Whitlock (GBR), 15.500; 2. Chih-Kai Lee (TPE), 15.433; 3. Rhys McClenaghan (IRL), 15.400; 4. Jingyuan Zou (CHN), 15.000; 5. Kaya (JPN), 14.866; 6. Cyril Tommasone (FRA), 14.833; 7. Yu-Jan Shiao (TPE), 14.733; 8. David Belyavskiy (RUS), 13.566.

Rings: 1. Ibrahim Colak (TUR), 14.933; 2. Marco Lodadio (ITA), 14.900; 3. Samir Ait Said (FRA), 14.800; 4. Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE), 14.733; 5. Arthur Zanetti (BRA), 14.725; 6. Denis Ablyazin (RUS), 14.666; 7. Artur Tovmasyan (ARM), 14.200; 8. Nick Klessing (GER), 14.166.

Vault: 1. Nagornyy (RUS), 14.966; 2. Dalaloyan (RUS), 14.933; 3. Igor Radivilov (UKR), 14;749; 4. Marian Dragulescu (ROU), 14.624; 5. Cunningham (GBR), 14.566; 6. Le Thanh Tung (VIE), 14.533; 7. Shek Wai Hung (HKG), 14.466; 8. Hak-Seon Yang (KOR), 14.316.

Parallel Bars: 1. Fraser (GBR), 15.000; 2. Ahmet Onder (TUR), 14.983; 3. Kaya (JPN), 14.966; 4. Xiao (CHN), 14.966; 5. Ferhat Arican (TUR), 14.900; 6. Wei Sun (CHN), 14.466; 7. Petro Pakhniuk (UKR), 14.200; 8. Lukas Dauser (GER), 13.833.

High Bar: 1. Arthur Mariano (BRA), 14.900; 2. Tin Srbic (CRO), 14.666; 3. Dalaloyan (RUS), 14.533; 4. Daiki Hashimoto (JPN), 14.233; 5. Mikulak (USA), 14.066; 6. Chaopan Lin (CHN), 14.033; 7. Tyson Bull (AUS), 13.200; 8. Chia-Hung Tang (TPE), 12.766.

Women

Team: 1. United States (Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Kara Eaker, Sunisa Lee, Grace McCallum), 172.330; 2. Russia (Agafonova, Akhaimova, Melnikova, Shchekoldina, Spiridonova), 166.529; 3. Italy (Carofiglio, Alice D’Amato, Asia D’Amato, Iorio, Villa), 164.796; 4. China, 164.230; 5. France, 163.628; 6. Great Britain, 161.495; 7. Canada, 160.563; 8. Netherlands, 159.427.

All-Around: 1. Simone Biles (USA), 58.999; 2. Xijing Tang (CHN), 56.899; 3. Angelina Melnikova (RUS), 56.399; 4. Ellie Black (CAN), 56.232; 5. Nina Derwael (BEL), 56.033; 6. Elisabeth Seitz (GER), 55.999; 7. Flavia Saraiva (BRA), 55.732; 8. Suni Lee (USA), 55.632.

Vault: 1. Biles (USA), 15.399 average for two vaults; 2. Jade Carey (USA), 14.883; 3. Elissa Downie (GBR), 14.816; 4. Shallon Olsen (CAN), 14.733; 5. Qi Qi (CHN), 14.650; 6. Alexa Moreno (MEX), 14.633; 7. Liliia Akhaimova (RUS), 14.366; 8. Seojeong Yeo (KOR), 14.183.

Uneven Bars: 1. Derwael (BEL), 15.233; 2. Becky Downie (GBR), 15.000; 3. Lee (USA), 14.800; 4. Melnikova (RUS), 14.733; 5. Biles (USA), 14.700; 6. Daria Spiridonova (RUS), 14.633; 7. Tingting Liu (CHN), 14.400; 8. Seitz (GER), 13.566.

Balance Beam: 1. Biles (USA), 15.066; 2. Tingting Liu (CHN), 14.433; 3. Shijia Lee (CHN), 14.300; 4. Kara Eaker (USA), 14.000; 5. Melanie de Jesus dos Santos (FRA), 13.966; 6. Flavia Saravia (BRA), 13.400; 7. Sarah Voss (GER), 13.266; 8. Anne-Marie Padurariu (CAN), 11.933.

Floor: 1. Biles (USA), 15.133; 2. Lee (USA), 14.133; 3. Melnikova (RUS), 14.066; 4. Saraiva (BRA), 13.966; 5. De Jesus dos Santos (FRA), 13.833; 6. Roxana Popa (ESP), 13.800; 7. Brooklyn Moors (CAN), 13.600; 8. Liliia Akhaimova (RUS), 13.500.

ATHLETICS: Kosgei solos brilliant 2:14:04 to crush women’s record in Chicago Marathon

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 13, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1013 kosgei and radcliffe chicago 750 — World record setters Brigid Kosgei and Paula Radcliffe after Kosgei's WR 2:14:04 on Sunday. (Photo: Chicago Marathon)

On a weekend when Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge broke the two-hour barrier in the marathon in a manufactured setting in Austria, Brigid Kosgei shattered a thought-to-be unassailable world record in the women’s marathon in an actual race in Chicago.

Running away from the field in the early miles, Kosgei ran solo, aided by two pacemakers and destroyed the 2:15:25 mark set by Britain’s Paula Radcliffe in London in 2003, finishing in an astonishing 2:14:04.

Kosgei ran away from the start and had an eight second lead at the 5 km mark, timing 15:28. By the 10 km mark, she was 32 seconds ahead of Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh and the lead only grew from there.

As the race continued, it became clear that Kosgei had a real shot at Radcliffe’s mark, which had not been challenged since it was set. The closest was Kenyan Mary Keitany’s 2:17:01 win in London in 2017. But Kosgei crossed halfway in 1:06:59, a time which would rank her among the top 60 all time in the Half Marathon!

She charged ahead with 5 km splits of 15:45 between 25-30 km, then 15:56 and 15:57 to cross 40 km in 2:07:11 and the record was clearly going to be hers.

“I am feeling good, and I am happy because I was not expecting this,” she said afterwards. “But I felt my body was moving, moving, moving so I went for it.

“I ran here last year so I knew it was a good course. There was a little bit of wind but it was okay. People were cheering all along the course, which gave me more energy.”

Radcliffe was at the race and congratulated Kosgei on the achievement. This was the Kenyan’s 11th career marathon and her third win in a row after Chicago last year and London in April in her prior personal best of 2:18:20.

Yeshaneh finished second, way back in 2:20:51 and Gelete Burka (ETH) was third in 2:20:55.

The men’s race came down to a sprint at the finish, with Kenya’s Lawrence Cherono winning from Dejene Debela (ETH), by 2:05:45-2:05:46. Ethiopia’s Asefa Mengstu was third in 2:05:48.

The top five finishers in the race won prize money of $100,000-75,000-50,000-30,000-25,000 and Kosgei won an additional $75,000 for breaking Radcliffe’s course record of 2:17:18 frm 2002. Summaries:

World Marathon Majors/Chicago Marathon
Chicago, Illinois (USA) ~ 13 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Lawrence Cherono (KEN), 2:05:45; 2. Dejene Debela (ETH) 2:05:46; 3. Asefa Mengstu (ETH), 2:05:48; 4. Bedan Karoki (KEN), 2:05:53; 5. Bashir Abdi (BEL), 2:06:14; 6. Seifu Tura (ETH), 2:08:35; 7. Dickson Chumba (KEN), 2:09:11; 8. Mo Farah (GBR), 2:09:58; 9. Jacob Riley (USA), 2:10:36; 10. Jerrell Mock (USA), 2:10:37.

Women: 1. Brigid Kosgei (KEN), 2:14:04 (World Record; old, 2:15:25, Paula Radcliffe (GBR), 2003); 2. Ababel Yeshaneh (ETH), 2:20:51; 3. Gelete Burka (ETH), 2:20:55; 4. Emma Bates (USA), 2:25:27; 5. Fionnuala McCormack (IRL), 2:26:47; 6. Stephanie Bruce (USA), 2:27:47; 7. Lindsay Flanagan (USA), 2:28:08; 8. Laura Thweatt (USA), 2:29:06; 9. Lisa Weightman (AUS), 2:29:45; 10. Taylor Ward (USA), 2:30:14.

FOOTBALL: U.S. men swamp Cuba, 7-0, in CONCACAF Nations League opener

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 12, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1012 mckennie, wes v cuba 750 — Three goals in 13 minutes to start the game for Wes McKennie (8) of the U.S. (Photo: U.S. Soccer)

In the opening season of the CONCACAF Nations League’s Group A, Canada hammered Cuba by 6-0 at home and then won a 1-0 decision against the Cubans in a game held in the Cayman Islands in September.

Now it was the U.S. men’s turn to get healthy against Cuba, and it didn’t take long as the American men scored four goals in 13 minutes – including a Wes McKennie hat trick – on the way to a 7-0 win at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. on Friday.

Off the opening kickoff, the U.S. moved the ball down the right sideline and Jordan Morris sent a cross back into the box. It was deflected, but then landed at the feet of McKennie, who moved into position and sent a low liner in the Cuban net past keeper Nelson Johnston at the 30-second mark for a 1-0 lead.

It was the second-quickest goal in the history of the U.S. men’s team.

McKennie scored again in the fifth minute off another Morris cross from the right side, this time with a diagonal pass from the right side toward the goal. McKennie was right there at the end to send it into the net for a 2-0 edge and the rout was on.

Morris scored in the ninth minute on an assist from McKennie (3-0) and then McKennie got a hat trick in the 13th minute with a right-footed shot off a powerful cross to the front of the net by Reggie Cannon.

Cuban back Dario Ramos scored an own goal off a deflection on a Morris shot that Johnston and then bounced off Ramos (5-0) and striker Josh Sargent scored off a set-up by Morris in the 40th minute for a 6-0 halftime lead,

Christian Pulisic scored the final goal on penalty kick called when Sargent was fouled in the box in the 62nd minute.

The game was played before 13,784, who saw the fastest hat trick to open a game in U.S. history from McKennie and a record-tying three assists in a single game from Morris. The U.S. now owns an 11-1-1 all-time record against the Cubans.

In the Group A standings, Canada is 2-0, the U.S. is 1-0 and Cuba is 0-3.

Only the winner of the group will advance to the Nations League semifinals and the Group A standings will be more meaningfully impacted by next Tuesday’s game between the U.S. and Canada in Toronto (7:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2, TUDN and UniMas).

CYCLING: Dutch treat for Mollema after solo attack wins Il Lombardia

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 12, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1012 mollema bauke il lombardia 750 — Spectacular victory for Dutch star Bauke Mollena in the 113th Il Lombardia!

The penultimate climb in the 113th running of Il Lombardia proved to be decisive because that’s when Dutchman Bauke Mollema decided to attack.

The racing had already been back and forth with plenty of attempted breakaways, but Mollema jumped the field on the ascent to the Civilglio, the next-to-last hill in the race … and he got away.

Just 18 km remained in this lengthy, 243 km route and Mollema was able to increase his lead over the crest and then on the descent. Behind him, France’s Pierre Latour kept attacking, trying to reach Mollema, but he was caught by Jakob Fuglsang (DEN). Adam Yates (GBR) then tried to go, but was passed by La Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic (SLO). That fizzled and Michael Woods (CAN) tried next, but by this time there were only 5 km left and Spain’s Alejandro Valverde took one final run after Mollema, but he was gone.

“I can’t believe I’ve won a Monument,” said Mollema. “I wasn’t the favorite so maybe the other riders underestimated me a bit. I found the right moment to attack. I just went full gas in the last ten kilometers. It’s unreal!”

Valverde and Colombia’s Tour de France winner Egan Bernal were in the final sprint for second, with Valverde crossing first, Fuglsang fourth and Woods fifth.

It’s the biggest ever for the 32-year-old Mollema, who had previously won a Tour de France stage in 2017 and a La Vuelta stage way back in 2013. It was his ninth start at Il Lombardia and only his second finish in the top 10!

He said afterwards, “I knew the downhill well, so I just time trialed until the finish. The last climb wasn’t super hard. I knew it. At one point I looked down and I saw Roglic was still pretty far away, so I was confident. With 1 or 2 km to go, I was sure that I was gonna win. I had a good rhythm and they weren’t closing on me. Winning a Monument is a great way to finish the season, it’s nice that I had time to celebrate, my parents were here, it’s been a special moment.”

Mollema is the first Dutch winner of this race since 1981, and Valverde, at 39, is the oldest medalist ever. The World Tour season will finish next week at the Tour of Guangxi in China. Summaries:

UCI World Tour/Il Lombardia
Bergamo to Como (ITA) ~ 12 October 2019
(Full results here)

Final Standings (243 km): 1. Bauke Mollema (NED), 5:52:59; 2. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), 5:53:15; 3. Egan Bernal (COL), 5:53:15; 4. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN), 5:53:15; 5. Michael Woods (CAN), 5:53:33; 6. Jack Haig (SUS), 5:53:33; 7. Primoz Roglic (SLO), 5:53:33; 8. Emanuel Buchmann (GER), 5:53:49; 9. Pierre Latour (FRA), 5:53:49; 10. Rudy Molard (FRA), 5:53:49.

GYMNASTICS: Biles and Carey go 1-2 in Worlds Vault; Lee wins bronze on Uneven Bars

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 12, 2019

tsx pix 110318 biles simone 750 — On to Tokyo: gymnastics superstar Simone Biles (USA)

The first of two days of apparatus finals at the FIG World Championships in Stuttgart (GER), immediately became a showcase for American Simone Biles, on one of her favorite events, the vault.

Using her excellent speed on the runway and unmatched power at take-off, she dazzled the crowd with the highest execution score of the first round – a 9.333 – and scored 15.333 to take the lead. Her second vault was almost as difficult, but she was even cleaner, scoring 9.666 in execution – the best of the day – and was rewarded with a 15.466 score, also the highest of the day. Her averaged score of 15.399 was easily the winner and earned her a 23rd career World Championships medal, tying her for the most ever with Russian star Vitaly Scherbo (1991-96).

The fight for second was won by American Jade Carey, who also had a very difficult and clean first effort, scoring 15.166; only Biles scored higher. Her second vault was a little less difficult, but scored 9.100 in execution and was good for 14.600; her average of 14.883 gave her a second Worlds silver in the event, after winning one in 2017.

Britain’s Elissa Downie was the only other vaulter to score 15 points (15.033) on one of her vaults and she finished third at 14.816.

In the Uneven Bars, Biles opened with a clean, elegant routine, but without exceptional difficulty, scoring 14.700. But she was passed immediately by Britain’s Becky Downie, who scored 15.000 and then by U.S. teammate Suni Lee, who had a complex routine that scored 14.800 that moved Biles to third. After German Elisabeth Seitz fell, Russia’s Angelina Melnikova’s routine was clean, with an excellent dismount and scored 14.733 and moved Biles off the podium.

Downie and Lee held onto the 1-2 spots with Belgium’s star Nina Derwael up for the final routine. She moved elegantly between the two bars, back and forth, and stuck the landing; she won her second world title by being rewarded with a 15.233 score.

Lee, 16, scored a glorious 15.000 in the qualifying to get to the final, then a solid 14.733 in the Team final. But she fell in the All-Around, scoring only 13.133. She rebounded this time with 14.733 and earned a bronze medal in her first World Championships.

Embed from Getty Images

In the men’s apparatus finals:

● Floor: All-Around champ Nikita Nagornyy (RUS) was first up and scored 14.166, a total that was not going to earn him a medal. But Israel’s Artem Golgopyat, who had the second-highest difficulty score in the field,, was brilliant and put up an impressive 15.200 score that was going to be hard to beat.

It held up against A-A silver winner Artur Dalaloyan (RUS: 14.800) and A-A bronze medalist Ruoteng Xiao of China (14.933). Next to last in the order was Carlos Yulo of the Philippines, the bronze medalist in this event from 2018. He was only seventh in the qualifying round, but came in with the highest difficulty level in the field and nailed his routine, earning 15.300, the gold medal and the first-ever World Champs gold medal for the Philippines. Dolgopyat’s silver earns him a qualifying spot for the Tokyo 2020 Games.

● Pommel Horse: No doubt about the favorite, as Britain’s Max Whitlock entered as the two-time defending champion and the Rio 2016 winner. He was second in the order and had – by 7.000 to 6.500 – the highest difficulty level in the field. His execution wasn’t perfect and his facial expression showed some disappointment in a performance score of 8.500, but it gave him the lead at 15.500.

Ireland’s Rhys McClenaghan had only a 6.400 difficulty level, but he glided across the horse, with grace and perfect positioning and scored 9.000 on his execution – best of the day – to total 15.400 and move into second place. That looked like it might win the silver medal, but Chinese Taipei star Chih-Kai Lee had a slightly-higher difficulty level and performed almost as well, scoring 15.433 for silver. It was only after his routine that Whitlock showed even a trace of a smile, but he became a three-time World Champion.

● Rings: Turkey’s Ibrahim Colak overpowered the Rings with great precision and completed a difficult landing to score 14.933 and take the lead. He survived an excellent routine from Italy’s Marco Lodadio (14.900) and then defending champion Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE) was not quite his best and scored 14.733 for third. A final surprise came from France’s Samir Ait Said, who completed a very precise and tight routine to score 14.800 and earn the bronze medal. For Colak, it was Turkey’s first-ever World Championships medal!

The FIG Worlds conclude in Stuttgart on Sunday with five more apparatus finals and with Biles the leading contender on both the Beam and Floor. Summaries so far:

FIG Artistic World Championships
Stuttgart (GER) ~ 4-13 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men

Team: 1. Russia (Ablyazin, Belyavskiy, Dalaloyan, Nagornyy, Stretovich), 261.726; 2. China (Deng, Lin, Sun, Xiao, Zou)), 260.729; 3. Japan (Hashimoto, Kamoto, Kaya, K. Tanigawa, W. Tanigawa)), 258.159; 4. United States (Sam Mikulak, Akash Modi, Yul Moldauer, Trevor Howard, Shane Wiskus), 254.578; 5. Great Britain, 251.611; 6. Chinese Taipei, 248.243; 7. Switzerland, 247.038; 8. Ukraine, 246.593.

All-Around: 1. Nikita Nagornyy (RUS), 88.772; 2. Artur Dalaloyan (RUS), 87.165; 3. Oleg Verniaiev (UKR), 86.973; 4. Ruoteng Xiao (CHN), 86.690; 5. Wei Sun, 86.523; 6. Kazuma Kaya (JPN), 85.899; 7. Sam Mikulak (USA), 85.692; 8. Joe Fraser (GBR), 85.098. Also: 16. Yul Moldauer (USA), 82.330.

Floor: 1. Carlos Yulo (PHI), 15.300; 2. Artem Dolgopyat (ISR), 15.200; 3. Xiao (CHN), 14.933; 4. Dalaloyan (RUS), 14.800; 5. Chaopan Lin (CHN), 14.700; 6. Nagornyy (RUS), 14.166; 7. Han-Sol Kim (KOR), 13.833; 8. Dominick Cunningham (GBR), 13.566.

Pommel Horse: 1. Max Whitlock (GBR), 15.500; 2. Chih-Kai Lee (TPE), 15.433; 3. Rhys McClenaghan (IRL), 15.400; 4. Jingyuan Zou (CHN), 15.000; 5. Kaya (JPN), 14.866; 6. Cyril Tommasone (FRA), 14.833; 7. Yu-Jan Shiao (TPE), 14.733; 8. David Belyavskiy (RUS), 13.566.

Rings: 1. Ibrahim Colak (TUR), 14.933; 2. Marco Lodadio (ITA), 14.900; 3. Samir Ait Said (FRA), 14.800; 4. Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE), 14.733; 5. Arthur Zanetti (BRA), 14.725; 6. Denis Ablyazin (RUS), 14.666; 7. Artur Tovmasyan (ARM), 14.200; 8. Nick Klessing (GER), 14.166.

Women

Team: 1. United States (Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Kara Eaker, Sunisa Lee, Grace McCallum), 172.330; 2. Russia (Agafonova, Akhaimova, Melnikova, Shchekoldina, Spiridonova), 166.529; 3. Italy (Carofiglio, Alice D’Amato, Asia D’Amato, Iorio, Villa), 164.796; 4. China, 164.230; 5. France, 163.628; 6. Great Britain, 161.495; 7. Canada, 160.563; 8. Netherlands, 159.427.

All-Around: 1. Simone Biles (USA), 58.999; 2. Xijing Tang (CHN), 56.899; 3. Angelina Melnikova (RUS), 56.399; 4. Ellie Black (CAN), 56.232; 5. Nina Derwael (BEL), 56.033; 6. Elisabeth Seitz (GER), 55.999; 7. Flavia Saraiva (BRA), 55.732; 8. Suni Lee (USA), 55.632.

Vault: 1. Biles (USA), 15.399 average for two vaults; 2. Jade Carey (USA), 14.883; 3. Elissa Downie (GBR), 14.816; 4. Shallon Olsen (CAN), 14.733; 5. Qi Qi (CHN), 14.650; 6. Alexa Moreno (MEX), 14.633; 7. Liliia Akhaimova (RUS), 14.366; 8. Seojeong Yeo (KOR), 14.183.

Uneven Bars: 1. Derwael (BEL), 15.233; 2. Becky Downie (GBR), 15.000; 3. Lee (USA), 14.800; 4. Melnikova (RUS), 14.733; 5. Biles (USA), 14.700; 6. Daria Spiridonova (RUS), 14.633; 7. Tingting Liu (CHN), 14.400; 8. Seitz (GER), 13.566.

ATHLETICS: He did it! Kipchoge finishes INEOS 1:59 Challenge in 1:59:40.2!

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 12, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1012 kipchoge, eliud ineos chall 3 750 — The amazing INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, where Eliud Kipchoge (in white) made history

After all the planning and all the hype, the time came for running and Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge was ready And he delivered!.

He completed the marathon distance in a controlled time trial in Vienna (AUT) in a historic 1:59:40.2, using a controlled pace-setting program to set him up for a final sprint that shattered the two-hour barrier, writing a new chapter in endurance performance running.

Through the first half-hour, Kipchoge, 34, ran slightly ahead of target, with the computer tracker posting a nine-second advantage against the prescribed pace. He gained a little more time in the second 30 minutes, passing the halfway park about 11 seconds ahead of pace.

The race was not eligible for record consideration as Kipchoge was the only competitor and ran in a shielded environment with teams of seven pacesetters around him – five in front and two behind – through the entire 26.2 mile distance. The pack was accompanied by a series of aids on bicycles, who provided fluids and nutrition to Kipchoge and the pacesetters throughout.

The course was 4.4 laps of a 4.3 km street course on the Prater Hauptallee in Vienna (AUT), with spectators all along the course. Right from the foggy 8:15 a.m. start, there were significant numbers of fans at the finish line – bundled up in the 50-degree (F) temperatures – with more and more lining the course during the event.

The pacing program worked perfectly, with Kipchoge clicking off kilometer after kilometer in 2:50 (~4:34.5 mile pace). The weather remained cloudy with temperatures at 51 degrees (F) after an hour and a half.

At the 90 minute-mark, the projected time was still nicely on pace at 1:59:50, and the crowd was growing. The pacing effort paid off with a metronome-like 2:50-per-kilo in kilometers 33-34-35-36-37-38-30-40.

He crossed 40 km in 1:53:36, meaning he only had to run 6:23 for the final 2.2 km (1.4 miles) to break two hours. He ran 2:49 for km 41 and the pacesetters all moved in front of Kipchoge with a kilometer to go, setting him up for the chase, and then parted to allow him to go to the lead and cross the line alone. He sprinted to the finish, celebrating with the fans and crossing in 1:59:40.2.

How good was he? Kipchoge was mobbed at the finish by his pacesetters, took a Kenyan flag and then ran – effortlessly, it appeared – up and down the final straight to share the achievement with the fans!

For Kipchoge, this effort was the culmination of a two-year effort that saw him run 2:00:25 in a similarly-controlled program at the famed auto-racing track in Monza (ITA) in 2017 and then set the world record at the Berlin Marathon in 2:01:39 on 16 September 2018.

He won at the London Marathon in late April in 2:02:37 and now made more history on Saturday morning. Kipchoge has now lowered the best-ever performance in the marathon from countryman Dennis Kimetto’s 2:02:57 in 2014 by more than three minutes in just more than five years! What’s next? What’s possible?

ATHLETICS Panorama: Nike Oregon Project closed in view of Salazar’s suspension

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 12, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1012 salazar, alberto 750 — Former Nike Oregon Project coach Alberto Salazar

The 30 September suspension of Nike Oregon Project coach Alberto Salazar and consultant Dr. Jeffrey Brown has led to the closure of the program.

The details were provided in a lengthy Friday story on RunnersWorld.com written by Christa Sgobba, which included comments from a Nike memorandum provided to the magazine.

Per Nike chief executive Mark Parker:

“This situation, along with ongoing unsubstantiated assertions, is a distraction for many of the athletes and is compromising their ability to focus on their training and competition needs. I have therefore made the decision to wind down the Oregon Project.”

This leaves the current Nike Oregon Project athletes coachless, including Galen Rupp and Jordan Hasay, who will be competing in the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, as well as IAAF World Championships stars Donavan Brazier (USA/men’s 800 m gold), Yomif Kejelcha (ETH/men’s 10,000 m silver), Sifan Hassan (NED/women’s 1,500 m/10,000 m gold) and Konstanze Klosterhalfen (GER/women’s 5,000 m bronze), among others.

Parker’s memo also included a note that the company would help the NOP athletes as “they choose the coaching set up that is right for them.”

These athletes and those who have previously been part of the NOP program – founded in 2001, and including Olympic champs Mo Farah (GBR) and Matthew Centrowitz (USA) – will now be the subject of continued inquiry. International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach (GER) noted that the IOC Executive Board was briefed on the case earlier this month:

“We have also discussed the Salazar case, which is very worrying and raises serious concerns, but we are confident that [the World Anti-Doping Agency] will look into this case very carefully, and will follow up on the questions which remain open. After this report … the IOC will write a letter to WADA in this respect.”

Asked about the questions the IOC had, he added:

“First of all, to see how many athletes have been investigated, have all the athletes been investigated who were training in this center, does the report address the whole period of the existence of this project, or only part of it, could there [be] any results – Olympic results – be affected, directly or indirectly with regard to also the principle of strict liability, because we learned from this report that the athletes would not have known what happened to them.

“This is an important factor when it comes to suspensions or sanctions, but for disqualification from an event is mandatory under the principle of strict liability, whether the athlete knew or not. It’s just about the presence of the substance in the body or the application of the prohibited methods.

“But we are very confident that WADA is looking into this anyway, so we are waiting for the advice of WADA in this respect.”

So Nike’s closure of the program is only at the beginning of the story, not at all the end.

THE BIG PICTURE: 4,600 Iranian women attend World Cup qualifier in Tehran

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 11, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1011 iran women attend match 750 — Breakthrough: About 4,600 Iranian women attend the World Cup qualifier vs. Cambodia on 10 October (Photo: Aljazeera)

For those who say the sport can play a helpful role in society, more proof came on Thursday (10th) as about 4,600 Iranian women were allowed in as spectators for a football match between Cambodia and Iran in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.

It’s the first in about 40 years that women have been allowed to attend a men’s football match in Iran and comes only after intense international condemnation of Iran, following the death of Sahar Khodayari, an Iranian women who set herself on fire after being arrested for attending a match last March, dressed as a man. She died on 9 September after being told that she could be sentenced to jail for going to the match.

The Iranian authorities at first allowed 3,500 tickets to be allocated for women buyers, in a designated area of the 78,116-seat stadium. Those sold out quickly and another 1,100 were made available. Only about 6,000 men attended the game, a 14-0 win for Iran, part of the World Cup qualifying series in Asia.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI), who had told the Iranian Football Association that the refusal to admit women was unacceptable, released a statement that included:

“For the first time in nearly 40 years, several thousand women have been allowed into a stadium in IR Iran to watch a football match played by men.

“This is a very positive step forward, and one which FIFA, and especially Iranian girls and women, have been eagerly waiting for. The passion, joy and enthusiasm they showed today was remarkable to see and encourages us even more to continue the path we have started. History teaches us that progress comes in stages and this is just the beginning of a journey.

“Consequently, FIFA now looks more than ever towards a future when ALL girls and women wishing to attend football matches in IR Iran will be free to do so, and in a safe environment.

“There can be no stopping or turning back now.”

Critics pointed to the quota of 3,500 women, later enlarged to 4,600, as discriminatory, but this is a start. The allowance for women to attend only applies – for now – to international matches, which are under the authority of FIFA.

The next World Cup qualifier to be held in Iran will be on 20 March 2020 vs. Hong Kong.

GYMNASTICS: Favored Nagornyy wins men’s All-Around as Russia goes 1-2

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 11, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1011 nagornyy, nikita 750 — World Champion at last: Russia's Nikita Nagornyy

After a bronze-medal finish in the 2018 All-Around, Russia’s Nikita Nagornyy figured it was about time for him to get to the top of the podium in 2019.

Mission accomplished.

Clearly the top men’s performer through the qualifying and Team events, Nagornyy won the 2019 All-Around title with a consistent performance at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle in Stuttgart (GER) on Friday. His 88.772 points easily surpassed teammate (and defending champion) Artur Dalaloyan’s 87.165 total for the victory.

Nagornyy had the best marks in the field on Rings and Vault and was second on Floor and third on Parallel Bars. He came into the final event, the High Bar, and needed only a score in the 12s to win, but posted a solid 14.166 (fifth) to win the overall title. China’s Ruoteng Xiao, second in 2018, won bronze this time.

It was the second straight All-Around win for Russia and the first-ever Russian 1-2 in the men’s All-Around. The 1991 Worlds had a 1-2-3 finish for Soviets Grigory Misutin, Vitaly Scherbo and Valeri Liukin, but only Liukin was Russian; Misutin was from the Ukraine and Scherbo from Belarus!

American Sam Mikulak started brilliantly and had the highest score of all on the High Bar (14.700) to lead after three rotations. But he scored only 13.00 on the Pommel Horse (19th) and ended up in ninth. However, he was decorated with the 2019 Longines Prize for Elegance as the most elegant and charismatic male gymnast.

The Worlds will conclude with apparatus finals on Saturday and Sunday. American Simone Biles can equal and surpass Scherbo for the most Worlds medals ever (23) with top-three finishes on the Vault and Uneven Bars tomorrow. Summaries so far:

FIG Artistic World Championships
Stuttgart (GER) ~ 4-13 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men

Team: 1. Russia (Ablyazin, Belyavskiy, Dalaloyan, Nagornyy, Stretovich), 261.726; 2. China (Deng, Lin, Sun, Xiao, Zou)), 260.729; 3. Japan (Hashimoto, Kamoto, Kaya, K. Tanigawa, W. Tanigawa)), 258.159; 4. United States (Sam Mikulak, Akash Modi, Yul Moldauer, Trevor Howard, Shane Wiskus), 254.578; 5. Great Britain, 251.611; 6. Chinese Taipei, 248.243; 7. Switzerland, 247.038; 8. Ukraine, 246.593.

All-Around: 1. Nikita Nagornyy (RUS), 88.772; 2. Artur Dalaloyan (RUS), 87.165; 3. Oleg Verniaiev (UKR), 86.973; 4. Ruoteng Xiao (CHN), 86.690; 5. Wei Sun, 86.523; 6. Kazuma, Kaya (JPN), 85.899; 7. Sam Mikulak (USA), 85.692; 8. Joe Fraser (GBR), 85.098. Also: 16. Yul Moldauer (USA), 82.330.

Women

Team: 1. United States (Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Kara Eaker, Sunisa Lee, Grace McCallum), 172.330; 2. Russia (Agafonova, Akhaimova, Melnikova, Shchekoldina, Spiridonova), 166.529; 3. Italy (Carofiglio, Alice D’Amato, Asia D’Amato, Iorio, Villa), 164.796; 4. China, 164.230; 5. France, 163.628; 6. Great Britain, 161.495; 7. Canada, 160.563; 8. Netherlands, 159.427.

All-Around: 1. Simone Biles (USA), 58.999; 2. Xijing Tang (CHN), 56.899; 3. Angelina Melnikova (RUS), 56.399; 4. Ellie Black (CAN), 56.232; 5. Nina Derwael (BEL), 56.033; 6. Elisabeth Seitz (GER), 55.999; 7. Flavia Saraiva (BRA), 55.732; 8. Suni Lee (USA), 55.632.

SWIMMING Preview: Hosszu and Morozov closing in on Cluster 2 bonuses; ISL II bows in Naples

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 10, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1010 Hosszu, Katinka OK 750 — Hungary's swimming superstar Katinka Hosszu

The fifth leg of the FINA Swimming World Cup comes this weekend in Berlin (GER) and is the final meet of the two-event second cluster, which means that substantial bonus money is on the line.

While the individual events at each World Cup pay $1,500-1,000-500-400-300-200 to the top six placers, the clusters pay $50,000-35,000-30,000-20,000-10,000-5,000-4000-3,000 to the top eight in each gender. That’s important, so the standings for the Budapest meet included:

● Men:
1. 60 Arno Kamminga (NED)
2. 54 Vladimir Morozov (RUS)
3. 33 Danas Rapsys (LTU)

● Women:
1. 48 Katinka Hosszu (HUN)
2. 42 Cate Campbell (AUS)
3. 30 Zsuzsanna Jakobos (HUN)

Individual events are scored 12-9-6 with a maximum of three counting toward an individual’s meet score, plus bonus points for the top three men and women from the FINA scoring table for the best individual performance: 24-18-12.

In Berlin, the contenders all have considerable work schedules:

● Vladimir Morozov (RUS): 50-100 m Free, 50 m Back, 50 m Fly

● Arno Kamminga (NED): 50-100-200 m Breast

● Danas Rapsys (LTU): 200-400-1,500 m Free, 200 m Medley

● Cate Campbell (AUS): 50-100 m Free, 50 m Fly

● Katinka Hosszu (HUN): 100-200-400-800 m Frees; 50-100-200 m Back, 100-200 m Breaststroke, 50-100-200 m Fly, 200-400 m Medley

● Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN): 50-200-400-800 m Frees, 200 m Back, 100-200 m Fly, 200-400 m Medley

The competition will be held in a 50 m pool, so that all times can be counted for Olympic qualifying purposes. After this weekend, the World Cup takes a couple of weeks off and is that back for the third cluster, beginning in Kazan (RUS) on 1 November. Look for results from Berlin here.

¶

In Naples (ITA), the second meet of the International Swimming League will take place at the refurbished, 4,500-seat Piscina Felice Scandone on Saturday and Sunday. The same four teams will be in action as at last week’s meet in Indianapolis: France-based Energy Standard, Italy’s Aqua Centurions and American clubs the Cali Condors (San Francisco) and D.C. Trident (Washington, D.C.).

ISL meets are held in 25 m – short-course – pools, with the competition held over two days, Saturday and Sunday.

The star of the program in Indianapolis last week was Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, who won five individual events and had the highest point total of 55.5. Swimmers earn money based on points scored and the teams win points depending on their final placing in each meet (4-3-2-1) to see who gets to swim in the final in Las Vegas, Nevada in December.

ISL announced that American Caeleb Dressel (Cali Condors) and Katie Ledecky (D.C. Trident) will be in action. The Condors finished second to Energy Standard, 539-457 in the first meet and Dressel can help to make up the difference.

Although the ISL concept intentionally de-emphasizes times in favor of team scoring, Ledecky is on world-record watch as she scared the 400 m Freestyle short-course mark of 3:53.92 from 2018 – set by Australian rival Ariarne Titmus – by winning over Titmus in 3:54.06-3:57.91.

You can see the point standings from the Indianapolis meet here; look for results here.

ATHLETICS Previews: Kipchoge tries for sub-2 marathon Saturday; Chicago Marathon on Sunday

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 10, 2019

Kenyan superstar Eliud Kipchoge’s attempt to break the 2:00 marathon barrier comes on Saturday – weather permitting – in Vienna (AUT) is what is called the INEOS 1:59 Challenge.

Kipchoge and a team of 41 pacesetters will run 4.4 laps of a 4.3 km course on the Prater Hauptallee in Vienna, a spectator-friendly venue in comparison to the lonely race track in Monza where he ran 2:00:25 in another time trial attempt to break two hours.

To do it, Kipchoge – now 34 – will have to average 4:34 per mile, equating to 14:13 per 5 km segment or 28:26 for each 10 km; the half should be passed in 59:59.

Kipchoge’s last race was a win at the London Marathon in 2:02:37; he’s now won 10 straight marathons over six years, last losing – he was second – at the 2013 Berlin Marathon. This is not an official race, as he will be the only entrant.

NBC’s Olympic Channel will have live coverage of the event beginning at 1:45 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday – 10:45 p.m. on Saturday evening in the Pacific time zone – with more information at the event Web site here.

¶

On Sunday, more than 44,000 runners will tramp through the streets of Chicago for the 43rd Chicago Marathon. The loop course is fairly flat and a good field has been lined up:

Men:
● 2:04:06 ‘18 ~ Lawrence Cherono (KEN): 2019 Boston Marathon winner
● 2:04:06 ‘18 ~ Asefa Mengstu (ETH): Third in Dubai and Paris Marathons in 2019
● 2:04:32 ‘14 ~ Dickson Chumba (KEN): 5th Chicago; 3-1-2-DNF in prior four (won ‘15)
● 2:04:44 ‘18 ~ Seifu Tura (ETH): 6th career marathon; PR in Dubai ‘18 (7th)
● 2:05:11 ‘18 ~ Mo Farah (GBR): 5th career marathon; won Chicago ‘18
● 2:06:07 ‘18 ~ Galen Rupp (USA): Won Chicago ‘17; fifth last year; dnf Boston ‘19
● 2:06:48 ‘19 ~ Bedan Karoki (KEN): Ninth in Chicago ‘18; second in Tokyo ‘19

Women:
● 2:18:20 ‘19 ~ Birgid Koskei (KEN): Won London ‘19 with PR; won Chicago ‘18
● 2:20:45 ‘18 ~ Gelete Burka (ETH): Won Paris ‘19; seventh in Chicago ‘14
● 2:20:57 ‘17 ~ Jordan Hasay (USA): Fourth marathon; third in all three before!
● 2:22:56 ’18 ~ Betsy Saina (KEN): Won Paris ‘18; 10th in Boston ‘19
● 2:22:59 ‘06 ~ Madai Perez (MEX): 4th Chicago, finished 12-4-4 in ‘03-06-17
● 2:24:02 ‘19 ~ Ababel Yeshaneh (ETH): 5th marathon; sixth in Tokyo ‘19
● 2:25:15 ‘17 ~ Lisa Weightman (AUS): 6th in Chicago ‘17; Commonwealth silver ‘18

Unfortunately, Farah and Rupp will be asked incessantly about the current suspension of Nike Oregon Project coach Alberto Salazar. Farah was formerly coaches by Salazar, and Rupp was being coached by him until the suspension .

Prize money is available for the top five finishers in the race at $100,000-75,000-50,000-30,000-25,000 and for the too American finishers at $20,000-15,000-12,000-7,000-5,000 on down to $750 for 10th. There are $75,000 bonuses for breaking the course record: 2:03:45 for the men (Dennis Kimetto/KEN in 2013) and 2:17:18 for women (Paula Radcliffe/GBR in 2002).

NBC’s Olympic Channel will have live coverage of the race on Sunday, beginning at 8 a.m. Eastern time. Look for results here.

COMING ATTRACTIONS: CONCACAF Nations League opens Friday; famed Il Lombardia cycling race Saturday

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 10, 2019

Previews of international events of note coming up:

● CYCLING ● Tour de France and La Vuelta winners all in for Il Lombardia

We’re almost at the end of the 2019 UCI World Tour, with just two races remaining: the 113th edition of Il Lombardia on Saturday (12th) and the Tour of Guangxi in China from 15-20 October.

Along with Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Il Lombardia is one of the cycling “monument” races and is especially prized. This year’s route is 240 km from Bergamo to Como, with seven major climbs and a brilliant field, including 10 former medalists:

● Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) ~ Winner in 2015 and 2017
● Dan Martin (IRL) ~ Winner in 2014
● Philippe Gilbert (BEL) ~ Winner in 2009-10
● Esteban Chaves (COL) ~ Winner in 2016
● Alejandro Valverde (ESP) ~ Second in 2013-14
● Diego Rosa (ITA) ~ Second in 2016
● Rafal Majka (POL) ~ Third in 2013
● Rui Costa (POR) ~ Third in 2014
● Dylan Teuns (BEL) ~ Third in 2018
● Gianni Moscon (ITA) ~ Third in 2017

More intrigue comes from the entry of 2019 Tour de France winner Egan Bernal (COL) and La Vuelta champ Primoz Roglic (SLO) and three 2019 Monuments race victors Alberto Bettiol (ITA: Tour of Flanders), Gilbert (Paris-Roubaix) and Jakob Fuglsang (Liege-Bastogne-Liege).

With all the climbing, Colombia’s Nairo Quintana should also be watched for. Look for results here.

● FOOTBALL ● CONCACAF Nations League play starts for U.S. vs. Cuba

The new CONCACAF Nations League is getting started, with the U.S. starting its schedule in League A against Cuba in Washington, D.C. on Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern time on FS1 and TUDN.

The U.S. is in a group with Canada and the Cubans; those two teams have already played twice, with Canada winning both matches by 6-0 and 1-0 scores. The U.S. plays Cuba Friday, then Canada on 15 October in Toronto.

There are four groups in League A, with the group winners advancing to the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup, as well as to the Nations League semis. The other groups:

● B: Panama, Bermuda, Mexico
● C. Martinique, Trinidad & Tobago, Honduras
● D: Curacao, Haiti, Costa Rica

The U.S. has a 10-1-1 all-time record vs. Cuba, losing 5-2 in the very first game of the series in July 1947 and then taking a 1-1 draw in September 1949 in Mexico City. Since then, the U.S. has won 10 straight. The last meeting was a 2-0 win for the U.S. in Havana on 7 October 2016.

Cuba’s 2019 record is 1-6 and the team has been outscored, 6-26.

● TABLE TENNIS ● Former champs Fan and Chen from China headline German Open

The 2019 German Open is underway in Bremen, with a strong field; the top seeds:

● Men/Singles:
1. Xin Xu (CHN: 1 in world rankings)
2. Zhendong Fan (CHN: 2) ~ 2013 Champion
3. Gaoyuan Lin (CHN: 4)

● Men/Doubles:
1. Cheng-Ting Liao/Yun-Ju Lin (TPE)
2. Zhendong Fan/Gaoyuan Lin (CHN)
3. Woojin Jang/Youngsik Jeong (KOR)

● Women/Singles:
1. Meng Chen (CHN: 1) ~ 2017 Champion
2. Manyu Wang (CHN: 4)
3. Yingsha Sun (CHN: 6)

● Women/Doubles:
1. Yingsha Sun/Manyu Wang (CHN)
2. Miyuu Kihara/Miyu Nagasaki (JPN)
3. Meng Chen/Yuting Gu (CHN)

● Mixed Doubles:
1. Chun Ting Wong/Hoi Kem Doo (HKG)
2. Yun-Ju Lin/I-Ching Cheng (TPE)
3. Jun Mizutani/Mima Ito (JPN)

This tournament dates back all the way to 1925, and will include Mixed Doubles for the first time since 1988. Look for results here.

VOX POPULI: The IAAF Worlds in Doha got coverage in the L.A. Times!

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 10, 2019

Great coverage of the Worlds by TSX, and your comments were spot on.

My observations (based solely on TV coverage, so filtered by that medium)…

1. The lack of spectatorship during the first week had to be disheartening for those athletes, who deserved much better support. However, the energy and enthusiasm of the locals during the final weekend almost compensated for the lack of same in the prior week.

2. Possibly the most positive aspect of the crowd, was the very visible and vocal support of the people from the African nations, particularly Kenya and Ethiopia. Running the worlds in a country that is proximate certainly helped, and it was my observation that athletes from these nations responded in kind. Well deserved and appreciated at last.

3. For the first time in a very long time, there was actually coverage in the Los Angeles Times sports section (although not on page 1), and deserving of a headline of it’s own (not just in “other sports”). Heck, they even included summaries. Could T&F be making a nascent comeback?

4. Incredible performances by our young athletes. Sydney McLaughlin, Rai Benjamin, Noah Lyles, Grant Holloway: Individuals with talent, intelligence and personal appeal. Certainly an attraction that could extend beyond the pale of dyed-in-the-wool track fans (a dying if not dead breed).

They, along with vets such as Allyson Felix understand their responsibilities as representatives of a sport that is hungry for recognition. Perhaps the beginning of a new wave?

5. Given the high numbers of participants in both T&F and XC on the high school and youth levels, wouldn’t it be imperative that the leadership of USATF and the IAAF took advantage of this attractiveness of these performers, and utilized them to their advantage? I’ve always been perplexed by the fact that, just when the former “amateur” athletes of the Olympic sports were able to make money (legally, that is), that spectatorship support declined for the many reasons that I’ve ranted about in the past. Isn’t it time for the revival of professional clubs, with identifiable uniforms and name recognition to add to the individual efforts of these young stars?

I’m running into oxygen debt now, so I’ll have to stop and catch my breath…

I’ll get back to you later.

~ Ron Brumel (Los Angeles, California)

[≡The Sports Examiner encourages expressions of opinion – we really do – but preferably based on facts. Comments may be sent to [email protected] We do not guarantee publication of any comment, but all comments submitted will be considered and your submission implies your agreement to publication (and light editing if needed to meet our grammatical and punctuation standards) at our sole discretion. Please include your name and hometown on any comment submitted for publication.≡]

GYMNASTICS: Biles storms to historic fifth World A-A title by her biggest margin ever

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 10, 2019

tsx pis 2019-1008 biles, simone wch-team 750 — World Champion again - for a record fifth time - Simone Biles (USA). (Photo: FIG)

There was very little doubt that American superstar Simone Biles was going to win the women’s All-Around at the World Artistic Championships in Stuttgart (GER), but she still had to do it.

She won the Vault at 15.233, performed well on the Uneven Bars at 14.733 – third best in the field – then won the Beam with 14.633 before heading to the Floor. Her unmatched tumbling power sent her out of bounds on her first pass, and again on the final pass. But she was sensational and had the crowd mesmerized, scoring 14.400 and winning with a total of 58.999.

How good was that? It’s historic:

● She won by 2.100 points, the most she has ever won by; her prior high was the 2018 Worlds in Doha (QAT) was a 1.693 margin, and it’s the most ever with the current scoring system, installed in 2006;

● It could have been even more, as she scored higher in the Team final in Vault (15.400) and Floor (15.333);

● She had the top scores in the field in Vault, Beam and Floor and was third in Bars, indicating a good possibility of another six-for-six medal performance, as she had in 2018;

● Biles won her fifth Worlds A-A title, something no one else has ever done; the next closest is Svetlana Khorkina (RUS), who won three times between 1997-2003;

● With the win, a U.S. gymnast has now won the last seven Worlds All-Arounds in a row, with five for Biles, starting with Jordyn Wieber in 2011 and also Morgan Hurd in 2017.

While Biles was writing history, a tremendous battle for second was going in between Xijing Tang of China (who replaced Tingting Liu), Angelina Melnikova (RUS), Ellie Black (CAN) and Nina Derwael of Belgium.

The 16-year-old Tang had scored only 53.498 in the qualifying, including a fall on Beam, but she was much better on three events in the Team final and excellent in the All-Around. Only 16th on Vault (14.166), she finished with a 14.533 on Bars for fourth, was second to Biles on Beam at 14.600 and was a solid sixth on Floor (13.600) to finish with the silver at 56.899. Very impressive, and with a lot of room for growth.

Melnikova had medal hopes, having been fourth in the qualifying at 56.599. Competing in the same group with Biles, American Suni Lee and Tang, she had the same Vault score as in qualifying (14.433: 13th), then had trouble on the Bars and scored only ninth-best at 13.900. But she had her best score on Beam (14.000: 4th) and was third-best on the Floor (14.066) to total 56.399 and won the bronze medal over Canada’s Black (56.232).

Lee had been the no. 2 scorer in the All-Around qualifying (57.166) and started off well, scoring 14.466 on Vault, just a tenth less than in the qualifying. But a fall on Bars doomed her – she scored 13.133 (19th) vs. 15.000 before – ten rebounded with a 13.833 on Beam vs. 13.400 in qualifying and posted the same Floor score for a total of 55.632, placing her eighth.

Worth noting, however, was that her Floor score was no. 2 overall, behind Biles.

The men’s All-Around will be on Friday, followed by the apparatus finals over the weekend. Summaries so far:

FIG Artistic World Championships
Stuttgart (GER) ~ 4-13 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men

Team: 1. Russia (Ablyazin, Belyavskiy, Dalaloyan, Nagornyy, Stretovich), 261.726; 2. China (Deng, Lin, Sun, Xiao, Zou)), 260.729; 3. Japan (Hashimoto, Kamoto, Kaya, K. Tanigawa, W. Tanigawa)), 258.159; 4. United States (Sam Mikulak, Akash Modi, Yul Moldauer, Trevor Howard, Shane Wiskus), 254.578; 5. Great Britain, 251.611; 6. Chinese Taipei, 248.243; 7. Switzerland, 247.038; 8. Ukraine, 246.593.

Women

Team: 1. United States (Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Kara Eaker, Sunisa Lee, Grace McCallum), 172.330; 2. Russia (Agafonova, Akhaimova, Melnikova, Shchekoldina, Spiridonova), 166.529; 3. Italy (Carofiglio, Alice D’Amato, Asia D’Amato, Iorio, Villa), 164.796; 4. China, 164.230; 5. France, 163.628; 6. Great Britain, 161.495; 7. Canada, 160.563; 8. Netherlands, 159.427.

All-Around: 1. Simone Biles (USA), 58.999; 2. Xijing Tang (CHN), 56.899; 3. Angelina Melnikova (RUS), 56.399; 4. Ellie Black (CAN), 56.232; 5. Nina Derwael (BEL), 56.033; 6. Elisabeth Seitz (GER), 55.999; 7. Flavia Saraiva (BRA), 55.732; 8. Suni Lee (USA), 55.632.

TSX REPORT: The USOPC issues relaxed athlete ad guidelines for Tokyo; U.S. women win Gymnastics Team gold & RUSADA head says Moscow Lab data “manipulated”!

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 10, 2019

≡ TSX REPORT ~ 10 October 2019 ≡

(Never fun to have computer trouble, but it happens and we lost a couple of days. But while the news continues, The Sports Examiner will now be on a more relaxed schedule. New stories will continue to be posted on the site, but the e-mail summaries will now be sent two or three times a week, depending on the action, instead of daily. Due to low interest, the Stat Pack will appear only occasionally. Thanks for your continuing support; be sure to let your friends know!)

| 1. | LANE ONE: USOPC relaxes IOC’s Rule 40 restrictions on athlete advertising a little, and everyone celebrates?

Thanks to a series of actions by the German Cartel Office, the International Olympic Committee has backed away from stringent enforcement of its famed (infamous?) Rule 40, which prohibited athlete advertising – other than by IOC or other affiliated sponsors – during the Games period.

Instead, the IOC adopted a rule at its summer meeting that allowed National Olympic Committees to issue their own regulations in line with an agreement reached by the Bundeskartellamt that allowed more flexibility for German athletes to be advertised by their personal sponsors, so long as the Olympic marks were not infringed on.

So, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee issued its own regulations on Monday. Surprisingly readable and nicely illustrated with multiple examples, the USOPC guidelines go into greater depth, but the core of the program includes just six points:

● “Athletes are now able to thank personal sponsors during the Games.

● “Athletes are now able to receive congratulatory messages from personal sponsors during the Games.

● “Athlete personal sponsors are now able to engage in generic advertising during the Games.

● “Official partners maintain continued exclusivity around Team USA and Games marks and imagery.

● “Official partners receive increased ambush protection through the introduction of a Personal Sponsor Commitment.

● “All existing partner benefits related to timing and support of USOPC partner staff continue.”

Advertisers who are not sponsors of the Games or of the USOPC cannot use any Olympic or USOPC marks or intellectual property and cannot imply any “association” between them and the Games or the USOPC.

Is this the breakthrough that will allow athletes to live happily ever after? No, far from it. But it’s a start and relieves the most irritating prohibitions that have generated notable anger from athletes for most of this century.

There is also a benefit to the existing and future sponsors of the IOC, the USOPC and other National Olympic Committees and International Federations: time to find better and more creative ways to increase the value of sponsorship beyond simple signage, hospitality and category exclusivity. The IOC is already doing that with its new headquarters building and that’s just the beginning. More here.

| 2. | GYMNASTICS: U.S. women and Russian men win Team golds at FIG Artistic Worlds

The two best teams in gymnastics are the United States women and the Russian men, victors at the FIG Artistic World Championships ongoing in Stuttgart (GER),

The American women were overwhelming favorites and won easily, scoring 172.330 to 166.529 for runner-up Russia with a happy Italian team third (164.796).

As usual, Simone Biles led the way for the U.S., scoring 59.766 for the four events, even better than the 59.432 she scored during the qualifying round. Biles also led all performers on Vault, Beam and Floor and was fourth on the Uneven Bars. Britain’s Becky Downie had the best score on the Bars.

The Team gold gave Biles a 21st career World Championships medal, giving her the most ever, ahead of Russian Svetlana Khorkina, who amassed 20 from 1994-2003. Biles will now set sail after the all-time Worlds career total of 23 by USSR/Russia star Vitaly Scherbo (1991-96). More on the women’s Team event here.

While the Soviet men dominated gymnastics in the 1980s and won four Worlds Team titles in a row at one point, independent Russia had never won … until Wednesday.

Led by All-Around qualifying leader Nikita Nagornyy, the Russian quintet outlasted China by almost a point, 261.726-260.729. Japan won the bronze at 260.729 with the United States fourth at 254.578.

Only six gymnasts competed on all six apparatus and while Nagornyy had the top score of 88.431, American Sam Mikulak improved dramatically from qualifying – where he had poor performances on the Floor and Pommel Horse – and scored 86.931, the second-best A-A total of the Worlds so far. More here.

| 3. | DOPING: RUSADA chief Ganus says Moscow Lab data was surely manipulated

There’s no doubt that the Moscow Laboratory database that the World Anti-Doping Agency worked so hard to retrieve has been “manipulated” by Russian authorities. So says Yury Ganus (pictured), the new head of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency.

In an interview with the German site SpiegelOnline, Ganus said – per a Google translation from German – “Someone has tried to hush up information on a large scale” and “It’s like sitting in a car and steering it directly against the wall.”

“It’s not just about what was, the 2015 dataset, but how the material was changed afterwards,” Ganus said. “We’re talking about months, the most recent changes are from December 2018 and January 2019.”

If true, it’s fairly obvious that the delay in allowing WADA to obtain the database to early January of this year was because the changes had not been completed!

Ganus said that there were thousands of changes made and that Russia may certainly expect harsh sanctions, perhaps not being allowed to compete at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. “We are experiencing the worst crisis ever.”

WADA announced on Tuesday that it had received a response from Russia from its inquiries about the inconsistencies in the data, but that no timetable had been established for a recommendation to come from its Compliance Review Committee.

| 4. | JUDO: Riner returns to action, sweeps to 148th straight win in Brasilia

The biggest star you don’t know is France’s 6-8 judo king, Teddy Riner. Winner of 10 world titles and two Olympic heavyweight titles (2012 and 2016), he had won 144 straight matches after taking two titles in 2017, but has been quiet since.

But in order to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo tournament, he has to start fighting – and winning again – and did so at the IJF Brasilia Grand Prix last weekend. Ranked no. 58 in the world coming in, he stormed through four opponents, including no. 2-ranked Lukas Krpalek (CZE) in his semi and then Brazil’s David Moura in the final to extend his win streak to 148.

He also moved up to no. 31 in the world rankings and to an Olympic-qualifying position in the IJF Olympic qualifying rankings. He’ll need to continue to compete to ensure his spot in Tokyo, but make no mistake, he intends to be there. More here.

| 5. | ARCHERY: Ellison and Kaufhold lead U.S. Olympic Trials

USA Archery uses a lengthy program of matches to select the American Olympic team, but through two of the four rounds, the right people are where they should be.

That means that world no. 1 Brady Ellison and teen sensation Casey Kaufhold (age 15!) are the leaders of the men’s and women’s Trials standings after last week’s second stage in College Station, Texas.

Both won the second stage and lead the standings: Ellison has 35.00 points to 26.50 for current runner-up Jack Williams, while Kaufhold leads 2016 Olympian Mackenzie Brown, 33.00-24.25.

The field has been cut to 16; the next event in the spring will set the final field at eight. More here.

SCOREBOARD: Super judoka Teddy Riner returns, extends unbeaten streak to 148 in Brasilia

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 9, 2019

tsx pix 2019-707 riner, teddy 2017 (marina mayorova) — France's Teddy Riner, winning his ninth world title in 2017 (Photo: IJF/Marina Mayorova)

Highlights and results of noteworthy competitions around the world:

● ARCHERY ● Ellison and Kaufhold lead big after stage two of the U.S. Olympic Trials

The second stage of the four-part U.S. Olympic Trials process was completed last week in College Station, Texas, as part of the Texas Shoot-Out. From more than 200 starters, the field has now been narrowed to 16 men and 16 women.

Thus far, the U.S. has qualified one place in the men’s and women’s tournament, so even though there will be another opportunity to qualify a team, first place is what counts. Through the first two rounds of the Trials, the top scorers:

● Men:
1. 35.00 points ~ Brady Ellison
2. 26.50 points ~ Jack Williams
3. 25.00 points ~ Matthew Nofel
4. 20.75 points ~ Thomas Stanwood
5. 20.50 points ~ Josef Scarboro

● Women:
1. 33.00 points ~ Casey Kaufhold
2. 24.25 points ~ Mackenzie Brown
3. 24.00 points ~ Eric Mickelberry
4. 23.50 points ~ Eliana Claps
5. 22.50 points ~ Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez

Ellison and Kaufhold – still 15 – dominated the second stage; Ellison took the Ranking Round, 677-652, ahead of Nofel, and led the round-robin with 13 victories. Kaufhold won the Ranking Round over Claps, 653-643 and had 13 wins in the round-robin stage. Complete results are here.

The third stage, which will cut the field to eight, comes in the spring.

● EQUESTRIAN ● Ireland wins in Nations Cup Jumping Final in Barcelona

The FEI Nations Cup Jumping Final was a nail-biter in Barcelona (ESP), as Ireland’s top three riders collected just one penalty in the final round to win not only the trophy, but also a spot in the 2020 Olympic field in Tokyo.

The Irish trio of Paul O’Shea (0), Cian O’Connor (0) and Darragh Kenny (1) had just the one error and finished ahead of defending champs Belgium (4) and a trio of teams with 12 total penalties: Sweden, Italy and France. By virtue of time, Sweden won the bronze medal … by one second! More here.

● GYMNASTICS ● Hancharou wins over Gao in Valladolid Trampoline World Cup

Rio Olympic Champion Uladzislau Hancharou of Belarus scored a win against China’s three-time World Champion Lei Gao in the Trampoline World Cup in Valladolid (ESP) last weekend.

Gao had the top qualifying score at 114.220, but Hancharou managed to up his game in the final to win 61.445-61.380. Russia’s Andrey Yudin was third (60.945).

China’s two-time World Champion Lingling Liu won the women’s event over teammate Xueying Zhu, 104.665-106.645. Japan’s Hikaru Mori was third at 104.185.

More results here.

● JUDO ● The return of Riner headlines Brasilia Grand Prix

He was ranked only no. 58 in the world coming in, but everyone knew that France’s Teddy Riner was the star attraction of the IJF Grand Prix in Brazilia (BRA).

Invitations to the 2020 Olympic tournament are based primarily on placement on the IJF World Rankings list, a points-accumulation system. So Riner, who hasn’t appeared much since the 2017 World Championships – he’s a 10-time World Champion – needed to get going in the +110 kg division.

Riner came in with a 144-match winning streak and added to it right away, defeating Kokoro Kageura (JPN), Inal Tasoev (BUL), no. 2-ranked Lukas Krpalek (CZE) in the semifinal and no. 5 David Moura of Brazil to take the title and extend his win streak to 148. Riner’s now up to no. 31 and rising in the world rankings; with the win, he’s now no. 27 in the IJF’s Olympic rankings and qualified (as of now) for Tokyo.

The lone no. 1-ranked judoka in the men’s field was Spain’s Nikoloz Sherazadishvili, who defeated Cuba’s Ivan Felipe Silva Morales to win the 90 kg class.

Host country Brazil dominated the medal table with 17, winning four classes with Allan Kuwabara (60 kg), Daniel Cargnin (66 kg) in the men’s division and Ketleyn Quadros (63 kg) and Beatriz Souza (+78 kg) in the women’s tournament. Complete results here.

● KARATE ● Four World Champions win at Premiere League 6 in Moscow

The sixth of seven stops on the Katate 1 Premier League circuit in Moscow (RUS) saw many familiar faces on the podium, with four current World Champions winning out of the 10 individual classes.

In the men’s division, Japan’s Ryo Kiyuna (Kata) and Steven Dacosta (FRA: 67 kg) were winners, while Spain’s Sandra Sanchez (ESP: Kata) and Pole Irina Zaretska (58 kg) triumphed.

The most popular winner at the Megasport Arena was Russia’s Ivanna Zaytseva in the women’s +68 kg division. Complete results here.

● RUGBY SEVENS ● U.S. women win Rugby Sevens opener in Colorado

The 2019-2020 season of the HSBC Sevens Series began in Glendale, Colorado with an early women’s tournament, won by the United States.

The U.S. was only 2-1 on its pool, losing to France, but won its quarterfinal, 29-26, over Canada and the semifinal by 19-17 over New Zealand. The French, meanwhile, lost to Australia in its semi, 40-0! The U.S. had no trouble with the Aussies, 26-7, in the final.

The next installment of the women’s series comes in December in Dubai (UAE).

● TABLE TENNIS ● China sweeps Swedish Open; two wins each for Meng Chen & Xin Xu

The ITTF Swedish Open in Stockholm was almost an all-Chinese affairs as eight of the 10 finalists were Chinese and all five of the winners:

● Men/Singles: Chuqin Wang defeated Gaoyuan Lin, 4-0.

● Men/Doubles: Zhendong Fan/Xin Xu d. Jingkun Liang/Gaoyuan Lin, 3-2.

● Women/Singles: Meng Chen d. Fei Liu, 4-0.

● Women/Doubles: Meng Chen/Ning Ding d. Miu Hirano/Kasumi Ishikawa (JPN), 3-1.

● Mixed Doubles: Xin Xu/Shiwen Liu d. Jun Mizutani/Mima Ito (JPN), 3-2.

This was the first year for the Mixed Doubles, but the eighth sweep of the other four events by China, dating back to 2000. Complete results here.

GYMNASTICS: Russia wins first-ever (!) men’s team title at FIG Worlds

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 9, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1009 russia wins wch men 750 — A happy Russian team wins its first-ever men's world title! (Photo: FIG)

Russia and men’s gymnastics are synonymous, right? Not exactly.

The Soviet Union dominated men’s gymnastics in the FIG World Championships, winning in 1954 and 1958 and then taking six out of seven titles between 1979-1991.

But on Wednesday, Russia – as an independent country – won its first-ever FIG Worlds gold in the men’s team event in Stuttgart (GER), outlasting China by almost a point, 261.726-260.729.

The Russian quintet of Denis Ablyazin, David Belyavskiy, Artur Dalaloyan, Nikita Nargornyy and Ivan Stretovich won on Floor, Rings, Vault and High Bar, and was second on the Parallel Bars to overcome China’s wins on Pommel Horse and Parallel Bars.

Japan won the bronze medal at 258.159, with the United States fourth, but well back with 254.578 points.

The Team competition also afforded a preview of what the individual All-Around might look like. Only six men competed in all six events; the top five:

1. Nikita Nagornyy (RUS), 88.431
2. Sam Mikulak (USA), 86.931
3. Kazuma Kaya (JPN), 86.381
4. James Hall (GBR), 84.248
5. Chih-Kai Lee (TPE), 83.764

Comparing these scores to the qualifying round, Nagornyy increased his leading total from 87.333, and Kaya improved from his fourth-place 85.731 score. The big mover was Mikulak, who had major errors on Floor and Pommel Horse in the qualifying and was the last one to make it into the final. On Wednesday, he was much better and had the second-best A-A total of the Worlds so far.

The men’s All-Around will be on Friday; the women’s All-Around comes on Thursday. Summaries so far:

FIG Artistic World Championships
Stuttgart (GER) ~ 4-13 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men

Team: 1. Russia (Ablyazin, Belyavskiy, Dalaloyan, Nagornyy, Stretovich), 261.726; 2. China (Deng, Lin, Sun, Xiao, Zou)), 260.729; 3. Japan (Hashimoto, Kamoto, Kaya, K. Tanigawa, W. Tanigawa)), 258.159; 4. United States (Sam Mikulak, Akash Modi, Yul Moldauer, Trevor Howard, Shane Wiskus), 254.578; 5. Great Britain, 251.611; 6. Chinese Taipei, 248.243; 7. Switzerland, 247.038; 8. Ukraine, 246.593.

Women

Team: 1. United States (Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Kara Eaker, Sunisa Lee, Grace McCallum), 172.330; 2. Russia (Agafonova, Akhaimova, Melnikova, Shchekoldina, Spiridonova), 166.529; 3. Italy (Carofiglio, Alice D’Amato, Asia D’Amato, Iorio, Villa), 164.796; 4. China, 164.230; 5. France, 163.628; 6. Great Britain, 161.495; 7. Canada, 160.563; 8. Netherlands, 159.427.

LANE TWO: An apology, and some schedule changes for The Sports Examiner

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2019

Apologies to those looking for the TSX Report for Tuesday, 8 October in their e-mail inbox. It’s never a pleasure to experience computer issues, but these have been overcome and we’re online again.

However, with the close of the memorable IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, some changes are being made to our presentation.

While stories will continue to be posted to the site, the frequency of our e-mails will reduced from five days a week or two or three, depending on the events underway and the flow of news. In response to some reader comments, the length will be shortened to allow a quicker read.

Due to very modest interest, the weekly Stat Pack will appear only occasionally in the future.

I appreciate all of the comments received and you have my thanks for your continuing support. Don’t forget to let your friends know about The Sports Examiner!

Rich Perelman
Editor

Sign up to receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here.

LANE ONE: USOPC relaxes IOC’s Rule 40 restrictions on athlete advertising a little, and everyone celebrates

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2019

Ask a world-class athlete with individual sponsors about the bad aspects of being on a U.S. Olympic Team, and the answer will inevitable come back in two words: Rule 40.

This is an International Olympic Committee rule from the Olympic Charter, and has been in place for many years. A tiny language change was made this year, but which has opened up a world of new possibilities.

The 2018 Charter’s Rule 40, Bye-law 3 read:

“Except as permitted by the IOC Executive Board, no competitor, team official or other team personnel who participates in the Olympic Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games.”

This language was used as a straitjacket by essentially every National Olympic Committee to prevent any advertising use by companies other than those sponsoring the Games – the IOC’s sponsors – and those of the NOC.

The 2019 Charter now reads:

“Competitors, team officials and other team personnel who participate in the Olympic Games may allow their person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games in accordance with the principles determined by the IOC Executive Board.”

The changes are subtle in language, but enormous in practice, as IOC chief Thomas Bach (GER) has told athletes to negotiate with their NOCs on the rules in place for their countries.

This isn’t a gift, but rather the IOC fighting its way out of a corner after a February decision by the German Cartel Office that called the old Rule 40 restrictions on marketing by German athletes (within Germany) as too restrictive.

The IOC reached an agreement with the Bundeskartellamt that allows advertising by non-Olympic (IOC or German) sponsors, without notification to the German NOC prior to an Olympic Games, allows photos of athletes to be used by advertisers as long as Olympic symbols are not used, allows mentions on social media and requires that any proposed sanctions must be reviewed by a German court and not by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Obviously, this agreement was bound to spread to other countries and now the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has spoken.

In the announcement of the new guidelines, USOPC chief Sarah Hirshland’s comment included “We worked to create a guidance that increases athlete marketing opportunities and, importantly, respects Rule 40 and affirms our commitment to providing value to our partners, and maintains funding and participation pathways for Team USA, and athletes around the world.”

OK, so what are we talking about here? The USOPC guidelines go into greater depth, but the announcement was centered around six points:

● “Athletes are now able to thank personal sponsors during the Games.

● “Athletes are now able to receive congratulatory messages from personal sponsors during the Games.

● “Athlete personal sponsors are now able to engage in generic advertising during the Games.

● “Official partners maintain continued exclusivity around Team USA and Games marks and imagery.

● “Official partners receive increased ambush protection through the introduction of a Personal Sponsor Commitment.

● “All existing partner benefits related to timing and support of USOPC partner staff continue.”

The mechanics of the new program are happily simple. Advertisers who are not sponsors of the Games or of the USOPC cannot use any Olympic or USOPC marks or intellectual property and cannot imply any “association” between them and the Games or the USOPC.

For athletes, the requirements are to register their sponsors (so no one is using their images without their permission), and the sponsors are required to pledge to follow the above guidelines. But there is a small catch, of course:

“However, personal sponsor advertising during the Rule 40 period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games should, where possible, be reflective of a continuous campaign and pre-existing relationship between a brand and an athlete, and not increased in frequency or substantially changed during the Rule 40 period as compared to the same period in non-Games year.”

For the Tokyo Games, the “Rule 40 period” is from 14 July to 11 August of 2020, which means that campaigns in track & field or swimming or gymnastics that begin during the Olympic Trials – all of which end on 28 June – would qualify as “pre-existing.”

Is this a revolution? No, but it’s helpful.

Han Xiao, the chair of the USOPC’s Athlete Advisory Council said in the statement that “This updated Rule 40 guidance for Tokyo 2020 represents a really positive step for athlete marketing rights and is the result of a positive collaboration between the AAC, NGB [Council] and the USOPC. This guidance enables athlete opportunities in an entirely new way and is a sign of great progress as we continue to work closely with the USOPC.”

That an Olympic athlete can work for years for achieve world-class success, attract one or more endorsements and then need – desperately – to promote that association during month every four years is a symptom of the reality that the Olympic Games are important and, for the most part, not the sports in it.

So, the Olympic world – thanks in significant part to the German Bundeskartellamt – is adapting. This is good; this is progress. But don’t think for a moment that the IOC’s sponsors, such as Coca-Cola and Samsung, are sitting by idly. They are also looking for the next level of engagement which can make their enormous investment in the IOC more valuable.

Look for more close associations like the ones that Dow has forged in helping the IOC’s new building achieve LEED Platinum certification to demonstrate its credentials in the sustainability sphere. Used properly in business-to-business marketing, using the IOC as a lever in selecting it vs. its competitors, Dow could reap billions of dollars of business over time.

Compared to that, there are no worries at the Dow headquarters in Midland, Michigan about an athlete thanking their personal sponsors on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or even LinkedIn!

Rich Perelman
Editor

If you enjoyed this commentary, sign up to receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here.

GYMNASTICS: Biles sets career records for Worlds medals as U.S. women take fifth straight team title

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2019

The United States women’s national team rolled over their opposition – where have you heard that before – on their way to yet another team gold, this time at the 2019 FIG World Championships in Stuttgart (GER).

The American quintet of Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jade Carey, Kara Eaker and Grace McCallum scored 174.205 in the qualifying and came back to win with 172.330, an amazing 5.801 ahead of second–place Russia.

Biles, of course, was the star, scoring 59.766 for the four events, even better than the 59.432 she scored during the qualifying round. She was the only one on the U.S. squad who performed in all four apparatus.

The margin isn’t a record, or close to it; the U.S. outscored Russia by almost nine points last year. But for Biles, it was her 21st World Championships medal, the most ever in the women’s division, breaking a tie with Russia’s Svetlana Khorkina (1994-2003). She will certainly catch and pass Russian Vitaly Scherbo (1991-96) for the most Worlds medal ever – remarkable, considering the men have two more events – as he has 23 total.

The U.S. scores foretell considerable success in the individual events as well:

● Vault: Biles and Jade Carey went 1-2 on the event in the Team round, scoring 15.400 and 15.166, respectively.

● Uneven Bars: Lee led the U.S. at 14.733, the third-best score of the day behind Britain’s Becky Downie (14.900) and Russia’s Daria Spiridonova (14.766). Biles scored 14.600 for the fourth-best score of the day. American Grace McCallum fell on this event and scored only 12.966.

● Balance Beam: There were only four scores of 14.000 or better: Biles at 14.433, Shijia Li (CHN) at 14.266 and then Eaker (14.000) and China’s Yile Chen (14.000). Lee fell on this event for the U.S., scoring 12.533.

● Floor: The U.S. had the top three scores, from Biles (15.333), Carey (14.233) and Lee (14.233). France’s Melanie de Jesus dos Santos was the only other scorer above 14 points, at 14.166.

The women’s All-Around comes on Thursday; the men’s Team event is on Wednesday.

In the Men’s qualifying, Russia led at 259.928, followed by China (258.354) and Japan (258.026). The U.S. finished seventh (250.359) and qualified for the final. Sam Mikulak led the U.S. on Vault and High Bar. Akash Modi was best on Pommel Horse and Parallel Bars.

FIG Artistic World Championships
Stuttgart (GER) ~ 4-13 October 2019
(Full results here)

Women

Team: 1. United States (Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Kara Eaker, Sunisa Lee, Grace McCallum), 172.330; 2. Russia (Agafonova, Akhaimova, Melnikova, Shchekoldina, Spiridonova), 166.529; 3. Italy (Carofiglio, Alice D’Amato, Asia D’Amato, Iorio, Villa), 164.796; 4. China, 164.230; 5. France, 163.628; 6. Great Britain, 161.495; 7. Canada, 160.563; 8. Netherlands, 159.427.

TSX REPORT: Was holding the IAAF Worlds in Doha a good idea? The competition was superb + Biles already dominating Gymnastics Worlds; Jill Ellis Era ends for U.S. women

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 6, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1006 usa women 4x4 wch 750 — U.S. women celebrate a 4x400 m World Championships gold! (Photo: IAAF)

= TSX REPORT ~ 7 October 2019 =

| 1. | LANE ONE: Was the IAAF World Championships a success or failure in Doha?

The IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar ended on Sunday, finishing 10 days of competition, controversy and a lot of brilliance from the nearly 2,000 athletes in attendance.

So can the question now be answered: was this a good idea?

There are points in favor of it:

● The performances were outstanding, with two World Records and 18 world leading marks;

● The sport’s new faces emerged, including Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles, Tim Cheruiyot, Grant Holloway, Rai Benjamin, Mondo Duplantis, Salwa Eid Naser, Sifan Hassan, Nia Ali, Sydney McLaughlin, DeAnna Price, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and a lot more;

● Some of the old faces are still looking good: Steven Gardiner, Conseslus Kipruto, Karsten Warholm, Mutaz Essa Barshim – whose win in the high jump made the meet for the home country – Sam Kendricks, Christian Taylor, the shot put trio of Joe Kovacs, Ryan Crouser and Tom Walsh, Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce, Dina Asher-Smith, Hellen Obiri, Dalilah Muhammad, Mariya Lasitskene and Lijiao Gong;

● The attendance wasn’t great, but it picked up on the final Friday when Barshim was jumping and was good for the final two days.

But there were also the issues:

● It was hot, really hot, with the dates the latest ever by a month and the schedule compressed into single sessions of up to six and seven hours, hardly the best for a worldwide television audience;

● The athletes in the marathons and walks, despite competing after midnight, were still placed under harsh conditions, especially the high level of humidity;

● The attendance was poor, especially in the first few days. The organizing committee did its best to fill up the Khalifa International Stadium, including giving away a lot of tickets and the house was fuller at the end.

The consensus was that this was probably not the best idea. IAAF President Sebastian Coe insisted that taking the event to the Middle East was an important step for the federation, and to his credit, never mentioned that the selection of Doha was made during the administration of his predecessor, Lamine Diack of Senegal, who will shortly be on trial in France for extortion, fraud and money-laundering, among other charges.

There were strong performances in Doha, especially for the American team, which won 29 medals and dominated the event with 14 victories in the 49 events and both of the world records set. In the placing table which awards points for finishes in the top eight, the U.S. scored 310 to to 122 for second-place Kenya.

The IAAF’s technical team also did yeoman work in Doha, creating a unique light show for the final event of each night – a new standard – and producing very high quality online services for fans both on-site and following the meet at home.

There is the promise of quite a show when the event comes to the U.S. for the first time in 2021. More here.

| 2. | ATHLETICS: U.S. finishes with 29 medals, 14 golds and both world records at Worlds

The IAAF World Championships finished with a blaze of glory for the U.S. team, which overwhelmed the rest of the world.

The American squad won 29 medals in all and 14 golds; the next closest was Kenya with five golds and Jamaica with 12 medals. A few of the highlights of the final days:

● Friday: Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim won the high jump and electrified the Khalifa International Stadium as only a national hero can. American Dalilah Muhammad won the 400 m hurdles over teammate Sydney McLaughlin with another world record, of 52.16. Kenyan Conseslus Kipruto, injured most of the year, won the men’s Steeple in a world-leading 8:01.35 and Steven Gardiner of The Bahamas moved to no. 6 on the all-time list in winning the men’s 400 m in 43.48, leaving American Fred Kerley in third. More here.

● Saturday: The greatest shot put competition in history, with New Zealand’s defending champion Tom Walsh reaching a staggering 22.90 m (75-1 3/4) in the first round, but then finally seeing the 2015 World Champion, Joe Kovacs of the U.S. (pictured below) go from fourth to first in the sixth round at 22.91 m (75-2). Then American Ryan Crouser went from third to second by also throwing 22.90 m, but with a better second mark than Walsh … who won bronze after throwing beyond 75 feet!

The women’s 1,500 m final was a showcase for Dutch star Sifan Hassan, who overwhelmed the field with a sensational 3:51.95 mark, making her the sixth-fastest performer in history. Kenya’s Hellen Obiri defended her 5,000 m title over teammate Margaret Kipkemboi and Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen with a relentless final few laps. Jamaica won the women’s 4×100 m as expected (41.44) and the U.S. team of Christian Coleman, Justin Gatlin, Mike Rodgers and Noah Lyles ran away with the men’s 4×100 m in 37.10, an American Record. More here.

● Sunday: The men’s 1,500 m was a runaway for Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot, who won with ease in a sparkling 3:29.26, but the men’s 10,000 came down to an all-out sprint over the final 300 m. Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei had a little more speed in the final 60 m to edge Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, 26:48.36-26:49.34.

The U.S. finished with a flourish, as Nia Ali (12.34 lifetime best) and Keni Harrison went 1-2 over favored Danielle Williams (JAM) in the women’s 100 m hurdles and the American quartets ran away with the closing 4×400 m relays. The women’s team of Phyllis Francis, McLaughlin, Muhammad and Wadeline Jonathas (pictured above) ran a world-leading 3:18.92 and won by almost three seconds. The men’s team of Kerley, Michael Cherry, Wil London and Rai Benjamin won by more than a second over Jamaica and ran 2:56.69, the fastest since 2008 and the 12th-fastest 4×4 of all time. More here.

| 3. | FOOTBALL: U.S. ends Victory Tour with 1-1 tie with Korea in Jill Ellis’s last game

The historically-successful Jill Ellis Era came to a close at Solider Field in Chicago as the U.S. women played to a 1-1 tie with South Korea to finish the five-match “Victory Tour.”

This was a much more physical game than the U.S.’s 2-0 win in Charlotte on Thursday. The Koreans refused to be pushed around and controlled the game for long stretches in the first half. A clever cross-field shot by striker So-Yun Ji in the 34th minute gave the visitors a 1-0 lead and ended the U.S. unscored-on streak at 762 minutes.

The lead lasted for just three minutes, as a Megan Rapinoe corner kick in the 37th minute was headed in by Carli Lloyd, finding the ball in the middle of two defenders. It was Lloyd’s 118th goal for the U.S.

The second half had more U.S. possession, but no more scoring. Korea was actually down to 10 players because of a red card for the final 10 minutes (including stoppage time) and the U.S. had multiple chances, but none went in.

The tie meant the U.S. women finished the Victory Tour at 4-0-1 and 13-1 in goal differential. Ellis (pictured) finishes her brilliant U.S. coaching career with the most wins ever at 106, one more than the late Tony DiCicco (1995-99), plus two World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019.

Ellis is leaving and a new U.S. coach will be on hand for November friendlies vs. Sweden and Costa Rica. More here.

| 4. | GYMNASTICS: Biles set to dominate FIG World Championships in Stuttgart

The almost-annual FIG World Championships in Artistic Gymnastics is underway with qualifying competitions in Stuttgart, Germany, with the events continuing through next Sunday.

The star of the show was expected to be – and is – American superstar Simone Biles. Coming into this Worlds, she owns the records for most career golds (14, men or women), most total medals (20 for women, tied with Svetlana Khorkina/RUS, 1994-2003) and most individual-event golds (11, women; tied with Vitaly Scherbo/RUS: 1991-96) and total medals (17, women; Scherbo won 22).

If Biles wins six medals in Stuttgart – as she did in 2018 – she will hold all of these records, passing Scherbo’s all-time career total of 23 Worlds medals.

She gave every indication that she is ready, as she led the All-Around and qualified for all of the apparatus finals on Friday and Saturday. The U.S. team led the qualifying with a score of 174.205, a staggering 5.044 points ahead of China (169.161). Biles led in the All-Around qualifying at 59.432, ahead of teammate Sunisa Lee at 57.166.

She’s amazing. More here.

| 5. | SWIMMING: ISL debuts in Indianapolis; Hosszu keeps winning in FINA World Cup

The long-awaited debut of the International Swimming League finally came in Indianapolis on Saturday and Sunday, offering its version of a “modern” swim meet, replete with a darkened IU Natatorium, wall-to-wall sound from a live DJ on the deck and racing between teams of swimmers affiliated with new clubs in France, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Italy.

That the first meet happened is a tribute to the ISL, but its promised revolution in swimming is still a ways off. There were many of the big stars in the sport in the pool and the television production values were high, but the attendance was poor – under 1,000 each day in a 4,700-capacity facility – and the presentation was somewhat chaotic if you weren’t completely aware of the format.

The program was what American collegiate fans would recognize as a quadrangular meet, with team scoring. The swimmers scored points, which also earned them $300 per point plus a $1,000 payment for competing in the meet.

The swimmers like this, of course: they are getting paid (quite well by swimming standards), their names and pictures are in lights on the giant scoreboards on the deck and the public address announcer is screaming their names. Whether this is sustainable into the future is another question and there are six meets to go.

In the pool, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom was the star, winning five individual events and a relay for six total victories and had the most points overall at 55.5. South African Chad LeClos won three individual events and two relays for five total golds; he led all men’s scorers at 43.0.

As far as times go – heavily de-emphasized by ISL in this short-course (25 m) format – world-leading short-course marks were set in 29 of the 32 individual events. The outstanding performance came from Katie Ledecky (D.C. Tridents). After two seconds on the first day, she swam the 400 m Free on Sunday in a re-match of the famous Worlds race against Ariarne Titmus of Australia (Cali Condors). This time, Ledecky was healthy and won decisively in 3:54.06, close to Titmus’s world short-course mark of 3:53.92; Titmus finished second in 3:57.91.

Saturday’s coverage is here; Sunday’s is here.

At the fourth stop of the FINA Swimming World Cup in Budapest, Hungarian star Katinka Hosszu was up to her usual standard, winning three races – the 200 m Fly, both Medleys and a relay – to maintain her lead in the overall standings ahead of Cate Campbell of Australia, who won the 100 m Free in an impressive 53.00.

Russia’s Vladimir Morozov also won three events – the most that will count for points – and logged noteworthy marks of 21.50 in the 50 m Free and 47.99 for the 100 m Free. The other triple winner was Dutch ace Arno Kamminga (NED) in the 50-100-200 m Breaststroke events.

The World Cup continues next week in Berlin (GER). Here on Budapest here.

| 6. | BOXING: AIBA Women’s World Champs underway in Ulan-Ude

Although the 2019 edition of the AIBA Women’s World Championships has no bearing on Olympic qualification, a big field of 224 fighters from 576 countries are in Russia for the 11th edition of the women’s Worlds.

Seven of the 10 champions from 2018 have returned this year, with preliminary matches continuing through the 9th. Quarterfinals will be on the 10th, semis on the 12th and the finals next Sunday (13th).

One of the stars is India’s Mary Kom, who owns the most medals women at the women’s Worlds with seven, including six golds. She’s won at Pinweight (45-46 kg) four times, then at Light Flyweight (48 kg) in 2010 and 2018 and, at 36, will fight at 51 kg in 2019.

Our preview is here.

| 7. | VOLLEYBALL: Men’s World Cup has Brazil and U.S. in front as halfway nears

Although it has no bearing on Olympic qualification for 2020, the FIVB is holding the men’s World Cup anyway in 2019. The round-robin program of matches about 12 of the top continental teams in the world completed the first round on Sunday with Brazil and the U.S. at the top of the table:

1. 15 points Brazil (5-0)
2. 13 points United States (4-1)
3. 12 points Poland (4-1)
4. 9 points Japan (3-2)
5. 9 points Russia (3-2)
6. 7 points Egypt (2-3)

The event is being held in Japan as usual; the matches are in Fukuoka, Nagano and Hiroshima in 2019. The second round will finish on 11 October and the short third round on 15 October. More here.

LANE ONE: Was the IAAF World Championships a success or failure in Doha?

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 6, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1006 benjamin, rai wch 4x400 750 — Rai Benjamin anchors the winning 4x400 m relay for the U.S. in Doha in 2019 (Photo: IAAF/World Athletics)

The 2019 IAAF World Championships was mired in controversy as soon as it was awarded to Doha, Qatar in 2014 and scheduled to begin a month later than any Worlds had ever been held.

Now that the meet has concluded, what did we learn?

(1) No matter when the meet or the conditions, the competition was spectacular!

What other conclusion is there from the 10 days of Doha? Two world records – by Dalilah Muhammad in the women’s 400 m hurdles and the U.S. in the Mixed 4×400 m – and 18 world-leading marks for 2019 (out of 49 events) at a time when the season is usually over for a month.

Out of the 49 total events – one was new, the Mixed 4×400 – there were 37 new champions and 12 repeaters from 2017. The defenders who won again:

● Men/3,000 m Steeple: Conseslus Kipruto (KEN)
● Men/5000 m: Muktar Edris (ETH)
● Men/400 m hurdles: Karsten Warholm (NOR)
● Men/High Jump: Mutaz Essa Barshim (QAT)
● Men/Pole Vault: Sam Kendricks (USA)
● Men/Triple Jump: Christian Taylor (USA)
● Men/Hammer: Pawel Fajdek (POL)

● Women/5,000 m: Hellen Obiri (KEN)
● Women/4×400 m: United States
● Women/High Jump: Mariya Lasitskene (RUS)
● Women/Triple Jump: Yulimar Rojas (VEN)
● Women/Shot Put: Lijiao Gong (CHN)

There were eight men’s world leaders and 10 for the women. The races were close and fast, even in the distance events and the field events were mostly excellent, notably the vault duel between Kendricks and Mondo Duplantis (SWE) and the men’s shot put with Americans Joe Kovacs and Ryan Crouser, New Zealand’s Tom Walsh and Brazil’s Darlan Romani. Just tremendous and some of the best events ever seen.

(2) Doha showcased a new set of stars for both men and women, and some old stars still shining

One of the important aspects of a world championships in a year prior to the Olympic Games is to place a spotlight on the athletes who will be the stories on the much larger stage in Tokyo at the 2020 Olympic Games. Great stories were everywhere in Doha:

● In the men’s sprints, the U.S. is suddenly back on the throne, thanks to wins by Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles, Grant Holloway and a sensational 4×100 m relay final … after almost being disqualified in the heats.

● The 400 m hurdles, with Norway’s Karsten Warholm, Rai Benjamin of the U.S. and a healthier Abderrahmane Samba (QAT) will rival the interest in the event during the Edwin Moses era.

● The distance races had drama and were anything but boring. Kenyans Tim Cheruiyot and Conseslus Kipruto could be breakthrough stars in Tokyo next year for their fearless attitudes and Kipruto’s antics, especially when he is telling fellow Kenyans what they should be doing … during his races!

● Can you do better in the men’s field events than Kendricks vs. Duplantis, Taylor vs. Will Claye in the triple jump and the shot put? No is the answer. Don’t forget that Kendricks has asked for a rule change which would strip Duplantis of his 2018 American Record – remember, he’s a U.S. citizen – set at the European Championships!

● The women’s sprints were be all about Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce trying for a third 100 m Olympic title … and what color hair she will wear for each round. She’s a one-woman fashion show and surely must have a hair color sponsor by now!

● The women’s 400 m could be one of the focus points in Tokyo. Bahraini Salwa Eid Naser ended the reign of Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH) as World Champion and a two-year unbeaten streak. Challenging them could be … Allyson Felix? She has a long way to go to be competitive again, but she has been on a steady rise since returning from maternity at the USATF Nationals. She ran 50.4 and 49.8 on her relay legs in the Mixed 4×400 final and the heats of the women’s 4×400 and started to look like the Felix of old. With another year of training ahead, what is possible? Given Felix’s work ethic, quite a bit.

● Dutch distance star Sifan Hassan is going to need a public relations director over the next year to handle the tsunami of interview requests, not only for her amazing 1,500/10,000 m double – both in world-leading times – but to handle the controversy surrounding her now-suspended coach, Alberto Salazar of the Nike Oregon Project. Hassan’s story as an Ethiopian refugee made good could be eclipsed by the Salazar story and that would be a shame. She will also be relentlessly tested by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency since she trains in the U.S.

● The Muhammad vs. Sydney McLaughlin story is only starting. They were 2-2 this year and it took Muhammad’s two world records to beat McLaughlin.

● The best story in the women’s field events, especially for U.S. audiences, will be DeAnna Price and the women’s hammer. She broke through with the first-ever U.S. medal in the women’s hammer at the Worlds and she will now take on the American 0-for-Olympics drought in the same event. Poland’s world-record holder Anita Wlodarczyk should be back from injury for 2020, so the task will be tougher.

(3) The U.S. team is really, really good and could be better in 2020

The days of the U.S. team under-achieving at the World Championships appear to be over.

In this decade, the U.S. medal production has totaled 28-26-18-30-29 in Daegu, Moscow, Beijing, London and Doha. In 2019, American athletes won 14 golds; the next highest was Kenya with five. The U.S. won 11 silvers and four bronzes and no one else was close.

Second-best in terms of total medals was Jamaica with 12, then Kenya with 11 and China with nine (mostly in the walking events). In the placing table – the best indicator of team strength, with the top eight places scored 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 – the U.S. was amazing:

1. 310 points United States
2. 122 points Kenya
3. 115 points Jamaica
4. 99 points China
5. 83 points Ethiopia

You get the idea. And there were injuries that kept away or caused poor performances from Evan Jager, Michael Norman, Tori Bowie and more.

This is good with the 2021 Worlds coming to the U.S., at the new Hayward Field. But it’s bad news for the rest of the world.

(4) The IAAF is working hard to make things more interesting, and succeeding in some areas

There are people who will never forgive the IAAF for going to Doha, like the folks working for British television. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t positives.

The gaudy light show for the last final of each night was not introduced well on NBC’s broadcasts, but if you watched every day, the program became clearer as the meet went on. There were two such programs on the final evening, for the 4×400 m relays.

The awards ceremonies, with separate huge screens to show each medalist, were great, and the Khalifa International Stadium had the space for this kind of showcase. Very impressive.

Although it did not do anything new for the 2019 Worlds, the IAAF’s information program for those either in the stadium or watching at home, was superb. The results were fast and deep, there was a live blog, photo galleries, videos, live radio during each session and the live timing page was easy to follow and rendered very quickly. The skiing folks at FIS are just as good for their World Championships, but there is no one better at this anywhere than the IAAF.

(5) The Doha folks did their best, but there was no getting away from the weather

The organizing committee was clearly in overdrive during the event to try and get more spectators in the stadium. Banners covered much of the facility during the early days, reducing the capacity from 48,000 to a reported 21,000. Even so, it didn’t really fill up until last Friday, when the men’s high jump was held, with local hero Barshim defending his title memorably. The BBC reported attendance on this day at over 40,000!

The crowds on Saturday and Sunday were good, but not at capacity.

The meet generally ran on time and the air-conditioning system in the stadium worked well enough to keep the temperatures bearable, reportedly in the 78-80 degrees (F) realm.

Those were the good things, but there was no relief from the heat and humidity once you left the stadium and the outdoor events – the marathons and walks – were held in very difficult conditions, even though they were held in the middle of the night.

Moreover, the heat caused the meet to be run in single sessions of as much as six and seven hours (!) in length, exactly the wrong format to maximize worldwide television interest.

Doha was not the best choice for the IAAF, but that decision was made – as previously noted – during the Lamine Diack regime. To his credit, current IAAF President Sebastian Coe never mentioned that fact and defended the choice as bringing the sport to a new area. Certainly, the political isolation and commercial boycott of Qatar by its neighbors hurt badly.

But the Worlds came off, and there were valuable lessons for future events coming to Doha, such as the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.

For the IAAF, it can say it placed its most important meet in the Middle East and in a Muslim-majority country, and the performances were outstanding. Surely the next project is Africa, and Coe already has stated his interest in considering Kenya for 2025. Good news: the average high in August in Nairobi is 72 degrees, with little rainfall.

Rich Perelman
Editor

If you enjoyed this commentary, sign up to receive our exclusive TSX Report by e-mail by clicking here. You can also refer a friend by clicking here.

VOLLEYBALL: Men’s World Cup nears halfway with Brazil and U.S. standing 1-2

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 6, 2019

The 14th edition of the FIVB men’s World Cup is underway in Japan and nearing the halfway point, with Brazil and the United States leading the tournament with 5-0 and 4-1 records, respectively.

There is no Olympic qualification impact from this tournament, but with the event being held in Japan – as usual – it was scheduled anyway. There are no matches in Tokyo; the tournament is being held in Fukuoka, Nagano and Hiroshima. Thus far:

1. 15 points Brazil (5-0)
2. 13 points United States (4-1)
3. 12 points Poland (4-1)
4. 9 points Japan (3-2)
5. 9 points Russia (3-2)
6. 7 points Egypt (2-3)

The American side lost its first match to Argentina, 3-2, but has gone on to defeat Italy, Poland, Japan and Tunisia. The U.S. and Brazil will meet in the second round, on 10 October.

This is a round-robin tournament, with 12 teams: Brazil, the U.S., Poland, Japan, Russia, Egypt, Argentina, Iran, Canada, Italy, Australia and Tunisia. The first round ended on Sunday; the second round will finish on 11 October and the short third round on 15 October. Look for match schedules and results here.

In the prior 13 World Cups, Russia (counting the USSR) has won six times, followed by Brazil and the U.S. with two each. The Americans are the defending champs, winning in 2015 to go along with a win in 1985. Brazil has been tough of late, winning twice and finishing third twice in the last six appearances.

SWIMMING: ISL I finishes with Energy Standard on top as Ledecky scares 400 m Free record

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 6, 2019

tsx pix 51718 ledecky katie wr 1500 m — Freestyle superstar Katie Ledecky (USA)

The first International Swimming League meet is in the books and another small crowd at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis saw more lighting effects, loud announcing and some really good swimming.

The competition between the four competing teams is set up like a college dual meet, with points scored 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 for the eight places, double points for relays and triple points for the “skins” races in which eight start for four places in the second round, those four compete for two places in the final and then a final race (three rounds, hence triple the points).

France-based Energy Standard won the first meet (521), followed by the Cali Condors (San Francisco: 425), with DC Trident (Washington, D.C.) third at 316.5 and Italy’s Aqua Centurions fourth (290.5).

The star of the show was Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, who won the 100 m Free and 50 m Fly, then won the three-race 50 m Free “skins” to give her five individual wins for the meet, held in a short-course (25 m) pool. She won the “Most Valuable Player” designation by being the top point-scorer in the meet (no official totals; this is from coverage at SwimmingWorldMagazine.com):

● Men:
1. 43.0 points Chad LeClos (RSA) ~ Energy Standard
2. 41.0 points Florent Manoudou (FRA) ~ Energy Standard
3. 30.5 points Mitch Larkin (AUS) ~ Cali Condors

● Women:
1. 55.5 points Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) ~ Energy Standard
2. 44.0 points Olivia Smoliga (USA) ~ Cali Condors
3. 31.5 points Lilly King (USA) ~ Cali Condors

Every participant received $1,000 for competing and then $300 for each point scored. So, for Sjostrom – subject to an official release on points and money – won $16,650 in points money, which is excellent pay for any swimmer. Same for Smoliga ($13,200), Le Clos ($12,900) and so on.

Sjostrom had five individual wins plus a relay victory for six total. American King (Cali) won all three Breaststroke events and was on the winning 4×100 m Medley; South Africa’s LeClos (Energy) won the men’s 100 m Free and 100-200 m Flys and swam on two winning relays for five wins on the weekend.

The star of the swimming was Katie Ledecky (D.C.), who faced Australia’s Ariarne Titmus (Cali) in a short-course rematch of their famous World Championships race over 400 m, won by Titmus over a tiring (and sick) Ledecky on the final lap. This time, there was no comeback for Titmus as Ledecky won clearly in 3:54.06, scaring Titmus’s world short-course record of 3:53.92 from the 2018 World Short-Course Championships. Ledecky’s time easily eclipsed Katie Hoff’s American Record of 3:57.07, set way back in 2010. Titmus finished second in 3:57.91 and American Hali Flickinger (Cali) was third in 3:59.81.

In terms of the 2019 short-course (25 m) year list, seasonal bests were set in 14 of the 16 individual events on the second day; over the two days, there were 29 world-leading short-course marks set in the individual events held.

There was a lot to reflect on in this meet, with the second leg coming next week in Naples, where a stronger crowd is expected. The swimmers loved the attention, the show and the money involved. Whether that will continue is the question.

¶

In Budapest, the FINA World Cup rolled into its second group of meets, all held in long-course (50 m) pools to allow times to be eligible for Olympic qualifying. The expected star was Hungary’s own triple Olympic winner Katinka Hosszu, who did not disappoint.

Hosszu won three events, including her specialties in the 200 and 400 m Medleys and the 200 m Butterfly, and added a third in the 100 m Backstroke and a win on the Mixed 4×100 m Free relay. Her biggest rival for World Cup points and prizes has been Australian sprint star Cate Campbell, who showed excellent form with a 53.00 win in the 100 m Free. She also finished fourth in the 50 m Free and was third in the 50 m Fly.

The top performances on the men’s side came from Russia’s Vladimir Morozov, pushing hard toward another World Cup title. He won the 50 m Free in 21.50, the 100 m Free in a solid 47.99 and the 50 m Back in 24.70 for the maximum three wins that count for points. Lithuania’s Freestyle star Danas Rapsys won the 200 m Free in a very nice 1:45.97 and the 400 m Free in 3:49.09.

Arno Kamminga (NED) won all three Breaststroke events; American Michael Andrew won the 200 m Medley. The World Cup continues next week with the fifth leg, in Berlin (GER). Winners and other highlights:

FINA Swimming World Cup
Budapest (HUN) ~ 4-6 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Free: Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 21.50. 100 m Free: Morozov (RUS), 47.99. 200 m Free: Danas Rapsys (LTU), 1:45.97. 400 m Free: Rapsys (LTU), 3:49.09. 1,500 m Free: Florian Wellbrock (GER), 14:57.83.

50 m Back: Morozov (RUS), 24.70. 100 m Back: Ryosuke Irie (JPN), 53.50. 200 m Back: Irie (JPN), 1:56.79.

50 m Breast: Arno Kamminga (NED), 27.13. 100 m Breast: Kamminga (NED), 59.05. 200 m Breast: Kamminga (NED), 2:07.96.

50 m Fly: 1. Szebasztian Szabo (HUN), 23.22. 100 m Fly: Kristof Milak (HUN), 51.27. 200 m Fly: Bence Biczo (HUN), 1:58.67.

200 m Medley: Michael Andrew (USA), 1:59.02. 400 m Medley: Yuki Ikari (JPN), 4:14.43.

Women

50 m Free: Michelle Coleman (SWE), 24.56 (4. Cate Campbell (AUS), 24.69). 100 m Free: C. Campbell (AUS), 53.00. 200 m Free: Veronika Andrusenko (RUS), 1:59.58. 400 m Free: Maddy Gough (AUS), 4:10.36. 800 m Free: Mireia Belmonte (ESP), 8:31.42.

50 m Back: Kira Toussaint (NED), 27.68. 100 m Back: Toussaint (NED), 59.56 (3. Hosszu (HUN), 1:00.69). 200 m Back: Katalin Burian (HUN), 2:09.98.

50 m Breast: Ida Hulkko (FIN), 30.82. 100 m Breast: Hulkko (FIN), 1:07.42. 200 m Breast: Tjasa Vozel (SLO), 2:26.52.

50 m Fly: Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 25.63 (3. C. Campbell (AUS), 26.14). 100 m Fly: Zsuzanna Jakabos (HUN), 59.14. 200 m Fly: Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2:08.55.

200 m Medley: Hosszu (HUN), 2:09.56. 400 m Medley: Hosszu (HUN), 4:34.37.

Mixed

4×100 m Free: Hungary (Nemeth, Szabo, Jakabos, Hozzsu), 3:29.06. 4×100 m Medley: Netherlands (Toussaint, Kamminga, Brzoskowski, Kromowidjojo), 3:48.03.

ATHLETICS: Triple win for the U.S. on final day of IAAF Worlds in Doha

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 6, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1006 ali, nia 100H wch 750 — Stunning win for American Nia Ali in the 100 m hurdles (Photo: IAAF)

The Doha experiment is over and one of the most enjoyable IAAF World Championships ever concluded in Qatar with a marvelous final day, especially for the U.S. relay teams and hurdler Nia Ali.

But the program also included amazing races in the men’s 1,500 m and 10,000 m, both of which were mesmerizing examples of the right tactics at the right moment.

In the men’s 1,500 m, favored Tim Cheruiyot of Kenya decided to run hard from the start, perhaps at a suicidal pace with teammate Ronald Kwemoi. The first 400 was in an astonishing 55.01 and 800 m was passed in 1:51.74!

There was no stopping him and he broke the race open on the third lap, running away from Kwemboi and continuing alone. At the bell, he had more than two seconds on everyone else and he continued on to finish in a sterling 3:29.26, his third sub-3:30 race this season!

Behind him, the fight was on for second and a large pack ran together for most of the race, well behind Cheruiyot and Kwemoi. On the final lap, Algeria’s Taoufik Makhloufi – the 2012 Olympic gold medalist and Rio silver medalist – still had speed in the final 50 m and took another silver in 3:31.38, followed by fast-closing Marcin Lewandowski (POL) in a national record of 3:31.46. Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen was fourth in 3:31.70. Americans Matthew Centrowitz (3:32.81) and Craig Engels (3:34.24) finished eighth and 10th.

The men’s 10,000 m turned out not to be the slow, tactical affair everyone feared. Instead, the pace was fast from the start and crossed halfway in 13:33.20 with Kenya’s Rhonex Kipruto in the lead, with eight others in tow.

With three laps remaining, there were still nine on contention, but then Uganda’s Josh Cheptegei started pulling the pack apart. There were six in contention with 1,000 m left and just Cheptegei, Kipruto and Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha left with two laps to go.

Those three were going to be the medalists, but in what order? Cheptegei had the lead with 400 m left and then he and Kejelcha went into a sprint down the backstraight and separated from Kipruto. Around the final turn, they were still close, but Cheptegei had more closing speed in the final 60 m and won in an outstanding 26:48.36, with a final lap of 55.38.

Kejelcha’s 26:49.34 was a lifetime best and Kipruto won the bronze at 26:50.32. Lopez Lamong was the top American finisher, setting a lifetime best by almost 26 seconds in 27:04.72, moving him to no. 3 all-time U.S., with the fourth-fastest performance ever.

Jamaica’s Danielle Williams was the clear favorite in the women’s 100 m hurdles, having run the world-leading 12.32. But the earlier semifinals showed that American Ali was going to make it close, having run a lifetime best 12.44 to Williams’ 12.41 in semi one. Tobi Amusan (NGR) had a lifetime best of 12.48 to win the third semi and Keni Harrison of the U.S. won the middle race in 12.58.

Off the gun in the final, Williams, Ali and Harrison all started well, but Ali was smooth over the hurdles and move away by the fifth hurdle, with Harrison also moving up. On the run-in, Ali was the clear leader and crossed first in another lifetime best of 12.34, with Harrison holding off Williams on the run-in for the silver in 12.46 and Williams in 12.47.

Ali moved to equal-9th all-time in the event and equal-fourth all-time U.S. The Rio 2016 silver medalist, she took her lap of honor with her two children in tow, a remarkable testament to her re-dedication to the sport after maternity.

The women’s 4×400 m appeared to be a shoo-in for the U.S., running the 4-5 finishers in the open 400 and the 1-2 finishers in the 400 m hurdles. It wasn’t a race; more like a time trial.

Phyllis Francis, the 2017 World Champion, led off and instead of her usual come-from-behind pattern, she took off from the start and had a huge lead in 49.51, handing off to Sydney McLaughlin. The race was essentially over by the time McLaughlin running to the curb, who had a lead of almost 15 m at the hand-off to Dalilah Muhammad. She extended the lead and the two hurdlers ran back-to-back legs of 49.78 and 49.43. Anchor Wadeline Jonathas had no trouble, finishing in 50.20 for a final time of 3:18.72, the sixth-fastest time in history.

Behind the U.S., Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson had the lead for the silver medal with 200 m to go, but was passed on the final straight by 2018 European champ Justyna Swiety-Ersetic of Poland, in a national record 3:21.89-3:22.37.

The final event was the men’s 4×400 m and the U.S. fielded a team of Fred Kerley, Michael Cherry, Wil London III and Rai Benjamin. Kerley ran a terrific 43.44 (!) and passed first to Cherry, who blew around the curve and moved to the inside lane first and gave the U.S. a solid lead of 5 m to London with a 44.63 leg.

The race was now for second and London steamed around the turn and extended the lead down the backstraight. He relaxed a little on the turn and Jamaica’s Terry Thomas made a move to get close coming into the home straight, but London had plenty in reserve and finished his 44.43 carry by handing to Benjamin.

Benjamin also ran the turn hard and now the only question was how fast the U.S. would run. Even easing up at the finish, his 44.19 leg brought the U.S. home in a sterling 2:56.69, the fastest since 2008 and the 12th-fastest 4×4 of all time.

On the infield, Germany’s Malaika Mihambo was expected to win the long jump and she did, convincingly. After two poor jumps, she found the range with a 7.30 m (23-11 1/2) bomb in the third round that proved to be the winner. She added jumps of 7.09 m (23-3 1/4) and 7.16 m (23-6) in the final two rounds to underscore the depth of her win. Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk came through with a season’s best of 6.92 m (22-8 1/2) to move up to win the silver medal.

American Tori Bowie, who had withdrawn from the 100 m semis, scored a season’s best of 6.81 m (22-4 1/4) in the fourth round, but couldn’t improve and finished a creditable fourth, a hopeful finish to a disappointing year thanks to injuries.

The men’s javelin was a stunner, with Mississippi State’s NCAA champ Anderson Peters – from Grenada – getting a big first throw of 86.89 m (285-1), and no one could match it. Estonia’s Magnus Kirt, the seasonal leader, managed 86.21 m (282-10) on his second throw, but couldn’t improve and had to retire after a shoulder injury on his fifth throw. Defending champion Johannes Vetter (GER) managed only 85.37 m (280-1) for third.

The crowd was good for the final session and the razzmatazz introductions for the final were more appreciated now that everyone knew what to expect. Summaries of a remarkable – and memorable World Championships:

IAAF World Championships
Doha (QAT) ~ 27 September-6 October 2019
(Full results here)

Men

100 m (wind +0.6 m/s): 1. Christian Coleman (USA), 9.76; 2. Justin Gatlin (USA), 9.89; 3. Andre De Grasse (CAN), 9.90; 4. Akani Simbine (RSA), 9.93; 5. Yohan Blake (JAM), 9.97; 6. Zharnel Hughes (GBR), 10.03; 7. Flilppo Tortu (ITA), 10.07; 8. Aaron Brown (CAN), 10.08.

200 m (+0.3): 1. Noah Lyles (USA), 19.83; 2. Andre De Grasse (CAN), 19.95; 3. Alex Quinonez (ECU), 19.98; 4. Adam Gemili (GBR), 20.03; 5. Ramil Guliyev (TUR), 20.07; 6. Aaron Brown (CAN), 20.10; 7. Zhenye Xie (CHN), 20.14; 8. Kyle Greaux (TTO), 20.39.

400 m: 1. Steven Gardiner (BAH), 43.48; 2. Anthony Zambrano (COL), 44.15; 3. Fred Kerley (USA), 44.17; 4. Denish Gaye (JAM), 44.46; 5. Kirani James (GRN), 44.54; 6. Emanuel Korir (KEN), 44.94; 7. Machel Cedenio (TTO), 45.30; 8. Akeem Bloomfield (JAM), 45.36.

800 m: 1. Donavan Brazier (USA), 1:42.34 (American Record; old, 1:42.60, Johnny Gray, 1985); 2. Amel Tuka (BIH), 1:43.47; 3. Ferguson Rotich (KEN), 1:43.83; 4. Bryce Hoppel (USA), 1:44.25; 5. Wesley Vazquez (PUR), 1:44.48; 6. Adrian Ben (ESP), 1:45.58; 7. Marco Arop (CAN), 1:45.78; 8. Clayton Murphy (USA), 1:47.84.

1,500 m: 1. Timothy Cheruiyot (KEN), 3:29.26; 2. Taoufik Makhloufi (ALG), 3:31.38; 3. Marcin Lewandowski (POL), 3:31.46; 4. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR), 3:31.70; 5. Jake Wightman (GBR), 3:31.87; 6. Josh Kerr (GBR), 3:32.52; 7. Ronald Kwemoi (KEN), 3:32.72; 8. Matthew Centrowitz (USA), 3:32.81. Also: 10. Craig Engels (USA), 3:34.24.

3,000 m Steeple: 1. Conseslus Kipruto (KEN), 8:01.35; 2. Lamecha Girma (ETH), 8:01.36; 3. Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR), 8:03.76; 4. Getnet Wale (ETH), 8:05.21; 5. Djilati Bedrani (FRA), 8:05.23; 6. Ben Kigen (KEN), 8:06.95; 7. Abraham Kibiwot (KEN), 8:08.52; 8. Hillary Bor (USA), 8:09.33. Also: 10. Stanley Kibenei (USA), 8:11.15; … 12. Andy Bayer (USA), 8:12.47.

5,000 m: 1. Muktar Edris (ETH), 12:58.85; 2. Selemon Barega (ETH), 12:59.70; 3. Mo Ahmed (CAN), 13:01.11; 4. Telahun Haile Bekele (ETH), 13:02.29; 5. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR), 13:02.93; 6. Jacob Krop (KEN), 13:03.08; 7. Paul Chelimo (USA), 13:04.60; 8. Nicholas Kimeli (KEN), 13:05.27. Also: 11. Hassan Mead (USA), 13:27.05.

10,000 m: 1. Joshua Cheptegei (UGA), 26:48.36; 2. Yomif Kejelcha (ETH), 26:49.34; 3. Rhonex Kipruto (KEN), 26:50.32; 4. Rodgers Kwemoi (KEN), 26:55.36; 5. Andamlak Belihu (ETH), 26:56.71; 6. Mo Ahmed (CAN), 26:59.35; 7. Lopez Lomong (USA), 27:04.72; 8. Yemane Crippa (ITA), 27:10.76. Also: 10. Shadrack Kipchirchir (USA), 27:24.74; … 13. Leonard Kipkorir (USA), 28:05.73.

110 m hurdles (+0.6): 1. Grant Holloway (USA), 13.10; 2. Sergey Shubenkov (RUS), 13.15; 3. Pascal Martinot-Lagarde (FRA), 13.18; 4. Wenjun Xie (CHN), 13.29; 5. Orlando Ortega (ESP), 13.30; 6. Shane Brathwaite (BAR), 13.61; 7. Devon Allen (USA), 13.70; 8. Milan Trajkovic (CYP), 13.87; disqualified – Omar McLeod (JAM).

400 m hurdles: 1. Karsten Warholm (NOR), 47.42; 2. Rai Benjamin (USA), 47.66; 3. Abderrahmane Samba (QAT), 48.03; 4. Kyron McMaster (IVB), 48.10; 5. T.J. Holmes (USA), 48.20; 6. Yasmani Copello (TUR), 48.25; 7. Alison Dos Santos (BRA), 48.28; 8. Abdelmalik Lahoulou (ALG), 49.46.

20 km Walk: 1. Toshikazu Yamanishi (JPN), 1:26:34; 2. Vasiliy Mizinov (RUS), 1:26:49; 3. Perseus Karlstrom (SWE), 1:27:00; 4. Christopher Linke (GER), 1:27:19; 5. Salih Korkmaz (TUR), 1:27:35; 6. Koki Ineda (JPN), 1:29:02; 7. Tom Bosworth (GBR), 1:29:34; 8. Kaihua Wang (CHN), 1:29:52.

50 km Walk: 1. Yusuke Suzuki (JPN), 4:04:20; 2. Joao Vieira (POR), 4:04:59; 3. Evan Dunfee (CAN), 4:05:02; 4. Wenbin Niu (CHN), 4:05:36; 5. Yadong Luo (CHN), 4:06:49; 6. Brendan Boyce (IRL), 4:07:06; 7. Carl Dohmann (GER), 4:10:22; 8. Jesus Angel Garcia (ESP), 4:11:28.

4×100 m: 1. United States (Christian Coleman, Justin Gatlin, Mike Rodgers, Noah Lyles), 37.10 (American Record; old, 37.38, National Team, 2012 and 2015); 2. Great Britain (Gemili, Hughes, Kilty, Mitchell-Blake), 37.36; 3. Japan (Tada, Shiraishi, Kiryu, Sani Brown), 37.43; 4. Brazil, 37.72; 5. South Africa, 37.73; 6. China, 38.07; Netherlands was disqualified; France, did not finish.

4×400 m: 1. United States (Fred Kerley, Michael Cherry, Wil London, Rai Benjamin), 2:56.69; 2. Jamaica (Bloomfield, Allen, Thomas, Gaye), 2:57.90; 3. Belgium (Sacoor, Vanderbemden, D. Borlee, K. Borlee), 2:58.78; 4. Colombia, 2:59.50; 5. Trinidad & Tobago, 3:00.74; 6. Italy, 3:02.78; 7. France, 3:03.06; did not finish – Great Britain.

High Jump: 1. Mutaz Essa Barshim (QAT), 2.37 m (7-9 1/4); 2. Mikhail Akimenko (RUS), 2.35 m (7-8 1/2); 3. Ilya Ivanyuk (RUS), 2.35 m (7-8 1/2); 4. Maksim Nedasekau (BLR), 2.33 m (7-7 3/4); 5. Luis Zayas (CUB), 2.30 m (7-6 1/2); 6. Brandon Starc (AUS), 2.30 m (7-6 1/2); 7. Michael Mason (CAN), 2.30 m (7-6 1/2); 8. Hup Wei Lee (MAS), 2.27 m (7-5 1/4). Also: 11. Jeron Robinson (USA), 2.24 m (7-4 1/4).

Pole Vault: 1. Sam Kendricks (USA), 5.97 m (19-7); 2. Mondo Duplantis (SWE), 5.97 m (19-7); 3. Piotr Lisek (POL), 5.87 m (19-3); 4. Bo Lita Baehre (GER), 5.70 m (18-8 1/4); 5. Thiago Braz (BRA), 5.70 m (18-8 1/4); 6. tie, Raphael Holzdeppe (GER) and Valentin Lavillenie (FRA), 5.70 m (18-8 1/4); 8. Claudio Stecchi (ITA), 5.70 m (18-8 1/4). Also: 10. Cole Walsh (USA), 5.55 m (18-2 1/2).

Long Jump: 1. Tajay Gayle (JAM), 8.69 m (28-6 1/4); 2. Jeff Henderson (USA), 8.39 m (27-6 1/2); 3. Juan Miguel Echevarria (CUB), 8.34 m (27-4 1/2); 4. Luvo Manyonga (RSA), 8.28 m (27-2); 5. Ruswahl Samaai (RSA), 8.23 m (27-0); 6. Jianan Wang (CHN), 8.20 m (26-11); 7. Eusebio Caceres (ESP), 8.01 m (26-3 1/2); 8. Yuki Hashioka (JPN), 7.97 m (26-1 3/4).

Triple Jump: 1. Christian Taylor (USA), 17.92 m (58-9 1/2); 2. Will Claye (USA), 17.74 m (58-2 1/2); 3. Hugues Zango (BUR), 17.66 m (57-11 1/4); 4. Pedro Pablo Pichardo (POR), 17.62 m (57-9 3/4); 5. Cristian Napoles (CUB), 17.38 m (57-0 1/4); 6. Donald Scott (USA), 17.17 m (56-4); 7. Alexis Copello (AZE), 17.10 m (57-1 1/4); 8. Jordan Diaz Fortun (CUB), 17.06 m (55-11 3/4).

Shot Put: 1. Joe Kovacs (USA), 22.91 m (75-2); 2. Ryan Crouser (USA), 22.90 m (75-1 3/4); 3. Tom Walsh (NZL), 22.90 m (75-1 3/4); 4. Darlan Romani (BRA), 22.53 m (7311); 5. Darrell Hill (USA), 21.65 m (71-0 1/2); 6. Konrad Bukowiecki (POL), 21.46 m (); 7. Jacko Gill (NZL), 21.45 m (70-4 1/2); 8. Chukwuebeka Enekwechi (NGR), 21.18 m (66-2 1/2).

Discus: 1. Daniel Stahl (SWE), 67.59 m (221-9); 2. Fedrick Dacres (JAM), 66.94 m (219-7); 3. Lukas Weisshaidinger (AUT), 66.82 m (219-3); 4. Alin Firfirica (ROU), 66.46 m (218-0); 5. Apostolos Parellis (CYP), 66.32 m (217-7); 6. Matthew Denny (AUS), 65.43 m (214-8); 7. Ehsan Hadadi (IRI), 65.16 m (213-9); 8. Martin Wierig (GER), 64.98 m (213-2). Also: 11. Sam Mattis (USA), 63.42 m (208-1).

Hammer: 1. Pawel Fajdek (POL), 80.50 (264-1); 2. Quentin Bigot (FRA), 78.19 m (256-6); 3. Bence Halasz (HUN), 78.18 m (256-6); 4. Wojciech Nowicki (POL), 77.69 m (254-10); 5. Mykhaylo Kokhan (UKR), 77.39 m (253-11); 6. Eivind Henriksen (NOR), 77.38 m (253-10); 7. Javier Cienfuegos (ESP), 76.57 m (251-2); 8. Hleb Dudarau (BLR), 76.00 m (249-4). Also: 11. Rudy Winkler (USA), 75.20 m (246-9).

Decathlon: 1. Niklas Kaul (GER), 8,691; 2. Maicel Uibo (EST), 8,604; 3. Damian Warner (CAN), 8,529; 4. Ilya Shkurenyov (RUS), 8,494; 5. Pierce LaPage (CAN), 8,445; 6. Janek Oiglane (EST), 8,297; 7. Pieter Braun (NED), 8,222; 8. Solomon Simmons (USA), 8,151. Also: 14. Harrison Williams (USA), 7,892.

Javelin: 1. Anderson Peters (GRN), 86.89 m (285-1); 2. Magnus Kirt (EST), 86.21 m (282-10); 3. Johannes Vetter (GER), 85.37 m (280-1); 4. Lassi Etelatalo (FIN), 82.49 m (270-7); 5. Jakub Vadlejch (CZE), 82.19 m (269-8); 6. Julian Weber (GER), 81.26 m (266-7); 7. Marcin Krukowski (POL), 80.56 m (264-4); 8. Kim Amb (SWE), 80.42 m (263-10).

Women

100 m (+0.1): 1. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM), 10.71; 2. Dina Asher-Smith (GBR), 10.83; 3. Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV), 10.90; 4. Elaine Thompson (JAM), 10.93; 5. Murielle Ahoure (CIV), 11.02; 6. Jonielle Smith (JAM), 11.06; 7. Teahna Daniels (USA), 11.19; did not start – Dafne Schippers (NED).

200 m (+0.9): 1. Dina Asher-Smith (GBR), 21.88; 2. Brittany Brown (USA), 22.22; 3. Mujinga Kambundji (SUI), 22.51; 4. Angie Annelus (USA), 22/59; 5. Dezerea Bryant (USA), 22.63; 6. Gina Bass (GAM), 22.71; 7. Ivet Lalova-Collio (BUL), 22.77; 8. Tynia Gaither (BAH), 22.90.

400 m: 1. Salwa Eid Naser (BAH), 48.14; 2. Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH), 48.37; 3. Shericka Jackson (JAM), 49.47; 4. Wadeline Jonathas (USA), 49.60; 5. Phyllis Francis (USA), 49.61; 6. Stephanie Ann McPherson (JAM), 50.89; 7. Justyna Swiety-Ersetic (POL), 50.95; 8. Iga Baumgart-Witen (POL), 51.29.

800 m: 1. Halimah Nakaayi (UGA), 1:58.04; 2. Raevyn Rogers (USA), 1:58.18; 3. Ajee Wilson (USA), 1:58.84; 4. Winnie Nanyondo (UGA), 1:59.18; 5. Eunice Sum (KEN), 1:59.71; 6. Natoya Goule (JAM), 2:00.11; 7. Rababe Arafi (MAR), 2:00.48; 8. Ce’Aira Brown (USA), 2:02.97.

1,500 m: 1. Sifan Hassan (NED), 3:51.95; 2. Faith Kipyegon (KEN), 3:54.22; 3. Gudaf Tsegay (ETH), 3:54.38; 4. Shelby Houlihan (USA), 3:54.99 (American Record; old, 3:56.29, Shannon Rowbury, 2015); 5. Laura Muir (GBR), 3:55.76; 6. Gabriela Dubues-Stafford (CAN), 3:56.12; 7. Winny Chebet (KEN), 3:58.20; 8. Jenny Simpson (USA), 3:58.42.

3,000 m Steeple: 1. Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN), 8:57.84; 2. Emma Coburn (USA), 9:02.35; 3. Gesa Krause (GER), 9:03.30; 4. Winfred Yavi (BRN), 9:05.68; 5. Peruth Chemutai (UGA), 9:11.08; 6. Courtney Frerichs (USA), 9:11.27; 7. Anna Moller (DEN), 9:13.46; 8. Hyvin Kiyeng (KEN), 9:13.53.

5,000 m: 1. Hellen Obiri (KEN), 14:26.72; 2. Margaret Kipkemboi (KEN), 14:27.49; 3. Konstanze Klosterhalfen (GER), 14:28.43; 4. Tsehay Gemechu (ETH), 14:29.60; 5. Lilian Rengeruk (KEN), 14:36.05; 6. Fantu Worku (ETH), 14:30.47; 7. Laura Weightman (GBR), 14:44.57; 8. Hawi Feysa (ETH), 14:44.92. Also: 9. Karissa Schweizer (USA), 14:45.18; … 11. Elinor Purrier (USA), 14:58.17.

10,000 m: 1. Hassan (NED), 30.17.62; 2. Letesenbet Gidey (ETH), 30:21.23; 3. Agnes Tirop (KEN), 30:25.20; 4. Rosemary Wanjiru (KEN), 30:35.75; 5. Obiri (KEN), 30:35.82; 6. Senbere Teferi (ETH), 30:44.23; 7. Susan Krumins (NED), 31:05.40; 8. Marielle Hall (USA), 31:05.71. Also: 9. Molly Huddle (USA), 31:07.24; 10. Emily Sisson (USA), 31:12.56.

Marathon: 1. Ruth Chepngetich (KEN), 2:32:43; 2. Rose Chelimo (BRN), 2:33:46; 3. Helelia Johannes (NAM), 2:34:15; 4. Edna Kiplagat (KEN), 2:35:36; 5. Volha Mazuronak (BLR), 2:36:21; 6. Roberta Groner (USA), 2:38:44; 7. Mizuki Tanimoto (JPN), 2:39:09; 8. Ji Hyang Kim (PRK), 2:41:24. Also: 13. Carrie Dimoff (USA), 2:44:35.

100 m hurdles (+0.3): 1. Nia Ali (USA), 12.34; 2. Keni Harrison (USA), 12.46; 3. Danielle Williams (JAM), 12.47; 4. Tobi Amusan (NGR), 12.49; 5. Andrea Vargas (CRC), 12.64; 6. Nadine Visser (NED), 12.66; 7. Janeek Brown (JAM), 12.88; did not finish – Megan Tapper (JAM).

400 m hurdles: 1. Dalilah Muhammad (USA), 52.16 (World Record; old, 52.20, Muhammad, 2019); 2. Sydney McLaughlin (USA), 52.23; 3. Rushell Clayton (JAM), 53.74; 4. Lea Sprunger (SUI), 54.06; 5. Zuzana Hejnova (CZE), 54.23; 6. Ashley Spencer (USA), 54.45; 7. Anna Ryzhykova (UKR), 54.45; 8. Sage Watson (CAN), 54.82.

4×100 m: 1. Jamaica (Whyte, Fraser-Pryce, Smith, Jackson), 41.44; 2. Great Britain (Philip, Asher-Smith, Nelson, Neita), 41.85; 3. United States (Dezerea Bryant, Teahna Daniels, Morolake Akinosun, Kiara Parker), 42.10; 4. Switzerland, 42.18; 5. Germany, 42.48; 6. Trinidad & Tobago, 42.71; 7. Italy, 42.98; China was disqualified.

4×400 m: 1. United States (Phyllis Francis, Dalilah Muhammad, Sydney McLaughlin, Wadeline Jonathas), 3:18.92; 2. Poland (Baumgart-Wyciszkiewicz, Holub-Kowalik, Swiety-Ersetic), 3:21.89; 3. Jamaica (Le-Roy, James, McPherson, , Jackson), 3:22.37; 4. Great Britain (Clark, Williams, Diamond, Nielsen), 3:23.02; 5. Canada, 3:25.91; 6. Belgium, 3:27.15; 7. Ukraine, 3:27.48; 8. Netherlands, 3:27.89.

20 km Walk: 1. Hong Liu (CHN), 1:32:53; 2. Shenjie Qieyang (CHN), 1:33:10; 3. Liujing Yang (CHN), 1:33:17; 4. Erica Rocha de Sena (BRA), 1:33:36; 5. Sandra Arenas (COL), 1:34:16; 6. Kumiko Okada (JPN), 1:34:36; 7. Nanako Fujii (JPN), 1:34:50; 8. Maria Perez (ESP), 1:35:43. Also: 35. Maria Michta-Coffey (USA), 1:46:02.

50 km Walk: 1. Rui Liang (CHN), 4:23:26; 2. Maocuo Li (CHN), 4:26:40; 3. Elenorora Giorgi (ITA), 4:29:13; 4. Olena Sobchuk (UKR), 4:33:38; 5. Faying Ma (CHN), 4:34:56; 6. Khrystyna Yudkina (UKR), 4:36:00; 7. Magaly Bonilla (ECU), 4:37:03; 8. Julia Takacs (ESP), 4:38:20. Also: 17. Katie Burnett (USA), 5:23:05.

High Jump: 1. Mariya Lasitskene (RUS), 2.04 m (6-8 1/4); 2. Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR), 2.04 m (6-8 1/4); 3. Vashti Cunningham (USA), 2.00 m (6-6 3/4); 4. Yuliya Levchenko (UKR), 2./00 m (6-6 3/4); 5. Kamila Licwinko (POL), 1.98 m (6-6); 6. Karyna Demidik (BLR), 1.96 m (6-5); 7. Ana Simic (CRO), 1.93 m (6-4); 8. Ty Butts (USA), 1.93 m (6-4).

Pole Vault: 1. Anzhelika Sidorova (RUS), 4.95 m (16-2 3/4); 2. Sandi Morris (USA), 4.90 m (16-0 3/4); 3. Katerina Stefanidi (GRE), 4.85 m (15-11); 4. Holly Bradshaw (GBR), 4.80 m (15-9); 5. Alysha Newman (CAN), 4.80 m (15-9); 6. Angelica Bengtsson (SWE), 4.80 m (15-9); 7. tie, Iryna Zhuk (BLR), Jenn Suhr (USA) and Katie Nagetotte (USA), 4.70 m (15-5).

Long Jump: 1. Malaika Mihambo (GER), 7.30 m (23-11 1/2); 2. Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk (UKR), 6.92 m (22-8 1/2); 3. Ese Brume (NGR), 6.91 m (22-8); 4. Tori Bowie (USA), 6.81 m (22-4 1/4); 5. Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova (BUL), 6.76 m (22-2 1/4); 6. Aline Rotaro (ROU), 6.71 m (22-0 1/4); 7. Abigail Irozuru (GBR), 6.64 m (21-9 1/2); 8. Chanice Porter (JAM), 6.56 m (21-6 1/4). Also: 9. Shakeela Saunders (USA), 6.54 m (21-5 1/2).

Triple Jump: 1. Yulimar Rojas (VEN), 15.37 m (50-5 1/4); 2. Shanieka Ricketts (JAM), 14.92 m (48-11 1/2); 3. Caterine Ibarguen (COL), 14.73 m (48-4); 4. Kimberly Williams (JAM), 14.64 m (48-0 1/2); 5. Olha Saladukha (UKR), 14.52 m (47-7 3/4); 6. Ana Peleteiro (ESP), 14.47 m (47-5 3/4); 7. Keturah Orji (USA), 14.46 m (47-5 1/4); 8. Patricia Mamona (POR), 14.40 m (47-3). Also: 9. Tori Franklin (USA), 14.08 , (46 2 1/2).

Shot: 1. Lijiao Gong (CHN), 19.55 m (64-1 3/4); 2. Danniel Thomas-Dodd (JAM), 19.47 m (63-10 1/2); 3. Christina Schwanitz (GER), 19.17 m (62-10 3/4); 4. Maggie Ewen (USA), 18.93 m (62-1 1/4); 5. Anita Marton (HUN), 18.86 m (61-10 1/2); 6. Aliona Dubitskaya (BLR), 18.86 m (61-10 1/2); 7. Chase Ealey (USA), 18.82 m (61-9); 8. Brittany Crew (CAN), 18.55 m (60-10 1/2). Also: 9. Michelle Carter (USA), 18.41 m (60-4 3/4).

Discus: 1. Jaime Perez (CUB), 69.17 m (226-11); 2. Denia Caballero (CUB), 68.44 m (224-6); 3. Sandra Perkovic (CRO), 66.72 m (218-11 ); 5. Yang Chen (CHN), 63.38 m (207-11); 6. Bin Feng (CHN), 62.48 m (205-0); 7. Fernanda Martins (BRA), 62.44 m (204-10); 8. Valarie Allman (USA), 61.82 m (202-10).

Hammer: 1. DeAnna Price (USA), 77.54 m (251-1); 2. Joanna Fiodorow (POL), 76.35 m (250-6); 3. Zheng Wang (CHN), 74.76 m (245-3); 4. Zalina Petrivskaya (MDA), 74.33 m (243-10); 5. Iryna Klymets (UKR), 73.56 m (241-4); 6. Alexandra Tavernier (FRA), 73.33 m (240-7); 7. Hanna Skydan (AZE), 72.83 m (238-11); 8. Na Luo (CHN), 72.04 m (236-4).

Javelin: 1. Kelsey-Lee Barber (AUS), 66.56 m (218-4); 2. Shiyeng Liu (CHN), 65.88 m (216-2); 3. Huihui Lyu (CHN), 65.49 m (214-10); 4. Christin Hussong (GER), 65.21 m (213-11); 5. Kara Winger (USA), 63.23 m (207-5); 6. Tatsiana Khaladovich (BLR), 62.54 m (205-2); 7. Sara Kolak (CRO), 62.28 m (204-4); 8. Annu Rani (IND), 61.12 m (200-6).

Heptathlon: 1. Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR), 6,981; 2. Nafi Thiam (BEL), 6,677; 3. Verena Preiner (AUT), 6,560; 4. Erica Bougard (USA), 6,470; 5. Kendell Williams (USA), 6.415; 6. Nadine Broersen (NED), 6,392; 7. Emma Oosterwegel (NED), 6,250; 8. Odite Ahouanwanou (BEN), 6,210. Also: 12. Chari Hawkins (USA), 6,073; 13. Annie Kunz (USA), 6,067.

Mixed

4×400 m: 1. United States (Wil London, Allyson Felix, Courtney Okolo, Michael Cherry), 3:09.34 (World Record; old, 3:12.42, U.S. in semis); 2. Jamaica, (Allen, McGregor, James, Francis), 3:11.78; 3. Bahrain (Isah, Jamal, Naser, Abbas), 3:11.82; 4. Great Britain, 3:12.27; 5. Poland, 3:12.33; 6. Belgium, 3:14.22; 7. India, 3:15.77; 8. Brazil, 3:16.22.

FOOTBALL: U.S. women end Jill Ellis Era with a 1-1 tie vs. Korea in Chicago

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 6, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1006 ellis, jill 750 (lorie shaull) — Retired: U.S. women's coach Jill Ellis

The U.S. women’s National Team finished its Victory Tour in front of 33,027 at Soldier Field in Chicago with a 1-1 tie against South Korea, completing the coaching tenure of two-time World Cup winner Jill Ellis.

The game was markedly different from the match on Thursday, which was dominated from start to finish by the U.S. This time, the Koreans were aggressive and physical and controlled much of the half, getting a clever goal in the 34th minute from So-Yun Ji, breaking a 762-minute scoreless streak for the U.S. across seven games. Ji found a small opening at the top of the box and sent a low liner to the far corner of the net, ahead of a diving Alyssa Naeher in goal for the U.S.

That lead didn’t last long, as a Megan Rapinoe corner kick in the 37th minute went all the way across the Korean goal, but was headed in by Carli Lloyd, despite being marked by two Korean defenders! It was Lloyd’s 118th career goal.

The half ended 1-1, with the Koreans having 57% of the possession and leading in shots, 11-9.

The game stayed even well into the second half, with some liberal substitutions, including Ji coming off and a change of keeper. But neither side got close to a goal until a Jessica McDonald header off a corner hit the post in the 82nd minute.

In the 83rd minute, there was a mix-up on a Korean substitution and Hwa-Yeon Son was given a red card, leaving the visitors with 10 players. Mallory Pugh had a chance in the 91st minute for the game-winner, but muffed on the chance and it was saved. Pugh scored in the final minute of stoppage, but she was called offsides. Another wild scrum off an ensuing corner kick, but the U.S. could not find the winning shot.

The U.S. ended with 51% of the possession, but the Koreans had a 19-16 edge in shots, even playing the final 10 minutes short-handed.

Ellis finished her career with the U.S. women with a sparkling 106-7-19 (W-L-T) record, setting the record for the most wins, one more than the late Tony DiCicco (105-8-8) had from 1995-99. Her team ended with a 21-game unbeaten streak and an 18-1-3 record in 2019.

The Victory Tour ended with the U.S. winning four games and tying the final one, and the Americans outscored their opponents by 13-1.

The U.S. has two more friendlies on the books to close out 2019, with the next game coming on 7 November in Columbus vs. Sweden and then on 10 November vs. Costa Rica in Jacksonville. It will the start of a new era, with a new coach. He or she will have big shoes to fill as Ellis leaves with two World Cup championships in her five years.

BOXING Preview: Seven 2018 champions return for AIBA World Women’s Champs in Russia

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 5, 2019

The 11th edition of the AIBA Women’s World Championships are underway and in the early preliminary stages in Ulan-Ude (RUS) and will continue through the 13th.

As with the men’s Worlds just completed in Yekaterinburg (RUS), the results of this event will have no bearing on Olympic qualification for Tokyo in 2020, as AIBA continues to be suspended. However, it will provide a preview of the leading contenders from among the 224 fighters from 57 countries, competing in the 10 Worlds weight classes. The top seeds include many of last year’s medalists:

● 48 kg:
1. Hyang Mi Kim (PRK) ~ 2018 Worlds 48 kg bronze
2. Ekaterina Paltveca (RUS)
3. Meng-Chieh Pin (TPE)

● 51 kg:
1. Choi Mi Pang (PRK) ~ 2018 Worlds 51 kg Champion
2. Busenaz Cakiroglu (TUR)
3. Mary Kom (IND) ~ 2018 Worlds 48 kg Champion

● 54 kg:
1. Hsiao-Wen Huang (TPE)
2. Karina Tazabekova (RUS)
3. Caroline Cruveillier (FRA)

● 57 kg:
1. Yu-Ting Lin (TPE) ~ 2018 Worlds 54kg Champion
2. Stanimira Petrova (BUL) ~ 2018 Worlds 54 kg silver
3. Son Wa Jo (PRK) ~ 2018 Worlds 57 kg bronze

● 60 kg:
1. Mira Potkonen (FIN)
2. Sudaporn Seesondee (THA) ~ 2018 Worlds 60 kg silver
3. Sema Caliskan (TUR) ~ 2018 Worlds 64 kg bronze

● 64 kg:
1. Dan Dou (CHN) ~ 2018 Worlds 64 kg Champion
2. Melis Yonuzova (BUL)
3. Ekaterina Dynnik (RUS)

● 69 kg:
1. Nien-Chin Chen (TPE) ~ 2018 Worlds 69 kg Champion
2. Nadine Apetz (GER) ~ 2018 Worlds 69 kg bronze
3. Lovlina Borgohain (IND) ~ 2018 Worlds 69 kg bronze

● 75 kg:
1. Nouchka Fontijn (NED) ~ 2018 Worlds 75 kg silver
2. Lauren Price (WAL) ~ 2018 Worlds 75 kg bronze
3. Naomi Graham (USA) ~ 2018 Worlds 75 kg bronze

● 81 kg:
1. Lina Wang (CHN) ~ 2018 Worlds 81 kg Champion
2. Elif Guneri (TUR) ~ 2018 Worlds 81 kg bronze
3. Krystal Graham Dixon (USA)

● +81 kg:
1. Xiaoli Yang (CHN) ~ 2018 Worlds +81 kg Champion
2. Kristina Tkacheva (RUS) ~ 2018 Worlds +81 bronze
(No third seed)

Preliminaries will continue through 9 October, with the quarterfinals on the 10th, semis on the 12th and the finals on 13 October.

India’s Mary Kom now owns the most medals won by a women at the Worlds with seven total, and a record six golds. After a silver at the Light Flyweight class n 2001, she has won the Pinweight title in 2002-05-06-08 (at 45-46 kg) and then the Light Fly title in 2010 and in her comeback last year in 2018 (at 48 kg). At 36, she’s a national hero; for 2019, she has moved up to 51 kg.

Draw sheets, schedules and results are here.

GYMNASTICS: Biles expected to star and break records at FIG World Championships in Stuttgart

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 5, 2019

tsx pix 123117 biles, simone 750x500 — Simone Biles at the 2016 Olympic Games (by Agencia Brasil Fotografias via Wikipedia Commons)

The long history of the FIG World Championships dates back to 1903 for men and 1934 for women. In all that time, there has never been a gymnast like American Simone Biles.

Among the throng of 548 athletes from 92 nations competing in Stuttgart (GER), Biles is the supreme focus, and with good reason:

● 14 career World Championships gold medals, the most ever (men or women);

● 20 career World Championships total medals, tied for the most by women with Svetlana Khorkina (RUS: 1994-2003); the men’s record is 23 by Vitaly Scherbo (URS/RUS: 1991-96);

● 11 career individual World Championships gold medals, the most among women; tied with Scherbo for the most ever;

● 17 career individual World Championships medals, the most among women; the men’s record is 22 by Scherbo.

Counting the team competition, Biles could win a maximum of six medals in Stuttgart; that’s what she did last year (4-1-1) in Doha (QAT) in her return to Worlds competition after taking 2017 off.

The women’s qualifications were completed on Friday and Saturday; the men compete on Sunday and Monday. The finals:

● 08 October: Women’s Team
● 09 October: Men’s Team
● 10 October: Women’s All-Around
● 11 October: Men’s All-Around
● 12 October: Apparatus finals I
● 13 October: Apparatus finals II

Biles and all of the rest will be among high-quality company as there are more than 30 Worlds individual-event medal winners returning:

Men (19):

● Artur Dalaloyan (RUS) ~ 2018 All-Around & Floor gold; Parallel Bars bronze
● Nikita Nagornyy (RUS) ~ 2018 All-Around bronze
● Ruoteng Xiao (CHN) ~ 2018 All-Around silver & Pommel Horse gold; 2017 A-A gold
● Carlos Yulo (PHI) ~ 2018 Floor bronze
● Chih-Kai Lee (TPE) ~ 2018 Pommel Horse bronze
● Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE) ~ 2015-17-18 Rings gold
● Marco Lodadio (ITA) ~ 2018 Rings bronze
● Se Gwang Ri (PRK) ~ 2014-15-18 Vault gold
● Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) ~ 2014 Parallel Bars gold; 2015-17-18 Parallel Bars silver
● Sam Mikulak (USA) ~ 2018 High Bar bronze
● Chaopan Liu (CHN) ~ 2017 All-Around silver
● Artem Dolgopyat (ISR) ~ 2017 Floor silver
● Yul Moldauer (USA) ~ 2017 Floor bronze
● David Belyavskiy (RUS) ~ 2017 Pommel Horse silver; Parallel Bars bronze
● Denis Ablyazin (RUS) ~ 2015 Rings gold; 2017 Rings silver
● Igor Radivoliv (UKR) ~ 2014-17 Vault silver
● Han-Sol Kim (KOR) ~ 2017 Vault bronze
● Tin Srbic (CRO) ~ 2017 High Bar gold
● Bart Deurloo (NED) ~ 2017 High Bar bronze

Women (12):

● Simone Biles (USA) ~ 2018 All-Around/Vault/Floor golds; Uneven bars silver; Beam bronze
● Nina Derwael (BEL) ~ 2018 Uneven Bars gold & 2017 Uneven Bars bronze
● Shallon Olsen (CAN) ~ 2018 Vault silver
● Alexa Moreno (MEX) ~ 2018 Vault bronze
● Elisabeth Seitz (GER) ~ 2018 Uneven Bars bronze
● Tingting Liu (CHN) ~ 2018 Beam gold
● Anne-Marie Padurariu (CAN) ~ 2018 Beam silver
● Ellie Black (CAN) ~ 2017 All-Around silver
● Jade Carey (USA) ~ 2017 Vault silver and Floor silver
● Giulia Steingruber (SUI) ~ 2017 Vault bronze
● Pauline Schaefer (GER) ~ 2017 Balance Beam gold
● Sanne Wevers (NED) ~ 2015 Balance Beam silver

In the women’s qualifying round, the U.S. completely dominated the competition, leading all qualifiers at 174.205 over China (169.161) and Russia (168.080). The American squad included Biles, Carey, Kara Eaker, Sunisa Lee and Grace McCallum.

In the individual All-Around, Biles (59.432), Lee (57.166) and McCallum (55.906) went 1-2-5 in qualifying, but McCallum won’t go further since only two per country are allowed in the final.

Biles qualified in all four apparatus, winning on Beam and Floor, second on vault (behind Carey) and seventh on the Uneven Bars. Lee also qualified on Bars and Floor. Belgium’s Derwael won the qualifying round on Bars.

In terms of the Team event, the U.S. women have won four World Championships in a row – 2011-14-15-18 – and six of the last eight. The USSR leads all-time with 11 women’s Team titles, and Romania has seven. If the U.S. should win its fifth in a row, it would tie Romania for the most consecutive Team wins (1994-95-97-99-2001).

In the U.S., the Worlds will be shown on NBC, NBCSN and the NBC Olympic Channel at various times over the next week; the complete schedule is here. Look for results, including liver scoring, here.

ATHLETICS: Hot conditions don’t stop Desisa from impressive 2:10:40 win as Ethiopia goes 1-2 in men’s marathon

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 5, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1005 desisa, lelisa 2018 nyc 750 — World Champion at last: Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa

It was hot again for the men’s World Championships marathon that began at midnight local time in Doha (QAT), but the Ethiopian fans who waited at the finish line weren’t unhappy as their heroes went 1-2.

The temperature was 86 degrees (F) with 47% humidity, a little less oppressive than for the women a week before, but still very challenging. There were 73 starters and Derlys Ayala of Paraguay ran to the front almost immediately.

Ayala, who had run 2:10:27 for a lifetime best this season, had a lead of more than a minute at 15 km, but he was caught just past the 20 km mark by Zersenay Tadese (ERI), who led at the half in 1:05:56. Ayala paid for his early pacing and abandoned the race shortly afterwards.

A group of 5-6 runners continued together through 35 km, including Stephen Mokoka (RSA), Amos Kipruto (KEN), Tadese and Ethiopian stars Mosinet Geremew (the national record holder at 2:02:55) and Lelisa Desisa (2013 and 2015 winner in Boston and 2018 New York City winner).

Tadese was the first to break, but he was passed by Britain’s Callum Hawkins – fourth in 2017 – who had patiently worked his way back to the leading group by the 40 km mark and even took the lead shortly afterwards. With a mile to go, Hawkins led and the race was down to four, with Kipruto, Desisa and Geremew in close attendance as Mokoka lost contact.

With only 1,200 m to go, Hawkins was dropped and Kipruto, Desisa and Geremew were running three abreast. Desisa pushed the pace and dropped Kipruto with 800 m left and it was the two Ethiopians to the finish line.

Desisa kept pouring on the speed and broke from Geremew at the 42 km line and in an all-out sprint, he won in 2:10:40, with Geremew at 2:10:44. Kipruto held on for bronze and Hawkins was fourth for the second World Championships in a row.

Desisa won a World Champs silver in 2013 in Moscow and said afterwards he prepared “perfectly” for the conditions he knew he would face and controlled the race on purpose to be sure he would win. He was right all along.

Of the 73 starters, it appears that 18 did not finish. The crowd was much smaller than for the women’s marathon, which was more of a novelty as it came on the first night of the event. Summary:

Marathon: 1. Lelisa Desisa (ETH), 2:10:40; 2. Mosinet Geremew (ETH), 2:10:44; 3. Amos Kipruto (KEN), 2:10:51; 4. Callum Hawkins (GBR), 2:10:57; 5. Stephen Mokoka (RSA), 2:11:09; 6. Zersenay Tadese (ERI), 2:11:29; 7. El Hassan El Abbassi (BRN), 2:11:44; 8. Hamza Sahli (MAR), 2:11:49. Also: 23. Ahmed Osman (USA), 2:16:22; … 38. Elkanah Kibet (USA), 2:19:33; … 46. Andrew Epperson (USA), 2:23:11.

SWIMMING: Int’l Swimming League debuts in Indianapolis with strong performances, but did anybody see it?

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 5, 2019

tsx pix 2019-1005 isl first day indy 750 — Russian star Kliment Kolesnikov: "If I wasn't a swimmer, I wouldn't watch swimming."

The debut of the much-heralded International Swimming League, a seven-event series of quadrangular meets among club teams in five countries, took place on Saturday at the famed IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Was this the start of a revolution in swimming?

Not yet; for the first day of the first meet, SwimSwam.com estimated the crowd at 500-600 in the 4,700-seat facility. The meet had television coverage in Australia, Canada and the U.S., but most of it was online; ESPN3 had the meet in the U.S.

A lot of the format was new to the non-Americans, but it looked like a collegiate dual meet otherwise and the U.S. athletes were well familiar with it. But the event was shaped to be a cross between a sporting event and a 1990s-era dance party, with a live D.J. on the deck level and the lights down low for the entire program (er, show).

The swimming was pretty good, considering the time of year; with the emphasis on the team scoring and individual points scoring (9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1) – swimmers receive $300 per point scored – the importance of times was reduced. Still, of the 16 individual events held, there were world leaders (25 m/short-course pool) in 15 of them, thanks to the star competitors.

Sweden’s sprint star Sarah Sjostrom won the women’s 50 m Free and 100 m Fly and home favorite Lilly King of the U.S. won the 50 m Breast and 200 m Breast. They were the only double winners of individual events. Sjostrom also won a third event in the women’s 4×100 m Free for her Energy Standard (FRA) team. South Africa’s Chad Le Clos, also from Energy Standard, won the men’s 100 m Fly and swam on two winning relays.

The format broke back two retired stars: France’s Florent Manaudou, who won the 50 m Free – where he is the world-record holder – and was fourth in the 50 Back, and American Natalie Coughlin. Both retired after Rio; Coughlin swim in the 50 m Backstroke, where she finished seventh.

Katie Ledecky, swimming for DC Trident (USA), finished second in the 400 m Medley and second in the 200 m Freestyle.

Sjostrom scored the most points at 22.5 for the first day and $6,750 in earnings (+ $1,000 given to every swimmer who participates in the meet).

The meet continues on Sunday and will be shown on ESPN3. Full results are here.