Home Blog Page 62

DIVING: China wins five, Keeney wins three in final World Series meet, in London

By
Rich Perelman
-
Australia's 2017 diving World Champion Maddison Keeney

Truth be told, the Chinese made the final stop in the 2019 FINA Diving World Series a lot more interesting by keeping their top performers at home.

Still, Chinese entries won five of the 10 events in London (GBR), with Hao Yang (men) and Yuxi Chen (women) winning the 10 m events, and Chen winning a second gold with Haoyan Yuan in the women’s 10 m Synchro. Oh yes, let’s note that Chen and Yuan are both 13!

But the star turned out to be the 2017 World 1 m Springboard champ, Australia’s Maddison Keeney. She took the 3 m Springboard by 15.25 points over Jennifer Abel (CAN), then won the women’s 3 m Synchro event with Annabelle Smith, and the Mixed 3 m Synchro event with Domonic Bedggood.

The remaining two events were won by British divers: Jack Laugher took the 3 m Springboard title and the team of Tom Daley and Matty Lee won the men’s 10 m Synchro event. Summaries:

FINA Diving World Series
London (GBR) ~ 17-19 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men

3 m Springboard: 1. Jack Laugher (GBR), 562.65; 2. Daniel Goodfellow (GBR), 500.55; 3. Zongyuan Wang (CHN), 481.70.

10 m Platform: 1. Hao Yang (CHN), 559.15; 2. Junjie Lian (CHN), 532.10; 3. Tom Daley (GBR), 525.25.

Synchro 3 m: 1. Zongyuan Wang/Luxian Wu (CHN), 418.68; 2. Nikita Shleikher/Evgenii Kuznetsov (RUS), 417.12; 3. Oleksandr Gorshkovosov/Oleg Kolodniy (UKR), 405.63.

Synchro 10 m: 1. Tom Daley/Matty Lee (GBR), 477.90; 2. Junjie Lian/Hao Yang (CHN), 459.00; 3. Viktor Minibaev/Aleksandr Bondar (RUS), 448.50.

Women

3 m Springboard: 1. Maddison Keeney (AUS), 368.30; 2. Jennifer Abel (CAN), 353.05; 3. Nur Dhabitah Binti Sabri (MAS), 344.40.

10 m Platform: 1. Yuxi Chen (CHN), 413.80; 2. Minjie Zhang (CHN), 385.80; 3. Mi Rae Kim (PRK), 360.90.

Synchro 3 m: 1. Maddison Keeney/Anabelle Smith (AUS), 323.70; 2. Yani Chang/Shan Lin (CHN), 316.77; 3. Jennifer Abel/Melissa Citrin Beaulieu (CAN), 306.45.

Synchro 10 m: 1. Haoyan Yuan/Yuxi Chen (CHN), 334.92; 2. Mi Rae Kim/Jin Mi Jo (PRK), 327.24; 3. Eden Cheng/Lois Toulson (GBR), 284.76.

Mixed

3 m Synchro: 1. Grace Reid/Tom Daley (GBR), 322.89; 2. Maddison Keeney/Domonic Bedggood (AUS), 322.14; 3. Jennifer Abel/Francois Imbeau-Dulac (CAN), 319.02.

10 m Synchro: 1. Minjie Zhang/Yu Duan (CHN), 356.28; 2. Jin Mi Jo/Il Myong Hyon (PRK), 333.48; 3. Iullia Timoshinina/Nikita Shleikher (RUS), 316.05.

CYCLING: Roglic routs Giro field in time trial again to close the first week, but Conti still leads

By
Rich Perelman
-

When Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic took the lead by winning the first-day time trial by 19 seconds over Simon Yates (GBR), he made a statement that he was serious about winning the Giro d’Italia.

On Sunday, after a calamitous sixth stage in which Roglic and most of the other expected contenders let a breakaway group bury them by more than seven minutes, Roglic stood up again and signaled he was not going to be too easily brushed aside.

Roglic covered the hilly, 34.8 km course from Riccione to San Marino in 51:52, winning by 11 seconds over Belgium’s Victor Campenaerts but a minute or more over the rest of the field, including 3:34 ahead of race leader Valerio Conti (ITA).

So that 12 stages remaining and a rest day coming on Monday, Roglic has narrowed the gap; the overall standings heading into stage 10:

1. 36:08:32 Valerio Conti (ITA)
2. +1:50 Primoz Roglic (SLO)
3. +2:21 Nans Peters (FRA)
4. +2:33 Jose Joaquin Rojas (ESP)
5. +2:36 Fausto Masnada (ITA)

Some of Roglic’s expected competitors for the overall title are also working their way back toward the front of the standings. Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali is now 11th, some 3:34 behind, with Dutch rider Bauke Mollema one place back (+3:45). However, Yates is well back in 24th position, some 5:36 behind the leader. Dutch star Tom Dumoulin, the 2017 winner, abandoned the race in the fifth stage after suffering a right knee injury as part of a mass crash in stage 4.

The racing will get rougher in the coming week, with a couple of mean mountain stages ahead and the leaderboard could shift again. One thing for sure: Roglic won’t let another breakaway go as he did this past week. Summaries so far:

UCI World Tour/Giro d’Italia
Italy ~ 11 May-2 June 2019
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (8.0 km Time Trial): 1. Primoz Roglic (SLO), 12:54; 2. Simon Yates (GBR), 13:13; 3. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), 13:17; 4. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL), 13:22; 5. Tom Dumoulin (NED), 13:22. Also in the top 25: 21. Chad Haga (USA), 13:48.

Stage 2 (205.0 km): 1. Pascal Ackermann (GER), 4:44:43; 2. Elia Viviani (ITA), 4:44:43; 3. Caleb Ewan (AUS), 4:44:43; 4. Fernando Gaviria (COL), 4:44:43; 5. Arnaud Demare (FRA), 4:44:43.

Stage 3 (220.0 km): 1. Gaviria (COL), 5:23:19; 2. Demare (FRA), 5:23:19; 3. Ackermann (GER), 5:23:19; 4. Matteo Moschetti (ITA), 5;23:19; 5. Giocomo Nizzolo (ITA), 5:23:19. (Viviani (ITA) won the race, but was disqualified for impeding another rider at the finish.)

Stage 4 (235.0 km): 1. Richard Carapaz (ECU), 5:58:17; 2. Ewan (AUS), 5:58:17; 3. Diego Ulissi (ITA), 5:58:17; 4. Ackermann (GER), 5:58:19; 5. Florian Senechal (FRA), 5:58:19.

Stage 5 (140.0 km): 1. Ackermann (GER), 3:15:44; 2. Gaviria (COL), 3:15:44; 3. Demare (FRA), 3:15:44; 4. Ewan (AUS), 3:15:44; 5. Matteo Moschetti (ITA), 3:15:44. Also in the top 25: 13. Sean Bennett (USA), 3:15:44

Stage 6 (238.0 km): 1. Fausto Masnada (ITA), 5:45:01; 2. Valerio Conti (ITA), 5:45:06; 3. Jose Joaquin Rojas (ESP), 5:45:39; 4. Ruben Plaza (ESP), 5:45:39; 5. Giovanni Carboni (ITA), 5:45:44. Also in the top 25: 20. Brent Bookwalter (USA), 5:52:20.

Stage 7 (185.0 km): 1. Pello Bilbao (ESP), 4:06:27; 2. Tony Gallopin (FRA), 4:06:32; 3. Davide Formolo (ITA), 4:06:32; 4. Lucas Hamilton (AUS), 4:06:36; 5. Mattia Cattaneo (ITA), 4:06:36. Also in the top 25: 23. Joe Dombrowski (USA), 4:07:34.

Stage 8 (239.0 km): 1. Ewan (AUS), 5:43:32; 2. Viviani (ITA), 5:43:32; 3. Ackermann (GER), 5:43:32; 4. Fabio Sabatini (ITA), 5:43:32; 5. Manuel Belletti (ITA), 5:43:32.

Stage 9 (34.8 km Time Trial): 1. Roglic (SLO), 51:52; 2. Victor Campenaerts (BEL), 52:03; 3. Bauke Mollema (NED), 52:52; 4. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), 53:57; 5. Tanel Kangert (EST), 53:02. Also in the top 25: 6. Haga (USA), 53:06.

20 May: Rest day
21 May: Stage 10 (145.0 km)~ Ravenna to Modena (flat)
22 May: Stage 11 (221.0 km) ~ Carpi to Novi Ligure (flat)
23 May: Stage 12 (158.0 km) ~ Cuneo to Pinerolo (hilly)
24 May: Stage 13 (196.0 km) ~ Pinerolo to Ceresole Reale (mountains)
25 May: Stage 14 (131.9 km) ~ Saint Vincent to Courmayeur (mountains)
26 May: Stage 15 (232.0 km) ~ Ivrea to Como (hilly)
27 May: Rest day
28 May: Stage 16 (226.0 km) ~ Lovere to Ponte di Legno (mountains)
29 May: Stage 17 (181.0 km) ~ Commezzadura to Anterselva/Antholz (mountains)
30 May: Stage 18 (222.0 km) ~ Valdaora / Olang to Santa Maria di Sala (flat)
31 May: Stage 19 (151.0 km) ~ Treviso to San Martino di Castrozza (mountains)
01 June: Stage 20 (194.0 km) ~ Feltre to Croce D’Aune-Monte Avena (mountains)
02 June: Stage 21 (17.0 km Time Trial) ~ Verona to Verona

BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Ross and Klineman score major victory at Itapema 4-star

By
Rich Perelman
-
Itapema Open winners April Ross and Alix Klineman of the U.S. (Photo: FIVB)

Back in 2016, April Ross was the junior partner on the Olympic bronze-winning team with beach legend Kerri Walsh-Jennings. Now she’s the senior partner of an emerging medal threat for Tokyo after winning her second FIVB World Tour title this season with Alix Klineman at the Itapema Open in Brazil.

This is a four-star tournament that has been dominated by the home team, but this time the final was an all-North American affair, with Ross (36) and Klineman (29) facing a familiar foe: Canada’s Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes. The same two teams had played for the AVP Huntington Beach Open title two weeks prior with the Americans winning, and it turned out the same way in Brazil.

It was close, however. Klineman and Ross won the long first set, 25-23, then lost the second, 18-21, to force the tie-breaker. That was a 15-10 win and the third World Tour title for Klineman and Ross since joining forces in late 2017.

“It was very close again,” Ross said afterwards. “I think both teams always try to get better against each other every time we play and, in certain ways, we did get better again. It’s going to be a battle every time and we just feel great that we came out on top one more time.”

In the men’s final, Norway’s no. 1-ranked pair of Anders Mol and Christian Sorum won their second four-star tournament of the year with a straight-set win over Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek and Michal Bryl. It was the fifth win for the Viking pair over the past two seasons – four of which have come over Fijalek and Bryl. Summaries:

FIVB World Tour
Itapema (BRA) ~ 16-19 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Anders Mol/Christian Sorum (NOR); 2. Grzegorz Fijalek/Michal Bryl (POL); 3. Christiaan Varenhorst/Steven van de Velde (NED); 4. Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (POL). Semis: Mol/Sorum d. Kantor/Losiak, 2-1; Fijalek/Bryl d. Varenhorst/Van de Velde, 2-0. Third: Varenhorst/van de Velde d. Kantor/Losiak, 2-0. Final: Mol/Sorum d. Fijalek/Bryl, 2-0 (21-19, 28-26).

Women: 1. Alix Klineman/April Ross (USA); 2. Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes (CAN); 3. Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson (CAN); 4. Joy Stubbe/Marleen Ramond-van Iersel (NED). Semis: Pavan/Humana-Paredes d. Bansley/Wilkerson, 2-1; Klineman/Ross d. Stubbe/Van Iersel, 2-0. Third: Bansley/Wilkerson d. Stubbe/van Iersel, 2-1. Final: Klineman/Ross d. Pavan/Humana-Paredes, 2-1 (25-23, 18-21, 15-10).

ATHLETICS Panorama: More history for Bednarek: 19.82 and 44.73 on the same day!

By
Rich Perelman
-
Only the second ever to run sub-20 and sub-45 on the day: Kenny Bednarek (USA). (Photo: USTFCCCA)

The Kenny Bednarek story just keeps getting better. After running an astonishing – but very wind-aided – 19.49 in the prelims of the 200 m at the National Junior College Championships in New Mexico, he came back on the final day to win the 400 m in 44.73 and then took the 200 m in 19.82 into a 0.8 m/s headwind!

All of these marks are altitude-aided (+1,105 m), but fast is fast!

He’s only the second man to run sub-20 and sub-45 on the same day; Botswana’s Isaac Makwala did it twice, in 2014 and again in 2017. That’s pretty good company.

Bednarek is a freshman at Indian Hills CC in Iowa; you see the 200 m race here. His competition from the Friday prelims, soph Terrance Laird (Hinds CC: 19.64w) did not run in the finals on Saturday.

The Seiko Golden Grand Prix, an IAAF World Challenge Series meet, held on Sunday in Osaka (JPN) had a bevy of American stars, led by Michael Norman, who won the 200 m in 19.84, also into a headwind of 0.4 m/s.

Another the other highlights, Justin Gatlin (USA) just edged Japan’s Yoshihide Kiryu, 10.00-10.01 in the men’s 100, and Vernon Norwood (USA) won the 400 m easily in 45.79. American triple jumper Omar Craddock won with a leap of 17.16 m (56-3 3/4), also into a slight headwind.

The U.S. had three winners on the women’s side, starting with Mikiah Brisco in the 100 m (11.33) into a 2.2 m/s headwind; Sharika Nelvis beat Sally Pearson (AUS) in the 100 m hurdles as both were timed in 12.70, and Dalilah Muhammad looked great in winning the 400 m hurdles in 53.88, the no. 2 mark in the world this season, behind only her own 53.61 from the Doha Diamond League meet.

China’s Zheng Wang won a tense battle in the women’s hammer over Americans Gwen Berry and DeAnna Price, 75.27 m (246-11) to 74.09 m (243-1) to 72.92 m (239-3).

Another world leader came in the Elite de la Grande Caraibe meet in Baie-Mahault (FRA) on Saturday, with American Keni Harrison winning the 100 m hurdles in 12.47 (wind 0.0).

There was also some good triple jumping from Will Claye (USA), who won over Chris Benard, 17.40 m (57-1) to 16.94 m (55-7). Byron Robinson of the U.S. won a photo finish in the 400 m hurdles over Kyron McMaster (IVB), with both timed in 49.37.

There was a surprise in the women’s long jump with American Keturah Orji – the former American Record holder in the triple jump – beating four-time World Champion Brittney Reese: 6.80 m (22-3 3/4) to 6.73 m (22-1).

One of the shocks of the Shanghai Diamond League meet was American Chase Ealey’s win in the women’s shot over China’s reigning World Champion Lijiao Gong.

Sure, she had improved from 18.46 m (60-6 3/4) in 2016 to a world-leading 19.67 m (64-6 1./2) this season, but beating Gong in China? What happened? Said Ealey after the win:

“To compete against Lijiao Gong was actually a little nerve-wracking because I have looked up to her for so long. My series wasn’t so good today but I’m pleased with my distance (for the winning throw). I’ve changed coaches (to former World Indoor champ Ryan Whiting) and changed to the rotational technique ten months ago and I feel that has made the difference.”

It sure has!

BADMINTON Preview: China looking to regain Sudirman Cup in Nanning

By
Rich Perelman
-

Named in honor of Dick Sudirman, the founder of the Indonesian Badminton Association, the mixed-team championship of badminton will be played for the 16th time beginning on Sunday in Nanning (CHN).

While Indonesia would like to win to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the inaugural tournament – which it won – back in 1989, China is once again the favorite. Although Korea won its fourth title two years ago in Gold Coast (AUS), China has won the tournament 10 times and has won each and every time – four so far – the tournament has been held in China.

Japan finished second in 2015 and third in 2017 and is given the best chance to upset the hosts. The Group 1 contestants:

● Group A: Japan, Thailand, Russia
● Group B: Indonesia, Denmark, England
● Group C: Chinese Taipei, Korea, Hong Kong
● Group D: China, India, Malaysia

Each match is in a dual meet format with a men’s Singles, women’s Singles, men’s Doubles, women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles competition. The two favorites have sensational teams, each with complete line-ups of players (and substitutes) ranked in the top 10:

China:
● Men/Singles: Long Chen (5) and Yuqi Shi (2)
● Men/Doubles: Junjui Li/Yuchen Liu (3)
● Women/Singles: Yufei Chen (3) and Bingjiao He (6)
● Women/Doubles: Qingchen Chen/Yifan Jia (3)
● Mixed Doubles: Siwei Zheng/Yaqiong Huang (1)

Japan:
● Men/Singles: Kento Momota (1) and Kenta Nishimoto (10)
● Men/Doubles: Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (2)
● Women/Singles: Nozomi Okuhara (2) and Akane Yamaguchi (4)
● Women/Doubles: Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (1)
● Mixed Doubles: Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (3)

Group play will take place from 19-22 May. The quarterfinals will be on 23-24 May, the semis on 25 May and the final on 26 May. Look for results here.

TRIATHLON: Zaferes leads historic U.S. World Series sweep, this time in Yokohama!

By
Rich Perelman
-
Three World Series wins in a row for Katie Zaferes (USA) in Yokohama (Photo: ITU)

“Every time I think this has got to end sometime, but I go for it each time. I am using a more risky mindset where I am just trying different things and I think it makes it more fun and it’s going well.”

No kidding. That’s American Katie Zaferes, who continued an undefeated 2019 season in the ITU World Series with her third straight victory, this time by 21 seconds leading a rare podium sweep for the U.S.

Zaferes and fellow American Summer Rappaport separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the run phase and the former Syracuse track star ran away in the final 500 m from Rappaport, who claimed her second-ever World Series medal.

Rappaport said afterwards, “I had a really difficult 2018 and then my first WTS in Abu Dhabi didn’t go as I hoped. I have been working hard, I took a lot of gains but just wasn’t able to transfer it into my racing. Today I was able to work with myself and make everything work.

“I feel like I have been doing my best training for a while but I just couldn’t put it together and it was so difficult and discouraging. Today I felt like my work just finally came through. You have no idea how much I have prepared and trained for improving my bike skills. Today I was able to figure it out and perform the way I am able to train.”

Behind the two leaders, training partners Taylor Spivey of the U.S. and Yuko Takahashi (JPN) were also running together, but Spivey was able to claim third on the final run-in.

The medals sweep was the first in the World Series since the penultimate race of the 2016 Series, a sprint in Edmonton, where Summer Cook, Sarah True and Zaferes took the three places. It’s the fourth time the U.S. has managed the feat, also doing it twice in 2015, with Gwen Jorgensen winning in London (GBR) ahead of Zaferes and True, and in Gold Coast (AUS), with Jorgensen leading in True and Zaferes.

It’s also the first time one athlete has won three World Series races in a row in a couple of seasons; Bermuda’s Flora Duffy won four in a row during the 2017 campaign.

Vincent Luis won France’s second straight World Series race in the men’s division, and his first win since the final race at Gold Coast in 2018. He broke away on the run from a leading group of 10 from the bike phase.

He was immediately chased by South Africa’s Henri Schoeman, Spain’s Javier Gomez Noya and Bence Bicsak (HUN) and the four opened a serious gap with 7 km remaining. Luis maintained the lead to the finish, winning by three seconds, with Bicsak passing Gomez Noya late for the bronze medal.

Luis has been consistently near the front this season, finishing 5-4-1 in the three races so far, and is now the series leader with 2,523 points over Alarza (2,069). Zaferes has a perfect score of 3,000, well ahead of Jessica Learmonth (GBR) and Spivey, both of whom have 2,458 points. Summaries:

ITU World Series
Yokohama (JPN) ~ 18 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Vincent Luis (FRA), 1:43:21; 2. Henri Schoeman (RSA), 1:43:24; 3. Bence Bicsak (HUN), 1:43:26; 4. Javier Gomez Noya (ESP), 1:43:38; 5. Alex Yee (GBR), 1:43:57; 6. Fernando Alarza (ESP), 1:44:06; 7. Luke Willian (AUS), 1:44:07; 8. Marten Van Riel (BEL), 1:44:09; 9. Ryan Sissons (NZL), 1:44:13; 10. Sam Ward (NZL), 1:44:19. Also in the top 25: 15. Morgan Pearson (USA), 1:44:49.

Women: 1. Katie Zaferes (USA), 1:52:12; 2. Summer Rappaport (USA), 1:52:33; 3. Taylor Spivey (USA), 1:53:29; 4. Yuko Takahashi (JPN), 1:53:38; 5. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), 1:54:25; 6. Jessica Learmonth (GBR), 1:54:52; 7. Maya Kingma (NED), 1:54:59; 8. Non Stanford (GBR), 1:55:10; 9. Tamara Gorman (USA), 1:55:35; 10. Laura Lindemann (GER), 1:55:43. Also in the top 25: 13. Chelsea Burns (USA), 1:56:18.

SHOOTING: U.S. wins five medals to lead all nations at Shotgun World Cup in Changwon

By
Rich Perelman
-
World Cup Mixed Trap silver medalists Derek Haldeman and Ashley Carroll (USA) (Photo: ISSF)

After winning both the men’s and women’s Skeet events during the first week of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Changwon (KOR), the U.S. continued its success in the Trap program with two more medals in the three events.

The American duo of Ashley Carroll and Derek Haldeman had an excellent chance to win the Mixed Trap event on the final day, but lost in a shoot-out. Both Carroll and Haldeman and Italy’s Silvana Stanco and Daniele Resca his 42/50 in the final; both teams hit their first five shoots in sudden death, but Carroll missed the sixth U.S. shot and the Americans had to settle for bronze.

Carroll also won a bronze medal in the women’s Trap event, behind China’s Weiyun Deng and Xaojing Wang. It was the third straight year that Carroll, 24, has won a World Cup medal and her third career podium.

All told, the U.S. won five medals in Changwon (2-2-1), two ahead of Italy (1-1-1) and three ahead of China (1-1-0). Summaries:

ISSF Shotgun World Cup
Changwon (KOR) ~ 7-18 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men/Skeet: 1. Vincent Hancock (USA), 57; 2. Christian Elliott (USA), 53; 3. Mansour Al Rashedi (KUW), 45; 4. Hyun Suk Kang (KOR), 32; 5. Lari Pesonen (FIN), 26.

Men/Trap: 1. Andreas Makri (CYP), 45; 2. Matthew Jon Coward-Holley (GBR), 45 (Makri won shoot-off: 6-5); 3. James Willett (AUS), 37; 4. Yavuz Ilnam (TUR); 5. Tolga Tuncer (TUR), 21.

Women/Skeet: 1. Kim Rhode (USA), 57; 2. Diana Bacosi (ITA), 54; 3. Chiara Cainero (ITA), 44; 4. Danka Bartekova (SVK), 33; 5. Assem Orynbay (KAZ), 24.

Women/Trap: 1. Weiyun Deng (CHN), 46; 2. Xaojing Wang (CHN), 46; 3. Ashley Carroll (USA), 36; 4. Silvana Stanco (ITA), 30; 5. Carole Cormenier (FRA), 24.

Mixed/Trap/ Final: 1. Silvana Stanco/Daniele Resca (ITA), 42; 2. Ashley Carroll/Derek Haldeman (USA), 42 (Italy won shoot-off, 5-4). Third: 3. Yi-Chun Lin/Kun-Pi Yang (TPE), 46; 4. Dae-Myong Ahn/So-Yeon Eom (KOR), 42.

CYCLING: Mt. Baldy stage made the difference for Amgen Tour winners Pogacar and van der Breggen

By
Rich Perelman
-
Slovenia's Amgen Tour of California champion, Tadej Pogacar

When the 2019 Amgen Tour of California route was finalized for both men and women, it was clear that the brutal stage that ended with a climb up Mt. Baldy would be the determining race within the race.

The win for Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar in that sixth stage, and the second-place finish of Dutch star Anna van der Breggen were the keys to their victories as the race finished in Pasadena, California on Saturday.

In the men’s race, Peter Sagan (SVK) won the opening stage with his patented final sprint, extending his record as the leading stage winner with his 17th career victory in the Amgen Tour. But then American Tejay van Garderen – a former winner – took control after Stage 2 and wore the yellow jersey for three more stages, but always with a slim lead of just a few seconds.

He entered the decisive sixth stage with just a four-second lead on Denmark’s Kasper Asgreen, with the first 19 riders all within a minute. In the final climb, Colombia’s Sergio Higuita had the lead, but Pogacar made the chase and caught him with about 2 km to go. Then the fun started.

“Over the last few kilometers, I was really on the limit,” Pogacar said. “But when I caught Higuita,, I knew that I shouldn’t ride full gas because he could attack me and take the jersey from me, so I was just riding behind him or next to him. I was prepared.”

When the finish came, Pogacar, 20, waited for a straight line and then charged to the line, just edging Higuita and taking the lead by 16 seconds – including the time bonuses – over the Colombian. In Saturday’s final stage, Dutch rider Cees Bol edged Sagan, trying for a second stage win, and Pogacar cruised in with the pack, five seconds off the pace.

The final tally saw Pogacar win his first-ever World Tour race with the 16-second margin intact over Higuita, with Asgreen third, 17 seconds back. Van Garderen finished ninth, 1:22 down.

The three-stage women’s Amgen Tour was actually decided on the first day, when van der Breggen attacked and no one followed. Her victory gave her a 25-second lead on the field and 33 seconds over defending champ Katie Hall of the U.S., her main challenger, but also a teammate on the Boels-Dolmans group.

The second stage that also finished on the road up Mt. Baldy and Hall pushed the pace with 4 km to go, with van der Breggen pushing to catch up, and separating from the rest of the riders. Hall took the stage win, but with van der Breggen not losing any time to Hall (other than the time bonus between first and second), the outcome on Saturday appeared clear.

The final stage featured a long climb through the Angelus National Forest and then a descent into Pasadena that turned into a final mass sprint. Italy’s Elisa Balsamo, second in the first stage, managed to get to the line first this time, just ahead of Cuban Arlenis Sierra, with Hall and van der Breggen riding in the peloton and given the same time , in 13th and 17th place, respectively.

The final margin of 29 seconds gave van der Breggen her second Amgen Tour win in the last three years and Hall has now finished 2-1-2 in the last three editions.

The men’s World Tour now focuses solely on the Giro d’Italia through its finish on 2 June. The women’s tour is in Spain for the Emakumeen Euskal Bira four-stage race starting on Tuesday. Summaries:

UCI World Tour/Amgen Tour of California
California (USA) ~ 12-18 May 2019
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (143.0 km): 1. Peter Sagan (SVK), 3:14:10; 2. Travis McCabe (USA), 3:14:10; 3. Max Walscheid (GER), 3:14:10; 4. Kristoffer Halvorsen (NOR), 3:14:10; 5. Michael Morkov (DEN), 3:14:10. Also in the top 25: 13. Miguel Bryon (USA), 3:14:14; … 20. Michael Hernandez (USA), 3:14:14; … 22. Gavin Mannion (USA), 3:14:14; … 25. Neilson Powless (USA), 3:14:14.

Stage 2 (194.5 km): 1. Kasper Asgreen (DEN), 6:17:11; 2. Tejay van Garderen (USA), 6:17:11; 3. Gianni Moscon (ITA), 6:17:15; 4. Tadej Pogacar (SLO), 6:17:21; 5. Maximilian Schachmann (GER), 6:17:27.

Stage 3 (207.0 km): 1. Remi Cavanga (FRA), 5:44:22; 2. Ben King (USA), 5:51:33; 3. Simon Geschke (GER), 5:51:33; 4. Asgreen (DEN), 5:52:09; 5. Jasper Philipsen (BEL), 5:52:09. Also in the top 25: 11. McCabe (USA), 5:52:09; … 25. Kyle Murphy (USA), 5:52:09.

Stage 4 (212.5 km): 1. Fabio Jakobsen (NED), 5:53:22; 2. Philipsen (BEL), 5:53:22; 3. Sagan (SVK), 5:53:22; 4. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA), 5:53:22; 5. Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA), 5:53:22. Also in the top 25: 20. McCabe (USA), 5:53:22; … 22. Bryon (USA), 5:53:22.

Stage 5 (218.5 km): 1. Ivan Garcia Cortina (ESP), 4:56:11; 2. Maxmiliano Richeze (ARG), 4:56:11; 3. Sergio Higuita (COL), 4:56:11; 4. Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED), 4:56:11; 5. Asgreen (DEN), 4:56:11. Also in the top 25: 12. Gavin Mannion (USA), 4:56:11; … 16. Van Garderen (USA), 4:56:11.

Stage 6 (127.5 km): 1. Pogacar (SLO), 3:48:49; 2. Sergio Higuita (COL), 3:48:49; 3. George Bennett (NZL), 3:48:54; 4. Richie Porte (AUS), 3:49:59; 5. Riccardo Zoidl (AUT), 3:49:11. Also in the top 25: 14. Mannion (USA), 3:50:15; … 17. Van Garderen (USA), 3:50:17; … 25. Murphy (USA), +3:51:44.

Stage 7 (141.0 km): 1. Cees Bol (NED), 2:53:16; 2. Sagan (SVK), 2:53:16; 3. Philipsen (BEL), 2:53:16; 4. Phil Bauhaus (GER), 2:53:16; 5. Richeze (ARG), 2:53:16. Also in the top 25: 7. McCabe (USA), 2:53:16.

Final Standings: 1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO), 32:55:12; 2. Sergio Higuita (COL), +0:16; 3. Kasper Asgreen (DEN), +0:17; 4. George Bennett (NZL), +0:29; 5. Richie Porte (AUS), +0:41; 6. Simon Spilak (SLO), +1:03; 7. Jesper Hansen (DEN), +1:1:18; 8. Felix Grossschartner (AUT), +1:18; 9. Tejay van Garderen (USA), +1:22; 10. Maximilian Schachmann (GER), +1:23. Also in the top 25: 15. Gavin Mannion (USA), +2:17.

UCI Women’s World Tour/Amgen Women’s Tour of California
California (USA) ~ 16-18 May 2019
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (96.5 km): 1. Anna van der Breggen (NED), 2:36:17; 2. Elisa Balsamo (ITA), 2:36:35; 3. Arlenis Sierra (CUB), 2:36:35; 4. Leah Kirchmann (CAN), 2:36:35; 5. Ashleigh Moolman (RSA), 2:36:35. Also in the top 25: 7. Emma White (USA), 2:36:35; … 13. Katie Hall (USA), 2:36:37; 14. Kristabel Doebel-Hickok (USA), 2:36:37; … 21. Chloe Dygert (USA), 2:36:39; 22. Coryn Rivera (USA), 2:36:39.

Stage 2 (74.0 km): 1. Hall (USA), 2:36:39; 2. Van der Breggen (NED), 2:36:39; 3. Moolman (RSA), 2:37:12; 4. Clara Koppenburg (GER), 2:37:25; 5. Omer Shapira (ISR), 2:37:36. Also in the top 25: 9. Doebel-Hickok (USA), 2:37:58; 10. Amber Neben (USA), 2:38:16; … 12. Tayler Wiles (USA), 2:38:32; … 25. Whitney Allison-Schultz (USA), 2:41:20.

Stage 3 (115.5 km): 1. Balsamo (ITA), 3:19:57; 2. Sierra (CUB), 3:19:57; 3. Leigh Ann Ganzar (USA), 3:19:57; 4. Dygert (USA), 3:19:57; 5. Kirchmann (CAN), 3:19:57. Also in the top 25: 12. Doebel-Hickok (USA), 3:19:57; 13. Hall (USA), 3:19:57; … 15. Erica Clevenger (USA), 3:19:57.

Final Standings: 1. Anna van der Breggen (NED), 8:32:34; 2. Katie Hall (USA), +0:29; 3. Ashleigh Moolman (RSA), +1:06; 4. Clara Koppenburg (GER), +1:25; 5. Kasia Niewiadoma (POL), +1:34; 6. Brodie Chapman (AUS), +1:46; 7. Kristabel Doebel-Hickok (USA), +1:58; 8. Omer Shapira (ISR), +2:12; 9. Emma Grant (GBR), +2:15; 10. Pauliena Rooijakkers (NED), +2:28. Also in the top 25: 11. Tayler Wiles (USA), +2:32; 12. Amber Neben (USA), +

SWIMMING: She’s the King: Lilly King swims world-leading 50 m Breast at Tyr Pro Swim Series in Bloomington

By
Rich Perelman
-
Olympic and World breaststroke champ Lilly King

With her NCAA career at Indiana now completed, Olympic and World champ Lilly King has time for events like the Tyr Pro Swim Series in her home pool in Bloomington, Indiana. And she took advantage this week with her second world-leading mark on Saturday.

She led from the start to post a 30.03 mark, easily surpassing Russian rival Yuliya Efimova (30.26) to top the world list for 2019. It’s the second world-leading time in two days, as she swam 1:05.68 to top the list in the 100 m Breast on Friday.

Asked if she is aware of the times and where she stands, King smiled and said, “Why shoot for second” Why not get that top time in the world? I try to be as educated as I can about my events and the people I race against.” She’s expected to face Efimova at the third FINA Champions Swim Series meet in Indianapolis in June.

Other stellar performances on Saturday came from 17-year-old Regan Smith, who logged the no. 3 time in the world this year with a 2:06.47 win in the 200 m Backstroke. “It was definitely a surprise,” she said afterwards. “I’m super happy.”

Ella Eastin raced away with the 400 m Medley in a lifetime best of 4:37.18, which places her no. 6 in the world in 2019. In her post-race chat, she explained that she was thinking about the details of her race plan as she went along, but also noted, “It kind of helps to numb the pain when you can think of other things.”

After three of four days in Bloomington, Michael Andrew leads all swimmers with three wins, in the 50 m Back, 50 m Breast and 50 m Fly; Zane Grothe has two distance wins, in the 400 m and 1,500 m Free, and Jay Litherland won the 200 m Fly and impressively swam away from everyone in the 400 m Medley.

In addition to King, two other women have two wins each so far: Katie Ledecky in the 200 m and 400 m Frees, and Smith in the 50 m and 200 m Backs.

Sunday’s meet will only be available online (no NBC television broadcast); for the second day in a row, the live results link did not function during the meet itself. Summaries so far:

USA Swimming/Tyr Pro Swim Series
Bloomington, Indiana (USA) ~ 16-19 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men

100 m Freestyle: 1. Zach Apple, 48.76; 2. Blake Pieroni, 48.86; 3. Robert Howard, 49.09.

200 m Free: 1. Blake Pieroni, 1:47.25; 2. Zane Grothe, 1:47.90; 3. Apple, 1:49.49.

400 m Free: 1. Grothe, 3:48.27; 2. Felix Auboeck (AUT), 3:52.69; 3. Johannes Calloni (ITA), 3:54.21.

1,500 m Free: 1. Grothe, 15:17.12; 2. Marcelo Acosta (ESA), 15:28.66; 3. Ricardo Vargas (MEX), 15:30.04.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Michael Andrew 24.91; 2. Grigory Tarasevich (RUS), 25.10; 3. Gabriel Fantoni (BRA), 25.34.

200 m Back: 1. Calloni (ITA) 1:59.01; 2. Jacob Steele, 2:01.29; 3. Zachary Poti, 2:02.12.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Andrew, 27.21; 2. Nic Fink, 27.55; 3. Ian Finnerty, 27.71.

100 m Breast: 1. Cody Miller, 59.24; 2. Andrew, 59.52; 3. Anton McKee (ISL) 1:00.62.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Andrew, 23.40; 2. Luis Martinez (GUA), 23.48; 3. Vini Lanza (BRA), 24.20.

200 m Fly: 1. Jay Litherland, 1:57.99; 2. Corey Gambardella, 1:58.49; 3. Carson Foster, 1:59.32.

400 m Medley: 1. Litherland, 4:14.42; 2. Charlie Swanson, 4:22.64; 3. Daniel Sos (HUN), 4:22.89.

Women

100 m Freestyle: 1. Simone Manuel, 53.65; 2. Mallory Comerford, 54.11; 3. Margo Geer, 54.18.

200 m Free: 1. Katie Ledecky, 1:55.80; 2. Manuel, 1:57.24; 3. Madisyn Cox, 1:58.52.

400 m Free: 1. Ledecky, 3:59.95; 2. Cox, 4:10.21; 3. Brooke Forde, 4:11.91.

1,500 m Free: 1. Hannah Moore, 16:11.42; 2. Kristel Kobrich (CHI), 16:23.19; 3. Becca Mann, 16:25.49.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Regan Smith, 28.08; 2. Kylee Alons 28.21; 3. Elisa Haan, 28.37.

200 m Back: 1. Smith, 2:06.47; 2, Isabelle Stadden, 2:09.10; 3. Asia Seidt, 2:09.99.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Lilly King, 30.03; 2. Annie Lazor, 31.01; 3. Olivia Calegan, 31.31.

100 m Breast: 1. King, 1:05.68; 2. Lazor, 1:06.03; 3. tie, Emily Esbobedo, Cox and Bethany Galat, 1:07.59.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Sarah Gibson, 26.52; 2. Katie Drabot, 26.66; 3. Aly Tetzloff, 26.97.

200 m Fly: 1. Drabot, 2:08.57; 2,. R. Smith, 2:08.58; 3. Ella Eastin, 2:09.92.

400 m Medley: 1. Eastin, 4:37.18; 2. Cox, 4:41.14; 3. Makayla Sargent, 4:41.33.

ATHLETICS: Lyles edges Coleman in 9.86; six world leads in sensational Shanghai Diamond League

By
Rich Perelman
-
Just that close: Lyles nips Coleman at the tape in the Diamond League Shanghai 100 m!

This is more like it! The much-anticipated Diamond League meet in Shanghai delivered with fabulous head-to-head competition and six world-leading marks:

● Men/100 m: 9.86, Noah Lyles (USA) and Christian Coleman (USA)
● Men/5,000 m: 13:04.16, Yomif Kejelcha (ETH)
● Men/400 m hurdles: 47.27, Abderrahmane Samba (QAT)
● Men/Javelin: 87.55 m (287-3), Andreas Hofmann (GER)

● Women/1,500 m: 4:01.15; Rababe Arafi (MAR)
● Women/Steeple: 9:04.53, Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN)

The final event of the night was the men’s 100 m, and how could it be better than the rest of a great meet? It was.

Christian Coleman of the U.S. had the best mark of the year in both 2017 and 2018 and owns the world indoor record for 60 m, and he was off like a shot. He had a clear lead after 50 m, but the man who loves to come from behind – Noah Lyles – found that extra gear in the final 40 m and came from sixth to close at the tape and get the decision over Coleman with both timed in 9.86, fastest in the world for 2019.

Said Lyles, “I said to my coach in warm up, ‘today is the day.’ I feel hot. I knew if I got out of the blocks and if I was anywhere close, I knew I could come late for the win.” It was a lifetime best for the 21-year-old, and moves him up to equal-17th all-time, just as fast as six others, including Carl Lewis in 1991 and Ato Boldon in 1998!

“This is my first race in nine months,” said Coleman afterwards. “It is always a struggle to get in good form after such a long time away from competition, so I didn’t have any specific expectations for today’s race. In general, I am fine with 9.86 today.”

That was one of three sprint wins for the U.S., with Aleia Hobbs – running with a broken right wrist – taking over in the middle of the race and running away from Blessing Okagbare (NGR) and Rio champ Elaine Thompson, 11.03-11.07-11.14. Hobbs ran impressively at the World Relays last week and now has the no. 2 mark in the world for 2019. She was ecstatic: “This is my biggest win. I needed to start well, which I did and I managed to hang on.”

In the men’s 400 m, a hamstring injury kept favored Steven Gardiner (BAH) out, so Fred Kerley of the U.S. took over. He ran the co-fastest split at the World Relays last week – 44.4 – and charged out of the blocks and built a huge lead down the backstraight. No one could challenge, but the U.S. ended 1-2-3 with Michael Cherry and Nathan Strother following. Kerley finished in 44.81, with Cherry well back at 45.48 and Strother at 45.52.

The other U.S. win was a shocker. Chase Ealey, the world leader in the women’s shot at 19.67 m (64-6 1/2), took the lead in round two from China’s 2017 World Champion and home favorite Lijiao Gong and it held up: 19.58 m (64-3) to 19.44 m (63-9 1/2)! It was the only quality throw of the day for Ealey, while Gong produced four throws over 19 m (62-4), but the best throw counts. For the former NCAA runner-up from Oklahoma State, Ealey has gone from 18.46 m (60-6 3/4) in 2016 to the undisputed world leader in 2019!

There were more thrillers, like the long-awaited showdown between Qatar’s Abderrahmane Samba and Rai Benjamin of the U.S. in the 400 m hurdles. Benjamin fired into the lead on the back stretch and came into the final straight with the lead, but lost his cadence over the ninth hurdle and Samba got even. The Qatari then passed him and held his form best to the line for his 12th straight win, this time in 47.27. Benjamin ran 47.80, and now knows what he will face if he wants to win a world title in Doha.

Said Benjamin afterwards, “This is my first Diamond League competition in the 400 m hurdles and I am quite excited about the result today. I have not set up any specific objectives for myself since it is still in the very early stage of this season.”

In the women’s 400 m, Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser rocketed into the lead on the back straight and held her form all the way through to win in 50.65. American Sydney McLaughlin came on in the second half of the race, but had to settle for second in 50.78. Naser said “Today was just okay,” while McLaughlin was more upbeat: “I feel good today to run close to my PB.”

The distance races were fast and competitive. Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha waited until 300 m to go to charge to the front, but once he did, he was not to be headed and won in 13:04.16 – a world leader – and held off countryman Selemon Barega (13:04.71). Same for the women’s 1,500 m, where Ethiopians Gudaf Tsegay and Dawit Seyaum had the lead on the final lap, but a mass finish left favored Sifan Hassan (NED) in a box and Morocco’s Rababe Arafi finding clear running and a win in the last 50 m in a world-leading 4:01.15.

Just great! Summaries:

IAAF Diamond League
Shanghai (CHN) ~ 18 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men

100 m (wind +0.9 m/s): 1. Noah Lyles (USA), 9.86; 2. Christian Coleman (USA), 9.86; 3. Akani Simbine (RSA), 9.95. Also: 7. Isiah Young (USA), 10.14; 8. Michael Rodgers (USA), 10.15.

200 m (non-Diamond League; 0.0): 1. Aaron Brown (CAN), 20.07; 2. Andre De Grasse (CAN), 20.21; 3. Clarence Munyai (RSA), 20. 37.

400 m: 1. Fred Kerley (USA), 44.81; 2. Michael Cherry (USA), 45.48; 3. Nathan Strother (USA), 45.52.

5,000 m: 1. Yomif Kejelcha (ETH), 13:04.16; 2. Selemon Barega (ETH), 13:04.71; 3. Hagos Gebrhiwet (ETH), 13:04.83. Also:12. Paul Chelimo (USA), 13:13.94; … 16. Hassan Mead (USA), 13:23.15.

110 m hurdles (+0.7): 1. Omar McLeod (JAM), 13.12; 2. Wenjun Xie (CHN), 13.178; 3. Sergey Shubenkov (RUS), 13.28. Also: 5. Freddie Crittenden (USA), 13.36.

400 m hurdles: 1. Abderrahmane Samba (QAT), 47.27; 2. Rai Benjamin (USA), 47.80; 3. Thomas Barr (IRL), 49.41.

High Jump: 1. Yu Wang (CHN), 2.28 m (7-5 3/4); 2. Maksim Nedasekau (BLR), 2.28 m (7-5 3/4); 3. Ilya Ivanchuk (RUS), 2.28 m (7-5 3/4). Also: 4. Jeron Robinson (USA), 2.25 m (7-4 1/2).

Long Jump: 1. Tajay Gayle (JAM), 8.24 m (27-0 1/2); 2. Jianian Wang (CHN), 8.16 m (26-9 1/4); 3. Ruswahl Samaai (RSA), 8.14 m (26-8 1/2). Also: 9. Zack Basile (USA), 7.55 m (24-9 1/4).

Javelin: 1. Andreas Hofmann (GER), 87.55 m (287-3); 2. Chao-Tsun Cheng (TPE), 87.12 m (285-10); 3. Marcin Krukowski (POL), 84.51m (277-3).

Women

100 m (+0.2): 1. Aleia Hobbs (USA), 11.03; 2. Blessing Okagbare (NGR), 11.07; 3. Elaine Thompson (JAM), 11.14. Also: 5. Jenna Prandini (USA), 11.19; … 9. Ashley Henderson (USA), 11.53.

400 m: 1. Salwa Eid Naser (BRN), 50.65; 2. Sydney McLaughlin (USA), 50.78; 3. Christine Botlogetswe (BOT), 51.29. Also: 8. Shakima Wimbley (USA), 52.69.

1,500 m: 1. Rababe Arafi (MAR), 4:01.15; 2. Gudaf Tsegay (ETH), 4:01.25; 3. Winnie Nanyondo (UGA), 4:01.39. Also: 9. Alexa Efraimson (USA), 4:04.53; … 14. Emily Lipari (USA), 4:19.94.

3,000 m Steeple: 1. Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN), 9:04.53; 2. Celliphine Chespol (KEN), 9:11.10; 3. Peruth Chemutai (UGA), 9:17.78. Also: 12. Mel Lawrence (USA), 9:44.36.

Pole Vault: 1. Katerina Stefanidi (GRE), 4.72 m (15-5 3/4); 2. Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou (GRE), 4.72 m (15-5 3/4); 3. Ling Li (CHN), 4.72 m (15-5 3/4). Also: 4. Sandi Morris (USA), 4.72 m (15-5 3/4); 5. Katie Nageotte (USA), 4.72 m (15-5 3/4); …9. Annie Rhodes-Johnigan (USA), 4.42 m (14-6).

Shot Put: 1. Chase Ealey (USA), 19.58 m (64-3); 2. Lijiao Gong (CHN), 19.44 m (63-9 1/2); 3. Aliona Dubitskaya (BLR), 18.78 m (61-7 1/2). Also: 4. Jessica Ramsey (USA), 18.61 m (61-0 3/4); … 6. Maggie Ewen (USA), 18.48 m (60-7 3/4); … 10. Daniela Hill (USA), 17.36 m (56-11 1/2).

Javelin: 1. Huihui Lyu (CHN), 66.89 m (219-5); 2. Lina Muze (LAT), 64.87 m (212-10); 3. Chrustin Hussong (GER), 64.10 m (210-4). Also: 7. Ariana Ince (USA), 60.26 m (197-8).

HEARD AFTER HALFTIME: Who is Kenny Bednarek and how did he just run the 200 m in 19.49?

By
Rich Perelman
-

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

● Athletics ● It’s a World Championship year, so crazy things are happening. Like Kenny Bednarek, a freshman at Indian Hills Community College running a wind-aided 19.49 in the prelims of the National Junior College Championships in Hobbs, New Mexico.

What? 19.49? What?

Bednarek has been an emerging star all season after being an outstanding high school sprinter at Rice Lake High School in Wisconsin. He won the Wisconsin State titles in the 100-200-400 m and had bests of 10.42, 20.43 and 46.68 in 2018.

But that’s nothing compared to what he’s done in 2019, exploding during the Drake Relays to win the 200 m in a lifetime best of 20.29 and then lowering his 400 m PR to 45.62 a week later.

At New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, he screamed to a win in the heats of the 200 m in a very wind-aided 19.49, with an aiding 6.1 m/s zephyr – almost 14 miles per hour – behind him. It’s an altitude-aided mark, since Hobbs is at 3,622 ft. (1,105 m), but even so – using mathematical conversion formulas – the 19.49 would be worth about 19.89 or so, which would be no. 2 in the world for 2019.

Bednarek ran in heat four and knew he had to run fast, since the first heat was won by Hinds Community College (Raymond, Mississippi) sophomore Terrance Laird in a windy 19.64 (+5.6 m/s)!

Remember, these are in the prelims! The final is tomorrow; the live timing site is here.

● Athletics ● The highlight of the 10th USATF Distance Classic at Occidental College in Los Angeles was the world-leading women’s 5,000 m by Rachel Schneider.

She shattered her prior best of 15:15.88 to win in 15:06.71, but just steps ahead of Jamaica’s Aisha Praught-Leer, who set a national record at 15:07.50, with American Lauren Paquette third at 15:14.64.

Other winners of note included Ryan Murphy in the 800 m in 1:46.10; Kalle Berglund (SWE) in the men’s 1,500 in 3:37.84 and Lawi Lalang in the 5,000 m at 13:25.14. The top women’s winners included Kate Grace at 800 m in 2:02.95, and Nikki Hiltz won the 1,500 in 4:07.71.

● Cycling ● Not that it’s all that important, but would you like to know what’s on the spectator concession menu at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at Albstadt (GER) this weekend? Here you go:

€ 1.50 (~$ 1.68): Buttered Pretzel or Cake
€ 3.00 (~$ 3.35): Bratwurst or Red Bratwurst on a roll
€ 4.50 (~$ 5.02): Steak on a roll, Hamburger or Vegetarian Burger

And a selection of beverages, including beer!

● Gymnastics ● The USA Gymnastics bankruptcy process continues in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana. At a hearing on Wednesday (15th), it was confirmed that Gregg Zive, a Federal Bankruptcy Court judge in Nevada, but currently assisting with cases in Los Angeles, will act as mediator in the sexual-abuse cases in which USA Gymnastics is being sued.

USA Gymnastics also filed a statement of its operations with the Bankruptcy Court for the month of April, 2019. USAG took in $4.99 million in April, thanks to a $2.75 million grant from the National Gymnastics Foundation, and spent $2.19 million. The biggest single cost item? Legal fees, which totaled $704,191 for the month.

The USAG Balance Sheet shows about $7.4 million in assets plus $75 million in expected insurance coverage. However, the federation and its insurers are at odds over the coverage and it is not clear what the outcome will be, and therefore how much will be available to pay to survivors.

● Skateboarding ● The Pan American Games in Lima (PER) this summer will be without the skateboarding competition.

It was canceled on Thursday by the Executive Committee of PanAm Sports, the governing body of the Pan American Games. It announced that:

“Although we had the commitment of World Skate that the Pan American Games would be a qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, this was never concrete and we finally received confirmation that it would not be one of the events that offered points towards qualification to the Olympic Games. …

“The recent scheduling of a qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games for the discipline of Street Skateboarding in the city of Los Angeles, on exactly the same dates as the Skateboarding events at the Pan American Games of Lima 2019, is something we understand as a lack of respect to the Pan American Games, to the athletes that were going to participate in these Games and fundamentally, to the Organizing Committee of Lima 2019.”

The qualifying event mentioned is the World Skate SLS Tour 2019 Los Angeles, scheduled for 23-28 July; the Pan Am Games dates were 27-28 July. With the deletion of skateboarding, the PAG will now have 39 sports, of which 22 will have Olympic qualifying included.

World Skate replied, noting “it was not possible to include the Pan-American Games in the Olympic qualification process and guarantee the presence of top athletes due to a basic incompatibility between the qualification system established by World Skate America for Lima 2019 and the qualification criteria as defined by the International Federation in view of Tokyo2020.”

● Doping ● The World Anti-Doping Agency confirmed at its Foundation Board meeting in Montreal (CAN) on Thursday that:

“[A] very high percentage of the data collected in the Moscow Laboratory is authentic and matching with the copy of the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) that WADA’s Intelligence and Investigations (I&I) had acquired through a whistleblower in November 2017.

“Armed with this material, as well as other evidence, WADA’s Intelligence & Investigations (I&I) has started providing International Federations (IFs) with evidentiary packages, which IFs will assess with the view to taking the cases forward as Anti-Doping Rule Violations. WADA will work in close collaboration with IFs and, in cases where IFs choose not to take action, the Agency will review the facts, discuss with the relevant IF and reserves the right to bring them forward to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”

This is the beginning of what could be the final stage in the Russian doping scandal; estimates have been as high as 300-500 new doping cases could be brought. If the Russians do not hinder the investigations and prosecutions, the reinstatement of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency will be considered successfully completed.

There was also an important amendment to the World Anti-Doping Code that allows laboratories to essentially allow – without penalties – a finding of clenbuterol “when established that it is as the result of ingesting contaminated meat products.

“It has been scientifically established that an athlete can test positive for clenbuterol at low levels following ingestion of contaminated meat in a small number of countries where this is an issue.”

● At the BuZZer ● The International Olympic Committee has a licensing agreement with the famed Lacoste brand to create new apparel items based on the marks of prior Games, such as the 1968 Games in Mexico City (MEX) and Winter Games in Grenoble (FRA).

The newest edition revives the famed Star-in-Motion logo of the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad in Los Angeles on 15 items. There are $70 T-shirts, $135 sweatshirts, $125 polo shirts and a $60 cap, plus a special $165 zip sweatshirt.

≡ REAX ≡ As an LAOOC staff member and remembering the enormous success of the Festive Federalism design scheme in 1984, the collection is a dud. Beyond the simple use of the basic red, white and blue Star-in-Motion logo, the other items are completely inauthentic.

Several feature the Star-in-Motion logo without the Olympic rings, which was never allowed on licensed items for the 1984 Games, and the color choices ignore the pastel color scheme for which the Games was so famous, especially the use of magenta and aqua as primary colors. Some use of secondary colors such as yellow and orange are included, but it’s a mis-managed attempt to share the design statement made by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee in 1984. Sad, disrespectful and unnecessary.

SWIMMING: Indiana’s King posts world leader in Bloomington, while Adrian returns for fourth in 100 m Free

By
Rich Perelman
-
Three more national titles for Olympic and World Breaststroke champ Lilly King (USA) (Photo: USA Swimming)

While the focus heading into the Tyr Pro Swim Series meet in Bloomington was the return to competition of Nathan Adrian, an Indiana star actually stole the headlines.

In her professional debut, ex-Indiana star Lilly King – swimming in her home pool – won the 100 m Breaststroke in a world-leading 1:05.68, the only best-in-the-world performance during the meet on Friday.

There was almost another in the women’s 400 m Freestyle, as Katie Ledecky swam all alone and finished in a seasonal best of 3:59.95. She’s only the second swimmer to break four minutes this season, and missed a world-leading time by just 0.3 seconds; Australia’s Ariarne Titmus continues with the top time in the world so far at 3:59.66.

Adrian swam pretty well in his first meet since 2018 and after his diagnosis and treatment for testicular cancer. He was fifth in the prelims at 49.83 and then was fighting for the lead in the final until the final 10 m, when he faded to fourth in 49.31. Indiana star Zach Apple won the race in 48.76.

Asked about what it was like to finally be back in the pool – his first racing since last December – he was smiling and said:

“It’s a good feeling. I mean, it’s tough to describe, right? This is home for me. Honestly, I’ve never been to Bloomington, but, like, this environment – the Pro Swim Series, having you guys up here – you know, that’s what feels right.

“You get something like an adverse health diagnosis, everything kind of stops, right? You realize, health is no. 1, and everything had to be pushed to the side. And fortunately, we’re through that for now, and I get to do what I can to get back on track.”

Another encouraging set of performances came from Madisyn Cox, who fought off a drug suspension in 2018 and set lifetime bests in the 100 m Breast (1:07.59 in a tie for third) and the 400 m Free (4:10.21 for second).

Zane Grothe won the 1,500 m Free on Thursday and 400 m Free on Friday for the only double winner in the meet so far.

The Bloomington meet continues tomorrow; it will be televised on NBCSN at 6 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday. The live results link is here, but no live results were available during the Friday evening session at all (they came up later). Summaries from Friday:

USA Swimming/Tyr Pro Swim Series
Bloomington, Indiana (USA) ~ 16-19 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men

100 m Freestyle: 1. Zach Apple, 48.76; 2. Blake Pieroni, 48.86; 3. Robert Howard, 49.09.

400 m Free: 1. Zane Grothe, 3:48.27; 2. Felix Auboeck (AUT), 3:52.69; 3. Johannes Calloni, 3:54.21.

1,500 m Free: 1. Grothe, 15:17.12; 2. Marcelo Acosta (ESA), 15:28.66; 3. Ricardo Vargas (MEX), 15:30.04.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Michael Andrew 24.91; 2. Grigory Tarasevich (RUS), 25.10; 3. Gabriel Fantoni (BRA), 25.34.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Cody Miller, 59.24; 2. Michael Andrew, 59.52; 3. Anton McKee (ISL) 1:00.62.

200 m Butterfly: 1. Jay Litherland, 1:57.99; 2. Corey Gambardella, 1:58.49; 3. Carson Foster, 1:59.32.

Women

100 m Freestyle: 1. Simone Manuel, 53.65; 2. Mallory Comerford, 54.11; 3. Margo Geer, 54.18.

400 m Free: 1. Katie Ledecky, 3:59.95; 2. Madisyn Cox, 4:10.21; 3. Brooke Forde, 4:11.91.

1,500 m Free: 1. Hannah Moore, 16:11.42; 2. Kristel Kobrich (CHI), 16:23.19; 3. Becca Mann, 16:25.49.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Regan Smith, 28.08; 2. Kylee Alons 28.21; 3. Elisa Haan, 28.37.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Lilly King, 1:05.68; 2. Annie Lazor, 1:06.03; 3. tie, Emily Esbobedo, Madisyn Cox and Bethany Galat, 1:07.59.

200 m Butterfly: 1. Katie Drabot, 2:08.57; 2,. Regan Smith, 2:08.58; 3. Ella Eastin, 2:09.92.

SPEED READ: Headlines from The Sports Examiner for Friday, 17 March 2019

By
Rich Perelman
-

Welcome to The Sports Examiner SPEED READ, a 100 mph (44.7 m/s) review of what happened this week in Olympic sport:

LANE ONE

Wednesday: Track & field is almost never mentioned on the multiple talks shows on the major sports networks, but they were all agog on Monday after Texas high schooler Matthew Boling won the 100 m, the long jump and brought his team from behind to win the 4×400 m in a world-class split of 44.74. But to compare him to Carl Lewis? Let’s check our facts first, shall we?

Friday: One of the founders of the world of statistics in international sport passed away last Monday: Italy’s Roberto Quercetani. Out of the ashes of World War II, he and American mathematician Don Potts created the field that has spread to so many other sports today. I knew them both, and others who helped enormously: a tribute.

THE BIG PICTURE

Monday: The National Olympic Committee of Iran and the Iranian Judo Federation sent a letter to the president of the International Judo Federation, committing themselves against discrimination in sport. Translation: Iranian athletes will now compete, openly, against Israeli athletes. But there are conditions …

Thursday: The World Anti-Doping Agency’s public-authority members nominated Poland’s Witold Banka to be the next head of the organization, taking over in January 2020. WADA also confirmed a long-term presence for its headquarters in Montreal (CAN) and released a report that stated that Canadian gold medalist and WADA Athletes Commission head Beckie Scott (CAN) was not bullied or harassed at a prior meeting.

HEARD AFTER HALFTIME

Tuesday: Although Athletics South Africa said it would abide by the Court of Arbitration for Sport decision in the Caster Semenya case against the IAAF’s female eligibility regulations, they are appealing anyway. So much for promises. Plus, a judoka is disqualified after his mobile phone falls out of his gi during a match (!), say hello to the International Camel Racing Federation (this is not a joke) and more!

ATHLETICS

Thursday: A fabulous IAAF Diamond League meet appears to be ahead in Shanghai (CHN) on Saturday with terrific match-ups including Americans Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles in the 100 m, Qatar’s Abderrahamane Samba and Rai Benjamin of the U.S. in the 400 m hurdles and Qatar’s Salwa Eid Naser trying to star in front of American star Sydney McLaughlin in the 400 m. And much more; a full preview.

CYCLING

Tuesday: The women’s edition of the Amgen Tour of California includes just three stages, but this year’s stages are misery-inducing, soul-crushing climbs that include a race up Mt. Baldy that gains 5,300 feet of altitude over the last 24 miles! Ouch!

Thursday: Wild results at the Giro d’Italia, where the expected favorites were routed in Stage 6 by the Italian duo of Fausto Masnada and Valerio Conti by more than seven minutes, making Conti the new race leader! At the Amgen Tour of California, American Tejay van Garderen and Dutch star Anna van der Breggen lead the men’s and women’s races heading into Friday’s brutal ascent up Mt. Baldy!

FOOTBALL

Thursday: The U.S. women’s National Team started slowly, but then pounded Women’s World Cup-bound New Zealand, 5-0, in front of a big crowd at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. An encouraging performance with the Women’s World Cup just three weeks away!

SWIMMING

Tuesday: A look ahead to the fourth Tyr Pro Swim Series this weekend in Bloomington, Indiana. Sure, Katie Ledecky will be there, but the headline is the return to competition of five-time Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in January.

TAEKWONDO

Tuesday: As many as 15 defending champions expected to compete in the first-ever Taekwondo World Championships to be held in Great Britain. Korean Tae-Hun Kim will try for his fourth consecutive world title.

TRIATHLON

Wednesday: The third ITU World Series race is in Yokohama (JPN), with American Katie Zaferes trying to keep her record perfect: she’s won both races so far this year. And Spain’s Mario Mola will try to get on track after a disastrous 26th-place finish in his last race.

PREVIEWS

Beach Volleyball: Measuring stick for three U.S. duos in World Tour 4-star in Brazil
Cycling: Mountain Bike World Cup season starts with Swiss Nino Schurter favored again
Diving: China sending second team to World Series finale in London; who wins now?
Fencing: Foil Grand Prix in Shanghai to see whether anyone can beat Inna Deriglazova!
Sport Climbing: Can Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret win fifth Bouldering World Cup in a row?
Wrestling: Final X match-ups finalized at World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Raleigh

UPCOMING

Highlights of the coming week, with previews in the coming days on TheSportsExaminer.com:

● Cycling: Second week of the famed Giro d’Italia!

● Football: U.S. women finish their pre-World Cup schedule vs. Mexico in New Jersey

● IOC: Executive Board meeting on 22 May to announce what happens to Olympic boxing and AIBA for Tokyo 2020!

And previews, results and reports on almost two dozen events scheduled for the week of 20-26 May!

LANE ONE: Remembering an under-appreciated Founding Father of track & field: Roberto Quercetani

By
Rich Perelman
-
One of the finest sports statisticians of all time: Italy's Roberto Quercetani (1922-2019)

This is a very personal column, about the lives of a few men who made an enormous difference in sport, and who were my friends. And of the passing of a slender giant last Monday.

Imagine living in the early 19th Century, and having known John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who both died on 4 July of 1826. These two men were key players in creating a new political concept, a new country that was – even at the time of their passing – playing an expanding role in the world.

Their impact was enormous and lasting. In a much smaller way, in the field of sport, so were two men – later aided by others – who literally created the field of statistics in international sport. Their names were Don Potts, an American mathematician, and Robert Quercetani, an Italian sportswriter.

The millions of dollars now spent on keeping statistics and calculating world rankings in track & field, in swimming, canoeing, cycling, figure skating, modern pentathlon, rowing, speed skating, triathlon and many other sports, started with them.

After World War II, the sports world was beginning to reassemble itself. Track & field, which had been the pre-eminent Olympic sport since the Games were revived in 1896 in Athens, had been essentially dead since 1939. There were records, but how accurate were they?

There were sports statistics in those days, mostly about baseball, which had benefited enormously from the introduction of the box score by New York sportswriter Henry Chadwick, beginning in the late 1850s. In the aftermath of the horror of war, two men in their mid-20s began a correspondence that created a small booklet in 1948 that changed everything.

Both were born in 1922. Potts, who had just finished receiving his Doctorate in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology, and Quercetani, the Italian sportswriter from Florence deeply devoted to collecting track & field results, somehow found each other by mail in 1946 and eventually collaborated on a 72-page collection of numbers entitled, A Handbook on Olympic Games Track and Field Athletics in advance of the 1948 Olympic Games in London.

Printed in Evanston, Illinois and priced at $1.50, it was the first-ever publication to chronicle the entire sport, just as it is today. There were record lists for the Olympic Games, for the U.S. and for Europe, the top 20 or so performers from 1947 and the first-ever 100-deep list of the all-time best performers in each event, as of the end of 1947. In the introduction, Potts and Quercetani noted:

“The following list of the best track and field marks of all time has been compiled by us from our own collection of track statistics. We have tried to make it as complete and accurate as possible, emphasizing the latter point. (That is to say, we have not included marks concerning which we were doubtful.) We feel that out list is bound to be incomplete, and we sincerely hope that other interested track followers who know of additions and corrections will pass them on to us, so that we may make future editions of this list truly complete and accurate.”

The lists were way ahead of their time, and owing to Potts’ training as a mathematician, included an amazing new concept of time “conversions” between marks made at metric and English running-event distances. Those original calculations mostly hold true today, more than 70 years later.

That was the start. It was a labor of love and Potts told me decades later that the book didn’t really make any money, but essentially paid for itself. The idea hatched by their two men took off quickly. In 1950, Quercetani and 10 others – including Potts – founded the Association of Track & Field Statisticians (ATFS) in Brussels, with the help of another devoted statistician, Swiss track nut Fulvio Regli. A year later, the ATFS published its first annual, with 128 pages of lists of best marks from around the world for 1950, in addition to lists of records, national championships results and all-time best marks.

Wrote Quercetani 50 years later in the 2000 ATFS Annual, that although the compilation efforts in the early days were almost all by mail, “it was, believe me, GREAT FUN. Even the ‘discovery’ of a minor detail was enough to fill us with joy and encourage us towards greater efforts. We were setting foot in what was generally, if not entirely, no-man’s land.”

From that start, the ATFS continues today, with a few hundred members, spread among countries all around the world, but the Annual is now 592 pages long. After the founding of Track & Field News in 1947, Potts and Quercetani were asked in 1948 by founders Bert and Cordner Nelson to take over an annual set of rankings of the top performers in each event at the end of each year, based not solely on time, but on honors won, head-to-head results against others and the sequence of marks during the year. The T&FN World Rankings were – and are today – the gold standard in the sport and have been copied by others, but never equaled or surpassed.

Neither Potts nor Quercetani were ever track statisticians for a living. Potts had an outstanding career as an academic, teaching at Northwestern, Cal State Long Beach, UC Santa Barbara and then joined what is now Cal State Northridge in 1965, eventually becoming the head of the Mathematics Department. He was deeply involved in the early days in computer science at Northridge and might have been the first to use computers to help compile track & field lists.

Quercetani was a sportswriter and was a familiar byline in Italy in the major publications of the day, including the famous La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper – for years immediately recognizable by its pink front page – and for many sports magazines, as well as for Track & Field News in the U.S.

He wrote many books about the sport, including the brilliant Athletics: A History of Modern Track & Field Athletics (1860-1990), and many others. But last Monday (13th), we lost him at the age of 97, survived by his wife, Maria Luisa. He had suffered a fall during the previous week and had been in the hospital since then, until his passing.

Potts died in 2001, and two other men who helped Potts advance his work in the U.S. tremendously, have also passed: Stan Eales in 1984, and Scott Davis in 2010. The latter two men were also outstanding public address announcers whose voices were well known to track & field fans all along the West Coast.

I knew all four and they all had a positive impact on my life. Their greatest gift was their enthusiasm for the sport they loved – track & field – and their encouragement to make my own contribution.

Potts explained in detail how he and Quercetani created the field from nothing because they wanted to share their interest in the sport. Eales helped me – very quietly – to apply to work for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee in 1980, which became the most important experience in my life (so far). And Davis, who was a very close friend, shared his joy for the sport and contributed so much to it that no one person has ever been able to replace him.

I only met Quercetani a few times, during trips to Europe in the 1980s. He was a true gentleman, soft-spoken but resolutely excited about new projects we discussed, on technical issues concerning the sport and he was, at all times. a man of dignity, warmth and class.

He and Potts, now free to roam among history’s souls, are undoubtedly sharing eternity with the greats who have preceded them, like Lon Myers, Jesse Owens, Paavo Nurmi and so many others. It’s our job to ensure that their legacy continues, and with the expansion of sports betting that will undoubtedly engulf Olympic sports in the future, what they started will likely be expanded to levels they never dreamed of.

For now, I’m happy to say I knew the giants on whose shoulders the field of international sports statistics were founded. Rest in peace, Roberto, and say hi to Don, Stan and Scott for me.

Rich Perelman
Editor

/Update: This story was amended to reflect that Quercetani and Potts headed the Track & Field News world rankings program beginning with the 1948 season, not in 1947; those rankings were done by T&FN founder Cordner Nelson. Thanks to T&FN Managing Editor Garry Hill for the correction./

FOOTBALL: U.S. starts slow, then hammers New Zealand, 5-0, in World Cup tune-up in St. Louis

By
Rich Perelman
-
Dangerous (left to right): U.S. strikers Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath and Megan Rapinoe

The U.S. Women’s National Team is ranked no. 1 in the world, but hasn’t always looked it, especially against opponents who pack in their defense and make it difficult for the U.S. to score.

That’s how the second Send-Off Series game in St. Louis’s Busch Stadium started on Thursday night, but this time the U.S. passing game came alive and led to a convincing 5-0 win over New Zealand before a happy crowd of 35,761.

On a hot and humid evening, U.S. had most of possession in the first half, but New Zealand played nine behind the ball in a 1-4-4 formation that either clogged the U.S. passing lanes or caused bad angles in the box that kept the Americans from really challenging Ferns keeper Erin Nayler.

But the U.S. finally found opportunities, with quality chances from Alex Morgan, Crystal Dunn and Rose Lavelle in the 27th, 28th and 29th minutes. Then Megan Rapinoe played a seeing-eye cross from the left side of goal, that found the right foot of a streaking Tobin Health at the far side of the New Zealand net; she tapped it in for a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute.

The goal energized the U.S. and the pressure increased. Five minutes later, Lindsey Horan sent a cross from almost the same spot at the left of the Football Ferns’ goal over the head of Morgan, and right into the path of a sprinting Lavelle for a 2-0 edge.

That was the halftime score, but as the New Zealanders got noticeably tired, the U.S. kept on the attack and piled up the goals. Carli Lloyd entered for Rapinoe in the 60th minute and her first touch was a goal off of a Heath cross from the right post that was powered in for a 3-0 lead.

Lloyd scored again on a Christen Press assist in the 83rd minute, and Sam Mewis got a goal on a right-footed laser from just above the box and a 5-0 score that held up as the final.

It’s not clear how good New Zealand is; in the last five games against the U.S. – in 2015-16-2017 (2)-2019 – the U.S. has won all five by a combined 19-1 margin. And the U.S. out-shot New Zealand by 25-1. But the offensive pressure was better than against South Africa and Lloyd has underscored her game-changing ability with fast goals in nearly every appearance. In France, her fresh legs – and perhaps those of Mewis, too – might make the difference against a better opponent.

The U.S. will finish its “Send-Off Series” vs. Mexico – which did not qualify for the World Cup – on 26 June in Harrison, New Jersey.

WRESTLING Preview: Final X matches to be settled at World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Raleigh

By
Rich Perelman
-
North Carolina State's Reynolds Coliseum hosts the USA Wrestling World Team Trials

The long road to representing the United States at the UWW World Championships takes an important step with the USA Wrestling World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Raleigh, North Carolina from 17-19 May.

The winners will advance to the Final X – final ten, get it? – tournaments in Piscataway, New Jersey on 8 June and Lincoln, Nebraska on 15 June, whee the winners will form the U.S. team at the 2019 Worlds.

Who’s up? The current USA Wresting rankings show the options, with the Final X participant already noted. Everyone else has a chance!

Men/Freestyle

● 57 kg:
1. Tom Gilman
2. Tony Ramos
3. Daton Fix ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
4. Nathan Tomasello
5. Spencer Lee

● 61 kg:
1. Kendric Maple
2. Joe Colon ~ Final X (Worlds bronze medalist)
3. Jon Morrison
4. Brandon wright
5. Tyler Graff

● 65 kg:
1. Zain Retherford
2. Logan Stieber ~ Retired
3. B.J. Futrell
4. Joey McKenna
5. Ryan Deakin
= Yianni Diakomihalis ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)

● 70 kg:
1. James Green
2. Frank Molinaro
3. Jason Nolf
4. Richie Lewis
5. Kyle Ruschell
= Ryan Deakin ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)

● 74 kg:
1. Jordan Burroughs ~ Final X (Worlds bronze medalist)
2. Dan Vallimont
3. Nazar Kulchytskyy
4. Isaiah Martinez
5. Thomas Gantt

● 79 kg:
1. Kyle Dake ~ Final X (World Champion)
2. Alex Dieringer
3. Jon Reader
4. Mark Hall
5. Zahid Valencia

● 86 kg:
1. David Taylor ~ Final X (World Champion)
2. Richard Perry
3. Bo Nickal
4. Sam Brooks
5. Patrick Downey III

● 92 kg:
1. J’den Cox ~ Final X (World Champion)
2. Nicholas Heflin
3. Riley Lefever
4. Timmy McCall
5. Kenneth Courts

● 97 kg:
1. Kyle Snyder ~ Final X (Worlds silver medalist)
2. Kyven Gadson
3. Hayden Zillmer
4. Ty Walz
5. Kollin Moore

● 125 kg:
1. Nick Gwiazdowski ~ Final X (Worlds bronze medalist)
2. Dom Bradley
3. Anthony Nelson
4. Zachary Rey
5. Bobby Telford

Men/Greco-Roman

● 55 kg:
1. Randon Miranda
2. Max Nowry ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
3. Kyndall Ruiz
4. Elijah Varona
5. Camden Russell

● 60 kg:
1. Xavier Johnson
2. Ildar Hafizov
3. Taylor LaMont
4. Dalton Roberts
5. Mike Fuenffinger ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)

● 63 kg:
1. Hayden Tuma
2. Ryan Mango ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
3. Jesse Thielke
4. Sam Jones
5. Travis Rice

● 67 kg:
1. Alex Sancho
2. Brian Graham
3. Raymond Bunker ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
4. Jessy Williams
5. Austin Morrow

● 72 kg:
1. Pat Smith
2. RaVaughn Perkins
3. Ellis Coleman ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
4. Chris Gonzalez
5. Jamel Johnson

● 77 kg:
1. Kamel Bey ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
2. Jesse Porter
3. Mason Manville
4. Kendrick Sanders
5. Cody Pack

● 82 kg:
1. Cheney Haight
2. John Stefanowicz
3. Geordan Speiller
4. Barrett Stanghill
5. Jon Jay Chavez
= Kendrick Sanders ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)

● 87 kg:
1. Ben Provisor
2. Joe Rau ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
3. Jon Anderson
4. Courtney Myers
5. Kevin Radford

● 97 kg:
1. G’Angelo Hancock ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
2. Hayden Zillmer
3. Lucas Sheridan
4. Jacob Kasper
5. Enock Francois

● 130 kg:
1. Robby Smith
2. Adam Coon ~ Final X (Worlds silver medalist)
3. Toby Erickson
4. Jacob Mitchell
5. Donald Longendyke

Women/Freestyle

● 50 kg:
1. Victoria Anthony
2. Whitney Conder ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
3. Amy Fearnside
4. Erin Golston
5. Cody Pfau

● 53 kg:
1. Haley Aguello
2. Sarah Hildebrandt ~ Final X (Worlds silver medalist)
3. Charlotte Fowler
4. Dajan Treder
5. Gabrielle Weyhrich

● 55 kg:
1. Becka Leathers
2. Jacarra Winchester ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
3. Dominique Parrish
4. Brieana Delgado
5. Samantha Klingel

● 57 kg:
1. Helen Maroulis
2. Koral Sugiyama
3. Alexandra Hedrick
4. Arian Carpio
5. Michaela Beck
= Becka Leathers ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)

● 59 kg:
1. Alli Ragan ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
2. Kelsey Campbell
3. Lauren Louive
4. Megan Black
5. Abigail Nette

● 62 kg:
1. Mallory Velte ~ Final X (Worlds bronze medalist)
2. Kayla Miracle
3. Jenna Burkert
4. Amanda Henley
5. Teshya Alo

● 65 kg:
1. Forrest Molinari ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
2. Julia Salata
3. Jaydin Laurent
4. Alexis Porter
5. Kayla Marano

● 68 kg:
1. Tamyra Stock ~ Final X (Worlds bronze medalist)
2. Niauni Hill
3. Alexandria Glaude
4. Jasmine Bailey
5. Anna Naylor

● 72 kg:
1. Victoria Francis
2. Erin Clodgo
3. Rachel Watters
4. Alyvia Fiske ~ Final X (U.S. Open Champion)
5. Tatum Sparks

● 76 kg:
1. Adeline Gray ~ Final X (World Champion)
2. Brittany Marshall
3. Mariah Harris
4. Korianahe Bullock
5. Janelle Fuamatu

Look for results here.

CYCLING Panorama: Stunning breakaway for Masnada and Conti shakes up the Giro d’Italia, while Van Garderen leads the Amgen Tour

By
Rich Perelman
-
Italy's Fausto Masnada celebrates his sensational Stage 6 win at the Giro d'Italia!

Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic had been riding steadily through the first week of the Giro d’Italia after winning the opening Time Trial by 19 seconds, but then everything changed on Thursday’s stage from Cassino to San Giovanni Rotundo.

After sprint finishes in stages 2-3-4-5 – two of which were won by Germany’s Pascal Ackermann – the sixth stage covered 238.0 km with a brutal finishing climb over the final 32 km that included a run up the Coppa Casirinelle from about 22 m in altitude to 678 m in just 15 km and then another short climb before the finish.

Who wanted to try that?

It turned out that about a dozen riders were game, especially the Italian duo of Fausto Masnada and Valerio Conti. Masnada led the attack and Conti went right with him, with another 10-11 riders deciding to make the chase. They never faltered and the top 10 finishers were all within a minute and two more following another minute and a half behind.

Then there was a chasm back to the peloton, with another 90 riders bunched to the finish, including Roglic, Simon Yates (GBR), Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) and all the other contenders, more than seven minutes back!

That shook up the overall standings about a third into the race; now:

1. 25:22:00 Valerio Conti (ITA)
2. +1:41 Giovanni Carboni (ITA)
3. +2:09 Nans Peters (FRA)
4. +2:12 Jose Joaquin Rojas (ESP)
5. +2:19 Valentin Modouas (FRA)

Unexpected? Yes. Decisive? Not likely, as there is a lot more racing to go. But a great day for the Italian fans, who saw a countryman win for the first time in the 2019 Giro. There is another hilly stage on Friday, then a sprinter’s stage on Saturday and a second Time Trial on Sunday. The Maglia Rosa could shift again.

At the Amgen Tour of California, windy conditions made the fifth stage hard to navigate in Ventura, California, as Ivan Garcia Cortina (ESP) came through the best in the final sprint to take the stage, while American Tejay van Garderen remained in the overall lead.

Slovakia’s Peter Sagan won a popular sprint victory in the opening stage – his 17th career stage win at the Amgen Tour – but then van Garderen just missed beating Kasper Asgreen (DEN) in the second stage and took over the yellow jersey.

After a runaway win for Remi Cavagna (FRA) in stage 3 – by 7:11 – and a sprint finish for Fabio Jakobsen (NED) in stage 4, the riders faced a heavy crosswind as they rode into Ventura in stage 5. The pelotron stayed cohesive over the hilly course and the final race to the finish turned into another mass sprint with Garcia Cortina registering his first-ever World Tour victory over Argentina’s Maxi Richeze.

That sets up Friday’s decisive sixth stage, a miserable stage of 127.5 km that climbs from the start for the first quarter of the race, descends and then climbs for the last half of the race up to Mt. Baldy, the highest point in the Los Angeles area. Van Garderen, who won the Amgen Tour in 2013 and was second last year, has very little margin for error:

1. 26:13:01 Tejay van Garderen (USA)
2. +0:04 Kasper Asgreen (DEN)
3. +0:06 Gianni Moscon (ITA)
4. +0:16 Tadej Pogacar (SLO)
5. +0:22 Maximilian Schachmann (GER)

There are 18 riders within a minute of Van Garderen; the order could be completely different after tomorrow.

The Women’s Amgen Tour of California started on Thursday, with the 2017 winner – Anna van der Breggen (NED) – and defending champ Katie Hall (USA) expected to battle it out.

Dealing with the heavy winds, Van der Breggen decided to attack on the short final climb with 5 km remaining and broke the race open. She soloed into Ventura, winning by 18 seconds over the rest of the field. Asked about the strategy, she said that the attack “was better than a bunch sprint for us.”

Friday’s race, also finishing at Mt. Baldy, will likely decide the overall finish of the race. Said van der Breggen, “It’s a brutal stage, it’s a climb of 40 k,” and could only offer to do her best. Everyone else will have to do better than on Thursday, when the Dutch star took control.

Summaries so far:

UCI World Tour/Giro d’Italia
Italy ~ 11 May-2 June 2019
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (8.0 km Time Trial): 1. Primoz Roglic (SLO), 12:54; 2. Simon Yates (GBR), 13:13; 3. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), 13:17; 4. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL), 13:22; 5. Tom Dumoulin (NED), 13:22. Also in the top 25: 21. Chad Haga (USA), 13:48.

Stage 2 (205.0 km): 1. Pascal Ackermann (GER), 4:44:43; 2. Elia Viviani (ITA), 4:44:43; 3. Caleb Ewan (AUS), 4:44:43; 4. Fernando Gaviria (COL), 4:44:43; 5. Arnaud Demare (FRA), 4:44:43.

Stage 3 (220.0 km): 1. Gaviria (COL), 5:23:19; 2. Demare (FRA), 5:23:19; 3. Ackermann (GER), 5:23:19; 4. Matteo Moschetti (ITA), 5;23:19; 5. Giocomo Nizzolo (ITA), 5:23:19.

Stage 4 (235.0 km): 1. Richard Carapaz (ECU), 5:58:17; 2. Ewan (AUS), 5:58:17; 3. Diego Ulissi (ITA), 5:58:17; 4. Ackermann (GER), 5:58:19; 5. Florian Senechal (FRA), 5:58:19.

Stage 5 (140.0 km): 1. Ackermann (GER), 3:15:44; 2. Gaviria (COL), 3:15:44; 3. Demare (FRA), 3:15:44; 4. Ewan (AUS), 3:15:44; 5. Matteo Moschetti (ITA), 3:15:44. Also in the top 25: 13. Sean Bennett (USA), 3:15:44

Stage 6 (238.0 km): 1. Fausto Masnada (ITA), 5:45:01; 2. Valerio Conti (ITA), 5:45:06; 3. Jose Joaquin Rojas (ESP), 5:45:39; 4. Ruben Plaza (ESP), 5:45:39; 5. Giovanni Carboni (ITA), 5:45:44. Also in the top 25: 20. Brent Bookwalter (USA), 5:52:20.

17 May: Stage 7 (185.0 km) ~ Vasto to L’Aquila (hilly)
18 May: Stage 8 (239.0 km) ~ Tortoreto Lido to Pesaro (flat)
19 May: Stage 9 (34.8 km Time Trial) ~ Riccione to San Marino
20 May: Rest day
21 May: Stage 10 (145.0 km)~ Ravenna to Modena (flat)
22 May: Stage 11 (221.0 km) ~ Carpi to Novi Ligure (flat)
23 May: Stage 12 (158.0 km) ~ Cuneo to Pinerolo (hilly)
24 May: Stage 13 (196.0 km) ~ Pinerolo to Ceresole Reale (mountains)
25 May: Stage 14 (131.9 km) ~ Saint Vincent to Courmayeur (mountains)
26 May: Stage 15 (232.0 km) ~ Ivrea to Como (hilly)
27 May: Rest day
28 May: Stage 16 (226.0 km) ~ Lovere to Ponte di Legno (mountains)
29 May: Stage 17 (181.0 km) ~ Commezzadura to Anterselva/Antholz (mountains)
30 May: Stage 18 (222.0 km) ~ Valdaora / Olang to Santa Maria di Sala (flat)
31 May: Stage 19 (151.0 km) ~ Treviso to San Martino di Castrozza (mountains)
01 June: Stage 20 (194.0 km) ~ Feltre to Croce D’Aune-Monte Avena (mountains)
02 June: Stage 21 (17.0 km Time Trial) ~ Verona to Verona

UCI World Tour/Amgen Tour of California
California (USA) ~ 12-18 May 2019
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (143.0 km): 1. Peter Sagan (SVK), 3:14:10; 2. Travis McCabe (USA), 3:14:10; 3. Max Walscheid (GER), 3:14:10; 4. Kristoffer Halvorsen (NOR), 3:14:10; 5. Michael Morkov (DEN), 3:14:10. Also in the top 25: 13. Miguel Bryon (USA), 3:14:14; … 20. Michael Hernandez (USA), 3:14:14; … 22. Gavin Mannion (USA), 3:14:14; … 25. Neilson Powless (USA), 3:14:14.

Stage 2 (194.5 km): 1. Kasper Asgreen (DEN), 6:17:11; 2. Tejay van Garderen (USA), 6:17:11; 3. Gianni Moscon (ITA), 6:17:15; 4. Tadej Pogacar (SLO), 6:17:21; 5. Maximilian Schachmann (GER), 6:17:27.

Stage 3 (207.0 km): 1. Remi Cavanga (FRA), 5:44:22; 2. Ben King (USA), 5:51:33; 3. Simon Geschke (GER), 5:51:33; 4. Asgreen (DEN), 5:52:09; 5. Jasper Philipsen (BEL), 5:52:09. Also in the top 25: 11. McCabe (USA), 5:52:09; … 25. Kyle Murphy (USA), 5:52:09.

Stage 4 (212.5 km): 1. Fabio Jakobsen (NED), 5:53:22; 2. Philipsen (BEL), 5:53:22; 3. Sagan (SVK), 5:53:22; 4. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA), 5:53:22; 5. Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA), 5:53:22. Also in the top 25: 20. McCabe (USA), 5:53:22; … 22. Bryon (USA), 5:53:22.

Stage 5 (218.5 km): 1. Ivan Garcia Cortina (ESP), 4:56:11; 2. Maxmiliano Richeze (ARG), 4:56:11; 3. Sergio Higuita (COL), 4:56:11; 4. Joris Nieuwenhuis (NED), 4:56:11; 5. Kasper Asgreen (DEN), 4:56:11. Also in the top 25: 12. Gavin Mannion (USA), 4:56:11; … 16. Van Garderen (USA), 4:56:11.

17 May: Stage 6 (127.5 km): Ontario to Mount Baldy (mountain finish)
18 May: Stage 7 (141.0 km): Santa Clarita to Pasadena (mountains)

UCI Women’s World Tour/Amgen Women’s Tour of California
California (USA) ~ 16-18 May 2019
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (96.5 km): 1. Anna van der Breggen (NED), 2:36:17; 2. Elisa Balsamo (ITA), 2:36:35; 3. Arlenis Sierra (CUB), 2:36:35; 4. Leah Kirchmann (CAN), 2:36:35; 5. Ashleigh Moolman (RSA), 2:36:35. Also in the top 25: 7. Emma White (USA), 2:36:35; … 13. Katie Hall (USA), 2:36:37; 14. Kristabel Doebel-Hickok (USA), 2:36:37; … 21. Chloe Dygart (USA), 2:36:39; 22. Coryn Rivera (USA), 2:36:39.

17 May: Stage 2 (74.0 km): Ontario to Mt. Baldy (mountains)
18 May: Stage 3 (115.5 km): Santa Clarita to Pasadena (mountains)

ATHLETICS Preview: Coleman vs. Lyles and Samba vs. Benjamin and a lot more in fabulous Shanghai Diamond League on Saturday

By
Rich Perelman
-
Is Christian Coleman (USA) still the world's fastest man?

The 2018 World Championships in Doha (QAT) are a long way off, but this week’s second Diamond League meet has a heavyweight feel to it. The track inside the Shanghai Stadium has been resurfaced and there are more than a dozen thrilling match-ups on paper. The most anticipated:

Men

● 100 m: When he’s been healthy, Christian Coleman has been the fastest man in the world in each of the last two years, running 9.82 in 2017 and 9.79 last year. But he hasn’t always been healthy and Noah Lyles won the U.S. title with his patented late rush in 9.88 and showed he’s ready to go with a fast anchor on the 4×100 m team at the World Relays. Then there is China’s Bingtian Su performing at home; he ran 9.91 last year and seems like he’s ready to break through against the Americans. He will also have to deal with fast-starting Mike Rodgers of the U.S. (9.85 in 2018), Akani Simbine of South Africa, Reece Prescod (GBR) and Tyquendo Tracey (JAM), all of whom ran from 9.93-9.96 last season. Suddenly, the world leader of 9.94 from Divine Oduduru (NGR) seems soft …

● 400 m: A great field with Steven Gardiner (BAH) working his way back from injury and already running 20.04 for 200 m in April; Fred Kerley of the U.S., who logged a 44.4 relay leg at the World Relays last week, Jamaicans Nathon Allen and Akeem Bloomfield, Grenada’s Bralon Taplin (44.92 to win at the Grenada Invitational) and American Nathan Strother. Is one of them ready to run hard this early in the season?

● 5,000 m: After all the screaming about having just the 3,000 m in Diamond League events, the 5,000 m is being run in Shanghai, but just not in the main television window. The field is excellent, although too large at 21 (!) runners. Last year’s sensation, Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega – last year’s world leader at 12:43.02 – is in and seven more starters who have run under 13 minutes. The 2019 world leader, Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha (13:10.72), U.S. champ Paul Chelimo and Rio Olympic bronze medalist Hagos Gebrhiwet are among the top challengers to Barega.

● 110 m Hurdles: Jamaica’s Olympic champ Omar McLeod did not look himself at the Drake Relays and now faces off with the best hurdler from 2018, Russia’s Sergey Shubenkov (12.92 last year). Add in Andrew Pozzi (GBR) and Spain’s Olympic silver winner Orlando Ortega and the winner may be the top challenger to the American collegiate stars Grant Holloway and Daniel Roberts, the co-world leaders at 13.07.

● 400 m Hurdles: For nearly a year, the dream match-up everyone has wanted to see is Qatar’s Abderrahmane Samba and Rai Benjamin of the U.S. Benjamin won the NCAA title last year in a stunning 47.02 – no. 2 ever – only for Samba to run 46.98 in Paris at the end of June. Samba is the world leader at 47.51 already and has an 11-meet win streak in the event. Benjamin is clearly in shape, running a lifetime best of 44.31 at the Mt. SAC Relays, but hasn’t run a hurdle race since the NCAA meet. Who wins … and will the world record of 46.92 survive?

● Javelin: This event has gone crazy with throws past 90 m (295-3) almost common during the past three years. In Shanghai, the 90 m club members involved include Rio Olympic champ Thomas Rohler (GER: 93.90 m/308-1 ‘17), 2015 World Champion Julius Yego (KEN: 92.72 m/304-2 ‘15), Andreas Hofmann (GER: 92.06 m/302-0 ‘18) and 2017 World University Games champ Chao-Tsun Cheng (TPE: 91.36 m/299-9). Wow!

Women

● 100 m: Who’s in shape? This race has big names like Rio Olympic champ Elaine Thompson (JAM), Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare, Michelle-Lee Ahye (TTO) and Americans Aleia Hobbs, Ashley Henderson and Jenna Prandini, but only Prandini has run a 100 m this season (11.10).

● 400 m: Qatar’s Salwa Eid Naser has been the world’s no. 2 in the 400 m, winning 13 of her last 15 meets from 2017-19, losing only to Bahamas superstar Shaunae Miller-Uibo. Now Naser will face American Sydney McLaughlin, who opened with an easy 54.14 (!) win in the 400 m hurdles last weekend, no. 2 in the world for 2019. Throw in reigning U.S. champ Shakima Wimbley (49.52 ‘18), European champ Justyna Swiety-Ersetic (POL: 50.41 ‘18) and Jamaica’s Stephenie Ann McPherson (49.92 ‘13) and this should be one of the best races of the evening.

● 1,500 m: Another too-large field with 17 runners, but five who have run under 4:00: Rababe Arafi (MAR: 3:59.15), Winny Chebet (KEN: 3:59.16), Ethiopians Dawit Seyaum (3:58.09) and Gudaf Tsegay (3:57.64) and Dutch star Sifan Hassan (3:56.05), who has been busy with road running and a 31:18.12 lifetime best in her 10,000 m debut. If Hassan has done some speed work, she should win. In any case, the current world lead – 4:06.98 by American Ajee Wilson – will be smashed.

● Pole Vault: Long-time foes Sandi Morris of the U.S. (4.76 m/15-7 1/4 outdoors this season) and 2016 Olympic champ Katerina Stefanidi (GRE) are back at it. They’ve met 35 times over the years – starting in 2011 – with Stefanidi holding a 21-14 lead.

● Shot: The top three on the 2019 world list are in: American Chase Ealey (19.67 m/64-6 1/2), Jamaican national-record holder Danniel Thomas-Dodd (19.48 m/63-11) and Chinese star Lijiao Gong, the 2017 World Champion (19.18 m/62-11 1/4), plus U.S. champ Maggie Ewen (18.58 m/60-11 1/2) this season.

There are lots of other good match-ups, but not quite as compelling as these; you can check out the full list of entries here. NBC’s Olympic Channel will have delayed coverage on Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Look for live results here.

THE BIG PICTURE: Poland’s Banka elected next head of the World Anti-Doping Agency

By
Rich Perelman
-

The World Anti-Doping Agency is headed by an elected Chair with a six-year term, rotated between a sports-organization candidate and one from governmental authorites.

Poland’s Minister of Sport and Tourism, 34-year-old Witold Banka, was nominated on Tuesday by the the “Public Authorities” representatives on the WADA Executive Committee and Foundation Board. He is expected to be confirmed later this year by the full Foundation Board – appropriately meeting in Katiwice (POL) – and will become head of the organization on 1 January 2020.

He won out over Marcus Diaz, the Vice-Minister of Sports for the Dominican Republic, the only other formal nominee. Norway’s Linda Helleland, a former government minister, had declared her candidacy, but failed to acquire the requisite number of endorsements to stand for election.

Helleland stood as a candidate against WADA’s reinstatement of Russia last year, but that situation has changed rapidly. WADA has retrieved the data it wanted from the former Moscow Laboratory at the center of the Russian doping scandal from 2011-15 as well as 2,262 stored doping samples for re-testing.

From that standpoint, the issues over WADA’s reinstatement of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency from last year are moot. Still to be determined is what the data further reveals about the Russian doping program from 2011-15, and the possible additional sanctions that could come from the testing of the stored samples.

But Banka now heads toward the WADA leadership position with a clear docket, at least for now. He’s a former 400 m runner, with a best of 46.15 in 2007. His last competition was in 2010; he won a bronze medal on the Polish 4×400 m team at the 2007 World Championships.

At its Executive Committee meeting in Montreal (CAN), WADA also released a 133-page report from the Covington law firm on its inquiry into allegations of bullying by Athletes Commission member Beckie Scott (CAN) from last September’s Compliance Review Committee meeting when the Russian reinstatement was recommended. The outcome:

“Our report concludes that no one at the September 20 Executive Committee meeting bullied or harassed Ms. Scott regarding her objection to the conditional reinstatement of RUSADA, or even responded directly to it. The exchange between Ms. Scott and Messrs. [Francesco] Ricci Bitti and [Patrick] Baumann at that meeting took place after Ms. Scott presented the Athlete Commission report, in which she criticized the IOC Athletes’ Commission, a member of which was at the table. While Mr. Ricci Bitti’s response to that report could be viewed as aggressive and disrespectful, his behavior did not rise to the level of bullying or harassment.

“Additionally, while Mr. Baumann objected to Dr. [Edwin] Moses having spoken on a particular issue at the May 2018 Executive Committee meeting, our investigation uncovered no credible evidence that Dr. Moses was told to ‘shut up’ at that meeting or the Foundation Board meeting held the next day.”

A transcript of the relevant portion of the meeting at issue was also released. Scott and Moses did not participate in the inquiry; they have retained counsel and could still pursue legal action if they desire. The report included recommendations, including the adoption of a code of conduct for WADA meetings.

WADA also announced the extension of its headquarters agreement with the city of Montreal through at least 2031. The Canadian, Quebec and Montreal governments have been strong supporters of WADA from its start.

TRIATHLON Preview: Can Zaferes win her third in a row in Yokohama World Series?

By
Rich Perelman
-
American triathlon star Katie Zaferes

The third of eight rounds in the 2019 ITU World Series comes this weekend in Yokohama (JPN) for an Olympic-distance triathlon: 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike and 10 km run:

● Swim: Two laps of 750 m
● Bike: Nine laps of 4.45 km
● Run: Four laps of 2.5 km

So far, the season has belonged to American Katie Zeferes, who won both the Abu Dhabi Sprint and the Bermuda tri convincingly, for her second and third career World Series victories. And she was second at Yokohama last year, behind the now-injured Flora Duffy (BER).

But it hasn’t been a cakewalk, as Britain’s Jessica Learmonth also has medals in both events this season: bronze in Abu Dhabi and silver in Bermuda. American Taylor Spivey has started brilliantly, finishing second in Abu Dhabi and sixth in Bermuda to stand third overall. The current standings:

● Men:
1. 1,523 Vincent Luis (FRA)
2. 1,392 Fernando Alarza (ESP)
3. 1,287 Leo Bergere (FRA)
4. 1,142 Mario Mola (ESP)
5. 1,060 Dorian Coninx (FRA)

● Women:
1. 2,000 Katie Zaferes (USA)
2. 1,781 Jessica Learmonth (GBR)
3. 1,602 Taylor Spivey (USA)
4. 1,268 Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR)
5. 1,256 Lotte Miller (NOR)

In the men’s standings, Mario Mola (ESP) had a streak of seven straight World Series races with a medal end in Bermuda, where he got caught in a jam in the bike phase and finished 26th. So he’s only fourth in the 2019 rankings, but looking to move up … and he won at Yokohama in 2018.

At Bermuda, France’s Dorian Coninx won a surprise victory; can he follow it up? Countryman Vincent Luis – fifth at Abu Dhabi and fourth in Bermuda – is now the series leader. He’s used to being in front, as the winner of the 2017 and 2018 Grand Final. Spain’s Fernando Alarza stands second; he finished third in the 2016 seasonal race and was third in Abu Dhabi.

Look for results here.

SPORT CLIMBING Preview: Superstar Garnbret tries to stay perfect in Munich Bouldering World Cup

By
Rich Perelman
-

After four rounds of the IFSC Bouldering World Cup, Slovenian star Janja Garnbret is not only in first place, but has a perfect season going, heading into this week’s next-to-last World Cup at the famed Olympiastadion in Munich (GER).

She hasn’t quite clinched the seasonal title yet, but she can this week, to add to her 2018 World Championships title and her favorite’s status for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The standings:

● Women:
1. 400 Janja Garnbret (SLO)
2. 240 Akiyo Noguchi (JPN)
3. 188 Fanny Gibert (FRA)
4. 180 Petra Klingler (SUI)
5. 178 Futaba Ito (JPN)

● Men:
1. 260 Tomoa Narasaki (JPN)
2. 204 Adam Ondra (CZE)
3. 190 Kokoro Fujii (JPN)
4. 171 Rei Sugimoto (JPN)
5. 159 Aleksey Rubtsov (RUS)

Garnbret should win her first-ever seasonal title in Bouldering, but men’s leaders Narasaki and Ondra have already won one each: Narsaki in 2016 and Ondra back in 2010. Each has won once this season, but both have missed one competition each, and so the seasonal battle is still close with the rest of the field.

Qualifying will be on Saturday, with the finals on Sunday. Look for results here.

DIVING Preview: Strong opportunities for home-standing Brits in World Series finale in London

By
Rich Perelman
-
Britain's double 10 m World Champion Tom Daley (Photo: Jim Thurston via Wikimedia commons)

The London Aquatics Centre will be the site for the fifth and final leg of the FINA Diving World Series this weekend, with high expectations for the home team.

This is in part because of the strong British squad, including World Championships medal winners Tom Daley, Jack Laugher, Matty Lee, Grace Reid and Lois Toulson, but also because China – the dominant force in the sport – is once again sending a second-tier squad to the meet.

However, the fields will be highly competitive, with a number of familiar stars:

Men:
● Jianfeng Peng (CHN) ~ 2017 World 1 m Springboard Champion
● Jack Laugher (GBR) ~ 2015 Worlds 3 m bronze; 2016 Olympic 3 m Synchro gold
● Tom Daley (GBR) ~ 2009-2017 World 10 m Champ; 2017 Worlds Mixed 3 m silver
● Matty Lee (GBR) ~ 2017 Worlds Mixed 10 m silver medalist
● Evgenii Kuznetsov (RUS) ~ 2017 World 3 m Synchro Champion
● Hao Yang (CHN) ~ 2017 World Synchro 10 m Champion
● Francois Imbeau-Dulac (CAN) ~ 2017 World Mixed 3 m bronze medalist
● Aleksandr Bondar/Viktor Minibaev (RUS) ~ 2017 Worlds 3 m Synchro silver medalists

Women:
● Maddison Keeney (AUS) ~ 2017 World 1 m Springboard Champion
● Jennifer Abel (CAN) ~ 2017 World 3 m Springboard bronze; Mixed 3 m bronze
● Pam Ware (CAN) ~ 2013 Worlds 3 m bronze; 2015 Synchro 3 m silver medalist
● Meaghan Benfeito (CAN) ~ 2017 World 3 m Synchro silver medalist
● Yani Chang (CHN) ~ 2017 World 3 m Synchro gold medalist
● Pandelela Pamg (MAS) ~ 2012 Olympic 10 m bronze; 2015 Worlds 10 m bronze
● Grace Reid (GBR) ~ 2017 World Mixed 3 m Springboard silver medalist
● Lois Toulson (GBR) ~ 2017 World Mixed 10 m Platform silver medalist
● Mi-Rae Kim (PRK) ~ 2017 World 10 m Platform silver medalist
● Il-Myong Hyon (PRK) ~ 2017 World Mixed 10 m Platform bronze medalist

There is prize money of $5,000-4,000-3,000 for the top three places, and seasonal prizes that are only available to athletes who have competed in all of the five World Series events. That will be a fairly short list. Look for results here.

CYCLING Preview: Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup starts in Germany, but can anyone beat Nino Schurter?

By
Rich Perelman
-
Swiss Mountain Bike superstar Nino Schurter (Photo: UCI)

The opening of the UCI Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup season in Albstadt (GER) brings new opportunities, but the same old challenge.

Can anyone beat Swiss star Nino Schurter?

The six-time World Cup champ, he’s now 33, but has won the last four World Championships races in a row and has 30 career World Cup wins, second only to the now-retired Julien Absalon (FRA: 33).

Consider this for dominance: the competitors with the next-highest number of wins are Jasoslav Kulhavy (CZE: 9), then Sam Gaze (NZL) and Mathieu van der Poel (NED: 3). Van der Poel finished second to Schurter in the World Cup standings last year, with France’s Maxime Marotte third (for the third year in a row). .

In the women’s division, another Swiss star, Jolanda Neff, is the defending World Cup champion from 2018 – her third career title – and is tied for the most career wins by active riders. She has 12 World Cup wins, the same as Catherine Prendel (CAN) and just one ahead of Annika Langvad (DEN: 11). All are expected to ride.

Schurter and Neff both won in Albstadt last season. The Cross Country final will be on Sunday. Look for results here.

FENCING Preview: Deriglazova look to continue dominance in Grand Prix Shanghai women’s Foil

By
Rich Perelman
-
Russia's Olympic Foil Champion Inna Deriglazova (Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen via Wikimedia Commons)

If the question is who is the best fencer in the world at the moment, the answer must be Russia’s Foil star Inna Deriglazova.

Already the 2016 Olympic and 2017 World Champion, she has been on a tear this season, winning five tournaments outright and claiming six medals in seven starts. She won the World Cup events in Katowice (POL), St. Maur (FRA), Cairo (EGY) and Tauberbischofsheim (GER) and the Grand Prix in Anaheim, California and was third in last November’s World Cup in Algiers (ALG).

So she’s the big favorite in this week’s third Grand Prix of the season in Shanghai (CHN), with the top-10-ranked Foilers in both the men’s and women’s divisions ready to go:

● Men:
1. Alessio Foconi (ITA) ~ 2018 World Champion
2. Race Imboden (USA) ~ 2017-18 Worlds Team silver medalist
3. Richard Kruse (GBR) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalist
4. Daniele Garozzo (ITA) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion; 2017 Worlds bronze
5. Andrea Cassara (ITA) ~ 2017 Worlds Team gold medalist
6. Giorgio Avola (ITA) ~ 2017 Worlds Team gold medalist
7. Gerek Meinhardt (USA) ~ 2017-18 Worlds Team silver medalist
8. Ka Long Cheung (HKG)
9. Jun Heo (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze medalist
10. Alexander Massialas (USA) ~ 2016 Olympic silver medalist

● Women:
1. Inna Deriglazova (RUS) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion; 2017 World Champion
2. Alice Volpi (ITA) ~ 2018 World Champion; 2017 Worlds silver
3. Arianna Errigo (ITA) ~ 2017-18 Worlds bronze medalist
4. Ines Boubakri (TUN) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze; 2018 Worlds bronze
5. Lee Kiefer (USA) ~ 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist
6. Ysoara Thibus (FRA) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalist; 2017 Worlds bronze
7. Leonie Ebert (GER)
8. Elisa DiFrancisca (ITA) ~ 2016 Olympic silver medalist
9. Anastasiia Ivanova (RUS) ~ 2017 Worlds Team bronze medalist
10. Hee Seok Jeon (KOR)

In the one Grand Prix that Deriglazova did not win – in Turin (ITA) – it was Volpi defeating Di Francesca in the final.

The men’s final in Turin had Imboden of the U.S. claiming victory over Hong Kong’s Cheung, while unheralded Justin Mertine (FRA) won in Anaheim. Look for results from Shanghai here.

Also on this week are Epee World Cups for men (Paris) and women (in Dubai), also with excellent fields, including the top ten in both events:

● Men:
1. Yannick Borel (FRA) ~ 2018 World Champion
2. Bogdan Nikishin (UKR) ~ 2018 Wolds bronze medalist
3. Kazuyasu Minobe (JPN) ~ Bern World Cup winner
4. Ruben Limardo (VEN) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalist
5. Dmitriy Alexanin (KAZ) ~ Bern World Cup bronze medalist
6. Koki Kano (JPN) ~ Vancouver World Cup winner
7. Curtis McDowald (USA) ~ Buenos Aires World Cup bronze medalist
8. Jacob Hoyle (USA) ~ Vancouver World Cup bronze medalist
9. Gabriele Cimini (ITA) ~ Buenos Aires World Cup silver medalist
10. Sangyoung Park (KOR) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion

After a drought, the U.S. men suddenly hav two men back in the World Rankings, thanks to strong World Cup showings for McDowald and Hoyle. Look for results here.

● Women:
1. Ana Maria Popescu (ROU) ~ 2016 Olympic team gold medalist
2. Mara Navarria (ITA)
3. Man Wai Vivian Kong (HKG) ~ Barcelona & Havana World Cup winner
4. Yiwen Sun (CHN) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze medalist
5. Katrina Lehis (EST)
6. Young Mi Kang (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team silver medalist
7. Violetta Kolobova (RUS) ~ 2016 Olympic Team bronze medalist
8. In-Jeong Choi (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team silver medalist
9. Kelley Hurley (USA) ~ 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist
10. Julia Beljajeva (EST) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist; 2017 Worlds Team gold

Kong has been outstanding lately, with two wins and a bronze in her last three World Cups. Look for results here.

LANE ONE: Suddenly, there is interest in track & field thanks to a Texas high schooler named Matthew Boling

By
Rich Perelman
-
Strake Jesuit's sprint star Matthew Boling

One way to gauge where a sport stands in importance across the U.S. is how often it is discussed on the parade of television sports talk shows, such as ESPN’s “Around the Horn” or “Pardon the Interruption.”

Track & field is almost never mentioned, except maybe during the Olympic Games, which ESPN does not televise. But on Monday, these shows – and others – were suddenly foaming at the mouth over a 19-year-old senior from Houston’s Strake Jesuit High School, Matthew Boling.

Why?

After exploding into the consciousness of track fans at the Texas Relays, where he ran a wind-aided 10.20 and long jumped 8.01 m (26-3 1/2) to move to no. 8 on the all-time U.S. high school list, he dominated the 6A division of the Texas State Meet:

● He won the 100 m in 10.13, the best-on-record in a high school-only meet;
● He won the long jump at 25-4 1/2 (wind-aided) and,
● Ran a sensational 44.74 on the anchor of the 4×400 m relay to help Strake Jesuit to a nation-leading 3:10.56 victory.

He had run a wind-aided 9.98 two weeks before (+4.2 m/s), the fastest all-conditions high school 100 m ever. And he is Caucasian, with the nickname of “White Lightning.” So now he’s being called a future Carl Lewis!

Well, let’s hold on for a moment and see how Boling actually measures up.

As for the comparisons to Lewis, it’s a little early. As a prep at Willingboro (New Jersey) High School in 1979, Lewis was primarily a long jumper, with the top six jumps in the nation in 1979, and a best of 26-8. He barely ran the sprints, with a best of 9.5 for 100 yards and 20.9 for the 220. Two years later, he was the top sprinter in the world at 10.00 and the world’s top jumper at 28-3 1/2.

So let’s wait a few more minutes before making that comparison again.

How about his much-cited “national record” of 10.13? The mark is excellent, coming against high school competition – which is where the national record talk comes in – but it’s hardly the fastest ever by a prep; in fact, it moves him to no. 4 on the all-time high school list, with the equal-fifth-fastest performance. The all-time high school 100 m performances list, per Track & Field News:

1. 10.00 Trentavis Friday (Cherryville NC) ‘14
2. 10.01 Jeff Demps (Groveland FL South Lake) ‘08
3. 10.09 Anthony Schwartz (Plantation FL American Heritage) ‘18
4. 10.12 Demps ‘08
5. 10.13 Derrick Florence (Galveston TX Ball) ‘86
5. 10.13 Schwartz ‘18
5. 10.13 Matthew Boling (Houston TX Strake) ‘19
8. 10.14 Noah Lyles (Alexandria VA Williams) ‘15
9. 10.15 Henry Neal (Greenville TX) ‘90
9. 10.15 Schwartz ‘17

Look at the list closely. You’ll see another runner who ran even faster than Boling just last year: Anthony Schwartz. What about him?

Schwartz and Boling were actually teammates on last summer’s U.S. team for the World Junior Championships in Tampere (FIN). Schwartz was the U.S. Junior Champion in the 100 m (10.23) and won the silver medal at the World Juniors in 10.22. He had races of 10.07w, 10.09, 10.13, 10.13w and 10.16, among others, and won a 4×100 m relay gold in Finland.

Boling was known as a quarter-miler last season, with a best of 46.15, and after finishing sixth in the U.S. Junior meet, ran a leg in the heats of the 4×400 m, earning a silver medal when the U.S. team in the final finished second.

Schwartz is attending Auburn, where he played quite a bit as a freshman wide receiver in football, and ran a season best of 10.21 last weekend for sixth in the SEC Championships. That’s worth noting since Boling will be running against him next season as a prize recruit for Georgia.

All of this says that Boling is an outstanding prospect, but any Olympic dreams are some distance away, at least for now.

In fact, his most outstanding performance was not the 100 m or the long jump, but his come-from-way behind anchor leg on the 4×400 m relay, timed in 44.74. That was impressive, really impressive, especially for someone with a seasonal best of 47.23 and a lifetime best of 46.15.

Boling’s future may not be in the 100 m at all, but in the 200 or the 400, based on that superb relay leg, but that’s in the future.

He’s clearly the best high school sprinter in the country, and we may get to know a lot more about him if he competes in the U.S. Junior Championships once again; this year’s meet is in Miramar, Florida on 21-23 June and there are Pan American Junior Championships available to the top finishers in Costa Rica in July.

Or he might tantalize us all by running in the U.S. Nationals in Des Moines at the end of July. It would be a long season for Boling, but the rewards could be worth it. It’s not likely that he would qualify as a member of the U.S. team for the World Championships in Doha (QAT) – although not impossible – but if he made the 100 m semis, or the long jump final, he could find himself on the U.S. team for the Pan American Games in Lima (PER) at the beginning of August. After all, didn’t Lewis win the Pan Am long jump bronze in 1979?

That would be quite an end to a brilliant high school career that has drawn the attention of news media who rarely pay the slightest attention to track & field.

They are paying some attention now, and that his race is noticed is a mark against those who mention it. Let’s hope that Boling himself recognizes that he has the opportunity to be part of athletic experiences that only a precious few can have, and that he is allowed to enjoy it.

Rich Perelman
Editor

SWIMMING Preview: Nathan Adrian returns to the pool in Tyr Pro Swim Series in Bloomington

By
Rich Perelman
-
Five-time Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian (USA)

The feel-good story of the 2019 swimming season will come this week at the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatics Center at Indiana University with the return of five-time Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian for the fourth leg of the Tyr Pro Swim Series.

Adrian, now 30, disclosed in January that he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer, but has fought it off and is returning to the pool. His last race was on 1 December 2018, at the USA Swimming Winter National Championships, finishing second in the 100 m Free. He has been a regular on the Tyr Pro Swim Series circuit, but will make his debut for 2019 in Bloomington.

The meet has some deep fields, especially in the women’s events. Some of the workloads for the top swimmers based on the entries:

Men:
● Nathan Adrian ~ 50-100 m Free
● Blake Pieroni ~ 50-100-200 m Free
● Tom Shields ~ 100-200 m Free, 100-200 m Fly
● Zane Grothe ~ 400-800-1,500 m Free
● Cody Miller ~ 50-100-200 m Breast
● Michael Andrew ~ 50 m Free, 50-100 m Back, 50-100 m Breast, 50-100 m Fly

Women:
● Lilly King ~ 50-100-200 m Breast, 200 m Medley
● Bethany Galat ~50- 100 m Breast, 400 m Medley
● Annie Lazor ~ 50-100-200 m Breast
● Madisyn Cox ~ 200-400 m Free, 100-200 m Breast, 200-400 m Medley
● Simone Manuel ~ 50-100-200 m Free, 50 m Back
● Mallory Comerford ~ 50-100-200 m Free, 50-100 m Fly
● Margo Geer ~ 50-100-200 m Free
● Allison Schmidt ~ 100-200 m Free
● Kelsi Dahlia ~ 50-100-200 m Free, 50-100-200 m Fly
● Katie Ledecky ~ 100-200-400-800 m Free, 400 m Medley
● Ella Eastin ~ 200 m Free, 100 m Breast, 100-200 m Fly, 200-400 m Medley
● Regan Smith ~ 50 m Free, 50-100-200 m Back, 50-100-200 m Fly

There are a modest number of foreign swimmers entered, but they include star freestyler Farida Osman (EGY) and backstroke star Taylor Ruck (CAN).

The crowd favorite will be Indiana’s Lilly King, the world-record holder in the 50 m and 100 m Breast events and the reigning World Champion in both. She’s been a regular performer in the Tyr Pro Swim Series, but – following the end of the collegiate season in late March – this is her first appearance in 2019.

There is prize money of $1,500-1,000-500 for the top three places in each event. The meet will be shown on NBC’s Olympic Channel on Friday at 6 p.m. Eastern time; on NBCSN on Saturday at 6 p.m., and online on Sunday at www.usaswimming.org. Look for a link to results here.

TAEKWONDO Preview: 15 defending champions expected as World Championships start Thursday in Manchester

By
Rich Perelman
-
Can Korea's Tae-Hun Kim win a fourth straight World title?

The 24th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships will bring the event to Great Britain for the first time, in specific to the Manchester Arena for competition in eight men’s and women’s classes.

More than 1,000 athletes are expected, and even though the entry deadline closed more than a month ago, the actual competitors have not been confirmed. But as the seedings are determined by the current world rankings, these are the top competitors expected in each class:

Men

● 54 kg:
1. Moustapha Kama (SEN)
2. Armin Hadipour (IRI) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalist
3. Adrian Vicente (ESP)
4. Cesar Rodriguez (MEX)
5. Tae-Hun Kim (KOR) ~ 2013-15-17 World Champion

● 58 kg:
1. Tae-Hun Kim (KOR) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze medalist
2. Jesus Tortosa Cabrera (ESP) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
3. Mikhail Artamonov (RUS) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalist
4. Carlos Navarro (MEX) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
5. Farzan Ashourzadeh (IRI) ~ 2015 World Champion (58 kg)

● 63 kg:
1. Lovre Brecic (CRO)
2. Jaouad Achab (BEL) ~ 2015 World Champion
3. Javad Aghayev (AZE)
4. Shuai Zhao (CHN) ~ Defending World Champion
5. Soroush Ahmadi (IRI)

● 68 kg:
1. Dae-Hoon Lee (KOR) ~ Defending World Champion; 2016 Olympic bronze
2. Alexey Denisenko (RUS) ~ 2016 Olympic silver; 2015 Wolds silver medalist
3. Ahmad Abughaush (JOR) ~ 2016 Olympic gold; 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
4. Yu-Jen Huang (TPE) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalist
5. Javier Perez Polo (ESP)

● 74 kg:
1. Toni Kanaet (CRO)
2. Nikita Rafalovich (UZB) ~ 2015-17 Worlds silver medalist
3. Thomas Rahimi (USA)
4. Maksim Khramtcov (RUS) ~ Defending World Champion
5. Ali Eshkavarian (IRI)

● 80 kg:
1. Cheick Sallah Cisse (CIV) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion
2. Milad Beigi Harchegani (AZE) ~ Defending World Champion; 2016 Olympic bronze
3. Maksim Khramtcov (RUS) ~ 2017 74 kg World Champion
4. Richard Andre Ordemann (NOR)
5. Raul Martinez Garcia (ESP)

● 87 kg:
1. Vladislav Larin (RUS) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalist; 2015 Worlds bronze medalist
2. Alexander Bachmann (GER) ~ Defending World Champion
3. Bryan Salazar (MEX)
4. Ivan Trajkovic (SLO) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
5. Smaiyl Diusebay (KAZ)

● +87 kg:
1. Kyo-Don In (KOR) ~ 2017 87 kg Worlds bronze medalist
2. Vladislav Larin (RUS) ~ 2017 87 kg Worlds silver medalist
3. Abdoul Issoufou (CIV) ~ Defending World Champion
4. Radik Isaev (AZE) ~ 2016 Olympic +80 kg Champion
5. Mahama Cho (GBR) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalist

Women

● 46 kg:
1. Yvette Yong (CAN)
2. Kyriaki Kouttouki (CYP)
3. Dina Pouryounes Langeroudi (NED)
4. Iryna Romoldanova (UKR)
5. Jae-Young Sim (KOR) ~ Defending World Champion

● 49 kg:
1. Panipak Wongpattanakit (THA) ~ 2017 Worlds silver; 2016 Olympic bronze
2. So-Hui Kim (KOR) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion
3. Kristina Tomic (CRO) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
4. Vanya Stankovic (SRB) ~ Defending World Champion
5. Jae-Young Sim (KOR) ~ 2017 46 kg World Champion

● 53 kg:
1. Tatiana Kodashova (RUS) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalist
2. Inese Tarvida (LAT) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
3. Tijana Bogdanovic (SRB) ~ 2016 Olympic 49 kg silver; 2015 Worlds 49 kg bronze
4. Madeline Folgmann (GER)
5. Zeliha Agris (TUR) ~ Defending World Champion

● 57 kg:
1. Jade Jones (GBR) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion; 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
2. Ah-Reum Lee (KOR) ~ Defending World Champion
3. Hatice Ilgun (TUR) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalist
4. Nikita Glasnovic (CRO) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
5. Skylar Park (CAN)

● 62 kg:
1. Irem Yaman (TUR)
2. Nadica Bozanic (SRB)
3. Marta Calvo Gomez (ESP)
4. Magda Wiet Henin (FRA)
5. Ruth Gbagi (CIV) ~ Defending World Champion; 2016 Olympic 67 kg bronze

● 67 kg:
1. Nur Tatar Askari (TUR) ~ Defending World Champion; 2016 Olympic bronze
2. Paige McPherson (USA) ~ 2017 Worlds silver; 2015Worlds bronze medalist
3. Lauren Williams (GBR)
4. Matea Jelic (CRO)
5. Hyeri Oh (KOR) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion; 2017 73 kg Worlds silver medalist

● 73 kg:
1. Milica Mandic (SRB) ~ Defending World Champion
2. Hyeri Oh (KOR) ~ 2015 Worlds gold; 2017 Worlds silver; 2016 Olympic 67 kg gold
3. Maria Espinoza (MEX) ~ Defending Worlds silver medalist
4. Madelynn Gorman-Shore (USA)
5. Yanna Schneider (GER)

● +73 kg:
1. Bianca Walkden (GBR) ~ 2015-17 World Champion; 2016 +67 kg bronze
2. Shuyin Zheng (CHN) ~ 2016 Olympic +67 kg gold; 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
3. Aleksandra Kowalczuk (POL)
4. Briseida Acosta (MEX)
5. Nafia Kus (TUR) ~ 2015 Worlds bronze medalist
6. Jackie Galloway (USA) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalist; 2016 Olympic +67 kg bronze

The World Championships only take place every other year, so Korea’s Tae-Hun Kim will be trying to extend his gold-medal streak to four World Championships over seven years!

The competition will take place from 15-19 May. The top three placewinners get medals and a certificate, but there is no prize money. Look for results here.

FOOTBALL Preview: Women’s Send-Off Series continues vs. New Zealand in St. Louis

By
Rich Perelman
-
Almost 35,000 came out to see the U.S. women prep for the 2015 World Cup at Busch Stadium. Maybe more on Thursday? (Photo: U.S. Soccer)

The U.S. women won the 2015 World Cup in Canada, warming up with a 4-0 win over New Zealand at Busch Stadium in St. Louis in early April before an impressive crowd of 34,817.

It’s deja vu all over again, and the US. Women will play their next-to-last game before the 2019 Women’s World’s Cup vs. the Football Ferns at Busch on Thursday (16th).

The teams have met three times over the past four years, with the U.S. winning 3-1 and 5-0 in back-to-back friendlies in September 2017, and a 2-0 win in Brazil in the group stage of the 2016 Olympic Games. In fact, in its four wins between 2015-17, the U.S. has outscored New Zealand, 14-1.

New Zealand is ranked 19th in the latest FIFA World Rankings, having been as high as 16th in 2015. They’re 2-2 in 2019, having defeated Argentina and Norway, and losing to Australia and South Korea. The Football Ferns are in a difficult World Cup group with the Netherlands, Canada and Cameroons in France.

The American squad defeated South Africa, 3-0, on Sunday in Santa Clara, with a middling performance that got better as the game went on. Sam Mewis came through with two goals and Carli Lloyd scored the final tally in stoppage time.

The U.S. defense was hardly tested by South Africa, but the offense had trouble with the packed-in defense, scoring just one goal in the first half. Things improved when Megan Rapinoe subbed in at half, but how the U.S. does offensively will be a major focus on Thursday.

The match will be televised on ESPN2, beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

CYCLING Preview: Misery and pain ahead for riders in the Women’s Amgen Tour

By
Rich Perelman
-
Defending Amgen Tour of California women's champ Katie Hall (USA). (Photo: Amgen Tour of California)

The fifth edition of the women’s edition of the Amgen Tour of California borders on the cruel, with a punishing three-stage schedule on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The stages:

● 16 May: Stage 1 (96.5 km): Ventura to Ventura (hilly)
● 17 May: Stage 2 (74.0 km): Ontario to Mt. Baldy (mountains)
● 18 May: Stage 3 (115.5 km): Santa Clarita to Pasadena (mountains)

The second and third stages are especially brutal. The second race begins in Ontario at 337 m elevation (~ 1,105 feet) and ends on Mt Baldy – the tallest mountain in the Los Angeles area – with an elevation of 1,959 m (~ 6,427 ft.). The route essentially climbs continuously during the final 38.5 km of the race! Ouch!

Such a stage would normally decide the overall winners, but is followed by another difficult route on Saturday from Santa Clarita into Pasadena in Southern California. It starts at 350 m (~ 1,148 feet) in Santa Clarita and races over the crest of the Angeles National Forest Highway to 1,471 m (~ 4,826 ft.) before descending into Pasadena to complete the race.

The entries have not yet been completely confirmed, but include a number of stars:

● Katie Hall (USA) ~ Defending champion; second in 2017
● Kasia Niewiadoma (POL) ~ Third in 2018
● Tayler Wiles (USA) ~ Second in 2018
● Arlenis Sierra (CUB) ~ Third in 2017

In addition, previous stage winners returning include Coryn Rivera (USA: one prior stage win), Chloe Dygert (USA: 1) and Kendall Ryan (USA: 1).

World Tour stars to watch include South Africa’s Ashleigh Moolman, the 2018 Giro Rosa runner-up; Finland’s Lotta Lepisto, the 2016 World Road Race bronze medalist; 2017 World Road Race champ Chantal Blaak (NED) and Britain’s Lizzie Deignan, the 2015 World Road Race winner.

Look for results here.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL Preview: Acid test for three U.S. women’s duos in Brazil four-star

By
Rich Perelman
-
Three in a row for: Norway's Christian Sorum and Anders Mol

While the sport of beach volleyball was born in Southern California, Brazil has become one of its cultural centers, with a deep connection to the sport and a lot of success.

So the pressure will be on the Brazilian teams at Itapema (BRA) this week to repeat their success of 2018, when Evandro Oliveira and Andre Stein won the men’s division and Agatha Bednarczuk and Duda Lisboa won the women’s tournament. The top seeds:

● Men:
1. Anders Mol/Christian Sorum (NOR) ~ 2018 World Tour Final champions
2. Grzegorz Fijalek/Michal Bryl (POL) ~ 2018 Las Vegas Open 4-star silver medalists
3. Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins (LAT) ~ 2018 Moscow Open 4-star winners
4. Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (POL) ~ 2018 World Tour Final bronze medalists
5. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (NED) ~ 2013 World Champions

● Women:
1. Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson (CAN) ~ 2018 Poland Open 4-star winners
2. Agatha Bednarczuk/Duda Lisboa (BRA) ~ 2018 World Tour Final winners
3. Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes (CAN) ~ AVP Hunt. Beach Open runners-up
4. Alix Klineman/April Ross (USA) ~ AVP Huntington Beach Open winners
5. Barbara Seixas/Fernanda Alves (BRA) ~ Barbara: 2015 World champ; Fernanda: 2015 silver

In the men’s division, the top-seeded American pair is Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb at 14th. Casey Patterson and former NBA player Chase Budinger are in as Wild Card entries; they finished second at the AVP Huntington Beach Open, so it will be fascinating to see how they are against a top-quality international field.

Klineman and Ross scored an emotional win at the famed AVP Huntington Beach Open on 5 May, defeating Canada’s Pavan and Humana-Paredes. Will that translate into more success at the World Tour level? Americans Sara Hughes and Summer Ross are seeded seventh in the women’s tournament and Kelley Larsen and Emily Stockman are seeded 10th. Brooke Sweat and Kerri Walsh Jennings are also in the tournament, but were not among the 24 seeded teams.

The tournament will finish with the medal matches on Sunday (19th). Look for results here.

HEARD AFTER HALFTIME: South Africa confirms it will appeal Court of Arbitration holding in the Semenya case

By
Rich Perelman
-

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

● Athletics ● Despite its agreement in June with the IAAF that it would abide by the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in its filing against the federation’s Eligibility Regulations for Female Classification, Athletics South Africa confirmed that it would file an appeal anyway.

Agence France Presse reported that, according to South Africa’s sport and recreation ministry spokesman Vuyo Mhaga, “the appeal, to be lodged at the Switzerland Federal Tribunal, would be based on complaints over the judges’ past record on similar cases, lack of clarity over how the ruling could be implemented and how the evidence was handled.”

The appeal must be filed by 31 May and will be coordinated by Athletics South Africa.

The Court upheld the IAAF’s new regulations, introduced in 2018, and put in effect on 8 May 2019. The new rules require athletes competing in the women’s division in events from the 400 m to the mile – which includes the heptathlon – have a serum testosterone level of 5 nmol/L or less; those with higher levels – such as South Africa’s double Olympic women’s 800 m champ Caster Semenya – would be required to take oral medications to lower their natural levels of testosterone to that level.

● Athletics ● In the latest sign of changes in attitude concerning doping in Russia, Russian Anti-Doping Agency head Yuri Ganus sent a letter to the head of the Russian National Olympic Committee proposing “the dismissal of the federation’s senior officials, including its President Dmitry Shlyakhtin, and all national team athletics coaches, among several other measures.

“‘Given that there is critically little time left until the start of the 2020 Olympics, and there is much to do in coordination with IAAF, work toward the transformation of the federation requires an immediate resolution.’”

This is the most direct evidence yet of a stepped-up effort to end the IAAF’s four-year suspension of the Russian athletics federation. Only “Approved Neutral Athletes” from Russia – approved annually by a special IAAF review committee – are allow to compete internationally. The impact has been severe: as of 28 March 2019, a total of 203 applications have been filed, with 67 approved, 15 rejected and 123 still in process.

● Biathlon ● Following the IAAF’s trailblazing effort to create and fund an independent “integrity unit” outside of its own structure, the International Biathlon Union announced its own “Biathlon Integrity Unit” that will “centrally manage all integrity-related matters concerning biathlon, including anti-doping as well as ethical breaches, betting related issues or any kind of result manipulation.”

The new entity will be incorporated into the new version of the IBU Constitution, which is expected to be reviewed by the sport’s national federations in a special Congress to be held in the fall.

● Cycling ● Spain’s Samuel Sanchez, the 2008 Olympic Road Race gold medalist, had his doping suspension for two years confirmed by the Union Cycliste Internationale.

Sanchez, now 41, failed a doping test on 9 August 2017, but “the UCI has accepted the likelihood that the origin of the [doping positive] was a contaminated supplement Mr. Sanchez was using.” As he was provisionally suspended from 17 August 2017, he will be eligible again as of 17 August 2019.

● Fencing ● American Sabre star and five-time World Championships Team medalist – a 2016 Rio Team bronze medalist – Ibtihaj Muhammad told NBC Sports that “I have unofficially hung up my sabre.” Now 33, she added “I feel really content with my career and where I am right now in my life. You know, fencing is not a big part of it anymore, but it’s always been my intention to transcend sport in a way that reaches people not just in the fencing world but outside of it. I think I’ve been able to best do that, not only representing my sport but representing myself.”

● Judo ● This really happened at last week’s Judo Grand Slam in Baku (AZE): Portugal’s Anri Egutidze, competing in a second-round match in the men’s 81 kg class against Sweden’s Robin Pacek, had his mobile phone drop out of his judogi about 10 seconds into the match.

He was disqualified immediately; you can check out the video here. Wow! Pacek finished seventh overall.

● Luge ● At the SportAccord conference in Australia last week, the Federation Internationale de Luge (FIL) confirmed that the Doubles event is being introduced for women. Said Secretary General Einars Fogelis (LAT), “We are currently developing and working on the inclusion of women’s doubles as a new discipline. This is proceeding extremely well, with a lot of positive feedback from participating athletes. Women’s doubles will be part of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne. This is a great opportunity to grow and at the same time for the sport of luge to achieve our common goal – greater gender equality in sports.”

● Swimming ● There’s no way to pick an athlete as the world’s fittest, but one of the candidates has to be Brazil’s open-water star Ana Marcela Cunha. In the last two weeks:

= 03 May: 2:00:00.17 ~ 1st in USA Swimming 10 km Nationals in Miami
= 05 May: 0:58:26.00 ~ 2nd in USA Swimming 5 km Nationals in Miami
= 12 May: 2:01:34.10 ~ 2nd in FINA Marathon 10 km World Series in The Seychelles

That’s more than 15 miles of competitive swimming in America and Africa in 10 days, with a l-o-n-g plane ride in between. After her silver medal in The Seychelles, she said “I liked the race a lot; last week I swam in the U.S. nationals, so I was a little tired, but at the World Championship I will be swimming in the 5k, 10 km and 25 km events so it is good preparation.”

She won’t just be “swimming.” Cunha – now 27 and standing 5-5 – is a nine-time World Championships medalist and at the 2017 Open Water Worlds, won the 25 km title and bronzes at both 5 km and 10 km.

Is there anyone who can say they are fitter?

● At the BuZZer ● Think there aren’t new sports being introduced around the world? Guess again. At last week’s SportAccord Conference, one of the newest international federations was making the rounds, the International Camel Racing Foundation.

Created in 2018, the ICRF reports 30 members on three continents and states that “With increasing complexity in the sport, professionalization and competitiveness, the foundation of ICRF was essential to unifying this sport and promoting it globally.” The federation’s aims are to govern and promote the sport, “Enforce jockey safety” and “Effectuate camel welfare.” Now you know.

THE BIG PICTURE: Iran’s judo federation pledges not to discriminate against Israel … maybe

By
Rich Perelman
-

All credit to the International Judo Federation, which has consistently championed the right of all countries – notably Israel and Kosovo – to compete in its international competitions, especially those held in nations which either do not recognize their existence, or which do not have diplomatic relations.

This has especially been an issue with Iran, but the IJF has been active, stating in an announcement last Saturday (11th) that:

“After having witnessed on several occasions in recent history a disturbing phenomenon, which involves the sudden ‘injury’ or failure of weigh-in of Iranian athletes, phenomenon which is linked by many observers to the possible obligation of the given athletes to compete against certain countries, the International Judo Federation decided to step up in order to protect the right of athletes to fair competition.”

The result, after multiple discussions was a remarkable letter from the National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Co-signed by NOC chief Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri, and Arash Miresmaelli, head of the Iran Judo Federation, the final paragraph of the letter stated:

“By means of this letter, we would like to confirm that the I.R. Iran NOC shall fully respect the Olympic Charter and its non-discrimination principle, and the I.R. Iran Judo Federation shall fully comply with the Olympic Charter and the IJF Statutes. In the meantime, in collaboration with the I.R. Iran Ministry of Sport and Youth, we are sparing no efforts in negotiating with the Parliament so that we could identify the proper legal resolutions.”

And that last phrase is critical, because the Iranian government’s policy stance is that Iranian athletes should not compete against Israel, in anything. This even extended to the Special Olympics; in the 2015 World Games in Los Angeles, the Iranian delegation asked for a re-draw of a swimming race to avoid having Iranian and Israeli athletes swimming in the same heat!

Moreover, a report on the Iranian letter in the Israel newspaper Haaretz noted that “After the news of an end to the boycott were reported, however, Iranian media reacted skeptically, denying Iranian athletes would compete with Israelis. One report suggested Iran complying with the Olympic Charter and its non-discrimination principle was ‘nothing new,’ specifying Iran does indeed compete with any country but does not consider Israel a legitimate state.”

A report in Israel Hayom added that “According to Army Radio, the IJF threatened to ban Iran from international competitions, including the Olympics, if it did not agree to fight Israelis.”

So, there is still work to do, as the letter notes, by the Iranian National Olympic Committee with the Ministry of Sport and Youth in dealing with Iran’s revolutionary government on the subject.

This policy may be put to the test quickly, as the IJF World Tour includes four more Grand Prix competitions between now and the 2019 World Championships, to be held in Tokyo at the end of August. Israel is a rising power in judo, currently sitting 11th in the nations ranking, to 42nd for Iran, and both have legitimate medal prospects for the 2019 Worlds.

The IJF, under President Marius Vizer (FRA) is to be congratulated for making a real effort to end discriminatory practices that have been tolerated for far too long. But this announcement of Iranian intentions is only that; the actions to back it up must come through as well.

STAT PACK: Results for the week of 6-12 May 2019

By
Rich Perelman
-

The Stat Pack: a summary of results of international Grand Prix, World Cup and World Championships events, plus U.S. domestic events and Pan American championships events of note.

In this week’s issue are reports on 16 events in 12 sports:

● Archery: Hyundai World Cup 2 in Shanghai
● Athletics: IAAF Race Walk Challenge in Taicang
● Athletics: IAAF World Relays in Yokohama
● Curling: WCF World Cup Grand Final in Beijing
● Cycling: WWT: Tour of Chongming Island in China
● Cycling: BMX Supercross World Cup in Papendal
● Diving: FINA World Series 4 in Kazan
● Fencing: FIE Men’s Sabre World Cup 5 in Madrid
● Fencing: FIE Women’s Sabre World Cup 5 in Tunis
● Judo: IJF World Tour: Baku Grand Slam in Baku
● Rowing: FISA World Cup 1 in Plovdiv
● Rugby: Women’s Sevens Series 5 in Langford
● Shooting: ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Changwon
● Swimming: FINA Champions Swim Series II in Budapest
● Swimming: FINA Marathon World Series 2 in Seychelles
● Wrestling: U.S. Women’s Junior World Team Trials in Irving

plus our calendar of upcoming events through 16 June. Click below for the PDF:

[wpdm_package id=13290 template=”link-template-button-popup.php”]

VOX POPULI: Mixed-gender World Relays events were “refreshing, exciting, fun”

By
admin
-

[≡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.≡]

Having watched the World Relays, I have a few comments to share with The Sports Examiner and subscribers:

● POSITIVE:

Mixed gender relays: refreshing, exciting, fun. Loved the 2x2x4 mixed, the shuttle hurdle mixed, and the 4×400 mixed. Lots of fun, requires strategy, intelligence, and comradeship. We need more of these “revolutionary “ ideas, and they’re becoming more common on all levels of competition.

● NEGATIVE:

The one false start rule.

Historically, the rule was that all competitors would get one false start.

This rule was eventually changed to one false start given to the field, with elimination from the event for a second one, regardless of the perpetrator of the first false start. The reason for this rule was to end the practice, prevailing at the time, of attempting to “steal” a start. It wasn’t unusual to witness three or more false starts in each heat of the shorter sprints and hurdles. This would cause meets to fall behind schedule, annoying athletes, coaches, and spectators.

With the advent of Title IX, where female participants grew in the number of events and competitors, the rule was changed to the current “one and done” on the high school and colleges levels, thereby keeping meets on schedule.

Eventually, the rule (one-and-done) was adopted on the international level. With electronic starting blocks detecting the slightest twitch, athletes would be disqualified for slight twitches, barely visible to the naked eye.

And there’s the rub:

While there is merit in the one-and-done rule, in terms of moving meets along on schedule, we have witnessed the elimination of the biggest track star in the 21st century, Usain Bolt, being eliminated in a World Championship final; and in the recent World Relays, the elimination of the Italian team in the mixed hurdle relay final, due to a false start by their lead-off runner.

With Jamaica dropping out of the final of that race (due to an injury), that left only two teams, the USA and Japan in a World Relays Final. Not a very exciting competition, only two teams in an international final.

These are two examples of the stupidity of the one false start rule. It is destructive to a sport in need of attracting fans. It makes no sense in championship FINALS and/or highly selective invitationals. How attractive would basketball be if players were fouling out with say, 1,2, or 3 personal fouls? Or baseball going to one strike, to move the game along. Ridiculous examples? Maybe, but you get the point. We want to see them play.

So, I propose maintaining the one-and-done rule in all heats, quarters, and semis (where the likelihood of a stolen start would be greatest); but allow the previous allotment of one false start on the field in championship finals and selected invitational finals (such as the Diamond League).

This would allow paying spectators the opportunity to see the best of the best, and forgive a twitch in a final. The athletes deserve it, the fans deserve it, and the sport would be better for it.

I’ll save my other pet peeve for another letter, but here’s a hint-hint: I hate staggers in any race longer than 200 meters. Thanks for listening.

~ Ron Brumel (Los Angeles, California)

SPEED READ: Headlines from The Sports Examiner for Monday, 13 May 2019

By
Rich Perelman
-

Welcome to The Sports Examiner SPEED READ, a 100 mph (44.7 m/s) review of what happened over the last 72 hours in Olympic sport:

LANE ONE

Monday: The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee was criticized last week for not spending enough on venue decor and sport presentation among other things. One International Federation executive had the nerve to say that funding for such “should not be looked at as a cost.” Say what? Are you kidding? When was your last drug test?

ARCHERY

Sunday: Korea’s Chae-Young Kang won her second straight World Archery World Cup, this time in Shanghai, as Korea swept the individual Recurve golds. The U.S. picked up four medals in the Compound Division, including a win for Braden Gellenthien in the men’s division.

ATHLETICS

Friday: A new world leader in the women’s 100 m, plus a new sub-2:00 attempt in the marathon coming for Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge … and more doping news.

Friday: Sensational world leader in the 110 m hurdles by Florida’s Grant Holloway: 13.07 … in the SEC Championships prelims! Wow!

Saturday: More SEC magic, as Kentucky’s Daniel Roberts beats Holloway in 13.07, plus a collegiate record for LSU freshman Mondo Duplantis!

Saturday: The U.S. wins two oddball events in the IAAF World Relays in Yokohama and qualifies for Sunday’s events.

Sunday: The U.S. topped the medal table at the fourth IAAF World Relays and qualified four of its five teams for the World Championships later in the year. But it was hardly a showcase performance …. but it was a lot better than what Jamaica did!

CURLING

Sunday: The finale of the first World Curling World Cup season finishes in a familiar way: golds for the Canadian men’s and women’s teams skipped by Kevin Koe and Jennifer Jones. But Norway took the Mixed Doubles title … beating a Canadian team in the final.

CYCLING

Saturday: Another Dutch win on the Women’s World Tour, as Lorena Wiebes compiles a perfect Tour of Chongming Island, winning all three stages!

Sunday: The famed Giro d’Italia is off and running with an immediate statement made by favorite Primoz Roglic, plus a long-overdue sprint win for Peter Sagan in the opening stage of the Amgen Tour of California!

Sunday: Dutch treat in the BMX SuperCross World Cup in Papendal, with a sweep of the men’s and women’s races by Niek Kimmann, Judy Baauw and Laura Smulders!

DIVING

Sunday: China sent its second team and still won half of the events at the Kazan Diving World Series, including two victories for platform star Hao Yang.

FENCING

Sunday: Germany’s Max Hartung, at 29, is enjoying a career year, including a win in the Sabre World Cup in Madrid, while no. 1-ranked Sofya Velikaya of Russia won her Sabre World Cup in Tunis.

FOOTBALL

Sunday: The U.S. women’s World Cup team defeated South Africa, 3-0, on Sunday, in Santa Clara in the first of its final three tune-up games before the Women’s World Cup in France. It was a dominating performance, but not necessarily one that meant much.

JUDO

Sunday: Homestanding Azerbaijan wins the most medals at the Baku Grand Slam, but Brazil and Japan are the only countries to register two golds.

ROWING

Sunday: The first World Cup of the 2019 season was in Plovdiv (BUL), with three wins for the Polish men and four for the Dutch women, plus a surprise for the World Champion Sinkovic brothers in the men’s Pairs!

RUGBY

Sunday: Fourth win in five tournaments for the Black Ferns of New Zealand in the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series in Canada. The U.S. women finished third and – along with New Zealand – clinched a berth in the Tokyo 2020 tournament with only one stage left!

SHOOTING

Saturday: Three U.S. stars won medals at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup, with Vincent Hancock and Christian Elliott going 1-2 in men’s Skeet and the immortal Kim Rhode won her 21st World Cup gold in the women’s Skeet. Wow!

SWIMMING

Saturday: First day of the FINA Champions Series in Budapest, with two world-leading marks and more wins for Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom.

Sunday: It was the Sarah Sjostrom show at the second FINA Champions Series in Budapest, as she won five events over the two days and $53,000. But two others won three events each and there were five world-leading marks!

Sunday: Brilliant, but close, wins in the FINA Marathon World Series in the Seychelles for Italy’s Arianna Bridi and France’s Marc-Antoine Olivier.

UPCOMING

Highlights of the coming week, with full coverage on TheSportsExaminer.com:

● Athletics: The second IAAF Diamond League comes this Saturday in Shanghai!

● Cycling: Continuing action at the Giro d’Italia and the Amgen Tour of California.

● Swimming: The fourth leg of the Tyr Pro Swim Series fires up in Bloomington, Indiana.

And a look at events around the world in more than a dozen sports this week!

CURLING: Canada sweeps men’s and women’s title in World Cup Grand Final, but Norway wins in Mixed Doubles

By
Rich Perelman
-
Canada's Jennifer Jones (at right), skip of the winning World Cup Grand Final women's team

The inaugural season of the World Curling Federation’s World Cup series finished in Beijing (CHN) in a familiar way, with victories for Canada’s men and women.

The Canadians fielded outstanding teams in this all-star match-up, and two-time men’s World Champion Kevin Koe had his rink in excellent form all week. They emerged from Group B with the same number of points as Ross Paterson’s Scotland team, but won that match-up, 7-6, to advance to the final against a surprise Group A winner in China, skipped by Qiang Zou.

They had outlasted Sweden’s world champs skipped by Niklas Edin, and PyeongChang Olympic champ John Shuster’s rink from the U.S. In the final, the game was played tightly, but Koe scored single points in ends 2-3-5-6 and another in the eighth for a 5-3 win.

The women’s tournament had Canada’s Jennifer Jones – the 2018 World Champion – outlasting Japan and Satsuki Fujisawa to advance to the final, while Silvana Tirinzoni’s reigning World Champions from Switzerland made it out of Group B. The final showcased the high skill on both sides, with multiple points scored in five different ends. Ultimately, Jones was able to coax points out of six of the eight ends for a 9-6 win, despite two three-point ends for the Swiss.

In the Mixed Doubles, Norway’s Olympic bronze medalists Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten were able to get past Canada’s Laura Walker and Kirk Muyeres, 8-3, thanks to three big-scoring ends, including three points in the second end and two each in ends 5 and 7.

Summaries:

World Curling World Cup Grand Final
Beijing (CHN) ~ 8-12 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men/ Final: Canada (Koe) d. China (Zou), 5-3. Group A standings: 1. China (Qiang Zou), 12 points; 2. Sweden (Niklas Edin), 9; 3. United States (John Shuster), 8; 4. Canada (Matt Dunstone), 7. Group B standings: Canada (Kevin Koe), 12; 2. Scotland (Ross Paterson), 12; 3. Switzerland (Yannick Schwaller), 9; 4. Norway (Thomas Ulsrud), 3.

Women/ Final: Canada (Jones) d. Switzerland (Tirinzoni), 9-6. Group A standings: 1. Canada (Jennifer Jones), 10; 2. Japan (Satsuki Fujisawa), 10; 3. China (Yulin Jiang), 9; 4. United States (Nina Roth), 7. Group B standings: 1. Switzerland (Silvana Tirinzoni), 13; 2. Russia (Anna Sidorova), 12; 3. Sweden (Anna Hasselborg), 6; 4. Korea (Minji Kim), 5.

Mixed Doubles/ Final: Skaslien/Nedregotten (NOR) d. Walker/Muyeres (CAN), 8-3. Group A standings: 1. Canada (Laura Walker/Kirk Muyeres), 14; 2. United States (Sarah Anderson/Korey Dropkin), 12; 3. Switzerland (Michele Jaeggi/Sven Michel), 7; 4. China (Cao Chang/Yuan Mingjie), 3. Group B standings: 1. Norway (Kristin Skaslien/Magnus Nedregotten), 1; 2. Canada (Kadriana Sahaidak/Colton Lott), 11; 3. Switzerland (Jenny Perret/Martin Rios), 7; 4. Russia (Maria Komarova/Daniil Goriachev), 2.

LANE ONE: Olympic budget pressures mean nothing to those who aren’t paying for the Games

By
Rich Perelman
-

Spending someone else’s money is pretty easy. The Olympic Movement has been great at it for decades.

The International Olympic Committee, especially under the administration of President Thomas Bach (GER), has found that host cities have gotten tired of the continuous bleating from it, from the International Federations and the National Olympic Committees, and has worked diligently to make the Olympic Games less costly.

But not everyone has gotten the memo … or understands it.

That became obvious last week during the SportAccord convention in Gold Coast (AUS), where the Tokyo 2020 organizers came in for considerable criticism – some deserved and some whining – about their preparations, just days after Bach called the 2020 Games one of the best prepared ever with more than a year to go.

There were complaints about the test-event program, accommodations, some athlete services, transportation and the venue decor and sports presentation. The International Tennis Federation’s Chief Operating Officer, Kelly Fairweather (RSA), had some remarkable advice for the 2020 organizing committee. Read this closely:

“The spectator experience is so, so important. I would urge you not to look at this as a cost.

“You spend all this money on construction and getting the Games ready, then cut budgets at the last minute. That is not going to be the best way to showcase the Games, your country and city. It is not worth it at all.”

Really? Not a cost? It is if you have to spend your money for it. And if it’s so important, where is the tennis federation with some help? After all, its 2018 financial statements showed $105 million in assets and annual revenues of $76.6 million for 2018.

This behavior is hardly new to veteran observers of Olympic Games. The senior member of the International Olympic Committee, Canada’s Dick Pound, wrote about precisely this phenomenon in his 1994 book, Five Rings Over Korea, about the IOC’s efforts to ensure the success of the 1988 Seoul Games. Pound noted:

“Often, the main role of the IOC in the period leading up to the Games is to act as referee between the Organizing Committee and the international federations, the latter wanting the best possible installations and some not caring either how much these installations may cost of what possible use the host city may have them for them once the Games are over. This is a standard problem in relation to the Olympic Games. Since they are the showcase for all sports, each international federation wants state-of-the-art facilities, with every imaginable bell and whistle, and as much spectator room as possible. Little, if any, serious thought is given to what the host city will do with the facility after the two weeks of the Games are finished. The IOC uses its influence to moderate these demands.”

It may have to do so again.

There is a lot to consider when reviewing Fairweather’s comments and those of Larisa Kiss (HUN) of the International Judo Federation, who complained that the current decor program is less than that used for major non-Olympic judo competitions in Japan.

Having worked on organizing committees for 20 different multi-day, multi-venue events, it’s never pleasant to be criticized, but it is also true that outsiders do not appreciate the internal processes and pressures of staging a large event. Tokyo 2020 has created one of the largest – if not the largest – national sponsorship programs in Olympic history and has just begun selling tickets for the Games to very high initial interest.

But it is also clear that it is having financial challenges. During its presentation to the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), Tokyo 2020’s Hide Nakamura reported that with regard to at least some of the design and presentation costs, “We have counted on the assistance of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Because of some restrictions, we now cannot count on their money.”

That’s a fairly astonishing statement, since venue decor and the execution of the sports program has always been a part of the organizing committee’s costs, and is not a welcome sign for the future. Remember that finances plagued the 2004 Athens organizers as well as Rio in 2016; costs rose substantially in London for the 2012 Games, but the government decided the fund the Games as much as was needed. There has been pushback on this in Tokyo.

But the sports presentation and “Look” concepts are areas which are created by organizing committees according to their needs and funding ability. Fairweather’s comments are especially noteworthy since he was the IOC’s Sports Director from 2003-07 before taking up positions with the International (field) Hockey Federation from 2010-16 and then tennis in 2017. He speaks from experience, but not as an organizer, but as an event owner and licensor.

So let’s cut to reality. There are two groups of spectators at an Olympic Games: (1) a live audience of several million, a vast majority of whom are from the host country, and (2) a television audience in the billions. So if we cut past the chatter, the audience that counts is not the one in the stands; it’s the television viewers and, in addition, readers who see the Games through photography online or in newspapers and magazines.

Any dollars (or yen) which are spent to decorate the venues beyond what the television audience will see is a candidate for reduction or removal. If you don’t have the money for it, it can’t be funded. And, despite what Fairweather says, it’s a cost because the organizers or the Japanese government – at some level – has to pay for it.

Is it better to have robust decor? Sure, but not at the expense of athlete services or safety. The Tokyo 2020 Sports Director, the 2004 Olympic hammer throw champ, Koji Murofushi, struck exactly the right note with his comment “I know there is a budget constraint, but we understand that athletes are first.”

And that is what is important. If the IOC and the International Federations actually believe their mantra that the Games are about the athletes, then they should concentrate on that and support the organizers to the extent they can do more in other areas.

More consultation between the Tokyo organizers and the International Federations will be welcome. Better ideas on how to stretch the budget will be helpful. But whining and saying that millions of dollars in decor for the 2020 Games is not a cost? That’s not only insulting, it calls for a doping-control test to be carried out immediately.

Rich Perelman
Editor

ROWING: Four wins for Dutch boats, three for Poland in opening World Cup in Plovdiv

By
Rich Perelman
-
Upset men's Pairs winners Martin Mackovic and Milas Vasic (SRB) in Plovdiv (Photo: Detlev Seyb via World Rowing)

The first of three World Cup regattas turned into a showcase for the men’s Polish team and the Dutch women’s squad, who came away with seven wins between them.

The Polish men had the best teams in the famed regatta course in Plovdiv (BUL), winning the Quadrupe Sculls, Fours and Eights. The Dutch women won the Fours and Eights, plus Lisa Scheenaard’s victory in the Single Sculls, and Aletta Jorritsma and Jose van Veen in the Women’s Pairs.

This first regatta did not have a lengthy list of Olympic and World Championships medal winners, but Croatia’s Damir Martin, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist in the Single Sculls, impressed with a win by more than six seconds over first-time World Cup medal winner Pilip Pavukou of Belarus.

There was a significant upset in the men’s Pairs, where Serbians Martin Mackovic and Milas Vasic won by almost two seconds over Martin and Valent Sinkovic (CRO), the 2018 World Champions.

China also had a strong showing, with wins in the men’s and women’s Double Sculls and the women’s Quadruple Sculls. The second World Cup will be in Poznan (POL) in late June; summaries from Plovdiv:

World Rowing World Cup I
Plovdiv (BUL) ~ 10-12 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men

Single Sculls: 1. Damir Martin (CRO), 7:26.90; 2. Pilip Pavukou (BLR), 7:33.04; 3. Robert Ven (FIN), 7:37.29.

Double Sculls: 1. Zhiyu Liu/Liang Zhang (CHN), 6:31.32; 2. Dominik Czaja/Adam Wicenciak (POL), 6:33.93; 3. Stanislau Shcharbachenia/Dzianis Mihal (BLR), 6:35.95.

Quadruple Sculls: 1. Poland, 6:01.260; 2. Moldova, 6:10.520; 3. Romania, 6:10.730.

Pairs: 1. Martin Mackovic/Milas Vasic (SRB), 6:34.05; 2. Martin Sinkovic/Valent Sinkovic (CRO), 6:36.03; 3. Jaime Canalejo Pazos/Javier Garcia Ordonez (ESP), 6:37.50.

Fours: 1. Poland, 6:08.400; 2. Romania, 6:10.700; 3. Austria, 6:14.110.

Eights: 1. Poland, 5:54.380; 2. Romania, 5:57.350; only finishers.

Lightweight Single Sculls: 1. Peter Galambos (HUN), 6:54.55; 2. Milosz Jankowski (POL); 3. Luka Radonic (CRO), 7:04.89.

Lightweight Double Sculls: 1. Tim Brys/Niels van Zandweghe (BEL), 6:40.40; 2. Artur Mikolajczewski/Jerzy Kowalski (POL), 6:42.99; 3. Pedro Fraga/Afonso Costa (POR), 6:43.71.

Women

Single Sculls: 1. Lisa Scheenaard (NED), 8:04.01; 2. Yan Jiang (CHN), 8:05.37; 3. Mirka Knapkova (CZE), 8:08.45.

Double Sculls: 1. Shiyu Lu/Yuwei Wang (CHN), 7:14.46; 2. Tatsiana Klimovich/Krystsina Staraselets (BLR), 7:17.97; 3. Aimee Hernandez Delgado/Yariulvis Cobas Garcia (CUB), 7:21.99.

Quadruple Sculls: 1. China, 6:38.34; 2. Netherlands, 6:39.72; only entries.

Pairs: 1. Aletta Jorritsma/Jose van Veen (NED), 7:22.70; 2. Miaomiamo Qin/Linlin Guo (CHN), 7:23.31; 3. Felice Mueller/Emily Regan (USA), 7:23.56. Also: 5. Erin Reelick/Madeleine Wanamaker (USA), 7:25.75.

Fours: 1. Netherlands, 6:42.82; 2. United States (O’Brien, Doonan, Regan, Mueller), 6:45.93; 3. China, 6:48.02. Also: 4. United States (Opitz, Musnicki, Mooney, Bruggeman), 6:53.82; 5. United States (Reelick, Wanamaker, Huelskamp, Coffey), 7:05.73.

Eights: 1. Netherlands, 6:38.840; 2. China, 6:45.180; 3. Romania, 6:50.420.

Lightweight Single Sculls: 1. Alena Furman (BLR), 7:36.48; 2. Wenyi Huang (CHN), 7:45.50; 3. Kenia Lechuga Alanis (MEX), 7:51.22.

Lightweight Double Sculls: 1. Qiang Wu/Dandan Pan (CHN), 7:23.04; 2. Martine Veldhuis/Ilse Paulis (NED), 7:26.97; 3. Katarzyna Welna/Joanna Dorociak (POL), 7:28.14.

SWIMMING: Bridi outlasts Cunha again in Seychelles Marathon World Series

By
Rich Perelman
-
The idyllic scene for the FINA Marathon Swim Series in the Seychelles. (Photo: FINA)

A strong turnout of 75 swimmers from 19 countries came to the exotic location of The Seychelles off the African coast for the second of nine stages of the 2019 FINA Marathon World Series. While the men’s race had plenty of twists and turns, the women’s race was a re-run of 2018.

The six-lap race started slowly, but by the fifth lap, the speed was increasing with two-time World Champion Aurelie Muller (FRA), Olympic silver medalist Rachele Bruni, 2017 World Series winner Arianna Bridi and four-time Series winner Ana Marcela Cunha pressing the pace.

On lap six, Cunha attacked with 500 m remaining before the finish and only Bridi went with her and out-touched her for a 2/10ths-of-a-second victory. It was the same 1-2 finish as in the 2018 race at the Seychelles.

France’s Lara Grangeon came up for third and won her first career World Series medal.

The men’s race featured a strong pace from 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Marc-Antoine Olivier, but he was under pressure from a line of swimmers. As the finish neared, the sprint for the touch was won by Olivier, but with three more right behind, finishing within three more seconds. Australia’s Nicholas Sloman got to the line second, just ahead of Hungary’s Kristof Rasovszky.

Olivier said afterwards, “It was difficult with the hot weather; I’m very happy to win. At the finish, I was thinking about my last heat swimming a 100 m race and think about the pain in that race. The Seychelles is beautiful and yesterday I enjoyed myself swimming in the sea with many fish.”

Ah, the life of an open water swimmer! Summaries:

FINA Marathon World Series
Seychelles ~ 12 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men (10 km): 1. Marc-Antoine Olivier (FRA), 1:56:02:00; 2. Nicholas Sloman (AUS), 1:56:04.10; 3. Kristof Rasovszky (HUN), 1:56:04.30; 4. Ferry Weertman (NED), 1:56:04.80; 5. Bailey Armstrong (AUS), 1:56:14.10; 6. Kai Graeme Edwards (AUS), 1:56:24.70; 7. Hayden Paul Cotter (AUS), 1:56:29.70; 8. Matteo Furlan (ITA), 1:56:33.20; 9. Yuval Safra (ISR), 1:56:38.70; 10. Evgenii Drattcev (RUS), 1:56:59.60.

Women (10 km): 1. Arianna Bridi (ITA), 2:01:33.90; 2. Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA), 2:01:34.10; 3. Lara Grangeon (FRA), 2:01:41.10; 4. Rachele Bruni (ITA), 2:01:41.70; 5. Aurlie Muller (FRA), 2:01:44.40; 6. Kareena Lee (AUS), 2:01:55.70; 7. Angelica Andre (POR), 2:01:57.00; 8. Chelsea Gubecka (AUS), 2:01:57.10; 9. Anna Olasz (HUN), 2:01:57.50; 10. Mackenzie Brazier (AUS), 2:01:57.90.

CYCLING: Roglic confirms his favorite’s status with Time Trial win in Giro d’Italia; Sagan wins opening sprint in Amgen Tour

By
Rich Perelman
-
Two-time Tour de Romandie winner Primoz Roglic (SLO) (Photo: Geof Sheppard via Wikimedia)

Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic entered this year’s Giro d’Italia undefeated in his three races in 2019: the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour de Romandie. And he wasted no time taking charge of the Maglia Rosa – the pink leader’s jersey – by winning the time trial on Saturday’s first day of the 2019 race. “It’s a really nice feeling,” he said. “We did a perfect job and I’m super happy.”

He finished the 8.0 km course in just 12:54, giving him a 19-second edge over Simon Yates (GBR) and 23 over Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali. He maintained that edge through the second stage, a sprinter’s finish won by Germany’s Pascal Ackermann over Elia Viviani (ITA) and Caleb Ewan (AUS).

This week’s stages are all hilly; the first mountain stage is on 23 May. Summaries and stage profiles are shown below.

In Sacramento, California, Slovakian superstar Peter Sagan won the final sprint with a perfectly-positioned, perfectly-timed flyer at the end of the flat first stage in the Amgen Tour of California.

It was not only the 17th stage win for Sagan in the Amgen Tour – the most of anyone all-time – but his first win since January in Australia, a long drought for the three-time World Road Race Champion. He was a happy rider when he crossed the line first, barely ahead of USA Cycling rider Travis McCabe. Summaries are below.

UCI World Tour/Giro d’Italia
Italy ~ 11 May-2 June 2019
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (8.0 km Time Trial): 1. Primoz Roglic (SLO), 12:54; 2. Simon Yates (GBR), 13:13; 3. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), 13:17; 4. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL), 13:22; 5. Tom Dumoulin (NED), 13:22. Also in the top 25: 21. Chad Haga (USA), 13:48.

Stage 2 (205.0 km): 1. Pascal Ackermann (GER), 4:44:43; 2. Elia Viviani (ITA), 4:44:43; 3. Caleb Ewan (AUS), 4:44:43; 4. Fernando Gaviria (COL), 4:44:43; 5. Arnaud Demare (FRA), 4:44:43.

13 May: Stage 3 (220.0 km) ~ Vinci to Orbetello (hilly)
14 May: Stage 4 (235.0 km) ~ Orbetello to Frascati (hilly)
15 May: Stage 5 (140.0 km) ~ Frascati to Terracina (hilly)
16 May: Stage 6 (238.0 km) ~ Cassino to San Giovanni Rotondo (hilly)
17 May: Stage 7 (185.0 km) ~ Vasto to L’Aquila (hilly)
18 May: Stage 8 (239.0 km) ~ Tortoreto Lido to Pesaro (flat)
19 May: Stage 9 (34.8 km Time Trial) ~ Riccione to San Marino
20 May: Rest day
21 May: Stage 10 (145.0 km)~ Ravenna to Modena (flat)
22 May: Stage 11 (221.0 km) ~ Carpi to Novi Ligure (flat)
23 May: Stage 12 (158.0 km) ~ Cuneo to Pinerolo (hilly)
24 May: Stage 13 (196.0 km) ~ Pinerolo to Ceresole Reale (mountains)
25 May: Stage 14 (131.9 km) ~ Saint Vincent to Courmayeur (mountains)
26 May: Stage 15 (232.0 km) ~ Ivrea to Como (hilly)
27 May: Rest day
28 May: Stage 16 (226.0 km) ~ Lovere to Ponte di Legno (mountains)
29 May: Stage 17 (181.0 km) ~ Commezzadura to Anterselva/Antholz (mountains)
30 May: Stage 18 (222.0 km) ~ Valdaora / Olang to Santa Maria di Sala (flat)
31 May: Stage 19 (151.0 km) ~ Treviso to San Martino di Castrozza (mountains)
01 June: Stage 20 (194.0 km) ~ Feltre to Croce D’Aune-Monte Avena (mountains)
02 June: Stage 21 (17.0 km Time Trial) ~ Verona to Verona

UCI World Tour/Amgen Tour of California
California (USA) ~ 12-18 May 2019
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (143.0 km): 1. Peter Sagan (SVK), 3:14:10; 2. Travis McCabe (USA), 3:14:10; 3. Max Walscheid (GER), 3:14:10; 4. Kristoffer Halvorsen (NOR), 3:14:10; 5. Michael Morkov (DEN), 3:14:10. Also: 13. Miguel Bryon (USA), 3:14:14; … 20. Michael Hernandez (USA), 3:14:14; … 22. Gavin Mannion (USA), 3:14:14; … 25. Neilson Powless (USA), 3:14:14.

13 May: Stage 2 (194.5 km): Rancho Cordova to South Lake Tahoe (hilly)
14 May: Stage 3 (207.0 km): Stockton to Morgan Hill (mountains)
15 May: Stage 4 (212.5 km): Raceway Laguna Seca to Morro Bay (hilly)
16 May: Stage 5 (218.5 km): Pismo Beach to Ventura (mountains)
17 May: Stage 6 (127.5 km): Ontario to Mount Baldy (mountain finish)
18 May: Stage 7 (141.0 km): Santa Clarita to Pasadena (mountains)

RUGBY: Fourth win for the Black Ferns as U.S. clinches Tokyo 2020 spot in Langford Sevens

By
Rich Perelman
-
New Zealand's victorious Black Ferns

New Zealand’s Black Ferns have been in charge of the Women’s Sevens Series from the start, winning the first three series and now taking their fourth title of the season in Langford (CAN) by defeating Australia, 21-17, in the final.

With just one leg to go, the Black Ferns have 92 points to 80 for the United States, 78 for Canada and 74 for Australia. The top four finishers in the seasonal standings will be qualified for the Tokyo 2020 tournament; with France fifth with 60 and one more tournament to go, New Zealand and the U.S. are in and Canada and Australia are almost in.

It’s a considerable achievement for the U.S., which has never finished higher than fourth in the seasonal standings!

Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. all had perfect, 3-0 records in pool play. The U.S. edged Canada, 12-7, in the quarterfinals and met New Zealand in the semis, losing 26-12. The Black Ferns moved on to the final and had a tough time with Sevens Series defending champion Australia, finally winning, 21-17.

The U.S. met France in the third-place match and won easily, 26-5. It was the fourth medal of the season and the American women have finished 2-4-3-3-3 in the five legs this season.

Canada’s superstar Ghislaine Landry led the scoring in this round with 42 points, just ahead of Ireland’s Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Ellia Green (AUS) and Tyla Nathan-Wong (NZL), all with 40. The top U.S. scorer was Alev Kelter with 30. Summaries:

World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series
Langford (CAN) ~ 11-12 May 2019
(Full results here)

Final Standings: 1. New Zealand; 2. Australia; 3. United States; 4. France; 5. Canada; 6. England; 7. Russia; 8. Spain. Semis: New Zealand d. U.S., 26-12; Australia d. France, 26-19. Third: U.S. d. France, 26-5. Final: New Zealand d. Australia, 21-17.

JUDO: Azerbaijan scores seven medals to lead Japan in Baku Grand Slam

By
Rich Perelman
-
Brazil's Olympic Champion Rafaela Silva (in blue) (Photo: IJF/Gabriela Sabau)

A large field of 431 judoka from 57 countries entered the Baku Grand Slam, and the home team came through with the most medals.

Azerbaijani fighters collected seven medals in all, including a win from Hidayat Heydarov in 73 kg, plus two silver medals and four bronzes for a total of seven. That was two better than Japan (5) and three more than Spain and Russia (4).

Japan and Brazil were the only countries with two wins. The Japanese, which sent a parial squad of their top judoka, had victories by Miko Tashiro in the women’s 63 kg class and from two-time World Champion Chizuru Arai in the women’s 70 kg division.

Brazil’s 2016 Olympic star Rafaela Silva showed she will be in the conversation in Tokyo next year with another win at 57 kg, and Felipe Kitadai won the men’s 60 kg class. Summaries:

IJF World Tour/Baku Grand Slam
Baku (AZE) ~ 10-12 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men

-60 kg: 1. Felipe Kitadai (BRA); 2. Temur Nozadze (GEO); 3. Amartusvshin Dashdavaa (MGL) and Yago Abuladze (RUS).

-66 kg: 1. Denis Vieru (MDA); 2. Nijat Shikhalizada (AZE); 3. Bogdan Iadov (UKR) and Baskhuu Yondonperenlei (MGL).

-73 kg: 1. Hidayat Heydarov (AZE); 2. Tohar Butbul (ISR); 3. Telman Valiyev (AZE) and Rustam Orujov (AZE).

-81 kg: 1. Sagi Muki (ISR); 2. Ivaylo Ivanov (BUL); 3. Matthias Casse (BEL) and Tato Grigalashvili (GEO).

-90 kg: 1. Nemanja Majdov (SRB); 2. Mammadali Mehdiyev (AZE); 3. Krisztian Toth (HUN) and Nikoloz Sherazadishvili (ESP).

-100 kg: 1. Michael Korrel (NED); 2. Kazbek Zankishiev (RUS); 3. Zelym Kotsoiev (AZE) and Benjamin Fletcher (IRL).

+100 kg: 1. Gela Zaalishvili (GEO); 2. Ruslan Shakhbazov (RUS); 3. Vladut Simionescu (ROU) and Anton Krivobokov (RUS).

Women

-48 kg: 1. Laura Martinez Abelenda (ESP); 2. Julia Figueroa (ESP); 3. Catarina Costa (POR) and Milica Nikolic (SRB).

-52 kg: 1. Amandine Buchard (FRA); 2. Ai Shishime (JPN); 3. Gefen Primo (ISR) and Larissa Pimenta (BRA).

-57 kg: 1. Rafaela Silva (BRA); 2. Tsukasa Yoshida (JPN); 3. Helene Receveaux (FRA) and Hedvig Karakas (HUN).

-63 kg: 1. Miku Tashiro (JPN); 2. Tina Trstenjak (SRB); 3. Juul Franssen (NED) and Martyna Trados (GER).

-70 kg: 1. Chizuru Arai (JPN); 2. Anna Berholm (SWE); 3. Maria Bernabeu (ESP) and Gemma Howell (GBR).

-78 kg: 1. Luise Malzahn (GER); 2. Anna Maria Wagner (GER); 3. Shori Hamada (JPN) and Madeleine Malonga (FRA).

+78 kg: 1. Yalyzaveta Kalanina (UKR); 2. Larisa Ceric (BIH); 3. Iryna Kindzerska (AZE) and Anamari Veleksek (SLO).

FOOTBALL: U.S. hardly sharp, but dominates South Africa, 3-0, in Santa Clara

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. midfielder Sam Mewis

The United States women’s national squad didn’t have to play much defense against South Africa, but found the going tougher on offense and settled for a 3-0 win at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Sunday.

The South Africans, who will play in the 2019 World Cup in France, were unable to manage any sustained offense against the U.S., which played almost all of the game on offense.

The first half was slow, but got a goal in the 37th minute on a right-footed rocket on a twist-and-shoot move from midfielder Sam Mewis for a 1-0 lead and the only goal of the half.

U.S. coach Jill Ellis subbed liberally in the second half, including bringing Megan Rapinoe – recovering from a calf injury – into the game for more offense.

That proved to be a key move, as Rapinoe was the key to a second goal, in the 78th minute. Her cross into the box pinpointed where Mewis and South Africa substitute keeper Kaylin Swart were going to collide, and as the ball ricocheted off of Swart, it hit Mewis and dribbled into the goal for a 2-0 advantage. The two goals were Mewis’s 10th and 11th career international goals.

The game was well decided, but the U.S. kept attacking into stoppage time. That resulted in a third goal, as Rapinoe’s cross found Mallory Pugh in the box. There was a lot of congestion, but Pugh’s left-footed boot dribbled toward Carli Lloyd, who kicked the ball into the goal for the final score. It was the 108th international goal for Lloyd.

The U.S. has a 19-5 advantage in shots and a 69-31% advantage in possession.

The U.S. women have their next tune-up match against another 2019 Women’s World Cup team, New Zealand, on Thursday (16th) in St. Louis.

FENCING: Veterans Hartung and Velikaya score tight wins in Sabre Grand Prix events in Europe

By
Rich Perelman
-
German Sabre star Max Hartung (Photo: Wikipedia)

Germany’s Max Hartung may be, at 29, entering his prime. His victory in the FIE Sabre World Cup in Madrid (ESP) has moved him up to no. 3 in the federation’s world rankings, his highest ranking ever, with a 15-14 win over Hungary’s 2012-16 Olympic gold medalist Aron Szilagyi (HUN).

The victory continues a career year for Hartung, who also won the Budapest World Cup and took a bronze in the Seoul Grand Prix. He’s now up to seven career World Cup medals in his career (3-0-4).

American Eli Dershwitz came into the tournament ranked no. 1 and finished fifth – losing in the quarterfinals – for the fifth tournament in a row! That has to be some kind of record, but his strong showings have kept him at the top of the rankings.

The women’s Sabre World Cup in Algeria showcased no. 1-ranked Sofya Velikaya (RUS), who won over surprise finalist Jiarui Qian, 26. It was Qian’s first-ever World Cup final; she had only won one prior World Cup medal – a bronze – back in 2016.

The final was tight, with Velikaya winning, 15-12, for her third World Cup and Grand Prix medal this season. She now has, at 33, 16 career World Cup medals (7-3-6) and 23 career Grand Prix medals … that’s 39 all told, and she’s far from done. Summaries:

FIE Sabre World Cup
Madrid (ESP) ~ 10-12 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Sabre: 1. Max Hartung (GER); 2. Aron Szilagyi (HUN); 3. Jun-Ho Kim (KOR) and Sang-Uk Oh (KOR). Semis: Szilagyi d. Oh, 15-8; Hartung d. Kim, 15-14. Final: Hartung d. Szilagyi, 15-14.

Team Sabre: 1. Italy; 2. Russia; 3. Korea; 4. Hungary. Semis: Russia d. Korea, 45-41; Italy d. Hungary, 45-41. Third: Korea d. Hungary, 45-38. Final: Italy d. Russia, 45-31.

FIE Sabre World Cup
Tunis (ALG) ~ 10-12 May 2019
(Full results here)

Women’s Sabre: 1. Sofya Velikaya (RUS); 2. Jiarui Qian (CHN); 3. Charlotte Lembach (FRA) and Irene Vecchi (ITA). Semis: Velikaya d. Lembach, 15-6; Qian d. Vecchi, 15-14. Final: Velikaya d. Qian, 15-12.

Team Sabre: 1. Italy; 2. Ukraine; 3. Korea; 4. Japan. Semis: Ukraine d. Korea, 45-39; Italy d. Japan, 45-30. Third: Korea d. Japan, 45-43. Final: Italy d. Ukraine, 45-42.

DIVING: China’s second team wins five of 10 events at Kazan World Series

By
Rich Perelman
-
Double World Series winner in Kazan: Hao Yang (CHN)

The FINA World Series is designed to be the highest level of “regular-season” competition in diving, but China’s domination of the sport was demonstrated in the meet in Kazan (RUS).

The Chinese sent a second-line team, which still managed to win five of the 10 events and won 11 medals overall, by far the most of any country. Hao Yang won two events, the men’s 10 m Platform and the Synchro 10 m with Junjie Luan.

Great Britain’s two-time World 10 m Champion Tom Daley was the busiest performer, winning three medals with a bronze in the men’s 10 m Platform, a bronze in the Synchro 10 m with Matthew Lee and a bronze in the Synchro 3 m with Grace Reid.

The World Series will finish with the fifth leg, in London (GBR), next week. Summaries:

FINA Diving World Series
Kazan (RUS) ~ 10-12 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men

3 m Springboard: 1. Jack Laugher (GBR), 499.30; 2. Evgenii Kuznetsov (RUS), 466.60; 3. Jianfeng Peng (CHN), 464.95.

10 m Platform: 1. Hao Yang (CHN), 537.05; 2. Aleksandr Bondar (RUS), 522.60; 3. Tom Daley (GBR), 520.40.

Synchro 3 m: 1. Oleg Kolodiy/Oleksandr Gorshkovozov (UKR), 403.26; 2. Nikita Shleikher/Evgenii Kuznetsov (RUS), 401.94; 3. Juan Manuel Celaya/Yahel Castillo (MEX), 400.53.

Synchro 10 m: 1. Hao Yang/Junjie Lian (CHN), 444.18; 2. Aleksandr Bondar/Viktor Minibaev (RUS), 403.02; 3. Matthew Lee/Tom Daley (GBR), 395.82.

Women

3 m Springboard: 1. Jennifer Abel (CAN), 330.60; 2. Shan Lin (CHN), 303.60; 3. Yani Chang (CHN), 302.20.

10 m Platform: 1. Mi Rae Kim (PRK), 373.40; 2. Minjie Zhang (CHN), 364.60; 3. Yuxi Chen (CHN), 356.95.

Synchro 3 m: 1. Shan Lin/Yani Chang (CHN), 302.01; 2. Annabelle Smith/Maddison Keeney (AUS), 283.98; 3. Viktoriya Kesar/Anna Pysmenska (UKR), 273.60.

Synchro 10 m: 1. Haoyan Yuan/Yuxi Chen (CHN), 338.70; 2. Mi Rae Kim/Jin-Mi Jo (PRK), 315.42; 3. Ekaterina Beliaeva/Iullia Timoshinina (RUS), 292.20.

Mixed

Synchro 3 m: 1. Domonic Bedggood/Maddison Keeney (AUS), 318.12; 2. Yiwen Chen/Xiaohu Tai (CHN), 313.26; 3. Tom Daley/Grace Reid (GBR), 304.14.

Synchro 10 m: 1. Yu Duan/Minjie Zhang (CHN), 339.42; 2. Il Myong Hyon/Jin-Mi Jo (PRK), 314.28; 3. Vincent Riendeau/Caeli McKay (CAN), 312.42.

CYCLING: Kimmann, Baauw & Smulders sweep BMX Supercross World Cup in Papendal

By
Rich Perelman
-
Dutch World Champion and 2012 Olympic BMX bronze winner Laura Smulders

The BMX SuperCross World Cup in Papendal (NED) figured to be friendly to the homestanding Dutch riders, but world champs Niek Kimmann and Laura Smulders dominated the two days, winning four medals between them, including three golds.

Kiemmann won cleanly on both days, finishing 0.446 ahead of Alfredo Campo (ECU) in Saturday’s race and 0.252 up on France’s Joris Daudet on Sunday. Kiemann, the reigning World Cup champ, now has four wins at Papendal in his career, more than anyone else.

Smulders, the three-time defending World Cup winner, won for the sixth time at Papendal in the 12 races held there. She won on Sunday after finishing third to teammate Judy Baauw and American Alise Willoughby on Saturday. Willoughby was again second on Sunday, her third top-four finish in four races this season. Summaries:

UCI BMX World Cup
Papendal (NED) ~ 10-12 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men I: 1. Niek Kimmann (NED), 35.306; 2. Alfredo Campo (ECU), 35.772; 3. Jeremy Rencurel (FRA), 36.369; 4. Kai Sakakibara (AUS), 36.594; 5. David Graf (SUI), 37.057.

Men II: Kimmann (NED), 34.951; 2. Joris Daudet (FRA), 35.203; 3. Sylvaina Andre (FRA), 35.365; 4. David Graf (SUI), 35.543; 5. Jared Garcia (USA), 36.265. Also: 7. Corben Sharrah (USA), 36.594.

Women I: Judy Baauw (NED), 37.516; 2. Alise Willoughby (USA), 37.660; 3. Laura Smulders (NED), 37.956; 4. Simone Christensen (DEN), 37.988; 5. Ruby Huisman (NED), 38.283. Also: 6. Felicia Stancil (USA), 39.769.

Women II: 1. Smulders (NED), 36.556; 2. Willoughby (USA), 37.159; 3. Stancil (USA), 37.769; 4. Lauren Reynolds (AUS), 37.840; 5. Baauw (NED), 38.214.

ARCHERY: Kang takes second straight World Cup win; U.S. takes four Compound titles in Shanghai

By
Rich Perelman
-
Korea's World Cup winner Chae-Young Kang (Photo: World Archery)

It’s early in the season, but Korea’s Chae-Young Kang is making it clear that despite her youth, she is going to be a candidate for all honors at the World Championships and the Olympic Games in the women’s division.

The 22-year-old from Seoul won the second World Cup of the season with an emphatic 6-0 win over Tomoni Sugimoto of Japan, to go along with her 6-0 win in the opening World Cup in Colombia over Melanie Gaubil (FRA).

Korea swept the individual Recurve honors as Woo-Seok Lee overcame American Brady Ellison in the semifinals – Ellison won in Colombia – and won the final against 2015 World Champion Woojin Kim, 6-2. Ellison finished third, swamping Dutch shooter Sjef van den Berg, 6-0.

The U.S. scored well in the non-Olympic Compound division, winning the men’s individual title (Braden Gellenthien) and taking silver (Sophia Strachan) and bronze (Alexis Ruiz) in the women’s competition. For Strachan, 20, it was her first career World Cup medal, and those two combined with Jamie Van Natta to win the women’s Team Compound title. Gellenthien, Kris Schaff and Matt Sullivan won the men’s Team Compound division. Sullivan and Ruiz won the Mixed Doubles Compound title. Summaries:

World Archery World Cup
Shanghai (CHN) ~ 6-12 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men

Recurve: 1. Woo-Seok Lee (KOR); 2. Woojin Kim (KOR); 3. Brady Ellison (USA); 4. Sjef van den Berg (NED). Semis: Kim d. van den Berg, 7-1; Lee d. Ellison, 6-4. Third: Ellison d. van den Berg, 6-0. Final: Lee d. Kim, 6-2.

Team Recurve: 1. Chinese Taipei (Wei, Deng, Tang); 2. Turkey; 3. Korea; 4. Bangladesh. Semis: Chinese Taipei d. Korea, 5-1; Turkey d. Bangladesh, 5-3. Third: Korea d. Bangladesk, 6-2. Final: Chinese Taipei d. Turkey, 5-1.

Compound: 1. Braden Gellenthien (USA); 2. Brend Frederickx (BEL); 3. Roberto Hernandez (ESA); 4. Evren Cagiran (TUR). Semis: Gellenthien d. Hernandez, 147-146; Frederickx d. Cagiran, 147-146. Third: Hernandez d. Cagiran, 146-144. Final: Gellenthien d. Frederickx, 148-147.

Team Compound: 1. United States (Matt Sullivan, Kris Schaff, Braden Gellenthien); 2. Korea; 3. China; 4. Turkey. Semis: U.S. d. China, 237-236; Korea d. Turkey, 235-234. Third: China d. Turkey, 230-229. Final: U.S. d. Korea, 238-235.

Women

Recurve: 1. Chae-Young Kang (KOR); 2. Tomoni Sugimoto (JPN); 3. Ya-Ting Tan (TPE); 4. Nur Afisa Abdul Halil (MAS). Semis: Sugimoto d. Tan, 6-2; Kang d. Abdul Halil, 6-0. Third: Tan d. Abdul Halil, 6-2. Final: Kang d. Sugimoto, 6-0.

Team Recurve: 1. Korea (Kang, Choi, Chang); 2. China; 3. Chinese Taipei; 4. Iran. Semis: Korea d. Iran, 6-2; China d. Chinese Taipei, 6-0. Third: Chinese Taipei d. Iran, 6-2. Final: Korea d. China, 6-0.

Compound: 1. Chae-Won So (KOR); 2. Sophia Strachan (USA); 3. Alexis Ruiz (USA); 4. Sha Luo (CHN). Semis: So d. Ruiz, 145-145 (shoot-off: 10-9); Strachan d. Luo, 146-140. Third: Ruiz d. Luo, 147-146. Final: So d. Strachan, 148-140.

Team Compound: 1. United States (Alexis Ruiz, Sophia Strachan, Jamie Van Natta); 2. Korea; 3. Turkey; 4. Korea. Semis: Turkey d. Korea, 231-226; U.S. d. Chinese Taipei, 232-229. Third: Turkey d. Chinese Taipei, 227-225. Final: U.S. d. Korea, 229-229 (shoot-off: 30-29).

Mixed

Team Recurve: 1. Ya-Ting Tan/Chih-Chun Tang (TPE); 2. Yasemin Anagoz/Mete Gazoz (TUR); 3. Mi-Sun Choi/Woo-Seok Lee (KOR); 4. Bryony Pitman/Tom Hall (GBR).
Semis: Turkey d. Korea, 6-2; Chinese Taipei d. Great Britain, 5-1. Third: Choi/Lee d. Pitman/Hall, 6-2. Final: Tan/Tang d. Anagoz/Gazoz, 6-0.

Team Compound: 1. Alexis Ruiz/Matt Sullivan (USA); 2. Sarah Prieels/Brend Frederickx (BEL); 3. Seyedeh-Vida Halimianavval/Mohammad Palizban (IRI); 4. Hung-Ting Cheng/Ka King Yen (HKG). Semis: Prieels/Frederickx d. Halimianavval/Palizban, 158-155; Ruiz/Sullivan d. Cheng/Yen, 159-150. Third: Halimianavval/Palizban d. Cheng/Yen, 153-151. Final: Ruiz/Sullivan d. Prieels/Frederickx, 156-150.

SWIMMING: Sjostrom wins 5, Hosszu and Efimova win 3 in Budapest FINA Champs Series

By
Rich Perelman
-
Swedish swimming sprint superstar Sarah Sjostrom

One of the goals of the FINA Champions Series was to showcase the world’s finest swimmers. It has created a focus on one swimmer as the one to beat later this summer at the World Championships: Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden.

She won four of five events at the first stop in Guangzhou (CHN) and returned to Europe to sweep all five of her events at the second leg at the Duna Arena in Budapest (HUN). She won the 50-100-200 m Freestyles and the 50-100 m Butterfly events, logging a 2019 world leader in the 50 m Fly in 25.32. Her 23.97 winner in the 50 m Free was the second fastest time in the world this season, with only her 23.91 world leader faster.

Sjostrom won $50,000 for her trouble, with $10,000-8,000-6,000-5,000 paid to the four finishers in each individual race.

Meanwhile, two more stars won three races each: Russian Yuliya Efimova won all three women’s Breaststroke events, including a world-leading 1:05.99 in the 100 m Breast, and home favorite Katinka Hosszu won the 100 m Back, 200 m Fly and 200 m Medley, each earning $30,000.

Sjostrom and Efimova also won some relay bonuses, with a second (Sjostrom) and a third (Efimova), earning another $3,000 and 2,000, respectively. That gave Sjostrom a total prize haul of $53,000 for the week, on top of the $51,000 she won in Guangzhou.

Besides Sjostrom, Efimova and Hosszu, there were two other multi-event winners on the weekend: Danas Rapsys (LTU) in the men’s 200-400 m Frees and Russia’s Evgenii Rylov in the 100-200 m Backstrokes. Rapsys was especially impressive in winning the 200 m Free in 3:43.36. equal-second-fastest in 2019, and moving him to equal-11th all-time in the event. So, five swimmers won 15 of the 28 events on the program.

Although the fields in Budapest were quite different from Guangzhou, there were still repeat winners in 10 of the 28 individual events, with Sjostrom accounting for four:

● Men/50 m Freestyle: Ben Proud (GBR)
● Men/100 m Freestyle: Pieter Timmers (BEL)
● Men/100 m Breaststroke: Fabio Scozzoli (ITA)
● Men/200 m Breaststroke: Anton Chupkov (RUS)
● Men/50 m Butterfly: Nicholas Santos (BRA)
● Women/100 m Freestyle: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
● Women/200 m Freestyle: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
● Women/50 m Butterfly: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
● Women/100 m Butterfly: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
● Women/200 m Medley: Katinka Hosszu (HUN)

How good was the swimming? The meet produced – during a time of heavy training for many swimmers – five 2019 world leaders:

● Men/50 m Butterfly: 22.60, Nicholas Santos (BRA)
● Women/50 m Breaststroke: 30.26, Yuliya Efimova (RUS)
● Women/100 m Breaststroke: 1:05.99, Yuliya Efimova (RUS)
● Women/50 m Butterfly: 25.32, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
● Women/200 m Butterfly: 2:06.62 Katinka Hosszu (HUN)

The U.S. got a win – its first of the series – in the final men’s individual race, as Justin Ress, 21, won the 50 m Backstroke, just ahead of 2012 Olympic champ Matt Grevers, 24.68-24.88.

Attendance was good, but well short of capacity at the 6,000-seat Duna Arena in Budapest and the now-normal razzmatazz of loud music, a screaming announcer and lighting effects served to hype up the event, but not draw a sell-out crowd. But for a first-year event, it’s a good start, and there is one more leg – in Indianapolis – in three weeks. Summaries:

FINA Champions Series II
Budapest (HUN) ~ 11-12 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Freestyle: 1. Ben Proud (GBR), 21.52; 2. Bruno Fratus (BRA), 21.67; 3. Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 21.77; 4. Anthony Ervin (USA), 22.82.

100 m Free: 1. Pieter Timmers (BEL), 48.32; 2. Mehdy Metella (FRA), 48.62; 3. Morozov (RUS), 49.03; 4. Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 49.07.

200 m Free: 1. Danas Rapsys (LTU). 1:46.74; 2. Aleksandr Krasnykh (RUS), 1:46.91; 3. Dominik Kozma (HUN), 1:47.12; 4. Chad le Clos (RSA), 1:48.82.

400 m Free: 1. Rapsys (LTU), 3:43.36; 2. Mykhallo Romanchuk (UKR), 3:47.08; 3. Krasnykh (RUS), 3:47.85; 4. Peter Bernek (HUN), 3:56.40.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Justin Ress (USA), 24.68; 2. Matt Grevers (USA), 24.88; 3. Robert Glinta (ROU), 24.98; 4. Kolesnikov (RUS), 25.06.

100 m Back: 1. Evgenii Rylov (RUS), 52.81; 2. Grevers (USA), 53.09; 3. Kolesnikov (RUS), 53.75; 4. Jiayu Xu (CHN), 54.65.

200 m Back: 1. Rylov (RUS), 1:55.02; 2. Jacob Pebley (USA), 1:56.67; 3. J. Xu (CHN), 1:59.74; 4. Rapsys (LTU), 2:04.96.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Joao Gomes. Jr. (BRA), 26.64; 2. Felipe Lima (BRA), 26.86; 3. Michael Andrew (USA), 27.10; 4. Fabio Scozzoli (ITA) , 27.14.

100 m Breast: 1. Scozzoli (ITA), 59.05; 2. Anton Chupkov (RUS), 59.21; 3. Ross Murdoch (GBR), 59.63; 4. Kevin Cordes (USA), 1:00.75.

200 m Breast: 1. Chupkov (RUS), 2:08.23; 2. Ippei Watanabe (JPN), 2:08.61; 3. Dmitriy Balandin (HUN), 2:10.73; 4. Josh Prenot (USA), 2:11.60.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Nicholas Santos (BRA), 22.60; Andrii Govorov (UKR), 22.87; 3. Michael Andrew (USA), 23.19; 4. Proud (GBR), 23.68.

100 m Fly: 1. Le Clos (RSA), 51.25; 2. Kristof Milak (HUN), 51.67; 3. Laszlo Cseh (HUN), 52.20; 4. Piero Codia (ITA), 52.22.

200 m Fly: 1. Milak (HUN), 1:53.64; 2. Masato Sakai (JPN), 1:55.40; 3. Le Clos (RSA), 1:55.95; 4. Cseh (HUN), 1:56.83.

200 m Medley: 1. Jacques Desplanches (SUI), 1:57.01; 2. Chase Kalisz (USA), 1:57.74; 3. Philip Heintz (GER), 1:58.39; 4. Shun Wang (CHN), 1:58.54.

Women

50 m Freestyle: 1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 23.97; 2. Pernille Blume (DEN), 24.52; 3. Etiene Medeiros (BRA), 24.85; 4. Farida Osman (EGY), 25.12.

100 m Free: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 53.03, 2. Blume (DEN), 53.40; 3. Federica Pellegrini (ITA), 53.91; 4. Penny Oleksiak (CAN), 54.45.

200 m Free: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 1:56.58; 2. Pellegrini (ITA), 1:57.09; 3. Veronika Andrusenko (RUS), 1:58.04; 4. Bingjie Li (CHN), 1:59.26.

400 m Free: 1. Ajna Kesely (HUN), 4:05.92; 2. Jianjiahe Wang (CHN), 4:07.50; 3. Holly Hibbott (GBR), 4:08.18; 4. B. Li (CHN), 4:12.39.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Anastasia Fesikova (RUS), 27.58; 2. Georgia Davies (GBR), 27.89; 3. Medeiros (BRA), 28.25; 4. Emily Seebohm (AUS), 28.51.

100 m Back: 1. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 59.58; 2. Fesikova (RUS), 59.73; 3. Seebohm (AUS), 1:00.44; 4. Davies (GBR), 1:00.85.

200 m Back: 1. Margherita Panziera (ITA), 2:06.41; 2. Hosszu (HUN), 2:08.16;
3. Seebohm (AUS), 2:08.89; 4. Katalin Butian (HUN), 2:09.00.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Yulia Efimova (RUS), 30.26; 2. Molly Hannis (USA), 30.77; 3. Imogen Clark (GBR), 30.85; 4. Katie Meili (USA), 30.98.

100 m Breast: 1. Efimova (RUS), 1:05.99; 2. Meili (USA), 1:07.28; 3. Hannis (USA), 1:07.66; 4. Siobhan O’Connor (GBR), 1:12.84.

200 m Breast: 1. Efimova (RUS), 2:22.52; 2. Eszter Bekesi (HUN), 2:27.54; 3. Meili (USA), 2:27.86; 4. Hannis (USA), 2:29.57.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 25.32; 2. Osman (EGY), 25.90; 3. Oleksiak (CAN), 26.04; 4. Blume (DEN), 26.91.

100 m Fly: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 56.78; 2. Osman (EGY), 58.32; 3. Oleksiak (CAN), 58.52; 4. Dana Vollmer (USA), 1:01.23.

200 m Fly: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:06.62; 2. Franziska Hentke (GER), 2:07.31; 3. Boglarka Kapas (HUN), 2:07.67; 4. Alys Margaret Thomas (GBR), 2:08.52.

200 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:08.81; 2. Seoyoung Kim (KOR), 2:09.97; 3. O’Connor (GBR), 2:11.36; 4. Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN), 2:14.12.

Mixed

4×100 m Freestyle: 1. Team 1 (Desplanches/SUI, Ress/USA, O’Connor/GBR, Okelsiak/CAN), 3:27.63; 2. Team 3 (Cseh/HUN, Grevers/USA, Medeiros/BRA, Hibbott/GBR), 3:29.43; 3. Team 4 (Metella./FRA, Timmers/NED, Efimova/RUS, Kesely/HUN), 3:31.69; 4. Heintz/GER, Prenot/USA, Clark/GBR, Davies/GBR), 3:33.64.

4×100 m Medley: 1. Team 3 (Fesikova/RUS, Meili/USA, Andrew/USA, Morozov/RUS), 3:47.40; 2. Team 4 (Pebley/USA, Clark/GBR, Heintz/GER, Sjostrom/SWE), 3:47.95; 3. Team 2 (Seebohm/AUS, Balandin/HUN, Cseh/HUN, Hibbott/GBR), 3:48.43; 4. Team 1 (Kolesnikov/RUS, Gomes, Jr./BRA, Hentke/GER, Kesely/HUN), 3:50.20.

ATHLETICS: U.S. wins five, loses two 4x400s, Jamaica wins nothing at World Relays in Yokohama

By
Rich Perelman
-
Donatavius wright anchors the U.S. win in the Mixed 4x400 m relay in Yokohama (Photo: IAAF)

The IAAF World Relays is a fun event, but so is the Demolition Derby. And that’s about what happened at the Yokohama International Stadium in Japan the fourth edition of the IAAF World Relays.

The only important races were the 4×100 m and 4×400 m, which offered World Championships qualification to the finalists. And the U.S., which has been dominant in the prior three Relays, was – to be charitable – ordinary:

● Men’s 4×100 m: Great Britain led the qualifying on Saturday in a world-leading 38.11. The U.S. had a strong group of Mike Rodgers, Justin Gatlin, Isiah Young and Noah Lyles, but the passes let them down. Gatlin had the U.S. in the lead, but the pass to Young was poor and his leg was worse, handing off to Lyles who had to make a move from fourth place. He was flying, but Paulo Camilo de Oliveira was also good and held on for a 0.02 victory for Brazil in a world-leading 38.05. The Brazilians were more shocked than anyone else with their win over the U.S.

● Men’s 4×400 m: Fred Kerley got the U.S. a lead on the second leg with a 44.4 split, equal-fastest of the day, but Paul Dedewo was run down on the anchor by Trinidad & Tobago’s Machel Cedenio – also 44.4 – at the tape for second, 3:00.81 (world leader)-3:00.84. But Dedewo took the baton from Michael Cherry in lane one and then moved into lane two for a few steps and was disqualified. Ridiculous.

● Women’s 4×100 m: The U.S. had the fastest qualifying mark at 42.51, a world leader at the time, with Mikiah Brisco, Ashley Henderson, Dezerea Bryant and Aleia Hobbs, and ran the same team in the finals. Henderson made a charge on the second leg to give the U.S. the lead and the passes to Bryant and Hobbs were good enough to secure the lead. Jamaica’s Jonielle Smith almost got to Hobbs at the line, but the U.S.’s much slower time of 43.27 was enough to win by 0.02.

● Women’s 4×400 m: The U.S. was looking good with strong legs – and the lead – from Jaide Stepter (52.5) and Shakima Wimbley (50.8), but Jessica Beard fell apart on the third leg, running 53.3 and passing to Courtney Okolo in fourth place. Poland took advantage and Justyna Swiety-Ersetic ran 51.6 to win in 3:27.49. Okolo ran 51.0 to close, but finished second in 3:27.65.

● Mixed 4×400 m: Here, the U.S. did everything right. All of the finalists ran men on the first and fourth legs; perhaps that’s the standard strategy for the future. My’Lik Kerley – Fred’s younger brother – gave the U.S. the lead, but the women’s legs from Joanna Atkins (51.6) and Jasmine Blocker (52.3) gave Dontavius Wright a big lead which he did not relinquish. He finished in 46.2 and the Americans won by almost two seconds over Canada.

The other world-leading mark was France’s 1:32.16 in the women’s 4×200 m. The U.S. won the men’s 4×200 m in 1:20.12.

The U.S. won the overall points title for the fourth World Relays in a row, with 54 points to 27 for Jamaica; Japan also had 27 points and was placed third. The Americans won five golds and two silvers; the shock was Jamaica’s failure to win any of the races, winning just two silvers and a bronze (and the men’s 4×100 m was sixth).

The American men’s 4×400 m disqualification means they will still have to qualify for the World Championships as one of the top six on time, but that should not be a significant issue as a U.S. pick-up team has already run 3:01.46 at the Florida Relays in March, currently no. 2 worldwide.

This was also not a fully-stocked U.S. team in multiple events, so the teams at the World Championships should be much better. But except for the men’s 4×4, the U.S. is now into the other four relays for Doha and that’s actually what counts. Summaries:

IAAF World Relays
Yokohama (JPN) ~ 11-12 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men

4×100 m: 1. Brazil (Rodrigo Do Nascimento, Jorge Vides, Derick Silva, Paulo Camilo de Oliveira), 38.05; 2. United States (Michael Rodgers, Justin Gatlin, Isiah Young, Noah Lyles), 38.07; 3.Great Britain, 38.15; 4. China, 38.16; 5. France, 38.31.

4×200 m: 1. United States (Chris Belcher, Bryce Robinson, Vernon Norwood, Remontay McClain), 1:20.12; 2. South Africa, 1:20.42; 3. Germany, 1:21.26; 4. Kenya, 1:22.55; 5. Japan, 1:22.67.

4×400 m: 1. Trinidad & Tobago (Deon Lendore 45.9, Jereem Richards 44.8, Asa Guevara 45.7, Machel Cedenio 44.4), 3:00.81; 2. Jamaica, 3:01.57; 3. Belgium, 3:02.70; 4. Japan, 3:03.24; 5. 3:04.96. Disqualified: United States (Nathan Strother 45.7, Fred Kerley 44.4, Michael Cherry 45.1, Paul Dedewo 45.6), 3:00.84 [2].

Women

4×100 m: 1. United States (Mikiah Brisco, Ashley Henderson, Dezerea Bryant, Aleia Hobbs), 43.27; 2. Jamaica, 43.29; 3. Germany, 43.68; 4. Brazil, 43.75; 5. Italy, 44.29.

4×200 m: 1. France (Carolle Zahi, Estelle Raffai, Cynthia Leduc, Maroussia Pare), 1:32.16; 2. China, 1:32.76; 3. Jamaica, 1:33.21; 4. Japan, 1:34.57; 5. Germany, 1:34.92. Disqualified: United States (Kyra Jefferson, Shania Collins, Gabby Thomas, Jenna Prandini), 1:32.78 [3].

4×400 m: 1. Poland (Malgorzata Holub-Kowalik 52.6, Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz 51.1, Anna Kielbasinska 52.1, Justyna Swiety-Ersetic 51.6), 3:27.49; 2. United States (Jaide Stepter 52.5, Shakima Wimbley 50.8, Jessica Beard 53.3, Courtney Okolo 51.0), 3:27.65; 3. Italy, 3:27.74; 4. Canada, 3:28.21; 5. Jamaica, 3:28.30.

Mixed

4×400 m: 1. United States (My’lik Kerley 46.3, Joanna Atkins 51.6, Jasmine Blocker 52.3, Dontavius Wright 46.2), 3:16.43; 2. Canada, 3:18.15; 3. Kenya, 3:19.43; 4. Italy, 3:20.28; 5. Poland, 3:10.65.

2x2x400 m: 1. Ce’Aria Brown/Donavan Brazier (USA), 3:36.92 (world best); 2. Catriona Bisset/Joshua Ralph (AUS), 3:37.61; 3. Ayano Shiomi/Allon Clay (JPN), 3:38.36; 4. Anna Dobek/Patryk Dobek (POL), 3:42.14; 5. Marina Arzamasova/Aliaksandr Vasileuskiy (BLR), 3:51.64.

Shuttle Hurdles: 1. United States (Christina Clemons, Freddie Crittenden, Sharika Nelvis, Devon Allen), 54.96; 2. Japan (Kimura, Takayama, Aoki, Kanai), 55.59; only finishers.

SHOOTING: American stars Rhode and Hancock sweep World Cup Skeet titles in Korea

By
Rich Perelman
-
ISSF World Cup silver and gold medalists Christian Elliott and Vincent Hancock of the U.S. (Photo: ISSF)

The first half of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup confirmed – once again – that the Skeet favorites for Tokyo are Americans Vincent Hancock and Kim Rhode.

And why not?

Hancock, 30, won the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Skeet events and the 2018-19 World Championships. Rhode, 39, is a living legend, having won six Olympic medals in the last six Games, including the 2008 Skeet silver, 2012 gold and 2016 bronze.

But neither is resting on their reputations. They each won another ISSF World Cup, this time in Changwon (KOR) at the third Shotgun World Cup of the season.

Rhode has dominated the 2019 World Cup season, now winning all three, in Acapulco (MEX), Ai Ain (UAE) and now at Changwon. She won the final with 57 hits out of 60, scoring on 22 of her first 23 shots, then missing two of the next six to stand at 26 of 29. Then she hit her last 31 in a row to finish at 57, three better than 2016 Olympic Champion Diana Bacosi (ITA).

It was Rhode’s 21st World Cup victory in her brilliant career, stretching back to 1996, and a successful defense of her 2018 win at Changwon.

Hancock won his second World Cup of the season – also in Acapulco – by hitting 42 of his first 43 shots. He missed the 44th, then hit 12 in a row to get to 56 of 58 and he finished with 57, the same as Rhode.

A new U.S. star might be on the horizon in 21-year-old Christian Elliott, competing in his first World Cup final. He scored on 37 of his first 40 shots and 46 of 50 to make it to the final round with Hancock. He ended up winning the silver with 53 shots out of 60.

The Changwon World Cup continues next week with the Women’s Trap on Wednesday, men’s Trap on Thursday and the Mixed Trap on Friday. Summaries so far:

ISSF Shotgun World Cup
Changwon (KOR) ~ 7-18 May 2019
(Full results here)

Men/Skeet: 1. Vincent Hancock (USA), 57; 2. Christian Elliott (USA), 53; 3. Mansour Al Rashedi (KUW), 45; 4. Hyun Suk Kang (KOR), 32; 5. Lari Pesonen (FIN), 26.

Women/Skeet: 1. Kim Rhode (USA), 57; 2. Diana Bacosi (ITA), 54; 3. Chiara Cainero (ITA), 44; 4. Danka Bartekova (SVK), 33; 5. Assem Orynbay (KAZ), 24.

1...616263...102Page 62 of 102
© 2017-2025 Perelman Pioneer & Company