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SKI JUMPING: Kobayashi takes Four Hills opener in Obertsdorf

By
Rich Perelman
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Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi

He did it again!

Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi had never won a World Cup event coming into the season. Now he has five wins in the eight events contested! And this was a big one, the opener of the 67th Four Hills Tournament in Obertsdorf (GER).

He crushed his first jump, reaching 138.5 m, the best of the first round. He was only seventh-best in the second round, but he had enough to hold off Germany’s Markus Eisenbichler, 282.3-281.9.

So now Kobayashi is the only one who can win all four stages, an accomplishment only done twice: last season by Poland’s Kamil Stoch (seventh on Sunday) and Sven Hannawald (GER), who managed it in 2001-02.

This is the 67th edition of the Four Hills, which started in 1953. In case you were wondering, a Japanese jumper has won before. Yukio Kasaya won in 1971-72 and Kazuyoshi Funaki won in 1997-98, taking three of the four events. The remainder of the Four Hills schedule:

2. Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER: 140 m hill) ~ 1 January
3. Innsbruck (AUT: 130 m hill) ~ 4 January
4. Bischofshofen (AUT: 140 m hill) ~ 6 January

Summaries from Obertsdorf:

FIS Ski Jumping World Cup/Four Hills Tournament
Obertsdorf (GER) ~ 30 December 2018
(Full results here)

Four Hills I (140 m hill): 1. Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN), 292.3; 2. Markus Eisenbichler (GER), 281.9; 3. Stefan Kraft (AUT), 280.5; 4. Andreas StJernen (NOR), 278.2; 5. Dawid Kubacki (POL), 269.8.

CROSS COUNTRY SKIING: Klaebo and Nilsson win Sprints in Tolbach

By
Rich Perelman
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Sweden's Olympic Sprint champ Stina Nilsson

The first of seven stages in the 13th Tour de Ski started in Tolbach (ITA), with Russia dominating the distances races and familiar, Scandinavian winners in the sprints.

Sweden’s Stina Nilsson, the PyeongChang Sprint champion, won her second World Cup Sprint of the season, 17th of her career. Behind was a photo finish for second between Swede Ida Ingemarsdotter and American Jessica Diggins, with Ingemarsdotter winning silver by 0.07.

It was Diggins’ first World Cup medal of the season and her 17th career medal. Teammate Sadie Bjornsen finished sixth in the Sprint final.

In the men’s Sprint, Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won his second straight World Cup Sprint race and he won his third medal in four Sprints this season.

The distance races were all Russian. Natalia Nepryaeva, 23, won the women’s 10 km Freestyle for her first career World Cup victory and only her second career World Cup medal! She beat Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg, who has 11 career World Cup golds! And, no Therese Johaug in this race.

The underrated Sergey Ustiugov – still just 26 – won the 15 km Freestyle by 12.2 seconds in 30:34.1, collecting his 12th individual World Cup gold medal. He’s the defending Tour de Ski winner and he’s off to a good start. The remainder of the Tour de Ski schedule:

Men:
∙ 1 January: Men’s Sprint Free in Val Mustair (SUI)
∙ 2-3 January: Men’s 15 km Pursuit Classical & 15 km Pursuit Free in Obertsdorf (GER)
∙ 5-6 January: Men’s 10 km Mass Start Classical & 9 km Pursuit Free in Val di Fiemme (ITA)

Women:
∙ 1 January: Women’s Sprint Free in Val Mustair (SUI)
∙ 2-3 January: Women’s 10 km Mass Start Classical & 10 km Pursuit Free in Obertsdorf (GER)
∙ 5-6 January: Women’s 10 km Mass Start Classical & 9 km Pursuit Free in Val di Fiemme (ITA)

Summaries from Tolbach:

FIS Cross Country World Cup
Tolbach (ITA) ~ 28-29 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s 1.3 km Sprint: 1. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), 2:17.99; 2. Richard Jouve (FRA), +0.34; 3. Lucas Chanavat (FRA), +0.39; 4. Sindre Skar (NOR), +0.76; 5. Emil Iversen (NOR), +1.67.

Men’s 15 km Freestyle: 1. Sergey Ustiugov (RUS), 30:34.1; 2. Simen Hegsted Krueger (NOR), 30:46.3; 3. Alexander Bolshunov (RUS), 30:56.0; 4. Andrey Melnichenko (RUS), 31:01.5; 5. Didrik Toenseth (NOR), 31:02.1.

Women’s 1.3 km Sprint: 1. Stina Nilsson (SWE), 2:36.26; 2. Ida Ingemarsdotter (SWE), +3.00; 3. Jessica Diggins (USA), +30.7; 4. Yulia Belorukova (RUS), +3.16; 5. Linn Soemskar (SWE), +3.26. Also: 6. Sadie Bjornsen (USA), +3.40.

Women’s 10 km Freestyle: 1. Natalia Nepryaeva (RUS), 23:19.9; 2. Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg (NOR), 23:20.2; 3. Anastasia Sedova (RUS), 23:30.8; 4. Krista Parmakoski (FIN), 23:37.3; 5. Heidi Weng (NOR), 23:41.1. Also in the top 25: 6. Jessica Diggins (USA), 23:47.1; … 16. Sadie Bjornsen (USA), 24:27.2.

ALPINE SKIING: Shiffrin sets Slalom record in Semmering

By
Rich Perelman
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Back on the podium again: American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin (Photo: Andreaze via Wikipedia)

More history for the relentless Mikaela Shiffrin, who won Saturday’s Slalom race in Semmering (AUT) for a career total of 36 World Cup Slalom wins, breaking a tie with Austrian Marlies Schild, who skied from 2001-14.

“Marlies for me is always going to be the best,” said Shiffrin. “I wouldn’t be where I am without being able to watch her … yeah (the record) is incredible, but she deserves that spot in my mind. If I can inspire any young athlete as much as she inspired me, then I did my job in this sport.”

Shiffrin led after the first run by 0.48 seconds – a big margin in skiing – but the softening snow made her second run slower and she was only fifth-fastest in the field.

“First run felt quite good, second run was more of a battle,” Shiffrin said. “I was trying to not risk everything, but making speed on every turn. I had a couple mistakes, a couple moments where I was fighting for my life, but it was a good fight.”

Swiss Wendy Holdener had the fastest second run and it vaulted her into third place overall. Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova – the best skier on the women’s tour not named Shiffrin – added to her Friday win in the Giant Slalom with a silver on Saturday.

Shiffrin also led Friday’s Giant Slalom after the first run, but her second run wasn’t as good and ended up 10th, to finish fourth overall.

In the overall standings, Shiffrin now has 1,034 points to 568 for Vlhova and 396 for Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel. Siffrin has now won a ridiculous eight of 15 races held this season.

Shiffrin also set a calendar-year record for the most World Cup wins – for men or women – with 15. The men’s record is held by Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, at 14.

Speaking of the men, it was Italy’s Dominik Paris that dominated the Downhill and Super-G in Bormio (ITA), winning both. It was his third and fourth medals of the season, but his first-ever sweep of a weekend speed series.

It was also his second-ever World Cup win in the Super-G and the 10th and 11th total wins in his career, which stretches back to 2010.

American Bryce Bennett finished fourth in the Downhill on Friday, equaling his best-ever finish in a World Cup race, achieved earlier this year in Val Gardena. Prior to this season, his best had been a sixth in December 2015.

The New Year’s skiing schedule continues with two events, for both men and women:

∙ 1 January: Men’s and Women’s City Event in Oslo (NOR)
∙ 6 January: Men’s and Women’s Slalom in Zagreb (CRO)

Summaries from Bormio and Semmering:

FIS Alpine World Cup
Bormio (ITA) ~ 28-19 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Downhill: 1. Dominik Paris (ITA), 1:55.21; 2. Christof Innerhofer (ITA), 1:55.57; 3. Beat Feuz (SUI), 1:55.73; 4. Bryce Bennett (USA), 1:55.88; 5. Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT), 1:56.17. Also in the top 25: 17. Steven Nyman (USA), 1:57.21.

Men’s Super-G: 1. Paris (ITA), 1:29.95; 2. Matthias Mayer (AUT), 1:29.96; 3. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR), 1:30.41; 4. Kriechmayr (AUT), 1:30.45; 5. Max Franz (AUT), 1:30.75. Also in the top 25: 22. Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA), 1:31.93; 23. Nyman (USA), 1:32.09.

FIS Alpine World Cup
Semmering (AUT) ~ 28-29 December 2018
(Full results here)

Women’s Giant Slalom: 1. Petra Vlhova (SVK), 2:04.72; 2. Viktoria Rebensburg (GER), 2:05.17; 3. Tessa Worley (FRA), 2:05.32; 4. Stephanie Brunner (AUT), 2:05.36; 5. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA), 2:05.38.

Women’s Slalom: 1. Shiffrin (USA), 1:42.99; 2. Vlhova (SVK), 1:43.28; 3. Wendy Holdener (SUI), 1:43.37; 4. Katharina Liensberger (AUT), 1:43.74; 5. Katharina Truppe (AUT), 1:44.57.

THE BIG PICTURE: Shellie Pfohl announces she is leaving U.S. Center for SafeSport at year’s end

By
Rich Perelman
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The U.S. Center for SafeSport is in the market for a new chief executive after Shellie Pfohl announced she will step down at the end of the year.

Phofl joined the fledgling organization in November of 2016 and headed the staff as the Center began operations in March, 2017. The Center’s statement noted that in this start-up period, “the Center obtained Congressional Authorization, received more than 1,800 reports, issued over 400 disciplinary actions and made nearly 300 individuals permanently ineligible, a testament to the need for the Center and its important work.”

She testified impressively before a House panel on the sex abuse scandals, but noted that the Center has been hamstrung by limited funding and insufficient staffing to handle the growing volume of reports that it was receiving.

Pfohl came to the Center from her role as Executive Director of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (2010-16) and her career has been focused on fitness rather than law enforcement.

The Center named Regis Becker as interim chief executive. Becker is a member of the Center’s Board of Directors and was a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation early in his career. He launched the ethics and compliance program at Penn State in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal, so his experience matches well with the operating needs of the Center.

Center Board chair Frank Marshall said a new, permanent chief executive is expected to be named early on 2019. “ “The Board and team are focused on a new chapter of growth, initiatives and development and remain committed to creating a national sport culture centered on athlete well-being.”

The Center may be better going forward with someone with more law enforcement experience, but this is one more senior management change in a time of tumult for the Olympic Movement in the U.S.

LANE ONE: The top Olympic-sport stories of 2018, part II: Nassar overshadows all

By
Rich Perelman
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U.S. Olympic and NGB chiefs are sworn in at the start of a House hearing into the Larry Nassar scandal

As 2018 fades away, what were the top stories of the year in the Olympic Movement, both in the U.S. and worldwide? We found a mix of on-field heroics and off-field tumult.

We shared no. 10-6 in our last issue, so here are the top five stories of the year, counting down from no. 5 to no. 1:

5. Football: Les Bleus by far the best in Russia

The 2018 FIFA World Cup was one of the highlights of the year, and after all of the concerns about whether Russia would be ready, the tournament was terrific.

On the field, the event was dominated by Europe. Ten of the 16 teams in the knock-out round came from Europe, with four from South America. The quarterfinals had six European teams and two from South America and the semifinalists were all European squads: France, Belgium, Croatia and England.

France shut down the highest-scoring team up to that point, the Belgians, 1-0, and Croatia – the surprise team of the tournament – edged England, 2-1 in extra time.

In the final, France took control in the middle of the first half and had a 2-1 lead at the break thanks to a penalty shot from Antoine Griezmann. Paul Pogba’s left-footed laser in the 59th minute gave the French a two-goal lead and Kylian Mbappe’s right-footed shot sailed into the Croat goal in the 59th minute for a 4-1 lead. Croatia had a late goal to make the final score 4-2.

Croatia’s Luka Modric won the Golden Ball Award as the best player in the event, and England’s Harry Kane won the Golden Boot as the top scorer, with six goals.

Attendance was excellent at 3.03 million and the television production was superb. But even for the victorious French, the celebration was short-lived, as Belgium ended the year as the top team, by a point, in the FIFA World Rankings!

4. Doping: What about Russia?

One of the dominant stories of 2018 was doping … again. And it’s not going away.

In response to the Russian doping scandal which broke open in 2015, Russian participation in February’s 2018 Olympic Winter Games was “held down” to 168 invitees, who competed under the name of “Olympic Athletes from Russia.”

That hardly satisfied those who wanted the International Olympic Committee to ban the Russians en toto from PyeongChang. The same folks were absolutely enraged when the IOC reinstated the Russian National Olympic Committee to normal status a few days after the Games, even though the Russians had two doping positives at the Games.

The question of Russia simmered throughout the summer, then exploded once again in September, when the World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally reinstated Russia as compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code. The reinstatement was met with enormous protest from athletes and other anti-doping organizations, but WADA persisted, requiring only that the Russian provide the complete database of its Moscow laboratory by the end of the year and the samples stored in the lab for re-testing as required by the middle of 2019.

As the year ends, a WADA technical mission to Moscow was refused full access to the database, but the Russian government says it is working on the “problem.” But now the pressure has ramped up again on WADA to suspend Russia again, starting with a meeting of its Compliance Review Committee on 15-16 January.

This isn’t over and the issue is not going to settled anytime soon.

In the meantime, a noteworthy exception to the “all is well” stance of nearly all of the international sports federations has been the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which has maintained a rigid suspension of the Russian Athletics Federation, subject to obtaining possession itself of the Moscow Lab database and samples.

3. Athletics: Astonishing world records from Chepkoech and Kipchoge

Two Kenyan distance stars wrote their names on the world record lists with amazing performances that stunned the track & field world in 2018.

First came Beatrice Chepkoech, fourth at the 2016 Rio Games and 2017 World Championships in the 3,000 m Steeplechase. After a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in the 1,500 m, she started indifferently in the IAAF Diamond League, winning the Steeplechase in Shanghai (9:07.27), but finishing fifth in Rome (9:15.85).

But as the summer came on, so did she. Chepkoech beat an excellent field in Paris in 8:59.36 and in a race that every important steepler was pointing for, she ran away from everyone in the Herculis meet in Monaco on 20 July. Her pace was so fast that no one dared follow and appeared suicidal.

But she never let up and obliterated the world record of 8:52.78 by Ruth Jebet (BRN) and finished in 8:44.32, beating second-place Courtney Frerichs of the U.S. (9:0085, an American Record) by more than 16 seconds!

Just to show that this was no fluke, Chepkoech ran the no. 3 time in history (8:55.10) to win the Diamond League Final in Brussels (BEL)!

Kipchoge had been on a collision course with the marathon world record since he ran 2:03:05 to win in London in 2016, presaging his Olympic victory in Rio later that year. His 2:00:25 time trial run in 2017 only underscored his ability to break Dennis Kimetto’s 2:02:57 mark in Berlin in 2014.

He served notice that 2018 could be his year with a 2:04:17 win in London in April and when he announced he would run on the flat course in Berlin once again – his fourth race there in six years – the world record was under siege.

And Kipchoge produced, running a carefully-paced race that ended in a world record of 2:01:39, shattering Kimetto’s mark and giving Kipchoge an astonishing nine straight marathon wins and 10 wins in 11 career marathons. It’s hard to say that he’s anything other than the greatest marathoner in history.

And he’s not done; at 34, he has the 2020 Tokyo Games very much in mind.

2. Olympic Games: More public rejection of the 2026 Winter Games

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach (GER) has made the point that the future of the Olympic Games is assured well into the future with the assignment of the 2024 Games to Paris and the 2028 Games to Los Angeles.

True, but things were rough in 2018 for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, scheduled to be attributed in 2019.

In 2018, what appeared to be a solid line-up of candidates simply vaporized:

∙ Sion (SUI) ~ candidature ended with a 54-46% loss in a June referendum on public funding;

∙ Graz (AUT) ~ withdrew in July, due to a lack of support from the provincial government;

∙ Sapporo (JPN) ~ withdrew in September, preferring to bid for the 2030 Winter Games;

∙ Erzurum (TUR) ~ rejected by the IOC in view of extensive infrastructure needs;

∙ Calgary (CAN) ~ withdrew in November after a 56-44% defeat of a referendum on bidding.

Other cities had withdrawn in 2017, or preferred to wait for the 2030 Games for their own reasons. The only cities left to bid for 2026 as of the end of this year as a combined Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo bid from Italy, and a bid from Stockholm (SWE). Neither has funding support from their national governments and Stockholm’s position is especially fragile since the country has no ruling coalition at present after indecisive elections.

Bach has said that if the Milan-Cortina and Stockholm bids fall apart, there is no “Plan B,” but the U.S. Olympic Committee designated Salt Lake City, Utah – host of the highly successful 2002 Winter Games – as the American bid city for a “future” Winter Games. Subject to an agreement with the Los Angeles hosts for 2028, the IOC may have to look there sooner than expected.

1. Gymnastics: The Nassar scandal overwhelms the U.S. Olympic Movement

Without a doubt, the top story of 2018 in Olympic sport was the expanding impact of the Larry Nassar sex-abuse scandal in the United States, with reverberations felt around the world.

At the start of the year, Nassar himself was sentenced to essentially life-in-prison in two separate actions in Michigan state courts in Ingahm County (40-175 years) and Eaton County (40-125 years). These are on top of a 2017 conviction in Federal court for child pornography that earned him three consecutive 20-year sentences.

But the removal of Nassar from society was only the start:

∙ January:
The U.S. Olympic Committee demanded the resignation of the entire Board of Directors of USA Gymnastics, all of whom did resign.

∙ February:
USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun, undergoing treatment for prostate cancer – but also under pressure from allegations that the USOC did not respond promptly or properly to reports of Nassar’s abuse – resigned.

Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman filed suit against USA Gymnastics and the USOC for insufficient action against abuse; her suit has been followed by many others.

∙ April:
The U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security held its first hearing on sexual abuse against Olympic athletes, including testimony from multiple survivors.

∙ May:
The U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations held a televised hearing on the U.S. Olympic community’s ability to protect athletes from sexual abuse. The witnesses included acting USOC chief executive Susanne Lyons, USA Gymnastics chief executive Kerry Perry, USA Swimming chief executive Tim Hinchey, U.S. Center for SafeSport director Shellie Pfohl and others.

∙ June:
The U.S. Senate subcommittee’s second hearing was held on 5 June and included testimony from former USA Gymnastics Women’s Program Director Rhonda Faehn, former Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon and former USA Gymnastics chief executive Steve Penny, who exercised his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and did not answer any questions.

∙ July:
The U.S. Senate subcommittee’s third hearing included Lyons, Perry and Athletes’ Advisory Council chair Han Xiao as witnesses.

∙ September:
USA Gymnastics chief executive Perry resigned, under pressure for not moving quickly enough to bring change and respectability back to the organization.

∙ October:
USA Gymnastics selected for U.S. Rep. Mary Bono as interim chief executive, but she resigned in the face of criticism over her ties with a law firm which had been involved in the Nassar scandal.

Former USA Gymnastics chief executive Steve Penny was arrested on a charge of evidence tampering in Texas; he has pled not guilty.

The U.S. Senate subcommittee’s fourth hearing focused on abuse prevention efforts, with testimony from the chief executives or Board chairs from U.S. National Governing Bodies for Bobsled & Skeleton, Figure Skating, Swimming and Weightlifting.

∙ November:
When the new Board of USA Gymnastics did not voluntarily agree to have the entity de-certified as the U.S. National Governing Body for the sport, the USOC began the process of de-certification.

∙ December:
USA Gymnastics filed for Chapter 11 (voluntary) bankruptcy in order to reorganize its affairs and move the management of the many lawsuits against it from courts across the country to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indiana.

A long-awaited report from the Ropes & Gray law firm, commissioned by the USOC, painted a devastating, detailed portrait of lax response by USA Gymnastics and the USOC to direct allegations of athlete abuse going back to the 1990s.

Based on information contained in the Ropes & Gray report, the Senate subcommittee referred to the Justice Department a potential case of making false statements to the Congress by Blackmun, based on written testimony he filed earlier in the year.

The worst part is that this story continues to develop and will be with us well into 2019 and likely into 2020 as well. Not at all settled at the end of 2018 is what the Congress will do regarding changes to the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, which governs the U.S. Olympic Movement.

For all the wrong reasons, it was the no. 1 story of the year in the Olympic Movement, worldwide.

What will 2019 bring? More on that coming up, but for now, a very happy and healthy New Year’s wish for all of our readers!

Rich Perelman
Editor

ATHLETICS: Famed Zurich meet director Andreas Brugger passes at 91

By
Rich Perelman
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Sad news from Zurich (SUI), with the news that Andreas Brugger, for 27 years the meet director of Weltklasse im Zurich, passed away on 27 December at age 91.

Zurich was already an important stop on the European circuit when Brugger took over in 1973, but he made it into the best invitational meet in the world. His event, held at the Letzigrund Stadium, was always sold out, had the best athletes, the best accommodations, pay and facilities.

The IAAF obituary noted that the Weltklasse was a key player in the “Golden Four” meet series that sold rights to the four best meets in Europe as a package beginning in 1993, and was the precursor to the IAAF’s Diamond League, formed in 1998.

Lats month, Brugger was honored with the President’s Award at the IAAF Athletics Awards Gala to salute his life-long commitment to athletics.

LANE ONE: The top Olympic-sport stories of 2018, part I: Thrills, yes, but also chills

By
Rich Perelman
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As the calendar runs out on 2018, it’s worth looking back at the stories that were the most compelling, the most exciting and the most gut-wrenching over the course of the year.

We’ve identified our top 10 stories of the year in Olympic sport, with today’s edition profiling nos. 10-6:

10. Cycling: Britain sweeps the Grand Tours

The biggest prizes in cycling are the Grand Tours: the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana. In 2018, a British rider won them all.

At the start of the year, Chris Froome was the talk of the sport. Not only had he won the Tour de France for a third straight time, he also won the Vuelta a Espana … and came up positive for doping, thanks to an asthma medication. He was eventually cleared, but many labeled him a cheat.

He entered the Giro d’Italia and was immediately off the pace, but summoned a miracle finish in Stage 19 to take the lead for good and became the first British rider to ever win that race. Moreover, he became the first man since France’s Bernard Hinault in 1983 to hold the title in all three Grand Tours.

Froome was the favorite to win a fifth Tour de France, but he had all kinds of problems in the early stages and it became obvious that his Sky teammate, Geraint Thomas, was in better condition. And it was Thomas who won the race, with Froome putting on a sensational final few days to get third.

Neither Froome nor Thomas rode in La Vuelta, but another British rider stepped up. This time it was the promising youngster, Simon Yates, who fulfilled his potential and won by 1:46 over Spain’s Enric Mas. It was the second time ever that riders from one country had won all three Tours in a single year; it had only been done in 2008, when Alberto Contador (Giro and La Vuelta) and Carlos Sastre (Tour de France) won all three for Spain. Amazing.

9. The Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires

There was some concern over how the 2018 Youth Olympic Games would be handled in Argentina, as it was the first “Olympic” event held in South America since the 2016 Rio Games … which were less than perfect.

But the Argentines were up to the task, especially in producing an open-air, free-to-attend Opening Ceremony in and around the Obelisco in downtown Buenos Aires, watched by a reported 225,000 people. The size and enthusiasm at the event sent International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach into a rapture, dreaming of future Olympic ceremonies of the same size or bigger.

Some 3,997 athletes from 206 countries attended the Games and were cheered on by about one million spectators, who flocked to the modestly-sized venues in large numbers as admission was free. The event was very much a feel-good story.

One cautionary note: the budget for the YOG was projected at $104.3 million in the Buenos Aires bid in 2013, but came in around $140 million. That was cheered as a victory for the organizers, as the budget looked to go as high as $200 million at one point. But it was still 34% higher than expected.

8. Simone Biles returned, better than ever

American gymnast Simone Biles dominated the 2016 Olympic Games, winning the All-Around , Floor and Vault, plus a bronze on the Beam.

She took a year off from gymnastics, appearing everywhere, participating in “Dancing With The Stars” but promising to return to the gym. She did and stunned everyone with her performances in 2018.

She appeared to be better than ever, with even more speed and power than in Rio. The ultimate proof came at the World Championships in Doha (QAT). She led the U.S. to the team title, won the All-Around again – her fourth, a record – and then won the Floor and Vault again. She picked up a silver in the Uneven Bars and a bronze on the Beam, winning a medal in all six events on the program.

Her win in the All-Around over Japan’s Mai Murakami was by an astonishing 1.693 points, an unheard-of margin in gymnastics. Biles became only the eighth woman in history to win medals in all four apparatus in a single Worlds; it hadn’t been done in 35 years. She now has 20 Worlds medals, tied for the most ever with Russian Svetlana Khorkina (1994-2003) … for now.

And all of this while competing with a kidney stone that was diagnosed in Doha. Oh, yes, and she’s 21 years old. Incredible.

7. The 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang

It’s hard to imagine an Olympic Games as only no. 7 on our list, but that’s where the PyeongChang Games ended up.

These were remarkable Games in many ways. The number of events passed the century mark, with 102 in seven sports. A record total of 92 nations competed. The emotional Opening Ceremony that had the Koreas marching in together made an unforgettable impact.

The competitions were sensational, although the critics pointed to the less-than-full grandstands at some events. But there was no doubting the magic of moments like:

∙ Dutch skating star Jolien ter Mors, who became the first female athlete to win medals in two different sports in the same Winter Games, winning the Speed Skating 1,000 m and then scoring a bronze medal in the Short Track 3,000 m relay.

∙ She was surpassed by Czech star Ester Ledecka, who first authored a shocking, upset win in the Alpine women’s Super-G and then a gold in the Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom, making her the first woman to win gold medals in two different sports in the same Winter Games!

∙ Norwegian Cross Country ace Marit Bjoergen, who became the greatest medal winner in the history of the Winter Games with a bronze medal in the women’s Team Sprint and then a gold in the 30 km Classical race. Those medals gave her 15 career OWG medals, the most by any athlete in history.

∙ Emotional figure skating performances from Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN), Alina Zagitova (RUS), the German Pair of Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot and Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (CAN).

∙ The U.S.-Canada women’s ice hockey final, won by the Americans, 3-2, in a shoot-out thanks to Jocelyne Lamoreaux’s goal and a final save by keeper Maddie Rooney.

The U.S. had other highlights as well, including dazzling performances from Shaun White and Chloe Kim to win the Snowboard Halfpipe events, John Shuster’s rink in men’s Curling and the first-ever Cross Country gold medal by Kikkan Randall and Jessica Diggins in the women’s Team Sprint.

The best team in PyeongChang was Norway, with 39 medals (14-14-11), followed by Germany (31: 14-10-7) and Canada (29: 11-8-10) and the U.S. (23: 9-8-6).

Once the Games ended, the squabbling began over the costs of the Games, estimated at $12.9 billion, and the costs of upkeep of the venues which were not torn down, which is still being resolved.

6. The IOC exerts its authority, and boxing and feels the heat

The IOC got tough on several sports in 2018, but none more so than boxing, whose internal governance collapsed, followed by the federation (AIBA) electing Gafur Rakhimov (UKR), accused by the U.S. Treasury Department of being a major drug trafficker, as president. The IOC has cut off payments to AIBA and has appointed a committee to decide whether to relieve it of responsibility for boxing at the 2020 Olympic Games … but without harm to the boxers (whatever that means). Wow.

We’ll have nos. 5-1 on Monday: more drama on the field and some unbelievable activities off of it.

Rich Perelman
Editor

FOOTBALL: Coaching great Sigi Schmid passes at 65

By
Rich Perelman
-
Soccer Hall of Fame coach Sigi Schmid (Photo: L.A. Galaxy)

One of the most important coaches in the development of American soccer has passed away, as Sigi Schmid, 65, died at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center at UCLA while awaiting a heart transplant operation.

Schmid was best known as a coach in the collegiate ranks – with three NCAA titles at UCLA to his credit, in 1985-90-97 – and in Major League Soccer, but he had an excellent international pedigree as well.

U.S. Soccer noted that “While at UCLA, Schmid served in varying roles with the U.S. Soccer Federation, working as an assistant under Bora Milutinovic at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and head coach at the 1995 Pan American Games. Schmid had two tenures at the helm of the U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team, leading the side out of the group stage at both the 1999 and 2005 FIFA World Youth Championships.

Schmid coached two MLS champion teams: the L.A. Galaxy in 2002 and with the Columbus Crew in 2007. He was the first coach of the Seattle Sounders as an expansion team, from 2009-16.

His coaching skills and enthusiasm for the game helped to propel soccer forward as a sport of national impact in the 1970s and 1980s, and placed him in the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2015.

BOBSLED: Disgraced Zubkov wants a personal letter in order to return his medals

By
Rich Perelman
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Russia's Alexander Zubkov (Photo: IBSF)

Disgraced Russian gold medalist Alexander Zubkov, who piloted the two-man and four-man sleds to victory in Sochi in 2014, but was disqualified for doping as part of the state-run drug-cheating scandal, will not return his medals unless he receives a personal letter from the International Olympic Committee.

“I never received a letter from the IOC personally, therefore the issue of me returning the awards would be considered only after it happens,” Zubkov told the Russian TASS News Agency.

Zubkov’s doping positive was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a decision published on 23 April of this year. The IOC has asked the Russian Olympic Committee to assist in the retrieval of the medals, but to no avail so far.

For the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation, the most embarrassing aspect of all is that Zubkov is the president of the Russian Bobsled Federation!

2020 OLYMPIC GAMES: Tokyo organizers get 162,000+ volunteer apps

By
Rich Perelman
-

There is considerable concern about the cost of the Tokyo Games, set to begin in about 18 months. But on another measure of the popularity of the Games, the organizers have nothing to worry about.

The first phase of the recruitment drive for volunteers to assist at the Games closed last week, with 80,000 volunteers specified as the target. Interest was much greater, reported at 162,000 applications in some media and 186,101 by the Asahi Shimbun. About 63% of all applicants were women and an imposing 37% of the applicants were from outside Japan!

Even better for the organizing committee, about 60% of the applicants indicated a willingness to assist for at least 11 days.

The International Olympic Committee, obsessed about youth interest in the Games, were happy to hear that 22% of all applicants were teenagers and 29% were individuals in their 20s.

A parallel application period for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government also closed last week, with 28,689 applications received. The government work force will be assisting visitors at airports, train stations and major tourist attractions. The government indicated it would use about 20,000 volunteers and up to an additional 10,000 provided by smaller cities in the greater Tokyo area.

Those numbers are a considerable endorsement of the Games from the people of Japan itself, a strong sign of local interest in making the Games a success.

SHORT TRACK: Kim and Biney star in U.S. Junior Nationals

By
Rich Perelman
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U.S. National Junior Champion Brandon Kim

The U.S. Junior Nationals in Short Track featured 2018 PyeongChang Olympian Maame Biney, but the biggest winner was Brandon Kim.

He had a perfect meet, winning the 500 m, 1,000 m and the 1,500 m to total a perfect 3,000 points in the overall standings. Biney won the 500 m and 1,500 m and was second in the 1,000 m, also winning the overall title.

Four men and women qualified for the U.S. team for the ISU World Junior Championships in Montreal beginning on 25 January. The men’s team will include Kim, Chiyuan Zhong, Caleb Park and Andrew Kim.

The women’s squad has Biney, Corinne Stoddard, Hailey Choi and Julie Letai. Summaries:

U.S. National Junior Short Track Championships
Wausau, Wisconsin (USA) ~ 15-16 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men

500 m: Brandon Kim, 42.562; 2. Chiyuan Zhong, 42.781; 3. Caleb Park, 44.031.

1,000 m: 1. B. Kim, 1:42.657; 2. Andrew Kim, 1:43.060; 3. Zhong, 1:43.232.

1,500 m: 1. B. Kim, 2:20.894; 2. Andrew Heo, 2:21.469; 3. Jonathan So, 2:22.203.

Standings: 1. B. Kim, 3,000 points; 2. Zhong, 1.850; 3. C. Park, 1,480; 4. A. Kim, 1,254; 5. A. Heo, 1,210.

Women

500 m: 1. Maame Biney, 46.268; 2. Corinne Stoddard, 46.316; 3. Julie Letai, 46.364.

1,000 m: 1. Stoddard, 1:37.779; 2. Biney, 1:38.306; 3. Hailey Choi, 1:38.382.

1,500 m: 1. Biney, 2:46.204; 2. Stoddard, 2:46.258; 3. Choi, 2:47.867.

Standings: 1. Biney, 2.800; 2. Stoddard, 2,600; 3. H. Choi, 1,792; 4. Letai, 1,664; 5. Katherine Liu, 1,148.

SPEED SKATING Preview: U.S. Nationals coming this weekend in Kearns

By
Rich Perelman
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World Mass Start Champion Joey Mantia

The Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah will be busy this weekend with the 2018 U.S. Long-Track Championships.

The event will be the U.S. qualifier for the fifth and sixth World Cups and for World Sprint Championships, World Allround Championships and World Single Distance Championships. So everybody will be there. The projected schedule:

∙ 28 December: Men’s 500 m and 5,000 m; Women’s 500 m and 3,000 m
∙ 29 December: Men’s 1,000 m and Mass Start; Women’s 1,000 and Mass Start
∙ 30 December: Men’s 1,500 m and 10,000 m; Women’s 1,500 m and 5,000 m

The top American skaters from the first four stages of the ISU World Cup include:

Men

500 m:
28. Kimani Griffin
54. Joey Mantia
57. Brett Perry

1,000 m:
10. Joey Mantia
19. Kimani Griffin
54. Austin Kleba

1,500 m:
8. Joey Mantia
60. Ethan Cepuran
65. Austin Kleba

5,000/10,000 m:
49. Ethan Cepuran
(Only scorer so far)

Mass Start:
6. Joey Mantia
36. Ethan Cepuran

Women:

500 m:
3. Brittany Bowe
13. Erin Jackson
33. Kimi Goetz

1,000 m:
1. Brittany Bowe
27. Kimi Goetz
40. Erin Jackson

1,500 m:
3. Brittany Bowe
38. Paige Schwartzburg
43. Mia Kilburg-Manganello

3,000/5,000 m:
24. Carlijn Schoutens
45. Maria Lamb
49. Mia Kilburg-Manganello

Mass Start:
20. Kimi Goetz
24. Mia Kilburg-Manganello

Look for results here.

SKI JUMPING Preview: Four Hills Tournament starts in Obertsdorf

By
Rich Perelman
-

It’s the end of the year – and the start of a new one – so it’s time for the famed Four Hills Tournament in Germany and Austria:

1. Obertsdorf (GER: 140 m hill) ~ 30 December
2. Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER: 140 m hill) ~ 1 January
3. Innsbruck (AUT: 130 m hill) ~ 4 January
4. Bischofshofen (AUT: 140 m hill) ~ 6 January

Last year, Poland’s Kamil Stoch made history by becoming only the second jumper to win all four events. Only Sven Hannawald (GER) had done it in 2001-02. Could it happen again?

This season has been full of surprises so far, most of all the emergence of Japan’s Ryoyu Kobayashi, 22, who had never won a World Cup event coming into the season. Now he has four wins in the seven events contested!

The other winners on tour have been Evgeniy Klimov in Wisla (POL), Johann Andre Forfang (NOR) in Nizhny Tagil (RUS) and German Karl Geiger in Engelberg (SUI).

In terms of the standings so far, Kobayashi has 556 points to 445 for Piotr Zyla (POL) and 365 for Stoch. But we’re only a quarter of the way through the schedule and the Four Hills marks the start of the serious jumping coming in 2019.

This is the 67th edition of the Four Hills, which started in 1953. In case you were wondering, a Japanese jumper has won before! Yukio Kasaya won in 1971-72 and Kazuyoshi Funaki won in 1997-98, taking three of the four events.

Look for results of the Four Hills venues here.

ICE HOCKEY Preview: World Junior Champs now underway in Vancouver

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 43rd edition of the IIHF World Junior (U-20) Championships got started on Wednesday in Vancouver and Victoria (CAN), with 10 teams vying for the title and Canada as defending champion.

The teams are now in round-robin play in two pools:

∙ Pool A: Canada, Russia, Czech Rep., Switzerland, Denmark
(at Rogers Arena/Vancouver)

∙ Pool B: Sweden, United States, Finland, Slovakia, Kazakhstan
(at Save-on-Food Memorial Centre/Victoria)

Pool play will continue through 31 December, with quarterfinals beginning on 2 January, semis on 4 January and medal matches on 5 January.

The Canadians are the all-time winners in the tournament, with 17 titles. Russia has four, but the Soviet Union won nine, for a total of 13 combined. Finland and the U.S. have each won four times, with the U.S. having recent success with titles in 2010-13-17. Sweden won the silver medal last year, with the U.S. third.

No team has repeated as champion since the Canadians won five straight from 2005-09.

Look for match scores and standings here.

CROSS COUNTRY Preview: Johaug’s five-race streak on the line in Tolbach

By
Rich Perelman
-

Just as with the Alpine skiers, there’s no rest for the Cross Country World Cup, with four sets of races scheduled for the coming 10 days:

Men:
∙ 29-30 December: Men’s Sprint Freestyle & 15 km Freestyle in Tolbach (ITA)
∙ 01 January: Men’s Sprint Free in Val Mustair (SUI)
∙ 02-03 January: Men’s 15 km Pursuit Classical & 15 km Pursuit Free in Obertsdorf (GER)
∙ 05-06 January: Men’s 10 km Mass Start Classical & 9 km Pursuit Free in Val di Fiemme (ITA)

Women:
∙ 29-30 December: Women’s Sprint Freestyle & 10 km Freestyle in Tolbach (ITA)
∙ 01 January: Women’s Sprint Free in Val Mustair (SUI)
∙ 02-03 January: Women’s 10 km Mass Start Classical & 10 km Pursuit Free in Obertsdorf (GER)
∙ 05-06 January: Women’s 10 km Mass Start Classical & 9 km Pursuit Free in Val di Fiemme (ITA)

The story of the season so far has been the amazing return of Norway’s Therese Johaug, a triple Olympic medalist from 2010 and 2014, but kept out of the 2018 Winter Games because of a doping positive caused by a loaded lip balm!

She has returned with a vengeance, winning all five World Cup distances races, including three 10 km races, a Pursuit and a 15 km race. She has been chased home twice by Charlotte Kalla (SWE) and Norwegian teammate Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg has two silvers and a bronze. Can Johaug, now 30, keep it up? Can anyone beat her?

The Sprint races have been won by Yulia Belorukova (RUS), Jonna Sundling (SWE) and Stina Nilsson (SWE). Both American medals on tour so far have come in Sprint races, from Sadie Bjornsen (bronze) and Sophie Caldwell (silver).

Among the men, the situation is far more confused. Alexander Bolshunov (RUS) with both of the opening-weekend races in Ruka (FIN), but those are his only medals of the season so far. Five men have won the succeeding six races, with only Sjur Roethe (NOR) winning twice.

In the points standings, Bolshunov leads a very tight men’s pack with 367, followed by Roethe (329) and Emil Iversen (NOR, 328). Among the women, Johaug has 600 points to 451 for Oestberg and 409 for Swede Ebba Andersson.

The full schedule and results links are here.

ALPINE SKIING Preview: More Mikaela wins on the way in Semmering?

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

The FIS Alpine World Cup continues right through New Year’s with a busy schedule right through the first weekend of 2019, and a chance for Austria’s Marcel Hirscher and American Mikaela Shiffrin to completely blow open the World Cup points race:

Men:
∙ 28-29 December: Men’s Downhill & Super-G in Bormio (ITA)
∙ 01 January: City Event in Oslo (NOR)
∙ 06 January: Men’s Slalom in Zagreb (CRO)

Women:
∙ 28-29 December: Women’s Giant Slalom & Slalom in Semmering (AUT)
∙ 01 January: City Event in Oslo (NOR)
∙ 05 January: Women’s Slalom in Zagreb (CRO)

Hirscher and Shiffrin are both superstar “technical” skiers, best in the Slalom and Giant Slalom races. In recent years, the concentration of these races over the holidays have allowed both to pile up huge leads; Hirscher has won this way for seven straight World Cups and Shiffrin for two seasons in a row. The current standings:

Men (14 of 41 races):
1. 620 Marcel Hirscher (AUT)
2. 352 Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR)
3. 341 Max Franz (AUT)
4. 333 Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR)
5. 321 Loic Meillard (SUI)

Women (13 of 38 races):
1. 889 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)
2. 388 Petra Vlhova (SVK)
3. 367 Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR)
4. 359 Nicole Schmidhofer (AUT)
5. 316 Michelle Gisin (SUI)

For comparison with last season, Hirscher won with 1,620 points to 1,285 for Kristoffersen and 886 for Svindal. Shiffrin won with 1,773 points – she’s more than halfway there already! – to 1,168 for Wendy Holdener (SUI) and 977 for German Viktoria Rebensburg (GER).

In terms of this weekend’s races, Italy’s Dominik Paris is the defending champion in the Bormio Downhill, with Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud second and third last season. There was no Super-G last season.

The women haven’t raced in Semmering since the 2016-17 season, when Shiffrin – on her way to her first World Cup overall title – swept three races, winning two Giant Slaloms and then a Slalom on the final day.

How dominant are Hirscher and Shiffrin? The Austrian star has won five of the 14 races held on the World Cup tour so far this season; teammate Franz is the only other skier to win more than once. Shiffrin has won a ridiculous seven of 13 races and if she sweeps Semmering and the City Event in Oslo – entirely possible – she could be the winner in 10 of 16 races on the season. Austria’s Schmidhofer has won twice (both Downhills) and Ilka Stuhec (SLO) has won twice (Downhill and Super-G), meaning that across 13 races so far, there have been only five winners!

Click here for the FIS calendar and results links.

THE BIG PICTURE: Russia’s head of anti-doping asks for Putin’s help to resolve WADA lab access

By
Rich Perelman
-
Russian Anti-Doping Agency chief Yuriy Ganus

The drama over access to the Russian doping database in Moscow continues, with discussions reportedly taking place over another visit from the World Anti-Doping Agency.

A WADA team was not allowed to complete its review of the database earlier in December and a WADA statement explained that “the team was unable to complete its mission within the prescribed time due to an issue raised by the Russian authorities that the team’s equipment to be used for the data extraction was required to be certified under Russian law.”

Since then, the head of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), Yury Ganus, has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for assistance. In a letter reported by the TASS news agency, Ganus wrote:

“The revocation of the compliance status of the RUSADA, which is the key element of the Russian anti-doping system and which within a short period of time not only restored in full its operability, but became one of the best in the world as it was confirmed by the WADA audit several weeks ago, would lead to the sports self-isolation of Russia.

“We are on the brink of an abyss and I ask you to protect the present and the future of our clean sports, the present and next generations of our athletes.”

On Thursday, TASS further reported that access to the data will be resolved by 16 January, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets.

But that’s a little inconvenient for WADA, whose Compliance Review Committee will meet on 14-15 January to decide what to recommend to the WADA Executive Committee about Russia’s status. The September reinstatement of Russia required that the database be provided by 31 December, so that any further testing of samples held at the Moscow – based on the data – could be completed by the end of June 2019. The Russians are playing with fire here, but then again, the game is called “Russian Roulette,” isn’t it?

SNOWBOARD: Gold and silver for Jacobellis in Cervinia SnowCross

By
Rich Perelman
-
American Snowboard superstar Lindsey Jacobellis (Photo: FIS/Miha Matavz)

The FIS Snowboard Cross season opened in Cervinia (ITA) and one of the greatest snowboarders in history got to the line first: American Lindsey Jacobellis.

Her win on the first race in Cervinia was her 30th World Cup win in a career that stretches back to 2004. But at age 33, she’s hardly done.

“It’s nice to grab a victory at the first competition, especially because I didn’t do that well last year,” said Jacobellis. “It was an X Games style course as far as the glide, the movement and passing strategies are concerned, which I think worked well with my experience. This kind of course can work with you or against you with drafts and gains, but the knowledge of how they work is critical to manage your position in the race. I learned this early on in the training session when I put myself behind the guys. I was actually ahead in my race, and knew drafting opportunities would make for passing on my left side, so I made sure I stayed left to close out that lane.

“This win is really nice and helps boost the confidence as these days I have a lot more wear and tear on my body. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing with my starts and not be afraid to get in the mix with the girls.”

After the win on Friday, she then finished second in Saturday’s race to Czech Eva Samkova, who won her 11th career World Cup gold.

The men’s races went to Martin Noerl (GER) – his first World Cup medal! – and Emanuel Perathoner (ITA), who also won his first World Cup gold (and fourth career World Cup medal).

American Jake Vedder, 20, won his first World Cup medal in second place. “My teammates were really encouraging me all day, and when I got to the bottom everyone just started tackling me,” Vedder said aftewrwards. “I couldn’t even believe what happened. I’m ecstatic to be here right now and it was a great day of racing. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.” Summaries:

FIS Snowboard World Cup
Cervinia (ITA) ~ 20-22 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s SnowCross I: 1. Martin Noerl (GER); 2. Omar Visintin (ITA); 3. Hanno Douschen (AUT); 4. Lukas Pachner (AUT); 5. Leon Beckhaus (GER). Also: 6. Senna Leith (USA).

Men’s SnowCross II: 1. Emanuel Perathoner (ITA); 2. Jake Vedder (USA); 3. Noerl (GER); 4. Alex Pullin (AUS); 5. Nate Holland (USA).

Women’s SnowCross I: 1. Lindsey Jacobellis (USA); 2. Eva Samkova (CZE); 3. Charlotte Bankes (GBR); 4. Nelly Moenne Loccoz (ITA); 5. Sina Siegenthaler (SUI).

Women’s SnowCross II: 1. Samkova (CZE); 2. Jacobellis (USA); 3. Michela Moioli (ITA); 4. Moenne Loccoz (ITA); 5. Lara Casanova (SUI).

SNOWBOARD: Japan sweeps Slopestyle openers in China

By
Rich Perelman
-
Japan's Slopestyle star Miyabi Onitsuka

The first event in Slopestyle was held in Secret Garden in China and Japan’s Takeru Otsuka and 2015 World Champion Miyabi Onitsuka winning the competitions.

The Halfpipe winners were Swiss Jan Scherrer and China’s Xuetong Cai. It was Scherrer’s first World Cup win and third World Cup career medal. Cai has won medals in both competitions this season and at just 25, won her 21st career World Cup medal and her ninth gold. Summaries:

FIS Snowboard World Cup
Secret Garden (CHN) ~ 21 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Halfpipe: 1. Jan Scherrer (SUI), 95.50; 2. Ruka Hirano (JP), 92.50; 3. Yuto Totsuka (JPN), 92.25; 4. Ikko Anai (JPN), 84.75; 5. Yiwei Zhang (CHN), 81.75. Also: 8. Chase Blackwell (USA), 68.25.

Men’s Slopestyle: 1. Takeru Otsuka (JPN), 87.10; 2. Niklas Mattsson (SWE), 80.21; 3. Vlad Khadarin (RUS), 75.50; 4. Niek van der Velden (NED), 74.70; 5. Lyon Ferrell (USA), 73.51. Also: 6. Ryan Stassel (USA), 71.78.

Women’s Halfpipe: 1. Xuetong Cai (CHN), 88.75; 2. Verena Rohrer (SUI), 86.25; 3. Kurumi Imai (JPN), 82.25; 4. Hikaru Oe (JPN), 77.00; 5. Haruna Matsumoto (JPN), 63.50.

Women’s Slopestyle: 1. Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN), 86.20; 2. Reira Iwabuchi (JPN), 85.21; 3. Lucile Lefevre (FRA), 70.56; 4. Sarka Pancochova (CZE), 66.93; 5. Dongyu Li (CHN), 31.41.

NORDIC COMBINED: Norwegian sweep by Riiber and Graabak in Ramsau

By
Rich Perelman
-
Norway's Jarl Magnus Riiber

Norway is taking over the Nordic Combined World Cup, which has been mostly a German show with Japan’s Akito Watabe winning last year.

In Ramsau (AUT), it was World Cup leader Jarl Magnus Riiber winning his fourth straight World Cup event, by more than two seconds over Austria’s Franz-Joseph Rehrl and extending his seasonal lead.

The second race – both were off a 98 m hill with a 10 km race to follow – was won by fellow Norwegian Jorgen Graabak, who edged 2017 World Champion Johannes Rydzek (GER) by just 0.3 seconds. Riiber jumped, but did not race on Sunday.

That means that Riiber’s lead in the overall World Cup standings is now 480-295 over Rydzek, with Graabak climbing up to third with 267. Summaries:

FIS Nordic Combined World Cup
Ramsau (AUT) ~ 22-23 December 2018
(Full results here)

Gundersen/98 m hill + 10.0 km I: 1. Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR), 23:46.5; 2. Franz-Josef Rehrl (AUT), 23:48.8; 3. Fabian Riessle (GER), 24:05.6; 4. Johannes Rydzek (GER), 24:05.8; 5. Vinzenz Geiger (GER), 24:05.8.

Gundersen/98 m hill + 10.0 km II: 1. Joergen Graabak (NOR), 23:58.7; 2. Rydzek (GER), 23:59.0; 3. Riessle (GER), 23:59.7; 4. Akito Watabe (JPN), 24:03.2; 5. Geiger (GER), 24:07.4.

FREESTYLE SKIING: Smith and Naeslund win in Innichen

By
Rich Perelman
-
Two more wuSwedish Freestyle star Sandra Naeslund

The Freestyle Skiing Ski Cross season finally got underway with races in Arosa (SUI) and Innichen (ITA), with veterans Fanny Smith (SUI) and Sandra Naeslund (SWE) winning the three events.

Smith, the 2013 World Champion, won in Arosa and won the first race in Innichen for her 14th and 15th career World Cup wins. Naeslund, the reigning World Cup champ, won the second Ski Cross race.

What was supposed to be a longer Cross Alps Tour was cut down to three events and Naeslund managed to win with 260 points, with Smith at 245 and Canada’s Marielle Thompson at 190.

The men’s races in Innichen were won by France’s Jonathan Midol – his first career World Cup win – and Joos Berry (SUI), his first career World Cup medal! Jonathan’s brother, Bastien Midol (FRA), scored two silvers, his fourth and fifth career World Cup medals, but his first since 2016.

Bastien Midol won the Cross Alps Tour, with Jonathan Midol second and Canada’s Brady Leman third. Summaries:

FIS Freestyle World Cup
Arosa (SUI) ~ 17 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Ski Cross/Big Final: 1. Jonas Lenherr (SUI); 2. Victor Oehling Norberg (SWE); 3. Alex Fiva (SUI); 4. Bastien Midol (FRA).

Women’s Ski Cross/Big Final: 1. Fanny Smith (SUI); 2. Sandra Naeslund (SWE); 3. Marielle Thompson (CAN); 4. Andrea Limbacher (AUT).

FIS Freestyle World Cup
Innichen (ITA) ~ 21-22 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Ski Cross I/Big Final: 1. Jonathan Midol (FRA); 2. Bastien Midol (FRA); 3. Brady Leman (CAN); 4. Paul Eckert (GER).

Men’s Ski Cross II/Big Final: 1. Joos Berry (SUI); 2. B. Midol (FRA); 3. J. Midol (FRA); 4. Eckert (GER).

Women’s Ski Cross I/Big Final: 1. Fanny Smith (SUI); 2. Sandra Naeslund (SWE); 3. Marielle Berger Sabbatel (FRA); 4. Marielle Thompson (CAN).

Women’s Ski Cross II/Big Final: 1. Naeslund (SWE); 2. M. Thompson (CAN); 3. Sanna Luedi (SUI); 4. Berger Sabbatel (FRA).

BIATHLON: Unbeatable Boe sweeps Nove Mesto!

By
Rich Perelman
-
Norway's Johannes Thingnes Boe

There have been eight men’s races in this season’s IBU World Cup and Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe has won six of them.

Boe swept all three races over the weekend at Nove Mesto (CZE), winning by 21.6 seconds (Sprint), 6.2 seconds (Pursuit) and 46.5 seconds (Mass Start). At 25, he is now in position to dethrone the seven-time World Cup champion, France’s Martin Fourcade.

After eight of 22 races, Boe now has a 428-312 lead over Alexander Loginov (RUS), with Simon Eder (AUT) and Simon Desthieux (FRA) at 266 and Fourcade and Antonin Guigonnat (FRA) at 263. Fourcade is the only one other than Boe to win a World Cup race this season, and he has two.

Marte Olsbu Roeiseland of Norway won the women’s 7.5 km Sprint and the 10 km Pursuit, her first-ever World Cup wins! Three-time Olympic gold medalist Anastasiya Kuzmina (SVK) won the Mass Start on Sunday, her 14th career World Cup win.

Slovakia’s Paulina Fialkova won her third medal of the season with a second to Kuzmina in the Mass Start race. Summaries:

IBU World Cup
Nove Mesto (CZE) ~ 20-23 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men

10 km Sprint: 1. Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR), 23:09.9 (0 penalties); 2. Alexander Loginov (RUS), +21.0 (0); 3. Martin Ponsiluoma (SWE), +54.2 (0); 4. Benjamin Weger (SUI), +1:03.5 (0); 5. Simon Desthieux (FRA), +1:03.7 (1).

12.5 km Pursuit: 1. J.T. Boe (NOR), 31:59.0 (4); 2. Loginov (RUS), +6.2 (4); 3. Tarjei Boe (NOR), +23.9 (1); 4. Simon Desthieux (FRA), +29.2 (2); 5. Martin Fourcade (FRA), +57.3 (0).

15 km Mass Start: 1. J.T. Boe (NOR), 37:25.2 (0); 2. Quentin Fillon Maillet (FRA), +46.5 (2); 3. Evgeniy Garanichev (RUS), +54.1 (0); 4. Arnd Peiffer (GER), +59.3 (1); 5. Erlend Bjoentegaard (NOR), +1:04.9 (2).

Women

7.5 km Sprint: 1. Marte Olsbu Roeiseland (NOR), 19:44.6 (0); 2. Laura Dahlmeier (GER), +4.5 (1); 3. Paulina Fialkova (SVK), +6.2 (0); 4. Anais Chevalier (FRA), +23.0 (1); 5. Lena Haecki (SUI), +29.3 (1).

10 km Pursuit: 1. Roeiseland (NOR), 29:53.5 (2); 2. Dorothea Wierer (ITA), +0.2 (1); 3. Hanna Oeberg (SWE), +4.7 (1); 4. Lisa Vittozzi (ITA), +53.9 (1); 5. Dahlmeier (GER), +54.2 (2). Also in the top 25: 24. Clare Egan (USA), +2:22.3 (3).

12.5 km Mass Start: 1. Anastasiya Kuzmina (SVK), 35:34.4 (2); 2. Fialkova (SVK), +12.1 (2); 3. Anais Chevalier (FRA), +13.3 (3); 4. Wierer (ITA), +20.1 (1); 5. Mona Brorsson (SWE), +36.3 (2).

ALPINE SKIING: Sensational Shiffrin sweeps Courchevel for 50th career World Cup win

By
Rich Perelman
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Record-setter: American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin (courtesy U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association; copyright Reese Brown)

It’s getting harder and harder to come up with superlatives to describe American ski star Mikaela Shiffrin.

How about “historic”?

Shiffrin, 23, has been on the World Cup tour just eight years and now has 50 wins and 70 medals, including seven wins this season … and she could have nine wins by New Year’s Eve!

In Courchevel (FRA), where she was the defending champion from 2017, Shiffrin was second in the Giant Slalom after the first run, but on a shorter track for the second run, she ripped through the snow for the best second run in the field and had the best time in the field by 0.22. That moved her into the winner’s circle by 1:49.81-1:49.95 over Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg for World Cup win no. 49.

Saturday’s Slalom was the reverse: Shiffrin led after the first run and had the third-fastest second run to win by 0.29 over Slovenia’s Petra Vlhova, the fourth race this season in which they have finished 1-2 in a World Cup Slalom. Shiffrin was well aware that she was in line for her 50th career win.

“I was trying as hard as I could not to focus on that today because it’s so distracting to think about those numbers for me and it’s always a mental battle just to focus on my skiing,” Shiffrin said. “I’m really happy, and maybe a bit lucky today with the win again. I was watching the first run; Petra skied better than I did. I don’t know how I snuck away with the lead on the first run, but it was a big battle … so I’m lucky and I’m grateful.”

In the 2018-19 season, Shiffrin has now won an astonishing seven of 13 races on the tour! All-time, she’s now no. 4 in women’s race wins … at age 23:

82 Lindsey Vonn (USA) ~ 2001-present
62 Annemarie Moser-Proell (AUT) ~ 1969-80
55 Vreni Schneider (SUI) ~ 1984-95
50 Shiffrin
46 Renate Goetschl ((AUT) ~ 1993-2009

Shiffrin also won her 35th World Cup Slalom, which ties her for the all-time lead in the discipline with Austria’s Marlies Schild (2001-14).

And she’s not done! There is another Giant Slalom-Slalom set on 28-29 December in Semmerling (AUT), so she could take the Slalom record for herself this coming week.

The most race wins in a single season? 14 by Schneider in 1989; if Shiffrin wins both races this week, she could be at nine … before New Year’s! She won 12 World Cup races last year and 11 the season before.

Summaries:

FIS Alpine World Cup
Courchevel (FRA) ~ 21-22 December 2018
(Full results here)

Women’s Giant Slalom: 1. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA), 1:49.81; 2. Viktoria Rebensburg (GER), 1:49.95; 3. Tessa Worley (FRA), 1:50.14; 4. Federica Brignone (ITA), 1:50.26; 5. Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR), 1:50.31.

Women’s Slalom: 1. Shiffrin (USA), 1:36.72; 2. Petra Vlhova (SVK), 1:37.01; 3. Frida Hansdotter (SWE), 1:37.09; 4. Wendy Holdener (SUI), 1:37.86; 5. Katharina Liensbeeger (AUT), 1:38.02. Also: 15. Paula Moltzan (USA), 1:40.12.

ALPINE SKIING: Yule wins first World Cup gold in Madonna

By
Rich Perelman
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Swiss skier Daniel Yule

The fifth Alpine World Cup race of the past week brought a nice holiday present for Swiss Daniel Yule – really, Yule? – who won his first career World Cup race.

The Slalom event was expected to be a showcase for Austria’s World Cup dominator, Marcel Hirscher, and he took the lead immediately in the first run and looked ready for another win. But he had all kinds of trouble at the top of the second run and posted a horrific, 26th-place finish on the run and ended up in 26th place overall.

In the meantime, Yule stood fourth after the first run and was steady, with an aggressive attitude on the second run with the third-best time. That left him at 1:38.34, 0.34 seconds ahead of Austria’s Marco Schwarz, giving Yule his medal in 11 months and his fourth career World Cup medal.

Yule’s victory snaps a streak of five straight Slalom wins by Hirscher.

Nevertheless, Hirscher still has a 620-352 lead in the overall World Cup points standings. Summaries:

FIS Alpine World Cup
Madonna di Campiglio (ITA)  22 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Slalom: 1. Daniel Yule (SUI), 1:38.34; 2. Marco Schwarz (AUT), 1:38.68; 3. Michael Matt (AUT), 1:38.84; 4. Dave Ryding (GBR), 1:38.99; 5. Giuliano Razzoli (ITA), 1:39.42.

THE BIG PICTURE: Russia refuses WADA team full access to Moscow lab data; now what?

By
Rich Perelman
-

The simmering fight within the anti-doping movement over Russia’s reinstatement by the World Anti-Doping Agency is now getting ready to boil over.

WADA released a statement on Friday which noted that its technical team was not allowed to obtain the data it was seeking from the Moscow laboratory:

The team accessed the laboratory and progress was made with the Russian authorities regarding extraction and export of the data outside Russia. However, the team was unable to complete its mission within the prescribed time due to an issue raised by the Russian authorities that the team’s equipment to be used for the data extraction was required to be certified under Russian law.

This issue had not been raised during an initial meeting on 28 November in Moscow, after which WADA sent its expert team back to Moscow to retrieve the data. …

In keeping with the process that was outlined by the WADA ExCo in September, Dr. [Toni] Pascual will now prepare his formal report on the mission and, as planned, the report will be sent to the independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC). The CRC will meet on 14-15 January 2019 when RUSADA’s Code compliance status will again be considered and the CRC’s recommendation will then be considered by the ExCo.

The retrieval of the Moscow lab data was required under the terms of WADA’s reinstatement of Russia to be completed by 31 December 2018. Unless something happens in the coming week, the pressure on the WADA Compliance Review Committee and the Executive Committee to find Russia non-compliant will be intense.

Nothing less than WADA’s credibility and “fitness for purpose” – as the British say – is on the line. For Russian athletes, the possibility of being restricted from international competitions is once again quite real.

LANE ONE: Echoes of the failed Int’l Track Association in the new Int’l Swimming League?

By
Rich Perelman
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The International Track Association launch in 1972: Lee Evans, Bob Seagren, Jim Ryun, Richmond Flowers, Marty Liquori, Randy Matson and founder Mike O'Hara

Being old does have some benefits. One of them – for as long as it lasts – is memory.

When the International Swimming League (ISL) held an athlete’s conference in London (GBR) last week, followed by a self-congratulatory Web posting, there was an echo from long ago.

Yes, 46 years ago.

In London, ISL founder Konstantin Grigorishin – the Ukrainian head of the Energy Standard Group – said on the ISL Web site that “We can co-exist with FINA and respect each other if they understand that their role is that of a regulator of rules not people. And they need to understand that athletes deserve their fair share of all revenues they generate as the stars of swimming.”

And the InsideTheGames Web site quoted Grigorshin as saying the “day of the sports governing body is coming to an end.” Both ISL and a group of three athletes – Americans Tom Shields and Michael Andrew and Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu – have filed suit against FINA for restraint of trade, with the athletes aiming to be certified as a class-action plaintiff.

During the conference, a program of ISL meets was announced for 2019, between August and the end of the year, with a minimum of $5.3 million in prize money, based on a $15 million budget (35.3%). But the announcement also noted that there is, at present, “no sponsors or revenue.” There was also no schedule of meets or locations other than semifinals and finals in Las Vegas (USA) next December, no television broadcast agreements and no roster of swimmers who have signed up. There was a list of swimmers who attended the meeting to at least show interest.

Long-time followers of track & field remember this scenario very well. Shortly after the 1972 Olympic Games, a group called the International Track Association (ITA) announced that it would be staging a series of meets beginning in 1973 featuring many of the top stars in the sport at the time. Current or former world-record holders from the U.S. such as Jim Ryun (mile), Lee Evans (400 m), Bob Seagren (pole vault) and Randy Matson (shot put) and Olympic champions including Kip Keino of Kenya were all signed to compete for the ITA.

And they did. The first meet was held indoors on 3 March 1973 in Pocatello, Idaho (USA) before 10,480 spectators and saw indoor world-best performances from Warren Edmonson in the 100 m (10.2), Evans in the 600 m (1:17.7) and John Radetich in the high jump (7-4 3/4). Each of these would have been world records except that they were professionals, which was against the Inter-national Olympic Committee and International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) rules at the time.

There were 51 ITA meets from 1973-76 and 34 world-best performances, including Brian Oldfield’s unforgettable 75-0 (22.86 m) shot put in El Paso in 1975, a mark not surpassed until 1987.

But the circuit failed. Although the cumulative attendance was around 500,000 – an average of just less 10,000 per meet, which would be excellent today – it did not generate enough interest from television and investors to continue. And the inability to sign new talent from the 1976 Olympic Games meant that no new stars would be competing in the meets and the ITA’s profile faded quickly.

The ITA made a lasting impact, however, and helped usher in the era of openly-professional athletes in track, swimming and all other Olympic sports. Although those ITA athletes who tried to regain their Olympic eligibility could not do so, or were finally allowed back only in 1980 – well after their prime – their contribution to the fully-professional athletes of today is not to be forgotten.

For those swimmers who are hot to see ISL succeed – and get paid more than they are now – the ITA should be a cautionary tale. The ITA had experienced organizers and new ideas which are commonplace now; the graphics line which is shown on television to compare the pace of swimmers to the world record is simply an update of the revolutionary ITA idea to use lights ringing the track that showed the world-record pace of each race as it was going on.

In its own post on its conference in London, ISL’s founder was clear that the issues which doomed the ITA as an entity after four years of operations remain in place today:

Grigorishin pointed out that swimmers have far bigger challenges long-term, compared to overcoming FINA pressure, in raising their earning power in a competitive trillion-dollar global sports industry. “You are in the entertainment business, show business. And eventually you are competing against other entertainment properties, the likes of Netflix, for the short attention span of the global audience. That is your biggest challenge. Another challenge is technology and the exponential growth of e-sports. Swimming needs to catch up with the technological evolution to stay relevant with the young audience. This all requires swimming to find new exciting formats that engage far more people of all ages beyond its existing core fans.”

The ITA had a lot going for it, but had to compete with the amateur side of the sport, including the Olympic Games, and could not survive. The International Swimming League has filed its lawsuits against FINA, alleging restraint of trade, but Grigorishin’s comments point to the real challenge.

Is swimming a relevant sport for spectators in 2019? ISL’s project supposes that it is, but it offers no answers or details, only the founder’s open questions. Grigorishin will get his opportunity to succeed – FINA is not going to suspend the swimmers – but will he? And for how long?

Rich Perelman
Editor

WEIGHTLIFTING: 13 doping positives is not good news

By
Rich Perelman
-

For a sport which is under threat of removal from the 2024 Olympic program by the International Olympic Committee, the weekend brought bad news. The IWF announced:

∙ The IOC’s re-testing of doping samples from the 2012 Olympic Games in London has resulted in five more positives in weightlifting, all for steroid use:

○ Valentin Hristov (AZE) – Bronze medalist at 56 kg;
○ Mikalai Novikau (BLR) – Seventh at 85 kg;
○ Oleksiy Torokhtiy (UKR) – Gold medalist at 105 kg;
○ Ruslan Nurudinov (UZB) – Fourth at 105 kg;
○ Meline Daluzyan (ARM) – Failed to complete a Clean & Jerk lift.

This brings the total number of weightlifting doping positives for London 2012 to 24 out of 260 competitors (9.2%).

∙ That’s bad enough, but the IWF further announced eight positives:

○ Mateus Gregorio Machado (BRA) ~ 2015 Pan American Games silver at 105 kg
○ Teerapat Chomchuen (THA) ~ 2018 Clean & Jerk Worlds bronze medal in men’s 55 kg
○ Cristiina Iovu (ROM) ~ Fourth in 2018 women’s Worlds 55 kg
○ Maria Virginia Rodriguez Araya (CRC)
○ Ana Victoria Rodriguez Araya (CRC)
○ Duanganksnorn Chaidee (THA) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze medalist in women’s +87 kg
○ Poonam Dalal (IND) ~ 15th in World Youth Championships in women’s 44 kg
○ Dayana Dimitrova (BUL) ~ 2018 European Junior Champion in women’s 48 kg

This is not good news for the IWF and is sure to come up at the next IOC Executive Board meeting.

THE BIG PICTURE: FINA and Int’l Swimming League trade barbs

By
Rich Perelman
-

The furor between the International Swimming League (ISL) and the Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA) continued unabated this week.

ISL held a meeting in London (GBR) to announce a 2019 “league” competition of 12 teams – six from Europe and six from the U.S. – in meets held from mid-August to mid-December, with semi-finals and finals in Las Vegas (USA) from 17-22 December.

The budget is $15 million for 2019, with $5.3 million prize money, but the announcement notes that “the league sits now with no sponsors or revenue” or a television deal for that matter.

Ali Khan, the ISL chief executive, “The monopoly run by FINA, the international swimming federation, is not only completely out of tune when it comes to the rights of athletes to earn a living from their work as elite swimmers but also is violating US and European laws.”

The FINA, however, was not silent and issued its own statement, which included its first comments on issues raised in ISL’s lawsuit:

● “The allegation that FINA would have requested a $50 million fee from the ISL is incorrect. This was the ISL’s initial proposal.”

● “As to the issue of alleged athlete bans resulting from participation in unsanctioned events, FINA merely stated that results achieved in competitions for which approval and sanction were not duly sought and obtained would not be recognised. No approval was duly sought for the event announced in Turin. The decision to cancel it was made by the Italian Swimming Federation and ISL, which was presented merely as a sponsor.”

So, as in almost all lawsuits, there are two sides to the same conversation, meeting or exchange of ideas. This quarrel may or may not be settled out of court, but will go on in the U.S. courts well beyond the August start date for ISL’s announced series. Stay tuned!

LANE ONE: U.S. House committee report indicates little change coming to the Ted Stevens Act

By
Rich Perelman
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The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

While the Ropes & Gray Report on the Larry Nassar sex-abuse scandal has grabbed most of the national headlines, an important report from one of the Congressional committees looking into the matter indicates that only modest changes might be coming to the laws governing the U.S. Olympic Movement.

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy & Commerce Committee published a report by its Majority Staff on Thursday entitled “Nassar and Beyond: A Review of the Olympic Community’s Efforts to Protect Athletes from Sexual Abuse.”

In 132 pages, the Report covers the committee’s activities over about a year, with significant detail from its hearings (by its Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations), and from letters received – upon request – from all of the U.S. National Governing Bodies. The detail is fascinating, but the big-picture impact of this report is the set of recommendations for legislation. There, the conclusion is … don’t do much.

The first recommendation makes this obvious: “Congress should evaluate whether updates are needed to the Ted Stevens Act to ensure athlete safety.”

That’s not a call for substantial change. There are recommendations which will re-shape the activities of the United States Olympic Committee and the National Governing Bodies; the most impactful are:

∙ “The USOC should thoroughly utilize their authorities [sic] under the Ted Stevens Act to ensure athlete safety.”

∙ “The USOC should develop additional options for sanctions other than to decertify or defund NGBs, as these can directly impact the athletes.”

∙ “The USOC, NGBs, and U.S. Center for SafeSport should not consider reputation when imposing sanctions, settlements, or other enforcement mechanisms.”

∙ “The USOC and NGBs should ensure that there are comprehensive and consistent policies and procedures across the Olympic community.”

∙ “The USOC should develop a consistent definition of a “covered individual” to be applicable across all NGBs.”

∙ “NGBs should have consistent policies regarding background checks, including who must undergo a background check, the length and depth of the background check, and the reasons for which an individual would fail a background check and become ineligible for participation in an NGB.”

∙ “All NGBs should maintain and post their banned and suspended lists such that they are available to the general public.”

∙ “The U.S. Center for SafeSport should compile historical bans and suspensions in a publicly available and comprehensive database.”

The consistent thread is that the NGBs must act in a consistent manner and with consistent procedures, and that the USOC is in the best position to dictate the processes to be followed.

This is especially true with regard to posting lists of banned or disciplined individuals, groups or organizations on one or more public forums so that people (like parents) can find them easily. The Report found plenty of fault with the myriad of approaches to prevention of abuse, investigations and post-discipline posting of the status of banned or suspended individuals, companies or institutions.

So the most important single direction that the Report gives to the U.S. Olympic community is this: Under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, the USOC is responsible for the U.S. National Governing Bodies and is expected to ensure their adherence to strict policies and procedures for – at least – athlete safety, if not other areas.

Now, the House Report is hardly the last word. The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation’s subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance & Data Security has been doing its own investigation – including three hearings – and will have its own report.

But the House Report underscores four points made in an August editorial in the Sports Business Daily by Mike Harrigan, whose work on the President’s Commission on Olympic Sports in the 1970s led directly to the passage of the Ted Stevens Act. Harrigan wrote, “The underlying causes of what went wrong are:

“1. The USOC failed to properly oversee national governing bodies as required by the Act.

“2. The USOC failed to understand certain portions of the Act.

“3. The USOC failed to educate its members and Congress on its contents.

“4. The USOC’s ‘culture’ since the late 1980s ignored everything in its legislative mandate except the goal of winning Olympic medals.”

He concluded: “There is no need to amend the Act, only the need to understand it and enforce it with congressional oversight conducted regularly.” The House Report essentially says he is right.

Rich Perelman
Editor

DOPING: Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act introduced in Senate

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

The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act previously introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on 19 December.

The announcement noted that the bill is “[n]amed for Russian whistleblower Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the bipartisan legislation establishes criminal penalties on individuals involved in doping fraud conspiracies affecting major international competitions.”

The bill in current form would seek to:

• Establish criminal penalties – including a fine of up to $1 million and/or up to 10 years in prison – for participating in a scheme in commerce to influence a major international sport competition through prohibited substances or methods.

• Provide restitution to victims of such conspiracies.

• Protect whistleblowers from retaliation.

• Establish coordination and sharing of information with the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Said Whitehouse, “This bill would create consequences for Russia’s cheating, and send a strong signal that Russia and other sponsors of state-directed fraud and corruption no longer enjoy impunity.”

The House bill is H.R. 6067, referred to the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.

SWIMMING: Missy Franklin retires at 23

By
Rich Perelman
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Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin

Five-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin, 23, announced her retirement on Wednesday (19th) and followed up with a lengthy explanation in a letter posted by ESPN.

Franklin stated that the primary reason for retiring was the recurring shoulder pain that plagued her throughout 2016 and was not relieved by surgery on both shoulders in 2017.

“It took me a long time to say the words, ‘I am retiring,'” Franklin wrote. “A long, long time. But now I’m ready. I’m ready to not be in pain every day. I’m ready to become a wife, one day a mother. I’m ready to continue growing each and every day to be the best person and role model I can be. I’m ready for the rest of my life.”

Franklin won four gold medals in London in 2012 in the 100-200 m Backstrokes and two relays, and six golds at the 2013 World Championships. But the shoulder pains reduced her performance at the 2016 Olympic Trials to the point where she qualified only for relay duty in Rio, where the won another gold as a prelim-round swimmer on the U.S. 4×200 m squad.

By December of 2017, she had changed coaches but “it was also the same time that my shoulder pain became the worst I had ever experienced. I was still in physical therapy multiple times a week and my coaches were doing everything to help me just get through each practice. Every moment I wasn’t training was spent recovering with ice and rest, as I tried to heal and prepare myself for the next practice – but nothing was working.”

BOXING: AIBA wants to meet ASAP with IOC Working Group

By
Rich Perelman
-

In the aftermath of the International Olympic Committee Executive Board’s decision to form an ad hoc committee to examine whether the International Boxing Association (AIBA) should continue as the governing body over boxing, the AIBA sent a letter to the working group chief, Nenad Lalovic (SLO) asking for a January meeting to begin the process.

As part of the announcement of the letter, AIBA trumpeted the progress report it presented to the IOC that “documents that 1) AIBA now ranks in the top half of all summer International Federations according to the official ASOIF ranking; 2) AIBA is now fully compliant with the WADA Code and has signed agreements with the International Testing Agency; 3) AIBA has a new fully revamped Refereeing & Judging systems that fosters a culture of transparency and fair play which has been praised by the IOC and PwC; 4) The financial situation of AIBA is now stable with a positive cash-flow due to significant increase in revenues.”

The AIBA progress report is here.

The IOC was not amused, and the Associated Press reported that the IOC sent its own letter to all 206 National Olympic Committees “not to trust” the AIBA claims and that the letter “does not at all provide an accurate portrayal” of the IOC’s view of the situation.

Not a good way to start …

BASKETBALL: Big East will provide U.S. men’s Pan Am Games team

By
Rich Perelman
-

USA Basketball announced that the Big East Conference will provide the United States men’s basketball team at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

The team will be led by Providence College head coach Ed Cooley, who has worked with four USA Basketball national teams from 2013-15, including the World Champion 2015 FIBA U-19 squad.

How did this come about. Look no further than Big East commissioner Val Ackerman, former head of the WNBA and the president of USA Basketball from 2005-08.

“USA Basketball felt it would be best to offer the college community the opportunity to participate in the men’s basketball competition at the 2019 Pan American Games given an already full USA men’s national team calendar,” said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball chief executive.

“USA Basketball worked with the U.S. Olympic Committee and the NCAA to identify the best option and NCAA Division I conferences were offered the opportunity to participate in the Pan American Games. Ultimately the BIG EAST Conference was selected and USA Basketball is confident that Coach Cooley and the BIG EAST team will represent the United States in a manner that will make all Americans proud.”

It’s a plum assignment for the Big East, but there will also be some pressure to perform better than the recent U.S. teams at the PAG. The U.S. men won bronze medals in 2011 and 2015 and have not won the tournament since 1983! While the U.S. has eight PanAm golds – the most of any country – Brazil now has six and has won in most recently in 1999-2003-07-15.

The Big East has 10 members, including Butler University, Creighton University, DePaul University, Georgetown University, Marquette University, Providence College, St. John’s University, Seton Hall University, Villanova University and Xavier University.

ATHLETICS: Why did Allyson Felix have a bad 2018? Good reason!

By
Rich Perelman
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More Worlds medal than anyone else: American sprint icon Allyson Felix (Photo: Wikipedia)

If you wondered why Allyson Felix was absent from the track for most of 2018, the answer is she was pregnant.

In a lengthy “as told to” post on the ESPNW site, Felix shared with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that “So when I ran a 51-second 400 at a race in Poland on June 8 and then 52 seconds at a race in France the next week, I knew what everyone was thinking. …

“My coach, Bobby Kersee, talked to me about shutting it down for the season. My brother and agent, Wes Felix, wanted to make sure I wasn’t hurt.

“It was time to tell them what was really going on.

“I was pregnant.”

She also shared the pressures of being Allyson Felix … and being married (in 2016 to Kenneth Ferguson, who ran 45.91 for 400 m and 48.15 for the 400 m hurdles back in 2007) … and wanting a family.

“I was so excited to be pregnant. I’ve always wanted to be a mother. I feel so incredibly blessed. This shouldn’t be a secret. I want to share this journey with everyone who has ever known me or cheered for me. So why has it taken me eight months to share this news?

“I think it’s the same reason it took me until now to feel ready to start a family and have a child.

“Somewhere along the line, that pristine nice girl image I was trying to live up to became more important than who I really was. I was putting other people’s needs and expectations of me ahead of my own. I was doing things because I felt like I was supposed to, rather than what I wanted to. It felt like ticking off boxes on a checklist rather than living my life.”

Her daughter, Camryn, was born prematurely on 28 November and is in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The post says her prognosis is good.

She closed with “If I come back and I’m just not the same, if I can’t make a fifth Olympic team, I’m gonna know that I fought, that I was determined, and that I gave it my absolute all. And if it doesn’t end up the way I imagined in my head, it’ll be OK. I just have to go for it, because that’s just simply who we are now.”

FREESTYLE SKIING: Canada’s d’Artois dominates Secret Garden Halfpipe

By
Rich Perelman
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Canada's Simon d'Artois

The Freestyle Halfpipe in Secret Garden (CHN) was moved from 22 December to the 20th, but it didn’t matter to Simon d’Artois (CAN), who won his first-ever World Cup Halfpipe title with a dominating performance.

D’Artois authored a sensational series, taking the lead in the first round with an excellent 91.25, with Nico Porteous (NZL) reaching 88.00 for second. In the next round, d’Artois improved to 92.00, while Porteous reached 89.50, still in second. Then d’Artois exploded in the final round with an impressive 93.50, which proved to be the winning mark.

It’s not like d’Artois hasn’t been on the podium before, with three career bronze medals – all in the last two seasons – but this was his first win. He’s won his four medals in four different countries – really in four different regions – in China, in New Zealand (2017), the U.S. (2017) and France (2018).

Like d’Artois, China’s Kexin Zhang led the women’s Halfpipe from start to finish, reaching 84.75 in the first round and then 87.75 in the second round. But she did have some company, with Canada’s Rachael Barker at 85.75 moving from third to second in the final round, ahead of Fanghui Li (CHN), who shot out to 83.75 in the second round.

Zhang defended her title from 2017 at Secret Garden; the win was her second ever and third World Cup career medal. Summaries:

FIS Freestyle World Cup
Secret Garden (CHN) ~ 20 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Halfpipe: 1. Simon d’Artois (CAN), 93.50; 2. Nico Porteous (NZL), 89.50; 3. Hunter Hess (USA), 85.50; 4. Thomas Krief (FRA), 79.25; 5. Brendan Mackay (CAN), 78.50. Also: 7. Cassidy Jarrell (USA), 74.50; … 9. Jaxin Hoerter (USA), 70.50.

Women’s Halfpipe: 1. Kexin Zhang (CHN), 87.75; 2. Rachael Karker (CAN), 85.75; 3. Fanghui Li (CHN), 83.75; 4. Abigale Hansen (USA), 77.25; 5. Yurie Watabe (JPN), 73.75.

ALPINE SKIING: The broom: Hirscher nearly sweeps Alta Badia & Saalbach

By
Rich Perelman
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Austria's Marcel Hirscher (Photo: Jonas Ericcsoon via Wikipedia)

Only injury is going to keep Austria’s Marcel Hirscher from an eighth straight overall World Cup title. He is simply too good for everyone else and after stops in Alta Badia (ITA) and Saalbach-Hinterglemm (AUT), he won three of four races to increase his lead to nearly three full races with less than a third of the schedule completed.

In Alta Badia, he won the Giant Slalom by more than two seconds (!) over France’s Thomas Fanara and Alexis Pinturault and then took the first Parallel Giant Slalom from France’s Thibaut Favrot in the final. In Saalbach, he slipped back in the Giant Slalom, finishing sixth (still worth 40 World Cup points), but came back on Thursday to win the Slalom over Swiss Loic Meillard.

He now has 620 points to 352 for Kristoffersen heading into Sunday’s Slalom – in which he will be favored – in Madonna di Campiglio (ITA).

In the women’s races in Val Gardena (ITA), Slovenian star Ilka Stuhec, back from a devastating left knee injury in October 2017, won both the Downhill and Super-G for the eighth and ninth World Cup wins in her career. The 2017 World Champion in the Downhill, if she remains healthy, she too could become a dominant force on the women’s circuit in the speed events. Summaries:

FIS Alpine World Cup
Alta Badia (ITA) ~ 16-17 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Giant Slalom: 1. Marcel Hirscher (AUT), 2:32.29; 2. Thomas Fanara (FRA), 2:34.82; 3. Alexis Pinturault (FRA), 2:34.98; 4. Manuel Feller (AUT), 2:35.01; 5. Tommy Ford (USA), 2:35.08. Also in the top 25: 16. Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA), 2:36.10; … 24. River Radamus (USA), 2:37.40.

Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom: 1. Hirscher (AUT); 2. Thibaut Favrot (FRA); Small Final: Alexis Pinturault (FRA); 4. Matts Olson (SWE).

FIS Alpine World Cup
Saalbach (AUT) ~ 19-20 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Giant Slalom: 1. Zan Kranjec (SLO), 2:50.08; 2. Loic Meillard (SUI), 2:50.27; 3. Mathieu Faivre (FRA), 2:50.58; 4. Stefan Luitz (GER), 2:50.66; 5. Fanara (FRA), 2:50.80. Also in the top 25: 14. Ford (USA), 2:52.70; 15. Ted Ligety (USA), 2:52.96.

Men’s Slalom: 1. Marcel Hirscher (AUT), 1:54.98; 2. Meillard (SUI), 1:55.36; 3. Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR), 1:55.45; 4. Manuel Feller (AUT), 1:55.63; 5. Michael Matt (AUT), 1:55.76.

FIS Alpine World Cup
Val Gardena (ITA) ~ 18-19 December 2018
(Full results here)

Women’s Downhill: 1. Ilka Stuhec (SLO), 1:22.81; 2. Nicol Delago (ITA), 1:22.95; 3. Ramona Siebenhofer (AUT), 1:23.32; 4. Jasmine Flury (SUI), 1:23.68; 5. Michaela Wenig (GER), 1:23.70.

Women’s Super-G: 1. Stuhec (SLO), 1:31.87; 2. Tina Weirather (LIE), 1:31.92; 3. Nicole Schmidhofer (AUT), 1:31.92; 4. Flury (SUI), 1:31.93; 5. Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR), 1:32.11.

SNOWBOARD Preview: Halfpipe & Slopestyle in China; Snow Cross in Italy

By
Rich Perelman
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There’s a lot of Snowboard World Cup action this weekend, with Halfpipe and Slopestyle in Secret Garden (CHN) and Snowboard Cross in Cervinia (ITA).

∙ Halfpipe & Slopestyle:

The Halfpipe season got underway at Copper Mountain, Colorado (USA), with Scotty James (AUS), Toby Miller (USA) and Chase Josey (USA) taking the medals for the men and Chloe Kim (USA), Maddie Mastro (USA) and Xuetong Cai (CHN) on the women’s podium.

A lot of the international stars are skipping Saturday’s event, but Cai was the leading qualifier on Wednesday (92.50!) and Swiss Jan Scherrer (89.75) had the top men’s mark.

The defending champs at Secret Garden are Ayumu Hirano (JPN) for the men and Jiayu Liu (CHN) for the women. Look for results here.

In Slopestyle, this will be the season opener, with Chris Corning (USA) and Sofya Fyodorova (RUS) the defending champions. In the qualifying on Thursday, Niklas Mattson (SWE: 79.96) and Sebbe de Buck (BEL: 75.15) led the men’s scoring and Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN: 79.68) and Reira Iwabuchi (JPN: 72.60) were 1-2 for the women.

∙ Snowboard Cross:

With an earlier competition canceled, Cervinia (ITA) will be the site of the season opener for Snowboard Cross. Competitions are scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

The fastest qualifiers were Martin Noerl (GER: 1:15.18), Hagen Kearney (USA: 1:16.95) and Konstantin Schad (GER: 1:17.00) among the men, and Nelly Moenne Loccoz (FRA: 1:22.46), Michela Moioli (ITA: 1:22.89) and Raffaella Brutto (ITA: 1:23.16) among the women.

Last season’s top men’s SnowCross riders were Pierre Vaultier (FRA), Alessandro Hammerle (AUT) and Alex Pulin (AUS) and they are all entered, as are American stars Kearney, Nick Baumgartner and Mick Dierdorff, among others.

The women’s World Cup medalists for 2017-18 were Moioli, Chloe Trespauch (FRA: not entered) and Moenne Loccoz. American Lindsey Jacobellis, a two-time World Cup champion, who dominated the circuit until she stopped racing to prepare for the 2018 Winter Games, is also entered.

The defending champs in Cervinia are Italians Omar Visintin and Moioli. Look for results here.

NORDIC COMBINED Preview: Four in a row for Riiber in Ramsau?

By
Rich Perelman
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Norway's Jarl Magnus Riiber

The Nordic Combined World Cup has been in repose since the three-event Lillehammer Tour in early December, but the circuit will start up again in Ramsau (AUT) with two Gundersen-style event, off a 98 m hill, with a 10.0 km cross-country race to follow. The standings:

1. 380 Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR)
2. 196 Eric Frenzel (GER)
3. 189 Mario Seidl (AUT)
4. 165 Johannes Rydzek (GER)
5. 147 Jorgen Graabak (NOR)

Riiber has been the early sensation, with three wins in a row in Lillehammer (NOR). Just 21, he’s the new wunderkind in the sport, having ranked seventh in the World Cup standings last season. He entered this season with 11 World Cup medals, but only one win. He’s now won three in a row.

Frenzel, who won five seasonal World Cup titles in a row before Akito Watabe (JPN) took over last season, has won two medals this season, as has Rydzek. Frenzel and teammate Fabian Riessle won the two events in Ramsau last season; in fact, Frenzel has won one of the Ramsau races for three straight years!

Look for results here.

FREESTYLE SKIING Preview: Ski Cross finally underway, lands in Innichen

By
Rich Perelman
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After the weather canceled two events and moved the date on a third (Arosa, noted below), a regularly-scheduled event is getting set in Innichen (ITA). Competitions will be held on Friday and Saturday for men and women.

The top racers from 2017-18 were Marc Bischofberger (SUI), Jean-Frederic Chapuis (FRA) and Kevin Drury (CAN), but Jonas Lenherr (SUI), Victor Norberg (SWE) and Alex Fiva (SUI) took the medals in the season opener in Arosa (SUI).

Among the women, Swiss Fanny Smith won in Arosa, followed by perennial star Sandra Naeslund (SWE) and Canada’s Marielle Thompson. Last season, it was Naeslund, Smith and Brittany Phelan (CAN) who won the medals in Arosa.

Look for results from Innichen here.

FIS Freestyle World Cup
Arosa (SUI) ~ 17 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Ski Cross/Big Final: 1. Jonas Lenherr (SUI); 2. Victor Oehling Norberg (SWE); 3. Alex Fiva (SUI); 4. Bastien Midol (FRA).

Women’s Ski Cross/Big Final: 1. Fanny Smith (SUI); 2. Sandra Naeslund (SWE); 3. Marielle Thompson (CAN); 4. Andrea Limbacher (AUT).

BIATHLON Preview: Can anyone beat Fourcade or Boe?

By
Rich Perelman
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Olympic Biathlon champ Martin Fourcade of France (Photo: Peter Porai-Koshits via Wikipedia)

The IBU World Cup is in the Czech Republic this week, with all six men’s races this season having been won by just two men: France’s Martin Fourcade and Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe.

Boe has won all three 10 km Sprints – including the Nove Mesto Sprint held on Thursday – and a 12.5 km Pursuit. Fourcade won the 20 km individual season-opener and a 12.5 km Pursuit. Can anyone other than these two win a race?

This week’s schedule, with the men’s 10 km Sprint already completed:

∙ 21 December: Women’s 7.5 km Sprint
∙ 22 December: Women’s 10 km Pursuit and 12.5 km Pursuit
∙ 23 December: Women’s 12.5 and men’s 15.0 km Mass Start

After the Nove Mesto Sprint, Boe has a 308-232 lead over Russia’s Alexander Loginov, with Antonin Guigonnat (FRA) at 223, Austria’s Simon Eder at 205 and Fourcade at 191.

The women’s races have been dominated by Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen, who has won three of the five races held so far, and won medals in four. But Italy’s Dorothea Wierer also has four medals, including one win, two silvers and one bronze, and has a 252-245 points lead going into the week.

Slovakia’s Paulina Fialkova is the only other biathlete to win more than one medal this season (she has a silver and bronze).

Look for more results from Nove Mesto here.

IBU World Cup
Nove Mesto (CZE) ~ 20-23 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s 10 km Sprint: 1. Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR), 23:09.9; 2. Alexander Loginov (RUS), +21.0; 3. Martin Ponsiluoma (SWE), +54.2; 4. Benjamin Weger (SUI), +1:03.5; 5. Simon Desthieux (FRA), +

ALPINE SKIING Preview: Another win coming for Hirscher in Italy and Shiffrin in France?

By
Rich Perelman
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Austria's Marcel Hirscher (Photo: Jonas Ericcsoon via Wikipedia)

One of the busiest weeks in this year’s World Cup continues for the men in Madonna di Campiglio (ITA) on Saturday, with two races for the women in Courchevel (FRA).

∙ Men:

Austrian superstar Marcel Hirscher swept the Slalom and Parallel Giant Slalom in Alta Badia (ITA), finished sixth in the Giant Slalom and then won the Slalom in Saalbach (AUT) and comes to another Slalom at Madonna di Campiglio on the 22nd as the runaway favorite for his eighth World Cup overall win in a row. With 13 races out of 41 scheduled for the season, Hirscher leads Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen, 620-352 in the overall points standings.

Hirscher has won both Slaloms held this season, and won the last three in the 2017-18 World Cup season, so he’s working on a five-Slalom win streak, and 10 of the last 11! He’s amazing.

Hirscher also won in Madonna last season, but Norway’s Kristoffersen won over Hirscher in 2016 and 2015.

Look for results from Madonna here.

∙ Women:

The women’s World Cup is in Courchevel (FRA), for a Giant Slalom and Slalom on the weekend. That means another opportunity for American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin to pile up more points in her best races. She won five of the 11 races on tour so far this season, including all three Slaloms and has a medal in one of the two Giant Slalom races. In her quest for a third straight overall World Cup title, she already has 689 points, to 359 for Nicole Schmidhofer (AUT).

Shiffrin won both the Giant Slalom and Parallel Slalom last season in Courchevel, over Tessa Worley (FRA) and Petra Vlhova (SVK), respectively.

Look for results from Courchevel here.

BADMINTON: Three wins for China in World Tour Finals

By
Rich Perelman
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China's Yuqi Shi

There’s no doubt that China is the world’s no. 1 power in badminton and they demonstrated it with three wins at the BWF World Tour Finals in front of home fans in Guangzhou (CHN).

In the men’s division, Yuqi Shi defeated Japan’s Kento Momota – for the first time ever – in a re-match of the 2018 World Championships final, and the reigning World Champions, Junhui Li and Yuchen Liu defeated Japan’s Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe.

China’s World Championsships silver medalists in Mixed Doubles, Yilyu Wang and Yaquiong Huang beat the titleholders – Siwei Zhang and Yaqiong Huang – in the finals for another reversal.

Perhaps the most emotional event was the women’s Singles final, where India’s V. Sindhu Pusarla – runner-up in four tournaments this season, including the World Championships – finally won, setting aisde Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) in straight sets.

“I’m really proud, the year has ended on a beautiful note. People have been asking me the same question, I think the question won’t come again – asking why I always lose in the final. Now I can say I won the gold and I’m proud of it. It was good that people were asking me about losing so many finals, because I had to ask myself why I was losing. Finally I got the answer.

“It’s a special tournament for me because I won all my group matches and the semifinals and the final. I have no words. She fought hard, and at times I remembered the last final. But I was able to focus again. Although I won in straight games, it was very tough and each point was hard.

“I got emotional because it’s my first gold in this tournament. I didn’t have anything in my mind. I was on my knees. I wanted this win very much.” Summaries:

BWF World Tour Finals
Guangzhou (CHN) ~ 12-16 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Yuqi Shi (CHN); 2. Kento Momota (JPN); 3. Sameer Verma (IND) and Wan Ho Son (KOR). Semis: Shi d. Vermeer, 12-21, 22-20, 21-17; Momota d. Son, 21-14, 21-12. Final: Shi d. Momota, 21-12, 21-11.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Junhui Li/Yuchen Liu (CHN); 2. Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe (JPN); 3. Hung Ling Chen/Chi-Lin Wang (TPE) and Kim Astrup/Anders Rasmussen (DEN). Semis: Li/Liu d. Chen/Wang, 18-21, 21-12, 21-15; Endo/Watanabe d. Astrup/Rasmussen, 21-19, 21-13. Final: Li/Liu d. Endo/Watanabe, 21-15, 21-11.

Women’s Singles: 1. V. Sindhu Pusarla (IND); 2. Nozomi Okuhara (JPN); 3. Ratchanok Intanon (THA) and Akane Yamaguchi (JPN). Semis: Pusarla d. Intanon, 21-16, 25-23; Okuhara d. Yamaguchi, 21-17, 21-14. Final: Pusarla d. Okuhara, 21-19, 21-17.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Misaki Matsumoto/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN); 2. So Hee Lee/Seung Chan Shin (KOR); 3. Yue Du/Yinhui Li (CHN) and Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (JPN). Semis: Matsumoto/Takahashi d. Du/Li, 22-20, 11-3, withdrew; Lee/Shin d. Matsumoto/Nagahara, 21-13, 21-13. Final: Matsumoto/Takahashi d. Lee/Shin, 21-12, 22-20.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN); 2. Siwei Zhang/Yaqiong Huang (CHN); 3. Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapirsee Taerattanachai (THA) and Yuta Watanabe/ Arisa Higashino (JPN). Semis: Zhang/Huang d. Puavaranukroh/Taerattanachai, 19-21, 21-14, 21-12; Wang/Huang d. 21-9, 19-21, 21-13. Final: Wang/Huang d. Zhang/Huang, 23-21, 16-21, 21-18.

ARCHERY: Gellenthien & Ruiz win Compound titles in Rome Indoor World Cup

By
Rich Perelman
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U.S. Compound Indoor World Champion Braden Gellenthien

U.S. archers had a strong showing at the Rome stop on the World Archery Indoor World Cup, with Braden Gellenthien getting his first win on the circuit in the men’s Compound Division and Alexis Ruiz winning her second straight women’s Compound title.

In the men’s Recurve (Olympic) division, Olympic bronze medalist Brady Ellison shot in his first Indoor World Cup tournament and got to the final against Canada’s Crispin Duenas.

Ellison shot well, scoring 28, 29 and 29 points in each end, but Duenas fired nine consecutive 10s to finish with a perfect 30-30-30 for three straight ends and a 6-0 final score. “I had to work hard in my first matches. Then, everything lined up as it should and I won this great gold medal,” said the winner.

Korea’s Surin Kim won her second Indoor World Cup gold in the women’s Recurve title, over Dutch shooter Gabriela Bayardo, as the Koreans went 1-3-4. Summaries:

World Archery Indoor World Cup
Rome (ITA) ~ 15-16 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Recurve: 1. Crispin Duenas (CAN); 2. Brady Ellison (USA); 3. Jong Young Lee (KOR); 4. Dusol Ko (KOR). Semis: Duenas d. Lee, 7-3; Ellison d. Ko, 6-4. Third: Lee d. Ko, 6-4. Final: Duenas d. Ellison, 6-0.

Men’s Compound: 1. Braden Gellenthien (USA); 2. Martin Damsbo (DEN); 3. Sergio Pagni (ITA); 4. Kris Schaff (USA). Semis: Gellenthien d. Schaff, 150-149; Damsbo d. Pagni, 148-147. Third: Pagni d. Schaff, 149-149 (shoot-off: 10-10, closest to the center). Final: Gellenthien d. Damsbo, 148-148 (shoot-off: 10-9).

Women’s Recurve: 1. Surin Kim (KOR); 2. Gabriela Bayardo (NED); 3. Chae Young Kang (KOR); 4. Chaeyun Kim (KOR). Semis: S. Kim d. C. Kim, 6-4; Bayardo d. C. Kang, 6-4. Third: Kang d. Kim, 6-4. Final: S. Kim d. Bayardo, 6-0.

Women’s Compound: 1. Alexis Ruiz (USA); 2. Mariya Shkolna (LUX); 3. Sunniva Lislevand (NOR); 4. Yun Soo Song (KOR). Semis: Ruiz d. Song, 147-143; Shkolna d. Lislevand, 145-141. Third: Lislevand d. Song, 147-146. Final: Ruiz d. Shkolna, 147-139.

ALPINE SKIING: Norway sweeps Val Gardena speed races

By
Rich Perelman
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Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal

There were familiar faces on the podium of the speed races at Val Gardena (ITA), with Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal taking the Super-G on Friday and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde taking the Downgill on Saturday.

For Svindal, 35, it was his 36th World Cup gold medal, 17 of which have come in the Super-G. He loves Val Gardena: it was his sixth victory there.

In the Downhill, Kilde, 26, won his third career World Cup race, but his first since January of 2016. He also loves Val Gardena: he’s now won three medals there, a gold, silver and bronze, in 2015, 2016 and 2018.

The U.S. men also had their best race of the season in the Downhill, with Bryce Bennett in fourth, Steven Nyman in fifth and Travis Ganong sixth.

The skiing is almost non-stop this week, with a Giant Slalom on Sunday and a Parallel Giant Slalom on Monday in Alta Badia (ITA) and then a make-up date for the Slalom that was supposed to be at Val d’Isere (FRA) last week, but will be held with the scheduled Giant Slalom on 19-20 December in Saalbach (AUT).

What does that mean? More points for Austria’s technical-race superstar, Marcel Hirscher. He won the Giant Slalom in Alta Badia on Sunday with a blistering first run of 1:17.61 that was almost a second ahead of everyone else. He beat France’s Thomas Fanara by 2.53 seconds in the final tally.

So far this season, Hirscher has won two of the three Giant Slalom races and the only Slalom. He could end the week with a six-race win streak in the G-S and Slalom. Summaries from Val Gardena and Alta Badia:

FIS Alpine World Cup
Val Gardena (ITA) ~ 14-15 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Super-G: 1. Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR), 1:28.65; 2. Christof Innerhofer (ITA), 1:28.70; 3. Kjetil Jansrud (NOR), 1:28.92; 4. Johan Clarey (FRA), 1:29.30; 5. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR), 1:29.31. Also in the top 25: 24. Travis Ganong (USA), 1:30.10.

Men’s Downhill: 1. Kilde (NOR), 1:56.13; 2. Max Franz (AUT), 1:56.99; 3. Beat Feuz (SUI), 1:57.05; 4. Bryce Bennett (USA), 1:57.11; 5. Steven Nyman (USA), 1:57.14. Also: 6. Ganong (USA), 1:57.18.

FIS Alpine World Cup
Alta Badia (ITA) ~ 16-17 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Giant Slalom: 1. Marcel Hirscher (AUT), 2:32.29; 2. Thomas Fanara (FRA), 2:34.82; 3. Alexis Pinturault (FRA), 2:34.98; 4. Manuel Feller (AUT), 2:35.01; 5. Tommy Ford (USA), 2:35.08. Also in the top 25: 16. Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA), 2:36.10; … 24. River Radamus (USA), 2:37.40.

SWIMMING: U.S. dominates FINA World Short-Course Champs

By
Rich Perelman
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American swim star Kelsi Dahlia!

In another demonstration of how dominant the United States in swimming, a powerful American team overran the rest of the world in the 14th FINA World Short-Course Championships in Hangzhou (CHN).

The American team, which did not include a number of stars, won 36 total medals, more than the combined total of runner-up Russia (14 medals) and China (13) combined. Moreover, the U.S. won 17 gold medals – out of 46 events – with Russia next with six, and then Hungary with four.

That’s even better than the U.S. did in 2016, when it won 30 medals (8-15-7) to lead the medal table, against 15 by Japan (2-2-11) and 14 by Russia (6-5-3), also across 46 events. The U.S. has now led the medal table in five straight short-course Worlds (2010-12-14-16-18); the last time the U.S. won more medals in a Short-Course Worlds was in 2004 when the meet was in Indianapolis and the American squad won 41 medals in just 40 events!

The meet, which had 930 total entrants (525 men and 405 women) saw a staggering total of 22 meet records and nine new world records:

World Records:
∙ Men’s 200 m Breaststroke: 2:00.16 Kirill Prigoda (RUS)
∙ Men’s 200 m Medley: 1:48.24 Daiya Seto (JPN)
∙ Men’s 4×50 m Freestyle: 1:21.80 United States (Dressel, Held, Conger, Chadwick)
∙ Men’s 4×100 m Freestyle: 3:30.03 United States (Dressel, Pieroni, Chadwick, Held)
∙ Men’s 4×200 m Freestyle: 6:46.81 Brazil (Melo, Scheffer, Santos, Correia)

∙ Women’s 400 m Freestyle: 3:53.92 Ariarne Titmus (AUS)
∙ Women’s 4×50 m Medley: 1:42.38 United States (Smoliga, Meili, Dahlia, Comerford)

∙ Mixed 4×50 m Freestyle: 1:27.89 United States (Dressel, Held, Comerford, Dahlia)
∙ Mixed 4×50 m Medley: 1:36.40 United States (Smoliga, Andrew, Dahlia, Dressel)

In addition, the U.S. re-wrote the American Record lists as well, setting marks in 13 events:

American Records (set in addition to the World Records above):
∙ Men’s 50 m Freestyle: 20.43 Caeleb Dressel (in Mixed 4×50 m Free final)
. Men’s 50 m Freestyle: 20.43 Dressel (in men’s 4×50 m Free final)
∙ Men’s 100 m Freestyle: 45.82 Ryan Held (in relay prelims)
. Men’s 100 m Freestyle: 45.66 Dressel (in relay final)
. Men’s 100 m freestyle: 45.62 Dressel
∙ Men’s 4×50 m Medley: 1:30.90 Murphy, Andrew, Dressel, Held
∙ Men’s 4×100 m Medley: 3:19.98 Murphy, Wilson, Dressel, Held

∙ Women’s 100 m Freestyle: 51.63 Mallory Comerford
∙ Women’s 200 m Freestyle: 1:51.81 Comerford
∙ Women’s 50 m Backstroke: 26.06 Olivia Smoliga (in semifinals)
. Women’s 50 m Backstroke: 25.88 Smoliga
∙ Women’s 100 m Backstroke: 55.47 Smoliga (in prelims)
∙ Women’s 50 m Butterfly: 24.93 Kelsi Dahlia (in semifinals)
∙ Women’s 200 m Butterfly: 2:01.73 Dahlia
∙ Women’s 200 m Medley: 2:04.62 Melanie Margalis
∙ Women’s 4×50 m Freestyle: 1:34.03 Kennedy, Comerford, Dahlia Brown
∙ Women’s 4×200 m Freestyle: 7:35.30 Smith, Comerford, Margalis, Brown

In terms of individual medals, the U.S. was tops there, too:

∙ 9:
Kelsi Dahlia (USA: 7-1-1)
Caeleb Dressel (USA: 6-3-0)

∙ 8:
Olivia Smoliga (USA: 8-0-0)
Mallory Comerford (USA: 5-2-1)
Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED: 3-4-1)
Femke Heemskerk (NED: 0-6-2)

∙ 7:
Evgeny Rylov (RUS: 3-2-2)
Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS: 2-3-2)

∙ 6:
Ryan Murphy (USA: 3-3-0)
Vladimir Morozov (RUS: 1-4-1)

These totals were greatly inflated by the number of relays in the meet – 12 in all – and the top four Americans all won six relay medals, and Dutch stars Kromowidjojo and Heemskerk both won five medals apiece on relays.

There were also multiple champions who defended their 2016 World Short-Course titles, starting with four defenses from Hungary’s amazing Katinka Hosszu:

∙ Katinka Hosszu (HUN): Women’s 200 m Fly, 100-200-400 m Medley
∙ Cameron van den Burgh (RSA): Men’s 50 m Breast
∙ Chad le Clos (RSA): Men’s 100 m Fly
∙ Shun Wang (CHN): Men’s 200 m Medley
∙ Daiya Seto (JPN): Men’s 400 m Medley
∙ Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED): Women’s 50 m Freestyle
∙ Alia Atkinson (JAM): Women’s 100 m Breast

Hosszu, now 29, has now won an astonishing 17 World Short-Course titles and 27 medals (after a silver in the 100 m Back!) From 2012-18.

South Africa’s van den Burgh won the 100 m Breaststroke in a meet-record time of 56.01 and then confirmed his retirement at age 30. He later won the 50 m Breast for his seventh gold medal at the Olympic (1), World (2) and World Short-Course (4) Championships. He was the 2012 Olympic Champion in the 100 Breaststroke and he won medals in championships from 2007-18.

Prize money of $2.07 million was on offer in Guangzhou: each event paid $10,000-8,000-7,000-6,000-5,000-4,000-3,000-2,000 to the top eight finishers. World records commanded an extra $15,000. Summaries:

FINA World Short-Course Championships
Hangzhou (CHN) ~ 11-16 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Freestyle: 1. Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 20.33; 2. Caeleb Dressel (USA), 20.54; 3. Bradley Tandy (RSA), 20.94; 4. Simonas Bilis (LTU), 20.99; 5. Pawel Juraszek (POL), 21.00; 6. Cameron McEvoy (AUS), 21.02; 7. Cesar Cielo (BRA), 21.20; Ben Proud (GBR), was disqualified.

100 m Free: 1. Dressel (USA), 45.62 (American Record; old, 45.66, Dressel, 2018 [relay prelims]); 2. Morozov (RUS), 45.64; 3. Clad le Clos (RSA), 45.89; 4. Vladislav Grinev (RUS), 45.92; 5. Simonas Bilis (LTU), 46.11; 6. Mehdy Metella (FRA), 46.51; 7. tie, Katsumi Nakamura (JPN) and Blake Pieroni (USA), 46.57.

200 m Free: 1. Pieroni (USA), 1:41.49; 2. Danas Rapsys (LTU), 1:41.78; 3. Alexander Graham (AUS), 1:42.28; 4. Xinjie Ji (CHN), 1:42.31; 5. Breno Correia (BRA), 1:42.36; 6. Martin Malyutin (RUS), 1:42.46; 7. Mikhail Vekovishchev (RUS), 1:42.67; 8. Luiz Melo (BRA), 1:42.72.

400 m Free: 1. Danas Rapsys (LTU), 3:44.01 (Meet Record); 2. Henrik Christiansen (NOR), 3:36.64; 3. Gabriele Detti (ITA), 3:37.54; 4. Martin Malyutin (RUS), 3:37.75; 5. Aleksandr Krasnykh (RUS), 3:37.97; 6. Zane Grothe (USA), 3:38.99; 7. Wojciech Wojdak (POL), 3:39.22; 8. Fernando Scheffer (BRA), 3:39.40.

1,500 m Free: 1. Mykhallo Romanchuk (UKR), 14:09.14; 2. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), 14:09.87; 3. Henrik Christiansen (NOR), 14:19.39; 4. David Aubry (FRA), 14:23.44; 5. Damien Joly (FRA), 14:24.00; 6. Jan Micka (CZE), 14:27.73; 7. Akos Kalmar (HUN), 14:35.94; 8. Zane Grothe (USA), 14:51.22.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Evgeny Rylov (RUS), 22.58; 2. Ryan Murphy (USA), 22.63; 3. Shane Ryan (IRL), 22.76; 4. Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 22.77; 5. Guilherme Guido (BRA), 22.79; 6. Simone Sabbioni (ITA), 23.26; 7. Dylan Carter (TTO), 23.44; 8. Christian Diener (GER), 23.49.

100 m Back: 1. Murphy (USA), 49.23; 2. Jiayu Xu (CHN), 49.26; 3. Kolesnikov (RUS), 49.40; 4. Mitch Larkin (AUS), 49.46; 5. Guido (BRA), 49.75; 6. Matt Grevers (USA), 50.02; 7. Diener (GER), 50.24; 8. Robert Glinta (ROU), 50.36.

200 m Back: 1. Rylov (RUS), 1:47.02; 2. Murphy (USA), 1:47.34; 3. Radoslaw Kawecki (POL), 1:48.25; 4. Larkin (AUS), 1:48.25; 5. Jacob Pebley (USA), 1:49.72; 6. Jiayu Xu (CHN), 1:49.91; 7. Ryosuke Irie (JPN), 1:50.88; 8. Hayate Matsubara (JPN), 1:51.96.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Cameron van den Burgh (RSA), 25.41 (Meet Record); 2. Ilya Shymanovich (BLR), 25.77; 3. Felipe Lima (BRA), 25.80; 4. Kirill Prigoda (RUS), 25.83; 5. Huseyin Sakci (TUR), 25.89; 6. Joao Gomes Junior (BRA), 26.02; 7. Fabian Schwingenschlogl (GER), 26.12; 8. Oleg Kostin (RUS), 26.18.

100 m Breast: 1. van den Burgh (RSA), 56.01 (Meet Record); 2. Shymanovich (BLR), 56.10; 3. Yasuhiro Koseki (JPN), 56.13; 4. Fabio Scozzoli (ITA), 56.48; 5. Prigoda (RUS), 56.56; 6. Lizhuo Wang (CHN), 56.91; 7. Arno Kamminga (NED), 57.10; 8. Andrew Wilson (USA), 57.19.

200 m Breast: 1. Prigoda (RUS), 2:00.16 (World Record; old, 2:00.44, Marco Koch (GER), 2016); 2. Haiyang Qin (CHN), 2:01.15; 3. Marco Koch (GER), 2:01.42; 4. Koseki (JPN), 2:01.18; 5. Josh Prenot (USA), 2:03.12; 6. Mikhail Dorinov (RUS), 2:03.20; 7. Kamminga (FIN), 2:03.72; 8. Erik Persson (SWE), 2:04.15.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Nicholas Santos (BRA), 21.81 (Meet Record); 2. Chad le Clos (RSA), 21.97; 3. Dylan Carter (TTO), 22.38; 4. Marius Kusch (GER), 22.40; 5. Takeshi Kawamoto (JPN), 22.50; 6. tie, Mikhail Vekovishchev (RUS) and Takaya Yasue (JPN), 22.60; 8. Ryan Coetzee (RSA), 22.88.

100 m Fly: 1. le Clos (RSA), 48.50; 2. Caeleb Dressel (USA), 48.71; 3. Zhohao Li (CHN), 49.25; 4. Mehdy Metella (FRA), 49.45; 5. Kusch (GER), 49.50; 6. Kawamoto (JPN), 50.07; 7. Jack Conger (USA), 50.32; 8. Piero Codia (ITA), 50.71.

200 m Fly: 1. Daiya Seto (JPN), 1:48.24 (World Record; 1:48.56, Chad le Clos (RSA), 2013); 2. le Clos (RSA), 1:48.32 (also under old World Record!); 3. Li (CHN), 1:50.39; 4. Aleksandr Kharlanov (RUS), 1:50.67; 5. Zach Hartung (USA), 1:51.57; 6. Luiz Melo (BRA), 1:51.99; 7. Nic Brown (AUS), 1:52.10; 8. Antani Ivanov (BUL), 1:52.40.

100 m Medley: 1. Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 50.63 (Meet Record); 2. Marco Orsi (ITA), 51.03; 3. Hiromasa Fujimori (JPN), 51.53; 4. Michael Andrew (USA), 51.58; 5. Sergei Fesikov (RUS), 51.63; 6. Kenneth To (HKG), 51.88; 7. Shun Wang (CHN), 51.95; 8. Caio Pumputis (BRA), 52.28.

200 m Medley: 1. Shun Wang (CHN), 1:51.01; 2. Josh Prenot (USA), 1:52.69; 3. Fujimori (JPN), 1:52.73; 4. Mitch Larkin (AUS), 1:52.78; 5. Pumputis (BRA), 1:53.05; 6. Leonardo Coehlo Santos (BRA), 1:53.38; 7. Jan Switkowski (POL), 1:53.96; 8. Bradlee Ashby (NZL), 1:54.01.

400 m Medley: 1. Daiya Seto (JPN), 3:56.43; 2. Thomas Fraser-Holmes (AUS), 4:02.74; 3. Brandonn Almeida (BRA), 4:03.71; 4. Peter Bernek (HUN), 4:04.71; 5. Gergely Gyurta (HUN), 4:04.74; 6. Tomas Peribonio Avila (ECU), 4:06.26; 7. Tomoya Takeuchi (JPN), 4:06.99; 8. Joao Alexandre Vital (POR), 4:07.69.

4×50 m Freestyle: 1. United States (Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held, Jack Conger, Michael Chadwick), 1:21.80 (World Record; old, 1:22.60, Russia, 2014); 2. Russia (Morozov, Sedov, Kuzmenko, Rylov), 1:22.22; 3. Italy (Condorelli, Vergani, Zazzeri, Miressi), 1:22.90; 4. Australia, 1:23.92; 5. South Africa, 1:24.14; 6. Japan, 1:24.69; 7. Germany, 1:25.54; Belarus was disqualified.

4×100 m Freestyle: 1. United States (Caeleb Dressel, Blake Pieroni, Michael Chadwick, Ryan Held), 3:03.03 (World Record; old, 3:30.30, United States, 2009; Dressel’s 45.66 lead-off is an American Record; old, 45.82, Held, in heats); 2. Russia (Grinev, Fesikov, Morozov, Kolesnikov), 3:03.11 (also under old World Record!); 3. Brazil (Santana, Chierighini, Cielo Filho, Correia), 3:05.15; 4. Italy, 3:05.20; 5. Australia, 3:06.49; 6. Japan, 3:07.87; 7. China, 3:10.55; 8. Belarus, 3:10.59.

4×200 m Freestyle: 1. Brazil (Melo, Scheffer, Santos, Correia), 6:46.81 (World Record; old, 6:49.04, Russia, 2010); 2. Russia (Malyutin, Verkovishchev, Girev, Krasnykh), 6:46.84; 3. China (Ji, Xu, Sun, Wang), 6:47.53; 4. United States (Blake Pieroni, Ryan Held, Zach Hartung, Zane Grothe), 6:49.84; 5. Australia, 6:53.05; 6. Italy, 6:55.67; 7. Portugal, 6:59.28; 8. Sweden, 6:59.35.

4×50 m Medley: 1. Russia (Kolesnikov, Kostin, Vekovishchev, Rylov), 1:30.54; 2. United States (Ryan Murphy, Michael Andrew, Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held), 1:30.90 (American Record; old, 1:31.83, National Team, 2014); 3. Brazil (Guido, Lima, Santos, Cielo), 1:31.49; 4. Italy, 1:31.54; 5. Germany, 1:31.80; 6. Belarus, 1:32.45; 7. Japan, 1:32.83; 8. Australia, 1:33.19.

4×100 m Medley: 1. United States (Ryan Murphy, Andrew Wilson, Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held), 3:19.98 (Meet Record; and American Record; old, 3:20.91, National Team, 2015); 2. Russia (Kolesnikov, Prigoda, Vekovishchev, Morozov), 3:20.61; 3. Japan (Irie, Koseki, Kawamoto, Nakamura), 3:21.07; 4. Brazil, 3:22.00; 5. Germany, 3:22.17; 6. Belarus, 3:24.41; 7. Lithuania, 3:24.51; 8. Australia, 3:24.65.

Women

50 m Freestyle: 1. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 23.19 (Meet Record); 2. Femke Heemskerk (NED), 23.67; 3. Etiene Medeiros (BRA), 23.76; 4. Mallory Comerford (USA), 23.86; 5. Holly Barratt (AUS), 23.92; 6. Melanie Henique (FRA), 24.01; 7. Mariia Kameneva (RUS), 24.06; 8. Madison Kennedy (USA), 24.11.

100 m Free: 1. Kromowidjojo (NED), 51.14 (Meet Record); 2. Heemskerk (NED), 51.60; 3. Comerford (USA), 51.63 (American Record; old, 51.69, Simone Manuel, 2015); 4. Michelle Coleman (SWE), 52.24; 5. Menghui Zhu (CHN), 52.40; 6. Barbora Seemanova (CZE), 52.46; 7. Lia Neal (USA), 52.50; 8. Erin Gallagher (RSA), 53.14.

200 m Free: 1. Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 1:51.38; 2. Mallory Comerford (USA), 1:51.81 (American Record; old, 1:52.52, Comerford, 2018); 3. Heemskerk (NED), 1:52.36; 4. Federica Pellegrini (ITA), 1:53.18; 5. Jianjiahe Wang (CHN), 1:53.23; 6. Coleman (SWE), 1:53.83; 7. Veronika Andrusenko (RUS), 1:54.26; 8. Seemanova (CZE), 1:54.82.

400 m Free: 1. Titmus (AUS), 3:53.92 (World Record; old, 3:53.97, Jianjiahe Wang (CHN), 2018); 2. J. Wang (CHN), 3:54.56; 3. Bingjie Li (CHN), 3:57.99; 4. Leah Smith (USA), 3:58.58; 5. Anna Egorova (RUS), 4:01.52; 6. Valeriia Salamatina (RUS), 4:02.87; 7. Sarah Kohler (GER), 4:03.28; 8. Erica Musso (ITA), 4:03.61.

800 m Free: 1. J. Wang (CHN), 8:04.35; 2. Simona Quadarella (ITA), 8:08.03; 3. L. Smith (USA), 8:08.75; 4. B. Li (CHN), 8:09.81; 5. Kohler (GER), 8:10.54; 6. Egorova (RUS), 8:12.65; 7. Haley Anderson (USA), 8:18.70; 8. Mayuko Goto (JPN), 8:22.10.

50 m Backstoke: 1. Olivia Smoliga (USA), 25.88 (American Record; old, 26.06, Smoliga, 2018 [in semifinals]); 2. Caroline Pilhatsch (AUT), 25.99; 3. Holly Barratt (AUS), 26.04; 4. Yuanhui Fu (CHN), 26.06; 5. Mathilde Cini (FRA), 26.17; 6. Miyuki Takemura (JPN), 26.30; 7. Georgia Davies (GBR), 26.31; 8. Alicja Tchorz (POL), 26.42.

100 m Backstroke: 1. Smoliga (USA), 56.19; 2. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 59.26; 3. tie, Davies (GBR) and Minna Atherton (AUS), 56.74; 5. Kathleen Baker (USA), 56.89; 6. Emily Seebohm (AUS), 56.98; 7. Simona Kubova (CZE), 57.03; 8. Emi Moronuki (JPN), 57.18.

200 m Back: 1. Lisa Bratton (USA), 2:00.71; 2. Baker (USA), 2:00.79; 3. Seebohm (AUS), 2:01.37; 4. Hosszu (HUN), 2:01.99; 5. Margherita Panziera (ITA), 2:02.50; 6. Daria K. Ustinova (RUS), 2:02.96; 7. Sayaka Akase (JPN), 2:03.92; 8. Moronuki (JPN), 2:05.80.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Alia Atkinson (JAM), 29.05; 2. Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 29.38; 3. Martina Carraro (ITA), 29.59; 4. Jenna Laukkanen (FIN), 29.68; 5. Katie Meili (USA), 29.89; 6. Jessica Hansen (AUS), 30.20; 7. Fanny Lecluyse (BEL), 30.41; 8. Ida Hulkko (FIN), 30.45.

100 m Breast: 1. Atkinson (JAM), 1:03.51; 2. Meili (USA), 1:03.63; 3. Hansen (AUS), 1:04.61; 4. Carraro (ITA), 1:04.73; 5. Laukkanen (FIN), 1:04.96; 6. Jinglin Shi (CHN), 1:05.10; 7. Lecluyse (BEL), 1:05.13; 8. Kanako Watanabe (JPN), 1:05.34.

200 m Breast: 1. Annie Lazor (USA), 2:18.32; 2. Bethany Galant (USA), 2:18.62; 3. Lecluyse (BEL), 2:18.85; 4. Jingyao Yu (CHN), 2:10.20; 5. Jessica Vall (ESP), 2:19.37; 6. Shiwen Ye (CHN), 2:19.52; 7. Mariia Temnikova (RUS), 2:19.58; 8. Marina Garcia (ESP), 2:20.33.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Kromowidjojo (NED), 24.47 (Meet Record); 2. Holly Barratt (AUS), 24.80; 3. Kelsi Dahlia (USA), 24.97; 4. Melanie Henique (FRA), 25.02; 5. Maaike de Waard (NED), 25.32; 6. Yichun Wang (CHN), 25.38; 7. Haley Black (CAN), 25.75; 8. Aliena Schmidtke (GER), 25.76.

100 m Fly: 1. Dahlia (USA), 55.01; 2. Kendyl Stewart (USA), 56.22; 3. Daiene Dias (BRA), 56.31; 4. Illaria Bianchi (ITA), 56.39; 5. Elena de Liddo (ITA), 56.50; 6. Haley Black (CAN), 56.72; 7. Ai Soma (JPN), 56.76; 8. Yichun Wang (CHN), 56.96.

200 m Fly: 1. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2:01.60; 2. Kelsi Dahlia (USA), 2:01.73 (American Record; old, 2:02.89, Dahlia [as Kelsi Worrell], 2016); 3. Suzuka Hasegawa (JPN), 2:04.04; 4. Lara Grangeon (FRA), 2:04.91; 5. Ilaria Bianchi (ITA), 2:05.57; 6. Ana Monteiro (POR), 2:05.74; 7. Yufei Zhang (CHN), 2:05.86; 8. Nao Kobayashi (JPN), 2:06.24.

100 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 57.26; 2. Runa Imai (JPN), 57.85; 3. Atkinson (JAM), 58.11; 4. Melanie Margalis (USA), 58.32; 5. Kathleen Baker (USA), 58.47; 6. Emily Seebohm (AUS), 58.78; 7. Jenna Laukkanen (FIN), 59.11; 8. Rika Omoto (JPN), 59.18.

200 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:03.25; 2. Margalis (USA), 2:04.62 (American Record; old, 2:04.91, Caitlin Leverenz, 2011); 3. Baker (USA), 2:05.54; 4. Shiwen Ye (CHN), 2:05.79; 5. Ilaria Cusinato (ITA), 2:06.17; 6. Emily Seebohm (AUS), 2:06.80; 7. Abbey Harkin (AUS), 2:08.30; 8. Sakiko Shimizu (JPN), 2:08.41.

400 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 4:21.40; 2. Margalis (USA), 4:25.84; 3. Fantina Lesaffre (FRA), 4:27.31; 4. Cusinato (ITA), 4:27.88; 5. Lara Grangeon (FRA), 4:29.56; 6. Shimizu (JPN), 4:31.07; 7. Catalina Corro (ESP), 4:31.63; 8. Miho Takahashi (JPN), 4:35.62.

4×50 m Freestyle: 1. United States (Madison Kennedy, Mallory Comerford, Kelsi Dahlia, Erika Brown), 1:34.03 (Meet Record and American Record; old, 1:34.61, National Team, 2014); 2. Netherlands (Kromowidjojo, Heemskerk, Busch, van Roon), 1:34.55; 3. Australia (Barratt, Seebohm, Atherton, Buchanan), 1:36.34; 4. Russia, 1:37.09; 5. Japan, 1:37.35; 6. China, 1:37.58; 7. Czech Rep., 1:38.24; 8. Germany, 1:38.70.

4×100 m Free: 1. United States (Olivia Smoliga, Lia Neal, Mallory Comerford, Kelsi Dahlia), 3:27.78; 2. Netherlands (Busch, Heemskerk, de Waard, Kromowidjojo), 3:28.02; 3. China (Zhu, Yang, Liu, Wang), 3:30.92; 4. Japan, 3:31.68; 5. Russia, 3:32.48; 6. Germany, 3:33.27; 7. Hong Kong, 3:40.25; 8. Turkey, 3:41.25.

4×200 m Free: 1. China (Li, Yang, Zhang, Wang), 7:34.08; 2. United States (Leah Smith, Mallory Comerford, Melanie Margalis, Erika Brown), 7:35.30 (American Record; old, 7:38.42, National Team, 2010); 3. Australia (Titmus, Atherton, Buchanan, Harkin), 7:36.40; 4. Russia, 7:36.64; 5. Japan, 7:42.97; 6. Italy, 7:43.18; 7. Germany, 7:46.36; 8. Austria, 7:55.93.

4×50 m Medley: 1. United States (Olivia Smoliga, Katie Meili, Kelsi Dahlia, Mallory Comerford), 1:42.38 (World Record; old, 1:43.27, United States, 2016); 2. China (Fu, Suo, Wang, Wu), 1:44.31; 3. Netherlands (de Waard, Busch, Kromowidjojo, Heemskerk), 1:44.57; 4. Japan, 1:44.90; 5. Australia, 1:45.79; 6. Russia, 1:45.98; 7. Czech Rep., 1:46.17; 8. Italy, 1:46.44.

4×100 m Medley: 1. United States (Olivia Smoliga, Katie Meili, Kelsi Dahlia, Mallory Comerford), 3:45.58 (Meet Record); 2. China (Fu, Shi, Zhang, Zhu), 3:48.80; 3. Italy (Panziera, Carraro, di Liddo, Pellegrini), 3:51.38; 4. Japan, 3:51.81; 5. Russia, 3:53.73; 6. Germany, 3:54.14; 7. Canada, 3:58.04; Australia was disqualified.

Mixed

4×50 m Freestyle: 1. United States (Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held, Mallory Comerford, Kelsi Dahlia), 1:27.89 (World Record; old, 1:28.39, Netherlands, 2017); 2. Netherlands (Puts, Pijnenburg, Kromowidjojo, Heemskerk), 1:28.51; 2. Russia (Morozov, Sedov, Kemaneva, Nasretdinova), 1:28.73; 4. Japan, 1:29.51; 5. Brazil, 1:29.91; 6. Australia, 1:30.09; 7. Italy, 1:30.96; 8. Finland, 1:31.23.

4×50 m Medley: 1. United States (Olivia Smoliga, Michael Andrew, Kelsi Dahlia, Caeleb Dressel), 1:36.40 (World Record; old, 1:37.17, United States, 2013); 2. Netherlands (Puts, Elzerman, Kromowidjojo, Heemskerk), 1:37.05; 3. Russia (Kolesnikov, Kostin, Nasretdinova, Kameneva), 1:37.33; 4. Japan, 1:37.67; 5. Italy, 1:38.08; 6. Germany, 1:38.35; 7. Australia, 1:38.69; 8. Finland, 1:39.38.

THE BIG PICTURE: Salt Lake City selected by USOC for a future Winter Games bid

By
Rich Perelman
-

The U.S. is back in the Olympic bidding business, this time for an Olympic Winter Games.

At its Board of Directors meeting in San Francisco on Friday, the USOC selected Salt Lake City, Utah, as its bid city for a future Winter Games. The specific Games has not been confirmed, but the 2030 Games are an obvious opportunity.

Salt Lake City, host of the highly-successful 2002 Winter Games, was chosen over Denver, Colorado, which infamously gave back the 1976 Winter Games after being selected.

“The United States is committed to hosting Games that are both remarkable and practical, and we believe that Salt Lake City is the community most capable of delivering against that promise,” said USOC chief executive Sarah Hirshland. “This exploration process was a unique opportunity for the USOC to develop even stronger partnerships with each city and state and all involved will continue to play a critical role in our winter athletes’ success.”

There are good polls showing wide support for the Winter Games in the Salt Lake City area, but the best indication of how good a city for the Games it is comes from its viewership of the PyeongChang Games in February. Salt Lake City had the highest TV ratings of any U.S. city for the Games.

There was immediate speculation that Salt Lake City could be a candidate for the 2026 Games, which has only two bidders – neither with national governmental financial support – in Milan-Cortina (ITA) and Stockholm (SWE). But that would place Salt Lake City in conflict with the marketing of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and is not seen as a real possibility.

There is also interest elsewhere in the 2030 Winter Games, specifically from Almaty (KAZ), Barcelona (ESP), Lillehammer (NOR) and Sapporo (JPN), among others. But Salt Lake City, with its existing venues, will be hard to beat.

LANE ONE: Why is FINA trying to keep swimmers from making money at swimming?

By
Rich Perelman
-

If you listen to the leaders of the Olympic Movement, and especially International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach of Germany, you will hear – over and over again – “it’s all about the athletes.”

Except when it’s not. That’s what makes the current face-off between the international federation for aquatic sports – known by its old acronym, FINA – and some of the world’s elite swimmers worth watching.

The short summary of the situation is that a Swiss company called International Swimming League (ISL) is trying to set up a 15-meet series of swim meets featuring teams made up of the top swimmers in the world. Its primary supporter is Ukrainian businessman Konstantin Grigorishin, the largest shareholder of the Energy Standard Group. His company sponsored an Energy for Swim meet in August, 2017 that was held in Rome (ITA) and included competitors from Australia, Italy, Ukraine and the U.S.

ISL planned to hold another meet this month in Turin (ITA), in collaboration with the Italian swimming federation, with $2.1 million in appearance and prize money. The meet was scheduled to be held after the end of the FINA World Short-Course Championships in China, so there would be no conflict with any FINA swimming competitions and more than 50 top swimmers had signed up.

But FINA objected, and according to a suit filed on anti-trust grounds in the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of California:

“FINA’s [Secretary General Cornel] Marculescu circulated a letter to every FINA member designed to cripple ISL’s plans. ISL, he noted, ‘is neither recognised by nor affiliated to [sic] FINA.’ FINA would monitor the matter closely, he warned, and sanction anyone who violated FINA’s rule on unauthorized relations. In closing, Mr. Marculescu expressed his hope that all who received it would come away from his message with “a clear and mutual understanding of FINA’s competence and jurisdiction in respect to international competitions.”

FINA’s General Rule 4.5 specifically provides for sanctions with a “non-affiliated or suspended body” and “Any individual or group violating this Rule shall be suspended by the affiliated Member for a minimum period of one year, up to a maximum period of two years.”

So FINA’s threat is essentially to suspend swimmers who compete in the meet, and resulted in the meet being canceled by the Italian federation.

The next step was the 7 December filing in the U.S. of two suits against FINA, one by ISL and another as a class-action suit by swimmers themselves, with Olympic gold medalists Tom Shields (USA) and Katinka Hosszu (HUN) and multi-time U.S. national champion Michael Andrew.

Because FINA does business in the U.S. through its affiliation and oversight of USA Swimming, as well as television and sponsorship agreements with U.S. companies, the filings assert that FINA can be sued in U.S. courts. Some of the same reasoning was used by the U.S. Department of Justice in its prosecution of cases against FIFA executives, which have resulted in multiple convictions in cases tried in New York.

Both suits allege FINA has restrained trade illegally under the Sherman Act, 15 United States Code §§ 1-2, which starts with “Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal.” The suit asked for an injunction against FINA “prohibiting FINA from unlawfully interfering in any way with the ability of ISL or any other person or entity from organizing or promoting swimming competitions,” and for monetary damages.

This is so silly. Why is FINA doing this? The facts are very much against them:

∙ The Energy for Swim meet scheduled for 20-21 December in Turin does not conflict with any FINA competition, and is five days clear of the end of the just-completed FINA World Short-Course Championships in China.

∙ Meets not organized by FINA which award prize money and are not competitions between national teams are commonly organized. USA Swimming has run an annual series – now called the Tyr Pro Swim Series – that dates back to the 2007-08 swimming season.

∙ In Europe, the Mare Nostrum three-meet series – which also has prize money – has been around since 2000; the 2018 meets were held in France, Monaco and Spain.

Moreover, if there are more opportunities for swimmers to make money and be shown more regularly on television, why should FINA be against it? In fact, the added exposure can only help promote FINA’s own championship events, featuring the same swimmers!

It’s also interesting that these suits were filed in the U.S. and not in Europe, where the European Union rules on restraint of trade are even tougher than the Sherman Act. It may be that the European suit is only being delayed for timing purposes, or due to specific requirements of European law. But that suit is sure to come as well.

Other sports have worked these issues out without so much drama:

∙ In track & field, four of the best-known and most prestigious invitational meets – the Bislett Games in Olso (NOR), ISTAF Meeting in Berlin (GER), Weltklasse im Zurich (SUI) and Van Damme Memorial in Brussels (BEL) – got together and sold television and sponsorship rights together as the “Golden Four” in 1992.

The International Assn. of Athletics Federations (IAAF) “expanded and co-opted” the idea as it formed the IAAF Golden League in 1998, the forerunner of today’s IAAF Diamond League.

∙ In soccer, FIFA has cooperated with the club leagues in every country to create scheduling windows for club competitions and national-team competitions. There is plenty of friction to be sure, but everyone seems to be able to co-exist in this structure and both club football and national-team events have never been more popular.

FIFA, of course, has the rule-making authority in the sport and these are observed worldwide. It’s worth noting that ISL and the Italian swimming federation specifically noted that FINA rules for competition and drug testing would be observed in the Energy for Swim meet and the contemplated ISL series in 2019.

FINA issued a weak statement after the filings were made in U.S. Federal Court, noting – apparently seriously – that “FINA remains open to proposals that would genuinely enhance – rather than conflict with – the current and planned competition calendars, providing further opportunities for aquatics athletes, and ideally in a manner that benefits the whole sport.”

It’s worth remembering the International Olympic Committee’s “Athletes’ Rights and Responsibilities Declaration” issued with considerable fanfare on 9 October. Section I.5. states that athletes have the right to:

“Leverage opportunities to generate income in relation to their sporting career, name and likeness, while recognising the intellectual property or other rights, rules of the event and of sports organisations as well as the Olympic Charter.”

The proposed Energy for Swim meet and the ISL swim series can actually help FINA, rather than hurt it. By placing itself against the desire for swimmers to be able to ply their trade – and it is a very much a full-time job for the world’s elite swimmers – FINA has placed itself in a position where its authority and status can be challenged and reshaped by governments and courts which are well outside of its control.

FINA should settle this matter as soon as possible and in the athlete’s favor. ISL should be encouraged to offer meets which support athletes through appearance and prize money, and a “calendar conference” that makes room for FINA’s events, the Tyr Pro Swim Series, the Mare Nostrum series, national championships and the ISL series should be held right away.

British world Breaststroke record holder Adam Peaty wrote on Instagram of FINA’s heavy-handed approach, “I think this is the wrong decision and it will galvanize the swimmers, not break them.” More than a dozen top swimmers will meet with ISL on 18-19 December to plot the next move.

Rich Perelman
Editor

TABLE TENNIS: Harimoto, 15, wins World Tour Grand Finals!

By
Rich Perelman
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Japan's Tomokazu Harimoto (Photo: ITTFWorld)

The ITTF World Tour Grand Finals saw history in Incheon (KOR) as 15-year-old Tomokazu Harimoto became the youngest player to ever win the men’s Singles title, and a South Korea/North Korea pair made it to the Mixed Doubles finals.

Harimoto has been steadily climbing this season and in the final, he was brilliant against China’s Gaoyuan Lin, losing the second game, then winning three straight sets and ending a three-year strangehold on the me’s Singles title by Japan, 11-4, 13-15, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9.

The Mixed Doubles team of Woojin Jang (KOR) and Hyo Sim Cha (PRK) won two tight matches to reach the final, but ran into a very hot Hong Kong duo of Chun Ting Wong and Hoi Kem Doo and lost, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4. Still, it was a considerable achievement for both, as the combined Korean effort is always news, and Wong and Doo won the first-ever Mixed Doubles title in the Grand Finals.

China’s Meng Chen defended her title in the women’s Singles final against countrywoman Zhuoija He; in fact, all four of the semifinalists were from China!

Japan’s Hina Hayata and Mima Ito won the women’s Doubles for the first time together, but it was the second Grand Finals won for each of them individually.

This was the first time since 2014 that Chinese entries had not won at least two titles. Summaries:

ITTF World Tour Grand Finals
Incheon (KOR) ~ 13-16 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN); 2. Gaoyuan Lin (CHN); 3. Hugo Calderano (BRA) and Jun Mizutani (JPN). Semis: Harimoto d. Calderano, 4-0; Lin d. Mizutani, 4-0. Final: Harimoto d. Lin, 4-1.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Woojin Jang/Jonghoon Lim (KOR); 2. Kwan Kit Ho/Chun Ting Wong (HKG); 3. Youngsik Jeoung/Sangsu Lee (KOR) and Masataka Morizono/Yuya Oshima (JPN). Semis: Jang/Lim d. Jeoung/Lee, 3-1; Ho/Wong d. Morizono/Oshima, 3-1. Final: Jang/Lim d. Ho/Wong, 3-2.

Women’s Singles: 1. Meng Chen (CHN); 2. Zhuojia He (CHN); 3. Ning Ding (CHN) and Yuling Zhu (CHN). Semis: Chen d. Zhu, 4-2; He d. Ding, 4-2. Final: Chen d. He, 4-1.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Hina Hayata/Mima Ito (JPN); 2. Xingtong Chen/Yingsha Sun (CHN); 3. Jihee Jeon/Haeun Yang (KOR) and Ke Chen/Manyu Wang (CHN). Semis: Hayata/Ito d. Jeon/Yang, 3-2; Chen/Sun d. Chen/Wang, 3-2. Final: Hayata/Ito d. Chen/Sun, 3-0.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Chun Ting Wong/Hoi Kem Doo (HKG); 2. Woojin Jang (KOR)/Hyo Sim Cha (PRK); 3. Masataka Morizono/Mima Ito (JPN) and Jonghoon Lim/Haeun Yang (KOR). Semis: Wong/Doo d. Morizono/Ito, 3-2; Jang/Cha d. Lim/Yang, 3-2. Final: Wong/Doo d. Jang/Cha, 3-0.

UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: Blackmun referred to U.S. Justice Dept.

By
Rich Perelman
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Former USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun

Former USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun faces new legal issues as a follow-up to the release of the Ropes & Gray report last week about the Larry Nassar sex-abuse scandal at USA Gymnastics.

A Friday news release from U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) started:

“U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) – chairman and ranking member of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security with jurisdiction over the health and safety of US Olympic and NCAA athletes – have referred former U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun for investigation of potential violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1001 and 1505.”

In specific, Blackmun is alleged to have “materially false statements contained in his written testimony to the Subcommittee during the course of the Subcommittee’s investigation” in that “Blackmun’s own statements to the independent investigators appear to contradict his statement to the Subcommittee that he “spoke to the USOC’s safe sport staff after talking to [former USA Gymnastics chief executive Steve] Penny.”

SPEED SKATING: Three medals for Bowe, one for Mantia in in Heerenveen

By
Rich Perelman
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U.S. Speed Skating star Brittany Bowe

American Brittany Bowe scored three medals – one of each color – in the ISU World Cup in Heerenveen (NED), and American Joey Mantia won his first medal of the World Cup season.

Bowe already led the 1,000 m World Cup standings coming into the meet, but she extended it with a win in the race, paired against Japan’s triple PyeongChang medalist Miho Takagi, who finished second, 1:13.249-1:13.939. It was Bowe’s third World Cup gold of the season.

“That was one of the most perfect races I’ve skated this far and I couldn’t be happier to do it here in Thialf [Ice Stadion],” said Bowe afterwards. “Every stroke was right, no missteps, this was definitely one of the best races in my career. I already skated a great 500 m and a good 1,500 m, then it normally comes together in the 1,000 m.

“The pair was great, I had a great chase on the last straight and that makes the world of difference in the 1, 000 m. It was the perfect pair, the perfect execution and I skated six tenths off the track record.

“We’ve been on the road for seven weeks now. It’s good to go back to Salt Lake City, have a little rest and get another training block in, because the real show is in February (World Single Distance Championships in Inzell).”

Bowe finished third in the 500 m, where Nao Kodaira (JPN) left no doubt that she remains the best in the world, with a 37.171-39.239 win over Vanessa Herog (AUT) and Bowe (37.707). Bowe’s third medal of the meet was in the 1,500 m, where she claimed silver behind Ireen Wust (NED), 1:53.300-1:54.007.

For Mantia, the season had been a struggle so far, but he finished well to earn a silver in the 1,500 m in 1:44.092, just behind Thomas Krol of the Netherlands (1:43.782). “I knew coming into the World Cup season that things could be a little rocky and that it was going to be important to stay positive and focused on improving throughout each race, even marginally, no matter what.

“This week we were able to dial in some timing issues and get the skating feeling much better. For me, that’s everything.”

In the men’s sprints, Russia’s Pavel Kulizhkikov had an excellent meet, winning the 500 m and taking the silver in the 1,000 m. Summaries:

ISU Speed Skating World Cup
Heerenveen (NED) ~ 14-16 December 2018
(Full results here)

Men

500 m: 1. Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS), 34.494; 2. Tsubasa Hasegawa (JPN), 34.521; 3. Yuma Murakami (JPN), 34.557.

1,000 m: 1. Kjeld Nuis (NED), 1:07.803; 2. Kulizhnikov (RUS), 1:07.930; 3. Denis Yuskov (RUS), 1:07.953. Also: 18. Kimani Griffin (USA), 1:09.982; 19. Joey Mantia (USA), 1:13.895.

1,500 m: 1. Thomas Krol (NED), 1:43.782; 2. Mantia (USA), 1:44.092; 3. Patrick Roest (NED), 1:44.128.

5,000 m: 1. Danila Semerikov (RUS), 6:08.960; 2. Roest (NED), 6:09.820; 3. Sven Kramer (NED), 6:10.614.

Mass Start (16 laps): 1. Cheonho Um (KOR), 8:11.20; 2. Jaewon Chung (KOR), 8:11.350; 3. Bart Swings (BEL), 8:11.770. Also: 13. Mantia (USA), 8:12.290.

Women

500 m: 1. Nao Kodaira (JPN), 37.171; 2. Vanessa Herzog (AUT), 37.239; 3. Brittany Bowe (USA), 37.707. Also: 9. Erin Jackson (USA), 38.035.

1,000 m: 1. Bowe (USA), 1:13.249; 2. Miho Takagi (JPN), 1:13.939; 3. Yekaterina Shikhova (RUS), 1:14.031.

1,500 m: 1. Ireen Wust (NED), 1:53.300; 2. Bowe (USA), 1:54.007; 3. Shikhova (RUS), 1:54.039.

3,000 m: 1. Antoinette de Jong (NED), 3:59.419; 2. Isabelle Weidemann (CAN), 4:00.129; 3. Martina Sabilkova (CZE), 4:00.337.

Mass Start (16 laps): 1. Nana Takagi (JPN), 8:50.15; 2. Irene Schouten (NED), 8:50.28; 3. Ayano Sato (JPN), 8:50.44. Also: 10. Mia Kilburg-Manganello (USA), 8:51.61.

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