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SPEED READ: Headlines from The Sports Examiner for Saturday, 8 March 2019

By
Rich Perelman
-

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

LANE ONE

Wednesday: The International Swimming League filed two suits against FINA, the international governing body of the sport, one in its own name and one as a class-action with three athletes as plaintiffs. FINA hasn’t said much, but did some talking with its reply to both suits, slamming ISL’s case as moot and detailing legal reasons why both suits make no valid case for relief, or even that a U.S. court should host an argument between two European organizations!

Friday: The new heads of the United States Olympic Committee – Board chair Susanne Lyons and chief executive Sarah Hirshland – briefed reporters on Thursday’s Board meeting. The issues of athlete safety, athlete representation, Congressional inquiries and USA Gymnastics were all discussed, and in detail that was shared.

THE BIG PICTURE

Tuesday: The USOC is putting more pressure on its National Governing Bodies for good governance, sending notices to USA Boxing and USA Diving that they need some reforms and quickly.

Friday: Thailand self-imposes penalties for eight doping weightlifting violations and will not compete in the 2019 Worlds or 2020 Olympic Games, but will still host the 2019 World Championships in September!

GLOBETROTTING by Phil Hersh

Monday: In the aftermath of suicide by former Pairs national champion John Coughlin, the U.S. Center for SafeSport noted in a statement that figure skating in the U.S. ha an “unchecked” culture of abuse and must change.

ATHLETICS

Wednesday: British distance star Laura Muir was the headliner of the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow, plus the IAAF unveiled its new World Rankings system, Jamaican distance star Kemoy Campbell is released from the hospital and American distance runner Luke Puskedra retires.

FOOTBALL

Tuesday: Tobin Heath’s first-half goal was enough for the U.S. to claim a 1-0 victory over Brazil in the final game of the SheBelieves Cup in Tampa. England won the tournament, beating Japan, 3-0, in the opener.

SWIMMING

Thursday: Tyr Pro Swim Series in Des Moines opens with two wins for sprint ace Michael Andrew and four world-leading marks!

Friday: More Michael Andrew magic, with two medals in four minutes (!) and second wins for Kathleen Baker and Hali Flickinger.

TABLE TENNIS

Monday: At the U.S. Pan American Games Trials, 16-year-old Nikhil Kumar and veteran Lily Zhang won their divisions to clinch their tickets to Lima later this year.

TAEKWONDO

Monday: Turkey shone brightest at the U.S. Open Championships in Las Vegas, taking five victories.

PREVIEWS

● Alpine Skiing: Marcel Hirscher tries to wrap up the World Cup season title in Slovenia
● Badminton: Top players entered in $1 million All-England Open in Birmingham.
● Beach Volleyball: FIVB World Tour is in Sydney for the three-star Australian Open
● Biathlon: The IBU World Championships get underway in Oestersund
● Diving: China looking for another World Series sweep in Beijing
● Fencing: Four no. 1s in action in Epee Grand Prix and Sabre World Cups
● Freestyle & Snowboard: Seasonal titles on the line at U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth!
● Judo: World Tour stops in Africa for Marrakesh Grand Prix
● Nordic Skiing: Famed Holmenkollen Ski Fest on this weekend in Oslo
● Rugby: Amazing U.S. men try to stay in first place in Sevens Series Vancouver
● Short Track: Korean supremacy at stake in World Champs in Bulgaria
● Speed Skating: Can Brittany Bowe win two titles at the World Cup Final in Utah?
● Triathlon: ITU World Series opens – as usual – in Abu Dhabi

UPCOMING

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

● Alpine Skiing: The World Cup Final is in Andorra, and still some unfinished business for the amazing Mikaela Shiffrin.

● Basketball: The draw for the 2019 FIBA World Cup will take place on Saturday.

● Wrestling: Can the U.S. men take the Freestyle World Cup, being held in Russia?

And a look at the future of international federations, as seen by the federations themselves, in Lane One on Monday.

RUGBY Preview: Can the U.S. stay on top?

By
Rich Perelman
-

Through the first half of the 2019 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, the U.S. Eagles have been in every final and after losing four in a row, they won on home turf last week in Las Vegas and sit on top of the standings.

This for a team which has never finished higher than fourth in any season.

But the matches keep coming and the tour is at B.C. Stadium in Vancouver (CAN) this week. The pools:

● Pool A: United States, South Africa, Chile, Walkes
● Pool B: Samoa, Fiji, Kenya, Canada
● Pool C: New Zealand, Australia, Spain, France
● Pool D: Argentina, England, Scotland, Japan

The Eagles have 98 points, ahead of New Zealand (93) and Fiji (84). While there is a long way to go, it’s worth noting that the top four teams automatically qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games!

Look for results here.

SPEED SKATING Preview: Bowe tries to nail down seasonal 1,000 & 1,500 m titles in Utah

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. Speed Skating star Brittany Bowe (Photo: ISU)

The ISU Speed Skating World Cup for 2018-19 will wrap up this weekend at the famed Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns with the World Cup Final. The schedule:

● 09 March: 500 m I for men and women, 1,000 m for men and women, women’s 3,000 m, men’s 5000 m

● 10 March: 500 m II for men and women, 1,500 m for men and women, Mass Start for men and women

The seasonal leaders heading into the Final (see the full standings here):

Men

500 m:
1. 452 Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS)
2. 366 Tatsuya Shimhana (JPN)
3. 350 Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR)
4. 336 Ryohei Haga (JPN)
5. 315 Jun-Ho Kim (KOR)

1,000 m:
1. 222 Kjeld Nuis (NED)
2. 217 Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS)
3. 217 Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR)
4. 208 Kai Verbij (NED)
5. 190 Thomas Krol (NED)

1,500 m:
1. 223 Denis Yuskov (RUS)
2. 203 Seitaro Ichinohe (JPN)
3. 199 Min-Seok Kim (KOR)
4. 183 Allan Dahl Johansson (NOR)
5. 181 Joey Mantia (USA)

5,000/10,000 m:
1. 237 Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR)
2. 236 Alexander Rumyantsev (RUS)
3. 212 Marcel Bosker (NED)
4. 210 Danila Semerikov (RUS)
4. 194 Patrick Beckert (GER)

Mass Start:
1. 475 Cheonho Kim (KOR)
2. 430 Bart Swings (BEL)
3. 366 Ruslan Zakharov (RUS)
4. 362 Livio Wenger (SUI)
5. 307 Chris Huizinger (NED)
(6. 307 Joey Mantia (USA))

Women

500 m:
1. 504 Vanessa Herzog (AUT)
2. 403 Olga Fatkulina (RUS)
3. 388 Angelina Golikova (RUS)
4. 370 Daria Kachanova (RUS)
5. 360 Nao Kodaira (JPN)
(6. 348 Brittany Bowe (USA))

1,000 m:
1. 277 Brittany Bowe (USA)
2. 217 Vanessa Herzog (AUT)
3. 202 Nao Kodaira (JPN)
4. 202 Miho Takagi (JPN)
5. 194 Daria Kachanova (RUS)

1,500 m:
1. 270 Brittany Bowe (USA)
2. 217 Ireen Wust (NED)
3. 211 Miho Takagi (JPN)
4. 201 Lotte van Beek (NED)
5. 174 Evgeniia Lalenkova (RUS)

3,000/5,000 m:
1. 250 Martina Sabilkova (CZE)
2. 239 Natalia Voronina (RUS)
3. 236 Isabelle Weidemann (CAN)
4. 235 Esmee Visser (NED)
5. 196 Ivanie Blondin (CAN)

Mass Start:
1. 328 Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA)
2. 316 Bo-Reum Kim (KOR)
3. 294 Nana Takagi (JPN)
4. 290 Ayano Sato (JPN)
5. 276 Irene Schouten (NED)

With the Olympic Oval at 4,528 feet (~1,380 m) altitude, records are a distinct possibility. With Sabilkova setting 3,000 m and 5,000 m records at the World Allround Championships.

Bowe owns one World Cup title in her career, in the 1,000 m in 2014-15. Scoring is 60-54-48-43-40 for the top five places, so the event titles are very much up for grabs. Look for results here.

THE BIG PICTURE: Thailand to skip Olympic weightlifting to atone for eight Worlds positives

By
Rich Perelman
-

Weightlifting has become a favored sport in Thailand, especially after the 2016 Olympic Games, in which Thais won four medals, including golds in the women’s 48 kg for Sopita Tanasan and 58 kg, by Sukanya Srisurat.

But the Thai weightlifting program was also shamed earlier this year with seven separate announcements of doping positives between 22 January and 12 February, including both Tanasan and Srisurat, and 2018 World 45 kg Champion Thunya Sukcharoen. An eighth doping positive for Thailand was announced on 23 December 2018.

This put the Thailand federation in position for a major sanction; awkwardly, the 2019 IWF World Championships are scheduled to be held on 16-25 September in Pattaya (THA).

The decision came down this past week, and was noted in the IWF summary of its Executive Committee meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada held this past week:

“With respect to Thailand’s multiple AAF’s and their potential consequences that seriously damage the integrity of the sport, Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association (TAWA) undertakes not to participate at any IWF events, including the Qualification Events and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The IWF Executive Board acknowledged TAWA’s undertaking.

“TAWA still continues to fulfil its obligation and will deliver the organisation of the 2019 IWF World Championships despite the fact that no Thai athletes will be entitled to participate.”

It’s a remarkable turn of events for the Thais, but spares the IWF from formally suspending Thailand – which will undoubtedly do eventually – in advance of the Worlds being held there late this year.

Weightlifting continues to teeter on the edge of acceptance by the International Olympic Committee for the Paris 2024 Games and the IOC Executive Board is expected to consider these developments at its meeting later this month.

The IWF has publicly announced 12 positives already in 2019: seven from Thailand, two from Vietnam, and one each from Ecuador, Moldova and Indonesia. That’s quite a bit, although way down from the torrent of doping reports from prior years and from the IOC’s re-testing of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.

SWIMMING: Andrew wins third; Baker and Flickinger win second races at Tyr Pro Swim Des Moines

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. Backstroke star (and world-record holder) Kathleen Baker

The third day of the Tyr Pro Swim Series in Des Moines, Iowa continued the hot swimming from the first two days, with another world-leading mark from Michael Andrew, who completed another amazing double.

At 8:48 p.m., he swam second in the 50 m Breaststroke, losing by 0.04 to Brazil’s Felipe Lima, the 2013 Worlds bronze medalist in the 100 m Breast, and then came back four minutes later – according to the computerized results postings – and won the 50 m Butterfly in a world-leading time of 23.36!

That gives Andrew three wins and a silver in his four races so far.

Two other Americans scored their second wins of the meet: Kathleen Baker won the 200 m Backstroke in 2:08.08, the second-fastest time in the world this year, to go along with her 50 m Back title, and Hali Flickinger won the 400 m Medley in 4:38.84, making her the third-fastest performer in the event for 2019. She had previously won the 200 m Fly.

The meet concludes on Saturday, with five world-leading marks on the books so far. Summaries through Friday:

Tyr Pro Swim Series
Des Moines, Iowa (USA) ~ 6-9 March 2019
(Full results here; all U.S. unless indicated)

Men

100 m Freestyle: 1. Blake Pieroni, 48.91; 2. Breno Correia (BRA), 48.99; 3. tie, Marcelo Chierigini (BRA) and Marius Kusch (GER), 49.19. (B final: 1. Caeleb Dressel, 48.71).

200 m Free: 1. Correia (BRA), 1:47.83; 2. Pieroni, 1:47.92; 3. Alex Kunert (GER), 1:47.93.

400 m Free: 1. Zane Grothe, 3:49.29; 2. Anton Ipsen (DEN), 3:49.83; 3. Mitch D’Arrigo, 3:53.46.

1,500 m Free: 1. Ipsen (DEN), 15:05.39; 2. Jordan Wilimovsky, 15:05.44; 3. Zane Grothe, 15:13.29.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Michael Andrew, 24.94; 2. Grigory Tarasevich (RUS), 25.16; 3. Jacob Pebley, 25.30.

200 m Back: 1. Pebley, 1:57.12; 2. Ryosuke Irie (JPN), 1:57.26; 3. Tarasevich (RUS), 1:58.45.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Felipe Lima (BRA), 27.18; 2. Andrew, 27.22; 3. Nic Fink, 27.45.

100 m Breast: 1. Andrew, 59.70; 2. James Wilby (GBR), 59.91; 3. Cody Miller, 1:00.22.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Andrew, 23.36; 2. Kusch (GER), 23.38; 3. Luis Martinez (GUA), 23.79.

200 m Fly: 1. Kunert (GER), 1:57.80; 2. Mack Darragh (CAN), 1:58.64; 43. Luiz
Melo (BRA), 1:58.98.

400 m Medley: 1. Jay Litherland, 4:17.28; 2. Brandon Cruz (BRA), 4:17.65; 3. Gunnar Bentz, 4:20.37.

Women

100 m Freestyle: 1. Margo Geer, 54.59; 2. Olivia Smoliga, 55.05; 3. Natalie Hinds, 5526.

200 m Free: 1. Allison Schmidt, 1:57.70; 2. Melanie Margalis, 1:58.02; 3. Leah Smith, 1:58.47.

400 m Free: 1. Bingjie Li (CHN), 4:03.29; 2. Jianjiahe Wang (CHN), 4:05.28; 3. L. Smith, 4:08.41.

1,500 m Free: 1. J. Wang (CHN), 15:46.01; 2. Kristel Kobrich (CHI), 16:17.92; 3. B. Li (CHN), 16:19.71.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Kathleen Baker, 27.76; 2. Smoliga, 28.25; 3. Ali DeLoof, 28.51.

200 m Back: 1. Baker, 2:08.08; 2. Hali Flickinger, 2:10.24; 3. Smoliga, 2:11.18.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Jhennifer Conceicao (BRA), 30.90; 2. Imogen Clark (GBR), 30.91; 3. Lazor, 30.96.

100 m Breast: 1. Annie Lazor, 1:06.66; 2. Bethany Galat, 1:07.13; 3. Margalis, 1:07.20.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Farida Osman (EGY), 25.79; 2. Kelsi Dahlia, 25.87; 3. Kendyl Stewart, 26.37.

200 m Fly: 1. H. Flickinger, 2:07.10; 2. Megan Kingsley, 2:10.91; 3. Charlotte Atkinson (GBR), 2:11.34.

400 m Medley: 1. H. Flickinger, 4:38.84; 2. Galat, 4:43.64; 3. Calypso Sheridan (AUS), 4:44.04.

LANE ONE: USOC Board focuses on Congress, athlete advocacy and gymnastics in L.A. Board meeting

By
Rich Perelman
-

The United States Olympic Committee has been battered by accusations and scandal, hammered in Congressional hearings, changed out its leadership … and got the message.

The USOC Board of Directors met in Los Angeles, California on Thursday and Board chair Susanne Lyons and chief executive Sarah Hirshland spoke to reporters afterwards by conference call. They were forthcoming on the major issues in front of them:

● Congress

The biggest unknown for the USOC going forward is what changes – if any – will be made to its structure by the U.S. Congress. A series of hearings in 2018 went poorly for the USOC, both as to its responses or lack thereof, to sexual abuse of athletes, and its oversight of the National Governing Bodies. Hirshland noted that she and Lyons have been much more engaged since then. She noted:

“Both Susanne and I were in Washington a couple of weeks ago and had the opportunity to meet with about a dozen members of Congress, both on the Senate and House sides and had some really good discussions with them around how, quite frankly, how Congress can be helpful as we look ahead; what changes might need to be made to ensure we have the clarity we need, to ensure that we are operating at an optimal level, if you will, and the I think the conversations were really centered around three themes.

“One would be the safety of athletes and the Center for SafeSport, and a continued commitment and focus on that. Two would be athlete representation, both in governance, but more broadly, just ensuring that athlete voice is an important part of the administration of the Olympic Movement off the field. And the third would be NGB oversight.

“And we’re continuing to have conversations with them around each of those three aspects and we’ll continue to do that. I made the commitment to be back in Washington on a frequent basis as we go forward to ensure that as their work continues we’re as supportive and helpful to that as we can be.”

Those familiar with the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act have noted that part of the current crisis is due to the lack of USOC presence in D.C., to educate and explain what the Act requires and what it is going to meet those requirements. A higher profile with the Congress will be a major step forward.

● Athlete representation and “voice”

The amount of athlete representation and presence on the boards of the USOC and the NGBs was a major focus of the Senate Sub-Committee hearings into the U.S. Olympic Movement. Multiple athlete groups have called for various reforms, including the USOC’s own Athlete Advisory Council (“AAC”), and AAC head Han Xiao (from table tennis) spoke with the Board.

Hirshland explained that “The discussion around the AAC and in fact, the motion that they voted on at [its] last meeting, was for the counsel to explore athlete advocacy models, and the proper structure to ensure that they have athlete advocacy.

“We are enormously supportive of that. Han shared more details of that and their objectives around exploring that today, with our Board and, as I said, we have offered administrative, sort of professional administrative support; as you know, they are all operating as volunteers.

“We have offered them administrative and professional support, which they are happy to have to help with this process to ensure that they really explore various options for an athlete advocacy structure that will be helpful to the athletes as we go forward and we feel incredibly supportive; that’s a great project and a great initiative for the AAC to undertake.”

That’s a long way from forming a union, but there is no perfect structure given the wide variance in the way the dozens of Olympic sports operate. It will be fascinating to see what the AAC comes up with as a suggestion for the future.

● The future of USA Gymnastics

Hirshland was asked about the status of the USOC’s de-certification process for USA Gymnastics and the short answer is, nothing will happen until the many lawsuits against the federation are resolved. The details:

“We filed the Section 8 complaint, seated a hearing panel; that hearing panel has independent counsel that will guide that Section 8 process. USA Gymnastics, subsequent to their bankruptcy filing, submitted a request of that hearing panel to stay the Section 8 hearing.

“At this point, we have not responded to that request about the hearing panel for one reason and one reason only: we believe that USA Gymnastics’ intention in filing the Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization was an attempt to resolve the litigation that they are facing in an expedited or organized way.

“We believe that is a really important step for USA Gymnastics and don’t think that disrupting that in any way by pursuing the Section 8 hearing at this point is helpful to that process. So, we reserve the right to go back to the hearing panel and request the process move forward but we have not yet done that at this point.”

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana issued an order opening the filing period for claims against USA Gymnastics on 25 February and closing on 29 April. After that, the Court will determine the procedure going forward to adjudge the claims and determine who get what. At the same time, USA Gymnastics is suing seven insurers for coverage against these claims and those actions have to be completed in order to come up with the funds to pay those survivors who are determined to be awarded damages.

So, nothing is going to happen fast. But there is an orderly process and it appears that as long as it is being administered efficiently by the Court, the de-certification of USA Gymnastics is on hold. This may not be settled until after the Tokyo Games have been completed.

Those were key points on the hot issues posed, but Lyons further expressed that the USOC Board has adopted a new perspective that will change the way it works with athletes going forward.

“We spent a lot of time talking about the fact that the culture of elite sport in the United States has to start at the top,” she said. “As a Board, we really have to set the stage for that in our actions and in our words …

“I think that balance between recognizing that the athlete as a whole person needs to be considered, from their entire competitive career including their transition [to competitive] retirement is a very important topic for us all to consider.”

That’s a call for a new program to help athletes more directly once they stop competing; Hirshland explained that a new “Athlete Services Division” is in the process of being formed. Interestingly, the USOC’s Sports Medicine department will be moved into this division and away from the Sport Performance Division. So, look for it to include much more mental health support and instruction on post-competitive transition assistance.

Hirshland also noted a major study of NGB governance and the 50 different boards is underway, with the raw data just coming back from more than 500 NGB board members who were surveyed for their own views of the situation in their federation. The data will allow the USOC to figure out the next steps needed on a global basis, but also for individual NGBs that may need reforms.

This was a good first step for the USOC Board in that it understands the issues in which the situation is most critical. And taking 24 minutes to speak with reporters was a worthwhile exercise in showing that it wants to be more open and transparent in what it is trying to accomplish.

Happily, there was also a reminder that the sports aspect of the USOC’s efforts have not been forgotten and that delegations of 600-700 athletes are expected for the Pan American Games this summer, and 250 athletes for Para Pan American Games, both in Lima, Peru.

The Congress didn’t ask too many questions about sports, but it’s nice to remember that sports is the business the USOC is actually in.

Rich Perelman
Editor

SHORT TRACK Preview: Korean supremacy at stake in World Championships in Sofia

By
Rich Perelman
-
China's Short Track star Dajing Wu

The 44th ISU Short Track World Championships for 2019 are getting ready at the Arena Armeec in Sofia (BUL), with Korea’s domination of the sport on the line once again.

The Korean juggernaut has won the most medals at 16 of the last 17 World Championships, including 14 in a row from 2002-15 and in 2017 and 2018; only Canada managed more medals once, in 2016.

The form chart from this season’s World Cup shows the Koreans to be favored once again in the men’s individual events, but sterling European opposition on the women’s events. The top World Cup finishers, plus the defending World (2018) and Olympic (2018) champs:

Men

500 m:
1. 31,439 Hyo-Jun Lim (KOR) ~ 2 wins, one silver
2. 30,000 Dajing Wu (CHN) ~ 3 wins in three races
3. 26,434 Sam Girard (CAN) ~ 1 win, three fourths
Defending World Champion: Dae-heon Hwang (KOR)
2018 Olympic Champion: Dajing Wu (CHN)

1,000 m:
1. 37,250 Ji-Won Park (KOR) ~ 1 win, two silvers, one bronze
2. 24,459 Kyung-Hwan Hong (KOR) ~ 1 win, one bronze
3. 23,277 Shaoang Liu (HUN) ~ 2 wins
Defending World Champion: Charles Hamelin (CAN)
2018 Olympic Champion: Samuel Girard (CAN)

1,500 m:
1. 38,000 Gun Woo Kim (KOR) ~ 3 wins, one silver in four races
2. 23,040 Steven Dubois (CAN) ~ 2 bronzes, two fourths
3. 22,515 June-Seo Lee (KOR) ~ 2 silvers, one bronze
Defending World Champion: Charles Hamelin (CAN)
2018 Olympic Champion: Hyo-Jun Lim (KOR)

3,000 m Superfinal (not on the World Cup circuit):
Defending World Champion: Shaolin Sandor Liu (HUN)

Women

500 m:
1. 40,800 Natalia Maliszewska (POL) ~ 2 wins, one silver, two bronze
2. 39,216 Martina Valcepina (ITA) ~ 3 wins to end the season
3. 35,216 Lara van Ruijven (NED) ~ 1 win, two silvers
Defending World Champion: Min-Jeong Choi (KOR)
2018 Olympic Champion: Arianna Fontana (ITA)

1,000 m:
1. 40,000 Suzanne Schulting (NED) ~ 4 wins in four races
2. 29,695 Sofia Prosvirnova (RUS) ~ 1 win, two silvers
3. 26,640 Alyson Charles (CAN) ~ 1 win, one bronze
Defending World Champion: Suk-Hee Shim (KOR)
2018 Olympic Champion: Suzanne Schulting (NED)

1,500 m:
1. 34,400 Suzanne Schulting (NED) ~ 2 wins, one silver, one bronze
2. 29,277 Ji-Yoo Kim (KOR) ~ 1 win, two silvers
3. 28.192 Min-Jeong Choi (KOR) ~ 2 wins, to fifths
Defending World Champion: Min-Jeong Choi (KOR)
2018 Olympic Champion: Min-Jeong Choi (KOR)

3,000 m Superfinal (not on the World Cup circuit):
Defending World Champion: Min-Jeong Choi (KOR)

In addition to the individual events, a 3,000 m relay for women and 5,000 m relay for men will be held; a 2,000 m Mixed Relay will also be contested.

NBCSN has delayed coverage of the Short Track Worlds, on Monday morning at 1 a.m. Eastern time. Look for results here.

SWIMMING: Two wins for Michael Andrew and four world leaders at Des Moines Tyr Pro Swim

By
Rich Perelman
-
Double winner in Des Moines: American sprinter Michael Andrew

There are still two full days to go in the second Tyr Pro Swim Series meet, but the first visit to Des Moines, Iowa has already been a success.

The meet has produced four world-leading marks so far, but it was 19-year-old Michael Andrew was the most impressive with two wins in 13 minutes! He came from behind to take the 100 m Breaststroke in 59.70 (no. 4 on the world list for 2019) and led from wire-to-wire in the 50 m Back, winning in 24.94.

The world leaders included:

● Men’s 1,500 m Free: 15:05.39, Anton Ipsen (DEN)

● Women’s 50 m Back: 27.76, Kathleen Baker (USA)
● Women’s 100 m Breast: 1:06.66, Annie Lazor (USA)
● Women’s 200 m Fly: 2:07.10, Hali Flickinger (USA)

Both Lazor and Flickinger were already the world leaders in these events from the first Tyr Pro Swim meet in Knoxville in January.

There were five more marks that ranked second on the world list, starting with American distance ace Jordan Wilimovsky, who finished just 0.05 behind Ipsen. In the men’s 100 m Free, Caeleb Dressel – the reigning World Champion in the event – stunningly missed the A Final, but swam the no. 2 time in the world in the B Final, winning in 48.71 (Blake Pieroni won the A Final in 48.91). In the 400 m Free, Zane Grothe finished in 3:49.29, ahead of Ipsen by 0.05; Ipsen’s mark moves him to no. 3.

China’s teenage distance stars shone brightly, with Jianjiahe Wang (age 16) winning the women’s 1,500 m Free in 15:46.01 to move to no. 2 on the world list. Bingjie Li (age 17) won the 400 m Free, ahead of Wang, as the two moved to nos. 2-3 in the world at 4:03.29 and 4:05.28.

NBCSN will have a reply of today’s finals at midnight Eastern time. Summaries so far:

Tyr Pro Swim Series
Des Moines, Iowa (USA) ~ 6-9 March 2019
(Full results here; all U.S. unless indicated)

Men

100 m Freestyle: 1. Blake Pieroni, 48.91; 2. Breno Correia (BRA), 48.99; 3. tie, Marcelo Chierigini (BRA) and Marius Kusch (GER), 49.19. (B final: 1. Caeleb Dressel, 48.71).

400 m Free: 1. Zane Grothe, 3:49.29; 2. Anton Ipsen (DEN), 3:49.83; 3. Mitch D’Arrigo, 3:53.46.

1,500 m Free: 1. Ipsen (DEN), 15:05.39; 2. Jordan Wilimovsky, 15:05.44; 3. Zane Grothe, 15:13.29.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Michael Andrew, 24.94; 2. Grigory Tarasevich (RUS), 25.16; 3. Jacob Pebley, 25.30.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Andrew, 59.70; 2. James Wilby (GBR), 59.91; 3. Cody Miller, 1:00.22.

200 m Butterfly: 1. Alex Kunert (GER), 1:57.80; 2. Mack Darragh (CAN), 1:58.64; 43. Luiz
Melo (BRA), 1:58.98.

Women

100 m Freestyle: 1. Margo Geer, 54.59; 2. Olivia Smoliga, 55.05; 3. Natalie Hinds, 5526.

400 m Free: 1. Bingjie Li (CHN), 4:03.290; 2. Jianjiahe Wang (CHN), 4:05.28; 3. Leah Smith, 4:08.41.

1,500 m Free: 1. J. Wang (CHN), 15:46.01; 2. Kristel Kobrich (CHI), 16:17.92; 3. B. Li (CHN), 16:19.71.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Kathleen Baker, 27.76; 2. Smoliga, 28.25; 3. Ali DeLoof, 28.51.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Annie Lazor, 1:06.66; 2. Bethany Galat, 1:07.13; 3. Melanie Margalis, 1:07.20.

200 m Butterfly: 1. Hali Flickinger, 2:07.10; 2. Megan Kingsley, 2:10.91; 3. Charlotte Atkinson (GBR), 2:11.34.

TRIATHLON Preview: ITU World Series starts in Abu Dhabi

By
Rich Perelman
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Spain's triathlon superstar Mario Mola

The first of the nine legs of the 2019 ITU World Series starts on Friday in Abu Dhabi (UAE) with Sprint races for both men and women. That’s a 750 m swim, 20 km bike phase and 5 km run, with defending champions Henri Schoeman (RSA) and Rachel Klamer (NED) ready to repeat.

Almost all of the top finishers from the 2018 are expected to compete:

Men’s 2018 final standings:
1. Mario Mola (ESP)
2. Vincent Luis (FRA)
3. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS)
4. Richard Murray (RSA)
5. Kristian Blummenfeldt (NOR)

Women’s 2018 final standings:
1. Vicky Holland (GBR)
2. Katie Zaferes (USA)
3. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR)
4. Kirsten Kasper (USA)
5. Jessica Learmonth (GBR)

While Schoeman won the Abu Dhabi Sprint last season, the two other Sprint races were won by Mola, with Luis and Brummenfeldt second. The women’s Sprints after Abu Dhabi were in Hamburg (won by France’s Cassandre Beaugrand) and Edmonton (won by Holland).

Mola will be working for his fourth straight World Series title; he’s won four races in each of his three victorious seasons in 2016-17-18.

The racing also includes a Mixed Relay on Saturday (two men + two women), and amateur racing for about 2,600 triathletes in the largest triathlon in the Middle East.

Look for results here.

NORDIC SKIING Preview: Famed Holmenkollen Ski Fest starts in Oslo

By
Rich Perelman
-

The high point of the 2018-19 seasons in Cross Country, Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping was the World Championships in Seefeld (AUT). But there are traditionalists who will point to the annual Holmenkollen Ski Festival in Oslo as the most meaningful event of every Nordic Skiing season.

First organized in 1892 (!), all three disciplines are involved

● Cross Country: Season titles still up for grabs

The FIS Cross Country World Cup has just seven events left, but the seasonal honors are hardly settled. The standings:

Men:
1. 1,134 Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR)
2. 1,058 Alexander Bolshunov (RUS)
3. 755 Sjur Roethe (NOR)
4. 670 Didrik Toenseth (NOR)
5. 657 Simen Hegsted Krueger (NOR)

Women:
1. 1,237 Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg (NOR)
2. 1,139 Natalya Nepryaeva (RUS)
3. 1,002 Krista Parmakoski (FIN)
4. 800 Therese Johaug (NOR)
5. 793 Jessica Diggins (USA)

The story of the season has been the amazing comeback of Norway’s Johaug. She won three titles at the World Championships, after winning all seven of her World Cup starts in distance races. Having achieved her goals in the Worlds, will she make a run for the World Cup title? If so, she’ll have to start with another 30 m Freestyle race in Oslo. She’s won this race in 2013 and 2016 and was second in 2014 and 2015, so she knows the drill well.

In the men’s seasonal race, Klaebo has been the best sprinter and Bolshunov the best in the distance events. After Oslo, three of the remaining six races are Sprints.

Bolshunov won the silver medal in Seefeld at the Worlds, behind Norway’s Hans Christian Holund; Roethe was third.

The men’s 50 km race will be on Saturday, and the women’s 30 km on Sunday. Look for results here.

● Nordic Combined: How many wins this season for Riiber?

Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber has clinched the seasonal World Cup title and has won 10 of the 18 events held so far. He won one of the two individual titles at the World Championships and is the first Norwegian to win the World Cup since Bjarte Engen Vik did it in back-to-back seasons in 1997-98 and 1998-99.

In Oslo, Riiber won this event in 2016, his only World Cup victory prior to this season. It’s been won by Japan’s Akito Watabe each of the past two seasons.

This year’s event will be off a 134 m hill, with a 10.0 km race following, on Saturday. Look for the results here.

● Ski Jumping: Raw Air Tournament starts for men and women

The Holmenkollen 134 m hill will be the starting point for the third Raw Air Tournament for men and first for women.

Essentially a promotion for ski jumping in Norway, the men’s Raw Air program includes three events – qualifying, team and individual – in Oslo for men and a prologue and individual event for women. The complete men’s tournament includes 10 events for men and six in the inaugural edition for women.

The likely seasonal winners have been identified, but no one has clinched anything yet:

Men:
1. 1,620 Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN)
2. 1,145 Kamil Stoch (POL)
3. 1,017 Stefan Kraft (AUT)
4. 963 Piotr Zyla (POL)
5. 834 Dawid Kubacki (POL)

Women:
1. 1,368 Maren Lundby (NOR)
2. 1,073 Katharina Althaus (GER)
3. 916 Sara Takanashi (JPN)
4. 866 Julianne Seyfarth (GER)
5. 596 Carina Vogt (GER)

Kobayashi has won 11 of the 22 events this far and Stoch (two wins) and Kraft (three) have been more successful in the last two months than Kobayashi. But he’s still the leader and it will be hard to catch him.

Lundby has been on a tear, winning the World Championships after eight of the last nine events in the World Cup season. Only Takanashi broke up the streak, with a win at Ljubno (SLO).

There is a men’s Team Event on Saturday, and the men’s and women’s events on Sunday. Look for results here.

JUDO Preview: World Tour heads to Morocco for Marrakesh Grand Prix

By
Rich Perelman
-

The IJF World Tour is in northern Africa this week for the Marrakesh Grand Prix, with a large field of 487 judoka from 71 nations ready to go. The top seeds (and their IJF world ranking):

Men:

-60 kg:
1. Amiran Papinashvili (GEO: 3)
2. Sharafuddin Lutfillaev (UZB: 13)
3. Ashley McKenzie (GBR: 14)

-66 kg:
1. Adrian Gomboc (SLO: 8)
2. Yerlan Serikzhanov (KAZ: 11)
3. Mohamed Abdelmawgoud (EGY: 24)

-73 kg:
1. Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO: 2)
2. Zhansay Smagulov (KAZ: 13)
3. Bilal Ciloglu (TUR: 17)

-81 kg:
1. Vedat Albayrak (TUR: 9)
2. Sami Chouchi (BEL: 13)
3. Ivaylo Ivanov (BUL: 14)

-90 kg:
1. Nemanja Majdov (SRB: 12)
2. Eduard Trippel (GER: 16)
3. Jesper Smink (NED: 23)

-100 kg:
1. Jorge Fonseca (POR: 6)
2. Benjamin Fletcher (IRL: 13)
3. Kirill Denisov (RUS: 14)

+100 kg:
1. Henk Grol (NED: 8)
2. Bekmurod Oltiboev (UZB: 13)
3. Vladut Simionescu (ROU: 24)

Women:

-48 kg:
1. Shira Rishony (ISR: 12)
2. Catarina Costa (POR: 14)
3. Melanie Clement (FRA: 16)

-52 kg:
1. Amandine Buchard Nordmeyer (FRA: 1)
2. Reka Pupp (HUN: 15)
3. Ana Perez Box (ESP: 17)

-57 kg:
1. Timna Nelson Levy (ISR: 10)
2. Chen-Ling Lien (TPE: 13)
3. Hedvig Karakas (HUN: 15)

-63 kg:
1. Andreja Leski (SLO: 6)
2. Katharina Haecker (AUS: 8)
3. Magdalena Krssakova (AUT: 9)

-70 kg:
1. Assmma Niang (MAR: 9)
2. Barbara Matic (CRO: 14)
3. Margaux Pinot (FRA: 18)

-78 kg:
1. Luise Malzahn (GER: 12)
2. Anna Maria Wagner (GER: 13)
3. Karen Stevenson (NED: 15)

+78 kg:
1. Nihel Chiekh Rouhou (TUN: 11)
2. Kayra Sayit (TUR: 12)
3. Sarah Adlington (GBR: 16)

France’s 10-time World Champion Teddy Riner had indicated he would compete here, but was not entered by the French; he says he will return to the mat soon as he prepares for the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

Prize money is $3,000-2,000-1,000 for the top three placers. Look for results here.

ALPINE SKIING Preview: Shiffrin chasing a record; Hirscher tries to lock up another Crystal Globe this weekend

By
Rich Perelman
-
Austria's World Champion skier Marcel Hirscher

The next-to-last weekend of the Alpine World Cup season could be a history-maker as the two great stars of the season can claim new records in the Czech Republic and Slovenia.

● Men’s Giant Slalom and Slalom in Kranjska Gora

Although Austria’s Marcel Hirscher is going to win an eighth consecutive World Cup seasonal title, he hasn’t clinched it yet. That could come this weekend, as he will be competing in his favorite events. The current standings:

1. 1,408 Marcel Hirscher (AUT)
2. 918 Alexis Pinturault (FRA)
3. 808 Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR)
4. 750 Dominik Paris (ITA)
5. 653 Beat Feuz (SUI)

So, as Hirscher leads by 490 points with six races left, he can clinch the Crystal Globe this weekend with two strong finishes. He has already assured himself of the Slalom title once again, leading Daniel Yule (SUI), 708-446 with two races left. He has also clinched the Giant Slalom title, with a 620-402 lead over Kristoffersen.

Hirscher has won 10 races on the circuit this season and the single-season men’s record of 13 – which he co-holds – is possible with two technical races this weekend and two more at the World Cup Final in Andorra next week.

NBC will show Saturday’s Giant Slalom on the NBC Olympic Channel at 6:30 a.m. Look for results here.

● Women’s Giant Slalom and Slalom in Spindleruv Mlyn

The amazing Shiffrin has locked up her third straight World Cup overall title, something only three other women have ever achieved … and she’s 23. She also owns the Slalom title outright, but has two more challenges: (1) to win the Giant Slalom title and (2) set the all-time, single-season record for wins.

As to the Giant Slalom, she leads France’s Tessa Worley and Petra Vlhova (SVK) by 455-374-318, with two races left. A win for Shiffrin and a poor showing by Worley could win that title for Shiffrin on Friday.

Shiffrin also needs one win to set the single-season wins record; she is currently tied with Swiss Vreni Schneider, who did it in 1989. Shiffrin has won three Giant Slalom races this season and eight Slaloms/Parallel Slaloms on the season and will be the favorite at least in Saturday’s Slalom and the Slalom at the World Cup Final.

NBC has coverage of the Giant Slalom on Friday at 7:30 a.m. Eastern time on the NBC Olympic Channel and the women’s Slalom on Saturday, also at 7:30 a.m. Eastern on the same channel. Look for results here.

DIVING Preview: China looking for second straight FINA World Series sweep in Beijing

By
Rich Perelman
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Beijing's iconic Water Cube, site of the 2008 Olympic swimming and diving competitions

The second of five FINA Diving World Series meets in 2019 comes to the famed Water Cube in Beijing (CHN), following a Chinese sweep of the season opener at Sagamihara (JPN).

All 10 of the winning entries will be back and they were impressive. Six won by 10 or more points and two more won by five or more points; just two were close:

Men:
● 3 m Springboard: Siyi Xie (CHN) +19.40
● 10 m Platform: Jian Yang (CHN) +6.35
● 3 m Synchro: Yuan Cao/Siyi Xie (CHN) +18.96
● 10 m Synchro: Yuan Cao/Aisen Chen (CHN) +44.79

Women:
● 3 m Springboard: Tingmao Shi (CHN) +3.15
● 10 m Platform: Jiaqi Zhang (CHN) +8.20
● 3 m Synchro: Tingmao Shi/Han Wang (CHN) +27.03
● 10 m Synchro: Jiaqi Zhang/Wei Lu (CHN) +20.94

Mixed:
● 3 m Synchro: Yani Chang/Hao Yang (CHN) +2.70
● 10 m Synchro: Junjie Lian/Yajie Si (CHN) +25.74

What’s more, China’s divers have been almost unbeatable in Beijing. They swept the events in the Beijing leg of the World Series in 2011-12-13-15-16-18, losing only in the 3m Springboard in 2017 (by Britain’s Jack Laugher) and the 10 m Platform in 2014 (Viktor Minibaev (RUS)): that’s 60 wins in the last 62 events.

It’s worth noting that Laugher is back for this week’s events, and was third last week in the 3 m Springboard.

Prize money of $5,000-4,000-3,000 will be available to the top three finishers. Look for results here.

BIATHLON Preview: World Championships start in Oestersund

By
Rich Perelman
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Italy's Lisa Vittozzi (Photo: IBU)

The Swedish winter wonderland of Oestersund will be the setting for 11 days of the IBU World Championships, with a busy schedule:

● 07 March: Mixed Relay (2+2)
● 08 March: Women’s 7.5 km Sprint
● 09 March: Men’s 10 km Sprint
● 10 March: Women’s 10 km Pursuit and Men’s 12.5 km Pursuit
● 12 March: Women’s 15 km Individual
● 13 March: Men’s 20 km Individual
● 14 March: Single Mixed Relay
● 16 March: Women’s 4×6 km Relay and Men’s 4×7.5 km Relay
● 17 March: Women’s 12.5 km Mass Start and Men’s 15 km Mass Start

The men’s World Cup season has been dominated by Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe, who has won 14 races out of the 20 contested! He’s won five of seven Sprints, four of six Pursuits, one of two Individual races and two of three Mass start races.

The other winners have been Martin Fourcade (FRA: 2), Alexandr Loginov (RUS: 1), Quentin Fillon Maillet (FRA: 2) and Vetle Sjastad Christiansen (NOR: 1).

Fourcade’s string of seven straight World Cup overall titles will come to an end this season, but he is a 11-time World Champion and 25-time medal winner. Boe, still just 25, has three world titles: the 2015 10 km Sprint and 2016 Mass Start, and a relay. He won three silvers in 2017.

The women’s World Cup race is so close that there are five different possible seasonal winners. There have been 11 different winners on tour this season, including seasonal leader Dorothea Wierer (ITA: 2 races), current runner-up Lisa Vittozzi (ITA: 2), Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen (3), Norway’s Marte Olsbu Roeiseland (3), Anastasiya Kuzmina (SVK: 2) and six who have won one each: Yuliia Dzhima (UKR), Franziska Preuss (GER), Marketa Davidova (CZE), and Germans Laura Dahlmeier and Tina Hermann.

Dahlmeier has had the most World Champs success of this group, with 13 career medals, including seven golds – five in 2017! – plus three silvers and three bronzes. Makarainen has six career medals (1-1-4).

This is the third time that Oestersund has hosted the Biathlon Worlds, also in 1970 and 2008. Look for results here.

FENCING Preview: Four world no. 1s in action this week in Epee and Sabre

By
Rich Perelman
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Russian Sabre star Sofya Velikaya (Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen via Wikipedia Commons)

A busy week is ahead in fencing, with the second Epee Grand Prix in Hungary and Sabre World Cups in Italy and Greece:

● Epee Grand Prix in Budapest

The second Epee Grand Prix of the season comes to Budapest (HUN), with the Westend Epee Grand Prix, with a huge field of 574 fencers, including the entire top-10-ranked men and nine of the top-10 women:

Men: (313 entries)
1. Yannick Borel (FRA) ~ 2018 World Champion
2. Bogdan Nikishin (UKR) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze medalist
3. Ruben Limardo Gascon (VEN) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalist
4. Koki Kano (JPN)
5. Dmitriy Alexanin (KAZ)
6. Sang-Young Park (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team silver medalist
7. Nikolai Novosjolov (EST) ~ 2017 Worlds silver medalist
8. Max Heinzer (SUI) ~ 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist
9. Jacob Hoyle (USA)
10. Yulen Pereira (ESP)

Women: (261 entries)
1. Mara Navarria (ITA) ~ 2018 World Champion
2. Man Wai Vivian Kong (HKG)
3. Young Mi Kang (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team silver medalist
4. Ana Maria Popescu (ROU) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalist
5. Violetta Kolobova (RUS)
7. Olena Kryvytska (UKR) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
8. Katrina Lehis (EST)
9. Julia Beljajeva (EST) ~ 2017 Worlds bronze medalist
10. Mingye Zhu (CHN) ~ 2017 Worlds Team silver medalist

In addition, the U.S. has two high-ranked entries, with the sisters Courtney Hurley at 12, and Kelley Hurley at 13.

In the opening Grand Prix of the season in Doha (QAT) in January, Borel won the men’s tournament, defeating Pereira in the final, with Hoyle and Nikishin as the bronze medalists. Among the women, Beljajeva won gold, followed by Kseniya Pantelyeyeva (UKR) and bronze winners Hyo-Jung Jung (KOR) and Kolobova of Russia.

Look for results here.

● Men’s Sabre World Cup in Padua

The 62nd Trofeo Luxardo is on this weekend in Padua (ITA), with 212 entries and an individual competition on Friday and Saturday and a team event on Sunday. The top entries by world ranking:

1. Eli Dershwitz (USA) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalist
2. Aron Szilagyi (HUN) ~ 2012-16 Olympic gold medalist
3. Bon-Gil Gu (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist
4. Sang-Uk Oh (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist
6. Kamil Ibrahimov (RUS) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze medalist
7. Luca Curatoli (ITA) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalist
8. Max Hartung (GER)
9. Jun-Ho Kim (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze, and Team gold medalist
10. Enrico Berre (ITA) ~ 2018 Worlds Team silver medalist

Also entered for the U.S. is 12th-ranked Daryl Homer, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist.

● Women’s Sabre World Cup in Athens

The Acropolis Cup in Athens (GRE) also has a large field at 202 fencers, and the entire top 10 in the world rankings ready to go:

1. Sofya Velikaya (RUS) ~ 2018 Worlds silver medalist
2. Cecilia Berder (FRA) ~ 2018 Worlds Team gold medalist
3. Anna Marton (HUN)
4. Sofia Pozdniakova (RUS) ~ 2018 World Champion
5. Bianca Pascu (ROU)
6. Olga Kharlan (UKR) ~ 2017 World Champion
7. Anne-Elizabeth Stone (USA) ~ 2018 Worlds bronze medalist
8. Ji-Yeon Kim (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team bronze medalist
9. Soo-Yeon Choi (KOR) ~ 2018 Worlds Team bronze medalist
10. Liza Pusztai (HUN)

The Athens program also includes an individual events on Friday and Saturday and a team competition on Sunday.

Look for results of both World Cups here.

ATHLETICS Panorama: Muir’s double highlights European Indoor Champs; IAAF World Rankings start and more

By
Rich Perelman
-
Britain's Laura Muir (Photo: Filip Bossuyt via Wikimedia Commons)

The close of the 2019 indoor season is upon us, as the European Indoor Championships took place in Glasgow (GBR) last weekend and the NCAA Indoor Championships are this weekend in Birmingham, Alabama.

The European Indoors was an excellent meet, with seven world leaders:

● Men’s Long Jump: 8.38 m (27-6), Miltiadis Tentoglu (GRE)
● Men’s Heptathlon: 6,218, Jorge Urena (ESP)

● Women’s 400 m: 51.61, Lea Sprunger (SUI)
● Women’s 3,000 m: 8:30.61, Laura Muir (GBR)
● Women’s 4×400 m: 3:28.77, Poland
● Women’s Long Jump: 6.99 m (22-11 1/4), Ivana Spanovic (equals)
● Women’s Pentathlon: 4,983, Katarina Johnson-Thompson (GBR)

Muir was the star of the show, winning the 3,000 m in a world-leading 8:30.61, impressively ahead of Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen (8:34.06 and the 1,500 m in 4:05.92, winning by more than 3 1/2 seconds over Sonia Ennaoui (POL: 4:09.30). She defended both of her titles from the 2017 Euro Indoors.

“This was a big test this weekend and a lot of pressure,” said Muir. “I am so happy that I could deliver. We set out to do just one event a few months ago and then we thought why not go for the double. I never thought I’d have another chance to do that in Glasgow and to do it on my own track is special.”

Other impressive wins came from Ewa Swoboda (POL) in the 60 m, running 7.09 to finished ahead of Dutch star Dafne Schippers (7.11) and Norway’s Karsten Warholm, who won the 400 m in 45.05, equaling the European Indoor Record.

Both of the men’s vertical jumps were great, with Gianmarco Tamberi (ITA) showing a complete recovery from shattering his left ankle in 2016 by winning the high jump at 2.32 m (7-7 1/4), to add to his World Indoor title from 2016. The vault was won by Pawel Wojciechowski (POL) at 5.90 m (19-4 1/4), ahead of teammate Piotr Lisek, who cleared 5.85 m (19-2 1/4).

The frequent-flier award goes to Norwegian vaulter (and UCLA freshman) Sondre Guttormsen, who was eighth at 5.55 m (18-2 1/2). He won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title in Seattle, Washington on 23 February, competed in Glasgow on 2 March and will be at the NCAA Championships in Birmingham this weekend.

The IAAF launched its new world rankings program on 26 February, claiming that it will “provide a more effective way of identifying the top athletes in each discipline by rewarding consistency and competition among the world’s best.”

It won’t do that, but it will be one more thing to talk about, as it is in some other sports, such as tennis – where it is quite important – and golf.

The IAAF World Rankings will not be used for qualification for the 2019 World Championships in Doha, but will have a full year of introduction so that everyone can get used to how the program works and what its faults are. We will be examining in closely in the coming weeks.

If you want to check them out, click here.

Kemoy Campbell, the Jamaican Olympian and national record holder in the 5,000 and 10,000 m, was released from the New York Presbyterian Medical Center last week (26 February) after collapsing while pacesetting the men’s 3,000 m at the Millrose Games on 9 February.

Campbell was carried away from the track and his heart stopped, but he was revived and has recovered sufficiently to be discharged.

The odd part of his story is that a series of tests did not reveal what caused his symptoms. However, he did have an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implanted, which will shock his heart into activity if it stops again.

Campbell’s track & field future is not clear; he ran national records of 13:20.39 for 5,000 m in 2015 and 28:06.40 for the 10,000 m in 2017, making the 2017 Worlds final in the 5,000 m.

The Russian news service TASS reported that the IAAF will take up the issue of Russia’s reinstatement at this weekend’s meeting of the IAAF Council in Doha (QAT).

The current whisper is that Russia will not be reinstated at this meeting, but there could be progress in the steps required. The IAAF presently permits Russian athletes to apply for “Authorized Neutral Athlete” status for international competitions.

More than 200 applications for ANA status were received by the Russian Athletics Federation for the 2019 season; the IAAF approved 42 athletes on 21 January and 21 more on 21 February.

American distance runner Luke Puskedra, still just 29, announced his retirement on Instagram, noting that “I have taken some time to reflect on how I could find a better balance between running and life. For a long time, life was that thing that happened somewhere between one training session and the next. After twenty years, I have made the decision to start lacing up a different pair of shoes between runs.

“I had the incredible support of the best company in sports through Nike and now Re-max has given me the privilege of adding another chapter with the best company in real estate.”

Puskedra was an 11-time All-American at Oregon and had impressive bests of 13:31.88 (‘13), 27:56.62 (‘12) and 2:10:24 in the marathon in Chicago in 2015. But his performances had slipped over the past three years, and now the decision to move on to the rest of his life.

With a wife and two young daughters, he will have plenty to do. And with a better perspective on life, he may be back.

LANE ONE: FINA asks for dismissal of International Swimming League and athlete suits

By
Rich Perelman
-

Following the cancellation of a high-profile swimming meet scheduled for last December, the new International Swimming League (ISL) filed suit against the international governing body for swimming – the Federation Internationale de Natation or “FINA” – in U.S. Federal Court.

ISL filed its own suit, and one in the names of U.S. stars Tom Shields and Michael Andrew and Hungarian star Katinka Hosszu, as a class action against FINA, alleging actions in violation of the U.S. anti-trust law known as the Sherman Act.

FINA said little at the time, but confirmed in mid-January that “swimmers are free to participate in competitions or events staged by independent organisers, namely entities which are neither members of FINA nor related to it in any way.”

Now, FINA is talking again and has more to say.

The federation’s attorneys filed responses to both suits in the Northern District of California last Friday and asked for dismissal of both suits on multiple grounds. The filings were similar since the allegations were essentially the same in both suits. (For reference, the cases are International Swimming League vs. FINA, 3:18-cv-07394-JSC; and Shields et al vs. FINA, 3:18-cv-07393-JSC; both before Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley.)

The FINA motion asks, in both cases, for dismissal on four grounds:

(1) The Court lacks jurisdiction over FINA because it is a foreign entity;

(2) The antitrust claims made by ISL and the swimmers are blocked by the absolute control over Olympic sports given to the United States Olympic Committee and the National Governing Bodies in the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act;

(3) By the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act, and

(4) The claim made by the plaintiffs does not “plausibly allege an antitrust conspiracy.”

From a legal perspective, each of these replies is quite fascinating, but from the sports angle, the concepts are more technical.

Regarding jurisdiction, the reply in the ISL suit states simply, “this is a foreign dispute, between two foreign parties, that rests on foreign conduct” and that “ISL’s inability to plead the requisite jurisdictional facts is inherent to its theory of the case, which is an attack on FINA’s position as the global arbiter of international and Olympic swimming and FINA’s implementation of rules and decisions that equally affect all of its 209 different national member federations.”

The brief argues in detail about how ISL’s “Complaint is conspicuously thin on allegations as to how any of that alleged conduct bears any real connection to the United States” as FINA’s rules and actions impact all 209 of its affiliated national federations.

Regarding immunity, the reply states that prior case law has clarified that the Ted Stevens Act gave the USOC and the affiliated National Governing Bodies “monolithic control” over their sports to exercise their responsibilities, which also includes coordination with the relevant international federation. In the case of USA Swimming, that would be coordination with FINA.

The reply states that “The alleged conduct by FINA that impacted swimming in the U.S. is
protected from antitrust scrutiny under the Ted Stevens Olympic Amateur Sports Act (“ASA”), 36 U.S.C. § 22050, et seq. Any U.S.-based effect stemming from FINA’s conduct was, as ISL alleges, the result of the decision of USA Swimming (the FINA-affiliated national governing body for swimming in the U.S.) to withdraw its support for ISL in compliance with FINA’s rules. Actions governing U.S. athletes’ participation in international competition and undertaken in compliance with FINA’s rules are precisely the kind of conduct the ASA impliedly immunizes from the antitrust laws.”

Regarding the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act, the filing contends that this 1982 statute places limits on the impact of the Sherman Act outside the U.S., on technical grounds.

The final section of the reply hammers at the core of the ISL and athlete’s complaint, that the actions of FINA constitute a restraint of trade. The filing noted that in a 1984 case, the U.S. Supreme Court “held that a corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary were legally incapable of conspiring to violate Section 1, as they have a ‘complete unity of interest.’”

FINA’s filing notes that ISL’s own complaint maintains that “the member federations ‘exist primarily, if not exclusively, to prepare and present swimmers for competition in the Olympic Games’.” Thus, says FINA’s reply, “without the Olympic Games, there would be no FINA, and no member federations. FINA and its member federations are not distinct entities pursuing different economic goals; rather, they share a unity of interest — the promotion and organization of top-tier international and Olympic swimming.”

Now, the suits are in the hands of the judge, who will receive the motions to dismiss in court on 11 April. The application of U.S. law to international disputes is a tricky one and FINA’s reply makes a compelling argument against a U.S. court getting involved in a dispute between two European entities.

(In fact, it’s quite odd that these suits were filed in the U.S., instead of in the European Court of Justice, where the anti-trust statutes are a bit stiffer in some aspects than the U.S.)

As is sometimes the case in legal disputes, the most important comment on the entire matter was in a footnote:

“For the record, ISL’s claims are moot as a result of an interpretation of the disputed ‘unauthorised relations’ rule that FINA issued on January 15, 2019, after this case was filed, which among other things states that swimmers who participate in competitions or events staged by independent organizers such as ISL will not be found to have violated that rule.”

What should be happening is that the two sides get together to create a revision of the international swimming calendar which maximizes the opportunities for swimmers to make a living at the sport they love so much.

In the interim, FINA has launched a new competition, the Champions Swim Series, a three-stage program starting in April that will offer about $3 million in prize money. That’s a fairly direct outcome of all of the controversy, and a benefit to the participating swimmers.

A look at the ISL Web site shows a promised program of meets between to-be-formed clubs of international swimmers, starting in August. Even if it doesn’t happen, it moved FINA to clarify its rules and helped create the new events.

But if ISL’s real goal is – as it insists – to improve the earning power and profile of swimmers, it ought to be at the negotiating table and not in a U.S. courtroom. Perhaps soon, it will be.

Rich Perelman
Editor

SWIMMING Preview: Second leg of the Tyr Pro Swim Series bows in Des Moines

By
Rich Perelman
-
American swim star Kelsi Dahlia!

USA Swimming has made a substantial effort to liven up its Tyr Pro Swim Series in 2019, especially by bringing it to new places. The Wellmark YMCA in downtown Des Moines, Iowa is the site for this week’s festivities and is importantly connected to the city’s Skywalk system, since this weekend’s highs are forecast from 29-40 degrees!

In the water, the competition should be much hotter, with many of the U.S. stars in action and some world-class guests. Some of the expected entries and their events:

Men:
● Michael Andrew ~ 50 m Free, 50-100 m Back, 50-100 m Breast, 50-100 m Fly
● Caeleb Dressel ~ 50-100-200 m Free, 50-100 m Breast, 50-100 m Fly
● Blake Pieroni ~ 50-100-200 m Free
● Kevin Cordes ~ 50-100-200 m Breast
● Tom Shields ~ 200 m Free, 100-200 m Fly
● Jordan Wilimovsky ~ 400-800-1,500 m Free
● Zane Grothe ~ 100-200-400-800-1,500 m Free
● Ryosuke Irie (JPN) ~ 100 m Free, 50-100-200 m Back

Women:
● Kelsi Dahlia ~ 50-100 m Free, 50-100-200 m Fly
● Allison Schmidt ~ 100-200-800 m Free, 50-100 m Fly
● Leah Smith ~ 100-200-400-800 m Free, 200 m Medley
● Olivia Smoliga ~ 50-100 m Free, 50-100-200 m Back
● Melanie Margalis ~ 100-200-400 m Free, 100 m Breast, 50 m Fly, 200 m Medley
● Kathleen Baker ~ 50-100-200 m Back, 100 m Breast, 200 m Medley
● Micah Sumrall ~ 50-100-200 m Breast
● Hali Flickinger ~ 200-400-800 m Free, 200 m Back, 200 m Fly, 200-400 m Medley
● Penny Oleksiak (CAN) ~ 100 m Free, 50-100 m Fly
● Bingjie Li (CHN) ~ 4001,500 m Free
● Jianjiahe Wang (CHN) ~ 400-1,500 m Free

Irie won three London 2012 medals, including bronze and silver in the 100-200 Backstrokes; Oleksiak was the co-gold medalist in Rio in the women’s 100 m Free; China’s Li (age 17) and Wang (16) both won multiple Freestyle golds at last year’s Asian Games.

As usual, the heaviest workloads have been undertaken by Andrew among the men (seven events) and Flickinger (7) for the women. Dressel also has seven entries and Margalis shows six events. Prize money is available at $1,500-1,000-500 for the top three swimmers.

NBC has coverage of the meet on Thursday on the NBC Olympic Channel beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, and on Friday on NBCSN, also starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern (Saturday coverage is available only online). Look for results here.

FREESTYLE SKIING & SNOWBOARD Preview: Mammoth Mountain hosts World Cup in Halfpipe and Slopestyle

By
Rich Perelman
-
World Snowboard Championships gold medalist Chris Corning (USA)

The World Cup Freestyle Halfpipe and Snowboard Halfpipe and Slopestyle seasons will finish this weekend at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix at Mammoth Mountain, California, assuming the heavy winter weather will allow it. The finals schedule:

● 8 March: Freestyle and Snowboard Slopestyle
● 9 March: Freestyle and Snowboard Halfpipe

In Freestyle, the Halfpipe schedule will end this weekend, but the Slopestyle competitors will have one more event, at the end of March in Switzerland. The current situation:

Men’s Halfpipe:
1. 210 Nico Porteous (NZL) ~ 2018 Olympic bronze medalist
2. 176 Simon d’Artois (CAN)
3. 160 David Wise (USA) ~ 2014-2018 Olympic Champion
4. 146 Hunter Hess (USA)
5. 120 Miguel Porteous (NZL)

Men’s Slopestyle:
1. 158 Max Moffatt (CAN)
2. 152 Oliwer Magniusson (SWE)
3. 129 Alex Hall (USA)
4. 125 Mac Forehand (USA)
5. 107 Henrik Harlaut (SWE)

Women’s Halfpipe:
1. 210 Rachael Karker (CAN)
2. 196 Kexin Zhang (CHN)
3. 180 Cassie Sharpe (CAN) ~ 2018 Olympic gold; 2019 Worlds silver medalist
4. 134 Fanghui Li (CHN)
5. 110 Brita Sigourney (USA) ~ 2018 Olympic bronze; 2019 Worlds bronze

Women’s Slopestyle:
1. 204 Eileen Gu (USA) ~ 15 years old!
2. 180 Sarah Hoefflin (SUI) ~ 2018 Olympic Champion
3. 121 Megan Oldham (CAN)
4. 110 Julia Krass (USA)
5. 100 Kelly Sildaru (EST) ~ 2019 Halfpipe World Champion, still 16 years old!

In Snowboard, this is the end of the season for both men and women in both Halfpipe and Slopestyle, so everything will be settled – weather permitting – in Mammoth:

Men’s Halfpipe:
1. 2,760 Yuko Totsuka (JPN) ~ 2019 Worlds silver medalist
2. 2,210 Ruka Hirano (JPN)
3. 2,000 Scotty James (AUS) ~ 2018 Olympic bronze; 2019 World Champion
4. 1,920 Jan Scherrer (SUI)
5. 1,600 Ikko Anai (JPN)

Men’s Slopestyle:
1. 1,800 Chris Corning (USA) ~ 2019 World Champion
2. 1,500 Takeru Otsuka (JPN)
3. 1,410 Lyon Farrell (USA)
4. 1,330 Stian Kleividal (NOR)
5. 1,300 Ryan Stassel (USA)

Women’s Halfpipe:
1. 2,900 Xuetong Cai (CHN) ~ 2019 Worlds silver medalist
2. 2,120 Queralt Castellet (ESP)
3. 2,000 Chloe Kim (USA) ~ 2019 World Champion
4. 1,960 Kurumi Inai (JPN)
5. 1,810 Verena Rohrer (SUI)

Women’s Slopestyle:
1. 2,000 Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN)
2. 1,700 Reira Iwabuchi (JPN)
3. 1,680 Isabel Derungs (SUI)
4. 1,600 Silje Norendal (NOR) ~ 2019 Worlds silver medalist
5. 1,600 Sina Candrian (SUI)

The women’s Halfpipe situation tilted in favor of Cai after Kim suffered a broken ankle while finishing second last week at the Toyota U.S. Open in Vail, Colorado. But the weather could scramble everything; those who can handle the changing conditions will be the medal winners.

Look for Freestyle results here, and Snowboard results here.

FOOTBALL: Heath’s goal stands up for a 1-0 win as England takes the SheBelieves Cup

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. striker Tobin Heath

After two unhappy draws against Japan and England, the U.S. women’s national team managed a 1-0 victory over Brazil in the final game of the SheBelieves Cup tournament at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida

The U.S. was intense from the start and almost scored in the first minute. Brazil defender Thaisa fouled Mallory Pugh from behind in the middle of the box, as Pugh was trying to get to a cross in front of goal from Tobin Heath. But there was no call.

Megan Rapinoe scored in the 13th minute off a slick pass from Heath, but Rapinoe was barely offsides and the goal was waved off.

The U.S. finally got the lead in the 20th minute, as Heath ran through the midfield and passed to an open Alex Morgan on the left side for a shot. Morgan’s left-footed shot was saved by Brazilian keeper Aline Reis, but she couldn’t control the rebound. The ball bounded back out to the top of the box and Heath sent a left-footed laser from the top of the box for a 1-0 lead. It was Heath’s 27th international goal, and a 1-0 U.S. lead.

The U.S. had the better of the play in the second half, creating multiple chances and lots of pressure, but no goals. The game was physical, but never out of control.

The game was nearly tied in the 75th minute, as Brazilian icon Marta lifted the ball toward the middle of the goal mouth and Ludmila split two American defenders for a header that was caught by keeper Ashlyn Harris.

The U.S. offense once again did not perform at the level it showed at the end of 2018, but the defense was much better for most of the game. But it was a win and gave the U.S. women a 2-1-2 record in 2019. And Harris got the second shutout for the Americans this season.

England won the opening game of the doubleheader with a 3-0 win over Japan, thanks to first-half goals from Lucy Staniforth in the 12th minute, Karen Carney (23rd) and Beth Mead (30th). That gave the Lionesses seven points off a 2-0-1 record. The final standings:

1. 7: England (2-0-1)
2. 5: United States (1-0-2)
3. 4: Japan (1-1-1)
4. 0: Brazil (0-3-0)

The U.S. women are off for a month now; the next match will tell a lot, a friendly vs. Australia – a team which has given the U.S. fits – on 4 April in Commerce City, Colorado.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Home favorites Artacho and Clancy look to defend Sydney Open title

By
Rich Perelman
-

After a quiet start to the season, the second three-star tournament of the FIVB World Tour for 2018-19 comes this weekend in Sydney (AUS), with a strong field expected. The top seeds:

Men:
1. Taylor Crabb/Jacob Gibb (USA)
2. John Hyden/Ryan Doherty (USA)
3. George Wanderley/Thiago Barbosa 9BRA)
4. Marco Grimalt/Esteban Grimalt (CHI)
5. Alex Ranghieri/Marco Caminati (ITA)

Women:
1. Taliqua Clancy/Mariafe Artacho (AUS)
2. Karla Borger/Julia Sude (GER)
3. Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider (GER)
4. Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth (ITA)
5. Megumi Murakami/Miki Ishii (JPN)

Artacho and Clancy won four tournaments last season, including this Sydney Open, along with the Qinzhou Open (3-star), the Lucerne Open (3-star) and Espinho Open (4-star).

Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat of the U.S. are seeded sixth.

The semis will be held on Saturday and the finals on Sunday. Look for match scores and standings here.

BADMINTON Preview: Stars are out for the $1 million Yonex Al-england Open in Birmingham

By
Rich Perelman
-

Nothing like a prize purse of $1 million to get players interested in a major tournament and most of the top stars in the sport are entered in the Yonex All-England Open at the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham (ENG). The top seeds include all five of the no. 1-ranked players or teams in the world:

● Men’s Singles:
1. Kento Momota (JPN)
2. Yuqi Shi (CHN)
3. Tien Chen Chou (TPE)

● Men’s Doubles:
1. Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA)
2. Junhui Li/Yuchen Liu (CHN)
3. Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN)

● Women’s Singles:
1. Tzu Ying Tai (TPE)
2. Nozomi Okuhara (JPN)
3. Yufei Chen (CHN)

● Women’s Doubles:
1. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN)
2. Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN)
3. Mayu Matsomoto/Wakana Nagihara (JPN)

● Mixed Doubles:
1. Siwei Zheng/Yaqiong Huang (CHN)
2. Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN)
3. Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (JPN)

The All-England Open dates back to 1899, making it one of the historic tournaments in the sport. There are multiple past winners entered, including, but not limited to:

● Men’s Singles: Shi (defending), Dan Lin (CHN: 5x), Long Chen (CHN: 2x)

● Men’s Doubles: Gideon/Sakumuljo (2x defending), Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (DEN: 2x)

● Women’s Singles: Tai (2x defending), Okuhara (2016), Xuerui Li (CHN: 2012)

● Women’s Doubles: Matsutomo/Takahashi (2016).

● Mixed Doubles: Watanabe/Higashino (defending)

Look for results here.

THE BIG PICTURE: With Congress on its tail, USOC is putting heat on its NGBs, especially Boxing and Diving

By
Rich Perelman
-

Stung by the multiple Congressional inquiries into its responses – or lack of responses – to the sexual-abuse situations in swimming, gymnastics and other sports, the United States Olympic Committee has begun an intense program of review of its affiliated National Governing Bodies.

The USOC has already begun the process of formally revoking the status of USA Gymnastics as the NGB for gymnastics in light of the Larry Nassar scandal, which has resulted in multiple lawsuits against both that organization and the USOC.

More recently, two more NGBs have come under close scrutiny:

● The Sports Business Daily reported last Friday that “The USOC has investigated USA Diving’s BOD for allegations of self-dealing and conflicts of interest, and a top USOC official said decertification is possible if the board does not agree to reforms.”

● Ben Fischer of the SBD also reported on Monday that USOC Chief of Sport Performance Rick Adams has also been in contact with USA Boxing. “We sent Boxing a letter based on an external audit that took place based on a review of board practices, and we requested certain reforms around the composition of the board, the leadership of the board, and the number of independent directors. At this juncture, we’re working collaboratively with Boxing.”

Fischer noted that the USOC is especially interested in “how NGB boards operate — in particular how many of them are controlled by people with vested interests in clubs or businesses that can benefit from NGB decisions.” Adams indicated that more work is being done with NGBs to try and ferret out these kinds of issues.

That’s quite separate from the sexual-abuse issues that has gotten the USOC in recent trouble, but a sign that the organization’s new leadership recognizes that Congress – the ultimate overseer of the Olympic Movement in the U.S. through the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act – expects the USOC to exercise substantial oversight of the NGBs in all aspects of its governance.

These recent USOC actions about conflicts of interest at the Board of Directors level are also separate from the questions of “athlete voices.” The current statute defines “athletes” for the purposes of participation in NGB affairs as having competed for the U.S. within 10 prior years.

There is considerable interest in relaxing this time requirement, or perhaps abolishing it, but if the current trickle of NGB Board conflicts turns into a tide, the USOC could rightly make the case to the Congress that any definition of “athletes” eligible to serve on an NGB Board or committee may have to consider whether the “athlete” is compromised by existing or past affiliations, consulting or sponsorship arrangements with companies or organizations which do business (or could do business) with the NGB.

It is not too far from reality that Congress could consider a modification of the Ted Stevens Act which requires the USOC and the NGBs to have “athlete” participation which is “independent,” meaning they are not affiliated or being sponsored by – for example – adidas, Arena, Brooks, New Balance, Nike, Skechers, Speedo, Tyr or others.

Would any “athletes” be left? If the “voice of the athlete” is to be heard, should Congress be concerned that it is the “athlete’s voice” or is it that of their sponsor(s)?

TAEKWONDO: Turkey claims five wins at U.S. Open in Las Vegas

By
Rich Perelman
-
Mexican Taekwondo star Briseida Acosta

A strong international field was in Las Vegas for the annual U.S. Open, with three 2017 World Championships medalists claiming wins, and a major upset in the women’s +73 kg class.

In the men’s events, 2017 silver medalist Jesus Tortosa of Spain won the 58 kg class; among the women. Serbia’s reigning World Champion Vanja Stankovic won the 49 kg class and silver medalist Hatice Ilgun (TUR) won at 57 kg.

The upset came in the women’s unlimited class, where current World Champion Bianca Walken (GBR) was defeated in the final by Mexico’s Briseida Acosta.

Turkey won five classes in all – three in the men’s events and two in the women’s – to lead all entries. Spain and the U.S. also had two wins; the American contingent earned a total of 15 medals. Summaries:

U.S. Open
Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) ~ 28 February-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men

54 kg: 1. Adrien Vicente Yunta (ESP); 2. Deniz Dagdelen (TUR); 3. Mason Yarrow (GBR) and Xiongbin Ouyang (CHN).

58 kg: 1. Jesus Tortosa Cabrera (ESP); 2. Jack Woolley (IRL); 3. Isaak Whitworth (USA) and Damian Villa (USA).

63 kg: 1. Hakan Recber (TUR); 2. Tsung-Lin Liu (TPE); 3. George El Chemali (USA) and Chen Ming Xiao (CHN).

68 kg: 1. Shuai Zao (CHN); 2. Christian McNeish (GBR); 3. Javier Perez Polo (ESP) and C.J. Nickolas (USA).

74 kg: 1. Thomas Rahimi (USA); 2. Damir Fejzic (SRB); 3. Henrique Moura (BRA) and Daniel Quesada (ESP).

80 kg: 1. Wei-Ting Liu (TPE); 2. Tahir Guelec (GER); 3. Jaysen Ishida (USA) and Raul Martinez (ESP).

87 kg: 1. Hasan Can Lazoglu (TUR); 2. Meng-En Lee (TPE); 3. Christian Suh (USA) and Alasan Ann (USA).

+87 kg: 1. Emre Atesli (TUR); 2. Jonathan Healy (USA); 3. Maicon Siquiera (BRA) and Stephen Lambdin (USA).

Women

46 kg: 1. Jordyn Smith (GBR); 2. Tiara Antommarchi (USA); 3. Yu Ting Hung (TPE) and Teana Averbeck (CAN).

49 kg: 1. Vanja Stankovic (SRB); 2. Ela Aydin (GER); 3. Tien Yu Jhuang (TPE) and Madison Moore (GBR).

53 kg: 1. Anastasija Zolotic (USA); 2. Po-Ya Su (TPE); 3. Fabiola Villegas (MEX) and Zeliha Agris (TUR).

57 kg: 1. Hatice Ilgun (TUR); 2. Skylar Park (CAN); 3. Yu-Chuang Chen (TPE) and Frederique Santerre (CAN).

62 kg: 1. Irem Yaman (TUR); 2. Ara White (USA); 3. Amanda Bluford (USA) and Marta Calvo (ESP).

67 kg: 1. Milena Titoneli (BRA); 2. Melissa Pagnotta (CAN); 3. Hedaya Malak (EGY) and Leslie Soltero (MEX).

73 kg: 1. Rebecca McGowan (GBR); 2. Madelynn Gorman-Shore (USA); 3. Raphaella Galacho (BRA) and Nafia Kus (TUR).

+73 kg: 1. Briseida Acosta (MEX); 2. Bianca Walkden (GBR); 3. Gabriele Siqueira (BRA) and Belen Moran (ESP).

TABLE TENNIS: Kumar and Zhang earn Pan Am spots at U.S. Trials

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. table tennis star Lily Zhang

USA Table Tennis chose its entries for the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru via a Trials tournament at Santa Monica College last weekend, finishing with round-robin play between the top eight men and the top 10 women.

Sixteen-year-old Nikhil Kumar, ranked no. 20 in the U.S., came out on top of the men’s tournament, going undefeated (7-0) and winning five of his matches from 4-0 or 4-1 set scores. He bested the runner-up, Victor Liu, four sets to two.

The women’s division was expected to come down to experienced international veterans Lily Zhang and Yue Wu. And, in fact, both made it through their eight other opponents without a blemish, although Wu had to go to seven games for 4-3 wins in two different matches.

So they faced off. Zhang got out to a 2-0 lead, but Wu won the third game to close to 2-1. Zhang won again, but down 3-1, Wu rallied to close to 3-2. In the sixth game, Wu was up 8-7 and serving, but Zhang closed it out with a couple of brilliant rallies and won 11-7 to take the match, 4-2, and secure a place on the plane to Lima in the summer. Summaries:

USA Table Tennis Pan Am Games Trials
Santa Monica, California (USA) ~ 1-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Nikhil Kumar (7-0); 2. Victor Liu (6-1); 3. Nicholas Tio (5-2); 4. Kunal Chodri (4-3); 5. Ted Chensheng Li (3-4); 6. William Bai (2-5); 7. Allen Wang (1-6); 8. Aditya Godhwani (0-7).

Women: 1. Lily Zhang (9-0); 2. Yue Wu (8-1); 3. Xinyue Wang (6-3); 4. Crystal Wang (6-3); 5. Amy Wang (5-4); 6. Rachel Sung (5-4); 7. Rachel Yang (3-6); 8. Lavanya Maruthapandian (2-7).

GLOBETROTTING by Phil Hersh: SafeSport calls out figure skating for unchecked “culture of abuse”

By
Phil Hersh
-
Part of the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s home page on the internet.

March 4, 2019

In response to a U.S. Figure Skating letter that challenged its credibility and operating methods, the U.S. Center for SafeSport has criticized figure skating for a culture that “allowed grooming and abuse to go on unchecked for too long.”

SafeSport leveled that charge in a statement sent to Globetrotting that also rejected a USFS request made last week for the Center to complete its investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct made against late pairs skater John Coughlin.

In a Feb. 26 letter to the SafeSport board of directors, USFS cited concerns about the way SafeSport handles such allegations as a reason for wanting the investigation finished.

“Many U.S. Figure Skating athletes and members have expressed concern to U.S. Figure Skating leadership over the Center’s actions and shared that they have lost trust and confidence in how the Center processes allegations of abuse,” the USFS letter said.

SafeSport’s Monday statement said its work on the Coughlin case and “other Figure Skating matters” had uncovered evidence that there “was/is” a wider problem of abuse in the sport.

“The issues in this sport are similar to those the Center has seen in many others and cut across a wide population,” the statement said.  “This cannot be allowed to continue.”

The American Bar Association describes sexual grooming as a “a preparatory process in which a perpetrator gradually gains a person’s or organization’s trust with the intent to be sexually abusive. The victim is usually a child, teen, or vulnerable adult.”

USFS and SafeSport had been turning a tragedy involving both Coughlin and those he was alleged to have abused into an increasingly pointed series of exchanges.

In its reaction to Monday’s SafeSport statement, USFS clearly was trying to avoid any further escalation. USFS did not reiterate a desire to see the investigation completed.

“U.S. Figure Skating fully supports the mission of the U.S. Center for SafeSport and works in cooperation with the Center to help end abuse in sport,” USFS said in an email Monday afternoon. “The Center has clearly stated it will not advance its investigation into the allegations against the late John Coughlin. U.S. Figure Skating is constantly striving to ensure athlete safety and looks forward to working with the Center to better understand the issues raised in this case.

“We have and continue to encourage anyone in the U.S. Figure Skating community who has been abused or suspects abuse or misconduct to immediately report it to local law enforcement, the U.S. Center for SafeSport or U.S. Figure Skating.”

SafeSport’s latest statement on the status of the Coughlin investigation cited and elaborated upon the same reasons it had mentioned Feb. 12, following an earlier USFS request to complete the investigation. (Neither statement mentioned Coughlin by name.)

The first is that Coughlin’s Jan. 18, death, by suicide, has removed the need to finish the investigation because there no longer is a potential threat that could have been caused by his continued presence in the sport.

“Furthermore,” the SafeSport Monday statement said, “the Center is dedicated to providing a fundamentally fair adjudicatory process. Indeed, fairness dictates that the Center not complete an investigation when it is impossible for the respondent to provide testimony regarding events about which only he would have knowledge.

“While the Center can proceed with an investigation where a respondent voluntarily elects not to participate in the process, it cannot and would not, complete an investigation when a respondent is deceased.”

USFS had disputed that stance in its letter last week.

“While the Center may believe any threat has been mitigated by Mr. Coughlin’s death, the lack of a completed investigation has produced great uncertainty,” the letter said. “Further, the lack of a completed investigation has allowed for innuendo and continued speculation to dominate the conversation instead of a resolution of the facts.”

Coughlin was placed on restricted status by SafeSport in December and then given an interim suspension a day before he took his own life at age 33. Both the restriction and suspension are interim measures SafeSport can apply while investigating and adjudicating a case after it has received reports of abuse or misconduct.

Pending resolution of the case, the prohibitions prevented or had the effect of preventing Coughlin from doing nearly everything he had done in the sport since leaving competitive skating in 2014:  coaching, commentating, representing an equipment manufacturer and serving on international and national figure skating athletes’ commissions.

USA Today reported that SafeSport had received three reports alleging sexual misconduct by Coughlin and that two involved minors.

Sources confirmed to Globetrotting that the initial SafeSport notice of a restriction, posted Dec. 17, led others to come forward with reports alleging sexual misconduct by Coughlin.

 

STAT PACK: Results for the week of 26 February-3 March 2019

By
Rich Perelman
-

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

In this week’s issue are reports on 27 events in 21 sports:

● Alpine Skiing
● Artistic Swimming
● Athletics
● Badminton
● Bobsled & Skeleton
● Curling
● Cycling
● Diving
● Fencing
● Freestyle Skiing
● Gymnastics
● Modern Pentathlon
● Nordic Skiing
● Rugby
● Shooting
● Snowboard
● Speed Skating
● Table Tennis
● Taekwondo
● Weightlifting
● Wrestling

plus our calendar of upcoming events through 24 March. Click below for the PDF:

[wpdm_package id=11470 template=”link-template-button-popup.php”]

SPEED READ: Headlines from The Sports Examiner for Monday, 4 March 2019

By
Rich Perelman
-

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

LANE ONE

Monday: When Paris 2024 announced its selections for four added sports, there were a lot of unhappy federations from the sports that weren’t selected. This was hardly unexpected, but some are organizing new campaigns to get into the Paris Games anyway. But looking to the future, doesn’t Agenda 2020 suggest that bid committees be able to select some of the sports to be held in their city? We explore the possibilities.

THE BIG PICTURE

Saturday: Much more information about the five skiers who were arrested for doping has come out, and the Estonian and Kazah athletes have been blood-doping for years. This leads to serious questions about how to keep sport clean, because the cheating isn’t always about medals.

Monday: The Global Assn. of International Sports Federations (GAISF) moved its 2019 World Urban Games – a new event – from Los Angeles to Budapest (HUN). There are multiple implications from this move, but it’s good for the San Diego-based World Beach Games at a minimum.

ALPINE SKIING

Saturday: Thanks to the cancellation of all of the races at Rosa Khutor (RUS), American Mikaela Shiffrin clinched her third straight overall World Cup title … while sitting in a hotel room in Italy! She shared her thoughts, which we transcribed from her Instagram video.

Sunday: Italy’s Dominik Paris won both the Downhill and Super-G races at Kvitfjell (NOR) and is in position – with two weeks left in the season – to win his first Crystal Globe in either of these events … or both!

ARTISTIC SWIMMING

Sunday: Japan’s Yukiko Inui upset Worlds silver winner Ona Carbonell of Spain in the season opener of the FINA World Series in Paris.

ATHLETICS

Saturday: Ethiopia’s Berhanu Legese and Ruti Aga won impressively in a rainy Tokyo Marathon, in the first World Marathon Majors race of the season.

Sunday: Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha finally got the indoor world record in the mile in a special race, running 3:47.01 on the fast Boston University track.

BADMINTON

Sunday: No. 1-ranked Kento Momota of Japan won the German Open in Muelheim, as one of three Japanese winners in the tournament.

BOBSLED & SKELETON

Sunday: The first week of the IBSF World Championships showcased Francesco Friedrich (GER), who won his fifth straight world title in the two-man, tying the record of the legendary Eugenio Monti of Italy. Germany’s Mariama Jamanka won her first world title, ahead of teammate Stephanie Schneider as defending champ Elana Meyers Taylor (USA) crashed on her third run.

CURLING

Sunday: Another honor for Olympic champion John Shuster, who teamed with Cory Christensen to win their first U.S. Mixed Doubles Championship. They defeated a team which included one of Shuster’s teammates, Chris Plys, and Vicky Persinger, in a tight final.

CYCLING

Saturday: Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic medaled in four of the seven stages and that was enough to win the UAE Tour, while Zdenek Stybar (CZE) made the best final sprint to win the 74th Omloop Het Niewsblad race in Belgium.

Sunday: The UCI Track Cycling Worlds concluded in Poland, with Hong Kong’s Wai Sze Lee the star with two big wins, in the women’s Sprint and Keirin. The Dutch led the medal table with 11, one more than Australia.

DIVING

Sunday: China won all 10 events in the first FINA Diving World Series, in Japan. Yuan Cao won three medals.

FENCING

Sunday: The Pharoah’s Challenge in Cairo for Foil saw the U.S. men win the team title, plus bronze medals for Alex Massialas and Lee Kiefer. The winners? Rio Olympic champs Daniele Garozzo and Russia’s Inna Deriglazova.

FOOTBALL

Saturday: The U.S. women played to another 2-2 draw in the SheBelieves Cup, this time with England. After four games in 2019, the no. 1-ranked Americans are 1-1-2 and have given up seven goals while scoring six. Huh?

FREESTYLE SKIING

Sunday: The Aerials and Moguls seasons concluded in China and Kazakhstan. China’s Xindi Wang and Mengtao Xu won the seasonal Aerials titles, while Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) and France’s Perrine Laffont won the Crystal Globes for Moguls.

GYMNASTICS

Saturday: The American Cup in Greensboro may have given the U.S. a new star: 15-year-old Leanne Wong won, in her first senior-level competition! In the men’s competition, Yul Moldauer managed to edge Sam Mikulak in a battle of national champions, by 0.001!

MODERN PENTATHLON

Sunday: The opening UIPM World Cup of the season was a showcase for Egypt in Cairo, as 19-year-old Ahmed Elgendy won the men’s event and teamed with Haydy Morsy to win the Mixed Team Relay.

NORDIC SKIING

Sunday: The FIS Nordic Skiing World Championships closed in Austria, and the big story was the arrests of five skiers for doping. On the snow, however, it was the comeback story of Norway’s Therese Johaug (NOR) from her own doping suspension that stunned the world: three-for-three in the distance races and none were close. She now owns a career total of 15 Worlds medals; amazing.

RUGBY

Sunday: The U.S. men broke through after four straight second-place finishes and won the World Rugby Sevens Series in Las Vegas with a 27-0 finals win over Samoa. That leaves the U.S. atop the standings after five of the 10 legs of the season series, ahead of New Zealand and Fiji. Wow!

SNOWBOARD

Sunday: There have been four events in the SnowCross season and with one remaining, Czech Eva Samkova and American Lindsey Jacobellis are in a tie. Samkova won and weekend’s event in Spain, with Jacobellis third and the season title will be decided in Switzerland in two weeks.

SPEED SKATING

Sunday: The World Allround Championships in Calgary (CAN) featured two world records in the women’s competition, both by Czech star Martina Sabilkova, who eclipsed her own mark in the 5,000 m and erased Canadian Cindy Klassen’s 2006 mark, also set in Calgary. Sabilkova needed all of that speed to edge defending champ Miho Takagi (JPN), while Patrick Roest (NED) defended his men’s title over Sverre Lunde Pedersen of Norway.

WEIGHTLIFTING

Sunday: The IWF World Cup was completed in Fuzhou (CHN), showcasing the powerful Chinese team, which set world records for combined lifts in four classes among the 10 Chinese winners. Olympic champ Wei Deng was the star, not just winning the 64 kg class, but setting world marks in the Snatch, Clean & Jerk and the combined total!

WRESTLING

Monday: The U.S. sent a strong delegation to the Dan Kolov meet in Ruse (BUL), a UWW ranking tournament, and won the men’s Freestyle division and was third in the women’s standings. Four Americans won their divisions, including Jordan Burroughs, Alex Dieringer, Kyle Snyder and Tamyra Mensah-Stock.

UPCOMING

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

● Biathlon: Start of the IBU World Championships in Sweden.

● Football: Can the U.S. women wake up vs. Brazil in the final SheBelieves Cup game?

● Swimming: The second Tyr Pro Swim Series event for 2019, in Des Moines.

And a look at the future of international federations; a warning has been sounded.

WRESTLING: Brilliant showing by U.S., including four golds, in Dan Kolov tournament

By
Rich Perelman
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Olympic champion Kyle Snyder of the U.S. (at right; Photo: UWW)

United World Wrestling’s specification of a series of “ranking tournaments” has raised the profile of those events, not just for fans, but also for national federations looking to bring its wrestlers to those events with the best competition.

USA Wrestling sent a large and experienced delegation to the Dan Kolov tournament in Ruse (BUL) – a ranking tournament for Freestyle only – and found plenty of competition, but also lots of success, with four winners and four additional men’s and women’s medalists for a total of 12. The champions:

Men:
● 74 kg: Jordan Burroughs: wins by 9-0, 9-2, 0-0, 7-2, 4-3 (29-8)
● 79 kg: Alex Dieringer: wins by 11-0, 10-0, 5-1, 10-0 (36-1)
● 97 kg: Kyle Snyder: wins by 12-1, 8-5, 11-0, 4-0 (35-6)

Women:
● 68 kg: Tamyra Mensah-Stock: wins by 10-0, 10-0, 6-0, 10-0, 11-1 (47-1)

These were powerful statements for Burroughs and Snyder, both of whom were 2017 World Champions, but won bronze and silver in 2018. For Dieringer, 25, this continues his trajectory into world class, right on schedule with the Tokyo Games around the corner. Mensah-Stock appears ready to join the front line of American women in challenging for gold and silver at the World Championships and Olympic level; she won a Worlds bronze in 2018.

The U.S. men won the Freestyle team title with 147, ahead of Russia (115) and Turkey (100). The American women were third in Freestyle team standings with 77, behind China (112) and Ukraine (92).

The meet featured multiple current World Champions, but the only one who won was China’s Ningning Rong in the women’s 57 kg class. There were four 2017 champs who won in Ruse, including Burroughs (74 kg), Snyder (97 kg) and Iran’s Hassan Yazdani (86 kg) in the men’s division and Yasemin Adar (TUR) at 76 kg in the women’s classes. Summaries:

UWW Ranking Tournament/Dan Kolov-Nikita Petrov
Ruse (BUL) ~ 28 February-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men/Freestyle

57 kg: 1. Beka Bujiashvili (GEO); 2. Suleyman Atli (TUR); 3. Georgi Vangelov (BUL) and Armen Arakelian (UKR). Third: Vangelov (BUL) d. Gulomjon Abdullaev (UZB), 6-5; Arakelian (UKR) d. Zoheir El Ouarraqe (FRA), 12-8. Final: Bujiashvili d. Atli, 6-4.

61 kg: 1. Artas Sanayev (KAZ); 2. Sandeep Tomar (IND); 3. Aryian Tiutrin (RUS) and Volodmyr Burukov (UKR). Third: Tiutrin (RUS) d. Joe Colon (USA), 13-3; Burukov d. Munir Recep Aktas (TUR) , 3-2. Final: Sanayev d. Tomar, 10-0.

65 kg: 1. Bajrang Bajrang (IND) 2. Jordan Oliver (USA); 3. Bernard Futrell (USA) and Niurhun Skrabin (BLR). Third: Futrell d. Selahattin Kilicsallayan (TUR), 16-6; Skrabin d. Eduard Grigorev (RUS), 11-0. Final: Bajrang d. Oliver, 12-3.

70 kg: 1. Ilias Bekbulatov (RUS); 2. Anzor Zakuev (RUS); 3. James Green (USA) and Viktor Rassadin (RUS). Third: Green d. Andriy Kvyatkovskyy (UKR), 0-0 (criteria); Rassadin d. Frank Molinaro (USA), 15-10. Final: Bekbulatov d. Zakuev, 10-0.

74 kg: 1. Jordan Burroughs (USA); 2.Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (UZB); 3. Yakup Gor (TUR) and Frank Chamizo Marquez (ITA). Third: Gor d. Mostafa Hosseinkhani (IRI), 3-2; Chamizo Marquez d. Ali Pasha Umarpashaev (BUL), 13-2. Final: Burroughs d. Andurakhmonov, 4-3.

79 kg: 1. Alex Dieringer (USA); 2. Omaraskhab Nazhmudinov (ROU); 3. Atsamaz Sanakoev (RUS) and Nika Kentchadze (GEO), Third: Anakoev d. Ender Coskun (TUR), 4-3; Kentchadze d. Muhammet Nuri Kotanoglu (TUR), 5-0. Final: Dieringer d. Nazhmudinov, 10-0.

86 kg: 1. Hassan Yazdani (IRI); 2. Ali Shabanau (BLR); 3. Boris Makoev (SVK) and Akhmed Aibuev (FRA). Third: Makoev d. Azamat Dauletbekov (KAZ), 4-4 (criteria); Aibuevd. Fatih Erdin (TUR), 0-0 (criteria). Final: Yazdani d. Shabanau, 16-5.

92 kg: 1. Magomed Kurbanov (RUS); 2. Irakli Mtsituri (GEO); 3. Ibrahim Bolukbasi (TUR) and Michael Macchiavello (USA). Third: Bolukbasi d. Suleyman Karadeniz (TUR), 7-6; Macchiavello d. Mohammed Fardj (ALG), 0-0 (criteria). Final: Kurbanov d. Mtsituri, 9-5.

97 kg: 1. Kyle Snyder (USA); 2. Valerii Andriitsev (UKR); 3. Reza Ali Yazdani (IRI) and Murazi Mchedlidze (UKR). Third: Yazdani d. Igor Ovsiannikov (RUS), 8-4; Mchedlidze (UKR) d. Baki Sahin (TUR), 10-0. Final: Snyder d. Andriitsev, 4-0.

125 kg: 1. Parviz Hadibasmanj (IRI); 2. Oleksandr Khotsianivskyi (UKR); 3. Daniel Ligeti (HUN) and Said Gamidov (RUS). Third: Ligeti d. Zhiwei Deng (CHN), 6-1; Gamidov d. Geno Petriashvili (GEO), 0-0 (criteria). Final: Hadibasmanj d. Khotsianivskyi, 6-4.

Women/Freestyle

50 kg: 1. Iwona Matkowska (POL); 2. Erin Golston (USA); 3. Whitney Conder (USA) and Evin Demirhan (TUR). Third: Conder d. Victoria Anthony (USA), 4-0; Demirhan (TUR) d. Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova (UZB), 13-6. Final: Matkowska d. Conder, 4-1.

53 kg: 1. Qianyu Pang (CHN); 2. Vinesh Vinesh (IND); 3. Vanesa Kaladzinskaya (BLR) and Sarah Hildebrandt (USA). Third: Kaladzinskaya d. Juan Deng (CHN), 6-0; Hildebrandt d. Amy Fearnside (USA), 6-4. Final: Pang d. Vinesh, 9-2

55 kg: 1. Maria Prevolaraki (GRE); 2. Marina Sedneva (KAZ); 3. Roksana Zasina (POL) and Zhuldyz Eshimova (KAZ). Third: Zasina d. Bediha Gun (TUR), 4-0; Eshimova d. Zalina Sidakova (BLR), 4-2. Final: Prevolaraki d. Sedneva, 10-0.

57 kg: 1. Ningning Rong (CHN); 2. Grace Bullen (NOR); 3. Odunayo Adekuoroye (NGR) and Iryna Kurachkina (BLR). Third: Adekuoroye d. Sara Lindborg (SWE), 10-0; Kurachkina d. Bilyana Dudova (BUL), 8-2. Final: Rong d. Bullen, 8-0.

59 kg: 1. Pooja Dhanda (IND); 2. Sarita Sarita (IND); 3. Kornelija Zaicevaite (LTU) and Aisuluu Tynybekova (KGZ); round-robin, no medal matches.

62 kg: 1. Yuliia Tkach Ostapchuk (UKR); 2. Taybe Yusein (BUL); 3. Xingru Pei (CHN) and Aisuluu Tynybekova (KGZ). Third: Pei d. Elis Manolova (AZE), 4-0; Tynybekova d. Malin Mattsson (SWE), 4-1. Final: Tkach Ostapchuk d. Yusein, 4-3.

65 kg: 1. Henna Johansson (SWE); 2. Sakshi Malik (IND); 3. Petra Olli (FIN) and Forrest Ann Molinari (USA). Third: Olli d. Adina Popescu (ROU), 0-0 (criteria); Molinari d. Maya Nelson (USA), 6-3. Final: Johansson d. Malik, 8-3.

68 kg: 1. Tamyra Mensah-Stock (USA); 2. Bakhtigul Baltaniyazova (UZB); 3. Adela Hanzlickova (CZE) and Alla Cherkasova (UKR). Third: Hanzlickova d. Agnieszka Wieszczek Kordus (POL), 5-1; Cherkasova d. Danute Domikaityte (LTU), 8-1. Final: Mensah-Stock d. Baltaniyazova, 11-1.

72 kg: 1. Buse Tosun (TUR); 2. Alina Berezhna Stadnik Makhynia (UKR); 3. Maria Selmaier (GER) and Chuchu Yan (CHN). Third: Selmaier d. Zhamila Bakbergenova (KAZ), 11-3 (disqualification); Yan d. Meerim Zhumanazarova (KGZ), 0-0 (criteria). Final: Tosun d. Berezhna, 6-4

76 kg: 1. Yasemin Adar (TUR); 2. Paliha Paliha (CHN); 3. Aline Focken (GER) amd Elmira Syzdykova (KAZ). Third: Focken d. Juan Wang (CHN), 7-2; Syzdykova d. Iselin Maria Moen Solheim (NOR), 8-2. Final: Adar d. Paliha, 5-0.

THE BIG PICTURE: GAISF moves World Urban Games from Los Angeles to Budapest

By
Rich Perelman
-

The Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) made a significant announcement early Monday morning, moving the World Urban Games from Los Angeles (USA) to Budapest (HUN):

“In November 2018, the GAISF Council began discussions with Los Angeles for a 2019 edition. After much deliberation, however, the Council decided that Budapest’s proposed sports programme was more in line with GAISF’s vision for the future of the Games.

“In addition to hosting the first edition of the World Urban Games this year, Budapest has also been offered the hosting of the 2021 Games. Budapest’s willingness to step in and host the 2019 World Urban Games underscores both the city’s enthusiasm and its readiness and capability to host multi-sport events.”

The announced dates are 13-15 September 2019, with sports to include 3×3 Basketball, BMX Freestyle and Breakdancing, among others.

That’s quite a departure from the fanfare last November, when the award of the Games – a first-time event – to Los Angeles was made. The Los Angeles Times reported:

“Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong agreed to underwrite the event to woo the World Urban Games to the Los Angeles area. The biomedical entrepreneur, who also is a part owner of the Lakers, declined to disclose the size of his investment, but he said he plans to bring on additional sponsors to help cover the costs.

“Los Angeles edged out a bid by Budapest, despite a reported $10.5-million pledge last month from Hungary. Los Angeles was also conditionally awarded hosting rights to the 2021 Games, if the 2019 event is successful. The games will be held just south of Los Angeles International Airport in El Segundo.

“The World Urban Games is expected to draw 700 athletes, 300 referees and thousands of spectators to the five-day event next September. The competitions will be part of a large outdoor festival with food, music, art and digital entertainment, including esports, the Global Assn. of International Sports Federations announced Monday at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.”

There are several implications to draw from this action. One is that not enough had happened in Los Angeles to justify keeping the event there. Another is that Budapest is in the midst of hosting just about every event it can get its hands on and there is significant government funding for the project.

But the move of the event from Los Angeles is also part of the domino effect of the unexpected death of GAISF head Patrick Baumann (SUI), who passed away in Buenos Aires (ARG) during the Youth Olympic Games last October. Baumann had a real love affair with Los Angeles, as evidenced during his term as the head of the International Olympic Committee’s Evaluation Commission for the 2024 and 2028 Olympic bid efforts. GAISF has moved on.

Besides Budapest, there are two other winners in this move. First is the World Beach Games in San Diego, coming 8-15 October 2019, which hardly needed another event of any size taking place just a month in front of it.

The other organization which will benefit from the move is the Los Angeles 2028 organizing committee. Although not part of the World Urban Games per se, the move to Budapest will allow the LA2028 folks to maintain the low profile they prefer as their commercial program begins and the focus is on Tokyo 2020.

Those who may be looking for a larger meaning to this move will have a hard time finding one. First-time events are notoriously difficult to bring off, especially when privately funded. In the aftermath of Baumann’s passing and with GAISF and ANOC both headquartered in Switzerland, having the World Urban Games in Europe – and with government support in Budapest – is just more comfortable.

WEIGHTLIFTING: 10 wins for China in IWF World Cup in Fuzhou

By
Rich Perelman
-
China's Olympic and World Champion lifter Wei Deng.

The IWF’s World Cup, part of the qualifying program for the 2020 Tokyo Games, was a showcase for the host Chinese, who won 10 events and were responsible for the four world records set for combined lifts:

Men:
● 81 kg: 375 kg ~ Dayin Li (CHN)

Women:
● 49 kg: 210 kg ~ Zhihui Hou (CHN)
● 64 kg: 254 kg ~ Wei Deng (CHN)
● 76 kg: 274 kg ~ Wangli Zhang (CHN)

Four minor records in the individual lifts were also set in the women’s division by Hou (Snatch: 94 kg); Guiming Chen (CHN: 59 kg in Clean & Jerk: 136 kg); Deng (Snatch: 113 kg and Clean & Jerk: 141 kg), and Zhang (Clean & Jerk: 156 kg).

There were some noteworthy results referring to the 2018 World Championships, with three reigning champions winning in Fuzhou: Eko Yuli Irawan (INA) in the men’s 61 kg; Deng in the women’s 64 kg and Zhang at 76 kg (she is currently the 71 kg World Champion). However, in the two highest-weight women’s classes, the order from Ashgabat was reversed: at 87 kg, silver medalist Un Ju Kim (PRK) defeated champ Hui Ao (CHN), and at +87 kg, reigning champ Tatiana Kashirina (RUS) ended up third, while 2018 silver winner Suping Meng (CHN) was the winner.

Lifters from 16 countries attended, but some of the weight classes had only one or two competitors. This included the women’s 81 kg division, in which Jessie Bradley of the U.S. was the only placer; the U.S. also won a bronze in the women’s 87 kg class from Juliana Riotto. Summaries:

IWF World Cup
Fuzhou (CHN) ~ 22-27 February 2019
(Full results here)

Men

55 kg: 1. Gia Thanh Lai (VIE), 261 kg; 2. Surahmat Wijoyo (INA), 245 kg; 3. Seyitjan Mirzayev (TKM), 231 kg.

61 kg: 1. Eko Yuli Irawan (INA), 297 kg; 2. Kim Tuan Thach (VIE), 295 kg; 3. Hao Wang (CHN), 286 kg.

67 kg: 1. Jong Ju Pak (PRK), 318 kg; 2. Minhao Huang (CHN), 314 kg; 3. Deni (INA), 305 kg.

73 kg: 1. Yinting Wei (CHN), 351 kg; 2. Chengfei Yuan (CHN), 339 kg; 3. Kang Chol O (PRK), 338 kg.

81 kg: 1. Dayin Li (CHN), 375 kg; 2. Jon Wi Choe (PRK), 350 kg; 3. Pizzolato Antonino (ITA), 349 kg.

89 kg: 1. Dongju Yu (KOR), 360 kg; only entrant.

96 kg: 1. Egor Klimonov (RUS), 376 kg; 2. Fuxuan Tian (CHN), 366 kg; 3. Toshiki Yamamoto (JPN), 351 kg.

109 kg: 1. Yang Zhe (CHN), 408 kg; 2. Rodion Bochkov (RUS), 381 kg; 3. Ryunosuke Mochida (JPN), 365 kg.

+109 kg: 1. Yunan Ai (CHN), 413 kg; 2. Sangil Ham (KOR), 387 kg; 3. Yun-Ting Hsieh (TPE), 376 kg.

Women

45 kg: 1. Thi Hyuen Vuong (VIE), 170 kg; 2. My Phuong Khong (VIE), 157 kg; 3. Maria Navarro Mejia (NCA), 128 kg.

49 kg: 1. Zhihui Hou (CHN), 210 kg; 2. Song Gum Ri (PRK), 193 kg: 3. Beatriz Piron Candelario (DOM), 176 kg. Also: 4. Whitney King (USA), 173 kg; 5. Cortney Batchelor (USA), 170 kg.

55 kg: 1. Qiuyun Liao (CHN), 221 kg; 2. Yajun Li (CHN), 215 kg; only placers.

59 kg: 1. Guiming Chen (CHN), 234 kg; 2. Hyo Sim Choe (PRK), 229 kg; 3. Acchedya Jagaddhita (INA), 215 kg.

64 kg: 1. Wei Deng (CHN), 254 kg; 2. Un Sim Rim (PRK), 235 kg; 3. Hyo Sim Kim (KOR), 232 kg.

71 kg: 1. Jennifer Cantu (MEX), 205 kg; only placer.

76 kg: 1. Wangli Zhang (CHN), 274 kg; 2. Jong Sim Rim (PRK), 267 kg; 3. Zhouyu Wang (CHN), 260 kg. Also: 5. Shacasia Johnson (USA), 223 kg.

81 kg: 1. Jessie Bradley (USA), 222 kg; only placer.

87 kg: 1. Un Ju Kim (PRK), 266 kg; 2. Hui Ao (CHN), 265 kg; 3. Juliana Riotto (USA), 234 kg.

+87 kg: 1. Suping Meng (CHN), 325 kg: 2. Wenwen Li (CHN), 324 kg; 3. Tatiana Kashirina (JPN), 323 kg.

SPEED SKATING: Two world records for Sabilkova powers a fifth World Allround title

By
Rich Perelman
-
The World All-round podium: Miho Takagi (JPN), Martina Sabilkova (CZE) and Antoinette de Jong (NED). (Photo: ISU)

The Olympic Oval in Calgary (CAN) is one of the fastest tracks in the world and proved it once again at the ISU World Allround Championships as two world records were set by Czech star Martina Sabilkova.

Already a four-time winner of the event in 2009-10-15-16, Sabilkova came to Calgary after winning both the 3,000 m and 5,000 at the World Single Distance Championships last month. But she was even more ready.

“I’ve been skating great laps here in training and my coach said I should go for the world record,” Sablíkova said. “I doubted, because I tried it here two or three years ago and I died in the last two laps. But I thought ‘OK, let’s try’.

“I don’t know what to say, those last two laps were very, very hard.”

But good enough, at 3:53.31 to break Canadian Cindy Klassen’s world mark that was set on the same track in 2006. Sabilkova also dragged her paired skater, Antoinette de Jong (NED) to the second-fastest time in the event at 3:58.25.

On Sunday, Sabilkova was fourth in the 1,500 m and had to let it all out in the final event, the 5,000 m, in which she was already the world-record holder.

She is still the world-record holder and improved her 2011 mark of 6:42.66 to 6:42.01, more than seven and a half seconds faster than anyone else in the field. That gave her the Allround title, overcoming the 2.88 second deficit to Japan’s Miho Takagi at the start of the day.

Takagi won the 1,500 m, but she is not a distance racer and despite a personal best of 7:02.72, she was more than 20 seconds behind Sabilkova and had to settle for the Allround silver, with de Jong third.

The men’s championship came down as expected, between defending champion Patrick Roest (NED) and Norway’s Sverre Lunde Pedersen. The two were close throughout.

Roest and Pedersen were 2-3 in the 500 m and then 1-3 in the 5,000 m, as Roest had a lifetime best and Pedersen labored over the final two laps. Roest’s lead was 0.88 seconds going into Sunday, but Pedersen won the 1,500 m. Did he have much left for the 10,000 m?

Not enough, as Roest won the distance and Pedersen was third. It was enough for Roest to defend his title by a little more than half a point. It was the eighth straight World Allround win by a Dutch skater and 12th in the last 13. Summaries:

ISU World Allround Championships
Calgary (CAN) ~ 2-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men

500 m: 1. Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu (CAN), 35.53; 2. Patrick Roest (NED), 35.74; 3. Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR), 35.85; 4. Havard Bokko (NOR), 35.88; 5. Haralds Silovs (LAT), 36.00; 6. Sindre Henriksen (NOR). 36.12; 7. Francesco Betti (ITA), 36.15; 8. Riku Tsuchiya (JPN), 36.18. Also: 16. Ethan Cepuran (USA), 37.06.

1,500 m: 1. Pedersen (NOR), 1:43.11; 2. Roest (NED), 1:43.31; 3. Sven Kramer (NED), 1:43.87; 4. Sindre Henriksen (NOR), 1:44.18; 5. Douwe de Vries (NED), 1:44.24; 6. Gelinas-Beaulieu (CAN), 1:44.93; 7. Bart Swings (BEL), 1:44.96; 8. Livio Wenger (SUI), 1:45.04. Also: 25. Cepuran (USA), 1:49.49.

5,000 m: 1. Roest (NED), 6:08.27; 2. Kramer (NED), 6:08.83; 3. Pedersen (NOR), 6:10.10; 4. de Vies (NED), 6:12.72; 5. Ted-Jan Bloemen (CAN), 6:13.20; 6. Danila Semerikov (RUS), 6:13.75; 7. Patrick Beckert (GER), 6:15.99; 8. Jordan Belchos (CAN), 6:17.90. Also: 24. Cepuran (USA), 6:44.81.

10,000 m: 1. Roest (NED), 12:51.17; 2. Bloemen (CAN), 12:53.15; 3. Pedersen (NOR), 12:56.91; 4. Kramer (NED), 13:00.93; 5. De Vries (NED), 13:01.44; 6. Semerikov (RUS), 13:18.92; 7. Henriksen (NOR), 13:30.71; 8. Silovs (LAT), 13:54.14.

Final Standings: 1. Patrick Roest (NED), 145.561; 2. Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR), 146.075; 3. Sven Kramer (NED), 146.952; 4. Douwe de Vies (NED), 147.550; 5. Ted-Jan Bloemen (CAN), 148.630; 6. Sindre Henriksen (NOR), 150.045; 7. Danila Semerikov (RUS), 150.787; 8. Haralds Silovs (LAT), 151.267.

Women

500 m: 1. Miho Takagi (JPN), 37:2; 2. Ireen Wust (NED), 38.46; 3. Antoinette de Jong (NED), 38.52; 4. Nana Takagi (JPN), 38.67; 5. Ida Njatun (NOR), 38.69; 6. Mei Han (CHN), 38.80; 7. Elizaveta Kazelina (RUS), 38.86; 8. Nikola Zdrahalova (CZE), 38.91. Also: 23. Cariljn Schoutens (USA), 41.70.

1,500 m: 1. M. Takagi (JPN), 1:52.08; 2. Wust (NED), 1:53.48; 3. Ivanie Blondin (CAN), 1:53.59; 4. Martina Sabilkova (CZE), 1:53.70; 5. Carlijn Achtereekte (NED), 1:53.93; 6. de Jong (NED), 1:53.96; 7. Maryna Zuyeva (BLR), 1:54.83; 8. Evgeniia Lalenkova (RUS), 1:55.09. Also: 22. Schoutens (USA), 2:01.20.

3,000 m: 1. Sabilkova (CZE), 3:53.31 (World Record; old, 3:53.34, Cindy Klassen (CAN), 2006); 2. de Jong (NED), 3:58.25; 3. Isabelle Weidemann (CAN), 3:58.51; 4. Achtereekte (NED), 3:58.70; 5. Natalia Voronina (RUS), 3:59.48; 6. Wust (NED), 3:59.79; 7. Zuyeva (BLR), 3:59.80; 8. M. Takagi (JPN), 4:00.16. Also: 19. Schoutens (USA), 4:10.12.

5,000 m: 1. Sabilkova (CZE), 6:42.01 (World Record; old, 6:42.66, Sabilkova, 2011); 2. Weidemann (CAN), 6:49.68; 3. Achtereekte (NED), 6:50.12; 4. Zuyeva (BLR), 6:53.19; 5. de Jong (NED), 6:56.26; 6. Voronina (RUS), 6:59.25; 7. Wust (NED), 6:59.80; 8. M. Takagi (JPN), 7:02.72.

Final Standings: 1. Martina Sabilkova (CZE), 156.306; 2. Miho Takagi (JPN), 156.878; 3. Antoinette de Jong (NED), 157.840; 4. Carlijn Achtereekte (NED), 158.021; 5. Ireen Wust (NED), 158.231; 6. Isabelle Weidemann (CAN), 159.465; 7. Maryna Zuyeva (BLR), 159.591; 8. Natalia Voronina (RUS), 160.211.

RUGBY: U.S. wins Sevens Series in Las Vegas and is in first place … alone!

By
Rich Perelman
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U.S. wins the World Rugby Sevens Series leg in Las Vegas!

The amazing story of the U.S. Eagles continued, with an outright victory in the HSBC Sevens Series leg in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA), giving the American squad the outright lead in the seasonal standings at the halfway mark of the season.

This came after four straight second-place finishes, losing twice each to New Zealand and Fiji. But this time, the U.S. hammered surprise finalist Samoa, 27-0, to win its first title since the Las Vegas stop last season.

“If we’re going to win one of them then the one at home was the one we wanted,” said U.S. captain Madison Hughes. “It feels so good, having missed out on it last year when I was up in the box [injured]. So now to be here on the field feels pretty good.

“I’m so proud. That final shows that the first day didn’t really go the way we wanted it to but there was such good fight in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. It feels pretty amazing to be out here now.”

New Zealand and Australia were the only squads to go undefeated in pool play, and the U.S. ended up second on its group with a 2-1 record after losing to Argentina, 26-24. But in the quarterfinals, the U.S. sprinted past South Africa, 29-10, and then edged New Zealand, 24-19 before winning in the final against Samoa.

Carlin Isles was the hero for the U.S. in the New Zealand match, scoring three tries, and Hughes had two crucial conversions. The Kiwis took a quick 12-0 lead, but a Folau Niua try in the sixth minute turned the game around and the U.S. had a 14-12 halftime lead and held on.

In the final, the Eagles got a second-minute score from Ben Pinkelman and never looked back, with a 10-0 halftime edge. Pinkelman also added a second try for the U.S. and would up the leading scorer in the game.

New Zealand won its bronze medal match against Argentina, 26-19 and Fiji ended up in fifth place.

The U.S. now has a 98-93-84 lead over New Zealand and Fiji; this is an especially important season since the top four will automatically qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

LANE ONE: Agenda 2020 and the future of Baseball, Softball and other sports trying to get into the Olympic Games

By
Rich Perelman
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The 21 February announcement that Skateboarding, Sport Climbing, Surfing and Breakdancing were the requested additions to the program of the 2024 Olympic Games by the Paris organizing committee left sports such as Baseball, Softball, Billiards, Chess, Karate and Squash out of the Games.

And they are not happy about it.

The World Karate Federation has launched a digital campaign to request that Karate be included anyway. “Now it is the moment to show the world how strong we are,” stated wkf President Antonio Espinos (ESP). “Now it is the time to demonstrate our unity and to take action against a decision which we deem unfair since we have been excluded even before having the opportunity to show the added value that we can bring to the Olympic Games.”

Others have extended congratulations to the sports chosen, but promised to work for future inclusion. The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WSBC) released a statement noting that “We will continue working hand in hand with all stakeholders in the lead up to our spectacular Olympic comeback in Tokyo 2020. We expect sold out crowds, an electric atmosphere and a clear demonstration of what our strong sport and its global fanbase can bring to the Games throughout the competitions.”

Further, Riccardo Fraccari (ITA), the WBSC President, met with IOC President Thomas Bach (GER) in Lausanne (SUI) to discuss the future of his sports and notably said afterwards that “The IOC will also consider our new urban and youth-focused discipline Baseball5 for inclusion in the upcoming Youth Olympic Games.” That was a clever move, seeing how Breakdancing is being elevated from the YOG to the Games after some head-spinning at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aries.

But Fraccari also noted that the very low number of athletes allowed for these added sports makes it very difficult for any teams sports to be added.

And that is where these “un-selected” sports can work together to help reform the Olympic program. Simply stated, the program of the Olympic and Winter Games is too big, there are too many athletes competing, too many accompanying officials and too many venues. This is being most keenly felt in the Winter Games situation at present, as five cities rejected a bid for the 2026 Games and only Milan-Cortina (ITA) and Stockholm (SWE) are left, neither of which has financial support from their national governments.

The IOC’s mantra has been to make each Games better suited to the cities bidding for the Games and its Agenda 2020 reforms have implemented this concept. The building program for Paris 2024 is limited and almost no construction is needed for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Which provides an opening for those sports feeling unloved by the process by which a few sports are added to the program:

Give prospective host cities more of an opportunity to shape their Games by allowing them to decide more of the sports to be included in their Games.

It could work quite simply: The Olympic Charter does not require any specific number of sports to be included in the Games, so there is no magic to any quantity of sports. For Tokyo in 2020, there are 28 sports plus five added by the Tokyo organizers for a total of 33.

We could do with less.

Starting with the 28, do we really need all of these sports? “Need” is the key word here, so the answer is no.

If the concept of Agenda 2020 is to really mold a Games around what a city of region has to offer, why not have the IOC specify a number of mandatory sports and let the bidding cities offer up the rest of the program?

If we decide on the number of sports to be 27, for example, why not have the IOC designate 18 sports and leave the bidders to offer their choice of nine sports for their bid?

Sure, this will cause chaos, anger, anxiety and opportunity. That’s what sports does, for each and every participant, so why not at the bidding level?

In fact, this idea of choice is exactly what Agenda 2020 is meant to do, and could actually be deepened further to disciplines and events. But for the sake of simplicity, let’s stick to sports, meaning one or more events governed by an individual International Federation. And the concept of moving sports on and off the program has become normalized over the past few years and is a staple of major sports leagues in Europe, where promotion and relegation between divisions is a regular feature of each season. So why not with the Olympic Games and the World Games, which is set up to have such sports shuffled in and out of its quadrennial program.

Now, which sports would constitute the 18 mandated by the IOC? In fact, the federations themselves have done most of the work already. For the purpose of distributing a share of the IOC’s television rights fees given as a block grant to the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), the federations themselves have agreed on a five-tier system of payments:

● Tier 1: Athletics, Gymnastics, Swimming
● Tier 2: Basketball, Cycling, Football, Tennis, Volleyball
● Tier 3: Archery, Badminton, Boxing, Judo, Rowing, Shooting, Table Tennis, Weightlifting
● Tier 4: Canoeing, Equestrian, fencing, Handball, Hockey, Sailing, Taekwondo, Triathlon, Wrestling
● Tier 5: Modern Pentathlon, Golf, Rugby

(Golf and Rugby were included in the fifth tier because the sports were new in 2016.)

The first three tiers comprise 16 sports, although the continued presence of boxing and weightlifting for future Games are not assured, according to the IOC. So the IOC could pick the top three tiers and add 2-4 sports from the fourth or fifth tiers based on its own criteria.

That would leave bidding cities with a choice of two dozen sports – all recognized by the IOC at some level – from which to pick nine to include in their version of the Games. This will give bidding cities an opportunity to use the facilities they have more wisely and to shape the size and depth of the sports to be competed in in their idea of an Olympic Games in their area.

Isn’t this what Agenda 2020 is really supposed to do: give cities the possibility to design a Games which fits it best? The discussions and options which would come from such reforms will create new concepts for sports and help bring them forward faster than any symposium or conference.

The IOC is considering the Paris 2024 program this year and is expected to approve the final list of sports and events by the end of the year. With the sting of losing out on Paris 2024, there should be multiple federations who will find a new format for being included in the Games most welcome.

For Baseball and Softball, the future is bright with Los Angeles 2028 on the horizon and excellent, world-class stadia ready to be used. But for 2032?

It will take time for the IOC and multiple federations whose sports are already in the Games to warm up to this concept. But the discussions could start this May at the ASOIF General Assembly in Gold Coast, Australia; after all, the 2032 Games will be awarded in 2025 and it will be here before you know it.

Rich Perelman
Editor

CYCLING: Lee’s sprint double highlights UCI Track Worlds in Poland

By
Rich Perelman
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World Championships multi-medalist Wai Sze Lee (HKG) (Photo: Nicola via Wikimedia Commons)

The best sprinters during the UCI Track Cycling World Cup season had been Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer and Hong Kong’s Wai Sze Lee. But it was Lee who shined brightest at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszkow (POL).

After qualifying with the second-fastest tine, she won the Sprint title with seven wins in a row, sweeping her quarterfinals, semifinals and then the final against Australia’s Stephanie Morton, winning by small but secure margins of 0.054 and 0.135 seconds.

Lee then went after the Keirin title, trying to improve on her silver from 2018. The six-lap race was going to be tight, with Morton also included. But Lee had enough to win at the tape, just 0.118 seconds ahead of Australia’s Kaarle McCulloch, with Daria Shmeleva (RUS) third and Morton fourth.

“It is unbelievable,” said Lee after the Keirin win. “I thought I could do it, but the truth is so wonderful. I knew I had good form, so I just kept in control, and then sprinted on the last lap.”

These were the first Track Cycling golds for Lee since 2013 (!), and gave her an impressive seven career Track Worlds medals in all.

Besides Lee, there were two other women who won two events: Ashlee Ankudinoff (AUS) in the Pursuit and Team Pursuit, and Kirsten Wild (NED) in the Omnium and Madison (with Amy Pieters).

Among the men, Dutch sprinter Harrie Lavreysen won two golds, in the Sprint and Team Sprint, as did Australia’s Sam Welsford won the Scratch Race and in the Team Pursuit (where his team set a world record of 3:48.012). The Dutch men also got wins from Matthijs Buchli in the Keirin and Jan Willem van Schip in the Points Race.

Glaetzer, so strong in the World Cup season, has to settle for fourth in the Sprint and in the Keirin.

Two individuals or pairs defended their 2018 titles: Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt (GER) in the Madison, and Wild in the women’s Omnium, her sixth career World Track championship.

The U.S. got one medal in the event, a bronze from Jennifer Valente in the Omnium, her sixth career Track Worlds medal.

The Netherlands led all medal winners with 11 total medals (6-4-1), one better than Australia (6-3-1) and Germany (1-2-3) was third. A total of 375 riders from 47 countries took part in the event. Summaries:

UCI World Track Cycling Championships
Pruszkow (POL) ~ 27 February-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men

Sprint: 1. Harrie Lavreysen (NED); 2. Jeffrey Hoogland (NED); Third: 3. Mateusz Rudyk (POL); 4. Matthew Glaetzer (AUS). Final: Lavreysen d. Hoogland, 2-0.

Team Sprint: 1. Netherlands (Hoogland, Lavreysen, van den Berg), 41.923; 2. France (Bauge, Lafargue, Vigier), 42.889; Third: 3. Russia (Dmitriev, Sharapov, Yakushevskiy), 43.115; 4. Germany (Bichler, Botticher, Dornbach), 43.294.

1,000 m Time Trial: 1. Quentin Lafargue (FRA), 1:00.029; 2. Theo Bos (NED), 1:00.388; 3. Michael D’Almeida (FRA), 1:00.826; 4. Francesco Lamon (ITA), 1:00.958; 5. Cameron Scott (AUS), 1:01.048; 6. Tomas Babek (CZE), 1:01.086; 7. Sam Ligtlee (NED), 1:01.205; 8. Marc Jurczyk (POL), 1:01.569.

Individual Pursuit/ Final: 1. Filippo Ganna (ITA), 4:07.992; 2. Domenic Weinstein (GER), 4:12.571; Third: 3. Davide Plebani (ITA), 4:14.572; 4. Alexander Evtushenko (RUS), 4:16.784.

Team Pursuit: 1. Australia (Welsford, O’Brien, Howard, Porter), 3:48.012 (World Record; old, 3:49.804, Australia, 2018); 2. Great Britain (Hayter, Clancy, Emadi, Tanfield), 3:50.810; Third: 3. Denmark (Hansen, Johansen, Pedersen, von Folsach), 3:51.804; 4. Canada (Gee, Foley, Jamieson, Lamoreaux), 3:56.832.

Keirin: 1. Matthijs Buchli (NED); 2. Yudai Nitta (JPN), +0.038; 3. Stefan Botticher (GER), +0.197; 4. Glaetzer (AUS), +0.244; 5. Jack Carlin (GBR), +0.332; 6. Sebastien Vigier (FRA), +0.344.

Scratch Race: 1. Sam Welsford (AUS); 2. Roy Eefting (NED); 3. Thomas Sexton (NZL); 4. Christos Volikakis (GRE); 5. Rui Oliveira (BRA); 6. Matthew Walls (GBR); 7. Mauro Schmid (SUI); 8. Liang Guo (CHN).

Points Race: 1. Jan Willem van Schip (NED), 104; 2. Sebastian Mora Vedri (ESP), 76; 3. Mark Downey (IRL), 67; 4. Wojciech Pszczolarski (POL), 67; 5. Liam Bertazzo (ITA), 61; 6. Vitaliy Hryniv (UKR), 54; 7. Kelland O’Brien (AUS), 51; 8. Mark Stewart (GBR), 50.

Omnium: 1. Campbell Stewart (NZL), 137; 2. Benjamin Thomas(FRA), 119; 3. Ethan Hayter (GBR), 118; 4. Simone Consonni (ITA), 114; 5. Van Schip (NED), 104; 6. Albert Torres Barcelo (ESP), 101; 7. Eiya Hashimoto (JPN), 91; 8. Niklas Larsen (DEN), 87. Also: 13. Daniel Holloway (USA), 64.

Madison: 1. Roger Kluge/Theo Reinhardt (GER), 105; 2. Lasse Norman Hansen/Casper von Folsach (DEN), 84; 3. Kenny de Ketele/Robbe Ghys (BEL), 82; 4. Leigh Howard/Cameron Meyer (AUS), 71; 5. Albert Torres Barcelo/Sebastian Mora Vedri (ESP), 40; 6. Benjamin Thomas/Bryan Coquard (FRA), 32; 7. Ethan Hayter/Oliver Wood (GBR), 31; 8. Wojciech Pszczolarski/Daniel Staniszewski (POL), 31. Also: 15. Daniel Holloway/Adrian Hegyvary (USA), 2.

Women

Sprint/ Final: 1. Wai Sze Lee (HKG); 2. Stephanie Morton (AUS); Third: Mathilde Gros (FRA); 4. Lea Sophia Friedrich (GER). Final: Lee d. Morton, 2-0.

Team Sprint/ Final: 1. Kaarle McCulloch/Stephanie Morton (AUS), 32.255; 2. Daria Shmeleva/Anastasiia Voinova (RUS), 32.591; Third: 3. Emma Hinze/Miriam Welte (GER), 32.789; 4. Luz Gaxiola/Jessica Salazar (MEX), 33.455.

500 m Time Trial: 1. Daria Shmeleva (RUS), 33.012; 2. Olena Starikova (UKR), 33.307; 3. Kaarle McCulloch (AUS), 33.419; 4. Miriam Welte (GER), 33.431; 5. Jessica Salazar Valles (MEX), 33.826; 6. Kyra Lamberink (NED), 33.972; 7. Friedrich (GER), 33.997; 8. Miriam Vece (ITA), 34.247.

Individual Pursuit/ Final: 1. Ashlee Ankudinoff (AUS), 3:25.971; 2. Lisa Brennauer (GER), 3:29.243; Third: 3. Lisa Klein (GER), 3:29.473; 4. Kirste James (NZL), 3:34.188.

Team Pursuit/ Final: 1. Australia (Edmondson, Ankudinoff, Baker, Cure), 4:14.333; 2. Great Britain (Kenny, Archibald, Barker, Dickinson), 4:14.537; Third: 3. New Zealand (Drummond, Botha, Edmondston, James), 4:16.479; 4. Canada (Beveridge, Bonhomme, Foreman-Mackey, Simmerling), 4:20.321.

Keirin: 1. Lee (HKG); 2. McCulloch (AUS), +0.118; 3. Shmeleva (RUS), +0.188; 4. Morton (AUS), +0.286; 5. Shanne Braspennincx (NED), +0.369; 6. Gros (FRA), +0.432.

Scratch Race: 1. Elinor Barker (GBR); 2. Kirsten Wild (NED); 3. Jolien D’Hoore (BEL); 4. Laurie Berthon (FRA); 5. Franziska Brausse (GER); 6. Olivija Baleisyte (LTU); 7. Amber Joseph (BAR); 8. Alzbeta Bacikova (SVK).

Points Race: 1. Alexandra Manly (AUS), 29; 2. Lydia Boylan (IRL), 28; 3. Wild (NED), 26; 4. Gulnaz Badykova (RUS), 26; 5. Qianyu Yang (HKG), 20; 6. Maria Guilia Confalonieri (ITA), 14; 7. Neah Evans (GBR), 10; 8. Jennifer Valente (USA), 9.

Omnium: 1. Wild (NED), 117; 2. Letizia Paternoster ((ITA), 115; 3. Valente (USA), 106; 4. Yumi Kajihara (JPN), 106; 5. Annette Edmondson (AUS), 101; 6. Amalie Dideriksen (DEN), 100; 7. Katie Archibald (GBR), 84; 8. Allison Beveridge (CAN), 73.

Madison: 1. Kirsten Wild/Amy Pieters (NED), 33 points; 2. Georgia Baker/Amy Cure (AUS), 31; 3. Amalie Dideriksen/Julie Leth (DEN), 24; 4. Neah Evans/Elinor Barker (GBR), 15; 5. Letizia Paternoster/Maria Giulia Confalonieri (ITA), 14; 6. Gulnaz Badykova/Mariia Novolodskaya (RUS), 9; 7. Lotte Kopecky/Jolien D’Hoore (BEL), 8; 8. Daria Pikulik/Wiktoria Pikulik (POL), 5.

CURLING: More Shuster magic, as he wins with Christensen in U.S. Mixed Doubles Nationals

By
Rich Perelman
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U.S. Mixed Doubles champs Cory Christensen and John Shuster (Photo: USA Curling)

John Shuster is well known as the skip of the men’s Olympic Champions, and just won his seventh national championship with his rink in February. Now he’s added a new distinction: National Mixed Doubles Champions.

He teamed with Cory Christensen to win the USA Curling Mixed Doubles nationals over the weekend at the Granite Curling Club in Seattle, Washington, with a tight, 7-5 win over Vicky Persinger and Chris Plys in the final.

Plys is the new member of Shuster’s national champion rink, and he and Persinger grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first end. But Shuster, 36, and Christensen, 24, came back with three points in the second end and one in the third for a 4-2 lead. That evaporated in the fourth end with two points for Persinger and Plys, and they took a 5-4 lead in the fifth end.

But the new champions tightened up their play and scored since points in the final three ends to cinch the win. They will now represent the U.S. at the Mixed Doubles World Championships in Stavanger (NOR) in April.

Christensen and Shuster were runners-up at the 2018 Olympic Trials for Mixed Doubles, but will now competed at the Worlds Mixed Doubles for the first time. Summaries:

USA Curling National Mixed Doubles Championship
Seattle, Washington (USA) ~ 27 February-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Final Standings: 1. Cory Christensen/John Shuster; 2. Vicky Persinger/Chris Plys; 3. Tabitha Peterson/Joe Polo and Nina Roth/Kroy Nernberger. Semis: Christensen/Shuster d. Peterson/Polo, 6-5; Persinger/Plys d. Roth/Nernberger, 8-2. Final: Christensen/Shuster d. Persinger/Plys, 7-5.

BOBSLED & SKELETON: Friedrich & Jamanka dominate men’s and women’s Twos at Bobsled Worlds

By
Rich Perelman
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World Champion Mariama Jamanka of Germany (Photo: IBSF)

The seasonal leaders in the IBSF Bobsled World Cup confirmed their status as the best in the world with a German sweep of the Two-Men and Two-Woman events at the IBSF World Championships in Whistler (CAN).

Francesco Friedrich continued his mastery and his undefeated season with his fifth straight World Championships victory, tying him with the great Eugenio Monti (ITA) for the most consecutive Worlds wins; Monti won in 1957-61, and added two more – for the all-time record of seven wins – in 1963 and 1966.

Christoph Langen (GER) also won five titles, but not consecutively, in 1993-95-96-2000-01.

Friedrich’s chief competition was expected to be the co-Olympic champion from 2018, Canada’s Justin Kripps. And Kripps (with Cameron Stones) had the fastest time on the first run of 51.03, but Friedrich won the next three in 51.28, 51.21 and 51.02.

Kripps finished 0.59 seconds back in 3:25.13 and Germany’s Nico Walther was third in 3:25.43 (+0.89).

In the women’s competition, World Cup winner Mariama Jamanka (with Annika Drazek) had her sled in the lead and managed to survive a near-crash on their final run to finish with a combined, four-run time of 3:30.08, 1.06 seconds better than teammates Stephanie Schneider and Ann-Christin Strack.

Defending champ Elana Meyers Taylor of the U.S., with Lake Kwaza aboard, led after the first heat with a track record time of 52.48, but ended up the first day behind Jamanka by 0.13. In their third race, they crashed out of the dangerous “Corner 13,” finished 15th in that race and could not continue. Brittany Reinbolt (with Lauren Gibbs) finished fifth for the best U.S. placement.

Jamanka had ensured the victory with a track record run of 52.01 in the third race, and while this was Jamanka’s first world title, it was the second for Drazek, who was aboard with Anja Schneiderheinze in 2016.

The Worlds continue next week with the Four-Man racing and the Skeleton events. Summaries so far:

IBSF World Championships
Whistler (CAN) ~ 1-9 March 2019
(Full results here)

Two-Man: 1. Francesco Friedrich/Thorsten Margis (GER), 3:24.54; 2. Justin Kripps (CAN), 3:25.13; 3. Nico Walther/Paul Krenz (GER), 3:25.43; 4. Chris Spring/Neville Wright (CAN), 3:25.68; 5. Brad Hall/Nick Gleeson (GBR), 3:25.68; 6. Oskars Kibermanis (LAT), 3:25.78; 7. Yunjong Won/Youngwoo Seo (KOR), 3:25.81; 8. Johannes Lochner/Christopher Weber (GER), 3:26.05. Also: 16. Codie Bascue/Joshua Williamson (USA), 3:27.39; … 19. Hunter Church/Chris Kinney (USA), 3:28.18.

Two-Woman: 1. Mariama Jamanka/Annika Drazek (GER), 3:30.08; 2. Stephanie Schneider/Ann-Christin Strack (GER), 3:31.14; 3. Christine de Bruin/Kristen Bujnowski (CAN), 3:31.25; 4. Katrin Beierl/Jennifer Onasanya (AUT), 3:31.46; 5. Brittany Reinbolt/Lauren Gibbs (USA), 3:31.65; 6. Nadezhda Sergeeva/Yulia Belomestnykh (RUS), 3:32.11; 7. Anna Koehler/Leonie Fiebig (GER), 3:32.41; 8. An Vannieuwenhuyse/Sara Aerts (BEL), 3:32.58. Also: 9. Nicole Vogt/Nicole Brungardt (USA), 3:32.87.

Team Event: 1. Germany (Grotheer, Koehler/Gericke, Griebel/Rademacher), 3:31.85; 2. Canada (Greszczyszyn, De Bruin/Bujnowski, Rahneva, Poloniato/Joyce), 3:32.00; 3. United States (Greg West, Brittany Reinbolt/Jessica Davis, Savannah Graybill, Geoff Gadbois/Kris Horn), 3:32.49. Also: 4. United States (Austin Florian, Nicole Vogt/Sylvia Hoffman, Kendall Wesenberg, Hunter Church/Blaine McConnell) 3:32.88.

BADMINTON: No. 1 Momota beats no. 11 Nishimoto in men’s German Open final

By
Rich Perelman
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World men's Singles no. 1 Kento Momota (JPN)

Truth be told, some of the interest in the German Open in Muelheim is getting ready for the $1,000,000 Yonex All England Open Championships in Birmingham (GBR) starting on 6 March.

So it was a good sign for the men’s no. 1-ranked player, Japan’s Kento Momota, to score a straight-set win over no. 11 Kenta Nishimoto in the German Open final on Sunday.

Same for no. 6 Akane Yamaguchi (JPN), who defeated no. 8-ranked Ratchanok Intanon (THA) in straight sets as well.

In the all-Japan men’s Doubles final, it was no. 5 Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe with a mild upset win over no. 3 Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda. The women’s Doubles final was another match-up of ranked teams, but China’s Yue Du and Yinjui Li – ranked 10th – first defeated no. 1-ranked Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota of Japan in the semis and then got by no. 2 Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi, 22-20, 21-15.

The Mixed Doubles final pitted no. 10 Seung Jae Seo and YuJung Chae (KOR) against no. 11. Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (INA), but the Koreans were superior, winning by 21-17 and 21-11. On to England; summaries from Muelheim:

BWF World Tour/German Open
Muelheim (GER) ~ 26 February-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Kento Momota (JPN); 2. Kenta Nishimoto (JPN); 3. Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus (DEN) and Tien Chen Chou (TPE). Semis: Momota d. Vittinghus, 24-26, 21-16, 21-15; Nishimoto d. Chou, 21015, 18-21, 21-16. Final: Momota d. Nishimoto, 21-10, 21-16.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe (JPN); 2. Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN); 3. Bodin Isara/Maneepong Jongjit (THA) and Sze Fei Goh/Nur Izzuddin (MAS)
Semis: Kamura/Sonoda d. Isara/Jongjit, 21-11, retired; Endo/Watanabe d. Goh/Izzuddin, 21-10, 21-12. Final: Endo/Watanabe d. Kamura/Sonoda, 15-21, 21-11, 21-12.

Women’s Singles: 1. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN); 2. Ratchanok Intanon (THA); 3. Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) and Jin Wei Goh (MAS). Semis: Intanon d. Okuhara, 21-15, 21-12; Yamaguchi d. Goh, 21-14, 21-11. Final: Yamaguchi d. Intanon, 16-21, 21-14, 25-23.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Yue Du/Yinjui Li (CHN); 2. Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN); 3. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN) and Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagihara (JPN). Semis: Du/Li d. Fukushima/Hirota, 21-18, 18-21, 21-19; Matsutomo/Takahashi d. Matsumoto/Nagihara, 21-16, 19-21, 21-14. Final: Du/Li d. Matsutomo/Takahashi, 22-20, 21-15.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Seung Jae Seo/YuJung Chae (KOR); 2. Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (INA); 3. Soon Huat Goh/Shevon Jamie Lai (MAS) and Robin Tabeling/Selena Piek (NED). Semis: Seo/Chae d. Goh/Lai, 21-17, 21-12; Faizal/Widjaja d. Tabeling/Pick, 16-21, 21-13, 23-21. Final: Seo/Chae d. Faizal/Widjaja, 21-17, 21-11.

FENCING: Bronzes for Massialas and Kiefer and U.S. wins men’s Team Foil in Cairo

By
Rich Perelman
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U.S. olympic Foil medalist Alexander Massialas (Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen via Wikimedia Commons)

The U.S. had a strong showing in the Pharoah’s Challenge tournament in Cairo (EGY) and came away with three medals, including a team gold.

Rio Olympic silver medalist Alexander Massialas won his 10th career World Cup medal and first in a year with a bronze in the men’s Foil, falling to eventual silver winner Erwann Le Pechoux of France in the semifinals. Italy’s Daniele Garozzo, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, won his second career World Cup title.

The U.S. also had Gerek Meinhardt and Nick Itkin advance into the quarterfinals and world no. 1 Race Imboden finished ninth, so the Americans figured to do well in the team event. That quartet swept aside Brazil (45-23), Hong Kong (45-36), then Korea by just 45-43 in the semis and France by 45-34 in the final for the gold medal.

Although he lost in the Round of 16, Imboden retained his world no. 1 ranking.

In the women’s Foil, Olympic and World Champion Inna Deriglazova (RUS) won her third World Cup event of the season and 23rd in her career, defeating Italy’s Alice Volpi in the final, 15-7. Volpi got past American Lee Kiefer in the semis by 15-13 and so Kiefer had to settle for her 11th career World Cup medal and second bronze of the season.

Volpi got a measure of satisfaction in the team event as the Italians took the title with a 38-37 win over Russia. Summaries:

FIE World Cup
Cairo (EGY) ~ 1-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Foil: 1. Daniele Garozzo (ITA); 2. Erwann Le Pechoux (FRA); 3. Giorgio Avola (ITA) and Alexander Massialas (USA). Semis: Le Pechoux d. Massialas, 15-10; Garozzo d. Avola, 15-10. Final: Garozzo d. Le Pechoux, 15-13.

Men’s Team Foil: 1. United States (Imboden, Itkin, Masialas, Meinhardt); 2. France; 3. Italy; 4. Korea. Semis: U.S. d. Korea, 45-43; France d. Italy, 45-41. Third: Italy d. Korea, 45-35. Final: U.S. d, France, 45-34.

Women’s Foil: 1. Inna Deriglazova (RUS); 2. Alice Volpi (ITA); 3. Lee Kiefer (USA) and Sumire Tsuji (JPN). Semis: Deriglazova d. Tsuji, 15-10; Volpi d. Kiefer, 15-13. Final: Deriglazova d. Volpi, 15-7.

Women’s Team Foil: 1. Italy (Batini, Di Francisca, Mancini, Volpi); 2. Russia; 3. France; 4. United States (Jacqueline Dubrovich, Lee Kiefer, Margaret Lu, Nicole Ross). Semis: Russia d. France, 45-31; Italy d. U.S., 44-43. Third: France d. U.S., 45-39. Final: Italy d. Russia, 38-37.

MODERN PENTATHLON: Strong showing for Egypt in season opener in Cairo

By
Rich Perelman
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Egypt's World Cup winner Ahmed Elgendy (Photo: UIPM)

Let’s face it, Egypt is not one of the first countries you think about in terms of the Modern Pentathlon, but Ahmed Elgendy scored two wins in the season opener of the UIPM World Cup in Cairo.

He celebrated his 19th birthday last Friday and gave himself a present of a World Cup victory on Saturday by finishing second in fencing, second in swimming and eighth in riding. He entered the Laser Run final with a huge lead of 22 seconds, and won by 17.
17

“I am very happy to win my first senior World Cup in Egypt, especially in Egypt – my home country. The crowd and the audience was always cheering for me in the Laser Run and the Fencing, and I’m very happy to be competing in Egypt.

“It’s my first season really competing in the seniors. In 2018, I participated in three World Cups and the World Cup Final but it was only to get experience for the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. This year I am hoping to win more than one World Cup and qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – which is my dream.”

Jan Kuf (CZE) finished second, 17 seconds back, and Lithuania’s Justinas Kinderis was 30 seconds behind in third.

Elgendy then teamed with Haydy Morsy and ran away with the relay, entering the final event with a 47-second cushion. The fight for second was close until the final shooting stage, when Czech Ondrej Polivka was able to separate himself from challenger Illes Szabo (HUN).

In the women’s division, Russia’s Uliana Batashova started the laser-run in fourth place, but perfect shooting allowed her to move past early leader Sarolta Kovacs (HUN: third) and then Ireland’s Natalya Coyle (silver) for the victory. Summaries:

UIPM World Cup
Cairo (EGY) ~ 27 February-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Ahmed Elgendy (EGY), 1,465; 2. Jan Kuf (CZE), 1,448; 3. Justinas Kinderis (LTU), 1,435; 4. Esteban Bustos (CZE), 1,434; 5. Marvin Faly Dogue (GER), 1,431.

Women: 1. Uliana Batashova (RUS), 1,358; 2. Natalya Coyle (IRL), 1,347; 3. Sarolta Kovacs (HUN), 1,341; 4. Elodie Clouvel (FRA), 1,339; 5. Anastasiya Prokopenko (BLR), 1,329. Also in the top 25: 24. Sam Achtenberg (USA), 1,267.

Relay: 1. Haydy Morsy/Ahmed Elgendy (EGY), 1,432; 2. Eliska Pribylova/Ondrej Polivka (CZE), 1,396; 3. Kamilla Reti/Illes Szabo (HUN), 1,383; 4. Valeriya Permykina/Pavlo Tymoshchenko (UKR), 1,361; 5. Marta Kobecka/Daniel Lawrynowicz (POL), 1,335. Also: 7. Avery Niemann/Alexander Guzman (USA), 1,260.

ATHLETICS: Kejelcha takes world mile record in special Boston race

By
Rich Perelman
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Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, right?

The third record try by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha turned out to be the charm, as he broke the world indoor mile record by running 3:47.01 in Boston in a special race held after the IC4A/ECAC Indoor Championships at Boston University.

Kejelcha had some within 0.01 of Moroccan star Hicham El Guerrouj’s 3:48.45 mark at the Millrose Games in New York in February. His coach, Alberto Salazar, set up this special race for another attempt at the record.

Called the Bruce Lehane Invitational Mile, Kejelcha was paced by veteran U.S. 800 m star Erik Sowinski, and Harun Abda and used a hard kick to break the record

Kejelcha was also trying for the recently-set 1,500 m record of 3:31.02 by countryman Samuel Tefera, but crossed in 3:31.25 en route, the third-fastest performance in history.

Kejelcha wasn’t alone on the track, as American Johnny Gregorek finished second in 3:49.98, becoming only the sixth man ever to run the indoor mile under 3:50 and moving to no. 6 all-time and no. 2 on the all-time U.S. list!

American Sam Prakel was third in 3:50.94, which makes him equal-11th all-time indoors and no. 5 on the all-time U.S. list. Henry Wynne (USA) was fourth in 3:51.26 – a personal best by four seconds! – and Craig Engels was fifth in 3:53.89, also a lifetime best for the mile, indoors or out!

In the women’s mile, Ce’Aira Brown (USA) won in 4:28.12, no. 11 on the world list for 2019 and a three-second-plus personal best as well!

ARTISTIC SWIMMING: Inui upsets Carbonell in World Series opener in Paris

By
Rich Perelman
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Japan's Artistic Swimming star Yukiko Inui (Photo: Pierre-Yves Beaudouin via Wikimedia Commons)

Spain’s Ona Carbonell won two silver medals at the 2017 World Championships Solo events, but was upset by Japan’s Yukiko Inui in the first leg of the FINA Artistic Swimming World Series in Paris (FRA).

Inui, now 28, owns two Olympic bronze medals and six World Championships bronzes, all in Duet or Team events. But she out-pointed Carbonell in the Solo Technical event, 90.5294-90.4893 in the closest contest in the three days of events.

Inui went on to win the Solo Free as well; she and Megumu Yoshida won two silvers in the Duet Technical and Duet Free events to Ukrainian pairs. Summaries:

FINA Artistic Swimming World Series
Paris (FRA) ~ 1-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Solo Technical: 1. Yukiko Inui (JPN), 90.5294; 2. Ona Carbonell (ESP), 90.4893; 3. Vasilina Khandoshka (BLR), 82.5783.

Solo Free: 1. Inui (JPN), 91.7667; 2. Marta Fiedina (UKR), 91.0000; 3. Eve Planeix (FRA), 84.9667.

Duet Technical: 1. Anastasiya Savchuk/Marta Fiedina (UKR), 90.7207; 2. Yukiko Inui/Megumu Yoshida (JPN), 90.6474; 3. Charlotte Tremble/Laura Tremble (FRA), 84.6237.

Duet Free: 1. Maryna Aleksiiva/Vladyslava Aleksiiva (UKR), 91.6333; 2. Yukiko Inui/Megumu Yoshida (JPN), 91.5333; 3. Ona Carbonell/Sara Saldana (ESP), 89.7667.

Team Technical: 1. Ukraine, 90.7889; 2. France, 84.7119; 3. Israel, 81.2155.

Team Free: 1. France, 86.2333; 2. Brazil, 83,8000; 3. Israel, 81.0000.

Team Highlights: 1. Spain, 89.9667; 2. France, 85.7000; 3. Israel, 81.7667.

Team Free Combination: 1. Brazil, 83.4333; 2. Great Britain, 81.6667; 3. Israel,81.2333.

Mixed Duet Technical: 1. Yumi Adachi/Atsushi Abe (JPN), 85.8529; 2. Emma Garcia/Pau Ribes (ESP), 82.4202; 3. Giovana Stephan/Renan Souza (BRA), 76.8835.

Mixed Duet Free: 1. Adachi/Abe (JPN), 87.4667; 2. Berta Ferreras/Pau Ribes (ESP), 83.9667; 3. Stephan/Souza (BRA), 78.6333.

DIVING: China sweeps all 10 events at World Series opener in Sagamihara

By
Rich Perelman
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Chinese diving star Yuan Cao

Could anyone beat the Chinese? No.

That was the main question at the opening event of the FINA Diving World Series event in Sagamihara (JPN) over the weekend, but the world’s no. 1 diving nation went 10-for-10 and swept the event.

Chinese divers went 1-2 in both the men’s and women’s 3 m Springboard events, but were 1-4 and 1-3 in the men’s and women’s Platform finals.

Yuan Cao (CHN) won three medals, including wins in the 3 , and 10 m men’s Synchronized events, plus a silver on the 3 m Springboard. Tingmao Shi (CHN) won the women’s 3 m Springboard and the 3 m Synchro events with Han Wang.

The series moves to Beijing (CHN) next week, then has about six weeks off until a late April date in Montreal (CAN). Summaries:

FINA Diving World Series
Sagamihara (JPN) ~ 1-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men

3 m Springboard: 1. Siyi Xie (CHN), 548.80; 2. Yuan Cao (CHN), 529.40; 3. Jack Laugher (GBR), 469.25.

10 m Platform: 1. Jian Yang (CHN), 586.20; 2. Tom Daley (GBR), 579.85; 3. Aleksandr Bondar (RUS), 545.90.

3m Synchronized: 1. Yuan Cao/Siyi Xie (CHN), 446.82; 2. Jahir Ocampo Marroquin/Rommel Pacheco (MEX), 427.86; 3. Jack Laugher/Daniel Goodfellow (GBR), 420.51. Also: 7. Mark Anderson/Tyler Downs (USA), 363.72.

10 m Synchronized: 1. Yuan Cao/Aisen Chen (CHN), 465.24; 2. Viktor Minibaev/Aleksandr Bondar (RUS), 420.45; 3. Domonic Bedggood/Declan Stacey (AUS), 403.53. Also: 7. Tyler Downs/Jordan Rzepka (USA), 358.95.

Women

3 m Springboard: 1. Tingmao Shi (CHN), 382.05; 2. Han Wang (CHN), 378.90; 3. Jennifer Abel (CAN), 353.40.

10 m Platform: 1. Jiaqi Zhang (CHN), 393.30; 2. Meaghan Benfeito (CAN), 385.10; 3. Qian Ren (CHN), 371.40.

3 m Synchronized: 1. Tingmao Shi/Han Wang (CHN), 330.00; 2. Jennifer Abel/Melissa Citrin-Beaulieu (CAN), 302.97; 3. Annabelle Smith/Maddison Keeney (AUS), 301.83. Also: 8. Tarrin Gilliland/Maria Coburn (USA), 252.18.

10 m Synchronized: 1. Jiaqi Zhang/Wei Lu (CHN), 340.44; 2. A. Rim Kim/Mi-Rae Kim (PRK), 319.50; 3. Caeli McKay/Meaghan Benfeito (CAN), 311.70. Also: 8. Gilliland/Katrina Young (USA), 282.18.

Mixed

3 m Synchronized: 1. Yani Chang/Hao Yang (CHN), 330.63; 2. Francois Imbeau-Dulac/Jennifer Abel (CAN), 327.93; 3. Grace Reid/Tom Daley (GBR), 312.24.

10 m Synchronized: 1. Junjie Lian/Yajie Si (CHN), 360.33; 2. Nikita Shleikher/Iuliia Timoshinina (RUS), 334.59; 3. Minami Itahashi/Kazuki Murakami (JPN), 325.50.

SNOWBOARD: Jacobellis and Samkova tied for SnowCross lead with one event left

By
Rich Perelman
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Czech Snowboard star Eva Samkova with her trademark, good-luck moustache!

The penultimate Snowboard Cross event of the 2018-19 season in Baquiera Beret (ESP) assured a battle royal in the final event for the women’s seasonal title.

Czech Eva Samkova won her second race of the season and with American Lindsey Jacobellis third, the two are tied at 3,400 points with one event remaining, in two weeks at Veysonnaz (SUI).

Both racers have medaled in all four events this season, with Samkova going 2-1-3-1 and Jacobellis, 1-2-1-3.

Austria’s Alessandro Hammerle won the men’s race to pull into second place overall, with a dozen competitors having a mathematical chance to win the seasonal title in two weeks. The leader continues to be Germany’s Martin Noerl (1,830), with Hammerle second (1,640) and Italy’s Omar Visintin third (1,535). Summaries:

FIS Snowboard World Cup
Baquiera Beret (ESP) ~ 1-2 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Ski Cross/ Final: 1. Alessandro Hammerle (AUT); 2. Adam Lambert (AUS); 3. Kevin Hill (CAN); 4. Mick Dierdorff (USA) .

Women’s Ski Cross/ Final: 1. Eva Samkova (CZE); 2. Chloe Trespeuch (FRA); 3. Lindsey Jacobellis (USA); 4. Nelly Moenne Loccoz (FRA).

NORDIC SKIING: Johaug sweeps distance races at World Championships in Seefeld

By
Rich Perelman
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Norway's triple World Championships gold medalist Therese Johaug (Photo: Granada via Wikipedia)

The amazing comeback story of Norway’s Therese Johaug reached its peak in Seefeld (AUT), with her sweep of the distance races at the 2019 Nordic Skiing World Championships.

The Nordic Worlds were shaken by the arrests of five athletes for doping on the morning of 27 February, but on the snow, Johaug has been the story.

Returning from a doping suspension caused by a loaded lip balm given to her by a team physician, Johaug – now 30 – won all seven of her races in the World Cup season, but pointed for the Worlds. And she delivered, winning three races in three tries:

● 1st in Skiathlon, winning by 57.6 seconds
● 1st in 10 km Classical, winning by 12.2 seconds
● 1st in 30 km Mass Start Freestyle, winning by 48.8 seconds

Johaug also won a silver medal in the 4×5 km relay, giving her four total medals for the Championships. Her teammate and the World Cup overall leader, Ingvild Oestberg, won five medals, with silvers in the Skiathlon, 30 km Mass Start and Relay, and bronzes in the Team Sprint and 10 km Classical.

This is the second straight Nordic Worlds in which a Norwegian woman has won all three distance races. Marit Bjoergen, now retired, won the Skiathlon, 10 km Classical and 30 km Mass Start as well in 2017. For Johaug, she now has 10 career World Championships golds and 15 total medals, no. 6 on the all-time list (Bjoergen is the leader at 26).

Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov was the leading medal-winner among the men, with four silver medals. Norway’s Johannes Klaebo won three golds to lead all of the men’s Cross Country skiers, taking the Sprint, Team Sprint and Relay.

In the Nordic Combined, the man of the season – Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber – won the second individual competition, but Germany’s Eric Frenzel won his sixth and seventh golds and now also has 15 total World Championships medals (with seven gold).

In Ski Jumping, Germany’s Markus Eisenbichler led the medal parade with three, winning the individual 130 m hill, Team and Mixed Team titles.

Norway dominated the overall medal count, collecting 25 total medals (13-5-7), to nine for second-place Germany (6-3-0) and Austria (0-4-5). The U.S. had some good performances, but was shut out of the medals for the first time since 2011. Summaries:

FIS Nordic Skiing World Championships
Seefeld (AUT) ~ 19 February-3 March 2019

CROSS COUNTRY
(Full results here)

Men

1.6 km Sprint Freestyle: 1. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), 3:21.17; 2. Federico Pellegrino (ITA), +0.23; 3. Gleb Retivykh (RUS), +1.37; 4. Richard Jouve (FRA), +1.99; 5. Emil Iversen (NOR), +2.25; 6. Lucas Chanavat (FRA), +21.50.

Team Sprint Classical: 1. Emil Oversen/Johannes Klaebo (NOR), 18:49.86; 2. Gleb Retivykh/Alexander Bolshunov (RUS), 18:51.74; 3. Francesco de Fabiani/Federico Pellegrino (ITA), 18:53.89; 4. Oskar Svensson/Calle Halfvarsson (SWE), 18:54.59; 5. Richard Jouve/Lucas Chanavat (FRA), 18:58.99; 6. Max Hauke/Dominik Baldauf (AUT), 19:13.70; 7. Iivo Niskanen/Ristomatti Hakola (FIN), 9:17.38; 8. Simi Hamilton/Erik Bjornsen (USA), 19:18.42.

Skiathlon (15 km C + 15 km F): 1. Sjor Roethe (NOR), 1:10.21.8; 2. Alexander Bolshunov (RUS), 1:10:21.9; 3. Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR), 1:10:22.5; 4. Iivo Niskanen (FIN), 1:10:34.1; 5. Clement Parisse (FRA), 1:10.42.5; 6. Alex Harvey (CAN), 1:11:20.7; 7. Andrew Musgrave (GBR), 1:11:22.1; 8. Adrien Backscheider (FRA), 1:11:25.4.

15 km Classical: 1. Sundby (NOR), 38:22.6; 2. Alexander Bessmertnykh (RUS), 38:25.5; 3. Niskanen (FIN), 38:43.0; 4. Andrey Larkov (RUS), 38:45.4; 5. Didrik Toenseth (NOR), 38:46.9; 6. Dario Cologna (SUI), 38:55.0; 7. Roethe (NOR), 38:56.5; 8. Bolshunov (RUS), 39:21.1. Also in the top 25: 17. Erik Bjornsen (USA), 40:12.9.

50 km Mass Start Freestyle: 1. Hans Christer Holund (NOR), 1:49:59.3; 2. Bolshunov (RUS), 1:50:27.1; 3. Roethe (NOR), 1:50:57.1; 4. Sundby (NOR), 1:50:57.2; 5. Simen Hegsted Krueger (NOR), 1:51:00.4; 6. Calle Halfvarsson (SWE), 1:51:01.9; 7. Cologna (SUI), 1:51:03.3; 8. Andrew Musgrave (GBR), 1:51:03.8. Also in the top 25: 20. David Norris (USA), 1:51:21.9.

4 x 10 km Relay: 1. Norway (Iversen, Sundby, Roethe, Klaebo), 1:42:32.1; 2. Russia (Larkov, Bessmertnykh, Bolshunov, Ustiugov), 1:43:10.9; 3. France (Backscheider, Manificat, Parisse, Jouve), 1:43:33.1; 4. Finland, 1:43:34.9; 5. Sweden, 1:44:11.6; 6. Germany, 1:44:20.4; 7. Kazakhstan, 1:44:21.0; 8. Switzerland, 1:44:22.0. Also: 9. United States (Erik Bjornsen, Scott Patterson, David Norris, Kyle Bratrud), 1:46:38.5.

Women

1.2 km Sprint Freestyle: 1. Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR), 2:32.35; 2. Stina Nilsson (SWE), +1.66; 3. Mari Eide (NOR), +2.84; 4. Jonna Sundling (SWE), +3.17; 5. Victoria Carl (GER), +5.71; 6. Maja Dahlqvist (SWE), +31.49.

Team Sprint Classical: 1. Stina Nilsson/Maja Dahlqvist (SWE), 15:14.93; 2. Katja Visnar/Anamarija Lampic (SLO), 15:15.30; 3. Ingvild Oestberg/Maiken Falla (NOR), 15:15.53; 4. Natalia Nepryaeva/Yulia Belorukova (RUS), 15:15.86; 5. Sadie Bjornsen/Jessica Diggins (USA), 15:17.72; 6. Victoria Carl/Sandra Ringwald (GER), 15:21.64; 7. Anne Kylloenen/Krista Parmakoski (FIN), 15:23.79; 8. Laurien van der Graaff/Nadine Faehndrich (SUI), 15:36.28.

Skiathlon (7.5 km C + 7.5 km F): 1. Therese Johaug (NOR), 36:54.5; 2. Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg (NOR), 37:52.1; 3. Natalia Nepyraeva (RUS), 37:53.2; 4. Astrid Jacobsen (NOR), 37:56.5; 5. Frida Karlsson (SWE), 38:01.9; 6. Charlotte Kalla (SWE), 38:07.8; 7. Heidi Weng (NOR), 38:14.7; 8. Krista Parmakoski (FIN), 38:28.2. Also in the top 25: 19. Julia Kern (USA), 39:50.0; … 24. Rosie Frankowski (USA), 39:55.1.

10 km Classical: 1. Johaug (NOR), 27:02.1; 2. Karlsson (SWE), 27:14.3; 3. Oestbesg (NOR), 27:37.7; 4. Parmakoski (FIN), 27:39.1; 5. Nadine Faehndrich (SUI), 28:06.0; 6. Anastasia Sedova (RUS), 28:07.0; 7. Nepryaeva (RUS), 28:09.6; 8. Teresa Stadlober (AUT), 28:10.0. Also in the top 25: 23. S. Bjornsen (USA), 28>43.1; 24. Rosie Brennan (USA), 28:47.2; 25. Diggins (USA), 28:54.0.

30 km Mass Start Freestyle: 1. Johaug (NOR), 1:14:26.2; 2. Oestberg (NOR), 1:15:03.0; 3. Karlsson (SWE), 1:15:10.2; 4. Diggins (USA), 1:15:32.1; 5. Kalla (SWE), 1:15:42.8; 6. Ebba Andersson (SWE), 1:15:43.5; 7. Nathalie von Siebenthal (SUI), 1:16:09.9; 8. Teresa Stadlober (AUT), 1:16:30.0. Also in the top 25: 15. S. Bjornsen (USA), 1:19:09.1; 16. Brennan (USA), 1:19:47.2.

4×5 km Relay: 1. Sweden (Andersson, Karlsson, Kalla, Nilsson), 55:21.0; 2. Norway (Weng, Oestberg, Jacobsen, Johaug), 55:24.1; 3. Russia (Belorukova, Sedova Nechaevskaya, Nepryaeva), 57:24.8; 4. Germany, 58:07.3; 5. United States (Julia Kern, Sadie Bjornsen, Rosie Brennan, Jessica Diggins), 58:27.0; 6. Finland, 59:08.7; 7. Italy, 59:15.9; 8. France, 59:21.9.

NORDIC COMBINED
(Full results here)

Gundersen 130 m hill/10.0 km: 1. Eric Frenzel (GER), 23:43.0; 2. Jan Schmid (NOR), +4.3; 3. Franz-Josef Rehrl (AUT), +8.7; 4. Mario Seidl (AUT), +15.3; 5. Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR), +20.9; 6. Akito Watabe (JPN), +22.0; 7. Fabian Riessle (GER), +22.3; 8. Antoine Gerard (FRA), +29.6.

Gundersen 109 m hill/10.0 km: 1. Riiber (NOR), 25:01.3; 2. Bernhard Gruber (AUT), 25:02.7; 3. Watabe (JPN), 25:05.9; 4. Rehrl (AUT), 25:31.1; 5. Ilkka Herola (FIN), 25:37.7; 6. Espen Bjoernstad (NOR), 25:42.7; 7. Seidl (AUT), 25:45.6; 8. Johannes Rydzek (GER), 25:55.1.

Team Sprint 130 m hill/2×7.5 km: 1. Eric Frenzel/Fabian Riessle (GER), 28:29.5; 2. Jan Schmid/Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR), +8.2; 3. Franz-Josef Rehrl/Bernhard Gruber (AUT), +9.2; 4. Yoshito Watabe/Akito Watabe (JPN), +56.4; 5. Aaron Kostner/Alessandro Pittin (ITA), +1:37.1; 6. Antoine Gerard/Maxime Laheurte (FRA), +1:44.6; 7. Ilkka Herola/Eero Hirvonen (FIN), +2:03.1; 8. Szczepan Kupczak/Pawel Slowiok (POL), +2:30.4. Also: 9. Taylor Fletcher/Ben Loomis (USA), +2:56.8.

Team 109 m hill/4×5 km: 1. Norway (Bjoernstad, Schmid, Graabak, Riiber), 50:15.5; 2. Germany (Rydzek, Frenzel, Riessle, Geiger), 50:16.5; 3. Austria (Gruber, Seidl, Rehrl, Klapfer), 50:20.5; 4. Japan, 50:44.2; 5. Finland, 51:25.1; 6. France, 51:27.5; 7. Italy, 52:54.6; 8. Poland, 53:09.5. Also: 10. United States (Taylor Fletcher, Grant Andrews, Jared Shumate, Ben Loomis), 57:05.2.

SKI JUMPING
(Full results here)

Men’s 130 m hill: 1. Markus Eisenbichler (GER), 279.4; 2. Karl Geiger (GER), 267.3; 3. Killian Peier (SUI), 266.1; 4. Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN), 262.0; 5. Kamil Stoch (POL), 259.4; 6. Stefan Kraft (AUT), 256.1; 7. Johann Andre Forfang (NOR), 250.9; 8. Robert Johansson (NOR), 248.9.

Men’s 109 m hill: 1. Dawid Kubacki (POL), 218.3; 2. Stoch (POL), 215.5; 3. Kraft (AUT), 214.8; 4. Philipp Aschenwald (AUT), 214.5; 5. Richard Freitag (GER), 211.3; 6. Stephan Leyhe (GER), 210.6; 7. Eisenbichler (GER), 210.5; 8. Yukiya Sato (JPN), 210.5.

Men’s Team 130 m hill: 1. Germany (Geiger, Freitag, Leyhe, Eisenbichler), 987.5; 2. Austria (Aschenwald, Hayboeck, Huber, Kraft), 930.9; 3. Japan (Sato, Ito, J. Kobayashi, R. Kobayashi), 920.2; 4. Poland, 909.1; 5. Norway, 900.2; 6. Slovenia, 858.7; 7. Switzerland, 837.0; 8. Czech Rep., 818.4.

Women’s 109 m hill: 1. Maren Lundby (NOR), 259.6; 2. Katharina Althaus (GER), 259.1; 3. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (AUT), 247.6; 4. Juliane Seyfarth (GER), 244.4; 5. Eva Pinkelnig (AUT), 241.8; 6. Sara Takanashi (JPN), 236.7; 7. Nika Kriznar, (SLO), 236.1; 8. Ursa Bogataj (SLO), 231.7.

Women’s Team 109 m hill: 1. Germany (Seyfarth, Straub, Vogt, Althaus), 898.9; 2. Austria (Pinkelnig, Seifriedsberger, Hoelzl, Iraschko-Stolz), 880.3; 3. Norway (Stroem, Braaten, Opseth, Lundby), 876.9; 4. Slovenia, 828.1; 5. Russia, 820.3; 6. Japan, 806.1; 7. France, 718.1; 8. Italy, 690.5. Also: 10. United States (Logan Sankey, Nina Lussi, Tara Geraghty-Moats, Nita Englund), 291.6.

Mixed Team 109 m hill: 1. Germany (Althaus, Eisenbichler, Seyfarth, Geiger), 1,012.2; 2. Austria (Pinkelnig, Aschenwald, Iraschko-Stolz, Kraft), 989.9; 3. Norway (Stroem, Johansson, Lundby, StJernen), 938.4; 4. Slovenia, 930.8; 5. Japan, 928.6; 6. Poland, 914.9; 7. Russia, 896.2; 8. Italy, 801.4.

FREESTYLE SKIING: China sweeps Aerials Globes; Kingsbury wins eighth straight Moguls title

By
Rich Perelman
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The 2018-19 World Cup Moguls podium, with winners Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) and Perrine Laffont (FRA) in the center. (Photo: FIS)

The weather was not always cooperative, but the seasonal prizes in the Aerials and Moguls divisions were confirmed over the weekend.

In the Aerials finale in China, 19-year-old Jiaxu Sun, who won a World Championships silver in the Mixed Aerials in February, came through with wins in both men’s competitions, but the seasonal title went to countryman Xindi Wang, his first career title.

The women’s Crystal Globe was won by veteran Mengtao Xu, who was fourth and first in the two events over the weekend. It’s Xu’s third seasonal title in a row.

In the Moguls events in Kazakhstan, the Sunday Dual Moguls event was snowed out, leaving Saturday’s winner Ikuma Horishima (JPN) and Yulia Galysheva (KAZ) as the last winners of the campaign. But the seasonal winners were Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury – his eighth straight – and France’s Perrine Laffont, her second consecutive World Cup Moguls title. Summaries:

FIS Freestyle World Cup
Shimao Lotus Mountain (CHN) ~ 2-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Aerials I: 1. Jiaxu Sun (CHN), 126.11; 2. Xindi Wang (CHN), 125.22; 3. Eric Loughran (USA), 123.45; 4. Longxiao Yang (CHN), 99.40; 5. Anton Kushnir (BLR), 99.09.

Men’s Aerials II: 1. Sun (CHN), 123.90; 2. Noe Roth (SUI), 123.01; 3. Kushnir (BLR), 121.72; 4. Wang (CHN), 103.10; 5. Yang (CHN), 101.16. Also in the top 10: 6. Nick Novak (USA), 96.46; … 9. Loughran (USA), 91.15; 10. Justin Schoenefeld (USA), 90.71.

Men’s Aerials Final Standings: 1. Xindi Wang (CHN), 316; 2. Jiaxu Sun (CHN), 298; 3. Anton Kushnir (BLR), 249; 4. Maxim Burov (RUS), 236; 5. Stanislav Nikitin (RUS), 220. Also in the top 10: 7. Eric Loughran (USA), 150; 8. Christopher Lillis (USA), 136; … 10. Justin Schoenefeld (USA), 120.

Women’s Aerials I: 1. Laura Peel (AUS), 96.58; 2. Sicun Xu (CHN), 81.78; 3. Ashley Caldwell (USA), 81.78; 4. Mengtao Xu (CHN), 81.07; 5. Olga Polyuk (UKR), 78.88. Also: 6. Madison Varmette (USA), 74.24.

Women’s Aerials II: 1.M. Xu (CHN), 101.15; 2. Caldwell (USA), 93.41; 3. S. Xu (CHN), 90.40; 4. Varmette (USA), 82.53; 5. Polyuk (UKR), 81.90. Also: 6. Morgan Northrup (USA), 80.95; 7. Megan Nick (USA), 79.06; 8. Kaila Kuhn (USA), 76.56.

Women’s Aerials Final Standings: 1. Mengtao Xu (CHN), 410; 2. Sicun Xu (CHN), 299; 3. Laura Peel (AUS), 256; 4. Ashley Caldwell (USA), 240; 5. Qi Shao (CHN), 202. Also in the top 10: 6. Madison Varmette (USA), 197; 7. Winter Vinecki (USA), 156; … 10. Megan Nick (USA), 125.

Team Aerials: 1. China (M. Xu, Sun, Wang), 299.06; 2. China, 290.05; 3. China, 260.08; 4. United States (Winter Vinecki, Eric Loughran, Justin Schoenefeld), 258.54; 5. United States (Ashley Caldwell, Chris Lillis, Jon Lillis), 218.96.

FIS Freestyle World Cup
Shymbulak (KAZ) ~ 2-3 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Moguls: 1. Ikuma Horishima (JPN), 81.72; 2. Mikael Kingsbury (CAN), 79.37; 3. Walter Wallberg (SWE), 78.67; 4. Daichi Hara (JPN), 78.03; 5. Ludvig Fjallstrom (SWE), 71.20.

Men’s Moguls Final Standings: 1. Mikael Kingsbury (CAN), 825; 2. Ikuma Horishima (JPN), 517; 3. Benjamin Cavet (FRA), 470; 4. Walter Wallberg (SWE), 461; 5. Matt Graham (AUS), 343. Also in the top 10: 7. Bradley Wilson (USA), 303; … 8. Casey Andringa (USA), 206.

Women’s Moguls: 1. Yulia Galysheva (KAZ), 79.69; 2. Perrine Laffont (FRA), 79.11; 3. Justine Dufour-Lapointe (CAN), 76.64; 4. Junko Hoshino (JPN), 75.91; 5. Jaelin Kauf (USA), 53.71. Also: 6. Olivia Giaccio (USA), 14.00.

Women’s Moguls Final Standings: 1. Perrine Laffont (FRA), 780; 2. Jaelin Kauf (USA), 570; 3. Jakara Anthony (AUS), 545; 4. Yulia Galysheva (KAZ), 533; 5. Tess Johnson (USA), 349.

ALPINE SKIING: Paris sweeps Kvitfjell Downhill and Super-G to close in a Crystal Globe

By
Rich Perelman
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Italy's 2019 World Super-G champion Dominik Paris (Photo: Vale93b via Wikipedia)

Italy’s Dominik Paris won both the Downhill and Super-G races in Kvitfjell (NOR) to edge closer to a career first: an Alpine World Cup Crystal Globe.

With just two weeks left in the 2018-19 Alpine season, Paris won the 13th and 14th World Cup races of his career and moved within striking distance of seasonal wins in both events.

In the Downhill, he trails defending champ Beat Feuz (SUI), 500-420, with one race left during the World Cup Final in Soldeu (AND). In the Super-G, he is the leader at 330 points, ahead of Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr (286), also with one race left.

Paris has been as high as second in the Super-G seasonal standings, back in 2015, but now he has the chance for a Crystal Globe. It was also the second time Paris has won both races at Kvitfjell, also in 2016.

Feuz maintained his Downhill lead by finishing second in Kvitfjell, and was also third in the Super-G.

The heavy snows in Rosa Khutor canceled all three events scheduled to be held there – a women’s Downhill and two Super-G races – and they will not be made up. Summaries:

FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup
Kvitfjell (NOR) ~ 2-4 March 2019
(Full results here)

Downhill: 1. Dominik Paris (ITA), 1:45.74; 2. Beat Feuz (SUI), 1:445.99; 3. Matthias Mayer (AUT), 1:46.11; 4. Mauro Caviezel (SUI), 1:46.36; 5. Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT), 1:46.38. Also in the top 25: 7. Steven Nyman (USA), 1:46.70; … 9. Jared Goldberg (USA), 1:46.99; … 12. Bryce Bennett (USA), 1:47.16; … 24. Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA), 1:47.49.

Super-G: 1. Paris (ITA), 1:29.20; 2. Kjetil Jansrud (NOR), 1:29.63; 3. Feuz (SUI), 1:29.80; 4. Kriechmayr (AUT), 1:30.02; 5. Travis Ganong (USA), 1:30.09. Also in the top 25: 15. Nyman (USA), 1:30.93.

ATHLETICS: Legese and Aga run away with wins in rainy Tokyo Marathon

By
Rich Perelman
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Ethiopian marathon star Ruti Aga

The conditions were much less than ideal for the Tokyo Marathon, the first of the World Marathon Majors races for 2019. It rained throughout, with occasional wind gusts, but that did not deter two excellent races by Ethiopians Berhanu Legese and Ruti Aga.

The favorite coming into the race was Kenyan Dickson Chumba, already a two-time winner, and he, Legese and Kenyan Bedan Karoki had dropped everyone else by 25 km. But Legese got stronger as the race progressed and Chumba dropped back by the 29 km mark, although Karoki was still close.

Legese continued to lead and apply pressure to Karoki and by 35 km, the race was essentially over … if Legese didn’t falter.

He didn’t and had a 1:16 lead by the 40 km mark and cruised in for a win in 2:04:48 – impressive considering the weather – and exactly 2:00 faster than Karoki. Chumba held onto third at 2:08:44.

“It is a good course,” said Legese. “Had the weather been better, I could have run 2:03.” Just 24, this was Legese’s third career marathon and first win; he had previously been sixth at Dubai and 10th at Chicago last year. This was Karoki’s best finish ever in a marathon; he was third at London in 2017.

The women’s race was focused on Aga, who came in as the eighth-fastest marathoner in history (2:18:34 ‘18), but had never won a marathon, in seven tries. But the eighth time was a charm.

Seven runners passed the half in a speedy 1:09:44, but Aga pulled away after 35 km and won by 21 seconds in 2:20:40. Countrywoman Helen Tola got a lifetime best of 2:21:01 for second and Shure Demise completed the Ethiopian sweep in 2:21:05. Summaries:

World Marathon Majors/Tokyo Marathon
Tokyo (JPN) ~ 3 March 2019
(Fulll results here)

Men: 1. Berhanu Legese (ETH), 2:04:48; 2. Bedan Karoki (KEN), 2:06:48; 3. Dickson Chumba (KEN), 2:08:44; 4. Simon Kariuki (KEN), 2:09:41; 5. Kensuke Horio (JPN), 2:10:21; 6. Masato Imai (JPN), 2:10:30; 7. Takuya Fujikawa (JPN), 2:10:35; 8. Daichi Kamino (JPN), 2:11:05; 9. Ryu Takaku (JPN), 2:11:49; 10. Tadashi Isshiki (JPN), 2:12:21.

Women: 1. Ruti Aga (KEN), 2:20:40; 2. Helen Tola (ETH), 2:21:01; 3. Shure Demise (ETH), 2:21:05; 4. Florence Kipkagat (KEN), 2:21:50; 5. Bedatu Hirpa (ETH) 2:23:43; 6. Ababel Yeshaneh (ETH), 2:24:02; 7. Mao Ichiyama (JPN), 2:24:33; 8. Joan Chelimo Melly (KEN), 2:26:24; 9. Rose Chelimo (KEN), 2:30:35; 10. Ruth Chebitok (KEN), 2:31:19.

GYMNASTICS: Wong, 15, surprises with American Cup win; Moldauer repeats as men’s winner

By
Rich Perelman
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American Cup champion Leanne Wong

The annual American Cup gymnastics meet is often the coming-out party for new talent. So it was this year as Leanne Wong, the reigning U.S. Junior Champion, made her senior debut against two World Championships medalists … and won!

Wong, all of 15 years old, won the Vault (14.666) and Beam (14.066) and finished fourth on the Uneven Bars (14.100) and second on Floor (13.933) to total 56.765, a full 3/10ths better than fellow American Grace McCallum. The latter finished second (Vault, Beam) or third (Bars, Floor) to clinch the silver medal.

The two Worlds medalists – 2018 silver winner Mai Murakami (JPN) and 2017 silver medalist Ellie Black (CAN) tied for third. Murakami won the Floor at 14.133 and Germany’s Kim Bui took the honors on the Bars at 14.400.

“I think it went better than I expected,” Wong said. “My goal was to hit all my routines, and I hit all four. I was a little nervous at first, but as soon as I got started, I felt the same as I always do.”

McCallum, 16, was happy to have introduced a new Floor routine. “I really liked my last routine, but I think this one fits me a little better,” she said. “I started doing my last one when I was 13. It was a little more cutesy. This one is a little more serious and upbeat and has the crowd going.”

The men’s competition saw Yul Moldauer defend his American Cup title from 2018, winning by just 0.001 over reigning national champ Sam Mikulak.

Between the two, they won five of the six events: Moldauer won the Vault (14.733) and Parallel Bars (14.966), while Mikulak won the Floor (14.733), Pommel Horse (14.433) and High Bar (14.166). Yue Ma of China won the Rings at 14.333.

Moldauer was second on Floor and Rings and even with a tie for fifth on the High Bar, managed a 85.932 total, 1/1,000th of a point better than Mikulak, whose downfall may have been his sixth on the Parallel Bars. Summaries:

USA Gymnastics/American Cup
Greensboro, North Carolina (USA) ~ 2 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s All-Around: 1. Yul Moldauer (USA), 85.932; 2. Sam Mikulak (USA), 85.931; 3. Yue Ma (CHN), 84/465; 4. Petro Pakhniuk (UKR), 82.864; 5. James Hall (GBR), 82.698; 6. Christian Baumann (SUI), 81.631; 7. Bart Deurloo (BEL), 76.932.

Women’s All-Around: 1. Leanne Wong (USA), 56.765; 2. Grace McCallum (USA), 56.465; 3. tie, Ellie Black (CAN) and Mai Murakami (JPN), 55.732; 5. Kim Bui (GER), 54.199; 6. Yufei Lu (CHN), 51.699; 7. Sanna Veerman (NED), 50.765; 8. Celia Seber (FRA), 49.798.

CYCLING: Medals in four stages enough for Roglic in UAE; Stybar wins Omloop

By
Rich Perelman
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Primoz Roglic (SLO) winning the UAE Tour Stage 6

Slovania’s Primoz Roglic has been an emerging star on the UCI World Tour since his first Tour win in 2016 in a Giro d’Italia stage, but he claimed a World Tour multi-stage race win for the second year in a row with a 31-second victory at the UAE Tour.

Roglic scored podium finishes in four of the seven stages, winning stage 6 and second in the third stage and maintained a lead from the very first stage after he was part of the winning squad in the Team Time Trial. He built the lead consistently and his sixth-stage win essentially closed the door on second-place Alejandro Valverde (ESP) with only the flat final stage remaining. Summaries:

UCI World Tour/UAE Tour
United Arab Emirates ~ 24 February-2 March 2019
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (16 km Team Time Trial): 1. Team Jumbo-Visma (NED), 16:49; 2. Team Subweb (GER), 16:56; 3. Bahrain Merida (BRN), 16:58; 4. Team Sky (GBR), 17:03; 5. Movistar Team (ESP), 17:07.

Stage 2 (184 km): 1. Fernando Gaviria (COL), 4:36:32; 2. Elia Viviani (ITA), 4:36:32; 3. Caleb Ewan (AUS), 4:36:32; 4. Kristoffer Halvorsen (NOR), 4:36:32; 5. Erik Baska (SVK), 4:36:32. Also in the top 50: 39. Joey Rosskopf (USA), 4:36:32.

Stage 3 (179 km): 1. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), 4:44:50; 2. Primoz Roglic (SLO), 4:44:50; 3. David Gaudu (FRA), 4:44:50; 4. Emanuel Buchmann (GER), 4:44:54; 5. Dan Martin (IRL), 4:45:02. Also in the top 50: 23. Tejay van Garderen (USA), +1:17; … 27. Brent Bookwalter (USA), +1:17; … 43. Larry Warbasse (USA), +2:49.

Stage 4 (205 km): 1. Ewan (AUS), 4:27:07; 2. Matteo Moschetti (ITA), 4:27:09; 3. Roglic (SLO), 4:27:09; 4. Quentin Jauregui (FRA), 4:27:12; 5. Luka Mezgec (SLO), 4:27:12. Also in the top 50: 11. Bookwalter (USA), 4:27:12; … 24. Van Garderen (USA), 4:27:12; … 32. Warbasse (USA), 4:27:12.

Stage 5 (181 km): 1. Viviani (ITA), 4:48:59; 2. Gaviria (COL), 4:48:59; 3. Marcel Kittel (GER), 4:48:59; 4. Sam Bennett (IRL), 4:48:59; 5. Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg (RSA), 4:48:59. Also in the top 50: 19. Kiel Reijnen (USA), 4:48:59; … 38. Sean Bennett (USA), 4:48:59; … 50. Warbasse (USA), 4:48:59.

Stage 6 (180 km): 1. Roglic (SLO), 4:15:39; 2. Tom Dumoulin (NED), 4:15:39; 3. Gaudu (FRA), 4:15:39; 4. Martin (IRL), 4:15:39; 5. 5. Valverde (ESP), 4:15:39. Also in the top 50: 15. Van Garderen (USA), +0:16; … 23. Bookwalter (USA), +0:35; … 27. Rosskopf (USA), +0:58; … 50. Warbasse (USA), +4:54.

Stage 7 (145 km): 1. Bennett (IRL), 3:17:51; 2. Gaviria (COL), 3:17:51; 3. Ewan (AUS), 3:17:51; 4. Alexander Kristoff (NOR), 3:17:51; 5. Viviani (ITA), 3:17:51. Also in the top 50: 35. Bookwalter (USA), 3:17:51; … 40. Warbasse (USA), 3:17:51

Final Standings: 1. Primoz Roglic (SLO), 26:27:29; 2. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), +0:31; 3. David Gaudu (FRA), +0:44; 4. Emanuel Buchmann (GER), +0:56; 5. Wilco Keldermann (NED), +1:04; 6. Tom Dumoulin (NED), +1:08; 7. Dan Martin (IRL), +1:11; 8. James Knox (GBR), +1:29; 9. Laurens de Plus (BEL), +1:45; 10. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL), +1:49. Also in the top 50: 16. Tejay van Garderen (USA), +2:22; … 18. Brent Bookwalter (USA), +2:47; … 39. Larry Warbasse (USA), +10:00; 40. Joey Rosskopf (USA), +10:16.

The European cycling season started in earnest with the 74th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite from Ghent to Ninove in Belgium. The major break in the race came in the final 40 km of the 200 km course as five riders – two-time winner Greg van Avermaet (BEL), Tim Wellens (BEL), Zdenek Stybar (CZE), Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) and Dylan Teuns (BEL) – broke away.

The winner would be one of the five and while van Avermaet and Wellens tried a late break, the pack re-formed and Stybar’s break with about 3 km left was decisive. Van Avermaet tried to catch up, but fell seven seconds short at the finish.

For Stybar, 33, it was his first World Tour win in three years and his ninth career World Tour victory. It was also his first win in a cobbled race, denying van Avermaet a record-tying third win in the Omloop. Summaries:

UCI World Tour/Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite
Ghent to Ninove (BEL) ~ 2 March 2019
(Full results here)

Final standings (200 km): 1. Zdenek Stybar (CZE), 4:53:17; 2. Greg van Avermaet (BEL), 4:53:26; 3. Tim Wellens (BEL), 4:53:26; 4. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ), 4:53:26; 5. Dylan Teuns (BEL), 4:53:26; 6. Jempy Drucker (LUX), 4:53:26; 7. Yves Lampaert (BEL), 4:53:26; 8. Philippe Gilbert (BEL), 4:53:26; 9. Matteo Trentin (ITA), 4:53:26; 10. Oliver Naesen (BEL), 4:53:26.

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