JUDO: Germany leads with seven medals to headline Marrakesh Grand Prix

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March 10, 2019

tsx pix 2019-310 buchard, amandine (Emenuele di Feliciatonio) — France's Amandine Buchard Nordmeyer (Photo: IJF/Emanuele Di Feliciatonio)

A very large field of 440 judoka fought in the Marrakesh Grand Prix, with Germany leading the medal table with two wins and seven total medals.

Three countries had two wins: Uzbekistan, France and Germany, and the lone no. 1-ranked fighter in the field won her division: France’s Amandine Buchard Nordmeyer at 52 kg. Summaries:

IJF World Tour/Marrakesh Grand Prix
Marrakesh (MAR) ~ 9-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men

-60 kg: 1. Sharafuddin Lutfillaev (UZB); 2. Artem Lesiuk (UKR); 3. Amiran Papinashvili (GEO) and Yanislav Gerchev (BUL).

-66 kg: 1. Sardor Nurillaev (UZB); 2. Mohamed Abdelmawgoud (EGY); 3. Yerlan Serikzhanov (KAZ) and Sebastian Seidl (GER).

-73 kg: 1. Denis Iartcev (RUS); 2. Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO; 3. Khikmatillokh Turaev (UZB) and Antoine Bouchard (CAN).

-81 kg: 1. Ivaylo Ivanov (BUL); 2. Vedat Albayrak (TUR); 3. Damian Szwarnowiecki (POL) and Alexios Ntanatsdis (GRE).

-90 kg: 1. Nemanja Majdov (SRB); 2. Eduard Trippel (GER); 3. Quedjau Nhabali (UKR) and Robert Florentino (DOM).

-100 kg: 1. Benjamin Fletcher (IRL); 2. Toma Nikiforov (BEL); 3. Kayhan Ozcicek-Takagi (AUS) and Mukhammadkarim Khurramov (UZB).

+100 kg: 1. Sven Heinle (GER); 2. Yerassyl Kazhybayev (KAZ); 3. Andril Kolesnyk (UKR) and Temur Rakhimov TJK).

Women

-48 kg: 1. Julia Figueroa (ESP); 2. Monica Ungureanu (ROU); 3. Melanie Clement (FRA) and Katharina Menz (GER).

-52 kg: 1. Amandine Buchard Nordmeyer (FRA); 3. Estrella Lopez Sheriff (ESP) and Gefen Primo (ISR).

-57 kg: 1. Chen-Ling Lien (TPE); 2. Anna Borowska (POL); 3. Timna Nelson Levy (ISR) and Hedvig Karakas (HUN).

-63 kg: 1. Andreja Leski (SLO); 2. Katharina Haecker (AUS); 3. Geke van den Berg (NED) and Lubjana Piovesana (GBR).

-70 kg: 1. Margaux Pinot (FRA); 2. Megan Fletcher (IRL); 3. Laura Vargas Koch (GER) and Elisavet Teltsidou (GRE).

-78 kg: 1. Anna Maria Wagner (GER); 2. Loriana Kuka (KOS); 3. Patricia Sampaio (POR) and Luisa Malzahn (GER).

+78 kg: 1. Kayra Sayit (TUR); 2. Tessie Savelkouls (NED); 3. Hortence Vanessa Mballa Atagana (CMR) and Nihel Cheikh Rouhou (TUN).

LANE ONE: For the U.S. women’s national soccer team, it’s about money … and time

By

Rich Perelman

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March 10, 2019

On International Women’s Day, 28 members of the United States women’s national soccer team filed a lawsuit in U.S. Federal Court in the Central District of California entitled:

Plaintiffs’ Collective Action Complaint for Violations
of the Equal Pay Act and Class Action Complaint
for Violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

In short, the U.S. women players (“WNT”) are suing because they are paid less than the members of the U.S. men’s national team (“MNT”), but are far more successful on the field and – according to the complaint – earn just as much or more money for the U.S. Soccer Federation than the players on the men’s team.

The suit comes about three months before the women will play in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France as defending champions, and as of today, as the no. 1-ranked team in the world (although their recent results question that status).

So what now? There are three immediate impacts:

● The narrative of the U.S. women’s team has changed, and the players and coaches will be now be asked continuously about the suit, the time being spent on it by players and whether it has already, or will in the future injure the performance of the American women in their defense of their World Cup title.

No matter what happens, it’s clear that the most underpaid people at U.S. Soccer going forward will be the team’s press officers.

● The folks at the U.S. Soccer Federation are now on the spot and will have to answer the suit, and will sooner or later have to make a decision as to what should be done: litigate it or settle it.

● A lot more information is now available about what players in the U.S. get paid to play on the national team.

On the last point, the complaint makes a series of assertions which make for worthwhile reading about being a professional soccer player in the United States. Some highlights quoted from the complaint:

58. A comparison of the WNT and MNT pay shows that if each team played 20 friendlies in a year and each team won all twenty friendlies, female WNT players would earn a maximum of $99,000 or $4,950 per game, while similarly situated male MNT players would earn an average of $263,320 or $13,166 per game against the various levels of competition they would face. A 20-game winning top tier WNT player would earn only 38% of the compensation of a similarly situated MNT player.

60. From March 19, 2013 through December 31, 2016, WNT players earned only $15,000 total for being asked to try out for the World Cup team and for making the team roster. MNT players, on the other hand, earned $55,000 each for making their team’s roster in 2014 and could have earned $68,750 each for making their team’s roster in 2018.

61. The pay for advancement through the rounds of the World Cup was so skewed that, in 2014, the USSF provided the MNT with performance bonuses totaling $5,375,000 for losing in the Round of 16, while, in 2015, the USSF provided the WNT with only $1,725,000 for winning the entire tournament. The WNT earned more than three times less than the MNT while performing demonstrably better.

(On the pay differential cited in paragraph 61, it’s worthwhile to note that FIFA’s payouts to participating teams at the World Cup and the Women’s World Cup were vastly different. The U.S. men made the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and received $9 million from FIFA. In contrast, the U.S. women won the 2015 Women’s World Cup and received $2 million from FIFA. The World Cup winners in 2014 – Germany – received $35 million from FIFA.

(So the USSF paid the women 86.25% of the money it got from FIFA, and paid the men only 59.72% of FIFA’s payout.)

The complaint states a series of other disparities in treatment, including “playing, training and travel conditions; promotion of their games; support and development for their games
and other terms and conditions of their employment that are less favorable than
provided to MNT players.”

In specific, the complaint complains about women having to play on artificial turf fields 13 times between 2014-17 (over 62 games), while the men’s team played only once (out of 49 matches) on artificial turf during the same period. And that while – in 2017 – the U.S. men’s team flew to matches on charters 17 times, this was not done once for the women’s team.

The filing asks to certify a class of plaintiffs from among all of the women’s team’s players from 4 February 2015 to the end date of the case, and requests damages including back pay and benefits, compensatory and punitive damages and attorney’s fees (which will be substantial in this case).

What the complaint does not talk about – quite properly – is the discrepancy between salaries of players in Major League Soccer, a men’s league, and the National Women’s Soccer League. In short,

● MLS salaries have a minimum of $54,500, and a small number of “designated players” earn well of $1 million.

● NWSL salaries have a minimum of $16,538 and a maximum of $46,200, less than the MLS minimum.

So the money paid to the women’s players on the National Team is that much dearer, and the U.S. Soccer Federation employs both men and women as members of the National Teams and so can be attacked on the equal pay grounds, where the club leagues – which are separate and unrelated entities – can not.

U.S. Soccer’s senior leadership, and its lawyers, now have to determine how to handle the complaint. They can fight it, negotiate and/or settle the case and must determine whether they have sufficient funds to do any of these things. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup coming to the U.S. (and Canada and Mexico), there will be a lot more money available for everyone, so the USSF might be wise to settle now rather than later.

The suit is a bad look for the federation and a warning to U.S. National Governing Bodies in team sports. But, from the public’s viewpoint, the way the women’s National Team is looked at from now through the World Cup has changed.

If the team wins in France, the players will be civil rights heroes who protested and won while doing it. If the U.S. falls short in June and is eliminated early, the suit will be the distraction that kept them from playing their best.

As noted above, perhaps the loser in all of this is the public relations staff of the USSF and the Women’s National Team.

Rich Perelman
Editor

RUGBY: South Africa wins in Vancouver, but the U.S. remains in first place in men’s Sevens Series

By

Rich Perelman

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March 10, 2019

The bad news was that the U.S. Eagles, who had been in five straight finals, didn’t make into the final of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Vancouver (CAN).

The good news is that they are still in first place, after six of the 10 stages of this year’s Sevens Series.

The U.S. and England were the only undefeated pool winners, and ended up facing each other in the quarterfinals, with the U.S. eking out a 21-19 victory. That sent the Eagles up against France and that didn’t go too well.

The French thrashed the U.S., 33-5, so for the first time this season, the American squad was not in the championship game.

On the other side of the bracket, South Africa crushed Fiji, 31-12, to move into the final, while Fiji met the U.S. for third. The Springboks won their first tournament of the season, 21-12 and the Fijians beat the U.S. in a medal match for the third time in a row this season, 24-14.

However, with the third-place finish, the U.S. has 113 points, staying ahead of New Zealand (106), Fiji (101) and South Africa (89). Importantly, the top four in this season’s standings will qualify for the Tokyo Games in 2020.

The men’s Sevens Series heads to Asia for two legs: in Hong Kong on 5-7 April and in Singapore on 13-14 April. The Vancouver pool standings and playoff results are here.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Laird and Palmer salvage Aussie pride with win in Sydney Open

By

Rich Perelman

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March 10, 2019

tsx pix 2019-310 nicole laird + becchara palmer 750 — Australia's Sudney Open winners Nicole Laird and Becchara Palmer (Photo: FIVB)

The FIVB World Tour 3-star tournament in Sydney (AUS) was supposed to be about top-seeded Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho defending their title in front of a raucous home crowd.

It didn’t turn out that way, but the crowd was happy anyway, as the Australian duo of Nicole Laird and Becchara Palmer won the tournament, having been seeded only 31st! They defeated the American pair of no. 7 Betsi Flint and Emily Day in three sets in the final, after besting the U.S. team of Brooke Sweat and Kerri Walsh Jennings in the semis. Sweat and Walsh Jennings finished third.

The men’s tournament was also surprising, with Marco and Esteban Grimalt from Chile – seeded second – standing atop the podium after defeating 25th-seeds Enrico Rossi and Adrian Carambula of Italy in straight sets. Summaries:

FIVB World Tour
Sydney (AUS) ~ 6-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Marco Grimalt/Esteban Grimalt (CHI); 2. Enrico Rossi/Adrian Carambula (ITA); 3. Stafford Slick/William Allen (USA); 4. Youssef Krou/Edouard Rowlandson (FRA). Semis: Grimalt/Grimalt d. Krou/Rowlandson, 2-0; Rossi/Carambula d. Slick/Allen, 2-0. Third: Slick/Allen d. Krou Rowlandson, 2-0 (injury). Final: Grimalt/Grimalt d. Rossi/Carambula, 2-0 (21-18, 21-12).

Women: 1. Nicole Laird/Becchara Palmer (AUS); 2. Betsi Flint/Emily Day (USA); 3. Brooke Sweat/Kerri Walsh Jennings (USA); 4. Fan Wang/Xinyi Xia (CHN). Semis: Laird/Palmer d. Sweat/Walsh Jennings, 2-1; Flint/Day d. Wang/Xia, 2-0. Third: Sweat/Walsh Jennings d. Wang/Xia, 2-0. Final: Laird/Palmer d. Flint/Day, 2-1 (21-19, 16-21, 15-13)

BADMINTON: Three wins for China and Momota makes history at the $1,000,000 All-England Open

By

Rich Perelman

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March 10, 2019

tsx pix 2019-310 momota, kento 750 (BWF) — Defending Japan Open champ Kento Momota of Japan (Photo: BWF)

The big money – $1,000,000 in prize money – brought out all of the no. 1 -ranked players and teams in the world for the Yonex All-England Open at the Arena Birmingham.

Two of the five won.

Japan’s Kento Momota continued to show he is the world’s best men’s Singles player with a three-set win over Denmark’s no. 6-ranked Viktor Axelsen and the Mixed Doubles team of Seiwei Zhang and Yaqiong Huang (CHN) dispatched no. 3-ranked Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino (JPN) in straight sets.

The other three top-ranked entries had mixed results. Tzu Ying Tai (TPE) reached the women’s final, but lost to no. 4 Yufei Chen of China in straight sets. In the women’s Doubles, no. 5 Qingchen Chen and Yifan Jia of China beat no. 1 Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in the semis and then won the final against no. 3 Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Hagahara.

Indonesia’s top-ranked Marcus Gideon and Kevin Sukamuljo (INA) lost their first match and were eliminated, but countrymen Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan (no. 7) won instead, beating surprise finalists Aaron Chia and Wooi Yik Soh (MAS) in the final.

Momota became the first Japanese men’s Singles winner at the All-England, he said afterwards, “It makes me very happy to become the first from my country to win the men’s singles title at the All England. It is not only my achievement, it is a tribute to the entire team as all of us have worked very hard for this. This title is comparable to the World Championships; however, I don’t want to be satisfied just yet.” Summaries:

BWF World Tour/All-England Open
Birmingham (GBR) ~ 6-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Kento Momota (JPN); 2. Viktor Axelsen (DEN); 3. Ka Long Angus Long (HKG) and Yuqi Shi (CHN). Semis: Momota d. Long, 21-19, 21-11; Axelsen d. Shi, 22-20, 13-21, 21-9. Final: Momota d. Axelsen, 21-11, 15-21, 21-15.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Mohammed Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan (INA); 2. Aaron Chia/Wooi Yik Soh (MAS); 3. Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN) and Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto (INA). Semis: Ahsan/Setiwan d. Kamura/Setiawan, 21-19, 21-16; Chia/Soh d. Alfian/Ardianto, 12-21, 22-20, 21-19. Final: Ahsan/Setiawan d. Chia/Soh, 11-21, 21-14, 21-12.

Women’s Singles: 1. Yufei Chen (CHN); 2. Tzu Ying Tai (TPE); 3. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN) and Nozomi Okuhara (JPN). Semis: Chen d. Okuhara, 21-17, 21-11; Tai d. Yamaguchi, 21-13, 10-21, 21-8. Final: Chen d. Tai, 21-17; 21-17.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Qingchen Chen/Yifan Jia (CHN); 2. Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (JPN); 3. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN) and Shiho Tanaka/Kohau Yonemoto (JPN). Semis: Chen/Jia d. Fukushima/Hirota, 21-18, 23-21; Matsumoto/Nagahara d. Tanaka/Yonemoto, 21-11, 21-12. Final: Chen/Jia d. Matsumoto/Nagihara, 18-21, 22-20, 21-11.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Siwei Zhang/Yaqiong Huang (CHN); 2. Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (JPN); 3. Soon Huat Goh/Shevon Jemie Lai (MAS) and Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti (INA). Semis: Watanabe/Higashino d. Goh/Lai, 21-16, 21-13; Zhang/Huang d. Jordan/Oktavianti, 13-21, 22-20, 21-13. Final: Zhang/Huang d. Watanabe/Higashino, 21-17, 22-20.

BIATHLON: Stunning Pursuit win for unknown Pidruchnyi in World Champs in Oestersund

By

Rich Perelman

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March 10, 2019

tsx pix 2019-310 pidruchnyi, dmytro 750 (IBU) — Ukraine's surprise World Champion Dmytro Pidruchnyi (Photo: IBU)

One of the amazing things about sport is that it is about people and not about prior performance.

Sure, we know about the top performers, but to see what Ukraine’s Dmytro Pidruchnyi did at the World Biathlon Championships in Oestersund (SWE) is why sport is so great.

Now 27, he came into the World Championships never having won a World Cup medal, let along a World Championships medal. He had a great start in the Sprint, finishing fourth – equaling his career-best finish – behind superstar winner Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR).

In Sunday’s 12.5 km Pursuit, Boe was again out in front, but suffered an uncharacteristic three misses on the shooting range and that let Pidruchnyi take the lead with 2.5 km left. Boe couldn’t catch him and the Ukranian crossed first and into dreamland.

“For the moment I cannot believe that I won a medal, a Gold medal. I do not believe that I could steal a medal from such a person as Johannes,” he said afterwards. “Actually, the last loop was really crazy for me. I was trying to do maximum. I was trying to battle as hard as I could, because Johannes was behind me and he is really strong.”

The women’s event winners were more familiar, as three-time Olympic gold medalist Anastasiya Kuzmina (SVK) won – surprisingly – her first career World Championships gold medal in the Sprint and Germany’s Denise Herrmann – a four-tine winner on the World Cup tour – won her first Worlds gold in the 10 km Pursuit.

The World Championships continue this week, with the men’s 20 km Individual race on Tuesday. Summaries so far:

IBU World Championships
Oestersund (SWE) ~ 7-17 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s 10 km Sprint: 1. Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR), 24:37.6 (1 penalty); 2. Alexander Loginov (RUS), +13.7 (0); 3. Quentin Fillon Maillet (FRA), +16.5 (0); 4. Dmytro Pidruchnyi (UKR), +16.8 (0); 5. Simon Desthieux (FRA), +24.8 (0); 6. Martin Fourcade (FRA), +32.5 (0); 7. Erlend Bjoentegaard (NOR), +34.8 (0); 8. Erik Lesser (GER), +44.7 (0). Also in the top 25: 22. Sean Doherty (USA), +1:32.1 (0).

Men’s 12.5 km Pursuit: 1. Pidruchnyi (UKR), 31:54.1 (2); 2. J.T. Boe (NOR), +8.3 (5); 3. Fillon Maillet (FRA), +17.7 (3); 4. Tarjei Boe (NOR), +18.1 (1); 5. Fourcade (FRA), +27.8 (2); 6. Andrejs Rastorgujevs (LAT), +40.8 (1); 7. Antonin Guigonnat (FRA), +47.3 (2); 8. Benjamin Weber (FRA), +47.8 (3). Also in the top 25: 20. Doherty (USA), +1:54.3 (2).

Women’s 7.5 km Sprint: 1. Anastasiya Kuzmina (SVK), 22:17.5; 2. Ingrid Tandrevold (NOR), +9.7; 3. Laura Dahlmeier (GER), +12.6; 4. Hanna Oeberg (SWE), +13.2; 5. Mona Brorsson (SWE), +21.7; 6. Denise Herrmann (GER), +23.9; 7. Marketa Davidova (CZE), +26.5; 8. Ekaterina Yurlova-Percht (RUS), +31.4. Also in the top 25: 11. Clare Egan (USA), +33.3.

Women’s 10 km Pursuit: 1. Herrmann (GER), 31:45.9 (2); 2. Tiril Eckhoff (NOR), +31.4 (2); 3. Dahlmeier (GER), +31.6 (1); 4. Marte Olsbu Roeiseland (NOR), +1:35.0 (4); 5. Oeberg (SWE), +1:35.0 (5); 6. Kuzmina (SVK), +1:41.3 (7); 7. Brorsson (SWE), +1:47.2 (4); 8. Ingrid Tandrevold (NOR), +2:01.2 (4). Also in the top 25: 12. Egan (USA), +2:44.3 (5); … 25. Susan Dunklee (USA), +3:27.6 (3).

Mixed Relay (2×6 km/2x 7.5 km): 1. Norway (Roeiseland, Eckhoff, Boe, Christiansen), 1:17:41.4; 2. Germany (Hinz, Herrmann, Peiffer, Doll), +13.1; 3. Italy (Vittozzi, Wierer, Hofer, Windisch), +1:09.6; 4. Russia, +1:32.4; 5. Sweden, +1:35.3; 6. Czech Rep., +1:51.3; 7. Ukraine, +2:27.2; 8. France, +2:41.2. Also: 19. United States (Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, Sean Doherty, Leif Nordgren), +7:21.2.

FREESTYLE SKIING: Irving and Sharpe claim Halfpipe wins in season finale at Mammoth

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 10, 2019

tsx pix 2019-310 sharpe, cassie — Canada's World Cup Halfpipe champ Cassie Sharpe (Photo: FIS)

The weather was difficult, but the victories were sweet for American Birk Irving and Canada’s Cassie Sharpe in the final Halfpipe World Cup of the season at Mammoth Mountain, California.

The seasonal World Cup title was on the line for both the men and women, but for Irving, it was his first World Cup of the season!

No matter, he came with an 88.60 on his first run that had him in second place, then turned up the volume on his final run and scored 95.20 for the victory. “It’s amazing to finish off the season with my first podium and my first victory,” said Irving, “I just wanted to put my stock run on my first run. I was able to put it down and I was sitting in top-3. Then I just thought that I didn’t have that much to lose so I tried to throw some different tricks in there and it worked out perfectly.”

Canada’s Simon d’Artois finished second off his first-round score of 93.80, but even better was that he won the seasonal World Cup title. “I can’t believe it. It hasn’t yet hit me”, said d’Artois, “It was a tough day and I was happy to put two runs. There was obviously some tough competition out here. And Birk absolutely killed it and he deserves to be in first. But to finish second here today and to walk away with the globe is just unbelievable.”

In the women’s Halfpipe, Canada’s Cassie Sharpe won both the competition in Mammoth and the seasonal title.

“I like to put myself under pressure,” said Sharpe, ”It stresses me out, but it’s so fun. I came into this not expecting to get the globe, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up about it. If it happened then yeah, but if it didn’t, I did not want to be upset about it.”

Sharpe was also second after the first round, but scored a fabulous 95.60 on the second run to win easily from Estonia’s 17-year-old wunderkind, Kelly Sildaru (87.40). The victory allowed her to take the season crown, 280-260 from teammate Rachael Karker.

Sunday’s Slopestyle events were also affected by weather, but Mac Forehand of the U.S. managed a win in the men’s division for his second medal of the season. Swiss Mathilde Gremaud won the women’s Slopestyle, but the seasonal races won’t be decided until the final competition in Switzerland at the end of the month. Summaries:

FIS Freestyle Skiing World Cup
Mammoth Mountain, California (USA) ~ 7-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Halfpipe: 1. Birk Irving (USA), 95.20; 2. Simon d’Artois (CAN), 93.80; 3. Thomas Krief (FRA), 86.60; 4. David Wise (USA), 85.20; 5. Jaxin Hoerter (USA), 84.80. Also: 8. Hunter Hess (USA), 74.40; … 10. Cameron Brodrick (USA), 61.80; … 12. Cassidy Jarrell (USA), 58.60.

Men’s Halfpipe Final Standings: 1. Simon d’Artois (CAN), 256; 2. Nico Porteous (NZL), 225; 3. David Wise (USA), 210; 4. Hunter Hess (USA), 178; 5. Thomas Krief (FRA), 164.

Men’s Slopestyle: 1. Mac Forehand (USA), 90.95; 2. Ferdinand Dahl (NOR), 86.05; 3. Kiernan Fagan (USA), 85.20; 4. Teal Harle (CAN), 83.95; 5. Max Moffatt (CAN), 82.05. Also: 6. Nick Goepper (USA), 80.85; … 10. Colby Stevenson (USA), 66.15; … 16. Peter Raich (USA), 32.40.

Women’s Halfpipe: 1. Cassie Sharpe (CAN), 95.60; 2. Kelly Sildaru (EST), 87.40; 3. Kexin Zhang (CHN), 82.20; 4. Rachael Karker (CAN), 79.40; 5. Zoe Atkin (GBR), 73.80. Also: 6. Brita Sigourney (USA), 68.40.

Women’s Halfpipe Final Standings: 1. Cassie Sharpe (CAN), 280; 2. Rachael Karker (CAN), 260; 3. Kexin Zhang (CHN), 256; 4. Kelly Sildaru (EST), 180; 5. Fanghui Li (CAN), 156.

Women’s Slopestyle: 1. Mathilde Gremaud (SUI), 86.65; 2. Johanne Killi (NOR), 79.15; 3. Megan Oldham (CAN), 76.15; 4. Sarah Hoefflin (SUI), 75.75; 5. Julia Krass (USA), 64.70. Also: 6. Taylor Lundquist (USA), 61.80.

SPEED SKATING: More world records fall in Utah, and Bowe wins 1,500 World Cup title

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 10, 2019

tsx pix 2019-310 takagi, miho (ISU) — World-record holder Miho Takagi (JPN) (Photo: ISU)

The star of the 2019 World Cup Final was the Utah Olympic Oval, which re-confirmed its status as the fastest track in the world, with two more world records on the final day of the meet:

● Men’s 1,500 m: 1:40.176, Kjeld Nuis (NED)

● Women’s 1,500 m: 1:49.839, Miho Takagi (JPN)

Takagi claimed her record in the first race of the day, but she had to beat the world record set two pairs earlier by American Brittany Bowe. Like the 1,000 m the day before, Bowe sped to a world mark of 1:50.327 – better than American Heather Bergsma’s mark of 1:50.85 from 2015, on this same track – and took the lead. Takagi, skating against Dutch star Ireen Wust, won and became the first women under 1:50 with a time of 1:49.839!

In all, four women broke Bergsma’s time from four years ago, with Takagi owning the record, but Bowe winning the seasonal 1,500 m title – her first at that distance – to go with her 1,000 m title from Saturday.

In the men’s 1,500 m, Nuis skated in the second pair against teammate Thomas Krol and moved powerfully around the oval to clock 1:40.76, breaking Russian Denis Yuskov’s 1:41.02 from 2017. Yuskov was still to come and he made a mighty effort, finally finishing in 1:41.499, but finished third to Nuis, and to Krol (1:40.541).

Yuskov got the consolation prize of winning the 1,500 m season title with 319 points, well ahead of Min-Seok Kim (KOR: 279) and Nuis (274).

In the sprints, Russia’s Pavel Kulizhnikov, who set a world record on Saturday, was the easy winner of the season series after Sunday’s race, won by Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN). Kulizhnikov finished with 630 points to 594 for Shinhama.

The women’s 500 m season title went to Austria’s Vanessa Herzog by 708-600, even though runner-up Nao Kodaira (JPN) won both races on the weekend. Kodaira’s mid-season decision to skip some World Cup races for more training was the difference, as she was undefeated in the eight races she skated. But Herzog competed in all 11.

The meet concluded with an astonishing eight world marks being set in six (of the 10) events, with two each in the women’s 1,000 m and 1,500 m, making the Utah Olympic Oval once again the star of the international speed skating circuit for 2019! Summaries:

ISU Speed Skating World Cup Final
Kearns, Utah (USA) ~ 9-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men

500 m I: 1. Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS), 33.616 (World Record; old, 33.98, Kulizhnikov, 2015); 2. Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN), 33.835; 3. Yuma Murakami (JPN), 34.113; 4. Min-Kyu Cha (KOR), 34.227; 5. Ryohei Haga (JPN), 34.238.

500 m II: 1. Shinhama (JPN), 33.790; 2. Cha (KOR), 34.030; 3. Murakami (JPN), 34.104; 4. Viktor Mushtakov (RUS), 34.168; 5. Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR). 34281.

500 m World Cup Final Standings: 1. Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS), 630; 2. Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN), 594; 3. Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR), 498; 4. Ryohei Hag (JPN), 492; 5. Yuma Murakami (JPN), 481.

1,000 m: 1. Kjeld Nuis (NED), 1:06.183 (World Record; old, 1:06.42, Shani Davis (USA), 2009); 2. Thomas Krol (NED, 1:06.255; 3. Kai Verbij (NED), 1:06.347; 4. Kulizhnikov (RUS), 1:06.476; 5. Lorentzen (NOR), 1:06.513. Also: 9. Joey Mantia (USA), 1:07.348.

1,000 m World Cup Final Standings: 1. Kjeld Nuis (NED), 342; 2. Kai Verbij (NED), 304; 3. Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS), 303; 4. Thomas Krol (NED), 298; 5. Havard Lorentzen (NOR), 297. Also: 10. Joey Mantia (USA), 219.

1,500 m: 1. Nuis (NED), 1:40.176 (World Record; old, 1:41.02, Denis Yuskov (RUS), 2017); 2. Krol (NED), 1:40.541; 3. Denis Yuskov (RUS), 1:41.499; 4. Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR), 1:42.392; 5. Min-Seok Kim (KOR), 1:42.545. Also: 8. Mantia (USA), 1:42.924.

1,500 m World Cup Final Standings: 1. Denis Yuiskov (RUS), 319; 2. Min-Seok Kim (KOR), 279; 3. Kjeld Nuis (NED), 274; 4. Seitaro Ichinohe (JPN), 263; 5. Thomas Krol (NED), 259. Also: 7. Joey Mantia (USA), 249.

5,000 m: 1. Patrick Roest (NED), 6:03.706; 2. Marcel Bosker (NED), 6:08.904; 3. Ted-Jan Bloemen (CAN), 6:09.645; 4. Alexander Rumyantsev (RUS), 6:10.785; 5. Pedersen (NOR), 6:10.982.

5,000/10,000 m World Cup Final Standings: 1. Alexander Rumyantsev (RUS), 322; 2. Marcel Bosker (NED), 320; 3. Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR), 317; 4. Patrick Roest (NED), 282; 5. Patrick Beckert (GER), 270.

Mass Start (16 laps): 1. Ryosuke Tsuchiya (JPN), 7:38.390; 2. Vitaly Mikhailov (LR), 7:41.210; 3. Simon Schouten (NED), 7:51.660; 4. Viktor Hald Thorup (DEN), 7:58.000; 5. Chris Huizinga (NED), 7:10.510. Also: 9. Mantia (USA), 7:12.120.

Mass Start World Cup Final Standings: 1. Cheonho Um (KOR), 535; 2. Bart Swings (BEL), 502; 3. Ruslan Zakharov (RUS), 434; 4. Livio Wenger (SUI), 420; 5. Ryosuke Tsuchiya (JPN), 410. Also: 9. Joey Mantia (USA), 371.

Women

500 m I: 1. Nao Kodaira (JPN), 36.474; 2. Vanessa Herzog (AUT), 36.850; 3. Angelika Golikova (RUS), 36.9032; 4. Brittany Bowe (USA), 37.168; 5. Konami Soga (JPN), 37.190.

500 m II: 1. Kodaira (JPN), 36.492; 2. Olga Fatkulina (RUS), 36.833; 3. Herzog (AUT), 36.835; 4. Konami Soga (JPN), 36.995; 5. Maki Tsuji (JPN), 37.090. Also: 6. Bowe (USA), 37.126.

500 m World Cup Final Standings: 1. Vanessa Herzog (AUT), 708; 2. Nao Kodaira (JPN), 600; 3. Olga Fatkulina (RUS), 587; 4. Angelika Golikova (RUS), 556; 5. Brittany Bowe (USA), 510.

1,000 m: 1. Brittany Bowe (USA), 1:11.610 (World Record; old, 1:11.713, Miho Takagi (JPN) in prior pair; pre-meet world record: 1:12.09, Nao Kodaira (JPN), 2017); 2. Miho Takagi (JPN), 1:11.713; 3. Kodaira (JPN), 1:11.776; 4. Yekaterina Shikhova (RUS), 1:12.469; 5. Olga Fatkulina (RUS), 1:12.986.

1,000 m World Cup Final Standings: 1. Brittany Bowe (USA), 397; 2. Miho Takagi (JPN), 310; 3. Nao Kodaira (JPN), 298; 4. Vanessa Herzog (AUT), 277; 5. Daria Kachanova (RUS), 256.

1,500 m: 1. Takagi (JPN), 1:49.839 (World Record; old, 1:50.327, Brittany Bowe (USA) in a prior pair; pre-meet world record: 1:50.85, Heather Bergsma (USA), 2015); 2. Bowe (USA), 1:50.327; 3. Yekaterina Shikhova (RUS), 1:50.637; 4. Ireen Wust (NED), 1:50.708; 5. Melissa Wijfje (NED), 1:52.559.

1,500 m World Cup Final Standings: 1. Brittany Bowe (USA), 378; 2. Miho Takagi (JPN), 331; 3. Ireen Wust (NED), 303; 4. Lotte van Beek (NED), 273; 5. Yekaterina Shikhova (RUS), 264.

3,000 m: 1. Martina Sabilkova (CZE), 3:52.027 (World Record; old, 3:53.31, Sabilkova, 2019); 2. Esmee Visser (NED), 3:54.023; 3. Natalia Voronina (RUS), 3:54.064; 4. Isabelle Weidemann (CAN), 3:55.582; 5. Maryna Zuyeva (BLR), 3:55.731. Also: 10. Cariljn Schoutens (USA), 4:07.050.

3,000/5,000 m World Cup Final Standings: 1. Martina Sabilkova (CZE), 370; 2. Esmee Visser (NED), 343; 3. Natalia Voronina (RUS), 335; 4. Isabelle Weidemann (CAN), 322; 5. Ivanie Blondin (CAN), 272.

Mass Start (16 laps): 1. Irene Schouten (NED), 8:00.18; 2. Bo-Reum Kim (KOR), 8:00.43; 3. Ivanie Blondin (CAN), 8:00.54; 4. Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA), 8:00.75; 5. Elizaveta Kazelina (RUS), 8:01.35.

Mass Start World Cup Final Standings: 1. Bo-Reum Kim (KOR),478; 2. Irene Schouten (NED), 456; 3. Francesca Lollobrigida (ITA), 414; 4. Ivanie Blondin (CAN), 380; 5. Nana Takagi (JPN), 362.

FENCING: Minobe and Popescu triumph in Epee Grand Prix in Budapest

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 10, 2019

tsx pix 2019-310 popescu, ana maria 750 (marie-lan nguyen) — Romania's Olympic Epee medalist Ana Maria Popescu (Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen via Wikipedia)

The second Grand Prix of the season was a showcase for the veterans, as 31-year-old Kazuyasu Minobe and Romania’s Ana Maria Popescu, 34, came out as the winners.

Minobe won his first career Grand Prix gold medal – he also has three World Cup golds – by defeating Italy’s Andrea Santarelli in the final, 15-12. The silver was Santarelli’s third Grand Prix medal and his first silver after two prior bronzes.

Popescu has had a storied career, with an Olympic silver in 2008. She dispensed with Korea’s Young Mi Kang, 15-7, in the final as the two moved up in the FIE World Rankings to fourth (Popescu) and third (Kang).

Kang is also 34, but Popescu won her 15th Grand Prix medal, with seven wins dating back as far as 2008. This was Kang’s first-ever Grand Prix medal.

In the men’s Sabre World Cup in Padua (ITA), home favorite Luca Curatoli took the gold medal – his first ever in a World Cup – by edging legendary countryman Aldo Montano, 15-12. For the 40-year-old Montano – the 2004 Olympic Champion – it was his 20th World Cup medal, but his first in three years.

American Eli Dershwitz, ranked no. 1, finished fifth – losing in the quaretrfinals – but maintained his top ranking.

The women’s Sabre World Cup was won by Russia’s reigning World Champion, Sofia Podzniakova, who defeated three-time World Champion Olga Kharlan (UKR) in the final, 15-13. Despite being the current world champ, this was Podzniakova’s first World Cup medal ever, while Kharlan won her 26th. Summaries:

FIE Epee Grand Prix
Budapest (HUN) ~ 8-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Epee: 1. Kazuyasu Minobe (JPN); 2. Andrea Santarelli (ITA); 3. Tibor Andrasfi (HUN) and Max Heinzer (SUI). Semis: Andrasfi, 15-9; Santarelli d. Heinzer, 15-10. Final: Minobe d. Santarelli, 15-12.

Women’s Epee: 1. Ana Maria Popescu (ROU); 2. Young Mi Kang (KOR); 3. Injeong Choi (KOR) and Coraline Vitalis (FRA). Semis: Popescu d. Choi, 13-11; Kang d. Vitalis, 15-13. Final: Popescu d. Kang, 15-7.

FIE Sabre World Cup
Padua (ITA) ~ 8-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Sabre: 1. Luca Curatoli (ITA); 2. Aldo Montano (ITA); 3. Max Hartung (GER) and Benedikt Wagner (GER). Semis: Curatoli d. Wagner, 15-12; Montano d. Hartung, 15-10. Final: Curatoli d. Montano, 15-13.

Men’s Team Sabre: 1. Korea; 2. Iran; 3. Italy; 4. Romania. Semis: Korea d. Romania, 45-28; Iran d. Italy, 45-43. Third: Italy d. Roman, 45-41. Final: Korea d. Iran, 45-28.

FIE Sabre World Cup
Athens (GRE) ~ 8-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Women’s Sabre: 1. Sofia Pozdniakova (RUS); 2. Olga Kharlan (UKR); 3. Ji-Yeon Kim (KOR) and Lisa Pusztai (HUN). Semis: Pozdniakova d. Kim, 15-11; Kharlan d. Pustzai, 15-05. Final: Pozdniakova d. Kharlan, 15-10.

Women’s Team Sabre: 1. France; 2. Russia; 3. Italy; 4. United States. Semis: France d. U.S., 45-34; Russia d. Italy, 45-39. Third: Italy d. U.S., 45-42. Final: France d. Russia, 45-32.

NORDIC SKIING: Bolshunov leads a Russian sweep, while Johaug remains perfect at Holmenkollen in Oslo

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 10, 2019

tsx pix 122518 johaug, therese podium 750 — Norwegian cross-country superstar Therese Johaug

The amazing story of Therese Johaug added another chapter on Sunday as she won her 11th straight distance race at the World Cup or World Championships with a victory in front of a happy home crowd in the 30 km Mass Start race in Oslo.

She simply could not be beaten and has now won all eight of her World Cup distance starts to go along with three World Championships distance gold medals.

Because she is a distance-only star – she finished 33rd in her one Sprint race of the season, back in November – she sits fourth in the seasonal standings behind teammate Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg (NOR: 1,317), new Russian star Natalia Nepryaeva (1,267) and Finland’s Krista Parmakoski (1,057).

There are six races left in the season, with three sprints and three distance races, so Oestberg is in a good position to win her first overall title.

In the men’s famed 50 km race at the Holmenkollen Ski Fest in Oslo, Alexander Bolshunov not only led a 1-2-3-4 sweep, but took the season lead in the Cross Country World Cup. He now has 1,230 points to 1,181 for Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, also with six races left.

With Nepryaeva at 23 and Bolshunov just 22, Russia could be contending for honors for the next decade, if they can stay free from injury.

In the Nordic Combined, Norway’s seasonal World Cup champion Jarl Magnus Riiber came from ninth after the jumping to win his 11th event of the 19 held this season. Although his 10 km time was only fifth-fastest in the field, he was able to outlast Finland’s Ilkka Herola by 0.2 seconds at the finish line.

In Ski Jumping, the man with the best moustache in sports – Norway’s Robert Johansson – won his first event of the season, ahead of Austrian star Stefan Kraft. Japan’s World Cup leader Ryoyu Kobayashi essentially clinched the seasonal title with a fifth-place finish. He now has a 500-point lead with five events left. A single point in any of them will give the 22-year-old the Crystal Globe.

In the women’s jumping, 35-year-old Daniela Iraschko-Stolz won her their event of the season, but Maren Lundby (NOR) maintained a solid 1,413-1,330 lead over Katharina Althaus (GER) in the cumulative standings. Summaries from the Holmenkollen Ski Fest:

FIS Cross Country World Cup
Oslo (NOR) ~ 9-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s 50 km Mass Start Classical: 1. Alexander Bolshunov (RUS), 2:23:49.8; 2. Maxim Vylegzhanin (RUS), 2:23:50.8; 3. Andrey Larkin (RUS), 2:23:51.4; 4. Ilia Semkov (RUS), 2:23:51.8; 5. Alex Harvey (CAN), 2:23:54.4. Also in the top 25: 19. Scott Patterson (USA), 2:24:56.2; … 24. David Norris (USA), 2:25:56.4.

Women’s 30 km Mass Start Classical: 1. Therese Johaug (NOR), 1:18:54.5; 2. Natalie Nepryaeva (RUS), 1:20:40.4; 3. Ebba Andersson (NOR), 1:20:44.4; 4.Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg (NOR), 1:20:44.6; 5. Charlotte Kalla (SWE), 1:21:12.4.

FIS Nordic Combined World Cup
Oslo (NOR) ~ 9 March 2019
(Full results here)

Gundersen 134 m hill/10.0 km: 1. Jarl Magnus Riiber (NOR), 26:13.8; 2. Ilkka Herola (FIN), 26:14.0; 3. Espen Bjoernstad (NOR), 26:21.6; 4. Manuel Faisst (AUT), 26:26.1; 5. Akito Watabe (JPN), 26:31.8.

FIS Ski Jumping World Cup
Oslo (NOR) ~ 9-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s 134 m hill: 1. Robert Johansson (NOR), 262.0; 2. Stefan Kraft (AUT), 258.3; 3. Peter Prevc (SLO), 252.8; 4. Philip Aschenwald (AUT), 250.2; 5. Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN), 250.1.

Men’s Team 134 m hill: 1. Norway (Forfang, Pedersen, Lindvik, Johansson), 469.8; 2. Japan, 456.8; 3. Austria, 454.4; 4. Poland, 440.9; 5. Germany, 437.9.

Women’s 134 m hill: 1. Daniela Iraschko-Stolz (AUT), 209.0; 2. Juliane Seyfarth (GER), 194.3; 3. Katharina Althaus (GER), 193.3; 4. Sara Takanashi (JPN), 192.1; 5. Maren Lundby (NOR), 186.5.

SHORT TRACK: Second-day sweeps claim world titles for Lim and Schulting

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 10, 2019

tsx pix 2019-310 schulting, suzanne WCh (ISU) — World Short Track Champion Suzanne Schulting (NED) wins the Superfinal. (Photo: ISU)

The ISU World Championships in Short Track were decided by second-day performances from Korea’s Hyo-Jun Lim and Dutch star Suzanne Schulting that gave them the title of “World Champion” for 2019.

Lim, the Olympic 1,500 gold medalist last year, won his specialty on the first day, ahead of Canada’s Samuel Girard, but then took over on Sunday in Sofia (BUL). He first won the 1,000 m, just ahead of favored Dae-Heon Hwang (KOR) and then squeezed out a win on the 3,000 m over Russia’s Semen Elistratov.

That gave Lim three wins in the four events – Hwang won the 500 m over Olympic champ Dajing Wu (CHN) – and an easy overall win with 102 points to just 55 for Hwang. The 1-2 finish for Korea was their first since 2013.

“I came to the World Championships for the first time last year and finished fourth, so I am really happy to win this time,” said Lim. And it is great that my teammate got second place. On the ice we always try to win, to beat each other, but off it we are friends.”

In the women’s racing, defending champ Min-Jeong Choi won the 1,500 m on Saturday, but Schulting came on strong on Sunday, winning the 1,000 m – where she was Olympic Champion – and then the 3,000 m Superfinal, edging Choi by 1/10th of a second.

That was enough for an 81-76 win in the overall classification, the first-ever World Championship overall title for a Dutch skater woman.

“I am incredibly happy right now,” said Schulting. “It’s bizarre, incredible. I won this because I trained so, so hard last summer. This really counts. After my Olympic title at PyeongChang over 1,000 m, I wanted to prove that I am not a one-day fly. I won so many races this year. I won the European title, so that encouraged me to come to Sofia and finish with the World title. All credit to my coach, Jeroen Otter.”

Summaries:

ISU Short Track World Championships
Sofia (BUL) ~ 9-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men

500 m: 1. Dae-Heon Hwang (KOR), 42.490; 2. Dajing Wu (CHN), 42.275; 3. Ziwei Ren (CHN), 42.888. Disqualified: Shaolin Sandor Liu (HUN).

1,000 m: 1. Hyo-Jun Lim (KOR), 1:26.468; 2. Dae-Heon Hwang (KOR), 1:26.657; 3. Semen Elistratov (RUS), 1:26.660; 4. Keita Watanabe (JPN), 1:26.877; 5. Tommaso Dotti (ITA), 1:26.967; 6. Ziwei Ren (CHN), 1:27.369.

1,500 m: 1. Lim (KOR), 2:31.632; 2. Sam Girard (CAN), 2:31.685; 3. June-Seo Lee (KOR), 2:31.717; 4. Steven Dubois (CAN), 2:31.814; 5. Elistratov (RUS), 2:32.438; 6. Hongzhi Xu (CHN), 2:35.284. Disqualified: Hwang (KOR) and Watanabe (JPN).

3,000 m Superfinal: 1. Lim (KOR), 5:00.998; 2. Elistratov (RUS), 5:01.120; 3. Watanabe (JPN), 5:01.847; 4. J-S Lee (KOR), 5:01.917; 5. Ren (CHN), 5:05.156; 6. Dubois (CAN), 5:05.189; 7. Girard (CAN), 5:07.162; 8. D. Wu (CHN), 6:08.291.

Final Standings: 1. Hyo-Jun Lim (KOR), 102; 2. Dae Heon Hwang (KOR), 55; 3. Semen Elistratov (RUS), 44; 4. Samuel Girard (CAN), 29; 5. Dajing Wu (CHN), 22; 6. Keita Watanabe (JPN), 21; 7. June-Seo Lee (KOR), 21; 8. Ziwei Ren (CHN), 19.

5,000 m Relay: 1. Korea (Hwang, Le, Lim, Park), 7:04.292; 2. China (Ren, Wu, Xu, Yang), 7:04.651; 3. Hungary (Burjan, Krueger, S-S Liu, Varnyu), 7:04.961; 4. Russia, 7:18.095.

Women

500 m: 1. Lara van Reijnen (NED), 43.267; 2. Kexin Fan (CHN), 43.427; 3. Suzanne Schulting (NED), 43.518. Disqualified: Martina Valcepina (ITA).

1,000 m: 1. Schulting (NED), 1:28.986; 2. Min-Jeong Choi (KOR), 1:29.187; 3. Kim Boutin (CAN), 1:29.211; 4. Ji-Yoo Kim (KOR), 1:30.679; 5. Safia Prosvirnova (RUS), 1:30.803.

1,500 m: 1. Choi (KOR), 2:29.741; 2. Boutin (CAN), 2:29.803; 3. Prosvirnova (RUS), 2:29.843; 4. J-Y Kim (KOR), 2:29.961; 5. Hanne Desmet (BEL), 2:30.148; 6. Veronique Pierron (FRA), 2:30.884. Disqualified: Ekaterina Efremenkova (RUS).

3,000 m Superfinal: 1. Schulting (NED), 5:26.880; 2. Choi (KOR), 5:26.980; 3. J-Y Kim (KOR), 5:27.039; 4. Prosvirnova (RUS), 5:27.121; 5. Yize Zang (CHN), 5:27.198; 6. Boutin (CAN), 5:27.428; 7. Kexin Fan (CHN), 5:29.195.

Final Standings: 1. Suzanne Schulting (NED), 81; Min Jeong Choi (KOR), 76; 3. Kim Boutin (CAN), 37; 4. Lara van Reijnen (NED), 34; 5. Ji-Yoo Kim (KOR), 29; 6. Sofia Prosvirnova (RUS), 26; 7. Kexin fan (CHN), 24; 8. Yize Zang (CHN), 13.

3,000 m Relay: 1. Korea (Choi, G-H Kim, J-Y Kim, S-H Shim), 4:13.904; 2. Russia (Efremenkova, Konstantinova, Malagich, Prosvirnova), 4:14.353; 3. Canada (Boutin, Serres-Rainville, Charles, Sarault), 4:14.984; 4. Netherlands, 4:21.751.

TRIATHLON: Zaferes and Spivey go 1-2 for U.S. in World Series opener in Abu Dhabi

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 10, 2019

tsx pix 2019-309 zaferes, Katie 750 (itu) — An ITU World Series title coming for American Katie Zaferes? (Photo: ITU)

A powerful U.S. team went 1-2-4 on the women’s Sprint course in Abu Dhabi (UAE), with Katie Zaferes scoring her second career World Triathlon Series victory, finishing 26 seconds ahead of fellow American Taylor Spivey.

Zaferes was third out of the water and fourth-fastest on the bike, but her track & field background made her an easy winner in the 5 km run to the finish. Her run time of 16:09 was the fastest of the day and she won easily.

“I’m so excited”, said Zaferes. “My muscles were a little tight at the start but it went as well as it could out there. I had a good swim with [Jessica Learmonth] and then a strong bike, and the group we had was optimal, everyone did a great job. This is a brilliant start to the year and I just want to keep getting better. Last year, losing by so little, has really driven me on for this campaign.”

Zaferes was the runner-up to Britain’s Vicky Holland for the seasonal title in 2018 by just 5,540-5,488, as Holland finished second in the World Series Grand Final and Zaferes third. Now Zaferes has the lead to start the season, but may have new challengers in her fellow Americans.

Spivey had second sewn up halfway through the run phase and Learmouth (GBR) overcame American Taylor Knibb near the finish to grab third.

“That race couldn’t have gone better for me,” said Spivey afterwards. “When I knew we could get a breakaway and make it stick I finally had my opportunity to work it out. It was hard to tell how it was panning out on the first two laps then we slowly saw the gap increasing which was really reassuring. The U.S. women are so strong right now, and qualifying for Tokyo will be tough but this is a great way to start the qualification process.”

In the men’s race, Spain’s Mario Mola – the reigning champion – moved up from second in Abu Dhabi a year ago to win the season opener. He was challenged by a newcomer – Alex Yee of Great Britain – in his first World Series race, and Mola managed the win by just three seconds.

“I had to dig deep there,” said Mola, “but I knew that if I was strong it would be a good fight. It was great to have a first battle against Alex and to have the new generation coming up, I know how good Alex is. There were some tricky corners and a few crashes right in front of me and it definitely wasn’t easy, but I’m really happy with that win.”

Australia managed to take the Mixed Relay from the U.S. in the final event, thanks to a strong close from Jacob Birtwhistle on anchor. Summaries:

ITU World Series
Abu Dhabi (UAE) ~ 8-9 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men (Sprint: 750 m swim, 10 km bike, 5 km run): 1. Mario Mola (ESP), 52:00; 2. Alex Yee (GBR), 52:03; 3. Fernando Alarza (ESP), 52:12; 4. Leo Bergere (FRA), 52:14; 5. Vincent Luis (FRA), 52:15. Also in the top 25: 13. Eli Hemming (USA), 52:27; … 20. Matthew McElroy (USA), 52.47.

Women (Sprint: 750 m swim, 10 km bike, 5 km run): 1. Katie Zaferes (USA), 55:31; 2. Taylor Spivey (USA), 55:57; 3. Jessica Learmonth (GBR), 56:06; 4. Taylor Knibb (USA), 56:09; 5. Non Stanford (GBR), 56:37. Also in the top 25: 16. Chelsea Burns (USA), 57:21.

Mixed Relay: 1. Australia (Ashleigh Gentle, Luke Willian, Emma Jeffcoat, Jacob Birtwhistle), 1:24:16; 2. United States (Taylor Spivey, Ben Kanute, Katie Zaferes, Eli Hemming), 1:24:21; 3. New Zealand, 1:24:31; 4. France, 1:24:39; 5. Germany, 1:24:41.

ALPINE SKIING: Eighth World Cup title in a row for Marcel Hirscher!

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 10, 2019

tsx pix 122518 hirscher, marcel 750 (crystal globe) — Austria's Marcel Hirscher with yet another Crystal Globe

It was a formality for sure, but the amazing Marcel Hirscher (AUT) continued to set new records by winning his eighth consecutive overall World Cup title. He finished sixth and third in the Giant Slalom and Slalom at Kranjska Gora (SLO) and wrapped up the title in Sunday.

Hirscher – still only 30 – now has 1,508 points to 999 for second-place Alexis Pinturault (FRA) with just the four races of the World Cup Final next week remaining. Hirscher also wrapped up the seasonal titles in both the Giant Slalom and Slalom, giving him six in each discipline.

Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen won the Giant Slalom on Saturday for his second win of the season; Swiss Ramon Zenhaeusern won the Slalom on Sunday, with Kristoffersen second and Hirscher third.

Hirscher’s eight titles are the most ever; no one else has more than five. His eight consecutive wins is truly astonishing; no one else had more than three. Hirscher now has 138 World Cup medals in a 12-year career, a sensational average of 11.5 per season. He’s moved up to no. 2 all-time in World Cup wins with 68, still trailing all-time leader Ingemar Stenmark (SWE: 1973-89) by 18; Stenmark retired at age 33.

The World Cup Final is in Andorra starting on the 13th. Summaries:

FIS Alpine World Cup
Kranjska Gora (SLO) ~ 8-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Giant Slalom: 1. Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR), 2:26.83; 2. Rasmus Windingstad (NOR), 2:26.87; 3. Marco Odermatt (SUI), 2:27.19; 4. Cedric Noger (SUI), 2:27.49; 5. Alexis Pinturault (FRA), 2:27.50. Also in the top 25: 14. Tommy Ford (USA), 2:28.11; … 18. Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA), 2:28.31; … 23 . Ted Ligety (USA), 2:28.77.

Men’s Slalom: 1. Ramon Zenhaeusern (SUI), 1:39.54; 2. Kristoffersen (NOR), 1:40.69; 3. Marcel Hirscher (AUT), 1:40.71; 4. Manuel Feller (AUT), 1:40.77; 5. Daniel Yule (SUI), 1:41.06.

SPEED SKATING: Bowe, Sabilkova, Nuis and Kulizhnikov set world records on day one of the World Cup Final!

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 9, 2019

tsx pix 2019-309 bowe, brittany WCup final 750 (ISU) — Brittany Bowe (USA) celebrates a World Cup title and a 1,000 m world record! (Photo: ISU)

The Utah Olympic Oval, sitting at 1,380 m altitude, has always been a favorite of speed skaters, but Saturday’s performances were truly record-breaking: four new world records on the first day of the ISU World Cup Final.

The cheers were loudest for American Brittany Bowe, who had to skate a world record to win! Coming into the meet, the 1,000 m world mark was 1:12.09 by Nao Kodaira of Japan. But in the final event of the night, Bowe took to the ice for the next-to-last pair immediately after seeing Japan’s Miho Takagi outlast Kodaira as both went under Kodaira’s record! Takagi skated 1:11.713 and Kodaira, 1:11.776.

But with Austrian star Vanessa Herzog on her inside. Bowe’s time of 1:11.610 claimed the record and won her the 1,000 World Cup title, which she also won back in 2015.

“Going after Miho and Nao, both going 1:11.7, that’s a tough act to follow,” Bowe said. “I knew I had to have a close-to-perfect race. If I had the opener that I’m capable of, and if I could do a 6.3 lap, I had a chance to beat it. I looked up on the scoreboard in my first lap and it was 6.3, and I just wheeled my way to the finish line.”

Czech star Martina Sabilkova, who set world marks in the 3,000 and 5,000 m at the World Allround Championships in Calgary, said she was hurting coming into the 3,000 m. Well, maybe not that much, as she broke last week’s record at 3:52.027, taking more than a second off of the Calgary time of 3:53.31. She also claimed the seasonal title in the 3,000/5,000 m distance.

The men’s competition was no less fierce, with Russian Pavel Kulizhnikov sprinting to a world mark of 33.616 in the first of the two 500 m races. He improved on his own world record of 33.98 from 2015, also set at the Utah Olympic Oval. He’ll have another shot at a new record on Sunday.

Dutch star Kjeld Nuis removed Olympic champ Shani Davis (USA) from the record books in the 1,000 m, finishing in 1:06.183 to eclipse Davis’s 2009 record of 1:06.42. The win was also enough to give Nuis the seasonal title in the 1,000 m.

Patrick Roest won the men’s 5,000 m, but Russian Alexander Rumyantsev ended up the seasonal winner in the 5,000/10,000 m.

The World Cup Final continues on Sunday; summaries so far:

ISU Speed Skating World Cup Final
Kearns, Utah (USA) ~ 9-10 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men

500 m I: 1. Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS), 33.616 (World Record; old, 33.98, Kulizhnikov, 2015); 2. Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN), 33.835; 3. Yuma Murakami (JPN), 34.113; 4. Min-Kyu Cha (KOR), 34.227; 5. Ryohei Haga (JPN), 34.238.

1,000 m: 1. Kjeld Nuis (NED), 1:06.183 (World Record; old, 1:06.42, Shani Davis (USA), 2009); 2. Thomas Krol (NED, 1:06.255; 3. Kai Verbij (NED), 1:06.347; 4. Kulizhnikov (RUS), 1:06.476; 5. Havard Lorentzen (NOR), 1:06.513. Also: 9. Joey Mantia (USA), 1:07.348.

1,000 m World Cup Final Standings: 1. Kjeld Nuis (NED), 342; 2. Kai Verbij (NED), 304; 3. Pavel Kulizhnikov (RUS), 303; 4. Thomas Krol (NED), 298; 5. Havard Lorentzen (NOR), 297. Also: 10. Joey Mantia (USA), 219.

5,000 m: 1. Patrick Roest (NED), 6:03.706; 2. Marcel Bosker (NED), 6:08.904; 3. Ted-Jan Bloemen (CAN), 6:09.645; 4. Alexander Rumyantsev (RUS), 6:10.785; 5. Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR), 6:10.982.

5,000/10,000 m World Cup Final Standings: 1. Alexander Rumyantsev (RUS), 322; 2. Marcel Bosker (NED), 320; 3. Sverre Lunde Pedersen (NOR), 317; 4. Patrick Roest (NED), 282; 5. Patrick Beckert (GER), 270.

Women

500 m I: 1. Nao Kodaira (JPN), 36.474; 2. Vanessa Herzog (AUT), 36.850; 3. Angelika Golikova (RUS), 36.9032; 4. Brittany Bowe (USA), 37.168; 5. Konami Soga (JPN), 37.190.

1,000 m: 1. Bowe (USA), 1:11.610 (World Record; old, 1:11.713, Miho Takagi (JPN) in prior pair; pre-meet world record: 1:12.09, Nao Kodaira (JPN), 2017); 2. Miho Takagi (JPN), 1:11.713; 3. Kodaira (JPN), 1:11.776; 4. Yekaterina Shikhova (RUS), 1:12.469; 5. Olga Fatkulina (RUS), 1:12.986.

1,000 m World Cup Final Standings: 1. Brittany Bowe (USA), 397; 2. Miho Takagi (JPN), 310; 3. Nao Kodaira (JPN), 298; 4. Vanessa Herzog (AUT), 277; 5. Daria Kachanova (RUS), 256.

3,000 m: 1. Martina Sabilkova (CZE), 3:52.027 (World Record; old, 3:53.31, Sabilkova, 2019); 2. Esmee Visser (NED), 3:54.023; 3. Natalia Voronina (RUS), 3:54.064; 4. Isabelle Weidemann (CAN), 3:55.582; 5. Maryna Zuyeva (BLR), 3:55.731. Also: 10. Cariljn Schoutens (USA), 4:07.050.

3,000/5,000 m World Cup Final Standings: 1. Martina Sabilkova (CZE), 370; 2. Esmee Visser (NED), 343; 3. Natalia Voronina (RUS), 335; 4. Isabelle Weidemann (CAN), 322; 5. Ivanie Blondin (CAN), 272.

DIVING: Second straight sweep for China in Beijing World Series at the Water Cube

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 9, 2019

tsx pix 2019-303 cao, yuan diving 750 — Chinese diving star Yuan Cao

Ten up and ten golds, two weeks in a row. That’s the story of the first two meets in the FINA Diving World Series, both swept by Chinese divers.

This week’s competition was in Beijing (CHN) at the famed Water Cube, home of the 2008 Olympic Games. Some of China’s medalists from the 2016 Games continued their winning ways, including Yuan Cao with a gold in the 3 m Springboard, and silver medals for 2016 champs Aisen Chen (men’s 10 m Platform) and Tingmao Shi (women’s 3 m Springboard).

None of the events were close and the Chinese went 1-2 in all four individual events. This is the seventh time in the last nine years that China has swept all of the events at the Beijing stop of the World Series (it won nine of 10 in the other two!).

Prize money was $5,000-4,000-3,000 for the top three finishers. Summaries:

FINA Diving World Series
Beijing (CHN) ~ 7-9 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men

3 m Springboard: 1. Yuan Cao (CHN), 541.95; 2. Siyi Xie (CHN), 527.90; 3. Jack Laugher (GBR), 457.55.

3 m Synchro: 1. Yuan Cao/Siyi Xie (CHN), 469.08; 2. Jahir Ocampo Marroquin/Rommel Pacheco (MEX), 413.61; 3. Philippe Gagne/Francois Imbeau-Dulac (CAN), 399.48. Also: 6. Tyler Downs/Mark Anderson (USA), 350.85.

10 m Platform: 1. Jian Yang (CHN), 573.60; 2. Aisen Chen (CHN), 527.65; 3. Aleksandr Bondar (RUS), 509.95.

10 m Synchro: 1. Aisen Chen/Yuan Cao (CHN), 494.55; 2. Aleksandr Bondar/Victor Minibaev (RUS), 425.67; 3. Domonic Bedggood/Declan Stacey (AUS), 411.00. Also: 7. Tyler Downs/Jordan Rzepka (USA), 376.44.

Women

3 m Springboard: 1. Han Wang (CHN), 377.40; 2. Tingmao Shi (CHN), 367.00; 3. Jennifer Abel (CAN), 332.70.

3 m Synchro: 1. Han Wang/Tingmao Shi (CHN), 339.30; 2. Annabelle Smith/Maddison Keeney (AUS), 300.93; 3. Grace Reid/Katherine Torrance (GBR), 292.47. Also: 7. Maria Coburn/Krysta Palmer (USA), 252.45.

10 m Platform: 1. Jiaqi Zhang (CHN), 400.05; 2. Qian Ren (CHN), 371.20; 3. Meaghan Benfeito (CAN), 336.40.

10 m Synchro: 1. Wei Lu/Jiaqi Zhang (CHN), 354.06; 2. A Rim Kim/Mi-Rae Kim (PRK), 325.80; 3. Meaghan Benfeito/Caeli McKay (CAN), 313.14. Also: 5. Tarrin Gilliland/Katrina Young (USA), 291.72.

Mixed

3 m Synchro: 1. Hao Yang/Yani Chang (CHN), 315.21; 2. Francois Imbeau-Dulac/Jennifer Abel (CAN), 304.08; 3. Grace Reid/Tom Daley (GBR), 294.39.

10 m Synchro: 1. Yajie Si/Junjie Lian (CHN), 346.38; 2. Nikita Shleikher/Iuliia Timoshinina (RUS), 301.26; 3. Meagen Benfeito/Nathan Zsombor-Murray (CAN), 300.96. Also: 6. Tyler Downs/Katrina Young (USA), 280.47.

SNOWBOARD: Gerard wins weather-challenged Mammoth Slopestyle, but Corning takes the seasonal title

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 9, 2019

tsx pix 110218 corning, chris 750 — American Olympic Snowboarder Chris Corning

The final FIS World Cup competition in Halfpipe and Slopestyle at Mammoth Mountain in California was plagued by heavy weather, but there was just enough of a break to settle three of the four season titles at stake in Halfpipe and Slopestyle.

American Red Gerard hadn’t competed in a World Cup all season, after winning the Olympic title in PyeongChang last year. But both of his runs were medal-worthy: he was second after a first run of 81.10, then overcame teammate Judd Henkes (83.95) with his second ride of 85.10 that proved to be the winner.

“We’ve had some pretty bad weather here in Mammoth so I’m just really psyched we got the contest done and people got to ride and they didn’t have to cancel the finals,” said Gerard “It was awesome for me. The last couple weeks have been insane and I couldn’t ask for any better. I’m psyched up for sure. It’s been fun.”

Chris Corning of the U.S. finished fifth, but that was enough to give him the season title, 2,250-1,700 over Henkes.

“It was definitely one of the goals today, to come here and walk away with the globe, so that’s pretty sweet,” said Corning. “These guys all rode really well today, the course was probably the best it’s been all week, so it was fun to ride today.”

In the Halfpipe events, Yuko Totsuka (JPN) and Xuetong Cai (CHN) both won and took the season titles.

The women’s Slopestyle was canceled due to the weather in Mammoth, so Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN) was declared the seasonal winner.

In Scuol (SUI), the final Parallel Giant Slalom of the season was held, with Russian Andrey Sobolov defeating teammate Dmitry Loginov in the men’s final and Milena Bykova (RUS) edging Czech star Ester Ledecka in the women’s final.

Even though she spent much of the season on the Alpine World Cup, Ledecka re-engaged and won the season title. “For sure this year has been tough, because I decided to go to the Alpine Ski world championships and so I had to miss some races at the start of the year,” Ledecka said. “But in the end it paid off. I’m happy that I was able to make podiums at every race this season and I think I showed that I’m one of the best snowboarders in the world.”

It’s Ledecka’s third seasonal title in the Parallel Giant Slalom. Summaries:

FIS Snowboard World Cup
Mammoth Mountain, California (USA) ~ 6-9 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Halfpipe: 1. Yuko Totsuka (JPN), 95.75; 2. Patrick Burgener (SUI), 91.75; 3. Derek Livingston (CAN), 86.00; 4. Chase Josey (USA), 83.75; 5. Ryan Wachendorfer (USA), 83.50. Also: 9. Jason Wolle (USA), 67.35; 10. Louie Vito (USA), 63.50; … 14. Taylor Gold (USA), 28.50; 15. Lucas Foster (USA), 25.75; 16. Chase Blackwell (USA), 18.75.

Men’s Halfpipe Final Standings: 1. Yuto Totsuka (JPN), 3,760; 2. Ruka Hirano (JPN), 2.410; 3. Jan Scherrer (SUI), 2,240; 4. Patrick Burgener (SUI), 2,020; 5. Scotty James (AUS), 2,000.

Men’s Slopestyle: 1. Red Gerard (USA), 85.10; 2. Judd Henkes (USA), 83.95; 3. Ruki Tobita (JPN), 80.50; 4. Niek van den Velden (NED), 79.90; 5. Chris Corning (USA), 78.60. Also: 6. Charles Guldemond (USA), 76.45; … 9. Ryan Stassel (USA), 73.55.

Men’s Slopestyle Final Standings: 1. Chris Corning (USA), 2.250; 2. Judd Henkes (USA), 1,700; 3. Lyon Farrell (USA), 1,627; 4. Ryan Stassel (USA), 1,590; 5. Takeru Oysuka (JPN), 1,500.

Women’s Halfpipe: 1. Xuetong Cai (CHN), 89.25; 2. Sena Tomita (JPN), 85.25; 3. Verena Rohrer (SUI), 77.00; 4. Mirabelle Thovex (FRA), 66.75; 5. Elizabeth Hosking (CAN), 62.00.

Women’s Halfpipe Final Standings: 1. Xuetong Cai (CHN), 3,900; 2. Queralt Castellet (ESP), 2,520; 3. Verena Rohrer (SUI), 2,410; 4. Chloe Kim (USA), 2,000; 5. Kurumi Imai (JPN), 19.60.

Women’s Slopestyle: Canceled.

Women’s Slopestyle Final Standings: 1. Miyabi Onitsuka (JPN), 2,000; 2. Reira Iwabuchi (JPN), 1,700; 3. Isabel Derungs (SUI), 1,680; 4. Silje Norendal (NOR), 1,600; 5. Sina Candrian (SUI), 1,600.

FIS Snowboard World Cup
Scuol (SUI) ~ 9 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom/ Big Final: 1. Andrey Sobolev (RUS); 2. Dmitry Loginov (RUS). Small Final: 3. Dario Caviezel (SUI); 4. Dmitry Sarsembaev (BLR).

Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom Final Standings: 1. Tim Matsnak (SLO), 3,336; 2. Andreas Prommegger (AUT), 3,070; 3. Ronald Fischnaller (ITA), 2,709.4; 4. Andrey Sobolev (RUS), 2,635; 5. Edwin Coratti (ITA), 2,350.

Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom/ Big Final: 1. Milena Bykova (RUS); 2. Ester Ledecka (CZE); Small Final: 3. Cheyenne Loch (GER); 4. Natalia Soboleva (RUS).

Women’s Parallel Giant Slalom Final Standings: 1. Ester Ledecka (CZE), 5,000; 2. Selina Joerg (GER), 3,419.7; 3. Ramona Hofmeister (GER), 3,258.2; 4. Nadya Ochner (ITA), 3,230; 5. Sabine Schoeffmann (AUT), 3,190.

SWIMMING: Five wins for Andrew and 11 world-leading marks in excellent Tyr Pro Swim debut in Des Moines

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 9, 2019

tsx pix 2019-309 andrew, michael 750 (fly) — Two American Records on the first day of the U.S. Olympic Trials for Michael Andrew

The first Tyr Pro Swim Series meet held in Des Moines, Iowa probably shouldn’t be the last.

Over four days in what is normally a heavy training period, eight U.S. swimmers and Anton Ipsen from Denmark produced 11 world-leading marks (including one equaled):

● Men’s 800 m Free: 7:54.28, Zane Grothe (USA)
● Men’s 1,500 m Free: 15:05.39, Anton Ipsen (DEN)
● Men’s 50 m Fly: 23.36, Michael Andrew (USA)
● Men’s 100 m Fly: 51.51, Caeleb Dressel (USA)

● Women’s 800 m Free: 8:29.12, Leah Smith (USA)
● Women’s 50 m Back: 27.76, Kathleen Baker (USA)
● Women’s 100 m Back: 59.17, Kathleen Baker (USA)
● Women’s 100 m Breast: 1:06.66, Annie Lazor (USA)
● Women’s 200 m Breast: 2:22.99, Annie Lazor (USA)
● Women’s 100 m Fly: 57.86 (equals), Kelsi Dahlia (USA)
● Women’s 200 m Fly: 2:07.10, Hali Flickinger (USA)

Dahlia equaled her own time from the first Tyr Pro Swim meet in Knoxville in January, and Lazor’s mark replaced her earlier Knoxville performance.

Andrew was everywhere, winning the 50 m Free – in a great duel with Dressel – the 50 and 100 m backstrokes, the 100 m breaststroke, the 50 m butterfly and taking second in the 50 m breast for a total of six medals. In addition to his world-leader in the 50 m Fly, his 50 m Free time ranks second in 2019.

However, Backstroke world-record holder Baker was no less impressive, sweeping the 50-100-200 distances and claiming two world leaders in the 50 m and 100 m events; her time in the 200 m Back was no. 2 on the world list! She also picked up a third in the 200 m Medley on the final day of the meet.

There were three double winners: Zane Grothe in the 400 m and 800 m Freestyles (and a third in the 1,500 m Free), Lazor in the 100-200 m Breaststrokes, both by convincing margins, and Hali Flickinger in the 200 m Fly and 400 Medley (plus a third in the 800 m Free).

The meet showed some impressive performances, considering that this really is the early season and that the U.S. teams for the 2019 World Championships and other major events were selected off the 2018 U.S. Nationals. The preparation is focused on the summer.

The Tyr Pro Swim Series is now off for a month, before the third leg starts in Richmond, Virginia on 10 April. Summaries from Des Moines:

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

Men

50 m Freestyle: 1. Michael Andrew, 21.94; 2. Caeleb Dressel, 22.08; 3. Ali Khalafalla, 22.33.

100 m Free: 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.

800 m Free: 1. Grothe, 7:54.28; 2. Jordan Wilimovsky, 7:55.71; 3. Ipsen (DEN), 7:58.23.

1,500 m Free: 1. Ipsen (DEN), 15:05.39; 2. Wilimovsky, 15:05.44; 3. 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 Back: 1. Andrew, 53.98; 2. Ryosuke Irie (JPN), 54.03; 3. Tarasevich (RUS), 54.17.

200 m Back: 1. Pebley, 1:57.12; 2. 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 Breaststroke: 1. Andrew, 59.70; 2. James Wilby (GBR), 59.91; 3. Cody Miller, 1:00.22.

200 m Breast: 1. Will Licon, 2:09.90; 2. Fink, 2:09.93; 3. Wilby (GBR), 2:10.78.

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

100 m Fly: 1. Dressel, 51.51; 2. Kusch (GER), 51.58; 3. Martinez (GUA), 52.17.

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

200 m Medley: 1. Gunnar Bentz, 2:01.45; 2. Jay Litherland, 2:02.29; 3. Leonardo Coehlo (BRA), 2:02.73.

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

Women

50 m Freestyle: 1. Natalie Hinds, 25.26; 2. Margo Geer, 25.29; 3. Kayla Sanchez (CAN), 25.31.

100 m Free: 1. Geer, 54.59; 2. Olivia Smoliga, 55.05; 3. Hinds, 55.26.

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.

800 m Free: 1. L. Smith, 8:29.12; 2. Hali Flickinger, 8:29.96; 3. Kaersten Meitz, 8:38.98.

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 Back: 1. Baker, 59.17; 2. Smoliga, 59.35; 3. DeLoof, 1:00.10.

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

200 m Breast: 1. Lazor, 2:22.99; 2. Kierra Smith (CAN), 2:24.41; 3. Galat, 2:25.66.

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

100 m Fly: 1. Kelsi Dahlia, 57.86; 2. Amanda Kendall, 58.66; 3. Osman (EGY), 59.13.

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

200 m Medley: 1. Margalis, 2:10.88; 2. Sanchez (CAN), 2:12.93; 3. Baker, 2:13.27.

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

CYCLING: Defending champ Van Vleuten starts 2019 with victory at Strade Bianche

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 9, 2019

tsx pix 2019-309 alaphilippe, julian 750 (strade bianche) — France's Julian Alaphilippe wins the Strade Bianche

Dutch star Annemiek van Vleuten won her first Women’s World Tour seasonal title in 2018 by coming on strong in the last third of the season, winning three of the final nine individual races of the season. She didn’t wait to get a win in 2019, taking the season-opening Strade Bianche in Siena (ITA).

With 15 km to go, Van Vleuten was part of a group of 11 riders who broke away, but then kept going and separated herself from the pack, building a 35-second lead with 10 km left and she cruised in for a 37-second victory over Denmark’s Annika Langvad. Her devastating move strung out the pack left Langvad second and Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma third.

It was van Vleuten’s 17th win in a World Tour event, not counting her two World Championship wins in the Individual Time Trial.

In the men’s race, Julian Alaphilippe (FRA), Wout van Aert (DEN) and Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) took off at the 160 km mark, with van Aert dropping back by the 167 km mark and Alaphilippe and Fuglsang battling to the finish. The French star had the most power left over the final climb and got to the line first by a couple of seconds.

Although a veteran presence on the World Tour, Alaphilippe is only 26 and owns 22 career wins, of which 10 have been in World Tour events. Could this be his year? Summaries:

UCI World Tour/Strade Bianche
Siena (ITA) ~ 9 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men (184 km): 1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA), 4:47:14; 2. Jakob Fulsang (DEN), 4:47:16; 3. Wout van Aert (BEL), 4:47:41; 4. Zdenek Stybar (CZE), 4:48:14; 5. Tiesj Benoot (BEL), 4:48:14; 6. Greg van Avermaet (BEL), 4:48:15; 7. Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ), 4:18:18; 8. Simon Clarke (AUS), 4:48:22; 9. Toms Skujins (LAT), 4:48:26; 10. Tim Wellens (BEL), 4:48:35. Also in the top 50: 21. Brent Bookwalter (USA), +2:48; … 36. Ben King (USA), +9:17.

Women (133 km): 1. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED), 3:48:49; 2. Annika Langvad (DEN), 3:49:26; 3. Kasia Niewiadoma (POL), 3:49:29; 4. Marta Bastianelli (ITA), 3:49:33; 5. Cecile Ludwig Uttrup (DEN), 3:49:33; 6. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA), 3:49:40; 7. Marianne Vos (NED), 3:49:41; 8. Janneke Ensing (NED), 3:49:43; 9. Anna van der Breggen (NED), 3:50:17; 10. Chantal Blaak (NED), 3:50:39. Also in the top 50: 11. Ruth Winder (USA), +2:50; … 17. Leah Thomas (USA)_, +3:38; … 37. Tayler Wiles (USA), +5:22.

ALPINE SKIING: Shiffrin wins record 15th World Cup race, closes in on Giant Slalom globe

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 9, 2019

Slalom 2018 Killington FIS World Cup Photo: Reese Brown/U.S. Ski & Snowboard — American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin (Photo: Reese Brown/U.S. Ski & Snowboard)

An almost-perfect weekend of skiing for Mikaela Shiffrin saw her just about close the books on her goals for the 2018-19 Alpine World Cup season.

In the Giant Slalom held on Friday in Splinderluv Myln (CZE), Shiffrin ended up third behind Petra Vlhova (SVK) and Viktoria Rebensburg (GER), but increased her lead in the Giant Slalom standings to 515-418 over Vlhova with one race remaining. With 100 points to the winner and a 97-point lead, Shiffrin only has to score four points to win her first Giant Slalom seasonal title.

Not in the bag, but almost.

On Saturday, she flew down the Slalom course and forged a big 0.37-second lead over Swiss Wendy Holdener and then confirmed her victory with the second-fastest time on the second run, finishing 0.85 seconds ahead of Holdener for a record 15th win on the World Cup tour this season.

“That was a really cool day,” said Shiffrin. “I felt no pressure with globes, standings, or that kind of thing … just that I really wanted to ski two really aggressive runs and I knew it was going to be bumpy in the second run. It was really important for me to be tough enough – in my mind – ‘I could still go really hard in the second run and be athletic and handle the bumps, and do my very best. I was thinking that if I take this risk maybe I will not be able to finish, but I want to try that – because I have nothing to lose. I was able to get to the finish, and it was a super cool day.”

Shiffrin had been tied with Swiss Vreni Schneider, who had 14 wins in the 1988-89 season, but now owns the record alone. The Slalom has been the key to her success, as she has won nine of the 11 Slalom races held this season.

“If you told me eight years ago at this race – my first race in World Cup – that I would be in this position right now, I wouldn’t believe it.” Shiffrin added. “It’s really, really special. My whole team – we’re celebrating it a lot – because it’s been an amazing year, it’s been an amazing career so far. But, at the same time, records are meant to be broken, and maybe me achieving this one will inspire a little girl who could beat my record someday. That’s what’s really important to me.”

Heading into the World Cup Final in Andorra next week, Shiffrin has clinched the overall title, the Slalom title, has the Giant Slalom title in her grasp and leads in the Super-G race with 300 points to 268 for Tina Wierather (LIE), so she still has work to go on that one.

Those Crystal Globes are pretty big; she’s going to start a museum. Summaries:

FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup
Spindleruv Mlyn (CZE) ~ 8-9 March 2019
(Full results here)

Women’s Giant Slalom: 1. Petra Vlhova (SVK), 2:24.69; 2. Viktlria Rebensburg (GER), 2:24.80; 3. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA), 2:25.29; 4. Federica Brignone (ITA), 2:26.18; 5. Meta Hrovat (SLO), 2:26.52.

Women’s Slalom: 1. Shiffrin, 1:38.98; 2. Wendy Holdener (SUI), 1:39.83; 3. Vlhova (SVK), 1:41.01; 4. Katharina Truppe (AUT), 1:41.61; 5. Kristin Lysdahl (SWE), 1:41.71.

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

By

Rich Perelman

-

March 9, 2019

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

-

March 9, 2019

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

-

March 8, 2019

tsx pix 2019-308 bowe, brittany (ISU) — 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

-

March 8, 2019

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

-

March 8, 2019

tsx-pix-72818-baker-kathleen-WR-750x500 — 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

-

March 7, 2019

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

-

March 7, 2019

tsx pix 111418 wu dajing 750 — 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

-

March 7, 2019

tsx pix 2019-307 andrew michael (2018) 750 — 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

-

March 6, 2019

tsx pix 2019-306 mola, mario 750 — 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

-

March 6, 2019

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

-

March 6, 2019

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

-

March 6, 2019

tsx pix 2019-217 hirscher. marcel 750 — 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

-

March 6, 2019

tsx pix 2019-306 water cube beijing 750 — 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

-

March 6, 2019

tsx pix 2019-113 vittozzi lisa 750 — 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

-

March 6, 2019

tsx pix 2019-224 velikaya, sofya 750 (marie-lan nguyen) — 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

-

March 6, 2019

tsx pix 2019-306 muir, laura (filip bossuyt) 750 — 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

-

March 5, 2019

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

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March 5, 2019

tsx pix 100618 dahlia AR 100 Fly budapest 750 — 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

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March 5, 2019

tsx pix 2019-122 corning, chris 750 — 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

-

March 5, 2019

tsx pix 90418 heath tobin 750 — 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

-

March 5, 2019

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

-

March 5, 2019

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

-

March 5, 2019

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

-

March 4, 2019

tsx pix 2019-304 acosta, briseida 750 — 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

-

March 4, 2019

tsx pix 2019-304 zhang, lily 750 — 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

-

March 4, 2019

tsx pix 2019-304 safesport home page 750 — Part of the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s home page on the internet.

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

-

March 4, 2019

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

-

March 4, 2019

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

-

March 4, 2019

tsx pix 2019-123 snyder kyle 750 (uww) — 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

-

March 4, 2019

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

-

March 4, 2019

tsx pix 2019-303 deng, wei weightlift 750 — 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.