THE BIG PICTURE: IAAF begins allowing transfers of allegiance again

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October 12, 2018

tsx pix 61018 benjamin rai 750x500 — Rai Benjamin, born in the Bronx, now eligible to represent the USA!

Following up on its new rules for nationality transfers, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) issued its first group of approvals for athletes to represent “new” countries.

Its “Nationality Review Panel” has received 14 applications thus far and has ruled on eight, allowing five transfers of allegiance and declaring three other athletes eligible for the countries they applied for:

Transfers immediately eligible:
○ Rai Benjamin (from Antigua to U.S.) ~ 19.99 ‘18 in the 200 m, 44.74 in the 400 m ‘18 and 47.02 ‘18 in the 400 m Hurdles;
○ Mike Edwards (from Great Britain to Nigeria) ~ 2.25 m (7-4 1/2) ‘15 in the high jump;
○ Patrick Ike Origa (from Nigeria to Spain) ~ 10.16 ‘18 in the 100 m;
○ Leon Reid (from Great Britain to Ireland) ~ 10.33 ‘17 in the 100 m and 20.27 ‘18 in the 200 m.

Transfer eligible as of 1 August 2019:
○ Pedro Pablo Pichardo (from Cuba to Portugal) ~ 18.08 m (59-4) ‘15 in the triple jump.

Athletes declared eligible for new countries:
○ Haron Lagat (U.S.) ~ 8:15.50 ‘11 in the 3,000 m Steeplechase;
○ Miranda Tcheutchoua (Ireland) ~ 48.20 m (158-5) ‘18 in the Hammer;
○ Weldu Negash Gebretsadik (Norway) ~ 2:09:14 ‘14 in the Marathon.

Pichardo won two World Championships silver medals for Cuba in 2013 and 2015 and with Christian Taylor and Will Claye of the U.S., are the three best triple jumpers in the world.

But Benjamin will make the most immediate impact, giving the U.S. a legitimate medal contenders – and potential world-record setter – in the 400 m Hurdles, as well as a dependable 4×400 m relay runner. He was born in the Bronx, but competed for Antigua (where his father is from) in the 2013 World Youth Champs; he has long stated his desire to compete for the U.S.

LANE ONE: The IOC is slowly – but quite surely – changing, and it might be for the better

By

Rich Perelman

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October 12, 2018

tsx pix 101118 brundage avery (1970) 750 — Former IOC president Avery Brundage (USA)

This is usually a quiet time for the Olympic Movement and for the International Olympic Committee. But not in 2018.

The winter-sports season hasn’t started yet and most of the major world championships in the summer sports are over, although wrestling and weightlifting are still to come.

But the IOC has been in overdrive and for long-time observers, the change in emphasis has been quite remarkable. In just the past couple of weeks, the IOC – through its Executive Board and the Session – has done some things which hardly seemed possible – or relevant – just a few years ago:

∙ It is staging its third Youth Olympic Games, a kind of “mini-Games” compared to the real thing, for athletes from 14-18 years old from 206 countries. This was an initiative of Belgian Jacques Rogge during his 12 years as IOC President and could hardly have been imagined by IOC founder Pierre de Coubertin. That the 2018 YOG has equal numbers of young men and women competed would also be beyond de Coubertin’s imagination.

∙ The IOC directed that the next YOG be held in Africa, a continent which has never hosted an Olympic Games or Winter Games. The 2022 YOG will be held in Dakar (SEN), paid for in the main by the Senegalese government, while the IOC will provide help with athlete travel, technology and television broadcasting.

∙ It has changed – although not enough for its critics – the format and requirements of bidding for the Olympic Games and Winter Games. Current IOC chief Thomas Bach extols at length the Agenda 2020 (adopted in 2014) and “The New Norm” programs which have been developed and adopted on his watch as key reforms.

In comparison to the way the Games were bid for prior to these reforms, they do make a dramatic difference. Here’s an example from my own experience: when I wrote the Los Angeles bid to the United States Olympic Committee for the 2012 Games, the requirements handed to us from the IOC’s own documentation included minimum spectator capacities for each sport.

Some were ridiculous for a Games in the U.S. for sports which are not that popular. Judo, for example, required a minimum capacity of 8,000 (!); there was a minimum of 5,000 for Shooting (!), 10,000 for table tennis (!) and 6,000 for rhythmic gymnastics! Even in a facility-rich metropolis like Los Angeles, there weren’t enough big arenas to meet all of these demands.

The Agenda 2020 and The New Norms essentially eliminate these requirements. That’s good and a welcome development for potential host cities.

∙ Another key aspect of these reforms is the quiet elimination of a single, newly-constructed Olympic Village, a huge problem for many potential bids. Although common in Winter Games, it’s still refreshing to see the IOC Working Group evaluation report on Calgary’s bid noting the bid concept for four or five Olympic Villages without criticism. True, a main Village in Calgary would need to be built, but there is little debate in Calgary itself that additional housing is needed in the city. This would be one way to get it.

Back in 2016 – not so long ago – the 30-year Olympic Specialist for the Chicago Tribune, the highly-respected Phil Hersh wrote that “The IOC must stop the pervasive thinking that athletes’ villages need to meet four-star hotel standards. Modern university dormitories should be fine for a Summer Games.” Lo and behold, that concept was enthusiastically embraced by the IOC for Los Angeles for the 2028 Games.

∙ The IOC Session in Buenos Aires adopted the IOC’s “Athletes’ Declaration,” detailing athlete rights and responsibilities. The IOC has been strong on athlete responsibilities, but the idea of a statement of athlete rights has the former IOC president, Avery Brundage (USA) spinning in his grave (and good riddance).

∙ The IOC has given away some of its “supreme authority” in the Olympic Movement to two organizations it has set up and helps to pay for: the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

To support the Court as a forum to resolve disputes involving international, non-governmental organizations such as the international sports federations, the IOC paid $7.6 million in 2017. That’s a substantial portion of the CAS annual budget.

For WADA, the IOC has supplied 50% of the annual budget and paid $14.4 million in 2017. Moreover, the IOC has championed the development – now coming online – of the International Testing Agency, which can be hired by any international federation or other organization to handle testing completely independently.

∙ The IOC created a mandate for gender equity in the Games and is beginning to insist on the same with the IFs and NOCs as well, policy goals that are totally new for the Olympic Movement. Same for the insistence on sustainability as part of the Agenda 2020 program.

The critics give the IOC no credit for any of these and have a long list of grievances. But Bach is slowly but surely positioning the IOC as a values-based non-governmental organization which can point to successes beyond gold medals and the Games themselves. The IOC has a long way to go, but to the surprise of many – including me – it has begun to sail in the right direction.

Rich Perelman
Editor

BOXING: Konakbayev appeals to CAS to be added to presidential ballot

By

Rich Perelman

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October 12, 2018

tsx pix 10918 court of arb for sport 750x500 — The Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The drama over the future of the International Boxing Federation (AIBA) and its 3 November presidential election continues, now at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

At present, the only candidate on the ballot is Uzbek Gafir Rakhimov, the interim president, who has been named by the U.S. Treasury Department as an international criminal. But Serik Konakbayev (KAZ), a silver medalist for the USSR in the 1980 Olympic Games in the 63.5 kg class, was kept off the ballot because he did not have the required number of letters of nomination from other national federations by the Sunday, 23 September deadline.

Konakbayev, who is a current AIBA vice president and the head of the Asian Boxing Confederation, has appealed the decision and is asking the CAS to place his name on the ballot and require the AIBA to tell all of the voters of this change directly.

For AIBA’s part, it announced that it supports a fast-track decision on the matter.

The election has importance for AIBA beyond simply who will be the federation’s president. The IOC has suspended payments of AIBA’s share of Games television rights pending the reform of the federation’s operations. The IOC called out its “grave situation within the International Boxing Association and its current governance,” on 3 October. The penalty could be as stiff as removing boxing from the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo!

YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES: So far, a success!

By

Rich Perelman

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October 12, 2018

The third edition of the International Olympic Committee’s YOG continues in Buenos Aires with lots of events and – judging by the television coverage – pretty good attendance at some of the venues.

These Games, for athletes from 14-18 years old, include 32 sports, which are not being covered so much as world-class athletic events, but as a celebration of young people competing under the Olympic flag. Consider the athlete comments provided the Olympic Information Service:

∙ “As much as I would have loved for my middle name to have something to do with the Olympic Games, I have to be honest and say it doesn’t,” said shooter Daria Olimpia Haristiade (ROU), who inherited her middle name from her mother. “Maybe the fact that my middle name is Olimpia and I’m here at the Youth Olympic Games is just destiny.”

∙ Swimmer Ky Odlum from the Virgin Islands noted that – as Olympic Games veterans know – pins are a great starting point for meeting new people!

“You actually get to interact with people from other teams and the excitement that they have … I didn’t realize how much people love the pins. So when you pull it out, they’re like, ‘Wow.’ So you actually get to meet people a lot. You have a reason to talk to people.”

He explained that he’s become quite popular, especially for having the rare team pin from the U.S. Virgin Islands!

The organizing committee reported that 80,000 spectators came to the venues in the four main sports parks and stand-alone sites on Sunday, but there have been no reports on attendance since. One announcement stated that more than 200,000 students would attend a YOG event.

The event looks very good on video – congratulations to the IOC’s Olympic Channel for the high quality – but with some good attendance showing, shouldn’t a daily attendance figure be published? (Answer: yes.)

VOLLEYBALL: U.S., Italy, Serbia and Netherlands still perfect in women’s Worlds

By

Rich Perelman

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October 10, 2018

The second round of the FIVB Women’s World Championships continues, with the U.S., Italy, Serbia and the Netherlands all still undefeated after two of four games.

In Pool E in Nagoya (JPN), Serbia swept Germany (3-0) and the Netherlands did the same to the Dominican Republic to stay at the top the group. Japan continued its great play at home, beating Puerto Rico in straight sets. The standings:

∙ Pool E: 1. Serbia (21 points: 7-0); 2. Netherlands (20: 7-0); 3. Japan (18: 6-1); 4. Brazil (16: 5-2); 5. Germany (11: 4-3); 6. Dominican Republic (10: 3-4); 7. Puerto Rico (6: 2-5); 8. Mexico (3: 1-6).

The Netherlands and Brazil, and Serbia and Japan play on Wednesday (10th), and the Serbia-Netherlands match comes on Thursday (11th).

In Pool F in Osaka, the U.S. cruised by Turkey by a 3-0 count, and Italy swept Thailand, 3-0. China swept its match with Azerbaijan and Russia defeated Bulgaria, 3-1, so four teams are in the mix for the three qualifying places in the finals:

∙ Pool F: 1. Italy (21 points: 7-0): 2. United States (19: 7-0); 3. China (18: 6-1); 4. Russia (18: 6-1); 5. Thailand (10: 3-4); 6. Turkey (9: 3-4); 7. Bulgaria (6: 2-5); 8. Azerbaijan (6: 2-6).

Showdowns: Italy and Russia play on Wednesday (10th), as does China and the U.S. The Italy-U.S. and China-Russia matches come on Thursday (11th).

The Serbs continue to pitch a shut-out in the tournament with an 21-0 sets record, followed by Italy (21-1), then the Netherlands (21-3) and the U.S. (21-5).

The top scorers in the tournament so far are Louisa Lippmann (GER) with 140 points, Polina Rahimova (AZE, 132) and Lonneke Sloetjes (NED, 126). The most effective hitter is still Italy’s Miryam Fatime Sylla, scoring on 57.85% of her attempts (70/121).

The second round-robin will determine the final pool of six (top three from each second-round pool). Look for scores and standings here.

FOOTBALL Preview: U.S. finishes group play with Trinidad in CONCACAF Champs

By

Rich Perelman

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October 10, 2018

tsx pix 100418 morgan-rapinoe CONCACAF — Dangerous (left to right): U.S. strikers Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath and Megan Rapinoe

After routing Mexico and Panama by a combined 11-0 score, the no. 1-ranked U.S. women’s team will face Trinidad & Tobago in its final group match in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship on Wednesday at Shalen’s Stadium in Cary, North Carolina.

The reality is that – as expected – the U.S. and Canada are on a collision course for the final, although the situation for the other semifinalists is opaque. In Group A, Panama and Mexico are both 1-1 and will play on Wednesday.

In Group B, Canada is 2-0 and has a 14-0 goal differential after a 12-0 win over Cuba. Behind them are Costa Rica (1-1) and Jamaica (1-1), and the goal differential for Costa Rica is +7 to -1 for Jamaica. But Costa Rica gets Canada in its final game and the Jamaicans get Cuba (0-20 on goals), so nothing is assured.

The U.S. has hammered its two opponents, with its “first team” blanking Mexico, 6-0, and the “second team” stomping Panama, 5-0. On Wednesday, the U.S. gets Trinidad & Tobago, which has lost both of its games and has scored one goal and given up seven. In its first two games, the American squad has out-shot its opponents by 28-0 in the first half and 58-7 in total.

Scores and schedule:

∙ Group A:

4 October:
Panama 3, Trinidad & Tobago 0
United States 6, Mexico 0

7 October:
United States 5, Panama 0
Mexico 4, Trinidad & Tobago 1

10 October:
Panama vs. Mexico
United States vs. Trinidad & Tobago (7:30 p.m. Eastern time, on FS1 and UDN)
(Games at Shalen’s Stadium: Cary, North Carolina)

∙ Group B:

5 October:
Canada 2, Jamaica 0
Costa Rica 8, Cuba 0

8 October:
Jamaica 1, Costa Rica 0
Canada 12, Cuba 0

11 October:
Cuba vs. Jamaica
Costa Rica vs. Canada
(Games at H-E-B Park: Edinburg, Texas)

The top two teams out of each group will advance to the semifinals at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The stakes in this tournament are high: the top three teams will qualify directly to the 2019 World Cup, with a fourth team moving into a play-off, with that winner to qualify.

All of the tournament games will be shown on FS1 or FS2, as well as Univision. The semis will be on 14 October and the finals on 17 October.

The U.S. now has an unbeaten streak of 23 (20-0-3) games since a loss to Australia in mid-2017. In 2018, the U.S. women are 13-0-2 and have outscored their opponents, 47-10. The U.S. women are now 2-0-0 vs. Panama; the only prior game was in 2002.

This is the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship, first held in 1991. The U.S. has dominated the event, winning in 1991-93-94-2000-02-06-14 and taking the bronze medal in 2010. All-time, the American women have now compiled a 29-1-0 record in this tournament (169-5 on goals scored!), losing only in 2010 and did not compete in 1999 as an automatic qualifier for the World Cup as the host country. Canada won the 1998 and 2010 tournaments.

Look for the scores here.

CYCLING: Richeze stakes first stage in Tour of Turkey

By

Rich Perelman

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October 10, 2018

The next-to-last stage event of the 2018 UCI World Tour began Tuesday in the Presidential Tour of Turkey, with Argentina’s Maximiliano Richeze claiming his first World Tour race win in two years.

The hilly, 148.4 km course in and around Konya featured one major climb with three peaks, but the last 26 km almost all downhill, resulting in a mass finish with 90 rides awarded the same time. Richeze, 35, managed to elude Ireland’s Sam Bennett on the final sprint and earned his second career World Tour win and sixth in a major stage event, with two stage wins in the 2007 Giro d’Italia. He’s now won three stages in the Presidential Tour of Turkey, having won twice in the 2008 race.

The Tour finishes Sunday. Look for results here. Summaries and stage notes:

UCI World Tour/Presidential Tour of Turkey
Turkey ~ 9-14 October 2018
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (148.4 km): 1. Maximiliano Richeze (ARG), 3:29:14; 2. Sam Bennett (IRL), 3:29:14; 3. Jempy Drucker (LUX), 3:29:14; 4. Alvaro Jose Hodeg (COL), 3:29:14; 5. Brenton Jones (AUS), 3:29:14.

Stage 2: 10 September: 149.6 km ~ Alanya-Antalya (flat)
Stage 3: 11 September: 132.7 km ~ Fethiye-Marmaris (hilly)
Stage 4: 12 September: 205.5 km ~ Marmaris-Selcuk (mountains)
Stage 5: 13 September: 135.7 km ~ Selcuk-Manisa (hilly)
Stage 6: 14 September: 164.0 km ~ Bursa-Istanbul (hilly)

KARATE Preview: Final 2018 Premier League tournament comes to Tokyo

By

Rich Perelman

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October 10, 2018

The seventh and final Karate1 Premier League tournament of the year comes in Tokyo (JPN), which will host Karate’s first appearance in the Olympic Games in 2020.

It’s the first-ever Karate1 event to be held in Tokyo and will naturally be held in the celebrated Budokan hall, built to showcase judo at the 1964 Olympic Games.

With this being the final tournament, the 2018 Premier League standings will be finalized; the current leaders:

Men:
∙ Kata: 1. 3,600 Ryo Kiyuna (JPN) 2. 3,090 Damian Quintero (ESP)
∙ Kumite:
-60 kg: 1. 2,880 Eray Samdan (TUR) 2. 2,130 Darkhan Assadilov (KAZ)
-67 kg: 1. 2,160 Burak Uygur (TUR) 2. 2,040 Luca Maresca (ITA)
-75 kg: 1. 3,870 Rafael Aghayev (AZE) 2. 2,580 Stanislav Horuna (UKR)
-84 kg: 1. 2,670 Ahmed ElMasry (EGY) 2. 2,520 Ugur Aktas (TUR)
+84 kg: 1. 2,790 Jonathan Horne (GER) 2. 2,580 Mehdi Filali (FRA)

Women:
∙ Kata: 1. 4,380 Sandra Sanchez Jaime (ESP) 2. 3,180 Kiyou Shimizu (JPNN)
∙ Kumite:
-50 kg: 1. 3,120 Serap Ozcel. Arapoglu (TUR) 2. 2.370 Ayaka Tadano (JPN)
-55 kg; 1. 2,910 Sara Cardin (ITA) 2. 2,580 Anzhelika Terliuga (UKR)
-61 kg: 1. 2,880 Gwen Philippe (FRA) 2. 2,640 Xiaoyan Yin (CHN)
-68 kg: 1. 2,460 Miroslava Kopunova (SVK) 2. 2,160 Alizee Agier (FRA)
+68 kg: 1. 2,910 Ayumi Uekusa (JPN) 2. 2,880 Titta Keinanen (FIN)

Premier League tournaments are scored 100-70-40-30-20-10 for 1st-2nd-3rds-5ths-7ths-9ths and down to three points for placements from 15-33, plus five points for participating in the event and 10 points for each bout won. The computers will be working overtime to come up with the final seasonal standings.

Prize money will be available for all 12 events, at €750-500-200 for each class. Look for the link to results here.

JUDO Preview: Pareto headlines IJF World Tour Grand Prix in Mexico

By

Rich Perelman

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October 10, 2018

The World Championships are over, but the IJF World Tour continues, this week in Cancun (MEX) with 344 judoka from 52 countries ready to do in the resort city. The top seeds and current world rankings:

Men:
∙ -60 kg: 1. Francisco Garrigos (ESP: 5) 2. Ashley McKenzie (GBR: 10)
∙ -66 kg: 1. Daniel Cargnin (BRA: 8) 2. Mikhail Puliaev (RUS: 12)
∙ -73 kg: 1. Tommy Macias (SWE: 7) 2. Arthur Margelidon (CAN: 10)
∙ -81 kg: 1. Frank de Wit (NED: 2) 2. Alan Khubetsov (RUS: 5)
∙ -90 kg: 1. Nemanja Majdov (SRB: 8) 2. Ivan Felipe Silva (CUB: 10)
∙ -100 kg: 1. Ramadan Darwish (EGY: 13) 2. Cyrille Maret (FRA: 16)
∙ +100 kg: 1. Lukas Krpalek (CZE: 2) 2. David Moura (BRA: 4)

The U.S. has four seeded fighters, including Adonis Diaz, no. 4 at -60 kg; Alexander Turner, eighth at -73 km, and Jack Hatton, sixth at -90 kg.

Women:
∙ -48 kg: 1. Milica Nikolic (SRB: 6) 2. Paula Pareto (ARG: 7)
∙ -52 kg: 1. Jessica Pereira (BRA: 7) 2. Angelica Delgado (USA: 11)
∙ -57 kg: 1. Nekoda Smythe-Davis (GBR: 3) 2. Timna Nelson Levy (ISR: 9)
∙ -63 kg: 1. Katharina Haecker (AUS: 8) 2. Kathrin Unterwurzacher (AUT: 11)
∙ -70 kg: 1. Anna Bernholm (SWE: 4) 2. Kelita Zupancic (CAN: 9)
∙ -78 kg: 1. Natalie Powell (GBR: 3) 2. Mayra Aguiar (BRA: 7)

Delgado is the only seeded American. Pareto, the 2016 Rio champ, comes to Cancun after co-lighting the torch to start the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires last weekend.

Look for results here.

FOOTBALL Preview: U.S. men ready for friendlies vs. Colombia and Peru

By

Rich Perelman

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October 10, 2018

The U.S. men’s national team continues its experience tour of friendly matches on Thursday and next Monday against countries who competed in the 2018 World Cup this year, Colombia and Peru:

∙ 11 October: U.S. vs. Colombia in Tampa, Florida
(7:30 p.m. Eastern time, shown on FS1, UniMas and UDN )

∙ 16 October: U.S. vs. Peru in East Hartford, Connecticut
(7:30 p.m. Eastern time, shown on ESPN2, UniMas and UDN)

While the U.S. didn’t qualify for the World Cup, Colombia won its group, but was eliminated by England on penalty kicks in the Round of 16; Peru finished third in its group and did not advance to the knock-out round.

Interim coach Dave Sarachan has brought back some of the better-known faces for these matches, including keeper Brad Guzan and midfielder Michael Bradley. “When you are building a team, at some point there has to be the proper blend of youth and experience,” noted Sarachan.

“As we head into these last four friendlies of the year, I felt the timing was right to begin that transition. I think it’s important to do it earlier than a week before the Gold Cup or a World Cup Qualifier. Bringing in players like Michael and Brad, who have a vast amount of experience and can be a great resource for our younger players – both on and off the field – is an important step for us at this point in time.”

Unfortunately, midfielders Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams are both injured and will miss both games.

Colombia’s squad includes 12 players who went to France, including star scorer James Rodriguez and midfielder Juan Cuadrado. Peru plans to have 16 members of its World Cup playing against the U.S.

The U.S. and Colombia have played 19 times with the first match in 1961. Colombia is 1-3-4 against the U.S.. In the most recent matches, at the 2016 Copa America Centenario, with Colombia winning twice, 2-0 on 3 June in group play, and 1-0 on 25 June in the third-place game.

CYCLING Preview: Nibali looks for third win in Il Lombardia

By

Rich Perelman

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October 10, 2018

Saturday marks the 112th edition of the Il Lombardia cycling race, first run in 1905 and held every year since excepting for two years, in 1943-44, during World War II.

This is one of the five “Monuments” races in cycling and one of the most revered races in the sport. The 2018 course from Bergamo to Como spans 241 km and has five climbs, notably the Colma de Sormano at 1,124 m altitude at the end of a 629 m climb over 7 km at 187 km into the race! The last 8 km are in Como, with the final on a slight descent.

The “Tour of Lombardy” field includes 11 former medalists, including two winners:

∙ Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) ~ Champion in 2015 and 2017
∙ Dan Martin (IRL) ~ Champion in 2014; second in 2011
∙ Alejandro Valverde (ESP) ~ Runner-up in 2013 and 2014
∙ Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) ~ Runner-up in 2017
∙ Diego Rosa (ITA) ~ Runner-up in 2016
∙ Daniel Moreno (ESP) ~ Runner-up in 2015
∙ Rigoberto Uran (COL) ~ Third in 2008, 2012 and 2016
∙ Gianni Moscon (ITA) ~ Third in 2017
∙ Rafal Majka (POL) ~ Third in 2013
∙ Rui Costa (POR) ~ Third in 2014
∙ Thibaut Pinot (FRA) ~ Third in 2015

Eight of the nine medalists from the last three years are in and Nibali is trying to become the ninth man with three wins in the race; since 1991, only Damiano Cunego (ITA) has achieved this, in 2004-07-08. Nibali won another of the “Monuments” – the Milan-Sanremo – earlier in the year, but suffered a fractured vertebra during the Tour de France and was only 49th in the recent WorldRoad Championships.

Four of the top five from the Worlds are entered: winner Valverde, runner-up Romain Bardet (FRA), bronze medalist Michael Woods (CAN) and fifth-placer Moscon.

Look for results here.

THE BIG PICTURE: IOC approves its “Athletes’ Declaration”

By

Rich Perelman

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October 10, 2018

Among the many features of the Youth Olympic Games program in Buenos Aires (ARG) was the Olympism in Action Forum sponsored by the International Olympic Committee and meetings of the IOC’s Executive Board, and the Session on 8-9 October.

The full Session adopted the IOC’s Athletes’ Rights and Responsibilities Declaration, which was developed over a year’s process within the IOC Athletes Commission. It includes 12 “rights” and 10 “responsibilities.” Among the rights are:

○ Be part of a transparent, fair and clean sporting environment, particularly one that fights against doping and competition manipulation, and provides for transparent judging/refereeing,selection and qualification processes, and appropriate competition schedules, including training schedules at such competitions.

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

So, notably, the Declaration offers no relief from the IOC’s rules against promotion of sponsors of athletes who are not IOC or organizing committee partners. Among the responsibilities:

○ Respect the rights and well-being of, and not discriminate against, other athletes, their entourage, volunteers and all others within the sporting environment, and refrain from political demonstration in competitions, competition venues and ceremonies.

The Associated Press reported that “the World Players’ Association urged the IOC to delay the project, claiming it failed to properly consult athletes or experts, and would ‘curtail fundamental athlete rights rather than protect them.’” The IOC Session approved the Declaration anyway.

LANE ONE: Disconnected: Host city CEOs and the IOC on why anyone should host a Games

By

Rich Perelman

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October 10, 2018

Over the course of two days last week, a vice president of the International Olympic Committee and two chief executives of successful Olympic and Winter Games were asked about the benefits of hosting an Olympic Games.

Amazingly, the three comments had very little in common. Here’s what they said:

∙ Juan Antonio Samaranch, IOC Vice President:

Asked for a message to the people of Calgary, who will consider whether to bid for the Games in a 13 November referendum, Samaranch said this:

“If you ask for a message to the voting citizens of Calgary, two months before the referendum, I would like to emphasize what it means to organize Olympic Games.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity to inspire the youth of your community, an entire, wonderful opportunity to make sure your community thrives, gets more sporting, gets healthier, and inspires also the youth of the world. It’s a wonderful, wonderful opportunity for the people living in that community … at no cost.

“That is The New Norm, at no cost. Not one [new] infrastructure that is [only] going to be used in the Games will be built, not one single one. The budget is going to be self-sustained. The International Olympic Committee, plus the ticketing, plus the local sponsors, will pay 100% of the organizing committee’s budget, at least. This is how The New Norm works.”

(Before you tear your hair out, keep reading for a critique further below.)

During the Olympism in Action Forum staged by the IOC in Buenos Aires (ARG) prior to the Youth Olympic Games, two chief executives from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games and London 2012 Olympic Games also discussed what those Games meant to their communities.

∙ John Furlong, the head of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games said:

“[O]n the physical facilities that were built for the Olympic Games, the result we got was exactly what we had hoped for and I would say that people feel that we kept our promises. (Furlong noted that all but one venue – the ski jumps – are still in full use and pay their way without subsidies. The jumping site, he said, was always going to be challenge and it still is.)

“Then, there is the question of what else did the Games do? And I say this, that today, it’s my feeling and I would say the vast majority of people who live in Vancouver would say that the City of Vancouver has a smile on its face. The city is more strident, more confident. We feel like a society that can pretty well tackle and do anything. We faced unmerciful adversity leading up to Vancouver, challenges that we never anticipated, that no one would reasonably be expected to plan for, and I think the city feels it has it in itself to tackle anything.

“And I also think that the vision we had, which was to touch the soul of Canada and be nation-builders was realized and I am reminded of two things that got said the day after Games: one by Prime Minister [John] Harper, who was a slow convert to the Games, and he said to the media the day following the Games that ‘Mark my words, as historians write about Canada’s growing strength in the 21st Century, they will say it all began here in Vancouver.’ And [IOC President] Jacques Rogge, on that same day, said that ‘The Olympic Games can never go back from this,’ which was a reference to [at] the end of the Games, the people of Canada went outside, celebrating their good fortune, in small and large cities all over the country. …

“People were at odds to explain the euphoria that took the country. And we wanted the Olympic Games to do more than just be a great event for the city of Vancouver. We wanted to use it as a way to give Canada a moment in time. And all of that is part of the feeling that has been left behind, the confidence, and Vancouver is often referenced, in daily life, in public life and in business as an example of what can happen when good people work hard, pull together and do a great good.”

∙ Paul Deighton, the chief executive of the 2012 Games in London and later the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury under British Prime Minister David Cameron from 2013-15:

His response was excellent and the most candid and specific about what the Games can do and did. He acknowledged the criticism of the costs of the Games, but had a lot more to say:

“It may not be the right thing for every city. Frankly, if you find a mayor or a government which has a real vision for its city, which is long-term enough, which is thoughtful enough, which is detailed enough, that it can encompass and take advantage of the opportunities which the Olympics offers, is frankly asking a lot of most politicians.

“[London Mayor during the bid] Ken [Livingstone] was absolutely clear – we had the two perfect Mayors in some respects – because we had Ken Livingstone, who never set foot on a sports field, but he stood in the middle of Stratford and he knew that was the only way he was going to get central government money to regenerate the east end of London and by God, he was right.

“You have to be careful that it’s not a vanity project, that you do impose the discipline of making sure the project is prosecuted in a way that works, and it’s tough, right, with an immovable deadline. Every other project in the world, even going to war, you could normally defer. But you can’t, with an Opening Ceremony, and we had James Bond and Her Majesty The Queen parachuting in to the main stadium on the 27th of July 2012 at 20 past eight, you had to be ready. And that was a lot of pressure on a project.

“Ken absolutely got that this was going to regenerate the east end of London in a way that nothing else could and he was right. Then, of course, we had Boris [Johnson], who is the perfect host to a party. So he was the one who was able to give the thing the panache, that emotional content … that gave it its character, which brought everybody together.

“John pointed to the inclusiveness and Mariana is saying the same, in a world today where all the risk and the tendency is towards separation and exclusion, the Olympic Games, we found in London, was the single most unifying event, which allowed everybody to join in in a way which nothing else in any of our lifetimes has ever accomplished.

“When you have that power, what you’re then able to do – because everybody is behind you – is quite extraordinary and, you know, I have been in a lot of different businesses and I’ve normally got things done because of the power of reason. What I learned at the Olympic Games is the extraordinary power of emotion and what you can do with that to produce other results.

“And that’s what people have to understand when they are trying to work out what to do with an event which is frankly unrivaled in the world for its impact and scale and internationalism.”

So London’s then-Mayor got the Games to get part of the city redeveloped on an accelerated timetable. Vancouver used the Games to build some new recreational facilities and showcase the city to itself and to the world.

Samaranch, speaking in a news conference the day before the Forum, talked about a healthier population and inspiring the youth “at no cost.”

Who’s out of touch here?

Cities have used the Games to demonstrate their world-class status since the revival in 1896. It’s a tried-and-true business tactic that works, but is not without risks (as in Rio in 2016).

Will a Games help make the population healthier? No. Inspire the youth? To some extent, but very expensive for an unknown return.

At no cost? No again, unless there are masses of existing facilities (as in Los Angeles). Even in Calgary, with good facilities still in use from the 1988 Games, the Calgary2026 Bid Corporation estimated that while the local organizing committee might break even, the taxpayers will still be contributing C$3.01 billion (in 2018 dollars).

That’s not nothing, Juan, and points to the disconnect between the IOC’s perspective on the Games and the reality as seen by those who have actually staged the event. Until this gets fixed, the IOC’s position will continue to be weak.

What’s amazing is that the IOC President, Thomas Bach, gets this all very clearly. Asked in the Monday news conference about the negative comments during the Forum by Chris Dempsey, he was more than ready with a tart response:

“[W]e have invited him so that he can make his comments and that it can be discussed. The result of this discussion was that you had on this podium five people: four of them have organized Olympic Games and have not only acknowledged, but praised the benefits of organizing the Olympic Games, have acknowledged the reforms and there was one person who has no experience with organizing the Olympic Games claiming to know it all better. This was the situation which I saw on this podium.”

OK, he got in a body punch at Dempsey, who hit the financial aspects of the Games concept hard during his turn at the Forum. But Bach, asked about the future, was also reflective of today’s reality:

“[I]f you have 14 years before the next available edition of the Games, 2032, already quite a number of interested cities … we need not to be worried there about the future in this respect.

“What is true on the other hand is we have to continue tour efforts and also, as you mentioned, in particular with regard to winter sports and the Winter Games, to be more flexible in order to reduce costs, in order to avoid the construction of sports facilities which have no legacy.

He’s quite right that there is a lot of noise about the 2032 Games right now, but the discussions won’t be serious until 2023 or so, so these are dreams for the present.

But the 2026 problem is serious and Winter Games candidates are getting more and more scarce. The IOC can make a good case for having the Games, but it needs more clear thinking – Bach has been good at this so far – and a much more disciplined, forthright and inclusive approach to its communications about why Games makes sense for a community and what it can do to help … beyond writing a check for a fraction of the overall cost of the event.

The IOC and the “Olympic Movement” is a strange entity, with about 100 members who only meet once a year, an Executive Board that meets only four times a year and about 500 employees, most of whom never come into contact with the members. Then there are the dozens of international federations and 206 National Olympic Committees, most of whom have contact with maybe a half-dozen IOC members most of the time.

No wonder the messages are disconnected. Much can be done to fix this, but will it?

Rich Perelman
Editor

IOC: Session approves new members, refugee team and YOG to Senegal

By

Rich Perelman

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October 10, 2018

A lot of activity during the final day of the IOC’s Session in Buenos Aires (ARG), including:

∙ Election of nine new members, including six presidents of National Olympic Committees, from Bhutan, Italy, Lithuania, Paraguay, Rwanda and Uganda, and the president of the International Gymnastics Federation, Morinari Watanbe (JPN) and the head of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons (BRA).

∙ The IOC will organize a refugee team for the 2020 Games in Tokyo as it did for the 2016 Games in Rio. IOC President Thomas Bach noted that the organization is already “supporting 51 or 52 refugee athletes already and this pool can grow.” The Rio Refugee Team had 10 members.

∙ The PyeongChang organizing committee for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games announced a surplus of at least $55 million from its Games. This, of course, does not include the billions spent by various levels of governments in Korea; the total cost of the Games was expected to be about $13 billion U.S. The IOC attributed the credit to Olympic Agenda 2020.

∙ The three candidate cities for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games were approved: Calgary (CAN), Milan-Cortina (ITA) and Stockholm (SWE). The IOC’s evaluation report (here) noted that polling was done in all three cities to gauge support for the bid last April:

○ Calgary: 54% in favor, 28% against, 19% neutral
○ Milan-Cortina: 83% in favor, 6% against, 12% neutral in Milan
○ Stockholm: 49% in favor, 25% against, 26% neutral

Because of Milan’s candidacy, the 2019 IOC Session at which the selection vote will be taken was officially moved to Lausanne (SUI), but to late June instead of the September date in Milan previously scheduled.

This means the campaigning period will be only about six months after the submittal of bid books on 11 January 2019. Noted Bach, “Shortening this period is another opportunity to cut costs of the bidding procedure and to save money for the candidature committees, and all the candidature committees agreed with this shortening of this period, so it’s not a unilateral change of the procedure.”

○ The 2022 Youth Olympic Games was officially awarded to Senegal, with the main hub of competition to be in the capital city of Dakar, to take place in May of that year. The Senegal proposal did not present a detailed budget, but estimated the organizing committee’s cost of the event at $150 million U.S., with added government funding for facilities and support. This in a country with a 2017 national GDP of $16.4 billion in 2017 and a per capita income of $1,134 a year.

The Athletes Declaration was “emotionally” approved as well; more details are here.

VOLLEYBALL: U.S., Italy, Serbia and Netherlands still perfect in women’s Worlds

By

Rich Perelman

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October 8, 2018

The second round of the FIVB Women’s World Championships has begun and it looks a lot like the first round, with the U.S., Italy, Serbia and the Netherlands all still undefeated after the first game.

In Pool E in Nagoya (JPN), Serbia swept Mexico (3-0) and the Netherlands did the same to Puerto Rico to stay atop the group. Germany scored an upset by defeating Brazil, 3-2, coming back from 0-2 and winning a 32-30 marathon in the third set to get back into the match. The standings:

∙ Pool E: 1. Serbia (18 points: 6-0); 2. Netherlands (17: 6-0); 3. Japan (15: 5-1); 4. Brazil (13: 4-2); 5. Germany (11: 4-2); 6. Dominican Republic (10: 3-3); 7. Puerto Rico (6: 2-4); 8. Mexico (3: 1-5).

The Netherlands and Brazil, and Serbia and Japan play on Wednesday (10th), and the Serbia-Netherlands match comes on Thursday (11th).

In Pool F in Osaka, the U.S. dispatched Bulgaria by a 3-0 count, and Italy swept Azerbaijan, 3-0. China and Russia also swept their matches, leaving four teams appearing to be in the mix for the three qualifying places in the finals:

∙ Pool F: 1. Italy (18: 6-0): 2. United States (16: 6-0); 3. China (15: 5-1); 4. Russia (15: 5-1); 5. Thailand (10: 3-3); 6. Turkey (9: 3-3); 7. Azerbaijan (6: 2-4); 8. Bulgaria (6: 2-4).

Italy and Russia play on Wednesday (10th), as does China and the U.S. The Italy-U.S. and China-Russia matches come on Thursday (11th).

The Serbs continue to pitch a shut-out in the tournament with an 18-0 sets record, followed by Italy (18-1), then the Netherlands (18-3) and the U.S. (18-5).

The top scorers in the tournament so far are Louisa Lippmann (GER) with 129 points, Polina Rahimova (AZE, 121) and Nataliya Goncharova (RUS, 119). The most effective hitter has been Italy’s Miryam Fatime Sylla, scoring on 60.6% of her attempts (63/104).

The second round-robin will determine the final pool of six (top three from each second-round pool). Look for scores and standings here.

SWIMMING: Santos, Wang & Atkinson set WRs at Budapest World Cup

By

Rich Perelman

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October 8, 2018

tsx pix 101218 atkinson alia 750 — Another world record for Jamaica's Alia Atkinson!

The FINA Swimming World Cup exploded at the site of last year’s World Championships, as three World Short-Course Records were set, along with two American Records and a tie:

∙ As previously reported, China’s 16-year-old Jianjiahe Wang set a world mark for the women’s 400 m Freestyle on the first day of the meet on Thursday, smashing the 3:52.54 standard of Spain’s Mireia Belmonte Garcia from 2013. Wang also won the women’s 800 m Free and was just 0.1 off the world short-course mark in that race!

∙ Brazil’s amazing Nicholas Santos, 38,tore up another of the non-textile suit records with a win in the men’s 50 m Butterfly of 21.75, removing the 21.80 mark by Steffen Deibler (GER) from 2009.

∙ Alia Atkinson of Jamaica, who dominated the short Breaststroke races in 2016, came up big in the women’s 50 m Breast again, breaking her own world mark of 28.64 with a time of 28.26, almost a full second faster than Russia’s Yuliya Efimova (29.22).

In addition, the American record book was significantly altered:

∙ As previously reported. Kathleen Baker equaled Katie Meili’s 2016 American record of 58.02 in finishing third in the 100 m Medley behind Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu and Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom. Baker previously set an American Record in the 100 m Back in the meet in Eindhoven (NED).

∙ Blake Pieroni equaled the U.S. record in the short-course 100 m Free, finishing second in 46.25 to tie Ian Crocker’s mark from 2004. Pieroni had a great meet, winning the 200 m Free and earning a silver in the 400 m Free.

∙ Kelsi Dahlia improved her own American Record in the women’s 100 m Fly, winning in 54.84, against her mark of 55.21 in Eindhoven and beating Sjostrom (54.96) in the process! “I’m admiring Sarah so much, it’s an amazing feeling to beat her in this event. I saw her coming before the last 50 and I know she’s pretty strong there so it’s amazing that I could come first. I’m so happy with my time, I’m the first American inside 55 seconds, so it makes it really special.” Dahlia moved to no. 2 on the all-time short-course list with the mark, behind Sjostrom’s world record of 54.61 from 2014.

∙ Melanie Margalis took down the women’s 200 m Medley record, swimming 2:04.65 to erase Caitlin Leverenz’s 2:04.94 time from 2011. Julia Smit swam 2:04.60 in 2009 in a non-textile suit, but the mark was not ratified by USA Swimming because of the suit. Margalis finished second to Hosszu (2:04.13) in the race.

Each of the world-record setters got a bonus check of $10,000 and 20 bonus points.

Performing in front of her home fans, Hosszu claimed four wins – 100-200-400 m Medleys and the 200 m Fly – and three more medals in the 100-200 m Back (bronzes) and Mixed 4×50 m Free relay (bronze). She also was part of the eighth-place Mixed 4×50 m Medley. Her seven medals led all swimmers.

Four swimmers collected six medals: Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED: 5-0-1), Dutch Freestyler Femke Heemskerk (2-1-3), Sjostrom (1-5-0) and Russian sprinter Vladimir Morozov (3-1-2).

Sjostrom won only one event, losing to Kromowidjojo three times, but Morozov won three, as did Australia Mitch Larkin in the 100-200 m Back and 200 m Medley. Aussie Emily Seebohm swept the 50-100-200 m Back events.

The Hungarian fans cheered the 33-year-old Laszlo Cseh, who won a silver in the men’s 200 m Medley. He has a streak of eight straight World Championships with a medal – a record – and said afterwards that “It was as painful as it could be and now I see I had to train an awful lot to return to my best shape again.”

Among the U.S. racers, three won five medals apiece: Michael Andrew (1-4-0), Pieroni (1-4-0) and Dahlia (1-2-2).

In Budapest, prize money of $1,500-1,000-500-400-300-200 was available for the top six placers.

Morozov (134 points) won the $50,000 top prize for the men’s second cluster, ahead of Larkin (72) and Prigoda (72). Wang won the women’s cluster title (122), well in front of Atkinson (89) and Sjostrom (84).

In the overall points chase, Morozov maintains a 218-144-126 lead over Larkin and Russian Anton Chupkov; Sjostrom leads the women’s race, 204-162-153 over Hosszu and Efimova.

The World Cup takes a break until 2 November, when the third cluster (also short course) begins in Beijing (CHN). Summaries:

FINA Swimming World Cup 4
Budapest (HUN) ~ 4-6 October 2018
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Freestyle: 1. Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 20.51; 2. Benjamin Proud (GBR), 20.89; 3. Bradley Tandy (RSA), 21.06. Also: 8. Michael Andrew (USA), 21.42.

100 m Free: 1. Morozov (RUS), 45.30; 2. Blake Pieroni (USA), 46.25; 3. Pieter Timmers (BEL), 46.67.

200 m Free: 1. Pieroni (USA), 1:42.00; 2. Le Clos (RSA), 1:42.78; 3. Morozov (RUS), 1:43.01.

400 m Free: 1. Mack Horton (AUS), 3:41.78; 2. Pieroni (USA), 3:42.74; 3. Wojciech Wojdak (POL), 3:43.52.

1,500 m Free: 1. Horton (AUS), 14:39.84; 2. Lakatos (HUN), 14:47.74; 3. Ziao Qiu (CHN), 14:51.98.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Andrew (USA), 23.19; 2. Morozov (RUS), 23.29; 3. Mitchell Larkin (AUS), 23.37.

100 m Back: 1. Larkin (AUS), 49.96; 2. Andrew (USA), 50.36; 3. Ryosuke Irie (JPN), 50.46.

200 m Back: 1. Larkin (AUS), 1:49.52; 2. Irie (JPN), 1:50.97; 3. Radoslaw Kawecki (POL), 1:53.00.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Felipe Lima (BRA), 25.88; 2. Peter Stevens (SLO), 26.04; 3. Kirill Prigoda (RUS), 26.06. Also: 4. Andrew (USA), 26.20; … 6. Fink (USA), 26.39.

100 m Breast: 1. Lima (BRA), 56.69; 2. Anton Chupkov (RUS), 56.97; 3. Lizhuo Wang (CHN), 57.03. Also: 7. Fink (USA), 57.73.

200 m Breast: 1. Prigoda (RUS), 2:01.58; 2. Chupkov (RUS), 2:01.86; 3. Fink (USA), 2:03.37.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Nicholas Santos (BRA), 21.75 (World Short-Course Record; old, 21.80, Steffen Deibler (GER), 2009); 2. Chad le Clos (RSA), 22.11; 3. Kosuke Matsui (JPN), 22.62.

100 m Fly: 1. Le Clos (RSA), 49.22; 2. Mehdy Metella (FRA), 49.71; 3. Nicholas Santos (BRA), 50.12.

200 m Fly: 1. Le Clos (RSA), 1:50.29; 2. Daiya Seto (JPN), 1:51.01; 3. Yuya Yajima (JPN), 1:51.80.

100 m Medley: 1. Morozov (RUS), 50.32; 2. Andrew (USA), 51.55; 3. Kosuke Matsui (JPN), 53.08. Also: 4. Fink (USA), 53.32.

200 m Medley: 1. Larkin (AUS), 1:52.96; 2. Laszlo Cseh (HUN), 1:55.05; 3. Fink (USA), 1:55.10.

400 m Medley: 1. Daiya Seto (JPN), 4:01.16; 1. David Verraszto (HUN), 4:03.05; 3. Joan Lluis Pons Ramon (ESP), 4:08.38.

Women

50 m Free: 1. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 23.23; 2. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 23.36; 3. Femke Heemskerk (NED), 23.67.

100 m Free: 1. Kromowidjojo (NED), 51.01; 2. Sjostrom (SWE), 51.22; 3. Heemskerk (HUN), 51.74. Also: 5. Dahlia (USA), 52.56.

200 m Free: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 1:51.60; 2. Heemskerk (NED), 1:52.04; 3. Jianjiahe Wang (CHN), 1:53.31. Also: 4. Melanie Margalis (USA), 1:53.57; … 8. Leah Smith (USA), 1:57.11.

400 m Free: 1. Wang (CHN), 3:53.97 (World Short-Course Record; old, 3:54.52, Mireia Belmonte Garcia (ESP), 2013; also a World Junior Record; old, 3:54.64, Wang, 2018); 2. L. Smith (USA), 3:58.94; 3. Heemskerk (NED), 4:00.03.

800 m Free: 1. Wang (CHN), 7:59.44 (World Junior Record; old, 8:03.86, Wang, 2018); 2. L. Smith (USA), 8:16.25; 3. Anna Egorova (RUS), 8:22.24.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Emily Seebohm (AUS), 26.05; 2. Georgia Davies (GBR), 26.13; 3. Kromowidjojo (NED), 26.19. Also: 4. Kathleen Baker (USA), 26.30.

100 m Back: 1. Seebohm (AUS), 55.81; 2. Baker (USA), 56.04; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 56.08.

200 m Back: 1. Seebohm (AUS), 1:59.94; 2. Baker (USA), 2:00.69; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 2:01.00.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Alia Atkinson (JAM), 28.26 (World Short-Course Record; old, 28.64, Atkinson, 2016); 2. Yuliya Efimova (RUS), 29.22; 3. Molly Hannis (USA), 29.51.

100 m Breast: 1. Atkinson (JAM), 1:02.80; 2. Efimova (RUS), 1:03.48; 3. Vitalina Simonova (RUS), 1:04.67. Also: 4. Molly Hannis (USA), 1:04.85.

200 m Breast: 1. Efimova (RUS), 2:17.88; 2. Simonova (RUS), 2:19.43; 3. Margalis (USA), 2:20.30.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Kromowidjojo (NED), 24.65; 2. Sjostrom (SWE), 24.82; 3. Kelsi Dahlia (USA), 24.97.

100 m Fly: 1. Dahlia (USA), 54.84 (American Short-Course Record; old, 55.21, Dahlia, 2018); 2. Sjostrom (SWE), 54.96; 3. Yufei Zhang (CHN), 56.27.

200 m Fly: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:03.14; 2. Yufei Zhang (CHN), 2:03.29; 3. Dahlia (USA), 2:03.33.

100 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 57.64; 2. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 57.75; 3. Baker (USA), 58.02 (equals American Short-Course Record, 58.02, Katie Meili, 2016). Also: 6. Margalis (USA), 59.11.

200 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:04.13; 2. Margalis (USA), 2:04.65 (American Short-Course Record; old, 2:04.94, Caitlin Leverenz, 2011); 3. Seebohm (AUS), 2:06.37.

400 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 4:23.55; 2. Yui Ohashi (JPN), 4:27.23; 3. Zsuzsanna Jakobos (HUN), 4:30.00. Also: 5. L. Smith (USA), 4:32.84.

Mixed

4×50 m Free: 1. Netherlands (Puts, Schwietert, Heemskerk, Kromowidjojo), 1:30.01; 2. United States (Andrew, Pieroni, Baker, Dahlia), 1:30.63; 3. Hungary, 1:31.03.

4×50 m Medley: 1. Netherlands (Puts, Kamminga, Kromowidjojo, Heemskerk), 1:38.68; 2. United States (Andrew, Hannis, Dahlia, Pieroni), 1:38.92; 3. Russia, 1:39.90.

SHOOTING: Lindsey and Skinner progress to National Shotgun Trap titles

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2018

tsx pix 101218 skinner ariel 30518 750 — Aeriel Skinner (Photo: Niccolo Zangirolami/ISSF)

Experience matters. Time matters. And the combination led to Caleb Lindsey’s gold medal in the USA Shooting National Shotgun Championships in Trap.

“That result showed me what I was made of, that I could compete at this level,” Lindsey said. “I knew if I focused harder, with more quality practice versus quantity training, I could take that next step.”

Lindsey had won a bronze medal in the U.S. Junior Championships in Trap in 2016 and then moved to the senior division and scored a silver medal in 2017, Now he’s the national champion, winning by a single point — 44-43 – over Roe Reynolds. Defending champion Derek Haldeman finished fourth. Reynolds also won the silver medal in the Junior division!

Aeriel Skinner, a bronze medalist as a member of the U.S. squad in the Team Trap in the recent ISSF World Championships, won the women’s Trap title, her first senior medal in a U.S. championships.

“For some reason I couldn’t hit my first targets,” she said afterwards, “then [defending champion Ashley Carroll] gave me a stern talking to and it was getting better. Even with the changing light and wind conditions, I kept my eyes and my pre-shot routine the same, stayed focused, and it just worked out.”

Carroll, the three-time defending champ, won the bronze medal and Emma Williams won the silver.

The competition continues with the Skeet events through Wednesday (10th). Summaries so far:

USA Shooting National Shotgun Championships
Colorado Springs, Colorado (USA) ~ 26 September-7 October 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Trap/Finals: 1. Caleb Lindsey, 44; 2. Roe Reynolds, 43; 3. Brian Burrows, 31; 4. Derek Haldeman, 28; 5. Logan Mountain, 22; 6. Logan Lucas, 18.

Junior Trap/Finals: 1. Dale Royer, 48; 2. Roe Reynolds, 46; 3. Logan Lucas, 35.

Women

Trap/Finals: 1. Aeriel Skinner, 44; 2. Emma Williams, 40; 3. Ashley Carroll, 33; 4. Rachel Tozier, 28; 5. Corey Cogdell-Unrein, 22; 6. Kim Rhode, 18. Junior Trap/Finals: 1. Victoria Hendrix, 43; 2. Ryann Phillips, 41; 3. Heather Broski, 26.

Mixed

Team/Finals: 1. Brian Burrows/Kayle Browning. 44; 2. Jake Wallace/Corey Cogdell, 41; 3. Ryne Barfield/Rickelle Pimentel, 33; 4. Lance Bade/Kim Rhode, 29; 5. Logan Lucas/Ashley Carroll, 21; 6. Glen Eller/Aeriel Skinner, 17.

Team/Combined: 1. Eller/Skinner, 334 points; 2. Burrows/Browning, 325; 3. Wallace/Cogdell, 319; 4. Grayson Davey/Julia Stallings, 318; 5. Bade/Rhode, 318; 6. Lucas/Carroll, 306.

GYMNASTICS: Hancharou & Zhu golden in Trampoline World Cup

By

Rich Perelman

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October 8, 2018

tsx pix 101218 hancharou uladzislau 750 — Rio Olympic trampoline champion Uladzislau Hancharou (BLR)

Rio Olympic champ Uladzislau Hancharou won a showdown with 2016-17 World Champion Lei Gao of China in the men’s division of the FIG Trampoline World Cup section of the 18th annual Loule Cup in Loule (POR). Hancharou had the best execution scores in the final, leading Gao, 17-5-16.6 and that made the difference.

China’s Xueying Zhu, a gold medal in the Synchro event in the 2017 World Championships, scored an upset win over London and Rio Olympic champ Rosie McLennan (CAN) by 0.420, 57.525-57.105. Americans Nicole Ahsinger and Sarah Webster won silver medals in the Synchro event, just 0.200 behind McLennan and Sarah Milette.

Prize money of CHF 1,500-1,000-500 was presented to the top three in each event. Summaries:

FIG Trampoline World Cup/Loule Cup
Loule (POR) ~ 5-6 October 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Trampoline: 1. Uladzislau Hancharou (BLR), 62.125; 2. Lei Gao (CHN), 61.715; 3. Aleh Rabtsau (BLR), 61.270.

Synchronized: 1. Daiki Kiski/Ryosuke Sakai (JPN), 52.400; 2. Uladzislau Hancharou/Aleh Rabtsau (BLR), 50.850; 3. Pierre Gouzou/Brenden Renault (FRA), 50.800.

Tumbling: 1. Vadim Afanasev (RUS), 78.600; 2. Elliott Browne (GBR), 76.200; 3. Kristof Willerton (GBR), 74.000. Also: 6. Kaden Brown (USA), 70.100.

Women

Trampoline: 1. Xueying Zhu (CHN), 57.525; 2. Rosie MacLennan (CAN), 57.105; 3. Laura Gallagher (GBR), 54.520.

Synchronized: 1. Rosie MacLennan/Sarah Milette (CAN), 46.950; 2. Nicole Ahsinger/Sarah Webster (USA), 46.750; 3. Lea Labrousse/Marine Jurbert (FRA), 46.550.

Tumbling: 1. Marie Deloge (FRA), 68.000; 2. Megan Kealy (GBR), 67.900; 3. Raquel Pinto (POR), 67.400. Also: 4. Eliza Floisand (USA), 67.300; … 7. Caitlyn Crawford (USA), 63.700.

FOOTBALL: U.S. pummels Panama, 5-0, in CONCACAF Champs

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2018

tsx pix 101218 lavelle rose 750 — U.S. midfield star Rose Lavelle

In an uncompetitive and uninteresting game, the no. 1-ranked U.S. women’s team overwhelmed Panama, 5-0, in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship in front of 7,532 at Shalen’s Stadium in Cary, North Carolina on Sunday.

After a 6-0 win against Mexico in its opener, the U.S. opened the scoring in the fifth minute as Sam Mewis came forward to head in a corner from Christen Press past 17-year-old Panama keeper Yenith Bailey.

The American side played nearly the entire half in the Panama end and scored again in the 23rd minute on a Carli Lloyd header from a Press corner kick, then again in the 29th minute by Lloyd, who turned in the box and ripped a right-footed shot into the goal. Those were Lloyd’s 103rd and 104th career goals for the U.S.

Press then scored in the 32nd minute, on a turnover and a solo dribble and shot for a 4-0 lead at half, with the U.S. again not allowing an opponent shot in the first half (17-0 this time). The final shot count was 35-4.

The U.S. got a fifth goal after half, in the 48th minute, on a Lloyd header for a hat trick, this time on a header off a Rose Lavelle free kick that traveled right to left in front of the goal.

Bailey was pounded continuously throughout the game and considering the terrible defense in front of her, played pretty well and stopped the U.S. multiple times. The U.S. also had multiple misses and the score could have been 8-0 in the first half alone. In its two games, the U.S. has out-shot its opponents by 28-0 in the first half and 58-7 in the two games combined.

The U.S. made nine changes to its starting line-up from the first game, but the result was essentially the same. With two wins and an 11-0 scoring margin, the U.S. is through to the second round and will have a better idea of who its opponent might be after Monday’s Group B games. The remaining schedule:

∙ Group A:

4 October:
Panama 3, Trinidad & Tobago 0
United States 6, Mexico 0

7 October:
United States 5, Panama 0
Mexico 4, Trinidad & Tobago 1

10 October:
Panama vs. Mexico
United States vs. Trinidad & Tobago (7:30 p.m. Eastern time, on FS1 and UDN)
(Games at Shalen’s Stadium: Cary, North Carolina)

∙ Group B:

5 October:
Canada 2, Jamaica 0
Costa Rica 8, Cuba 0

8 October:
Costa Rica vs. Jamaica
Canada vs. Cuba

11 October:
Cuba vs. Jamaica
Costa Rica vs. Canada
(Games at H-E-B Park: Edinburg, Texas)

The top two teams out of each group will advance to the semifinals at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The stakes in this tournament are high: the top three teams will qualify directly to the 2019 World Cup, with a fourth team moving into a play-off, with that winner to qualify.

All of the tournament games will be shown on FS1 or FS2, as well as Univision. The semis will be on 14 October and the finals on 17 October.

The U.S. now has an unbeaten streak of 23 (20-0-3) games since a loss to Australia in mid-2017. In 2018, the U.S. women are 13-0-2 and have outscored their opponents, 47-10. The U.S. women are now 2-0-0 vs. Panama; the only prior game was in 2002.

This is the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship, first held in 1991. The U.S. has dominated the event, winning in 1991-93-94-2000-02-06-14 and taking the bronze medal in 2010. All-time, the American women have now compiled a 29-1-0 record in this tournament (169-5 on goals scored!), losing only in 2010 and did not compete in 1999 as an automatic qualifier for the World Cup as the host country. Canada won the 1998 and 2010 tournaments.

Look for the scores here.

EQUESTRIAN: Belgium wins second Nations Cup Final in four years

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2018

The annual FEI Nations Cup Jumping Final in Barcelona (ESP) was more difficult than ever this year, with a challenging course that saw Belgium win its second Nations Cup title in the past four years.

The first round separated the 18 teams into the championship round and the “Challenge Cup” group, with Austria and Italy tying for first and Sweden and Belgium third. Germany and the U.S. placed ninth and were relegated to the Challenge Cup final.

In the Nations Cup Final, there were only for clean rounds – no faults – among the 32 riders and the Belgians had half of those. Niels Bruynseels (aboard Gancia de Muze) and Nicola Philippaerts (aboard H&M Harley V. Bisschop) were perfect and the team had a total of 12 faults (from Jos Verlooy).

The only other faultless rides came from Italy’s Riccardo Pisani and Swede Peder Fredricson, and France, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands all had 16 total faults. The tie was broken by total time on the course, leaving the French second and the Irish third.

There was 1.25 million Euro riding – literally – on the outcome and the Belgian team received the winner’s share of €417,000, followed by €251,000 for France and €167,000 for Ireland.

It was Belgium’s second title in the Nations Cup Final (after 2015) and their third medal after a bronze last year.

In the Challenge Cup final, Germany won the trophy with just five faults in the final, followed by the U.S. team of Andrew Kocher, Alex Granato and Lucy Deslauriers with nine. Brazil was third. Summaries:

FEI Nations Cup of Jumping Finals
Barcelona (ESP) ~ 5-7 October 2018
(Full results here)

Final: 1. Belgium (Niels Bruynseels, Pieter Devos, Jos Verlooy, Nicola Philippaerts), 12 total faults; 2. France (Staut, Angot, Billot, Robert), 16; 3. Ireland (Twomey, Condon, Duffy, Kenny), 16; 4. Italy, 16; 5. Netherlands, 16; 6. Sweden, 20; 7. Austria, 20; 8. Switzerland, 32.

BADMINTON: No. 1-ranked Tai comes from behind to win Taipei Open

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2018

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

Chinese Taipei’s Tzu Ying Tai was the focal point of the 2018 Chinese Taipei Open, performing in front of an adoring home crowd. But while she whipped through the rounds of the women’s Singles, winning eight of nine sets on the way to the final, the world’s no. 1 player appeared ready to take her third title with ease.

Then she lost the first set to Denmark’s Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt, 17-21, and had to rally. She came back in the second set for a 21-10 win and then grabbed the championship with a 21-13 win in the third set. Not only did the home crowd breathe a sign of relief, Tai also become the first woman in the history of the BWF World Tour to claim career winnings of more than $1 million at $1,025,205. The tournament win was worth $37,500.

Chinese Taipei also claimed a popular win in the men’s Doubles event with Hung Ling Chen and Chi-Lin Wang defeating countrymen Min Chun Liao and Ching Heng Su, 22-20, 21-9 in the final, defending their title from last year.

Malaysia’s Zii Jia Lee won the men’s Singles, the first winner in that event from Malaysia since 1986! The women’s Doubles victory by Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida was the first from Japan since 1991. Summaries:

BWF World Tour/Chinese Taipei Open
Taipei City (TPE) ~ 2-7 October 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Zii Jia Lee (MAS); 2. Riichi Takeshita (JPN); 3. Jan O. Jorgensen (DEN) and Tien Chen Chou (TPE). Semis: Takeshita d. Jorgensen, 21-17, 16-21, 26-24; Lee d. Chou, 17-21, 21-14, 24-22. Final: Lee d. Takeshita, 21-17, 16-21, 21-11.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Hung Ling Chen/Chi-Lin Wang (TPE); 2. Min Chun Liao/Ching Heng Su (TPE); 3. Bodin Isara/Maneepong Jongjit (THA) and Ching Yao Lu/Po Han Yang (TPE). Semis: Chen/Wang d. Isara/Jongjit, 21-16, 21-10; Liao/Su d. Lu/Yang, 24-22, 21.14. Final: Chen/Wang d. Liao/Su, 22-20, 21-9.

Women’s Singles: 1. Tzu Ying Tai (TPE); 2. Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt (DEN); 3. Pui Yin Yip (HKG) and Soniia Cheah (MAS). Semis: Kjaersfeldt d. Yip, 21-14, 21-19; Tai d. Cheah, 21-16, 21-19. Final: Tai d. Kjaersfeldt, 17-21, 21-10, 21-13.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida (JPN); 2. Ayane Kurihara/Naru Shinoya (JPN); 3. Akayo Sakuramoto/Yukiko Takahata (JPN) and Naoko Fukuman/Kurumi Yonao (JPN). Semis: Matsuyama/Shida d. Sakuramoto/Takahata, 21-15, 21-12; Kurihara/Shinoya d. Fukuman/ Yonao, 21-16, 21-19. Final: Matsuyama/Shida d. Kurihara/Shinoya, 21-10, 21-17.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Alfian Eko Prasetya/ Marsheilla Gischa Islami (INA); 2. Po-Hsuan Yang/Ti Jung Wu (TPE); 3. Ronald Ronald/Annisa Saufika (INA) and Tang Jie Chen/Yen Wei Peck (MAS). Semis: Prasetya/Islami d. Ronald/Saufika, 21-16, 21-16; Yang/Wu d. Chen/Peck, 12-21, 21-18, 21-12. Final: Prasetya/Islami d. Yang/Wu, 21-15, 21-11.

ATHLETICS: Farah and Kosgei run away from Chicago Marathon fields

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2018

Two close races turned into runaways as Britain’s Mo Farah and Kenyan Brigid Kosgei won big victories in Sunday’s 41st Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Farah was racing a field in which seven men had better lifetime bests than his 2:06:21, but he raced in the rainy and cool conditions in Chicago just as he did in his brilliant track career: hanging with the pack until it was winning time.

On Sunday, the lead group of 14 passed the halfway points in 1:03:04 and seven were still together at the 35 km mark, with Farah cruising behind Kenneth Kipkemoi (KEN), Mosinet Geremew (ETH) and 2017 World Champion Geoffrey Kirui (KEN).

The field began to thin quickly after that point, with American Galen Rupp losing contact soon after, then Kirui and then Kipkemoi and Japan’s Suguru Osako. That left Geremew, who won in Dubai early in the year in 2:04;00 running with Farah at 40 km, but refusing to take the lead.

They ran together for a while, but with about a mile (~1.5 km) to go, Farah simply turned on the jets – just as would do in a track race in the last 600 m – and sprinted away for a clear win by 14 seconds in a lifetime best of 2:05:11, the no. 8 time in Chicago Marathon history and the fastest since 2014.

It was Farah’s third marathon ever and his third personal best; the 2:05:11 time makes him the no. 10 performer in 2018 thus far. It’s also a European record for the distance, replacing the 2:05:48 by Sondre Moen (NOR) from 2017. “The conditions weren’t great and everyone was thinking about position rather than time, but towards the end we picked it up,” Farah said in his post-race interview on Chicago television. “I felt good towards the end of the race. At the beginning I felt a bit sluggish but overall I’m very happy with it.” He said he wasn’t sure about his next race, but would consider whether to focus on the World Championships in Doha – the midnight marathon – in 2019.

Geremew was second in 2:05:48 and Osako came in third with a new Japanese record of 2:05:50, edging Yuki Shitara’s 2:06:11 from the Tokyo Marathon last February. The IAAF reported that the record earned Osako an astonishing 100 million yen (~$879,350) bonus!

Rupp was fifth in 2:06:21, his second-fastest marathon ever.

The women’s race had Kosgei, second in Chicago in Chicago in 2017, in a pack with Roza Dereje (ETH), Birhane Dibaba (ETH), Shure Demise (ETH) and 2015-16 champ Florence Kiplagat (KEN) at the halfway mark, but she broke away with vigor after the 30 km mark and no one could follow. By 35 km, Kosgei had settled the issue and 45 seconds ahead of Dereje and cruised home in a sensational 2:18:35.

How good is that? It’s no. 4 on the year list, no. 7 on the all-time performers list and the 10th fastest women’s marathon ever run! And if you were wondering, it’s not a Chicago Marathon record as Paula Radcliffe (GBR) ran 2:1718 there in 2002.

Beyond running a fabulous time, mark Kosgei down as a competitor who is not to be messed with. She’s now run nine career marathons and finished first (5) or second (3) eight times!

Dereje finished second in 2:21:18. Among the other finishers were American Gwen Jorgensen – the 2016 Triathlon champ in Rio – who improved her lifetime best to 2:36:23, and 1984 Olympic champ Joan Benoit Samuelson, who braved the conditions to finish in 3:12:13. She was trying to break the age-60 record of 3:01:30 and run under three hours.

The prize money for this World Marathon Majors race was substantial, with $100,000-75,000-50,000-30,000-25,000 available to the first five finishers and $15,000-12,000-10,000-5,000-4,000 on down to $500 for the top ten American finishers in each gender. The total prize purse was an impressive $803,500. Summaries:

World Marathon Majors/Bank of America Chicago Marathon
Chicago, Illinois (USA) ~ 7 October 2018
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Mo Farah (GBR), 2:05:11; 2. Mosinet Geremew (ETH), 2:05:24; 3. Suguru Osako (JPN), 2:05:50; 4. Kenneth Kipkemoi (KEN), 2:05:57; 5. Galen Rupp (USA), 2:06:21; 6. Geoffrey Kirui (KEN), 2:06:45; 7. Abel Kirui (KEN), 2:07:52; 8. Taku Fujimoto (JPN), 2:07:57; 9. Bedan Karoki (KEN), 2:07:59; 10. Birhanu Legese (ETH), 2:08:41.

Women: 1. Brigid Kosgei (KEN), 2:18:35; 2. Roza Dereje (ETH), 2:21:18; 3. Shure Demise (ETH), 2:22:15; 4. Florence Kiplagat (KEN), 2:26:08; 5. Veronicah Nyaruai (KEN), 2:31:34; 6. Sarah Crouch (USA), 2:32:37; 7. Taylor Ward (USA), 2:32:42; 8. Kane Landau (USA), 2:33:24; 9. Melanie Myrand (CAN), 2:34:08; 10. Marci Klimek (USA), 2:34:53.

CYCLING Preview: World Tour heads towards the finish in Turkey

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2018

The UCI World Tour began way back in January, but has only three more events left, starting with the Presidential Tour of Turkey that begins on Tuesday. The six stages:

∙ Stage 1: 09 September 148.4 km Konya-Konya (hilly)
∙ Stage 2: 10 September 149.6 km Alanya-Antalya (flat)
∙ Stage 3: 11 September 132.7 km Fethiye-Marmaris (hilly)
∙ Stage 4: 12 September 205.5 km Marmaris-Selcuk (mountains)
∙ Stage 5: 13 September 135.7 km Selcuk-Manisa (hilly)
∙ Stage 6: 14 September 164.0 km Bursa-Istanbul (hilly)

Two former medalists, both winners, are in the field. Diego Ulissi (ITA) won in 2017 and Kristjian Durasek (CRO), who won in 2015. Stage contenders in the field include Ireland Sam Bennett and Germans John Degenkolb and Niklas Arndt.

Look for results here.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL Preview: First “2019″ 4-star starts in China

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2018

In the continuing expansion of the FIVB World Beach Volleyball Tour, the 2019 season has opened and the first 4-star event of the season – meaning the top teams are entered – comes this week in Yangzhou (CHN). The top seeds:

Men:
1. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (NED) ~ 2013 World Champions
2. Pedro Solberg/Bruno Oscar Schmidt (BRA) ~ Solberg: 2015 Worlds bronze; Schmidt ~ 2016 Olympic gold medalist
3. Ahmed Tijan/Cherif Younousse (QAT) ~ 2018 Vienna Major bronze medalists
4. Nikita Liamin/Igor Velichko (RUS) ~ Liamin: 2018 World Championships bronze
5. Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Oleg Stoyanovsky (RUS) ~ new pairing!

Women:
1. Barbara Seixas/Fernanda Alves (BRA) ~ Seixas: 2015 World Champ; Alves: 2015 Worlds silver
2. Sara Hughes/Summer Ross (USA) ~ 2018 Moscow Open champions
3. Alix Klineman/April Ross (USA) ~ Ross: 2017 World Championships silver
4. Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes (CAN) ~ 2018 Commonwealth Games Champions
5. Nina Betschart/Tanja Huberli (SUI) ~ 2018 Moscow Open bronze medalists

The men’s semis will be on the 13th and the finals on the 14th; the women’s semis and finals will both be on Sunday. Look for match scores here.

The World Tour schedules comes for a new 4-star tournament in Las Vegas (USA) next week!

THE BIG PICTURE: WADA issues its annual report for 2017

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2018

The annual report (for 2017) from the World Anti-Doping Agency was posted on Friday (5th), with WADA chair Craig Reedie (GBR) noting that “At the core, WADA must ensure harmonized anti-doping rules and regulations (as it relates to the Code, International Standards and policies); and also, must be better equipped to monitor compliance with these rules and regulations of all Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) worldwide.”

There was a thorough discussion of the Russian situation, which continued through the end of 2017. With the reinstatement of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in September, only Mauritius is currently considered out of compliance.

At the end of 2017, WADA has 98 staff members (from 41 countries), 82 of whom were in the Montreal (CAN) headquarters, 10 in Lausanne (SUI) and two each in South Africa, Japan and Uruguay.

The WADA budget, solely for its work and not that of the many national anti-doping agencies, was $29.7 million U.S. at end the end of 2017. An expansion of 8% for 2018-19-20-21-22 was approved by the WADA Board to allow the agency to continue the increase in outreach, investigations and testing. Including grants to the organization in 2017, WADA’s total revenue was $31.96 million, with operating expenses of $30.18 million.

It’s worth noting that fully 50% of WADA’s budget – about $14.9 million – was paid by the International Olympic Committee, which matches all other donations from the public sector.

The organization has healthy reserves of $28.09 million as of the end of 2017.

In a separate story, WADA investigations chief, German Guenter Younger reported that more than 400 “whistleblower” cases have been opened since its hotline opened in March of 2017. “More and more whistleblowers come and they say, ‘Now we are happy that we have someone that we can talk to.’”

LANE ONE: Dempsey punches the IOC hard, calls the Games “an enormous distraction”

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2018

tsx pix 100518 dempsey, chris 750 — Chris Dempsey, co-founder of No Boston Olympics

One of the co-founders of the No Olympics Boston team, Chris Dempsey, has become the face of the anti-Olympics movement in the United States and in other countries as well.

So it was a considerable surprise to see the International Olympic Committee invited him to participate in its Olympism in Action Forum in Buenos Aires (ARG) on the eve of the Youth Olympic Games this past weekend.

He was the anti-Olympics voice in a five-person panel called “Hosting the Olympic Games: City Perspectives,” which also featured organizing committee executives from the Vancouver 2010, London 2012, Rio 2016 and Beijing 2022, with the BBC’s Sonali Shah as moderator.

Dempsey could not have been clearer about his opposition to the Games and the reasons why. He introduced his role in imploding Boston’s bid for the 2024 bid this way:

“What happened in Boston is very much emblematic in what is happening in democracies around the world that are seeing that the Olympic Games just do not pencil out. They just do not make economic sense. The Olympic Games have become an enormous engine of economic inefficiency. And what’s really going on here and what we really opposed, fundamentally, from day one, before any of the details of the bid even came out, before there was any information about what the boosters were actually planning, is the fundamental incentive structure that the IOC has in place.

“They ask cities to host their three-week party, and for those cities to take on all of the risks. It’s true that the IOC writes you a check when you agree to host the Games, but they are writing you a check on the order of magnitude of maybe a billion dollars for a party that they want you to throw that’s going to cost somewhere between $10-15 billion. And the difference is made up by taxpayers. It’s that taxpayer guarantee that when you sign that Host City Contract, you, the Host City, are responsible for those overruns. …

“And so while even many of you in this room may be encouraged by some of the reforms like Agenda 2020 and The New Norm, the idea that some of the venues no longer need to be built, fundamentally there is nothing in those reforms that changes that fundamental incentive structure. That’s why we formed No Boston Olympics in a living room in Boston, three of us in the winter of 2013 and why so many Bostonians ended up joining us, and why the bid had to be dropped.”

He related to the euphoria described by the chief executives of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, John Furlong, and the CEO of the London 2012 Games, Paul Deighton, with his own experience of the Boston Red Sox winning their first World Series in 86 years in 2004. But:

“I agree with the stirring language that sports and events like that can change a city. But just because the Red Sox winning the World Series was something that made people in Boston happy does not mean that taxpayers should be spending money to build the Red Sox a new stadium. Or they should be spending money to get the Red Sox a new starting pitcher that we have a better chance of experiencing that again.

“What you see with the Olympics is that they become this enormous distraction for public leaders from the important things that real citizens actually want improved in their city: their schools, their roads, their parks, their overall quality of life. And it turns out that a three-week event is a really bad way to do those things.

“We call this ‘the booster’s dilemma.’ The IOC is pulling cities in one direction, saying ‘focus on this event, make sure that it looks great on television, make sure you have all the logistics in place.’ The bidding committee is in the middle and the organizing committee is in the middle and on the other side is the public that is saying ‘wait a minute, we want long-term benefits for our city. We don’t really care how the athletes get around, we care about how we’re getting to work and getting to school.’

“And as much as the IOC would like to say and tell the story that those things are compatible and that they actually can work together, that is not how it works. You don’t plan cities around a three-week event.

“I’m not seeing any evidence in The New Norms that the IOC has fundamentally changed.”

He’s just dead-set against the Games, right?

Amazingly, no. And this is where his comments, shortly before the end of the 49-minute session, got really interesting:

“You know, I am often asked is there anything that could have been done to in Boston to get you to say ‘yes’ to the Games. People often assume that ‘these guys are just negative.’ In fact, we were actually very clear and specific with the bidding committee about what we wanted to see changed for us to drop our opposition.

“It had three components: the first was an independent auditor and watchdog that would have access to their records. That made them very nervous because they were calling themselves a private entity, that [it] was not a public entity. I think we might have been able to convince them that they should do that, but they never totally agreed.

“The second piece was that we said that the joint marketing account which totaled something like $600 million that’s created between the host city and the USOC, the United States Olympic Committee, should be kept in a separate account and then after the Games, we will assess whether the promises that were made to Bostonians were achieved. If they were achieved, then the USOC gets the money. If they were not achieved, then those dollars go to pay for the promises that the USOC made. One of those promises that The USOC talks about is that every Olympics in the U.S. had a surplus. It turns out that that’s not true. But we asked for that second piece. The USOC was unwilling to agree to that.

“And the third thing we asked for – this is just three things – the third thing we asked for is to drop the taxpayer guarantee, to say that Bostonians, residents of the State of Massachusetts would not be responsible for the cost overruns. Make that very clear. That’s what happened in Los Angeles in 1984; Bostonians should get the same deal.

“And what the leaders of Boston 2024 said to us is ‘The IOC would never go for that.’ So that’s on the IOC. And I don’t see any change in that fundamental incentive structure with Agenda 2020, which was already passed when Boston 2024 was happening, or The New Norms. There’s nothing in there about sharing the risk of cost overruns, there’s nothing in there about dropping that taxpayer guarantee. And as long as that incentive is in place, all of that risk goes to the Host City, the IOC gets its event, that’s paid for by taxpayers and they go on to the next city.

“That is a raw deal for hosts and until those change, I don’t think any city should consider bidding on the Games.”

So Dempsey’s issues weren’t about the Games, only about the financing. He and his movement are today where the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games was in 1977.

He also felt that the financial issues might be mitigated by having the Games in a permanent location and not moving it around. So at the end, he’s only about the money.

Some of Dempsey’s comments weren’t challenged because the moderator and the other panelists aren’t fully informed. The IOC, in fact, said publicly that with regard to the recent candidature of Sion (SUI) for 2026, it would accept less than a complete financial guarantee because so little would have been built for that project. The bid was abandoned, but the IOC’s position changed noticeably.

Starting with the 1991 edition, the Olympic Charter states clearly that city or state financial guarantees are not required. The current language in the by-law to Rule 33 reads “All candidate cities shall provide financial guarantees as required by the IOC Executive Board, which will determine whether such guarantees shall be issued by the city itself, or by any other competent local, regional or national public authorities, or by any third parties.” In other words, the USOC could have issued the guarantee for Boston, as it did for Los Angeles in 1984, if it had wanted to.

Dempsey punched hard, but didn’t knock the IOC out. But he scored a lot of points, and the IOC can learn a lot from what he said. We’ll explore more of the lessons from this panel on Wednesday.

Rich Perelman
Editor

WRESTLING: Maroulis in for World Champs, but Garrett and Ragan out

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2018

World Champion Helen Maroulis (USA) Photo courtesy Tony Rotundo of WrestlersAreWarriors.com

Not that there was a lot of doubt, but the final spot to be earned on the U.S. team for the United World Wrestling World Championships coming up later this month, was settled on Saturday night in Bethleham, Pennsylvania, at Lehigh University.

Helen Maroulis, the reigning Olympic and World Champion had been scheduled to meet U.S. Open winner Alex Hedrick during the Final X series earlier in the year, but the match was postponed due to a Maroulis injury.

But there was no difficulty for Maroulis, who won the best two-of-three series for the 57 kg spot by technical-fall scores of 10-0 and 12-0 to sweep the series and qualify for her seventh straight U.S. team.

“I’m just grateful,” Maroulis said. “There’s definitely been times when I’ve taken all of this for granted, and I just never want to do that. You never know when this road is going to end. I want to make sure that I’m living in the moment and enjoying every second that I can.”

However, the American squad has lost two members due to injury:

∙ Alli Ragan, the choice at 59 kg, has had to withdraw and will be replaced by Jenna Burkert, the Final X runner-up. Ragan has won two World Championships medals; Burkert, a member of the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program, has been a member of three U.S. World Junior Championships team.

∙ The men’s 61 kg qualifier Nahshon Garrett, is also injured and will be replaced by Joe Colon. Interestingly, Colon earned a no. 4 seed in the World Championships – Garrett did not – and will enjoy that placement at the Worlds.

The UWW World Championships start in Budapest on 20 October.

YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES: Competition starts in Buenos Aires

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 8, 2018

The third Youth Olympic Games got started in Buenos Aires (ARG) in an outdoor, ticket-free ceremony that attracted a reported 200,000 spectators to the Plaza de la Republica and the famed Obelisco, marked the 400th anniversary of the founding of the city in 1536.
The traditional light of the Olympic flame to begin the Games was done by Argentina Olympic champions Paula Pareto (Judo) and Santiago Lange (Sailing).

The first medals of the Games were awarded in Shooting, as Russian Grigorii Shamakov won the men’s 10 m Air Rifle event, followed by Shahu Mane (IND) and Aleksa Mitrovi (SRB).

At a Saturday news conference, IOC President Thomas Bach noted that some 600,000 YOG entry passes – a wristband – had been ordered by spectators; all of the events have free admission.

Bach also mentioned that the organizers had told him that although the final budget of the YOG in Buenos Aires had been set at $200 million (U.S.), the event would cost 40% less or about $120 million. That’s good news, except that the budget proposed in the Buenos Aires bid for the Games was $104.3 million, so the event will actually run 15% over the original estimated cost.

VOLLEYBALL: U.S., Italy, Serbia and Netherlands unbeaten in women’s Worlds

By

Rich Perelman

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October 5, 2018

The round-play in round one of the FIVB Women’s World Championships has been completed in Japan, with only four teams remaining undefeated. The final first-round standings:

∙ Pool A: 1. Netherlands (5-0); 2. Japan (4-1); 3. Germany (3-2); 4. Mexico (1-4); 5. Argentina (1-4); 6. Cameroon (1-4).

∙ Pool B: 1. Italy (5-0); 2. China (4-1); 3. Turkey (3-2); 4. Bulgaria (2-3); 5. Canada (1-4); 6. Cuba (0-5).

∙ Pool C: 1. United States (5-0); 2. Russia (4-1); 3. Thailand (3-2); 4. Azerbaijan (2-3); 5. Korea (1-4); 6. Trinidad & Tobago (0-5).

∙ Pool D: 1. Serbia (5-0), Brazil (4-1); 3. Dominican Rep. (3-2); 4. Puerto Rico (2-3); 5. Kenya (1-4); 6. Kazakhstan (0-5).

The U.S. women piled up a 15-5 sets advantage in the first round, defeating Azerbaijan (3 sets to 0); Trinidad & Tobago (3-0), Korea (3-1), Thailand (3-2) and Russia (3-2). In the match-up of the world no. 2 (U.S.) vs. world no. 5 (Russia) match-up, the U.S. came from behind to win, 19-25, 25-20, 26-24, 12-25, 15-11.

“Russia started the match out very strong and pushed us on our heels,” said U.S. head coach Karch Kiraly. “I really like the way that our team responded and had great fighting spirit;. Even after a disappointing fourth set we came back strong in the fifth set.”

In the other groups, Serbia swept all five of its opponents in the first round and Italy won 15 of 16 sets.

In the second round, the first-round results will carry over, so:

∙ Pool E: 1. Serbia (5-0); 2. Netherlands (5-0); 3. Japan (4-1); 4. Brazil (4-1); 5. Germany (3-2); 6. Dominican Republic (3-2); 7. Puerto Rico (2-3); 8. Mexico (1-4).

∙ Pool F: 1. Italy (5-0): 2. United States (5-0); 3. China (4-1); 4. Russia (4-1); 5. Thailand (3-2); 6. Turkey (3-2); 7. Azerbaijan (2-3); 8. Bulgaria (2-3).

The second round-robin will determine the final pool of six (top three from each second-round pool). Look for scores and standings here.

SWIMMING: Wang strikes for 400 m Free World Record in Budapest World Cup

By

Rich Perelman

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October 5, 2018

tsx pix 101219 wang jianjiahe 750 — World-record setter Jianjiahe Wang (CHN)

She set the stage with two World Junior Records in the FINA Swimming World Cup short-course opener last week in Eindhoven (NED), but China’s 16-year-old Jianjiahe Wang etched her name deeper into the record books with a World Record for short-course (25 m) pools in the 400 m Freestyle in Budapest (HUN).

Wang led the qualifying at 4:01.94 in the morning, then took the lead from the start in the final and went wire-to-wire to win in 3:53.97. That trashed the 3:52.54 mark by Spain’s Mireia Belmonte Garcia from 2013, and was also – of course – another World Junior Record, breaking her own mark of 3:54.63 from Eindhoven last week.

Wang also set a World Junior mark in the 800 m Free last week, so watch for her in that event on Saturday!

That wasn’t the only record action as far as U.S. fans were concerned, as Kathleen Baker continued her hot swimming by equaling Katie Meili’s 2016 American record of 58.02 in finishing third in the 100 m Medley behind Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu and Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom. Baker had an American Record in the 100 m Back in Eindhoven.

Speaking of Hosszu, she won the Medley and the 200 m Fly and is entered in almost every one of the remaining events. In the men’s events, Russian Vladimir Morozov won the 50 m Free and the 100 m Medley.

In Budapest, prize money of $1,500-1,000-500-400-300-200 is available for the top six placers. Look for the results here. Summaries so far:

FINA Swimming World Cup 4
Budapest (HUN) ~ 4-6 October 2018
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Freestyle: 1. Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 20.51; 2. Benjamin Proud (GBR), 20.89; 3. Bradley Tandy (RSA), 21.06. Also: 8. Michael Andrew (USA), 21.42.

400 m Free: 1. Mack Horton (AUS), 3:41.78; 2. Blake Pieroni (USA), 3:42.74; 3. Wojciech Wojdak (POL), 3:43.52.

100 m Fly: 1. Chad la Clos (RSA), 49.22; 2. Mehdy Metella (FRA), 49.71; 3. Nicholas Santos (BRA), 50.12.

100 m Breast: 1. Felipe Lima (BRA), 56.69; 2. Anton Chupkov (RUS), 56.97; 3. Lizhuo Wang (CHN), 57.03. Also: 7. Nic Fink (USA), 57.73.

100 m Medley: 1. Morozov (RUS), 50.32; 2. Andrew (USA), 51.55; 3. Kosuke Matsui (JPN), 53.08. Also: 4. Fink (USA), 53.32.

Women

50 m Free: 1. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 23.23; 2. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 23.36; 3. Femke Heemskerk (NED), 23.67.

400 m Free: 1. Jianjiahe Wang (CHN), 3:53.97 (World Short-Course Record; old, 3:54.52, Mireia Belmonte Garcia (ESP), 2013; also a World Junior Record; old, 3:54.64, Wang, 2018); 2. Leah Smith (USA), 3:58.94; 3. Heemskerk (NED), 4:00.03.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Emily Seebohm (AUS), 26.05; 2. Georgia Davies (GBR), 26.13; 3. Kromowidjojo (NED), 26.19. Also: 4. Kathleen Baker (USA), 26.30.

200 m Breast: 1. Yuliya Efimova (RUS), 2:17.88; 2. Vitalina Simonova (RUS), 2:19.43; 3. Melanie Margalis (USA), 2:20.30.

200 m Fly: 1. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2:03.14; 2. Yufei Zhang (CHN), 2:03.29; 3. Kelsi Dahlia (USA), 2:03.33.

100 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 57.64; 2. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 57.75; 3. Baker (USA), 58.02 (equals American Record, 58.02, Katie Meili, 2016). Also: 6. Margalis (USA), 59.11.

FOOTBALL: Panama & U.S. breeze to CONCACAF Champs wins

By

Rich Perelman

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October 5, 2018

The world’s no. 1-ranked women’s football team, the United States, looked every bit the part in routing Mexico, 6-0, in its opener at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship at Shalen’s Stadium in Cary, North Carolina.

Jill Ellis’s American squad opened the scoring in the third minute, when Lindsey Horan sent a cross from the left side to the foot of Megan Rapinoe in front of the goal and she finished quickly for a 1-0 lead.

Although the U.S. had multiple chances to add to the score, the half ended that way. Mexico did not attempt a shot in the half.

In the second half, the pressure from the U.S. side increased and just a couple of minutes in, it was Julie Ertz kicking in a rebound off a Horan cross after a great free kick by Rapinoe that hit the crossbar and bounced back in front of the Mexico net.

At 2-0, the game wasn’t decided, but the issue was closed in the 57th minute, with Alex Morgan was unmarked and headed in a perfect corner kick from Rapinoe for a three-goal lead and the rout was on.

Striker Crystal Dunn’s race down the left side of the field in the 61st minute ended with another goal. She sent a perfect cross in front of the Mexican goal, right to the head of Tobin Heath for a 4-0 lead and Rapinoe (70th) and Morgan (80th) scored their second goals of the night as the Mexican side tired.

Panama also opened with a shut-out, breezing past Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0. Marta Cox for a goal in the 12th minute for the only score of the first half, but Kenia Rangel added another in the 68th minute and Erika Hernandez scored in the 89th for the win. Panana had an 18-10 edge in shots.

The coming schedule:

∙ Group A:

4 October:
Panama 3, Trinidad & Tobago 0
United States 6, Mexico 0

7 October:
United States vs. Panama (5 p.m. Eastern time, on FS1 and UDN)
Mexico vs. Trinidad & Tobago
(Games at Shalen’s Stadium: Cary, North Carolina)

∙ Group B:

5 October:
Canada vs. Jamaica
Costa Rica vs. Cuba

8 October:
Costa Rica vs. Jamaica
Canada vs. Cuba
(Games at H-E-B Park: Edinburg, Texas)

The top two teams out of each group will advance to the semifinals at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.the stakes in this tournament are high: the top three teams will qualify directly to the 2019 World Cup, with a fourth team moving into a play-off, with that winner to qualify.

All of the tournament games will be shown on FS1 or FS2, as well as Univision. The semis will be on 14 October and the finals on 17 October.

The U.S. now has an unbeaten streak of 22 (19-0-3) games since a loss to Australia in mid-2017. In 2018, the U.S. women are 12-0-2 and have outscored their opponents, 42-10. The U.S. women are now 35-1-1 all-time vs. Mexico.

This is the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship, first held in 1991. The U.S. has dominated the event, winning in 1991-93-94-2000-02-06-14 and taking the bronze medal in 2010. All-time, the American women have now compiled a 28-1-0 record in this tournament, losing only in 2010 and did not compete in 1999 as an automatic qualifier for the World Cup as the host country. Canada won the 1998 and 2010 tournaments.

Look for the scores here.

GYMNASTICS Preview: Rio champs Hancharou & McLennan headline Trampoline World Cup

By

Rich Perelman

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October 5, 2018

tsx pix 101218 maclennan rosie 750 — Rio Olympic women's Trampoline champion Rosie MacLennan (CAN)

The fourth FIG Trampoline World Cup comes this weekend at the 8th Loule World Cup in Loule (POR), with events in individual Trampoline, Synchronized Trampoline and Tumbling.

Of these, individual Trampoline is the only event on the Olympic program, for men and women and there are excellent fields in both:

Men:
∙ Lei Gao (CHN) ~ 2016-17 World Champion
∙ Uladzislau Hancharou (UZB) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion
∙ Dimitrii Ushakov (RUS) ~ 2017 World Championships silver medalist

Women:
∙ Lingling Liu (CHN) ~ 2014 World Champion
∙ Rosie MacLennan (CAN) ~ 2013 World Champion & 2012-2016 Olympic Champion
∙ Bryony Page (GBR) ~ 2016 Olympic silver medalist
∙ Sophiane Methot (CAN) ~ 2017 World Championships bronze medalist

The U.S. has the top four men from the 2018 U.S. Championships in the meet: winner Jeffrey Gluckstein, and runner-ups Aliaksei Shostak, Isaac Rowley and Cody Gesuelli, plus 2018 national runner-up and Pan American silver medalist Nicole Ahsinger on the women’s side, plus fourth and fifth placers Sarah Webster and Jessica Stevens.

There is prize money available of CHF 1,500-1,000-500 for the top three in each event. Look for results here.

ATHLETICS Preview: Rupp vs. Farah vs. the new kids in Sunday’s Chicago Marathon

By

Rich Perelman

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October 5, 2018

The 41st edition of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon promises to be one of the most intriguing yet, with a classic match-up of old friends and former training partners Galen Rupp of the U.S. and Olympic legend Mo Farah (GBR; pictured).

The pair went 1-2 in the 2012 Olympic 10,000 meters, with Farah winning the first of his two Olympic golds in the distance (he also won the 5,000 m) twice and Rupp second. Rupp then went on to win the Olympic bronze medal in the Rio marathon and set a lifetime best earlier this year with a 2:06:07 win at the Prague Marathon. He’s the defending champion in Chicago, winning in 2:09:20 last year.

Farah has been on fire of late, running a lifetime best of 2:06:21 for third in the London Marathon in April, but then winning four shorter races in a row. He ran away with the Great North Run half-marathon on 9 September, finishing in a European best 59:27 and stands no. 12 on the world list in 2018.

But these veterans – Farah is 35 and Rupp is 32 – will be challenged by the newest wave from eastern Africa. At the top of that list is Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew, who the Dubai Marathon in 2:04:00, the no. 2 mark in 2018. At 26, he’s hardly an unknown and was third in Berlin last year.

Berhanu Legesse (ETH) was sixth in his debut marathon Dubai at 2:04:15, still no. 7 on the world list for 2018, and the field includes double World Champion Abel Kirui (KEN), 2015 Chicago winner and 2018 Tokyo winner Dickson Chumba (KEN) and newcomer Kenneth Kipkemoi (KEN), who debuted at the distance with a 2:05:44 win in Rotterdam (NED) in April. And what about 2017 World Champion Geoffrey Kirui (KEN), who was Boston runner-up this year in frightful conditions?

The men’s field also includes the winner of that brutal Boston Marathon, Japan’s Yui Kawauchi, who will be running his ninth marathon of 2018 (!) and the 84th of his career. The top men’s entries:

Men:
∙ 2:04:00 ‘18 Mosinet Geremew (ETH) ~ 2018 Dubai winner; 2017 Berlin bronze
∙ 2:04:15 ‘18 Birhanu Legese (ETH) ~ 2018 Dubai Marathon sixth in debut
∙ 2:04:32 ‘14 Dickson Chumba (KEN) ~ 2015 Chicago winner; 2018 Tokyo winner
∙ 2:05:04 ‘09 Abel Kirui (KEN) ~ 2009 & ‘11 World Champion; 2012 Olympic silver
∙ 2:05:44 ‘18 Kenneth Kipkemoi (KEN) ~ 2018 Rotterdam Marathon winner in debut
∙ 2:06:07 ‘18 Galen Rupp (USA) ~ 2017 Chicago winner; 2016 Olympic bronze
∙ 2:06:19 ‘16 Bernard Kipyego (KEN) ~ 3rd in Chicago ‘11, 6th in ‘12, 3rd in ‘17
∙ 2:06:21 ‘18 Mo Farah (GBR) ~ 2018 London bronze medalist
∙ 2:06:27 ‘16 Geoffrey Kirui (KEN) ~ 2017 World Champion; Boston 2018 silver
∙ 2:07:19 ‘17 Suguru Osako (JPN) ~ 2017 Boston bronze, 2017 Fukuoka bronze
∙ 2:07:41 ‘17 Bedan Karoki (KEN) ~ 2017 London Marathon bronze medalist
∙ 2:08:14 ‘14 Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) ~ 2018 Boston Marathon winner

The women’s field is topped by 2018 Dubai winner Roza Dereje, no. 5 on the world list at 2:19:17, who will be challenged by 2015-16 Chicago winner Florence Kiplagat, 2018 Tokyo Marathon winner Birhane Dibaba (ETH) and Kenyan Brigid Kosgei, second in this race last year and in the London Marathon this year. Dereje has won four of her eight career marathons and two in a row.

The top women’s entries:

Women:
∙ 2:19:17 ‘18 Roza Dereje (ETH) ~ 2018 Dubai Marathon winner
∙ 2:19:44 ‘11 Florence Kiplagat (KEN) ~ 2015-16 Chicago Marathon winner
∙ 2:19:51 ‘18 Birhane Dibaba (ETH) ~ 2018 Tokyo winner, 2014-15 Chicago bronzes
∙ 2:20:13 ‘18 Brigid Kosgei (KEN) ~ 2017 Chicago Marathon silver; 2018 London silver
∙ 2:20:59 ‘15 Shure Demise (ETH) ~ 2018 Tokyo 4th; 2017 World Champs 5th
∙ 2:21:21 ‘85 Joan Benoit Samuelson (USA) ~ 1984 Olympic Champion
∙ 2:25:38 ‘17 Laura Thweatt (USA) ~ 2017 London Marathon sixth

There are a lot of other stories in the women’s race, notably the second career marathon for 2016 Olympic Triathlon champ Gwen Jorgensen (USA). Now 32, she debuted at the New York Marathon in 2016, just a couple of months after winning in Rio and finished a creditable 14th in 2:41:01. She was fourth at the U.S. Half Marathon Championships this past May.

Olympic icon Joan Benoit Samuelson, now 61, hasn’t completed a marathon since 2015 (2:54:03 in Boston), but is back to try and break the three-hour barrier and set a world age-60 record, currently held by New Zealand’s Bernardine Portenski in 3:01:30 from 2010 at the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia.

The prize money for this World Marathon Majors race is substantial, with $100,000-75,000-50,000-30,000-25,000 available to the first five finishers and $15,000-12,000-10,000-5,000-4,000 on down to $500 for the top ten American finishers in each gender. The total prize purse is an impressive $803,500.

The overall race is simply massive; there were 44,341 finishers in 2017. Look for results here.

NBC’s Olympic Channel will have live coverage of the race, beginning at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning.

GAMES Preview: Third Youth Olympic Games starts on Saturday

By

Rich Perelman

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October 5, 2018

Some 3,998 athletes from 206 nations are gathering in Buenos Aires (ARG) for the third Youth Olympic Games, a creation of the International Olympic Committee to extend the reach of the Olympic Movement to “youth.”

The IOC boasts that the event “will feature new sports (breaking, sport climbing, roller sports and karate), and many new disciplines and events such as BMX freestyle, kiteboarding, beach handball, futsal and acrobatic gymnastics, reflecting the passions of the Game Changers, a new generation of athletes and fans.” The facts & figures:

∙ Athletes: 3,998 expected from 206 countries, all aged 15-18 during the year 2018
∙ Dates: 6-18 October in Buenos Aires (ARG)
∙ Events: 241 medal events in 32 sports
∙ Venues: 29 competition sites, arranged in four “parks”
∙ Staffing: More than 8,000 volunteers

The U.S. has a team of 87 athletes going to Buenos Aires, competing in 21 sports. The U.S. Olympic Committee announcement of the team also notes that 55 of the 87 members of the team speak Spanish! The youngest team member is 14: rhythmic gymnast Elizabeth Kapitonova (she’ll be 15 last this year).

NBC will have daily coverage of the YOG on the NBC Olympic Channel at 7 p.m. Eastern daily, with a highlights package and 61 1/2 hours of coverage in all. The Opening Ceremony will be carried live on Saturday, also at 7 p.m. Eastern time.

The Games schedule and results link is here.

THE BIG PICTURE: Boxing on the razor’s edge of elimination from the Olympic Games

By

Rich Perelman

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October 5, 2018

You almost never hear language like this in a statement from the International Olympic Committee:

“The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today expressed its ongoing extreme concern with the grave situation within the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and its current governance. …

“Such behaviour is affecting not just the reputation of AIBA and boxing but of sport in general.

“Therefore, the IOC reiterates its clear position that if the governance issues are not properly addressed to the satisfaction of the IOC at the forthcoming AIBA Congress, the existence of boxing on the Olympic programme and even the recognition of AIBA as an International Federation recognised by the IOC are under threat.”

At issue is the AIBA’s forthcoming presidential election on 3 November, in which Uzbek Gafir Rahimov – accused by the U.S. Treasury Department of aiding a criminal organization – is the only candidate on the ballot. The head of the Kazakhstan federation, Sirek Konakbayev, did not submit the required number of endorsements to qualify.

AIBA has multiple problems, including accusations of financial mismanagement, and its own Executive Committee is recommending a life ban of former president C.K. Wu (TPE) and Executive Director Ho Kim (KOR).

But the IOC statement also included this: “At the same time, we would like to reassure the athletes that the IOC will – as it has always done in such situations and is currently doing at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 – do its upmost to ensure that the athletes do not have to suffer under these circumstances and that we will protect their Olympic dream.”

So the IOC is going to exclude the sport from the 2020 Games and ensure that the boxer’s “Olympic dreams” will be protected? What?

LANE ONE: Senate hearing asks four NGBs to turn control over to its athletes

By

Rich Perelman

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October 5, 2018

Should athletes run the sports they participate in?

The key exchanges of Wednesday’s fourth hearing on “Protecting U.S. Amateur Athletes: Examining Abuse Prevention Efforts Across the Olympic Movement” before the U.S. Senate Sub-Committee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security came near the end of the session with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) asking four heads of U.S. National Governing Bodies that question directly:

Blumenthal:
“Would you voluntarily commit to increasing athlete representation to a majority on your Boards and Committees to ensure their voices and concerns are heard?”

Phil Andrews, chief executive of USA Weightlifting:
“I’d be happy to do that.”

Anne Cammett, president of U.S. Figure Skating:
“I think we’d like to research, that it’s not the majority. We could increase the minority.”

Blumenthal:
“Well it’s 20% now; I’m asking you to commit that it’s a majority.”

Cammett:
“We will not be able to do that at this time.”

Blumenthal:
“Why not?”

Cammett:
“Part of what you have to look at [is] learning and life experience that come with developing from a young person to an adult. We have many people that skated at a high level that are involved in that, but they have timed out for the maximum [number of years since competing]. I think you need a good balance. You need the life experience, the knowledge that comes from …”

Blumenthal:
“How about 50%?”

Cammett:
“We can explore that.”

Blumenthal:
“I’d like to hear back from you about that.”

Tim Hinchey, chief executive of USA Swimming:
“Our Board is made up from a House of Delegates from throughout the entire organization, a volunteer organization and we need to work with those by-laws to do that, but we would be in favor of having more athletes.”

Darrin Steele, chief executive of USA Bobsled & Skeleton, himself a two-time Olympian in Bobsleigh in the 1998 and 2002 Winter Games:
“I would not be in favor of that.”

Blumenthal:
“Why?”

Steele:
“Because it comes down to the competence of the Board. We certainly want the athlete’s voice, that’s crucial, but if athletes haven’t completed education, haven’t had … our Board members have to be successful in some other aspect of life, hopefully some specialty that we can use almost as a consulting situation.

“One of the issues that we do see with competing athletes that are on the Board is, the Board has to look at long-term strategy for the organization. A competing athlete is looking at four-year increments and it’s difficult to think about long-term strategy when you’re actually in the midst of competition. So, the voice is important, but to the extent they would be dictating the direction of the organization when they have short-term strategies and not life experience.”

This exchange was the latest and strongest exploration yet by Blumenthal, a former United States Attorney in Connecticut, of measures which could be included in a reform package of the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act.

He adopted wholesale the requests made by United States Olympic Committee Athletes Advisory Counsel chair Han Xiao (a former table tennis player) at the 24 July hearing for an independent Inspector General over the USOC and Athlete’s Advocate within the USOC. Blumenthal asked all four witnesses if they supported these concepts and they unanimously agreed.

He got some pushback on his athlete-majority idea; the reference by Cammett to former athletes being “timed-out” refers to the current USOC by-laws (§5.6) which define an “athlete” for the purposes of being on the Board or a USOC Committee for an “athlete” position as requiring an “athlete who has competed as a member of a United States national team in the Olympic, Pan American or Paralympic Games, or other major amateur international competition, within the ten (10) years preceding the date when he or she starts serving as a member” of the Board or committee.

But it shows the direction that Blumenthal is willing to go toward to reform the situation which led to the Larry Nassar sex-abuse scandal in gymnastics and those in other sports. It’s impossible to know whether the Sub-Committee will adopt any of these, as only five of the 17 members of the Sub-Committee showed up during the hearing. Chair Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) was much more circumspect during his questioning.

The star of the hearing was the British-born Andrews, who became chief of USA Weightlifting in 2016, after having worked in the organization since 2013. He made a powerful opening statement, which included:

“Creating an athlete-focused culture should be at the heart of every NGB. We’re not alone in our desire to create an athlete-focused culture and I would like to recognize USA Swimming, whose national team and members of their athlete community spoke to all NGBs about their positive culture just two days ago.

“Culture is complex, but its heart is about listening and creating trust. I am pleased to hear that in common with USA Swimming, we make nothing mandatory for our athletes, and, in our case, our athletes have the final say on things like selection procedures, making the athletes truly the heart of what we do. …

“While the Center [for SafeSport] is in the need for more resources, to that end, USA Weightlifting quadrupled our funding in common with the NGBs as a whole, doubling [NGB] funding for the Center to meet the needs for investigations across the country. We have developed a great and independent relationship with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which benefits from significant federal funding to support its independent work. I call upon members of Congress to support the Center likewise and further the independent nature of the Center by giving it the support it truly needs to do the job we all would like it to do.

“In moving on to our leadership within the Olympic Movement, the U.S. Olympic Committee, I’d like to say that winning is not a bad thing. America’s public, when we go to the Games, expects us to win. We will cheer when we see the heroes of the Olympic Movement, who are there and speak to the need to participate in sport and speak to athletes and inspire other athletes to participate in sport, and that might just be at the local level.

“But it’s about doing it the right way. And that’s where I think we are moving towards now. It’s winning in the right way, winning in an athlete-focused manner. I commend Susanne Lyons to be the president of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Susanne has shown a commitment to our athletes, a willingness to listen to both National Governing Bodies, athletes – most importantly – and other stakeholders in the Olympic Movement.”

He also added late in the hearing a noteworthy comment that “None of us in this room can promise that sexual abuse will not happen again. It’s impossible to promise that. What is critical is how we respond: how we respond to our athletes and how we respond to an individual coming forward with a report. I think not only how we respond to that from an investigation standpoint, but how we respond to that for the care of the athlete, namely … mental health and counseling — rather than sports psychology — counseling for those athletes is a very vital service that many NGBs and the U.S. Olympic Committee are now looking to implement.”

The other witnesses also contributed to a picture of a new program of athlete support which includes not only event training, equipment, health, nutrition, sports psychology, sport science and travel support, but also safety, security and mental health and wellness assistance. But the level of support varies greatly by NGB; the four represented at the hearing had 2017 revenues of:

∙ $ 3.8 million USA Bobsled & Skeleton
∙ $ 6.1 million USA Weightlifting
∙ $24.8 million U.S. Figure Skating Association
∙ $43.6 million USA Swimming

Hinchey noted that USA Swimming Board of Directors had just approved a $1.5 million appropriation to the NGB’s SwimAssist program, defined as “USA Swimming’s assistance fund for survivors of abuse.”

Cammett also pointed to her written testimony, which noted that “at some point in the near future, expand the reach of the U.S. Center for SafeSport. Athletes within the jurisdiction of national governing bodies represent only a small segment of youth sports participants in the United States. A full commitment to ending abuse in sports must include children who participate outside the auspices of the U.S. Olympic movement.” This is obvious, of course, but unlikely to be approached in any legislation in view of certain opposition from the professional sports organizations in the U.S.

At this point, it’s impossible to gauge what will happen with the Congress and the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. November’s midterm elections will have a major impact on the future; if the Democrats take control of the Senate, then Blumenthal will have a pathway forward to promote the changes he seeks. As it is, Wednesday’s hearing produced a promise from Andrews to voluntarily make “athletes” a majority in USA Weightlifting’s Board and committees (we’ll see if his current Board agrees) and from Hinchey to increase minimum “athlete” representation from the currently-required 20% to some higher figure.

Blumenthal’s push is an overreaction to the sex-abuse crisis, and putting athletes in charge of their sports is hardly a certain pathway to peace and tranquility. It’s worth noting that the current funding level of Olympic sports in the U.S. is mostly due to the USOC’s share of the International Olympic Committee’s revenues from American television rights and TOP sponsorships.

That arrangement is a direct result of the efforts of John Krimsky, who headed the USOC’s marketing efforts from 1986-99, but pled guilty to child pornography offenses in 2008. Is the Congress going to require the USOC to give those funds back?

Rich Perelman
Editor

THE 5-RING CIRCUS: U.S. Justice Dept. indicts seven Russian hackers

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 5, 2018

The United States Department of Justice announced on Thursday a series of seven indictments against members of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), a unit of the Russian military.

The announcement of the indictments noted that “Among the goals of the conspiracy was to publicize stolen information as part of an influence and disinformation campaign designed to undermine, retaliate against, and otherwise delegitimize the efforts of international anti-doping organizations and officials who had publicly exposed a Russian state-sponsored athlete doping program and to damage the reputations of athletes around the world by falsely claiming that such athletes were using banned or performance-enhancing drugs. …

“The defendants, all Russian nationals and residents, are Aleksei Sergeyevich Morenets, 41, Evgenii Mikhaylovich Serebriakov, 37, Ivan Sergeyevich Yermakov, 32, Artem Andreyevich Malyshev, 30, and Dmitriy Sergeyevich Badin, 27, who were each assigned to Military Unit 26165, and Oleg Mikhaylovich Sotnikov, 46, and Alexey Valerevich Minin, 46, who were also GRU officers. …

“Ultimately, the Fancy Bears’ Hack Team released stolen information that included private or medical information of approximately 250 athletes from almost 30 countries.”

THE 5-RING CIRCUS: Calgary, Milan-Cortina and Stockholm recommended for 2026 Winter Games

By

Rich Perelman

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October 5, 2018

The International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board recommended that the full membership extend invitations to compete for the 2026 Games to three candidates: Calgary (CAN), Milan-Cortina (ITA) and Stockholm (SWE).

Left out was Erzurum (TUR), of which the IOC’s Working Group noted “The concentration of investment in general infrastructure such as accommodation, transport, energy and telecoms would be extremely high. Significant investment would also be needed in sports venues. The region has limited experience in hosting major international winter sports events and would benefit from organising further World Cups, World Championships and the Youth Olympic Games.

“Erzurum nevertheless presents great promise for the long-term future, having an ambitious vision of developing a young and vibrant university city into a winter sports centre.”

The three-city choice places the IOC in a delicate position, although Erzurum was not seen as a reasonable choice. Stockholm’s bid does not yet have any guarantee of governmental financial support and Italy’s two-city bid will not have financial support from the national government and must rely on regional funding. Calgary will have a public referendum on whether to proceed with the bid on 13 November. Translation: all three bids could vaporize well before the selection vote in 2019.

The IOC Session will meet on 8-9 October in Buenos Aires (ARG) and must vote to confirm the recommendation of the three cities.

VOLLEYBALL: U.S., Russia, Italy and China into Round 2 of women’s Worlds

By

Rich Perelman

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October 3, 2018

Just more than halfway through the first-round games in the FIVB Women’s World Championships in Japan, there are just six undefeated teams left in the 24-team field and the United States, Russia, Italy and China have already clinched berths in the second round.

The standings so far:

∙ Pool A:
1. Netherlands (3-0); 2. Japan (2-1); 3. Germany (2-1); 4. Mexico (1-2); 5. Cameroon (1-2); 6. Argentina (0-3).

∙ Pool B:
1. Italy (3-0); 2. China (3-0); 3. Turkey (2-1); 4. Bulgaria (1-2); 5. Canada (0-3); 6. Cuba (0-3).

∙ Pool C:
1. United States (3-0); 2. Russia (3-0); 3. Thailand (2-1); 4. Azerbaijan (1-2); 5. Korea (0-3); 6. Trinidad & Tobago (0-3).

∙ Pool D:
1. Serbia (3-0), Brazil (2-1); 3. Puerto Rico (2-1); 4. Dominican Rep. (1-2); 5. Kenya (1-2); 6. Kazakhstan (0-3).

The U.S. women have won matches vs. Azerbaijan (3 sets to 0); Trinidad & Tobago (3-0) and Korea (3-1). It has remaining games vs. Thailand on 3 October and Russia on the 4th.

The top four teams from each pool will move on to the second round and be arranged in two pools of eight, with another round-robin to determine the final pool of six (top three from each second-round pool). Look for scores and standings here.

SWIMMING Preview: Lucky 13 for Katinka Hosszu in Budapest World Cup?

By

Rich Perelman

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October 3, 2018

tsx pix 113016-swim hosszu 580x373 — The Iron Lady: Hungary's Katinka Hosszu

The fourth of seven legs in the FINA Swimming World Cup comes this week in Budapest (HUN), a home meet for Katinka Hosszu, who has once again turned in a stunning performance of stamina and speed in the first three events.

The Hungarian star has competed in 33 events in the first three meets, won 16 times and collected an astonishing 27 medals (including two on relays):

∙ Kazan:
12 events ~ 5 wins ~ 3 2nds ~ 1 3rd ~ 3 other races (two relays)

∙ Doha:
15 events ~ 7 wins ~ 1 2nd (relay) ~ 4 3rds (relay) ~ 3 other races

∙ Eindhoven:
6 events ~ 4 wins ~ 2 3rds

For the Budapest meet, she’s entered in 13 individual events, swimming the 50-200-400-800 Freestyles, 50-100-200 m Backstrokes, 50-100-200 m Butterflys and all the Medleys. That’s every individual event except the 100 m Free and the three Breaststroke events. And she could swim on the Mixed relays to up her total to 15 events!

Even with these virtuoso performances, she’s unlikely to catch Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom on the points (and money) table, who has been equally dominant in her Freestyle and Fly events, winning five each in Kazan and Doha and four in Eindhoven. She has also been turning in sensational times, including a 54.91 win in the 100 m Fly, no. 2 ever, behind only her own world mark of 54.61 from 2014.

The current overall points standings:

Men:
1. 164 Vladimir Morozov (RUS)
2. 108 Anton Chupkov (RUS)
3. 108 Mitch Larkin (AUS)
4. 93 Michael Andrew (USA)
5. 87 Blake Pieroni (USA)

Women:
1. 174 Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
2. 126 Katinka Hosszu (HUN)
3. 123 Yuliya Efimova (RUS)
4. 93 Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED)
5. 72 Kira Toussaint (NED)

The Budapest meet is also the end of the second Cluster, which has significant prize money attached of $50,000-35,000-30,000-20,000-10,000-5,000-4,000-3,000 in both the men’s and women’s divisions. With his world-record Medley performance, Morozov topped out at 80 points – the most you can score in a single meet – followed by Kirill Prigoda (RUS: 42) and Australia’s Larkin (36).

Among the women, Sjostrom and 16-year-old Jianjiahe Wang (CHN) both earned 54 points in Eindhoven, with Efimova at 45 and Hosszu at 36. Wang set two World Junior Records in Eindhoven

The U.S. had an increased presence in Eindhoven and it paid off with two new American Records for short-course pools:

∙ Kathleen Baker, who set the long-course world record in the 100 m Back at the U.S. Championships in Irvine, set an American Record in the short-course 100 m Back in Eindhoven as she won the race in 55.91. That’s 0.01 better than Courtney Batholomew’s mark from December of 2015.

∙ Kelsi Dahlia also improved her own American Record in the 100 m Fly, finishing second to Sjostrom in 55.21, 0.01 better than her 55.22 from the 2016 World Short-Course Championships.

The U.S. entries for this week’s meet are about the same as for Eindhoven and include Andrew, Peroni, Baker, Nic Fink, Dahlia, Melanie Margalis, Leah Smith and others.

In Budapest, prize money of $1,500-1,000-500-400-300-200 is available for the top six placers. Look for the results here.

FOOTBALL Preview: Road to World Cup 2019 starts with CONCACAF Champs

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 3, 2018

After playing two years worth of games that meant nothing, the U.S. women’s national team will begin its defense of its 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup championship with the CONCACAF Women’s Championship beginning on Thursday, 4 October.

The top three teams in this event, running from 4-17 October, will qualify directly to the 2019 World Cup, with a fourth team moving into a play-off, with that winner to qualify to go to France.

The eight teams in the CONCACAF Championship are split into two groups (shown with current FIFA world rankings ):

∙ Group A:
United States (1), Mexico (24), Trinidad & Tobago (52), Panama (66)
(Games at Shalen’s Stadium: Cary, North Carolina)

∙ Group B:
Canada (5), Costa Rica (34), Cuba (88), Jamaica (64)
(Games at H-E-B Park: Edinburg, Texas)

The top two teams out of each group will advance to the semifinals at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

The U.S. schedule includes:

∙ 04 October: U.S. vs. Mexico 7:30 p.m. Eastern time (on FS2 and UDN)
∙ 07 October: U.S. vs. Panama 5:00 p.m. Eastern time (on FS1 and UDN)
∙ 10 October: U.S. vs. Trinidad & Tobago 7:30 p.m. Eastern time (on FS2 and UDN)

All of the tournament games will be shown on FS1 or FS2, as well as Univision. The semis will be on 14 October and the finals on 17 October.

The U.S. enters as a heavy favorite, carrying an unbeaten streak now at 21 (18-0-3) since a loss to Australia in mid-2017. In 2018, the U.S. women are 11-0-2 and have outscored their opponents, 36-10. That includes wins over CONCACAF rivals Mexico by 4-1 and 6-2 scores last April; the U.S. women are 34-1-1 all-time vs. Mexico.

Jill Ellis’s America squad is fairly healthy and includes the major U.S. stars, including strikers Tobin Heath, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, midfielders Sam Mewis, Rose Lavelle, Julie Ertz and Morgan Brian, defenders Crystal Dunn and Becky Sauerbrunn and keeper Alyssa Naeher.

This is the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship, first held in 1991. The U.S. has dominated the event, winning in 1991-93-94-2000-02-06-14 and taking the bronze medal in 2010. All-time, the American women have compiled a 27-1-0 record in this tournament, losing only in 2010 and did not compete in 1999 as an automatic qualifier for the World Cup as the host country. Canada won the 1998 and 2010 tournaments.

Look for the scores here.

EQUESTRIAN Preview: Dutch defending Nations Cup Jumping title in Barcelona

By

Rich Perelman

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October 3, 2018

Yes, the World Equestrian Games just finished in North Carolina, but the Show Jumping world is now anticipating the annual FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final, which will be held in Barcelona (ESP) beginning on Friday.

This is the 10th annual edition of this championship, which includes 16 teams invited from the seven different regional leagues around the world. Coming to Barcelona are 83 riders and 138 horses from these teams:

∙ Austria
∙ Belgium ~ 1st in Europe Div. 1
∙ Brazil
∙ Canada ~ 1st in North/Central America
∙ France ~ 4th in Europe Div. 1
∙ Germany ~ 8th in Europe Div. 1
∙ Great Britain ~ 6th in Europe Div. 1
∙ Ireland ~ 2nd in Europe Div. 1
∙ Italy ~ 9th in Europe Div. 1
∙ Netherlands ~ 5th in Europe Div. 1
∙ Portugal ~ 1st in Europe Div. 2/Group C
∙ Switzerland ~ 3rd in Europe Div. 1
∙ Sweden~ 7th in Europe Div. 1
∙ Spain ~ 10th in Europe Div. 1
∙ United Arab Emirates ~ 1st in Middle East
∙ United States ~ 2nd in N./Central America

The line-ups for these teams will differ significantly from the recent World Equestrian Games, where the United States, Germany and Sweden took the medals in Team Jumping. The only member of the winning U.S. team on the Barcelona squad is Laura Kraut; she will be joined by Lucy Deslauriers, Alex Granato, Andrew Kocher and Jessica Springsteen (yes, the daughter of rick & roll star Bruce Springsteen!).

The Nations Cup started in 2009 and has been won three times by France (2009-10-13) and Germany (2011-12-16) and twice by the Netherlands (2014-17), with Belgium winning in 2015. The Dutch, the U.S. and Belgium went 1-2-3 last year, the first medal for the American team in this event.

Look for results here.

BADMINTON Preview: World no. 1 Tzu-Ying Tai headlines Chinese Taipei Open

By

Rich Perelman

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October 3, 2018

The BWF Tour through Asia continues with the Yonex Chinese Taipei Open in Taipei City, continuing through Sunday. The top seeds:

∙ Men’s Singles:
1. Tien Chen Chou (TPE)
2. Tzu Wei Wang (TPE)

∙ Men’s Doubles:
1. Hung Ling Chen/Chi-Lin Wang (TPE)
2. Jhe-Huei Lee/Yang Lee (TPE)

∙ Women’s Singles:
1. Tzu Ying Tai (TPE)
2. Michelle Li (CAN)

∙ Women’s Doubles:
1. Ayako Sakuramoto/Yukiko Takahata (JPN)
2. Naoko Fukuman/Kurumi Yonao (JPN)

∙ Mixed Doubles:
1. Chi-Lin Wang/Chia Hsin Lee (TPE)
2. Yang Lee/Ya Ching Hsu (TPE)

Defending champions in the fields include Chou in men’s Singles (who won in 2016 and 2017), and Chen and Wang in men’s Doubles. Chou, ranked no. 4 worldwide. won last week at the Korean Open, and he and 2012 & 2016 winner Tai will be big favorites in front of home fans.

Tai is currently ranked no. 1 in the world in the BWF rankings and won the Asian Games gold medal and three BWF World Tour events so far, including the All-England Open, Indonesia Open and Malaysia Open.

Look for results here.

THE BIG PICTURE: IOC’s Olympism in Action Forum is worth noting

By

Rich Perelman

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October 3, 2018

The Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires (ARG) is getting set to blast off on Saturday (6th), but the International Olympic Committee has a lot of other action going on at the same time. One of its programs shows that the IOC is not as deaf as many believe.

A new project is the Olympism in Action Forum, which will be held on Friday and Saturday, which the IOC intends as “a platform for diverse voices to share thinking and ideas on the overarching trends that affect the future of sport. The Olympism in Action Forum is an invitation from the IOC to welcome more people into the conversation.”

The focus is around the IOC’s desire for, as it says, “ action and reform around the three pillars of credibility, sustainability and youth.” In that regard, it’s the list of speakers that could make this an interesting exercise. The list of invitees includes:

○ Vitaly Stepanov and Yuliya Stepanova, two of the key whistle-blowers in the Russian doping scandal from 2011-15; Zimbabwe’s new Minister of Youth, Sports, Art and Recreation, Kirsty Coventry, also the Chair of the Athletes Commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (which supported Russian reinstatement) and a seven-time Olympic medalist in Swimming, and Guenter Younger, the chief of the WADA Intelligence & Investigations unit, all speaking on “Combatting Doping in Sport: A Battle Worth Fighting”

○ Vancouver 2010 chief executive John Furlong and London 2012 CEO Paul Deighton on a panel discussing “Hosting the Olympic Games: City Perspectives.” Also on the panel in American Chris Dempsey, a co-founder of the No Boston Olympics group that turned the city away from its role as the chosen candidate city of the U.S. for the 2024 Games (and was replaced by Los Angeles, which will host the 2028 Games).

There’s a lot more here, and the event will be live-streamed on YouTube. Who would have thought the Stepanovs and Coventry would be on the same stage, or to have Dempsey invited to an IOC event? Someone in Lausanne is thinking.

LANE ONE: Where once there were too few, are there now too many competitions?

By

Rich Perelman

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October 3, 2018

Way back in 1978, the United States Olympic Committee organized the first National Sports Festival to give U.S. athletes some additional competition opportunities during the summer months.

There weren’t so many events back then and USOC President Robert Kane pushed for a cost-effective event that would also give American athletes a taste of a multi-sport event short of the Olympic Games or Pan American Games.

The event was a hit, with 1,900 athletes competing in 29 sports, with 80,000 attendees and $125,000 in ticket sales. The winner of the men’s discus was the legendary Al Oerter, in the midst of comeback to try for the 1980 U.S. team.

The event really took off in Indianapolis in 1982, was renamed the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1986 and continued through 1995 – the 14th edition – when it was no longer needed. By that time, a year prior to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, there were lots of events for American athletes to compete in in every Olympic sport.

And the calendar has gotten a lot more crowded since then.

In the middle of this issue is our new competition calendar, a chronological listing of 768 events from October 2018 through the end of next year. Its accuracy will ebb as we move through the winter-sport season, but it’s a good planning tool for the rest of the year and for the major events of 2019.

Kane passed away at 81 in 1992, but saw his vision of increased opportunities for athletes realized, in part thanks to his Festival concept. Are there now too many events?

USA Swimming picked three different 2019 teams at this year’s Nationals: for the World Championships, for the World University Games and the Pan American Games. Add that to World Cup series in almost every sport – and the sports that don’t have a series are planning one – and it’s worth asking if we have too much sport. And we didn’t list cadet or youth events and only a few of the junior-level championships. Is there a limit? We don’t seem to have reached it yet.

Rich Perelman
Editor

VOLLEYBALL: Poland repeats as men’s World Champs; U.S. wins bronze!

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 1, 2018

Streaks are pretty common when it comes to the FIVB World Championships. After all, in the last quarter-century, Italy won three in a row in 1990-94-98, then Brazil won three straight from 2002-06-10 and Poland won in 2014.

So Poland had to win in 2018, right? And they did.

In the final pools, to determine the semifinalists:

∙ 26 September:
Pool I: Brazil d. Russia, 3-2
Pool J: Serbia d. Italy, 3-0

∙ 27 September:
Pool I: U.S. d. Russia, 3-0
Pool J: Poland d. Serbia, 3-0

∙ 28 September:
Pool I: Brazil d. U.S., 3-0
Pool J: Italy d. Poland, 3-2

That sent Brazil and Serbia into one semi and Poland and the U.S. into the other.

Brazil swept Serbia, 3-0, to land in the finals for the fifth straight time in the men’s World Championships. Poland and the U.S. went back and fourth, all the way to a fifth set, finally won by the Poles, 25-22, 20-25, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11. That put the Poles into a second straight final against Brazil and the U.S. into the bronze-medal match.

That turned out to be a historic occasion for John Speraw’s American squad, which won its first World Championships medal since 1994 with a 3-1 win by scores of 23-25, 25-17, 32-30 and 25-19 in a match which took more than two hours. Opposite Matt Anderson led the U.S. with 29 points, including 23 kills.

“It’s really hard to play bronze-medal matches,” said Speraw afterwards. “We unfortunately know that.

“It’s really tough when you have such an emotional match like we had last night versus Poland that went late into the night. I know I didn’t get to sleep until 4 in the morning. I am proud of the way we were able to come out and compete.

“It’s been a good year. Our program and Brazil’s were the only two that made it into both semifinals, [FIVB Nations League] and here. I think we’re in a position now where we are competing for tournaments. When that happens, sometimes you can win them and sometimes you have disappointing losses. That’s the risk you take by challenging the best in the world.”

Poland then dispatched Brazil in straight sets, winning by 28-26, 25-20 and 25-23 to repeat as World Champions. The final standings:

1. Poland
2. Brazil
3. United States
4. Serbia
5. Italy
6. Russia
7. France
8. Netherlands
9. Canada
10. Belgium
11. Bulgaria
12. Slovenia
13. Iran
14. Australia
15. Argentina
16. Finland
17. Japan
18. Cuba
19. Cameroon
20. Egypt
21. Puerto Rico
22. China
23. Tunisia
24. Dominican Rep.

The individual awards went to:

∙ Most Valuable Player: Bartosz Kurek (POL)
∙ Best Setter: Micah Christenson (USA)
∙ Best Outside Hitters: Michal Kubiak (POL) and Douglas Souza (BRA)
∙ Best Middle Blockers: Piotr Nowakowski (POL) and Lucas Saatkamp (BRA)
∙ Best Opposite: Matt Anderson (USA)
∙ Best Libero: Pawel Zatorski (POL)

Kurek was the top scorer with 171 points; Anderson finished second with 163 and U.S. Outside Hitter Aaron Russell was fourth with 153. The tournament, held in Italy and Bulgaria, had total attendance of 389,029, an average of 4,139 per game. The bronze-medal and gold-medal matches were played before a vociferous crowd of 12,011 in Turin.

TABLE TENNIS: Third Women’s World Cup title for Ning Ding

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 1, 2018

tsx pix 100118 ding ning (wikipedia) 750 — Chinese star Ning Ding (Photo: Wikipedia)

Two-time Olympic champion and three-time World Champion Ning Ding of China won her third World Cup title with a straight-set sweep of teammate Yuling Zhu in the Uncle Pop Women’s World Cup in Chengdu (CHN).

Ding played four matches and won 4-0, 4-1, 4-0 and 4-0 for a 16-1 sets record during the event; she came into the final against Zhu, who had also compiled a 12-1 sets record in winning her three matches. But it was no contest.

“I’m very happy with my victory, and I think I’m really fortunate to be able to win the title on all three occasions I played,” said Ding afterwards. “It’s indeed something to be excited about. I think this is definitely one of my best matches this year, I have been having ups and downs over the past few months, but today I played really well, and I see this as a new starting point.

“Today, even though I was able to win 4-0, it’s definitely not an easy match, especially towards the latter of the match, both of us played at a very high level. I was able to stay calm and implement my strategies firmly.”

The all-Chinese final was not a surprise. With Ding’s win, Chinese players have won this tournament 21 of the 22 times it has been held. Moreover, Chinese players have won the silver medal now 16 times out of 22 editions.

Next up is the men’s World Cup from 19-21 October in Paris (FRA). Summaries from Chengdu:

ITTF Women’s World Cup
Chengdu (CHN) ~ 28-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Final Standings: 1. Ning Ding (CHN); 2. Yuling Zhu (CHN); 3. I-Ching Cheng (TPE); 4. Kasumi Ishikawa (JPN). Semis: Ding d. Ishikawa, 4-0; Zhu d. Cheng, 4-1. Third: Cheng d. Oshikawa, 4-1. Final: Ding d. Zhu, 4-0 (11-9, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8).

SWIMMING: Morozov wins three, sets Short Course World Record in World Cup 3

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 1, 2018

tsx pix-83116 vlad morozov-santa clara 2015 (bob stanton) 750 — Russia's two-time World Cup champ Vladimir Morozov (Photo: Bob Stanton)

Russia’s Vladimir Morozov, who won the 2016 FINA World Cup men’s division thanks to a world record in the 200 m Individual Medley, broke his own mark on the way to three wins at the first short-course (25 m) World Cup, in Eindhoven (NED).

Morozov blasted out quick in the 100 m Medley and just beat his 2016 mark of 50.30 with a final time of 50.26, more than a second ahead of runner-up Daiya Seto (JPN: 51.40). The record performance is worth a $10,000 bonus as well as extra points in the cluster and overall money races. He also won the 50-100 m Freestyles to maximize his points – 80 in this meet alone – and after three events in the series, Morozov is the overall leader with 164 points.

He took the spotlight away from the usual stars, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom and Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu. Both won four events to maximize their event points and Sjostrom got a bonus for the second-best performance on the FINA scoring table for an extra 18 points. She leads the overall standings with 176, to 126 for Hosszu and 93 for breaststroker Yuliya Efimova (RUS),

Hosszu had a light meet by her standards, competing in “just” six events after having been in 15 in the last meet in Doha. She won four and took bronze medals in two to increase her seasonal medal total to an amazing 27 (including two on relays).

There were other noteworthy performances, including a sweep of the men’s Backstroke events by Mitch Larkin (AUS) and two wins each from Kirill Prigoda (RUS) in the Breaststrokes, Clad le Clos (RSA) in the Fly events and Japan’s Daiya Seto in the Medleys.

In the women’s events, Efimova won the 100-200 m Breaststroke events, China’s Jianjiahe Wang set World Junior Records in the 400-800 m Frees and American Kathleen Baker won the 100-200 m Backstroke events.

Prize money in this meet was $1,500-1,000-500-400-300-200 for the top six places. The tour continues next week in Budapest (HUN); how many events will Hosszu try in front of her home fans? Summaries from Eindhoven:

FINA World Cup no. 3
Eindhoven (NED) ~ 28-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Freestyle: 1. Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 20.69; 2. Bradley Tandy (RSA), 21.19; 3. Blake Pieroni (USA), 21.34. Also: 6. Michael Andrew (USA), 21.53.

100 m Free: 1. Morozov (RUS), 45.69; 2. Pieroni (USA), 46.45; 3. Vladislav Grinev (RUS), 46.58.

200 m Free: 1. Pieroni (USA), 1:41.83; 2. Le Clos (RSA), 1:42.20; 3. Mack Horton (AUS), 1:43.63.

400 m Free: 1. Horton (AUS), 3:39.52; 2. Pieroni (USA), 3:41.79; 3. Poul Zellmann (GER), 3:43.50.

1,500 m Free: 1. Maksym Shemberev (AZE), 14:45.17; 2. Ziao Qiu (CHN), 14:58.08; 3. Zellmann (GER), 14:59.01.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Mitch Larkin (AUS), 23.34; 2. Morozov (RUS), 23.42; 3. Kosuke Matsui (JPN), 23.57. Also: 4. Andrew (USA), 23.73.

100 m Back: 1. Larkin (AUS), 50.08; 2. Ryosuke Irie (JPN), 50.22; 3. Grigory Tarasevich (RUS), 50.79.

200 m Back: 1. Larkin (AUS), 1:49.75; 2. Irie (JPN), 1:50.15; 3. Radoslaw Kawecki (POL), 1:52.42.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Felipe Lima (BRA), 25.92; 2. Peter Stevens (SLO), 26.10; 3. Prigoda (RUS), 26.30. Also: 4. Nic Fink (USA), 26.49; 5. Andrew (USA), 26.51.

100 m Breast: 1. Kirill Prigoda (RUS), 56.88; 2. Anton Chupkov (RUS), 57.01; 3. Lima (BRA), 57.14.

200 m Breast: 1. Prigoda (RUS), 2:01.59; 2. Chupkov (RUS), 2:01.70; 3. Daiya Seto (JPN), 2:04.,19. Also: 4. Fink (USA), 2:04.95.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Nicholas Santos (BRA), 22.08; 2. Clad le Clos (RSA), 22.09; 3. Morozov (RUS), 22.42. Also: 5. Andrew (USA), 22.78.

100 m Fly: 1. Le Clos (RSA), 49.56; 2. Santos (BRA), 50.22; 3. Mehdy Metella (FRA), 50.31. Also: 8. Andrew (USA), 52.34.

200 m Fly: 1. Le Clos (RSA), 1:51.09; 2. Yuya Yajima (JPN), 1:51.87; 3. Joeri Verlinden (NED), 1:53.88.

100 m Medley: 1. Morozov (RUS), 50.26 (World Short Course Record; old, 50.30, Morozov, 2016); 2. Seto (JPN), 51.40; 3. Andrew (USA), 51.76. Also: 7. Fink (USA), 53.18.

200 m Medley: 1. Seto (JPN), 1:51.09; 2. Irie (JPN), 1:55.61; 3. Prigoda (RUS), 1:55.71. Also: 4. Fink (USA), 1:55.87.

400 m Medley: 1. Seto (JPN), 3:57.25; 2. David Verraszto (HUN), 4:03.14; 3. Shemberev (RUS), 4:06.98. Also: 7. Fink (USA), 4:13.25.

Women

50 m Freestyle: 1. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 23.26; 2. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 23.67; 3. Femke Heemskerk (NED), 23.77. Also: 7. Kelsi Dahlia (USA), 24.40.

100 m Free: Sjostrom (SWE), 51.21; 2. Kromowidjojo (NED), 51.42; 3. Heemskerk (NED), 51.73. Also: 6. Dahlia (USA), 53.18.

200 m Free: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 1:52.25; 2. Heemskerk (NED), 1:52.98; 3. Jianjiage Wang (CHN), 1:53.40. Also: 4. Margalis (USA), 1:54.30; … 7. Leah Smith (USA), 1:56.37.

400 m Free: 1. Jianjiahe Wang (CHN), 3:54.63 (World Junior Short Course Record); 2. L. Smith (USA), 4:01.31; 3. Anna Egorova (RUS), 4:04.65.

800 m Free: 1. Wang (CHN), 8:03.86 (World Junior Record); 2. L. Smith (USA), 8:15.42; 3. Egorova (RUS), 8:21.83.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Etiene Medeiros (BRA), 26.07; 2. Kromowidjojo (NED), 26.10; 3. Kira Toussaint (NED), 26.13. Also: 6. Kathleen Baker (USA), 26.44.

100 m Back: 1. Baker (USA), 55.91; 2. Seebohm (AUS), 56.07; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 56.32.

200 m Back: 1. Baker (USA), 2:00.85; 2. Seebohm (AUS), 2:01.91; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 2:03.76.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Alia Atkinson (JAM), 29.18; 2. Yuliya Efimova (RUS), 29.50; 3. Molly Hannis (USA), 30.01.

100 m Breast: 1. Yuliya Efimova (RUS), 1:03.41; 2. Atkinson (JAM), 1:03.74; 3. Hannis (USA), 1:05.65. Also: 6. Melanie Margalis (USA), 1:06.25.

200 m Breast: 1. Efimova (RUS), 2:15.62; 2. Vitalina Simonova (RUS), 2:19.65; 3. Jessica Vall (ESP), 2:20.06. Also: 4. Margalis (USA), 2:20.29.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 24.61; 2. Kromowidjojo (NED), 24.67; 3. Dahlia (USA), 25.14.

100 m Fly: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 54.91; 2. Dahlia (USA), 55.21; 3. Yufei Zhang (CHN), 55.87.

200 m Fly: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:02.87; 2. Zhang (CHN), 2:03.09; 3. Dahlia (USA), 2:03.31.

100 m Medley: 1. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 57.44; 2. Baker (USA), 58.14; 3. Emily Seebohm (AUS), 58.36. Also: 4. Sjostrom (SWE), 58.42; … 6. Margalis (USA), 59.05.

200 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:05.06; 2. Margalis (USA), 2:06.04; 3. Seebohm (AUS), 2:06.82.

400 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 4:25.15; 2. Yul Ohashi (JPN), 4:27.42; 3. Min Zhou (CHN), 4:30.26. Also: 5. L. Smith (USA), 4:35.38.

Mixed

4×50 m Freestyle: 1. Netherlands (Puts, Stolk, Heemskerk, Kromowidjojo), 1:29.90; 2. United States (Andrew, Pieroni, Baker, Dahlia), 1:30.88; 3. Russia, 1:31.96.

4×50 m Medley: 1. Netherlands (Toussaint, Kamminga, Kromowidjojo, Puts), 1:38.64; 2. Russia, 1:39.00; 3. United States (Andrew, Hannis, Dahlia, Pieroni), 1:39.14.

SPORT CLIMBING: Ghisolfi and Kim claim World Cup Lead titles in Kranj

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 1, 2018

tsx pix 100118 kim jain 750 — Korea's Jain Kim: victorious again!

The IFSC World Cup in Lead got a little closer with wins by Stefano Ghisolfi and Jain Kim in Kranj (SLO).

Italy’s Ghisolfi, in second place in the seasonal standings going in, got to the top of the wall to finish just ahead of World Champion and seasonal leader Jakob Schubert (AUT), closing to 415-386 in the point standings, with two events left in the season.

The women’s season has been dominated by Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret (three wins) and Jessica Pilz (AUT: one win). But Korea’s Jain Kim, now 30, came through with her first win in a World Cup since August of 2017 and the 28th of her long and successful career, including the 2014 World title.

Garnbret and Pilz weren’t far behind in second and fourth place, so their seasonal battle will continue. For Garnbret, she still has not finished lower than second in any World Cup this season: 1-2-1-1-2.

Summaries:

IFSC World Cup
Kranj (SLO) ~ 29-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men/Lead: 1. Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA), Top; 2. Jakob Schubert (AUT), 49+; 3. Masahiro Higuchi (JPN), 43+; 4. Marcello Bombardi (ITA), 43+; 5. Sean McColl (CAN), 40+.

Women/Lead: 1. Jain Kim (KOR), 41; 2. Janja Garnbret (SLO), 34+; 3. Hannah Schubert (AUT), 34+; 4. Jessica Pilz (AUT), 30; 5. Katharina Posch (AUT), 27+.

GYMNASTICS: U.S., Zeng dominate Pan Am Rhythmic Champs

By

Rich Perelman

-

October 1, 2018

tsx pix 40917-zeng laura ribbon 750 — U.S. Rhythmic star Laura Zeng

American Laura Zeng (pictured) won the All-Around and all four of the apparatus finals on the way to dominating the Pan American Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Lima (PER), as the U.S. also won the team title.

Zeng followed in the footsteps of Evita Griskenis, who won the same five events in 2017, and the U.S. team won three additional medals from Lili Mizuno (silver in Hoop) and Nastasya Generalova (bronzes in Ball and Clubs). Summaries:

Pan American Rhythmic Championships
Lima (PER) ~ 29-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

All-Around: 1. Laura Zeng (USA), 71.800; 2. Marina Malpica (MEX), 66.100; 3. Natalia Gaudio (BRA), 65.150; 4. Lili Mizuno (USA), 63.400; 5. Nastasya Generalova (USA), 62.650.

Hoop: 1. Zeng (USA), 19.250; 2. Mizuno (USA), 17.050; 3. Malpica (MEX), 16.900; 4. Sophie Crane (CAN), 16.850; 5. Barbara Domingos (BRA), 16.050.

Ball: 1. Zeng (USA), 18.200; 2. Generalova (USA), 16.450; 3. Rut Castillo (MEX), 15.800; 4. Malpica (MEX), 15.550; 5. Gaudio (BRA), 15.450.

Clubs: 1. Zeng (USA), 18.600; 2. Generalova (USA), 17.050; 3. Crane (CAN), 16.350; 4. Gaudio (BRA), 16.350; 5. Carmen Whelan (CAN), 15.750.

Ribbon: 1. Zeng (USA), 16.550; 2. Karla Diaz (MEX), 15.200; 3. Domingos (BRA), 15.100; 4. Mizuno (USA), 14.850; 5. Gaudio (BRA), 14.700.

Team: United States (Laura Zeng, Lili Mizuno, Natasya Generalova), 169.400; 2. Mexico, 159.100; 3. Brazil, 156.400; 4. Canada, 152.900; 5. Colombia, 129.550.

Group/5 Hoops: 1. Brazil, 20.950; 2. Mexico, 19.150; 3. Canada, 18.350; 4. Cuba, 17.100; 5. United States, 14.750.

Group/3 Balls + 2 Ropes: 1. Mexico, 18.150; 2. United States, 18.100; 3. Brazil, 16.500; 4. Canada, 16.500; 5. Cuba, 14.450.