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GYMNASTICS: Ellie Black is back, wins four medals at World Challenge Cup

By
Rich Perelman
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Canada's Ellie Black

Canada’s first World Championships All-Around medalist, Ellie Black, was the star of the final World Challenge Cup in Paris (FRA), winning four medals and winning the Beam event.

Black, 23, won two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games earlier in the year, and won silvers on Sunday in the Vault and Floor Exercise, plus a bronze in the Uneven Bars.

The remarkable Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan, now 43, won the Vault at 14.250; she was a World Champion as far back as 1991 for the USSR and won 11 total World Championships medals through 2011. She shows no signs of slowing down!

The men’s events had five winners in the six events, with only Japan’s Seiya Taura winning two events, the Parallel Bars and High Bar. Summaries:

FIG Artistic World Challenge Cup
Paris (FRA) ~ 29-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Floor: 1. Artem Dolgopyat (ISR), 14.950; 2. Jorge Vega Lopez (GUA), 14.650; 3. Rayderley Zapata (ESP), 14.550.

Pommel Horse: 1. Cyril Tommasone (FRA), 14.850; 2. Thierry Pellerin (CAN), 14.650; 3. Saso Bertoncelj (SLO), 14.550.

Rings: 1. Samir Ait Said (FRA), 15.100; 2. Igor Radivilov (UKR), 14.950; 3. Denis Abliazin (RUS), 14.850.

Vault: 1. Loris Frasca (FRA), 14.825; 2. Andrey Medvedev (ISR), 14.775; 3. Hamza Hossaini (MAR), 14.625.

Parallel Bars: 1. Seiya Taura (JPN), 14.600; 2. Julien Gobaux (FRA), 14.400; 3. Ahmet Onder (TUR), 13.800.

High Bar: 1. Taura (JPN), 14.300; 2. David Vecsernyes (HUN), 14.150; 3. Nestor Abad (ESP), 14.100.

Women

Vault: 1. Oksana Chusovitina (UZB), 14.250; 2. Elisabeth Black (CAN), 14.200; 3. Tjasa Kysselef (SLO), 13.600.

Uneven Bars: 1. Juliette Bossu (FRA), 14.200; 2. Jonna Aldertag (SWE), 13.850; 3. E. Black (CAN), 13.600.

Balance Beam: 1. E. Black (CAN), 13.900; 2. Marine Boyer (FRA), 13.350; 3. Helena Bonilla (ESP), 13.050.

Floor: 1. Melanie de Jesus dos Santos (FRA), 13.750; 2. E. Black (CAN), 13.050; 3. Aneta Holasova (CZE), 12.850.

CYCLING: Finally, World Road titles for Valverde and van der Breggen

By
Rich Perelman
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World Champion Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands (Photo: Innsbruck 2018)

If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again was the lesson of the final weekend of the 91st UCI World Road Race Championships in Innsbruck (AUT).

In this famous mountain town of winter sport, it was two veteran climbers who mastered the road races best in Alejandro Valverde (ESP) and Anna van der Breggen (NED).

Van der Breggen, the 2016 Olympic Road Race winner, attacked with about 40 km remaining on the 155.6 km route on Saturday, trying to win her first World Championships road title after finishing second in 2015 and silver medals in the 2015-17-18 World time trial races.

Amazingly, no one followed her and she piled up a huge lead, finally crossing the line an amazing 3:42 ahead of Australia’s Amanda Spratt.

“I didn’t know any gaps, so until the finish line I didn’t believe that I’d be the World Champion,” she said afterwards. “I just rode as fast as possible. I was doubting if it was too early or not to attack by myself when I did it, but since I took this opportunity, I had to go. I know how difficult it is to win the World Championship, so I’m really happy.

“I built my season for being fresher than usual at this time of the year, skipping some races like the Giro d’Italia that I won last year and doing some mountain biking instead of road racing. I felt the pressure growing as we came closer to the race. It’s been quite a long period leading up to today. This morning, I felt that it’d be over soon and I could finally relax.”

Teammate Annemiek van Vleuten, who won the Time Trial earlier in the week, looked like a contender until she suffered a broken bone in her knee after a crash with Britain’s Dani Rowe. And yet van Vleuten still finished seventh!

In the men’s race, the course featured nine major climbs and the course took a hard toll on the field. Of the 188 starters, only 76 finished; among the casualties was three-time defending champion Peter Sagan (SVK).

Going into the final climb of the 258 km course, a group of six took the lead but it was France’s Romain Bardet, Canada’s Michael Woods and Valverde who escaped from the final summit, with Dutch star Tom Dumoulin playing catch-up on the descent.

Once into Innsbruck itself, It was Valverde who placed himself perfectly for the final sprint from about 150 m out and edged Bardet and Woods, with Dumoulin fourth. “It’s incredible,” he said afterwards. “Fighting, fighting, it’s a dream. I was saving it for the sprint and the truth it’s just something incredible. This has been a dream of mine to be a world champion.”

In his 12th try, he won his sixth Worlds medal, but his first gold. But it will look glorious right next to his 2005 silver and his four bronzes. Summaries:

UCI World Road Race Championships
Innsbruck (AUT) ~ 23-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Road Race (258.0 km): 1. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), 6:46:41; 2. Romain Bardet (FRA), 6:46:41; 3. Michael Woods (CAN), 6:46:41; 4. Tom Dumoulin (NED), 6:46:41; 5. Gianni Moscon (ITA), 6:46:54; 6. Roman Kreuziger (CZE), 6:47:24; 7. Michael Valgren (DEN), 6:47:24; 8. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA), 6:47:24; 9. Thibaut Pinot (FRA), 6:47:24; 10. Rui Costa (POR), 6:47:24.

Men’s Individual Time Trial (52.1 km): 1. Rohan Dennis (AUS), 1:03:02.57; 2. Tom Dumoulin (NED), 1:04:23.66; 3. Victor Campanaerts (BEL), 1:04:24.19; 4. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL), 1:05:07.15; 5. Nelson Oliveira (POR), 1:05:16.91; 6. Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP), 1:05:20.10; 7. Tony Martin (GER), 1:05:27.80; 8. Patrick Bevin (NZL), 1:05:37.35; 9. Vasil Kiryienka (BLR), 1:06:10.11; 10. Martin Toft Madsen (DEN), 1:06:25.96. Also in the top 50: 15. Joey Rosskopf (USA), 1:07:22.66; … 27. Tejay van Garderen (USA), 1:07:56.15

Men’s Team Time Trial (62.8 km): 1. Quick-Step Floors (BEL), 1:07:26; 2. Team Sunweb (GER), 1:07:44; 3. BMC Racing Team (USA), 1:07:45; 4. Team Sky (GBR), 1:08:11; 5. Mitchelton-Scott (AUS), 1:08:23; 6. Movistar Team (ESP), 1:08:58; 7. Trek-Segafredo (USA), 1:09:30; 8. Bora-hansgrohe (GER), 1:09:33.

Men’s U-23 Road Race (179.5 km) 1. Marc Hirschi (SUI), 4:24:05; 2. Bjorg Lambrecht (BEL), 4:24:20; 3. Jaakko Hanninen (FIN), 4:24:20; 4. Gino Mader (SUI), 4:24:40; 5. Mark Padun (UKR), 4:24:42. Also in the top 25: 25. Neilson Powless (USA), 4:28:33.
Men’s U-23 Time Trial (27.7 km): 1. Mikkel Bjerg (DEN), 32:31.05; 2. Brent van Moer (BEL), 33:04.52; 3. Mathias Norsgaard (DEN), 33:09.35; 4. Edoardo Affini (ITA), 33:15.53; 5. Ethan Hayter (GBR), 33:16.70. Also in the top 25: 7. Brandon McNulty (USA), 33:23.84; … 23. Gage Hecht (USA), 33:53.77.

Men’s Junior Road Race (131.8 km): 1. Remco Evenepoel (BEL), 3:03:49; 2. Marius Mayrhofer (GER), 3:05:14; 3. Alessandro Fancellu (ITA), 3:05:27; 4. Alexandre Balmer (SUI), 3:05:27; 5. Frederik Wandahl (DEN), 3:07:09. Also in the top 25: 10. Sean Quinn (USA), 3:07:14.

Men’s Junior Time Trial (27.7 km): 1. Evenepoel (BEL), 33:15.24; 2. Luke Plapp (AUS), 34:38.90; 3. Andrea Piccolo (ITA), 34:52.86; 4. Michel Hessmann (GER), 35:02.93; 5. Soren Waerenskjold (NOR), 35:05.54. Also in the top 25: 10. Michael Garrison (USA), 35:48.19; … 19. Riley Sheehan (USA), 36:35.92.

Women’s Road Race (155.6 km) 1. Anna van der Breggen (NED), 4:11:04; 2. Amanda Spratt (AUS), 4:14:46; 3. Tatiana Guderzo (ITA), 4:16:30; 4. Emilia Fahlin (SWE), 4:17:17; 5. Malgorzata Jasinska (POL), 4:17:17; 6. Karol-Ann Canuel (CAN), 4:17:21; 7. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED), 4:18:09; 8. Amy Pieters (NED), 4:18:09; 9. Lucinda Brand (NED), 4:18:21; 10. Ruth Winder (USA), 4:18:21. Also in the top 50: 16. Megan Guarnier (USA), 4:18:21; … 21. Katharine Hall (USA), 4:18:21; … 31. Coryn Rivera (USA), 4:19:22.

Women’s Time Trial (27.7 km): 1. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED), 35:25.36; 2. van der Breggen (NED), 34:54.35; 3. Ellen van Dijk (NED), 35:50.55; 4. Leah Kirchmann (CAN), 35:52.17; 5. Leah Thomas (USA), 35:57.75; 6. Lucinda Brand (NED), 36:07.95; 7. Amber Neben (USA), 36:12.87; 8. Karol-Ann Canuel (CAN), 36:41.22; 9. Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA), 36:42.48; 10. Tayler Wiles (USA), 36:56.52.

Women’s Team Time Trial (54.5 km): 1. Canyon SRAM Racing (GER), 1:01;46; 2. Boels-Dolmans Cycling (NED), 1:02:08; 3. Team Sunweb (NED), 1:02:15; 4. Wiggle High5 (GBR), 1:02:44; 5. Mitchelton-Scott (AUS), 1:03:16; 6. Team Virtu Cycling (DEN), 1:03:53; 7. BTC City Ljubljana (SLO), 1:04:55; 8. Valcar PBM (ITA), 1:05:22.

Women’s Junior Road Race (70.8 km): 1. Laura Stigger (AUT), 1:56:26; 2. Marie le Net (FRA), 1:56:26; 3. Simone Boilard (CAN), 1:56:26; 4. Barbara Malcotti (ITA), 1:56:26; 5. Jade Wiel (FRA), 1:56:40. Also in the top 25: 25. Katie Clouse (USA), 2:01:13.

Women’s Junior Time Trial (19.8 km): 1. Rozemarijn Ammerlaan (NED), 27:02.95; 2. Camilla Alessio (ITA), 27:09.75; 3. Elynor Backstedt (GBR), 27:20.89; 4. Pfeiffer Georgi (GBR), 27:24.84; 5. Simone Boilard (CAN), 27:27.06. Also in the top 25: Abigail Youngwerth (USA), 28:34.15.

CURLING: Olympic champs Gushue and Hasselborg win Elite 10

By
Rich Perelman
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Sweden's Olympic Champion Anna Hasselborg

The opening tournament of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling ended up with familiar faces on the top of the standings, with skips Brad Gushue of Canada and Anna Hasselborg of Sweden leading the winning teams once again.

Gushue, who skipped the 2006 Olympic champs for Canada, won a tense duel with Reid Caruthers’ rink, claiming points in the third and sixth ends and playing great defense, allowing only a score in the seventh end to win, +1.

Hasselborg (pictured), who skipped the PyeongChang Olympic winners last February, barely got through the semis with a +1 win over Canada’s Rachel Homan, then scored points in ends 3-4-5-6 to eliminate Swiss Silvana Tirinzoni in the final, +4. It was the first-ever Grand Slam of Curling win for a Swedish team, and worth $32,000 to the winners!

The next Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event is the first major of the season, the Canadian Beef Masters, taking place 23-28 October in Truro, Nova Scotia. Summaries:

Grand Slam of Curling Elite 10
Chatham, Ontario (CAN) ~ 26-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Brad Gushue (CAN); 2. Reid Caruthers (CAN); 3. John Epping (CAN) and Brad Jacobs (CAN). Semis: Caruthers d. Epping +1; Gughue d. Jacobs, +2. Final: Gushue d. Caruthers, +1.

Women: 1. Anna Hasselborg (SWE); 2. Silvana Tirinzoni (SUI); 3. Rachel Homan (CAN) and Jennifer Jones (CAN). Semis: Hasselborg d. Homan, +1; Tirinzoni d. Jones, +1. Final: Hasselborg d. Tirinzoni, +4

CANOE-KAYAK: Fox shatters records with dual Slalom World titles

By
Rich Perelman
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Australia's Slalom star Jessica Fox

“It’s been the perfect season, the perfect world championships, I’m absolutely thrilled.”

She should be.

Australia’s Jessica Fox (pictured) re-wrote the record books with gold medals in both the C-1 and K-1 events at the ICF World Canoe Slalom Championships in Rio de Janeiro (BRA) over the weekend.

The favorite in both events, she won the K-1 on Saturday, ahead of Britain’s Mallory Franklin by more than two seconds, then came back Sunday to win the C-1, beating Franklin by an impressive 4.78 seconds to complete the double.

She won the C-1/K-1 double for second time, also have done it in 2014, and ran her career World Championships gold-medal total to nine, the most ever for women and breaking her mother’s record of eight. Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi (FRA) won eight world titles and 10 medals overall from 1983-95.

By winning the C-1 and K-1 individual races, she also set a record for the most Worlds wins in individual events; she now has seven, eclipsing the prior best of five, held by four men, including her father, Richard Fox, who paddled for Great Britain from 1979-93.

Fox’s two wins also boosted her career Worlds medal total to 12 (9-1-2), moving to no. 2 all-time at the World Championships; only Czech Stepanka Hilgertova (14: 1989-2015) has more. And Fox is just 24.

“Yesterday was really hard because I couldn’t appreciate what I had achieved because I had the C-1 semis in the afternoon,” said Fox. “But now all the emotion is there, it’s amazing to share it with everyone that’s here – my team, my family – I can’t wait to get home and celebrate.

“Growing up with two parents who were very successful in the sport was always pretty daunting, and I never thought I would be able to beat Dad’s record of five titles, or achieve what mum achieved To beat them is very cool, very special, but it’s as much their achievement as mine.”

Germans Franz Anton (C-1) and Hannes Aigner (K-1) were upset winners in the men’s individual events and each won his first world title. Summaries:

ICF World Slalom Championships
Rio de Janeiro (BRA) ~ 25-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

C-1: 1. Franz Anton (GER), 97.06; 2. Ryan Westley (GBR), 97.94; 3. Sideris Tasiadis (GER), 98.87; 4. Matej Benus (SVK), 101.22; 5. Alexander Slafkovsky (SVK), 101.38; 6. Michal Martikan (SVK), 101.55; 7. Benjamin Savsek (SLO), 104.20; 8. Tomas Rak (CZE), 105.97.

C-1/Team: 1. Slovakia (Slafkovsky, Martikan, Benus), 99.67; 2. Slovenia (Savsek, Bozic, Bercic), 99.95; 3. Great Britain (Florence, Westley, Burgess), 100.87; 4. Germany, 101.11; 5. France, 102.32; 6. Czech Rep., 102.82; 7. Spain, 102.91; 8. United States (Lefevre, Eichfeld, Lokken), 103.53.

K-1: 1. Hannes Aigner (GER), 89.69; 2. Jiri Prskavec (CZE), 90.65; 3. Pavel Eigel (RUS), 92.17; 4. Boris Neveu (FRA), 92.83; 5. Joseph Clarke (GBR), 93.37; 6. Ondrej Tunka (CZE), 93.80; 7. Vit Prindis (CZE), 94.85; 8. Giovanni de Gennaro (ITA), 94.93.

K-1/Team: 1. Great Britain (Clarke, Forbes-Cryans, Bowers), 92.45; 3. Poland (Popiela, Polaczyk, Pasiut), 93.88; 3. Czech Rep. (Tinka, Prindis, Prskavec)), 94.84; 4. Switzerland, 95.95; 5. Germany, 95.96; 6. Austria, 96.06; 7. Spain, 96.77; 8. Italy, 97.72. Also: 12. United States (Smolen, Lefevre, Lokken), 101.68.

Women

C-1: 1. Jessica Fox (AUS), 109.07; 2. Mallory Franklin (GBR), 113.85; 3. Tereza Franklin (CZE), 116.74; 4. Nadine Weratschnig (AUT), 117.15; 5. Viktoria Wolffhardt (AUT), 117.31; 6. Ana Satila (BRA), 117.41; 7. Rosalyn Lawrence (AUS), 121.26; 8. Bethan Forrow (GBR), 124.20.

C-1/Team: 1. Great Britain (Forrow,Franklin, Woods), 115.78; 2. Czech Rep. (Fiserova, Havlickova, Satkova), 117.34; 3. France (Prioux, Bandu, Jacquet), 121.27; 4. Russia, 124.04; 5. Slovakia, 127.63; 6. Australia, 130.32; 7. Spain, 137.22; 8. Japan, 143.77.

K-1: 1. Fox (AUS), 102.06; 2. Franklin (GBR), 104.34; 3. Ricarda Funk (GER), 105.32; 4. Ursa Kragelj (SLO), 106.23; 5. Corinna Kuhnle (AUT), 108.91; 6. Stefanie Horn (ITA), 109.22; 7. Luuka Jones (NZL), 109.68; 8. Jasmin Schornberg (GER), 111.47.

K-1/Team: 1. France (Baudu, Lafont, Prigent), 108.37; 2. Germany (Funk, Schornberg, Fritsche), 109.12; 3. Great Britain (Franklin, Pennie, Woods), 109.36; 4. Czech Rep., 110.66; 5. China, 112.47; 6. Russia, 112.8; 7. Australia, 114.21; 8. Japan, 116.72.

Mixed

C-2/Team: 1. Marcin Pochwala/Aleksandra Stach (POL), 106.48; 2. Yves Prigent/Margaux Henry (FRA), 106.84; 3. Veronika Vojtova/Jan Masek (CZE), 110.25; 4. Tereza Fiserova/Jakub Jane (CZE), 111.30; 5. Sona Stanovaska/Jan Batik (SVK), 118.57; 6. Nuria Villarrubla/Samuel Hernanz (ESP), 121.19; 7. Charles Correa/Omira Estacia Neta (BRA), 132.76; only finalists.

BASKETBALL: U.S. women sweep to 10th World Cup title

By
Rich Perelman
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Three FIBA World Cups in a row for the United States women (Photo: FIBA)

It wasn’t a breeze, but the United States women’s national team won its 10th FIBA World Cup title, beating Australia, 73-56, in the final in Tenerife in the Canary Islands of Spain.

The American squad got out to a 10-0 lead, but the game got tighter in the second quarter and the U.S. had a modest 35-27 lead at the half. But another decisive third quarter decided the issue, as the U.S. outscored the Aussies, 26-11 for a 61-38 lead.
Crucial to the American success was control of Australia’s 6-8 center Liz Cambage, who set a single-game WNBA scoring record earlier in the year, pouring in 53 points for Dallas against New York last July.

But with a lot of attention from American center Brittney Griner and a swarming U.S. defense that caused 19 turnovers, Cambage was just 2-10 from the field and scored just seven points. Compare that to her average of 27.2 points-a-game coming in and it was going to be hard for Australia to keep up.

In fact, Australia shot just 32.8% from the floor in the final and was held to 27 points below its tournament average of 83.0. The U.S. actually wasn’t much better, shooting only 35.8% from the field and lost the rebound battle, 49-46, but made 17-23 free throws vs. 8-12 for Australia.

Griner led the U.S. with 15 points in just 24 minutes, followed by wing Diana Taurasi (13) and Breanna Stewart with 10, and a team-high eight rebounds. Cambage led all rebounders with 14.

Both teams were undefeated at 5-0 in the tournament coming into the final. The Australians won their group and then pummeled China, 83-42 in the quarterfinals and edged Spain, 72-66, in their semi. The U.S. defeated Nigeria, 71-40 in the quarters and skipped past Belgium, 93-77 on the strength of a 33-18 third quarter that broke the game open. Taurasi was outstanding in the semi, with 26 points and five three-pointers that were critical.

The tournament All-Star Five included Cambage, Stewart (named Most Valuable Player), Taurasi, forward Emma Meesseman (BEL) and forward Astou Ndour of Spain. The final standings:

1. United States
2. Australia
3. Spain
4. Belgium
5. France
6. China
7. Canada
8. Nigeria
9. Greece
10. Japan
11. Senegal
12. Turkey
13. Latvia
14. Korea
15. Argentina
16. Puerto Rico

The victory continued an amazing run of dominance for the U.S., which has won consecutive Olympic gold medals in 1996-2000-04-08-12-16 and three consecutive World Cup titles in 2010-14-18 and five of the last six. The U.S. women have now won 22 straight in World Cup play; ESPN reported that the U.S. women are now 100-1 in Olympic/World Cup/FIBA Americas Championship play from the 1996 Games in Atlanta through 2018.

It’s the 10th World Cup win all-time for the U.S., who won the first two editions in ‘53 and ‘57, then again in 1979-86-90-98-2002-10-14-18. Its last loss was in a semifinal to Russia in the 2006 tournament. This year’s win was the fifth World Cup gold for Sue Bird and fourth for Taurasi.

Only four nations have ever won this tournament: the U.S. has 10 golds, followed by the Soviet Union (6) and Brazil (1: 1994) and Australia (1: 2006).

The full schedule of matches and scores are here.

BADMINTON: Japan wins three, Zhang claims silver in Korea Open

By
Rich Perelman
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U.S. Badminton star Beiwen Zhang

A powerful Japanese entry won medals in four of the five events in the Victor Korea Open, taking the men’s and women’s Doubles title and the women’s Singles title.

The Singles matches drew the most attention, however, with Chinese Taipei’s Tien Chen Chou winning his third tournament of the season, defeating Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto in the final in straight sets, 21-13, 21-16.

The women’s Singles final pitted Japan’s no. 8-ranked Nozomi Okuhara against no. 12-ranked Beiwen Zhang (pictured) of the U.S. They split the first two sets and then Okuhara picked up the pace against Zhang in the final set and won, 21-16, improving to 5-0 all-time against Zhang.

“I used to be impatient while playing her,” said Zhang. “Today I was more patient. I think my performance was good. My stamina isn’t at her level, she can run longer than me, and her stamina is better than mine.”

It was another good tournament for Zhang, and her third medal on the BWF World Tour for 2018, the best performance of her career. Coming into the season, she had only one career medal in the BWF Superseries, from 2016. She should move up again in next week’s World Rankings.

In all, Japan won nine medals and went 1-2 in the men’s Doubles and 1-2-3-4 in the women’s Doubles! The World Tour heads to Taipei City (TPE) next week, where Chou will be a big favorite in front of home fans. Summaries:

BWF World Tour/Korea Open
Seoul (KOR) ~ 25-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Tien Chen Chou (TPE); 2. Tommy Sugiarto (INA); 3. Kenta Nishimoto (JPN) and Jonatan Christie (INA). Semis: Chou d. Nishmoto, 19-21, 21-18, 21-14; Sugiarto d. Christie, 21-13, 22-20. Final: Chou d. Sugiarto, 21-13, 21-16.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe (JPN); 2. Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi (JPN); 3. Sol-Gyu Choi/Seung-Jae Seo (KOR) and Kah Ming Chooi/Juan Shen Low (MAS). Semis: Hoki/Kobayashi d. Choi/Seo, 21-11, 21-14; Endo/Watanabe d. Chooi/Low, 21-13, 21-12. Final: Endo/Watanabe d. Hoki/Kobayashi, 9-21, 21-15, 21-10.

Women’s Singles: 1. Nozomi Okuhara (JPN); 2. Beiwen Zhang (USA); 3. Ji Hyun Sung (KOR) and Akane Yamaguchi (JPN). Semis: Zhang d. Sung, 21-18, 21-19; Okuhara d. Yamaguchi, 16-21, 21-17, 21-14. Final: Okuhara d. Zhang, 21-10, 17-21, 21-16.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Misaki Matsumoto/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN); 2. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN); 3. Naoko Fukuman/Kurumi Yonao (JPN) and Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto (JPN). Semis: Fukushima/Hirota d. Fukuman/Yonao, 21-15, 21-12; Matsumoto/Takahashi d. Tanaka/Yonemoto, 21-10, 21-11. Final: Matsumoto/Takahashi d. Fukushima/Hirota, 21-11, 21-18.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Jiting He/Yue Du (CHN); 2. Mathias Christiansen/Christinna Pedersen (DEN); 3. Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai (THA) and Seung-Jae Seo/Yu-Jung Chae (KOR). Semis: He/Du d. Puavaranukroh/Taerattanchai, 21-19, 21-11; Christiansen/Pedersen d. Seo/Chae, 20-22, 21-13, 21-15. Final: He/Du d. Christiansen/Pedersen, 21-18, 21-16.

ARCHERY: Korea sweeps Recurve World Cup Finals

By
Rich Perelman
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Korea’s domination of the Olympic Recurve class continues with a sweep of all three titles at the World Archery World Cup Final in Samsun (TUR).

The 2015 World Champion, Woo-Jin Kim (pictured) won his third World Cup Final, defending his title from 2017 (he also won in 2012) by beating countryman Woo-Seok Lee in the final, 7-3. The women’s title went to first-year senior competitor, Eun-Gyeong Lee, who defeated Turkey’s Yasemin Anagoz, also by 7-3.

Then Kim and Hye-Jin Chang won the Mixed Recurve title over Anagoz and Mete Gazoz of Turkey.

Brady Ellison of the U.S. won the men’s Recurve bronze, his eighth medal in a World Cup Final; he’s won the event four times and has earned a medal each year since 2010, except for 2015.

In the women’s Recurve, India’s Deepika Kumari won the bronze to go along with four silvers.

American Kris Schaff, a newcomer to the international scene, won the men’s Compound division, edging 2015 champ Demir Elmaagcli (TUR) in the final, 148-146.

“I’m super ecstatic about my performance out there today,” said Schaff. “This morning, during practice, I was shooting awful, I was messing with my draw and stuff like that. After beating Mike (Schloesser/NED), I was like ‘yeah, I’m shooting good enough here.’”

Colombia’s Sara Lopez equaled Ellison’s record of four World Cup Final wins in the women’s Compound division, winning her fourth title in the last five years.

Prize money for the top four places was CHF 20,000-10,000-5,000-1,000, plus a trophy and a Longines watch for the winners! Summaries:

World Archery World Cup Final
Samsun (TUR) ~ 29-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men/Recurve: 1. Woo-Jin Kim (KOR); 2. Woo-Seok Lee (KOR); 3. Brady Ellison (USA); 4. Taylor Worth (AUS). Semis: Lee d. Ellison, 6-2; Kim d. Worth, 6-4. Third: Ellison d. Worth, 6-5 (shoot-off: 10-9). Final: Kim d. Lee, 7-3.

Men/Compound: 1. Kris Schaff (USA); 2. Demir Elmaagcli (TUR); 3. Abhishek Verma (IND); 4. J0ng-Ho Kim (KOR). Semis: Schaff d. Kim, 148-147; Elmaagcli d. Verma, 147-145; Third: Verma d. Kim,149-147; Final: Schaff d. Elmaagcli, 148-146.

Women/Recurve: 1. Eun-Gyeong Lee (KOR); 2. Yasemin Anagoz (TUR); 3. Deepika Kumari (IND); 4. Lisa Unruh (GER). Semis: Lee d. Unruh, 6-4; Anagoz d. Kumari, 7-3. Third: Kumari d. Unruh, 6-5 (shoot-off 9-9). Final: Lee d. Anagoz, 6-4.

Women/Compound: 1. Sara Lopez (COL); 2. Linda Ochoa-Anderson (MEX); 3. Chae-Won So (KOR); 4. Marcella Tonioli (ITA). Semis: Lopez d. So, 148-146; Ochoa-Anderson d. Tonioli, 145-144. Third: So d. Tonioli, 146-139. Final: Lopez d. Ochoa-Anderson, 146-144.

Mixed/Recurve: 1. Hye-Jin Chang/Woo-Jin Kim (KOR); 2. Yasemin Anagoz/Mete Gazoz (TUR); only entrants. Final: Chang/Kim d. Anagoz/Gazoz, 5-1.

Mixed/Compound: 1. Yesim Bostan/Demir Elmaagcli (TUR); 2. Jyothi Surekha Vennam/Abhishek Vema (IND); only entrants. Final: Bostan/Elmaagcli d. Vennam/Verma, 159-152.

THE BIG PICTURE: Youth Olympic Games start Saturday in Buenos Aires

By
Rich Perelman
-

Ready or not, the third Youth Olympic Games will start next Saturday, 6 October, and run for 13 days in Buenos Aires (ARG).

Most people will neither know nor care, but the International Olympic Committee’s sports staff will be looking closely at the new sports and events that will be included for the first time … and could be candidates for future spots on the Olympic program. So what’s new?

○ Athletics: Cross Country (Boys and Girls)
○ Cycling: Mixed BMX Racing and Freestyle Park events
○ Dancesport: Break Dancing (Boys, Girls, Mixed Team Event)
○ Gymnastics: Acrobatic Gymnastics for Mixed Pairs
○ Karate: Kumite in three weights (Boys and Girls)
○ Roller Skate: Combined Speed Events (Boys and Girls)
○ Sailing: Kitesurfing (Boys and Girls)
○ Sport Climb: Combined event (Boys and Girls)

In addition, Futsal – the indoor 5×5 game – has replaced Soccer and Beach Handball has been substituted for the standard indoor version.

Some of these events are a first look at what can be expected in Tokyo in 2020, as BMX Freestyle, Karate and Sport Climbing are included in the events added at the request of the 2020 organizing committee.

This is a dream come true for the Dancesport and Roller Skating folks, who have a chance to show off their sports in an Olympic environment. For the track & field federation – the IAAF – it’s the first time that Cross Country has been part of anything Olympic since the 1924 Paris Games, when the great Paavo Nurmi (FIN) won two golds in the Individual and Team races. Truth be told, Cross Country should be in the Winter Games, although a rules change would be needed to allow an event not on snow or ice.

All together, the YOG program comprises 32 sports, 36 disciplines and 241 events, with 3,998 athletes expected from 206 countries.

LANE ONE: Remarkable WADA investigation of Kenyan doping finds it “unsophisticated”

By
Rich Perelman
-

There have been entirely too many doping positives coming out of Kenya and its legendary distance-running program, leading to suspensions of stars like 2008 Olympic 1,500 m gold medalist and three-time World Champion Asbel Kiprop.

So the World Anti-Doping Agency undertook to find out what was going on there and created, with the Athletics Integrity Unit of the track & field governing body, the International Assn. of Athletics Federations (IAAF), a “Kenya Project” beginning in December 2016.

This was not a police raid-style program of sending out agents to conduct more tests, but a new concept, using the Intelligence and Investigations Department of WADA, along with the AIU to understand why there were so many Kenyan positives and how to reduce them.

Their report, Doping in Kenya, was released last Friday. It’s a succinct, easy-to-follow brief of 12 pages that includes seven key findings:

∙ The doping practices of Kenyan athletes are unsophisticated, opportunistic, and uncoordinated.

∙ Doping in Kenya is drastically different from other doping structures discovered elsewhere in the world.

∙ Based on the substances detected, Kenyan athletes most commonly use Nandrolone and EPO.

∙ Athletes in Kenya are insufficiently educated on doping and/or willfully blind as to the consequences of doping.

∙ The role of local medical practitioners and quasi-medical personnel (e.g. chemists) is highly relevant to the accessibility of Prohibited Substances to athletes and their entourage.

∙ Some local medical practitioners and quasi-medical personnel are unaware and/or willfully blind to their role in facilitating the access of athletes and their entourage to Prohibited Substances.

∙ The benefits of the Substantial Assistance provisions of the Code are vastly underutilized by doping Kenyan athletes.

The report does an excellent job of answering the key questions that have to be asked about Kenya and doping:

1. Is there a coordinated doping program developed and maintained by a governmental or private-sector-organized group? Answer: No.

2. Is there a compulsory educational program that emphasizes the dangers of doping and the likelihood of being caught? Answer: No.

3. Is there easy access to performance-enhancing drugs? Answer: Yes.

With these findings, the actions to be taken are clearer and the problem can begin to be addressed.

The report noted that there were 138 Kenyan positives from 2004-18, 86% of whom were caught by in-competition testing. That’s pretty unusual compared to doping programs from East Germany or Russia, which were specifically created to mask positive in-competition tests and were usually only found in out-of-competition testing.

Of the 138 positives, 131 were from distance runners, with only seven from all other sports combined. The drugs of choice were steroids (especially Nandrolone), responsible for 67 of the positives and Erythropoietin (EPO), which accounted for 16 positives, including most of the higher-earning runners.

Multiple athletes tested positive after receiving medical treatments about which they kept no records or had no actual knowledge of how they were being treated. Two notable athletes, marathoners Rita Jeptoo (a two-time Boston winner) and 2016 Olympic champ Jemima Sumgong, tried to evade positive tests by having their medical records changed.

This report is a noteworthy advance for WADA in several ways. It advances the importance of the Intelligence & Investigations branch and brings it additional credibility. It is the first WADA staff report that focuses on a single country, showing that others could be the subject of the same scrutiny as a response to large numbers of positive tests. And the investigative process included the anti-doping agency of Kenya (ADAK) as part of the investigating team, lessening the adversarial aspects of the project. The August announcement of a new doping laboratory in Kenya was undoubtedly an outcome of this reporting effort. All to the good.

The ridiculous lack of educational programs or knowledge of today’s drug-testing procedures is not just an indictment against Kenyan sport, but every International Federation, National Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee. For now on, entry into an international championship must be conditioned on an athlete’s attendance at an anti-doping seminar held at that event. After the first person is disqualified, attendance will be perfect.

Rich Perelman
Editor

ATHLETICS: U.S. jumps star Will Claye cleared in doping positive

By
Rich Perelman
-
American triple jump star Will Claye

Three-time Olympic long jump and triple jump medalist Will Claye of the U.S. was cleared from a positive test for the steroid Clenburerol, which, according to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, “was determined to have been ingested by him without fault or negligence.”

Claye tested positive in an out-of-competition test on 1 August of this year. However, the USADA noted that “Consistent with numerous prior reported cases globally, the issue of illicit administration of clenbuterol to animals destined for food production can result in, under specific conditions, a positive sample from an athlete. USADA, WADA and other anti-doping agencies have issued specific warnings about this problem in China and Mexico. …

“During its investigation into the circumstances that led to the positive test, USADA gathered evidence from Claye and reviewed Claye’s whereabouts, dietary habits, and the laboratory reports demonstrating very low parts per billion concentrations of the prohibited substance in the athlete’s urine sample. USADA concluded that it was unlikely that the presence of clenbuterol in the athlete’s sample resulted from a source other than contaminated meat consumed in Mexico.

“As a result, Claye will not face a period of ineligibility for his positive test, and because the sample was collected out-of-competition, there are no competitive results to be disqualified.”

THE 5-RING CIRCUS: No federal funds for Italy’s 2026 Winter bid project

By
Rich Perelman
-

Now the reformulated Milan-Cortina bid from Italy appears to be in trouble.

Italian Undersecretary of State at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Giancarlo Giorgetti has been the liaison with the bid efforts and according to local media reports noted on GamesBids.com, said on Friday that “We welcome the realization of the Olympic Games 2026, but at this point, given that the candidacies are divisive, there has not been an Italian candidature but a plurality, each will have to demonstrate that they are able to cope independently. …

“I heard intentions and suggestions. The government’s attitude to this type of proposal, as I have reiterated to all stakeholders and to CONI (Italian National Olympic Committee), is that these proposals will have the support of the government but not the economic support of the government, and they will have to demonstrate in some way that they meet all the needs of an organizational and infrastructural nature which, having read the dossier, seem to me very limited and also with a legacy, a subsequent reuse, very important.”

That means no government funding, so the bid and the Games would have been to be completely privately financed.

If the Italian bid blows up, it would leave only Calgary (facing a November 13 referendum), Erzurum in Turkey (which has talked about having the sliding sports in Sochi!) and Stockholm (SWE), which also does not have government backing for the project.
In the meantime, the International Olympic Committee is supposed to invite cities to become formal candidates for the 2026 Games on 8 October!

VOLLEYBALL: U.S. sweeps Russia to open men’s World Champs final pool

By
Rich Perelman
-

Still undefeated, the United States men’s national volleyball team swept Russia – 25-22, 25-23, 25-23 – to win its opening game in the final pool in the FIVB World Championships in Turin on Thursday. Results:

∙ 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: U.S. vs. Brazil
Pool J: Italy vs. Poland

The U.S. (9-0) and Brazil (8-1) are into the semifinals, as is Serbia (7-3), with the winner of the Italy (8-1) vs. Poland (7-2) game to join them.

The U.S. is the last undefeated team in the tournament and has won 27 of 33 sets. Italy has a 23-9 sets win/loss ratio; Brazil’s is 25-10, Serbia’s is 23-15 and defending champion Poland’s is 24-9.

The U.S. is being powered by a ferocious attack from outside hitters, 6-4 (1.93 m) Taylor Sander and 6-9 (2.06 m) Aaron Russell (pictured) and opposite, 6-9 Matt Anderson. They’re 1-2-3 in the tournament in scoring efficiency, with Anderson killing 57.99% of his attempts, Sander at 56.76% and Russell at 56.15%. Russell and Anderson are nos. 6-7 in scoring in the tournament with 119 and 115 points, respectively.

“Micah Christenson is a great setter and when we are in-system, he can set any position on the court from any position on the court,” Russell said. “Today, we were able to tackle them down the middle and we were able to fight off some difficult [Russian] serves.”

The semis will take place on 29 September and the medal matches on the 30th. All of these games will be in Turin (ITA). Look for scores here.

JUDO: Japan dominates IJF World Champs with 16 medals

By
Rich Perelman
-
France's World Champion Clarisse Agbegnenou

The constant force at the 2018 World Judo Championships in Baku (AZE) was Japan.

The world leader in the sport finished with 16 medals (7-5-4) and scored at least one medal in 13 of the 14 weight classes, then won the final-day Mixed Team Event with a 4-1 thrashing of France.

This was not a surprise in that Japan topped the medal table again, but the degree of domination was amazing. No other country won more than four medals – France (1-1-2) – followed by Korea (2-0-1), Georgia (1-1-1), Russia (0-1-2), Netherlands (0-1-2) and Mongolia (0-0-3) at three each.

Japan’s total of 16 was the most since 2015, when the Japanese won 17 (and eight golds). It also maintained japan’s perfect record of winning the most medals at the World Championships for the 19th straight time, going back to the first time the men’s and women’s Worlds were held together back in 1987.

It wasn’t an especially good Worlds for defending champions, as only four of 14 repeated: Naohisa Takato (JPN) at -60 kg and Hifumi Abe (JPN) at -66 kg among the men, and Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA: pictured) at -63 kg and Chizuru Arai (JPN) at -70 kg.

Summaries:

IJF World Championships
Baku (AZE) ~ 20-27 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

-60 kg: 1. Naohisa Takato (JPN); 2. Robert Mshvidobadze (RUS); 3. Amiran Papinashvili (GEO) and Ryuju Nagayama (JPN); 5. Karamat Huseynov (AZE) and Harim Lee (KOP); 7. Yong Gwon Kim (PRK) and Eric Takabatake (BRA).

-66 kg: 1. Hifumi Abe (JPN); 2. Yerlan Serikzhanov (KAZ); 3. Georgii Zantaria (UKR) and Baul An (KOR); 5. Tal Flicker (ISR) and Daniel Cargnin (BRA); 7. Mikhail Puliaev (RUS) and Kherlen Ganbold (MGL).

-73 kg: 1. Changrim An (KOR); 2. Soichi Hashimoto (JPN); 3. Mohammad Mohammadi (IRI) and Hidayat Heydarov (AZE); 5. Odbayar Ganbaatar (MGL) and Tsogbaatar Tsend-Ochir (MGL); 7. Zhansay Smagulov (KAZ) and Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO).

-81 kg: 1. Saeid Mollaei (IRI); 2. Sotaro Fujiwara (JPN); 3. Vedat Albayrak (TUR) and Alexander Wieczerzak (GER); 5. Dominic Ressel (GER) and Damian Szwarnowiecki (POL); 7. Mattias Case (GER) and Khasan Khalmurzaev (RUS).

-90 kg: 1. Nikoloz Sherazadishvili (ESP); 2. Ivan Felipe Silva (CUB); 3. Kenya Nagasawa (JPN) and Axel Clerget (FRA); 5. Krisztian Toth (HUN) and Eduard Trippel (GER); 7. Komronshokh Ustopiriyon (TJK) and Asley Gonzalez (CUB).

-100 kg: 1. Guham Cho (KOR); 2. Varlam Liparteliani (GEO); 3. Otgonbaatar Lkhagvasuren (MGL) and Niyaz Ilyasov (RUS); 5. Aaron Wolf (JPN) and Ramadan Darwish (EGY); 7. Michael Korrel (NED) and Jorge Fonseca (POR).

+100 kg: 1. Guram Tushishvili (GEO); 2. Ushangi Kokauri (AZE); 3. Hisayoshi Harasawa (JPN) and Duurenbayar Ulziibayar (MGL); 5. Belmurod Oltiboev (UZB) and Lukas Krpalek (CZE); 7. Roy Meyer (NED) and Temur Rakhimov (TJK).

Women

-48 kg: 1. Daria Bilodid (UKR); 2. Funa Tonaki (JPN); 3. Paula Pareto (ARG) and Otgonsetseg Galbadrakh (KAZ); 5. Catarina Costa (POR) and Urantsetseg Munkhbat (MGL); 7. Julia Figueroa (ESP) and Marusa Stangar (SLO).

-52 kg: 1. Uta Abe (JPN); 2. Ai Shishime (JPN); 3. Amandine Buchard (FRA) and Erika Miranda (BRA); 5. Jessica Pereira (BRA) and Charline van Snick (BEL); 7. Natalia Kuziutina (RUS) and Gefen Primo (ISR).

-57 kg: 1. Tsukasa Yoshida (JPN); 2. Nekoda Smythe-Davis (GBR); 3. Christa Deguchi (CAN) and Syriya Dorjsuren (MGL); 5. You-jeong Kwon (KOR) and Theresa Stoll (GER); 7. Nora Gjakova (KOS) and Helene Receveaux (FRA).

-63 kg: 1. Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA); 2. Miku Tashiro (JPN); 3. Juul Franssen (NED) and Tina Trstenjak (SLO); 5. Martyna Trajdos (GER) and Maylin del Toro Carvajal (CUB), 7. Kathrin Unterwurzacher (AUT) and Katharina Haecker (AUS).

-70 kg: 1. Chizuru Arai (JPN); 2. Marie Eve Gahie (FRA); 3. Yuri Alvear (COL) and Yoko Ono (JPN); 5. Assmaa Niang (MAR) and Maria Perez (PUR); 7. Kelita Zupancic (CAN) and Sally Conway (GBR).

-78 kg: 1. Shori Hamada (JPN); 2. Guusje Steenhuis (NED); 3. Aleksandra Babintseva (RUS) and Marhinde Verkerk (NED); 5. Zhenzhao Ma (CHN) and Katie Yeats Brown (GBR); 7. Klara Apotekar (SLO) and Madeleine Malonga (FRA).

+78 kg: 1. Sarah Asahina (JPN); 2. Idalys Ortiz (CUB); 3. Larisa Ceric (BIH) and Kayra Sayit (TUR); 5. Sarah Adlington (GBR) and Marie Suelen Altheman (BRA); 7. Ivana Maranic (CRO) and Iryna Kindzerska (AZE).

Mixed

Team Event: 1. Japan (Harasawa, Yoshida, Tatsukawa, Ono, Mujai); 2. France (Clerget, Gahie, Chaine, Gneto); 3. Russia (Tasoev, Konkina, Mogushkov, Prokopenko, Igolnikov) and Korea (Minjong Kim, Youjeong Kwon, Changrim An, Sun Yong Kwon/PRK); 5. Azerbaijan and Germany; 7. Netherlands and Brazil.

CYCLING: Dennis on target at World Road Championships

By
Rich Perelman
-

Australia’s Rohan Dennis (pictured) had the Individual Time Trial at the 91st UCI World Road Race Championships circled on the calendar.

He was clearly fit, having won the two Individual Time Trials at the Vuelta a Espana, in Stages 1 and 16, then leaving the race to continue training for the Worlds. He’d never won a medal in the Worlds Time Trial, finishing 12-5-6-6-8 in his prior five tries.

This time, he was ready. As he started in position 60 out of 61, with only defending champion Tom Dumoulin (NED) behind him, he knew that if he could break away, he could win it.

He started after Belgium’s Victor Campanaerts had taken the lead from the 57th starting position on the 52.1 km course that had only significant climb. But it was almost immediately obvious that Campanaerts would not be the winner, as Dennis zipped through the 16.6 km checkpoint in 17:58.95, the only one under 18 minutes and more than 15 seconds ahead of the Belgian.

His advantage grew and by the 35.2 km checkpoint, he led by 1:12 and ripped through the finish in first place, in 1:02:03.57, 1:21.62 ahead of Campanaerts.

That left Dumoulin, who had already had a terrific season, finishing second in the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France. But more than 10,000 km of racing – more than 6,200 miles – in 62 prior race days had taken its toll. Starting 30 seconds behind Dennis, Dumoulin was eight seconds behind at the first checkpoint, then 1:01 down at 35.2 km and the race was over. Dumoulin eased up in the final meters and almost lost the silver medal, but finished a half-second clear of Campanaerts.

“I can’t really explain. It is an amazing feeling,” Dennis told Eurosport afterwards. “It’s a dream come true, I have been chasing this since I was a junior. I have never won it in any age group so to win my first one in the seniors is really special.”

In the men’s Junior races, Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel completed an impressive double by winning the 131.8 km road race in addition to his win in the Time Trial. He won the road race by an impressive 1:25 over Germany’s Marius Mayrhofer. Evenepoel is the first men’s Junior to win both events at the same Worlds since the Time Trial was added in 1994!

The remaining racing schedule:

∙ 28 September: Men’s U-23 Road Race (179.9 km: three laps ~ five major climbs)
∙ 29 September: Women’s Road Race (156.2 km: four laps ~ four major climbs)
∙ 30 September: Men’s Road Race (258.5 km: seven laps ~ nine major climbs)

NBC’s Olympic Channel has coverage of the Worlds. Summaries so far:

UCI World Road Race Championships
Innsbruck (AUT) ~ 23-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Individual Time Trial (52.1 km): 1. Rohan Dennis (AUS), 1:03:02.57; 2. Tom Dumoulin (NED), 1:04:23.66; 3. Victor Campanaerts (BEL), 1:04:24.19; 4. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL), 1:05:07.15; 5. Nelson Oliveira (POR), 1:05:16.91; 6. Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP), 1:05:20.10; 7. Tony Martin (GER), 1:05:27.80; 8. Patrick Bevin (NZL), 1:05:37.35; 9. Vasil Kiryienka (BLR), 1:06:10.11; 10. Martin Toft Madsen (DEN), 1:06:25.96. Also in the top 50: 15. Joey Rosskopf (USA), 1:07:22.66; … 27. Tejay van Garderen (USA), 1:07:56.15

Men’s Team Time Trial (62.8 km): 1. Quick-Step Floors (BEL), 1:07:26; 2. Team Sunweb (GER), 1:07:44; 3. BMC Racing Team (USA), 1:07:45; 4. Team Sky (GBR), 1:08:11; 5. Mitchelton-Scott (AUS), 1:08:23; 6. Movistar Team (ESP), 1:08:58; 7. Trek-Segafredo (USA), 1:09:30; 8. Bora-hansgrohe (GER), 1:09:33.

Men’s U-23 Time Trial (27.7 km): 1. Mikkel Bjerg (DEN), 32:31.05; 2. Brent van Moer (BEL), 33:04.52; 3. Mathias Norsgaard (DEN), 33:09.35; 4. Edoardo Affini (ITA), 33:15.53; 5. Ethan Hayter (GBR), 33:16.70. Also in the top 25: 7. Brandon McNulty (USA), 33:23.84; … 23. Gage Hecht (USA), 33:53.77.

Men’s Junior Road Race (131.8 km): 1. Remco Evenepoel (BEL), 3:03:49; 2. Marius Mayrhofer (GER), 3:05:14; 3. Alessandro Fancellu (ITA), 3:05:27; 4. Alexandre Balmer (SUI), 3:05:27; 5. Frederik Wandahl (DEN), 3:07:09. Also in the top 25: 10. Sean Quinn (USA), 3:07:14.

Men’s Junior Time Trial (27.7 km): 1. Evenepoel (BEL), 33:15.24; 2. Luke Plapp (AUS), 34:38.90; 3. Andrea Piccolo (ITA), 34:52.86; 4. Michel Hessmann (GER), 35:02.93; 5. Soren Waerenskjold (NOR), 35:05.54. Also in the top 25: 10. Michael Garrison (USA), 35:48.19; … 19. Riley Sheehan (USA), 36:35.92.

Women’s Time Trial (27.7 km): 1. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED), 35:25.36; 2. Anna van der Breggen (NED), 34:54.35; 3. Ellen van Dijk (NED), 35:50.55; 4. Leah Kirchmann (CAN), 35:52.17; 5. Leah Thomas (USA), 35:57.75; 6. Lucinda Brand (NED), 36:07.95; 7. Amber Neben (USA), 36:12.87; 8. Karol-Ann Canuel (CAN), 36:41.22; 9. Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA), 36:42.48; 10. Tayler Wiles (USA), 36:56.52.

Women’s Team Time Trial (54.5 km): 1. Canyon SRAM Racing (GER), 1:01;46; 2. Boels-Dolmans Cycling (NED), 1:02:08; 3. Team Sunweb (NED), 1:02:15; 4. Wiggle High5 (GBR), 1:02:44; 5. Mitchelton-Scott (AUS), 1:03:16; 6. Team Virtu Cycling (DEN), 1:03:53; 7. BTC City Ljubljana (SLO), 1:04:55; 8. Valcar PBM (ITA), 1:05:22.

Women’s Junior Road Race (70.8 km): 1. Laura Stigger (AUT), 1:56:26; 2. Marie le Net (FRA), 1:56:26; 3. Simone Boilard (CAN), 1:56:26; 4. Barbara Malcotti (ITA), 1:56:26; 5. Jade Wiel (FRA), 1:56:40. Also in the top 25: 25. Katie Clouse (USA), 2:01:13.

Women’s Junior Time Trial (19.8 km): 1. Rozemarijn Ammerlaan (NED), 27:02.95; 2. Camilla Alessio (ITA), 27:09.75; 3. Elynor Backstedt (GBR), 27:20.89; 4. Pfeiffer Georgi (GBR), 27:24.84; 5. Simone Boilard (CAN), 27:27.06. Also in the top 25: Abigail Youngwerth (USA), 28:34.15.

BASKETBALL: U.S. women to play Nigeria in World Cup quarterfinals

By
Rich Perelman
-

The no. 1-ranked United States women’s national team will play Nigeria in the quarterfinals of the 2018 FIBA World Cup. Results of the play-in games and the match-ups for the quarters:

∙ Upper bracket:
Spain 63, Senegal 48, so Spain (3-1) vs. Canada (3-0)
China 87, Japan 81, so China (3-1) vs. Australia (3-0)

∙ Lower bracket:
France 78, Turkey 61, so France (3-1) vs. Belgium (2-1)
Nigeria 57, Greece 56, so Nigeria (3-1) vs. United States (3-0)

The quarterfinals will be held on the 28th, semis in the 29th and the finals in 30 September.

The U.S. women lead the tournament in points per game (96.3), with Australia next at 86.7 and Canada at 78.0. The Aussies have the top scoring margin, winning their three group games by an average of 28.4 points a game; caada has won their three by an average of 22.3, then comes the U.S. at 19.3 and Belgium (19.0). Australia defeated Nigeria in its opener, 86-68.

Since the competition began back in 1953, the U.S. women have won nine times, including the first two editions in ‘53 and ‘57, then again in 1979-86-90-98-2002-10-14. Its last loss was in a semifinal to Russia in the 2006 tournament.

Only four nations have ever won this tournament: the U.S. has nine golds, followed by the Soviet Union (6) and Brazil (1: 1994) and Australia (1: 2006). The U.S. has won six of the last eight.

The schedule of matches and scores are here.

ATHLETICS: World Champion Arevalo collects Around Taihu title

By
Rich Perelman
-

Multi-day events are nothing new in track & field, but a three-day walking festival?

The Around Taihu International Race Walking Competition in Suzhou (CHN) put together a 20 km race, followed by two 12 km races on the following days to create a cycling-style “stage” program that ended with reigning 20 km World Champion Eider Arevalo (COL) winning the title by three seconds over Lebogang Shange (RSA), 2:58:09 to 2:58:12.

In the 20 km race, Shange was the winner, 1:23:20 to 1:23:23 over Arevalo, with Mexico’s Isaac Palma third in 1:23:54.

In the women’s event, China’s Yingliu Wang won the 20 km race in 1:29:55 over teammate Maocuo Li, 1:29:55 to 1:30:15, and Wang won the overall title at 3:13:17 to 3:14:31 over Shijie Qieyang, also from China.

The 24-26 September event was the eighth and final stage of the 2018 IAAF Race Walking Challenge, with the top seasonal finishers earning $25,000-15,000-10,000-8,000-7,000-6,000-5,000-4,000 through eighth place. The top five and their points:

Men:
1. 25 Andres Chocho (ECU)
2. 24 Eider Arevalo (COL)
3. 22 Lebogang Shange (RSA)
4. 22 Diego Garcia Carrera (ESP)
5. 18 Jose Leyver Ojeda (MEX)

Women:
1. 34 Qieyang Shijie (CHN)
2. 23 Erica de Sena (BRA)
3. 22 Ines Henriques (POR)
4. 18 Wang Yingliu (CHN)
5. 15 Ana Cabecinha (POR)

Complete results and standings are here.

VOLLEYBALL Preview: FIVB women’s World Championships start in Japan

By
Rich Perelman
-

A lengthy FIVB World Championships for women begins on Saturday, with 103 total matches to be played in six Japanese cities. It will start with competition with 24 teams in four pools playing from 29 September through 4 October:

∙ Pool A: Argentina, Cameroon, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands
(in Yokohama)

∙ Pool B: Bulgaria, Canada, China, Cuba, Italy, Turkey
(in Sapporo)

∙ Pool C: Azerbaijan, Korea, Russia, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, United States
(in Kobe)

∙ Pool D: Brazil, Dom. Rep., Kazakhstan, Kenya, Puerto Rico, Serbia
(in Hamamatsu)

The top four teams in each group will advance to the second round, where those 16 teams will be split into pools of eight. The second round will take place from 7-11 October, in Nagoya and Osaka; the finals aren’t until 20 October.

The top teams in the FIVB World Rankings are China, the U.S., Serbia, Brazil and Russia, but no ranking events have taken place since August of last year. In the women’s Nations League held earlier in 2018, the United States team compiled a 17-2 record and won the final, 3-2, from Turkey. China won the bronze medal, 3-0, from Brazil.

This is the 18th edition of the women’s Worlds, which began in 1952. The U.S. is the defending champion, winning its first World Championships title in 2014, beating China, 3-1, in the final, with Brazil third and Italy fourth. The Soviet Union won five titles, beginning with the first event in 1952; Russia won recently in 2006 and 2010 and Italy won in 2002.

SWIMMING Preview: FINA World Cup moves to Eindhoven

By
Rich Perelman
-
Swedish swimming sprint superstar Sarah Sjostrom

The third meet – and start of the second cluster – of the FINA Swimming World Cup starts in Eindhoven (NED) with the events now being held in 25 m (Short Course) instead of the Olympic-sized 50 m tanks.

A full program is set for Friday through Sunday, with the swimmers starting over on points, trying to win the Cluster prizes of $50,000 down to $3,000 for the top eight places. The second Cluster is also just two meets: Eindhoven this weekend and Budapest (HUN) on 4-6 October.

However, the first Cluster (Kazan and Doha) does count for the overall World Cup prizes, with $150,000-100,000-50,000 to the top three. So, the current standings:

Men:
1. 90 Anton Chupkov (RUS)
2. 87 Michael Andrew (USA)
3. 84 Vladimir Morozov (RUS)
4. 72 Mitch Larkin (AUS)
5. 57 Blake Pieroni (USA)

Women:
1. 120 Sarah Sjostrom (SWE; pictured)
2. 90 Katinka Hosszu (HUN)
3. 78 Yulia Efimova (RUS)
4. 66 Kira Toussaint (NED)
5. 63 Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED)

The stars of the show so far have been Sjostrom and Hosszu. The Swede has won five events in each of the first two events, namely the 50-100-200 m Freestyles and the 50-100 m Butterfly events.

Hosszu has been amazing, swimming 12 events in Kazan and 15 in Doha and winning a total of 21 medals so far:

Kazan: She won the 400 m Freestyle, 200 m Backstroke, 200 m Butterfly, and the 200-400 m Medleys, finished second in the 800 m Free and 50-100 Backs, third in the 200 m Free and eighth in the 50 m Fly plus legs on both of the Mixed relays.

Doha: She won seven events, including the 400-800 m Frees, 200-400 m Medleys, 100-200 m Backs and 200 m Fly; was second in the Mixed 4×100 m Free, third four times in the 200 m Free, 50 m Back, 50 m Breast and Mixed 4×100 m Medley, plus a fifth in the 100 m Breast, sixth in the 200 m Breast and eighth in the 50 m Free.

Both Sjostrom and Hosszu are entered in Eindhoven and all of the top five point scorers in the men’s and women’s divisions are shown as competing.

There are more American swimmers in this meet than in Kazan or Doha. U.S. women’s stars such as world-record holder Kathleen Baker and World and Olympic relay gold medalists Kelsi Dahlia, Melanie Margalis and Leah Smith are all entered.

Prize money in this meet is $1,500-1,000-500-400-300-200 for the top six places. Look for results here.

SPORT CLIMBING Preview: Garnbret vs. Pilz again in World Cup Lead in Kranj

By
Rich Perelman
-
Slovenia's climbing star Janja Garnbret

The fifth of seven World Cups in Lead is getting set for Kranj (SLO), with new 2020 Tokyo favorite Janja Garnbret (pictured) ready to compete in front of a home crowd.

It’s only been two weeks since the IFSC World Championships, where Jessica Pilz (AUT) won the Lead title from Garnbret, but Garnbret dominated the Combined competition, which will be the only Sport Climbing event in Tokyo. The seasonal World Cup leaders:

Men:
1. 335 Jakob Schubert (AUT)
2. 286 Stefano Ghisolfi (ITA)
3. 230 Alexander Megos (GER)
4. 228 Domen Skofic (SLO)
5. 201 Romain Desgranges (FRA)

Women:
1. 380 Janja Garnbret (SLO)
2. 340 Jessica Pilz (AUT)
3. 181 Anak Verhoeven (BEL)
4. 167 Manon Hily (FRA)
5. 159 Ashima Shiraishi (USA)

Schubert (2), Ghisolfi (1) and Megos (1) have won the four Lead World Cups so far and Schubert has finished 1-2-4-1 and won the World Championships in Innsbruck to be the clear favorite. Ghisolfi has been the next most consistent at 4-1-5-2.

Although Pilz won the world title, Garnbret has finished 1-2-1-1 in the four World Cups so far to 2-1-2-2 for Pilz. They are the class of the field; Verhoeven has been third in the last two events to claim third so far. Shiraishi started the season hot with finishes of 8-4-4, but fell to 21st in the last World Cup event in Arco (ITY) in late July.

Look for results here.

ARCHERY Preview: Ellison looks for fifth World Cup Final title in Samsun

By
Rich Perelman
-
World Champion Brady Ellison of the U.S.

The climax of the World Archery World Cup season comes in Samsun (TUR) with the 13th World Cup Final on Saturday and Sunday. The event is limited to qualifiers from the four prior World Cups, including the event winners, the next three in the World Cup rankings and one spot for the host Turks. The entries (with current world rankings):

Men/Recurve:
∙ Steve Wojler (NED: 1)
∙ Woo-Seok Lee (KOR: 2)
∙ Woo-Jin Kim (KOR: 3)
∙ Mauro Nespoli (ITA: 4)
∙ Mete Gazoz (TUR: 6)
∙ Brady Ellison (USA: 7)
∙ Taylor Worth (AUS: 14)
∙ Fatih Bozlar (TUR: 78)

Men/Compound:
∙ Mike Schloesser (NED: 1)
∙ Stephan Hansen (DEN: 2)
∙ Braden Gellenthien (USA: 3)
∙ Abhishek Verma (IND: 5)
∙ Kris Schaff (USA: 6)
∙ Pierre-Julien Deloche (FRA: 7)
∙ Jong-Ho Kim (KOR: 8)
∙ Demir Elmaagacli (TUR: 12)

Women/Recurve:
∙ Hye-Jin Chang (KOR: 1)
∙ Ksenia Perova (RUS: 2)
∙ Ya-Ting Tan (TPE 3)
∙ Eun-Gyeong Lee (KOR: 4)
∙ Lisa Unruh (GER: 5)
∙ Deepika Kumari (IND: 8)
∙ Chien-Ying Lei (TPE: 9)
∙ Yasemin Anagoz (TUR: 11)

Women/Compound:
∙ Yesim Bostan (TUR: 1)
∙ Sara Lopez (COL: 2)
∙ Sophie Dodemont (FRA: 3)
∙ Chae-Won So (KOR: 5)
∙ Yi-Hsuan Chen (TPE: 7)
∙ Linda Ochoa-Anderson (MEX: 9)
∙ Marcela Tonioli (ITA: 11)
∙ Gizem Elmaagcli (TUR: 32)

Three of the four defending champs are back in Kim (men’s Recurve), Gellenthien (men’s Compound) and Lopez (women’s Compound). Women’s Recurve champ Bo-Bae Ki (KOR) is not competing, but 2017 silver winner Perova is in.

Ellison (pictured) has won this title four times, in 2010-11-14-16 and was runner-up last season. Since his first appearance in 2010, he’s won a medal every time except in 2015.

In the women’s Recurve, the most decorated entrant is India’s Deepika Kumari, who has four silvers in 2011-12-13-15. Korean archers have won this division three straight times and seven of the last nine.

In Compound, Lopez has dominated the women’s competition, winning three of the last four years, with Tonioli winning in 2015. The men’s field includs former winners Gellenthien (2012-17), Elmaagcli (2015) and Schloesser (2016). Gellenthien won his first World Cup Final medal in 2007 ( a silver) and owns two golds and four silvers all together.

The Compound events will be shot on Saturday and the Recurve events on Sunday and a Mixed Team event will be held in both disciplines. There is prize money for the top four places of CHF 20,000-10,000-5,000-1,000, plus a trophy and a Longines watch for the winners! Look for results here.

THE BIG PICTURE: FIS publishes its two-year financial report; how does it compare to others?

By
Rich Perelman
-

The biggest player in winter sports is the Federation Internationale de Ski, better known as FIS, which governs almost the entire Olympic Winter Games program on snow, including Alpine Skiing, Cross Country Skiing, Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping, Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding.

Must be a pretty rich federation, right?

Although it doesn’t publish stand-alone financial statements, it did include a financial summary in its new FIS Bulletin for 2018. FIS has an odd fiscal reporting program that covers two years, in this case from January 2016 to December of 2017; the two-year highlights:

  • CHF 47.58 million in revenues (~$48.70 U.S.); avg. $24.35 million per year, down 15% from the 2014-15 period;
  • CHF 41.38 million in expenses (~$42.36 U.S.); avg. $20.69 million per year, even with 2014-15;
  • CHF 6.20 million (~$6.35 million U.S.) in operating revenue; avg. $3.18 million per year.

So FIS is doing well, but hardly in the class of aquatics giant FINA, which showed CHF 66.4 million (~$68.0 million U.S.) for 2015 alone!

The FIS revenues are from IOC contributions (44.1%), the various FIS World Championships (28.6%), the various World Cups (13.3%), fees from its national associations (9.1%) and miscellaneous sources for the other 4.8%.

The expenses were for personnel (CHF 23.67 million/$24.23 million), operations (CHF 7.68 million/$7.86 million) and then CHF 10.03 million ($10.27 million) returned to the national federations.

There was also net investment income of CHF 7.047 million ($7.21 million), so the two-year surplus was CHF 13.247 million ($13.56 million). Good and steady results, but a fascinating look at winter’s biggest IF.

LANE ONE: Has the Olympic volunteer program lost its way?

By
Rich Perelman
-
Volunteers at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games

One of the many revolutionary changes made by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles was the concept of using volunteers as a main feature of the workforce.

It was successful beyond all expectations and became a permanent legacy to succeeding Olympic organizing committees, all of whom have embraced the concept.

Now, the Tokyo 2020 organizers have set out to recruit some 80,000 volunteers to help with the Olympic and Paralympic Games two years from now, but against a much different backdrop.

Consider this story from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., filed 11 days into the 17-day 2016 Rio Olympic Games:

Outside the volleyball venue at Copacabana Beach, Luis Moreira is waiting for the night session to start. Last week, he might have been the one holding the neon stick waving ticket-holders in. He had volunteered for these Games to be part of history‚ but his work schedules were always jumbled and there wasn’t enough food. So he quit.

“Many volunteers had to quit because they had to work two weeks in a row, schedules were messed up, lots of people quit because of the food: they were told to work eight, nine hours and were only provided with a little snack,” Moreira says.

“I don’t think the organizing committee had enough consideration for people’s lives and welfare. It was as though the organizing committee was doing us a favour. The committee uses the volunteers to make money, uses us for free labour.”

The CBC report noted that “about 30 per cent of the volunteers aren’t showing up.”

This is tragic and so far from the 1984 Los Angeles model, it’s worth backing up to consider why the LAOOC went to this idea in the first place. Way back in 1980 and 1981 when the decision was confirmed to use volunteers, there were specific factors at work:

•     The LAOOC was famously funded solely by the private sector and had to have a financial surplus, so anything which could save money was helpful. Volunteers could save some money, but as was said at the time inside the offices, “It takes money to have volunteers.”

•     There was a broad consensus that in order to attract volunteers, the LAOOC had to be exceptionally honest about the work to be done, the hours involved and to be sure that basic amenities would be met: free parking or transportation to the work site, a free uniform, a reasonable meals and rest schedule, as much training as was possible to give and a clear outline of what was expected, what was off-limits and a clear reporting hierarchy to resolve both the small and large issues attendant to a month-long event.

•     The volunteer component of the overall staffing program was just that: a component. Once the in-depth analysis was done, it became clear that out of a total workforce of perhaps 80,000, only about 40% would be volunteers.

       That’s right: less than half. When the counting was done after the Games, some 33,500 people volunteered in Los Angeles, against about 12,000 who were paid from the LAOOC workforce of 45,450. In addition, there were about 36,000 people who worked at the Games who were there on behalf of sponsors and suppliers and were almost all paid employees – full-time, part-time or temporary – of their company.

       So out of a total workforce of about 81,500, about 41% were volunteers.

•     Los Angeles in 1980 already had a long and deep history of volunteerism for civic causes. The area teemed with non-profit organizations which were involved with every possible area of life, from job training to poverty abatement, to sports programs for youth, education, avoidance of drugs and thousands of others.

       It was against this existing background of volunteer commitments that the decision was made to use volunteers at the Games. The folks who doubted that this would work came from outside Los Angeles. Those of us who knew the city knew the idea would work, if people were given a precise idea of what to expect and to be treated with respect and reasonable support.

And significant resources were plowed into recruitment, training and support. In one recruitment video, LAOOC board member Rafer Johnson looked into the camera and told potential recruits that some of the positions involved work far away from the sporting events, which would be “boring” and “repetitive,” but that they were needed to “Play a Part in History.”

The uniforms were supplied by Levi’s and were of good quality, although some people did not appreciate the Festive Federalism color scheme. Anyone who worked more than four hours was entitled to a meal voucher, served in a staff lounge which was designed to be away from the crowds and reasonably quiet in most venues. There was plenty of Arrowhead water and Coca-Cola products available, snacks from Mars in endless quantities, and fruit and other items at many sites. If you worked 10 or more hours at a venue – basketball, for example, went on even longer than that at The Forum each day – you received a second meal.

When the food quality was considered poor at a site, the screaming was heard and changes were made in 24-48 hours. I know; my volunteers at the Main Press Center demanded a more varied menu and better quality two weeks into our month-long adventure, and it started showing up two days later.

Moreover, for those who wanted to come to Los Angeles and volunteer from out of the area, low-cost housing was often available – through the LAOOC – at universities such as Occidental College, or volunteer families took in out-of-area volunteers into their own homes.

We weren’t perfect, but for the most part, the concept worked and worked brilliantly. Only about three percent (3%) of the volunteer corps quit their jobs and were quickly replaced from a standby team for which assignments had not been available before the Games. In fact, offers to volunteer continued right into the Games period!

The success that Los Angeles had in 1984 has not always translated to other Games and to other cultures, especially where volunteerism is not a part of the existing social fabric.

Now, the Tokyo 2020 folks are asking for 80,000 volunteers to staff the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Is that just 41% of the total staff for the Games?

Not likely.

In addition, the Tokyo municipal government wants to recruit another 30,000 volunteers to help as guides around the city. Rio reportedly had 50,000 volunteers.

And the environment is different. In the 1984 context, using volunteers worked because the idea was already accepted in the region and it would save some money. In fact, the LAOOC could have paid everyone to work and still had a healthy surplus at the end, although less than the $232.5 million that finally resulted.

But at the time, using volunteers was one way to help make organizing the Games work with private funding. The International Olympic Committee had few financial resources and the United States Olympic Committee even less. That has all changed now.

There have been calls in some quarters to trash the volunteer idea, but perhaps it might be better to first remember the genesis of the program, why there were good reasons for it to work and that honesty in recruitment, training and support are key elements for success.

The 1984 volunteer program was so successful that it received the President’s Volunteer Action Award in 1985. In his congratulatory letter, U.S. President Ronald Reagan wrote that “America could have asked for no better ambassadors of goodwill to the visiting people of the world than the Volunteer Corps of the 1984 Olympic Games and the residents of the great city that they represented.”

The LAOOC considered its volunteers to be just that: ambassadors for Los Angeles and for the United States, no matter where they came from. Does Tokyo 2020 feel the same?

Rich Perelman
Editor

ATHLETICS: Russia sues the IAAF for reinstatement

By
Rich Perelman
-
The Court of Arbitration for Sport

The reinstatement of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has now emboldened the Russian Athletics Federation to demand similar treatment from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

The Russians have filed an appeal of the IAAF’s suspension with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, asking for an “annullment” of the IAAF’s refusal to reinstate Russia last July.

According to the CAS: “The parties will exchange written submissions and the Panel, once appointed, will issue directions with respect to the holding of a hearing and, at a later date, issue a final decision.”

The IAAF issued a statement noting that “The IAAF has its own set of criteria for the reinstatement of the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) which it laid out in 2015 when the federation was suspended. The progress against the reinstatement criteria has been overseen by the Independent Taskforce, chaired by Rune Andersen and including members of the IAAF Council.

“Andersen and his taskforce will review the decision made by WADA and the conditions set by WADA over the next few weeks and check RusAF progress on other criteria still outstanding. The taskforce will then compile their report with a recommendation and present this to the IAAF Council at the beginning of December. It is then for Council to discuss and decide any actions.”

The reinstatement of Russia by WADA was one of three conditions imposed by the IAAF; the others are – of course – acknowledgment of the McLaren and Schmid reports and access for the IAAF’s Athletics Integrity Unit to the Moscow Laboratory data from 2011-15 to judge whether further testing is needed.

VOLLEYBALL: U.S. advances to final round in men’s World Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

The United States men’s national volleyball team continues its run through the FIVB World Championships in Italy and Bulgaria, winning its second-round group and advancing to the medal round this week.

After finishing 5-0 to win Pool C in the first round, the U.S. advanced to Pool G to face host Bulgaria, Iran and Canada. The outcome sends the U.S. in the final round with a chance for the medals:

∙ 21 September: U.S. 3, Canada 1
∙ 22 September: U.S. 3, Bulgaria 0
∙ 23 September: U.S. 3, Iran 0

That sends coach John Speraw’s U.S. squad into the final pool, where two groups of three will be formed from the four group winners and the second “best” second-place teams. The group winners and the other qualifiers:

∙ Group E: 1. Italy (7-1) 2. Russia (6-2)
∙ Group F: 1. Brazil (7-1)
∙ Group G: 1. United States (8-0)
∙ Group H: 1. Poland (6-2) 2. Serbia (6-2)

The U.S. is the last undefeated team in the tournament and has won 24 of 30 sets. Italy has a 23-6 sets win/loss ratio; Brazil’s is 22-8 and defending champion Poland’s is 21-9. Canada (5-3) and Belgium (4-4) just missed making the final round.

The final round will take place in two pools of three, with the winners meeting for the gold medal and the second-place teams meeting for bronze. The pool matches will take place on 26-27-28 September, the semis on 29 September and the medal matches on the 30th. All of these games will be in Turin (ITA):

∙ 26 September:
Pool I: Brazil v. Russia
Pool J: Italy v. Serbia

∙ 27 September:
Pool I: U.S. vs. Russia
Pool J: Poland vs. Serbia

∙ 28 September:
Pool I: U.S. vs. Brazil
Pool J: Italy vs. Poland

Look for scores here.

JUDO: Japan: 12 weights, 14 medals at IJF World Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

Japan continued to overpower all others at the 2018 World Championships in Baku (AZE).

Of the 12 weight classes that have been completed, Japan has won medals in 11 of them, missing only in the men’s -100 kg class, where defending champ Aaron Wolf got fifth. Otherwise, Japan has won one medal in eight classes and two medals in three weights: the men’s -60 kg class and the women’s -52 kg and -70 kg.

Chizuru Arai (pictured; courtesy IJF) won her second consecutive World Championships title in the women’s -70 kg class, only the second 2017 women’s Worlds winner to defend her title in 2018, and fourth overall.

With just the unlimited classes remaining on Wednesday, Japan now has 14 medals (6-5-3) and no one else has more than four – France (1-1-2) – with Korea (2-0-1) at three as are Russia and Netherlands (0-1-2).

Look for results here. Summaries so far:

IJF World Championships
Baku (AZE) ~ 20-27 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

-60 kg: 1. Naohisa Takato (JPN); 2. Robert Mshvidobadze (RUS); 3. Amiran Papinashvili (GEO) and Ryuju Nagayama (JPN); 5. Karamat Huseynov (AZE) and Harim Lee (KOP); 7. Yong Gwon Kim (PRK) and Eric Takabatake (BRA).

-66 kg: 1. Hifumi Abe (JPN); 2. Yerlan Serikzhanov (KAZ); 3. Georgii Zantaria (UKR) and Baul An (KOR); 5. Tal Flicker (ISR) and Daniel Cargnin (BRA); 7. Mikhail Puliaev (RUS) and Kherlen Ganbold (MGL).

-73 kg: 1. Changrim An (KOR); 2. Soichi Hashimoto (JPN); 3. Mohammad Mohammadi (IRI) and Hidayat Heydarov (AZE); 5. Odbayar Ganbaatar (MGL) and Tsogbaatar Tsend-Ochir (MGL); 7. Zhansay Smagulov (KAZ) and Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO).

-81 kg: 1. Saeid Mollaei (IRI); 2. Sotaro Fujiwara (JPN); 3. Vedat Albayrak (TUR) and Alexander Wieczerzak (GER); 5. Dominic Ressel (GER) and Damian Szwarnowiecki (POL); 7. Mattias Case (GER) and Khasan Khalmurzaev (RUS).

-90 kg: 1. Nikoloz Sherazadishvili (ESP); 2. Ivan Felipe Silva (CUB); 3. Kenya Nagasawa (JPN) and Axel Clerget (FRA); 5. Krisztian Toth (HUN) and Eduard Trippel (GER); 7. Komronshokh Ustopiriyon (TJK) and Asley Gonzalez (CUB).

-100 kg: 1. Guham Cho (KOR); 2. Varlam Liparteliani (GEO); 3. Otgonbaatar Lkhagvasuren (MGL) and Niyaz Ilyasov (RUS); 5. Aaron Wolf (JPN) and Ramadan Darwish (EGY); 7. Michael Korrel (NED) and Jorge Fonseca (POR).

Women

-48 kg: 1. Daria Bilodid (UKR); 2. Funa Tonaki (JPN); 3. Paula Pareto (ARG) and Otgonsetseg Galbadrakh (KAZ); 5. Catarina Costa (POR) and Urantsetseg Munkhbat (MGL); 7. Julia Figueroa (ESP) and Marusa Stangar (SLO).

-52 kg: 1. Uta Abe (JPN); 2. Ai Shishime (JPN); 3. Amandine Buchard (FRA) and Erika Miranda (BRA); 5. Jessica Pereira (BRA) and Charline van Snick (BEL); 7. Natalia Kuziutina (RUS) and Gefen Primo (ISR).

-57 kg: 1. Tsukasa Yoshida (JPN); 2. Nekoda Smythe-Davis (GBR); 3. Christa Deguchi (CAN) and Syriya Dorjsuren (MGL); 5. You-jeong Kwon (KOR) and Theresa Stoll (GER); 7. Nora Gjakova (KOS) and Helene Receveaux (FRA).

-63 kg: 1. Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA); 2. Miku Tashiro (JPN); 3. Juul Franssen (NED) and Tina Trstenjak (SLO); 5. Martyna Trajdos (GER) and Maylin del Toro Carvajal (CUB), 7. Kathrin Unterwurzacher (AUT) and Katharina Haecker (AUS).

-70 kg: 1. Chizuru Arai (JPN); 2. Marie Eve Gahie (FRA); 3. Yuri Alvear (COL) and Yoko Ono (JPN); 5. Assmaa Niang (MAR) and Maria Perez (PUR); 7. Kelita Zupancic (CAN) and Sally Conway (GBR).

-78 kg: 1. Shori Hamada (JPN); 2. Guusje Steenhuis (NED); 3. Aleksandra Babintseva (RUS) and Marhinde Verkerk (NED); 5. Zhenzhao Ma (CHN) and Katie Yeats Brown (GBR); 7. Klara Apotekar (SLO) and Madeleine Malonga (FRA).

GYMNASTICS: Mikulak wins U.S. men’s team trials, leads Worlds team

By
Rich Perelman
-
Tokyo World Cup winner Sam Mikulak (USA)

The top U.S. men’s gymnasts competed against each other for two days from 21-22 September in Colorado Springs and from this competition, USA Gymnastics finalized its team for October’s FIG World Championships in Doha (QAT).

Sam Mikulak (pictured), who won his fifth U.S. Nationals All-Around in 2018, won the selection competition – a double All-Around – with 174.450 points, comfortably ahead of 2017 national All-Around champ Yul Moldauer (169.950) and Alec Yoder (166.000).

USA Gymnastics named Mikulak, Muldauer, Yoder, Akash Modi and Colin van Wicklen to the Doha team, with Allan Bower, Trevor Howard and Marvin Kimble as alternates. Andriy Stepanchenko will be the head coach for the team. Summaries from the selection camp competitions:

USA Gymnastics Men’s Team Selection Camp
Colorado Springs, Colorado (USA) ~ 21-22 September 2018
(Full results here)

Double All-Around: 1. Sam Mikulak, 174.450; 2. Yul Moldauer, 169.950; 3. Alec Yoder, 166.000; 4. Akash Modi, 165.900; 5. Colin van Wicklen, 161.100; 6. Allan Bower, 137.750; 7. Trevor Howard, 135.850; 8. Marvin Kimble, 82.600.

Top apparatus scores: Floor: Mikulak, 14.650; Pommel Horse; Kimble, 14.000; Rings: Howard, 14.600; Vault: van Wicklen, 15.000; Parallel Bars: Mikulak, 15.350; High Bar: 1. Mikulak, 14.250.

CYCLING: Women’s Time Trial goes Dutch at World Road Championships

By
Rich Perelman
-

This has been a great year for Dutch women’s cycling and it reached a climax with a sweep of the women’s Individual Time Trial at the 91st UCI World Road Race Championships in Innsbruck, Austria.

The results were a repeat of 2017, only with three from the Netherlands on the podium instead of two. Annemiek van Vleuten, the overall World Cup leader, won again, ahead of last year’s silver medalist, Anna van der Breggen.

Another former winner from 2013, Ellen van Dijk was third for the Dutch sweep. While this is van Vleuten’s second Worlds Time Trial medal, van der Breggen now has three silvers in the last four years in this race and van Dijk won her third career Time Trial medal and now has one of each color.

The race from Hall-Wattens to Innsbruck had one significant rise of about 100 m in the middle and a modest climb in the final third. Canada’s Leah Kirchmann, riding 13th in the order, made a big impression with a finish time of 35:52.17 and that ended up fourth. She was pushed out of the lead, however, just six riders later as van Dijk, riding 19th, took the lead at 35:50.55.

Van der Breggen didn’t get her chance until the 35th position, but had the fastest split at the first checkpoint and sailed into the lead nearly a minute faster at 34:54.35. That looked like it might hold up, but van Veltuten would have the last chance.

Riding 52nd and last, van Vleuten flew out onto the course and was also 20 seconds faster than van der Breggen at the 18.1 km checkpoint and was going to win if she could stay upright. She also had the fastest finish in the field by 10 seconds and crossed in an impressive 34:25.36, almost a minute in front.

“I had this feeling that it was a game of seconds with Anna, and so I got nervous, and I didn’t know when I passed the finish line that I had won. It was a nerve-racking time trial,” van Vleuten told Cyclingnews. “Time trials are a game of seconds, and you die 10 times, but I think I died 100 times this year. I didn’t want to lose by two seconds, and I was surprised the gap was so big.”

The racing schedule for the rest of the week:

∙ 26 September:
Men’s Individual Time Trial (52.5 km; one major climb)

∙ 27 September:
Women’s Junior Road Race (71.7 km: one lap ~ two major climbs)
Men’s Junior Road Race (132.4 km: two laps ~ three major climbs)

∙ 28 September:
Men’s U-23 Road Race (179.9 km: three laps ~ five major climbs)

∙ 29 September:
Women’s Road Race (156.2 km: four laps ~ four major climbs)

∙ 30 September:
Men’s Road Race (258.5 km: seven laps ~ nine major climbs)

NBC’s Olympic Channel has coverage of the Worlds. Summaries so far:

UCI World Road Race Championships
Innsbruck (AUT) ~ 23-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Team Time Trial (62.8 km): 1. Quick-Step Floors (BEL), 1:07:26; 2. Team Sunweb (GER), 1:07:44; 3. BMC Racing Team (USA), 1:07:45; 4. Team Sky (GBR), 1:08:11; 5. Mitchelton-Scott (AUS), 1:08:23; 6. Movistar Team (ESP), 1:08:58; 7. Trek-Segafredo (USA), 1:09:30; 8. Bora-hansgrohe (GER), 1:09:33.

Men’s U-23 Time Trial (27.7 km): 1. Mikkel Bjerg (DEN), 32:31; 2. Brent van Moer (BEL), 33:04; 3. Mathias Norsgaard (DEN), 33:09; 4. Edoardo Affini (ITA), 33:15; 5. Ethan Hayter (GBR), 33:17. Also in the top 25: 7. Brandon McNulty (USA), 33:24; … 23. Gage Hecht (USA), 33:54.

Men’s Junior Time Trial (27.7 km): 1. Remco Evenepoel (BEL), 33:15; 2. Luke Plapp (AUS), 34:39; 3. Andrea Piccolo (ITA), 34:53; 4. Michel Hessmann (GER), 35:03; 5. Soren Waerenskjold (NOR), 35:05. Also in the top 25: 10. Michael Garrison (USA), 35:48; … 19. Riley Sheehan (USA), 36:36.

Women’s Time Trial (27.7 km): 1. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED), 35:25.36; 2. Anna van der Breggen (NED), 34:54.35; 3. Ellen van Dijk (NED), 35:50.55; 4. Leah Kirchmann (CAN), 35:52.17; 5. Leah Thomas (USA), 35:57.75; 6. Lucinda Brand (NED), 36:07.95; 7. Amber Neben (USA), 36:12.87; 8. Karol-Ann Canuel (CAN), 36:41.22; 9. Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA), 36:42.48; 10. Tayler Wiles (USA), 36:56.52.

Women’s Team Time Trial (54.5 km): 1. Canyon SRAM Racing (GER), 1:01;46; 2. Boels-Dolmans Cycling (NED), 1:02:08; 3. Team Sunweb (NED), 1:02:15; 4. Wiggle High5 (GBR), 1:02:44; 5. Mitchelton-Scott (AUS), 1:03:16; 6. Team Virtu Cycling (DEN), 1:03:53; 7. BTC City Ljubljana (SLO), 1:04:55; 8. Valcar PBM (ITA), 1:05:22.

Women’s Junior Time Trial (20.0 km): 1. Rozemarijn Ammerlaan (NED), 27:02; 2. Camilla Alessio (ITA), 27:09; 3. Elynor Backstedt (GBR), 27:20; 4. Pfeiffer Georgi (GBR), 27:24; 5. Simone Boilard (CAN), 27:26. Also in the top 25: Abigail Youngwerth (USA), 28:33.

BASKETBALL: U.S. women crush Latvia, move to World Cup quarterfinals

By
Rich Perelman
-

the no. 1-ranked United States women’s national team finished the group phase of the 2018 FIBA World Cup as one of three undefeated teams and moves into the quarterfinals as the favorite after winning its 19th straight World Cup game, 102-76 over Latvia.

The group phase is now complete:

∙ Group A: 1. Canada (3-0), 2. France (2-1), 3. Greece (1-2); 4. Korea (0-3)
∙ Group B: 1. Australia (3-0), 2. Nigeria (2-1), 3. Turkey (1-2), 4. Argentina (0-3)
∙ Group C: 1. Belgium (2-1), 2. Spain (2-1), 3. Japan (2-1), 4. Puerto Rico (0-3)
∙ Group D: 1. United States (3-0), 2. China (2-1), 3. Senegal (1-2), 4. Latvia (0-3)

The playoffs start on the 26th, with the nos. 2-3 teams in each group in play-in games to the quarterfinals:

∙ Upper bracket:
Spain vs. Senegal to play Canada
China vs. Japan to play Australia

∙ Lower bracket:
France vs. Turkey to play Belgium
Nigeria vs. Greece to play United States

The quarterfinals will be held on the 28th, semis in the 29th and the finals in 30 September.

The games are being played in the Canary Islands of Spain, in the 5,100-seat Tenerife Sports Pavilion Santiago Martin in San Cristobal de La Laguna and the 3,600-seat Palacio Municipal de Deportes in Santa Cruz de Tenerife..

The Latvia game was a challenge for a half. The U.S. got off to a 28-19 first-quarter lead, but was ahead on 52-42 at half. The third quarter made the difference, with the U.S. piling up a 26-8 advantage for a 78-50 lead by scoring the last 17 points of the quarter!

The U.S. got very balanced scoring from centers Tina Charles and Brittney Griner (back from an ankle injury), with 18 and 15 points, respectively, plus 16 from wing Diana Taurasi, 12 each from forwards A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, 11 from guard Jewell Loyd and 10 from forward Nneka Ogwumike.

The U.S. shot only 46.7% from the field – only 7-18 from three-point range – but held the Latvians to just 34.1% shooting for the game. Wilson and Stewart led the U.S. with eight rebounds each. American coach Dawn Staley rested stars Sue Bird and Elena Delle Donne.

“I thought our third quarter was by far the best quarter in which we exhibited a team that we want to become on the defensive side of the ball,” said Staley. “Hopefully that’s a prelude to what we will be in the quarterfinals.”

Since the competition began back in 1953, the U.S. women have won nine times, including the first two editions in ‘53 and ‘57, then again in 1979-86-90-98-2002-10-14. Its last loss was in a semifinal to Russia in the 2006 tournament.

Only four nations have ever won this tournament: the U.S. has nine golds, followed by the Soviet Union (6) and Brazil (1: 1994) and Australia (1: 2006). The U.S. has won six of the last eight.

The schedule of matches and scores are here.

TABLE TENNIS Preview: Women’s World Cup showcases the elite

By
Rich Perelman
-

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) has a special World Cup competition which invites the best players from each regional confederation, the top players from the world-ranking list and the current World Champion and the last World Cup winner.

That means the entire tournament includes just 20 players; the top entries:

∙ Yuling Zhu (CHN: 1) ~ 2017 World Cup Champion; 2018 World Champs silver medalist
∙ Ning Ding (CHN: 6) ~ 2011-15-17 World Champion
∙ Miu Hirano (JPN: 9) ~ 2016 World Cup Champion; 2017 World Champs bronze medalist
∙ I-Ching Cheng (TPE: 8) ~ 2016 World Cup silver medalist
∙ Kasumi Ishikawa (JPN: 4) ~ 2015 World Cup silver medalist; 2014 World Cup bronze medalist

There is one American entry; Yue Wu, who finished second in the Pan Am Cup competition.

The prize money is good: $60,000-40,000-20,000-14,000 for places 1-4; $10,000 for places 5-8; $7,000 for placers 9-16 and $5,000 for places 17-20. By the way, there’s a 20% deduction for Chinese taxes!

The event takes place at the Sichuan Province Gymnasium in Chengdu (CHN) and is sponsored by Uncle Pop, a Chinese snack food company, which makes crackers, potato chips, waffles, egg rolls, biscuits and the like.

The women’s World Cup started in 1996 and China has completely dominated the event, winning 20 of the 21 editions, with Yuling Zhu winning in 2017. Japan’s Miu Hirano is the only non-Chinese to win the event, in 2016. A Chinese players has also won 15 of the 21 silver medals in the event!

Look for results here.

SHOOTING Preview: U.S. Shotgun Nationals start in Colorado Springs

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 25th USA Shooting National Shotgun Championships start Sunday and continue through 10 October at the International Shooting Park at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with competition in Trap and Skeet for both men and women, and for Mixed Teams in Trap.

Both the Trap and Skeet events will be conducted in four stages of 75 + 50 + 75 + 50 targets for a total of 250. The Mixed Team Trap event will be shot in two stages of 75 targets each.

These are the events in which the U.S. had real success at the 2018 ISSF World Championships, where Vincent Hancock won the men’s Skeet title and Caitlin Connor, Kim Rhode and Ashley English swept the women’s Skeet medals.

The 2017 medalists at the U.S. Shotgun Nationals:

∙ Men’s Skeet:
1. 306 Vince Hancock
2. 302 Hayden Stewart
3. 300 Alex Ahlin

∙ Men’s Trap:
1. 285 Derek Haldeman
2. 282 Caleb Lindsey
3. 281 Glenn Eller

∙ Women’s Skeet:
1. 300 Dania Vizzi
2. 296 Caitlin Connor
3. 293 Sam Simonton

∙ Women’s Trap:
1. 285 Ashley Carroll
2. 281 Kayle Browning-Thomas
3. 278 Corey Cogdell

∙ Mixed Team Trap (2-person):
1. 472 Corey Cogdell/Jacke Wallace
2. 462 Kaylee Browning Thomas/Thomas Browning
3. 423 Heidi Bechtold/Jeremy Adkins

Prize money of $750-500-250 will be paid to the medalists in all five divisions. Look for results here.

GYMNASTICS Preview: U.S. defending titles in Pan Am Rhythmic Champs in Lima

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. Rhythmic star Laura Zeng

The last of the three Pan American Gymnastics Championships – this one in Rhythmic – that will serve as qualifiers for next year’s Pan American Games is getting set in Lima (PER). A full schedule is planned:

∙ 29 September: All-Around and Team competitions
∙ 30 September: Apparatus finals for individuals and groups

The U.S. completely dominated the event last year; here are the defending champions and the top finishers from the Americas at this year’s World Championships:

∙ All-Around:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Evita Griskenis (USA)
2018 Worlds: 8. Laura Zeng (USA: pictured); 17. Griskenis (USA)

∙ Hoop:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Griskenis (USA)
2018 Worlds: No finalists

∙ Ball:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Griskenis (USA)
2018 Worlds: No finalists

∙ Clubs:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Griskenis (USA)
2018 Worlds: No finalists

∙ Ribbon:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Griskenis (USA)
2018 Worlds: No finalists

∙ Team:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. United States
2018 Worlds: 9. Mexico; 14. United States; 18. Brazil

∙ Group All-Around:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Brazil
2018 Worlds: No finalists

∙ Group/5 Hoops:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. United States
2018 Worlds: No finalists

∙ Group/3 Balls + 2 Ropes:
2017 Pan-Am: 1. Brazil
2018 Worlds: No finalists

Look for results here.

GYMNASTICS Preview: Last leg of the World Challenge Cup series is in Paris

By
Rich Perelman
-

The six-stop FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics lands at the Accorhotels Arena in Paris (FRA) for competition on Friday and Saturday.

As this 21st edition of the “Internationaux de France” is the last event in the World Challenge Cup series, the series winners will determined at this event. The leaders going into this weekend:

Men:
∙ Floor:
1. 80 Artem Dolgopyat (ISR)
2. 55 Takumi Sato (JPN)
3. 38 Ahmet Onder (TUR)

∙ Pommel Horse:
1. 63 Saso Bertoncelj (SLO)
2. 39 Zoltan Kallai (HUN)
3. 37 Thierry Pellerin (CAN)

∙ Rings:
1. 80 Ibrahim Colak (TUR)
2. 66 Vasile Muntean (ROU)
3. 56 Yuri van Gelder (NED)

∙ Vault:
1. 62 Andrey Medvedev (ISR)
2. 55 Thanh Tung Le (VIE)
3. 45 Takumi Sato (JPN)

∙ Parallel Bars:
1. 80 Andrei Muntean (ROU)
2. 42 Marios Georgiou (CYP)
3. 40 Phuong Thanh Dinh (VIE)

∙ High Bar:
1. 64 Umit Samiloglu (TUR)
2. 55 David Vecsernyes (HUN)
3. 41 Robert Tvorogal (LTU)

Women:
∙ Vault:
1. 53 Ofir Netzer (ISR)
2. 48 Tijana Tkalcec (CRO)
3. 45 Tjasa Kysselef (SLO)

∙ Uneven Bars:
1. 80 Barbora Mokosova (CZE)
2. 62 Demet Mutlu (TUR)
3. 36 Dorina Boeczoego (HUN)

∙ Beam:
1. 46 Gokso Uctas Sanli (TUR)
2. 43 Lauree Denommee (CAN)
and Barbora Mokosova (CZE)

∙ Floor:
1. 60 Dorina Boeczoego (HUN)
2. 58 Barbora Mokosova (CZE)
3. 34 Rifda Irfanaluthfi (INA)

Scoring for events for the Challenge Cup in each event is 30-25-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-7-6-5 down to 12th place, so a lot of changes could be ahead in all but the men’s Parallel Bars, which has been clinched by Romania’s Montean already.

There is also prize money of CHF 800-600-400-300-250-200-150-100 for the top eight placers, but no extra prize money for the Challenge Cup winners (say what?). But the winners do get a special trophy. Look for results here.

CURLING Preview: Grand Slam Series starts with Elite 10

By
Rich Perelman
-

Like it or not, the curling season is in full swing!

The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, a series of seven tournaments – all held in Canada – which pit the best teams in the world against each other. Qualification comes through the World Curling Tour and the Grand Slam events offer a cumulative total of more than $2 million in prize money.

The kick-off event is the Princess Auto Elite 10, starting Wednesday at the St. Clair Campus Arena in Chatham, Ontario (CAN). The entries include (known by the name of the Skip):

Men:
∙ Niklas Edin (SWE) ~ 2013-15-18 World Champions; 2018 Olympic silver medalists
∙ Brad Gushue (CAN) ~ 2006 Olympic Champions; 2017 World Champions
∙ Glen Howard (CAN) ~ 2007-12 World Champions
∙ Brad Jacobs (CAN) ~ 2014 Olympic Champions
∙ Kevin Koe (CAN) ~ 2010-16 World Champions

Women:
∙ Anna Hasselborg (SWE) ~ 2018 Olympic Champions; 2017 Worlds silver medalists
∙ Rachel Homan (CAN) ~ 2017 World Champions; 2014 Worlds silver and 2013 Worlds bronze
∙ Jennifer Jones (CAN) ~ 2014 Olympic Champions; 2015 Worlds silver medalists
∙ Nina Roth (USA) ~ 2018 U.S. Olympic Trials winners; eighth in PyeongChang
∙ Jamie Sinclair (USA) ~ 2018 U.S. National Champions
∙ Silvana Trinzoni (SUI) ~ Includes Alina Paetz, skip of the 2015 World Champions

The tournament continues through Sunday; look for scores here.

CANOE-KAYAK Preview: Fox eyes family record in Slalom World Championships

By
Rich Perelman
-
Australia's Slalom star Jessica Fox

This has been a great season for Australia’s Jessica Fox, who made history by winning both the C-1 and K-1 races in the first three World Cups of this season and could make more at the Slalom World Championships this week in Rio de Janeiro (BRA).

In her international career, stretching back to 2010, Fox has won 10 World Championships medals, including seven golds: three in C-1, two in K-1 and two in C-2. She’s only one behind France’s Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, who won eight golds (and 10 total medals) from 1983-95. This is where it gets wild.

Fox-Jerusalmi is Jessica’s Fox mother, having married Richard Fox, a British canoeing star who won 10 World Championships golds from 1979-93. The couple settled in Australia, where Richard was the national coach for Canoe Slalom beginning in 1998 – when Jessica was four – and also served as a vice president of the International Canoe Federation.

So Jessica, now 24, is now in position to set the all-time record for World Championships gold medals in Canoe Slalom with two more and could tie her father for the family gold-medals record with three! And she could do it.

The top contenders from this year’s World Cup circuit and defending champions:

∙ Men’s C-1/2018 World Cup:
1. 296 Alexander Slafkovsky (SVK)
2. 282 Luka Bozic (SLO)
3. 268 Sideris Tasiadis (GER)

∙ Men’s C-1/2017 World Champs:
1. Benjamin Savsek (SLO)
2. Alexander Slafkovsky (SVK)
3. Michal Martikan (SVK)

∙ Men’s K-1/2018 World Cup:
1. 304 Jiri Prskavec (CZE)
2. 242 Mathieu Biazizzo (FRA)
3. 222 Vit Prindis (CZE)

∙ Men’s K-1/2017 World Champs:
1. Ondrej Tunka (CZE)
2. Vit Prindis (CZE)
3. Peter Kauzer (SLO)

∙ Women’s C-1/2018 World Cup:
1. 360 Jessica Fox (AUS)
2. 243 Mallory Franklin (GBR)
3. 242 Viktoria Wolffhardt (AUT)

∙ Women’s C-1/2017 World Champs:
1. Mallory Franklin (GBR)
2. Tereza Fiserova (CZE)
3. Ana Satila (BRA)

∙ Women’s K-1/2018 World Cup:
1. 303 Jessica Fox (AUS)
2. 302 Ricarda Funk (GER)
3. 285 Corinna Kuhnle (AUT)

∙ Women’s K-1/2017 World Champs:
1. Jessica Fox (AUS)
2. Jana Dukatova (CZE)
3. Ricarda Funk (GER)

∙ Mixed C-2/2018 World Cup:
1. 335 Teresa Fiserova/Jakub Jane (CZE)
2. 293 Yves Prigent/Margaux Henry (FRA)
3. 268 Veronika Vojtova/Jan Masek (CZE)

∙ Mixed C-2/2017 World Championships:
1. Margaux Henry/Yves Prigent (FRA)
2. Niccolo Ferrari/Stefanie Horn (ITA)
3. Veronika Vojtova/Jan Masek (CZE)

The competition finals schedule:

∙ 28 September: Mixed C-2
∙ 29 September: Men’s C-1 Final ~ Women’s K-1 Final
∙ 30 September: Women’s C-1 Final ~ Men’s K-1 Final ~ Extreme K-1 Finals

Team competitions with three per boat were held on the 25th:

∙ Men’s C-1:
1. Slovakia, 99.67; 2. Slovenia, 99.95; 3. Great Britain, 100.87.
(U.S. was eighth, 103.53.)

∙ Men’s K-1: 1. Great Britain, 92.45; 2. Poland, 93.88; 3. Czech Rep., 94.84.
(U.S. was 12th, 101.68.)

∙ Women’s C-1: 1. Great Britain, 115.78; 2. Czech Rep., 117.34; 3. France, 121.27.

∙ Women’s K-1: 1. France, 108.37 seconds; 2. Germany, 109.12; 3. Great Britain, 109.36.

Although Canoe Slalom didn’t make it into the Olympic Games until the 1990s, the World Championships date back to 1949, with Rio being the 39th edition. Look for results here.

BADMINTON Preview: Three no. 1-ranked entries in Korea Open

By
Rich Perelman
-

The BWF World Tour swing through Asia continues with the Victor Korea Open in Seoul, a significant tournament with $600,000 in prize money. The top seeds, with their current BWF world rankings, include three of the top-ranked players or teams in the world:

∙ Men’s Singles:
1. Viktor Axelsen (DEN: 1)
2. Kento Momota (JPN: 2)

∙ Men’s Doubles:
1. Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN: 4)
2. Sheng Mu Lee/Po-Hsuan Yang (TPE)

∙ Women’s Singles:
1. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN:2)
2. Ratchanok Intanon (THA: 4)

∙ Women’s Doubles:
1. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN: 1)
2. Misaki Matsumoto/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN: 4)

∙ Mixed Doubles:
1. Siwei Zhang/Yaqiong Huang (CHN: 1)
2. Mathias Christiansen/Christinna Pedersen (DEN: 5)

None of the defending champions are entered, except for half of the Mixed Doubles winners; Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan is teamed with a new partners. Other former champs in the tournament include two-time Olympic gold medalist Dan Lin (CHN), who won this tournament in 2002-07-11 and women’s winners Yamaguchi (2016) and Korea’s Ji-Hyun Sung (2013-15).

Look for results here.

THE BIG PICTURE: Anger over WADA’s reinstatement of Russia continues unabated

By
Rich Perelman
-

The anger over the reinstatement of Russia by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) continues unabated. The latest is from WADA’s own Athlete Commission, released by its chair, Canadian Beckie Scott. It starts with:

“As clean athletes we are devastated with WADA’s decision to reinstate RUSADA without the completion of the road map. RUSADA is back, yet there has been no public acceptance of wrongdoing, and the samples still sit locked away in the Moscow lab. We had expected that WADA would stand up for clean athletes and clean sport, instead, we have seen nuance and pragmatism overtake justice and accountability. …

“Russia has used its athletes, committed the biggest doping scandal of the century, corrupted the anti-doping and sport movements, and has now been welcomed back on a promise, without even complying with the rules. This is not good enough.”

The statement further notes that “We are the ones who train, compete and dream of winning medals, who demand fairness, and we are the ones that lost out when the rules are broken, and when sanctions are not followed.”

The signees include individual athletes from Argentina, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland and athlete commissions from the Athletics (IAAF) and Badminton (BWF) federations and national athlete groups from Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands.

WADA president Craig Reedie (GBR) defended the deal in an open letter posted on the WADA Web site and stated that “This week’s decision was based entirely on achieving Russian compliance, as properly delivered.”

Interestingly, while Reedie’s letter had a home-page link on the WADA site, the letter from its own Athlete Commission was not to be found anywhere on the site; it was not even linked to the page on the Athlete Commission.

Instead, it was released by Scott on her personal Twitter page.

LANE ONE: More fireworks are not going to bring more spectators to swimming (or other sports)

By
Rich Perelman
-

USA Swimming’s (fairly) new chief executive, Tim Hinchey, released a “State of the Sport” post on the organization’s Web site on 19 September and for incurable Olympic-sport junkies (like me), it made for fascinating reading.

Hinchey, you may remember, made one of the best impressions at the multiple Congressional hearings earlier this year into the sex-abuse scandals which have rocked U.S. Olympic sport and – for swimming – reaches back 20 years or more. He acknowledged the issues and also pledged more money for the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a catalyst to last week’s agreement by all of the U.S. National Governing Bodies to give a collective $1 million more to the Center.

Hinchey’s primary focus in his Web message was about athlete safety and security. “More than anything, this last year has shown us that better education continues to be necessary both to raise awareness of current programs and services and create more abuse prevention champions within every rank of our membership. Our goal is to provide the best possible experience for our members, in the safest possible environment, and we will continue to be leaders in this movement across all national governing bodies and the Olympic community.”

That’s important. Hinchey also noted “personal face-to-face meetings with survivors of abuse,” and “the development and implementation of the Safe Sport Recognized Club program,” which will bring the SafeSport Code and practices to the local level, which is where safety needs to start.

But that is only part of USA Swimming’s future. Hinchey went into considerable detail on planning that is looking as far forward as 2028 and the desire “to find new ways to grow our membership, improve the welfare of our athletes and expand our fanbase.”

To that end, Hinchey explained that “an internal mantra that we have adopted [is] to raise the level of our national events to be closer to the presentation and pageantry of the U.S. Olympic Trials.

“Anyone who has ever attended a major swimming competition such as the U.S. Olympic Trials will understand the unparalleled in-venue entertainment and excitement of watching incredible athletes push themselves to the limit and lay everything on the line. Creating additional Trials-like events elevates the experience for both the athletes and the spectators. Our strategy is to enhance existing USA Swimming events and offer greater fan experiences, elevated viewing opportunities, increased promotion, increased grassroots initiatives, and more, similar to what people experienced and enjoyed throughout the spring and summer.”

So, USA Swimming sent inquiries around the country to obtain interest in staging legs of its Tyr Pro Swim Series events. The response was good and the new schedule will be announced in October; the first meet will be at the 1,284-seat Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee from 9-12 January.

This is good, but bells, whistles and fireworks – like at the Trials – is not going to make the difference for swimming, or any of the other Olympic sports who want to make their events more important to more people.

What makes the Olympic Trials special is that it’s the selection event for the U.S. Olympic Team. That drama is why the event is a standard-bearer for swimming, track & field and gymnastics – among others – because the outcome is so meaningful to the athletes and to the country.

How important is the Tyr Pro Swim Series? Not very, at least to the athletes. After the Indianapolis stop in May, five-time Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian said “what we use these meets for is honing in on how we’re going to approach the race. Playing around and experimenting is also what makes it fun so we’re doing a little bit of that – just doing our best to not let it get stale.”

The issue was put perfectly by long-time bid guru Terrence Burns (USA) at the FINA World Water Polo Conference last April. Speaking about water polo – but equally applicable to any sport that’s looking for growth – he said, “Before talking about promotional tactics, we should go way back. I think that you have to create a strong brand narrative, a real story about water polo. You need to identify why it is important to the consumers and the fans. And then the tactics follow.”

USA Swimming has the same desire, but the “why” is not there yet for anything other than the U.S. Championships, which were sold out at 3,000-plus per day at Irvine in July.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m a fan of Hinchey from what I have seen so far and USA Swimming has proven itself over and over again as one of the best – if not the best – of the U.S. National Governing Bodies. It’s promotional work and video programming is outstanding.

But a season-long narrative which ends in a championship event is what propels not only the big team sports in the U.S. and elsewhere, but what keeps people talking about it! And what swimming needs is for more people to talk about it.

Like on a weekly, 30-minute show about Olympic sports on ESPN, Fox and NBC similar to the terrific “Winter Games Daily” show NBC did with Jimmy Roberts, or the ESPN FC show that supports its soccer programming.

And stop missing opportunities to own the spotlight, like selecting 21-28 June 2020 for the swimming Olympic Trials, at the same time as the track & field Trials from 19-28 June, in Eugene. Oy.

Rich Perelman
Editor

EQUESTRIAN: Lessons from the World Equestrian Games

By
Rich Perelman
-

The World Equestrian Games concluded on Sunday in Mill Spring, North Carolina, completing a hectic two weeks of activity that started with housing problems for grooms and Hurricane Florence and ending with some spectacular riding in the Jumping competitions.

The FEI noted that about 200,000 spectators took in the event, far less than hoped for, but quite good considering the brutal weather conditions. Local reporting noted that the event will likely lose more than $1.5 million and there has been some criticism of the site.

However, it’s also true that the Tryon International Equestrian Center took on the event on short notice in 2016 after Bromont (CAN) pulled out due to financial considerations. And there is no host for the 2022 World Equestrian Games, after both Lexington, Kentucky (USA) and Samorin (SVK) both declined to bid for the event last year.

The heavy costs of the World Equestrian Games has drawn comparisons to the issues faced by the International Olympic Committee on findings hosts for the Olympic Games.

Another article on the close of the WEG is on Tryon Int’l Equestrian Center is from Reuters, profiling Mark Bellissimo, who brought the facility to life. He’s thinking about the future of equestrian as a sport … and an industry.

“The goal is to get people interested in horses. Look at Olympics, surfing, beach volleyball, skate boarding.

“Nothing has killed more companies, more countries, more communities than the preservation of the status quo.

“I think every equestrian sport is in decline. It’s expensive and we need to figure ways to lower costs, make it much more spectator friendly. The problem is with equestrian sport people are so fascinated by their own sport.”

VOLLEYBALL: U.S. advances to final round in men’s World Champs

By
Rich Perelman
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The United States men’s national volleyball team continues its run through the FIVB World Championships in Italy and Bulgaria, winning its second-round group and advancing to the medal round this week.

After finishing 5-0 to win Pool C in the first round, the U.S. advanced to Pool G to face host Bulgaria, Iran and Canada. The outcome sends the U.S. in the final round with a chance for the medals:

∙ 21 September: U.S. 3, Canada 1
∙ 22 September: U.S. 3, Bulgaria 0
∙ 23 September: U.S. 3, Iran 0

That sends coach John Speraw’s U.S. squad into the final pool, where two groups of three will be formed from the four group winners and the second “best” second-place teams. The group winners and the other qualifiers:

∙ Group E: 1. Italy (7-1) 2. Russia (6-2)
∙ Group F: 1. Brazil (7-1)
∙ Group G: 1. United States (8-0)
∙ Group H: 1. Poland (6-2) 2. Serbia (6-2)

The U.S. is the last undefeated team in the tournament and has won 24 of 30 sets. Italy has a 23-6 sets win/loss ratio; Brazil’s is 22-8 and defending champion Poland’s is 21-9. Canada (5-3) and Belgium (4-4) just missed making the final round.

The final round will take place in two pools of three, with the winners meeting for the gold medal and the second-place teams meeting for bronze. The pool matches will take place on 26-27-28 September, the semis on 29 September and the medal matches on the 30th. All of these games will be in Turin (ITA).

Look for scores here.

TAEKWONDO: Korea wins 3, McPherson wins -67 kg class in Taoyuan

By
Rich Perelman
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The third of five World Taekwondo Grand Prix tournaments in 2018 marked the first ever in Chinese Taipei, in Taoyuan. But the headline was the same: three wins for the Koreans.

Thrice World Champion Dae-Hoon Lee set a new standard for the Grand Prix, winning the men’s -68 kg class for his second Grand Prix win this season and his 10th career Grand Prix win, the most ever. The Koreans also got wins from three-time World Champion Tae-Hun Kim at -58 kg and Da-Bin Lee in the women’s +67 kg class.

American Paige McPherson also made history by winning the women’s -67 kg class, the first win by a U.S. fighter in a Grand Prix since Jackie Galloway won in Samsun (TUR) in the +67 kg class in 2015. It’s the third-ever U.S. Grand Prix win, as Galloway also won one of the 2014 tournaments.

It wasn’t easy, as McPherson, the London 2012 bronze medalist in this class, fell behind Russia’s Polina Khan, 6-2, after one period. In fact, McPherson was down 7-5 in the third round, with 35 seconds left. But she scored a body kick with 10 seconds left for a 7-7 and overtime, known as “Golden Point” in Taekwondo. But neither scored and McPherson won by having fewer penalties during the match!

The fourth installment comes from 19-21 October in Manchester (GBR). Summaries:

World Taekwondo Grand Prix
Taoyuan (CHN) ~ 19-21 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

-58 kg: 1. Tae-Hun Kim (KOR); 2. Jesus Tortosa Cabrera (ESP); 3. Jun Jang (KOR) and Mikhail Artamonov (RUS).

-68 kg: 1. Dae-Hoon Lee (KOR); 2. Mirhashem Hosseini (IRI); 3. Edval Pontes (BRA) and Yu-Jen Huang (TPE).

-80 kg: 1. Maksim Khramtcov (RUS); 2. Cheick Sallah Cisse (CIV); 3. Damon Sansum (GBR) and Seif Eissa (EGY).

+80 kg: 1. Vladislav Larin (RUS); 2. Anthony Mylann Obame (GHA); 3. Mahama Cho (GBR) and Hongyi Sun (CHN).

Women

-49 kg: 1. Panipak Wongpattanakit (THA); 2. So-Hui Kim (KOR); 3. Kristina Tomic (CRO) and Rukiye Yildrim (TUR).

-57 kg: 1. Irem Yaman (TUR); 2. Raheleh Asemani (BEL); 3, Inese Tarvida (LAT) and Zongshi Luo (CHN).

-67 kg: 1. Paige McPherson (USA); 2. Polina Khan (RUS); 3. Jan-Di Kim (KOR) and Hyeri Oh (KOR).

+67 kg: 1. Da-Bin Lee (KOR); 2. Bianca Walkden (GBR); 3. Nafia Kus (TUR) and Shuyin Zheng (CHN).

SURFING: Second world titles for Muniz & Fitzgibbons

By
Rich Perelman
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Surfing is a sport for the young, right? The teenagers with boards and time to ride.

Some teens grow up to be professional surfers and they dominated the International Surfing Association’s World Surfing Games in Tahara (JPN), as two former teen winners took the gold medals.

In the men’s final, it was Argentina’s 2011 champion, Santiago Muniz – now 25 – who won the title, scoring 7.67 and 6.00 on his two best runs to compile 14.63 points and finish almost a full point ahead of Japan’s Kanoa Igarashi. It’s worth noting that Igarashi had the highest score on any single wave of 7.90.

The women’s title was a 10-year celebration for Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons, who won at age 17 back in 2008, but smoked the field with scores of 9.17 and 9.47 for a total of 18.64, way ahead of Paige Hareb (NZL: 14.66) and South Africa’s Bianca Buitendag (12.30).

“It is the biggest buzz to bring the Gold back to Australia!” said Fitzgibbons. “It’s so meaningful to me to surf against my mates that I’ve known for as long as ten years. We all work so hard, so to share a heat with them under the green and gold flag is amazing.

“The Japanese crowd has been excellent. They are the biggest surf fans. It has been such a pleasure to come here and compete for them. Team Australia has built great momentum heading towards Tokyo 2020. I know that whoever represents Australia are going to do us proud.”

Japan won the team title for the first time and the top four place-winners in each division earned quot places for the 2020 Games. Summaries:

World Surfing Games
Tahara (JPN) ~ 19-22 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men/Final: 1. Santiago Muniz (ARG), 14.63; 2. Kanoa Igarashi (JPN), 13.67; 3. Lucca Mesinas (PER), 12.94; 4. Shun Murakami (JPN), 9.96. Also in the top 10. 5. Kevin Schulz (USA).

Women/Final: 1. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 18.64; 2. Paige Hareb (NZL), 14.66; 3. Bianca Buitendag (RSA), 12.30; 4. Summer Macedo (USA), 11.40. Also in the top 10: 9. Zoe McDougal (USA) and Caitlin Simmers (USA).

Team (Men and Women combined): 1. Japan, 3,368 points; 2. Australia, 3,093; 3. United States, 3,000; 4. South Africa, 2,703; 5. Peru, 2,605; 6. France, 2,598; 7. Spain, 2,528; 8. Argentina, 2,240; 9. New Zealand, 2,275; 10. Canada, 2,248.

JUDO: Japan in charge, as usual, at IJF World Champs

By
Rich Perelman
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The sport of judo was introduced to the Olympic program at the 1964 Tokyo Games. And the Japanese have continued to dominate this sport, including at this year’s World Championships in Baku (AZE).

With three days – and six weight classes – left, the Japanese have collected 10 medals (4-5-1) compared to two for Korea, France, Iran, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. And there are more to come.

There were also some very familiar faces for Japan on the tatami in Baku. In the men’s events (so far), Naohisa Takato (-60 kg) and Hifumi Abe (-66 kg) repeated as World Champions from 2017 and -73 winner Soichi Hashimoto from 2017 ended up second this time. Among the women, last year’s winners Funa Tonaki (-48 kg) and Ai Shishime (-52 kg) won silvers this time, but Tsukasa Yoshida (-57 kg) went from silver in 2017 to the top of the podium this year.

The women’s -63 kg class was again a highlight, as France’s Clarisse Agbegnenou continuing her battle with Slovenia’s Tina Trstenjak and Japan’s Miku Tashiro.

Agbegnenou, age 25, won this time, her third World Championship title (2014-17-18) and sixth Worlds medal, to go along with her Rio silver medal. This time, she overcame Japan’s Tashiro (24) won her third Worlds medal (0-1-2) from 2014-18. Trstenjak (28) won bronze this time, her fourth Worlds medal (1-1-2) from 2014-18, but then she did win the Rio gold.

All three are going to be around for a while, so their combined 12 Worlds medals is going to grow.

The World Championships continue in Baku this week with three more days of competition:

∙ 24 September: Men’s -90 kg; women’s -70 kg
∙ 25 September: Men’s -100 kg; women’s -78 kg
∙ 26 September: Men’s +100 kg; women’s +78 kg

Look for results here. Summaries so far:

IJF World Championships
Baku (AZE) ~ 20-27 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

-60 kg: 1. Naohisa Takato (JPN); 2. Robert Mshvidobadze (RUS); 3. Amiran Papinashvili (GEO) and Ryuju Nagayama (JPN); 5. Karamat Huseynov (AZE) and Harim Lee (KOP); 7. Yong Gwon Kim (PRK) and Eric Takabatake (BRA).

-66 kg: 1. Hifumi Abe (JPN); 2. Yerlan Serikzhanov (KAZ); 3. Georgii Zantaria (UKR) and Baul An (KOR); 5. Tal Flicker (ISR) and Daniel Cargnin (BRA); 7. Mikhail Puliaev (RUS) and Kherlen Ganbold (MGL).

-73 kg: 1. Changrim An (KOR); 2. Soichi Hashimoto (JPN); 3. Mohammad Mohammadi (IRI) and Hidayat Heydarov (AZE); 5. Odbayar Ganbaatar (MGL) and Tsogbaatar Tsend-Ochir (MGL); 7. Zhansay Smagulov (KAZ) and Lasha Shavdatuashvili (GEO).

-81 kg: 1. Saeid Mollaei (IRI); 2. Sotaro Fujiwara (JPN); 3. Vedat Albayrak (TUR) and Alexander Wieczerzak (GER); 5. Dominic Ressel (GER) and Damian Szwarnowiecki (POL); 7. Mattias Case (GER) and Khasan Khalmurzaev (RUS).

Women

-48 kg: 1. Daria Bilodid (UKR); 2. Funa Tonaki (JPN); 3. Paula Pareto (ARG) and Otgonsetseg Galbadrakh (KAZ); 5. Catarina Costa (POR) and Urantsetseg Munkhbat (MGL); 7. Julia Figueroa (ESP) and Marusa Stangar (SLO).

-52 kg: 1. Uta Abe (JPN); 2. Ai Shishime (JPN); 3. Amandine Buchard (FRA) and Erika Miranda (BRA); 5. Jessica Pereira (BRA) and Charline van Snick (BEL); 7. Natalia Kuziutina (RUS) and Gefen Primo (ISR).

-57 kg: 1. Tsukasa Yoshida (JPN); 2. Nekoda Smythe-Davis (GBR); 3. Christa Deguchi (CAN) and Syriya Dorjsuren (MGL); 5. You-jeong Kwon (KOR) and Theresa Stoll (GER); 7. Nora Gjakova (KOS) and Helene Receveaux (FRA).

-63 kg: 1. Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA); 2. Miku Tashiro (JPN); 3. Juul Franssen (NED) and Tina Trstenjak (SLO); 5. Martyna Trajdos (GER) and Maylin del Toro Carvajal (CUB), 7. Kathrin Unterwurzacher (AUT) and Katharina Haecker (AUS).

GYMNASTICS: Four medals for Verniaiev in World Challenge Cup Szombathely

By
Rich Perelman
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Over the years, Ukraine’s two-time World Championships silver medalist Oleg Verniaiev has been one of the most enthusiastic participants in the FIG World Cup and World Challenge Cup series and he has been rewarded with enough medals to merit an expansion of his already-extensive trophy case.

At the fifth of six World Challenge Cup events in Szombathely (HUN), he competed for the first time in the series in 2018 and took home four medals in the six men’s events, winning the Pommel Horse event and collecting a silver in Floor Exercise and bronzes in the Parallel Bars and Vault.

His four podiums put him just one up on Japan’s Kenta Chiba, who won the High Bar, was second on the Parallel Bars and third on Rings.

Among the women, Hungary’s Zsofia Kovacs was the most popular winner, earning gold on Beam. Spain’s Cintia Rodriguez was a double medal-winner, with a silver on Beam and on Floor and Slovakia’s Barbora Mokosova took home a silver on the Uneven Bars and bronze on Floor.

Prize money of € 800-600-400-300-250-200-150-100 was awarded to the top eight finishers in each apparatus final. The World Challenge Cup series will conclude in Paris (FRA) next week. Summaries:

FIG World Challenge Cup
Szombathely (HUN) ~ 21-23 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Floor: 1. Artem Dolgopat (ISR), 14.700; 2. Oleg Verniaiev (UKR), 14.050; 3. Joal Plata (ESP), 13.900.

Pommel Horse: 1. Verniaiev (UKR), 14.650; 2. Saso Bertoncelj (SLO), 14.500; 3. Shogo Nonomura (JPN), 13.900.

Rings: 1. Nonomura (JPN), 14.400; 2. Ali Zahran (EGY),14.400; 3. Kenta Chiba (JPN), 14.150.

Vault: 1. Keisuke Asato (JPN), 14.900; 2. Tung Le Thanh (VIE), 14.750; 3. Verniaiev (UKR), 14.625.

Parallel Bars: 1. Petro Pakhniuk (UKR), 14.950; 2. Chiba (JPN), 14.900; 3. Verniaiev (UKR), 14.850.

High Bar: 1. Chiba (JPN), 14.150; 2. David Vecsernyes (HUN), 14.100; 3. Georgiu Mariosz (CYP), 14.100.

Women

Vault: Ofir Netzer (ISR), 13.600; 2. Laurie Denommee (CAN), 13.425; 3. Dominika Ponizilova (CZE), 13.375.

Uneven Bars: 1. Jonna Adlerteg (SWE), 13.900; 2. Barbora Mokosova (SVK), 13.100; 3. Paula Raya (ESP), 13.000.

Balance Beam: 1. Zsofia Kovacs (HUN), 12.750; 2. Cintia Rodríguez (ESP), 12.500; 3. Elisa Hammerle (AUT), 12.450.

Floor: 1. Dorina Boczogo (HUN), 13.100; 2. Rodriguez (ESP), 12.800; 3. Barbara Mokosova (SVK), 12.550.

EQUESTRIAN: U.S. takes Team Jumping at World Equestrian Games

By
Rich Perelman
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Although it had a soggy start, the 2018 World Equestrian Games roared to the finish with a terrific Jumping competition at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina.

For the home crowd, the highlight was Friday’s completion of the Team Jumping, with the Swiss, United States and Germany the top three entering the final round and Sweden and the Netherlands within reach of the medals.

Riding sixth in the order, the Dutch were excellent, with only eight faults and a two-round total of 32.35. Next up was Sweden, which sat at 20.59 going in … and stayed right there as Henrik van Eckermann, Malin Baryard-Johnsson and Fredrik Jonsson were all clear. They were medalists for sure, and possible champions!

Germany followed at 18.09 coming in, and got clean rides from Simone Blum and Marcus Ehning, but Laura Klaphake earned four penalties and their total of 22.09 left them second with the U.S. and the Swiss to come.

The American quartet entered with 12.59 penalties to start and while Adrienne Sternlicht had five faults, her low score was thrown out. Devin Ryan had four penalties and Lisa Kraut had none and McLain Ward – a team gold winner with the U.S. in Athens ‘04 and Beijing ‘08 – finished with four, so the team total was – like Sweden – at 20.59.

The Swiss had trouble, piling up 17 penalties and finished with a fault total of 28.64, out of the medals in fourth place.

That left the issue of separating the Swedes and the Americans and a jump-off saw von Eckermann, Jonsson and Peder Fredricson all go clear for a score of zero. The U.S. had to match it to win, and be faster than the combined 102.73 seconds it took the Swedes to complete their round.

Ryan and Kraut were clean again, but Sternlicht had four penalties, so Ward had to be clean – and quick – for the U.S. to win. He came through with a clean ride aboard 11-year-old Clinta in 32.58 seconds to give the U.S. a clean sheet, but in 100.67 seconds to win the gold medal by 2.06!

It was the first-ever American gold in the World Equestrian Games team Jumping competition and its first world title since 1986!

Germany’s Blum came back on Sunday to win the individual Jumping gold, with a total of just 3.47 penalties, easily ahead of Swiss Martin Fuchs (6.68) and Steve Guerdat (8.00). Ward finished fourth, with 11.08.

In the non-Olympic competitions, Australia’s Boyd Exell won the Driving event, with American Chester Weber winning silver; the U.S. – with Weber, James Fairclough and Misdee Wrigley-Miller – won the Driving Team title. In the Vaulting events, the individual winners included Lambert LeClezio (FRA) and Kristina Boe (GER), the Pas de Deux was won by Silvia Stopazzini and Lorenzo Lupacchini (ITA) and Kristina Boe and Jannik Heiland (GER) won the Team title.

The overall medal table, which included the Para-Dressage events, saw Germany with the most medals (17) and the most wins (6). The U.S. had 12 total medals (3-5-4) for second place, followed by the Netherlands with 10 (5-3-2). Summaries:

World Equestrian Games
Mill Spring, North Carolina (USA) ~ 11-23 September 2018
(Full results here)

Dressage/Grand Prix Special: 1. Isabell Werth (GER, on Bella Rose), 86.246; 2. Laura Graves (USA, on Verdades), 81.717; 3. Charlotte Dujardin (GBR, on Mount St. John Freestyle), 81.489; 4. Sonke Rothenberger (GER), 81.277; 5. Patrik Kittel (SWE), 79.726; 6. Kasey Perry-Glass (USA), 78.541; 7. Edward Gal (NED), 77.751; 8. Juliette Ramel (SWE), 77.751.

Dressage/Grand Prix Freestyle: cancelled.

Dressage/Team: 1. Germany (von Bredlow-Warndl, Schneider, Rothenberger, Werth), 242.950; 2. United States (Steffen Peters, Adrienne Lyle, Kasey Perry-Glass, Laura Graves), 233.136; 3. Great Britain (Wilson, Faurie, Hester, Dujardin), 229.628; 4. Sweden, 229.456; 5. Netherlands, 223.664; 6. Spain, 220.186; 7. Denmark, 216.584; 8. Australia, 210.016.

Driving: 1. Boyd Exell (AUS), 154.14; 2. Chester Weber (USA), 163.38; 3. Edouard Simonet (BEL), 174.15; 4. Koos de Ronde (NED), 180.0; 5. Jerome Voutaz (SUI), 188.01; 6. Glenn Geerts (BEL), 189.94; 7. Thibault Coudry (FRA), 190.51; 8. Benjamin Aillaud (FRA), 190.75.

Driving/Team: 1. United States (James Fairclough, Misdee Wrigley-Miller, Chester Weber), 353.39; 2. Netherlands (B. Chardon, de Ronde, I. Chardon), 356.79; 3. Belgium (Degrieck, Geerts, Simonet), 364.09; 4. France, 378.25; 5. Germany, 409.50.

Eventing: 1. Rosalind Canter (GBR, on Allstar B), 24.6 points; 2. Padraig McCarthy (IRL, on Mr. Chunky), 27.2; 3. Ingrid Klimke (GER, on SAP Hale Bob OLD), 27.3; 4. Andrew Hoy (AUS), 29.8; 5. Sarah Ennis (IRL), 30.3; 6. Thibaut Vallette (FRA), 30.8; 7. Astier Nicolas (FRA), 31.2; 8. Tim Price (NZL), 31.2. Also: 13. Phillip Dutton (USA), 34.0; … 25. Lynn Symansky (USA), 40.3.

Eventing/Team: 1. Great Britain (Piggy French, Tom McEwen, Rosalind Canter, Gemma Tattersall), 88.8; 2. Ireland (Sam Watson, Cathal Daniels, Padraig McCarthy, Saran Ennis), 93.0; 3. France (Donatien Schauly, Maxime Livio, Thibaut Vallette, Sidney Dufresne), 99.8; 4. Japan, 113.9; 5. Germany, 118.2; 6. Australia, 135.8; 7. New Zealand, 142.2; 8. United States (William Coleman, Boyd Martin, Lynn Symansky, Phillip Dutton), 145.0.

Jumping: 1. Simone Blum (SUI), 3.47; 2. Martin Fuchs (SUI), 6.68; 3. Steve Guerdat (SUI), 8.00; 4. McLain Ward (USA), 11.08; 5. Carlos Lopez Lizarazo (COL), 12.81; 6. Max Kuhner (AUT), 12.97; 7. Lorenzo de Luca (ITA), 14.19; 8. Fredrik Jonsson (SWE), 17.23. Also: 10. Laura Kraut (USA), 18.87; 11. Adrienne Sternlicht (USA), 20.26; … 16. Eddie Blue (USA), 16.64.

Jumping/Team: 1. United States (Devin Ryan, Adrienne Sternlicht, Laura Kraut, McLain Ward), 20.59 faults (100.67 seconds); 2. Sweden (von Eckermann, Baryard-Johnsson, Jonsson, Fredricson), 20.59 (102.73 seconds); 3. Germany (Blum, Klaphake, Tebbei, Ehning), 22.09; 4. Switzerland, 28.64; 5. Netherlands, 32.35; 6. Australia, 33.32; 7. Ireland, 39.12; 8. Great Britain, 40.04.

Reining: 1. Bernard Fonck (BEL, on What a Wave), 227.0; 2. Daniel Huss (USA, on Ms Dreamy), 226.5; 3. Cade McCutcheon (USA, on Custom Made Gun), 225.0; 4. Joao Andrade C.S. Lacerda (BRA), 225.0; 5. Manuel Cortesi (ITA), 224.5; 6. Martin Muhlstatter (AUT), 224.5; 7. Thiago Boechat (BRA), 223.0; 8. Grischa Ludwig (GER), 222.5. Also: 18. Casey Dreary (USA), 219.0; 19. Jordan Larson (USA), 215.0.

Reining/Team: 1. United States (Casey Deary, Cade McCutcheon, Daniel Huss, Jordan Larson), 681.0; 2. Belgium (Verschuren, Poels, Baeck, Fonck), 671.5; 3. Germany (Ludwig, Suchting, Schoeller, Schumacher), 666.5; 4. Austria, 666.0; 5. Brazil, 664.5.

Vaulting/Men: 1. Lambert LeClezio (FRA), 8.744; 2. Jannik Heiland (GER), 8.606; 3. Thomas Brusewitz (GER), 8.533; 4. Jannis Drewell (GER), 8.509; 5. Juan Martin Clavijo (COL), 8.314; 6. Vincent Haennel (FRA), 8.220; 7. Lukas Heppler (SUI), 8.024; 8. Dominik Eder (SUI), 7.969. Also: 14. Colton Palmer (USA), 7.678; 15. Kristian Roberts (USA), 7.263.

Vaulting/Women: 1. Kristina Boe (GER), 8.388; 2. Janika Derks (GER), 8.374; 3. Lisa Wild (AUT), 8.363; 4. Sarah Kay (GER), 8.308; 5. Nadja Buttiker (SUI), 8.253; 6. Sheena Bendixen (DEN), 8.192; 7. Katharina Luschin (AUT), 8.001; 8. Marina Mohar (SUI), 7.961. Also: 11. Elizabeth Osborn (USA), 7.734; … 13. Mary McCormick (USA), 7.361; 14. Tessa Divita (USA), 7.282.

Vaulting/Pas de Deux: 1. Silvia Stopazzini/Lorenzo Lupacchini (ITA), 9.027; 2. Jasmin Linder/Lukas Wacha (AUT), 9.013; 3. Janika Derks/Johannes Kay (GER), 8.872; 4. Theresa-Sophie Bresch/Torben Jacobs (GER), 8.707; 5. Theresa Thiel/Stefan Csandi (AUT), 8.409; 6. Daniel Janes/Haley Smith (USA), 8.244; 7. Zoe Maruccio/Syra Schmid (SUI), 7.935; 8. Svenja Lehmann/Selina Walder (SUI), 7.595. Also: 9. Kathryn Kenville/Florence Rubinger (USA), 7.538.

Vaulting/Team: 1. Kristina Boe/Jannik Heiland (GER), 26.502; 2. Nadja Buttiker/Lkas Heppler (SUI), 25.833; 3. Katharina Luschin/Lisa Wild (AUT), 25.371; 4. Silvia Stopazzini/Anna Cavallaro (ITA), 25.065; 5. Elizabeth Osborn/Colton Palmer (USA), 24.521; 6. Carola Sneekes/Claire de Ridder (NED), 22.734; 7. Lucy Phillips/ Rebecca Norval (GBR), 20.734; 8. Todd Griffiths/Jeanine van der Sluijis (CAN), 20.606.

CYCLING: Team Time Trials open World Road Championships

By
Rich Perelman
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The 91st UCI World Road Race Championships opened with Team Time Trials for men on a hilly course and a mostly downhill route for women on Sunday.

For the men, the Quick-Step Floors team from Belgium was the winner by 18 seconds over Team Subweb (GER). The winning riders included Niki Terpstra (NED), Maximilian Schachmann (GER), Yves Lampaert (BEL), Bob Jungels (LUX), Laurens de Plus (BEL) and Kasper Asgreen (DEN).

The women TTT was won by Germany’s Canyon SAM Racing, including Trixi Worrack (GER), Lisa Klein (GER), Elena Cecchini (ITA), Hannah Barnes (GBR), Alice Barnes (GBR) and Alena Amialiusik (BLR). They finished with a 22-second edge over the favored Boels-Dolmans team from the Netherlands.

The racing schedule for the rest of the week is oriented to the individual events:

∙ 24 September:
Women’s Junior Time Trial (20 km)
Men’s U-23 Time Trial (27.8 km)

∙ 25 September:
Men’s Junior Time Trial (27.8 km)
Women’s Individual Time Trial (27.8 km; three major climbs)
In 2017:
1. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED)
2. Anna van der Breggen (NED)
3. Katrin Garfoot (AUS)

∙ 26 September:
Men’s Individual Time Trial (52.5 km; one major climb)

∙ 27 September:
Women’s Junior Road Race (71.7 km: one lap ~ two major climbs)
Men’s Junior Road Race (132.4 km: two laps ~ three major climbs)

∙ 28 September:
Men’s U-23 Road Race (179.9 km: three laps ~ five major climbs)

∙ 29 September:
Women’s Road Race (156.2 km: four laps ~ four major climbs)

∙ 30 September:
Men’s Road Race (258.5 km: seven laps ~ nine major climbs)

NBC’s Olympic Channel has coverage of the Worlds. Summaries so far:

UCI World Road Race Championships
Innsbruck (AUT) ~ 23-30 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Team Time Trial (62.8 km): 1. Quick-Step Floors (BEL), 1:07:26; 2. Team Sunweb (GER), 1:07:44; 3. BMC Racing Team (USA), 1:07:45; 4. Team Sky (GBR), 1:08:11; 5. Mitchelton-Scott (AUS), 1:08:23; 6. Movistar Team (ESP), 1:08:58; 7. Trek-Segafredo (USA), 1:09:30; 8. Bora-hansgrohe (GER), 1:09:33.

Women’s Team Time Trial (54.5 km): 1. Canyon SRAM Racing (GER), 1:01;46; 2. Boels-Dolmans Cycling (NED), 1:02:08; 3. Team Sunweb (NED), 1:02:15; 4. Wiggle High5 (GBR), 1:02:44; 5. Mitchelton-Scott (AUS), 1:03:16; 6. Team Virtu Cycling (DEN), 1:03:53; 7. BTC City Ljubljana (SLO), 1:04:55; 8. Valcar PBM (ITA), 1:05:22.

BASKETBALL: U.S. women stay undefeated with two World Cup wins

By
Rich Perelman
-

These were not masterpieces of basketball, but the no. 1-ranked United States women’s national team won their 17th and 18th straight games in FIBA World Cup competition over Senegal (87-67) and China (100-88).

That puts the U.S. atop its group and into the quarterfinals as the group winner; the standings after two of the three group-phase gamedays:

∙ Group A: Canada (2-0), France (2-0), Korea (0-2), Greece (0-2)
∙ Group B: Australia (2-0), Nigeria (1-1), Turkey (1-1), Argentina (0-2)
∙ Group C: Spain (2-0), Japan (1-1), Belgium (1-1), Puerto Rico (0-2)
∙ Group D: United States (2-0), China (1-1), Senegal (1-1), Latvia (0-2)

The last group games will on Tuesday; the U.S. will finish with Latvia.

The top three teams in each group will qualify for the playoffs. The group winners will advance directly into the quarterfinals, with the second- and third-place teams playing among themselves to get into the quarters. The play-in games will be held on the 26th, quarters on the 28th, semis in the 29th and the finals in 30 September.

The games are being played in the Canary Islands of Spain, in the 5,100-seat Tenerife Sports Pavilion Santiago Martin in San Cristobal de La Laguna and the 3,600-seat Palacio Municipal de Deportes in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Against Senegal, the U.S. led by just 18-17 after the first quarter, but busted the game open in the second quarter with a 27-14 outburst and had a 45-31 lead. The American squad shot well at 52.6% overall, but only 5-17 from three-point range. Forward Elena Delle Donne led all scorers with 19, followed by 16 from forward Nneka Ogwumike, 15 from forward A’ja Wilson and 14 from forward Breanna Stewart. Stewart, Delle Donne and center Tina Charles each had six rebounds. Senegal was led by center Oumoul Khairy Sarr, who had 18 points.

Against China, the U.S. never ran away with the game, but steadily led throughout, ahead 25-20 after one quarter, 48-39 at half and 77-68 after three quarters on the way to a 100-88 victory. China shot well, hitting 47.4% of its shots and had four scorers in double figures, led by centers Xu Han and Mengran Sun, who had 20 and 16 points, respectively.

The U.S. shot brilliantly, hitting 57.6% from the field and had four in double figures, as Stewart had 23, Wilson logged 20, Charles had 16 and Tausasi scored 13. Wilson, Stewart and Charles all had six rebounds.

Since the competition began back in 1953, the U.S. women have won nine times, including the first two editions in ‘53 and ‘57, then again in 1979-86-90-98-2002-10-14. Its last loss was in a semifinal to Russia in the 2006 tournament.

Only four nations have ever won this tournament: the U.S. has nine golds, followed by the Soviet Union (6) and Brazil (1: 1994) and Australia (1: 2006). The U.S. has won six of the last eight.

The schedule of matches and scores are here.

BADMINTON: Ginting & Marin make history in China Open

By
Rich Perelman
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China’s history in badminton is one of achievement and it was no surprise that Chinese entrants won two of the five events at the Victor China Open in Changzhou this past weekend.

But the real shocks came in the other events, as steady, but unheralded Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia won the men’s Singles title and World Champion Carolina Marin (ESP) took the women’s Singles event.

Ginting, 21, came into the tournament ranked no. 13 in the world, but he beat some of the best players ever to top the podium. He was matched against 2008-12 Olympic champ Dan Lin (CHN) in the first round and won in straight sets, then excused no. 1 seed Viktor Axelsen (DEN) in the second round and faced 2016 Olympic champ Long Chen (CHN) in the quarters. No problem, as Ginting won in three sets, then managed a very tough match with Tien Chen Chou (TPE) in the semis in three sets before the final with Japan’s second-seeded Kento Momota. Ginting swept him aside in straight sets for his biggest win on the World Tour this year! He also proved that his bronze medal in the recent Asian Games was not a fluke. He’s one to watch; he’s the first Indonesian Singles winner in this tournament since 1994.

Marin was going for a similar honor; no Spanish player had ever won in the China Open, going all the way to its founding in 1986. In fact, no player outside of Asia had won the women’s Singles title in tournament history, but Marin dominated Yufei Chen (CHN) in straight sets to win the title.

There was more European success in the men’s Doubles, as Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN) slipped past Chengkai Han and Haodong Zhou (CHN) for the first win by a Danish team in six years.

China’s Siwei Zheng and Yaqiong Huang repeated as Mixed Doubles winners and second-seeded Misako Matsumoto and Ayaka Takahashi won the all-Japanese final in the women’s Doubles event, the first win ever for a Japanese pair in the event. Summaries:

BWF World Tour/Victor China Open
Changzhou (CHN) ~ 18-23 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (INA); 2. Kento Momota (JPN); 3. Tien Chen Chou (TPE) and Yuqi Shi (CHN). Semis: Ginting d. Chou, 12-21, 21-17, 21-15; Momota d. Shi, 21-10, 21-17. Final: Ginting d. Momota, 23-21, 21-19.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN); 2. Chengkai Han/Haodong Zhou (CHN); 3. Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA) and Hung Ling Chen/Chi-Lin Wang (TPE). Semis: Han/Zhou d. Gideon/Sukamuljo, 21-19, 11-21, 21-17; Astrup/Rasmussen d. Chen/Wang, 21-13, 21-19. Final: Astrup/Rasmussen d. Han/Zhou, 21-13, 17-21, 21-14.

Women’s Singles: 1. Carolina Marin (ESP); 2. Yufei Chen (CHN); 3. Nozomi Okuhara (JPN) and Akane Yamaguchi (JPN). Semis: Marin d. Okuhara, 15-21, 21-12, 21-13; Chen d. Yamaguchi, 21-14, 15-21, 21-14. Final: Marin d. Chen, 21-18, 21-13.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Misaki Matsumoto/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN); 2. Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (JPN); 3. Gabriela Stoeva/Stefani Stoeva (BUL) and Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (POL). Semis: Matsumoto/Nagahara d. Stoeva/Stoeva, 21-16, 21-12; Matsumoto/Takahashi d. Polii/Rahayu, 21-17, 12-21, 21-16. Final: Matsumoto/Takahashi d. Matsumoto/Nagahara, 21-16, 21-12.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Siwei Zheng/Yaqiong Huang (CHN); 2. Nan Zhang/Yinhui Li (CHN); 3. Chun Man Tang/Ying Suet Tse (HKG) and Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN). Semis: Zheng/Huang d. Tang/Tse, 21-19, 21-15; Tang/Tse d. Wang/Huang, 21-10, 19-21, 21-14. Final: Zheng/Huang d. Zhang/Li, 21-16, 21-9.

THE BIG PICTURE: iNADO rips parent WADA for Russia reinstatement

By
Rich Perelman
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The fallout from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decision to reinstate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) as compliant continued with a fusillade launched by the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations (iNADO), a group of 67 national anti-doping institutes.

This is essentially WADA’s agents on 67 countries ripping its umbrella organization. Friday’s statement noted, in pertinent part:

“The weaknesses of WADA’s governance model, as NADO representatives have emphasised during an ongoing review, have been clearly exposed. ExCO members, who have inevitable pressures and priorities around this decision which extend beyond purely the issue of doping, have clearly made the decision based on those other conflicting priorities. This is not good governance, nor does it reflect a good governance model. WADA must be an effective and resolute global anti-doping regulator and governor – exclusively. …

“While flexibility can have a place leadership critically requires steadfastness. Most especially this is so when so many stakeholders in the sporting community are bound by an anti-doping Code which can be unbending and harsh but (as WADA insists) cannot be ignored or softened to suit. …

“One real tragedy is that this decision undermines the credibility of an organisation which, in many other ways, has created a much better foundation for the application of clean sport programmes and has numerous excellent, hardworking technical staff who warrant support.

“INADO’s task now, along with the rest of the sporting community, is to work hard to ensure that we have a WADA and, most critically, a robust anti-doping system, which will restore and provide confidence that clean sport is protected.”

So the civil war is on and iNADO now joins many athletes, administrators and governing bodies in a drive to reform WADA itself.

LANE ONE: IOC starts answering its bid problems with Allianz sponsorship

By
Rich Perelman
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It’s no secret that the International Olympic Committee has a “trust” problem.

Communities, especially in Europe, have demonstrated via political actions and referenda, that having the Olympic Games in their country or region is not worth the effort. The primary reason given is always money, but the underlying reason is trust.

That is, that the public in these areas does not trust the financial projections of the bid promoters and later, organizing committees, to bring in the event within the stated financial parameters. Because the host cities (and, in actuality, the host countries) are on the hook for the overruns, the result is that the public is stuck with the bill.

The IOC, via its newest president, Thomas Bach, has hammered away at this as “outdated” thinking. After the Sion area of Switzerland rejected a 2026 bid in a referendum in June, the IOC issued a statement noting that “From the polls, we understand that outdated information on the cost of the Games was the main concern for those voting against the funding. The recent fundamental reforms undertaken by the IOC have unfortunately not been taken into consideration.” (Emphasis added.)

The reforms referred to include Bach’s Agenda 2020 program and a series of cost-cutting proposals called “The New Norm.” But the IOC is so wrong on this that even some of its supporters are shaking their heads. And the issue has not gone away. How about another, current bid whose projected cost went up by 15% – more than $600 million – in 84 days!

That would be the estimated cost of a 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary (CAN), which was C$4.6 billion in a 19 June estimate from the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee’s presentation to the Calgary City Council, vs. C$5.23 billion suggested by the Calgary 2026 Bid Corporation on 11 September. Of this revised total, about C$3 billion would have to come from taxpayers via city, provincial or national government funding. (C$1.00 = about 0.77 U.S. dollars, sp $5.23 billion Canadian is about $4.04 billion U.S.).

So the issue of trust in the bid process is still front and center for the IOC. Which makes last Tuesday’s announcement of the European-based (German) insurance giant Allianz as a new sponsor of the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee so interesting.

What words did Bach use to describe the IOC’s newest sponsor?

“This new partnership demonstrates the global appeal and strength of the Olympic Movement, and we are delighted to be working together in the long term with Allianz to support sport around the world. Allianz has built a global business founded on trust. With this partnership, together we are building a foundation based on mutual trust. Allianz also has a strong sporting heritage and, in line with the Olympic Agenda 2020, we share a digital ambition of connecting with young people around the world to promote the Olympic values and the power of sport.” (Emphasis added.)

And the mutual news release describing the sponsorship also gave some clues as to its scope, beyond simply the cost of the agreement:

“Through this sponsorship agreement, Allianz will work with the IOC to provide innovative and integrated insurance solutions to support the Olympic Movement, including the Organising Committees of the Olympic Games, with the ambition of providing those insurance solutions to the National Olympic Committees around the world and their Olympic teams and athletes. The support will include existing products, such as fleet and property & casualty insurance, but also insurance solutions for future products and services, driven by technological changes. The partnership will run from 2021 through to 2028.” (Emphasis added.)

This is important, because the organizing committees are never the focus of the IOC’s initiatives unless there are problems. You always hear about how the IOC’s work benefits athletes through the International Federations or National Olympic Committees, but the organizing committees are thoroughly ignored until something goes wrong … or there isn’t one because cities aren’t interested in hosting the Games.

So now with Allianz on board, the IOC has a partner which could create insurance programs that could shift the potential burdens of deficits from public funds to private ones. After all, in Allianz’s own release, it notes that “In 2017, over 140,000 employees in more than 70 countries achieved total revenue of 126 billion euros and an operating profit of 11 billion euros for the group.” (€1 = $1.17 U.S.)

This is hardly a new idea. The Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, fresh off of the revolutionary 1984 Games, had the idea to assemble insurance coverage against a deficit for a 2004 Olympic bid and then again in bids for the 2012 and 2016 Games. None of those bids were successful, but the idea was widely exposed and has shown up in many other bids since.

But it is an idea whose time may have come. With Allianz on board, the IOC has taken one more step on the way to making the Games more affordable to stage and even pave the way for the IOC itself to organize the Games in a city and require little or no cost exposure on the part of the host community. That would definitely make cities more interested … even in Europe!

Rich Perelman
Editor

FIGURE SKATING: Tennell upsets Medvedeva, Hanyu wins in Oakville

By
Rich Perelman
-

The International Skating Union’s Challenger Series usually doesn’t get too much attention; it’s the ISU’s second-level series, below its well-known Grand Prix circuit. However, there was a lot going on at this past weekend’s Skate Canada Autumn Classic International in Oakville, Ontario (CAN).

At the top of the men’s event was Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, who returned from the right ankle injury which hampered him earlier in the year. He won the Short Program easily, but was second in the Free Skate to Korea’s Jun-Hwan Cha, but won with 263.65 points to 259.78 for Cha. American Jason Brown was fifth (233.23).

Bradie Tennell of the U.S. pulled an upset in the women’s division, moving from second after the Short Program to win the Free Skate and claim the title over Olympic silver medalist Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS), 206.41-204.89. It was Tennell’s second career Challenger Series medal and her first win … and her first win over Medvedeva.

France’s Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres were easy winners in Pairs, 210.21-176.32 over Canada’s Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro, with Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier of the U.S. in third.

In Ice Dancing, Canada’s Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje won easily with 197.27 points to 171.41, ahead of Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz (ESP).

The ISU Grand Prix starts next month with Skate America on 19-21 October.

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