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United States Olympic Committee: More money for Paralympic bonuses, SafeSport

By
Rich Perelman
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There was a lot of activity at the 2018 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Assembly in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Some of the highlights:

∙ The U.S. National Governing Bodies voted to send about $1 million in additional funding to the U.S. Center for SafeSport. Each NGB will contribute 0.25% of its revenues, with a cap of $90,000 per organization, essentially doubling the cumulative contribution to the organization.

∙ The USOC Board approved another $1.2 million in medal bonuses for U.S. Paralympians, retroactive to the 2018 Winter Games. The bonuses for Olympic medals and Paralympic medals was equalized at $37,500 per gold, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze.

∙ Incoming USOC Board Chair Susanne Lyons indicated that the outside report on the USOC’s actions in response to allegations of sexual abuse in multiple sports has been hampered by a lack of survivors willing to speak with the investigators.

CYCLING Preview: World Road Championships start in Innsbruck

By
Rich Perelman
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The headline for the 91st UCI World Road Race Championships is whether Slovakia’s Peter Sagan will make history with his fourth straight world title in the men’s road race. But he won’t be racing until the final day of the event on the 30th. The schedule:

∙ 23 September:
Men’s Team Time Trial (62.8 km)
Women’s Team Time Trial (54.5 km)

∙ 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)

∙ 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)

The climbing portions of each lap start below 600 m and end above 1,000 m, making this race for the mountain racers than for the sprinters. Is that aimed at ending Sagan’s streak?

Most of the top riders are entered in one of the events, but not all. British Grand Tour winners Chris Froome (Giro d’Italia) and Geraint Thomas (Tour de France) are not in, but the line-ups are fearsome in any case. Returning medalists include:

Men’s Time Trial:
∙ Tom Dumoulin (NED) ~ 2017 World Champion; 2014 Worlds bronze medalist
∙ Tony Martin (GER) ~ 2011-12-13-16 World Champion; 2014 silver medalist; 2009-10 bronzes
∙ Vasil Kiryienka (BLR) ~ 2015 World Champion; 2016 Worlds silver medalist
∙ Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP) ~ 2016 Worlds bronze medalist

Men’s Road Race:
∙ Peter Sagan (SVK) ~ 2015-16-17 World Champion
∙ Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) ~ 2014 World Champion
∙ Rui Costa (POR) ~ 2013 World Champion
∙ Alejandro Valverde (ESP) ~ Worlds silver 2003-05, bronzes 2006-12-13-14

The men’s Road Race field has been shaped by the race course with its emphasis on climbing. Based on the recent Vuelta a Espana, Sagan has shown he’s very fit, but it’s hard to see him winning on this brutal layout. No one has ever won four World Road Race titles; Sagan would be the first.

But he will have a lot of competition from Vuelta winner Simon Yates (GBR), who was great in the mountains all over Spain, the climbers like Valverde, Colombia’s Nairo Quintana, Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali, Spain’s Enric Mas, France’s Thibaut Pinot, or even American Ben King, who won two of the climbing stages at La Vuelta? The top two in the “King of the Mountains” category at La Vuelta are also entered in the Road Race: Thomas de Gendt (BEL) and Dutch rider Bauke Mollema.

The Time Trial has been dominated by Germany’s Martin and last year by Dumoulin. Australia’s Rohan Dennis won both of the Individual Time Trials during the Vuelta a Espana, with Kwiatkowski also riding well in both.

In the women’s races, the returning medalists include:

Women’s Time Trial:
∙ Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) ~ World Champion 2017
∙ Amber Neben (USA) ~ World Champion 2008-16
∙ Anna van der Breggen (NED) ~ Worlds silver medalist 2015-17
∙ Ellen van Dijk (NED) ~ World Champion 2013, silver medalist 2016
∙ Lisa Brennauer (GER) ~ World Champion 2014; bronze medalist 2015

Women’s Road Race:
∙ Chantal Blaak (NED) ~ World Champion 2017
∙ Giorgia Bronzini (ITA) ~ World Champion 2010-11; bronze medalist 2007
∙ Amalie Dideriksen (DEN) ~ World Champion 2016
∙ Lotta Lepisto (FIN) ~ Worlds bronze medalist 2016
∙ Megan Guarnier (USA) ~ Worlds bronze medalist 2015
∙ Trixi Worrack (GER) ~ Worlds silver medalist 2006
∙ Rachel Neylan (AUS) ~ Worlds silver medalist 2012
∙ Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA) ~ Worlds bronze medalist 2012
∙ Rossella Ratto (ITA) ~ Worlds bronze medalist 2013
∙ Lisa Brennauer (GER) ~ Worlds silver medalist 2014

Van Vleuten is the Women’s World Tour points leader and the Dutch have dominated the circuit in 2018, with the top three in the points standings and wins in the last eight individual events on the tour! American Coryn Rivera, South Africa’s Ashleigh Moolman and Aussie Amanda Spratt have also been medal winners or strong contenders in many races and Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma cannot be ignored.

In the Time Trial, the amazing Neben, now 43, hasn’t raced much this year, but did win her second straight U.S. Time Trial crown in Knoxville, Tennessee earlier this year. She’s raced five times this year, winning all four Time Trials she’s entered, plus a ninth in the U.S. Road Race Championships!

NBC’s Olympic Channel has coverage of the Team Time Trials on Sunday. Look for results here.

EQUESTRIAN: Team Jumping on Friday in World Equestrian Games

By
Rich Perelman
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The quadrennial World Equestrian Games are heading toward the finish with the classic Jumping competitions now underway at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina.

After the first of two rounds in the team Jumping event, Switzerland, the U.S. and Germany were in the top three places, with the final round on Friday.

In the non-Olympic Vaulting competitions, Italy’s Silvia Stopazzini and Lorenzo Lupacchini won the Pas de Deux event and Germany won the team title.

The remaining schedule (as planned) of the medal sessions:

∙ Jumping:
21 September Team Competition
23 September Individual Competition

∙ Driving:
23 September Team and Individual

∙ Vaulting:
23 September Freestyle Finals for Men, Women, Squad

NBC has extensive coverage of the WEG, weather permitting, on NBC, NBCSN and the NBC Olympic Channel; the schedule is here. Look for results here. Summaries so far:

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.

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.

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/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.

CANOE-KAYAK: Canada stars at Pan American Sprint Champs

By
Rich Perelman
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Pan American Games qualifying and a full slate of continental championship events filled the Pan American Sprint Championships in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (CAN) last weekend.

Canada was the star of the competition, winning seven events in both the men’s and women’s divisions. Sprinter Stephen Frodsham won the C-1 200 and 500 m events for the Canadian men; Cuba’s Fernando Enriquez took the C-1 1,000 m race and won the C-2 1,000 m with Serguey Torres.

The biggest winners for the women were triple gold medalists Maria Maillard and Karen Roco of Chile. Maillard won the C-1 1,000 m individual race and Roco won at 500 m; they teamed together to win the C-2 200 m and 1,000 events (plus a bronze at 500 m!). Summaries:

Pan American Sprint Championships
Dartmouth (CAN) ~ 13-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

C-1/200 m: 1. Stephen Frodsham (CAN), 41.405; 2. Michael Garcia (CHI), 42.387; 3. Guillermo Quirino (MEX), 42.545. Also: 5. Ian Ross (USA), 44.011.

C-1/500 m: 1. Stephen Frodsham (CAN), 1:51.310; 2. Jose Cristobal (MEX), 1:52.782; 3. Ross (USA), 1:53.206.

C-1/1,000 m: 1. Fernando Enriquez (CUB), 4:19.322; 2. Erlon Silva (BRA), 4:21.804; 3. Jose Cristobal (MEX), 4:22.240. Also: 6. Ross (USA), 4:37.337.

C-2/200 m: 1. Connor Fitzpatrick/Roland Varga (CAN), 41.377; 2. Rigoberto Camilo/Guillermo Quirino (MEX), 43.803; 3. Brice Anderson/Ian Ross (USA), 52.474.

C-2/500 m: 1. Drew Hodges/Craig Spence (CAN), 1:44.544; 2. Camilo/Quirino (MEX), 1:46.218; 3. Sergio Diaz/Alfonso Pacheco (COL), 1:46.994.

C-2/1,000 m: 1. Fernando Enriquez/Serguey Torres (CUB), 3:36.710; 2. Erlon Silva/Macio dos Santos (BRA), 3:38.176; 3. Fitzpatrick/Varga (CAN), 3:38.456. Also: 6. Brice Anderson/Ian Ross (USA), 5:01.497.

K-1/200 m: 1. Desar de Cesare (ECU), 34.529; 2. Ruben Rezola (ARG), 34.859; 3. Edson da Silva (BRA), 35.213. Also: 8. Aaron Mullican, 37.535.

K-1/500 m: 1. Juan Caceres (ARG), 1:41.802; 2. Jarret Kenke (CAN), 1:42.714; 3. Sebastian Delgado (URU), 1:43.474. Also: 5. Jesse Lishchuk (USA), 1:46.014.

K-1/1,000 m: 1. Agustin Vernice (ARG), 3:45.839; 2. Brian Malfesi (CAN), 3:49.407; 3. Fidel Vargas (CUB), 3:52.075. Also: 5. Lishchuk (USA), 3:56.417.

K-2/200 m: 1. Mark de Jonge/Alexander Scott (CAN), 34.262; 2. Juan Ignacio Caceres/Abraham Saavedra (ARG), 34.874; 3. Edson da Silva/Pedro da Costa (BRA), 35.790. Also: 5. Stanton Collins/Aaron Mullican (USA), 35.986.

K-2/500 m: 1. Nicholas Matveev/Pierre-Luc Poulin (CAN), 1:37.043; 2. Caceres/Saavedra (ARG), 1:37.189; 3. Osbaldo Fuentes/Javier Lopez (MEX), 1:42.305. Also: 4. Stanton Collins/Miles Cross-Whiter (USA), 1:43.683.

K-2/1,000 m: 1. Manuel Lascano/Agustin Vernice (ARG), 3:36.828; 2. Fuentes/Lopez (MEX), 3:39.532; 3. Vagner Souta/Roberto Maehler (BRA), 3:40.632. Also: 7. Tim Burdiak/Carl Thompson Crockett (USA), 3:52.546.

K-4/500 m: 1. Canada, 1:22.223; 2. Argentina, 1:22.781; 3. Mexico, 1:25:101. Also: 6. United States (Collins, Cross-Whiter, Errez, Mullican), 1:28.301.

K-4/1,000 m: 1. Argentina, 2:56.959; 2. Canada, 2:58.263; 3. Mexico, 2:58.759. Also: 4. United States (Buriak, Thompson Crockett, Errez, Lishchuk), 3:04.628.

Women

C-1/200 m: 1. Mayvihanet Borges (CUB), 50.890; 2. Maria Maillard (CHI), 52.192; 3. Anggie Avegno (ECU), 53.234. Also: 4. Ann Marie Armstrong (USA), 54.114.

C-1/500 m: 1. Karen Roco (CHI), 2:15.766; 2. Ana Roy-Cyr (CAN), 2:17.790; 3. Stephanie Rodriguez (MEX), 2:22.044. Also: 5. Armstrong (USA), 2:26.144.

C-1/1,000 m: 1. Maillard (CHI), 4:33.150; 2. Rowan Hardy-Kavanagh (CAN), 4:50.172; 3. Clara Lopez (GUA), 4:58.257. Also: 4. Lia Marie Gaetano (USA), 5:02.041.

C-2/200 m: 1. Maria Maillard/Karen Roco (CHI), 44.560; 2. Angela da Silva/Andrea de Oliveira (BRA), 45.558; 3. Rowan Hardy-Kavanagh/Hannah McIntosh (CAN), 46.330. Also: 7. Anne Marie Armstrong/Lia Marie Gaetano (USA), 50.550.

C-2/500 m: 1. Katie Vincent/Laurence Vincent-Lapointe (CAN), 1:57.016; 2. Mayvihanet Borges/Liliana Naranjo (CUB), 1:57.974; 3. Maillard/Roco (CHI), 2:00.438. Also: 8. Armstrong/Gaetano (USA), 2:14.688.

C-2/1,000 m: 1. Maillard/Roco (CHI), 4:46.945; 2. Rowan Hardy-Kavanagh/Anna Roy-Cyr (CAN), 4:55.307; 3. Ana Dazy/Manuela Gomez (COL), 5:01.345. Also: 4. Armstrong/ Gaetano (USA), 5:19.817.

K-1/200 m: 1. Andreanne Langlois (CAN), 41.571; 2. Brenda Gutierrez (MEX), 41.953; 3. Yurieni Guerra (CUB), 42.137. Also: 8. Kaitlyn McElroy (USA), 43.523.

K-1/500 m: 1. Michelle Russell (CAN), 1:56.783; 2. Yurieni Guerra (CUB), 1:59.319; 3. Ana Paula Vergutz (BRA), 2:01.557. Also: 7. Samantha Barlow (USA), 2:06.265.

K-1/1,000 m: 1. Madeline Schmidt (CAN), 4:14.692; 2. Ysumy Orellana (CHI), 4:18.068; 3. Micaela Maslein (ARG), 4:19.994. Also: 4. Renae Jackson (USA), 4:29.769.

K-2/200 m: 1. Alanna Bray-Lougheed/Andreanne Langlois (CAN), 41.664; 2. Sabrina Ameghino/Brenda Rojas (ARG), 41.664; 3. Brenda Gutierrez/Marciela Montemayor (MEX), 42.940. Also: 7. Samantha Barlow/Kaitlyn McElroy (USA), 45.637.

K-2/500 m: 1. Lissa Bissonette/Courtney Stott (CAN), 1:52.892; 2. Karina Morales/Beatriz Briones (MEX), 1:53.760; 3. Ameghino/Rojas (ARG), 1:55.020. Also: 6. Barlow/McElroy (USA), 2:00.662.

K-2/1,000 m: 1. Morales/Briones (MEX), 3:57.875; 2. Natalie Davidson/Alexa Irvin (CAN), 4:02.057; 3. Barlow/McElroy (USA), 4:04.813.

K-4/500 m: 1. Canada, 1:35.470; 2. Mexico, 1:35.662; 3. Argentina, 1:38.088. Also: 6. United States (Allen, Barlow, Jackson, McElroy), 1:51.112.

K-4/1,000 m: 1. Mexico, 3:22.117; 2. Canada, 3:25.233; 3. Chile, 3:35.110.

GYMNASTICS: Fifth of six World Challenge Cup is in Szombathely

By
Rich Perelman
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The FIG “regular season” is heading toward the close this week in Szombathely (HUN), with qualifying on Friday and finals on Saturday and Sunday at Arena Savaria. This is the fifth of six World Challenge Cup events – a level below the World Cup, held earlier in the year – with the last event in Paris next week.

There are 120 gymnasts from 24 countries entered. Among the top men’s entries:

∙ Artem Dolgopyat (ISR) ~ 2017 World Championships silver in Floor
∙ Marian Dragulescu (ROM) ~ 2015 World Championships silver in Vault
∙ Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) ~ 2015-17 World Championships silvers in Parallel Bars

Among the top women’s entries:

∙ Boglarka Devai (HUN) ~ 2018 European Champion in Vault
∙ Jonna Adlerteg (SWE) ~ 2018 European Championships silver in Uneven Bars

Prize money of € 800-600-400-300-250-200-150-100 will be available to the top eight finishers in each apparatus final. Look for results here.

BASKETBALL Preview: U.S. women favored for third straight World Cup title

By
Rich Perelman
-

One of the most dominant teams in international sports is the United States women’s national team in basketball, which is assembled to try for its 10th title in the FIBA World Cup, the new name for what used to be called the women’s “World Championship.”

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. Since a semifinal loss to Russia in the 2006 tournament, the U.S. has won 16 straight games in “World Cup” competition.

This year’s event will be 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. There are 16 teams in four groups (with current world rankings):

∙ Group A: Korea (16), Greece (20), Canada (5), France (3)
∙ Group B: Australia (4), Turkey (7), Argentina (15), Nigeria (34)
∙ Group C: Japan (13), Puerto Rico (22), Belgium (28), Spain (2)
∙ Group D: Latvia (26), United States (1), Senegal (17), China (10)

The group phase will be played from 22-25 September. The U.S. will play Senegal on Saturday (22nd), China on Sunday (23rd) and Latvia on Tuesday (25th).

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 main question is whether anyone can beat the U.S. In the most recent major international tournament – the 2016 Rio Games – the U.S. won its eight games by an average score of 102-65 and swamped Spain in the final, 101-72.

The U.S. squad for 2018 looks just as formidable, with nine members of the 2018 WNBA All-Star Games on the team:

∙ G Sue Bird (Seattle)
∙ C Tina Charles (New York)
∙ F Elena Delle Donne (Washington)
∙ C Brittney Griner (Phoenix)
∙ G Jewell Loyd (Seattle)
∙ F Nneka Ogwumike (Los Angeles)
∙ F Breanna Stewart (Seattle)
∙ G Diana Taurasi (Phoenix)
∙ F A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas)

Six players – Bird, Charles, Delle Donne, Griner, Stewart and Taurasi – return from the Rio team. USA Basketball noted the pedigree of the U.S. roster:

∙ Olympic gold medalists include Bird (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016), Charles (2012, 2016), Delle Donne (2016), Griner (2016), Stewart (2016) and Taurasi (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016).

∙ World Cup gold winners include Bird (2002, 2010, 2014), Charles (2010, 2014), Griner (2014), Ogwumike (2014), Stewart (2014) and Taurasi 2010, 2014). Bird and Taurasi also took home bronze from the 2006 World Cup.

The American squad will be coached by Dawn Staley of South Carolina, herself a three-time Olympic gold medalist in 1996-2000-04. She has some personal history with the World Cup as well, winning a bronze medal as a player in 1994 and was an assistant coach on the 2006 bronze-medal winners in Brazil. She very successfully coached the U.S. women to the FIBA U-18 Americas Championship in 2014 and to the U-19 World Championship in 2015 in Russia.

Amazingly, Staley played with two members of the 2018 team on the gold-medal winners in Athens in 2004: Bird and Taurasi!

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.

THE BIG PICTURE: “Don’t even consider building a venue if there is not a 50-year legacy plan”

By
Rich Perelman
-

Although not designed as an activist organization, the Associated Press is keeping the pressure on officials of the Gangwon Province in Korea with a story on Wednesday headlined “Costly Pyeongchang Olympic venues could eventually be razed.”

The story outlined the continuing issues over the future of the alpine skiing course, the hockey and skating arenas, sliding course and ski-jump facilities. That doesn’t count the $100 million stadium used for ceremonies and then dismantled.

Said IOC Executive Director for the Olympic Games Christophe Dubi (SUI), “We’ve never been shy to raise concerns about the legacy of some of the venues (in Pyeongchang) that we read about right now.

“I can tell you for ’26, we are ruthless on this: Don’t even consider building a venue if there is not a 50-year legacy plan.”

THE BIG PICTURE: IOC Session moved from Milan to Lausanne in 2019

By
Rich Perelman
-

The newest wrinkle in the bid process for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games is the move of the International Olympic Committee Session for 2019 from Milan (ITA) to the Olympic capital of Lausanne, Switzerland.

The move was needed because Milan was the host of that Session, at which the 2026 Winter Games will be awarded. The conflict of having the vote in one of the candidate cities is too obvious for the IOC and it moved the event on its own. The Italians were told at a meeting of its National Olympic Committee, known as CONI, along with the Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, in Lausanne earlier this week.

There are also conflicting reports on whether the Italian government will agree to support the Milan-Cortina bid, as it was ready to when Turin was also involved. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini was reported as saying the government would help, but Giancarlo Giorgetti, the Secretary of the Council of Ministers – and primary contact for CONI on this bid – indicated that governmental funding was not assured.

LANE ONE: Russia readmitted by WADA, causing it to split apart

By
Rich Perelman
-

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s Executive Committee did a curious thing on Thursday during its meeting in the Seychelles: by re-integrating Russia into its membership, it set off a civil war.

First, the action. According to WADA:

“The ExCo resolved to reinstate RUSADA, subject strictly to the following post-reinstatement conditions:

1. RUSADA and the Russian Ministry of Sport must procure that the authentic Information Management System (LIMS) data and underlying analytical data of the former Moscow Laboratory set out in the WADA President’s letter of 22 June 2018 are received by WADA (via access to the data by an independent expert agreeable to both WADA and the Russian authorities) by no later than 31 December 2018.

2. RUSADA and the Russian Ministry of Sport must procure that any re-analysis of samples required by WADA following review of such data is completed by no later than 30 June 2019.

In addition, as per the RUSADA Roadmap to Compliance, a successful audit of RUSADA must be carried out within four months to ensure RUSADA continues to meet compliance standards.” 

The vote was 9-2, with only Linda Helleland (NOR) and Grant Robertson, the Minister of Sport and Recreation in New Zealand, voting against; Polish Minister of Sport & Tourism Witold Banka abstained.

The only ones who seemed happy about the outcome were those who voted for it, the International Olympic Committee – which had been lobbying for this outcome for months – and the Russians. WADA chief Craig Reedie (GBR) said in the WADA statement:

“WADA understands that this decision will not please everybody. When cheating is as rampant and as organized as it was in Russia, as was definitively established thanks to investigations commissioned by WADA, it undermines so much of what sport stands for. Clean athletes were denied places at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as other major events, and others were cheated of medals. It is entirely understandable that they should be wary about the supposed rehabilitation of offenders. The pressure on WADA to ensure that Russian sport is genuinely clean now and in the future is one that we feel very keenly and we will maintain the highest levels of scrutiny on RUSADA’s operations and independence.”

OK, so Reedie understands what he’s done. A lot of others were not pleased, no matter what the justification. The most uncompromising statement came from U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart, which said in part:

“Today marked the biggest decision in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)’s history, and it delivered a devastating blow to the world’s clean athletes. By ripping up the very ‘Roadmap’ it created, WADA’s decision to reinstate Russia despite the nation not having met the two remaining Roadmap conditions is bewildering and inexplicable. In its landmark meeting today, WADA sent one clear message to the world: we put the wishes of a small handful of sports administrators above the rights of millions of clean athletes …”

“Athletes from Germany, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States have come out like never before to demand a robust, independent and confident WADA that stands on its own two feet. The world’s athletes want the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – and the conflict that their involvement brings to clean sport – to stay well away from WADA. They want a WADA with teeth, authority, sanctioning power and the determination to get the job done of cleaning up sport and restoring the trust of the billions of sports fans and athletes worldwide. Today, that job must start – and it starts by reforming WADA and giving it the power to regulate as any good global watchdog must do. … It starts by removing the inherent conflict of interest that comes about from the IOC fox guarding the WADA henhouse. The road to the new, stronger WADA must start now.”

The prime Russian whistleblower in the scandal, Russian lab chief Grigory Rodchenkov, said in a statement, “WADA’s decision to reinstate Russia represents the greatest treachery against clean athletes in Olympic history.” U.K. Anti-Doping chief executive Nicole Sapstead’s statement included, “It is clear from the events of the past few days that WADA’s governance system is not sufficiently independent and that the view of athletes and the anti-doping community are not fairly represented.”

So, what happens now?

WADA and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) have their work cut out for them, according to their own terms. The Moscow lab database has to be turned over by the end of the year and the re-testing requested by WADA has to be finished by the middle of next year. Remember that WADA’s own internal expert stated that “the Moscow laboratory’s LIMS database includes 9,453 suspicious findings that were not reported in ADAMS, some of which relate to the 2,876 samples still stored at the Moscow laboratory.” So this is no small task.

But there are other players:

∙ The International Paralympic Committee, which has been much more aggressive than the IOC in suspending Russia from its events, responded to the WADA action by noting its own review committee will decide whether to recommend Russian re-admittance and that (1) the IPC will not be satisfied until Russia reimburses it €257,500 for its costs and (2) “There are many athletes around the world who have concerns with this decision. … The whole world is watching on with great interest.”

∙ The International Assn. of Athletics Federations also has suspended Russia and stated that its taskforce, chaired by Rune Andersen (NOR) will make a recommendation to the IAAF Council at its next meeting in December. The IAAF has its own demands, separate from WADA, that the Russian authorities must acknowledge the McLaren and Schmid Commission reports and provide access to the Moscow Lab’s testing database from 2011-15 “so that the Athletics Integrity Unit can determine whether the suspicious findings reported in the Moscow lab’s LIMS database should be pursued.”

Now let’s talk about money.

According to its latest financial statement, WADA received 46.5% of its $31.96 million in revenue for 2017 from the International Olympic Committee. About 51.4% came from governmental contributions and grants. So without the IOC’s money, WADA would be cut in half.

It would be difficult for the IOC to walk away from supporting WADA and it got its way on the reinstatement of Russia (for now). But an insurgency within the IOC by its Athletes Commission could be effective if well managed. Anything which places the IOC leadership against the clear interests of its athlete constituency will lower public confidence in it further.

Warning sign: look for any significant contribution to WADA by Russia, or an entity controlled by the Russian government. WADA does not list the public authorities which contributed $14.56 million to it in 2017; it should be pressured to at least identify the countries future funds come from.

And the next showdown comes in 2019.

WADA will hold elections next year as Reedie’s term as president will expire. The organization works on a rotating system of Olympic Movement and governmental presidencies and current vice president and Norwegian Minister for Children and Equality, Linda Helleland, has already declared herself as a candidate. She voted against Russia on Thursday, but didn’t come close to carrying the day. Others may now look for a more compelling, charismatic candidate.

The avowed purpose of WADA’s suspension of Russia was to keep the pressure on the country to come clean from its past transgressions. What it has done is turn the pressure on itself. It’s as if WADA’s Executive Committee has turned anti-doping into a dangerous game: Russian Roulette.

Rich Perelman
Editor

WEIGHTLIFTING: Colombia sparkles in Pan Am Junior Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

The Pan American Junior Championships were a showcase for the host Colombians, with nine wins in the combined totals, including six men’s events and three women’s.

Counting all classes in each division – Snatch, Clean & Jerk and Combined – Colombia took 22 medals in the men’s weight (19-3-0, with Venezuela (2-5-4) and the U.S. (0-5-6) following with 11. In the women’s classes, the hosts won 21 medals (10-10-1), to 15 for Venezuela (2-3-10) and 13 for the U.S. (5-2-6).

Colombia also won the men’s and women’s team title. In the men’s class, Colombia compiled 607 points, with the U.S. second (416) and Ecuador (347). The Colombians won the women’s scoring with 619 points, followed by the U.S. (564) and Ecuador (495). Summaries:

Pan American Junior Championships
Manizales (COL) ~ 5-12 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

56 kg (combined totals only): 1. Angel Perez (VEN), 220 kg; 2. Nestor Cardenas (VEN), 215 kg; 3. Juan Vargas Samboy (DOM), 203 kg.

62 kg: 1. Cristian Zurita Vallejo (ECU), 280 kg; 2. Victor Badur Guemez (MEX), 271 kg; 3. Roger Ochoa (VEN), 259 kg.

69 kg: 1. Jose Luis Osorio (COL), 294 kg; 2. Kevin Sandoval (COL), 286 kg; 3. Pedro Yoamona Leon (PER), 272 kg.

77 kg: 1. Oscar Garces (COL), 308 kg; 2. Oscar Terrones Miranda (PER), 299 kg; 3. Jesus Shiguango (ECU), 283 kg.

85 kg: 1. Juan Solis (COL), 333; 2. Adolfo Fernandez Lugo (MEX), 311 kg; 3. Steven Escobar (ECU), 306 kg.

94 kg: 1. Jhonatan Rivas (COL), 355 kg; 2. Juan Zaldivar Milian (CUB), 336 kg; 3. Jaden Washington (USA), 330 kg.

105 kg: 1. Fry Mosquera (COL), 345 kg; 2. Dennis Tan (USA), 317 kg; 3. Isac Borges Veira (BRA), 275 kg.

+105 kg: 1. Jhonatan Hoyos (COL), 333 kg; 2. Christopher Peters (USA), 308 kg; 3. Marcos Bribiesca (USA), 297 kg.

Women

48 kg (combined totals only): 1. Fiorella Cueva Uribe (PER), 167 kg; 2. Manuela Berrio (COL), 165 kg; 3. Yineth Santoya (COL), 160 kg.

53 kg: 1. Yenny Sinisterra (COL), 189 kg; 2. Julieth Palechor (COL), 186 kg; 3. Karen Fernandez (VEN), 173 kg.

58 kg: 1. Anyelin Venegas (VEN), 191 kg; 2. Isabel Nieto (VEN), 187 kg; 3. Nicole Cintra Lagos (BRA), 185 kg.

63 kg: 1. Rosalba Morales (COL), 203 kg; 2. Jessica Jarquin Gonzales (MEX), 202 kg; 3. Erin Amos (USA), 196 kg.

69 kg: 1. Celia Gold (USA), 199 kg; 2. Angy Palacios Dajome (ECU), 198 kg; 3. Daiana Serrano (DOM), 192 kg.

75 kg: 1. Hellen Escobar (COL), 222 kg; 2. Valeria Rivas (COL), 212 kg; 3. Euquerys Molaya (VEN), 202 kg.

90 kg: 1. Juliana Riotto (USA), 224 kg; 2. Dayana Mina Torres (ECU), 218 kg; 3. Magnolia Pen (VEN), 214 kg.

+90 kg: 1. Lisseth Ayovi Cabezas (ECU), 248 kg; 2. Angie Chaverra (COL), 235 kg; 3. Ashamarie Benitez (USA), 225 kg.

VOLLEYBALL: U.S. undefeated, heads to Round 2 in World Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

The quadrennial FIVB World Championships in men’s volleyball continues in Italy and Bulgaria, with the first-round action finally completed and the serious work starting in round 2. Through the first round of games:

∙ Pool A: 1. Italy (5-0); 2. Belgium (3-2); 3. Slovenia (3-2); 4. Argentina (2-3); 5. Japan (2-3); 6. Dominican Republic (0-6).

∙ Pool B: 1. Brazil (4-1); 2. Netherlands (4-1); 3. France (3-2); 4. Canada (3-2); 5. Egypt (1-4); 6. China (0-5).

∙ Pool C: 1. United States (5-0); 2. Serbia (4-1); 3. Russia (3-2); 4. Australia (2-3); 5. Cameroon (1-4); 6. Tunisia (0-5).

∙ Pool D: 1. Poland (5-0); 2. Iran (4-1); 3. Bulgaria (3-2); 4. Finland (2-3); 5. Cuba (1-4); 6. Puerto Rico (0-5).

The U.S. had its difficult matches at the start, getting past Serbia in five sets (3-2) in its opener, then squeezing by Australia (3-2), Russia (3-1), Cameroon (3-0) and Tunisia (3-0). John Speraw’s team had to rally from 2-1 down to Serbia and 0-2 against Australia, but they did it and are on to the second round.

This is another round-robin now, this time with four groups of four teams each. The first-round points carry over and the four pool winners in Round 2 will advance to the third stage, together with the top two of the second ranked teams. The new pools:

∙ Pool E: Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Finland in Milan (ITA)
∙ Pool F: Brazil, Belgium, Slovenia, Australia in Bologna (ITA)
∙ Pool G: United States, Iran, Bulgaria, Canada in Sofia (BUL)
∙ Pool H: Poland, Serbia, France, Argentina in Varna (BUL)

These games will start on Friday (21st) and continue through Sunday (23rd). The final phase will begin on the 26th and finish on Sunday the 30th.

Look for the scores here.

SWIMMING: U.S. strong in Open Water World Juniors in Israel

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 2018 Open Water World Junior Championships were held earlier in September at the exotic location of Eilat (ISR), with competition in three age groups: 14-15 year-olds, 16-17 year-olds and 18-19 year-olds.

The 14-15 group swam 5 km, the 16-17s had a 7.5 km race and the junior swam the standard 10 km distance. The winners included American Michael Brinegar in the men’s race and Paula Ruiz Bravo (ESP) for the women. Summaries:

FINA World Junior Open Water Championships
Eilat (ISR) ~ 6-8 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Junior 10 km: 1. Michael Brinegar (USA), 1:49:55.5; 2. Enzo Roldan Munoz (FRA), 1:49:55.7; 3. Kirill Dolgov (RUS), 1:50:00.4. Also: 4. Brennan Gravley (USA), 1:50:01.4.

Women’s Junior 10 km: 1. Paula Ruiz Bravo (ESP), 1:57:21.9; 2. Maria A. Bramont-Arias (PER), 1:57:24.2; 3. Reka Rohacs (HUN), 1:57:26.3. Also: 5. Erica Sullivan (USA), 1:57:44.6; 6. Kensey McMahon (USA), 1:57:47.4.

Mixed 4×1250 m: 1. France, 55:39:09 (Madelon Catteau, Jean-Baptiste Clusman, Lisa Pou, Enzo Roldan Munoz); 2. United States, 56:06:07 (Erica Sullivan, Brennan Gravley, Kensey McMahon, Michael Brinegar); 3. Italy, 56:11:03.

SHOOTING: China and India best in World Junior Championships

By
Rich Perelman
-

As part of the massive ISSF World Championships, a full set of World Junior Championships were held for men, women and mixed teams at Changwon (KOR).

The big winner on the junior level was China, with 11 gold-medal performances, followed by India (9) and Italy (4). The U.S. also did well, winning four men’s medals and six in the women’s division for a total of 10. Summaries:

ISSF World Junior Championships
Changwon (KOR) ~ 31 August-15 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

10 m Air Pistol: 1. Chaudhary Saurabh (IND), 245.5 (World Junior Record); 2. Hojin Lim (KOR), 243.1; 3. Arjun Cheema (IND), 218.0.

10 m Air Pistol/Team: 1. Korea, 1,732 (World Junior Record); 2. India, 1,730; 3. Russia, 1,711. Also: 10. United States (Jack Leverett, Henry Leverett, Kyler Swisher), 1,685.

25 m Rapid Fire Pistol: 1. Haojie Zhu (CHN), 35 (World Junior Record); 2. Jaekyoon Lee (KOR), 29; 3. Zhipeng Cheng (CHN), 24. Also: 4. Henry Leverett (USA), 21.

25 m Rapid Fire Pistol/Team: 1. China, 1,747 (World Junior Record); 2. Korea, 1,719; 3. Poland, 1,706. Also: 7. United States (J. Leverett, H. Leverett, Paul Kang), 1,692.

25 m Standard Pistol: 1. Vijarveer Sidhu (IND), 572; 2. Gunhyeok Lee (KOR), 570; 3. H. Zhu (CHN), 565. Also: 5. J. Leverett (USA), 563.; … 28. Ryan Yi (USA), 538; 29. Kevin Bennett (USA), 500.

25 m Standard Pistol/Team: 1. India, 1,695; 2. Korea, 1,693; 3. Czech Rep., 1,674. Also: 9. United States (J. Leverett, Yi, Bennett), 1,601.

25 m Pistol: 1. Udhayveer Sidhu (IND), 587; 2. Henry Leverett (USA), 584; 3. J. Lee (KOR), 582. Also: 6. J. Leverett (USA), 578; … 29. Yi (USA), 558.

25 m Pistol/Team: 1. India, 1,736; 2. China, 1,730; 3. Korea, 1,721. Also: 4. United States (H. Leverett, J. Leverett, Yi), 1,720.

50 m Pistol: 1. Cheema (IND), 559; 2. Woojong Kim (KOR), 554; 3. Gaurav Rana (IND), 551. Also: 26. Sam Gens (USA), 526; … 30. Bernard Melus (USA), 502; 31. Paul Kang (USA), 501.

50 m Pistol/Team: 1. India, 1,659; 2. Korea, 1,640; 3. China, 1,627. Also: 7. United States (Gens, Melus, Kang), 1,529.

10 m Air Rifle: 1. Hriday Hazarika (IND), 250.1; 2. Amir Mohammad Nekounam (IRI), 250.1 (shoot-off, 10.3-10.2); 3. Gigorii Shamakov (RUS), 228.6.

10 m Air Rifle/Team: 1. China, 1.876.2 (World Junior Record); 2. Iran, 1,874.3; 3. Russia, 1,873.7. Also: 10. United States (Shaner, Ogden, Sanchez), 1,854.7.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Nekounam (IRI), 455.5; 2. Zalan Pekler (HUN), 455.0; 3. Bo Cao (CHN), 442.9.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions/Team: 1. China, 3,467; 2. Russia, 3,455; 3. Hungary, 3,452. Also: 8. United States (Shaner, Fiori, Buchanan), 3,422.

50 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Benjamin Karlsen (NOR), 619.7; 2. Zalan Pekler (HUN), 619.1; 3. William Shaner (USA), 618.2.

50 m Rifle/Prone/Team: 1. Norway, 1,852.5; 2. Austria, 1,846.1; 3. Russia, 1,845.6. Also: 10. United States (Shaner, Liao, Peiser), 1,828.5.

Skeet: 1. Elia Sdruccioli (ITA), 55; 2. Nic Moschetti (USA), 54; 3. Gurnihal Garcha (IND), 46.

Skeet/Team: 1. Czech Rep., 356; 2. India, 355; 3. Italy, 354. Also: 6. United States (Moschetti, Eli Christman, Alexander Ahlin), 346.

Trap: 1. Nathan Argiro (AUS), 42; 2. Logan Lucas (USA), 41; 3. Lorenzo Ferrari (ITA), 31.

Trap/Team: Australia, 348; 2. India, 348; 3. Italy, 346. Also: 4. United States (Lucas, Dale Royer, Mick Wertz), 343.

Women

10 m Air Pistol: 1. Sevval Tarhan (TUR), 237.9; 2. Gaeun Choo (KOR), 234.5; 3. Lizi Kiladze (GEO), 213.6.

10 m Air Pistol/Team: 1. Korea, 1,700; 2. Mongolia, 1,698; 3. Russia, 1,693. Also: 9. United States (Sarah Choe, Katelyn Abeln, Kellie Foster), 1,685.

25 m Pistol: 1. Xiaoyu Wang (CHN), 37; 2. Katelyn Abeln (USA), 27; 3. Anna Dedova (CZE), 25. Also: 6. Sarah Choe (USA), 11.

25 m Pistol/Team: 1. Korea, 1,723; 2. China, 1,717; 3. Hungary, 1,714. Also: 4. United States (Choe, Abeln, Abie Leverett), 1,712.

10 m Air Rifle: 1. Mengyao Shi (CHN), 250.5; 2. Elavenil Valarivan (IND), 249.8; 3. Shreya Agrawal (IND), 228.4.

10 m Air Rifle/Team: 1. India, 1,880.7 (World Junior Record); 2. China, 1,874.6; 3. Korea, 1,871.9. Also: 8. United States (Stith, Marsh, Osborn), 1,864.3.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Hong Xu (CHN), 456.6; 2. Jade Bordet (FRA), 455.5; 3. Maria Ivanova (RUS), 443.2. Also: 4. Morgan Phillips (USA), 434.3.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions/Team: 1. China, 3,474; 2. United States (Phillips, Elizabeth Marsh, Kristen Hemphill), 3,461; 3. Russia, 3,458.

50 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Qiaoying Zhang (CHN), 622.2; 2. Rebecca Koeck (AUT), 619.5; 3. Aleksandra Szutko (POL), 619.3. Also: 5. Phillips (USA), 618.8.; … 19. Katie Zaun (USA), 614.2; … 25. Elizabeth Marsh (USA), 613.3

50 m Rifle/Prone/Team: 1. Austria, 1,855.0; 2. China, 1,847.0; 3. United States (Phillips, Zaun, Marsh), 1,846.3.

Skeet: 1. Yufei Che (CHN), 53 (World Junior Record); 2. Zhenghi Song (CHN), 51; 3. Austin Smith (USA), 43. Also: 6. Samantha Simonton (USA), 16.

Skeet/Team: 1. China, 349 (World Junior Record); 2. United States (Simonton, Smith, Katharina Jacob), 345; 3. Russia, 334.

Trap: 1. Erica Sessa (ITA), 41; 2. Manisha Keer (IND), 41 (both equal World Junior Record; shoot-off, 1-0); 3. Daria Semianova (RUS), 31.

Trap/Team: 1. Italy, 352 (World Junior Record); 2. China, 327; 3. United States (Emma Williams, Carey Garrison, Madelynn Bernau), 326.

Mixed

10 m Air Pistol/Team: 1. Gaeun Choo/Yunho Sung (KOR), 483.0 (World Junior Record); 2. Hyun-young Yoo/Hojin Lim (KOR), 473.1; 3. Abhidnya Patil/Chaudhary Saurabh (IND), 407.3.

10 m Air Rifle/Team: 1. Sofia Benetti/ Marco Suppini (ITA), 499.0 (World Junior Record); 2. Sadeghian Armina/Amir Nekounam (IRI), 497.7; 3. Shreya Agrawal/Divyansh Panwar (IND), 435.0.

Trap/Team: 1. Erica Sassa/Lorenzo Ferrari (ITA), 42 (World Junior Record); 2. Maria Palmitessa/Matteo Marongiu (ITA), 35; 3. Wendi Gao/Yiliu Ouyang (CHN), 29. Also: 5. Emma Williams/Logan Lucas (USA), 21.

GOLF: Stanford stays calm to win Evian Champs in France

By
Rich Perelman
-

A wild finish ended on the final stroke of the tournament at The Evian Championship at the Evian Resort Golf Club as presumptive winner Amy Olson double-bogeyed the 18th hole to give the title to fellow American Angela Stanford.

Olson shot 65s on Friday and Saturday to take the third-round lead at -14, but Stanford charged on Sunday with a 68 to move into contention, with a wild run-in of eagle-double bogey-birdie-par. Olson needed only a par on the final hole to win, but missed a six-foot putt for the victory and her double-bogey placed her in a four-way tie for second.

Americans dominated this tournament, taking six of the top nine places. It’s the first U.S. win in the tournament since 2007 and the first win on tour for Stanford, now 40, since 2012!

During 2018, no one country dominated the women’s major tournaments, with winners from five different nations: Stanford, Georgia Hall (ENG) in the British Open, Sung-hyun Park (KOR) in the PGA Championship, Ariya Jutanugarn (THA) in the U.S. Open and Pernilla Lindberg in the ANA Inspiration. However, Korean players won at least one medal (top three placing) in all five events. Summaries:

The Evian Championship
Evian-les-Bains (FRA) ~ 13-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Final Standings: 1. Angela Stanford (USA), 272 (-12); 2. tie, Amy Olson (USA), Austin Ernst (USA), Sei-young Kim (KOR) and Mo Martin (USA), 273 (-11); 6. tie, Ryann O’Toole (USA) and Jeong-eun Lee (KOR), 274 (-10); 8. tie, Jessica Korda (USA) and Inbee Park (KOR), 275 (-9); 10. tie, Brooke Henderson( CAN), Lydia Ko (NZL), Katherine Kirk (AUS), Mi-hyang Lee (KOR) and So-yeon Ryu (KOR), 276 (-8).

EQUESTRIAN: British sweep Eventing in World Equestrian Games

By
Rich Perelman
-

The worst of the weather has passed and competition resumed at the World Equestrian Games at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina with the Eventing program on Monday.

Great Britain was the big winner in what used to be called the Three-Day Event, winning both the individual gold with Rosalind Canter, but also the team title!

Canter had the second-best score coming out of Dressage, had no faults in Cross Country and was one of only three riders to have no faults in Jumping to pass Germany’s Ingrid Klimke for the gold medal. Ireland’s Padraig McCarthy also had a perfect jumping record and ended up second, with Klimke third by 0.1 points. It was the first win in the event for a British rider since 2006.

The British quartet of Canter, Piggy French, Tom McEwen and Gemma Tattersall won the team title with 88.8 points, well clear of Ireland (93.0) and France (99.8). It was the first British win in the event since 2010, but the sixth overall, more than any other nation.

The remaining schedule (as planned) of the medal sessions:

∙ Jumping:
21 September Team Competition
23 September Individual Competition

∙ Driving:
23 September Team and Individual

∙ Vaulting:
19 September Team Freestyle Final
20 September Pas-de-Deux Final
23 September Freestyle Finals for Men, Women, Squad

NBC has extensive coverage of the WEG, weather permitting, on NBC, NBCSN and the NBC Olympic Channel; the schedule is here. Look for results here. Summaries so far:

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.

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.

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.

BASKETBALL: U.S. squashes Panama, 78-48, in men’s World Cup qualifier

By
Rich Perelman
-

The U.S. men’s national team continued its run toward the FIBA men’s World Cup in 2019 by breezing past Panama, 78-48 on Monday (17th), in its second game of the second round.

Jeff Van Gundy’s team took an 18-7 lead in the first quarter and had a 36-23 edge at the half. Panama stayed within striking distance in the third, but the American squad pulled out to a 19-point lead at the end of the quarter. A 21-10 final period made the game a rout.

The U.S. held Panama to only 31.1% shooting, but shot only 42.6% itself and made just eight of 27 three-point shots. Guard Reggie Hearn led the scoring with 12 and forward Dwayne Bacon had 10.

Coupled with its prior win over Uruguay in Las Vegas, the U.S. improved to 7-1 in Group E:

∙ Standings:
United States (7-1), Argentina (7-1), Puerto Rico (5-3), Uruguay (5-3), Panama (3-5), Mexico (3-5).

∙ Scores:
United States 78 at Panama 48
at Uruguay 63, Mexico 60
at Argentina 106, Puerto Rico 84

The U.S. only has to finish in the top three in the group to move on to the World Cup in 2019. The qualifying period is over for now; the next pair of games will take place on 29 November and 2 December.

In Group F, Canada and Venezuela are both 7-1 now, with Brazil at 6-2 and the Dominican Republic at 5-3; and the Virgin Islands is 2-6 and Chile is 1-7.

TAEKWONDO Preview: Third Grand Prix lands in Chinese Taipei

By
Rich Perelman
-

The third of five stops on the World Taekwondo Grand Prix circuit is this weekend in Taoyuan (TPE), with competition in the eight Olympic classes. The top seeds (★ = 2017 World Champion, but not necessarily at this weight):

Men:
∙ -58 kg: 1. Tae-hun Kim (KOR) ★ 2. Mikhail Artamonov (RUS)
∙ -68 kg: 1. Dae-Hoon Lee (KOR) ★ 2. Jaouad Achab (BEL)
∙ -80 kg: 1. Cheick Sallah Cisse (CIV) 2. Maksim Khramtcov (RUS) ★
∙ +80 kg: 1. Vladislav Larin (RUS) 2. Kyo-don In (KOR)

Women:
∙ -49 kg: 1. Panipak Wongpattanakit (THA) 2. So-hui Kim (KOR)
∙ -57 kg: 1. Jade Jones (GBR) 2. Ah-reum Lee (KOR) ★
∙ -67 kg: 1. Hyeri Oh (KOR) ★ 2. Nur Tatar Askari (TUR) ★
∙ +67 kg: 1. Bianca Walkden (GBR) ★ 2. Shuyin Zheng (CHN)

There are two Americans seeded in the top five in their division: Paige McPherson (women’s -67 kg: 5) and Jackie Galloway (women’s +67 kg: 4). Both won Worlds silvers last year.

Prizes are $5,000-3,000-1,000 for the top three place winners. Look for results here.

JUDO Preview: Huge field for 2018 World Championships in Baku

By
Rich Perelman
-

A massive total of 800 judoka from 129 countries have gathered in Baku (AZE) for the IJF World Championships, with competition in 14 classes, from 20-27 September at the National Gymnastics Arena.

The top seeds in each class (and their current IJF World Rankings):

Men:
∙ -60 kg:
1. Ryuju Nagayama (JPN: 1)
2. Robert Mshvidobadze (RUS: 2)
Defending champion: 4. Naohisa Takato (JPN: 4)

∙ -66 kg:
1. Tal Flicker (ISR: 1:)
2. Hifumi Abe (JPN: 2)
Defending champion: 2. Abe

∙ -73 kg:
1. Soichi Hashimoto (JPN: 1)
2. Rustam Orujov (AZE: 2)
Defending champion: 1. Hashimoto

∙ -81 kg:
1. Saeid Mollaei (IRI: 1)
2. Frank de Wit (NED: 2)
Defending champion: 27. Alexander Wieczerzak (GER: 37)

∙ -90 kg:
1. Aleksandar Kukolj (SRB: 1)
2. Beka Gviniashvili (GEO: 2)
Defending champion: 6. Nemanja Majdov (SRB: 6)

∙ -100 kg:
1. Varlam Liparteliani (GEO: 1)
2. Michael Korrel (NED: 2)
Defending champion: 10. Aaron Wolf (JPN: 17)

∙ +100 kg:
1. Guram Tushishvili (GEO: 1)
2. David Moura (BRA: 2)
Defending champion: – Teddy Riner (FRA; not entered)

Women:
∙ -48 kg:
1. Urantseteg Munkhbat (MGL: 1)
2. Irina Dolgova (RUS: 2)
Defending champion: 4. Funa Tonaki (JPN: 4)

∙ -52 kg:
1. Amandine Buchard (FRA: 1)
2. Natalia Kuziutina (RUS: 3)
Defending champion: 7. Ai Shishime (JPN: 10)

∙ -57 kg:
1. Sumiya Dorjsuren (MGL: 1)
2. Tsukasa Uoshida (JPN: 2)
Defending champion: 1. Dorjsuren

∙ -63 kg:
1. Clarisse Agbegnenou (FRA: 1)
2. Tina Trstenjak (SLO: 3)
Defending champion: 1. Agbegnenou

∙ -70 kg:
1. Maria Portela (BRA: 1)
2. Marie Eve Gahie (FRA: 2)
Defending champion: 5. Chizuru Arai (JPN: 6)

∙ -78 kg:
1. Guusje Steehuis (NED: 1)
2. Natalie Powell (GBR: 2)
Defending champion: 5. Mayra Aguiar (BRA: 5)

∙ +78 kg:
1. Minjeong Kim (KOR: 1)
2. Larisa Ceric (BIH: 2)
Defending champion: – Song Yu (CHN: not entered)

So, six of the seven world champions from 2017 are back in both the men’s and women’s divisions, with only the heavyweights (Riner and Wu) sitting out. Only three of last year’s World Champions are still seeded first in their weight class.

The prize purse is substantial: € 26,000 for the winners (with € 5,200 to the coach), € 15,000 for second (20% to coach) and € 8,000 to both bronze medalists (20% to coach).

Look for results here.

BADMINTON Preview: Star-studded China Open has $1 million in prize money

By
Rich Perelman
-

One of the biggest-paying events on the BWF World Tour, the $1,000,000 Victor China Open is on this week in Changzhou (CHN) with a strong cast of the top players in the world. The top seeds:

∙ Men’s Singles:
1. Viktor Axelsen (DEN)
2. Yuqi Shi (CHN)

∙ Men’s Doubles:
1. Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA)
2. Junhui Li/Yuchen Liu (CHN)

∙ Women’s Singles:
1. Tzu Ying Tai (TPE)
2. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN)

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

∙ Mixed Doubles:
1. Siwei Zheng/Yaqiong Huang (CHN)
2. Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN)

Worth noting in the men’s Singles is the presence of two Olympic champions: China’s Lin Dan (2008-12) and Long Chen (2016). If they win in the early rounds, they would meet in the quarterfinals in the same bracket and world no. 1 (and 2016 bronze winner) Axelsen. Chen has won this tournament four times and Dan three times and Chen in the defending champion.

In the women’s Singles, all three medalists from Rio are in: gold winner Carolina Marin (ESP), silver medalist P.V. Sindhu (IND) and bronze medalist Nozomi Okuhara from Japan. Japan’s Yamaguchi is the defending champion; Sindhu won in 2016.

In Doubles, Gideon and Sukamuljo are two-time defending champs in the men’s division and Zheng and Huang won in Mixed Doubles last year=.

The event is the equal-third best-paying tournament of the year; the World Tour Finals in December will pay $1.5 million, then the Indonesia Open ($1.25) and then the China Open and the All-England Open at $1 million each.

Look for results here.

THE BIG PICTURE: Italy’s bid for the 2026 Winter Games is in turmoil as Turin withdraws

By
Rich Perelman
-

While much of the focus in international sport is on WADA’s decision on Russian reinstatement and its own ethics, there is also more turmoil in the derby for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Italy is a potential candidate, proposing a unique three-city program in Milan, Turin and Cortina d’Ampezzo. It was reported Monday that Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala demanded that his city be identified as the “host city” of the Games, but could also include venues in Turin and Cortina.

That position has not appealed to Turin Mayor Chiara Appendino, and on Tuesday, the Secretary of the Council of Minister for Sport, Giancarlo Giorgetti, said that the Italian national government has withdrawn its support for the prior, three-city bid proposal made by the Italian National Olympic Committee.

Instead, a Milan-Cortina could be substituted and regional leaders of the two area issued a statement noting “at this point it is unthinkable to throw everything out the window. The application must be saved, so we are willing to take this challenge together. If Turin is called out, and we are sorry, at this point there remain two realities, which are called Lombardy-Veneto.”

Representatives of the two-region bid are supposed to meet with the IOC staff in Lausanne (SUI) on Wednesday to pitch the idea. The IOC’s deadline for inviting cities to bid for the 2026 Winter Games comes on 8 October.

The Milan-Cortina bid would have to go through the gymnastics of getting national governmental support once again. That’s the same situation as the Stockholm (SWE) bid, which has to wait for government support; the national elections on 9 September produced no clear winner and another coalition government will have to be assembled.

Sapporo (JPN) formally pulled out of the 2026 race to focus on 2030. Calgary (CAN) has a referendum on 13 November, leaving Erzurum (TUR) still standing and actually ready to bid.

LANE ONE: Thursday’s decision on RUSADA reinstatement is now about WADA, not Russia

By
Rich Perelman
-

Strange how politics works, turning one thing into another.

The protest by a small number of National Football League players to kneel during the playing of the U.S. national anthem – poorly communicated as a stand against racism – morphed into a question of patriotism and love of country.

Thursday’s meeting of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Executive Committee in the Seychelles, during which a recommendation from the WADA Compliance Review Committee to reinstate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) as compliant with WADA rules will be considered, is in the same situation.

The question at hand is whether Russia has fulfilled the conditions set before it to be considered compliant. But the issue has turned into a question of confidence in WADA itself.

And WADA has no one to blame but itself.

As explored in detail in Monday’s issue, the Compliance Review Committee forwarded a recommendation for Russian reinstatement based on an exchange of letters between WADA Chair Craig Reedie (GBR) and Director-General Oliver Niggli (SUI) and Russian Minister of Sport Pavel Kolobkov dating back to June. In short, the two sides agreed that the remaining conditions for reinstatement – agreement to the McLaren Reports published in 2016, and complete access to the database and samples in the Moscow Laboratory of RUSADA – would be met by lesser actions:

∙ Instead of acknowledging the truth of the McLaren Reports, the Russians agreed to accept the findings of the International Olympic Committee’s Schmid Commission report, published in 2017.

∙ Instead of turning the Moscow Lab database and samples over to WADA for re-testing, Reedie and Niggli proposed that the database could be shared with a mutually-agreed, “independent expert” and instead of access to all of the samples, a re-analysis of only those samples which are identified from the raw data as having been doping positives would be required.

This has set off a firestorm of protest from within WADA’s own ranks, including the resignation from the Compliance Review Committee of WADA Athlete Committee chair Beckie Scott (CAN), a furious Op-Ed essay published in The New York Times from U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chair Edwin Moses, and blistering statements from the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organisations (iNADO) and individual national anti-doping organizations including the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, U.K. Anti-Doping and many others.

The title of Moses’s critique, WADA’s Credibility Rides on Its Russia Decision, framed the issue perfectly.

The outreach by Reedie and Niggli to the Russian Minister of Sport, was designed – as acknowledged in a WADA statement – “in pragmatism and are nuanced interpretations of the Roadmap in order to bring matters to a conclusion.” That is the point of departure.

In truth, the substitution of agreement to the Schmid Commission Report instead of the McLaren Reports should be enough to satisfy the first requirement of the WADA Roadmap, that Russia take institutional responsibility for its 2011-15 doping scheme. The Schmid Commission Report is quite clear on this.

So we are left with the final requirement, which is access to the Moscow Lab database and stored samples, which have been under the control of an internal Russian “Investigative Committee” for several years. This is where Reedie and Niggli came up short.

The numbers at issue are not small. The WADA Compliance Review Committee recommendation for reinstatement noted that WADA’s own internal expert stated that “the Moscow laboratory’s LIMS database includes 9,453 suspicious findings that were not reported in ADAMS, some of which relate to the 2,876 samples still stored at the Moscow laboratory.”

The iNADO statement, issued on Monday, was clear:

“Given the many months of prior silence it is hard not to be cynical that a proposal, based on weakened terms to accommodate Russia, comes before ExCo at the 11th hour. …

“Both the process and the recommendation itself have been roundly criticized by numerous athlete and anti-doping organizations. Indeed, the fact that these pivotal groups in anti-doping will have no say in a decision which has enormous repercussions for them demonstrates fundamental flaws in the construct of WADA governance. …

“iNADO looks forward to the full return of RUSADA to compliance at the earliest legitimate moment. However, based on the letters exchanged by Russia and WADA, any reasonable person would conclude that Russia has not yet fulfilled its obligations to the global sporting community. WADA must make its decisions based on consistent application of principles and not simply out of expedience pandering to the will of a powerful nation.”

Its call was for the recommendation of the Compliance Review Committee to be tabled.

The statement co-posted by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, U.K. Anti-Doping and others, also asked for the decision on reinstating Russia be postponed:

“Leaders urge WADA not to reinstate RUSADA until such time as it is in receipt of all Moscow Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) analytical data, allowing anti-doping rule violations to be pursued and justice to be sought for clean athletes impacted by the Pound and McLaren Reports.”

This statement goes further, noting that “Of particular concern is the fact that the Russian Government has yet to provide appropriate access for WADA to the stored urine samples in the Moscow Laboratory.” And:

“For the avoidance of doubt, we, the international anti-doping leaders wish to place on record that the goal posts have been moved. The Roadmap has changed. This is quite simply unacceptable and will not restore confidence in global sport at a time when athletes and sports fans need it most. We implore WADA not to consider reinstating RUSADA until such time as it is in receipt of all Moscow Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) analytical data, which is essential information and evidence that will help pursue anti-doping rule violations across all sports identified in the Pound and McLaren Reports. Until Russia provides this information and access to samples for reanalysis, unconditionally and within an agreed timeframe, it cannot be deemed to have met this crucial Roadmap requirement. (Emphasis added)

“The global athlete community has taken an unprecedented step to voice their concerns at the WADA Compliance Review Committee’s sudden and new recommendation to reinstate Russia at WADA’s Executive Committee meeting on the Seychelles on 20 September. It sends a message to the world that doping is tolerated at a time when we need to send the entirely opposite message.”

The WADA Executive Committee’s meeting will now be the subject of much scrutiny, as will each of its 12 members. As we noted on Monday, there are multiple options on the table and there will be pressure to give the Russians some relief – remember the IOC reinstated the Russian National Olympic Committee last February – and agreeing that the Schmid Commission Report satisfies one of the two remaining issues could be agreed to.

That would focus the attention on the major issue remaining: access to the Moscow Lab database and the stored samples, which could be re-analyzed by a fully-accredited WADA lab close by; there are two within two hours flight time, in Helsinki (FIN) and Warsaw (POL).

How can Russia be re-admitted without WADA having the Moscow Lab database in hand and access to the 2,876 samples stored there? And if WADA does vote to re-admit Russia, what chance is there that anyone other than the IOC will keep funding it? Maybe Russia will become WADA’s financial backer?!? The discussion should be about Russia, but it’s now all about what WADA will do. Sad.

Rich Perelman
Editor

SWIMMING: FINA World Cup money list posted for Cluster 1

By
Rich Perelman
-
Swedish swimming sprint superstar Sarah Sjostrom

FINA posted the final standings for the first cluster of its 2018 Swimming World Cup, and the payouts for the top eight in the point standings after the first two meets:

Men:
1. 90 Anton Chupkov (RUS) ($50,000)
2. 87 Michael Andrew (USA) ($35,000)
3. 84 Vladimir Morozov (RUS) ($30,000)
4. 72 Mitch Larkin (AUS) ($20,000)
5. 57 Blake Pieroni (USA) ($10,000)
6. 54 David Verraszto (HUN) ($ 5,000)
7. 48 Andrii Govorov (UKR) ($ 4,000)
8. 45 Felipe Lima (BRA) ($ 3,000)

Women:
1. 120 Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) ($50,000)
2. 90 Katinka Hosszu (HUN) ($35,000)
3. 78 Yulia Efimova (RUS) ($30,000)
4. 66 Kira Toussaint (NED) ($20,000)
5. 63 Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) ($10,000)
6. 51 Femke Heemskerk (NED) ($ 5,000)
7. 48 Vitalina Simonova (RUS) ($ 4,000)
8. 45 Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN) ($ 3,000)

The second cluster starts in Eindhoven (NED) on 28 September.

ATHLETICS: Remember Allyson Felix?

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

What’s happened to Allyson Felix?

We didn’t see much of the six-time Olympic gold medalist in 2018; she ran just five times between late April and mid-June, with very modest results: 11.30 in the 100 m and 51.35 in the 400 m.

But she has a plan and noted it a couple of days ago on Twitter:

“season #15 was different for me. an investment in myself. i had a limited race schedule, so that i can be at my best the next few years. most of the work i did was unseen. as a competitor it’s hard to see the bigger picture, but I trust the plan & look forward to it paying off!”

Felix has suffered since 2016 from the workout injury that nearly derailed her Olympic hopes for Rio, then managed two relay golds at the 2017 World Championships and a bronze medal in the 400 m behind Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH) and Salwa Eid Naser (BRN).

She knows that she has to run faster than ever before – and she’s 32 now – to compete with those two and so the training time is now key. It’s not enough to be healthy enough to compete; she needs to be healthy enough to put in the kind of training that is going to lower her 400 m best from 49.26 (‘15) to challenge Miller-Uibo’s 48.97 and Naser’s 49.08 marks from 2018.

Felix’s favorite event is the 200 m, but she hasn’t seriously approached her 21.69 best from 2012 since then. The best in 2018? Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith at 21.89 at the European Championships.

Felix is right; that training time is the investment she needs to have a chance to compete at the elite level again.

WATER POLO: Hungary beats Australia to win men’s World Cup

By
Rich Perelman
-

Surely Serbia was the favorite in the 16th men’s Water Polo World Cup, having won the last three and then co-leading Group B in the group phase of the tournament in Berlin (GER).

But the decisive game came in the championship semifinals, as Hungary, second in Group A, managed a 12-11 win to advance to the title contest against Australia. The Aussies were only third in Group A, but had beaten group-winner Germany, 10-9, and faced the Germans again.

The result was the same, almost to the score: Australia 11, Germany 10.

That set up the final and the Hungarians won the World Cup title for the first time since 1999 and their fourth title overall with a commanding 10-4 win. Hungary took a 4-2 halftime lead and then took an 8-2 lead in the third quarter and cruised home. Australia won only its second medal in this event, previously a bronze in 1993; Australia’s Aaron Younger was named as the best player in the tournament.

The Serbians won their fourth straight World Cup medal, defeating Germany, 15-9, in the bronze-medal match. The U.S. finished sixth, losing to Croatia, 10-7, in the 5-6 final. The complete results are here.

TRIATHLON: Mola & Holland win World Series titles; Zaferes second

By
Rich Perelman
-

The Grand Final of the 2018 ITU World Series was expected to be a coronation for Spain’s Mario Mola and a fight to the finish between Katie Zaferes of the U.S. and Vicky Holland (GBR) for the women’s seasonal title. And that’s exactly how it played out.

Zaferes and Holland had their eyes on each other throughout the race, knowing that whoever finished ahead of the other was going to be the season champion. They were close out of the water, on the bike and into the run phase.

The two contenders were joined by Australian Ashleigh Gentle in a breakaway and the trio would all finish on the podium. Zaferes and Gentle stayed in front through the first 5 km, but then it was Holland who pressed the pace with 3 km left and dropped Zaferes on the final lap. Gentle sprinted for the win, but the seasonal crown went to Holland, 5,540-5,488.

“I can’t actually believe it,” said Holland afterwards. “I thought at one point of the run that it was done because there was quite a big gap there. I can’t believe I brought it back in. This season as a whole has been absolutely incredible with three wins, two seconds and now the world title. It is so much more than I thought I would get out of the year!”

Said Zaferes, who moved up from third last season to second, “I gave it my all and I tried new things and I took a risk that didn’t pay off in the end, but I am proud of myself for trying it and really going for the win. I am never surprised; the thing about Vicky is that she is a fighter to the end and I was just trying to fight as well. For a while I felt really good, then not so good, but I tried to keep fighting right to the end and keep coming back till I finished but I couldn’t do it. I took another step in the right direction, so there is always next year.”

Mola didn’t win either, but finished second to France’s Vincent Luis – a training partner – and won his third straight seasonal title. The two were part of a leading pack of five on the run, but Luis scooted to the lead on the final lap, dropped Mola and Richard Murray (RSA) and cruised home for a 13-second win. While Mola won the season’s title, Luis got up for second and was the only one other than Mola to compile more than 5,000 points.

“I have a lot of feelings,” said Mola. “It has been a great season and finishing with a second place behind my training partner – it was a great race. I’ll try to make it four in a row next year and it’s in my hands to come back next year and be better.”

Mola won not only his third straight World Series title, but his sixth straight year with a top-three finish and the sixth year in a row that a Spaniard has won the title. Summaries:

ITU World Series Grand Final
Gold Coast (AUS) ~ 15-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Vincent Luis (FRA), 1:44:34; 2. Mario Mola (ESP), 1:44:48; 3. Richard Murray (RSA), 1:44:56; 4. Pierre Le Corre (FRA), 1:45:01; 5. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR), 1:45:04; 6. Henri Schoeman (RSA), 1:45:06; 7. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS), 1:45:46; 8. Jonny Brownlee (GBR), 1:45:51; 9. Marten van Riel (BEL), 1:45:56; 10. Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN), 1:45:57. Also in the top 25: 16. Eli Hemming (USA), 1:46:38.

Final 2018 Standings: 1. Mario Mola (ESP), 6,081; 2. Vincent Luis (FRA), 5,060; 3. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS), 4,884; 4. Richard Murray (RSA), 4,792; 5. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR), 3.936; 6. Fernando Alarza (ESP), 3,520; 7. Henri Schoeman (RSA), 3,438; 8. Pierre Le Corre (FRA), 3,215; 9. Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN), 3,194; 10. Marten van Riel (BEL), 2,960.

Women: 1. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS), 1:52:00; 2. Vicky Holland (GBR), 1:52:02; 3. Katie Zaferes (USA), 1:52:33; 4. Laura Lindemann (GER), 1:52:53; 5. Kirsten Kasper (USA), 1:53:15; 6. Melanie Santos (POR), 1:53:26; 7. Taylor Spivey (USA), 1:53:28; 8. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), 1:53:31; 9. Leonie Periault (FRA), 1:53:33; 10. Jodie Stimpson (GBR), 1:53:41. Also in the top 25: 13. Chelsea Burns (USA), 1:54:06.

Final 2018 Standings: 1. Vicky Holland (GBR), 5,540; 2. Katie Zaferes (USA), 5,488; 3. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), 4,183; 4. Kirsten Kasper (USA), 3,887; 5. Jessica Learmonth (GBR), 3,810; 6. Ashleigh Gentle (AUS), 3,750; 7. Jodie Stimpson (GBR), 3,658; 8. Taylor Spivey (USA), 3,603; 9. Laura Lindemann (GER), 3,423; 10. Rachel Klamer (NED), 3,306. Also in the top 25: 22. Chelsea Burns (USA), 1,943; … 25. Summer Cook (USA), 1,767.

SWIMMING: Xin repeats in Open Water World Cup

By
Rich Perelman
-

China’s Xin Xin is making her case to be considered as one of the world’s top open-water swimmers with her second consecutive victory in the FINA Marathon Swim World Series, this time in home waters at Chun’An (CHN).

Fourth in the 10 km Open Water event in Rio, but just 17th in the 10 km at last year’s World Championships, she touched just less than a second ahead of Leonie Beck (GER) and Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha in Sunday’s race.

In the men’s race, Britain’s Jack Burnell – the 2016 European 10 km silver winner – outlasted a group of 10 swimmers on the final lap to touch first. He1:56:34.8, just 0.1 ahead of Germany’s Rob Muffels.

Olympic and world distance swimming champion Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) and Rio open-water champ Ferry Weertman (NED) followed in less than a second.

Prize money in this event was $3,500-3,000-2,500-1,700-1,500-1,200-950-650 for the top eight place winners in both the men’s and women’s races. The final event in the series will be on 9 November in Abu Dhabi (UAE). Summaries:

FINA Marathon Swim World Series no. 7
Chun’An (CHN) ~ 16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men (10 km): 1. Jack Burnell (GBR), 1:56:34.8; 2. Rob Frederik Muffels (GER), 1:56:34.9; 3. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), 1:56:35.3; 4. Ferry Weertman (NED), 1:56:36.8; 5. Kristof Rasovszky (HUN), 1:56:37.3.

Women (10 km): 1. Xin Xin (CHN), 2:06:22.6; 2. Leonie Beck (GER), 2:06:23.4; 3. Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA), 2:06:23.5; 4. Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED), 2:06:24.9; 5. Finnia Wunram (GER), 2:06:25.5.

SWIMMING: Hosszu swims 15 events, wins seven, in World Cup II

By
Rich Perelman
-
Triple Olympic Champion Katinka Hosszu (HUN)

She’s unbelievable.

Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu swam in 15 (!) events in the second World Cup, held in Doha (QAT) and won seven events and took home an astonishing 12 medals:

1st: 7: 400-800 m Free, 200-400 m Medley, 100-200 m Back, 200 m Fly
2nd: 1: Mixed 4×100 m Free
3rd: 4: 200 m Free, 50 m Back, 50 m Breast, Mixed 4×100 m Medley
5th: 1: 100 m Breast
6th: 1: 200 m Breast
8th: 1: 50 m Free

Her legend as “The Iron Lady” continues to grow, even though she was surpassed in points for the meet by her main rival in the World Cup, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom.

FINA’s rules only allow swimmers to score in three events and Sjostrom did her job and more, winning five events for the second meet in a row, in the 50-100-200 m Frees and 50-100 m Fly. She also had the top performance on the FINA points table, so for the second week in a row, she should collect (on our scorecard), 60 points for a two-meet total of 120 and a win in the first cluster.

That will be worth a $50,000 bonus, with Hosszu second, worth $30,000.

In the men’s events, American Blake Pieroni won three events – the 100-200-400 Frees – to equal Australia’s Mitch Larkin, who took the 100-200 m Backs and the 200 m Medley. Both Brazil’s Felipe Lima (50-100 m Breaststroke) and American Michael Andrew (50 m Back, 100 m Fly) won two events each. On our scorecard, Russian sprinter Vladimir Morozov – who won the 50 m Free and had two other seconds – tied with Andrew at 84 points for the top scorer in the first cluster. FINA will announce the official standings (and payouts) this week.

The other big winner in Doha was Russian breaststroker Yuliya Efimova, who won all three events in the 50 m, 100 m and 200 m distances.

Prize money for the events is not capped by FINA and with $1,500-1,000-500-400-300-200 in individual events and $3,000-2,000-1,000 for relays, Hosszu won $13,750 in Doha!

The World Cup now moves to short-course (25 m) pools with the next cluster starting in Eindhoven (NED) from 28-30 September. Summaries from Doha:

FINA Swimming World Cup II
Doha (QAT) ~ 13-15 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Freestyle: 1. Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 21.80; 2. Michael Andrew (USA), 21.95; 3. Blake Pieroni (USA), 22.17.

100 m Free: 1. Pieroni (USA), 48.11; 2. Morozov (RUS), 48.43; 3. Pieter Timmers (BEL), 49.04.

200 m Free: 1. Pieroni (USA), 1:47.20; 2. Kyle Stolk (NED), 1:49.45; 3. Lorenz Weiremans (BEL), 1:49.68.

400 m Free: 1. Pieroni (USA), 3:53.98; 2. Weiremans (BEL), 3:54.94; 3. Yuhang Wu (CHN), 3:55.57.

1,500 m Free: 1. Marcos Gil Corbacho (ESP), 15:28.19; 2. Ferran Julia Tous (ESP), 15:42.84; 3. Zheqi Lin (CHN), 15:57.24.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Andrew (USA), 24.49; 2. Morozov (RUS), 24.79; 3. Mitch Larkin (AUS), 25.15.

100 m Back: 1. Larkin (AUS), 53.68; 2. Andrew (USA), 54.11; 3. Morozov (RUS), 55.07.

200 m Back: 1. Larkin (AUS), 1:57.45; 2. Manuel Martos (ESP), 2:02.52; 3. David Verraszto (HUN), 2:07.08.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Felipe Lima (BRA), 26.84; 2. Andrew (USA), 27.47; 3. Kirill Prigoda (RUS), 27.60.

100 m Breast: 1. Lima (BRA), 59.61; 2. Arno Kamminga (NED), 59.74; 3. Anton Chupkov (RUS), 59.89.

200 m Breast: 1. Chupkov (RUS), 2:08.77; 2. Kamminga (NED), 2:11.21; 3. Prigoda (RUS), 2:11.61.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Andrii Govorov (UKR), 22.82; 2. Andrew (USA), 23.21; 3. Ryan Coetzee (RSA), 23.54.

100 m Fly: 1. Andrew (USA), 51.83; 2. Coetzee (RSA), 52.20; 3. Mathys Goosen (NED), 52.99.

200 m Fly: 1. Maksym Shenberev (AZE), 1:58.45; 2. Verraszto (HUN), 1:58.70; 3. Yuhang Wu (CHN), 1:59.81.

200 m Medley: 1. Larkin (AUS), 1:59.14; 2. Tomas Peribonio Avila (ECU), 2:00.40; 3. Prigoda (RUS), 2:03.47.

400 m Medley: 1. Verraszto (HUN), 4:13.44; 2. Shemberev (AZE), 4:13.61; 3. Peribonio Avila (ECU), 4:17.02.

Women

50 m Freestyle: 1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 23.99; 2. Femke Heemskerk (NED), 24.54; 3. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 24.62. Also: 8. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 26.41.

100 m Free: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 53.13; 2. Kromowidjojo (NED), 53.29; 3. Heemskerk (NED), 53.34.

200 m Free: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 1:56.32; 2. Heemskerk (NED), 1:56.92; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 2:00.16.

400 m Free: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 4:10.02; 2. Heemskerk (NED), 4;12.56; 3. Chanzhen Zhou (CHN), 4:13.62.

800 m Free: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 8:34.58; 2. Zhou (CHN), 8:35.67; 3. Andrea Galisteo Zapatero (ESP), 8:43.99.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Kira Toussaint (NED), 28.01; 2. Kromowidjojo (NED), 28.49; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 28.57.

100 m Back: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 59.63; 2. Kira Toussaint (NED), 1:00.05; 3. tie, Tamara Frias Molina (ESP) and Yuru Jiang (CHN), 1:02.47.

200 m Back: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:11.00; 2. Toussaint (NED), 2:13.24; 3. Jiang (CHN), 2:15.54.

50 m Breaststroke: 1. Yuliya Efimova 9RUS), 30.43; 2. Vitalina Simonova (RUS), 32.01; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 32.81.

100 m Breast: 1. Efimova (RUS), 1:06.27; 2. Simonova (RUS), 1:07.90; 3. Sishi Zhang (CHN), 1:10.35. Also: 5. Hosszu (HUN), 1:11.82.

200 m Breast: 1. Efimova (RUS), 2:23.55; 2. Simonova (RUS), 2:24.06; 3. Alba Vazquez (ESP), 2:30.33. Also: 6. Hosszu (HUN), 2:41.60.

50 m Butterfly: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 25.22; 2. Kromowidjojo (NED), 25.76; 3. Kimberly Buys (BEL), 25.94.

100 m Fly: 1. Sjostrom (SWE), 56.46; 2. Buys (BEL), 58.23; 3. Kromowidjojo (NED), 59.40.

200 m Fly: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:09.26; 2. Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN), 2:10.34; 3. Carina Brand (RSA), 2:35.58.

200 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:11.57; 2. Efimova (RUS), 2:13.60; 3. S. Zhang (CHN), 2:14.23.

400 m Medley: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 4:39.57; 2. Jakabos (HUN), 4:44.87; 3. Alba Vazquez Ruiz (ESP), 4:48.68.

Mixed

4×100 m Freestyle: 1. Netherlands (Stolk, Puts, Heemskerk, Verraszto), 3:30.81; 2. Hungary, 3:37.71; 3. China, 3:40.76.

4×100 m Medley: 1. Netherlands (Toussaint, Kamminga, Goosen, Heemskerk), 3:49.18; 2. China, 3:58.36; 3.Hungary, 3:59.43.

SPORT CLIMBING: Garnbret dominates World Champs, now Olympic favorite

By
Rich Perelman
-

The IFSC World Championships in Innsbruck (AUT) left one indelible impression: Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret is the favorite to win the women’s event at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Still 19, she was the star of the Worlds with a gold medal in the Bouldering event, ahead of two-time bronze medalist Akiyo Noguchi (JPN), was runner-up to Austria’s Jessica Pilz in the Lead event on time and then overpowered everyone to win the Combined title with just 4.00 points, well ahead of Korea’s Sol Sa (10.00) and Pilz (24.00).

Only the Combined will be held in Tokyo, so Garnbret’s ability in two events makes her the clear, early favorite.

In the men’s Combined, Lead World Champion Jakob Schubert showed the best balance, winning the Bouldering segment from 2014 World Champion Adam Ondra (CZE), finishing second in Lead to Ondra and then finishing second in Speed to Germany’s Jan Hojer. The combination left him with just 4.00 points to 10.00 for Ondra and 24.00 for Hojer. He’s a slight favorite for Tokyo, as the Japanese climbers did not fare well in Innsbruck. Summaries:

IFSC World Championships
Innsbruck (AUT) ~ 6-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Bouldering: 1. Kai Harada (JPN), 4T/4z~6; 2. Jongwon Chon (KOR), 3T/4z~19; 3. Gregor Vezonik (SLO), 3T/4z~19; 4. Keita Watabe (JPN), 2T/4z~16; 5. Kokoro Fujii (JPN), 2T/2z~5; 6. Nathan Phillips (GBR), 1T/2z~5.

Lead: 1. Jakob Schubert (AUT), 36+; 2. Adam Ondra (CZE), 36+; 3. Alexander Megos (GER), 33.5; 4. Meichi Natasaki (JPN), 31+; 5. Domen Skofic (SLO), 29+; 6. tie, Jakub Konecny (CZE) and Tomoaki Takata (JPN), 29+; 8. Sascha Lehmann (SUI), 23; 9. Marcello Bombardi (ITA), 20+; 10. Kai Harada (JPN), 16+.

Speed/Final: 1. Reza Alipour (IRI), 5.630; 2. Bassa Mawem (FRA), fell; Small Final: 3. Stanislav Kokorin (RUS), 6.028; 4. Qixin Zhong (CHN), fell.

Combined: 1. Schubert (AUT), 4.00 points; 2. Ondra (CZE), 10.00; 3. Jan Hojer (GER), 24.00; 4. Kai Harada (JPN), 60.00; 5. Tomoa Narasaki (JPN), 72.00; 6. Kokoro Fujii (JPN), 90.00.

Women

Bouldering: 1. Janja Garnbret (SLO), 2T/3z~7; 2. Akiyo Noguchi (JPN), 2T/2z~4;
3. Stasa Gejo (SRB), 1T/2z~1; 4. Jessica Pilz (AUT), 0T/2z~0; 5. Miho Nonaka (JPN), 0T/2z~0; 6. Petra Klingler (SUI), 0T/0z-0.

Lead: 1. Jessica Pilz (AUT), Top; 2. Janja Garnbret (SLO), Top; 3. Jain Kim (KOR), 34+; 4. Mai Kotake (JPN), 33+; 5. Ashima Shiraishi (USA), 32; 6. Anak Verhoeven (BEL), 31+; 7. Mia Krampl (SLO), 31+; 8. tie, Akiyo Noguchi (JPN) and Hannah Schubert (AUT), 31+; 10. Laura Rogora (ITA), 24+.

Speed/Final: 1. Aleksandra Rudzinska (POL), 7.560; 2. Anna Brozek (POL), 7.910. Small Final: 3. Marina Krasavina (RUS); 4. Aleksandra Kalucka (POL), false start.

Combined: 1. Garnbret (SLO), 5.00; 2. Sol Sa (KOR), 12.00; 3. Pilz (AUT), 24.00; 4. Noguchi (JPN), 54.00; 5. Nonaka (JPN), 64.00; 6. Klingler (SUI), 75.00.

SHOOTING: Hancock equals World Record for men’s Skeet gold at ISSF Worlds

By
Rich Perelman
-

Twice Olympic gold medalist Vincent Hancock of the U.S. had his eye on the Skeet title at the ISSF World Championships in Changwon (KOR) and he almost didn’t miss a single shot!

With Olympic qualifying quota spots on the line for the U.S., Hancock went out and equaled the World Record of 125 (0 misses) for the qualifying round first set in 2014 by Italy’s Valerio Lichini (and equaled multiple times since) and then shot 59/60, hitting his last 52 targets to equal the record for finals shooting set by Ricardo Filippelli (ITA) and Ben Llewellin (GBR in 2017; they finished third and sixth, respectively, in the final!

“This was an amazing match,” he said afterwards. “I had a really good 125 and I was able to accomplish my goal which was to come out here and do the best I could. I’m very happy of shooting a 59 and being able to win another gold, it’s one more step. Hopefully I could get to the Olympics and shoot both a 125 and a 60.

“Having won the quota [place] now does change the plans for next year. I had a goal of being able to take some time off next year to try to set myself up and to be able to peak again in 2020. Taking time off after 2016 was a good experience, and it led to a very successful 2017 and obviously a very good 2018. So I’ll try to emulate that, take some time off, spend some time with the family, be happy and love what I do.”

Along with two Olympic golds in 2008-12, this was Hancock’s fourth World Championships gold, to go along with his wins in 2005-09-15.

The 2018 Worlds started the Olympic qualification cycle for Tokyo as 60 quota places – generally the top four in each event – were assigned for the 2020 Games. The U.S. claimed places in the men’s 50 m Rifle/3 Positions (1), men’s Skeet (1), and women’s Skeet (2). Summaries:

ISSF World Championships
Changwon (KOR) ~ 31 August-15 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

10 m Air Pistol: 1. Jong-Oh Jin (KOR), 241.5; 2. Artem Chernousov (24.15), 241.5 (Jin won shoot-off: 10.3-9.5); 3. Dae-Myung Lee (KOR), 220.6; 4. Pavlo Korostylov (UKR), 198.5; 5. Ruslan Lunev (AZE), 177.7; 6. Seung-Woo Han (KOR), 158.8; 7. Quoc Cuong Tran (VIE), 136.9; 8. Abhishek Verma (IND), 118.0.

Team 10 m Air Pistol: 1. Korea (Dae. Lee, Jin, S. Han), 1,747; 2. India (Verma, Mitharval, Rizvi), 1,738; 3. Russia (Chernousov, Koulakov, Gourianov), 1,736; 4. Vietnam, 1,731; 5. Serbia, 1,729; 6. Ukraine, 1,729; 7. China, 1,726; 8. Italy, 1,726. Also: 17. United States (Nick Mowrer, Jerson Herndon, James Hall), 1,710.

10 m Running Target/Final: 1. Jesper Nyberg (SWE), 6; 2. Maxi Stepanov (RUS), 3. Third: Vladislav Prianishnikov (RUS), 6; 4. Lukasz Czapla (CZE), 4.

Team 10 m Running Target: 1. Russia (Prianishnikov, Stepanov, Shchepotkin), 1,734; 2. DPR Korea, 1,722; 3. Sweden, 1,718; 4. Finland, 1,696; 5. Korea, 1,685; 6. Hungary, 1674; 7. China, 1,674; only entrants.

25 m Rapid Fire Pistol: 1. Junmin Lin (CHN), 32; 2. Jian Zhang (CHN), 31; 3. Jean Quiquampoix (FRA), 24; 4. Alexei Klimov (RUS), 20; 5. Oliver Geis (GER), 12; 6. Junhong Kim (KOR), 12.

Team 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol: 1. China (Lin, Zhang, Yao), 1,756 (World Record; old, 1,749, China, 2010); 2. Germany (Geis, Reitz, Freckmann), 1,751; 3. Korea (Kim, Song, Park), 1,745; 4. France, 1,742; 5. Russia, 1,741; 6. Ukraine, 1,737; 7. Czech Republic, 1,727; 8. Poland, 1,724. Also: 12. United States (Keith Sanderson, Brian Kim, Alexander Chichkov), 1,702.

10 m Air Rifle: 1. Sergey Kamenskiy (RUS), 248.4; 2. Petar Gorsa (CRO), 247.5; 3. Miran Maricic (CRO), 227.3; 4. Zicheng Hui (CHN), 206.1; 5. Hoaran Yang (CHN), 185.7; 6. Deepak Kumar (IND), 164.1; 7. Mahyar Sedaghat (IRI), 143.0; 8. Taeyun Nam (KOR), 121.4.

Team 10 m Air Rifle: 1. China (Yang, Hui Yu), 1,887.4 (World Record; old, 1,886.5, China, 2014); 2. Russia (Kamenskiy, Maslennikov, Dryagin), 1,884.0; 3. Korea (Nam, Kim, Song), 1,878.5; 4. India, 1,878.4; 5. Croatia, 1,878.3; 6. Japan, 1,877.6; 7. Hungary, 1,876.6; 8. Iran, 1,875.9. Also: 17. United States (Bryant Wallizer, Dempster Christiansen, Lucas Kozeniesky), 1,866.0.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Tomasz Bartnik (POL), 460.4; 2. Petar Gorsa (CRO), 457.4; 3. Michael McPhail (USA), 446.9; 4. Henrik Larsen (NOR), 437.0; 5. Haoran Yang (CHN), 427.4; 6. Zicheng Hui (CHN), 416.4; 7. Vitali Bubnovich (BLR), 401.4; 8. Dane Sampson (AUS), 401.0.

Team 50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Russia (Louginets, Maslennikov, Kamenskiy), 3,535 (World Record; old, 3,529, China, 2013); 2. China (Yang, Hui, Yao), 3,532; 3. Belarus (Shcherbatsevich, Chareika, Bobnovich), 3,526; 4. France, 3,522; 5. Austria, 3,516; 6. Norway, 3,513; 7. United States (Matt Emmons, Michael McPhail, Lucas Kozeniesky), 3,511; 8. Ukraine, 3,510.

300 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Rajmond Debevec (SLO), 592; 2. Daniel Romanczyk (POL), 592; 3. Josip Kuna (CRO), 590; 4. Gilles Vincent Defaux (SUI), 589; 5. Jan Lochbihler (SUI), 589; 6. McPhail (USA), 588; 7. Sitan Bogar (NOR), 588; 8. Valerian Sauveplane (FRA), 588. Also: 27. Johnny Whidden Jr. (USA), 581.

Team 300 m Rifle/Prone: 1. France (Moreno Flores, Sauveplane, D’Halluin), 1,761; 2. Switzerland (Defaux, Lochbihler, Ackermann), 1,757; 3. Norway (Bryhn, Bogar, Brekne), 1,755; 4. Sweden, 1,753; 5. Korea, 1,752; 6. Austria, 1,744; 7. Poland, 1,729; 8. United States (Michael McPhail, Johnny Widden, Jr., Joseph Hein), 1,727.

300 m Rifle/Standard: 1. Aleksi Leppa (FIN), 580; 2. Karl Olsson (SWE), 576; 3. Odd Arne Brekne (NOR), 576; 4. Young Jeon Choi (KOR), 576; 5. Lochbihler (SUI), 575; 6. Alexis Raynaud (FRA), 575; 7. Defaux (SUI), 574; 8. Peter Sidi (HUN), 574. Also: 27. Bradley Yliniemi (USA), 554; … 31. Mark Gould (USA), 549

Team 300 m Rifle/Standard: 1. Norway (Brekne, Lund, Bryhn), 1,722; 2. Korea (Choi, lee, Cheon), 1,711; 3. Switzerland (Lochbihler, Defaux, Rossi), 1,708; 4. France, 1,691; 5. Austria, 1,691; 6. Slovenia, 1,691; 7. Saudi Arabia, 1,656; 8. India, 1,642.

Skeet: 1. Vince Hancock (USA), 59 (equals World Record, also by Ricardo Filippelli (ITA), 2017 and Ben Llewellin (GBR), 2017); 2. Erik Watndal (NOR), 55; 3. Riccardo Filippelli (ITA), 45; 4. Emmanuel Petit (FRA), 37; 5. Jakub Tomecek (CZE), 27; 6. Ben Llewellin (GBR), 17.

Team Skeet: 1. France (Petit, Delaunay, Terras), 365; 2. Italy (Filippelli, Rossetti, Cassandro), 363; 3. Russia (Astakhov, Zemlin, Startsev), 361; 4. United States (Vince Hancock, Frank Thompson, Phillip Russell), 360; 5. Germany, 359; 6. Finland, 358; 7. Korea, 357; 8. Cyprus, 357.

Trap: 1. Alberto Fernandez (ESP), 48 (equals World Record, Fernandez, 2017); 2. Erik Varga (SVK), 47; 3. Abdulrahman Al Faihan (KUW), 32; 4. James Willett (AUS), 28; 5. Mauro de Filippis (ITA), 23; 6. Walton Eller (USA), 17.

Team Trap: 1. Kuwait (Abdul Al Faihan, Talai Alrashidi, Khaled Almudhaf), 360; 2. United States (Walton Eller, Grayson Davey, Casey Wallace), 360; 3. Italy (De Filippis, Pellielo, Grazini), 360; 4. Russia, 359; 5. Croatia, 358; 6. Czech Republic, 357; 7. Portugal, 356; 8. Slovakia, 355.

Women

10 m Air Pistol: 1. Anna Korakaki (GRE), 241.1; 2. Zorana Arunovic (SRB), 239.8; 3. Bomi Kim (KOR), 218.8; 4. Qian Wang (CHN), 198.1; 5. Ranxin Jiang (CHN), 178.7; 6. Vitalina Batsarashkina (RUS), 157.2; 7. Klaudia Bres (POL), 136.9; 8. Minjung Kim (KOR), 116.5.

Team 10 m Air Pistol: 1. China (Jiang, Wang, Ji), 1,739 (World Record; new event); 2. Korea (Min. Kim, B. Kim, Kwak), 1,734; 3. Russia (Batsarashkina, Lomova, Medvedeva), 1,720; 4. India, 1,713; 5. France, 1,712; 6. Iran, 1,711; 7. Poland, 1,710; 8. Chinese Taipei, 1,708. Also: 14. United States (Sandra Uptagrafft, Lexi Lagan, Nathalia Granados), 1,700.

10 m Running Target/Final: 1. Olga Stepanova (RUS), 7; 2. Xue Yan Li (CHN), 5. Third: 3. Galina Avramenko (UKR), 6; 4. Ji Ye Ri (PRK), 3.

Team 10 m Running Target: 1. China (Li, Su, Huang), 1,673 (World Record; new event); 2. DPR Korea, 1,672; 3. Russia, 1,668; 4. Ukraine, 1,659; 5. Korea, 1,613; only entrants.

25 m Pistol: 1. Olena Kostevych (UKR), 37; 2. Batsarashkina (RUS), 37 (Kostevych won shoot-out, 4-4-3 to 4-4-2); 3. Doreen Vennekamp (GER), 31; 4. Chia Chen Tien (TPE), 26; 5. Monika Karsch (GER), 18; 6. Jungeun Lee (KOR), 16; 7. Aldana Said Almubarak (QAT), 11; 8. Xiu Hong Teh (SGP), 7.

Team 25 m Air Pistol: 1. China (Jiang, Lin, Yao), 1,746; 2. Korea (Lee, Kim, Kwak), 1,746; 3. Germany (Karsch, Vennekamp, Skeries), 1,744; 4. Poland, 1,741; 5. Bulgaria, 1,739; 6. India, 1,738; 7. Russia, 1,738; 8. France, 1,736. Also: 12. United States (Uptagrafft, Lagan, Brenda Silva), 1,726.

10 m Air Rifle: 1. Hana Im (KOR), 251.1; 2. Anjum Moudgil (IND), 248.4; 3. Eunhea Jung (KOR), 228.0; 4. Apurvi Chandela (INDZ0, 207.0; 5. Adele Tan (SGP), 184.3; 6. Ying-Shin Lin (TPE), 163.4; 7. Petra Zublasing (ITA), 142.9; 8. Isabella Straub (GER), 122.1.

Team 10 m Air Rifle: 1. Korea (Im, Jung, Keum), 1,886.2 (World Record; new event); 2. India (Moudgil, Chandela, Ghosh), 1,879.0; 3. Germany (Straub, Gschwandtner, Simon), 1,878.4; 4. Chinese Taipei, 1,878.2; 5. Mongolia, 1,877.3; 6. China, 1,876.5; 7. Russia, 1,875.6; 8. Romania, 1,873.5. Also: 16. United States (Sarah Beard, Minden Miles, Alison Weisz), 1,867.0.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Yulia Karimova (RUS), 461.1; 2. Isabella Straub (GER), 459.5; 3. Snjezana Pejcic (CRO), 446.4; 4. Seonald McIntosh (GBR), 435.0; 5. Nina Christen (SUI), 424.4; 6. Xiangyan Wan (CHN), 414.3; 7. Jenny Stene (NOR), 404.7; 8. Franziska Peer (AUT), 400.9.

Team 50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Germany (Straub, Beer, Orth), 3,521 (World Record; new event); 2. Denmark (Ibsen, Neilsen, Grundsoee), 3,518; 3. Russia (Kairmova, Khorosheva, Zykova), 3,511; 4. China, 3,510; 5. Norway, 3,503; 6. Korea, 3,501; 7. United States (Sarah Beard, Sagen Maddalena, Mackensie Martin), 3,493; 8. Austria, 3,491.

300 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Sohee Bae (KOR), 592; 2. Eva Roesken (GER), 588; 3. Silvia Guignard Schnyder (SUI), 586; 4. Elin Ahlin (SWE), 585; 5. Lisa Mueller (GER), 584; 6. Helen Freiman (NZL), 584; 7. Charlotte Jakobsen (DEN), 583; 8. Bitna Eum (NOR), 582. Also: 13. Sarah Beard (USA), 580; … Reya Kempley (USA), 573; … 32. Denise Loring (USA), 562.

Team 300 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Germany (Roesken, Mueller, Beer), 1,748; 2. Korea (Sohee Bae, Eum, Sang Bae), 1,737; 3. Switzerland (Guignard Schnyder, Bruehlmann, Schnider), 1,737; 4. Sweden, 1,734; 5. Ukraine, 1,731; 6. Austria, 1,726; 7. Estonia, 1,725; 8. Poland, 1,719. Also: 9. United States (Sarah Beard, Reya Kempley, Denise Loring), 1,715.

300 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Mueller (GER), 1,161 (World Record; new event); 2. Jolyn Beer (GER), 1,161 (equals World Record); 3. Ahlin (SWE), 1,159; 4. Franzisak Peer (AUT), 1,157; 5. Beard (USA), 1,154; 6. Sohee Bae (KOR), 1,150; 7. Guignard Schnyder (SUI), 1,150; 8. Roesken (GER), 1,147. Also: 23. Kempley (USA), 1,117; … 30. Loring (USA), 1,053.

Team 300 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Germany (Mueller, Beer, Roesken), 3,469 (World Record; new event); 2. Austria (Peer, Hofmann, Ungerank), 3,436; 3. Switzerland (Guignard Schnyder, Schnider, Bruehlmann), 3,429; 4. Sweden, 3.419; 5. Korea, 3,373; 6. Ukraine, 3,370; 7. Estonia, 3,368; 8. Poland, 3,365. Also: 9. United States (Beard, Kempley, Loring), 3,324.

Skeet: 1. Caitlin Connor (USA), 57; 2. Kim Rhode (USA), 56; 3. Amber English (USA), 46; 4. Danka Bartenova (SVK), 36; 5. Natalia Vinogradova (RUS), 26; 6. Andri Eleftheriou (CYP), 14.

Team Skeet: 1. United States (Connor, Rhode, English), 355 (World Record, new event); 2. Italy (Spada, Bacosi, Cainero), 347; 3. Cyprus (Eleftheriou, Nikolaou, Andreou), 345; 4. Germany, 341; 5. Thailand, 330; 6. Korea, 329; 7. Poland, 329; 8. Czech Republic, 324.

Trap: 1. Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova (SVK), 45; 2. Xiaojing Wang (CHN), 45 (Rehak Stefecekova won shoot-off, 3-2); 3. Silvana Stanco (ITA), 36; 4. Laetisha Scanlan (AUS), 30; 5. Chun Lin Yi (CHN), 25; 6. Beatriz Martinez (ESP), 19.

Team Trap: 1. Italy (Stanco, Rossi, Iezzi), 343 (World Record; new event); 2. Spain (Martinez, Galvez, Munoz), 342; 3. United States (Kayle Browning, Ashley Carroll, Aeriel Skinner), 339; 4. China, 338; 5. Chinese Taipei, 329; 6. Finland, 329; 7. Korea, 326; 8. India, 325. Mixed

Team 10 m Air Pistol: 1. Vitalina Batsarashkina/Artem Chernousov (RUS), 488.1; 2. Qian Wang/Meng Yi Wang (CHN), 480.2; 3. Olena Kostevych/Oleh Omelchuk (UKR), 416.7; 4. Zorana Arunovic/Damir Mikec (SRB), 376.7; 5. Sonia Franquet/Pablo Carrera (ESP), 331.6.

Team 10 m Air Rifle: 1. Ruozhu Zhao/Haoran Yang (CHN), 500.9; 2. Mingyang Wu/Buhan Song (CHN), 500.6; 3. Anastasia Galashina/Vladimir Maslennikov (RUS), 434.2; 4. Laura-Georgeta Coman/Alin George Moldoveanu (ROU), 390.5; 5. Isabella Straub/Maximillian Dallinger (GER), 346.9.

Team Mixed Trap: 1. Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova/Erik Varga (SVK), 45; 2. Ekaterina Rabaya/Alexey Alipov (RUS), 40; 3. Kirsty Barr/Aaron Heading (GBR), 33; 4. Silvana Stanco/Mauro de Filippis (ITA), 28; 5. Jessica Rossi/Giovanni Pellielo (ITA), 22; 6. Safiye Sariturk/Oguzhan Tuzun (TUR), 18.

SAILING: Powerful Dutch claim four wins in Enoshima World Cup

By
Rich Perelman
-

In the 10 sailing classes of the first World Cup Series, held in Enoshima Bay (JPN) at the site of 2020 Olympic regatta, none of the winners at last month’s World Sailing Championships was able to claim victory.

Instead, the races marked a return of some veteran stars and indicated some new talent to be watched as 2020 approaches.

The Netherlands led all nations with four wins, taking the men’s RS:X with Kiran Badloe, the men’s Finn with Nicholas Heiner, the women’s Laser Radial with Marit Bouwmeester and the women’s 470 with Afrodite Kyranakou and Anneloes van Veen. Bouwmeester is the reigning Olympic champion in the Laser Radial and by virtue of winning here, essentially qualifies to compete in Tokyo for the Dutch.

“It was pretty challenging with the light winds and offshore breeze so I’m very happy with the result,” said Bouwmeester. “It’s great to secure my spot for the Olympics and now I can focus on putting together the best possible campaign I can. I’m going to try and spend as much time as I can in Enoshima.”

Japan also claimed a victory in the men’s 470 with Keiju Okada and Jumpei Hokazono winning and the team of Daichi Takeyama and Kimihiko Imamura third. Said Japan Sailing team leader Aiko Saito, “We have at least four in the top ten and then we have one or two more. [470 is] our key class and I am very happy that the boys are doing well. For me, it doesn’t matter who wins, just as long as we are winning.”

The World Cup Series takes a break and will resume off Miami Beach, Florida (USA) in late January. Summaries:

World Cup Series I
Enoshima Bay (JPN) ~ 9-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

RS:X: 1. Kiran Badloe (NED), 37.0 net points; 2. Mateo Sanz Lanz (SUI), 51.0; 3. Pierre Le Coq (FRA), 54.0.

Laser: 1. Elliott Hanson (GBR), 59.0; 2. Matthew Wearn (AUS), 97.0; 3. Sam Meech (NZL), 106.0.

Finn: 1. Nicholas Heiner (NED), 32.8; 2. Giles Scott (GBR), 36.0; 3. Edward Wright (GBR), 37.0.

49er: 1. James Peters/Fynn Sterritt (GBR), 54.0; 2. Logan Dunning Beck/Oscar Gunn (NZL), 72.0; 3. Lukasz Przybytek/Pawel Kolodzinski (POL), 72.0. Also in the top 10: 9. Chris Rast/Trevor Burd (USA), 87.0.

470: 1. Keiju Okada/Jumpei Hokazono (JPN), 32.0; 2. Matt Belcher/Wil Ryan (NZL), 40.0; 3. Daichi Takeyama/Kimihiko Imamura (JPN), 43.0. Also in the top 10: 5. Stuart McNay/David Hughes (USA), 63.0.

Women

RS:X: 1. Peina Chen (CHN), 34.0; 2. Lillian de Geus (NED), 45.0; 3. Yunxiu Lu (CHN), 47.0.

Laser Radial: 1. Marit Bouwmeester (NED), 30.0; 2. Josefin Olsson (SWE), 51.0; 3. Emma Plasschaert (BEL), 57.0.

49er FX: 1. Martine Soffiatti Grael/Kahena Kunze (BRA), 19.0; 2. Alexandra Maloney/Molly Meech (NZL), 45.0; 3. Klara Wester/Rebecca Netzler (SWE), 48.0. Also in the top 10: 10. Stephanie Roble/Margaret Shea (USA), 74.0.

470: 1. Afrodite Kyranakou/Anneloes van Veen (NED), 29.0; 2. Ai Kondo Yoshida/Miho Yoshioka (JPN), 33.0; 3. Benedetta di Salle/Alessandra Dubbini (ITA), 34.0.

Mixed

Nacra 17: 1. Jason Waterhouse/Lisa Darmanin (AUS), 34.0; 2. Ruggero Tita/Caterina Marianna Banti (ITA), 35.0; 3. Vittorio Bissaro/Maelle Frascari (ITA), 42.0. Also in the top 10: 10. Bora Gulari/Helena Scutt (USA), 91.0.

ROWING: U.S. women return to top in World Eights

By
Rich Perelman
-

The United States women’s Eights ruled the rowing world for an amazing 11 years running, but with a new and inexperienced crew, finished fourth in the 2017 World Championships.

End of an era? Nope, the start of a new one.

With more experience and a couple of veterans, the team of Kristine O’Brien, Felice Mueller, Victoria Ortiz, Gia Doonan, Dana Moffat, Tracy Eisser, Emily Regan, Olivia Coffey and Katelin Guregian (cox) took charge after the 500 m mark and returned the U.S. to the top of the podium to cap the 2018 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv (BUL). Only Regan and Guregian (cox) returned from the 2016 Olympic Champion team and stayed with the program through 2017 and into 2018. Their patience was rewarded.

“We just had so much belief and so much trust, and that’s what we did all the way down the course,” Guregian said. “If anyone had let go of their belief or their trust, it would have been over. I think that’s what carried us through. The conditions were crazy out there; headwind, tailwind, crosswind, just coming from every direction. We believe in each other with our whole hearts, and we just followed that down the course. It feels amazing to have won that race.”

The U.S. won with style in 6:00.97, with Canada second in 6:03.05 and Australia third in 6:03.86. It’s the 11th World Championship gold and 21st Worlds medal for the U.S. in this event. After winning the Olympic title in 2008-12-16, the U.S. is certainly a contender once again.

The U.S. women also shined in a new Olympic class, the Fours, as the team of Madeleine Wanamaker, Erin Boxberger, Molly Bruggeman and Erin Reelick got out fast and then cruised home to win the world title, ahead of Australia, 6:25.57-6:27.09, with Russia third in 6:27.36.

“Our plan was to execute our race plan and do it better,” said Bruggeman.” We wanted to stay very focused on us and what we were doing and not worry about what anyone else was doing. I think that really worked out for us. I wasn’t looking out the boat the whole time. I didn’t care what place we were in. I knew all I had to do was follow Reelick and pull as hard as I could.

“It’s redemption from last year. We crossed fourth (in 2017), and (Erin and I) told ourselves that we never want to feel like this again. It feels so good right now. I never want to feel anything but this.”

After winning a Worlds silver last season, the Double Sculls duo of Meghan O’Leary and Ellen Tomek finished third this year for the other open-weight American medals.

The high-profile Single Sculls races were both shockers, with European champ Kjetil Borch of Norway leading wire-to-wire to beat defending champion Ondrej Synek (CZE; second) with Robert Manson (NZL), holder of the world’s best time on record finishing sixth. Swiss Jeannine Gmelin had looked unbeatable in the women’s Single Sculls coming in, but had to settle for silver to Sanita Puspure (IRL), who by more than five seconds.

Czech stars Martin and Valent Sinkovic, Rio Olympic gold medalists in Double Sculls, completed their transition to Pairs with an impressive victory for their fifth career World Championships gold medal. Summaries:

FISA World Rowing Championships
Plovdiv (BUL) ~ 9-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Single Sculls: 1. Kjetil Borch (NOR), 6:38.31; 2. Ondrej Synek (CZE), 6:39.92; 3. Mindaugas Griskonis (NZL), 6:42.90; 4. Harry Leask (GBR), 6:45.02; 5. Robert Manson (NZL), 6:46.11; 6. Oliver Zeidler (GER), 6:50.71.

Double Sculls: 1. Hugo Boucheron/Matthieu Androdias (FRA), 6:05.16; 2. Barnabe Delarze/Rman Roeoesli (SUI), 6:06.49; 3. John Storey/Chris Harris (NZL), 6:06.71; 4. Angus Groom/Jack Beaumont (GBR), 6:08.03; 5. Timo Piontek/Lars Hartig (GER), 6:16.77; 6. Ioan Prundeanu/Marian-Florian Enache (ROU), 6:18.73.

Quadruple Sculls: 1. Italy, 5:35.310; 2. Australia, 5:36.510; 3. Ukraine, 5:37.280; 4. New Zealand, 5:37.390; 5. Netherlands, 5:37.910; 6. Poland, 5:39.430.

Pairs: 1. Martin Sinkovic/Valent Sinkovic (CRO), 6:14.96; 2. Marius-Vasile Cozmiuc/Ciprian Todosa (ROU), 6:16.90; 3. Valentin Onfroy/Theophile Onfroy (FRA), 6:17.51; 4. Mackenzie Copp/Taylor Perry (CAN), 6:21.28; 5. Thomas Murray/Michael Brake (NZL), 6:21.54; 6. Jaime Canalejo Pazos/Javier Garcia Ordonez (ESP), 6:25.12.

Fours: 1. Australia, 5:44.470; 2. Italy, 5:44.990; 3. Great Britain, 5:46.460; 4. Netherlands, 5:47.780; 5. Romania, 5:50.710; 6. Germany, 5:55.320.

Eights: 1. Germany, 5:24.31; 2. Australia, 5:26.11; 3. Great Britain, 5:26.14; 4. United States, 5:26.31; 5. Italy, 5:29.79; 6. Romania, 5:30.43.

Lightweight Single Sculls: 1. Jason Osborne (GER), 6:56.36; 2. Michael Schmid (SUI), 6:58.34; 3. Andrew Campbell Jr. (USA), 7:00.04; 4. Aaron Lattimer (CAN), 7:01.80; 5. Man Sun (CHN), 7:10.12; 6. Peter Galambos (HUN), 7:13.03.

Lightweight Double Sculls: 1. Garu O’Donovan/Paul O’Donovan (IRL), 6:01.81; 2. Stefano Oppo/Pietro Ruta (ITA), 6:08.31; 3. Tim Brys/Niels van Zandweghe (BEL), 6:11.25; 4. Benjamin van Dalen/Matthew Dunham (NZL), 6:15.36; 5. Are Strandli/Jens Holm (NOR), 6:17.18; 6. Patricio Rojas Anzar/Rodrigo Conde Romero (ESP), 6:19.26.

Lightweight Quadruple Sculls: 1. Germany, 5:51.210; 2. Italy, 5:52.850; 3. Turkey, 5:53.950; 4. Denmark, 5:56.690; 5. Ireland, 5:45.640; 6. Czech Rep., 5;59.770.

Lightweight Pairs: 1. Giuseppe Di Mare/Alfonso Scalzone (ITA), 6:38.55; 2. Antonios Papakonstantinou/Ioannis Marokos (GRE), 6:41.48; 3. David Smith/Thomas Foster (USA), 6:59.99; only finalists.

Women

Single Sculls: 1. Sanita Puspure (IRL), 7:20.12; 2. Jeannine Gmelin (SUI), 7:25.93; 3. Magdalena Lobnig (AUT), 7:29.51; 4. Kara Kohler (USA), 7:30.41; 5. Fie Udby Erichsen (DEN), 7:33.15; 6. Annekatrin Thiele (GER), 7:41.68.

Double Sculls: 1. Milda Valciukaite/Ieva Adomaviciute (LTU), 6:44.15; 2. Brooke Donoghue/Olivia Loe (NZL), 6:46.28; 3. Meghan O’Leary/Ellen Tomek (USA), 6:47.75; 4. Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne/Anna Thornton (GBR), 6:51.59; 5. Roos de Jong/Lisa Scheenaard (NED), 6:52.69; 6. Gabrielle Smith/Andrea Proske (CAN), 6:56.01.

Quadruple Sculls: 1. Poland, 6:08.96; 2. Germany, 6:11.42; 3. Netherlands, 6:11.79; 4. China, 6:11.85; 5. Great Britain, 6:16.45; 6. United States, 6:18.15.

Pairs: 1. Calleigh Filmer/Hillary Janssens (CAN), 6:50.67; 2. Grace Pendergast/Kerri Gowler (NZL), 6:52.96; 3. Anna Boada Piero/Aina Cid (ESP), 7:04.60; 4. Alessandra Patelli/Sara Bertolasi (ITA), 7:06.91; 5. Xinyu Lin/Rui Ju (CHN), 7:11.31; 6. Aifric Keogh/Emily Hegarty (IRL), 7:15.70.

Fours: 1. United States (Madeleine Wanamaker, Erin Boxberger, Molly Bruggeman, Erin Reelick), 6:25.57; 2. Australia, 6:27.09; 3. Russia, 6:27.36; 4. Denmark, 6:28.78; 5. Poland, 6:32.05; 6. China, 6:39.84.

Eights: 1. United States, 6:00.97; 2. Canada, 6:03.05; 3. Australia, 6:03.86; 4. Netherlands, 6:06.48; 5. Romania, 6:07.99; 6. Great Britain, 6:11.88.

Lightweight Single Sculls: 1. Laura Tarantola (FRA), 7:51.79; 2. Clara Guerra (ITA), 7:51.96; 3. Imogen Grant (GBR), 7:52.61; 4. Michelle Sechser (USA), 7:53.70; 5. Jill Moffatt (CAN), 8:02.39; 6. Alena Furman (BLR), 13:30.77.

Lightweight Double Sculls: 1. Ionela-Livia Cozmiuc/Gianina-Elena Beleaga (ROU), 6:50.71; 2. Emily Schmieg/Mary Jones (USA), 6:52.30; 3. Marieke Keijser/Ilse Paulis (NED), 6:52.56; 4. Patricia Merz/Frederique Rol (SUI), 6:54.80; 5. Eleanor Piggott/Emily Craig (GBR), 6:55.81; 6. Zoe McBride/Jackie Kiddle (NZL), 6:57.79.

Lightweight Quadruple Sculls: 1. China, 6:28.320; 2. Denmark, 6:33.330; 3. Germany, 6:34.250; 4. United States (Saeger, Bertasi, Cavallo, Copenhaver), 6:36.02; 5. Great Britain, 6:37.51; 6. Italy, 6:39.04.

Lightweight Pairs: 1. Serena Lo Bue/Giorgia Lo Bue (ITA), 7:30.84; 2. Jennifer Sager/Jillian Zieff (USA), 7:45.50; only finalists.

KARATE: Japan takes 14 medals in Premier League Berlin

By
Rich Perelman
-

Japan dominated the sixth tournament of the Karate 1 Premier League series with a total of four wins and 14 medals across the men’s and women’s competitions.

Japan’s no. 1-ranked Ryo Kiyuna (men’s Kata) and Ayumi Uekusa (women’s +68 kg) both won, but they also had gold-medal performances from Yusei Sakiyama in the men’s -75 kg class and Ryutaro Araga in the -84 kg class.

Italy and Turkey also had two winners, but Japan showed great depth, winning medals in five of six men’s individual categories and in three of six women’s individual categories.

Prize money of € 750-500-200 was available to the top three finishers in each category. The final tournament of the season will be from 12-14 October in Tokyo (JPN). Summaries:

Karate 1 Premier League
Berlin (GER) ~ 14-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Kata: 1. Ryo Kiyuna (JPN); 2. Issei Shimbaba (JPN); 3. Damian Quintero (ESP) and Ali Sofuoglu (TUR).

Team Kata: 1. WKF team; 2. Spain; 3. Turkey and Italy.

Kumite -60 kg: 1. Angelo Crescenzo (ITA); 2. Yugo Kozaki (JPN); 3. Firsovsi Farzaliyev (AZE) and Amir Mehdizadeh (IRI).

Kumite -67 kg: 1. Luca Maresca (ITA); 2. Vinicius Figueira (BRA); 3. Hiroto Shinohara (JPN) and Steve Dacosta (FRA).

Kumite -75 kg: 1. Yusei Sakiyama (JPN); 2. Rafael Aghayev (AZE); 3. Tom Scott (USA) and Ken Nishimura (JPN).

Kumite -84 kg: 1. Ryutaro Araga (JPN); 2. Daniyar Yuldashev (KAZ); 3. Zabiollah Poorshab (IRI) and Timothy Petersen (NED).

Kumite +84 kg: 1. Sajad Ganjzadeh (IRI); 2. Gogita Arkania (GEO); 3. Andjelo Kvesic (CRO) and Jonathan Horne (GER).

Women

Kata: 1. Kiyou Suzuki (JPN); 2. Jaime Sanchez (ESP); 3. Emiri Iwamoto (JPN) and Viviana Bottaro (ITA).

Team Kata: 1. Italy; 2. Russia; 3. Spain and Austria.

Kumite -50 kg: 1. Serap Ozcelik Arapoglu (TUR); 2. Ayaka Radano (JPN); 3. Radwa Sayed (EGY) and Chinatsu Endo (JPN).

Kumite -55 kg: 1. Anzhelika Terliuga (UKR); 2. Li Lirisman (EST); 3. Jenna Brown (USA) and Sara Cardin (ITA).

Kumite -61 kg: 1. Alexandra Grande (WKF); 2. Leila Heurtault (FRA); 3. Haya Jumaa (CAN) and Gwen Philippe (FRA).

Kumite -68 kg: 1. Eda Eltemur (TUR); 2. Irina Zaretska (AZE); 3. Silvia Semeraro (ITA) and Kayo Someya (JPN).

Kumite +68 kg: 1. Ayumi Uekusa (JPN); 2. Clio Ferracuti (ITA); 3. Laura Palacio (ESP) and Ayaka Saito (JPN).

GYMNASTICS: U.S. women sweep Pan American Artistic Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 2018 Pan American Gymnastics Championships in Lima (PER) was essentially a qualifier for the 2019 Pan American Games, and as such, the U.S. women are likely to be on the podium a lot.

The American squad completely dominated the event, winning the team competition by more than four full points over Brazil and winning each of the four individual events.

Jade Carey won the Vault and Floor competitions, Grace McCallum won the All-Around and Uneven Bars and Kara Eaker collected a gold for the Beam. The U.S. won secondary medals in each event as well and swept the Uneven Bars, with Trinity Thomas and Shilese Jones behind McCallum.

The U.S. men weren’t as dominant, but won the team title over Colombia and Genki Suzuki won the Pommel Horse title. Cuba’s Manrique Larduet won the All-Around and Cameron Bock won three bronze medals for the U.S. in the All-Around, Floor and Pommel Horse.

This was essentially a U.S. “B” team, but it was excellent. Summaries:

Pan American Artistic Championships
Lima (PER) ~ 14-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

All-Around: 1. Manrique Larduet (CUB), 84.800; 2. Rene Cournoyer (CAN), 82.567; 3. Cameron Bock (USA), 81.999. Also: 4. Genki Suzuki (USA), 81.033.

Floor: 1. Tomas Gonzalez (CHI), 14.233; 2. Larduet (CUB), 14.167; 3. Bock (USA), 14.033.

Pommel Horse: Suzuki (USA), 13.800; 2. tie, Larduet (CUB) and Bock (USA), 13.567.

Rings: 1. Fabian De Luna (MEX), 14.533; 2. Federico Molinari (ARG), 14.467; 3. Daniel Villafane (ARG), 14.233.

Vault: 1. Audrys Nin (DOM), 14.667; 2. tie, Caio Souza (BRA) and Junior Rojo (VEN), 14.633; 3.

Parallel Bars: 1. Larduet (CUB), 14.700; 2. Calvo (COL), 14.467; 3. Bock (USA), 14.233.
High Bar: 1. Souza (BRA), 14.133; 2. Francisco Barretto (BRA), 14.067; 3. Randy Leru (CUB), 14.067.

Team: 1. United States (Cameron Bock, Genko Suzuki, Kanji Oyama, Riley Loos, Spencer Goodell), 246.000; 2. Colombia, 243.999; 3. Brazil, 243.301.

Women

All-Around: 1. Grace McCallum (USA), 56.366; 2. Trinity Thomas (USA), 54.433; 3. Flavia Saraiva (BRA), 53.334.

Vault: 1. Jade Carey (USA), 14.550; 2. Marcia Vidiaux (CUB), 14.234; 3. McCallum (USA), 13.883.

Uneven Bars: 1. McCallum (USA), 14.533; 2. Thomas (USA), 14.433; 3. Shilese Jones (USA), 14.133. Also: 15. Kara Eaker (USA), 12.433.

Beam: 1. Eaker (USA), 14.300; 2. Saraiva (BRA), 14.033; 3. McCallum (USA), 14.000. Also: 5. Thomas (USA), 13.433; … 18. Jones (USA), 12.433.

Floor: 1. Carey (USA), 14.400; 2. Saraiva (BRA), 13.867; 3. Eaker (USA), 13.767. Also: 4. McCallum (USA), 13.600; … 24. Thomas (USA), 12.367.

Team: 1. United States (Grace McCallum, Jade Carey, Shilese Jones, Kara Eaker, Trinity Thomas), 169.467; 2. Brazil, 163.966; 3. Mexico, 155.299.

GYMNASTICS: Seven golds for Russia at Rhythmic World Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

Russia just owns Rhythmic Gymnastics.

At the FIG Rhythmic World Championships in Sofia (BUL), Dina Averina won the All-Around for the second straight year and earned the Hoop, Ball and Clubs titles, and Alexsandra Soldatova won the Ribbon final. Both added another gold with the Team title for a Russian total of seven.

Soldatova also won an All-Around bronze and Arina Averina took bronzes in Hoop and Clubs. Israel’s Linoy Ashram took the silver medal in the All-Around and Hoop and bronze in Ribbon as the only non-Russian to win multiple individual medals.

Neither of the Averinas or Soldatova performed in the Group events, won by Bulgaria (5 Hoops) and Italy (3 Balls + 2 Ropes). Summaries:

FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships
Sofia (BUL) ~ 10-16 September 2018.
(Full results here)

All-Around: 1. Dina Averina (RUS), 81.450; 2. Linoy Ashram (ISR), 79.700; 3. Aleksandra Soldatova (RUS), 79.175; 4. Vlada Nikolchenko (UKR), 74.550; 5. Katsiaryna Halkina (BLR), 74.275; 6. Katrin Taseva (BUL), 73.950; 7. Meliena Baldassarri (ITA), 73.400; 8. Laura Zeng (USA), 73.250. Also: 17. Evita Griskenis (USA), 66.950.

Hoop: 1. D. Averina (RUS), 20.850; 2. Ashram (ISR), 20.000; 3. Arina Averina (RUS), 19.700; 4. Kaleyn Boryana (BUL), 19.550; 5. Nicol Zelikman (ISR), 19.500; 6. Baldasarri (ITA), 19.050; 7. Taseva (BUL), 18.350; 8. Nikolchenko (UKR), 17.050.

Ball: 1. D. Averina (RUS), 20.300; 2. Soldatova (RUS), 20.200; 3. Alexandra Agiurgiuculese (ITA), 19.900; 4. Baldasarri (ITA), 19.500; 5. Zelikman (ISR), 19.400; 6. Halkina (BLR), 19.200; 7. Neviana Vladinova (BUL), 19.100; 8. Taseva (BUL), 17.600.

Clubs: 1. D. Averina (RUS), 19.000; 2. Halkina (BLR), 18.900; 3. A. Averina (RUS), 18.850; 4. Baldassarri (ITA), 18.300; 5. Nikolchenko (UKR), 18.100; 6. Vladinova (BUL), 17.650; 7. Salome Pazhava (GEO), 17.400; 8. Taseva (BUL), 17.200.

Ribbon: 1. Soldatova (RUS), 18.600; 2. Baldassarri (ITA), 18.500; 3. Ashram (ISR), 18.500; 4. Agiurgiuculese (ITA), 17.450; 5. Anastasiia Salos (BLR), 17.200; 6. Kaleyn (BUL), 17.100; 7. Nikolchenko (UKR), 16.050; 8. Minagawa (JPN), 10.600.

Group All-Around: 1. Russia, 46.300; 2. Italy, 44.825; 3. Bulgaria, 42.050; 4. Ukraine, 41.150; 5. Japan, 40.650; 6. Bulgaria, 39.200; 7. Azerbaijan, 39.100; 8. France, 37.050. 14. United States, 35.800.

Group 5 Hoops: 1. Bulgaria, 23.300; 2. Japan, 22.800; 3. Italy, 22.550; 4. Russia, 20.325; 5. Azerbaijan, 20.100; 6. France, 19.700; 7. Ukraine, 19.500; 8. Belarus, 18.600.
Group 3 Balls + 2 Ropes: 1. Italy, 22.550; 2. Russia, 22.200; 3. Ukraine, 21.400; 4. Japan, 21.350; 5. Belarus, 20.950; 6. Bulgaria, 20.750; 7. Azerbaijan, 20.400; 8. Spain, 19.800.

Team: 1. Russia (D. Averina, A. Averina, Soldatova), 161.325; 2. Bulgaria (Kaleyn, Taseva, Vladinova), 150.975; 3. Italy (Agiurgiuculese, Baldassarri, Russo), 147.550; 4. Israel, 147.200; 5. Ukraine, 145.225; 6. Belarus, 143.550; 7. United States (Camilla Feeley, Evita Griskenis, Laura Zeng), 140.925; 8. Japan, 140.350.

EQUESTRIAN: Werth, weather dominate World Equestrian Games

By
Rich Perelman
-

Germany’s Isabell Werth continued a quarter-century of domination of Dressage at the World Equestrian Games at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina, but has shared the headlines with the weather.

Although Hurricane Florence has not hit the venues directly, the heavy rainfall has led to the cancellation of the Endurance competition all together (scheduled for 12 September) as well as the cancellation of the Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle, scheduled for 16 September. According to the Federation Equestre International (FEI), “The possibility of holding the Competition in the indoor arena with a change of footing was logistically impossible, while the horse departure flight on Monday could not be delayed or rescheduled.” Competition will resume on Monday (17th)

Werth, now 49, led Germany to its second straight Team Dressage title and 11th in the last 12 editions of the World Equestrian Games, dating back to 1974 (as West Germany). Werth has been on five of those winning teams, as well as the bronze winners in 2010.

Great Britain finished second, their third straight medal in the World Equestrian Games in this event, and the U.S. was third, the first in Team Dressage for the U.S. since 2006.

In the Dressage Grand Prix Special, Werth (on Bella Rose) won her fourth world title – also in 1994, 1998 and 2006 – ahead of Laura Graves of the U.S. (on Verdades), with defending champion Charlotte Dujardin (GBR, on Mount St. John Freestyle) third. It was the first World Equestrian Games medal for Graves.

The remaining schedule (as planned) of the medal sessions:

∙ Jumping:
21 September Team Competition
23 September Individual Competition

∙ Eventing:
17 September Jumping segment

∙ Driving:
23 September Team and Individual

∙ Vaulting:
19 September Team Freestyle Final
20 September Pas-de-Deux Final
23 September Freestyle Finals for Men, Women, Squad

NBC has extensive coverage of the WEG, weather permitting, on NBC, NBCSN and the NBC Olympic Channel; the schedule is here. Look for results here. Summaries so far:

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.

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.

CYCLING: Retiring Bronzini claims Madrid Challenge

By
Rich Perelman
-

A fitting close to the outstanding career of Italy’s 35-year-old Giorgia Bronzini came on Sunday with a win at the line in the La Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta.

Bronzini and Australia’s Sarah Roy managed to hold on to their final breakaway in the final 2 km of the last of the 17 laps of 5.9 km in Madrid, just ahead of a large chase pack that caught them near the finish.

It was the second win of the year for Bronzini and adds to a brilliant career resume that included two World Road Race Championships in 2010 and 2011 and eight stage wins in the Giro d’Italia Internazionale Feminille.

The two-stage race ended with Dutch rider Ellen van Dijk winning the overall title after her Team Sunweb squad won the Team Time Trial on Saturday. Coryn Rivera of the U.S. was second in the overall standings. Summaries:

La Madrid Challenge
Spain ~ 15-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (12.6 km Team Time Trial): 1. Team Sunweb (NED), 17.40: 2. Wiggle High5 (GBR), 17:58; 3. Mitchelson-Scott (AUS), 18:26; 4. BTC City Ljubljana (SLO), 18:32; 5. Cogeas-Mettler Pro Cycling (RUS), 18:50.

Stage 2 (100.3 km): 1. Giorgia Bronzini (ITA), 2:17:28; 2. Sarah Roy (AUS), 2:17:28; 3. Charlotte Becker (GER), 2:17:28; 4. Ilaria Sanguineti (ITA), 2:17:28; 5. Audrey Cordon-Ragot (FRA), 2:17:28. Also in the top 50: 18. Coryn Rivera (USA), 2:17:41.

Final Standings: 1. Ellen van Dijk (NED), 2:35:03; 2. Coryn Rivera (USA), +0:11; 3. Audrey Cordon-Ragot (FRA), +0:15; 4. Leah Kirchmann (CAN), +0:18; 5. Liane Lippert (GER), +0:24.

CYCLING: Simon Yates claims Vuelta a Espana title

By
Rich Perelman
-

More history for British cycling as Simon Yates won the 73rd La Vuelta a Espana, out-dueling everyone on the final two mountain stages to maintain a lead he took after the ninth stage.

On Friday, the 19th stage finished with a brutal climb of more than 1,000 m over the final 17 km. Yates had the lead late in the race, but finished five seconds behind winner Thibaut Pinot of France, but padded his lead over his main rival – Spain’s Alejandro Valverde – from 25 seconds up to 1:38. That meant the race came down to Saturday.

Stage 20 in Andorra was short at 97.3 m, but was the meanest stage of the entire event, with six major climbs and an uphill finish at the Collada de la Gallina. All of the contenders were near the front, but Yates again proved just about the best, finishing third, 23 seconds behind Spain’s Enric Mas and Miguel Angel Lopez (COL), but ahead of everyone else who mattered. Yates’s lead was a comfortable 1:46 over Mas and 2:04 ahead of Lopez, with Valverde dropped to fifth, and that’s the way it ended.

Yates finished not only as the race winner, but had four podium finishes, seven stages in the top 10 and 11 total in the top 20. His win makes him the fifth straight Grand Tour winner from Great Britain, after Chris Froome won three in a row (Tour de France-La Vuelta-Giro d’Italia) and Geraint Thomas won the 2018 Tour. Yates becomes only the second British rider – after Froome – to win the Vuelta, a race which started in 1935.

Colombia’s Lopez was the only man to medal in more than one of the Grand Tours this year, finishing third in the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana.

Ben King of the U.S. placed 24th overall and won two stages, so he’s a rider to watch for the future. With the World Road Race Championships coming up in Innsbruck next week, Slovakia’s Peter Sagan showed he’s in world-class form, looking for his fourth straight world title; he finished second four times and third twice. Summaries:

UCI World Tour/La Vuelta a Espana
Spain ~ 25 August-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (8.0 km Indiv. Time Trial): 1. Rohan Dennis (AUS), 9:39; 2. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL), 9:45; 3. Victor Campanaerts (BEL), 9:46; 4. Nelson Oliveira (POR), 9:56; 5. Dylan van Baarle (NED), 9:59. Also in the top 50: 15. Brent Bookwalter (USA), 10:02; … 21. Joey Rosskopf (USA), 10:07; … 24. Ben King (USA), 10:08.

Stage 2 (163.5 km): 1. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), 4:13:01; 2. Kwiatkowski (POL), 4:13:01; 2. Laurens de Plus (BEL), 4:13:04; 4. Wilco Kelderman (NED), 4:13:04; 5. George Bennett (NZL), 4:13:04. Also in the top 50: 48. Ian Boswell (USA), 4:14:06.

Stage 3 (178.2 km): 1. Elia Viviani (ITA), 4:48:12; 2. Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA), 4:48:12; 3. Peter Sagan (SVK), 4:48:12; 4. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA), 4:48:12; 5. Simone Consonni (ITA), 4:48:12.

Stage 4 (161.4 km): 1. King (USA), 4:33:12; 2. Nikita Stalnov (KAZ), 4:33:14; 3. Pierre Rolland (FRA), 4:33:25; 4. Luis Angel Mate (ESP), 4:33:20; 5. Ben Gastauer (LUX), 4:34:51. Also in the top 50: 27. Sepp Kuss (USA), 4:37:04.

Stage 5 (188.7 km): 1. Simon Clarke (AUS), 4:36:07; 2. Bauke Mollema (NED), 4:36:07; 3. Alessandro de Marchi (ITA), 4:36:07; 4. Davide Villella (ITA), 4:36:15; 5. Floris de Tier (BEL), 4:36:15. Also in the top 50: 16. Bookwalter (USA), 4:39:59; 17. Kuss (USA), 4:39:49; … 24. King (USA), 4:41:02.

Stage 6 (155.7 km): 1. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA), 3:58:35; 2. Danny van Poppel (NED), 3:58:35; 3. Elia Viviani (ITA), 3:58:35; 4. Consonni (ITA), 3:58:35; 5. Matteo Trentin (ITA), 3:58:35.

Stage 7 (185.7 km): 1. Tony Gallopin (FRA), 4:18:20; 2. Sagan (SVK), 4:18:25; 3. Valverde (ESP), 4:18:25; 4. Eduard Prades (ESP), 4:18:25; 5. Omar Fraile (ESP), 4:18:25. Also in the top 50: 10. Kuss (USA), 4:18:25; … 48. King (USA), 4:20:08.

Stage 8 (195.1 km): 1. Valverde (ESP), 4:35:54; 2. Sagan (SVK), 4:35:54; 3. Van Poppel (NED), 4:35:54; 4. Ion Izagirre (ESP), 4:35:54; 5. Nizzolo (ITA), 4:35:54. Also in the top 50: 47. King (USA), 4:35:54.

Stage 9 (200.8 km): 1. King (USA), 5:30:38; 2. Mollema (NED), 5:31:26; 3.Dylan Teuns (BEL), 5:33:16; 4. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL), 5:33:18; 5. Nairo Quintana (COL), 5:33:18. Also in the top 50: 20. Kuss (USA), 5:34:10.

Stage 10 (177.0 km): 1. Viviani (ITA), 4:08:08; 2. Sagan (SVK), 4:08:08; 3. Nizzolo (ITA), 4:08:08; 4. Nelson Andres Soto (COL), 4:08:08; 5. Marc Sarreau (FRA), 4:08:08. Also in the top 50: 27. Kiel Reiknen (USA), 4:08:08.

Stage 11 (207.8 km): 1. De Marchi (ITA), 4:52:38; 2. Jhonatan Restrepo (COL), 4:53:06; 3. Franco Pellizotti (ITA), 4:52:37; 4. Nans Peters (FRA), 4:54:02; 5. Teuns (BEL), 4:54:23. Also in the top 50: 34. Kuss (USA), 4:55.21; 35. King (USA), 4:55:21.

Stage 12 (181.1 km): 1. Alexandre Geniez (FRA), 4:22:59; 2. Dylan van Baarle (NED), 4:22:59; 3. Mark Padun (UKR), 4:22:59; 4. Teuns (BEL), 4:22:59; 5. Campanaerts (BEL), 4:23:01. Also in the top 50: 40. Kuss (USA), 4:34:38.

Stage 13 (174.8 km): 1. Oscar Rodriguez (ESP), 4:17:05; 2. Rafal Majka (POL), 4:17:24; 3. Teuns (BEL), 4:17:35; 4. 4. Bjorg Lambrecht (BEL), 4:17:43; 5. Laurens de Plus (BEL), 4:17:48. Also in the top 50: 10. King (USA), 4:18:23; … 13. Rosskopf (USA), 4:18:44.

Stage 14 (171.0 km): 1. Simon Yates (GBR), 4:19:27; 2. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL), 4:19:29; 3. Valverde (ESP), 4:19:29; 4. Thibaut Pinot (FRA), 4:19:32; 5. Nairo Quintana (COL), 4:19:34.

Stage 15 (178.2 km): 1. Pinot (FRA), 5:01:49; 2. M.A. Lopez (COL), 5:01:17; 3. S. Yates (GBR), 5:01:19; 4. Valverde (ESP), 5:01:21; 5. Steven Kruijswijk (NED), 5:01:21.

Stage 16 (Indiv. Time Trial: 32.0 km): 1. Dennis (AUS), 37:57; 2. Rosskopf (USA), 38:47; 3. Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP), 38:47; 4. Steven Kruijswijk (NED), 38:48; 5. Kwiatkowski (POL), 38:48. Also in the top 50: 37. Bookwalter (USA), 40:37.

Stage 17 (157.0 km): 1. Michael Woods (CAN), 4:09:48; 2. Teuns (BEL), 4:09:53; 3. David de la Cruz (ESP), 4:09:58; 4. Majka (POL), 4:10:01; 5. Ilnur Zakarin (RUS), 4:10:26.

Stage 18 (186.1 km): 1. Jelle Wallays (BEL), 3:57:03; 2. Sven Erik Bystrom (NOR), 3:57:03; 3. Sagan (SVK), 3:57:03; 4. Viviani (ITA), 3:57:03; 5. Ivan Garcia Cortina (ESP), 3:57:03. Also in the top 50: 40. King (USA), 3:57:03.

Stage 19 (154.4 km): 1. Pinot (FRA), 3:42:05; 2. S. Yates (GBR), 3:42:07; 3. Kruijswijk (NED), 3:42:18; 4. Rigoberto Uran (COL), 3:42:57; 5. M.A. Lopez (COL), 3:42:57. Also in the top 50: 24. King (USA), 3:42:41.

Stage 20 (97.3 km) : 1. Enric Mas (ESP), 2:59:30; 2. M.A. Lopez (COL), 2:59:30; 3. S. Yates (GBR), 2:59:53; 4. Pinot (FRA), 3:00:24; 5. Uran (COL), 3:00:27. Also in the top 50: 47. Bookwalter (USA), 3:12:29.

Stage 21 (112.3 km): 1. Elia Viviani (ITA), 2:21:28; 2. Sagan (SVK), 2:21:28; 3. Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA), 2:21:28; 4. Van Poppel (NED), 2:21:28; 5. Marc Sarreau (FRA), 2:21:28. Also in the top 50: 35. King (USA), 2:21:28.

Final Standings: 1. Simon Yates (GBR), 82:05:58; 2. Enric Mas (ESP), +1:46; 3. Miguel Angel Lopez (COL), +2:04; 4. Steven Kruijswijk (NED), +2:54; 5. Alejandro Valverde (ESP), +4:28; 6. Thibaut Pinot (FRA), +5:57; 7. Rigoberto Uran (COL), +6:07; 8. Nairo Quintana (COL), +6:51; 9. Ion Izagirre (ESP), +11:09; 10. Wilco Keldermann (NED), +11:11. Also in the top 50: 24. Ben King (USA), +1:03:40.

CURLING: Canada sweeps first-ever World Cup

By
Rich Perelman
-

Canada is Curling’s traditional power, so it’s fitting that Canadian teams won the men’s women’s and Mixed Doubles divisions in the first leg of the first edition of the World Curling Federation’s World Cup, in Suzhou (CHN). The format was tough: only the group winners advanced to play in the final! As it turned out, that was fine for the red-and-white:

∙ Men: In group play, Steffen Walstad’s Norway won Group A (5-1) and Kevin Koe’s Canada (5-1) won Group B and qualified for the final. Koe, who skipped the 2016 World Champions, took a 3-1 lead in the second end and was up 5-2 after four ends and managed to hold on for a 6-5 win.

∙ Women: Sweden’s Olympic Champion skip Anna Hasselborg led her group with a 5-1 record and qualified to face Canada’s Rachel Homen (5-1) in the final. Homan led the 2017 World Championship gold medalists and had her squad up, 3-0, after three ends, but the Swedes closed to 4-3 after scoring twice in the sixth end. After a scoreless seventh, the Canadians managed to score three in the eighth to end the match with a deceiving 7-3 margin.

∙ Mixed Doubles: Sarah Anderson and Korey Dropkin of the U.S. swept through their group with a perfect, 6-0 record. They ended up facing Laura Walker and Kirk Muyres of Canada, which won their group at 5-1. In the final, the U.S. went up 2-0 in the first end and was up, 4-3, after four ends. But the game turned in the fifth end, when the Canadians came up with three points and then put up single points in ends six and seven to close a 7-3 win.

“We might not have come out with the W in the end, but I think we’re really happy with how we played,” said Anderson. “We just needed a couple more shots. It just came down to execution and we missed a few shots on the wrong side.”

The second leg of the four-part World Cup series will come to Omaha, Nebraska in the U.S., starting on 5 December.

BASKETBALL: U.S. crushes Uruguay in men’s World Cup qualifier

By
Rich Perelman
-

The qualifying games for the FIBA men’s World Cup in 2019 are continuing in the second round of the Americas group, with the top three teams in Groups E and F to qualify.

The U.S. is in Group E and opened its second round of games on Friday with a 114-57 shellacking of Uruguay to take first place in the group. Coach Jeff van Gundy’s team had a 28-8 lead after the quarter mark and 56-18 at half. The American squad shot 61% from the field and had five men in double figures: Frank Mason (16), Chasson Randle (15), Derrick White (14) and Henry Ellenson and Dwayne Bacon with 10. Friday’s games and standings:

∙ Games: United States 114, Uruguay 57, at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada;
Puerto Rico 82, Panama 73 at San Juan, Puerto Rico;
Argentina 78, Mexico 74, at Mexico City

∙ Standings: United States (6-1), Argentina (6-1), Puerto Rico (5-2), Uruguay (4-3), Panama (3-4), Mexico (3-4).

The second half of this opening window of Group E games continues on Monday:

∙ United States at Panama in Panama City
∙ Mexico at Uruguay in Montevideo
∙ Puerto Rico at Argentina in Formosa

These will be the last games for a couple of months, as the next pair of games will take place on 29 November and 2 December.

In Group F, Canada and Venezuela are both 6-1 now, with Brazil and the Dominican Republic at 5-2 and the Virgin Islands at 2-5 and Chile at 1-6.

The FIBA site has video coverage of these games; the U.S. games are also on ESPN+.

BADMINTON: Three world champs win in Japan Open

By
Rich Perelman
-

One of the high-profile tournaments of the year featured three of the 2018 World Champions ending on top of the podium at the Daihatsu Yonex Japan Open:

∙ Japan’s Kento Momota, the 2018 World Champion, made more history by becoming the first Japanese winner of the men’s Singles in the Japan Open, a tournament that started way back in 1977! He defeated Thailand’s Khosit Phetoradab in the final, 21-14, 21-11.

∙ Spain’s Carolina Marin continued a great 2018 by beating Japan’s 2017 World Champion, Nozomi Okuhara, in the women’s final, 21-19, 17-21, 21-11.

∙ Siwei Zheng and Yaqiong Huang won the all-Chinese final in the Mixed Doubles, zipping past Yilyu Wang and Dongping Huang in straight sets, 21-19, 21-8.

The continuity aspects of the event also extended to the men’s Doubles, where Indonesia’s Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo defended their Japan Open title. They and Marin were the only 2017 winners to repeat in Tokyo. Summaries:

Daihatsu Yonex Japan Open
Tokyo (JPN) ~ 11-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Kento Momota (JPN); 2. Khosit Phetpradab (THA); 3. Viktor Axelsen (DEN) and Dong Keun Lee (KOR). Semis: Momota d. Axelsen, 21-18, 21-11; Phetpradab d. Lee, 21-12, 21-16. Final: Momota d. Phetpradab, 21-14, 21-11.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA); 2. Junhui Li/Yuchen Liu (CHN); 3. Jiting He/Qiang Tan (CHN) and Hung Ling Chen/Chi-Lin Wang (TPE). Semis: Gideon/Sukamuljo d. He/Tan, 21-16, 14-21, 21-13; Li/Liu d. Chen/Wang, 21-14, 21-16. Final: Gideon/Sukamuljo d. Li/Liu, 21-11, 21-13.

Women’s Singles: 1. Carolina Marin (ESP); 2. Nozomi Okuhara (JPN); 3. Aaya Ohori (JPN) and Yufei Chen (CHN). Semis: Okuhara d. Ohori, 21-12, 21-12; Marin d. Chen, 21-12, 21-13. Final: Marin d. Okuhara, 21-19, 17-21, 21-11.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN); 2. Qingchen Chen/Yifan Jia (CHN); 3. Greysla Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (POL) and Yue Du/Yinhui Li (CHN). Semis: Fukushima/Hirota d. Polii/Rahayu, 21-12, 21-18; Chen/Jia d. Du/Li, 21-17, 21-15. Final: Fukushima/Hirota d. Chen/Jia, 21-15, 21-12.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Siwei Zheng/Yaqiong Huang (CHN); 2. Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN); 3. Yuta Watanabe/Arisa Higashino (JPN) and Peng Soon Chan/Liu Ying Goh (MAS). Semis: Wang/Huang d. Watanabe/ Higashino, 21-15, 21-17; Zheng/Huang d. Chan/Goh, 21-16, 17-21, 21-14. Final: Zheng/Huang d. Wang/Huang, 21-19, 21-8.

ATHLETICS: World Record II: Mayer’s redemption is 9,126 in Talence!

By
Rich Perelman
-

France’s Kevin Mayer was looking for redemption for his failure at the European Championships in Berlin (GER) last month when he had no fair mark in the long jump and failed to win as expected.

He had a “second chance,” the annual Decastar event in Talence (FRA), where he could let loose. He’d already had a great season, setting personal bests in the 100 m, 110 m Hurdles, pole vault, shot and discus, so with a best of 8.834 from 2017, was the world record a possibility?

He started with another lifetime best of 10.55 in the 100 m, then another PR of 7.80 m (25-10 1/4) in the long jump, got a seasonal best of 2.05 m (6-8 3/4) in the high jump and had a good 400 m of 48.42 to give him 4,563 points for the first day. Clearly, Ashton Eaton’s 2017 mark of 9,045 was in reach … if Mayer didn’t blow up.

There was no let-up. Mayer opened with a near-PR of 13.75 in the hurdles, had a good discus of 50.54 m (165-10), then came two lifetime bests in successive events that made a new world mark possible: 5.45 m (17-10 1/2) in the vault and 71.90 m (235-11) in the javelin. He needed only a 4:49 in the 1,500 m, but produced a seasonal best of 4:36.11 to finish at a startling 9,126 points as the new world-record holder.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” said Mayer. “We live for moments like this that are simply incredible. I couldn’t cry. I don’t have any more tears left because I was crying so much before the 1,500 m.”

He’s the first French decathlete to hold the world record. The event-by-event comparison:

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In the women’s heptathlon, Germany’s Carolin Schaefer came in the clear favorite and did not disappoint, winning easily with 6,457 points for her second Decastar title (also in 2014). Summaries:

IAAF World Challenge/Decastar
Paris (FRA) ~ 15-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men/Decathlon: 1. Kevin Mayer (FRA), 9,126 (World Record; old, 9.045, Ashton Eaton (USA), 2015); 2. Arthur Abele (GER), 8,310; 3. Tim Nowak (GER), 8,229; 4. Pieter Braun (NED), 7,965; 5. Ruben Gado (FRA), 7,957. Also: 13. Steve Bastien (USA), 6,750.

Women/Heptathlon: 1. Carolin Schaefer (GER), 6,457; 2. Geraldine Ruckstuhl (SUI), 6,391; 3. Katerina Cachova (CZE), 6.381; 4. Xenia Krizsan (HUN), 6,244; 5. Grit Sadeiko (EST), 6,179. Also: 12. Allison Reaser (USA), 5,650.

ATHLETICS: World Record I: Kipchoge glides to 2:01:39 in Berlin!

By
Rich Perelman
-

Once again, the Berlin Marathon was the setting for a historic marathon as Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge made history by lowering the world record to an astonishing 2:01:39.

He had trained for it and made it happen, almost by himself. He set out on a hot pace and already had a nine-second lead over the rest of the field by the 5 km mark! He stretched his lead to 11 seconds at 10 km and 55 seconds by 20 km and 1:01 by the halfway mark, which he crossed in 1:01.06.

Now he was running almost solo, as two of his three pacesetters had dropped out after 15 km. Countryman Josphat Boit continued through 25 km and then Kipchoge was on his own. His lead continued to grow and by the time he passed 40 km in 1:55:32, there was little doubt that his name was going into the record books.

He finished the second half of the race in just 1:00:33 and the marathon in 2:01:39, lowering Dennis Kimetto’s 2014 world mark by an amazing 1:18.

“I lack the words to describe how I feel,” said Kipchoge afterwards. “It was really hard [during the last 17 km] but I was truly prepared to run my own race. I had to focus on the work I had put in in Kenya and that is what helped push me.

“It was my aim to smash the world record and I felt confident before the race. I’ve now run 2:04, 2:03 and now 2:01. Who knows what the future will bring? I’m really grateful to my coaching team, my management, the organization. I’ll definitely return to Berlin. Berlin for me is eternal.”

It is certainly the home of the men’s marathon world record. Kipchoge’s mark is the seventh straight world mark set on this flat, fast course, starting with Kenyan Paul Tergat’s 2:04:55 in 2003.

For Kipchoge, who must now be considered the finest marathoner ever, he won in Berlin for the third time (also in 2015 and 2017) and now has 10 wins in 11 marathon starts. He’s undefeated over his last nine marathons from 2014-18, not counting his 2:00:25 time trial last year. One race he hasn’t won: the IAAF World Championships, coming to Doha (QAT) in 2019. Will he try it?

The women’s race produced no records, but a brilliant race that was led for the first half by Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba, crossing the midway in 1:09:03. By 25 km, it was Kenyan Gladys Cherono who had the lead, running with Ruti Aga (ETH) through 30 km, but then broke it open.

Cherono had a 49-second lead by 40 km and charged home in 2:18:11, moving her to no. 4 all-time. Aga rallied in the final stages to close to 2:18:34 (no. 6 all-time) with Dibaba third in 2:18:55, her third-fastest ever. For Cherono, 35, it was also her third Berlin Marathon victory, also in 2015 and 2017.

Amazing. Summaries:

World Marathon Majors/Berlin Marathon
Berlin (GER) ~ 16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men: 1 Eliud Kipchoge, (KEN) 2:01:39 (World Record; old, 2:02:57, Dennis Kimetto (KEN), 2014); 2. Amos Kipruto, (KEN) 2:06:23; 3. Wilson Kipsang, (KEN) 2:06:48; 4. Shogo Nakamura, (JPN); 2:08:16; 5. Zersenay Tadese, (ERI) 2:08:46; 6. Yuki Sato, (JPN) 2:09:18; 7. Okubay Tsegay, (ERI) 2:09:56; 8. Daisuke Uekado, (JPN) 2:11:07; 9. Wily Canchanya, (PER) 2:12:57; 10. Bart van Nunen, (NED) 2:13:09.

Women: 1. Gladys Cherono, (KEN) 2:18:11; 2. Ruti Aga, (ETH) 2:18:34; 3. Tirunesh Dibaba, (ETH) 2:18:55; 4. Edna Kiplagat (KEN), 2:21:18; 5. Mizuki Matsuda, (JPN) 2:22:23; 6. Helen Tola, (ETH) 2:22:48; 7. Honami Maeda (JPN), 2:25:23; 8. Carla Salome Rocha (POR), 2:25:27; 9. Miyuki Uehara (JPN), 2:25:46; 10. Rei Ohara (JPN), 2:27:29.

THE BIG PICTURE: U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Assembly coming

By
Rich Perelman
-

The annual U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Assembly will take place at the end of the week from 20-22 September in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The Colorado Springs Gazette ran a long story last Friday about the “demands for change” being made on the organization, but the reality is that a significant part of the meeting will simply be introductions to the USOC’s new chiefs: new chief executive Sarah Hirshland and new Board chair (recently interim CEO) Susanne Lyons.

True, the sex abuse scandal will be widely discussed, but don’t think that the constant theme of “we [name or organization] need more money” won’t be as front and center as it ever has. Just the names on the checks may change.

THE BIG PICTURE: More charges filed vs. Lamine Diack

By
Rich Perelman
-
Lamine Diack (SEN), former IAAF president and IOC member, whose trial on corruption charges in France has begun

The ongoing corruption case against former IAAF president Lamine Diack (SEN) expanded this last week with new charges for breaching his fiduciary responsibilities to the organization.

The new issues were filed on 26 June, but have only now come to light, indicating that Diack, now 85, allowed his son, Papa Massata Diack, to skim funds from IAAF sponsors and television rights holders, including Chinese broadcaster CCTV, Russian state bank VTB, Samsung of South Korea and Chinese oil refiner Sinopec. Lamine Diack was the elected head of the IAAF from 1999-2015, but was arrested in 2015 and has remained under house arrest in the country ever since.

Agence France Presse reported that the younger Diack sent invoices to the IAAF: “In 2012, the total was $501,206 (∈429,000 at the time). In 2014, it was $825,955.”

Diack was originally charged – and still is – with extorting millions of dollars to cover up Russian doping positives, and also to carry bribes to members of the International Olympic Committee in 2009 to vote for Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

Papa Massata Diack is wanted for questioning in France, but he has stayed in Senegal, which refuses to extradite him to France.

LANE ONE: Behind-the-scenes compromise has WADA poised to reinstate Russia on Thursday

By
Rich Perelman
-

After multiple indications last week that the World Anti-Doping Agency would maintain its suspension of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency at this coming Thursday’s meeting in the Seychelles, word leaked out that, in fact, WADA is poised to reinstate it.

What happened?

On Friday (14th), the sub-group within WADA responsible for the Russian situation – the six-member Compliance Review Committee – sent a recommendation to the WADA governing body, the Executive Committee that new developments justified reinstatement. This happened during a Review Committee conference call on Thursday (13th); according to a WADA statement:

∙ “During its usual pre-ExCo conference call, held on 13 September, the CRC reviewed at length a letter from the Russian Ministry of Sport to WADA and was satisfied that this letter sufficiently acknowledged the issues identified in Russia, therefore fulfilling the first of the two outstanding criteria of RUSADA’s Roadmap to Compliance.”

∙ “For the second outstanding criterion, the CRC accepted that the new commitment to provide access to the data and samples in the Moscow laboratory to WADA via an independent expert would be sufficient to justify reinstatement, provided that the ExCo imposes a clear timeline for such access.”

This was met with a firestorm of protest, including the very public resignation of Canada’s highly-respected Beckie Scott, an Olympic gold medalist in Cross Country Skiing in 2002, from the Compliance Review Committee.

American hurdles star Edwin Moses, the chair of the United States Anti-Doping Agency and who attends the WADA Executive Committee meetings, wrote in an Op-Ed essay that appeared in Saturday’s New York Times, that “WADA’s decision is questionably timed, coming just as international athletes on Friday began one of the strongest antidoping campaigns ever, imploring WADA to make the right decision not to readmit Russia. The decision will anger sports fans and clean athletes, whose trust in the global antidoping authority is already wafer thin. They want a strong WADA that backs clean sport, and doesn’t look to appease a handful of sports politicians.”

Moses noted that “Having spoken to athletes, I know they overwhelmingly support the right decision being made in the Seychelles — they overwhelmingly support WADA’s sticking to its road map. This was not the time, they say, for the global antidoping body to perform the U-turn of all U-turns.”

WADA itself felt enough heat that it published another statement on Saturday that included this justification: “The fact is that leadership requires flexibility. The proposals made in the leaked letter are grounded in pragmatism and are nuanced interpretations of the Roadmap in order to bring matters to a conclusion and to not allow the significant progress that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has made over the last two years, under WADA’s supervision, to be undone.”

The WADA statement was accompanied by six attachments of letters between the Russian sports ministry and the WADA compliance committee and the WADA leadership, specifically chair Craig Reedie (GBR) and Director General Oliver Niggli (SUI).

The key letter is from Reedie and Niggli to Russian Minister of Sport Pavel Kolobkov on 22 June:

∙ Reedie and Niggli proposed that a written confirmation of Russia’s acceptance of the International Olympic Committee’s Schmid Commission Report from December 2017, which concluded that the Ministry of Sport and its subordinates had involvement in the doping scheme, would suffice in place of acceptance of the McLaren Reports, which went into much greater detail.

∙ The two further proposed that instead of unlimited access to the records of the Moscow Laboratory and the samples stored there, copies of the raw data provided to a mutually-agreed, “independent expert” would suffice and then re-analysis of only those samples which are identified from the raw data as having been doping positives. The letter states, “This number is likely to be very limited and once again can be done jointly with the Investigative Committee.”

On 13 August, Kolobkov wrote back, including this passage:

“We have accepted and executed the decision of the IOC, based on the findings of the the Schmid Commission, and at the same time we believe that the processes of identifying and punishing the perpetrators must be carried out in accordance with the adopted procedures. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation continues the investigation. Information about possible persons whose guilt will be established accordingly will be transferred to the courts and these persons will be punished. We assure you that we will do our best to continue the work of identification and punishing the perpetrators.”

On this basis, Reedie, Niggli and Kolobkov agreed that the acknowledgment of a government-led doping scheme has been met, although cynical observers would suggest that the Investigative Committee will simply blame the whistle-blowers – Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov and Vitaliy Stepanov of the Moscow Lab – and ask for their extradition to Russia!

In a follow-up letter of 13 September, Kolobkov accepted the second proposal for providing the lab data to a mutually-agreed independent expert and “If based on the LIMS data and the raw data, potential Adverse Analytical Findings are identified in respect of samples stored in the laboratory sealed by the Investigative Committee we will work in a spirit of cooperation with the Russian Criminal Procedural Code to enable the independent re-testing of these samples in accordance with the International Standard for Laboratories.”

The letter concluded with, “As you can see, we have accepted your offer of June 22, 2018. I hope that WADA will perform its undertaking and re-instate the compliance of RUSADA at the next meeting of the WADA Executive Committee of September 20, 2018.”

It’s worth noting that in a letter to the WADA Executive Committee back on 19 June of this year, the Compliance Review Committee chair Jonathan Taylor (GBR) wrote that:

“Gunter Younger, Director of WADA’s Intelligence & Investigations Department, told the CRC that the copy that WADA has of the Moscow laboratory’s LIMS database includes 9,453 suspicious findings that were not reported in ADAMS, some of which relate to the 2,876 samples still stored at the Moscow laboratory.”

So the number of samples and potential positives is hardly the modest number suggested by Reedie and Niggli’s 22 June letter.

So what happens now?

The decision whether to reinstate Russia’s Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) is up to the WADA Executive Committee meeting on Thursday, not Reedie and Niggli. The Compliance Review Committee has made its recommendation, but the Executive Committee does not have to accept it.

There is no doubt that the International Olympic Committee and others aligned with IOC President Thomas Bach would like to see Russia reinstated. But they are not the only ones involved:

∙ The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has continued its suspension of the Russian Athletics Federation pending the same two conditions as WADA, but wants its own access to the Moscow lab data and samples as regards track & field athletes. It would likely follow WADA’s lead.

∙ The International Biathlon Union has some modest political penalties in place against Russia, but not Russian athletes. But there is also an ongoing Austrian and Norwegian police inquiry into whether the former IBU President and Sectreary General – Anders Besseberg (NOR) and Nicole Resch (GER) – covered up Russian doping positives in return for bribes.

∙ French authorities are still working on their case against former IAAF President Lamine Diack (SEN) on charges that he took bribes to cover up Russian doping positives in road running and track & field events.

The WADA Executive Committee has multiple possible avenues it can take on Thursday:

(1) It can accept the bargain proposed by Reedie and Niggli and reinstate Russia, which will then lead to further in-fighting inside the anti-doping movement. Already, Linda Helleland, the Norwegian Minister for Children and Equality, wants to run to replace Reedie as the WADA President in late 2019 and has promised a thorough review of the Russian issue if elected.

(2) WADA can table the recommendation and ask for further clarity on the lab data transfer and access to samples.

(3) The Executive Committee can reject some or all of the recommendations of the Review Committee and maintain Russia’s suspension. It doesn’t have to be all vinegar, however. The Executive Committee could agree to accept the Russian agreement to the Schmid Commission report as satisfactory to acknowledge Russian governmental involvement in the doping scandal.

(4) If it wanted to split hairs, the WADA Executive Committee could also decide to “provisionally reinstate” Russia but only when (1) access to the lab records, (2) access to the stored samples and (3) re-testing of all samples requested by WADA and under supervision to WADA’s satisfaction, is completed.

That would maintain the suspension in place for some time and give the Russians a direct incentive to provide the lab data and access to the samples sooner than later.

This is the flip side of what the Review Committee recommended – reinstate now and re-suspend if the data and samples aren’t provided quickly – but changes the burden of action completely … to the Russians.

There is a great desire, in many quarters, to be sure that not only is Russia punished for its transgressions against the Olympic Movement, but against those athletes who had to compete against doped-up competitors, but that this does not happen again. Getting to the bottom of the doping records held in Russia is part of that and reinstating Russia now does not motivate Moscow’s “Investigative Committee” to cooperate quickly or fully.

The WADA Executive Committee includes 12 members, including Reedie and Helleland, and five observers (including Moses and Scott). The discussion is not likely to be short and could be quite lively.

But the question of how strongly WADA is willing to push Russia will be a signal of how much trust all sides have in WADA’s integrity. It would do well to be as precise as possible in its decision, and in disclosing the discussion, the options and in the end, who voted for what.

Rich Perelman
Editor

WATER POLO: Germany, Croatia and Serbia unbeaten in men’s World Cup

By
Rich Perelman
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The 16th edition of the quadrennial FINA Water Polo World Cup is still in group play in Berlin (GER). Through two of the three games in the group phase:

∙ Group A: Germany (2-0), Hungary (1-1), Australia (1-1), Japan (0-2)
∙ Group B: Croatia (2-0), Serbia (2-0), United States (0-2), South Africa (0-2)

Each team plays three round-robin games and the top-ranked team from each group will play the fourth-ranked team from the other group. The U.S. lost to Croatia (15-10) and Serbia (14-8) in its two games so far.

Serbia won this tournament in 2014, in 2010 and as Serbia and Montenegro, in 2006. The other power players have been Hungary and Croatia: Hungary won silver in 2014, 2006 and 2002, and Croatia won bronze in 2014 and silver in 2010.

Playoffs begin on the 14th and continue through Sunday. Look for scores here.

SWIMMING: Hosszu swims five, wins two to open World Cup II

By
Rich Perelman
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The Iron Lady: Hungary's Katinka Hosszu

The 2018 FINA Swimming World Cup in Doha (QAT) opened on Thursday with 10 events, half of which were for women. And The Iron Lady was in all five.

Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu won the 400 m Freestyle and 200 m Butterfly and picked up a third in the 50 m Backstroke, a sixth in the 200 m Breaststroke and an eighth in the 50 m Free. Her main rival in the World Cup, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, won the 50 m Free, her only event on Thursday.

Two American men are swimming and both did well, with Michael Andrew winning the 100 m Fly and Blake Pieroni taking the 400 m Free. The pair went 2-3 in the 50 m Free behind Russia’s Vladimir Morozov.

The meet continues on Friday and Saturday at the Hamad Aquatic Center. The FINA World Cup regulations allow an individual swimmer to score points in a maximum of three events, but do not cap the prize money; cash prizes of $1,500-1,000-500-400-300-200 are available in individual events and $3,000-2,000-1,000 for relays. Summaries so far:

FINA Swimming World Cup II
Doha (QAT) ~ 13-15 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Freestyle: 1. Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 21.80; 2. Michael Andrew (USA), 21.95; 3. Blake Pieroni (USA), 22.17.

400 m Free: 1. Pieroni (USA), 3:53.98; 2. Lorenz Weiremans (BEL), 3:54.94; 3. Yuhang Wu (CHN), 3:55.57.

200 m Backstroke: 1. Mitch Larkin (AUS), 1:57.45; 2. Manuel Martos (ESP), 2:02.52; 3. David Verraszto (HUN), 2:07.08.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Felipe Lima (BRA), 59.61; 2. Arno Kamminga (NED), 59.74; 3. Anton Chupkov (RUS), 59.89.

100 m Butterfly: 1. Andrew (USA), 51.83; 2. Ryan Coetzee (RSA), 52.20; 3. Mathys Goosen (NED), 52.99.

Women

50 m Freestyle: 1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 23.99; 2. Femke Heemskerk (NED), 24.54; 3. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 24.62. Also: 8. Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 26.41.

400 m Free: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 4:10.02; 2. Heemskerk (NED), 4;12.56; 3. Chanzhen Zhou (CHN), 4:13.62.

50 m Backstroke: 1. Kira Toussaint (NED), 28.01; 2. Kromowidjojo (NED), 28.49; 3. Hosszu (HUN), 28.57.

200 m Breaststroke: 1. Yuliya Efimova (RUS), 2:23.55; 2. Vitalina Simonova (RUS), 2:24.06; 3. Alba Vazquez (ESP), 2:30.33. Also: 6. Hosszu (HUN), 2:41.60.

200 m Butterfly: 1. Hosszu (HUN), 2:09.26; 2. Zsuzsanna Jakabos (HUN), 2:10.34; 3. Carina Brand (RSA), 2:35.58.

SPORT CLIMBING: World Champs continue with Bouldering and Combined

By
Rich Perelman
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The IFSC World Championships are continuing in Innsbruck (AUT), with four events remaining on the program:

∙ 14 September: Men’s Bouldering
∙ 15 September: Women’s Bouldering
∙ 16 September: Men’s and Women’s Combined

The leaders in the seasonal World Cup in Bouldering include:

∙ Bouldering:
Men: Jernej Kruder (SLO), 442; Tomoa Narasaki (JPN), 400; Rei Sugimoto ((JPN), 334.
Women: Miho Nonaka (JPN), 500; Akiyo Noguchi (JPN), 495; Fanny Gibert (SUI), 320.

The Combined event, which is not part of the World Cup, is of special interest since it will be the Sport Climbing event in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo (JPN). Summaries so far:

IFSC World Championships
Innsbruck (AUT) ~ 6-16 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Lead: 1. Jakob Schubert (AUT), 36+; 2. Adam Ondra (CZE), 36+; 3. Alexander Megos (GER), 33.5; 4. Meichi Natasaki (JPN), 31+; 5. Domen Skofic (SLO), 29+; 6. tie, Jakub Konecny (CZE) and Tomoaki Takata (JPN), 29+; 8. Sascha Lehmann (SUI), 23; 9. Marcello Bombardi (ITA), 20+; 10. Kai Harada (JPN), 16+.

Speed/Final: 1. Reza Alipour (IRI); 2. Bassa Mawem (FRA); Small Final: 3. Stanis- lav Kokorin (RUS); 4. Qixin Zhong (CHN).

Women

Lead: 1. Jessica Pilz (AUT), Top; 2. Janja Garnbret (SLO), Top; 3. Jain Kim (KOR), 34+; 4. Mai Kotake (JPN), 33+; 5. Ashima Shiraishi (USA), 32; 6. Anak Verhoeven (BEL), 31+; 7. Mia Krampl (SLO), 31+; 8. tie, Akiyo Noguchi (JPN) and Hannah Schubert (AUT), 31+; 10. Laura Rogora (ITA), 24+.

Speed/Final: 1. Aleksandra Rudzinska (POL), 7.56; 2. Anna Brozek (POL). Small Final: 3. Marina Krasavina (RUS); 4. Aleksandra Kalucka (POL), false start.

SHOOTING: Hancock favored to medal in men’s Skeet at ISSF Worlds

By
Rich Perelman
-

The ISSF World Championships in Changwon (KOR) is rushing toward the close this weekend, with the men’s Skeet the only Olympic-program event to contest.

The U.S. has a good shot – pun intended – at a medal with Vince Hancock, the 2008 and 2012 Olympic gold medal, at the top of the team. He led all of the qualifiers for the final, scheduled for Friday.

This year’s Worlds is also the start of the Olympic qualification cycle for Tokyo as 60 quota places – generally the top four in each event – will be assigned for the 2020 Games.

The ISSF has exceptional coverage on its Web site here. Summaries so far:

ISSF World Championships
Changwon (KOR) ~ 31 August-15 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

10 m Air Pistol: 1. Jong-Oh Jin (KOR), 241.5; 2. Artem Chernousov (24.15), 241.5 (Jin won shoot-off: 10.3-9.5); 3. Dae-Myung Lee (KOR), 220.6; 4. Pavlo Korostylov (UKR), 198.5; 5. Ruslan Lunev (AZE), 177.7; 6. Seung-Woo Han (KOR), 158.8; 7. Quoc Cuong Tran (VIE), 136.9; 8. Abhishek Verma (IND), 118.0.

Team 10 m Air Pistol: 1. Korea (Dae. Lee, Jin, S. Han), 1,747; 2. India (Verma, Mitharval, Rizvi), 1,738; 3. Russia (Chernousov, Koulakov, Gourianov), 1,736; 4. Vietnam, 1,731; 5. Serbia, 1,729; 6. Ukraine, 1,729; 7. China, 1,726; 8. Italy, 1,726. Also: 17. United States (Nick Mowrer, Jerson Herndon, James Hall), 1,710.

10 m Running Target/Final: 1. Jesper Nyberg (SWE), 6; 2. Maxi Stepanov (RUS), 3. Third: Vladislav Prianishnikov (RUS), 6; 4. Lukasz Czapla (CZE), 4.

Team 10 m Running Target: 1. Russia (Prianishnikov, Stepanov, Shchepotkin), 1,734; 2. DPR Korea, 1,722; 3. Sweden, 1,718; 4. Finland, 1,696; 5. Korea, 1,685; 6. Hungary, 1674; 7. China, 1,674; only entrants.

25 m Rapid Fire Pistol: 1. Junmin Lin (CHN), 32; 2. Jian Zhang (CHN), 31; 3. Jean Quiquampoix (FRA), 24; 4. Alexei Klimov (RUS), 20; 5. Oliver Geis (GER), 12; 6. Junhong Kim (KOR), 12.

Team 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol: 1. China (Lin, Zhang, Yao), 1,756 (World Record; old, 1,749, China, 2010); 2. Germany (Geis, Reitz, Freckmann), 1,751; 3. Korea (Kim, Song, Park), 1,745; 4. France, 1,742; 5. Russia, 1,741; 6. Ukraine, 1,737; 7. Czech Republic, 1,727; 8. Poland, 1,724. Also: 12. United States (Keith Sanderson, Brian Kim, Alexander Chichkov), 1,702.

10 m Air Rifle: 1. Sergey Kamenskiy (RUS), 248.4; 2. Petar Gorsa (CRO), 247.5; 3. Miran Maricic (CRO), 227.3; 4. Zicheng Hui (CHN), 206.1; 5. Hoaran Yang (CHN), 185.7; 6. Deepak Kumar (IND), 164.1; 7. Mahyar Sedaghat (IRI), 143.0; 8. Taeyun Nam (KOR), 121.4.

Team 10 m Air Rifle: 1. China (Yang, Hui Yu), 1,887.4 (World Record; old, 1,886.5, China, 2014); 2. Russia (Kamenskiy, Maslennikov, Dryagin), 1,884.0; 3. Korea (Nam, Kim, Song), 1,878.5; 4. India, 1,878.4; 5. Croatia, 1,878.3; 6. Japan, 1,877.6; 7. Hungary, 1,876.6; 8. Iran, 1,875.9. Also: 17. United States (Bryant Wallizer, Dempster Christiansen, Lucas Kozeniesky), 1,866.0.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Tomasz Bartnik (POL), 460.4; 2. Petar Gorsa (CRO), 457.4; 3. Michael McPhail (USA), 446.9; 4. Henrik Larsen (NOR), 437.0; 5. Haoran Yang (CHN), 427.4; 6. Zicheng Hui (CHN), 416.4; 7. Vitali Bubnovich (BLR), 401.4; 8. Dane Sampson (AUS), 401.0.

Team 50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Russia (Louginets, Maslennikov, Kamenskiy), 3,535 (World Record; old, 3,529, China, 2013); 2. China (Yang, Hui, Yao), 3,532; 3. Belarus (Shcherbatsevich, Chareika, Bobnovich), 3,526; 4. France, 3,522; 5. Austria, 3,516; 6. Norway, 3,513; 7. United States (Matt Emmons, Michael McPhail, Lucas Kozeniesky), 3,511; 8. Ukraine, 3,510.

300 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Rajmond Debevec (SLO), 592; 2. Daniel Romanczyk (POL), 592; 3. Josip Kuna (CRO), 590; 4. Gilles Vincent Defaux (SUI), 589; 5. Jan Lochbihler (SUI), 589; 6. McPhail (USA), 588; 7. Sitan Bogar (NOR), 588; 8. Valerian Sauveplane (FRA), 588. Also: 27. Johnny Whidden Jr. (USA), 581.

Team 300 m Rifle/Prone: 1. France (Moreno Flores, Sauveplane, D’Halluin), 1,761; 2. Switzerland (Defaux, Lochbihler, Ackermann), 1,757; 3. Norway (Bryhn, Bogar, Brekne), 1,755; 4. Sweden, 1,753; 5. Korea, 1,752; 6. Austria, 1,744; 7. Poland, 1,729; 8. United States (Michael McPhail, Johnny Widden, Jr., Joseph Hein), 1,727.

300 m Rifle/Standard: 1. Aleksi Leppa (FIN), 580; 2. Karl Olsson (SWE), 576; 3. Odd Arne Brekne (NOR), 576; 4. Young Jeon Choi (KOR), 576; 5. Lochbihler (SUI), 575; 6. Alexis Raynaud (FRA), 575; 7. Defaux (SUI), 574; 8. Peter Sidi (HUN), 574. Also: 27. Bradley Yliniemi (USA), 554; … 31. Mark Gould (USA), 549

Team 300 m Rifle/Standard: 1. Norway (Brekne, Lund, Bryhn), 1,722; 2. Korea (Choi, lee, Cheon), 1,711; 3. Switzerland (Lochbihler, Defaux, Rossi), 1,708; 4. France, 1,691; 5. Austria, 1,691; 6. Slovenia, 1,691; 7. Saudi Arabia, 1,656; 8. India, 1,642.

Trap: 1. Alberto Fernandez (ESP), 48 (equals World Record, Fernandez, 2017); 2. Erik Varga (SVK), 47; 3. Abdulrahman Al Faihan (KUW), 32; 4. James Willett (AUS), 28; 5. Mauro de Filippis (ITA), 23; 6. Walton Eller (USA), 17.

Team Trap: 1. Kuwait (Abdul Al Faihan, Talai Alrashidi, Khaled Almudhaf), 360; 2. United States (Walton Eller, Grayson Davey, Casey Wallace), 360; 3. Italy (De Filippis, Pellielo, Grazini), 360; 4. Russia, 359; 5. Croatia, 358; 6. Czech Republic, 357; 7. Portugal, 356; 8. Slovakia, 355.

Women

10 m Air Pistol: 1. Anna Korakaki (GRE), 241.1; 2. Zorana Arunovic (SRB), 239.8; 3. Bomi Kim (KOR), 218.8; 4. Qian Wang (CHN), 198.1; 5. Ranxin Jiang (CHN), 178.7; 6. Vitalina Batsarashkina (RUS), 157.2; 7. Klaudia Bres (POL), 136.9; 8. Minjung Kim (KOR), 116.5.

Team 10 m Air Pistol: 1. China (Jiang, Wang, Ji), 1,739 (World Record; new event); 2. Korea (Min. Kim, B. Kim, Kwak), 1,734; 3. Russia (Batsarashkina, Lomova, Medvedeva), 1,720; 4. India, 1,713; 5. France, 1,712; 6. Iran, 1,711; 7. Poland, 1,710; 8. Chinese Taipei, 1,708. Also: 14. United States (Sandra Uptagrafft, Lexi Lagan, Nathalia Granados), 1,700.

10 m Running Target/Final: 1. Olga Stepanova (RUS), 7; 2. Xue Yan Li (CHN), 5. Third: 3. Galina Avramenko (UKR), 6; 4. Ji Ye Ri (PRK), 3.

Team 10 m Running Target: 1. China (Li, Su, Huang), 1,673 (World Record; new event); 2. DPR Korea, 1,672; 3. Russia, 1,668; 4. Ukraine, 1,659; 5. Korea, 1,613; only entrants.

25 m Pistol: 1. Olena Kostevych (UKR), 37; 2. Batsarashkina (RUS), 37 (Kostevych won shoot-out, 4-4-3 to 4-4-2); 3. Doreen Vennekamp (GER), 31; 4. Chia Chen Tien (TPE), 26; 5. Monika Karsch (GER), 18; 6. Jungeun Lee (KOR), 16; 7. Aldana Said Almubarak (QAT), 11; 8. Xiu Hong Teh (SGP), 7.

Team 25 m Air Pistol: 1. China (Jiang, Lin, Yao), 1,746; 2. Korea (Lee, Kim, Kwak), 1,746; 3. Germany (Karsch, Vennekamp, Skeries), 1,744; 4. Poland, 1,741; 5. Bulgaria, 1,739; 6. India, 1,738; 7. Russia, 1,738; 8. France, 1,736. Also: 12. United States (Uptagrafft, Lagan, Brenda Silva), 1,726.

10 m Air Rifle: 1. Hana Im (KOR), 251.1; 2. Anjum Moudgil (IND), 248.4; 3. Eunhea Jung (KOR), 228.0; 4. Apurvi Chandela (INDZ0, 207.0; 5. Adele Tan (SGP), 184.3; 6. Ying-Shin Lin (TPE), 163.4; 7. Petra Zublasing (ITA), 142.9; 8. Isabella Straub (GER), 122.1.

Team 10 m Air Rifle: 1. Korea (Im, Jung, Keum), 1,886.2 (World Record; new event); 2. India (Moudgil, Chandela, Ghosh), 1,879.0; 3. Germany (Straub, Gschwandtner, Simon), 1,878.4; 4. Chinese Taipei, 1,878.2; 5. Mongolia, 1,877.3; 6. China, 1,876.5; 7. Russia, 1,875.6; 8. Romania, 1,873.5. Also: 16. United States (Sarah Beard, Minden Miles, Alison Weisz), 1,867.0.

50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Yulia Karimova (RUS), 461.1; 2. Isabella Straub (GER), 459.5; 3. Snjezana Pejcic (CRO), 446.4; 4. Seonald McIntosh (GBR), 435.0; 5. Nina Christen (SUI), 424.4; 6. Xiangyan Wan (CHN), 414.3; 7. Jenny Stene (NOR), 404.7; 8. Franziska Peer (AUT), 400.9.

Team 50 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Germany (Straub, Beer, Orth), 3,521 (World Record; new event); 2. Denmark (Ibsen, Neilsen, Grundsoee), 3,518; 3. Russia (Kairmova, Khorosheva, Zykova), 3,511; 4. China, 3,510; 5. Norway, 3,503; 6. Korea, 3,501; 7. United States (Sarah Beard, Sagen Maddalena, Mackensie Martin), 3,493; 8. Austria, 3,491.

300 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Sohee Bae (KOR), 592; 2. Eva Roesken (GER), 588; 3. Silvia Guignard Schnyder (SUI), 586; 4. Elin Ahlin (SWE), 585; 5. Lisa Mueller (GER), 584; 6. Helen Freiman (NZL), 584; 7. Charlotte Jakobsen (DEN), 583; 8. Bitna Eum (NOR), 582. Also: 13. Sarah Beard (USA), 580; … Reya Kempley (USA), 573; … 32. Denise Loring (USA), 562.

Team 300 m Rifle/Prone: 1. Germany (Roesken, Mueller, Beer), 1,748; 2. Korea (Sohee Bae, Eum, Sang Bae), 1,737; 3. Switzerland (Guignard Schnyder, Bruehlmann, Schnider), 1,737; 4. Sweden, 1,734; 5. Ukraine, 1,731; 6. Austria, 1,726; 7. Estonia, 1,725; 8. Poland, 1,719. Also: 9. United States (Sarah Beard, Reya Kempley, Denise Loring), 1,715.

300 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Mueller (GER), 1,161 (World Record; new event); 2. Jolyn Beer (GER), 1,161 (equals World Record); 3. Ahlin (SWE), 1,159; 4. Franzisak Peer (AUT), 1,157; 5. Beard (USA), 1,154; 6. Sohee Bae (KOR), 1,150; 7. Guignard Schnyder (SUI), 1,150; 8. Roesken (GER), 1,147. Also: 23. Kempley (USA), 1,117; … 30. Loring (USA), 1,053.

Team 300 m Rifle/3 Positions: 1. Germany (Mueller, Beer, Roesken), 3,469 (World Record; new event); 2. Austria (Peer, Hofmann, Ungerank), 3,436; 3. Switzerland (Guignard Schnyder, Schnider, Bruehlmann), 3,429; 4. Sweden, 3.419; 5. Korea, 3,373; 6. Ukraine, 3,370; 7. Estonia, 3,368; 8. Poland, 3,365. Also: 9. United States (Beard, Kempley, Loring), 3,324.

Skeet: 1. Caitlin Connor (USA), 57; 2. Kim Rhode (USA), 56; 3. Amber English (USA), 46; 4. Danka Bartenova (SVK), 36; 5. Natalia Vinogradova (RUS), 26; 6. Andri Eleftheriou (CYP), 14.

Team Skeet: 1. United States (Connor, Rhode, English), 355 (World Record, new event); 2. Italy (Spada, Bacosi, Cainero), 347; 3. Cyprus (Eleftheriou, Nikolaou, Andreou), 345; 4. Germany, 341; 5. Thailand, 330; 6. Korea, 329; 7. Poland, 329; 8. Czech Republic, 324.

Trap: 1. Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova (SVK), 45; 2. Xiaojing Wang (CHN), 45 (Rehak Stefecekova won shoot-off, 3-2); 3. Silvana Stanco (ITA), 36; 4. Laetisha Scanlan (AUS), 30; 5. Chun Lin Yi (CHN), 25; 6. Beatriz Martinez (ESP), 19.

Team Trap: 1. Italy (Stanco, Rossi, Iezzi), 343 (World Record; new event); 2. Spain (Martinez, Galvez, Munoz), 342; 3. United States (Kayle Browning, Ashley Carroll, Aeriel Skinner), 339; 4. China, 338; 5. Chinese Taipei, 329; 6. Finland, 329; 7. Korea, 326; 8. India, 325.

Mixed

Team 10 m Air Pistol: 1. Vitalina Batsarashkina/Artem Chernousov (RUS), 488.1; 2. Qian Wang/Meng Yi Wang (CHN), 480.2; 3. Olena Kostevych/Oleh Omelchuk (UKR), 416.7; 4. Zorana Arunovic/Damir Mikec (SRB), 376.7; 5. Sonia Franquet/Pablo Carrera (ESP), 331.6.

Team 10 m Air Rifle: 1. Ruozhu Zhao/Haoran Yang (CHN), 500.9; 2. Mingyang Wu/Buhan Song (CHN), 500.6; 3. Anastasia Galashina/Vladimir Maslennikov (RUS), 434.2; 4. Laura-Georgeta Coman/Alin George Moldoveanu (ROU), 390.5; 5. Isabella Straub/Maximillian Dallinger (GER), 346.9.

Team Mixed Trap: 1. Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova/Erik Varga (SVK), 45; 2. Ekaterina Rabaya/Alexey Alipov (RUS), 40; 3. Kirsty Barr/Aaron Heading (GBR), 33; 4. Silvana Stanco/Mauro de Filippis (ITA), 28; 5. Jessica Rossi/Giovanni Pellielo (ITA), 22; 6. Safiye Sariturk/Oguzhan Tuzun (TUR), 18.

MODERN PENTATHLON: Cooke & Prokopenko surprise for Worlds golds in Mexico City

By
Rich Perelman
-

The men’s and women’s finals in the UIPM World Championships in Mexico City (MEX) both featured come-from-behind wins by first-time World Champions, determined by the final event, the Laser Run.

In the men’s race, the 2014 Worlds silver medalist. Amro El Geziry – then competing for Egypt, but now for the United States, started the Laser Run in the lead! But it didn’t last long, as he shot poorly and eventually faded to 36th in the event and finished 27th overall.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s 2015 World Champion, Pavlo Tymoshchenko was moving up smartly, but also faded on the last lap and shot poorly in the final series. That left an opening for France’s Valentin Prades – a member of the 2013 World Team Champions – to grab the lead and he looked like the winner, starting to celebrate around the final turn on the track. But unheralded James Cooke (GBR) was also coming on and launched a final sprint – remember the 2,200 m/7,217 feet of altitude! – and caught Prades at the line in a photo finish.

This wasn’t a surprise, it was a stunner. In Cooke’s best three World Cup outings in 2018, he finished seventh, 25th and 35th! He won his first World Championships medal, as did Prades, but it will be a while before Cooke actually believes he did it! He said afterwards, “I saw Valentin go past me and I thought ‘oh no’, but I just dug in and kept going and see what could happen, and I just found in the last 100m that I had something left in my legs.”

Anastasiia Prokopenko (BLR) was also well back – by 60 seconds and in 12th place – at the start of the women’s laser Run, but as an ace shooter, she quickly made up the deficit on France’s Marie Oteiza (FRA) and Hungary’s Sarolta Kovacs to move into a medal position.

When German Annika Schleu spent 26 seconds on the shooting range during the final lap and Prokopenko finished in nine, she was able to run to the finish first. After winning her first World Championships medal – a bronze in 2017 – she is now World Champion at 33. With Oteiza finishing third, all three on the podium earned their first World Championships medals.

It was a good Worlds for France, which won the men’s Team and Team Relay title in addition to Prades’s silver and had five medals in all. The top women’s effort came from Prokopenko and Belarus, which also won the women’s Team Relay. Germany won four medals, taking the Mixed Team Relay and medals in each of the three women’s events. Summaries:

UIPM World Championships
Mexico City (MEX) ~ 6-13 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men: 1. James Cooke (GBR), 1,435; 2. Valentin Prades (FRA), 1,435; 3. Pavlo Tymoshchenko (UKR), 1,429; 4. Jan Kuf (CZE), 1,425; 5. Ahmed Hamed (EGY), 1,424; 6. Valentin Belaud (FRA), 1,420; 7. Alvaro Sandoval (MEX), 1,416; 8. Linbin Zhang (CHN), 1,413. Also: 14. Brendan Anderson (USA), 1,396; … 27. Amro Elgeziry (USA), 1,368.

Men/Team: 1. France (Prades, Belaud, Loubet), 4,250; 2. Great Britain (Cooke, Pillage, Choong), 4,176; 3. Ukraine (Tymoshchenko, Pavlyuk, Fedechko), 4,151; 4. China, 4,413; 5. Germany, 4,119; 6. Mexico, 4,025; 7. Italy, 3,900; 8. Hungary, 3,883. Also: 12. United States (Amro Elgeziry, Millett, Anderson), 3,789.

Men/Team Relay: 1. Alexandre Henrard/Valentin Belaud (FRA), 1,518; 2. Jan Kuf/Martin Vlach (CZE), 1,513; 3. Todor Mihalev/Yavor Peshleevski (BUL), 1,482; 4. Yaraslau Radziuk/Ilya Palazkov (BLR), 1,475; 5. Yu Zhang/Shuai Luo (CHN), 1,470; 6. Oleg Naumov/Egor Puchkarevskiy (RUS), 1,462; 7. Dmytro Baliuk/Dmytro Kirpulyanskyy (UKR), 1,459; 8. Pavel Ilyashenko/Vladislav Michshenko (KAZ), 1,452.

Women: 1. Anastasia Prokopenko (BLR), 1,346; 2. Annika Schleu (GER), 1,332; 3. Marie Oteiza (FRA), 1,329; 4. Zsofia Foldhazi (HUN), 1,320; 5. Uliana Batashova (RUS), 1,318; 6. Sarolta Kovacs (HUN), 1,312; 7. Janine Kohlmann (GER), 1,310; 8. Mayan Oliver (MEX), 1,302. Also: 36. Samantha Achterberg (USA), 943.

Women/Team: 1. Hungary (Kovacs, Foldhazi, Alekszejev), 3,924; 2. France (Oteiza, Belhamri, Clouvel), 3,918; 3. Germany (Schleu, Kohlmann, Matthes), 3,914; 4. Russia, 3,865; 5. Great Britain, 3,811; 6. Italy, 3,503; 7. Mexico, 3,471l 8. China, 3,448. Also: 11. United States (Samantha Achtenberg, Jessica Davis, Naomi Ross), 2,608.

Women/Team Relay: 1. Anastasiya Prokopenko/Iryna Prasiantsova (BLR), 1,381; 2. Ronja Steinborn/Annika Schleu (GER), 1,364; 3. Sofia Cabrera/Sophia Hernandez (GUA), 1,353; 4. Yufei Bian/Xiaonan Zhang (CHN), 1,338; 5. Blanka Guzi/Michelle Gulyas (HUN), 1,322; 6. Soo Jin Yang/Juhye Choi (KOR), 1,317; 7. Pamela Zapata/Ayelen Zapata (ARG), 1,288; 8. Karol Gonzalez/ Catherine Mayran Oliver (MEX), 1,276. Also: 10. Naomi Ross/Sam Achtenberg (USA), 1,212.

Mixed/Team Relay: 1. Rebecca Langrehr/Fabrian Liebig (GER), 1,452; 2. Michelle Gulyas/Gergo Bruckmann (HUN), 1,427; 3. Emma Riff/Alexandre Henrard (FRA), 1.416; 4. Elena Potapenko/Pavel Ilyashenko (KAZ), 1,411; 5. Elishka Pribylova/Ondrej Polivka (CZE), 1.402; 6. Mingyu Zhang/Shuhuan Li (CHN), 1,399; 7. Anna Buriak/Oleg Naumov (RUS), 1,387; 8. Sergio Flores, Melissa Mireles (MEX), 1,380. Also: 13. Naomi Ross/Seamus Millett (USA), 1,311.

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