GYMNASTICS: Russian sweep continues at Rhythmic World Champs

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September 14, 2018

The unstoppable force that is Russia is closing in on a gold-medal sweep of the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Sofia (BUL).

With only the All-Around remaining among the individual events, Dina Averina has taken the Hoop, Ball and Clubs titles, and Alexsandra Soldatova won the Ribbon final. Both added another gold with the Team title. The remaining schedule includes:

∙ 14 September:
All-Around final 2017: 1. Dina Averina (RUS)

∙ 15 September:
Group All-Around final 2017: 1. Russia

∙ 16 September:
Group 5 Hoops final 2017: 1. Italy
Group 3 Balls + 2 Ropes final 2017: 1. Russia

Other nations have earned medals, however. Israel’s Linoy Ashram won the silver in Hoop and bronze in Ribbon; Italy’s Alexandra Agiurgiuculese claimed the bronze medal in Ball and Milena Baldassarri won the silver in Ribbon. Bulgaria’s Katsiaryna Halkina took the silver in Clubs, but either Averina, Soldatova or Dona’s twin sister, Arina Averina, have won the rest. That’s seven Russian medals in the four individual medals vs. five for everyone else.

Look for results here. Summaries so far:

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

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

Ball: 1. D. Averina (RUS), 20.300; 2. Aleksandra Soldatova (RUS), 20.200; 3. Alexandra Agiurgiuculese (ITA), 19.900; 4. Baldasarri (ITA), 19.500; 5. Zelikman (ISR), 19.400; 6. Katsiaryna 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.

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: Hurricane Florence impacting World Equestrian Games

By

Rich Perelman

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September 14, 2018

The World Equestrian Games at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina is underway, but already suffering from the effects of wet weather and high humidity, some of which is directly attributable to the impact of Hurricane Florence.

The Endurance competition, a non-Olympic event, was canceled because of the danger to the horses. The schedule of the remaining events is subject to change as more rain is forecast for the area.

Two events did get completed in the middle of the week:

∙ Reining (non-Olympic): The Reining Team event was won by the U.S. over Belgium and Germany, the fifth World Equestrian Games gold for the American squad. The event was introduced in 1998 and the U.S. has won every time.

∙ Dressage: Germany defended its 2014 title, with the peerless Isabell Werth the only member of the winners from four years ago. The U.S. finished second and Great Britain third.

The Germans have medaled in this event in all eight editions of the World Equestrian Games and Werth has been a part of six of those in 1994-98-2006-10-14-18. It’s the third straight medal in the World Equestrian Games for Britain, but the first in Team dressage for the U.S. since 2006.

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

∙ Dressage:
14 September Grand Prix Special
16 September Grand Prix Freestyle

∙ Jumping:
21 September Team Competition
23 September Individual Competition

∙ Eventing:
16 September Jumping segment

∙ Driving:
23 September Team and Individual

∙ Reining:
15 September Individual Competition

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

In terms of the Olympic disciplines, the individual favorites are indicated by the most recent championship finals and current FEI World Rankings:

∙ Dressage:
○ 2016 Olympic Games: 1. Charlotte Dujardin (GBR) 2. Isabell Werth (GER)
○ 2017 World Cup Final: 1. Isabell Werth (GER) 2. Laura Graves (USA)
○ 2018 World Cup Final: 1. Isabell Werth (GER) 2. Laura Graves (USA)
○ 2018 FEI Rankings: 1. Isabell Werth (GER) 2. Laura Graves (USA)

∙ Jumping:
○ 2016 Olympic Games: 1. Nick Skelton (GBR) 2. Peter Fredricson (SWE)
○ 2017 World Cup Final: 1. McLain Ward (USA) 2. Romain Duguet (SUI)
○ 2018 World Cup Final: 1. Beezie Madden (USA) 2. Devin Ryan (USA)
○ 2018 FEI Rankings: 1. Harrie Smolders (NED) 2. McLain Ward (USA)

∙ Eventing:
○ 2016 Olympic Games: 1. Michael Jung (GER) 2. Astier Nicolas (FRA)
○ 2018 FEI Rankings: 1. Oliver Townend (GBR) 2. Tim Price (NZL)

NBC has extensive coverage of the WEG, with 65 hours of total coverage planned on NBC, NBCSN and the NBC Olympic Channel; the schedule is here. Look for results here.

CYCLING: Simon Yates three stages away from a Vuelta a Espana title

By

Rich Perelman

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September 14, 2018

The 73rd La Vuelta a Espana has essentially come down to a three-day match race between Britain’s Simon Yates and Spain’s Alejandro Valverde.

During Wednesday’s brutal uphill finish into heavy fog on Stage 17, Valverde, 38, managed to shave eight seconds off of the 26-year-old Yates’s lead and trails by 25 seconds with three stages to go.

The other “contenders” – if we can realistically call them that – are all more than a minute back, including Enric Mas (ESP: -1:33), Miguel Angel Lopez (COL: -1:36), Steven Kruijswijk (NED: -1:48) and Nairo Quintana (COL: -2:11).

The Friday and Saturday stages are both rough: Stage 19 is mostly flat, but then finishes with a long ascent of more than 1,000 m over the final 17 km and Stage 20 is the meanest of all, with six major climbs and an uphill finish at the Coll de la Gallina. Sunday’s stage is a flat, sprinter’s stage into Madrid.

True, at last May’s Giro d’Italia, Yates was riding brilliantly and wearing the Maglio Rosa after 18 stages … and then blew up. He finished 79th in Stage 19 and ended up in 21st place overall. But he seems poised to be 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.

NBC has daily coverage of La Vuelta on either NBCSN or the NBC Olympic Channel, usually beginning at 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. Summaries and stage notes:

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. Di 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: 14 September Lleida to Andorra. (154.4 km; mountains)
Stage 20: 15 September Escaldes-Engordany to Coll de la Gallina (97.3 km; mountains)
Stage 21: 16 September Alcorcon to Madrid (112.3 km; flat)

SWIMMING Preview: Penultimate Open Water World Cup lands in China

By

Rich Perelman

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September 14, 2018

The 2018 Open Water Marathon World Series is nearing the end, with just two events to go. The eighth stop in the series is in Chun’An (CHN) for men’s and women’s races on Sunday (16th).

The series standings would be useful to show, but the FINA Web site (as of 13 September) only only updated through four races and not six, so we can’t provide current information. But relative to the six races held so far, we can say:

∙ Men: There have been six winners in six races so far, with Ferry Weertman (NED) and Simone Ruffini (ITA) the only swimmers with two medals. Weertman, the Olympic champ in Rio in 2016, won the first race of the year in Doha (QAT) and was second at Balatonfured (HUN). Ruffini, the 25 km World Champion from 2017, won the second race at the Seychelles and was third in Doha.

∙ Women: Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha, the three-time 25 km World Champion, has been superb this season with two wins and a second in the six races, and is the only three-time medalist. Four others have won two medals so far: Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED: 1st +2nd), Haley Anderson (USA: 1+2), Rachele Bruni (ITA: 2+3) and Samantha Arevalo (ECU: 3+3).

Hungary’s Kristof Rasovszky won last year’s race at Chun’An ahead of Brazil’s Allan Do Carmo and Cunha won the women’s division ahead of Bridi.

Prize money in this event is $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).

Look for results here.

SURFING Preview: World Surfing Games start in Tahara

By

Rich Perelman

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September 14, 2018

Although not yet an Olympic qualifier – that comes next year – the World Surfing Games brings together the top surfers in the world, this time off of Tahara (JPN), about 300 km from the site of the 2020 Olympic surfing events.
It’s the first time the World Surfing Games has been held in Japan since 1990; the event dates back to the World Surfing Championships from 1964.

As for this year, the top surfers, including both defending champions, are expected to compete. The top placers from the last three:

∙ Men/2017:
1. Jhony Corzo (MEX)
2. Joan Duru (PER)
3. Pedro Henrique (POR)
4. Jonathan Gonzalez (ESP)

∙ Men/2016:
1. Leandro Usuna (ARG)
2. Lucca Messinas (PER)
3. Noe Mar McGonagle (CRC)
4. Francisco Bellorin (VEN)

∙ Men/2015:
1. Noe Mar McGonagle (CRC)
2. Nicolau von Rupp (POR)
3. Shane Holmes (AUS)
4. Leandro Usuna (ARG)

∙ Women/2017:
1. Pauline Ado (FRA)
2. Johanne Defray (FRA)
3. Leilani McGonagle (CRC)
4. Bianca Buitendag (RSA)

∙ Women/2016:
1. Tia Blanco (USA)
2. Dominic Barona (ECU)
3. Pauline Ado (FRA)
4. Justine Dupont (FRA)

∙ Women/2015:
1. Tia Blanco (USA)
2. Leilani McGonagle (CRC)
3. Ella Williams (NZL)
4. Chelsea Tuach (BAR)

Other former champions scheduled to compete include Santiago Muniz (ARG: 2011) among the men and Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS: 2008) and Peru’s Sofía Mulanovich (2004) and Analí Gomez (2014) in the women’s division. Argentina’s Usuna, the 2016 winner, also won in 2014.

Some 202 riders from 42 nations are expected in Tahara, with Iran, Hungary, and Philippines making their first appearances in the event. The competition, weather permitting, will be held from 16-22 September.

Look for results here.

KARATE Preview: Sixth Premier League tournament is in Berlin

By

Rich Perelman

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September 14, 2018

A massive entry list of 763 fighters from 72 nations is entered is the next-to-last Karate 1 Premier League tournament of the season, in Berlin (GER). The top-ranked entries in each division, with their current world rankings:

Men:
∙ Kata: 1. Ryo Kiyuna (JPN: 1) 2. Hugo Quintero (ESP: 2)
∙ Kumite -60: 1. Sadriddin Saymatov (UZB: 1) 2. Eray Samdan (TUR: 2)
∙ Kumite -67: 1. Burak Uygur (TUR: 1) 2. Vicinius Figueria (BRA: 2)
∙ Kumite -75: 1. Rafael Aghayev (AZE: 1) 2. Stanislav Horuna (UKR: 2)
∙ Kumite -84: 1. Aykhan Mamayev (AZE: 1) 2. Ugur Aktas (TUR: 2)
∙ Kumite +84: 1. Jonathan Horne (GER: 1) 2. Sajad Ganjzadeh (IRI: 2)

Women:
∙ Kata: 1. Jamie Sandra Sanchez (ESP: 1) 2. Kiyou Shimizu (JPN: 2)
∙ Kumite -50: 1. Arapoglu Serap Ozcelik (TUR: 1) 2. Miho Miyahara (JPN: 2)
∙ Kumite -55: 1. Anzhelika Terliuga (UKR: 1) 2. Wen Tzu Yun (TPE: 2)
∙ Kumite -61: 1. Xiaoyan Yin (CHN: 1) 2. Anita Serogina (UKR: 2)
∙ Kumite -68: 1. Elena Quirici (SUI: 1) 2. Katrine Pedersen (DEN: 2)
∙ Kumite +68: 1. Ayumi Uekusa (JPN: 1) 2. Meltem Hocaoglu (TUR: 2)

Prize money of € 750-500-200 will be available to the top three finishers in each category.

The final tournament of the season will be from 12-14 October in Tokyo (JPN). Look for results from Berlin here.

GYMNASTICS Preview: Pan American Artistic Champs start in Lima

By

Rich Perelman

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September 14, 2018

The 2018 Pan American Gymnastics Championships start Friday in Lima (PER) as essentially a qualifier for the 2019 Pan American Games, also to be held in Lima. The top eight teams in both the men’s and women’s competitions will qualify full teams for the 2019 PAG.

This is the 12th edition of the event, being held in Lima for the second straight year. Originated in 1989, it’s now held for all events quadrennially and for each apparatus in other years which do not conflict with the Pan American Games.

The U.S. has not paid too much attention to this event since 2014, the last time it was a Pan American Games qualifier. USA Gymnastics is sending essentially its “B” team to this event (references are to finishes at the 2018 USA Gymnastics Championships in Boston):

Men:
∙ Cameron Bock (7th: all-Around)
∙ Spencer Goodell (3rd: Junior All-Around)
∙ Riley Loos (2nd: Junior All-Around)
∙ Kanji Oyama (10th: All-Around)
∙ Genki Suzuki (9: All-Around)

Women:
∙ Jade Carey (6th: All-Around)
∙ Kara Eaker (7th: All-Around)
∙ Shilese Jones (5th: All-Around)
∙ Grace McCallum (4th: All-Around)
∙ Trinity Thomas (8th: All-Around)

In 2014, the U.S. men won the team title and three other medals in the individual apparatus finals. The U.S. women dominated the event, winning the team title, the All-Around (Mykayla Skinner) and three of the four apparatus finals, with Skinner taking the Vault and Floor, and Ashton Locklear in Uneven Bars.

Look for results here.

CYCLING Preview: D’Hoore looks for third straight Madrid Challenge

By

Rich Perelman

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September 14, 2018

The next-to-last race in the UCI Women’s World Tour comes this weekend in Spain with two races in the La Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta:

∙ Stage 1: 12.6 km Flat: Team Time Trial in Boadilla del Monte
∙ Stage 2: 100.3 km Flat: 100.3 km with 17 laps of a 5.9 km loop in Madrid

In terms of the seasonal Women’s World Cup rankings:

1. 1,411.86 Annemiek van Vleuten (NED)
2. 1,394.88 Marianne Vos (NED)
3. 1,323.33 Anna van der Breggen (NED)
4. 1,213.86 Amanda Spratt (AUS)
5. 1,012.95 Ashleigh Moolman (RSA)

The start list for the race (as of Thursday) did not show any of the top five, but three prior medalists are returning. The winner from 2016 and 2017, Belgium’s Jolien D’Hoore will try for her third straight title, while last year’s runner-up – Coryn Rivera of the U.S. – and bronze medalist Roxane Fournier (FRA) are also back.

Look for results here.

ATHLETICS Preview: France’s Mayer looking for statement win in Talence

By

Rich Perelman

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September 14, 2018

The final competition of the 2018 IAAF Combined Events Challenge comes at the annual Decastar meeting in Talence (FRA), perfectly set up for a rebound performance for France’s Kevin Mayer.

After pressing Ashton Eaton (USA) at the 2016 Olympic Games and settling for a silver medal with a brilliant score of 8,834 (no. 6 all-time), he became World Champion in 2017 at 8,768, the best score of the year.

But he crashed out of the 2018 European Championships and by his own admission, will be looking for “redemption” in Talence.

Truth be told, Mayer’s career in the decathlon has had as many lows as highs. Of his 26 career decathlons, he’s only finished 14! And since his silver in Rio, he’s completed only one of five: the World Championships in 2017. Ouch!

He was fifth in Talence in 2012, then didn’t finish in 2014 or 2016. So he’s looking for redemption for sure. The top competitors expected in Talence:

Men:
∙ 8,834 ‘16 Kevin Mayer (FRA) ~ 2017 World Champion, 2016 Olympic silver medalist
∙ 8,605 ‘16 Arthur Abele (GER) ~ 2018 European Champion
∙ 8,601 ‘17 Ilya Shkurenov (RUS) ~ 2018 European Championships silver medalist
∙ 8,342 ‘18 Pieter Braun (NED) ~ no. 4 on the 2018 World list
∙ 8,308 ‘14 Keisuke Ushiro (JPN) ~ 2014 & 2018 Asian Games gold medalist
∙ 8,290 ‘18 Vitali Zhuk (BLR) ~ 2018 European Championships bronze medalist
∙ 8,191 ‘16 Bastien Auzeil (FRA) ~ 13th at the 2016 Olympic Games

Women:
∙ 6,836 ‘17 Carolin Schafer (GER) ~ 2017 World Championships silver medalist
∙ 6,400 ‘18 Katerina Cachova (CZE) ~ Sixth at the 2018 European Championships
∙ 6,390 ‘17 Xenia Krizsan (HUN) ~ Ninth at the 2017 World Championships
∙ 6,357 ‘17 Geraldine Ruckstahl (SUI) ~ Ninth at the 2018 European Championships
∙ 6,337 ‘18 Verena Preiner (AUT) ~ 2017 World University Games champion
∙ 6,280 ‘17 Grit Sadeiko (EST) ~ 12th at the 2018 European Championships
∙ 6,230 ‘18 Esther Turpin (FRA) ~ 11th at the 2018 European Championships

Look for results here.

ATHLETICS Preview: World marathon records in peril at Berlin

By

Rich Perelman

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September 14, 2018

tsx pix 50717-kipchoge, eliud 667x500 — Another sub-2:00 marathon try for Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge

Thanks to its flat, fast course, the home of the world marathon record is the Berlin Marathon.

The 45th edition of this famous race comes Sunday, with strong attempts expected to be made on both the men’s and women’s world marks. Since Kenya’s Paul Tergat ran 2:04:55 in 2003, the men’s world record has belonged to this race, with five improvements coming in 2007-08-11-13-14.

The Berlin race has been the site for women’s world marks in 1999 and 2001, but the fastest times of late have come in London, including British star Paula Radcliffe’s amazing 2:15:25 in a mixed-gender race in 2003 and the 2:07:01 “women’s only” mark for Mary Keitany (KEN) in 2017.

The top entries for 2018:

Men:
∙ 2:03:05 ‘16 Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) ~ 2016 Olympic Champion, no. 4 all-time (2:03:05)
∙ 2:03:13 ‘15 Wilson Kipsang (KEN) ~ 2012 Olympic bronze, no. 6 all-time (2:03:13)
∙ 2:05:21 ‘15 Eliud Kiptanui (KEN) ~ Set PR in Berlin for second in 2015
∙ 2:05:43 ‘17 Amos Kipruto (KEN) ~ Third in Tokyo Marathon in 2018 (2:06:33)
∙ 2:05:50 ‘18 Abera Kuma (ETH) ~ PR for second in Amsterdam in April

Kipchoge is the unquestioned favorite and, despite his comments otherwise, has Dennis Kimetto’s 2014 world record – set in Berlin – of 2:02:57 in his sights. Kipchoge has run 10 career marathons and won nine, including his last eight in a row from 2014-18, not including his 2:00:25 time trial in Monza last year. The last marathon he lost was in Berlin in 2013, but he won this race in 2015 and 2017. He won the London Marathon in 2:04:17 in April. His marathon prowess is so great that it’s often forgotten that he was the World Champion in the 5,000 m way back in 2003!

Besides Kipchoge, there are only four runners with bests under 2:06 in the race, led by former world-record holder Wilson Kipsang (KEN). He set the then-record of 2:03:23 in winning the 2013 Berlin Marathon, ran second in Berlin in 2016 (2:03:13) and won in Tokyo last year in 2:03:58. He’s run under 2:04:00 four times!

Women:
∙ 2:17:56 ‘17 Tirunesh Dibaba (ETH) ~ Triple Olympic gold, no. 3 all-time (2:17:56)
∙ 2:19:25 ‘15 Gladys Cherono (KEN) ~ Won Berlin in ‘15 & ‘17; Half-Mar World Champ ‘14
∙ 2:19:31 ’12 Aselefech Mergia (KEN) ~ World Champs bronze ‘09; London winner in 2010
∙ 2:19:50 ‘12 Edna Kiplagat (KEN) ~ 2011 and 2013 World Champion; silver in 2017
∙ 2:20:41 ‘17 Ruti Aga (ETH) ~ Third at Berlin 2016 and second in 2017

If Dibaba, who will turn 33 on 1 October, is fit, she could threaten Radcliffe’s 2003 absolute world record of 2:15:25 or Keitany’s women’s-only mark of 2:17:01. But Dibaba has had only mixed success in her four career marathons, finishing third (2:20:35) in London in 2014, second in London (2:17:56 national record) in London in 2017, win in Chicago in 2017 (2:18:31) and then didn’t finish in London earlier this year. Of course, she’s a triple Olympic gold medalist at the 10,000 m (2008-12) and 5,000 m (2008) and a nine-time World Champion in Cross Country and track from 2003-13.

This will be only the third race of the year for Dibaba, after the DNF in London and a 10 km road race win in Manchester (GBR) in May.

Kenya’s Kiplagat ranks only 22nd all-time with her 2012 best of 2:19:50, but she is at her best in championship racing, with two World Championships golds, a silver and a fifth in the last four races in 2011-13-15-17. In the World Marathon Majors, she been on the podium consistently: in the last three years, she won Boston in 2017, was second in Chicago in 2016, third in Tokyo in 2016 and fourth in New York last year. She was eighth in the miserable conditions at Boston in April, so she’ll be looking for redemption here. A PR perhaps, at age 38?

There’s substantial prize money on the line, with € 40,000-20,000-15,000-12,000-10,000-7,500-5,000-4,000-3,000-2,000 available to the top 10 finishers in both the men’s and women’s races. There is also a € 50,000 bonus for a world record and time bonuses for times under 2:04 and 2:05 for men and 2:19 and 2:20:30 for women.

The overall race will include an impressive 49,980 marathon runners from 133 nations and some 70,000 racers combined in all of the events over the marathon weekend.

NBCSN will have live coverage from Berlin beginning at 3 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday morning. Look for results here.

THE BIG PICTURE: Now a joint Korean bid for 2032?

By

Rich Perelman

-

September 14, 2018

The latest bombshell from the Korean Peninsula is a report from South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency that the South Korean government will propose a joint bid with North Korea for the 2032 Olympic Games.

South Korean minister for sports, Jong-Hwan Do, indicated that the suggestion would be made at next week’s meeting in Pyongyang (PRK) with the North Korean leadership. Said Do, “I plan to make this proposal to the North for the settlement of peace.”

In addition, a joint bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup with the two Koreas and Japan is also being promoted as a way to further peace in the region. (Japan and South Korea co-hosted the 2002 World Cup.)

The two Koreas fielded joint teams in canoeing, rowing and women’s basketball at the recent Asian Games in Indonesia, and the entries won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

THE BIG PICTURE: Calgary’s 2026 bid lives another day …

By

Rich Perelman

-

September 14, 2018

The Calgary bid for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games lived to fight another day after a closed-door, late-night vote continued the bid by a 12-3 vote.

The Council members could still kill the bid at a future date, but the 13 November date for the city-wide referendum was approved, meaning the public debate over the bid is now about to start.

A detailed plan for the bid was also presented during the day and posted for public review. The “Draft Hosting Plan Concept” runs 80 pages and was compiled by the Council-authorized Calgary 2026 Bid Corporation, which called the potential hosting of the 2026 Winter Games “a rare opportunity to renew and develop facilities that are community priorities, and to strengthen our communities and quality of life,” and that “To be successful the Olympic and Paralympic Games must be seen by government partners and citizens as a worthwhile multi-faceted investment in community building.” Now it starts…

LANE ONE: Tokyo 2020 swimming schedule will allow six medals each for Ledecky & Dressel

By

Rich Perelman

-

September 14, 2018

What will become one of the most hyped-up attractions of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo was perhaps decided very quietly on Wednesday.

The Tokyo organizers released the day-by-day schedule for the swimming events for the 2020 Games and with it, the medals ceilings for American superstars Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel.

For Ledecky, the event schedule shows the real possibility of medals in six events, but while she will be favored in three, it would be a Herculean effort to get to six and tie East Germany swimmer Kirsten Otto for the most gold medals by a woman in a single Games: six in 1988.

So what does the schedule show and what are Ledecky’s possibilities to make history? First, it’s important to note that the 2020 Olympic schedule – thanks to three added events in the men’s 800 m Freestyle, women’s 1,500 m Free and the mixed-gender 4×100 m Medley – has been extended from eight days in Rio to nine days in Tokyo. That’s good for swimmers with a heavy workload like Ledecky. Second, remember that the heats are in the evening and semis and finals in the morning:

∙ 25 July:
(p.m.) 4×100 m Freestyle heats

Ledecky has consistently swum in the Olympic Trials in the 100 m with the idea to make the relay team. Given the rest of the schedule, she might be on at least the 4×100 Free team in the prelims, so that if the U.S. won in the final (perhaps without her), she would get a medal. The U.S. won this event at the 2017 Worlds with Ledecky on third leg.

∙ 26 July:
(a.m.) 4×100 m Freestyle final
(p.m.) 400 m Freestyle heats

∙ 27 July:
(a.m.): 400 m Freestyle final
(p.m.): 1,500 m Freestyle heats

Ledecky will be the favorite in the 400 m Free, but Australia’s Ariarne Titmus is going to test her. But this early in the program, Ledecky will have an edge. Having to swim the mile prelims in the evening shouldn’t be more than a workout for Ledecky.

∙ 28 July:
(a.m.): 200 m Freestyle semis

This is essentially a rest day for Ledecky, as she should make the 200 m final without too much difficulty. But does she care about what lane she swims in for the final? But the stretching of the schedule from eight to nine days helps her here.

∙ 29 July:
(a.m.): 200 m Freestyle final
(a.m.) 1,500 m Freestyle final
(p.m.): 4×200 m Freestyle heats

A rough day: the 200 m Free final in which she finished second in the 2017 Worlds and third in the 2018 Pan-Pacific Championships is her toughest event by far. Then after an all-out effort, she will have to come back in about an hour to swim the 1,500 m, an event she has dominated. She likely won’t have to swim in the 4×200 m Free prelims.

∙ 30 July:
(a.m.): 4×200 m Freestyle final
(p.m.) 800 m Freestyle heats

She’ll be all-out for the 4×200 m Free, which Australia won at the 2018 Pan-Pacific Champs. Ledecky could be chasing a fifth gold in that race and if she wins it, would be an overwhelming favorite to win the 800 m the next day.

∙ 01 August:
(a.m.) 800 m Freestyle final

No doubt she’s the favorite in this race, which she won in London and Rio; will she win a sixth gold with a world record?

For those conjuring up ideas of Ledecky running after Mark’s Spitz’s 1972 total of seven golds or Michael Phelps and his eight golds in Beijing, it doesn’t seem possible. Ledecky is not a sprinter, so the 100 m Free is not realistic and she has not been able to master a second stroke, so although she has toyed with the 400 m Medley, she isn’t a medal contender by a long way. But, she could look for a six-pack to tie Otto, but will – as the song says – need a little help from her friends.

Dressel has the same issue: he needs help, but the Olympic program is only going to allow him to get to six golds if everything breaks right.

True, he won seven at the 2017 World Championships, but that was because the Worlds have the 50 m races in all strokes and not just in Freestyle. The nine-day schedule helps Dressel as well, but especially with the relays:

∙ 26 July:
(p.m.) 4×100 m Freestyle heats

∙ 27 July:
(a.m.) 4×100 m Freestyle final

∙ 28 July:
(p.m.) 100 m Freestyle heats
(p.m.) 4×200 m Freestyle heats

∙ 29 July:
(a.m.) 100 m Freestyle semis
(a.m.) 4×200 m Freestyle final

∙ 30 July:
(a.m.) 100 m Freestyle final
(p.m.) 100 m Butterfly heats
(p.m.) Mixed 4×100 m Medley

∙ 31 July:
(a.m.) 100 m Butterfly semis
(p.m.) 50 m Freestyle heats
(p.m.) 4×100 m Medley heats

∙ 01 August:
(a.m.) 100 m Butterfly final
(a.m.) 50 m Freestyle semis
(a.m.) Mixed 4×100 m Medley final

∙ 02 August:
(a.m.) 50 m Freestyle final
(a.m.) 4×100 m Medley final

Dressel’s workload appears lighter than Ledecky’s, but his medal count will depend on being the best U.S. sprinter, ahead of Michael Andrew – who won the U.S. 50 m Free and 50 m Fly titles in 2018 while Dressel was hurt – and other U.S. stars like Nathan Adrian and Blake Pieroni. Even so, if Dressel were to be in the same form as at the 2017 Worlds, he could win the 50-100 Frees, 100 Fly and on the 4×100 m Free Relay – that’s four possible golds – but it would be up to the coaches whether he swims the men’s 4×100 m Medley and/or the 4×100 m mixed-gender relay being introduced in Tokyo.

Could Dressel extend his range, say, to the 200 m Free, and by extension, the 4×200 m Free Relay? He hasn’t shown much aptitude for it, and the U.S. has two medal contenders already in Townley Haas and Andrew Seliskar, 1-2 at the 2018 Pan-Pacifics. But if he was good enough to make the relay, he could win a seventh gold if everything fell just right for him.

The key to the huge medal counts in swimming is the relays. In Munich, Spitz won four individual events and three relays. In Beijing, Phelps won five individual events and three relays. In Seoul, Otto won for individual events and two relays. Will the U.S. coaches indulge either Ledecky or Dressel with relay spots that might go to others? Maybe pop them into the heats to earn a medal, depending on what the U.S. team does in the finals?

U.S. Swimming announced its team for the 2019 World Championships on Wednesday, with Ledecky in the 200-400-800-1,500 m Frees and Dressel in the 50-100 m Freestyle and 50-100 m Butterfly … plus relays to be determined.

There’s a lot that can change between now and the Olympic Trials in Omaha in 2020, but with the schedule now in hand, we can see how high the ceiling could be for the U.S.’s brightest swim stars.

Rich Perelman
Editor

TENNIS: U.S. players win “six medals” at U.S. Open

By

Rich Perelman

-

September 12, 2018

Much has been made of the resurgence of American women and the continued dearth of talent among American men in elite tennis, but overall, U.S. players scored six medals at the recently-completed U.S. Open in New York.

Beyond the silver won by Serena Williams in women’s Singles, American players won the men’s Doubles (Mike Bryan and Jack Sock), won a “bronze medal” in the women’s Singles via Madison Keys, had CoCo Vandeweghe on the winning pair in women’s Doubles and had a gold medalist (Bethanie Mattek-Sands) and a “bronze medal”-winning pair in Christina McHale and Christian Harrison in Mixed Doubles. Not bad at all.

Also worth noting with Tokyo 2020 coming on was the women’s title for Naomi Osaka and a “bronze medal” for Kei Nishikori in men’s Singles for Japan. They are right on schedule to be contenders at the Games in front of the home fans. Summaries:

U.S. Open
Queens, New York (USA) ~ 27 August-9 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Novak Djokovic (SRB); 2. Juan Martin del Potro (ARG); 3. Rafael Nadal (ESP) and Kei Nishikori (JPN). Semis: Djokovic d. Nishikori, 3-0; del Potro d. Nadal, 2-0, retired. Final: Djokovic d. del Potro, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Mike Bryan/Jack Sock (USA); 2. Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Marcelo Melo (BRA); 3. Radu Albot (MDA)/Malek Jaziri (TUN) and Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah (COL). Semis: Bryan/Sock d. Albot/Jaziri, 2-1; Kubot/Melo d. Cabal/Farah, 2-1. Final: Bryan/Sock d. Kubot/Melo, 6-3, 6-1.

Women’s Singles: 1. Naomi Osaka (JPN); 2. Serena Williams (USA); 3. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) and Madison Keys (USA). Semis: Osaka d. Keys, 2-0; Williams d. Sevastova, 2-0. Final: Osaka d. Williams, 6-2, 6-4.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Ashleigh Barty (AUS)/CoCo Vandewghe (USA); 2. Timea Babos (HUN)/Kristina Mladenovic (FRA); 3. Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova (CZE) and Samantha Stosur (AUS)/Shuai Zhang (CHN). Semis: Barty/Vandeweghe d. Krejcikova/Siniakova, 2-0; Babos/Mladenovic d. Stosur/Zhang, 2-0. Final: Barty/Vandewghe d. Babos/Mladenovic, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (8-6).

Mixed Doubles: 1. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/Jamie Murray (GBR); 2. Alicja Rosolska (POL)/Nikola Mektic (CRO); 3. Christina McHale/Christian Harrison (USA) and Shuai Zhang (CHN)/John Peers (AUS). Semis: Mattek-Sands/Murray d. McHale/Harrison, 2-1; Rosolska/Mektic d. Zhang/Peers, 2-1. Final: Mattek-Sands/Murray d. Rosolska/Mektic, 2-6, 6-3, 11-9.

SHOOTING: Connor, Rhode and English sweep women’s Skeet at ISSF Worlds!

By

Rich Perelman

-

September 12, 2018

The U.S. hadn’t done a whole lot at the ISSF World Championships in Changwon (KOR). That all changed on Tuesday, as Caitlin Connor, Kim Rhode and Amber English swept the medals in the women’s Skeet event and, of course, won the team gold as well.

The U.S. had high hopes coming into the event, having won the women’s Skeet gold in the previous Worlds, via Brandy Drodz in 2014, Morgan Craft in 2015, and Dania Jo Vizzi in 2017.

In the final, Connor hit her first 34 targets to claim the lead, with Rhode at 37/40 and English also at 37/40. That eliminated the 2001 Worlds silver medalist Danka Bartekova (SVK) from the competition and left the three Americans. English hit 9/10 in the next set, but Connor and Rhode were perfect, so English settled for bronze, her first World Championships medal as a senior.

In the final set, Rhode hit 9/10, but Connor was perfect and claimed her first world title with 57 hits to Rhode’s 56.

Said Connor, 28: “Today’s final was very exciting. I was a little nervous at first, but then I got into the groove and had fun shooting with my teammates.

“I missed two targets [35-36], I had a very bad mount. But that didn’t scare me too much, I knew exactly what I did. I just tried to focus on what I was doing and to move on. I had a little bit of pressure on the last station. But I knew I had broken that pair of targets a thousand times, so I just tried to be smooth and hit them.“

“It feels really good to have three US flags up there. I am glad it was us three. I would like to dedicate this title to my parents. Without them I wouldn’t be here!”

Connor had been second at the 2015 Worlds and has earned six silver medals in World Cup competitions, but her first gold has made her World Champion. The astonishing Rhode earned her fourth World Championships medal and her third in Skeet, including the 2010 World Championship.

USA Shooting noted that the last time the U.S. swept a World Championships event was in 1974 when John Writer, Lones Wigger and Lanny Bassham went 1-2-3 in the men’s 50 m Rifle/3 Positions event in Thun (SUI).

Otherwise, the U.S. had won an individual bronze from Michael McPhail in the men’s 50 m Rifle/3 Positions, a silver in the men’s Team Trap and a bronze in women’s Team Trap. It now has seven medals!

The 2018 championships continue, with only the men’s Skeet remaining, to be contested on 14 September. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

SPORT CLIMBING: World Champs continue with Bouldering, Speed and Combined

By

Rich Perelman

-

September 12, 2018

The IFSC World Championships are continuing in Innsbruck (AUT), with six events remaining on the program:

∙ 13 September: Men’s and Women’s Speed
∙ 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 and Speed so far 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.

∙ Speed:
Men: Danyil Boldyrev (UKR), 373; Dmitrii Timofeev (US), 353; Bassa Mawem (FRA), 311.
Women: Anouck Jaubert (FRA), 436; Mariia Krasavina (RUS), 341; Iullia Kaplina (RUS), 289.

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+.

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+.

GYMNASTICS: Gluckstein wins in PanAm Trampoline Champs

By

Rich Perelman

-

September 12, 2018

American trampoline champion Jeffrey Gluckstein added a gold medal for the Pan American Championships to his trophy case, but Canada won three events.

Sophiane Methot (CAN) won the women’s individual event and the Synchro title with Sarah Milette; the Canadians also won the men’s team event.

The U.S. women were keyed by Nicole Ahsinger, who won three medals: silvers in the individual event and Synchro (with Olivia Simpson) and the team title. The U.S. qualified the full squad of two men and two women for the Pan American Games in Lima next year. Summaries:

Pan American Trampoline Championships
Lima (PER) ~ 7-9 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Jeffrey Gluckstein (USA), 58.820; 2. Jason Burnett (CAN), 58.585; 3. Esaul Ceballos (MEX), 57.485; 4. Isaac Rowley (USA), 57.370; 5. Amado Lozano (MEX), 56.790.
Men’s Synchro: 1. Lucas Adorno/Federico Cury (ARG), 46.740; 2. Lucas Tobias/Joao Fonseca (BRA), 44.410; 3. Keegan Soehn/Trevor Stirling (CAN), 43.840; 4. Amado Lozano/Luis Loria (MEX), 43.680; 5. Joarib Gonzalez/Samory Ortiz (PUR), 38.780. Also: 8. Jeffrey Gluckstein/Isaac Rowley (USA), 15.260.

Men’s Team: 1. Canada (Burnett, Soehn, Cranham), 173.380; 2. United States (Jeffrey Gluckstein, Isaac Rowley, Joseph Isenberg), 170.890; 3. Mexico, 168.085; 4. Argentina, 156.720; 5. Brazil, 143.715.

Women: 1. Sophiane Methot (CAN), 54.430; 2. Nicole Ahsinger (USA), 54.175; 3. Jessica Stevens (USA), 53.085; 4. Dafne Navarro (MEX), 52.985; 5. Camila Gomes (BRA), 52.970.
Women’s Synchro: 1. Sophiane Methot/Sarah Milette (CAN), 46.140; 2. Nicole Ahsinger/Olivia Simpson (USA), 41.230; 3. Camila Gomez/Daienne Lima (BRA), 37.730; 5. Dafne Navarro/Melissa Flores (MEX), 31.490; 5. Lucila Maldonado/Mara Colombo (ARG), 25.530.

Women’s Team: 1. United States (Nicole Ahsinger, Olivia Simpson, Jessica Stevens), 154.940; 2. Argentina, 142.375; 3. Mexico, 128.930; 4. Canada, 116.700; 5. Brazil, 67.935.

GYMNASTICS: Dina Averina continues domination in World Champs

By

Rich Perelman

-

September 12, 2018

Russia’s Dina Averina established herself as the new queen of Rhythmic Gymnastics in 2017, winning the All-Around title, as well as golds in Hoop and Clubs, plus silvers in Ball and Ribbon.

She might be better in 2018! At the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Sofia (BUL), Averina opened the competition with victories in the Hoop (again) and Ball, moving up from the silver medal last year.

The Russians sent a formidable trio of Dina and Arina Averina and Aleksandra Soldatova to Sofia, but the competition has also improved. Israel’s Linoy Ashram, who was brilliant in the World Cup season, won the silver in Hoop, pushing Arina to third. Soldatova took the silver in Ball, with Italy’s Alexandra Agiurgiuculese claiming the bronze medal.

That’s already a wider spread of medals than in 2017. The remaining schedule includes:

∙ 13 September:
Clubs final ~ 2017: 1. Dina Averina (RUS)
Ribbon final ~ 2017: 1. Arina Averina (RUS)

∙ 14 September:
All-Around final ~ 2017: 1. Dina Averina (RUS)

∙ 15 September:
Group All-Around final ~ 2017: 1. Russia

∙ 16 September:
Group 5 Hoops final ~ 2017: 1. Italy
Group 3 Balls + 2 Ropes final ~ 2017: 1. Russia

Look for results here. Summaries so far:

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

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

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

FOOTBALL: U.S. youngsters claim 1-0 win over Mexico

By

Rich Perelman

-

September 12, 2018

A testy exchange between U.S. defender Matt Miazga and Mexico’s Diego Lainez in the 65th minute keyed a change in attitude for both sides that led to a 1-0 win for the United States before 40,194 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday evening.

The first half was a lackluster showing from the U.S., with Mexico creating most of the interest and the chances, but the game remained scoreless.

The second half started better from the U.S., but after defending against the much shorter Lainez on a ball near the box, Miazga turned to face him and at 6-4, put his arm out horizontally to toy with Lainez about his height. That lit a spark.

Both sides races toward the two players, who were separated and play resumed without a brawl. But the intensity rocketed up and two minutes later, U.S. midfielder Wil Trapp was tackled roughly by striker Angel Zaldiva, who earned a red card and left El Tri with 10 men on the field.

The U.S. moved to the offensive right away and a sensational cross from the left sideline by Antonee Robinson was perfectly positioned for midfielder Tyler Adams’s late run and he blasted the ball into the Mexican net for the 1-0 lead. It was Adams’s first goal for the U.S.

Mexico was hampered the remainder of the game thanks to being a man down and the U.S. was able to control the remainder of the game and scored its first victory over Mexico since April 2015, ending a three-game winless streak (0-2-1). The U.S. out-shot Mexico, 13-10. The U.S. is now 19-34-15 all-time against Mexico, but has a 14-7-6 in this century.

Interim U.S. coach Dave Sarachan played a very young team once again, but the level of competition will not decrease as the American squad will next face Colombia on 11 October in Tampa, Florida, and Peru on 16 October in East Hartford, Connecticut.

CYCLING: Simon Yates continues in front at Vuelta a Espana

By

Rich Perelman

-

September 12, 2018

The 73rd La Vuelta a Espana is heading toward the close, with five stages remaining and Britain’s Simon Yates in the lead.

Weren’t we at the same place in May?

Yates was riding brilliantly in the Giro d’Italia and was wearing the Maglio Rosa after 18 stages … and then blew up. He finished 79th in Stage 19 and ended up in 21st place overall.

He’s leading now and in good shape, with only Spain’s Alejandro Valverde (-0:33) and Dutch rider Steven Kruiswijk (-0:52) within a minute following Tuesday’s Individual Time Trial. Colombia’s Nairo Quintana (COL) is 1:15 back, then comes Enric Mas (ESP: -1:30) and Miguel Angel Lopez (COL: -1:34) within two minutes.

The remaining stages are not for the feint of heart, however. Wednesday’s stage includes seven sharp climbs with an uphill finish on a final ascent of 318 m over the final 7 km to the Balcon de Bizkala; Stage 19 is fairly flat, but then finishes with a long ascent of more than 1,000 m over the final 17 km and Stage 20 is the meanest of all, with six major climbs and an uphill finish at the Coll de la Gallina. Yates won Stage 14 and Valverde has won two hilly stages, nos. 2 and 8.

If Yates should win, it would be the fifth straight Grand Tour won by a British rider, after Chris Froome won three in a row (Tour de France-La Vuelta-Giro d’Italia) and Geraint Thomas won the 2018 Tour.