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CYCLING: Valente wins three at Pan American Track Champs

American track cycling star Jennifer Valente collected three gold medals going into the final day of the Pan American Track Championships in Mexico City (MEX).

She won her specialties in the Omnium and the Scratch Race, but also teamed with Cristina Birch, Kimberly Geist and Kelly Catlin to win the Team Pursuit final. Catlin also won the Individual Pursuit.

Other double winners included Canada’s Hugo Barrette in the Sprint and Keirin, and Ashton Lambie of the U.S. won the Individual Pursuit and teamed with Eric Young, Gavin Hoover and Colby Lange to win the Team Pursuit.

Mexico’s Daniela Gaxiola won the women’s Sprint and Team Sprint (with Yuli Verdugo) and won a silver in the Time Trial for three total medals. Summaries (Sunday’s results were not posted at press time):

Pan American Track Championships
Mexico City (MEX) ~ 29 August-2 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Sprint: 1. Hugo Barrette (CAN); 2. Nicolas Paul (TTO); Third: 3. Kevin Quintero (COL); 4. Jair Tjon (SUR).

Team Sprint/Final: 1. Trinidad & Tobago (Phillip, Paul, Browne), 42.849; 2. Colombia, 43.095. Third: 3. Brazil, 43.860; 4. Venezuela, 44.031.

Individual Pursuit/Final: 1. Ashton Lambie (USA); 2. Gavin Hoover (USA), overtaken. Third: 3. Luis Villalobos (MEX); 4. Ignacio Prado Sarabia (MEX), overtaken.
Team Pursuit/Final: 1. United States (Eric Young, Gavin Hoover, Ashton Lambie, Colby Lange), 3:53.868; 2. Colombia, 3:56.302. Third: 3. Mexico; 4. Canada, overtaken.

Keirin: 1. Hugo Barrette (CAN); 2. Santiago Ramirez (COL); 3. Kevin Quintero (COL); 4. Kwesi Browne (TTO); 5. Nicolas Paul (TTO).

Points Race: 1. 1. Felipe Penaloza (CHI), 72; 2. Jorge Luis Montenegro (ECU), 71; 3. Ruben Ramos (ARG), 70; 4. Sarabia (MEX), 68; 5. Robert Sierra (VEN), 61. Also: 9. Daniel Holloway (USA), 29.

15 km Scratch Race: 1. Adrian Hegyvary (USA); 2. Ivan de Jesus Carbajal (MEX); 3. Antonio Cabrerra (CHI); 4. Pedro Rodriguez (ECU); 5. Carlos Tobon (COL).

Omnium: 1. Angel Pulgar (VEN), 148; 2. Carlos Quishpe (ECU), 140; 3. Ignacio Prado (MEX), 138; 4. Alonso Gamero (PER), 135; 5. Holloway (USA), 128.

Women

Sprint/Final: 1. Daniela Gaxiola (MEX); 2. Jessica Salazar (MEX); Third: 3. Martha Bayona (COL); 4. Lauriane Genest (CAN).

Team Sprint/Final: 1. Daniela Gaxiola/Yuli Verdugo (MEX), 32.768; 2. Madalyn Godby/Mandy Marquardt (USA), 33.468. Third: 3. Amelia Walsh/Lauriane Genest (CAN), 33.515; 4. Lizandra Guerra/Mirtha Garcia (CUB), 34.256.

Individual Pursuit: 1. Kelly Catlin (USA); 2. Marlies Mejias (CUB), overtaken. Third: 3. Jennifer Wheeler (USA), 3:34.059; 4. Lina Hernandez (COL), 3:37.193.

Team Pursuit/Final: 1. United States (Jennifer Valente, Cristina Birch, Kimberly Geist, Kelly Catlin); 2. Mexico, overtaken. Third: 3. Canada; 4. Chile, overtaken.

500 m Time Trial: 1. J. Salazar (MEX), 33.028; 2. Gaxiola (MEX), 33.138; 3. Bayona (COL), 33.173; 4. Lizandra Guerra (CUB), 33.654; 5. Mandy Marquardt (USA), 34.162.

10 km Scratch Race: 1. Jennifer Valente (USA); 2. Marlies Mejias (CUB); 3. Mayra de la Rocha (MEX); 4. Devaney Collier (CAN); 5. Amber Josep (BAR).

Omnium: 1. Valente (USA), 118; 2. Lizbeth Salazar (MEX), 112; 3. Lina Hernandez (COL), 110; 4. Allison Beveridge (CAN), 104; 5. Amber Joseph (BAR), 94.

20 km Madison: 1. Lizbeth Salazar/Sofia Arreola (MEX), 28; 2. Allison Beveridge/Stephanie Roorda (CAN), 25; 3. Cristina Birch/Kimberly Geist (USA), 20; 4. Jessica Parra/Jannie Salcedo (COL), 12; 5. Lillibeth Chacon/Daniely Garcia (VEN), -15.

CYCLING: Van Vleuten takes World Tour lead after Boels Ladies Tour

With Women’s World Tour leader Marianne Vos (NED) skipping the Boels Ladies Tour, Dutch star Annemiek van Vleuten had a chance to take the seasonal points lead with a big performance.

She didn’t miss her chance. Van Vleuten dominated the event, winning three stages and finishing 52 seconds clear of countrywoman Ellen van Dijk and 1:05 ahead of Anna van der Breggen (NED).

The overall win, stage wins and bonus points lifted van Vleuten, 35, into the seasonal lead at 1,411.86 points, with Vos second at 1,394.88 and van der Breggen third with 1,323.33. That means the Women’s World Tour race will continue through the final two events of the season, the La Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta (16 September) and the Tour of Guangxi in China on 21 October.

Van der Breggen won in 2017, finishing just ahead of Van Vleuten, 1,016-989. Summaries:

UCI Women’s World Tour/Boels Ladies Tour
Netherlands ~ 28 August-02 September 2018
(Full results here)

Prologue (3.3 km): 1. 1. Annemiek Van Vleuten (NED), 4:22; 2. Anna van der Breggen (NED), 4:29; 3. Ellen van Dijk (NED), 4:30; 4. Leah Kirchmann (CAN), 4:31; 5. Lisa Brennauer (GER), 4:31. Also in the top 50: 21. Megan Guarnier (USA), 4:42; … 26. Leah Thomas (USA), 4:43; … 29. Tayler Wiles (USA), 4:44; … 44. Lily Williams (USA), 4:49.

Stage 1 (132,2 km): 1. Van Vleuten (NED), 3:28:29; 2. Eugenia Bujak (SLO), 3:28:41; 3. Elena Cecchini (ITA), 3:28:41; 4. Marta Cavalli (ITA), 3:28:41; 5. Amanda Spratt (AUS), 3:28:41. Also in the top 50: 16. Wiles (USA), 3:28:41; … 23. Guarnier (USA), 3:28:41; … 27. Thomas (USA), 3:28:45.

Stage 2 (129.0 km): 1. Amalie Dideriksen (DEN), 2:58:57; 2. Lorena Wiebes (NED), 2:58:57; 3. Jolien D’Hoore (BEL), 2:58:57; 4. Maria Confalonieri (ITA), 2:58:57; 5. Amy Pieters (NED), 2:58:57. Also in the top 50: 31. Williams (USA), 2:58:57; … 37. Thomas (USA), 2:58:57.

Stage 3 (124.3 km): 1. Dideriksen (DEN), 3:28:04; 2. Brand (NED), 3:28:04; 3. Wiebes (NED), 3:28:04; 4. Barbara Guarischi (ITA), 3:28:04; 5. Lotte Kopecky (BEL), 3:28:04. Also in the top 50: 26. Williams (USA), 3:28:06; … 36. Thomas (USA), 3:28:06; … 47. Guarnier (USA), 3:28:06.

Stage 4 (158.4 km): 1. Lucinda Blaak (NED), 4:10:24; 2. Giorgia Bronzini (ITA), 4:11:10; 3. Brand (NED), 4:11:10; 4. Kopecky (BEL), 4:11:10; 5. Marta Bastianelli (ITA), 4:11:10. Also in the top 50: 25. Williams (USA), 4:11:10; 26. Guarnier (USA), 4:11:10… 35. Thomas (USA), 4:11:10; … 42. Wiles (USA), 4:11:10.

Stage 5 (Individual Time Trial: 18.6 km): 1. Van Vleuten (NED), 24:00; 2. Van Dijk (NED), 24:22; 3. Van der Breggen (NED), 24:32; 4. Mieke Kroger (GER), 24:49; 5. Wiles (USA), 25:00. Also in the top 50: 9. Thomas (USA), 25:25; … 17. Guarnier (USA), 25:43; … 35. Williams (USA), 26:40.

Final Standings: 1. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED), 14:34:54; 2. Ellen van Dijk (NED), +0:52; 3. Anna van der Breggen (NED), +1:05; 4. Tayler Wiles (USA), +1:44; 5. Leah Kirchmann (CAN), +1:4; 6. Amanda Spratt (AUS), +2:05; 7. Eugenia Bujak (SLO), +2:09; 8. Amy Pieters (NED), 2:11; 9. Leah Thomas (USA), +2:12; 10. Elena Cecchini (ITA), +2:14. Also in the top 50: 14. Megan Guarnier (USA), +2:25; … 33. Lily Williams (USA), +6:32.

CYCLING: Second stage win for Ben King in Vuelta a Espana!

When American Ben King won the fourth stage of this year’s La Vuelta a Espana, he said it was a dream come true.

He’s still dreaming!

King won his second stage in this year’s La Vuelta, outlasting some of the big names in climbing with a Stage 9 win on the uphill finish of La Covatilla in La Hoya, Spain.

“I feel so bad right now,” King said after keeping Dutch chaser Bauke Mollema at bay during the final climb of more than 1,000 m over the last 24 km of the 200.8 km race. King said later, “The climb was really hard, with some very steep sections, and I thought Mollema would come back. I suffered a lot but I kept hoping and I made it.”

The brutal stage also reshuffled the overall leaders in the race, with Britain’s Simon Yates – one of the pre-race favorites – taking the lead. He has a one-second edge over Spain’s Alejandro Valverde, then 14 seconds over Nairo Quintana (COL), 16 seconds over Emanuel Buchmann (GER) and 17 seconds ahead of Ion Izagirre (ESP). The first 10 riders are within a minute of the lead.

The first rest day is on Monday and then two more weeks of racing. Next week’s stages are flat, then two hilly stages and three mountain stages (13-14-15) before another rest day on 10 September.

NBC’s Olympic Channel has daily coverage of La Vuelta, 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. Simone 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: 04 September Universidad de Salamanca to Fermoselle (177.0 km; flat)
Stage 11: 05 September Mombuey to Ribeira Sacra (207.8 km; hilly)
Stage 12: 06 September Mondoñedo to Faro de Estaca de Bares (181.1 km; hilly)
Stage 13: 07 September Candas. Carreño to Valle de Sabero (174.8 km; mountains)
Stage 14: 08 September Cistierna to Les Praeres (171.0 km); mountains
Stage 15: 09 September Ribera de Arriba to Lagos de Covadonga (178.2 km; mountains)

10 September Rest day

Stage 16: 11 September Santillana del Mar to Torrelavega (Indiv. Time Trial: 32.0 km) Stage 17: 12 September Getxo to Balcon de Bizkaia (157.0 km; hilly)
Stage 18: 13 September Ejea de los Caballeros to Lleida (186.1 km; flat)
Stage 19: 14 September Lleida to Andorra. Naturlandia (154.4 km; flat)
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)

CANOE-KAYAK: Tasiadis wins third Slalom World Cup; Kuhnle stops Fox’s streak

Germany’s Sideris Tasiadis won his third World Cup Slalom of the season, but Australia’s Jessica Fox suffered her first defeat of 2018.

Tasiadis won the C-1 on Saturday by just 0.68 over Slovakia’s Alexander Slafkovsky, but Fox ended up second to Austria’s two-time Olympian, Corinna Kuhnle, 107.94-109.01 as both had penalty-free runs.

The men’s K-1 and women’s C-1 finals scheduled or Sunday were canceled; the ICF announced that “The torrential rain and expected water flow from surrounding mountains means water levels will rise dramatically overnight.”

The World Cup Final will follow next week from 7-9 September in La Seu d’Urgell (ESP). Summaries:

ICF Slalom World Cup
Tacen (SLO) ~ 31 August-2 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s C-1: 1. Sideris Tasiadis (GER), 103.00 seconds; 2. Alexander Slafkovsky (SVK), 103.68; 3. Franz Anton (GER), 104.29.

Men’s K-1: Cancelled due to flooding. Women’s C-1: Cancelled due to flooding.

Women’s K-1: 1. Corinna Kuhnle (AUT), 107.94; 2. Jessica Fox (AUS), 109.01; 3. Viktoria Wolffhardt (AUT), 113.10.

Mixed C-2: 1. Veronika Vojtova/Jan Masek (CZE), 140.47; 2. Yves Prigent/Margaux Henry (FRA), 166.86; 3. Jana Matulkova/ Vojtech Mruzek (CZE), 208.56.

BASEBALL: Japan breezes to sixth straight women’s World Championship

Chinese Taipei had given five-time defending champion Japan its toughest game in the women’s Baseball World Cup, losing by 2-1 in the Super Round. But in the final, the Japanese left no doubt of who the champion was with a dominant, 6-0 win for another world title.

The champions took control right away with two runs in the first and one in the second for a 3-0 lead. With three runs in the fourth, Japanese ace Ayami Sato (five innings) and Akino Tanaka (two) had no trouble pitching a shutout. Chinese Taipei came up with six hits to Japan’s eight.

All of Japan’s hits were singles, and center fielder Iori Miura (1-2) and first baseman Yuki Kawabata (2-4) both drove in two runs.

Japan now owns six straight World Championships and with an 9-0 record in the 2018 tournament – played in Viera, Florida – has won 30 straight games in Worlds competition. Its last loss came way back on 12 August 2012, 5-2, to the United States. In 2018, Japan outscored its eight opponents by a 63-4 count and never yielded more than one run in any game!

Canada and the U.S. went to extra innings for the bronze medal, with the Canadians scoring five runs in the 10th inning for a 8-3 lead. The U.S. got two runs back, but lost 8-5 to finish fourth.

The final standings:

1. Japan (9-0)
2. Chinese Taipei (6-3)
3. Canada (6-3)
4. United States (6-3)
5. Venezuela (4-4)
6. Dominican Rep. (2-6)

7. Australia (5-3)
8. Cuba (4-4)
9. Puerto Rico (4-4)
10. Korea (2-6)
11. Hong Kong (2-6)
12. Netherlands (0-8)

The All-World Team included:

MVP: Ayami Sato (JPN P)
Pitcher: Chiao-Yun Huang (TPe)
Catcher: Shih-Yun Lee (TPE)
1B: Katherine Psota (CAN)
2B: Maigleth Torres (VEN)
SS: Adrix Paradizo (PUR)
3B: Chia-Hui Yang (TPE) LF: Kelsey Lalor (CAN)
CF: Iori Miura (JPN)
RF: Chia-Wen Shen (TPE)
DH: Megan Baltzell (USA)
Reliever: Megan Meidlinger (USA)
Defense: Nozomi Abe (JPN)

Check the tournament’s statistical leaders here.

BADMINTON: Denmark and Japan win two at Spanish Masters

Japanese entries swept the women’s events and Denmark won two titles at the BWF World Tour’s Spain Masters in Barcelona (ESP).

Top-ranked Maya Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara won the all-Japan women’s Doubles final by defeating Ayako Saguramoto and Yukiko Takahata in straight sets while unseeded Minatsu Mitani overcame a first-set loss to outlast Dane Mia Blichfeldt in a thrilling 9-21, 23-21, 21-8 final.

The Danes did get two wins, with Rasmus Gemke winning the men’s Singles final in three sets and the Mixed Doubles team of Niclas Nohr and Sara Thygesen overcoming the top seeds, Marcus Ellis and Lauren Smith of England in straight sets. Summaries:

BWF World Tour/Spain Masters
Barcelona (ESP) ~ 28 August-2 September 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Rasmus Gemke (DEN); 2. Suppanyu Avihingsanon (THA); 3. 3. Toby Penty (ENG) and Yu Igarashi (JPN). Semis: Gemke d. Penty, 21-19, 21-17; Avihingsanon d. Igurashi, 2111, 21-15. Final: Gemke d. Avihingsanon, 15-21, 21-6, 21-14.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Gi Jung Kim/Yong Dae Lee (KOR); 2. Bodin Isara/Maneepong Jongjit (THA); 3. Tang Jie Chen/Wei Chong Man (MAS) and Akira Koga/Taichi Saito (JPN). Semis: Kim/Lee d. Chen/Man, 21-11, 21-17; Isara/Jongjit d. Koga/Saito, 19-21, 21-8, 21-12. Final: Kim/Lee d. Isara/Jongjit, 21-13, 21-17.

Women’s Singles: 1. Minatsu Mitani (JPN); 2. Mia Blichfeldt (DEN); 3. Kirsty Gilmour (SCO) and Line Hojmark Fruergaard (DEN). Semis: Mitani d. Gilmour, 21-15, 21-16; Blichfeldt d. Fruergaard, 21-18, 19-21, 21-12. Final: Mitani d. Blichfeldt, 9-21, 23-21, 21-8.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (JPN); 2. Ayako Sakuramoto/Yukiko Takahata (JPN); 3. Misato Aratama/Akane Watanabe (JPN) and Maiken Fruergaard/Sara Thygesen (DEN). Semis: Sakuramoto/Takahata d. Aratama/Watanabe, 21-11, 21-14. Final: Matsumoto/Nagahara d. Sakuramoto/Takahata, 21-17, 21-13.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Niclas Nohr/Sara Thygesen (DEN); 2. Marcus Ellis/Lauren Smith (ENG); 3. Kohei Gondo/Ayane Kurihara (JPN) and Tang Jie Chen/Yen Wei Peck (MAS). Semis: Ellis/Smith d. Gondo/Kurihara, 21-17, 21-16; Nohr/Thygesen d. Chen/Peck, 21-10, 21-18. Final: Nohr/Thygesen d. Ellis/Smith, 21-19, 21-17.

ATHLETICS: Semenya’s 2:30.70 at ISTAF Berlin is no. 5 ever

After seeing a crowd of more than 45,500 attend the annual ISTAF Berlin meeting in the historic Olympiastadion, it’s hard to understand why this is not a Diamond League stop.

The quality of the meet was underlined during another world-record attempt by South Africa’s Caster Semenya, who moved to no. 5 on the all-time list by running away in the women’s 1,000 m in 2:30.70, the fastest time in the world in 2018.

It’s also the seventh-fastest race in history, giving Semenya two of the top-10 times in the event, as she ran 2:31.01 to win at the Rabat Diamond League in July.

The meet was also a farewell for Germany’s Robert Harting, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist and 2009-11-13 World Champion in the discus, who retired after the meet. He saved his best throw of the day for last, reaching 64.95 m (213-1) to finish second to brother Christoph, the 2016 Olympic discus champ (65.67 m/215-5).

All of the discus competitors gathered in the middle of the field at the end of the meet to honor Robert, known as “Shaggy” during his career, and a seating section in the stadium was covered with a huge banner featuring his likeness and the single word, Danke!

The meet had other highlights as well:

∙ The men’s speed events featured wins by Jamaica’s Tyquendo Tracey (10.05) in the 100 m and Orlando Ortega (ESP) won the 110 m Hurdles in 13.15. The amazing Kim Collins (SVK), the 2003 World Champion in the 100 m, finished eighth in the 100 m in 10.45 and confirmed that he is retiring. At age 42, he ran 10.37 this season.

Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot proved once again he is the top 1,500 m in the world, winning in 3:32.37 in a very competitive race with Ferguson Rotich (KEN), who scored a lifetime best in 3:33.21.

∙ In the women’s 100 m, Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV) rebounded from her Diamond League loss with an 11.08 win over Michelle Ahye (TTO: 11.13). Portugal’s Marta Pen Freitas won the mile in 4:22.45, a national record, ahead of American Kate Grace (4:23.23), with Alexa Efraimson of the U.S. fourth in a lifetime best of 4:24.82, moving her to no. 11 on the all-time U.S. list.

∙ In what has already been a fabulous year for America’s women steeplechasers, Colleen Quigley took the lead with three laps to go and ran away from Kenya’s Daisy Jepkemei down the back straight to win in a huge personal best of 9:10.27 (from 9:15.97!). That places her no. 3 on the all-time American list, with the 12th-fastest performance ever.

Look for the complete results here. The IAAF’s World Challenge series for 2018 will conclude with the IWC Zagreb on Monday and Tuesday.

ATHLETICS: Coleman and Barega historic in Brussels Diamond League

Two stunning performances took last Friday’s IAAF Diamond League Final at the AG Memorial Van Damme in Brussels from noteworthy to historic:

∙ Christian Coleman of the U.S. exploded from the blocks and was never challenged on the way to the world’s fastest 100 m time in three years in 9.79, a lifetime best and moving him to no. 7 in the history of the event.

∙ Kenya’s Selemon Barega, 18, not only ran the first sub-13 5,000 m of the season, he ran a 55.9 last lap and a 1:56.4 last 800 to run the sixth-fastest time in history – and moving him to no. 4 on the all-time list – in 12:43.02. It’s the fastest time in 13 years!

Let’s look at what Coleman did first. After twice setting the indoor world record in the 60 m – only one was ratified – he endured injury after injury, but came to Brussels healthy.

“Officially a wrap for my rookie season. Started it off with a 60m World Record. Went through one of the toughest situations of my life dealing with a hamstring injury. Stayed SOLID through the highs and lows, and ended off my season the 3rd fastest American to ever run 100m, 7th fastest ever. Learned so much this season that’ll help me the rest of my career. Thank you to my team and my support system for holding it down and thank you everyone who never stopped believing in me! Overall 2018 was a great year and one I’ll never forget. 2019 will be scary.”

Coleman’s stunner stole the show from prior world leader Ronnie Baker, who recovered enough to run 9.93 for second, ahead of Jamaica’s Yohan Blake (9.94), who said afterwards that “My reacting time was awful, I tried to catch up to my opponents after that but it was impossible and I don´t know why. It´s so disappointing because I had the feeling that my legs were good today. I could have won the race.”

No, he couldn’t. No one was going to beat Coleman, as no one gained on him after the 60 m mark as had been the case in prior races this season. He streamed through the finish and his 9.79 tied him with what was a world record by Maurice Greene (USA) in 1999, equal-seventh in world history and equal-third all-time U.S. But NBC’s Ato Boldon noted in a post-race Tweet:

“Here’s why @__coleman’s 9.79 today in Brussels gets the attention of stat guys like me. The current American record by Tyson Gay of 9.69 (+1.9) converts to 9.78 with zero wind. Coleman’s performance today of 9.79 (-0.3) converts to 9.77.”

Has the U.S. sprint corps ever been deeper? There’s Coleman (9.79), Baker (9.87), Noah Lyles (9.88), Michael Rodgers (9.89) – the top four on the year list – and five more at 9.99 or faster in 2018 … not including reigning World Champion Justin Gatlin!

Barega, fifth at the World Championships at 5,000 m last year, broke free with countrymen Hagos Gebrhiwet and Yomif Kejelcha with three laps to go and continued a hot pace and ran the final three laps in 2:57.6 to finish at 12:43.02. It’s the sixth fastest race of all time – he’s now the no. 4 performer – while Gebrhiwet’s 12:45.82 moved him to no. 5 on the all-time list, with the 10th-fastest race in history. Third-place Kejelcha ran 12:46.79 to become no. 7 all-time and the top eight finishers all broke 13 minutes!

Those top eight also authored the top eight marks of 2018 (so far) and Paul Chelimo’s 12:57.55 lifetime best in sixth places him no. 4 on the all-time U.S. list, with the seventh-fastest performance.

And who knows what the teen-aged Barega can do? At the end of the 2015 season, he had a best of 13:58.58. Over the past three seasons, he has improved by 37.5 seconds, 21.7 seconds and this year by 12.5 seconds!

French coach P.J. Vazel tweeted this, comparing Barega’s run to the world record of 12:37.35 by Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) in 2004:

splits Barega vs Bekele WR
1k 2:32.8 | 2:33.8
2k 2:39.5 | 2:31.9
3k 2:32.6 | 2:31.7
4k 2:31.1 | 2:30.59
5k 2:27.0 | 2:29.42
= 12:43.02 | 12:37.35
▸ can break WR

Those two races made history on Friday, but there were others! The highlights:

∙ Men’s 800 m: Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir confirmed he’s the best 800 m man on the planet by running away from Marcin Lewandowski (POL) on the home straight for a 1:44.72-1:45.21 win.

∙ Men’s 110 m Hurdles: Russia’s Sergey Shubenkov won the Diamond League in 12.97, avenging his loss to France’s Pascal Martinot-Lagarde at the European Championships. Spain’s Orlando Ortega was second (13.10) and Martinot-Lagarde was fourth (13.36).

∙ Men’s Pole Vault: Swede Mondo Duplantis looked sharp in his LSU uniform – classes began on 20 August – but the title came down to a duel between Russia’s Timor Morgunov and reigning World Champion Sam Kendricks of the U.S. Morgunov managed 5.93 m (19-5 1/2) and Kendricks was unable to match, but cleared 5.88 m (19-3 1/2) for second.

∙ Women’s 200 m: Shaunae Miller-Uibo completed her 11th final of the season with her 11th win, winning easily by 22.12-22.53 over Dafne Schippers (NED), who ran on Thursday in Zurich.

∙ Women’s 1,500 m: A great race came down to the final straightaway between Britain’s Laura Muir and American Shelby Houlihan. But even Houlihan’s great finishing speed wasn’t enough and Muir held on to win in 3:58.49 (to 3:58.94).

“I made a tactical error today,” said Houlihan afterwards. “I should have been with the leading group from the beginning, but I wasn’t. I still managed to catch up with them during the race and in the end I thought I could win the race in the sprint. However, the last 70 m I saw that Laura kept the good pace and I knew I would have to settle for second place. Too bad, because I really thought I could win the race today.”

Third in 3:59.41 was Sifan Hassan (NED), who was second in the Zurich 5,000 m the day before to Kenya’s Hellen Obiri.

∙ Women’s 3,000 m Steeple: No way that Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) was going to threaten her world record of 8:44.32, right? Well, no, but she ran away with the race and finished with the no. 3 performance in history at 8:55.10! With apologies to Coleman and Barega, she might be the most unbeatable runner in the world right now.

Chepkoech’s pace was so strong that Norah Keruto (KEN) was well back in second at 8:59.62, moving to no. 5 all-time with the eighth-fastest performance ever. Even though they never challenged for the podium, Americans Emma Coburn (4th: 9:06.51) and Courtney Frerichs (6th: 9:07.07) ran the nos. 3-4 times in U.S. history!

∙ Women’s 100 m Hurdles: A great showdown between Olympic champ Brianna Rollins-McNeal and world-record holder Keni Harrison was so close that neither wanted the winner’s flowers right after the race. Rollins-McNeal was awarded the win in 12.61 to 12.63 for Harrison. Said Rollins-McNeal afterwards, “Now I have an Olympic gold, a World Championships gold and this Diamond League. What else can I wish? World record maybe?”

Congratulations to Colombia’s Caterine Ibarguen, who won the women’s long jump at 6.80 m (22-3 3/4) and was the only one to win in Zurich (triple jump) and Brussels and won $100,000. “This money I will share with my family to go on holidays,” she said. Pretty impressive as she left her Zurich hotel at 5 a.m. to get to Brussels by 10 a.m.

As sensational as Coleman and Barega were, the biggest upset of the meet was Cuba’s Yaime Perez winning the women’s discus. The overwhelming favorite was Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic, who had won all 10 of her meets in 2018 and was the six-time defending Diamond League champion. And she took the lead at 64.31 m (210-4) in the first round and led into the final round. But then Brazil’s Andressa de Morais took the lead at 64.65 m (212-1) and Perez threw 65.00 m (213-3) on the next-to-last throw of the event.

Perkovic managed only 62.85 m (206-2) and suffered the loss.

Said Perez, “This is crazy, I don’t realize yet that I´ve won the DL. I’m completely in shock. When I took the lead in my last attempt, I still thought I would lose because Sandra still had her last attempt. She’s such a great champion and with her in the competition, you’re never sure to win.”

Perkovic wasn’t happy, with the result, the new winner-take-all format or the 30-second time limit for each throw. “Stupid things sometimes happen, but that is sports. Actually I was sick, I have a flu since five days ago. I thought I wouldn’t be able to compete. This is my [international] eighth final, I won seven of them. But this Diamond League should not be awarded in one final. And 30 seconds for each throw is ridiculous. In other disciplines like the long jump they get more. IAAF should consider this and not make fun of the athletes.”

The meet paid $1.6 million in prize money, with $100,000 per event – $50,000-20,000-10,000-6,000-5,000-4,000-3,000-2,000 – to the top eight place winners. Summaries:

IAAF Diamond League Final/AG Memorial Van Damme
Brussels (BEL) ~ 30 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men

100 m (wind: -0.3 m/s): 1. Christian Coleman (USA), 9.79; 2. Ronnie Baker (USA), 9.93; 3. Yohan Blake (JAM), 9.94; 4. Reece Prescod (GBR), 9.99; 5. Akani Simbine (RSA), 10.03. Also: 6. Michael Rodgers (USA), 10.16 … 8. Isiah Young (USA), 10.26.

800 m: 1. Emmanuel Korir (KEN), 1:44.72; 2. Marcin Lewandowski (POL), 1:45.21; 3. Ferguson Rotich (KEN), 1:45.28; 4. Jake Wightman (GBR), 1:45.96; 5. Clayton Murphy (USA), 1:45.97.

5,000 m: 1. Selemon Barega (ETH), 12:43.02; 2. Hagos Gebrhiwet (ETH), 12:45.82; 3. Yomif Kejelcha (ETH), 12:46.79; 4. Muktar Edris (ETH), 12:55.18; 5. Abadi Hadis (ETH), 12:56.27. Also: 6. Paul Chelimo (USA), 12:57.55; … 10. Ben True (USA), 13:04.11.

110 m Hurdles (-0.1): 1. Sergey Shubenkov (RUS), 12.97; 2. Orlando Ortega (ESP), 13.10; 3. Hansle Parchment (JAM), 13.35; 4. Pascal Martinot-Lagarde (FRA), 13.36; 5. Freddie Crittenden (USA), 13.39. Also: 6. Devon Allen (USA), 13.41.

High Jump: 1. Brandon Starc (AUS), 2.33 m (7-7 3/4); 2. Mateusz Przybylko (GER), 2.33 m (7-7 3/4); 3. Gianmarco Tamberi (ITA), 2.31 m (7-7); 4. Andriy Protsenko (UKR), 2.31 m (7-7); 5. Donald Thomas (BAH), 2.29 m (7-6). Also: 8. tie, Bryan McBride (USA) and Jeron Robinson (USA), 2.23 m (7-3 3/4).

Pole Vault: 1. Timor Morgunov (RUS), 5.93 m (19-5 1/2); 2. Sam Kendricks (USA), 5.88 m (19-3 1/2); 3. Shawn Barber (CAN), 5.83 m (19-1 1/2); 4. Piotr Lisek (POL), 5.78 m (18-11 1/2); 5. Renaud Lavillenie (FRA), 5.73 m (18-9 1/2). Also: 7. Mondo Duplantis (SWE), 5.68 m (18-7 1/2).

Triple Jump: 1. Pedro Pablo Pichardo (POR), 17.49 m (57-4 3/4); 2. Christian Taylor (USA), 17.31 m (56-9 1/2); 3. Donald Scott (USA), 17.25 m (56-7 1/4); 4. Omar Craddock (USA), 16.95 m (55-7 1/2); 5. Chris Benard (USA), 16.81 m (55-2).

Discus: 1. Fedrick Dacres (JAM), 68.67 m (225-3); 2. Andrius Gudzius (LTU), 67.56 m (221-8); 3. Daniel Stahl (SWE), 66.74 m (218-11); 4. Mason Finley (USA), 66.09 m (216-10); 5. Lukas Weisshaidinger (AUT), 65.66 m (215-5).

Women

200 m (+0.1): 1. Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH), 22.12; 2. Dafne Schippers (NED), 22.53; 3. Jamile Samuel (NED), 22.64; 4. Shericka Jackson (JAM), 22.72; 5. Jenna Prandini (USA), 22.96. Also: 6. Gabby Thomas (USA), 23.18.

400 m: 1. Salwa Eid Naser (BRN), 49.33; 2. Phyllis Francis (USA), 50.051; 3. Shakima Wimbley (USA), 50.77; 4. Jaide Stepter (USA), 51.17; 5. Stephenie Ann McPherson (JAM), 51.40. Also: 6. Jessica Beard (USA), 51.47; 7. Courtney Okolo (USA), 52.18.

1,500 m: 1. Laura Muir (GBR), 3:58.49; 2. Shelby Houlihan (USA), 3:58.94; 3. Sifan Hassan (NED), 3:59.41; 4. Gudaf Tsegay (ETH), 3:59.68; 5. Axumawit Embaye (ETH), 4:02.74. Also: 11. Jenny Simpson (USA), 4:04.57.

3,000 m Steeple: 1. Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN), 8:55.10; 2. Norah Jeruto (KEN), 8:59.62; 3. Hyvin Kiyeng (KEN), 9:01.60; 4. Emma Coburn (USA), 9:06.51; 5. Celliphine Chespol (KEN), 9:06.75. Also: 6. Courtney Frerichs (USA), 9:07.07.

100 m Hurdles (+0.1): 1. Brianna Rollins-McNeal (USA), 12.61; 2. Keni Harrison (USA), 12.63; 3. Danielle Williams (JAM), 12.64; 4. Tobi Amusan (NGR), 12.69; 5. Sharika Nelvis (USA), 12.80. Also: 8. Dawn Harper-Nelson (USA), 13.08; 9. Christina Manning (USA), 13.34.

Long Jump: 1. Caterine Ibarguen (COL), 6.80 m (22-3 3/4); 2. Shara Proctor (GBR), 6.70 m (21-11 3/4); 3. Sha’Keela Saunders (USA), 6.68 m (21-11); 4. Malaika Mihambo (GER), 6.61 m (21-8 1/4); 5. Brooke Stratton (AUS), 6.57 m (21-6 3/4).

Shot Put: 1. Lijiao Gong (CHN), 19.83 m (65–0 3/4); 2. Raven Saunders (USA), 19.64 m (64-5 1/4); 3. Christina Schwanitz (GER), 19.50 m (63-11 3/4); 4. Aliona Dubitskaya (BLR), 19.01 m (62-4 1/2); 5. Paulina Guba (POL), 18.54 m (60-10).

Discus: 1. Yaime Perez (CUB), 65.00 m (213-3); 2. Andressa de Morais (BRA), 64.65 m (212-1); 3. Sandra Perkovic (CRO), 64.31 m (211-0); 4. Claudine Vita (GER), 61.33 m (201-2); 5. Gia Lewis-Smallwood (USA), 59.28 m (194-6). Also: 6. Whitley Ashley (USA), 58.75 m (192-9).

Asian Games: China tops the medal table for 8th straight Asian Games

It’s all over at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang (INA), with China once again on top of the medal table, for the eighth straight edition.

But the Chinese were not quite as dominant as in recent games, as Japan’s push for the 2020 Olympic Games is paying dividends:

∙ 2018: 1. China, 289 2. Japan, 205 3. South Korea, 177
∙ 2014: 1. China, 345 2. South Korea, 228 3. Japan, 200
∙ 2010: 1. China, 416 2. South Korea, 232 3. Japan, 216
∙ 2006: 1. China, 316 2. Japan, 200 3. South Korea, 193
∙ 2002: 1. China, 308 2. South Korea, 260 3. Japan, 189

As to the individual sports, it’s worth noting that China once again finished 1-2 in all four individual diving events for the seventh straight Asian Games. That’s amazing.

In terms of the medal count in Indonesia, China’s 289 total included a Games-high 132 golds, 92 silvers and 65 bronzes. Japan had 75 golds, 56 silvers and a Games-high 74 bronzes. After Korea’s 177 total for third, host Indonesia had a great Games with 98 total medals (31-24-43), many of which in smaller sports which it asked to have included. Nine sports were being held for the first time – bridge, jetski, ju-jitsu, kurash, paragliding, pencak silat, sambo, skateboarding and sport climbing – and Indonesia won 20 of the available 61 golds in these sports.

The big individual medal winner was Japan’s 18-year-old women’s swim star Rikako Ikee, who won eight total medals – equal to the most in Asian Games history by North Korean shooter Gin Man So in 1982 – including a Games-best six golds (6-2-0). Next was China’s distance swim star, Yang Sun (6: 4-2-0) and then two swimmers who had five medals each: Jiayu Xu (CHN: 5-0-0) and Ryosuke Irie (JPN: 0-5-0).

Ikee was named “Most Valuable Player” of the Games by the Olympic Council of Asia and returned to Jakarta from Japan to receive the trophy and a $50,000 prize at the Main Press Center prior to the Closing Ceremony. She’s the first woman to receive the award, which was first presented in 1998.

After two excellent weeks of weather, it rained at the closing, but OCA chief Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah (KUW) told the attendees, “It is raining because we are very sad today that we must leave your beautiful country.”

Indonesia’s president, Jojo Widodo, was sufficiently impressed by the Games hosting effort that, after a meeting with International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach, he issued a statement announcing, “Indonesia has planned to immediately register itself as a candidate for the 2032 Olympics host..

“With our experience in hosting the 18th Asian Games, I believe Indonesia will be able to host (an) event at larger scale.”

THE BIG PICTURE: USA Gymnastics in trouble again

USA Gymnastics dug itself into a deeper hole with the hiring and firing of Mary Lee Tracy as the Elite Development Coordinator, responsible for working with sub-elite gymnasts in the federation’s development programs.

After the hiring announcement last Tuesday, she was excused on Friday. The statement said “USA Gymnastics has asked Mary Lee Tracy to resign from the elite development coordinator role. We strongly believe in a culture that encourages our athletes and survivors to speak up and make their voices heard. As a representative of the organization, she inappropriately contacted a survivor, who is also a represented plaintiff, in response to that survivor’s public criticism of her. USA Gymnastics decided it would be best to move forward without Ms. Tracy in this role.”

Tracy, a USA Gymnastics Hall of Famer, contacted Larry Nassar victim Aly Raisman after Raisman ripped USA Gymnastics on Twitter for hiring someone who made favorable comments in 2016 about Nassar when his abuse scandal erupted:

“USA Gymnastics has appointed someone who, in my view, supported Nassar, victim-shamed survivors, & has shown no willingness to learn from the past. This is a slap in the face for survivors, & further confirmation that nothing at @USAG has changed. What a profound disappointment!”

Now, new USOC chief Sarah Hirshland issued a Friday evening statement:

“We’ve been following the [USAG] activity and as we close the day I’m afraid I can offer nothing but disappointment. Under the circumstances we feel that the organization is struggling to manage its obligations effectively and it is time to consider making adjustments in the leadership. We are engaging with the USAG board to offer our perspective, and also our assistance, as they manage the situation.”

That puts USAG CEO Kerry Perry, hired last December, on the spot.

LANE ONE: Elite U.S. athletes won’t like this: average USOC grant in 2017 was $9,404

The annual report, audited financial statements and tax return for 2017 for the United States Olympic Committee were posted last week and provides an annual glimpse into the operations of the world’s leading National Olympic Committee.

On the surface, this was an unexceptional year in finance for the USOC. As is the case with the years in which an Olympic or Winter Games is not held, it lost money, with revenues of $213.3 million and expenses of $209.4 million for a cash surplus of $3.9 million, but a change in its accounting for larger meant that $25.2 million in gifts will be recognized when received instead of when promised. So, from an accounting standpoint, there is a net loss because of this of $21.4 million. The USOC had $438 million in net assets as of the end of 2017.

In its Annual Report (use this link to download), the USOC notes that “Approximately 82 percent of the USOC’s budget has a direct impact on its mission of supporting athletes via a variety of programs for both athletes and their National Governing Bodies. In addition to performance grants and rewards, additional support is provided in the form of training facilities, sports medicine and science, coaching education, health insurance, promotional opportunities, education and career services, outfitting and travel, and safe sport and antidoping programming.”

Against expenses of $209.4 million in 2017, that would mean that about $171.7 million would go to athlete support of various kinds. And, in fact, in the USOC’s audited financials, there is a detailed chart showing $171.2 million in “Program services” which include:

∙ $76.4 million High Performance Grants
∙ $7.3 High Performance Management
∙ $8.3 Sports Medicine
∙ $5.6 Sports Science
∙ $2.7 Other High Performance Programs
∙ $3.2 Olympic and Paralympic Competitions
∙ $27.1 Athlete Training Facilities
∙ $18.8 NGB and Athlete Foundational Programs
∙ $21.9 Team USA and Media Promotion

All good, right? The biggest amount is for grants to athletes … except that the $76.4 million figure is not just athlete payments. Actual grants make up $69.1 million, but this includes about $52 million to the National Governing Bodies and, according to Note J of the financial statements, $18.1 million of actual, direct grants to athletes. But did athletes get even that much?

Cross-referencing the financial statements with the IRS Form 990, we see that in Schedule I, Part III, Athlete Performance Stipends were made to 1,427 individuals for a total of $13,418,097. That’s an average of $9,403.57 per athlete for 2017.

Really, that’s all? No, that’s only part of the story, but it’s a figure that USOC critics will seize on. But there is more athlete compensation buried in the numbers, so read on.

In addition to the “training support” grants handed out by the USOC, there was also $3,156,625 given to 605 individuals for “Operation Gold” for winning medals in specific competitions, an average of $5,217.56 per award, and the 605 who received there were also possible (likely?) recipients of the training stipends.

Also available to athletes were grants from their National Governing Bodies. The arrangement, not widely understood, is detailed in the tax return:

“USOC grant funds are awarded to individual sports through each National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and are agreed upon and administered through a Performance Partnership Agreement (PPA). The approved projects for elite athlete training are outlined and agreed upon in the PPA. NGBs receive payments from the USOC on a quarterly basis. Prior to releasing funds, NGBs are required to provide a quarterly report outlining the amount of dollars spent on each of the USOC-approved training projects. At the end of the year, NGBs are required to provide a final report on each of the USOC-approved projects. The NGBs are then periodically audited by the USOC audit division.”

So which NGBs got the $52 million? Forty of the U.S. NGBs which participate as IOC-approved sports in the Olympic or Winter Games received USOC funding; there were 21 NGBs who received $1 million or more (in millions):

$6.204 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association
$3.914 USA Track & Field
$3.445 USA Swimming
$2.696 U.S. Speedskating Association
$2.352 USA Bobsled & Skeleton
$2.303 USA Gymnastics
$2.077 USA Hockey
$1.934 USA Volleyball
$1.875 USA Shooting
$1.794 U.S. Rowing Association /10/
$1.596 USA Wrestling
$1.345 USA Cycling
$1.290 U.S. Water Polo
$1.258 U.S. Equestrian Federation
$1.128 USA Triathlon
$1.125 U.S. Sailing Association
$1.099 U.S. Figure Skating Association
$1.040 U.S. Diving
$1.028 USA Basketball
$1.021 U.S. Biathlon Association /20/
$1.014 USA Curling (21)

So these federations then distributed funds to athletes in their sports, but the number and amounts are not reported in the USOC’s tally.

So we don’t know exactly how many athletes got stipends in 2017, or how much they received. But even if all of the money to the NGBs went to athletes – it did not – it would be less than 33% of the USOC total expenses for 2017.

There is plenty of detail on the highest-paid USOC executives in the tax return, led by $1.36 million for ex-chief executive Scott Blackmun. There were 14 individuals who received $300,000 or more, which will be loudly criticized by athlete groups. But the real issue to be considered is the total personnel cost for the USOC and its accompanying Foundation: a total of $53.4 million out of an expense total of $209.4 million or 25.5%. Does the USOC’s staffing plan meet today’s athlete and fundraising needs?

The fundraising is also an issue. Over the past four years:

2014: $22.8 million net: $37.2 million at a cost of $14.4 million
2015: $26.3 $39.6 million at a cost of $13.3 million
2016: $16.8 $32.6 million at a cost of $15.8 million
2017: $10.8 $20.9 million at a cost of $10.1 million

That going to be something for new CEO Sarah Hirshland to look into … among other things.

The USOC also spent $27.1 million on athlete training facilities, $9.5 million on athlete health insurance and medical support and gave $4.4 million to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and $2.7 million to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, all crucial elements for the Olympic Movement in the U.S. But there is no way to tell how much was spent for coaching training and support, also an important athlete-support element.

The USOC’s information package gives plenty of ammunition to both those who support its activities and its detractors. There’s no doubt that change will be coming and Hirshland will be pushed to find more money for grants directly to athletes, even if just to make a procedural change and have any USOC funds that end up in an athlete wallet be paid by it, so that they get credit for it.

Rich Perelman
Editor

DOPING: Asian Games, Jarrion Lawson, Canoeing champ, U.S. wrestler

Lots of activity in the doping sector, not only new positives, but also a promise of more pressure against sports with positives at the Asian Games:

Asian Games: Olympic Council of Asia chief Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah (KUW) told reporters “We would like to see which sport in the past three Games had the highest number (of doping cases). When we know this sport we will put it under pressure. It will not be one of our sports anymore, or it will have less medals.”

When the IOC re-analyzed the samples from the 2008 and 2012 Games, the sports with the highest number of violations were led by weightlifting, then athletics and wrestling.

Athletics: American sprinter and long jumper Jarrion Lawson – fourth in the Rio Olympic long jump – was notified of a positive doping test from 2 June by the Athletics Integrity Unit. It announced last week that “AIU confirms a provisional suspension against USA sprinter and jumper Jarrion Lawson for the presence of epitrenbolone, a violation of Article 2.1 of the IAAF Anti-Doping Rules”

Lawson released a statement noting that “Having now researched Trenbolone, we have discovered that it is a USDA approved steroid, legally used in the United States in the production of beef.

“Lab results have shown that there were extremely trace amounts of the metabolite in my sample. We are confident that we will prove that the metabolite entered my system through contamination. I am a 100 percent clean athlete and a big supporter of a clean sport. I am completely confident that a fair decision will be made in this case and I will be cleared of any wrongdoing.”

Canoe-Kayak: Former Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist in the K-1/500 m, Inna Osypenko-Radomska, 36, was suspended for four years by the International Canoe Federation for refusing to participate in a drug test in May.

She won the 2008 K-1/500 m gold, silvers in the K-1/200 m and K-1/500 m in London and a bronze back in 2004 in the K-4/500 m for Ukraine. Competing for Azerbaijan, she won a bronze in the K-1/200 m in Rio in 2016.

The ICF’s General Secretary, Simon Toulson (GBR) said in a statement that “A four year ban sends a clear message to all our athletes that they are expected to play by the rules. If an athlete believes by refusing or evading a drug test they will escape a ban, they need to think again. We will ensure they face the full force of the law.”

Wrestling: Victoria Francis, the top-ranked American at 75 kg, accepted a one-year suspension for doping for a banned anabolic agent, which came from a dietary supplement that did not list it as an ingredient.

Francis was the 2017 U.S. World Team Trials champ at 75 kg and runner-up at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in that class.

CYCLING: Van Vleuten taking charge in Boels Ladies Tour

Halfway through the Boels Ladies Tour, Dutch star Annemiek van Vleuten is taking full advantage of an opportunity to catch Women’s World Tour seasonal leader Marianne Vos (NED), who is not riding in an event she has won four times previously.

Van Vleuten, who finished second on the Tour last year, entered the race 234.55 points behind Vos, and has won two of the first three stages to forge a 29-second lead over Eugenia Bujak (SLO) and 30 seconds over Dutch riders Ellen van Dijk (the 2013 champion) and Lucinda Brand.

Scoring for World Tour races is 200-150-125-100-85-70-60-50-40-35 for the top ten places and on down to 40th. For the multi-stage Boels Ladies Tour, there are also stage points from 25 for a win, down to four for 10th place, so Van Vleuten could take the lead with two races remaining! Summaries so far:

UCI Women’s World Tour/Boels Ladies Tour
Netherlands ~ 28 August-02 September 2018
(Full results here)

Prologue (3.3 km): 1. Annemiek Van Vleuten (NED), 4:22; 2. Anna van der Breggen (NED), 4:29; 3. Ellen van Dijk (NED), 4:30; 4. Leah Kirchmann (CAN), 4:31; 5. Lisa Brennauer (GER), 4:31. Also in the top 50: 21. Megan Guarnier (USA), 4:42; … 26. Leah Thomas (USA), 4:43; … 29. Tayler Wiles (USA), 4:44; … 44. Lily Williams (USA), 4:49.

Stage 1 (132,2 km): 1. Val Vleuten (NED), 3:28:29; 2. Eugenia Bujak (SLO), 3:28:41; 3. Elena Cecchini (ITA), 3:28:41; 4. Marta Cavalli (ITA), 3:28:41; 5. Amanda Spratt (AUS), 3:28:41. Also in the top 50: 16. Wiles (USA), 3:28:41; … 23. Guarnier (USA), 3:28:41; … 27. Thomas (USA), 3:28:45.

Stage 2 (129.0 km): 1. Amalie Dideriksen (DEN), 2:58:57; 2. Lorena Wiebes (NED), 2:58:57; 3. Jolien D’Hoore (BEL), 2:58:57; 4. Maria Confalonieri (ITA), 2:58:57; 5. Amy Pieters (NED), 2:58:57. Also in the top 50: 31. Williams (USA), 2:58:57; … 37. Thomas (USA), 2:58:57.

Stage 3: 31 August Stramproy to Weert (124.3 km)
Stage 4: 01 September Sittard to Sittard (158.4 km)
Stage 5: 02 September Roosendaal to Roosendaal (Individual Time Trial: 18.6 km)

CYCLING: France’s Molard leads in Vuelta a Espana

A confusing set of first-week racing has left France’s unheralded Rudy Molard in the red jersey of the leader of the 73rd La Vuelta a Espana after the first six stages.

Molard took over after the fifth stage, where he finished sixth and many of the top contenders fell back. With two weeks of races still to go, he’s ahead of Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski by 41 seconds, Emanuel Buchmann (GER) by 0:48, Britain’s Simon Yates by 0:51 and Spain’s Alejandro Valverde by 0:53. They’re the only ones within a minute of the lead right now.

The next two stages are flat, then the climbing begins with Stage 9 and 13-14-15 next week. The 21 stages include two time trials, five mountain stages, six hilly stages and six which are fairly flat. NBC’s Olympic Channel has daily coverage of La Vuelta, 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. Simone Consonni (ITA), 3:58:35; 5. Matteo Trentin (ITA), 3:58:35.

Stage 7: 31 August Puerto Lumbreras to Pozo Alcon (185.7 km; flat)
Stage 8: 01 September Linares to Almadén (195.1 km; flat)
Stage 9: 02 September Talavera de la Reina to La Covatilla (200.8 km; mountains)

03 September Rest day

Stage 10: 04 September Universidad de Salamanca to Fermoselle (177.0 km; flat)
Stage 11: 05 September Mombuey to Ribeira Sacra (207.8 km; hilly)
Stage 12: 06 September Mondoñedo to Faro de Estaca de Bares (181.1 km; hilly)
Stage 13: 07 September Candas. Carreño to Valle de Sabero (174.8 km; mountains)
Stage 14: 08 September Cistierna to Les Praeres (171.0 km); mountains
Stage 15: 09 September Ribera de Arriba to Lagos de Covadonga (178.2 km; mountains)

10 September Rest day

Stage 16: 11 September Santillana del Mar to Torrelavega (Indiv. Time Trial: 32.0 km)
Stage 17: 12 September Getxo to Balcon de Bizkaia (157.0 km; hilly)
Stage 18: 13 September Ejea de los Caballeros to Lleida (186.1 km; flat)
Stage 19: 14 September Lleida to Andorra. Naturlandia (154.4 km; flat)
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)

BASEBALL: Japan vs. Chinese Taipei in women’s World Champs Final

Japan entered the 2018 women’s Baseball World Cup as the five-time defending champion and they are going to get a chance to make it six.

Japan sailed through the Super Round playoffs to reach the championship game with wins over the U.S. (3-0), Chinese Taipei (2-1) and Venezuela (10-0). They will play the only team to really challenge them, Chinese Taipei, which defeated the Dominican Republic (2-1) and Canada (6-4) in the Super Round.

How dominant have the Japanese been? In their seven games, they have outscored their opponents by a 49-4 count and have not yielded more than one run in any game!

The U.S., which finished second in its group to Chinese Taipei, overcame its opening Super Round loss to the Japanese and defeated Canada (5-1) and the Dominicans (8-1) to get to the bronze medal game. The American squad will face Canada again.

The event is being held in the U.S. for the first time, in Viera, Florida, which has seen its share of weather problems and delays.

Japan won the World Cup in 2008-10-12-14-16, beating the United States twice, Canada twice and Australia once. The Japanese stomped Canada, 10-0, to win in 2016 with Venezuela third and Chinese Taipei fourth.

Look for results here.

ATHLETICS: Lyles sensational, Kipruto sublime in Zurich Diamond League final

Noah Lyles and Conseslus Kipruto both did some amazing things at the first of the two Diamond League final meets at Zurich’s Letzigrund Stadium.

Lyles left no doubt that he’s the top 200 m runner in the world this season by storming down the home straight to win in 19.67, just 0.02 off his world-leading 19.65. “I came here to go for the win,” he said afterwards. “I did it I am very happy.”

He should be. He ran five 200 m races this season, won all five and ran in the 19s each time, becoming only the sixth man in history to record five or more sub-20 races in a single season (see our Lane One story in Wednesday’s issue for more on this). Among the five others to do it are Usain Bolt and Michael Johnson.

Turkey’s Ramil Guliyev – World Champion in 2017 – was second in 19.98 and also joined the five sub-20s in a season club as no. 7. He’s not Lyles, but with a 19.76 win in the European Championships, he will be a challenger for some years to come.

Kipruto, already the Olympic and World Champion in the Steeplechase, put on a show of determination that will be long remembered by the track & field intelligensia, winning his fourth Diamond League title despite running the last 2,500 m or so without his left shoe!

He ran close to the front with world leader Sofiane El Bakkali (MAR) and American Evan Jager, with Jager taking the lead with less than a lap to go. But El Bakkali surged down the back straight, leaving Jager behind, but not Kipruto. With one shoe, Kipruto held close and then passed El Bakkali with about 40 to go and won, 8:10.15-8:10.19.

It was a stunning finish and testament to Kipturo’s competitive greatness and left El Bakkali in tears after the finish. Jager once again showed he does not have the speed to win this kind of race, but was a clear third in 8:13.22.

There were no world records and no world-leading marks in Zurich. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t thrilling. More highlights:

∙ Men’s 400 m: World leader Steven Gardiner was leading as expected into the home straight, but pulled up with about 80 m left and that opened the door for American Fred Kerley, who powered through the finish to win in a modest 44.80.

It hasn’t been the easiest year for Kerley, who ran 43.70 last season, but he not only won the $50,000 first prize, but scored a win over newly-crowned European Champion Matthew Hudson-Smith (GBR), third in 44.95.

“I have been running since June and I am quite exhausted now after this race because I had to take a break and this is my first race again.” he said afterwards. “I came back after an injury for this race. It is a blessing to come to Europe, to run and to win.

“I will invest the money in my future, in my little girl Mia. I do not want her to go through what I have gone through.”

∙ Men’s 1,500 m: Essentially the same as the rest of the season: a challenge from Kenya’s World Champion Elijah Manangoi could not derail countryman Timothy Cheruiyot from winning in a fast 3:30.27-3:31.16.

∙ Men’s Shot Put: New Zealand’s Tomas Walsh confirmed his status as the world’s best putter for 2018 with an impressive win at 22.60 m (74-1 3/4). But American Darrell Hill, 25, moved to no. 3 on the year list with his second-best effort ever: 22.40 (7-36), ahead of Olympic champ Ryan Crouser (22.18 m/72-9 1/4). It was Walsh’s second Diamond League win, previously in 2016.

∙ Women’s 100 m: After Blessing Okagbare (NGR) was disqualified for a false start, Michelle Ahoure (CIV) got out like a rocket and held on to beat countrywoman Marie-Josee Ta Lou in 11.01. Ta Lou looked like she would be second, but leaned too early and was passed at the line by Dina Asher-Smith for second, 11.08-11.10. It was Ta Lou’s first loss of the season at 100 m, but Ahoure – who lives in Houston – made history by becoming the first Diamond League winner in the event who was not American or Jamaican.

∙ Women’s 800 m: No need for a pacemaker, as South Africa’s Caster Semenya won her 28th final in a row with ease, never challenged, in 1:55.27. She now owns the top three times and four of the top five in the world for 2018. Behind her was a battle royal with American Ajee Wilson scoring an impressive second in 1:57.86, outlasting Jamaican Natoya Goule (1:58.49), among others.

∙ Women’s 5,000 m: This figured to come down to Kenya’s Hellen Obiri and Dutch star Sifan Hassan and it did. Hassan had the lead on the final backstraight, but Obiri shot into the lead and the two were never more than a meter apart for the last 200 m. Obiri had enough to win, 14:38.39-14:38.77.

Hassan, who will race in Brussels in the 1,500 m, was distraught at losing. “I could have won this race,” she said. “When Hellen started to sprint, I could have just gone with her, too. I do not know if I am satisfied with my second place.”

∙ Women’s 400 m Hurdles: American Shamier Little was the hottest entrant in the field, but Olympic champ Dalilah Muhammad went out hard and kept the pressure on, winning by 53.88-54.21. “It was a tough race but I enjoyed it,” said Muhammad. “In the end I had to put that extra bit into it. I am happy.” Muhammad should be as she defended her 2017 Diamond League title and got a big payday.

In the women’s field events, Marita Lasitskene (RUS) won the high jump at 1.97 m (6-5 1/2) and the now-healthy Katerina Stefanidi of Greece won the pole vault over Sandi Morris of the U.S., 4.87 m (15-11 3/4)-4.82 m (15-9 3/4). Summaries:

IAAF Diamond League Final/Weltklasse im Zurich
Zurich (SUI) ~ 30 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men

200 m (wind: -0.2 m/s): 1. Noah Lyles (USA), 19.67; 2. Ramil Guliyev (TUR), 19.98; 3. Jereem Richards (TTO), 20.04; 4. Aaron Brown (CAN), 20.14; 5. Alex Quinonez (ECU), 20.34.

400 m: 1. Fred Kerley (USA), 44.80; 2. Nathan Strother (USA), 44.93; 3. Matthew Hudson-Smith (GBR), 44.95; 4. Paul Dedewo (USA), 45.18; 5. Baboloki Thebe (BOT), 45.41.

1,500 m: 1. Timothy Cheruiyot (KEN), 3:30.27; 2. Elijah Manongoi (KEN), 3:31.16; 3. Ayanleh Souleiman (DJI), 3:31.24; 4. Abdelaati Iguider (MAR), 3:31.59; 5. Brahim Kaazouzi (MAR), 3:33.82.

3,000 m Steeple: 1. Conseslus Kipruto (KEN), 8:10.15; 2. Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR), 8:10.19; 3. Evan Jager (USA), 8:13.22; 4. Chala Beyo (ETH), 8:15.85; 5. Nicholas Bett (KEN), 8:19.74. Also: 7. Hillary Bor (USA), 8:26.04.

400 m Hurdles: 1. Kyron McMaster (IVB), 48.08; 2. Karsten Warholm (NOR), 48.10; 3. Yasmani Copello (TUR), 48.73; 4. Rasmus Magi (EST), 49.28; 5. Cornel Fredericks (RSA), 49.96. Also: 7. Bershawn Jackson (USA), 50.63; 8. T.J. Holmes (USA), 51.39.

Pole Vault (invitational; indoors): 1. Timur Morgunov (RUS), 5.91 m (19-4 3/4); 2. Shawn Barber (CAN), 5.86 m (19-2 3/4); 3. Kurtis Marshall (AUS), 5.86 m (19-2 3/4); 4. Pawel Wojciechowski (POL), 5.81 m (19-0 3/4); 5. Renaud Lavillenie (FRA), 5.81 m (19-0 3/4). Also: 7. Sam Kendricks (USA), 5.71 m (18-8 3/4).

Long Jump: 1. Luvo Manyonga (RSA), 8.36 m (27-5 1/4); 2. Ruswahl Saamai (RSA), 8.32 m (27-3 3/4); 3. Henry Frayne (AUS), 8.16 m (26-9 1/4); 4. Tajay Gayle (JAM), 8.15 m (26-9); 5. Jeff Henderson (USA), 8.11 m (26-7 1/4). Also: 6. Marquis Dendy (USA), 8.09 m (26-6 1/2).

Shot Put: 1. Tomas Walsh (NZL), 22.60 m (74-1 3/4); 2. Darrell Hill (USA), 22.40 m (73-6); 3. Ryan Crouser (USA), 22.18 m (72-9 1/4); 4. Darlan Romani (BRA), 21.94 m (71-11 3/4); 5. Tomas Stanek (CZE), 21.87 m (71-9). Also: 8. Ryan Whiting (USA), 20.56 m (67-5 1/2).

Javelin: 1. Andreas Hoffmann (GER), 91.44 m (300-0); 2. Magnus Kirt (EST), 87.57 m (287-3); 3. Thomas Rohler (GER), 85.76 m (281-4); 4. Neeraj Chopra (IND), 85.73 m (281-3); 5. Marcin Krukowski (POL), 85.32 m (279-11).

Women

100 m (-0.5): 1. Michelle Ahoure (CIV), 11.01; 2. Dina Asher-Smith (GBR), 11.08; 3. Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV), 11.10; 4. Mujinga Kambundji (SUI), 11.14; 5. Dafne Schippers (NED), 11.15.

800 m: 1. Caster Semenya (RSA), 1:55.27; 2. Ajee Wilson (USA), 1:57.86; 3. Natoya Goule (JAM), 1:58.49; 4. Habitam Alemu (ETH), 1:58.63; 5. Raevyn Rogers (USA), 1:59.05. Also: 9. Charlene Lipsey (USA), 2:04.77.

5,000 m: 1. Hellen Obiri (KEN), 14:38.39; 2. Sifan Hassan (NED), 14:38.77; 3. Senbere Teferi (ETH), 14:40.97; 4. Caroline Kipkurui (KEN), 14:43.96; 5. Agnes Tirop (KEN), 14:44.24.

400 m Hurdles: 1. Dalilah Muhammad (USA), 53.88; 2. Shamier Little (USA), 54.21; 3. Janieve Russell (JAM), 54.38; 4. Georganne Moline (USA), 55.00; 5. Eilidh Doyle (GBR), 55.05.

High Jump: 1. Mariya Lasitskene (RUS), 1.97 m (6-5 1/2); 2. Yuliya Levchenko (UKR), 1.94 m (6-4 1/4); 3. Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch (GER), 1.90 (6-2 3/4); 4. Erika Kinsey (SWE), 1.90 m (6-2 3/4); 5. tie, Oksana Okuneva (UKR), Sofie Skoog (SWE), Levern Spencer (LCA), Kateryna Tabashnyk (UKR) and Elena Vallortigara (ITA), 1.85 m (6-0 3/4)

Pole Vault: 1. Katerina Stefanidi (GRE), 4.87 m (15-11 3/4); 2. Sandi Morris (USA), 4.82 m (15-9 3/4); 3. Anzhelika Sidorova (RUS), 15-9 3/4; 4. tie, Holly Bradshaw (GBR) and Katie Nageotte (USA), 4.57 m (15-0).

Triple Jump: 1. Caterine Ibarguen (COL), 14.56 m (47-9 1/4); 2. Shanieka Ricketts (JAM), 14.55 m (47-9); 3. Kimberly Williams (JAM), 14.47 m (47-5 3/4); 4. Tori Franklin (USA), 14.41 m (47-3 1/2); 5. Rouguy Diallo (FRA), 14.15 m (46-5 1/4).

Javelin: 1. Tatsiana Khaladovich (BLR), 66.99 (219-9); 2. Shiying Liu (CHN), 66.00 m (216-6); 3. Kara Winger (USA), 64.75 m (212-5); 4. Huihui Lyu (CHN), 63.53 m (208-5); 5. Nikola Ogrodnikova (CZE), 62.99 m (206-8).

ASIAN GAMES: Athletics ends with 13 new Games Records in Jakarta

The 18th Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang (INA) are zooming toward Sunday’s Closing Ceremony and the track & field competition finished on Friday with some noteworthy performances:

∙ Birhanu Balew (BRN), the world leader in the men’s 5,000 m at 13:01.09, won the men’s 5,000 m in a modest 13:43.17, ahead of Albert Rop (also BRN: 13:43.76).

∙ Qatar produced a rousing finish to the meet with an Asian Record of 3:00.46 in the men’s 4×400 m, thanks to legs from Abderrahman Samba (44.5), Mohamad Abbas, Mohamed Mohamed and Abdelelah Haroun. That effort broke Japan’s 3:00.76 Asian Record from the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

∙ Iran’s Ehsan Hadadi dominated the men’s discus as expected, winning 65.71 m (215-7) to secure his fourth consecutive Asian Games victory,

∙ Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Radzivil, 31, won the women’s High Jump at 1.96 m (6-5), moving to no. 8 on the world list for 2018 and winning her third Asian Games gold in a row in the event.

There were two double winners in the individual events, both on the women’s side: Edidiong Odiong (BRN) in the 100 and 200 m (11.30 and 22.96), and Kalkidan Gezahegne in the 1,500 m and 5,000 m (4:07.88 and 15:08.08). A total of 13 Asian Games records were set in Jakarta.

Elsewhere, in men’s Rugby Sevens, Japan set an Asian Games record by defeating Indonesia, 92-0. Is that good?

Japan’s Shohei Ono won the men’s -73 kg class in Judo, giving him gold medals in the Olympic Games (2016), World Championships (2013-15) and Asian Games. He and Kosei Inoue (JPN: -100 kg) are the only ones ever to do this.

The overall athlete total at the Games has been reported at 11,720 from 45 countries. China continues to run away with the overall medal count at 241 (112-76-53), with Japan second (174: 59-49-66) and Korea third (141: 39-46-56). The Games will finish on Sunday.

SHOOTING Preview: ISSF World Champs start in Korea Sunday

Unlike most sports in the Olympic world, the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) holds its World Championships only once every four years, two years after the Olympic Games. That makes the 2018 edition a high-profile event on the road to Tokyo.

This year’s venue isn’t too far from the 2020 Games site, either, in Changwon (KOR), with more than 1,800 shooters from 90 countries are expected to gather for competitions beginning on Sunday (2nd) and continuing through 15 September. It’s 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 senior-level events and finals schedule (with Olympic-event winners from 2014 and the current no. 1-ranked shooter per the ISSF World Rankings):

∙ 2 September:

Mixed Team 10 m Air Rifle
Mixed Team 10 m Air Pistol

∙ 3 September:

Men’s 10 m Air Rifle
○ 2014 winner: Haoran Yang (CHN)
○ 2018 no. 1: Istvan Peni (HUN

Women’s 10 m Air Rifle
○ 2014 winner: Petra Zublasing (ITA)
○ 2018 no. 1: Mingyang Wu (CHN)

Men’s Trap
○ 2014 winner: Daniele Resca (ITA)
○ 2018 no. 1: Aaron Heading (GBR)

∙ 4 September:

Women’s 10 m Air Pistol
○ 2014 winner: Jee-Hae Jung (KOR)
○ 2018 no. 1: Anna Korakaki (GRE)

∙ 6 September:

Men’s 10 m Air Pistol
○ 2014 winner: Jongoh Jin (KOR)
○ 2018 no. 1: Shahzar Rizvi (IND)

Women’s Trap
○ 2014 winner: Jessica Rossi (ITA)
○ 2018 no. 1: Satu Makela-Nummela (FIN)

∙ 7 September:

Men’s 50 m Rifle/3 Positions
○ 2014 winner: Qinan Zhu (CHN)
○ 2018 no. 1: Istvan Peni (HUN)

Mixed Team Trap

∙ 8 September:

Women’s 50 m Rifle/3 Positions
○ 2014 winner: Beate Gauss (GER)
○ 2018 no. 1: Snjezana Pejcic (CRO)

Women’s 25 m Pistol
○ 2014 winner: Jingjing Zhang (CHN)
○ 2018 no. 1: Anna Korakaki (GRE)

∙ 9 September:

Women’s 10 m Running Target
Men’s 10 m Running Target

∙ 10 September:

Men’s 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol
○ 2014 winner: Jun-Hong Kim (KOR)
○ 2018 no. 1: Junmin Lin (CHN)

∙ 11 September:

Women’s Skeet
○ 2014 winner: Dania Jo Vizzi (USA)
○ 2018 no. 1: Kim Rhode (USA)

∙ 14 September:

Men’s Skeet
○ 2014 winner: Gabriele Rossetti (ITA)
○ 2018 no. 1: Vince Hancock (USA)

The U.S. has a strong squad in Korea for the 52nd ISSF Worlds, led by the amazing Rhode, winner of six Olympic medals in six different Games, beginning in 1996. Hancock, himself a two-time Olympic gold medalist, won three of the four ISSF World Cups this year in Skeet, as did Rhode. Ashley Carroll won one World Cup in women’s Trap.

In the senior division, China was the biggest medal winner in 2014, taking 27 (13-11-3) to Russia’s 20 (5-7-8) and 15 for Germany (9-4-2). The U.S. collected eight medals (2-3-3) and finished tied for eighth in the overall medal count.

FOOTBALL Preview: With CONCACAF Champs coming, U.S. women play Chile

After a couple of years of games that meant nothing, the U.S. women’s national team will play two more friendlies against Chile before learning who they will play in the CONCACAF Championships, the qualifier for the 2019 World Cup in France. The schedule:

∙ 31 August: StubHub Center in Carson, California 11 p.m. Eastern (ESPN2)
∙ 04 September: Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California 10 p.m. Eastern (ESPN2)

The Chilean women have qualified for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, finishing second in the Copa America Feminina to Brazil last April. The U.S. has never played Chile, but could see them in France in 2019.

The CONCACAF draw will be held on 4 September and the U.S. will play group games on 4-7-10 October in Cary, North Carolina; this draw will be shown at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Fox Sports 1.

U.S. star Megan Rapinoe suffered a rib injury in her NWSL match last Tuesday, so Amy Rodriguez has been recalled to the team in her place. The rest of the U.S. roster appears intact for these games. Look for match scores here.

CANOE-KAYAK Preview: Fox puts perfect record on the line in Slalom World Cup

After a break of almost two months, the fourth ICF Slalom World Cup is getting ready in Tacen (SLO), with Australia’s Jessica Fox trying to sweep both the C-1 and K-1 events once again for the fourth straight time!

No one had won both in a single World Cup since Fox had done it at Tacen back in 2013. But she took care of business at the first three World Cups and now faces – once again – 2017 World C-1 champ Mallory Franklin (GBR), Czech Worlds C-1 silver medalist Tereza Fiserova, K-1 Worlds bronze medalist Ricarda Funk (GER) and more.

While Fox has swept the World Cup women’s races, the men’s have been more competitive:

∙ Liptovsky Mikulkas: C-1: Sideris Tasiadis (GER) K-1: Sebastian Schubert (GER)
∙ Krakow: C-1: David Florence (GBR) K-1: Joe Clarke (GBR)
∙ Augsburg: C-1: Tasiadis K-1: Peter Kauzer (SLO)

Kauzer will be competing on his home course, which he says he has been riding on for at least 23 years!

The World Cup Final will follow next week from 7-9 September in La Seu d’Urgell (ESP). Look for results from Tacen here.

ATHLETICS Preview: Baker vs. Coleman in Diamond League Final in Brussels

The IAAF Diamond League schedule will conclude with the AG Memorial Van Damme in Brussels (BEL) on Friday, with 15 events to be held and $1.6 million in prize money up for grabs.

As with the Weltklasse im Zurich meet on Thursday, the Diamond League Finals are the best-paying meets outside of a major championship, with $100,000 per event, paid $50,000-20,000-10,000-6,000-5,000-4,000-3,000-2,000 paid to the top eight place winners.

But, it has been noted that the winner of the 2018 Diamond League will not get a “Wild Card” entry into the 2019 IAAF World Championships – we were wrong on this in Wednesday’s issue – and that the direct entry will be for the winner of the 2019 Diamond League events (see the IAAF regulations here).

The first final of the Brussels schedule was held in the elegant Grand Place in the center of the city on Thursday, with China’s favored Lijiao Gong winning her second straight Diamond League title at 19.83 m (65-0 3/4) over American Raven Saunders (19.64 m/64-5 1/4).

Three athletes will be doubling back from Zurich: Dafne Schippers (NED) in the women’s 200 m (she was fifth in the 100 m in Zurich), Dutch star Sifan Hassan in the 1,500 m (second at 5,000 m) and Colombia’s Caterine Ibarguen, who won the triple jump and will compete in the long jump. Hassan is driving and Schippers and Ibarguen are flying. The expected highlights:

∙ Men’s 100 m: World leader Ronnie Baker of the U.S. – 9.87 – faces World silver winner Christian Coleman (9.94 this season), African champ Akani Simbine (RSA: 9.93), European silver medalist Reece Prescod (GBR: 9.94) and the king of inconsistency, Mike Rodgers (USA: 9.89). Baker has emerged as a sprinter to be watched, but a win over Coleman here would stamp him as a legitimate medal contender for the future.

Coleman looked unbeatable indoors, setting the world record at 60 m. But he has been run down when the distance extended to 100 m. Can Baker come on to win?

∙ Men’s 800 m: No doubt about the favorite: it’s Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir. He’s the world leader at 1:42.05 and is four-for-four in Diamond League races in 2018. His last race was 1:42.79 at the Birmingham Grand Prix. Behind him could be American Clayton Murphy (1:43.12), Kenyans Ferguson Rotich (1:43.73), Wyclife Kinyamal (1:43.12) or Jonathan Kitilit (1:43.46) or Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski (1:44.32).

∙ Men’s 5,000 m: No American man has ever won a Diamond League title in the 1,500 m, 3,000 m Steeple or 5,000 m. But in a winner-take-all final format, is this the year that Paul Chelimo can break through for the U.S.?

Tactically brilliant, Chelimo is one of six in the field who have run sub-13:10 this year, at 13:09.66. The top entries are Ethiopians Selemon Barega (13:02.67), Abadi Hadis (13:03.62), Getaneh Molla (13:04.04) and current World Champion Muktar Edris (13:06.24), plus Kenya’s Richard Yator (13:04.97).

∙ Men’s 110 m Hurdles: Russia’s Sergey Shubenkov was clearly the best in the world (12.92) … until he was out-leaned by Pascal Martinot-Largarde (FRA) at the Europeans, with both timed in 13.17. Both are here, along with Orlando Ortega (ESP: 13.08 in 2018) and Jamaica’s Commonwealth champ Ronald Levy (13.13).

∙ Men’s High Jump: With Mutaz Essa Barshim (QAT) out with injury and Russia’s Danyil Lysenko now ineligible for doping, this event is in disarray. Maybe Australia’s Brandon Starc (2.36 m/7-8 3/4)? Maybe Germany’s European Champion Mateusz Przybylko (2.35 m/7-8 1/2)? American Bryan McBride, who also cleared 2.35 m (7-8 1/2), but back on 9 June? It’s anyone’s guess.

∙ Men’s Pole Vault: All of the usual suspects are here, with 2012 Olympic champ Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) trying for his eighth Diamond League title. He won the first seven in a row, but American Sam Kendricks – who won the World Championshiips – won last year. The new European Champion and Swedish wunderkind Mondo Duplantis is in, the world leader at 6.05 m (19-10 1/4), along with 2015 World Champion Shawn Barber (CAN), 2016 Olympic winner Thiago Braz da Silva (BRA) and Russia’s Timur Morgunov, who jumped 6.00 m (19-8 1/4) at the European Championships and lost!

∙ Men’s Triple Jump: There are four Americans among the eight finalists, but the question is what will happen between Olympic and World Champion Christian Taylor and Portugal’s Pedro Pablo Pichardo, the world leader at 17.95 m (58-10 3/4). Taylor has been at his best in the biggest meets, has jumped 17.81 m (58-5 1/4) this season and is looking for his seventh straight Diamond League title!

The other U.S. entries are Omar Craddock (17.40 m/57-1), Chris Benard (17.40 m/57-1) and Donald Scott (17.37 m/57-0), who have the nos. 3-4-5 seasonal bests in the field.

∙ Men’s Discus: This event has gotten more interesting as the season has progressed. Jamaica’s Fedrick Dacres looked like the best in the world for most of the year, but Sweden’s Daniel Stahl just jumped him on the world list – 69.72 (228-9) to 69.67 (228-7). In the meantime, Lithuania’s Andrius Gudzius – the World Champion and Diamond League winner in 2017 – is at 69.59 m (228-3) and just won the European title. Who wins this time?

∙ Women’s 200 m: Defending Diamond League champ Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH) has been the dominant force in the 200 and 400 m this season and is the clear favorite here, even though her 22.06 best for 2018 is second on the world list to Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson (22.05).

Truth is that Jackson will be fighting with American Jenna Prandini (22.16), European Champs runner-up Schippers (22.14 in 2018) and maybe surprising Gabby Thomas of the U.S. (22.19) for second.

∙ Women’s 400 m: There are five Americans among the eight finalists, but everyone will be chasing Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser (49.08), who has been the second-best in the world all season, behind Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH). U.S. champion Shakima Wimbley (49.52), 2017 World Champion Phyllis Francis (50.07 in 2018) and Jessica Beard (50.07) are all capable, but none have been able to challenge Naser during the Diamond League season.

∙ Women’s 1,500 m: Fourteen entrants, including the pacesetter, and six with seasonal bests under 4:00 and four more under 4:02. World leader Ginzebe Dibaba (ETH: 3:56.68) is not in, but the next four are:

3:57.34 Shelby Houlihan (USA) ~ U.S. champion
3:57.41+ Sifan Hassan (NED, en route time) ~ European 5,000 m champion
3:57.64 Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) ~ Stockholm Diamond League winner
3:58.18 Laura Muir (GBR) ~ European Champion

Add in Poland’s European runner-up Sofia Ennaoui and bronze medalist Laura Weightman and it should be a wild race. Look for Hassan to try and run away from Houlihan, and the American making a wild sprint down the final straight. But she ran the 5,000 m in Zurich on Thursday, finishing second in a final-straight sprint to Hellen Obiri (KEN); what does she have left?

We won’t forget to mention the 2011 World Champion and tactical genius, Jenny Simpson of the U.S. (3:59.37 this season). If the pace isn’t too fast, she will find the right space to make a run for a medal.

∙ Women’s 3,000 m Steeplechase: This has been one of the most interesting events of this season and all of the dramatis personae are here: new world-record holder Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya (8:44.32!), 2015 World Champion Hyvin Kiyeng (KEN), 2017 World Champion Emma Coburn of the U.S., new American Record setter Courtney Frerichs (9:00.85), Kenyans Celliphine Chespol (9:01.82) and Norah Jeruto (9:04.17). And this race will have two pacesetters, so a sub-9:00 finish is being targeted. Another American Record?

∙ Women’s 100 m Hurdles: A great race featuring two women who really want to win this year’s Diamond trophy: Rio Olympic champ Brianna Rollins-McNeal and world-record holder Keni Harrison, both of the U.S.

They are the two fastest women in the field, with Harrison the world leader at 12.36 and Rollins-McNeal at 12.38. Next fastest is Danielle Williams (JAM) at 12.48. There are five Americans in the nine lanes, with Sharika Nelvis (12.51 this season and Christina Manning (12.56) more than able to pull an upset if the top two are not ready.

∙ Women’s Long Jump: World leader Lorraine Ugen (GBR) jumped 7.05 m (23-1 3/4) in early July, but was only ninth at the European Championships. Germany’s Malaika Milhambo is second on the list at 6.99 m (22-11 1/4) and won the Euros, so she’s the favorite. If she falters, watch for Canada’s Christabel Nettey (6.92 m/22-8 1/2) or Shara Proctor (GBR: 6.91 m/22-8), the Euros bronze medalist.

Colombia’s Ibarguen has done 6.87 m (22-6 1/2) this season and is one of three athletes competing back-to-back in Zurich and Brussels.

∙ Women’s Discus: No doubt about the favorite: Croatia’s reigning World Champion Sandra Perkovic. She’s not only the world leader – by more than 10 feet! – at 71.38 m (234-2), but is gunning for her seventh straight Diamond League victory in the ninth year of the series!

The Cuban duo of Yaime Perez (67.82 m/222-6) and Denia Caballero (66.09 m/216-10) have been the best of the rest all season.

The NBC Olympic Channel will show the Brussels meet on Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern time, with a replay at 7 p.m. Eastern on NBCSN. The women’s shot summary from Thursday:

IAAF Diamond League Final/AG Memorial Van Damme
Brussels (BEL) ~ 30 August 2018
(Full results here)

Women

Shot Put: 1. Lijiao Gong (CHN), 19.83 m (65–0 3/4); 2. Raven Saunders (USA), 19.64 m (64-5 1/4); 3. Christina Schwanitz (GER), 19.50 m (63-11 3/4); 4. Aliona Dubitskaya (BLR), 19.01 m (62-4 1/2); 5. Paulina Guba (POL), 18.54 m (60-10).

THE BIG PICTURE: Remember Dutee Chand?

Does the name Dutee Chand ring a bell?

If not, remember that she is the Indian sprinter who filed the action against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that got its rules on testosterone levels in women thrown out by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Chand was dropped from the Indian team for the 2014 Asian Games due to concerns about “female hyperandrogenism” and she appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Her case, decided in mid-2015, resulted in the suspension of the IAAF’s rules limiting women’s testosterone levels pending better research.

Chand began competing again in 2016 and the IAAF returned with more detailed findings about advantages of high testosterone levels in women earlier this year. The new study led to rules limiting testosterone in women competing in events from 400 m up to the mile (now being challenged at CAS by South African star Caster Semenya).

That leaves Chand, 22, a sprinter, in the clear and she won silver medals in the Asian Games in Indonesia in the 100 m (11.32) and 200 m (23.20).

She competing in the Rio Olympic Games and the 2017 World Championships in London; she has personal bests of 11.29 and 23.00, both set this year.

Let’s make the Decathlon and Heptathlon more like the Modern Pentathlon!

Track and field athletes, officials and fans have all heard the joke: “What’s more exciting: the Decathlon or watching paint dry?”

If you’re not into the multi-events – and that’s most of you – you’ll nod your head in agreement with those who vote for the paint (!), against both the men’s 10-eventer and the women’s seven-event program.

As IAAF chief Sebastian Coe is always looking for innovative ways to make the sport more enticing, here’s an idea: make the Decathlon and Heptathlon more like the Modern Pentathlon.

Huh? Am I mad? Failed a doping test recently?

Nope; just a way to ramp up the thrill factor, at least at the end of these events.

Let’s face it, the Modern Pentathlon is not seen as a center of excitement in the Olympic Games. Created for the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm (SWE) by either International Olympic Committee founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin (SUI) or organizing committee chair Viktor Balck, it was designed to evoke the pentathlon of the ancient Olympic Games with five sports scored for points: fencing, swimming, riding, shooting and running.

For most of its Olympic history, the sport was a vagabond, wandering among the sites for the first four sports before the running finale. That was changed to a single site for the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and then to a one-day format in 1996 in Atlanta.

The shooting and running phases were combined into a “Laser Run” event beginning in 2009 and re-tooled in 2013 to include four laps of 800 m each, prefaced by laser shooting at five targets.

But the signature element of the format is that based on the points accumulated through the first four events prior to 2009 and since then, after the first three events, the competitors are handicapped by time so that the competition leader starts first, with a handicap, and the first person to cross the finish line is the overall winner of the event.

So, for the decathlon, the obvious corollary would be the use a handicap start in the final event, the 1,500 m, so that the first person to finish will be the winner of the event. Same for the women’s 800 m, the finale of the heptathlon.

Wouldn’t that make the event a lot more interesting?

In fact, you could do the same with the final event of the first day as well: the men’s 400 m and the women’s 200 m, although their short duration makes the timing issues more difficult.

Ah, but what about the scoring? After all, these events are compared across the years by their scores and not just who won and lost. True, but this is also accommodated by this format, since everyone is still running the same distance, but their starting time is staggered by their relative point totals to the other competitors. (For the 400 m and 200 m, how about using blocks that sent a pulse to the feet of the runners when they were supposed to go, and their times and points were calculated from that moment forward?)

The pacing and strategy of these races would be changed, true, but that has been the case forever. Today, the athletes know full well the number of seconds they need to make up to advance to a preferred final place; now, their final placement will be the same as where they finish the last event.

No more clipboards, calculators, apps or other mental gymnastics or references to smart phones to figure out who finished where. Just look at who crossed the line in first, second, third and the rest of the places.

And it’s not only the Modern Pentathlon that proves that this format works, and works well. In winter sport, the Nordic Combined also used to have manual scoring to figure out who placed where. But in 1985, the Gundersen method was adopted that created a handicap start in the cross-country race based on the results of the ski jumping event. The “point-time” differential is reviewed by the Federation Internationale de Ski consistently to keep it current with the advances made by the athletes in the sport.

But in the Nordic Combined, the first person to cross the finish line is the winner; no clipboards needed.

The end-of-event scoring would actually not change, but the excitement level would. Watching the Diamond League Final in Zurich (SUI) on Thursday, I was struck by how the sold-out crowd at the Letzigrund Stadium exploded when the races came down to the end with a tight finish.

There were no world records set on Thursday and not even any world-leading marks. But the racing was compelling, and the crowded responded. In the multi-events, why not give everyone a clear picture of where the medalists are, without having to refer to a scoring table?

Just watch who crosses the line in first, second and third place. A radical change? Sure, but unlike so many others, one that is already proven to work, even at the Olympic Games.

Rich Perelman
Editor

ATHLETICS: Doping positive vs. Savinova upheld by CAS

The appeal of Russian 800 m runner Maria Savinova (now Farnosova), the 2011 World Champion in Daegu (KOR), from a doping positive was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The IAAF charged her with doping violations in August of 2015, the case was referred to the CAS in 2017. The 43-page opinion issued by the CAS notes that “It follows from the information and intelligence provided Ms. [Yuliya] Stepanova that the Athlete used prohibited substances over a long period of time.”

The suspension period is four years, starting 24 August 2015 and her results from 26 July 201- to 26 August 2013 were annulled. This means that Caster Semenya (RSA), Janeth Jepkosgei (KEN) and American Alysia Montano are confirmed as the 2011 World Championships medal winners in the women’s 800 m, and that the 2012 Olympic 800 m results are confirmed, with Semenya winning, Yekaterina Poistogova (RUS) second and Pamela Jelimo (KEN) third.

The Athletics International newsletter noted, sadly, that Poistogova herself served a doping ban from August 2015-17!

ATHLETICS: Kenya’s Okeyo banned for life for skimming sponsor funds

The continuing problems surrounding Athletics Kenya have not stopped, as David Okeyo, at one time the Secretary General and Vice President of the federation, was banned for life from involvement in the sport and “fined $50,000 after being found guilty of diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars of sponsorship payments for his personal use.”

Reuters reported that a judgement against Okeyo found that he removed funds delivered to Athletics Kenya from Nike under a sponsorship agreement for his personal use. He claimed to have used the funds for appropriate purposes, but could not produce any documentation indicating this.

It’s another mark against Athletics Kenya, which has been battered by repeated allegations of lax doping controls, mis-use of funds and failure to support its athletes. And there is more to come.

SWIMMING: U.S. dominates Junior Pan-Pacific Champs

If there’s a Pan-Pacific Championships, there has to be a junior version too, right? The 2018 edition was held in the exotic location of Suva in Fiji, but the main attraction was the dominant U.S. team.

The American squad won 54 medals in all, with 27 gold, 19 silver and eight bronze, ahead of Japan (23: 1-6-16) and Australia (13: 4-5-4).

Freestyler Ross Kibler won two individual golds in the 100-200 m Frees, silver in the 50 m Free and three more relays golds for a total of six medals.

Carson Foster won the 200 m Back and both of the medleys, plus a relay for four golds; Gianluca Urlando won both men’s Butterfly events and two relays, also collecting four golds.

Sprinter Gretchen Walsh won the 100 m Free, earned four relay golds and got a silver in the 50 m Freestyle for a total of six medals. Just as impressive was Australian distance swimmer Lani Pallister, who won the 400-800-1,500 m Frees and was second in the 200 m Free for four individual medals, plus two relay silvers for a total of six. Summaries:

Pan-Pacific Junior Championships
Suva (FIJ) ~ 23-26 August 2018.
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Freestyle: 1. Ash Brinkworth (AUS), 22.72; 2. Drew Kibler (USA), 22.81; 3. Michael Pickett (NZL), 22.86.

100 m Free: 1. Kibler (USA), 49.42; 2. Keisuke Ishizaki (JPN), 49.78; 3. Adam Chaney (USA), 50.01.

200 m Free: 1. Kibler (USA), 1:47.65; 2. Jake Magahey (USA), 1:48.67; 3. Ishizaki (JPN), 1:49.16.

400 m Free: 1. Ross Dant (USA), 3:52.44; 2. Brendon Smith (AUS), 3:52.67; 3. Ethan Healey (USA), 3:53.81.

800 m Free: 1. Dant (USA), 8:00.51; 2. Long Cheng (CHN), 8:02.79; 3. Magahey (USA), 8:06.16.

1,500 m Free: 1. Cheng (CHN), 15:24.55; 2. Arik Katz (USA), 15:30.00; 3. Dant (USA), 15:30.78.

4×100 m Free: 1. United States (Chaney, Kovac, Lasco, Kibler), 3:19.44; 2. Australia, 3:20.86; 3. Japan, 3:21.32.

4×200 m Free: 1. United States (Magahey, Kibler, Rose, C. Foster), 7:16.42; 2. Japan, 7:21.40; 3. Australia, 7:26.57.

100 m Backstroke: 1. Destin Lasco (USA), 55.75; 2. Chaney (USA), 56.18; 3. Daiki Yanagawa (JPN), 56.28.

200 m Back: 1. Carson Foster (USA), 1:59.10; 2. Peter Larson (USA), 1:59.24; 3. Cole Pratt (CAN), 2:00.82.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Gabe Mastromatteo (CAN), 1:0.27; 2. Daniel Roy (USA), 1:01.85; 3. Yamato Fukasawa (JPN), 1:02.60.

200 m Breast: 1. Roy (USA), 2:11.79; 2. A.J. Pouch (USA), 2:11.80; 3. Yamato Fukasawa (JPN), 2:13.57.

100 m Butterfly: 1. Gianluca Urlando (USA), 52.40; 2. Van Mathias (USA), 53.11; 3. Shaun Champion (AUS), 53.66.

200 m Fly: 1. Urlando (USA), 1:56.25; 2. Mathias (USA), 1:57.64; 3. Tomoru Honda (JPN), 1:58.70.

200 m Medley: 1. C. Foster (USA), 1:59.85; 2. Urlando (USA), 2:00.60; 3. Otake (JPN), 2:00.72.

400 m Medley: 1. C. Foster (USA), 4:14.73; 2. Jake Foster (USA), 4:15.78; 3. Masayuki Otake (JPN), 4:17.79.

4×100 m Medley: 1. United States (Larson, Roy, Urlando, Kibler), 3:39.04; 2. Japan, 3:41.95; 3. Canada, 3:42.05.

Women

50 m Freestyle: 1. Maxine Parker (USA), 25.39; 2. Gretchen Walsh (USA), 25.57; 3. Natasha Ramsden (AUS), 25.65.

100 m Free: 1. G. Walsh (USA), 54.47; 2. Lucie Nordmann (USA), 54.74; 3. Eliza King (AUS), 54.92.

200 m Free: 1. Claire Tuggle (USA), 1:58.58; 2. Lani Pallister (AUS), 1:59.00; 3. Nagisa Ikemoto (JPN), 1:59.02.

400 m Free: 1. Pallister (AUS), 4:07.76; 2. Tuggle (USA), 4:10.31; 3. Denigan (USA), 4:12.59.

800 m Free: 1. Pallister (AUS), 8:29.65; 2. Mariah Denigan (USA), 8:30.01; 3. Emma Weyant (USA), 8:38.88.

1,500 m Free: 1. Pallister (AUS), 16:08.09; 2. Denigan (USA), 16:24.35; 3. Emma O’Croinin (CAN), 16:28.79.

4×100 m Free: 1. United States (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, Ivey, Nordmann), 3;40.10; 2. Australia, 3:41.51; 3. Canada, 3:44.73.

4×200 m Free: 1. United States (Tuggle, Ivey, G. Walsh, Nordmann), 7:57.92; 2. Australia, 7:59.97; 3. Japan, 8:09.03.

100 m Backstroke: 1. Phoebe Bacon (USA), 59.72; 2. Katharine Berkoff (USA), 1:00.16; 3. Madison Broad (CAN), 1:00.53.

200 m Back: 1. Isabel Stadden (USA), 2:09.52; 2. Broad (CAN), 2:10.73; 3. Berkoff (USA), 2:11.87.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Emily Weiss (USA), 1:07.55; 2. Nina Kucheran (CAN), 1:08.37; 3. Avery Wiseman (CAN), 1:08.52.

200 m Breast: 1. Shiori Asaba (JPN), 2:27.48; 2. Ella Nelson (USA), 2:27.83; 3. Honoka Tatsumu (JPN), 2:29.12.

100 m Butterfly: 1. Maggie MacNeil (CAN), 58.38; 2. Chiharu Iitsuka (JPN), 59.51; 3. Isabel Ivey (USA), 59.81.

200 m Fly: 1. Olivia Carter (USA), 2:09.45; 2. Mana Naito (JPN), 2:10.33; 3. Karin Takemura (JPN), 2:10.66.

200 m Medley: 1. Alex Walsh (USA), 2:12.06; 2. Takemura (JPN), 2:14.90; 3. Mei Ishihara (JPN), 2:41.91.

400 m Medley: 1. Weyant (USA), 4:40.64; 2. Denigan (USA), 4:41.39; 3. Ishihara (JPN), 4:45.43.

4×100 m Medley: 1. United States (Bacon, Weiss, Nordmann, G. Walsh), 4:02.33; 2. Canada, 4:05.21; 3. Japan, 4:07.14.

Mixed

4×100 m Medley: 1. United States (Bacon, Roy, Urlando, G. Walsh), 3:47.01; 2. Canada, 3:51.27; 3. Japan, 3:53.72.

ROWING: U.S. holds trials to qualify to Pan Am Games Trials

Because of a change in the qualification procedure for next year’s Pan American Games in Lima (PER), U.S. Rowing held a special regatta to quality for a qualification regatta!

Per U.S. Rowing, “[T]he Pan American Rowing Confederation decided to move away from automatic qualification spots to a qualification regatta. The winning crews at trials will compete at the qualification regatta and, depending on their results in Brazil, will earn the right to be nominated to represent the U.S. at the 2019 Pan American Games.” The qualification event will be from 29 November-2 December in Rio.

Silly, but there you have it. So the U.S. Trials to get to the PAG qualification regatta were held 10 days ago at Mercer Lake off West Windsor, New Jersey. Summaries:

USA Rowing Pan American Games Trials
West Windsor, New Jersey (USA) ~ 20 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Single Sculls: 1. Lucas Bellows, 7:47.68; 2. Thomas Phifer, 7:52.06; 3. Ryan Allen, 7:53.32.

Double Sculls: 1. Nathan Lado/Wes Vear, 7:00.23; 2. Kevin Cardno/Frank Horpel, 7:09.48; 3. B. Van der Werf/D. Lee, 7:11.42.

Pairs: 1. Logan Smith/James Garay, 7:22.48; 2. K. Peabody/J. Read, 8:17.24; only entries.

Lightweight Double Sculls: 1. C. Hurley/J. McCullough, 7:22.42; 2. S. McDonald/B. Boehm, 7:36.00.

Women

Single Sculls: 1. Jenifer Forbes, 8:29.51; 2. Michalina Fili, 8;31.77; 3. Meridith Kisting, 8:40.88.

Double Sculls: 1. Julia Lonchar/Margaret Fellows, 7:47.85; 2. R. Springer-Miller/A. Johnson, 8:01.05; 3. L. Miller/M. Hummel, 8:09.73.

Pairs: 1. Liz Euiler/Solveig Imsdahl, 8:12.20; only entry. Lightweight Single Sculls: 1. Jessica Hyne, 8:36.20; 2. Erin Roberts, 8:43.16; 3. Helen Samaniego, 9:45.76.

Lightweight Double Sculls: 1. S. Taylor/K. Twist, 8:08.68; 2. E. Starr/S. Denison-Johnston, 8:14.80; 3. K. Probst/M. Moiser, 8:24.45.

KARATE: Brazil and U.S. go 1-2 at Pan-Am Juniors

A massive Pan-American championship of Under-14, Cadet (14-15), Junior (16-17) and U-21 (18-20) Karatekas convened in Rio de Janeiro (BRA) for the 29th Pan American Championships from 20-26 August. In all, some 727 athletes from 21 countries competed in Kata and Kumite divisions.

The hosts ended up being the top medal winners, earning 36 medals in total, with 12 wins. The U.S. scored 25 medals (7-7-11) and Mexico had 24 (6-4-14). Summaries for the U-21 division:

Pan American U-21 Championships
Rio de Janeiro (BRA) ~ 20-26 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Kata: 1. Hector Cencion (PAN); 2. Felipe Polo-Florez (COL); 3. Larry Aracena-Duran (DOM) and Rey Chinen (USA).

Kumite -60 kg: 1. Jorge Goni Mottila (MEX); 2. Joao Oliveira (BRA); 3. Gabriel Miranda (BRA) and Paul Lopez (WKF guest).

Kumite -67 kg: 1. Andhi Avila (WKF guest); 2. Cesar Fernandez (BOL); 3. Jose Luque (MEX) and Nino Esparza (MEX).

Kumite -75 kg: 1. Marco Dos (BRA); 2. Luis Calvillo (MEX); 3. Luis Cespedes (CHI) and Jose Valdivia (WKF guest).

Kumite -84 kg: 1. Maxym-Olivier Rivest (CAN); 2. Fernando Candido (BRA); 3. Juan Minuet (ARG) and Maximillian Segal (USA).

Kumite +84 kg: 1. Juan Manuel Castro (MEX); 2. Agustin Perez (ARG); 3. Haroldo Santos Jr. (BRA) and Eder Enrique Gotera (COL).

Women

Kata: 1. Valerya Hernandez-Moyeda (VEN); 2. Heydi Ortiz (WKF guest); 3. Beatriz Thihara (BRA) and Andrea Armada (VEN).

Kumite -50 kg: 1. Thalia Terrero-Alcanatara (DOM); 2. Michelle Navarro (MEX); 3. Selene Rodriguez (WKF guest) and Daniela Nadales (VEN).

Kumite -55 kg: 1. Valentina Toro (CHI); 2. Tihare Astudillo (CHI); 3. Monica Sanchez Zavaleta (MEX) and Sabrina Pereira (BRA).

Kumite -61 kg: 1. Claudymar Garces Sequera (VEN); 2. Tais Oliveira (BRA); 3. Rosalinda Rodriguez (MEX) and Paola Payen (MEX).

Kumite -68 kg: 1. Sachiko Ramos (MEX); 2. Andrea Pinto (CHI); 3. Sharon Torres (COL) and Rafaela Silva (BRA).

Kumite +68 kg: 1. Cirrus Lingl (USA); 2. Eileen Vargas (CHI); 3. Elizabeth Ortiz (MEX) and Brenda Padilha (BRA).

CYCLING: American Ben King wins Stage 4 in Vuelta a Espana

“It’s a dream come true. I really can’t believe it. I didn’t start believing in it until the last kilometer, and I’m really happy for the way it worked out.”

That was 29-year-old American Ben King, who sprinted away on the final climb of Stage 4 at La Vuelta a Espana to win, the first stage victory for a U.S. rider at La Vuelta since Chris Horner in 2013.

“I’m happy for the confidence the team put in me, giving me the opportunity even though we’re riding here in support of Louis [Meintjes],” King said. “I set winning a Grand Tour stage as a goal for myself at the beginning of this year. It’s something I’ve had to keep believing in and have faith that I have that potential. This is really affirming.”

King and Nikita Stalnov (KAZ) broke free of a chase pack heading into the final climb of this 161.4 km, mountainous stage, finishing in Alfacar. With 400 m left, King made his move and secured the stage win, his fourth race win as a professional. He’d previously won the U.S. Time Trial title back in 2010, a 2015 stage in the Criterium International in France and a stage in the 2016 Amgen Tour of California. His prior best in a Grand Tour race was a third in a La Vuelta stage in 2016.

In the overall race standings, Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski remained in front, but just seven seconds ahead of Germany’s Emanuel Buchmann and 10 seconds up on Britain’s Simon Yates. Less than a minute contains the first 17 riders in the race so far.

The 21 stages include two time trials, five mountain stages, six hilly stages and six which are fairly flat. NBC’s Olympic Channel has daily coverage of La Vuelta, 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: 29 August Granada to Roquetas de Mar (188.7 km; medium mountains)
Stage 6: 30 August Huercal-Overa to San Javier (155.7 km); flat
Stage 7: 31 August Puerto Lumbreras to Pozo Alcon (185.7 km’ flat)
Stage 8: 01 September Linares to Almadén (195.1 km; flat)
Stage 9: 02 September Talavera de la Reina to La Covatilla (200.8 km; mountains)

03 September Rest day

Stage 10: 04 September Universidad de Salamanca to Fermoselle (177.0 km; flat)
Stage 11: 05 September Mombuey to Ribeira Sacra (207.8 km; hilly)
Stage 12: 06 September Mondoñedo to Faro de Estaca de Bares (181.1 km; hilly)
Stage 13: 07 September Candas. Carreño to Valle de Sabero (174.8 km; mountains)
Stage 14: 08 September Cistierna to Les Praeres (171.0 km); mountains
Stage 15: 09 September Ribera de Arriba to Lagos de Covadonga (178.2 km; mountains)

10 September Rest day

Stage 16: 11 September Santillana del Mar to Torrelavega (Indiv. Time Trial: 32.0 km)
Stage 17: 12 September Getxo to Balcon de Bizkaia (157.0 km; hilly)
Stage 18: 13 September Ejea de los Caballeros to Lleida (186.1 km; flat)
Stage 19: 14 September Lleida to Andorra. Naturlandia (154.4 km; flat)
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)

BASEBALL: Japan, Canada and Chinese Taipei ahead in women’s World Champs

The women’s World Baseball Championships entered the playoff round with Japan continuing as the only undefeated team in the tournament with a 3-0 win over the U.S. in Viera, Florida.

Joining the defending champions – now 5-0 – as winners in the Super Round were Canada (5-0 over Venezuela) and Chinese Taipei (4-1 over the Dominican Republic).

In the remaining Super Round games, Japan will play Chinese Taipei and Venezuela, and Canada will play the U.S. and Chinese Taipei. The Americans have Canada and the Dominican Republic and need to win both for a chance to play for a medal.

The top two out of the Super Round will play in the Championship game and the third and fourth-placers in the Bronze Medal games, both on 31 August.

In the group stage, Japan won Group B at 5-0, followed by Canada (4-1) and the Dominican Republic (2-3). Chinese Taipei beat the U.S. to win Group A at 4-1; the Americans were second (also 4-1) and Venezuela finished third (3-2).

The event is being held in the U.S. for the first time; the American team is the only other to win the World Cup, taking the title in the first two editions in 2004 and 2006.

Japan won the World Cup in 2008-10-12-14-16, beating the United States twice, Canada twice and Australia once. The Japanese stomped Canada, 10-0, to win in 2016 with Venezuela third and Chinese Taipei fourth.

Look for results here.

ASIAN GAMES: Samba dances to Asian Games record in 400 m Hurdles

Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba dominated the third day of the track & field program at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia, winning in a Games record of 47.66.

True, it wasn’t close to his stunning 46.98 of earlier this season – no. 2 all-time – but it’s another chapter in an amazing season: eight finals, eight wins and eight times at 47.90 or better. And maybe more?

For comparison, Edwin Moses’s best sub-48 seasons came in 1983 (7 races) and 1981 (6); Bershawn Jackson had seven sub-48 marks in 2005 and six in 2010. The all-time seasonal mark might be Kevin Young in his world-record season of 1992, where he ran under 48 seconds nine different times. Could Samba equal that at the Continental Cup (if he runs) in Ostrava?

Behind Samba in Jakarta were Dharun Ayyasamy (IND), who ran a lifetime best of 48.96 for silver and Japan’s Takatoshi Abe claimed third in 49.12.

Also of note on Monday was India’s Commonwealth Games winner Neeraj Chopra, who moved up to sixth on the year list with a personal best and national record of 88.06 m (288-11). He’s still just 20. Combined with Tajinderpal Singh Toor’s win in the men’s Shot and Manjit Singh’s win in the men’s 800 m, it’s the first time India has won three T&F golds in the Asian Games since 1982!

China is also having a good meet. Shiying Liu won the women’s Javelin with at 66.09 m (216-10) and Wenjun Xie won the 110 m Hurdles in 13.34, defending his 2014 win in the event and continuing China’s streak in the event to nine straight Asian Games!

China continues to run away with the overall medal count at 206 (97-64-45), with Japan second (142: 43-38-61) and Korea third (118: 32-40-46). The Games will finish on Sunday.

CYCLING Preview: Can idle Vos be caught in Boels Ladies Tour?

This has been a great year for Dutch women’s cycling, with three of the top four women in the seasonal Women’s World Tour standings from the Netherlands with three races to go:

1. 1,394.88 (+234.55) Marianne Vos (NED)
2. 1,160.33 Anna van der Breggen (NED)
3. 1,125.86 Amanda Spratt (AUS)
4. 1,105.86 Annemiek van Vleuten (NED)
5. 1,012.95 Ashleigh Moolman (RSA)

Can Vos, now 31, be caught? The remaining races:

[1] 28 August-2 September: Boels Ladies Tour (NED)
[2] 16 September: La Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta
[3] 21 October: Women’s Tour of Guangxi

Scoring for World Tour races are 200-150-125-100-85-70-60-50-40-35 for the top ten places and on down to 40th. For the multi-stage Boels Ladies Tour there are also stage points from 25 for a win, down to four for 10th place.

That sets the stage for this week’s Boels Ladies Tour in the Netherlands:

Prologue: 28 August Arnhem to Arnhem (3.3 km): 1. Annemiek Van Vleuten (NED), 4:22; 2. Anna van der Breggen (NED), 4:29; 3. Ellen van Dijk (NED), 4:30; 4. Leah Kirchmann (CAN), 4:31; 5. Lisa Brennauer (GER), 4:31.

Stage 1: 29 August Nijmegen to Nijmegen (132.2 km)
Stage 2: 30 August Gennep to Gennep (129.0 km)
Stage 3: 31 August Stramproy to Weert (124.3 km)
Stage 4: 01 September Sittard to Sittard (158.4 km)
Stage 5: 02 September Roosendaal to Roosendaal (Individual Time Trial: 18.6 km)

The courses are fairly flat and Vos is sitting this one out, opening the door for van der Breggen or Van Vleuten to close in. This is the 21st edition of the “Holland Ladies Tour” as originally known and a race Vos knows well, having won it four times from 2009-12.

In 2018, the prior champions in the race are Van Vleuten (2017), Chantal Blaak (NED: 2016), Lisa Brennauer (GER: 2015), Ellen van Dijk (NED: 2013) and Charlotte Becker (GER: 2008).

Van Vleuten and van der Breggen went 1-2 in the short Prologue race, but the heavy riding will start Wednesday. Look for results here.

BADMINTON Preview: Marin at home for Spain Masters in Barcelona

The first Spain Masters tournament is underway at the Vall d’Hebron Olympic Sports Centre in Barcelona (ESP), a perfect setting to salute 2016 Olympic and 2014-15-18 World Champion Carolina Marin in her home country. The top seeds:

∙ Men:
1. Suppanyu Avihingsanon (THA)
2. Rasmus Gemke (DEN)
3. Mark Caljouw (NED)
4. Jan O. Jorgensen (DEN)
5. Yu Igarashi (JPN)

∙ Women:
1. Carolina Marin (ESP)
2. Sayaka Takahashi (JPN)
3. Mia Blichfeldt (DEN)
4. Pompawee Chochuwong (THA)
5. Busanan Ongbamrungphan (THA)

∙ Men’s Doubles:
1. Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (DEN)
2. Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (DEN)
3. Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov (RUS)

∙ Women’s Doubles:
1. Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (JPN)
2. Ayako Sakuramoto/Yukiko Takahata (JPN)
3. Maiken Fruergaard/Sara Thygesen (DEN)

Among the Singles entries, Avihingsanon is ranked no. 7 worldwide, while Takahashi is seventh in the women’s rankings and Marin is currently 14th. Look for results here.

ATHLETICS Preview: First of two Diamond League Finals in Zurich Thursday

The IAAF Diamond League “preliminaries” are over and the final two meets of the 2018 season come Thursday and Friday at the Weltklasse in Zurich (SUI) and the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels (BEL).

The IAAF finally got the format right and used the first 12 meets to qualify athletes to these finals, where it’s winner-take-all for the seasonal title and two important prizes:

∙ Money: The Diamond League Finals are the best-paying meets outside of a major championship, with $100,000 per event, paid $50,000-20,000-10,000-6,000-5,000-4,000-3,000-2,000 paid to the top eight place winners. A total of 16 events will be held in each meet.

∙ World Championships Wild Card: Perhaps just as important – especially to American athletes – is that the Diamond League champion receives a “wild card” entry into the 2019 World Championships in Doha (QAT). That means no need to qualify in the USATF Championships next July in Des Moines!

Because of this, the Diamond League title has been a season-long goal for several U.S. athletes, especially Keni Harrison and Brianna Rollins-McNeal in the 100 m Hurdles.

A look ahead to the action at the Letzigrund Stadium on Thursday:

∙ Men’s 200 m: What will Noah Lyles do? Dancing, prancing or sobbing?

He could finish off one of the top 200 m seasons ever: in four Diamond League meets, he’s undefeated with wins in 19.83, 19.69, 19.69 and 19.65! That last mark, at the Monaco meet, is the world leader for 2018.

However, he’s not alone under 20 seconds this season; four others in the race are in the 19s, led by World Champion Ramil Guliyev (TUR: 19.76), Alex Quinonez (ECU: 19.93), Aaron Brown (CAN: 19.98) and Jereem Richards (TTO: 19.99). But it’s all about Lyles.

∙ Men’s 400 m: This race should be all about Steven Gardiner of The Bahamas, who has run 43.87 this season, no. 2 on the world list. But it is also a chance for Americans Fred Kerley (44.33 this season), Nathan Strother (44.34) and Paul Dedewo (44.43) to show that they are medal contenders of the future. All have run fast, but none have established themselves among the medal threats for Doha or Tokyo.

No one is quite sure what to expect frm Botswana’s Baboloki Thebe (44.54 this season) or new European champ Matthew Hudson-Smith, whose seasonal best of 44.63 ranks only seventh in this field.

∙ Men’s 1,500 m: No doubt that Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot (3:28.41) has been the best in the world in 2018, defeating countryman Elijah Manangoi – the reigning World Champion – in the race of the year in Monaco. Manangoi ran 3:29.64, followed by Norway’s Filip (3:30.01) and Jakob (3:31.18) Ingebrigtsen, Ayanleh Souleiman (DJI: 3:31.19) and Brahim Kaazouzi (MAR: 3:31.62) and that top six are all in the race. What about Ethiopia’s Sam Tefera, still just 18, who has run 3:31.63 this season? He started out winning the World Indoor Championships, but has been downhill during the outdoor season.

∙ Men’s 3,000 m Steeple: The race has 14 entries, eight of whom are from Kenya. But the focus will be on Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali, who ran a world-leading 7:58.15 to win the Herculis meet in Monaco, ahead of American Evan Jager (8:01.02). The Kenyans will counter with Olympic and World Champion Conseslus Kipruto (8:08.40 in 2018) and Benjamin Kigen (8:06.19) and the Diamond League points leader. An underestimated challenger is Ethiopia’s Chala Beyo, 22, who stands no. 4 in the world for 2018 at 8:07.27.

∙ Men’s 400 m Hurdles: Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba is busy at the Asian Games, so it’s World and European Champion Karsten Warholm polishing his Viking helmet in anticipation of a win. He’s run 47.64 this season, but Kyron McMaster (IVB) screamed to a 47.54 behind Samba at the Meeting de Paris and won the Central American and Caribbean Games at 47.60. Add in Yasmani Copell0 (TUR: 47.81) and you have the favorite for the 2019 World Championships bronze medal!

U.S. runner-up T.J. Holmes has run 48.30; is there more there? And this could be/might be/will be the Diamond League finale for retiring Bershawn Jackson of the U.S., who has run 49.07 this season, but stands no. 12 all-time at 47.30 from 2005.

∙ Men’s Long Jump: Olympic gold medalist Jeff Henderson of the U.S. and World Champion Luvo Manyonga (RSA) are in the field, with Manyonga the clear favorite having jumped 8.58 m (28-1 3/4), no. 2 on the world list. Henderson has jumped 8.44 m (27-8 1/4) and South Africa’s Raswahl Samaai has reached 8.42 m (27-7 1/2).

∙ Men’s Shot Put: New Zealand’s Tomas Walsh went crazy early in the season, reaching 22.67 (74-4 1/2) in March and winning the Commonwealth Games. But since June, he’s won four meets and been 2-5-2 in the other three. American Ryan Crouser, the 2016 Olympic winner, won four straight meets to start the season and was out to 22.53 m (73-11) in May, but injuries slow him in June. He’s thrown once since the U.S. Nationals, a 22.05 m (72-4 1/4) win at the Herculis meet in Monaco in mid-July.

If neither is right, look for Poland’s Michal Haratyk, the European champ and the only other putter to reach 22 m this season at 22.08 m (72-5 1/4). Could U.S. champ Darrell Hill pull another one of his surprises, like when he won the Diamond League Final in Brussels last year? He done 21.72 m (71-3 1/4) this season.

∙ Men’s Javelin: Two of the three German stars are in, with Olympic and European Champion Thomas Rohler (91.78 m/301-1 in 2018) and European silver winner Andreas Hofmann (92.06 m/302-0) the leaders. Estonia’s Magnus Kirt (89.75 m/294-5) and Jakub Vadlejch (CZE: 89.02/292-0) ready to challenge … for third.

∙ Women’s 100 m: It did not appear that there would be much suspense in this race, as Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV) has been the best in the world all season, winning all eight of her finals and racing to the world lead at 10.85. Then comes Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith with a stunning 10.85 to win the European Championships; those two will be the focus.

There are other contenders, like Michelle Ahoure (CIV: 10.90 in 2018), Blessing Okagbare (NGR: 10.90) and others, but Ta Lou is going to be right there at the finish. Will anyone else be there to challenge her?

∙ Women’s 800 m: OK, Caster Semenya (RSA) is going to win, but no one knows how fast she will run. Her 1:54.25 win at the Meeting de Paris moved to no. 4 all time. Behind her, the situation is getting more crowded. The silver-medal favorite is clearly Francine Niyonsaba (BDI), who ran 1:55.86 behind Semenya in Paris, but Jamaica’s emerging star Natoya Goule (ex-LSU; 1:56.15 in 2018) and American Ajee’ Wilson (1:56.45) are certainly in the fight, along with Ethiopia’s Habitam Alemu (1:56.71).

The U.S. also has Raevyn Rogers (1:57.69) and Charlene Lipsey (1:5805) in the race and this would be a perfect setting for a breakthrough from either!

∙ Women’s 5,000 m: This should be great … unless it descends into a tactical slumberfest. The top six on the 2018 world list are all in: Hellen Obiri (KEN: 14:21.75), European champ Sifan Hassan (NED: 14:22.34), Ethiopians Letesenbet Gidey (14:23.14) and Senbere Teferi (14:23.33), Kenya’s Agnes Tirop (14:24.24) and then what about Genzebe Dibaba (ETH: 14:26.89)? Wow!

The top five performers in 2018 all came out of the Rabat Diamond League race, won by Obiri. American Shelby Houlihan, whose finishing speed makes her a threat anywhere and any time, did not quality for the Diamond League Final.

∙ Women’s 400 m Hurdles: The four entrants who have run in the 53s this season are American champion Shamier Little (53.32), Olympic champ Dalilah Muhammad (53.65) and Georganne Moline (53.90), plus Jamaica’s Commonwealth Games Janieve Russell (53.46). Who’s still hot? The most impressive race of the last month was Little’s 53.32 win at the NACAC in Toronto on 12 August.

∙ Women’s High Jump: Russia’s Mariya Lasitskene won 45 meets in a row until she finished third at Rabat, losing to Bulgaria’s Mirela Demireva and Yuliya Levchenko (UKR). Lasitskene is still the world leader at 2.04 m (6-8 1/4), but Demireva has done 2.00 m (6-6 3/4) and Levchenko has cleared 1.97 m (6-5 1/2). Out of nowhere came Elena Vallortigara to clear 2.02 m (6-7 1/2) at the Muller Grand Prix in London; can she challenge? Vashti Cunningham of the U.S. did not qualify for the Final.

∙ Women’s Pole Vault: World Indoor Champion Sandi Morris of the U.S. or Greece’s Olympic and European Champion Ekaterina Stefanidi? These two have dominated this event for the last three years, and Morris is the world leader at 4.95 m (16-2 3/4) from a street meet in Greenville, South Carolina in late July. Stefanidi found her form after a series of injuries and won the European title at 4,85 m (15-11), while Russia’s Anzhelika Sidorova has cleared the same height earlier in the season. Don’t count out American Katie Nageotte, who just cleared a lifetime best 4.80 m (1-9) in a small meet in Beckum (GER) last Sunday.

∙ Women’s Triple Jump: This event has gone quiet since the mid-season duel for the world lead between 2016 Olympic champ Caterine Ibarguen (COL) and American Tori Franklin. Ibarguen seems to have settled the issue with a 14.96 m (49-1) win at the Rabat Diamond League meet in mid-July. But Franklin is still second with her American Record of 14.94 m (48-8 1/4) from May. Commonwealth Games champ Kimberly Williams (JAM: 14.64 m/48-0 1/2) will be in the hunt as well.

∙ Women’s Javelin: The top two throwers on the world list didn’t qualify, so the event appears to be between Asian Record holder Huihui Lu (CHN: 67.69 m/222-1), teammate Shiying Liu (CHN: 67.12 m/220-2) and Tatsiana Khaladovich (BLR), who threw a national record 67.47 m (221-4) to win the Bislett Games in June.

Pretty good meet, huh?

On Wednesday, there is an exhibition men’s pole vault at the Zurich Hauptbahnhof – the enormous main train station – which features 2012 Olympic champ Renaud Lavillenie (FRA), reigning World Champion Sam Kendricks (USA), 2015 World Champion Shawn Barber (CAN), 2016 Olympic winner Thiago Braz da Silva (BRA) and Russia’s Timur Morgunov, who jumped 6.00 m (19-8 1/4) at the European Championships and lost!

NBCSN has coverage of the Zurich competition beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, with the NBC Olympic Channel showing the Brussels meet on Friday, also at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

THE BIG PICTURE: New doping lab to be placed in Kenya

Kenya has been one of the countries significantly impacted by doping issues, but a new development may help to convince its athletes that if they cheat, they will be caught.

The World Anti-Doping Agency announced that in cooperation with the International Athletics Foundation (IAF), the Athletics Integrity Unit and the Lancet Group East Africa, a new anti-doping lab for blood testing (only) has been created in Nairobi (KEN).

It’s the first accredited doping laboratory in Africa and will begin operations in September. It’s been sorely needed as 25% of the 3,500+ blood samples collected by the AIU were from East African athletes.

AIU chair David Howman noted that “This is the first time since WADA’s inception that an International Federation has taken the initiative to establish a WADA-approved laboratory in an area of real need. It shows that the AIU is not accepting of the status quo, but is taking responsibility for the integrity of athletics and getting things done with a proactive and innovative approach.”

In the meantime, another Kenyan athlete has been suspended for doping.

It’s 2017 World Championships 800 m bronze medalist Kipyegon Bett, who was cited on 15 August for failing to appear for a doping test, and then on 23 August for the presence of the blood-booster EPO in an earlier test.

He has been provisionally suspended by the AIU, and Bett, 20, could be suspended for four years.

He’s the fourth Kenyan to be cited for doping in 2018, all distance runners, including 2008 Olympic 1,500 champ Asbel Kiprop, 2006 Commonwealth Games 10,000 m gold medalist Lucy Wangui Kabuu and 2017 Athens Marathon winner Samuel Kalalei.

Better than Bolt? Noah Lyles isn’t yet, but he’s more entertaining

U.S. sprint star Noah Lyles

What will happen to track & field without Usain Bolt?

Remember that?

The wails following the end of the 2017 World Championships have been replaced with a legion of new stars – even in Bolt’s own events – that can continue the party.

Thursday’s IAAF Diamond League Final in Zurich’s Letzigrund Stadium will showcase one of them who has surpassed Bolt’s achievements at the same age: American Noah Lyles.

He’s fast, he’s fun and he’s undefeated in the 200 m and will run for his second straight Diamond League title in the event as the favorite and world-leader in the event at 19.65 … at 21 years old. He hasn’t lost a 200 m outdoor race since 2016 and can finish one of the best 200 m seasons in history with a win on Thursday. In 2018:

04 May: 19.83 1st Diamond League/Doha
26 May: 19.69 1st Diamond League/Eugene
05 July: 19.69 1st Diamond League/Lausanne
20 July: 19.65 1st Diamond League/Monaco

Four races, four wins, four sub-20 performances. And if he can win and run 19-something this week, who else has run five sub-20s in a single season?

Not many. The list looks like this for sub-20 200 m races in one season (includes heats):

7 Frankie Fredericks (NAM) in 1996, plus an eighth indoors
6 Usain Bolt (JAM) in 2008
6 Justin Gatlin (USA) in 2015
6 Wallace Spearmon (USA) in 2007
6 Spearmon in 2010
5 Michael Johnson (USA) in 1996
5 Spearmon in 2006

So Lyles could join Johnson and Spearmon with five in a season and become just the sixth man in history with 5+ sub-20s in one year. Not bad for 21, and his 19.65 best already ranks him ahead of Fredericks (19.68 ‘96) on the all-time list and equal with Spearmon (19.65 ‘06).

And it has been noted that Bolt, considered a 200 m specialist as a junior, and Lyles have similar progressions at 200 m:

Lyles:
16 2013: 21.28
17 2014: 20.71
18 2015: 20.18
19 2016: 20.09
20 2017: 19.90
21 2018: 19.65

Bolt:
16 2002: 20.58
17 2003: 20.13
18 2004: 19.93
19 2005: 19.99
20 2006: 19.88
21 2007: 19.75

Of course, Bolt exploded in 2008 with world records of 9.69 and 19.30 in the Beijing Olympic Games and we’re still a ways off from Tokyo in 2020. In the 100 m, Lyles’ 9.88 at age 21 is better than Bolt’s 10.03 in 2007, a year in which he only ran the distance once.

(Lyles has been named to the Americas team for the IAAF Continental Cup in September in the 100 m, but not in the 200, since he did not win that event at the USATF Nationals.)

Those are the stats and Lyles’ future is bright. But his personality is even brighter and this is where he has a chance to even eclipse Bolt as his career progresses.

If he wins, he dances. He does back flips. He has a smile that lights up a stadium, thanks to today’s massive video boards. He’s gracious, fun and personable. At the news conference for the Diamond League meet in Birmingham (GBR), he told reporters, “I want to find my own way; I want to transcend the sport also and find new ways to get fans interactive.”

Asked if he could rap freestyle, he thought for all of four seconds and came back with – in part:

I’m a sight for sore eyes
I’m a man with little time
The future’s so bright, I make your eyes go blind
But I’m quicker than you think, so don’t blink
Or you’ll find yourself in the upside down, like an unfunny clown

By contrast, Bolt was thoughtful and somber at the start, but grew into his role as a global superstar. Lyles is already there.

And it hasn’t all been fun: he came back from a right leg hamstring tear in 2017, taking off three months to heal and then won the Diamond League crown from lane nine in 20.00 in Brussels. He’s learning to be a professional fast, as an athlete and – just as important today – as an entertainer.

Rich Perelman
Editor

ATHLETICS: ’88 OG decathlon champ Schenk admits doping

The 1988 Olympic Decathlon winner, then-East German Christian Schenk, now 53, admitted in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that he was doping since at least age 20. A Google translation of his comments included, “For me, [doping] was like reaching the next level, almost a tribute. Getting the pills meant I was on the squad that was expected to perform well.”

Schenk has an autobiography coming out in the next week in which he details a devastating bout with mental illness since 2009, in which he identified with an ISIS assassin. He said he’s not sure if the doping program he was a part of during time as a GDR athlete was a cause of his later mental trauma.

Schenk, then 23, led a 1-2 decathlon finish for the GDR in Seoul, scoring 8,488 points ahead of Torsten Voss (8,399) and Canada’s David Steen (8,328). Will the IAAF do anything about this? Prior IAAF presidents have shied away from re-assigning medals from the 1970s and 1980s, but here is another case of a GDR athlete who admits participation in the state-sponsored doping scheme.

TRIATHLON: Mola and Zaferes stay on top of World Series rankings

All but one race of the 2018 ITU World Series is now complete, with the seasonal leaders clear, but the races not at all decided.

Spain’s Mario Mola continued his sensational season with another win, his fourth in the seven races this season. He finished 16 seconds ahead of Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt to continue as the men’s seasonal leader with 4,925 points, well ahead of Aussie Jacob Birtwhistle – who was third – but within range of being overtaken in the World Series Final at Gold Coast Australia next month.

The women’s race got really tight on Saturday, as Britain’s Vicky Holland won her second race in a row and third in the last four, in 1:59:29. But right behind was seasonal leader Katie Zaferes of the U.S., finishing in 1:59:51 to win her five medal in the six races she has finished this season. But Zaferes’s lead is down to just 34 points going into the deciding final. The current standings:

∙ Men:
1. 4,925 Mario Mola (ESP)
2. 4,101 Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS)
3. 3,810 Vincent Luis (FRA)
4. 3,722 Richard Murray (RSA)
5. 3,021 Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR)

∙ Women:
1. 4,418 Katie Zaferes (USA)
2. 4,384 Vicky Holland (GBR)
3. 3,459 Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR)
4. 3,237 Jessica Learmonth (GBR)
5. 3,098 Rachel Klamer (NED)

Summaries:

ITU World Series Montreal
Montreal (CAN) ~ 25-26 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Mario Mola (ESP), 1:47:46; 2. Kristian Blummenfelt (NOR), 1:48:02; 3. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS), 1:48:28; 4. Richard Murray (RSA), 1:48:36; 5. Andreas Schilling (DEN), 1:48:57; 6. Henri Schoeman (RSA), 1:49:10; 7. Joao Pereira (POR), 1:49:25; 8. Tyler Mislawchuk (CAN), 1:49:26; 9. Bence Bicsak (HUN), 1:49:28; 10. Antonio Serrat Seoane (ESP), 1:49:31.

Women: 1. Vicky Holland (GBR), 1:59:29; 2. Katie Zaferes (USA), 1:59:51; 3. Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR), 2:00:23; 4. Joanna Brown (CAN), 2:00.39; 5. Nicola Spirig (SUI), 2:00:52; 6. Jodie Stimpson (GBR), 2:01:07; 7. Taylor Spivey (USA), 2:01:40; 8. Jessica Learmonth (GBR), 2:01:53; 9. Taylor Knibb (USA), 2:02:16; 10. Lotte Miller (NOR), 2:03:01.

TABLE TENNIS: Franziska/Groth and Ishikawa defend titles at Czech Open

The German-Dutch combo of Patrick Franziska and Jonathan Groth and Japan’s Kasumi Ishikawa defended their Czech Open titles from 2017 with impressive wins in Olomuoc on Sunday.

Franziska and Groth were top-seeded in the men’s Doubles and swept aside the finals challenge from Swedes Mattias Falck and Kristian Karlsson, 3-1, while Ishikawa, now ranked no. 4 worldwide, defeated China’s Jia Wen, four sets to two.

China provided the winners in the men’s Singles with Peifeng Zheng and the women’s Doubles with Rui Zhang and Gaoyang Liu. Summaries:

ITTF Czech Open
Olomuoc (CZE) ~ 23-26 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Peifeng Zheng (CHN); 2. Marcos Freitas (POR); 3. Liam Pitchford (ENG) and Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN). Semis: Zheng d. Pitchford, 4-1; Freitas d. Harimoto, 4-3. Final: Zheng d. Freitas, 4-2.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Patrick Franziska (GER)/Jonathan Groth (DEN); 2. Mattias Falck/Kristian Karlsson (SWE); 3. Ruwen Filus/Ricardo Walther (GER) and Anders Lind (DEN)/Bence Majoros (HUN). Semis: Falck/Karlsson d. Filus/Walther, 3-0; Franziska/Groth d. Lind/Majoros, 3-0. Final: Franziska/Groth d. Falck/Karlsson, 3-1.

Women’s Singles: 1. Kasumi Ishikawa (JPN); 2. Jia Wen (CHN); 3. Saki Shibata (JPN) and Yang Wu (CHN). Semis: Ishikawa d. Shibata, 4-1; Wen d. Wu, 4-1. Final: Ishikawa d. Wen, 4-2.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Rui Zhang/Gaoyang Liu (CHN); 2. Jiayi Sun (CRO)/Jian Zeng (SGP); 3. Miu Hirano/Hina Hayata (JPN) and Mima Ito/Kasumi Ishikawa (JPN). Semis: Sun/Zeng d. Hayata/Hirano, 3-1; Liu/Zhang d. Ishikawa/Ito, 3-2. Final: Zhang/Liu d. Sun/Zeng, 3-0.

GYMNASTICS: Dina Averina nearly sweeps Rhythmic Challenge Cup

There was no doubt that the focus of the third Rhythmic World Challenge Cup in Kazan (RUS) was going to be on the Russian entries with less than a month left before the 2018 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Sofia (BUL) from 10-16 September.

Even with the pressure competing at home, three-time World Champion Dina Averina left no doubt as to who is the favorite in all five events in Sofia next month. She is.

Averina, competing without her sister Arina in this meet, tied teammate Aleksandra Soldatova for the All-Around top score, but was classified second. Averina then proceeded to sweep the titles in all four of the apparatus finals, winning by big margins – by Rhythmic Gymnastics standards – of 1.00 (Hoop), 0.350 (Ball), 0.350 (Clubs) and 1.00 (Ribbon).

The surprise came in the performance of Israel’s Linoy Ashram, who finished third in the All-Around and then second in all four apparatus finals. She won bronze medals in the 2017 Worlds in the All-Around and Ribbon and looks ready to do much more next month in Sofia.

Soldatova won the bronze medals in three of four apparatus finals; will she or Arina Averina be nominated for Sofia? The U.S. had Laura Zeng and Evita Griskenis in the meet, who finished ninth and 13th in the All-Around.

FIG Rhythmic World Challenge Cup
Kazan (RUS) ~ 24-26 August 2018
(Full results here)

All-Around: 1. Aleksandra Soldatova (RUS), 80.400; 2. Dina Averina (RUS), 80.400; 3. Linoy Ashram (ISR), 78.800. Also: 9. Laura Zeng (USA), 69.150; … 13. Evita Griskenis (USA), 67.300.

Hoop: 1. Dina Averina (RUS), 20.800; 2. Ashram (ISR), 19.800; 3. Boryana Kaleyn (BUL), 19.550.

Ball: 1. Dina Averina (RUS), 20.200; 2. Ashram (ISR), 19.850; 3. Soldatova (RUS), 19.800.

Clubs: 1. Dina Averina (RUS), 20.550; 2. Ashram (ISR), 20.200; 3. Soldatova (RUS), 19.500. Also: 5. Zeng (USA), 18.100.

Ribbon: 1. Dina Averina (RUS), 19.850; 2. Ashram (ISR), 18.950; 3. Soldatova (RUS), 18.700. Also: 8. Griskenis (USA), 15.600.

Team Qualifications: 1. Italy, 43.950; 2. Russia, 43.950; 3. Bulgaria, 43.800.

Team/5 Hoops: 1. Russia, 23.100; 2. Bulgaria, 22.600; 3. Italy, 22.000.

Team/3 Balls + 2 Ropes: 1. Russia, 22.800; 2. Italy, 22.200; 3. Japan, 22.100.

FOOTBALL: Japan wins first women’s U-20 World Cup

The final of the FIFA women’s U-20 World Cup in Vannes (FRA) was a re-match of a Group C match between group winner Spain (at 4-0-1) and runner-up Japan (4-1-0).

In the first match, the Spanish took a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute and held on for a 1-0 win. The script was different this time.

Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa scored the only goal of the first half in the 38th minute and then extended their lead to 3-0 after two goals within eight minutes by Saori Takarada (57th) and Fuka Nagano (65th).

Firmly in control, Japan did concede a goal to Candela Andujar in the 71st minute, but it was not enough and the Japanese had a 3-1 win and the women’s World U-20 title.

The Spanish, as they are famous for, had 61% of the possession, but could manage only 15 shots and four on goal. The Japanese had 16 shots in total, but 10 on goal and three scores.

The tournament awards went to:

∙ Golden Ball: Patri Guijarro (ESP)
∙ Silver Ball: Saori Takarada (JPN)
∙ Bronze Ball: Moeka Minami (JPN)

∙ Golden Boot: Guijarro (6 goals and 3 assists)
∙ Silver Boot: Georgia Stanway (ENG: 6 goals)
∙ Bronze Boot: Takarada

∙ Golden Glove: Sandy MacIver (ENG)

∙ Fair Play: Japan (fewest yellow cards)

England won the bronze medal, tying France, 1-1, and then winning in a penalty shoot-out, 4-2.

CYCLING: Schurter & Atherton claim sixth Mountain Bike World Cup titles

As if there was any doubt, count Switzerland’s Nino Schurter and Britain’s Rachel Atherton as two of the best Mountain Bike riders ever, as they clinched their sixth seasonal World Cup titles in the final event of the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike season at La Bresse (FRA).

Both went out in style, as they both won their races, with Schurter in the men’s Cross Country and Atherton in the women’s Downhill. Same for 2017 World Champion Jolanda Neff, who the women’s Cross Country race and won her third seasonal title.

The surprise of the men’s Downhill season, France’s Amaury Pierron finished only 10th, but he had enough of a lead coming in to finish well ahead of Danny Hart (GBR) for his first World Cup championships. The final points standings:

Men/Cross Country:
1. 1,861 Nino Schurter (SUI)
2. 1,355 Mathieu van der Poel (NED)
3. 1,242 Maxime Marotte (FRA)
4. 1,213 Henrique Avancini (BRA)
5. 1,154 Gerhard Kerschbaumer (ITA)

Women/Cross Country:
1. 1,930 Jolanda Neff (SUI)
2. 1,743 Annika Langvad (DEN)
3. 1,305 Emily Batty (FRA)
4. 1,275 Alessandra Keller (SUI)
5. 1,240 Anne Tauber (GER)

Men/Downhill:
1. 1,178 Amaury Pierron (FRA)
2. 884 Danny Hart (GBR)
3. 860 Troy Brosnan (AUS)
4. 835 Loris Vergier (FRA)
5. 696 Laurie Greenland (GBR)

Women/Downhill:
1. 1,476 Rachel Atherton (GBR)
2. 1,316 Tahnee Seagrave (GBR)
3. 1,055 Tracey Hannah (AUS)
4. 810 Myriam Nicole (FRA)
5. 771 Monika Hrastnik (SLO)

Schurter now owns World Cup seasonal titles in 2010-12-13–15-17-18 and Atherton has won in 2008-12-13-15-16-18, coming back from a bad crash in 2017. Summaries:

UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
La Bresse (FRA) ~ 24-26 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men/Cross Country: 1. Nino Schurter (SUI), 1:26:25; 2. Gerhard Kerschbaumer (ITA), 1:26:37; 3. Maxime Marotte (FRA), 1:27:57; 4. Mathieu van der Poel (NED), 1:28:44; 5. Victor Koretzky (FRA), 1:28:57.

Women/Cross Country: 1. Jolanda Neff (SUI), 1:33:03; 2. Emily Batty (FRA), 1:33:08; 3. Annika Langvad (DEN), 1:33:30; 4. Pauline Ferrand Prevot (FRA), 1:33:36; 5. Alessandra Keller (SUI), 1:34:30. Also in the top 25: 7. Kate Courtney (USA), 1:35:56; … 11. Erin Huck (USA), 1:37:44; 12. Chloe Woodruff (USA), 1:37:51; … 21. Lea Davison (USA), 1:40:18.

Men/Downhill: 1. Martin Maes (BEL), 2:26:841; 2. Gee Atherton (GBR), 2:28.232; 3. Brook Macdonald (NZL), 2:29.966; 4. Remi Thiron (FRA), 2:30.628; 5. Bernard Kerr (GBR), 2:31.009.

Women/Downhill: 1. Rachel Atherton (GBR), 2:51.421; 2. Tahnee Seagrave (GBR), 2:52.059; 3. Myriam Nicole (FRA), 3:03.083; 4. Tracey Hannah (AUS), 3:04.457; 5. Kelly Curd (GBR), 3:06.533.

CYCLING: Vos pads her seasonal lead with a silver in Plouay

The tight battle for the seasonal UCI Women’s World Tour title continued with a wild final sprint among 15 riders at Saturday’s Grand Prix de Plouay, with Dutch stars Amy Pieters and World Tour leader Marianne Vos getting to the line first.

It was a critical finish for Vos, 31, who extended her seasonal lead to 1,394.88-1,160.33 over Anna van der Breggen, who did not ride. There are three races left, most importantly this week’s Holland Ladies Tour, starting on Tuesday.

For Vos, it’s also her seventh medal at Plouay; she won in 2012-13, was second also in 2009-10-14, and third in 2011. American Coryn Rivera finished third for the second straight week, her third medal of this season.

In Sunday’s men’s Bretagne Classic/Ouest-France, Belgium’s Oliver Naesen won his second title after his 2016 win, outdueling Dane Michael Valgren in the final sprint, with both three seconds ahead of Tim Wellens (BEL), Aussie Michael Matthews and Portugal’s Ruben Guerreiro. Summaries:

UCI Women’s World Tour/Grand Prix de Plouay
Plouay (FRA) ~ 25 August 2018
(Full results here)

Final Results (125.5 km): 1. Amy Pieters (NED), 3:17:18; 2. Marianne Vos (NED), 3:17:18; 3. Coryn Rivera (USA), 3:17:18; 4. Elena Cecchini (ITA), 3:17:18; 5. Amanda Spratt (AUS), 3:17:18; 6. Alison Jackson (CAN), 3:17:18; 7. Malgorzata Jasinska (POL), 3:17:18; 8. Ashleigh Moolman (RSA), 3:17:18; 9. Eugenia Bijak (SLO), 3:17:18; 10. Kasia Niewiadoma (POL), 3:17:18. Also in the top 50: 11. Megan Guarnier (USA), 3:17:18; … 18. Ruth Winder (USA), 3:17:18.

UCI World Tour/Bretagne Classic Ouest-France
Plouay (FRA) ~ 26 August 2018
(Full results here)

Final Results (256.9 km): 1. Oliver Naesen (BEL), 6:16:34; 2. Michael Valgren (DEN), 6:16:34; 3. Tim Wellens (BEL), 6:16:37; 4. Michael Matthews (AUS), 6:17:37; 5. Ruben Guerreiro (POR), 6:17:37; 6. Zdenek Stybar (CZE), 6:17:37; 7. Olivier Le Gac (FRA), 6:17:39; 8. Valentin Madouas (FRA), 6:17:41; 9. Benoit Cosnefroy (FRA), 6:17:42; 10. Fabio Jakobsen (NED), 6:17:48.

CYCLING: Valverde confirms he’s a contender in Vuelta a Espana

The first weekend of the 73rd edition of La Vuelta a Espana has been completed, with an impressive win by 38-year-old Alejandro Valverde of Spain, declaring himself once again a factor in a Grand Tour.

After all, he won this race in 2009, was second in 2006 and 2012 and third in 2013-2014 … and won his 10th career stage at La Vuelta on Sunday.

After the first two stages, Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski has the overall lead by 14 seconds over Valverde and 25 seconds ahead of Wilco Kelderman (NED).

The 21 stages include two time trials, five mountain stages, six hilly stages and six which are fairly flat. 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: 27 August Mijas to Alhaurín de la Torre (178.2 km; medium mountains)
Stage 4: 28 August Velez-Malaga to Alfacar (161.4 km; medium mountains)
Stage 5: 29 August Granada to Roquetas de Mar (188.7 km; medium mountains)
Stage 6: 30 August Huercal-Overa to San Javier (155.7 km); flat
Stage 7: 31 August Puerto Lumbreras to Pozo Alcon (185.7 km’ flat)
Stage 8: 01 September Linares to Almadén (195.1 km; flat)
Stage 9: 02 September Talavera de la Reina to La Covatilla (200.8 km; mountains)

03 September Rest day

Stage 10: 04 September Universidad de Salamanca to Fermoselle (177.0 km; flat)
Stage 11: 05 September Mombuey to Ribeira Sacra (207.8 km; hilly)
Stage 12: 06 September Mondoñedo to Faro de Estaca de Bares (181.1 km; hilly)
Stage 13: 07 September Candas. Carreño to Valle de Sabero (174.8 km; mountains)
Stage 14: 08 September Cistierna to Les Praeres (171.0 km); mountains
Stage 15: 09 September Ribera de Arriba to Lagos de Covadonga (178.2 km; mountains)

10 September Rest day

Stage 16: 11 September Santillana del Mar to Torrelavega (Indiv. Time Trial: 32.0 km)
Stage 17: 12 September Getxo to Balcon de Bizkaia (157.0 km; hilly)
Stage 18: 13 September Ejea de los Caballeros to Lleida (186.1 km; flat)
Stage 19: 14 September Lleida to Andorra. Naturlandia (154.4 km; flat)
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)

CANOE-KAYAK: Brendel and Kozak star in World Sprint Champs

If you’re a gold medalist, you’re sure to draw a lot of attention; you’re the one everyone wants to beat.

Germany’s Sebastian Brendel and Hungary’s Danuta Kozak weren’t worried about it. They won anyway.

At the ICF World Sprint Championships in Montemor-a-Velho (POR), Brendel was busy, winning his fourth straight World Championship in the C-1/1,000 m, then the C-1/5,000 m and a silver in the C-1/500 m. The two wins gave him 10 career world titles.

Kozak, coming back after winning three gold medals in Rio – she’s won five all together – and skipping the 2017 Worlds, won the K-1/500 m, the K-2/500 m with Anna Karasz and as part of the K-4/500 m for three golds this year as well. She now owns 14 World Championships gold medals.

There were other stars in Portugal as well:

∙ None were more popular that Portugal’s Fernando Pimenta, who won the men’s K-1/1,000 m and 5,000 m (defending his title in the 5,000 m);

∙ Brazil’s Isaquias dos Santos won the C-1/200 m and the C-2/500 m with Erion Silva;

∙ Canada’s Laurence Vincent-Lapointe was mighty impressive in defending her C-1/200 m title, winning the C-1/5,000 m and winning the C-2/500 m with Katie Vincent (the pair defended their World title in the C-2);

∙ Hungary’s Dora Bodonyi won the K-1/1,000 m and was on the winning K-4/500 m for two golds.

Josef Dostal (CZE) defended his title in the K-1/500 m and Germany’s Yul Oeltze and Peter Kretschmer again won the men’s C-2/1,000 m.

New Zealand star Lisa Carrington, a seven-time World Champion, was also being watched closely in her four events, but ran into Kozak and friends in the K-1/500 m, the K-2/500 m (with Caitlin Ryan) and K-4/500 m, but defended her 2017 title in the K-1/200 m for one gold and three silvers.

Germany led the overall medal count with 13 (7-4-2), trailed by Russia (11: 3-3-5) and Hungary, which won nine (6-1-2). Summaries:

ICF World Sprint Championships
Montemor-o-Velho (POR) ~ 23-26 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men

C-1/200 m: 1. Artsem Kozyr (BLR), 39.810; 2. Ivan Shytl (RUS), 39.970; 3. Henrikas Zustautas (LTU), 40.043; 4. Zasa Nadiradze (GEO), 40.226; 5. Stefan Kiraj (GER), 40.410; 6. Helder Silva (POR), 40.503; 7. Alberto Pedrero (ESP), 40.826; 8. Oleh Borovyk (UKR), 41.306.

C-1/500 m: 1. Isaquias dos Santos (BRA), 1:49.203; 2. Sebastian Brendel (GER), 1:49.496; 3. Martin Fuksa (CZE), 1:50.143; 4. Oleg Tarnovschi (MDA), 1:51.577; 5. Maksim Piatrou (BLR), 1:51.823; 6. Tomasz Kaczor (POL), 1:52.643; 7. Mikhail Pavlov (RUS), 1:52.743; 8. Tamas Kiss (HUN), 1:56.217.

C-1/1,000 m: 1. Brendel (GER), 3:48.390; 2. Fuksa (CZE), 3:49.625; 3. Dos Santos (BRA), 3:50.190; 4. Kirill Shamshurin (RUS), 3:53.300; 5. Oleg Tarnovschi (MDA), 3:53.665; 6. Adrien Bart (FRA), 3:54.221; 7. Andras Bodonyi (HUN), 3:54.496; 8. Carlo Tacchini (ITA), 3:58.826.

C-1/5,000 m: 1. Brendel (GER), 23:40.857; 2. Fernando Enrique (CUB), 23:46.646; 3. Kirill Shamshurin (RUS), 24:09.504; 4. Mateusz Kaminski (POL), 24:25.916; 5. Carlo Tacchini (ITA), 24:31.263; 6. Manuel Campos (ESP), 24:32.367; 7. Thomas Simart (FRA), 25:02.871; 8. Aivis Tints (LAT), 25:04.850.

C-2/200 m: 1. Hleb Saladukha/Dzianis Makhlai (BLR), 37.646; 2. Arsen Sliwinski/Michal Lubniewski (POL), 37.816; 3. Alexander Kovalenko/Ivan Shytl (RUS), 37.993; 4. Antoni Segura/Alfonso Benavides (ESP), 39.396; 5. Jonatan Hajdu/Adam Fekete (HUN), 39.026; 6. Vitaliy Vergeles/Denys Kamerylov (UKR), 39.130; 7. Gheorghe Stoian/Constantin Diba (ROU), 41.323; 8. Aoto Yabu/Masato Hashimoto (JPN), 42.093.

C-2/500 m: 1. Erion Silva/Isaquias dos Santos (BRA), 1:40.043; 2. Viktor Melantev/Vladislav Chebotar (RUS), 1:41.590; 3. Arsen Sliwinski/Michal Lubniewski (POL), 1:41.787; 4. Sergio Vallejo/Adrian Sierio (ESP), 1:41.830; 5. Yul Oeltze/Peter Kretschmer (GER), 1:41.997; 6. Jonatan Hajdu/Adam Fekete (HUN), 1:42.047; 7. Leonid Carp/Victor Mihalachi (ROU), 1:42.650; 8. Dmytro Ianchuk/Taras Mishchuk (UKR), 1:43.300.

C-2/1,000 m: 1. Yul Oeltze/Peter Kretschmer (GER), 3:38.207; 2. Serguey Madrigal/Fernando Enrique (CUB), 3:39.462; 3. Kirill Shamshurin/Ilya Pervukhin (RUS), 3:40.647; 4. Mateusz Kaminski/Vincent Slominski (POL), 3:42.217; 5. Daniele Santini/Luca Incollingo (ITA), 3:42.77; 6. Thomas Simart/Adrien Bart (FRA); 7. Filip Dvorak/Tomas Janda (CZE), 3:45.837; 8. Sergio Vallejo/Adrian Sierio(ESP), 3:46.042.

C-4/500 m: 1. Russia (Petrov, Melantev, Pavlov, Shytl), 1:35.606; 2. Ukraine, 1:36.726; 3. Italy, 1:37.196; 4. Germany, 1:37.290; 5. Romania, 1:37.700; 6. Belarus, 1:38.640; 7. Poland, 1:39.276; 8. Hungary, 1:39.676.

K-1/200 m: 1. Carlos Garrote (ESP), 35.259; 2. Arturas Seja (LTU), 35.366; 3. Evgenii Lukantsov (RUS), 35.512; 4. Balazs Birkas (HUN), 35.576; 5. Aleksejs Rumjancevs (LAT), 35.706; 6. Marko Dragosavljevic (SRB), 35.806; 7. Pawel Kaczmarek (POL), 35.932; 8. Manfredi Rizza (ITA), 36.116.

K-1/500 m: 1. Josef Dostal (CZE), 1:37.905; 2. Tom Liebscher (GER), 1:38.912; 3. Bence Nadas (HUN), 1:39.516; 4. Joao Ribeiro (HUN), 1:39.739; 5. Oleh Kukharyk (UKR), 1:40.659; 6. Roman Anoshkin (RUS), 1:41.306; 7. Etienne Hubert (FRA), 1:41.592; 8. Thomas Green (AUS), 1:42.116.

K-1/1,000 m: 1. Fernando Pimenta (POR), 3:27.666; 2. Max Rendschmidt (GER), 3:28.391; 3. Josef Dostal (CZE), 3:29.177; 4. Balint Kopasz (HUN), 3:29.917; 5. Roi Rodriguez (ESP), 3:31.677; 6. Bartosz Stabno (POL), 3:32.007; 7. Roman Anoshkin (RUS), 3:32.60-2; 8. Rene Poulsen (DEN), 3:32.667.

K-1/5,000 m: 1. Fernando Pimenta (POR), 21:42.196; 2. Rene Poulsen (DEN), 21:43.723; 3. Eivind Vold (NOR), 21:44.849; 4. Javier Hernanz (ESP), 2:46.565; 5. Balint Noe (HUN), 22:07.107; 6. Agustin Vernice (ARG), 22:16.203; 7. Fabio Wyss (SUI), 22:18.170; 8. Artuur Peters (BEL), 22:26.151.

K-2/200 m: 1. Mark Balaska/Balazs Birkas (HUN), 31.873; 2. Saul Craviotto/Cristian Toro (ESP), 32.133; 3. Nebojsa Grujic/Marko Novakovic (SRB), 32.156; 4. Kirill Lyapunov/Alexander Dyachenko (RUS), 32.233; 5. Piotr Mazur/Pawel Kaczmarek (POL), 32.753; 6. Edvinas Ramanauskas/Ignas Navkauskas (LTU), 32.790; 7. Riccardo Spotti/Andrea Di Liberto (ITA), 32.823; 8. Filip Svab/Ondrej Bisicky (CZE), 33.136.

K-2/500 m: 1. Artem Kuzakhmetov/Vladislav Blintcov (RUS), 1:30.666; 2. Stefan Vekic/Vladimir Torubarov (SRB), 1:30.953; 3. Ricardas Nekriosius/Andrej Olijnik (LTU), 1:31.449; 4. Cyrille Carre/Francis Mouget (FRA), 1:31.786; 5. Erik Vlcek/Juraj Tarr (SVK), 1:31.886; 6. David Toth/Tamas Kulifai (HUN), 1:32.243; 7. Albert Marti/Juan Oriyes (ESP), 1:33.469; 8. Saeid Fazloula/Kostja Stroinski (GER), 1:33.606.

K-2/1,000 m: 1. Max Hoff/Marcus Gross (GER), 3:15.797; 2. Francisco Cubelos/Inigo Pena (ESP), 3:16.617; 3. Marko Tomicevic/Milenko Zoric (SRB), 3:17.407; 4. Riley Fitzsimmons/Jordan Wood (AUS), 3:17.432; 5. Rene Poulsen/Morten Graversen (DEN), 3:20.228; 6. Peter Gelle/Adam Botek (SVK), 3:20.843; 7. Maxime Beaumont/Guillaume Burger (FRA), 3:21.113; 8. Pavel Miadzvedzeu/Aleh Turenia (BLR), 3:22.143.

K-4/500 m: 1. Germany (Rendschmidt, Liebscher, Rauhe, Lemke), 1:20.056; 2. Spain, 1:20.423; 3. Hungary, 1:21.480; 4. Australia, 1:21.780; 5. Russia, 1:22.006; 6. France, 1:22.530; 7. Slovakia, 1:22.596; 8. Czech Republic, 1:23.050.
K-4/1,000 m: 1. Germany (Gecso, Thordsen, Schopf, Reuschenbach), 2:57.947; 2. Slovakia, 2:58.914; 3. Spain, 2:59.341; 4. Russia, 2:59.981; 5. Belarus, 3:01.801; 6. Hungary, 3:02.821; 7. Bulgaria, 3:04.468; 8. Portugal, 3:11.665.

Women

C-1/200 m: 1. Laurence Vincent-Lapointe (CAN), 45.567; 2. Olesia Romasenko (RUS), 46.242; 3. tie, Dorota Borowska (POL) and Alena Nazdrova (BLR) 46.812; 5. Virag Balla (HUN), 46.972; 6. Luqi Zhang (CHN), 47.232; 7. Staniliya Stamenova (BUL), 47.282; 8. Nikolina Mijuskovic (SRB), 48.087.

C-1/500 m: 1. Kseniia Kurach (RUS), 2:10.991; 2. Alena Nazdrova (BLR), 2:11.631; 3. Katie Vincent (CAN), 2:12.148; 4. Shixiao Xu (CHN), 2:12.875; 5. Zsanett Lakatos (HUN), 2:19.448; 6. Liudmyla Luzan (UKR), 2:21.115; 7. Magda Stanny (POL), 2:22.118; 8. Mariami Kerdikashvili (GEO), 2:24.365.

C-1/5,000 m: 1. Laurence Vincent-Lapointe (CAN), 27:43.020; 2. Annika Loske (GER), 27:52.541; 3. Maria Mailliard (CHI), 27:59.547; 4. Volha Klimava (BLR), 28:11.793; 5. Shixiao Xu (CHN), 28:42.314; 6. Zsanett Lakatos (HUN), 28:59.046; 7. Maria Corbera (ESP), 29:04.735; 8. Lucia Valova (SVK), 29:36.998.

C-2/200 m: 1. Alena Nazdrova/Kamila Bobr (BLR), 45.234; 2. Sylwia Szczerbinska/Dorota Borowska (POL), 46.158; 3. Kseniia Kurach/Olesya Nikiforova (RUS), 46.668; 4. Nadya Crossman-Serb/Hannah MacIntosh (CAN), 47.185; 5. Qi Li/Yajue Zhan (CHN), 48.131; 6. Blanka Nagy/Csenge Molnar (HUN), 48.185; 7. Maria Perez/Antia Jacome (ESP), 48.358; 8. Maria Olarasu/Daniela Cociu (MDA), 49.118.

C-2/500 m: 1. Laurence Vincent-Lapointe/Katie Vincent (CAN), 1:56.395; 2. Virag Balla/Kincso Takacs (HUN), 1:58.632; 3. Nadzeya Makarchanka/Volha Klamava (BLR), 2:00.485; 4. Irina Andreeva/Olesia Romasenko (RUS), 2:02.279; 5. Shixiao Xu/Zheyi Xu (CHN), 2:02.579; 6. Lisa Jahn/Sophie Koch (GER), 2:03.352; 7. Eugenie Dorange/Flore Caupain (FRA), 2:04.912; 8. Liudmyla Luzan/Anastasiia Chetverikova (UKR), 2:04.935.

K-1/200 m: 1. Lisa Carrington (NZL), 38.821; 2. Emma Jorgensen (DEN), 40.548; 3. Linnea Stensils (SWE), 40.585; 4. Marta Walczykiewicz (POL), 40.685; 5. Jessica Walker (GBR), 40.728; 6. Ivana Mladkova (SVK), 40.745; 7. Sarah Guyot (FRA), 40.795; 8. Teresa Portela (ESP), 40.978.

K-1/500 m: 1. Danuta Kozak (HUN), 1:47.254; 2. Lisa Carrington (NZL), 1:47.984; 3. Volha Khudzenka (BLR), 1:48.724; 4. Anna Pulawska (POL), 1:49.614; 5. Elena Aniushina (RUS), 1:50.759; 6. Linnea Stensils (SWE), 1:51.034; 7. Alyce Burnett (SWE), 1:51.034; 8. Milica Starovic (SRB), 1:52.199.

K-1/1,000 m: 1. Dora Bodonyi (HUN), 4:02.892; 2. Lizzie Broughton (GBR), 4:03.927; 3. Bridgitte Hartley (RSA), 4:04.017; 4. Nina Krankemann (GER), 4:04.662; 5. Anastasia Panchenko (RUS), 4:09.423; 6. Inna Hryshchun (UKR), 4:12.313; 7. Alyssa Bull (AUS), 4:12.333; 8. Netta Malinen (FIN), 4:16.348.

K-1/5,000 m: 1. Lizzie Broughton (GBR), 24:01.377; 2. Maryna Litvinchuk (BLR), 24:12.014; 3. Jennifer Egan (IRL), 24:15.075; 4. Caitlin Ryan (NZL), 24:25.572; 5. Tamara Takacs (HUN), 24:27.214; 6. Emma Jorgensen (DEN), 24:36.180; 7. Kristina Bedec (SRB), 24:37.829; 8. Bridgette Hartley (RSA), 24:42.207.

K-2/200 m: 1. Franziska Weber/Tina Dietze (GER), 37.157; 2. Kayla Imree/Aimee Fisher (NZL), 37.197; 3. Mariia Kichasova-Skoryk/Anastasiya Horlova (UKR), 37.294; 4. Reka Hagymasi/Agnes Szabo (HUN), 37.411; 5. Karolina Markiewicz/Helena Wisniewska (POL), 37.437; 6. Natalia Podolskaia/Vera Sobetova (RUS), 37.631; 7. Marharyta Makhneva/Maryna Litvinchuk (BLR), 37.794; 8. Jamie Roberts/Jo Bridgen-Jones (AUS), 37.844.

K-2/500 m: 1. Anna Karasz/Danuta Kozak (HUN), 1:43.065; 2. Lisa Carrington/Caitlin Ryan (NZL), 1:43.088; 3. Jasmin Fritz/Steffi Kriegerstein (GER), 1:45.589; 4. Manon Hostens/Sarah Guyot (FRA), 1:45.682; 5. Justyna Iskrzucka/Paulina Paszek (POL), 1:46.832; 6. Mariya Povkh/Liudmyla Kuklinovska (UKR), 1:47.902; 7. Ana Lehaci/Viktoria Schwarz (AUT), 1:48.272; 8. Teresa Portela/Joana Vasconcelos (POR), 1:49.665.

K-2/1,000 m: 1. Tamara Csipes-Galbacs/Erika Medveczky (HUN), 3:39.811; 2. Justyna Iskrzycka/Paulina Paszek (POL), 3:43.758; 3. Sarah Brussler/Melanie Gebhardt (GER), 3:45.091; 4. Kira Stepanova/Svetlana Chernigovskaya (RUS), 3:48.595; 5. Roxana Cuir/Elena Meroniac (ROU), 3:52.695; 6. Penille Knudsen/Julia Funch (DEN), 3:53.035; 7. Natalie Davison/alanna Bray-Lougheed (CAN), 3:53.218; 7. Barbara Padro/Estefania Fernandez (ESP), 3:55.402; 8. Sara Sotero/Rita Fernandes (POR), 4:02.432.

K-4/500 m: 1. Hungary (Karasz, Medveczyk, Kozak, Bodonyi), 1:33.761; 2. New Zealand, 1:33.771; 3. Poland, 1:34.568; 4. Belarus, 1:34.885; 5. Germany, 1:36.298; 6. Ukraine, 1:36.515; 7. Australia, 1:37.385; 8. Denmark, 1:39.245.

BASEBALL: Japan and U.S. on collision course in women’s World Champs?

The recent women’s World Softball Championships ended in a classic showdown between Japan and the United States – in Japan – with the U.S. winning the title in extra innings. That match-up could be repeated at the women’s Baseball Worlds – in Viera, Florida (USA) – as both are moving toward the playoff round:

∙ The U.S. is leading Group A with a 4-1 record, dispatching Puerto Rico (14-0), the Netherlands (18-0), Korea (11-1), Venezuela (3-1), but losing to Chinese Taipei (4-3). Both Puerto Rico and Chinese Taipei have rescheduled games on Monday, so the U.S. could win the group, but will finish no lower then second.

∙ Japan, looking for its sixth straight world championship, won Group B with a 5-0 record. They defeated the Dominican Republic (8-0), Hong Kong (23-0), Canada (2-1 after a long weather delay), Cuba (4-1) and Australia (5-1).

Because of weather delays, round-robin play in the groups will finish on the 27th; the top three teams in each group will play in a “Super Round” with the top four playing in the Championship and Bronze Medal games on 31 August.

The event is being held in the U.S. for the first time; the American team is the only other to win the World Cup, taking the title in the first two editions in 2004 and 2006.

Japan won the World Cup in 2008-10-12-14-16, beating the United States twice, Canada twice and Australia once. The Japanese stomped Canada, 10-0, to win in 2016 with Venezuela third and Chinese Taipei fourth.

Look for results here.

ASIAN GAMES: Japan’s Ikee wins 50 m Free for eighth medal, sixth gold

The 18th Asian Games in Indonesia still has a week to go, but it will take a stunning turn to keep Japan’s teenage swim star, Rikako Ikee, from being the star of the event.

She finished off her Asian Games with a sixth gold medal, winning the 50 m Freestyle in an Asian Games 24.53, beating Liu Xiang, China’s world-record holder (in the 50 m Back), by 0.07. It gave Ikee eight medals (6-2-0) and tied her with North Korean shooter Gin Man So (8: 7-1-0) from 1982. She’s the sixth woman to win six golds in a single Asian Games in swimming.

“Pressure for me is something I thrive on,” Ikee, 18, told the Agence France Presse. “There will be a lot of Japanese fans cheering for me at the Tokyo Olympics in my home city – maybe even some from overseas too – and that’s going to give me great strength.

“The more fans that come, the stronger I’ll be. When it comes to swimming, I just really hate to lose.

“I had targeted five gold medals so I was happy to tick that box first. I can definitely swim faster. But going through this kind of experience will give me extra motivation to improve.”

Keep her name in mind as we get closer to Tokyo. But there were more highlights from the pool on the final night:

∙ Men’s 1,500 m Freestyle: Yang Sun of China won in 14:58.53, for his third straight Asian Games gold medal in the event. He’s still the world-record holder at 14:31.02 from his Olympic win in 2012 in London, but won his 14th career Asian Games medal to tie Korea’s Tae-Hwan Park (2006-10) for the most career swimming medals ever.

∙ Men’s 50 m Breaststroke: Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki completed his triple win in the 50-100-200 m Breast events with a win in 27.07, ahead of China’s Zibei Yan (27.25), who swam a Games Record 27.06 in the prelims.

∙ Women’s 400 m Freestyle: China’s Jianjiahe Wang set an Asian Games record of 4:03.18, no. 3 on the world list for 2018, completing another triple win in the 400-800-1,500 m Frees (plus a fourth gold in a relay). Her teammate, also 16 years old, Bingjie Li, was second in 4:04.46.

∙ Women’s 200 m Medley: Japan’s Yui Ohashi came in as the Pan-Pacs champ and the fastest swimmer in the world this year in the event, but Korea’s Seo-Yeong Kim won the race in a Games record time of 2:08.34. Kim moves to no. 2 on the 2018 world list with the time.

China finished off the meet with the world’s best time in 2018 for the men’s 4×100 m Medley in 3:29.99, just ahead of Japan (3:30.03). China’s Jiayu Xu won his fifth gold on the relay; he’s the second man to win five swimming golds at a single Asian Games, after Jianqiang Shen in 1990. With a silver in the final relay, Ryosuke Irie (JPN) also won a 14th career swimming medal at the Asian Games.

The Japanese finished the meet with 52 total medals in swimming to 50 for China and each won 19 golds. Beyond Ikee’s brilliance, the meet also featured a world record of 26.98 by Xiang in the 50 m Backstroke and 21 Asian Games marks, plus one tie.

=¶=

Elsewhere at the Games, the Athletics competition started with modest performances; the best included:

∙ India’s Tajinderpal Singh Toor’s Games record of 20.75 m (68-1) in the men’s Shot;

∙ China’s Bingtian Su won the men’s 100 m impressively in 9.92, also an Asian Games record, and

∙ Qatar’s Abdalelah Haroun won the men’s 400 m in 44.89 and Salwa Eid Naser (BRN) won the women’s 400 m in an Asian Games record of 50.09.

In weightlifting, Iran’s Sohrab Moradi set a world record of 189 kg in the Snatch in the 94 kg class on his way to a gold medal in the event. The Snatch lift surpassed the 188 kg mark by Akakios Kakiavilis (GRE) from 1999.

The men’s and women’s road cycling events were unusual in that one man and one woman won both the Time Trial and the Road Race! Ahreum Na (KOR) took the women’s 20 km Time Trial and 100 km Road Race, while Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) triumphed in the 40 km Time Trial and the 150 km Road Race.

Halfway through the Games, China continues to run away with the overall count at 178 (78-60-40), with Japan second (124: 40-34-50) and Korea third (96: 28-31-37).

THE BIG PICTURE: No Asian Games for “new” Uzbek cyclist Zabelinskaya

The story of ex-Russian cyclist Olga Zabelinskaya and her desire to ride for Uzbekistan has come to a halt for now.

The silver medalist in Rio in the Track Cycling Time trial and bronze medalist in London 2012 in the women’s Olympic road race and Track Cycling Time Trial, she had her change of nationality approved by the Union Cycliste internationale (UCI) earlier in August. The Uzbekistan National Olympic Committee immediately registered her for the Asian Games women’s Track Cycling Time Trial in Indonesia, scheduled to be held on 24 August.

The Olympic Council of Asia, which operates the Asian Games, refused to allow her entry into the race, “in accordance with the OCA Constitution, which provides that any athlete who has changed his/her nationality shall not participate in the Asian Games to represent his/her new country until three years after such change.”

Zabelinskaya and the Uzbek NOC filed an action with the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s ad hoc division at the Asian Games and a hearing was undertaken the day before the race (23 August). The CAS panel of three arbitrators (from China, Iran and the Philippines) dismissed the application and “confirmed the OCA decision.”

A full discussion of the grounds for the decision is to be published “shortly.” Hopefully, this will come sooner than the full CAS decisions from the Russian participation cases for the PyeongChang Winter Games, only two of which (out of more than 30) have been published so far.

Want to promote your sport? Start with better statistics!

Did you know that Teddy Riner is undefeated since 2010 and riding a 144-match winning streak?

Do you know who Teddy Riner is and what sport he competes in?

You aren’t alone.

Riner, the French judoka who is the 2012 and 2016 Olympic heavyweight champion and a nine-time World Champion, now owns a 144-match winning streak after winning two world titles in 2017.

Although just 29, he’s taking it easy in 2018 and likely again in 2019 and so when he roars back to competition in 2020, who will remember him?

It will start with the sports statisticians, who will be the first to remind people of the historic achievements of the 6-8 giant from Guadeloupe. But as of today, you can’t find a salute to Riner on the International Judo Federation’s Web site; his biography doesn’t mention the win streak.

If you want to promote a sport, an athlete or an event, start with statistics. It’s utterly amazing to see how many federations, teams, agents and athletes miss this simple approach.

Those who have paid attention have often reaped remarkable dividends. For example, a sleepy event in track & field was transformed by one man who could not be beaten. Remember Edwin Moses? Yes, you certainly do.

Sure, he was the Olympic gold medalist and world-record holder in 1976 in the 400 m Hurdles in Montreal, but his unbeaten streak of 107 finals and 122 races in all from 1977-1987 made him a worldwide superstar. It’s not as well known or appreciated that he won 23 of his next 24 races, giving him 145 wins in 147 races between 1977-88.

But now you know.

The same situation happened in 2017-18 in the women’s high jump, as Russian Mariya Lasitskene won 45 meets in a row. No one paid too much attention until she started piling up the wins, but she’s a lot better known now.

Sports can use statistics to create new angles for appreciating a performance, an athlete or an event. The clear leader among the international federations for this is the IAAF for track & field, which devotes an enormous amount of time and resources to records, historical lists, lists of best marks by year, by continent and by age.

Let’s take just the men’s 100 m, about the most basic event there is. The IAAF site lists the top 4,941 performers in 2018, from American Ronnie Baker’s world-leading 9.87 to everyone who has run 11.00 this season! Wow! You can also filter the list to provide just the best mark for an athlete, or all of an athlete’s marks.

So for Baker, you can see that he has the best mark in the world for 2018, but also that he has run five of the top eight times this season.

This is especially important in the all-time lists, where, for example, in the women’s heptathlon, Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) has the top six performances of all time. The IAAF has this for men and women, indoor and outdoor, plus numerous sets of records.

Moreover, in addition to the IAAF, there are independent groups which provide databases of track & field statistics, like the Finnish site Tilastopaja.eu, which has some free statistics and a much deeper subscription service with access to deep biographies and even stats on head-to-head competitions between two athletes!

One federation which would very much benefit from this kind of depth in statistics in FINA, which includes swimming. Just as in track & field, there are performers and performances, short course (25 m) pools and long course (50 m) statistics.

But FINA’s approach has been minimalist, to say the least. It has a well-maintained “world rankings” service which offers up the lists of best performers for any recent year, but it does not include an easy way to get an all-time list – you have to specify the years you want surveyed – or any way at all to get a list that includes more than one performance per athlete.

So, per the FINA site, there’s no way to tell how many of the top 10 or 20 times in history have been swum by Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) in the 100 m Freestyle or 100 m Fly, or how many of the top 20 times in history are owned by Adam Peaty (GBR) in the 100 m Breaststroke, or in any of the women’s Freestyle distance events by American Katie Ledecky?

With the 2019 World Championships and the 2020 Tokyo Games coming, wouldn’t this be good information to have to promote swimming’s superstars?

FINA can benefit by doing more, but at least it has some statistics online. Other federations miss the boat entirely, and more statistics – while not an end in itself – can create stories that can help promote their sport. You can count on that.

Rich Perelman
Editor

MLB Detailed Standings August 26, 2018

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