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GYMNASTICS: Biles and Mikulak dominate U.S. Artistic Championships

By
Rich Perelman
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History repeated itself as two of the best American gymnasts won their fifth All-Around championships at the USA Gymnastics National Championships at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts (USA). But the buzz was, of course, more about Simone Biles than Sam Mikulak.

Biles dominated the U.S. field as she has never done before, not just winning her fifth American All-Around title, but winning each of the four apparatus titles! Only one event was close:

  • Vault: Biles 31.125 +2.050 vs. 29.050 for Shilese Jones
  • Bars: Biles 29.400 +0.100 vs. 29.300 for Riley McCusker
  • Beam: Biles 30.100 +1.450 vs. 28.650 for Kara Eaker
  • Floor: Biles 29.150 +0.850 vs. 28.300 for Jade Carey

There is very little doubt that Biles is the world’s top gymnast, but the American depth behind her in Boston was impressive. Reigning World Champion Morgan Hurd finished second at 113.300, ahead of Riley McCusker (112.750) and Grace McCallum (111.6), all over 111 points for the double All-Around. McCusker was the only one in the top six who improved her score on Sunday,

Hurd’s secret in winning the world title was her consistency; same in Boston. She finished 4-3-4-3 in the Vault-Bars-Beam-Floor. McCusker placed 8-2-3-7 (tie) for third, but with plenty of room for improvement. McCallum finished 3-6 (tie)-5-4 for fourth; that’s impressive depth that will be critical for the Worlds team competition.

Defending national champ Ragan Smith continued to show the effects of the right ankle sprain from last year’s World Championships and finished 10th overall. Her best apparatus placement was a seventh on the Vault.

Biles won her fifth American title, adding to the four in a row she won from 2013-16. She’s now no. 2 on the all-time U.S. women’s championships list; only Clara Schroth Lomady won more: six in 1945-46 and from 1949-52.

Worth noting: the women’s Junior division had three strong performances from Leanne Wong (112.250), Kayla DiCello (111.200) and Sunisa Lee (111.050). Keep those names in mind for 2019 and 2020.

In the men’s division, Mikulak led the field after the first All-Around session on Thursday at 85.150, but was less than perfect on the Pommel Horse (fall) and High Bar (fall). But his Saturday session was outstanding at 87.750 and with excellent performances on all six of the events. He won the double All-Around with a total of 172.900 points, well ahead of defending champion Yul Moldauer (168.150) and Oklahoma’s Allan Bower (166.950).

“I have to say this is probably my favorite one that I’ve won so far because I feel like I’m in a different place in my confidence in my gymnastics,” said Mikulak, 25. “Being able to ride this going into World Championships will definitely set me off feeling a little bit more confident.”

While Mikulak was nursing injuries in 2017 and missed the Nationals, Moldauer won his first title, but now he was the one fighting assorted injuries in 2018. He stood only sixth after Thursday’s round, while Stanford’s Akash Modi was second at 84.100. But on Saturday, Moldauer rebounded with the second-highest score of the day – only Mikulak was better – piling up 85.450 points to pull into second place and earn a spot on the U.S. National Team.

“I felt I had something to prove after Thursday’s performance,” said Moldauer. “That’s why you have to have a reset button. You’re going to have a rough day but you can’t hold on to that. You’ve got to come forward from it. However you’re going to react is how you’re going to perform in the future. Just knowing that I could reset and come out here and perform how I wanted to perform helped my confidence.”

Mikulak now own five U.S. championships, tying him with Blaine Wilson (1996-2000), George Wheeler (1937-41) and Frank Cumiskey (1934, 1936, 1945-47) for third on the all-time U.S. list behind Makoto Sakamoto (six in 1963-66, 1968 and 1970) and Alfred Jochim. He won seven titles from 1925-30 and in 1933.

The first seven finishers earned spots on the national squad; the World Championships team will be picked from a camp in September and others may be invited. The 2019 World Championships are in Doha (QAT) from 25 October-3 November. Summaries:

USA Gymnastics National Championships
Boston, Massachusetts (USA) ~ 16-19 August 2018.
(Full results here)

Men:
All-Around: 1. Sam Mikulak, 172.900 (85.150 + 87.750); 2. Yul Moldauer, 168.150 (82.700 + 85.450); 3. Allan Bower, 166.950 (83.850 + 83.100); 4. Donothan Bailey, 166.800; 5. Alec Yoder, 166.550; 6. Akash Modi, 165.550; 7. Cameron Bock, 163.200; 8. Colin van Wicklen, 163.050.

Floor: 1. Mikulak, 29.100; 2. Moldauer, 28.750; 3. Kanji Oyama, 28.650; 4. Bower, 28.350; 5. Modi, 28.300; 6. Gage Dyer, 28.250; 7. Bailey, 28.150; 8. Jacob Moore, 28.050.

Pommel Horse: 1. Yoder, 29.850; 2. Bower, 29.200; 3. Ellis Mannon, 28.850; 4. Mikulak, 28.600; 5. Bailey, 28.050; 6. Modi, 27.950; 7. Moldauer, 27.300; 8. Bennet Huang, 27.200.

Rings: 1. Trevor Howard, 29.200; 2. Alex Diab, 28.950; 3. Moldauer, 28.650; 4. Mikulak, 28.600; 5. Donnell Whittenburg, 28.550; 6. Sean Melton, 28.500; 7. Bower, 27.600; 8. Yoder, 27.550.

Vault: 1. Anton Stephenson, 29.550; 2. Moldauer, 29.150; 3. Van Wicklen, 28.900; 4. Melton, 28.700; 5. tie, Bailey and Mikulak, 28.650; 7. Modi, 28,600; 8. Bower, 28.400.

Parallel Bars: 1. Mikulak, 29.550; 2. Bailey, 27.550; 3. Moldauer, 28.100; 4. Yoder, 27.950; 5. Howard, 27.800; 6. Cameron Bock, 27.750; 7. Bower, 27.550; 8. Genki Suzuki, 27.400.

High Bar: 1. Mikulak, 28.400; 2. Bailey, 27.550; 3. Van Wicklen, 27.000; 4. Suzuki, 26.950; 5. Modi, 26.850; 6. Robert Neff, 26.800; 7. Shane Wiskus, 26.600; 8. Bock, 26.500.

Women:
All-Around: 1. Simone Biles, 119.850 (60.100 + 59.750); 2. Morgan Hurd, 113.300 (57.00 + 56.300); 3. Riley McCusker, 112.750 (56.050 + 56.700); 4. Grace McCallum, 111.650; 5. Shilese Jones, 109.850; 6. Jade Carey, 109.700; 7. Kara Eaker, 109.650; 8. Trin Thomas, 109.600.

Vault: 1. Biles, 31.125; 2. S. Jones, 29.050; 3. McCallum, 29.000; 4. Morgan Hurd, 28.800; 5. Jordan Chiles, 28.750; 6. Carey, 28.400; 7. Ragan Smith, 28.250; 8. McCusker, 28.200.

Uneven Bars: 1. Biles, 29.400; 2. McCusker, 29.300; 3. Hurd, 29.150; 4. Thomas, 27.900; 5. Alyona Shchennikova, 27.750; 6. tie, McCallum and S. Jones, 27.550; 8. Shania Adams, 27.500.

Beam: 1. Biles, 30.100; 2. Eaker, 28.650; 3. McCusker, 28.500; 4. Hurd, 27.650; 5. McCallum, 27.500; 6. Thomas, 27.000; 7. Adams, 26.850; 8. R. Smith, 26.750.

Floor: 1. Biles, 29.150; 2. Carey, 28.300; 3. Hurd, 27.700; 4. McCallum, 27.600; 5. Eaker, 26.950; 6. Thomas, 26.800; 7. tie, McCusker and S. Jones, 26.750.

National Junior Championships

Men:
All-Around: 1. Brandon Briones, 158.350; 2. Riley Loos, 158.150; 3. Spencer Goodell, 156.550.

Floor: 1. Vitaliy Guimaraes, 27.750; 2. Loos, 27.400; 3. Briones, 27.300.

Pommel Horse: 1. Loos, 26.300; 2. Mike Fletcher, 25.750; 3. Briones, 25.150.

Rings: 1. tie, Briones and Goodell, 26.500; 3. Loos, 26.200.

Vault: 1. Guimaraes, 28.750; 2. Goodell,28.500; 3. tie, Loos and Kevin Penev, 28.150.

Parallel Bars: 1. tie, Fletcher and Curran Phillips, 25.750; 3. Briones, 25.600.

High Bar: 1. Briones, 25.850; 2. Angel Leon, 25.300; 3. Goodell, 25.250.

Women:
All-Around: 1. Leanne Wong, 112.250; 2. Kayla DiCello, 111.200; 3. Sunisa Lee, 111.050.

Vault: 1. DiCello, 29.650; 2. Wong, 29.350; 3. Skye Blakely, 28.900.

Uneven Bars: 1. Lee, 29.550; 2. Wong, 28.600; 3. DiCello, 28.300.

Beam: 1. Konnor McClain, 28.150; 2. tie, Lee and Ciena Alipio, 27.900.

Floor: 1. Wong, 27.250; 2. Blakely, 26.500; 3. DiCello, 26.000.

FOOTBALL: First-time champ to be crowned at Women’s U-20 World Cup

By
Rich Perelman
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In the eight previous editions of the FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup, only three countries had won the title: the U.S. (3), Germany (3) and North Korea (2).

There will be a new champion in 2018.

The semifinals are set for Monday, with England to meet Japan and France to face Spain, both in Vannes (FRA). The winners will meet for the title on Friday (24th), along with the bronze-medal game for the losers.

In the group stage, France (2-0-1 as W-L-T), England (2-0-1), Spain (2-0-1) and Germany (3-0-0) were the winners. The U.S., one of the favorites, lost to Japan, 1-0, in its first game, then crushed Paraguay, 6-0 (including a Savannah DeMelo hat trick), but then tied Spain, 2-2, and finished third in the group and did not advance.

In the quarterfinals, France knocked out North Korea (1-0); Spain eliminated Nigeria (2-1); England edged the Netherlands (2-1) and Japan cruised by Germany (3-1) to set up the semis, and assure a fourth country will hoist the trophy next Friday.

The leading scorers in the tournament so far are both still playing: Georgia Stanway (ENG) and Patricia Guijarro (ESP) have six goals apiece.

Look for match results here.

CYCLING: Friedrich wins four at World Junior Track Champs

By
Rich Perelman
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Germany already has the world’s best women’s sprinter in Kristina Vogel, and now – perhaps – the best sprinter of the next generation as well: Lea Sophie Friedrich.

She was the big individual winner at the UCI World Junior Championships in Track Cycling in Aigle (SUI), winning the Sprint, the Team Sprint (with Alessa-Catriona Propster), the 500m Time Trial and the Keirin.

She also set one of the three World Junior Records during the event, lowering the 500 m Time Trial mark to 33.922 in her qualifying race. “My third title. I am so happy,” she said. “And the world record. That is even more important to me. It was a dream, but I didn’t think I could do it.”

There were also records set in the men’s Individual Pursuit, by Russia’s Lev Gonov at 3:11.143, and in the men’s 1,000 m Time Trial, by Thomas Cornish (AUS) at 1:00.498.

Just behind Friedrich in the hardware department was Italy’s Vittoria Guazzini, who won the Individual Pursuit, Team Pursuit and the Omnium.

Among the men, Australia’s Lucas Plapp won the Points Race and teamed with Blake Quick in the Madison, and Czech Thomas Stasty won three medals in the Sprint (bronze), Keirin (gold) and the 1,000 m Time Trial (silver).

Australia (3-2-4), Russia (1-5-3) and Poland (1-5-3) each won nine medals to top the medal standings; Germany and Italy both won four golds. Summaries:

UCI World Junior Track Championships
Aigle (SUI) ~ 15-19 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men:
Sprint: 1. Cezary Laczkowski (POL); 2. Thomas Cornish (AUS); 3. Jakub Stastny (CZE); 4. Leigh Hoffman (AUS). Third: Stastny d. Hoffman, 2-0; Final: Laczkowski d. Cornish, 2-0.

Team Sprint: 1. France (Grengbo, Yon, Renvoise), 36.726; 2. Poland, 37.151; 3. Russia, 36.379.

3,000 m Individual Pursuit: 1. Lev Gonov (RUS), 3:13.400; 2. Ethan Vernon (GBR), 3:14.087; 3. Gleb Syritsa (RUS), 3:15.521.

Team Pursuit: 1. New Zealand (Strong, Jackson, O’Donnell), 4:01.685; 2. France, 4:05.058; Australia, 4:05.731.

1,000 m Time Trial: 1. Thomas Cornish (AUS), 1:00.979; 2. Stastny (CZE), 1:01.830; 3. Anton Hohne (GER), 1:02.358.

Keirin: 1. Stastny (CZE); 2. Esow Esow (IND), +0.017; 3. Andrey Chugay (KAZ), +0.414.

Scratch Race: 1. Joo-Young Park (KOR); 2. Filip Prokopyszyn (POL); 3. Samuel Thibaud (FRA).

Points Race: 1. Lucas Plapp (AUS), 70; 2. Prokopyszyn (POL), 60; 3. Robin Juel Skivild (DEN), 44.

Omnium: 1. Donavan Grondin (FRA), 115 points; 2. Frederik Wandahl (DEN), 111; 3. Blake Quick (AUS), 106.

Madison: 1. Blake Quick/Lucas Plapp (AUS), 47 points; 2. Gleb Syritsa/Lev Gonov (RUS), 38; 3. Oliver Frederiksen/Matias Malmberg (DEN), 27. Also: 7. Ryan Jastrab/Peter Moore (USA), -18.

Women:
Sprint: 1. Lea Sophie Friedrich (GER); 2. Jiafang Hu (CHN); 3. Nikola Sibiak (POL); 4. Alessa-Catriona Propster (GER). Third: Sibiak d. Propster, 2-1. Final: Friedrich d. Hu, 2-0.

Team Sprint: 1. Friedrich/Propster (GER); 2. Min Lei/Hu (CHN); 3. Nikola Seremak/Sibiak (POL).

2,000 m Individual Pursuit: 1. Vittoria Guazzini (ITA), 2:22.053; 2. Daria Malkova (RUS), lapped; 3. Sophie Edwards (AUS), 2:22.444.

Team Pursuit: 1. Italy (Guazzini, Zanardi, Catarzi, Collinelli), 4:28.398; 2. New Zealand, lapped; 3. Great Britain, 4:32.636.

500 m Time Trial: 1. Friedrich (GER), 34.034; 2. Iana Tyshenko (RUS), 34.645; 3. Propster (GER), 35.123.

Keirin: 1. Friedrich (GER); 2. Sibiak (POL), +0.460; 3. Iana Tyshenko (RUS), +0.468.

Scratch Race: 1. Ji-Eun Shin (KOR); 2. Marta Jaskulska (POL); 3. Katharina Hechler (GER).

Points Race: 1. Silvia Zanardi (ITA); 2. Sarah Gigante (AUS); 3. Shari Bossuyt (BEL).

Omnium: 1. Guazzini (ITA), 142 points; 2. Malkova (RUS), 124; 3. Jaskulska (POL), 117.

Madison: 1. Victoire Berteau/Marie le Net (FRA), 70 points; 2. Daria Malkova/Mariia Miliaeva (RUS), 46; 3. Alexandra Martin-Wallace/Alice Culling (AUS), 38.

CYCLING: Vos sweeps Ladies Tour of Norway

By
Rich Perelman
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Now this is total domination. Not only did Dutch star Marianne Vos won the sixth Ladies Tour of Norway, she won all three stages!

Just a week after she won the Vargarda road race in Sweden, Vos swept the Ladies Tour with tight wins over Sweden’s Emilia Fahlin in the first two stages and American Coryn Rivera in the final stage. With the two wins, Vos, 31, has jumped to the top of the World Tour standings with 1,244.88 points, ahead countrywomen Anna van der Breggen (1,160.33) and Annemiek van Vleuten (1,105.86). There are still four races left in the season.

Rivera finished third overall and continued her hot riding since July, winning the OVO Energy Women’s Tour in Britain, the U.S. national road championship, second in the Vargarda Time Trial and now a bronze medal in Nowway.

A Team Time Trial was held on 16 August, with Team Sunweb (including Rivera) winning in 29:53 over the 24.3 km course. Mitchelton-Scott was second (30:31) and Cervelo-Bigla Pro Cycling third (31:02). Summaries:

UCI Women’s World Tour/ Ladies Tour of Norway
Norway ~ 17-19 August 2018
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (127.7 km): 1. Marianne Vos (NED), 3:18:03; 2. Emilia Fahlin (SWE), 3:18:03; 3. Coryn Rivera (USA), 3:18:03; 4. Gracie Elvin (AUS), 3:18:03; 5. Chloe Hosking (AUS), 3:18:03. Also in the top 50: 24. Megan Guarnier (USA), 3:18:03; … 3. Ruth Winder (USA), 3:20:10.

Stage 2 (127.7 km): 1. Vos (NED), 3:11:15; 2. Fahlin (SWE), 3:11:15; 3. Kasie Niewisdoma (POL), 3:11:15; 4. Christine Majerus (LUX), 3:11:18; 5. Aude Biannic (FRA), 3:11:18. Also in the top 50: 7. Rivera (USA), 3:11:23; … 24. Guarnier (USA), 3:11:40; … 40. Alexis Ryan (USA), 3:12:03; … 48. Winder (USA), 3:12:40.

Stage 3 (154.0 km): 1. Vos (NED), 3:49:14; 2. Rivera (USA), 3:49:14; 3. Fahlin (SWE), 3:49:14; 4. Hosking (AUS), 3:49:14; 5. Lotte Kopecky (BEL), 3:49:14. Also in the top 50: 27. Ryan (USA), 3:49:14; … 29. Guarnier (USA), 3:49:19.

Final Standings: 1. Marianne Vos (NED), 10:17:49; 2. Emilia Fahlin (SWE), +0:22; 3. Coryn Rivera (USA), +0:33; 4. Christine Majerus (LUX), +0:37; 5. Kasia Niewiadoma (POL), +0:39; 6. Aude Biannic (FRA), +0:46; 7. Eva Buurman (NED), +0:51; 8. Floortje Mackaij (NED), +0:51; 9. Alison Jackson (CAN), +0:59; 10. Lucinda Brand (NED), +1:00. Also in the top 50: 18. Megan Guarnier (USA), +1:13; … 21. Alexis Ryan (USA), +1:31.

CYCLING: Viviani repeats at Cyclassics Hamburg

By
Rich Perelman
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The Cyclassics Hamburg race had only seen one repeat winner over its 22-year history, in 2009-10 when American Tyler Farrar managed to win. Until Sunday.

Italy’s Elia Viviani won the mass-sprint finish in the middle of Hamburg (GER) to edge France’s 2012 winner, Arnaud Demare, in the final 100 meters over the 216.4 km course. In fact, former winners took places 1-4, with Alexander Kristoff (NOR: 2014 winner) and Germany’s John Degenkolb (2013) fourth.

It was Viviani’s seventh World Tour win this season, including four stages of the Giro d’Italia and one stage of the Santos Down Under race in January! It also increased Italy’s win total in this race to seven (of 23), the leading nation in terms of wins in Hamburg. Summary:

UCI World Tour/Cyclassics Hamburg
Hamburg (GER) ~ 19 August 2018
(Full results here)

Final Standings (216.4 km): 1. Elia Viviani (ITA), 4:46:01; 2. Arnaud Demare (FRA), 4:46:01; 3. Alexander Kristoff (NOR), 4:46:01; 4. John Degenkolb (GER), 4:46:01; 5. Matteo Trentin (ITA), 4:46:01; 6. Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA), 4:46:01; 7. Sacha Modolo (ITA), 4:46:01; 8. Niklas Arndt (GER), 4:46:01; 9. Niccolo Bonifazio (ITA), 4:46:01; 10. Peter Sagan (SVK), 4:46:01. Also in the top 50: 40. Joey Rosskopf (USA), 4:46:22.

CYCLING: Mohoric wins first World Tour crown at Binck Bank Tour

By
Rich Perelman
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Add Slovenia’s Matej Morohic, just 23, to the list of multi-stage race winners on the UCI World Tour after his win in the seven-stage, mostly flat Binck Bank Tour in Belgium and the Netherlands.

He took over after Stage 3 and nursed a tiny, three-second lead after Stage 5. But his 20th-place finish in the sixth stage – just 11 seconds behind the leaders – increased his edge to 30 seconds over Michael Mathews (AUS), as principal challenger Sean De Bie (BEL) fell all the way back to 109th.

Matthews gave it a go on the final, 215.6 km stage, winning the final sprint over Belgium’s Olympic road race champ Greg van Avermaet by a single second, but Mohoric was in close attendance in 13th place, just 13 seconds back and won the overall race with jut a five-second margin to spare.

Mohoric had won an individual stage in both the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana, but nothing like a World Tour multi-stage race. Now he’s a champion. Summaries:

UCI World Tour/Binck Bank Tour
Belgium and Netherlands ~ 13-19 August 2018
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (177.3 km): 1. Fabio Jakobsen (NED), 4:01:00; 2. Marcel Kittel (GER), 4:01:00; 3. Caleb Ewan (AUS), 4:01:00; 4. Kris Halvorsen (NOR), 4:01:00; 5. Max Walscheid (GER), 4:01:00.

Stage 2 (12.7 km Time Trial): 1. Stefan Kung (SUI), 14:11; 2. Victor Camenaerts (BEL), 14:25; 3. Soren Kragh Andersen (DEN), 14:26; 4. Michael Matthews (AUS), 14:26; 5. Maximilian Schachmann (GER), 14:30.

Stage 3 (174.9 km): 1. Taco van der Hoorn (NED), 3:47:42; 2. Maxime Vantomme (BEL), 3:47:45; 3. Sean de Bie (BEL), 3:47:45; 4. Matej Mohoric (SLO), 3:47:45; 5. Jesper Asselman (NED), 3:48:17.

Stage 4 (165.5 km): 1. Jasper Stuyven (BEL), 3:44:46; 2. Ewan (AUS), 3:44:46; 3. Zdenek Stybar (CZE), 3:44:46; 4. Rudiger Selig (GER), 3:44:46; 5. Timothy Dupont (BEL), 3:44:46.

Stage 5 (204.4 km): 1. Magnus Cort (DEN), 4:39:50; 2. Julius van den Berg (NED), 4:39:50; 3. Alexis Gougeard (FRA), 4:39:50; 4. Jonas Rickaert (BEL), 4:40:19; 5. Ewan (AUS), 4:40:23.

Stage 6 (182.2 km): 1. Gregor Muhlberger (AUT), 4:05:10; 2. Tim Wellens (BEL), 4:05:13; 3. Stybar (CZE), 4:05:13; 4. Dylan van Baarle (NED), 4:05:13; 5. Schachmann (GER), 4:05:15.

Stage 7 (215.6 km): 1. Matthews (AUS), 4:38:36; 2. Greg van Avermaet (BEL), 4:38:37; 3. Stybar (CZE), 4:38:39; 4. Oliver Naesen (BEL), 4:38:39; 5. Schachmann (GER), 4:38:39.

Final Standings: 1. Matej Mohoric (SLO), 25:13:01; 2. Michael Matthews (AUS), +0:05; 3. Tim Wellens (BEL), +0:20; 4. Maximilian Schachmann (GER), +0:25; 5. Dylan van Baarle (NED), +0:34; 6. Greg van Avermaet (BEL), +0:37; 7. Soren Kragh Andersen (NOR), +0:39; 8. Gregor Muhlberger (AUT), +0:43; 9. Niki Terpstra (NED), +0:43; 10. Jasper Stuyven (BEL), +0:50.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Being no. 1 counts as top seeds triumph in World Tour Final

By
Rich Perelman
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World rankings don’t always mean that much. Remember how well no. 1-ranked Germany did at the FIFA World Cup?

So it was something of a surprise for the top-ranked men’s and women’s pairs to win – in Germany – at the FIVB World Tour Final in Hamburg as Anders Mol and Christian Sorum (NOR) and Agatha Bednarczuk and Duda Lisboa (BRA) won the seasonal titles.

It was the end of an amazing five weeks for Mol and Sorum, to say the least, as they won four tournaments and $253,000 in 34 days! “I don’t know what has happened the last month,” said Mol. “It’s been unreal. The whole journey has been unreal for us. We did not expect this. Our goal for the season was to take a medal and we did that already in Brazil in Itapema in May. We had to reach for a higher goal and of course that was to take a gold medal.”

They won the Gstaad (SUI) Major, then took the European Championships, the Vienna (AUT) Major and finished with a straight-set win over no. 7-ranked Michal Bryl and Grzegorz Fljalek (POL) in Hamburg.

“We always believed we could do good on the court for sure,” said Sorum. “We knew we had a level, but we had some bad tournaments, had some struggling and we managed to fight through those periods and suddenly it just fell. After Gstaad, everything was just a good flow for us.”

The women’s title went to the top-ranked Brazilian duo of Agatha, 35, and Lisboa, 20, who took 43 minutes to overcome no. 2-ranked Barbora Hermannova and Marketa Slukova (CZE), 21-15, 21-19.

Said Agatha, “The win today caps a very good season for us as we prepare for the future. Our next goal is to return to Hamburg next June for the world championships. We hope we can repeat. It will be tough especially with Laura and Kira returning to competition.”

That would be Olympic champs Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany, but for now, Agatha can celebrate her seventh World Tour win to go along with the 2016 Olympic silver (with Barbara Seixas) and the 2015 World Championship (also with Seixas).

This year’s World Tour Final paid a massive prize purse of $800,000 – $400,000 per gender – with $150,000 to the winning teams, then $80,000 for second, $50,000-35,000-20,000 (5th and 6th)-15,000 (7th and 8th)-7,500 (9th-10th). Summaries:

FIVB World Tour Final
Hamburg (GER) ~ 14-19 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Anders Mol/Christian Sorum (NOR); 2. Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek (POL); 3. Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (POL); 4. Julius Thole/Clemens Wickler (GER). Semis: Mol/Sorum d. Thole/Wickler, 2-1; Bryl/ Fijalek d. Kantor/Losiak, 2-0. Third: Kantor/Losiak d. Thole/Wickler, 2-1. Final: Mol/Sorum d. Bryl/Fijalek, 2-0 (21-19, 21-17).

Women: 1. Agatha Bednarczuk/Duda Lisboa (BRA); 2. Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova (CZE); 3. Mariafe Artacho del Solar/Taliqua Clancy (AUS); 4. Maria Antonelli/Carol Salgado (BRA). Semis: Agatha/Duda d. Maria Antonelli/Carol, 2-0; Hermannova/Slukova d. Artacho del Solar/Clancy, 2-1. Third: Artacho del Clancy d. Maria Antonelli/Carol, 2-1. Final: Agatha/Duda d. Hermannova/Slukova, 2-0 (21-15, 21-19).

ATHLETICS: Coleman & Miller-Uibo win Birmingham showdowns

By
Rich Perelman
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The last IAAF Diamond League meet prior to the finals at the end of this month proved to be less than hoped for in terms of marks, but it featured two great sprint races in which American Christian Coleman and Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas shone brightest.

The men’s 100 m saw Coleman, who has run sparingly this season due to injury, face the new European champ in Britain’s Zharnel Hughes and the co-world leader and U.S. champ Noah Lyles. The race played out exactly as the script was set.

Coleman rocketed to the lead, as expected from the 60 m indoor world-record holder, but he couldn’t maintain his lead as Britain’s Reece Prescod – the European silver medalist – and Lyles both gained ground in the final 30 m. At the line, Coleman barely hung on, winning by 1/1,000th – 9.938 to 9.939 – a lifetime best for Prescod, while Lyles ran out of race and finished third in 9.98.

“I felt pretty good,” said Coleman afterwards. “It was a sigh of relief. because you never know what to expect when you come back from injury and I got my rhythm back and I came out with the win in a good time. I was looking forward to competing and the win is the icing on the cake.

“It’s been a test for me to continually prove myself but I’ll use this as a learning experience, now it’s about winning the Diamond League finals.”

Lyles had his usual slow start and explained that “During my fourth step I had a really big stumble and I was thinking I needed to get back on top of myself, which is what me and my coach have decided to do in a dire situation. I felt like I was lagging at the end of it but I had to push to the line. If I started giving up on myself I wouldn’t have done that well.

“Sometimes a loss is what you need the most to get you back into a psychological place that you’re not the best of all time and that you need to keep digging.”

Coleman and Prescod advanced easily to the Diamond League final, but Lyles is the first alternate if anyone drops out.

Miller-Uibo faced a world-class field in the women’s 200 m, including Britain’s new world leader, Dina Asher-Smith, who ran 21.89 at the European Championships. Coming off the turn, it was Dutch star Dafne Schippers who had the lead, but Miller-Uibo blew past her, as did Asher-Smith for a 22.15-22.31-22.41 final.

“Everything went really well, just as we planned,” said the winner. “The main thing for me was just to have a great curve race and once I put myself into the race off the curve I used my 400 strength to power home. It was a really competitive race and everybody brought their A-game.”

There was some obvious fatigue from some of the Europeans after the strain of the European Championships in Berlin last week, including the 800 m, where Kenyans Emmanuel Korir, Jonathan Kitilit, Elijah Manangoi and Ferguson Rotich put on a brilliant show, placing 1-2-3-4 in 1:42.79, 1:43.53, 1:44.15 and 1:44.44. Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski ran 1:44.75, but could only claim fifth!

It was Korir’s second sub-1:43 race of the season.

The meet was marked by high winds, which played havoc with some of the field events, including the women’s pole vault. Sandi Morris of the U.S. managed the situation best and cleared 4.62 m (15-1 3/4) on her first try and that was enough to win. Greece’s Olympic champ Katerina Stefanidi cleared 4.52 m (14-10) for second, but with difficulty.

“It was difficult conditions today but what bothered me most was having to get up early,” she said. “At the European Champs we were competing at 8 or 9 p.m. and today it was 1 p.m. and I’m not normally up by then.

“I tried waking up earlier today to be more activated and switched on but it didn’t work. The season started really hard and I’ve had to change a lot of my training because I wasn’t doing that well. The goal was the European Championships and to win and I managed that. For how the season started I’m happy with how it’s ended. I would like to defend the Diamond League title, but more importantly finish the season healthy.”

American Fred Kerley came back from a long layoff to win the 400 m in a modest 45.54 and Colleen Quigley moved to no. 8 on the all-time U.S. list in the women’s 1,000 m with a fifth-place finish of 2:36.53. Also worth noting was a huge best for longer-distance star Paul Chelimo of the U.S. in the mile, as he used his usual finishing rush for third in 3:55.96. Summaries:

IAAF Diamond League/Muller Grand Prix
Birmingham (GBR) ~ 18 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men:
100 m (wind: -0.5 m/s): 1. Christian Coleman (USA), 9.94; 2. Reece Prescod (GBR), 9.94; 3. Noah Lyles (USA), 9.98. Also: 9. Michael Rodgers (USA), 10.22.

400 m: 1. Fred Kerley (USA), 45.54; 2. Matthew Hudson-Smith (GBR), 45.59; 3. Paul Dedewo (USA), 45.62. Also: 4. Christian Taylor (USA), 45.78.

800 m: 1. Emmanuel Korir (KEN), 1:42.79; 2. Jonathan Kitilit (KEN), 1:43.53; 3. Elijah Manangoi (KEN), 1:44.15. Also: 8. Erik Sowinski (USA), 1:45.68; … 10. Clayton Murphy (USA), 1:47.80.

Mile (invitational event): 1. Stewart McSweyn (AUS), 3:54.60; 2. Ryan Gregson (AUS), 3:55.10; 3. Paul Chelimo (USA), 3:55.96. Also: 10. Andrew Hunter (USA), 3:58.62; … 15. Eric Avila (USA), 4:09.49.

3,000 m Steeple: 1. Conseslus Kipruto (KEN), 8:14.33; 2. Chaya Beto (ETH), 8:14.61; 3. Nicholas Bett (KEN), 8:16.44. Also: 8. Hillary Bor (USA), 8:30.04; … 13. Mason Ferlic (USA), 8:40.74.

110 m Hurdles (+1.3 m/s): 1. Orlando Ortega (ESP), 13.08; 2. Ronald Levy (JAM), 13.22; 3. Pascal Martinot-Lagarde (FRA), 13.27. Also: 4. Freddie Crittenden (USA), 13.27.

High Jump: 1. Brandon Starc (AUS), 2.33 m (7-7 3/4); 2. Michael Mason (CAN), 2.30 m (7-6 1/2); 3. Jeron Robinson (USA), 2.30 m (7-6 1/2). Also: 6. Brian McBride (USA), 2.20 m (7-2 1/2).

Long Jump (invitational): 1. Luvo Manyonga (RSA), 8.53 m (28-0); 2. Tajay Gayle (JAM), 8.17 m (26-9 3/4); 3. Henry Frayne (AUS), 8.01 m (26-3 1/2).

Javelin: 1. Andreas Hofmann (GER), 89.82 (294-8); 2. Julian Weber (GER), 86.63 m (284-2); 3. Magnus Kirt (EST), 85.31 m (279-10).

Women:
200 m (+0.4 m/s): 1. Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH), 22.15; 2. Dina Asher-Smith (GBR), 22.31; 3. Dafne Schippers (NED), 22.41. Also: 5. Jenna Prandini (USA), 22.58; 6. Gabby Thomas (USA), 22.85.

1,000 m (invitational): 1. Laura Muir (GBR), 2:33.92; 2. Renelle Lamote (FRA), 2:34.48; 3. Adelle Tracey (GBR), 2:34.59. Also: 5. Colleen Quigley (USA), 2:36.53; … 10. Kaela Edwards (USA), 2:42.17.

1,500 m: 1. Sifan Hassan (NED), 4:00.60; 2. Gudaf Tsegay (ETH), 4:01.03; 3. Sofia Ennaoui (POL), 4:02.06. Also: 8. Kate Grace (USA), 4:04.64; … 13. Brenda Martinez (USA), 4:12.90.

3,000 m: 1. Agnes Kirop (KEN), 8:32.21; 2. Lilian Rengeruk (KEN), 8:33.43; 3. Hellen Obiri (KEN), 8:36.26. Also: 14. Katie Mackey (USA), 8:53.18.

100 m Hurdles (invitational; -0.6 m/s): 1. Pam Dutkiewicz (GER), 12.84; 2. Cindy Roleder (GER), 12.96; 3. Nadine Visser (NED), 13.07.

400 m Hurdles: 1. Lea Sprunger (SUI), 54.86; 2. Janieve Russell (JAM), 54.91; 3. Meghan Beesley (GBR), 55.83.

Pole Vault: 1. Sandi Morris (USA), 4.62 m (15-1 3/4); 2. Katerina Stefanidi (GRE), 4.52 m (14-10); 3. Nikoleta Kyrialopoulou (GRE), 4.40 m (14-5 1/4). Also: 4. Katie Nageotte (USA), 4.40 m (14-5 1/4)

Long Jump: 1. Malaika Mihambo (GER), 6.96 m (22-10); 2. Caterine Ibarguen (COL), 6.80 m (22-3 3/4); 3. Shara Proctor (GBR), 6.70 m (21-11 3/4). Also: 8. Shakeela Saunders (USA), 6.38 m (20-11 1/4).

Shot Put: 1. Christina Schwanitz (GER), 18.20 m (59-8 1/2); 2. Paulina Guba (POL), 17.92 m (58-9 1/2); 3. Melissa Boekelman (NED), 17.78 m (58-4). Also: 6. Michelle Carter (USA), 17.39 m (57-0 3/4).

THE BIG PICTURE: Winter Universiade comes to Lake Placid in 2023

By
Rich Perelman
-

Yet another international, multi-sport event is coming to the United States in the 2020s: the World University Winter Games to Lake Placid, New York in 2023.

About 3,000 athletes from 60 countries will compete in 70 events in February 2023 in the 31st edition of the Winter Universiade. It’s the second time that the New York winter resort will host the event, previously in 1972.

In fact, both U.S. hosts of the University Games have been in the state of New York: the 1972 Winter Universiade and the 1993 University Games in Buffalo.

“The bid was one of the strongest we have seen,” said FISU President Oleg Matytsin (RUS) upon the signing of the Host City agreement. “For Lake Placid to go from Winter Universiade candidate to future host is a great moment for the international University Sports Movement. Today’s signing will have a lifelong impact on the thousands of student-athletes that will come to the Adirondack Region from all around the world.”

It’s yet one more major event to come to the U.S. in the next decade, including:

2021: World Games in Birmingham, Alabama
2021: IAAF World Championships in Eugene, Oregon
2023: Winter Universiade in Lake Placid, New York
2026: FIFA World Cup, in multiple cities
2028: Games of the XXXIV Olympiad in Los Angeles
2030: Perhaps the XXVI Olympic Winter Games to Salt Lake City?

Lake Placid is a good example of an Olympic host which got its legacy right; since 1980, the area has hosted 14 winter-sport World Championships and more than 100 World Cup competitions, including five in 2018.

It’s all part of the sports world’s “pivot to America” for the next decade.

LANE ONE: U.S. Anti-Doping in 2017: 9,936 tests, just 84 reported cases

By
Rich Perelman
-

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) published its annual report, describing its efforts in 2017 in terms of efforts, education and testing and the news was pretty good.

Out of 9,936 total tests in 2017, USADA reported only 122 potential doping violations:

  • 49 resulted in a sanction;
  • 35 are still pending resolution;
  • 4 were referred to an international federation (meaning they concerned a non-U.S. athlete), and
  • 34 resulted in no sanction being levied.

Discarding the foreign-athlete positives (4), that means that just 84 cases – 49 sanctions and 35 still to be resolved – were positive out of 9,936 tests or 8/10ths of 1 percent (0.008).

That’s pretty good.

And roughly on par with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s findings for worldwide “adverse analytical findings” of tests in Olympic and Paralympic sports of 0.82%. The WADA report (here) showed the USADA report with slightly different figures (at page 171) – 9,820 tests and 1.4% with “adverse analytical findings” that needed follow-up, and the two figures are unfortunately not matched up, but the higher problems total may be from non-Olympic sports which the USADA tested in 2017.

The USADA report also notes that it announced 70 sanctions in 2017, but the figure is not tied back to the adverse findings during the year, so we are left with the idea that in addition to the 49 sanctions noted for cases begun in 2017, there were 21 more announcements during the year that came from tests taken in 2016.

Beyond these statistical issues – and we take the numbers seriously – was some fascinating detail of the number of tests given in 2017 to specific sports. The sports tested most often:

1. 2,761 Track & Field
2. 1,329 Cycling
3. 1,049 Weightlifting
4. 808 Swimming
5. 513 Ski & Snowboard
6. 378 Triathlon
7. 335 Speedskating
8. 215 Bobsled & Skeleton
9. 162 Rugby
10. 139 Figure Skating

The report provided further details about the split between out-of-competition testing – where a USADA doping-control officer shows up at your house at 7 a.m. and asks for a sample – and in-competition tests. About 63% of the tests for all sports were out-of-competition, and about 70% of the tests for Olympic and Paralympic sports were out-of-competition.

That’s the way it should be, as athletes spend a lot more time training than they do competing, even though the testing is – at the very least – annoying and intrusive. In track & field, 2,137 of the 2,761 total tests – 77.4% – were out-of-competition. Exactly right.

USADA also did extensive testing of the probable members of the U.S. Olympic Winter Games team for PyeongChang in 2017. A total of 897 Olympic and Paralympic athletes who were considered “hopefuls” were tested a total of 1,661 times, with 82 athletes tested from 4-12 times each.

The report also noted that the agency’s education program and “TrueSport” message reached more than 10,000 athletes and support personnel in 2017, with 4,472 athletes and 1,074 coaches completing the annual anti-doping tutorial. This is good, but not enough. The time is coming when USADA should be administering a two-year test – similar in style to the written tests for driver’s licenses in many states – leading to the issuance of a USADA compliance card that would be required for entry in any sanctioned competition of a U.S. National Governing Body. The same should be done for NCAA competitions as well, taking the USADA message onto college campuses.

The financial report reveals that the biggest sponsor of USADA is the United States Government! USADA received a $9.5 million grant in 2016 and 2017 from the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), it’s largest single source of revenue. It also received funding under contract from the United States Olympic Committee for testing and services of $5.1 million in 2017, and $6.8 million from independent testing revenues and other services. The contract with the USOC runs through 2022. USADA also handles the anti-doping and education programs for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) organization.

All told, the total revenues received by USADA last year were $21.6 million, a modest increase from $19.7 million in 2016.

Overall, this is a good report, although the number-crunchers would like some more details and to see the figures tie into the WADA report for the sake of clarity and transparency. The best assurance for the future is that the USADA chair Edwin Moses and chief executive Travis Tygart will not be deterred from promoting clean sport and finding those who cheat. Their efforts matter.

Rich Perelman
Editor

1984 OLYMPIC GAMES/ VOLLEYBALL: Rolf Engen passes at 88

By
Rich Perelman
-

Sad news that Rolf Engen, the commissioner of volleyball at the 1984 Olympic Games, passed away on 31 July, at age 88.

Initially a basketball player, he turned to volleyball after an injury and was a setter on the first UCLA volleyball team and then an All-American in 1953 and 1954. He was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. teams at the 1955 and 1959 Pan American Games and inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1991.

He was a highly-successful wine importer and taste-maker and memorably organized an outstanding volleyball competition at the Long Beach Arena for the 1984 Games, with a calm and wit that endeared him to the players, officials, staff and volunteers. He passed away at his home in Laguna Beach, California.

CYCLING: Sepp Kuss wins Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah

By
Rich Perelman
-

The Amgen Tour of California is the top race in the United States and the only U.S. race to be part of the UCI World Tour. Next in line in the U.S. might be the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, which began in 2004 and finished on 12 August. Most of the top U.S. riders compete in this race, which is considered especially difficult because of the mountainous courses.

The seven-stage 14th edition was won by America Sepp Kuss (21:41:12), who finished a healthy 2:09 ahead of Ben Hermans (BEL) and 2:21 in front of Jack Haig (AUS). Other Americans in the top 10 included Brent Bookwalter (4th: -2:39), Joe Dombrowski (6th: -2:58), Keegan Swirbul (7th: -3:39) and Peter Stetina (10th: -5:50).

BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Famed Manhattan Beach Open finishes with two American winners

By
Rich Perelman
-

The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Tour is a domestic series, so we don’t pay too much attention to it (vs. the international FIVB World Tour), but the Manhattan Beach Open is the longest-running and most prestigious beach volleyball tournament in the United States, having started in 1960.

It finished on Sunday, with some familiar names on the podium, with Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena winning over Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb, 12-21, 22-20, 15-13, for their third AVP title of the season.

The women’s championship was won by Alix Klineman and April Ross, who defeated Brittany Hochevar and Kelly Claes, 27-25, 17-21, 17-15. It’s the second win of the AVP season for Klineman and Ross.

The seasonal AVP championship comes in Chicago, Illinois from 30 August-2 September.

ATHLETICS: Happy Birthday to Rafer Johnson!

By
Rich Perelman
-

Not more results, but birthday wishes for one of America’s iconic Olympic champions, Rafer Johnson, who turned 83 on 18 August.

Sure, he was the 1960 Olympic Champion in the Decathlon, winning a tight battle with UCLA compatriot C.K. Yang (TPE). But for many people, his biography stops there and that’s wrong.

He was also the 1956 Olympic silver medalist – to fellow American Milt Campbell – in the Decathlon, and set three world records in the event.

Off the track, he also was a starter on the 1959-60 UCLA basketball team under John Wooden and was UCLA Student Body President in 1958. He went on to found Special Olympics Southern California after being involved in the development of the Special Olympics concept in 1968, lit the torch to begin the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and was also involved in the 2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles in 2015.

He moves more slowly now, but is still a much-revered personality in Southern California and is often present at UCLA’s Drake Stadium to watch the Bruins compete in track, especially at the Rafer Johnson-Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational held each April. Happy 83rd, Rafer!

U.S. Anti-Doping in 2017: 9,936 tests, just 84 reported cases

By
Rich Perelman
-

TSX HEADLINES – for August 20, 2018: The United States Anti-Doping Agency issued its 2017 report and the details were remarkable: 9.936 tests and just 84 came back either with a violation or an initial adverse finding that is still being resolved.

That’s a problem rate of 8/10ths of 1 percent, which is pretty good. USADA also provided a lot of details about how it is testing and which sports get tested the most. And they appear to be on the right track.

What’s not widely known is that the biggest sponsor of USADA is … the U.S. Government!

All the details are in our Lane One commentary, plus a sensational weekend at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships and much more:

(1) THE TICKER: Happy 83rd birthday to an Olympic icon: 1960 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Rafer Johnson!

(2) THE BIG PICTURE: Sports world’s “pivot to America” continues as Lake Placid is awarded the 2023 Winter Universiade!

(3) ATHLETICS: Final ”regular-season” Diamond League meet in England sees a Christian Coleman win by 1/1,000th of a second and a sensational performance by Shaunae Miller-Uibo in the 200 m!

(4) CYCLING: You don’t hear about this too often: a rider wins a multi-stage race … by winning each and every stage herself! It happened in the Ladies Tour of Norway …

(5) GYMNASTICS: Simone Biles was sensational in winning her fifth U.S. All-Around title, but she wasn’t the only one! After a year off due to injury, Sam Mikulak came back to win his fifth U.S. title too.

This issue includes SCOREBOARD reports on Athletics ~ Beach Volleyball ~ Cycling (four reports!) ~ Football ~ Gymnastics ~ Sport Climbing ~ Table Tennis, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

U.S. Anti-Doping in 2017: 9,936 tests, just 84 reported cases

By
Rich Perelman
-

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TSX HEADLINES – for August 20, 2018: The United States Anti-Doping Agency issued its 2017 report and the details were remarkable: 9.936 tests and just 84 came back either with a violation or an initial adverse finding that is still being resolved.

That’s a problem rate of 8/10ths of 1 percent, which is pretty good. USADA also provided a lot of details about how it is testing and which sports get tested the most. And they appear to be on the right track.

What’s not widely known is that the biggest sponsor of USADA is … the U.S. Government!

All the details are in our Lane One commentary, plus a sensational weekend at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships and much more:

(1) THE TICKER: Happy 83rd birthday to an Olympic icon: 1960 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Rafer Johnson!

(2) THE BIG PICTURE: Sports world’s “pivot to America” continues as Lake Placid is awarded the 2023 Winter Universiade!

(3) ATHLETICS: Final ”regular-season” Diamond League meet in England sees a Christian Coleman win by 1/1,000th of a second and a sensational performance by Shaunae Miller-Uibo in the 200 m!

(4) CYCLING: You don’t hear about this too often: a rider wins a multi-stage race … by winning each and every stage herself! It happened in the Ladies Tour of Norway …

(5) GYMNASTICS: Simone Biles was sensational in winning her fifth U.S. All-Around title, but she wasn’t the only one! After a year off due to injury, Sam Mikulak came back to win his fifth U.S. title too.

This issue includes SCOREBOARD reports on Athletics ~ Beach Volleyball ~ Cycling (four reports!) ~ Football ~ Gymnastics ~ Sport Climbing ~ Table Tennis, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

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TAEKWONDO: Korea tops medal count at Moscow Grand Prix

By
Rich Perelman
-

It was a good weekend for Korea’s top-seeded and no. 1-ranked So-Hui Kim at -49 kg, but no other top seed won at the Moscow Grand Prix, the second of the season.

Kim’s win was one of three – among eight weight classes in the event – with Jun Jang winning in the men’s -58 kg class and Kyo-Don In taking the honors at +80 kg. The Korean squad won six medals in all, with Russia scoring five (two wins) and Croatia earning four.

Prize money was awarded, with $5,000 for the winner, $3,000 for second and $1,000 to each of the third-placers. Summaries:

World Taekwondo Grand Prix
Moscow (RUS) ~ 10-12 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men:
-58 kg: 1. Jun Jang (KOR); 2. Armin Hadipour Seighalani (IRI); 3. Vito Dell’Aquila (ITA) and Andrei Kanaev (RUS).
-68 kg: 1. Alexey Denisenko (RUS); 2. Bradly Sinden (GBR); 3. Edival Pontes (BRA) and Abolfazi Yaghoubijouybari (IRI).
-80 kg: 1. Maksim Khramtcov (RUS); 2. Saleh El Sharabaty (JOR); 3. Toni Kanaet (CRO) and Maksim Rafalovich (UZB).
+80 kg: 1. Kyo-Don In (KOR); 2. Ivan Trajkovic (SLO); 3. Anthony Obame (GAB) and Oleg Kuznetcov (RUS).

Women:
-49 kg: 1. So-Hui Kim (KOR); 2. Kristina Tomic (CRO); 3. Jae-Young Sim (KOR) and Zeliha Agris (TUR).
-57 kg: 1. Irem Yaman (TUR); 2. Bruna Vuletic (CRO); 3. Tatiana Kudashova (RUS) and Hatice Ilgun (TUR).
-67 kg: 1. Matea Jelic (CRO); 2. Lauren Williams (GBR); 3. Hyeri Oh (KOR) and Julyana El-Sadeq (JOR).
+67 kg: 1. Aleksandra Kowalczuk (POL); 2. Nafia Kus (TUR); 3. Shuyin Zheng (CHN) and Milica Mandic (SRB).

SWIMMING: Canada and U.S. tops at Pan Am Artistic Swimming Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

A poorly-attended Pan American Artistic Swimming Championships in Riverside, California (USA) was a showcase for Canadians Claudia Holzner and Mikaelle Gauthier in the Solo eventys and Holzner and Andree-Anne Cote in the Duet Technical.

The U.S. duo of Yara Elian and Ruby Remati won the Duet Free over Holzner and Cote and the American squads won the two Team events. Summaries:

Pan American Artistic Championships
Riverside, California (USA) ~ 8-11 August 2018
(Full results here)

Solo Technical: Claudia Holzner (CAN), 78.4182; 2. Carla Ruy Sanchez (MEX), 69.8942; 3. Camila Arregui (WRG), 68.1371.

Solo Free: 1. Mikaelle Gauthier (CAN), 79.8333; 2. Ruy Sanchez (MEX), 73.8667; only entrants.

Duet Technical: 1. Claudia Holzner/Andree-Anne Cote (CAN), 77.9084; 2. Nicole Goot/Ruby Remati (USA), 75.8422; 3. Camilla Arregui/Trinidad Lopez Brasesco (ARG), 74.1123.

Duet Free: 1. Yara Elian/Ruby Remati (USA), 80.2667; 2. Claudia Holzner/Andree-Anne Cote (CAN), 77.9333; 3. Camila Arregui/Trinidad Lopez Brasesco (ARG), 75.7333.

Team Technical: 1. United States, 78.9062; 2. Brazil, 77.5819; 3. Canada, 76.9879.

Team Free: 1. United States, 82.0000; 2. Canada, 80.0000; 3. Brazil, 79.4000.

Mixed Duet Technical: 1. Renan Alcantara/Giovana Nunes Stephan (BRA), 74.0370; only entrant.

Mixed Duet Free: 1. Alcantara/Nunes Stephan (BRA), 76.0333; only entrant.

SWIMMING: U.S. wins seven golds on final day of Pan-Pacs

By
Rich Perelman
-
Olympic and World Champion medley star Chase Kalisz (USA).

The U.S. national swimming squad made a final-day statement at the 2018 Pan-Pacific Championships in Tokyo (JPN), winning seven of the 10 events at the Tatsumi International Swimming Center.

The meet was quite a showcase for the U.S. and for Australia, which performed poorly at the 2017 World Championships, but was much better in Tokyo. The meet produced 13 world leaders, eight in individual events and five in relays:

  • Men’s 100 m Backstroke: 51.94 Ryan Murphy (USA)
  • Men’s 200 m Medley: 1:55.40 Chase Kalisz (USA)
  • Men’s 400 m Medley: 4:07.95 Kalisz
  • Men’s 4×100 m Free: 3:12.02 Brazil
  • Men’s 4×200 m Free: 7:04.36 United States
  • Men’s 4×100 m Medley: 3:30.20 United States
  • Women’s 100 m Freestyle: 52.03 Cate Campbell (AUS)
  • Women’s 200 m Freestyle: 1:54.44 Taylor Ruck (CAN)
  • Women’s 100 m Butterfly: 56.08 Rikako Ikee (JPN)
  • Women’s 200 m Medley: 2:08.16 Yui Ohashi (JPN)
  • Women’s 400 m Medley: 4:33.77 Ohashi
  • Women’s 4×200 m Free: 7:44.12 Australia
  • Women’s 4×100 m Medley: 3:52.74 Australia

By comparison, the European Championships finished with two world records and 12 world-leading marks (one equaled) in the individual events only. So it was a better meet statistically, but the Pan Pacs were just fine.

Including the two Open Water events, the U.S. won 45 medals (20-14-11), ahead of Australia (29: 8-13-8) and Japan (23: 6-7-10). Some of the highlights from the final weekend races:

>> Men’s 50 m Freestyle: A strong swim and the first international long-course title for 19-year-old Michael Andrew of the U.S. , who won in 21.46. It was a lifetime best and no. 7 in the world for 2018. He led a 1-2 U.S. finish as Caeleb Dressel finished second at 21.93.

>> Men’s 800 m Freestyle: American Zane Grothe topped off a three-medal week, moving to no. 2 in the world in 2018 with a lifetime best of 7:43.74. He scared the American Record of Michael McBroom from the 2013 Worlds (7:43.60), but the best is yet to come for Grothe, 26, who led a 1-2 U.S. finish with Jordan Wilimovsky (7:45.19).

>> Men’s 100 m Backstroke: Ryan Murphy flew out of the blocks and was ahead of his own world record for a while, but settled for the gold medal and a world leader in 51.94, the third-fastest mark of all time.

>> Men’s 200 m Back: Murphy completed his double by winning in a new lifetime best of 1:53.57, faster than he swam in Rio in 2016 and no. 2 in the world for 2016. He’s now no. 7 all-time.

>> Men’s 200 m/400 m Medley: Confirmation – again – that American Chase Kalisz is the best all-around swimmer in the world, with two wins and two world-leading marks. Worth noting was the return to form by Australia’s Mitch Larkin, the 200 m Rio 200 m Backstroke silver medalist, who is back in form and second by 0.81 in the 200 m Medley here.

>> Men’s 4×100 m Free: The U.S. won, but was disqualified as Blake Pieroni and Zach Apple were supposed to swim the second and third legs, but Apple swam second. After a strong opening leg from Caeleb Dressel (48.25), Apple (47.92) and Pieroni (47.92) were right with Japan and set up Nathan Adrian (47.27) to bring it home in a world-leading 3:11.67, but all for naught. Brazil won the gold in 3:12.02 with an excellent anchor from Pedro Spajari in 46.94!

>> Men’s 4×200 m Free: Australia grabbed the lead through three legs and then 200 m Free winner Townley Haas cleaned up with a 1:43.78 leg to overtake Jack Cartwright (1:45.52) and give the U.S. a world-leading win in 7:04.36.

>> Men’s 4×100 m Medley: Adrian brought the U.S. home again, but this time it counted as his 47.71 leg overtook Japan’s Katsumi Nakamura to win the race in a world-leading 3:30.20.

>> Women’s 100 m Free: Australia’s Cate Campbell not only took over the world lead from her sister Bronte, winning in 52.03, but authored the second-fastest time in history, behind only Swede Sarah Sjostrom’s 51.71 world record from 2017!

>> Women’s 400 m Free: Watch out! Katie Ledecky has some real, live competition now from 17-year-old Aussie Ariarne Titmus, who became the third women in history to break 4:00 with a silver medal in 3:59.66. Ledecky won in 3:58.50, not her fastest this year, but enough to win her second individual event. Leah Smith was third at 4:04.23.

Ledecky won the 1,500 m Free on Sunday easily, as Titmus did not swim.

>> Women’s 100 m Backstroke: The former world-record holder, Canada’s Kylie Masse beat current world-record holder Kathleen Baker (3rd), but there was no world record this time, not even a meet record. In fact, the heats were faster, with Masse posting a 58.29 mark to lead all qualifiers. Australia’s Emily Seebohm was second at 58.72, as Masse won in 58.61 and Baker clocked in at 58.83.

>> Women’s 200 m Back: Baker got even here, with essentially a wire-to-wire win in 2:06.14, no. 2 in the world for 2018, with Canada’s Taylor Ruck second and yet another World Junior Record from Regan Smith of the U.S. for third (2:06.46). Masse was fourth in 2:07.00, as Baker moved to no. 10 all-time in the event.

>> Women’s 200 m Breaststroke: Micah Sumrall came through with a 2:21.88 win, her best mark since 2013 (2:21.74) and part of a 1-2 finish with Lilly King (2:21.22). They rank 3-5 on the world list for 2018 with those marks and were the fifth win in six events on the final night of swimming.

>> Women’s 4×200 m Free: Australia got two excellent legs from Titmus (1:55.27) and Emma McKeon (1:55.66) and then held off the U.S. to win in a world-leading 7:44.12. Allison Schmidt’s dreadful 1:58.62 lead-off essentially doomed the U.S. – she swam 1:56.71 in the open 200 m Free the day before – and even a good 1:55.47 from Katie McLaughlin on the third leg and a sensational 1:53.84 from Ledecky on anchor couldn’t get there first. Swimming World Magazine reported that Ledecky’s split is the third-fastest in history behind Federica Pellegrini (ITA: 1:53.45 ‘09) and Ledecky’s 1:53.74 from Rio.

Ledecky won three individual golds and five medals in all, but the biggest winner was Cate Campbell, the Australian sprinter who leapt back to international prominence with wins in the 50 and 100 m Frees and anchor legs in the women’s 4×100 m Free and 4×100 m Medley and the Mixed Medley relay to total five gold medals. Ryan Murphy had three gold medals among the men, the most of any swimmer.

The U.S. also swept the two Open Water races, with 1,500 m winner Jordan Wilimovsky doubling back to win the 10 km race and Haley Anderson taking the women’s race. Summaries:

Pan-Pacific Championships
Tokyo (JPN) ~ 9-14 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men:
50 m Freestyle: 1. Michael Andrew (USA), 21.46; 2. Caeleb Dressel (USA), 21.93; 3. Yuri Kisil (CAN), 22.02; 4. Katsumi Nakamura (JPN), 22.24; 5. Shinri Shioura (JPN), 22.27.

100 m Free: 1. Kyle Chalmers (AUS), 48.00; 2. tie, Jack Cartwright (AUS) and Dressel (USA), 48.22; 4. Marcelo Chierighini (BRA), 47.36; 5. Zach Apple (USA), 48.47.

200 m Free: 1. Townley Haas (USA), 1:45.56; 2. Andrew Seliskar (USA), 1:45.74; 3. Katsuhiro Matsumoto (JPN), 1:45.92; 4. Fernando Scheffer (BRA), 1:46.12; 5. Alexander Graham (AUS), 1:46.50.

400 m Free: 1. Jack McLoughlin (AUS), 3:44.20; 2. Mack Horton (AUS), 3:44.31; 3. Zane Grothe (USA), 3:45.37; 4. Grant Shoults (USA)3:48.27; 5. Naito Ehara (JPN), 3:48.80.

800 m Free (combined results): 1. Grothe (USA), 7:43.74; 2. Jordan Wilimovsky (USA), 7:45.19; 3. McLoughlin (AUS), 7:47.31; 4. Guilherme Costa (BRA), 7:51.67; 5. Robert Finke (USA), 7:52.57. Also: 9. James Brinegar (USA), 7:58.59; … 15. Grant Shoults (USA), 8:09.35

1,500 m Free (combined results): 1. Wilimovsky (USA), 14:46.93; 2. Grothe (USA), 14:48.40; 3. Finke (USA), 14:48.70; 4. McLoughlin (AUS), 14:55.92; 5. Guilherme Costa (BRA), 15:03.40. Also: 7. Brinegar (USA), 15:07.04; … 10. David Heron (USA), 15:22.98; … 12. Taylor Abbott (USA), 15:33.64.

100 m Backstroke: 1. Ryan Murphy (USA), 51.94; 2. Ryosuke Irie (JPN), 52.78; 3. Mitch Larkin (AUS), 52.88; 4. Matt Grevers (USA), 52.99; 5. Javier Acevedo (CAN), 53.90.

200 m Back: 1. Murphy (USA), 1:53.57; 2. Irie (JPN), 1:55.12; 3. Austin Katz (USA), 1:56.00; 4. Larkin (AUS), 1:56.02; 5. Keita Sunama (JPN), 1:57.03.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Yasuhiro Koseki (JPN), 59.08; 2. Jake Packard (AUS), 59.20; 3. Joao Gomez Jr. (BRA), 59.60; 4. Andrew Wilson (USA), 59.70; 5. Lizhuo Wang (CHN), 59.76. Also: 7. Andrew (USA), 1:00.04.

200 m Breast: 1. Ippei Watanabe (JPN), 2:07.75; 2. Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS), 2:07.89; 3. Matthew Wilson (AUS), 2:08.22; 4. Koseki (JPN), 2:08.25; 5. Josh Prenot (USA), 2:08.44.

100 m Butterfly: 1. Dressel (USA), 50.75; 2. Jack Conger (USA), 51.32; 3. Vicinius Lanza (BRA), 51.44; 4. Grant Irvine (AUS), 51.65; 5. David Morgan (AUS), 51.80.

200 m Fly: 1. Daiya Seto (JPN), 1:54.34; 2. Leonardo de Deus (BRA), 1:54.89; 3. Zach Hartung (USA), 1:55.05; 4. David Morgan (AUS), 1:55.82; 5. Mack Darragh (CAN), 1:56.27. Also: 7. Conger (USA), 1:56.83.

200 m Medley: 1. Chase Kalisz (USA), 1:55.40; 2. Larkin (AUS), 1:56.21; 3. Kosuke Hagino (JPN), 1:56.66; 4. Daiya Seto (JPN), 1:57.36; 5. Abrahm DeVine (USA), 1:57.81.

400 m Medley: 1. Kalisz (USA), 4:07.95; 2. Hagino (JPN), 4:11.13; 3. Seto (JPN), 4:12.60; 4. Jay Litherland (USA), 4:12.87; 5. Lewis Clareburt (NZL), 4:14.27.

4×100 m Freestyle: 1. Brazil (Gabriel Santos, Marcelo Chierighini, Antonio Ferreira, Pedro Spajari), 3:12.02; 2. Australia, 3;12.53; 3. Japan, 3:12:54; 4. Canada, 3:14.50; 5. Philippines, 3:37.01; DQ: [1], United States (Dressel, Apple, Pieroni, Nathan Adrian), 3:11.67.

4×200 m Freestyle: 1. United States (Andrew Seliskar, Blake Pieroni, Zach Apple, Townley Haas), 7:04.36; 2. Australia, 7:04.70; 3. Japan, 7:08.07; 4. Brazil, 7:11.65; 5. Canada, 7:18.25.

4×100 m Medley: 1. United States (Ryan Murphy, Andrew Wilson, Caeleb Dressel, Nathan Adrian), 3:30.20; 2. Japan, 3:30.25; 3. Australia, 3:30.52; 4. Brazil, 3;32.16; 5. Canada, 3:34.20.

Women:
50 m Freestyle: 1. Cate Campbell (AUS), 23.81; 2. Simone Manuel (USA), 24.22; 3. Emma McKeon (AUS), 24.34; 4. Taylor Ruck (CAN), 24.47; 5. Abbey Weitzel (USA), 24.58.

100 m Free: 1. Campbell (AUS), 52.03; 2. Manuel (USA), 52.66; 3. Ruck (CAN), 52.72; 4. Mallory Comerford (USA), 52.94; 5. Rikako Ikee (JPN), 53.14.

200 m Free: 1. Ruck (CAN), 1:54.44; 2. Ikee (JPN), 1:54.85; 3. Katie Ledecky (USA), 1:55.15; 4. Allison Schmidt (USA), 1:56.71; 5. Kayla Sanchez (CAN), 1:57.23.

400 m Free: 1. Ledecky (USA), 3:58.50; 2. Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 3:59.59.66; 3. Leah Smith (USA), 4:04.23; 4. Madeleine Gough (AUS), 4:08.42; 5. Emily Overholt (CAN), 4:08.81.

800 m Free (combined results): 1. Ledecky (USA), 8:09.13; 2. Titmus (AUS), 8:17.07; 3. L. Smith (USA), 8:17.21; 4. Kiah Melverton (AUS), 8:26.64; 5. Erica Sullivan (USA), 8:26.27. Also: 6. Haley Anderson (USA), 8:27.13; … 11. Chase Travis (USA), 8:37.86.

1,500 m Free: 1. Ledecky, 15:38.97; 2. Kiah Melverton (AUS), 16:00.08; 3. L. Smith (USA), 16:00.82; 4. Kareena Lee (AUS), 16:03.26; 5. H. Anderson (USA), 16:04.26. Also: 7. Ashley Twichell (USA), 16:07.49; … 9. Sullivan (USA), 16:16.07; 10. Ally McHugh (USA), 16:17.29.

100 m Backstroke: 1. Kylie Masse (CAN), 58.61; 2. Emily Seebohm (AUS), 58.72; 3. Kathleen Baker (USA), 58.83; 4. Regan Smith (USA), 58.95 (World Junior Record); 5. Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 59.25.

200 m Back: 1. Baker (USA), 2:06.14; 2. Ruck (CAN), 2:06.41; 3. R. Smith (USA), 2:06.46 (World Junior Record); 4. Masse (CAN), 2:07.00; 5. McKeown (AUS), 2:07.01.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Lilly King (USA), 1:05.44; 2. Jessica Hansen (AUS), 1:06.20; 3. Reona Aoki (JPN), 1:06.34; 4. Satomi Suzuki (JPN), 1:06.51; 5. Micah Sumrall (USA), 1:06.56.

200 m Breast: 1. Sumrall (USA), 2:21.88; 2. King (USA), 2:22.12; 3. Suzuki (JPN), 2:22.22; 4. Aoki (JPN), 2:24.46; 5. Pickrem (CAN), 2:24.73.

100 m Butterfly: 1. Ikee (JPN), 56.08; 2. Kelsi Dahlia (USA), 56.44; 3. Emma McKeon (AUS), 56.54; 4. Rebecca Smith (CAN), 58.19; 5. Comerford (USA), 58.25.

200 m Fly: 1. Hali Flickinger (USA), 2:07.35; 2. Sachi Mochida (JPN), 2:07.66; 3. Katie Drabot (USA), 2:08.40; 4. Suzuka Hasegawa (JPN), 2:08.70; 5. Laura Taylor (AUS), 2:09.23.

200 m Medley: 1. Yui Ohashi (JPN), 2:08.16; 2. Sydney Pickrem (CAN), 2:07.97; 3. Miho Teramua (JPN), 2:09.86; 3. Ella Eastin (USA), 2:09.90; 5. Melanie Margalis (USA), 2:10.67.

400 m Medley: 1. Ohashi (JPN), 4:33.77; 2. Margalis (USA), 4:35.60; 3. Sakiko Shimizu (JPN), 4:36.27; 4. Brooke Forde (USA), 4:39.22; 5. Emily Overholt (CAN), 4:39.48.

4×100 m Freestyle: 1. Australia (Emily Seebohm, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon, Cate Campbell), 3:31.58; 2. United States (Mallory Comerford, Margo Geer, Kelsi Dahlia, Simone Manuel), 3:33.45; 3. Canada, 3:34.07; 4. Japan, 3:36.83; 5. Philippines, 3:54.80.

4×200 m Freestyle: 1. Australia (Ariarne Titmus, Emma McKeon, Mikkayla Sheridan, Maddie Groves), 7:44.12; 2. United States (Allison Schmidt, Leah Smith, Katie McLaughlin, Katie Ledecky), 7:44.37; 3. Canada, 7:47.28; 4. Japan, 7:48.96.

4×100 m Medley: 1. Australia (Emily Seebohm, Jessica Hansen, Emily McKeon, Cate Campbell), 3:52.74; 2. United States (Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Kelsi Dahlia, Simone Manuel), 3:53.21; 3. Japan, 3:55.03; 4. Canada, 3:55.14; 5. Philippines, 4:22.18.

Mixed:
4×100 m Medley: 1. Australia (Larkin, Packard, McKeon, C. Campbell), 3:38.91; 2. Japan (Irie, Koseki, Ikee, Aoki), 3:40.98; 3. United States (Kathleen Baker, Michael Andrew, Caeleb Dressel, Simone Manuel), 3:41.74; 4. Canada, 3:46.75; 5. Philippines, 4:04.20.

OPEN WATER
(Full results here)

Men:
10 km: 1. Jordan Wilimovsky (USA), 1:58:50.5; 2. Eric Hedlin (CAN), 1:58:56.7; 3. Nick Sloman (AUS), 1:59:20.8; 4. Salgado Enderica (ECU), 1:59:22.7; 5. Allan do Carmo (BRA), 1:59:23.8. Also: 6. David Heron (USA), 1:59:25.2; … 9. Taylor Abbott (USA), 1:59.42.6; … 12. James Brinegar (USA), 2:02:11.2; … 14. Zane Grothe (USA), 2:03.52.4.

Women:
10 km: 1. Haley Anderson (USA), 2:08:24.8; 2. Kareena Lee (AUS), 2:08:26.0; 3. Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA), 2:08:27.0; 4. Ashley Twichell (USA), 2:08:29.6; 5. Hannah Moore (USA), 2:08:33.5. Also: 8. Erica Sullivan (USA), 2:08:43.5; 9. Chase Travis (USA), 2:08:44.6.

SOFTBALL: U.S. tops Japan in a thrilling World Champs final

By
Rich Perelman
-

All along, the two teams that seemed destined to meet in the finals of the World Softball Championships in Chiba (JPN) were the hosts and the reigning World Champions from the United States.

That’s what happened and the final was another classic.

Japan put up single runs in the second and third off Keilani Rickets of the U.S., but shortstop Delaney Spauling put a Yukiko Ueno pitch over the fence for a three-run homer and a 3-2 lead.

Japan tied it in the sixth on a Yamato Fujita home run off of the fourth U.S. pitcher, Rachel Garcia. Neither side scored in the seventh and the game went into extra innings.

Starting the inning with a runner on second, both sides scored one run in the eighth and none in the ninth. With Monica Abbott pitching for the U.S., Fujita brought the crowd of more than 12,000 to their feet with a two-run homer for a 6-4 Japan lead.

Down two runs in the bottom of the 10th, Spaulding drove in the parked runner to cut the lead to 6-5 and right fielder Michelle Moultrie singled to put runners on first and third with none out. Catcher Aubree Munro hit a ground-rule double to left to tie the game and put runners on second and third.

That brought third baseman Kelsey Stewart – 0-4 for the day – to the plate. Ueno got to 0-2 on the lefty, but then Stewart went with an outside pitch and poked it down the left-field line for a single that sent Moultrie home and started the U.S. celebration after a 6-5, come-from-behind win.

The U.S. won its 11th title in the 16 editions of the Softball Worlds, which date back to 1965. Japan was second for the sixth time and either the U.S. (5) or Japan (2) have won the Worlds since 2002. By winning this year, the U.S. qualifies for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Canada finished third, eliminating Australia in its semifinal, 12-0, while the U.S. was playing Japan in the other semi. The U.S. won that game, 4-3, coming from 3-0 down to win in the bottom of the eighth inning. Because the U.S. and Japan as group winners had to be double-eliminated, Canada and Japan played for the right to meet the U.S.; Japan defeated Canada, 3-0, in that game.

The final standings:

1. United States, 10-0
2. Japan, 9-2
3. Canada, 8-3
4. Australia, 6-4
5. Puerto Rico, 6-3
6. Mexico, 6-3
7. Italy, 4-4
8. Netherlands, 3-5
9. Chinese Taipei, 6-4
10. China, 6-4
11. Great Britain, 3-6
12. Venezuela, 2-7
13. New Zealand, 2-6
14. Philippines, 2-6
15. South Africa, 0-8
16. Botswana, 0-8

Look for complete results here.

SAILING: U.S.’s Moroz wins Kiteboard world title

By
Rich Perelman
-

The World Sailing World Championships are held only once every four years, at the midpoint of the Olympic cycle, so it’s the first indicator of who to look for in two years time.

What did we learn? Every event is wide open.

None of the winners from 2014 in Santander (ESP) repeated and only two of the gold medalists from Rio in 2016 managed to get back on the top step: Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED) in the men’s RS:X class and Sime Fantela (CRO), now with brother Mihovil Fantela (CRO) in the men’s 49er division.

Otherwise, there were new stars emerging, but the French and Dutch had the best of the event, winning seven medals and six, respectively.

The Dutch had the most wins, with three, including van Rijsselberghe, Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz in the women’s 49er FX and Lilian de Geus in women’s RS:X. France won with Kevin Peponnet and Jeremie Mion in men’s 470 and Nicolas Parlier in the new Kiteboard event for men.

Although it won’t be on the Tokyo program, the women’s Kiteboard showcased American star Daniela Moroz – a 17-year-old high schooler – who made quite an impression.

She won her second Kiteboard World Championship in the last three years, having also won the Kiteboard-only Worlds in 2016. She routed the field in the waters off of Aarhus (DEN) in the 16-race series for an event that will be introduced in the Tokyo Games for the first time.

She won with just 13 points – lowest being best – against 26 for runner-up Elena Kalinina (RUS) and 40.0 for bronze medalist Alexa Fancelli (FRA). Moroz won 14 of the 16 races and finished second and third in the other two! Summaries:

World Sailing World Championships
Aarhus (DEN) ~ 30 July-12 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men:
RS:X: 1. Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED), 58.0 net points; 2. Kiran Badloe (NED), 85.0; 3. Louis Giard (FRA), 92.0; 4. Kiran Holmes Martin (GBR), 95.0; 5. Pawel Tarnowski (POL), 102.0; 6. Mattia Camboni (ITA), 104.0; 7. Byron Kokkalanis (GRE), 104.0; 8. Daniele Benedetti (ITA), 118.0.

Laser: 1. Pavlos Kontides (CYP), 59.0; 2. Matthew Wearn (AUS), 61.0; 3. Philipp Buhl (GER), 70.0; 4. Sam Meech (NZL), 79.0; 5. Elliot Hanson (GBR), 80.0; 6. Hermann Tomasgaard (NOR), 83.0; 7. Tom Burton (AUS), 85.0; 8. Nick Thompson (GBR), 102.0.

Finn: 1. Zsombor Berecz (HUN), 70.0; 2. Max Salminen (SWE), 74.0; 3. Pieter-Jan Postma (NED), 76.0; 4. Josh Junior (NZL), 76.0; 5. Tom Ramshaw (CAN), 83.0; 6. Nicholas Heiner (NED), 85.0; 7. Facundo Olezza (ARG), 87.0; 8. Edward Wright (GBR), 89.0.

470: 1. Kevin Peponnet/Jeremie Mion (FRA), 56.0; 2. Tetsuya Isozaki/Akira Takayanagi (JPN), 60.0; 3. Jordi Xammar Hernandez/Nicolas Rodriguez (ESP), 62.0; 4. Anton Dahlberg/Fredrik Bergstrom (SWE), 64.0; 5. Mathew Belcher/Will Ryan (NZL), 65.0; 6. Keiju Okada/Jumpei Hokazono (JPN), 77.0; 7. Stuart McNay/David Hughes (USA), 86.0; 8. Carl-Fredrik Fock/Marcus Dackhammar (SWE), 89.0.

49er: 1. Sime Fantella/Mihovil Fantella (CRO), 72.0; 2. Mathieu Frei/Noe Delpech (FRA), 91.0; 3. Tim Fischer/Fabian Graf (GER), 93.0; 4. Erik Heil/Thomas Ploessel (GER), 100.0; 5. James Peters/Fynn Sterritt (GBR), 102.0; 6. Dylan Fletcher-Scott/Stuart Bithell (GBR), 104.0; 7. Logan Dunning Beck/Oscar Gunn (NZL), 108.0; 8. Lucas Rual/Emile Amoros (FRA), 109.0.

Kiteboard: 1. Nicolas Parlier (FRA), 27.0; 2. Guy Bridge (GBR), 31.0; 3. Maxine Nocher (FRA), 40.0; 4. Theo de Ramecourt (FRA), 40.6; 5. Connor Bainbridge (GBR), 46.5; 6. Axel Mazella (FRA), 46.5; 7. Oliver Bridge (GBR), 48.0; 8. Theo Lhostis (FRA), 62.0.

Women:
RS:X: 1. Lilian de Geus (NED), 48.0; 2. Charline Picon (FRA), 78.0; 3. Yunxiu Lu (CHN), 82.0; 4. Emma Wilson (GBR), 85.0; 5. Zofia Noceti-Klapacka (POL), 93.2; 6. Peina Chen (CHN), 97.0; 7. Marta Maggetti (ITA), 108.0; 8. Hongmei Shi (CHN), 113.0.

Laser Radial: 1. Emma Plasschaert (BEL), 66.0; 2. Marit Bouwmeester (NED), 75.0; 3. Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN), 85.0; 4. Monika Mikkola (FIN), 95.5; 5. Paige Railey (USA), 98.0; 6. Sarah Douglas (CAN), 99.0; 7. Alison Young (GBR), 107.0; 8. Maria Erdi (HUN), 115.0.

470: 1. Ai Kondo Yoshida/Miho Yoshioka (JPN), 33.0; 2. Silvia Mas Depares/Patricia Cantero (ESP), 39.0; 3. Hannah Mills/Elidih McIntyre (GBR), 41.0; 4. Camille Lecointre/Aloise Retornaz (FRA), 42.0; 5. Barbara Cornudella/Sara Lopez (ESP), 67.0; 6. Mengxi Wei/Haiyan Gao (CHN), 69.0; 7. Benedetta de Salle/Alessandra Dubbini (ITA), 72.0; 8. Amy Seabright/Anna Carpenter (GBR), 88.0.

49er FX: 1. Annemiek Bekkering/Annette Duetz (NED), 89.0; 2. Tanja Frank/Lorena Abicht (AUT), 91.0; 3. Sophie Weguelin/Sophie Ainsworth (GBR), 94.0; 4. Martina Grael/Kahena Kunze (BRA), 102.0; 5. Jena Hansen/Katja Salskov-Iversen (DEN), 103.0; 6. Odile van Aanholt/Marieke Jongens (NED), 106.0; 7. Ida Marie Baad Nielsen/Marie Thusgaard Olsen (DEN), 111.0; 8. Alexandra Maloney/Molly Meech (NZL), 120.0.

Kiteboard: 1. Daniela Moroz (USA), 13.0; 2. Elena Kalinina (RUS), 26.0; 3. Alexia Fancelli (FRA), 40.0; 4. Stephanie Bridge (GBR), 45.0; 5. Breiana Whitehead (AUS), 59.0; 6. Anais Mai Desjardins (FRA), 64.0; 7. Leonie Meyer (GER), 90.0; 8. Natalie Flintrop-Clarke (AUS), 104.0.

Mixed:
Nacra 17: 1. Ruggero Tita/Caterina Marianna Banti (ITA), 69.0; 2. Nathan Outteridge/Haylee Outteridge (AUS), 70.0; 3. Santiago Lange/Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG), 72.0; 4. Lin Ea Cenholt/Christian Peter Luebeck (DEN), 75.0; 5. Samuel Albrecht/Gabriela Nicolino de Sa (BRA), 81.0; 6. Jason Waterhouse/Lisa Darmanin (AUS), 91.0; 7. Vittorio Bissaro/Maelle Frascaro (ITA), 93.0; 8. John Gimson/Anna Burnet (GBR), 106.0.

JUDO: No surprises: Japan dominates Budapest Grand Prix

By
Rich Perelman
-

The World Championships are coming fast and in the final warm-up Grand Prix meet, held in Budapest (HUN), Japan indicated it is ready for a big showing next month in Baku (AZE) with nine wins and 13 medals all together.

Hungary (2-0-2) and Canada (0-0-4) had four medals each for a distant second on the medal table. The Japanese for four wins in the seven men’s classes and five of seven in the women’s. Summaries:

IJF World Tour/Budapest Grand Prix
Budapest (HUN) ~ 10-12 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men:
-60 kg: 1. Ryuju Nagayama (JPN); 2. Albert Oguzov (RUS); 3. Robert Mshvidobadze (RUS) and Amiran Papinashvili (GEO).
-66 kg: 1. Kenzo Tagawa (JPN); 2. Mohamed Abdelmawgoud (EGY); 3. Denis Vieru (MDA) and Bogdan Iadov (UKR).
-73 kg: 1. Miklos Ungvari (HUN); 2. Masashi Ebinuma (JPN); 3. Arthur Margelidon (CAN) and Frigyes Szabo (HUN).
-81 kg: 1. Alan Khubetsov (RUS); 2. Kenya Kohara (JPN); 3. Robin Pacek (SWE) and Sagi Muki (ISR).
–90 kg: 1. Krisztian Toth (HUN); 2. Ushangi Margiani (GEO); 3. Ivan Silva Morales (CUB) and Aleksandar Kukolj (SRB).
–100 kg: 1. Aaron Wolf (JPN); 2. Karl-Richard Frey (GER); 3. Jevgenijs Borodavko (LAT) and Peter Paltcik (ISR).
+100 kg: 1. Kokoro Kageura (JPN); 2. Stephan Hegyi (AUT); 3. Adam Okruashvili (GEO) and Roy Meyer (NED).

Women:
-48 kg: 1. Hiromi Endo (JPN); 2. Tamami Yamazaki (JPN); 3. Marusa Stangar (SLO) and Distria Krasniqi (KOS).
-52 kg: 1. Natsumi Tsunoda (JPN); 2. Charline van Snick (BEL); 3. Ecaterina Guica (CAN) and Chelsie Giles (GBR).
-57 kg: 1. Rafaela Silva (BRA); 2. Theresa Stoll (GER); 3. Christa Deguchi (CAN) and Hedvig Karakas (HUN).
-63 kg: 1. Aimi Nouchi (JPN); 2. Martyna Trajdos (GER); 3. Agata Ozboda-Blach (POL) and Andreja Leski (SLO).
-70 kg: 1. Saki Niizoe (JPN); 2. Sanne van Dijke (NED); 3. Kelita Zupancic (CAN) and Sally Conway (GBR).
-78 kg: 1. Mami Umeki (JPN); 2. Rika Takayama (JPN); 3. Natalie Powell (GBR) and Guuske Steenhuis (NED).
+78 kg: 1. Idalys Ortiz (CUB); 2. Maryna Slutskaya (BLR); 3. Yanan Jiang (CHN) and Nihel Cheikh Rouhou (TUN).

CYCLING: Schurter and Pierron clinch World Cup titles in Mont-Sainte-Anne

By
Rich Perelman
-

There were surprises at the sixth Mountain Bike World Cup at the famed Mont-Sainte-Anne course in Quebec (CAN), but the men’s World Cup seasonal titles were secured by the long-time leaders of each class.

France’s Amaury Pierron was not among the Downhill leaders after the first race, but won three in a row in Ft. William (GBR), Leogang (AUT) and Val di Sole (ITA) to take a significant lead and with a fourth last weekend, has a 307-point lead over countryman Loris Vergier to take his first seasonal title. Pierron will break a three-year win streak for American Aaron Gwin and it’s the first title for France in the Downhill since Nicolas Vouilloz won the last of his three straight in 2000.

However, it was Loic Bruni, also from France, who won in Mont-Sainte-Anne, ahead of Australia’s Troy Brosnan.

In the men’s Cross Country race, Swiss Mathias Flueckiger won his first-ever World Cup race, but countryman Nino Schurter has wrapped up his sixth seasonal World Cup victory, previously in 2010-12-13-15-17. After a ninth-place finish, he has 1,546 points to 1,080 for Mathieu van der Poel (NED) and 1,061 for Henrique Avancini (BRA).

The women’s seasonal races are closer, but Britain’s Rachel Atherton got closer with a win in the women’s Downhill event over Tahnee Seagrave (GBR) and Tracey Hannah (AUS). Atherton has the lead after six of seven events, 1,226-1,116 over Seagrave with Hannah (AUS) third with 905. If Atherton holds on to win, it will be her fifth World Cup title in the last seven years.

In the Women’s Cross Country class, Swiss two-time champ Jolanda Neff has 1,600 points, in front of Annika Langvad (SEN) with 1,458 and Maja Wloszczowska (POL) has 1,077. Neff won in Mont-Sainte-Anne to pad her lead, with Langvad second, and is in a commanding position to win her third World Cup title. Summaries:

UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
Mont-Sainte-Anne (CAN) ~ 12-17 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men/Cross Country (29.7 km): 1. Mathias Flueckiger (SUI), 1:27:26; 2. Gerhard Kerschbaumer (ITA), 1:27:41; 3. Titouan Carod (FRA), 1:27:49; 4. Maxime Marotte (FRA), 1:28:04; 5. Luca Braidot (ITA), 1:28:31.

Men/Downhill (2.664 km): 1. Loic Bruni (FRA), 4;12.713; 2. Troy Brosnan (AUS), 4:13.034; 3. Danny Hart (GBR), 4:14.036; 4. Amaury Pierron (FRA), 4:16.010; 5. Loris Vergier (FRA), 4:16.181. Also in the top 25: 6. Luca Shaw (USA), 4:17.441; 7. Charlie Harrison (USA), 4:17.836; … 21. Neko Mulally (USA), 4:22.456.

Women/Cross Country (25.60 km): 1. Jolanda Neff (SUI), 1:29:27; 2. Annika Langvad (DEN), 1:31.19; 3. Emily Batty (CAN), 1:31:33; 4. Yana Belomoina (UKR), 1:32:26; 5. Anne Tauber (GER), 1:33:27. Also in the top 25: 11. Lea Davison (USA), 1:36:46; … 13. Erin Huck (USA), 1:37:50; … 19. Ellen Noble (USA), 1:42:06.

Women/Downhill (2.664 km): 1. Rachel Atherton (GBR), 4:51.443; 2. Tahnee Seagrave (GBR), 4:56.530; 3. Tracey Hannah (AUS), 5:11.723; 4. Marine Cabirou (FRA), 5:13.144; 5. Mariana Salazar (ESA), 5:14.137. Also in the top 25: 14. Caroline Washam (USA), 6:00.238.

CYCLING: Mohoric leads Binck Bank Tour

By
Rich Perelman
-

In the last stage race before the Vuelta d’Espana gets underway on 25 August, the seven-stage, mostly flat Binck Bank Tour in Belgium and the Netherlands is crowded at the top with 26 riders within a minute of the lead after four races.

The leader is rising rider Matej Mohoric of Slovenia, who took over after Stage 3 and is nursing a three-second lead over Sean de Bie (BEL) and 22 seconds ahead of Swiss Stefan Kung. Mohoric, 23, has won an individual stage in both the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana, but nothing like a World Tour multi-stage race. Summaries so far:

UCI World Tour/Binck Bank Tour
Belgium and Netherlands ~ 13-19 August 2018
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (177.3 km): 1. Fabio Jakobsen (NED), 4:01:00; 2. Marcel Kittel (GER), 4:01:00; 3. Caleb Ewan (AUS), 4:01:00; 4. Kris Halvorsen (NOR), 4:01:00; 5. Max Walscheid (GER), 4:01:00.

Stage 2 (12.7 km Time Trial): 1. Stefan Kung (SUI), 14:11; 2. Victor Camenaerts (BEL), 14:25; 3. Soren Kragh Andersen (DEN), 14:26; 4. Michael Matthews (AUS), 14:26; 5. Maximilian Schachmann (GER), 14:30.

Stage 3 (174.9 km): 1. Taco van der Hoorn (NED), 3:47:42; 2. Maxime Vantomme (BEL), 3:47:45; 3. Sean de Bie (BEL), 3:47:45; 4. Matej Mohoric (SLO), 3:47:45; 5. Jesper Asselman (NED), 3:48:17.

Stage 4 (165.5 km): 1. Jasper Stuyven (BEL), 3:44:46; 2. Ewan (AUS), 3:44:46; 3. Zdenek Stybar (CZE), 3:44:46; 4. Rudiger Selig (GER), 3:44:46; 5. Timothy Dupont (BEL), 3:44:46.

Stage 5: 17 August Sint-Pieters-Leeuw (BEL) to Lanaken (BEL)
Stage 6: 18 August Riemst (BEL) to Sittard-Geleen (NED)
Stage 7: 19 August Lacs de l’Eau d’Heure (BEL) to Geraardsbergen (BEL)

CYCLING: Vos wins third career title in Vargarda

By
Rich Perelman
-

Dutch star Marianne Vos won the Postnord Vargarda road race for the third time on Monday (13th), outsprinting two other former champions in the final sprint: countrywoman Kirsten Wild – who won in 2010 – and defending champ Lotta Lepisto (FIN). American Coryn Rivera was in the final dash for the line as well, finishing eighth. Summary:

Postnord Vagarda
Vargarda (SWE) ~ 11-13 August 2018
(Full results here)

Women (141 km): 1. Marianne Vos (NED), 3:27:55; 2. Kirsten Wild (NED), 3:27:57; 3. Lotta Lepisto (FIN), 3:27:57; 4. Elena Cecchini (ITA), 3:27:57; 5. Barbara Guarischi (ITA), 3:27:57; 6. Christina Majerus (LUX), 3:27L57; 7. Maria Giulia Confalonieri (ITA), 3:27:57; 8. Coryn Rivera (USA), 3:27:57; 9. Letizia Paternoster (ITA), 3:27:57; 10. Eugenia Bujak (SLO), 3:27:57. Also in the top 50: 37. Megan Guarnier (USA), 3:28:09.

CYCLING: Poland’s Kwiatkowski makes home fans happy in Tour de Pologne

By
Rich Perelman
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For the first time in four years, it was a Polish rider who won the Tour de Pologne as Michal Kwiatkowski completed the seven-stage event with a 15-second lead over Britain’s Simon Yates.

The Pole took control of the race by winning the fourth and fifth stages and then was third and sixth in the final two legs to earn the win. He’s the first Polish winner since Rafal Majka in 2014. France’s Thibaut Pinot (-0:20) finished third. Summaries:

UCI World Tour/Tour de Pologne
Poland ~ 4-10 August 2018
(Full results here)

Stage 1 (133.7 km): 1. Pascal Ackermann (GER), 2:59:11; 2. Alvaro Jose Hodeg (COL), 2:59:11; 3. Matteo Trentin (ITA), 2:59:11; 4. Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA), 2:59:11; 5. Danny van Poppel (NED), 2:59:11.

Stage 2 (156.0 km): 1. Ackermann (GER), 3:16:39; 2. Hodeg (COL), 3:16:39; 3. Nizzolo (ITA), 3:16:19; 4. Luka Mezgec (SLO), 3:16:19; 4. Simone Consonni (ITA), 3:16:19.

Stage 3 (140.0 km): 1. Hodeg (COL), 3:09:59; 2. Daniel McLay (GBR), 3:09:59; 3. Andre Greipel (GER), 3:09:59; 4. Sacha Modolo (ITA), 3:09:59; 4. Tretin (ITA), 3:09:59.

Stage 4 (179.0 km): 1. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL), 4:25:44; 2. Dylan Teuns (BEL), 4:25:47; 3. George Bennett (NZL), 4:25:47; 4. Sergei Chernetski (RUS), 4:25:47; 5. Daniel Moreno (ESP), 4:25:47.

Stage 5 (152.0 km): 1. Kwiatkowski (POL), 3:39:14; 2. Teuns (BEL), 3:39:14; 3. Enrico Battaglin (ITA), 3:39:14; 4. Ackermann (GER), 3:19:14; 5. Enrico Gasparotto (ITA), 3:39:14.

Stage 6 (129.0 km): 1. Georg Preidler (AUT), 3:16:01; 2. Emanuel Buchanan (GER), 3:16:01; 3. Kwiatkowski (POL), 3:16:01; 4. Simon Yates (GBR), 3:16:01; 5. Teuns (BEL), 3:16:01.

Stage 7 (136 km): 1. S. Yates (GBR), 3:37:17; 2. Thibaut Pinot (FRA), 3:37:29; 3. Davide Formolo (ITA), 3:37:29; 4. Sam Oomen (NED), 3:37:31; 5. Bennett (NZL), 3:37:31.

Final Standings: 1. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL), 24:23:54; 2. Simon Yates (GBR), +0:15; 3. Thibaut Pinot (FRA), +0:20; 4. George Bennett (NZL), +0:24; 5. Dylan Teuns (BEL), +0:27; 6. Georg Preidler (AUT), +0:31; 7. Emanuel Buchmann (GER), +0:32; 8. Davide Formolo (ITA), +0:40; 9. Sam Oomen (NED), +0:42; 10. Fabio Aru (ITA), +0:44.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Summer Ross and Sara Hughes win Moscow 4-star

By
Rich Perelman
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This has been an up-and-down year for the U.S. women in the FIVB World Beach Volleyball Tour.

American pairs won medals in the first three top-line tournaments – the 4-star and Majors – of the year, then nothing for four straight tournament, and then a bronze in Portugal in early July for the new duo of Summer Ross and Sara Hughes.

Maybe this partnership is turning into something, as Ross and Hughes won their first World Tour tournament together in Moscow (RUS) with a 2-1 win over Brazil’s experienced Agatha Bednarczuk and Duda Lisboa.

“That was so amazing,” Hughes said afterwards. “My first World Tour final and being in the final meant everything. I am so glad I had this girl by my side. Brazil played great, but we competed hard to come out with the win.”

“We knew that the first point [in the third set] meant everything,” Ross said. “We just had to get every point we could get and somehow we got through.”

It’s an impressive win heading into the World Tour Final this week and shot Ross and Hughes into ninth place in the FIVB World Rankings. More coming this week?

In the men’s final, Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins won their second World Tour gold of 2018 by sweeping aside Alison Cerutti and Andre Loyola Stein of Brazil. It was also their second win in Moscow, having won back in their first season together in 2013, and their 10th together as a team.

“They are such a good team with Olympic and World Championships gold medals between them,” Samoilovs said. “They started really well and then they lost their rhythm and we just focused on the next point and that meant everything went well for us.” Summaries:

FIVB World Tour 4-star
Moscow (RUS) ~ 8-12 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Allison Cerutti/Andre Stein (BRA); 2. Janis Smedins/Aleksandrs Samoilovs (LAT); 3. Igor Velichko/Oleg Stoyanovskiy (RUS); 4. Vitor Felipe/Evandro Oliveira (BRA). Semis: Smedins/Samoilovs d/ Velichko/Stoyanovskiy, 2-1; Allison/Andre d. Vitor Felipe/Evandro, 2-1. Third: Velichko/Stoyanovskiy d. Vitor Felipe/ Evandro, 2-0. Final: Alison/Andre d. Smedins/Samoilovs, 2-0 (21-18, 21-13).

Women: 1. Summer Ross/Sara Hughes (USA); 2. Agatha Bednarczuk/Duda Lisboa (BRA); 3. Nina Betschart/Tanja Huberli (SUI); 4. Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude (GER). Semis: Agatha/Duda d. Betschart/Huberli, 2-0; Summer/Hughes d. Laboureur/Sude, 2-0. Third: Betschart/Huberli d. Laboureur/Sude, 2-0; Final: Summer/Hughes d. Agatha/Duda, 2-1 (21-19, 19-21, 15-12).

ARCHERY: New star Kaufhold wins U.S. title at 14 years old!

By
Rich Perelman
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Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Brady Ellison won his seventh straight National Target Championship in the Recurve (Olympic) division, setting a new championship record of 1,365 points.

Now to the surprises:

  • Fourteen-year-old Casey Kaufhold won the women’s title at 1,305, defeating 2016 Olympian Mackenzie Brown by one point – 1,305 to 1,304 – and four-time Olympian Khatuna Lorig (1,259).
  • Kaufhold then whipped through the U.S. Open elimination rounds until she ran into Eliana Claps in the semifinal and lost, 7-1. But she won the bronze medal over Lorig, 6-2, while Brown defeated Claps, 6-0, to win the U.S. Open tournament.
  • While Ellison won the 144-arrow National Target title by 25 points over Matt Requa, it was Requa who won the U.S. Open title in the elimination format by a 6-4 decision in the final!
  • Jamie van Natta, now 40, came back from a long absence from the sport to shoot her way back to the top of the U.S. Nationals podium in the women’s Compound Division. “This has been such a year of huge changes for me, and just to completely upend everything I’ve ever believed or known so it’s super cool that I’m coming back with brand new everything, starting from scratch, and just finding myself all over again. I turned 40 this year, so I’ve been around for quite a while and I’m one of the older people in my division, so it’s good to score one for the old guard as well.”

After excellent weather for the Target Championships, the U.S. Open elimination tournament was held in rain, wind and with lightning delays. Brown was delighted to win the women’s Recurve division after coming so close in the Target event.

“When we’re training for these events, we work really hard, so when your expectations don’t become reality, it is frustrating, especially by such small margins,” she said. “On the other hand, to know that so much work has gone into it is encouraging; I’ve worked really hard to get here and it’s paid off. I’m really happy with how I shot this competition because it’s been my best of the year and though it didn’t all go as consistently as I’d like, it was enough for the win and that makes me happy today.”

Requa is a resident athlete at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center in California and won his first national title, impressively over Ellison.

Braden Gellenthien won the men’s Compound division in the Target Championships, but then had to go to a shoot-off against Tate Morgan in the Open, losing on an extra arrow when Morgan shot a perfect 10. Summaries:

U.S. National Target Championships
Dublin, Ohio (USA) ~ 8-11 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Recurve (144 arrows @ 70 m): 1. Brady Ellison, 1,365; 2. Matthew Requa, 1,340; 3. Alex Bourdage, 1,317; 4. Matthew Zumbo, 1,314; 5. Joony Kim, 1,307; 6. Jack Williams, 1,307; 7. Adam Heidt, 1,307; 8. Matthew Nofel, 1,304.

Men’s Compound (144 arrows @ 50 m): 1. Braden Gellenthien, 1,421; 2. Steve Anderson, 1,413; 3. Tate Morgan, 1,413; 4. James Lutz, 1,412; 5. Kris Schaff, 1,48; 6. Dan Jasa, 1,408; 7. Reo Wilde, 1,407; 8. Collin Natterstad, 1,403.

Men’s Barebow (144 arrows @ 50 m): 1. Ben Rogers, 1,265; 2. John Demmer III, 1,262; 3. John Dillinger, 1,253.

Women’s Recurve (144 arrows @ 70 m): 1. Casey Kaufhold, 1,305; 2. Mackenzie Brown, 1,304; 3. Khatuna Lorig, 1,259; 4. Erin Mickelberry, 1,259; 5. Eliana Claps, 1,249; 6. Megan Tan, 1,238; 7. Branduin Stroud, 1,238; 8. Crystal Gauvin, 1,236.

Women’s Compound (144 arrows @ 50 m): 1. Jamie van Natta, 1,386; 2. Sarah Lance, 1,384; 3. Cassidy Cox, 1,379; 4. Lexi Keller, 1,378; 5. Alexis Ruiz, 1,377; 6. Breanna Theodore, 1,376; 7. Danielle Reynolds, 1,374; 8. Paige Pearce Gore, 1,374.

Women’s Barebow (144 arrows @ 50 m): 1. Sarah Briscoe, 1,146; 2. Tracey Francis, 1,109; 3. Melody Richards, 1,085.

U.S. Open
Dublin, Ohio (USA) ~ 10-11 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men’s Recurve: 1. Matthew Requa; 2. Brady Ellison; 3. Alex Bourdage; 4. Joony Kim. Semis: Ellison d. Kim, 6-0; Requa d. Bourdage, 6-5. Third: Bourdage d. Kim, 7-1. Final: Requa d. Ellison, 6-4.

Men’s Compound: 1. Tate Morgan; 2. Braden Gellenthien; 3. James Lutz; 4. Steve Anderson. Semis: Gellenthien d. Lutz, 146-145; Morgan d. Anderson, 148-146. Third: Lutz d. Anderson, 147-146. Final: Morgan d. Gellenthien, 148-148 (shoot-off).

Men’s Barebow: 1. John Demmer III; 2. Ben Rogers; 3. Gregory Nunes; 4. John Dillinger. Semis: Rogers d. Dillinger, 7-3; Demmer III d. Nunes, 6-2. Third: Nunes d. Dillinger, 6-2; Final: Demmer III d. Rogers, 6-5.

Women’s Recurve: 1. Mackenzie Brown; 2. Eliana Claps; 3. Casey Kaufhold; 4. Khatuna Lorig. Semis: Claps d. Kaufhold, 7-1; Brown d. Lorig, 5-2. Third: Kaufhold d. Lorig, 6-2. Final: Brown d. Claps, 6-0.

Women’s Compound: 1. Breanna Theodore; 2. Alexis Ruiz; 3. Jamie van Natta; 4. Sarah Lance. Semis: Ruiz d. Van Natta, 147-140; Theodore d. Lance, 146-143. Third: van Natta d. Lance, 145-144. Final: Theodore d. Ruiz, 144-143.

Women’s Barebow: 1. Sarah Briscoe; 2. Kim Hartman; 3. Tracey Francis; 4. Melody Richards. Semis: Briscoe d. Richards, 6-2; Hartman d. Francis, 6-0. Third: Francis d. Richards, 6-0. Final: Briscoe d. Hartman, 6-4.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS/ ATHLETICS: Ingebrigtsen and Duplantis supreme in Berlin

By
Rich Perelman
-

The stunning men’s pole vault, topped by Mondo Duplantis’s 6.05 m (19-10 1/4) world leader – see more in today’s Lane One – was the highlight of the 2018 European Championships in Berlin (GER), but certainly not the only noteworthy performance.

All told, there were four world leaders from the Olympiastadion:

  • Men’s Pole Vault: 6.05 m (19-10 1/4) Mondo Duplantis (SWE)
  • Women’s 200 m: 21.89 Dina Asher-Smith (GBR)
  • Women’s 4×100 m: 41.88 Great Britain
  • Women’s Heptathlon: 6,816 Nafi Thiam (BEL)

Beyond Duplantis, the other new superstars to emerge from the Euros were Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith.

Already identified as a prodigy in the middle distances, Ingebrightsen won the 1,500 m in a tactical 3:18.10. All three of Norway’s Ingebrigtsen brothers made the final, but at 17, Jakob is the youngest and held off Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski (3:38.14). Henrik Ingebrigtsen, 27, finished fourth and Filip (25) was 12th in 3:41.66.

This was an amazing final in that all three Ingebrigtsen brothers have now won the European title at this distance: Henrik in 2012, Filip in 2016 and now Jakob! The youngest brother ran the last 400 m in 53.64 to win the title, while Lewandowski ran the last lap on 53.06, but ran out of race.

The 5,000 m came the next day, a final-only event, but without Henrik Ingebrigtsen, who broke a rib during a fall in the 1,500 m heats. This time, Jakob took his time before assuming the lead at 4,000 m and then ran away from the field in the last 800 m, timing 1:56.04 and just 55.15 for the final lap to set a European Junior Record of 13:17.06, with Henrik second in 13:18.75! France’s Mourad Amdouni, trying for a 5,000-10,000 m double himself, finished third in 13:19.14.

Almost equally surprising was Asher-Smith’s rise to world-class with three gold medals in the 100 m – in a world-lead-equaling 10.85 – then the 200 m, where she continued her dream season with a world-leading 21.89 win, defeating Dutch World Champion Dafne Schippers (22.14) and Jamile Samuel (NED: 22.37). She finished off the meet with a blistering anchor on the winning 4×100 m squad in 41.88.

“I can’t believe this, I’m so happy,” said Asher-Smith after the 200 m. “It’s been a crazy championships! I really wanted to do a good time, but wasn’t expecting to take the world lead in the 200 meters.

“I had a lot of fun, and didn’t expect to run this fast when I’m still tired from the 100 meters final. I know this is not the Olympic Games or the World Championships, but I’m still very proud of myself. I still have a lot in me to give, but need to focus on running my own race.”

And there were still more highlights:

Men’s 400 m: Britain’s terrific sprinting continued with Matthew Hudson-Smith at 44.78, finishing ahead of two of the Borlee brothers from Belgium: Kevin in 45.13 and Jonathan in 45.19. A day after winning the 400 m Hurdles, Norway’s Karsten Warholm finished eighth in 46.68.

Men’s 110 m Hurdles: Everyone expected Russian Sergey Shubenkov to continue dominating the season, but France’s Pascal Martinot-Lagarde got to the line first, as both ran 13.17. The timing folks said the Frenchman won by 0.002!

Men’s 4×400 m: This race should be made into a reality show called “Borlee Family Gold”! The three Borlee brothers combined with Jonathan Sacoor to win the European title for Belgium in 2:59.47. Dylan led off at 46.1, followed by Jonathan in 44.8, Sacoor in 44.70 and Kevin on anchor in 43.91!

Women’s High Jump: Russia’s Mariya Lasitskene was the big favorite and won at 2.00 (6-6 3/4), but only on misses against Mirela Demireva of Bulgaria, who equaled her lifetime best at that height.

Ever heard of an angry gold medalist? Here’s Lasitskene after the event: “I won but I am upset. We expected much better jumps and much higher result. If you want to congratulate me, it is OK, but I cannot celebrate after this event. I do not know why it went like this. I have to talk to my coach and we have to watch the videos. I will continue with the next competitions and the Diamond League but I hope I will feel much better.” Oy.

Women’s Heptathlon: Belgium’s Nafi Thiam (pictured) won the Olympic title in 2016, was World Champion in 2017 and now European Champion in 2018. She won with a world-leading 6,816 points, but got quite an argument from Britain’s Katerina Johnson-Thompson, who scored a lifetime best of 6,759, with Germany’s Carolin Schafer at 6,602.

“It feels nice to become the European champion especially it was not easy it the last two days, “ said Thiam. “I did what I was aiming to do but I feel so tired now. Everything was in the head in this competition. It was fight until the end of the competition and I had to fight with myself too.

“But it is good to have hard competitions too. It alwys gives you something for the future. The start was not very good so I really needed the big throw in the javelin. I knew I can manage it because I have already seen it in Gotzis. It also brought a good energy to the rest of the competition.

“After the competition, I just want to eat everything I cannot before it. All the things like burgers, fries, donuts … But first of all, now I want to enjoy Berlin.”

Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic continued to be the standard by which the women’s discus is measured, winning the event for the fifth time at the European Championships. Poland’s Anna Wlodarczyk won the women’s hammer for the fourth time and Adam Kszczot won the men’s 800 m for the third time. France’s Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad won the men’s Steeple for the fifth time on the track, as he was disqualified for ripping off his jersey in celebration of winning in 2014!

Just as important as the great performances on the field was the impressive spectator attendance in Berlin, which totaled 262,699 across the six days, for an average of 43,783, with 60,500 for Saturday’s events. The European Champs results from Berlin are here.

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: A success for Glasgow and Berlin

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 2018 European Championships was a new concept of holding multiple, individual-sport championships together at the same time. Six sports – aquatics, cycling, golf, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon – were held in Glasgow (GBR) and athletics was held in Berlin (GER) all inside tthe 2-12 August timeframe.

The overall organizing committee announced that “The inaugural multi-sport 2018 European Championships saw 4,500 athletes from 52 nations compete, with new European Champions crowned in a total of 187 medal events representing 33 countries.

“The event was broadcast across Europe with more than 3,500 hours of free-to-air programming across 43 territories in Europe, estimated to reach an audience of approximately 1.03 billion viewers.”

The spectator attendance in Berlin was excellent (more on this below) and there were significant audiences for many of the other events. Bringing swimming, gymnastics and track & field together in the same program was clearly a winner and adding cycling – enormously popular in Europe – was also a winner. There are “talks” about hosts for 2022 and 2026 already, but having split venues does not make much sense for the future.

The only loser in this program was the fledgling European Games, which will take place in Minsk (BLR) next year and will have to go some to replicate the performances – or the excitement – generated in Glasgow and Berlin.

TABLE TENNIS Preview: World Tour in Bulgaria this week

By
Rich Perelman
-

The ITTF World Tour has landed in Panagyurishte, Bulgaria for the Asarel Bulgaria Open, with some strong fields set (with world rankings in Singles):

Men:
1. Dmitrij Ovtcharov (GER: 4)
2. Xin Xu (CHN: 5)
3. Long Ma (CHN: 6)
4. Tomokazu Harimoto (JPN: 8)
5. Koki Niwa (JPN: 12)

Women:
1. Kasumi Ishikawa (JPN: 4)
2. Mima Ito (JPN: 5)
3. Miu Harano (JPN: 8)
4. Hitomi Sato (JPN: 14)
5. Hin Hayata (JPN: 15)

Men’s Doubles:
1. Masataka Morizono/Yuya Oshima (JPN)
2. Long Ma/Xin Xu (CHN)
3. Koki Niwa/Jin Ueda (JPN)
4. Nandor Ecseki/Adam Szudi (HUN)
5. Cheng-Ting Liao/Yin-Ju Lin (TPE)

Women’s Doubles:
1. Honoka Hashimoto/Hitomi Sato (JPN)
2. Hina Hayata/Miu Hirano (JPN)
3. Kasumi Ishikawa/Mima Ito (JPN)
4. Matilda Ekholm (SWE)/Georgina Pota (HUN)
5. Barbora Balazova (SVK)/Hana Matelova (CZE)

Ovtcharov and Ishikawa are the defending Singles winners from 2017 and Ishikawa also won in 2015. Look for results here.

SPORT CLIMBING Preview: Final Bouldering World Cup in Munich

By
Rich Perelman
-

The season-ending Bouldering World Cup will once again come to Munich (GER), with competition on Friday and Saturday. The seasonal leaders:

Men:
1. 400 Jernej Kruder (SLO)
2. 396 Tomoa Narasaki (JPN)
3. 322 Rei Sugimoto (JPN)
4. 296 Aleksei Rubtsov (RUS)
5. 247 Jong-Won Chon (KOR)

Women:
1. 500 Miho Nonaka (JPN)
2. 495 Akiyo Noguchi (JPN)
3. 305 Fanny Gibert (SUI)
4. 222 Stasa Gejo (SRB)
5. 202 Katja Kadic (SLO)

The Bouldering events have been quiet since the Vail World Cup in June. But Kruder and Narasaki have been close to the top all season, each winning one World Cup and Kruder winning two other medals and Narasaki, three. It would be the first seasonal win for Kruder, the new star of the season, but no. 2 for Narasaki after his win in 2016.

The women’s race is equally tight, with Nonaka trying for her first seasonal title and Noguchi for her fifth, after winning in 2009-10-14-15. Scoring is 100-80-65-55-51-47-43-38-37-34 for the top-10 places, so even a small slip could be costly.

Look for results here.

GYMNASTICS Preview: U.S. Championships to select American Worlds team in Boston

By
Rich Perelman
-
Halfway to a sixth U.S. All-Around title: Simone Biles

The competition gets serious now with the selection of the American team for the 2018 World Championships, taking place at the USA Gymnastics National Championships at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts (USA).

The defending gold medalists from the 2017 Nationals:

Men:
All-Around: Yul Moldauer
Floor Exercise: Yul Moldauer and Eddie Penev
Pommel Horse: Alex Naddour
Rings: Michael Wilner and Marvin Kimble
Vault: Eddie Penev and Donnell Whittenburg
Parallel Bars: Akash Modi
High Bar: Marvin Kimble

Women:
All-Around: Ragan Smith
Vault: Jade Carey
Uneven Bars: Riley McCusker
Balance Beam: Ragan Smith
Floor Exercise: Ragan Smith

The men’s field has Moldauer, Whittenburg and Modi back; Kimble withdrew due to an injury. Back in action after injury in 2017 is four-time U.S. All-around champion Sam Mikulak.

The women’s field is headlined by the incomparable Simone Biles, who return to competition at the U.S. Classic after being off since the Rio Games. She showed few signs of rust, winning the All-Around with a score of 58.700, ahead of Riley McCusker (57.500), 2017 World Champion Morgan Hurd (56.350) and Shilese Jones (54.900).

Smith was injured just prior to the World Championships All-Around in Montreal (CAN) in 2017, but competed in three events at the U.S. Classic. The women’s field also includes 2017 World Championships Vault and Floor Exercise silver medalist Jade Carey and 2017 All-Around runner-up Jordan Chiles.

NBC’s family of networks has coverage on Friday on the NBC Olympic Channel at 8 p.m. Eastern time, on Saturday 3:30 p.m. Eastern on the Olympic Channel and 4:30 p.m. on NBC and on Sunday, at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC. There is additional Web coverage available, listed here.

Look for results here.

CYCLING Preview: Sprinter’s test at Cyclassics Hamburg

By
Rich Perelman
-

The annual Cyclassics Hamburg comes this weekend, with a 216.4 km course that’s generally considered a sprinter’s course and that means a mass finish in the city!

The race has five prior champions ready to go:

  • Elia Viviani (ITA) ~Defending champion
  • Alexander Kristoff (NOR) ~ Winner in 2014; runner-up in 2015
  • Andre Greipel (GER) ~ Winner in 2015; runner-up in 2012-13
  • Arnaud Demare (FRA) ~ Winner in 2012
  • John Degenkolb (GER) ~ Winner in 2013; runner-up in 2016

There are three other medalists returning, including Mark Renshaw (AUS: silver in 2008), Simon Gerrans (AUS: third in 2014) and Italy’s Giacomo Nizzolo, who was third three times, in 2012-15-16.

And, of course, there is Slovakia’s three-time World Champion Peter Sagan, injured in the Tour de France, but scheduled to race here. If he is recovered, he is always a threat.

Look for results here.

CYCLING Preview: Vos looking to repeat in Ladies Tour of Norway

By
Rich Perelman
-

The sixth Ladies Tour of Norway is ready for its three-stage run from Friday through Sunday, with three previous champions in the field, including defending champion Marianne Vos (NED), who just won the Vargarda road race in Sweden. The stages:

  • Stage 1: 17 August Rakkestad to Mysen (127.7 km)
  • Stage 2: 18 August Fredrikstad to Sarpsborg (127.7 km)
  • Stage 3: 19 August Svinesund to Halden (154.0 km)

All three courses are fairly flat, although the final stage has some hills along the way. Along with Vos in 2017, the prior winners who are returning are American Megan Guarnier (who won in 2015) and Lucinda Brand (NED: 2016).

A Team Time Trial was held on 16 August, with Team Sunweb winning in 29:53 over the 24.3 km course. Mitchelton-Scott was second (30:31) and Cervelo-Bigla Pro Cycling third (31:02).

Look for results here.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL Preview: World Tour Final underway in Hamburg

By
Rich Perelman
-

The last stop on the 2018 FIVB World Tour in the World Tour Final in Hamburg (GER), with only the top 10 teams in the men’s and women’s divisions allowed to compete. The top entries according to the FIVB World Rankings:

Men:
1. 5,640 Anders Mol/Christian Sorum (NOR)
2. 5,560 Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (NED)
3. 5,500 Janis Smedins/Aleksandrs Samoilovs (LAT)
4. 5,240 Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (POL)
5. 5,160 Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gaviria (ESP)
6. 4,720 Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo (ITA)
7. 4,600 Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fljalek (POL)

Women:
1. 5,480 Agatha Bednarczuk/Duda Lisboa (BRA)
2. 5,440 Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova (CZE)
3. 5,120 Maria Amtonelli/Carol Salgado (BRA)
4. 5,040 Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson (CAN)
5. 4,960 Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes (CAN)
6. 4,920 Julia Sude/Chantal Laboureur (GER)
7. 4,840 Mariafe Artacho del Solar/Taliqua Clancy (AUS)
4,840 Barbara Seizxas/Fernanda Alves (BRA)

One American pair made it into the women’s tournament: Sara Hughes and Summer Ross, who won last week’s tournament in Moscow. They are world-ranked ninth with 4,440 points.

Look for results here.

ATHLETICS: Final “regular-season” Diamond League meet comes to Birmingham Saturday

By
Rich Perelman
-

After three and a half months of running, jumping and throwing, the IAAF Diamond League season will finish its “regular” schedule with the Muller Grand Prix at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham (GBR) on Saturday.

The top point scorers will then advance to the two “finals” of the Diamond League season at the Weltklasse im Zurich (SUI) on 30 August and the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels (BEL) the next day. In most events, the top eight scorers will advance, but only seven go to the finals of the 200 m, 400 m and 400 m Hurdles. The top 12 will go in the middle and long-distance events and the high jump and pole vault. The current standings are here.

The points race makes the men’s 100 m one of the features of this meet. At present, only American Ronnie Baker (31 points) is safe (and not entered) and there are only eight points between second-ranked Michael Rodgers (USA) and Akani Simbine (RSA) – with 15 – and 10th-placed Zharnel Hughes (GBR) and Zhenye Xie (CHN), both with seven.

So, the field has Christian Coleman (USA: 13), Reece Prescod (GBR: 12), Yohan Blake (JAM: 9), Chiji Ujah (GBR: 8), Rodgers (15), Simbine (15), Hughes (7) and co-world leader Noah Lyles of the U.S. (6).

The IAAF scores its events 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 for eight places, so placing is really much more important than time in Birmingham and the athletes all know it.

Why so much focus on the Diamond League finals? Money: the top finishers in Zurich and Brussels will receive $50,000-20,000-10,000-6,000-5,000-4,000-3,000-2,000 to the top eight.

Some of the other high-profile events coming in Birmingham:

Men’s 400 m: Qatar’s Abdalelah Haroun is the runaway leader with 35 points (and not entered), but then only nine points separates places 2-10 and only seven will advance. That means Americans Paul Dedewo (17) and Fred Kerley (13) want to lock up their spots and Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith needs a high finish to assure his place in the final. American Christian Taylor will once again look to join the elusive 44-second club.

Men’s 800 m: This is the best event besides the 100 m, with world leader Emmanuel Korir (1:42.05), Clayton Murphy of the U.S. (1:43.12), Brandon McBride (CAN: 1:43.20), Kenya’s Jonathan Kitilit (1:43.46), Ferguson Rotich (KEN: 1:43.73) and tactical genius supreme Adam Kszczot (POL: 1:44.59) among others. Only McBride needs a high finish to get to the final, but it wouldn’t hurt Murphy and Kitilit to finish in the top four to assure their advancement.

Men’s 3,000 m Steeple: World leader Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco has taken the spotlight away from the Kenyans – for now – and with 12 going to the Diamond League finals, there is not much need among the favorites for points. But El Bakkali will face a tough field with Olympic and World Champion Conseslus Kipruto (KEN) and Diamond League points leader Benjamin Kigen (KEN). Hillary Bor (USA: 8:12.20 this year) needs to score at least a couple of points to be assured of advancement.

Men’s 110 m Hurdles: World leader Sergey Shubenkov (RUS) and American Devon Allen are safely in the final with 29 and 23 points, respectively, and are not in Birmingham. Commonwealth Games champ Ronald Levy (JAM: 13.15 in 2018), France’s Pascal Martinot-Largarde (13.17) and Spain’s Orlando Ortega (13.17) are the class of the field. Ortega is into the final with 22 points; Levy (17) is fairly safe, but Martinot-Lagarde (12) needs to do well.

Men’s Javelin: The top two Diamond League scorers are here: Germans Thomas Rohler and Andreas Hofmann. They are also 2-3 on the 2018 world list at 92.06 m (302-0) for Hofmann and 91.78 m (301-1) for Rohler. This should be a fun one to watch.

Women’s 200 m: The crowd will be on fire to see new national hero Dina Asher-Smith, the world leader at 21.89, battle World Champion Dafne Schippers (NED: 22.14), Diamond League leader Jenna Prandini of the U.S. (22.16), Olympic 400 m champ Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH: 22.06) and the second-ranked Diamond Leaguers in this event, Shericka Jackson (JAM: 22.05) and Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV: 22.34). Schippers, sitting at nine points, could benefit from a high finish here.

Women’s 1,500 m: With 12 going to the final, not too much worry about advancement, but any time that Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay (3:57.64 this year) and Dutch star Sifan Hassan (3:57.41) are on the track, it’s worth watching. Americans Kate Grace (4:04.05 this year) and Brenda Martinez (4:02.65) have outside shots at getting to the final with a high finish.

Women’s 3,000 m: This event qualifies for the 5,000 m finals, with 12 entries, so there isn’t a lot of pressure on the top entries such as Kenya’s Hellen Obiri or Agnes Tirop. Kenyan Lilian Rengeruk will be looking for a high finish to secure her spot and no one knows what European 10,000 m champ Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel will do.

Women’s 400 m Hurdles: American Dalilah Muhammad (32) leads the scoring and is not entered, but second-placed Janieve Russell (JAM: 29) is and third-placed Shamier Little (USA: 27). Georganne Moline (USA) stands fourth with 18 and should be safe, but she’s in and wants to clinch her spot.

Women’s Pole Vault: American Sandi Morris leads the field with 32 Diamond League points and is safely in the final, along with European Champion Katerina Stefanidi (GRE) and American Katie Nageotte.

Women’s Long Jump: Four of the top five in the Diamond League standings are in, including world leader Lorraine Ugen (GBR: 7.05 m/23- 1 3/4), followed by Malaika Mihambo (GER: 15 points), Shara Proctor (GBR: 12) and Sha’keela Saunders of the U.S. (9). That’s going to make it hard for others to move up easily and into qualifying spots for the final.

Among the non-Diamond League events, the men’s long jump includes South Africa’s World Champion, Luvo Manyonga, second on the world list at 8.58 m (28-1 3/4) this season. The women’s 1,000 m has British heroine Laura Muir, the European 1,500 champ, and American distance ace Paul Chelimo is going to run in the Emsley Carr Mile, looking for a big improvement on his outdoor best of 4:08.06 from 2013.

NBC’s Olympic Channel has coverage of the meet starting at 9 a.m. Eastern on Saturday. Look for the IAAF’s detailed results site here.

THE BIG PICTURE: Asian Games ready to start in Indonesia

By
Rich Perelman
-

One of the world’s largest and most intense sporting events will start Saturday at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia: the 18th Asian Games.

Hosted for the first time in two cities – Jakarta (also host in 1962) and Palembang – Indonesia took over when Hanoi (VIE) withdrew in 2014 due to the financial burden of the event.

The event will include from 10,500-11,000 athletes from the 45 nations that comprise the Olympic Council of Asia, the largest athlete contingent ever for the Asiad, which began in 1951. The three-year suspension of the National Olympic Committee in Kuwait was lifted just in time for the country to compete in Indonesia. The teams from North and South Korea are expected to march together in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

The sports program is absolutely massive and dwarfs the Olympic event schedule. Some 465 events are to be held in 40 sports, including Bridge, Jet Ski, Kabaddi, five styles of Martial Arts, Paragliding and Sepak Takraw, not to mention the demonstration sports of eSports and Canoe Polo.

The Games budget is reportedly $3.2 billion U.S. and will run through 2 September.

LANE ONE: Did you see that a Swedish teenager set an American record in the European Champs?

By
Rich Perelman
-

A marvelous European Track & Field Championships concluded last Sunday in Berlin (GER), with the highlight being the men’s pole vault in which two men cleared the 6 m barrier (19-8 1/4) and the winner set two national records … for two different countries?

Huh?

It’s just another chapter is the amazing reality show that is Armand “Mondo” Duplantis of Lafayette, Louisiana … and Sweden.

What?

The son of an American pole-vaulting father and a Swedish heptathlete mother – more on them later – Duplantis has competed for Sweden in international competition since the 2015 World Youth Championships. He won the European Junior Championships in 2017, the World Junior Championships in 2018 and has owned the World Junior Record since 2017.

He established himself as a star of the present with a sensational win in the Bauhaus Galan Diamond League meet on Stockholm and entered the European Champs in Berlin as the favorite. But even he couldn’t have foreseen the drama ahead.

In front of a crowd of 42,350, the field included 2012 Olympic champ and world-record holder Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) and 2011 World Champion Pawel Wojciechowski (POL). But Wojciechowski went out at 5.95 m (19-6 1/4), then Poland’s Piotr Lisek couldn’t clear 6.00 m (19-8 1/4), and Lavillenie missed once. But Duplantis and Russian Timur Morgunov – neither had ever cleared 6.00 m before – became the 23rd and 24th men to do so, clearing on their first tries!

Lavillenie passed his last two tries and the bar went to 6.05 m (19-10 1/4), rarefied territory that only Lavillenie, Sergey Bubka (UKR) and Steve Hooker (AUS) have ever bettered and only two others had equaled.

Duplantis had already claimed World Junior Records at 5.95 m (19-6 1/14) and 6.00 (19-8 1/4) and cleared 6.05 m on his first try! Morgunov jumped after him and missed all three of his tries to settle for second, becoming only the fourth man in history to jump 6.00 m and lose, and the first in 19 years! Lavillenie missed his two remaining attempts and settled for the bronze medal.

Duplantis was too exhausted to continue, but he was ecstatic. “I do not think that there are any words in this world to describe what I feel. I am on the top of the world, I am so happy.

“It could not be any better. Renaud sent me a message this morning saying, ‘No matter what results it is going to be unless we meet both on the podium.’ And I really wanted to meet him on the podium tonight.

“In the competition, after I jumped 6 meters, I just knew I need to go higher to solve it. It was crazy and pretty tough for me as I just improved my PB. I had to switch the poles at the higher heights for the ones I have never used before in the competition.

“This medal will definitely be dedicated to my coach, my mother who spent time with me every day, every training session and she saw all my workouts.”

And she is former Swedish heptathlete Helena Hedlund, who competed in the 1983 European Junior Championships in 1983, finishing 16th with a lifetime best of 5,097. She married Greg Duplantis, a 5.80 m (19-0 1/4) vaulter from 1993 who had a best of third in the U.S. Nationals.

They settled in Lafayette, Louisiana, just 56 miles from the Louisiana State campus in Baton Rouge, where Greg had competed as a collegian (and where Mondo is headed). The older brothers Andreas and Antoine were also vaulters, with Andreas competing for Sweden in the 2009 World Youth Champs and the 2012 World Junior Championships.

Mondo apparently started vaulting at four years old (!) and set a world age-group record at age seven and has continued setting them ever since. He now stands equal-fourth on the all-time list:

  • 6.16i 20-2½i Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) 15 Feb ‘14
  • 6.15i 20-2i Sergey Bubka (UKR) 21 Feb ‘93
  • 6.06i 19-10½i Steve Hooker (AUS) 07 Feb ‘09
  • 6.05 19-10¼ Maksim Tarasov (RUS) 16 Jun ‘99
  • 6.05 19-10¼ Mondo Duplantis (SWE) 12 Aug ‘18
  • 6.05 19-10¼ Dmitriy Markov (AUS) 09 Aug ‘01

In terms of outdoor jumps, only Bubka (6.14 m/20-1 3/4 ‘94) has ever gone higher than 6.05 m, moving Duplantis to no. 2 on the all-time outdoor list.

Which brings us to the American Record. Even though Duplantis competes for Sweden, he should be confirmed as the American record holder, which – according to USATF Rule 261 – is for “the best performance made by an American citizen or relay team composed entirely of U.S. citizens in an athletics event held within the United States or abroad.”

Pretty good for a teenager, born and bred in Lafayette, Louisiana. But he may be the catalyst for a rule change to keep the AR among American citizens, provided they are not competing for another nation. Another way in which Mondo Duplantis is changing the pole vault and the sport … at age 18!

Rich Perelman
Editor

SWIMMING: Why Caeleb Dressel wasn’t up to par this season

By
Rich Perelman
-

It made no sense that Caeleb Dressel didn’t dominate the U.S. National Championships this season after winning seven gold medals at the 2017 World Championships and looking so strong in early-season meets.

Now, more information is coming out.

During the NBC telecast of the Pan-Pacific Championships, announcer Dan Hicks mentioned that Dressel had suffered a motorcycle accident in his hometown of Gainesville, Florida at the end of June. Dressel brushed it off as nothing serious, but Swimming World Magazine reported that “according to a source, he was out of the pool for two full weeks and he only decided a few days before Nationals that he would compete.”

Obviously still not 100%, Dressel competed well at the Pan-Pacs, taking silver medals in the 50 m and 100 m Freestyles and winning the 100 m Butterfly.

ATHLETICS: Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart passes at 63

By
Rich Perelman
-

One of the great characters in the professional wrestling ranks who was also an outstanding shot putter – Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart – passed away on 13 August at age 63.

Neidhart fell in his home and died shortly thereafter.

He was a well-known professional wrestler and part of the Hart Foundation tag team – with Bret Hart – that won the WWE Tag Team title and spent more than 20 years in the ring. He trained with legendary wrestling guru Stu Hart – Bret’s father – and married Elizabeth Hart, Stu’s daughter and Bret’s sister.

The couple had three children, including current WWE wrestler Natalya.

But Neidhart started as a shot putter at Newport Harbor High School in California, winning the California State meet in 1973 and throwing a State record 69-3 3/4 with the 12-lb. shot that year.

He went on to UCLA and reached 19.85 m (65-1 1/2) in 1975, but was thrown off the team in 1976 after wrecking a room at the Berkeley Marina Marriott (since renamed) following a poor performance at the Pac-8 Championships at Stanford. While competing with the Bruins, he always told teammates that his career goal was to be a professional wrestler. He did it, and with style.

Final “regular-season” Diamond League meet comes to Birmingham Saturday

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. sprint superstar Noah Lyles

Will 100 m co-world leader Noah Lyles be smiling after Saturday’s meet in Birmingham?TSX EXTRA – for August 17, 2018: The IAAF Diamond League season is coming to a close in August and the final “regular-season” meet is tomorrow in Birmingham (GBR) at the Muller Grand Prix.

It’s the final opportunity to qualify for the big-money finals in Zurich (SUI) and Brussels (BEL) at the end of the month and the competition will be fierce in multiple events to get into the qualifying group.

The sprints will be especially hot with Americans Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles and Michael Rodgers all trying to secure their spot in the men’s 100 m. New British heroine Dina Asher-Smith trying to fend off an all-star field in the 200 m that includes stars like Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV), Olympic 400 m champ Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH), Diamond League leader Jenna Prandini (USA), World Champion Dafne Schippers (NED) and more.

We have previews of the top events in Birmingham in this EXTRA edition.

Final “regular-season” Diamond League meet comes to Birmingham Saturday

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. sprint superstar Noah Lyles

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TSX EXTRA – for August 17, 2018: The IAAF Diamond League season is coming to a close in August and the final “regular-season” meet is tomorrow in Birmingham (GBR) at the Muller Grand Prix.

It’s the final opportunity to qualify for the big-money finals in Zurich (SUI) and Brussels (BEL) at the end of the month and the competition will be fierce in multiple events to get into the qualifying group.

The sprints will be especially hot with Americans Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles and Michael Rodgers all trying to secure their spot in the men’s 100 m. New British heroine Dina Asher-Smith trying to fend off an all-star field in the 200 m that includes stars like Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV), Olympic 400 m champ Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH), Diamond League leader Jenna Prandini (USA), World Champion Dafne Schippers (NED) and more.

We have previews of the top events in Birmingham in this EXTRA edition!

What you need to know about the worldwide carousel of sports is in The Sports Examiner, your all-in-one briefing on Olympic sport! Click below for our new issue:

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The Sports Examiner is a subscription journal. Thank you for your support; please tell your friends to subscribe now! For comments or questions, please click here.

Did you see that a Swedish teenager set an American record in the European Champs?

By
Rich Perelman
-
Sweden's Olympic and World Champion Mondo Duplantis coming back to Los Angeles for the first time since 2017 for the USATF L.A. Grand Prix.

TSX HEADLINES – for August 17, 2018: One of the greatest pole vaulting competitions of all time came at the European Championships, with three men vaulting at the magical 6-meter mark and two clearing it.

Then an 18-year-old competing for Sweden won the event at 6.05 m (or 19-10 1/4), not only setting his third World Junior Record of the competition, but also setting an American Record and a Swedish Record in the process of becoming European Champion.

Confused? Don’t be; it’s the amazing reality show known as Mondo Duplantis, from an athletic family in Lafayette, Louisiana, who competes for Sweden and … well, we’ll explain.

All the details are in our Lane One commentary, plus a whole week’s worth of results and a preview of this weekend’s biggest events in this 34-page issue:

(1) THE BIG PICTURE: Massive Asian Games, with as many as 11,000 athletes, gets ready to open in Indonesia on Saturday … at a cost of $3.2 billion!

(2) GYMNASTICS: Simone Biles ready to star in U.S. National Championships in Boston, the next step on her way to the World Championships …

(3) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: New superstars minted at the Euros include Norway’s teen distance sensation Jakob Ingebrigtsen and British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, and much more drama in one of the best Europeans ever.

(4) SOFTBALL: A classic between the U.S. and Japan in the final of the World Championships in Chiba, Japan that went into extra innings!

(5) SWIMMING: U.S. closes with seven golds in 10 events on the final day of the Pan-Pacific Championships in Tokyo!

This issue includes ON DECK previews of Beach Volleyball ~ Cycling ~ Gymnastics ~ Sport Climbing ~ Table Tennis, SCOREBOARD reports on the European Championships (Athletics and Cycling) ~ Archery ~ Beach Volleyball ~ Cycling ~ Judo ~ Sailing ~ Softball ~ Swimming ~ Taekwondo, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

Did you see that a Swedish teenager set an American record in the European Champs?

By
Rich Perelman
-
Sweden's Olympic and World Champion Mondo Duplantis coming back to Los Angeles for the first time since 2017 for the USATF L.A. Grand Prix.

[wpdm_package id=5499 template=”5a3caadf84efa”]

TSX HEADLINES – for August 17, 2018: One of the greatest pole vaulting competitions of all time came at the European Championships, with three men vaulting at the magical 6-meter mark and two clearing it.

Then an 18-year-old competing for Sweden won the event at 6.05 m (or 19-10 1/4), not only setting his third World Junior Record of the competition, but also setting an American Record and a Swedish Record in the process of becoming European Champion.

Confused? Don’t be; it’s the amazing reality show known as Mondo Duplantis, from an athletic family in Lafayette, Louisiana, who competes for Sweden and … well, we’ll explain.

All the details are in our Lane One commentary, plus a whole week’s worth of results and a preview of this weekend’s biggest events in this 34-page issue:

(1) THE BIG PICTURE: Massive Asian Games, with as many as 11,000 athletes, gets ready to open in Indonesia on Saturday … at a cost of $3.2 billion!

(2) GYMNASTICS: Simone Biles ready to star in U.S. National Championships in Boston, the next step on her way to the World Championships …

(3) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: New superstars minted at the Euros include Norway’s teen distance sensation Jakob Ingebrigtsen and British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, and much more drama in one of the best Europeans ever.

(4) SOFTBALL: A classic between the U.S. and Japan in the final of the World Championships in Chiba, Japan that went into extra innings!

(5) SWIMMING: U.S. closes with seven golds in 10 events on the final day of the Pan-Pacific Championships in Tokyo!

This issue includes ON DECK previews of Beach Volleyball ~ Cycling ~ Gymnastics ~ Sport Climbing ~ Table Tennis, SCOREBOARD reports on the European Championships (Athletics and Cycling) ~ Archery ~ Beach Volleyball ~ Cycling ~ Judo ~ Sailing ~ Softball ~ Swimming ~ Taekwondo, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

[wpdm_package id=5499 template=”link-template-button-popup.php”]

Five wins in nine events for U.S. on Pan-Pacs Day 1

By
Rich Perelman
-

A powerful United States team won five of nine events on the opening day of the 2018 Pan-Pacific Championships in Tokyo (JPN), including a world-leading time from Chase Kalisz in the 400 m Medley. The three world leaders:

Men’s 400 m Medley: 4:07.95 Chase Kalisz (USA)
Women’s 200 m Freestyle: 1:54.44 Taylor Ruck (CAN)
Women’s 400 m Medley: 4:33.77 Yui Ohashi (JPN)

But as is usually the case in these meets, the focus was on American superstar Katie Ledecky.

She led the qualifying in the morning heats of the 200 m Freestyle, setting a meet record of 1:55.16, ahead of teammate Allison Schmidt (1:56.36). She then set a meet record in winning the 800 m Free by almost eight seconds in 8:09.13, the second-fastest time of the year, finishing at about 6:40 in the evening.

About 1:15 later, Ledecky was in the 200 m Free final in lane four, with Schmidt in five and Commonwealth Games champ Taylor Ruck (CAN) in three. Off the start, Ruck burst into the lead on the first lap, but Ledecky was just 0.12 at halfway. But Ruck, still just 18, put the hammer down on the third lap and took control of the race. Could Ledecky come back? Instead, she was passed with 25 m to go by Japan’s Rikako Ikee – also 18 – for second as Ruck finished in a meet record of 1:54.44, a world leader for 2018and no. 5 on the all-time list. Wow!

Ledecky’s not done, with the 400 m and 1,500 Frees still to go and at least the 4×200 m Free Relays, but her vulnerability at this distance – especially in a compacted schedule – was demonstrated once again. As great as Ledecky is – and she is one of the greatest swimmers of all time – she is not a long sprinter, at least not yet.

But the U.S. had a marvelous day:

  • Townley Haas started fast and just held off a final-lap rush from national champ Andrew Seliskar for the win in 1:45.56, with Seliskar in 1:45.74.
  • Jordan Wilimovsky, the 2015 World Champion in the Open Water 10 km, continues to impress in the 1,500 m, winning the timed final in 14:46.93, no. 4 in the world this year. American Zane Grothe swam in the first heat and had the second-fastest time in the race (14:48.40), but Robert Finke (USA) and Jack McLoughlin (AUS) were awarded the silver and bronze medals because they finished 2-3 to Wilimovsky in the second heat.

And yes, Wilimovsky will be swimming in the Open Water 10 km race next Tuesday.

  • Kalisz, already the world leader in the 400 m Medley, improved his 4:08.25 from the U.S. Nationals to 4:07.95 and destroyed a good field, winning by more than three seconds over 2016 Olympic champ Kosuke Hagino of Japan. Kalisz trailed 2013-15 World Champion Daiya Seto and Hagino after the first two legs, but took over on the Breaststroke leg and won easily.
  • The world-record holder, Lilly King, was brilliant for 90 meters of the 100 m Breaststroke, then hung on to win in 1:05.44, just 0.08 off her winning mark at the U.S. Nationals.

The Japanese hosts had a lot to cheer about, with wins from Yasuhiro Koseki in the men’s 100 m Breast in 59.08 and a dominant performance from Yui Ohashi in 4:33.77 in the women’s 400 m Medley, fastest in the world this year. It looked like Japan would be 1-2 in the event with Sakiko Shimizu until American Melanie Margalis mounted a charge in the Breaststroke and Free legs to win silver in 4:35.60.

Even as terrific as the U.S. was, the medal count was held down by the rule that any country can have a maximum of two competitors in the final. Astonishingly, there would have been nine more Americans in the first-day finals if the top eight in the prelims had advanced to the A-final!

NBC has coverage of the meet on Friday and Saturday at 6 a.m. Eastern time and on Sunday at 5 a.m. Eastern time. A highlights show will air on NBC on Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern. Summaries so far:

Pan-Pacific Championships
Tokyo (JPN) ~ 9-14 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men:
200 m Freestyle: 1. Townley Haas (USA), 1:45.56; 2. Andrew Seliskar (USA), 1:45.74; 3. Katsuhiro Matsumoto (JPN), 1:45.92; 4. Fernando Scheffer (BRA), 1:46.12; 5. Alexander Graham (AUS), 1:46.50.

1,500 m Free (combined results): 1. Jordan Wilimovsky (USA), 14:46.93; 2. Zane Grothe (USA), 14:48.40; 3. Robert Finke (USA), 14:48.70; 4. Jack McLoughlin (AUS), 14:55.92; 5. Guilherme Costa (BRA), 15:03.40. Also: 7. James Brinegar (USA), 15:07.04; … 10. David Heron (USA), 15:22.98; … 12. Taylor Abbott (USA), 15:33.64.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Yasuhiro Koseki (JPN), 59.08; 2. Jake Packard (AUS), 59.20; 3. Joao Gomez Jr. (BRA), 59.60; 4. Andrew Wilson (USA), 59.70; 5. Lizhuo Wang (CHN), 59.76. Also: 7. Michael Andrew (USA), 1:00.04.

400 m Medley: 1. Chase Kalisz (USA), 4:07.95; 2. Kosuke Hagino (JPN), 4:11.13; 3. Daiya Seto (JPN), 4:12.60; 4. Jay Litherland (USA), 4:12.87; 5. Lewis Clareburt (NZL), 4:14.27.

Women:
200 m Freestyle: 1. Taylor Ruck (CAN), 1:54.44; 2. Rikako Ikee (JPN), 1:54.85; 3. Katie Ledecky (USA), 1:55.15; 4. Allison Schmidt (USA), 1:56.71; 5. Kayla Sanchez (CAN), 1:57.23.

800 m Free (combined results): 1. Ledecky (USA), 8:09.13; 2. Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 8:17.07; 3. Leah Smith (USA), 8:17.21; 4. Kiah Melverton (AUS), 8:26.64; 5. Erica Sullivan (USA), 8:26.27. Also: 6. Haley Anderson (USA), 8:27.13; … 11. Chase Travis (USA), 8:37.86.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Lilly King (USA), 1:05.44; 2. Jessica Hansen (AUS), 1:06.20; 3. Reona Aoki (JPN), 1:06.34; 4. Satomi Suzuki (JPN), 1:06.51; 5. Micah Sumrall (USA), 1:06.56.

400 m Medley: 1. Yui Ohashi (JPN), 4:33.77; 2. Melanie Margalis (USA), 4:35.60; 3. Sakiko Shimizu (JPN), 4:36.27; 4. Brooke Forde (USA), 4:39.22; 5. Emily Overholt (CAN), 4:39.48.

Mixed:
4×100 m Medley: 1. Australia (Larkin, Packard, McKeon, C. Campbell), 3:38.91; 2. Japan (Irie, Koseki, Ikee, Aoki), 3:40.98; 3. United States (Kathleen Baker, Michael Andrew, Caeleb Dressel, Simone Manuel), 3:41.74; 4. Canada, 3:46.75; 5. Philippines, 4:04.20.

U.S. and Japan on a collision course in World Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

The two favorites in the World Softball Championships in Japan – the United States and Japan – are undefeated and steaming toward the playoffs.

Both finished 7-0 in the round-robin portion of the competition, winning their groups:

  • Group A:
    1. United States (7-0), 2. Puerto Rico (6-1), 3. Mexico (5-2), 4. Netherlands (3-4); 5. Chinese Taipei (3-4), 6. New Zealand (2-5); 7. Philippines (2-5), 8. South Africa (0-7).

 

  • Group B:
    1. Japan (7-0); 2. Australia (5-2), 3. Canada (5-2), 4. Italy (4-3), 5. China (4-3), 6. Great Britain (2-5), 7. Venezuela (1-6), 8. Botswana (0-7).

The playoffs come next, with the top four teams in each group advancing. The U.S. and Japan, as group winners, will have double-elimination status, while the other six teams are in direct-elimination games. The first games on Friday include:

Italy vs. Mexico
Canada vs. Netherlands
United States vs. Australia
Japan vs. Puerto Rico

Look for results here. The semifinals will be played on Saturday and the medal matches on Sunday.

Poland’s Kwiatkowski ready to win the Tour de Pologne

By
Rich Perelman
-

For the first time in four years, it appears that a Polish rider will win the Tour de Pologne as Michal Kwiatkowski expanded his lead in the penultimate Stage 6 on Thursday.

After taking control of the race by winning the fourth and fifth stages, Kwiatkowski claimed a third-place finish (and a time bonus) in Stage 6 to extend his lead to 16 seconds over Belgium’s Dylan Teuns and 24 seconds over New Zealand’s George Bennett.

There are 16 riders within a minute of the lead, however, so Kwiatkowski will have to be awake and aware on the hilly, 136 km final race. If he is, he’ll be the first Polish winner since Rafal Majka in 2014.

After the Tour de Pologne, there are only two more races – the Binck Bank Tour and the Euroeyes Cyclassics Hamburg – before the final Grand Tour of 2018, the Vuelta a Espana, starts on 25 August.
Summaries:

UCI World Tour/Tour de Pologne
Poland ~ 4-10 August 2018
(Full results here)

  • Stage 1 (133.7 km): 1. Pascal Ackermann (GER), 2:59:11; 2. Alvaro Jose Hodeg (COL), 2:59:11; 3. Matteo Trentin (ITA), 2:59:11; 4. Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA), 2:59:11; 5. Danny van Poppel (NED), 2:59:11.
  • Stage 2 (156.0 km): 1. Ackermann (GER), 3:16:39; 2. Hodeg (COL), 3:16:39; 3. Nizzolo (ITA), 3:16:19; 4. Luka Mezgec (SLO), 3:16:19; 4. Simone Consonni (ITA), 3:16:19.
  • Stage 3 (140.0 km): 1. Hodeg (COL), 3:09:59; 2. Daniel McLay (GBR), 3:09:59; 3. Andre Greipel (GER), 3:09:59; 4. Sacha Modolo (ITA), 3:09:59; 4. Tretin (ITA), 3:09:59.
  • Stage 4 (179.0 km): 1. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL), 4:25:44; 2. Dylan Teuns (BEL), 4:25:47; 3. George Bennett (NZL), 4:25:47; 4. Sergei Chernetski (RUS), 4:25:47; 5. Daniel Moreno (ESP), 4:25:47.
  • Stage 5 (152.0 km): 1. Kwiatkowski (POL), 3:39:14; 2. Teuns (BEL), 3:39:14; 3. Enrico Battaglin (ITA), 3:39:14; 4. Ackermann (GER), 3:19:14; 5. Enrico Gasparotto (ITA), 3:39:14.
  • Stage 6 (129.0 km): 1. Georg Preidler (AUT), 3:16:01; 2. Emanuel Buchanan (GER), 3:16:01; 3. Kwiatkowski (POL), 3:16:01; 4. Simon Yates (GBR), 3:16:01; 5. Teuns (BEL), 3:16:01.
  • Stage 7: 10 August: Bukowvina Resort to Bukowina Tatrzanska (136 km)

Wild and Campenaerts repeat in Euro Time Trials

By
Rich Perelman
-

Elsewhere in the Euros, the Dutch domination of women’s road cycling continued, as Ellen van Dijk and Anna van der Breggen went 1-2 in the women’s 32.3 km Time Trial, 41:39-41:41., with Germany’s Trixi Worrack third in 42:48. Van Dijk defended her 2017 and 2016 European Time Trial titles to go with her four national Time Trial wins.

The men’s 45.7 km Time Trial was won by Belgium’s Victor Campenaerts in 53:38.78, just ahead of 2016 winner Jonathan Castroviejo (ESP: 53:39.41) and Maximillian Schachmann (GER: 54:06.16). It was also a successful defense for Campenaerts of his 2017 Euro title in the event.

The overall European Championships schedule and results are here.

Warholm adds European 400 m Hurdles title in Berlin

By
Rich Perelman
-

If you thought that Norway’s World Champion Karsten Warholm, still just 22 years old, would be discouraged by his repeated defeats to Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba on the Diamond League circuit, forget it.

He set his 10th national record in the 400 m Hurdles by outlasting Turkey’s defending European Champion, Yasmani Copello (TUR), 47.64-47.81 on Thursday evening in Berlin (GER). The time was 1/100th faster than he ran to win the London Diamond League meet on 21 July.

“This was fantastic!,” he said afterwards. “After my World title, I am European champion now! It sounds like where I should be.

“I love Germany. Thank you for the support. It feels so good, I am so happy. It was a tough race. I had enough to give on the last 100 m. I am so pleased that it went my way. This was my main race. I will take one day off and see what tomorrow will bring.”

Warholm will race in the flat 400 m on Friday and ran 44.91 to win his semi on Wednesday. He has a lifetime best (and national record) of 44.87 from last year and will be dangerous from lane six!

Turkey had plenty to cheer about also, as World Champion Ramil Guliyev won the 200 m in a lifetime best, national record and meet record 19.76, moving him to no. 4 on the year list. He’s now no. 18 all-time, 0.01 ahead of Trinidad’s Ato Boldon (19.77) among others!

There was no earth-shattering finish to the men’s javelin, but 2016 Olympic champ Thomas Rohler of Germany won impressively with his third-round throw of 89.47 m (293-6), ahead of countryman Andreas Hoffmann (87.60 m/287-5). The surprise was that World Champion Johannes Vetter (GER) ended up fifth (83.27 m/273-2) and Estonia’s Magnus Kirt collected the bronze at 85.96 m (282-0).

One of the more amazing stories in the Euros was the women’s 10,000 victory by Israel’s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter in 31:43.29, well ahead of Susan Krumins (NED: 31:52.55). Chemtai Salpeter was born in Kenya and came to Israel to care for the children of the Kenyan ambassador in 2009.

Now 29, she earned Israeli citizenship in 2016 and married her coach, Israeli Dan Salpeter, then ran in the Rio Marathon, but did not finish. She’s no. 2 on the world list for 2018 from her 31:33.03 win in the European Cup earlier this year, and now, European Champion.

Other highlights:

  • Men’s Long Jump: Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou lept from third to first on his fifth-round jump to win at 8.25 m (27-0 3/4) ove Germany’s Fabian Heinle (8.13 m/26-8 1/4).
  • Men’s Discus: A great competition with reigning World Champion Andrius Gudzius (LTU) taking the lead in round one at 65.75 m (215-8) and then improving to 67.19 m (220-5) in round three. But then Sweden’s Daniel Stahl unleashed a toss of 68.23 m (223-10) in the fourth round that looked like it might be the winner. Down to the final throw of the event, Gudzius came up big at 68.46 m (224-7) to win the gold and move Stahl to silver.
  • Men’s Decathlon: This was supposed to be a showcase for France’s Kevin Mayer, but after three fouls in the long jump on the first day, the event was open. Instead, it was Germany’s Arthur Abele who performed best, piling up 8,431 for his first major title. Russia’s Ilya Shkurenyov finished second with 8,321.
  • Women’s Pole Vault: Greece’s Ekaterina Stefanidi has had an injury-plagued season, but she was ready when it counts, winning at 4.85 m (15-11) and up to equal-fourth on the world list for 2018.

The European Champs results from Berlin are here.

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