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Sensational: 12 swimming world leaders at Glasgow Euros

By
Rich Perelman
-

The swimming competition at the 2018 European Championships finished with two world records and 12 world-leading marks (one equaled):

Men:
50 m Freestyle: 21.11 Ben Proud (GBR)
800 m Freestyle: 7:42.96 Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR)
1,500 m Freestyle: 14:36.15 Florian Wellbrock (GER)
50 m Backstroke: 24.00 World Record Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS)
200 m Backstroke: 1:53.36 Evgeny Rylov (RUS)
50 m Breaststroke: 26.23 Adam Peaty (GBR)
50 m Breaststroke: 26.09 Peaty
100 m Breaststroke: 57.10 World Record Peaty
200 m Breaststroke: 2:06.80 Anton Chuptov (RUS)

Women:
50 m Freestyle: 23.74 Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
100 m Butterfly: 56.23 (=) Sjostrom
400 m Medley: 4:34.17 Fantine Lesaffre (FRA)

Proud’s time of 21.11 in the 50 m Free semifinals was triply important: not just the world leader for 2018 and the no. 3 performer ever, but also the fastest ever in a textile suit! In the minds of a lot of folks, that makes him the de facto world-record holder. Almost completely lost in the discussion was Italy’s Andrea Vergani, who swam 21.37 for no. 3 in the world in 2018.

Proud won the final in 21.34, giving him the three fastest times in the world this season.

Romanchuk’s 800 m Free mark surpassed American Zane Grothe (7:44.57) for the world lead in 2018 and moves him to no. 10 on the all-time list.

Peaty sailed to the third-fastest time in history – he owns the other two as well – in winning the 50 m Breast and posted world leaders in Glasgow in both the semis and finals. Peaty won four golds at the meet, taking the 50 m and 100 m Breast events and swimming legs on the winning 4×100 m Medley and 4×100 m Mixed Medley relays.

Other events to note:

  • Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu had a poor meet by her standards, but did win the 200 m Medley in 2:10.17, her fifth straight European Championships gold in the event. She just out-touched Italy’s Ilaria Cusinato (2:10.25). Hosszu’s time was well off her meet record of 2:07.30 from 2016.
  • Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom won the 50 m Fly in 25.17, behind her own world-leading mark of 25.07. She won four golds in Glasgow: the 50 and 100 m frees and 50 and 100 m Fly events, with world-leading marks in the 50 Free and 100 m Fly (equaling Japan’s Rikako Ikee).
  • Yuliya Efimova (RUS) moved to no. 2 on the year list in the 50 m Breast semis, posting the fastest qualifier at 29.66 and then won the final in 29.81. She swept the breaststroke events – 50, 100 and 200 m – and added a 4×100 m Medley Relay gold for four total wins.
  • Margherita Panziera (ITA) raced to the front from the start and ran away with the 200 m Backstroke title, finishing in a meet-record 2:06.18 and moving to no. 2 on the year list.
  • Italy’s Piero Codia was just the eighth qualifier in the men’s 100 m Fly, but he won the race in an excellent 50.64, moving him to no. 2 in the world for 2018 and no. 9 all-time!
  •  More Italy: Simona Quadarella also won the 400 m Free, giving her all three distance golds, this time in 4:03.35, no. 5 in the world for 2018.

So, Peaty, Sjostrom and Efimova all won four golds and Quadarella won three. Russia piled up the most medals with 26, followed by Great Britain (24) and Italy (22). The Russians had 10 wins to nine for the British.

The complete swimming results are here.

Second Grand Prix starts in Moscow

By
Rich Perelman
-

The second World Taekwondo Grand Prix of the season is on in Moscow, with competition in the eight Olympic classes from Friday through Sunday. The top seeds (and current world rankings):

Men:
-58 kg: 1. Jose Tortosa Cabrera (ESP: 2) 2. Mikhail Artamonov (RUS: 3)
-68 kg: 1. Jaouad Achab (BEL: 3) 2. Alexey Denisenko (RUS: 4)
-80 kg: 1. Cheick Sallah Cisse (CIV: 1) 2. Maksim Khramtcov (RUS: 3)
+80 kg: 1. Vladislav Larin (RUS: 1) 2. Kyo-Don In (KOR: 4)

Women:
-49 kg: 1. So-Hui Kim (KOR: 2) 2. Rukiye Yildirim (TUR: 4)
-57 kg: 1. Tatiana Kudashova (RUS: 3) 2. Hatice Kubra Ilgun (TUR: 4)
-67 kg: 1. Hyeri Oh (KOR: 1) 2. Paige McPherson (USA: 4)
+67 kg: 1. Shuyin Zheng (CHN: 2) 2. Milica Mandic (SRB: 3)

There is good prize money for this tournament: $5,000 for the winner, $3,000 for second and $1,000 to each of the third-placers. Look for results here.

Last World Champs warm-up is the Budapest Grand Prix

By
Rich Perelman
-

Some 578 judoka from 86 countries are gathered in Budapest (HUN), the last Grand Prix event prior to the 2018 World Championships in late September in Baku (AZE). That’s the reason for the big turn-out; the top seeds (with IJF world rankings):

Men:
-60 kg: 1. Ryuju Nagayama (JPN: 2) 2. Robert Mshvidobadze (RUS: 3)
-66 kg: 1. Georgii Zantaraia (UKR: 6) 2. Abdula Abdulzhalilov (RUS: 12)
-73 kg: 1. Odbayar Ganbaatar (MGL: 4) 2. Tommy Macias (SWE: 5)
-81 kg: 1. Frank De Wit (NED: 2) 2. Alan Khubetsov (RUS: 4)
-90 kg: 1. Aleksandar Kukolj (SRB: 1) 2. Nikoloz Sherazadishvili (ESP: 4)
-100 kg: 1. Varlam Liparteliani (GEO: 1) 2. Toma Nikiforov (BEL: 4)
+100 kg: 1. Stephan Hegyi (AUT: 7) 2. Kokoro Kageura (JPN: 12)

Women:
-48 kg: 1. Milica Nikolic (SRB: 5) 2. Eva Csernoviczki (HUN: 9)
-52 kg: 1. Charline van Snick (BEL: 9) 2. Natsumi Tsunoda (JPN: 10)
-57 kg: 1. Theresa Stoll (GER: 6) 2. Timna Nelson Levy (ISR: 7)
-63 kg: 1. Andreja Leski (SLO: 5) 2. Martyna Trajdos (GER: 6)
-70 kg: 1. Anna Bernholm (SWE: 4) 2. Sanne van Dijke (NED: 6)
-78 kg: 1. Natalie Powell (GBR: 2) 2. Guusje Steenhuis (NED: 3)
+78 kg: 1. Larisa Ceric (BIH: 2) 2. Tessie Savelkouls (NED: 5)

The top American men’s seed is Alexander Turner, sixth at -73 kg; among the women, it’s Angelica Delgado, third at -52 kg.

Look for results here.

Crucial Mountain Bike World Cup in Mont-Sainte-Anne

By
Rich Perelman
-

The next-to-last UCI Mountain Bike World Cup for the Cross Country and Downhill disciplines comes this week at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec (CAN), one of the sport’s classic venues.

The seasonal competitions are at the decision point; the current standings:

Men/Cross Country:

  1. 1,405 Nino Schurter (SUI)
  2. 1,050 Mathieu van der Poel (NED)
  3. 861 Henrique Avancini (BRA)
  4. 827 Maxime Marotte (FRA)
  5. 777 Florian Vogel (SUI)

Women/Cross Country:

  1. 1,250 Jolanda Neff (SUI)
  2. 1,133 Annika Langvad (DEN)
  3. 927 Maja Wloszczowski (POL)
  4. 910 Anne Tauber (NED)
  5. 896 Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (FRA)

Men/Downhill:

  1. 933 Amaury Pierron (FRA)
  2. 653 Loris Vergier (FRA)
  3. 646 Laurie Greenland (GBR)
  4. 596 Troy Brosnan (AUS)
  5. 586 Danny Hart (GBR)

Women/Downhill:

  1. 986 Rachel Atherton (GBR)
  2. 906 Tahnee Seagrave (GBR)
  3. 740 Tracey Hannah (AUS)
  4. 610 Myriam Nicole (FRA)
  5. 582 Monica Hrastnik (SLO)

With two races to go, none of these disciplines are clinched, but strong performances from Schurter and Pierron could wrap up the men’s seasonal titles. For Schurter, he’s going for his sixth seasonal World Cup victory, previously in 2010-12-13-15-17. For Neff, it would be her third World Cup title.

In the Downhill, Pierron is trying for win for the first time; it would be a sixth for Atherton.

In 2017, Schurter and Yana Belomoina (UKR) won here in Cross Country; Aaron Gwin (USA) and Seagrave won in the Downhill races.

Look for results from the host site here, or the UCI results site here and here.

Vargarda women’s cycling fest starts Saturday

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 13th edition of the annual women’s cycling festival in Vargarda, Sweden comes on Saturday and Monday with the Postnord Vargarda Team Time Trial and the Postnord Vargarda road race on Monday (13th).

Begun in 2006, the road race joined the UCI Women’s World Tour in 2016. The Team Time Trial was added in 2008. For 2018:

  •  The Team Time Trial is 42.5 km, starting and finishing in Vargarda, on a hilly but not too annoying course.
  • The Road Race is 141.0 km, starting with four laps of 11 km, then a 53 km loop and finally four more laps of 11 km. There are four significant gravel sections on the 53 km lap that will have an impact on the race. The short laps are only slightly hilly, but there is one major climb in the middle of the long lap.

Current UCI Women’s World Tour leader Anna van der Breggen (1,127 points) is in the race, but there are six prior winners in the field:

Marianne Vos (NED) ~ Won in 2009 and 2013
Lotta Lepisto (FIN) ~ Defending champion
Emilia Fahlin (SWE) ~ Won in 2016
Kirsten Wild (NED) ~ Won in 2010
Chantal Blaak (NED) ~ Won in 2014
Jolien D’Hoore (BEL) ~ Won in 2015

Last year’s medalists – Lepisto, Vos and Canada’s Leah Kirchmann – all return for 2018. Coryn Rivera of the U.S., winner of The Women’s Tour in Great Britain, is the top American entry.

Look for results here.

Zabelinskaya wants to ride for Uzbekistan

By
Rich Perelman
-

“I don’t feel my age and I’m ready to fight for podium places in Tokyo. But you see what has been happening in Russian sport over the last two Olympic cycles.

“It all started in Rio [in 2016], then the situation only deteriorated in PyeongChang. I have a feeling that in Tokyo everything will be even worse. I’m 99 percent confident that my participation in the 2020 Olympics will be impossible under the Russian flag,”

That’s 38-year-old Russian cyclist Olga Zabelinskaya, a three-time Olympic medalist in the Time Trial (2012 bronze and 2016 silver) and the 2012 Road Race (bronze), in an interview with Russia’s Match TV.

So what now? Transfer to another country!

The Russian news service TASS reported Thursday that “A source in the Russian Cycling Federation disclosed to TASS also on Monday that Zabelinskaya had already submitted a request with the International Cycling Union (UCI) asking to be transferred to another national sports federation, namely the Cycling Federation of Uzbekistan.”

The Russian Cycling Federation was not impressed. Federation president Vyacheslav Ekimov told the RT news site that it has no interest in cooperating with her request. “Her decision appeared to be an unpleasant surprise for us and we don’t see it possible to approve Zabelinskaya’s intention to compete for another country.”

TASS noted that the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) confirmed Zabelinskaya’s transfer application. According to TASS, “The spokesman for the international organization added that in line with the UCI regulations the athlete will be unable to participate in the UCI World Championship neither this nor next year after changing the sports nationality.”

Uzbekistan’s opinion? They submitted Zabelinskaya’s name on their roster for the Asian Games in Indonesia, starting 18 August!

USADA survey: U.S. athletes believe doping is being better controlled

By
Rich Perelman
-
Researcher working with chemicals

In late July, the World Anti-Doping Agency released its 2017 report on testing that indicated a total of 1,682 adverse and atypical findings out of 205,405 tests of 0.82%. That’s a pretty low number, although certainly not perfect.

It turns out that U.S. athletes also think the anti-doping systems in the U.S. and elsewhere are generally good.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency shared the results of its own 2017 survey, in which 886 athletes who are part of the USADA testing pool, including Olympic-sport and Paralympic competitors, answered an online questionnaire anonymously and received a $20 gift card for participating. It was a long exercise, with 83 separate questions to be answered.

The survey did not have universal participation among the testing pool, but is a good indicator of attitudes and the athletes who did respond were firmly against doping and feel the situation has improved.

In fact, 89% answered “no” to the question of whether they know of anyone in their sport currently using performance-enhancing drugs. More highlights:

  • How many times have you been drug tested?

The largest number, 36%, replied between 1-5 times, but 31% had been tested more than 10 times. Only 4% had not been tested at all in their sports careers. Asked only about 2016, 72% replied they had been tested 1-5 times; there were 4% who said they were tested from 11-20 times!

  • Are athletes encouraged to “win at all costs”?

This was asked several ways. Asked if “commercial influences” promote this attitude, 28% said yes, but 42% said no and the rest didn’t feel there was pressure one way or the other. But asked if the “USOC and/or NGBs put pressure on elite athletes to win,” 65% agreed or strongly agreed, only 13% disagreed and the remainder were neutral.

  • Are others doping while U.S. athletes are not?

Interestingly, there was a question about whether athletes felt pressure to dope “because there isn’t a level playing field in my sport and I want to succeed,” and only 4% agreed with the statement. Some 86% disagreed or disagreed strongly, a tacit endorsement for the improved state of testing today.

In response to the question about whether other competitors in their sport used drugs, 21% said none and 75% said “Some” or “Very Few,” which is in line with the WADA report figures. Only 3% felt that “Most” of their competitors were doping.

But 35% felt foreign athletes were not tested “adequately” while 24% agreed and 41% had no opinion. And 61% of respondents felt that the USADA had improved its activities and programs in recent years.

  • Is doping harmful?

U.S. athletes scored pretty well here. Some 81% said anabolic steroids are harmful, 82% said narcotics were harmful and 73% were sure that hormone therapies like HGH (Human Growth Hormone) were harmful. However, 43% held that marijuana did no harm vs. 44% who said it did.

  • Why do you compete clean?

Very high numbers of respondents agreed that maintaining a positive reputation (95%) and avoiding shame (92%) are reasons to stay clean. But only 67% felt compelled to stay clean because if they did dope, they would be caught.

  • What would tempt you to start doping?

There were six questions on this topic and the overwhelming answer was “we’re not doping,” even if recommended by a coach (93% against), doctor (82% against), it if would help financially (83%) or if the chances of being caught were slim (90% against).

In fact, 45% of athletes responded to a question about the number of times they were willing to be tested as “Come and test me as many times as you want!” There were 36% who preferred about once a calendar quarter.

  • Should banned dopers be allowed to compete in future Olympic Games?

The athletes were pretty harsh on dopers. A total of 73% felt dopers should be excluded for all future Olympic Games if caught doping, with the preferences spread out on what length of ban would trigger a permanent exclusion. There were 20% who felt a doping violation of any kind merits permanent exclusion, 18% for bans between 6-18 months, 15% for bans of 2+ years and 20% for bans of 4+ years.

However, 27%, felt that once a ban is served, the athlete can return to competition as before.

A majority – 54% – said that current penalties for doping were “adequate,” while 20% found them weak and 13% felt they were severe.

  • What about supplements?

Supplements of varying kinds have been blamed for many doping positives and there seven pointed questions about supplement use. In six instances, the vast majority of respondents replied that these were not used. But on the question of vitamin, mineral or herbal supplements, 52% indicated they used them “frequently” and 33% said occasionally … that’s 85% in total.

  • Attitude toward failure

This was a really interesting closing set of five questions dealing with how the athlete feels when they are not succeeding. Will failure drive them towards doping?

Asked if their own failure made them believe others were doping, 63% disagreed and only 20% agreed. Asked if a lack of success made the athlete worry about “what others think of me,” 48% agreed and 32% disagreed.

The third question, about whether their failure disappointed “important people in my life,” 63% said no and only 19% said yes. And 41% said failure “upsets” their future plans, while 36% said that it did.

The final question was an important look into athlete perceptions of their success affecting how the public looks at them. Asked “When I am not succeeding, people are less interested in me,” 61% agreed or strongly agreed and only 22% disagreed; only 16% had no opinion.

So U.S. athletes get that winning – at some level – matters. But the overriding view of the athletes surveyed was that doping was something they wanted nothing to do with.

That’s good.

American drug positives continued to crop up, but if the survey is to be believed – and 886 is a statistically significant number – the culture has turned against doping.

That was not always the case, and it’s a positive development for the future. As always, where one problem appears to be receding, others are presented to take their place, like the sex abuse scandal.

Doping has been a scourge of Olympic sport for decades, and U.S. athletes were at the heart of it for many, many years. But as the WADA testing report and the USADA survey showed, perhaps the corner has been turned. Let’s hope so.

Rich Perelman
Editor

Grant Hochstein retires

By
Rich Perelman
-

American Grant Hochstein, a member of the U.S. World Championships team in 2016, announced his retirement from competitive skating last Friday (3rd).

“Skating has brought me such joy over the years and though I will no longer be competing, I will be able to shift my passion full time into coaching,” he said in a statement. “Staying involved in the sport is very important to me and I hope to share my experience and knowledge with the next generation of skaters.”

Hochstein finished as high as fourth in the U.S. Nationals in 2016 and 2017 and placed 10th at the 2016 World Championships. He also finished fifth in the World Junior Championships back in 2010. He was fifth in the 2018 U.S. Nationals.

More drama from Italy

By
Rich Perelman
-

More confusion from Italy on its bid for the 2026 Games, according to the GamesBids.com site. It quoted Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala as saying Thursday that he had been assured that the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) would “focus” on Milan as the center of its 2026 bid.

“Then, twenty-four hours before the choice [CONI President Giovanni Malago] explained to me that it was not possible to go on like this for political reasons.”

Instead, CONI announced a unique joint, three-city spread among Cortina d’Ampezzo, Milan and Turin without a traditional, single, host city.

“I think [the joint bid] is a botched solution,” said Sala. “I asked for a meeting immediately and I was told that we will see each other in September, so let’s wait. Together with the other mayors we’ll sit down and rebuild.”

Turin Mayor Chiara Appendino has voiced similar misgivings about the joint approach, saying that Turin ““will not be a crutch to other cities.”

In the meantime, the IOC is expected to extend formal invitations to actual bid cities during its Buenos Aires Session on 3-4 October. Tick, tock …

Commissions named

By
Rich Perelman
-

Further to Wednesday’s Lane One column on the invisibility of IOC in the public debate about the future of the Games, especially in potential bid cities, you might ask: so what do IOC members do?

One of the things they do is sit on commissions. The IOC released its new commission assignments, trumpeting that women now occupy 42.7% of all positions on the 26 different groups.

There are 26 commissions? On what? Here is the full list, including working groups on Olympic Education, Athletes’ Entourage, Sport and Active Society, Sustainability and Legacy and five coordination commissions for future Olympic, Winter and Youth Olympic Games.

The three U.S. members of the IOC have the following assignments:

Anita DeFrantz: (5) Legal, Olympic Channel, Coordination Commission/Tokyo 2020, Women in Sport (Honorary appointment), Finance
Larry Probst: (1) Digital & Technology
Kikkan Randall: (2) Athletes, Women in Sport

USADA survey: U.S. athletes believe doping is being better controlled

By
Rich Perelman
-
Researcher working with chemicals

TSX HEADLINES – for August 10, 2018: There was a time when, sadly, American athletes were at the forefront of doping in Olympic sports. But things have changed.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency just released the results of an 83-question survey from 2017, in which nearly 900 U.S. athletes who are part of the USADA drug-testing pool gave their opinions on testing procedures, supplements, penalties and how it feels to fail.

The results are fascinating and line up to some extent with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s recent report on testing results for 2017. It’s a unique snapshot of the anti-doping effort and a turn in the culture of Olympic-sport athletes.

Get the details in our Lane One commentary, plus the end of the European Championships in swimming and the start of the Pan-Pacific Championships in Tokyo:

(1) THE BIG PICTURE: A triple-Olympic medalist in cycling thinks Russia will be banned or restricted from competing in 2020 and now wants to compete for Uzbekistan … two weeks from now!

(2) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Marvelous European Swimming Champs have concluded with two world records, 12 new world-leading marks and three athletes who won four gold medals each; we have the details!

(3) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: If you think Norway’s 400 m Hurdles World Champion Karsten Warholm was discouraged by losing his first five Diamond League races this season, check out what he did in Berlin!

(4) SOFTBALL: The defending champion U.S. women’s team and host Japan both finished group play undefeated and are on a collision course in the World Softball Championships playoffs!

(5) SWIMMING: Big opening day for the U.S. in the Pan-Pacific Championships in Tokyo with five wins in nine events, 11 medals in all and a world-leading 400 m Medley from Chase Kalisz!

This issue includes ON DECK previews of Cycling ~ Judo ~ Taekwondo, SCOREBOARD reports on the European Championships (Swimming, Athletics and Cycling) ~ Cycling ~ Softball ~ Swimming, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

USADA survey: U.S. athletes believe doping is being better controlled

By
Rich Perelman
-
Researcher working with chemicals

[wpdm_package id=5497 template=”5a3caadf84efa”]

TSX HEADLINES – for August 10, 2018: There was a time when, sadly, American athletes were at the forefront of doping in Olympic sports. But things have changed.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency just released the results of an 83-question survey from 2017, in which nearly 900 U.S. athletes who are part of the USADA drug-testing pool gave their opinions on testing procedures, supplements, penalties and how it feels to fail.

The results are fascinating and line up to some extent with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s recent report on testing results for 2017. It’s a unique snapshot of the anti-doping effort and a turn in the culture of Olympic-sport athletes.

Get the details in our Lane One commentary, plus the end of the European Championships in swimming and the start of the Pan-Pacific Championships in Tokyo:

(1) THE BIG PICTURE: A triple-Olympic medalist in cycling thinks Russia will be banned or restricted from competing in 2020 and now wants to compete for Uzbekistan … two weeks from now!

(2) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Marvelous European Swimming Champs have concluded with two world records, 12 new world-leading marks and three athletes who won four gold medals each; we have the details!

(3) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: If you think Norway’s 400 m Hurdles World Champion Karsten Warholm was discouraged by losing his first five Diamond League races this season, check out what he did in Berlin!

(4) SOFTBALL: The defending champion U.S. women’s team and host Japan both finished group play undefeated and are on a collision course in the World Softball Championships playoffs!

(5) SWIMMING: Big opening day for the U.S. in the Pan-Pacific Championships in Tokyo with five wins in nine events, 11 medals in all and a world-leading 400 m Medley from Chase Kalisz!

This issue includes ON DECK previews of Cycling ~ Judo ~ Taekwondo, SCOREBOARD reports on the European Championships (Swimming, Athletics and Cycling) ~ Cycling ~ Softball ~ Swimming, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

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.

As the IOC tackles its problems, its members are invisible

By
Rich Perelman
-

TSX HEADLINES – for August 8, 2018: When the International Olympic Committee decided it needed to speak directly to the people of Calgary about its potential bid for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, it sent two of its senior staff from Lausanne.

Fine, except where were any of Canada’s three members of the IOC?

Same in the U.S. When the House of Representatives and the Senate held a combined four hearings about the sex abuse scandal in Olympic sport in the U.S., none of the three U.S. members of the IOC were seen or heard from.

If the IOC is going to get out of its current mess, where more and more cities are uninterested in hosting the Games, it will be its actual membership to stop being invisible. Will the IOC step up and train its members to lead the charge?

Get the details in our Lane One commentary, plus a lot of action going on at the European Championships in Glasgow and Berlin:

(1) THE BIG PICTURE: Japan is so worried about Tokyo’s summer heat for the 2020 Games that it is thinking of changing the actual time of day!

(2) SWIMMING: An important step for American swimmers who want to make the 2019 World Championships team is the Pan-Pacific Championships in Tokyo this week. Check the workload that the top U.S. swimmers have signed up for …

(3) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Now a total of eight world leaders in the Euro Swimming Champs in Glasgow; will the Pan-Pacs be as good?

(4) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Sensational British sprinting in Berlin, including an equal-world leader in the women’s 100 m by Dina Asher-Smith, the first British women’s 100 m Euro Champ in 56 years!

(5) CYCLING: The 2018 USA Cycling Track Nationals looked a lot like the 2017 edition, with eight repeat winners and a three-gold medal performance from Jennifer Valente!

This issue includes ON DECK previews of Archery ~ Beach Volleyball ~ Swimming; SCOREBOARD reports on the European Championships (Swimming and Athletics) ~ Cycling ~ Diving ~ Golf ~ Modern Pentathlon, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

As the IOC tackles its problems, its members are invisible

By
Rich Perelman
-

[wpdm_package id=5458 template=”5a3caadf84efa”]

TSX HEADLINES – for August 8, 2018: When the International Olympic Committee decided it needed to speak directly to the people of Calgary about its potential bid for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, it sent two of its senior staff from Lausanne.

Fine, except where were any of Canada’s three members of the IOC?

Same in the U.S. When the House of Representatives and the Senate held a combined four hearings about the sex abuse scandal in Olympic sport in the U.S., none of the three U.S. members of the IOC were seen or heard from.

If the IOC is going to get out of its current mess, where more and more cities are uninterested in hosting the Games, it will be its actual membership to stop being invisible. Will the IOC step up and train its members to lead the charge?

Get the details in our Lane One commentary, plus a lot of action going on at the European Championships in Glasgow and Berlin:

(1) THE BIG PICTURE: Japan is so worried about Tokyo’s summer heat for the 2020 Games that it is thinking of changing the actual time of day!

(2) SWIMMING: An important step for American swimmers who want to make the 2019 World Championships team is the Pan-Pacific Championships in Tokyo this week. Check the workload that the top U.S. swimmers have signed up for …

(3) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Now a total of eight world leaders in the Euro Swimming Champs in Glasgow; will the Pan-Pacs be as good?

(4) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Sensational British sprinting in Berlin, including an equal-world leader in the women’s 100 m by Dina Asher-Smith, the first British women’s 100 m Euro Champ in 56 years!

(5) CYCLING: The 2018 USA Cycling Track Nationals looked a lot like the 2017 edition, with eight repeat winners and a three-gold medal performance from Jennifer Valente!

This issue includes ON DECK previews of Archery ~ Beach Volleyball ~ Swimming; SCOREBOARD reports on the European Championships (Swimming and Athletics) ~ Cycling ~ Diving ~ Golf ~ Modern Pentathlon, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

[wpdm_package id=5458 template=”link-template-button-popup.php”]

Run phase decides National Junior Champions

By
Rich Perelman
-

Fielding Fischer and Gillian Cridge literally ran away from their rivals to win the 2018 USA Triathlon National Junior Championships at the Voice of America Park in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Fischer led out of the water by 20 seconds, but was caught during the bike phase, but put the hammer down in the 5 km run to win bu 20 seconds over Luis Ortiz.

Cridge was sixth after the swim, but was part of the lead group during the bike phase and then gained her advantage during the run to win by 13 seconds.

USA Triathlon held both Youth and Junior events in West Chester, with competitions for athletes aa young as six! Medalists:

USA Triathlon National Junior Championships
West Chester, Pennsylvania (USA) ~ 4-5 August 2018.
(Full results here)

Men (750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run): 1. Fielding Fischer, 56:16; 2. Luis Ortiz, 56:36; 3. Drew Shellenberger, 57:35.

Women: 1. Gillian Cridge, 1:01:29; 2. Parker Albright, 1:01:42; 3. Paige Horner, 1:01:55.

Tuggle wins three at National Junior Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

Just a few days after the U.S. Nationals concluded at the Woollett Aquatic Center in Irvine, California, the Speedo Junior Nationals were held, with five different athletes winning two or more events:

  • Andrei Minakov (RUS) ~ Men’s 100 m Free, 100 m Fly
  • Jake Magahey ~ Men’s 400-800 m Frees
  • Claire Tuggle ~ Women’s 400 m Free, 200-400 m Medleys plus third in the 200 m Free
  • Alexandra Crisera ~ Women’s 100-200 m Back, plus second in the 50 m Free
  • Kensey McMahon ~ Women’s 800-1,500 m Free, plus second in the 400 m Free

Mention should also be made of the impressive performance of the Foster brothers from Ohio, who won a combined seven medals! Carson Foster won the 200 m Medley and collected silvers in the 100-200 m Backstrokes, while Jake Foster won the 200-400 m Medleys and bronze medals in the 100-200 m Breaststrokes.

The high-point honors for the meet went to Tuggle (76) for the women and to Alexei Sancov and Jake Mitchell (67) for the men. All athletes were 18 years old or younger on the date of competition; summaries:

USA Swimming National Junior Championships
Irvine, California (USA) ~ 31 July-4 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men
50 m Freestyle: 1. Coco Bratanov, 22.60; 2. Andrei Minakov (RUS), 22.77; 3. Adam Chaney, 22.87.
100 m Free: 1. Minakov (RUS), 49.06; 2. Alexei Sancov, 49.58; 3. Matthew Willenbring, 50.57.
200 m Free: 1. Sancov, 1:47.75; 2. Julian Hill, 1:49.29; 3. Skyler Cook-Weeks, 1:50.95.
400 m Free: 1. Jake Magahey, 3:52.32; 2. Jake Mitchell, 3:52.88; 3. Hill, 3:55.02.
800 m Free: 1. Magahey, 8:03.71; 2. Ivan Puskovitch, 8:07.78; 3. Mitchell, 8:08.87.
1,500 m Free: 1. Puskovitch, 15:31.28; 2. Thomas Bretzmann, 15:33.26; 3. Mitchell, 15:36.21.

100 m Backstroke: 1. Will Grant, 55.02; 2. Carson Foster, 55.54; 3. Keegan Walsh, 56.28.
200 m Back: 1. Ethan Harder, 1:59.07; 2. C. Foster, 1:59.74; 3. Grant, 1:59.95.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Joshua Matheny, 1:01.06; 2. Josh Bottelberghe, 1:02.05; 3. Jake Foster, 1:02.22.
200 m Breast: 1. A.J. Pouch, 2:12.52; 2. Matheny, 2:12.69; 3. J. Foster, 2:13.76.

100 m Butterfly: 1. Minakov (RUS), 51.88; 2. Sancov, 53.28; 3. River Wright, 53.63.
200 m Fly: 1. Harry Homans, 2:00.29; 2. Zachary Smith, 2:00.36; 3. Ben Miller, 2:00.70.

200 m Medley: 1. Carson Foster, 2:01.14; 2. Jake Foster, 2:02.55; 3. Andrew Winton, 2:03.50.
400 m Medley: 1. Jason Louser, 4:18.59; 2. J. Foster, 4:20.20; 3. Kevin Vargas, 4:20.31.

Women
50 m Freestyle: 1. Christiana Regenauer, 25.73; 2. Alexandra Crisera, 25.77; 3. Emma Wheal, 25.84.
100 m Free: 1. Regenauer, 55.59; 2. Samantha Pearson, 55.,65; 3. Amalie Fackenthal, 56.36.
200 m Free: 1. Erin Gemmell, 2:00.74; 2. Miranda Heckman, 2:00.77; 3. Claire Tuggle, 2:00.80.
400 m Free: 1. Tuggle, 4:10.11; 2. Kensey McMahon, 4:10.46; 3. Kaitlynn Sims, 4:13.37.
800 m Free: 1. McMahon, 8:37.45; 2. Easop Lee, 8:42.78; 3. Paige McKenna, 8:45.51.
1,500 m Free: 1. McMahon, 16:32.94; 2. McKenna, 16:39.96; 3. McCulloh, 16:43.40.

100 m Backstroke: 1. Crisera, 1:00.89; 2. Annabel Crush, 1:00.90; 3. Abby Kapeller, 1:01.68.
200 m Back: 1. Crisera, 2:12.52; 2. Mara Newman, 2:13.21; 3. Kylee Alons, 2:13.54.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Kaitlyn Dobler, 1:08.90; 2. Olivia Calegan, 1:09.10; 3. Ellie Andrews, 1:09.12.
200 m Breast: 1. Anna Keating, 2:28.44; 2. Isabelle Odgers, 2:29.44; 3. Claire Donan, 2:30.67.

100 m Butterfly: 1. Coleen Gillilan, 59.01; 2. Claire Curzan, 59.85; 3. Justina Kozan, 59.89.
200 m Fly: 1. Kozan, 2:10.83; 2. Amanda Ray, 2:10.87; 3. Grace Sheble, 2:12.72.

200 m Medley: 1. Tuggle, 2:15.02; 2. Sheble, 2:15.80; 3. Isabel Gormley, 2:17.19.
400 m Medley: 1. Tuggle, 4:44.91; 2. Gormley, 4:45.06; 3. Sheble, 4:46.97.

Dutch defend Women’s World Cup title, 6-0

By
Rich Perelman
-

The real championship game came in the semifinals of the 2018 FIH women’s World Cup as the last two undefeated teams – Netherlands and Australia – battled for the right to advance to Sunday’s title match.

The Dutch were 4-0-0 and Australia was 2-0-2 going in and the two sides had battled in the finals of the 1990, 2006 and 2014 World Cups, with the Netherlands winning each time.

The game was a tense battle as expected and ended in a 1-1 tie, so penalties were required to find a winner. After Frederique Matla (NED) and Kristina Bats (AUS) scored on the first tries, the next four attempts were foiled and the Xan de Waard (NED) set up for the fourth Dutch try. She scored to take a 2-1 lead and after an Australian miss, Lidewij Welten scored for a 3-1 lead to clinch the win.

The other semifinal also went to penalties, as Ireland and Spain played to a 1-1 tie in regulation time. The shoot-out was 1-1 after three shots apiece and 2-2 after two more rounds. In the sixth round, Spain’s Georgina Oliva missed and Ireland’s Gillian Pinder converted to send the Irish to their first-ever World Cup final.

That was about all the excitement that was left in the tournament. In the final, Welten scored for the Dutch in the seventh minute, followed by Kelly Jonker in the 19th and Kitty van Male in the 28th for a 3-0 lead and the issue was decided. The Dutch had a 4-0 lead at half and cruised home without giving up a goal in the second half, adding two for a 6-0 final.

Spain beat Australia, 3-1, for the bronze.

The tournament awards went to:

Vitality Best Player: Lidewij Welten (NED)
Best Goalkeeper: Ayeisha McFerran (IRL)
Young Player: Lucina von der Hyde (ARG)
Hero Top Scorer: Kitty van Male (NED: 8)

This is the 14th women’s World Cup and the Dutch have now won eight times and three of the last four (also in 2006 and 2014). It was the first medal ever for both Ireland and Spain.

Gluckstein wins first World Cup medal in Maebashi

By
Rich Perelman
-

A milestone performance for five-time American Trampoline champion Jeffrey Gluckstein came in the third FIG Trampoline World Cup of the season, where he won a silver medal at Maebashi, Japan.

Competing in a field which included two-time World Champion Lei Gao (CHN), 2016 Olympic gold medalist Uladzislau Hancharou (BLR) and 2015 Worlds bronze winner Andrey Yudin (RUS), Gluckstein scored 58.960 to edge Mikita Ilyinykh (BLR) for the silver behind Gao. Hancharou finished fifth and Yudin was eighth.

It’s Gluckstein’s first-ever World Cup medal; his highest prior finish was fifth in Minsk (BLR) last year. Summaries:

FIG Trampoline World Cup
Maebashi (JPN) ~ 3-4 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men 1. Lei Gao (CHN), 61.365; 2. Jeffrey Gluckstein (USA), 58.960; 3. Mikita Ilyinykh (BLR), 58.650.
Men’s Synchro: 1. Dong Dong/Xiao Tu (CHN), 53.350; 2. Uladzislau Hancharou/Aleh Rabtsau (BLR), 52.500; 3. Teis Petersen/Benjamin Kjaer (DEN), 48.650. Also: 8. Paul Bretscher/Cody Gesuelli (USA), 15.650, retired.

Women: 1. Xueying Zhu (CHN), 57.330; 2. Qianqi Lin (CHN), 57.095; 3. Yana Pavlova (RUS), 56.510.
Women’s Synchro: 1. Valiantsina Bahamolava/Anhelina Khatsian (BLR), 48.250; 2. Kira Ward/Eva Kierath (AUS), 47.550; 3. Susana Kochesok/Iana Lebedeva (RUS), 47.300.

Four repeat winners at U.S. Track Cycling Nationals

By
Rich Perelman
-

Four of USA Cycling’s 2017 national champions made it to the top step of the podium at the 2018 national track championships at the VELO Sports Center velodrome at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

World Team Pursuit gold medalist Jennifer Valente repeated her win in the Omnium as did men’s Omnium winner Daniel Holloway; Ashton Lambie won again in the 4 km Individual Pursuit, and Madalyn Godoy triumphed in the Keirin.

The championships continue through Tuesday (7th). Summaries so far (no times or other details available yet:

USA Cycling National Track Championships
Carson, California (USA) ~ 4-7 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men
Sprint: 1. Sandor Delgado; 2. Joe Christiansen; 3. James Mellen; 4. James Alvord.
Indiv. Pursuit: 1. Ashton Lambie; 2. John Croom; 3. Gavin Hoover; 4. Samuel O’Brien; 5. Colby Lange; 6. Mac Cassin; 7. Cade Bickmore; 8. Chris Carlson.
Omnium: 1. Daniel Holloway; 2. Shane Kline; 3. Ashton Lambie; 4. Zachary Kovakcik; 5. Adrian Hegyvary; 6. Colby Lange; 7. Zachary Carlson; 8. Justin Butsavage.

Women
Indiv. Pursuit: 1. Jennifer Wheeler, 3:44.396; 2. Molly van Houweling, 3:52.163; 3. Chelsea Knapp, 3:54.655; 4. Alijah Beatty; 5. Jessica Chong; 6. Chelsea Knapp; 7. Joy Franco; 8. Rebecca Martz.
Keirin: 1. Madalyn Godby; 2. Mandy Marquardt; 3. Allyson Wasielewski; 4. Kyo Mars; 5. Sidney Richardson; 6. Janelly Prieto; 7. Andrea Fisk.
Omnium: 1. Jennifer Valente; 2. Kimberly Geist; 3. Christina Birch; 4. Colleen Gulick; 5. Eva Burke; 6. Sawyer Taylor; 7. Chelsea Knapp; 8. Jennifer Wilson.

Ackermann sweeps first stages in Tour de Pologne

By
Rich Perelman
-

Germany’s Pascal Ackermann is on a roll, winning three UCI World Tour races in a row: the RideLondon-Surrey Classic and now the first two stages of the 75th Tour de Pologne.

Ackermann won both of the Tour stages in final sprints and leads the overall race by eight seconds over Colombia’s Alvaro Hodeg. There are 128 riders within 20 seconds of the lead, so look for the Tour to take shape on the hilly stages later in the week, especially Stage 4 on Tuesday.

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: 06 August Stadion Slaski to Zabrze (140.0 km)
Stage 4: 07 August Jaworzno to Szczyrk (179.0 km)
Stage 5: 08 August: Kopalnia Soli to Bielsko-Biala (152.0 km)
Stage 6: 09 August: Zakopane to Bukovina (129.0 km)
Stage 7: 10 August: Bukowvina Resort to Bukowina Tatrzanska (136 km)

Alaphilippe wins sprint for San Sebastian title

By
Rich Perelman
-

Even with severe pile-ups, races go on and the Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian is a good example.

With just 20 km left in the 228.7 km race, there was a mass crash that caused substantial injuries to favorites including Spain’s Mikel Landa and Colombia’s Egan Bernal, both of whom had to be removed by medical personnel.

But the riding went on and over the final climb came a breakaway from France’s Julian Alaphilippe and 2016 champion Bauke Mollema (NED) that no one else could match. Alaphilippe sprinted away for the win with 500 m to go and Mollema had to settle for a full set of medals: gold in 2016, bronze in 2017 and silver in 2018. Summary:

UCI World Tour/Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian
San Sebastian (ESP) ~ 4 August 2018.
(Full results here)

Final Standings (228.7 km): 1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA), 6:03:45; 2. Bauke Mollema (NED), 6:03.45; 3. Anthony Roux (FRA), 6:04:01; 4. Greg van Avermaet (BEL), 6:04:01; 5. Julien Simon (FRA), 6:04:01; 6. Rigoberto Uran (COL), 6:04:01; 7. Ion Izagirre (ESP), 6:04:01; 8. Robert Gesink (NED), 6:04:01; 9. Steven Kruijswijk (NED), 6:04:01; 10. Antwan Tolhoek (NED), 6:04:01.

Eight stars rule ACA Sprint Nationals

By
Rich Perelman
-

Hundreds of races in Bantam, Juvenile, Junior, Seniors and Masters divisions were run in the first U.S. Canoe Sprint Nationals run under the supervision of the American Canoe Association, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from 1-4 August.

In the senior division, eight athletes dominated the Canoe and Kayak divisions:

  • Men’s C-1: Ken Kasperbauer won the C-1 200 m and 500 m and silvers in the 1,000 m and 5,000 m, while Gavin Ross won the C-1 1,000 m and 5,000 m races.
  • Men’s K-1: Stanton Collins took the K-1 200 m and 500 m sprints, while Alexander Lee won the 1,000 m and 5,000 m races.
  • Women’s C-1: Nevin Harrison was the best sprinter at 200 m and 500 m, but Ann Armstrong won four individual medals, taking the 5,000 m race and silvers in the 200 m, 500 m and 1,000 m.
  • Women’s K-1: Sammie Barlow won the 500 m and 1,000 m races, plus silver in the 200 m and 5,000 m, while Kaitlyn McElroy won the 200 m and 5,000 m, and was silver medalist in the 500 m and 1,000 m.

The C-2, C-4, K-2 and K-4 races mostly featured these stars, paired with others in varying combinations and permutations. Kasperbauer won three more golds, Collins and Lee two more among the men; Harrison won two more golds in combination races, Barlow won four more and McElroy two more. Summaries:

ACA National Sprint Championships
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (USA):
1-4 August 2018.
(Full results here)

Men
C-1/200 m: 1. Ken Kasperbauer, 44.096; 2. Gavin Ross, 46.050; 3. Andrew Field, 46.485; 4. Mike Grachev, 57.662; 5. Luke Guenther, 1:59.701.
C-1/500 m: 1. Kasperbauer, 2:01.133; 2. Field, 2:08.921; 3. Ross, 2:13.953; 4. Zachary Guay, 2:16.665; 5. Grachev, 2:20.609; 6. Guenther, 4:17.558.
C-1/1,000 m: 1. Ross, 4:25.224; 2. Kasperbauer, 4:25.748; 3. Field, 4:57.336; 4. Aaron Dickson, 5:04.800.
C-1/5,000 m: 1. Ross, 23:00.708; 2. Kasperbauer, 23:46.696; 3. Field, 25:27.625.

C-2/200 m: 1. A. Field/K. Kasperbauer, 42.921; 2. B. Rhodes/G. Ross, 52.690; 3. A. Mullican/S. Collins, 56.177 (only entrants).
C-2/1,000 m: 1. J. Grady/E. Surles, 4:09.415; 2. A. Field/K. Kasperbauer, 4:24.291; 3. G. Ross/A. Story, 4:57.254 (only entrants).

C-4/500 m: 1. C. Sexton/B. Anderson/A. Saleh/K. Kasperbauer, 1:57.590; 2. M. Grachev/G. Ross/S. Andrew/B. Rhodes, 2:06.630 (only entrants).
C-4/1,000 m: 1. J. Grady/K. Kasperbauer/ B. Gregory/A. Field, 4:09.689; 2. E. Goldwaite/G. Ross/M. Grachev/B. Rhodes, 4:41.416.

K-1/200 m: 1. Stanton Collins, 37.873; 2. Aaron Mullican, 38.525; 3. Miles Cross-Whiter, 38.606; 4. Alexander Lee, 39.413; 5. Nate Errez, 40.178; 6. Jonathan Espinosa, 40.909; 7. Jesse Lishchuk, 41.097; 8. Thom Crockett, 42.063.
K-1/500 m: 1. Collins, 1:46.543; 2. Cross-Whiter, 1:47.223; 3. Lee, 1:47.567; 4. Lishchuk, 1:48.167; 5. Mullican, 1:48.363; 6. Owen Farley-Klacik, 1:50.281; 7. Crockett, 1:50.417; 8. Errez, 1:50.645.
K-1/1,000 m: 1. Lee, 3:53.941; 2. Lishchuk, 3:54.681; 3. Errez, 3:58.793; 4. Tim Burdiak, 3:59.647; 5. Humbertson, 4:01.221; 6. Zachary Alva, 4:03.423; 7. Crockett, 4:03.607; 8. Cross-Whiter, 4:06.045.
K-1/5,000 m: 1. Lee, 19:15.869; 2. Mullican, 19:16.149; 3. Humbertson, 19:28.389; 4. Burdiak, 20:17.080; 5. S. Collins, 20:39.735; 6. Crockett, 20:44.871; 7. Michael Miller, 20:53.693; 8. Austin Schwinn, 22:15.679.

K-2/200 m: 1. S. Collins/A. Mullican, 34.918; 2. M. Cross-Whiter/A. Lee, 35.453; 3. K. Wilding/M. Whitcomb, 38.101; 4. N. Errez/T. Crockett, 38.130; 5. S. Barlow/T. Burdiak, 40.573; 6. R. Phillips/M. Miller, 41.414; 7. W. Reavley/Z. Alva, 45.787; 8. E. Palmer/N. Miller, 47.324.
K-2/5,000 m: 1. K. Wilding/N. Whitcomb, 19:26.849; 2. S. Barlow/N. Errez, 19:29.615; 3. J. Espinosa/R. Phillips, 19:33.413; 4. M. Herbert/S. Herbert, 21:17.355; (only entrants).
K-2/1,000 m: 1. M. Cross-Whiter/A. Lee, 3:29.113; 2. A. Mullican/S. Collins, 3:33.026; 3. T. Crockett/N. Errez, 3:41.711; 4. N. Whitcomb/K. Wilding, 3:43.586; 5. S. Barlow/T. Burdiak, 3:47.433; 6. N. Humbertson/E. Palmer, 3:54.637; 7. Z. Alva/W. Reavley, 4:02.323.

K-4/500 m: 1. O. Farley-Klacik/A. Surles/A. Mullican/S. Collins, 1:30.881; 2. J. Lishchuk/A. Lee/M. Cross-Whiter/W. Reavley, 1:33.713; 3. N. Errez/T. Crockett/E. Truesdale/T. Burdiak, 1:36.039; 4. S. Barlow/J. Espinosa/R. Phillips/M. Miller, 1:40.670; 5. P. Jenkins/S. Talbert/K. Wilding/N. Whitcomb, 1:41.018; 6. M. Riszkiewicz/J. DePalma/T. Goetz/Z. Alva, 2:06.978 (only finalists).
K-4/1,000 m: 1. J. Lishchuk/A. Lee/M. Cross-Whiter/W. Reavley, 3:16.740; 2. T. Burdiak/E. Truesdale/T. Crockett/N. Errez, 3:17.804; 3. Z. Alva/J. Adelberg/E. Palmer/N. Humbertson, 3:27.094; 4. K. Wilding/N. Whitcomb/A. Schwinn/Z. Guay, 3:28.050; 5. M. Miller/R. Phillips/J. Espinosa/S. Barlow, 3:31.634 (only entrants).

Women
C-1/200 m: 1. Nevin Harrison, 50.671; 2. Ann Armstrong, 51.815; 3. Andreea Ghizila, 53.573; 4. Kaley Martin, 57.156; 5. Azura Murphy, 57.967; 6. Lia Gaetano, 1:01.513; 7. Hana Neutz, 1:01.986; 8. Carson Walter, 1:02.297.
C-1/500 m: 1. Harrison, 2:24.299; 2. Armstrong, 2:32.966; 3. Gaetano, 2:37.312; 4. Murphy, 2:39.902; 5. Martin, 2:41.328; 6. Neutz, 2:52.886; 7. Anna Martinson, 2:56.078; 8. Delaney Valentine, 3:50.198.
C-1/1,000 m: 1. Gaetano, 5:10.721; 2. Armstrong, 5:12.997; 3. Martoin, 5:18.444; 4. Murphy, 5:18.472; 5. Neutz, 5:54.654; 6. Martinson, 6:04.798; 7. Valentine, 7:21.315 (only entrants).
C-1/5,000 m: 1. Armstrong, 26:56.808; 2. Martin, 28:17.306; 3. Martinson, 31:42.647; 4. Valentine, 41:33.499 (only entrants).

C-2/200 m: 1. H. Neutz/A. Murphy, 53.072; 2. L. Gaetano/A. Ghizila, 53.473; 3. K. Martin/P. Farley-Klacik, 58.932; 4. D. Valentine/A. Martinson, 1:38.632 (only entrants).
C-2/500 m: 1. L. Gaetano/Ghizila, 2:20.208; 2. A. Murphy/H. Neutz, 2:25.190; 3. P. Farley-Klacik/K. Martin, 2:29.902; 4. C. Walter/A. Martinson, 2:33.646; 5. A Armstrong/D. Valentine, 2:49.493 (only finalists).
C-2/5,000 m: 1. N. Harrison/H. Neutz, 23:34.460; 2. M. Jacobsen/Z. Hein, 27:38.348 (only entrants).

C-4/500 m: 1. A. Martinson/A. Murphy/N. Harrison/H. Neutz, 2:15.920; 2. H. Schuette/K. Rhodes/B. Schuette/A. Armstrong, 2:18.164; 3. L. Borm/D. Borm/M. Long/C. Stow, 2:36.948; 4. R. Coffey/M. McMullen/A. Morse/C. Gall, 3:12.382 (only entrants).

K-1/200 m: 1. Kaitlyn McElroy, 46.541; 2. Sammie Barlow, 47.832; 3. Mira Carrao, 49.951; 4. Alyson Morse, 49.971; 5. Danielle Borm, 50.664; 6. Leilani Borm, 50.939; 7. Courtney Stow, 52.668; 8. Bria Cornforth, 52.679.
K-1/500 m: 1. Barlow, 2:01.036; 2. McElroy, 2:01.352; 3. L. Borm, 2:12.388; 4. Renae Jackson, 2:12.408; 5. Carrao, 2:18.226; 6. D. Borm, 2:19.214; 7. Cornforth, 2:21.477; 8. Stow, 2:21.792.
K-1/1,000 m: 1. Barlow, 4:25.976; 2. McElroy, 4:30.232; 3. Jackson, 4:38.207; 4. Corrao, 4:55.552; 5. D. Borm, 4:58.529; 6. L. Borm, 4:59.094; 7. Cornforth, 5:06.632; 8. Alessia Faverio, 5:06.682.
K-1/5,000 m: 1. McElroy, 20:44.736; 2. Barlow, 20:53.698; 3. Jackson, 22:22.421; 4. Cornforth, 22:36.047; 5. L. Borm, 22:55.675; 6. Corrao, 23:15.958; 7. Farran Smith, 23:43.028; 8. Stow, 23:46.601.

K-2/200 m: 1. K. McElroy/S. Barlow, 44.654; 2. C. Stow/M. Carrao, 48.599; 3. A. Morse/C. Gall, 51.552; 4. R. Jackson/M. Long, 52.613; 5. K. Rhodes/K. McNamee, 53.114; 6. F. Smith/A. Blanchard, 53.247; 7. L. Benedict/A. Allison, 1:04.043 (only finalists).
K-2/500 m: 1. K. McElroy/S. Barlow, 1:56.829; 2. C. Stow/M. Corrao, 2:06.120; 3. M. Long/R. Jackson, 2:10.278; 4. F. Smith/A. Blanchard, 2:14.904; 5. L. Benedict/A. Allison, 2:34.776 (only entrants).

K-4/500 m: 1. M. Corrao/S. Barlow/L. Borm/D. Borm, 1:53.564; 2. B. Cornforth/M. Long/R. Jackson/C. Stow, 1:59.836; 3. A. Blanchard/K. Scholz/M. Bowmar/F. Smith, 2:02.604; 4. K. Ilcheva/I. Alberola/C. Gall/A. Morse, 2:07.513; 5. K. McNamee/L. Ramm/K. Rhodes/E. Rhodes, 2:07.809; (only entrants).
K-4/1,000 m: 1. M. Corrao/D. Borm/L. Borm/S. Barlow, 3:51.096; 2. B. Cornforth/R. Jackson/M. Long/C. Shaw, 4:02.072; 3. Eli Holmes/K. McNamee/L. Ramm/K. Rhodes, 4:10.293; 4. C. Colburn/F. Smith/K. Scholz/A. Blanchard, 4:16.519 (only entrants).

Surprise winners in Vienna Major

By
Rich Perelman
-

Who are these guys?

While the results of the FIVB World Tour Vienna Major were not a complete shock, very few would have expected to see Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum or Czechs Barbora Hermannova and Marketa Slukova on the top step of the podium in Vienna (AUT).

This was the final 5-star tournament of the 2018 season and all the big stars were on the sand. In the men’s tournament, Mol and Sorum had proved their class by winning the previous World Tour Major in Gstaad (SUI) in mid-July and rose that momentum through the Vienna tournament and have now won 12 straight World Tour matches.

They defeated first-time World Tour medalists Michal Bryl and Grzegorz Fijalek in the final, 21-12, 21-17 and combined with their European Championships win a couple of weeks ago, have now won three straight major tournaments. Are they the favorites now for the World Tour Final in Hamburg (GER) starting on 14 August?

In the women’s tournament, Hermannova and Slukova similarly won the 4-star Ostrava (CZE) Open in June before an adoring home crowd and had risen to no. 6 in the world rankings. But in Vienna, they had to overcome three-time World Tour winners Barbara Seixas and Fernanda Alves of Brazil.

The Czechs lost the first set badly, 21-10, but roared back to win with 21-16 and 15-12 victories in the final two sets. “It’s definitely the biggest victory of our careers,” said Slukova, who had an injured shoulder throughout the tournament. “It’s so amazing to play in front of such a country and bring the gold medal home, especially after how the game started. We started so badly.

“We couldn’t find each other in setting and really didn’t have counter attacks. We thought we were really embarrassing ourselves and this definitely wasn’t the way we wanted to end the tournament. We had our problems but we really stuck together and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

There were also surprises in the bronze medal matches. Two weeks after winning the European Championships as a 15th seed, Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink (NED) are suddenly World Tour Final contenders after taking third in Vienna and Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan won their first World Tour medals by beating fifth-seeded Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen (NED). Summaries:

FIVB World Tour Major
Vienna (AUT) ~ 31 July-05 August 2018.
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Anders Mol/Christian Sorum (NOR) 3; 2. Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek (POL) 14; 3. Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan (QAT) 24; 4. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (NED) 5. Semis: Mol/Sorum d. Brouwer/ Meeuwsen, 2-0; Bryl/Fijalek d. Cherif/Ahmed Tijan, 2-0. Third: Cherif/Ahmed Tijan d. Brouwer/Meeuwsen, 2-1. Final: Mol/Sorum d. Bryl/Fijalek, 2-0 (21-12, 21-17).

Women: 1. Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova (CZE); 2. Barbara Seixas/Fernanda Alves (BRA); 3. Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink (NED); 4. Maria Antonelli/Carol Salgado (BRA). Semis: Hermannova/Slukova d. Maria Antonelli/Carol, 2-0; Barbara/Fernanda d. Keizer/Meppelink, 2-0. Third: Keizer/Meppelink d. Maria Antonelli/Carol, 2-0. Final: Hermannova/Slukova d. Barbara/Fernanda, 2-1 (10-21, 21-16, 15-12).

Momota and Marin make history at Badminton Worlds

By
Rich Perelman
-

The names were familiar, but perhaps their stories were not, as Japan’s Kento Momota and Spain’s Carolina Marin made history by winning at the BWF World Championships in Nanjing (CHN).

Momota rose to the highest level in the badminton world with a 21-11, 21-13 victory over China’s Yuqi Shi, completing an unlikely comeback after a 15-month sabbatical from competitive badminton.

“There was a time when I was away and I received a lot of support,” he said. “Now I’m stronger than in the past. I thank all those who supported me earlier. I want to be like Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan who have had long careers. I want to enjoy my game and entertain the audience. I didn’t have expectations for the final, I played with a free mind and trusted my footwork and defense to counter his attack.”

Momota did more than author a legendary return to the sport. He won his 33rd match in his 36 played in 2018 and became the first-ever Japanese player to win the men’s world Singles title.

Marin similarly had ups and downs, but in Nanjing, she became the first women’s player to win three world titles, defeating India’s V. Sindhu Pursarla in the final, 21-19, 21-10.

“I have many emotions right now,” said Marin afterwards, who also won in 2014 and 2015. “I have been preparing for this moment for a long time. It’s been really special to be the first player to win three World Championships. Of course, without my team it would have been impossible. I have to say thanks to all of them. This is really special because I, Carolina Marin, came back and I will fight for my next target.

“I think the match against Saina was one of my best of my career. But it’s not about how I play; it’s about how I prepared and how I felt on court against her; about how I showed I wanted to beat her. Today against Sindhu, I just believed in myself. I told myself when she was leading that I have to fight, I have to show her that she cannot beat me today. In the second game I was really strong from the beginning. Sometimes it’s difficult for a player. It’s impossible to be at the top every time. Sometimes a player has to go down and come back again. I feel really strong now, and really confident that I can win again.”

In the Doubles events, China won the men’s Doubles with Junhui Li and Yuchen Liu and the Mixed Doubles gold with Siwei Zheng and Yaqiong Huang; Japan won the women’s Doubles for the first time since 1977 (!) with Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara – in their first Worlds – winning a thriller against heir favored countrywomen, Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota, 19-21, 21-19, 22-20.

China led the medal table with eight and two wins; Japan had six medals and also claimed two golds. No other country had more than one medal.

A total of 357 players from 48 nations competed in Nanjing. Summaries:

BWF World Championships
Nanjing (CHN) ~ 30 July-5 August 2018.
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Kento Momota (JPN); 2. Yuqi Shi (CHN); 3. Long Chen (CHN) and Daren Liew (MAS). Semis: Shi d. Chen, 21-11, 21-17; Momota d. Liew, 21-16, 21-5. Final: Momota d. Shi, 21-11, 21-13.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Junhui Li/Yuchen Liu (CHN); 2. Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN); 3. Hung Ling Chen/Chi-Lin Wang (TPE) and Cheng Liu/Nan Zhang (CHN). Semis: Kamura/Sonoda d. Chen/Wang, 21-17, 21-10; Li/Liu d. Liu/Zhang, 21-15, 21-13. Final: Li/Liu d. Kamura/Sonoda, 21-12, 21-19.

Women’s Singles: 1. Carolina Marin (ESP); 2. V. Sindhu Pusarla (IND); 3. Bingjiao He (CHN) and Akane Yamaguchi (JPN). Semis: Marin d. He, 13-21, 21-16, 21-13; Pursarla d. Yamaguchi, 21-16, 24-22. Final: Marin d. Pursarla, 21-19, 21-10.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (JPN); 2. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN); 3. Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto (JPN) and Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (INA). Semis: Matsumoto/Nagahara d. Polii/Rahayu, 21-12, 23-21; Fukushima/Hirota d. Tanaka/Yonemoto, 21-19, 21-15. Final: Matsumoto/Nagahara d. Fukushima/Hirota, 19-21, 21-19, 22-20.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Siwei Zheng/Yaqiong Huang (CHN); 2. Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN); 3. Chun Man Tang/Ying Suet Tse (HKG) and Nan Zhang/Yinhui Li (CHN). Semis: Zheng/Huang d. Zhang/Li, 19-21, 21-12, 21-10; Wang/Huang d. Tang/Tse, 21-16, 21-10. Final: Zheng/Huang d. Wang/Huang, 21-17, 21-19.

Two swimming world records already at Glasgow Euros

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 2018 European Championships is a first-ever combination of six events in aquatics, cycling, golf, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon in an 11-day program in Glasgow (GBR),while the European Championships in Athletics will be contested in the same window in Berlin (GER). Schedule:

  • Aquatics:
    Glasgow 3-12 August (Swimming, Diving, Artistic, Open Water)
  • Cycling:
    Glasgow 2-12 August (Track, Road, Mountain Bike, BMX)
  • Golf:
    Glasgow 8-12 August
  • Gymnastics:
    Glasgow 2-12 August (Artistic)
  • Rowing:
    Glasgow 2-5 August
  • Triathlon:
    Glasgow 9-11 August
  • Athletics:
    Berlin 6-12 August

The swimming competition at the 2018 European Championships has gotten off to a flying start, with two world records and six world-leading marks (one equaled) in just the first three days:

Men:
1,500 m Freestyle: 14:36.15 Florian Wellbrock (GER)
50 m Backstroke: 24.00 World Record Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS)
100 m Breaststroke: 57.10 World Record Adam Peaty (GBR)

Women:
50 m Freestyle: 23.74 Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
100 m Butterfly: 56.23 (=) Sjostrom
400 m Medley: 4:34.17 Fantine Lesaffre (FRA)

Peaty’s world mark in the 100 Breast was clearly signaled by his sensational 57.89 mark in the heats, a time which no one except he (as world-record holder at 57.13 ‘16) had ever achieved. In the final, he rocketed off the blocks in 0.47, had more than a second lead at the turn (26.65) and lowered his record to an initially-reported 57.00, later corrected to 57.10 because of a “configuration delay.” His British teammate James Wilby took the silver and moved up to equal-fourth all-time at 58.64.

Kolesnikov, 18, set a World Junior Record in his semi at 24.25 and lowered it to 24.00, beating Romania’s Robert Glinta, who had moved to no. 3 on the all-time list by swimming 24.12 in his semi. Kolesnikov moved Britain’s Liam Tancock (24.04 ‘09) off the world-record list. He later set another World Junior Record in the 100 m Back semis (52.95).

Sjostrom was in a furious battle with Denmark’s Rio 50 m Free champ Pernilla Blume, who swam 23.85 (=3rd all-time) in the semis. Sjostrom just out-touched her, 23.74-23.75 as Blume moved to no.3 all-time by herself and Sjostrom missed her own world record by 0.07!

Other events of note:

  • Men’s 1,500 m Freestyle: Germany’s Florian Wellbrock, the yearly leader, moved to no. 4 on the all-time list at 14:36.15 with an impressive second half of his race. The surprise came as Olympic and World Champion Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), no. 2 on the world list for 2018, finished third behind Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Romanchuk, whose 14:36.88 time makes him no. 5 ever. Paltrinieri (14:42.85) got third.
  • Women’s 800 m Freestyle: Italy’s Simona Quadrella won in 8:16.45, second-fastest in the world this year to Katie Ledecky (8:07.27).
  • Women’s 50 m Backstroke: Britain’s Georgia Davies set a European Record of 27.21 in the heats, no. 2 in the world for 2018 and moving her to no. 4 on the all-time list. She won the final in 27.23.

Elsewhere in the Euros, Germany’s Lisa Brennauer scored an impressive cycling double, winning the women’s 3,000 m Individual Pursuit in track cycling on Saturday and then finishing third in the 130 km Individual Road Race on Sunday!

Brennauer earned the bronze medal in the frantic sprint to the finish in Glasgow, with Italy’s Marta Bastianelli winning in 3:28:15 and defending champion Marianne Vos (NED) finishing second.

In gymnastics, 2016 Olympic gold medalist Sanne Wevers (NED) claimed her first European title in Balance Beam. Belgium’s Nina Derwael, a 2017 Worlds bronze medalist on the Uneven Bars, won the Uneven Bars title in Glasgow and finished second on Beam.

U.S. Swimming knows what it’s doing with its 2019 World Championships selection

By
Rich Perelman
-
Researcher working with chemicals

A reply to our Lane One commentary (3 August) on U.S. Swimming’s policy of selecting its 2019 World Championships team from the 2018 National Championships:

Perhaps I could express a difference of opinion with my esteemed friend, the Editor?

Regarding USA Swimming selecting its World Championship team one year in advance, allow me to give the rationale, as well as evidence of its success.

USA Swimming actually selects three teams in 2018 for competitions in 2019: The FINA World Championships, the FISU Universiade (World University Games), and the Pan American Games. In general, the top two swimmers in each event go to Worlds; third and fourth go to WUGs; and, fifth and sixth go to Pan Ams.

This allows the top swimmers in each event to gain international experience the year before Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games. About 125-140 swimmers will comprise these three teams, and it is likely that virtually all of the 2020 Olympic team will come from this core group, as our Olympic team normally is comprised of about 45 swimmers.

This strategy ensures that athletes get a taste of international competition in multi-sport or multi-discipline events in faraway places (Gwangju, Korea; Milan, Italy; and, Lima, Peru) … sleeping and eating in an Athlete Village, and being transported in buses with athletes from many teams. As you know, life in the Village is different from a five-star hotel! This opportunity to understand the rigors associated with competition outside of the USA is invaluable at the time of the Olympics.

Sometimes, long-term gain must sacrifice short-term results. In the end, American athletes are measured by what they do at the Olympic Games. Could our 2019 World Championships team be better if selected in a timeframe closer to the event? Certainly, but it would cause swimmers to have two “peak” meets, instead of one, next summer, which is less advantageous And, the certainty of knowing which competition a swimmer will be attending, and what events he or she will swim, twelve months in advance helps the athlete and coach prepare correctly.

USA swimming teams have been ready: 27 medals in 1992, 26 medals in 1996, 33 medals in 2000, 29 medals in 2004, 31 medals in 2008, 31 medals in 2012, and 33 medals in 2016. 210 medals over seven Olympiads: an average of 30 medals per Games.

So … this strategy of selecting teams for competitions in the year prior to the Olympics has worked. Let’s hope it continues in 2020, even if 2019 might not look perfect!

~ Dale Neuberger, FINA Vice President (Indianapolis, Indiana, USA)

Russian high jumpers denied permission for int’l competition

By
Rich Perelman
-

The IAAF Doping Review Board has disqualified co-world leader in the men’s high jump, Danil Lysenko, for failing to provide “whereabouts” information to the IAAF’s Athletics Integrity Unit.

Athletes who are part of the drug-testing program must provide their locations to the relevant testing authority (AIU for Russia), or be disqualified. So, Lysenko (2.40 m/7-10 1/2) this season, cannot jump at this week’s European Championships.

The IAAF also refused permission for 2012 Olympic HJ champ Anna Chicherova to compete as a neutral athlete this season.

Caster Semenya makes history with African Champs 400 m win

By
Rich Perelman
-

The African Championships in track & field are ongoing in Asaba, Nigeria in a sub-par facility that doesn’t even appear to be completely flat all the way around. No matter, because South Africa’s Caster Semenya made history on Saturday by winning the women’s 400 m in 49.96.

The time isn’t close to the world lead of 48.97 by Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH), but a milestone that makes Semenya one of the greatest women runners in history; she is believed to be the first to run:

  • 400 m under 50.00;
  • 800 m under 2:00.00, and
  • 1,500 m under 4:00.00.

Semenya’s outstanding achievement places her in or near the top 100 all-time in three events:

  • 400 m: 49.96 =82nd all-time
  • 800 m: 1:54.25 4th all-time
  • 1,500 m:3:59.92 104th all-time

She came into the meet with a 400 m best of 50.40 from 2016 and has set all three of her personal bests this season. Next on her agenda: a run at Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 800 m world mark of 1:53.28 from 1983.

Are we making progress? Doping tests up, positives down in 2017

By
Rich Perelman
-

Maybe, just maybe, there is news of progress from the doping front.

The new report from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) showed that in 2017, the number of tests in Olympic sports surpassed 200,000 for the first time and doping positives dropped by 18.3%.

That’s good, right?

Indeed, the statistics show that the current fight against doping is pushing more deeply – at least in Olympic sports – into just about all of the sports and the incidence of positive tests fell below 1% for the first time in three years. The key numbers:

  • Tests:
    2017: 205,405, a 6.2% increase over 2016 (193,345)
  • Positives/Number:
    2017: 1,575, down 18.3% over 2016 (1,927)
  • Positives/Percentage:
    2017: 0.77%, down 0.23% over 2016 (1.0%)

Still, the nearly 1,600 positives is worrying, but that’s a lot less than 1,927 in 2016. In the Olympic sports, there were eight with positive rates at 1.0% or higher:

  • Boxing:
    4,036 samples 1.9% positives
  • Wrestling:
    4,878 samples 1.7% positives
  • Weightlifting:
    10,570 samples 1.5% positives
  • Equestrian:
    434 samples 1.4% positives
  • Judo:
    3,968 samples 1.3% positives
  • Cycling:
    23,575 samples 1.2% positives
  • Rugby:
    7,631 samples 1.0% positives
  • Golf:
    389 samples 1.0% positives

This is good news for weightlifting, which is teetering on exclusion from the Olympic program, but has brought its finding rate in line with other sports, although still on the high side. Boxing, which is also potentially subject to be thrown out of the Games because of governance issues, has a fairly high rate of positives in a fairly small number of tests.

  • The most-tested Olympic sports included:

    Football:
    37,118 samples 0.4% positives

  • Athletics:
    31,483 samples 0.9% positives
  • Cycling:
    23,575 samples 1.2% positives
  • Swimming:
    15,138 samples 0.4% positives
  • Weightlifting:
    10,570 samples 1.5% positives

Those were the only sports with more than 10,000 tests carried out last year.

If you’re wondering about the Winter sports, none had doping rates of more than 0.7%, which were recorded for Bobsleigh and Ice Hockey. However, it’s worth noting that a criminal investigation is going on concerning Biathlon, which had 2,343 samples taken in 2017 and reported only one positive (0.2%). That situation alone is cause for concern that the situation is perhaps not as good as the numbers would indicate.

However, the situation in the Olympic sports is better than elsewhere. The biggest offender was Bodybuilding, which a 22% positives rate out of just 1,301 samples and Darts had a 13% positives rate (what?). And Powerlifting, long a problem sport, had a 4.5% positives rate, three times that of weightlifting.

You may have read some stories about Arm Wrestling wanting to get into the Olympic Games. They’ll have to clean up their act quite a bit: out of just 191 tests, it showed 19 positives for a 9.9% rate; that’s not going to cut it. Professional boxing is also a problem, with a 6.3% positives rate out of 399 tests.

However, the WADA report also noted that while the number of tests increased, it viewed the decrease in positives as “primarily due to the significant decrease in the reported cases of meldonium,” which was banned completely in 2016, but for which there was a reprieve for a number of cases due to confusion about the date on which the ban would go into effect.

WADA identified 436 less meldonium cases in all sports in 2017 than in 2016, so the number of positives in the Olympic sports was perhaps down just slightly, but with an increased number of tests.

The offending substances haven’t changed much: Anabolic agents led the parade with 44% of all positives, followed by diuretics and masking agents (15%), then stimulants (14%), hormones and metabolic modulators (8%).

The busiest labs in terms of testing were Salt Lake City (USA: 38,727), Los Angeles (USA: 38,007) and Cologne (GER: 27,739).

The 336 pages of statistics and tables tells a story of an enormous effort being made to try and combat doping in a lot of countries and a lot of events. Is doping still a problem? Yes, absolutely. But the effort to find it, penalize it and make it unacceptable is rising, and that’s a good thing.

Run phase decides National Junior Champions

By
Rich Perelman
-

Fielding Fischer and Gillian Cridge literally ran away from their rivals to win the 2018 USA Triathlon National Junior Championships at the Voice of America Park in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Fischer led out of the water by 20 seconds, but was caught during the bike phase, but put the hammer down in the 5 km run to win bu 20 seconds over Luis Ortiz.

Cridge was sixth after the swim, but was part of the lead group during the bike phase and then gained her advantage during the run to win by 13 seconds.

USA Triathlon held both Youth and Junior events in West Chester, with competitions for athletes aa young as six! Medalists:

USA Triathlon National Junior Championships
West Chester, Pennsylvania (USA) ~ 4-5 August 2018.
(Full results here)

Men (750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run): 1. Fielding Fischer, 56:16; 2. Luis Ortiz, 56:36; 3. Drew Shellenberger, 57:35.

Women: 1. Gillian Cridge, 1:01:29; 2. Parker Albright, 1:01:42; 3. Paige Horner, 1:01:55.

Tuggle wins three at National Junior Champs

By
Rich Perelman
-

Just a few days after the U.S. Nationals concluded at the Woollett Aquatic Center in Irvine, California, the Speedo Junior Nationals were held, with five different athletes winning two or more events:

  • Andrei Minakov (RUS) ~ Men’s 100 m Free, 100 m Fly
  • Jake Magahey ~ Men’s 400-800 m Frees
  • Claire Tuggle ~ Women’s 400 m Free, 200-400 m Medleys plus third in the 200 m Free
  • Alexandra Crisera ~ Women’s 100-200 m Back, plus second in the 50 m Free
  • Kensey McMahon ~ Women’s 800-1,500 m Free, plus second in the 400 m Free

Mention should also be made of the impressive performance of the Foster brothers from Ohio, who won a combined seven medals! Carson Foster won the 200 m Medley and collected silvers in the 100-200 m Backstrokes, while Jake Foster won the 200-400 m Medleys and bronze medals in the 100-200 m Breaststrokes.

The high-point honors for the meet went to Tuggle (76) for the women and to Alexei Sancov and Jake Mitchell (67) for the men. All athletes were 18 years old or younger on the date of competition; summaries:

USA Swimming National Junior Championships
Irvine, California (USA) ~ 31 July-4 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men

50 m Freestyle: 1. Coco Bratanov, 22.60; 2. Andrei Minakov (RUS), 22.77; 3. Adam Chaney, 22.87.
100 m Free: 1. Minakov (RUS), 49.06; 2. Alexei Sancov, 49.58; 3. Matthew Willenbring, 50.57.
200 m Free: 1. Sancov, 1:47.75; 2. Julian Hill, 1:49.29; 3. Skyler Cook-Weeks, 1:50.95.
400 m Free: 1. Jake Magahey, 3:52.32; 2. Jake Mitchell, 3:52.88; 3. Hill, 3:55.02.
800 m Free: 1. Magahey, 8:03.71; 2. Ivan Puskovitch, 8:07.78; 3. Mitchell, 8:08.87.
1,500 m Free: 1. Puskovitch, 15:31.28; 2. Thomas Bretzmann, 15:33.26; 3. Mitchell, 15:36.21.

100 m Backstroke: 1. Will Grant, 55.02; 2. Carson Foster, 55.54; 3. Keegan Walsh, 56.28.
200 m Back: 1. Ethan Harder, 1:59.07; 2. C. Foster, 1:59.74; 3. Grant, 1:59.95.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Joshua Matheny, 1:01.06; 2. Josh Bottelberghe, 1:02.05; 3. Jake Foster, 1:02.22.
200 m Breast: 1. A.J. Pouch, 2:12.52; 2. Matheny, 2:12.69; 3. J. Foster, 2:13.76.

100 m Butterfly: 1. Minakov (RUS), 51.88; 2. Sancov, 53.28; 3. River Wright, 53.63.
200 m Fly: 1. Harry Homans, 2:00.29; 2. Zachary Smith, 2:00.36; 3. Ben Miller, 2:00.70.

200 m Medley: 1. Carson Foster, 2:01.14; 2. Jake Foster, 2:02.55; 3. Andrew Winton, 2:03.50.
400 m Medley: 1. Jason Louser, 4:18.59; 2. J. Foster, 4:20.20; 3. Kevin Vargas, 4:20.31.

Women

50 m Freestyle: 1. Christiana Regenauer, 25.73; 2. Alexandra Crisera, 25.77; 3. Emma Wheal, 25.84.
100 m Free: 1. Regenauer, 55.59; 2. Samantha Pearson, 55.,65; 3. Amalie Fackenthal, 56.36.
200 m Free: 1. Erin Gemmell, 2:00.74; 2. Miranda Heckman, 2:00.77; 3. Claire Tuggle, 2:00.80.
400 m Free: 1. Tuggle, 4:10.11; 2. Kensey McMahon, 4:10.46; 3. Kaitlynn Sims, 4:13.37.
800 m Free: 1. McMahon, 8:37.45; 2. Easop Lee, 8:42.78; 3. Paige McKenna, 8:45.51.
1,500 m Free: 1. McMahon, 16:32.94; 2. McKenna, 16:39.96; 3. McCulloh, 16:43.40.

100 m Backstroke: 1. Crisera, 1:00.89; 2. Annabel Crush, 1:00.90; 3. Abby Kapeller, 1:01.68.
200 m Back: 1. Crisera, 2:12.52; 2. Mara Newman, 2:13.21; 3. Kylee Alons, 2:13.54.

100 m Breaststroke: 1. Kaitlyn Dobler, 1:08.90; 2. Olivia Calegan, 1:09.10; 3. Ellie Andrews, 1:09.12.
200 m Breast: 1. Anna Keating, 2:28.44; 2. Isabelle Odgers, 2:29.44; 3. Claire Donan, 2:30.67.

100 m Butterfly: 1. Coleen Gillilan, 59.01; 2. Claire Curzan, 59.85; 3. Justina Kozan, 59.89.
200 m Fly: 1. Kozan, 2:10.83; 2. Amanda Ray, 2:10.87; 3. Grace Sheble, 2:12.72.

200 m Medley: 1. Tuggle, 2:15.02; 2. Sheble, 2:15.80; 3. Isabel Gormley, 2:17.19.
400 m Medley: 1. Tuggle, 4:44.91; 2. Gormley, 4:45.06; 3. Sheble, 4:46.97.

Dutch defend Women’s World Cup title, 6-0

By
Rich Perelman
-

The real championship game came in the semifinals of the 2018 FIH women’s World Cup as the last two undefeated teams – Netherlands and Australia – battled for the right to advance to Sunday’s title match.

The Dutch were 4-0-0 and Australia was 2-0-2 going in and the two sides had battled in the finals of the 1990, 2006 and 2014 World Cups, with the Netherlands winning each time.

The game was a tense battle as expected and ended in a 1-1 tie, so penalties were required to find a winner. After Frederique Matla (NED) and Kristina Bats (AUS) scored on the first tries, the next four attempts were foiled and the Xan de Waard (NED) set up for the fourth Dutch try. She scored to take a 2-1 lead and after an Australian miss, Lidewij Welten scored for a 3-1 lead to clinch the win.

The other semifinal also went to penalties, as Ireland and Spain played to a 1-1 tie in regulation time. The shoot-out was 1-1 after three shots apiece and 2-2 after two more rounds. In the sixth round, Spain’s Georgina Oliva missed and Ireland’s Gillian Pinder converted to send the Irish to their first-ever World Cup final.

That was about all the excitement that was left in the tournament. In the final, Welten scored for the Dutch in the seventh minute, followed by Kelly Jonker in the 19th and Kitty van Male in the 28th for a 3-0 lead and the issue was decided. The Dutch had a 4-0 lead at half and cruised home without giving up a goal in the second half, adding two for a 6-0 final.

Spain beat Australia, 3-1, for the bronze.

The tournament awards went to:

Vitality Best Player: Lidewij Welten (NED)
Best Goalkeeper: Ayeisha McFerran (IRL)
Young Player: Lucina von der Hyde (ARG)
Hero Top Scorer: Kitty van Male (NED: 8)

This is the 14th women’s World Cup and the Dutch have now won eight times and three of the last four (also in 2006 and 2014). It was the first medal ever for both Ireland and Spain.

Gluckstein wins first World Cup medal in Maebashi

By
Rich Perelman
-

A milestone performance for five-time American Trampoline champion Jeffrey Gluckstein came in the third FIG Trampoline World Cup of the season, where he won a silver medal at Maebashi, Japan.

Competing in a field which included two-time World Champion Lei Gao (CHN), 2016 Olympic gold medalist Uladzislau Hancharou (BLR) and 2015 Worlds bronze winner Andrey Yudin (RUS), Gluckstein scored 58.960 to edge Mikita Ilyinykh (BLR) for the silver behind Gao. Hancharou finished fifth and Yudin was eighth.

It’s Gluckstein’s first-ever World Cup medal; his highest prior finish was fifth in Minsk (BLR) last year. Summaries:

FIG Trampoline World Cup
Maebashi (JPN) ~ 3-4 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Lei Gao (CHN), 61.365; 2. Jeffrey Gluckstein (USA), 58.960; 3. Mikita Ilyinykh (BLR), 58.650.
Men’s Synchro: 1. Dong Dong/Xiao Tu (CHN), 53.350; 2. Uladzislau Hancharou/Aleh Rabtsau (BLR), 52.500; 3. Teis Petersen/Benjamin Kjaer (DEN), 48.650. Also: 8. Paul Bretscher/Cody Gesuelli (USA), 15.650, retired.

Women: 1. Xueying Zhu (CHN), 57.330; 2. Qianqi Lin (CHN), 57.095; 3. Yana Pavlova (RUS), 56.510.
Women’s Synchro: 1. Valiantsina Bahamolava/Anhelina Khatsian (BLR), 48.250; 2. Kira Ward/Eva Kierath (AUS), 47.550; 3. Susana Kochesok/Iana Lebedeva (RUS), 47.300.

Four repeat winners at U.S. Track Cycling Nationals

By
Rich Perelman
-

Four of USA Cycling’s 2017 national champions made it to the top step of the podium at the 2018 national track championships at the VELO Sports Center velodrome at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

World Team Pursuit gold medalist Jennifer Valente repeated her win in the Omnium as did men’s Omnium winner Daniel Holloway; Ashton Lambie won again in the 4 km Individual Pursuit, and Madalyn Godoy triumphed in the Keirin.

The championships continue through Tuesday (7th). Summaries so far (no times or other details available yet:

USA Cycling National Track Championships
Carson, California (USA) ~ 4-7 August 2018
(Full results here)

Men

Sprint: 1. Sandor Delgado; 2. Joe Christiansen; 3. James Mellen; 4. James Alvord.
Indiv. Pursuit: 1. Ashton Lambie; 2. John Croom; 3. Gavin Hoover; 4. Samuel O’Brien; 5. Colby Lange; 6. Mac Cassin; 7. Cade Bickmore; 8. Chris Carlson.
Omnium: 1. Daniel Holloway; 2. Shane Kline; 3. Ashton Lambie; 4. Zachary Kovakcik; 5. Adrian Hegyvary; 6. Colby Lange; 7. Zachary Carlson; 8. Justin Butsavage.

Women

Indiv. Pursuit: 1. Jennifer Wheeler, 3:44.396; 2. Molly van Houweling, 3:52.163; 3. Chelsea Knapp, 3:54.655; 4. Alijah Beatty; 5. Jessica Chong; 6. Chelsea Knapp; 7. Joy Franco; 8. Rebecca Martz.
Keirin: 1. Madalyn Godby; 2. Mandy Marquardt; 3. Allyson Wasielewski; 4. Kyo Mars; 5. Sidney Richardson; 6. Janelly Prieto; 7. Andrea Fisk.
Omnium: 1. Jennifer Valente; 2. Kimberly Geist; 3. Christina Birch; 4. Colleen Gulick; 5. Eva Burke; 6. Sawyer Taylor; 7. Chelsea Knapp; 8. Jennifer Wilson.

Ackermann sweeps first stages in Tour de Pologne

By
Rich Perelman
-

Germany’s Pascal Ackermann is on a roll, winning three UCI World Tour races in a row: the RideLondon-Surrey Classic and now the first two stages of the 75th Tour de Pologne.

Ackermann won both of the Tour stages in final sprints and leads the overall race by eight seconds over Colombia’s Alvaro Hodeg. There are 128 riders within 20 seconds of the lead, so look for the Tour to take shape on the hilly stages later in the week, especially Stage 4 on Tuesday.

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: 06 August Stadion Slaski to Zabrze (140.0 km)
Stage 4: 07 August Jaworzno to Szczyrk (179.0 km)
Stage 5: 08 August: Kopalnia Soli to Bielsko-Biala (152.0 km)
Stage 6: 09 August: Zakopane to Bukovina (129.0 km)
Stage 7: 10 August: Bukowvina Resort to Bukowina Tatrzanska (136 km)

Alaphilippe wins sprint for San Sebastian title

By
Rich Perelman
-

Even with severe pile-ups, races go on and the Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian is a good example.

With just 20 km left in the 228.7 km race, there was a mass crash that caused substantial injuries to favorites including Spain’s Mikel Landa and Colombia’s Egan Bernal, both of whom had to be removed by medical personnel.

But the riding went on and over the final climb came a breakaway from France’s Julian Alaphilippe and 2016 champion Bauke Mollema (NED) that no one else could match. Alaphilippe sprinted away for the win with 500 m to go and Mollema had to settle for a full set of medals: gold in 2016, bronze in 2017 and silver in 2018. Summary:

UCI World Tour/Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian
San Sebastian (ESP) ~ 4 August 2018.
(Full results here)

Final Standings (228.7 km): 1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA), 6:03:45; 2. Bauke Mollema (NED), 6:03.45; 3. Anthony Roux (FRA), 6:04:01; 4. Greg van Avermaet (BEL), 6:04:01; 5. Julien Simon (FRA), 6:04:01; 6. Rigoberto Uran (COL), 6:04:01; 7. Ion Izagirre (ESP), 6:04:01; 8. Robert Gesink (NED), 6:04:01; 9. Steven Kruijswijk (NED), 6:04:01; 10. Antwan Tolhoek (NED), 6:04:01.

Eight stars rule ACA Sprint Nationals

By
Rich Perelman
-

Hundreds of races in Bantam, Juvenile, Junior, Seniors and Masters divisions were run in the first U.S. Canoe Sprint Nationals run under the supervision of the American Canoe Association, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from 1-4 August.

In the senior division, eight athletes dominated the Canoe and Kayak divisions:

Men’s C-1: Ken Kasperbauer won the C-1 200 m and 500 m and silvers in the 1,000 m and 5,000 m, while Gavin Ross won the C-1 1,000 m and 5,000 m races.

Men’s K-1: Stanton Collins took the K-1 200 m and 500 m sprints, while Alexander Lee won the 1,000 m and 5,000 m races.

Women’s C-1: Nevin Harrison was the best sprinter at 200 m and 500 m, but Ann Armstrong won four individual medals, taking the 5,000 m race and silvers in the 200 m, 500 m and 1,000 m.

Women’s K-1: Sammie Barlow won the 500 m and 1,000 m races, plus silver in the 200 m and 5,000 m, while Kaitlyn McElroy won the 200 m and 5,000 m, and was silver medalist in the 500 m and 1,000 m.

The C-2, C-4, K-2 and K-4 races mostly featured these stars, paired with others in varying combinations and permutations. Kasperbauer won three more golds, Collins and Lee two more among the men; Harrison won two more golds in combination races, Barlow won four more and McElroy two more. Summaries:

ACA National Sprint Championships
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (USA):
1-4 August 2018.
(Full results here)

Men

C-1/200 m: 1. Ken Kasperbauer, 44.096; 2. Gavin Ross, 46.050; 3. Andrew Field, 46.485; 4. Mike Grachev, 57.662; 5. Luke Guenther, 1:59.701.
C-1/500 m: 1. Kasperbauer, 2:01.133; 2. Field, 2:08.921; 3. Ross, 2:13.953; 4. Zachary Guay, 2:16.665; 5. Grachev, 2:20.609; 6. Guenther, 4:17.558.
C-1/1,000 m: 1. Ross, 4:25.224; 2. Kasperbauer, 4:25.748; 3. Field, 4:57.336; 4. Aaron Dickson, 5:04.800.
C-1/5,000 m: 1. Ross, 23:00.708; 2. Kasperbauer, 23:46.696; 3. Field, 25:27.625.

C-2/200 m: 1. A. Field/K. Kasperbauer, 42.921; 2. B. Rhodes/G. Ross, 52.690; 3. A. Mullican/S. Collins, 56.177 (only entrants).
C-2/1,000 m: 1. J. Grady/E. Surles, 4:09.415; 2. A. Field/K. Kasperbauer, 4:24.291; 3. G. Ross/A. Story, 4:57.254 (only entrants).

C-4/500 m: 1. C. Sexton/B. Anderson/A. Saleh/K. Kasperbauer, 1:57.590; 2. M. Grachev/G. Ross/S. Andrew/B. Rhodes, 2:06.630 (only entrants).
C-4/1,000 m: 1. J. Grady/K. Kasperbauer/ B. Gregory/A. Field, 4:09.689; 2. E. Goldwaite/G. Ross/M. Grachev/B. Rhodes, 4:41.416.

K-1/200 m: 1. Stanton Collins, 37.873; 2. Aaron Mullican, 38.525; 3. Miles Cross-Whiter, 38.606; 4. Alexander Lee, 39.413; 5. Nate Errez, 40.178; 6. Jonathan Espinosa, 40.909; 7. Jesse Lishchuk, 41.097; 8. Thom Crockett, 42.063.
K-1/500 m: 1. Collins, 1:46.543; 2. Cross-Whiter, 1:47.223; 3. Lee, 1:47.567; 4. Lishchuk, 1:48.167; 5. Mullican, 1:48.363; 6. Owen Farley-Klacik, 1:50.281; 7. Crockett, 1:50.417; 8. Errez, 1:50.645.
K-1/1,000 m: 1. Lee, 3:53.941; 2. Lishchuk, 3:54.681; 3. Errez, 3:58.793; 4. Tim Burdiak, 3:59.647; 5. Humbertson, 4:01.221; 6. Zachary Alva, 4:03.423; 7. Crockett, 4:03.607; 8. Cross-Whiter, 4:06.045.
K-1/5,000 m: 1. Lee, 19:15.869; 2. Mullican, 19:16.149; 3. Humbertson, 19:28.389; 4. Burdiak, 20:17.080; 5. S. Collins, 20:39.735; 6. Crockett, 20:44.871; 7. Michael Miller, 20:53.693; 8. Austin Schwinn, 22:15.679.

K-2/200 m: 1. S. Collins/A. Mullican, 34.918; 2. M. Cross-Whiter/A. Lee, 35.453; 3. K. Wilding/M. Whitcomb, 38.101; 4. N. Errez/T. Crockett, 38.130; 5. S. Barlow/T. Burdiak, 40.573; 6. R. Phillips/M. Miller, 41.414; 7. W. Reavley/Z. Alva, 45.787; 8. E. Palmer/N. Miller, 47.324.
K-2/5,000 m: 1. K. Wilding/N. Whitcomb, 19:26.849; 2. S. Barlow/N. Errez, 19:29.615; 3. J. Espinosa/R. Phillips, 19:33.413; 4. M. Herbert/S. Herbert, 21:17.355; (only entrants).
K-2/1,000 m: 1. M. Cross-Whiter/A. Lee, 3:29.113; 2. A. Mullican/S. Collins, 3:33.026; 3. T. Crockett/N. Errez, 3:41.711; 4. N. Whitcomb/K. Wilding, 3:43.586; 5. S. Barlow/T. Burdiak, 3:47.433; 6. N. Humbertson/E. Palmer, 3:54.637; 7. Z. Alva/W. Reavley, 4:02.323.

K-4/500 m: 1. O. Farley-Klacik/A. Surles/A. Mullican/S. Collins, 1:30.881; 2. J. Lishchuk/A. Lee/M. Cross-Whiter/W. Reavley, 1:33.713; 3. N. Errez/T. Crockett/E. Truesdale/T. Burdiak, 1:36.039; 4. S. Barlow/J. Espinosa/R. Phillips/M. Miller, 1:40.670; 5. P. Jenkins/S. Talbert/K. Wilding/N. Whitcomb, 1:41.018; 6. M. Riszkiewicz/J. DePalma/T. Goetz/Z. Alva, 2:06.978 (only finalists).
K-4/1,000 m: 1. J. Lishchuk/A. Lee/M. Cross-Whiter/W. Reavley, 3:16.740; 2. T. Burdiak/E. Truesdale/T. Crockett/N. Errez, 3:17.804; 3. Z. Alva/J. Adelberg/E. Palmer/N. Humbertson, 3:27.094; 4. K. Wilding/N. Whitcomb/A. Schwinn/Z. Guay, 3:28.050; 5. M. Miller/R. Phillips/J. Espinosa/S. Barlow, 3:31.634 (only entrants).

Women

C-1/200 m: 1. Nevin Harrison, 50.671; 2. Ann Armstrong, 51.815; 3. Andreea Ghizila, 53.573; 4. Kaley Martin, 57.156; 5. Azura Murphy, 57.967; 6. Lia Gaetano, 1:01.513; 7. Hana Neutz, 1:01.986; 8. Carson Walter, 1:02.297.
C-1/500 m: 1. Harrison, 2:24.299; 2. Armstrong, 2:32.966; 3. Gaetano, 2:37.312; 4. Murphy, 2:39.902; 5. Martin, 2:41.328; 6. Neutz, 2:52.886; 7. Anna Martinson, 2:56.078; 8. Delaney Valentine, 3:50.198.
C-1/1,000 m: 1. Gaetano, 5:10.721; 2. Armstrong, 5:12.997; 3. Martoin, 5:18.444; 4. Murphy, 5:18.472; 5. Neutz, 5:54.654; 6. Martinson, 6:04.798; 7. Valentine, 7:21.315 (only entrants).
C-1/5,000 m: 1. Armstrong, 26:56.808; 2. Martin, 28:17.306; 3. Martinson, 31:42.647; 4. Valentine, 41:33.499 (only entrants).

C-2/200 m: 1. H. Neutz/A. Murphy, 53.072; 2. L. Gaetano/A. Ghizila, 53.473; 3. K. Martin/P. Farley-Klacik, 58.932; 4. D. Valentine/A. Martinson, 1:38.632 (only entrants).
C-2/500 m: 1. L. Gaetano/Ghizila, 2:20.208; 2. A. Murphy/H. Neutz, 2:25.190; 3. P. Farley-Klacik/K. Martin, 2:29.902; 4. C. Walter/A. Martinson, 2:33.646; 5. A Armstrong/D. Valentine, 2:49.493 (only finalists).
C-2/5,000 m: 1. N. Harrison/H. Neutz, 23:34.460; 2. M. Jacobsen/Z. Hein, 27:38.348 (only entrants).

C-4/500 m: 1. A. Martinson/A. Murphy/N. Harrison/H. Neutz, 2:15.920; 2. H. Schuette/K. Rhodes/B. Schuette/A. Armstrong, 2:18.164; 3. L. Borm/D. Borm/M. Long/C. Stow, 2:36.948; 4. R. Coffey/M. McMullen/A. Morse/C. Gall, 3:12.382 (only entrants).

K-1/200 m: 1. Kaitlyn McElroy, 46.541; 2. Sammie Barlow, 47.832; 3. Mira Carrao, 49.951; 4. Alyson Morse, 49.971; 5. Danielle Borm, 50.664; 6. Leilani Borm, 50.939; 7. Courtney Stow, 52.668; 8. Bria Cornforth, 52.679.
K-1/500 m: 1. Barlow, 2:01.036; 2. McElroy, 2:01.352; 3. L. Borm, 2:12.388; 4. Renae Jackson, 2:12.408; 5. Carrao, 2:18.226; 6. D. Borm, 2:19.214; 7. Cornforth, 2:21.477; 8. Stow, 2:21.792.
K-1/1,000 m: 1. Barlow, 4:25.976; 2. McElroy, 4:30.232; 3. Jackson, 4:38.207; 4. Corrao, 4:55.552; 5. D. Borm, 4:58.529; 6. L. Borm, 4:59.094; 7. Cornforth, 5:06.632; 8. Alessia Faverio, 5:06.682.
K-1/5,000 m: 1. McElroy, 20:44.736; 2. Barlow, 20:53.698; 3. Jackson, 22:22.421; 4. Cornforth, 22:36.047; 5. L. Borm, 22:55.675; 6. Corrao, 23:15.958; 7. Farran Smith, 23:43.028; 8. Stow, 23:46.601.

K-2/200 m: 1. K. McElroy/S. Barlow, 44.654; 2. C. Stow/M. Carrao, 48.599; 3. A. Morse/C. Gall, 51.552; 4. R. Jackson/M. Long, 52.613; 5. K. Rhodes/K. McNamee, 53.114; 6. F. Smith/A. Blanchard, 53.247; 7. L. Benedict/A. Allison, 1:04.043 (only finalists).
K-2/500 m: 1. K. McElroy/S. Barlow, 1:56.829; 2. C. Stow/M. Corrao, 2:06.120; 3. M. Long/R. Jackson, 2:10.278; 4. F. Smith/A. Blanchard, 2:14.904; 5. L. Benedict/A. Allison, 2:34.776 (only entrants).

K-4/500 m: 1. M. Corrao/S. Barlow/L. Borm/D. Borm, 1:53.564; 2. B. Cornforth/M. Long/R. Jackson/C. Stow, 1:59.836; 3. A. Blanchard/K. Scholz/M. Bowmar/F. Smith, 2:02.604; 4. K. Ilcheva/I. Alberola/C. Gall/A. Morse, 2:07.513; 5. K. McNamee/L. Ramm/K. Rhodes/E. Rhodes, 2:07.809; (only entrants).
K-4/1,000 m: 1. M. Corrao/D. Borm/L. Borm/S. Barlow, 3:51.096; 2. B. Cornforth/R. Jackson/M. Long/C. Shaw, 4:02.072; 3. Eli Holmes/K. McNamee/L. Ramm/K. Rhodes, 4:10.293; 4. C. Colburn/F. Smith/K. Scholz/A. Blanchard, 4:16.519 (only entrants).

Surprise winners in Vienna Major

By
Rich Perelman
-

Who are these guys?

While the results of the FIVB World Tour Vienna Major were not a complete shock, very few would have expected to see Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum or Czechs Barbora Hermannova and Marketa Slukova on the top step of the podium in Vienna (AUT).

This was the final 5-star tournament of the 2018 season and all the big stars were on the sand. In the men’s tournament, Mol and Sorum had proved their class by winning the previous World Tour Major in Gstaad (SUI) in mid-July and rose that momentum through the Vienna tournament and have now won 12 straight World Tour matches.

They defeated first-time World Tour medalists Michal Bryl and Grzegorz Fijalek in the final, 21-12, 21-17 and combined with their European Championships win a couple of weeks ago, have now won three straight major tournaments. Are they the favorites now for the World Tour Final in Hamburg (GER) starting on 14 August?

In the women’s tournament, Hermannova and Slukova similarly won the 4-star Ostrava (CZE) Open in June before an adoring home crowd and had risen to no. 6 in the world rankings. But in Vienna, they had to overcome three-time World Tour winners Barbara Seixas and Fernanda Alves of Brazil.

The Czechs lost the first set badly, 21-10, but roared back to win with 21-16 and 15-12 victories in the final two sets. “It’s definitely the biggest victory of our careers,” said Slukova, who had an injured shoulder throughout the tournament. “It’s so amazing to play in front of such a country and bring the gold medal home, especially after how the game started. We started so badly.

“We couldn’t find each other in setting and really didn’t have counter attacks. We thought we were really embarrassing ourselves and this definitely wasn’t the way we wanted to end the tournament. We had our problems but we really stuck together and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

There were also surprises in the bronze medal matches. Two weeks after winning the European Championships as a 15th seed, Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink (NED) are suddenly World Tour Final contenders after taking third in Vienna and Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan won their first World Tour medals by beating fifth-seeded Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen (NED). Summaries:

FIVB World Tour Major
Vienna (AUT) ~ 31 July-05 August 2018.
(Full results here)

Men: 1. Anders Mol/Christian Sorum (NOR) 3; 2. Michal Bryl/Grzegorz Fijalek (POL) 14; 3. Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan (QAT) 24; 4. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (NED) 5. Semis: Mol/Sorum d. Brouwer/ Meeuwsen, 2-0; Bryl/Fijalek d. Cherif/Ahmed Tijan, 2-0. Third: Cherif/Ahmed Tijan d. Brouwer/Meeuwsen, 2-1. Final: Mol/Sorum d. Bryl/Fijalek, 2-0 (21-12, 21-17).

Women: 1. Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova (CZE); 2. Barbara Seixas/Fernanda Alves (BRA); 3. Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink (NED); 4. Maria Antonelli/Carol Salgado (BRA). Semis: Hermannova/Slukova d. Maria Antonelli/Carol, 2-0; Barbara/Fernanda d. Keizer/Meppelink, 2-0. Third: Keizer/Meppelink d. Maria Antonelli/Carol, 2-0. Final: Hermannova/Slukova d. Barbara/Fernanda, 2-1 (10-21, 21-16, 15-12).

Momota and Marin make history at Badminton Worlds

By
Rich Perelman
-

The names were familiar, but perhaps their stories were not, as Japan’s Kento Momota and Spain’s Carolina Marin made history by winning at the BWF World Championships in Nanjing (CHN).

Momota rose to the highest level in the badminton world with a 21-11, 21-13 victory over China’s Yuqi Shi, completing an unlikely comeback after a 15-month sabbatical from competitive badminton.

“There was a time when I was away and I received a lot of support,” he said. “Now I’m stronger than in the past. I thank all those who supported me earlier. I want to be like Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan who have had long careers. I want to enjoy my game and entertain the audience. I didn’t have expectations for the final, I played with a free mind and trusted my footwork and defense to counter his attack.”

Momota did more than author a legendary return to the sport. He won his 33rd match in his 36 played in 2018 and became the first-ever Japanese player to win the men’s world Singles title.

Marin similarly had ups and downs, but in Nanjing, she became the first women’s player to win three world titles, defeating India’s V. Sindhu Pursarla in the final, 21-19, 21-10.

“I have many emotions right now,” said Marin afterwards, who also won in 2014 and 2015. “I have been preparing for this moment for a long time. It’s been really special to be the first player to win three World Championships. Of course, without my team it would have been impossible. I have to say thanks to all of them. This is really special because I, Carolina Marin, came back and I will fight for my next target.

“I think the match against Saina was one of my best of my career. But it’s not about how I play; it’s about how I prepared and how I felt on court against her; about how I showed I wanted to beat her. Today against Sindhu, I just believed in myself. I told myself when she was leading that I have to fight, I have to show her that she cannot beat me today. In the second game I was really strong from the beginning. Sometimes it’s difficult for a player. It’s impossible to be at the top every time. Sometimes a player has to go down and come back again. I feel really strong now, and really confident that I can win again.”

In the Doubles events, China won the men’s Doubles with Junhui Li and Yuchen Liu and the Mixed Doubles gold with Siwei Zheng and Yaqiong Huang; Japan won the women’s Doubles for the first time since 1977 (!) with Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara – in their first Worlds – winning a thriller against heir favored countrywomen, Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota, 19-21, 21-19, 22-20.

China led the medal table with eight and two wins; Japan had six medals and also claimed two golds. No other country had more than one medal.

A total of 357 players from 48 nations competed in Nanjing. Summaries:

BWF World Championships
Nanjing (CHN) ~ 30 July-5 August 2018.
(Full results here)

Men’s Singles: 1. Kento Momota (JPN); 2. Yuqi Shi (CHN); 3. Long Chen (CHN) and Daren Liew (MAS). Semis: Shi d. Chen, 21-11, 21-17; Momota d. Liew, 21-16, 21-5. Final: Momota d. Shi, 21-11, 21-13.

Men’s Doubles: 1. Junhui Li/Yuchen Liu (CHN); 2. Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN); 3. Hung Ling Chen/Chi-Lin Wang (TPE) and Cheng Liu/Nan Zhang (CHN). Semis: Kamura/Sonoda d. Chen/Wang, 21-17, 21-10; Li/Liu d. Liu/Zhang, 21-15, 21-13. Final: Li/Liu d. Kamura/Sonoda, 21-12, 21-19.

Women’s Singles: 1. Carolina Marin (ESP); 2. V. Sindhu Pusarla (IND); 3. Bingjiao He (CHN) and Akane Yamaguchi (JPN). Semis: Marin d. He, 13-21, 21-16, 21-13; Pursarla d. Yamaguchi, 21-16, 24-22. Final: Marin d. Pursarla, 21-19, 21-10.

Women’s Doubles: 1. Mayu Matsumoto/Wakana Nagahara (JPN); 2. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN); 3. Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto (JPN) and Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (INA). Semis: Matsumoto/Nagahara d. Polii/Rahayu, 21-12, 23-21; Fukushima/Hirota d. Tanaka/Yonemoto, 21-19, 21-15. Final: Matsumoto/Nagahara d. Fukushima/Hirota, 19-21, 21-19, 22-20.

Mixed Doubles: 1. Siwei Zheng/Yaqiong Huang (CHN); 2. Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN); 3. Chun Man Tang/Ying Suet Tse (HKG) and Nan Zhang/Yinhui Li (CHN). Semis: Zheng/Huang d. Zhang/Li, 19-21, 21-12, 21-10; Wang/Huang d. Tang/Tse, 21-16, 21-10. Final: Zheng/Huang d. Wang/Huang, 21-17, 21-19.

Two swimming world records already at Glasgow Euros

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 2018 European Championships is a first-ever combination of six events in aquatics, cycling, golf, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon in an 11-day program in Glasgow (GBR),while the European Championships in Athletics will be contested in the same window in Berlin (GER). Schedule:

Aquatics:
Glasgow 3-12 August (Swimming, Diving, Artistic, Open Water)

Cycling:
Glasgow 2-12 August (Track, Road, Mountain Bike, BMX)

Golf:
Glasgow 8-12 August

Gymnastics:
Glasgow 2-12 August (Artistic)

Rowing:
Glasgow 2-5 August

Triathlon:
Glasgow 9-11 August

Athletics:
Berlin 6-12 August

The swimming competition at the 2018 European Championships has gotten off to a flying start, with two world records and six world-leading marks (one equaled) in just the first three days:

Men:
1,500 m Freestyle: 14:36.15 Florian Wellbrock (GER)
50 m Backstroke: 24.00 World Record Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS)
100 m Breaststroke: 57.10 World Record Adam Peaty (GBR)

Women:
50 m Freestyle: 23.74 Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
100 m Butterfly: 56.23 (=) Sjostrom
400 m Medley: 4:34.17 Fantine Lesaffre (FRA)

Peaty’s world mark in the 100 Breast was clearly signaled by his sensational 57.89 mark in the heats, a time which no one except he (as world-record holder at 57.13 ‘16) had ever achieved. In the final, he rocketed off the blocks in 0.47, had more than a second lead at the turn (26.65) and lowered his record to an initially-reported 57.00, later corrected to 57.10 because of a “configuration delay.” His British teammate James Wilby took the silver and moved up to equal-fourth all-time at 58.64.

Kolesnikov, 18, set a World Junior Record in his semi at 24.25 and lowered it to 24.00, beating Romania’s Robert Glinta, who had moved to no. 3 on the all-time list by swimming 24.12 in his semi. Kolesnikov moved Britain’s Liam Tancock (24.04 ‘09) off the world-record list. He later set another World Junior Record in the 100 m Back semis (52.95).

Sjostrom was in a furious battle with Denmark’s Rio 50 m Free champ Pernilla Blume, who swam 23.85 (=3rd all-time) in the semis. Sjostrom just out-touched her, 23.74-23.75 as Blume moved to no.3 all-time by herself and Sjostrom missed her own world record by 0.07!

Other events of note:

Men’s 1,500 m Freestyle: Germany’s Florian Wellbrock, the yearly leader, moved to no. 4 on the all-time list at 14:36.15 with an impressive second half of his race. The surprise came as Olympic and World Champion Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), no. 2 on the world list for 2018, finished third behind Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Romanchuk, whose 14:36.88 time makes him no. 5 ever. Paltrinieri (14:42.85) got third.

Women’s 800 m Freestyle: Italy’s Simona Quadrella won in 8:16.45, second-fastest in the world this year to Katie Ledecky (8:07.27).

Women’s 50 m Backstroke: Britain’s Georgia Davies set a European Record of 27.21 in the heats, no. 2 in the world for 2018 and moving her to no. 4 on the all-time list. She won the final in 27.23.

Elsewhere in the Euros, Germany’s Lisa Brennauer scored an impressive cycling double, winning the women’s 3,000 m Individual Pursuit in track cycling on Saturday and then finishing third in the 130 km Individual Road Race on Sunday!

Brennauer earned the bronze medal in the frantic sprint to the finish in Glasgow, with Italy’s Marta Bastianelli winning in 3:28:15 and defending champion Marianne Vos (NED) finishing second.

In gymnastics, 2016 Olympic gold medalist Sanne Wevers (NED) claimed her first European title in Balance Beam. Belgium’s Nina Derwael, a 2017 Worlds bronze medalist on the Uneven Bars, won the Uneven Bars title in Glasgow and finished second on Beam.

U.S. Swimming knows what it’s doing with its 2019 World Championships selection

By
Rich Perelman
-
Researcher working with chemicals

A reply to our Lane One commentary (3 August) on U.S. Swimming’s policy of selecting its 2019 World Championships team from the 2018 National Championships:

Perhaps I could express a difference of opinion with my esteemed friend, the Editor?

Regarding USA Swimming selecting its World Championship team one year in advance, allow me to give the rationale, as well as evidence of its success.

USA Swimming actually selects three teams in 2018 for competitions in 2019: The FINA World Championships, the FISU Universiade (World University Games), and the Pan American Games. In general, the top two swimmers in each event go to Worlds; third and fourth go to WUGs; and, fifth and sixth go to Pan Ams.

This allows the top swimmers in each event to gain international experience the year before Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games. About 125-140 swimmers will comprise these three teams, and it is likely that virtually all of the 2020 Olympic team will come from this core group, as our Olympic team normally is comprised of about 45 swimmers.

This strategy ensures that athletes get a taste of international competition in multi-sport or multi-discipline events in faraway places (Gwangju, Korea; Milan, Italy; and, Lima, Peru) … sleeping and eating in an Athlete Village, and being transported in buses with athletes from many teams. As you know, life in the Village is different from a five-star hotel! This opportunity to understand the rigors associated with competition outside of the USA is invaluable at the time of the Olympics.

Sometimes, long-term gain must sacrifice short-term results. In the end, American athletes are measured by what they do at the Olympic Games. Could our 2019 World Championships team be better if selected in a timeframe closer to the event? Certainly, but it would cause swimmers to have two “peak” meets, instead of one, next summer, which is less advantageous And, the certainty of knowing which competition a swimmer will be attending, and what events he or she will swim, twelve months in advance helps the athlete and coach prepare correctly.

USA swimming teams have been ready: 27 medals in 1992, 26 medals in 1996, 33 medals in 2000, 29 medals in 2004, 31 medals in 2008, 31 medals in 2012, and 33 medals in 2016. 210 medals over seven Olympiads: an average of 30 medals per Games.

So … this strategy of selecting teams for competitions in the year prior to the Olympics has worked. Let’s hope it continues in 2020, even if 2019 might not look perfect!

~ Dale Neuberger, FINA Vice President (Indianapolis, Indiana, USA)

Russian high jumpers denied permission for int’l competition

By
Rich Perelman
-

The IAAF Doping Review Board has disqualified co-world leader in the men’s high jump, Danil Lysenko, for failing to provide “whereabouts” information to the IAAF’s Athletics Integrity Unit.

Athletes who are part of the drug-testing program must provide their locations to the relevant testing authority (AIU for Russia), or be disqualified. So, Lysenko (2.40 m/7-10 1/2) this season, cannot jump at this week’s European Championships.

The IAAF also refused permission for 2012 Olympic HJ champ Anna Chicherova to compete as a neutral athlete this season.

Caster Semenya makes history with African Champs 400 m win

By
Rich Perelman
-

The African Championships in track & field are ongoing in Asaba, Nigeria in a sub-par facility that doesn’t even appear to be completely flat all the way around. No matter, because South Africa’s Caster Semenya made history on Saturday by winning the women’s 400 m in 49.96.

The time isn’t close to the world lead of 48.97 by Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH), but a milestone that makes Semenya one of the greatest women runners in history; she is believed to be the first to run:

  • 400 m under 50.00;
  • 800 m under 2:00.00, and
  • 1,500 m under 4:00.00.

Semenya’s outstanding achievement places her in or near the top 100 all-time in three events:

  • 400 m: 49.96 =82nd all-time
  • 800 m: 1:54.25 4th all-time
  • 1,500 m:3:59.92 104th all-time

She came into the meet with a 400 m best of 50.40 from 2016 and has set all three of her personal bests this season. Next on her agenda: a run at Czech Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 800 m world mark of 1:53.28 from 1983.

Are we making progress? Doping tests up, positives down in 2017

By
Rich Perelman
-

Maybe, just maybe, there is news of progress from the doping front.

The new report from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) showed that in 2017, the number of tests in Olympic sports surpassed 200,000 for the first time and doping positives dropped by 18.3%.

That’s good, right?

Indeed, the statistics show that the current fight against doping is pushing more deeply – at least in Olympic sports – into just about all of the sports and the incidence of positive tests fell below 1% for the first time in three years. The key numbers:

Tests:
2017: 205,405, a 6.2% increase over 2016 (193,345)

Positives/Number:
2017: 1,575, down 18.3% over 2016 (1,927)

Positives/Percentage:
2017: 0.77%, down 0.23% over 2016 (1.0%)

Still, the nearly 1,600 positives is worrying, but that’s a lot less than 1,927 in 2016. In the Olympic sports, there were eight with positive rates at 1.0% or higher:

Boxing:
4,036 samples 1.9% positives

Wrestling:
4,878 samples 1.7% positives

Weightlifting:
10,570 samples 1.5% positives

Equestrian:
434 samples 1.4% positives

Judo:
3,968 samples 1.3% positives

Cycling:
23,575 samples 1.2% positives

Rugby:
7,631 samples 1.0% positives

Golf:
389 samples 1.0% positives

This is good news for weightlifting, which is teetering on exclusion from the Olympic program, but has brought its finding rate in line with other sports, although still on the high side. Boxing, which is also potentially subject to be thrown out of the Games because of governance issues, has a fairly high rate of positives in a fairly small number of tests.

The most-tested Olympic sports included:

Football:
37,118 samples 0.4% positives

Athletics:
31,483 samples 0.9% positives

Cycling:
23,575 samples 1.2% positives

Swimming:
15,138 samples 0.4% positives

Weightlifting:
10,570 samples 1.5% positives

Those were the only sports with more than 10,000 tests carried out last year.

If you’re wondering about the Winter sports, none had doping rates of more than 0.7%, which were recorded for Bobsleigh and Ice Hockey. However, it’s worth noting that a criminal investigation is going on concerning Biathlon, which had 2,343 samples taken in 2017 and reported only one positive (0.2%). That situation alone is cause for concern that the situation is perhaps not as good as the numbers would indicate.

However, the situation in the Olympic sports is better than elsewhere. The biggest offender was Bodybuilding, which a 22% positives rate out of just 1,301 samples and Darts had a 13% positives rate (what?). And Powerlifting, long a problem sport, had a 4.5% positives rate, three times that of weightlifting.

You may have read some stories about Arm Wrestling wanting to get into the Olympic Games. They’ll have to clean up their act quite a bit: out of just 191 tests, it showed 19 positives for a 9.9% rate; that’s not going to cut it. Professional boxing is also a problem, with a 6.3% positives rate out of 399 tests.

However, the WADA report also noted that while the number of tests increased, it viewed the decrease in positives as “primarily due to the significant decrease in the reported cases of meldonium,” which was banned completely in 2016, but for which there was a reprieve for a number of cases due to confusion about the date on which the ban would go into effect.

WADA identified 436 less meldonium cases in all sports in 2017 than in 2016, so the number of positives in the Olympic sports was perhaps down just slightly, but with an increased number of tests.

The offending substances haven’t changed much: Anabolic agents led the parade with 44% of all positives, followed by diuretics and masking agents (15%), then stimulants (14%), hormones and metabolic modulators (8%).

The busiest labs in terms of testing were Salt Lake City (USA: 38,727), Los Angeles (USA: 38,007) and Cologne (GER: 27,739).

The 336 pages of statistics and tables tells a story of an enormous effort being made to try and combat doping in a lot of countries and a lot of events. Is doping still a problem? Yes, absolutely. But the effort to find it, penalize it and make it unacceptable is rising, and that’s a good thing.

Are we making progress? Doping tests up, positives down in 2017

By
Rich Perelman
-

TSX HEADLINES – for August 6, 2018: The World Anti-Doping Agency has published its report on worldwide testing for performance-enhancing drugs and, at least on the surface, the news is good.

The number of tests is up, and in Olympic sports anyway, the number of positives in down.

There are a lot of details to consider, however, to determine whether the corner has been turned on doping and … let’s not draw any hasty conclusions.

Get the specifics, and the footnotes to the otherwise favorable numbers in our Lane One commentary, plus commentary, history, results and more in this 35-page issue:

(1) THE TICKER: History-making day for women’s athletics in Los Angeles 34 years ago as Joan Benoit was cheered to the first gold medal in the women’s marathon and millions of viewers held their breath as Gabriele Andersen-Schiess of Switzerland barely made it to the finish line!

(2) THE BIG PICTURE: A stunning – and history-making – 400 m win for Caster Semenya of South Africa at the African Championships in Nigeria. She now stands as the first to achieve world- class status in three different events; amazing!

(3) VOX POPULI: A long-time U.S. Swimming executive and FINA Vice President explains the U.S. Swimming practice of picking next year’s World Championships team this year!

(4) GLOBETROTTING: Phil Hersh celebrates the remarkable coach career of Frank Carroll, one of the greatest figure skating mentors of all time …

(5) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Two swimming world records at the European Champs in Glasgow and six world-leading marks in the first three days! Wow!

This issue includes SCOREBOARD reports on the European Championships ~ Badminton ~ Beach Volleyball ~ Canoe-Kayak ~ Cycling ~ Gymnastics ~ Hockey ~ Swimming ~ Triathlon, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

Are we making progress? Doping tests up, positives down in 2017

By
Rich Perelman
-

[wpdm_package id=5412 template=”5a3caadf84efa”]

TSX HEADLINES – for August 6, 2018: The World Anti-Doping Agency has published its report on worldwide testing for performance-enhancing drugs and, at least on the surface, the news is good.

The number of tests is up, and in Olympic sports anyway, the number of positives in down.

There are a lot of details to consider, however, to determine whether the corner has been turned on doping and … let’s not draw any hasty conclusions.

Get the specifics, and the footnotes to the otherwise favorable numbers in our Lane One commentary, plus commentary, history, results and more in this 35-page issue:

(1) THE TICKER: History-making day for women’s athletics in Los Angeles 34 years ago as Joan Benoit was cheered to the first gold medal in the women’s marathon and millions of viewers held their breath as Gabriele Andersen-Schiess of Switzerland barely made it to the finish line!

(2) THE BIG PICTURE: A stunning – and history-making – 400 m win for Caster Semenya of South Africa at the African Championships in Nigeria. She now stands as the first to achieve world- class status in three different events; amazing!

(3) VOX POPULI: A long-time U.S. Swimming executive and FINA Vice President explains the U.S. Swimming practice of picking next year’s World Championships team this year!

(4) GLOBETROTTING: Phil Hersh celebrates the remarkable coach career of Frank Carroll, one of the greatest figure skating mentors of all time …

(5) EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Two swimming world records at the European Champs in Glasgow and six world-leading marks in the first three days! Wow!

This issue includes SCOREBOARD reports on the European Championships ~ Badminton ~ Beach Volleyball ~ Canoe-Kayak ~ Cycling ~ Gymnastics ~ Hockey ~ Swimming ~ Triathlon, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

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Undefeated Aussies & Dutch headline Women’s World Cup semis

By
Rich Perelman
-

A match-up of the last two undefeated teams left in the FIH women’s World Cup will headline Saturday’s semifinals: defending champion Netherlands vs. Australia.

The Dutch won their quarterfinal match against England, 2-0, to run their tournament record to 4-0-0, while the Aussies battled to a scoreless tie against Argentina, then won on penalty shots, 4-3.

In the other quarterfinals, undefeated Germany was surprisingly dismissed by Spain – which was 2-2 – by a 1-0 score from the 54th minute, and Ireland defeated India on penalty kicks (3-1) after a 0-0 tie in regulation time.

So in the semis on Saturday:

Australia (1st in Group D: 2-0-2) vs. Netherlands (1st in Group A: 4-0-0)
Spain (3rd in Group D: 3-2-0) vs. Ireland (1st in Group B: 3-1-0)

The medal matches will be on 5 August. Look for the results here.

This is the 14th women’s World Cup and the Dutch have won seven of the first 13 and two of the last three (in 2006 and 2014) and have made the final in five straight appearances (1998-2002-06-10-14).

Australia has been in five finals, winning in 1994 and 1998 and finishing second in 1990, 2006 and 2014 … each time to the Dutch!

Ireland has never gotten this far; Spain made it to the semis in 2006, but ended up fourth.

U.S. overpowers Brazil, 4-1, to win Tournament of Nations

By
Rich Perelman
-

After the struggle to score against Australia in the second game of the Tournament of Nations that reached the 90th minute to save a 1-1 tie, the U.S. pounded Brazil with three goals in the second half to a 4-1 win and the tournament title. The final standings:

Thus, the final standings:

  1. United States: 2-0-1 (7 points: 9-4 goals-against)
  2. Australia: 2-0-1 (7 points: 6-2 goals-against)
  3. Brazil: 1-2-0 (3 points: 4-8 goals-against)
  4. Japan: 0-3-0 (0 points: 3-7 goals-against)

Playing against Brazil at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois, the U.S. fell behind, 1-0, on an own goal off the foot of Tierna Davidson, but a right-footed laser from Rose Lavelle tied it in the 33rd minute and the half ended, 1-1.

In the second, the game opened up quickly and the U.S. took the lead when Tobin Heath sent a cross from the right side of the box over Brazilian goalkeeper Leticia and onto the foot of a flying Julie Ertz, who clubbed it into the back of the net in the 53rd minute.

Eight minutes later, Alex Morgan slipped a cross right past a driving Lindsey Horan and right into the path of a sprinting Heath, who ran onto the ball at the top of the box and pounded her 20th international goal into the far left corner for a 3-1 lead.

The last goal came in the 61st minute as Megan Rapinoe, who screamed a free kick just past the goal minutes before, instead served the ball into the box for a cutting Morgan, who tapped it into an empty net for her 90th career international goal.

It was easily the best game of the tournament for the U.S. and the fifth game in 11 played this year that the American 11 has scored four or more goals. The tournament summary:

26 July:
Australia 3, Brazil 1
United States 4, Japan 2

29 July:
Brazil 2, Japan 1
Australia 1, U.S. 1

02 August:
Australia 2, Japan 0
AUS: 47′: Alanna Kennedy
AUS: 81′: Sam Kerr

U.S. 4, Brazil 1
BRA: 16′: Tierna Davidson (own goal)
USA: 33′: Rose Lavelle
USA: 53′: Julie Ertz
USA: 61′: Tobin Heath
USA: 77′: Alex Morgan

The U.S. now stands at 9-0-2 in 2018 and is unbeaten in its last 19 matches (16-0-3) since its 2017 loss to Australia, and has a 58-17 scoring edge in those games. The U.S. improved its all-time record vs. Brazil to 28-3-5.

Medalists galore clash in Trampoline World Cup in Japan

By
Rich Perelman
-

The third FIG Trampoline World Cup is getting ready in Maebashi (JPN) for this weekend, with competition in men’s and women’s individual and synchronized events.

The fields are excellent with five World Champions and the reigning Olympic champions:

Men:

  • Dong Dong (CHN) ~ World Champion in 2009-10-13; 2012 Olympic gold medalist
  • Gao Lei (CHN) ~ World Champion in 2015-17
  • Xiao Tu (CHN) ~ World Champion in 2014
  • Uladzislau Hancharou (BLR) ~ 2016 Olympic gold medalist
  • Dmitriy Ushakov (RUS) ~ 2017 World Champs silver medalist; 2012 Olympic silver medalist

Women:

  • Lingling Liu (CHN) ~ World Champion in 2014
  • Rosie MacLennan ~ World Champion in 2013; Olympic Champion in 2012-16
  • Bryony Page (GBR) ~ 2016 Olympic silver medalist
  • Ayano Kishi (JPN) ~ 2017 World Championships silver medalist

In fact, the entire podium from the 2017 World Championships for men (Lei-Ushakov-Dong) returns for this event. U.S. national men’s champ Jeffrey Gluckstein and runner-up Nicole Ahsinger head the U.S. contingent in Maebashi.

The Synchro competition has four Worlds medalists among the men’s entries, including eurrent World Champions Hancharou and Aleh Rabtsau (BLR) and bronze winners Ushakov and Andrey Yudin (RUS), plus 2015 World Champions Dong and Tu (CHN) and bronze medalists Allan Morante and Sebastien Martiny of France.

Look for results here.

U.S. women ready for FIFA U-20 World Cup

By
Rich Perelman
-

The U.S. women’s U-20 team will be looking for its fourth World Cup title in the ninth edition of the FIFA women’s U-20 World Cup in France, beginning on Sunday (5th). The groups:

  • Group A: France, Ghana, New Zealand, Netherlands
  • Group B: DPR Korea, England, Mexico, Brazil
  • Group C: United States, Japan, Paraguay, Spain
  • Group D: China, Haiti, Nigeria, Germany

The group phase runs from 5-13 August, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals on 16-17 August. The semis will be in Vannes on 20 August and the finals in Vannes on 24 August. The other host cities are Concarneau, Saint-Malo and Dinan-Lehon, all in the Brittany region.

North Korea is the defending champion, beating France, 3-1 in the final. The U.S. finished fourth, but has won this tournament in 2002-08-12, and was third in 2004 and fourth in 2006-16. Germany has also won three titles in this event, in 2004-10-14, and North Korea also won in 2006. Those are the only three countries to win in this event. The top seeds for 2018 are France, Germany, North Korea and Japan.

Television coverage of the tournament is on Fox (check FS1 and FS2) and Telemundo in the U.S. Look for results here.

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