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Run phase decides National Junior Champions

By
Rich Perelman
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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
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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
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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
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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.

U.S. Track Cycling Nationals start in Carson

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 2018 national championships in Track Cycling start on Saturday – for the second consecutive year – at the VELO Sports Center velodrome at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, and continue through Tuesday (7th).

The events, entries and defending champions/runners-up from 2017:

Men:

Sprint: 32
1. James Mellen
2. Joe Christiansen

Team Sprint: 33
1. Star Track Racing
2. Sprinters Edge Track

4 km Pursuit: 29
1. Ashton Lambie
2. Mac Cassin

Team Pursuit: 32
1. Jim Told Us To Do This
2. Millerettes

Keirin: 23
1. James Mellen
2. Joe Christiansen

40 km Points Race: 37
1. Mac Cassin
2. Ashton Lambie

15 km Scratch Race: 35
1. Zachary Carison
2. Zachary Kovalcik

1 km Time Trial: 35
1. John Croom
2. Jamie Alvord

Omnium: 36
1. Daniel Holloway
2. Ashton Lambie

Madison: 21

Women:

Sprint: 9
1. Madalyn Godby
2. Mandy Marquardt

Team Sprint: 15
1. Team USA
2. Startrack Colorado

3 km Pursuit: 12
1. Christina Birch
2. Molly van Houweling

Team Pursuit: 16
1. Macc Attack
2. SDBC/Emerald Textile

Keirin: 9
1. Mandy Marquardt
2. Anissa Cobb

25 km Points Race: 25
1. Jennifer Valente
2. Kimberly Ann Zubris

10 km Scratch Race: 23
1. Jennifer Valente
2. Tela Crane

500 m Time Trial: 14
1. Mandy Marquardt
2. Mckenzie Brown

Omnium: 24
1. Jennifer Valente
2. Colleen Gulick

Madison: 7

In terms of last year’s stars, Valente is entered in five events: women’s Keirin, Points Race, Scratch Race, Madison and Omnium. Marquardt is in the Sprint, Time Trial and Keirin; Godby is in the Sprint and Keirin. The only men’s doubler in 2017, James Mellen, is in the Sprint and Keirin.

Look for results here.

UCI World Tour starts up again in Spain and Poland

By
Rich Perelman
-

The biggest race in cycling – the Tour de France – is over. Time for a rest? No.

This week has two races: the Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian in Spain and the seven-day Tour de Pologne:

The Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian will celebrate its 38th edition on Saturday (4th) and the route for 2018 is fixed at 228.7 km over a hilly course with eight defined climbs.

Four prior champions and six former medal winners are among the starters:

  • Bauke Mollema (NED) ~ winner in 2016, third in 2017
  • Tony Gallopin (FRA) ~ winner in 2015, second in 2016-17
  • Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP) ~ winner in 2010 and 2012
  • Adam Yates (GBR) ~ winner in 2015
  • Greg van Avermaet (BEL) ~ second in 2011

Simon Gerrans (AUS) ~ second in 2012

The big names in the race include the Tour de France fourth-placer Primoz Roglic (SLO) and King of the Mountains winner Julian Alaphilippe (FRA).

The climbs are not extreme, but could be enticing for emerging stars from the Tour de France like Egan Bernal (COL) or Pierre Latour (FRA), or for veterans who didn’t do much in France, such as Rigoberto Uran (COL), maybe Daryl Impey (RSA) or Michael Matthews (AUS).

Or, it could be time for someone who didn’t ride in Le Tour, like Italy’s Diego Ulissi. Look for results here.

The Tour de Pologne is a much older race, with the 75th edition starting Saturday in Krakow. The stages:

  • 04 August: Stage 1 Krakow to Krakow (133.7 km)
  • 05 August: Stage 2 Tarnowskie Gory to Katowice (156.0 km)
  • 06 August: Stage 3 Stadion Slaski to Zabrze (140.0 km)
  • 07 August: Stage 4 Jaworzno to Szczyrk (179.0 km)
  • 08 August: Stage 5 Kopalnia Soli to Bielsko-Biala (152.0 km)
  • 09 August: Stage 6 Zakopane to Bukovina (129.0 km)
  • 10 August: Stage 7 Bukowvina Resort to Bukowina Tatrzanska (136 km)

There are 11 prior medal winners in the field, but only two former champions: Dylan Teuns (BEL: 2017) and Moreno Moser (ITA: 2012). Prior runner-ups include Grega Bole (SLO), Michal Kwiatkowski (POL), Daniel Moreno (ESP), Fabio Felline (ITA) and Lars Yttig Bak (DEN).

The field is quite good, with RideLondon-Surrey Classic winner Pascal Ackermann (GER) and a batch of multi-stage racers who did not compete in France, such as Segio Henao (COL), Fabio Aru (ITA), Rui Costa (POR) and Rohan Dennis (AUS).

Count on Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen to contend on the sprint stages. Look for results here.

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.

Italy to offer three cities for single 2026 Winter Games bid

By
Rich Perelman
-

The Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) made a surprise selection for its 2026 Olympic Winter Games bid city, choosing all three – Cortina d’Ampezzo, Milan and Turin – to share the Games, and splitting the events between them.

This drew a quick response from the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, removing itself as a host city since it won’t be the sole host, but still allowing events to be held there.

CONI chief Giovanni Malago said “there will not be a leading city: it is an absolute novelty in the history of the candidature process and we have obtained from the IOC this possibility” of a multi-city bid.

What it could do is blow up the fiction of a single Olympic Village, an outdated and expensive concept that needs to change.

Eugene selected to host 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials

By
Rich Perelman
-

USA Track & Field ended the suspense and to the surprise of almost no one, chose an under-construction facility in Eugene, Oregon after removing the event from an under-construction facility at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.

The new Hayward Field is expected to be finished in “spring of 2020” according to the USATF announcement. The facility is scheduled to be the site of the 2021 IAAF World Championships and is slated to have 12,900 permanent seats and the possibility of expansion to 30,000 for the World Championships.

USATF Board chair Steve Miller said “Having continuity in location as we move from the Olympic Trials into 2021 will enhance and amplify everything around the sport in the United States, from marketing and promotions to operational efficiencies.”

No it won’t. It will demonstrate once again that the world’s dominant track & field nation is so enthusiastic about the sport that it is permanently showcased in its 117th-largest media market.

Will the 2019 U.S. swimming team suffer the same letdown as 2015?

By
Rich Perelman
-
Kelsi Dahlia and Mallory Comerford were celebrating in 2017; what about next year?

Fans of U.S. swimming were a little concerned after the 2015 World Championships, when the performance of the American team dipped by 20% from two years prior.

Even though the U.S. won the most medals with 23, the output declined from 29 at the 2013 Worlds, with a team that was selected from the U.S. nationals in 2014, more than a year before the 2015 Worlds.

There were swimmers who were simply not as ready in 2015 as they were the year before. Moreover, the 2015 U.S. Nationals actually overlapped with the 2015 World Championships and some of the marks in the U.S. meet would have won medals at the ongoing Worlds!

So some wondered whether U.S. Swimming’s continued practice of picking the 2019 World Championships team from the 2018 Nationals was a good idea. We won’t know until next year, but we can use a close measuring stick by comparing the winning times at the U.S. Nationals from 2017 with those in 2018.

After all, the U.S. team selected at the 2017 Nationals was one of the best ever, producing a stunning 38 medals (18 gold, 10 silver, 10 bronze), with no other country winning more than 10. Perhaps this was simply a bad year for the rest of the world, but the American team was stunningly good.

So how did the 2018 national champs compare to the 2017 world-beaters?

Pretty well … no, very well … really, they were terrific! Consider:

  • 2017: 8 world-leading marks, two American Records
  • 2018: 8 world-leading marks, one World Record, three American Records

And when looking event by event, you can see that the 2018 winners more than held their own against the 2017 stars who went on to dominate the World Championships (AR = American Record; WR = World Record; fastest time between the two years is in CAPS):

Men

50 m Free:
2017: 21.53, Caeleb Dressel
2018: 21.49, MICHAEL ANDREW

100 m Free:
2017: 47.96, NATHAN ADRIAN
2018: 48.08, Blake Pieroni

200 m Free:
2017: 1:45.03, TOWNLEY HAAS
2018: 1:45.70, Andrew Seliskar

400 m Free:
2017: 3:44.43, ZANE GROTHE
2018: 3:46.53, Zane Grothe

800 m Free:
2017: 7:50.43, Clark Smith
2018: 7:44.57, ZANE GROTHE

1,500 m Free:
2017: 14:59.73, True Sweetser
2018: 14:48.89, JORDAN WILIMOVSKY

50 m Back:
2017: 24.41, Justin Ress
2018: 24.24 AR, RYAN MURPHY

100 m Back:
2017: 52.71, Matt Grevers
2018: 52.51, RYAN MURPHY

200 m Back:
2017: 1:54.30, Ryan Murphy
2018: 1:54.15, RYAN MURPHY

50 m Breast:
2017: 26.88, Kevin Cordes
2018: 26.84, MICHAEL ANDREW

100 m Breast:
2017: 58.74 AR. Kevin Cordes
2018: 59.38, MICHAEL ANDREW

200 m Breast:
2017: 2:07.41, Kevin Cordes
2018: 2:07.28, JOSH PRENOT

50 m Fly:
2017: 23.05, Caeleb Dressel
2018: 22.93, MICHAEL ANDREW

100 m Fly:
2017: 50.87, Caeleb Dressel
2018: 50.50, CAELEB DRESSEL

200 m Fly:
2017: 1:54.47, Jack Conger
2018: 1:54.63, JUSTIN WRIGHT

200 m Medley:
2017: 1:56.51, Chase Kalisz
2018: 1:55.73, CHASE KALISZ

400 m Medley:
2017: 4:06.99, CHASE KALISZ
2018: 4:08.25, Chase Kalisz

Women

50 m Free:
2017: 24.27, Simone Manuel
2018: 24.10, SIMONE MANUEL

100 m Free:
2017: 52.81, Mallory Comerford
2018: 52.54, SIMONE MANUEL

200 m Free:
2017: 1:54.84, Katie Ledecky
2018: 1:54.60, KATIE LEDECKY

400 m Free:
2017: 3:58.44, KATIE LEDECKY
2018: 3:59.09, Katie Ledecky

800 m Free:
2017: 8:11.50, KATIE LEDECKY
2018: 8:11.98, Katie Ledecky

1,500 m Free:
2017: 16:01.02, Leah Smith
2018: 15:55.68, ASHLEY TWICHELL

50 m Back:
2017: 27.63, HANNAH STEVENS
2018: 27.70, Olivia Smoliga

100 m Back:
2017: 58.57, Kathleen Baker
2018: 58.00 WR, KATHLEEN BAKER

200 m Back:
2017: 2:06.38, KATHLEEN BAKER
2018: 2:06.43, Kathleen Baker & Ragan Smith

50 m Breast:
2017: 29.66 AR, LILLY KING
2018: 29.82, Lilly King

100 m Breast:
2017: 1:05.95, Lilly King
2018: 1:05.36, LILLY KING

200 m Breast:
2017: 2:21.83, LILLY KING
2018: 2:22.06, Micah Sumrall

50 m Fly:
2017: 25.69, Kelsi Worrell
2018: 25.48 =AR, KELSI WORRELL-DAHLIA

100 m Fly:
2017: 57.38, Kelsi Worrell
2018: 56.83, KELSI WORRELL-DAHLIA

200 m Fly:
2017: 2:07.60, Hali Flickinger
2018: 2:06.14, HALI FLICKINGER

200 m Medley:
2017: 2:09.57, Melanie Margalis
2018: 2:08.32, KATHLEEN BAKER

400 m Medley:
2017: 4:33.86, LEAH SMITH
2018: 4:34.80, Ally McHugh

When you total it all up, the 2018 Nationals winners “beat” the 2018 winners – many of whom were the same people – by 11-6 in the men’s races and 10-7 in the women’s races for an overall edge of 21-13 or in 62% of the events.

That’s pretty impressive for the 2018 winners against the 2017 finishers, who spearheaded a 38-medal explosion for the U.S. at the World Championships, the most in this century!

A lot of the names were the same, but there were also breakthroughs for new stars like four-event winner Michael Andrew (19), 200 m Free winner Andrew Seliskar (21), 200 m Fly champ Justin Wright (22) and 200 m Back co-winner Ragan Smith (16!).

Plus, let’s note the open-water veterans who impressively won the 1,500 m Frees: Jordan Wilimovsky and Ashley Twichell.

There were also other factors to consider in evaluating the two sets of marks. First is that the 2018 Nationals were a held a month later than in 2017, because of the early dates of the 2017 World Championships. Also worth noting is that the 2017 Nationals were held in an indoor pool in Indianapolis, while the 2018 meet was held outdoors in hot conditions in Irvine. Some of the swimmers noticed that while the outdoor set-up this year was no disadvantage from a wind perspective, the high air temperatures did increase the water temperature beyond what is normally experienced.

Maybe these balance out.

The next chance to compare times comes in the next two weeks, as the European Championships in Swimming are in Glasgow, Scotland from 3-12 August and the Pan-Pacific Championships – open to just about everyone else – are in Tokyo from 9-12 August.

The U.S. Worlds team for 2019 will be named after the Pan-Pacs are concluded.

Looking ahead, the 2019 FINA World Aquatics Championships will be held in Gwangju (KOR) from 21-28 July, with the swimming during the past 10 days, a little earlier than the 2015 World Championships in Kazan (RUS), where the U.S. performance was not on par with its 29-medal efforts in 2011 and 2013.

Frankly, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to pick a 2019 World Championships team a year before, but that’s the way U.S. Swimming has done it. But in terms of the proven ability of those swimmers to perform – at least in 2018 – the U.S. will have a very competitive team in Gwangju in a year’s time.

And let’s not forget, the 2020 Olympic team to compete in Tokyo will be selected from an Olympic Trials event in Omaha, Nebraska from 21-28 June, just about a month ahead from the start of the swimming events at the Games. No early selection there.

Rich Perelman
Editor

Will the 2019 U.S. swimming team suffer the same letdown as 2015?

By
Rich Perelman
-
Kelsi Dahlia and Mallory Comerford were celebrating in 2017; what about next year?

Kelsi Dahlia and Mallory Comerford were celebrating in 2017; what about next year?TSX HEADLINES – for August 3, 2018: The last time that USA Swimming picked its World Championships team a full year before, it didn’t go so well.

In 2015, the U.S. won 20% less medals than it did at the 2013 Worlds, and there was concern about the American performance at the Olympic Games in Rio a year later.

The American swimmers performed brilliantly at Rio, and the U.S. team for the 2017 World Championships exploded for 38 medals. So what now?

We compare the winning marks of the 2018 Nationals to that of the powerhouse 2017 teams; which year was better?

We have the complete rundown in our Lane One commentary, plus a lot of action on the field – and off – in the Olympic-sports world:

(1) THE TICKER: The folks in Tokyo want to recruit 110,000 people – you read that right – to volunteer at the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in the next four months! Can they do it? Plus, the first multi-European Championships starts in Glasgow … have you heard of this event?

(2) THE BIG PICTURE: USA Track & Field announces Eugene as the site of the 2020 Olympic Trials (yawn) and Italy says it will submit all three of its candidate cities in a combined bid for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games (really?).

(3) FOOTBALL: The U.S. women won the Tournament of Nations with a powerful offensive showing, demolishing Brazil, 4-1, to take the trophy on goal differential vs. Australia.

This issue includes ON DECK previews of Cycling, Football and Gymnastics, SCOREBOARD reports on Football and Hockey, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

Will the 2019 U.S. swimming team suffer the same letdown as 2015?

By
Rich Perelman
-
Kelsi Dahlia and Mallory Comerford were celebrating in 2017; what about next year?

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TSX HEADLINES – for August 3, 2018: The last time that USA Swimming picked its World Championships team a full year before, it didn’t go so well.

In 2015, the U.S. won 20% less medals than it did at the 2013 Worlds, and there was concern about the American performance at the Olympic Games in Rio a year later.

The American swimmers performed brilliantly at Rio, and the U.S. team for the 2017 World Championships exploded for 38 medals. So what now?

We compare the winning marks of the 2018 Nationals to that of the powerhouse 2017 teams; which year was better?

We have the complete rundown in our Lane One commentary, plus a lot of action on the field – and off – in the Olympic-sports world:

(1) THE TICKER: The folks in Tokyo want to recruit 110,000 people – you read that right – to volunteer at the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in the next four months! Can they do it? Plus, the first multi-European Championships starts in Glasgow … have you heard of this event?

(2) THE BIG PICTURE: USA Track & Field announces Eugene as the site of the 2020 Olympic Trials (yawn) and Italy says it will submit all three of its candidate cities in a combined bid for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games (really?).

(3) FOOTBALL: The U.S. women won the Tournament of Nations with a powerful offensive showing, demolishing Brazil, 4-1, to take the trophy on goal differential vs. Australia.

This issue includes ON DECK previews of Cycling, Football and Gymnastics, SCOREBOARD reports on Football and Hockey, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

[wpdm_package id=5378 template=”link-template-button-popup.php”]

Russian sweep in Artistic World Juniors

By
Rich Perelman
-

Nine events and nine gold medals: that’s the Russian record in the FINA World Junior Championships in Artistic Swimming, held in Budapest (HUN) from 18-22 July.

It was an impressive performance, especially since most of the events weren’t that close. Duet Tech and Duet Free winners Elizaveta Minaeva and Kseniia Ladnaia won four gold medals, including the Team Solo and Team Free Combination events.

If it wasn’t for the Russians, the Ukrainian team would have been dominant; they earned silver medals in both Solo events, both Duet events and all three team events! Summaries:

FINA Artistic Swimming
World Junior Championships
Budapest (HUN) ~ 18-22 July 2018.
(Full results here)

Solo Technical: 1. Varvara Subbotina (RUS), 92.6551; 2. Marta Fiedina (UKR), 88.6030; 3. Mana Fujiwara (JPN), 87.9752.

Solo Free: 1. Subbotina (RUS), 93.5667; 2. Fiedina (UKR), 90.7667; 3. Fujiwara (JPN), 88.3333.

Duet Technical: 1. Elizaveta Minaeva/Kseniia Ladnaia (RUS), 91.6280; 2. Vladyslava Aleksiiva/Maryna Aleksiiva (UKR), 89.9301; 3. Jin Tong Liu/Jin Han Liu (CHN), 87.5172. Also: 11. Ruby Remati/Nicole Goot (USA), 81.5151.

Duet Free: 1. Minaeva/Ladnaia (RUS), 93.1000; 2. Aleksiiva/Aleksiiva (UKR), 91.0333; 3. Ami Wada/Mana Fujiwara (JPN), 89.1333. Also: 11. Remati/Yara Elian (USA), 82.5000.

Team Technical: 1. Russia, 92.7347; 2. Ukraine, 90.3331; 3. Japan, 89.0176. Also: 8. United States, 82.9434.

Team Free: 1. Russia, 93.6667; 2. Ukraine, 91.8000; 3. Japan, 90.5667. Also: 9. United States, 83.4667.

Team Free Combination: 1. Russia, 94.2333; 2. Ukraine, 92.1000; 3. Japan, 90.5333. Also: 7. United States 83.7000.

Mixed Duet Technical: 1. Alina Mantulenko/Mikhail Vasilev (RUS), 83.6404; 2. Yiyao Zhang/Haoyu Shi (CHN), 79.3538; 3. Kana Miyauchi/Jimma Iwasaki (JPN), 78.7287.

Mixed Duet Free: 1. Mantulenko/Vasilev (RUS), 85.1333; 2. Zhang/Shi (CHN), 81.4667; 3. Miyauchi/Iwasaki (JPN), 80.7667.

Women’s World Cup quarters start Wednesday

By
Rich Perelman
-

Two undefeated and untied teams headline the FIH women’s World Cup quarterfinals in London (GBR) on Wednesday and Thursday:

1 August:

Germany (3-0-0) vs. Spain (2-2-0)
Australia (1-0-2) vs. Argentina (2-1-1)

2 August:

Ireland (2-1-0) vs. India (1-1-2)
Netherlands (3-0-0) vs. England (2-0-2)

After the group stage, the second- and third-placed teams battled for semifinal spots, with Spain defeated Belgium, 3-2 on penalties after a scoreless draw; Argentina swept past New Zealand, 2-0; India skipped past Italy, 3-0, and England downed Korea, 2-0.

The semis will be played on 4 August and the medal matches on 5 August. Look for 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). Argentina won the title in 2002 and 2010 and Australia in 1994 and 1998. Germany has won twice as West Germany in 1976 and 1981 and was third (as Germany) in 1998.

Eight golds for China at World Juniors

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 2018 edition of the FINA World Junior Championships ended the way most diving championships end: with China at the top of the medal table.

The Chinese dominated the A-level (ages 16-18) events, winning eight holds and earning 15 medals in all. Zheng Li won three medals – one of each color – with a win in the men’s 10 m Synchro (with Junjie Lian), silver in the 1 m Springboard and bronze in the 10 m Platform!

In the women’s events, Tong Ma (CHN) won the 1 m Springboard, teamed with Rui Zhang to take the 3 m Synchro title and won a silver in the 3 m Springboard to also collect three medals.

The U.S. scored a bronze medal from Maria Coburn in the 1 m Springboard, who came from seventh place to third on her final two dives! “I was not expecting to be on the podium, not after my first couple dives,” said Coburn afterwards. “When I saw that I was up there, I was very pleased.”

FINA also held a B-level Worlds concurrently, for divers aged 14-15; click on the link below for results. Summaries of the A-level events:

FINA World Junior Championships
Kiev (UKR) ~ 25-29 July 2018.
(Full results here)

Men

1 m Springboard: 1. Zongyuan Wang (CHN), 557.65; 2. Zheng Li (CHN), 526,85; 3. Matthew Carter (AUS), 517.90. Also: 12. Lyle Yost (USA), 418.40.
3 m Springboard: 1. Daniel Restrepo Garcia (COL), 583.35; 2. Luxian Wu (CHN), 582.50; 3. Junjie Lian (CHN), 570.40. Also: 11. Jack Matthews (USA), 485.15.
10 m Platform: 1. Lian (CHN), 589.30; 2. Ruslan Ternovoi (RUS), 543.90; 3. Zheng Li (CHN), 523.55.

3 m Synchro: 1. Henry McKay/Victor Povzner (CAN), 300.33; 2. Lou Massenberg/ Karl Schoene (GER), 298.56; 3. Daniel Restrepo/Luis Uribe (COL), 290.88. Also: 9. Manuel Borowski/Jack Matthews (USA), 257.76.

10 m Synchro: 1. Zheng Li/Junjie Lian (CHN), 328.44; 2. Matthew Dixon/Noah Williams (GBR), 304.65; 4. Yevhen Naumenko/ Oleh Serbin (UKR), 304.08. Also: 9. Tyler Downs/Jordan Rzepka (USA), 255.30.

Women

1 m Springboard: 1. Tong Ma (CHN), 410.85; 2. Uliana Kliueva (RUS), 398.35; 3. Maria Coburn (USA), 393.05.
3 m Springboard: 1. Shan Lin (CHN), 503.15; 2. Ma (CHN), 487.30; 3. Alysha Koloi (AUS), 432.30. Also: 6. Bridget O’Neil (USA), 422.70.
10 m Platform: 1. Rui Zhang (CHN), 488.70; 2. Lin (CHN), 453.20; 3. Iana Satina (RUS), 425.90. Also: 10. Joanna Holloway (USA), 367.75.

3 m Synchro: 1. Tong Ma/Rui Zhang (CHN), 265.50; 2. Uliana Kliueva/Vitaliia Koroleva (RUS), 255.00; 3. Rin Kaneto/Mai Yasuda (JPN), 254.28. Also: 5. Maria Coburn/ Bridget O’Neil (USA), 247.41.

10 m Synchro: 1. Shiyun Lai/Jialing Liu (CHN), 314.88; 2. Phoebe Banks/Emily Martin (GBR), 278.79; 3. Nicoleta-Angelica Muscalu/Antonia-Mihaela Pavel (ROU), 265.44. Also: 6. Joanna Holloway/Sophia McAfee (USA), 250.38.

Mixed

Team event: 1. Great Britain, 318.70; 2. China, 307.50; 3. Australia, 304.50. Also: 9. United States (Coburn, Tyler Downs, Hailey Hernandez, Max Weinrich) 275.30.

Trave and Hocevar impress in World Slalom Juniors

By
Rich Perelman
-

Slalom races are often won by just hundredths of a second, so when Spain’s Miquel Trave and Eva Hocevar (SLO) won World Junior titles each by more than three seconds, it’s worth taking notice.

Trave won the C-1 by 3.84 seconds over Flavio Micozzi of Italy and Hocevar dominated the women’s K-1, winning by 89.67-93.23 over Poland’s Sona Stanovska to highlight the World Junior Slalom Championships in Ivrea (ITA).

Special mention is due to Stanovska, who was the only one to win medals in both the K-1 (second) and C-1 (bronze). Czech Gabriela Satkova won two golds, in the women’s C-1 and then on the C-1 team with Tereza Kneblova. Summaries (click on the link for the World U-23 results also):

ICF World Junior Slalom Championships
Ivrea (ITA) ~ 16-21 July 2018.
(Full results here)

Men

C-1: 1. Miquel Trave (ESP), 81.98; 2. Flavio Micozzi (ITA), 85.82; 3. Nicolas Gestin (FRA), 86.23.
C-1/Teams: 1. Nicolas Gestin/Jules Bernardet (FRA), 97.58; 2. Vojtech Heger/Petr Novotny (CZE), 103.72; 3. Urh Turnsek/Nejo Polencic (SLO), 105.91. Also: 11. Nathaniel Francis/Kaelin Friedenson (USA), 129.88.

K-1: 1. Jan Barta (CZE), 79.40; 2. Anatole Delassus (FRA), 80.32; 3. Tomas Zima (CZE), 81.00.
K-1/Teams: 1. Julien Pajaud/Vincent Delahaye (FRA), 93.30; 2. Tomas Zima/Jakub Krejci (CZE), 93.59; 3. Tim Bremer/Joshua Dietz (GER), 95.63. Also: 10. Joshua Joseph/Taylor Pittman (USA), 105.46.

Women

C-1: 1. Gabriela Satkova (CZE), 100.45; 2. Marta Bertoncelli (ITA), 101.24; 3. Sona Stanovska (POL), 104.55. Also: 6. Sage Donnelly (USA), 110.85.
C-1/Teams: 1. Gabriela Satkova/Tereza Kneblova (CZE), 119.13; 2. Bethan Forrow/Ellis Miller (GBR), 127.94; 3. Laurene Roisin/Doriane Delassus (FRA), 129.38.

K-1: 1. Eva Alina Hocevar (SLO), 89.67; 2. Stanovska (POL), 93.23; 3. Naemi Braendle (SUI), 94.20. Also: 6. Madison Corcoran (USA), 103.42.
K-1/Teams: 1. Antonie Galuskova/Lucie Nesnidalova (CZE), 109.38; 2. Eva Hocevar/Lea Novak (SLO), 109.70; 3. Francesca Malagutif/Marta Bertoncelli (ITA), 110.40. Also: 5. Ria Sribar/Sage Donnelly (USA), 116.61.

Mixed

C-2: 1. Elena Micozzi/Flavio Micozzi (ITA), 113.77; 2. Jules Bernardet/Doriane Delassus (FRA), 120.88; 3. Ainhoa Lameiro/Pau Echaniz (ESP), 130.29. Also: 10. Sage Donnelly/Kaelin Friedenson (USA), 194.19.

Kos and Jensen star at World Sprint Juniors

By
Rich Perelman
-

The World Junior Championships in Sprint was held in Bulgaria, but the stars came from Hungary and Canada.

Sophia Jensen of Canada won three events: the C-1/200 m, the C-1/500 m and teamed with Julia Lilley Osende to take the C-2/500 m for the best individual performance of the championships.

The best on the men’s side was Benedek Kos of Hungary, who won the K-1/500 m and the K-1/1,000 m races. The Hungarians had a sensational meet, winning five events on the final day and seven overall. Russia won four Junior titles.

The ICF World U-23 Championships were held at the same time; use the link below to access those results. Junior summaries:

ICF World Junior Championships
Plovdiv (BUL) ~ 26-29 July 2018.
(Full results here)

Men

C-1/200 m: 1. Nikita Nekrasov (RUS), 39.767; 2. Anuar Akchurin (KAZ), 40.093; 3. Fabien Schatz (GER), 40.190.
C-1/1,000 m: 1. Dzianis Patapenka (BLR), 4:25.077; 2. Kozhakhmet Altynbek (KAZ), 4:25.412; 3. Roar Benecke (GER), 4:25.558.
C-2/1,000 m: 1. Sergei Nemov/Kirill Romanov (RUS), 3:53.872; 2. Orestes Jose Gutierrez/Jose Pelier (CUB), 3:54.551; 3. Jiri Minarik/Jiri Salubil (CZE), 3:55.118.
C-4/500 m: 1. Russia, 1:32.235; 2. Ukraine, 1:32.760; 3. Germany, 1:33.518.

K-1/200 m: 1. Bartosz Grabowski (POL), 35.260; 2. Matus Jedinak (SVK), 35.613; 3. Tom Maassen (GER), 35.701.
K-1/500 m: 1. Benedek Kos (HUN), 1:35.920; 2. Rasmus Knudsen (DEN), 1:36.440; 3. Bojan Zdelar (SRB), 1:38.159.
K-1/1,000 m: 1. Kos (HUN), 3:56.901; 2. Martin Hiller (GER), 3:58.593; 3. Anton Novak (BLR), 4:00.383.
K-2/1,000 m: 1. Kiryl Smalianik/ Uladzislau Litvinau (BLR), 3:30.856; 2. Vilem Kukacka/Jan Vorel (CZE), 3:31.206; 3. David Darne Palmada/Xoel Garcia (ESP), 3:32.700.
K-4/500 m: 1. Hungary, 1:21.055; 2. Germany, 1:21.232; 3. Russia, 1:22.363.

Women

C-1/200 m: 1. Sophia Jensen (CAN), 46.873; 2. Bianka Nagy (HUN), 47.649; 3. Lucia Valova (SVK), 48.377.
C-1/500 m: 1. Jensen (CAN), 2:19.006; 2. Csenge Molnar (HUN), 2:22.761; 3. Olga Aleksandrova (RUS), 2:23.162.
C-2/200 m: 1. Laura Ruiz/Flore Caupain (FRA), 46.115; 2. Lina-Marie Bielicke/Annette Wehrmann (GER), 46.150; 3. Maria Olarasu/Daniela Cociu (MDA), 46.250.
C-2/500 m: 1. Sophia Jensen/Julia Lilley Osende (CAN), 1:58.306; 2. Qi Li/Wei Li (CHN), 1:58.997; 3. Bianka Nagy/Csenge Molnar (HUN), 2:00.199.
C-4/500 m: 1. Russia, 1:32.225; 2. Ukraine, 1:32.760; 3. Germany, 1:33.518.

K-1/200 m: 1. Alida Dora Gazso (HUN), 40.548; 2. Ina Sauchuk (BLR), 40.623; 3. Irene Bellan (ITA), 40.864.
K-1/500 m: 1. Eszter Rendessy (HUN), 1:49.735; 2. Sauchuk (BLR), 1:51.375; 3. Emma Russell (GBR), 1:51.814.
K-1/1,000 m: 1. Maria Rei (POR), 4:15.603; 2. Olga Bako (HUN), 4:16.903; 3. Alina Neumiarzhytskaya (BLR), 4;17.146.
K-2/500 m: 1. Karina Biben/Olga Bako (HUN), 1:39.776; 2. Anastasiia Dolgova/Victoria Krupnova (RUS), 1:41.974; 3. Stepanka Sobiskoba/Barbora Galadova (CZE), 1:42.506.
K-4/500 m: 1. Hungary, 1:36.497; 2. Germany, 1:38.497; 3. Russia, 1:38.664.

U.S. women seeded no. 1 in World Championships

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 2018 World Softball Championships are set to start at four different stadiums in Japan with competition from 2-12 August. The 16 teams will play in two groups (world rankings in parentheses):

Group A:

United States (1), Chinese Taipei (5), Puerto Rico (6), Mexico (7), Netherlands (8), New Zealand (11), Philippines (15), South Africa (35)

Group B:

Japan (2), Canada (3), Australia (4), Italy (9), China (12), Great Britain (14), Venezuela (17), Botswana (33).

Each group will play a round-robin schedule through the 8th, with playoffs starting on the 10th. The top four teams in each group will play in the Championship bracket and the last four teams in the Consolation bracket. Games will be played in Chiba, Narita, Narashino and Ichihara.

Semifinals will be held on the 11th and the medal games on 12 August. Look for results here.

The first World Championships was 1965 and was won by hosts Australia. Since then, the U.S. has won 10 times in the 14 tournaments since, including seven in a row from 1986-2010. It’s now held every two years and Japan and the U.S. have played in six straight finals, with the Americans winning in 2002-06-10-16 and the Japanese taking the title in 2012-14.

The U.S. has won a medal in 14 of the 15 events, missing only in 1982 (10-4-0); Japan has won 10 medals (3-5-2) and Australia, eight (1-1-6).

The U.S. and Japan faced off in the USA International Cup in Irvine, California in earlier this month, with the U.S. World Championships team winning the tournament with a 10-5 victory over Japan in the final on 15 July. The U.S. batting stars included Valerie Arioto, who was 3-for-3 with three home runs, five runs batted in and four runs scored, and Michelle Moultrie (2-3) with a home run and two RBIs.

Quadrennial World Sailing Champs open in Aarhus

By
Rich Perelman
-

Only once in four years is the World Sailing Championships held and the showdown in the Olympic classes is set to start in Aarhus (DEN) and continuing through 12 August.

In each of the 12 classes on the program, an Opening Series of races will take place, with a Medal Race worth double points at the end (the number of entries are also shown):

RS:X:
. 05-12 August
. Men: 90 entries: 14+1 medal race
. Women: 64 entries: 14+1 medal race

49er:
. 04-12 August
. Men: 89 entries: 14+1

49erFX:
. 04-12 August
. 63 entries: 14+1

Finn:
. 02-10 August
. 92 entries: 10+1

Kiteboard:
. 05-11 August
. Men and Women: 24+1

Laser:
. 03-11 August
. 165 entries: 10+1

Laser Radial:
. 03-11 August
. 119 entries: 10+1

470 Men:
. 02-10 August
. 65 entries: 10+1

470 Women:
. 02-10 August
. 47 entries: 10+1

Nacra 17/Mixed:
. 05-12 August
. 69 entries: 16+1

The defending champions from the 2014 Worlds, held in Santander (ESP):

RS:X Men:
Julien Bontemps (FRA)

RS:X Women:
Charline Picon (FRA)

49er Men:
Peter Burling/Blair Tuke (NZL)

49erFX Women:
Martina Graef/Kahena Kunze (BRA)

Finn:
Giles Scott (GBR)

Laser Men:
Nicholas Heiner (NED)

Laser Radial Women:
Marit Bouwmeester (NED)

470 Men:
Mat Belcher/Will Ryan (NZL)

470 Women:
Lara Vladlau/Jolanta Ogar (AUT)

Nacra 17 Mixed:
Billy Besson/Marie Riou (FRA)

And the Olympic winners from Rio 2016, five of which are the same:

RS:X Men:
Dorian v. Rijesselberghe (NED)

RS:X Women:
Charline Picon (FRA)

49er Men:
Peter Burling/Blair Tuke (NZL)

49er FX Women:
Martina Graef/Kahena Kunze (BRA)

Finn Men:
Giles Scott (GBR)

Laser Men:
Tom Burton (AUS)

Laser Radial Women:
Marit Bouwmeester (NED)

470 Men:
Sime Fantela/Igor Marenic (CRO)

470 Women:
Hannah Mills/Saskia Clark (GBR)

Nacra 17 Mixed:
Santiago Lange/Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG)

In 2018, the World Sailing World Cup was held in three stages and a World Cup Final in Japan, the U.S. and France (two legs); the winners:

Men

RS:X:
Gamagori: Pawel Tarnowski (POL)
Miami: Louis Giard (FRA)
Hyeres: Pierre LeCoq (FRA)
Marseille: LeCoq

Laser:
Gamagori: Sam Meech (NZL)
Miami: Tom Burton (AUS)
Hyeres: Jean Baptiste Bernaz (FRA)
Marseille: Philipp Buhl (GER)

Finn:
Gamagori: not held
Miami: Giles Scott (GBR)
Hyeres: Jorge Zarif (BRA)
Marseille: Zarif

470:
Gamagori: Mat Belcher/Will Ryan (AUS)
Miami: Luke Patience/Chris Grube (GBR)
Hyeres: Anton Dahlberg/Fredrik Bergstrom (SWE)
Marseille: Belcher/Ryan

Women

RS:X:
Gamagori: Hei Man Chan (HKG)
Miami: Helene Noesmoen (FRA)
Hyeres: Zofia Noceti-Klepacka (POL)
Marseille: Noga Geller (ISR)

Laser Radial:
Gamagori: Anne-Marie Rindom (DEN)
Miami: Alison Young (GBR)
Hyeres: Marit Bouwmeester (NED)
Marseille: Emma Plasschaert (BEL)

470:
Gamagori: Agnieszka Skrzypulec/ Irmina Gliszczynska (POL)
Miami: Tina Mrak/Veronika Macarol (SLO)
Hyeres: Camille Lecointre/Aloise Retornaz (FRA)
Marseille: Hannah Mills/Eilidh McIntyre (GBR)

Mixed

Nacra 17:
Gamagori: not held
Miami: Jason Waterhouse/Lisa Darmanin (AUS)
Hyeres: Ruggero Tita/Caterina Banti (ITA)
Marseille: Tita/Banti

Weather permitting in Aarhus, a total of 180 races will be held and the results of each race can be found here.

U.S. tries for Tournament of Nations trophy vs. Brazil

By
Rich Perelman
-

The U.S. women’s national team settled nothing in its new rivalry with Australia in Sunday’s 1-1 tie in its second game of the Tournament of Nations.

Once again, Australia scored first – as in its 1-0 win in 2017 – and then frustrated the U.S. again and again with a well-organized defense. Unlike last year, however, Lindsey Horan saved the game with a header off of Megan Rapinoe’s on-target corner kick in the 90th minute for the tie.

So with just Thursday’s games to go:

26 July: Australia 3, Brazil 1
29 July: Brazil 2, Japan 1
02 August: Australia vs. Japan

United States 4, Japan 2
Australia 1, U.S. 1
U.S. vs. Brazil

(Bridgeview, Illinois ~ U.S. game at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on FS1)

Both the U.S. and Australia have 1-0-1 records (4 points); with Brazil at 1-1-0 (3 points) and Japan at 0-2-0 (0). If either the U.S. or Australia win and the other ties or loses, the winner will take the trophy. If Brazil beats the U.S. and Australia and Japan tie, Brazil will win the tournament.

The tie-breakers after points are goal differential, then goals scored. The U.S. is +2 (5-3), Australia is +2 (4-2) and Brazil is -1 (3-4).

The U.S. now stands at 8-0-2 in 2018 and is unbeaten in its last 18 matches (15-0-3) since the loss to Australia, and has a 54-16 scoring edge in those games.

The U.S. has a 27-3-5 lifetime record against Brazil, which got goals from Marta and Beatriz in its win over Japan.

ACA hosts its first U.S. Sprint Nationals

By
Rich Perelman
-

One of the little-noticed, but important changes in U.S. canoeing and kayaking is that the American Canoe Association, founded in 1880, became the National Governing Body for the sport in the United States.

Among other things, the ACA is now responsible for the U.S. entries into international events and part of that is staging the U.S. National Sprint Championships, taking place from 1-4 August on the Oklahoma River in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The defending champions and runner-ups from 2017’s Nationals in Clermont, Florida:

Men:

C-1/200 m: 1. Gavin Ross, 43.93 2. Kenny Kasperbauer, 44.36
C-1/500 m: 1. Ryan Grady, 1:56.53 2. Gavin Ross, 1:58.30
C-1/1,000 m: 1. Ryan Grady, 4:17.47 2. Kenny Kasperbauer, 4:27.60
C-1/5,000 m: 1. Gavin Ross, 27:38.61 2. Kenny Kasperbauer, 28:27.21
C-2/200 m: 1. Kenny Kasperbauer/Oliver Farquhar, 45.08
2. Blaise Rhodes/Gavin Ross, 46.99
C-2/1,000 m: 1. Riley Bunner/Edward Surles, 4:16.59
2. Kenny Kasperbauer/Oliver Farquhar, 4:24.97
C-4/1,000 m: 1. Kenny Kasperbauser/Ben Gregory/Ryan Grady/Mike Thompson, 4:05.85
2. Riley Brunner/Stanton Collins/Drew Deppe/Aaron Mullican, 4:17.80

K-1/200 m: 1. Stanton Collins, 36.94
2. Miles Cross-Whiter, 37.28
K-1/500 m: 1. Alex Lee, 1:43.33
2. Aaron D. Mullican, 1:44.65
K-1/1,000 m: 1. Alex Lee, 3:44.53
2. Jesse Lishchuk, 3:47.85
K-1/5,000 m: 1. Alex Lee, 22:53.11
2. Aaron D. Mullican, 23:05.21
K-2/200 m: 1. Stanton Collins/Aaron D. Mullican, 34.22
2. Nathaniel Errez/Miles Cross-White, 35.69
K-2/1,000 m: 1. Stanton Collins/Aaron D. Mullican, 3:29.24
2. Alex Lee/Nainoa Orr, 3:32.57
K-4/1,000 m: 1. Aaron Mullican/Stanton Collins/Drew Deppe/Owen Farley-Klacik, 3:12.97
2. Alex Lee/Nainoa Orr/Kai Wilding/Nick Whitcomb, 3:15.90

Women:

C-1/200 m: 1. Ann Armstrong, 53.38
2. Andreea Ghizila, 53.86
C-1/500 m: 1. Ann Armstrong, 2:27.06
2. Pam Boteler, 3:07.52
C-1/1,000 m: 1. Ann Armstrong, 5:21.70
2. Pam Boteler, 5:37.61
C-1/5,000 m: 1. Pam Boteler, 38:26.41 (Only finisher)
C-2/200 m: 1. Azusa Murphy/Hana Neutz, 54.84
2. Ann Armstrong/Pam Boteler, 57.52
C-2/500 m: 1. Ann Armstrong/Pam Boteler, 2:26.02
2. Azusa Murphy/Hana Neutz, 2:30.42
C-4/500 m: 1. Ann Armstrong/Pam Boteler/Kathleen McNamee/Kelly Rhodes, 2:45.19
2. Lisa Ramm/Victoria Stocker/Becca Schuette/Betsy Ray, 3:21.90

K-1/200 m: 1. Samantha Barlow, 46.50
2. Caroline Cook, 49.10
K-1/500 m: 1. Samantha Barlow, 2:02.33
2. Farran Smith, 2:08.16
K-1/1,000 m: 1. Samantha Barlow, 4:14.78
2. Farran Smith, 4:20.39
K-1/5,000 m: 1. Samantha Barlow, 25:26.88
2. Kalen Lee Scholz, 27:39.01
K-2/200 m: 1. Samantha Barlow/Mira Corrao, 44.80
2. Anne Blanchard/Lisa Swenson, 49.10
K-2/500 m: 1. Samantha Barlow/Mira Corrao, 1:54.73
2. Anne Blanchard/Lisa Swenson, 2:05.47
K-4/500 m: 1. Bria Cornforth/Catherine Wilborn/Irissa Danke/Ina Poecher, 1:49.86
2. Samantha Barlow/Madison Long/Geome Ramirez/Courtney Stow, 1:55.38

For the 2017 Nationals, look for results here.

Last 5-star World Tour stop is in Vienna

By
Rich Perelman
-

The last of this season’s 5-star FIVB World Tour tournaments is underway in Vienna (AUT), with the World Tour Finals just two weeks off in Hamburg (GER). The top seeds:

Men:

  1. Vitor Felipe/Evandro Oliveira (BRA) ~ Evandro: Itapema Open 4-star winner
  2. Alison Cerutti/Andre Stein (BRA) ~ Stein: Itapema Open 4-star winner
  3. Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (POL) ~ Poland Open 4-star winners
  4. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (NED) ~ Huntington Beach Open 4-star winners
  5. Nick Lucena/Phil Dalhausser (USA) ~ Ft. Lauderdale Open 5-star winners

Women:

  1. Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan (CAN) ~ Gstaad Major 5-star winners
  2. Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson (CAN) ~ Poland Open 4-star winners
  3. Agatha Bednarczuk/Duda Lisboa (BRA) ~ Itapema Open 4-star winners
  4. Barbara Seixas/Fernanda Alves (BRA) ~ Huntington Beach Open 4-star winners
  5. Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude (GER) ~ Gstaad Open 5-star runners-up

The top-seeded American women’s team is Alexandra Klineman and April Ross, in sixth.

Vienna hosted the World Championships in 2017, with Evandro and Andre (BRA) winning the men’s final from Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst (AUT). Germany’s Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst won the women’s title over April Ross and Lauren Fendrick of the U.S.

As a five-star event, the prize purse is one of the largest on tour: $300,000 for both men and women, with $40,000 to the winning team, then $32,000 for second, $20,000 for third, $16,000 for fourth, $12,000 to the quarterfinal losers, $8,000 for the Round of 16 losers and on down to $4,000 for losers in the Round of 32.

Look for results here.

Is China still in charge as Badminton Worlds start?

By
Rich Perelman
-

The 24th Badminton World Federation World Championships are underway in Nanjing (CHN), with the question being: Is China still the dominant power in the game?

As recently as 2010 and 2011, Chinese entries swept all five events. But beginning in 2013, China has won 3-3-2 events and for 2017, has the top seed in two Doubles events:

Men’s Singles:

  1. Viktor Axelsen (DEN)
  2. Chong Wei Lee (MAS)
  3. Yuqi Shi (CHN)
  4. Wan Ho Son (KOR)
  5. Srikanth Kidambi (IND)

Defending: Viktor Axelsen (DEN:1 )

Women’s Singles:

  1. Tzu Ying Tai (TPE)
  2. Akane Yamaguchi (JPN)
  3. V. Sindhu Pusarla (IND)
  4. Ratchanok Intanon (THA)
  5. Yufei Chen (CHN)

Defending: Nozomi Okuhara (JPN: 8)

Men’s Doubles:

  1. Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (INA)
  2. Cheng Liu/Nan Zhang (CHN)
  3. Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (DEN)
  4. Junhui Li/Yuchen Liu (CHN) ~ Defending Champions
  5. Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda (JPN)

Women’s Doubles:

  1. Qingchen Chen/Yifan Jia (CHN) ~ Defending Champions
  2. Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota (JPN)
  3. Misaki Matsumoto/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN)
  4. Shiho Tanaka/Koharu Yonemoto (JPN)
  5. Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (INA)

Mixed Doubles:

  1. Siwei Zheng/Yaqiong Huang (CHN)
  2. Yilyu Wang/Dongping Huang (CHN)
  3. Chun Man Tang/Ying Suet Tse (HKG)
  4. Matthias Christensen/Christinna Pedersen (DEN)
  5. Nan Zhang/Yinhui Li (CHN)

Defending Champions: Tontowi Ahmad/Lilyana Natsir (INA)

There are three former World Champions entered who are not seeded in the top five: China’s Long Chen (8) and five-time winner Dan Lin (9) in the men’s Singles and Carolina Marin (ESP: 7) in the women’s Singles. Thailand’s Intanon, seeded fourth, was the 2013 women’s champ.

The Worlds are being held in China for the third time and for the first time in Nanjing, at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Sports Park. The schedule:

  • 30 July-02 August: Preliminaries
  • 03 August: Quarterfinals
  • 04 August: Semifinals
  • 05 August: Finals

Coverage in the U.S. is available on the NBC Olympic Channel. But check for times. Look for results here.

The IAAF is unhappy with the uniformity of uniforms

By
Rich Perelman
-

The IAAF Council meeting in Buenos Aires on 26-27 July was one of the busiest in recent memory. In addition to its decisions on doping control and what to do about Russia, it also addressed a major gripe of fans.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe noted in his post-meetings news conference that “We discussed the need to address the issue of large numbers of athletes at the Diamond League wearing identical kit, which causes confusion for spectators and broadcasters. This has to change and a group has been set up to drive this change.”

This is going to be tricky, because there is only one reason why so many athletes wear the same uniform. They are all sponsored by Nike.

On the one hand, Nike’s sponsorship of athletes is a good thing and is to be commended and encouraged. But for anyone who watches Diamond League or World Challenge or even domestic meets in person or on television, a whole lot of people are wearing the same thing. It’s especially annoying for anyone watching a meet in person, as tracks are big places and athletes running on the opposite side of the stadium are hard enough to pick out even wearing different uniforms.

Coe is in the best possible position to help sort this out, given his long service to Nike, which included a years-long consulting position that he had to give up – under pressure – when he became the IAAF President.

One place for the IAAF to start looking for ideas is triathlon. The International Triathlon Union actually approves national suits for its ITU World Series events and the approved set of national uniforms for 2018 runs to 154 pages!

The creative aspect of the World Series uniforms is that while each country has its own colors and design, there is space for enough logos to make the triathletes look like NASCAR drivers … perfect for the IAAF to allow its athletes to attract more sponsors and gather more support. The future?

Why eSports has no place in the Olympic Games

By
Rich Perelman
-

There was much anticipation over the “Esports Forum” conducted by the International Olympic Committee on 21 July, which brought members of the Olympic Movement together with 150 members of the eSports community at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The event itself was a teaching session for both entities and the IOC’s own summary noted that Olympic participation was not a goal:

“The Forum explored areas of commonality and potential collaboration, including the question of whether esports could be recognised as a sport, and in which form they could be represented within the Olympic Movement, when an organisation does not currently exist that represents esports globally and could align with the Olympic values, rules and regulations. For this reason, the consideration of whether esports could be included on the Olympic programme was not an immediate goal of the Esports Forum.”

International Basketball Federation (FIBA) president and IOC member Patrick Baumann (SUI), who – next to IOC chief Thomas Bach – has become the most indispensable person in the Olympic Movement, played up the one true parallel between the two words, noting “we are united by passion for our sports and a shared love of competition.”

That’s really about all. In my view, there is a wide gulf between eSports and the concept of the Olympic Games. And the difference is people.

Obviously, there are people in both eSports and the Olympics. The difference is that every Olympic sport depends on organic power sources: animals, nature or human beings. In the Games:

  • Sports where competitors compete using human-controlled animals or implements (21):

Individual sports (15):
Archery, Badminton, Canoe-Kayak, Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Golf, Gymnastics, Modern Pentathlon, Rowing, Shooting, Table Tennis, Tennis, Triathlon bicycles), Weightlifting.

Team Sports (6):
Basketball, Football, Handball, Hockey, Rugby, Volleyball

  • Sports where competitors compete in concert with nature (1):

Sailing

  • Sports where competitors compete against directly against each other (6):

Athletics, Boxing, Judo, Swimming, Taekwondo, Wrestling

In the Winter Games, all of the sports – Biathlon, Bobsleigh & Skeleton, Curling, Ice Hockey, Luge Skiing and Skating – use human-controlled implements for competition.

None use electricity or any other form of artificial power – such as engines – for competition. And that’s the key difference.

The eSports explosion is an extension of the computer revolution that began in the 1970s and came to consumers in the 1980s in the form of the personal computer. It is not human sport, but computer-aided competition which is in its own category.

If the IOC remains true to its role of emphasizing sport as a path to personal fitness, then eSports cannot be a part of the Olympic Games.

And Bach and the IOC see this with clarity. And in what has become a hallmark of Bach’s leadership, there is no rejection of eSports, but an invitation to keep meeting and talking. So, of course, the outcome of the Esports Forum was an “Esports Liaison Group” which will continue the discussion.

IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell noted that “There was a consensus that future collaboration will be based on ensuring that any activity supports and promotes the Olympic values; and while the goal was not to develop a pathway towards the inclusion of esports on the Olympic programme, we have a strong plan for ongoing dialogue and engagement.”

Highly-respected commentators like Alan Abrahamson believe the IOC’s interest in eSports foretells its inclusion in the Olympic Games sooner than later. Conspiracy theorists note Intel’s place as an IOC sponsor and are sure that the company will use its influence to get eSports admitted to the Games program. And it is true that eSports players – especially at the elite level – are younger.

An ESPN study noted that “overall, esports players are significantly younger than their counterparts in other major sports.” But with the worldwide population aging rapidly, will eSports continue to be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for the IOC and its partners in the future?

The strength of the Olympic Games is that it brings people together, in person, for peaceful competition against each other. The potential for eSports, if it can tear itself away from the savagery of many of its games, is to bring people together at the same time, without being in the same place.

There is ample space for the two sides to collaborate, but it is not at the Olympic Games.

Rich Perelman
Editor

Why eSports has no place in the Olympic Games

By
Rich Perelman
-
The U.S. team at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony in PyeongChang. (Photo: Jon Gaede)

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TSX HEADLINES – for August 1, 2018: The recent Esports Forum hosted by the International Olympic Committee has tongues wagging that it’s only a matter of time – a short time – before the gamers will be standing at the top of a podium receiving Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals.

Not so fast.

True, the IOC president and the head of the General Assembly of International Sports Federations (GAISF) were generous in their praise for the “passion” of the e-games, but there is a crucial difference between the sports on the Olympic program and the eSports universe.

It can be summarized in one word, but we have the full explanation in our Lane One commentary, plus previews of three World Championships getting under way this week:

(1) THE TICKER: The Calgary bid for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games may be on the verge of implosion! The City Council is considering dropping the whole thing because of a lack of provincial and federal support, and the public referendum on the bid has been set for 13 November.

(2) THE BIG PICTURE: The IAAF is tired of seeing most of the athletes in Diamond League races in the same (Nike) uniform and they’re going to do something about it? But what? We have an idea …

(3) FOOTBALL: The U.S. women’s national team and Australia are tied for the lead in the four-team Tournament of Nations with one game left on Thursday; a preview.

(4) SAILING: The World Sailing World Championships for the Olympic classes take place only once every four years; the 2018 edition is getting ready to start in Aarhus, Denmark. Check out the top contenders in our all-classes preview!

(5) SOFTBALL: The U.S. women are ranked no. 1 and seeded no. 1 in the World Softball Championships. But the event is being held in Japan, the no. 2-ranked nation and the U.S.’s biggest rival. We have the information on how to follow the games.

This issue includes ON DECK previews of Badminton (World Championships), Beach Volleyball, Canoe-Kayak, Football, Sailing (World Championships) and Softball (World Championships), SCOREBOARD reports on Canoe-Kayak ~ Diving ~ Hockey ~ 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.

Why eSports has no place in the Olympic Games

By
Rich Perelman
-
The U.S. team at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony in PyeongChang. (Photo: Jon Gaede)

HEADLINES – for August 1, 2018: The recent Esports Forum hosted by the International Olympic Committee has tongues wagging that it’s only a matter of time – a short time – before the gamers will be standing at the top of a podium receiving Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals.

Not so fast.

True, the IOC president and the head of the General Assembly of International Sports Federations (GAISF) were generous in their praise for the “passion” of the e-games, but there is a crucial difference between the sports on the Olympic program and the eSports universe.

It can be summarized in one word, but we have the full explanation in our Lane One commentary, plus previews of three World Championships getting under way this week:

(1) THE TICKER: The Calgary bid for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games may be on the verge of implosion! The City Council is considering dropping the whole thing because of a lack of provincial and federal support, and the public referendum on the bid has been set for 13 November.

(2) THE BIG PICTURE: The IAAF is tired of seeing most of the athletes in Diamond League races in the same (Nike) uniform and they’re going to do something about it? But what? We have an idea …

(3) FOOTBALL: The U.S. women’s national team and Australia are tied for the lead in the four-team Tournament of Nations with one game left on Thursday; a preview.

(4) SAILING: The World Sailing World Championships for the Olympic classes take place only once every four years; the 2018 edition is getting ready to start in Aarhus, Denmark. Check out the top contenders in our all-classes preview!

(5) SOFTBALL: The U.S. women are ranked no. 1 and seeded no. 1 in the World Softball Championships. But the event is being held in Japan, the no. 2-ranked nation and the U.S.’s biggest rival. We have the information on how to follow the games.

This issue includes ON DECK previews of Badminton (World Championships), Beach Volleyball, Canoe-Kayak, Football, Sailing (World Championships) and Softball (World Championships), SCOREBOARD reports on Canoe-Kayak ~ Diving ~ Hockey ~ Swimming, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

The IAAF shows an iron hand to Russia on doping … and it’s working

By
Rich Perelman
-

TSX HEADLINES – for July 30, 2018: The president of the International Olympic Committee said he was ready to welcome Russia back into the Olympic Movement.

The International Association of Athletics Federations – the IAAF – said not so fast.

At its Council meeting last week, the IAAF’s task force on the Russian issue maintained its stance that there are still conditions to be met for reinstatement to the track & field community … and it appears that the Russians are listening.

Doesn’t the IAAF and the World Anti-Doping Agency deserve some applause for holding Russia’s Sports Ministry to account for the biggest doping scandal in Olympic history?

We have the details in our Lane One commentary, plus reports on a wild weekend of action on the Olympic-sport carousel:

(1) THE BIG PICTURE: The IAAF also decided to allow transfers of allegiance again, but with new rules. The decision could help two stars in their quest to run for the United States!

(2) SWIMMING: The Phillips 66 National Championships concluded with American swimmers re-writing the record books, the world lists for 2018 and introducing a new generation of stars. Even on the final day, there were three new world-leading marks and a fourth national title for a budding, 19-year-old sprinter!

(3) CYCLING: After three weeks of riding, another British rider won the Tour de France … but he’s the only one who was born in Britain. Huh? Get the explanation and all the winners of this year’s Tour …

(4) FOOTBALL: The U.S. women’s national team almost lost to Australia again, but pulled a rabbit out of its hat in the 90th minute for a tie in the Tournament of Nations!

(5) GYMNASTICS: Superstar Simone Biles is back and maybe, as good or better than ever, in winning the All-Around title at the U.S. Classic!

This issue includes SCOREBOARD reports on Swimming ~ Athletics ~ Basketball ~ Cycling ~ Fencing ~ Football ~ Gymnastics ~ Hockey ~ Judo ~ Sport Climbing ~ Swimming ~ Table Tennis ~ Taekwondo ~ Triathlon, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events.

The IAAF shows an iron hand to Russia on doping … and it’s working

By
Rich Perelman
-

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TSX HEADLINES – for July 30, 2018: The president of the International Olympic Committee said he was ready to welcome Russia back into the Olympic Movement.

The International Association of Athletics Federations – the IAAF – said not so fast.

At its Council meeting last week, the IAAF’s task force on the Russian issue maintained its stance that there are still conditions to be met for reinstatement to the track & field community … and it appears that the Russians are listening.

Doesn’t the IAAF and the World Anti-Doping Agency deserve some applause for holding Russia’s Sports Ministry to account for the biggest doping scandal in Olympic history?

We have the details in our Lane One commentary, plus reports on a wild weekend of action on the Olympic-sport carousel:

(1) THE BIG PICTURE: The IAAF also decided to allow transfers of allegiance again, but with new rules. The decision could help two stars in their quest to run for the United States!

(2) SWIMMING: The Phillips 66 National Championships concluded with American swimmers re-writing the record books, the world lists for 2018 and introducing a new generation of stars. Even on the final day, there were three new world-leading marks and a fourth national title for a budding, 19-year-old sprinter!

(3) CYCLING: After three weeks of riding, another British rider won the Tour de France … but he’s the only one who was born in Britain. Huh? Get the explanation and all the winners of this year’s Tour …

(4) FOOTBALL: The U.S. women’s national team almost lost to Australia again, but pulled a rabbit out of its hat in the 90th minute for a tie in the Tournament of Nations!

(5) GYMNASTICS: Superstar Simone Biles is back and maybe, as good or better than ever, in winning the All-Around title at the U.S. Classic!

This issue includes SCOREBOARD reports on Swimming ~ Athletics ~ Basketball ~ Cycling ~ Fencing ~ Football ~ Gymnastics ~ Hockey ~ Judo ~ Sport Climbing ~ Swimming ~ Table Tennis ~ Taekwondo ~ Triathlon, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

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EXTRA: World 100 m Backstroke Record for Kathleen Baker!

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. Backstroke star (and world-record holder) Kathleen Baker

TSX EXTRA – for July 29, 2018: When 16-year-old Regan Smith set a World Junior Record in the morning prelims, it became clear that the final of the women’s 100 m Backstroke was going to be a hot race.

So hot, in fact, that Rio silver medalist Kathleen Baker – swimming next to Smith – exploded from the start and tore through the water for a world record of 58.00 on Day 4 of the Phillips 66 National Championships in Irvine, California!

But that was only one of the highlights, as Ryan Murphy followed up Baker’s stunner by out-touching Matt Grevers in a world-leading time in the 100 m Back, and Katie Ledecky swam the second sub-4:00 performance this year to win her third U.S. title, in the 400 m Free. Wow!

EXTRA: World 100 m Backstroke Record for Kathleen Baker!

By
Rich Perelman
-
U.S. Backstroke star (and world-record holder) Kathleen Baker

[wpdm_package id=5156 template=”5a3caadf84efa”]

TSX EXTRA – for July 29, 2018: When 16-year-old Regan Smith set a World Junior Record in the morning prelims, it became clear that the final of the women’s 100 m Backstroke was going to be a hot race.

So hot, in fact, that Rio silver medalist Kathleen Baker – swimming next to Smith – exploded from the start and tore through the water for a world record of 58.00 on Day 4 of the Phillips 66 National Championships in Irvine, California!

But that was only one of the highlights, as Ryan Murphy followed up Baker’s stunner by out-touching Matt Grevers in a world-leading time in the 100 m Back, and Katie Ledecky swam the second sub-4:00 performance this year to win her third U.S. title, in the 400 m Free. Wow!

Many more details, plus summaries of the top eight finishers in each event in this special, added issue for subscribers. Click below for this EXTRA 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.

EXTRA: Murphy rockets to American Record in 50 m Back on hot Irvine night

By
Rich Perelman
-

TSX EXTRA – for July 28, 2018: Triple Olympic gold medalist Ryan Murphy has been the U.S.’s best in the 100 m and 200 m Backstroke events for the last two years. But not in the 50 m.

He remedied that on Friday evening with his first U.S. title in the 50 m Back, swimming to a new American Record of 24.24 on the final event of the night at the 2018 Phillips 66 National Championships in Irvine, California.

Murphy got the headline that seemed to be belong to Caeleb Dressel and Chase Kalisz, each of whom swam world-leading times for 2018 in the 100 m Butterfly and 400 m Medley, respectively.

Kalisz said afterwards he was “freaked out” by what he saw on the video board during his Backstroke leg, but it came out fine at the end.

EXTRA: Murphy rockets to American Record in 50 m Back on hot Irvine night

By
Rich Perelman
-

[wpdm_package id=5115 template=”5a3caadf84efa”]

TSX EXTRA – for July 28, 2018: Triple Olympic gold medalist Ryan Murphy has been the U.S.’s best in the 100 m and 200 m Backstroke events for the last two years. But not in the 50 m.

He remedied that on Friday evening with his first U.S. title in the 50 m Back, swimming to a new American Record of 24.24 on the final event of the night at the 2018 Phillips 66 National Championships in Irvine, California.

Murphy got the headline that seemed to be belong to Caeleb Dressel and Chase Kalisz, each of whom swam world-leading times for 2018 in the 100 m Butterfly and 400 m Medley, respectively.

Kalisz said afterwards he was “freaked out” by what he saw on the video board during his Backstroke leg, but it came out fine at the end.

Get the details and summaries of the top eight finishers in each event in this special, added issue for subscribers. Click below for this EXTRA issue:

[wpdm_package id=5115 template=”link-template-button-popup.php”]

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.

U.S. athletes tell Congress: Fix the “unregulated monopoly” you set up in 1978

By
Rich Perelman
-
USOPC Athletes' Advisory Chair Han Xiao in Senate testimony

TSX HEADLINES – for July 27, 2018: The U.S. Senate Sub-Committee hearing on “Strengthening and Empowering U.S. Amateur Athletes: Moving Forward with Solutions” last Tuesday focused mostly on the sexual abuse issues at the United States Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics and at Michigan State University.

But the most important part of the hearing was the mostly-unappreciated testimony of United States Olympic Committee Athletes Advisory Council chair Han Xiao.

He didn’t just re-hash the sexual abuse scandal, but told the few Senators who attended exactly what was needed for change and how it could be implemented. And make no mistake, his goal – as the representative of America’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes – is nothing less than to change the USOC’s culture, what Xiao called an attitude of “athletes come and go, and athletes are replaceable.”

We have the details of Xiao’s request for Congressional action in our Lane One commentary, plus news, previews and results from all across the Olympic world:

(1) THE TICKER: Three Russian doping appeals were dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and a key anniversary of a date on which the Olympic Movement was changed forever, 34 years ago!

(2) THE BIG PICTURE: The International Olympic Committee’s Executive Director was in Calgary this week, talking about the city’s potential bid for the 2026 Winter Games … and he had good news for those worried about the city’s financial guarantees!

(3) SWIMMING: The Phillips 66 National Championships rolled on with a world-leading performance by Josh Prenot in the 200 m Breaststroke and saw Kelsi Dahlia equal her own American Record in the 50 m Butterfly. But those weren’t the surprises of the night and there were some shockers!

(4) CYCLING: Another Brit is probably going to win the Tour de France this year, but it probably isn’t going to be Chris Froome. Who will win it and what obstacles still remain with just three stages to go?

(5) FOOTBALL: The U.S. women’s national team hammered Japan, 4-2, in the Tournament of Nations opener. Now, on to a re-match of the last American loss, against Australia!

This issue includes ON DECK previews of Cycling ~ Gymnastics ~ Sport Climbing ~ Taekwondo; SCOREBOARD reports on Swimming ~ Basketball ~ Cycling ~ Fencing ~ Golf ~ Wrestling, plus AGENDA, our exclusive calendar of upcoming international events!

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