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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2032: Brisbane ● The Queensland government expects to begin sitework on Monday in Victoria Park in Brisbane for the new, 63,000-seat Olympic Stadium to be built for the 2032 Olympic Games.
But the site has now drawn protesters – primarily environmental groups and First Nation activists – who oppose the use of Victoria Park for the stadium and have set up tents. They have been told by the Queensland government that they will be removed if they do not leave.
Construction work is set to start despite an ongoing application to the national government to protest the park as a “significant Aboriginal area.”
● Olympic Winter Games: Future ● New York Governor Kathy Hochul told USA Today that she is working to assemble a committee to create a dual-cluster format for a future Winter Games bid for Lake Placid for snow sports and New York City for ice sports.
This is modeled after the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Games, in which the distances between the ice and snow venues were not universally welcomed. In any case, the sites for the Winter Games in 2030 (French Alps), 2034 (Salt Lake City) and 2038 (Switzerland) appear set and the earliest available opportunity would be 2042.
New York has never hosted a Games; Lake Placid was the host for the 1932 and 1980 Winter Games.
By that time, the International Olympic Committee may have decided on a Winter Games rotation due to climate worries and Salt Lake City is a prime candidate to be included.
● World University Games ● The International University Sports Federation (FISU) agreed Tuesday to allow Belarusian athletes and teams to compete in its events without restrictions, following the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board.
As for Russia, still suspended at the senior level by the IOC and allowed to compete only as “individual neutral athletes”:
“[O]utright exclusion of Russian student-athletes on grounds of nationality alone is considered disproportionate and inconsistent with FISU’s educational mission. Neutrality conditions – participation without national flag, uniform, etc. – constitute the maximum restriction applicable at any FISU event, regardless of the position of the applicable International Federation.
“At the same time, where the applicable International Federation has fully reinstated Russian athletes, FISU mirrors that position. Russian student-athletes may therefore, depending on the sport and the applicable IF position, be eligible to participate at FISU events under full national conditions.”
¶
A delegation of FISU Technical Committee Chairs covering 18 sports disciplines completed visits to the venues for the 2029 WUG in North Carolina across 15 days. This was the first visit of technical experts to see the sites and begin planning for the 2029 event.
North Carolina 2029 organizing committee Chair Hill Carrow explained, “This visit helps us get to about 90% certainty on our proposed venues for the FISU Games, which is significant progress at this stage in the preparations for the big event.”
The next FISU inspection visit will be in November.
● Enhanced Games ● Investors were apparently not impressed with Sunday’s Enhanced Games in Las Vegas, with the Enhanced Group NYSE-traded stock diving from $5.24 per share on Friday (23rd) to $3.03 at Tuesday’s close, down 42%.
The stock debuted in April with an opening day price of $10.28 and was as high as $14.00 during trading on 7 May.
● Athletics ● American Olympic women’s 100 m hurdles champion Masai Russell ran the second-fastest time in history to win the Xiamen Diamond League race last Saturday at 12.14, but that’s not enough. She said afterwards:
“I am feeling good. I need to see it. I haven’t seen the race yet. I’m feeling blessed. I’ve been saying all year that I’m gonna break the world record.
“I don’t know when it’s gonna happen, but I keep getting closer and closer. I am blessed. I’m ecstatic. All the hard work is truly showing.”
Russell’s 12.14 lowered her American Record of 12.17 from the Grand Slam Track meet in Miramar, Florida in 2025 and of the five races in history under 12.20, she has three:
● 12.12 Tobi Amusan (NGR) ‘22
● 12.14 Masai Russell (USA) ‘26
● 12.17 Russell ‘25
● 12.19 Tia Jones (USA) ‘25
● 12.19 Russell ‘25
Of the 21 races ever run at 12.25 or better, Russell has seven, more than anyone else. Amusan and former world-record holder Keni Harrison (USA) have three each.
● Cycling ● Danish star Jonas Vingegaard crushed the field on the 11.6 km final uphill finish in the 16th stage of the 109th Giro d’Italia and won the 113 km route to Cari in 2:57:40, increasing his race lead to 4:03.
The initial breakaway was finally caught at the base of the climb to the finish and Vingegaard raced away from Felix Gall (AUT: +1:09) and Jai Hindley (AUS: +1:11). That means Vingegaard has a 4:04 lead on Gall, 4:27 on Dutch rider Thymen Arensman and 5:00 on Hindley, with five stages remaining. He’s in a great position to win in his first time at the Giro.
● Figure Skating ● Japan’s Shoma Uno, a two-time World men’s Singles Champion, retired in May 2024, but is now returning to the ice with partner Marin Honda to compete in Ice Dance, with a goal of competing at the 2030 Olympic Winter Games in the French Alps.
Honda is also new to Ice Dance, but was the 2016 World Junior Champion in the women’s Singles.
● Football ● The Iranian team for the FIFA World Cup has now settled on a strategy of a training base in Tijuana, Mexico, just across the border from San Diego and busing to its games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California and flying to its game in Seattle, Washington.
It was to have trained in Tucson, Arizona, but now prefers to stay in Mexico rather than the U.S. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters on Monday:
“The United States doesn’t want the Iranian national team to stay overnight in the United States,” and added that she agreed to have them in Mexico in response to an inquiry from FIFA.
¶
U.S. Soccer announced its 26-player World Cup roster, with 13 returnees from the 2022 team, including eight players who started the four U.S. matches: Tyler Adams, Sergino Dest, Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson, keeper Matt Turner and Tim Weah.
The team will have an average age of 26 years, 332 days when the tournament kicks off and is the fifth-youngest American squad at a World Cup. With two friendly matches still to be played, the squad has an average of 35 caps per player.
● Ice Hockey ● Group play finished at the IIHF men’s World Championship in Switzerland, with the U.S. beating Austria by 4-1 to sneak into the playoffs as the last qualifier from Group A:
● Group A: Switzerland (21 points: 7-0); Finland (18: 6-1); Latvia (12: 4-3); U.S. (11: 4-3).
● Group B: Canada (20: 7-0); Norway (15: 5-2); Czech Rep. (13: 4-3); Sweden (12: 4-3).
So, in the quarterfinals on Thursday (28th):
● Switzerland vs. Sweden
● Canada vs. U.S.
● Finland vs. Czech Rep.
● Norway vs. Latvia
The semifinals on the 30th will be re-seeded based on the results of the quarterfinals.
● Modern Pentathlon ● The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne announced an agreement with Tokyo Broadcasting System, the originator of the popular Ninja Warrior series, “to collaborate on SASUKE/Ninja Warrior and the new Modern Pentathlon discipline of Obstacle Racing. …
“TBS and UIPM’s agreement also establishes a framework for both parties to proactively collaborate on and globally cross-promote SASUKE/Ninja Warrior and Modern Pentathlon in the lead-up to the Olympics.”
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