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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Games of the Small States of Europe ● The 20th edition of the Games of the Small States of Europe closed on Saturday (31st), with about 1,000 athletes from nine countries competing in 12 sports and 19 disciplines in Andorra.
Cyprus led the medal table with 108 medals (36-30-42), followed by Luxembourg (86: 32-27-27) and Iceland (74: 26-22-26). The next edition will be in 2027 in Monaco.
● Transgender ● Two place winners in the Oregon State high school track & field championships class 6A girls high jump refused to stand on the awards podium with a trans athlete who placed fifth.
The event was won by Catherine Phillips (Mountainside) at 1.66 m (5-5 1/4), with Paige Shiffer (South Medford) and Alexa Anderson (Tigard) second and third at 1.63 m (5-4 1/4). Fourth was Reese Eckard (Sherwood) at 1.60 m (5-3).
Tying for fifth was senior Liaa Rose of Portland’s Ida B. Wells, at 1.57 m (5-1 3/4), and Anderson and Eckard refused to take their places on the podium, instead remaining standing in front of it. They were eventually told by an official to move away from the awards stand and wait at the side.
Anderson said in a statement, “We didn’t refuse to stand on the podium out of hate. We did it because someone has to say this isn’t right. In order to protect the integrity and fairness of girls sports we must stand up for what is right.”
Rose reportedly competed on the boys team in 2023 and 2024.
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Nereyda Hernandez, the mother of AB Hernandez, a trans female who won two events and finished second in a third at the California State Meet in Clovis, told KATV FOX26 that she is starting an organization – “AB’s Safe Haven” – “to help educate and raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues in communities.”
AB Hernandez is finishing her junior year at Jurupa Valley High School and has one more year of eligibility remaining.
● Russia ● Mikhail Degtyarev, the Russian Minister of Sports and head of the Russian Olympic Committee, said he is working to end the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee by the International Olympic Committee:
“We have changed the ROC charter. We are currently awaiting the decision of the IOC Executive Committee on recognizing the ROC; we are legally fully prepared for this.
“We are waiting for [IOC President-elect] Kirsty Coventry to take office. We heard her statements during the election campaign and afterwards, they inspire cautious optimism. The situation is complicated, very confusing. We need to turn this page and return Russian sport to its rightful place in the international system.”
The IOC suspended the ROC on 12 October 2023 for the inclusion of the “Olympic Councils” of four territories which were part of the Ukraine prior to the February 2022 invasion by Russia. That situation has not changed.
● Archery ● World Archery announced two rule change tests at next week’s World Cup in Antalya (TUR). The most important will be the scoring change in which the smallest ring in the gold zone will score 11 points instead of 10. At present, arrows in the two smallest rings have scored 10.
Also, the qualifying round will be shortened from 72 arrows to 60 to help carve a day out of the schedule, lessening costs for the competing teams.
These are tests, not permanent rules, but will be watched closely.
● Athletics ● A fourth member of the Duplantis family has qualified for the NCAA Championships as LSU senior Jessica Duplantis (born 2002) cleared 4.24 m (13-11) at the East Regional, to advance to her first NCAA Champs, from 11-14 June in Eugene, Oregon.
She is the younger sister, of course, of Mondo Duplantis (born 1999), the Olympic and World Champion and world-record holder. He was the third Duplantis to make it to the NCAA finals, after his father Greg Duplantis in 1982-84-86, and Andreas Duplantis (born 1993) in 2012, both also for LSU.
So that four NCAA vaulters from the same family (across two generations) and the same school; that has to be a record, right?
● Diving ● The International Testing Agency announced that American diver Jaclynn Fowler “tested positive for amfetamine following an in-competition doping control on 1 August 2023 during the 2023 FISU World University Games, Chengdu, China.”
World Aquatics has jurisdiction in these cases and imposed a four-year ban, “effective from 30 May 2025 until 29 May 2029 and the athlete’s results have been disqualified from 1 August 2023 onwards.”
Fowler has competed mostly at the collegiate level, competing as a graduate senior for SMU in 2025 and qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 1 m, where she placed 30th. She earned All-American honors on the 1 m and 3 m in 2020, when at Minnesota.
● Rowing ● World Rowing confirmed that Brazil’s withdrawal from hosting the 2025 Beach Sprint Finals means it is looking for a new venue:
“World Rowing regrets to announce that the 2025 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals, which were scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in October will be held at an alternative location and date.
“Despite extensive efforts by World Rowing to address significant delivery challenges, and following a recent decision by the Brazilian Rowing Federation (CBR) to withdraw from the organisation of the event, no viable local solution has been secured through alternative local stakeholders. World Rowing must now formally confirm the cancellation of the event in its originally intended location.”
The Brazilian federation announced by 14 May that it was not going to hold the event, but World Rowing was “surprised” and insisted that the event take place as scheduled. No more.
This was to be the first Worlds for Beach Sprint in the new quadrennial, leading up to its Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028.
● Swimming ● The five-day USA Swimming national championships that will select the American team for the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore at the end of July, starts at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana on Tuesday.
The men’s and women’s 200 m Butterfly, 100 m Freestyle, women’s 800 m Free and men’s 1,500 m Free will open the program, with morning heats at 10 a.m. Eastern time, with finals at 7 p.m. nightly. The distance races on Tuesday will start with the slower heats at 4:15 p.m.
Freestyle superstar Katie Ledecky is the big favorite in the women’s 800 m Free, as is two-time Olympic 1,500 m Free champ Bobby Finke.
USA Swimming will be streaming the meet on its video channel, including the morning heats. NBC’s Peacock streaming service will have live coverage each night (3-7 June). There will be highlights shows on NBC on Saturday at 2 p.m. Eastern and Sunday at 3 p.m.
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