★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★
★ To get the daily Sports Examiner Recap by e-mail: sign up here! ★
≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2024: Paris ● Seven people were found guilty of online abuse toward Olympic ceremonies director Thomas Jolly (FRA) and received suspended jail sentences, but were also fined up to €3,000 (~$3,369 U.S.).
The Monday verdicts followed a complaint made by Jolly shortly after the controversial opening ceremony, with the parade of nations held on the Seine River in Paris. All were also required to pay €1 to Jolly and to enroll in a five-day “civic training programme.”
A similar abuse case involving disc jockey and lesbian activist Barbara Butch (FRA) and five alleged abusers is to be heard in September.
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● The Hellenic Olympic Committee announced that the torch relay for the 2026 Winter Games will begin on 26 November 2025 at ancient Olympia.
The lighting will be followed by a relay in Greece to 4 December, a nine-day route which will cover 1,367 miles and have 36 ceremonial stops, using 450 torchbearers, before the handover to the Italian 2026 Games organizers.
● Olympic Games: Future ● International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (GER) told Japan’s Kyodo News Service that a bid for a future Olympic Games will be welcomed by the IOC “if we can be sure on the IOC side that these Japanese business practices, this kind of corruption, is over and has been addressed.”
He was referencing two Tokyo 2020 scandals, of rigged bids for test events and venue management, and of a bribery program to assure selections as sponsors. Bach added:
“We understand what happened there within Japan because of the business practices of some Japanese business people…We also hope that this leads to a clarification and adaptation of Japanese business practices.”
Bach also praised incoming IOC President Kirsty Coventry (ZIM):
“I know that she has this very clear compass of the Olympic values. She has been elected because she has the professional and the human qualities to be a very good president of the IOC and lead the Olympic movement in an even better future.”
“Therefore, I’m really very at ease and very, very confident.”
● Athletics ● U.S. 800 m star Clayton Murphy is done, posting on Instagram on Wednesday:
“Today, I’m officially retiring from professional track and field.
“I poured everything I had into this sport, and I’m walking away with pride, gratitude, and a heart full of memories.
“A decade on the global stage is more than most pros will ever get to experience and I’m so grateful for what every year has taught me.”
Murphy, now 30, won an Olympic men’s 800 m bronze in Rio in 2016, after taking the Pan American Games 800 gold in 2015 and then made the final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. He finished with brilliant lifetime bests of 1:42.93 for 800 m (2016), 3:36.23 in the 1,500 m (2016) and 3:51.99 in the mile (2017). He’s no. 5 on the all-time U.S. 800 m list.
● Basketball ● Five-time Olympic gold medalist Sue Bird has been named USA Basketball’s first-ever Managing Director of the women’s National Team.
She retired in 2022, and USA Basketball explained:
“In this next chapter, it will mean assembling the U.S. Women’s National Team roster and coaching staff for international competitions, including the 2026 FIBA World Cup and the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028.”
● Cycling ● The first of the annual Grand Tours, the 108th Giro d’Italia, will begin on Friday in Durres (ALB) and finish on 1 June in Rome. The 3,413 km route (2,121 miles) will include:
● 2 Individual Time Trials (stages 2, 10)
● 4 flat stages (4, 12, 14, 21)
● 8 hilly stages (1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 18)
● 7 mountain stages (7, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20)
The 2025 route is especially challenging with four of the mountain stages in the final six days of the race. The first three stages will be in Albania; the final stage on 1 June will begin at the Vatican Gardens as a tribute to the late Pope Francis.
The race favorite is Slovenian star Primoz Roglic, the 2023 champion, who was also third in 2019. Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz won this race in 2019 and Spain’s Mikel Landa was third in 2017 and in 2022. Expect to hear a lot from sprint stars Mads Pedersen (DEN) and Wout van Aert (BEL).
● Fencing ● Former U.S. Olympic Sabre fencer and one-time Chair of USA Fencing, Ivan Lee, was sanctioned by two New York courts over sex offenses committed against a female fencer in 2023.
Now 44, he pled guilty to two misdemeanor counts in Kings County, New York and saw one count for forcible touching vacated after he completed a court-ordered treatment program. The guilty plea to the second count of harassment in the second degree, which is a non-criminal offense, remains in force.
In the Nassau County case, Lee was sentenced to six years probation and must undertake a program for sex offenders after pleading guilty to one count of sexual abuse in the third degree and one count of forcible touching.
Lee was a two-time NCAA champion in Sabre, 2003 Pan American Games gold medalist and a 2004 Olympian in Sabre. He was elected as USA Fencing Chair in September 2023, but suspended in December 2023 when abuse allegations surfaced. He was arrested in Kings County in February 2024 and Nassau County in March 2024, after having been banned by the U.S. Center for SafeSport on 31 January 2024.
● Football ● During the White House Task Force meeting for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance told attendees and reporters that while fans are welcome, immigration controls will be enforced:
“I think that you will see the very best of the United States of America, both in athletic competition, but also in hospitality. Something our boss knows quite a bit about, so we are excited to have you.
“We are excited for this event, and we will do everything at the government level to make this thing as successful as we can, and I will say before I turn it over to the next speaker, that of course, everybody is welcome to come and see this incredible event.
“I know we will have visitors, probably from close to 100 countries. We want them to come. We want them to celebrate. We want them to watch the games. But when the time is up, they’ll have to go home. Otherwise, they’ll have to talk to Secretary [of Homeland Security Kristi] Noem, who I will turn it over to now.”
¶
At the same event, FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI) noted that Russia continues to be banned from international competition – including the World Cup – but added:
“We hope. We hope that something happens, and that peace will happen and then Russia can be re-admitted. So, that it what we hope.”
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been talking about trying to help end the Russian war against Ukraine, but did not know about the current ban, followed:
“That is possible. Hey, that could be a good incentive, right? We want to get them to stop. We want them to stop. … 5,000 young people a week are being killed; it’s not even believable.
“They are Russian soldiers and Ukrainian soldiers, mostly. Also people in towns, every once, every two weeks. Horrible things are going on over there. So we are going to get that war stopped, OK?”
The UEFA qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup have started, but will go on for months; Russia is not playing in any qualifiers due to its continuing ban. Ukraine is in Group D and will play its first match on 5 September.
● Gymnastics ● The summary of the FIG Executive Committee meeting in Malta on 7-8 May included a note indicating a name change looks to be coming to the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique:
“Branding, Marketing and TV Rights Commission: the EC agreed on the next steps of the rebranding project and approved the new master logo for World Gymnastics, which will be revealed in due course.”
No further information was provided, or any indication of a timetable.
● Weightlifting ● The International Weightlifting Federation made a change to the men’s weight classes due to the smaller number of classes to be available for Olympic competition in 2028:
“Following the recent decision of the IOC to include five (5) Women’s and five (5) Men’s Bodyweight Categories for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028, the Men’s 98kg BW Category has been adjusted to 94kg. This change is intended to prevent significant gaps between the (soon to be selected) five (5) Olympic Men’s Bodyweight Categories.
“With this adjustment, the five (5) categories will be more evenly distributed, ensuring a fairer and safer qualification for all athletes for LA28.”
The men’s classes for IWF championships now include 60 kg, 65 kg, 71 kg, 79 kg, 88 kg, 94 kg, 110 kg, +110 kg. The women’s classes are unchanged: 48 kg, 53 kg, 58 kg, 63 kg, 69 kg, 77 kg, 86 kg, +86 kg.
¶
★ Receive our exclusive, weekday TSX Recap by e-mail by clicking here.
★ Sign up a friend to receive the TSX Recap by clicking here.
★ Please consider a donation here to keep this site going.
For our updated, 694-event International Sports Calendar for 2025 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!
