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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The LA28 organizing committee announced its 10th Official Supporter, its third tier of sponsorship below Founding Partners and Official Partners in Snowflake as “Official Data Collaboration Provider” for the organizers and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. According to the announcement:
“Snowflake platforms will empower LA28 and Team USA across critical functions, including athletes’ training data and fan engagement, as well as enhancing LA28 Games planning and delivery.”
● Olympic Games 2036: Berlin ● “I believe that the 2036 Games, regardless of where they take place, will also focus on the Nazi Games of 1936. That’s part of history and attention will be paid to it.
“I have to tell you, I’m proud to be the governing mayor of a city that has changed in the last 100 years, that we no longer stand for dictatorship, exclusion, and mass violence, but that Berlin is now a cosmopolitan, international metropolis, a colorful, diverse city.”
That was Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner, at a Tuesday announcement at the much-renovated Olympiastadion that a “Berlin+” bid – involving four other German states and using existing facilities – for 2036, 2040 or 2044 will be offered to the German sports confederation (DOSB) by the end of the month.
Other German cities or regions are also interested; the German government has said that a 2040 bid would be appropriate on the 50-year anniversary of the country’s reunification.
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● The International Olympic Committee issued a statement to Reuters concerning Russian teams – notably in ice hockey – competing at the 2026 Winter Games:
“The IOC Executive Board recommendation from March 2023 with regard to teams of athletes with a Russian passport remains in place.
“It is based on the fact that, by definition, a group of Individual Neutral Athletes cannot be considered a team. We take note that the [International Ice Hockey Federation] has confirmed that it will follow this recommendation.”
● Athletics ● Grand Slam Track is progressing well, said founder Michael Johnson in an interview with Front Office Sports. As for attendance:
“We’re going into Philadelphia next. It’s a huge stadium. We have no illusions that we’re going to fill up that stadium, that’s 50,000 plus. And the same thing with Kingston, we knew we weren’t going to – that’s a 35,000-seat stadium.
“Miami [Miramar] was a much smaller, intimate stadium. We did fill it up and sold it out, and it’s a great atmosphere when that’s the case. So the better atmosphere is when it’s a smaller, more intimate stadium right now. We feel like ultimately we will be able to fill up larger stadiums, and we look forward to that day…There are a lot of different factors that go into locations, but for this year we’re happy with the locations that we’ve chosen.”
Johnson said that he and his investors had no illusions are breaking even in year one – “We feel good about where we are, we feel like we’re on track with where we need to be” – and that the television audiences “exceeded our expectations and those of our partners as well.”
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Tokyo Olympic women’s high jump champion Mariya Lasitskene, now 32, told the Russian news agency TASS she may not compete again:
“I am taking care of my health according to my plan, but I can’t say yet when I will return to the sector and whether I will return at all.
“I am very psychologically tired from everything that is happening. Track and field athletes have been in a suspended and detached position for ten years now, and personally, I can no longer find the motivation to compete only in domestic competitions.”
She last competed in August 2024. She won three World title in 2015-17-19 and World Indoor titles in 2014 and 2018, and stands no. 6 all-time at 2.06 m (6-9) from 2017.
● Cycling ● With four major climbs over 203 km, stage 16 of the 108th Giro d’Italia was going to have major impact on the race. And it did.
The rainy conditions created significant carnage, with multiple crashes. Slovenian star Primoz Roglic fell again and abandoned the race, as did Joshua Tarling (GBR), with Italian rider Alessio Martinelli was stretchered out of a ravine after sliding off the road in the wet conditions.
The final, miserable 18 km uphill climb to finish at San Valentino saw Italy’s Christian Scaroni and Lorenzo Fortunato race away, with Scaroni winning in 5:35:05. A third Italian, Giulio Pellizzari was third (+0:55) and then Ecuador’s 2019 champion Richard Carapaz (+1:10) and Simon Yates (GBR) in eighth (+1:52).
That made a difference in the overall race, as Mexico’s 21-year-old sensation, Isaac Del Toro, struggled, finishing 13 at +2:46. So Yates remained second, but within 0:26 now and Carapaz is third at +0:31. Canada’s Derek Gee is also now in contention at +1:31, with more mountain stages coming, including Wednesday’s double-climb, 155 km ride to Bormio.
● Football ● A California State bill to allow the transit agencies in Los Angeles County and Santa Clara County to add $5 to the price of all tickets to the 2026 FIFA World Cup for transit services passed the State Assembly on 19 May and has been passed on to the State Senate.
The measure was passed by 57-16 (6 not voting) and only applies to the 2026 World Cup, and any games in the 2026 NCAA basketball tournament allocated to Santa Clara County (not Los Angeles):
“The bill would require LA Metro, if it imposes the charge, to allow any person to use its transit services at no charge on the day a match is held as part of the 2026 FIFA World Cup if the person presents a ticket to the match at the location where LA Metro collects fares for transit services.”
Introduced in the State Senate on 20 May, it was sent to the Rules Committee for assignment.
The bill has no provisions relating to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
● Table Tennis ● Before the chaos of the ITTF Presidential election took place, selections of future hosts were made for the 2027-28-29 World Championships, with Astana (KAZ), Fukuoka (JPN) and Rio de Janeiro (BRA) named.
The U.S. was a candidate for 2027 and 2029, but was not selected for either.
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