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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● Oklahoma City University announced last week it will serve as the “Olympic Village” for the 170 canoe slalom and softball athletes who will compete in Oklahoma City during the 2028 Olympic Games.
Founded in 1904, OCU is a private university and member of the NAIA, with 2,748 students and is conveniently located to the canoeing and softball venues. The canoe slalom competition will take place from 14-22 July 2028 and softball from 23-29 July.
● Canada ● The Canadian government heard the pleas of Canadian athletes, national sports organizations and the Canadian Olympic Committee and in its Spring Economic Update promised a significant new funding commitment beginning in the 2026-27 fiscal year: (C$1 = $0.74 U.S.)
● C$660 million over the next five years and C$110 million per year after that to Canadian national sport organizations with the mandate to increase participation.
● C$50 million over five years to bring more events to Canada, including legacy construction projects.
● C$45 million over five years and C$8 million per year after that for athlete training support, including for mental health,
Said Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive David Shoemaker, “We feel heard. Canadian athletes feel heard. It’s a generational investment in Canadian sport.”
● Aquatics ● The Bureau of European Aquatics is requesting “a delay of implementation of the recently approved AQUA bylaw concerning the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in international aquatic competitions.”
The appeal to World Aquatics is to delay to 1 September 2026 the return of Russian and Belarusian swimmers to full status, which would be after the 2026 European Championships from 9-15 August in Paris (FRA).
● Athletics ● The Athletics Integrity Unit announced Friday that Canadian vaulter Alysha Newman, 31, has been banned for 20 months to 2 August 27 for “whereabouts” failures on 27 February 2025, 17 August 2025 and 23 August 2025, and a fourth on 14 November 2025, which was not reviewed the decision.
Newman, who won the Paris 2024 Olympic women’s vault bronze, agreed to a lighter-then-usual ban, and the decision notes:
“[T]he AIU accepts the Athlete’s assertion that she had decided to gradually bring her international athletics career to an end during 2025, a fact that is corroborated by her substantially more limited competitive schedule in 2025 when compared to 2024. Although she could and should have formally retired from the sport in 2025 (a fact she herself accepts in hindsight)14, the AIU accepts on balance that the Athlete had effectively decided to end her international competitive athletics career before the Whereabouts Failures occurred and that this is a sufficiently unique/exceptional factor that may be considered in assessing her level of Fault in the matter.”
● Football ● Weak accommodations demand for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has hit not only hotels, but also Airbnb offers, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that of the 11 U.S. cities hosting matches, only Boston has more than half of its Airbnb inventory booked so far.
The story reported AirDNA data showing Boston bookings at 55%, but others much lower. Philadelphia was shown at 42% for the group-stage period and others lower.
Hotel bookings have also been reported as down from projections.
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To the surprise of absolutely no one, FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI) announced at the FIFA Congress in Vancouver (CAN) that he will run for a third and final term, and even before he spoke, he already had been endorsed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC: 47 federations), the African football confederation (CAF: 54) and the South American confederation CONMEBOL (10).
If all 111 of their federations vote for Infantino, he would have enough votes to be re-elected with no other help.
It wasn’t all roses. Infantino tried to create an on-stage handshake between Israel Football Association Vice President Basim Sheikh Suliman and Palestine federation chief Jibril Rajoub, but Rajoub would have none of it. The Palestine federation has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport to have the Israeli federation suspended from FIFA.
≡ RESULTS ≡
● Artistic Swimming ● China claimed five wins in World Aquatics World Cup 3 in X’ian (CHN), with World Champion Huiyan Xu taking the women’s Solo Tech, Yanjun Lin and Xu winning the Duet Tech, Worlds silver winner Muye Guo winning the men’s solo Free, Yixin Cao and Haoyue Shi taking the Mixed Free, plus a win in the Team Technical.
German Klara Bleyer won the women’s Solo Free and Britain’s Ranjuo Tomblin won the men’s Solo Technical, then teamed with isabelle Thorpe in the Mixed Technical. Russian teams won the Duet Free, Team Acro and Team Free.
● Athletics ● Drew Hunter and Karissa Schweizer won the USATF 5 km Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 13:27.7and 14:58.4. Hunter broke away from a pack of seven at the front of the men’s race with 1,200 m to go and won a tight finish with Dylan Jacobs (13:28.0) and Cooper Teare (13:28.1).
Schweizer and Emma Grace Hurley were the clear leaders with 1,200 m to go and Schweizer managed a close win, 14:58.4 to 15:00.8. The top two in both the men’s and women’s race qualify for the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Denmark in September.
● Badminton ● At the BWF Thomas & Uber Cup finals in Horsens (DEN), defending champion China made it to the men’s final for the fourth time in the last five editions, and fought off a stiff challenge from France to win, 3-1 and repeat as champions for the first since five in a row from 2004-12.
In the Uber Cup for women, South Korea won its second title in the past three editions, taking down defending champion China, 3-1, and finishing withy a 6-0 record. It’s the third title overall for the Koreans, who have reached the semis or final in 10 straight editions.
● Beach Volleyball ● At the Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 in Brasilia (BRA), Sweden’s 2025 Worlds silver medalists, Jacob Holting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, scored a 21-16, 21-15 win over Bartosz Losiak and Michal Bryl (POL), the 2023 Worlds bronze winners, in the championship final.
In the third-place match, Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots (LAT) defeated Teo Rotar and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat (FRA), 21-19, 21-16.
The women’s championship final went to 2025 Worlds bronze winners Carol Solberg Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcante (BRA), by 21-14, 21-18, over Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth (ITA).
The bronze went to 19th-seeded Savannah Cory and Devon Newberry (USA), who got past Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova (LAT), 21-15, 21-19.
● Curling ● At the World Curling Mixed Doubles World Championship in Geneva (SUI), Australia’s Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt won Group A at 8-1 and Canada’s Kadriana Lott and Colton Lott took Group B at 8-1.
But in the playoffs, while the Aussies reached the final, Sweden’s Therese Westman and Robin Ahlberg got past the Canadians in the semis and moved on to the championship round. There, it was Gill and Hewitt who won, 8-4 and took their first Worlds gold, moving up from bronze in 2025.
Lott and Lott won the bronze, 11-3, over defending champion Italy. The U.S. pair of Rachel Kawleski and Colton Kauffman were 3-7 in Group B and did not advance.
● Cycling ● As expected, Slovenian star Tadej Pogacar rode away with his first Tour de Romandie title in Switzerland, winning four stages of the five-stage and prologue race. He starred on the climbing stages, winning nos. one, two, four and five. He finished in 20:05:42, 42 seconds up on Germany’s Florian Lipowitz and 2:44 ahead of Lenny Martinez (FRA).
Pogacar next plans to rise the Tour de Suisse and then the Tour de France, in July.
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The 63rd edition of the hilly Eschborn-Frankfurt race ended in a mass sprint with home favorite Georg Zimmerman the winner in 4:59:34 with the top 44 riders all receiving the same time for the 211.4 km route..
British stars Tom Pidcock and Ben Tulett took second and third.
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The UCI Mountain Bike World Series opened in Yongpyong (KOR), with Swiss Dario Lillo taking the men’s win in 1:24:36, riding away from France’s Luca Martin (1:26:22). France’s Mathis Azzaro won the Short Track race in 24:09.
The women’s race was also a Swiss win, for Tokyo 2020 runner-up Sina Frei (1:27:03, decisively ahead of 2016 Olympic champ Jenny Rissveds (SWE: 1:27:29). American Madigan Munro was third in 1:27:31. Frei had already won the Short Track race in 23:20 over Britain’s 2021 World Champion Evie Richards (23:21).
American Asa Vermette took the men’s Downhill in 2:43.301 in a surprise over five-time World Champion Loic Bruni (FRA: 2:44.869) and 2019 Worlds bronzer Amaury Pierron (2:45.364).
Four-time World Champion Valentina Hoell (AUT) won the women’s race in 3:14.778, just ahead of Italy’s Gloria Scarsi (3:15.351).
● Diving ● The main question at the World Aquatics World Cup Super Final in Beijing (CHN) was whether China would win all nine events. Answer: yes.
Double Olympic gold medalist Zongyuan Wang won the men’s 3 m in front of 2025 World Champion Jiuyuan Zheng, 544.35 to 500.50 and the two teamed up to win the men’s 3 m Synchro by 40.11 points at 480.68. Yuming Bai took the 10 m gold and Zhihao Yang and Renjie Zhao won the 10 m Synchro by 44.4 points at 448.68.
Worlds silver winner Jia Chen beat World Champion Yiwen Chen in the women’s 3 m, 374.40 to 373.05 and they paired to win the 3 m Synchro by 31.11 points at 331.05. For the U.S., Anna Kwong and Sophie Verzyl made the 3 m Synchro final and were fourth.
Linjing Hiang won the women’s 10 m by 78.75 points at 397.95; 14-year-old Ellireese Niday of the U.S. made the final and was fourth at 292.65, scoring second-best on three of her five dives. In the 10 m Synchro, veteran star Yuxi Chen teamed with Wei Lu to win by 44.82 points at 366.12.
China won the Mixed Team Event by 41.20 points at 463.70, over Mexico. The U.S. was eight, scoring 360.70.
● Fencing ● Italy swept the FIE World Cup Foil in Istanbul (TUR), with Paris 2024 runner-up Filippo Macchi defeating Egor Barannikov (RUS “neutral”), 15-8 and in the all-Italian women’s final, two-time Worlds bronzer Martina Favaretto winning over two-time World Champion Arianna Errigo, 15-14.
The Italian teams won the men’s and women’s titles as well.
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At the FIE Grand Prix Sabre in Incheon (KOR), France’s Sebastien Patrice defeated countryman Maxime Pianfetti, 15-9 for the men’s title, and Russian “neutral” Yana Egorian won the women’s tournament over American Maia Chamberlain, 15-7.
● Ice Hockey ● Sweden won its third title at the IIHF World boys U-18 World Championship in Slovakia, disappointing the home crowd in Trencin, 4-2.
The Swedes were only 2-2 in group play, but beat Canada (4-2) and the Czech Republic in overtime (4-3) to reach the final. The Swedes won this tournament previously in 2019 and 2022.
● Judo ● At the IJF World Tour Dushanbe Grand Prix in Tajikistan, the host country won three classes, all in the men’s division and all on the first day: Nurali Emomali (66 kg), Muhiddin Asadulloev (73 kg), and Somon Makhmadbekov (81 kg).,
Russia won three classes as well; Mongolia, Poland and Italy all won two golds.
● Sport Climbing ● In the World Climbing Series opener in Keqiao (CHN), the competition was in Boulder, with Japan’s World Champion Sorato Anraku – still just 19 – winning the men’s final over Dohyun Lee (KOR), 84.4 to 69.6.
France’s Zelia Avezou pulled a major upset in the women’s final, winning at 84.8 over 10-time Worlds gold medalist Janja Garnbret (SLO: 84.6). American Annie Sanders was fourth (69.5).
● Swimming ● Australia’s double World Champion Moesha Johnson dominated the World Aquatics Open Water World Cup in Golfo Aranci (ITA), winning the women’s 10 km in 1:54:12.1, ahead of Spain’s Angela Martinez (1:54.37.2) and taking the 3 km Sprint final in 6:18.6, over German Isabel Gose (6:19.8). American Brinkleigh Hansen was sixth in the 10 km (1:54.45.3) and fifth in the 3 km Sprint final (6:29.6).
The men’s 10 km was a win for France’s Sacha Velly in 1:49:07.5 over countryman and 2025 double Worlds bronze medalist, Marc-Antoine Olivier (1:49:07.8). American Dylan Gravely was 17th in 1:49:29.6). Worlds runner-up David Betlehem (HUN) won the 3 km Sprint in 6:00.4 over Paulo Strehlke (MEX: 6:01.7), with American Ivan Puskovitch in seventh (6:04.7).
Italy won the Mixed 4 x 1,500 m relay in 1:05:04.6, just ahead of France (1:05:05.7), with the U.S. eighth in 1:08:57.1.
● Weightlifting ● The U.S. led the medal table at the Pan American Championships in Panama City (PAN) with 13 medals (6-4-3), one more than powerhouse Colombia (12: 4-5-3).
The Americans took wins in the men’s 60 km with Gabriel Chhum, men’s 79 km with Caden Cahoy, women’s 53 kg with Miranda Ulrey, 63 kg with Sophia Shaft, 69 km with Paris 71 kg champ Olivia Reeves and 77 kg with four-time Worlds silver winner Mattie Rogers.
Ulrey lifted an American Record Snatch (96 kg), Clean & Jerk (120 kg) and total (216 kg). Paris men’s 61 kg bronzer Hampton Morris was second at 65 kg, lifting 315 kg total, but finishing behind two-time World Champion Francisco Mosquera (COL) at 320 kg.
Colombia’s Yeison Lopez, the Paris 89 kg runner-up, set world records at 88 kg for all three lifts at 181 kg, 216 kg and the 397 kg total.
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