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≡ SPOTLIGHT ≡
● International Olympic Committee ● President-elect Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) is not wasting time as she gets ready to take charge of the IOC on 23 June – Olympic Day – in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Following up on her promise after election in March, she has called the IOC members to Lausanne for a day-and-a-half “consultation” on the “theme of ‘Pause and Reflect’” to begin discussions on key issues which remain hot: Russian and Belarusian participation at Milan Cortina 2026, protection of the women’s category, member involvement in IOC programs and especially in future host-city selections and so on.
The new IOC Executive Board will then meet on 25-26 June.
≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The LA28 organizing committee announced CDW as its 11th “Official Supporter” of the Games, becoming “Official IT Equipment Services and Solutions Provider” for the organizing committee and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
The agreement, announced last Thursday, covers both hardware and software support for both organizations.
● NCAA ● The state of Louisiana agreed to increase the tax on sports betting from 15% to 21.5% and agreed to share a quarter of the total tax revenue generated from in-state betting – estimated to be about $24.3 million – equally with the 11 public universities with football programs. The money must be used for athlete support, such as scholarships, insurance, medical coverage, facility enhancements and litigation fees.
North Carolina already has a betting tax-sharing plan.
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Washington State announced Monday it is reducing its track & field program substantially:
“Earlier today, WSU Athletics leadership met with members of the men’s and women’s track and field team to inform them that the program will be shifting to a distance-focused approach. This change gives the WSU Track & Field program the best opportunity to remain competitive at the conference and national levels in distance events in cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field. It does mean, however, that field events (e.g., jumps, throws) will no longer be supported, effective immediately, and the number of sprint and hurdle opportunities will be limited moving forward.
“Impacted student-athletes will have their scholarships honored should they choose to remain at WSU. WSU understands the significant impact this decision has on Cougar student-athletes, coaches, and fans. Transition support and services will be provided to those student-athletes who choose to seek to continue their academic and athletic careers at other institutions.”
Distance running has been the signature element of Washington State’s program over decades, including stars like Gerry Lindgren, Samson Kimombwa, Henry Rono, Bernard Lagat and others. But the program, especially under ferocious head coach John Chaplin, was a national contender in all phases and won the 1977 NCAA Indoor men’s title.
This is yet another impact of the changes in collegiate athletics, now in view of direct payments to primarily football and basketball players of up to $20.5 million for the academic year beginning 1 July. Expect many more announcements of this kind.
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SwimSwam.com reported that as efforts to raise money to endow the Cal Poly swimming and diving program reached only $10 million out of a $20 million requirement, the program is being cut.
Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong wrote: “I know this is difficult news for participants and supporters of the programs, and we want to recognize and again express our appreciation for the work they have done.
“This is an unfortunate reality given the approved NCAA House settlement, state budget and the tenuous situation moving forward for both the state and the NCAA. I want to reiterate that the significant and unequitable changes in the NCAA and the House settlement (and new organizations resulting from this settlement) had an impact that weighed heavily in this decision.”
● Athletics ● The Tyreek Hill sprint challenge to Noah Lyles was supposed to happen this weekend, but didn’t.
Lyles explained at the Sport Beach event in Cannes (FRA):
“We were very deep into creating the event. In fact, it was supposed to happen this weekend. Unfortunately there were some things, complications, personal reasons that it just didn’t come to pass, but we were full on.
“We were gonna have a big event, we were going to shut down New York Times Square and everything, we were gonna have all the billboards for the event, it was going to be a lot of fun.”
There were no more details; Hill, for his part, did race in a 100 m at the Last Chance Sprint Series meet at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California last Friday, winning heat five in 10.15 with a +1.2 wind reading, a lifetime best.
That did not scare Lyles in the least, but Hill, 31, did race the 100 for the first time in 12 years. Lyles has not run a 100 this season.
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Arkansas sophomore and NCAA men’s 100 m champion Jordan Anthony, who won the SEC title in 9.95 and the NCAA West regional in 9.75w (+2.1), announced Tuesday that he is going pro in track & field and abandoning his promising wide receiver role on the Razorbacks football team.
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At the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku (FIN), the U.S. saw a win for Dylan Beard in the men’s 110 m hurdles in 13.16 (wind: -0.1 m/s) and 2023 Worlds women’s hammer runner-up Janee Kassanavoid was third, at 73.15 m (240-0), behind Olympic champ Cam Rogers (CAN: 74.59 m/244-8).
Italy’s World Indoor champ Mattia Furlani won the men’s long jump at 8.11 m (26-7 1/4) and discus stars Kristjian Ceh (SLO: 2022 World Champion), Matt Denny (AUS: Paris Olympic bronze) and Daniel Stahl (SWE: Tokyo Olympic champ) all surpassed 70 m, with Ceh winning (70.61 m/231-8) over Denny (70.52 m/231-4) and Stahl (70.19 m/230-3).
● Judo ● Two more for Japan at the 2025 IJF World Championships, as Paris Olympic runner-up Sanshiro Murao won an all-Japan final in the men’s 90 kg class from 2024 World Champion Goki Tajima.
The women’s 70 kg final was the first Worlds gold for Shiho Tanaka, winning over 2022 Worlds runner-up Lara Cvjetko (CRO). Through 10 classes, Japan has six golds and 11 total medals Wow.
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