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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2024: Paris ● Tony Estanguet, 46, the head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, said Friday that he has no plans to enter politics in his immediate future. He said at a news conference:
“For me, it’s not a given that the end result of everything I’ve done is having a political career.
“I think there are other ways of serving your country. I’m convinced that I can take on new challenges other than a political one.”
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass reiterated the City’s number one issue looking ahead to the 2028 Olympic Games, and it has nothing to do with sports:
“Well, number one, we have to do whatever we can to eliminate street homelessness. We’ve been able to, for the first time in many, many years, have a 10 percent reduction in street homelessness.
“We need to build large-scale shelters that are regionally based. We have been moving forward with that. We need to do an awful lot more.”
She spoke at the CNBC x Boardroom: Game Plan panel in Santa Monica last Wednesday (11th), expressing appreciation for the success of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games:
“I thought they did a beautiful job. What I love the most was the way they involved the entire city. Whether you attended the Games or not, there was some way for you to be connected.”
As for 2028, she added specifics to her prior desire for 2028 to be a “no-car Games”:
“Let me be clear, what we hope to do is for no cars to the venues to the Games. Public transportation to the Games.
“Life goes on in the city. But, again, for those folks who were here in ’84, everybody was terrified that it was going to be terrible. They worked it out. Mayor [Tom Bradley] worked it out. There was none of the technology that we have today.”
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“Major international sports competitions like the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games impact the local and regional economy, environment, and culture. These events often lead to a surge in the number of tourists and visitors, resulting in elevated spending on hotels, restaurants, and other local businesses.
“The surge in international tourism, and the need to establish adequate security perimeters, will also put pressure on the region to address homeless encampments near the venues and neighborhoods hosting these events. Efforts to address homelessness in advance of international sporting events in other jurisdictions have had uneven results, leading to accusations that governments are busing unhoused individuals to the outskirts of host cities without addressing the underlying of lack of shelter capacity.”
That’s from a 10 September motion by Los Angeles County Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn, asking for “a written regional strategy by December 2025, with input from meetings with key stakeholders, to increase and sustain the capacity to address unsheltered homelessness around areas where major sporting events will take place.”
The motion was approved and directed the Chief Executive Office Homeless Initiative to develop the plan in partnership with the City of Los Angeles, the LA28 organizing committee, the Executive Committee on Regional Homelessness Alignment (ECHRA), the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, homeless service providers, local governments, and other relevant stakeholders.
● Anti-Doping ● The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency responded Friday to the full report of former Vaud attorney general Eric Cottier, challenging his report on comments made by experts about whether the 23 Chinese athletes who tested positive for trimetazidine were actually part of a long-term doping scheme.
The USADA statement noted that “Low levels of TMZ is equally consistent with intentional doping,” and “Results oscillating between positive and negative is equally consistent with intentional doping and does not, as WADA has repeatedly stated, establish that it was not intentional doping.”
USADA once again called for more of the details seen by Cottier but not published to be released and “[e]stablish a truly independent review and investigation to include WADA’s actions.”
● Athletics ● Kenyan marathoner Celestine Chepchirchir, 28, a 2:20:10 performer from 2022, is already serving a doping suspension from 26 March 2024 to 25 March 2027, but has had two years added on for using Testosterone. She’s not eligible until 25 March 2029.
● Basketball ● FIBA celebrated the latest class of inductees into its Hall of Fame in a Sunday ceremony in Singapore, including Americans Reggie Miller and coach Dan Peterson.
Miller, a star at UCLA and then with the Indiana Pacers of the NBA, and won an Olympic gold with the U.S. at Atlanta 1996, as well as a FIBA World Championships gold in 1994. He was a five-time NBA All-Star with the Pacers.
Peterson coached at Delaware from 1966-71, but was best known as the highly-successful coach of Virtus Bologna and Olimpia Milano in Italy, winning five Italian league titles and the EuroLeague title with Milano in 1987.
● Boxing ● It was reported that the International Boxing Association appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal over its expulsion from the Olympic Movement was dismissed.
The International Olympic Committee removed its recognition of the IBA as the governing body for boxing in 2023; no replacement federation has been named and boxing is not, at present, on the Los Angeles 2028 program.
● Canoe-Kayak ● Two-time Paris bronze medalist Kimberley Woods (GBR) won two silvers at the fourth Canoe Slalom World Cup in Ivrea (ITA), in the women’s C-1 and Kayak Cross, behind 2020 European champ Gabriela Satkova (CZE) and countrywoman Mallory Franklin, the Tokyo 2020 C-1 runner-up.
Olympic women’s Kayak Cross champion Noemie Fox finished third in that event and Stefanie Horn (ITA) won the women’s K-1.
Tokyo 2020 C-1 gold medalist Benjamin Savsek (CZE) won the men’s C-1 and Mateusz Polaczyk (POL) took the K-1.
● Cycling ● Competing for the first time since his Tour de France win, Slovenian star Tadej Pogacar finished seventh in Friday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec in Canada and then won Sunday’s Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
On Friday, the 201.6 km Quebec City race came down to a mass sprint, won by Australia’s Michael Matthews for the third time in the past five editions, in 4:45:36, with Biniam Girmay (ERI) second and Pogacar in seventh.
Sunday’s Montreal race of 209.1 km was different, with Pogacar attacking with 24 km remaining and winning in 5:28:15. Pello Bilbao (ESP) was 24 seconds back in second and France’s Julian Alaphilippe was third (+0:40). It’s Pogacar’s second win in this race, also in 2022. His next stop will be the UCI World Road Championships in Zurich at the end of the month.
● Rowing ● At the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in Genoa (ITA), American Christopher Bak – the 2022 World Champion – dominated the final against Spain’s defending champ Adrian Miramon, leading by only 0.31 at the 250 m mark, but pulling away to a 2:33.32 to 2:43.21 victory for the men’s gold medal.
Zygimantas Galisanskis (LTU) scored a decisive win in the B-final over German Franz Werner, 2:43.87 to 2:52.59 over the 500 m course.
Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig win the women’s final in 2:51.30, ahead of Claire Jamison (GBR: 3:02.93). New Zealand’s Emma Twigg, the Tokyo 2020 Single Sculls champ and Paris runner-up, won the B-final over defending champ Janneke van der Meuten, 2:52.84 to 3:02.63.
The Beach Sprint will be a new event on the Olympic program for 2028.
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