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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● The Wall Street Italia site reported that “the overall impact on the economies of the regions involved – Lombardy, Veneto, and Trentino-Alto Adige – will exceed €5.3 billion, including direct spending, tourism, and new infrastructure.” (€1 = $1.17.)
The story was apparently significantly based on a 2022 study, which projected two million visitors for the Games from all sectors, and according to “research for Visa, foreign visitors— – especially Americans – are driving tourism demand. … Americans account for approximately 35% of foreign spending, followed by Germans, French, British, and Swiss.”
● U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee ● Entertainer Snoop Dogg was named Thursday by the USOPC as its first-ever “Honorary Coach.”
This is a volunteer role, and “Snoop will lend his signature humor and heart to help motivate Team USA athletes on their road to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 and beyond.” He added in the statement:
“Team USA athletes are the real stars – I’m just here to cheer, uplift and maybe drop a little wisdom from the sidelines. This team represents the best of what sport can be: talent, heart and hustle. If I can bring a little more love and motivation to that, that’s a win for me.”
This is in addition to his NBC roles for the Milan Cortina Winter Games; he will also be promoting the Team USA Fund and working with Fanatics on a “Coach Snoop × Team USA” collection.
● U.S. National Governing Bodies ● The “United Sports Collective” formed by March and announced on Thursday their first corporate partner in Range, an all-in-one wealth management platform.
The Collective’s first deal includes USA Fencing, US Rowing, USA Lacrosse and USA Cycling, all of whom will recognize Range as their “Official Wealth Management Partner.” Terms were not released, but the program was characterized as a substantial agreement for the four federations, which created a marketing opportunity to a combined 350,000 families across the nation and at thousands of owned and sanctioned events.
● Memorabilia ● American swim star Ryan Lochte, who won 12 Olympic medals, including six golds, is auctioning three of his gold medals to meet financial obligations related to their homeowners community in Florida, to which they owed dues and fees, on top of prior debts for taxes and other items, altogether about $270,000.
The medals up now at Goldin Auctions include the Athens 2004 men’s 4×200 m Freestyle relay, the Beijing 2008 4×200 relay and the Rio 2016 4×200 m relay, all starting at $20,000. The 2004 medal has already attracted one bid and the 2008 gold has two bids, with the price at $24,000 (not including the buyer’s premium).
The auction continues to 3 January 2026. Also available are framed USA Olympic flags from each of these Games, signed by the members of the American swim team; each has an opening bid price of $1,000. Lochte, who is estranged from his wife Kayla, also said in an Instagram post that he is writing a memoir, noting that “I was on top of the world. And in an instant, I became the most hated person in the world” after falsely claiming to have been robbed (along with three other U.S. swimmers) in Rio during the 2016 Games.
● Alpine Skiing ● Swiss star Michelle Gisin, 32, the Olympic gold medalist in the women’s Combined in 2018 and 2022, suffered a crash and injuries during a training run in St. Moritz.
According to the Swiss skiing federation, she has injuries to her right wrist and left knee and was airlifted from the scene and transported to Zurich, to have surgery. She was reported to be able to use her arms and legs normally.
This is the third significant injury to Swiss stars this season, as 2022 Olympic Super-G winner Lara Gut-Behrami suffered a season-ending left knee ligament tear during a practice run in Colorado in November and 2022 Downhill champion Corinne Suter also crashed in St. Moritz and is out for about a month.
● Athletics ● Anthony Alva-Palafox, 27, was charged with driving under the influence causing injury, according to the Anaheim Police Department after he drove off the street and into eight Anaheim High School track team members on Wednesday.
Seven of the eight runners were taken to the hospital for treatment, but none were in life-threatening danger.
● Biathlon ● The International Biathlon Union acknowledged the appeal by the Russian federation to allow its athletes to compete on the IBU World Cup circuit, at least as neutrals and issued a statement that included:
“Today, the [Court of Arbitration for Sport] notified the IBU that the RBU, the Russian Paralympic Committee, and eight Russian biathletes and para-biathletes have filed a Request for Arbitration. The IBU supports the decision of the IBU Congress to suspend the activities of the RBU and the Russian athletes, which was made on sound legal grounds. The IBU also confirms that the competition rules and the union’s statutes do not permit the participation of neutral athletes. The IBU is confident in its position and will fully cooperate with the CAS. IBU lawyers are currently reviewing the documents, and additional statements will be made within the established deadline.”
● Curling ● At the World Curling Olympic Qualification Event in Kelowna (CAN), both U.S. teams claimed spots in Milan for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
In the men’s playoffs, the Daniel Casper-led Americans, seeded second, defeated China (Xiaoming Zu) by 9-4 in their win-and-in match, scoring single points in ends 2-3-4-5 and then finishing with four points in the ninth end for the win. China faces Japan in the second and final play-in match.
The women’s first play-in match saw Japan (Sakaya Yoshimura) edge Marianne Roervik’s Norwegian team, 6-5, with a point in the 10th end in a back-and-forth match. That sent Japan to the Games and Norway to face the third-place American squad skipped by Tabitha Peterson. The Norwegians got off to a 3-0 lead in the second, but the U.S. tied it in the third and scored three single points in ends 5-6-7 for a 6-3 edge.
After a Norwegian point in the eighth, Peterson closed the door with two in the ninth for the 8-4 final and the last women’s ticket to the Games.
● Football ● Passage in the U.S. House of Representatives of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act included the “SAFER SKIES Act” which will allow state and local law enforcement agencies to disable unwanted drones at sporting events.
This capability has been repeatedly requested with the FIFA World Cup coming to 11 U.S. cities in 2026, as well as for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. State and local officials will be required to take the same instructional courses as Federal staff and be authorized to deal with drone threats themselves.
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The leftist magazine The Nation reported that FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI) and UEFA President Alexander Ceferin (SLO) will be the subject of filings at the International Criminal Court, accusing both of supporting “crimes against humanity” for funding of football clubs “that operate on land illegally seized from Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.”
The complaint is being filed by pro-Palestinian activist groups in Ireland and Scotland, as well as from Palestine itself.
● Skating ● Concerning the participation of Russian and Belarusian youth athletes, the International Skating Union told the Russian news agency TASS:
“The ISU is fully aware of the Olympic Summit’s support for the IOC Executive Board’s recommendation that access for young athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports to international youth competitions should no longer be restricted. Decisions regarding eligibility for ISU competitions are made by the ISU Council, and the ISU Council is expected to consider the IOC’s recommendation in due course.”
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