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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● France ● Just a couple of months after the close of the 2024 Olympic Games, the French budget challenges are already hitting the sports sector.
The National Olympic Committee of France (CNOSF) posted a Tuesday statement, voicing concern over proposed cuts:
“The Sports Movement is fully aware of the challenges and efforts required to restore public finances in a complex budgetary context. These efforts affect all sectors and all French people; everyone must make their fair contribution.
“However, the CNOSF wants to warn both about the particularly significant reduction in appropriations for the 219 Sport program: –10.38% in commitment authorization and –23.47% in payment appropriations, and about the €5 billion savings effort requested from the largest local authorities, which are major financiers of sport. The combination of these two elements poses a particularly strong threat to the ability to sustainably accommodate the millions of French people who, in the wake of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, have pushed open the doors of our federated association clubs.” (€1 = $1.09 U.S.)
Didn’t take long, did it?
● Russia ● Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that relations with the International Olympic Committee slipped badly in recent months:
“Of course, [President Stanislav] Pozdnyakov‘s work came at a very difficult time for the [Russian] Olympic Committee. A lot was done, but, for objective reasons, of course, it was a time of crisis.
“The [Russian] Olympic Committee has effectively lost contact with the Olympic Movement, the International Olympic Committee. In this regard, a very difficult situation has developed for high-performance sports, for our Olympians.”
ROC President Pozdnyakov proposed to step down early, in December, with new elections to head the currently-suspended ROC.
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Russia had some success at the Paralympic Games, with 88 athletes approved to compete and winning 64 medals (20-21-23). Now, they have a chance to cash in.
The Russian Sports Ministry is proposing payments to the medal winners of RUB 4 million for gold, 2.5 million for silvers and 1.7 million for bronze winners. Converted to U.S. dollars, that’s $41,240-25,775-17,527 per the Russian news agency TASS. And:
“Coaches of the Russian medal winning Paralympians in Paris may be paid 3.2 million rubles (almost $33,000) for the gold, two million rubles (over $20,600) for the silver and 1.36 million rubles ($14,000) for the bronze medals.”
● Athletics ● U.S. hurdles star Alaysha Johnson, the U.S. Olympic 100 m hurdles runner-up and seventh at Paris 2024, had a career year in 2024, running a lifetime best of 12.31, moving to no. 12 all-time.
She was noticed, with a feature posted Tuesday on Forbes.com, “Olympian Alaysha Johnson’s Race to Reshape the Future of Track & Field.” The story noted her independence from training groups and wearing her own apparel rather than that of a shoe company: “I’ve never ever worn a shoe company kit … I consciously decided not to promote brands for free.”
She’s pretty happy about all this, posting on X on Tuesday: “Literally went from working at Hooters to an Olympic finalist with a write up in Forbes.”
Now that’s a career year.
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USA Track & Field announced its selection events – and national championships – for the road mile, 5 km and Half Marathon, all to be contested at the 2024 World Athletics Road Running Championships in San Diego next September:
● 02 Mar.: USATF Half Marathon Champs in Atlanta, Georgia
● 22 Apr.: USATF Road Mile Champs in Des Moines, Iowa
● 03 May: USATF road 5 km Champs in Indianapolis, Indiana
The World Road Champs will be held from 26-28 September.
● Beach Volleyball ● Reader Darren Peters sent along news that retiring Olympic triple medal winner April Ross has joined El Camino College in Torrance, California as its head beach volleyball coach.
She replaces ECC head coach LeValley Pattison, who retired from the position following the 2024 spring season.
● Cycling ● The 121st edition of the UCI World Track Cycling Championships are underway in Ballerup (DEN), with the Netherlands scoring two golds on the first day.
The Paris Olympic champion Dutch won the men’s Team Sprint for the seventh time in the last eight Worlds, with their 2023 team intact: Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland, who between them have 16 Worlds golds in this event! The Dutch defeated Australia, 42.046 to 42.673 in the final, with Japan beating Great Britain, 42.877-43.322 for bronze.
Lorena Wiebes (NED) won the non-Olympic women’s 40-lap Scratch race over Olympic Omnium champ Jennifer Valente of the U.S., with Alla Wollaston (NZL) third. An accomplished road rider, this was the first career Track Worlds medal for Wiebes. For Valente, it was her 18th career Worlds medal and fourth in Scratch (1-2-1).
The women’s Team Sprint went to Olympic champs Great Britain, with the same team of Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane. They eased past the Netherlands in the final, 45.949 to 46.593. Australia won the bronze over Germany, 47.358 to 48.188.
Competition continues through Sunday.
● Football ● Speaking at a club forum in Brussels (BEL), Javier Tebas, the President of Spain’s LaLiga, asked for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup to be shelved:
“FIFA president, you know that you have not sold the audiovisual rights for the budget you said for that Club World Cup. You know that you do not have the sponsorships for that Club World Cup as you had budgeted.
“You know that the leagues and the players’ football unions we don’t want that Club World Cup. Withdraw that Club World Cup now.”
LaLiga has joined with other domestic leagues and the FIFPRO players union to file an opposition to FIFA’s match calendar and the 2025 Club World Cup, saying that the schedule is too crowded, that players do not have the proper rest time between matches, or after each season to recover.
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup was expanded from seven teams to 32 and scheduled for 15 June to 13 July at 12 venues in the U.S. Tebas said that FIFA would have to use its reserves to fund the tournament:
“If you are going to use FIFA funds to finance the money that is missing from the promise you have made to the clubs, you are taking it away from all those federations or places that FIFA says it is there to help. We are talking about more of €1.5 billion that will have to be drawn from that fund.”
FIFA is going ahead with the tournament, believing it has little overall impact on the question of player fitness.
● Shooting ● The first day of finals at the ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi (IND) showed that being Olympic champion is not always a guarantee of future success!
On Tuesday, China’s Paris winner Lihao Sheng took the men’s 10 m Air Rifle final by 251.4 to 251.3 by Hungary’s Istvan Peni. China won the women’s 10m Air Rifle final, as Olympic runner-up Yuting Huang got to the top of the podium, scoring world record 254.5, just ahead of India’s Sonam Maskar (252.9).
China got a third gold from Olympic winner Yu Xie in the men’s 10 m Air Pistol (244.6), ahead of Robin Walter (GER: 243.3). Paris silver and bronze winners Federico Maldini (ITA: 221.7) and Paolo Monna (ITA: 196.6) were 3-4. France’s Camille Jedrzejewski won the women’s 10 m Air Pistol (240.8), with Heng Yu Liu (TPE: 237.4) second.
Of the four finals held on Wednesday, China’s Yuehong Li was the only Paris winner to be victorious, following his Paris Olympic victory in the men’s 25 m Rapid-Fire Pistol with a win, scoring 34 in the final to defeat German Florian Peter (30).
In the men’s 50 m Rifle/3 Positions, Hungary’s Peni, the 2019 European Games bronze medalist, was the winner at 465.3, ahead of Czech Jiri Privratsky (464.2). Olympic winner Yukun Liu (CHN) finished fourth at 442.4.
The women’s 25 m Pistol was a win for German Josefin Eder, with 36 points to edge Paris silver medalist Jedrzejewski (FRA: 35), with Olympic champ Ji-in Yang (KOR: 13) in seventh. Denmark’s Rikke Ibsen won the women’s 50 m Rifle/3 Positions at 466.2, over 2022 Worlds bronzer Jeanette Hegg Duestad (NOR: 465.6), with Olympic winner Chiara Leone (SUI) failing to qualify for the final.
The shotgun finals will be held on Thursday.
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