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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The LA28 organizers followed up on their promise to fund community organizations to assist with the well-being of the Los Angeles area and announced seven organizations as first recipients of LA28 Resilience Champions Fund.
Each group will receive a $100,000 grant to support projects in wildfire resilience and nature restoration, ocean protection, and cooling solutions. The initial recipients include Active SGV, Amigos de Los Rios, Chrysalis, Climate Resolve, Conservation Corps of Long Beach, L.A. Community Garden Council, Los Angeles Urban League and Santa Monica Mountains Fund.
A new LA28 emblem for the program was also introduced.
● Doping ● American chemist Patrick Arnold, who developed steroid-infused compounds for the supplement market that eventually came into use by Olympic and professional athletes, passed away at age 59 on 12 May 2026 in Guilford, Connecticut.
He created compounds known as the “cream” and the “clear” which were centerpieces of the doping-distribution program of the Bay Area Laboratories (BALCO) scandal in 2003 and touched baseball stars such as Bobby Bonds and Olympic sprint star Marion Jones, who lost her Sydney 2000 medals over their use.
The BALCO distribution mastermind was Victor Conte, who passed away in 2025 at age 75; he pled guilty in 2005 to charges of conspiracy to distribute steroids and money laundering and served four months in prison.
● Memorabilia ● A specially-made commemorative ring with five diamonds in the shape of the Olympic Rings for 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks was sold by Heritage Auctions over the weekend for $549,000, including the buyer’s premium.
This is a one-of-a-kind ring, of 10-karat gold, made for Brooks, who led a group of college and amateur players to the 1980 Olympic gold, the last by the American men until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games. Brooks passed at age 66 in 2003 and the ring was placed for sale by his family.
● Russia ● World Gymnastics lifted sanctions on Russian and Belarusian athletes at its Executive Committee meeting on Monday:
“The EC has decided to lift all restrictions applicable to Russian and Belarusian athletes since February 2022, with immediate effect. The FIG Ad-Hoc rules are therefore no longer in force.”
World Gymnastics President Morinari Watanabe (JPN) has signaled this change for some time, and gymnastics is now the fifth federation to re-integrate Russian and Belarusian athletes and the second in a week’s time.
● Athletics ● Lots of hot action at the many conference championship meets in the U.S. over the weekend, including four world-leading marks at the Southeastern Conference meet at Auburn, Alabama:
● Men/400 m: 43.95, Samuel Ogazi (NGR-Alabama)
● Men/110 m hurdles: 13.05 Ja’kobe Tharp (Auburn)
● Women/400 m: 48.92 Dejanea Oakley (JAM-Georgia)
● Women/400 m hurdles: 54.02 Akala Garrett (South Carolina)
Ogazi won a tight final over Americans Jordan Pierre (Arkansas: 44.12) and Georgia’s Jonathan Scott (44.16). Oakley outlasted Arkansas’ Kaylyn Brown (49.54) and Garrett won the 400 m hurdles over Georgia’s Michelle Smith (54.72).
In addition, Arkansas’ Jelani Watkins won the men’s 100 m in 9.95 and the 200 m in 19.87, with Denzel Simusialela (ZIM-Kentucky) second at 19.98. Gabrielle Mathews JAM-Florida) won the women’s 100 m in 10.97 and Georgia’s Adaejah Hodge (IVB) was a runaway winner of the 200 m in 21.92.
At the Big 10 Champs in Lincoln, Nebraska, NCAA champ Hana Moll of Washington won the women’s vault with a world outdoor lead of 4.83 m (15-10). But there were some other, stunning marks in the sprints, led by a 9.74 men’s 100 m win by Edward Osei-Nketia (USC), but with an aiding wind of 5.6 m/s! Oregon’s P.J. Ize-Iyamu was second at 9.80 and Charles Godfred (Nigeria-Minnesota) was third at 9.88.
Osei-Nketia won the 200 m at 20.03, also very wind-aided (+7.5 m/s). USC teammate Brianna Selby won the women’s 100 in a windy 10.74 (+3.8 m/s) with teammate Dajaz Defrand (10.90w) second. USC’s Madison Whyte won the 200 m at 21.78 with a big wind-aid of 6.0 m/s! Whyte also won the 400 m in 51.01.
Two world-leading triple jump marks came from the Coqui International Cup in Caguas (PUR), with Jamaican star Jordan Scott reaching 17.66 m (57-11 1/4) in the men’s event and Cuba’s Davisleidis Velasco at 14.85 m (48-8 3/4) to win the women’s competition.
● Football ● Iran will play at the FIFA World Cup, according to a statement from Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
“The decision to have the Iranian national football team participate in the World Cup was made based on assessments from the Ministry of Sports and Youth and the Football Federation. Two days ago, a good meeting was held in Turkey between representatives of the Football Federation and senior FIFA officials, and we were assured that FIFA would make every effort to ensure the tournament hosts comply with FIFA regulations.”
The Iranian team is expected to arrive at its training camp in Tucson, Arizona on 5 June and will play two group matches at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California and one in Seattle, Washington.
● Ice Hockey ● At the 2026 IIHF men’s World Championship in Switzerland, group play continues through the 26th, with Finland leading Group A at 3-0, ahead of Austria and the Swiss at 2-0. The U.S. is 1-2, losing to Switzerland (3-1) and Finland (6-2) but beating Britain (5-1).
Canada leads Group B at 3-0, with Slovakia at 2-0 so far.
● Weightlifting ● The International Testing Agency reported weightlifting anti-doping testing results for 2025, with 1,150 athletes from 131 countries tested, up from 1,078 athletes from 120 countries in 2024.
A total of 24 doping violations were confirmed in 2025, however, the number of violations recorded in 2025 was down to seven, compared to 14 positives in 2024 and 28 in 2023, a welcome downwards trend for a sport which has had severe doping issues in the past. The report noted:
“This reduction may be attributed to a more targeted, structured anti-doping approach, expanded education, and stricter requirements related to the Member Federations’ Categorisation Rules.”
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