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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● International Olympic Committee ● “The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been made aware of a campaign involving two fake accounts on WhatsApp and Telegram, together with email messages impersonating IOC President Thomas Bach. They are contacting high-ranking persons from various walks of life, including senior politicians and Olympic Movement officials. Among other means, the campaign uses a deep-faked voice purporting to be that of the IOC President, which has been created using Artificial Intelligence (AI).”
Wednesday’s message echoed prior warnings from November 2023, March and July of 2024 of fakes message impersonating the IOC. In this case:
“The aim of the campaign seems to be to obtain sensitive information, draw the contacted persons into sensitive conversations and gain unauthorised access to their systems.
“The unknown perpetrator has also tried to gain access to sensitive data of the IOC President, by contacting him and impersonating a high-ranking politician. The attempt was not successful.”
In March 2024, Bach was called by hoaxsters claiming to be representatives of the “African Union Commission,” but actually from Russia, who called other political leaders as well. This latest attempt appears to have failed.
● Athletics ● Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet had a 2024 for the ages, winning the Olympic 5,000 m and 10,000 m titles and setting world records of 14:05.92 for 5,000 m and 28:54.14 in the 10,000.
But that was not enough, and Chebet destroyed the world road 5 km record on 31 December in Barcelona (ESP), winning the Cursa dels Nassos 5 km in a sensational 13:54, becoming the first woman to run under 14 minutes!
She mauled her own prior mark of 14:13, set in the same race in 2023, and then equaled by Agnes Ngetich (KEN) in January 2024. She won by 29 seconds over Medina Eisa (ETH: 14:23). Said the winner:
“I’m super happy as everything went according to plan. I felt capable of running under 14 and I managed to do so. Two races in Barcelona and two world records, can I ask for more? My focus for next year is to win gold medals over 5,000 m and 10,000 m at the World Championships in Tokyo.”
● Cross Country Skiing ● Norway swept to the front of the Tour de Ski races in Toblach (ITA) on Tuesday and Wednesday, winning both men’s and both women’s races.
Harald Amundsen, a two-time Worlds medalist in the 15 km Freestyle, won the men’s Freestyle 20 km in 44:05.3, ahead of teammate Simen Krueger (44:26.5), then took Wednesday’s 15 km Classical Pursuit in 35:18.9. Edvin Anger (SWE: 35:21.4) was second.
American Ben Ogden was ninth in the 20 km Free (45:04.7), and Gus Schumacher was the top U.S. finisher in the Classical Pursuit in 17th (36:24.4).
Norway went 1-2 in both women’s races, with Astrid Slind beating 14-time World Champion Therese Johaug twice. Slind came from behind to overtake Johaug to win the 20 km Free in 48:54.9 to 48:58.2, then the two worked together in the 15 km Classical Pursuit, with Slind winning by 38:39.9 to 38:40.1!
American Jessie Diggins finished sixth in the 20 km in 49:31.2, with Sophia Laukli in 10th (49:56.0). Diggins was sixth again in the Pursuit, in 40:48.4. Slind is now the Tour de Ski leader on total time, with Diggins in fourth (+1:01).
Three stages are coming on 3-4-5 January, in Val di Fiemme (ITA).
● Ski Jumping ● Austria continued winning in the 73rd Four Hills Tournament, with Daniel Tschofenig taking the second event, on Wednesday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER). Jumping off the 142 m hill, Tschofenig won the first jump and was in the second round to score 298.9, ahead of Gregor Deschwanden (SUI: 290.3).
Tschofeniug is now the overall leader, heading to home hills in Innsbruck (AUT) on Saturday and Bischofshofen on 6 January.
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The women’s “Two Nights” tournament in Garmisch on Tuesday and Obertsdorf (137 m) on Wednesday saw Slovenia’s 19-year-old Nika Prevc sweep both!
Prevc scored 275.8 – winning both runs – in Garmisch to outpoint Eirin Kvandal (268.6), then came from fourth after the first round to win the second jump and score 311.9 points to 304.5 for Norwegian Anna Stroem, with Kvandal third (300.1). Prevc’s two-event total of 587.7 was 19.0 points ahead of Kvandal’s 568.7.
● Table Tennis ● China’s Paris 2024 Olympic Singles champions Zhendong Fan, 27, and Meng Chen, 30, both withdrew from international competitions in view of World Table Tennis participation rules. Fan wrote on his Weibo page on 27 December:
“Recently, the WTT (World Table Tennis) has announced new rules imposing fines for non-participation. Individuals cannot afford it but still respect international organisations, so the only course of action is to withdraw from the world rankings.”
He filed a “Player Career Retirement Notification” which removes him from WTT events. Chen also filed, writing on Weibo:
“Because my body is currently unable to bear every high-intensity event, out of respect for international organisations, I signed the document on Monday and finally made the choice to withdraw from the world ranking.”
The WTT rules state:
“Players are entitled to two (2) free withdrawals from Main Draw and Qualifying per year at WTT Star Contender, WTT Contender and WTT Feeder Series, and from Qualifying in Grand Smash without financial penalty.”
Penalties for missing events for top-10 players are $5,000 per tournament.
Losing both Olympic champs prompted a posted reply from WTT, which noted:
“The rules referenced by Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng are not newly introduced. These regulations, which include automatic entry for players ranked in the global standings, have been in place since WTT’s inception four years ago. …
“The penalties for non-participation are designed to support the structure of the WTT calendar, ensuring that fans, organisers, event partners and broadcast partners can rely on the participation of the world’s top players. This is particularly important for marquee events such as the WTT Grand Smashes, WTT Champions and WTT Finals.”
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