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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) confirmed the Eventing course for the 2028 Olympic Games will be arranged in and around Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, where Dressage and Jumping will also be held.
The FEI announced Alec Lochore (GBR) as the Eventing course designer; he was the Eventing Manager for the London 2012 Olympic Games, and FEI President Ingmar De Vos (BEL) noted:
“He holds excellent credentials as a first-class Eventing course designer but also as a technical delegate and an organiser. He was instrumental in advising the FEI on the cross-country feasibility at the LA28 equestrian venue at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia and we are confident that, in cooperation with Mike Etherington-Smith [GBR], he will design a course that challenges the world’s best while showcasing the heart of our sport to a wider global audience. Work on the LA28 Olympic cross-country course will begin in the coming weeks.”
At the 1984 Games, Santa Anita was also used for Dressage and Jumping, but the cross-country element of what was then known as the Three-Day Event was held at Fairbanks Ranch in San Diego County to offer cooler conditions for the horses.
● Israel ● The XXII Maccabiah Games, first held in 1932, was slated to be held in July, but has been postponed to 2026 in view of the continuing hostilities with Iran.
The 2025 Games was scheduled for 1-22 in Israel, opening in Jerusalem and held in Tel Aviv and elsewhere, and was expected to draw about 8,000 athletes from 55 countries in open, Juniors, Masters and Disabled divisions. Maccabiah Chair Assaf Green said in a statement:
“Despite our strong desire to hold the Maccabiah in the summer of 2025 as a symbol of hope, we are forced to postpone it due to the complex security situation created by the attack on Iran, the instructions of the Home Front Command, the continued suspension of flights to Israel, and the necessary security measures required of all of us.
“Together with the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and after considering several alternatives, we realized that although we are almost at the starting line, the most prudent step from a security, safety, and logistical perspective is to postpone the event by a year to a quieter and safer time.”
● Athletics ● Grand Slam Track announced a multi-year agreement with Sundial Media & Technology Group:
“SMTG will secure strategic commercial partnerships for Grand Slam Track’s 2026 season and beyond, with 10% of all related sponsorship sales secured by SMTG paid directly to Grand Slam Track Racers.
“Additionally, Grand Slam Track, and its signed Racers and Challengers, will be featured and celebrated across SMTG’s entire network of media entities, publications, and brands, with in-person activations at major events, and a spotlight shone on the biggest names in track.”
The partnership plan is to focus on creating “[i]nteractive digital content and athlete-driven storytelling across social and media platforms, [l]ive event experiences that blend competition with culture, music, and fan participation, [a] new media platform that allows fans to co-create, share, and own pieces of the narrative” and “[e]xclusive behind-the-scenes access into the lives and training of athletes.”
Also, Richelieu Dennis, Founder and Chair of The Sundial Group of Companies and Founder and Managing Partner of New Voices Fund, has invested into Grand Slam Track.
● Gymnastics ● A completely amazing confluence of a milestone birthday and a gymnastics meet this weekend in Tashkent (UZB) as Oksana Chusovitina – born on 19 June 1985 in Bukhara (then URS, now UZB) – will compete in the FIG Artistic World Challenge Cup in the women’s vault!
She first competed for the USSR, but her first Olympic appearance was for the “Unified Team” in 1992 as the Soviet Union was disassembled. She was a member of the Uzbekistan team from 1992-2005 and for the 1996-2000-2004 Olympic Games, then for Germany from 2006-12 (2008-12 Olympic Games) and from 2013 on, for Uzbekistan again (2016-20/21 Olympic Games).
Chusovitina won a women’s Team gold in 1992 and a Vault silver in 2007 for her two Olympic medals, and World Championships golds in 1991 in Team and Floor (USSR) and in Vault in 2003 for Uzbekistan. She owns 11 total Worlds medals from 1991-2011!
And she is not done. She said earlier this week:
“My number one goal is to get to Los Angeles [in 2028]. But there is so much time before then, so I’m not thinking that far ahead. I go step-by-step, from one competition to the next. If it happens, it happens. If not, then no. But I will try, and I will give it everything I’ve got.”
● Ice Hockey ● In a balloting for the International Ice Hockey Federation’s women’s player of the year, Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin fought off five U.S. candidates and emerged the winner with 33.1% of the vote.
American keeper Gwyneth Philips was second at 22.3%, 2023 winner Hilary Knight (20.2%), defender Caroline Harvey (12.9%) and keeper Aerin Frankel (7.3%).
Poulin was seventh in the voting in 2023, and third last year.
● Judo ● Olympic women’s 78 kg champion Alice Bellandi of Italy added her first Worlds gold on Wednesday at the IJF World Championships in Budapest (HUN), defeating Germany’s Anna Monta Olek in the final. It’s the third Worlds medal for Bellandi, who won bronze in 2023 and silver in 2022.
Russian “neutral” Matvey Knikovskiy won the men’s 100 kg class over Japan’s Dota Arai, the 2024 Worlds bronze winner in this class. The heavyweight divisions will be held on Thursday and the Mixed Team event on Friday.
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