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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The Federal government has not allocated any money for transportation programs for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, but others are helping.
The Centre Area Transportation Authority in State College, Pennsylvania announced it is donating 10 of its retired, natural gas-fueled buses, to the L.A. Metropolitan Transportation Authority for use in 2028. The buses have been maintained and were going to go to auction, but are on the way west.
L.A. Metro has estimated it will need about 2,000 extra buses for 2028 and had received about 650 donated vehicles by the end of May 2025.
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● A wide-ranging inquiry into building contracts in Milan over the last 20 years has targeted as many as 70 officials, with questions about possible bribes in order to obtain project approvals and permits.
The Olympic Village project in Milan, slated for student housing after the Winter Games, is one of the programs being investigated. Among those being questioned is Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala, who has said his “hands are clean”; prosecutors were reported to want to arrest six individuals (not including Sala).
● Olympic Winter Games 2030: French Alps ● The storied alpine resort of Val d’Isere is back on the venue list for the 2030 Winter Games, and Meribel, which co-hosted the 2023 World Alpine Championships, is out.
The decision was confirmed at an organizing committee meeting on Monday (21st), with Val d’Isere expected to contribute €25-30 million to the budget (€1 = $1.18 U.S.).
Still to be determined is whether to have the speed skating events in Heerenveen (NED) or Turin (ITA), with an inspection and cost review coming to help make the final choice.
● Aquatics ● At the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, the men’s water polo semifinals saw Spain, the 2022 World Champions, edge Greece, 11-9, to advance to the gold-medal final. Hungary, the 2023 Worlds winners, upset three-time defending Olympic champion Serbia, 19-18, holding on to a 16-12 edge at the end of three quarters.
The medal matches will be on Thursday.
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In Artistic Swimming, Spain’s Iris Tio won her first individual Worlds gold, 245.1913 to 241.0025 in the women’s Solo Free, over China’s Solo Technical winner Huiyan Xu (CHN).
China won the Team Technical gold to go with its Team Free victory, 307.8001 to 300.6183 over Russia (as “neutrals”). Spain – with Tio – was third at 294.8575; the U.S. was sixth at 273.6650.
Diving starts Saturday and swimming starts on Sunday.
● Cycling ● The miserable, 171.5 km, uphill-finishing 16th stage of the 112th Tour de France saw a final sprint of two riders, with France’s Valentin Paret-Peintre winning at the line over Ireland’s Ben Healy, with both at 4:03:19.
Not too far behind were the race leaders, with Slovenia’s three-time winner Tadej Pogacar finishing a couple of seconds ahead of rival, two-time champ Jonas Vingegaard (DEN), +0:43 to +0:45, in fifth and sixth. So, Pogacar now leads the race by 4:15, with Florian Lipowitz (GER) third at +9:03. Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel, the stage 2 winner, did not start and abandoned the race, citing pneumonia.
There are two more climbing stages, on Thursday and Friday, before a hilly 20th stage and Sunday’s flat ride into Paris.
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The Union Cycliste Internationale issued a pained statement concerning an appearance by former Belgian cyclist and team official Johan Bruyneel:
“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) noted the presence of Mr Johan Bruyneel in the Tour de France start village on 17 July 2025 in connection with his participation in Vive le vélo, a programme broadcast by the Flemish-language Belgian public television channel VRT1.
“On 25 October 2018, Mr Bruyneel was sanctioned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) with a life ban for anti-doping rules violations when he worked with the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team and the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team.
“In accordance with Article 10.14 of the World Anti-Doping Code and the UCI Anti-Doping Rules, Mr Bruyneel is banned for life from taking part in any activity related to cycling. While he is free to attend a cycling event registered on the UCI International Calendar – such as the Tour de France – as a regular spectator, he is strictly prohibited from participating in the event in any role or capacity, or from accessing areas that are closed to the public. This includes, in particular, areas of the Tour de France that require accreditation.
“As a person serving a lifetime ban, Mr Bruyneel was therefore not authorised to be present in the Tour de France start village or team area.”
The UCI has asked the Tour de France organizers to ensure this does not happen again.
● Football ● Defending champion England once again found late, late, late magic to advance to the 2025 UEFA Women’s European Championship final with a 2-1 extra-time win over Italy in Geneva (SUI) on Tuesday.
The Italians had the lead from the 33rd minute on a Barbara Bonansea score and it looked like that might hold up, despite a consistent English attack that simply could not score. But at 90+6, substitute defender Michelle Agyemang smashed home a loose ball in the box for the 1-1 tie, sending the game into extra time.
In the 119th minute, England sub midfielder Chloe Kelly looked to take the lead on a penalty against sub forward Beth Mead, but her shot was saved by Italian keeper Laura Giulani. But the rebound came back and Kelly scored for the 2-1 lead that held up for the final minute and stoppage, completing England’s second straight miracle comeback.
Germany, the 2022 runner-up, and favored Spain meet on Wednesday in the second semi, in Zurich. The final is Sunday in Basel.
● Swimming ● Swimswam.com reported that as much as half of the U.S. swimming team for the World Aquatics Championships has suffered from food poisoning at its training camp in Phuket (THA), but that everyone was expected to make the trip to Singapore successfully on Tuesday.
Swimming begins at the Worlds on Sunday.
● Triathlon ● The Court of Arbitration for Sport published the 37-page decision of the appeal by Uruguay Triathlon Federation President Liber Garcia against World Triathlon and Australian Triathlon President Michelle Cooper, with Garcia asking for a reversal of a 12-month suspension by the federation over a Code of Ethics violation for corruption.
The facts are that Cooper alleged “collusion, intimidation, threats and manipulations” by Garcia, a World Triathlon Executive Board member, on behalf of a group which included three of the seven candidates for World Triathlon President, of which she was also a candidate. In an exchange of WhatsApp messages on 19 September 2024, Garcia inquired if Cooper would join the candidate “group” and drop out of the Presidential race.
The election took place on 21 October 2024, with Antonio Arimany (ESP) elected; Cooper had filed a complaint on 26 September to the federation’s disciplinary tribunal, which held on 20 October not to have a “material influence” on the next-day election. In March 2025, the tribunal held that Garcia breached the Ethics Code and was banned for a year, to be reduced to six months if he completed a good-governance course.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s three-member panel upheld the finding of ethics violations by Garcia, but found no evidence of a direct bribe and limited only to the one exchange of messages, and only required a “warning” be issued to Garcia. Cooper won, but with essentially no sanction imposed on Garcia. Cooper was defeated in her candidatures for President, Vice President and Executive Board seats.
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