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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The Los Angeles City Council voted 12-3 on Wednesday, directing the City Attorney to prepare ordinances to increase the minimum wage for “tourism workers” from the current $18.78 to $19.73 per hour to $22.50 in February 2025, $25.00 in 2026, $27.50 by 2027 and $30.00 by 2028.
City News Service reported that “The Living Wage Ordinance applies to city contractors and ensures that employees are paid a set living wage, setting a cash wage rate and health-related benefits. The Hotel Workers Minimum Wage ordinance requires hotel employers with 60 or more guest rooms to pay their employees the specified minimum wage and provide 96 compensated hours of off time, and at least 80 additional hours of uncompensated time off per year.”
The report also noted a letter from the Hotel Association of Los Angeles sent to the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games organizing committee that included:
“These increases constitute an approximately 70% increase in wage and health benefits costs to hotels in 2025. By the time of the 2028 Olympics, the increase will be close to 100%.
“To put it plainly, this staggering increase in costs makes it infeasible for most if not all signatory hotels to participate in LA28’s hotel room block.”
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● The official sports schedule for the 2026 Winter Games was disseminated this week and skiing and snowboard star Ester Ledecka (CZE) is not happy.
The surprise winner of the 2018 PyeongChang women’s Super-G gold medal, she has also won the Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom gold in 2018 and 2022. Now, the 2026 Olympic schedule shows that the women’s Alpine Downhill and the Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom are on the same day – 8 February – with the PGS qualifying starting at 9:00 a.m. at the Livigno Snow Park in Valtellina and the Downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo at 11:30 a.m., about 200 miles east.
Ledecka is readying for the Alpine World Cup Downhill and Super-G at Beaver Creek, Colorado this weekend and said she has asked the Czech Olympic Committee for assistance:
“It’s like someone has broken your dream. So please change it. Please, please, please. It’s my biggest dream to do both. I can create a great show for people.”
● Archery ● Nominees for the World Archery Awards were announced, with eight Americans nominated.
Paris Olympic runner-up Brady Ellison was nominated in the men’s Recurve division, Paris Olympic Mixed Team bronzer Casey Kaufhold in the women’s Recurve division; James Lutz and Sawyer Sullivan in men’s Compound (and Sullivan in the Breakthrough category).
Paralympic Compound champion Matt Stutzman was nominated in the Para men’s category, along with Jason Tabansky, and Tracy Otto in the women’s Para. Fans can vote through 10 January.
● Cycling ● The use of inhaled carbon monoxide as a optimizer for altitude training is now under attack by the Union Cycliste Internationale, which “will propose to its Management Committee that the use of carbon monoxide (CO) by riders be banned on medical grounds.
“The decision will be made by the executive body of the Federation at its next meeting, which will take place in Arras, France, on 31 January and 1 February 2025. …
“Its use in a medical setting, by qualified medical personnel, and within the strict context of assessing total hemoglobin mass, would, however, remain authorised.”
● Weightlifting ● North Korea took a ninth gold at the IWF World Championships in Manama (BRN), with Kuk-hyang Song taking the women’s 76 kg and winning all three segments, with 116 kg in the Snatch, 148 in the Clean & Jerk and 264 kg in total. Colombia’s Miyareth Mendoza was a distant second at 248 kg.
Four-time Worlds silver medalist Mattie Rogers of the U.S. failed on her three Snatch attempts and did not place.
Kazak Nurgissa Adiletuly won the men’s 96 kg class at 388 kg, placing fourth in the Snatch and second in the Clean & Jerk to edge Georgia’s Revaz Davitadze (387 kg) and Iran’s Ali Alipour (also 387 kg).
With six classes left, the North Koreans have won nine golds and 14 medals, with China a very distant second at six medals (1-2-3). The championships close on Sunday.
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