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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The LA28 organizing committee announced that registration for the ticket sales lottery will begin next year:
“Starting in 2026, fans will have access to a wide variety of options. Single tickets for both Games will start at $28, with early access to tickets for locals around Games venue cities. To purchase tickets, a general registration period will open in January 2026. In addition to several purchase options for individual tickets, curated ticket-inclusive hospitality experiences and packages will be revealed and on sale to the general public in 2026. Tickets for the Paralympic Games will go on sale in 2027.”
The announcement also noted that hospitality sales will start in early 2026, and:
● “Ticket access will be determined through a draw process that assigns purchase time slots for ticket drops beginning in 2026.”
● “Early access will be available for local communities surrounding Games venues.”
On the sponsorship front, official ticket services Eventim and AXS have joined at the Official Supporter level (third tier) and as “LA28 “preferred Secondary Ticketing Provider.”
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● The International Olympic Committee’s Coordination Commission was generally pleased with the work of the Milan Cortina organizers, with the Winter Games opening on 6 February.
Coordination Commission Chair Kristin Kloster (NOR) notably endorsed the progress on the controversial, new sliding track:
“Since the Coordination Commission’s previous visit, when we witnessed the start of construction in Cortina, the new Sliding Centre has exceeded all our expectations. The most ambitious construction project ever undertaken for a facility of this size has been completed, and I would like to thank Simico and its CEO, Fabio Saldini, for their commitment.”
The IOC post noted that almost 800,000 of the 1.5 million tickets available for the Games have been sold. Milan Cortina chief executive Andrea Varnier said €450 million in sponsorship support has been obtained so far, still short of the €550 million target. (€1 = $1.18)
IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi (SUI) explained that the call by some countries to exclude Israel is not in line with the Russian invasion of Ukraine:
“We have two National Olympic Committees, both of which comply with the Olympic Charter, and that’s why it’s a different case than Russia and Belarus. As for Israel and Palestine, we rely on the sports institutions. From a sporting perspective, for which we are responsible, they are two separate cases.”
● Olympic Winter Games 2030: French Alps ● A dissident group called “Collectif Citoyen JOP 2030” is trying to stop the organization of the 2030 Games, announcing Wednesday:
“The environmental aberration, democratic denial, financial mismanagement and opacity that constitute the JOP 2030 project should not and cannot remain without response or action, we have therefore referred the matter to the Administrative Court of Lyon and the UN to:
“● request the suspension of the execution of the Olympic host contract and the public decision to organize the 2030 Winter Games.
“● We also ask:
“to the State a moratorium on special Olympic laws allowing derogations from numerous standards, particularly environmental ones
“to the project leaders to immediately contact the National Commission for Public Debate so that a public debate can be organized under the aegis of this commission as soon as possible and while alternatives to the project are still possible
“Our mountains, our future… But also our democracy are at stake!
“To this end, we also submitted a petition to the AURA region and the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committee on Friday 16 May 2025, requesting the suspension of the contract while the public consultation and information process is organised.”
France is in the throes of a difficult financial crisis and the Macron government is now on its fifth Prime Minister since the start of 2024. State efforts in all areas are under stress and unpopular, and this effort against the 2030 Winter Games continues that turmoil.
● Athletics ● Fred Kerley, the 2022 World men’s 100 m champion and two-time Olympic 100 m medalist, but who has been in trouble with sponsors and the law in 2024 and 2025, is the first track & field athlete to sign with the Enhanced Games. In a statement, he explained:
“I’m looking forward to this new chapter and competing at the Enhanced Games. The World Record has always been the ultimate goal of my career. This now gives me the opportunity to dedicate all my energy to pushing my limits and becoming the fastest human to ever live.”
The doping-friendly Enhanced Games will be held in May 2026 in Las Vegas; the project has signed five swimmers so far, plus Kerley.
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Beyond the medal count at the World Athletics Championships is the World Athletics placing table, measuring team strength by scoring the top eight finishers with points from 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
The U.S. is leading both after five of the nine days, but an even deeper dive by super-statistician Dr. Bill Mallon notes an important trend: the number of finalists and the number in places 4-8. So far:
● 31: United States (4-7-5-2-3 from 4-8)
● 13: Kenya (4-1-0-1-0)
● 11: Italy (0-0-1-3-2)
● 11: Ethiopia (1-1-3-0-2)
● 9: Jamaica (1-0-1-1-0)
● 9: France (1-2-0-2-3)
As the road to 2028 shapes up, this is a good sign for the U.S. as better and better depth will push the top of the team in the coming years.
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The full opinion of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the suspension of Ethiopian 1,500 m star Diribe Welteji was published. The Athletics Integrity Unit won an appeal against a clearance by the Ethiopian National Anti-Doping Office’s hearing panel, which upheld Welteji’s view that she was not required to produce a sample outside her designated testing hour.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport arbitrator’s opinion included this critical passage:
“Given the factual and legal background surrounding the doping control, and the realistic possibility that the [AIU] Appeal will be upheld resulting in the Athlete’s ineligibility and subsequent disqualification of any results achieved, allowing her to compete in the World Championships, with a strong chance of winning a medal that may ultimately be withdrawn, would clearly jeopardize the integrity and credibility of the competition while depriving another athlete of rightful achievement.
“While these circumstances alone would not be sufficient to establish irreparable harm for [World Athletics], the fact that the Athlete voluntarily prevented the antidoping control from taking place, without proper justification, no longer allows her to submit that she would suffer irreparable harm if provisionally suspended; on the contrary, the irreparable harm shifts on the side of WA, which is deprived of the possibility to know if the Athlete would have been tested positive or not and to determine if the competitions it organizes would be fair and equitable.
“The Athlete would have been certainly in a better position if she had undergone the antidoping test under protest, with a possibility for her to challenge the validity or reliability of the test at a later stage. Therefore, the Division President accepts that under the particular circumstances of this case, combined with the importance of the competition, to allow her to compete despite the concrete risk of ultimate ineligibility would unjustifiably deprive other athletes of competition opportunities and potential success.
“While medal reallocations are regrettably not uncommon in sport, they must be avoided whenever possible. In this respect, the Division President observes that reallocations typically occur when an athlete is later found to have committed an ADRV [violation] which was unknown at the time of the specific competition. In this case, it is undisputed that the Athlete was already involved in antidoping proceedings and is suspected to have committed a possible ADRV which, as mentioned, has a realistic prospect of lead to a sanction.”
Translation: The decision clearly enunciates a rule that if an athlete is asked for a doping sample, the athlete must comply.
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The AIU also announced a provisional suspension for Kenyan distance runner Diana Chepkorir for a prohibited substance or method based on her Athlete Biological Passport.
Chepkorir, 23, has run 29:56 for 10 km on the road and was fourth in the Berlin Half Marathon this year at 1:08:46.
● Fencing ● Another unique USA Fencing program returns for 2025 and 2026: the Listening Tour.
USA Fencing chief executive Phil Andrews has scheduled visits to 11 cities across the country from October 2025 into July 2026, seven coinciding with various fencing events, but five simply to visit and meet federation members one-on-one, with time slots booked in advance.
The schedule starts on 5 October at the North American Cup tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah and continues to San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Kansas City, National Harbor, Salt Lake City again for the FIE Sabre World Cup, then Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Bradenton and Portland.
Shouldn’t every U.S. National Governing Body chief executive do this?
● Figure Skating ● There are 111 entries from 49 countries and two “neutral” entries each from Russian and Belarus in the “ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating Qualifier” that runs from 17-21 September in Beijing (CHN).
At stake are Olympic Winter Games entries: five spots each for men (26 entries) and women (25), three spots for Pairs (11) and four for Ice Dance (19).
The U.S. has five Pairs in, trying for one spot in Milan (it already has earned two entries): Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy, Emily Chan and Spencer Howe, Olivia Flores and Luke Wang, Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman, and Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez.
● Swimming ● Australia’s The Age newspaper reported that Rio 2016 Olympic 100 m Freestyle winner Kyle Chalmers, also the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 silver medalist, turned down a three-year promotional contract with the doping-friendly Enhanced Games worth $1.08 million. Further, bonuses of up to $1.5 million were offered, along with equity in the project.
Chalmers, 27, turned it down, focusing instead on a fourth Olympic Games in 2028. The story noted that he will continue to be pursued.
● Volleyball ● Pool play is finishing up at the FIVB men’s World Championship in the Philippines, with four groups concluded, with the top two advanced to the playoffs:
● Pool B: Poland (3-0), Netherlands (2-1)
● Pool D: United States (3-0), Portugal (2-1)
● Pool E: Bulgaria (3-0), Slovenia (2-1)
● Pool G: Turkey (3-0), Canada (2-1)
The American men finished with a 3-1 win over Cuba (25-17, 25-22, 23-25, 27-25) and won nine of 10 sets in their three matches.
Playoffs will start on the 20th; the third-seed U.S. is set to face no. 4 seed Slovenia on the 22nd. Group play will finish on the 18th.
● Wrestling ● At the UWW World Championships in Zagreb (CRO), U.S. star Helen Maroulis won her fourth Worlds gold, this time in the 57 kg class, by defeating Il-sim Son (PRK) by 3-2 in the final.
Maroulis, now 33, won her first three matches by pinfalls, but had a tough time with Son, but returned to the top of the podium, following wins in 2015, 2017 and 2021.
The North Koreans won a second gold in the tournament in the 50 kg class, as Myong-gyong Won defeated China’s Yu Zhang by 8-2. At 65 kg, Japan got a second women’s gold from Miwa Morikawa, beating Russian “neutral” Alina Kasabieva, 8-0.
At 76 kg, Ecuador’s Genesis Reasco defeated Aiperi Medet Kyzy (KGZ), 4-2, in the final, for her first career Worlds medal. American Kylie Welker, who lost to Kyzy in the quarterfinals, fought back to take one of the bronze medals.
The final men’s Freestyle team scoring was updated to finish with Iran winning with 145 points to 134 for the U.S. and 111 for Japan. Women’s Freestyle will conclude on Thursday; the final three days will be devoted to Greco-Roman.
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