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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The International Broadcast Center for the 2028 Olympic & Paralympic Games will be housed as the first client in a newly-developed Hollywood Park Studios, part of the 300-acre mixed-use project that already includes SoFi Stadium, site of the opening ceremonies and swimming. According to the announcement:
“The first phase of Hollywood Park Studios will occupy 12 acres and will consist of five sound stages, each 18,000 square feet, two of which open to a single 36,000 square foot stage. In addition, HPS will have a three-story 80,000 square foot office building to support stage, production, and post-production activities. HPS will have a dedicated open base camp area, and a parking structure that can accommodate 1,100 cars. In addition, the ground level of the garage features a 20′ high bay area to accommodate sixty trailers with power to support movie production activities. Finally, HPS will have mill facilities and will provide full equipment rental services.
“The Hollywood Park campus provides for additional phased development of up to 20 build-to-suit stages and an additional 200,000 square feet of related office space with additional structured parking. The first phase and future development will be connected to the campus-wide fiber ring and power centers, delivering the highest level of service to ensure technology scaling, including current and future AI applications.”
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● The Olympic Regional Development Authority in Lake Placid, New York has been informed that the bobsled, luge and skeleton track at Mt. Van Hoevenberg – used for the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games – will not be needed for the 2026 Winter Games.
Lake Placid was chosen as a back-up site in case the reconstruction of Eugenio Monti track in Cortina d’Ampezzo was not finished in time. But the construction work is on schedule and the track has already been scheduled by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation for pre-season training from 7-16 November 2024 and for the opening World Cup of the season from 17-23 November.
ORDA Communications Director Darcy Rowe Norfolk said the decision was passed on from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, following the Olympic protocol channels. She added:
“To even get to a position where we were designated as plan B was an incredible honor. It really kind of showcases our region in terms of being entrusted within the Olympic movement to be able to fulfill such a high level of sport at an Olympic level.“
● Athletics ● The British Brand Finance valuation consultancy released its list of the “strongest” marathon brands, with the top 10 in their “Brand Strength Index” (score out of 100):
● 90.1: London Marathon*
● 89.7: New York City Marathon*
● 86.6: Paris Marathon
● 82.9: Berlin Marathon*
● 80.8: Boston Marathon*
● 80.0: Tokyo Marathon*
● 79.7: Rome Marathon
● 78.8: San Francisco Marathon
● 78.6: Sydney Marathon*
● 73.1: Los Angeles Marathon
Interestingly, the World Marathon Majors (shown by *) do not make up the top six, and the highly-regarded Chicago Marathon ranked only 27th at 67.3.
The study also projected that the top 50 marathons have a combined brand value of $5.2 billion, with the New York City Marathon the most valuable at $292 million.
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The Athletics Integrity Unit announced a 22-month ban for “whereabouts failures” for Ukrainian shot putter Roman Kokoshko from 20 December 2024; his results from 29 October 2024 have been nullified. Kokoshko was the 2023 European Indoor bronze winner with a best of 21.84 m (71-8) indoors from 2023.
Also banned was Paris Olympic 100 m sprinter Dominique Lasconi Mulamba (COD) for four years for the steroid stanozolol from a test the day after his 100 m heat at the Olympic Games.
● Cycling ● The long, flat finish of stage four of the 108th Giro d’Italia guaranteed a mass sprint to the finish, with Tuesday’s race ending in a Dutch sweep, with Casper van Uden crossing first in 4:02:21 over 189 km, followed by Olav Kooij and Maikel Zijlaard, who rode for three different teams!
The first 103 riders received the same time, and Dane Mads Pedersen retained the “maglia rosa” with a seven-second edge on Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic, the 2023 winner. American Brandon McNulty stands fourth, 21 seconds behind.
● Handball ● The International Handball Federation was the first International Federation to pass on the International Olympic Committee’s offer of a loan during the Covid-19 pandemic that meant no Olympic television rights money was coming at the end of 2020.
It hasn’t posted financial statements for 2022, 2023 or 2024, but as of the end of 2021, it had CHF 201.99 million in assets and CHF 125.78 million in reserves (CHF 1 = $1.19 U.S.). It had CHF 31.90 million in income and had a surplus of CHF 6.27 million.
So, it can easily afford its new headquarters, a six-story 52,390 sq. ft. building in Basel (SUI) – which it is currently situated – which will be ready in October and incorporate the IHF Museum as well as the federation’s workforce.
● Ice Hockey ● Canada joined Sweden at the top of Group A at the IIHF men’s World Championship, being played in Denmark and Sweden.
Both are 3-0, with the Swedes skating past Slovakia (5-0), Austria (4-2) and Finland (2-1) so far, and the Canadians shutting down Slovenia (4-0), Latvia (7-1) and France (5-0). Group matches will continue through the 20th.
The U.S. (2-1) is in Group B and will be back in action on Wednesday against 0-3 Norway.
● Skiing ● U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced an eight-year extension of its agreement with Stifel Financial to “be the title partner of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team, supporting the alpine, cross country, freeski, moguls, aerials, ski jumping, nordic combined and Para alpine teams, as well as the exclusive financial services partner of U.S. Ski & Snowboard.”
It is characterized as the largest partnership agreement in USS history, but no terms were disclosed; it will continue through the 2034 season that will include the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. The announcement noted:
“The Stifel brand will remain prominently displayed on team uniforms and event signage at US events, along with a continuation of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team branding across digital and broadcast platforms. Stifel will also support a new performance bonus program for athletes and coaches based on key results during the season.”
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