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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 1984: Los Angeles ● Donn Moomaw, an All-American football player at UCLA and later high-profile pastor in Los Angeles and the Commissioner for Weightlifting at the 1984 Olympic Games, has passed away.
Moomaw, 93, was a two-time All-American for coach Red Sanders at UCLA in 1950 and 1952 as a center and linebacker and played two years of pro football in Canada. He returned to the U.S. to create a career in the ministry and was senior pastor at Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles from 1964-1993.
He served as the Commissioner of Weightlifting for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, responsible primarily for the staging of the highly-successful competitions at Gersten Pavilion at Loyola Marymount University.
Moomaw and his late wife Carol had five children and 10 grandchildren. No immediate word on services or a celebration of life have been announced.
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● Good response to the opening of ticket sales, with the Milan Cortina organizers reporting more than 300,000 tickets sold in the first six days. The average order was for seven tickets.
A new window for sales will come from 25-27 February, open to all buyers who register with the sales Web site.
● Transgender ● “The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) today sent a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) urging them to restore to female athletes the records, titles, awards, and recognitions misappropriated by biological males competing in female categories.”
Tuesday’s announcement followed up on the 6 February 2025 notice of investigations into “suspected Title IX violations” by the University of Pennsylvania (women’s swimming), San Jose State (women’s volleyball) and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Specific mention was made of Penn swimmer Lia Thomas, who competed on the men’s team as Will Thomas for two years, then transitioned to female under NCAA rules and won the NCAA women’s 500-yard title in 2022:
“One of Thomas’ former teammates, Paula Scanlan testified before Congress that she and her teammates were “offered psychological services to attempt to re-educate us to become comfortable with the idea of undressing in front of a male.”
Education Department Deputy General Counsel Candice Jackson added, “The next necessary step is to restore athletic records to women who have for years been devalued, ignored, and forced to watch men steal their accolades. The Trump Education Department will do everything in our power to right this wrong and champion the hard-earned accomplishments of past, current, and future female collegiate athletes.”
● Alpine Skiing ● American speed-skiing star Lindsey Vonn did not have the run she wanted in the women’s Team Combined on Tuesday, placing 21st in the Downhill, and finishing 16th overall after AJ Hurt’s Slalom. Said Vonn afterwards, noting her comeback goal is to make it to the 2026 Winter Games in Italy:
“It was not a fast run. I honestly, I can’t tell you what is going wrong. I was in my tuck pretty much the whole way down and just not accelerating anywhere at any point in time.
“I have a year to figure it out, and I think I will, but right now, it’s hard to really change, you know, your entire setup while you’re racing the World Championship.
“I know I expect to do better, and everyone else expects me to do better, but at the same time I do, need a little bit of grace and patience and kindness to just, you know, give me some time to figure it all out.”
● Athletics ● “The AIU has provisionally suspended Geoffrey Yegon (Kenya) for Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance (Triamcinolone acetonide).”
Yegon, 36, is a 59:44 half-marathoner, from 2016. He won the Singapore Marathon in his only registered event in 2024, in 2:16:06.
● Football ● “I am absolutely sure that she gave me her permission. In that moment it was something completely spontaneous.”
That was testimony from former Royal Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales on Tuesday in Madrid, who is charged with sexual assault, and faces possible prison time and a fine. Three other colleagues from the Spanish federation are also on trial for lesser charges.
Rubiales infamously kissed Spanish midfield star Jenni Hermoso during the awards ceremony following Spain’s win at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final in Australia. Hermoso testified during the first day of the trial that she did not consent to the kiss, now contradicted by Rubiales. He told the judge:
“I’ve known her for many years and I kissed her because she was a champion. This was a tremendous moment for her. We were champions, we were thanking each other. She pressed me very hard by the waist and then I asked her whether I could give her a kiss and she said yes.
“I took hold of her so as not to fall back.”
The trial is expected to continue until the 19th of February.
● Ice Hockey ● It’s not the World Cup of Hockey, last held in 2016. But after nine years, the 4 Nations Face-Off will showcase the best players from the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland in national-team play in place of the usual NHL All-Star break. With the NHL agreeing to allow its players to participate in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Italy, the tournament is very much a preview.
It’s a round-robin tournament with a final between the teams with the most points:
● 12 Feb.: Canada vs. Sweden in Montreal
● 13 Feb.: U.S. vs. Finland in Montreal
● 15 Feb.: Sweden vs. Finland and U.S. vs. Canada, in Montreal
● 17 Feb.: Canada vs. Finland and U.S. vs. Sweden, in Boston
● 20 Feb.: Final, in Boston
The matches will be shown in the U.S. on TNT/Tru TV for the 12 and 17 Feb. matches, on ESPN for the games on the 13th and 20th and ABC for the 15 February games.
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