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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● Applications to run in the 2026 Winter Games Torch Relay were opened on Thursday, with 10,001 Olympic and 501 Paralympic torch carriers expected in all.
Applicants must have been born prior to 5 December 2011 and can apply via a dedicated Web site. As for the relay:
“The 10,001 torchbearers of Milano Cortina will embark on a journey lasting 63 days and covering 12,000 kilometers, uniting all Italian regions and passing through all 110 provinces of the country. The journey will begin on 26 November, 2025, in Olympia, with the lighting of the sacred flame, which will then arrive in Italy, in Rome, on 4 December.
“From there, the relay will officially start on 6 December. The torch will pass through Naples on Christmas Day and celebrate the New Year in Bari. On 26 January, it will return to Cortina d’Ampezzo, exactly 70 years after the Opening Ceremony of the 1956 Games, and will conclude its journey in Milan, entering San Siro Stadium on the evening of Friday, 6 February, 2026.”
● Olympic Winter Games 2030: French Alps ● FrancsJeux.com reported that the formal inauguration of the organizing committee for the 2030 Winter Games will take place next Tuesday (18th) in Lyon.
Agence France Presse reported that 1992 Moguls gold medalist Edgar Grospiron, 55, will be proposed as President and is expected to be confirmed next week.
● Doping ● The doping-encouraged Enhanced Games got a financial ally in 1789 Capital was reported to be leading a fund-raising program, with Donald Trump Jr. as one of the partners of the firm.
The event was announced in 2023, but has not set a date, place or program so far; it was originally projected to include events in track and field, swimming, weightlifting, gymnastics, and combat sports.
● Football ● No alcoholic beverages will be served at the 2034 FIFA World Cup in Saudi Arabia, according to the Saudi ambassador to Great Britain. Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud told LBC radio:
“At the moment, we don’t allow alcohol. Plenty of fun can be had without alcohol – it’s not 100 per cent necessary and if you want to drink after you leave, you’re welcome to, but at the moment we don’t have alcohol.
“Rather like our weather, it’s a dry country. Everyone has their own culture. We’re happy to accommodate people within the boundaries of our culture but we don’t want to change our culture for someone else.”
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar was supposed to have limited availability of beer in stadiums, but a complete ban was confirmed a couple of days prior to the start of matches.
● Ice Hockey ● The National Hockey League and NHL Players’ Association announced the return of the World Cup of Hockey – last held in 2016 – in February 2028.
This fourth World Cup of Hockey is planned for eight national teams and will be held in NHL arenas, with NHL officials. The question of Russian participation was noted in the announcement:
“Whether players from Russia will be permitted to participate in the 2028 World Cup is to be determined. Russia and Belarus remain suspended from international competition by the International Ice Hockey Federation through the end of the 2025-26 season because of the continuing war between Russia and Ukraine.”
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman explained:
“The international federation [IIHF] just voted to keep Russia out of many competitions, as have many other sports, and we’re going to have to see what the International Olympic Committee does. But we have enough time to deal with the realities with what the world situation looks like before then.”
Marty Walsh, the head of the NHLPA, said, “I’d love to see our Russian players playing in these tournaments again. They’re incredible hockey players. The issues are political. Not political as far as the NHLPA; it’s world politics we have to get through. I’m hoping that as we get closer to the Olympics, closer to the World Cup, we will start seeing Russian athletes back in the competition.”
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The 4 Nations Face-Off opened Tuesday evening in Montreal (CAN) before 21,105 at the Bell Centre, with the host Canadian team pulling out a 4-3 win over Sweden in overtime. Mitch Marner scored the game-winner for Canada as Sidney Crosby got three assists for Canada.
The round-robin portion of the tournament continues through Monday, with the final on the 20th.
● Swimming ● World Aquatics named its Open Water Athletes of the Year for 2024, with Olympic stars Kristof Rasovszky (HUN) and Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED) taking the honors for men and women.
Rasovszky won the men’s 10 km silver in Tokyo, but claimed gold in Paris, also won the 2024 Worlds open-water 10 km gold in Doha in February. Van Rouwendaal won the women’s 10 km open-water event by more than five seconds in Paris, her second Olympic gold after also winning in Rio in 2016.
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