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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Paralympic Games 2024: Paris ● The first medals of the XVII Paralympics were won on Thursday, with Caroline Groot (NED) taking the first gold, in the women’s Track Cycling C4-5 500 m Time Trial, at the Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
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Questions about the Seine River and swimming returned on Thursday, as the International Triathlon Union re-scheduled all events for Sunday, 1 September, rather than for Sunday and Monday:
“This decision has been taken to provide athletes and coaches with as much certainty as possible. The latest weather forecast provided by Météo France indicates high level of uncertainty for the upcoming days, which could have an impact on the conditions of the Seine.”
Training swims took place on Thursday and are scheduled for Friday and Saturday. There are contingency days for the triathlons on 2-3 September.
● Artistic Swimming ● The U.S. won a stunning Olympic silver in the Team Event in Paris, but the architect of that achievement is heading home.
Andrea Fuentes (ESP), 41, the coach of the U.S. squad, has been hired as the Spanish national team coach, returning home, where she won four Olympic medals (0-3-1) in 2008 and 2012, in both Duet and Team. She said in a post on the USA Artistic Swimming site:
“With a Heavy Heart, I Say Goodbye It is with a heavy heart that I announce the conclusion of my mission in the United States. When we first arrived, I knew our time here wasn’t permanent, but I didn’t realize just how deeply this journey would impact me. The experiences, challenges, and growth I’ve encountered in the US have shaped me in ways I could never have imagined.
“I came here with a vision to become the coach I always dreamed of being. The US, a country that changed my life as a child and inspired me to become an Olympian in Artistic Swimming, was the perfect place to pursue this dream. From the very beginning, this country believed in me, even when I was just starting out as a coach.
“The road wasn’t easy – adapting to a new culture and environment brought many challenges – but each obstacle made me stronger, more resilient, and more determined. I leave with immense gratitude for all the experiences and the incredible people who have been part of this journey.
“USA Artistic Swimming not only helped me build the coach I wanted to be but also shaped me into the person I am today. The growth I’ve experienced here is something I will carry with me forever. As much as I’ve cherished this chapter, the time has come for me to return to Spain, primarily to take care of my family.”
USA Artistic Swimming named Tammy McGregor as its new national-team coach, returning to a position she held in 2008. McGregor, 48, was an Olympic gold winner in the Team Event for the U.S. at Atlanta 1996. McGregor was currently serving as the coach of the national junior squad.
● Canoe-Kayak ● An interesting development in the sustainability area is the development of rental boats for International Canoe Federation championship events. At the ICF World Sprint Champs in Samarkand (UZB), 300 athletes attended and the organizers spent €120,000 (about $133,000 U.S.) to make boats available on-site.
The 240 vessels were sourced from boat manufacturers Nelo and Plastex through an effort with Sports Camps, created by former Bulgarian canoeist Adnan Aliev.
Said ICF President Thomas Konietzko (GER):
“Using rental boats is more sustainable than each National Federation organising transport by themselves and helps us to achieve our goals in reducing carbon footprint at events.
“Rental boats remove any barriers around transportation, ensuring that the biggest to smallest teams have accessibility to the best equipment to compete in a world-class event.”
Aliev explained that saving boat transport costs can make a significant change in the sport:
“I think rental boats are a great opportunity to grow this sport and make it popular in different parts of the world. We want to make big maps and different hubs for competition and training camps than traditional European locations.
“Rental boats are great opportunities to save costs and time and make it easier to organise together. It’s great for federation from out of Europe to experience rentals. We need time for European countries to understand, trust and change their habits.”
● Cycling ● No change in the overall leaderboard at the 79th Vuelta a Espana on Thursday, with Australia’s Ben O’Connor maintaining his 3:16 lead over Slovenia’s three-time winner Primoz Roglic and 3:58 on Spain’s Enric Mas.
The 137.5 km 12th stage featured a hilly ride and then an uphill finish to the Estacion de Montana de Manzaneda, with Spain’s Pablo Castrillo attacking with 10 km to go and winning by eight seconds over Max Poole (GBR) and 16 seconds over Marc Soler (ESP) in 3:36:12.
O’Connor, Roglic and Mas were in a large pack that finished 6:29 back.
Friday could be more interesting, with another, more severe, uphill finish to the Puerto de Ancares in northwest Spain.
● Flag Football ● The U.S. men will try for a fifth consecutive Worlds gold at the IFAF World Championships in Lahti, Finland, after making it to the final against Austria, with the championship match to be played Friday.
The American men sailed by the Czech Republic in its round-of-16 elimination match, 68-18, then defeated Italy, 46-21. In the semis, the U.S. won by 45-6 against Switzerland to land in their fifth consecutive final.
Austria, which has won this tournament in 2002, 2004 and 2012, and lost only by 19-13 against the U.S. in 2018, just got by Australia, 28-26, in the round-of-16, then edged Denmark, 29-24 and out-scored Mexico – the 2021 runners-up, 36-32.
The U.S. women stormed their way to the final, and a re-match with Mexico, after winning three games on Thursday. First, the U.S. routed host Finland, 61-0, before a tight, 18-14 win over Spain in the quarterfinals. In the semis, the U.S. eased by previously-unbeaten Austria. 41-24.
Mexico cruised past Israel, 42-6, in its round-of-16 game, then beat Canada, 35-20 and Japan by 40-31 to make its second straight Worlds final. While the U.S. beat Mexico, 31-21, in 2021, Mexico won the 2022 World Games final, 39-6!
● Wrestling ● USA Wrestling’s Board of Directors approved a 2024-25 financial plan, projecting $20,649,326 in revenue and $20,595,443 in expenses, for a modest surplus of $53,883. This continues an upward trend that has shown 47% revenue growth of the pre-pandemic results from 2019:
● 2023: $19.927 million
● 2022: $17.442 million
● 2021: $14.601 million
● 2020: $12.352 million
● 2019: $14.011 million
Said USAW Treasurer Don Reynolds:
“Our operations across the board are why we have had the financial results that we have. Every single department, the grassroots and every part of the organization is clicking. The budget is balanced and will accommodate our current growth and lead us into the next Olympic quad. The growth curve is going to keep going north, and there are going to be opportunities for us to leverage LA28.”
The federation announced in March that it had surpassed 300,000 total members (300,236 at the time), an all-time high for the organization, founded in 1968.
USA Wrestling athletes won seven medals in Paris, including three in men’s Freestyle (0-1-2) and four in women’s Freestyle (2-1-1).
President Bruce Baumgartner, a two-time Olympic Freestyle champion in 1984 and 1992, was re-elected for another term from 2025-28.
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