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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2024: Paris ● A new, four-minute video of Celine Dion’s performance of “Hymme a l’amour’ during the Paris 2024 opening ceremony from the Eiffel Tower balcony, has been released here.
It was her first public performance in four years, and almost two years since announcing a diagnosis of Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS).
● Olympic Winter Games 2022: Beijing ● Yet another appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal was made on behalf of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva concerning her disqualification for doping confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (and the subsequent loss of Russia’s figure skating Team gold at the 2022 Winter Games).
Her prior appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal was dismissed in October; she is serving a four-year ban through 24 December 2025 for a doping positive from a 25 December 2021 test.
● Olympic Winter Games 2030: French Alps ● The FrancsJeux.com site reported that the formation of the 2030 organizing committee has become more complex than expected and former Prime Minister Michel Barnier (FRA) – who was the co-head of the Albertville 1992 organizing committee – has been called in to help as an IOC advisor. The new organization was supposed to be opened by 24 December; it is now considered possible that Barnier will head the organizing committee (again).
Further, after the 2030 Games budget had been set at €1.975 billion (€1 = $1.04 U.S.), FranceInfo reported on a summer review from the French IGF – General Inspectorate of Finances – that found:
“The forecast result of the [organizing committee] immediately presents an imbalance, which the mission estimates at between 850 and 900 million euros, to be covered by public authorities.” This is double the amount expected to be supported under the bid budget.
● Olympic Winter Games 2034: Salt Lake City ● As with French Alps 2030, the Salt Lake City organizing committee will not be opened by 24 December, but is expected to be inaugurated in January. The final meeting of the bid group, the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, took place on Wednesday.
● International Olympic Committee ● “We are not fully utilising the potential of the IOC… the question is, how can we unlock that potential?”
That’s Jordan’s Prince Feisal Al Hussein, 61, speaking to Reuters this week about his candidacy to be the IOC President.
“A key part of this involves inclusivity – bringing them into the fold, ensuring their voices are heard, and making them feel they are an integral part of the process. It’s important that they don’t feel decisions are being dictated from the top down, but rather that their perspectives matter, and they can actively contribute.”
This is a theme already raised by other candidates such as Sebastian Coe (GBR) and Morinari Watanabe (JPN). Feisal also noted that the continuing questions of climate suitability for both the Olympic Games and the Winter Games must be considered in placing the events in the future, potentially away from the mid-summer timeframe preferred by American and European broadcasters, the IOC’s largest funders.
As for his own appeal to the members, he explained, “I believe that I’ve always had credibility because I speak very frankly. I don’t try and say things that I think people want to hear. I say what I really believe because I think you must be frank and honest if you want to build a relationship.”
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Ukrainian Sports Minister Matviy Bidnyi told Agence France Presse that the seven candidates for the IOC Presidency must continue to maintain pressure against Russian sports participation in view of the continuing war against Ukraine:
“Our position is clear: sports cannot be a propaganda tool for an aggressor state. There can be no return under the national flag of a country that continues to wage the largest war in Europe since World War II.
“If IOC presidential candidates want to be global sports leaders, they must embody the principles of justice.”
And he offered to show each of the candidates what the Russian invasion has meant:
“We would invite them to visit Ukraine, see destroyed sports facilities, and talk to the families of deceased coaches and athletes. Perhaps then they would understand that allowing Russia to return under its national flag is not just a dubious step but a concession to Russian hybrid influence.”
● World Anti-Doping Agency ● A new study published in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis showed that there was a significant drop in positive tests for erythropoietin (EPO) and other EPO-receptor agonists (ERAs) after an athlete receives a first-ever doping test.
A review of 1.68 million doping tests carried out over an 8-year period, from 2016-23, showed 390,167 tests for EPO and related agonists, with 522 adverse findings or 0.13%. Moreover:
“It was observed that 43.1% of all ERA AAFs occurred on the first sample ever collected for an athlete, decreasing to 14.1% on the second test, and continuing to decrease for each successive sample collection.”
The authors further explained:
“Because [out-of-competition] testing is based on a whereabouts system, whereby athletes provide their location for testing purposes, athletes are also explicitly aware that they could be subjected to [out-of-competition] testing.
“In order to test positive during a competition, an athlete must either have mis-managed their doping regime, felt that the risk of being tested was very low, or be uneducated about anti-doping in general and the potential consequences of testing positive.
“Comparing the number of [in-competition] AAFs occurring on the first test ever for an athlete to those occurring on the second test already shows a significant decrease, and by the third test the rate of [in-competition] positivity decreases by almost half.”
Observed: The lesson here is, athletes need to start getting tested early.
● Great Britain ● UK Sport announced Monday:
“Today we can reveal our greatest investment to date with £330m in Government and National Lottery funding set to benefit more than 50 sports as they embark on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games cycle.” (£1 = $1.26 U.S.)
Grants were made to five groups of sports: Olympic world-class (18), Paralympic world-class (18), Olympic development (9), Paralympic Development (1) and LA2028 new sports (5). The biggest recipients were:
● £30.125 million: Cycling
● £28.750 million: Aquatics
● £24.850 million: Rowing
● £23.950 million: Sailing
● £20.450 million: Athletics
Of the headlining Olympic sports, 16 of 18 received increases from the 2021-24 quad, but Athletics and Canoeing got less.
● Athletics ● Now, this is an athlete promoting herself directly! Olympic women’s 800 m champ Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) announced a new meet, telling Athletics Weekly:
“I’m beyond excited to announce the Keely Klassic, my first track race since becoming Olympic champion. This event is all about bringing energy, passion, and top-tier athletics to the fans. It will be an unforgettable experience for everyone involved, with some of the UK’s best athletes competing, and a special focus on the 800 m.
“I’m also thrilled to attempt to break the world [indoor] record – this is an opportunity for me to take my career to the next level while giving back to the sport that has given me so much.”
There’s more: the record is 1:55.82, which was set on 3 March 2002 by Jolanda Ceplak (SLO), which was also the day that Hodgkinson was born! The meet will be on 15 February 2025 in Birmingham.
● Biathlon ● Speaking with the French-language Ski Chrono site, International Biathlon Union President Olle Dahlin (SWE) was asked about readmitting Russian athletes as “neutrals,” as have several other federations:
“As things stand, no. … We have made clear decisions. If the war stops, the executive committee could lift the sanctions, or we could address this issue at a future IBU congress.”
● Football ● FIFA announced The Best FIFA Football Awards for 2024, with Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior named the top men’s player and Spain’s midfielder Altana Bonmati was named the top women’s player for the second straight year.
U.S. women’s keeper Alyssa Naeher was honored as the top women’s keeper, and Argentina’s Emiliano Martinez was voted the best men’s keeper.
U.S. women’s coach Emma Hayes (GBR) won for the top women’s coach, and Carlo Ancelotti (ITA), coach of Real Madrid in La Liga, took the men’s honor.
Among the many other awards, the U.S. women placed three on the Best XI, including Naeher in goal, defender Naomi Girma and midfielder Lindsey Horan.
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Star U.S. defender Becky Sauerbrunn, 39, announced her retirement after 219 appearances with the national team and contributing to two FIFA Women’s World Cup wins and one Olympic gold.
She first played with the U.S. team in 2008, but became a fixture by 2011 and was a member of the 2012-16-20 U.S. Olympic teams and the 2011-15-19 Women’s World Cups. Across her 16-year span with the national team, she did not score a goal.
After her All-American college career at Virginia, she played for eight different U.S. clubs, both in the defunct WPS and the NWSL.
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