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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering (BOE) is beginning the effort to create a construction “moratorium” within the City during the time of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In a report filed on 30 April, City Engineer Ted Allen asks for City Council approval so that:
● “BOE will work with partner agencies to define 2028 Games impact zones where restrictions are necessary and appropriate, including a perimeter around each event venue, as well as the Games Route Network and other critical venue access routes. BOE may also include other areas with high visitation or visibility, such as major tourist destinations, hospitality locations, Cultural Olympiad sites, or remote fan zone locations.”
● The report “initiates an ordinance to regulate additional private property construction activity that may impair the Games operations and visitor experience. It also authorizes the Bureau of Street Services to implement a special events moratorium during the same period. The report further directs all City permitting and construction agencies to implement restrictions consistent with the moratorium.”
● The moratorium will include “a perimeter around each event venue, as well as the Games Route Network and other critical venue access routes. BOE may also include other areas with high visitation or visibility, such as major tourist destinations, hospitality locations, Cultural Olympiad sites, or remote fan zone locations” and will be in effect no later than 13 June 2028 “when the event venues become operational.”
The report was referred for review to the Council’s Ad Hoc Committee on the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the Public Works Committee. The proposal is similar to measures usually taken for the year-end holiday period.
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Culver City announced a memorandum of understanding with the New Zealand Olympic Committee to host the New Zealand “Fan Zone” in 2028 with the historic Culver Hotel to serve as the “New Zealand House” for the Games period.
The hotel will be used for hospitality as well as for some athlete and staff housing in 2028. The Culver Steps corridor behind the hotel will be renamed “New Zealand Boulevard” during the Games period and host the fan zone, complete with giant television screens to view the Games.
A more detailed, formal agreement is still needed and police and fire support and other expenses are estimated at $527,763; the New Zealand Olympic Committee is expected to spend more than $1 million on the program.
The next step is for the City Council’s Ad Hoc 2025 and 2026 World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics Preparation Subcommittee to review the proposed agreement.
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A bill to allow better law enforcement coordination for the 2028 Olympic period in Oklahoma City passed the Oklahoma House by 81-0 and the Oklahoma Senate by 43-3 and is expected to be signed by Governor Kevin Stitt.
S.B. 523 “authorizes sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, and reserve deputy sheriffs, when
assigned to perform duties in counties outside of their jurisdiction, to have the same powers and duties as they do in their original jurisdiction. Liability for the conduct of any sheriff, deputy sheriff, and reserve sheriff remains with the county of original jurisdiction.”
Senate bill author Darrell Weaver explained:
“As Oklahoma prepares to host Olympic events in 2028, this legislation will ensure we can effectively utilize interagency partnerships to uphold public safety during these large-scale gatherings. I look forward to seeing this bill signed into law, giving Oklahoma law enforcement agencies the necessary tools to provide seamless, unified coverage for the Olympic events and beyond.”
Oklahoma City will host canoe slalom events and softball in 2028.
● Anti-Doping ● Fascinating cooperative agreement announced between the International Testing Agency and the Swiss sportswear brand On, with the ITA declaring, “This collaboration marks the first-ever partnership between the ITA and a commercial sportswear brand, underscoring On’s commitment to the protection, health, and integrity of its athletes.”
Moreover:
“[T]he ITA will oversee anti-doping efforts for On’s triathlon athletes, leveraging its existing collaboration with World Triathlon to provide a seamless extension of its programs in the sport and within the framework of the World Triathlon Anti-Doping Rules, as well as the World Anti-Doping Code and all relevant International Standards. For On athletes competing in other disciplines, additional anti-doping measures will be implemented in close cooperation with the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).”
The goal: “ensuring that On’s roster benefits from the most professional and independent anti-doping measures available today.”
● Gymnastics ● Fred Richard, the 2023 Worlds All-Around bronze medalist and a member of the U.S. Olympic men’s Team bronze medalists from Paris, was all-out on Friday to raise money for gymnastics equipment and facilities for African youth.
Richard was in a contest to set a Guinness World Record for the most backflips in a 24-hour period, at Premier Gymnastics in Stoughton, Massachusetts, starting at 8:30 a.m. The record was 1,001 in 24 hours by Austrian Nico Scheicher, but Richard shattered the mark in about 15 hours, finishing past midnight with 1,111!
By Sunday, he had raised almost $42,000 in donations, with more coming in. Richard just finished his junior year at Michigan, but is originally from Boston.
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The Russian news agency TASS reported that the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique has granted “neutral status” to 43 Russian gymnasts and 30 Belarusians.
The Russian approvals include 14 artistic, 17 rhythmic and 13 trampoline athletes; another 44 coaches, trainers and staff were also approved by the FIG.
● Rugby ● World Rugby announced a new format for the HSBC SVNS Series beginning next season, with three divisions: Division I with eight teams each for men and women (six tournaments), Division II with six teams each for men and women (three tournaments) and Division III with eight men’s and women’s teams as a “challenger” division (one tournament).
The SVNS title tournament would be contested with 12 men’s and women’s teams, with the eight from Division I and the top four from Division II. The total calendar for the sport will expand to 13 tournaments, allowing for more exposure.
≡ RESULTS ≡
● Artistic Swimming ● Spain collected five wins to highlight the World Aquatics World Cup III in Markham (CAN), with China also strong with three golds.
China’s 2024 Worlds women’s Solo Tech bronze medalist Huiyan Xu won both the women’s Solo Technical (252.311) and Solo Free (218.8438), with Spain’s Paris Olympic Team bronzer Iris Tio Casas second in the Solo Tech at 246.4850. In the Solo Free, a noteworthy third was Aruba’s Kyra Hoevertsz (192.9276), the daughter of IOC member Nicole Hoevertsz.
In the Duet Technical, sisters Anna-Maria and Eirini-Marina Alexandri (AUT) won at 290.3009, followed by Spain’s Txell Ferre Gaset and Lilou Lluis Valette (284.2959). Lluis Vallete and Tio Casas teamed up to win the Duet Free at 257.9868, beating China’s Yanhan Lin and Yanjun Lin (253.0640).
In the Mixed Duet Technical, Spain scored with Worlds silver medalists Dennis Gonzalez and Mireia Hernandez (212.3391), ahead of China’s Sitong Guo and Haoyue Shi (209.6841), and Gonzalez and Tio Casas took the Mixed Duet Free at 294.6284, with Muye Guo and Jinhan Lin (CHN) second at 276.9909.
Ranjuo Tomblin (GBR) won the Men’s Technical (218.1667) over Diego Villalobos (MEX: 214. 8667), but China’s Guo took the Men’s Free title at 192.7988, with Villalobos second at 190.9475.
Italy won the Team Acro over Spain (199.4300 to 181.6612), but the Spanish took the Team Technical event at 279.4640, with the U.S. in third at 266.6599, and Spain scored 312.9363 to win the Team Free, with the U.S. again third (291.1363).
● Athletics ● Olin Hacker and Josette Andrews scored their first career national titles at the USATF 5 km National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana on Saturday.
Hacker, 27, the 2022 NCAA 5,000 m champ for Wisconsin, had to push late to get away from Casey Clinger and 2024 winner Ahmed Muhumed to win in 13:31.93 (to 13:33.04 and 13:36.08).
Andrews, the world outdoor lead at 1,500 m in 4:01.76 from the Penn Relays, ran away from Bailey Hertenstein and a comebacking Courtney Frerichs to win the women’s title in 15:05.55, to 15:15.52 and 15:17.28. Defending champ Annie Rodenfels was seventh (15:32.24).
The wins would have qualified the top two for the World Athletics Road Running Championships, but the event was removed from San Diego for financial reasons and then canceled altogether.
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The U.S. high school record was lowered to 9.92 on Saturday, as San Antonio Harlan junior Tate Taylor (17) won the boys’ Texas UIL Class 6A State Championships in Austin, with legal 1.1 m/s wind, pulling ahead of favored Brayden Williams (Duncanville HS: 10.01) with 40 m to go.
The old best was 9.93 for Christian Miller of St. Johns Creekside (Florida) in April 2024. Taylor had run 10.23 in 2024 as a sophomore and a windy 10.08 in April, coming on strongly this season. Now, at age 17, he’s no. 2 on the world list for 2025. Williams moved to equal-fourth all-time at 10.01 with Jeff Demps from 2008.
Taylor wasn’t done, either, winning the 200 m in 20.14, moving to equal-third on the all-time high school list with Tyreek Hill (2012) and Michael Norman (2014), and the fastest ever by a junior. And no. 3 on the U.S. list for 2025!
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At the World Race Walk Tour Gold in Warsaw (POL), Japan’s two-time World 20 km Champion and world-record holder Toshikazu Yamanishi scored a clear win over Brazil’s Olympic silver winner Caio Bonfim, 1:20:50 to 1:21:34, with Kazuki Takahashi (JPN: 1:22:55) in third.
The women’s race was a duel between Paula Torres (ECU), ninth in Paris, and Peru’s two-time World Champion Kimberly Garcia, racing each other for the third time in 2025. As in Dudince (35 km in March) and Rio Maior (20 km in April), it was Torres who got to the line first, in 1:28:29 to 1:28:30 for Garcia. They’re now 13th and equal-14th on the world list for 2025. Viviane Lyra (BRA) was third in 1:28:54.
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The Athletics Integrity Unit banned Ugandan women’s distance Olympian Belinda Chemutai for three years and 11 months from 11 April 2025 for the use of the steroid testosterone. Her results are nullified from 1 October 2023, which includes her appearance at the Paris Olympic Games in the heats of the 5,000 m.
● Badminton ● In the last 17 editions of the BWF Sudirman Cup Finals, only two countries have won the trophy: China with 13 wins and South Korea with four. And they faced off in the final once again, for the seventh time, this year in Xiamen (CHN).
China had won four of the prior six finals between the two, and they qualified to meet again, as China swept aside Malaysia (3-0) and Japan (3-0) in their playoff matches, and the Koreans sailed past Denmark, 3-1, and edged Indonesia, 3-2.
In the final, China won by 3-1, for its 14th title. Yu Qi Shi taking the men’s Singles, Yan Zhe Feng and Dong Ping Huang took the men’s Doubles, and Sheng Shu Liu and Ning Tan won the women’s Doubles. Korea’s win came from Se Young An in the women’s Singles.
● Curling ● At the World Curling Mixed Doubles Championship in Fredricton, Canada, Italy and Scotland, which finished 1-2 in Group A, met for the title on Sunday, the first time Italy played for a medal in this event, but the third final in the last five for the Scots.
Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner slid past Estonia, 7-6 in its semifinal while Scots Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds – the 2021 World Champions – had to defeat Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin of the U.S. by 7-5 in a play-in match and then got past Australia, 9-6 in their semi. The U.S. ended up fifth overall and qualified for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The final saw Italy go up 2-1 after three ends, then score two in the fourth and one in the fifth for a 5-1 lead. Dodds and Mouat struck back with three in the sixth to close to 5-4, but Constantini and Mosaner completed an undefeated, 11-0 title run with four in the seventh for a 9-4 victory.
In their 11 wins, Constantini and Mosaner outscored their opponents by 89-45! Australia took the bronze medal match by 9-6 over Estonia.
● Cycling ● The six-stage Tour de Romandie in Switzerland finished Sunday, with a 17.1 km Individual Time Trial to decide the race winner.
The Prologue and the first four stages all had different winners, and France’s Lenny Martinez won the uphill-finishing Stage 4 over Portugal’s Joao Almeida in 3:43:46 to upset the standings and take the lead by two seconds overall, ahead of stage two winner Lorenzo Fortunato (ITA) and three seconds up on Almeida. Australia’s Jay Vine was 32 seconds back.
On Sunday, two-time World Time Trial champ Remco Evenepoel (BEL) won in 20:33.22, with Almeida second (+0:12) and Martinez 13th (+0:41). That gave Almeida the race crown at 16:50:44, ahead of Martinez (+0:26) and Australian Jay Vine (+0:41). It’s Almeida’s second important win of the year; he took the Itzulia Basque Country six-stager in April.
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The 62nd Eschborn-Frankfurt race last Thursday (1st) saw Australian star Michael Matthews score his 30th career UCI World Tour win, executing a patented finishing sprint to complete the 198.7 km course in 4:38:33, ahead of Magnus Cort (SUI), Jon Barrenetvea (ESP) and American Neilson Powless. The top 24 riders received the same time.
It was the first Australian win in this race since 1985! It also completed a medal sets for Mathews, who had been third in 2001 and second in 2018.
● Diving ● The World Aquatics World Cup Super Final was in Beijing (CHN), with the team events held in traditional style, but the individual events held in an experimental knock-out-style bracket to narrow from 12 entrants to four finalists.
In the team events, China’s Yukang Wu and Jiyuan Zheng won the men’s 3 m Synchro with 448.65 points, in a close decision over Britain’s Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher (434.88). The men’s 10 m Synchro was a clear win for China’s Zilong Cheng and Zifeng Zhu (460.92) over Russians Nikita Shleikher and Ruslan Ternovoi (426.69).
China’s Olympic champs Yani Chang and Yiwen Chen won the women’s 3 m Synchro at 323.13, beating Maddison Keeney and Alysha Koloi (AUS: 297.75), with Americans Anna Kwong and Sophie Verzyl in seventh (262.05). In the 10 m Synchro, Olympic champs Yuxi Chen and Hongchan Quan won at 350.88, well ahead of Russians Aleksandra Kendrina and Anna Konanykhina (302.94).
And China won the Mixed Team for a five-event sweep, 507.20 to 423.70 for Ukraine.
In the individual finals, Olympic silver man Zongyuan Wong won the men’s 3 m with 519.25 to 505.05 for teammate Jiuyuan Zheng; Sunday’s 10 m Platform results had Zifeng Zhu at 571.90, a clear winner over teammate Zilong Cheng (542.30).
The women’s 10 m title went to Paris silver winner Yuxi Chen (431.25) over teammate (and Olympic champ) Hongchan Quan (409.80); the 3 m Springboard final on Sunday had Jia Chen winning at 382.05 and Paris Olympic champ Yiwen Chen second (368.40).
Nine events, nine wins for China.
● Fencing ● American star Alexander Massialas, now 31, scored a big win at the FIE Foil World Cup in Vancouver (CAN), taking the men’s title with a 15-8 victory in the final over Davide Filippi (ITA). For Massialas, the 2016 Olympic silver winner, it was his ninth career World Cup gold and 19th medal.
The women’s Foil title went to no. 1-ranked Martina Favaretto (ITA), who defeated Olympic champ Lee Keifer of the U.S. by 15-11 in the final. It’s Favaretto’s fifth career World Cup gold, all in the last three years. For Keifer, it was her 24th (!) career World Cup medal.
Both of the team events came down to Italy vs. U.S. finals, with Italy taking the women’s title, 45-42, over the American trio of Kiefer, Lauren Scruggs and Jaelyn Liu. The men’s match came down to the final face-off, with Massialas winning his bout to give the U.S. – also Nick Itkin and Bryce Louie – a 43-41 win.
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At the Sabre Grand Prix in Seoul (KOR), Hungary’s Krisztian Rabb won his first major international gold with a 15-14 victory over France’s Jean-Philippe Patrice in the men’s final. The all-Korean women’s final had Ha-young Jeon winning over Jeong-mi Kim, 15-13. It was Jeon’s second career Grand Prix win and the first international medal for Kim.
● Ice Hockey ● Defending champion Canada reached the final of the IIHF men’s U-18 World Championship in Frisco, Texas for the seventh time, but faced a new opponent: Sweden.
While the Canadians whizzed by Slovakia, 4-0, in its Friday semifinal, the U.S. and Sweden were locked in a tight battle in the second semi. After a scoreless first period, both teams scored twice in the second and then the Swedes got goals from Viggo Bjorck (7.27) and Torkel Jennersjo (13:22) for a 4-3 lead and a late U.S. score only made the final closer at 4-3. The U.S. out-shot the Swedes by 41-23, but it didn’t help.
In the final, Canada swamped Sweden by 7-0, up 2-0 after the first period and 5-0 after the second. It’s the sixth win in this tournament for Canada; Sweden finished second for the seventh time.
The third-place game went to the U.S. in overtime by 4-3, with Slovakia up 2-1 after two periods, but the game tied at 3-3 after regulation time. Ben Kevan scored the medal-winner for the Americans at 5:37 of the overtime period.
Sweden’s Filip Ekberg finished as the top scorer with 18 points and had the most goals with 10.
● Judo ● The Dushanbe Grand Slam in Tajikistan attracted 226 judoka from 27 nations, with the hosts enjoying great success, including four wins by Nurali Emomali in the men’s 66 kg class, Muhiddin Asadulloev at 73 kg, Somon Makhmadbekov at 81 kg and Olympic bronzer Temur Rakhimov at +100 kg.
Azerbaijan got two men’s wins, from Balabay Aghayev at 60 kg and Eljan Hajiyev at 90 kg.
France had two women’s champions, with Amandine Buchard, the Tokyo silver medalist, winning at 52 kg and fellow Tokyo runner-up Sarah Leonie Cysique taking the 57 kg class. So did Mongolia, with Anudari Jamsran taking the 48 kg class and Gankhaich Bold winning at 63 kg.
● Rugby Sevens ● The HSBC SVNS Series Grand Final was in Carson, California, at the same venue which will host the 2028 Olympic tournaments, Argentina (men) and New Zealand (women) having won the seasonal points titles.
South Africa (3-0) and Spain (2-1) won the men’s championship pools, with New Zealand and Australia both 3-0 in the women’s pools.
On Sunday, the women’s semis were easily won by New Zealand (34-7 over the U.S.) and Australia (33-7 over Canada), with Canada defeating the U.S., 27-7 for the bronze medal.
In the final, the New Zealanders had no trouble, breezing past Australia, 31-7 to win their third straight title and ninth in the 13 seasons of the league.
The men’s semis had Spain spanking Argentina, 29-5 and South Africa running past New Zealand, 31-5. The third-place match went to the Kiwis by 38-17.
The men’s final had South Africa up 7-0 at halftime and clamping down on the Spanish offense to finish with a 19-5 victory and their fifth seasonal SVNS title.
● Sport Climbing ● A sensational double world record for American Sam Watson at the IFSC World Cup in Bali (INA), giving him four world marks in a row.
Watson set two world marks of 4.75 and 4.74 on his way to the bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, but lowered the time to 4.67 in his semifinal. Japan’s Ryo Omasa false-started out of the final, so Watson was unchallenged, but topped the 15 m wall in another world record of 4.64! He said later:
“The qualifiers and practice were boiling. I came back and put an ice pack on my head. But I am a competitor and the conditions affect everybody. I was lucky we got a bit of overcast so there was a little bit of shade, and I am really happy now. I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
The women’s final had world-record holder Aleksandra Miroslaw (POL) as an easy winner over China’s Yafei Zhou in the final, 6.37 to 8.12.
The Lead finals on Sunday saw Japan’s Satone Yoshida, 20, on a mission. He led the qualifying round, led the semifinal round and won the final for his first career Lead World Cup gold with a 42-41 win over first-time World Cup medalist Max Bertone (FRA), with Alberto Gines Lopez (ESP: 39+) in third.
Britain’s Erin McNeice got her second win of the season in the women’s Lead final, getting to the top, along with Korean Chae-hyun Seo, but the tie was broken by McNeice’s better qualifying score and earned the victory. Japan’s Ai Mori was third at 45.
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