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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2032: Brisbane ● The protest against the new Olympic Stadium construction effort slated to begin on Monday was disbursed by police on Friday, with two arrests for “obstructing and assaulting” officers.
Yagara Indigenous elder Gaja Kerry Charlton told Australian Associated Press as many as 50 officers came to site, “They all came up to my little camp, where we had about 20 tents, and they just started dismantling them and taking them away. We were just getting ready to go for lunch and then we got the phone call that the police were all arriving.”
An appeal against the use of the park for the new stadium has been filed by First Nations activists and is under review at the national level.
● Artistic Swimming ● Following up on the lead of USA Fencing, which announced its “Maison d’Escrime” at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, USA Artistic Swimming told Matt Traub’s Sports Industry Insider that it will have an “Artistic Swimming House” during its 25-29 July 2028 competition dates at the Altar Society Brewing and Coffee Company on Pine Avenue in Long Beach, California, close to the competition site.
The plan is for the House to open 30 minutes after competitions end for another six hours, including five hours of all-inclusive food and beverage service. The programming will include exclusive merchandise, screens showing live Olympic action and replays, plus music and appearances by U.S. Artistic Swimming Olympians.
It’s a ticketed program, at $300 per day, plus an $11.52 processing fee, now on sale.
● Athletics ● American Paul Askew, 46, of Orlando, Florida, pled guilty “to conspiracy to influence major international sports competitions by doping” in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on Thursday (28th).
This is a prosecution under the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019, under which those who provide doping materials to athletes can be convicted and sanctioned. The court records noted:
“[B]eginning on or about July 10, 2023, and continuing through to on or about January 31, 2024, Askew conspired with a professional track and field athlete and at least one other person to provide the athlete with testosterone, a banned substance, to improve the athlete’s performances at major international track and field competitions.”
The athlete was not named, of course, but was caught before trying to compete at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.
● Cycling ● Stage 19 of the 109th Giro d’Italia was another win for Team Visma-Lease A Bike, but it wasn’t race leader Jonas Vingegaard (DEN). Instead, it was American Sepp Kuss, the 2023 Vuelta a Espana winner, taking his first career stage win at the Giro, finishing the six-climb, 151 km course to Alleghe in 4:28:33.
Italy’s Giulio Ciccone tried to break away on the penultimate climb, the Passo Falzarego, with about 40 km left, but he was caught and passed by Kuss on the final uphill to the finish with just 2.2 km left. Canada’s Derek Gee-West caught Ciccone for second, +0:13 to +0:36.
Vingegaard retained the race lead at 4:03 over Felix Gall (AUT) and Jai Hindley (AUS: +5:04) with two stages left.
● Figure Skating ● U.S. Figure Skating Association first-year chief executive Matt Farrell gave a detailed first “State of the Sport” address at the federation’s first “Impact Summit” with more than 750 attendees in Colorado Springs, Colorado on 23 May, saying “I just see a dynamic change in the energy of the sport.”
Beyond the three Olympic medals (2-1-0) at the 2026 Winter Games, Farrell said that two key indicators of success are a record level in sponsorship revenue and a 3% increase in total membership, through 10 May 2026. He reported the new sponsorship totals surpassed the prior record from 2022 by 30%.
As for the invitation-only “Winter House” program staged in Milan by U.S. Figure Skating, US Speedskating and USA Hockey, it drew a total of 4,200 guests during the Games.
He did identify a severe issue at the Winter Games that barely got resolved::
“Maybe I’ll join you at the hotel bar late tonight to kind of share what some of those are, but we had some real scares that were pretty downplayed during the Games.
“Music clearances are like this ‘Who’s on First’ routine (athletes: just Google that). And it’s not anybody’s particular fault, and I don’t say this in any degree of defensiveness. It’s not us. It’s not necessarily the [International Skating Union]. It’s not NBC. It’s not the world broadcasters. But it’s this largest legal game of fingerpointing of who-does-what on music rights clearances.
“It’s incredibly complicated. I don’t stand here with a solution today, but a real commitment to the path of this. We’ve started talking to libraries that we can make available for grassroots skaters, whether it be youth or adult. We’ve started talking with music labels. We’re engaging with artists directly. We’re trying to get on the front end with the athletes before they select music. …
‘So this is one of the absolute highest priorities and it’s the fundamental piece of our sport and we collectively are gatekeeping the promotion of our sport and it it just goes into the top one, two or three topics for our agenda here for the next year.”
● Football ● The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board heard Thursday about the support program for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a trial run for the larger 2028 Los Angeles Olympic & Paralympic Games.
An enhanced transit service – with an added operator team of 300 – has been developed with 12 partner transit agencies, and the new contactless payment program to take major credit card and digital wallet functions in addition to the traditional Metro TAP card is now working, with good acceptance so far.
The transit plan also includes specific support for the 11-14 June Fan Festival at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the 10 Fan Zones to be staged during the tournament, including at Metro’s downtown Union Station, and added activations at 16 stations.
A significant customer information effort has been made, both online and at stations, including wrapping of buses and ticket sales machines and entry gates.
Metro is also in the souvenir business, with special “FIFA” Tap cards at $20 each, country-specific TAP cards at $10 each, and a “collector’s box” at $110.
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On Location, the official hospitality provider for the FIFA World Cup 2026 reported Thursday:
“Sales for the program surpassed total hospitality sales revenues for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in June 2025, a full year prior to the 2026 tournament. As of March 31, 2026, FIFA World Cup 2026 hospitality sales had more than doubled revenue obtained through any previous World Cup program. In terms of number of packages sold, the current edition has also already surpassed the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil – the most attended edition to date from a hospitality perspective.
“Hospitality packages have now been sold to fans in more than 125 countries and all 50 U.S. states, with the program currently in a peak sales period and continuing to track ahead of expectations.”
It was reported that more than 500,000 “packages” have been sold so far.
● Gymnastics ● With Russian doping a continuing concern for the International Olympic Committee and other federations, the International Testing Agency announced a three-year ban on Russian gymnast Daniil Kuzmin for testing positive for the steroid “boldenone after providing an out-of-competition on 3 February 2026.”
The positive test was not contested; the ban runs from 20 March 2026 until 19 March 2029.
● Ice Hockey ● The International Ice Hockey Federation maintained a ban on Russian teams for the 2026-27 season, but on appeal to the IIHF Disciplinary Tribunal by the Russian association, this decision was vacated on 25 May. Announced Friday:
“The Disciplinary Board determined that the previous decision could not be maintained in its current form, and as such has sent the matter back to the IIHF Council to re-analyze based on safety, security, operational, and sporting plans.
“At this time the Council will gather all relevant information and then make a decision on Russia’s eligibility in future IIHF competitions on an event-by-event basis.”
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At the IIHF men’s World Championship in Switzerland, Group B winner Canada shut down the U.S., 4-0 and advanced to the quarterfinals. The host Swiss defeated Sweden, 3-1; Finland handled the Czech Republic by 4-1 and Norway shut out Latvia, 2-0.
In the semifinals on Saturday, the Swiss will face Norway and Canada will play Finland. He championship match will be on Sunday.
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