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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The International Weightlifting Federation announced the 12 weight classes for 2028, lining up the six men’s and six women’s weights with the full listed of classes contested by the federation:
● Men: 65 kg, 75 kg, 85 kg, 95 kg, 110 kg, +110 kg
● Women: 53 kg, 61 kg, 69 kg, 77 kg, 86 kg, +86 kg
This compares with the eight classes for men and women in IWF events:
● Men: 60 kg, 65 kg, 70 kg, 75 kg, 85 kg, 95 kg, 110 kg, +110 kg
● Women: 49 kg, 53 kg, 57 kg, 61 kg, 69 kg, 77 kg, 86 kg, +86 kg
So, the men’s 60 kg and 70 kg classes are merged into 65 kg and 75 kg for Olympic purposes with the four heaviest classes remaining the same. For women, the 49 kg and 57 kg weights are merged into 53 kg and 61 kg. The new IWF classes will be in use from 1 August 2026.
This brings the LA28 record total of events to 353, across a record 36 sports. The Tokyo 2020 Games had 339 events and Paris 2024 had 329.
● Olympic Games: Germany ● A poll for the German magazine Stern showed that 72% of Germans welcome a future Olympic and Paralympic Games, possibly in 2036, 2040 or 2044.
Only 22% were opposed and 6% had no opinion, in a survey of 1,008 adults on 30-31 October.
Where city or regional bids have been rejected in the past, Munich saw strong support for its referendum to bid for the Games, with 66.4% reported in favor. Bids are also being prepared by the Berlin region, Hamburg and Rhine-Ruhr, which successfully hosted the World University Games this year.
The poll asked those in favor of the Games which region they preferred, with Munich in front at 39%, then 24% for Rhine-Ruhr, 15% for Berlin and 11% for Hamburg. Munich hosted the 1972 Olympic Games, the most technically-advanced ever at the time, but permanently marred by the murder of 11 Israeli delegation members by Palestinian terrorists.
The German Sports Confederation (DOSB) expects to make a choice on a candidate and a targeted Games in 2026.
● Olympic Winter Games 2034: Salt Lake City ● Salt Lake Community College, Utah’s largest two-year college with nearly 50,000 students across eight campuses, announced the “relaunch” of its educational outreach program with US Speedskating and the expansion of its “Beyond The Podium” effort with U.S. Ski & Snowboard and USA Climbing.
Made possible by Utah philanthropists Jeff and Helen Cardon, the project offers tuition-free courses and career counseling, plus nutrition guidance and performance testing through the Exercise Science program.
This started with speedskaters in 2018, with 14 Olympians taking part, and 12 more for the Beijing 2022 quadrennial, Now, 19 athletes from the three federations are enrolled, able to continue their studies while training to make the 2026 Milan Cortina team. Said program director Chris Needham, a national-team skater from 2000-10:
“We anticipate more than a dozen will end up competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics. We envision a program that supports around 100 athletes in the lead-up to 2034.”
● Doping ● Victor Conte, whose work in developing performance-enhancing drug solutions for world-class athletes exploded into one of the largest doping scandals in history, died Monday at age 75, according to an X post by his sports nutrition company, SNAC Systems. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
Conte became infamous as the center of a doping scandal involving his Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), with a Federal investigation beginning in 2002. In 2003, coach Trevor Graham (JAM) provided a syringe to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency which had been used to deliver BALCO drugs, which proved to have prohibited substances.
Conte and three others were indicted in 2004 and Conte pled guilty in 2005 to distributing steroids and money laundering, sentenced to four months in prison. Multiple BALCO clients were identified – and some were sanctioned (including criminal charges) – including baseball stars Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and a long list of track stars, including Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Regina Jacobs, Alvin Harrison, Calvin Harrison, Kevin Toth, Kelli White and others.
Post-BALCO, Conte became a promoter for clean sport and using his sports nutrition background, worked with multiple boxers and his SNAC Systems nutrition company.
● Athletics ● World Athletics announced the finalists for its “athlete of the year” awards, to be presented on 30 November:
Track Athlete of the Year/Men:
● Noah Lyles (USA): World 200 m Champion; 100 m bronze
● Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN): World 800 m Champion
Track Athlete of the Year/Women:
● Femke Bol (NED): World 400 m hurdles Champion
● Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA): World 400 m Champion
Field Athlete of the Year/Men:
● Mondo Duplantis (SWE): World vault Champion
● Mattia Furlani (ITA): World long jump Champion
Field Athlete of the Year/Women:
● Tara Davis-Woodhall (USA): World long jump Champion
● Nicola Olyslagers (AUS): World high jump Champion
Out-of-Stadium Athlete of the Year/Men:
● Sabastian Sawe (KEN): London and Berlin Marathons winner
● Alphonce Simbu (TAN): World marathon Champion
Out-of-Stadium Athlete of the Year/Women:
● Peres Jepchirchir (KEN): World marathon Champion
● Maria Perez (ESP): World 20 km and 35 km walks Champion
Fan voting will help select the overall men’s and women’s athletes of the year, on the World Athletics social channels, through 8 November.
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Speaking to NBC News, U.S. star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone said she is definitely eyeing a 400 m-400 m hurdles double in Los Angeles in 2028, if the schedule makes it possible:
“Of course, you can’t pursue everything at one time. You got to take it one at a time and allow your body to really gear up to race some of these really fast races. But yeah, I definitely still think I’d love to dip under 50 at some point [in the hurdles], if time permits, and run faster in the 400 and try to go for that longstanding record.”
McLaughlin-Levrone won the Tokyo and Paris Olympic titles in the hurdles and has set six world records, now at 50.37 last year. In the 400 m, she won the World gold in 2025 in 47.78, moving to no. 2 all-time and close to the 47.60 world mark by Marita Koch (GDR) from 1985.
Asked about Grand Slam Track, for which she was a strong promoter when announced, but still owes millions in athletes fees and vendors, she said she would consider returning in 2026, but:
“I think we’d have to see how it comes back and what the security of it looks like. I think there was a lot of athletes that loved the model, loved what they were able to put out from a product standpoint, but of course, you have to be able to sustain that. And so, we would honestly just have to see what that sustainability looks like before venturing into anything moving forward.”
● Swimming ● USA Swimming announced changes to its TYR Pro Swim Series, with an eye toward mirroring conditions which the U.S. team will face at the upcoming World Championships and the 2028 Olympic Games:
“Certain events will transition to a prelims/semifinals/final format, while one distance event at each meet will be contested as prelims/finals. The change is designed to mirror the racing environment athletes experience at major international meets and enhance long-course racing opportunities throughout the season. With the change, TYR Pro Swim Series meets will expand to four full days of morning and evening sessions as opposed to the traditional three-and-a-half-day format.”
At the four stops in 2026 (Austin in January, Westmont in March, Sacramento in May and Indianapolis in June), specific events will be held with semifinals, or with preliminaries for the 800 m and 1,500 m Freestyles. In those events which have expanded rounds, the winner’s prize will be increased from $1,500 to $3,000.
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