★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★
★ To get the daily Sports Examiner Recap by e-mail: sign up here! ★
≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games: Future ● The German sports minister, Christiane Schenderlein, told the Augsburger Allgemeine the future for a German Olympic bid is bright:
“I consider all the candidacies to be on an equal footing. Now we need to see how North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg position themselves. In Berlin, the debate is currently very lively. I find it positive and important that the current mayor has clearly stated his support for a candidacy. … The 66% approval rating in Munich is a clear result. This gives Bavaria the opportunity to continue working in a focused manner on its candidacy.”
As for finance: “We can finance the Games without any problem. The business community is also showing strong interest … major German companies are stating very clearly that they want to support the Games in Germany. And we, as the federal government, are fully committed to this bid.”
The German Sports Confederation (DOSB) has signaled a selection is to be made as to site and year in the fall of 2026.
● Ready, Set, Gold! ● The unique legacy of the failed Los Angeles bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, the Ready, Set, Gold! program that matches Olympic and Paralympic athletes with Southern California elementary and middle schools for inspiration and guidance, reached new highs in 2025.
A total of 28 schools in grades K-8 were involved with the program in the fall semester in 2025, touching 6,000-plus students, with another 20 schools to be added for the spring semester. Coverage will now extend to districts in Compton, Inglewood, Carson, Yorba Linda, Fullerton, Pasadena, Redondo Beach, Long Beach, Upland, and, of course, Los Angeles.
The unique aspect of Ready, Set, Gold! is the year-through nature of the program, Each outreach to a specific campus begins with a full-school assembly, where the athletes share their personal journeys, lessons learned, and the values that shaped them. Then, throughout the school year, the athletes return for four additional physical education sessions that bring social-emotional learning to life through movement, teamwork, and wellness.
The in-person project has expanded to online outreach as well, again featuring Olympians and Paralympians sharing their life stories and experiences.
● U.S. Center for SafeSport ● A change in the language in the 2026 U.S. SafeSport Code section XIII.B. notes that considerations for sanctions in the sexual abuse area do not diminish over time:
“When the violation involves child sexual abuse, the age of the incident(s) shall not be considered and is not relevant to the assessment of appropriate Sanctions.”
It’s a clarification that will impact older cases, and underlines that abuse, whenever committed, is still abuse.
● Alpine Skiing ● American star Mikaela Shiffrin was in her fourth World Cup Slalom of the season, this time in Courchevel (FRA) on Tuesday night and roared to a first-run lead in 49.77, with a big 0.83-second lead on Swiss Camille Rast (50.60).
She came back with the fifth-fastest second run and won easily in 1:42.50, with Rast at 1:44.05 and German Emma Aicher third (1:44.21). Fellow American Paula Moltzan was fifth in 1:44.32.
For Shiffrin, it was her 105th career World Cup win, with 68 coming in the Slalom; she is undefeated in the discipline this season and is the overall World Cup leader.
● Athletics ● Paris 2024 Olympic men’s 200 m champion Letsile Tebogo (BOT) said in a radio interview with Duma FM in Botswana that he has received offers from three countries for a change of citizenship:
“I’ve got three offers on the table, from Qatar, Abu Dhabi [UAE] and Tunisia. Those are the three offers that are there on the table, and we are still trying to see. We told them what we are worth, and they are promising to up their game, so that’s how it is.”
All of the offers were rejected. Tebogo, 22, would have to wait three years for a change of allegiance to be formalized, according to World Athletics rules.
¶
Florida coach Mike Holloway was named by USA Track & Field as the volunteer Chair of the federation’s High Performance Division, which includes the Men’s Track & Field, Women’s Track & Field and Race Walking committees and the Joint Development Group, which includes development committees and the Long Distance Running Division.
Holloway’s teams have won 14 NCAA titles and he was the head coach for the U.S. track & field team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. His appointment will end in December 2028.
● Boxing ● World Boxing announced the provisional admission of 15 more national federations, including Morocco, Puerto Rico and Tunisia, to bring the total to 152. They can be formally admitted as full members at the 2026 World Boxing Congress.
● Diving ● The USA Diving Winter Nationals concluded in Midland, Texas with the synchronized events, with Jack Ryan and individual winner Quinn Henninger taking the men’s 3 m final by scoring 802.98, ahead of Luke Sitz and Joshua Sollenberger (792.21). In the 10 m, 2025 national champ Joshua Hedberg and Carson Tyler defended their summer Nationals win with a dominant performance at 827.07, winning by more than 94 points.
The women’s titles went to national champ Sophie Verzyl and Anna Kong (559.14) in the 3 m final, over Lily White and Bailee Sturgill (528.12), and Ella Roselli and Bayleigh Crawford in the 10 m, scoring 582.66 and winning by almost 94 points.
● Fencing ● USA Fencing is selecting a new logo (maybe) and members get to help choose.
After using separate marks for Olympic and Paralympic fencing, a new, combined logo is being offered, with two options: a new look with the fencer facing forward, and a “zoomed-in” portion of the existing mark, with a thrust across the mark.
Members have until 5 January to choose either of the new concepts, or retain the two-logo system now used.
● Football ● FIFA said that total ticket requests have reached 20 million for the 2026 World Cup, but in response to blistering criticism over pricing from fan associations, announced a special, “Supporter Entry Tier” at $60, applying to all World Cup matches:
“The entry tier tickets will be allocated specifically to supporters of qualified teams, with the selection and distribution process managed individually by the Participating Member Associations (PMAs). Each PMA will define its own eligibility criteria and application process. They are requested to ensure that these tickets are specifically allocated to loyal fans who are closely connected to their national teams.
“In total, 50% of each PMA allocation will fall within the most affordable range, namely Supporter Value Tier (40%) and the Supporter Entry Tier (10%). The remaining allocation is split evenly between the Supporter Standard Tier and the Supporter Premier Tier.”
¶
FIFA announced its annual award winners on Tuesday, with French forward Ousmane Dembele winning the men’s player of the year honor and Spanish midfielder Aitana Bonmati winning the women’s trophy for the third straight year.
The top keepers were Italy’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and English women’s star Hannah Hampton. The top coaches were Luis Enrique (ESP) for his work with Paris Saint-Germain, and England’s Sarina Wiegman (NED).
The FIFA Fair Play Award was bestowed on Dr. Andreas Harlass-Neuking (GER), the team physician for SSV Jahn Regensburg, who ran into the stands to resuscitate a fan ahead of a Bundesliga match with FC Magdeburg.
● Freestyle Skiing ● At the FIS Ski Cross World Cup in Arosa (SUI), the 2025 seasonal champion Reece Howden (CAN) got his first win of the season in the men’s final, crossing first ahead of Johannes Aujesky (AUT), who won his third career World Cup medal (0-1-2).
The women’s final saw Sweden’s Olympic champ Sandra Naeslund win her third in a row to start the season, defeating Olympic bronzer Daniela Maier (GER) and two-time World Champion Fanny Smith (SUI).
● Luge ● While Russian “neutral” luge athletes were issued U.S. entry visas that would have allowed them to compete last week in Utah, they are planning to race at this week’s FIL World Cup in Lake Placid, New York.
The Associated Press reported that three Russian athletes were de-certified as “neutrals” by the International Luge Federation based on new evidence concerning their neutrality, which requires no public support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
After consultation with the International Olympic Committee, Alexsandr Gorbatsevich, Sofiia Mazur and Kseniia Shamova were declared ineligible as neutrals. Three others continue to be eligible to compete.
¶
★ Receive our exclusive, weekday TSX Recap by e-mail by clicking here.
★ Sign up a friend to receive the TSX Recap by clicking here.
★ Please consider a donation here to keep this site going.
For our updated, 850-event International Sports Calendar for 2025, 2026 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!
