★ 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 2024: Paris ● The Paris organizers said they met their goal of reducing the CO2 emissions related to the Games by 54% compared to London 2012 and Rio 2016. The event created 1.59 million tons of CO2, which was offset by projects outside of the Games financed by the organizers.
As usual, participant and especially fan travel was a huge factor. Expected to account for about 30% of the overall impact, it resulted in 53% of the total. Georgina Grenon, the Paris 2024 environmental director noted the Games should not be called “carbon-neutral”:
“It can give the impression that there is no impact when there is an impact. There was an impact but we treated it and, most of all, we reduced it.”
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● The New York Olympic Regional Development Authority in Lake Placid said Wednesday that it has begun a “targeted dialogue” with the Milan Cortina organizers as the back-up site in case the under-construction sliding track in Cortina d’Ampezzo is not finished in time.
ORDA spokeswoman Darcy Rowe Norfolk explained, “So now we’re going to dig in and start to detail out the proposal to formalize a plan, and that will take obviously more dialogue with Milano-Cortina, as well as our partners here to further that.”
Lake Placid was competing with Innsbruck (AUT) and St. Moritz (SUI) as possible options. Although the construction effort in Cortina is on target, Norfolk noted:
“[T]he IOC did step in, and wanted to ensure that they had a backup. Because obviously, back then when we proposed, there wasn’t a construction company in place nor had they even started construction. The feedback that we are getting from them (now) is that they are progressing rapidly and they’re confident in the work and that it will be completed on time.”
The Mount Van Hoevenberg site has been a popular World Cup site for bobsled, luge and skeleton for decades, and was the Olympic site for sliding sports in 1932 and 1980.
● International Olympic Committee ● Federation Internationale de Gymnastique chief Morinari Watanabe (JPN), one of seven candidates for the IOC Presidency next March, told Reuters that the IOC needs to modify its marketing offer to attract more sponsors to the Games.
Three Japan-based sponsors – Bridgestone, Panasonic and Toyota – declined to renew their IOC sponsorships following the Paris Games. Watanabe said:
“Many Japanese companies want to sponsor for the Olympic Games because Olympic Games there’s great value for the company. They want to support, but of course they need value.
“What can they get for benefits? So far the balance is not good. A lot of money is paid but they cannot get the [return in] benefits. This is a problem. …
“We can use the five rings, $200 million, $300 million; this is not value. If [for the] same money, if I am a company president, OK, if [for the] same money, please support football, because we have [in-stadium] advertising.”
He doubled down:
“We must change the marketing system. This current marketing system, ‘OK, you can use the five rings and give me 200 million or 300 million’ cannot continue.”
As for the future management of the IOC:
“Many people want to be involved for the IOC decisions, because we are a sports family. But the [IOC] Executive Board is too strong. Many things are decided only by board members or the president. This is not so good.
“IOC must respect international federations and National Olympic Committees. Now the IOC is very strong. NOCs and IFs must be more together because now it is a bit like [being] instructed.”
● Alpine Skiing ● Comebacking American ski star Lindsey Vonn will rejoin the FIS Alpine World Cup circuit, but only as a forerunner for this week.
Vonn is a forerunner this week at Beaver Creek in Colorado, for the women’s World Cup training and racing on the famed “Birds of Prey” Downhill and Super-G courses. She said after Wednesday’s runs:
“I felt really good physically out there today. I definitely skied conservatively. Very soon I’ll make a decision [on World Cup skiing], but not today.
“I have to be patient. It is definitely not my strong suit. But I’m trying. I have a partial knee replacement. I know I’m not going to be winning World Cups right off the bat, but I know what I’m capable of. … I’m really close to being in a really good spot.”
● Football ● The Visit Seattle tourism promotion group posted a projection on Tuesday that the 2026 FIFA World Cup will bring an economic impact of $929 million to King County:
“Visit Seattle projects a minimum of $929 million will be generated for King County over the six World Cup matches set to take place at Seattle’s Lumen Field between June and July of 2026. This projection includes more than $100 million in direct state and local tax revenue and anticipates 20,762 full-time and part-time jobs will be supported.”
The study was done by Pennsylvania-based Tourism Economics and neither any details or the report were shared. An update is due after the matches are set in December 2025.
● Taekwondo ● Brazil won the four-a-side World Taekwondo World Cup Mixed Team Championship, in Wuxi (CHN), with a 2-1 victory in the gold-medal final over China. The bronze went to Uzbekistan, a 2-0 winner over South Korea.
● Weightlifting ● Olympic women’s 71 kg champion Olivia Reeves added to her trophy case with an impressive gold-medal performance at the IWF World Championships in Manama (BRN).
Reeves, still just 21, was second in the Snatch at 120 kg, making all three tries and finishing just one kilogram short of the world record, which was tied by China’s Qiuxia Yang at 121 kg. Then Reeves won the Clean & Jerk segment at 147 kg, missing it on her second try, but making it on her third.
That gave her a total of 267 kg for her first Worlds gold, ahead of Chun-hui Jong (PRK: 262 kg) and Yang (261 kg). Fellow American Meredith Alwine was eighth at 233 kg combined.
Reeves’ win not only made her the first American to win an Olympic and Worlds gold in the same year, but stopped a string of four straight women’s weight class wins for North Korea.
The North Korean men’s streak of four straight wins ended with Bulgaria’s Karlos Nasar, the Paris 2024 winner at 89 kg, taking his second Worlds gold by breaking his own combined world record at 405 kg.
Nasar, 20, won in Paris with a world record of 404 kg, and equaled his own world mark in the Snatch at 183 kg and then won the Clean & Jerk at 222 kg, two short of his world record of 224 from Paris.
North Korea’s Kwang-ryol Ro was second (380 kg combined); Brandon Victorian was the top American, in 12th (345 kg).
North Korea continues to lead with 13 medals (8-5-0); the Championships continue through Sunday.
¶
★ 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, 885-event International Sports Calendar for the rest of 2024, 2025 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!
