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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Winter Games 2030: French Alps ● The 2030 organizing committee named Cyril Linette as its chief executive. Now 54, he has been the head of the French Canal+ sports division and the Director General of the highly-respected French all-sports daily, L’Equipe.
● Mediterranean Games ● More worry from the International Committee for the 2026 Mediterranean Games in Taranto (ITA), as the report of the Executive Committee meeting earlier in the month noted:
“The Executive Committee also extensively reviewed the progress of the 2026 Mediterranean Games in Tarant?. Concerns were raised regarding ongoing delays in the preparation schedule. The ICMG Coordination Commission presented a comprehensive report and expressed its concerns about the proper functioning of the Organising Committee.
“In response, ICMG President Mr. Davide Tizzano [ITA] will meet on Monday 14th of April, with Italy’s Minister of Sport, Mr. Andrea Abodi. The agenda includes the immediate formation of a joint oversight committee to monitor progress and guarantee compliance with the established deadlines. Furthermore, the ICMG is urging for the immediate reinforcement of the Organizing Committee’s workforce through the hiring of experienced, specialized professionals.”
Not good.
Also a fascinating change in schedule for the 2030 Med Games in Pristina (KOS), with the men’s U-21 football tournament eliminated and futsal – indoor 5-a-side with 20-minute halves – substituted for men and women:
“Following productive discussions with FIFA, the ICMG has confirmed the inclusion of both men’s and women’s futsal in the official sports program of the 21st Mediterranean Games, scheduled to take place in Pristina in 2030. Futsal will officially replace U21 football.
“This decision supports the continued growth of futsal—a fast-paced, increasingly popular sport—and aligns with the ICMG’s commitment to enhancing gender inclusivity in the Games. Additionally, the shift is expected to reduce the overall cost of organizing the football tournament.”
The beginning of more such substitutions for uninteresting men’s (and women’s) age-group football competitions at multi-sport Games?
● Russia ● Russian Anti-Doping Agency Director General Veronika Loginova told the Russian news agency TASS that she expects the remaining legal barriers to RUSADA’s reinstatement will be taken care of soon.
First, there are hearings in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport on claims by the World Anti-Doping Agency against RUSADA. Said Loginova:
“CAS has already set a preliminary date, the hearings will be held in September 2025. But we still hope that WADA’s critical comment will be eliminated before that time; work on amending the Law on Sports in the Russian Federation is underway. At the moment, the Russian Ministry of Sports and RUSADA are in contact, we have developed a draft federal law, which, in WADA’s opinion, will remove all questions.
“RUSADA continues to adhere to the position of disagreement with this critical remark that is made against the agency. But the Russian Anti-Doping Agency has done everything in its power within its competence. In particular, in close contact with the Ministry of Sports, RUSADA lawyers have developed the version of the federal law that could eliminate all contradictions.”
She added:
“With the help of interested organizations, we will soon achieve our restoration. I like the position of our Minister of Sports regarding the restoration of RUSADA and the return of domestic athletes to the international arena. I think that if we continue to interact and begin to move even more actively in this direction, then we will soon be able to do this.”
● Swimming ● Tunisian distance Freestyle star Ahmed Hafnaoui, 22, was given a 21-month suspension for “whereabouts” failures by the Aquatics Integrity Unit. The AQIU statement included:
“Tunisian swimmer Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui has accepted a suspension of 21 months, effective from 11 April 2024 until 10 January 2026, for a violation of the World Aquatics Anti-Doping Rules.
“Mr. Hafnaoui admitted that he committed three whereabouts failures within a twelve-month period, thereby breaching Article 2.4 of the World Aquatics Anti-Doping Rules, and accepted a 21-month sanction. His results have been disqualified from 11 April 2024 onwards.”
He was the Tokyo 2020 men’s 400 m Freestyle gold medalist and the 2023 Worlds winner in the men’s 800 m Freestyle and 1,500 m Free. His last meet was the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Qatar.
≡ RESULTS ≡
● Athletics ● U.S. Indoor men’s triple jump champion James Carter Jr. has been disqualified after agreeing to a one-month sanction. Per the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency:
“Carter, 24, tested positive for Carboxy-THC, a urinary metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis, marijuana, and hashish, above the urinary Decision Limit, as the result of a sample collected in-competition at the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships on February 22, 2025.”
His suspension was reduced to the one-month minimum since the substance use was out-of-competition and he completed a treatment program. His sanction period began on 12 March, but his results from the date of the test at the USATF Indoor Nationals were nullified. Thus, Russell Robinson will move up to become USATF Indoor champion at 16.67 m (54-8 1/4).
● Beach Volleyball ● The American pair of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher scored another win on the Beach Pro Tour in the Elite 16 final in Brasilia (BRA), defeating Brazil’s Carol Solberg and Rebecca Cavalcante (BRA) in a tough match, 22-20, 21-19.
It’s the seventh Beach Pro Tour win for the U.S. pair, and third medal in the three Elite 16 events this season: bronze in Playa del Carmen (MEX), silver last week in Saquarema (BRA) and now a win in Brasilia!
Olympic champs Ana Patricia Ramos and Duda Lisboa (BRA) won the third-place match over the tournament’s surprise team, 23rd-seeds Emi van Driel and Wies Bekhuis (NED), 19-21, 21-15, 15-12.
The men’s final had Dutch stars Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot with their first Beach Pro Tour win since March of 2024, winning over 15th-seeds Evandro Oliveira and Arthur Lanci (BRA), 21-18, 21-23, 18-16. Tokyo Olympic champs Anders Mol and Christian Sorum (NOR) took the bronze with a marathon 21-16, 19-21, 20-18 win over 2023 Worlds bronzers Bartosz Losiak and Michal Bryl (POL).
● Curling ● /Updated/ At the USA Curling Mixed Fours National Championship in Denver, Colorado, David Falco’s rink – the host Denver Curling Club – was a 7-3 winner over Nina Roth‘s team, in the championship final, defending its 2024 title. Falco took a 4-1 lead after three ends and while Roth closed to 4-3 after five, three more points in ends 6-7 clinched the title for Falco’s home team.
Jesus Barajas‘ rink defeated Greg Persinger’s squad, 8-2, for third.
● Cycling ● The 59th Amstel Gold Race was a thriller down to the line in Berg en Terbiljt (NED), with three riders sprinting to the finish: Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogacar, comebacking star – returning from injury – Remco Evenepoel (BEL) and two-time Danish national champion Mattias Skjelmose.
In the end, it was Sjkelmose who got to the line first, barely ahead of Pogacar, the Slovenian’s second straight second-place finish, with all three timed in 5:49:58 for the 255.9 route.
It’s the biggest win ever for Skjelmose and an encouraging return for Evenepoel, who smashed into a postal truck last December during a training ride and broke much of his right shoulder and side.
But Pogacar has been amazing. In his six races this season, he won the seven-stage UAE Tour, then Strade-Bianche, was third at Milan-Sanremo, won the Ronde van Vlaanderen and now seconds at Paris-Roubaix and Amstel Gold, with five major races – including three “Monuments” in 43 days.
Brandon McNulty was the top American, in 11th (+0:34).
The women’s Amstel Gold – the 11th – was a clearer win for Mischa Bredewold (NED), in 4:03:03 for the 157.4 km course, finishing seven seconds up on countrywoman Ellen van Dijk and Puck Pieterse. It’s the first medal in this race for all three.
● Figure Skating ● The United States defended its 2024 win in the ninth ISU World Team Trophy in Tokyo (JPN), winning six of the eight segments.
World Champion Ilia Malinin won both the men’s Short Program (106.08) and Free Skate (183.88), despite a slip – scored as a fall – at the end of his Free Skate program. France’s Adam Siao Him Fa (96.16) and American Jason Brown (93.82) followed in the Short, then Brown moved up to a close second in the Free Skate (179.33).
World Champion Alysia Liu also doubled for the U.S. in the women’s Singles, taking the Short Program at 75.70, just ahead of three-time World Champion Kaori Sakamoto (JPN: 75.54), with Amber Glenn of the U.S. in seventh (63.70). Liu scored 150.97 to go 1-2 with Glenn (148.93) in the Free Skate, with Sakamoto in third (145.00).
American Ice Dance World Champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the Rhythm Dance at 91.25 over Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (87.15) and took the Free Dance, scoring 133.51 to 131.91 for the Canadian Worlds runner-ups.
In Pairs, it was Japan’s World Champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara easily taking the Short Program with 80.99 points, with Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov of the U.S. in fifth (64.57). Miura and Kihara won the Free Skate in a closer contest with Worlds bronze medalists Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii (ITA: 142.26). Efimova and Mitrofanov were fifth again, scoring 117.67.
All together, the U.S. finished with 126 points to 110 for Japan and 86 for Italy, winning its sixth World Team Trophy in the nine editions.
● Gymnastics ● At the fifth of six legs of the FIG Artistic World Cup, this time in Doha (QAT), Kazakhstan’s Milad Karimi, the 2023 Worlds Floor bronze winner, was the only double winner.
He took the first event, the men’s Floor, at 14.466 and then won the final event of the meet, the Horizontal Bar, at 14.500, over Chia-Hung Tang (TPE: 14.400). In between, 2023 World Junior champ Hamlet Manukyan (ARM) won on Pommel Horse, just ahead of China’s Yanming Hong, 14.700 to 14.666, and Olympic silver medalist Hao You (CHN) won on Rings at 14.400.
On Saturday, Armenia’s two-time Olympic vault medalist Artur Davtyan won his specialty at 14.449 over Ukraine’s Nazar Chepurnyi, the 2023 Worlds bronze winner (14.383). Chepnuryi came right back to win on Parallel Bars, scoring 14.166 to 14.100 for Jesse Moore (AUS).
Slovenia went 1-2 in the women’s vault, with Teja Belak winning at 13.316 just ahead of teammate Tjasa Kysselef (13.216). Australia’s Commonwealth Games Beam champ Kate McDonald took the Uneven Bars, 13.100 to 13.033 over Lucija Hribar (SLO).
On Saturday, Hungary’s Greta Mayer was a big winner on Beam at 13.133 and Romanian star, the 2024 European Floor silver winner, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea won on Floor at 13.600.
¶
The women’s NCAA Championships were in Ft. Worth, Texas, with plenty of U.S. Olympic star power. Tokyo 2020 Team silver medalist Grace McCallum of Utah was everywhere, placing second in the All-Around, Vault, Uneven Bars and Floor. Jordan Bowers of Oklahoma won the All-Around at 39.7125 to 39.6750 for McCallum.
UCLA’s Jordan Chiles, the Paris Team gold medalist and still embroiled in the controversy over the 2024 Paris Floor Exercise bronze, won the Uneven Bars, with 2021 Worlds All-Around silver winner Leanne Wong of Florida third.
Philippine Olympian Emma Malabuyo was second on the Balance Beam for UCLA and teammate Brooklyn Moors, a Canadian Olympian, won on Floor. Oklahoma won its seventh team title in a tight finish with UCLA, 198.0125 to 197.6125.
¶
At the men’s NCAAs at Ann Arbor, Michigan, the home-team Wolverines snapped Stanford’s streak of five straight team titles with a 332.224 to 332.061 win over Stanford, with Oklahoma third (327.891).
Michigan’s Fred Richard, a member of the U.S. Olympic Team bronze medalists in Paris in 2024, won the All-Around at 84.264, for the second time (also 2023), ahead of teammate – and fellow Olympian – Paul Juda (82,164). Juda took the Parallel Bars title at 14.200, while Stanford’s Asher Hong – also a Paris Team bronze winner – won on Floor (14.600), and Rings (14.433).
Patrick Hoopes (Air Force) took the Pommel Horse title (14.833), Ohio State’s Kam Nelson beat Hong in the Vault, 14.633 to 14.566, and Oklahoma’s Emre Dodanli (TUR) won the Horizontal Bar final (13.833).
¶
At the second leg of the FIG Rhythmic World Cup series, in Baku (AZE), 2022 World Champion Sofia Raffaeli (ITA) won the All-Around, scoring 113.400, ahead of Taisiia Onofriichuk (UKR: 113.250) and Bulgarian star Stiliana Nikolova (113.150). Rin Keys was the top American, at 107.900 for ninth.
Olympic champ Darya Varfolomeev won two apparatus titles, on Clubs (30.450) and Ribbon (28.450), and Onofriichuk took the Hoop title at 29.250), was second on Ball (28.100), third on Clubs (28.950) and second on Ribbon (28.200).
For the U.S., Keys finished fourth on Hoop (28.900) and seventh on Clubs (26.500), the only American finalist appearances.
● Ice Hockey ● The 24th IIHF Women’s World Championship, held in Ceske Budejovice (CZE), ended the same way that 22 of the prior 23 did, with the U.S. and Canada facing off in the final.
Coming in, Canada had won 13 of the 22 gold-medal matches with the U.S., including three of the last four and this was another classic. Scoreless after the first period, the U.S. got two goals in 29 seconds at 7:16 – by Caroline Harvey on a shot that ricocheted off the goalpost – and then Abbey Murphy on a loose rebound at 7:45, for a 2-0 lead.
That didn’t last long, as Canada came back with two to tie in the following two minutes. Danielle Serdachny scored at 8:37 and Jennifer Gardiner equaled at 9:32, then the Americans fought off two penalties in the final half of the period.
In the third, the U.S. got a power play and made it work for a 3-2 lead at the 5:27 mark, as Taylor Heise scored, and it looked like that might hold up. But after killing a penalty at the 10-minute mark, Sarah Fillier made it 3-3 at 14:12 off a contested shot in front of the net, and the game went into overtime. The Canadians had been the aggressors, with 37 shots to 23 for the U.S., but to no advantage.
A penalty against Canada’s Laura Stacey at 4:35 of the third sent U.S. keeper Aerin Frankel off with an injury, replaced by Gwyneth Philips for the remainder of the game. She saved 17 of 18 shots.
In the overtime, both sides pushed hard, but at 17:06, it was Tessa Janecke who scored the championship-winner. Janecke pressured the Canadian defense into a turnover and teammate Heise found Janecke with a cross-ice assist that earned the U.S. its first title in this tournament since 2023 and 11th all-time, with a 4-3 final.
In the semis, the U.S. fell behind against the home Czech Republic, 1-0, after the first period, but came back with goals by Laila Edwards on a power-play at 8:56 of the second to tie and by Kelly Pannek at 8:26 of the third to score a 2-1 victory. The Americans had a 45-11 shots edge, but found it tough to score.
The Canadians had an easier time with Finland, also falling behind 1-0 after 46 seconds, then scoring eight straight goals for an 8-1 victory. Erin Ambrose tied the game less than two minutes later and Daryl Watts had two goals in the second period, after which Canada had a 6-1 edge. The game ended with Canada enjoying a 34-20 shots edge.
The third-place match was another overtime affair, with Finland edging the Czechs, also 4-3, with a Jenniina Nylund score at 4:52.
● Shooting ● The U.S. scored another gold at the ISSF World Cup in Lima (PER), with Paris Olympic runner-up Sagen Maddalena taking the women’s 50 m Rifle/3 Positions title over Norwegian Jeannette Duestad, the 2022 World Champion, 463.3 to 461.4.
The women’s 10 m Air Rifle was a Chinese sweep, with 2024 World Junior champ Zifei Wang scoring a world record 254.8 to best 2023 World Champion Jaiyu Han (250.4) and Xinyi Fan (229.6). Mary Tucker of the U.S. was eighth (124.7). Wang’s score edged countrywoman Yuting Huang’s mark of 254.5 from the 2024 World Cup Final.
In the men’s events, the 25 m Rapid-Fire Pistol title went to Matej Rampula (CZE: 30), ahead of China’s newcomer, Lianbofan Su (27). Saturday’s 10 m Air Rifle final was won by China’s Olympic champ, Lihao Sheng, scoring 252.4 to win by 1/10th over Arjun Babuta (IND: 252.3). American Rylan Kissel finished seventh (144.5).
The 50 m Rifle/3 Positions title went to Czech Jiri Privratsky (462.8), the Olympic fourth-placer, ahead of Erik Larsen (NOR: 461.6).
American Will Hinton, fourth at the 2023 Worlds, won the men’s Trap final, 32-31 over Italy’s Mauro de Filippis, the 2019 Worlds runner-up. It’s Hinton’s first individual World Cup win.
The Mixed Team 10 m Air Rifle final went to Norway (Duestad and Jon-Hermann Hegg), by 17-11 over India. The tournament ends Monday with the Mixed Team Trap and the women’s 25 m Pistol final.
● Sport Climbing ● American Annie Sanders, 17, ended the 2024 IFSC World Cup season with her first win in the Bouldering competition in Seoul (KOR). On Saturday, she got win no. 2 in the seasonal opener in Boulder in Keqiao (CHN), reaching the top to score 54.7 points to 44.9 for France’s Oriane Bertone, the 2023 Worlds runner-up. Said the winner:
“I’m pretty excited honestly. I definitely wasn’t expecting it, especially after the first boulder where I was frustrated and pretty much not getting anywhere on the second boulder.
“I was in a bit of a bad headspace, but the third boulder lightened my mood and the fourth I just gave it everything to get to the zone.”
Sunday’s men’s final had two-time World Cup champ Sorato Anraku (JPN) with a tight win over Korea’s 2024 Worlds Bouldering bronzer, Do-hyun Lee, 99.7 to 99.3. Japan’s Meichi Narasaki for the bronze (83.9), his fifth career World Cup medal (0-4-1).
● Table Tennis ● There were surprise finalists at the ITTF World Cup in Macau, with Brazil’s fifth-seed Hugo Calderano – an Olympic semifinalst in Paris – coming on to score an upset win with a 4:1 (6-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-4. 11-5) thrashing of China’s 2024 Asian Championships runner-up, top-seeded Shidong Lin.
The all-China women’s final had defending champion and Paris Olympic silver winner Yingsha Sun vs. emerging star Man Kuai, the seventh seed. Here, there was no surprise ending as Sun was a convincing 4:0 winner by 11-9, 11-6, 11-9, 11-6.
● Water Polo ● The World Aquatics women’s World Cup Super Final was in Chengdu (CHN), with a new champion as the U.S., the four-time defending champ, did not qualify.
Greece and Hungary faced off in the final, the first time for the Greeks, while the Hungarians were 1-1 and won the 2002 title. A tight, 6-4 game at half for the Greeks was opened up in the third period, as Greece piled up six goals and a 12-7 lead and held on for a 13-9 victory and the World Cup title.
Eleftheria Plevritou, Eleni Xenaki and Christina Siouti all scored three goals each for the winners.
The Netherlands, bronze-medal winners in Paris in 2024, won the third-place game from Olympic champ Spain, 10-8.
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