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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The LA28 organizing committee announced an “Official Partner”-level agreement with Uber, to be the “Official Rideshare & On-Demand Delivery Partner” for the organizers and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
This is a significant, second-level LA28 sponsorship, below only Founding Partner status. Uber joins AECOM, Cisco, Fanatics, Lilly, Nike and Ralph Lauren at this level. The announcement foresees a critical role for Uber:
“Uber will deploy its advanced mobility solutions to design, implement and optimize rideshare operations across Los Angeles to help stakeholders navigate the city effortlessly. With venues spread across the city and beyond, Uber will lend its expertise to LA28 and its transportation partners providing tech capabilities, operational best practices, and a strategic network of pickup and drop-off locations to support a seamless and multi-modal mobility experience across the greater LA region.
“As the world’s largest food delivery service operating across six continents, Uber Eats will power the Olympic and Paralympic Village’s on-demand delivery program, delivering to athletes during their stay. LA28 plans to feature Uber Eats mobile ordering within-venue at select locations, enhancing the spectator experience.”
And there was this:
“LA28 is committed to hosting a transit-first Games, and Uber will provide comprehensive rideshare solutions including cars, bikes, and scooters to support multi-modal journeys to and from LA28 venues and mobility hubs.”
This will be interesting, especially in access and security controls for not only Uber drivers, but also vehicles and passengers. The announcement also noted Uber will be an ad buyer on NBC’s Olympic and Paralympic coverage.
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One of the hidden aspects of the build-up to an Olympic Games is the quiet but expansive pre-event programming which goes on a host region.
Multiple National Olympic Committees have already made arrangements for pre-Games training, auxiliary housing, hospitality and other programs in the Los Angeles area. But there is also actual training going on. The Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) just completed its first “LA 2028 Development Training Camp Pilot Programme” in Mission Viejo, California.
Completed last month, it brought delegations from Fiji, Samoa, and Tuvalu to the Marguerite Aquatic Complex in Mission Viejo for swimming and Laguna Hills High School Stadium for athletics for a 10-day training camp in June.
The project was designed to accelerate development for athletes and coaches on the road to LA28, by offering access to world-class training facilities and Olympic-level coaching expertise. There will be many more of these.
● Olympic Games 2032: Brisbane ● With a huge venue construction program for the 2032 Games now approved, Infrastructure Australia data shows that the need for a projected 98,500 construction workers by next March and only 43,800 workers expected to be available, for a shortage of 54,700.
The expectation is that workers from other Australian states – and some from outside the country – will come in to fill the need. The Queensland government is also aware that housing and other services will be needed and is saying it will activate programs to meet the challenge.
● Sports Medicine ● The Associated Press reported Wednesday that a ruling from the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights on South Africa’s two-time women’s 800 m champion Caster Semenya’s appeal against the World Athletics regulations on hyperandrogenism is expected on Thursday.
The federation’s rules sidelined Semenya and other female runners due to (naturally) high levels of testosterone, believed to provide such athletes with “differences in sex development” an advantage over other women. If the ECHR rules in her favor, it will send the case back for more review, starting at the Swiss Federal Tribunal. If she is turned down, her case is over.
● Aquatics ● World Aquatics noted the depth and breadth of its anti-doping program and the amount of testing which has been undertaken on its behalf by the International Testing Agency prior to the World Aquatics Championships that will start on 11 July.
“In total, 4,018 anti-doping tests have been conducted on athletes participating in the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 since 1 January 2025, resulting in an average of two tests per athlete.
“Additionally, all newly approved Neutral Athletes have been tested at least four times within the last 12 months, including at least one test conducted by World Aquatics.”
Testing figures showed that Chinese and Russian athletes were the most heavily-sampled swimmers over the last 12 months:
● 8.80 average tests per Chinese swimmer
● 8.20 average tests per Russian swimmer
● 4.13 average tests per U.S. swimmer
● 4.00 average tests per Australian swimmer
● 3.60 average tests per French swimmer
As an example, China’s Olympic 100 m Freestyle champion Zhanle Pan has been tested eight times in 2025: four each by World Aquatics and by others. American Katie Ledecky has been tested seven times: three times by World Aquatics and four times by others.
The top six most-tested swimmers were all Chinese, tested 11 or 12 times this year, four of which were by World Aquatics.
● Cycling ● Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel (NED) won the flat, 33.0 km time trial in and around Caen in stage 5 of the 112th Tour de France, finishing in 36:42.02, ahead of race favorite Tadej Pogacar (SLO: +16.68), who took over the race lead.
Behind those two was Edoardo Affini (ITA: +33.06) and so Pogacar now has a 42-second lead on Evenepoel, 59 seconds on Kevin Vauquelin (FRA) and 1:13 on two-time winner and main rival Jonas Vingegaard (DEN). American Matteo Jorgenson is fifth, 1:22 back. Evenepoel was a disastrous 67th in the first stage, but has climbed back into contention in the last two stages.
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In Washington, D.C., three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond received his Congressional Gold Medal, originally granted in 2020, but delayed until now due to the Covid-19 pandemic. LeMond said:
“I am honored beyond words to receive this Congressional Gold Medal. I stand here knowing this honor isn’t mine alone. It belongs to every teammate, every supporter, every family member and to all of the extraordinary Americans whose courage and sacrifice made my life and career possible. I am proud to be an American, and I thank you, all of you, from the bottom of my heart.”
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At the women’s Giro d’Italia, the uphill-finishing, 142 km fourth stage reinstated Swiss Marlen Reusser as the race leader. Australia’s Sarah Gigante won the stage in 3:56:22, with Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini and Reusser both 25 seconds back, with prior leader Anna Henderson (GBR) in 47th (+9:56).
So, Reusser, Longo Borghini (+0:16) and Gigante (+0:34) are 1-2-3, with a hilly stage and a major uphill finish in stage seven ahead.
● Football ● The semifinals of the FIFA Club World Cup concluded on Wednesday with both matches played in high heat with 3 p.m. kickoffs at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey and Chelsea (GBR) and Paris St.-Germain (FRA) advancing to the final.
On Tuesday, temperatures were reported at 95 F as Chelsea for goals from Joao Pedro (BRA) in the 18th and 56th and shut down Brazilian club Fluminense, 2-0, with a crowd of 70,556 in the 82,500-seat venue.
Wednesday’s game started in 92 F temps and was delayed for 10 minutes due to the late arrival of team buses. It was a rout for PSG, up 2-0 after nine minutes and finished off Real Madrid (ESP) by 4-0, before 77,542.
The final will be Sunday, also at MetLife, with cooler temperatures expected and a high of 83 F.
The tournament will be declared a success by FIFA, but there are clear issues to be dealt with ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including questions concerning kickoff times and high temperatures, field quality, ticket costs, and availability and visa access for fans of the 47 visiting teams to the U.S., which will provide 11 of the 16 venues.
● Modern Pentathlon ● At the UIPM World Relay Championships in Alexandria (EGY), France took the men’s title with Leo Bories and Mathis Rochat winning in obstacle and swimming, then hanging on in the Laser Run (in third place) to win, 1,488 and 1,486, over the Czech Republic.
Egypt, with teen star Farida Khalil and Malak Ismail, won the women’s relay with 1,314 points to 1,286 for Hungary, also winning at obstacle and swimming.
● Shooting ● A great start for the U.S. at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Lonato (ITA), with four-time Olympic champion Vincent Hancock taking the men’s Skeet gold in shoot-off with 2013 Worlds bronze winner Henrik Janssen (SWE), 7-6, after a 53-all tie after 60 targets in the final.
It was an all-American show in the women’s final, as 2024 World Cup Final champ Sam Simonton won, 56-53, over 2017 World Champion Dania Jo Vizzi. It’s Simonton’s second career World Cup gold.
Trap qualifying begins on Thursday.
● Swimming ● Swimswam.com reported that USA Swimming has elevated Jake Grosser, the Managing Director for Marketing and Communications, to the position of Chief Operating Officer.
Grosser moved up after Shana Ferguson left the organization to go to the LA28 organizing committee. Nikki Warner was promoted to Senior Director of Communications, replacing Grosser’s position on the communications side.
USA Swimming is still looking for a new chief executive, after not renewing Tim Hinchey’s contract last year, then selecting Delaware athletic director Chrissi Rawak, who withdrew after nine days as CEO-designate, before she actually began the job.
● Taekwondo ● Uzbekistan’s Ulugbek Rashitov, the men’s 68 kg Olympic gold medalist in Tokyo and Paris, was banned for two years for whereabouts failures by the International Testing Agency.
Still just 23, he accepted the penalty, from 13 May 2025 to 12 May 2027, will ahead of the qualifying period for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Observed: That Rashitov, who has one World Championships medal – a 2023 bronze – would just give away two years between Games leaves one to consider how important the Olympic Games is to him and how unimportant everything else is. That’s not a healthy thing for taekwondo, or many other sports in which the same is true.
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At the World Taekwondo World Cup Team Championships in Chuncheon (KOR), China won the men’s title over South Korea, then the Korean women defeated China, and finally, Uzbekistan defeated Morocco for the Mixed Team gold.
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