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≡ SPOTLIGHT ≡
● Swimming ● SwimSwam.com reported that on its most recent podcast, USA Swimming chief executive Kevin Ring said that “the professional athletes who were members of the APA [Athlete Partnership Agreement] would be receiving a 15% increase in annual support, their first increase since the inception of the APA in 2010.”
The story explained that, in real numbers, this means an increase from $39,000 per year to $45,000 annually, the first time these figures have been revealed publicly.
The APA will be extended to the top 30 male and female swimmers, up from 26 since 2021.
Ring explained, “what we really start focusing on is, not just the APA, but what can we do to really support the athletes even further because APA is one aspect of support, but what else would we be doing to make sure they all get what they need to allow them to continue to swim and perform at the highest level.
“My hope and my desire and my plan is that the 15% is going to be a starting point. That between now and 2028 we want to continue to grow that for the professional athletes.”
Observed: This means that USA Swimming will be paying $2.7 million in stipends to its top 60 swimmers in 2025. This is not huge money, of course, but it is significant, and there are other awards available during the year. But, aside from the salaries paid to U.S. Soccer national team members, are there other U.S. National Governing Bodies which pay as much to what is essentially their national team?
≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2024: Paris ● A study released Monday by the French High Commission for Planning of the total costs of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but which also factored in benefits not accounted for in the €6.63 billion public cost stated by the country’s Court of Auditors. (€1 = $1.17 U.S.)
The new study, conducted by the Research Centre for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions (Credoc), found that by applying a cost-benefit analysis against the public costs and comparing 2024 to a year without the Games (e.g., 2023), the “net cost” to the public was much less.
Considering added jobs related to the Games and associated works, an increase in the number of people participating in sport, and long-term infrastructure benefits, the study concludes:
“Taking into account all these monetized costs and benefits, the net cost to the nation as a whole amounts to €5.5 billion compared to a year without the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and €5.8 billion compared to a scenario where the Games would have been held elsewhere. This cost could be reduced in the future by the legacy benefits of the Games, settling at €2.5 billion compared to a scenario without the Games and €2.8 billion compared to a scenario where the Games would have been held elsewhere.”
(€6.63 billion = $7.78 billion U.S.; €5.50 billion = $6.46 billion U.S.; €2.5 billion = $2.93 billion U.S.)
That’s a lot different than the Court of Auditors’ total, which primarily added up all of the actual spending. The actual cost won’t really be known for another 10-20 years when the full impact of the 2024 Games will have run through French society.
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan ● It’s hard to believe, but two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time World Champion snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis is 40 now, and NBC announced Wednesday that she will join the network’s coverage of the 2026 Winter Games as an analyst for Snow Cross.
She’s more than familiar, having nearly won (except for an early celebration) the 2006 Olympic final (but settling for silver), then winning at Beijing 2022 and in the Mixed Team event with Nick Baumgartner. She will be working with play-by-play man Todd Harris at the 2026 Games.
She told The Associated Press, however, that she is not declaring herself retired. But after the birth of her daughter, Ayla, she is taking a step back from the starting line.
● Youth Olympic Games 2026: Dakar ● The medal design for the 2026 YOG has been finalized, using a look submitted by Spanish designer Pilar Barbadillo Vicario, picturing a lion’s head, whose mane also forms two faces, each wearing an olive-leaf crown, evoking the ancient origin of the Games. Said the designer:
“When I was designing the medal, I was thinking about what you see when you already have it at home afterwards. It represents everything you’ve achieved over time – not only the moment you win it, but all the work behind it and what can motivate you in the future.”
The reverse of the medal will be designed by the Dakar 2026 organizers via a national competition and will incorporate national cultural elements alongside the Youth Olympic Games emblem.
● Transgender ● Skate Canada told the CBC that it will not hold events in Alberta in view of the province’s ban on transgender women in women’s events:
“Following a careful assessment of Alberta’s Fairness and Safety in Sport Act, Skate Canada has determined that we are unable to host events in the province while maintaining our national standards for safe and inclusive sport.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith responded on X, including:
“Skate Canada‘s refusal to hold events in Alberta because we choose to protect women and girls in sport is disgraceful.
“We expect they will apologize and adjust their policies once they realize they are not only compromising the fairness and safety of their athletes, but are also offside with the international community, including the International Olympic Committee, which is moving in the same direction as Alberta.”
The IOC has said it expects results from its working group on “protection of the female category” sometime after the Milan Cortina Winter Games end in late February.
● Athletics ● Run fast, get paid. Here’s a new promotion for high school stars:
“Marathon Sports and Diadora are offering a $40K NIL agreement to the first high school boy to break 4:00 in the mile and the first high school girl to run under 4:35 while competing in the Mezzofondo distance spike.
“Hit that mark, and you become eligible to sign a $40,000 NIL contract with us, promoting the spike, telling your story, and becoming the athlete connected to one of the boldest product launches in the sport.
“We believe this spike can change the conversation.”
It’s a one-year name-image-likeness deal and the “performance window” is from 8 December 2025 to 15 March 2026. Wow.
¶
Liberian and ex-U.S. sprinter Shania Collins was announced as an Enhanced Games athlete, the first women track & field entrant. She has bests of 10.92 and 22.45 from 2022, but managed only 11.40 and 23.61 in 2024. She won the U.S. Indoor 60 m title (7.19) in 2019.
● Football ● FIFA announced the prize pay-outs for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, raised to a record $727 million (with prep payments) in total:
● $50 million: Champion
● $33 million: Runner-up
● $29 million: Third
● $27 million: Fourth
● $19 million: 5th to 8th
● $15 million: 9th to 16th
● $11 million: 17th to 32nd
● $9 million: 33rd to 48th
All teams will receive $1.5 million additionally for preparation costs.
The $727 million is actually less than the $1 billion in funding for the 2025 Club World Cup, in which participating teams were paid a total of $525 million and the actual competitive results divided another $475 million.
¶
Inside World Football reported that fan festivals for the New York/New Jersey area will include locations with an entry charge. The newly-announced Fan Zone Queens at the U.S. National Tennis Center was reported to price tickets – not available yet – at $10 per person, and tickets are now on sale for the Liberty State Park site in Jersey City, N.J. at $12.50 per person.
A third fan area at Rockefeller Center in New York will be free. All will have large-screen viewing, “football experiences” and food and merchandise available for sale.
FIFA World Cup fan festivals have typically been free, but the U.S. Tennis Center program in Queens will be produced by live-events giant LiveNation. The story notes that fan fests in Kansas City, Philadelphia and Vancouver will have free admission. Free-entry sites have been the norm for fan fests in the past.
● Weightlifting ● Paris Olympic men’s 73 kg bronze winner Bozhidar Andreev (BUL), 28, tested positive for the steroid mesterolone during an out-of-competition test on 15 October. He has been provisionally suspended pending a possible request from Andreev for the testing of the B-sample.
● Wrestling ● United World Wrestling published its list of the top-ranked wrestlers in each discipline and weight class, with four Americans listed, including men’s Freestylers Zahid Valencia (86 kg), Trent Hidlay (92 kg) and Kyle Snyder (97 kg), plus women’s Freestyle star Helen Maroulis (57 kg).
Each year-end, top-ranked wrestler receives CHF 5,000.
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