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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The LA28 organizers noted that registration for the lottery for the first ticket sale in April is closing soon:
“Fans must register at tickets.la28.org by 11:59:59 p.m. PDT on March 18 for an opportunity to secure a time slot for Drop 1 (April 9-19) or the LA and OKC Locals Presale (April 2-6). …
“Individuals who are randomly selected to participate in the first ticket drop will be notified via email between March 31 and April 7 with information and time slots.”
More than five million have already registered, from 197 countries and territories.
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Interim Major League Baseball Players Association head Bruce Meyer said that current negotiations over a new labor deal could impact whether major-league players are part of the 2028 Olympic baseball competition. He explained on the sidelines of the World Baseball Classic in Miami:
“If we’re in a situation where games are being missed in ’27, that could have an impact on playing the Olympics after that. … If we don’t have a season, we’re not going to play in the Olympics.”
And there are many details yet to be settled, similar to the questions raised for NHL players to participate in the Winter Games:
“The federations involved, the IOC, we still have a lot of issues to work out with the league. Pretty much everything other than the qualifying – issues like insurance, transportation, and a whole variety of issues. … Housing, lodging, security is all still under discussion.”
● Paralympic Winter Games: Milan Cortina 2026 ● In case you missed it, Ukrainian athlete Maksym Murashkovskyi told The Athletic that AI tool ChatGPT helped him win a silver medal in the men’s 12.5 km vision-impaired Individual Race on 8 March:
“For the past six months, I have been training with ChatGPT. It was not only tactics. It was half of my training plan, motivation, etcetera. So it was a huge volume of all of my training.
”I used it as a psychologist, coach and, sometimes, as a doctor.”
He added that it had already helped him at the January 2026 Para Biathlon World Cup in Poland:
“I also won a few medals there [3], and even a gold. So I can give great credit to ChatGPT. I believe in it, it is a revolutionary technology.”
● Alpine Skiing ● U.S. star Lindsey Vonn, continuing to recovery from her crashes in Switzerland and Italy, posted on Sunday:
“No, I’m not ready to discuss my future in skiing. My focus has been on recovering from my injury and getting back to normal life. I was already retired for 6 years and have an amazing life outside of skiing. It was incredible to be #1 in the world again at 41 years old and set new records in my sport, but at my age, I’m the only one that will decide my future.
“I don’t need anyone’s permission to do what makes me happy. Maybe that means racing again, maybe that doesn’t. Only time will tell. Please stop telling me what I should or should not do. I’ll let you know when I decide.”
She added in a later post:
“Also… just because I’m not ready to talk about retiring, doesn’t mean I’m racing… it means I’m not ready to think about it yet. Rehab and recovery first…decide on where I go next in life later. Lots of life left to live. Will cross that bridge when I get to it.”
She has plenty of people talking to her; Vonn has 959,415 followers on X alone!
● Athletics ● An emerging star at 10,000 m has turned into a marathon superstar as 28-year-old Foyten Tesfay (ETH) won the Zurich Maraton Barcelona in Spain on Sunday in a sizzling 2:10:51, the second-fastest performance in history, in her marathon debut!
An Ethiopian national team member since 2019, she was seventh in the Paris Olympic women’s 10,000 m and ran a brilliant Half Marathon in Valencia (ESP) in October 2024, in 1:03:21 for second, moving to no. 3 all-time.
Now she stands second all-time in the marathon and is the second to break 2:11; only world-record-setter Ruth Chepngetich (KEN) – now suspended for doping – is faster with her 2:09:56 from Chicago in 2024.
Tesfay passed the halfway mark in 1:05:05, then finished in 1:05:46, saying she had the idea to try for a world record, but was hindered by winds on the course in the second half. Wow.
Uganda’s Abel Chelangat won the men’s race by 2:04:56 to 2:04:59 over Kenyan Patrick Mosin.
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Georgia’s Adaejah Hodge (IVB) just won the NCAA women’s Indoor 200 m championship in a world-leading and national indoor record of 22.22, and was second in the women’s 60 m in 7.15.
On Monday, the Athletics Integrity Unit announced that Hodge has been suspended “for 2 years, from 28 August 2024 (with 7 months suspended, i.e. until 27 January 2026), for the Presence/Use of Prohibited Substances (GW501516 sulfone and GW501516 sulfoxide). DQ results since 28 August 2024.”
Hodge helped Georgia win the NCAA women’s title; no announcement on Hodge’s status has been made by Georgia yet. The NCAA is not a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code and maintains its own doping and eligibility rules.
Under an agreement with the AIU, Hodge admitted the doping positive, which is being considered as not intentional.
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Following the hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware regarding the Grand Slam Track bankruptcy process, the Court has allowed the organization to solicit votes with a 9 April deadline for return, to approve or disapprove the plan.
The plan as submitted would pay 85% of the $7.0 million in claims to the 184 athletes who are owed money, and 1.5% of the $12.9 million owed to unsecured vendors who were owed money from Grand Slam Track in 2024.
The Court has set a date of 16 April 2026 to approve the plan, depending on the outcome of the voting by the different classes of creditors.
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With the 2026 World Indoor Championships coming up this week, World Athletics and the International Fair Play Committee are inviting fans to submit “fair play” nominations to be considered for the 2026 “Fair Play” award at the end of the year.
Nominations can be made by electronic mail to [email protected] and will be reviewed by a jury before being narrowed to three finalists for a fan vote late in 2026.
● Baseball ● The second World Baseball Classic semifinal is Monday night in Miami, with Venezuela facing tournament surprise Italy. This post will be updated with the result.
The WBC final will be on Tuesday, also in Miami.
● Basketball ● The second FIBA 3×3 Champions Cup, a new competition just below the annual World Championships, was held in Bangkok (THA) from 13-15 March, with the U.S. squad of Riley Battin, James Parrott, Caden Pierce and Justin Pierce finishing 2-1 in group play, then edging Serbia in the semis by 15-14 and winning the title by 19-14 over Spain in the final.
The U.S. women – Shakira Austin, Veronica Burton, Allisha Gray and Naz Hillmon – were 3-0 in group play, but lost to Azerbaijan by 22-20 in the semis, then swamped Canada, 20-10, for the bronze. The Netherlands won the women’s gold, 21-12, over Azerbaijan.
● Football ● Five of the seven Iranian women’s national team members who asked for asylum in Australia have rejoined the team in Malaysia. Two players are apparently are still in Australia.
The players were branded as “traitors” for not singing the national anthem before their first match at the Asian Women’s Cup in Gold Coast (AUS). Iran lost all three of its group matches and was eliminated on 8 March.
The Iranian team is staying in Malaysia for now as the conflict in Iran continues.
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The Iraqi request to postpone its 2026 FIFA World Cup playoff match in Monterrey (MEX) on 31 March has resulted in FIFA chartering a private plane to transport the team from Baghdad.
The Iraqi federation confirmed that it will travel and play either Bolivia or Suriname.
● Ice Hockey ● The National Hockey League said that the February 2028 World Cup of Hockey will be played with group matches and a quarterfinal in Calgary (CAN) and Prague (CZE), with the semis and final in Edmonton (CAN).
Eight teams are expected to participate; the last World Cup of Hockey was held in 2016.
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