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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Russia ● The World Anti-Doping Agency said that sanctions related to the Russian state-sponsored doping scandal from 2011-15 have surpassed 300, based on data recovered from the infamous Moscow Laboratory in January and April 2019.
Once the control center for Russian doping, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency’s Moscow lab database – the 24 terabyte “Laboratory Information Management System” or “LIMS” – was obtained after a lengthy effort in 2019 and doping violations have been confirmed continuously ever since. According to a Thursday statement:
“To date, there have been a total of 302 sanctions imposed against 291 Russian athletes (11 athletes having received two sanctions each for separate violations) by 23 Anti-Doping Organizations (ADOs) with an additional four charged but not yet resolved in terms of final judgement.”
Of the 302 cases, most were in weightlifting (107) and track & field (93). There were 19 in wrestling and less than 10 in 19 other sports:
● 6-9 (8 sports): Aquatics, biathlon, bobsled & skeleton, boxing, judo, powerlifting, rowing, volleyball.
● 1-5 (11 sports): Archery, canoe-kayak, football, ice hockey, kettleball, modern pentathlon, sambo, skating, skiing, taekwondo, triathlon.
And, of course, the Russian doping drama is not over, as WADA noted:
“To this day, RUSADA remains non-compliant and must fulfil the reinstatement conditions in full, as laid out by the December 2020 [Court of Arbitration for Sport] decision. To assess fulfillment of the reinstatement conditions, WADA must send a team to Russia to conduct an in-person audit, which to date has not been possible due to the ongoing geopolitical situation. In addition, a separate compliance case is pending before CAS regarding non-conformities in the Russian sports legislation.”
● Alpine Skiing ● American star Lindsey Vonn told The Associated Press it will be a while before she decides about her future in skiing:
● “I just don’t want to jump to any conclusions or even speculate on what I might do. I may retire. I may never race again and that would be completely fine, but I’m not in a position emotionally to make that decision at this point.”
● “Regardless, nothing would really happen until ’27-28 because I still have one more surgery left to take out the metal and to replace my ACL. That still needs to happen. Once I get my ACL fixed, then that’s another six months, so I have at least I would say a year and a half ahead of me before I could really be back to 100%, even just training in the gym.”
She’s 41 now and has had eight procedures to save her left leg after crashes at the Crans-Montana (SUI) World Cup race and then at the Milan Cortina Winter Games. So she will wait:
“I don’t want to make a decision now because I think that would be rash and probably too emotional and I don’t want to make a mistake, you know?”
● Athletics ● Kenyan President William Ruto honored London Marathon winner and world-record setter Sasbastian Sawe in Nairobi on Thursday with a new car with a “1:59:30″ license plate and two payments totaling 8 million Kenyan shillings (about $61,932 U.S.).
Said Ruto:
“You have achieved what many thought impossible. You have made the impossible possible, and in doing so, you have inspired the entire nation and the world. You have not only broken a record, you have forced us to rethink the limits of human performance and endurance.”
¶
Asked for comment on the product liability filing by former sprint star Abby Steiner in Massachusetts, a Puma spokesperson told Front Office Sports:
“Puma is aware that a case has been filed. Unfortunately, we cannot comment on active litigation. However, we strongly deny any allegation that our performance products cause injuries.”
The company noted that successfully equips stars such as world-record-holder vaulter Mondo Duplantis (SWE), Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh and many other athletes.
Puma’s reply to the complaint is due in August.
● Baseball ● A former Major League player from Cuba has been notified of an apparent doping positive according to the International Testing Agency. Shortstop Alexei Ramirez, 44, who played with the White Sox (2008-15) and the Padres and Rays in 2016, returned a positive for steroids mesterolone, metandienone, oxandrolone and stanozolol at the World Baseball Classic.
Ramirez won an Olympic gold with Cuba in 2004 and was on the runner-up WBC team in 2006. He played in just one game, striking out in his only appearance, but setting a record for the oldest player ever in the WBC. Maybe.
● Curling ● Pool play has finished at the World Curling Mixed Doubles World Championship in Geneva (SUI), with Italy the defending champion.
Group A saw Australia (8-1) atop the standings, with Sweden and Japan (both 7-2) also making it to the playoff round. Canada (8-1) led Group B, ahead of Italy (7-2) and Scotland (6-3). The U.S. pair of Rachel Kawleski and Connor Kauffman finished 1-8 and was 10th in Group B.
Group winners Australia and Canada are into the semis, with Italy and Japan facing off Friday to play the Australians, and Sweden and Scotland playing to advance against Canada. The semis will be on Friday and the medal matches on Saturday.
● Football ● At the FIFA Congress held in Vancouver (CAN), President Gianni Infantino (SUI) said that Iran will play at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and will play in the U.S. as scheduled:
“And the reason for that is very simple, dear friends, is because we have to unite. We have to bring people together. It is my responsibility. It is our responsibility. Football unites the world. FIFA unites the world. You unite the world. We unite the world.”
Infantino also made no apologies for the strong ticket sales and high prices for the World Cup:
“We sold 100% of the inventory that we put on the market, which is more or less 90% of the global inventory so far. And of course, we are always putting tickets on the market.
“There are expensive tickets, yes, and there are also affordable tickets. And what is important is that all the revenues that we generate from the world go back to you, go back to the entire world and finance football in all of your countries.”
¶
It was reported that the Canadian government has allocated an added C$145 million ($106.7 million U.S.) for security at the FIFA World Cup, which opens in about six weeks.
This is on top of C$220 million ($161.9 million U.S.) already being spent and does not count local and provincial costs for security for the six games in Toronto and seven in Vancouver.
● Ice Hockey ● At the 27th IIHF boys U-18 World Championship in Slovakia, the host team and the U.S. won their groups with 3-1 records, but while the Slovaks advanced to the semifinals with a 7-1 win over Denmark in their quarterfinal match, the U.S. did not.
Instead, the Americans were upset by 1-3 Latvia, 5-2, with the Latvians scoring once in the first and second periods, then taking a 4-1 lead in the third, including two empty-net goals in the final five minutes.
In the Friday semis, Slovakia will face Latvia and Sweden – which handled defending champ Canada in the quarters – will play the Czech Republic. The finals are on Saturday.
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