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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games: Germany ● The process for the selection of a German city or region for a future Olympic bid – 2036, 2040 or 2044 – is moving along, with a final selection expected in 2026.
In the meantime, Munich – the 1972 host – will have a public referendum on the bid on 26 October of this year, with Hamburg and Rhine-Ruhr to have referenda in 2026. No plans have been announced on a public vote regarding a Berlin bid.
● Athletics ● The Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships is providing to be a hit with fans, but too many hits for the results Web site.
The main World Athletics results site for the meet froze, off and on, during the live evening sessions on both of the first two days. On Sunday, the site – with the start lists and results for all events – simply went down altogether at the time of the men’s 100 m final, about 10:20 p.m. local time, with a static page posted stating:
“We’re experiencing extremely high traffic!”
The site was promised to come back up at 11 p.m. local time, and did, on time. But there are seven more days to go.
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Citius Magazine reported a program proposed by Kenyan marathon star Sabastian Sawe, the 2025 world leader at 2:02:27 and no. 5 all-time at 2:02:05 from 2024 to remove any doubts that he might be doping and which started on 25 July:
● “At least 25 anti-doping controls in the 2 months before the Berlin Marathon.
● “Tests include unannounced, out-of-competition controls using the most advanced lab protocols.
● “All testing managed independently by AIU. Sawe and his team have no knowledge of test timing or methods.
● “The initiative is fully funded by adidas, Sawe’s primary sponsor.”
Said Sawe: “I am tired of reading what people write in the press and on social media. There is always doubt or an accusation when the athlete is a Kenyan. I do, however, recognize that doping is a huge problem in our country. We cannot deny this or avoid the topic. To do so would be a mistake and we must accept that it is a fact.
“To fight the current state of doping, we must shed light on it and the issues surrounding it and work with the sport’s authorities and governing bodies like AIU and World Athletics. I feel we must all combat what has become like a cancer for Kenyan athletes.
“By taking this step, I hope that I not only can serve as an example for other athletes, but that people will truly try to address the issue and to try to find lasting solutions. But first, I want to prove that I am clean when I set foot at the start line and that whatever result comes from my efforts, it is not dragged through the mud because I am Kenyan.”
The Berlin Marathon is on 21 September.
● Bobsled & Skeleton ● The two-day IBSF Congress in Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA) concluded on Friday, with a vote on Russian and Belarusian participation going forward:
“Following extensive discussions, the Congress decided by secret ballot not to allow the participation of Russian athletes as neutral athletes in IBSF events.”
This maintains the current IBSF policy, in place since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. According to the Russian news agency TASS, the IBSF vote included nine in favor of Russian participation, 36 against and six abstentions. The Russian federation said it will pursue an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
≡ RESULTS ≡
● Archery ● The World Archery Championships finished in Gwangju (KOR) with the women’s Recurve elimination tournament on Friday, with the home team finishing with a victory as Chae-young Kang defeated China’s 19-year-old Jingyi Zhu, 7-3, in the final.
Kang won her first individual Worlds gold, but fifth career Worlds win, with the others in team events; she was the women’s runner-up in 2019. Korea’s San An, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champ, won the bronze, 6-4, over Indonesia’s Diananda Choirunisa.
Overall, South Korea won seven medals (2-1-4) to lead all nations; no one else won more than three. The U.S. won two silvers.
● Badminton ● China claimed a clean sweep of all five finals at the BWF World Tour Hong Kong Open, with second-seed Shi Feng Li (CHN) sweeping Lakshya Sen (IND), 21-15, 21-12 in the men’s Singles and top-seeded Zhi Yi Wang defeating no. 2 Yue Han, 21-14-24-22, in the women’s Singles match.
China teams won the Doubles titles over India (men), Japan (women) and two Chinese teams were in the Mixed final.
● Boxing ● The first World Boxing World Championships in Liverpool (GBR) was dominated by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which left with seven and six wins, respectively.
Two fighters, both from Uzbekistan, followed up with World Boxing titles after winning golds at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Abdulmalik Khalokov at 60 kg (57 kg class in Paris) and Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev at 70 kg (65 kg in 2024). The other Uzbek winners included Fazliddin Erkinboev at 75 kg, Javokhir Ummataliev at 80 kg, Akmaljon Isrollov at 85 kg and Turabek Khabibullaev at 90 kg.
Kazakhstan had four men’s gold medalists: Sanzhar Tashkenbay at 50 kg, Makhmud Sabayrkhan at 55 kg, Torekhan Sabrykhan at 70 kg and Albek Oralbay at +90 kg.
In the women’s division, Kazakh fighters took three classes, with Alua Balkibekova winning at 51 kg over two-time Olympic silver medalist Buse Naz Cakiroglu (TUR); Aida Abikeyeva at 65 kg, and Natalya Bogdanova at 70 kg. India also scored two wins, by Meenakshi Hooda at 48 kg and Jaismine Lamboria at 57 kg.
The U.S. won one medal, by Yoseline Perez, a silver in the women’s 54 kg class, losing the gold-medal bout to Hsiao-wen Huang (TPE) by 4:1.
● Cycling ● Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard came in as the favorite in the 80th Vuelta a Espana and he left as the champion after a brilliant Saturday performance on the final climbing stage.
Friday’s 161.9 km route was fairly flat and made for the sprinters, with Belgian Jasper Philipsen winning his third stage of the Vuelta with a final charge over Mads Pedersen (DEN) and Orluis Aular (VEN). Vingegaard picked up four bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint to give him a 44-second edge on pursuer Joao Almeida (POR).
Then came the brutal, 165.6 km, five-climb 20th stage, set to decide the race on the Bola del Mundo uphill finale. Vingegaard, Almeida and three others were ascending the final climb, when Vingegaard attacked with 1.2 km to the finish and rode away to a 3:56:23 win, 11 seconds ahead of Visama – Lease A Bike teammate Sepp Kuss (USA) with Australia’s Jai Hindley third (+0:13). Almeida was fifth at +0:22 and fell back to 1:16 behind with only the final ride to Madrid to go. It was over.
On Sunday, the planned 108 km stage from Alalpardo to Madrid got about 50 km in and then was stopped by police for security reasons due to pro-Palestinian protests in Madrid. The official La Vuelta Web site reported:
“The riders are stopped in Madrid. Protesters have invaded the road.”
Officially, the stage was cancelled and the results from the end of stage 20 were used. Vingegaard was the winner at 72:53:57, with Almeida at +1:16 and Tom Pidcock (GBR) third at +3:11.
American Matthew Riccitello was fifth at +5:55; Sepp Kuss – the 2023 winner – was seventh overall at 7:45 and Matteo Jorgenson was 10th at +12:16.
Vingegaard has contested eight Grand Tour events, with an impressive record:
● Tour de France: 2x1st, 3x2nd
● Vuelta a Espana: 1x1st, 1x2nd, 1x46th
That’s seven top-two finishes (in a row) in eight tries; what about the Giro d’Italia in 2026?
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At the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec on Friday (12th), French star Julien Alaphilippe separated from countryman Pavel Sivakov in the final 1,200 m to win in 5:04:32 over the 216 km multi-loop course in and around Quebec City. Sivakov ended up two seconds behind and Alberto Bettiol (ITA) was third at +0:04.
Sunday’s 209.1 km Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal, also a loop-style race, saw Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogacar launch an attack with 24 km left, but once clear, slowed to have his UAE Team Emiratas-XRG teammate Brandon McNulty of the U.S. join him, with 16 km to go.
The two rode together to the line and McNulty crossed first with both timed in 5:14:04. American Quinn Simmons was a distant third, 1:03 behind.
¶
At the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Switzerland, the women’s Cross Country Olympic race went to a familiar champion: 2016 Olympic gold medalist Jenny Rissveds (SWE).
She was at or near the lead the entire race and in front for the last three laps, winning in 1:21:35, 18 seconds ahead of Sammie Maxwell (NZL) and Short Track winner Alessandra Keller (SUI: 1:22:31). Savilla Blunck was the top American, in fifth (1:23:21). It was Rissveds’ first career Worlds gold.
Sunday’s men’s race saw defending champion Alan Hatherly (RSA) dominate, finishing in 1:30:30, way ahead of Simone Avondetto (ITA: 1:31:18) and Paris 2024 runner-up Victor Koretzky (1:31:21). Christopher Blevins was the top American, in 14th place (1:34:14).
● Gymnastics ● The FIG Artistic World Challenge Cup in Paris (FRA) drew a strong field of international stars, including Russian “neutrals” such as Tokyo 2020 Team gold medalist and All-Around bronze winner Angelina Melnikova. As promised, Ukrainian athletes did not compete in protest as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues.
The women’s winners included Abigail Martin (GBR: 14.016) on Vault; Olympic Uneven Bars champion Kaylia Nemour (ALG), scoring 15.033; Melnikova on Beam (13.500) and Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Voinea on Floor (13.800), with Melnikova second (13.400).
Tokyo Olympic men’s Floor gold medalist Artem Dolgopyat (ISR) won his specialty at 14.466; Paris Olympic silver winner Nariman Kurbanov (KAZ) won on Pommel Horse at 15.066; Belgian Glen Cuyle won in Rings (14.466); Italy’s Thomas Grasso took the Vault at 14.016; Britain’s Joe Fraser, the 2019 Parallel Bars World Champion, won his event at 14.533 and the Horizontal Bar went to Carlo Macchini (ITA), the 2023 European silver winner, at 14.433.
● Rugby ● In the quarterfinals of the World Rugby Women’s World Cup in England, defending champion New Zealand ran past South Africa, 46-17 and second-seed Canada stormed by Australia, 46-5. The winners will meet on 19 September in Bristol.
In the lower bracket, France defeated Ireland in a low-scoring match by 18-13, and top-seeded England walloped Scotland by 40-8. France and England will meet on the 20th in Bristol.
● Shooting ● Not just wins, but world records at the ISSF Rifle-Pistol World Cup in Beijing (CHN):
● Men/10 m Air Rifle: 255.0 by David Scolazzo (ITA) to defeat Paris Olympic champ Lihao Sheng (CHN: 253.5), the prior record holder at 254.5 from 2024.
● Women/10 m Air Rifle: 255.3 by 16-year-old Xinlu Peng (CHN), winning over Jeanette Hegg Duestad (NOR: 252.6); Zifei Wang (CHN) had the old record at 254.8 from April 2025.
In the 50 m Rifle/3 Positions finals, Czech Jiri Privratsky, the Paris fourth-placer, won the men’s gold at 465.3; Norway’s Duestad, the 2022 Worlds bronze winner, took the women’s event at 466.2.
Germany’s Florian Peter, the 2023 Worlds bronzer, won the men’s 25 m Rapid-Fire Pistol over Tokyo 2020 champ Jean Quiquampoix (FRA), 34-33, and Olympic champ Ji-in Yang (KOR) took the women’s 25 m Pistol final, 39-37, over teammate and Paris Olympic 10 m Pistol gold medalist Ye-jin Oh.
Esha Singh (IND) was the women’s 10 m Air Pistol winner, over Qianxun Yai (CHN), 242.6 to 242.5.
● Sport Climbing ● Home fans cheered at the IFSC Speed World Cup in Guiyang (CHN), as the home nation won both the men’s and women’s Speed finals.
Eighteen-year-old Shouhong Chu took the men’s title – his first World Cup win – over Ryo Omasa (JPN), 4.79 to 4.99, with German Leander Carmanns winning bronze, 4.98 to 5.11, vs. Ukraine’s Yaroslav Tkach.
The women’s gold went to Shixue Meng, who defeated Jimion Jeong (KOR) in the final, 6.30 to 6.36, for her first World Cup victory. American Emma Hunt took the bronze against Yafei Zhou in 6.44 (Zhou fell).
In the seasonal Speed series, Kiromal Katibin (INA) was the men’s winner over Sam Watson of the U.S., 3,945 to 3,629. Hunt won the women’s title with 3,795 points.
● Surfing ● The 2025 World Surfing Games finished Sunday in La Bocana (ESA), with new champions in both the men’s and women’s classes.
Australia’s Dane Henry came out on top in the men’s final, scoring 18.17 points to edge Olympic gold medalist Kauli Vaast (FRA: 17.57), Australian Morgan Cibilic (14.77) and Brazil’s Douglas Silva (13.60).
It was Vaast’s second straight World Surfing Games bronze.
Spain’s Janire Extabarri scored 14.57 to win the women’s gold, the first-ever Spanish medal in the World Surfing Games! Yolanda Sequeira (POR) claimed second at 14.57 and defending champion Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) was third with the same score. Peru’s Arena Rodriguez was fourth (8.53).
It’s the fifth career World Surfing Games medal (3-0-2) for Fitzgibbons, now 34. Sequeira scored her second silver, also in 2021.
● Table Tennis ● The fourth of six WTT Champions tournaments for 2025 was in Macau, with China sweeping both titles for the third time. Chuqin Wang, a double team gold medalist in Paris in 2024, took the men’s title, 11-9, 11-7, 1108, 11-4, over Brazil’s 2025 Worlds silver winner, Hugo Calderano.
Yingsha Sun, China’s Olympic women’s runner-up in Tokyo and Paris, took the women’s title against countrywoman Manyu Wang in a tight battle, 11-8, 13-15, 11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6. It was also Sun’s second win of the season in WTT Champions tournaments.
● Triathlon ● A brand new medalist in the World Championship Triathlon Series in Karlovy Vary (CZE) took the men’s race in German Henry Graf, who had the fastest swim in the field by 12 seconds and was no. 7 on bike, allowing him to rank seventh in the 10 km run and still win by 1:49:22 to 1:49:29 over Brazil’s Miguel Hidalgo with Hungary’s Csongor Lehmann in third (1:49:46).
Seth Rider was the top American, in 18th (1:51:20).
The women’s winner was the 2023 World Champion, Beth Potter (GBR), a decisive winner in 2:02:12 with Taylor Spivey of the U.S. second in 2:02:25 and then German Lisa Tertsch in 2:03:07.
Potter simply outran everyone, taking just 32:42 on the 10 km run and taking the lead with about 1,000 m to go, while Tertsch was second-fastest at 33:38 and Spivey – who led at the start of the run phase – at 33:58. For Spivey, it was her best finish in a World Championship Series race since 2019 (also second).
● Wrestling ● The U.S. scored a men’s Freestyle gold on the second day of the UWW World Championships in Zagreb (CRO), as 2023 Worlds bronze medalist Zahid Valencia dominated Japan’s Hayato Ishiguro to win the 86 kg title by 12-0.
Valencia won his bouts by 10-0, 10-0, 10-0, 7-0 and then 12-0 in the final for a perfect 49-0 total. Wow.
The other three men’s Freestyle classes decided on Sunday included wins for Russian “neutral” Zaur Uguev at 61 kg (his third world title); Yushinosuke Aoyagi (JPN) at 70 kg (1st title) and Iranian Amir Zare at 125 kg (third title).
Americans Levi Haines (79 kg) and Trent Hidlay (92 kg) have advanced to the gold-medal finals on Monday. Competition continues through the 21st.
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