Welcome to The Sports Examiner SPEED READ, a 100 mph (44.7 m/s) review of what happened this week in Olympic sport:
LANE ONE
Wednesday: It seems like every Olympic-sport federation (and some U.S. federations) now have world rankings, but it all started 72 years ago in a Bay Area town in California. But Track & Field News is still doing it better than any of them.
Friday: Athletes want clean sport, but who is going to pay for it? The reality facing athletes at this week’s IOC Athletes Forum and at the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Athlete Session means they should be looking for more sophisticated solutions than asking the IOC to pay for everything.
THE BIG PICTURE
Tuesday: The Swedish national government came through – sort of – for the Stockholm-Are bid for the 2026 Winter Games with promises of guarantees on security and visa control. But the commitment wasn’t exactly enthusiastic …
ARTISTIC SWIMMING
Monday: Five wins for Ukraine, but seven medals for Canada’s Jacqueline Simoneau in the second FINA World Series in Greece.
ATHLETICS
Monday: Ten more world-leading marks over the weekend, but the best was a big shot put performance by New Zealand’s Tom Walsh. Plus, a high school senior to watch for in the women’s pole vault … for a year from now!
FIGURE SKATING
Friday: World Champ Nathan Chen and Worlds bronze medalist Vincent Zhou dazzle at the ISU World Team Trophy event in Japan and the U.S. is in a good position to win the title once again!
ICE HOCKEY
Tuesday: U.S. women go undefeated in Group A of the IIHF World Championships, beat Canada, and ready for playoff quarterfinals vs. Japan on Thursday,
Thursday: American women shut down Japan, 4-0, now face Russia in World Championships semifinals in Finland.
RUGBY
Wednesday: The U.S. men’s Sevens squad is closing in on its season’s goal – a berth in the 2020 Olympic tournament – as it remains in first place going into the eighth leg of the HSBC Sevens Series in Singapore.
SWIMMING
Thursday: A world-leading 800 m Free by Katie Ledecky and two wins for sprint star Caeleb Dressel headlined the first two days of the third Tyr Pro Swim Series meet on Richmond, Virginia.
PREVIEWS
Badminton: All five no. 1-ranked players and team in this week’s Singapore Open!
Canoeing: Multiple U.S. champions lined up for Sprint & Slalom Team Trials.
Curling: Final “regular season” event in the Grand Slam of Curling: Players Champs.
Cycling: An all-British battle for the title in the Izturia Basque Country?
Cycling: Anyone have a real favorite for 117th Paris-Roubaix on Sunday?
Gymnastics: Second Rhythmic World Cup features Worlds silver winner Ashram.
Modern Pentathlon: World Champs Cooks & Protopenko in action in Sofia!
UPCOMING
Highlights of the coming week, with coverage on TheSportsExaminer.com:
● IOC: The ninth International Athletes Forum will be held in Lausanne (SUI) this weekend.
● Athletics: It’s mid-April, so get ready for the Boston Marathon on Monday!
And a full report on the weekend’s results in Monday’s exclusive Stat Pack!
