Welcome to The Sports Examiner SPEED READ, a 100 mph (44.7 m/s) review of what happened over the last 72 hours in Olympic sport:
LANE ONE
Monday: The U.S. women’s National Team sued U.S. Soccer for unequal pay vs. the men’s team. The complaint has some fascinating details of who got paid how much for what and the ancillary issues like charter flights and the field surface that the women say they are being treated unfairly. Some added facts not in the complaint and the new reality of how this frames the women’s team going into the 2015 World Cup.
ALPINE SKIING
Saturday: An amazing 15th seasonal win for Mikaela Shiffrin in the Slalom in Spindleruv Mlyn, giving her the record for the most World Cup wins in a single season. Plus, she is closing in on her last goal of the season: winning the World Cup Giant Slalom title!
Sunday: He did it: an eighth consecutive World Cup overall title for Marcel Hirscher (AUT), thanks to the results of the Giant Slalom and Slalom in Kranjska Gora. He’s also won the Giant Slalom and Slalom titles again, so he now owns 20 Crystal Globes. Time for a museum?
ATHLETICS
Sunday: Fabulous NCAA Championships for Florida’s Grant Holloway, who set an American Record of 7.35 in the 60 m Hurdles, won the 60 m sprint and finished third in the long jump as his Gators won the team title. Plus Cuba’s Juan Miguel Echevarria threatens the world long jump record!
BADMINTON
Sunday: History for no. 1-ranked Kento Momota of Japan, who became the first Japanese winner of the men’s Singles at the historic All-England Open!
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Sunday: The top-seed Australians faltered, but 31st-seeded Nicole Laird and Becchara Palmer came through for the home crowd in Sydney in the FIVB World Tour 3-star tournament. American teams finished 2-3.
BIATHLON
Sunday: This is why sports is so great. At the World Championships in Sweden, favored Johannes Thingnes Boe won the men’s Sprint, nearly-unknown Dmytro Pidruchnyi of Ukraine won the 12.5 km Pursuit as Boe missed three shots on the final set and had to settle for silver. Impossible? It happened.
CYCLING
Saturday: The Women’s World Tour got started in Siena (ITA) and defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) took the seasonal lead right away with a late push to win the Strade Bianche.
DIVING
Saturday: Another 10-for-10 sweep of the FINA World Series stop in Beijing (CHN) for China. The hosts have now won 88 of the last 90 World Series events held there!
FENCING
Sunday: Japan’s Kazuyasu Minobe and Romania’s Ana Maria Popescu took the titles in the Epee Grand Prix in Budapest.
FREESTYLE SKIING
Sunday: Rough weather at Mammoth Mountain, California, but it cleared long enough for Canadian Cassie Sharpe to win the seasonal Halfpipe title, while American Birk Irving won the men’s Halfpipe event.
JUDO
Sunday: Germany led the medal parade with seven (and two wins) in the Marrakesh Grand Prix.
NORDIC SKIING
Sunday: The famed Holmenkollen Ski Fest in Oslo saw the 11th straight distance win for Norway’s sensational Therese Johaug in the 30 km Mass Start race, and Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov took over the seasonal lead in the Cross Country World Cup standings.
RUGBY
Sunday: Bad news and good news for the U.S. men’s team in the sixth stage of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. The Americans didn’t make the final for the first time this season. The good news is that by finishing fourth, they are still in first place!
SHORT TRACK
Sunday: Sweeps in the 1,000 m and the 3,000 m Superfinal were the keys to the World Championships overall titles for Hyo-Jun Lim (KOR) and Suzanne Schulting (NED) in Bulgaria.
SNOWBOARD
Saturday: The World Cup program at Mammoth Mountain was hampered by rough weather, but it cleared long enough for Olympic champ Red Gerard (USA) to take the Slopestyle gold, but American Chris Corning won the seasonal title. In the Halfpipe events, Yuko Totsuka (JPN) and Xuetong Cai (CHN) both won and took the season titles.
SPEED SKATING
Saturday: Wow! World records in four events on the first day of the ISU World Cup Final at the famed Utah Olympic Oval, including the 1,000 m record for American Brittany Bowe, who clinched the 1,000 m seasonal title with a come-through performance!
Sunday: More world records at the Olympic Oval on the final day of the season, and a second seasonal title for Bowe, this time in the 1,500 m.
SWIMMING
Saturday: The first Tyr Pro Swim Series in Des Moines was a big success, with 11 world-leading marks, five wins for sprint ace Michael Andrew and a Backstroke sweep for world-record holder Kathleen Baker.
TRIATHLON
Saturday: The ITU World Series season opener in Abu Dhabi had a 1-2 finish for the U.S. in the women’s race, with Katie Zaferes and Taylor Spivey at the front. Spain’s Mario Mola opened defense of his 2018 world title with a tough win in the men’s Sprint race.
UPCOMING
Highlights of the coming week, with previews in the coming days on TheSportsExaminer.com:
● Alpine Skiing: The World Cup Final is in Andorra, with titles still at stake for Mikaela Shiffrin and many others.
● Basketball: The FIBA World Cup Draw will be held on Saturday; who will the U.S. stars play in China?
● Cycling: Two famed stage races in the men’s World Tour: Paris-Nice in France and the Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy.
And a look at how international federations have to prepare for the future.
