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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
1. Malinin, Chock & Bates post big wins at U.S. Nationals
2. American ski star Mikaela Shiffrin injured in Cortina
3. Lia Thomas files against World Aquatics trans rules
4. Russian diving head sees no participation in 2028 Games either
5. U.S. biathlete Reid harassed for years by wax tech
● Ilia Malinin and the Ice Dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates starred at the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships in Ohio, with Malinin winning his second straight men’s Singles title by almost 30 points. Chock and Bates won their fifth national title, with a medal for a 12th straight year! Amber Glenn won the women’s title and Ellie Kim and Danny O’Shea won in Pairs.
● American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin crashed during Friday’s Downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, site of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games and had to be airlifted off the mountain. Her injuries do not appear serious, so far, but she will be out of action for a while. Meanwhile, American Jacqueline Wiles surprised with her first World Cup medal – a silver – in six years in Saturday’s Downhill.
● Transgender swimmer and NCAA women’s champion Lia Thomas filed suit against the World Aquatics’ eligibility regulations at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, asking them to be taken down as unfair and disproportionate.
● The head of the Russian Diving Federation said that he did not see the country competing not just at the 2024 Olympic Games at Paris, but at the 2028 Los Angeles Games!
● The Associated Press reported on abuse against U.S. biathlete Joanne Reid by a wax technician working for the American ski federation. The U.S. Center for SafeSport suspended him, but he rejected the charges.
● World Championships: Luge (Austria stuns with four wins to Germany’s three!) = Ski Flying (Austria’s Kraft consistent enough to win gold) ●
● Panorama: Beijing 2022 (Valieva decision coming Monday) = Winter Youth Olympic Games (Four have three golds so far) = World Anti-Doping Agency (North Korea reinstated as compliant) = Alpine Skiing (Odermatt gets ninth win this season in Garmisch) = Athletics (3: Tefera and Welteji star in Astana; Bastien and Nesbitt win USATF Indoor multi-event titles; $600,000 prize pool for marathon trials) = Badminton (China wins three at Indonesia Masters) = Bobsled & Skeleton (Love wins at IBSF World Cup, while Germans win five) = Cross Country Skiing (Diggins wins, Klaebo wins two at Goms World Cup) = Cycling (Reijnhout and Pithie win World Tour races in Australia) = Football (FIFA confirms Rubiales’ three-year suspension) = Freestyle Skiing (2: Olympic champs win Ski Cross; Anthony continues sweep of Moguls World Cup) = Judo (Russian “neutrals” win four at Portugal Grand Prix) = Nordic Combined (Norwegian sweep continues in Schoach: 4 for 4) = Rugby Sevens (Ireland and Argentina win in Perth) = Snowboard (2: Grondin and Adamczykova take SnowCross wins; Bagozza’s dream PGS season continues in Simonhohe) = Ski Jumping (Pinkelnig and Prevc dominate Ljubno) = Ski Mountaineering (France sweeps World Cup Sprints) = Speed Skating (World and American records for Stolz, U.S. Team Pursuit) ●
1.
Malinin, Chock & Bates post big wins at U.S. Nationals
What would Ilia Malinin do? That was one of the big questions coming into the U.S. Figure Skating Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, and the 19-year-old delivered a spectacular victory by almost 30 points.
The defending champion in the men’s Singles, Malinin led the Short Program with a brilliant 108.57 total, way ahead of Maxim Naumov (89.72) and 2015 National Champion (and seven-time medalist) Jason Brown (89.02).
In the much-anticipated Free Skate, Malinin planned to open with a triple Axel, but completed his patented quadruple Axel, followed by three more quads. Even with a fall, he won the Free Skate with a score of 185.78 and took the overall title at 294.35.
Well back were 2015 champion Jason Brown (264.50, third in the Short and second in the Free Skate) and Camden Pulkinen (262.33, third in the Free Skate). For Brown, 29, it’s his second straight Nationals silver behind Malinin and his eighth career top-three finish (1-4-3). Pulkinen won his first Nationals medal.
Equally impressive in another way was the third straight national title for Ice Dance World Champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates. They steamed to the lead in the Rhythm Dance at 92.17, comfortably ahead of Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko (83.19) and Caroline Green and Michael Parsons (80.91). Then, despite both falling ill, they completed the Free Dance in second place (123.75) to win with an overall total of 215.92. Carreira and Ponomarenko won the Free Dance at 126.85 and had a 210.04 total to move up from third in 2023 and win their second Nationals medal.
Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville finished third in the Free Dance (118.80) and took the bronze at 196.94, while Green and Parsons – second in 2023 – fell to fourth (193.83 total).
Chock and Bates won their fifth career U.S. title, with the first coming way back in 2015! They have also won a Nationals medal for a remarkable 12 straight years (5-6-1), starting back in 2013. Chock also won another bronze in 2011, with Greg Zuerlein, for 13 career U.S. podiums.
The women’s competition got confusing. Defending champ Isabeau Levito got off to a strong start, winning the Short Program at 75.38, trailed by Amber Glenn (74.98) and Clare Seo (67.41). But in the Free Skate, Levito was charged with four falls and scored only 125.30 even with seven triple jumps in the program, good for fourth.
Taking advantage was Glenn, who had six triple jumps, but missed on two others, but still scored 135.48 for second in the Free Skate and a 210.46 total that was good enough to win her first U.S. championship. It’s her third career U.S. medal (1-1-1), at age 24.
Levito’s total was 200.68, and she ended up third after 15-year-old Josephine Lee powered up from fifth in the Short Program to win the Free Skate (138.85) and take the silver at 204.13. She’ll be 16 on Saturday.
In Pairs, Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea became the third different winner in the last three years, finishing second in both segments for a 187.76 total. They moved up from bronze in 2023 and it’s the first national title for both. Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov were fifth after the Short Program, but won the Free Skate (126.43) to take the silver at 186.91 for their first Nationals medal together (Mitrofanov won bronze with Audrey Lu in 2022). Valentin Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez took the bronze with two fourth-place finishes, at 181.03.
On Sunday, Glenn and Levito were named to the U.S. team for the World Championships, as were Ice Dance winners Chock and Bates, Carreira and Ponomarenko and Bratti and Somerville.
2.
American ski star Mikaela Shiffrin injured in Cortina
A day after praising the ski courses at Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, where the 2026 Olympic Alpine events will be held, American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin fell and had to be hospitalized during Friday’s Downhill.
But Shiffrin had noted that the speed courses – Downhill and Super-G – are more treacherous for her than her favored technical events of Giant Slalom and Slalom:
“It’s been a place where I’ve had a really good feeling on my skis, and I feel comfortable on the track. That’s really helpful because it takes a little bit less mental energy to memorize all the bits and pieces of the course.
“For me, the hardest thing with downhill and super-G – just with speed in general – is the factor of memorizing all of the terrain pieces.”
On Friday, she was the eighth skier to start and according to the FIS account:
“[T]he overall World Cup leader suffered a fall near the top of the course approaching the Tofane Schuss. Shiffrin was unable to land a small jump in a patch of soft snow and slid into the safety netting. She was attended to by medics for about 10 minutes and then stood up, but limped off gingerly using her poles, unable to exert pressure on her left leg.
“The five-time overall World Cup champion was airlifted off the mountain by helicopter and according to the U.S. Ski Team taken by ambulance to a Cortina clinic for further evaluation.”
The Beijing 2022 Olympic gold winner Corinne Suter (SUI) also failed to finish, injuring her left knee and had to stop; she was airlifted off the course and suffered a season-ending ACL tear in her left knee. Italy’s Federica Brignone, a 24-time World Cup winner, crashed as well, but appeared to be undamaged.
In all, 12 of the 52 starters failed to finish, with the race won by Austria’s Stephanie Venier in 1:33.06, her second career World Cup gold after a 2019 win in Garmisch (GER)! Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami got her eighth World Cup medal of the season in second (1:33.45) and a rare three-way tie for third among Sofia Goggia (ITA), Valerie Grenier (CAN) and Christina Ager (SUI), all in 1:33.77.
Shiffrin posted on Instagram a few hours after the crash:
“Thank you everyone for your support and well wishes. At this point I’m just taking it day by day, and I’ll share more information or updates as I know more. Very thankful it’s not worse, but I’m pretty sore at the moment.
“I won’t be skiing the rest of this weekend, and I won’t be skiing in Kronplatz. Beyond that, it’s quite hard to say right now. Need a little time to process with my team and see how everything is feeling in the coming days! Thank you all!”
U.S. team coach Paul Kristofic said that Shiffrin was in reasonably good shape: “She doesn’t fall often. But it can happen. It just goes to show you how on the limit athletes push and how the courses push them. And they have to if they want to be competitive.”
The U.S. Ski Team posted on X (ex-Twitter): “@MikaelaShiffrin was taken by ambulance to the clinic in Cortina and is being evaluated for a left leg injury. Initial analysis shows the ACL and PCL seem intact. Further details to come.”
Alpine skiing has had a rough season for injuries, with Olympic women’s Slalom champ Petra Vlhova (SVK) and two-time Worlds silver winner Wendy Holdener (SUI) both out for the season due to crashes, as well as three-time World Champion Alexis Pinturault (FRA) and Norwegian star Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Shiffrin’s partner.
There were more surprised in Saturday’s Downhill, with Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel winning her fourth career World Cup gold and first ever in a Downhill at 1:33.50. She took the lead from Italian home favorite (and 2018 Olympic champ) Sofia Goggia, who timed 1:33.94. But completely unexpected was the silver winner coming from the third starting group, with American Jacqueline Wiles finishing in 1:33.85 for her third career World Cup medal, her first silver and the first since a bronze in the Cortina Downhill in 2018!
The Sunday Super-G had a more familiar ending, with Beijing Olympic champ Lara Gut-Behrami winning her fourth race of the season and 41st World Cup race of her career in 1:20.75, ahead of Venier (1:20.96) and France’s Romane Miradoli (1:21.16), with Mowinckel fourth (1:21.28). Lauren Macuga was the top American at 1:22.65 for 15th.
3.
Lia Thomas files against World Aquatics trans rules
The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced Friday that an action by American transgender swimmer Lia Thomas was filed in September was now registered and has commenced.
Thomas, who swam as Will Thomas at the University of Pennsylvania during the 2018-19 season, transitioned to female during the Covid-19 pandemic and went on to win the NCAA women’s 500-yard title in March of 2022, dusting U.S. Olympians Emma Weyant, Erica Sullivan and Brooke Forde in the process.
She said afterwards that she wanted to swim at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials and try to make the American Olympic team for Paris.
World Aquatics adopted its “Policy on Eligibility for the Men’s and Women’s Competition Categories” at its June 2022 Congress, with tight restrictions for male-to-female transgenders that include:
“They are androgen sensitive but had male puberty suppressed beginning at Tanner Stage 2 or before age 12, whichever is later, and they have since continuously maintained their testosterone levels in serum (or plasma) below 2.5 nmol/L.”
This essentially shuts out all male swimmers who want to make a transition to the female category after age 12. The Court announcement noted:
“Ms Thomas submits that the Challenged Provisions are invalid and unlawful as they discriminate against her contrary to the Olympic Charter, the World Aquatics Constitution, and Swiss law including the European Convention on Human Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and that such discrimination cannot be justified as necessary, reasonable, or proportionate to achieve a legitimate sporting objective.
“In bringing the matter before CAS, Ms Thomas seeks an order from the CAS declaring that the Challenged Provisions are unlawful, invalid, and of no force and effect.”
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has been in this area previously, most sensationally in 2019 when it decided Semenya vs. IAAF (now World Athletics) and that federation’s restrictions for the female category. The IAAF regulations at the time barred Semenya and others with hydroandrogenism (“differences in sex development”) – testosterone levels far in excess of female norms – from competing in events from 400 m to the mile given research which showed a competitive advantage to such athletes. The Court decision upheld those regulations:
“The Panel’s task is to determine whether the DSD Regulations, which are discriminatory, are necessary, reasonable and proportionate. …
“[T]he majority of the Panel finds that the DSD Regulations are discriminatory but that on the evidence currently before the Panel such discrimination is a necessary, reason and proportionate means of achieving the aim of what is described as the integrity of female athletics and the upholding of the “protected class” of female athletes in certain events.”
The World Aquatics regulations are stronger and based on the belief – not considered in the Semenya case – that any male-to-female transgender transition after male puberty provides physical advantages to that athlete which cannot be allowed.
Thomas’s chance to compete at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials in swimming are almost nil, as the event begins on 15 June and the case should take a lot longer than that. But it’s important, as other federations – in athletics, cycling, rowing and tennis, for example – have joined in, more or less at the same level as aquatics.
No hearing date has been set, and the Court statement did not indicate that any of the three arbitrators who will hear the case have been selected.
4.
Russian diving head sees no participation in 2028 Games either
On Thursday, Russian Diving Federation President Stanislav Druzhinin told the Russian news agency TASS that his athletes will not participate at the Paris Olympic Games as the top Russians will be barred by their connections to military and law-enforcement-affiliated sports clubs. And even if qualified:
“The question is how they will be treated there, will Do they feel like outcasts there, sitting separately from everyone and not communicating with anyone? In my understanding, this is how it will be. International competitions have turned into politics, unfriendly countries are trying to prove something, infringing on the rights of our athletes who simply want to compete equal to others.”
On Friday, he went a step further, telling TASS:
“My personal opinion is that we are unlikely to go to the Olympics in Los Angeles.
“We’ll see, but under the current conditions there can’t even be a conversation about a trip. They violate the sporting principle and are a manifestation of discrimination. There is absolutely no point in going.”
5.
U.S. biathlete Reid harassed for years by wax tech
The Associated Press reported in depth on a U.S. Center for SafeSport investigation into harassment of now-retired U.S. biathlon international Joanne Reid that began as early as 2016.
Reid, now 31, was a two-time Olympian in biathlon in 2018 and 2022, was abused and reported it at least as early as 2019, but an investigation only got going when teammate Deedra Irwin, a member of the Army National Guard in Vermont, told her superiors, who insisted on an investigation by SafeSport, in April of 2021.
According to the AP:
“Its 18-month investigation found that Petr ‘Gara’ Garabik had engaged in repeated sexual harassment and unwanted sexual contact with Reid. The Czech citizen was suspended for six months and put on probation until December 2024.”
The report noted that Garabik “engaged in a pattern of sexualized behavior” with Reid, “including sexualized commentary and inappropriate sexualized touching, over the course of six years.” Reid told the AP that U.S. biathlon officials had not taken his actions seriously.
Garabik told the news agency that the allegations were “complete nonsense from the start.” He was not allowed to work with the U.S. teams in 2021.
Reid also told the AP that the SafeSport interview and investigation process was traumatic, having to relive the incidents. But she also got significant support after putting some of the details on her Facebook and Instagram pages. She last raced internationally in the 2022-23 season.
≡ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡
● Luge ● Austria led the medal parade at the FIL World Championships in Altenberg (GER), displacing usual leader Germany, which won eight of the nine events at the 2023 Worlds.
Instead, Austria won both the women’s Singles and Doubles, with the unheralded Lisa Schulte – who hadn’t won a World Cup medal this season – taking the Singles title at 1:43.901, surprising German star Julia Taubitz, the 2021 World Champion (1:44.005) and Austrian teammate (and European champ) Madeleine Egle (1:44.076). Summer Britcher was the top American, in ninth at 1:44.581.
In Doubles, it was two-time World Cup winners Selina Egle and Lara Kipp who got the win in 1:24.761, with surprises for second and third. Latvia’s Anda Upite and Zane Kaluma finished second – also with no World Cup medals this season – in Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby got the bronze for the U.S. in 1:24.897. Forgan and Kirkby had won a Worlds bronze in 2022, in a special Worlds held only for that event, which was not on the Winter Olympic program.
In the Sprint events, Taubitz took the individual title – her second – in 37.702, ahead of Natalie Maag (SUI: 37.774) and Latvian Elina Vitola (37.813). American Ashley Farquharson finished fourth in 37.833 and Britcher was eighth in 37.923.
The Doubles Sprint belonged to Italy’s Andrea Voetter and Marion Oberhofer (28.421), with Latvia 2-3 with Upite and Kaluma (28.438) and Marta Robezneice and Kitija Bogdanova (28.467). The U.S. was fourth again, with Maya Chen and Reannyn Weiler (28.482) and also sixth with Forgan and Kirkby (28.595).
The men’s seasonal leader, Max Langenhan (GER), last year’s runner-up, left no doubt, winning decisively at 1:47.813 to 1:48.574 for Nico Gleirscher (AUT) and 1:48.630 for Felix Loch (GER), who won his 21st career Worlds medal (14-5-2). American Tucker West finished an impressive fourth (1:48.695) and Jonny Gustafson was ninth (1:49.080).
The men’s Sprint went to Gleirscher (33.011), beating Langenhan (33.071) and Latvia’s Kristers Aparjods (33.124). West was ninth at 33.397.
Austria’s Juri Gatt and Riccardo Schoepf (1:22.924) up better-known teammates Thomas Steu and Wolfgang Kindl (AUT: 1:22.970) to win the men’s Doubles, ahead of favored Germans Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt, the three-time Olympic winners (1:23.279). Dana Kellogg and Frank Ike were ninth for the U.S. at 1:24.020.
Bots and Plume won the Doubles Sprint in 27.863 over Steu and Kindl (27.895), with Gatt and Schoepf third (27.973). Zach Di Gregorio and Sean Hollander finished 13th for the U.S. in 28.295.
In the Team event, the Germans won for the second straight time, in 3:10.869, but the U.S. got its third medal in the last six Worlds in second in 3:11.227, with Britcher, Kellogg and Ike, West and Forgan and Kirkby. Latvia was third (3:11.275).
Overall, the Austrians scored nine medals (4-3-2), with the Germans (3-2-2) and Latvians (1-2-4) both at seven. The U.S. got two medals, its best performance since 2017, when it won three!
● Ski Jumping ● Austria’s Stefan Kraft added to his sparkling career resume with his first victory at the World Ski Flying Championships, off the majestic 235 m hill at Bad Mittendorf (AUT).
Kraft had already won three World Championship golds on a Normal Hill (2017) and the Large Hill (2017, 2021), but after Ski Flying bronzes in 2016 and 2022, he got his first championship.
He did it without winning any of the three rounds, placing 2-4-2 to pile up 647.4 points, just ahead of his season-long pursuer, Andreas Wellinger (GER: 645.2).
Slovenian Timi Zajc, the 2022 silver winner in this event, looked like the winner after taking the first two rounds. But his third-round jump placed him only ninth and allowed Kraft and Wellinger to pass; Zajc ended at 642.7 points. Tate Franz was the top U.S. finisher at no. 20 (549.6).
Zajc did get a gold, however, in the Team Jumping, with Lovro Kos and brothers Peter Prevc and Domen Prevc, winning at 1,615.4, to 1,588.9 for Austria (with Kraft) and 1,549.9 for Germany (with Wellinger). It’s the second straight team win for the Slovenians and for Zajc and the Prevc brothers.
≡ PANORAMA ≡
● Winter Olympic Games 2022: Beijing ● USA Today’s Christine Brennan reported that the Court of Arbitration for Sport will deliver a decision on the Kamila Valieva doping case on Monday (29th). Stay tuned!
● Winter Youth Olympic Games ● The WYOG competition continues in the Gangwon Province in Korea, with four athletes with three golds so far: Antonin Guy (FRA: biathlon), Angel Daleman (NED: speed skating), Finn Sonnekalb (GER: speed skating) and Maja Waroschitz (AUT: alpine skiing).
Through Sunday, China had the total medals lead with 16 (5-8-3), ahead of Italy (10-2-3) and Austria (4-6-5) with 15 each. The U.S. has 13 (4-7-2), with the event continuing to 1 February.
● World Anti-Doping Agency ● The World Anti-Doping Agency announced that the national anti-doping organization of North Korea was reinstated as compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code. It has been non-compliant since 2021.
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency, the Olympic Council of Asia and the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation continue to be non-compliant.
● Alpine Skiing ● A surprise at Saturday’s men’s FIS World Cup Super-G in Garmisch (GER), with France’s Nils Allegre, 30, winning his first World Cup medal, with a victory in 1:11.92, over Guglielmo Bosca (ITA, 30), who got his first career medal in second (1:12.10). Swiss veteran Loic Meillard was third (1:12.17), with seasonal leader Marco Odermatt (SUI: 1:12.20) in fourth.
Odermatt moved up in Sunday’s Super-G, getting his ninth win of the season in 1:10.13, ahead of Raphael Haaser (AUT: 1:10.43) and Franjo von Allmen (SUI: 1:10.74). It’s the first career World Cup medal for the 22-year-old von Allmen. River Radamus was the top American, in eighth (1:11.09).
After 23 of 39 races, Odermatt has a big lead on Cyprien Sarrazin (FRA) in the seasonal standings: 1,406 to 684.
● Athletics ● Two world-leading distance races highlighted the first World Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2024 in Astana (KAZ), both by Ethiopian stars.
Two-time World Indoor 1,500 m champ Sam Tefera won the men’s 3,000 m in 7:33.80, beating countryman (and Steeple star) Getnet Wale (7:34.36). Diribe Welteji, the women’s World Road Mile champ from 2023, took the women’s mile in 4:23.76, a lifetime best, beating countrywoman Gela Hambese (4:24.44).
Elsewhere, Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis won the men’s vault at 5.80 m (19-0 1/4), with American Cole Walsh fourth (5.60 m/18-4 1/2), and 100 m hurdles world-record holder Tobi Amusan (NGR) won a hot 60 m hurdles duel from Nia Ali of the U.S., 7.77 to 7.89. American Demek Kemp won the men’s 60 m in 6.55.
¶
At the USATF Indoor Combined Championships held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Tokyo Olympian Steven Bastien defended his 2023 U.S. title, scoring 5,886 to win over Jack Flood (5,665) and Jakob Tordsen (5,494).
The women’s title went to Grand Valley State’s Cheyenne Nesbitt, scoring 4,475 to win over 2020 winner Annie Kunz (4.418), with Hope Bender third (4,392).
¶
Prize money for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, coming on 3 February, was announced, with $80,000 each for the men’s and women’s winners.
A total prize pool of $600,000 will be offered, with $80,000-65,000-55,000-25,000-20,000-15,000-13,000-11,000-9,000-7,000 awarded to the top 10 placers for men and women.
● Badminton ● China took three wins at the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta, with eighth-seed Zhi Yi Wang coming through with a 21-14, 21-13 win over Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in the women’s Singles, Sheng Shu Liu and Ning Tan taking the women’s Doubles over fellow Chinese Shu Xian Zhang and Yu Zheng in three sets (10-21, 21-19, 22-20) and top-seeded Si Wei Zheng and Ya Qiong Huang taking the Mixed Doubles, 21-15, 21-16 against Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa and Natsu Saito.
Denmark’s Anders Antonsen won the men’s Singles by 18-21, 21-13, 21-18 over Canada’s Brian Yang, and the home crowd cheered on Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin to a 21-12, 20-22, 21-11 win in men’s Doubles vs. Denmark’s Kim Astrup and Anders Rasmussen.
● Bobsled & Skeleton ● Brakeman-turned-driver Kaysha Love of the U.S. returned to the winner’s circle at the IBSF World Cup in Lillehammer (NOR), posting her second win of the season in the women’s Monobob race.
The 2023 Worlds two-woman bronze winner with American star Kaille Humphries, Love – a former UNLV sprinter – became a driver this season and won the opening World Cup race in La Plagne (FRA) in December. She won a silver in December and in Lillehammer, won in 1:48.52, ahead of Australia’s Breeana Walker (1:48.94) and 2018 Olympic two-woman winner Lisa Buckwitz of Germany (1:48.95). American star Elana Meyers Taylor finished 10th in 1:49.55.
In the Two-Woman racing, World Champions Kim Kalicki and Leonie Fiebig won their first World Cup of the season in 1:43.62, ahead of teammates and Olympic champs Laura Nolte and Neele Schuten (1:43.81). Love and Azaria Hill took the bronze – their first medal this season – in 1:43.85. Taylor and Emily Renna took sixth in 1:44.36.
The Two-Man was a German sweep, led by World Champions Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer, who won their fourth race out of five on the season, in 1:40.63. Twice Olympic champs Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schueller were second (1:41.01) and teammates Adam Ammour and Benedikt Hertel got third (1:41.08). Americans Frank Del Duca and Manteo Mitchell were fifth in 1:41.77.
Friedrich, also a double Olympic winner in the Four-Man, took that race in 1:39.50, with Lochner’s sled at 1:39.72 for second and Britain’s Brad Hall (1:40.15) third.
Germany also swept the Skeleton titles, with Beijing Olympic winner Christopher Grotheer (1:42.85) leading Beijing runner-up Axel Jungk (1:42.93) and Felix Seibel (1:42.95).
Women’s Olympic champ Hannah Niese won the women’s Skeleton in 1:45.94, just ahead of American Mystique Ro (1:45.99), who got her second silver of the season. Beijing Olympic bronze winner Kimberley Bos (NED) took third in 1:46.00.
● Cross Country Skiing ● The amazing Jessie Diggins (USA), the seasonal leader, scored another FIS World Cup win with a Sunday victory in the women’s 20 km Freestyle Mass Start in Goms (SUI).
It’s her fourth win of the season, finishing at the line with just 0.6 seconds to spare on Sweden’s Frida Karlsson, 45:26.3 to 45:26.9 and Swiss Nadine Faehndrich in third in 45:28.3. American teammates Sophia Laukli (45:35.8) and Rosie Brennan (45:42.2) finished fifth (even with an early fall) and seventh!
With her 19th career World Cup win, Diggins now has a 1,771-1,488 seasonal lead on Swede Linn Svahn, who won the Saturday Freestyle sprint.
In fact, the Swedes swept the Sprint and have won six of seven Sprints during this season. Svahn won for the fifth time – all Sprints – in 3:00.67, with teammates Maja Dahlqvist (3:02.83) and Jonna Sundling (3:02.89) close behind.
In the men’s division, Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo – the two-time defending seasonal champ – had been sidelined by the flu, but came back in a big way with two wins. He took the Sprint in 2:36.42, just ahead of Lucas Chanavat (FRA: 2:36.50) and Haacard Taugnoel (NOR: 2:37.15).
Sunday’s 20 km Freestyle Mass Start was a tight race to the line between Klaebo and teammate Simen Hegstad Krueger, 39:25.2 to 39:25.9, with France’s Jules Lapierre third in 39:37.2. Gus Schumacher was the best American, in 14th (39:49.4).
● Cycling ● The UCI World Tour are now underway, with racing in Geelong, Australia for women on Saturday and men on Sunday.
The Deakin University Elite Women’s Road Race of 140.8 km came down to three riders in the end, with Rosita Reijnhout taking the win in 3:53:31, beating Dominika Wlodarczyk (POL) and Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (DEN) to the line, with all three given the same time.
American Ruth Edwards was fourth, five seconds back of the leaders.
The men’s 174.3 km ride in and around Geelong for the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Race came down to a final sprint, with New Zealand’s Laurence Pithie winning his first UCI World Tour race in 4:17:40 over Natnel Tesfatsion (ERI) and German Georg Zimmermann, with the top 13 riders given the same time.
It’s the first win ever for a New Zealand rider in this race!
● Football ● A day after a Spanish court allowed criminal proceedings to continue against former Royal Spanish Football Federation chief Luis Rubiales, FIFA’s Appeal Committee confirmed his three-year ban from all football-related activities:
“After analysing the submissions presented to it and conducting a hearing, the Appeal Committee decided to dismiss the appeal, and to confirm the sanction imposed upon Mr Rubiales.
“Amongst other considerations, the Appeal Committee was comfortably satisfied that Mr Rubiales behaved in a manner contrary to the principles enshrined under article 13 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code during and after the final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.”
Rubiales can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. His criminal case continues in Spain.
● Freestyle Skiing ● The 2023 World Champion, Italy’s Simon Deromedis, got his first medal of the FIS World Cup season in the St. Moritz (SUI) Ski Cross final on Sunday, finishing ahead of the Beijing 2022 runner-up, Swiss Alex Fiva.
Canada’s 2014 Olympic winner, Marielle Thompson, won her first World Cup race of the season, with two-time Olympic medal winner Fanny Smith (SUI) second and seasonal leader Hannah Schmidt (CAN) taking third in the women’s final.
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The FIS World Cup for Moguls and Dual Moguls was Waterville, New Hampshire, with the unstoppable Jakara Anthony – the Beijing 2022 Olympic Moguls winner – continued her romp through the schedule.
She won the women’s Moguls on Friday, scoring 81.22 to best Olympic runner-up Jaelin Kauf of the U.S. (71.71) and teammate Hannah Soar (67.93).
On Saturday, Anthony won the Dual Moguls competition over Kauf, while Olivia Giaccio won the bronze in the all-American bronze final. For Anthony, she has won 10 of 11 Moguls and Dual Moguls World Cups this season: 6/6 in Moguls and 4/5 in Dual Moguls, with only Kauf getting a win against her. Amazing.
The men’s Moguls was a third win this season for Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, the Beijing Olympic bronze winner, defeating Cooper Woods (AUS), 85.84 to 81.04. Canada’s superstar Mikael Kingsbury got third at 80.07.
Kingsbury came back to take the Dual Moguls final from Horishima; it’s Kingsbury’s 84th World Cup gold, the most ever. The all-Swedish bronze final saw Olympic champ Walter Wallberg win over Filip Gravenfors.
● Judo ● A big field of 624 judoka from 90 countries were on hand at the Portugal Grand Prix in Odivelas, with Japan taking top honors with nine medals and two wins.
Yoshito Ojo won for Japan in the men’s 81 kg class and Hikari Yoshikoka won in the women’s 48 kg division. Two other countries had two winners; Uzbekistan took golds with Dilshodbek Baratov in the men’s 60 kg class and Diyora Keldiyorova in the women’s 52kg, and Turkey grabbed wins at 90 kg for men with Mihael Zgank and in the women’s +78 kg division with Hilal Ozturk.
Absent from the medal table were four “neutral” winners – all Russian – including Yago Abuladze (66 kg), Danil Levrentev (73 kg), Matvey Kanikovskiy (100 kg) and co-World Champion Inal Tasoev (+100 kg).
A much stronger field is anticipated next week for the Paris Grand Slam, essentially a rehearsal for the 2024 Olympic Games.
● Nordic Combined ● Another sweep for Norway at the FIS World Cup in Schonach (GER), for both men and women. Eight-time Worlds gold medalist Jarl Magnus Riiber won both men’s races, giving him eight wins in 11 races this season. He took Saturday’s opener off the 100 m hill and 10 km race in 22:41.7, well ahead of Stefan Rettenegger (23:55.5) and Norway’s two-time Olympic champ Joergen Graabak (23:56.7).
On Sunday, Riiber won the 100 m/10 km race in 23:42.5, beating Graabak (24:15.7) and Rettenegger (24:36.0) for his fifth straight World Cup victory.
Norway went 1-2 in Saturday’s women’s 100 m hill/4 km race with 2021 Worlds runner-up Mari Leinan Lund winning in 10:44.6 over Ida Marie Hagen (10:57.6), with Nathalie Armbruster (GER) third (11:10.0). Annika Malachinski finished 11th for the U.S. in 12:33.0.
On Sunday, it was Hagen to the line first for her third win this season, in 22:47.2, with Leinan Lund second (23:25.0) and two-time World Champion Gyda Westvold Hansen third (23:50.3). Alexa Brabec was the top U.S. finisher, in 15th (27:12.1).
Riiber continues to lead the men’s seasonal standings with 1,070 points to 795 for Rettenegger, and Hansen and Hagen both have 560 points in the women’s competition.
● Rugby Sevens ● In Perth (AUS), Ireland scored its first podium finish of the season in the third leg of the HSBC women’s Rugby Sevens and won its first tournament with a 19-14 win over Australia in the final. Britain beat the U.S. in the women’s bronze-medal game, 24-10.
Argentina dominated the men’s final, winning 31-5 over Australia, with Ireland taking the bronze by 2-4-7 against Fiji.
The Argentines lead the men’s standings with 58 points after three stops, to 44 for Fiji and Australia. The women’s leader is Australia (also 58), with New Zealand at 46 and France at 44.
● Snowboard ● Canada’s Eliot Grondin, the Beijing 2022 Olympic runner-up, won his second SnowCross race of the season in the FIS World Cup in St. Moritz (SUI), beating Swiss home favorite Kalle Koblet and Beijing bronze medalist Omar Visintin (ITA) third.
The Sochi 2014 Olympic champ, Czech Eva Adamczykova, won her first race of the season, getting to the line ahead of Sophie Hediger (SUI) and Beijing runner-up Chloe Trespeuch (FRA).
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At Simonhohe (AUT), Italy’s Daniele Bagozza came into this season with three career World Cup medals (2-1-0). He won his fourth medal of this season (!) and defeated Beijing 2022 Parallel Giant Slalom winner Benjamin Karl (AUT) in the final, and his third win! Austria’s Fabian Obmann took the bronze.
Austria’s Sabine Schoeffmann, the 2023 Worlds bronze winner, finally got her first win of the season after medals in five prior races. She triumphed in the final over Zuzana Maderova (CZE) and Elisa Caffont (ITA).
● Ski Jumping ● The women’s FIS World Cup was in Ljubno (SLO), on the 94 m hill, with familiar faces on the podium. First came Austria’s 2023 Worlds runner-up Eva Pinkelnig on Saturday, winning for the third time this season, scoring 269.3 to 262.5 for Slovenia’s 18-year-old star, Nika Prevc. Canada’s Alexandria Loutitt got the bronze (258.9).
On Sunday, it was Prevc with her sixth win of this season at 276.8, ahead of Pinkelnig (271.7) and Slovenian teammate – and Beijing 2022 bronze winner – Nika Kriznar third (268.9).
With 13 of 26 events completed, Prevc has a 853-679 lead on Japan’s Yuki Ito this season, with Pinkelnig third (651).
● Ski Mountaineering ● The ISMF World Cup circuit was in Boi Taull (ESP) for a Sprint and Mixed Relay, with French stars Thibault Anselmet and Emily Harrop taking the individual titles.
Anselmet, a six-time World Championships medal winner, took the men’s Sprint decisively in 2:42.13, beating Swiss Arno Lietha (2:46.26) and Oriol Cardona Coll (ESP: 2:48.04). Harrop, a seven-time Worlds medalist, won the women’s title in 3:13.04 in a tight finish with Marianna Jagercikova (SVK: 3: 3.17) and Celia Perillat-Pessey (FRA: 3:22.82).
The Mixed Relay was a clear win for Alba de Silvesto and Michele Boscacci of Italy in 33:52.08, with Spain (33:58.10) and France (Harrop and Baptiste Ellmenreich: 33:59.15) following.
● Speed Skating ● Lots of fireworks at the ISU World Cup at the ultra-fast, altitude-aided track at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah, with American star Jordan Stolz – the three-time World Champion from 2023 – grabbing the world record in the men’s 1,000 m, an American Record in the 1,500 m, and watching his teammates in the Team Pursuit regain the world mark for the U.S.
Stolz stole the show on Friday, skating to a sensational 1:05.37 world record in the seventh pair out of 10, breaking Russian Pavel Kulizhnikov’s mark of 1:05.69 from 2020, also set at the Olympic Oval. China’s Zhongyan Ning was a distant second at 1:06.97.
On Saturday, Stolz was back at it and won the 1,500 m in 1:40.87, breaking Shani Davis’s American mark and winning over Ning again (1:41.78). A couple of hours later, Stolz got his third win, in the 500 m as the only one to break 34 seconds, at 33.96, a lifetime best. Worlds silver medalist Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) took silver at 34.05.
Shortly afterwards, the U.S. trio of Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran won the men’s Team Pursuit in a world record 3:33.66, re-taking the mark from Norway, which had skated 3:34.66 earlier in the season (taking the mark from the U.S., which had held it for three years).
Spectacular.
Stolz came back on Sunday to win the second 1,000 m race in 1:06.32, ahead of Tim Prins (NED: 1:06.40) for his fourth win of the weekend.
In the distances, World Champion Patrick Roest won the 5,000 m in 6:02.98, a lifetime best, ahead of World 10,000 m gold winner Davide Ghiotto (ITA: 6:04.23). Stolz competed in the 5,000 m too, finishing 15th in 6:25.58. In the Mass start, Beijing Olympic silver medalist Jae-won Chung (KOR: 7:42.35) beat Olympic winner Bart Swings (BEL: 7:42.40).
The women were busy too, with Olympic champ Erin Jackson winning again in the 500 m in 36.90, with fellow U.S. star Kimi Goetz getting second (37.08) ahead of Mi-sun Kim (KOR: 37.22).
Olympic 1,000 m champ Miho Takagi (JPN) doubled in the 1,000 m (1:12.77) and 1,500 m (1:51.60), with Goetz taking the 1,000 m silver (1:12.85), and three-time World Champion Brittany Bowe fourth in 1:14.01. World 1,500 m champ Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong was the 1,500 m runner-up in 1:52.04, with Goetz seventh and Bowe ninth.
Goetz returned for a win in the second 1,000 m in 1:13.08, beating reigning World Champion Jutta Leerdam (NED: 1:13.17), with Bowe fourth again (1:13.32).
The Dutch were 1-2 in the 3,000 m with Joy Beune (3:56.86) and Olympic champ Irene Schouten (3:58.20), and Olympic silver medalist Ivanie Blondin (CAN) winning over Schouten, 8:14.70 to 8:14.81.
In the women’s Team Pursuit, Canada won in 2:54.07, with the U.S. squad of Bowe, Mia Manganello and Giorgia Birkeland third in 2:57.66.
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