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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
1. Swiss “sports parliament” approves 203x bid effort
2. World Boxing elects van der Vorst as President
3. South Africa out of 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup chase
4. Brazil tops Parapan American Games medal table
5. USA Fencing DEI preferences met in just 17 states
● The Swiss are in for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games as its “sports parliament” unanimously approved the bid for the 2030 or 2034 Winter Games. The International Olympic Committee is expected to possibly recommend one or two of the three 2030 bidders to advance this week.
● The in-formation World Boxing federation held its inaugural Congress in Germany and elected former Dutch Boxing Federation head Boris van der Vorst as its first President. A total of 25 national federations voted, and the organization’s first three sponsors were named.
● South Africa dropped out of the running for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, citing insufficient time to develop its complete proposal before the 8 December deadline. That leaves bids from Brazil, Mexico and the U.S. and a European bid from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
● The Parapan American Games concluded in Santiago, Chile, with Brazil setting a record for the most medals won with 343. The U.S. won 166 medals, its second-highest total ever, led by swimmer Taylor Winnett, who won seven medals.
● USA Fencing adopted a policy of placing its events in states which are highly placed on diversity, equity and inclusion by the Movement Advancement Project. As it turns out, only 17 states are “preferred,” and the federation notes that, owing to availability and budget issues, “we end up in some states on the ‘avoid’ list.”
● World Championship: Football (France and Germany continue perfect and into semis) ●
● Panorama: Alpine Skiing (Gut-Behrami & Shiffrin take Killington titles) = Athletics (2: Pistorius paroled after serving 10 years; Kenya’s Borura gets three-year ban for doping) = Badminton (home team wins three at China Masters) = Beach Volleyball (Ramos and Lisboa win again in Pro Tour Elite 16) = Biathlon (Rees and Vittozzi win IBU World Cup openers) = Cross Country Skiing (Norway and Sweden sweeps golds) = Figure Skating (Ziegler, 17, stuns with women’s win at NHK Trophy) = Football (FIFA inquiry on Argentina-Brazil riot) = Freestyle Skiing (McEachran & Gremaud win windswept Slopestyle opener) = Nordic Combined (Oftebro and Riiber take opening wins) = Shooting (China leads medal count at ISSF World Cup Final) = Ski Jumping (Kraft sweeps Ruka opener) = Ski Mountaineering (Cardona wins, Ulrich surprises at opening World Cup) ●
1.
Swiss “sports parliament” approves 203x bid effort
Switzerland’s bid for a nationalized 2030 Olympic Winter Games was presented to the International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Commission on 21 November, but still had to be ratified by the more than 110 organizations which make up the SwissOlympic umbrella organization.
Nothing to worry about.
Friday’s vote was unanimous in favor of advancing the Swiss bids for both winter and summer mega-events. From the announcement:
● “They unanimously voted in favor of continuing the Switzerland 203x project, which envisages decentralized Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2030 (or 2034) in Switzerland. This means that Swiss Olympic can now enter into the final stage of dialogue with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the hosting of these Winter Games if the IOC also agrees.”
● “The project to hold the European Championships in Switzerland is also being pursued. Swiss Olympic has made a corresponding commitment to the summer sports associations. The target year for the Olympics depends on the Olympic project – 2030 or 34 are currently also possible, but holding both events in the same year is not an option.”
The Swiss idea for 2030 is grounded in the use of existing venues – now demanded by the IOC – and forecasts a relatively modest $1.6 billion (U.S.) budget.
The IOC Executive Board is expected to hear from its Future Host Commission on Wednesday (29th) and could approve a “targeted dialogue” towards making a 2030 award that day. France and Sweden are also bidding for the 2030 Winter Games and Salt Lake City in the U.S. is the leading candidate for 2034. The Future Host Commission has been authorized to make a recommendation for both 2030 and 2034 if they desire.
The budget for 2024 was also approved and offers an insight into the support available for a country of about 8.7 million people; a modest deficit of CHF 3.7 million is expected on revenues of CHF 126.7 million (about $143.5 million U.S.) and spending of CHF 130.4 million (~$147.7 million).
SwissOlympic will receive CHF 58.4 million (~$66.2 million U.S.) from the Swiss national lottery system.
2.
World Boxing elects van der Vorst as President
The in-formation World Boxing federation held its inaugural Congress in Frankfurt (GER) over the weekend, electing former Dutch Boxing Federation head Boris van der Vorst as its first President.
There were 25 national federations present, with van der Vorst receiving 26 votes (63.4%) to 15 for American Elise Seignolle (36.6%) for a two-year term. Said van der Vorst:
“Making sure boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement is our number one priority and I look forward to working together with the newly elected board and all of our member National Federations to help us deliver this.”
Elections were also held for three Vice Presidents – Ryan O’Shea (CAN), Matt Holt (GBR) and Dinah Glykidis (AUS) were selected – and four additional members of the Executive Board.
The Congress reviewed the federation’s progress to date, with the delegates told that by the end of 2024, a total of 50 national federations are expected to be a part of the organization.
A projected budget for 2024 was also shared, with €861,575 in revenue from sponsorships, national federation dues, licensing, bid fees and start-up loans. An interest-free loan of $250,000 U.S. has already been secured. (€1 = $1.09 U.S.).
Expenses included administration and contractors, event management, anti-doping and €300,000 in contingency.
The revenue projections for sponsorships showed three categories to start and named equipment, apparel and technology support. World Boxing named Australia-based Sting in a four-year agreement for competition equipment. The company is also a supplier for the International Boxing Association.
The budget slide also identified Nike as its apparel sponsor and China’s Xempower (Nanjing Shanpao Sports Technology Co., Ltd.) as its technology provider.
3.
South Africa out of 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup chase
One of the four bidders for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup has withdrawn, leaving three bids to be considered.
South Africa decided that it will compete for hosting rights for the 2031 Women’s World Cup, with South African Football Association chief executive Lydia Monyepao saying “We felt it was better to present a well-prepared bid for 2031… rather than producing a rushed presentation.”
The completed bid file is due by 8 December, with submissions expected from Brazil, a joint Mexico-United States effort and a European conglomeration of Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Each bid must offer a minimum of 10 stadiums, 40 team base-camp training sites and two sites in each proposed host city for a fan festival site.
FIFA will go through the bids, and will visit all three of the bid groups in February 2024 and an evaluation report will be made in early May, with the final award will be made by the FIFA Congress on 17 May 2024.
Brazil has never hosted the Women’s World Cup; the U.S. has hosted in 1999 and 2003, and Germany has hosted in 2011.
4.
Brazil tops Parapan American Games medal table
The VII Parapan American Games concluded in Santiago (CHI) on Sunday, with 1,943 athletes from 31 countries competing, 380 events held in 17 sports and Brazil once again leading the medal table with 343 total and the U.S. second with 166.
The Brazilians, who have led the medal table in five straight Parapan Americans (2007-11-15-19-23), sent the largest team at 324 total, with the U.S. the second-largest at 240, then Argentina at 206, Mexico at 186 and Colombia at 185.
The total of 380 events was the most ever at a Parapan American Games and the Brazilians won the most medals in the history of the event, with 156 golds, 98 silvers and 89 bronzes for a 343 total. The U.S. had its second-best performance ever in this event, with 166 total medals and 55 golds; the top 12 medal performances, dominated by Brazil:
● 343, Brazil in 2023
● 307, Mexico in 1999
● 307, Brazil in 2019
● 257, Brazil in 2015
● 228, Brazil in 2007
● 220, Mexico in 2003
● 212, Brazil in 1999
● 197, Brazil in 2011
● 185, United States in 2019
● 168, Canada in 2015 /10/
● 166, United States in 2023
● 165, Brazil in 2003
● 165, Mexico in 2011
The U.S. won medals in 15 of the 17 sports, with 159 total medal winners, with 51 winning more than one medal. The team leader was swimmer Taylor Winnett, 24, who won seven medals in all.
In terms of sports and athletes, the most popular was athletics, with 404 entries, followed by swimming (238), wheelchair basketball (185), table tennis (132) and badminton (100).
More than 300 Games records were set, along with five world records in athletics in various categories:
● Men’s 400 m: 46.48, Samuel Oliveira (BRA: T20)
● Men’s Long Jump: 7.74 m (25-4 3/4), Robiel Sol (CUB: T47)
● Men’s Javelin: 61.76 m (202-7), Jose Limos (COL: F37/38)
● Women’s Discus: 17.80 m (58-4 3/4), Elizabeth Rodrigues (BRA: F53)
● Women’s Discus: 41.16 m (135-0), Osiras Machado (MEX: F64)
At the closing ceremony, Chilean President Gabriel Boric spoke to reporters about the impact of both the Pan American and Parapan American Games:
“It has been truly emotional. I am moved to see the effort of the athletes and their families. I always highlight the families because, without them, it would have been difficult to move forward. I believe that this leaves us with a tremendous challenge as a state, to continue promoting sports more, beyond the Games themselves, 365 days a year.
“There is a legacy that is already made, which is the infrastructure. We have to take care of it, prevent it from deteriorating, and make it available to high-performance athletes and people who want to practice sports.”
¶
Sorry to report that the PanAm and Parapan Am Games results site did not carry a listing of multi-medalists, so no information was available on the athletes or athletes who won the most medals overall.
5.
USA Fencing DEI preferences met in just 17 states
Back in June, the USA Fencing Board of Directors made a change in policy for the selection of the sites for its future events, based on an outside metric:
“USA Fencing’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion took another step in the right direction when the Board passed a motion to not negotiate arrangements to hold competitions or other events in any facility located in a jurisdiction rated ‘Negative’ by the Movement Advancement Project. Existing contracts will be honored, but future negotiations will consider the ratings of these jurisdictions.”
Last Tuesday, the federation explained the current situation for site selection, based on the “equality maps” created by the independent Movement Advancement Project think tank, which tracks LGBTQIA-related laws and policies. As of now:
Here’s the picture as it looks now, from the 21 November statement (those states in brackets have been listed already):
● “DO NOT ALLOW” (Negative Tally on Equality Maps: 11)
Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas.
● “AVOID WHERE POSSIBLE” (Low Tally on Equality Maps: 13)
Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming.
● “AVOID WHERE POSSIBLE” (Lowest rating on Center for Reproductive Rights Tracker: 14, but adding two to the above lists)
Alabama, Arkansas, [Idaho], [Indiana], [Kentucky], [Louisiana], [Mississippi], [Missouri], [North Dakota], [Oklahoma], [South Dakota], [Tennessee], [Texas], [West Virginia].
● “PREFERRED” (Medium or High on Equality Maps, High availability of Women’s Health: 17)
California, Colorado, D.C., Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington.
Not listed are eight states: Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Does this mean that no future USA Fencing events will be outside of the “Preferred” states? No:
“[We] remind you that some of our tournament locations have already been booked — and were under contract, or in advanced negotiations, before our new site selection priorities were in place, or before a given state moved down the rating.
“Also, our goal is to ‘give priority’ to more inclusive states, and we’re committed to that. But as the season comes together and we get a clear picture of our budget for the year, that might mean we end up in some states on the ‘avoid’ list.”
It’s a difficult balancing act for the federation, as the story noted that there are only 38 convention centers in the U.S. that can accommodate a national tournament, using 60 pistes or more. The U.S. Nationals for 2024 will take place in Columbus, Ohio next June.
≡ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ≡
● Football ● The two undefeateds remained undefeated and France and Germany advanced to the semifinals of the FIFA men’s U-17 World Cup in Indonesia, with three of the four quarterfinals decided by 1-0 scores.
France (5-0) played a tough match with Uzbekistan (2-2-1), facing packed-in defense, and taking 29 shots to six. But even so, the game was scoreless until the 83rd minute, when Ismail Bouneb finally broke through with a goal after teammate Mathis Lambourde’s header hit the crossbar.
The Germans (5-0) also had a tough time with Spain (3-1-1), scoring only on a Paris Brunner penalty in the 64th minute, after being fouled by defender Hector Fort. In typical style, the Spanish controlled the ball for 76% of the time and had 22 shots to five for the winners, but Germany marches on with its second one-goal victory in a row.
Argentina will play Germany in the second semifinal, comprehensively defeating Brazil, 3-0, with Claudio Echeverri scoring all three, in the 28th, 58th and 71st minutes. Possession was fairly even and shots were 12 each, but Echeverri was too much.
The French will play Mali, a 1-0 winner over Morocco thanks to an 81st-minute goal from Ibrahim Diarra, scoring after striker Ibrahim Kanate’s shot was blocked. The Malians controlled the match, with 61% of possession and 19 shots to five.
All of the semifinalists have been there before. France has won this trophy in 2001, Germany was runner-up in 1985, and Mali took silver in 2015, while Argentina has been third three times.
The semifinals will be held on Tuesday (28th), with both games in Surakarta. The final will be on 2 December.
≡ PANORAMA ≡
● Alpine Skiing ● The FIS World Cup focus was strictly on the women this week in Killington, Vermont (USA) for a Giant Slalom and Slalom, with Swiss star Lara Gut-Behrami winning her second Giant Slalom of the season.
New Zealand’s Alice Robinson, 21, the 2021 World Junior Champion, led the first run at 55.97, with Swede Sara Hector second and Gut-Behrami in third. But Robinson fell back to ninth-fastest on the second run and Gut-Behrami moved up, skiing the third-fastest second run for a total time of 1:53.05. Robinson held second (1:53.67), but U.S. star Mikaela Shiffrin moved up from fifth to third, despite only the eighth-fastest second run, finishing at 1:53.86. American Paula Moltzan was eighth at 1:54.95. It’s the 39th career World Cup win for Gut-Behrami and the 140th career World Cup medal for Shiffrin.
On Sunday, the greatest Slalom skier in history – Shiffrin – took over, acing the first run in 48.27 and then winning the second run as well in 53.75 for a combined time of 1:42.02, 0.33 better than Olympic champ Petra Vlhova (SVK), who ran third and second on the two runs for a 1:42.35 final. Swiss Wendy Holdener was third (1:43.39) and Moltzan was eighth again, in 1:44.21.
For Shiffrin (who went to school in Vermont), it was her second win of the season, giving her a record 90 total World Cup wins and her 55th in Slalom. She is up to 141 career World Cup medals, no. 2 all-time and closing in on Swede Ingemar Stenmark’s career record of 155 from 1973-89.
● Athletics ● Six-time Paralympic gold medalist Oscar Pistorius (RSA) won parole on Friday (24th), 10 years after killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and being convicted in 2014 for “culpable homicide.”
Pistorius was a sensation as a Paralympic sprinter, winning Paralympic Games golds in 2004 (1), 2008 (3) and 2012 (2) in the 100-200-400 m and the 4×100 m, and qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, reaching the semifinals.
Pistorius will be released on 5 January 2024.
¶
The Athletics Integrity Unit has suspended Kenyan distance runner Esther Borura for three years for Nandrolone or Nandrolone precursors use, from 6 September 2023 and her results were nullified since 30 June 2023.
Borura, 23, moved to no. 19 all-time in the women’s 10 km in January, running 30:15 for third in Valencia (ESP). That result will stand.
● Badminton ● The home team won three titles at the China Masters in Shenzhen, with a total prize purse of $1 million.
China’s wins started with the women’s Singles, where third-seed Yu Fei Chen – the Tokyo Olympic champ – won over countrywoman Yue Han, who won the first set by 21-18, then retired due to injury while trailing 21-4 in the second set. It’s Chen’s fourth tournament win this season.
Second-seeded Wei Keng Liang and Chang Wang (CHN) pulled off a mild upset of top-seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty (IND) in the men’s Doubles final, 21-19, 18-21, 21-19, also their fourth title of the year.
In the Mixed Doubles, top-seeded Si Wei Zhang and Ya Qiong Huang (CHN) swept World Champion Seung-jae Seo and Yu-jung Chae (KOR), 21-10, 21-11.
Japan won the other two finals, with third-seed Kodai Naraoka (JPN) finally winning a BWF World Tour title in his fifth final, 21-13, 21-13, over countryman Kenta Nishimoto.
The all-Japan women’s Doubles final was won by Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida over fourth-seeds Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota, 21-18, 21-11.
● Beach Volleyball ● The final Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 tournament of 2023 was in Joao Pessoa (BRA), with an all-Brazilian gold-medal match in the women’s division.
In the end, it was 2022 World Champions – and top seeds – Ana Patricia Ramos and Duda Lisboa who prevailed over Carol Salgado and Barbara Seixas, 29-31, 21-16, 15-11. Although they had to settle for second at the 2023 Worlds, Ramos and Lisboa were great in 2023, winning five of the nine Elite 16 events, plus a silver and a bronze: seven medals in nine tournaments.
In the third-place match, China’s Chen Xue and Xinyi Xia won their third medal of the season (1-0-2) by defeating Americans Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, 22-20, 20-22, 15-12.
The men’s final saw Swedes David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig back their silver-medal finish in the World Championships with their third Elite 16 win of 2023, defeating Samuele Cottafava and Paolo Nicolai (ITA) by 21-11, 21-18.
Ahman and Hellvig won at the Elite 16 tournaments in Tepic (MEX) in March and in Hamburg in August before their Worlds silver; in the nine Elite 16 events in 2023, they won three and took a silver in a fourth.
Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot (NED) won the bronze over George Wanderley and Andre Loyola Stein (BRA), 21-15, 21-19.
● Biathlon ● The IBU World Cup season opened with 10 days in Oestersund (SWE), starting with relays and the individual races on Saturday and Sunday.
In the men’s 20 km, German Roman Rees – 21st at the 2023 Worlds in this event – posting his first World Cup win in 51:27.2 (one penalty), beating teammate Justus Strelow (51:39.3/1) and four-time overall World Cup champ Johannes Thingnes Boe (NOR: 51:52.2/2).
The women’s 15 km race went to Italian Lisa Vittozzi, the 2023 Worlds bronze medalist, who barely edged German veteran Franziska Preuss, 44:03.9 (1) to 44:04.0 (0). Fellow German Vanessa Voigt was third in 44:14.0. It’s Vittozzi’s fourth career World Cup win.
In the Single Mixed Relay (6 + 7.5 km), Sebastian Samuelsson and Hanna Oeberg (SWE) won in 37:46.9, with Sturla Holm Lagreid and Juni Arnekleiv (NOR: 38:00.7) second. The Mixed Relay (4 x 6 km) was won by France in 1:09.09.9, ahead of Norway (1:09:25.6) and Italy (1:09:49.6).
● Cross Country Skiing ● The FIS World Cup season opened with a major Nordic Skiing festival in Ruka (FIN), with Cross Country, Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping events. And Norway and Sweden dominated the action.
The Norwegian men took immediate control, with wins in the Classical Sprint and the 10 km Classical, with Erik Valnes, the 2021 Worlds runner-up, winning the Sprint from France’s Richard Jouve and two-time defending World Cup overall champ Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, 2:37.96-2:38.79-2:39.66.
Teammate Martin Nyenget took the 10 km Classical race at 23:31.7, with Finn Iivo Niskanen close at 23:34.6 and Valnes third (23:41.4). It was Nyenget’s second career World Cup gold.
The 20 km Freestyle Mass Start on Sunday saw Jan Thomas Jenssen (NOR) finish off the weekend sweep, winning in 48:08.9, just ahead of Czech Michal Novak (48:09.6) and fellow Norwegian Harald Amundsen (48:11.0). It’s Jenssen’s first career World Cup medal – at 27 – and the first for Novak as well (also 27)!
The women’s Sprint went to 2023 Worlds silver medal winner Emma Ribom, just ahead of Olympic champ Jonna Sundling, 3:00.78 to 3:01.63. Norway’s Kristine Skistad was third (3:02.59); Americans Jessie Diggins, Juli Kern and Rosie Brennan finished 7-8-9 in the semis and just missed the final.
Triple Worlds gold medalist Ebba Andersson of Sweden got her sixth career World Cup win in the 10 km Classic, finishing in 26:46.7, with Brennan winning the silver (26:52.6) and Frida Karlsson (SWE: 26:56.6) getting third. Diggins was 11th in 27:38.0.
In Sunday’s 20 km Freestyle Mass Start race, the Swedes completed a gold-medal sweep with Moa Ilar winning her first individual World Cup race in 55:40.8, chased home by Americans Diggins (55:41.1) and Brennan (55:42.2). All three made a charge over the final 4 km, with Diggins third and Moa fourth and Brennan flying up from 10th! Diggins had the lead with 1.4 km left, then lost her right ski pole and glove, then suffered a facial injury when handed a replacement pole, but no glove!
Even with all that and sub-freezing temperatures, she moved up with the fastest final kilometer in the field, but finished just 0.3 seconds short of Ilar.
● Figure Skating ● Japan continued its master of the men’s competition, while U.S. teen Ava Marie Ziegler posted a shocking win at the ISU Grand Prix NHK Trophy in Osaka (JPN).
Japan’s men came into the final “regular” Grand Prix event with 1-2 finishes at Skate Canada International and the Grand Prix of Espoo and went 1-2 again with Beijing 2022 Olympic runner-up Yuma Kagiyama and bronze medalist Shoma Uno.
Kagiyama won the Short Program at 105.51, with Uno second (100.20), but Uno won the Free Skate, scoring 186.35, with Kagiyama well back at 182.88. But that was just enough to come away with a 288.39-286.55 margin for Kagiyama’s fourth career Grand Prix win. Five different Japanese men have now won nine medals in the six Grand Prix events this season!
American Cam Pulkinen finished fifth overall at 229.32.
The women’s event had American Lindsay Thorngren in front after the Short Program, scoring 68.93 to 63.44 for Belgian Nina Pinzarrone, with Ziegler fifth at 62.04.
Ziegler, 17, however, turned in a winning Free Skate, with seven triple jumps, scoring 138.46 as the eighth skater out of 12. No one came close to that score, with Pinzarrone second at 131.22 and Thorngren third at 129.80. That left Ziegler coming from fifth to first with her first 200 points-plus performance – 200.50 – in her second season with a Grand Prix appearance! She was ninth in her first appearance at the U.S. Nationals this year.
Thorngren ended up second at 198.73, also a lifetime best and her first career Grand Prix medal. Pinzarrone got third at 194.66, to go with her silver at the Grand Prix de France.
Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin won their second straight Grand Prix gold in Pairs, scoring 202.51 and winning both the Short Program and the Free Skate. Italy’s Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise won their second Grand Prix medal this season in second (190.31) as did teammates Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini (186.47). Americans Chelsea Liu and Balazs Nagy finished fifth (172.60).
Britain’s European Championships silver medalists Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson moved up from second at Skate Canada International to win the Ice Dance, by taking the Free Dance over Italy’s 2023 Worlds runners-up Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (214.56). Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius (LTU) finished third at 196.86; Americans Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville were sixth (183.43) and Lorraine McNamara and Anton Spiridonov (167.84) ended up eighth.
Next up is the Grand Prix Final from 7-10 December in Beijing (CHN).
● Football ● “FIFA can confirm that its Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Brazilian Football Association (CBF) and the Argentinian Football Association (AFA).”
Friday’s statement referred to the brawl that broke out between rival fans at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro (BRA) in advance of the Argentina-Brazil 2026 World Cup qualifier on 21 November.
Police intervened, using batons and bloodying some spectators, and the Argentine team left the field to calm the situation, delaying the start of the game by 27 minutes. Argentina won, 1-0, but must face possible sanctions for crowd control and delaying the match. Brazil’s federation will be reviewed for lapses in proper crowd control and security.
No timetable for a decision was noted.
● Freestyle Skiing ● The first Slopestyle event of the season was held in Stubai (AUT) was impacted by high winds and heavy weather that wiped out Friday’s finals, leaving the results of the qualification as the official results.
That was good news for World Champion Mathilde Gremaud (SUI), already the winner in the World Cup Big Air season opener in Chur in October. In Stubai, she led the qualifiers at 87.50 points, trailed by 2017 Slopestyle World Champion Tess Ledeux (FRA: 85.50) and the Ruby Star Andrews (NZL: 70.50)
The men’s qualifying leader – and therefore winner – was Canada’s Evan McEachran at 93.00 on his first run, with Beijing 2022 Olympian Mac Forehand and 2022 Olympic Champion Alex Hall of the U.S. coming in 2-3, with 90.50 (first run) and 88.75 (second run) scores.
¶
Three-time Olympic Slopestyle medal winner Nick Goepper of the U.S. will end his retirement and return to competition in the Halfpipe. He won medals in 2014 (bronze), 2018 and 2022 (silvers), and told NBC Sports, “It took me a while to kind of find the love again. … I like new challenges, and I was really bored.”
Goepper, now 29, retired in January, but not for long.
● Nordic Combined ● Norway won 11 of the 22 men’s races in the 2022-23 FIS World Cup and is starting out in style this season with all three wins at the opener in Ruka (FIN).
Jens Luras Oftebro won the first race, in the new “Compact” format, where the skiers started six seconds apart in the 7.5 cross-country race, in rank order of the ski jumping results. Austria’s reigning World Cup champ Johannes Lamparter started first, but was overtaken by five others, starting with Oftebro, the Beijing 2022 Large Hill silver winner (19:24.6), just ahead of four-time World Cup overall winner Jarl Magnus Rieber (19:25.0). Joergen Graabak, the 2014-22 Olympic Large Hill champ, completed the sweep at 19:25.7.
Rieber claimed his 57th career World Cup win in the Gundersen 142 m Hill/10 km race on Saturday, finishing in 26:17.3, well ahead of Lamparter (27:11.1) with Graabak third again (27:43.5).
Rieber than dominated Sunday’s 142 m jumping and 10 km Mass Start, finishing second in the cross-country race and then winning the jumping for 173.8 points, well ahead of Lamparter (152.2) and fellow Austrian Stefan Rettenegger (145.7).
● Shooting ● The ISSF World Cup Final concluded in Doha (QAT), with China leading the final medals standing.
World Championships bronze medalist Florian Peter (GER) took the men’s 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol final. 35-33, over two-time Olympic bronzer Yuehong Li (CHN), while Chinese star – and four-time Worlds gold winner – Sixuan Feng won the women’s 25 m Sport Pistol title, 37-31, against German Doreen Vennekamp, a two-time Worlds gold medalist.
Lucas Kryzs (FRA), the 2021 World Junior runner-up, won the men’s 50 m Rifle/3 Positions – barely – over China’s Yukun Liu, the 2017 World Junior Champion, 465.2 to 465.0! The key shot was the next-to-last, with Kryzs scoring 10.7 to 9.4 for Liu.
Norway won gold and silver in the women’s 50 m Rifle/3 Positions, with 2022 Worlds bronzer Jeanette Duestad scoring 464.8 to 460.6 for Jenny Stene. American Mary Tucker finished seventh (409.2).
China won eight medals total (2-4-2), ahead of Italy (6: 1-3-2); the U.S. won one bronze.
● Ski Jumping ● Two competitions for men opened the season at Ruka (FIN) off the 142 m hill, with Austria’s three-time World Champion Stefan Kraft taking the first gold, scoring 326.2 for his 31st career World Cup victory.
Germany swept the next three places, with Pius Paschke (315.6), Stephen Leyhe (313.2) and 2018 Olympic Normal Hill winner Andreas Wellinger (311.5). It’s Paschke’s first career World Cup medal – at age 33 – and the sixth for Leyhe (31).
On Sunday, Kraft doubled up, winning with 363.5 points, taking the top scores in both rounds, ahead of teammate Jan Hoerl (340.9) and Wellinger (334.1), with Paschke fourth and Leyhe fifth.
● Ski Mountaineering ● The new ISMF World Cup season opened at Val Thorens (FRA), with World Sprint Champion Oriol Cardona of Spain collecting his seventh career World Cup win by more than three seconds over countryman Inigo Martinez (3:10.34) and France’s 2023 Worlds runner-up Anselmet Thibault (3:13.11).
Swiss Caroline Ulrich, 21, won her first World Cup senior gold in Saturday’s Sprint, moving up from just 23rd in qualifying, then winning her quarterfinal, second in her semi and then winning in 3:54.39, decisively ahead of Tove Alexandersson (3:57.96) and Marianna Jagercikova (SVK: 3:58.63).
Sunday’s Mixed Relay was won by France’s Emily Harrop and Thibault in 42:18.44, easily ahead of Ana Alonso and Cardona (ESP: 42:41.21) and Giulia Murada and Ernesto Canclini (ITA: 43:44.11).
● Swimming ● The head of the Russian Swimming Federation, four-time Olympic gold medalist Vladimir Salnikov, said he got some positive reaction to a proposal for a dual meet with the U.S. He told the Russian news agency TASS:
“I approached the U.S. Swimming Federation about holding a match meeting immediately after the world championships in Doha [in February 2024]. Now they are considering this proposal, but some people with whom I spoke, including the legendary American coach Mark Schubert, were very positive.
“As soon as we make progress in this direction, we will make an official statement.”
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