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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
1. Six U.S. golds Thursday, now 207 medals at Pan American Games
2. Orlando marathon trials operators decry “misinformation”
3. Kremlin blasts IOC for double standard on Israel!
4. Famed coach says Russia must retain 2022 Beijing Team gold
5. World champ Tola, Olympic winner Jepchirchir lead NYC Marathon
● The United States team passed the 200-medal mark at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, winning six golds on Thursday, including two more in fencing and in track & field, and one each in bowling and wrestling. The Games will wrap up on Sunday.
● The race directors of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, Florida, released a lengthy reply to the USA Track & Field Athletes Advisory Committee’s letter, saying it was USATF which insisted on the noon start time and then changed its mind without telling them. They suggest an 8 a.m. start time could be possible, if everyone agrees, including on revised financial terms.
● Russia’s Foreign Ministry harshly criticized the International Olympic Committee for a “double standard” against – for invading Ukraine – vis-a-vis Israel, which was attacked by Hamas, the elected government of Gaza. This is all for internal consumption, of course, as the Russian government seeks to mollify its internal audiences for the sanctions against it.
● Famed Russian figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze said in an interview that Russia should retain its gold medal in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games figure skating Team Event because even if Kamila Valieva had not skated, one of the other Russian women skaters would have performed and won anyway. Tutberidze also said that Valieva had a clean doping test at the European Championships and that should have been enough.
● The New York City Marathon comes on Sunday, with 2022 World Champion Tamirat Tola heading the men’s field and an excellent women’s line-up, with former world-record holder Brigid Kosgei of Kenya, Tokyo Olympic champ Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya, Ethiopia’s Letsenbet Gidey and others.
● Panorama: Paris 2024 (INTERPOL in agreement with France on security) = European Games 2023 (no positives in 1,286 tests in ITA) = Basketball (iconic men’s coach Bob Knight passes at 83) = Boxing (2: Seignolle explains why she wants to be World Boxing chief; IBA vs. IOC hearing coming on 16 November) = Curling (2: Japan to face Korea in Pan Continental Championships women’s final; Gushue upset at the conditions) = Hockey (FIH creates new, almost-worldwide viewing app and site to expand audience) = Rowing (athletes of the year candidates revealed) = Sailing (want to host the ‘26 World Sailing Championships?) = Skiing (three in running for new, 2028 FIS Games) = Water Polo (European Champs moved from Israel) ●
1.
Six U.S. golds Thursday, now 207 medals at Pan American Games
The United States team cruised past the 200-medal mark at the XIX Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, taking gold medals in six more events, including two more in fencing:
● Athletics: Bridget Williams, women’s vault
● Athletics: Erin Marsh, women’s heptathlon
● Bowling: Bryanna Cote and Shannon O’Keefe, women’s Doubles
● Fencing: men’s Team Epee
● Fencing: women’s Team Foil
● Wrestling: Forrest Molinari, women’s Freestyle 68 kg
The American fencing squad has now won six golds out of eight events held, with Curtis McDowald, Samuel Imrek and Samuel Larson winning the men’s Team Epee final over Canada, 42-41, with McDowald coming from behind and winning the final bout by 10-7 over Nicholas Zhang to clinch the title.
The women’s Foil squad of Pan Am gold winner Lee Kiefer, Jacqueline Dubrovich and and Zander Rhodes also defeated Canada in the final, but by a more comfortable 44-33.
In track & field, Williams took the women’s vault at 4.60 m(15-1), ahead of Robeilys Peinado of Venezuela (4.55 m/14-11) and Marsh was a big winner in the heptathlon, scoring 5,882 points with Alysbeth Felix (PUR: 5,665) second and American Jordan Gray (5,494) third.
The U.S. was shut out in the men’s and women’s 200 m, with Renan Correa of Brazil winning the men’s race in 20.37 (wind: +0.4 m/s), and Dominican star Marileidy Paulino winning the women’s gold in 22.74 (0.0). There were no U.S. finalists.
The Americans also failed to win a medal in either 4×100 m relay, failing to finish in the men’s race as Brazil won over Cuba, 38.68 to 39.26, and dropping the baton and finishing seventh in the women’s final in 1:01.30. Cuba won in 43.72, with Chile second in 44.19.
The U.S. did better in the men’s 1,500 m, with Casey Comber grabbing bronze in 3:39.90. Canada’s Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, the 5,000 m silver winner, won in 3:39.74. Kasey Knevelbaard, the 5,000 m winner, finished fifth in 3:40.31. The women’s 5,000 m was a win for Joselyn Brea (VEN: 16:04.12), with Taylor Weber of the U.S. second (16:06.48) and Emily Infeld fourth (16:09.53).
On the infield, Cuba went 1-2 in the women’s triple jump, with Leyanis Perez winning at 14.75 m (48-4 3/4) and Liadagmis Povea taking silver at 14.41 m (47-3 1/2); Mylana Hearn of the U.S. was fifth at 13.32 m (43-8 1/2) and Euphenie Andre was eighth (12.14 m/39-10).
Canada’s Sarah Mitton, the Worlds silver medalist, won the women’s shot at 19.19 m (62-11 1/2), with American Adelaide Aquilla taking bronze (17.73 m/58-2).
The U.S. medal march in wrestling continued, with Molinari, the 2021 Worlds bronze medalist, squeezing by Soleymi Caraballo of Venezuela, 3-2, in the women’s 68 kg final. The men won a silver from Nashon Garrett at 65 kg, losing to Cuba’s two-time Worlds bronze winner Alejandro Valdes, 9-0, in the final. Cuban Yurieski Torreblanca defended his title from Lima in 2019 with a 3-1 win over Mark Hall of the U.S. in the 86 kg final.
In the Rhythmic Gymnastics All-Around that concluded on Wednesday, American Evita Griskenas finished second and qualified for Paris 2024, scoring 127.400 to 129.550 for Brazil’s Barbara Domingos. Lili Mizuno of the U.S. was fifth (121.850).
Overall, the U.S. now has 207 medals (90-55-62), ahead of Brazil (145: 46-53-46), Canada (126: 37-39-50) and Mexico (101: 37-24-40). The American team finished with 293 medals in Lima in 2019 and does not appear ready to approach that total.
The Pan Ams continue through Sunday, with 40 finals on Friday, 71 (!) on Saturday and 24 on Sunday to complete the 425-event program. The event is being shown on the Panam Sports Channel (sign-in required).
2.
Orlando marathon trials operators decry “misinformation”
In the wake of the stern letter sent by the USATF Athletes Advisory Committee to the Greater Orlando Sports Commission on Tuesday (31st), decrying the noon start time of next February’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, a reply came back from Track Shack Events, the Orlando race organizers.
Posted by Sarah Lorge Butler of Runner’s World, the tone from company owners Jon and Betsy Hughes is conciliatory:
● “The circulating narrative regarding the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon is filled with misinformation. … We are sharing the following information with you because we have prioritized the athlete experience and safety from day one and you deserve to know the entire truth.”
● “The Orlando Local Organizing Committee (‘LOC’), a partnership between the Greater Orlando Sports Commission, Track Shack, the City of Orlando, and Orange County, was open to moving the start time of the event. That said, USA Track & Field (USATF) made it clear on multiple occasions that changing the Noon start time was ‘non-negotiable.’”
● “In September, we were blindsided by the suggestion that USATF was considering a new start time. Without our knowledge, USATF’s ‘non-negotiable’ Noon start time was suddenly being negotiated by USATF. Unfortunately, we were not looped into any of these discussions until October 13, ten weeks after our August 1st press conference. The lack of cooperative communication and transparency has forced the LOC to cancel attendance and hospitality agreements, which crippled sponsorship and ticket sales due to a lack of clarity on what we can offer to our local stakeholders.”
The message notes that the local organizers are not requesting a reduction in prize money or athlete travel assistance, but:
“Our only request is for USATF and USOPC to come to the table to negotiate the massive loss of revenue that a new start time and tape delayed broadcast create. … Their response has been to circulate a one-sided narrative while ignoring our concerns.”
The Hughes’s note states that “we have proposed an 8:00am start time,” and asks to meet with the governing bodies in the next week or so to iron out the details.
Observed: The Athletes Advisory Committee letter blames the Greater Orlando Sports Commission for intransigence on the noon start time. The Track Shack letter blames USATF. In the meantime, the USOPC is in Santiago for the Pan American Games that end Sunday, and the Para Pan American Games to take place from 17-26 November.
So, getting everyone together isn’t going to be easy to arrange. As usual, it appears the issues are about money. And at the same time, a defamation lawsuit against USATF by former staff member Jim Estes, who was helping the unsuccessful Chattanooga bid for the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials, is continuing.
And there are 113 days to go. Can’t everybody get along?
3.
Kremlin blasts IOC for double standard on Israel!
The Russian Foreign Ministry lashed out at the International Olympic Committee on Thursday, decrying what it sees as a “double standard” between its treatment and the IOC’s Wednesday comment that no action should be taken against Israeli athletes or teams in the wake of the country’s response to the 7 October attacks by Hamas, the elected governmental authority of Gaza.
Said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:
“We demand from the International Olympic Committee a clear and unequivocal rejection of the double standards practice, the strict application of equal treatment of all athletes without any exceptions and without discrimination on any grounds whatsoever.
“We strongly insist on the full reinstatement of all Russian and Belarusian athletes, who have suffered from the [International Olympic] Committee’s targeted politicization of the sports agenda.”
And Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an television interview:
“Not only have I seen and read this [IOC] statement, we have already reacted, our ministry. This is, of course, outrageous. Once again we see an example of the bias and ineptitude of the International Olympic Committee, which time and again proves its political bent.
“It actively supports everything that meets the interests of Western countries, primarily the United States, and tries to find wordings that generally props up this policy.
“[The IOC is] trying in every possible way to palm off the actions against Russia and Belarus as restrictions that do not violate the Olympic Charter. It’s a shame.
“Of course, the Olympic Committee has discredited itself greatly. And I think it’s not for nothing that at the initiative of President [Vladimir Putin], we will organize a host of sporting events that will be truly international, universal and show respect for those principles enshrined in the Olympic Charter, which the IOC is grossly violating.”
Observed: What is important about these statements is that they demonstrate the consistent position of the Russian government that its continuing invasion of Ukraine since February 2022 is nothing for the rest of the world to be concerned about.
Nobody should treat Russians or Belarusian any differently, and that anyone is upset about the invasion is an outrage against the Russian people. That’s what Moscow is selling to its own people. That it can compare its outright aggression against Ukraine to Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks of 7 October is ridiculous, but that’s not the point.
The point – for Lavrov and the Russian government is – Russia is right and everyone else is wrong. This would be comical if not so incredibly tragic.
4.
Famed coach says Russia must retain 2022 Beijing Team gold
Legendary Russian figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze made some interesting comments in a Russian-language YouTube interview, including her view of the Kamila Valieva case regarding the Team Event now being discussed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport:
“I would like to put all the participants in the process on a lie detector, because I want to know the truth. But we know for sure that if athletes are admitted to the Olympics, they are clean, they get an Olympian’s passport, which means they are all clean. At the European Championships, she passed – the analysis was clean, then she passed it again – clean. If they had this analysis, it means they had to do anything to make it ready.
“I believe that there should be no consideration of the team medal at all. At this start, the athlete was clean, the medal should not be reviewed. If they had told us about the results earlier, then Anya [Anna Shcherbakova] and Sasha [Alexandra Trusova] would have skated. And the result of the team would be exactly the same.”
Russia won the Team Event with Valieva winning both the Short Program and the Free Skate, and winning the scoring by 74-65 over the U.S.
She also said that, in Beijing, Olympic silver winner Trusova threw her skates at the coach, after moving from fourth in the Short Program to second after winning the Free Skate:
“She had a fixed idea: if she put together her free program, she won. She thought she had to bring [her second-place competitor] 20 points. But the athlete probably doesn’t realize that somewhere a step-out, somewhere a level came off. Plus the reduced value of the quadruple.
“She thought that the short program is not important, and if she recoils like that, she is an Olympic champion. I didn’t expect such a reaction? Well, it’s just like Sasha. She was shoving and pushing me, and then in the locker room she will toss her skates at me … and I will dodge. That’s just how Sasha is.”
Teammate Shcherbakova won by 255.95 to 251.73, with Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto third (233.13) and Short Program leader Valieva getting fourth (224.09). As for Shcherbakova’s victory, Tutberidze added:
“In general, I couldn’t be happy. Not because I’m not happy for Anya. The events that happened before overshadowed it all.”
A second session of the hearing in the Valieva case will take place later this month.
5.
World champ Tola, Olympic winner Jepchirchir lead NYC Marathon
The final Marathon Majors race of 2023, the New York City Marathon, takes place on Sunday across the city’s five boroughs, with strong fields, but not as deep as in some years. Still, there are plenty of stars, especially in the women’s elite field. The top entries, by lifetime best:
Men:
● 2:03:39 (‘21): Tamirat Tola (ETH) ~ 2022 World Champion, 2017 Worlds silver
● 2:04:49 (‘18): Shura Kitata (ETH) ~ 2022 NYC silver; 2020 London champ
● 2:04:56 (‘22): Abdi Nageeye (NED) ~ 2022 NYC bronze; Tokyo Olympic silver
● 2:05:36 (‘23): Cam Levins (CAN) ~ 2022 Worlds fourth, Tokyo ‘23 fifth
● 2:06:43 (‘22): Maru Teferi (ISR) ~ 2023 Worlds silver; 2022 European silver
● 2:06:56 (‘23): Koen Naert (BEL) ~ 2018 European champ; Tokyo Olympic 10th
● 2:07:16 (‘23): Iliass Aouani (ITA) ~ Barcelona ninth in national record
Tola has been a solid marathoner for a decade, but has three wins in his 16 career races, including the 2022 Worlds gold. He was third at Tokyo in 2022 and fourth at Valencia and third at London this year, but did not finish at the 2023 World Championships. Kitata has been second at New York in 2018 and 2022 and fifth in 2019 in his three races there.
The top American entries by time are Elkanah Kibet (2:09:07 ‘22), who was fourth at the 2021 New York City Marathon and a four-time World Championships marathoner for the U.S., and Futsum Zienasellassie (2:09:40 ‘23) who got his best in 11th at the Rotterdam Marathon this year.
Making debuts are Britain’s Andrew Butchart, sixth at the Rio 2016 Olympic 5,000 m, and former Oregon star Edward Cheserek (KEN), the 12-time NCAA champ at 3,000-5,000-10,000 m who ran 59:11 to win the Copenhagen Half in September.
Women:
● 2:14:04 (‘19): Brigid Kosgei (KEN) ~ Five major marathon wins; former WR holder
● 2:16:49 (‘22): Letsenbet Gidey (ETH) ~ 2022 World 10,000 m gold; 2022 Valencia silver
● 2:17:16 (‘20): Peres Jepchirchir (KEN) ~ 2021 NYC champ; Tokyo Olympic champ
● 2:19:50 (‘12): Edna Kiplagat (KEN) ~ 2010 NYC champ; 2011-13 World Champion
● 2:20:22 (‘22): Mary Ngugi-Cooper (KEN) ~ 2021 Boston silver, 2022 Boston bronze
● 2:21:38 (‘23): Hellen Obiri (KEN) ~ 2023 Boston champ; 2017-19 World 5,000 m golds
● 2:22:44 (‘21): Viola Cheptoo (KEN) ~ 2021 NYC runner-up, fifth in 2022
● 2:23:23 (‘22): Sharon Lokedi (KEN) ~ 2022 NYC champ in marathon debut!
Kosgei set her world record of 2:14:04 in winning the 2019 Chicago Marathon, but now ranks this all-time behind Tigist Assefa (ETH: 2:11:53 in Berlin) and Sifan Hassan (NED: 2:13.44 in Chicago) this year. The Tokyo Olympic silver winner, she has run 16 career marathons, winning nine, but did not finish at London in April. This is her NYC debut.
Gidey ran the fastest debut marathon ever in Valencia last year and has gone silver-gold-silver in the last three Worlds 10,000 m finals, plus the Tokyo Olympic bronze. It’s her second career marathon. Jepchirchir has run eight career marathons and had won five in a row before her third in Boston in April this year. She won the Worlds Half Marathon in October.
Kiplagat, now 40, had finished in the top five in 12 of 13 marathons from 2015-22, but was 30th in Boston this year. Countrywoman Obiri, the two-time Worlds 5,000 m gold medalist, was sixth at New York in her debut in 2022, then won in Boston in April in 2:21:38. She is dangerous and a definite contender.
The top U.S. entries are Kellyn Taylor (2:24:29 in 2018), sixth at New York in 2021, and 39-year-old two-time distance Olympian Molly Huddle (2:26:33 in 2019), both back from maternity in 2022. Huddle’s distinguished career includes 25 U.S. titles and multiple American records, but she has run just five career marathons, placing third at New York in 2016 and fourth in 2018, but dropping out at the Olympic Trials race in her last marathon try in 2020.
The NYC Marathon is not an especially fast course, with records of 2:05.06 by Geoffrey Mutai (KEN) in 2011 in the men’s division, and 2:22:31 by Kenyan Margaret Okayo in 2003 the best in the women’s race.
Prize money of $100,000-60,000-40,000-25,000-15,000-10,000-7,500-5,000-2,500-2,000 is available to the top ten finishers in both the men’s and women’s races.
The 2023 race will be shown nationally on ESPN2 on Sunday from 8:00 to 11:30 a.m. Eastern time.
≡ PANORAMA ≡
● Olympic Games 2024: Paris ● The intergovernmental crime police organization INTERPOL announced an agreement with the French government to assist with security and international cooperation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
As part of the agreement, the INTERPOL Major Event Support Team will be activated once again to “facilitate real-time exchange of messages and vital police data between countries. This data includes fingerprints, photos, wanted person notices, and data relating to stolen and lost travel documents and stolen motor vehicles.” This group has been involved in Olympic security since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
● European Games 2023 ● The International Testing Agency filed its report on the 2023 European Games in Krakow and Malopolska (POL), with no positives reported across 1,286 samples taken from 981 athletes from the 48 participating countries.
That represents 14.3% of the 6,857 athletes reported to compete, with 65% samples collected in-competition and 35% out of competition.
The top countries in terms of athletes tested were Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Poland and France. The top sports tested were athletics, canoeing, boxing, rugby and kickboxing.
● Basketball ● Bob Knight, coach of three NCAA men’s championship teams at Indiana in 1976-81-87 and the iconic 1984 men’s Olympic basketball gold medalists, passed away at age 83 on Wednesday after a long illness.
He was often angry, crude and obstreperous, infamously throwing a chair onto the Assembly Hall floor during a 1985 game against Purdue to protest the officiating. He was accused and convicted in absentia for assaulting a police officer during the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan (PUR), but was not extradited; his team won the gold medal.
But he was a great coach, winning 902 games against 371 losses as a college coach at Army (1965-71), Indiana (1971-2000) and Texas Tech (2001-08). He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
● Boxing ● In a feature on the USA Boxing site, former boxer, USA Boxing Foundation athlete trustee and financial manager Elise Seignolle explained why she is running to be the first President of the new World Boxing federation.
“While this position might appear intimating to others, I see it as an amazing opportunity for boxing. We have the chance and the opportunity to all contribute to building a sustainable, ethical, and scalable future for boxing. We have a unique opportunity to build an International Federation from scratch that follows good governance principles and establishing best practices.”
Seignolle has been what happened to the International Boxing Association as a former independent member of its board, but she resigned after a year while seeing that federation barrel toward de-recognition by the International Olympic Committee. As for World Boxing, “It is time to put aside egos and agendas and instead fight to unite and grow our sport together.”
She is running against former Dutch boxing federation chief Boris van der Vorst, who unsuccessfully tried to be elected IBA president and was controversially prevented from running in a second vote against eventual winner Umar Kremlev of Russia. The World Boxing Congress will be held on 24-25 November in Frankfurt (GER).
¶
The Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing calendar shows that the International Boxing Association’s appeal of its de-recognition by the International Olympic Committee will be heard on 16 November.
The IOC withdrew its recognition of the IBA as the international federation governing Olympic boxing in a special session on 22 June 2023, apparently the first-ever federation to be dismissed.
● Curling ● Defending champion Japan will face a re-match with South Korea in the women’s final of the second edition of the World Curling Pan Continental Curling Championships in Kelowna, British Columbia (CAN).
Three women’s teams were 6-1 in round-robin: South Korea (skip: Eun-ji Gim), Japan (Satsuki Fujisawa) and the U.S., with Tabitha Peterson as skip. Canada, with Kerri Einarson as skip, finished at 4-3 and also advanced. In the semis, the Koreans raced out to a 4-1 lead over the Canadians, but Einarson’s squad got three in the seventh end to get even, but Gim scored two points in the eighth and ninth ends to ice an 8-4 victory.
The U.S. – fourth last year – and defending champion Japan were 2-2 after two ends, 3-3 after four and two points for Japan in the fifth was followed by three for Peterson’s rink in the sixth in their semi! Fujisawa equalized in the seventh, Peterson scored two for an 8-6 lead in the ninth, but Fujisawa’s final shot ensured a two-point 10th to tie the score, and then scored two in the 11th for a 10-8 victory. The gold-medal match will be on Saturday; the U.S. and Canada will play for bronze on Friday
The men’s semis will be held on Friday, with the U.S., Canada, South Korea and Japan still in it. All four of these teams also made it to the semifinals of the first event, held in 2022, with Brad Gushue’s Canadian rink winning the men’s title over Korea, 11-3.
In 2023, Gushue’s team led the round-robin play at 6-1, with Japan (Riku Yanagisawa) also at 6-1. South Korea, with skip Jong-duk Park, was 5-2 and the U.S., led by Andrew Stopera, was 4-3. Friday’s semis will have Canada, the defending champs, will face the U.S. and South Korea will play Japan, with the championship match on Saturday.
¶
Gushue sounded off on Wednesday, objecting to holding the event in a curling club rather than in an arena, and a lot more:
“This is an embarrassment. There’s a level of incompetence there that needs to be corrected.
“The way the WCF has run this week, it’s a joke. It’s a big step back from the event we had last year. I don’t understand why they’ve gone this route. I understand you have to give teams a chance to qualify for worlds and what not, I understand that. But I think there’s different ways it could be done. …
“None of us are getting paid to be here and they’re selling tickets. There are hundreds of people coming here and paying and none of the curlers are making a dime. And we’re being told to go outside and warm up for a game. I’m a little angry.
“It’s absolute silliness, the stuff that’s happening here this week. There is more care about everyone else than the players. Not being able to have any area to warm up. We were told to go outside. We’re sharing change rooms with the women. We’re not allowed to view practices. We’re now allowed to have one player there.”
Gushue also complained the Canadian broadcaster TSN is only streaming the event online and not showing it on broadcast or cable. World Curling communications chief Chris Hamilton (SCO) told the CBC:
“We are trying a number of things with our championships. For example, both the Pan Continental and European championships are being hosted in curling clubs this season.
“Once those events have been completed, we will look at the successes and challenges to evaluate whether it’s a viable model for future championships of this size.”
● Hockey ● A major new initiative from the International Hockey Federation (FIH) was unveiled Tuesday with the launch of an FIH+ pass to allow near-worldwide viewing of full games and highlights. The new Watch.Hockey program:
“With the FIH+ subscription pass, you’ll gain access to thrilling FIH events (FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers for Paris 2024, FIH Hockey Pro League Season 5, FIH Hockey5s World Cup, FIH Hockey Junior World Cups, FIH Hockey Nations Cup) , all in one place!”
News coverage in English and Spanish will be available, as well as training videos. However, geo-blocking will remain in place on the Indian sub-continent.
● Rowing ● World Rowing revealed its candidates for the World Rowing Awards, with three choices each for men and women:
Men:
● Oliver Zeidler (GER), Single Sculls
● Oliver Wilkes, David Ambler, Matthew Aldridge, Freddie Davidson (GBR), Fours
● Roman Roeoesli, Andrin Gulich (SUI), Pairs
Women:
● Emily Craig, Imogen Grant (GBR), Lightweight Double Sculls
● Karolien Florijn (NED), Single Sculls
● Magdalena Rusu, Roxana Anghel, Adriana Adam, Iuliana Buhus, Madalina Beres, Maria Tivodariu, Ioana Vrinceanu, Amalia Beres, Victoria-Stefania Petreanu (ROU), Eights
Four other awards are also up, for Para crews, coach, distinguished service and the Thomas Keller Medal. The winners will be announced on 11 December.
● Sailing ● A 67-page invitation to bid for the quadrennial World Sailing Championships in 2026 and 2027 has been issued, inviting replies by 30 November.
The event brings about 1,200 sailors together, in the Olympic classes, but will now also feature four Paralympic classes, split into two parts:
2026: Fourth quarter
● Windsurfing (IQ Foil: men and women)
● Kite (Formula Kite: men and women)
● Dinghy (men: ILCA7; women: ILCA6)
● Two para events; one added event
2027: Third quarter
● Mixed Dinghy (470)
● Skiff (Men: 49er; Women: 49er FX)
● Mixed Multihull (Nacra 17)
● Two para events; one added event
The selected host will have to pay a rights fee (not specified), an international broadcasting fee, a competition technology fee, a digital media fee and an Olympic Classes fee. On-shore spaces for 40-foot containers (or equivalent) with electrical power are needed, along with mooring spaces for 300 support vessels, office space and a lot more.
It’s a big undertaking, but the bid instructions ask: “It is very important that the Host minimises the costs and maximises the use of competition and non-competition venues and guarantee an efficient usage in terms of time, space and services, while taking into consideration the needs of the sailors.”
“Expressions of interest” are due by 30 November, and final bids by 30 March 2024. A decision will be made by the World Sailing Board in May 2024.
● Skiing ● FrancsJeux.com reported that three candidates for the first all-discipline FIS Games in 2028 have signaled interest:
“For the inaugural edition in 2028, the FIS will have to choose between Switzerland, where Saint-Moritz would be the main venue, Norway with Lillehammer, host city of the Winter Games in 1994 and the Winter YOG in 2016 , and Slovenia, where the project is based on the Planica and Kranjska Gora stations. The international body will soon begin a phase of dialogue and inspection with the three applicants. The final decision will be announced at the FIS Annual Congress in June 2024.”
● Water Polo ● To the surprise of absolutely no one, European Aquatics has removed its January 2024 European Water Polo Championships out of Israel in view of the continuing response to the attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian fighters. A statement included:
“Both institutions (European Aquatics and Israeli Water Polo Association) have agreed that it will be impossible to host the European Water Polo Championships in Netanya, Israel, as planned in January 2024.
“Different options are currently being investigated regarding the proper qualification procedure for the next World Aquatics Water Polo Championships in Doha, and further information on the topic will be communicated as soon as possible.”
“European Aquatics would like to take this opportunity once again to strongly condemn those responsible for the terrorist atrocities against Israeli citizens and to express our support and sympathy with them at this difficult time.”
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