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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Winter Games 2026: Milan Cortina ● Another big jump in ticket sales, as the Milan Cortina organizers announced that 613,000 – out of about 1.5 million to be available – have now been sold since the opening on 6 February. More details:
“This is a global success: in addition to the large number of tickets sold in Italy, significant demand has come from Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and France.
“The average number of tickets purchased per user during these first two sales windows is 6.5, with ice hockey, biathlon, cross-country skiing, and figure skating among the most in-demand sports. The most active age group so far has been 25 to 34 years old (over 30%), followed by the 35 to 44 age group (around 25%).”
The next sales period will open on 8 April; Paralympic sales will begin in March.
● Olympic Games 2036 ● A shocker in South Korea, as the Korean Sports and Olympic Committee (KSOC) voted by 49-11 to advance the candidature of the North Joella Province as a candidate for the 2036 Olympic Games. Seoul, host of the 1988 Olympic Games, was the other candidate.
The region includes cities such as Daegu, the 2011 host of the World Athletics Championships, Gwangju, which hosted the World Aquatics Championships in 2019 and numerous others, following the IOC’s preference for using existing facilities instead of building new.
The selection of North Joella must be approved by the Korean government and can then open discussions with the International Olympic Committee. There are perhaps a dozen candidates for 2036 already, including India, with no indication of any movement by the IOC until 2026 at the earliest.
≡ RESULTS ≡
● Alpine Skiing ● Austrian star Cornelia Huetter got back on the victory stand at the FIS women’s World Cup in Kvitfjell (NOR), winning Friday’s Downhill for her ninth career World Cup gold in 1:31.46, beating Emma Aicher (GER: 1:31.61) and American Breezy Johnson (1:31.86), the 2025 World Champion. Fellow American Jackie Wiles was eighth in 1:32.30.
Aicher, 21, moved up to the top of the podium in Saturday’s Downhill in 1:31.69, barely ahead of Worlds Super-G bronze winner Lauren Macuga of the U.S. (1:31.72) and Huetter (1:31.88). Johnson was 10th (1:32.31) and Wiles was 14th (1:32.50).
Sunday’s Super-G was an Italian 1-3, with Worlds runner-up Federica Brignone taking her eighth World Cup win of the season and extending her lead in the overall seasonal standings. She won a tight battle by taking the early lead in 1:30.11, ahead of Swiss star Lara Gut-Behrami (1:30.17) and Italy’s Sofia Goggia (1:30.20). Macuga was the top American, in 12th (1:30.95), and Lindsey Vonn was 16th (1:31.22).
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The men’s World Cup was in Kranjska Gora (SLO), with Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR: 1:10.73) getting his second win of the season in a Giant Slalom over former Norwegian and now Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (1:11.61) and seasonal World Cup leader Marco Odermatt (SUI: 1:10.88). River Radamus was the top American, in 12th (1:12.83).
Kristoffersen doubled his pleasure with a win in the Sunday Slalom, despite ranking only sixth after the first run. His second run was only the ninth-fastest, but his total of 1:39.26 was the best, ahead of Norway’s Timon Haugen (1:39.43) and Manuel Feller (AUT: 1:39.49).
● Artistic Swimming ● The medals were spread around at the the World Aquatics World Cup opener in Paris (FRA), with seven countries winning at least one event.
Paris Olympic Team bronze medal winner Iris Tio Casas (ESP) won the women’s Solo Technical at 240.0167 over China’s Huiyan Xu (239.1651). Germany’s two-time European silver winner Klara Bleyer won the Solo Free, scoring 211.9176, ahead of Vasilina Khandoshka (BLR: 200.0726), who competed as a “neutral” athlete.
Spain scored again in the women’s Duet Technical, with Txelle Ferre Gaset and Lilou Lluis Valette winning with 281.7383 over Japan’s Moka Fujii and Moa Higa (265.4225). Japanese teammates Uta Kobayashi and Tomoka Sato won the women’s Duet Free, scoring 214.9546 over Swiss teens Melody Halbeisen and Aimee Michel (201.4163).
Britain’s Ranjuo Tomblin won the men’s Solo Technical (214.3966) and Viktor Druzin (KAZ) took the Solo Free (127.2000).
Tomblin and Holly Hughes won the Mixed Duet Technical (182.9325), while Greece’s Maria Amerali and Stylianos Koukouselis Fouskis won the Mixed Duet Free (206.2708).
The U.S. – Olympic silver medalists in Paris – won the Team Acrobatic title, and was third in the Team Technical. Kazakhstan won the Team Free.
● Badminton ● At the German Open in Muelheim (GER), two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen (DEN) won another men’s Singles title, this time defeating second-seed Kean Yew Loh (SGP), 21-18, 21-18 in the final. However, Singapore did get a win from top-seed Ja Min Yeo (SGP) in the women’s Singles, winning by 21-16, 21-17 over Thuy Linh Nguyen (VIE).
Won Ho Kim and Seung Jae Seo (KOR) took the men’s Doubles, winning over Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov (FRA), 21-19, 21-17. The closely-contested women’s Doubles had Mizuki Otake and Miyu Takahashi (JPN) beating Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva (BUL), 21-17, 20-22, 21-12.
The mixed team of Robin Tabeling (NED) and Alexandra Boje (DEN) won the Mixed Doubles, 21-17, 21-17 over Rehan Kusharjanto and Gloria Widjaja (INA).
● Cycling ● The Classics season in Europe began with the 80th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad race from Ghent to Ninove (BEL) and a win – off of a mass sprint to the line – for Norway’s Soren Waerendskjold in 4:37:53 for the hilly, 197 km course. It’s his first UCI World Tour win.
He edged France’s Paul Magnier and home favorites Jasper Philipsen and Brent van Moer, with the first 49 finishers receiving the same time.
The women’s race – 137.9 km from Ghent to Ninove – was won by Belgium’s Lotte Claes, who won a 1×1 sprint to the line over Aurela Nerlo (POL), both in 3:39:43. Dutch stars Demi Vollering and Puck Pieterse were 3:25 back.
● Freestyle Skiing ● At the FIS World Cup in Ski Cross in Gudauri (GEO), familiar stars won both men’s races, with 2023 World Champion Simone Deromedis (ITA) beating Ryo Sugai (JPN) to the line on Friday and then Canada’s Reece Howden winning his fourth race of the season, ahead of 2023 Worlds runner-up Florian Wilmsmann (GER) and Deromedis, on Saturday.
Two-time Olympic bronze medalist Fanny Smith (SUI) won Friday’s race for her first World Cup gold of the season, ahead of Italy’s Jole Galli, who won her third medal of the season. Galli got her second win of 2024-25 in Saturday’s race, beating Smith and Canada’s Courtney Hoffos.
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Moguls and Aerials were on the schedule in Almaty (KAZ), and Canadian star – and all-time World Cup wins leader – Mikael Kingsbury swept the Moguls and Dual Moguls events for wins nos. 97 and 98. He scored 81.17 to win the Moguls on Friday from Daeyoon Jung (KOR: 79.08) and then defeated 2022 Olympic bronze winner Ikuma Horishima (JPN) in the Dual Moguls on Saturday.
The U.S. dominated the women’s events, with Tess Johnson winning the Moguls over teammate Jaelin Kauf, 77.68 to 77.66, and then Kauf winning the Dual Moguls on Saturday over Rino Yanagimoto (JPN). For Kauf, the Beijing 2022 Olympic runner-up, it was her fifth Dual Moguls wins in six events this season (she won silver in the other).
Sunday’s Aerials saw China’s two-time Olympian Xindi Wang get his first win of the season in the men’s final, scoring 127.50 to edge 2023 World Champion Noe Roth (SUI: 126.70) and 2022 Olympic champ Guangpu Qi (CHN: 122.62).
Australia’s two-time World Champion Laura Peel won the women’s Aerials for the fourth time in sex events this season. She scored 115.91 to beat China’s 2022 Olympic winner Mengtao Xu (101.74) and fellow Australian, three-time Worlds medalist Danielle Scott (87.06). Karenna Elliott of the U.S. was seventh.
● Judo ● Russia and Japan dominated the IJF World Tour Grand Slam in Tashkent (UZB), with Russian men winning six of seven classes: Ayub Bliev (60 kg), Ramazan Abdulaev (66 kg), Karen Galstian (73 kg), Timur Abruzov (81 kg), Matvey Kanikovskiy (100 kg) and Denis Batchaev (+100 kg) .
Japan blew through the women’s tournament with five victories, for Kano Miyaki (48 kg), Nanako Tsubone (52 kg), Akari Omori (57 kg), Kirari Yamaguchi (63 kg), and Rin Maeda (70 kg).
● Modern Pentathlon ● The UIPM World Cup for 2025 opened in Cairo (EGY), with a tight win for European Team and Relay champ Matteo Cicinelli, scoring 1,565 in the men’s final against Mihaly Koleszar of Hungary (1,557) and Egypt’s Mohanad Shaban (1,554).
Cicinelli was second in fencing and swimming and came into the Laser Run as the second starter, trailing Shaban by 10 seconds. But Cicinelli was much the better runner and finished in 10:38.00 to 10:59.40 for Shaban and won the title; Koleszar ran and shot in 10:33.20 to move up to second.
Egypt’s 14-year-old Farida Khaul was a convincing women’s winner with 1,464 points to 1,445 for Viyaleta Hureyeva (BLR). Khaul won the Obstacle and Swimming and started with an 18-second lead in the Laser Run. She won the overall scoring easily, taking the tape by 19 seconds.
● Nordic Skiing ● Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo continued his winning ways at the FIS World Nordic Championships in Trondheim (NOR), following his men’s cross-country Sprint victory with the men’s 20 km Skiathlon on Saturday, leading a 1-2-3-4 Norwegian sweep.
Klaebo won his 11th career Worlds gold at 44:22.3, just ahead of teammates Martin Nyenget (44:23.7) and Harald Amundsen (same time), with Jan Janssen just 0.1 back at 44:23.8. Gus Schumacher was the top American, in ninth (44:25.9).
Sunday’s Women’s Skiathlon went to Sweden’s Ebba Andersson for her fourth career Worlds golds, winning with a lean at the line to beat Norway’s 14-time Worlds winner Therese Johaug, both in 47:57.1. Sweden’s Jonna Sundling, the Sprint winner, was third in 48:07.3. Jessie Diggins of the U.S. was 13th in 49:59.9.
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In the Nordic Combined, the retiring Norwegian star Jarl Magnus Riiber won Saturday’s Compact event, off the 102 m hill and a 7.5 km race, in 17:13.4, edging teammate Jens Oftebro (NOR: 17:14.2) and Vinzenz Geiger (GER: 17:14.5). For Riiber, it was his 13th career Worlds medal (10-3-0) and sixth individual medal (5-0-1), matching Ronny Ackermann (GER: 4-1-1) for the most individual Worlds awards.
Ben Loomis was the top American, in 21st (18:25.4).
Riiber had previously won the Mixed Team event, with Oftebro and Gyda Westvold Hansen and Ida Marie Hagen in 36:37.5, way ahead of Germany (37:26.3). The U.S. squad of Annika Malacinski, Niklas Malacinski, Loomis and Alexa Brabec finished ninth (39:24.3).
On Sunday, the women’s Gundersen event, off the 102 m hill and a 5.0 km race, was a return to normalcy for Norway, going 1-2 with Westvold Hansen winning her third straight Worlds gold in this event in 13:42.9, ahead of Hagen (13:49.5) and Lisa Hirner (AUT: 13:50.4). Brabec finished 11th in 14:50.2.
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In Saturday’s ski jumping, Norway took the women’s team gold, scoring 904.5 to 885.1 for Austria and 846.5 for Germany. The U.S. was seventh (613.7) with Paige Jones, Josie Johnson, Sandra Sproch and Annika Belshaw.
The men’s 102 m “Normal Hill” final on Sunday saw the home crowd go wild for Norway’s 2022 Olympic champ Marius Lindvik, who won the first round and totaled 265.5 to win his first Worlds golds. Germany’s Andreas Wellinger, the 2018 Olympic champ, finished second with 263.2 and Jan Hoerl (AUT: 256.3) was third.
American Tate Frantz was 16th (228.9).
● Snowboard ● At the FIS World Cup in Snowcross in Erzurum (TUR), German Leon Ulbricht, 20, scored his second career World Cup win, beating Beijing 2022 runner-up Eliot Grondin (CAN) to the line with American Nick Baumgartner, the two-time Worlds bronze winner, still going strong in third at age 43!
Britain’s 2021 World Champion, Charlotte Brookes, scored her fourth straight World Cup win on the season in the women’s final, winning over Lea Casta (FRA) and 2023 Worlds silver winner Josie Baff (AUS).
Australia won Sunday’s Mixed Team final with Cameron Bolton and Baff, over Huw Nightingale and Brookes for Britain.
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The World Cup Parallel Giant Slalom in Krynica (POL) saw 44-year-old, six-time Worlds medalist Roland Fischnaller (ITA) got his first win of the season, beating 2018 Olympic runner-up Sang-ho Lee (KOR) in the men’s final.
Another 44-year-old, Austria’s three-time World Champion, Andreas Prommegger, won on Sunday in the Giant Slalom, over Italy’s Maurizio Bormolini in the final.
The 2018 women’s Olympic bronzer, Germany’s Ramona Theresia Hofmeister, won her sixth Parallel World Cup race of the season, beating Michelle Dekker (NED) in the final. Seasonal leader Tsubaki Miki (JPN) got her fourth win of the season in Sunday’s PGS, winning over Malena Zamfirova (BUL) in the final. Hofmeister won the bronze.
● Speed Skating ● The final ISU World Cup of the season was in Heerenveen (NED), with the home team Dutch scoring eight wins, and American star Jordan Stolz winning three seasonal World Cup titles.
The usually-dominant Stolz was slowed by strep throat and pneumonia after the Milwaukee World Cup at the start of February, explaining, “I’m healthy now, and just getting back into shape, I’ve done some training and my recovery is a little slow now, but I’ll be back.”
On Friday, Stolz was second to 2024 European champ Jenning De Boo (NED) in the first men’s 500 m, 34.18 to 34.27, then finished fifth in the 1,500 m (1:44.72), won by Peder Kongshaug in 1:44.01. However, Stolz took the seasonal title, 340-291 over Kongshaug.
Stolz skipped the men’s 1,000 m on Saturday, won by De Boo in 1:07.45 over American Cooper Mcleod (1:07.87). Stolz won the seasonal 1,000 m title by 300-276 over De Boo, with Mcleod third with 257.
Chris Huizenga won the men’s 5,000 m in 6:08.07, with Norway’s Sander Eitrem second in 6:10.10, but Eitrem took the seasonal trophy, 330-311, over Italian star Davide Ghiotto. Casey Dawson of the U.S. finished fifth in the Saturday race in 6:13.85.
Sunday had the second 500 m, won by emerging star Yevgeniy Koshkin (KAZ: 34.46), ahead of Canada’s 2021 World Champion Laurent Dubreuil (34.51) and De Boo (34.52). Mcleod was fifth in 34.62, but Stolz – who did not compete – won the season’s title with 568 points, to 476 for Dubreuil.
Italian Andrea Giovannini won the Mass Start in 7:48.31 and won the seasonal trophy, overtaking Bart Hoolwerf (NED), 270-252.
The U.S. team of Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran won the Team Pursuit in 3:39.40 and got the seasonal title, 174-168, over Italy.
The women’s 500 m had two-time World Champion Femke Kok winning both races. She won on Friday in 37.05, with Olympic champ Erin Jackson of the U.S. third in 37.71. Kok then won on Sunday in 37.13, with Jackson second in 37.43. But Jackson won the seasonal title, 524-480 over Poland’s Andzelika Wojcik. Kok won all five races she entered, but did not compete in six others.
In the 1,000 m, Beijing Olympic runner-up Jutta Leerdam won in 1:14.27, ahead of Olympic champ Miho Takagi (JPN: 1:14.49), with American star Brittany Bowe in sixth at 1:15.27. Takagi won the seasonal title, 354-256 over Bowe.
Joy Beune (NED), the 2024 World Allround Champion, won the 1,500 m in 1:53.70, beating Takagi (1:53.99) and Mei Han (CHN: 1:54.52), but Takagi won this seasonal crown as well, with 336 points to Beune’s 282. Bowe was sixth (210).
In the 3,000 m, 2023 World Champion Ragne Wiklund (NOR: 3:57.41) beat Beune (3:58.72) by more than a second, with Italy’s two-time Olympic medalist, Francesca Lollobrigida, third in 3:58.89. On the season, Wiklund was the winner with 326 points to 269 for Lollobrigida.
Dutch Mass Start star Marijke Groenewoud – two-time World Champion – win in 8:27.52, barely edging Canada’s two-time World Champion Ivanie Blondin (8:27.54) and American Mia Manganello (8:27.62). Fellow American Greta Myers was sixth (8:32.55). Groenewoud won the seasonal title, 340-247, over Manganello.
The Dutch won the women’s Team Pursuit in 2:54.87 and took the seasonal trophy with 180 points. The U.S., with Bowe, Manganello and Myers, was third in the race (3:00.19) and third in the seasonal standings as well (144).
● Wrestling ● American Dymond Guilford took the women’s gold in the 76 kg class at the UWW Ranking Series Muhamet Malo in Tirana (ALB) for the only U.S. victory in the women’s Freestyle division.
American women also four bronzes from Erin Golston (50 kg), Amanda Martinez (57 kg), Adaugo Nwachukwu (62 kg) and Alex Glaude (72 kg), and finished third in the women’s team standings (109), behind Japan (158) and Ukraine (110).
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