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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 1996: Atlanta ● A.D. Frazier Jr., who served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG), passed away on Monday, according to a report from a family member.
Frazier, 80, had apparently been ill for some time and died at his home in Mineral Bluff, Georgia.
Frazier had been involved in the staging of the 1977 Presidential inauguration of former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter and helped to organize the White House staff in the early days of the Carter Administration. But he was best known for his work with the 1996 Olympic Games as the organizing committee’s no. 2 executive.
After the Atlanta 1996 experience, he became the head of the global investment management group INVESCO and later was the Chair and chief executive of the Chicago Stock Exchange.
● Athletics ● The Paris Olympic Games and the Diamond League are over, but here comes another track & field meet of note, the Athlos NYC meet, an all-women’s event that will debut on Thursday, 26 September at Icahn Stadium in New York.
There are six events (with six entries each) on the program: 100-200-400-800-1,500 m and the 100 m hurdles. The meet was created by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and will pay substantial prize money: $60,000-25,000-10,000-8,000-5,000-2,500 for six places in each event.
Ticket prices range from $75-200 plus fees on the lower level and $35-125 on the upper level; the meet is to be shown live on the social-media platform X.
The leading performers advertised to compete include Olympic champ Gabby Thomas and bronze medalist Brittany Brown of the U.S. in the 200 m, Olympic champ Marileidy Paulino (DOM) and runner-up Salwa Eid Naser (BRN) in the 400, 2019 World Champion Halimah Nakaayi (UGA) and 2023 World Champion Mary Moraa (KEN) in the 800 m and triple Olympic winner Faith Kipyegon (KEN) and 2022 World Indoor gold winner Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) in the 1,500 m.
The best event might be the 100 m hurdles, with Tokyo 2020 Olympic winner Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (PUR), Paris winner Masai Russell (USA) and two-time World Champion Danielle Williams of Jamaica.
● Football ● Multiple reports state that FIFA is having difficulty finding broadcasters interested in the newly-expanded Club World Cup, with 32 teams competing over a month at U.S. venues in 2025.
Stories posted last Friday said that FIFA President Gianni Infantino (SUI) called “an emergency meeting” with broadcasters over the lack of interest, at least at the pay levels which FIFA wants to receive. There has been criticism of the expansion of the Club World Cup by player and league association as adding too many matches for top-level players to the 2025 calendar, a position that FIFA has rejected.
● Ice Hockey & Skating ● Interesting tie-in between the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and the International Skating Union (ISU), together with the German ice hockey federation in a joint meeting on 11 September, “creating a platform for worldwide experts in the field to foster synergies, share technical knowledge and boost innovative solutions in support of more eco-friendly ice rinks.”
The conference was designed as a kick-off event to eventually involve more federations – in bobsled, curling, ice hockey, luge and skating – to advance better usage of water and energy.
Among the discussions were a variety of scientifically-researched techniques capturing the entire operation cycle of ice rink arenas, including the manufacturing process of artificial (polymer-based) ice to expand horizons on alternative ice surface possibilities.
● Swimming ● SwimSwam.com reviewed the prize money structure of the forthcoming, three-meet World Aquatics World Cup circuit in October, in Shanghai (CHN), Singapore and Incheon (KOR). These are short-course meters events (25 m pool) with times qualifying for the 2024 World Aquatics 25 m Championships from 10-15 December in Budapest (HUN).
As with last year’s World Cup, points are awarded for each event not only for placement, but for how fast the swim is “worth” on the AQUA points table. Up to three events per swimmer can be combined for their meet score, with the top 20 to receive from $12,000 down to $4,000.
This is $112,000 per gender per meet, so $672,000 in all. There is another $524,000 awarded for overall rankings in the series: $100,000-70,000-30,000-15,000-14,000-12,000-11,000-10,000 per gender. So, the total available is $1.196 million, the same as in 2023.
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