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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games 2032: Brisbane ● Activists are already planning legal action against the Queensland government’s plan to build a new, Olympic Stadium in Victoria Park.
A “Save Victoria Park” group has raised A$40,000 so far against a goal of A$100,000 for action against the stadium, claiming a removal of green space for the community and a disregard of the park’s cultural importance.
A host of new venues, to be built with state and Federal funds totaling A$7.1 billion (A$1 = $0.63 U.S.) are promoted as a tangible legacy of the 2032 Games for Queensland, breaking an election promise by Premier David Crisafulli from 2024.
He told ABC News Australia, “And I have to own that and I will and I am sorry. And it’s my decision and I accept that decision.”
But Crisafulli did not want to let the Games go by and not leave a host of new sports facilities. Now they have to be permitted – after being challenged in court – and built in time.
One of the identified venues was for rowing on the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton, already criticized as crocodile habitat. World Rowing issued a statement on Wednesday, noting:
“We understand from Rowing Australia, World Rowing’s National Federation in the country, that while Fitzroy River has been suitable for training purposes, it has not undergone any technical feasibility study that would confirm its ability to host national or international level racing. …
“Fairness and safety are paramount to any venue hosting events of this magnitude and importance, and any rowing course used for international racing must comply with World Rowing’s Rules of Racing and technical requirements. The proposed venue not having been assessed and confirmed as compliant with the relevant technical requirements, World Rowing stands ready to support such assessment, for this and any other venue, to enable a decision that will satisfy Rowing and other relevant stakeholders.”
In other words, stay tuned.
● International Federations ● The annual Redtorch “Sport on Social” ranking of International Federations was published this week, ranking federations not on audience size or reach, but on a blended metric of followers and engagement metrics across five different platforms. It’s less an actual ranking than a report card on performance in 2024.
A companion statistics platform indicated that Facebook remains the largest social-media site by followers:
● 181 million: Facebook
● 121 million: Instagram
● 64 million: TikTok
● 59 million: YouTube
● 55 million: X (ex-Twitter)
In terms of posts, X led with 97,000, with Facebook close (93,000), followed by Instagram (75,000), then YouTube (41,000) and TikTok (13,000). On “engagements” the clear leader was Instagram at 2.67 billion, with Facebook a distant second at 380 million.
The federations which fared best on the “report cards” for 2024 were World Athletics, World Aquatics, the International Cricket Council, FIFA and FIBA (basketball).
● Russia ● “The Olympics must remain a beacon of peace and human rights – not a stage for normalizing terror and destruction.”
That’s from a statement by the Ukrainian World Congress, decrying IOC President-elect Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) comment on athletes in conflict areas around the world from her post-election news conference:
“I believe at the end of the day, we need to do anything and everything to protect and support athletes from all conflict areas. We have numerous conflicts and a number of them happening on my continent.
“So again, we need to sit down as the Olympic Movement and have a very serious conversation around how are we going to deal with more and more conflicts and how are we going to protect and support athletes that are coming from these conflict areas.”
The UWC said in part:
“The Ukrainian World Congress is appalled by incoming International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry’s intention to discuss Russia’s return to the Olympic Games. …
“Allowing Russia back into the global sporting arena not only betrays the principles of justice but sends a chilling message: war crimes and aggression can be excused for the sake of athletic integrity.
“Russia has long weaponized culture and sports to spread its imperialist propaganda. Many Russian athletes are tied to the military, and their return to the Olympic Movement would hand the Kremlin a propaganda victory, amplifying its violent and oppressive ideology on a global stage.”
● Alpine Skiing ● A big day for Switzerland at the FIS Alpine World Cup Finals in Sun Valley, Idaho, sweeping both the men’s and women’s Giant Slalom events. Two-time World Cup seasonal women’s champ Lara Gut-Behrami got her 100th World Cup medal, taking charge with the fastest first-run time and finishing with a total time of 2:01.01, just ahead of Italy’s 2024-25 seasonal World Cup winner, Federica Brignone (2:10.15), who had the fastest second run.
Swede Sara Hector was third (2:10.81), with A.J. Hurt the top American in eighth (2:13.62); Nina O’Brien was 12th (2:15.24). Brignone won the seasonal Giant Slalom title with 580 points, to 520 for Alice Robinson (NZL).
Double Worlds gold medalist Loic Meillard led a Swiss 1-2 in the men’s Giant Slalom, leading after the first run and winning in 2:15.21 for his third win of the season, ahead of World Cup winner Marco Odermatt (2:16.16) and Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen (2:16.35). River Radamus was the top U.S. finisher, in 15th (2:18.42).
Odermatt won the seasonal Giant Slalom title – his fourth Crystal Globe of the season – with 580 points, to 454 for Kristoffersen and 434 for Meillard.
The finals finish on Thursday with the men’s and women’s Slaloms.
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U.S. superstar Mikaela Shiffrin is only skiing the Slalom in Sun Valley, but told The Associated Press that she is getting back to her pre-crash form:
“Training is going well. It’s actually super positive. Training has been improving day-by-day.
“I’m just trying to get back to the confidence that I was skiing with in Killington [last November] when the crash happened. That would be a big goal.”
She admits she has a setback now and then, but:
“Some of my turns are competitive with the fastest in the world. But putting that together for a minute and 10-second GS run – that just takes time and repetition. We’ll need to try to get some days this summer with long course sets, with a lot of variation of course sets, variation of conditions. I don’t doubt that I can get to that competitive level again. I think a lot of my skiing is already there.”
● Boxing ● Overjoyed by provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee to be the governing body for Olympic boxing during last week’s IOC Session in Greece, World Boxing President Boris van der Vorst (NED) was immediately asked about the hot-button issues, including transgenders, Russia and more. He was ready.
On transgenders, “For us, it’s very important to have a fair competition. We have installed a commission for sex, age and weight policy and I expect that in the near future we will publish our policy in this regards.
“For us, it is important to have a fair and safe competitions. That will be paramount.”
Relative to Russian participation and for boxers in federations which are not members of World Boxing: “It’s very important to unify the whole boxing world for World Boxing and to have all the best boxers participating in L.A. 2028. … The train has left the station already. And for me it’s important to call all the national federations to join World Boxing as soon as possible. For example the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar and many other world sports events that are related to the Olympic Movement.”
And, inevitably, the question of corruption was raised:
“[I]t’s critical and the most important task to deliver fair and transparent competitions in which the hand of the best boxer is raised and not of the most influential national federation. That means we will copy the procedures of the Paris boxing unit how to manage the officials, but also that we explore the use of modern technology, engaging AI for example to make the decisions more fair and transparent.”
● Football ● Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter (SUI: 89) and former French great and UEFA President Michel Platini (FRA: 69) prevailed against a government appeal at the Extraordinary Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Criminal Court in Muttenz on Tuesday.
The decision was an appeal of a finding from July 2022, exonerating both on charges of fraud, forgery, mismanagement and misappropriation relating to a 2011 payment of CHF 2 million (~$2.26 million U.S. today) by FIFA – when Blatter was President – to Platini for consulting services from 1998-2002.
¶
Sad news that former U.S. Soccer Federation Secretary General Hank Steinbrecher passed away on Tuesday (25th) at his home in Tucson, Arizona.
Steinbrecher was a crucial figure in the rise of U.S. Soccer to become the most financially successful National Governing Body in the world. He came to the USSF in 1990 from handling the marketing for Gatorade at The Quaker Oats Company, moved the federation to Chicago and helped bring in astonishing growth over a decade that included the playing of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the rise of the U.S. women’s team to glory at the 1991 Women’s World Cup and then at the transformative 1999 Women’s World Cup held in the U.S.
Steinbrecher is survived by his wife, Ruth Anne, and his two sons, Chad and Corey.
● Weightlifting ● In a sport shadowed by past doping, the International Weightlifting Federation released figures from the International Testing Agency, which is the contracted doping-control organization for the federation.
For all of 24, 3,324 total samples were collected for 2,486 tests from 1,078 athletes in 120 countries. Of these, there were 51 anti-doping violations (2.1%), with some processing still continuing from 2024. That’s still high.
The top countries with athletes tested included Colombia, Uzbekistan the U.S., Ukraine and Armenia.
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