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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● U.S. Center for SafeSport ● Fascinating article by high-performance coach and author George Perry on a possible future revision in the way that the U.S. Center for SafeSport operates.
Perry notes that the Center was created by Congress in 2018, but without any agency oversight:
● “Congress did not grant any government agency the power to regulate the Center for SafeSport; nor did Congress charge any agency with safeguarding America’s youth athletes. Congress conferred that power directly to a private nonprofit corporation, the Center for SafeSport.”
● “The 2018 amendment to the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act went even farther. Rather than simply giving the center unregulated and unreviewable authority to do as it sees fit, Congress delegated to the center its exclusive power to write laws.”
Because of this, Perry explained:
“This is known as dynamic incorporation, whereby Congress gives some other entity a free hand to promulgate rules that take on the force of U.S. federal law. …
“The Center for SafeSport, therefore, is sitting on an unprecedented dual grant of government power: it can set and enforce its own rules without any government review, and those rules take on the force of federal law.”
However, a case now being decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, FCC v. Consumers’ Research, is testing this concept, about a delegation of power in the telecommunications sector. That decision could end up impacting the way SafeSport operates, including assignment of an agency parent charged with oversight.
● Cycling ● Lots of interest in Sunday’s 122nd Paris-Roubaix race, one of the five “Monument” races in the sport and famous (infamous?) for its heavy inclusion of teeth-chattering cobblestone roads (actually granite blocks) in the course.
The 2025 route from Compiegne to Roubaix is 259 km for the men, with 30 sections of cobbles totaling 55 km! Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel is the two-time defending champion, both times beating out Belgian star Jasper Philipsen.
But the focus will be on Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogacar, who won the 2024 Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and the World Road title race last year and already owns wins in three Monument races:
● Ronde van Vlaanderen (2): 2023, 2025
● Liege-Bastogne-Liege (2): 2021, 2024
● Il Lombardia (4): 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
He missed out on a win at Milan-Sanremo on 22 March this year, finishing third for the second year in a row, in his fifth entry in the race. This will be his first try at Paris-Roubaix, nicknamed “L’Enfer du Nord” or “the Hell of the North.”
The fifth Paris-Roubaix women’s route is 148.5 km, riding on the final 17 sectors of the men’s course, with 29.2 km of cobbles. Belgian star Lotte Kopecky is the defending champion, also second in 2022 and coming off an important win in the Ronde van Vlaanderen race on 6 April.
Canada’s Alison Jackson, the 2023 winner, is also entered.
● Ice Hockey ● In Wednesday’s opening matches of the IIHF Women’s World Championship in Ceske Budejovice (CZE), the U.S. smashed Finland, 7-1, in the opener and the host Czech Republic blanked Switzerland, 3-0.
Hayley Scamurra had two goals for the U.S. and Aerin Frankel turned away 19 of 20 shots in goal.
On Thursday, Canada had no trouble with Finland, 5-0, with Jennifer Gardiner scoring twice.
Group play will continue through the 15th.
● Modern Pentathlon ● The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne responded to the loss of eight athlete entry quota spots for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles in an unhappy statement:
“We note with considerable disappointment the decision by the IOC to reduce the LA28 quota for Modern Pentathlon from 72 to 64 athletes. It is clear that the selection of five new team sports especially for LA28 has created a challenge around overall athlete numbers.
“The decision is difficult to accept after everything the Pentathlon community has done to help remodel our historic multisport to become a leader in sport innovation, in line with the future direction of the Olympic Games. Modern Pentathlon worked in close collaboration with the IOC throughout this process, making the news even more unexpected. We look forward to further dialogue with the IOC Sports Department on this matter.
“That said, our community is resilient and we will prove to the world in three years’ time that our new-look Pentathlon is worth an enhanced, not diluted, place in future Games.”
● Shooting ● The International Shooting Sport Federation welcomed the announcement of its 2028 event program, and added that there will be changes to the formats of some events:
● The number of athletes in finals for Skeet and Trap and the men’s 25m Rapid-Fire Pistol will increase from six to eight, the same as the other individual finals.
● The 50 m Rifle/3 Positions final will be from the standing position only; however, qualifying will remain prone, kneeling and standing sections. This will speed up the timing of the event and help with television coverage.
● Mixed team finals will move from one-on-one medal matches to four teams shooting at once, with an elimination format after each round.
These format changes will apply as of 1 January 2026 and be included in the qualifying events for the LA28 Games.
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The ISSF World Cup in Buenos Aires (ARG) concluded on Thursday with two Mixed Team events. It was an all-China final in the Mixed Team 10 m Air Pistol, as Qianke Ma and Yifan Zhang defeated Qianxun Yao and Ku Hai, 16-10.
The Chinese Taipei team of Kun-Pi Yang and Wan-Yu Liu won the Mixed Team Trap gold, dispatching Australia’s Mitchell Iles and Penny Smith, 35-32.
China topped the medal table with 11 (5-3-3), ahead of India (8: 4-2-2) and the U.S. (6: 2-3-1).
● Surfing ● “The International Surfing Association (ISA) acknowledges with disappointment the decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not to include Longboard Surfing in the LA28 Olympic Games.
“The ISA appreciated the opportunity to present Longboard’s value for Olympic inclusion and are grateful for its consideration in the LA28 program. While our request for additional athletes for Shortboard Surfing was also declined, we will continue our push for greater participation at the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.”
The Shortboard discipline was continued for 2028, with 48 athletes to compete.
● Weightlifting ● The International Weightlifting Federation acknowledged the allocation of 120 athlete spots for the 2028 Olympic Games, with some disappointment:
“While the International Weightlifting Federation had requested an increase of the existing bodyweight categories (from five to seven, for both men and women) with a minimal impact on the final number of athletes (from the present 120, to 126), our International Federation understands that within the context of keeping the 10’500-athlete overall quota (excluding the five sports proposed by the LA28 OCOG), there wasn’t a wide available margin for the sport of Weightlifting.”
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