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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Laureus Awards ● The 25th Laureus World Sports Awards were presented on Monday in Madrid (ESP), with Olympic stars Mondo Duplantis (SWE) and Simone Biles of the U.S. winning the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the year awards. It was the fourth such award for Biles, who told attendees:
“I want to thank Laureus for this incredible honour. I’ve been dreaming of moments like this since I was a foster kid, so I have to say thank you to my parents for adopting me and my sister. To any foster kids – or kids in general – out there… go get ‘em, you got it. Never give up.”
Brazilian gymnastics star Rebeca Andrade won selected as the World Comeback of the Year winner, and British Olympic men’s Mountain Bike gold medalist Tom Pidcock was recognized as the World Action Sportsperson of the Year.
Spanish (and Barcelona FC) winger Yamine Lamel won the World Breakthrough Athlete of the Year award, and football’s Real Madrid won the World Team of the Year award.
Chinese Paralympic women’s swimmer Yuyan Jiang was saluted with the World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award, and surfing icon Kelly Slater of the U.S. was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Tennis immortal Rafael Nadal (ESP) received the Laureus Sporting Icon award, honoring his amazing career.
This year’s Laureus Sport for Good Award went to Kick4Life, which uses football to reach at-risk children in Lesotho, promoting health education, life-skills development, gender rights and employability.
● Alpine Skiing ● Although he never won an Olympic, World Championship or World Cup medal, John Dakin was as much as part of American alpine skiing as snow.
He passed away at age 71 on 12 April (Saturday) at his home in Edwards, Colorado, after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
Dakin got involved with skiing during his college years at Colorado in the 1970s, when he became the sports information contact for the sport as a freshman, beginning a life-long association. He earned degrees in Russian History and Journalism, but was quickly moved to Park City, Utah to become the lead press officer for the U.S. Ski Team in 1981.
He moved back to Colorado for a communications post with Vail Associates in 1986 and then took temporary position that turned into a long-term career with the Vail Valley Foundation, with whom he spent 28 years, finally as the Vice President of Communications, retiring in 2020.
Dakin’s initial role was to help get things ready for the 1989 FIS World Alpine Championships and it accelerated his ascendance to one of the most respected media operations experts in the sport (and others). As an announcer, statistician, writer, organizer and promoter, Dakin was an indispensable player as the media operations lead for the 1989, 1999 and 2015 Alpine Worlds and with the organizing committees for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City and 2020 in Vancouver (CAN), plus many other local events.
He said at a retirement event in 2020, “I feel that I have been truly blessed in my professional life to find something I was passionate about – ski racing – and to be in the right place at the right time to start and expand my career. It’s been head and shoulders above anything that any kid coming out of Grand Junction, Colorado, could have ever thought possible.”
Noted for a sly, deadpan wit, he was elected to the Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame in 2022 for his role as a sport builder.
Dakin might have retired, but was hardly retiring, expanding his enthusiasm for outdoor photography of the wildlife around Edwards. And in his favorite sport, he set standards which have succeeded him and will for many years. He was one of the best, ever.
He is survived by his brother Geo Miller, nephews, nieces and many, many friends around the world.
● Athletics ● USA Track & Field named its coaching and support staff for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo (JPN), with two-time hammer Olympian Kibwe Johnson to be the men’s head coach and Caryl Smith-Gilbert, head coach at Georgia, in charge of the women’s team.
Assistant men’s coaches include Rhan Sheffield for sprints and hurdles, Chris Lundstrom (distance), and Kevin Reid for jumps and multi-events, with Blake Boldon as the head manager. The women’s assistants are Megan Watson for distances, Connie Teaberry for jumps and multis, and Jillian Camarena Williams for throws, with Jess Riden as head manager.
USATF head relays coach Darryl Woodson will lead the U.S. team for the World Athletics Relays in China next month, with David Watkins and Simone Terry as the men’s and women’s head managers.
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The Athletics Integrity Unit is now adding to its tool kit with this, announced on X:
“And as part of this evolution, we have also introduced the Steroidal Biological Passport, which is designed to track long-term patterns of steroid use, especially in power-based athletes. It’s another step in our strategy to fight doping.”
AIU chief Brett Clothier (AUS) explained the need, also on X:
● “The best athletes know how to avoid detection. Some substances stay in the body for as little as 6 to 12 hours, leaving a narrow window to catch cheats.
“‘It’s a game of cat and mouse,’ Brett says. ‘Testing has to happen at just the right time and not by chance.’
● “That’s why Whereabouts plays a critical role. It allows us to test when and where the chance of detection is highest, and that means smarter, more targeted testing.
● “At the AIU, this shift is already underway:
“– Testing plans are intelligence-led, not random
“– Whereabouts data helps time tests with precision
“– We’re focused on narrow detection windows”
● Gymnastics ●The iconic Biles spoke with the French all-sports daily L’Equipe, commenting on any possibility of a return to competition for a home Olympic Games in 2028:
“I’m really trying to enjoy life, to spend time with my husband [Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens], go support him at his games, live my life as a woman.
“I’ve accomplished so much in my sport. For me to come back, it would really have to excite me.”
Now 28, she expects to be in Los Angeles, but “whether on the apparatus or in the stands, I still don’t know that. But 2028 seems so far away, and my body is aging. I felt it in Paris.”
● Swimming ● With national championships continuing elsewhere in the world, new world-leading marks in multiple events in the last week:
● Men/50 m Free: 21.43, Egor Kornev (RUS) ~ Nationals
● Men/100 m Back: 52.04, Kliment Kolesinov (RUS) ~ Nationals
● Men/200 m Back: 1:55.55, Oliver Morgan (GBR) ~ Nationals
● Men/50 m Breast: 26.37, Ilya Shymanovich (BLR)
● Women/50 m Free: 24.42, Florine Gaspard (BEL)
● Women/100 m Back: 57.65, Kaylee McKeown (AUS)
● Women/100 m Breast: 1:05.37, Angharad Evans (GBR) ~ Nationals
● Women/200 m Breast: 2:20.36, Evgeniia Chikunova (RUS) ~ Nationals
Shymanovich’s fast 50 Breast time of 26.37 is the no. 7 swim ever, and no. 2 in Belarussian history behind his national record of 26.28 from 2023.
● Triathlon ● The World Triathlon presidential transition took place on Monday (21st), with Antonio F. Arimany (ESP) replacing fellow Spaniard Marisol Casado, who ended her 16-year effort as the head of the federation. Said Casado:
“I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last 16 years. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the National Federations, athletes, and colleagues who have supported me throughout this journey. Together, we have accomplished remarkable things, and I am excited to see how our sport will continue to thrive in the future.”
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