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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Olympic Games ● Sad news that Yvonne Curtet-Chabot, a French long jumper at the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games, passed away on Friday (25th) at 104. She was the oldest living Olympian, having been born on 28 May 1920.
Per Olympic super-statistician, Dr. Bill Mallon, the “new” oldest Olympian is Canadian alpine skier Rhoda Wurtele-Eaves, born in 1922 and now 103.
She was slated to compete in St. Moritz (SUI), but withdrew after a training run injury. She did compete at Oslo in 1952 in three events, with a best of ninth in the women’s Giant Slalom.
● Athletics ● Paris men’s high hurdles champ Grant Holloway was not pleased with the lack of a broadcast partner for the USATF National Indoor Championships on Saturday, with the meet finally available on the USATF.tv site for subscribers or via pay-per-view. Wrote Holloway on X:
“If you plan to watch the USATF Indoor Champs, consider waiting for it to be posted on Twitter or YouTube instead of paying for the PPV. It’s surprising that we can’t watch our own championships live, which is definitely an area that needs improvement.”
He won the men’s 60 m hurdles on Saturday; the Sunday portion of the meet was shown on NBC and its Peacock streaming service.
● Football ● Former Royal Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales and Spanish midfielder Jenni Hermoso both say they will appeal last week’s court decision that convicted and fined Rubiales €10,800 for sexual assault, and required him to pay Hermoso €3,000 in “moral damages,” but cleared him on a coercion charge and imposed no jail time. (€1 = $1.05 U.S.)
Hermoso wrote on Instagram:
“After everything, this will create an important precedent in a social environment where there is still much to be done. “I have my heart full with each of the people who have been, are, and will continue with me in this fight.
“And now, yes, it’s over.”
Except for the appeals, of course. The other three defendants from the Spanish federation were all acquitted of coercion charges.
● Triathlon ● Impressive 2024 Impact Report from USA Triathlon, in which the federation moves beyond the Olympic Mixed Relay silver in Paris and eight Paralympic medals, but noted the nation-wide participation in the sport:
● More than 3,600 races at 1,034 triathlon events held in the U.S.
● More than 302,000 members nation-wide, an increase of 1.6% from 2023.
● More than 280,000 adult finishers in 2024, down slightly from 2023.
Triathlon events were both large and small, with record averages of 354 entries per event and 120 per race in 2024.
The USA Triathlon Foundation was also busy, raising $3.4 million; programs for youth introduced more than 9,000 to the sport.
≡ RESULTS ≡
● Alpine Skiing ● Italian star Federica Brignone’s dream season in the Giant Slalom continued in front of home fans at the FIS World Cup in Sestriere (ITA), as she won both Giant Slalom races, on Friday and Saturday, to go along with her FIS World Championships gold in Austria.
She took the first race in 2:12.69, moving from second to first with the best second run in the field. New Zealand’s Alice Robinson, the first-round leader, finished second, just as at the Worlds (2:13.09), with Thea Louise St Jernesund (NOR: 2:14.26) in third.
American Paula Moltzan was sixth (2:14.70), Nina O’Brien was eighth (2:15.32), A.J. Hurt was 12th (2:15.48) and Mikaela Shiffrin, skiing cautiously in an event she skipped at the Worlds, was 25th in 2:17.34.
On Saturday, Brignone was fourth after run one, but again the best on the second and won in 2:08.81, beating Swiss star Lara Gut-Behrami (2:09.58) and Robinson – again the first-run leader – in 2:09.60. Hurt and Moltzan went 7-8 in 2:10.66 and 2:10.76, but O’Brien did not finish. Shiffrin, again cautious, ranked 33rd on the first run and did not advance.
Sunday’s Slalom was a magnificent 100th win for Shiffrin, covered in more depth here.
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Swiss fans, already thrilled with their team’s performance at the World Championships, got more to cheer about at the men’s World Cup in Crans-Montana (SUI).World Champion Franjo von Allmen repeated his Worlds win in the Downhill, leading a Swiss sweep in 1:56.07. He was followed by World Cup leader Marco Odermatt (1:56.20) and Alexis Monney, the Worlds bronze winner (1:56.49). Ryan Cochran-Siegle was the top American, in 13th (1:57.65), followed by Bryce Bennett (17: 1:58.04) and Jared Goldberg (25: 1:58.78).
Sunday’s Super-G saw Odermatt win his eighth race of the season in 1:21.53, ahead of Monney (1:21.81) and Italy’s Dominik Paris (1:21.92). Already the three-time defending World Cup champion, Odermatt now has a 500-point lead on the field with 11 races left.
● Biathlon ● At the IBU World Championships in Lenzerheide (SUI), France and Norway finished 1-2 on the medal table and combined to win 22 of the 36 total medals available.
On Saturday’s relay day, France and Norway traded gold and silvers in the men’s and women’s races. The Norwegians won the men’s 4×7.5 km relay in 1:18:18.1 (4 penalties) to 1:19:00.9 for the French (7 penalties), with Germany third (1:19:54.0/10). It was the third win in four men’s events for the Norwegians, with Johannes Thingnes Boe getting his third gold.
The U.S. squad of Paul Schommer, Maxime Germain, Campbell Wright and Paul Doherty finished ninth in 1:21:33.2 (11).
The women’s 4×6 km relay belong to the French, – their third win in four women’s events – with Julia Simon winning a fourth gold on anchor in 1:07:26.5 (4), over Norway (1:08:30.7/9) and Sweden (1:09:11.0/9). The U.S. team was lapped on the third leg, and eliminated.
On Sunday, 27-year-old Endre Stromsheim won the 15 km Mass Start, at the head of a Norwegian sweep in 38:22.6 (1 penalty), ahead of Sturla Holm Laegreid (38:35.0/2) and J.T. Boe (38:35.3/4). The U.S.’s Wright, already a two-time silver winner, took fourth in 38:54.0 (2). Fellow American Germain was 28th (41:57.4/4).
Sweden’s Elvira Oeberg won her third medal of this Worlds by taking the women’s 12.5 km Mass Start in 40:32.3 (2), ahead of France’s Oceane Michelon (40:41.7/3) and Maren Kirkeeide (NOR: 40:48.8/3). It’s Oeberg’s first Worlds gold, but her sixth career Worlds medal.
The French finished with 13 medals (6-2-5) to top the table, ahead of Norway (9: 4-3-2) and Germany (5: 1-1-3). Norwegian star Boe, 31, set to retire at the end of the season, finished with sensational totals of 43 Worlds medals, including 23 golds, 14 silvers and six bronzes. He won five medals (3-1-1) in Lenzerheide.
● Curling ● The USA Curling Mixed Doubles Championship in Lafayette, Colorado also served as the Olympic Trials for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
The round-robin winners were 2023 champs Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin, with an 8-1 record, with Sarah Anderson and Andrew Stopera at 7-2. Those two teams faced off in the Page playoff system, with Thiesse and Dropkin winning, 10-3 and sending Anderson and Stopera to the semifinal.
There, Anderson and Stopera got past Madison Bear and Aidan Oldenburg, 7-5, and got a final shot at Thiesse and Dropkin in a best 2-of-3 series for the title and an Olympic berth. Thiesse and Dropkin took the first match, piling up a 5-2 lead after four ends, then tied at 5-5 after six. Thiesse and Dropkin got two in the seven, but were tied in the eight, and finally scored in an extra end to get an opening, 8-7 victory.
On Sunday, Thiesse and Dropkin got out to a 4-0 lead after three ends and added two more for a 6-1 lead after six ends and cruised in for a 6-3 win and their second national title together. Dropkin, however, now has won this championship four times, also with Sarah Anderson – this time the other finalist – in 2015 and 2018.
● Cycling ● The UCI World Tour’s seven-stage UAE Tour concluded on Sunday, with Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogacar, the race favorite, delivering with an emphatic victory.
Stages 1, 4, 5, and 6 were fairly flat and resulted in the expected mass sprint finishes, with Belgian Tim Merlier winning stages 5 and 6. The Individual Time Trial in stage 2 was a win for British rider Jonathan Tarling and then Pogacar won the uphill-finishing third stage and took the race lead.
He held it, and had a 21-second lead on Tarling into the 176 km stage 7, also with an uphill finish. And he was the winner in 3:44:04, 33 seconds up on Italy’s Giulio Ciccone, and took the overall title in 23:08:42, 1:14 up on Ciccone, as Tarling fell back on the final stage. Spain’s Pedro Bilbao was third overall, 1:19 back of the winner.
It was Pogacar’s third win in this race, also in 2021 and 2022.
● Figure Skating ● The ISU Four Continents Championships was held in Seoul (KOR), with the home favorite – and 2024 Worlds bronze winner – Chae-yeon Kim moving up from silver in 2024 to win the women’s Singles.
Kim took both the Short Program and Free Skate and scored 222.38 points for a clear win over Americans Bradie Tennell (204.38), Sarah Everhardt (200.03) and Alysia Liu (198.55) in 2-3-4.
For Tennell, this was her first international championship medal since a bronze at the 2020 Four Continents and Everhardt won her first-ever international medal.
Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Shaidorov, the 2022 World Juniors silver medalist, won the men’s Singles, scoring 285.10 and winning both the Short Program and Free Skate. Korea’s Junhwan Cha moved up from fourth to second in the Free Skate to score 265.02 for second, with American Jimmy Ma third (245.01). Americans Cam Pulkinen (217.25) and Tomoki Hiwatashi (214.79) finished 8-9.
Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won the Pairs title for the second time in three years, winning both the Short Program and Free Skate, and scoring 217.32. Canada went 2-3 with defending champs Deanna Stillato-Dudek and Maxine Deschamps (210.92) and Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (198.40). Americans Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea (196.94) and Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov (192.07) placed fourth and fifth.
Defending champions Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (CAN) won the Ice Dance again, taking the Rhythm Dance and second in the Free Dance for a 218.46 total, barely edging World Champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S., who won the Free Dance and scored 217.93. It’s the eighth career Four Continents medal for Chock and Bates (3-3-2).
Canada’s Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha were third, scoring 201.04, ahead of Americans Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko (197.05) and Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik (188.55) went 4-5.
● Football ● The 10th edition of the SheBelieves Cup opened on Thursday evening in Houston, with eighth-ranked Japan shutting down Australia, 4-0, with Mina Tanaka scoring in the sixth and 32nd minutes. The U.S. shut out Colombia, 2-0, with goals by Catarina Macario (33rd) and Ally Sentnor (60th, her first international goal), with keeper Jane Campbell getting her sixth career shutout. The U.S. had 63% possession and a 10-7 edge on shots.
On Sunday in Glendale, Arizona, Japan outclassed Colombia, 4-1, with Momoko Tanikawa scoring in the first minute and Mina Tanaka making it 2-0 in the eighth. It was 2-1 at half and then Maika Hamano scored in the 57th for a 3-1 lead. Tanaka added a penalty shot in the 80th for the 4-1 final.
In the nightcap, the U.S. also struck quickly, with striker Lynn Biyendolo (nee Williams) also scoring on a fast-break, right-footed tap in 41 seconds for a 1-0 lead over Australia. That was the score at half, then U.S. sub Michelle Cooper got her first international goal in the 67th minute, slamming home a loose ball in the box off the foot of Sentnor, for a 2-0 lead.
The Aussies got back into the game in the 80th, as midfielder Hayley Raso sent a perfect cross from the right side to an unmarked sub striker Michelle Heyman for a right-footed strike that whizzed past U.S. keeper Mandy Haught to close to 2-1. But that was as close as it got, with the U.S. finishing with 67% of possession and a 14-7 edge on shots.
Both the U.S. and Japan are 2-0 and the tournament concludes on Wednesday (26th), with Australia and Colombia, and the U.S. and Japan for the title, in San Diego, California.
● Freestyle Skiing ● At the FIS World Cup in Stoneham (CAN), two-time World Cup Big Air winner Matej Svancer (AUT) got his first gold this season in Slopestyle, scoring 89.43 to 87.54 for New Zealand’s Luca Harrington, with Ben Barclay (NZL: 87.00) third.
Italy’s Flora Tabanelli, who has medaled in all five Big Air competitions this season, won the women’s Slopestyle at 80.41 – her first Slopestyle medal in 2024-25 – beating Ruyi Yang (CHN: 75.28) and American Rell Harwood (74.11), winning her second straight bronze.
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Lots of action in Beidahu (CHN), with Moguls, Dual Moguls and Aerials, starting with a win for Japan’s 2017 World Champion, Ikuma Horishima, in the men’s Moguls, scoring 86.57 to get his second win of the season. Canadian star Mikael Kingsbury, the all-time Moguls World Cup wins leader was second with 85.91. American Nick Page was seventh (80.67).
In the men’s Dual Moguls, Finland’s Severi Vierela scored a stunning victory, out-racing Horishima in the final, 20-17; it’s the first Finnish World Cup win in Moguls since Sami Mustonen in 2007! Canada’s Julien Viel won the bronze over Page, 18-17.
The women’s Moguls was a celebration for 2022 Olympic silver medalist Jaelin Kauf of the U.S., winning 82.19-79.23 for France’s 2018 Olympic champ Perrine Laffont. Americans Olivia Giaccio (78.43) and Tess Johnson (76.50) went 3-4.
Kauf won again in the Dual Moguls, again defeating Laffont, who did not finish. Johnson won the bronze over fellow American Kylie Kariotis.
In Sunday’s Aerials, China’s Tianma Li got his first career World Cup gold, out-scoring Beijing 2022 Olympic champ Guangpu Qi, 130.56 to 119.00. Chris Lillis of the U.S. got his third bronze of the season, scoring 115.93 points.
China’s 2022 women’s Olympic champ Mengtao Xu got her second win of the season, leading a 1-2 with teammate Meiting Chen, scoring 114.19 and 109.04. Australia’s three-time World medalist Danielle Scott was third (89.18) ahead of Karenna Elliott of the U.S. (86.36).
● Gymnastics ● The first FIG Artistic World Cup of 2025 was in Cottbus (GER), with Armenia and Japan both getting two wins in the men’s events.
The brother combination of Artur and Vaghan Davtyan both won, with the younger Artur – a two-time World Vault medal winner – scoring with a 14.900 vault win and Vaghan winning on Rings at 14.133. Japan got wins from Kaito Sugimoto on the Parallel Bars over Ukraine’s Nazar Chepurnyi, 14.300 to 14.266, and Shohei Kawakami on the Horizontal Bar by 14.400 to 14.333 against Lithuania’s Robert Tvorogal.
Kazak Milad Karimi, the 2023 Worlds bronze winner, won the Floor Exercise over Japan’s Worlds silver medalist Kazuki Minami, 14.133 to 13.666. Yu-Jan Shiao (TPE) won on Pommel Horse at 14.433, beating Jordan’s 2023 Worlds bronzer Ahmad Abu Al-Soud (14.233).
China won three of the four women’s events, with Paris Olympic Beam runner-up Yaqin Zhou taking that event at 14.766, ahead of teammate Kexin Zhang (14.266). Zhang won on the Uneven Bars, scoring 13.990 ahead of Britain’s Charlotte Booth (13.300) and Yihan Zhang, a Paris Olympian, won the Floor Exercise at 13.433, ahead of Israel’s Lihie Raz (12.933).
In the vault, Slovenia’s Teja Belak (13.299) and Tjasa Kysselef (13.266) went 1-2, with the amazing Oksana Chusovitina (UZB) – now 49 – scoring 13.249 for third!
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At the USA Gymnastics Winter Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, Ashlee Sullivan was the winner of the women’s senior-level All-Around, scoring 53.550, ahead of Jayla Hang (53.000) and Simone Rose (52.700). The Winter Cup serves as a qualifier to the USA Gymnastics nationals.
Event winners included Alessia Rosa on Vault (13.800), Alicia Zhou on the Uneven Bars (13.650), Tatum Drusch and Claire Pease on Beam (13.850) and Nola Matthews on Floor (13.300).
The men’s double All-Around started with Stanford’s Riley Loos winning on Friday with 80.400 points over 2023 Worlds All-Around bronze winner Fred Richard (79.900). Loos won on Vault and Richard led all scorers on Floor.
On Sunday, Loos won again, this time at 80.450, for a two-day total of 160.850. Richard was second at 79.100 and with a two-day total of 159.000. Nebraska’s Taylor Christopulos took third at 158.400.
The two-day event scoring showed Loos with wins on Rings (27.350), Vault (28.450) and Floor (27.700). Stanford’s Colt Walker won on the Parallel Bars (28.25) and Michigan’s Crew Bold took the Horizontal Bar (26.900). Brandon Dang of Illinois won on Pommel Horse (28.350).
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At the FIG Trampoline World Cup in Baku (AZE), Belarusian Olympic men’s champ Ivan Litvinovich (competing as a “neutral”) was a convincing men’s winner, scoring 65.950, ahead of Japan’s Nishioka Ryusei (63.440).
Fellow Belarusian Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya, the Paris Olympic silver winner, took the women’s competition (56.070), well clear of Japan’s Paris sixth-placer Mori Hikaru (55.800). American Mytnik Katsiaryna was sixth (29.000).
In the men’s synchro, Japan’s Nishioka Ryusei and Miyano Hayato (51.540) won over Danil Mussabayev and Nikita Tumakov (KAZ: 50.950). The women’s synchro title went to Japan’s Tanaka Kiko and Sakurai Ena (48.800), over Maia Amano and Trinity van Natta of the U.S. (47.440).
● Luge ● The final FIL World Cup of the season was in Yanqing (CHN), with Austrian and German domination continuing on Saturday.
The women’s Singles winner was two-time World Champion Julia Taubitz in 1:58.926, edging Natalie Maag (SUI: 1:59.369) and Merle Frabel (GER: 1:59.403). American Ashley Farquharson was fifth in 1:59.660. For the season, Taubitz won her third straight World Cup title with 657 points, with Madeleine Egle (AUT: 629) second; Farquharson was seventh (400).
Austrian stars Selina Egle and Lara Kipp won the Doubles in 1:59.896 for their sixth win of the season, ahead of 2024 World Champions Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal (GER: 2:01.721. Americans Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby finished fourth in 2:02.061. Egle and Kipp won the seasonal title, 835-745 over Degenhart and Rosenthal with Forgan and Kirkby third (601).
In the men’s racing on Sunday, two-time World Champion Max Langenhan won his fourth race of the season, in 1:55.051, and wrapped up the seasonal title. Austria’s Jonas Muller (1:55.583) and David Gleirscher (1:55.633) went 2-3. Langenhan finished with 716 points to 613 for Gleischer in the seasonal table.
Three-time Olympic champs Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt (GER) won the men’s Doubles in 1:58.143, beating Martins Bots and Roberts Plume (LAT: 1:58.301) and fellow Germans Toni Eggert and Florian Mueller (1:58.908) in third. Wendl and Arlt took the seasonal title as well with 745 points to 641 for Bots and Plume. Americans Zachary Di Gregorio and Sean Hollander finished ninth (341).
● Rugby Sevens ● Argentina and New Zealand claimed wins in the fourth leg of the 2024-25 HSBC Sevens Series, this time in Vancouver (CAN).
Argentina, South Africa and Fiji won the men’s pools, and the South Africans won two close matches over Australia and Fiji to reach the final. Argentina also won two defense-first matches and got to the final and managed a 19-12 win for their second tournament win of the season.
Spain won the bronze, 22-7, over Fiji. Argentina leapt back into the seasonal lead, with 68 points to 64 for Spain and 62 each for Fiji and South Africa. The U.S. are in 11th place (9).
In women’s pool play, Brazil, New Zealand and Great Britain led the pools, with the Kiwis zipping by Canada (34-12) and Australia (29-10) to reach the final. Meanwhile, Fiji crushed Brazil by 46-0 and then Japan by 28-7 to march into the title match.
But it was all New Zealand, winning the final by 41-7, while Australia took the bronze, 26-12, over Japan. The standings show the Kiwis over Australia by 76-70 with two tournaments left, and France (52) and the U.S. (46) following.
● Ski Jumping ● The 12th stop on the FIS women’s World Cup tour was in Hinzenbach (AUT), jumping off the 90 m hill, and Slovenian teen star Nika Prevc winning for the fifth time in a row on Saturday. She scored 248.4 and won both jumps, with Selina Freitag (GER) second at 240.5 and Jacqueline Seifriedsberger (AUT: 231.1) third.
Sunday’s jumping saw Prevc and Freitag go 1-2 for the fourth straight World Cup, scoring 244.0 and 241.5 points as Prevc won the first round and Freitag won the second. Abigail Strate (CAN) took the bronze at 226.6. With five events left, Prevc has a 1,533-1,078 lead over German Katharina Schmid.
● Ski Mountaineering ● Test events for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games were held in Bormio (ITA), with World Championships gold medalists Emily Harrop (FRA) and Oriol Cardona Coll (ESP) winning the women’s and men’s Sprint.
Spain’s Cardona Coll and Ana Alonso Rodriguez won the Mixed Relay, ahead of Harrop and Thibault Anselmet.
● Snowboard ● The FIS World Cup season in Halfpipe finished in Calgary (CAN) with the fifth competition and a second straight win for Japan’s Ruka Hirano. He scored 93.00 to out-point countryman Yuto Totsuka, the 2021 World Champion (89.75), with American Alessandro Barbieri third (83.25). Hirano’s win gave him the seasonal title, 34-310 over Totsuka.
Japan’s Beijing bronzer, Sena Tomita made it a sweep with a win in the women’s event, scoring 90.75, ahead of two-time Worlds medalist Maddie Mastro of the U.S. (85.25) and Elizabeth Hosking (CAN: 79.25). Mastro won medals in three events and took the seasonal title at 310 points, with two-time Olympic champ Chloe Kim of the U.S. second at 250.
The fourth Slopestyle event of the season saw the U.S. go 1-2 with 16-year-old Oliver Martin, who won his first career World Cup medal (and first gold) at 80.60, beating 2018 Olympic champ Red Gerard of the U.S. (78.63). Norway’s two-time World Champion Marcus Kleveland was third in 75.65.
Japan’s 18-year-old Mari Fuaka won the women’s Slopestyle at 77.58, with Annika Morgan (GER: 76.30) second and 2023 World Champion Mia Brookes (GBR: 74.08) third.
● Speed Skating ● American star Jordan Stolz lost his last race, at the ISU World Cup in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but started a new streak at the ISU World Cup in Tomaszow Mazowiecki (POL).
He had won 14 races in a row this season before the second 500 m event in Milwaukee, and 18 in a row going back to last season (and 22 straight in her preferred 500-1,000-1,500 m races). But got going again in Poland, winning the first men’s 500 m and the 1,500 m on Friday and then the 1,000 m on Saturday. Fellow American Cooper Mcleod was fourth in the 1,000 m.
But on Sunday, he was in the last pair of the second men’s 500 m, but finished fifth overall, as Kazakhstan’s Yevgeniy Koshkin scored an upset win in 34.52 over Canada’s 2021 World Champion, Laurent Dubreuil (34.70) – second in both 500s – with Stolz fifth in 34.84. Said Stolz afterwards:
“The technique feels good, my strength isn’t even bad, but it’s just that I’m not recovering like I used to during competition, it’s probably the antibiotics or something.”
Norway’s Sander Eitrem took the 5,000 m in 6:16.62 over two-time Worlds runner-up Davide Ghiotto (ITA: 6:18.29). American Casey Dawson was fifth in 6:20.83. The Mass Start final was won by Seug-hoon Lee (KOR) over Bart Hoolwerf (NED), 7:48.05 to 7:48.511.
The U.S. trio of Conor McDermott-Mostowy, Mcleod and Zach Stoppelmoor won the Team Sprint in 1:19.27, ahead of South Korea (1:20.47).
Beijing 2022 Olympic women’s 500 m champ Erin Jackson of the U.S. was in good form, winning both 500 m races. She took Friday’s event in 38.08 over two-time Olympic 1,000 m champ Suzanne Schulting (NED: 38.17), and then won again over Schulting on Sunday, 37.81 to 37.92.
Two-time Mass Start World Champion Marijke Groenewoud (NED) won the women’s 1,500 m in 1:56.67, beating Olympic 1,000 m champ Miho Takagi (JPN: 1:57.50), but Takagi came back to win the 1,000 m in 1:14.80, with American Brittany Bowe fifth in 1:16.60.
Groenewoud also won the Mass Start in 8:20.34 over Italian Francesca Lollobrigida (8:20.48), with American Mia Manganello fourth (8:21.03). Norway’s Ragne Wiklund, the 2023 World Champion, took the 3,000 m in 4:03.70 over Merel Cronijn (NED: 4:04.59) and Lollobrigida (4:05.32). Poland won the Team Sprint, with the U.S. in sixth.
● Swimming ● Germany’s Tokyo Olympic 10 km champ Florian Wellbrock dominated the men’s World Aquatics Open Water World Cup opener in Soma Bay (EGY), taking the lead halfway through the race and winning in 2:01:33.6. France’s Logan Fontaine was second (2:01:44.1), just ahead of teammate and 2016 Rio Olympic bronzer Marc-Antoine Olivier (2:01:44.4).
The women’s race came down to two: Australia’s Paris Olympic silver medalist Moesha Johnson and bronzer winner Ginerva Taddeucci (ITA), with Johnson finishing ahead again, 2:06:34.6 to 2:06:37.6. Fellow Australian Chelsea Gubecka got third in 2:06:51.0.
Wellbrock anchored Germany to a clear win in the Mixed 4×1,500 m relay in 1:10:10.9, with Johnson and Gubecka swimming the first two legs for Australia, second in 1:10:41.1. Italy was third in 1:11:16.7.
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