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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
● Athletics ● The Athletics Integrity Unit announced Friday that it has banned Japan’s Koki Ikeda, 26, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic men’s 20 km walk silver medalist, for four years for blood manipulation.
This was an Athlete Biological Passport case, and Ikeda’s was suspended “after abnormalities were detected in his blood samples collected on 20 June 2023 and between 16 August and 13 September 2023, which the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) alleged were indicative of blood manipulation.” Ikeda has consistently denied the charge, and could appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
He was provisionally suspended from 1 November 2024, and his results between 20 June 2023 and 1 November 2024 have been nullified.
● Tennis ● The World Anti-Doping Agency announced an agreement with Italy’s no. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner over his positive tests at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California last year, with Sinner agreeing to serve a three-month suspension that will not cause him to miss any of the Grand Slams.
Sinner tested positive for clostebol, twice, but was found by the International Tennis Integrity Authority to bear no fault (or negligence) since the drug was part of a medication applied by his physical therapist.
WADA was asking for a one to two-year sanction at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with the hearing scheduled for April. But:
“WADA accepts the athlete’s explanation for the cause of the violation as outlined in the first instance decision. WADA accepts that Mr. Sinner did not intend to cheat, and that his exposure to clostebol did not provide any performance-enhancing benefit and took place without his knowledge as the result of negligence of members of his entourage. However, under the Code and by virtue of CAS precedent, an athlete bears responsibility for the entourage’s negligence. Based on the unique set of facts of this case, a three-month suspension is deemed to be an appropriate outcome.”
Said Sinner: “This case had been hanging over me now for nearly a year and the process still had a long time to run with a decision maybe only at the end of the year, I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realize WADA’s strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that basis I have accepted WADA’s offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a three-month sanction.”
Sinner’s suspension runs from 9 February to 4 May (with four days previously credited for his provisional suspension in 2024), in time for him to play in the Italian Open in Rome, which begins on 5 May.
≡ RESULTS ≡
● Archery ● An upset in the men’s final in the World Archery Indoor World Series Great Chicago Open, with Canada’s 24-year-old Devaang Gupta (CAN) winning a shoot-off with American star – and five time Olympic medalist – Brady Ellison, 6-5. Both shot 10 in the shoot-off, but Gupta’s arrow was closer to the center!
In the all-American bronze-medal match, Nicholas D’Amour defeated Alex Gilliam, 6-4.
Favored Casey Kaufhold, the U.S.’s 2021 Worlds silver winner, took the women’s Recurve title, 6-4, over Ana Maria Rendon (COL). Dutch star Gaby Schloesser won the bronze over American Alex Zuleta-Visser, 6-4.
● Badminton ● Canada defeated the U.S., 3-1, in the final of the Pan American Cup in Aguascalientes (MEX). Both teams entered 3-0, but Canada’s Brian Yang beat Enrico Asuncion in the men’s Singles (2-0), Michelle Li swept Lydia Chao in the women’s and Kevin Lee and Ty Lindeman won the men’s Doubles over Zhi Yi Chen and Presley Smith (2-1). The U.S. team of Smith and Jennie Gai won the Mixed Doubles over Lindeman and Crystal Lai, 2-0.
● Biathlon ● Heading into his final IBU World Championships, held in Lenzerheide (SUI), Norwegian star Johannes Thingnes Boe had won 38 Worlds medals, including 20 golds. But he was going to make sure that he was remembered and won his 21st World title in the opening men’s individual event, the 10.0 km Sprint on Saturday.
Boe dominated the race, winning by 27.7 seconds in 21:56.8 (0 penalties), but the surprise was in second place. That was American Campbell Wright, 22, a clear second in 22:24.5 (0), who transferred from New Zealand in 2023, and finished well ahead of France’s twice Olympic gold medalist Quentin Fillon Maillet (22:33.8/1).
It was the first U.S. Worlds men’s medal since 2019, when Lowell Bailey took an upset win in the 20 km Individual race, and the first-ever men’s Worlds medal in the Sprint. In 13 starts on the World Cup circuit this season, Wright had a best of fourth – in a Sprint – with two top-10 finishes in 13 starts. But he’s now the Worlds silver medalist; he said afterwards:
“Coming into the day I just had all the confidence that I could ski with the top guys. I skied with [Sweden’s Martin] Ponsiluoma that second loop and felt pretty in control to be honest. I just figured, I really gotta hit the targets on standing. I managed to do it and honestly I have no words.”
Fellow American Maxime Germain also had a personal best Worlds finish, in 12th (23:02.5/0).
In Sunday’s 12.5 km Pursuit, Boe won again, in 32:26.9 (2), with Wright up for second again in 32:35.5 (1), and France’s Eric Perrot third (32:47.7/1), his first individual Worlds medals. Germain was 21st (35:03.1/4).
Wright made more history, as the first American ever to win two medals in a single Worlds!
The women’s individual events started with a win for Justine Braisaz-Bouchet (FRA), who won her fourth career Worlds gold in the 7.5 km Sprint in 22:08.7 (1 penalty), ahead of Franziska Preuss (GER: 22:18.5/1) and Suvi Minkkinen (22:18.7/2).
The women’s 10 km Pursuit was the first individual Worlds gold for Germany’s Preuss, a convincing winner in 26:58.9 (0), way ahead of Olympic silver medalist Elvira Oeberg (SWE: 27:38.0/1) and Braisaz-Bouchet (27:39.8/3).
The Worlds continue through the next week.
● Bobsled ● The second week of the IBSF World Cup in Lillehammer (NOR) finished the season, with the World Championships coming in March in Lake Placid, New York.
The Two-Man finished with a German sweep of all eight races, this time with Olympic silver winner Johannes Lochner (and Georg Fleischhauer) winning in 1:40.99, just ahead of Olympic champ Francesco Friedrich (and Felix Straub: 1:41.02), with Adam Ammour and Nick Stadelmann completing the fifth German sweep of the season in 1:41.19. Friedrich won the seasonal title, 1,745-1,730 over Lochner; American Frank Del Duca was 10th (1.104).
In Sunday’s Four-Man, Lochner completed a sweep, winning in 1:39.03, with Friedrich at 1:39.35 and Britain’s Brad Hall at 1:39.39. Those three drivers won all seven World Cup races this season. Friedrich won the seasonal crown, 1,515 to 1,446 over Lochner, with Hall third (1,444).
The women’s Monobob went to Australian Bree Walker, who got her first World Cup ever last week – in a tie with American Elana Meyers Taylor – and now by herself, in 1:48.51, beating Canadian Cynthia Appiah (1:48.66). German Lisa Buckwitz, the 2018 Olympic winner in the Two-Woman event, took third in 1:48.67.
Buckwitz, with three wins earlier, took the seasonal title, 1,637 to 1,596 over Walker; Kaysha Love was the top American, in fifth at 1,317, with Meyers Taylor eighth in 1,190.
Beijing 2022 Olympic winner Laura Nolte (with Leonie Kluwig) won the Two-Women race in 1:43.74, ahead of Buckwitz and Neele Schuten (1:43.94) and Canada’s Melissa Lotholz and Skylar Sieben (1:44.70). Nolte, Kim Kalicki (GER) and Buckwitz were the top three in the seasonal standings with 1,545, 1,447 and 1,437 points.
German domination was underlined as their sleds won all 15 Two-Man and Two-Women races this season and 24 of 30 overall in World Cup competition.
● Cross Country Skiing ● The ninth stop – of 12 – in the 2024-25 FIS World Cup was in Falun (SWE), with American Jessie Diggins trying to close out a repeat women’s seasonal World Cup title.
Home favorite Linn Svahn (SWE) got her 16th career World Cup win in the women’s Classical Sprint, winning the final in 3:12.22, over Nadine Faehndrich (SUI: 3:13.11). Diggins did not make the final, but ranked seventh overall, as the first alternate.
Sweden won again in Saturday’s 10 km Classical Interval Start, with triple Worlds gold winner Ebba Andersson winning in 28:49.3, beating Norwegian star Heidi Weng (29:07.1) and Victoria Carl (GER: 29:18.0). Diggins was fourth in 29:26.6.
Diggins said she was fired up by seeing American Gus Schumacher win silver in the men’s Sunday race and skied like it, winning the 20 km Freestyle Mass Start in 54:27.4, out-lasting Norwegian star Weng (54:28.1) and Andersson (54:28.2) to the line. It’s the sixth World Cup gold of the year for Diggins and she leads the seasonal World Cup standings – as defending champion – by 1,933 to 1,461 over Carl, with five events left. She’s just about there.
The men’s Classical Sprint was the 10th win of the season for four-time World Cup champ Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), timing 2:46.40, leading a Norwegian sweep, with Erik Valnes (2:47.71) and Oskar Vike (2:48.92). Klaebo was in the mix again in the Classical 10 km, but three-time Olympic gold winner Iivo Niskanen (FIN) took his first World Cup win since the season opener last November, in 24:54.3, with Klaebo second in 25:07.2. Schumacher was the top American, in 17th (26:07.9).
Sunday’s 20 km Freestyle Mass Start was the first win of the season for Norway’s Paal Golberg, in 48:05.1, pushed right to the line by Schumacher, 24, who won his second career World Cup medal and first this season, in 48:05.4. Harald Amundsen (NOR) was just behind both in 48:06.0.
The World Cup takes a break now, with the World Championships coming on 26 February in Trondheim (NOR).
● Freestyle Skiing ● The final leg of the Halfpipe World Cup season was in Calgary (CAN), with New Zealand’s 18-year-old Finley Melville Ives winning his first career World Cup medal – a gold – scoring 92.75 points, just beating three-time Olympic Slopestyle silver winner Nick Goepper of the U.S. (92.25) and 2018 PyeongChang Olympic runner-up Alex Ferreira (91.75). Ferreira won the seasonal Crystal Globe with 360 points, to 320 for Goepper.
The women’s win went to China’s Fanghui Li, 21, who scored 90.50 to edge 2023 Worlds runner-up Zoe Atkin (GBR: 87.75) and Canada’s 2021 Worlds silver winner Rachael Karker (87.00). Svea Irving of the U.S. was fifth (72.75). Li and Atkin tied for the Crystal Globe, each with 305 points.
● Ice Hockey ● The NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off is generating the hoped-for frenzy of interest, especially after the wild Saturday match-up of the U.S. and Canada in Montreal. The Americans decided to fight from the start, with three brawls in the first nine seconds of the game!
When the hockey resumed, Canada got a first-period goal from Connor McDavid to go up 1-0, then the U.S. took over. Jake Guentzel evened it at 10:15 of the first, then Dylan Larkin scored on a 2×1 break at 13:33 of the second for the key goal and a 2-1 lead.
Connor Hallebuyck of the U.S. turned away 18 shots in the final two periods and the U.S. got an empty-netter from Guentzel with 1:19 to play for the 3-1 final, clinching a spot in the championship game on Thursday (20th).
Also on Saturday, Finland defeated Sweden in another heated match, 4-3, in overtime.
So, the U.S. is 2-0, and Canada and Finland are 1-1, with Sweden at 0-2 (two overtime losses), as the event moves to Boston. The U.S. opponent will be decided on Monday, as Canada will play Finland in the afternoon and Sweden faces the U.S. in the evening.
The final comes Thursday in Boston at 8 p.m. Eastern.
● Judo ● Japan dominated the second IJF World Tour of the year, the Baku Grand Slam in Azerbaijan, winning 10 of the 14 classes in the tournament (also four silvers and three bronzes):
Olympic bronze medalist Ryuju Nagayama won the men’s 60 kg class; 2024 Worlds runner-up Takeshi Takeoka won at 66 kg; 2024 Worlds silver medalist Tatsuki Ishihara took the 73 kg gold; Olympic runner-up Sanshiro Murao won at 90 kg, followed by 2024 Worlds bronzer Dota Arai at 100 kg and Hyoga Ota at +100 kg. That’s six golds in seven classes.
Women’s Olympic 48 kg champ Natsumi Tsunoda won the women’s 48 kg tournament, as did Tokyo Olympic champ Uta Abe at 52 kg, 2021 Worlds runner-up Momo Tamaoki, at 57 kg, and 2019 World Junior Champion Ruri Takahashi at +78 kg.
Canada’s 2021 World Champion Jessica Klimkait won the 63 kg gold.
● Luge ● Austria won three of the four main races at the FIL World Cup in PyeongChang (KOR), with Beijing 2022 Worlds runner-up Wolfgang Kindl taking the men’s Singles from 2022 bronze medalist Dominik Fischnaller, 1:35.422 to 1:35.514, with Kristers Aparjods (LAT) a close third at 1:35.533. Tucker West was the top American, in 12th (1:36/668).
Thomas Steu and Kindl – 2024 Worlds silver winners – won the men’s Doubles in 1:32.578, ahead of five-time World Champion Toni Eggert and Florian Mueller (1:32.580), with triple Olympic gold winners Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt third (1:32.680). Zachary Di Gregorio and Sean Hollander of the U.S. finished seventh (1:33.235).
Austria’s third win came from 2024 World Champion Lisa Schulte in the women’s Singles, in 1:32.923, just ahead of German Mabel Frabel (1:33.296) and Fellow Austrian Hannah Prock (1:33.000). Ashley Farquharson was the top American, in sixth (1:33.380).
Germany’s two-time World Champions Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal took the women’s Doubles in 1:33.618, barely ahead of Selina Egle and Lara Kipp (AUT: 1:33.641). The U.S. pair of Chevonne Forgan and Sophia Kirkby finished fourth (1:34.238).
Kindl and Schulte won the Mixed Singles in 1:38,613, with West and Farquharson sixth (1:39.214). Eggert and Mueller and Degenhart and Rosenthal won the Mixed Doubles (1:37.835), with Di Gregorio and Hollander and Forgan and Kirkby sixth (1:38.517).
● Short Track ● The ISU World Tour was in Milan (ITA), looking ahead to next year’s Winter Games, but also the end of the regular-season meets. And it was a good meet for American star Kristen Santos-Griswold.
The five-time Worlds medal winner in 2024, she opened on Saturday with a win in the women’s 1,000 m – in which she is the reigning World Champion – in 1:29.320, ahead of U.S. teammate Corinne Stoddard (1:29.445), with 2023 World Champion Xandra Velzeboer (NED) winning the seasonal event title with 374 points to 370 for Stoddard.
Sunday started with the 500 m, and another win for Santos-Griswold, this time over the legendary Arianna Fontana (ITA) – now 34 and an 11-time Olympic medalist, back to try for a home Games in 2026 – in 42.558 to 42.662. The win gave Santos-Griswold the seasonal title by 410-398 over Velzeboer.
In the 1,500 m, Belgium’s 2022 Olympic bronzer, Hanne Desmet, won for the second time this season in 2:23.229 to 2:23.308 for Santos-Griswold and 2:23.420 for Fontana, with Stoddard sixth (2:23.750). Desmet also won the seasonal title, 404-380 over Santos-Griswold.
The Dutch women won the 3,000 m relay in 4:10.570 over Italy (4:10.668).
Overall, it was Santos-Griswold who won the World Cup championship, scoring 1,120 points to 950 for Velzeboer and 940 for Stoddard. Santos-Griswold won nine medals during the season, including four wins and is well positioned to contend for the podium in multiple events in 2026 (as is Stoddard).
The men’s meet started with a sprint win for China’s World 1,500 m champ Long Sun, taking the 500 m in 40.777 over Teun Boer (NED: 40.891). The 1,500 m was the third World Cup gold of the season for Dutch Worlds runner-up Jens van’t Wout in 2:10.930, beating Kosei Hayashi (JPN: 2:20.124).
Sunday’s 1,000 m was a fitting conclusion to the season for Canadian William Dandjinou, the reigning World men’s 1,000 m champ. He won in 1:23.025 over Pietro Sighel (ITA: 1:23.119) and not only got his eighth World Cup win of the season, he celebrated the overall men’s World Cup title, with 1,184 points to 950 for van’t Wout. Sighel finished third with 764 points.
Fellow Canadian Steven Dubois (460) won the men’s 500 m seasonal title over Dandjinou (312); Dandjinou won the 1,000 m title with 380 points to 360 for van’t Wout, and Dandjinou took the 1,500 m globe by 480-320 over Korea’s Ji-won Park.
Italy won the men’s 5,000 m relay in Milan in 6:42.822, over Canada (6:42.878). The Dutch won the Mixed Relay in 2:38.005, head of Canada, in 2:38.187.
● Ski Jumping ● The FIS men’s World Cup was in Sapporo (JPN), jumping off the 137 m hill and with a home win for two-time World Cup champion Ryoyu Kobayashi, who won his first medal of the season with a win at 286.4 points, winning both jumps. Austria’s Jan Hoerl was a distant second at 266.7; American Kevin Bickner was 18th (227.8).
On Sunday, Kobayashi doubled up, placing second in the first round and winning the second to score 278.4 points, holding off Marius Lindvik (NOR: 274.2) and fellow Norwegian Johann Forfang (268.7). Bickner was 13th (239.0).
¶
The women’s World Cup was in Ljubno (SLO), on the 94 m hill, and seasonal leader Nika Prevc winning her third meet in a row – and eighth of the season – on her home hill, scoring 258.0 points to beat Selina Freitag (GER: 240.6). American Paige Jones was 19th (186.7).
Prevc made it four straight on Sunday, winning both jumps and totaling 266.4, ahead of Freitag again (256.2) and Lisa Eder (AUT: 248.9). Jones was 26th.
● Snowboard ● The fourth leg of the FIS World Cup in Snowcross was in Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA) on Saturday with France’s Aidan Chollet, 20, winning his first World Cup medal – a gold – in his 24th race! He finished ahead of Kurt Hoshino (GER; his first World Cup medal) and Cody Winters of the U.S.
The women’s race saw the third straight World Cup win for Britain’s 2021 World Champion, Charlotte Bankes, ahead of France’s Lea Casta and Manon Petit Lenoir.
¶
In the Parallel Giant Slalom in Val St. Come (CAN), 40-year-old Zan Kosir got his seventh career World Cup win and the first in four years, beating 39-year-old Benjamin Karl (AUT), the Beijing 2022 gold medalist.
On Sunday, German Elias Huber won his second medal of the season and his first career gold, winning the final over 44-year-old, six-time Worlds medalist Roland Fischnaller (ITA).
The first women’s race was another win for 2021 Parallel Slalom Worlds runner-up Ramona Theresia Hofmeister, her fourth in the last five events! She beat Sabine Payer (AUT), who won her third silver of the season, to go along with one win.
Hofmeister swept the weekend, winning the second race over Swiss two-time World Champion Julie Zogg. Japan’s Tsubaki Miki, the seasonal leader, took the bronze for her 11th medal of the season, in 14 races!
● Swimming ● Canadian star Summer McIntosh, still 18, and a triple gold medalist in Paris, won the women’s 800 m Free at the U.S. Southern Zone South Sectionals in Plantation, Florida in 8:09.86, a national record, the world leader in 2025 and the no. 10 performance of all time.
Up to that race, Katie Ledecky of the U.S. had the top 17 performances ever; she now has the top nine (and 22 of 24). McIntosh is the second ever to break 8:10.
In the women’s 400 m Freestyle, superstar Ledecky won her prelims in 4:01.27 and the final in 4:01.04, easily the fastest in the world this year. And she won the 1,500 m in a world-leading 15:36.87, the no. 16 performance in history. She now owns the top 21 performances ever in that event.
● Triathlon ● The World Triathlon Championship Series opener in Abu Dhabi (UAE) featured two close finishes in the Sprint format, with a 750 m swim, 19.1 km bike phase and 5 km run.
The men’s race came down to a battle between New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde, the Paris 2024 runner-up and Matthew Hauser (AUS), the 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze winner, finally decided on the final lap of the run, with Wilde breaking free to win in 48:21 to 48:23, with Vasco Vilaca (POR: 48:39) a solid third. Olympian Morgan Pearson was the top American, in 19th (49:42).
The women’s race ended in a German sweep, with Paris Mixed Relay gold medalist Lisa Tertsch strong in all three phases, but the most efficient at the transitions, winning in 54:29, just ahead of Nina Eim (54:30) and Laura Lindemann (54:31). The U.S. had Taylor Spivey in 13th (55:21) and Erika Ackerlund (55:23) in 14th; Rio 2016 Olympic champ Gwen Jorgensen was 29th (56:41).
In the Mixed Relay, Germany’s Selina Klamt, Jan Diener, Tanja Neubert and Henry Graf won with strong efforts on the last two legs, 1:32:05 to 1:32:21 over the U.S. quartet of Spivey, John Reed, Ackerlund and Pearson.
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