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≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡
1. Oslo: Dos Santos beats Warholm, Inge 3:29.74! Gebrhiwet 12:36.73!
2. Pierre de Coubertin: the unknown Olympic visionary?
3. Paris 2024 Champions Park to host seven medal re-allocations
4. Premier League, La Liga to boycott FIFA Club World Cup?
5. Pogacar still thinking Tour de France and World Champs
● A fabulous Bislett Games in Oslo saw Brazil’s Alison dos Santos beat Karsten Warholm on his home track in the 400 m hurdles among world-leading marks in five events. Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet ran the second-fastest 5,000 m of all-time and Olympic 1,500 m champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen had to dive at the line to win his race and thrill the home crowd.
● An online roundtable discussion on Thursday explored the impact of the founder of the modern Olympic Games, France’s Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Amazingly, he is little known – if at all – outside of the Olympic Movement today, despite being responsible for restarting one of the world’s best-known events. A descendant and a historian explained his concept behind the re-start of the tradition from ancient Greece.
● The International Olympic Committee announced that medal re-allocations from the 2000, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games – seven events and for 10 athletes – will take place at the Champions Park at Paris 2024 on 9 August, at the Trocadero Gardens. Two Americans will receive their London 2012 golds.
● After protests prior to the FIFA Congress in Thailand, new warnings against the much-expanded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup – to be held in the U.S. in June and July – were voiced by the heads of the English Premier League and Spain’s La Liga, saying their teams will simply not participate unless the event is re-scheduled to allow more player rest.
● Slovenian cycling star Tadej Pogacar confirmed that he is targeting the Tour de France and the UCI World Road Championships in 2024 and not the Vuelta a Espana, although he wants to win that race too … someday.
● Panorama: London 2012 (Russia’s Albegov has his weightlifting medal reassigned) = Basketball (study shows positive impact of national team play on club performance) = Boxing (IBA issues furious reply to IOC’s instructions to national federations) = Figure Skating (U.S. Pairs coach Sappenfield permanently barred by U.S. SafeSport) = Gymnastics (U.S. nationals this weekend paves way to Paris Trials) = Hockey (a zero-carbon field for Paris!) = Weightlifting (2: IWF exploring new ways to showcase the sport; only 0.06% doping positives in 2023) ●
1.
Oslo: Dos Santos beats Warholm, Inge 3:29.74! Gebrhiwet 12:36.73!
Another memorable Bislett Games in Oslo (NOR), with the home fans disappointed at a loss by hurdles star Karsten Warholm, but thrilled by a sensational 1,500 m win for Jakob Ingebrigtsen, among five world-leading marks:
● Men/1,500 m: 3:29.74, Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR)
● Men/5,000 m: 12:36.73, Hagos Gebrhiwet (ETH)
● Men/400 m hurdles: 46.63, Alison dos Santos (BRA)
● Women/400 m: 49.30, Marileidy Paulino (DOM)
● Women/3,000 m: 8:24.20, Georgia Griffith (AUS)
Everyone was expecting fireworks in the men’s 400 m hurdles, with Olympic champ and world-record holder Warholm in his favored lane seven, and Brazil’s 2022 World Champion dos Santos in lane five. And that’s what they got in a see-saw race that had Warholm out fast, but dos Santos staying right with him through seven hurdles. Warholm was first into the straight, but the Brazilian gave away nothing, closed on the run-in and after Warholm hit the tenth hurdle, steamed to the line to win in a world-leading 46.63, 1/100th better than U.S. star Rai Benjamin’s runaway 46.64 at the L.A. Grand Prix, and the ninth-fastest race ever. Wow!
Warholm was second in 46.70, now no. 3 in 2024 (in his season opener), followed by Kyron McMaster (IVB: 48.39). American CJ Allen was sixth in 49.42.
The final event was the men’s 1,500 m, with Ingebrigtsen, the Olympic champ, coming off a tight loss in the Prefontaine Classic mile last week. He was in a familiar tussle with 2019 World Champion Timothy Cheruiyot (KEN), with the two running together behind the pacesetters through 800 m, then Ingebrigtsen taking over, with Britain’s Elliot Giles in third. At the bell, Ingebrigtsen was just ahead of Cheruiyot and finally got a little separation into the straight.
But Cheruiyot kept coming and surged in the final 35 m, so Ingebrigtsen dove at the line to win in 3:29.74 to 3:29.77, the fifth straight time Ingebrigtsen has won this match-up, to the delight of the Bislett Stadium throng. France’s Azzedine Habz, coming on strong this season at age 30, sprinted into third on the final straight in 3:30.80, ahead of Isaac Nader (POR: 3:30.84) and Giles (3:31.06).
The 2023 Bislett Games saw a hot 5,000 m with Ethiopia’s two-time World Indoor 3,000 m champ Yomif Kejelcha beating Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo with both timed in 12.41.73 to move to no. 6 all-time. The 2024 edition was even hotter, with Kejelcha taking over at 3,600 m and holding the lead with Ethiopia’s Gebrhiwet close by and the two moving away from the field. Off of a 59.62 lap between 4,200 and 4,600 m, Gebrhiwet shot into the lead at the bell and stormed home in 54.99 to win in 12:36.73, the world leader for 2024 and the second-fastest time in history! Yowsah!
Kejelcha wasn’t far behind at 12:38.95 (no. 4 performer and performance ever), then Kiplimo (12:40.96, the no. 9 performance all-time). Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo ran 12:48.10 and was a distant fourth and pacesetter Addisu Yihune (ETH) held on for fifth in 12:49.65! The top 13 all broke 13:00!
In the women’s 400 m, 2023 World Champion Paulino won her fourth 400 m race without a loss this season in 49.30, pulling away over the turn from Poland’s 2023 Worlds runner-up, Natalia Kaczmarek, in 49.80, with American Alexis Holmes third in 50.40.
The women’s 3,000 m had Tokyo Olympian Jessica Hull (AUS) taking the lead with a lap to go over Karoline Grovdal (NOR) and Kenyan Caroline Nyaga, but fellow Aussie (and Tokyo Olympian) Georgia Griffith moved up on the backstraight, sitting third with 200 m to go. She charged into the straight with the lead and won in a lifetime best and world-leading 8:24.20, with Likina Amebaw (ETH: 8:24.29) closing hard for second and Hull settling for third in 8:25.82.
South Africa’s Akani Simbine continued his consistent form in the men’s 100 m, taking over in mid-race and winning in 9.94 (+0.4) from Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (JPN: 9.99) and Emmanuel Eseme (CMR: 10.01). Tokyo Olympic champ Lamont Marcell Jacobs (ITA) was fourth (10.03) and American Brandon Hicklin was fifth in 10.05.
The men’s 400 m saw Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith take the lead early and hold off London 2012 gold medalist Kirani James for a 44.07 win, a lifetime best and breaking his own European Record of 44.26 from 2023! He’s now no. 2 on the 2024 world list. James faded to 44.58 for second and a late charge from Vernon Norwood of the U.S. gave him third in a season’s best of 44.68. American Quincy Hall was fifth in 45.02.
American record-holder KC Lightfoot won the men’s vault as the only one to clear 5.82 m (19-1), ahead of five others who made 5.72 m (18-9 1/4), led by Emmanouil Karalis (GRE) and E.J. Obiena (PHI). American Sam Kendricks was fourth.
The men’s triple jump was dominated by 2023 World Champion Hugues Fabrice Zango (BUR), who took the lead at 16.98 m (55-8 1/2) in the first round and improved to 17.27 m (56-8) in round four. He got a scare from Algeria’s Yasser Triki, who bounced out at 17.25 m (56-7 1/4) on his final try, but had to settle for second. American Christian Taylor was seventh at 16.14 m (52-11 1/2).
Discus world-record-setter Mykolas Alekna (LTU) got control of the event in the second round, reaching 70.91 m (232-7) and no one else got close. Australia’s Matthew Denny, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champ, spun the platter out to 67.71 m (222-1) in round three and got second; Olympic champ Daniel Stahl (SWE) was third at 66.80 m (219-2).
The U.S. got a big win when 2019 Worlds silver medalist Brittany Brown emerged on the straight in lane eight and won the women’s 200 m in 22.32 (wind: -0.2 m/s) passing Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith (CIV: 22.36) and Britain’s Daryll Neita (22.50) in the final 35 m, with American Anavia Battle (22.84) fourth. In the mix off the turn, but not in the final 50 m was World Champion Shericka Jackson (JAM: 22.97 in fifth), in her second 200 m of the season after a 22.82 win at the Marrakech Diamond League on 19 May.
The women’s 800 m had Marrakech winner Prudence Sekgodiso (RSA) taking charge with 200 m to go, but with Jamaican Natoya Goule-Toppin moving into second on the straight and being chased by Australian Catrona Bisset. Sekgodiso got her second Diamond League win of the season in 1:58.67, and Goule-Toppin got a seasonal best of 1:59.10. Bisset was third in 1:59.29.
Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton, the world leader in the women’s 400 m hurdles, took the lead from countrywoman Andrenette Knight after the fifth hurdles and built a lead on the straight, winning by 54.02 to 54.63. Fellow Jamaican Janieve Russell made it a sweep in 55.07.
China’s 2022 World Champion, Bin Feng had only two fair throws in the women’s discus, but got out to a season’s best 67.89 m (222-9) in the second round, good enough for the win over Sandra Elkasevic (CRO: 66.48 m/218-1).
Next up: the Bauhaus Galan in Stockholm (SWE) on Sunday.
2.
Pierre de Coubertin: the unknown Olympic visionary?
“You don’t find that many misconceptions at all, because most people don’t know who Pierre de Coubertin is. And that’s maybe the most surprising thing of all, since everybody in the world knows about the Olympic Games. But very few people know about the founder.”
That was the surprising opening to an International Olympic Committee online roundtable discussion Thursday about Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the Frenchman who was the driving force behind the revival of the Olympic Games in the 1890s.
George Hirthler – an American sports historian and writer who has researched and reported on de Coubertin for years and wrote The Idealist, a 2016 work of historical fiction which dramatized de Coubertin’s life – explained that outside of the Olympic Movement, which is well familiar with de Coubertin, he’s simply been lost.
“I think it has to do with the fact that he fell into obscurity in the 1930s, and the timing of his death in 1937 was unfortunate, and then World War II came along and really buried all public memory of the man.”
Alexandra de Navacelle de Coubertin (FRA), President of the Pierre de Coubertin Family Association and a fourth-generation descendant of Pierre de Coubertin, has researched his full works, of which much concerned the expansion of education in France, for both boys and girls. She emphasized the original concept of the goal behind the revival of the Olympic Games:
“When you do read all his books, there is one theme which is really kind of overarching: the idea is peace.
“The Olympics, all of this is a means, if you will, of establishing a sort of peace, and the thread throughout his history that one feels when one reads his books. … He believes that men fight because they do not understand one another. … so if you will, the Olympic Games are a means of attaining peace. …
“What he wanted to do was to create a humanity that had core values for all, and to understand that this would be of common interest and that we would all constitute a human ‘team.’”
She also noted that the process of creating the worldwide giant that is the modern Olympic Games started small:
“He said, ‘the first step is always the most difficult.’ I think the man was fundamentally pragmatic. Intention is set in motion, now it’s going to be a long road, but it’s about progress. … That’s how he started with Athens [1896], but the [Paris] Games of 1900, just after, were not great. In fact, it was a fiasco.
“The 1904 [Games], right after, St. Louis, not great. It took like four Games to really put in place enough to create mass attention, and a platform, a structure, with the opening ceremonies [in 1908], with all those rituals. So his philosophy was very pragmatic, it was all about progress and one step at a time, but in a very humble, practical way.”
Hirthler added that de Coubertin was concerned about the nationalism which quickly became associated with the Olympic Games:
“He was absolutely against fervent nationalism which is a narrow-minded view set, intolerant of other nations. But you have to remember that in 1894, when he founded the Olympic Games, that November he founded the French Olympic Committee. And he encouraged all of his colleagues in the IOC – he appointed 13 people originally to the IOC – to immediately form National Olympic Committees.
“There has never been anyone participating in the Olympic Games, I would say until the [2016] Refugee Team that did not come as a representative of their nation. So Coubertin was in favor, his whole purpose in creating the Olympic Games, was to bring all of the nations of the world together in friendship and peace through sport.
“And so it’s very clear that he wanted national teams, but if you read his memoirs and if you read particularly the chapter on London 1908 – the London 1908 Games – there was an incredible competition that developed beyond the field of play between the Americans and the Brits, because the Brits were officiating the Games and there were some calls that were made that the Americans took offense to, and he said that the wave of energy that filled the stadium darkened it, because it became a nationalist [situation] … and he was against that.
“He wanted people to be able to come together to celebrate, to win honor for their country, for the glory of sport and the honor of their country. He wanted [them] to win honor for their country by winning at the Olympic Games, but he didn’t want them to get carried away and fall into that patriotic fervor that we all sort of detest today.”
Modern critics, notably in France, have derided de Coubertin as against women and a racist, more as a way to rail against the Games as a waste than to consider de Coubertin’s lifelong work in education. IOC member Guy Drut (FRA), the 1976 Olympic champion in the men’s 110 m hurdles, slapped back at the modern “judges”:
“In France, a lot of people are simply being knocked off their pedestals, because of a number of people who believe, or who judge, the past with the eyes of the present.
“For us, this is unacceptable and I can say that for the whole of the French Olympic Committee. The status of Pierre de Coubertin is an honor that we wear.”
De Navacelle pointed to the introduction and expansion of women in the Games under de Coubertin’s time as IOC President:
“He wasn’t against the participation of women, because under his presidency [post-Games 1896-25], there were always women athletes, starting in 1900 and the number of women athletes went up six times [from 22 to 135]. … You need to look at things a bit pragmatically, and put things in context and put them in their era.”
Hirthler offered an amazing de Coubertin comment, framing his concerns about women and sports in the context of the intentions of the spectators:
“If there are women who want to play football or box, they should be free to, provided that it happens without spectators, because the [male] spectators who are grouping around such competitions do not come to see sports.”
On the question of racism, Hirthler pointed to de Coubertin’s scathing report to the French government on the unrepentant American South in 1889, and his comments when told of the “Anthropology Days” attached to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, which also incorporated the Olympic Games. De Coubertin railed against what he called “an outrageous charade,” and poignantly predicted: “It will of course lose its appeal when black men, red men and yellow men learn to run, jump and throw and leave the white men behind them.”
Asked about the enormous expansion of the Games to 329 events for Paris 2024, Hirthler thought de Coubertin would heartily approve, but remembered his view that “no funds should be spent on unnecessary stadiums.”
And what can be done to remind people about the founder of the modern Olympic Movement? Said Hirthler, “The opportunity to do it is very clearly at the Olympic Games, during the ceremonies, and that’s probably where it should happen.”
3.
Paris 2024 Champions Park to host seven medal re-allocations
The “new” medal winners of the women’s 400 m hurdles from London 2012 will not be the only ones to receive their awards during Paris 2024 at the Champions Park at the Trocadero Gardens in the heart of Paris.
The International Olympic Committee announced on Thursday that medal re-allocation ceremonies from seven events – one from Sydney 2000, one from Beijing 2008 and five from London 2012 – will be held on the afternoon of Friday, 9 August, heading into the final weekend of the Games:
● Sydney 2000: Athletics/women’s 200 m Bronze: Beverly McDonald (JAM)
● Beijing 2008: Athletics/women’s long jump Bronze: Chelsea Hammond-Ross (JAM)
● London 2012: Athletics/men’s high jump Gold: Erik Kynard (USA)
● London 2012: Athletics/men’s high jump Silver: Derek Drouin (CAN)
● London 2012: Athletics/women’s 1,500 m Bronze: Abeda Aregawi (ETH)
● London 2012: Athletics/women’s 400 m hurdles Gold: Lashinda Demus (USA)
● London 2012: Athletics/women’s 400 m hurdles Silver: Zuzana Hejnova (CZE)
● London 2012: Athletics/women’s 400 m hurdles Bronze: Kaliese Spencer (JAM)
● London 2012: Weightlifting/men’s 85 kg Bronze: Tarek Yehia (EGY)
● London 2012: Weightlifting/men’s +105 kg Bronze: Sang-guen Jeon (KOR)
Of the seven events, five of the re-allocations were due to Russian doping sanctions imposed after the Games, and one each for sanctions against a U.S. athlete and two Turkish athletes.
The Champions Park option was identified as an exception to the normal IOC protocol options for a medal re-allocation ceremony, but if the Champions Park concept – like the Medals Plaza at the Olympic Winter Games – is continued, it could be a welcome addition.
4.
Premier League, La Liga to boycott FIFA Club World Cup?
“Football is killing its own product. Those who run the game need to listen.
“If they don’t, then as unions we have a responsibility to the players to take action – and the legal route is the next step. The governing bodies have had every chance to meaningfully engage with us on this, but they have failed to do so.
“Current player workloads are unsustainable. People are realising the amount of games being pushed into the fixture calendar just don’t fit.”
That’s Professional Footballers Association chief executive Maheta Molango (SUI), speaking to The Sun about a potential action against the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, slated for next summer in the U.S.
Complaints and threats against the now 32-team Club World Cup have been filed by the FIFPRO player union and the World Leagues Association, and now the Professional Footballers Association and the head of the English Premier League, Richard Masters (GBR), and the chief executive of Spain’s La Liga, Javier Tebas (ESP), are also considering simply not having their members play. Two clubs each from La Liga and the Premier League have qualified.
The Club World Cup originated in 2000 as a short tournament matching the winning clubs from various leagues, with eight teams in the first program, then six or seven from 2005 to 2023. Now, the project is being expanded to 32 teams (and 64 matches) for 2025, with matches in the U.S. from 15 June to 13 July.
The clubs and player’s associations have demanded that the tournament be re-scheduled or postponed due to the impact on players and the number of matches to be played next year, both for club sides or national teams.
FIFA said in a 10 May statement that it is willing to discuss the issue, but sees no reason not to press on with the tournament as planned.
5.
Pogacar still thinking Tour de France and World Champs
Slovenian star Tadej Pogacar’s brilliant win in his first Giro d’Italia, by the biggest margin – 9:56 – since 1965, has cycling fans salivating at the possibility of a Giro-Tour de France double … and perhaps even a shot at what no one has done before: win all three Grand Tours in a single year?
The answer is still no, says the 25-year-old Pogacar. In an featured interview with the UCI, he explained:
“Obviously the Tour and the UCI Worlds are two massive goals for me. Not just this year but each year. I don’t feel too much pressure, I’m still pretty young but I have a big hunger to win them some day.”
Asked specifically about the Giro-Tour-Vuelta triple:
“For sure I can say it is not on the cards this year. To win each Grand Tour is a major goal of mine some day, but to do it all in the same year… Maybe that’s too crazy.”
The story noted that the same-year Giro-Tour de France-UCI World Road Championship has only been done by the legendary Eddy Merckx (BEL) in 1974 and Stephen Roche (IRL) in 1987.
Asked to reflect on spectacular Giro d’Italia performance, Pogacar said:
“It’s been an amazing journey. When we arrived in Torino nobody could have told me it would be like this. Of course we hoped and dreamed of winning but to take six stages and wear the [leader’s] Maglia Rosa [jersey] for 20 stages all over Italy has just been such an unbelievable experience. Something I will never forget.
“Aside from the battle on the road I suppose the greatest challenge is everything that surrounds the Maglia Rosa and the responsibilities that go along with that. All the extra interviews and protocols take a lot of energy day after day but it’s something you get used to also. It’s also part of the job and something I understand.”
He added that his magical performance was also fun:
“Looking back I had some really nice moments and was able to enjoy myself a lot on the bike. I was fortunate to arrive at this Giro with close to perfect preparation and so was able to perform how I wanted and be attacking and aggressive and go for victories. My teammates played a huge hand in this as without them none of this would have been possible.”
Pogacar already owns two Tour de France wins, in 2020 and 2021 and was second in 2022 and 2023. And in terms of history, only seven riders have won the Giro and the Tour in the same year, the last being more than a quarter-century ago: Italian Marco Pantani in 1998.
≡ PANORAMA ≡
● Olympic Games 2012: London ● The Russian news agency TASS reported that the IOC has re-allocated the +105 kg Olympic bronze initially won by Ruslan Albegov (RUS) for doping, is now to be awarded to South Korea’s Sang-guen Jeon.
Albegov lifted a combined total of 448 kg to 436 for Jeon, but was disqualified in March, with the medals now re-allocated. Albegov, now 36, was first suspended for doping by the International Weightlifting Federation in 2019 for a two-year term.
● Basketball ● A research project at Klaipeda University in Lithuania explored the impact of playing on national teams in terms of improving or hurting subsequent club performances at the NBA level for 29 star players at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Led by student researcher Alper Can Konak, working under the supervision of Lithuania Basketball Federation Secretary General Mindaugas Balciunas, the bottom line:
“It is fair to state that competing in the Basketball World Cup helped players to improve all their type of shooting percentages, which supports the evolving trends of modern basketball, assist skills, court vision, and decision-making processes regardless of the level of club competition they normally play and a reduction in personal fouls that shows players are acting smarter with the experience they gain.”
Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards endorsed the experience of playing with the U.S., explaining, “I think that changed my perspective about everything, being able to play with your team, playing within the game and not just try to play isolation ball all day, playing within a system. And Finchy [Minnesota coach Chris Finch] does a great job of making sure I stay within the system.”
● Boxing ● The International Boxing Association shrieked in anger in reply to the International Olympic Committee’s statement on Wednesday, issuing a Thursday statement which started:
“Further to the unprecedented announcement by the IBA regarding its allocation of prize money for our Paris 2024 Olympic champions, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has immediately responded by giving an ultimatum to all National Federations and their boxers. Essentially the heavy-handed message is clear, if you fail to leave the IBA by the turn of the next Olympic cycle, then your athletes will not be able to compete at the Games. This is an absolute travesty and disgrace from allegedly one of the leading sports organizations in the world.”
This was followed by the IBA’s familiar litany of how it has reformed itself and cannot understand why it was expelled from the Olympic Movement in 2023. Then it went back to:
“Finally, after one of the most monumental and positive prize fund announcements made by the IBA in support of our athletes who will be participating in the Olympics in Paris 2024, the IOC responds by effectively punishing our boxers, the people who remain at the very heart of everything that IBA believes in and supports. A double standard and biased declaration, that once again shows the true colours of the International Olympic Committee.
“The admission by the IOC that they are unable to manage the qualification events, and indeed the finals of the boxing competition remains true. Many National Federations have commented on their negative experience with this journey for Paris 2024, and have witnessed the very low level, almost what seems like half-heartedly executed events.”
In the end, the IOC owns the Olympic Games and while boxing is welcome, the IBA is not. That’s the reality.
● Figure Skating ● Dalilah Sappenfield, a decorated Pairs coach whose teams include four senior-level national champions, was declared “permanently ineligible” on Wednesday by the U.S. Center for SafeSport.
The listing, on the Centralized Disciplinary Database, noted “Physical & Emotional Misconduct; Retaliation; Proactive Policy Violation; Abuse of Process; Failure to Report” and was noted to be subject to appeal.
Sappenfield, based in Colorado, was accused of verbal abuse in a 2021 USA Today story reporting allegations by skater Tarah Payne, and multiple skaters were reported to have filed complaints.
● Gymnastics ● The last step before the Olympic Trials – the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas – started with men’s qualifying on Thursday and continues through Sunday, with the results to form the field for the Trials that will follow at the end of June.
The headliner, of course, is superstar Simone Biles, who will be trying for a record ninth individual All-Around title; she already has more – 8 – than anyone else. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic All-Around champ, Suni Lee, is also in the field, as is Olympic Floor gold medalist Jade Carey and members of the Worlds Team gold squad from 2023, including Shilese Jones, Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong. Tokyo Olympic Team silver winner and Worlds 2022 Team gold medalist Jordan Chiles will certainly be a factor as well.
The leading men’s stars include 2023 national A-A champion Asher Hong, the 2021 and 2022 A-A winner Brody Malone, and 2023 Worlds A-A bronze medalist Fred Richard.
In terms of broadcast availability:
● Sat., 1 June: 12:00-2:30 p.m. Eastern on CNBC for men’s Day 1 (Thursday delayed)
● Sat., 1 June: 2:30-5:00 p.m. Eastern on CNBC for women’s Day 1 (Friday delayed)
● Sat., 1 June: 8:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern on CNBC for men’s Day 2 (live)
● Sun., 2 June: 3:00-4:00 p.m. Eastern on NBC for men’s Day 2 (Saturday delayed)
● Sun., 2 June: 7:00-9:00 p.m. Eastern on NBC for women’s Day 2 (live)
The Olympic Trials will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 27-30 June.
● Hockey ● The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced a unique achievement for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games: a “carbon-zero hockey turf.”
Developed by Sport Group and made by Polytan, the “Poligras Paris GT zero is made from 80% sugarcane and manufactured using green electricity.” It also uses far less water than the familiar synthetic fields, adding to its sustainability advantages.
● Weightlifting ● Now returned to the Olympic program for 2028, the International Weightlifting Federation is carefully trying to chart its future, trying to make the sport more appealing and less costly to stage.
Following the 13-day, 700-entry IWF Worlds in Saudi Arabia, IWF Technical Committee Chair Sam Coffa (AUS) – also the head of the federation’s Innovation Committee – said changes are needed.
“We want it to be all over in six or seven days,” he said, with possibilities being studied for the use of dual platforms, instead of a single space, and/or reducing the number of athletes. The IWF has already decided to go from 20 weight classes to 16 (eight each for men and women), which will help. A proposal from the Technical Committee is hoped for by the end of 2024.
No detail is being overlooked, for example, less formal uniforms for officials are also being trialed, for example at the recently-completed World Youth Championships in Lima (PER).
¶
The International Weightlifting Federation, in concert with the International Testing Agency, announced its anti-doping statistics for 2023, with 3,192 total samples collected and 18 rule violations so far (0.06%), with some of the test results still to be processed.
In-competition testing was responsible for 55.3% of all samples collected, with the rest from out-of-competition testing. The total number of completed tests was 2,522 from 1,039 athletes in 109 countries, with 52% of the testing on men and 48% on women.
¶
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