\u2605 The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.\u2605<\/p>\n
\u2605 To get the daily Sports Examiner Recap by e-mail: sign up here<\/a>! \u2605<\/p>\n \u2261 THE 5-RING CIRCUS \u2261<\/p>\n \u25cf Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles \u25cf With the LA28 organizers opening ticket sales last week for Southern California and Oklahoma City residents and for worldwide sale this week, there\u2019s a story worth reading about one person\u2019s Paris 2024 experience.<\/p>\n Torched.la covers the \u201cmega-event\u201d preparations for the City of Los Angeles, with a focus on what government agencies are doing, planning and reacting to. Alissa Walker\u2019s 3 April story<\/a> reported how Anne Stark Ditmeyer, an American designer living in Paris, went to 24 Paris 2024 events \u2013 Olympic and Paralympic \u2013 and counseled:<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t be worried if you don\u2019t get the first drop. I didn\u2019t buy any of my tickets until three months in advance.\u201d<\/p>\n She had a wonderful time during the Paris Games and her experience is instructive for any major event you have ever thought about attending.<\/p>\n \u00b6<\/p>\n The continuing war between business and labor in the City of Los Angeles has a new front, in the coming June elections, as a petition to place an initiative to remove the City\u2019s business tax has been certified<\/a> as having the required number of signatures.<\/p>\n The petition was verified on 23 March 2026 and now has to move through the process to be included on the June ballot. If passed, it will end the City\u2019s business tax as of 1 January 2028 and create an $800 million-plus hole in the City\u2019s budget and could cripple some services.<\/p>\n The initiative is backed by business interests trying to reduce the tax burden in the City, and has been seen as a reaction to the increase in wages mandated by the City Council for hospitality workers to $30.00 per hour by 1 July 2028.<\/p>\n \u25cf Transgender \u25cf United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls Reem Alsalem (JOR) welcomed the International Olympic Committee\u2019s initiative to institute sex testing for women\u2019s sport. After all, she called for it<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n In a statement last week<\/a>, Alsalem explained:<\/p>\n \u201cI welcome this policy as a necessary, proportionate and legitimate step to ensure the protection of women and girls, in line with international human rights law and standards. Evidence-based approaches, including the recognition of the material reality of sex, must guide the development, monitoring, and review of sport policy at all levels. \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cContrary to reports, the policy does not disqualify anyone from participating in sports or competing professionally in categories corresponding to their biological sex. Rather, it ensures that women and girls are not disadvantaged or excluded from meaningful and fair competition in their own category.\u201d<\/p>\n \u25cf Russia \u25cf Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev said that 116 athletes who might have qualified for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Italy but for the sanctions on Russia from the International Olympic Committee will receive cash bonuses<\/a>. He told the Russian news agency TASS:<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve amended the regulations governing payments to Olympic Games participants. We\u2019ve decided to maintain payments to previous medalists who were disqualified from participating in the 2026 Games. Olympic champions will receive 500,000 rubles, silver medalists 350,000 rubles, bronze medalists 250,000 rubles, and participants 150,000 rubles. The list includes 116 athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n Converting to U.S. dollars, these awards would be $6,376, $4,463, $3,188 and $1,913.<\/p>\n \u25cf Alpine Skiing \u25cf Will American star Lindsey Vonn race again after her crashes, agony and surgeries prior to and during the Olympic Winter Games? She told Craig Melvin of NBC\u2019s \u201cToday<\/a>\u201d show:<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know the answer to that question because I know I\u2019ll be happy if I do ski race again. That\u2019s no question. But I don\u2019t know. It might be fun to do one more \u2014 one more run. We\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked directly about a comeback:<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, much to my family\u2019s dismay, yes. I think it\u2019s just something that \u2013 I mean, I\u2019ve been, like I said, so isolated and not able to really live life outside of skiing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLike, I\u2019m still kind of trapped in this, like, I didn\u2019t have my Olympic dream situation \u2026 I need to walk and be out in public and, you know, be living life. And I think that will give me a different perspective. Right now I can\u2019t say what the future holds because I can\u2019t \u2013 my mind can\u2019t get there yet. \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cI can move on. I mean, it\u2019s not a question of can I. I already have, you know? And I already retired for six years. Like, I know what it\u2019s like to not be a ski racer anymore. It\u2019s just that ski racing is something I love to do. And I had so much fun this season that \u2013 and I never got to \u2013 I never got a final run.\u201d<\/p>\n \u25cf Athletics \u25cf World Athletics announced Tuesday<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cThe marathon will remain a discipline at the World Athletics Championships in 2027 and 2029, but from 2030 it will move to its own standalone championships. From 2031 onwards, the marathon \u2013 or any other road running distance \u2013 will no longer form part of the World Athletics Championships.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, there will be a World Athletics Marathon Championship beginning in 2030, with men and women competing in alternate years. The initial race is aimed to be in Athens (GRE), site of the first modern Games in 1896; the 2026 Athens Marathon is on 8 November.<\/p>\n The plan is to see the Athens Marathon upgraded over time to elite status and to use the original, 1896 course \u2013 40 km at the time \u2013 as much as possible. The choice of date in 2030 will be fascinating \u2013 along with prize money \u2013 considering the existing slate of fall major marathons in Chicago, Berlin and New York, plus the speedy course in Valencia (ESP) already in their long-time calendar slots.<\/p>\n \u25cf Boxing \u25cf Paris 2024 women\u2019s 57 kg champion Yu-ting Lin<\/a> (TPE) won a women\u2019s 60 kg bronze at the Asian Boxing Elite Championships, reaching the semifinals before losing on a 4:1 decision to North Korea\u2019s Un Gyong Won, in Ulaanbaatar (MGL).<\/p>\n Lin was boxing at a new weight, after having been cleared by World Boxing to compete in the women\u2019s division, following a sex-screening test now required by the federation. This was her first tournament since Paris 2024 and coach Tzu-chiang Tseng explained:<\/p>\n \u201cYu-ting hasn\u2019t competed in a long time, and it was evident that her physical condition wasn\u2019t quite up to par. Losing this time isn\u2019t a bad thing; at least there\u2019s room for improvement and a clear path forward.\u201d<\/p>\n \u25cf Football \u25cf The airline perks-tracking site Upgraded Points<\/a> came out with a ranking on costs of attending a group-stage FIFA World Cup 2026 match and found Boston to have the biggest total bill, and Miami the smallest. The exercise was for one person, \u201ccalculated the expected price of a 3-day, 2-night trip in each of the 11 U.S. host cities during the group stage. That total includes a good seat, nearby lodging [Airbnb], airfare, rideshares, food and drinks during the stay, and 1 replica jersey.\u201d The results (the story identified some of the matches selected):<\/p>\n \u25cf $8,929: Boston (for Scotland-Morocco) Remember, this is for a group-stage match, with tickets purchased on the resale market, with significantly inflated costs.<\/p>\n An accompanying survey of 2,400 people across 22 countries measured sentiment about the U.S. as a host country, with 66.1% saying immigration events have made them more hesitant to go to the U.S. and 36.7% saying they are less likely to go to the U.S. vs. another country as host.<\/p>\n \u00b6<\/p>\n Reuters reported<\/a> that the Unite Here 11 labor union that represents food service workers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, a FIFA World Cup 2026 venue, \u201cwarned workers could strike if their concerns are not addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n The union\u2019s demands, made to FIFA and to stadium owner Kroenke Sports & Entertainment included \u201cA public commitment that ICE and Border Patrol will play no role in the tournament, protections for union jobs and working conditions, and support for affordable housing for hospitality workers.\u201d It also wants AI and automation not to be used to replace jobs now filled by union workers.<\/p>\n \u25cf Nordic Skiing \u25cf U.S. Ski & Snowboard will take over<\/a> the U.S. Para Nordic Ski Team from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, adding to its existing administration of the American Para alpine and snowboard teams, added in 2023.<\/p>\n The USOPC has operated the U.S. Para Nordic program since 2014, but will now hand it off to the U.S. National Governing Body for the FIS Nordic Skiing disciplines. The U.S. Para Nordic squad won 10 medals at the recent Winter Paralympic Games in Milan and Cortina (ITA), the most in program history!<\/p>\n \u00b6<\/p>\n \u2605 Receive our exclusive, weekday TSX Recap by e-mail by clicking here<\/a>.
\u25cf $7,139: Philadelphia (for Brazil-Haiti)
\u25cf $5,630: Los Angeles (for Belgium-Iran)
\u25cf $5,624: San Francisco
\u25cf $5,383: Houston
\u25cf $5,268: Atlanta
\u25cf $4,996: Dallas
\u25cf $4,716: Kansas City
\u25cf $3,260: Seattle (for Egypt-Iran)
\u25cf $3,082: New York
\u25cf $2,614: Miami (for Uruguay match)<\/p>\n
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