The first of five ICF Slalom World Cup events for 2016 starts Friday in Ivrea, Italy. Seven Americans are entered in the field of four total events. Friday will be the first two heats for men’s and women’s K1 as well as men’s C1 with the semifinals and finals for the men’s events on Saturday and on Sunday for the women. The US has Zachary Lokken, Tyler Smith, and Tren Long competing in the men’s C1 while Richard Powell, Tyler Westfall, and Tyler Smith compete in the men’s K1. Anna Maria Ifarraguerri is the only American women competing as she takes part in the women’s K1.
Shotgun Gets Their Turn at ISSF World Cup in San Marino
The third ISSF World Cup Shotgun event of 2016 begins Friday in San Marino. Though both men’s and women’s trap begin on Friday the US does not have any entrants in the men’s event. The men’s trap is a weak event for the US and the only shotgun event where they did not qualify anyone for the Olympics. In the women’s trap event the US will have newly locked in 2016 Olympian Corey Cogdell competing. Cogdell has yet to make the six-woman final but was top 12 in both Nicosia and Rio. The entire women’s trap event (three rounds of shooting in qualifying and then the final) will take place on Friday.
Previous ISSF World Cup Coverage:
Munich Recap
Final Fencing Grand Prix Stop, a Foil Event in Shanghai, Starts Friday
Eleven Americans have their sights set on gold in Shanghai at the final foil grand prix stop for the 2015-16 season. Six of those are men that won’t start their competition until Saturday. Friday the women’s competition gets underway with the preliminary round, though only two of the five American women, Amy Jia and Madison Zeiss, will be competing in this round. Lee Kiefer, Nzingha Prescod, and Nicole Ross all have byes into the table of 64 on Saturday.
Previous Fencing World Cup Coverage:
Moscow Recap
Justin Gatlin Will Go For Third Straight Win in 100m in Diamond League in Rome
Justin Gatlin has been one of the stars of the Diamond League so far this year winning the 100m in both Shanghai and Eugene to start the year. Gatlin will lead a large US contingent in Rome as he goes for his third straight win in the event in a field that may see his best challenger be fellow American Ameer Webb. Webb himself will be looking to back up his 200m win in Doha when he runs in that event. Another American looking to defend a previous win is Tia Brooks who won the shot put in Doha and did not participate in the event in Rabat. Over in the women’s 400m hurdles Cassandra Tate already has two top-five finishes including a second place finish in Rabat, while Marquise Goodwin is coming off a third place long jump finish in Rabat.
Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Eugene Recap
Iris Wang Knocked Out After Tight Match in First Round of Indonesia Open
Iris Wang’s stay in Indonesia didn’t last long but she did get a really good competitive match against an opponent who’s at a very similar level to her. Wang lost two sets that had to go to extra points, 22-20, 23-21, to Xiaoyu Liang of Singapore. Wang made a furious comeback in a first set she never lead to draw even at 20-20 after being down 20-15. Liang won the next two points to still grab the set. Set two was much more back and forth with both players trading the lead. Wang seemingly had control of the set at 18-14 but Liang won six of the next seven points to take the lead and finally closed the match on her third match point.
The next Super Series event begins next Tuesday in Sydney, Australia. In the meantime some of the US best will be competing in the National Championships in West Palm Beach, Florida starting Friday.
Previous BWF Super Series Coverage:
Indonesia Open Preview
No Changes to Olympic Qualifying Spots on Final Day of US Olympic Archery Trials
There was no change to the Olympic qualifying spots on Monday at the Olympic Archery Trials as the four athletes who were in position to make the team did. Brady Ellison went 6-1 and had the top average score as he finished with a total of 170 for the competition. Zachary Garrett didn’t have as strong a day as he went 4-3 but his average was the second best and he finished second with 148.5. Jake Kaminski also went 4-3 which was more than enough to lock down the third spot as he finished with 110.5 points. Dan McLaughlin did make a nice run with a 6-1 day to finish in fourth place with 99.5 points.
On the women’s side Mackenzie Brown went 6-1 and had the top score as she finished easily in the #1 spot and qualified for the Olympics with a 157 total points. Far behind her in second was Hye Youn Park with 127.5 points and Khatuna Lorig was third with 125.75 points. They will team with Brown at the next Archery World Cup event to try to qualify the US for the team competition in the Olympics which would give the US three spots and thus Park and Lorig would be in the Olympics. They will need to finish among the top three countries who have yet to qualify a team for the Olympics. Lanola Pritchard finished fourth with 103.5 points.
That Archery World Cup event begins June 12th in Antalya, Turkey.
Previous Olympic Archery Trials Coverage:
Preview
Sunday Update
Iris Wang Will Compete in Indonesia Open
There’s only one American competing this week in the Indonesia Open and that is Iris Wang. Wang, who sits around 30th in the world rankings, might have the upper hand in her first round match against up-and-coming 20-year-old Xiaoyu Liang of Singapore on Tuesday. Wang has yet to advance at any of the Super Series events so far in 2016.
Previous BWF Super Series Coverage:
Singapore Recap
Joe Dombrowski Finishes Giro d’Italia a Season High 34th
All of the riders in the final stage of the Giro d’Italia finished together in the peloton so now ground was gained or lost. Joey Rosskopf was the only American who finished in the top 100, 41st overall.
The important standings on Sunday were the overall standings and that’s where Joe Dombrowski found himself 34th, 1:32:56 back. That finish was the best of the year for the 25-year-old, surpassing a 37th finish in the Volta a Cataluyna. 24-year-old Nathan Brown also finished in the top 100 in 48th. Ian Boswell finished 71st, Chad Haga was 78th and Rosskopf ended up 85th.
There will be a little break before the next UCI World Tour event, the eight-stage Criterium du Dauphine, which runs June 5th-12th in France.
Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Giro d’Italia Preview
Stage 1 Update
Stage 2 Update
Stage 3 Update
Stage 4 Update
Stage 5 Update
Stage 6 Update
Stage 7 Update
Stage 8 Update
Stage 9 Update
Stage 10 Update
Stage 11 Update
Stage 12 Update
Stage 13 Update
Stage 14 Update
Stage 15 Update
Stage 16 Update
Stage 17 Update
Stage 18 Update
Stage 19 Update
Stage 20 Update
Lucas Schrimsher and Samantha Achterberg Finish 14th at UIPM World Championship
Lucas Schrimsher and Samantha Achterberg were as competitive as any US athletes at the UIPM World Championship when they competed in the mixed relay to wrap up the event on Sunday. Finishing 14th of 23 the Americans were respectable to end what had been a tough competition for the US athletes. Things didn’t start off great as they were 22nd in fencing and left themselves a large deficit to overcome. They were strong though the rest of the day finishing eighth in swimming, ninth in riding, and eighth in combined to move backup to 14th. A top-14 place finish in fencing would have moved them into the top 10.
The next major modern pentathlon event will be the Olympics where the women and men both begin competition on August 18th. Expect the US to be more competitive there than they were this week in Moscow.
Previous UIPM World Championship Coverage:
Preview
Tuesday Recap
Wednesday Recap
Thursday Recap
Howard Grotts and Lea Davison Finish 18th at World Cup Cross-Country Event
For the first time this year no Americans finished in the top 15 at a UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country event. The top finishers from the US were Lea Davison and Howard Grotts, both in 18th. Davison was fifth after the first lap and still in the top six after the third lap but fell behind in lap four to drop out of the top 15. She was just 11 seconds ahead of fellow American Georgia Gould who took the opposite path, 43rd after the first lap and slowly moving up the standings. Erin Huck was twenty seconds further back in 23rd after spending the whole race in the top 25.
On the men’s side Grotts started off 41st after the opening lap but moved up steadily to reach 18th before the end where he was 5:06 behind the leader. Stephen Ettinger made it two Americans in the top 30 when he finished 26th, 6:43 back. Ettinger was in the top 30 throughout the race.
The next UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country event, the fourth of six, is in Lenzerheide, Switzerland on July 10th. In the mean-time the Mountain Bike World Cup will return to the downhill events with a stop in Fort William, Scotland on June 4th and 5th.
Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Cross-Country Coverage:
La Bresse Preview