Boxing

Pablo Ramirez and Sardius Simmons Both Winners at Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions

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It’s a two-peat for Pablo Ramirez in the 108lb division at the Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions as the Texan who was 2015’s Golden Boy has his second straight title. Ramirez took care of Joseph Ortiz of Florida in the final but this was no walkover, a 3-2 decision for the defending champion. After finishing third earlier this year at the Olympic Boxing Trials it seems quite possible Ramirez will be headed to a pro career after this title. It’d be a long four year wait as an amateur to try and qualify for the 2020 Olympics and who knows what boxing in the Olympics will even look like in four years with professional boxers a potential wild card.

Sardius Simmons of Michigan had lost the 201lb final in 2015 and was a more comfortable winner over Marquise Williams of New York by a score of 4-1. Simmons is another good young prospect having reached back-to-back finals and like Ramirez will need to think about where he wants his career to go from here.

The women’s golden gloves tournament is in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from July 5th-9th.

Previous 2016 Golden Gloves Coverage:
Preview
Tuesday Update
Wednesday Update
Thursday Update
Friday Update

Canoeing, ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup

Lydia Keefe Sampson Finishes Eighth in Final B at ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Duisburg

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Lydia Keefe Sampson finished eighth in the Final B of the C1 200m race on Saturday at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Duisburg, Germany. Sampson only finished ahead of one competitor who did not start but put up a better time on Saturday, 52.314, than her semifinal run on Friday.

The second of three ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup event is in Racice, Czech Republic next weekend starting on Friday.

Previous ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup Coverage:
Duisburg Preview
Friday Update

Boxing

Virginia Fuchs and Mikaela Mayer Eliminated at AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships

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After five wins to start the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan the US boxers finally tasted defeat. 2016 Olympian Mikaela Mayer didn’t need to keep winning to reach Rio thanks to her win in the Americas qualifying tournament but will surely be disappointed by being eliminated this early. Mayer lost 3-0 to China’s Junhua Yin, an Olympic qualifier from the Asian tournament. All three judges had it 39-37. Virginia Fuchs lost to Azerbaijan’s Anna Alimardanova 2-0 after one judge saw it a tie but the other two had it 39-37 against Fuchs. For Fuchs this loss may end her chances of qualifying for the Olympics. She now needs Canada’s Mandy Bujold to advance to the semifinals and earn one of the global qualifying spots and pass the second Americas qualifying spot on to Fuchs, who finished third in that tournament. Bujold is the third seed here and is now in the round of 16.

Sunday will be the busiest day yet for Americans as five will take the ring. 2012 gold medalist Claressa Shields has her second bout in the 75kg division as does Stalacia Leggett in the 57kg division. 2015 Golden Gloves champion Christina Cruz in the 54kg division,  Naomi Graham in the 69k division, and Franchon Crews in the 81kg division will have their first bouts.

19-year-old Jajaira Gonzalez in the 64kg division has the day off while Marlen Esparza in the 45-48kg division and Shadasia Green in the +81kg division, are still waiting for their first bouts.

Preliminaries continue Sunday and run through Monday to narrow the field in each weight class to eight for Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Previous 2016 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships Coverage:
Preview
Thursday Update
Friday Update

Fencing, Fencing World Cup

Lee Kiefer Grabs a Bronze in Tauberbischofsheim

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The best result of the day for the US came in Tauberbischofsheim where Lee Kiefer won her first four matches as she went on to win a bronze medal. Starting from the #3 seed Kiefer won all four of her opening matches by scores of 15-10 or greater. Running into #2 seed Inna Deriglazova of Russia in the semifinals Kiefer lost 15-9 and ended up with a bronze medal. Deriglazova won the gold and no one came closer than 15-10 against her all day. Nicole Ross also had a strong day as she won three times, twice by margins of ten or more, before losing in the quarterfinals to #4 seed Elisa Di Francisca of Italy by a score of 15-12. Nicole Prescod won once before losing 14-9 to Italy’s Carolina Erba, a quarterfinalist. Finally Jessie Laffey was eliminated 15-11 in the first round by #6 Aida Shanaeva of Russia. Kiefer, Ross, Prescod, and Madison Zeiss will compete for the US in the team competition Sunday.

Only one of the five women competing in Legnano, Italy advanced at all on Saturday. Courtney Hurley, who had a bye to table of 64, won once before losing 13-12 to Giulia Rizzi of Italy. Rizzi also took out Katharine Holmes in the opening round 15-11. Rizzi would go on to finish as runner-up. Katarzyna Trzopek lost to #10 Ana Maria Popescu of Romania, a quarterfinalist, 15-9, Kelley Hurley lost 15-12 to the eventual champion, Erika Kirpu of Estonia, and Catherine Nixon lost to Auriane Mallo of France 15-7.

Finally in Paris Jason Pryor and Alexander Tsinis both lost their opening matches. Pryor lost to #5 Daniel Jerent of France by a 15-14 score, Jerent going on to reach the semifinals, while Tsinis lost to Benjamin Steffen of Switzerland 15-8. Pryor will be joined by Alen Hadzic, Alex House, and Yeisser Ramirez for the team competition on Sunday. 

 

Previous Fencing World Cup Coverage:
Preview
Day 1 Update

Cycling, UCI Women's WorldTour

31-Woman Peloton in Stage Three as Megan Guarnier Continues to Lead Amgen Tour of California

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Megan Guarnier may have an insurmountable lead as the Amgen Tour of California heads to the final stage after finishing fourth in the peloton and growing her lead over Kristin Armstrong to 15 seconds after she finished 20th. Also finishing in the peloton were Coryn Rivera (2nd), Brianna Walle (5th), Heather Fischer (7th), Chloe Dygert (8th), Lauren Stephens (9th), Emma White (12th), Tayler Wiles (14th), Nina Laughlin (15th), Scotti Lechuga (16th), Evelyn Stevens (17th), Leah Thomas (18th), Katie Hall (19th), Amber Neben (26th), Kathryn Donovan (28th), Mara Abbott (30th), and Ruth Winder (31st). Stevens in third, 25 seconds back, Rivera is fifth, 44 seconds back, Thomas is sixth, 47 seconds back, Hall is seventh, 52 seconds back, and Dygert is eighth, 56 seconds back. Two other Americans, Stephens in 11th, 1:22 back, and Walle in 14th, 1:35 back, round out the American contingent in the top 15. Abbott in 16th, Wiles in 21st, Lechuga in 22nd, Donovan in 23rd, and Neben in 25th make it 14 Americans in the top 25.

Things wrap up Sunday with a 41-mile flat stage in Sacramento.

Previous Amgen Tour of California Coverage:
Preview
Thursday Update
Friday Update

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

In Difficult Mountain Stage Joe Dombrowski Finishes 25th in 14th Stage of Giro d’Italia

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Joe Dombrowski’s good week continued with a 25th place finish at the Giro d’Italia making up some major time on competitors after finishing within 9:44 of the winner. The US had all four of their other competitors finish in the top 100 after they all passed as part of a group 31:20 back. Chad Haga was the highest American in that group in 74th with Joey Rosskopf right behind him in 75th. Nathan Brown was 90th with Ian Boswell 93rd near the back of that group. Dombrowski’s good finish pushed him into the top 40, now 53:53 back in 35th. Brown in 54th and Haga in 83rd continue to hang in the top 100.

Sunday will be an interesting seven mile mountain time trial before the final rest day on Monday.

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

ISSF World Cup, Shooting

Virginia Thrasher Finishes Seventh in 10m Air Rifle at ISSF World Cup in Munich

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2016 Olympian Virginia Thrasher opened the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup stop in Munich with a strong showing in the 10m air rifle. Thrasher was strong in three of her four series in the qualifying round to post an overall 419.3, good enough for fourth place despite her 102.2 in the second series being the worst series by anyone in the top 19. The other two Americans competing were Hanna Carr, who finished 47th with a 413.8, and Rachel Garner, who finished 86th with a 410.1. Thrasher was in fourth after the first stage of the final but faltered on the second shot of the second stage with a 9.7 that left her in a precarious position and she ended up being the second of the eight finalists to be eliminated. In the men’s event William Shaner finished 86th and Jacob Buchanan finished 103rd, both well behind the eight finalists.

In the 25m women’s pistol 2016 Olympian Enkelejda Shehu shot a 284 in the precision portion of qualifying and is in 51st going into tomorrow’s rapid fire portion. Shehu would need to get into the top eight (she currently trails eighth by eight points) to qualify for the final that is also contested tomorrow. In the men’s 50m pistol 2016 Olympians Will Brown and Jay Shi both were among the best in the elimination relays as Shi was fifth in his half with a 561 while Brown was fourth in his with a 566. Nickolaus Mowrer finished 20th in his half with a 551. All three will compete in the qualification round on Sunday that will narrow the field to eight for the final later in the day.

Beginning on Sunday is the men’s 50m rifle prone and the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol. The US has a star studded lineup in the rifle event with 2016 Olympians David Higgins and Michael McPhail (fourth in Bangkok) along side Matthew Emmons (top seven in both Bangkok and Rio). The only thing hapening in the rifle event on Sunday will be an elimination round. In the pistol event 2016 Olympian Emil Milev is one of two Americans in the field as they will have the first half of their qualification round.

Previous ISSF World Cup Munich Coverage:
Preview

Diamond League, Track and Field

LaShawn Merritt and Erik Kynard Lead Field of Nine Americans to Diamond League in Rabat

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A smaller field of just nine Americans will be competing in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday in a Diamond League event. Two of those going, LaShawn Merritt in the 400m and Erik Kynard in the high jump, have already won once this year. Other Americans in the field include David Oliver in the 110m hurdles (fourth in Doha), Cassandra Tate in the 400m hurdles (fifth in Doha).

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Shanghai Recap

Cycling, Mountain Bike, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

13 Americans Will Compete in World Cup Cross-Country Event in Albstadt, Germany

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The second UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country event of the year will take place in Albstadt, Germany on Sunday. 13 Americans are in the field including three women who have top 20 finishes this year. Chloe Woodruff was 13th in the first event in Cairns, Australia with Georgia Gould 18th and Lea Davison in 19th. On the men’s side Stephen Ettinger was the only American to finish in the top 50 when he placed 20th.

Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Cross-Country Coverage:
Cairns Recap

Olympic Trials, Rio 2016 Olympic Trials, Shooting

Kimberly Rhode and Frank Thompson Grab Skeet Olympic Spots at Shotgun Olympic Trials

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The 2016 Olympic team will certainly have plenty of experience. Two more 2012 Olympians booked their spots in the team on Friday and both were contestants in London. In women’s skeet Kimberly Rhode shot a 49 which locked up her spot in Rio. Rhode finished the competition with 496 points and a 16 point win over Amber English. On the men’s side Frank Thompson scored a 49 but Phillip Jungman shot a 50 to pull within four. Hayden Stewart shot a 49 and was also four back going into the final meaning Thompson needed to just avoid finishing outside the top four in the final to claim the Olympic spot. He shot a 14 in the first round to secure that top four finish and clinch the berth in Rio. He’d finish with 493 points and a three point margin over Jungman. Stewart finished five points behind Thompson.

Women’s trap begins their four day competition on Sunday, as does men’s trap. Women’s trap is for an Olympic spot but men’s trap is not.

 

Previous US Shotgun Olympic Trials Coverage:
Event II Preview
Tuesday Update
Wednesday Update
Thursday Update

Covering America's Athletes