Wednesday, 16 August 2017 C Olympic-sport commentary, coverage and results

Are World Championships

as important as the Olympic Games?
Lane One

Are athletes as pumped for the World Is the IAAF finally getting a handle on
Championships as for the Olympics? doping? Some think so ...

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FINA World Cup winner: RSAs Chad le Clos

 Wednesday,
16 August 2017

Lane One
Are World Championships as important as the Olympic Games? 3
Jim Bush Celebration this Saturday 5
Vox Populi: More on the IAAF World Championships 6

The Main Event

Gymnastics: P&G Gymnastics Nationals starts in Anaheim 6

Scene & Heard

Athletics: U.S. dominates Worlds while "batting" just .274 8
Swimming: 169 swimmers win something in revised FINA World Cup 10

On Deck
Cycling: Niewadoma leads riders in Ladies Tour of Norway 11
Sport Climbing: Final Bouldering World Cup and European Champs in Munich 12
Table Tennis: Ovtcharov and Ishikawa head Bulgaria Open fields 12
Volleyball: U.S. U-19 men and U-18 women in World Champs 13

Scoreboard
Field Hockey: Argentina sweeps Pan American Cup 14
Golf: U.S. & Koreans strong in 2017 Majors (so far) 14
Gymnastics: Averinas and Russia sweep World Challenge Cup 16
Water Polo: Greece tops Serbia at World Juniors 17

Agenda: Competition Calendar 17

About: About The Sports Examiner 20

C For our 2017 international sports calendar, click here C

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L The Ticker 7
K In view of the enormous success of the IAAF World Championships in London, the sports minister
of Kenya is planning to build large stadia in Nairobi, Mombasa and Eldoret and wants to host the
2023 Worlds ... K Our next issue is scheduled for Friday, 18 August.

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 Wednesday,
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C Lane One C
Are World Championships
as important as the Olympic Games?

The drama and excitement of the 2017 IAAF World Championships in

London are over, but the memories are very fresh.
Elaron via Wikipedia Commons

The stadium was full, the fans were loud and the performances on the
track were as entertaining as they were unpredictable. There was a lot
to like.

For the first time in a long time perhaps back to 2009 the IAAF
Worlds outshined the Olympic Games in terms of atmosphere and
energy. The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing were a spectacle, but no
more so than the Berlin Worlds in 2009 Usain Bolt running world
records of 9.58 and 19.19 with massive crowds in the
Olympiastadion, site of the 1936 Olympic Games.

And with all the attention to the antics of the popular Hero the Hedgehog mascot in London, have we
so soon forgotten the IAAF Worlds mascot who started the trend: Berlino the bear?

Since then, the Olympics have traveled to London and Rio; can you even remember where the IAAF
World Championships were held next ... well? Treat yourself to a Moonpie if you said Daegu (KOR),
Moscow (RUS) and Beijing (CHN), before coming back to London for 2017.

But thats the spectacle and not the meet. For the athletes, the competitions are just as rigorous and
the faces are often the same. How do they feel about the differences between the two?

Our intrepid correspondent Alan Mazursky braved the Sacramento heat in June to ask a number of
the top American athletes about the Worlds vis-a-vis the Olympics at the USA Track & Field National
Championships. The responses were quite interesting, and a lot of the more experienced athletes felt
this way:

C Sandi Morris (womens Pole Vault):

To track and field athletes, yes, the World Championships is as big as the Olympics. It's all the
same people, same athletes, and it is just as hard to make the team. I would say the rest of the
world may not put as much emphasis on it, because it is just track and field and not all the
sports together. So there is a certain prestige that goes with the Olympic Games and the
Olympic name that maybe the World Championships doesn't quite carry, but I think in our
minds it is just as hard to make the team and it means just as much to be world champion.

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 Wednesday,
16 August 2017

C Jenny Simpson (womens 1,500 m):

Absolutely, the World Championships are the same competition, the same level of intensity,
it's just less pageantry. So when comparing winning a World Championships medal to winning
an Olympic medal, while the World Championships may not have as much fan-prestige, for the
athlete it has just as much prestige as winning an Olympic medal.

Rio 1,500 m champion Matthew Centrowitz had a perceptive take on the difference inside and
outside of the sport:

I treat every global championship as if it's the Olympic Games. However, it is hard to say,
since there is certainly not as much hype around the World Championships as there is around
the Olympics. Everyone knows the prestige and the aura around the Olympics.

A lot of my friends who do not even follow the sport will be checking on me during an Olympic
year, but they are probably nowhere to be found during a World Championships year. So it is
hard to compare the two, but obviously we get into the same kind of mindset to prepare and
that's to win medals. I think one thing missing from my collection is a world outdoor title, so
I'd like to get that before my career is over.

Thanks to injuries, Centrowitz will have to wait until 2019 for another shot at the Worlds, but there
was a recognition that waiting two years is better than having to wait for four. Pole vaulter Sam
Kendricks noted that aspect:

There's a lot of working men and women out here trying to make a living, and where you make
your living for the next two years is at championship meets. If anything the World
Championships are more competitive because more athletes are in their prime in the two-year
differential period, [therefore] there are more athletes that will be at their best.

Steeplechaser Evan Jager said the Worlds might be tougher:

There is a little bit more attention brought to the Olympics and people outside the core track
fan watch it and there is a little more weight to it, but it's still the same competition. If
anything it's harder because you can have reigning World Champions get a bye [wild card], so
one might be up against four Americans in the hurdles or four Kenyans in the Steeple.
However, this is what our sport is based on championships and how well you do at the
championships.

But there is something special about the Olympic Games (for some people):

C Keturah Orji (womens triple jump):

The Olympics are just once every four years and you get to say you're an Olympian so it means
more. From a preparation standpoint it's the same thing: you go out and compete, so preparing
is no different.

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 Wednesday,
16 August 2017

C Aries Merritt (mens 110 m Hurdles):

While the Olympics might mean more for sponsors, for me the World Championships have
the same importance: same competitors, just a different year.

And from Jenn Suhr, who was the 2012 Olympic champion in the womens vault: You know, after a
gold in the Olympics, it's sad to say but I will never have a meet that is as important or as wonderful as
that. No matter what I do in life, nothing will ever equal it.

Suhrs gold-medal performance came before adoring crowds in London five years ago vs. the half-full
Joao Havelange Olympic Stadium in Rio last year and the modest crowds in Daegu 11, Moscow 13
and Beijing 15 may be a foreteller of what to expect in Doha, Qatar, site of the 2019 IAAF Worlds. The
veteran British sportswriter, Martin Samuel, was positively sour on what lies ahead, noting on
Monday that Normal service will be resumed in Doha in 2019, where attendances are typically low.
Just 15,000 tickets were sold for the Para Athletics Championships there in 2015, compared to
230,000 in London this summer. The Asian Cup and Qatar Open tennis were also sparsely attended.

Yet Doha and athletics are a lovely fit. That's where the event should be held, really, so we can see it
for what it is. Full of apologists and cheerleaders and in thrall to commerce.

But the IAAF and other sports can look at where they have had success. For track & field, the
enchanting Worlds have been in Olympic cities where the Games also succeeded: Helsinki, Rome,
Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, London and also the 1995 Worlds in Gothenburg, Sweden. Now that the IAAF
has ditched the bidding protocol in favor of finding better partners, what about the famed track &
field cities of Oslo, Zurich (2014 European Champs hosts) and Brussels?

Or does the IAAF have to spread the word and head to places which have no track record pun
intended of attracting significant fan support? It will be fascinating to see how the 2021 Worlds in
Eugene with major challenges in accommodations capacity and airport access handles what
should be a remarkable spectacle of the first World Championships in the United States.

For the athletes especially from the U.S. it will be a Worlds they will want to be a part of.

Rich Perelman
Editor

C Jim Bush Celebration this Saturday C

| A reminder that the celebration of the life of the late Jim Bush, the great UCLA track & field
coach of the 1960s-80s, will be held at UCLAs Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, 19 August from noon to 2
p.m. All are welcome; the Master of Ceremonies will be sportscaster Ed Arnold and the speakers will
include Dixon Farmer, John Frazier, Ann Meyers Drysdale and Art Venegas.

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 Wednesday,
16 August 2017

C Vox Populi C
| On the just-completed IAAF World Championships in London:

It will be a long time before any country can do better than London for
the World Championships. Well attended (packed houses), enthusiastic
crowds and presented as well as or better than the Olympics. Being
able to see the live and next morning replay (I couldn't watch the
evenings live at 1-5 a.m. in the morning for me), of the British feed for
the whole meet was exciting Only thing missing were the on-field
interviews not shown. This meet should be held in London on a regular
basis!
~ Brian Springer (from Thailand)

The Sports Examiner encourages expressions of opinion we really do but preferably

based in facts. Comments can be submitted to Editor@TheSportsExaminer.com We do not
guarantee publication of any comment, but all comments submitted will be considered and
your submission implies your agreement to publication (and light editing if needed to meet
our grammatical and punctuation standards) at our sole discretion.
Please include your name and hometown on any comment submitted for publication.

C The Main Event C

Gymnastics:
P&G Gymnastics Nationals starts in Anaheim

| The U.S. national gymnastics championships are

on this week at the Honda Center in Anaheim, with a
new generation of athletes looking for places on the
American team at the World Championships in
Montreal (CAN) from 2-8 October.

None of the members of the U.S. womens team that

dominated the Rio Games Simone Biles, Aly
Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian
and Laurie Hernandez will compete, although
none have said they are retired.

Olympic reserves Ragan Smith and Ashton

Locklear return to lead the womens entries, with

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 Wednesday,
16 August 2017

most of the field coming up from the 2016 Junior Division.

Among the men, a couple of 2016 Olympians will return Sam Mikulak (eighth in the All-Around)
and Alex Naddour (Pommel Horse bronze medalist) with more rebuilding to do from a squad that
finished fifth overall in Rio. The schedule (Pacific Daylight Times):

C 17 August: Men Juniors 1:00 p.m.

Seniors 7:00 p.m. (NBC Olympic Channel: 7:30 p.m.)

C 18 August: Women Juniors 1:00 p.m.

Seniors 7:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Network: 8:00 p.m.)

C 19 August: Men Juniors 12:00 p.m.

Seniors 5:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Network: 6:00 p.m.)

C 20 August: Women Juniors 11:00 a.m.

Seniors 3:30 p.m. (NBC: 4:00 p.m.)

For start lists and results, click here. The senior gymnasts looking for a place on the U.S. team in
Montreal are expected to include (but are not limited to):

2016 Olympic Trials 2016 National Championships

Men A-A FX HB PB PH SR VT A-A FX HB PB PH SR VT
Donothan 4th 3rd 1st
Bailey
Allan Bower no placings no placings
Sean Melton no placings 5th 7th
Sam Mikulak 1st 7th 7th 4th 1st 6th - 1st 4th 2nd 2nd 6th 8
Akash Modi 6th 5th 5th 4th 3rd 4th
Yul Moldauer 5th 5th 7th 6th 5 5th 5th 8th 7th
Alex Naddour 6th 1st 3rd 8 4th 6th 4th
Kanji Oyama no placings no placings
Eddie Penev 2nd 7 3rd
Donnell 4th 8th 3rd 2nd 2 5th 5th 1st 4
Whittenburg
(Key: A-A = All-Around; FX = Floor exercise; HB=Horizontal Bar; PB = Parallel Bars;
PH = Pommel Horse; SR = Still Rings; VT = Vault)

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2016 Olympic Trials 2016 National Championships

Women A-A FX BB UB VT A-A FX BB UB VT
Shania Adams n/a (Junior Division)
Jordan Chiles n/a (no placings in Junior Division)
Morgan Hurd n/a (Junior Division)
Ashton Locklear 2nd 8th 1st
Riley McCusker n/a (Junior Division)
Victoria Nguyen n/a (Junior Division)
Abby Paulson n/a no placings
Alyona n/a (Junior Division)
Shchennikova
Ragan Smith 5th 6th 2nd 8th 5th
Trinity Thomas n/a (Junior Division)
(Key: A-A = All-Around; FX = Floor exercise; BB=Balance Beam; UB = Uneven Bars; VT=Vault)

Details on USA Gymnastics Webcast of the Junior Division competitions and live streaming options
are detailed here. The All-Arounds are scheduled for the 17th and 18th; the apparatus finals will be
held on the 19th and 20th.

C Scene & Heard C

News from the worldwide circus of sport

Athletics

U.S. dominates Worlds while batting just .274

| Its often said that making the U.S. team is harder than winning a medal at the World
Championships or the Olympic Games. That was certainly true in 2017, where it took much better
performances to get on the U.S. team then were produced in London.

Checking event-by-event, heres the comparison between the marks achieved by U.S. team members
at the World Championships in London in their last round of performance (final, or semi or
heats/qualifying if they did not advance) vs. their performances in the final at Sacramento in June (so,
if all three U.S. athletes did better in London than in Sacto, it would show as 3/3):

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 Wednesday,
16 August 2017

Event Men Women Event Men Women

100 m 2/3 1/3 High Jump 0/4 1/3
200 m 0/3 0.5/2 Pole Vault 0/3 0/3
400 m 0/3 1/3 Long Jump 1/3 1/4
800 m 0/3 1/3 Triple Jump 1/3 1/1
1,500 m 1/3 2/3 Shot 1/4 0/3
Steeple 1/3 2/3 Discus 1/3 0/3
5,000 m 0/3 3/3 Hammer 0/3 0/3
10,000 m 3/3 2/3 Javelin 0.5/1 0/2
110/100 m H 1.5/3 1/4 Dec/Hep 0/3 0/3
400 m H 1/4 0/3 Totals: 14/58 .241 17.5/57 .307
20 km Walk 0/0 1/2 Combined totals: 31.5/115 .274

(Halves indicate that the marks were the same at the Nationals and Worlds.)

So, all together, the U.S. team batted .274 for the Worlds, down from the .329 mark from Rio:

C 2016 Olympic performance vs. U.S. Trials Men: 24.0/ 57 = .421

C 2016 Olympic performance vs. U.S. Trials Women: 13.5/ 57 = .237
C Combined total: 37.5/114 = .329

Statistically, anything around .300 is pretty good; the U.S. batted .259 in the 2011 Worlds in Daegu
(KOR), where it won 25 medals in those events (28 total with the relays added in).

One of the questions always asked about these statistics is the number of days between the end of the
U.S. trials and the start of the Worlds or Olympics. How long did athletes have to hold their peak, or
have time to cut back their training and then re-peak? Over time, the best answer seems to be the
shorter the interval, the better. For Rio in 2016, the U.S. Olympic Trials ended 33 days prior to the
first day of Olympic track & field. In 2017, there were 40 days between the end of the Sacramento
Nationals on 25 June and the start in London on 4 August.

So why did the U.S. do so well, even with a modest performance vis-a-vis the Nationals? Eddie Pells
and Pat Graham from the Associated Press filed a story entitled U.S. Medal Dominance Could
Reflect Doping Cleanup in Track and led with For years, athletes from the United States have
quietly wondered how they might have fared if they had been competing on a level playing field. This
year, they may have found out.

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 Wednesday,
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Pells and Graham noted that the 30 medals from American athletes was in line with the Rio results
(32), athletes from four countries that have been under the doping microscope - Kenya (11), Russia
(6), Ethiopia (5) and Jamaica (4) - combined for 26.

Two years ago, the results looked like this: United States 17, Kenya 16, Jamaica 12, Ethiopia 8, Russia
4.

To Pells and Grahams point, its worth noting two recent U.S. cases where the U.S. Anti-Doping
Agency found amounts of banned substances so minute that it issued either a minor sanction, or just
a warning vs. a full-blown sanction vs. 800 m star Ajee Wilson (details) and Nationals 400 m
runner-up Gil Roberts (details), both in June.

Swimming

169 swimmers win something in revised FINA World Cup

| FINA changed the rules for its 2017 edition of the World Cup to ensure that (1) more swimmers
would win at least some money and (2) try to keep Hungarys Katinka Hosszu from winning the
womens division for the sixth straight year by limiting the number of events any one swimmer can
enter in each meet.

Mission accomplished.

Thanks to the highly-detailed reporting by Jared Anderson on SwimSwam.com, the full money list
has been posted for the first of three clusters, showing that 88 men and 81 women won something.
At the top of the lists were the swimmers who won the sizable bonuses for compiling the most points
in the first cluster:

Men Women
C 1. $50,000: Chad le Clos (RSA) C 1. $50,000: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE)
C 2. 35,000: Kirill Prigoda (RUS) C 2. 35,000: Katinka Hosszu (HUN)
C 3. 30,000: Vladimir Morozov (RUS) C 3. 30,000: Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED)
C 4. 20,000: Tom Shields (USA) C 4. 20,000: Mireia Belmonte (ESP)
C 5. 10,000: Cameron van der Burgh (RSA) C 5. 10,000: Alia Atkinson (JAM)
C 6. 5,000: Masaki Kaneko (JPN) C 6. 5,000: Emmily Seebohm (AUS)

In addition, $10,000 bonuses were handed out for world (Short Course) records, with a remarkable
seven in the first three meets of the series from four women:

C 4 Sjostrom (two in Moscow, two in Eindhoven)

C 1 Hosszu (Berlin), Kromowidjojo (Berlin), Belmonte (Eindhoven)

So at the top end of the pay scale after the first three meets:

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Men Cluster Records Meets

1. $63,800: Chad le Clos (RSA) $50,000 0 13,800
2. 44,250: Kirill Prigoda (RUS) 35,000 0 9,250
3. 40,900: Vladimir Morozov (RUS) 30,000 0 10,900

Women
1. $104,500 Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) $50,000 $40,000 14,500
2. 61,000 Katinka HossU (HUN) 35,000 10,000 16,000
3. 50,950 Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) 30,000 10,000 10,950

So Hosszu actually outswam everyone (again) in terms of winning races in the pool, but Sjostroms
world-record spree put her over the top.

Although the number of swimmers who won some sort of prize was way up this year, thanks to a prize
scale which rewarded finishers down to sixth place (instead of third last year), there were only 15 men
and 13 women who won an average of $1,000 per meet.

Moreover, there were 53 men and 52 women 62.1% of the total number of prize winners who
earned less than $1,000 total during the first cluster.

C On Deck C
Previews of upcoming international competitions of note
For our detailed calendar of events, click here

Cycling

Niewadoma leads riders in Ladies Tour of Norway

| The fifth of six stage races on the UCI Womens World Tour for 2017 is getting ready in Halden for
the fourth Ladies Tour of Norway.

The top entries include riders 3-7-8 on the current Womens World Tour points list: Polands Kasia
Niewadoma (3), Belgiums Jolien DHoore (7) and Finlands Lotta Lepisto (8), coming off a
sprint win at last weekends Crescent Vargarda race, over Marianne Vos of the Netherlands.

Vos is in Norway as well, for the four-stage race that will start with a quick, 3.5 km prologue (17
August), then continues with three hilly rides from Halden to Mysen (101.5 km), Sarpsborg to
Fredrikstad (140.4 km) and Svinesund to Halden (156.6 km).

The returning medalists include last years bronze medalist Anouska Koster (NED) and the 2014
silver winner Vos and bronze medalist Niewadoma.

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Sport Climbing

Final Bouldering World Cup and European Champs in Munich

| Off since late June, the Bouldering athletes get one final major showcase in Munich (GER) with
the final World Cup of the season, which will also serve as the European Championships for 2017.

The womens seasonal title chase is over, as Britains Shauna Coxsey has defended her title with an
unassailable total of 535 points, but she is in the field to also earn the crown as European champion.
Japans Miho Nonaka stands second (377) and Lead star Janja Garnbret (SLO) so strong early
in the Bouldering season is third at 370, and is entered in Munich.

For the men, the situation is more fluid. Under the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC)
rules, an athletes worst score in the seven World Cups can be dropped. So, the situation heading into
Munich shows:

1. Jong-won Chon (KOR) 426 points

2. Aleksei Rubtsov (RUS) 372
Keita Watabe (JPN) 372
4. Tomo Narasaki (JPN) 333
5. Koko Fujii (JPN) 309

World Cup scoring is 100-80-65-55-51-47-43-40-37-34 for the top ten places, with points awarded
down to 30th place. So the Munich placings will decide the seasonal title, won in 2016by Narasaki,
with Fujii second and Rubtsov third. Chon was the winner in 2015.

Table Tennis

Ovtcharov and Ishikawa head Bulgaria Open fields

| Qualifying has begun at the Bulgaria Open in Panagyurishte, with the tournament to be completed
on Sunday. The top seeds in each division:

C Mens Singles:
1. Dmitrij Ovtcharov (GER: world rank of 4)
2. Kenta Matsudaira (JPN, 15)
3. Quadri Aruna (NGR, 29)

C Mens Doubles:
1. Jin Ueda/Maharu Yoshimura (JPN, 45)
2. Alexey Liventsov/Mikhail Paikov (RUS, 121)

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 Wednesday,
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3. Robin Devos/Cedric Nuytinck (BEL, 141)

C Womens Singles:
1. Kasumi Ishikawa (JPN, 7)
2. Mima Ito (JPN, 11)
3. Hitomi Sato (JPN, 12)

C Womens Doubles:
1. Honoka Hashimoto/Hitomi Sato (JPN, 16)
2. Matilda Ekholm (SWE)/Georgina Pota (HUN; 34)
3. Manika Batra/Mouma Das (IND, 104)

A total of 178 players are enrolled. You can follow the results as they happen here.

Volleyball

U.S. U-19 men and U-18 women in World Champs

| Two junior-level world championships are getting ready to start in Bahrain and Argentina, with
the mens U-19 Worlds in the Middle East and the womens U-18s in South America.

The U.S. is in Pool A of the mens U-19 Worlds in Riffa, with hosts Bahrain, Egypt. Puerto Rico and
Tunisia. The top four teams in each of the four pools will advance to the Round of 16 beginning on 24
August.

This is the 15th World U-19 event for men, with Poland the defending champion, having defeated
Argentina in the 2015 final. The U.S. has never won a medal in this tournament, or even played in the
bronze-medal match.

In the womens U-18 World Championships in Rosario (ARG), the U.S. is in Pool B, with Belarus,
Brazil, Mexico and Russia. In this tournament, the top four teams from each pool will advance to the
Round of 16, with classifications matches for all places. Round of 16 matches will start on the 23rd of
August.

Also in its 15th edition, the womens World U-18 champs has been dominated by Brazil (four wins)
and Japan (three), but Italy won in 2015 over the U.S., which has lost in the last two finals and had to
settle for silver. In fact, the U.S. team has played for a medal in four of the last seven editions, but only
has the two silvers to show for its participation to date.

C Scoreboard C
Summaries of major international & U.S. competitions

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 Wednesday,
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Field Hockey

Argentina sweeps Pan American Cup

| Finishing up our coverage of the Pan American Cup in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Argentina
defeated Chile in the womens final, 4-1, to earn a gold medal to go with its victory in the mens
tournament.

The third-ranked Argentine men were 5-0 in the tournament and outscored its opponents, 35-3. The
worlds no. 1-ranked Argentine women went 4-0 and piled up a lopsided 16-3 scoring edge.

The American men won only their second medal ever in this competition, after a silver in 2009, by
defeating Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0, on Saturday.

The U.S. women lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to Chile in the final minute of their semifinal, and faced
Canada in the bronze-medal match, winning, 2-1. That kept the U.S. record of earning a medal in each
Pan Am Cup perfect; the American squad had been second to Argentina in the prior four editions in
2001-04-09-13.

Golf

U.S. & Koreans strong in 2017 Majors (so far)

| Weve noted before that we dont do much on golf (or tennis for that matter) since these sports are
so heavily covered elsewhere. But now that the majors are completed, it is worth taking a look at the
results in terms of national achievement:

PGA Tour
Masters U.S. Open British Open PGA Championship
(April) (June) (July) (August)
1. Sergio Garcia 1. Brooks Koepka 1. Jordan Spieth 1. Justin Thomas
279 ESP 272 USA 268 USA 276 USA
2. Justin Rose 2. Hideki Matsuyama 2. Matt Kuchar 2. Frances. Molinari
279 GBR 276 JPN 271 USA 278 ITA
2. Brian Harman
3. Charl Schwartzl 276 USA 3. Haotong Li 2. Patrick Reed
282 RSA 274 CHN 278 USA

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 Wednesday,
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Masters U.S. Open British Open PGA Championship

(April) (June) (July) (August)
4. Matt Kuchar 4. Tommy Fleetwood 4. Rory McIlroy 2. Louis Oosthuizen
283 USA 277 GBR 275 GBR 278 RSA
4. Thomas Pieters 4. Rafa Cabrera Bello
283 BEL 5. Xander Schauffele 275 ESP 5. Hideki Matsuyama
278 USA 279 JPN
5. Bill Haas
6. Paul Casey 278 USA 6. Matthew Southgate 5. Ricky Fowler
284 GBR 5. Ricky Fowler 276 GBR 279 USA
278 USA 6. Marc Leishman
7. Kevin Chappell 276 AUS 7. Graham DaLaet
285 USA 6. Alex Noren 280 CAN
7. Rory McElroy 276 SWE
285 GBR 8. Charley Hoffman 7. Kevin Kisner
279 USA 6. Branden Grace 280 USA
276 RSA
9. Adam Scott 9. Trey Mullinax 6. Brooks Koepka 9. Jordan Smith
286 AUS 279 USA 276 USA 283 GBR
9. Ryan Moore 9. Brandt Snedeker 9. Matt Kuchar
286 USA 279 USA 283 USA
9. Justin Thomas 9. Jason Day
279 USA 283 AUS
9. Chris Stroud
283 USA

From a nations perspective, 2017 was a good year for U.S. golf, as Americans took three of the four
majors and had six finishes in the top three. In other words, if each tournament handed out medals
instead of trophies (and checks), U.S. golfers would have won six medals out of 12 possible across the
four majors in 2017.

The women:

LPGA Tour
ANA Inspiration Womens PGA U.S. Open British Open Evian Champ.
(April) (July) (July) (August) (September)
1. So Yeon Ryu 1. Danielle Kang 1. Sung Hyun 1. In-Kyung Kim
274 KOR 271 USA Park 270 KOR
277 KOR

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ANA Inspiration Womens PGA U.S. Open British Open Evian Champ.
(April) (July) (July) (August) (September)
2. Lexi Thompson 2. Brooke 2. Hye Jin Choi 2. Jodi Ewart
274 USA Henderson 279 KOR Shadoff
272 CAN 272 GBR
3. Minjee Lee 3. Chella Choi 3. Mi Jung Hur 3. Michelle Wie
275 AUS 274 KOR 281 KOR 275 USA
3. Inbee Park 3. So Yeon Ryu 3. Caroline
275 KOR 4. Mi Hyang Lee 281 KOR Masson
3. Suzann 275 KOR 275 GER
Pettersen 4. Amy Yang 3. Georgia Hall
5. Carlota
275 NOR 275 KOR 275 GBR
Ciganda
4. Sei Young Kim
282 ESP
6. Michelle Wie 275 KOR 6. Jenny Shin
5. Jeongeun Lee
277 USA 276 KOR
282 KOR
7. Cristie Kerr 7. Inbee Park 5. Shanshan Feng 7. Shanshan Feng
278 USA 277 KOR 282 CHN 277 CHN
7. Lexi Thompson 7. Anna
8. Amy Yang 277 USA 8. Sei Young Kim Nordqvist
279 KOR 283 KOR 277 SWE
8. Ariya 8. Mirim Lee 7. Hyo-Joo Kim
Jutanugarn 9. Stacy Lewis 283 KOR 277 KOR
279 THA 278 USA 8. Amy Yang 7. Stacy Lewis
9. Kelly Shon 283 KOR
10. Karine Icher 277 USA
278 USA
280 FRA

Koreans have been the strongest at the majors so far, with three wins to one for the U.S. In terms of
the medal placings, there have been lots of ties for third, but the Koreans performed well enough to
win eight of 12 medals. The U.S. would have won three. But there is still one major to go.

Gymnastics

Averinas and Russia sweep World Challenge Cup

| As the final Rhythmic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Kazan (RUS) was set as a tune-up for
the upcoming World Championships in Italy, there was little doubt that the Russian entries would
dominate, but who would they be?

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 Wednesday,
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Turns out the first team of Arina and Dina Averina were on the floor and won all five individual
competitions and nine of the 10 gold and silver medals on offer. Dina won the All-Around, Hoop and
Clubs, while Arina tool the Ball and Ribbon titles. Israels Linoy Ashram was impressive in winning
bronze medals in all four of the individual apparatus finals! Summaries:

FIG Rhythmic World Challenge Cup
Kazan (RUS) ~ 11-13 August 2017.
(Full results here)
All-Around: 1. Dina Averina (RUS),
73.950; 2. Arina Averina (RUS), 70.200; 3.
Katsiaryna Halkina (BLR), 67.900. Also: 11.
Laura Zeng (USA), 62.150; ... 15. Evita
Griskenis (USA), 57.750.
Hoop: 1. Dina Averina (RUS), 19.00; 2.
Arina Averina (RUS), 18.650; 3. Linoy
Ashram (ISR), 17.150.
Ball: 1. Arina Averina (RUS), 17.100; 2.
Halkina (BLR), 16.250; 3. Ashram (ISR),
16.200.
Clubs: 1. Dina Averina (RUS), 18.500; 2.
Arina Averina (RUS), 16.700; 3. Ashram
(ISR), 16.300.
Ribbon: 1. Arina Averina (RUS), 17.750;
2. Dina Averina (RUS), 17.000; 3. Ashram
(ISR), 16.200.
Group All-Around: 1. Russia, 37.400; 2.
Italy, 35.950; 3. Japan, 35.050. Also: 9.
United States, 29.900.
Group-5 Hoops: 1. Russia, 18.700; 2.
Belarus, 18.000; 3. Japan, 18.000.
Group-3 Balls/2 Ropes: 1. Russia,
18.750; 2. Bulgaria, 18.250; 3. Belarus,
17.550.

Water Polo

Greece tops Serbia at World Juniors

| After a 7-7 tie in regulation time, Greece came out on top of Croatia, 12-10, in the penalty shoot-
out to win the FINA World Junior Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

The Greek had defeated host Serbia, 9-8, in the semifinals to remain unbeaten in the tournament,
while Croatia defeated Hungary, 6-4. In the third-place match, Serbia outlasted Hungary, 12-11.

The U.S. finished eighth, losing to Italy, 14-8, in the match for seventh place.

Agenda:
Competition Calendar
Highlights of the top-level (Championships ~ Grand Prix ~ World Cup ~ National Teams)
competitions in Olympic sports for the coming weeks:
Sport Date(s) Type ~ Event Site

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 Wednesday,
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C 14-20 August 2017

Rugby 09-26 Aug Women's Rugby World Cup IRL
Gymnastics 15-20 Aug U.S. P&G National Championships USA Anaheim
Table Tennis 15-20 Aug ITTF World Tour 8: Bulgaria Open BUL Panagyurishte
Cycling 17-20 Aug WWT: Ladies Tour of Norway NOR
Sport Climb 18-19 Aug World Cup: Bouldering GER Munich
Volleyball 18-25 Aug Men's World U-23 Championship EGY Cairo
Volleyball 18-27 Aug Men's World U-19 Championship BRN Riffa
Volleyball 18-27 Aug Women's World U-18 Championship ARG Rosario
Cycling 19 Aug-10 MWT: La Vuelta Cicista de Espana ESP
Gymnastics 18-19 Aug Trampoline World Cup 2 BLR Minsk
Multisport 19-30 Aug XXIX World University Games TPE Taipei
Sailing 19-26 Aug W Laser Radial World Championships NED Medemblik
Athletics 20 Aug Diamond League 12: Muller Grand Prix GBR Birmingham
Cycling 20 Aug MWT: Cyclassics Hamburg GER Hamburg

C 21-27 August 2017

Badminton 21-27 Aug Total World Championships SCO Glasgow
Mod. Pent. 21-29 Aug UIPM World Championships EGY Cairo
Wrestling 21-26 Aug UWW World Championships FRA Paris
Beach Vllybl 22-27 Aug Swatch World Tour Finals GER Hamburg
Table Tennis 22-27 Aug ITTF World Tour 9: Czech Open CZE Olomouc
Canoe-Kyk 23-27 Aug ICF Sprint World Championships CZE Racice
Swimming 23-28 Aug FINA World Junior Championships USA Indianapolis
Athletics 24 Aug Diamond League 13: Weltklasse SUI Zurich
Cycling 24-25 Aug UCI Mtn. Bike 4x World Champs ITA Val di Sole
Basketball 25 Aug-03 FIBA Men's AmeriCup ARG COL-URU
Boxing 25 Aug-03 AIBA World Championships GER Hamburg
Sport Climb 25-26 Aug World Cup: Lead/Speed ITA Arco
Cycling 26 Aug WWT: Grand Prix de Plouay FRA Plouay
Cycling 26-27 Aug Mountain Bike World Cup ITA Val di Sole
Triathlon 26-27 Aug ITU World Series 8 SWE Stockholm
Cycling 27 Aug MWT: Bretagne Classic-Ouest-France FRA Plouay

C 28 August-03 September 2017

Judo 28 Aug-03 IJF World Championships HUN Budapest
Tennis 28 Aug-10 U.S. Open USA New York
Cycling 29 Aug-03 WWT: Boels Rental Ladies Tour NED
Table Tennis 29 Aug-03 ITTF World Tour 10: Austria Open AUT Linz
Gymnastics 30 Aug-03 FIG World Rhythmic Championships ITA Pesaro
Mod. Pent. 30 Aug-03 Pan American Junior Champs MEX Merida
Shooting 30 Aug-11 ISSF World Champs (shotgun) RUS Moscow
Equestrian 31 Aug-03 Eventing CCI-4* GBR Burghley
Equestrian 31 Aug-03 Dressage World Cup CDI-W EST Tallinn
Equestrian 31 Aug-03 Dressage World Cup CDI-W AUS Sydney

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Athletics 01 Sep Diamond League 14: Memorial Van Damme BEL Brussels
Canoe-Kyk 01-03 Sep Slalom World Cup 4 ITA Ivrea
Equestrian 01-03 Sep Dressage World Cup CDI-W RUS Moscow
Football 01 Sep World Cup qualifying: USA Men v. Costa Rica USA
Archery 02-03 Sep Hyundai World Cup 5/Final ITA Rome
Water Polo 03-09 Sep Women's Junior World Championships GRE Volos

C 04-10 September 2017

Cycling 05-10 Sep UCI Mtn. Bike World Champs AUS Cairns
Football 05 Sep World Cup qualifying: USA Men at Honduras HON
Volleyball 05-10 Sep Women's Grand Champions Cup JPN
Canoe-Kyk 08-10 Sep Slalom World Cup Final ESP La Seu d'Urgell
Cycling 08 Sep MWT: Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec CAN Quebec City
Gymnastics 08-10 Sep World Challenge Cup (apparatus) HUN Szombathely
Karate 08-10 Sep WKF Karate 1 Premier League 5 GER Halle
Weightlift 08-10 Sep American Open III USA Grand Rapids
Cycling 10 Sep MWT: Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal CAN Montreal
Cycling 10 Sep WWT: Madrid Challenge ESP Madrid
Volleyball 10-17 Sep Women's World U-23 Championship SLO Ljubljana

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About The Sports Examiner

The Sports Examiner was created to cover championship-level international sports with a special
emphasis on those sports and events that are part of the Olympic/Winter Games programs. You can
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These athletes deserve the comprehensive coverage given to a fairly small number of sports which are
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About the Author

Rich Perelman has been a bid developer, planner and/or operator of 20 multi-day, multi-venue
events, including five Olympic/Olympic Winter Games, in the U.S., Canada and Europe. In addition
to nearly 100 books, event and statistical guides, he has written for the Los Angeles Times, Track &
Field News, Universal Sports and many other publications. He is a longtime member of the
Association of Track & Field Statisticians (ATFS), International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH)
and the Track & Field Writers of America (TAFWA).

Archives Codes and Symbols

If youre looking for previous issues, you can find It wouldnt be sports without symbols, right?
them here (scroll to the bottom of the page to the First and foremost, we use the International
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You can also sign up to receive The Sports dsq = disqualified w = wind-aided
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The Sports Examiner for 16 August 2017: Vol. 2, no. 113. Copyright 2017 by Perelman, Pioneer & Co.;
All rights reserved.

The Sports Examiner is published by Perelman, Pioneer & Co.; Rich Perelman, editor. Subscriptions
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