Yana Kudryatseva (RUS) won the final stop on the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup tour over the weekend in Kazan. In posting the highest score this season of 74.95, she secured the title and the favorite mantle for the World Championship, to be contested later this month in Turkey. She is already the defending champion of the Worlds, and the youngest-ever holder of that title, having won it at 15 and in her first senior Worlds. This year, in addition to the World Cup title this year, she is the European champion and the Russian national champion. She does come from athletic stock, as her father Alexsey is a medal-winning Olympic swimmer from 1992. At such a young age, she seems poised for a long run of continued success, and to continue the string tradition of Russian power in the sport.
It's not often you see an Egyptian on the podium in individual Olympic sports outside of combat sports such as wrestling. But El Geziry is breaking new ground for his country, finishing with the silver medal at the Modern Pentathlon World Championships from this past week. At the Warsaw event, he took the lead in the swim portion by posting the fastest time in the pool - a feat he also performed in the last two Olympics, with Olympic record times in each. Interestingly, a doctor when not competing, he comes from an athletic family, with his brother a former Olympian in the sport, and another brother a current competitor as well. These World Champs are his breakthrough onto an individual major podium, and likely give rise to great anticipation for his fans back home for him to bring home a medal in the unique sport two years from now in Rio. At the very least, it is nice to see his success, as well as the Chinese (5 medals, top of table) and South Korean (one medal) finishes to showcase the increasing diversity of the sport away from the historic European domination. Here's hoping that IOC officials take note, and that this should go a long way in helping to preserve Modern Pentathlon as an Olympic sport. Seeded at 10th going into the Badminton World Championships, Carolina Marin (ESP) was the only non-Asian competitor ranked in the top 16. And, yesterday in the final of the women's singles, she upset world #1 Li Xuerei (CHN) to capture her first world title. At 21, she is only the third-ever - and youngest - European champion in the event, and the 1st not from Denmark. And, she had already won the European Championship earlier in the season. I'm a big fan of the diversification of sports, and her success in Copenhagen was a bit of a surprise. Aside from an occasional Dane, world-level badminton events are usually dominated by Asian nations, particularly China, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India. In fact, Asia won 16 of the 20 medals at the Championships. I'd love to continue to see more competitiveness across the globe, and hopefully Marin's win can inspire some youths back in Spain - and elsewhere - watching to continue on in the sport. Especially after the Olympic debacle in 2012, the sport definitely needs some of this fresh breath of air. Javier Gomez (ESP) won the overall World Triathlon title this year today, after finishing third in the final race in Edmonton, securing enough points for the overall season win. He's the 2012 Olympic silver medalist, and was originally born in Switzerland. This is his 4th overall title, and 8th time on the overall podium. According to Vogue, all eyes are on Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) at the US Open. Well, at least mine are. Luckily, the 23-year old won his 1st match, so he's still around to play. And, considering he made the semi's at Wimbledon, he could be playing well into next week here, too. He's now ranked in the top ten. |
Above: Athens' Kallimarmaro, the site of the 1896 Summer Olympics
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