World Windsurfing Champions Crowned
The World Windsurfing Championships ended in Muscat, Oman this weekend, with France and China providing the gold medal winners. First, Chen Peina became the second-ever Chinese women's titleist, winning comfortably across the competition, and ahead of Bryony Shaw of Great Britain, who secured silver in the final race. The Netherlands' Lilian de Geus won bronze. On the men's side, Pierre le Coq won the third gold for France in four years. His win was start-to-finish, yet close over Wang Aichen of China, with Dorain van Rijsselberge earned the Netherlands' second bronze in the senior events.

France Tops in European Volleyball
After a striking pair of upsets over world champion Poland and six-time European champion Italy, Slovenia was the big news of the 2015 European Volleyball Championships...that is, until the final. In the last match, France stepped up for the win and the gold in three sets, for their seventh overall medal at the event. But it was their first gold, and sets them on a confident momentum toward Rio qualification.


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A Pair of Newcomers in African Women's Football
Meanwhile, old powers tumbled at the African Olympic Qualifying Tournament for women over the weekend, which saw the final leg of the rounds end over the weekend. First, Nigeria failed to make the final four after a loss to Equatorial Guinea. Then, Ivory Coast withdrew from their place, leaving runner-up Zimbabwe the opportunity to compete for a Rio spot - and then the Zimbabweans came through, winning on aggregate over Cameroon and earning their first team qualification in any sport since 1980's women's field hockey (where they won gold). Then, South Africa overcame Equatorial Guinea to earn their second straight Olympic appearance. The results mean that none of the three African representatives at the 2014 World Cup - Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon - will compete in Rio.

Boxing Worlds End
The 2015 Worlds of boxing ended in Doha, with Cuba reasserting its dominance in the sport, capturing four golds and seven medals overall. But with eighteen nations represented overall in the semifinals across the ten weight classes, a refreshing variety was showcased. And, five of them, aside from Cuba, struck gold, including Russia (two gold, four overall), Azerbaijan (one, four), Ireland (one, three), France (one, one) and Morocco (one, one). In a dubious distinction, the U.S. failed to win a single medal.


Great Britain and Netherlands Dual for Track Cycling Honors
The European Track Cycling Championships ended in Grenchen, Switzerland this weekend with traditional stalwart Great Britain finding company at the top of the medal table. While the British did come home with six gold and nine overall, the Netherlands came through for nine overall as well. Their shining star? Jeffrey Hoogland, who won three golds - in men's individual and team sprint, and the time trial event. In all, 13 nations won at least one medal, including Russia (eight), France (eight), Spain (three), and Lithuania (one).

Ma Long Wins Second Table Tennis World Cup
In Halmstad, Sweden the men's world cup for table tennis ended, with China's Ma Long winning his second straight title to go with his world championship. Ma's victory marks the fourth time teh world champion ahs also won the world cup in the same year since 1980. And in a bid for consistency, the top four seeds ended that way, with Fan Zhedong of China in second, Germany's Dmitrij Ovtcharov in third, and Japan's Jun Mizutani in fourth.

470 Worlds Conclude
The 2015 world champions in sailing's 470 class were decided this weekend in Haifa, with defending champions coming through in both the men's and women's events. First up, Austria's Lara Vadlau and Jola Ogar claimed gold for the women, with Olympic silver medalists from Great Britain, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark, coming in second again. On the men's side, Australians Mat Belcher and Will Ryan came through in a close battle dependent upon the final race, pushing Croatians Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic into second. Impressively, this is the third straight world title for the Australian pair - and Belcher's sixth (!) straight. Overall, three women's teams (Poland, Germany, Australia) and six men's (Finland, Germany, Australia, Turkey, South Africa, Israel) secured Olympic qualification.

Canada Wins 1st Major Volleyball Title
With the U.S. withdrawing from the tournament after having already qualified for the Rio Games, the field was a bit more open at the NORCECA Volleyball Continental Championship. And Canada took advantage to claim their first championship in a 3-1 victory over Cuba. In addition, server Nicholas Hoag earned both MVP and Best Server honors from the tournament. With the win, Canada earned the right to host the North American Olympic qualifier next year, which will feature the top four finishers: Canada, Cuba, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

While Argentina is Tops in South America
With Brazil not participating as already holding an Olympics berth as host nation, the focus switched to long-time rival Argentina in the South American Olympic Qualification Tournament. And they did come through, winning the sole berth available as the event winners, with a surprisingly tight 3-2 victory over Venezuela. The second-place finishers and Chile, in third place, do have another shot at Rio, at the World and Intercontinental Qualifying Tournaments, respectively next year.

Mexico Wins CONCACAF Representation
New this cycle, the winner of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup did not automatically earn the right to represent the confederation of North & Central America and the Caribbean at the Confederation Cup in 2017. But Mexico cemented their status as regional #1 after a 3-1 victory in the one game playoff this weekend to win the berth, following their title at the Gold Cup in July, which normally would have sent them on directly. The U.S. defeat, meanwhile, represents another setback in the expectations of a strong power-to-be on the world stage, as they are no longer the CONCACAF title-holders, nor will have the opportunity for a World Cup trial at the Confederations Cup a year ahead.

Kenya Dominates Another Marathon
Kenyan men and women won the Chicago Marathon this weekend, following the general trend from the east African nation. On the women's side, Florence Kiplagat, winner of the 2009 World Cross Country gold, took the title over a pair of Ethiopians, Yebrgual Melese and Berhane Dibaba, after an offiicial second-place finish in the same race in 2014. On the men's side, Dickson Chumba led a podium sweep for Kenya, ahead of two Sammy's - Kitwara and Mdiguru in second and third, respectively, for his 1st major marathon title since 2014's Tokyo.

Russia Tops the Military Games
Closing this weekend in Mungyeong, Korea, the 6th World Military Games closed with Russia topping the medal table far ahead of the rest of the nations, with 135 medals to second-place China's 96. First started in 1995, the Games offer the world's military personnel a global multi-sport platform for sport. The U.S., with a minimal presence, only captured four medals.

​China was again the big winner at the Asian Games in Incheon, leading the medal table with 151 golds and 342 overall medals. That was expected, as they've now won the Asian Games overall title for a whopping nine consecutive times. As expected as well, especially as the host nation, South Korea came in a solid second with 234 overall, beating Japan's 200 in third. Unfortunately for fans of sporting diversity across multi-sport events, that positioning matches the last four editions of the Games. Furthermore, Kazakhstan's 2014 fourth-place finish with a far-back 84 overall medals pretty much matches their overall total (within eight) in each Games since 1998. Much like in Olympic Games, where the usual USA, Russia, China, Germany suspects are at the top, it looks like one can expect similar dominance from the Far East nations in the Asiads.

A bigger story coming out of Incheon, though, is the rash of controversies, from doping to questionable judging - and questionable air systems - that seemed to favor the hosts, and continued concern over nationalized 'imported' athletes. To be fair, any large multi-sport event tends to draw a range of large and small controversy, but something about South Korea seems to be bring out a larger share of curious judging incidents, particularly in boxing. Anyone else remember the '88 Games where Roy Jones Jr was 'beaten' by his South Korean opponent?

But I think the biggest story should be the concern over cost and interest, as there were wide reports of empty seats (only 18% percent of all tickets sold a day before the Opening Ceremony??) and rising debts now earned by Incheon to cover the infrastructure cost. A worrying indicator of further discontent is that - does this sound familiar? - Vietnam pulled out of the 2018 hosting bid because of cost, and leaving only Indonesia as the default host. That's a far larger concern, and although athletes may cherish the Asiads as an exclusive opportunity to excel in Olympic-style multi-sport events amongst their regional peers, the rising costs and demands on hosts may prove a challenge too difficult to overcome.

Senegal Wins Women's AfroBasket
With the championship in FIBA's AfroBasket for women, Senegal also clinched a berth in the Olympics next year. Next year will be their second Games appearance, after a twelfth-place finish in 2000. The African Championship this year, though, is their 11th title. By virtue of finishing second and third, Cameroon and Nigeria earned spots in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament next year for a second shot.

​While China Wins the Asian Championship
Completing FIBA's continental championships over the summer and the bulk of Olympic qualifying, China won the men's Asian Championship this week, after defeating the surprising Philippines in a close 78-67 contest for their 16th overall continental title. China then also secured their berth in Rio for their ninth straight appearance. The Philippines, Iran, and Japan qualify for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament for their second chance next year.

And Dominates Asian Table Tennis
At the end of the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Pattaya, China continued its power position in the sport, winning six of the seven golds on offer. The only miss was women's doubles, where the lead Chinese pair Ding & Liu lost in the round of 32, and the second pair of Chen & Zhu lost through injury in the semis. The lead story, aside from China's overall dominance, was Fan Zhendong's individual dominance, winning all three golds available to him - men's singles, men's doubles (with Xu Xin), mixed doubles (Chen Meng), and the men's team titles. With this, he matches compatriot and legend Ma Long, who achieved the same feat in 2009.

European Table Tennis Concludes also
The annual championships for European table tennis ended as well in Yekaterinberg, with Germany extending its own continental show of force, by winning the women's team and men's singles. In the latter, Dmitrij Ovtcharov repeated as champ over Portugal's Marcos Freitas. Austrians also won two golds, with victory in the men's team event and Stefan Fegerl sharing the men's doubles gold with Portugal's Joao Monteiro. (Doubles entries can be mixed nationalities) Elizabeta Samara of Romania won the women's singles, after previously taking doubles gold in both 2009 and 2012.

Continental Volleyball Winds Down too
Regional international championships for volleyball across three zones also finished this week. First up, the United States women won the NORCECA Championship, defeating the Dominican Republic in four sets for their third consecutive title. Those two, along with third and fourth place finishers Puerto Rico and Canada thus also qualified for the regional Olympic qualifying event next year. (What? No Cuba? They finished fifth...) Next up, the Brazilian women won their 19th South American title over Peru, with the host Colombians finishing in a strong third over Argentina. Rounding up the women's events this week, Russia continued its European dominance with their own 19th continental title (and second consecutive), with a 3-0 victory over the host Netherlands. Serbia finished in third, with a 3-0 defeat of Turkey. Finally, the Brazilians stepped up again, winning the men's South American title to complete the week's volleyball, finishing ahead of top continental rivals Argentina in three sets. This was the 16th time the two had met in the final, and gave Brazil their 30th (!) title. Congrats to all!

Russia Dominates the Wheelchair and Amputee Games
The IWAS Games, the biennial multi-sport competition seen as the forerunner of the Paralympics, keeps plugging along despite a drop in popularity. 2015's version in Sochi concluded this week after eight days of competition, with the host Russians dominating the medal table. Russia finished with 323 medals to second-place China's 56. The U.S. and many western nations did not field an entry.

Tokyo 2020 Makes Its Program Suggestions
The verdict is in...and its a curious one. Tokyo 2020 organizers, given the opportunity to recommend additional sports for the Olympic schedule, announced this week that five sports will be submitted to the IOC for recommendation. As expected, the combined baseball and softball bid was accepted, as Japan is strong in both sports. Also making the list were karate, surfing, sport climbing, and skateboarding. The last three definitely make a statement in youth and future appeal, and, should all recommendations be successful, there would be an additional 18 events with 474 athletes on the Games schedule. Heartbreakingly, squash was not included. (Nor was wushu and bowling) This continues a sad string of Olympic disappointment for the sport, and one that seemed well-poised to finally enter the Games program. While there is some hope that the IOC can make its own alternate decisions on additional sports, perhaps in squash's favor, it is unlikely. Which means for at least another cycle, one of the worlds's most popular and diverse sports will again be on the sidelines. Baffling.