Games and Rings
  • A Blog for Olympic Sports Fans

News Recap: Week Ending March 06 2016

3/6/2016

 
Picture
Track Cycling Worlds End
Australia's Rebecca Wiasak led off the World Track Cycling Championships this week, with a win in the women's individual pursuit. Though that particular event is not on the Olympic calendar, the Championships served as Olympic qualifiers for 10 other events, including team pursuit. The United States won a surprise title in that women's event, while Australia did capture the men's. Overall, Great Britain continued its run of cycling success, topping the medal table with nine medals (five gold), ahead of Germany with eight overall. 22 nations won at least one, including Hong Kong, Colombia, Cuba and Mexico alongside other traditional powers such as France and Poland.

China Dominates Table Tennis Again
As expected, China won both the men's and women's team titles at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Kuala Lumpur, with their 20th wins on both sides. For the women's competition, it was an all-Asian podium for the third straight year, with Japan second and Taiwan and North Korea sharing third. England broke the Asian monopoly on the men's side, winning bronze alongside South Korea and behind the Chinese and Japan in second.

Argentina Wins Americas Rugby Cup
In Americas' answer to the Europeans' Six Nations tournament, the Americas Rugby Championship title went to Argentina this year after a dominating 4-0-1 record. Finishing second was the United States, followed by Canada, Uruguay, Brazil, and Chile. This was the first year of the tournament after a rebranding to expand to six national teams from previous club versions of a tournament.

Picture
Repeat Winners in Allround Speed Skating
Both Dutchman Sven Kramer and Czech Martina Sablikova successfully retained their titles at the World Allround Speed Skating Championships in Berlin this weekend. For Kramer, this was his eighth (!) title since 2007, and cements him as the all-time winningest man in the event, ahead of Finland's Clas Thunberg's seven between 1923 and 1931. Sablikova's title was her fourth since 2009, and she continues to chase Dutchwoman Ireen Wust, who finished second this year, but remains the most decorated active female skater with her own nine title. East Germany's Gund Niemann holds the overall record with ten women's titles between 1991 and 1999.

Ukraine Wins Historic Rio Spot

The Rio Test Event for synchronized swimming this week - as diving's last week - also served as an Olympic qualifier for the sport. And, some new faces emerged for the Rio field. First, France won the race for an Olympic ticket in the duet after finishing third behind already-qualified Spain and Italy. 12 other nations eventually secured their own tickets, including Greece, Austria, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina. Then, Ukraine and Japan topped the team event competition to take the first two of the final three available Rio spots, marking the first-ever entry for Ukraine in the team event. When Italy completed the podium to secure their own spot, it meant that neither traditional synchro power Canada nor two-time event medalist Spain would make Rio.




Comments are closed.

    About This Blog

    Highlights from the world of Olympic sports, focused on the athletes, and as seen through the cheeky lens of this one particular, passionate fan.

    Navigate It

    ​A Little Roundup
    Biweekly links to select Olympic sport headlines and news, with a focus on the athletes

    Let's Get Social
    Biweekly selection of intriguing, provocative social posts from Olympic sport athletes
    ​

    Athletes Worth Watching
    Weekly roundup of features on emerging Olympic sports athletes to keep an eye on

    ​Ramblings and Things
    ​
    I have my own thoughts on Olympic sport news and athletes sometimes!
    Read more about me.

    Picture
    At Rio 2016's Barra Olympic Park
    Header: Kallimamaro stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Olympics in 1896

    Follow Me

    Picture
    Tweets by @GamesandRings

    Picture

    Picture

    Favorite Sites

    The IOC
    The Olympic Channel
    The Olympic Museum
    Olympic World Library
    ​
    Team USA
    World Athletics
    ​Athletics Integrity Unit
    WADA
    Court of Arbitration
    Around the Rings
    Inside the Games
    GamesBids.com
    ​AP Olympics
    NBC Olympic Talk
    NY Times ​Olympics
    USA TODAY Olympics
    Wiki Summer Olympics
    Wiki Winter Olympics
    ​Athlete365
    ​Olympic Historians
    World Olympians Assoc.
    ​Games Architecture​
    Art of the Olympians
    Olympic.org Results
    ​Olympedia
    ​Olympstats
    ​
    Olympian Database
    ​On This Day in Sports
    ​Olympic City Project
    ​
    Keep the Flame Alive
    ​Totallympics
    ​Qualifying to the Games
    ​Lost Olympians
    ​
    Olympians 1964 to 2020
    Outsports
    ​
    Queerstory Files
    Tokyo 2020
    ​Beijing 2022
    ​Paris 2024
    ​Milan Cortina 2026
    Los Angeles 2028


    Categories

    All
    A Little Roundup
    Alpine Skiing
    Aquatics
    Archery
    Artistic Swimming
    Athens 1896
    Athens 2004
    Athlete Spotlight
    Athlete Worth Watching
    Atlanta 1996
    Badminton
    Baseball
    Basketball
    Basketball 3x3
    Beach Volleyball
    Beijing 2008
    Beijing 2022
    Biathlon
    Bobsled
    Boxing
    Breaking
    Canoe/Kayak
    Cross Country Skiing
    Curling
    Cycling
    Cycling BMX
    Cycling Mountain Bike
    Cycling Road
    Cycling Track
    Demonstration Sports
    Diving
    Equestrian
    Fencing
    Field Hockey
    Figure Skating
    Freestyle Skiing
    Golf
    Gymnastics
    Handball
    Ice Hockey
    IOC
    Judo
    Karate
    Let's Get Social
    London 1908
    London 1948
    London 2012
    Los Angeles 1984
    Los Angeles 2028
    Luge
    Melbourne 1956
    Mexico City 1968
    Milano Cortina 2026
    Modern Pentathlon
    Montreal 1976
    Moscow 1980
    Munich 1972
    Nordic Combined
    Olympics
    Olympic Sports Media
    On This Date
    Other
    Paralympics
    Paris 2024
    Rhythmic Gymnastics
    Rio 2016
    Rome 1960
    Rowing
    Rugby Sevens
    Sailing
    Seoul 1988
    Shooting
    Short Track Speedskating
    Skateboarding
    Skeleton
    Ski Jumping
    Snowboarding
    Soccer (football)
    Sochi 2014
    Softball
    Speed Skating
    Sport Climbing
    Squash
    Summer Olympics
    Surfing
    Swimming
    Sydney 2000
    Table Tennis
    Taekwondo
    Tennis
    Tokyo 1964
    Tokyo 2020
    Track And Field
    Trampolining
    Triathlon
    Volleyball
    WADA
    Water Polo
    Weightlifting
    Winter Olympics
    Wrestling


    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014


    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly