Salt Lake City among 3 cities interested in Winter Olympic bids

By OlympicTalkJan 10, 2020, 8:38 AM EST

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Salt Lake City, Sapporo (Japan) and Barcelona are interested in potential Winter Olympic bids for 2030, 2034 or 2038.

IOC member Octavian Morariu, chair of the IOC Future Host Commission for Winter Games, said the IOC has been in dialogue with “a number of interested parties” for the last two years and specifically named those three cities.

All cities previously expressed various levels of interest in bidding, either for 2026 (which was awarded to Italy’s Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo over Sweden’s Stockholm-Are on June 24) or for 2030. Olympic host cities have traditionally been chosen by IOC members vote seven years beforehand, though that timeline can be shortened under recent reforms.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in December 2018 that if it bids for the 2030 Winter Games, it will be with Salt Lake City. The Utah capital was the last U.S. host for the Winter Olympics in 2002. The U.S. hasn’t put forth a formal Winter Games bid since. Morariu said Salt Lake City would use 100 percent existing venues.

Sapporo, which hosted the 1972 Winter Games, took part in the dialogue stage for the 2026 bid race before withdrawing in 2018 to focus on 2030. IOC president Thomas Bach was asked about Sapporo’s interest in 2030 on Thursday and said there’s no doubt it could organize an “excellent” Winter Games. Morariu said Sapporo, which will hold the 2020 Olympic marathons and race walks, would use 92 percent existing venues.

The IOC labeled the third interested party as “Pyrenees-Barcelona.” Morariu said sliding sports and ski jumping would be held outside Spain, as the nation does not have existing venues for those sports. Morariu also said Spain’s Olympic Committee still has to finalize its wish to enter into dialogue with the IOC.

Lillehammer, Norway, the 1994 Winter Olympic host, was reportedly planning a 2026 or 2030 Winter Olympic bid as recently as 2018, but was not mentioned by Morariu.

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Jim Hines, Olympic 100m gold medalist and first to break 10 seconds, dies

By OlympicTalkJun 5, 2023, 6:06 AM EDT

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Jim Hines, a 1968 Olympic 100m gold medalist and the first person to break 10 seconds in the event, has died at age 76, according to USA Track and Field.

“I understand that God called him home today and we send the prayers up for him,” was posted on the Facebook page of John Carlos, a 1968 U.S. Olympic teammate, over the weekend.

Hines was born in Arkansas, raised in Oakland, California and attended Texas Southern University in Houston.

At the June 1968 AAU Championships in Sacramento, Hines became the first person to break 10 seconds in the 100m with a hand-timed 9.9. It was dubbed the “Night of Speed” because the world record of 10 seconds was beaten by three men and tied by seven others, according to World Athletics.

“There will never be another night like it,” Hines said at a 35th anniversary reunion in 2003, according to World Athletics. “That was the greatest sprinting series in the history of track and field.”

Later that summer, Hines won the Olympic Trials. Then he won the Olympic gold medal in Mexico City’s beneficial thin air in 9.95 seconds, the first electronically timed sub-10 and a world record that stood for 15 years.

Hines was part of a legendary 1968 U.S. Olympic track and field team that also included 200m gold and bronze medalists Tommie Smith and Carlos, plus gold medalists Wyomia Tyus (100m), Bob Beamon (long jump), Al Oerter (discus), Dick Fosbury (high jump), Lee Evans (400m), Madeline Manning Mims (800m), Willie Davenport (110m hurdles), Bob Seagren (pole vault), Randy Matson (shot put), Bill Toomey (decathlon) and the men’s and women’s 4x100m and men’s 4x400m relays.

After the Olympics, Hines joined the Miami Dolphins, who chose him in the sixth round of that year’s NFL Draft to be a wide receiver. He was given the number 99. Hines played in 10 games between 1969 and 1970 for the Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs.

He remains the only person to have played in an NFL regular season game out of the now more than 170 who have broken 10 seconds in the 100m over the last 55 years.

2023 French Open women’s singles draw, scores

By OlympicTalkJun 4, 2023, 4:10 PM EDT

At the French Open, Iga Swiatek of Poland eyes a third title at Roland Garros and a fourth Grand Slam singles crown overall.

The tournament airs live on NBC Sports, Peacock and Tennis Channel through championship points in Paris.

Swiatek, the No. 1 seed from Poland, can join Serena Williams and Justine Henin as the lone women to win three or more French Opens since 2000.

Having turned 22 on Wednesday, she can become the youngest woman to win three French Opens since Monica Seles in 1992 and the youngest woman to win four Slams overall since Williams in 2002.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Men’s Draw

But Swiatek is not as dominant as in 2022, when she went 16-0 in the spring clay season during an overall 37-match win streak.

She retired from her last pre-French Open match with a right thigh injury and said it wasn’t serious. Before that, she lost the final of another clay-court tournament to Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed, is her top remaining challenger in Paris.

No. 3 Jessica Pegula, the highest-seeded American man or woman, was eliminated in the third round. No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who has three wins over Swiatek this year, withdrew before her third-round match due to illness.

No. 6 Coco Gauff, runner-up to Swiatek last year, is the top hope to become the first American to win a Grand Slam singles title since Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought is the longest for U.S. women since Seles won the 1996 Australian Open.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

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2023 French Open Women’s Singles Draw

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