Lake Placid awarded pre-Olympic bobsled and skeleton world championships

2019 IBSF World Cup Bobsled & Skeleton - Day 1
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The quaint upstate New York village of Lake Placid was awarded the 2025 bobsled and skeleton world championships at the recent International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation Congress.

The home-track advantage will give the Americans a welcomed boost and should set them up well heading into the 2026 Olympic season.

Lake Placid, home to the 1932 and 1980 Winter Games and still the only U.S. city to twice host the Winter Olympics, was originally awarded the 2021 World Championships but that event was moved to Altenberg, Germany, due to the pandemic.

There is no IBSF World Championships in the upcoming season, due to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The 2023 edition will be in St. Moritz, Switzerland, followed by the 2024 Worlds in Winterberg, Germany.

2025 will mark the 11th time Lake Placid plays host to worlds for one of both of the sports but the first time in 13 years.

The last time worlds was in Lake Placid, the Americans raked in five medals, led by two- and four-man bobsled golds from pilot Steven Holcomb, who died in 2017. That remains the greatest U.S. medal tally at the event since 2007.

Two of the U.S. medalists from 2012 are still actively competing: Elana Meyers Taylor and Katie Uhlaender.

Meyers Taylor earned bronze that year in just her second season as a driver. She remains one of the world’s best bobsledders and medaled in three of her four World Cups last season in her return from giving birth to son Nico.

Uhlaender won skeleton gold at the 2012 Worlds. Now vying for a fifth Olympic team, the 37-year-old was sixth at the 2021 Worlds and finished as high as fifth on last season’s World Cup circuit.

Kaillie Humphries won the two-woman bobsled world title that year for Canada. Now representing the U.S., she has since won three more world titles in the event, including in 2020 and 2021. She also won 2021 gold in monobob, which makes its Olympic debut in Beijing.

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2023 French Open women’s singles draw, scores

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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.

Turning 22 during the tournament, 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 most recent match with a right thigh injury last week 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, and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the No. 4 seed and Wimbledon champion, are the top challengers in Paris.

No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 6 Coco Gauff, runner-up to Swiatek last year, are the best hopes 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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2023 French Open men’s singles draw, scores

French Open Men's Draw
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The French Open men’s singles draw is missing injured 14-time champion Rafael Nadal for the first time since 2004, leaving the Coupe des Mousquetaires ripe for the taking.

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

Novak Djokovic is not only bidding for a third crown at Roland Garros, but also to lift a 23rd Grand Slam singles trophy to break his tie with Nadal for the most in men’s history.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Women’s Draw

But the No. 1 seed is Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, who won last year’s U.S. Open to become, at 19, the youngest man to win a major since Nadal’s first French Open title in 2005.

Now Alcaraz looks to become the second-youngest man to win at Roland Garros since 1989, after Nadal of course.

Alcaraz missed the Australian Open in January due to a right leg injury, but since went 30-3 with four titles. Notably, he has not faced Djokovic this year. They could meet in the semifinals.

Russian Daniil Medvedev, who lost in the French Open first round in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, is improved on clay. He won the Italian Open, the last top-level clay event before the French Open, and is the No. 2 seed ahead of Djokovic.

No. 9 Taylor Fritz, No. 12 Frances Tiafoe and No. 16 Tommy Paul are the highest-seeded Americans, all looking to become the first U.S. man to make the French Open quarterfinals since Andre Agassi in 2003. Since then, five different American men combined to make the fourth round on eight occasions.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

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2023 French Open Men’s Singles Draw

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