Coleman earns payback against Lyles as back-and-forth continues
As if they are two kids on the playground going up and down on a teeter-totter, U.S. sprinters Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles continue to go back and forth.
But that’s a great thing for those who love compelling rivalries in sports, and it should make for one of the great storylines of the Paris Olympics.
Last month, Lyles, the reigning world champion in the 100 and 200 meters, finished in first in the 60-meter dash by just one hundredth of a second ahead of Coleman at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Last week at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Scotland, Coleman struck back, winning the 60-meter dash in a time of 6.41. Lyles was second at 6.44.
Coleman won the 100-meter dash at the 2019 World Championships and is the world-record holder in the 60 meters.
Nobody from the U.S. has won an Olympic gold medal in either the 100-meter or 200-meter dashes since 2004. But barring a catastrophe at this summer’s Olympic trials to where one or both don’t qualify for Paris, their rivalry should be a juicy storyline for marketers and TV executives to highlight leading up to the Games.
Salt Lake City makes it official with bid for 2034 Winter Olympics
In what came as no surprise, Salt Lake City made it officially known that it wants to host the 2034 Winter Olympics last week when it submitted a bid to the International Olympic Committee.
Granted, it was more of a formality than anything, given the IOC already had targeted Salt Lake City as the preferred host for the 2034 Games in what is their new selection process.
Salt Lake City, the hosts of the financially-successful 2002 Winter Olympics, also had been talked about as the host for 2030, but it didn’t want to stage another Olympics in the U.S. immediately after Los Angeles hosts the Summer Olympics in 2028.
The IOC has selected a region of the French Alps, Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur and Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, as preferred host for the 2030 Winter Olympics, meaning France and the United States will combine to host four of the next five Olympics.
The IOC is expected to officially name the French Alps region and Salt Lake City as the hosts of those Olympics during a session in July on the eve of the opening ceremony for the Paris Games.
15-year-old fails in bid to qualify for two Olympic events
Sky Brown, an athlete representing Great Britain who competed in the skateboarding competition as a 13-year-old at the Tokyo Olympics and likely will do so again in Paris, nearly pulled off something unique last week by qualifying for the same Olympics in separate event.
Brown competed at the ISA World Surfing Games last week in Puerto Rico in what was the last qualifier for surfers for Paris. Unfortunately for Brown, she failed to qualify.
Competing in both events would have certainly made headlines, but it would have led to a grueling schedule. The skateboarding competition will be in Paris, but the surfing competition as of now will be held nearly 10,000 miles away in Tahiti.
Based on her standing in the world skateboarding rankings, Brown, the reigning world champion and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist in park skateboarding, likely still be in Paris for that event.
