PANORAMA: Shiffrin to focus on two races en road to Olympics; Spoelstra to coach US men in 1928? Italian swimming shoplifters receive 90-day suspensions

Chris Grover, leader of the US cross country ski program, stated on the “Race Ready” podcast that if the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) allows Russian athletes to compete next year, the Olympic Winter Games will take place in Milan Cortina.

“If admitted, Russia’s Olympic quota will be two people – a man and a woman.”

This applies just to cross country, not the other five FIS sports on the Olympic calendar.

● Mediterranean Games 2026 in Taranto. Taranto 2026 organisers and the International Mediterranean Games Committee (CIJM) met in Rome (ITA) on Wednesday, with the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) and Taranto City officials in attendance. Finally, the Italian side restated its commitment to holding the event and finding a solution to the concerns with contractual services.

The 20th edition of the Mediterranean Games will take place from August 21 to September 3, 2026.

In a media session hosted by Atomic, Mikaela Shiffrin, the most successful World Cup skier in history, stated that she will focus on her two main events, Slalom and Giant Slalom, while she prepares for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

She has ruled out any Downhill races because to previous injuries, and she may also avoid Super-G racing until after the Milan Cortina Games. Regarding the future, she was asked if this would be her last Winter Games:

“I’m not a numbers girl. I’m very uncertain. To be honest, I do not know. “You can say 50/50.”

– Athletics According to the Rome daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, the Italian track and field federation’s disciplinary panel has banned Giacomo Tortu, brother of sprinter Filippo Tortu, for three years for “espionage” against Tokyo 2020 Olympic men’s 100 m champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs.

Giacomo Tortu paid to have Jacobs’ phone and other devices hacked in order to obtain information indicating that Jacobs was doping. The 36-month suspension will bar him from serving “in corporate roles, carrying out federal activities, or accessing training and competition facilities.”

– Basketball. According to the Associated Press, long-time Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra is expected to be selected head coach of the United States teams at the 2027 FIBA World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.

Spoelstra was an assistant coach for the United States team that won gold for the fifth time in a row at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

● Bobsled and Skeleton. Aaron Gulliver, a push athlete on the Great Britain Four-Man Sledge that won silver at the 2023 Worlds and bronze in 2025 (driven by Brad Hall), was banned for two years by the International Testing Agency for using the illegal substance ostarine.

His out-of-competition sample from March 2, 2025 tested positive. Gulliver demonstrated that the positive was not intentional and was suspended from March 24, 2025 to March 24, 2027, skipping the Milan Cortina Winter Games.

The United States sledge, piloted by Frank del Duca, finished fourth at the 2025 Worlds Four-Man on March 15, 2025, and because Gulliver was disqualified from March 2 onwards (the day of the positive test), the Americans could progress to the bronze medal.

– Cycling Tadej Pogacar (SLO), who has won the UCI World Road Championship, the European Road Championship, the Tour de France, and six other races this season, is the odds-on favourite to win his fifth Il Lombardia in a row on Saturday in the 119th edition.

The 241-kilometer route from Como to Bergamo includes five major climbs and two minor ascents, including the 1,058-meter Passo di Ganda, which is only 40 kilometres from the finish line.

Pogacar is attempting to win his third “Monument” race of the year, which dates back to before World War I, after winning the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, finishing third at Milan-Sanremo, and second at Paris-Roubaix.

His main adversary is expected to be Belgian Remco Evenepoel, the Worlds and European runner-up and three-time Worlds Time Trial gold medallist. They finished 1-2 last year.

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The International Testing Agency provisionally suspended Chinese track cyclist Junhong Lin, a four-time Worlds medallist from 2010 to 2016, after a re-examination of a January 2016 test revealed the use of anabolic steroids.

Lin, now 34, won World Championship silver medals in the Team Sprint in 2010 and 2014, the women’s Sprint in 2016 (potentially in jeopardy), and a Sprint bronze in 2014.

The FIFA U-20 World Cup’s Round-of-16 playoffs saw four traditional powers advance to the upper bracket, with Mexico defeating Chile 4-1, Argentina defeating Nigeria 4-0, Spain beating Ukraine 1-0, and Colombia defeating South Africa 3-1. Mexico and Argentina, as well as Spain and Colombia, will face off in the quarterfinals on the 11th.

In the lower group, Norway edged Paraguay 1-0 in extra time, while France defeated Japan 1-0. The quarterfinals will be held on the 12th.

Midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi scored in the 15th minute to give the United States a 1-0 halftime lead over Italy, and fellow midfielder Nico Tsakiris scored in the 79th to make it 2-0. Cremaschi also scored 90+3 for the overall score.

The Americans will face the winner of Morocco and South Korea in the quarterfinals on the 12th in Rancagua.

The Italian swimming organisation suspended swimmers Benedetta Pilato and Chiara Tarantino for 90 days for theft at a Singapore airport shop following the World Aquatics Championships in August. The federation’s statement included:

“Considering the facts revealed during the investigation and the willingness of the athletes who pleaded guilty to cooperate, the prosecutor’s office has ordered their suspension from public and state activities for a period of 90 days.”

The two swimmers departed Singapore for a vacation following the meet, but were caught shoplifting when they returned to the Singapore airport on their way back to Italy. Both will miss the European Short Course Championships in Poland in December.

– Weightlifting At the IWF World Championships in Forde (NOR), the home team won gold when women’s Olympic 81 kg champion Solfrid Koanda won the women’s 86 kg event. She finished second in the Snatch, but won the Clean & Jerk and the combined title with 272 kg, narrowly ahead of Snatch winner Yudelina Mejia (DOM: 271 kg). Arveta McElderry of the United States finished 11th with 235 kilogrammes.

In the men’s 94 kg event, Paris Olympic 89 kg champion Karlos Nasar (BUL) earned his third World Championship gold, winning the Clean & Jerk with a world record of 222 kg and the combined victory with 395 kg. Iran’s Alireza Moeini won the Snatch with a world record of 182 kg and finished second overall with 391 kg. Nasar has won three World Championship gold medals at different weights: 81 kg in 2021, 89 kg in 2024, and now 94 kg.

The event will end on Saturday.

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