Olympic CEO has ‘absolutely no doubt' that sliding events will be held in Cortina d'Ampezzo
There was concern that the venue for bobsled, luge and skeleton might not be ready in time for next February's Games. The International Olympic Committee even demanded a Plan B option that could have the events moved to Lake Placid, New York, if things fell apart.
The International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation said last week's testing period at the track was 'successful.' Now, Varnier is confident about the pace rebuilding the century-old sliding center is on.
'We were always very optimistic, but until the pre-homologation (testing) of course, there were a lot of doubts around us,' he said. 'But we were confident, and we're very happy now.'
Officials from the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, International Luge Federation and the International Olympic Committee will determine whether the track receives official preliminary certification.
Last week's events were enough to leave Varnier in good spirits. Completion is scheduled for Nov. 5, then there would be homologation and handover to Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 to hold the Games. Before the Olympics, the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation and International Luge Federation are set to use the new track for international training and test events.
Varnier said it is important that the sliding sports be held in Cortina to improve the experience for those involved.
'Very happy because that would be ideal for the athletes to be all together, to stay together in Cortina,' he said. 'Will be ideal for the spectators who will have a more truly Olympic experience in Cortina, and also for for the media and all the operators that -- it would have been very difficult to follow those sliding sports somewhere else in the world.'
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New York Times
39 minutes ago
- New York Times
Gjert Ingebrigtsen interview: ‘Of course there is a winner when it comes to the verdict'
Gjert Ingebrigtsen wants to talk. The track coach was accused of abusing his double Olympic champion son Jakob and daughter Ingrid physically and psychologically over several years, claims he strenuously denied. During a high-profile trial in Norway, Jakob testified he had 'become a machine that performs when asked; an athlete who performs really well under pressure and in inhuman conditions'. Ingrid, now 18, said she 'felt trapped' in her own home and 'completely bullied' by her father. Advertisement On June 16, Gjert was convicted on one count of assault against Ingrid, but acquitted of all other abuse charges against her and Jakob, now 24. The 59-year-old was given a suspended prison sentence of 15 days and ordered to pay 10,000 NOK (£730; $970) in compensation for hitting Ingrid with a towel three years ago. 'In the big picture, for our family, we lost a lot,' says Gjert, 'each other, all the good things we had together — the family as a stronghold for both our daily lives, and also for the sport. I just want to move forward. If they want my respect, they also have to respect me.' Gjert coached three of his six sons — Jakob, Filip and Henrik — to European 1500-metre titles, a remarkable period of success that peaked with Jakob winning the biggest prize of all over the distance just before his 21st birthday in 2021: Olympic gold in Tokyo. Another Olympic title followed for Jakob over 5,000m in Paris last summer. The sons split with their father as a coach in 2022 and Ingrid gave up the sport but Gjert has continued to coach other athletes, including Jakob's rival Narve Gilje Nordas, who won the Norwegian 5,000m title on Saturday and took silver in the 1500m on Sunday. The Norwegian Athletics Association has, however, refused to accredit Gjert for competitions. A month to the day after the two-week window for either side to appeal the verdict closed, Gjert speaks for an hour over a video call. He requested to talk with The Athletic following our extensive coverage of the trial. The standout points from the conversation include Gjert saying: Gjert speaks slowly and softly, often looking around the room rather than directly at the camera, sometimes starting and restarting sentences before he finds the right words. It is a contrast to the figure often seen on the reality television series Team Ingebrigtsen, which featured Gjert, wife Tone and their seven children and first aired on Norwegian broadcaster NRK in 2016. Advertisement The legal sensitivities are complex and Gjert is speaking in English, a second language, but it is hard not to feel like his focus on semantics is slightly misplaced. He repeats the word 'clarify' in explaining why he is talking now, having pushed unsuccessfully for the trial to be behind closed doors. 'It's been a while since the trial was over and the conclusion was there,' he says. But there is also another reason for talking now. Nordas, 26, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK in March that he would leave Gjert 'if it is proven that he had been violent', but has continued to train under a man who has coached him since his teens. 'In the main, he is acquitted,' Nordas said to NRK after the trial. Gjert's desire to 'clarify' the situation has also grown because Canadian Kieran Lumb has recently joined the training group. 'I want to take some of the responsibility away from my athletes,' says Gjert. 'They get questions — 'What's my situation? What does it mean, the conclusion of the trial? How can you be a part of this when Gjert is like…?'.' He tails off. Gjert has not, however, spoken to Jakob, Filip and Henrik, although he says they all live in the same neighbourhood. 'I can almost touch my children's houses, we are all within 300 metres,' says the father. 'We see each other all the time, we meet in the grocery shop nearby, the children go to the same schools. 'I still won't contact them. I'm waiting for them to contact me if they want to (talk). It's still very tense. It's still so fresh. I will not try to normalise anything. This is going to take time.' 'I was really, really relieved, because I was acquitted,' Gjert says, before speaking, unprompted, about hitting Ingrid with a towel in January 2022. 'It was an unfortunate incident. We had a tough discussion about something domestic. Sometimes you do things that are not representative (of yourself), it's very unfortunate and I'm really sorry that happened. Advertisement 'But it's a minor thing compared to the charges that were presented to me (brought on me). Normally, I wouldn't accept the outcome.' What does 'normally' mean in this context, though? 'When you see the long list of really serious charges, ending up with this 'thing', it's not worth dragging the family through another round by appealing,' he responds. Abuse in close relationships is punishable by a maximum six-year sentence in Norway, and the prosecution had pushed for two and a half years in prison. On the day of the verdict, Heidi Reisvang, one of Gjert's defence lawyers, told The Athletic that they were 'very happy for the result' because he had only been convicted of 'the lowest form of physical violence in Norwegian criminal law'. Gjert argues the scale of his offence has been 'misinterpreted'. But John Christian Elden, another of Gjert's defence lawyers, said there were 'no winners' after the trial. Gjert does not share that view. 'Of course, there is a winner when it comes to the verdict and the outcome of the case,' he says. 'I'm partly responsible. I will never talk about this in a victorious way — 'I beat you and I won the case'. For me, this is over, finished. I'm really sorry for having to have this trial.' Gjert was brought to tears more than once during the testimonies, so his particularly unemotional tone warrants a direct question. Does the conviction bother him? 'Of course it bothers me,' he says. 'The incident bothers me, but not enough to do this over again (and appeal). I can live with it, I have apologised many times, both to my daughter and to the court. What's done is done. In the big picture, it's a small thing compared to the charges.' His phrasing is interesting. He uses a pattern of vague terms, such as describing the conviction as a 'thing' and repeating the phrase, 'blah, blah, blah,' in place of giving specific details. Advertisement When recounting the events of late 2023, when Jakob, Filip and Henrik first alleged abuse by Gjert in a statement in Norwegian newspaper VG, he says: 'The police started an investigation and blah, blah, blah, it became this big, big, big thing. 'They stuck to their story and I stuck to mine. The conclusion: there's no proof. Both stories were plausible and then you end up with nothing. What can I say? 'When you decide to tell an incredible story, you either say, 'Oh, OK, I made a mistake', or you stick with the story. 'When you stick to the story, you paint this terrible picture of family life, your father and everything. That's what they did. I don't think they thought it would go this far. I think they thought it would be more of an inside-sports thing.' Does he believe what Jakob and Ingrid have said, though? Jakob said in court that he has lost the joy of competing, and Ingrid said she experiences night terrors and has to take sleeping tablets. It was not permitted to take photographs of Ingrid arriving at court — which is why no images of her appear in this story — and there was a reporting ban on certain sections of her testimony. 'I have to believe that when they look at their lives, that's what they remember, what they feel about it now,' Gjert says. 'Even though I'm not sure they felt the same when…' he tails off. 'I'm not sure how to interpret the things that were said. 'Maybe I didn't have or didn't take the time to be more observant, especially about Ingrid and her needs and feelings. Maybe these are only reflections I do after being through this. '(I was) not enough of a father for her — the only girl — in the right sense because the coach took over. That's the reflection I did a long time ago. I apologised to her that I was too focused on other things, especially for Jakob and the boys.' Until last week, Gjert chose not to speak publicly on the charges. His denial of the October 2023 statement from his sons came as a statement from his lawyers, and he testified in court that he 'did not want to contribute to turning this into a bigger circus than necessary'. 'It's been really difficult to keep quiet,' he adds now. Advertisement Yet for five years, he was a central figure in the Team Ingebrigtsen series, which first put Jakob in front of the cameras at age 11. Ingrid was even younger. Gjert says that seeing extracts of the show played in court was 'the most emotional for me' — harder than listening to his children's testimonies. 'I hadn't seen the television show,' he says. 'That was so close and so real. The testimonies were what I expected — I read the statements from the police, I knew what was coming — but it was very difficult to see the television series. It's the emotions that come back to you. 'When you are parents, and especially when it comes to championships and results and everything you worked for, when you see your children reaching their goals and their dreams, that's very emotional. The television series, that was real. Reality and real things are more emotional and tense than fiction or stories.' He says he does not regret Team Ingebrigtsen, but would he do it all the same again? 'It's difficult to say because we didn't know what we said 'yes' to. It was not a commercial thing. Exposing the children in that way — I don't feel it. I don't feel that they were very exposed because it's not commercial. It's like normal life, normal things: training, eating, sleeping, travelling, competing. 'Also, the interviews are not very personal. We did what we did to document how tough it was for a family to try to work together for these common goals, the dreams.' Late in the trial, Tone, Gjert's wife of nearly 40 years and mother to the seven Ingebrigtsen siblings, demanded a closed court to testify. She was granted those 'special circumstances', the court explained, because her testimony was considered pivotal. Gjert says he did not know she wanted to 'empty the courthouse, or what she was going to say'. 'She took charge and did it her way,' he adds. 'That makes me really proud. I would maybe suggest her being in an open court, so everybody could listen to her testimony, but I never told her my opinion.' In court, Jakob said his mother was in an 'impossible situation and has no control over her own life', claiming she had seen alleged incidents of abuse and was a 'victim' herself. 'I really don't have any expectations of her,' Ingrid told the court of her mother, who did not give a statement to the police. 'But if she doesn't choose to tell the truth or support me and believe me, I won't have people like that in my life.' Advertisement Gjert accepts that 'it's difficult to understand that I didn't inflict on her in any way'. He says he advised Tone to seek external advice. But was he ever concerned that Tone's closed-court demands might damage her relationships with their children? 'I was never afraid of that, because I was sure she wouldn't say anything negative about the children,' he says. 'She didn't want to end up in conflict. She was very clear and objective, case-oriented.' After the trial, the Norwegian Athletics Association wanted to suspend Gjert from coaching, but the Norwegian Sports Federation, a higher governing body, rejected this. 'It's difficult to understand why this has anything to do with any federation,' Gjert says. 'They (the federation) never talked to me about this.' But while he is permitted to coach, the Norwegian Athletics Association will continue to deny him accreditation for national and global championships. 'That's a problem for my athletes. Not for me. It's not my accreditation,' he says. 'They are not punishing me. It's Narve getting punished, it's his accreditation for having a coach. Narve is a top-10 1500m athlete. 'I've been a part of major championships since 2010. I have more than 30 medals internationally. I have no use for this accreditation. I'm there for him, not for me.' Nordas ranks 18th on the global 1500m list for 2025 but is the ninth-quickest miler this year. What does Gjert think would happen, hypothetically, if Nordas trained elsewhere? 'If he changed coaches, he would have his coach with him at all times. OK, so they punish him for having me as a coach,' he says. With Jakob and Nordas now Norway's top two middle-distance runners, does Gjert feel conflicted watching his son compete against his athlete? 'The results reflect on your job as a coach, but still, family is family,' he says. 'I will always want the best for my family, but the last few years I've found some balance between my professional and private life. Advertisement 'I will love my children for other qualities than their ability to run fast. If they run or not, it doesn't matter to me. When they are there running, I have a professional attitude towards it — but still, I'm a father. 'I look forward to when we are not in this arena anymore, when we don't have this (competition). As long as we keep doing this, it will always be difficult.' Having called the past three years a 'lesson', one wonders what Gjert has learned. In 2019, he took pride in Filip calling him a 'dictator', and said in an interview with The Telegraph that 'a dictatorship is much better than the opposite'. Has he changed that approach? 'I'm still the same. It will always be like that. But maybe I'm a little bit more round around the edges. I'm getting older, more experienced. I would like to think so. 'As a coach, I will have it my way. That's the only way I know how to coach. If I cannot have it my way, there's no point being in it, because I'm not in it for me, I'm in it for the athletes. I expect the athletes to follow my guidance.' (Top image: Illustration by Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photography by Fredrik Hagen / AP Photo)
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Teenage kicks: McIntosh, 12-year-old Yu set to rule the pool at LA 2028
The Los Angeles Olympics are three years away, but Summer McIntosh showed at the swimming world championships why she will be one of the stars of the Games while 12-year-old Yu Zidi is shaping up to be a major threat. The United States also demonstrated that tales of their demise were exaggerated as teams embarked on the long road to the LA 2028 at the World Aquatic Championships in Singapore over the past week. Canada ended the world championships on Sunday with four gold medals, all won by the 18-year-old phenomenon McIntosh. Yet it was the one that got away that rankled with the teenager, having been forced to settle for bronze in the 800m freestyle which American great Katie Ledecky won for a seventh time. It meant that three-time Paris Olympics gold medallist McIntosh fell just short of matching Michael Phelps's feat of five individual titles at a single world championships. "I think it's just going to keep me hungry and push, and keep moving forward," said McIntosh. "Even if I were to get five golds, I would still want more. That's just my mentality." McIntosh broke three world records in a matter of days at the Canadian trials in June and then powered to gold in the 200m and 400m individual medleys, 400m freestyle and 200m butterfly in Singapore. Chinese schoolgirl Yu became the youngest medallist in world championships history, taking home a relay bronze. Racing against McIntosh, Yu narrowly missed out on an individual medal by finishing fourth in each of her events -- the 400m medley, 200m butterfly and 200m medley where she touched just 0.06 seconds from a bronze medal. Already her rivals are predicting Yu will be a major force at the 2028 Olympics. Canada's Mary-Sophie Harvey, who held off Yu for bronze in the 200m medley, said: "I think going into LA we're probably going to see her a lot more." American Alex Walsh, who took silver, said Yu was "phenomenally talented at such a young age". But there are also concerns about the physical and mental toll on someone so young. "Now she's gonna have a lot of pressure," said Harvey. - USA bite back - The United States, who will be under huge pressure to deliver in the pool at their home Games, endured a turbulent time in Singapore. Most of the squad had to battle acute gastroenteritis following a pre-competition camp in Thailand. That led to stinging criticism from Phelps and fellow Olympic swimming great Ryan Lochte, with wider concerns about the management of the team in and out of the pool. Lochte shared an image on Instagram depicting a funeral that featured a tombstone inscribed: "In loving memory of United States Swimming." "They set the bar high -- until they stopped reaching for it," the inscription said, with Lochte adding the caption: "Call it a funeral or call it a fresh start. We've got 3 years." The slight did not go down well in Singapore, with three-time Olympic gold medallist Bobby Finke among the American swimmers biting back. "There's just so much stupid stuff that's getting said," said Finke. The United States set two relay world records in Singapore and topped the final medals table with nine golds, one ahead of Australia. Third were France, with Leon Marchand blowing off the post-Paris Olympics cobwebs to smash Lochte's 200m individual medley world record from 2011. The 23-year-old Marchand, the face of the Paris Games with four individual golds, also romped to victory in the 400m medley. "It's not perfect, because it's never perfect, but it's more than I expected, especially the world record in the 200m medley," he said. "It shows that I still have a passion for swimming, that I love it." pst/dh
USA Today
4 hours ago
- USA Today
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone among winners and losers from U.S. track and field championships
EUGENE, OR — Four days of competition are complete at the 2025 U.S. track and field trials. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden accomplished the sprint double, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was golden in the 400 and Noah Lyles was braggadocious as he won another 200 national title. On the field, Valarie Allman continued her reign over the discus and Tara Davis-Woodhall leaped to the top mark in the world in the long jump. The U.S. track and field championships served as the qualifying stage for next month's world championships in Tokyo, Japan. USA TODAY Sports was on the scene at Hayward Field for all the action. Here are the winners and losers from the track and field competition: WINNERS Melissa Jefferson-Wooden wins 100-200 double Jefferson-Wooden dominated the 100, leading from start to finish. She crossed the line well ahead of the other competitors with an impressive personal-best and world-leading time of 10.65. It's tied for the fifth fastest time in the history of the event. MORE: Sha'Carri Richardson fails to advance to final round of 200 just days after arrest "Amazing," Jefferson-Wooden said following her win in the 100. "I've been dreaming of days like this, and it's finally starting to come true. Right now the sky is the limit. I just got to keep working toward bigger and better things." Jefferson-Wooden wasn't done after the 100. On the final day of the championships, Jefferson-Wooden accomplished the sprint double by winning the women's 200, running a personal-best 21.84. She was the only sprinter to run sub-22 seconds in the race. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone shines in 400 McLaughlin-Levrone is dominating her new event just like she did her old one. McLaughlin-Levrone easily won the women's 400 with a gold-medal winning time of 48.90. The four-time Olympic gold medalist came up just short of the American record (48.70) that's stood for almost 20 years. MORE: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone nearly breaks American record in 400 with stunning performance 'Everyone talks about the American record of course, that's gonna come when it's supposed to come,' McLaughlin-Levrone said after the win. McLaughlin-Levrone already owns the American and world records in the women's 400-meter hurdles. Kenny Bednarek wins first national title Bednarek ran a personal-best 9.79 to win his first national championship in what was a fast men's 100 final. The top seven finishers all ran sub-10 seconds. "It's about damn time," Bednarek said after winning his first national championship. "I always knew I had the capability of doing it but I just had to believe in myself. This year I feel like I started living up to my expectations." Bednarek's 9.79 is the second fastest time in the world this year. Noah Lyles boasts as he won men's 200 Lyles had to come from behind to beat Kenny Bednarek in the 200. Lyles passed Bednarek with less than 10 meters remaining in the race and stared him down as he crossed the finish line, running a world-leading time of 19.63. An annoyed Bednarek pushed Lyles after his boastful gesture. 'It's unsportsmanlike (expletive),' Bednarek said after getting the silver medal. 'I don't deal with that.' MORE: Noah Lyles taunted Kenny Bednarek as he won 200 at U.S. track and field championships Lyles, who hasn't raced a lot this year, said the win proves that he's still on top. 'If they ain't gonna beat me now, they ain't gonna beat me ever,' Lyles said. Masai Russell has 100 hurdles crown Russell gestured as if to put a crown on herself after winning the women's 100-meter hurdles in convincing fashion, clocking in at 12.22. Russell is on an impressive run. She's the reigning Olympic champion, a two-time national champion in the event and is ranked No. 1 in the world this season. 'Winning the Olympics put a little more pressure on myself. Like now I feel like I have a standard to uphold. People expect something from the reigning Olympic champion,' Russell said. 'I don't think I would've been blessed with that title if I wasn't able to carry the weight of that.' Tara Davis-Woodhall jumps to top mark in world On the first day of the U.S. championships, Tara Davis-Woodhall leaped 23 feet, 4 ½ inches to win the women's long jump. It's the top mark in the world this year. Davis-Woodhall is coming off a women's long jump gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Valarie Allman's undefeated streak continues Allman tossed 234 feet, 5 inches to win the women's discus by more than 20 feet. The two-time Olympic champion hasn't lost in the event since 2023. She is the No. 1-ranked discus thrower in the world as she heads to Tokyo. LOSERS Track and field fans located outside of Oregon Eugene, Oregon, is affectionately known as Track Town, U.S.A. for its rich track and field history, and University of Oregon's Hayward Field is a state-of-the-art track and field stadium. But this year was the 14th time Eugene's hosted the championships. Logistically, traveling to the city and hotel lodging aren't very convenient. Plus, there isn't an array of tourist attractions. It would behoove USA Track and Field to periodically change the host site for the national championships. Los Angeles is a logical location. Afterall, the 2028 Olympics are in LA. Sha'Carri Richardson Unfortunately for Richardson, most of the news she made was off the track. Richardson was arrested after an alleged incident at the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, according to a police report obtained by USA TODAY Sports. According to the report, Richardson was arrested for domestic violence. Richardson competed in the women's 200 but didn't advance to the final round. Joe Kovacs misses team in men's shot put Kovacs was upset in the shot put. The two-time world champion finished fourth with a put of 72 feet, 5 inches. Josh Awotunde won the event with a personal-best toss of 73 feet, 8 ¾ inches. Athing Mu-Nikolayev comes up short in 800 Mu-Nikolayev failed to qualify for the world championships in the women's 800. She placed fourth in her semifinal heat and didn't advance on time. Mu-Nikolayev is the American-record holder (1:54.97) and won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in the 800, but she's struggled recently to regain her form. Mu-Nikolayev admitted she's had a difficult time mentally and physically the past year but is finding her way back. The good news is she ran a season-best 1:59.79 in the semifinal round and is still just 23 years old. 'I think I'm still pretty fit. When it comes to track your mentality and your mental side of things takes a big toll,' Mu-Nikolayev said. 'If you're not mentally in it, then your body won't be in it. That's what kind of held me back I think both in practice and also competing in bigger races this past year. So, I have to get myself back to being wholly Athing Mu and not just a good athlete running.' Follow USA TODAY Sports' Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.
