★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★

★ To get the daily Sports Examiner Recap by e-mail: sign up here! ★

≡ MORE KENYAN DOPING ≡

“The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has provisionally suspended marathon world record-holder, Ruth Chepng’etich, for the Presence and Use of Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) relating to a sample collected from her on 14 March this year.”

Thursday’s stunning announcement included an explanation by AIU chief Brett Clothier (AUS):

“When there is a positive test for diuretics and masking agents, a provisional suspension is not mandatory under the World Anti-Doping Code. Chepng’etich was not provisionally suspended by the AIU at the time of notification, however, on 19 April, she opted for a voluntary provisional suspension while the AIU’s investigation was ongoing.

“In the intervening months, the AIU continued its investigation and today issued a Notice of Charge and imposed its own provisional suspension.”

The AIU statement also included a technical explanation:

● “HCTZ is a diuretic, used clinically to treat fluid retention and hypertension. Under the WADA Code, it is a class S5 Prohibited Substance (Diuretics and Masking Agents), prohibited at all times and a Specified Substance. Diuretics may be abused to mask the presence in urine of other Prohibited Substances.”

● “A Specified Substance has a standard sanction of two (2) years’ ineligibility (subject to possible reduction or increase in accordance with WADA Code provisions).”

Chepngetich, now 30, won the 2019 women’s World Championships marathon in Doha (QAT) in 2:32:43, infamously started at midnight because of the heat. But she is best known for her stunning 2:09:56 Chicago Marathon win last October, in which she not only set the world record, but became the first woman to run under 2:11 and under 2:10!

She owns three of the top-10 women’s marathon times in history: 2:09:56 in Chicago last year, 2:14:18 in Chicago in 2022 (no. 5) and 2:15:37 in Chicago in 2023 (no. 9). She contested the Tokyo 2020 Olympic marathon, but did not finish.

In 15 career marathons, she has won nine times, been second twice, third once and ninth once in the 13 races she finished.

Her last race was a 1:06:20 runner-up finish at the Lisbon (POR) Half on 9 March of this year, five days before she took her positive test on 14 March.

Kenyan doping has been an enormous problem, with 139 individuals listed on the AIU’s roster of ineligible persons through 30 June 2025, more than any other country. Now, Chepngetich and Felix Kirui have been added since then.

¶

★ Receive our exclusive, weekday TSX Recap by e-mail by clicking here.
★ Sign up a friend to receive the TSX Recap by clicking here.
★ Please consider a donation here to keep this site going.

For our updated, 699-event International Sports Calendar for 2025, 2026 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!

Venardos will succeed Allison Voigt, who decided to step down from the head coaching position earlier on Thursday.

 

“After years of playing an important role on our coaching staff, we are proud to announce Alex as the new head coach in the next era of Boise State beach volleyball,” Dickey said. “He has served as the primary recruiter over the past few seasons and has experience building up a team that won a conference title and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

 

“He has a great understanding of the game and shown an ability to strategize at an elite level. He has also built great working relationships with student-athletes as well as the volleyball community throughout the Treasure Valley. He is the right person for the job at this transformational time for our beach volleyball program. We look forward to him taking our program into What’s Next!”

Venardos has been a part of the program since 2016, when he joined as a practice player. He worked his way up into a volunteer assistant during the 2017 season and was promoted to a full-time assistant coaching role in 2019.

Since then, he has had his hand in nearly every aspect of the day-to-day operation as the assistant coach, partaking in running practices, managing travel, leading scouting sessions and running point on the program’s recruiting.

“I’m honored and humbled by the opportunity to take over this historic program,” Venardos said. “I want to thank Jeramiah [Dickey] for allowing me to have this opportunity. I’m extremely passionate about Boise State beach volleyball and can’t wait to continue leading this program to compete among the nation’s best.

“I also can’t thank Allison [Voigt] enough. She took a chance on me years ago and helped me understand what being a collegiate coach is all about. I wouldn’t be where I’m at without her guidance and I’m looking forward to continuing to lean on her well into the future.”

Venardos has been widely recognized throughout the collegiate beach volleyball community, having been named to the 2023 class of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Thirty Under 30 honor.

 

Venardos has played a huge role in the program’s recent success, leading the squad to new heights in each season he has served as an assistant coach. Most recently, he helped guide the Broncos to their first NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championship appearance after claiming the program’s first regular season and conference championship title.

 

Prior to this past season’s success, Venardos was a part of back-to-back Boise State teams that set the program record for most wins in a season. The Broncos finished as runners-up at the SLC Championship in both seasons.

 

Venardos is a native of Manhattan Beach, Calif., where he graduated from Vistamar High School in 2015. He graduated from Boise State in 2018 with a degree in philosophy and a minor in Chinese studies.

“F1: The Movie” arrived in theaters after a year of anticipation, especially from Formula One (F1) fans who were ready to scrutinize every detail and eager to point out any inaccuracies to see if Hollywood had actually sensationalized the sport. But, the real letdown wasn’t the racing at all.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the film stars Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a washed-up driver who has been retired from F1 for 30 years. The movie follows APXGP, a fictional team, featuring Damson Idris as Joshua Pearce, a talented but immature rookie, and Kerry Condon as Kate McKenna, the team’s technical director and the first and only woman to hold that title in the film’s F1 universe.

The movie was one of the most anticipated releases of the summer and had a strong opening weekend making $140 million globally and $55.6 million in the United States .

While the movie was met with mixed reactions, it got several things right, including the cinematography.

It is clear Kosinski went to great lengths to achieve as much realism as possible. Pitt and Idris trained in Formula Two (F2) cars which were modified to resemble F1 cars. Seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, served as a producer for the movie. Scenes were filmed during real races in the 2024 season, including Silverstone, the Las Vegas Strip Circuit and the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Several F1 drivers and team principals appeared as themselves, as did Sky Sports F1 commentators Martin Brundle and David Croft. Presenters Will Buxton and announcer Leigh Diffey were also involved in the film.

While there were technical inaccuracies, they likely stemmed from limited run-time. The setting itself only left nine races for the team to improve their performance. Some plot points would have led to major penalties and even disqualifications, but the movie prioritized pacing and character arcs over strict accuracy.

That said, small inaccuracies were not the film’s biggest problem.

The most disappointing aspect of the movie was its portrayal of the female characters.  While the movie made it clear that they were aiming to showcase the growing role of women in motorsports by highlighting four female team members, those efforts were undermined almost immediately.

McKenna, the groundbreaking technical director, ends up romantically involved with Hayes despite repeatedly insisting she would never date someone on the team, especially someone as arrogant and difficult as him. Her reversal feels forced, reinforcing the trope that a woman in power can’t exist in a male-dominated field without being reduced to a love interest.

Then there’s Jodie played by Callie Cooke, the only female member of the pit crew whose primary arc involves a series of mistakes, including one during a pit stop that ruins Pearce’s race. The intended message seems to be about learning from failure and escaping self-doubt. But, in a sport where women are already hyper-criticized, having the only female mechanic repeatedly mess up only reinforces harmful perceptions, ones that are already used to exclude women from the sport.

A smaller but still frustrating moment occurs when a woman approaches Pearce at a nightclub to ask if he can introduce her to real-life F1 driver Carlos Sainz. It’s a joke that is intended for laughs but doesn’t land when you consider how often women are told they only like F1 because they find the drivers attractive. The scene feels like it’s playing into the stereotypes rather than challenging them.

F1 offers built-in drama with rivalries, jealousy and high-stakes competition; the movie even added unresolved family dynamics. Both Hayes and Pearce lost their fathers at age 13, hinting at an emotional storyline about chasing a shared dream that could’ve been explored more deeply. Instead, I feel like we got a romantic subplot and gendered mishaps that felt unnecessary.

By the end of the film, I felt entertained, but also like I had just watched a high-budget Brad Pitt fanfiction. Speaking of Pitt, his casting is arguably the biggest inaccuracy of all. A 61-year-old F1 driver simply wouldn’t be realistic given the sport’s physical demands.

If viewers are genuinely interested in learning about F1, this film could be a decent start. It is visually stunning and action-packed, but the best way to experience F1 is to watch the real thing. The sport itself already has all the intensity, emotion and excitement the big screen could ever hope to capture, without needing to fall back on old, tired tropes.

Ximena Cordero is the web and copy editor for The Prospector and may be reached at [email protected] 

Day 10 Schedule

Classification 15-16
Match 31. 09:00. South Africa v Singapore

Classification 13-14
Match 32. 10:35. Australia v China

Classification 9-12 Semifinals
Match 33. 12:10.
Match 34. 13:45.

Classification 1-8 Quarterfinals
Match 35. 16:00.
Match 36. 17:35.
Match 37. 19:10.
Match 38. 20:45.

Match Reports

Classification 13-15 Semifinals

Match 26, SINGAPORE 8 CHINA 21 (1-6, 3-6, 1-5, 3-4)

China proved it was much better than this grouping and it should be a classic match against Australia for 13^th on Sunday. China shot out to 6-1 at the quarter and doubled that score at halftime. Singapore played hard in the final quarter after being well covered in the third. Singapore converted a penalty in the first quarter but, to its credit, scored three action goals in the second quarter. China was sharper on ball movement and finishing and looked the far more polished team. Five different scorers were used in the first quarter with captain Chen Zhongxian scoring three in the second and two more scorers adding to the tally. Four different scorers made the sheet for Singapore with Shaunn Lok driving in and lobbing for 7-3 down and Wai Chun Fong scoring from two metres. Peng Jiahao netted his second off a centre-forward redirect to close the scoring at 0:38.

Early in the third period, China lost a challenge on penalty but stopped the shot anyway. Chen Zhongxian added two more to his tally and Chen Yimin sent in his second before Jayden See converted extra for Singapore. Wang shovelled in a loose ball at centre forward and Liu Zhilong scored from deep left at 0:43 for 17-5 in what was a quieter third period. In the fourth, Lok scored on counter and Ryan Yap turned outside the right side of the goal to score cross cage for 17-7. Chen Zongxian and a pair to Wen Zijun lifted China to 20-7 by 1:48. Wen Zhe Goh went on counter for Singapore for 20-8 and Liu finished the scoring for China at 21-8 to edge Singapore 4-3 in the last period.

Match Heroes
Chen Zongxian with six goals for China while six others scored two each. Goalkeepers Lee Lee made nine saves and Ken Chou four for Singapore and Lok was the double scorer.

Turning Point
The opening quarter set it up for China.

Stats Don’t Lie
China showed its dominance with 45 shots to 23; 12-3 on steals; three from three and one from two on penalty while converting four from six on extra to Singapore’s two from three.

Bottom Line
China was pressed hard by Singapore and will need to be much more assertive against Australia in the last match. Singapore earned kudos with the eight goals.

What They Said

Match 25, SOUTH AFRICA 4 AUSTRALIA 27 (1-5, 1-10, 2-9, 0-3)

The Aussie Sharks found themselves in uncharted territory when playing for the bottom four. It had not happened since the inaugural World Championships in 1973 when it finished 14^th. Coming from such a tough group where it lost to Hungary, Spain and Japan, Australia had a point to prove and after a relatively sluggish start, shot away with the match with that 10-1 margin in the second quarter showing just how good this team can be.

Matthew Byrnes had two goals from the first quarter and scored another two in the second as he became the only player to score twice of the 10 goals. A total of 10 players had scored by halftime with Jacob Mercep joining captain Nathan Power as double scorers. South Africa’s Matthew Neser converted a penalty for 2-1 and captain Dylan Watts sent one down the line from top right for 6-2.

Tristan Glanznig became the 11^th different scorer when he scored consecutive goals from the deep-left position to start the third period. Nearly two minutes later he scored from the top on extra for 18-2. Marcus Berehulak scored either side of Matthew Byrnes’ third goal for South Africa. Luka Krstic on penalty and Power from deep left pushed it out to 22-3 with Nathan Ward converting a penalty for the Africans; Power on extra and Nangle on counter finishing the period at 24-4. There was less intensity in the final quarter with some tired passes being intercepted at both ends. Glanznig put away a penalty for his fourth goal and Tim Putt scored from centre forward for his second. A South African timeout yielded a stolen ball and two minutes later Krstic made it three from three from the deep left, for the final score of 27-4.

Match Heroes
Laurence Barker made 10 saves for the Sharks with Power, Byrnes and Glanznig on four goals and Krstic and Berehulak three each. The South African goalkeepers, Matthew Smith (7) and Luka Rajak (4) reaped 11 saves between them.

Turning Point
From 2-1 to 19-2, the Sharks were just too good for this level of competition.

Stats Don’t Lie
Australia was hard pressed on extra, gaining just three from eight with South Africa scoring one from two. Australia gained three and South Africa two penalty goals. The Aussies made 14 steals to six and shot 46 to 25.

Bottom Line
Australia is unlucky to be in the bottom group and shows the chasm between the top 12 and the bottom four.

What They Said

Enjoy this article? Why not share…

• 
  Facebook
  Share on Facebook

• 
  Twitter
  Share on Twitter

• 
  Messenger
  Share on Messenger

• 
  Whatsapp
  Share on Whatsapp

• 
  Copy Link
  label.share.via_copy

  Link copied to clipboard