For most elite gymnasts competing a triple back in a floor routine is simply something you dream about. For Ohio State gymnast, Kameron Nelson, this dream became a reality not once, but twice. Earlier this year, Nelson became the first gymnast to ever land two triple backs in one floor routine. Nelson has been known around the gymnastics world as the “Triple Back Guy” and for good reason. The ambition to put both a triple tuck and a triple pike in one routine came from taking his fifth year of eligibility at Ohio State. 

 “I could already do one triple back, and I attempted the triple pike, and after doing that one, I felt like doing both of them in one routine really wasn’t going to be too much harder,” the 23-year-old said. “Energy wise, it is a lot, but physically it’s something that I’m capable of.” 

Now Nelson’s eyes are focused on the upcoming elite season. He is set to compete at the National Qualifier on June 27-28 where he hopes to earn a spot at the upcoming Xfinity U.S. National Championship. After a busy NCAA season, Nelson took a 10 day trip to Japan for some much needed rest and rejuvenation. 

“We’ve been just pushing strength, pushing basics and routines,” Nelson said. “I think by the time qualifiers gets there, things are going to come to play again, and visualization is really important at this moment. We just came back from NCAA, not that long ago. The thought process is still fresh on your mind, but now it’s just about getting your body in the right condition to go out there and compete.”

Nelson is coming off a star-studded 2025 season at Ohio State. At the National Championship he finished third on floor and won the National Title on vault. Becoming a National Champion was a goal Nelson had since he first stepped foot on Ohio State. 

“That was a surreal moment for me, especially it being my last event, last like everything for college, I knew something that was in my reach,” he said. “I always felt like it was something that was meant to happen, which is what I told myself when I was going to vault, this was meant to be. This was my journey to go through. Sometimes I still don’t believe that it’s happened. It doesn’t hit as something that’s insane or unbelievable. That’s probably just because of how much I thought about it and manifested it. It kind of felt natural.” 

Nelson’s time at Ohio State helped to give him a different perspective on gymnastics. Not only did it teach him the power of having a team by his side, it also helped him realize who he was as an individual gymnast. 

“It taught me a lot more about the team atmosphere, especially coming from home school and when I was in club, it was just me and two other teammates. So coming to college was a lot more beneficial with learning from other guys and having someone to push you and work alongside with,” he said. “That was what I mostly took away coming from college, as well as learning more about myself and what my goals were as an individual, rather than the people that were putting me in the sport. It came from more within. So again, kind of gave me a place to develop myself as a person, as well as a gymnast, it’s been really huge to my development, and I’m very grateful for it.”

With the 2026 Winter Olympics less than a year away, the schedule for both the men’s and women’s ice hockey games have been unveiled. 

The United States men’s hockey team will be competing as part of Group C, which will also include Denmark, Germany, and Latvia. Following the group play stage, the quarterfinals will begin on Feb. 17, while the gold medal game will take place on Feb. 22.

Meanwhile, the United States women’s hockey team will be a part of Group A, which is one of just two groups in the women’s bracket. The United States will be competing along with Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, and Switzerland in the group stage. The quarterfinals will begin on Feb. 13 and the gold medal game will be played on Feb. 19.

United States men’s schedule

• Feb. 12: United States at Latvia
• Feb. 14: Denmark at United States
• Feb. 15: Germany at United States

On Monday, all 12 countries announced the first six players that will make up their respective rosters. The United States roster will be headlined by forwards Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, and Matthew Tkachuk, along with defensemen Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy.

The 2026 Winter Olympics will mark the first time that NHL players will participate in 12 years. NHL players last suited up for their countries in Russia back in 2014. The 2026 field won’t include Russia since the country’s athletes are still banned following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Finland captured the gold medal in the 2022 Winter Olympics with a win over Russia, while Slovakia won the bronze medal with a victory against Sweden. Both Canada and the United States ended up losing in the quarterfinals.

United States women’s schedule

• Feb. 5: Czech Republic at United States
• Feb. 7: Finland at United States
• Feb. 9: United States at Switzerland
• Feb. 10: United States at Canada

Group play will begin on Feb. 5, which is one day before the Olympic opening ceremonies and conclude on Feb. 10. The quarterfinals will begin on Feb. 13 and the gold medal game will be played on Feb. 19.

The most noteworthy matchup will likely be when the United States faces Canada on Feb. 10. The United States and Canada are familiar with one another after battling it out in the gold medal game at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

In 2022, Canada outscored Sweden and Switzerland 21-3 en route to a gold medal game berth, while the United States defeated the likes of the Czech Republic and Finland. The Canadians ultimately came away with a 3-2 win against the Americans with Amanda Kessel (sister of former NHL star Phil Kessel) scoring the game-winning goal at the 19:47 mark of the third period.

Canada has captured the gold medal in five of the last six Winter Olympics dating back to 2002. At the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, the United States defeated Canada in the gold medal game.

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≡ SPOTLIGHT ≡

● International Olympic Committee ● President-elect Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) is not wasting time as she gets ready to take charge of the IOC on 23 June – Olympic Day – in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Following up on her promise after election in March, she has called the IOC members to Lausanne for a day-and-a-half “consultation” on the “theme of ‘Pause and Reflect’” to begin discussions on key issues which remain hot: Russian and Belarusian participation at Milan Cortina 2026, protection of the women’s category, member involvement in IOC programs and especially in future host-city selections and so on.

The new IOC Executive Board will then meet on 25-26 June.

≡ THE 5-RING CIRCUS ≡

● Olympic Games 2028: Los Angeles ● The LA28 organizing committee announced CDW as its 11th “Official Supporter” of the Games, becoming “Official IT Equipment Services and Solutions Provider” for the organizing committee and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

The agreement, announced last Thursday, covers both hardware and software support for both organizations.

● NCAA ● The state of Louisiana agreed to increase the tax on sports betting from 15% to 21.5% and agreed to share a quarter of the total tax revenue generated from in-state betting – estimated to be about $24.3 million – equally with the 11 public universities with football programs. The money must be used for athlete support, such as scholarships, insurance, medical coverage, facility enhancements and litigation fees.

North Carolina already has a betting tax-sharing plan.

¶

Washington State announced Monday it is reducing its track & field program substantially:

“Earlier today, WSU Athletics leadership met with members of the men’s and women’s track and field team to inform them that the program will be shifting to a distance-focused approach. This change gives the WSU Track & Field program the best opportunity to remain competitive at the conference and national levels in distance events in cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field. It does mean, however, that field events (e.g., jumps, throws) will no longer be supported, effective immediately, and the number of sprint and hurdle opportunities will be limited moving forward.

“Impacted student-athletes will have their scholarships honored should they choose to remain at WSU. WSU understands the significant impact this decision has on Cougar student-athletes, coaches, and fans. Transition support and services will be provided to those student-athletes who choose to seek to continue their academic and athletic careers at other institutions.”

Distance running has been the signature element of Washington State’s program over decades, including stars like Gerry Lindgren, Samson Kimombwa, Henry Rono, Bernard Lagat and others. But the program, especially under ferocious head coach John Chaplin, was a national contender in all phases and won the 1977 NCAA Indoor men’s title.

This is yet another impact of the changes in collegiate athletics, now in view of direct payments to primarily football and basketball players of up to $20.5 million for the academic year beginning 1 July. Expect many more announcements of this kind.

¶

SwimSwam.com reported that as efforts to raise money to endow the Cal Poly swimming and diving program reached only $10 million out of a $20 million requirement, the program is being cut.

Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong wrote: “I know this is difficult news for participants and supporters of the programs, and we want to recognize and again express our appreciation for the work they have done.

“This is an unfortunate reality given the approved NCAA House settlement, state budget and the tenuous situation moving forward for both the state and the NCAA. I want to reiterate that the significant and unequitable changes in the NCAA and the House settlement (and new organizations resulting from this settlement) had an impact that weighed heavily in this decision.”

● Athletics ● The Tyreek Hill sprint challenge to Noah Lyles was supposed to happen this weekend, but didn’t.

Lyles explained at the Sport Beach event in Cannes (FRA):

“We were very deep into creating the event. In fact, it was supposed to happen this weekend. Unfortunately there were some things, complications, personal reasons that it just didn’t come to pass, but we were full on.

“We were gonna have a big event, we were going to shut down New York Times Square and everything, we were gonna have all the billboards for the event, it was going to be a lot of fun.”

There were no more details; Hill, for his part, did race in a 100 m at the Last Chance Sprint Series meet at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California last Friday, winning heat five in 10.15 with a +1.2 wind reading, a lifetime best.

That did not scare Lyles in the least, but Hill, 31, did race the 100 for the first time in 12 years. Lyles has not run a 100 this season.

¶

Arkansas sophomore and NCAA men’s 100 m champion Jordan Anthony, who won the SEC title in 9.95 and the NCAA West regional in 9.75w (+2.1), announced Tuesday that he is going pro in track & field and abandoning his promising wide receiver role on the Razorbacks football team.

¶

At the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku (FIN), the U.S. saw a win for Dylan Beard in the men’s 110 m hurdles in 13.16 (wind: -0.1 m/s) and 2023 Worlds women’s hammer runner-up Janee Kassanavoid was third, at 73.15 m (240-0), behind Olympic champ Cam Rogers (CAN: 74.59 m/244-8).

Italy’s World Indoor champ Mattia Furlani won the men’s long jump at 8.11 m (26-7 1/4) and discus stars Kristjian Ceh (SLO: 2022 World Champion), Matt Denny (AUS: Paris Olympic bronze) and Daniel Stahl (SWE: Tokyo Olympic champ) all surpassed 70 m, with Ceh winning (70.61 m/231-8) over Denny (70.52 m/231-4) and Stahl (70.19 m/230-3).

● Judo ● Two more for Japan at the 2025 IJF World Championships, as Paris Olympic runner-up Sanshiro Murao won an all-Japan final in the men’s 90 kg class from 2024 World Champion Goki Tajima.

The women’s 70 kg final was the first Worlds gold for Shiho Tanaka, winning over 2022 Worlds runner-up Lara Cvjetko (CRO). Through 10 classes, Japan has six golds and 11 total medals Wow.

¶

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Boston Fleet coach Courtney Kessel is in final discussions to take over as women’s hockey coach at Princeton, two people with knowledge of talks told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The people spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because Kessel’s hiring is not complete and the process could take weeks to finalize.

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The move would be a homecoming for Kessel, who previously served as an assistant at Princeton under Cara Gardner Morey. She would succeed Gardner Morey, who left the Tigers in May upon being hired as general manager of the PWHL’s expansion team in Vancouver.

Kessel’s ties to Princeton played a major role in her decision to pursue the job. The choice to leave the PWHL was considered a difficult one for the 35-year-old, who is proud of the relationships she formed with staff and players in helping launch the Fleet. She had a 27-19-8 record with the franchise.

Boston reached the Walter Cup finals last year in its inaugural season, where it lost a decisive Game 5 to Minnesota. This season, the Fleet missed the playoffs by the slimmest of margins.

From Toronto, Kessel played at New Hampshire, where she was a 2010 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given to the MVP of women’s college hockey. She also represented Canada at three world championships, including a gold-medal win in 2012.

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After four years as an assistant at Princeton, Kessel served as associate head coach at Boston University in 2023-24 before being hired as the Fleet’s first coach.

The Fleet have undergone major changes this offseason. Star forward Hilary Knight left Boston to sign with the PWHL’s expansion team in Seattle. The Fleet also have an opening at assistant general manager after Meghan Turner was hired as Seattle’s GM.

The PWHL will now have three coaching vacancies, with Seattle and Vancouver having yet to fill their positions.

Princeton’s program flourished during Gardner Morey’s eight seasons as coach. The Tigers won their first Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament title in 2020 as part of a school-record 26-win season.

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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey