Why three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto will retire after the 2026 Winter Olympics
The 25-year-old Japanese star won an Olympic bronze medal in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and took the silver medal in the world championships in March with gold to American Alysa Liu .
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A Canadiens Player On Team Finland At The Olympics?
There have been plenty of articles trying to predict Team Canada and Team USA's rosters for the upcoming 2026 Olympics, but not nearly as much press has been given to European teams such as Team Finland. On Saturday, THN's Adam Proteau wrote a Team Finland projection, and according to him, one Montreal Canadiens player (and a couple of former ones) will be heading to Milano Cortina this winter.
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
Frederick Richard is taking his fight to make gymnastics ‘cool' to a new front: His uniform
is taking the fight to make men's gymnastics matter to a new front: his wardrobe. The charismatic 21-year-old Olympic bronze medalist switched out the stirrup pants that have long been a staple of the men's uniform for shorts with compression leggings at the U.S. Championships this weekend, firm in his belief that the three-tenths (0.3) deduction he receives every day of competition that he breaks the rules is worth it if it makes his sport more accessible. Even when those tenths add up. Richard edged Fuzzy Benas by less than a quarter of a point for second place behind two-time national champion Asher Hong. If Richard had worn the traditional uniform, his margin over Benas could have been a little more comfortable. Yet asked if the statement he is trying to make — that it's time for men's gymnastics to modernize its uniforms — is worth the risk to his potential placement during a given meet, he didn't hesitate. 'It's 1,000% worth it,' Richard said. 'If you look at these kids in the crowd, I'm thinking about them and I'm thinking about when I was younger.' Finding an alternative While Richard quickly fell in love with gymnastics as a kid growing up in the Boston area, the stirrup pants worn by the guys on pommel horse, still rings, parallel bars, and high bar were another matter. 'If I left the gym to go to the gas station, I didn't want anybody to see me in my pommel horse pants,' Richard said. 'Kids would say, 'Do you do gymnastics?' I'd say 'Yeah.' But I didn't want them to search 'gymnast' and see the uniform. I didn't feel like it was cool.' His solution was to design an alternative. With the help of the apparel company Turn, Richard debuted the look earlier this year and 'refined' it ahead of nationals. During the opening night of competition on Thursday, the rising Michigan junior wore maize-and-blue colored zebra-patterned leggings with (almost) matching blue shorts. On Saturday, Richard swapped the maize and blue for gray. Both times, there was a 'ND -0.3' next to Richard's score on the first event in which the traditional pants were required. Yet Richard wasn't as focused on the ribbon board where his score was posted, but on the young boys in the stands below them. '(I want them to) see this, and they're like, 'This is cool. I want to wear this. This kid is trying to make the sport cool, he looks cool,'' Richard said. 'And that's the stuff that gets kids into the sport, that's stuff that keeps kids in the sport.' Even if it's a largely American conversation. Fighting for relevance While the popularity of men's gymnastics in the U.S. has declined for decades (though there is optimism that the bronze medal Richard and his teammates captured at the 2024 Olympics could help stem the tide), there are no such issues overseas. They're not talking about stirrup pants in China. Or Japan. Or Russia. Places with dominant programs whose stars become champions and national heroes in the process. The challenges men's gymnastics faces in the U.S. are many. The number of Division I programs that offer it as a scholarship sport is a fraction of what it was decades ago. And the impact of the recent House settlement could make opportunities at a level that has long served as a feeder system to the U.S. national team even scarcer. At the Olympic level, the men have long competed in the shadow of the star-studded (and highly successful) women's program. Richard has long understood this. He's seen the attrition firsthand. While the uniform didn't stop him from pressing on, he believes he might be the exception, not the rule. Countless young boys dabble in multiple sports growing up, gymnastics included. Richard thinks tweaking the uniform requirements into something he considers more modern could remove what he thinks might be a roadblock to sticking with it for some. 'It does add to what makes a 12-year-old boy decide, 'Do I want to keep doing this sport? Or should I play football or soccer, because my friends think I'm cool when I play with them?' he said. The rules do allow for a little latitude. Some German female gymnasts opted for full-body unitards at each of the last two Olympics, though the design does not run afoul of FIG regulations. What Richard is doing does. Pushing the limits And while he stressed he would never wear his outlawed uniform in a team competition — he wore regulation pants while helping lead Michigan to the NCAA championship this spring — that might not be the case the next time he competes internationally. 'We'll see about the world stage,' Richard said. 'We'll have to talk and see what they allow, but I want to keep pushing it. I'm having fun. I feel more free.' He'll have some time to think about it. When the six-man roster for the 2025 World Championships was announced late Saturday night, Richard's name wasn't on it. The decision had nothing to do with Richard's uniform but the uniqueness of this year's world meet, which does not include a team event and is largely designed for event specialists. At his best, Richard is one of the top all-arounders on the planet. Yet even he admitted he was at about '80%' at nationals following a whirlwind stretch that included traveling to places like Uganda. Richard is partnering with the African nation to open a facility for boys there interested in acrobatics. The joy he felt during the trip was palpable. So has the criticism he's received back home for his uniform choice, with some telling him if he wants to look like a basketball player, maybe he should go play basketball. While Richard's modified look wouldn't look out of place on the court, pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedoroscik — who won a pair of bronze medals in Paris and became a breakout star in the process (all while wearing stirrup pants) last summer — agrees with his Olympic teammate that there 'should be a certain level of flexibility' when it comes to uniforms, though he also pointed out that having everyone wear identical outfits is designed to help the judges do their jobs. 'So like, you can't wear like super baggy clothes, obviously,' Nedoroscik said. 'But I do like there should be maybe a little bit of wiggle room.' That's all Richard says he is asking for, though it seems highly unlikely the FIG would eliminate the deduction for a uniform violation anytime soon. That is not going to stop Richard from pressing on. 'I'll wear it for the next 10 years if I have to,' he said. 'So eventually, if I keep succeeding and winning, and eventually on the international stage do the same thing and keep winning, (the FIG) will see how people like it (and) the younger kids will start wearing it ... and the trend is going to grow.'
NBC News
2 hours ago
- NBC News
Hezly Rivera adds U.S. all-around gymnastics title to her Olympic gold medal
In a year, Hezly Rivera has gone from the youngest U.S. Olympian across all sports in Paris to the all-around national champion. Rivera totaled 112 points in two nights of competition in New Orleans, prevailing by eight tenths over Leanne Wong, a two-time Olympic alternate. Joscelyn Roberson, another Paris Olympic alternate, was third. Rivera led Wong by two tenths going into the last rotation, then delivered the best floor exercise score (14.2) by anyone on either night. 'I was aware it was pretty close, right before I went on the floor, probably a minute or two,' she said on NBC Sports. 'It's a little bit nerve-racking, but I just tried to trust the process and trust God and just let my body do what it knows how to do.' While the rest of her Paris gold-medal teammates are taking this season off, Rivera took a major step in her young career. Rivera is: at 17, the youngest U.S. all-around champion since Ragan Smith in 2017 the first woman to win junior and senior all-around titles since Jordyn Wieber (2008 and 2011-12) the sixth American woman since 2000 to pair Olympic gold with a national all-around title (Simone Biles, Wieber, Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Carly Patterson) Rivera, the 2023 U.S. junior all-around champ, opened the 2024 Olympic selection season by placing 24th at the U.S. Classic (about a week after her grandmother died). She climbed to sixth in her senior U.S. Championships debut, then fifth at the Olympic Trials as some veteran gymnasts became sidelined by injuries. Rivera was picked to be the lone rookie on the Olympic team alongside Biles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles. She competed on uneven bars and balance beam in the qualifying round in Paris. 'My mindset is kind of like, I achieved my dreams, I achieved my goals, but I still have more (goals), so I kind of like to put that (the Olympics) in the back of my head for now,' Rivera, who now has a set of Olympic rings above her bed, said in July. 'Every time in the gym, I don't think that I went to the Olympics. I'm just kind of training like I've almost never been, in a way.' This week, Rivera had the highest scores on beam and floor, plus shared the bars title with Skye Blakely. Wong, the most experienced woman in the field at 21, won vault. She was bidding to become the second non-teen in the last 50 years to win a U.S. all-around title after Biles. Next up: a selection competition in early autumn, after which four women will be named to compete at October's World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia. These worlds include individual events only. The all-around winner at the selection event automatically makes it. A committee picks the other three, taking into account results at nationals and other 2025 meets. Skye Blakely stars on balance beam, uneven bars Blakely shows out on bars, beam at nationals Skye Blakely scored a 14.350 and 14.400 on uneven bars and balance beam respectively on Day 2 of the 2025 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Two months ago, Blakely didn't know yet whether she wanted to compete at nationals. She was runner-up to Biles at the 2024 U.S. Championships, then tore her right Achilles two days before the Olympic Trials. In her first elite meet in 14 months, Blakely competed strictly on beam and bars this week. She had the top scores on each event Sunday, two days after placing tied for eighth and ninth on them. 'It was first (elite) meet back in a while, but I have high expectations for myself, so day one wasn't exactly what I was looking for,' said Blakely, who did compete this past NCAA season for the University of Florida. 'Just really staying motivated, allowing my family to motivate me, too. And then this morning, just trying to find that fire in me, really staying motivated, dig deep. You know how to do this. I feel like it really reflected in today's competition.'
