The Int'l Cycling Union (UCI) is prepared to "reduce the length of its races at next week's road world championships in Doha" due to temperatures which are expected to nudge 40C. Already running "later in the calendar than usual, in an attempt to mitigate against the heat," the UCI has now admitted that it may reduce the length of the men's elite road race to 150km, down from 257.5km, "in the event of high temperatures." Announcing the news on its website, the UCI said that an "extreme heat protocol" had been set up with a four-member group of experts who have been "monitoring the weather forecast since the end of September and who will meet before each road race" (London TELEGRAPH, 10/4).
The exec committee of United World Wrestling has announced that Budapest has been selected to host the 2018 Wrestling World Championships. The Hungarian city was also selected to host the 2017 U23 European Wrestling Championships, one of UWW's newest events. UWW also named Kharkhov, Ukraine, as the new host of the Wrestling Club World Championships from Dec. 8-9. Budapest had been scheduled to host the tournament in conjunction with the non-Olympic weight world championships (UWW).
Organizers of Saturday’s “Battle of Victors” are confident of a sell-out crowd and the "biggest ever attendance for a Hong Kong boxing event" after an extra 500 tickets were put on sale earlier than expected due to overwhelming demand. The weekend's expected crowd of 5,000 will be "the biggest for a boxing event in Hong Kong history with Rex Tso Sing-yu’s popularity soaring during the past few months." Unbeaten southpaw Tso (19-0-0, 12 KOs) will fight undefeated Japanese fighter Ryuto Maekawa (11-0-1, 7 KOs) in a 10-round contest at the Convention & Exhibition Centre with two belts on the line -- the WBO int'l junior bantamweight title and the WBC Asia super flyweight title (115 pound) which the "Wonder Kid" holds (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 10/4).
The Int'l Triathlon Union World Triathlon Abu Dhabi will start next year’s World Triathlon Series and entries are now open to the public via www.AbuDhabi.Triathlon.org. The event will take place at the emirate’s signature sporting venue, Yas Island, from March 3-4. The Abu Dhabi Sports Council is again supporting the event as the ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi host partner (GULF NEWS, 10/3).
EVENT BRIEFS ...
World Rugby has confirmed France, Ireland and South Africa as Rugby World Cup 2023 host candidates. Italy formally withdrew from the process last week after the union confirmed it could not guarantee government support with its bid being linked to Rome 2024 (World Rugby).
Argentina, "the only Latin American country that can compete with the top rugby nations," has launched a bid to host the Rugby World Cup in '27. The office of Argentine President Mauricio Macri "issued a statement late Monday saying he had announced the bid" to World Rugby execs, who were in Buenos Aires for the Pumas' Rugby Championship match against New Zealand on Saturday (AP, 10/4).
