Qualification standards in athletics for the Olympic Games and World Championships "are to be abolished and replaced by a ranking system in an attempt to get the world's best athletes to compete against one another regularly." The IAAF unveiled plans for a "new world-ranking system, loosely based on similar systems for golf and tennis." The rankings are due to come into place next year and will count toward the World Championships in '19 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (LONDON TIMES, 11/3).
Horse racing's main trade bodies and associations issued a joint statement offering trainer Gay Kelleway support after it was reported that the former leading amateur jockey "suffered persistent sexual harassment throughout her career." The statement, issued on behalf of the British Horseracing Authority, the Professional Jockeys Association, the National Trainers Federation, the National Association of Stable Staff, the Racecourse Association and Racing Welfare, said, "The racing world is very concerned by the allegations that one of our leading female participants was sexually assaulted and harassed during her career as a jockey" (London GUARDIAN, 11/4).
Cannondale EF Education First-Drapac Manager Jonathan Vaughters said that World Tour cycling teams "should become franchises with guaranteed entry into the sport's top races to avoid financial meltdowns." Vaughters "fought a desperate battle" to stop his Cannondale-Drapac team from folding in September after a $7M funding shortfall in the team's '18 budget (REUTERS, 11/4).
France’s main anti-doping laboratory, "already under a provisional ban, has been suspended from carrying out anti-doping activities for up to six months because of analytical issues," WADA said. The new suspension, which took effect on Tuesday, "prohibits the Chatenay-Malabry laboratory from all analyses of urine and blood samples" (REUTERS, 11/3).
