U.S./World Sports category, Page 223
Durant sets record, example for U.S. Olympic men’s hoops team
SAITAMA, Japan — Kevin Durant had been just ordinary so far in these Olympics. That’s probably not good enough for gold. Not on this U.S. men’s basketball team, an unproven and for now still unspectacular group. Durant is the top scorer to ever wear the red, white and blue, a...
Thompson-Herah breaks Flo Jo’s Olympic record in women’s 100
TOKYO — Streaking down the track, with only six steps to go until she reached the finish line, Elaine Thompson-Herah stuck out her left arm and started pointing at the clock. She knew she had the win. It was only a matter of what else would come with it. With...
This date in sports history: July 31Video
1932 — France beats the U.S., 3-2, for its sixth consecutive Davis Cup championship. 1934 — Britain, led by Fred Perry and Bunny Austin, defeats the U.S., 4-1, at Wimbledon to win the Davis Cup title. 1942 — Jockey Bill Turnbull wins seven of nine races at Rockingham Park in...
Americans Caeleb Dressel, Katie Ledecky win again at Olympic poolVideo
TOKYO — Caeleb Dressel added a world record to his growing medal haul. Katie Ledecky closed out her Olympics with another victory, too. Continuing his march to being perhaps the biggest star of the Tokyo Games, Dressel won his third gold medal with a world record in the 100-meter butterfly...
Olympics roundup: Biles pulls out of 2 individual events; Dressel, Ledecky add more goldVideo
TOKYO —Simone Biles, who was scratched from the women’s team competition and withdrew from the all-around event final after losing her ability to sense where she is in the air, withdrew from the event finals in the vault and uneven bars, which will be contested on Sunday. USA Gymnastics, the...
With a clothing line, Spencer Lee is in fast lane of NIL movement
“Excuses are for wusses.” You would be hard pressed to find four words that inspired a fan base more than those spoken by Spencer Lee during last season’s NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. After the Iowa star out of Franklin Regional revealed he had competed — and won his third...
NCAA sets table for dramatic overhaul of how it operatesVideo
The NCAA Board of Governors on Friday called for a constitutional convention in November, the first step toward launching dramatic reform in the governance of college sports. Stung for years by criticism that it is too heavy handed and out of touch, the NCAA said it wants to “reimagine” how...
Out, then in: U.S. gets a reprieve after mixed relay disqualification
TOKYO — The U.S. men have a long history of dicey baton exchanges in the Olympic relays. So do the U.S. women. Their latest was a first-of-its-kind chance to flub one together, which they might have, but they caught a break that gives them a chance to still win a...
SEC welcomes Texas, Oklahoma after boards accept invitations
After the boards of regents for the universities of Texas and Oklahoma voted Friday to accept invitations to the Southeastern Conference, the league announced the Big 12 rivals would start competing in the SEC in the fall of 2025. “This is a move for stability and preservation and propagation,” OU...
‘Wow! Wow!’ Women get Olympic track off to a sizzling start
TOKYO — The look on sprinter Marie-Josée Ta Lou’s face said everything. “Wow! Wow!” she screamed, her eyes wide open and her mouth agape as she crossed the finish line first and looked over at the clock. A gold medal? No. But the opening day of track and field at...
Megan Rapinoe converts and U.S. women’s soccer gets past Netherlands on penalties
YOKOHAMA, Japan — Megan Rapinoe converted the deciding penalty in a shootout and the United States advanced to the semifinals of the women’s Olympic soccer tournament 4-2 following a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands on Friday. United States goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher stopped Vivianne Miedema’s opening attempt in the shootout and...
U.S. women’s basketball team uses dominant inside presence to beat Japan
SAITAMA, Japan — The U.S. women’s basketball team has not looked sharp in its first two wins at the Tokyo Games. Five-time Olympian Sue Bird attributes the pedestrian performances to the lack of practice time with so many new faces on the squad, and just that the rest of the...
U.S. swimmer Ryan Murphy brings doping talk to fore after Russian swimmers’ Olympic win
TOKYO — After losing to Russian swimmers in two races at the Olympics, American backstroke star Ryan Murphy said Friday that doping remains a huge problem in the sport and he wonders if all his competitors are clean. Seeming to take aim at a country that has repeatedly run afoul...
Djokovic loses to Zverev at Olympics, ending Golden Slam bid
TOKYO — There will be no Golden Slam for Novak Djokovic. The top-ranked Serb lost to Alexander Zverev of Germany 1-6, 3-6, 6-1 on Friday in the semifinals of the tennis tournament at the Tokyo Olympics. Djokovic was attempting to become the first man to win all four Grand Slam...
Report: Lakers acquiring All-Star Russell Westbrook from WizardsVideo
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers are acquiring All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards for three players and this year’s first-round draft pick. According to two people with knowledge of the deal, the Lakers are trading Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell to Washington for...
Central Catholic grad Alex Miklasevich, U.S. rowing finish 4th in men’s eight event
TOKYO — Canada ended American dominance in the women’s eight and New Zealand won a pair of gold medals Friday on the final day of rowing at the Tokyo Games. Canada’s start-to-finish victory in the women’s eight ended a run of three consecutive Olympic gold medals for the U.S. The...
Detroit takes Oklahoma State’s Cunningham No. 1 overall in NBA DraftVideo
The Detroit Pistons selected Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham with the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft Thursday night. Cunningham widely had been expected to be the first name called in New York, though Pistons general manager Troy Weaver wouldn’t reveal plans earlier this week and said the team would...
SEC invites Oklahoma and Texas to join league — in 2025
Southeastern Conference university presidents voted Thursday to invite Texas and Oklahoma to the league and create a 16-team powerhouse on the field and at the bank. The latest step in move that has potential to help reshape college sports came two days after Texas and Oklahoma requested to join the...
American Sunisa Lee wins all-around gold in women’s gymnastics
TOKYO — Sunisa Lee wanted to quit during quarantine. It all had become too much. The lingering pain from a broken foot. The deaths of two family members from covid-19. Her father’s slow recovery from an accident that left him paralyzed. The urge eventually passed. It always does. Still, less...
U.S. trio puts NBA Finals behind, turns focus to Olympic gold
SAITAMA, Japan — There was plenty of time to talk about it, had they wanted to. Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton were together on a plane to Tokyo, just days after they had played in the hard-fought NBA Finals. They had roughly nine hours in the air to...
U.S. swimmer Caeleb Dressel lives up to hype, wins 1st individual gold medalVideo
TOKYO — In an Olympics where many of the favorites have faltered, Caeleb Dressel lived up to the hype. Dressel claimed the first individual Olympic gold medal of his career with two furious laps of the pool Thursday morning, winning the 100-meter freestyle over defending champion Kyle Chalmers. As is...
U.S. volleyball star David Smith revels as role model for deaf kidsVideo
TOKYO — Growing up nearly completely deaf provided a challenge for David Smith as he tried to integrate with other kids at school or on the playground. Whatever Smith may have lacked in hearing was more than made up with empathy, compassion, and most of all, athletic ability. Smith was...
Big 12 accuses ESPN of trying to ‘destabilize’ conferenceVideo
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby accused ESPN of pushing other conferences to pick apart the league so Texas and Oklahoma can move to the SEC without paying a massive buyout. “I have absolute certainty they (ESPN) have been involved in manipulating other conferences to go after our members,” Bowlsby told...
Basketball diplomacy: U.S., Iran meet on court at Tokyo Games
SAITAMA, Japan — The Americans applauded the Iranian national anthem. The Iranians applauded the U.S. anthem. There were a few handshakes before, plenty more handshakes after, and words of sportsmanship between the sides throughout the game. For two hours, it was basketball diplomacy. It’s still somewhat rare for the U.S....
Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham headlines list of top prospects in NBA draft
Cade Cunningham spent years honing his game for a shot at becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft. The Oklahoma State one-and-done star could accomplish that goal Thursday night as the headliner of a class that includes scorers, playmakers and potentially elite defenders at the top. “I’ve...
