U.S./World Sports category, Page 36
Mbappé makes Madrid heavy favorite to repeat as Spanish league champion for 1st time in 17 years
MADRID — Real Madrid was one of the teams to beat in Europe last season, winning the Spanish league with ease and adding another Champions League trophy to its collection. And what was good got even better for 2024-25, with France star Kylian Mbappé finally joining the Spanish powerhouse after...
Puck Pieterse holds off women’s Tour de France leader Demi Vollering in sprint finish to win 4th stage
LIEGE, Belgium — Dutch rider Puck Pieterse finished just ahead of defending champion Demi Vollering in a sprint to win the fourth stage of the women’s Tour de France in the rain Wednesday. Overall race leader Vollering, Pieterse and Katarzyna Niewiadoma had carved a 30-second lead going into the Belgian...
Premier League will have different look when the season starts. Here’s what’s changed
The Premier League rarely stands still. For the 2024-25 season starting on Friday, there are five newly hired managers, around $1.6 billion worth of new players (and counting), new offside technology, updated financial regulations and a tweaked match schedule. Coaching changes A quarter of the coaches will be taking charge...
Why seeding for the expanded College Football Playoff isn’t as simple as counting from 1 to 12
The College Football Playoff expands from four to 12 teams this season, a massive change that will profoundly impact the sport and how success is defined. The system is also kind of quirky. The second-best team in the country by the selection committee’s rankings could conceivably be the fifth seed....
Georgia No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25, Ohio State No. 2 as expanded SEC, Big Ten flex muscles
Georgia is No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 preseason college football poll for the second straight year as the superconference era begins with the SEC and Big Ten dominating the top 10 of the rankings. The Bulldogs received 46 first-place votes and 1,532 points in the Top 25...
Dillon spins Logano on final lap, prevails in overtime at Richmond for first victory in 2 years
RICHMOND, Va. — Austin Dillon raced to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in nearly two years, sending Joey Logano into a spin on the final lap to win in overtime at Richmond on Sunday night. It was Dillon’s first win since Aug. 28, 2022, at Daytona. He had just...
A’ja Wilson, U.S. women hold off France to win 8th straight Olympic basketball gold medal
PARIS — The U.S. women’s basketball team had to overcome its greatest challenge in 32 years before extending the Americans’ unprecedented run to eight straight Olympic gold medals. Led by A’ja Wilson, Sunday they came away with another victory at the Paris Games. It was the closest — and maybe...
Richmond up next as NASCAR returns from Olympic break for final 4 races of regular seasonVideo
Firmly on the playoff bubble, Chris Buescher can take solace in the fact that this upcoming part of the schedule was so good to him last year. Not that he’s taking anything for granted. “Three of the next four races we’re heading into, we were able to win last year,”...
Court ruling could lead to Jordan Chiles losing her bronze medal
PARIS — Romania’s Ana Barbosu could replace American Jordan Chiles as the Olympic bronze medalist in gymnastics floor exercise after the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided an appeal from Chiles’ coach that vaulted her onto the podium. CAS ruled Saturday that the on-floor appeal by U.S. coach Cecile Landi...
China is 7 for 7 in diving gold at the Paris Olympics and seeks an unprecedented sweep of all 8
SAINT-DENIS, France — China is 7 for 7 in diving golds at the Paris Olympics. Just one to go for an unprecedented sweep of all eight diving golds in the Games. Chen Yiwen won the women’s 3-meter springboard on Friday for China’s seventh gold medal. Maddison Keeney of Australia took...
When do the 2024 Paris Olympics end? What to know about the closing ceremony
PARIS — The Paris Olympics are coming to a close this weekend. U.S. gymnastics star Simone Biles made a triumphant return, taking her Olympic gold tally to seven. French swimmer Léon Marchand won five medals — four of them gold — fulfilling comparisons to Michael Phelps. Armand “Mondo” Duplantis won...
Serbian competitor in CrossFit Games dies during swimming event at Texas lakeVideo
FORT WORTH, Texas — A Serbian competitor in the CrossFit Games has died while competing in a swimming event Thursday morning at a Texas lake. CrossFit CEO Don Faul said during a news conference that they were “deeply saddened” and were working with authorities on the investigation into the death...
NCAA hands former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh a 4-year show cause order for recruiting violations
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The NCAA announced a four-year show-cause order for former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh on Wednesday for impermissible contact with recruits and players while access was restricted during the covid-19 pandemic, effectively banning him from college athletics until August 2028. The NCAA said Harbaugh, who left his...
U.S. Open player compensation rises to a record $65 million, with singles champs getting $3.6 million
Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic and other players at the U.S. Open will be playing for a record total of $75 million in compensation at the year’s last Grand Slam tennis tournament, a rise of about 15% from a year ago. The women’s and men’s singles champions will each receive $3.6...
As Paris Olympics wind down, Los Angeles swings into planning for 2028
PARIS — From the City of Love to the City of Angels, planning for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is well underway and organizers are paying close attention to what’s worked, and what hasn’t, so far in Paris. It will be LA’s third time hosting the Olympics — the last...
NASCAR drivers use break to watch Olympics, support American athletes in Paris Games
Turns out NASCAR’s best are just like many of us. They like watching the Olympics, too. From Kyle Busch pulling for U.S. gold medal-winning sprinter Noah Lyles, Chase Elliott eager to watch Olympic golf and Joey Logano shouting out Sha’Carri Richardson, several Cup Series contenders have their eyes on Paris....
NCAA moving closer to financially rewarding women’s basketball teams that reach March Madness
Women’s basketball teams are about to move a step closer to getting financially rewarded for success in the NCAA Tournament. The Division I Board of Directors was expected to meet Tuesday and introduce a proposal to give performance units to teams that make March Madness. Units represent revenue. “Unless something...
Charles Barkley says he will not retire and remain with TNT Sports even if they don’t have the NBA
Charles Barkley intends to remain with TNT Sports through the remainder of his contract. The Hall of Fame player announced Tuesday that he will not retire next season, reversing the announcement he made in June during the NBA Finals. Barkley said at the time that the 2024-25 season would be...
Michael Phelps calls for a lifetime ban for anyone who’s caught doping
PARIS — In the wake of a Chinese doping scandal, Michael Phelps doubled down Monday on his support for tougher sanctions — including a lifetime ban for anyone who tests positive for a banned substance. “If you test positive, you should never be allowed to come back and compete again,...
Katie Ledecky swims into history with 800 freestyle victory at the Paris Olympics
NANTERRE, France — Katie Ledecky capped another stellar Olympics by becoming only the second swimmer to win an event at four straight Summer Games, holding off Ariarne Titmus to win the 800-meter freestyle Saturday night. It was Ledecky’s second gold medal in Paris and ninth of her remarkable career, which...
Simone Biles edges Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade for her 2nd Olympic all-around gymnastics titleVideo
PARIS — Simone Biles remains peerless. Even when she’s not quite perfect. The American gymnastics star edged Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade during a tense Olympic all-around final Thursday. Biles’ total of 59.131 was just ahead of Andrade at 57.932, one of the closest calls Biles has endured at a major international...
Gordon Hayward retires after 14 NBA seasons with Utah, Boston, Charlotte and Oklahoma City
BROWNSBURG, Ind. — Gordon Hayward, who nearly gave Butler a national title over Duke with a half-court shot that just missed on the final play of the 2010 NCAA men’s basketball championship game, retired from the NBA after 14 seasons on Thursday. Hayward played for Utah, Boston, Charlotte and Oklahoma...
Drag queen in Olympic opening ceremony has no regrets, calls it ‘a photograph of France in 2024’
PARIS — As a gay youth growing up in central France, Hugo Bardin never felt he lived in a world that represented who he was — a world in which he had a place. And that is why Bardin, who performs as the drag queen Paloma, felt it was meaningful...
Federal protections of transgender students are launching where courts haven’t blocked them
New federal protections for transgender students at U.S. schools and colleges will take effect Thursday with muted impact because judges have temporarily blocked enforcement in 21 states and hundreds of individual colleges and schools across the country. The regulation also adds protections for pregnant students and students who are parents,...
Japan surges past China for Olympics men’s gymnastics team gold; Americans end drought with bronze
PARIS — Japan surged past its longtime rival China to win gold in the Paris Olympics men’s gymnastics competition Monday, and the Americans earned bronze for their first medal since 2008. It was Japan’s eighth team gold and first since Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The Japanese overtook their rivals...
