Update on the latest sports
APOLYMPICS
Track records fall fast in Tokyo
TOKYO (AP) — The world records keep falling on the track at the Tokyo Olympics.
A day after the men’s 400-meter hurdles staged possibly one of the greatest races ever run, the women put on their own show. Sydney McLaughlin smashed the world record and Dalilah Muhammad broke it as well in a sensational American 1-2 finish in the women’s 400 hurdles.
McLaughlin set the previous world record of 51.90 seconds in June.
Also in Tokyo:
— Andre de Grasse of Canada won gold in the men’s 200-meter race, five years after finishing second to Usain Bolt. De Grasse powered past a pair of Americans — Kenny Bednarek and the favorite, Noah Lyles — to finish in 19.62 seconds and take one of the titles that Bolt had owned for the last three Olympics. Erriyon Knighton, the youngest member of the U.S. men’s track team at 17, placed fourth in 19.93.
— Breanna Stewart scored 20 of her 23 points in the first half to help the U.S. women’s basketball team beat Australia, 79-55 in the quarterfinals. Trailing 5-2, Stewart scored seven consecutive points to start a 19-1 run. The Americans will face Serbia on Friday in the semifinals looking to advance to their seventh consecutive gold medal game.
— The U.S. women’s volleyball team has made it to the semifinals for the sixth time in the past eight Olympics by beating the Dominican Republic in straight sets. The Americans advanced despite playing without injured starters Jordyn Poulter and Jordan Thompson.
— Triston Casas hit his third home run of the Olympics and the United States beat the Dominican Republic 3-1 to stay in gold medal contention. Tyler Austin added a solo home run in the fifth and Scott Kazmir got the win. Casas’ homer came off Boston Red Sox Double-A teammate Denyi Reyes. The U.S. plays next on Thursday night against defending South Korea for a berth in the gold medal game against Japan. The Dominicans will play Thursday night’s loser for the bronze medal.
— Tetsuto Yamada hit a tiebreaking, three-run double off the top of the 16-foot wall in left-center in the eighth inning, and Japan beat South Korea 5-2 to earn a spot in the gold medal baseball game.
— The world champions of the decathlon and heptathlon are out of Olympic medal contention after breaking down during their last races of the day. Heptathlon world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson injured her right calf muscle as she rounded the bend in the 200 meters, the fourth event of the competition. About an hour later, decathlon world champion Niklas Kaul of Germany appeared to injure an ankle during the 400-meter race, the fifth of 10 disciplines, and did not finish.
— American shotput silver medalist Raven Saunders says her mother has died. Media reports say that Clarissa Saunders died in Orlando, Florida, where she had been attending Olympic watch parties.
— NBA veteran Pau Gasol (pow gah-SOHL’) has been voted by his fellow Tokyo Games athletes to represent them as a member of the International Olympic Committee. Gasol will be an IOC member for seven years through the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, where he won two NBA titles with the Lakers. The results were announced the day after Gasol and Spain lost in the quarterfinals to the United States.
— Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden got off to a hot start in women’s golf at the Olympics. She played a bogey-free round for a 66. That gives her a one-shot lead over top-ranked Nelly Korda of the United States and Aditi Ashok of India.
— Italy broke its own world record to win the gold medal in men’s team pursuit cycling at the Tokyo Olympics, edging world champion Denmark in a dramatic final. The Italians led through the first half of the 4,000-meter race, then watched as the Danish team pulled ahead. Over the last five laps, the Italians wiped out a deficit of nearly a half-second to win the gold medal. Australia, the silver medalist in Rio, took bronze.
— Emmanuel Korir won gold and led a Kenyan one-two finish in the 800 meters at the Olympics. Korir pushed his way past Australia’s Peter Bol on the last turn and surged home to win in 1 minute, 45.06 seconds. It was Kenya’s fourth straight victory in the 800 at the Olympics. Teammate Ferguson Rotich took silver with a late kick to overtake Poland’s Patryk Dobek, who held on for bronze ahead of Bol. Clayton Murphy of the United States, the bronze medalist in 2016, finished last.
— World champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson injured her leg running in the 200-meter race of the heptathlon and was disqualified from the event. The 28-year-old British athlete waved away people who went to help her, got up and limped to the finish line, but was not credited with a time. She was in fifth place after the 100-meter hurdles, the high jump and the shot put but is now out of contention.
— Russia’s Svetlana Romashina claimed her record sixth Olympic gold medal in artistic swimming, teaming with Svetlana Kolesnichenko to win the duet. Romashina had been tied with fellow Russians Anastasia Davydova and Natalia Ishchenko with five gold medals apiece.
— Georgian weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze set three world records to retain his title in the heaviest men’s weightlifting category, while Syria earned its first medal since the country’s civil war began. Talakhadze lifted a world-record 223 kilograms in the snatch and 265 in the clean and jerk for a total 488. All three figures broke his own world records in the over-109kg category. That put Iran’s Ali Davoudi into second place by the vast margin of 47kg. Man Asaad of Syria took the bronze with a total 424kg. Syria’s last Olympic medal in any sport was a boxing bronze in 2004.
— Peruth Chemutai of Uganda won the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase final. American Courtney Frerichs took silver. Emma Coburn of the United States was disqualified for what was listed as a lane infringement after finishing behind the field.
— A pair of teenagers gave China a 1-2 finish in the preliminaries of women’s 10-meter platform diving. Chen Yuxi, a 15-year-old who is the current world champion, and her 14-year-old teammate, Quan Hongchan, led 18 women into the semifinals. American Delaney Schnell was third at 360.75. Her teammate, Katrina Young, squeaked into the semifinals in 17th place.
— Harrie Lavreysen and Dutch teammate Jeffrey Hoogland tied for the Olympic record in qualifying for the men’s sprint at the Izu Velodrome, clocking the same time of 9.215 down to the thousandth of a second.
— Serbia overpowered Italy 10-6 in men’s water polo, joining Hungary, Greece and Spain in the semifinals. Hungary had a 15-11 win against Croatia, Greece advanced with a 10-4 victory over Montenegro, and Spain held off the United States for a 12-8 win.
— A Russian athlete competing in karate has been ruled out of the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for the coronavirus. Anna Chernysheva was the Russian Olympic Committee team’s only karate athlete at the Olympics. The 19-year-old was due to compete Thursday in the women’s 55-kilogram kumite event.
— Japan’s government is introducing a contentious new policy in which coronavirus patients with moderate symptoms will isolate at home instead of in hospitals, as new cases surge in Tokyo to record levels during the Olympic Games. The plan aims to save hospital beds almost exclusively for those with serious symptoms or at risk of developing them. It’s a major policy shift as new cases in the capital have more than tripled since the Olympics began on July 23.
— A Polish diplomat says Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya has arrived in Warsaw on a humanitarian visa after leaving the Tokyo Olympics. She had sought refuge saying she feared for her safety after her Olympic team officials ordered her to return to Belarus for criticizing her coaches’ decisions on social media.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Rays beat Mariners 4-3 to avoid season series sweep
UNDATED (AP) — Randy Arozarena (ah-roh-zah-RAY’-nuh) had a two-run triple during a three-run third and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Seattle Mariners 4-3 to avoid a season series sweep. The Rays went 1-6 overall against Seattle and lost the first two games of the three-game set.
Josh Fleming allowed two runs and five hits, and Mike Zunino hit his 21st homer for the Rays. Mariners rookie Logan Gilbert gave up three runs and four hits over five innings. Seattle had won 11 consecutive games, dating to May 25, when Gilbert started. The right-hander was 5-0 during the stretch.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Luis Castillo pitched six effective innings, Tyler Stephenson homered to give the Reds a cushion they ended up needing, and Cincinnati held on to beat the Minnesota Twins 6-5. Jonathan India had three hits and Joey Votto drove in two runs for the Reds, who came in trailing first-place Milwaukee by 7 1/2 games in the NL Central. Castillo allowed Jorge Polanco’s first-inning solo homer but settled in nicely from there. Stephenson went deep in the seventh to give the Reds a 6-1 lead. The Twins rallied with four runs in the eighth before Michael Lorenzen came in for a five-out save.
MLB-NEWS
Brewers’ Axford out for year after 1 game; Lauer on COVID list
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers’ pitching staff has taken a couple more hits with John Axford now out for the season with elbow trouble and Eric Lauer joining the COVID-19 injured list.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Axford has significant elbow damage and is going over his options after an injury foiled the 38-year-old’s comeback attempt. The former Brewers closer retired just one of the five batters he faced Monday before leaving with elbow pain in his first major league appearance since 2018.
Lauer started Monday’s game and threw five shutout innings to continue his solid season. He has allowed just five runs over his last 31 1/3 innings but now must sit out at least 10 days due to his positive test.
NBA-NEWS
AP source: Kemba Walker headed home to play for Knicks
UNDATED (AP) — A person with knowledge of the situation says Kemba Walker and the Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to a buyout of the final two years of his contract. Once that’s completed, the four-time All-Star guard will sign with the New York Knicks. The person spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal is not finalized.
Walker and the Thunder have been working on the buyout parameters in recent days. Walker is owed nearly $74 million for the next two seasons, including a $37.6 million option that he held for 2022-23. He never played for the Thunder. Walker was born in the Bronx.
In other NBA news:
— A person with knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press that power forward John Collins has agreed to a $125 million, five-year deal to remain with the Atlanta Hawks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal can’t become official until Friday. The deal includes a fifth-year option for Collins, who was a restricted free agent. The agreement comes one day after point guard Trae Young agreed to a five-year, $207 million rookie extension. Collins averaged 17.6 points and 7.4 rebounds this season.
— The Philadelphia 76ers have signed nine-year veteran center Andre Drummond. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Drummond joins Philadelphia after splitting the 2020-21 season with Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers. The 6-foot-10, 279-pound Drummond will wear No. 1 for the Sixers. He appeared in 46 games last season and averaged 14.9 points, 12.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.1 blocks in 27.0 minutes per outing. He was one of just three NBA players, including new teammate Joel Embiid (joh-EHL’ ehm-BEED’), to average a point-rebound double-double as well as one steal and one block.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL-NEWS
AAC’s Aresco: Did not plot with ESPN to poach other leagues
UNDATED (AP) — American Athletic Conference Commissioner Mike Aresco says his league has never “plotted” with ESPN to undermine another conference by poaching its schools.
Aresco addressed conference realignment Wednesday during the AAC’s football media day, saying the league is not actively looking to add schools.
Last week the Big 12 accused ESPN of encouraging at least one other conference to raid that conference as it tries find a way forward with Texas and Oklahoma on their way to the Southeastern Conference. The AAC was reported to be the conference ESPN was incentivizing to woo Big 12 teams. Aresco denied that.
In other college football news:
— Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor has been added to the College Football Playoff selection committee, replacing Texas AD Chris Del Conte. The CFP’s announcement comes less than a week after Texas and Oklahoma announced they would be leaving the Big 12 to join the Southeastern Conference in 2025. The 13-member selection committee is comprised of mostly sitting athletic directors along with former players and coaches. Each Power Five Conferences is represented by an active athletic director. With Texas in the process of leaving the conference, the Big 12 nominated Taylor to replace Del Conte.
PENN STATE-ABUSE
Penn State ex-president Spanier leaves jail after 2 months
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) — The former president of Penn State is out of jail after serving nearly two months for endangering the welfare of children by his response to a report that Jerry Sandusky had been seen physically abusing a boy on campus.
Centre County Correctional Facility Warden Christopher Schell said Wednesday the 73-year-old Graham Spanier served 58 days. Spanier still faces two months of electronic monitoring at home and two years of probation.
Spanier didn’t testify at his trial. Spanier received a report from two of his top lieutenants in early 2001 that a graduate assistant football coach had happened upon Sandusky and the boy in a team shower on a Friday night. They didn’t call police.
NASCAR-MASKS
NASCAR to require masks in enclosed areas going forward
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) — Beginning this weekend at Watkins Glen International, NASCAR will require all personnel to wear a face mask in enclosed areas at all times, regardless of vaccination status. Enclosed areas include haulers and buildings, including media centers, restrooms, the infield care center, race control and suites.
NASCAR says the update to its COVID-19 protocols is being implemented on the advice of its consulting physicians and recently issued medical guidance. Masks are not required when outdoors at NASCAR events, provided individuals refrain from sustained close contact.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo lifted COVID-19 restrictions in mid-June and Watkins Glen announced three days later that its grandstands would be fully open to spectators for its NASCAR tripleheader weekend.
