Month: February 2022

LONDON (AP) — Yorkshire cricket club can resume hosting international matches after its suspension was lifted in recognition of the club’s “good progress” on addressing problems of racism and bullying. Yorkshire’s Headingley Stadium will now host England’s third test against New Zealand in June and a one-day international against South Africa in July. The England

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Sadio Mané has returned to Liverpool after celebrating Senegal’s title in the African Cup of Nations and is set to be in contention for the Premier League match at Burnley on Sunday. Mané led Senegal to its first African Cup championship by converting the decisive penalty in a shootout win over

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — A Ukrainian skeleton athlete flashed a small sign that read “No War in Ukraine” to the cameras as he finished a run at the Beijing Olympics. Vladyslav Heraskevych said after his race Friday that he only wanted peace for his country. The gesture came as Russia

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands successfully defended her title in 1,000-meter short track speedskating. She set the world and Olympic records of 1 minute, 26.514 seconds in the quarterfinals. She wasn’t as fast in the final, finishing in 1:28.391. Choi Minjeong of South Korea took silver.

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Usher preached togetherness during “tumultuous times” while performing a series of his hits at an exclusive star-studded afterparty following the NFL Honors. The eight-time Grammy winner spoke about the importance of unity during the Chairman’s Party on Thursday night inside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood,

PARIS (AP) — Formula One has extended its contract to continue racing in Bahrain until 2036. It says the Middle Eastern country holds a “very special place in our sport.” The Sakhir-based circuit has held F1 races since 2004 and will stage the season-opener next month. Ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix last year, seven-time

BEIJING (AP) — Police are punishing traders for cashing in by reselling scarce dolls of Olympics mascot Bing Dwen Dwen at up to 10 times retail price. Buyers stood in line overnight in freezing weather and emptied store shelves after the Winter Games opened Feb. 4. News reports say factory employees were called back from

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Gus Poyet has been hired as coach of Greece’s national team in a change of leadership after its failure to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. The Greek Soccer Federation said it had reached an agreement with the former Chelsea, Tottenham and Uruguay midfielder. The 54-year-old Poyet replaces Dutch coach

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — One of the most anticipated events at the Beijing Olympics is the imminent legal hearing in Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva’s doping case. At stake is the Russia’s gold medal in the team event and the 15-year-old star’s right to compete in the women’s individual event

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — American freestyle skier Winter Vinecki is set to become the first athlete with the first name Winter to compete at the Winter Games. It’s just another in a long line of notable accomplishments for the 23-year-old who hunts and fishes, grows her own vegetables, launched

By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Shaun White’s brilliant and transcendent Olympic career is over. It ended with a fall on his final run down the halfpipe, a heartfelt ovation from the crowd and then a tearful farewell to a sport he helped define. A few mountains away, Mikaela Shiffrin finally made

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — The athletes of the U.S. men’s bobsled program needed to quickly raise $70,000. They came up with the idea of a calendar featuring 12 months of the U.S. men’s bobsledders in various provocative poses. A separate GoFundMe more than covered the money they needed for a

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Marte Olsbu Roeiseland of Norway replicated her top form from throughout this season, using fast skiing and composed, deliberate shooting to become the Beijing Olympic biathlon sprint champion. Roeiseland, the overall World Cup leader and sprint leader, hit all 10 targets and finished the 7.5-kilometer race

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer BEIJING (AP) — U.S. hockey player Jake Sanderson is finally practicing with his teammates at the Olympics after being a late arrival to Beijing because of coronavirus protocol. The University of North Dakota defenseman tested positive for COVID-19 while at USA Hockey’s pre-Olympic camp in Los Angeles. Sanderson woke

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP National Writer BEIJING (AP) — Nils van der Poel of Sweden has broken his own world record and captured his second gold medal of the Beijing Olympics with a dominant victory in men’s 10,000-meter speedskating. Van der Poel added to his victory in the 5,000, which was a much closer affair.

By JAY COHEN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Sheldon Kennedy’s Respect Group has partnered with the NHL for a training program designed to help prevent bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination. The training for league and club employees is slated to begin in March. The program came together after an October report by an outside

By MARK LONG and JOE REEDY AP Sports Writers THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Odell Beckham Jr.’s 2,000-mile trip on short notice allowed him to escape all the negative energy. Injury concerns? Hurt feelings? Off-the-field angst? On-the-field disappointment? They’re long gone, left behind with all those No. 13 Cleveland Browns jerseys. Beckham sounds and looks

By STEPHEN WADE AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — If you’re a journalist, there are few advantages to working inside the hermetically sealed “closed loop” at the Beijing Olympics. The “bubble” separates reporters, athletes and Olympic staff from the real Beijing public, giving us access only to venues, the media center, or our hotel. But

By SALLY HO Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — U.S. figuring skating gold medalist Nathan Chen says he’s looking forward to going back to school and is undecided about what’s next for him in the sport. The 22-year-old has been on leave since the fall of 2020 from Yale University, where he’s majoring in statistics and

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Jake Burton Carpenter died in 2019, and his absence is being felt at the Beijing Olympics, the first without him for the sport he created and brought to the masses. Shaun White, Louie Vito and a number of riders said they miss having Burton Carpenter

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer Veteran NFL coach Anthony Lynn designed a personal defense in response to the league policy that requires teams to interview minority candidates for their top jobs. While he appreciates the intent of the policy, Lynn, who is Black, long ago added his own amendment to it: As his star

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer BEIJING (AP) — The Russians are unhappy with their play despite winning their first two games in shutouts in the men’s hockey tournament at the Beijing Olympics. The defending champions and gold medal favorites have scored only twice against an opposing goaltender. Their most recent win was 2-0 against

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Iivo Niskanen of Finland has won gold in the 15-kilometer cross country race at the Beijing Olympics. Niskanen crossed the line and collapsed, spread eagle, with a time of 37 minutes, 54.8 seconds. It was his third Olympic gold. He won the 50-kilometer classic race in

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Japanese rider Ayumu Hirano linked his trendsetting, once-thought-impossible triple-cork trick to four more rock-solid jumps on the Olympic halfpipe. That gave him a score of 96 and vaulted him in front of Australian Scotty James to take the title that has eluded him at the

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Columnist BEIJING (AP) — NASCAR and pro wrestling are not sports at the Beijing Olympics. That’s OK. There’s short track. Daring skaters whip around a track set up on a hockey-sized rink. They bump and draft. They dole out an elbow here or a shoulder there. The unfortunate ones wind

By BRIAN CAROVILLANO and TED ANTHONY Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Be it sports, politics, hacking or war, the recent history of Russia’s relationship with the world can be summed up in one phrase: They get away with it. Vladimir Putin’s Russia has perfected the art of flouting the rules. It doesn’t matter whether the

By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Nordic combined is a niche sport. That means Olympians who participate in the mix of ski jumping and cross-country skiing must find options to fund their dreams. The U.S. government does not pay Americans to go for gold. That leaves the United States Olympic &

HONOLULU (AP) — Aboubacar Traore scored 18 points with 11 rebounds, Colin Slater added 16 points and Long Beach State used a late 7-0 surge to defeat Hawaii 73-66 on Thursday night for its 10-straight victory. Up one with under 3 minutes to go, Long Beach scored seven points in two minutes, five by Drew