Month: February 2022

By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — It was a miserable day on the mountains outside of Beijing for American stars Mikaela Shiffrin and Red Gerard. Shiffrin’s opening race in the Beijing Olympics ended quickly with a rare mistake and a rare Did Not Finish. Shiffrin was favored to defend her gold medal

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Nathan Chen had enough pressure on him heading into the men’s program at the Beijing Olympics: One of the faces of the NBC broadcast, he is a suave, Nike-sponsored superstar whose marketability rivals his figure skating ability. On Monday night, he was left worrying about whether

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP National Writer BEIJING (AP) — Ireen Wüst skated into the record books at the Beijing Games by becoming the first athlete to claim individual gold medals at five different Olympics. The 35-year-old Wüst already was the most decorated speedskater in Winter Games history when she added to her haul with a

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer Doubts and disputes over FIFA’s push for biennial World Cups have contributed to Britain and Ireland dropping plans for a joint bid to host the 2030 edition, opting instead to try to stage the 2028 European Championship. A potential rival also moved aside with Italy switching its focus

By JAKE SEINER AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — The Shougang Group steel mill that once billowed smoke into smoggy Beijing is sending something else skyward this week — Olympic skiers. The sprawling industrial park was shuttered in conjunction with Beijing’s efforts to clean up its image and its air around the 2008 Games. It

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Wirter ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Chinese teenager Su Yiming was a surprise silver medalist in the Olympic men’s slopestyle competition. The 17-year-old who once was a child actor and now a snowboarder couldn’t mask his emotions over the moment. Su was awestruck by all of it. Of course the medal.

By SALLY HO and KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China returned to work Monday after a weeklong Lunar New Year holiday muted by the pandemic — and even more so for the thousands of people inside a Winter Olympics bubble. For volunteers and competitors, there’s no hong bao – red envelopes – with

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Officially, the Beijing Olympics are taking place inside what organizers are calling “the enclosed compound activity area.” That’s a fancy way of saying “a closed loop.” You probably know it better as “the bubble.” And bubbles are now part of the norm at major sporting events.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Swimming will have world championships after all in 2022. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the sport’s world governing body jointly announced the “extraordinary” event starting June 18. It fills a gap left by the scheduled event in Japan being pushed back to 2023 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The world’s

By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Swedish skier Sara Hector capped a recent career resurgence by winning the gold medal in the women’s giant slalom at the Beijing Olympics. The win is her first individual victory at a major championship. The 29-year-old Hector finished the two runs  in an unofficial combined time

BEIJING (AP) — In a story published Feb. 8, 2022, about the Beijing Olympics mascot, The Associated Press erroneously reported that the mascot Bing Dwen Dwen is in a winter coat. It is in a clear shell that resembles a spacesuit.

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer BEIJING (AP) — Canada’s Eric Staal and Owen Power and the Czech Republic’s David Krejci are among the players to watch at the Olympics without an NHL presence. Staal and Krejci are among the Beijing Olympians who have won the Stanley Cup. Power was the top pick of the

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer The Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals got to the Super Bowl with help from a couple of coaching decisions by their conference title game opponents that backfired. If the Super Bowl comes down to a crucial fourth-down choices by Rams coach Sean McVay or Bengals counterpart Zac

By SALLY HO Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — With poise and precision, American ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates won the discipline with a score of 129.17. That was less than a point ahead of the world champion Russians, who had been penalized a point for an overly long lift. That gave Team USA

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Canadian snowboarder Max Parrot took home the Olympic gold medal in men’s slopestyle just over three years removed from being diagnosed with cancer. Parrot was technically superior on his second of three runs and scored a 90.96 to hold off the field. He tossed his

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — The United States has never won a medal at the Winter Olympics in biathlon. American biathlete Leif Nordgren has competed in the last two Winter Games and says he regularly hears people ask if this will be the year. Hopes were high at the 2018 Pyeongchang

By DANIELLA MATAR AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Beat Feuz finally has the one major victory missing from his overflowing collection of downhill achievements by taking Olympic gold. The diminutive Swiss skier mastered a tricky course that had never been raced before by the world’s best and finished a slim 0.10 seconds ahead of

By JAY COHEN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks fired a longtime minor-league trainer in November after he was accused of sexual harassment. The Blackhawks say the alleged harassment by Rockford IceHogs trainer D.J. Jones occurred in 2014. The allegations were reported to the Blackhawks on Oct. 27. That was one day

By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Just because he made an early exit from the Olympic mixed doubles curling tournament doesn’t mean the week has been a waste for Chris Plys. The American failed to qualify for the playoffs in the two-person, coed event in Beijing. But Plys is also one of

By JAKE SEINER AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Eileen Gu’s goal of three Olympic medals nearly blew away in the wind. The American-born freestyle skier who spurned Team USA for China ahead of the Beijing Games risked missing the finals in women’s big air when she lost a ski on her second run and

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Kamila Valieva walked almost tentatively through Capital Indoor Stadium, juggling her pink-cased cellphone, her ice skates with the fuzzy pink blade guards and the stuffed mascot of the Beijing Games, Bing Dwen Dwen. Then they all fell in a pile on the floor. She managed to

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points, Jrue Holiday added 27 and the Milwaukee Bucks pulled away in the second half to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers 137-113. The Bucks had three players with double doubles. Antetokounmpo pulled down 10 rebounds, Holidway had 13 assists and Bobby

LAS VEGAS (AP) — After playing in the Pro Bowl on Sunday, Saints running back Alvin Kamara was arrested and accused of beating someone the night before in a Las Vegas nightclub. Kamara had four catches for 23 yards for the NFC in the game, then was taken into custody and booked at the Clark

By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Texans are in talks with assistant coach Lovie Smith for their head coaching vacancy, a person familiar with the meetings told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the team had not announced that Smith had

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — USA Luge’s Chris Mazdzer had X-rays on his aching right foot a few days ago and the results were as expected. It’s still broken. With that, it became official. The U.S. men’s luge team was never fully healthy at any point this season. There were no

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has given a controlled interview to a French newspaper about the social media posting that sparked a storm of international concern over her well-being. L’Equipe said it spoke to the tennis player on Sunday in a Beijing hotel, in an hour-long interview

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) — A colt named for six-time Stanley Cup winner Mark Messier scored big at Santa Anita. Messier romped to a 15-length victory in the $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes for trainer Bob Baffert. Messier ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.89 and paid $3.20 to win at 3-5 odds. Because Baffert has been

By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer HOUSTON (AP) — Brandon Ingram scored 33 points and tied a career high with 12 assists as the New Orleans Pelicans used a big third quarter to take control of the game and get a 120-107 win over the Houston Rockets. It was the third consecutive victory for New

By BRIAN DULIK Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) — Cedi Osman scored 22 points and Kevin Love had 19 as the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied from 20 down to beat Indiana 98-85, shortly after agreeing to acquire shooting guard Caris LeVert from the Pacers. Osman and Love combined to score the first 19 points in the fourth

FRESNO, Calif. — Hunter Maldonado had 21 points as Wyoming narrowly defeated Fresno State 61-59. Isaiah Hill led the Bulldogs with a career-high 25 points.

By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin missed a gate early in the first run of the giant slalom at the Beijing Games. It was the first time she failed to finish a giant slalom since just before she won that race at the 2018 Olympics. The

By ABIGAIL SNYDER Associated Press ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Naz Hillmon scored 26 points and had 10 rebounds, and No. 6 Michigan beat No. 21 Iowa 98-90, despite the Hawkeyes getting 46 points from Caitlin Clark. Laila Phelia added 24 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Wolverines, and Maddie Nolan contributed 17

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer NBC prime-time Olympic host Mike Tirico will have a shorter stay in Beijing than originally planned. Tirico’s final show from Beijing will be Monday night. He will fly from China to Stamford, Connecticut, to host Wednesday’s and Thursday’s shows before heading to Los Angeles Friday to anchor Olympics and

By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Sports Writer DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic had a triple-double and Jalen Brunson scored 22 points despite foul trouble for both, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Atlanta Hawks 103-94. Doncic finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists after sitting almost the entire third quarter following his fifth foul

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joey Logano won the exhibition Busch Light Clash on Sunday on the temporary quarter-mile track built inside Memorial Coliseum. The race was made-for-TV and intended to hype NASCAR’s upcoming season. NASCAR moved the Clash to Los Angeles from Daytona, its only home since its

By JOHN DENTON Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 26 points and the Boston Celtics played solid defense in a 116-83 victory over the Orlando Magic for their season-best fifth straight win. Boston limited Orlando to 35.8% shooting from the floor and 5 of 25 from 3-point range. Dennis Schröder scored 23

By JEFF WALLNER Associated Press CINCINNATI (AP) — Fabian White Jr. scored 22 points, Jamal Shead had 17 points and No. 6 Houston won its 12th straight game by beating Cincinnati 80-58. Taze Moore scored 13 points and Reggie Chaney had 10 for Houston, which hasn’t lost since Dec. 2. David DeJulius scored 18 of

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cameron Brink scored a career-high 26 points and had 14 rebounds and No. 2 Stanford beat Southern California 83-57 on Sunday to remain undefeated in the Pac-12. Hannah Jump added 12 points, and Lexie Hull, Lacie Hull and Francesca Belibi each had nine for the Cardinal (18-3, 9-0 Pac-12). Stanford extended

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks have interviewed longtime NHL executive Peter Chiarelli for their general manager job. Chiarelli is the vice president of hockey operations for the St. Louis Blues. He was the GM for the Boston Bruins from 2006-2015 and the Edmonton Oilers from 2015-2019. The Blackhawks also have interviewed interim GM Kyle

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Keegan Murray had 24 points and 15 rebounds, Patrick McCaffery added 18 points and seven boards and Iowa used a big second-half run to beat Minnesota 71-59. Murray and McCaffery combined to shoot 17 of 32 from the field while the rest of the team shot just 36% (12 of