U.S./World Sports category, Page 2
Cortina’s controversial Olympic sliding track to host test races without fans
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — There won’t be any spectators for the opening test races at the controversial sliding venue for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. That’s because while the track itself is mostly complete, the surrounding area remains a massive construction site. Still, the upcoming World Cup bobsled and skeleton...
Alex Freeman scores twice as U.S. routs Uruguay, heads into World Cup year with 5-game unbeaten streak
TAMPA, Fla. — Alex Freeman scored twice and Sebastian Berhalter and Diego Luna had one goal each as the United States overwhelmed Uruguay with a four-goal first half in a 5-1 win on Tuesday night to head into a World Cup year with a five-game unbeaten streak. Tanner Tessmann added...
Roughriders force late fumble at goal line, beat Alouettes for 5th Grey Cup title
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Tevaughn Campbell forced Montreal quarterback Shea Patterson’s fumble at the goal line and Marcus Sayles recovered it in the end zone with 3:05 left to help the Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Alouettes 25-17 on Sunday night for their fifth Grey Cup title. Saskatchewan also won Canadian Football...
Hempfield grad Jasmine Jones joins list of former track athletes competing in bobsled, eyes 2026 Winter Games
A bathtub going down a roller coaster. Getting inside a trash can and rolling down a hill. Those are just a couple of metaphors Hempfield grad Jasmine Jones uses to describe riding in a bobsled. This winter, Jones has her sights set on riding at the 2026 Winter Olympics in...
Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens, the godfather of Seattle basketball, dies at 88
SEATTLE — Lenny Wilkens, a three-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame who was enshrined as both a player and a coach, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 88. The family said Wilkens was surrounded by loved ones when he died and did not immediately release a...
A rollercoaster season with Manning has No. 10 Texas back in SEC title hunt and playoff picture
AUSTIN, Texas — A month ago, preseason No. 1 Texas had fallen to 3-2, was unranked and star quarterback Arch Manning was being mocked as a bust. Look at them now: A four-game winning streak, including two victories over opponents who were in the top 10 at the time, and...
Texas returns to top 10, ACC has 5 teams ranked in the Top 25 and there is Group of Five intrigue
Texas returned to the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, the Atlantic Coast Conference has five teams ranked for the first time this season and two Group of Five conferences are now represented in the Top 25 a month before the playoff bracekt is set....
Former Grizzlies guard Tony Allen arrested on drug charges
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Former Memphis Grizzlies defensive stalwart Tony Allen, a mainstay from the team’s Core Four success era, was arrested on drug charges in Poinsett County, Ark., on Wednesday. Allen, 43, faces two charges of drug possession. A car, driven by William Hatton, 33, of Memphis, was stopped on...
Victor Conte, who sold undetectable steroids to elite athletes in baseball and track, has died at 75
Victor Conte, the architect of a scheme to provide undetectable performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes including baseball stars Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and Olympic track champion Marion Jones decades ago, has died. He was 75. Conte died Monday, SNAC System, a sports nutrition company he founded, said in a...
Kyle Larson wins second NASCAR championship, denying Denny Hamlin in overtime
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Larson knew he wasn’t going to catch Denny Hamlin in the final laps on Sunday, not without the sort of help that only a caution flag can bring. Larson got his lucky break. Hamlin only got heartbreak. Larson is now a two-time NASCAR champion after denying...
Hamlin in search of elusive NASCAR Cup Series title as he prepares for Championship 4 race at Phoeniz
Five out of nine. That’s how many times Denny Hamlin has had mechanical problems in the playoffs, and if there is ever a time not to have problems under the hood, it is Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. The Championship 4 travels...
How a ‘betfluencer’ from Washington, Pa., wound up at the center of an NBA gambling scandal
PHILADELPHIA — On the green felt of a Bellagio baccarat table, Shane “Sugar” Hennen flaunted $3,125 in winnings from a Pittsburgh Pirates game in June 2014. It was a drop in the bucket for Las Vegas moneylines. But on Instagram, Hennen called it “#2dayswork.” He was burnishing his brand as...
Lindsey Vonn never doubted herself in comeback as she vies for Olympic returnVideo
NEW YORK — Lindsey Vonn’s Olympic comeback story kicks into high gear this week as Wednesday marks 100 days until the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games, but the American skiing great said she was staying cool under the glare of the spotlight. The 41-year-old fan favorite announced her retirement in...
U.S. athletes ‘conscious’ of American image at 2026 Winter Olympics
NEW YORK-U.S. athletes are preparing for anti-American feeling ahead of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) leaders said on Tuesday, a little over three months before next year’s global event. U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff regime and other policies, including strict travel bans, have sparked...
Byron secures spot in NASCAR’s Championship 4 with victory at Martinsville
William Byron beat Ryan Blaney in an 11-lap dash and won the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, putting him in the field with teammate Kyle Larson for next weekend’s championship race after Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 finale in Martinsville, Va. With Blaney leading and the pair charging...
Memphis returns to AP Top 25-based College Football Playoff bracket, top 4 seeds remain the same
The top four seeds remain unchanged on the College Football Playoff bracket based on The Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday, but three of the four first-round matchups would change and Memphis returned as the Group of Five representative. Only slight alterations were required on the mock bracket because the...
Tennis-Sinner fights back to beat Zverev and claim second Vienna Open title
VIENNA - Italian top seed Jannik Sinner produced a spirited comeback to defeat Germany’s Alexander Zverev 3-6 6-3 7-5 in the Vienna Open final on Sunday, securing his fourth ATP Tour title of the season and his second triumph in Austria’s capital. Sinner, who beat Zverev in straight sets at...
Sports betting is a booming business. The FBI’s NBA probe is putting it in the spotlight
NEW YORK — The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people, including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures, on charges of illegal sports betting has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of professional sports gambling across the U.S. Since widespread legalization,...
Mafia-backed sports betting scandal involves NBA coach, star player
NEW YORK — The head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and a player for the Miami Heat were arrested Thursday along with more than 30 other people in two cases alleging sprawling criminal schemes to rake in millions by rigging sports bets and poker games involving Mafia families, authorities...
Franklin Regional grad Nico Megaludis returning to mat in Real American Freestyle league
Nico Megaludis was comfortable being done with wrestling. But the Franklin Regional graduate wasn’t anticipating the Real American Freestyle league gaining steam since he retired this past May. After a few weeks off the mat, Megaludis was back to training. He was excited with what they had to offer and...
Chase Briscoe scores overtime win in NASCAR playoffs at Talladega
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe roared to victory in overtime Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Round of 8 middle playoff race, the YellaWood 500, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. The No. 19 driver moved below leader Bubba Wallace on the backstretch and beat Todd Gilliland by 0.145 seconds...
McDowell earns pole for crucial NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Michael McDowell might be competing for a new team this year, but the Spire Motorsports driver still proved himself one of the fastest at a superspeedway. He earned pole position for Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. McDowell turned in a lap of 182.466 mph in the...
Denny Hamlin charges to emotional 60th Cup win at Las Vegas, secures spot in NASCAR finale
LAS VEGAS — Denny Hamlin became the first driver to lock up a spot in NASCAR’s championship-deciding finale, winning Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for his career-goal 60th Cup Series triumph. Hamlin, considered the best driver in NASCAR history to never win a Cup title, is back in the...
Aces flip odds to cap season comeback for the ages with WNBA title
NEW YORK — The Las Vegas Aces flipped the odds to lift their third WNBA championship in four years Friday, sweeping the Phoenix Mercury in four games to put a golden finish on a season that once appeared to be a bust. A’ja Wilson earned her second Finals MVP honor...
NASCAR’s great 8 looking to strike it rich in Vegas
And then there were eight. After the NASCAR Cup Series trimmed a starting group of championship chasers from 16 to a dozen, the field was slashed to eight last weekend at the Charlotte Roval — three Toyotas, three Chevrolets and a pair of Fords. Half of the remaining drivers have...
