SWIMMING
McKeown on a record roll
Kaylee McKeown on Saturday smashed a second world record in as many days, with the star Australian swimmer bettering her own 100m backstroke mark. The 22-year-old touched in 57.33 seconds at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Budapest to shave 0.12 seconds off the time she set in Adelaide before the Tokyo Olympic Games. McKeown now has the five fastest times in history as she builds up to next year’s Paris Olympics. The new mark comes a day after she clocked 26.86 seconds for a new 50m backstroke world record, improving on the previous best of 26.98 seconds set by China’s Liu Xiang in 2018. That made her the first woman ever to hold world records in all three backstroke disciplines and the first swimmer since the US’ Lenny Krayzelburg set all three men’s marks in 1999. “No, I honestly didn’t think about swimming a world record,” McKeown said after her 100m exploit. “I was really relaxed coming into tonight. I tend to swim better when I go out a bit faster, I am trying to learn to swim a bit sharper... I’m happy that some of the things we are trying are working.”
SKATEBOARDING
Teen wins gold in Santiago
Brazil’s 15-year-old skateboarding sensation Rayssa Leal, one of the favorites to win a gold medal in the street event at the Paris Olympics next year, won her first Pan American Games crown on Saturday. The sport is debuting in the largest multisport event on the continent. The teen has become one of the biggest names in the sport since she won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She showcased her board flips, slides and grinds to score a total of 236.98 points in Santiago. Her compatriot and friend, Pamela Rosa, finished with the silver medal, 25 points behind. The US’ Paige Heyn, another 15-year-old, won the bronze . Dressed in black, Leal looked effortless throughout the competition, spending more time on her cellphone than watching her adversaries. A different scenario awaits her in Paris, with her most likely rival being once again 16-year-old Momiji Nishiya of Japan, the gold medalist at the sport’s Olympic debut in Tokyo. “This does help me get more confidence for Paris,” Leal said. “The Olympics and the Pan American Games are different from the tournaments I usually compete. It is less about being playful. Being here today helps me prepare better for what is to come next year.”
ICE HOCKEY
Vegas break Cup record
Nicolas Roy, Mark Stone and Paul Cotter scored in the third period, as the undefeated Vegas Golden Knights beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 on Saturday night. The Golden Knights became the first Stanley Cup champions to begin their title defense with six consecutive victories. “We’re playing good hockey,” Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “We have some stretches where we don’t like our games, but we’re finding ways to win.” William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault also scored for Vegas, who extended their franchise-record start. Adin Hill made 21 saves. “We knew after two periods that we were going to have to be better if we expected to win, and I thought we responded well,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. Connor Bedard, Reese Johnson and Corey Perry scored for Chicago, while Arvid Soderblom made 19 stops.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
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