OLYMPICS
US confident about Paris
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is confident in the security measures planned for next year’s Paris Games, said Sarah Hirshland, the governing body’s chief executive officer. French Minister of Sports Amelie Oudea-Castera on Monday said that there is no “plan B” for the Games’ opening ceremony, days after a man armed with a knife and a hammer killed a German tourist and left two people wounded near the Eiffel Tower. The attack occurred on the Quai de Grenelle — a spot also included in the plans for the opening ceremony of the July 26 to Aug. 11 Games. Hirshland said that the USOPC was in close contact with French officials and that athlete safety was their top priority. “Our governments are aligned, we have a pretty robust security effort under way and we will continue to have that in place,” Hirshland told reporters. “I would tell you that at this point, while everybody is extraordinarily conscious of the environment in which we are all living and operating today, we have confidence that those conversations are satisfactory and that the plans are in place that need to be in place.”
SOCCER
Copa draw announced
Defending Copa America champions Argentina and South American heavyweights Brazil on Thursday were drawn in favorable groups for next year’s tournament, while hosts the US face 15-time winners Uruguay. FIFA World Cup winners Argentina are to begin the tournament at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 20 with a Group A match against Canada or Trinidad and Tobago, who are to meet in a CONCACAF playoff in March. Argentina also face Peru and Chile. Nine-time winners Brazil, runners-up at the previous tournament, have been drawn in Group D with Colombia and Paraguay, as well as another CONCACAF qualifier, either Honduras or Costa Rica. The U.S. face Bolivia and Panama in their first two Group C matches before taking on heavy-hitters Uruguay, who are tied with Argentina for the most Copa titles. CONCACAF Gold Cup winners Mexico are in Group B alongside Jamaica, Venezuela and Ecuador.
TENNIS
Kyrgios launches OnlyFans
Tennis pro Nick Kyrgios is setting up a free-to-access OnlyFans page. The 28-year-old Australian, who was runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last year, was sidelined by injuries for nearly all of this season. The plan to interact with the public on OnlyFans was announced on Thursday via a news release and confirmed by Evolve, a talent management agency that represents Kyrgios. He is one of the most prominent male athletes to join the platform. “They are revolutionizing social media and I wanted to be a part of that. Athletes can no longer just show up on the court or the field. We have to show up online too. I want to create, produce, direct and own content. That’s the future,” Kyrgios was quoted as saying in the announcement. London-based OnlyFans is a subscription site where people can pay creators for photographs and videos. It includes sexually explicit content, something Kyrgios said he would not be posting. “Nick is a disruptor, so it’s great to see him joining our platform, finding new ways to share his content and express himself,” OnlyFans chief executive officer Keily Blair said in the news release.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
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