RUGBY UNION
Man prosecuted for abuse
World Rugby hailed “a landmark outcome” after a man in Australia was prosecuted for sending threatening and abusive messages online to a match official and his wife during last year’s World Cup in France. The man, identified by Australian media as Aaron Isaia, a 22-year-old youth worker from Brisbane, on Monday pleaded guilty to an online harassment charge and was handed a A$1,000 (US$662) good behavior bond. He would also be banned from all World Rugby events. “World Rugby welcomes this landmark outcome,” chief executive Alan Gilpin said in a statement. “The vile and toxic abuse is an all-too-common occurrence for many sports men and women and public figures. We hope that this sends a very strong message to online trolls that such behavior is totally unacceptable and that the sport and the authorities are prepared to take action.”
TENNIS
Djokovic oldest ranked No. 1
Novak Djokovic has surpassed another tennis record once held by Roger Federer, becoming the oldest man to be ranked No. 1 in the ATP Tour’s computerized rankings. Djokovic, who turns 37 next month, is now older than Federer was on his last day atop the rankings in June 2018. Monday gives Djokovic 420 total weeks at that spot, extending another mark Federer (who was there for 310 weeks) had at one time before Djokovic broke it.
ATHLETICS
NAIA restricts trans women
The US National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) on Monday banned transgender women from competing in women’s sports, taking a more hardline stance than other athletic bodies that allow trans athletes to compete based on testosterone levels. The NAIA, representing mostly small colleges, is less influential than the larger National Collegiate Athletic Association, but its decision carries political weight in the wider US debate about transgender rights. “Only NAIA student-athletes whose biological sex is female may participate in NAIA-sponsored female sports,” the association said in its policy. Female athletes who have begun masculinizing hormone therapy may participate in internal workouts, practices and team activities, but are banned from external competition. Any eligible athlete may participate in men’s sports, it said. Meanwhile, World Netball banned transgender players from international competition with immediate effect under a new participation and inclusion policy issued on Monday. The global governing body of what has traditionally been, and remains at an international level, a women’s sport said it had undergone a lengthy consultation before issuing the policy.
OLYMPICS
Eiffel Tower to bear rings
The Olympic rings are to be displayed on the Eiffel Tower during the Paris Games, the company that manages the monument and the organizing committee of the Games said on Monday. The five rings representing the five continents and the universal nature of sport are to be installed in the next few weeks on the side of the tower that faces the river Seine, said Jean-Francois Martins, the head of the tower’s managing company Sete. Le Parisien said the rings would be situated between the first and second levels.
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
Sumo is walking a “tightrope” as it prepares to stage events outside Japan for the first time in 20 years while also trying to preserve its ancient traditions, experts say. The sport is to hold exhibition tournaments in London in October and in Paris in June next year, the first time the Japan Sumo Association has been abroad since Las Vegas in 2005. Sports such as soccer, baseball and football play domestic games overseas in a bid to gain new fans in emerging markets. John Gunning, a former amateur sumo wrestler who commentates on the sport in English on Japanese television, says its
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday poured in 35 points as the Thunder grabbed a bounce-back 118-108 victory in Portland to push their NBA-best record to 37-8. The Thunder, surprised by the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, fended off a late surge from the Trail Blazers to snap their four-game winning streak. Jalen Williams scored 24 points and Isaiah Joe added 16 off the bench. Center Isaiah Hartenstein, back after a five-game absence with a calf injury, added 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a big block. The Western Conference leaders were under pressure late as Portland, trailing by 15 heading
The Golden State Warriors on Wednesday withstood Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 52-point outburst to beat the Western Conference leading Thunder 116-109. Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and Warriors superstar Stephen Curry scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half as Golden State erased a double-digit deficit and pulled away late for the victory. “We just stayed solid,” said Curry, who entered the contest mired in a shooting slump and had just four points on one basket in the first half. “Just all-around effort.” The Thunder, fueled by 31 first-half points from Gilgeous-Alexander, led by as many as 14 in the
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