OLYMPICS
Triathlete not afraid of Seine
Australian triathlete Matt Hauser said he would gladly swim in the Seine during the Paris Games, despite water quality concerns, after a sewer problem last year led to the cancelation of a pre-Olympics swimming event, along with the swimming legs of triathlon and Para triathlon events. Hauser, who won a triathlon bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, said the Seine held no fears for him. “To be honest, for me, I’d swim in anything to try and get a medal,” the 26-year-old said in comments published yesterday by the Sydney Morning Herald. “Give me a swig of Coca-Cola and some Gastro-Stop tablets and just put me in there.” Several French officials have promised to take a dip in the Seine before the Olympics to show the water is safe, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
BASKETBALL
Clark eyes US$28m Nike deal
Caitlin Clark, the most prolific scorer in NCAA Division I history and the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft, is to continue her association with Nike by signing a US$28 million contract that spans eight years and includes a signature shoe. The Wall Street Journal and The Athletic reported the pending deal, citing unnamed people familiar with the negotiations between the sportswear giant and Clark’s agents. The new deal would be the richest sponsorship contract for a women’s basketball player. Under Armour and Adidas also participated in contract discussions with Clark’s team in February, the reports said. Puma also showed some interest, but walked away when told the bidding would start at US$3 million per year, the Wall Street Journal said.
GYMNASTICS
US to pay Nassar victims
The US Department of Justice has reached a US$138.7 million civil settlement with hundreds of victims of former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who is serving a prison sentence for sexually abusing athletes under his care, the agency said on Tuesday. The settlement resolves claims the FBI botched the initial investigation into Nassar, it said. “These allegations should have been taken seriously from the outset,” US Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said in a statement. The settlement resolves 139 separate claims, the department said. The women accused the FBI of failing to act on evidence it received in 2015, allowing Nassar to continue sexually abusing young women and girls until he was charged in 2016.
SOCCER
Juventus slides into Cup final
Arkadiusz Milik’s late strike on Tuesday helped Juventus reach the Coppa Italia final with a 3-2 aggregate win over SS Lazio, despite losing a tense second leg 2-1. Nursing a 2-0 first-leg win, Juventus found themselves 2-0 down on the night and completely dominated as Lazio made a fight of it with a brace of goals from Valentin Castellanos. However, late Juventus substitute Milik scored with his first touch on 83 minutes to settle Juve’s nerves and the two-legged semi with a prod-in. The Turin side is to play either Atalanta BC or ACF Fiorentina in the May 15 final. “We suffered against a good side, so we’re happy to be in the final,” Polish striker Milik said. “We know we have to play better in the final, and we know we can play better.”
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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