CAMDEN, N.J. — Joel Embiid and Paul George will each miss a fifth straight game with left knee injuries when the Philadelphia 76ers host Memphis on Saturday night.
The oft-injured Embiid has yet to play this season, though he was a full participant at Friday’s practice, including in 5-on-5 scrimmages with the team. George, who also has yet to play this season with a bone bruise on his left knee, also participated in the full practice and scrimmaged with the Sixers.
Embiid skipped the entire preseason and has not played any basketball that matters since he helped Team USA win gold in the Paris Olympics.
Embiid has officially been out with what the 76ers call left knee management. He was limited to 39 games last season, mostly because of knee surgery after tearing the meniscus in his left knee on Jan. 30 against Golden State.
“Everybody has been on the same page,” Embiid said at the 76ers’ New Jersey complex. “If your body doesn’t react well, and if your body tells you one thing (sit out). I’ve done it. From what I can tell you, I’ve broken my face twice, I came back early with the risk of losing my vision. I have broken fingers. I still came back. When I see people say he doesn’t want to play, I’ve done way too much for this city, putting myself at risk for people to be saying that.”
Embiid’s absence from the season opener raised suspicion in the NBA, and the league on Tuesday fined the team $100,000 for public statements, including by president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and by coach Nick Nurse, that were inconsistent with Embiid’s health status and in violation of NBA rules, including the league’s player participation policy. It found the participation policy was not violated.
Embiid was the No. 3 pick in the 2014 draft but missed his first two full seasons with injuries. Since his first full season in 2016, Embiid has played in 433 of a possible 805 regular-season games and only 59 of 67 possible playoff games.
Embiid sprained his right knee in the 2023 playoffs, which cost him games against Brooklyn and Boston. He missed two games in the second round in 2022 and another in the first round in 2021 with various injuries, on top of the two he missed to begin the 2018 playoffs with an orbital fracture and another in 2019, also with a knee problem.
“I wish I was as lucky as other ones,” Embiid said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not trying and I’m not doing whatever it takes to try to be out there, which I’m going to be here pretty soon.”
Embiid added he does not regret playing in the Olympics. He could return for the Sixers’ three-game West Coast swing, which starts Monday against Phoenix.
“I think really it’s being comfortable, trusting it,” Embiid said. “I want to be at my best. I don’t want to be in a situation where I’m like, I’m afraid if I do something or whatever (I get hurt again). I mentioned it since my last surgery, it was probably the toughest mentally. Mentally I’m just dealing with getting that trust back. In the past, it was just easy.”
Former skateboarder and Olympic snowboarder Shaun White and actor Nina Dobrev are getting married.
White’s publicist Jennifer Peros confirmed the engagement Wednesday.
White popped the question last weekend at The Golden Swan, a New York restaurant and presented Dobrev with a five-carat diamond ring.
Peros created a fake invite for a small dinner with Anna Wintour that she sent to Dobrev as a ruse to get her to the location. When Dobrev arrived, White was waiting with a photographer. After the proposal, the pair were joined by friends to celebrate.
White turned pro at skateboarding as a teen. He has competed in and won at the X Games in both skateboarding and snowboarding and is a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding. He retired from snowboarding after the 2022 Olympics and remains the record-holder for most gold medals won by a snowboarder.
Dobrev is best-known for her role as Elena Gilbert on “The Vampire Diaries.”
The couple met at a Tony Robbins event in 2019 and dated for five years. This will be the first marriage for both.
Today is Tuesday, Oct. 22, the 296th day of 2024. There are 70 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Oct. 22, 2012, cyclist Lance Armstrong was formally stripped of his seven Tour de France victories and received a lifetime ban from Olympic sports after the International Cycling Union chose not to appeal doping charges against Armstrong by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
Also on this date:
In 1836, Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas.
In 1928, Republican presidential nominee Herbert Hoover spoke of the “American system of rugged individualism” in a speech at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
In 1934, bank robber Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd was shot to death by federal agents and local police at a farm near East Liverpool, Ohio.
In 1962, in a nationally broadcast address, President John F. Kennedy revealed the presence of Soviet-built missile bases under construction in Cuba and announced a naval blockade of all offensive military equipment being shipped to the Communist island nation.
In 1968, Apollo 7 returned safely from Earth orbit, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.
In 1995, the largest gathering of world leaders in history marked the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.
In 2014, a gunman shot and killed a soldier standing guard at a war memorial in Ottawa, then stormed the Canadian Parliament building before he himself was shot and killed.
In 2016, the Chicago Cubs won their first pennant since 1945, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. (The Cubs would go on to beat Cleveland in the World Series in seven games.)
Today’s birthdays: Black Panthers co-founder Bobby Seale is 88. Actors Christopher Lloyd and Derek Jacobi are 86. Actor Tony Roberts is 85. Actor Catherine Deneuve is 81. Physician and author Deepak Chopra is 78. Actor Jeff Goldblum is 72. Actor-comedian Bob Odenkirk is 62. Olympic gold medal figure skater Brian Boitano is 61. Country singer Shelby Lynne and reggae deejay and singer Shaggy are 56. Film director Spike Jonze is 55. Argentine President Javier Milei is 54. Former MLB All-Star Ichiro Suzuki is 51. Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson is 49. Actor Corey Hawkins is 36. Actor Jonathan Lipnicki is 34. Rapper 21 Savage is 32.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
PITTSBURGH — PITTSBURGH (AP) — Simone Biles simply wanted to mix it up when the gymnastics superstar invited some of the top American men to join her post-Olympic Tour.
“Bringing the guys on board was designed to show what men’s gymnastics has to offer,” Biles said. “And I just think that over the years, we kind of know the guys, but we don’t really know them, know them.”
The co-ed nature of the second iteration of the Gold Over America Tour — a not-so-subtle nod to Biles’ status as the greatest gymnast of all time — has given the show a different energy than the first, which was entirely female-centric.
Biles praised Richard and company for getting out of their comfort zone and leaning into the performative aspect of the show, which required a lengthy string of 12-hour practice days to prepare.
“We took a risk by bringing the guys on board,” Biles said. “But the outcome has been absolutely amazing. And you have the kids in the crowd chanting ‘Ian! Ian!’ ‘Fredrick! Fredrick!’ and that’s just so cool.”
The 20-year-old Richard’s long-term goal has always been to make men’s gymnastics matter, a daunting proposition in an era when support at the NCAA Division I level — the prime feeder into the U.S. Olympic program — has never been more tenuous.
There is an urgency to turn the splash of notoriety the men earned in Paris into something more sustainable. There have been early signs of progress, most notably an influx of young boys across the country rushing to join their local gym.
It’s a start. So is spending two months barnstorming from coast to coast — the show hits Philadelphia on Friday and New York on Saturday — with newly minted bronze medals on their resume and a tacit endorsement from the face of the U.S. Olympic movement, particularly because their inclusion feels earned.
“It doesn’t really feel like we are ‘the pity case,’” Richard said. “It feels like (we) are on the same standard (as the women).”
That’s by design, and also a nod to Biles’ considerable influence. The 27-year-old has reached the level of stardom where everything she does — from watching her husband Jonathan Owens play for the Chicago Bears to what she shares on social media — can become news, whether that’s her intention or not.
“I know if we do something, the attention will be there,” she said. “But I kind of just ignore it and just go day by day. But I am aware that the attention that it does bring.”
The 11-time Olympic medalist and first two-time all-around champion in more than five decades is taking her time before making any firm decisions about her athletic future. For now, she is focused on letting herself relax and enjoy this chapter of her life before moving on to the next one.
“I got to go to the U.S. Open (tennis tournament),” she said. “I got to go to my first WNBA game. It’s like supporting people who have supported me, which has been really exciting because usually we don’t have that time. And now that I have more time on my hands, it’s been really fun.”
She and Owens are planning to move into a home they built in the northern Houston suburbs later this fall. She is lending her image, her likeness and her foodie sensibilities to the “Taste of Gold” restaurant scheduled to open at Houston Intercontinental Airport early next year. She might even revisit the “ Daring Simone Biles ” series that initially premiered in the summer of 2022.
Biles would also like to return to the Olympics, or at least the Winter Olympics, after chatting up skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin. Just don’t expect Biles to snap on a pair of skis and follow Shiffrin down the mountain.
“I can’t stand the cold. I mean I have hand warmers right now in each pocket,” Biles said with a laugh while pulling one out of the left pocket of her jacket as proof. “They’re like, ‘You have to go to a Winter Olympics.’ And I’m like ‘Do they have (luxury) boxes?’ Because, you know, if they want to put me in a luxury box where it’ll be warm, that’d be great.”
TOKYO — The International Olympic Committee’s three major Japanese sponsors — Toyota, Panasonic and Bridgestone — are terminating their contracts.
This leaves the IOC without a Japanese sponsor with the focus now expected to shift to the Middle East and India for new sponsorship income.
Japanese sponsors have turned away from the Olympics, likely related to the one-year delay in holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The delay reduced sponsors’ visibility with fans not allowed to attend competition venues, increased costs, and unearthed a myriad of corruption scandals around the Games.
The three are among 15 of the so-called TOP Olympic sponsors. The 15 paid a total of more than $2 billion to the IOC in the last four-year Olympic cycle.
Toyota Motor Corp. confirmed it would not not renew its sponsorship after the Paris Games, which closed in August.
Chairman Akio Toyoda told a meeting of U.S. dealerships last month that the IOC’s goals didn’t match the automaker’s vision.
“Honestly, I’m not sure they (IOC) are truly focused on putting people first. For me, the Olympics should simply be about watching athletes from all walks of life with all types of challenges achieve their impossible,” Toyoda said in English.
Toyoda promised to continue to financially support individual Olympic and Paralympic athletes, as well as the Paralympics Games.
Toyota had a contract reported to be valued at $835 million, the IOC’s largest when it was announced in 2015. It included four Olympics beginning with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games in South Korea and ran through to the just-completed Paris Olympics and Paralympics.
The IOC TOP sponsors are: ABInBev, Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyota, and Visa.
Tiremaker Bridgestone Corp., an Olympic sponsor since 2014, said this week it was not renewing its deal with the IOC after it ends this year.
“The decision comes after an evaluation of the company’s evolving corporate brand strategy and its recommitment to more endemic global motorsports platforms,” the Tokyo-based company said in a statement.
Electronics giant Panasonic Corp., an IOC sponsor from 1987, said last month it was terminating its sponsorship and did not give a reason. The decision came after “reviews how sponsorship should evolve.”
The Tokyo Games were mired in corruption scandals linked to local sponsorships and the awarding of contracts. Dentsu Inc, the huge Japanese marketing and public relations company, was the marketing arm of the Tokyo Olympics and raised a record-$3.3 billion in local sponsorship money.
This is separate from TOP sponsors.
French prosecutors also looked into alleged vote-buying in the IOC’s decision in 2013 to pick Tokyo as the host for the 2020 Summer Games.
The IOC had income of $7.6 billion in the last four-year cycle ending with the Tokyo Games. Figures have not been released yet for the cycle ending with the Paris Olympics.
The IOC’s TOP sponsors paid over $2 billion in that period. The figure may reach $3 billion in the next cycle.
Japan officially spent $13 billion on the Tokyo Olympics, at least half of which was public money. A government audit suggested the real cost was twice that. The IOC contribution was about $1.8 billion.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — As the first St. Lucian to win an Olympic medal, sprinter Julien Alfred already has poems, paintings and even a calypso song dedicated to her.
On Tuesday, officials announced that Sept. 27 would be Julien Alfred Day, as the 23-year-old known as “JuJu” returned home to the eastern Caribbean island where she once ran barefoot as a child.
“I’m truly lost for words,” she told Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre and other government officials who gathered to celebrate her before organizing a motorcade for thousands of impatient fans waiting outside, some of whom came from as far away as London.
The gold medal that Alfred won in the 100-meter sprint at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the silver medal she earned in the 200-meter sprint hung around her neck.
She thanked her mother, the government, her coach and others, including “my village.”
“So many people have guided me along the way and helped me to get to this point,” she said as her voice broke. “It didn’t come easy. It was truly a rocky road. Many days I just wanted to give up.”
Alfred quit running when she was around 12 years old after her father died. Her coach convinced her to run again and then she moved to Jamaica as a teenager to train. At the University of Texas she became a multiple NCAA champion.
On Tuesday afternoon, fire-breathing dancers greeted Alfred as she prepared to climb into a blue sports car to start the motorcade. Fans high-fived her and requested selfies, with one young girl handing her a tennis shoe for an autograph as she smiled shyly.
“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” yelled security as they tried to get Alfred into the car.
With a large St. Lucia flag draped on her back, Alfred waved and blew kisses to people lined up to greet her.
“Come on out, St. Lucia, let’s wave and join this celebratory moment!” said one woman who was narrating a live video of the motorcade as calypso music blared.
Gathered along the road were elderly people, young fathers holding babies and a group of schoolgirls in brown uniforms who chanted “JuJu! JuJu!” as they giggled and gathered around her for a hug as the motorcade slowed down.
Another woman shouted, “Love from Jamaica, my gyal!”
The hourslong motorcade wound its way through lush green mountains as the sky turned a soft pink. A group of motorcycle riders on the side of the road revved their engines for Alfred, while a fire station activated its siren as she rode past. Assistants provided Alfred with water and eye drops as she continued to greet people, rarely dropping her arms as fans crowded the motorcade, including one man waving a large palm frond.
When she reached her hometown of Ciceron, Alfred got out of the car and hugged the crowd waiting for her in the rain.
Prior to winning two Olympic medals, Alfred won a gold medal in the 60 meters at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, also a first for St. Lucia.
At the Olympics, she ran the 100-meter race in 10.72 seconds, beating favorite Sha’Carri Richardson and dedicating the win to her father.
“He believed I could be an Olympian. That I can be here,” Alfred said at the time.
Earlier this month, Alfred also won the women’s 100 meters during the Diamond League final 2024 athletics meet in Brussels.
The celebration for Alfred on the island of 238 square miles (617 square kilometers) is expected to continue for at least two more days, with a rally scheduled for Wednesday and a visit to a primary school on Thursday.
T.C. Brown, a local songwriter and producer, told the St. Lucia Times last week that he was inspired to write “Merci JuJu” in her honor.
He was quoted as saying that at the time of the win, everyone was saying, ‘Thank you, Julien Alfred. But, he said, referring to a local dialect, “Kwéyòl has a much sweeter way of expressing the message.”
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — American gymnast Jordan Chiles is asking Switzerland’s Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that stripped Chiles of a bronze medal in floor exercise at the 2024 Olympics.
Chiles, with the support of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and USA Gymnastics, filed the appeal on Monday, a little over a month after CAS voided an on-floor appeal by Chiles’ coach Cecile Landi during the event finals on Aug. 5 that vaulted Chiles from fifth to third.
CAS, following a hearing requested by Romanian officials, ruled Landi’s appeal came 4 seconds beyond the 1-minute time limit for scoring inquiries and recommended the initial finishing order be restored. The International Gymnastics Federation complied and the International Olympic Committee ended up awarding bronze to Romanian Ana Barbosu on Aug. 16.
Chiles’ appeal maintains that the CAS hearing violated her “right to be heard” by refusing to allow video evidence that Chiles and USA Gymnastics believe showed Landi appealed within the 1-minute time allotment. Chiles’ appeal also argues that Hamid G. Gharavi, president of the CAS panel, has a conflict of interest due to past legal ties to Romania.
USA Gymnastics wrote in a statement Monday night that it made a “collective, strategic decision to have Jordan lead the initial filing. USAG is closely coordinating with Jordan and her legal team and will make supportive filings with the court in the continued pursuit of justice for Jordan.”
The appeal is the next step in what could be a months- or years-long legal battle over the gymnastics scores.
Chiles was last among the eight women to compete during the floor exercise finals initially given a score of 13.666 that placed her fifth, right behind Barbosu and fellow Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea. Landi called for an inquiry on Chiles’ score.
“At this point, we had nothing to lose, so I was like ‘We’re just going to try,’” Landi said after the awards ceremony. “I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen, but when I heard her scream, I turned around and was like ‘What?’”
Judges awarded the appeal, leapfrogging Chiles past Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea for the last spot on the podium.
Romanian officials appealed to CAS on several fronts while also asking a bronze medal be awarded to Chiles, Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea. The FIG and the IOC ultimately gave the bronze to Barbosu, who beat her teammate on a tiebreaker because she produced a higher execution score during her routine.
GENEVA — Two former Olympic champions are in the race to be the next IOC president. So is a prince of a Middle East kingdom and the son of a former president. The global leaders of cycling, gymnastics and skiing also are in play.
The International Olympic Committee published a list Monday of seven would-be candidates who are set to run for election in March to succeed outgoing president Thomas Bach for the next eight years.
Just one woman, IOC executive board member Kirsty Coventry from Zimbabwe, entered the contest to lead an organization that has had only male presidents in its 130-year history. Eight of those presidents were from Europe and one from the United States.
Coventry and Sebastian Coe are two-time gold medalists in swimming and running, respectively. Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan is also on the IOC board.
Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. of Spain is one of the four IOC vice presidents, whose father was president for 21 years until 2001.
David Lappartient is the president of cycling’s governing body, Morinari Watanabe leads gymnastics, and Johan Eliasch is president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. Coe is the president of track’s World Athletics.
All seven met a deadline of Sunday to send a letter of intent to Bach, who must leave the post next year after reaching the maximum 12 years in office. Bach declined at the Paris Olympics last month to seek to change IOC rules in order to stay in office longer.
A formal candidate list should be confirmed in January, three months before the March 18-21 election meeting in Greece, near the site of Ancient Olympia.
Only IOC members are eligible to stand as candidates, with votes cast by the rest of the 111-strong membership of the Olympic body.
The IOC is one of the most exclusive clubs in world sports. Its members are drawn from European and Middle East royalty, leaders of international sports bodies, former and current Olympic athletes, politicians and diplomats plus industrialists, including some billionaires like Eliasch.
It makes for one of the most discreet and quirky election campaigns in world sports, with members prevented from publicly endorsing their pick.
Campaign limits on the candidates include a block on publishing videos, organizing public meetings and taking part in public debates. The IOC will organize a closed-door meeting for candidates to address voters in January in its home city Lausanne, Switzerland.
The IOC top job ideally calls for deep knowledge of managing sports, understanding athletes’ needs and nimble skills in global politics.
The president oversees an organization that earns billions of dollars in revenue from broadcasting and sponsor deals for the Olympic Games and employs hundreds of staff in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Coe has been widely considered the most qualified candidate. A two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500-meters, he was later an elected lawmaker in Britain in the 1990s, led the 2012 London Olympics organizing committee and has presided at World Athletics for nine years.
However, he has potential legal hurdles regarding his ability to serve a full eight-year mandate. The IOC has an age limit of 70 for members, while Coe will be 68 on election day. The rules allow for a special exemption to remain for four more years, but that would mean a six-year presidency unless those limits are changed.
Coventry, who turned 41 Monday, also has government experience as the appointed sports minister in Zimbabwe.
The only woman ever to stand as an IOC presidential candidate was Anita DeFrantz, a former Olympic rower from the United States. She was eliminated in the first round of voting in a five-candidate election in 2001, which was won by Jacques Rogge.
Lappartient also is president of France’s national Olympic body and has carried strong momentum from the Paris Summer Games. He leads a French Alps project that was picked to host the 2030 Winter Games and was picked by Bach to oversee a long-term project sealed in Paris that will see Saudi Arabia hosting the Esports Olympic Games through 2035.
Eliasch is perhaps the most surprising candidate after being elected as an IOC member in Paris less than two months ago. The Swedish-British owner of the Head sportswear brand got 17 “no” votes, a notably high number in Olympic politics.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The actor in the viral music video denouncing the 2024 Olympics looks a lot like French President Emmanuel Macron. The images of rats, trash and the sewage, however, were dreamed up by artificial intelligence.
Portraying Paris as a crime-ridden cesspool, the video mocking the Games spread quickly on social media platforms like YouTube and X, helped on its way by 30,000 social media bots linked to a notorious Russian disinformation group that has set its sights on France before. Within days, the video was available in 13 languages, thanks to quick translation by AI.
“Paris, Paris, 1-2-3, go to Seine and make a pee,” taunts an AI-enhanced singer as the faux Macron actor dances in the background, seemingly a reference to water quality concerns in the Seine River where some competitions are taking place.
Moscow is making its presence felt during the Paris Games, with groups linked to Russia’s government using online disinformation and state propaganda to spread incendiary claims and attack the host country — showing how global events like the Olympics are now high-profile targets for online disinformation and propaganda.
Over the weekend, disinformation networks linked to the Kremlin seized on a divide over Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who has faced unsubstantiated questions about her gender. Baseless claims that she is a man or transgender surfaced after a controversial boxing association with Russian ties said she failed an opaque eligibility test before last year’s world boxing championships.
Russian networks amplified the debate, which quickly became a trending topic online. British news outlets, author J.K. Rowling and right-wing politicians like Donald Trump added to the deluge. At its height late last week, X users were posting about the boxer tens of thousands of times per hour, according to an analysis by PeakMetrics, a cyber firm that tracks online narratives.
The boxing group at the root of the claims — the International Boxing Association — has been permanently barred from the Olympics, has a Russian president who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and its biggest sponsor is the state energy company Gazprom. Questions also have surfaced about its decision to disqualify Khelif last year after she had beaten a Russian boxer.
Approving only a small number of Russian athletes to compete as neutrals and banning them from team sports following the invasion of Ukraine all but guaranteed the Kremlin’s response, said Gordon Crovitz, co-founder of NewsGuard, a firm that analyzes online misinformation. NewsGuard has tracked dozens of examples of disinformation targeting the Paris Games, including the fake music video.
Russia’s disinformation campaign targeting the Olympics stands out for its technical skill, Crovitz said.
“What’s different now is that they are perhaps the most advanced users of generative AI models for malign purposes: fake videos, fake music, fake websites,” he said.
AI can be used to create lifelike images, audio and video, rapidly translate text and generate culturally specific content that sounds and reads like it was created by a human. The once labor-intensive work of creating fake social media accounts or websites and writing conversational posts can now be done quickly and cheaply.
Another video amplified by accounts based in Russia in recent weeks claimed the CIA and U.S. State Department warned Americans not to use the Paris metro. No such warning was issued.
Russian state media has trumpeted some of the same false and misleading content. Instead of covering the athletic competitions, much of the coverage of the Olympics has focused on crime, immigration, litter and pollution.
One article in the state-run Sputnik news service summed it up: “These Paris ‘games’ sure are going swimmingly. Here’s an idea. Stop awarding the Olympics to the decadent, rotting west.”
Russia has used propaganda to disparage past Olympics, as it did when the then-Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. At the time, it distributed printed material to Olympic officials in Africa and Asia suggesting that non-white athletes would be hunted by racists in the U.S., according to an analysis from Microsoft Threat Intelligence, a unit within the technology company that studies malicious online actors.
Russia also has targeted past Olympic Games with cyberattacks.
“If they cannot participate in or win the Games, then they seek to undercut, defame, and degrade the international competition in the minds of participants, spectators, and global audiences,” analysts at Microsoft concluded.
A message left with the Russian government was not immediately returned on Monday.
Authorities in France have been on high alert for sabotage, cyberattacks or disinformation targeting the Games. A 40-year-old Russian man was arrested in France last month and charged with working for a foreign power to destabilize the European country ahead of the Games.
Other nations, criminal groups, extremist organizations and scam artists also are exploiting the Olympics to spread their own disinformation. Any global event like the Olympics — or a climate disaster or big election — that draws a lot of people online is likely to generate similar amounts of false and misleading claims, said Mark Calandra, executive vice president at CSC Digital Brand Services, a firm that tracks fraudulent activity online.
CSC’s researchers noticed a sharp increase in fake website domain names being registered ahead of the Olympics. In many cases, groups set up sites that appear to provide Olympic content, or sell Olympic merchandise.
Instead, they’re designed to collect information on the user. Sometimes it’s a scam artist looking to steal personal financial data. In others, the sites are used by foreign governments to collect information on Americans — or as a way to spread more disinformation.
“Bad actors look for these global events,” Calandra said. “Whether they’re positive events like the Olympics or more concerning ones, these people use everyone’s heightened awareness and interest to try to exploit them.”
GENEVA — In a move by the IOC that apparently could block Sebastian Coe as an expected presidential candidate, the Olympic governing body has clarified its complex election rules before a deadline Sunday to enter the race.
A letter seen Wednesday by The Associated Press was sent by the International Olympic Committee’s ethics commission to the 111 members, including Coe and several more likely candidates in the contest to succeed Thomas Bach next year.
Details in the two-page letter dated Monday specified reasons why the likes of Coe, the 67-year-old president of track governing body World Athletics, would seem unable to complete a full first IOC mandate of eight years.
The winning candidate must be a member of the IOC on election day, scheduled for March in Greece, “and during the entire duration of their term as IOC President,” the letter stated.
Coe’s IOC membership is conditional on being president of World Athletics, a role he must leave in 2027 on completing the maximum 12 years in office.
Another expected candidate, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who turns 65 in November, also could have legal issues with the standard age limit of 70 for members defined in the Olympic Charter rules book.
Members turning 70 can be extended only once for four more years, though such an approval for Coe by the IOC executive board also would still expire during a 2025-33 presidency.
The charter “makes no exceptions for the president, who is an IOC member under the same conditions as all the other members,” stated ethics commission chairman Ban Ki Moon, the former United Nations secretary general, who signed the Sept. 9 letter.
Coe is widely considered a most qualified candidate to next lead the IOC. A two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500-meters, he was later an elected lawmaker in Britain, led the 2012 London Olympics organizing committee and has presided at World Athletics for nine years.
The legal hurdles are stacking up just days before the IOC-set deadline for candidates to send a letter of intent to Bach, who will leave as president next year after reaching his 12-year term limit.
Kirsty Coventry, an Olympic gold medalist swimmer who is sports minister of Zimbabwe, and David Lappartient, the French president of cycling’s governing body, have seemed to have support from Bach in recent years.
Bach placed Lappartient to oversee a long-term project with Saudi Arabia, hosting the Esports Olympic Games, that was sealed in Paris.
Other candidates could include two of the four IOC vice presidents — Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba and Spaniard Samaranch, whose father was IOC president for 21 years until leaving in 2001.
Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan is a potential candidate who could be the first president in the IOC’s 130-year history from Asia or Africa.
The IOC top job ideally calls for deep knowledge of managing sports, understanding athletes’ needs and nimble skills in global politics.
However, Coe’s strong positions in sports politics — against Russia on state-backed doping and the invasion of Ukraine, plus awarding $50,000 cash prizes for Paris Olympics gold medals from track’s share of Olympic revenues — have clashed with the IOC and leaders of other sports bodies.
The letter signed by Ban also suggested a conflict of interest between holding two presidential roles, of the IOC and a sports governing body.
This conflict could be resolved, the letter said, by having a vote after the IOC presidential election “for a change of membership status.”
Britain, however, no longer has a quota space for another IOC member elected as an individual. That’s because Hugh Robertson, the government’s Olympics minister at the time of the 2012 Summer Games, was elected in Paris in July.
The IOC needs a new president only because Bach said in Paris last month he would not seek to stay on by changing the statutory maximum of 12 years for the position.
The IOC has had nine presidents in its 130-year history. All have been men and none were from Africa, Asia or Latin America.
The candidates must come from the IOC membership that comprises invited members including royalty from the Middle East and Europe, a current head of state — the Emir of Qatar — former diplomats and lawmakers, industrialists, and leaders of sports bodies and athletes.
TOKYO — Olympic sponsor Panasonic is terminating its contract with the IOC at the end of the year, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
Panasonic is one of 15 companies that are so-called TOP sponsors for the International Olympic Committee. It’s not known the value of the Panasonic sponsorship, but sponsors contribute more than $2 billion in a four-year cycle to the IOC.
In a statement, Panasonic said it became an IOC sponsor in 1987 and expanded to the Paralympics in 2014. It did not make clear why it was changing course and said only that is was related to continual “reviews how sponsorship should evolve.”
Two other Japanese companies are also among the IOC’s 15 leading sponsors. Toyota, which for several months has been reportedly ready to end its contract, was contacted Tuesday by The Associated Press but offered no new information.
“Toyota has been supporting the Olympic and Paralympic movements since 2015 and continues to do so,” Toyota said in a statement. “No announcement to suggest otherwise has been made by Toyota.”
Japanese sponsors seem to have turned away from the Olympics, likely related to the one-year delay in holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The COVID-19 delay reduced sponsors’ visibility with no fans allowed to attend competition venues, ran up the costs, and unearthed myriad corruption scandals around the Games.
Tiremaker Bridgestone told AP “nothing has been decided.”
Toyota had a contact valued at $835 million — reported to be the IOC’s largest when it was announced in 2015. It included four Olympics beginning with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games in South Korea and ran through the just-completed Paris Olympics and Paralympics.
Reports in Japan suggest Toyota may keep its Paralympic Olympic sponsorship.
The IOC TOP sponsors are: ABInBev, Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyoto, and Visa.
In a report several months ago by the Japanese news agency Kyodo, unnamed sources said Toyota was unhappy with how the IOC uses sponsorship money. It said the money was “not used effectively to support athletes and promote sports.”
Japan was once a major font to revenue, but increasingly the IOC has sought out sponsors from China, with increasing interest from the Middle East and India.
Japan officially spent $13 billion on the Tokyo Olympics, at least half of which was public money. A government audit suggested the real cost was twice that. The IOC contribution was about $1.8 billion.
The Tokyo Games were mired in corruption scandals linked to local sponsorships and the awarding of contracts. Dentsu Inc, the huge Japanese marketing and public relations company, was the marketing arm of the Tokyo Olympics and raised a record-$3.3 billion in local sponsorship money. This is separate from TOP sponsors.
French prosecutors also looked into alleged vote-buying in the IOC’s decision in 2013 to pick Tokyo as the host for the 2020 Summer Games.
The IOC had income of $7.6 billion in the last four-year cycle ending with the Tokyo Games. Figures have not been released yet for the cycle ending with the Paris Olympics.
The IOC’s TOP sponsors paid over $2 billion in that period. The figure is expected to reach $3 billion in the next cycle.
TOKYO — Olympic sponsor Panasonic is terminating its contract with the IOC at the end of the year, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
Panasonic is one of 15 companies that are so-called TOP sponsors for the International Olympic Committee. It’s not known the value of the Panasonic sponsorship, but sponsors contribute more than $2 billion in a four-year cycle to the IOC.
In a statement, Panasonic said it became an IOC sponsor in 1987 and expanded to the Paralympics in 2014. It did not make clear why it was changing course and said only that is was related to continual “reviews how sponsorship should evolve.”
Two other Japanese companies are also among the IOC’s 15 leading sponsors. Toyota, which for several months has been reportedly ready to end its contract, was contacted Tuesday by The Associated Press but offered no new information.
“Toyota has been supporting the Olympic and Paralympic movements since 2015 and continues to do so,” Toyota said in a statement. “No announcement to suggest otherwise has been made by Toyota.”
Japanese sponsors seem to have turned away from the Olympics, likely related to the one-year delay in holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The COVID-19 delay reduced sponsors’ visibility with no fans allowed to attend competition venues, ran up the costs, and unearthed myriad corruption scandals around the Games.
Tiremaker Bridgestone told AP “nothing has been decided.”
Toyota had a contact valued at $835 million — reported to be the IOC’s largest when it was announced in 2015. It included four Olympics beginning with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games in South Korea and ran through the just-completed Paris Olympics and Paralympics.
Reports in Japan suggest Toyota may keep its Paralympic Olympic sponsorship.
The IOC TOP sponsors are: ABInBev, Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyoto, and Visa.
In a report several months ago by the Japanese news agency Kyodo, unnamed sources said Toyota was unhappy with how the IOC uses sponsorship money. It said the money was “not used effectively to support athletes and promote sports.”
Japan was once a major font to revenue, but increasingly the IOC has sought out sponsors from China, with increasing interest from the Middle East and India.
Japan officially spent $13 billion on the Tokyo Olympics, at least half of which was public money. A government audit suggested the real cost was twice that. The IOC contribution was about $1.8 billion.
The Tokyo Games were mired in corruption scandals linked to local sponsorships and the awarding of contracts. Dentsu Inc, the huge Japanese marketing and public relations company, was the marketing arm of the Tokyo Olympics and raised a record-$3.3 billion in local sponsorship money. This is separate from TOP sponsors.
French prosecutors also looked into alleged vote-buying in the IOC’s decision in 2013 to pick Tokyo as the host for the 2020 Summer Games.
The IOC had income of $7.6 billion in the last four-year cycle ending with the Tokyo Games. Figures have not been released yet for the cycle ending with the Paris Olympics.
The IOC’s TOP sponsors paid over $2 billion in that period. The figure is expected to reach $3 billion in the next cycle.
PARIS (AP) — The final act of the Paralympics in Paris will be a giant dance party.
That’s a promise from Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening and closing ceremonies for this year’s Olympics and Paralympics.
Jolly says 24 DJs will perform thumping techno and dance music at the Stade de France on Sunday as the curtain falls on the 2024 Paralympics.
“We want to turn the Stade de France into the biggest dance floor to celebrate the end of the Paralympics,” Jolly told The Associated Press in an interview.
Much like during the Paralympic opening ceremony, which featured artists with disabilities and dancers using crutches or wheelchairs, the dance floor will be open for all.
“There will be choreographic sequences that will showcase the body,” Jolly said.
The closing ceremony marks the end of Paris’ Olympic and Paralympic journey. For Jolly, a 42-year-old theater director, it’s the final chapter of a busy summer.
Jolly directed the July 26 opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on the Seine River, which was widely praised but also met some criticism.
Some viewers thought a scene featuring French singer Philippe Katrine disguised as Bacchus, the deity of wine and celebration in the ancient Roman mythology, was a depiction of “The Last Supper,” a famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci that represents Jesus Christ’s last meal with his apostles. Critics considered that a mockery of the Catholic Church. Paris 2024 organizers said they were “sorry” if people took offense.
Though Jolly said his intention was not to mock religion, he and his family faced harassment on social media, including death threats and attacks based on his sexual orientation and wrongly assumed Israeli roots, prompting French authorities to open a hate speech investigation.
“I’ve been doing shows for 20 years, and I’ve had critics on all my theatrical productions,” Jolly said. “Criticism can please, it can hurt. That’s the job. But the attacks, the threats, the insults … that’s a different matter.”
Jolly, who received support from French political leaders including President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, said the controversy did not lead to any changes to the ceremonies that followed.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “Nothing was changed, and nothing should have been changed.”
He noted that all scenes were approved months in advance by the French government, the city of Paris and the International Olympic Committee.
A native of Rouen, Jolly moved to Paris to prepare for the Games, dedicating two and a half years to creating the ceremonies. Much of the preparation for the previous ceremonies took place at night or in remote locations, in an effort to maintain a degree of secrecy.
Preparations for Sunday’s closing ceremony are no different. With the Stade de France hosting Paralympic athletics competitions during the day, many of the rehearsals take place at night.
“I fully dedicated myself to the job,” Jolly said. “I did not celebrate anything yet, I did not party, I did not even had time to rewatch the ceremonies on TV.”
Jolly said he’s considering writing a book about his Olympic experience before returning to his roots in theater.
“I don’t think I’ll ever have an audience like that (of the Olympic opening ceremony) again in my life,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter. There are also important things that can happen in a 50-seat theater.”
PARIS — After an early workout session at Team USA’s high-performance center at the Paralympics, Noelle Lambert spots Jarryd Wallace by the side of the track. Loaded down with bags and a full-leg prosthetic, she stops to tell him that she’s switching blades. The new, softer one she trained with earlier in the day doesn’t give her the same return she is used to.
“Are you going to train in the morning again?” asks Wallace, a 34-year-old veteran in his fourth Paralympic Games.
“Yeah,” says Lambert, a 27-year-old competing in her second Paralympics.
“Just send me some videos.”
“Okay, I will, I will.”
The two compete in para athletics, Wallace in the T64 category for athletes with below-the-knee amputations and Lambert in T63, for athletes with above-the-knee amputations.
While they may sound like mentor and student, Wallace and Lambert are teammates for Team USA at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Despite being in different stages of their careers, they have both found a new passion in their shared transition from sprinting to the long jump at this year’s Paralympic Games.
For Wallace, switching events has saved him from burnout after competing in three Paralympic cycles of sprint events.
“I wasn’t having fun, and I think that’s always been kind of my marker,” Wallace said. “But I just didn’t feel like I was supposed to be done with track.”
For Lambert, adding a new event in her second Paralympic Games feeds an incessant desire to put herself in new and uncomfortable positions. It can be hard to trust something that is not part of you.
“The prosthetic is attached to my body, yes, but it’s not 100% mine,” Lambert said. “So it can be kind of scary, putting all your weight into something and having it launch you in the air.”
Wallace turned to Paralympic competition after his leg was amputated his senior year of high school. Since then, he has won championships and set world records in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes as well as the 4×100-meter relay.
He won his first Paralympic medal in Tokyo in 2021. Afterwards, he decided to stop competing in sprint events and make the switch to long jump.
“It is a lot less stress-driven,” Wallace said of the long jump. He added that, unlike the unforgiving 10 seconds of a 100-meter race, if you do not start strong in long jump, you can walk back and try again.
Noelle Lambert was a lacrosse player at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell when her leg was amputated after a moped accident. She stepped back onto the lacrosse field two years later but after graduating, she was ready for something new.
“I just kind of signed myself up for the first track meet that I saw,” Lambert said.
She beat the reigning national champion at 100 meters at her first competition. “That next week I showed up to practice willing to learn,” Lambert said. “To hopefully make it to the next stage with Tokyo coming up.”
After also competing in snowboarding and being a contestant in the 43rd season of “Survivor,” Lambert made it to the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games and met Wallace there. After he transitioned to long jump in 2022, Lambert was inspired to pursue something her coach had suggested for years, but that intimidated her.
“I kind of saw Jarryd do it and that was what made me think, ‘All right, well, why can’t I do it?’” Lambert said. She first began to train for long jump in January.
Wallace said that watching a younger athlete approach the same transition assisted him in finding new joy and energy in his veteran sport.
“She’s a bull in a china shop a little bit, which is awesome,” Wallace said. “When I look at me when I was 26, it was the same deal.”
Wallace offers Lambert training advice and technical knowledge.
“He’s been an incredible help to me, especially with the long jump because he knows a lot about prosthetics,” Lambert said. “He’s been an amputee a lot longer than I have, and he just knows the mechanics of sprinting.”
Now at Paris 2024, the athletes will take their first jumps on the Paralympic stage, Wallace on Wednesday and Lambert on Thursday.
After competing in front of empty stadiums in Tokyo, Wallace and Lambert are both excited for fans to be back in the stands. She is currently ranked second in her classification in the world, and he’s ranked third.
“It was weird winning a medal in an empty stadium,” Wallace said. “All the things that you go to the games for—celebrate with your family and the team that helped you get there, I didn’t get to do. So I’m really excited to have that layer.”
___
Gabriella Etienne is a student in the undergraduate certificate program at the Carmical Sports Media Institute at the University of Georgia.
NEW YORK — This is pretty much all anyone needs to know about defending champion Coco Gauff’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 loss to Emma Navarro in the U.S. Open’s fourth round on Sunday: Gauff wound up with more double-faults, 19, than winners, 14.
It was the latest in a series of early-for-her exits in recent weeks, including bowing out in the third round at the Paris Olympics, then going 1-2 at hard-court tuneup events before arriving in New York.
“I feel like there’s 70 other players in the draw that would love to have the summer that I had, even though it’s (the) least, probably, (I’ve) done well during this time of the year,” said the No. 3-seeded Gauff, who went 18-1 during the North American swing on hard courts 12 months ago, including the run to her first Grand Slam title. “So many people want to be in the fourth round. So many people want to make the Olympics. So many people want to be flag bearer. It’s perspective.”
The 20-year-old from Florida did fight her way back into the match with a four-game run in which she claimed 14 of 17 points and grabbed the second set.
“Had a little bit of a lull there,” said the 13th-seeded Navarro, an American who was 0-2 at the U.S. Open until this year, “but I was able to regroup.”
After each of her past two contests in New York, Gauff headed back out onto the practice courts to work on her serve. That didn’t help much on Sunday, when she tied her career high for double-faults: She also had 19 in a loss at the 2020 French Open. Against Navarro, Gauff delivered a trio of double-faults in four different games. Eleven of the double-faults came in the final set alone.
Gauff attributed her problems to a mix of issues with her mechanics — “I go down on my left side a lot on my serve, and it’s something I’m aware of, but it’s tough in the moment to, I guess, try not to do it,” she explained — and in her mind.
“It’s sometimes more of an emotional, mental thing, because if I go out on the practice court right now, I would make, like, 30 serves in a row. I’ve done it before,” Gauff said. “I think it’s also just kind of a mental hurdle that I have to get over when it comes. … But I definitely want to look at other things, because I don’t want to lose matches like this anymore.”
She finished with a total of 60 unforced errors — a whopping 29 on her forehand side.
The 23-year-old Navarro, who also eliminated Gauff in the fourth round at Wimbledon in July, was far steadier on Sunday, although she still did have 35 unforced errors.
“It was a little bit of a battle of will there for a bit. But proud of just my effort today,” said Navarro, a U.S. teammate of Gauff’s at the Paris Games. “I was able to stick in there through some tough moments.”
This result follows a third-round loss by defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic on Friday, meaning the lengthy droughts without anyone winning consecutive titles in New York will continue. The last woman to win at least two in a row was Serena Williams with three from 2012-14; the last man to do so was Roger Federer with five from 2004-08.
Frances Tiafoe eliminated No. 28 seed Alexei Popyrin, the player who stunned Djokovic, with a 6-4, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3 victory on Sunday night. The No. 20 seed advanced to his third straight U.S. Open quarterfinal and will play No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov, who held off Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6 (3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3 with 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams watching and offering a thumbs-up at match’s end.
Also moving on Sunday was No. 12 Taylor Fritz, who beat three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Fritz’s quarterfinal opponent will be 2020 U.S. Open runner-up Alexander Zverev, who got past Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
“I’m at the point now where I’m still happy to make quarterfinals, but I wouldn’t be happy with it ending here,” said Fritz, who has yet to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. “I definitely am at the point where I really want more than that.”
The Wimbledon win over Gauff earned Navarro, the 2021 NCAA singles champion for the University of Virginia, her first appearance in a major quarterfinal. Her second will come Tuesday in New York against No. 26 Paula Badosa, a 6-1, 6-2 winner against Wang Yafan. The other women’s match that day will be between No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka — she was last year’s runner-up to Gauff and beat Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-4 on Sunday — and No. 7 Zheng Qinwen, who beat No. 24 Donna Vekic 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-2 in a match that ended at 2:15 a.m. Monday, the latest finish to a women’s match in U.S. Open history.
The quarterfinals will give Navarro another chance to play at Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of a big crowd. She’d never hit a ball in the place until Sunday — and felt rather at ease, anyway.
“I’ve been out on big courts before, where I just felt totally overwhelmed and almost like it’s an out-of-body experience. But I didn’t feel like that today,” Navarro said. “I felt comfortable from the time I stepped out onto the court, which I was a little bit surprised about. I kind of had prepared myself for the worst, just in terms of feeling overwhelmed and nervous.”
Sure didn’t perform that way.
Gauff was the one who was unable to bring her best.
“I expect better, but at the end of the day it happened,” Gauff said, “and I know I can turn it around.”
NEW YORK — This is pretty much all anyone needs to know about defending champion Coco Gauff’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 loss to Emma Navarro in the U.S. Open’s fourth round on Sunday: Gauff wound up with more double-faults, 19, than winners, 14.
It was the latest in a series of early-for-her exits in recent weeks, including bowing out in the third round at the Paris Olympics, then going 1-2 at hard-court tuneup events before arriving in New York.
“I feel like there’s 70 other players in the draw that would love to have the summer that I had, even though it’s (the) least, probably, (I’ve) done well during this time of the year,” said the No. 3-seeded Gauff, who went 18-1 during the North American swing on hard courts 12 months ago, including the run to her first Grand Slam title. “So many people want to be in the fourth round. So many people want to make the Olympics. So many people want to be flag bearer. It’s perspective.”
The 20-year-old from Florida did fight her way back into the match with a four-game run in which she claimed 14 of 17 points and grabbed the second set.
“Had a little bit of a lull there,” said the 13th-seeded Navarro, an American who was 0-2 at the U.S. Open until this year, “but I was able to regroup.”
After each of her past two contests in New York, Gauff headed back out onto the practice courts to work on her serve. That didn’t help much on Sunday, when she tied her career high for double-faults: She also had 19 in a loss at the 2020 French Open. Against Navarro, Gauff delivered a trio of double-faults in three different games. Eleven of the double-faults came in the final set alone.
Gauff attributed her problems to a mix of issues with her mechanics — “I go down on my left side a lot on my serve, and it’s something I’m aware of, but it’s tough in the moment to, I guess, try not to do it,” she explained — and in her mind.
“It’s sometimes more of an emotional, mental thing, because if I go out on the practice court right now, I would make, like, 30 serves in a row. I’ve done it before,” Gauff said. “I think it’s also just kind of a mental hurdle that I have to get over when it comes. … But I definitely want to look at other things, because I don’t want to lose matches like this anymore.”
She finished with a total of 60 unforced errors — a whopping 29 on her forehand side.
The 23-year-old Navarro, who also eliminated Gauff in the fourth round at Wimbledon in July, was far steadier on Sunday, although she still did have 35 unforced errors.
“It was a little bit of a battle of will there for a bit. But proud of just my effort today,” said Navarro, a U.S. teammate of Gauff’s at the Paris Games. “I was able to stick in there through some tough moments.”
This result follows a third-round loss by defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic on Friday, meaning the lengthy droughts without anyone winning consecutive titles in New York will continue. The last woman to win at least two in a row was Serena Williams with three from 2012-14; the last man to do so was Roger Federer with five from 2004-08.
The player who stunned Djokovic, No. 28 seed Alexei Popyrin, was trying to reach the quarterfinals when he faced No. 20 Frances Tiafoe on Sunday night. The winner will play No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov, who held off Andrey Rublev 6-3, 7-6 (3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3 with 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams watching and offering a thumbs-up at match’s end.
Also moving on Saturday was No. 12 Taylor Fritz, who beat three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Fritz’s quarterfinal opponent will be 2020 U.S. Open runner-up Alexander Zverev, who got past Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
“I’m at the point now where I’m still happy to make quarterfinals, but I wouldn’t be happy with it ending here,” said Fritz, who has yet to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. “I definitely am at the point where I really want more than that.”
The Wimbledon win over Gauff earned Navarro, the 2021 NCAA singles champion for the University of Virginia, her first appearance in a major quarterfinal. Her second will come Tuesday in New York against No. 26 Paula Badosa, a 6-1, 6-2 winner against Wang Yafan.
That will give Navarro another chance to play at Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of a big crowd. She’d never hit a ball in the place until Sunday — and felt rather at ease, anyway.
“I’ve been out on big courts before, where I just felt totally overwhelmed and almost like it’s an out-of-body experience. But I didn’t feel like that today,” Navarro said. “I felt comfortable from the time I stepped out onto the court, which I was a little bit surprised about. I kind of had prepared myself for the worst, just in terms of feeling overwhelmed and nervous.”
Sure didn’t perform that way.
Gauff was the one who was unable to bring her best.
“I expect better, but at the end of the day it happened,” Gauff said, “and I know I can turn it around.”
MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Little model boats hang from the ceiling and maritime paintings adorn the walls of the basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde, which from the city’s highest hill overlooks the bay of Marseille, where sailing regattas are being held for the 2024 Olympics.
They’re votive offerings — some more than 200 years old — that residents of this Mediterranean port city continue to bring in gratitude to the Virgin Mary for everything from avoiding shipwrecks to successful rescues of migrants trying to make it to Europe on unseaworthy boats.
“Since its origins, Notre Dame de la Garde has been venerated by all seafarers,” said Jean-Michel Sanchez, the head conservator of the basilica’s museum. “Marseille was born of the sea.”
He estimates the basilica’s collection of ex-votos, as the offerings are called, at several thousands, including many in storage. And that’s after those predating the French Revolution were destroyed in the anticlerical violence that followed it.
Offerings shaped in reference to prayers answered – from babies to limbs, from vehicles to sports jerseys – are common across Catholic and Orthodox churches in Southern Europe especially, and in parts of the United States.
The nautical motifs that dominate Marseille’s landmark church are inextricably linked to the city’s 2,600-year-old seafaring history.
The first chapel was built in the 1200s on a barren rocky outcrop above the main port. In the 16th century, France’s king ordered the construction of a fort around the chapel to defend the growing harbor. Most of it still serves as the pedestal on which the massive basilica that replaced the chapel was built in the 1850s.
The name itself speaks to that connection between guarding the port and divine protection, Sanchez said. “Garde” means guard in French.
Inside the church, the models hanging from the ceiling include elegant sailboats, three-masted ships and utilitarian cargo vessels. About once a month someone brings a new one — sometimes with an explanation, sometimes anonymously, most handmade.
Among the most recent additions is a helicopter, donated a few years ago by civil defense forces. They were grateful for never having had an accident while conducting high-risk rescues of climbers in Marseille’s calanques, narrow inlets east of the Olympic marina, said Marie Aubert, who works with the basilica’s historical collections.
Hundreds of marble plaques, some just inscribed “merci a N D” — thank you to Our Lady — pack the walls. So many continue to be donated that church officials are now lining the terrace walls outside with them.
“The connection of the people of Marseille with the Bonne Mère is transmitted from generation to generation,” said the basilica’s rector, the Rev. Olivier Spinosa, using the popular name for the church, French for “good mother.”
One chapel is decorated with paintings of boats, including a 2011 work donated by a ship’s two captains. It gives thanks for their crews’ rescue of nearly two dozen North African migrants in the Mediterranean, Spinosa said.
The painting is inscribed with a prayer for all victims of trafficking and illegal immigration — one of Europe’s political flashpoints and a recurring source of tragedy, with estimates of nearly 30,000 migrants dying trying to cross the sea in the past decade.
In its apse, behind a statue of Mary that arrived, of course, by boat, is a 19th-century mosaic of a ship sailing between choppy and calm seas by a lighthouse. It’s an allegory of the church traversing the storms of history, with Mary providing the guiding light.
“The Bonne Mère is a mother who welcomes everyone,” Spinosa said. “Like the soul of Marseille.”
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Her black headscarf flying up, a teen jumped into the sparkling Mediterranean from a concrete pier at a city marina, then scrambled back to shore and onto a giant paddle board for a quick tour with a dozen excited comrades.
They were bused in for a swimming camp from a social services center in the mostly Muslim, North African-origin neighborhoods that ring Marseille, which is hosting the 2024 Olympicsailing competition at the opposite end of its spectacular, monument-fringed bay.
Children attend a swimming camp organized by the Grand Bleu Association which facilitates access to the sea for marginalized children in Marseille, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
FILE – People enjoy a coffee on a balcony in the Old Port of Marseille in southern France, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)
The millennia-old port is a crossroads of cultures and faiths, where the sea is ever present but not equally accessible, and the beauty and cosmopolitan flair rub shoulders with enclaves of poverty and exclusion even more intimately than in the rest of France.
“There are kids who see the sea from home, but have never come,” said Mathias Sintes, a supervisor at the Corbière marina for the Grand Bleu Association, which has held camps for about 3,000 marginalized children — 50% of whom, he estimates, didn’t know how to swim. “The first goal is to teach them to save themselves.”
SINK OR SWIM
A child attends a swimming camp organized by the Grand Bleu Association which facilitates access to the sea for marginalized children in Marseille, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Brahim Timricht, who grew up in the northern neighborhoods known as the “quartiers nord,“ founded the association more than two decades ago to bring children to enjoy the sea that shimmers below their often-dilapidated high-rises on the rocky cliffs.
Then he realized that many weren’t learning basic swimming in school — a requirement for elementary students in France — and figured he could take advantage of the warm summer months to introduce them to that skill.
“Then the mothers told me they still wouldn’t go to the beach, because they didn’t know how to swim and were afraid, so we started programs with them,” Timricht said as dozens of children happily splashed under the hot July sun a few days before the opening of the Olympic sailing competition.
The lack of pools for school programs is a sign of “social and economic segregation,” said Jean Cugier, who teaches physical education in a high school in the quartiers nord and belongs to the national union of PE teachers.
Over the past academic year, he’s been taking 30 sixth-graders 45 minutes by bus to a pool where two lanes were reserved for them — an unsustainable model, he said, that he’s hoping to modify with pool-based summer camps.
Children attend a swimming camp organized by the Grand Bleu Association which facilitates access to the sea for marginalized children in Marseille, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Children attend a swimming camp organized by the Grand Bleu Association which facilitates access to the sea for marginalized children in Marseille, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
While the city has discussed using the Olympic marina after the Games — as Paris plans to do with an Olympic pool — the sea is too chilly to swim in during most of the school year. So the only concrete answer to the pool shortage is building more infrastructure, Cugier believes.
Another issue complicating swimming education, according to the Ministry of Education, has been the medical certificates that parents bring to excuse children from class. Officials say these are often fake and driven by the desire of some conservative Muslim families not to have boys and girls together at a pool.
But sports are also a way out of the margins. One of France’s soccer greats, Zinedine Zidane, who carried the Olympic torch in the Paris opening ceremony, was born in the most notorious of Marseille’s quartiers nord. And soccer remains the unifying passion of Marseille’s residents, who routinely flock to cheer home team Olympique de Marseille at the Vélodrome stadium — one of the venues for Olympic soccer matches.
For the boys and girls at the Corbière marina, the overall seaside experience has been a chance to meet new people from outside their neighborhood.
“They don’t want to leave,” said one of the group leaders, Sephora Saïd, on the camp’s last day. She had worn a hijab during the outing, including while paddle-boarding.
SEA, SEA EVERYWHERE
FILE – Sunbathers enjoy the sunset at the entrance to Marseille’s Old Port in southern France, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 as France gradually lifts its COVID-19 lockdown. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)
The sea as an entry and a meeting point is engrained in the very DNA of Marseille. Founded by Greek colonists 2,600 years ago as a trading post, it is France’s oldest city, and its second largest.
“Before it’s a city, Marseille is a port,” said Fabrice Denise, director of the Museum of Marseille History, built next to the Greek archeological site in what is still the city’s center. “If you want to understand all that’s extraordinary about it, including the realities of cosmopolitanism, you need to understand its multi-century history as a port.”
Today’s port, the Mediterranean’s third largest in cargo tonnage, includes everything from refineries to a busy cruise ship area and extends along nearly 40 kilometers (25 miles). But it all started in a small inlet that is today’s top tourist attraction, the Vieux Port.
Large boats built of wood and caulked with cotton and fiber carried transforming cargos like grapevines, Denise said. The trade expanded north along the Rhone River in what is now one of France’s most celebrated wine-producing regions.
At the end of the harbor, a small boatyard still restores a handful of boats built in the old way. They were used for fishing until a few decades ago but now are too expensive to maintain for utilitarian purposes.
FILE – Fireworks go off as the Belem, the three-masted sailing ship bringing the Olympic flame from Greece, enters the Old Port in Marseille, southern France, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)
FILE – Women sit on a bench in Marseille, southern France, Friday, June 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)
Not far away are the forts that King Louis XIV added in the 17th century to protect the port and the military arsenal he established. The small city became a metropolis.
Religious diversity arrived by sea too — Christians in reality and in myth, one of the most popular ones being that Mary Magdalen herself sailed to Marseille, which is commemorated with a large boat procession each year.
Centuries later, and increasingly since decolonization, Muslims from North Africa flocked to Marseille’s shores. Of the city’s 870,000 residents, some 300,000 trace their roots to Algeria alone.
In the narrow streets uphill from the Vieux Port, Arabic rings from market stalls, cafés and couscous restaurants — the second-most spoken language in the city. Marseille’s French itself is unique, incorporating not only a distinctive accent but words from the countryside’s Provençal language, said Médéric Gasquet-Cyrus, a linguist and professor at the University of Aix-Marseille. He is co-author of the French-language book “Marseille for Dummies.”
On its cover, as on the background of most photos including those of the Olympic regattas, stands the hilltop black-and-white-striped 19th century basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde, topped by a nearly 10-meter (33-foot) gold-covered statue of the Virgin Mary looking out to sea. It’s known as “la Bonne Mère” — the good mother.
“The Bonne Mère, it’s almost a pagan symbol,” quipped Gasquet-Cyrus, who says he is an atheist but still goes to visit. “She’s the protector of the city.”
The church welcomes around 2.5 million visitors a year, many for its daily Masses and more on its wide terrace. Its 360-degree views encompass the new and old ports, the villa-studded neighborhoods where the Olympic marina is nestled as well as the blocky towers of the quartiers nord.
“You can see Marseille, and the sea, and the horizon, all under her benevolent gaze,” said the basilica’s rector, the Rev. Olivier Spinosa. “It’s easier to see beauty from up high, and it invites us to work on beautiful things when we’re down below.”
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
PARIS (AP) — French performer Barbara Butch carried the Paralympic torch Sunday evening in an act of defiance after being targeted by hate speech over her appearance in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
“I chose not to be afraid to exist in the public space,” Barbara Butch, a popular DJ and LGBTQ+ icon said in an interview with broadcaster France Info before walking onstage with the torch at a musical event in Saint-Cloud, a western suburb of Paris. “I know I represent France in the same way as anyone else,” she added.
The performer filed a formal legal complaint alleging online abuse after suffering online harassment, death threats and insults following her performance in the July 26 Olympics opening show. Five other artists and performers, including the ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, made similar complaints after suffering a torrent of abuse.
Butch said she has received “tens of thousands of hate messages.” A specialized team has managed to identify “hundreds of people who had sent … the most violet messages,” she said.
“Justice will do its job and then we will tackle the international level,” Butch said.
Butch was among nearly 1,000 torch bearers – who will carry the Paralympic flame, split between 12 torches, to 50 cities across France in the next few days to highlight communities that are committed to promoting inclusion in sport and building awareness of living with disabilities.
Other torch bearers include former Paralympians, young para athletes, volunteers from Paralympic federations, innovators of advanced technological support, people who dedicate their lives to others with impairments and people who work in the non-profit sector to support carers.
The 12 flames will become one again when the relay ends in central Paris on Wednesday after visiting historical sites along the city’s famed boulevards and plazas before lightening the cauldron during the three-hour opening ceremony.
1921 — Molla Bjurstedt Mallory beats Mary Browne, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to win the U.S. women’s national tennis title at the Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia.
1931 — Helen Wills Moody beats Eileen Bennett Whitingstall 6-4, 6-1 to capture the women’s title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championship.
1944 — Robert Hamilton upsets Byron Nelson in the final round 1 up to win the PGA Championship.
1960 — Holland’s Hairos II, driven by Willem Geersen, wins the second International Trot at Roosevelt Raceway before a record crowd of 54,861.
1990 — George Steinbrenner steps down as NY Yankee owner.
1995 — Monica Seles completes a remarkable first week back in tournament tennis, routing Amanda Coetzer 6-0, 6-1 to capture the Canadian Open. Her 74 games sets a tournament record for the fewest played by a champion.
1999 — 7th Athletics World Championships open at Seville, Spain.
2000 — Tiger Woods wins the PGA Championship in a playoff over Bob May, becoming the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in one year. He’s the first player to repeat as PGA champion since Denny Shute in 1937.
2003 — The U.S. wins the women’s overall team gold medal at the gymnastics world championships. It is the first gold for the Americans — men or women — at the biggest international event outside the Olympics.
2004 — Michael Phelps matches Mark Spitz’s record of four individual gold medals in Olympic swimming by winning the 100-meter butterfly. He edges teammate Ian Crocker to win his fifth gold medal. Shortly after winning his seventh medal of these Olympics, Phelps gives up his spot in the medley relay to Crocker.
2006 — Tiger Woods wins the PGA Championship for a five-shot victory over Shaun Micheel and his 12th career major. He becomes the first player to win the PGA twice on the same course, having done so at Medinah in 1999.
2008 — Usain Bolt of Jamaica breaks the 200-meter world record, winning in 19.30 seconds at the Beijing Games. He is the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to sweep the 100 and 200 at an Olympics.
2012 — Augusta National invites former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become the first female members since the club was founded in 1932.
2016 — Allyson Felix and LaShawn Merritt anchor the 4×400 relay teams, and the U.S. exits the final night of action at Olympic Stadium with 31 medals — its most in a non-boycotted Olympics since 1956. The U.S. women’s basketball team beats Spain 101-72 for a sixth straight title.
2018 — Alabama becomes the second team to be ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll for three straight seasons. The preseason AP poll started in 1950 and since then only Oklahoma from 1985-87 had started No. 1 in three straight years.
2023 — FIFA Women’s World Cup Final, Stadium Australia, Sydney: Spanish captain Olga Carmona scores the only goal of the game as La Furia Roja score a 1-0 win over England.
