Tag: Collections: Sports

MILAN (AP) — Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea delivered the best free skate of their pairs career when the U.S. needed it most Sunday night, keeping the reigning champion Americans ahead of Japan with two events left in team figure skating at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

The women’s and men’s free skates were still to come at Milano Ice Skating Arena to decide the medals.

Kam and O’Shea scored 135.36 points for their program, which opened with “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics and finished with “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears. That was good enough to top the Canadians among the five teams to make it to the free skates, which kept the U.S. from dropping an important point to Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara.

The two-time world champs won the segment with 155.55 points, a career-best of their own by nearly eight points. Miura and Kihara’s massive performance allowed Japan to cut a five-point deficit to the Americans at the start of the night to just two points.

The U.S. was sitting on 51 with Japan at 49 as they continued their duel for gold. Italy’s Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii were third in the pairs event to leave their team with 45 points, four ahead of Canada and Georgia in the race for bronze.

In the women’s competition, the U.S. swapped out world champion Alysa Liu for three-time reigning national champion Amber Glenn, who will be making her long-awaited Olympic debut. Kaori Sakamoto is back for Japan after winning the short program.

Yet the entire three-day competition ultimately could come down to the men.

After watching Yuma Kagiyama upset favored U.S. star Ilia Malinin in the short program, Japan benched him in favor of Shun Sato for the free skate. Malinin was headed back out for the Americans, the two-time and reigning world champion hoping to atone for a short program that was mediocre only by his standards by wrapping up a second consecutive team gold.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — American ski racer Breezy Johnson won the Olympic downhill Sunday with a hard-charging run on a day mired by teammate Lindsey Vonn’s crash that saw her being taken off the mountain in a helicopter.

Johnson was the sixth runner and found speed with a risk-taking trip along the iconic Olympia delle Tofana course on a sunny day in Cortina. She was in the leader’s box when Vonn, the No. 13 racer, cut a corner too close and was spun around before crashing. The race was put on hold for more than 20 minutes.

The 30-year-old Johnson joins Vonn as the only American women to win the Olympic downhill. Johnson finished in 1 minute, 36.10 seconds to hold off Emma Aicher of Germany by just .04 seconds. Italy’s Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic downhill winner and 2022 silver medalist, finished with the bronze.

Graham contributed from Bormio, Italy.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic is day-to-day for the Los Angeles Lakers because of a mild hamstring strain, putting his availability for the All-Star Game next weekend in question, while Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is trending toward missing that contest and the games leading up to it because of a knee injury.

The status of the two superstars were addressed ahead of the marquee game between the Warriors and Lakers on Saturday night, with Los Angeles coach JJ Redick indicating the MRI taken after Doncic was hurt in a win over Philadelphia on Thursday showed no significant injury.

The Lakers have three more home games prior to the All-Star break after Saturday, and Redick indicated Doncic would like to be available so he could play in his sixth career All-Star game.

“I’ve been around him as a teammate and as a coach, and I know he plays,” Redick said. “If he’s able to play, he plays. I think he wants to be in the All-Star Game. I know he wants to play against Dallas the game before the All-Star Game. He has his team working on him day and night, so again, it’s day-to-day. When he’s ready to play, we’ll get him out there.”

Doncic is averaging a league-leading 32.8 points. He’s second in assists at 8.6, while also ranking in the top 25 in rebounds (7.8), as the 26-year-old Slovenian combo guard pushes for his first Most Valuable Player award.

Doncic was the Western Conference player of the month for January after he averaged 34.0 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 9.1 assists. He was also chosen as a starter for the U.S. vs. the World-formatted All-Star Game at Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Feb. 15.

While the Lakers maintained optimism about Doncic’s status, Warriors coach Steve Kerr sounded a pessimistic note about Curry’s chances of appearing in his 12th All-Star Game, already calling him doubtful to play against Memphis on Monday night because of his right knee injury. The home game against the Grizzlies will be one of two remaining games after Saturday for Golden State before the annual exhibition.

“I think there’s a good chance that he doesn’t play ’til after the break,” Kerr said. “But we’re just going to take it day by day.”

Curry is averaging 27.2 points and 4.8 assists in his 17th NBA season. He missed a Jan. 26 loss to Minnesota because of the knee injury, then played reduced minutes in the next two games, and has now missed three straight games when the Warriors face the Lakers.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NEW YORK (AP) — Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa and Javy Báez were left off Puerto Rico’s roster for the World Baseball Classic over insurance coverage, while defending champion Japan entered a top group Thursday led by World Series champions Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Seventy-eight All-Stars, including 36 from last year, are on the 30-man rosters of the 20 teams. The U.S. has the most All-Stars with 22, followed by 16 on a Dominican Republic roster headed by Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Manny Machado.

Both reigning MVPs and Cy Young winners are in the tournament for the first time.

Nolan Arenado will play for Puerto Rico after appearing for the U.S. in 2017 and 2023.

Puerto Rico’s roster was impacted by insurance issues. The tournament is co-owned by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association, and insurance is provided by National Financial Partners.

NFP’s policy for the tournament has a cutoff for a position player with a major or minor league contract whose second guaranteed year is in the season in which he turns 37 and for a pitcher whose fourth guaranteed year is in the season in which he turns 37, a person familiar with the policy said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the details had not been announced. The insurer also reviews players who had offseason surgery, the person said.

Insurance could become an issue if major league players wind up being eligible for the 2028 Olympics.

Báez, a 33-year-old Detroit Tigers infielder and outfielder, has a $140 million contract through 2027. He missed time in 2024 because of lumbar spine and hip inflammation.

“We fully trust in the talent and commitment of each player that will be representing Puerto Rico,” Puerto Rican Baseball Federation president José Quiles said in a statement.

Clayton Kershaw and Miguel Cabrera missed the 2023 tournament because of insurance issues. Kershaw, who turns 38 two days after this year’s final, is the oldest player on this year’s U.S. roster but has retired from the major leagues and doesn’t have a 2026 contract.

Cuban infielder Alexei Ramírez is the oldest player on any roster at age 44. Right-hander Adam Ottavino, who turned 40 in November is on Italy’s roster.

Brazil’s Joseph Contreras, a 17-year-old right-hander who is a son of former big leaguer José Contreras, is the youngest player on any roster.

Travis Bazzana, a 23-year-old Australian second baseman, joined Skenes and Harper as No. 1 overall draft picks in the tournament,

Cuban outfielder Alfredo Despaigne, the WBC career home run leader with seven, will be in his fifth tournament.

There are 306 players with major and minor league contracts, including 190 on 40-man rosters. In addition to Ohtani, Judge, Harper and Kershaw, MVPs include Venezuela’s Ronald Acuña Jr. and the U.S.’s Paul Goldschmidt.

Colombia has the oldest roster at 29.9 years, followed by the U.S. at 29.7. Taiwan has the youngest at 26.7, just below Brazil at 26.9.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Golden State Warriors found their dependable big man by acquiring Kristaps Porzingis from Atlanta and granted forward Jonathan Kuminga his wish to be traded while also dealing guard Buddy Hield to the Hawks, according to a person with knowledge of the swap.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday night because the trade had not yet been approved by the league.

Kuminga sat out Tuesday night’s 113-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers because of a bone bruise in his left knee, his fifth straight missed game.

The Hawks had listed Porzingis — who has recently missed time with an Achilles tendon injury — as questionable for Thursday’s game against Utah because of an illness. Atlanta also acquired center Jock Landale from the Jazz, a person with knowledge of the trade told the AP.

In mid-January, Warriors coach Steve Kerr spoke with Kuminga about being out of the rotation for more than a month and the expectation that he would be traded. However, general manager Mike Dunleavy said on Jan. 20 after Jimmy Butler’s season-ending knee injury that there wasn’t an immediate indication other teams were interested in Kuminga.

“As far as the demand, I’m aware of that,” Dunleavy said, referencing Kuminga’s trade request. “I think when you, in terms of demands, when you make a demand, there needs to be a demand on the market. So we’ll see where that unfolds.”

Kerr discounted any issues between him and Kuminga as the reason the high-flying forward requested a trade after not being used in 17 of 18 games — though he has been listed as injured for nine games this season.

A 23-year-old from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Golden State’s seventh overall pick in the 2021 draft, Kuminga appeared in 20 games this season with 13 starts, averaging 12.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

On Sept. 30, he agreed to a two-year contract that could be worth up to $46.5 million if the team were to exercise its option for 2026-27. Kuminga had a $7.9 million qualifying offer in hand since June 29 but was also weighing other options and he missed the team’s media day.

Kuminga missed much of last season with a right ankle injury. He averaged 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 24.3 minutes over 47 games with 10 starts. He also scored 15.3 points per game over eight playoff games while shooting 48.4% from the floor and making 40% of his 3-point attempts. That included a career-best 30-point performance in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves last May.

The 7-foot-2 Porzingis is averaging 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists. The Warriors will be the sixth team in 10 seasons for the 30-year-old Latvian nicknamed “The Unicorn” for his combination of length and outside shooting touch.

AP Sports Writer Charles Odum in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — Bobby Hauck, coach of perennial FCS power Montana and the Big Sky Conference’s all-time wins leader, announced his sudden retirement Wednesday, saying he didn’t enjoy his job anymore because of the changes in college football in recent years.

Bobby Kennedy, who finished his first season as receivers coach, will succeed Hauck. Kennedy and Hauck had worked together as assistants at Washington in 2002, and Kennedy also has been on staffs at Texas and three other power conference schools.

Hauck, 61, had two stints totaling 14 years with the Grizzlies and led the team to eight Big Sky championships, 13 playoff appearances and four national championship games. The 2025 team was 13-2 and reached the national semifinals.

The Missoula native and Montana graduate was 166-92 in 19 seasons as head coach at Montana and UNLV. He was the winningest active FCS coach with a 151-43 record with the Grizzlies.

“I want to enjoy my career and my job, and a lot of the head coach stuff in current-day Division I college football is not enjoyable,” Hauck said at a news conference. “I just think it’s the appropriate time.”

Hauck said he didn’t know what he would do next. He said he doesn’t want to be a head coach again, though.

Hauck returned to Montana in 2018, and in 2021 new NCAA rules took effect allowing players to transfer without sitting out a season at their new school and to be compensated for their name, image and likeness. Revenue sharing with athletes began last year.

“Dealing with agents and the transient nature of this and the lack of forward thinking by young people, which has never been a strong suit for centuries for young people. … But now when they’ve got adults pushing them and pulling them in different directions, I kind of got tired of that.”

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

DETROIT (AP) — Mickey Lolich, who had three complete-game victories for the Detroit Tigers in the 1968 World Series, the last Major League Baseball pitcher to post the incredible feat, died Wednesday. He was 85.

The Tigers said Lolich’s wife told them that he died after a short stay in hospice care. An exact cause of death was not provided.

Denny McLain was the star of Detroit’s pitching staff in 1968, winning 31 regular-season games. But Lolich was the Most Valuable Player of the Series, with a ERA of 1.67 and a Game 7 road victory over Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bill Freehan threw off his catcher’s mask and caught a foul pop-up by Tim McCarver for the final out. Lolich jumped into Freehan’s arms — an iconic image of Detroit’s championship season.

He is No. 23 in career strikeouts with 2,832, ahead of many others who, unlike Lolich, are in the Hall of Fame, and fifth among all lefties, according to baseball-reference.com.

Lolich was an unlikely hero in 1968. During a reunion of the World Series team, he recalled how manager Mayo Smith had sent him to the bullpen for much of August. He returned to the Tigers’ starting rotation and was 6-1 in the final weeks.

“I was having a few problems, but I had been a starting pitcher ever since 1964,” said Lolich, who was upset about the bullpen move. “I remember telling him, ‘If we win this thing this year it’s going to be because of me.’ But I was only talking about the season. I wasn’t talking about the World Series.

“I got my revenge back in the World Series,” he said.

Lolich pitched Game 7 after only two days of rest. He figured he would get a Corvette from General Motors for being the Series MVP but had to settle for a Dodge Charger GT because Chrysler was the sponsor in 1968.

“Nothing against Chargers, nothing at all,” Lolich said in his book, “Joy in Tigertown.” “It’s just that I already had two of them in my driveway.”

Since Lolich, only Arizona’s Randy Johnson in 2001 has won three games in a World Series, though Johnson pitched about 10 fewer innings and was a relief pitcher, not a starter, in Game 7.

Lolich had a record of 220-192, including the postseason, over a 16-year career, all but three with Detroit. He left baseball after playing for the New York Mets in 1976 but returned with San Diego in 1978-79.

The left-hander was 25-14 in 1971, striking out 308 batters over 376 innings and finishing second in AL Cy Young award voting. He followed that up with a 22-14 record and 250 strikeouts in 1972.

After his baseball career, Lolich, a native of Portland, Oregon, was in the doughnut business in suburban Detroit, making and selling them for 18 years.

“I doubt any other ballplayer has ever made that transition — from the diamond to doughnuts. But I did,” he wrote in his book.

AP Sports Writer Larry Lage contributed to this report.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

MIAMI (AP) — Shaquille O’Neal played for four NBA championship teams. And now, 20 years after his last title, he has one that he can call his favorite.

It was the one he got with the Miami Heat.

The Heat brought back their 2006 title team for a two-day, 20th anniversary celebration this week, with a gala on Monday followed by an on-court event for fans to see at their home game against Atlanta on Tuesday. Most of the team was in attendance, including O’Neal — who offered what may be a mildly surprising assessment of that championship run.

“I’m going to throw a word out there that’s probably going to shock the basketball world,” O’Neal said. “It’s my favorite one because we were not supposed to win and it was one that I was pressured to win. I needed to get it done before the other guy got his fourth.”

“The other guy” that O’Neal was referring to was Kobe Bryant. He and Bryant won three titles together with the Los Angeles Lakers, then the relationship went south and the Lakers traded O’Neal to Miami in the summer of 2004.

Bryant eventually got his fourth and fifth titles to pass O’Neal, and the two teammates-turned-rivals mended fences to a certain extent before Bryant — along with his daughter Gianna and seven others — died in a helicopter crash six years ago.

But at that time, O’Neal felt a ton of pressure to get one without Bryant. And the Heat, in those days, were a bit of a powderkeg that found a way to buck the odds.

“We were a bunch of misfits that used to argue and fight and do things very untraditionally,” said O’Neal, who estimated the Heat had about 40 internal fights that season and all of them blew over almost immediately. “But we never not got along and that’s what made it special.”

That’s the way the 2006 Heat were wired, which is why O’Neal didn’t take it personally when Miami lost the first two games of that season’s finals to the Dallas Mavericks. O’Neal told the story Tuesday of how Gary Payton — a guard on that Miami team — cursed him out after Game 2, saying Dwyane Wade needed the ball more if the Heat were going to win the series.

“I decided to ruffle some feathers,” Payton said, confirming that he went to coach Pat Riley and asked for changes, then told O’Neal it was time for Wade to carry the torch for the Heat.

Wade dominated the next four games. Payton made a huge shot to help Miami win Game 3. The Heat won the title in six games. The fights led to a parade. It was all worthwhile.

“We had a perfect eight-man rotation,” Riley said. “I apologize to numbers 9 through 15, but they used to whip (butt) every day in practice on these guys, I can tell you that. Made them better.”

So, O’Neal’s last of his four titles was his favorite.

And for Wade, the first of his three titles was his favorite.

“I never won in high school, I didn’t win in college — I got to the Final Four. I was that guy that got close,” Wade said. “AAU, I got to the final four, I went to the championship, but I never won one. So, that was the first time in my life that I showed myself that I can actually lead a team to help win the championship because I didn’t know. And so, it would be my favorite because of that.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, an assistant under Riley on that 2006 team, said having most of the team back together for two days was a thrill. He, Riley, the ownership group led by managing general partner Micky Arison and CEO Nick Arison, executive vice president and general manager Andy Elisburg and a slew of other executives (including 2006 players Alonzo Mourning and Udonis Haslem) and team officials are still in Miami — which Spoelstra thinks sets the Heat apart.

“Other teams that have won championships, they try to bring back a group (and) it’s probably a different ownership group, different management, different coaching staff, a lot of different things,” Spoelstra said. “But this, it just brings you back. It’s like an instant time machine. It was an amazing run and it kind of put our franchise on a different kind of map in this league.”

Coaches, executives and all but three of the players from that 2006 team were introduced at halftime for an on-court ceremony Tuesday, all wearing custom jackets to celebrate that championship.

“This will forever be everyone’s favorite because it was the first one and this is the one that really set whatever standard that we’re still living by here,” Wade said. “This set the standard of that because without this championship, (there) ain’t no culture. And so, that’s how we can even stand on ‘Heat Culture’ and the words that we say because of the championship that was brought here in ’06.”

And O’Neal, ever the jokester, paid off a 20-year bet with Wade and Haslem. He said he would get them Bentleys if the Heat won that title. He presented them with the Bentleys at halftime Tuesday — toy versions, but Bentleys nonetheless.

“Are you not entertained?” O’Neal asked, as the crowd roared.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NEW YORK (AP) — Speedskater Erin Jackson and bobsledder Frank Del Duca have been chosen as the U.S. flagbearers for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.

Jackson, 33, is the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Games. Del Duca, a 34-year-old Army sergeant, is the first bobsledder in 70 years to carry the flag into an opening ceremony.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced the names on Tuesday. It’s the third Olympics for Jackson, the second for Del Duca.

“Being chosen to represent the United States on the world stage is a tremendous honor,” Jackson said. “It’s a moment that reflects far more than one individual — it represents my family, my teammates, my hometown, and everyone across the country who believes in the power of sport. The Olympics remind us of the power of sport to connect and inspire, and I’m proud to carry that forward on the Olympic stage.”

Del Duca, with deep Italian roots, finds the opportunity especially meaningful as the games are in Italy. The opening ceremony will be unique, with events spread across several Italian cities.

U.S. bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor was picked to carry the American flag into the opening ceremony at the 2022 Beijing Olympics but tested positive for COVID-19 — forcing the postponement of her flag-carrying chance until the closing ceremony of those Winter Games. She was replaced at the Beijing opening by speedskater Brittany Bowe, and this time, it’s Jackson’s turn to have that moment.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.