TENNIS
Djokovic rained out
Novak Djokovic completed just one game of his second-round match against Vasek Pospisil at the Eastbourne International before rain washed out the day's play at the Wimbledon warmup event on Tuesday. First up on Centre Court, the top-seeded Djokovic held serve for 1-0 and was 30-15 up in the second game when the players went off for rain. The covers stayed on until play was abandoned just before 5 p.m. local time. In the women's tournament, second-seeded Simona Halep and seventh-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova both were losing 2-1, to Ying-Ying Duan and Mona Barthel respectively, when the rain started.
BASKETBALL
Simon joins Lakers
Miles Simon has joined the Los Angeles Lakers as an assistant coach. Lakers Coach Luke Walton announced the hire of his fellow former University of Arizona star Tuesday. Simon recently worked for USA Basketball, serving as head coach for the junior select national team. He spent three seasons as Lute Olson's assistant at Arizona from 2005-08. Simon also has worked as a player development coach, director of the Nike Basketball Academy and a college basketball analyst for ESPN. He was the NCAA tournament's most outstanding player in 1997 while leading the Wildcats to the national title. Simon joins associate head coach Brian Shaw and assistants Jesse Mermuys, Mark Madsen, Jud Buechler and Brian Keefe on Walton's staff. Walton, Simon, Buechler and Mermuys all attended Arizona.
SWIMMING
Ledecky, Adrian qualify
Olympic gold medalists Katie Ledecky and Nathan Adrian qualified for the American world championship team Tuesday night with each winning signature events at the U.S. National Championships at Indianapolis. Ledecky easily claimed the women's 800-meter freestyle title in a time of 8:11.50. The defending Olympic and world champion won by 8.96 seconds over Leah Smith. Adrian reclaimed the men's 100 free title in 47.96 seconds, beating Caeleb Dressel by 0.01. Each winner makes the team. Second-place finishers are likely to be added when the selection process ends. Mallory Comerford defeated American record-holder Simone Manuel in the women's 100 free. But it took the world's third-fastest time of the year, 52.81, to win. Hali Flickinger and Jack Conger claimed the 200 butterfly titles and True Sweetser won the men's 1,500 free.
MOTOR SPORTS
Elliott extends deal
Chase Elliott has signed a four-year contract extension to drive for Hendrick Motorsports through 2022. The current contract ran through 2018 for Elliott, driver of the iconic No. 24 Chevrolet. Elliott originally signed with Hendrick Motorsports as a development driver in February 2011 as a 15-year-old high school freshman. He replaced Jeff Gordon last year in the Cup Series and was the top rookie. Elliott qualified for the playoffs and had 10 top-five finishes and 17 top-10s. He also won two poles, including the season-opening Daytona 500. He is currently sixth in the Cup standings, but still seeking his first series victory. Elliott is the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott.
HOCKEY
Stars buy out Niemi
The Dallas Stars have announced their buyout of the final year of goalie Antti Niemi's contract, a plan that will spread the $3 million payment over two seasons for an annual salary cap hit of $1.5 million. Niemi was due to make $4.5 million coming off a disappointing season in which he was 12-12-4 with a 3.3 goals-against average in 37 games. The ninth-year player became expendable after Ben Bishop was acquired in a trade that will likely make him the starter with Kari Lehtonen as the backup. The Stars made the Niemi move official Tuesday and have until Saturday to sign Bishop before he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Lehtonen and Niemi, 33, split goalie duties for two years. It worked well the first season, when the Stars were the top seed in the Western Conference and reached the second round of the playoffs. But last year Dallas missed the playoffs for the second time in four seasons under Lindy Ruff, who didn't return. Ken Hitchcock, coach of the Stars' only Stanley Cup-winning team in 1999, replaced Ruff.
CYCLING
Support rider suspended
One of Alberto Contador's key support riders has failed a doping test and been suspended from the Trek-Segafredo team four days before he was slated to start the Tour de France. The UCI said Andre Cardoso of Portugal was notified that he tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO following an out-of-competition test about 10 days ago. A statement from Trek said that "in accordance with our zero tolerance policy, (Cardoso) has been suspended immediately." Cardoso can request that a backup "B" sample be tested before the UCI decides on an eventual punishment, although he has already been provisionally suspended by the sport's governing body. Cardoso had been called on to help Contador on the key mountain stages of the Tour, which starts Saturday in Duesseldorf, Germany.
MISCELLANEOUS
Injured bull rider improves
An Australian bull rider injured at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., is able to sit in a chair and even take some steps as he recovers in a Wyoming hospital. Bradie Gray remained in the intensive care unit Tuesday at the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper but a hospital spokesman said his condition was improving. The Casper Star-Tribune reported that the Odessa College Rodeo Team posted on its Facebook page that Gray is now breathing on his own. Gray was critically injured June 15 when a bull stepped on his sternum after bucking him off. The Odessa College cowboy suffered broken ribs, collapsed lungs and a tear in his aorta. The native of Hallsville, Australia, underwent multiple surgeries after the incident.
GYMNASTICS
Report: Culture change needed at USA Gymnastics
USA Gymnastics has had a “largely ineffective approach” to preventing sexual abuse within the sport, failing both to keep pace with best practices and to hold non-compliant gyms and clubs accountable, according to a report commissioned by the sport’s Indianapolis-based national governing body released Tuesday.
In addition to recommending a series of reforms to enact culture change within the sport, the 146-page report found that “over time, the practices of USA Gymnastics have not kept up with best practices in the field of child abuse protection, allowing for significant gaps and exposures regarding the prevention and reporting of child sexual abuse within the sport.”
The report is authored by Deborah J. Daniels, a former federal prosecutor also based in Indianapolis, who has been reviewing USA Gymnastics policies regarded child sexual abuse since late 2016.
The report’s release comes against the backdrop of the worst sexual abuse scandal in American sports history. More than a hundred former gymnasts and other young athletes have alleged in the last year that they were sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics women’s national and Olympic team physician Larry Nassar. USA Gymnastics officials also ignored complaints of sexual abuse by other coaches and gymnastics officials, according to court documents in other lawsuits. The organization has been the target of hearings and legislation in the U.S. Senate.
USA Gymnastics, its last three chief executives and longtime U.S. national and Olympic team coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi are being sued in several states by former gymnasts for creating an environment that enabled the sexual abuse by Nassar and others. Steve Penny, the most recent USA Gymnastics CEO, was forced to resign last spring.
The Daniels report concluded: “To set the tone for the entire sport, the words and deeds of the USA Gymnastics Board of Directors (Board) and the administrative leadership must embody a culture of protection. In the past, the USA Gymnastics commitment to protecting the safety of the athletes has been questioned by various sources — the media, member clubs, the United States Olympic Committee, and others. To combat these doubts, the leadership must act swiftly, yet deliberately.”
Sports on 06/28/2017