FOOTBALL
Irving faces suspension
Dallas Cowboys defensive end David Irving is facing a four-game suspension to start the season for violating the NFL's policy against performance-enhancing drugs, a source said Tuesday. Irving is appealing the failed drug test. The suspension stems from Irving using a banned supplement, the source said. Neither the NFL nor the Cowboys have made any official announcement about Irving's suspension. The suspension was first reported by KRLD-FM 105.3 in Dallas. Irving was the Cowboys' most productive pass-rusher late last season. He led the Cowboys with 26 quarterback pressures and added four sacks. Irving was expected to be a key part of the Cowboys' pass rush again this year after he signed his exclusive free-agent tender this offseason for $615,000. He's set to become a restricted free agent after 2017. Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory, a 2015 second-round pick, is suspended for the entire 2017 regular season after multiple violations of the NFL's substance abuse policy because of failed tests for marijuana.
TENNIS
Nishikori advances
Second-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan eased into the Geneva Open quarterfinals, beating Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday. Ranked No. 9, Nishikori took a wild card entry after a wrist injury affected his clay-court season and did not drop serve against the 88th-ranked Kukushkin. Nishikori clinched the second-round match with a well-placed forehand winner from the baseline. He next plays South African Kevin Anderson, who outlasted 20-year-old American Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-2. Also Tuesday, fifth-seeded Steve Johnson of the United States advanced to the second round, winning 6-3, 6-3 against 37-year-old Frenchman Stephane Robert. Johnson next plays Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, who rallied from a second-set dip to beat Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-4, 0-6, 7-5. Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, another wild card, beat ninth-seeded American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 7-6 (5) in a first-round match. With a second-round match today against top-seeded Stan Wawrinka as the prize, Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil beat Portugal's Joao Sousa 6-4, 7-6 (5). Wawrinka is the defending champion at his home tournament, a final warm-up for the French Open which he won in 2015.
Bouchard withdraws
Eugenie Bouchard has withdrawn from the Nuremberg Cup tennis tournament with a right ankle injury. The 2014 champion informed tournament director Sandra Reichel of her decision late Monday, when an MRT scan showed she had torn a ligament in training the previous week. The injury put the Canadian's participation in the French Open in doubt. Bouchard was replaced by Julia Glushko of Israel, who lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-0 to the second-seeded Yulia Putintseva. Defending champion Kiki Bertens won her opening match, beating German wild-card entry Katharina Gerlach 6-2, 6-1. The top-seeded Bertens will next play Annika Beck, who defeated Lena Rueffer 6-3, 6-3. Fourth-seeded Laura Siegemund saw off fellow German Katharina Hobgarski 6-0, 6-1 to get her campaign underway. Seventh-seeded Yaroslava Shvedova beat Anna Zaja 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 and Carina Witthoeft defeated Johanna Larsson 6-1, 6-0. Already in the second round of the French Open warmup, the fifth-seeded Alison Riske of the United States defeated Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium 6-2, 6-2. Riske will next play Bertens or Beck in the quarterfinals. Sorana Cirstea of Romania also reached the quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-3 victory over American Varvara Lepchenko.
Sharapova gets wild card
Maria Sharapova has been awarded a wild card for the Rogers Cup in August in her comeback from a 15-month doping ban. Since her return, the former No. 1 player has used wild cards to play three events on the WTA Tour. She was denied a wild card for the French Open. Rogers Cup tournament director Karl Hale called her a "fan favorite," noting she has completed her punishment. A number of players have been outspoken about Sharapova receiving free passes into tournaments. Sharapova reached the Rogers Cup final in 2009. She said she has "great memories" of playing in Toronto. The Russian is now ranked 173rd. If her ranking rises and she makes the main draw on her own, the wild card will go to another player.
BOXING
Briggs, Oquendo fight off
The WBA heavyweight title fight between Shannon Briggs and Fres Oquendo is off after former champion Briggs tested positive for high levels of testosterone. The fight was set for June 3 in Hollywood. A WBA statement said that Briggs "tested positive for testosterone following a ... test as part of the WBA Fair Boxing program." Briggs, 45, can request the testing of his "B" sample, but the bout has been canceled. Briggs previously held the WBO heavyweight belt and had won his last nine bouts since losing a unanimous decision to Vitali Klitschko in 2010 for the WBC title. He has a 60-6-1 record.
OLYMPICS
Some medals defective
More than 100 athletes from around the world say the medals they won at the Rio Olympics are damaged. The IOC and Rio organizers plan to replace them with new medals. Among those with defective medals are beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings and U.S. wrestlers Kyle Snyder and Helen Maroulis. Walsh Jennings said her bronze medal from last summer is flaking and rusting. Rio Games spokesman Mario Andrada said officials have noted problems with the covering on 6 to 7 percent of the medals. Andrada said the damaged medals were most often dropped or mishandled. He added that the varnish has come off and they have rusted or gone black in the spot where they were damaged.
OLYMPICS
Rio assailed for ‘white elephant’ venues
RIO DE JANEIRO — A federal prosecutor looking into last year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics said that many of the venues “are white elephants” that were built with “no planning.”
The scathing report offered Monday at a public hearing confirms what The Associated Press reported several months after the games ended. Many of the venues are empty, boarded up and have no tenants or income with the maintenance costs dumped on the federal government.
“There was no planning,” federal prosecutor Leandro Mitidieri told the public hearing on the Olympics. “There was no planning when they put out the bid to host the Games. No planning.
“They are white elephants today,” Mitidieri added. “What we are trying to look at here is to how to turn this into something usable.”
Rio de Janeiro spend about $12 billion to organize the games, which were plagued by cost-cutting, poor attendance, and reports of bribes and corruption linked to the building of some Olympic-related facilities.
The Olympic Park in suburban Barra da Tijuca, which was the largest cluster of venues, is an expanse of empty arenas with clutter still remaining from the games. The second largest cluster, in the northern area of Deodoro, is closed despite plans to open it as a public park with swimming facilities for the mostly poor who live in the area.
Nine months after the Rio Olympics ended, the local organizing committee still owes creditors about $30 million.
Former Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes, the moving force with the International Olympic Committee behind organizing last year’s Olympics, is being investigated for allegedly accepting at least 15 million reals ($5 million) in payments to facilitate construction projects tied to the games.
He denies any wrongdoing.
In a statement to AP, the IOC said “Rio had a strong legacy plan in place,” and it urged there be no “hasty judgment.”
“What we know is that Rio is a better place after the Olympic Games,” the IOC said.
Sports on 05/24/2017