■ SKIING
Vonn wins slalom in Finland
Defending overall champion Lindsey Vonn of the US won the women’s season-opening opening World Cup slalom race at Levi, Finland, on Saturday, seeing off Sweden’s Maria Pietilae-Holmner and Germany’s Maria Riesch. Vonn, from Vail, Colorado, has a predilection for the speed events but managed what was her maiden slalom triumph by first topping the first-leg standings and then holding onto her lead despite a major error in the second run. She won in 1 minute 47.98 seconds for a 0.4 second margin over Pietilae-Holmner.
■ BOXING
Taylor dominates Lacy
Jermain Taylor dominated Jeff Lacy to win a 12-round unanimous decision in a WBC super middleweight eliminator fight on Saturday on the campus of Vanderbilt University. Taylor (28-2-1, 17 KOs), the former undisputed middleweight champion, used strong left and right jabs to keep Lacy (23-2, 17 KOs) off balance and seemed to land punches at will throughout the bout. It was the first fight for Taylor since February, when he lost a second straight fight to Kelly Pavlik. Taylor landed 48 percent of his 442 punches and by the fourth round Lacy’s left eye began to swell.
■ BOXING
Haye makes hay of Barrett
David Haye floored Monte Barrett five times and launched his heavyweight career with a fifth-round stoppage victory on Saturday. Former undisputed world cruiserweight champion Haye showed his full range of shots at O2 Arena. Haye had Barrett down twice in the third round, once in the fourth and produced a right-left combination that had Barrett down again in the fifth of the non-title bout. Barrett’s arrival in the ring was a disaster. The American decided to leap over the top rope, caught it with his leg and wound up hitting the canvas before his opponent got into the ring.
■ SWIMMING
Marshall breaks own record
US swimmer Peter Marshall broke his own world record in the 100m backstroke on the first day of the short-course World Cup meet in Berlin on Saturday. Marshall clocked 49.64 seconds, 0.31 faster than the record he set earlier in the week in Stockholm — where he also broke the 50m backstroke record. Randall Bal, another American, finished second in 50.55. Li Tao of Singapore set a World Cup record in the women’s 100 butterfly, clocking 56.28 seconds to beat the previous mark set by American Natalie Coughlin in 2002 by 0.06. South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh won the men’s 50 backstroke in 26.05, missing his world record from Stockholm by 0.11. Olympic gold medalist Alain Bernard of France won the men’s 100 freestyle in 46.28, Coralie Balmy of France won the women’s 200 freestyle in 1:54.05.
■ SAILING
British teen sets out solo
A 16-year-old British boy has set out on an attempt to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. Michael Perham left Portsmouth, England on his Open 50 Racing Yacht on Saturday and was expected to be alone at sea for more than four months. His only contact with his family is to be through satellite link-ups. Perham says he plans to sleep in short breaks while the boat is controlled by an electronic auto-pilot. Late next month he should be in the South Atlantic off the coast of South Africa. He is expected to return sometime near his 17th birthday on March 16. The world solo youth record was set by 18-year-old Australian Jesse Martin in Melbourne in 1999.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite