■OLYMPICS
IOC drops Kuwait threat
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it would not suspend Kuwait on Saturday after the country committed itself to amend a local law that had threatened the autonomy of its sports organizations. The IOC had tried for two years to find a solution with authorities over the independent operation of Kuwait’s National Olympic Committee and the nation’s sports bodies but had previously said deadlines had not been respected. It had warned Kuwait it could be suspended if changes to the law were not completed by the end of the year. The IOC said late on Tuesday it received a letter from Kuwait’s social affairs and labor minister giving its commitment to review the national sports law to make it compatible with the Olympic Charter.
■BASEBALL
Red Sox retire Rice jersey
Jim Rice added another honor to his name on Tuesday when the new member of the Hall of Fame had his No. 14 uniform retired by the Boston Red Sox. Rice, inducted with Rickey Henderson at Sunday’s Cooperstown ceremonies, joins fellow Hall-of-Famers and Fenway Park left-fielders Ted Williams (9) and Carl Yastrzemski (8) among Red Sox to have their numbers retired.
■TENNIS
Nadal back in training
Rafael Nadal says treatment on his painful knees has been going well enough for him to have started training seriously, and he hoped to defend his Montreal title in two weeks. Speaking for the first time since he withdrew from Wimbledon and didn’t defend his title at the All England Club, Nadal said he had grown tired of always playing tennis with searing pain in his knees. “I had spent several months like this and when I came back from Miami [in April] it really hurt badly, especially my right knee, and the truth is that it was a different pain,” Nadal told Spanish TVE1 television on Tuesday. The former world No. 1 said he had become used to playing with pain, relying on anti-inflammatories, and decided after failing to win a fifth successive French Open that it was time to try and solve the problem. He said he had played Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and Madrid with the pain (and won the first three).
■SUMO
Bulgaria honors Kotooshu
Kotooshu, the Bulgarian wrestler known as “the David Beckham of sumo,” was awarded his country’s highest state order on Tuesday for earning star status in Japan. Kotooshu, the first European to reach the rank of **ozeki, the second-highest level in sumo, was awarded the first-rank Stara Planina order by President Georgy Parvanov at a ceremony in Sofia. Parvanov hailed the 26-year-old wrestler, whose real name is Kaloyan Mahlyanov, as one of the “brightest” symbols of Bulgaria in Japan — along with Damask roses and Bulgarian yoghurt. Kotooshu recently announced his engagement to 29-year-old Japanese Asako Ando, who accompanied him on Tuesday along with his parents.
■GOLF
Ballesteros aims for Trophy
Five-times major winner Seve Ballesteros, who underwent four operations to remove a brain tumor, is aiming to recover in time to captain Europe at next year’s Royal Trophy against holders Asia. “I sincerely hope to captain the European team ... this is a competition that means a lot to me,” the 52-year-old Spaniard said in a statement released on Wednesday. The next edition will take place from Jan. 8 to Jan. 10 at the Amata Spring Country Club in Chonburi, east of Bangkok.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB