UNITED STATES
Benson dispute deepens
Tom Benson, owner of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints and the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, has accused his heirs of trying to kill him as a bitter family dispute grew nastier. Court documents filed this week revealed part of Benson’s deposition transcript from March last year and said he testified to his accusation in a legal fight with daughter Renee Benson and grandchildren Rita LeBlanc and Ryan LeBlanc over his business empire. The case’s outcome will determine the ownership fate of the Saints and Pelicans, with Benson, 88, trying to leave full ownership of the teams to his third wife, Gayle Benson. Benson was asked in the deposition why he wants to leave “zero” in the family trust to his heirs. “Well, they tried to kill me for one thing,” Benson testified. “By picking on my wife and when I wasn’t feeling very good. They were very hostile. They attacked me, you got to know. That’s why I don’t want to leave them anything.”
OLYMPICS
Anti-doping system ‘flawed’
The leader of the US Olympic Committee says the latest anti-doping headlines make it “increasingly difficult to defend the current system.” In an interview on Friday, CEO Scott Blackmun said that if stories of the Russian lab director’s elaborate plans to keep the nation’s athletes from testing positive at the Sochi Winter Games turn out to be true, then “we need to admit the system is flawed.” Blackmun said his goal is to make sure athletes competing at this summer’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are competing on a level playing field. In his first comments about the world’s anti-doping crisis, Blackmun called for strong leadership and decisive action. On June 17, track’s governing body, the IAAF, is to decide whether Russia’s suspended track team can compete in Rio.
BOXING
Jermain Taylor sentenced
Former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor has avoided prison time on several felony charges stemming from three separate incidents in Arkansas, including firing a gun at a Martin Luther King Jr parade. The boxer apologized for his actions at a court hearing on Friday. He was also charged with shooting and wounding his cousin and punching a fellow patient at a rehabilitation clinic. “I made a lot of mistakes. I just want to apologize to my state, to my kids and my cousin and my family,” Taylor told Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson before being sentenced. “I’ve made some mistakes, but I’m trying to come back.” The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Johnson suspended Taylor’s 19-year sentence. That means Taylor will not have to go to prison as long as he stays out of trouble, submits to drug testing and performs 120 hours of community service. Prosecutors had requested 10 years in prison or a “lengthy suspended sentence.”
ATHLETICS
Bolt wins in Czech Republic
Usain Bolt won the 100m at the Czech Golden Spike event in 9.98 seconds on Friday, his second race this season in the run-up to August’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Bolt said earlier this week that he would be happy with 9.8 seconds, following a tight hamstring at the Cayman Invitational Meet last week when he clocked 10.05 seconds. The 29-year-old Jamaican owns the 100m world record at 9.58 seconds and the world 200m record of 19.19 seconds. Bolt is to defend his 100m, 200m and 4x100m titles from 2008 and 2012 in Rio, seeking to become the first athlete ever to grab three consecutive Olympic golds in the three events.
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