FOOTBALL
Brothers hold coaching gigs
Jon Gruden’s decision to leave the television booth to return to the sideline for a second stint as coach of the Oakland Raiders has put his family in unusual territory. With Jay Gruden set to begin his fifth season with Washington, the Grudens will join the Harbaughs as the only sets of siblings to simultaneously hold jobs as NFL head coaches. The Grudens spent seven years together in the NFL when Jay was an assistant on Jon’s Tampa Bay staff, but now they are NFL competitors, even though the Redskins and Raiders are not slated to play each other until the 2021 regular season. If the Grudens remain in their current jobs, the only chance to match wits beforehand would come if their teams were to meet in the NFL Super Bowl.
GOLF
Tiger skirts Trump feud
Tiger Woods stayed out of US President Donald Trump’s feuds with NBA and NFL players after Sunday’s final round of the US PGA Northern Trust tournament. “I’ve known Donald for a number of years,” said Woods when asked whether his relationship with Trump, with whom he has played golf, was “professional or personal.” “We’ve played golf together. We’ve had dinner together... You have to respect the office — no matter who is in the office,” he added. Asked if he had anything to say on the state of US race relations, the 14-time major winner said: “No, I just finished 72 holes and I’m really hungry.” Woods fired a final-round one-under-par 70 to finish 72 holes on the four-under 280 at the Ridgewood Country Club.
MotoGP
Rain shuts Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix was canceled on Sunday after torrential rain caused “unsafe” track conditions at Silverstone. With heavy rain lashing down throughout the weekend, the MotoGP race had been brought forward from its original start time in a bid to beat the weather, but the rain continued to pour, forcing officials to cancel the event for safety reasons. MotoGP race director Mike Webb said the new surface at Silverstone, which was laid in February, was to blame. “This year, with the new surface, is the first time we’ve encountered quite so much standing water in critical places on the track. So, yes, it’s a direct result of the track surface,” he said. Four-time world champion Marc Marquez, who leads the standings, said: “We are very sorry for all the fans. We are the first ones that want to ride, but safety is the priority.”
TENNIS
Travel sidelines player
A Thai player ranked in the top 100 is to miss the US Open, because of travel complications. Luksika Kumkhum on Sunday pulled out of the year’s last Grand Slam tournament, before she was scheduled to face Sofia Kinen of the US today in a first-round match. The official reason offered by the US Tennis Association in a statement about the withdrawal was “travel difficulties.” The world No. 93 has been competing at the Asian Games in Indonesia, finishing with silver in mixed doubles on Saturday. She has been replaced in the draw at Flushing Meadows by Madison Brengle of the US, who lost in qualifying.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later