TRACK AND FIELD
Rojas to miss Olympics
Reigning Olympic women’s triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas on Friday said she had injured her Achilles tendon and would miss the Paris Games. The 28-year-old Venezuelan said she had torn her Achilles during a training jump in Spain and had undergone surgery in Madrid on Thursday. “My heart is broken and I want to say sorry that I will not be able to take part in Paris 2024,” she said in a statement on social media. Rojas won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the Olympic title at the COVID-19-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021. The world record holder dramatically won the fourth of her outdoor world titles in Budapest last year with her last-round leap, moving from eighth place to gold medal position with a winning jump of 15.08m.
TENNIS
Djokovic sets another record
Novak Djokovic on Friday reached a record 77th Masters semi-final when he defeated Australia’s Alex de Minaur in straight sets in Monte Carlo. Djokovic, the 36-year-old world No. 1 came through a rollercoaster quarter-final to win 7-5, 6-4 and make the last-four in the principality for the first time since 2015 when he went on to claim his second title at the tournament. Djokovic, the oldest man to make the Monte Carlo semi-finals in the Open Era, would take on Casper Ruud of Norway for a place in today’s championship match. “It was tough for both of us. He is one of the quickest players on Tour. He gets a lot of balls back that normally 99 percent of other players don’t,” said Djokovic, who avenged his loss to De Minaur at the United Cup in January.
CLIMBING
Teen breaks speed record
Teenager Sam Watson on Friday broke the speed climbing world record twice in under an hour at a World Cup competition in China, signaling his status as one of the favorites for gold at the Paris Olympic Games. Watson, 18, from the US broke the previous world record of 4.9 seconds by Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo when he scaled the 15m wall in 4.85 seconds in his first run. He followed that up with 4.79 seconds in his second attempt to lower his own best mark further. Watson is ranked No. 8 in the world and is to make his debut at the Paris Olympics, having already qualified in October last year.
ICE HOCKEY
Coyotes to relocate
Arizona Coyotes players have been informed that the NHL club is expected to relocate to Salt Lake City, a person with knowledge of the meeting said on Friday night. General manager Bill Armstrong flew to Edmonton, Alberta, to tell players about the team’s potential move to Utah before their game against the Oilers, the person said on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been announced. Players and officials could visit Salt Lake City next week, possibly as soon as after the season finale on Wednesday, which could be the final game at the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena in Tempe. “This team has been through a lot of adversity,” Coach Andre Tourigny said. “The first time the rumor came around, we didn’t manage it well and we shot ourselves in the foot, went on a 14-game losing streak.”
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
Yesterday morning in Japan began with a palpable buzz after the Los Angeles Dodgers announced Shohei Ohtani would start Game 7 of the World Series. By the time countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivered the final out, Tokyo was erupting with joy. “I am so proud today to be Japanese,” said cab driver Seiichiro Okada, who pulled his car to the side of the road to watch the ending. “To be able to watch these legends in real time is something else.” Ohtani had two hits and also pitched, while Yamamoto earned World Series Most Valuable Player after yet another stellar pitching performance as the
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