Sport

Viktor Lebedev has won two gold medals at World Championships More Russian athletes have been banned from competing at next month’s Olympics by their sports’ governing bodies. Federations must rule on whether Russians can compete in Rio following the country’s doping scandal. The Union Cycliste Internationale said three cyclists were withdrawn due to previous drugs cases, with another three implicated in the doping scandal. Wrestler Viktor Lebedev, who returned a…

NASCAR’s top drivers are getting what they asked for.  During the August 28th Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR will bring back the low-downforce package it used at that track in June and at Kentucky Speedway last month.   NASCAR’s body’s vice president, innovation and racing development,  Gene Stefanyshyn, said Thursday this package, perhaps with some very minor tweaks, also will be used for the 2017 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. It…

RELATED: Buy Darlington tickets | ’16 throwback schemes  CONCORD, N.C. — When Valvoline officials queried NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Paul Menard about his racing heroes, the first name on the list was Al Unser Jr. So Menard couldn’t be more pleased that the Valvoline-themed throwback paint scheme he will run in this year’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 pays tribute to Unser Jr.’s lone NASCAR premier series start. Menard’s Richard Childress Racing No. 27…

If seeking a benchmark for American Olympic dominance less than a week before the 2016 Games begin, you can’t find a better statistical example than the 1904 edition.  The U.S. cleaned up that year, taking home more than 230 total medals in its first turn hosting. No other country even hit 20 total medals. That’s nuts.  But a closer look reveals the 1904 Olympics to be something else entirely: Deeply…

<!– START and end The Girl from Guanabara A look at the unsolved murder of Priscila de Goes Pereira. By David Biller and Michael Smith | July 28, 2016 Photographs by Photographer Name –> By David Biller and Michael Smith | July 28, 2016 From Rio de Janeiro is a troubled city and a reeling Olympic host, but it will always have beautiful Guanabara Bay. One of the bay’s newer…

Russian athletes set off for Rio from Moscow on Wednesday Badminton is the latest sport to clear Russian competitors to take part in the Olympic Games as the nation’s athletes begin to travel to Brazil. Governing bodies must rule on whether Russian athletes can compete in Rio following the country’s doping scandal. So far 108 of the 387-strong Russian team have been banned from the Games, which get under way…

He may have stormed to a commanding Brickyard 400 victory, but the attention wasn’t on Kyle Busch Sunday. Instead the spotlight was elsewhere, including what is likely the final race for Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the dearth of spectators who witnessed Busch’s dominating performance. Not surprisingly, these two topics are also the chief focus of this week’s NASCAR mailbag. That and lug nuts,…

The U.S. women’s national team won the trophy it really wanted last summer in Canada. This summer, the world champs will compete for a place in history. Since women’s soccer became an Olympic sport in 1996, no country has claimed the Women’s World Cup and Olympic gold medal in back-to-back years. The world champion Americans settled for silver in 2000, then rebounded from World Cup disappointment to claim gold…

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Where is the justice in this? The Russian athlete, Yuliya Stepanova, risks death by revealing the extent of Russian doping in her Olympic sport. She has to flee her country with her family, live in hiding and train in secret. She is told that, provided she is “clean”, she may compete in the Rio Olympics next week, but “as a neutral”. She is then told she cannot compete. Instead the…

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The U.S. women’s national team won the trophy it really wanted last summer in Canada. This summer, the world champs will compete for a place in history. Since women’s soccer became an Olympic sport in 1996, no country has claimed the Women’s World Cup and Olympic gold medal in back-to-back years. The world champion Americans settled for silver in 2000, then rebounded from World Cup disappointment to claim gold in…

RIO DE JANEIRO — Here in Brazil, it’s not unusual to hear bloodcurdling screams in the airport; they’re usually just the sounds of teens playfully chasing each other through the terminal. It’s also not unusual to see suitcases sitting near the boarding gates, left by travelers who wandered off to get a coffee. In many ways, Brazilians live in a pre-9/11 world. Although they might be used to heavily armed…

A screen grab from the NBC Sports app, which will stream 4,500 hours of live Olympics action.(Photo: NBC Sports) Fans of the Olympics have a binge-watching marathon ahead of them with NBC’s coverage of the Summer Games in Rio. If you want to follow the exploits of U.S. swimmers Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky, sprinter Usain Bolt and the rest of the Olympic athletes — but have cut the cord — you will…

Rodney Childers, crew chief of Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, has been fined $20,000 and suspended through this weekend’s race at Pocono Raceway after the No. 4 team was assessed a P3 penalty following last weekend’s race at Indianapolis, NASCAR announced Wednesday. The penalty fell under section 12.1; section 10.11.3.4, lug nuts not properly installed. Other penalties assessed following the Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400…

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After four years of waiting, the big moment is almost here. The eyes of the world will be focused on Rio next week, as the planet’s greatest athletes gather and the ceremonial torch is lit for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Do the Games actually start next week? I’m not actually sure. Look, you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t sound as excited as I should be. Please understand that…

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Federer, 34, reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon, where he lost to Milos Raonic, but the 17-time Slam winner underwent surgery on a knee injury in February which forced him to miss the French Open. It was the first Slam the Swiss great had not competed in since 1998, but his announcement on Tuesday means Federer will not take part in the US Open either, and he will also…