Sport

With a deft touch requiring fortitude and a keen understanding of his surroundings, Brad Keselowski thoroughly controlled Saturday’s Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway. A familiar sight was seeing Keselowski protect his lead by swooping high to prevent the outside line from passing, then veering to cutoff the momentum of the low line. He did this almost continuously throughout the Coke Zero 400. It wasn’t revolutionary how…

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what’s happening in the world as it unfolds.

With the sports world going crazy over the news of NBA free agents striking it rich this week, it’s a good time to take a look at some of the blockbuster NASCAR free-agent signings of this century. Unlike other major sports, the dollars and terms of driver deals are not public information, so we don’t exactly who makes how much money. Still, there have been some huge surprises over the…

It’s a warm June Sunday in Hamilton, Ontario, and a small strip of Roxborough Avenue is cordoned off. There are yellow bollards and diversion signs at either end. In the middle, blue fences mark out a rough oval shape, about 100ft long. This is the city of Hamilton’s official street hockey rink – or, at least, the first stages of it. It was Sam Merulla’s idea, the city councillor who…

From the time Frank Menendez was introduced to ultimate Frisbee in the parking lot at a Grateful Dead concert in the 1980s, the sport has made a steady ascent up the collective sporting consciousness. In 2014, the U.S. Olympic Committee recognized it as an official sport, paving the way for possible entry in the games as early as 2024. Participation has risen to around 5 million people in the U.S.,…

The Zika virus may be deadly serious, but is it really a potent enough reason to explain the withdrawal of Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and many other star golfers from the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro?    There’s a more likely explanation: The Olympics simply are not a priority for them. Which is why golfers, along with stars from other already enriched sports, have no place in the Olympics. Think of…

Iceland’s fairy-tale run at Euro 2016 finally got its ending, and it wasn’t really a happy one. Hosts France dealt the Nordic nation an emphatic 5-2 defeat in Sunday’s quarterfinal, stopping the team’s unexpected march through its first-ever international tournament. But the gritty Icelanders have already been crowned the people’s champions, and the country’s football association signed off with a tweet expressing gratitude, and a promise. Soon after, hundreds of…

BRUSSELS—Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and five other Spanish soccer clubs will have to return tens of millions of euros to Spain’s federal and regional governments after benefiting from illegal tax breaks, the European Union’s antitrust regulator said. The European Commission said Monday a series of tax breaks, property deals, loans and bank guarantees gave those clubs an unfair advantage over their domestic competitors. …

Michael Phelps during the men’s 100-meter butterfly finals in the U.S. Olympic swimming team trials at CenturyLink Center.(Photo: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports) USA Swimming unveiled its official Olympic roster Sunday night, following the completion of its eight-day qualifying meet. The headliners are those you’d expect, from 18-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps (who will swim three individual events — the 100- and 200-meter butterfly and the 200 individual medley) to the current…

Iceland’s fairy-tale run at Euro 2016 finally got its ending, and it wasn’t really a happy one. Hosts France dealt the Nordic nation an emphatic 5-2 defeat in Sunday’s quarterfinal, stopping the team’s unexpected march through its first-ever international tournament. But the gritty Icelanders have already been crowned the people’s champions, and the country’s football association signed off with a tweet expressing gratitude, and a promise. Soon after, hundreds of…

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what’s happening in the world as it unfolds.

Iceland’s fairy-tale run at Euro 2016 finally got its ending, and it wasn’t really a happy one. Hosts France dealt the Nordic nation an emphatic 5-2 defeat in Sunday’s quarterfinal, stopping the team’s unexpected march through its first-ever international tournament. But the gritty Icelanders have already been crowned the people’s champions, and the country’s football association signed off with a tweet expressing gratitude, and a promise. Soon after, hundreds of…

Guards search fans bags’ at security check points before entering the fan zone prior to the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.(Photo: Reinhold Matay, USA TODAY Sports) Corrections & clarifications: A previous version of this story referred to the shooting in Orlando as the Paris nightclub shooting. The reference was intended to be to the Pulse nightclub shooting. DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The sign of the times was impossible to…

To save articles or get newsletters, alerts or recommendations – all free. Don’t have an account yet?Create an account » Subscribed through iTunes and need an NYTimes.com account?Learn more » Need to connect your Home Delivery subscription to NYTimes.com?Link your subscription »

Caption Close The homeless crowd at Union Square is going to look radically different for one full weekend this month, and the tourists, shopkeepers and usual strollers-by are probably going to want to stop and stare. In a good way. These homeless folks are going to be wearing soccer gear and playing for the annual Bay Area championship of what is called Street Soccer USA. The program runs soccer programs…

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Marquise Goodwin‘s 2016 Olympic dreams did not come into fruition on Sunday. Goodwin finished seventh in the men’s long jump at the U.S.A. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, with a mark of 8.25m (27 feet, 3/4 inches). The top three finishers qualified for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August. The dual-sport athlete had been vying for his second trip to the Olympics since Buffalo’s…

Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama said Sunday he was pulling out of the Olympics because of the Zika virus, making him the seventh golfer to cite the mosquito-borne virus for sitting out golf’s return to the Olympics after 112 years. Matsuyama, who won the Phoenix Open earlier this year in a playoff for his second PGA Tour victory, told Japanese reporters of his decision after he finished the Bridgestone Invitational. He…

Michael Phelps is still the best swimmer of his generation but he’ll need to be better in Rio. To a casual observer, Phelps accomplished exactly what he needed to in Omaha, Neb., qualifying for a fifth Olympics in his three individual events. Where several of his contemporaries failed to make the U.S. team at all, Phelps handled his business. He also enjoyed an emotionally gratifying week, celebrating his climb back…

In China’s eastern city of Hangzhou, Mr Li could barely watch as Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo lined up a penalty kick in a finely-balanced Euro 2016 group match against Austria. Li had reason to be nervous: He had bet tens of thousands of yuan on Portugal to win. With 10 minutes to go in the game in Paris, Real Madrid star Ronaldo hit the post, the game ended in a…

Brad Keselowski’s victory in Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 was kind of a big deal for Team Penske, as it was the squad’s 100th NASCAR Premier Series triumph.  Penske won its first NASCAR race way back on Jan. 21, 1973, when Mark Donohue drove an ungainly AMC Matador to a victory back on the old Riverside International Raceway road course.  With the win, Penske joins Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Roush…