Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson will represent China at the FIBA World Cup, the player said Monday after the Chinese Basketball Association announced the American had obtained Chinese citizenship through naturalization.

The 29-year-old forward from New York is the latest elite athlete to gain Chinese nationality through naturalization and the first basketball player to do so.

“[Anderson] obtained Chinese nationality this morning and met Yao Ming, chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association,” the CBA said in a post on its official Weibo account.

Not long after that, Anderson confirmed he would play for China at the FIBA World Cup, which tips off Aug. 25 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

“I’m so happy to announce that I will be representing China at the World Cup,” Anderson said in a video posted to his Weibo account. “Really proud and honored to wear the Team China jersey.”

The citizenship could also enable Anderson to represent China at the Olympic Games in Paris next year. FIBA allows teams to have one naturalized player on their roster. Chinese media reported Anderson’s maternal grandmother was born in Jamaica to a Chinese father and Jamaican mother.

China had previously announced an 18-man squad for the World Cup, but FIBA said the final rosters will be confirmed only after a technical meeting that is set to take place before the start of the tournament.

Other athletes who were naturalized include several Brazilians who moved to China in the hopes of playing international football. In 2019, former Arsenal and Brentford midfielder Nico Yennaris, who was born in England, became the first overseas-born player to be called up for China’s national team. At the time, the Chinese Super League was also the go-to destination for soccer players seeking lucrative contracts.

It is unclear if Anderson and the others have renounced their original nationality. China has strict rules that usually prevent dual nationality for its citizens.

The doubt is all down to the exemption from trials granted to Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, with Antim Panghal and Vishal Kaliraman, the winners of the 53 kg women’s freestyle and 65 kg men’s freestyle trials, placed as stand-bys. The two have already announced their intention to contest the exemption in the Supreme Court.

Here are the headline points:

Antim and Vishal miss out despite winning

Antim had little trouble winning the 53 kg trials yet, as things stand, she will not be boarding the plane to Hangzhou. “I won the trial fair and square. Why should I be the standby player…The one who did not compete should be a standby player in 53kg. My petition has been dismissed but I won’t stop, I will keep fighting, we will move the Supreme Court,” said Antim after her victory.

Antim’s recent form (winning gold in the U-20 Worlds and silver in the 2023 Asian Championships) has been fairly impressive and, in the trials for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, she ran Vinesh close in their bout (a 3-0 lead before losing 3-3).

“If she keeps getting direct entries like this, how will one know how good we are? We will keep trying. My coach will decide what we are going to do next but the fight will continue. What’s the point of me winning three bouts? I know she is pretty good and has many medals but she must fight against us in the trials.”

The last time Vinesh did fight against Antim in trials was for the 2022 World Championships, where Vinesh won 7-0. However, that was close to a year ago and 19-year-old Antim can claim to have improved in the interim.

Vishal Kaliraman’s case isn’t as strong. The 25-year-old has had a fairly middling career internationally (Silver in the 2018 Jr. Asian Championships, 5th in the 2023 Zagreb Open) and would be hard-pressed to make the case that he’d beat Bajrang in a singular bout.

Yet, after defeating Rohit in the 65kg final (9-3), Vishal was in a bullish mood, claiming “I just wanted to win the trial today. Even if Bajrang was here today, I would have won, I was determined to win. We respect him for his achievements but what they are doing may destroy the careers of junior players. We will fight this, if we have to go to Supreme Court, we will go. We have been training for 15 years now.”

Sujeet, who had joined Antim in the High Court petition, missed out in the quarterfinals of the 65 kg trials itself, with the U-20 Worlds bronze medallist losing out to Rohit.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya’s season-ender

Ravi Dahiya, perhaps unintentionally, became the poster boy for those opposing exemptions given to Vinesh and Bajrang. As a silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, he was technically in line to receive the exemption too but chose to fight anyway. Having just recovered from ACL and MCL tears in his knee, Ravi has reportedly worsened his condition in his loss to Atish Todkar in the trials and thus ended his season. It might result in him losing his shot at the 2024 Paris Olympics (although the WFI does have trials for those too).

Ravi now faces a long spell on the sidelines, where he may watch the hugely talented Aman Sehrawat stake his claim in the Asian Games and World Championships. The 19-year-old was already coming for Ravi’s crown, and fate (or foolhardiness) may have worked in his favour.

Asian champion at 19, Aman Sehrawat is coming for Ravi Dahiya’s throne

The question of fairness amidst shocks aplenty

Before the trials, Anshu Malik and Sakshi Malik had said that exemptions were unfair and an obstacle for junior wrestlers. Sakshi (who had been experiencing a resurgence after getting past her trials nemesis Sonam Malik last year) couldn’t take part in the trials and opted against receiving an exemption.

Worlds silver medallist Anshu, meanwhile, lost out in the opening round of the 57kg category in what was effectively a final against Worlds bronze medallist Sarita Mor, who was then stunned by Mansi Ahlawat (9-6) – after which 22-year-old Mansi defeated 20-year-old Sito in the final.

The wealth of talent in the 57kg category is the best argument in favour of trials as it gives lesser-known names a fair shot at glory. To have two worlds medallists miss the Asian Games is quite extraordinary, although it does question just how meritorious a single-day trial contest is – especially if a normally consistent wrestler has a few bad seconds on the mat.

Nisha Dahiya (68 kg), fresh off a bronze at the 2023 Asian C’ships and two-time gold medallist at the Asian Championships, Divya Kakran (jumping from 68 kg to 76 kg), also missed out, simply underlining the level of competition within these trials.

It does beg the question – how would Vinesh and Bajrang have fared had they taken part in these trials?

What next?

Antim and Vishal have yet to file a petition in the Supreme Court but have said they will. However, given the clearly stated provisions of the WFI selection criteria and the Delhi High Court’s statement on the matter, they face a tough task in reversing the decision in their favour.

The pair will get their shot in the trials for the 2023 World Championships (scheduled for August) – in which Vinesh and Bajrang are expected to compete against the top four (semifinalists) of the Asian Games trials. If Antim and Vishal do win those bouts, they will only strengthen their case further – which might have a bearing on any Supreme Court hearing.

There is also the matter of injury – Bajrang and Vinesh will be returning to competitive action after a long while and risk injury like Ravi, which could put the entire selection controversy to bed, as Antim and Vishal would go to the Asian Games in their stead.

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FUKUOKA, Japan — China dominated the second day of the swimming world championships on Monday, winning back-to-back gold medals in the first 10 minutes of the session.

Zhang Yufei won the women’s 100-meter butterfly and Qin Haiyang went wire-to-wire in the men’s 100 breaststroke.

Zhang rallied over the final 15 meters, touching in 56.12 seconds. Margaret MacNeil of Canada finished second in 56.45, while Torri Huske of the United States clocked 56.61 for third two years after placing fourth in the event at the Tokyo Olympics.

The women’s race was a repeat of the final two years ago at the Tokyo Games. The top four finishers in Tokyo were separated by only 14 hundredths of a second. That race went to MacNeil, followed by Zhang and Australian swimmer Emma McKeon. Huske was .01 behind McKeon and missed out on a medal.

Qin won his race only a few minutes before Zhang’s triumph. After topping all other swimmers by more than one second in the semifinals, Qin was never challenged in the final.

There was a three-way tie for second place, with Nic Fink of the United States, Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy and Arno Kamming of the Netherlands all finishing in 58.72.

The men’s race was partly defined by who did not compete. Adam Peaty, a two-time Olympic champion and world-record holder from Britain, is taking a break and is not swimming in Japan. He has said in interviews that he’s taking time away for “mental health issues.”

Peaty is one of the most dominant swimmers in his discipline and holds 19 of the top 20 times in the 100 breaststroke. His record is 56.88 seconds.

American swimmers Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh, college teammates at the University of Virginia, finished 1-2 in the women’s 200-meter medley, with Yu Yiting of China in third. Douglass trailed until the final 50 meters when she overtook Walsh to win the gold medal in 2:07.17. Walsh picked up the silver in 2:07.97, while Yu took the bronze in 2:08.74.

The top-two finish by Douglass and Walsh marked the first time the American women had achieved the feat at the worlds.

Sixteen-year-old Summer McIntosh of Canada would have been a strong favorite in the event but she elected not to swim it because of a scheduling conflict. McIntosh finished a disappointing fourth the 400 free on Sunday – and lost her world record to Ariarne Titmus of Australia. McIntosh already holds the 400-medley mark, set earlier this year at 4:25.87.

Thomas Ceccon of Italy won the men’s 50 butterfly, which is not an Olympic event, in 22.68. He finished ahead of Diogo Matos Ribeiro of Portugal in 22.80 and Maxime Grousset of France in 22.82.

Many of the men’s butterfly events are missing top contenders, including Caeleb Dressel of the United States and Kristof Milak of Hungary. Dressel failed to make the team after taking a long break and Malik said he was not in shape – mentally or physically – to compete.

In a big upset, Olympic silver medallist wrestler Ravi Dahiya was knocked out at the selection trials for the Asian Games in Delhi on Sunday while Vishal Kaliraman won the 65kg trials and vowed to earn his right to be India’s representative in the category where Bajrang Punia has already been given a direct entry.

Atish Todkar beat Dahiya with a sensational ‘pin’, the scorecard reading an unbelievable 20-8 and a ‘win by fall’ for diminutive wrestler from Maharashtra. However, it was Aman Sehrawat, who won the 57kg trials to qualify for the Asiad.

Todkar consistently dodged Dahiya by moving swiftly from under his arms to move back for take-down moves. Dahiya had a small 6-4 lead going into the second period but from there it was one-way traffic. Two consecutive takedowns and a four-pointer from the edge of the mat that Todkar pulled off had rattled Dahiya. Using all his might, Dahiya went all out for a pin but Todkar wriggled out and got himself into a position from where he had his opponent’s shoulders on the mat.

Dahiya’s support staff said he had recently recovered from a knee injury and lacked mat-time to be performing at his best.

“Ravi had suffered both ACL and MCL tears in his right knee on February 6. We started training early April and he began practising full throttle about 10 days back. He needed competition and lack of it, hurt him,” Dr. Munesh Kumar, who looked after Dahiya’s rehabilitation told PTI.

After ousting Dahiya and Naveen (7-3), Todkar later lost to Rahul by technical superiority in the semifinal. Todkar could not do much against Rahul, who successfully employed the move after taking a 4-0 lead to end the bout early in the second period.

Aman Sehrawat, the Asian champion, was a bit wobbly at the start with Rahul Aware scoring an impressive four-pointer against him but the Chhatrasal trainee remained unperturbed to win 9-6.

He followed that up with wins by technical superiority against Ankit and Shubham. In the final too, he used his speed, technique and strategy for an easy win. Kaliraman wins 65kg trial

His right eye swollen due to a blow he took in his opening bout, Vishal Kaliraman won the 65kg trials and said he would also fight to go for the Asian Games.

On Saturday, the decision to name Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat in India’s Asian Games wrestling team without trials was upheld by the Delhi High Court, dismissing the petition filed by wrestlers Antim Panghal and Sujeet Kalkal.

In the same category, Sujeet, who lost his, faded in the quarterfinals against experienced Rohit. Vishal and Rohit clashed in the final in which the Hisar wrestler erased a 1-4 deficit to win 9-3.

“I just wanted to win the trial today. Even if Bajrang was here today, I would have won, I was determined to win. We respect him for his achievements but what they are doing may destroy the careers of junior players,” Kaliraman, 25, said after his win.

“We will fight this, if we have to go to Supreme Court, we will go. We have been training for 15 years now. They just can’t give him entry like that,” he added.

Kaliraman’s parents had held a demonstration in Hisar and also outside the Olympic Bhawan to get the exemption decision reversed.

“We had supported Bajrang and Vinesh in their protest. They had said the protest is for juniors and now they are hurting the juniors. They are cheating us. We will fight against this injustice,” his father Subhash Chander told PTI.

His mother Rajbala said, “I don’t even talk to my son for days because I don’t want to disturb him in his training. I don’t see my son for weeks and months because he is trying to learn and compete at big stage. Now that this chance is being taken away from him, what do we do?”

Not only Kaliraman’s parents but the coaches at the Chhatrasal stadium said they will devise a strategy to counter this exemption decision. “We will sit and find a way. If need be, we will move the Apex Court to get the decision reversed,” said Praveen Dahiya and Lalit. Other winners From among the established names, Olympian and 2019 World Championship silver medallist Deepak Punia edged Jonty Bhati in a very close final to seal his place in the Indian team in the 86kg category.

In the 125kg, Sumit Malik, who successfully fought off a doping ban, sealed his place in the Indian team while Vicky (97kg) and Yash (74kg) emerged winners in their respective categories.

With PTI Inputs

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French youngster Leon Marchand set the world record in the men’s 400-meter individual medley Sunday, breaking the last individual mark that Michael Phelps had held from his illustrious swimming career.

Marchand cruised to the gold medal in 4 minutes, 2.50 seconds at the world championships in Fukuoka in southwest Japan. That broke the long-standing mark of 4:03.84 set by Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“That was insane, one of the most painful things I’ve done,” Marchand said. “It was amazing to do it here, and the time is crazy.”

“The best is yet to come,” added Marchand, who collected his medal at the victory ceremony from Phelps, who was in attendance as a television commentator.

Phelps had held individual world records in five different races. He still is part of the world records set by the United States in the 4×100 and 4×200 freestyle relays.

Marchand, 21, swims at Arizona State and is coached by Bob Bowman, the coach of the American team at the world championships. He is a potential hometown superstar going into next year’s Paris Olympics and will also be the favorite in the 200 IM.

“I think I can handle the pressure pretty well right now,” Marchand said. “It’s not perfect and I can get better and I have one year to improve.”

He finished 4.06 seconds ahead of silver medalist Carson Foster of the United States. Japan’s Daiya Seto took the bronze, coming in nearly seven seconds behind Marchand.

It was the second of three world records to fall on the opening day of the swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships. Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus of Australia set the record in a star-filled women’s 400-meter freestyle field with a time of 3:55.38, finishing more than three seconds ahead of Katie Ledecky. Australia also set the record in the 4×100 women’s freestyle relay in 3:27.96.

In other results, Australia’s Sam Short powered to victory in the men’s 400 freestyle to dethrone compatriot Elijah Winnington.

Short, 19, crossed the line in 3:40.68 to narrowly beat Olympic champion Ahmed Hafnaoui of Tunisia by 0.02 seconds. Germany’s Lukas Martens was 1.52 seconds behind to take the bronze medal.

“I had goosebumps thinking I was in the race with him and got my hand on the wall first,” Short said of racing Hafnaoui. “… Dream come true.”

Winnington, who won the title in Budapest last year, was seventh out of eight competitors.

In the 4×100 men’s freestyle relay, Australia took the gold in 3:10.16, with Italy earning the silver (3:10.49) and the United States the bronze (3:10.81) as all three countries automatically qualified for the Paris Games.

The British men’s team, the pre-meet favorite, did not compete after being disqualified due to an early takeoff by Jacob Whittle in their morning heat.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus of Australia set the world record in the women’s 400-meter freestyle, powering to the gold medal in 3 minutes, 55.38 seconds at the swimming world championships Sunday.

Titmus eclipsed the 3:56.08 set by Summer McIntosh earlier this year and finished 3.35 seconds ahead of silver medalist Katie Ledecky of the United States. New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather edged out McIntosh to grab the bronze, finishing 4.21 seconds behind Titmus.

“It wasn’t something [breaking the record] that I had my mind on for this meet,” Titmus said. “I just wanted to come here and try and swim the way I know I’m capable of. I knew the only way to win, I believed, was to try to take it out [fast], and whoever had as much fight left at the end was going to win it.”

It was Titmus who laid down a marker for next year’s Paris Games, taking the lead 100 meters into the race and never looking back.

The 22-year-old Titmus has not lost a 400 freestyle race she has competed in for five years.

“I’ve put in a lot of work the past six weeks that I’ve been really happy with and took a lot away from trials,” Titmus said. “I swam the way I wanted to but knew I had enough time to turn that around and came here tonight and tried to be fearless.

“Summer and Katie are both class acts, and there’s hardly any faults in their racing. I knew the only way was to try and take the win. … I guess [it was] whoever had the most fight in the end and whoever had the best left in the tank.”

The clash between the trio of Titmus, Ledecky and McIntosh had generated “race of the century” hype, 20 years after Ian Thorpe beat Pieter van den Hoogenband and Michael Phelps at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Ledecky earned her 33rd gold or silver medal in the Olympics or worlds. She has missed out on a top-two finish only once at the two events, finishing fifth in the 200-meter freestyle.

She sounded content with her race and now looks to the 800 and 1,500, where she is almost unbeatable. She said the record seemed inevitable.

“I think you could see a world record coming,” Ledecky said. “Once a couple of people do something, more people start doing it. It’s been a very fast year of swimming, and it was predictable that it will be a really fast field.”

It was the first of three world records to fall on the opening day of the swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships. Leon Marchand broke the nearly 15-year-old 400 individual medley mark that had been held by Michael Phelps. Marchand won the race in 4:02.50, breaking Phelps’ record by more than a second.

In the 4×100 women’s freestyle relay, Australia set a world record of 3:27.96 in a dominating win. The United States took second in 3:31.93, while China rounded out the podium with 3:32.40 as all three nations automatically qualified for the Paris Games.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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VENTURA, Calif. — A pair of 13-year-old Australian skateboarding prodigies won their first gold medals at the X Games on Saturday, and a 10-year-old Canadian became the youngest medalist in the action sports event’s history.

Chloe Covell won the women’s street competition a few hours before Arisa Trew claimed the women’s vert title at the coastal Ventura County Fairgrounds. Trew had to land the first 720 by a woman in X Games competition to hold off 10-year-old Reese Nelson, who claimed silver to become the youngest medalist in the X Games’ 29 years of history.

Covell became the youngest winner in the X Games’ street skating discipline by beating a strong field including Olympic gold medalist Momiji Nishiya of Japan and Brazilian star Leticia Bufoni. Covell already won a bronze medal in Chiba, Japan, and a silver medal in California last year in the X Games, becoming the youngest skater with two podium finishes in the competition’s history.

After another year of growth and improvement, she won gold in Ventura with an impressive final run that included a heel flip down a flight of stairs and a 50-50 kickflip.

Both Covell and Trew are from Australia’s Gold Coast region.

Nelson, who is from Calgary, captured the attention of Tony Hawk when she skated in an event with the world’s most famous vert skater earlier this summer in Salt Lake City. Hawk, who is on the X Games’ broadcast team, has since become a mentor and supporter of Nelson.

Trew also appeared in that event in Utah, where she landed the first 720 in competition by a woman. With women’s vert skating now back in the X Games after a 13-year hiatus, Trew repeated the feat in California to win gold.

Brazilian skater Gui Khury is still the youngest gold medalist in X Games history after winning the men’s best vert trick competition at 12 years old in 2021.

Covell started skating at 6 years old after seeing American star Nyjah Huston while she watched the X Games on television with her father, Luke, a former professional rugby player. She has shot to the top of the sport in the past two years, putting her in prime position to earn a spot in the Paris Olympics next year.

Japan’s Liz Akama won silver in women’s street in Ventura, and Nishiya took bronze after falling early in her final run.

U.S. Olympian Jagger Eaton won the men’s street competition at the X Games.

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Two teams at the Tour de France — including overall leader Jonas Vingegaard’s squad — may not be raising glasses to cheer when the famed cycling race ends Sunday.

Groupama-FDJ hit out at Richard Plugge, the team manager for Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma, after he said that riders from the French-based team drank “large beers” during Monday’s rest day.

Plugge told L’Equipe that Vingegaard and his team’s success was due to an extreme attention to “details,” saying none of the riders drank alcohol.

“We were with a French team at our hotel during the rest day. We could see riders drink large beers,” Plugge said. “… Alcohol is poison, and when you’re tired [and you drink], it makes you more tired.”

Groupama-FDJ was the only French team sharing the same hotel in Saint Gervais on Monday.

“Who does he think he is? Frankly, it’s an exceptionally vile attack on his part,” Groupama-FDJ team manager Marc Madiot said. “… Let him keep his mouth shut! I don’t intend to see him. I don’t care about him. I’m not going to go and see him. I’m angry. It’s pathetic. I don’t watch what he puts in his riders’ bowls.”

Groupama-FDJ sports director Philippe Mauduit also challenged Plugge’s comments, telling Reuters that the team’s riders had socialized during the rest day but none had drunk alcohol.

“Everyone orders the drink they want, and the guys are so tired this year that they’re not fooling around,” he said.

The performance of defending champion Vingegaard, who holds a 7-minute, 35-second lead entering Sunday’s closing ride to the Champs-Élysées in Paris, has come under tight scrutiny after the Danish cyclist pulverized his rivals in Tuesday’s individual time trial to solidify his grasp on the title.

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LONDON — Five-time Olympic cycling champion Laura Kenny has given birth to her second child.

Kenny and her husband Jason, the winner of a British record seven Olympic titles, welcomed son Montgomery on Thursday.

In an Instagram post on Saturday showing Montgomery asleep alongside his brother, Albie, Laura Kenny wrote: “Welcome to the world Montgomery George Kenny. Born 20/07/2023 Weighing 9,0lbs at 7.59pm.”

The Kennys announced in January they were expecting their second child.

At the delayed Tokyo Olympics, Laura won Madison gold alongside Katie Archibald, adding to the titles she earned at London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Jason won the last of his Olympic golds in Tokyo in the keirin. In January 2022, he retired from racing to become the coach of the Britain men’s sprint team.

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LE MARKSTEIN, France — Tadej Pogačar edged defending champion Jonas Vingegaard to take the Tour de France’s penultimate stage on Saturday but it won’t be enough to stop his rival from winning the race.

Vingegaard maintained his overall lead of 7 minutes, 35 seconds over two-time champion Pogačar and will surely be crowned after Sunday’s largely ceremonial stage ends on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

“We have to be careful not to do anything stupid but, yeah, it’s amazing to take my second victory in the Tour de France and I almost cannot believe it,” Vingegaard said.

Pogačar, who won in 2020 and 2021, claimed his second stage win in the 110th edition of cycling’s most famous race but was unable to make up for Vingegaard’s huge advantage built in the Alps.

Pogačar had been in outstanding form this year, winning nearly everywhere he raced, but the Slovenian crashed at Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April and needed surgery on a broken wrist. It’s hard to say how much that setback impacted his Tour de France hopes.

“Today I finally felt like myself again,” Pogačar said. “It was great to feel good again after many days suffering and to pull off a stage win.”

Saturday’s 133.5-kilometer (83-mile) stage from Belfort to the mountain resort of Le Markstein was the last tough test for the riders and the 3,600 meters of climbing took its toll on many of them.

Young Spanish rider Carlos Rodriguez, who still harbored hopes of overtaking Adam Yates for third place, crashed going around a bend at 33 km. Rodriguez got back on his bike but with blood on his face, arm and leg.

American Sepp Kuss also needed medical attention after a bad crash. It was his second of the Tour.

David Gaudu crashed on the descent from the 1,163-meter-high Petit Ballon. The French rider also continued in apparent pain.

Belgian rider Victor Campenaerts, wearing the bib for most combative rider for the second straight day, was the first to attack.

Italian cyclist Giulio Ciccone celebrated being crowned the Tour’s “King of the Mountains” at Col de la Schlucht.

“We had one plan and we did a terrific job to execute it,” the Italian cyclist said. “I need to thank all my teammates. They did something crazy right from the start.”

Three French riders led by local favorite Thibaut Pinot were among a group of five leaders pushing the pace up Petit Ballon. Pinot decided to go alone six kilometers before the summit, aware that a huge fan party was waiting for him. He crested the summit some 33 seconds ahead of his chasers and 90 seconds ahead of the peloton with Vingegaard and Pogačar.

Pogačar attacked six kilometers before the summit of Col du Platzerwasel, followed closely by Vingegaard. They were joined by Felix Gall and later by the Yates brothers — Simon and Pogačar’s teammate, Adam.

Pogačar attacked again with 2.9 kilometers to go. Again, Vingegaard stayed right on his wheel.

With 250 meters remaining, the Slovenian rider went again. Vingegaard got in front but Pogačar powered past to get the stage win.

“I really appreciate the battle I had with Tadej,” Vingegaard said.

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The decision to name Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat in India’s Asian Games wrestling team without trials has been upheld by the Delhi High Court on Saturday, as they dismissed the petition filed by wrestlers Antim Panghal and Sujeet Kalkal.

Almost at the same time in the Indira Gandhi stadium, Delhi, Antim won her women’s freestyle 53kg trials final after the Indian Olympic Association-appointed ad-hoc committee held the trials while the Court’s judgement was awaited. As per the committee’s directive released earlier this week, Antim will now be named as the reserve for this weight category at the Asian Games.

“It is nobody’s case that [Bajrang and Vinesh] are not well known in their respective categories. In fact, both the athletes are in the World Top 10 rankings and, therefore, the categorisation of these athletes as elite athletes also cannot be said to be perverse or arbitrary,” the court said.

“The Asian Games are to begin in about two months’ time and in case injury is caused to the elite athletes, who are medal probables, the time for recovery is extremely low and, therefore, the decision taken by the Committee to exempt [Bajrang and Vinesh] from selection trials in order to ensure that they are not exposed to injuries during trials cannot be said to be arbitrary or capricious or perverse.”

“It is neither the contention of the Petitioners nor can it be said that the WFI has acted against the interest of the country or that the decision has been taken because of certain extraneous circumstances or in order to favour anyone,” the court added.

Post winning the trials, Antim told the press she would contest this judgement. “Our fight will continue till justice is served… I will give my 100% to win. We have been practising for so many years, what is the point of sending directly, should we also stop our practice?”

#WATCH | Wrestler Antim Panghal says, “”Our fight will continue till justice is served… I will give my 100% to win. We have been practising for so many years, what is the point of sending directly, should we also stop our practice?” https://t.co/sSuvIFsVDZ pic.twitter.com/mtr8ixRpWy

– ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2023

Earlier on Wednesday, Antim and Sujeet had moved the Delhi High Court after the ad-hoc committee’s decision to provide an exemption for the defending Asian Games champions (and reigning World Championship medalists). This exemption had come about after they and four other wrestlers who had been sitting in protest against former Wrestling Federation of India chief sought an extension in the trial date till early August. While that extension was not feasible due to the reported deadline imposed by the organisers of the Asian Games for participant submission, the committee had provided the exemption to Vinesh and Bajrang basis a specific clause in the WFI rules for selection trials. The clause stated, “Asian Games: The Selection Trials in all weight categories are mandatory, however, the Selection Committee will have the discretion to select the iconic players like medallists of Olympic / World Championship without trials provided recommendation by Chief Coach / Foreign Expert.”

The court had then, on Thursday, issued a notice to the ad-hoc committee and sought a response on Friday. After hearing arguments that day, they had set aside judgement till Saturday.

Meanwhile, in the trials conducted on Saturday, Antim beat Manju by fall inside two minutes after a dominant run through the trials in which she also beat Neha Sharma 12-2 and Tamanna 7-2.

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Italian cyclist Jacopo Venzo, 17, died after a crash during a junior race in Austria, his team, Campana Imballaggi Geo&Tex Trentino, said in a statement Saturday.

The crash occurred during the first stage of the Junioren Rundfahrt on Friday. Venzo was flown to the Kepler clinic in Linz in a rescue helicopter before succumbing to his injuries.

The tour was canceled Saturday.

“With tears in our eyes and devastated hearts we announce that our junior Jacopo Venzo has left us,” the team said. “The boy had been the victim of a very bad fall yesterday on the downhill during the first stage of the Tour of Upper Austria.

“Jacopo was an extraordinary young man with a future all to write in sports and especially in life, and for that it hurts even more. We ask that the family’s privacy be respected, and we thank everyone who will make us feel their support.”

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MONACO — Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon broke the women’s mile record by nearly five seconds Friday at the Monaco Diamond League for her third world mark of the past two months.

The 29-year-old finished in 4 minutes, 7.64 seconds to break the record of 4:12.33 set by Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan in 2019, also at Monaco.

Kipyegon broke the world records in both the 1500 meters and 5000 meters last month in Florence and Paris.

“It was a blessing to do this with these ladies,” Kipyegon said, according to a release on the event’s website. “I can see that they are all happy for me and it is so emotional. It is a blessing. It just does not happen every time you run. I have to say thanks God for this.

“I really enjoyed the race. I came for that, I wanted to chase the world record and thanks god, it was amazing.”

Ireland’s Ciara Mageean was second in 4:14.8.

“When I started this season, my goal was to just break the 1500 WR,” Kipyegon said. “It was still in my head and in my mind. Thank God I did also the 1 mile and the 5000.”

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Matej Mohorič edged Kasper Asgreen in the closest-ever stage finish at the Tour de France while defending champion Jonas Vingegaard protected his commanding lead Friday.

Mohorič covered his face as he broke down and sobbed following the confirmation that he finished just ahead of Asgreen to win Stage 19 by 0.004 seconds. Mohorič also fought tears during the award ceremony.

It was the third stage win this year for the Bahrain Victorious team, which is still mourning Gino Mäder’s death from a crash during the Tour de Suisse last month. Team riders Pello Bilbao and Wout Poels also have stage victories at this year’s Tour de France.

“It means a lot because it’s just hard and cruel to be a professional cyclist,” said Mohorič, who paid tribute to Mäder. “You suffer a lot in preparation, you sacrifice your life, your family. You do everything you can to get ready. And then after a couple of days, you realize that everyone is just so incredibly strong, that it’s just hard to follow the wheels sometimes.

“We spend more time with our teammates than with our family,” Mohorič added. “[Mäder’s death] puts everything in perspective and makes you doubt what you do, but at the end of the day, the world moves on. I really wanted to give my best because he can’t anymore.”

Mohorič, who now has three career stage victories at the Tour de France, embraced Asgreen after they crossed the line. Asgreen won Thursday’s stage in another sprint finish.

“We started this Tour under a lot of stress after the death of Gino, and Matej had the ambition to win a stage. From the beginning he was in great shape but was not rewarded until today,” Bahrain Victorious sports director Vladimir Miholjevic told reporters. “For us, doing this Tour at this level is something amazing. This stage was crazy, but we were always there. These guys always deliver. It’s a victory well deserved.”

Yellow jersey holder Vingegaard finished among his Jumbo-Visma teammates and remained the clear favorite to claim his second Tour victory Sunday. The Danish rider holds a 7-minute, 35-second lead over two-time champion Tadej Pogačar after taking control of the race in the Alps.

Pogačar’s last major chance to catch Vingegaard will be Saturday’s hilly 20th stage before the Tour finishes Sunday on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Australian cyclist Ben O’Connor was first among the three breakaways to attack for the line, but he was caught by Mohorič and Asgreen, who seemed to cross at the same time.

Both riders were clocked at 3:31:02, the fifth-fastest stage in Tour history. O’Connor was four seconds behind in third.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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The much-delayed elections of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will be conducted on August 12, it was announced on Friday, but the state of Maharashtra will not be part of the poll process as Returning Officer Justice MM Kumar declared that both rival factions were ineligible for participation.

The ad-hoc panel governing the WFI had initially scheduled the elections for July 6 but was forced to reschedule the polls to July 11 after disaffiliated state bodies from Maharashtra, Haryana, Telangana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh approached it for a hearing, claiming that their dismissal was not appropriate.

The panel heard the aggrieved representatives of the state bodies but the polls could not go ahead even on July 11 with the Gauhati High Court staying the elections after the Assam Wrestling Association (AWA) sought the right to participate in the poll process. The Supreme Court then paved the way for elections on Tuesday after staying the Gauhati High Court order.

The electoral college will now have 48 members with voting rights from 24 state bodies and the nominations for posts will be filed on August 1. The scrutiny of the nominations will be conducted on August 2 and a final list of the candidates will be published on August 7. If election is required, voting will be conducted on August 12.

Justice MM Kumar declared that the two rival factions from Maharashtra, led by NCP leader Sharad Pawar and Ramdas Tadas, were ineligible to nominate any of their members to constitute the electoral college.

In the case of Haryana, the faction that has Rohtash Singh and Rakesh Singh as President and Secretary respectively, were included in the electoral college. The claim of the faction, led by Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda, was rejected.

Hamza-bin Omer and K Narsing Rao were added to electoral college from the state of Telangana.

A compromise was reached in the dispute related to Himachal Pradesh with one member each from rival factions finding a place in the electoral college. The current secretary general Jagdish and Kuldeep Rana from the disaffiliated unit were added to the list. Rana replaced president Chander Mohan.

From Rajasthan, current president Umaid Singh and secretary general Nanu Singh were retained while the claim of the faction led by Prem Lochab was rejected.

Earlier, the sports ministry had ordered the WFI to suspend all its activities with immediate effect after appointing an oversight committee to investigate the allegations of sexual harassment of women wrestlers by national body president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has received a bail in the case.

The IOA had appointed an ad-hoc panel to run the day-to-day activities of the federation. Brij Bhushan, who has completed 12 years as president, is ineligible to contest elections as per Sports Code guidelines.

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What’s happening?

Antim Panghal and Sujeet Kalkal had moved to Delhi High Court against the exemption granted to Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia from the wrestling trials for the upcoming Asian Games. On Friday (July 21), the court said they were reserving judgement and that it will be pronounced on Saturday (July 22).

What’s the point of contention?

The adhoc committee gave an exemption basis a specific clause in the Wrestling Federation of India’s “Regulation for Selection of Wrestlers for participation in the National Coaching Camps/International Competitions”, which states: “Asian Games: The Selection Trials in all weight categories are mandatory, however, the Selection Committee will have the discretion to select the iconic players like medallists of Olympic / World Championship without trials provided recommendation by Chief Coach / Foreign Expert.”

Ok, when are the trials?

Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23. The dates are non-negotiable because these have been set after a reported week’s extension from the Asian Games organisers’ deadline, which was July 15.

That’s sounds awfully inconvenient.

Yes, it is. For all concerned.

What are the possible outcomes?

Logically, there are two scenarios that could play out:

Scenario A: The court accepts the young wrestlers’ plea and orders selection to be conducted via trials. The winner of the trials would then go to the Asian Games. With Bajrang and Vinesh both sitting under the assumption that an exemption has been given, they will quite obviously not be able to compete in trials in a day’s (or even an afternoon’s) notice. Such an order would then mean neither Bajrang nor Vinesh would be able to participate in the Asian Games under any circumstances — since even the reserves are named basis the trial results. Of course, this would open a whole new can of trouble for the WFI, since both senior wrestlers would be within their rights to appeal this decision in the same/higher court.

Scenario B: The court rejects the plea and finds that the exemptions were provided as per the written law. The trials continue as per the ad-hoc committee’s decision and the winners of the two trials in these two weight categories are named as reserves. Vinesh and Bajrang are named as the representatives for India in their respective weight categories at the Asian Games.

It can’t be that straightforward, can it? Any other scenarios?

True. There are several possibilities, one of which could be an amendment to scenario A — while convention dictates that the runner-up of a trial is the standby, this could be done away with and Vinesh and Bajrang could be named standbys.

Things are further complicated by the fact that the World Championship trials will happen by mid-August and these same participants will take part in that.

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AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The Center for SafeSport’s policies put athletes in harm’s way, the U.S. Soccer Athletes Council said Wednesday, calling on Congress to take action.

In a letter sent to the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, the Athletes Council — which represents the interests of athletes within the U.S. Soccer Federation — along with the rest of the signatories, implored elected officials to act on what it perceives to be SafeSport’s shortcomings. Those signing the document included every member of the U.S. women’s national team that is set to compete at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Members of the U.S. men’s national team, U.S. youth national teams and U.S. extended national teams also signed the letter.

“SafeSport was created with noble and important intentions, but we believe that as it stands today, SafeSport is failing in what it was meant to achieve,” the letter reads in part.

The United States Center for SafeSport was established in 2017 under the auspices of the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017. The legislation was passed in the wake of abuse scandals involving USA Gymnastics, USA Swimming and USA Taekwondo.

SafeSport’s primary focus is to review allegations of sexual misconduct that take place in Olympic sports. The organization can impose sanctions up to a lifetime ban of a person from involvement in all Olympic sports. SafeSport also is in charge of providing a public central database of sanctioned individuals across all sports.

In a response letter sent to the U.S. Soccer Athletes Council on Thursday, SafeSport’s CEO Ju’Riese Colon said its “mission is consistent with the priorities voiced in your July 19, 2023 letter to Congress. Ending abuse and misconduct in sport and keeping athletes safe is all of our priority.”

The letter concluded: “I recognize that these are tough issues and that we must endeavor to improve. To truly change sport culture, we must do so together. I invite you to meet and engage in a meaningful dialogue about recommended changes and how we can work together to make sport safer for all.”

The Athletes Council letter focuses on three areas of concern. The first is that too many cases are “administratively closed,” with no ruling in either party’s favor. The letter states that this has the effect of not providing closure for victims and allowing abusers to be free to return to their sport.

The second complaint is that SafeSport has exclusive jurisdiction. This prevents a governing body like the USSF from reevaluating a decision or conducting its own investigation.

One case that drew the USSF’s ire involved former Chicago Red Stars manager Rory Dames. Dames had his coaching license revoked by the USSF in January 2022 after the Yates Report revealed he had engaged in repeated instances of abusive behavior. But 18 months later, SafeSport’s investigation is ongoing, and the organization opted to reinstate Dames’ license and modify his restrictions on coaching young athletes.

“U.S. Soccer wants to do the right thing and take proactive steps against suspected abusers,” the letter adds. “Our federation has tools and resources to investigate reports of abuse, but SafeSport is preventing them from participating in any way.”

The third concern is that when SafeSport finds people culpable of abuse, the decision might be appealed, which triggers an arbitration process in which the entire case must be retried, which has the effect of retraumatizing victims. If the victim opts not to participate, the case is automatically overturned.

The letter concludes: “We are committed to working with you and other stakeholders to make the necessary changes to ensure that players are safe and protected from abuse. And that means that we need to create an efficient, fair, and effective system for athletes to report.”

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BOURG-EN-BRESSE, France — Another Danish rider took the limelight at the Tour de France on Thursday as Kasper Asgreen joined an early breakaway and then held on to win the 18th stage in a sprint finish.

His countryman Jonas Vingegaard took it easy this time, sitting comfortably in the main pack as he protected his huge overall lead. The defending champion leads two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia by 7 minutes, 35 seconds and Britain’s Adam Yates by 10:45 with Sunday’s finale in Paris getting closer.

But this was Asgreen’s day, and he spread his arms wide after beating Dutchman Pascal Eenkhoorn and Norwegian Jonas Abrahamsen in their dash to the line.

They were all given the same time of 4 hours, 6 minutes, 48 seconds after holding off a large group of sprinters behind them who left it too late. Star sprinter Jasper Philipsen missed out on another stage win and finished fourth.

After Vingegaard took full control of the race with some jaw-droppingly fast riding to crush Pogacar in the Alps, Thursday’s stage offered respite to the main contenders on a flat 185-kilometer (114.6-mile) route from Moûtiers to Bourg-en-Bresse.

Belgian rider Victor Campenaerts joined Asgreen and Abrahamsen to form an early breakaway.

They worked well together and after the first hour had opened up a lead of around one minute. The gap remained the same, give or take a few seconds either way, with under 100 kilometers (62 miles) left.

But the peloton, after rolling along in the sunshine at a mercifully reduced pace compared to previous days, then eventually stepped it up, with Quentin Pacher and Fred Wright setting a higher tempo.

Eenkhoorn was the next to attack, and he was the only one to join the trio to make it a four-man group.

The peloton left it too late, and they just held on as Asgreen raised his arms at the line. The huge effort took its toll as he dismounted and sat on the tarmac to get his breath back, before being congratulated by a Soudal Quick-Step teammate.

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And so, it’s now wrestler vs wrestler, just not on the mat.

The spaces between the ambitions and concerns of our best wrestlers and the gross malfunctioning of the Wrestling Federation of India, and the chaos it created, have been expertly exploited to create faultlines and make divide-and-rule – that favourite of the political toolkit – so much simpler.

Sakshi Malik, one of the three main protesting wrestlers, called it as she saw it: “This is to spark a fight between the wrestlers, because of which the name of two people have been sent directly.”

At the end of the day, this is always where it was going to end up, wasn’t it? At a place where the only ones getting hurt, the only ones paying a price, the only ones being scapegoated are the athletes themselves. They, and the sport, are the losers.

On Thursday, 21-year-old Anshu Malik, Olympian already and one of the early protestors against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in January, tweeted this: “The biggest dream of a player is to win medals for his country in games like Olympics and Asian Games and make all the citizens proud, but what if the rights of those players are killed. The demand of trial of junior players is absolutely correct, and it is their right. I support the demand of junior players.”

She then tagged the Prime Minister’s office, sports minister, the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), two leading dailies and ended with an “#Adhoc committee.”

एक खिलाड़ी का सबसे बड़ा सपना होता है ओलंपिक और एशियन गेम्स जैसे खेलों में अपने देश के लिए मेडल जीतना और सभी देशवासियों को गौरवान्वित करना लेकिन क्या हो जब उन्हीं खिलाड़ियों का हक़ मारा जाये।
continued(1/2)

– Anshu Malik 🇮🇳 (@OLyAnshu) July 20, 2023

This came a day after Antim Panghal and Sujeet Kalkal moved the Delhi High Court demanding trials happen. The court has since sought a response from the Wrestling Federation of India and will hear the matter again on Friday.

What is this injustice that these three promising young wrestlers are claiming? It’s the decision of the ad-hoc committee to provide Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia with exemptions from selection trials for the Asian Games. This directly affects Antim as she fights in Vinesh’s weight category and Sujeet as he competes in Bajrang’s.

The ad-hoc committee made this decision based on a clause in the WFI selection regulations (Point 3 – periodicity of trials): “Asian Games: The Selection Trials in all weight categories are mandatory, however, the Selection Committee will have the discretion to select the iconic players like medallists of Olympic / World Championship without trials provided recommendation by Chief Coach / Foreign Expert.”

Vinesh and Bajrang are both World Championship medallists, reigning ones at that, and Bajrang is, of course, an Olympic medallist too. So, by exercising their discretion, the committee has gone by the letter of the law. In fact, such an exemption had been provided for the 2018 Asian Games too.

But why did Vinesh and Bajrang seek an exemption this time? Well, they hadn’t.

The ad-hoc committee had kept July 15 as the date of trials initially because that’s the date for submission of participating squad lists to the Asian Games. They then moved the trial dates to July 22 and 23 after reportedly getting an extension from the Asian Games organisers (“reportedly” because neither the Asiad nor the IOA have officially confirmed this one-week extension till date).

In the middle of all this, and after suspending their protest against Singh in mid-June, the six wrestlers involved throughout had written to the ad-hoc committee seeking an extension of the date for the selection trials considering they needed to return to some level of match fitness after months on the streets while in protest.

Instead of providing the extension — since they were bound by the submission deadline — the ad-hoc committee chose to provide exemptions to two eligible wrestlers (even though a third, Sakshi Malik, would have been eligible for it too considering she’s an Olympic medallist).

Cue, chaos.

Think of it from Antim’s, or Sujeet’s, point of view and you can see why this decision would infuriate them. Antim, a former U20 World champion, participated in the Asian Wrestling Championships in April this year (after Vinesh’s decision to not fight till Singh was investigated) and won silver in the competition – proving her credentials for the upcoming Asiad. What more could she have possibly done?

Meanwhile, reigning U23 Asian champion Sujeet may not have the senior-level medal-winning pedigree of his colleague, but he has the advantage of having been in training day-in, day-out for the whole of the year.

This is something neither Vinesh nor Bajrang have done — after an immensely successful 2022 (Commonwealth Games golds and World Championships bronzes for both), they sacrificed the vast majority of the first half of 2023 in pursuit of justice. It is clear from their letter to the ad-hoc committee that neither had sought an exemption, but the fact remains that they have now accepted it.

What complicates things further is that the World Championships will happen a fortnight before the Asian Games, and the ad-hoc committee has set a mid-August date for the trials for that competition – no exemptions provided. What happens here if Antim beats Vinesh? Or Sujeet beats Bajrang?

To make things even more messy, the IOA said on Wednesday evening that the final “selection” of wrestlers would be made prior to the departure of the team to China (because the Asian Games deadline means nothing?). A few hours later they released a correction to the statement, saying a final “assessment” of the wrestling team will made prior to departure.

It doesn’t make sense to us, either.

Meanwhile Singh, the man at the centre of it all, has been granted bail twice in the past three days – with the public prosecutor so ambivalent about the whole thing on Thursday that the judge had to ask him “Are you opposing [bail] or not?” (Answer: he was not)

In between hearings Singh was quoted as saying that these exemptions “saddened him”, that they “hurt wrestling,” and asked rhetorical questions: “When all this (protest) began (in January) I used to think why is it all happening?” We’ll leave it to you to read between those lines.

So, here we are. With the WFI mess nowhere near being sorted — election dates have not even been announced officially (we don’t even know if the third member, a retired judge, has joined the ad-hoc committee); this ongoing confusion surrounding the Asian Games trials; Singh’s shadow continuing to loom large — we’re back at that dreaded (yet eerily familiar for Indian sport) place. Where there are no winners, no losers… just a constant state of confusion and chaos and toxicity.

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MOUTIERS, France — Belgian all-rounder Wout van Aert, a key teammate of Tour de France leader Jonas Vingegaard, has left the race to be with his wife, Sarah, ahead of the birth of their second child.

Van Aert, a versatile rider capable of winning on all grounds, has provided crucial support to Vingegaard since the start of the Tour. But because Vingegaard has opened a huge gap in the general classification with one tough mountain stage left, Van Aert’s presence was not deemed as essential.

“As everyone knows, Sarah is pregnant, things are starting to get a bit tight at home,” Van Aert said in a video published by his Jumbo-Visma team ahead of Thursday’s Stage 18. “In consultation with the team, we have decided that my place is now at home.”

Van Aert added that leaving the race is “a strange feeling, but it’s not a dilemma.”

Vingegaard, the defending champion, dropped Tadej Pogacar in the last big stage in the French Alps on Wednesday to increase his overall lead to 7 minutes, 35 seconds. Barring any big crash, he looks set to win his second Tour title Sunday.

Van Aert has nine career stage wins on the Tour, but none this month.

“I often had the legs to win a stage, but it did not happen,” he said. “But I will always remember this Tour as the one where I called home every day.”

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LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Gymnasts from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to take part in sanctioned competitions as “individual neutral athletes” from the start of 2024, the sport’s governing body said Wednesday, but any decision on the Paris Games will be left to the International Olympic Committee.

Russian and Belarus gymnasts had been banned since last year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Belarus’ military support.

The executive committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said Wednesday that it had decided “to authorize, under strict conditions, the participation of athletes and support personnel of Russian and Belarusian sporting nationality in FIG sanctioned events listed on the FIG Calendar as ‘individual neutral athletes’ without any involvement or association with the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus, their respective National Federations or National Olympic Committees.”

This may include Olympic qualifying events, the gymnastics federation said, but added “the decision on whether Russian and Belarusian athletes will be eligible to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is the responsibility of the IOC.”

The federation also reiterated “its firm condemnation of the senseless invasion of Ukraine by Russia and its commitment to impose severe punishments on anyone in the international Gymnastics community who is involved in war or supports war.”

FIG president Morinari Watanabe’s said: “By accepting Russian and Belarusian gymnasts to participate in competitions as independent neutral athletes, the FIG is ensuring that the rights of all athletes are respected and is sending a message to the world that Gymnastics is seeking peace.”

The IOC has pushed sports governing bodies this year to approve some athletes from Russia and Belarus competing as neutrals for international competitions, including Paris qualifying events.

Soccer and track and field have taken the toughest positions against Russia, excluding teams and athletes within days of the invasion of Ukraine starting in February 2022. Russia was removed from trying to qualify for the men’s and women’s World Cup in soccer.

Tennis and cycling mostly continued to let Russians and Belarusians compete as neutrals — but not in team events — without their national identity, and the IOC and its president Thomas Bach have pointed to their success.

Bach said Tuesday that the key factor in weighing the IOC’s ultimate decision on letting Russians participate in Paris is how well athletes behave in international competitions.

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COURCHEVEL, France — Jonas Vingegaard is on course to bring the yellow jersey to Paris for a second straight year after the Danish rider took a huge lead over his main rival in cycling’s biggest race.

The defending champion dropped Tadej Pogacar on Wednesday in the last big stage in the Alps to increase his overall lead to 7 minutes, 35 seconds. Barring any big crash, he looks set to win his second Tour title.

Vingegaard finished the 17th stage in fourth place, almost six minutes before an exhausted Pogacar crossed the finish line.

The race ends in the French capital with a largely ceremonial stage Sunday. There is just one tough stage remaining before then — on Saturday in the Alsace region, with the peloton facing a total of 3,600 meters of climbing.

But with such a big gap between the Tour’s main contenders, it’s unlikely to have an impact in the fight for the yellow jersey.

Pogacar, a two-time champion who was dethroned by Vingegaard last year, lost contact about 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the finish at the ski resort of Courchevel.

The punishing trek had been dubbed the queen stage of this year’s Tour because of its daunting profile. The last of four climbs was a 28.4-kilometer (17.6-mile) slog up Col de la Loze, close to the uphill finish.

A day after Vingegaard destroyed the field in the race’s time trial, Pogacar did not find the strength to attack and got dropped in the monster climb. His teammate Marc Soler stayed with him to try and pace him back, in vain.

The day had started on a sour note for Pogacar, who crashed just a few kilometers into the 166-kilometer (103-mile) ride. The Slovenian leader of the UAE Team Emirates fell off at a moderate speed on an uphill section near the foot of the Col des Saisies after apparently touching the wheel of a rider in front of him.

Pogacar was quickly back on his bike and continued racing to rejoin the main contenders before a group of breakaway riders moved away from the pack.

On paper, the punishing Col de La Loze culminating at 2,304 meters above sea level — with some slopes with a gradient more than 24% — looked like the perfect playground for a final showdown in thin air between Pogacar and Vingegaard.

But Pogacar did not have good legs, and the duel never took place.

Once Pogacar cracked, Vingegaard dropped all the riders who still accompanied him, chasing behind the remaining breakaway riders. He first joined his Jumbo-Visma teammate Wilco Kelderman, and the pair soldiered on together on brutal slopes.

Vingegaard’s ferocious ride was briefly put to a halt by a race motorbike that was stopped in the middle of the narrow and winding road up to the summit.

At the front of the stage, Felix Gall resisted the chase to post the biggest win of his career. Simon Yates was second, with Pello Bilbao completing the stage podium.

Adam Yates kept his third place overall, 10:45 off the pace.

Vingegaard took control of the Tour during Tuesday’s time trial. He had started Stage 16 only 10 seconds ahead of Pogacar after little could separate the duo in a fascinating duel over the last two weeks. However, when it came down to a head-to-head battle in the race against the clock, Vingegaard was in a class of his own.

He finished the 22.4-kilometer (14-mile) hilly route from Passy to Combloux 1 minute, 38 seconds ahead of Pogacar.

Pogacar had his Tour de France preparations hampered by a left wrist fracture he suffered in April during the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic and required surgery. But his tremendous performances over the first two weeks of racing had erased initial doubts about his Tour form.

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INDIANAPOLIS — The Soul Cap has gotten the green light from swimming’s top governing body, which figures to be a huge step toward bringing more diversity to a largely white sport.

You’ll have to look beyond the Olympics and world championships to spot its biggest impact.

The oversized cap, which is designed especially for Black swimmers with voluminous natural hair, already is making the pool deck feel more welcoming at the grassroots level.

The hope is that will lead to more swimmers of color reaching the sport’s highest echelons in the generations to come.

Seren Jones, co-founder of the British-based Black Swimming Association, is seeing signs of progress in her role as an instructor.

“I teach water safety to nonswimmers and beginners,” she said in a phone interview. “It’s absolutely incredible to see so many, really the majority of women across London, using the Soul Cap. I’m talking about women from the 20s to their 70s. It’s phenomenal. They feel empowered to learn and be safe in the water without worrying about their hair, which previously was a major issue.”

The Soul Cap initially was banned from competition by FINA, now known as World Aquatics, leading to harsh criticism during the Tokyo Olympics from supporters of more inclusive policies.

Most notably, open water competitor Alice Dearing – the first Black female swimmer to make the British team – thought FINA was out of touch for barring the Soul Cap on the grounds that it didn’t follow “the natural form of the head.”

Dearing had wanted to try the larger cap to cover her Afro.

Reversing course last September, the governing body added the Soul Cap to the list of approved equipment, with executive director Brent Nowicki saying “diversity and inclusivity is at the heart of FINA’s work.”

The world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, are the first major international meet since that ruling, but smaller caps that fit more snugly to the head remain the norm at the highest echelons of the sport. Top swimmers are focused on doing whatever they can to reduce drag, which leads to faster times.

Jones concedes that world-class athletes are not the Soul Cap’s target group.

“We all know that in swimming you want to be as streamlined as you can get,” Jones said. “That can make all the difference in a race that’s decided by thousandths of a second.”

At the lower levels, though, the Soul Cap can be a powerful conduit to reaching more swimmers of color.

“The large caps, the Soul Caps, are already making a massive difference in grassroots and recreational swimming,” Jones said. “It’s also making a difference for age-group swimmers. They get to dabble and experiment with serious training in a competitive environment. But the more serious a swimmer gets, you’ll probably see them resort back to the more traditional swim cap that exists now.”

Florida coach Anthony Nesty, who works with some of the biggest names in U.S. swimming, wasn’t even aware the Soul Cap had been approved for the world championships.

Yet, as the first Black man to win an Olympic swimming gold medal when he competed for Suriname at the 1988 Seoul Games, Nesty is eager to see a more diverse group of athletes on deck.

“Anything that can help the sport have more athletes of color is one less thing to worry about,” he said. “That will always be a plus.”

Cullen Jones, the groundbreaking Black American swimmer whose four Olympic medals include a pair of golds, is a big fan of the Soul Cap.

“One of the beautiful things about the Soul Cap model is the inclusivity for people with longer hair,” he said. “Men, women, people with longer hair can enjoy the water. I know that for a lot of the companies, many of the caps are made for hydrodynamics. The Soul Cap is more about being inclusive.”

Jones is still puzzled by FINA’s initial resistance to letting swimmers use the cap in competition.

“It’s not giving you any kind of edge,” he said. “But it’s giving people who might not have thought to do swimming the ability to feel comfortable around the water.”

That aligns with one of his passions: teaching more Black people how to swim. Coming from a family where many of his relatives have long hair, Jones said it’s important to have a cap “that makes them feel comfortable and not having to worry about hair, which is a big cultural thing – especially in the Black community, myself included.”

For Jones, this issue is especially poignant. He was diagnosed with alopecia near the end of his swimming career, causing him to lose all his hair.

“I had to go to a therapist to deal with a certain lack of identity because I didn’t have my hair,” he said. “I understand very much how important it is. So that barrier to entry is lifted with something like a cap that fits comfortably around your head.”

Bob Bowman, the Arizona State coach best known for his partnership with 23-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps, does not know of any elite swimmers using the Soul Cap.

Even so, he believes it can a huge impact on the sport. He compared the Soul Cap to jammer swimsuits, which extend to just above the knee and made it far more appealing for young males to hit the pool a generation ago.

“I think that encouraged a lot of boys to swim since they didn’t have to wear a small Speedo,” Bowman said. “It’s the same kind of thing as that. It will encourage some people who might not have swum to try it.”

Seren Jones said the Soul Cap’s full impact will take years to realize.

She’s prepared to be patient.

“These things take time,” she said. “We still have a very long way to go. I’ve been on pool decks that look very much like they did when I was a swimmer 10 years ago. They are predominantly white. But there are more swimmers from different parts of the world taking this sport seriously.

“Let’s see how far they go.”

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COURCHEVEL, France — Tour de France overall leader Jonas Vingegaard has undergone four anti-doping tests in the last two days, including one an hour before the start of Wednesday’s 17th stage, his Jumbo-Visma team said.

Vingegaard extended his overall lead to one minute and 48 seconds over second-placed Tadej Pogacar with a stunning performance in Tuesday’s individual time trial, which he won by 1:38.

Pogacar was second in the stage.

“It was already the fourth in two days,” a Jumbo-Visma spokesperson told Reuters on Wednesday.

“We are perfectly fine with it… We’ve been asking the International Cycling Union (UCI) to act like this actually.”

Pogacar and his team mates were also tested Wednesday morning an hour before the start in Saint Gervais, a UAE Emirates spokesperson told Reuters.

Since 2021, the International Testing Agency (ITA) has been handling testing in cycling.

On the Tour de France, the overall leader is tested everyday and every stage winner has to undergo an anti-doping test as well.

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World-record hurdler Tobi Amusan says she has been charged with an anti-doping rules violation for missing three drug tests in the span of 12 months.

The Nigerian posted the news on her Instagram account Tuesday and said she would fight the charge from the Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees doping issues in international track.

“I am a CLEAN athlete, and I am regularly (maybe more than usual) tested by the AIU,” she wrote.

At the world championships in Oregon last year, Amusan stunned a still-arriving crowd by setting the world record with a time of 12.12 seconds in the semifinals of the 100-meter hurdles. She came back about 90 minutes later to win the gold medal in 12.06, but that time did not go into the record books because there was too strong a tailwind.

“When I watched the record, I was like, ‘Whoa, who did that?'” Amusan said of her reaction upon seeing her time pop up on the scoreboard.

Amusan went to college at Texas El-Paso and had been training partners with Nigerian UTEP alum Blessing Okagbare. Okagbare is serving an 11-year ban for multiple doping violations, stemming from a federal investigation into an El Paso doctor who pleaded guilty to distributing human-growth hormone and other banned substances.

Missing three doping tests can result in a two-year ban, though exceptions can be made for different circumstances.

Amusan said she was tested “within days” of her third missed-test violation and had faith the matter would be resolved in time for her to compete at next month’s world championships.

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FUKUOKA, Japan — China dominated the second day of the swimming world championships on Monday, winning back-to-back gold medals in the first 10 minutes of the session.

Zhang Yufei won the women’s 100-meter butterfly and Qin Haiyang went wire-to-wire in the men’s 100 breaststroke.

Zhang rallied over the final 15 meters, touching in 56.12 seconds. Margaret MacNeil of Canada finished second in 56.45, while Torri Huske of the United States clocked 56.61 for third two years after placing fourth in the event at the Tokyo Olympics.

The women’s race was a repeat of the final two years ago at the Tokyo Games. The top four finishers in Tokyo were separated by only 14 hundredths of a second. That race went to MacNeil, followed by Zhang and Australian swimmer Emma McKeon. Huske was .01 behind McKeon and missed out on a medal.

Qin won his race only a few minutes before Zhang’s triumph. After topping all other swimmers by more than one second in the semifinals, Qin was never challenged in the final.

There was a three-way tie for second place, with Nic Fink of the United States, Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy and Arno Kamming of the Netherlands all finishing in 58.72.

The men’s race was partly defined by who did not compete. Adam Peaty, a two-time Olympic champion and world-record holder from Britain, is taking a break and is not swimming in Japan. He has said in interviews that he’s taking time away for “mental health issues.”

Peaty is one of the most dominant swimmers in his discipline and holds 19 of the top 20 times in the 100 breaststroke. His record is 56.88 seconds.

American swimmers Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh, college teammates at the University of Virginia, finished 1-2 in the women’s 200-meter medley, with Yu Yiting of China in third. Douglass trailed until the final 50 meters when she overtook Walsh to win the gold medal in 2:07.17. Walsh picked up the silver in 2:07.97, while Yu took the bronze in 2:08.74.

The top-two finish by Douglass and Walsh marked the first time the American women had achieved the feat at the worlds.

Sixteen-year-old Summer McIntosh of Canada would have been a strong favorite in the event but she elected not to swim it because of a scheduling conflict. McIntosh finished a disappointing fourth the 400 free on Sunday – and lost her world record to Ariarne Titmus of Australia. McIntosh already holds the 400-medley mark, set earlier this year at 4:25.87.

Thomas Ceccon of Italy won the men’s 50 butterfly, which is not an Olympic event, in 22.68. He finished ahead of Diogo Matos Ribeiro of Portugal in 22.80 and Maxime Grousset of France in 22.82.

Many of the men’s butterfly events are missing top contenders, including Caeleb Dressel of the United States and Kristof Milak of Hungary. Dressel failed to make the team after taking a long break and Malik said he was not in shape – mentally or physically – to compete.

A FIBA U18 European Championship game in Nis, Serbia, ended in controversy Saturday as members of the Polish and Turkish junior national teams refused to compete for the final five minutes of their game in protest of playing conditions, an unprecedented event at the national team level and one FIBA says it is investigating.

Heavy rains produced extreme humidity in an already sweltering Mika Antic elementary school gym with little to no air conditioning, creating a dangerous environment that caused injuries to several participants, resulting in the players’ decision to not meaningfully compete for the final minutes of the contest.

Early in the third quarter, Turkish guard Yagiz Aksu slipped and suffered a groin injury while casually bringing the ball up the court, causing him to collapse in pain. He missed the remainder of the game and his team’s subsequent contest Sunday.

With five minutes remaining, Polish power forward Jakub Szumert lost his balance pursuing a loose ball on the wet court and landed violently on his chest, rolling over several times in pain. While making his way to his team’s bench, he fainted and lost consciousness. He was later rushed in an ambulance to a local hospital where he spent the night, “per protocol/precaution since he is in a foreign country,” according to FIBA.

Players began to shake hands following the incident, anticipating the game would be called, but referees and officials elected to continue the contest. Players were visibly upset with the situation. Instead of continuing to compete, the two teams passively moved the ball back around the 3-point line to teammates and opponents while incurring multiple shot clock violations and intentional turnovers to avoid the risk of additional injury, while parents and observers stood and cheered from the stands. The score remained level at 78-63 through the end of the game.

Nearly 24 hours later, FIBA acknowledged its error and vowed to examine why players were told to continue to play despite the injury risk presented by the arena’s conditions.

“The game between Poland and Turkey should have been stopped by the game officials because of the adverse conditions inside that gym,” FIBA wrote in an emailed statement to ESPN. “Our Competitions department will investigate this matter to understand why it was not done.”

At the conclusion of the Poland-Turkey game, another contest was played immediately in the same gym between France and Sweden, a sloppy and uncompetitive affair that ended in a 38-point blowout in which participants were visibly doing their best to avoid injury. The contest also saw several instances of players sliding up and down the floor on the wet surface, but no injuries.

With temperatures expected to rise past 100 degrees early in the week, FIBA appears unlikely to move the games from the elementary school gym, blaming “an extreme thunderstorm [which] affected the area. It was so strong that water came in from the roof of the Cair venue, and the games had to be stopped for a period of time, for the floors to be wiped clean. All teams were consulted and agreed to proceed with the program of games.

“Local organizers proceeded to carefully clean all areas and all necessary measures were taken to avoid any issues going forward.”

Representatives of the Polish and Turkish national teams declined to comment on the record about the situation, as well as their injured players.

Jonathan Givony is an NBA draft expert and the founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service utilized by NBA, NCAA and International teams.

MADRID — Cotie McMahon scored with 22 seconds left to lift the United States to a 69-66 win over host Spain in the FIBA Under-19 Women’s World Cup championship on Sunday.

With the score tied at 66, the Ohio State forward scored to put the U.S. up two. The Americans then got a steal by Hannah Hidalgo with 11 seconds left. UCLA’s Kiki Rice then hit one of two free throws with six seconds left for the final margin.

McMahon, who was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season, finished with 16 points and South Carolina’s Chloe Kitts added 15.

The U.S. finished the tournament 7-0 and now has won 10 titles at this age group, including the last three.

Iyana Carrion scored 19 points to lead Spain.

This is the second time the Americans have won the title beating the host country in the championship game. The U.S. also beat Russia in 2015 on its home soil.

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Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard won the Tour de France for the second straight year as cycling’s most storied race finished Sunday on the famed Champs-Élysées in Paris.

With a huge lead built up over main rival Tadej Pogačar, the 2020 and 2021 winner, Vingegaard knew the victory was effectively his again before the largely ceremonial stage at the end of the 110th edition of the Tour.

Vingegaard drank champagne with his Visma-Jumbo teammates as they lined up together and posed for photos on the way to Paris.

“It’s been an amazing year. What a Tour de France for us,” Vingegaard said. “We started the plans early, and once again, I could not have done it without my team. It’s been an amazing Tour for us, and I’m so proud of every one of us.

“Tonight we will celebrate, have a good dinner. It will be a nice evening. Thanks to my opponents, who have been amazing. It’s been an amazing three weeks fighting with you guys.”

It had been a three-week slog over 2,116 miles with eight mountain stages across five mountain ranges. Vingegaard seized control of the race over two stages in the Alps.

Little had separated the two rivals until Vingegaard finished a time trial 1 minute, 38 seconds ahead of Pogačar on Tuesday, then followed up the next day by finishing the toughest mountain stage of the race almost six minutes ahead of his exhausted rival.

“I’m dead,” said the 24-year-old Pogačar, who won the white jersey as the best under-25 rider for the fourth year in a row.

The Slovenian rider responded by winning the penultimate stage Saturday, but Vingegaard still had an insurmountable lead of 7 minutes, 29 seconds going into the final stage — a mostly ceremonial event that is contested at the end by the sprinters.

Belgian cyclist Jordi Meeus won the final stage in a photo finish between four riders on the line, just ahead of Jasper Philipsen, Dylan Groenewegen and Mads Pedersen.

“It was my first Tour. It was a super-nice experience already so far, and to take the win today is an incredible feeling,” Meeus said.

British cyclist and Pogačar teammate Adam Yates took third place overall, while Belgian rider Jasper Philipsen won the green jersey for the points classification and Italian competitor Giulio Ciccone took the polka-dot jersey for the mountains classification.