US athletes must get vax for Beijing
U.S. athletes trying to make the Winter Olympics will have to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 under a groundbreaking new policy announced Wednesday by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
CEO Sarah Hirshland wrote in a letter obtained by The AP that, starting Nov. 1, the USOPC will require staff, athletes and others utilizing training centers and other USOPC facilities to be vaccinated.
The requirement, she said, “will also apply to our full Team USA delegation at future Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
According to the team website, athletes will have to show proof of vaccination by Dec. 1.
Earlier this year, around 83% of the more than 600 American athletes who qualified for Tokyo got the shots in time for the Summer Games, according to the USOPC’s final count.
The IOC estimated about 85% of all athletes in the Olympic village had been vaccinated.
College football: A plan to expand the College Football Playoff stalled when a key committee was unable to reach consensus on whether to grow the postseason format from four to 12 teams. The 10 major college conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s AD who make up the management committee met to share feedback from their members and address concerns about the expansion proposal that was unveiled in June. “As the committee moves forward, there remains issues to be discussed,” CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock said in a statement. The meeting in the Dallas area was a prelude to the Chicago session that was supposed to include the CFP board of managers. The commissioners and Swarbrick will still meet in the Chicago area next week, but the university presidents and chancellors will now join them by Zoom for all or part of the meeting.
NFL: Rookie QB Justin Fields will make his first career start when the Bears face the Browns on Sunday in Cleveland. Fields, the No. 11 pick in the draft, will fill in for veteran Andy Dalton, who suffered a left knee injury during last weekend’s win over the Bengals . ... QB Tua Tagovailoa will miss the Dolphins’ road game against the Raiders with fractured ribs. Tagovailoa suffered the injury during last weekend’s loss to the Bills. Jacoby Brissett, who took over against the Bills, will start against the Raiders . ... The Buccaneers placed WR Antonio Brown on the reserve/COVID-19 list. ESPN reported that Brown tested positive for the virus. Brown is the third Bucs player to be placed on the list this week. The entire Bucs organization, including Brown, is fully vaccinated. Brown needs two negative tests 24 hours apart to return, as long as he’s asymptomatic.
NHL: The Blues promoted Peter Chiarelli to VP of hockey operations and are bringing back former coach Ken Hitchock as consultant. Chiarelli, 57, who lost his job as Oilers GM in 2019, was GM of the Bruins’ Stanley Cup championship team in 2011. Hitchcock, 69, coached the Blues from 2011-17. He also coached the Stars to the Stanley Cup in 1999. ... The Sabres and D Rasmus Dahlin agreed to a three-year contract worth $18 million. Dahlin, 21, has 107 points on 18 goals and 89 assists in 197 games since the Sabres took him with the first pick in the 2018 draft.