Knierims capture pairs short program at U.S. Championships
GREENSBORO, N.C. >> Olympians Alexa and Chris Knierim, coming off a poor season, put that disappointment far behind them Thursday night in winning the pairs short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
The husband/wife couple that helped the United States win a bronze medal at the team event of the 2018 Games in South Korea, took a lead of nearly seven points with what they both said was a long-sought clean performance.
“It was nice to be comfortable on the ice and put out a great short program,” he said. “Nothing felt easy going through it, but regardless we know we can put out a program like that. For us, it’s been a long road to get here.”
That road included a dismal 2018-19 campaign in which they changed coaches and locations, basically, Alexa said, living out of suitcases.
Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea te 2016 national champs, were second at 70.35 points. Defending champion Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc were third at 68.86.
Omaha Beach, Spun to Run scratched from Pegasus
HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. >> The Pegasus World Cup Invitational took two major hits Thursday, with the top choices for the race being scratched over health concerns.
Heavily favored Omaha Beach was scratched because of concerns over swelling in his right hind leg, and that means his career is now over since Saturday was going to be his final race before retiring to stud. Spun to Run, the second favorite after the post-position draw earlier this week, was pulled out earlier Thursday after his connections noticed he was warm and dealing with some soreness.
Chicharito seizes chance to be center of the Galaxy
CARSON, CALIF. >> Javier Hernández has been to the top of the soccer world. Yet from Manchester United to Sevilla, the Mexican striker better known as Chicharito often struggled to get consistent playing time. Whether his path was blocked by Wayne Rooney’s brilliance or a manager’s lack of confidence in him, Hernández rarely got to show his full talent.
That’s the main reason the 31-year-old Hernández agreed to return to North America with the LA Galaxy, who introduced their latest superstar acquisition Thursday.
Chicharito is the center of the Galaxy now, and he is thrilled.
“I just want to play,” Hernández said in his distinctively rapid bilingual delivery. “This league and this team, it’s giving me that opportunity (to show) that I’m one of the best players around the world. That’s why they want me to be here, to try to improve this league and this team . ... ”
Aliev wins European title
GRAZ, AUSTRIA >> Russia’s Dmitri Aliev won his first European figure skating title on Thursday after short-program leader Michal Brezina plummeted out of the medals with an erratic free skate.
Aliev was in second place behind Brezina, but took the lead by landing three quadruple jumps in a near-flawless free skate to score 184.44 points for a total of 272.89. Skating last, Brezina doubled his opening quad Salchow then fell on his next two jumps, dropping to seventh overall.
Aliev wept after realizing he’d become European champion, the latest stage in an up-and-down career.
Williams tells Miami he will enter transfer portal
CORAL GABLES, FLA. >> Jarren Williams informed Miami that he is entering the transfer portal, a move that comes three days after former Houston quarterback D’Eriq King decided to join the Hurricanes.
Williams started 10 of Miami’s 13 games this past season, after beating out N’Kosi Perry and Tate Martell for the first-string job. But with King — the presumed starter for 2020 — arriving this week, it was presumed some of Miami’s incumbent quarterbacks would look elsewhere.