Bobsledder Holcomb dies
Steven Holcomb, the longtime U.S. bobsledding star who drove to three Olympic medals after beating a disease that nearly robbed him of his eyesight, was found dead in Lake Placid, N.Y., on Saturday. He was 37. The U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Bobsled and Skeleton announced his death, the cause of which remains unclear. However, officials said there were no immediate indications of foul play. An autopsy was tentatively scheduled for Sunday.
The native of Park City, Utah, was a three-time Olympian, and his signature moment came at the 2010 Vancouver Games when he piloted his four-man sled to a win that snapped a 62-year drought for the U.S. in bobsled’s signature race.
RUNNING
Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge was 26 seconds short of running the first marathon in under two hours Saturday in Monza, Italy.
Kipchoge ran the 26.2 miles around an oval track in an impressive 2 hours 25 seconds, unofficially smashing Dennis Kimetto’s world mark of 2:02:57 by 21⁄2 minutes and raising hopes that one of world sport’s most famous barriers can be broken.
The time will not be an official world record, sanctioned by the IAAF, due to variables like pacers entering mid-race and drinks being given to runners via mopeds.
TENNIS
Former champion Ilie Nastase is banned from attending the French Open.
A brief statement on the French Open’s Twitter account said, “following his suspension by the ITF, Mr Ilie Nastase won’t be accredited” for the tournament in Paris.
The 70-year-old Nastase has been provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Federation following his comments about the skin color of the baby that Serena Williams is expecting, and for foulmouthed outbursts during a recent Fed Cup tie between his Romania team and Britain.
SWIMMING
Adolph Kiefer, the 100-meter backstroke champion at the 1936 Berlin Games who was America’s oldest living Olympic gold medalist in any sport, has died. He was 98. He died Friday at his home in Wadsworth, Ill. Kiefer became an Olympic champion as a 17-yearold in an Olympic-record time that stood for 20 years. He was also the first man to break 1 minute in the 100 backstroke, doing so as a high school swimmer in Illinois. He later competed for the University of Texas.
SOCCER
PAOK won the Greek Cup by defeating AEK Athens, 2-1, in a final marred by violent clashes between fans that injured more than 40 people, two seriously, according to police in Volos.
The game was delayed about half an hour due to the clashes. Police said at least 10 people were taken to a hospital, two of them in serious condition.
Fighting began when AEK and PAOK fans, who were supposed to be separated, met on a footbridge outside the stadium that police forces did not occupy. There were pitched battles that lasted about 30 minutes before riot police intervened with stun grenades and chemicals.