Holcomb’s life celebrated
The sympathy cards came from places like Germany and Italy, where Steven Holcomb was their bobsled enemy. Mourners flew in from all across the country. Generations of Olympians packed a ballroom, sharing in grief. They wept. They hugged. They laughed. “Steven Holcomb was like no one else,” Olympic teammate Steven Langton said. “He was one of the finest to wear the red, white and blue.”
Sentiments like those came for hours Thursday in the tiny Olympic town of Lake Placid, N.Y., when friends and family gathered to celebrate the life of America’s most successful bobsled driver.
The 37-year-old Holcomb was found dead in his sleep Saturday at the Olympic Training Center, the dorm where not only many of his teammates live but where the offices for USA Bobsled and Skeleton are housed.
HOCKEY
Russian hockey officials announced Thursday that Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin played through injury before Washington was eliminated from the NHL playoffs in the second round by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Ovechkin finished the playoffs dealing with a lower-body injury that required pain-numbing injections, the Russian Hockey Federation said in noting that Ovechkin would not be able to play for Russia at the world championships in Europe because of it.
Ovechkin never let on that he was playing hurt. He had five goals and three assists in 13 playoff games.
AHL divisional alignment set: The Milwaukee Admirals will continue to play in the Central Division of the Western Conference, along with the Chicago Wolves, Cleveland Monsters, Grand Rapids Griffins, Iowa Wild, Manitoba Moose and Rockford IceHogs.
The Admirals also unveiled their opponents for next season, which includes matchups with the Hershey Bears and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The Admirals also will face the Ontario Reign for the first time. BASEBALL
The New York Mets’ season of high expectations took another serious hit when all-star closer Jeurys Familia was diagnosed with a blood clot in his pitching shoulder that might require surgery.
The arterial clot will be examined Friday in St. Louis by physician Robert Thompson, who treated starter Matt Harvey last year for thoracic outlet syndrome.
In 2012, Mets pitcher Dillon Gee had surgery to remove a blood clot from his arm and missed the rest of the season. SOFTBALL
Kaitlyn Menz tossed a three hitter and Wisconsin beat Iowa, 3-0, in the first round of the Big Ten tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Badgers (33-14) will face Ohio State (33-15) in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Friday.
UW-Whitewater 4, Hope 1: Caitlin Catino socked a three-run homer and the host Warhawks downed the Flying Dutch in an NCAA Division III regional game.
The Warhawks (37-7) will play Trine (33-8) at 11 a.m. Friday.