Climate, costs could alter site selections of Winter Olympics
Considering the dearth of candidates to stage the Winter Olympics amid spiraling venue costs, the International Olympic Committee may have to resort to lining up a list of fixed, rotating hosts.
A highly theoretical list could include Salt Lake City and Vancouver in North America, Pyeongchang in Asia and places like Switzerland, Italy and Scandinavia in Europe.
“There are talks. It is a challenge with climate change and also infrastructure to be able to find venues for the Winter Olympics,” retired Olympic skiing champion Lindsey Vonn told The Associated Press.
Most of the rotating hosts would have hosted the Olympics previously, or have most of the venues already built.
Sweden’s Olympic leaders announced last week that they are weighing up whether to bid for 2030 while the International Olympic Committee has delayed the process to search for more contenders.
Sapporo, Japan was considered the favorite for 2030 before an ongoing bid-rigging scandal related to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo held in 2021. Salt Lake City is the only other known bidder that might consider taking 2030, though officials have said they favor a bid for 2034.
College basketball
Alabama is the new No. 1, rising to the top spot in The
Associated Press Top 25 men’s poll for the first time in 20 years. Houston leapfrogged former No. 1 Purdue after the Boilermakers’ loss Sunday to Northwestern. UCLA and Kansas rounded out the top five.
• In the women’s rankings, unbeaten South Carolina remained No. 1 for the 34th consecutive week, followed by Indiana, Stanford, Utah and LSU. It marks Utah’s highest ranking in school history.
Baseball
Ted Lerner, the billionaire real estate developer whose family bought the Washington Nationals in 2006, died Sunday. He was 97. A Nationals spokesperson said Lerner died of complications from pneumonia at his home in Chevy Chase, Md.
• New York Yankees lefthander Nestor Cortes will miss next month’s World Baseball Classic due to a strained right hamstring. He was replaced on the U.S. roster by Colorado Rockies lefthander Kyle Freeland.
Motorsports
Daytona International Speedway announced that all remaining tickets had been sold for the 65th running of “The Great American Race” on Sunday.
Pro basketball
Newly acquired Golden State guard Gary Payton II will be out for at least a month as he recovers from offseason surgery for a core muscle injury, a situation
that nearly scuttled a fourteam trade last week that brought Payton to his former
team from the Portland Trail Blazers. GM Bob Myers said he hopes Payton can return before the playoffs.
• New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson reaggravated his injured right hamstring and will be out of the lineup for “multiple” additional weeks, according to the club,.