Embiid says he'll compete for USA at Paris Olympics
Joel Embiid will wear red, white and blue in Paris next summer — not rouge, blanc and bleu.
The NBA's reigning MVP and scoring champion told USA Basketball that, after more than a year of deliberating, he has picked the Americans over France as his team for the Paris Olympics.
The Philadelphia 76ers' star let USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill know his mind was made up and then made the decision public on Thursday. And one of the reasons Embiid cited in what had him pick the U.S.: His son is American.
“I've been here for such a long time,” Embiid said in Fort Collins, Colo., where the 76ers are having training camp — and where Embiid met with Hill this week. “For the past few years, every decision I've made has been based on just family. My family, my son, and having the chance to represent a country like the U.S., with my son being born here ... I love my home country, but I really wanted to play in the Olympics.”
France had given Embiid an Oct. 10 deadline for deciding on his Olympic plans. Embiid said he appreciated the interest the French showed in him.
“I was trying to take my time as much as possible,” Embiid said. “It was kind of made hard by the deadline. But I'm happy with it.”
USA Basketball does not plan to name its team until the spring of 2024, but if healthy, Embiid would seem certain to have one of the 12 spots on the squad.
Hashimoto repeats as world champ, Richard 3rd
Japanese star Daiki Hashimoto defended his title at the world gymnastics championships in Antwerp, Belgium, overcoming an early mistake on floor exercise to become the first athlete to win back-to-back world all-around titles in eight years.
Hashimoto, 22, posted a total of 86.132, over a point clear of Illia Kovtun of Ukraine at 84.998. American teenager Fred Richard, a sophomore at Michigan, earned a surprising bronze at 84.332.
Hashimoto finished third in qualifying behind teammates Kenta Chiba and Kazuma Kaya, meaning he did not automatically earn a berth in the finals because of rules that limit each country to two entries. Hashimoto ended up taking Kaya's spot, a decision the Japanese delegation made unanimously in deference to Hashimoto, who won the all-around gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Hashimoto struggled on the floor exercise to start the finals, his lone misstep on a night in which he showed again that he is the rightful heir atop the sport following countryman Kohei Uchimura, a two-time Olympic and six-time world champion. Hashimoto became the first man to win consecutive world allaround titles since Uchimura went back-to-back in 2014 and '15.
Richard became the first U.S. male gymnast to finish in the top three in the all-around since Jonathan Horton earned a bronze in 2010. He did it despite a mistake on high bar during the final rotation that sent him tumbling to the mat. Richard collected himself to finish his routine and appeared to be resigned to finishing off the podium, telling a nearby camera, “It's part of the journey.”
Just not the end of it. Miscues by the others hoping to stand with Hashimoto during the awards ceremony — namely Chiba and Sun Wei of China — opened the door for Richard to become the youngest American man ever to win an individual medal at worlds. And it came two days after Richard helped the U.S. win bronze in the team finals, the first time the Americans have finished in the top three in a major international competition since 2014.
Bay Area gets expansion team to start in 2025
The WNBA is coming to the bay. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced an expansion franchise will come to the San Francisco Bay Area and begin play in 2025.
“The right time, the right moment is today,” Engelbert said, while welcoming, “the next generation of leaders, mothers and athletes.”
The NBA powerhouse Golden
State Warriors have planned for this since before the opening of Chase Center in 2019. The WNBA team will play in the same arena where Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are stars.
“The Bay Area is the perfect market for a WNBA team, and we are thrilled this opportunity has finally come to fruition,” Warriors co-executive chairman and CEO Joe Lacob said. “We have been interested in a WNBA franchise for several years, due in part to the rich history of women's basketball in the Bay Area, and believe now is the ideal time to execute that vision and build upon that legacy.”
Hadley bids to keep tour card at Sanderson Farms
Chesson Hadley played bogey-free in the Sanderson Farms Championship and posted an 8-under 64 for a one-shot lead in his latest bid to secure his PGA Tour card.
This is the third straight year Hadley has been on the bubble to finish among the top 125 in the FedEx Cup. At least now he has time on his side, and faith in swing that he tweaked at the start of the year.
The No. 122-ranked player had two stretches of three straight birdies on a day of evershifting weather at the Country Club of Jackson (Miss.) to move past Henrik Norlander, who had a 65 in the morning, and Brandon Wu, who also shot 65.
• Hyo Joo Kim took the firstround lead in The Ascendant LPGA, breaking away with a 7-under 64 at Old American in The Colony, Texas.
Kim, the 28-year-old South Korean player ranked No. 7 in the world, had a two-stroke lead over Azahara Munoz of Spain, Sofia Garcia of Paraguay and YuSang Hou of Taiwan.
• Peter Uihlein was in the company of some of golf's top newsmakers and made some news of his own with an 8-under 64, giving him a share of the lead in the Dunhill Links Championship.
Uihlein shared the lead with Sebastian Soderberg and Adri Arnaus at the pro-am that takes place at St. Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie. The final round is on the Old Course.
Matt Fitzpatrick (67), Tommy Fleetwood (69) and Robert MacIntyre (70) were all at Carnoustie just four days after they helped Europe to an emotional and thorough victory over the United States in the Ryder Cup outside Rome.
Female Deegan promoted to NASCAR Xfinity Series
Hailie Deegan will make the move to NASCAR's second-tier Xfinity Series next season in a multi-year deal with AM Racing.
The 22-year-old Californian is the only woman competing fulltime at NASCAR's national level and has spent the last three seasons in the Truck Series. Deegan has been in the Ford Performance development program since 2020 and Ford has entered her in a variety of different disciplines, including the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, the ARCA Series and trucks.
Sabalena advances to quarterfinals in Beijing
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka set up a quarterfinal match against Elena Rybakina at the China Open in Beijing by beating Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Sabalenka will play the fifthseeded Rybakina for the third time season. They split the two finals they have contested this season at the Australian Open and Indian Wells, with the Belarusian winning the Grand Slam title in Melbourne.
Coco Gauff saved four set points before beating 16thseeded Veronika Kudermetova 7-6 (5), 6-2. Kudermetova led 5-4, 40-0 at the end of the first set but was unable to convert.
The victory extended the thirdranked American's winning streak to 15 matches, a span that includes the Cincinnati title and her U.S. Open victory last month. Gauff will next meet sixth-seeded Maria Sakkari, who defeated Wang Xinyu 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Earlier, ninth-seeded Caroline Garcia beat Anhelina Kalinina 6-3, 6-2 and will next play second-ranked Iga Swiatek.