Olympic icon Retton in ICU with pneumonia
Olympic gymnastics champion Mary Lou Retton remained in intensive care while dealing with a rare form of pneumonia.
Retton's daughters posted a message on Instagram saying their mother “continues to fight” and thanked the thousands who have donated money to help take care of Retton's medical bills.
Shayla Kelley Schrepfer, the oldest of Retton's four daughters, said in a video update on Instagram that the family was “overwhelmed” by the outpouring of support for Retton, 55.
“We didn't even realize that there are so many people out there that love her just as much as we do,” Schrepfer said. “And it's been a really hard time for our family. And so just seeing that people love her like that and showing her that support has just meant the world to us and to her, so thank you.”
Nearly 5,000 people had donated more than $275,000 in the 24 hours since her family launched an online fundraiser on Tuesday. The family said Retton does not have medical insurance and indicated they were asking for donations — with an initial goal of $50,000 — to help pay for Retton's care.
Schrepfer declined to get into specifics about Retton's situation, saying only that it's “going to be a dayto-day process.”
Retton was 16 years old when the Fairmont, WVa., native made history at the Los Angeles Olympics, scoring perfect 10s on floor exercise and vault in the final two rotations to become the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around title.
She ended the Olympics with five medals — two silvers and two bronzes to go with the all-around gold — and became a pop culture sensation while earning the nickname “America's Sweetheart.” Her Olympic success made her the first female athlete to appear on the cover of a Wheaties box.
USC tennis icon Dick Leach dies at 83
Dick Leach, who led USC men's tennis teams to four
NCAA championships as head coach and who was an All-American player as a Trojan, passed away on Tuesday.
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame coach left an unmatched legacy as he earned a program-record 540 wins in his 23-year USC coaching career from 1980-2002. He won four NCAA championships, including three in four years (1991, 1993 and 1994). He ended his USC coaching career with a final national title in 2002. Along the way, his Trojans collected three NCAA doubles titles and two NCAA singles crowns.
Leach was a three-time ITA Coach of the Year (1984, 1991 and 2002) and he helped his Trojans earn a combined 68 All-American honors. His USC teams also won seven conference championships, with Leach earning five Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors. He was inducted into the USC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
Leach's two sons, Rick and Jon, became USC legends in their own right as players. A four-time AllAmerican, Rick won two NCAA doubles titles (1986 and 1987) while playing for his father. Jon was a twotime All-American as a fixture on his father's first three national championship teams.
As an athlete, Leach was a three-year letterwinner at USC (1959-61) under former coach George Toley and achieved All-American third-team honors in 1961. During his playing career, he received 26 U.S. national rankings in singles and doubles.
Outside of USC, Leach served as head coach at Arcadia High School from 1965-69. He also spent three years coaching the U.S. Junior Davis Cup team (1966-68) and seven years as the pro at the San Marino Tennis Club (1969-76).
He also had been the general partner and owner of four tennis clubs: Big Bear Tennis Ranch, Westlake Tennis and Swim Club, Ojai Valley Racquet Club and the Racquet Club of Irvine.
• Brendan Malone, father of Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone and a driving force behind the Detroit
Pistons “Bad Boys” defenses in the late 1980s and early '90s, died at age 81.
Malone spent three decades as an assistant or head coach in the NBA, working for the Knicks, Pacers, Cavaliers, Magic, Raptors and Pistons. He also served as the lead assistant for his son with the Kings.
It was during his time as Chuck Daly's assistant in Detroit from 1988-95 that the elder Malone championed “The Jordan Rules,” a set of defensive principles designed to curtail Michael Jordan's offensive prowess.
Although Jordan eventually found ways for the Bulls to surpass the Pistons, the strategy helped Detroit eliminate Chicago in the Eastern Conference Finals on the way to a pair of NBA titles in 1989 and '90.
Wayward Kansas avoids postseason ban
Kansas' men's program was put on probation and ordered to take down its 2018 Final Four banner but escaped a postseason ban when an independent panel created by the NCAA to handle complex cases downgraded five Level I violations lodged against the Jayhawks.
The violations stem from a 2017 federal investigation into college basketball corruption, and hinged on whether representatives of the apparel company Adidas were considered boosters when two of them arranged payments to prospective recruits.
Kansas officials never disputed that payments were made, only that they had no knowledge of them, and they appealed the violations through the Independent Accountability Resolution Process. Their hearing took place in April and the ruling was announced less than a month before the start of the college basketball season in which the powerhouse Jayhawks will be a national championship contender.
An banned 3 months
Byeong Hun An was suspended three month for violating the PGA Tour's antidoping policy because of a banned substance found in cough medicine sold over the counter in South Korea.
The PGA Tour announced the three-month suspension and said An, 32, cooperated during the process and accepted his suspension.
USADA says it's splitting with UFC
Former UFC champion Conor McGregor's return to action helped trigger a split between the league and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which has been testing the league's mixed-martial arts fighters for eight years.
McGregor announced on social media this week that he is returning to the USADA testing pool — a step the 35-year-old fighter must take before returning to the octagon for the first time since suffering a leg injury in July 2021. McGregor was expected to fight Michael Chandler in December, though the timing of their meeting has been in flux because of the testing rules.
USADA requires any athlete who has been out of action to submit to six months' of testing and provide at least two negative tests before returning.
In a statement, USADA CEO Travis Tygart said the agency had been “clear and firm” about those requirements applying to McGregor, who during the summer said on social media that because of the testing rules “I feel like I'm being kept from my livelihood and I've been feeling this for years.”
“Unfortunately, we do not currently know whether the UFC will ultimately honor the sixmonth or longer requirement because, as of January 1, 2024, USADA will no longer be involved with the UFC Anti-Doping Program,” Tygart said. “Despite a positive and productive meeting about a contract renewal in May 2023, the UFC did an about-face and informed USADA on October 9 that it was going in a different direction.”