MEYERS TAYLOR WINS BOBSLED POINTS CROWN
German sleds swept the medals in the women’s World Cup bobsled finale of the season Sunday at St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Elana Meyers Taylor of the U.S. clinched the seasonlong points title.
Kim Kalicki and Lisa Buckwitz finished two runs in 2 minutes, 15.50 seconds to get the victory, followed by
Mariama Jamanka and
Kira Lupperheide 2:15.54. Laura Nolte and
Deborah Levi were third in 2:15.57.
The U.S. grabbed fourth and fifth. Kaillie Humphries and Sylvia Hoffman finished in 2:15.59, and Meyers Taylor shared her sled with Kaysha Love and crossed the line in 2:16.14.
Meyers Taylor, who was born in Oceanside, won the overall two-woman points title for the second time, not including the monobob — or single-seater — overall championship that she clinched on Saturday. She finished the two-person season with 1,505 points, 19 ahead of Nolte.
Her title was a reward for competing in all eight World Cup races of the season. Most top drivers skipped the World Cup race in Sigulda, Latvia on New Year’s weekend; Meyers Taylor competed and won, giving her 225 points.
More winter sports
Soaring from 29th place after the first run, Lucas Braathen scored a stunning win in a World Cup slalom at Wengen, Switzerland. Braathen sat in the finish-area leader’s box for 45 minutes looking steadily more disbelieving until watching the last racer, his Norway teammate Henrik Kristoffersen, straddle a gate within sight of a clear victory. In the end, Braathen was 0.22 seconds ahead of Daniel Yule of Switzerland.
Italian skier Federica Brignone saw a gutsy run rewarded with the victory in the fifth women’s World Cup super-G of the season. Racing in perfect, sunny conditions, Brignone won about three-tenths of a second on her rivals with an attacking and risky approach in the middle part of the Kalberloch course at AltenmarktZauchensee, Austria.
Locally
Tavoy Morgan had a firsthalf hat trick and Boris Pardo stopped 14 of 16 shots faced, as the San Diego Sockers built up a five-goal lead at Ontario, holding on for a 7-2 win over the Fury at Toyota Arena. The Sockers (4-0-1) beat the Fury for the second time in three games, taking seven of nine available standings points in the threematch series.
College football
Texas Tech kicker Jonathan Garibay is bypassing his final season of eligibility, opting to declare for the NFL Draft after making the longest game-winning kick in FBS history and being the most accurate field goal kicker in school history.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz disbanded an alumni advisory committee that was created after a 2020 investigation found evidence of racial bias against Black players in his program and bullying behavior by some of his assistants. The Gazette reports that Ferentz’ decision to end the committee came shortly after its leader, former offensive lineman David Porter, suggested it was time for Iowa to part ways with Ferentz.
Soccer
Defending champion Algeria lost 1-0 to Equatorial Guinea in one of the biggestever upsets at the African Cup of Nations to cap a day full of shock results. Defender Esteban Obiang arrived at the back post to connect with a corner in the 70th minute for the winner, ending a four-year unbeaten run for the African champion and leaving its title defense in pieces.
The Copa del Rey match suspended after an object was thrown from the stands was completed Sunday behind closed doors and without the Sevilla player hit in the head in what the club called an “appalling attack.” Sevilla midfielder Joan Jordan
was doing well but did not play in Sevilla’s 2-1 loss to Real Betis in a match that restarted in the 40th minute with the score tied at 1-1 from Saturday.
Liverpool found the goalscoring alternatives needed in the absence of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane as their stand-ins stepped up in a 3-0 Premier League win over Brentford.
The terse 40 words from Everton announcing Rafa Benitez’s firing lacked any expression of thanks, reflecting a challenging 200-day reign that saw fans uneasy at being led by a former managerial rival and never won over.
Marseille had an extra player for an hour but drew 1-1 at home in the French league to defending champion Lille and moved two points behind second-place Nice.
Inter Milan failed to score a goal in an Italian league match for the first time in almost a year as it was held to a 0-0 draw at Atalanta in an entertaining game.
Real Madrid won’t be going a second consecutive season without a title. After failing to lift a trophy under
Zinedine Zidane last season,
Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid secured the Spanish Super Cup with a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in Saudi Arabia.