Dutchwoman Bol sets world mark in indoor 400 meters

Femke Bol broke a 40-year-old world indoor record in the women’s 400 meters on Sunday, covering the distance in 49.26 seconds.

Bol was running in front of a home crowd at the Dutch Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.

“When I crossed the line I knew that the record was mine, because of the noise that the crowd made,” Bol said.

The previous record of 49.59 was set by Jarmila Kratochvilova on March 7, 1982.

Bol, 22, won bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 400 hurdles. She also ran a world indoor 500-meter best of 1:05.63 in Boston in her first race of this season.

On Sunday, she got off to a strong start at the Omnisport arena and beat Lieke Klaver, who finished second in 50.34.

“It was because of all the fans here that I ran this record,” Bol said. “Never have I ever seen that many people here.”

SKIING Former U.S. team skier makes Greek history

AJ Ginnis’ long journey to skiing glory began on the relatively obscure slopes of Mount Parnassus north of Athens, took him briefly to the Austrian Alps as a teenager, then over to Vermont and eventually a spot on the U.S. ski team.

Six knee surgeries later — three ACLS, one MCL plus operations to repair “a bunch of meniscus and cartilage damage” — Ginnis is now a member of the Greek team and his secondplace finish in slalom at the Alpine skiing world championships on Sunday in France earned Greece its first major medal in a Winter Olympic sport.

“You put Greece on the map,” Johan Eliasch, president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, told Ginnis before placing the silver medal around the skier’s neck at the awards ceremony to conclude the final event at worlds in Courchevel.

When the U.S. ski team disbanded its men’s slalom team in 2018 as Ginnis struggled with his injuries, the skier was inspired by Greek tennis players Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari to start competing for his birth nation.

“They opened a door into a new sport,” Ginnis said. “So whether it’s skiing or the next sport that starts taking off in Greece, I just hope (my medal) acts as an inspiration.”

Ginnis stood second after the opening run and held his position through deep ruts that constantly threatened to knock him off course to finish 0.20 seconds behind Norwegian winner Henrik Kristoffersen.

Ginnis already became the first skier from Greece on a World Cup podium when he finished second in the last slalom before worlds.

“It’s just a dream, the last two weeks. History for Greece, best moment in my career,” Ginnis said.

TENNIS Alcaraz, Medvedev capture titles

Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz won his first title since his milestone U.S. Open triumph by beating Cameron Norrie in straight sets at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires.

The world No. 2 overcame No. 12 Norrie 6-3, 7-5 in the clay-court final.

“I felt very comfortable,” Alcaraz said. “This is the level that I have to play in a final. It is really special, I struggled in these four months.”

A right leg injury sidelined Alcaraz from the Australian Open, with Novak Djokovic reclaiming the No. 1 ranking from Alcaraz

after winning the title there.

Alcaraz, 19, dropped only one set — to Serbia’s Laslo Djere — in his first tournament of the year.

• Sixth-seeded Daniil Medvedev rallied past Jannik Sinner at the Rotterdam Open in the Netherlands to win his 16th title.

Medvedev prevailed 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the indoor hardcourt final against the Italian, who was looking for back-to-back titles following his victory at Montpellier, France.

Medvedev converted five of 12 break points and limited his unforced errors to 17, compared to Sinner’s 30.

The 27-year-old Russian improved his record against Sinner to 6-0.

Medvedev will return to the top 10 next week, moving up to the No. 9 spot in the ATP rankings.

NFL Report: Cardinals fill coordinator positions

New Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon moved quickly to fill his offensive and defensive coordinator positions.

Philadelphia Eagles linebackers coach Nick Rallis will be the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator and Cleveland Browns quarterbacks coach Drew Petzing will be the team’s offensive coordinator, ESPN reported.

Rallis, 29, worked with Gannon in Philadelphia for the past two seasons. Gannon was named the Cardinals’ coach Tuesday.

Before joining the Eagles, Rallis spent three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. He was a defensive quality control coach in 2018 and 2019, and then added the role of assistant linebackers coach in 2020.

Rallis will be inheriting a defense that gave up the second-most points per game in the NFL last season, was ranked 28th in third-down defense, 29th in red zone defense and 31st in goal-to-go defense. Arizona ranked 21st in total yards allowed per game and 22nd in yards per play.

Petzing, 35, just completed his first season as the Browns’ quarterbacks coach. He was the team’s tight ends coach the previous two seasons.

Before that, he was with the Vikings for six seasons, culminating with the 2019 season, when he was the team’s wide receivers coach. He and Gannon were on the Vikings staff together from the 2014-17 seasons.

Petzing will be tasked with working with quarterback Kyler Murray whenever he is ready to return from a torn ACL he suffered late last season. Gannon said at his introductory news conference that one of his first tasks would be to find offensive coaches who he feels are the right fit to work with Murray.

The Cardinals finished 22nd in total offense last season and 21st in points per game.

• Former NFL head coach and current NFL analyst Rex Ryan interviewed Saturday in Denver for the Broncos’ defensive coordinator job on Sean Payton’s staff, ESPN reported.

Ryan and former Broncos head coach Vance Joseph are among a handful of candidates for the job. Joseph, who had been the Arizona Cardinals’ defensive coordinator since 2019, also is expected to interview for the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator position, according to multiple reports.

Ryan, 60, has told ESPN he would leave the network only “for the perfect situation,” ESPN reported.

Ryan joined ESPN in April 2017 after a nearly 30-year coaching career that included eight seasons as an NFL head coach with the New York Jets (200914) and Buffalo Bills (201516). He led the Jets to backto-back AFC Championship Game appearances in the 2009 and ’10 seasons.