Lochte banned through June 2017, loses $100,000

Ryan Lochte will forfeit $100,000 and a chance to swim at next year’s world championships as part of the penalty for his drunken encounter at a gas station in Brazil during last month’s Olympics. The U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Swimming announced the penalties Thursday. Lochte is banned through the end of June. That means he won’t be able to qualify for July’s world championships, which normally don’t draw top fields in the year after the Olympics. “As we have said previously, the behavior of these athletes was not acceptable. It unfairly maligned our hosts and diverted attention away from the historic achievements of Team USA,” USOC CEO Scott

Blackmun said. “Each of the athletes has accepted responsibility for his actions and accepted the appropriate sanctions.” Lochte also will get no monthly funding from either the USOC or USA Swimming. He can’t access USOC training centers, must perform 20 hours of community service and will miss Team USA’s post-Olympics trip to the White House.Lochte’s attorney, Jeff Ostrow, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press. Agreeing to fourmonth suspensions were Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen, who were with Lochte at the gas station. Those sanctions, which end Dec. 31, also strip funding and training access and preclude them from the White House visit.

BASEBALL

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NEW YORK — Having flopped with the New York Jets, Tim Tebow will try to revive his career as an outfielder with the Mets. Four years removed from his last regular-season snap as an NFL quarterback, the 29-year-old agreed Thursday to a minor league contract with the Mets that includes a $100,000 signing bonus. He will report Sept. 18 to the Instructional League in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and test his baseball skills for three weeks against players just months removed from high school and college. The Mets then will decide whether he goes to the Arizona Fall League, a winter league or gets personal tutoring to prepare for spring training. Bo Jackson,

Deion Sanders and Brian Jordan are the only significant players to have extensive careers in both Major League Baseball and the NFL during the past three decades. › WASHINGTON —

Stephen Strasburg has a strained flexor mass in his elbow and the Washington Nationals don’t know when he will pitch again, but the team said it was relieved the righthander did not re-tear a ligament. Manager

Dusty Baker and director of athletic training

Paul Lessard voiced optimism after an MRI did not reveal ligament damage. Strasburg had Tommy John surgery in August 2011. “Normally (these injuries) come around very well with treatment and strengthening programs,” Lessard said Thursday. “It’s not a season-ending injury, but we still need to take time (to make sure) that he’s nice and strong because of his past.” Strasburg left his start in the third inning Wednesday night after feeling a pinch in the back of his elbow. He walked off the field with his glove over his mouth, and immediately there was concern.

FOOTBALL

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JACKSON, Miss. — The University of Mississippi Medical Center said New York Giants quarterback and Ole Miss alumnus Eli Manning is pledging $1 million to its campaign to improve neonatal and pediatric care. The Center announced the donation by Manning and his wife, Abby, in a news release Tuesday. The Center is trying to raise $100 million to expand the neonatal intensive care unit, add more pediatric ICU rooms and surgical suites and create an imaging department geared toward children. The quarterback said he and his wife joined the fundraising campaign because they “want the very best for the children in Mississippi.” Manning is a longtime supporter of UMMC’s children’s programs. ›

URBANA, Ill. — University of Illinois trustees have approved a contract with football coach Lovie Smith that will pay him at least $21 million over six years. They approved initial terms for Smith after he was hired in March that were backloaded to pay him $10 million in salary over his final two years. The final contract now moves $2 million of that money to earlier years in his contract. University spokeswoman Robin

Kaler declined to say what the buyout terms are if Smith is fired because he and others still need to sign the contract. In addition to his salary, Smith is eligible for up to $8 million in bonuses. Smith is a longtime NFL coach who was hired to replace Bill Cubit. ›

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco prosecutors have charged former 49ers tight end

Bruce Miller with multiple counts of assault and battery after police said he attacked a 70-year-old man and his son while intoxicated. The San Francisco District Attorney’s office said it filed seven charges against Miller on Thursday, including assault with a deadly weapon. Police said Miller tried to enter a hotel room occupied by an elderly couple on Monday. The couple’s son was staying in the next room, and police said Miller attacked him and his 70-yearold father after the son told Miller he was at the wrong room. Miller allegedly punched the father. Prosecutors said the deadly weapon was a cane. A call to Miller’s attorney, Joshua Bentley, was not immediately returned. Miller’s agent,

Jack Reale, said there was more to the case than meets the eye but declined additional comment. The 49ers released Miller on Monday.

AUTO RACING

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Despite its popularity worldwide, Formula One is barely a blip on the radar in the United States. But Formula One is getting a new owner, one based in the U.S., and the change should amount to new eyes giving a fresh look at the most popular form of motorsport in the world. Liberty Media, which has a stake in SiriusXM and the Atlanta Braves, announced this week it will purchase F1 from European private equity firm CVC Capital Partners for $4.4 billion.

Zak Brown, CEO of CSM Sport & Entertainment, said he believes the change will lead to an investment in the growth of F1.