Athlete who gave up team spot dies

Esther Kim, the former Houston taekwondo athlete who gave up a spot on the 2000 Olympic team to her best friend and was honored for her sportsmanship by the International Olympic Committee and U.S. Olympic Committee, has died at age 40.

Details regarding Kim’s death were not immediately available, but friends on social media said she had been ill for weeks.

Kim was in position to make the U.S. Olympic team at the U.S. Taekwondo Union team trials in 2000 at Colorado Springs, Colo., but forfeited her final match to her friend and training partner Kay Poe, who had suffered a knee injury in a preliminary match.

With Kim’s decision to forfeit, Poe was selected to the team and competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics but did not medal. In recognition of her gesture, Kim was named as the

USOC’s female athlete of the year and attended the Sydney Olympics as a guest of the International Olympic Committee.

Kim grew up in Houston, graduating from Klein Forest High School.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday at Memorial Oaks Funeral Home. Friends have established a GoFundMe campaign titled Esther’s Final Wish in an attempt to help her family pay for funeral expenses. …

Professional golfer Tommy “Two Gloves“Gainey, 44, was among 124 people arrested in Bartow, Fla., on Sunday and charged with first-degree misdemeanor solicitation.

The Polk County Sheriff ’s Office said Gainey was arrested in an undercover sting called “Operation Santa’s Naughty List.“

Gainey turned pro in 1997 and joined the PGA Tour in 2008. He’s known for wearing gloves on both hands, and has one career PGA Tour win at the McGladrey Classic in 2012.