Sacramone Quinn, Memmel hired to lead USA Gymnastics
USA Gymnastics is turning to two of its most-decorated athletes to help guide its women’s elite program.
Alicia Sacramone Quinn and Chellsie Memmel, teammates on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team that earned silver in Beijing, are part of the new leadership paradigm within the organization.
Memmel, the 2005 world champion, will be the technical lead for the women’s program. Sacramone, a 10-time world championship medalist, will serve as the program’s strategic lead. They will be joined in the new system by Dan Baker, who will transition from the elite team women’s developmental coordinator to the developmental lead.
All three will begin their new positions Wednesday.
The technical, strategic and developmental lead positions were established in March following the resignation of high-performance director Tom Forster, who stepped down last November after leading the U.S. women to gold at the 2018 and 2019 world championships and silver at the Tokyo Olympics.
USA Gymnastics Chief Programs Officer Stefanie Korepin said the organization wanted to get away from a model that left the perception — be it real or perceived — that one person was in charge of the elite program.
Memmel, who retired in 2012 but made a surprising comeback last year at age 32 to compete in the 2021 national championships, “will direct training and skill development at National Team camps and clinics and will travel to clubs around the country to help facilitate streamlined implementation of the program’s high performance strategy,” according to USA Gymnastics.
Sacramone Quinn, the captain of the 2008 Olympic team, will focus on the program as a whole and the overarching strategy for women’s national team.
Sacramone Quinn has worked with USA Gymnastics in various capacities since her retirement in 2013. She was on USA Gymnastics’ TOPS development staff from 20132014 and served as the head coach of TAG USA Gymnastics & Trampoline from 2014-2018. She has worked as a TV analyst for ESPN since 2015 among other ventures.
Baker, head coach at Stars Gymnastics Training Center in Houston, has been a fixture in the elite world for more than 20 years.
• The U.S. Justice Department it will not pursue criminal charges against former FBI agents who failed to quickly open an investigation of sports doctor Larry Nassar despite learning in 2015 that he was accused of sexually assaulting female gymnasts.
The agency’s inspector general found that two former agents likely provided “inaccurate or incomplete information” when investigators subsequently tried to understand what happened, but more would be needed to file charges, the department said.
GOLF Scheffler shares lead at Colonial after 4-under 66
Scottie Scheffler did something last weekend that he rarely does, watching a golf tournament at home after missing a cut. The world’s No. 1 player is back on the course, and tied atop a crowded leaderboard at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas.
Scheffler was among eight players who shot 4-under 66 in the Charles Schwab Classic. But he was the only one in that group without a bogey, rebounding from his missed cut at the PGA Championship.
Cam Davis, Beau Hossler, Chris Kirk, Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Nick Taylor and Harold Varner III also shot 66s. Seven others were a shot back.
• Something in southwest Michigan agrees with Chris DiMarco’s game. As a 19-year-old playing for the Florida Gators, DiMarco won the 1988 Western Amateur at Point O’Woods Golf & Country Club in Millburg.
On Thursday, the 53-year-old was one of five who shot an opening 4-under 67 at the Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Mich.
American Gene Sauers, Australia’s Mark Hensby, Sweden’s Joakim Haeggman and France’s Thomas Levet also had 4-under 67s at the par-71 Jack Nicklausdesigned
course.
• Joost Luiten made an impressive start to his bid for a third victory at the Dutch Open. Luiten had eight birdies and one bogey in a first-round 7-under 65 in front of a home crowd at the European tour event at Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, Netherlands. That gave the No. 401 a one-shot lead over England’s Eddie Pepperell and Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard.
HOCKEY Canada, U.S. triumph in quarterfinals at worlds
Drake Batherson scored on a power play 43 seconds into overtime to give Canada a 4-3 comeback victory over Sweden in the world hockey quarterfinals in Tampere, Finland.
In the semifinals Saturday, defending champion Canada will face the Czech Rebublic, and the United States will play Finland. The Czech Republic beat Germany 4-1, the United States topped Switzerland 3-0, and Finland beat Slovakia 4-2.
In the United States’ victory, Ben Meyers scored twice, Adam Gaudette added a goal and Jeremy Swayman made 33 saves.
COLLEGES Karros keeps UCLA alive in Pac-12 baseball tourney
Kyle Karros went 5 for 5 with four RBIs, Michael Curialle was 4 for 6 and drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and UCLA beat Washington 14-8 to avoid elimination from the Pac-12 Tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz.
In the wee hours of Thursday, Josh White pitched seven scoreless innings and Dylan Beavers hit an inside-the-park home run to help Cal beat UCLA 4-1.
Karros is 8 for 8 in the tourney for UCLA (36-21).
• Alonzo Highsmith is back with the Miami Hurricanes, the university announcing that the former player and NFL executive is its new general manager of football operations.
MISCELLANY
Belgian wins Giro stage
Belgian rider Dries De Bondt won a four-man sprint to take the last flat stage — to Treviso — of the Giro d’Italia, which looks like it will be decided on the last day, Sunday.
Richard Carapaz, the 2019 champion and Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, maintained a threesecond lead in the overall standings from Australia’s Jai Hindley.
• Former Formula One head Bernie Ecclestone was arrested in Brazil for having a gun while boarding a plane, police said. Ecclestone, 91, was released on bail and Brazilian media reported that he took a private jet to Switzerland a short time later. Police said the former executive was released after paying 6,060 Brazilian reals ($1,240).