Lyles runs fastest 200 worlds heat
Noah Lyles celebrated his 25th birthday by running the fastest time in 200-meter qualifying at the world championships, a 19.98-second romp that the American star punctuated by playfully wagging his finger at the six other sprinters straggling behind.
Lyles wasn’t the only one celebrating a milestone in Eugene, Ore., as Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam ran the final event of the heptathlon, the 800, in 2 minutes 13 seconds to rally past Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands for her second world championship.
In triple jump, world record holder Yulimar Rojas romped to her third world title with a leap of 50 feet 9 inches.
In men’s steeplechase, Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali pulled away from the pack to add a world gold to the one he took in Tokyo last year. Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon won her second title at 1,500 meters in 3:52.96.
In the high jump, Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar defeated Gianmarco Tamberi
of Italy in a rematch of last year’s Olympic gold-medal tie after Barshim cleared a season-high 7-9.
Gotytom Gebreslase
made it an Ethiopian sweep in the marathon, winning by nine seconds in a championship-record time of 2:18:11.
Milwaukee Bucks guard Pat Connaughton signed a multiyear contract extension after scoring a careerhigh 9.9 points per game this past season.
Kalyssa van Zanten
scored in the 102nd minute and Jamaica defeated Costa Rica 1-0 in overtime for third place at the CONCACAF W Championship . ... Belgium reached the quarterfinals of the Women’s European Championship for the first time after a 1-0 upset win over Italy also eliminated Iceland. Midfielder Tine de Caigny scored in the 49th minute and Belgium held on to set up a quarterfinal against Sweden on Friday . ... Robert Lewandowski
passed his medical and was set to sign his contract and be officially introduced by Barcelona in Miami ahead of the team’s U.S. tour . ... Zlatan Ibrahimovic still will be playing for AC Milan when he’s 41 after renewing his contract for another year, giving the forward another tilt at the Champions League. Milan released a brief statement announcing that the former Galaxy player’s contract was renewed to June 30, 2023.
Karen Khachanov saved two match points as he won his first-round match against Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2) at the Hamburg European Open, while
Botic van de Zandschulp had a surprise loss to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 6-4, 6-4. On the women’s side, Barbora Krejcikova broke Suzan Lamens’ serve four times in a 6-2, 6-4 win to set up a second-round match with Magdalena Frech. ... Third-seeded
Zhang Shuai recovered from a scare early in the second set to advance to the second round of the Palermo Ladies Open with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (7) win against Rebeka Masarova of Spain.
South Carolina’s Dawn Staley called out ESPN and its ESPY awards show for not inviting national player of the year Aliyah Boston to its ceremonies on Wednesday night.
Staley mused publicly on social media how the people planning the ceremonies decided “it was a great idea not to invite” the woman who won several national awards as one of the best players in women’s college basketball last season.
Two-time Olympic goldmedal figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu is expected to step away from competitive figure skating. Japan’s Kyodo news agency cited unnamed sources “close to the matter” in reporting Hanyu’s decision.
Duke and Arizona have agreed to a home-and-home men’s basketball series for 2023 and 2024.
Eddie Olczyk is leaving the Chicago Blackhawks after 16 years as a color commentator on their television broadcasts to work Seattle Kraken games next season.