Bach elected head of IOC
Within minutes of being elected to the top job in the Olympics, Thomas Bach got a phone call from a powerful leader he’ll work with closely the next few months: Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Bach, 59, was elected Tuesday as president of the International Olympic Committee. The lawyer from Germany succeeds Jacques Rogge, who stepped down after 12 years.
Bach, the longtime favorite, defeated five other candidates in the secret ballot for the most influential job in international sports, keeping the presidency in European hands.
One of the first congratulatory phone calls came from Putin, who will host the IOC in less than five months at the Winter Olympics in the southern Russian resort of Sochi.
The Sochi Games are one of Putin’s pet projects, with Russia’s prestige on the line.
“He congratulated and [said] there would be close cooperation to make the success of Sochi Games sure,” Bach told The Associated Press.
Basketball
The Dallas Mavericks added former Celtics and Syracuse center Fab Melo, guard Richard McConnell and former Schenley High School guard/ forward D.J. Kennedy to their training camp roster. McConnell played in Italy last season and Kennedy helped Rio Grande Valley win the D-League championship.
• Candice Dupree and DeWanna Bonner each scored 18 points to help the Phoenix Mercury win at the New York Liberty, 80-76, in the WNBA. … Kia Vaughn had 15 points and six rebounds to lead the Washington Mystics to a 69-67 win at the Indiana Fever to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
Soccer
FC Dallas reached a longterm agreement with Toyota for the naming rights to the club’s suburban Dallas home stadium and extended soccer complex. Team officials announced the field in Frisco will be named Toyota Stadium while 17 other fields adjacent to the stadium will be called Toyota Soccer Center.
Boxing
Oscar De La Hoya admitted himself to a treatment facility as he continues to fight his substance abuse. The former star issued a statement saying he voluntarily admitted himself to an unnamed facility. The move comes on the eve of the biggest fight of the year for his promotion company Saturday night when Floyd Mayweather Jr. takes on Canelo Alvarez.
Tennis
Vesna Dolonc of Serbia won a main-drawn match for the first time since Wimbledon when she beat eighth-seeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, 7-6 (6), 7-5, in the first round of the Tashkent Open in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Auto racing
Clint Bowyer would not say whether he intentionally spun his car in an effort to keep Ryan Newman from winning at Richmond. In his first public appearance since NASCAR sanctioned Michael Waltrip Racing, Bowyer was on ESPN as part of a previously scheduled appearance. He said he apologized to Newman in a phone call, but said it was because the spin cost him a victory — and the apology was simply racer protocol.
• Iowa Speedway CEO Doug Fritz resigned after two years on the job, with the track saying he left to pursue another opportunity.
• Felipe Massa said he will leave Ferrari at the end of the Formula One season, opening a path for Kimi Raikkonen to rejoin the Italian team as the new partner for Fernando Alonso.
Horse racing
Del Mar will begin an expansion of its turf course Friday, widening the strip to accommodate more horses in an effort to host a future Breeders’ Cup. The seaside track in Del Mar, Calif., said the project is expected to cost just less than $5 million.
Sailing
Emirates Team New Zealand took advantage of a tactical mistake by defending champion Oracle Team USA to win Race 5 of the America’s Cup in a runaway on San Francisco Bay. Not long before the scheduled start of Race 6, Oracle Team USA radioed in to the race committee that it was playing its one postponement card. Today is an off day and Races 6 and 7 are scheduled for Thursday.