Indiana lawmakers enact trans sports ban with veto override
Republican lawmakers in Indiana voted Tuesday to override the GOP governor's veto of a bill banning transgender females from competing in girls school sports and join about more than a dozen other states adopting similar laws in the past two years.
State senators voted 3215 in favor of overriding Gov. Eric Holcomb following the same action in a 6728 vote by the House earlier in the day. Holcomb had said in his veto message that bill did not provide a consistent policy for what he called “fairness in K-12 sports” when he unexpectedly vetoed it in March.
The override votes were nearly party line and no lawmakers changed their votes from earlier this year. Four Republican senators joined all Democratic senators in voting to uphold the veto. In the House, three Republicans voted to sustain the veto, while one Democrat supported overriding it.
Opponents have argued the bill is a bigoted response to a problem that doesn't exist. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit minutes following the override in hopes of blocking the law from taking effect as scheduled on July 1.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a 10-year-old girl who plays on her school's all-girls softball team in Indianapolis. The new law would deny the fourthgrader the right to rejoin her team because she is a transgender girl, which is a violation of Title IX and the U.S. Constitution, according to the complaint.
Holcomb said in a statement following the override that his “position hasn't changed.”
“There remains zero cases and the process, which is managed by the (Indiana High School Athletic Association), is working. I stand behind my decision to veto HB 1041,” he said.
Republican sponsors of the bill maintain it is needed to protect the integrity of female sports and opportunities for girls to gain college athletic scholarships but have pointed out no instances in the state of girls being outperformed by transgender athletes.
BOXING
Canelo, Golovkin set for third fight
Canelo Álvarez and Gennady Golovkin will complete their memorable fight trilogy Sept. 17 after a four-year break, promoters Matchroom Boxing announced. Álvarez already said he intended to take the fight while speaking at his invitational golf tournament in Naucalpan, Mexico, on Monday.
The fighters met in 2017 and again in 2018 for two highly entertaining middleweight matchups. They fought to a split draw in the first bout, and Álvarez won a narrow majority decision in the second meeting.
The third fight will be a 168-pound super middleweight contest between the 40-year-old Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) and Álvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs), who will turn 32 this summer. Álvarez is the undisputed world champion at 168 pounds, holding all four major titles.
Álvarez announced earlier this year that he intended to fight Golovkin in the fall after taking on light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol in May. That plan was put into question after Bivol upset Álvarez by unanimous decision on May 7. Bivol hoped to book a rematch with the biggest star in boxing after his breakthrough upset, but Álvarez ultimately decided to proceed with the most lucrative potential bout and the resumption of a remarkable rivalry.
Stricker tests positive for coronavirus
Former Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker has pulled out of the Senior PGA Championship after testing positive for the coronavirus. Stricker revealed his positive test on Twitter, saying he was “super bummed” and that it was “just a small setback.”
Stricker was out of competition for six months because of a virus that he says doctors never fully identified. He became ill last fall, about a month after leading the Americans to a record blowout (19-9) over Europe at Whistling Straits in his native Wisconsin.
He was hospitalized and lost some 25 pounds. Stricker has said he wonders if the illness was a reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine because he has regular health checks and annual blood work.
He was coming off a victory in the first of five majors on the PGA Tour
Champions schedule, two weeks ago at the Regions Tradition. This would have been his fourth tournament in five weeks since he returned to golf.
U.S. in quarterfinals of world championships
The United States secured a quarterfinal spot at the ice hockey world championship on the last day of group play. It only gets harder from here.
The U.S. knew it would qualify before stepping onto the ice against Norway, thanks to Sweden's 1-0 win over Latvia earlier in the day. With the pressure off, the U.S. beat the Norwegians 4-2, with two assists from Alex Galchenyuk, to get back into the groove after its loss to the Czech Republic the day before.
That sets up a tricky quarterfinal against inform Switzerland, which beat Germany 4-3 in a shootout to qualify with seven wins from seven games.
Canada eased to a 7-1 win over France as PierreLuc Dubois had two goals and an assist and Drake Batherson recorded four assists. Canada will take on Sweden in the quarterfinals, three months after they met at the same stage of the Olympic tournament, with Sweden winning that game 2-0.
Two goals in the first period set host nation Finland on course to beat the Czech Republic 3-0 as Jussi Olkinuora made 24 saves for the shutout. Finland goes on to play Slovakia in the quarterfinals in a repeat of their Olympic semifinal game in February, while the Czech Republic takes on Germany.
A day after a shocking win over Canada, Denmark missed out on the quarterfinals with a 7-1 loss to Slovakia as the 18-yearold Olympic tournament MVP Juraj Slafkovsky had a goal and an assist for Slovakia to move to a teamleading nine points. Slovakia and Denmark finished group play level on points but Slovakia goes through on a better head-to-head record.
Stanford, Oregon play for women's golf title
Brooke Seay two-putted for birdie on the 18th hole to beat Kaleigh Telfer and Stanford rallied from an early hole to beat Auburn 3-2 and earn a spot in the NCAA championship match in Scottsdale, Ariz., against Oregon.
The Ducks beat Texas A&M 4-1 to earn their first trip to the championship match, creating an allPac-12 final that guarantees the conference's record 200th women's NCAA title across all sports.
• Louisville has added Milt Wagner as its men's basketball director of player development and alumni relations, reuniting the Cardinals scoring great with former teammate and first-year head coach Kenny Payne.
Wagner, whose 1,834 career points rank sixth alltime in program history, was a starter on on Louisville's 1986 NCAA championship squad while Payne was a freshman. He helped the Cardinals reach three Final Fours from 198186 and his No. 20 jersey hangs in the rafters of the team's KFC Yum! Center arena.
Wagner is also the grandfather of DJ Wagner, a combo guard from Camden, N.J., who has long been ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2023 class and is now at the center of a major recruiting battle between Kentucky and Louisville.
Hirt wins 16th stage of Giro d'Italia
Czech cyclist Jan Hirt won the tough 16th stage of the Giro d'Italia for his first grand tour victory and Richard Carapaz kept the pink jersey as the race headed into a final week in the high mountains.
Hirt clutched his head almost in disbelief before raising his hands into the air as he crossed the line at the end of the 202-kilometer (126-mile) route from Salo to Aprica, which included one of the sport's toughest climbs up the Mortirolo.
• The search continued for a woman suspected in the fatal shooting of professional cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson at an Austin, Texas home. Wilson, 25, was found dead May 11, and Austin police issued a murder warrant for Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, 34, last week.
Wilson, a competitive gravel and mountain bike racer and Vermont native, had been in Austin for a cycling event. According to an affidavit, Wilson had previously dated Armstrong's boyfriend, cyclist Colin Strickland, who has cooperated with investigators and is not a suspect.