IOC SAYS GAMES WILL GO ON AFTER SWISS PLACATED
A day after Switzerland’s team leader asked for talks about possibly postponing the Beijing Olympics because of the coronavirus pandemic, the IOC promised officials worldwide on Wednesday the Winter Games will go ahead as planned.
The Swiss Olympic committee said the IOC gave assurances about staging next month’s event during a video conference call with teams.
The International Olympic Committee also promised case-by-case assessments of athletes who recover after testing positive for COVID-19 ahead of traveling to China, the Swiss team said in a statement.
“The issue of a postponement is no longer relevant to all of us,” Swiss team leader Ralph Stockli said in the statement.
The International Olympic Committee is hoping to avoid a second straight delay.
The Tokyo Games, originally scheduled to be held in 2020, were postponed by one year, a decision made four months in advance.
Stockli had raised concerns Tuesday about going ahead with the Beijing Olympics amid rising numbers of athletes being infected by COVID-19 .
“We must really discuss the possibility of a postponement of the Games,” Stockli had told French-language state broadcaster RTS. “If we don’t have the best athletes there, that’s going to be very, very difficult.”
After listening to the IOC on Wednesday, the Swiss Olympic team said it is “happy to now have some certainty on this subject.”
More Olympic sports
Ethan Cepuran rallied on the last lap to win the men’s 5,000 meters and Mia Manganello Kilburg took the women’s 3,000 on opening night of the U.S. Olympic speedskating trials without spectators.
Cepuran made up more than a second in his pairing with Casey Dawson to win by 0.04 seconds after trailing most of the 121⁄2-lap race at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee.
College football
Michigan edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson said his goodbyes to teammates, coaches and the program in a message on social media.
Hutchinson, a likely topfive pick in the NFL Draft, already had selected an agent to make official the decision to pursue a pro career.
Soccer
The U.S. women’s national soccer team is returning to Southern California for the first time in more than two years next month when it opens the four-team SheBelieves Cup at Dignity Health Sports Park with doubleheaders Feb. 17 and Feb. 20.
Major League Soccer has approved the sale of Real Salt Lake to David Blitzer and Smith Entertainment Group.
Blitzer also has an ownership stake in the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and the Premier League’s Crystal Palace. Smith Entertainment
Group, led by Ryan Smith, owns the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
With Tottenham’s defenders giving away easy goals, Chelsea beat Tottenham 2-0 in the first leg of their League Cup semifinal.
A growing coronavirus outbreak among players and staff led to Liverpool’s English League Cup semifinal match against Arsenal being postponed, adding to the backlog in English football caused by the fastspreading Omicron variant.
Real Madrid and Barcelona started their Copa del Rey campaigns with surprisingly hard-fought wins over lower-tier teams.
Meanwhile, third-division Atletico Baleares eliminated a second top-flight side by beating Celta Vigo 2-1.
Tritons at UC Riverside Notable
Bad weather forced the rescheduling of the first men’s World Cup ski race of the calendar year, with the event moved to today. It will be only the third men’s slalom of the season, after Clement Noel won in Val d’Isere and Sebastian FossSolevag in Madonna di Campiglio last month. The men’s World Cup calendar includes five slaloms over the next three weeks before the Beijing Olympics open on Feb. 4.
The Belmont Stakes is moving to FOX Sports as part of an eight-year deal beginning in 2023. The deal announced between FOX and the New York Racing Association includes NYRA Bets as the title sponsor of the third leg of the Triple Crown.
Today: 7 p.m., UCR Student Recreation Center, Riverside (fans not allowed) Tritons 8-5, 2-0; Highlanders 6-4, 0-0 UCR by 8 ESPN+
Records:
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Streaming:
Highlanders update: UCR hasn’t played since a Dec. 12 victory vs. Cal Baptist, with four games canceled or postponed since, including its first two Big West games. The Highlanders beat Arizona State on a two-thirds court buzzer beater and only lost by six at Oregon. UCR has eight players from Australia or New Zealand, two are in the top five in team scoring. Zyon Pullin, a 6-foot-4 guard, leads team in scoring at 12.2 points per game. He’s second on team in rebounds (7.1) and first in assists (4.7).
UC San Diego won its first two Big West games, but they don’t count in the standings as the team transitions to D-I. Tritons are 6-0 at home, 2-4 on road. Leading scorer Toni Rocak had 34 in overtime win over UCSB, then 14 in victory over Cal State Northridge. Jake Killingsworth busted out with 20 points (five treys) vs. the Matadors.
At UC Davis, 5 p.m. Saturday
Tritons update: Up next: