WHITE 1 OF 4 U.S. SNOWBOARDERS TO DEFEND
Shaun White is one of four defending gold medalists named to the U.S. snowboarding team Friday, along with Chloe Kim, Jamie Anderson and Red Gerard.
Only Carlsbad’s White had to sweat out his spot on the team after a difficult month of qualifying that included a bout with COVID-19 and an injured ankle.
He finished third last week at a World Cup halfpipe contest in Switzerland to eliminate any doubt about his spot, and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team made it official when they announced the 26-person team.
Kim won the gold in women’s halfpipe in 2018, while Anderson and Gerard won in slopestyle.
Lindsey Jacobellis, the 2006 silver medalist, made her fifth Olympics in snowboardcross and Alex Diebold, the wax technician-turned-2014 bronze medalist, is back at the games.
More Olympics
Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin leads the 17-member list of nominees for the U.S. Alpine skiing team nominated for the Beijing Winter Games. There are nine first-time Olympians on the roster, which still awaits confirmation from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Shiffrin heads to her third Olympics. She already owns three medals, including a
gold in slalom in 2014 and in giant slalom in 2018.
• China is limiting the torch relay for the Winter Olympics to only three days amid coronavirus worries, organizers said. The flame will be displayed only in enclosed venues that are deemed “safe and controllable,” according to officials.
Winter sports
Caroline Green and Michael Parsons of the United States won the ice
dance title at the Four Continents figure skating championships in Tallin, Estonia, while Cha Jun-hwan of South Korea took the lead in the men’s short program. Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko of the U.S. were third in ice dance.
• Breezy Johnson, one of the top American medal contenders for the upcoming Beijing Olympics, will miss a second straight World Cup downhill after her second crash in two weeks.
Johnson fell during the second training session in Italy and was removed from the start list for today’s race.
• Aleksander Aamodt Kilde dominated another men’s World Cup speed race with a clear win in the downhill on the Streif course at Kitzbuhel, Austria. Kilde beat Johan Clarey by 0.42 seconds, while French teammate Blaise Giezendanner surprisingly made the podium in third as a late starter with bib No. 43.
Hockey
The American Hockey League suspended San Jose Barracuda forward Krystof Hrabik for 30 games for making a racial gesture toward Tucson Roadrunners forward Boko Imama during a recent game.
WNBA
The Phoenix Mercury hired former Las Vegas Aces assistant Vanessa Nygaard (Carlsbad High) as their next head coach, a person familiar with the hire told The Associated Press. The hire won’t be officially announced until Monday. A native of Scottsdale, Ariz., Nygaard was an assistant coach with the Las Vegas Aces in 2021. She’s also been an assistant coach for USA Basketball and the WNBA’s San Antonio Stars and Washington Mystics.
Colleges
Malik Hall scored 14 points and No. 14 Michigan State beat No. 8 Wisconsin 86-74 on the road to snap the Badgers’ seven-game winning streak. Max Christie, Tyson Walker and A.J. Hoggard scored 12 points apiece for the Spartans (15-3, 6-1 Big Ten). Michigan State moved into first place in the conference, ahead of Wisconsin (15-3, 6-2) and Illinois.
• Donta Scott scored a career-high 25 points and Maryland (10-9, 2-6 Big Ten) took advantage of Kofi Cockburn’s absence in an 8165 victory over No. 17 Illinois at home.
Cockburn was out with a concussion, and the Illini (13-5, 6-2) lost for the second consecutive game after winning six straight.
• Johnny Juzang scored a season-high 28 points and No. 9 UCLA outlasted Utah (8-11, 1-8 Pac-12) 63-58 late Thursday night at Salt Lake City. Jules Bernard added 14 points for the Bruins (12-2, 4-1).
• Running backs Travis Dye (Oregon) and Austin Jones (Stanford) have joined the USC football team.
Also
Hiram Ruiz scored his fourth goal of the night 32 seconds into overtime to lift the San Diego Sockers (50-1) to a 6-5 MASL victory at the Chihuahua Savage (0-5).
• Hall of Famer Clark Gillies, a stalwart on the New York Islanders’ dynasty that won four straight Stanley Cup championships in the early 1980s, died. He was 67. The Islanders didn’t disclose the cause of death.
• Glenn Sherlock will be the New York Mets’ bench coach this season, reuniting for the third time with new manager Buck Showalter. Eric Chavez (Mt. Carmel High) will be the hitting coach, with Wayne Kirby coaching first base and being the outfield/baserunning instructor and Joey Cora coaching third base and becoming the infield instructor.