Gauff pulls out of Olympics after positive COVID test
U.S. tennis player Coco Gauff tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing her to pull out of the Tokyo Olympics.
“I am so disappointed to share the news that I have tested positive for COVID and won’t be able to play in the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” Gauff tweeted on Sunday.
“It has always been a dream of mine to represent the USA at the Olympics, and I hope there will be many more chances for me to make this come true in the future.” ATHLETES TEST POSITIVE AT OLYMPIC VILLAGE >> Two South African soccer players became the first athletes inside the Olympic Village to test positive for COVID-19, and other cases connected to the Tokyo Games were also confirmed, highlighting the herculean task organizers face to keep the virus contained while the world’s biggest sports event plays out.
The positive tests came as some of the 11,000 athletes and thousands more team officials expected from across the globe began arriving, having traveled through a pandemic to get to Tokyo.
They’ll all now live in close quarters in the Olympic Village on Tokyo Bay over the next three weeks.
IOC president Thomas Bach said last week there was “zero” risk of athletes passing on the virus to Japanese or other residents of the village. But that bold statement was already being tested.
BERRETTINI OUT >> Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini announced his withdrawal from the Tokyo Olympics due to a thigh injury sustained at the grass-court tournament.
Motorsports
HAMILTON WINS CONTROVERSIAL BRITISH GP >> Lewis Hamilton roared back from a first-lap incident that sent championship leader Max Verstappen to the hospital and overcame a 10-second penalty to win the British Grand Prix and reignite his title defense.
The seven-time champion won at his home track to snap a run of five races without a victory and slash the gap to Verstappen at the top of the drivers’ championship from 33 points to eight.
This season’s title battle boiled over on one of the hottest days of the year, in front of 140,000 fans at a packed Silverstone, with the terrifying inci
dent that saw the race red-flagged and Hamilton given a penalty.
And Verstappen fuming in a hospital.
“Glad I’m ok. Very disappointed with being taken out like this,” Verstappen posted on Twitter. “The penalty given does not help us and doesn’t do justice to the dangerous move Lewis made on track.”
Hamilton dropped from second to fifth as he served his penalty but he swiftly picked up two spots when he returned to the track and then Valtteri Bottas was ordered to move out of his Mercedes teammate’s way.
That gave Hamilton 11 laps to chase down leader Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari and he made the pass for the win with just two laps to go — and on the same corner where he had tangled with Verstappen. The British driver was cheered on to his eighth career victory at Silverstone.
Verstappen crashed out of the race after clashing with Hamilton, with the Dutchman spinning hard into a barrier with an impact which registered at 51G.
“With Max, you know he’s very aggressive. And then today, I mean I was fully alongside him, and I didn’t have enough space,” Hamilton said after the race. “But regardless of whether I agree with the penalty, I take it on the chin and I just kept working.”
Hamilton crossed the line 3.8 seconds clear of Leclerc with Bottas completing the podium.
ALMIROLA WINS CUP RACE >> Aric Almirola sprung to life late at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and pulled off a surprise for Stewart-Haas Racing’s first victory of the year. Almirola raced to his third career Cup victory. HAGAN WINS IN COLORADO >> Defending series champ Matt Hagan raced to his first win at Bandimere Speedway, beating Alexis DeJoria in the Funny Car final in the Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Morrison, Colo. Steve Torrence won in Top Fuel, and Matt Smith in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Golf
POWER WINS BARBASOL ON SIXTH PLAYOFF HOLE >> Seamus Power won the Barbasol Championship for his first PGA Tour victory, beating J.T. Poston with a tap-in par on the sixth hole of a playoff in Nicholasville, Ky.
Power birdied the par-3 16th and the 18th in regulation for a 5-under 67, with the 34-year-old Irishman posting at 21-under 267 while Poston was squandering the lead behind him.
Poston had a double bogey on the par-5 15th after driving an inch out of bounds, and followed with a three-putt bogey on the par-3 16th. He parred the final two holes for 70.
Soccer
U.S. BEATS CANADA IN GOLD CUP >> Shaq Moore scored 20 seconds in and the United States beat Canada 1-0 in Kansas City, Kan., to win Group B at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Moore’s goal was the fastest since U.S. records began in 1990.
Both nations already were assured of advancing. The U.S. finished atop its group with a 3-0 record and will play its quarterfinal on July 25 at Arlington, Texas, against Costa Rica or Jamaica, both 2-0 going into their match Tuesday at Orlando, Fla. Canada finished the first round 2-1 and also will play Costa Rica or Jamaica.
Tennis
KREJCIKOVA WINS IN PRAGUE >> French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova triumphed at the Prague Open for her third WTA title. In an all-Czech final, second-seeded Krejcikova demolished No. 8-seeded Tereza Martincova 6-2, 6-0, hitting 26 winners on her way to victory in 65 minutes. ANDERSON WINS HALL OF FAME >> South African Kevin Anderson, 35, beat 20-year-old American Jenson Brooksby 7-6 (8), 6-4 to win the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, R.I.