Sports News Roundup: Abby Wambach, American soccer player was born on June 2; NBA shift focus to fighting racism and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

On this day: Born June 2, 1980: Abby Wambach, American soccer player

When Abby Wambach towered over the Brazilian defence to head home a desperately late equaliser at the 2011 World Cup it set a United States side struggling to emerge from the shadow of its illustrious predecessors on a path to renewed glory. Wambach's 122nd-minute header in the quarter-finals prevented the U.S. from suffering their earliest ever World Cup exit and set them en route to their first final in 12 years.

Silver, NBA shift focus to fighting racism

NBA commissioner Adam Silver asked all 30 teams to encourage and embrace the push for social change. Silver issued a memo to every NBA team late Sunday as nationwide protests surrounding the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, all of whom were black and unarmed, raged for another night.

Bears' Nagy praises Trubisky's approach to competition

Mitchell Trubisky enters a prove-it year with the Chicago Bears, and head coach Matt Nagy praises the incumbent starter for not shrinking from competition with Nick Foles. "(Trubisky) has been really, really good in the fact that he's taken this head-on," Nagy said Monday on NFL Network. "He's accepted it. He understands it. We're all so competitive, but we're human, too. There is a realness to the fact that 'OK, you're going to bring somebody else in here and have me compete' initially it's probably a shock. But then after that, it's like, 'Let's go.'"

On this day... June 2

ON THIS DAY -- JUNE 2 June 2, 1991, Nationals players pledge compensation for team's minor leaguers

Facing additional pay cuts, players in the Washington Nationals' farm system are set to receive an unexpected boost. The Washington Post reported the Nationals planned to reduce pay for minor league players to $300 per week.

'Weird' playing without fans, but good to be playing again: Kvitova

Petra Kvitova has 27 career titles but winning an all-Czech exhibition tournament last week was a different experience for her and it felt "weird" to play in the absence of fans, the two-time Wimbledon champion told Reuters. The Prague tournament was one of the few global exhibition events held after professional tennis was suspended in early March as countries went into lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19.

F1 drivers speak out after Hamilton slams their silence

Formula One drivers followed Lewis Hamilton's lead on Monday after the six times world champion criticised his sport's silence over the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a white U.S. police officer knelt on his neck. The death in Minneapolis triggered a wave of outrage and violent protests in the United States.

Major talk was too big too soon, says Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas set himself the target of claiming a Grand Slam title in 2020 after winning last year's season-ending ATP Finals but the young Greek feels that in hindsight the statement was "too big" and burdened him with extra pressure. Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer have shared all the Grand Slams between them since Swiss Stan Wawrinka triumphed at the 2016 U.S. Open and Tsitsipas has been marked as one of the few players capable of breaking that stranglehold.

Japanese MotoGP round cancelled due to pandemic

Japan will not have a MotoGP round for the first time since 1986 after organisers on Monday cancelled the Oct. 18 race at Motegi due to the COVID-19 pandemic that will keep the series in Europe until mid-November. The race is a home one for champions Honda as well as manufacturers Yamaha and Suzuki. It is the sixth on the 2020 calendar to be cancelled.

Horse Racing: Thrumming hooves mark return of English sport at Newcastle

The thrum of hooves pounding the ground returned to Newcastle racecourse on Monday as competitive sport resumed in England after the shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In normal times the 1 pm at Newcastle would barely register beyond the Racing Post and the country's betting shops.