Sports News Roundup: Tennis-I thought I had COVID, but it was cancer, says Suarez Navarro; QB battle for ages takes center stage at Super Bowl LV and more

Australian Open to go ahead despite COVID-19 case - organisers The Australian Open will begin as scheduled on Monday even though a worker at one of the Melbourne hotels used to quarantine players and their entourages tested positive for COVID-19, tournament director Craig Tiley said on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Tennis-I thought I had COVID, but it was cancer, says Suarez Navarro

When Spanish player Carla Suarez Navarro had stomach pains and sickness last summer she suspected it was COVID-19. After tests, however, the news was far worse than she could have imagined as she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer, and would need months of chemotherapy.

QB battle for ages takes center stage at Super Bowl LV

Just two years ago, Tom Brady sought out Patrick Mahomes after the AFC Championship Game to console the youngster and provide encouragement. Mahomes hasn't lost a playoff game since that conversation, and he will look to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to their second straight title when they face Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV on Sunday in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium.

Australian Open to go ahead despite COVID-19 case - organisers

The Australian Open will begin as scheduled on Monday even though a worker at one of the Melbourne hotels used to quarantine players and their entourages tested positive for COVID-19, tournament director Craig Tiley said on Thursday. Thursday's warm-up matches at Melbourne Park were called off after the case was announced late on Wednesday, and those who underwent quarantine at the Grand Hyatt hotel were instructed to get tested and isolate until they had a result.

NCAA Division III cancels winter championships

The NCAA Division III Administrative Committee announced Wednesday that winter championships are canceled due to low participation numbers across member schools amid the coronavirus pandemic. The sports impacted by the decision are men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's ice hockey and wrestling.

Tokyo Olympics chief to stay on, even as furore grows over sexist comments - media

The president of the Tokyo Olympic organising committee is not planning to resign even after he stirred controversy with sexist comments that women board members talked too much, local media reported on Thursday. The 83-year-old Yoshiro Mori, a former Japanese prime minister and head of the Tokyo committee organising the postponed Summer Games this year, had told a newspaper earlier that he may step down if calls for his resignation continue.

NFL: Chiefs not satisfied with one Super Bowl, says Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes has been virtually unstoppable since becoming the starting quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs three seasons ago, but said the reigning Super Bowl champions are far from satisfied. Mahomes, who is 44-9 as a starter, took home Super Bowl MVP honors last year after leading his team to a gutsy, come-from-behind win to end the franchise's 50-year title drought.

Biden follows in recent presidential footsteps with Super Bowl interview

When U.S. President Joe Biden appears for a CBS interview this Super Bowl Sunday, he will be following a recent White House tradition of using the country's most-watched sporting event to reach a national audience in the tens of millions. Presidents have used the annual National Football League championship game to try to promote an image of being someone that viewers would like to have a beer with - or in teetotaler Biden's case, a bowl of ice cream.

U.S. signals no plans to boycott 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics after genocide designation

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is signaling it currently has no plans to bar American athletes' participation in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, despite mounting calls for the Games to be moved over China's human rights record. Rights advocacy groups and politicians have made demands for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to take the event out of China, casting a pall on Beijing's efforts to highlight the Games as Thursday marks one year from opening day.

NFL: League in 'active discussions' with players' association over COVID vaccinations

NFL Chief Medical Director Allen Sills said the league was in "active discussions" with its players' association over whether to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for players and staff, as well as what role it would take in coordinating inoculations. There were 262 COVID-19 cases among players and 463 among personnel detected between August 1 and the end of January, out of more than 950,000 COVID-19 tests administered, causing several schedule delays but no outright cancellations during the season.

COVID-19 outbreak puts Minnesota Wild season on hold

The COVID-19 pandemic has pulled another NHL team off the ice, as Wednesday the league announced that the Minnesota Wild has paused operations and has postponed games through at least Tuesday. The Wild reported five additional players within the organization were added to the COVID Protocol Related Absence List: Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Johansson and captain Jared Spurgeon joined Marcus Foligno, who had been placed on the list earlier in the week.