Sports News Roundup: Djokovic returns to Wimbledon with stranglehold on men's game; Nationals rally in 9th for wild win and more
Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.
Athletics-Soaring temperatures prompt changes to US Olympic trials schedule
Extreme heat conditions with temperatures expected to reach more than 100 Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius) have led officials to make changes to the schedule for the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon at the weekend. Most affected are the distance races, with the women's 10,000 metres moved to 10 a.m. local time on Saturday and the men's 5,000m to the same time on Sunday.
Soccer-U.S. women's internationals Press, Heath leave Man Utd
United States forwards Christen Press and Tobin Heath have left Manchester United after one season with the club, the Women's Super League (WSL) side announced on Thursday. The U.S. internationals, who were part of the team that won the 2019 World Cup in France, signed one-year deals with United in September and helped them finish fourth last season.
Tennis-Giorgi knocks out top seed Sabalenka at Eastbourne
Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi continued her impressive form at the Eastbourne championships by removing top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals on Thursday. Giorgi, a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 2018, used her aggressive game to claim a 7-6(5) 0-6 6-4 victory and set up a semi-final against Estonian Anett Kontaveit.
Tennis-Wrist injury forces Thiem to pull out of Wimbledon
World number five Dominic Thiem has pulled out of Wimbledon due to a right wrist injury that will keep him out of action for several weeks, the 27-year-old said on Thursday. Thiem was forced to retire from his opening match at the Mallorca Open on Tuesday - the Austrian's first grasscourt event since a first-round defeat at Wimbledon two years ago.
Tennis-Djokovic returns to Wimbledon with stranglehold on men's game
It is almost two years since Novak Djokovic left Roger Federer crestfallen by edging a momentous Wimbledon final but as the tournament prepares to return after last year's cancellation, the men's game remains in the Serb's stranglehold.
Since that epic five-set victory, in which he saved two match points and won the first fifth-set tiebreak in a Wimbledon final, Djokovic has claimed three of the next six majors with Rafa Nadal bagging two and Dominic Thiem one.
Cycling-Star-studded Ineos-Grenadiers hold key to intriguing Tour de France
Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic are the clear favourites for this year's Tour de France, but an aggressive and star-studded Ineos-Grenadiers team may hold the key to the race, which sets out from the port city of Brest on Saturday. Pogacar blew Roglic away in the final time trial to win the race last year, and the 22-year-old has also triumphed in the Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour of Slovenia stage races in the lead-up to the Tour with dominant rides in the mountains.
MLB roundup: Nationals rally in 9th for wild win
Starlin Castro went 3 for 4 with three RBIs and delivered a go-ahead, two-run single in the ninth to propel the Washington Nationals to a wild 13-12 comeback win over the host Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday afternoon. The Nationals erased three deficits overall, including five-run and four-run Phillies leads, on their way to their fourth consecutive victory. The Phillies lost their third in a row and sixth in their past eight games.
Swimming-Oleksiak back to lead Canada in Tokyo pool
Penny Oleksiak, the first Canadian to win four medals at a Summer Olympics, will lead a Canadian swimming team eager to build on their efforts in Rio de Janeiro at next month's Tokyo Games. Swimming Canada unveiled a 26-member squad (16 women, 10 men) on Thursday that is a mix of experience and youth that officials hope is capable of improving on the six medals won in Rio, the country's best haul in the pool since the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
Game, set and ... token? Murray cashes in on 2013 Wimbledon win
Andy Murray is cashing in on the craze for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by selling the "moment" he won the Wimbledon tennis tournament in 2013 in the latest such high-profile auction. NFTs are crypto assets which record ownership of a digital item, such as an image, video or text, on blockchain. While anyone can view or download the asset in question, only the buyer can claim the status of being its official owner.
Soccer-Colombia want referee axed after ball hits him before goal
The Colombian Football Federation (FCF) has asked Copa America organizers to suspend the referee from their 2-1 defeat by Brazil, saying he prejudiced the result by not halting play when the ball hit him in the lead up to a goal. Nestor Pitana, the Argentine who refereed the 2018 World Cup final, waved play on when the ball bounced off him outside Colombia's box and Brazil continued passing for Roberto Firmino to head in an equalizer.
(With inputs from agencies.)
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