Reuters Sports News Summary

The seven-times world champion celebrated a record eighth British Grand Prix victory on Sunday at Silverstone after fighting back from a 10-second penalty for a first-lap collision that ended up with title rival Max Verstappen in hospital. Olympics-Japan pressed to tackle discrimination, abuse in sport Japan should use the Olympics as a chance to commit to tackling discrimination over gender identity and sexual orientation in sport and prevent physical abuse of youth athletes, activists said on Monday, just days before the start of the Tokyo Games.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Olympics-Tokyo Games village safe, positive COVID-19 cases to be expected - expert

The Tokyo Olympic Games have had their share of positive coronavirus cases before they open, but health expert Brian McCloskey says they were to be expected and are lower than initially imagined at this stage. U.S. tennis player Coco Gauff tested positive for COVID-19 before her departure. Other athletes have tested positive at the airport after arriving in Japan or once inside the bubble that is the athletes' village.

NHL-League to schedule break in season for Beijing Olympics - report

The NHL has not yet announced whether it will send its players to next year's Beijing Olympics but the schedule for the 2021-22 season will include a break to accommodate participation in the Winter Games, according to an ESPN https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/31843898/nhl-schedule-break-2022-winter-olympics-player-participation-not-yet-guaranteed report on Monday. The article, which cited unnamed sources with knowledge of the schedule being released this week, said the break will run from Feb. 5-22 and include a caveat that NHL participation in Beijing is not yet guaranteed.

Olympics-Basketball-Team USA's Lavine not traveling with team to Tokyo

American guard Zach LaVine has entered health and safety protocols and will not fly to Tokyo on Monday along with the three-times defending men's Olympic basketball champions, USA Basketball said. The organization said in a statement the decision to leave without the 26-year-old LaVine was made "out of an abundance of caution" and that they hope he will be able to join the team in Tokyo later this week.

Cycling-Road race champions wants another gold before retiring

Reigning Olympic women's road race cycling champion Anna van der Breggen is determined to defend her title before hanging up her cleats and taking on a new role in the sport. The 31-year-old is retiring at the end of the year to become leader of her SD Worx team, trading in her bike for the team car, but first wants a return to the winners' podium, she told Dutch NOS television on Monday.

Motor racing-Hamilton subjected to racist abuse online after British GP

Lewis Hamilton was subjected to racist abuse online after winning the British Grand Prix, with social media firm Facebook saying on Monday it had removed a number of comments on Instagram. The seven-times world champion celebrated a record eighth British Grand Prix victory on Sunday at Silverstone after fighting back from a 10-second penalty for a first-lap collision that ended up with title rival Max Verstappen in hospital.

Olympics-Japan pressed to tackle discrimination, abuse in sport

Japan should use the Olympics as a chance to commit to tackling discrimination over gender identity and sexual orientation in sport and prevent physical abuse of youth athletes, activists said on Monday, just days before the start of the Tokyo Games. Though known for its strong civil society and democracy, Japan had serious rights issues to address, Human Rights Watch said, adding that the Olympics charter bans discrimination of any kind.

Exclusive-Olympics-Athletics-Advances in spike technology are laughable and unfair, says Bolt

Usain Bolt said that advances in spike technology that could help wipe out his world records are laughable and that the new shoes also give an unfair advantage over any athletes not wearing them. After athletes ripped through the record books in distance running with carbon-plated, thick-soled shoes, the technology has now moved into sprint spikes, where - although there is less time in a race for the advantage to make an impact - it is still enough to make a difference.

Olympics-Tennis-Prospect of making history will outweigh empty seats -Djokovic

The prospect of winning an Olympic gold medal for Serbia outweighs the disappointment of playing in an empty venue at the Tokyo games, the men's world tennis number one Novak Djokovic said on Monday. Djokovic considered pulling out of the Olympics due to COVID-19-related restrictions after winning Wimbledon this month but decided to head to Japan for what he called patriotic reasons.

Olympics-Van Aert arrives in Tokyo day after riding to Champs Elysees victory

Belgium's Wout van Aert arrived at the Olympic Games on Monday one day after winning the last two stages of the Tour de France and said there was not much left in his legs after the gruelling three-week tour. The 26-year-old will be chasing gold in both the men's road race and individual time trial but his first priority was recovery, he told Belgian television reporters on arrival.

Motor racing-Keep it clean, Brawn tells F1 rivals, but the fuse is lit

Formula One's motorsport head Ross Brawn has urged Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton not to let their title battle boil over after the pair collided in Sunday's British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The first lap clash sent Red Bull's Verstappen crashing out, and on to hospital for checks, while Hamilton fought back from a 10 second penalty to win for Mercedes and slash the gap at the top to eight points.