Sports News Roundup: Olympics-Rowing-Italian rower misses medal-winning race after positive COVID test; NBA-Obama joins NBA Africa as strategic partner

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Olympics-Rowing-Italian rower misses medal-winning race after positive COVID test

Italy raced their way to an Olympic bronze in the men's four medal race on Wednesday, but team stalwart Bruno Rosetti missed out on his chance for a treasured piece of hardware after a COVID-19 test came back positive hours before the final. The 33-year-old's sample was taken on Tuesday and confirmed positive on Wednesday morning, according to World Rowing, as Rosetti was moved into in isolation. The other three members of his men's four crew tested negative and Marco di Costanzo, 29, took his place in the boat on Wednesday.

NBA-Obama joins NBA Africa as strategic partner

Former U.S. President Barack Obama has joined NBA Africa as a strategic partner to help advance social responsibility efforts across the continent, the National Basketball Association said on Tuesday. Obama will have a minority equity stake in the new venture, which over time he intends to use to fund Obama Foundation youth and leadership programs across Africa.

Olympics-Hockey-Netherlands, Britain breeze to wins in women's hockey in Tokyo

The Netherlands secured an easy victory over South Africa in hot, blustery conditions at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday, while Britain defeated India. The Dutch women's team led by a goal at half-time, after veteran striker Frederique Matla scored after picking up a pass by Lidewij Welten from the left side of the striking circle.

Olympics-Tokyo Games holds breath for Biles's decision

The Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday were still coming to terms with Simone Biles's stunning exit from the women's gymnastics team event and waiting to learn if the American would return to competition. Biles sent shockwaves through the Summer Games on Tuesday when she dropped out of the team competition on her opening vault after receiving a low mark.

Olympics-Fencing-Hungary and Italy in semifinals of men's sabre team

High-ranking Hungary and Italy will clash in the semifinals of the men's sabre team event on Wednesday, with individual gold medallist Aron Szilagyi and Luigi Samele with silver set to face each other again on the piste. Italy, ranked third in the world, faced sixth-ranked Iran across the piste in a tense quarterfinals.

Olympics-Athletics-Records set to tumble but how do we know what's great any more?

A stack of Olympic and possibly world records will be broken on the Tokyo track over the next two weeks but, such has been the incredible impact of shoe technology on performance lately, that nobody quite knows what constitutes great any more.

It used to be the case the world records on the road and track were edged down by fractions of a second, often untouched for years at a time, before the next generation shaved a couple of hundredths and were rightly feted.

Olympics-Women triumphant in Tokyo as Biles spotlights mental health at Games

With the Olympics still digesting U.S. gymnast Simone Biles's stunning exit from the team event, champion women made a splash in Tokyo on Wednesday as Australian Ariarne Titmus, American Katie Ledecky and Japan's Yui Ohashi all clinched gold in swimming. Their powerful showing underscored how women have emerged as the most commanding figures of the first week of the Tokyo Games, at a time of growing concern about the immense pressures on athletes and whether they are getting enough support for mental health.

Gymnastics-Biles says gymnastics not everything, 'we also have to focus on ourselves'

In the end, Simone Biles decided to pull out of the Tokyo 2020 team gymnastics finals on Tuesday because things just did not feel right after her vault, saying mental health is more important than sports. Biles, who wrote on her Instagram just a day before about feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders, decided that rather than risk injury - and a medal for the rest of the team - she needed to just stop.

Olympics-Athletics-Seeing's not believing - how doping has tainted athletics

There are a few worthy contenders for the "dirtiest race in history" title but the 2012 Olympic women's 1,500 metres probably takes the gold medal for not only the brazen nature of the cheating, but the sheer depth of it. Athletics is by no means the only Olympic sport to be badly hit by doping cases over the last few decades but due to its premier profile and multiplied by the huge scale of Russian doping and evasion, it has endured a grim time.

Olympics-Cycling-Van Vleuten wins gold and this time it's official

This time there was no mistake. Annemiek van Vleuten is an Olympic champion -- it is OFFICIAL! The Dutchwoman, who mistakenly thought she had won the road race on Sunday, left nothing to chance as she romped to gold in the time trial, winning by a massive 56 seconds over 22km.