Sports News Roundup: Olympics-France projected to nearly triple its gold medal haul at Paris 2024; Hall of Fame skipper Whitey Herzog dies at 92 and more

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Olympics-France projected to nearly triple its gold medal haul at Paris 2024

Host nation France is projected to almost triple its gold medal total at the Paris 2024 Olympics from the 10 won at the Tokyo 2020 Games while also significantly increasing its overall medal haul, according to data company Nielsen Gracenote.

France is predicted to win 28 gold medals, 19 silver and eight bronze.

Hall of Fame skipper Whitey Herzog dies at 92

Whitey Herzog, the Hall of Fame manager of the 1982 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, died Tuesday at the age of 92. "On behalf of the entire St. Louis Cardinals organization, I would like to offer our condolences to the family and many friends of Whitey Herzog," team chairman and chief executive officer Bill DeWitt Jr. said in a news release. "Whitey and his teams played a big part in changing the direction of the Cardinals franchise in the early 1980s with an exciting style of play that would become known as 'Whitey Ball' throughout baseball. Whitey loved the Cardinals, their fans, and St. Louis. He will be sorely missed."

NHL breaks single-season attendance mark with three days remaining

The National Hockey League single-season attendance record was broken Monday with 18 games to spare, the league announced Tuesday. A total of 22,560,634 fans have watched games in the regular season through Monday, filling arenas at 97 percent capacity, the NHL said. The previous mark was 22,436,532 set in 2022-23.

Dodgers great Carl Erskine dies at 97

Carl Erskine, who made the move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles with the Dodgers, died Tuesday at his home in Anderson, Ind. He was 97. The Indianapolis Star reported he succumbed after a brief illness.

U.S. court sides with transgender school athlete against West Virginia ban

A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that a transgender middle-school girl in West Virginia can compete in her school's girls' track and cross-country teams, blocking enforcement of a state law against her. In a 2-1 ruling, the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the law, which prohibits any transgender girls from playing on girls' sports teams, would illegally discriminate against Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old who has publicly identified as transgender for around five years and takes puberty-blocking medication.

Olympics-Team Canada goes for cool factor in Paris Games kit

Team Canada unveiled the kit athletes will wear at this year's Paris Olympics on Tuesday, a high-tech design focusing on thermal comfort while paying homage to the country's indigenous heritage. In designing their first Summer Games collection, Lululemon said it leaned heavily on product testing and feedback from 19 Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes across 14 different sports, including gold medal hopes such as tennis player Leylah Fernandez, decathlete Damian Warner and swimmer Summer McIntosh.

Olympics-O'Keeffe relying on support team after shock U.S. marathon trials win

Fiona O'Keeffe is leaning on her coaches and support crew after an astonishing win at the U.S. Olympic marathon trials sees her leading the American charge for the podium in Paris. The 25-year-old was the youngest-ever competitor to win the U.S. trials as she broke the tape in an event record time of two hours 22 minutes and 10 seconds, stunning pundits and armchair experts alike in her first career marathon.

Olympics-Loss of horses a 'sad moment' for modern pentathlon, Davis says

Horses will make their final Olympic appearance in the modern pentathlon at the Paris Games and American hopeful Jessica Davis said that while she feels a sense of loss, the sport is capable of evolving. Modern pentathlon, which traditionally features fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting and running, was plunged into a scandal at the Tokyo Games in 2021 when a German coach struck a horse that refused to jump a fence.

Cowboys VP Stephen Jones 'holding money back' to re-sign big-ticket stars

All-in can be relative, or at least the meaning applies in different ways according to Cowboys senior vice president Stephen Jones. From Jones' front office seat, he still views the Cowboys as all-in for 2024 despite passive spending in free agency, Jones said in a radio interview with 105.3 FM The Fan on Tuesday.

Olympics-Australia have trust in France over Paris Games security

Australia's Chef de Mission Anna Meares said on Wednesday that while security was the first subject athletes raised with her about the Olympics, she had full confidence that Paris would put on a safe Games in 100 day's time. France raised its security alert to its highest level last month and President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that alternatives to holding the July 26 opening ceremony on the river Seine had been prepared in case they were needed.

(With inputs from agencies.)