Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Athletics: Semenya wins 5,000m gold at South African Championships

Caster Semenya cruised to victory in the 5,000 meters at the South African athletics championships on Thursday, a potential new distance as she waits for the verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an appeal against regulations seeking to limit her testosterone level. Semenya looked in complete control as she won in a time of 16:05.97 on the opening day of the championships, which serve as an important test for the South African team going to the World Championships in Doha in September. Chiefs QB Mahomes to grace cover of Madden NFL 20

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and reigning NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes will be featured on the cover of the "Madden NFL 20," EA Sports revealed on Thursday. Mahomes, 23, threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns against 12 interceptions last season en route to winning the league's MVP award in his first year as a starter. Chiefs’ Hill releases statement about child abuse probe

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill released a statement through his lawyers Thursday, a day after the district attorney's office announced it would not bring charges against him for child abuse and neglect. "I love and support my family above anything. My son's health and happiness is my number one priority. I want to thank the Kansas City Chiefs, my attorneys, my agent and my union for supporting me through this. My focus remains on working hard to be the best person for my family and our community I can be, and the best player to help our team win," Hill said in the statement. NHL Draft prospect Hughes breaks U18 scoring record

Jack Hughes is expected to go No. 1 in the 2019 NHL Draft, but for now he's busy breaking records with the U.S. U18 National Team overseas. Hughes had three goals and an assist in a 6-0 win over Finland on Thursday to give him 28 total points in just 12 career U18 games. Nadal shines in comfortable victory over Ferrer in Barcelona

Rafael Nadal gave a much improved performance to advance into the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open on Thursday, dispatching Spanish compatriot and crowd favorite David Ferrer 6-3 6-3. Nadal will meet Jan-Lennard Struff in the last eight after the German claimed his second big scalp of the week by overcoming last year's finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 3-6 6-2 after knocking out 10th seed David Goffin the day before. Weekend preview: Fords hope to continue roll at Talladega

Certainly in recent years, Ford drivers have shown the way to Talladega Superspeedway's famous Victory Lane -- the seven most recent race trophies all belong to the manufacturer and its teams. Yet NASCAR's biggest and fastest speedway always remains a place where last-lap maneuvers and daring from-the-gut calls have produced some of the most thrilling and unpredictable finishes of the racing season. Ford has hoisted a string of trophies in recent seasons but the statistical examination of past driver performance keeps this historic venue one of the schedule's most fickle and NASCAR's best drivers perpetually on the verge of breakthrough and triumph. Match-fixing not doping poses greatest risk to sport

Two of the men that put the doping crisis in the global spotlight say the integrity of sport now faces a greater threat from match-fixing than drug cheats. Richard McLaren, who authored a 2016 report into state-sponsored Russian doping and David Howman, a former director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), painted an alarming picture about match-fixing at the Symposium on Match Manipulation and Gambling in Sport in Toronto on Wednesday and Thursday. Vegas GM says league apologized for Game Seven officiating blunder

Vegas Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee said on Thursday the NHL has apologized for a controversial penalty that ultimately led to his team's elimination from the Stanley Cup playoffs. Vegas were leading San Jose 3-0 with less than 11 minutes left in regulation of the decisive seventh game to their first-round series on Tuesday when Cody Eakins was handed a five-minute penalty for cross-checking Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. NBA, Kings announce joint investigation into Walton allegations

The Sacramento Kings and the NBA announced Thursday they will conduct a joint investigation into sexual assault allegations against new Kings coach Luke Walton. "The Kings and the NBA take these allegations very seriously and will collaborate to conduct a complete and thorough investigation," the statement concludes. Osaka breezes past Hsieh to reach Stuttgart last eight

World number one Naomi Osaka made a winning start to her claycourt season by beating Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei 6-4 6-3 on Thursday to move into the quarter-finals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. The twice grand slam champion, who has yet to win a title on clay, found little resistance as she avenged her defeat to Hsieh in Miami last month.