Sports

NBA: LaVine seizes command to lift Bulls past Magic

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Zach LaVine’s biggest contributions came in the final two minutes as the Chicago Bulls eased past the Orlando Magic 105-101 on Monday. LaVine busted loose for a thunderous go-ahead dunk to break a 101-101 tie then iced the win with two free throws for the Bulls, who won despite blowing an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter. LaVine finished with 18 points while Lauri Markkanen delivered 21 as Chicago […]

Japanese speed skater in first doping case of Olympics: official

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Japanese short-track speed skater Kei Saito has tested positive for doping at the Pyeongchang Olympics, the first doping case of the Games, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said Tuesday. Saito, 21, failed an out-of-competition test, the anti-doping authority said in a statement, adding that he tested positive for acetalozamide, a banned diuretic which is considered as a masking agent. The CAS statement said Saito had left the athletes’ Olympic […]

Federer quietly hoping for dream return to No. 1

by Scott Williams © Agence France-Presse ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AFP) —  Roger Federer said Monday he could allow himself to dream about recapturing the world number one spot at this week’s Rotterdam tournament and becoming the oldest man ever to hold the position. To climb back to the top at the age of 36, the Swiss must at least reach the semi-finals. If seedings hold up, that means he would have to defeat compatriot and friend Stan Wawrinka […]

‘Pyeongchang Gust’: winds cause chaos in snowboard final

by Peter Stebbings Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Vicious winds caused a string of crashes as America’s Jamie Anderson survived the chaos to clinch her second straight slopestyle snowboarding Olympic gold in treacherous conditions on Monday. Nearly all the athletes — including Anderson — tumbled at some point at Pyeongchang’s Phoenix Park, where strong winds forced Sunday’s qualifiers to be scrapped and also delayed the final for more than an hour on […]

NBA: New-look Cavs spoil Pierce’s jersey party

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The Boston crowd came out to celebrate Paul Pierce on Sunday — but LeBron James and his new Cleveland supporting cast had other ideas as the Cavaliers routed the Celtics 121-99. James shook off a first quarter leg injury to finish with 24 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers who were one of the busiest teams at the NBA trading deadline. Cleveland acquired four players and […]

Canada advances to gold medal match in mixed doubles curling

(Eagle News) — John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes of Canada defeated Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien of Norway 8-4 in Sunday’s Semifinal match advancing them to the event’s first ever Gold Medal Match. It seemed to be a close match at first with Norway equalizing in the 3rd end. Canada then took the lead scoring one in the 4th end and stealing two in the 5th end. Norway showed some hope scoring two points in […]

USA’s Jamie Anderson wins back-to-back gold medals

  (Eagle News) — Jamie Anderson won her first gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia for the first-ever Women’s Slopestyle event. The 27-year-old Olympian, Anderson repeated her amazing feat of winning the gold in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Anderson isn’t new to medaling as she was the youngest female to ever medal at the age of 15 during the Winter X Games in 2005. Although strong winds […]

USA Women’s Hockey completes opening game with 3-1 victory over Finland

  (Eagle News) – After losing an overtime thriller to the Canadians in the 2014 gold medal game in Sochi, Team USA seeks redemption. That loss  fueled their preparations in exhibition games and Olympic pre-qualifiers. In the opening period of the first game against Finland, the game’s tempo did not reflect a desperate U.S. team. Telecast of the match showed the U.S. team off to a slow start. They gave up one goal to Finland […]

Japan Olympic ice hockey forward Ukita banned for one game

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (AFP) — Japanese women’s forward Rui Ukita was suspended for one game of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics on Sunday by the International Ice Hockey Federation due to a kicking incident against Sweden. Ukita will miss Monday’s group-stage contest against Switzerland but will be able to return for Wednesday’s game against the United North and South Korean women. The violation came with 48 seconds remaining in Japan’s loss Saturday to Sweden. During a puck battle […]

Earthquake, wind and fire: extreme conditions hit Olympics

by Peter Stebbings © Agence France-Presse PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AFP) — An earthquake triggered an alert and high winds disrupted competition at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Sunday, as officials warned of a severe freeze and urged fans to wrap up warm. After a bitterly cold first night of competition, a shallow 4.6-magnitude earthquake jolted the eastern portion of South Korea overnight, prompting warnings on mobile phones. Early on Sunday, ski officials were forced to postpone the showpiece […]

Switzerland spoils home team opener; shuts out Korea 8-0

  (Eagle News) – Women’s Hockey kicked off the the opening games of the 2018 Winter Olympics with fans giving a standing ovation for the hometown Korea team as they took the ice for pre-game warm-ups. The telecast of the home opener of Korea versus Switzerland showed that fans filled the Kwandong Hockey Centre to cheer on a unified Korea team. This was the first time that North and South Korea combined to form a […]

Russian medalist’s drug suspension ‘special issue’ says IOC

  by Talek Harris © Agence France-Presse PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AFP) — Russian athletes are a “major focus” for anti-doping tests, a senior Olympic official said on Sunday, as it emerged that the first Russian medallist in Pyeongchang served a drugs suspension. Semen Elistratov, who took bronze in the men’s 1,500m short track speed skating on Saturday, was briefly suspended in 2016 after testing positive for meldonium — the same substance that saw Maria Sharapova banned. The […]