rack Page 14 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Sprinter's Reaction To Learning He Won Euro Championship Gold Is Priceless
Spanish sprinter Bruno Hortelano placed second in the 200m at this week’s European Championships in Amsterdam, setting a new national record for Spain in the process—but a post-race inquiry revealed the runner who placed first in the final, Dutchman Churandy Martina, would be disqualified for leavin...

U.S. Olympic Committee Tells Oiselle To Delete Social Media Posts, Ignores Others
The trouble started for Kate Grace, winner of the U.S. Olympic Trials 800 meters, and her sponsor, apparel company Oiselle, when Oiselle posted these photos on their Instagram account. ...

In TrackTown, USA For The Olympic Trials, The Drama Of The Human Spirit, And Other Stuff
Eugene, Oregon is a picturesque college town, sparkly with streams and framed by dark pine-forested hills, with a population equal parts public radio, Dick-and-Perry-with-a-snort-of-Eminem, and hippie. The U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials are happening there right now—bands of backward cap-wearin...

Oscar Pistorius Sentenced To Six Years In Prison
Three and a half years after Oscar Pistorius fatally shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria home, following a conviction, an appeal, and another conviction on more serious charges, the track star was sentenced to six years in prison for murder....

Two Favorites Tangle, Two Fresh Faces Step Up, And A Strong 800 Meter Olympic Team Emerges
What the heck is that, above? It’s years of 24/7 grind going down the tubes in a hundredth of a second. It’s dreams dying and being made. It’s bad luck and dumb luck. And according to USA Track & Field, it’s incidental contact. It’s the sport of track and field....

One Runner’s Quest To Escape From A Nike Contract<em></em>
“Nike ego takes over,” 1500-meter runner Will Leer told me. “They never let something happen on your terms. They want to solidify the power structure—they have all the power, the athlete has none.”...

Attitudes Towards PEDs Can Be Predictive Of Doping Behavior
Banning Russian track and field athletes from the Olympics, raiding coach Jama Aden’s hotel room, busting Kenyan marathoner Rita Jeptoo after a failed drug test—the most visible anti-doping measures happen after the fact. But anti-doping efforts also take place on a quieter front, upstream where dop...

Boris Berian's Legal Fight Against Nike Could Change Track And Field Forever (UPDATED)
UPDATE: Late on June 23, Nike dropped their breach of contract suit against Boris Berian, not because they were wrong or because the bad PR had reached toxic levels, but as a consideration of the stress the suit was causing Berian. Or Boris, as the congenial Nike spokesperson likes to call him....

Barack Obama To Tyronn Lue: "Tell J.R. And Everyone To Put On A Shirt"
J.R. Smith’s shirtlessness has inspired takes from everyone in the NBA-adjacent universe, from cranky old former baseball players to every publication on the internet, and today the president of the United States of America weighed in. He ended his congratulatory call with Tyronn Lue with a recommen...

Genzebe Dibaba's Coach Arrested For Allegedly Administering And Distributing EPO
Track coach Jama Aden has been arrested after police raided his hotel room outside Barcelona and found traces of EPO and other banned substances, according to the Associated Press. ...

Russian Track And Field Athletes Won't Compete At Olympics After Ban Is Upheld
The IAAF, world track and field’s governing body, voted unanimously Friday to uphold its provisional ban on Russian athletes. Unless something extraordinary happens in the next six weeks, Russian runners, throwers, and jumpers won’t be competing in the Olympics. ...

From Refugee To Olympic Hopeful: Biya Simbassa's Excellent Life In The Land Of Opportunity
It was the Galen Rupp show at this past Sunday’s Portland Track Festival 5000 meters, as America’s greatest distance talent executed his signature 4600-meter cruise, capped by a crowd-pleasing shift into turbo for the final lap. Nice, though unsurprising. ...

The Legal Fight Between Nike And Boris Berian Is Heating Up
Nike is steamed that 800-meter star Boris Berian has had the temerity to both reject their contract offer and continue to run very well, all the while wearing New Balance gear. In fact, they’re so riled up over losing Berian—who only two years ago was flipping burgers—they’ve filed for a federal cou...

The Rio Olympics Velodrome Is Just Never Going To Get Built, Huh
The run up to the Rio Olympics has been marred by concerns over Zika virus, a political meltdown, a massive doping crisis, crumbling infrastructure, and a bay filled with human shit. The list of problems is so long and populated with strange issues that it’s easy to overlook another, far more typica...

Nike Sues 800-Meter Star Boris Berian For Breach Of Contract
Last night at the Hoka One One Classic, 800-meter runner Boris Berian tweeted that he was being sued by Nike:...

Dominant Nigerian Scrabble Players Find That Shorter Is Better
There’s no reason to believe that success in a sport should correlate with aesthetic appeal. You don’t always win by being the Warriors with Steph breezily trotting the other way before ball touches net; sometimes you get the grit-and-grind Grizzlies with Tony Allen smacking the hardwood and shoutin...

Anti-Doping Agency Says Kenya Is In The Midst Of A Doping Crisis; No One Cares
The run-up to this summer’s Olympics in Rio have been a disaster, between the prevalence of the Zika virus, Brazil’s political upheaval, and deadly problems with Rio’s Olympic infrastructure. It doesn’t help matters that the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) is in the midst of a meltdown, with all man...

High School Relay Team Uses High Jump Pole Instead Of Baton, Wins
The 4 x 100 meter race is about pure, raw speed, but it also takes a good deal of coordination to time your handoffs right. This is much easier if you have a dang high jump bar to hand off instead of a tiny, near-weightless baton....

USA Loses 4x100 After Botched Baton Exchange
The Jamaican team of Jermaine Hamilton, Julian Foote, Rasheed Dwyer, and Oshane Bailey took first place at the Penn Relays 4x100 after the top U.S. team botched the baton exchange on the anchor leg....

Nick Symmonds Is Auctioning Ad Space On His Body To Stick It To USA Track And Field
Entrepreneur and current American 800-meter record-holder Nick Symmonds is auctioning off some ad space on his right shoulder on eBay. The space is available for the remainder of the 2016 outdoor season, including through the Olympics, should he qualify....