(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay 8, LA Angels 3
Seattle 3, Cleveland 1
Baltimore 4, Chi White Sox 3
Toronto 6, Boston 5
Houston 6, Minnesota 3
NY Yankees, 13 Oakland 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
St. Louis 8, Chi Cubs 3
Philadelphia 4, Cincinnati 0
NY Mets 3, Colorado 1
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PRESEASON
Kansas City 17, Green Bay 10
Houston 17, San Francisco 0
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(LOS ANGELES) — A lawsuit filed in California alleges that professional boxer and former heavyweight champion George Foreman sexually assaulted at least two women in the 1970s, when they were teenagers and below the age of consent.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Los Angeles Superior Court, does not identify Foreman by name, but identifies the alleged abuser as a former professional heavyweight boxer who defeated Joe Frazier in 1973 to become the heavyweight champion of the world. Foreman became champion after he defeated Frazier on Jan. 22, 1973.
Foreman has denied the allegations in a statement to ABC News, alleging people are “trying to extort millions of dollars each from me and my family.”
The lawsuit, filed by a woman identified as Denise S., alleges Foreman started “grooming” her at an early age by taking her out for ice cream and allowing her to sit in his lap as he drove his car, according to the suit.
According to the lawsuit, Denise S. is the daughter of an Oakland-based boxer who trained with Foreman in the early 1970s. She allegedly met Forman when she was around 8 years old.
According to the suit, the alleged sexual assault and misconduct occurred when Denise S. was 13 to 16 years old, below the legal age of consent. Foreman was over the age of 23, the suit said.
Foreman and Denise S. allegedly had sexual intercourse several times when she was 15 years old and she alleges she was sexually abused by Foreman in a San Francisco hotel on at least one occasion, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is filed under a new California law that increases the limit for when someone can bring a legal action to recover damages from childhood sexual assault.
The law allows accusers to bring a suit 22 years from the date the plaintiff reaches the age of majority, 18 in California, or within five years of the date the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered that psychological injury or illness after the age of 18 was the caused by the sexual assault, whichever is later.
Denise S. alleges she suffered injuries, including physical and mental pain and suffering, past and future costs of medical care and treatment and past and future loss of earnings and earning capacity, “in an amount not yet ascertained, but which exceeds the minimum jurisdictional limits of this Court,” according to the lawsuit.
She is asking for a jury trial and an unspecified amount of damages.
Denise S. alleges in the suit that she disclosed the abuse to a friend and business associate of Foreman, identified as “Ron,” who allegedly said he was aware of at least one other victim that Foreman sexually abused when she was a minor, according to the lawsuit.
According to the suit, Ron confronted Foreman about the abuse of the two minors on at least one occasion, and Foreman allegedly did not deny the allegations.
According to the New York Times, a second lawsuit was filed by a woman using the pseudonym Gwen H. who alleges she met Foreman when she was under the age of 10 and was groomed by him.
It’s unclear if “Gwen H” is the other teenager Ron allegedly knew Foreman abused.
In a statement to ABC News, Foreman said he will work with his lawyers to “fully and truthfully expose my accusers’ scheme and defend myself in court. I don’t pick fights, but I don’t run away from them either.”
“They are falsely claiming that I sexually abused them over 45 years ago in the 1970s. I adamantly and categorically deny these allegations. The pride I take in my reputation means as much to me as my sports accomplishments, and I will not be intimidated by baseless threats and lies,” Foreman said.
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(NEW YORK) — Novak Djokovic, one of the world’s top tennis players, confirmed Thursday that he won’t be competing at the upcoming U.S. Open.
The Serbian athlete will miss this year’s tournament in New York City due to his COVID-19 vaccination status.
“Sadly, I will not be able to travel to NY this time for US Open,” Djokovic, 35, said on Twitter Thursday. “Good luck to my fellow players! I’ll keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete again. See you soon tennis world!”
Sadly, I will not be able to travel to NY this time for US Open. Thank you #NoleFam for your messages of love and support. ❤️ Good luck to my fellow players! I’ll keep in good shape and positive spirit and wait for an opportunity to compete again. 💪🏼 See you soon tennis world! 👋🏼
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) August 25, 2022
The U.S. government does not allow international travelers to come into the U.S. without proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Djokovic is not vaccinated, telling the BBC earlier this year that “based on all the information that I got, I decided not to take the vaccine.”
The U.S. Tennis Association said Djokovic withdrew from the U.S. Open prior to the draw to determine the tournament’s official seeding list. His withdrawal paved the way for a “lucky loser” to be included in the draw, the association said.
“Novak is a great champion and it is very unfortunate that he will be unable to compete at the 2022 U.S. Open, as he is unable to enter the country due to the federal government’s vaccination policy for non-U.S.citizens. We look forward to welcoming Novak back at the 2023 U.S. Open,” U.S. Open tournament director Stacey Allaster said in a statement.
The athlete was deported from Australia in January over his vaccination status after arriving to compete in the Australian Open. His visa was revoked at the Melbourne airport, restored, then ultimately canceled.
Djokovic won Wimbledon in the U.K. last month — his 21st grand slam title. The U.K. allows travelers into the country without requiring proof of vaccination. France relaxed its COVID-19 requirements in time to allow Djokovic to play in the French Open in May.
After his Wimbledon win, Djokovic told reporters that an exemption to play in the U.S. Open didn’t seem “realistically possible.”
The U.S. Open and New York City allow visitors without proof of vaccination.
“Though the U.S. Open does not have a vaccination mandate in place for players, we respect the U.S. government’s position regarding travel into the country for non-U.S. citizens,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Open told ABC News last month.
ABC News’ Michela Moscufo contributed to this report.
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(NEW YORK) — Two of golf’s biggest names — Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy — are stepping up to lead a new virtual golf tournament.
Called the TGL, the new virtual golf league, launched in partnership with the PGA, will have pros compete in a series of primetime stadium-style team showdowns.
The announcement comes amid the ongoing battle between the PGA and LIV, the Saudi-backed golf league.
ABC News’ Will Reeve appeared on Good Morning America Thursday to explain more about the new virtual league:
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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Detroit 6, San Francisco 1
Oakland 3, Miami 2
Texas 16, Colorado 4
Washington 3, Seattle 1
Cleveland 7, San Diego 0
Kansas City 5, Arizona 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Toronto 3, Boston 2
Chi White Sox 5, Baltimore 3
Houston 5, Minnesota 3
Tampa Bay 4, LA Angels 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Atlanta 14, Pittsburgh 2
Philadelphia 7, Cincinnati 5
Chi Cubs 7, St. Louis 1
LA Dodgers 12, Milwaukee 6
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Connecticut 73, Dallas 58
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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
San Francisco 3, Detroit 1
NY Yankees 4, NY Mets 2
Colorado 7, Texas 6
Arizona 7, Kansas City 3
Cleveland 3, San Diego 1
Miami 5, Oakland 3
Seattle 4 Washington 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Tampa Bay 11, LA Angels 1
Baltimore 5, Chi White Sox 3
Houston 4, Minnesota 2
Toronto 9, Boston 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Chi Cubs 2, St. Louis 0
Atlanta 6, Pittsburgh 1
Philadelphia 7, Cincinnati 6
St. Louis 13, Chi Cubs 3
LA Dodgers 10, Milwaukee 1
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Chicago 90, New York 72
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(NEW YORK) — For generations, Black Americans have grappled with a troubling reality when it comes to swimming.
Black Americans drown at a rate 50 percent higher than their white counterparts, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It’s a grim statistic rooted in systemic racism that’s led to a persistent lack of access to pools and swim classes for Black children, according to experts.
Anthony Patterson, the president of the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit Nile Swim Club, said the lingering problem is a civil rights issue.
“I think that it’s a lack of access,” Anthony Patterson, the president of the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit Nile Swim Club, told ABC’s “Nightline.”
Nile Swim Club has been providing free swim lessons to kids for the past four years, part of its “No Child Will Drown In Our Town” campaign, and he said that it is imperative that more Black kids learn these life-saving skills.
“It’s up to us,” he said. “It appears that counting on other folks to teach our children how to swim is not happening in our community.”
Achieving this goal means that the country will have to confront and undo the systemic racism that led to it, according to Patterson.
Nearly 64% of Black children in the country have little or no swimming ability, compared to 40% of white children, according to USA Swimming, the national governing body for the American sport of swimming.
The swimming deficit in the Black community can be traced back to slavery. During which, enslaved Africans were forbidden from swimming. Over time, Black Americans were historically denied access to pools and beaches.
During the Jim Crow era, pools were segregated and there were far fewer affordable swim classes for Black families, according to historians.
The Nile Swim Club, located in Yeadon, was created in 1958 in response to that segregated environment after two Black families found out they were deliberately being denied access to a whites-only swim club, according to Patterson.
“Our founders decided instead of fighting and protesting and forcing them to have us join their club, they decided, ‘You know what? We’ll go back to our community [and] raise the money we need,’ and pretty much purchased these four and a half acres of land and put the Nile Swim Club here,” he said.
Patterson said this segregation is still going on in swim clubs across the country.
In 2012, the Justice Department found the historically white Valley Club in Pennsylvania discriminated against Black children during a camp pool trip in 2009. The club is now defunct.
Imani Kingcade sent her two sons, James and Cairo, to the Nile’s free swim program and told “Nightline” it made a huge difference.
“Cairo just had a big fear of water, period,” she told “Nightline.” “He didn’t want the water coming down on him.”
The boys graduated from the program this summer.
The Nile Swim Club isn’t the only organization helping Black kids improve their swim skills.
Jim Ellis, 74, created the Philadelphia Department of Recreation Swim Team in 1971, and became the first all-Black swim team in the country. He still coaches young swimmers and told “Nightline” that he’s heard too many misconceptions about Black swimmers over the years.
“African-Americans can’t swim. Their bones are too heavy. They’re not built right. Well, I’m African American, I’ve been swimming all my life. So this is a stereotype,” he told “Nightline.”
Ellis said many Black swimmers have proven their worth in the competitive field.
Cullen Jones is one of them.
Jones has won four Olympic medals, two gold and two silver, as well as several gold medals at other international swim competitions. He made history when he won the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle relay in the 2008 Olympics and became the first Black American swimmer to do so.
Jones told “Nightline” that there is still a way to go before Black American competitive swimmers are given more chances.
“Access is a very easy way for a lot of people to be like, oh, this is the reason why Black people don’t swim. That [swimming] is something that has been pushed out of our culture. There are [Black] swimmers in other countries. Black people swim. It’s a U.S. problem that we believe that this is something we don’t do,” he said,” he said.
Jones, a New Jersey native, said he learned how to swim after nearly drowning while visiting a water park with his family when he was young.
That incident prompted his mother to insist he learn to swim. Now retired from competitive swimming, Jones is determined to make swim lessons more accessible to all. He works as a water safety advocate with USA Swimming’s “Make a Splash” campaign.
“Anyone can drown. I can drown, Michael Phelps can drown. What we like to do is say that we are becoming safer around the water,” he said.
“We’re seeing progress,” Jones added, “And for any person that is interested, fearful, I won’t tell you my mom’s age, but she’s learning to swim. So it’s never too late to get out there and learn to swim.”
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(TAMPA, Fla.) — Superstar quarterback Tom Brady returned to training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Monday. Brady had spent nearly two weeks away for what the team called “personal reasons.”
Watch the full report from ABC’s Good Morning America:
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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
NY Yankees 4, NY Mets 2
Miami 3, Oakland 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Kansas City 6, Chi White Sox 4
Texas 2, Minnesota 1
Tampa Bay 2, LA Angels 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Atlanta 2, Pittsburgh 1
Philadelphia 4, Cincinnati 1
St. Louis 1, Chicago Cubs 0
Milwaukee 4, LA Dodgers 0
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PRESEASON
NY Jets 24, Atlanta 16
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(ALEXANDRIA, Va.) — The former head trainer for the Washington Commanders entered a deferred prosecution agreement after the Justice Department alleged he illegally gave players oxycodone and other narcotics when they were not prescribed the pills.
A deferred prosecution agreement is when a defendant admits wrongdoing but if they adhere to the terms of the agreement they will not get charged by the Justice Department.
The former trainer, Ryan Vermillion, acknowledged in federal court documents on Friday that he carried around a prescription pad belonging to a team physician and a black bag filled with narcotics.
The bag contained “pill envelopes,” according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia said that Vermillion would backfill oxycodone prescriptions and dole out pills that were not intended for specific players. The NFL has a process in place in which away teams are able to legally obtain prescription pills if one player on a visiting team needs them. The Justice Department said Vermillion discouraged players from using that program and instead take medications from the black bag.
In several instances described in court documents, Vermillion would give players oxycodone immediately after they were injured in the locker room to relieve some pain, but the DOJ says that prescription was not intended for that player.
“I have pain meds in bag if he needs something,” Vermillion texted a trainer, according to the documents, after a player was taken off the field and into the locker room.
The Justice Department says the trainer texted Vermillion about giving the player oxycodone.
“Vermillion told some Commanders physicians to write prescriptions for oxycodone for players who, in Vermillion’s judgement, he believed should receive additional oxycodone,” the DOJ said in a statement of facts.
The Justice Department says Vermillion kept a “stockpile” of oxycodone at the team facility in Ashburn, Virginia. When agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) searched the team facility, they found prescription medication in a locked cabinet and players with no record of ever having been prescribed drugs for a specific injury.
Prosecutors say this amounted to Vermillion breaking the law in distributing pills that weren’t prescribed to specific players.
Part of the agreement says that Vermillion may not do any athletic training activities, may not leave the Western District of North Carolina and must submit to a drug test and check in with his probation officer regularly.
Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera said in a statement the team has released Vermillion and that prosecutors had made clear that the team was a witness to a crime, and not the target itself.
“I was recently made aware that Ryan Vermillion has entered into an agreement, pursuant to which he has admitted to wrongdoing, but will not be charged with any crime so long as he satisfies certain conditions over the next 12 months. The situation is unfortunate and although it resulted in no criminal charges, it was necessary to move forward in a different direction. Ryan’s employment has been terminated,” the statement read.
He added, “I want to emphasize that the U.S. Government confirmed from the outset that it viewed the organization as a witness, and not as a subject or target of the investigation. We cooperated fully with federal investigators, and we will continue to cooperate with any supplemental League and NFLPA inquiry.”
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