(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland 5, Toronto 2
Baltimore 7, NY Yankees 1
Seattle 8, Tampa Bay 2
Texas 4, LA Angels 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami 6, NY Mets 3
Philadelphia 7, Washington 5
Milwaukee 6, Pittsburgh 2
San Francisco 11, Arizona 8 (10)
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(NEW YORK) — Quinn Ewers, the number two college football prospect in the 2022 class, has announced on Twitter that he is enrolling at Ohio State a year early.
Ewers was the top-ranked player in Texas and was the number one quarterback prospect in the country, according to ESPN.
Ewers said the new name, image, and likeness rules that would have prohibited him from making money this next year while in high school were one factor.
“It’s unfortunate I’ve found myself in this situation, as my preference would have been to complete my senior season at Southlake Carroll along with my teammates and friends I’ve taken the field alongside past three seasons,” Ewers wrote.
Ewers said this was not just a financial decision, but one he felt was the best for his football career.
He has one class that is about to be completed and will enroll at Ohio State and be start practice with the team.
Ohio State is looking to replace Justin Fields, who was drafted 11th overall by Chicago this spring. Redshirt freshman CJ Stroud, true freshman Kyle McCord, and redshirt freshman Jack Miller were the three quarterbacks battling to become the starter before Ewers announced his decision.
Ewers originally committed to the University of Texas but de-committed last October.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(INDIANAPOLIS) — Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz will have foot surgery on his left foot, head coach Frank Reich announced Monday.
Wentz injured the foot during Thursday’s practice and did not participate on Friday or Saturday’s training camp practices.
Riech said this injury likely stemmed from a foot injury in high school Wentz never knew about.
The team says Wentz will miss 5-12 weeks.
“Obviously we’re optimistic and hopeful that we can be on the front end of that,” said Reich.
Jacob Eason will take over as the starter. The second year quarterback did not appear in a game last year after sitting behind Phillip Rivers and Jacoby Brissett.
Wentz’s history with injuries is long. In 2017, he suffered a season ending ACL injury. The following year he missed the first two games while recovering from the injury and he was shutdown at the end of the year with a back injury.
He has only played all 16 games twice in his career.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(TOKYO) — US gymnast Simone Biles will compete on the balance beam on Tuesday, USA Gymnastics announced in a tweet.
Biles pulled out of the team all-around final, the individual all-around final, the uneven bars, and the vault in the past week citing her mental health.
Biles and Sunisa Lee, the individual all-around gold medalist, will compete for the United States.
Biles won the bronze medal on the beam during the 2016 Rio Olympics and is a four-time world champion.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(TOKYO) — Each day, ABC News will give you a roundup of key Olympic moments from the day’s events in Tokyo, happening 13 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time. After a 12-month delay, the unprecedented 2020 Summer Olympics is taking place without fans or spectators and under a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Jade Carey wins gold, Simone Biles to compete in balance beam finals
Gymnast Jade Carey took the gold in the individual floor exercise final, her first gold and the fifth medal overall for the U.S. gymnastics team in the Tokyo Games. Carey was coming off an eighth place finish in the individual vault Sunday but returned to score a 14.366 and take the gold in the floor exercise.
USA Gymnastics confirmed that Simone Biles will compete in the balance beam finals on Aug. 3, along with teammate Sunisa Lee. Biles had previously withdrew from individual competitions in vault, uneven bars and floor events.
Women’s basketball extends winning streak
The U.S. women’s basketball team defeated France 93-82 in their last game of the group round. Led by A’ja Wilson with 22 points, the team extended their Olympic winning streak to 52, a feat reaching all the way back to 1992.
Women’s basketball extends winning streak
The U.S. women’s basketball team defeated France 93-82 in their last game of the group round. Led by A’ja Wilson with 22 points, the team extended their Olympic winning streak to 52, a feat reaching all the way back to 1992.
U.S. women’s soccer ends its bid for gold
The U.S. women’s soccer team lost to Canada 1-0, and with it end their run for a gold medal. U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher left with an apparent knee injury in the first half and Canada capitalized on a penalty kick in the 74th minute of play. Team USA will now play for the bronze medal.
COVID-19 cases at Tokyo Olympics rise to 281
There were 17 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday. No athletes were among the new cases. The total now stands at 281, according to data released by the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee.
The surrounding city of Tokyo reported 2,195 new cases on Sunday, a seven-day average increase of 206.9%, according to data released by the Tokyo metropolitan government.
For more Olympics coverage, see: https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/Olympics
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
NY Yankees 3, Miami 1
St. Louis 7, Minnesota 3
San Francisco 5, Houston 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Toronto 5, Kansas City 1
Detroit 6, Baltimore 2
Chi White Sox 2, Cleveland 1
Texas 4, Seattle 3
Oakland 8, LA Angels 3
Tampa Bay 3, Boston 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Milwaukee 2, Atlanta 1
Cincinnati 7, NY Mets 1
Washington 6, Chi Cubs 5
Philadelphia 15, Pittsburgh 4
San Diego 8, Colorado 1
LA Dodgers 13, Arizona 0
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Chicago 1, Philadelphia 1 (Tie)
Nashville 1, Toronto FC 1 (Tie)
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(TOKYO) — Each day, ABC News will give you a roundup of key Olympic moments from the day’s events in Tokyo, happening 13 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time. After a 12-month delay, the unprecedented 2020 Summer Olympics is taking place without fans or spectators and under a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Caeleb Dressel joins elite club with 5 gold medals
Caeleb Dressel pulled in two more gold medals today, first in the men’s 50m freestyle, an all-out spring that took Dressel 21.07 seconds to complete. In the last race of the evening, Dressel led Team USA to still more glory in the 4x100m medley relay. Dressel completely swept the sprint events and has become the fifth swimmer to win at least five gold medals at one Olympic Games
Dressel’s teammate Bobby Finke won his second gold medal in the men’s 1500, finishing with a blazing finishing kick that has been his trademark in these Games.
Mykayla Skinner wins silver after replacing Biles, Sunisa Lee takes Bronze
Mykayla Skinner, who replaced Biles after she withdrew from the vault competition won the silver medal, just days after she announced the end of her elite gymnastics career on Instagram after failing to qualify in the finals. Simone Biles also withdrew from the floor exercise finals, but it is still to be determined if she will compete in the balance beam.
Team USA’s Sunisa Lee took the bronze in the uneven bars, and now has a gold, silver and bronze medal to show for the 2020 Olympics.
COVID-19 cases at Tokyo Olympics rise to 264
There were 18 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday, including one athlete who was at the Olympic Village at the time of the positive test. The total now stands at 246, according to data released by the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee.
The surrounding city of Tokyo reported 3,058 new cases on Sunday, a 7-day average increase of 213.6%, according to data released by the Tokyo metropolitan government.
Lamont Marcell Jacobs wins men’s 100m sprint, USA still waiting for gold
Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs surprised everyone by blazing past the competition in the men’s 100m for the gold. Team USA’s Fred Kerley finished with the silver in the event, tying with U.S. shot putter Raven Saunders for the best finish for any U.S. athlete in the track and field events thus far.
Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela set a new world record in triple jump at 15.67m, and in a rare agreement, Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy and Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar decided to share the gold in men’s high jump instead of proceeding with a jump-off.
Xander Schauffele takes home gold in golf
The American golfer Xander Schauffele won the gold medal in men’s individual after he was tied for the lead with two holes to play. This win is even more special for Schauffele, whose mother was raised in Japan and whose grandparents are residents of Tokyo.
Alexander Zverev wins men’s tennis singles
Germany’s Alexander Zverev bested both Jérémy Chardy and Novak Djokovic to make it into the finals where he defeated Karen Khachanov, 6-3, 6-1. Zverev is ranked fifth in the world by Association of Tennis Professionals, but in the 2020 Games in Tokyo he is now officially first.
1st medals given in BMX freestyle, USA’s Hannah Roberts takes silver
Australian Logan Martin of the men’s division and Great Britain’s Charlotte Worthington of the women’s won the first-ever Olympic gold medals in freestyle BMX, while Team USA’s Hannah Roberts took home the silver. The aerial competition was the newest addition to the discipline of cycling, which also includes road racing, track and cross-country.
Olympic tears of joy
Every Olympic Games sees a fair share of tears shed, but this year has been especially emotional — especially for the champions. There is no shortage of hardships in a normal cycle for Olympic greats, but for the pandemic-delayed Tokyo games athletes have also battled through tropical storms, the summer heat and the deafening silence of empty stands.
Perhaps it is this combination, along with the realization of so much training and hard work, that has brought tears to the eyes of so many of the games’ champions.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(TOKYO) — Jamaica swept the women’s 100m at Tokyo 2020 — repeating a feat only the Caribbean island nation has accomplished in Olympic history.
Elaine Thompson-Herah defended her 2016 gold medal with an Olympic record and personal best of 10.61 seconds, and assumed the title of world’s fastest woman alive.
She bested the previous Olympic record of 10.62 seconds set by American Florence Griffith Joyner at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
“Just a lil girl from BANANA GROUND who liked to run,” Thompson-Herah tweeted after her victory. “Believe In your dreams work hard and have faith in God.”
Just a lil girl from BANANA GROUND who liked to run. Believe In your dreams work hard and have faith in God…ETH pic.twitter.com/UrR7UuGZGO
— Elaine Thompson Herah (@FastElaine) July 31, 2021
Thompson-Herah’s teammates joined her on the podium, with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce taking silver with her time of 10.74 seconds and Shericka Jackson the bronze with 10.76 seconds.
With her latest medal, Fraser-Pryce became the first athlete to win four Olympic medals in the women’s 100m.
“Congrats to Elaine on successfully defending her title,” Fraser-Pryce said on Facebook. “Grateful to make the podium for a 4th final.”
The three sprinters are also competing in the 200m and are in the relay pool for the 4x100m relay, both next week.
After the 100m, retired Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, regarded as the fastest man on the planet, acknowledged the medal sweep, tweeting “1.2.3” with three Jamaican flags.
1.2.3 🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) July 31, 2021
Notably absent from the race was Sha’Carri Richardson. The American sprinter was seen as a medal contender after winning the U.S. Olympic trials in June with a time of 10.86 seconds, until she was barred from competing in Tokyo after testing positive for marijuana following the event.
Jamaica last swept the women’s 100m at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
This is the second time during the Tokyo Games that a team swept an event, after Switzerland took home all three medals in the women’s cross-country mountain bike race earlier this week.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(TOKYO) — Female athletes are breaking with their sports’ apparel conventions — if not regulations — to prioritize their comfort during competitions, and making major statements in the process.
In Tokyo this week, members of the German women’s gymnastics team sported full-length bodysuits, as opposed to more ubiquitous — and revealing — leotards, while competing at the 2020 Olympics.
The team first debuted the unitards this past spring at the European Championships in Basel, Switzerland, in what the athletes said was a stand against the “sexualization of gymnastics.”
“It’s about what feels comfortable,” three-time Olympian Elisabeth Seitz said in a statement. “We wanted to show that every woman, everybody, should decide what to wear.”
While not an Olympic sport, the Norway women’s beach handball team took a similar stand when they wore shorts — instead of the requisite bikini bottoms — while competing at the Beach Handball EURO 2021 in Bulgaria earlier this month.
The attire defied International Handball Federation regulations — which require female beach handball players to wear sports bras and bikini bottoms, while men can wear tank tops and shorts — and the Disciplinary Committee of the European Handball Federation fined the Norwegian Handball Federation 1,500 euros — 150 euros for each player who wore shorts.
I’m VERY proud of the Norwegian female beach handball team FOR PROTESTING THE VERY SEXIST RULES ABOUT THEIR “uniform”. The European handball federation SHOULD BE FINED FOR SEXISM. Good on ya, ladies. I’ll be happy to pay your fines for you. Keep it up.
— P!nk (@Pink) July 25, 2021
The ruling drew international attention, including from pop star Pink, who applauded the team for protesting the “sexist rules” while offering to pay the fines.
“We are overwhelmed by the attention and support from all over the world!” the team said after the game. “We really hope this will result in a change of this nonsense rule!”
‘Finding their voices’ on a variety of issues
These incidents are part of a larger narrative of female athletes in recent years “finding their voices and speaking out about a variety of issues — whether it’s mental health, sexual abuse, how they are feeling objectified in their respective uniform,” Kim Bissell, a professor and associate dean for research in the College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama, told ABC News.
Wearing shorts or a unitard can be a way to denounce latent objectification in their respective sports, especially at a showcase as high-profile as the Olympics.
“There’s a lot of male gaze, particularly in the Olympics, because that’s when we actually get to see women’s sports in media,” Lindsey Maxwell, an associate professor in the School of Communication at the University of Southern Mississippi, told ABC News. “The most prominent showcasing of women’s bodies in sport is the Olympics, and so now they’re taking this opportunity to push back.”
That objectification has translated to the production of women’s sports, said Bissell, who has done research across multiple Olympics on how female beach volleyball athletes are covered differently than their male counterparts.
“With the female athletes, you would see just overt zooming in on body parts,” Bissell said. “It’s the same sport, so why are we covering it differently?
The importance of mental health has been another focus of Olympic athletes, including Naomi Osaka, who competed in Tokyo after withdrawing from two Grand Slam tournaments this year and taking a monthslong break from competitive tennis, and gymnast Simone Biles.
“I just never felt like this going into a competition before,” Biles said at a press conference Tuesday after she withdrew from the team final at the Tokyo Olympics. “I tried to go out here and have fun, and warm up in the back went a little bit better, but once I came out here I was like, ‘No, mental is not there.'”
“I didn’t want to do something silly out there and get injured,” she added.
Biles, who also withdrew from the individual all-around this week, spoke out about the stress she was feeling as an Olympian, and the need to prioritize her safety — a decision several of her predecessors praised as one they felt they never could make.
Biles has been open about her mental health struggles before. She told “Good Morning America” that she sought out professional therapy and began taking anxiety medicine after she revealed she was one of dozens of gymnasts who were sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, who was sentenced in 2018 to up to 175 years in prison.
Biles, who has also spoken about the depression she experienced after the abuse, has said one of the reasons she went to the Olympics was to be a voice for survivors of abuse.
Changing the power dynamic
On the power of breaking with uniform conventions, Maxwell pointed to Serena Williams’ custom catsuit at the French Open in 2018 as a touchstone. The compression bodysuit helped with blood circulation after the tennis great suffered from a pulmonary embolism after giving birth the year before, but it drew criticism from tennis officials as going “too far.” Williams has only continued to push boundaries in tennis fashion, including wearing a tutu weeks after the French Open.
“We’re spiraling out of Serena Williams taking a stand with the catsuit,” Maxwell said.
Whether it’s about attire or serious allegations, professional athletes may be fearful of using their voice for fear of retribution, such as not making a team or losing a sponsor, Bissell said.
“It’s a difficult power dynamic, where the athletes ultimately don’t have much of that power,” Bissell said.
She pointed to the case of track and field Olympian Kara Goucher. The distance runner told Women’s Running she was harassed and lost a six-figure sponsorship contract after publicly accusing her former coach, Alberto Salazar, of doping violations in 2015 because she was “considered controversial.” Salazar ultimately faced a four-year ban for doping-related offenses. This week, the U.S. Center for SafeSport permanently banned him, subject to appeal, citing sexual and emotional misconduct — allegations the coach has denied. Goucher was one of several athletes who also had accused him of abuse.
High-profile athletes continuing to use their platform to speak out can help pave the way for others to “find their voice” and reduce a “climate of silencing,” Bissell said.
Change also comes down to who ultimately is making the decisions, such as at the federation level.
“Who can we give a voice to, and do we want current athletes, former athletes?” Bissell said. “We’ve got to diversify that group of people who are making decisions.”
After the fine over the Norway women’s beach handball team’s uniform caused an uproar, European Handball Federation President Michael Wiederer said the organization would “do all it can to ensure that a change of athlete uniform regulations can be implemented” — a change he said can only come down from the International Handball Federation.
For the time being, the European Handball Federation said this week that it donated the fine to “a major international sports foundation which supports equality for women and girls in sports.”
“Babysteps,” the team said in response. “We believe that a change is in motion.”
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(TOKYO) — American gymnast Simone Biles has pulled out of the individual competitions in vault and uneven bars, according to USA Gymnastics.
Biles was a heavy favorite in the vault event final coming into the Olympics.
“Today, after further consultation with medical staff, Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the event finals for vault and the uneven bars,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement. “She will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether to compete in the finals for floor exercise and balance beam. MyKayla Skinner, who had the fourth highest score in vault during qualifications, will compete in vault finals for the U.S. alongside Jade Carey, who finished with the second highest score.”
The American, who won the gold medal in the vault in Rio 2016, pulled out of the team all-around competition on Tuesday after she said she got lost in the air during a vault on the opening rotation. USA Gymnastics later said in a statement that she would withdraw to focus on her mental health.
USA Gymnastics reiterated its support for Biles on Friday night.
“We remain in awe of Simone, who continues to handle this situation with courage and grace, and all of the athletes who have stepped up during these unexpected circumstances,” the organization said.
The four-time Olympic gold medalist and 19-time world championships gold medalist pulled out of the individual all-around competition on Thursday.
Biles’ weakest apparatus is the uneven bars, though her teammate — and new Olympic individual all-around gold medalist — Sunisa Lee will be a gold medal favorite.
Only two athletes from each country can compete in an individual apparatus final, regardless of whether they finish in the top eight, so Skinner was the unlucky loser despite her fourth-best vault in qualifications. But with Biles’ withdrawal, she will now get to compete for a medal on vault.
“Looks like I get to put a competition Leo on just one more time,” Skinner tweeted Friday night. “Can’t wait to compete in vault finals. Doing this for us @Simone_Biles. It’s go time baby!”
The 24-year-old admitted Thursday that she was dealing with the “twisties,” a term gymnasts use to describe losing their orientation while in midair. In Biles’ opening vault in the team competition, she completed just 1 1/2 twists in the air when she intended to do 2 1/2.
“For anyone saying I quit. I didn’t quit my mind & body are simply not in sync,” she wrote on Instagram Thursday.
“I don’t think you realize how dangerous this is on hard/competition surface,” she added. “Nor do I have to explain why I put my health first. Physical health is mental health.”
Biles has continued to practice hoping to be ready in time for the event finals, but admitted she’s had this problem in the past and it usually takes a couple weeks before she again feels confident of herself in the air.
She was the 2016 gold medalist in floor exercise, but her routine includes flips no one besides her has ever even attempted before in competition.
ABC News’ Kate Hodgson, Rachel Katz and Rosa Sanchez contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.