Sports

(WASHINGTON) — Brittney Griner personally reached out to President Joe Biden, urging him to help get her out of Russian custody, according to her representatives.

A handwritten letter from Griner, portions of which were made public, was delivered to the White House on Monday. In it, she expressed fears she will be held in Russia “forever.”

“As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever,” Griner wrote to the president.

On Feb. 17, the WNBA star was detained at Russia’s Sheremetyevo International Airport after being accused of having vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in the country.

“It hurts thinking about how I usually celebrate [the Fourth of July] because freedom means something completely different to me this year,” she wrote.

Last Friday marked the first day of Griner’s trial. She appeared in person at a courtroom in Khimki, a suburb of Moscow, ABC News reported. Her detention in Russia was extended to Dec. 20, the expected length of her trial.

Griner’s family and friends have called for the Phoenix Mercury star to be released and for the Biden administration to act.

“I just keep hearing that, you know, he has the power. She’s a political pawn,” Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, told ABC News’ Robin Roberts in May. “So, if they’re holding her because they want you to do something, then I want you to do it.”

In the Monday letter, the basketball star asked Biden to not forget about her and other American detainees in the country and to work toward bringing them back to the U.S.

“I still have so much good to do with my freedom that you can help restore. I miss my wife! I miss my family! I miss my teammates! It kills me to know they are suffering so much right now. I am grateful for whatever you can do at this moment to get me home,” she said.

It’s unknown if Biden read the letter, but National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement obtained by ABC News the president “has been clear” about seeing all detainees who are wrongfully detained oversees, including the WNBA star, released.

“The U.S. government continues to work aggressively – using every available means – to bring her home,” Watson said.

ABC News’ Courtney Condron and Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Friday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

 INTERLEAGUE
 Final  Chicago Cubs        6  Boston          5
 Final  N.Y. Mets           4  Texas           3
 Final  Chicago White Sox   1  San Francisco   0
   
 AMERICAN LEAGUE
 Final  Toronto       9  Tampa Bay     2
 Final  Kansas City   3  Detroit       1
 Final  Minnesota     3  Baltimore     2
 Final  Houston       8  L.A. Angels   1
 Final  Oakland       3  Seattle       1
  N-Y Yankees  at  Cleveland  12:10 p.m.  (Postponed)
   
 NATIONAL LEAGUE
 Final  Miami          6  Washington   3
 Final  Philadelphia   5  St. Louis    3
 Final  Atlanta        9  Cincinnati   1
 Final  Milwaukee     19  Pittsburgh   2
 Final  Arizona        9  Colorado     3
 Final  L.A. Dodgers   5  San Diego    1
   
 WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
 Final  Las Vegas    91  Minnesota  85
 Final  Los Angeles  97  Dallas     89
 Final  Seattle      73  Indiana    57

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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:

INTERLEAGUE
Houston 2, NY Mets 0
Milwaukee 5, Tampa Bay 3
Detroit 3, San Francisco 2

AMERICAN LEAGUE
NY Yankees 5, Oakland 3
Kansas City 2, Texas 1
Seattle 9, Baltimore 3
Cleveland 7, Minnesota 6
Boston 6, Toronto 5
LA Angels 4, Chicago White Sox 1

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pittsburgh 8, Washington 7
San Diego 4, Arizona 0
Atlanta 4, Philadelphia 1
Miami ,4 St. Louis 3
Chicago Cubs 8, Cincinnati 3
LA Dodgers 8, Colorado 4

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Chicago 91, Connecticut 83
Seattle 88, Las Vegas 78
Phoenix 99, Indiana 78

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
New York City FC 4, Cincinnati 4 (TIE)
Columbus 2, Toronto FC 1
Chicago 1, Philadelphia 0
CF Montral 2, Seattle 1
Los Angeles FC 3, FC Dallas 1
Portland 2, Houston 1
Minnesota 3, LA Galaxy 2

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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
Houston 9, NY Mets 1
Milwaukee 5, Tampa Bay 3
San Francisco 4, Detroit 3

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland 3, Minnesota 2
NY Yankees 2, Oakland 1
Minnesota 6, Cleveland 0
Toronto 6, Boston 5
Texas 8, Kansas City 3
Seattle 2, Baltimore 0
Chi White Sox 11, LA Angels 4

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Washington 3, Pittsburgh 1
Atlanta 5, Philadelphia 3
St. Louis 5, Miami 3
Colorado 7, LA Dodgers 4
Cincinnati 5, Chi Cubs 3
Arizona 7, San Diego 6

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Washington 92, Atlanta 74
Minnesota 92, Dallas 64

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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Minnesota 11, Cleveland 1
Toronto 7, Boston 2
NY Yankees 9, Oakland 5
Texas 10, Kansas City 4
LA Angels 4, Chi White Sox 3
Baltimore 9, Seattle 2

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Washington 3, Pittsburgh 2
St. Louis 9, Miami 0
Colorado 4, LA Dodgers 0

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Phoenix 83, Indiana 71
Las Vegas 79, Los Angeles 73

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(MOSCOW) — WNBA star Brittney Griner appeared at a preliminary hearing in Moscow on Monday more than three months after she was detained in Russia.

Griner did not respond to an ABC News reporter’s question as she walked out of the courtroom. Her attorney did not comment after the hearing. The next hearing is scheduled for July 1.

Griner was detained at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Russia on Feb. 17 after she was accused of carrying vape cartridges containing hashish oil, which is illegal in Russia.

The U.S. State Department has said Griner was “wrongfully detained” by Russia.

“Our position for some time on this has been very clear. Brittney Griner should not be detained. She should not be detained for a single day longer,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said June 14.

Russia had issued multiple extensions of her pre-trial detention. If convicted, Griner, 31, faces up to 10 years in prison.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began one week after Griner was detained. Some officials are concerned that Americans jailed in Russia could be used as leverage in the ongoing conflict.

Cherelle Griner told Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts in May that she would like to speak with President Joe Biden.

“I just keep hearing that, you know, he has the power. She’s a political pawn,” she said. “So if they’re holding her because they want you to do something, then I want you to do it.”

Asked last week about a potential meeting between Cherelle Griner and President Biden, Jean-Pierre said, “We don’t have anything to share about a potential phone conversation or meeting.”

ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova contributed to this report.

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(TAMPA, Fla.) — The Colorado Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 Sunday night in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Tampa, Fla. The Avalanche took the series 4 games to 2, and will bring Lord Stanley’s Cup back to the Centennial State for the first time since 2001.  

This is the third Cup for the Avalanche, whose first Cup victory came in 1996, followed by another win in 2001. Colorado stopped Tampa from winning its third title in a row. 

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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
Tampa Bay 4, Pittsburgh 2
Milwaukee 10, Toronto 3
Minnesota 6, Colorado 3
Washington 6, Texas 4
Arizona 11 Detroit 7

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chi White Sox 4, Baltimore 3
Oakland 5, Kansas City 3
Boston 8, Cleveland 3
NY Yankees 6, Houston 3
LA Angels 2, Seattle 1

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami 3 N.Y. Mets 2
Chi Cubs 6, St. Louis 5
Final Cincinnati 10 San Francisco 3
Philadelphia 8, San Diego 5
LA Dodgers 5 Atlanta 3

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Colorado 2, Tampa Bay 1 (Colorado wins 4-2)

WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Connecticut 72, Atlanta 61
Chicago 88, Minnesota 85

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Los Angeles FC, 2 New York 0
Philadelphia 2, New York City FC 1
New England 0, Vancouver 0 (Tie)

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(BUDAPEST, Hungary) — American swimmer Anita Alvarez is breathing a sigh of relief on Thursday after her coach dramatically rescued her when the athlete fainted and sank to the bottom of the swimming pool in the middle of her routine on Wednesday night.

The dramatic scenes unfolded at the World Aquatic Championships in Budapest, Hungary, while Alvarez, 25, was competing in the final of the women’s solo free event and suddenly lost consciousness, causing her to sink to the bottom of the competition pool.

Andrea Fuentes, Alvarez’s coach, immediately dove into the water and was able to pull Alvarez to the surface before the swimmer was taken off for medical treatment on a stretcher as the rest of Team USA, who were watching the competition inside the arena, looked on clearly shaken by the event.

Fuentes, speaking exclusively to Good Morning America on Thursday, explained what was going through her mind during the ordeal.

“When you finish, you really want to breathe because you hold your breath for a long time and the first thing you want to do is breathe,” Fuentes said. “And I thought she was going down, so I was like, immediately, [I] knew that something was happening so I went as fast as I could. And I reach her and grab her to the surface and tried to calm her down and make her breathe.”

Fuentes began administering CPR until medics and the team doctor were able to take over.

“Anita is okay,” Fuentes said in a statement after the terrifying incident. “The doctors checked all vitals and everything is normal: heart rate, oxygen, sugar levels, blood pressure, etc… all is okay.”

Fuentes continued: “We sometimes forget that this happens in other high-endurance sports. Marathon, cycling, cross country… we all have seen images where some athletes don’t make it to the finish line and others help them to get there. Our sport is no different than others, just in a pool, we push through limits and sometimes we find them.”

Even after having to be rescued, Alvarez still managed to finish the competition in seventh place with a final score of 87.6333.

Alvarez suffered through a similar event at the FINA Olympic Games Artistic Swimming Qualification Tournament in Barcelona in June 2021 when she fainted while competing and Fuentes came to her immediate aid in the pool again on that occasion.

For now, however, a decision on whether or not Alvarez will continue on in this year’s competition has yet to be made.

“Anita feels good now and the doctors also say she is okay,” concluded Fuentes. “Tomorrow she will rest all day and will decide with the doctor if she can swim free team finals or not. Thank you for all of your well wishes for Anita.”

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