Connect with us

Sports

Column: IOC talks tough on Russia — until Paris on horizon

Published

2 months ago

on

Source image: https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-sports-paris-5aac15de38a6953fbf38b7571efe05d7

The IOC likes to talk tough — as long as it’s not heading into an Olympic year.

Not surprisingly, as we draw ever closer to the cash cow that is Paris 2024, the hypocrites running the Olympic movement are eager to get Russia back in the games.

They’ll surely find a way, despite Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and growing threats of a boycott from those who don’t think the Russians should be allowed anywhere near the City of Light — even if, ludicrously, the IOC is trying to pass it off as a human rights issue.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy put it more accurately: “A white or any neutral flag is impossible for Russian athletes. All their flags are stained in blood.”

For once, just once, we’d love to see the International Olympic Committee do the right thing:

Make it clear that the Russians — and their accomplices from Belarus — will not be allowed to compete on the world’s biggest sporting stage until they halt the war in Ukraine.

There’s certainly precedent for such a decision.

— After World War I, the losing countries — Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey (the successor to the Ottoman Empire) — were barred from the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp. In fact, Germany’s ban lasted until 1928.

— The IOC acted in similar fashion against the two nations blamed for igniting World War II. Germany (which had split into two countries) and Japan were prohibited from competing at the 1948 Winter Games in St. Moritz, as well as the Summer Games a few months later in London.

— South Africa was rightfully barred from the Olympics from 1964 through 1988 and kicked out of the IOC altogether for waging war on its own people through its abhorrent apartheid system. Only when white-minority rule collapsed was South Africa allowed to compete again at the Barcelona Games in 1992.

IOC officials maintain that Russia doesn’t deserve to be treated like South Africa because it’s not under United Nations sanctions.

Of course, that’s a disingenuous argument. Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council, which means it has the right to veto any measure. In other words, there is no chance of UN sanctions — which presumably means the Russians could never be barred from the Olympics.

Frankly, Russia should’ve been kicked out after its massive, state-sponsored doping ring from the 2014 Sochi Winter Games was exposed, not to mention its continued efforts to cover up a level of cheating that hadn’t been seen since the notorious East German days.

But the IOC could never muster the courage to pull the trigger on a proper punishment, instead allowing the Russians to compete at the last three Olympics as supposedly neutral athletes known by the ludicrous monikers of OAR (Olympic Athletes from Russia) and ROC (Russian Olympic Committee).

Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine a mere four days after the closing ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, a curious sense of timing that may not have been coincidental.

At that point, with the next Olympics nearly 2 1/2 years away, the IOC could lead worldwide sanctions that barred Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing at most international competitions across a wide range of sports.

Those bans largely remain in place, but now the next Olympics are a year closer. The IOC has changed course, looking for a way out to give a pair of warmongering nations a way in.

With its usual double-speak, the IOC said its mission is “to unite the entire world in a peaceful competition.” Instead, its cow-towing to Russia could spark the biggest Olympic boycott since the Cold War era.

Ukraine has raised the possibility of sitting out the Paris Games if the Russians are there. Neighboring countries such as Poland and the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have signaled they may be willing to follow that lead.

The United States is highly unlikely to join such a protest, especially after the Jimmy Carter-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics over the invasion of Afghanistan is largely viewed as a major blunder that left behind lingering bitterness from athletes who missed out on their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The new leader of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee sent out a letter to athletes and other stakeholders last week, reiterating the organization’s support for finding a way for Russian athletes to compete in Paris as neutrals.

“We encouraged the IOC to continue exploring a process that would preserve the existing sanctions, ensuring only neutral athletes who are clean are welcome to compete,” Gene Sykes wrote. “If these conditions of neutrality and safe, clean, and fair competition can be met, we believe the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games can prevail.”

If the IOC is determined to clear the way for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in Paris, it goes without saying they should only allow those who haven’t actively supported the war, though that requirement may pose some challenges of its own.

Going further, it should only be athletes who compete in individual sports, perhaps making them part of the Refugee Team to further dilute any connection to the shameful deeds of their homelands.

Even then, contact sports such as judo and wrestling might also be ruled out to avoid putting athletes in the unenviable position of deciding whether to withdraw rather than grappling with a competitor from Russia or Belarus.

By all means, Russia and Belarus should be barred from any team sports in Paris, since it would be clear which countries those squads were representing no matter the acronym.

There’s one athlete who, if reports out of Ukraine are accurate, definitely won’t get a chance to compete in Paris next summer.

Volodymyr Androshchuk, a 22-year-old Ukrainian decathlete-turned-soldier, who was killed in recent days while fighting the Russian invaders, according to Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs.

“RIP, Volodymyr,” Gerashchenko tweeted. “We keep losing our best people.”

Your move, IOC.

For once, do your best.

___

Paul Newberry is the national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org or at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Source: https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-sports-paris-5aac15de38a6953fbf38b7571efe05d7

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Sports

Hawks star Young ejected after hard ball toss to referee

Published

7 days ago

on

March 26, 2023

ATLANTA (AP) — Hawks star Trae Young was ejected after heaving the ball hard to referee Scott Wall in the third quarter of Atlanta’s 143-130 win over the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.

After Hawks coach Quin Snyder called a timeout in the third quarter with the game tied at 84, Young first bounced the ball and then threw a hard, two-handed pass at Wall, who caught the ball. Young was immediately called for a technical foul and ejected.

Only seconds earlier, Young had an apparent 3-pointer disallowed when he was called for a technical foul for sticking out his leg and tripping Aaron Nesmith.

“It’s just a play he can’t make,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said after the game. “I told him that. He knows it.”

Snyder said Young acknowledged his mistake.

“There wasn’t a single part of him that tried to rationalize what happened,” Snyder said.

The technical foul was Young’s 15th of the season. A 16th technical foul results in an automatic one-game suspension.

Young, who leads Atlanta with his averages of 26.8 points and 10 assists, had 14 points and five assists when he was ejected.

The game was tied at 84 when Young was ejected.

“We didn’t allow it to turn into a negative,” Hawks guard Dejounte Murray said. “We turned it into a positive and got the win.”

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Continue Reading

Sports

Scheffler, McIlroy at their best to reach Match Play semis

Published

7 days ago

on

March 26, 2023

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The golf was as good as it gets. Rory McIlroy made 17 birdies in the 36 holes he played Saturday. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler rallied with six birdies in his last nine holes to reach the semifinals for the third straight year.

A little luck never hurts in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. And as great as McIlroy played, he needed some of that, too.

McIlroy never led in his quarterfinals match against Xander Schauffele. They came to the 18th hole all square, and McIlroy slumped slightly when he saw his drive headed left toward the trees. Schauffele hit his shot and quickly picked up his tee.

Imagine their surprise. McIlroy came upon a golf ball behind a tree and figured it was his. Schauffele was walking behind him and was stunned when McIlroy kept going.

“He hit a worse drive than I did and he ended up fine,” Schauffele said.

He got no argument from McIlroy.

“I expected my ball to be Xander’s ball on 18 behind that tree, and I got fortunate that mine trundled down the hill and obviously made the chip shot a lot easier,” McIlroy said. “Look, you need a little bit of fortune in these things, and that was a bit of luck for me today.”

McIlroy won with a 12-foot birdie putt, the proper ending to a match that both said was a testament to the quality of golf required. Schauffele applauded all the pivotal putts McIlroy made to stay in the fight.

It was like that all over Austin Country Club. The final version of Match Play lived up to its edge-of-the-seat reputation, with wild turns of momentum until four players remained.

Sam Burns advanced by beating Patrick Cantlay in 17 holes and then overcoming an early deficit to beat Mackenzie Hughes of Canada, 3 and 2, to reach the semifinals.

Burns advances to meet Scheffler, his best friend on tour with whom he often shares a house when they’re on the road. Their last encounter was at Colonial last year, when Burns made a 45-foot birdie putt to beat Scheffler in a playoff.

Cameron Young looked as if he had an easy time, until it wasn’t. He was 3 up at the turn, missed a chance to go 4 up on the 12th and then had to go to the 18th hole before he could dispatch of Bay Hill winner Kurt Kitayama.

Scheffler, who lost in the final in his Match Play debut in 2021, now has won 10 straight matches. He was 2 down against J.T. Poston in the morning with five holes left when he birdied the 17th to square the match and won the 18th with a par.

He was 3 down against former Match Play champion Jason Day through seven holes in the quarterfinals when he battled back, taking his first lead with a birdie on the 13th and then pulling away. He closed it out with a wedge to 2 inches on the 17th.

Scheffler said he and caddie Ted Scott had a chat when Day went birdie-birdie-eagle on the front nine to go 3 up. The eagle came on a 5-wood from 282 yards to 5 feet on the par-5 sixth hole at Austin Country Club.

“Just ride out the heater,” Scheffler said. “I had to stay patient.”

Day began to struggle with allergies on the eighth hole, and then Scheffler had a heater of his own by making six birdies over their final nine holes.

McIlroy reached the quarterfinals by making nine birdies against Lucas Herbert, and it still wasn’t decided until the 18th hole.

“I got to beaten by the best player in the world probably playing the best golf of anyone in the world would today,” Herbert said. “Pushed him all the way to the end. I just didn’t feel like there was a hell of a lot more I could have done.”

Schauffele made seven birdies against McIlroy and it wasn’t enough.

“I needed to dig deep,” McIlroy said. “He’s one of the best players in the world. I knew I was going to need to produce something similar to this morning. I was 16 under for two rounds of golf. That shows the caliber you need to play out there.”

Next up for McIlroy is Young, who finished ahead of him at St. Andrews last year with a 31 on the back nine. Young has made 31 birdies and two eagles in his five matches this week. He won his group on Friday with a 5-and-3 win. He made it through Saturday morning with a 5-and-4 rout of Billy Horschel. He was on his way to another romp against Kitayama.

But he missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 12th that would have put him 4 up. Kitayama won the next two holes with birdies. Young missed from 10 feet for birdie, 15 feet for eagle and 10 feet for birdie on the next three, all three putts burning the edge.

Ultimately, he only needed two putts from 15 feet on the 18th for the win. That was about the only easy part of his back nine.

“I don’t think I made a bogey today and I was biting my nails trying to win my match,” Young said. “I think it just shows you the quality of golf that’s played out here and how hard it is to get through even just one day like today, never mind that today was our fifth match.”

Day earlier on Saturday beat Matt Kuchar, leaving the 44-year-old American one match short of the tournament record. Kuchar leaves sharing the mark of 36 wins with Tiger Woods.

Now it’s Scheffler’s turn. Woods is the only player to win Match Play back to back. One day remains, and it feels like a long way to go.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Continue Reading

Sports

Gonzaga’s Drew Timme ends storied career in loss to UConn

Published

7 days ago

on

March 26, 2023

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Gonzaga was down 10 points early in the second half Saturday night in the West Region final against UConn, but Julian Strawther had just secured a defensive rebound, and perhaps the Bulldogs had a run in them.

But then came a whistle. Zags forward Drew Timme had picked up his fourth foul. Shortly thereafter, it became clear that Gonzaga’s NCAA Tournament run would end.

Without him, the third-seeded Bulldogs weren’t a match for No. 4 seed UConn, which pulled away to win 82-54 and end Timme’s college career.

Timme, who gained fame for his masterful inside moves and world-class mustache, put together perhaps the finest college career in recent memory. He was a throwback for his crafty low-post game and for spending four years at the same school.

“I’m just so thankful that the program and the place took me for who I was,” Timme said. “They didn’t ask me to be anybody but myself. I’m forever in debt for Gonzaga, just the love I have for just everyone that helped me and made this journey so special and so fun. I just don’t think I could ever repay that.

“I’d do anything for Gonzaga. I always will. This isn’t a goodbye; it’s a see-you-later.”

The emotions were clear on Timme’s red face, which he covered with a towel a handful of times. He sniffled as the postgame news conference was about to begin.

But Timme held it together when the questions came, including about the fourth foul less than three minutes into the second half. That came after he was whistled for a charge just 26 seconds into the half.

“The bottom line is they were the better team tonight,” Timme said of UConn. “They made more shots. They got the 50-50 balls. Regardless of whether we want to say what-ifs, the refs didn’t control that game.”

Timme, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds against the Huskies, departs knowing he left a mark not only at Gonzaga but on college hoops.

He owns the Gonzaga record with 2,307 points and led the Zags to the Sweet 16 in each of the past three seasons and the national title game in 2021.

“I think he’s one of the greatest college players in this modern era,” coach Mark Few said. “He’s won at the highest level. We leaned on him as hard as we’ve ever leaned on a player, and he delivered time and time and time again.

“But that’s just a small piece of it. He’s a bigger-than-life character. It was a blast to coach him.”

Gonzaga will have a new man in the middle next season, and the Bulldogs got a taste of that experience will be like when Timme sat for about three minutes and UConn rolled to a 58-37 lead.

By the time Timme re-entered the game, the Huskies were well on their way to their fourth double-digit victory in as many games.

Had Timme never picked up that fourth foul, the Huskies likely still would have pulled away, but the call altered the tone of the game and sped up the rout.

“You try to stay positive,” Bulldogs forward Anton Watson said. “We brought the team together and tried to keep positive thoughts and try to keep chipping away at that lead, but it’s hard when Drew goes out.”

It was another disappointing end to the season for Gonzaga, which is still searching for its first national championship. Expectations were low it would happen this year, so making the Elite Eight was a win in itself.

The Zags can thank Timme, who entered the game leading the team with averages of 21.5 points and 7.5 rebounds, for helping get them there.

“I don’t think anybody thought we would make it this far this year,” Timme said. “Just the stuff we overcame as a group and how we stayed together, I think, speaks volumes to who we are as people, more than players.”

___

AP March Madness coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness and bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Continue Reading

Trending