LA28 board backs Casey Wasserman after Epstein files stir scrutiny
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Casey Wasserman is keeping his job leading the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after the LA28 board reviewed his past Jeffrey Epstein-linked contacts. The board’s executive committee met Wednesday to discuss his appearance in newly released government files. The Justice Department documents show Wasserman exchanged flirtatious emails in 2003 with Ghislaine Maxwell. The board says he faces no accusations of wrongdoing. LA28 says an outside legal firm helped conduct a review with Wasserman’s full cooperation. The executive committee says his relationship with Epstein and Maxwell does not go beyond what is already public. The board says his leadership remains strong.
Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg sidelined by left midfoot sprain, out for NBA’s Rising Stars
DALLAS (AP) — Dallas Mavericks rookie teenage standout Cooper Flagg will miss their final game before the All-Star break and not play in the NBA’s Rising Stars game this weekend because of a left midfoot sprain. The Mavericks announced Wednesday than an MRI revealed the injury that occurred in their loss at Phoenix the previous night. The 19-year-old had 27 points in 36 minutes against the Suns. Flagg, the No. 1 overall draft pick last summer, is averaging 20.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in his 49 games with Dallas. The Mavericks play at the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
French duo Beaudry and Cizeron beat US stars Chock and Bates in controversial Olympic ice dance
MILAN (AP) — The new French ice dance team of Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron has claimed Olympic gold at the Milan Cortina games. Beaudry and Cizeron upset the dominant team of the past four years, American stars Madison Chock and Evan Bates. The French duo had to follow a season-best performance by the three-time reigning world champions, and they did it with near perfection. The Canadian team of Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier earned the bronze medal. Chock and Bates joined the crowd inside the Milano Ice Skating Arena in applauding the winners after their score was announced.
Lindsey Vonn says she had a ‘successful’ 3rd surgery on broken leg following crash at the Olympics
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Lindsey Vonn says she had a “successful” third surgery on her broken left leg following her downhill crash at the Olympics. Vonn posted an update on Instagram that included photos of her giving a thumbs up sign in her hospital bed with a metal frame attached to her leg. She says, “I had my 3rd surgery today and it was successful. Success today has a completely different meaning than it did a few days ago.” The 41-year-old Vonn crashed a few seconds into her race Sunday and was airlifted off the course by helicopter. She said late Monday she had suffered a “complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.”
Kyle Busch grabs Daytona 500 pole, chasing a win that has eluded him for 20 starts
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Busch has won the pole for the Daytona 500 and has another shot at the win that has eluded him his entire career. Busch topped qualifying with a fast lap in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. He enters the race 0 for 20 in the Daytona 500. He also brings a 93-race overall losing streak into the weekend. Chase Briscoe qualified second in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. The final starting order is not set yet. Drivers settle it after two qualifying races on Thursday night. Corey Heim and Justin Allgaier claimed two open spots on speed. Two more spots are still up for grabs.
Stewart suspended 7 games and 3 other players are penalized for fighting in Pistons-Hornets game
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Detroit center Isaiah Stewart was suspended seven games by the NBA on Wednesday, while three other players were also penalized for their roles in a fight during a game between the Pistons and Charlotte Hornets. Hornets forwards Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabaté were each suspended four games for fighting and escalating the altercation, while Pistons center Jalen Duren got two games for initiating the altercation and fighting, the league announced. But the heaviest penalty went to Stewart, with the league saying it was based in part on his “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.” The league said he left the bench area, aggressively entered an on-court altercation, and fought during Monday night’s game.
Winter Olympics recap: Franjo von Allmen wins his 3rd gold, Chloe Kim and NHL stars get rolling
MILAN (AP) — Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland looks like a breakout star of the Milan Cortina Olympics after winning his third gold medal. Jordan Stolz has one gold and is targeting three more. And Chloe Kim and a bunch of NHL stars are just getting started. Von Allmen won the super-G in Bormio on Wednesday to become the third man with three victories in Alpine skiing at one Winter Games. It hadn’t been done since 1968. Stolz won the men’s 1,000-meter speedskating and has three events to go. Kim’s attempt at a three-peat in the halfpipe began promisingly when she finished first in qualifying.
BYU standout receiver Parker Kingston charged with first-degree rape in Utah
Prosecutors in Utah have filed a first-degree felony rape charge against Brigham Young University standout wide receiver Parker Kingston. Washington County prosecutors said Wednesday that Kingston was being held without bail in St. George, a city near Arizona. His initial appearance in court is scheduled for Friday. Prosecutors say a 20-year-old woman told officers at a St. George hospital last February that Kingston assaulted her. It was not clear if Kingston had an attorney. He didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment. A phone message left for his family was not immediately returned.
After a sluggish start, No. 14 Florida now looks like a team capable of a repeat
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — The Florida Gators are starting to look a lot like that team from a year ago. You know, the group that won it all. The No. 14 Gators seem to be peeking at just the right time, posting another dominating victory as they led from start to finish to beat Georgia 86-66 on Wednesday night. When Florida lost four times before Christmas — matching the total from its entire championship campaign — the chances of a repeat seemed remote. But the Gators have now won nine of 10, and all but one of those victories has been by double-digit margins.