Sports briefs
By NewsPress Now
Buffalo Bills sign
Kareem Jackson to
a one-year contract
PITTSFORD, N.Y. | The Buffalo Bills added depth to their retooled safety position by signing Kareem Jackson to a one-year contract on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old Jackson has 14 years of NFL experience, and split a suspension- and fine-filled season last year between Denver and Houston. Selected by Houston in the first round of the 2010 draft, Jackson spent his first nine seasons playing cornerback before making the shift to safety after signing with Denver in 2019.
In Buffalo, Jackson has the potential of shoring up a safety position in transition following the offseason free-agent departure of Jordan Poyer and with Micah Hyde still unsigned and contemplating retirement. The two spent the previous seven seasons as Buffalo’s starting tandem.
“For me, it’s a great opportunity. Obviously thankful for it and to be here,” said Jackson, following his first practice. “This team has been a good team for a long time. So to be a part of it, it’s great. I’m excited about it. For me, it’s obviously having this opportunity to be here to compete with the guys in camp. I’ll try my best to earn a spot here.”
Jackson said the Bills contacted him on Sunday, and he traveled to Buffalo to take his physical a day later.
Taylor Rapp is expected to take over one of the starting spots, with Damar Hamlin competing with veteran offseason free-agent addition Mike Edwards and rookie second-round pick Cole Bishop for the other job.
Edwards, however, will miss up to two weeks of practice after hurting his right hamstring on Friday. The sixth-year player also missed much of the Bills’ spring sessions recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.
Jackson’s experience at cornerback also lends itself to a position where Buffalo is seeking to replace the offseason loss of starter Tre’Davious White.
Jackson was limited to playing only 10 games last season as a result of the NFL suspending him twice for a total of six games because of a series of illegal hits. He was also fined five times and ejected twice. His suspensions cost him $839,000 in game checks and he was fined a total of $89,670, although the league rescinded his largest fine — $43,709 for an unflagged hit on Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco in October.
The Broncos eventually waived Jackson, leading him to be claimed by Houston.
Though believing he was unfairly singled out by league officials last season, Jackson said he would prefer focusing on this year.
“I feel like I got a lot left in the tank. I still feel really good. And I still got my fire still burning for it. And I still love the game,” Jackson said. “So I feel like with all of those factors, I can come out and be successful.”
Overall, he has 22 interceptions, three of which he’s returned for touchdowns, with 193 starts in 203 career games.
Swiatek remains on course for another title
at Roland Garros
PARIS | For almost five full games at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek’s high-bouncing topspin shots were being sent back over the net by No. 52 Wang Xiyu of China with crushing baseline groundstrokes of her own.
Wang even held a break point that would have given her a 3-2 lead in the opening set.
Then Swiatek restored the expected order on Court Philippe Chatrier — the site of her four French Open titles — and won four straight games to close out the first set along the way to advancing to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory amid stifling conditions.
In part because of Swiatek’s dominance on the red clay at Roland Garros, where the Olympic tennis tournament is being held, the 23-year-old from Poland is favored to add a gold medal to her growing collection of big titles, including a U.S. Open trophy.
Swiatek’s quarterfinal opponent will be eighth-seeded American Danielle Collins, who eliminated Camila Osorio of Colombia 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.
Second-ranked Coco Gauff was left fuming over a perceived missed officiating decision in a 7-6 (7), 6-2 loss to Donna Vekic of Croatia.
Angelique Kerber, the 36-year-old German who has won three Grand Slam titles and used to be ranked No. 1, beat 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez of Canada 6-4, 6-3 to become the oldest women’s quarterfinalist since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988. Kerber has said the Paris Games will be the final tournament of her career.
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia eliminated Jasmine Paolini — the Italian who was the runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon this year — 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.
Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine rallied past seventh-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
“I don’t have this pressure of points, ranking, money. Whatever there is (on tour) is not here,” Kostyuk said. “So here you really come out and play with your heart.”
Temperatures in Paris hit 36 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit), leading organizers to activate the first step of an “extreme weather” protocol, giving athletes in singles matches the chance to request a 10-minute break before third sets.
In men’s action, Alexei Popyrin of Australia eliminated three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5.
“I think it’s probably one of the hottest conditions I’ve ever played in — and I’m from Australia, so that’s saying something,” Popyrin said.
The 39-year-old Wawrinka is nearing the end of his career but hasn’t set a retirement date.
“We’ll see at the end of the year,” Wawrinka said.
Popyrin next plays Tokyo gold medalist Alexander Zverev of Germany, who beat Tomas Machac 6-3, 7-5.
Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul both advanced. Fritz rallied past Jack Draper of Britain 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2, and Paul beat 18-year-old Czech player Jakub Mensik 6-3, 6-1.
In doubles, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz advanced into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 10-2 match tiebreaker victory over Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands.
Nadal was coming off a loss in singles a day earlier against Novak Djokovic, who is in action Wednesday against Dominik Koepfer.
D-backs agree to add slugger Josh Bell, Red Sox and Yankees fortify bullpen
PHOENIX | The Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to add slugger Josh Bell while the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees were among the teams acquiring bullpen help as playoff contenders stocked up with reinforcements before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
The 31-year-old Bell was hitting .239 with 14 homers for the Marlins this season. Miami will receive cash in return, according to a person familiar with the deal, which hadn’t been announced.
The D-backs were in need of a power hitter after starting first baseman Christian Walker left Monday’s game against the Nationals with left oblique tightness. It’s unclear whether he will go on the injured list.
The Red Sox added right-hander Lucas Sims from the Reds while the Yankees acquired righty Mark Leiter Jr. from the Cubs.
The 30-year-old Sims has a 3.57 ERA with 40 strikeouts in 35 1/3 innings over 43 appearances. He’s made 210 appearances for the Reds, posting a 3.94 ERA since 2018. The Reds received a 19-year-old prospect, right-handed pitcher Ovis Portes.
Leiter, 33, has a 4.21 ERA in 39 appearances this season. The Cubs received minor leaguers Ben Cowles and Jack Neely.
The Pittsburgh Pirates added left-hander Josh Walker from the New York Mets in exchange for minor league lefty Nicolas Carreno. Walker’s made 24 appearances for the Mets over the past two seasons.
Several big names — including Toronto slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and White Sox left-handed pitcher Garrett Crochet — remained on the market as the 6 p.m. EDT deadline approached.
Tuesday’s action followed a busy Monday.
Among the biggest moves: The Cardinals acquired right-hander Erick Fedde in a three-team deal that sent Michael Kopech and Tommy Edman to the Dodgers, the Brewers added starter Frankie Montas, the Astros nabbed lefty Yusei Kukuchi for a steep price and the Braves reunited with slugger Jorge Soler, the 2021 World Series MVP.
Another Chinese doping controversy pops up
NANTERRE, France | Another Chinese doping allegation has flared up at the Paris Games, angering some swimmers who say officials need to enforce drug-testing rules consistently.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that two top Chinese swimmers — including one on this year’s Olympic team — tested positive for a banned steroid in 2022 but were eventually cleared to compete by Chinese officials.
The Times cited two people with knowledge of the matter but did not name them.
This is the third incident reported over the last several months by the Times and others in which the Chinese have blamed food contamination for positive drug tests. The World Anti-Doping Agency accepted the results of the Chinese investigations.
“I saw the report this morning,” American star Katie Ledecky said on Tuesday. “I think I’ve made my thoughts clear. It’s disappointing.”
Italian distance swimmer Simona Quadarella said athletes aren’t sure the testing system works in many countries.
“I think we need some answers from this situation,” she said. “We really don’t have confidence, in the situation, in the testing system — in the testing system in other parts of the world.”
In the most widely reported incident, 11 swimmers named to the Chinese Olympic team were among 23 who tested positive for a banned substance six months before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. They were allowed to compete and went on to win gold medals in three events. One of those swimmers, Zhang Yufei, has won two bronzes in France, one in the women’s 100 butterfly and another as part of the 4×100 freestyle relay.
Chinese swimmers in Paris have pushed back against doping allegations and say they are tested more than athletes from other countries.
Rob Koehler, the general director of the athletes’ advocacy body Global Athlete, criticized WADA in an email to The Associated Press.
“This is another devastating blow to the credibility of both WADA and World Aquatics, and to clean sport,” he said, referring to the global governing body of swimming. “With this new information, athletes and advocates are resigned to the fact that the guardians of the World Anti-Doping Code are no longer fit for purpose.”
Koehler worked as a deputy director of WADA until 2018.
In a statement, WADA acknowledged the two Chinese swimmers had tested positive and were provisionally suspended for “trace amounts of a prohibited substance metandienone,” a powerful muscle-builder known on the street as D-Bol. The provisional suspension lasted about a year.
WADA said the Chinese anti-doping agency, CHINADA, conducted testing on “hundreds of meat samples from various sources with dozens revealing positive results for metandienone.”
WADA said CHINADA closed the case late in 2023 “without asserting a violation,” which lifted the provisional suspensions.
WADA also said it “is generally concerned about the number of cases that are being closed without sanction when it is not possible to challenge the contamination theory.”
It pointed out “several” similar cases in the past few months in the United States. Many U.S. cases, including a highly publicized one involving sprinter Erriyon Knighton, deal with substances such as trenbolone, which, unlike D-Bol, are usually given to promote muscle growth and appetite in livestock.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which handled that case, released a statement from its CEO, Travis Tygart, who is one of the most outspoken critics of WADA.
“It’s crushing news to wake up to for all athletes and fans of the Olympic movement that the failures of the global anti-doping system have overshadowed what should be a moment to bring the world together,” he said.
One of the two swimmers mentioned in the latest Times report is Tang Muhan, who was on the 4×200 freestyle relay team that won gold and set a world record three years ago in the Tokyo Olympics.
The American team finished second and also broke the previous world mark.
Tang was named to China’s Olympic team this year, and she could swim Thursday in the 4×200 relay.
New Zealand tops
Canada for back-to-back rugby sevens titles
SAINT-DENIS, France | Stacy Waaka dived into the corner to clinch back-to-back Olympic women’s rugby sevens titles for New Zealand with a 19-12 win over Canada on Tuesday in front of more than 60,000 spectators at Stade de France.
The Canadians were coming off upset wins over host France in the quarterfinals and 2016 champion Australia in the semifinals and were playing in the championship match for the first time.
They finished the tournament with an improvement on their bronze in 2016.
The U.S. edged Australia 14-12 to earn bronze for its first Olympic medal in rugby sevens, adding to a big statement for the North American teams four years before the Olympics are staged in Los Angeles.
Quick tries to Chloe Daniels and Alysha Corrigan just before halftime gave the Canadians a surprising 12-7 lead at the break after Risi Pouri-Lane opened the scoring in the final for New Zealand.
But the champions rallied with second-half tries to Michaela Blyde and Waaka to retain the title they won in Tokyo three years ago.
Rugby sevens great Portia Woodman-Wickliffe got a huge cheer when she left the field with her New Zealand team leading midway through the second half. She was on the New Zealand squads that lost the 2016 final to Australia and rebounded to win the title three years ago in Tokyo and is jointly the most successful Olympic rugby sevens player ever with two golds and a silver.
The rugby world axis tilted slightly in the playoff matches, starting with Alex Sedrick’s long-range try in the last seconds of the bronze-medal match against Australia.
The Australians were leading 12-7 with seconds remaining and deep in U.S. territory. The ball went to Sedrick and she bumped off two tacklers before racing all the way to the other end to score and spark jubilation for the Americans.
The U.S. women reached the Olympic semifinals for the first time and lost to defending champion New Zealand. That made the playoff for a third a case of winning a medal or going home without.
The Americans rushed onto the field to celebrate the 14-12 victory and Ilona Maher, the social media celebrity of these Games, raised both arms up in triumph.
—From AP reports
