in Soccer
Vlatko Andonovski and the U.S.W.N.T. Can't Lose
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Vlatko Andonovski was 9 years old when he was taught that losing was unacceptable. More
Olympic Games (2020)
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Team U.S.A. Names Replacements for Bradley Beal and Kevin Love
Beal and Love are out of the Olympics for health reasons. The Spurs’ Keldon Johnson and the Nuggets’ JaVale McGee will join the men’s basketball team.The U.S. men’s national basketball team added to its roster Keldon Johnson of the San Antonio Spurs and JaVale McGee of the Denver Nuggets after two other players were no longer able to participate in the Tokyo Olympics for health reasons.Bradley Beal, a guard expected to be one of the primary scorers for the United States, will miss the Olympics after being placed in the coronavirus health and safety protocols. Kevin Love withdrew from the competition on Friday because of a lingering calf injury.Team U.S.A. also canceled Friday’s exhibition against Australia and placed forward Jerami Grant in the coronavirus protocols as the team faces multiple challenges in the lead-up to the Olympics, which begin next week. Gregg Popovich, Team U.S.A.’s coach, told reporters that he expected Grant to still participate in the Olympics.Beal started all three exhibitions and averaged 10.3 points per game on 10-for-21 shooting. He finished second in the N.B.A. in scoring this season with 31.3 points per game for the Washington Wizards.“Since he was a little kid, this has been a dream of his, and he was playing great,” Popovich told reporters, adding: “For him and his immediate family, it’s devastating. We just feel horrible about it.”The men’s team has had a shaky beginning to defending its three consecutive gold medals. Team U.S.A. opened with exhibition losses to Nigeria and Australia before blowing out Argentina.Top players like LeBron James (Lakers), Jimmy Butler (Heat), Kyrie Irving (Nets) and James Harden (Nets) declined to participate in the Olympics following a condensed off-season last year. Forward Jayson Tatum (Celtics), who is on the roster, is dealing with right knee soreness. Also on the team: Bam Adebayo (Heat), Kevin Durant (Nets), Draymond Green (Golden State), Zach LaVine (Bulls) and Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers).Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton and Phoenix’s Devin Booker are expected to join the team after the completion of the N.B.A. finals. The best-of-seven series is tied at two games apiece, with Game 5 on Saturday in Phoenix. More
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Team U.S.A. Basketball Falls to Australia, Its 2nd Straight Loss
An American men’s basketball team preparing for the Tokyo Olympics lost to Australia two days after a surprising defeat by Nigeria.When the United States men’s basketball team lost to Nigeria last week, the result seemed to be a novelty: a historic win for an African team, but not one that truly foreshadowed anything about Americans’ hopes for the Tokyo Olympics. More
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Nigeria Wins Historic Upset Over Team U.S.A. in Olympic Exhibition
Nigeria defeated a roster stacked with All-N.B.A. players on Saturday, becoming the first African team to beat the U.S. men’s national team.The U.S. men’s basketball team was upset by Nigeria on Saturday evening in its first exhibition game ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, a stunning outcome even if the effects are more symbolic than likely to affect the United States’ eventual gold medal hopes.Nigeria defeated a Team U.S.A. roster stacked with All-N.B.A. players, 90-87, at Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas. It was the first win by an African team over the U.S. men’s national team.The loss drops Team U.S.A.’s record to 54-3 in exhibition games held since 1992, when N.B.A. players were first allowed to play in the Olympics. The team had not lost an exhibition game since 2019, a 98-94 upset by Australia ahead of the FIBA World Cup.Only nine years ago, the United States beat Nigeria, 156-73, at the 2012 Olympics in London.In Saturday’s stunner, Kevin Durant scored a team-high 17 points for Team U.S.A. Jayson Tatum had 15 points, and Damian Lillard added 14.The trio was held to 9 of 30 shooting from the field, and their teammates looked out of sync after the recent end of the N.B.A. postseason and a short turnaround from the previous season. Players like LeBron James and Stephen Curry dropped out of consideration for the Olympics, but the roster is still stacked with players who are expected to win gold in Tokyo.Nigeria’s roster includes a handful of N.B.A. players, including Chimezie Metu of the Sacramento Kings, Josh Okogie of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miye Oni of the Utah Jazz. The team is coached by Mike Brown, a Golden State Warriors assistant.Nigeria converted nearly half of its 40 3-point attempts against Team U.S.A.Ike Iroegbu, who played at Washington State, made a 3-pointer with just over a minute left and pushed Nigeria to an 88-80 lead. Durant responded with seven straight points. The Miami Heat’s Gabe Vincent, who scored a game-high 21 points, sank two free throws with 13.2 seconds left, helping cement the upset as Team U.S.A. failed to execute a play out of a timeout called in the game’s final seconds.“That loss means nothing if we don’t learn from it, but it can be the most important thing in this tournament for us to learn lessons from it,” the U.S. coach, Gregg Popovich, told reporters afterward.Milwaukee’s Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton and Phoenix’s Devin Booker are set to join the roster for the three-time defending gold medal-winning Team U.S.A. at the conclusion of the N.B.A. finals. More
- in Tennis
Sebastian, Nelly and Jessica Korda Succeed in the Family Business
Petr Korda has long envisioned greatness for his children, the pro golfers Nelly and Jessica and the tennis pro Sebastian, who won his first-round match at Wimbledon.WIMBLEDON, England — Sebastian Korda watched from his father’s hotel room in London on Sunday night as his sister Nelly achieved a major dream, winning the Women’s P.G.A. Championship in Atlanta. Two days later, on a different sort of green, Sebastian kept the family business booming. More
- in Golf
Women’s P.G.A. Championship Is Last Chance for Olympic Berths
This year, as in 2016, golf’s shallow roots in the Games are being exposed by the men’s limited interest. The women are a different story.ATLANTA — As the Olympic rosters for men’s golf were finalized on Tuesday, three top-12 invitees had respectfully sent their regrets. Joining the world No. 2, Dustin Johnson of the United States, who confirmed his decision in March, were the 11th-ranked Tyrrell Hatton of Britain and the 12th-ranked Louis Oosthuizen, the South African who finished second in the past two major tournaments. Oosthuizen said family commitments were partly responsible for his decision to bypass the Games, especially after his recent purchase of an 86-acre horse farm in Ocala, Fla.For Sophia Popov, family considerations explain an enthusiastic embrace of the chance to pursue a pandemic-delayed Olympic gold medal. Popov, 28, who holds dual American and German citizenship, has secured a spot in the 60-player competition, representing Germany and realizing a dream that, for different reasons, eluded her maternal grandmother, her mother and her older brother.“The Olympics is a huge deal for me,” Popov, the reigning Women’s British Open champion, said Wednesday.This year, as in 2016, golf’s shallow roots in the Olympics are being exposed by the men’s limited interest. The women are a different story, fiercely jockeying for spots in the field, which will be finalized after this week’s KPMG Women’s P.G.A. Championship. The top 15 players in the world are eligible for the Olympics, including up to four players from a single country. The rest of the field is filled according to the rankings, with a maximum of two players per nation.Because of the country caps, Popov, the 22nd-ranked player, is set for the Tokyo Games, while Ally Ewing, ranked 18th, is one of several Americans who could, with a victory this week at Atlanta Athletic Club, vault over the fourth U.S. player, Jessica Korda, who is ranked 13th, 10 spots behind her younger sister, Nelly. In between the Korda sisters are the Americans Danielle Kang at No. 6 and Lexi Thompson at No. 7.“It’s going to take good golf this week, but it would obviously be a huge honor,” said Ewing, 28, who won her second L.P.G.A. tour title last month. “I think one of the coolest things for me, aside from being an Olympian, would just be walking beside other Olympians like Allyson Felix and just people I’ve watched on TV for so many years.” Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Olympics will proceed in a severely stripped-down version, with limited crowds, no international fans and restricted movement between venues for athletes and other members of the Olympic contingent.“I think one of the big things is the experience of the Olympics and what I was able to do won’t be possible for guys this year,” said Rickie Fowler, who competed in the men’s event in 2016, when golf returned to the Games for the first time since 1904. Fowler, speaking Wednesday in a remote news conference from this week’s PGA Tour stop in Connecticut, added, “The Olympics in general are not going to be the same experience.”The women don’t care. They appreciate what the Olympics can deliver: the opportunity to compete in front of the largest global audience in sports.Shanshan Feng won the bronze medal four years ago.Ezra Shaw/Getty Images“I think it was a great chance for us to actually play on the same golf course as the men and just to show the world how good the ladies golfers are,” said Shanshan Feng, the 2016 bronze medalist from China.She added: “I think we should do everything that we can to support the game and ladies golf. I wouldn’t be surprised to see maybe most or even all of the ladies that get in go to Tokyo.”.css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-qjk116{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-qjk116 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-qjk116 em{font-style:italic;}.css-qjk116 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:visited{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Three weeks after the Olympic men’s golf competition at Kasumigaseki Country Club, roughly 23 miles north of Tokyo, the PGA Tour is scheduled to begin its three-tournament postseason offering a $60 million overall purse. The L.P.G.A.’s total purse for the 2021 season was expected to be $76.5 million.“Those players can retire when they’re finished with their careers,” said Australia’s Hannah Green, the 2019 Women’s P.G.A. champion, referring to her PGA Tour counterparts. But on the L.P.G.A. circuit, she continued, most of the players will retire to motherhood or some other full-time occupation.“That perspective is probably changed, playing for money versus for a medal,” said Green, who added that she would exchange her major title for a gold medal.“I think because it is so rare to get a gold medal — once every four years,” said Green, who added, “I think everyone would notice, not just the golfing world.”Popov grew up loving the Olympics. Her mother, Claudia Schwarzer Popov, was a standout swimmer at Stanford whose Olympic dreams were sidetracked in 1980 because of the U.S.-led boycott, and again in 1984 because of an elbow injury.Claudia’s mother, Sabine Schwarzer, qualified for the United Team of Germany in the high jump at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. But because of an injury and a move to the United States to join her fiancé, she did not compete.Popov’s brother Nicholas, who competed for the University of Arizona, swam in the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials in the 50-meter freestyle but did not advance out of the preliminaries.“He was kind of bummed,” said Popov, adding that her brother traveled to London to watch and to cheer for his friends who did qualify.“The reason I didn’t become a swimmer,” Popov said, “is because of all that heartbreak. My mom was like, ‘I want to teach you guys how to swim, but I wouldn’t be mad if you didn’t become swimmers because it’s a very unrewarding sport.’”Barring unforeseen circumstances, Popov will finally compete in an Olympics, though her family will not travel to Tokyo to share in the experience with her. It’s small consolation, but her mother and brother have joked about getting an Olympic rings tattoo, the must-have status symbol for all qualifiers.They said they would have “brother” or “mother” written underneath the rings, Popov explained with a laugh. “I was like, you can do whatever you want.”She said their experiences had added to her motivation. “I have two other people to represent,” she said, “that I feel like could have been there in the past.” More
- in Soccer
Carli Lloyd and Julie Ertz Named to U.S. Olympic Soccer Team
Lloyd and the injured Julie Ertz and Tobin Heath had been among the few question marks for the scaled-down roster for the Tokyo Games. All three made the team.Carli Lloyd will play in her fourth Olympic Games at age 39 after she was one of 18 players named Wednesday to the United States women’s soccer team for the Tokyo Games.Lloyd, who will turn 39 a week before the Games open, is one of 11 players who return from the team that represented the United States at the 2016 Rio Games. She is also one of two — joining Tobin Heath — who will play in her fourth Olympics.The team announced by the U.S. coach, Vlatko Andonovski, included few surprises. Mainstays like Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Crystal Dunn, Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis also made the team. So did Julie Ertz, the midfielder who is recovering from a knee injury but was seen as a lock to make the team if she was fit.Ertz’s inclusion — especially on a smaller roster where each place is vital in a condensed tournament — suggests that she is healthy enough to contribute, despite not having played in months.Heath, too, had been an injury concern. She has not played for the United States in 2021, but Andonovski had said recently that she was being reintroduced to training, a sign that her recovery, too, would make her available for the Games.Lloyd’s inclusion was, perhaps, not much of a question after all. She has been a fixture on the roster for more than a decade and her leadership, her drive to start and her ability to bring world-class talent off the bench, made her an obvious choice in the end.“I don’t judge the players by their age,” Andonovski said. “They are either good, perform well and can help us win, or they can’t. In terms of Carli, she’s done everything that she needs to do to earn herself a spot on the team. Now, the fact that she is 39, I think it’s remarkable, it’s incredible and just speaks a lot about Carli and her determination and her mentality. And that’s something that is always welcome on this team.”The full U.S. roster:Goalkeepers: Adrianna Franch, Alyssa NaeherDefenders: Abby Dahlkemper, Tierna Davidson, Crystal Dunn, Kelley O’Hara, Becky Sauerbrunn, Emily SonnettMidfielders: Julie Ertz, Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle, Kristie Mewis, Samantha MewisForwards: Tobin Heath, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Christen Press, Megan RapinoeSeventeen members of the 18-player Olympic roster also were on the team that won the World Cup in France in 2019. Sonnett, Davidson and Kristie Mewis — all first-time Olympians — were most likely the last names on the list, but their versatility and ability to play multiple positions could make them valuable additions.Olympic roster rules allow for changes before and during the tournament, so Andonovski also named four alternates who will train with the team before it departs and then accompany it to Japan: goalkeeper Jane Campbell, defender Casey Krueger, midfielder Catarina Macario and forward Lynn Williams. Those are the only four players being considered as replacements, Andonovski said.The U.S. team will play two send-off matches against Mexico on July 1 and 5 in East Hartford, Conn.The United States will open the Olympic tournament against Sweden on July 21 — two days before the opening ceremony — and then finish the group stage against New Zealand (July 24) and Australia (July 27). More
- in Basket
Why One American Basketball Team Won’t Be at the Summer Olympics
The U.S. invented basketball but does not dominate one form, three-on-three, when it comes to Olympics qualifying. So, go … Latvia?When three-on-three basketball has its Olympics debut in Tokyo this summer, Latvia will be there. So will Poland. But a men’s team from the United States, birthplace of basketball and winner of 15 of 19 men’s gold medals in the traditional five-on-five game, will not.The Americans were eliminated from a qualifying tournament in Austria on Sunday, 21-16, by the Netherlands.How did this happen?One clue is the American men’s roster. It consisted of Dominique Jones, Robbie Hummel, Kareem Maddox and Joey King. All were capable college players. All have honed their games in three-on-three play for several years in preparation for the Games. But they hardly represent the best players the U.S. could offer.Several factors prevented the U.S. from rolling out a threesome like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. For one, the best N.B.A. players are currently in the middle of the playoffs.Still, even hustling together a group of stars from teams not in the playoffs would not have been possible. Hoping to promote its three-on-three tournaments around the world, the international federation, FIBA, mandated that Olympic hopefuls earn points in those events. Since they took place in the winter, all N.B.A. players and even most Americans playing for European teams were out.FIBA is aware of what it is doing. It hopes to build the game beyond merely the Olympics, so it demands participation in its other, lower-profile events. It also wants to have as many countries involved as possible. The U.S. men did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup either, though Andorra, population 77,000, did, in part merely for showing up.“Andorra has heavy participation every weekend,” an official explained at the time.The unforgiving nature of the qualifying tournament over the weekend didn’t help. The U.S. won its pool with a 3-1 record. But that only got them into the quarterfinals. The loss to the Netherlands eliminated them, since only the top three teams advanced to the eight-team Olympic tournament.Dominique Jones was on the U.S. three-on-three roster but it lacked the biggest names. Christian Ugarte/EPA, via ShutterstockIn the three-on-three game — or 3×3 as FIBA insists on calling it — baskets are worth 1 point. What would be a 3-point shot in the regular game is worth 2 points. The Dutch made four 2-pointers down the stretch to put the Americans away.“Obviously, it’s not the ending we wanted,” said Joe Lewandowski, who has the title of coach/adviser (coaching is not allowed during games). He is the head coach at Point Park University, an N.A.I.A. school in Pittsburgh. The traditional men’s five-on-five team has qualified and will be coached by Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs.Another American team in a very American sport will face its own challenge this week when men’s baseball sends minor leaguers to try to qualify for the Games.Kara Lawson of Duke coached the American women’s three-on-three team, which qualified for the Games with ease, finishing 4-0 in its pool, then beating Belarus, 21-10, and Spain 21-13. The winner is the first team to 21 points or the leader after 10 minutes. (Dawn Staley of South Carolina will coach the women’s five-on-five at the Games.)The women’s three-on-three roster has much more familiar names, all with W.N.B.A. experience: Allisha Gray of the Dallas Wings, Stefanie Dolson of the Chicago Sky, Katie Lou Samuelson of the Seattle Storm and Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces, a former No. 1 overall draft pick. Because the W.N.B.A. is a summer league, the opportunity was there to recruit some top players who were available to earn points at FIBA events in the winter.Those stars will now return to their W.N.B.A. teams. In contrast, the players on the men’s teams include a news producer and a development specialist.Though one spot is left in the men’s field at the Olympics, the U.S. is not eligible for it. In another quirky FIBA decision, that place is reserved only for nations that did not have a team in the 2012 or 2016 Olympic Games. So men from Mongolia, Hungary or Romania could be at the Games, while the nation of Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving watches from home. More
