AP National Sports

BEIJING (AP) — A Ukrainian skeleton athlete ended his third run at the Beijing Olympics by revealing a small sign to the cameras urging peace in his homeland. The message from Vladyslav Heraskevych read: “No War in Ukraine.” The sign was printed on a blue-and-yellow piece of paper. Those are the colors of Ukraine’s flag.

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Usher preached togetherness during “tumultuous times” while performing a series of his hits at an exclusive star-studded afterparty following the NFL Honors. The eight-time Grammy winner spoke about the importance of unity during the Chairman’s Party on Thursday night inside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood,

BEIJING (AP) — Police are punishing traders for cashing in by reselling scarce dolls of Olympics mascot Bing Dwen Dwen at up to 10 times retail price. Buyers stood in line overnight in freezing weather and emptied store shelves after the Winter Games opened Feb. 4. News reports say factory employees were called back from

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Gus Poyet has been hired as coach of Greece’s national team in a change of leadership after its failure to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. The Greek Soccer Federation said it had reached an agreement with the former Chelsea, Tottenham and Uruguay midfielder. The 54-year-old Poyet replaces Dutch coach

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer BEIJING (AP) — The Russians are unhappy with their play despite winning their first two games in shutouts in the men’s hockey tournament at the Beijing Olympics. The defending champions and gold medal favorites have scored only twice against an opposing goaltender. Their most recent win was 2-0 against

By DANIELLA MATAR and ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writers BEIJING (AP) — Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland finally has her Olympic gold medal. She won the super-G at the Beijing Games. Two-time Olympic Alpine gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin finished a distant ninth. Gut-Behrami’s gold comes after two consecutive fourth-place finishes in super-G at the Olympics. She

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — American freestyle skier Winter Vinecki is set to become the first athlete with the first name Winter to compete at the Winter Games. It’s just another in a long line of notable accomplishments for the 23-year-old who hunts and fishes, grows her own vegetables, launched

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer BEIJING (AP) — U.S. hockey player Jake Sanderson is finally practicing with his teammates at the Olympics after being a late arrival to Beijing because of coronavirus protocol. The University of North Dakota defenseman tested positive for COVID-19 while at USA Hockey’s pre-Olympic camp in Los Angeles. Sanderson woke

By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Shaun White’s brilliant and transcendent Olympic career is over. It ended with a fall on his final run down the halfpipe, a heartfelt ovation from the crowd and then a tearful farewell to a sport he helped define. A few mountains away, Mikaela Shiffrin finally made

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — The athletes of the U.S. men’s bobsled program needed to quickly raise $70,000. They came up with the idea of a calendar featuring 12 months of the U.S. men’s bobsledders in various provocative poses. A separate GoFundMe more than covered the money they needed for a

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Marte Olsbu Roeiseland of Norway replicated her top form from throughout this season, using fast skiing and composed, deliberate shooting to become the Beijing Olympic biathlon sprint champion. Roeiseland, the overall World Cup leader and sprint leader, hit all 10 targets and finished the 7.5-kilometer race

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP National Writer BEIJING (AP) — Nils van der Poel of Sweden has broken his own world record and captured his second gold medal of the Beijing Olympics with a dominant victory in men’s 10,000-meter speedskating. Van der Poel added to his victory in the 5,000, which was a much closer affair.

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP National Writer BEIJING (AP) — Nils van der Poel of Sweden has broken his own world record and captured his second gold medal of the Beijing Olympics with a dominant victory in men’s 10,000-meter speedskating. Van der Poel added to his victory in the 5,000, which was a much closer affair.

By JAY COHEN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Sheldon Kennedy’s Respect Group has partnered with the NHL for a training program designed to help prevent bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination. The training for league and club employees is slated to begin in March. The program came together after an October report by an outside

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Iivo Niskanen of Finland has won gold in the 15-kilometer cross country race at the Beijing Olympics. Niskanen crossed the line and collapsed, spread eagle, with a time of 37 minutes, 54.8 seconds. It was his third Olympic gold. He won the 50-kilometer classic race in

By MARK LONG and JOE REEDY AP Sports Writers THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Odell Beckham Jr.’s 2,000-mile trip on short notice allowed him to escape all the negative energy. Injury concerns? Hurt feelings? Off-the-field angst? On-the-field disappointment? They’re long gone, left behind with all those No. 13 Cleveland Browns jerseys. Beckham sounds and looks