AP National Sports

By DANIELLA MATAR Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Getting a relatively unknown Olympic downhill champion is a distinct possibility on a previously unknown course. And Spanish skier Adur Etxezarreta could be the one. Etxezarreta has never finished higher than 47th in a World Cup race but he has so far excelled on the Rock course.

VIENNA (AP) — Authorities in Austria are warning of “considerable” risk of avalanches in the west of the country after nine people were killed within 24 hours. Police said eight people died in three separate incidents in the states of Vorarlberg and Tyrol on Friday. In one avalanche near the Austrian-Swiss border, four Swedish citizens

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — The U.S. men’s snowboardcross squad is thinking about a teammate who couldn’t join them at the Beijing Olympics because of an injury. Alex Deibold suffered a head injury in a crash during qualifying at a World Cup event just days before his scheduled arrival in

By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Slovenia’s Ursa Bogataj won Olympic gold in women’s ski jumping on a night when Japanese star Sara Takanashi surprisingly failed to earn a medal. Bogataj floated 100 meters through the air and had 121 points on the final jump. Katharina Althaus of Germany won silver

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Major South Korean presidential candidates have accused China of laying claim to their culture after a performer wore a traditional Korean dress during the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics. A woman in a white and light purple hanbok dress marched along other performers apparently

By JAKE SEINER AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Three-time snowboarding gold medalist Shaun White made it clear that the Beijing Games won’t just be his final Olympics. The 35-year-old American plans to retire from the sport he put on the international map after the halfpipe medal round next week. White has been a transcendent

LONDON (AP) — Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has tested positive for the coronavirus, preventing him from attending Saturday’s FA Cup match against Plymouth and putting doubts on whether he can go to Abu Dhabi for the Club World Cup. Tuchel will not be on the flight to the United Arab Emirates on Saturday night. Based

By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — American skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle is contending for a medal in the men’s downhill at the Beijing Games on Sunday 50 years after his mom won Olympic gold. Growing up the son of an Olympic champion was pretty ordinary for him. Cochran-Siegle says “she’s still just my

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press ZHANGJAIKOU, China (AP) — Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway moved ahead of his French and Russian rivals in the final meters of the mixed relay to take gold in the first biathlon race of the Beijing Olympics. Boe, Quentin Fillon Maillet of France and Eduard Latypov of the Russian team

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — Irene Scouten gave the mighty Dutch a gold medal in the first speedskating event of the Beijing Games. She broke a 20-year-old Olympic record in the women’s 3,000 meters. Schouten skated in the last of 10 pairs and turned in a blazing final lap to post

By KELVIN CHAN Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Dry Beijing barely gets any winter precipitation, which makes this year’s Winter Games the first to rely almost entirely on artificial snow for the skiing and snowboarding events. Such a massive snowmaking operation comes with environmental concerns given the huge amounts of water and electricity it takes.

By HOWARD FENDRICH and PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writers BEIJING (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin will defend her giant slalom gold medal in the first women’s Alpine skiing event of the Beijing Olympics. The 26-year-old from Colorado already has won three Olympic medals for the U.S. and three overall World Cup titles. Everyone in the sport

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AP) — Therese Johaug won the first gold medal of the Beijing Olympics in the women’s 15-kilometer cross-country skiathlon. The Norwegian fought wind and frigid temperatures to ski away from a chase group of four. Russian athlete Natalia Nepryaeva pulled away from the group on the last climb

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Long-time African soccer leader Issa Hayatou has won his appeal to overturn a one-year ban for alleged commercial wrongdoing imposed by FIFA where he was once interim president. The Court of Arbitration for Sport says it upheld Hayatou’s appeal because “there was insufficient evidence” of misconduct in a Confederation of African

By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer BEIJING (AP) — About the only way the U.S. men’s curling team can top its entrance at the Beijing Olympics is by winning another gold medal. Skip John Shuster carried the American flag into the Bird’s Nest for the opening ceremony along with speedskater Brittany Bowe. Shuster’s teammates, including