(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE Cincinnati Reds 10, Oakland Athletics 9 Baltimore Orioles at L-A Dodgers (TBA)
AMERICAN LEAGUE L-A Angels 3, Detroit Tigers 2 Texas Rangers 2, Chicago White Sox 1 Toronto Blue Jays 2, Boston Red Sox 0 Houston Astros 6, Kansas City Royals 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE Milwaukee Brewers 6, San Francisco Giants 0 St. Louis Cardinals 4, San Diego Padres 1 Miami Marlins 12, Colorado Rockies 8 N-Y Mets 3, Arizona Diamondbacks 2 Philadelphia Phillies 5, Atlanta Braves 4
TOP-25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL (24)NC State 38, W. Carolina 21 (11)Missouri 51, Murray St. 0 (22)Kansas 48, Lindenwood (Mo.) 3 (12)Utah, S. Utah (TBA)
Bronze medalist Noah Lyles of Team United States is seen wearing a mask after competing in the Men’s 200m Final on day thirteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 08, 2024 in Paris, France. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Noah Lyles’ characteristically exuberant walkout for Thursday’s 200-meter final gave little indication that the American sprinter was among the dozens of athletes who have tested positive for COVID or other respiratory illnesses.
But within minutes, the track star was being pushed from the stadium in a wheelchair, in visible discomfort following his bronze medal-winning performance.
“I believe this will be the end of my 2024 Olympics,” Lyles wrote soon after on his Instagram page.
Lyles is the latest athlete to test positive for COVID-19 at an Olympic Games that has almost entirely done away with the strict health guidance that shaped the Tokyo 2020 games, which itself was delayed by a year due to the pandemic.
In Paris, there are no prohibitions on competitors or spectators who have tested positive for the virus.
The Paris Games is being lauded as an Olympic return to form, the City of Light’s venues packed with excited spectators — among them athletes’ friends and families, many of whom were unable to travel to Tokyo.
But the collective joy is coming at a cost.
British swimmer Adam Peaty, Australian swimmers Lani Pallister and Zac Stubblety-Cook, and German decathlete Manuel Eitel are among at least 40 athletes that had tested positive for COVID-19 or other respiratory illnesses as of Tuesday, according to the World Health Organization’s event-based surveillance system, which collates reports from media and other verified sources.
The Paris Games’ 182-page media handbook contains no mention of COVID-19. The event’s online guidance for spectators directs visitors to the Interior Ministry’s website, which notes that the nation now exempts all travelers from any COVID-related “formalities prior to entry into France.”
A Paris 2024 spokesperson told ABC News: “We are closely monitoring the health situation in conjunction with the Ministry of Health.”
“We regularly remind athletes, and all stakeholders at the Games, of the best practices to follow in the event of respiratory symptoms: wear a mask in the presence of others, limit contact and wash your hands regularly with soap and water or hydroalcoholic gel,” the spokesperson said.
“All National Olympic Committees and International Federations are also free to implement additional measures for their athletes or competitions,” the spokesperson added.
COVID cases are rising in the U.S. and elsewhere, an uptick at least partially attributed to the new “FLiRT” variation of the virus.
Long COVID — an umbrella term referring to a raft of chronic conditions related to COVID infection — also still poses a significant problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in March that 6.8% of American adults said they were living with long COVID symptoms, which vary in severity and can include difficulty concentrating, recurring headaches, changes in memory, and persistent fatigue.
Lyles’ high-profile struggles on Thursday have prompted fresh questions for organizers and athletes, not least as the American sprinter had been hugging fellow athletes despite knowing of his positive test.
USA Track & Field told ABC News in a statement on Friday that it and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee “swiftly enacted all necessary protocols” to prioritize Lyles’ health following his positive COVID test, as well as the “wellbeing of our team, and the safety of fellow competitors.”
“Our primary commitment is to ensure the safety of Team USA athletes while upholding their right to compete,” it added. “After a thorough medical evaluation, Noah chose to compete tonight. We respect his decision and will continue to monitor his condition closely.”
“As an organization, we are rigorously adhering to CDC, USOPC, and IOC guidelines for respiratory illnesses to prevent the spread of illness among team members, safeguarding their health and performance,” it said.
Kenneth Bednarek, the American who won the silver medal in the 200-meter contest, downplayed the danger, telling reporters at a press conference after the race: “I don’t think I was put at risk at all.”
“I take care of my body,” Bednarek added. “So when it comes to getting sick, that’s rare for me. So, I mean, when I found out it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Alex Morgan and Brianna Pinto talk about the groundbreaking National Women’s Soccer League Players Association contract in an appearance on “Good Morning America” Aug. 22, 2024. — ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Soccer stars Alex Morgan and Brianna Pinto are speaking out after The National Women’s Soccer League and the NWSL Players Association agreed to a historic new contract Thursday.
Both Morgan and Pinto were both on the NWSLPA’s bargaining committee.
“It was an honor to be in the room for the bargaining. I was one of five current NWSL players that were present and it helped the league put names to faces and see our true humanity,” Pinto told “Good Morning America.” “I think that made it ever present about the demands that we were putting on the league.”
The contract will extend the players’ current one to 2030. Among its pioneering conditions, it will eliminate a draft, offer players free agency, and let players consent to trades.
“This is such a groundbreaking contract for us. It’s really never happened in any American sports league,” Morgan said.
“Not having a draft, although exciting in the moment, to be able to choose where you want to live, where you want to play, with all considerations of reproductive rights, tax laws, culture and facilities and everything within a team in a state that’s provided, it’s so important for the player to have that power back and to be able to choose,” the San Diego Wave forward continued.
That prospect of choice, including free agency, is one that Pinto said players have supported for a long time.
“I think this is such a massive accomplishment for our players because it allows the clubs to make the decision to provide a professional environment that appeals to players all across the world,” Pinto, a midfielder for the North Carolina Courage, said. “We’re really excited about the newfound agency over getting to choose where you play, because this is something that players have been looking forward to for years.”
Once the new agreements go into effect, all contracts will be guaranteed, a condition that mirrors those of other professional sports leagues and one which Pinto said was vital.
“That is important to us because it protects you from situations that are outside of your control, whether that be a health condition, an injury or a dip in on-field playing performance, you will be guaranteed that you have your contract through the end of your term,” Pinto said.
Another key aspect of the new contract is the expansion of parental leave and family building benefits.
“I’m really proud of this part of our contract,” Morgan, who is also a mom of one, said. “We’re able to now travel with our children and bring [a] child care provider, but also look at future planning as well for our families, and that’s providing players with access to fertility clinics and a lot of other resources that weren’t available to us before.”
“These are sort of things that you don’t see in men’s leagues,” Morgan added. “And so, we had to think outside of the box and look at protecting and supporting moms as much as possible because I didn’t want to choose – back in 2019, I was at the height of my career and I didn’t want to choose to keep playing soccer or be a mom. I wanted to be able to do both – and so, to be a part of this and actually have a say in this contract that is so groundbreaking, I’m really proud of.”
Morgan said the new contract will empower the league’s rising and star players and could serve as an example for other professional sports leagues.
“I think that what we’re doing is making changes that puts a little bit of the power back in the players. And I can definitely see some other leagues looking towards NWSL and seeing how we attained benefits within our contract and how they could do that,” she said.
“There’s leagues that have been around for 50 or 100 years that haven’t been able to attain the things that we have in our contract and we’re only in our 12th year of the NWSL, so it’s pretty incredible what we’ve been able to achieve and and I hope this does kick start a little bit more of putting a little more freedom and choice back at the players’ hands.”
In a statement, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman applauded the significant contract agreement.
“Given our vision to be the best league in the world, we determined that this was the right time to align with global standards and achieve long term labor peace. This CBA gives us agency over our business and gives the players agency over their careers,” Berman said. “Our new agreement revolutionizes the game, raises standards, and innovates the business. On behalf of our Board of Governors, I want to thank our players and their representative leadership at the NWSLPA for working together to make this possible.”
Pinto emphasized that the league and players’ agreement is a collective victory.
“Overall, we learned that when the players win, we all win, so we’re super excited about this accomplishment,” Pinto said.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Baltimore Orioles 5, San Francisco Giants 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland Guardians 3, Minnesota Twins 2 Toronto Blue Jays 4, Texas Rangers 0 Seattle Mariners 3, N-Y Yankees 2 Tampa Bay Rays 2, Boston Red Sox 0 Houston Astros 3, L-A Angels 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Atlanta Braves 15, Cincinnati Reds 3 L-A Dodgers 20, Miami Marlins 4 Arizona Diamondbacks 5, Milwaukee Brewers 1 N-Y Mets 10, Philadelphia Phillies 6 Pittsburgh Pirates 3, St. Louis Cardinals 2 Chicago Cubs 7, Washington Nationals 6
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
N-Y Jets 24, New England Patriots 3
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Atlanta Dream 78, New York Liberty 67 Connecticut Sun 87, Chicago Sky 54 Washington Mystics 92, Indiana Fever 91 Los Angeles Sparks 68, Minnesota Lynx 51 Las Vegas Aces 98, Dallas Wings 84 Seattle Storm 89, Phoenix Mercury 70
