Update on the latest sports
Jets’ Haason Reddick is not reporting to training camp while seeking a new deal, AP source says
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — A person with knowledge of the situation says New York Jets defensive end Haason Reddick is not planning to report to training camp with the rest of his teammates as he seeks a new contract. Reddick was acquired from Philadelphia during the offseason and is scheduled to make $14.25 million in base salary in the final year of his deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because contract negotiations are private. The team didn’t announce Reddick’s absence. Jets players reported to the facility Tuesday and the team’s first training camp practice is scheduled for Wednesday.
Analysis: Xander Schauffele is now in the conversation with Scheffler for best year in golf
TROON, Scotland (AP) — Scottie Scheffler already has six wins against the strongest fields along with the Masters and The Players Championship. Xander Schauffele has two majors in the same season. They are clearly the best two players in the world. That’s what might makes the last month of the PGA Tour meaningful as they chase a FedEx Cup title. It could be what sways the votes for PGA Tour player of the year. Scheffler would seem to be the frontrunner based on a year, not a week. No PGA Tour member has ever won two majors in a year without winning the award.
Biles, Osaka and Phelps spoke up about mental health. Has anything changed for the Paris Olympics?
Athletes heading to the Paris Olympics have more access than ever to resources in the once-taboo realm of mental health and many sound more willing than ever to use them. That seems significant given that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s senior director of psychological services says about half of the country’s athletes at the past two Olympiads were flagged for at least one of the following: anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, eating disorders, substance use or abuse. Among the key questions at the Summer Games that start Friday is whether everyone will seek the help they need and is enough help available?
United States favored to top overall medal table at Paris Games. China may challenge for most gold
The Paris Olympics are set to open this week. The United States goes in as the favorite to win the most overall medals. China is unlikely to overtake the U.S. in the overall medal haul but has a chance to win more gold medals than the Americans. The Games highlight great individual athletes but are also a surrogate for geopolitcal influence and national pride. The United States is projected to win 112 medals overall — 39 gold, 32 silver, and 41 bronze. China is forecast to win 86 overall — 34 gold, 27 silver, and 25 bronze.
Wembanyama returns home for Olympics. The basketball star will be one of Paris’ biggest attractions
PARIS (AP) — Athletes have a hard time standing out in a Paris cultural sphere driven largely by food, fashion and the arts. Victor Wembanyama may be its first sports star to change that dynamic. The 7-foot-4 basketball phenom made his games appointment viewing as an NBA rookie this past season, boosting his already growing global brand. Now the 20-year-old is returning home for the Paris Olympics as by far the biggest name in his country’s entire delegation.
Olympic drug-fighting failures make Enhanced Games ‘not so radical’ says former anti-doping advocate
An expert on the ground floor of some of anti-doping’s most broad-reaching advances says it might make sense to stop testing athletes. Michael Ashenden says the recently proposed idea of the Enhanced Games, an Olympic-style sports competition with reduced doping oversight, might be an improvement over the recurring drug-fighting failures of the current Olympic system. Ashenden played a key role in the creation of the athlete blood passport system that is one of anti-doping’s best tools. He wrote a paper called “Not So Fast,” which he allowed The Associated Press to report on before he published it online.
Tarzan at the Olympics: Johnny Weissmuller won 3 gold medals at the 1924 Paris Games
Before there was Michael Phelps or Mark Spitz winning multiple Olympic gold medals in swimming for the United States — there was Tarzan. Yes Tarzan, the fictional literary and film character who was raised by apes in the African jungle. This of course was Johnny Weissmuller, who played Tarzan in the films but was a swimming superstar in France 100 years ago. He won three gold medals at the 1924 Paris Olympics: the 100-meter freestyle, the 400 free, and the 4×200 relay. He also won bronze in water polo in an Olympics that featured many famous names.
Vikings start camp grieving the loss of Khyree Jackson, and honoring rookie’s life
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Khyree Jackson was supposed to report to training camp this week with the rest of the Minnesota Vikings draft class. The team is instead grieving the death of the fourth-round pick out of Oregon. Jackson was killed with two friends in a car crash in Maryland on July 6. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell spoke with the rookies and other early reports about the plans to honor the gregarious 24-year-old cornerback. The Vikings are sending a contingent to his funeral and covering more than $20,000 toward the cost. Players will wear helmet decals with Jackson’s number 31 on them this season.
Inter Miami stars Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez to miss MLS All-Star Game
MIAMI (AP) — Inter Miami star Lionel Messi won’t play in the MLS All-Star Game while nursing an ankle injury. Messi left the July 14 Copa America final win over Colombia with a right ankle injury. His teammate, Luis Suárez, also won’t play in the game Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio, with what the team described as “knee discomfort.” Both were listed among the unavailable players by the league on Monday.
British equestrian great Dujardin out of Olympics after coaching video shows ‘error of judgment’
PARIS (AP) — Three-time Olympic gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin of Britain has withdrawn from the Paris Games after a video emerged that she says shows her behaving inappropriately while coaching other riders. Dujardin said in a statement that the video from four years ago “shows me making an error of judgment during a coaching session.” It wasn’t clear what video Dujardin referred to or what specifically the video shows. Dujardin says the International Federation for Equestrian Sports is investigating. The 39-year-old won gold at the 2012 London Games in team and individual dressage and won another individual gold in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro.