Page 4B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Olympic trials
Phelps wins latest showdown
with Lochte at U.S. swim trials
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP National Writer
OMAHA,
Neb.
—
Michael Phelps won his latest
showdown with Ryan Lochte,
capturing the 200-meter
individual medley at the U.S.
Olympic swimming trials
Friday night.
Phelps led a scintillating
race from start to inish, but
Lochte was with him stroke
for stroke. Their arms were
in almost perfect sync as
they came to the wall, before
Phelps pulled slightly ahead
to touch in 1 minute, 55.91
seconds.
Lochte was next at 1:56.22
and had no complaints about
his consolation prize: an
individual race at the Rio
Olympics.
The 11-time medalist
injured his groin on the very
irst day of the meet, strug-
gled in his next few races and
was down to his inal chance
to get a swim of his own at the
Summer Games.
Now, that’s out of the
way, which means Phelps
and Lochte will carry their
longtime rivalry to one more
event in South America.
Phelps is a three-time
defending gold medalist in
the 200 IM and the most
decorated athlete in Olympic
history with 18 golds and 22
medals overall.
He’s now locked up two
individual events for Rio,
having already qualiied
in the 200 butterly. After
shaking hands with Lochte
as they hung together on the
rope separating their side-
by-side lanes, Phelps hustled
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Sanya Richards-Ross waves to the crowd after after
pulling up 250 meters into her lap around the track
during qualifying for women’s 400-meter run at the
U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials Friday in Eugene.
AP Photo/Nati Harnik
Michael Phelps, right, checks his time in front of Ryan Lochte, left, after winning the
men’s 200-meter individual medley inal at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, in
Omaha, Neb., Friday. Lochte inished in second place.
off to the warmup pool to get
ready for his second race of
the night: the semiinals of
the 100 ly.
Meanwhile,
another
defending Olympic champion
went down at the trials.
Tyler Clary inished
third in the 200 backstroke
behind California Aquatics
teammates Ryan Murphy and
Jacob Pebley, who will repre-
sent the U.S. team in Rio.
Murphy grabbed the lead
on the second lap and pulled
away to win easily in 1:53.95
seconds. He completed a
sweep of the backstroke
events, having also won the
100.
Pebley held on for the
second spot, touching in
1:54.77 to earn his irst trip to
the Olympics.
Clary was next at 1:55.33,
ending his hopes of defending
the gold medal he won in
London.
Murphy seemed happier
for his teammate, turning
toward Pebley and screaming
when he saw a “2” beside
his name. Pebley held a
hand over his face, and then
deiantly splashed the water
in triumph.
Clary hung alone on a
rope in the third lane, unable
to take his eyes off the score-
board. Finally, he climbed
over to congratulate the two
swimmers who ended his
Olympics hopes.
“That’s it,” Clary said.
“I couldn’t be happier to be
sending Team USA off with
two backstrokers that I have a
lot of respect for, and I know
they are going to represent
Team USA well in Rio.”
Murphy wasn’t the only
one pulling off a sweep.
Lilly King followed up her
victory in the 100 breaststroke
by winning the 200 in 2:24.08
seconds. The 19-year-old
from Indiana was followed by
Molly Hannis, a 24-year-old
who swims for Tennessee
Aquatics. She took the second
spot for Rio at 2:24.39, yet
another swimmer who will be
an Olympic rookie.
It wasn’t totally a night for
the upstarts.
Anthony Ervin and Nathan
Adrian were the top two qual-
iiers in the semiinals of the
50 freestyle.
The 35-year-old Ervin led
the way in 21.55, while Adrian
was second quickest in 21.60.
Both men are already on the
team, with Ervin still seeking
an individual event to go with
his relay duty and Adrian set
to defend his 100 free title
from the London Games.
Bolt injures hamstring, rival Blake qualiies for Rio
Bolt’s status for
Rio Games in doubt
KINGSTON,
Jamaica
(AP)
— Usain Bolt’s
Olympic quest is in doubt,
after the sprint superstar left
his country’s national cham-
pionships with a hamstring
injury shortly before he was
going to run the 100-meter
inal.
And that was just one part
of a bizarre night at National
Stadium.
Bolt’s longtime rival
Yohan Blake won the 100
title and formally qualiied for
the Rio de Janeiro Olympics
— but only after a false-start
disqualiication call against
him was overturned after
review.
But even after Blake
regrouped and prevailed,
all the buzz was about Bolt
and his status going forward
especially since the national
meet serves as the Jamaican
Olympic trials.
He’s not out of the Rio
Games, but his status hinges
now on how he does at a meet
in London in three weeks. Bolt
said he was diagnosed with a
Grade 1 hamstring tear — the
most mild sort — and that the
discomfort began presenting
itself in his quarterinal race
on Thursday night.
“I have submitted a
medical exemption to be
excused from the 100m inal
and the remainder of the
National Championships,”
Bolt said in a statement
released through Jamaican
oficials.
AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File
FILE- In this Aug. 29, 2015, ile photo, Jamaica’s Usain
Bolt, right, anchors the Jamaican team to the inish
line as Jamaica wins the men’s 4x100 meter relay inal
at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing.
“I will seek treatment
immediately and hope to
show itness at the London
Anniversary Games on July
22 to earn selection for the
Olympic Games in Rio.”
Blake, who inished
second to Bolt at the London
Games in the 100, said he
was conident that the world-
record-holder will be in Rio.
“No doubt, no doubt, no
doubt,” Blake said. “It’s just
a caution measure. He’s good.
Just being cautious.”
Blake won the 100 inal in
9.95 seconds, 0.01 ahead of
Nickel Ashmeade. Jevaughn
Minzie got third in 10.02
seconds, which igures to
send him to Rio — though
his role could depend on how
Bolt’s hamstring recovers.
“I’m just smiling,” Minzie
said.
Bolt’s
absence
was
announced on social media
but never to the crowd, which
left many of the green-and-
gold-clad fans wondering
what was going on with the
national hero who would
likely be considered the
favorite to win the Olympic
100 gold for a third consec-
utive time — something
no man or woman has ever
accomplished.
Then came the false-start,
followed by a review and a
showing of the red card to
Blake — who reacted with
anger, so much that security
oficials stepped onto the
track just in case. Then came
another review of the tape,
Blake was cleared and he
went back to his lane.
“I waited four years for
this,” Blake said. “I’ve been
injured, I’ve been battered
and I just made it back.”
Even with the injury, Bolt
won both of his heats at this
meet, irst the quarterinal on
Thursday and then the semi-
inal on Friday.
Bolt seemed to be looking
at the clock at the end of his
semiinal, which he won in
10.04 seconds and capped by
giving runner-up Senoj-Jay
Givans — his closest pursuer
— a knowing smirk as they
crossed the line.
He put on a fresh shirt and
walked off the track after a
couple minutes, giving no
indication that he was hurting.
The news came about an hour
later.
“We need him out there,”
said Asafa Powell, the veteran
who was fourth in Friday’s
inal. “I’m sure he’ll be ine.
I’m sure he’ll be ine for Rio.
I’m sure he’s just being very
cautious.”
Elaine Thompson was
being anything but cautious,
on her way to knocking off
two-time defending Olympic
100 gold medalist Shelly-Ann
Fraser-Pryce and winning
the national title. Thompson
equaled Jamaica’s record
in the 100, winning with
an emphatic time of 10.70
seconds. She beat Fras-
er-Pryce by 0.23 seconds.
Thompson isn’t new on
the world track scene — she’s
the 2015 world silver medalist
in the 200 — but what awaits
in Rio will represent her irst
taste of Olympic-bright lights.
She’s only 24, was a bit of
a wild child in the past and
has long been thought of in
her country as the heiress
apparent to Fraser-Pryce and
Veronica Campbell-Brown
(who was fourth Friday in
the women’s 100 inal) atop
the Jamaican women’s sprint
throne.
The
meet
continues
Saturday and Sunday, without
its biggest star.
Felix cruises, and
Richards-Ross
says goodbye
By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer
EUGENE (AP) —
Allyson Felix blocked out
the kniing agony in her
right ankle and made her
irst run at Olympic Trials
look like a jog Friday night.
Sanya Richards-Ross
felt a different kind of pain.
On a night Felix
cruised on auto-pilot in
the 400-meter qualifying
round to keep her chance
at a 200-400 double alive,
Richards-Ross bid a tearful
adieu to the fans, after
pulling up 250 meters into
her lap around the track —
her hamstring too tight to
carry on.
“I’ve had an amazing
career,” the 31-year-old
Richards-Ross said. “To
have my last race be here, at
Hayward Field, in front of
these fans, it’s incredible.”
In addition to her four
Olympic gold medals,
including the individual
title at the London Games,
Richards-Ross
holds
the stadium record in
Eugene — better known
as Track Town USA. It
was here, ive weeks ago
at the Prefontaine Classic,
that fans got their irst true
glimpse of what might be
coming.
Richards-Ross
inished seventh that day.
In this one, her irst 15
steps out of the blocks were
smooth, but she quickly
slowed from a sprint to a
trot. By the time she hit
the irst curve on the back-
stretch, she was jogging.
And then she pulled up
completely.
“Let’s be honest, I hurt
my hamstring real bad,” she
said. “I worked with a great
doctor just to get out on the
track today.”
After she pulled up,
Richards-Ross walked to
the inish line. Fans rose
from their seats and Rich-
ards-Ross blew kisses.
She earned as many
of those fans through her
failures as her successes —
her long battle with illness
and injuries, her third-place
inish in Beijing that left
her weeping underneath
the stands, then, inally, the
gold medal in London.
“Most fans have seen my
heart through my running,”
Richards-Ross said. “I
don’t win every time I step
“I’ve had an
amazing career.
To have my last
race be here, at
Hayward Field, in
front of these fans,
it’s incredible.”
— Sanya Richards-Ross,
Olympic gold medalist
on the track. I don’t deserve
the ovation because I’m
always a champion. But I
think they see my heart, my
determination, my desire to
be a good person.”
Now, though, they’ll be
watching Felix and others
inish up the 400.
Felix inished second in
her heat, posting a time of
51.96 seconds, then headed
straight to the trainer’s
room for treatment.
She hurt the ankle in the
spring and has had a rough
time coming back — forced
to do most of her running
the wrong way around the
track so as not to put the
injured ankle at more risk.
She has less than 18
hours to recover. Her semi-
inal heat is set for Saturday
afternoon.
Other headlines from
Day 1 at track trials:
RUPP ROMP: Galen
Rupp won the 10,000 meters
in a time of 27 minutes,
55.04 seconds and is now
qualiied for both the 10K
and the marathon. Rupp,
the silver medalist at 10K
in London, beat Shadrack
Kipchirchir by more than
6 seconds. Leonard Korir
also qualiied.
SHOT PUT: Adam
Nelson was honored for
his Olympic gold medal
— the one he won in
2004 — during a ceremony
before the shot put inals.
Wearing a “Best Dad Ever”
T-shirt with unicorns and
a rainbow, the 40-year-old
got the ceremony that
didn’t take place when he
was upgraded from silver
to gold because of a doping
positive. But Nelson, who
came out of retirement for
trials, did not make the
2016 Olympic team. He
inished ninth. The top three
were Ryan Crouser, world
champion Joe Kovacs and
Jordan Clark.
NBA players cash in as big free agency period opens
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer
Mike Conley and All-Stars
Andre Drummond and DeMar
DeRozan are staying put. So are
Hassan Whiteside and Nicolas
Batum.
Many more players are on the
move — and some are getting paid
like they never could have imag-
ined.
Chandler Parsons, Evan Turner
and Timofey Mozgov were among
the players cashing in Friday during
the irst day of free agency — and
really, of a new era — in the NBA.
With revenues rising and the
salary cap soaring right along with
it, good players were being paid
like All-Stars, while All-Stars were
getting contracts that used to go
only to superstars.
Conley is in a class of his own
after agreeing to a $153 million, ive-
year deal to remain in Memphis, the
biggest deal handed out yet.
And the players at the top of the
class haven’t even started agreeing
to deals yet. Kevin Durant and Al
Horford probably can’t wait to see
what they get after watching what
lesser players on the market have
already received.
For example:
Parsons — four years, $94
million from Memphis.
Turner — four years, $70 million
from Portland.
Mozgov — four years, $64
million from the Lakers.
Their timing was even better
than their play, as they became free
agents at the ideal moment. With the
NBA’s national TV contracts worth
more than $2.6 billion beginning
with next season, the salary cap
that’s tied to revenues will soar
well beyond its previous record to
between $90 million-95 million.
Some players didn’t have to wait
long to claim their share of it.
Drummond’s
ive-year
maximum contract to stay in
Detroit will be worth $130 million,
just a share more than the $128
million Bradley Beal got to remain
in Washington. DeRozan will do a
little better in Toronto and Charlotte
kept Batum for about $120 million.
But the Hornets lost a couple of
key players from their 48-win team,
as Jeremy Lin got a three-year, $36
million contract from Brooklyn,
and the Pacers lured Al Jefferson
to Indiana with a three-year, $30
million contract.
None of the contracts can be
signed until July 7, after next
season’s salary cap is set and the
moratorium is lifted.
Missing out on the money was
O.J. Mayo, the former No. 3 overall
pick who inished last season in
Milwaukee and was a free agent.
But he was dismissed and disqual-
iied from the NBA on Friday for
violating the terms of the league’s
anti-drug program, the irst player
to receive that punishment in a
decade. He will be eligible to apply
for reinstatement in two years.
His old team was busy, as the
Bucks agreed to terms with free
agent shooter Mirza Teletovic on a
three-year deal worth $30 million,
and also agreed to terms on a
four-year, $38.4 million offer sheet
with restricted free agent Matthew
Dellavedova. The Cleveland Cava-
liers have the option to match that
deal.
Durant had his irst discussions
with another team, meeting with
the Golden State Warriors. He met
with his Oklahoma City Thunder
on Thursday, before free agency
opened, as the former NBA MVP
decides whether to remain with the
franchise that selected him with the
No. 2 pick in 2007.
The other MVP available is
LeBron James, who opted to
become a free agent. But he said
last week he intends to return to
Cleveland to defend the city’s irst
championship in 52 years.
The Cavaliers’ biggest decision
could be what to do with free agent
forward J.R. Smith, whose 3-point
shooting — and defense — helped
Cleveland rally to beat Golden
State in the inals. Smith its in well
with Cleveland because he follows
James’ lead and he’s embraced
a stopper’s role given to him by
coach Tyronn Lue.
———
AP Sports Writer Tom Withers
in Cleveland contributed to this