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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Friday, July 13, 2018 The heat is on for Tokyo 2020 Olympics Olympic organizers planning for 90 degree temperatures By JIM ARMSTRONG Associated Press TOKYO — The head of an IOC inspection team says organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will explore all options to com- bat the extreme summer heat that will likely pre- vail in the Japanese capital during the games. John Coates was in Tokyo for a two-day inspec- tion of the city’s prepara- tions for the games, which are just two years away. The 2020 Olympics will run from July 24 to Aug. 9 when temperatures in cen- tral Tokyo can exceed 35 degrees Celsius (95 F). It’s common to see thousands of people rushed to hospi- tals with heatstroke during those months. Experts have warned the risk of heatstroke in Tokyo has escalated in recent years, while noting the Olympics are expected to take place in condi- tions when sports activities should normally be halted. “We are mindful that we do have to prepare for extreme heat,” Coates said at a news conference on Thursday. “You’re not the first country to host the games in extreme heat. It’s a natural consequence of being in July and August.” Coates said each venue will have to be prepared to combat the heat. “The effect of this is something that I was addressing when I went out and saw the rowing course,” Coates said. “It’s always the case with row- ing that, because of winds, you might have a delay during the day and there- fore we need to assure there is a large space for the ath- letes to rest in an air-con- ditioned area and that will happen.” The Japanese govern- ment and the Tokyo met- ropolitan government are planning to lay pavements that emit less surface heat and plant taller roadside trees. “The spectators as well as the athletes have to be taken care of,” Coates said. “The timing of the mara- thon and road walks will be as early as possible as they have been in previous games to beat the heat.” Coates visited several venues during this visit and said work is largely on track. He toured several ven- ues and described them as “very impressive.” Among the venues visited were the new National Stadium in central Tokyo, as well as the badminton and eques- trian venues. Coates also visited the Sea Forest facilities, including the rowing and canoe sprint courses, call- ing progress “very good.” Also on Thursday, organizers decided the torch relay will start in Fukushima, an area hit by the 2011 earthquake, tsu- nami and nuclear disaster. The route was approved by the organizing commit- tee at a meeting with the central and Tokyo govern- ments on Thursday. The relay will start on March 26, 2020, in Fukushima and will head southward to Okinawa before making its way north again and arriving in Tokyo on July 10. AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko John Coates, left, chairman of the IOC Coordina- tion Commission for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and Tokyo Olympic organizing commit- tee President Yoshiro Mori, right, attend the IOC and Tokyo 2020 joint press conference Thursday in Tokyo. U of Oregon runs through design tweaks for new Hayward Field By SAUL HUBBARD The Register-Guard EUGENE, Ore. — The University of Oregon has announced changes to the design of the new Hay- ward Field, as well as a new name for the defining nine-story tower that will overlook the venue. On the stadium’s north side, the concrete bowl for lower-level seats that pre- viously wrapped around the full field will be brought down to ground level. The move elimi- nates 400 permanent seats, leaving the new capacity at 12,500, but it will repli- cate some of the open feel of the old stadium that was recently demolished. The change also means people walking outside will be able to see into the venue. For big events, temporary seating will be installed in the open sec- tion, expanding the stadi- um’s capacity to 30,000, as required for the 2021 World Track & Field Championships. Meanwhile, the large tower overlooking the field will be relocated to the east-side stands. It will now be called the Oregon Tower because sons of leg- endary track coach Bill Bowerman — critics of the stadium design — objected to it being named after him. Construction of the privately funded sta- dium is being led by Nike co-founder Phil Knight. As a result, univer- sity officials didn’t have input on the latest round of design changes, said Tobin Klinger, a university spokesman. “We work with the team that’s leading the devel- opment,” Klinger said. “They’ve made changes that I would describe as shifting elements around, not significant changes.” In addition to enhancing the stadium’s openness, the moves will help “manage costs and increase func- tionality,” Klinger said. In other design tweaks, a water feature along the stadium’s north side has been eliminated and a new Hayward Field museum will now be located under the east side of the venue. Construction of the new Hayward Field is expected to be finished in 2020. AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth Serena Williams of the United States returns the ball to Germany’s Julia Goerges during their women’s singles semifinals match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships on Thursday in London. Serena Williams nears 8th Wimbledon title, 24th slam By HOWARD FENDRICH Associated Press LONDON — Yes, this will be Serena Williams’ 10th Wimbledon final. Yes, it’s her 30th title match at any major. And, well, sure, she’s widely regarded as not just the best of her era, but any era. Let others shrug at this latest accomplishment, as if all it signified were merely another chance at another in a long line of trophies. Wil- liams is not shy about saying she, for one, is impressed by this. Rightly so. For it was only about 10 months ago she was having a baby and then dealing with a serious health scare that followed. Even after all of that, even after more than a year away from the game, even in only the fourth tournament of her comeback, Williams showed she’s still capable of domi- nance. Especially at the All England Club, where a rel- atively routine 6-2, 6-4 vic- tory over 13th-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany on Thursday put Williams one win away from an eighth championship. She’s also closing in on her 24th Grand Slam title, which would equal Margaret Court’s all-time record. “A lot of people were saying, ‘Oh, she should be in the final,’” the 36-year- old Williams said. “For me it’s such a pleasure and a joy because, you know, less than a year ago, I was going through so much stuff.” After hitting five aces with a serve that reached 119 mph, delivering 16 winners to only seven unforced errors, and cover- ing the court so well with speed and effort, Williams will face another German, 11th-seeded Angelique Ker- ber, on Saturday. “Whatever happens, hon- estly,” Williams said, “it’s an incredible effort from me.” The left-handed Ker- ber, a former No. 1 and two-time major champion, beat 12th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-3 earlier Thursday. “Seeing her back, it’s great,” said Kerber, who has lost six of eight previous matches against Williams. “I know that she is always pushing you to the limits.” Kerber let 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko determine the outcome of nearly every point. By the end, Ostapenko had far more winners, 30-10, and far more unforced errors, 36-7. Williams vs. Kerber will be a rematch of the 2016 final. Williams won that for a second consecutive Wim- bledon title, then sat out the grass-court tournament last year while pregnant, part of a 16-month gap between majors. After giving birth to daughter Olympia last Sep- tember, Williams was treated for blood clots. “I lost count after, like, four surgeries,” said Wil- liams, who has been wearing compression leggings this fortnight as a precaution. Her first Grand Slam tour- nament back was the French Open, where she won three matches before withdraw- ing last month because of an injured chest muscle. All of the time away pushed someone who’s spent more than 300 weeks ranked No. 1 down the rank- ings — she began Wimble- don at 181st, but was seeded 25th on account of her past success — and no one could quite be sure how the Amer- ican would fare over these two weeks. Not even Williams knew. “This is not inevitable for me. I had a really tough delivery ... and almost didn’t make it, to be honest,” Wil- liams said. “I remember I couldn’t even walk to my mail box, so it’s definitely not ‘normal’ for me to be in a Wimbledon final.” The victory over Goerges extended Williams’ winning streak at Wimbledon to 20 matches, dating to the start of the 2015 edition. She’s also won her past 15 Grand Slam matches since the start of the 2017 Australian Open, which she won while pregnant. That title pushed her past Steffi Graf’s record of 22 majors in the half-century professional era; Court won some of her Slams during the amateur era. Williams’ match against Goerges was even until 2-all, 30-all. Until then, Goerges, the first seeded player Williams faced these two weeks, showed she was capable of trading power from the baseline and big serves with Williams. There were moments when watching Goerges made it easy to wonder how it could be possible she never had been past a major’s fourth round until now. Or, more to the point on this afternoon, how such a sting- ing serve and groundstrokes didn’t help her avoid first- round exits each of the past five years at Wimbledon. But she couldn’t keep up with Williams, who grabbed 18 of 22 points and five con- secutive games to close the first set and begin the next. “She brings her ‘A game’ in a lot of important moments,” Goerges said. “We saw that she improved every single match she’s playing here.” There was one brief blip to come: Williams got bro- ken for the only time while serving for the match at 5-3. Immediately, though, she broke back at love to end it, placing her left fist on her chest when Goerges’ last shot landed long. Later, Williams was asked whether this has been her most trying comeback in a career that’s had its share, including an earlier bout with blood clots in her lungs. “I don’t know if it’s been the toughest, because I have Olympia. For me, I only see joy out of it,” Williams said with a smile. “In a way, it’s by far the toughest, but in a way it’s by far the best.” SCOREBOARD Baseball MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Boston 66 29 .695 — New York 61 31 .663 3½ Tampa Bay 48 45 .516 17 Toronto 42 50 .457 22½ Baltimore 26 68 .277 39½ Central Division W L Pct GB Cleveland 50 42 .543 — Minnesota 42 49 .462 7½ Detroit 40 55 .421 11½ Chicago 31 61 .337 19 Kansas City 26 66 .283 24 West Division W L Pct GB Houston 62 34 .646 — Seattle 58 36 .617 3 Oakland 53 41 .564 8 Los Angeles 48 46 .511 13 Texas 40 54 .426 21 ——— Thursday’s Games Oakland 6, Houston 4 Philadelphia 5, Baltimore 4 Boston 6, Toronto 4 N.Y. Yankees 7, Cleveland 4 Minnesota 5, Tampa Bay 1 L.A. Angels 11, Seattle 2 Friday’s Games Texas (Hamels 4-8) at Baltimore (Cobb 2-11), 4:05 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (German 2-4) at Cleveland (Bieber 4-1), 4:10 p.m. Toronto (Borucki 0-1) at Boston (Porcello 11-3), 4:10 p.m. Detroit (Fiers 6-5) at Houston (Keuchel 6-8), 5:10 p.m. Kansas City (Keller 2-3) at Chicago White Sox (Shields 3-10), 5:10 p.m. Tampa Bay (Eovaldi 3-3) at Minnesota (Odorizzi 4-6), 5:10 p.m. Seattle (TBD) at Colorado (Senzatela 3-2), 5:40 p.m. L.A. Angels (Pena 1-0) at L.A. Dodgers (Buehler 4-2), 7:10 p.m. Oakland (Jackson 1-0) at San Francisco (Bumgarner 2-3), 7:15 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE East Division W Philadelphia 52 Atlanta 51 Washington 47 Miami 39 New York 37 Central Division W Milwaukee 55 Chicago 52 St. Louis 47 Pittsburgh 44 Cincinnati 41 West Division W Los Angeles 51 Arizona 51 L 40 40 46 56 54 Pct .565 .560 .505 .411 .407 GB — ½ 5½ 14½ 14½ L 39 38 44 49 52 L 42 43 Pct .585 .578 .516 .473 .441 Pct .548 .543 GB — 1 6½ 10½ 13½ GB — ½ Colorado 48 45 .516 3 San Francisco 49 46 .516 3 San Diego 40 56 .417 12 ——— Thursday’s Games Colorado 5, Arizona 1 Philadelphia 5, Baltimore 4 Pittsburgh 6, Milwaukee 3 Washington 5, N.Y. Mets 4 L.A. Dodgers 3, San Diego 2 Friday’s Games Milwaukee (Guerra 6-5) at Pittsburgh (Kingham 3-4), 4:05 p.m. Philadelphia (Arrieta 6-6) at Miami (Chen 2-6), 4:10 p.m. Washington (Roark 3-11) at N.Y. Mets (Syndergaard 4-1), 4:10 p.m. Arizona (Godley 10-6) at Atlanta (Sanchez 4-2), 4:35 p.m. Cincinnati (Harvey 4-5) at St. Louis (Marti- nez 6-4), 5:15 p.m. Seattle (TBD) at Colorado (Senzatela 3-2), 5:40 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Chatwood 3-5) at San Diego (Richard 7-8), 7:10 p.m. L.A. Angels (Pena 1-0) at L.A. Dodgers (Buehler 4-2), 7:10 p.m. Oakland (Jackson 1-0) at San Francisco (Bumgarner 2-3), 7:15 p.m. MiLB NORTHWEST LEAGUE North Division W L Pct. GB Vancouver (Blue Jays) 14 13 .518 — Everett (Mariners) 13 14 .481 1 Tri-City (Padres) 13 14 .481 1 Spokane (Rangers) 9 18 .333 5 South Division W L Pct. GB Hillsboro (D-Backs) 19 8 .704 — Boise (Rockies) 15 12 .556 4 Salem-Keizer (Giants) 15 12 .556 4 Eugene (Cubs) 10 17 .370 9 ——— Thursday’s Games Vancouver 7, Boise 1 Eugene 9, Spokane 4, 11 innings Salem-Keizer 3, Everett 1 Hillsboro 9, Tri-City 5 Friday’s Games Vancouver at Boise, 6:15 p.m. Eugene at Spokane, 6:30 p.m. Salem-Keizer at Everett, 7:05 p.m. Tri-City at Hillsboro, 7:05 p.m. Soccer FIFA WORLD CUP FINALS Sunday, July 15 At Moscow France vs. Croatia, 11 a.m. (TV: FOX/ Telemundo) MLS Thursday-Friday’s Games No games scheduled. Saturday’s Games Columbus at New York City FC, 7 p.m. Sporting Kansas City at New York, 7 p.m. LA Galaxy at New England, 7:30 p.m. San Jose at Montreal, 7:30 p.m. Chicago at FC Dallas, 8 p.m. Real Salt Lake at Minnesota United, 8 p.m. Toronto FC at Orlando City, 8 p.m. Vancouver at D.C. United, 8 p.m. Houston at Colorado, 9 p.m. Sunday’s Games Seattle at Atlanta United FC, 2 p.m. Portland at Los Angeles FC, 6 p.m. Tennis WIMBLEDON Women’s Singles Semifinal Angelique Kerber (11), Germany, def. Jelena Ostapenko (12), Latvia, 6-3, 6-3. Serena Williams (25), United States, def. Julia Goerges (13), Germany, 6-2, 6-4. Basketball WNBA EASTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct Washington 12 8 .600 Atlanta 10 9 .526 Connecticut 10 10 .500 Chicago 7 13 .350 New York 6 14 .300 Indiana 2 18 .100 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct Seattle 15 6 .714 Phoenix 14 7 .667 Dallas 12 8 .600 Los Angeles 13 9 .591 Minnesota 12 8 .600 Las Vegas 9 12 .429 ——— Thursday’s Games Dallas 92, Los Angeles 77 Friday’s Games Phoenix at Connecticut, 7 p.m. Chicago at Washington, 7 p.m. Indiana at Atlanta, 7 p.m. Las Vegas at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Saturday’s Games Dallas at Seattle, 9 p.m. GB — 1½ 2 5 6 10 GB — 1 2½ 2½ 2½ 6 Cycling TOUR DE FRANCE Thursday At Mur de Bretagne, France SIXTH STAGE A 112.5-mile ride in Brittany from Brest to Mur de Bretagne, with four catego- rized climbs: a Category 4 and three Category 3s, including one at the finish 1. Dan Martin, Ireland, UAE Team Emirates, 4:13:43. 2. Pierre Latour, France, AG2R La Mondiale, :01. 3. Alejandro Valverde, Spain, Movistar, :03. 4. Julian Alaphilippe, France, Quick-Step Floors, same time. 5. Rafal Majka, Poland, Bora-Hansgrohe, same time. 6. Adam Yates, Britain, Mitchelton-Scott, same time. 7. Bauke Mollema, Netherlands, Trek-Sega- fredo, same time. 8. Peter Sagan, Slovakia, Bora-Hansgrohe, same time. 9. Geraint Thomas, Britain, Sky, same time. 10. Primoz Roglic, Slovenia, LottoNL-Jumbo, same time. Also 17. Tejay van Garderen, United States, BMC Racing, :06. 18. Chris Froome, Britain, Sky, :08. 85. Chad Haga, United States, Sunweb, 3:09. 104. Ian Boswell, United States, Katusha Alpecin, 5:45. 162. Taylor Phinney, United States, EF Education First-Drapac, 14:30. 168. Lawson Craddock, United States, EF Education First-Drapac, same time. OVERALL STANDINGS (After six stages) 1. Greg Van Avermaet, Belgium, BMC Racing, 22:35:46. 2. Geraint Thomas, Britain, Sky, :03. 3. Tejay van Garderen, United States, BMC Racing, :05. 4. Julian Alaphilippe, France, Quick-Step Floors, :06. 5. Philippe Gilbert, Belgium, Quick-Step Floors, :12. Golf PGA TOUR JOHN DEERE CLASSIC Thursday At TPC Deere Run Silvis, Ill. Purse: $5.8 million Yardage: 7,268; Par: 71 (35-36) First Round Leaderboard Steve Wheatcroft 33-29—62 Michael Kim 33-30—63 Johnson Wagner 32-32—64 Nick Taylor 31-33—64 Andres Romero 33-31—64 Joel Dahmen 35-29—64 Scott Brown 32-33—65 Francesco Molinari 32-33—65 Whee Kim 33-32—65 Denny McCarthy 30-35—65 -9 -8 -7 -7 -7 -7 -6 -6 -6 -6 LPGA TOUR MARATHON CLASSIC Thursday At Highland Meadows Golf Club Sylvania, Ohio Purse: $1.6 million Yardage: 6,541; Par: 71 (34-37) First Round Leaderboard Thidapa Suwannapura 33-32—65 Caroline Hedwall 33-33—66 In Gee Chun 32-34—66 Mirim Lee 32-34—66 In-Kyung Kim 34-32—66 Yani Tseng 33-33—66 Jacqui Concolino 33-33—66 Katelyn Dambaugh 32-34—66 Allison Emrey 31-36—67 Christina Kim 33-34—67 Brooke M. Henderson 33-34—67 Annie Park 32-35—67 -6 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -4 -4 -4 -4
