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