A6 — BAKER CITY HERALD
THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 2021
Pac-12, Big 12
discussing
possible merger
SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES IN TOKYO
Big 12 tries to regroup after Texas,
Oklahoma plan move to SEC
By Ralph D. Russo
AP College Football Writer
Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times-TNS
USA gymnast Simone Biles performs in the Women’s Balance Beam at Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo,
Japan on Tuesday, August 3, 2021.
Biles returns, wins bronze on beam
Gymnast earns seventh Olympic
medal, tied for most by an American
By Jim Vertuno
Associated Press
TOKYO — Simone Biles
returned to the competi-
tion at the Tokyo Olympics
in style, and will leave
with another medal.
What color it is really
isn’t the point. That she
delivered a tense, heart-
pounding routine on the
balance beam and nailed
it with a smile meant
everything.
Biles looked calm as she
moved, turned and fl ipped
across the beam. It was ev-
eryone else watching who
held their breath.
“I had nerves but I felt
pretty good,” she said.
Biles won the bronze
medal when she drilled
a slightly altered routine
in front of a crowd that
included IOC President
Thomas Bach a week after
taking herself out of sev-
eral competitions to focus
on her mental health.
That move by the gym-
nast regarded the greatest
in history had amplifi ed
attention on the impor-
tance of mental health
in sports in general, and
among Olympians specifi -
cally.
“I was just happy to be
able to perform, regardless
of the outcome,” Biles said.
“I did it for me, and I was
just proud of myself for
being able to compete one
more time.”
Biles changed her
routine a bit while deal-
ing with a mental block
surrounding twisting. She
used a double-pike dis-
— had met in the Olympic
quarterfi nals or later, with
the Americans winning
each time.
Ricky Rubio scored 38
mount — no twisting re-
quired — to score a 14.000, points for Spain, which led
which was ultimately good by 10 in the second quarter
before the U.S. turned the
enough for third in the
eight-woman fi nal, behind game with a 36-10 run to
take control.
China’s Guan Chenchen
and Tang Xijing.
Biles earned her sev-
FAST AND FURIOUS
enth career Olympic medal
Karsten Warholm of
and tied Shannon Miller
Norway found his “perfect”
for the most by an Ameri- race and smashed his own
can in gymnastics.
world record in the 400-me-
Olympic all-around
ter hurdles, fi nishing in
champion Sunisa Lee of
45.94 seconds to break the
the United States fi nished old mark by .76.
fi fth. The 18-year-old Lee
One of the most antici-
won three medals in To-
pated races on the program
kyo, including silver in the ended with some wondering
team fi nal and bronze on
if they’d just watched the
uneven bars.
greatest Olympic races ever.
The U.S. men’s basket-
Second-place fi nisher
ball team rode the slender Rai Benjamin of the United
shoulders and smooth
States fi nished in 46.17,
shooting of Kevin Durant also beating the 46.7 record
to advance to the medal
that Warholm set just last
round with a 95-81 victory month. The third-place
over Spain in the quarter- fi nisher, Alison dos Santos
fi nals.
of Brazil, fi nished in 46.72,
Durant fi nished with
which would’ve been a
29 points. Jayson Tatum
world record fi ve weeks
scored 13 and Jrue Holi-
earlier.
day added 12 for the U.S.,
“Sometimes in training,
which will play either
my coaches keep telling me
Australia or Argentina in this could be possible with
the semifi nals on Thurs-
the perfect race,” Warholm
day. The American men
said of the prospect of
have never failed to medal breaking 46 seconds. “But
in all 18 of their previous it was hard to imagine it
Olympics appearances.
because it’s a big barrier,
For Durant, only one
and it’s something you don’t
will do.
even dream about.”
“We’ve just got to fi nish
He didn’t just dream it.
it. Got to fi nish it,” Durant He lived it.
said. “We’re supposed to
In other track and fi eld
be here. For us, it’s about
events, Elaine Thompson-
getting the gold.”
Herah of Jamaica com-
It was the fi fth time
pleted her second straight
since 2004 that the top
Olympic sprint sweep,
two programs in the most fi nishing the 200 meters in
recent FIBA world rank-
21.53 seconds, the second-
ings — the U.S. is No. 1
fastest time in history.
Thompson-Herah topped
surprise second-place
fi nisher Christine Mboma
of Namibia by .48, while
American Gabby Thomas
took bronze.
This was a star-studded
fi nal, defi ned as much by
who didn’t fi nish on the
podium as who did.
Thompson-Herah joins
another Jamaican, Veronica
Campbell-Brown, and Bar-
bel Wookel of the former
East Germany as the third
back-to-back champions in
the 200.
Armand Duplantis of
Sweden won the Olympic
gold medal in the pole
vault. The 21-year-old
clinched victory with a
height of 6.02 meters and
then raised the bar to 6.19
meters in a bid to break his
own world record. Duplan-
tis missed all three times
when he tried to improve
on the world record mark
of 6.18 meters he set at
Glasgow last year.
The commissioners
of the Pac-12 and Big 12
met Tuesday to discuss
how the conferences
might benefi t from work-
ing together or maybe
even merging.
Two people with
knowledge of the meet-
ing said Big 12 Commis-
sioner Bob Bowlsby and
George Kliavkoff from
the Pac-12 were discuss-
ing the potential for stra-
tegic planning between
the two conferences.
The people spoke to
The Associated Press on
condition of anonymity
because the leagues were
not immediately shar-
ing details of internal
discussions. The Athletic
was fi rst to report the
meeting.
The Big 12 is trying
to regroup after being
stunned by Texas and
Oklahoma’s decision to
move to the Southeast-
ern Conference. For now,
the move is scheduled for
2025, but the Big 12 has
to start looking at how
to move forward without
their fl agship programs
immediately.
The remaining eight
Big 12 schools —- Texas
Tech, TCU, Baylor, Kan-
sas, Kansas State, Iowa
State, Oklahoma State
and West Virginia —- are
facing a huge drop in the
value of their next televi-
sion contract without
Texas and Oklahoma in
the conference.
The Big 12’s cur-
rent TV deal runs out
in 2025. Bowlsby told
Texas lawmakers at a
hearing in Austin on
Monday that losing
Texas and Oklahoma
could slash the confer-
ence’s television revenue
by about 50%. He said
the TV deals accounted
for about $280 million in
revenue distributed to
the schools.
The Pac-12’s current
television deal is similar
in value to the Big 12’s
and expires in 2024.
Kilavkoff, a former
MGM executive who
took over as Pac-12 com-
missioner on July 1, has
said the conference is in
no rush to add members
to a 12-member league
that includes Southern
California, Oregon, Stan-
ford and Washington.
A full merger of the
Big 12 and Pac-12 would
create a 20-team confer-
ence with schools in ev-
ery major U.S. time zone.
The conferences
could also consider an
scheduling agreement
or alliance that creates
regular nonconference
matchups in high-profi le
sports of football and
basketball as a way
of potentially increas-
ing the value of each
league’s next TV deals,
one of the people famil-
iar with the meeting
told AP.
STILL 1
#
IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Thompson-Herah sweeps
gold in sprints again
Thompson-Herah has won
a sprint and recorded a
time that fell short of only
TOKYO — It was billed the late Florence Griffi th
as a star-studded race that Joyner’s hallowed, 33-year-
old world records. The 200
anyone could win.
So long as that person’s record is 21.34.
In the 100 meters,
name was Elaine.
Thompson-Herah started
Elaine Thompson-
Herah blew away a much- pointing at the clock a
decorated fi eld in the 200 few steps before the fi nish
line and fi nished in 10.61,
meters Tuesday night,
which was good for the
Aug. 3. The latest sprint
Olympic record but not Flo
star from Usain Bolt’s
island country of Jamaica Jo’s overall mark of 10.49.
In the 200, Thompson-
completed her second
Herah ran hard all the
straight Olympic sprint
way through and stuck her
sweep in 21.53 seconds,
the second-fastest time in tongue out as she pushed
her chest forward at the
history.
“It means a lot to me to line. No questions this
be in that history, to be in time about what would’ve
that work-hard book,” said happened if she’d left it all
on the track.
Thompson-Herah, who
Both fi nishes, of course,
spent much of 2021 ailing
equaled gold medals, and
with an Achilles injury
and didn’t reach top form now Thompson-Herah will
have at least four when
until she got to Japan.
she gets back to Jamaica.
It marked the second
There’s a chance for a
time in four nights that
By Eddie Pells
AP National Writer
fi fth if she competes in
the women’s 4x100-meter
relay this weekend.
“By the Olympic fi nish,
I’ll probably see what I’ve
done,” said the 29-year-old,
who grew up in Banana
Ground on the southern
side of the island. “At this
moment, I’m just a normal
girl.”
She topped surprise sec-
ond-place fi nisher Chris-
tine Mboma of Namibia by
.48, while American Gabby
Thomas took bronze.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-
Pryce, who beat Thomp-
son-Herah at both distanc-
es in Jamaica’s national
championships, fi nished
fourth to barely miss out
on her eighth Olympic
medal.
Shaune Miller-Uibo,
who focused on the 200
after winning gold at 400
meters in Rio, came in last
after pulling up with a
twinge in her hamstring.
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