Lilly King, Chase Kalisz win gold on final day of worlds

Associated PressJul 30, 2017, 12:56 PM EDT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Lilly King took the breaststroke rubber match with Yulia Efimova — and set another world record for good measure.

Chase Kalisz kept the U.S. firmly on top of the world in the men’s individual medley.

The brash King knocked off her second record of the world championships in Budapest, touching first in the 50-meter breaststroke Sunday.

King eclipsed the mark of 29.48 set by Lithuania’s Ruta Mielutyte at the 2013 worlds in Barcelona.

King added the 50 mark to her record-setting performance in the 100 breast. This was essentially the deciding match of her duel with Efimova, who won the 200 breast while King finished fourth.

Efiomova settled for silver in the 50 at 29.57, while another American, Katie Meili, took the bronze in 29.99.

“I always think Lilly has a world record in her,” Meili said. “Yeah, I knew she was going to go really fast. She’s been incredible this meet. Totally lights on her every time she gets in the pool, so I’m very very proud of her.”

Despite hard feelings between King and Efimova, sparked last summer when King griped that the Russian should not be allowed to compete because of doping violations, the two hugged each other and even appeared to joke around a bit after the race.

Kalisz breezed to victory in the 400 IM, adding to his triumph in the 200. He became the first swimmer at worlds to sweep the event, which encompasses all four strokes, since Ryan Lochte accomplished the feat in 2011.

Kalisz carried on American domination of the IMs that goes back more than two decades, largely because of Michael Phelps — a former training partner — and Lochte.

Neither is in Budapest, of course. Phelps retired again after the Rio Games, while Lochte was not allowed to compete at worlds because of his shenanigans at last summer’s Olympics.

No worries for Team USA.

Kalisz pulled away on the breaststroke leg and cruised to the finish in 4 minutes, 5.90 seconds — nearly 2½ seconds ahead of the silver medalist, Hungary’s David Verraszto. Japan’s Daiya Seto grabbed the bronze.

In the women’s 50 freestyle, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom got a bit of redemption for her loss to American Simone Manuel in the 100 free.

After setting a world record in the semifinals, Sjostrom completed the furious dash from one end of the pool to the other in 23.69 — just two-hundredths off her mark the previous evening.

Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands claimed the silver in 23.85, while Manuel settled for the bronze at 23.97.

Manuel knocked off Sjostrom in the 100 free after the Swede went out far too fast on the opening lap and had nothing left for the return. This time, she didn’t have to come back.

France’s Camille Lacourt took gold in the 50 backstroke with a time of 24.35. The silver went to Japan’s Junya Koga, while American veteran Matt Grevers grabbed the bronze.

Women’s 50m Breaststroke Results
Gold: Lilly King (USA) — 29.40
Silver: Yulia Efimova (RUS) — 29.57
Bronze: Katei Meili (USA) — 29.99
4. Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) — 30.20
5. Jennie Johansson (SWE) — 30.31
6. Sarah Vasey (GBR) — 30.62
7. Arianna Castiglioni (ITA) — 30.74
8. Rachel Nicol (CAN) — 30.80

Men’s 400m IM Results
Gold: Chase Kalisz (USA) — 4:05.90
Silver: David Verraszto (HUN) — 4:08.38
Bronze: Daiya Seto (JPN) — 4:09.14
4. Max Litchfield (GBR) — 4:09.62
5. Jay Litherland (USA) — 4:12.05
6. Kosuke Hagino (JPN) — 4:12.65
7. Brandonn Almeida (BRA) — 4:13.00
9. Richard Nagy (SVK) — 4:16.33

Women’s 50m Freestyle Results
Gold: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) — 23.69
Silver: Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) — 23.85
Bronze: Simone Manuel (USA) — 23.97
4. Pernille Blume (DEN) — 24.00
5. Aliaksandra Herasimenia (BLR) — 24.46
6. Liu Xiang (CHN) — 24.58
7. Anna Santamans (FRA) — 24.58
8. Bronte Campbell (AUS) — 24.58

Women’s 400m IM Results
Gold: Katinka Hosszu (HUN) — 4:29.33
Silver: Mireia Belmonte (ESP) — 4:32.17
Bronze: Sydney Pickrem (CAN) — 4:32.88
4. Yui Ohashi (JPN) — 4:34.50
5. Sakiko Shimizu (JPN) — 4:35.62
6. Leah Smith (USA) — 4:36.09
7. Elizabeth Beisel (USA) — 4:37.63
8. Hannah Miley (GBR) — 4:38.34

French Open: Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk says crowd ‘should be embarrassed’ for booing her

Associated PressMay 28, 2023, 8:55 AM EDT

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus (left) and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine before their French Open first round match./Getty

At first, Aryna Sabalenka thought the boos and derisive whistles coming from the French Open crowd were directed at her after a first-round victory Sunday. Instead, the negative reaction was aimed at her opponent, Marta Kostyuk, for not participating in the usual post-match handshake up at the net.

Kostyuk, who is from Ukraine, avoided so much as any eye contact with Sabalenka, who is from Belarus, after the match, instead walking directly over to acknowledge the chair umpire. Sabalenka walked toward the net as if expecting some sort of exchange.

“What happened today, I have to say I didn’t expect it,” Kostyuk said of the crowd. “I did not, but I have no reaction to it. People should be honestly embarrassed, but this is not my call.

“I want to see people react to it in 10 years when the war is over. I think they will not feel really nice about what they did.”

But this is something Kostyuk has been doing whenever she has faced any opponent from Russia or Belarus since her country was invaded by Russia, with help from Belarus, in February 2022.

Perhaps the fans on hand at Court Philippe Chatrier did not know the backstory and figured Kostyuk simply failed to follow tennis etiquette by congratulating the winner after the lopsided result: Sabalenka grabbed six games in a row during one stretch and came out on top 6-3, 6-2.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

“It was a very tough match — I would say tough emotionally,” said the No. 2-seeded Sabalenka, who won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.

During an on-court interview in the main stadium, Sabalenka told the spectators she was sure their jeering “was against me, so I was a little surprised, but then I felt your support.”

Before play began on Day 1 of the clay-court tournament, the players did not pose together for the standard photos up at the net after the coin toss to determine who would serve first.

Kostyuk, a 20-year-old who is ranked 39th, won her first WTA title in March at Austin, Texas, by beating a Russian opponent and neither player went to the net afterward that day.

During her pre-tournament news conference on Friday, Sabalenka was asked about the likelihood there would be no handshake on Sunday.

“If she hates me, OK. I can’t do anything about that. There is going to be people who loves me; there is going to be people who hates me,” Sabalenka said then. “If she hates me, I don’t feel anything like that (toward) her.”

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Ryan Crouser breaks world record in shot put at Los Angeles Grand Prix

By OlympicTalkMay 27, 2023, 5:56 PM EDT

Two-time Olympic champion Ryan Crouser registered one of the greatest performances in track and field history, breaking his world record and throwing three of the six farthest shot puts of all time at the Los Angeles Grand Prix on Saturday.

Crouser unleashed throws of 23.56 meters, 23.31 and 23.23 at UCLA’s Drake Stadium. His previous world record from the Tokyo Olympic Trials was 23.37. He now owns the top four throws in history, and the 23.23 is tied for the fifth-best throw in history.

“The best thing is I’m still on high volume [training], heavy throws in the ring and heavy weights in the weight room, so we’re just starting to work in some speed,” the 6-foot-7 Crouser, who is perfecting a new technique coined the “Crouser slide,” told Lewis Johnson on NBC.

Sha’Carri Richardson won her 100m heat in 10.90 seconds into a slight headwind, then did not start the final about 90 minutes later due to cramping, Johnson said. Richardson is ranked No. 1 in the world in the 100m in 2023 (10.76) and No. 2 in the 200m (22.07).

Jamaican Ackeem Blake won the men’s 100m in a personal best 9.89 seconds. He now ranks third in the world this year behind Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala and American Fred Kerley, who meet in the Diamond League in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday (2-4 p.m. ET, CNBC, NBCSports.com/live, the NBC Sports app and Peacock).

The next major meet is the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in early July, when the top three in most individual events qualify for August’s world championships.

Richardson will bid to make her first global championships team, two years after having her Olympic Trials win stripped for testing positive for marijuana and one year after being eliminated in the first round of the 100m at USATF Outdoors.

LA GRAND PRIX: Full Results

Also Saturday, Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico won the 100m hurdles in 12.31, the fastest time ever this early in a year. Nigerian Tobi Amusan, who at last July’s worlds lowered the world record to 12.12, was eighth in the eight-woman field in 12.69.

Maggie Ewen upset world champion Chase Ealey in the shot put by throwing 20.45 meters, upping her personal best by more than three feet. Ewen went from 12th-best in American history to third behind 2016 Olympic champion Michelle Carter and Ealey.

Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic ran the fastest women’s 400m since the Tokyo Olympics, clocking 48.98 seconds. Paulino is the Olympic and world silver medalist. Olympic and world champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas is on a maternity break.

Rio Olympic bronze medalist Clayton Murphy won the 800m in 1:44.75, beating a field that included most of the top Americans in the event. Notably absent was 2019 World champion Donovan Brazier, who hasn’t raced since July 20 of last year amid foot problems.

CJ Allen won the 400m hurdles in a personal best 47.91, consolidating his argument as the second-best American in the event behind Olympic and world silver medalist Rai Benjamin, who withdrew from the meet earlier this week.

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