Olympics:
Tonight is the finals for women’s team all-around gymnastics, women’s 200m freestyle, the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay, men’s 200m butterfly, men’s weightlifting, men’s and women’s judo, women’s diving, women’s pistol shooting, men’s canoe single, individual and team equestrian eventing, men’s fencing, and the women’s 200m individual medley.
Swimming:
Gold medalists Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky of the United States and Katinka Hosszu of Hungary will be back in the pool, looking for even more glory in Rio. Ledecky goes first in the 200 meter freestyle Tuesday night, and 10 minutes later Phelps has his sights set on the 200 meter butterfly, the event in which he holds the world and Olympic records.
Then the women's 200 meter individual medley gets underway with Hosszu, the world and Olympic record holder, in the field. On Sunday, Hosszu shattered the world record in the 400-meter individual medley to win gold and on Monday became the first two-time gold medalist at Rio's Olympic Aquatics Stadium when she won the women's 100 backstroke title. Capping off another dramatic night in the pool will be the men's 4x200 meter freestyle relay. The U.S. men, who took gold in the 4x100-meter free, hold the world and Olympic records in the 200.
Gymnastics:
Tuesday is show time in Rio for the U.S women's gymnastics team, which made a statement in qualifiers by posting a top score that outpaced second-place China by a staggering 10 points. China, Russia, Great Britain, Brazil, Germany, Japan and the Netherlands will look to knock off the Americans, which are led by Martha Karolyi. How difficult will it be? Consider this: The margin between the U.S. and the Chinese in qualifiers was greater than the margin between China and 12th-place Belgium. The Japanese men topped Russia in the team finals to take gold on Monday.
Basketball:
The U.S. Olympic men's basketball team surged after a slow start, beating Venezuela 113-69 on Monday night as Carmelo Anthony passed Michael Jordan for third place on the Americans' career scoring list. The game was tied at 18 after one quarter but the Americans soon took control and powered their way to a second straight win to start the tournament.
Paul George scored 20 points and Jimmy Butler had 17 for the Americans. Anthony finished with 14, passing Jordan's total of 256 points late in the first half. Anthony now has 262 points and the four-time Olympian trails only LeBron James (273) and David Robinson (270).
The Americans continue pool play on Wednesday against unbeaten Australia. The Aussies, featuring five NBA players, four of them league champions, improved to 2-0 on Monday with an impressive 95-80 win over Serbia.
In other Olympic action:
— The U.S. women's basketball team is 2-0 after Diana Taurasi scored 13 points and Elena Delle Donne added 12 in a 103-63 pounding of Spain. The victory was the 43rd consecutive for the five-time defending champions, who trailed 8-6 before closing the first quarter on a 23-6 run. The U.S. has scored 100 or more points in consecutive games for the first time since the 2004 Olympics.
— Serena Williams is on to the third round in women's tennis as she seeks a second consecutive singles gold medal. The top-ranked Williams committed 36 unforced errors, was broken four times and showed fits of anger before pulling out a 7-6, 6-2 victory over Alize Cornet of France. Williams fought off a pair of set points at 4-5 against Cornet, who had won four of their previous seven matches.
— American tennis player Madison Keys won her second-round match by downing Kristina Mladenovic of France, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6. Other second-round winners include Germany's Angelique Kerber, Spaniard Garbine Muguruza and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.
— China's Chen Aisen and Lin Yue totaled 496.98 points in claiming diving gold in the men's 10-meter synchronized event. American teammates David Boudia and Steele Johnson took silver at 457.11, almost 40 points behind the Chinese duo.
— The top-ranked U.S. women's volleyball team had to work hard before knocking off the Netherlands 18-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 15-8. The Americans were able to improve to 2-0 by rallying from their two-sets-to-one deficit after the Dutch captain had to be helped off midway through the fourth set with a right ankle injury.
— The U.S. women's field hockey team beat Australia 2-1 to improve to 2-0. The fifth-ranked Americans lead Pool B with six points and moved closer to qualifying for the quarterfinals. The top four teams in each six-team pool advance.
— The American water polo team lost to Spain 10-9, and the U.S. women's rugby squad beat France 19-5 in the fifth-place game
— The U.S. women's rowers made a strong debut in Rio and qualified for Saturday's final in 6 minutes, 6.34 seconds, a whopping eight seconds ahead of the Netherlands.
NFL:
The Cleveland Browns have named Robert Griffin III as their starting quarterback, ending a competition that included incumbent Josh McCown. Griffin was expected to be under center for the season opener after signing a two-year, $15 million contract with the Browns. Griffin was the Redskins' starting quarterback from 2012 until the middle of the 2014 season before losing his starting job for good last year, leading to his release.
In other NFL news:
Veteran wide receiver Lance Moore has retired just three days after signing as a free agent with the Falcons. Moore played eight seasons with the Saints before spending the last two with Pittsburgh and Detroit. The 32-year-old had 389 career receptions for 4,816 yards and 44 touchdowns with New Orleans.
Other than the elastic brace on his right knee, there has been no visible sign that age was catching up to Eli Manning as he enters his 13th season as the New York Giants' quarterback. The 35-year-old hasn't changed much since taking over as the Giants' starter halfway through his rookie season in 2004. He's healthy, even after starting the last 183 regular-season games. He can make all the throws and seems to be enjoying himself working within Ben McAdoo's West Coast offense. Manning took questions from reporters yesterday.
The Buffalo Bills finally have some good news: Receiver Sammy Watkins is among three starters returning to practice. Watkins and defensive tackles Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams made their training camp debuts Monday after passing physicals. Watkins has been out since April, when he had surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot. Dareus had been sidelined with an illness.
MLB:
In the American League, Toronto beat Tampa Bay 7-5, Minnesota won against Houston 3-1, Oakland edged Baltimore 3-2, and it was Seattle over Detroit 3-0. The Yankees face Boston tonight in a new three-game series at 7 p.m.
In the National League, the Dodgers beat Philadelphia 9-4, St. Louis edged Cincinnati 5-4, Atlanta won against Milwaukee 4-3 in 12 innings, and it was San Francisco over Miami 8-7 in 14 innings. The Mets start a series with Arizona tonight at 7 p.m.
In interleague play, Texas slid past Colorado 4-3.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy has been admitted to a Miami hospital after falling ill, leaving the team in the hands of bench coach Ron Wotus Monday. The Giants issued a statement saying Bochy is "resting comfortably" and will be monitored overnight. Bochy underwent a heart procedure in February 2015 to insert two stents.
Ichiro Suzuki has a gift for the Baseball Hall of Fame. The 42-year-old has donated some of the gear he wore when he collected his 3,000th career hit Sunday. The gifts include his jersey, a pair of cleats, his arm guard and batting gloves. Hall president Jeff Idelson received the items before Monday's game between Ichiro's Miami Marlins and the San Francisco Giants. Ichiro is a baseball history buff and has visited Cooperstown six times.
NHL:
Former NHL forward Craig Janney, longtime high school coach Bill Belisle and the 1996 American World Cup of Hockey team have been elected to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Janney is the leader in assists per game among U.S.-born NHL players, collecting 563 while scoring 751 points in 760 games. The '96 U.S. team beat Canada to win the World Cup of Hockey. And the 86-year-old Belisle has won 32 state championships in 41 seasons at Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
NCAA:
An LGBTQ advocacy group has sent a letter to the commissioner of the Big 12 urging the conference to remove BYU from consideration for membership because it says the school has discriminatory policies. Athlete Ally, a nonprofit group that works with sports leagues and organizations on educational and awareness programs, wrote in a letter dated Aug. 8 that "... through its policies, BYU is very clear about its intent to discriminate against openly LGBT students ..." BYU is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The school's honor code states that same-gender attraction is not an issue. But it does state "Homosexual behavior is inappropriate and violates the Honor Code." The school honor code requires all students to commit to chastity outside of marriage.
OBIT:
Dirt track racer and four-time US Auto Club national champion Bryan Clauson has died at age 27 from injuries suffered in an accident Saturday night. Clauson was leading the race when he crashed passing lapped traffic. His car rolled and was hit by another competitor. Clauson had 27 victories in 116 starts this year and led three laps in the Indianapolis 500 in May.
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