Reuters Sports News Summary

07/29/2016 12:57

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

IOC warned Rio on construction contracts five years ago: documents

The International Olympic Committee warned organizers of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro five years ago that construction contracts they drew up could give developers incentives to cut corners, presaging problems with athletes' housing that drew complaints from several countries this week, documents showed. Rio's city government, responsible for the vast majority of infrastructure projects for the Games, has used public-private partnerships, or PPPs, to get private firms to cover the cost of building venues in return for permission to build real estate on the sites.

Plays resumes at PGA Championship after brief suspension

Early second-round play in the PGA Championship resumed after a delay of 41 minutes at Baltusrol on Friday with weather threatening to cause further interruptions in the year's final major championship. Heavy rain forced a brief suspension after the golfers had been on the course for a little more than an hour, but the rain let up on the humid, overcast day where possible thunderstorms remained in the forecast.

'Pied Piper of Woburn' Hull eclipsing world number one Ko

British number one Charley Hull looked like the 'Pied Piper of Woburn' as she treated her fans to another sparkling exhibition of golf to move into contention at the Ricoh Women's British Open on Friday. The 20-year-old, who is playing at her home course this week, delighted family, friends and a host of local schoolchildren in the crowd by firing a two-under 70 in the second round that included a run of five birdies in six holes from the seventh.

F1 tightens flag rules for qualifying

Formula One qualifying will be halted under "double-yellow" conditions starting during this weekend's German Grand Prix in a tightening of rules aimed at avoiding a repeat of the controversy surrounding Nico Rosberg's pole in Hungary. "The procedure now would be to simply red-flag any time that there's a double-waved yellow flag, then there will be no discussion," Charlie Whiting, the governing International Automobile Federation's (FIA) Formula One race director, told reporters at the Hockenheim circuit on Friday.

Blind athlete runs desert marathon unassisted using smartphone app

The physical and mental endurance required to run an ultramarathon in the scorching desert is a daunting challenge for even the most accomplished athletes. But doing it unassisted without the sense of sight seems practically impossible. Simon Wheatcroft lost his sight at the age of 17, but this hasn't stopped him from competing in some of the most extreme running events in the world. In May he attempted a 150 mile ultra-marathon across the desert in Namibia, managing 100 miles before having to pull out because of the extreme heat.

Baghdatis withdraws from Rio due to injury

Cypriot tennis player Marcos Baghdatis has withdrawn from next month's Rio Olympics after failing to recover from an elbow injury, the world number 42 said on Friday. The 31-year-old Baghdatis, runner-up in the 2006 Australian Open, lost to eventual champion Andy Murray in the round of 16 at the 2012 London Olympics.

Wawrinka advances to Toronto quarter-finals

Swiss second seed Stan Wawrinka won a hard-hitting battle with American Jack Sock on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals at the Rogers Cup with a 7-6(3) 6-2 triumph. Wawrinka and Sock held serve throughout the first set to force a tiebreak that was won easily by Wawrinka who went on to dominate the second set where he charged out to a 4-0 lead and dropped just five points on serve to take the match.

Teaching community through capoeira in a hardscrabble Rio slum

Manoel Pereira Costa is a star on this sprawling mountainside in Rio de Janeiro. No matter the nook or cranny, neighbors are eager to greet him anywhere he goes in maze-like Rocinha, one of the biggest and best-known slums, or favelas, that dot the city landscape.

Chiller pours cold water on Russia cheats meet

Australia's Olympic delegation head Kitty Chiller has questioned Russia's determination to eliminate drug cheats after it was announced that the country would host an alternative event for banned track and field athletes in Moscow. On Wednesday, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) upheld the ban on 67 Russian track and field athletes for systematic state-sponsored doping, ending any hopes they had of competing at next month's Rio Games.

Motor racing: Button cleared to race in Germany after eye check-up

HOCKENHEIM, Germany, July 29 (Reuters) - Jenson Button is fit to drive in the German Formula One Grand Prix after being taken to hospital for a precautionary eye check-up following Friday's practice session. "On my way back to Hockenheim from the Mannheim hospital for an eye examination, foreign body found and removed," Button said on Twitter. "All good for tomorrow."

07/29/2016 12:57