Reuters Sports News Summary

08/04/2016 19:53

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Torch surfs its way into Rio after protests before Games

Veteran Brazilian surfer Rico de Souza rode waves with the Olympic torch on Thursday as the flame makes its way back to Rio de Janeiro for Friday's opening ceremony, under the cloud of angry demonstrations by some residents in recent days. Riot police used stun grenades and tear gas to clear protesters in the torch's path in a poor suburb on Wednesday evening. A video of the incident spurred online criticism of authorities and fueled complaints that the Games have ignored the city's poor.

Judo : Harrison eyes 'destiny' U.S.-Brazil final

U.S. Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison is eager to compete in front of Brazil's passionate judo fans and hopes to meet long-time Brazilian rival Mayra Aguiar in the final at the Rio Games, calling it "destiny." In what could be judo's biggest rivalry, Harrison and Aguiar are nearly even in head-to-head competition, with the former holding a 9-8 advantage.

Swimming : Relay fireworks to light up opening weekend

Michael Phelps is fired up and ready to go for what promises to be an explosive first weekend of the Rio Olympic swimming program. The American could feature in Sunday's 4x100 freestyle relay final and should collect the 23rd Olympic medal of his record-breaking career if he does.

Archery : U.S. coach Lee plots Korea's downfall

South Korea is not thrilled that its top archery brains are guiding other Olympic nations but the sport's superpower is especially uncomfortable about master coach Lee Ki-sik's American success. The man who piloted South Korea at four Olympics from 1984-1996 has turned the United States into a formidable rival to the east Asian nation since joining the country's archery program in 2006.

On tight budget, opening ceremony adopts 'MacGyver' approach

Pulling together an Olympics opening ceremony in the midst of a deep recession required what Brazil's organizers called "MacGyverism" and a lot of bargain hunting at a popular Rio bazaar. The three Brazilian filmmakers and creative minds behind Friday's ceremony to open South America's first Olympic Games, said they drew on their country's rich tradition of stretching a little cash a long way.

Exclusive : CAS partially upholds Olympic appeal of Russian swimmer Efimova

Four-times breaststroke world champion Yulia Efimova was handed an Olympic lifeline on Thursday when the Court of Arbitration for Sport partially upheld her appeal against a Games ban. Efimova had been disqualified from competing by swimming governing body FINA between October, 2013 and February, 2015 after testing positive for traces of the anabolic steroid DHEA.

Golf-Taylor charges into share of Travelers lead

American journeyman Vaughn Taylor, making a long-awaited return to form, birdied five of his last seven holes to rocket into a tie for the lead in Thursday's opening round of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut. Taylor, whose 2016 campaign has veered between the brilliant and the frustrating, fired a six-under-par 64 on a sunny day at TPC River Highlands to set the tournament pace with compatriots Andrew Loupe and Jerry Kelly.

Russia says 271-strong team will be cleanest at Rio

Russia will be represented in most sports at the Rio Olympics, with 271 of its sportsmen and women cleared to participate ahead of the opening ceremony, Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) head Alexander Zhukov said on Thursday. Russian boxers, judokas and shooters were among those given last-minute approval by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the aftermath of a doping scandal which has tarnished Russia's reputation as a sporting superpower and threatened to split the Olympic movement.

Sports tribunal opens Rio's doors to more Russian dopers

A global sporting tribunal opened the door wider to Russian participation at the Rio Olympic Games on Thursday, ruling that an Olympic ban on two Russian rowers and a swimmer with histories of doping was unenforceable. The decision, on the eve of the opening ceremony, could invite a dozen more appeals against the ban from Russian competitors, according to the tribunal's chief, and underlines Russian arguments that the ban lacks legal justification.

Rio Games preparation chaos hopefully a one-off event : IOC

The troubled preparations for the Rio Olympics proved that the model for the Games could withstand the toughest challenges but the IOC hoped it would not have to face such a stress test again, president Thomas Bach said on Thursday. Speaking on the eve of the opening ceremony, Bach said organizers and the International Olympic Committee had braved and survived Brazil's economic meltdown and political turmoil.

08/04/2016 19:53