Reuters Sports News Summary

08/08/2016 0:56

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Russia banned from Paralympics over state-backed doping

Russia was barred from taking part in next month's Rio Paralympics on Sunday, with organizers blasting a "medals over morals mentality" as they announced the blanket ban over state-backed doping that Olympics bosses avoided. International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Philip Craven said Russia's Paralympians were part of a broken system overseen by the Russian government and suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee ahead of the Sept. 7-18 Games.

Swimming: Sjostrom avoids 'disasters' to win 100m butterfly

Calming her nerves by reassuring herself that 'it's just a pool', hot favorite Sarah Sjostrom broke her own world record in the 100 meters butterfly on Sunday to become the first Swedish woman to win an Olympic swimming gold medal. Canada's 16-year-old Penny Oleksiak won silver and Dana Vollmer of the United States, the defending Olympic champion who became a mother last year, took bronze.

Late Cole goal saves Galaxy from defeat

Ashley Cole scored in the 89th minute to give the Los Angeles Galaxy a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls on Sunday. Gonzalo Veron put the Red Bulls ahead in the 68th minute and Sean Davis looked to have sealed the win six minutes later when he put the visitors 2-0 up.

Gymnastics: Biles leads way for sensational Americans

Simone Biles showed the world why she is an Olympic champion-in-waiting as she and her American team mates blew away the opposition by almost 10 points in women's gymnastics qualifying at the Rio Games on Sunday. The quintet of Biles, 2012 all around champion Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian produced the kind of command performance that has made the Americans an unbeatable force since 2011 as they racked up a total of 185.238 points.

Swimming: Record-smashing Ledecky win women's 400m free

Katie Ledecky of the United States broke her own world record on Sunday on the way to winning the women's 400 meters freestyle gold medal, the first stage of a rare treble she hopes to complete at the Rio Olympics. Ledecky, who had come close to the record in the morning heats, led from start to finish to set a new mark of three minutes, 56.46 seconds, shaving 1.91 seconds off the previous best she set in Australia two years ago.

Weightlifting: Long wait over, Chinese lifter breaks world record

Chinese weightlifter Long Qingquan broke the 56kg world record on the way to defeating defending Olympic champion Om Yun Chol of North Korea at the Rio Games on Sunday. A noisy crowd of more than 4,000 at Riocentro roared as Om made his final attempt in the clean and jerk at 169kg to take the lead. They cheered even louder when Long, the 2008 Olympic champion, hoisted 170kg with the final lift of the night to take the gold medal.

Swimming: Peaty takes 100m breaststroke gold in record time

Adam Peaty smashed his own world record for the second time in two days on Sunday to win 100 meters breaststroke gold and become the first British male swimmer in 28 years to win an Olympic title. The 21-year-old world champion, who clocked 57.55 seconds in Saturday's heats, sliced another hefty chunk off his mark to finish in 57.13 and open his country's medal account at the Games.

Tennis: Williams sisters crash out of doubles

Three-time Olympic women's doubles champions Serena and Venus Williams crashed out of the Rio Games tournament in the first round on Sunday as the American sisters' unbeaten run dating back to Sydney 2000 came to a surprising end. The top seeds fell 6-3 6-4 to Czech pair Barbora Strycova and Lucie Safarova, ending any hopes of claiming a third successive Olympics doubles crown after they won gold in Beijing eight years ago and again at London 2012.

Del Potro sends Djokovic packing in Rio shock

World number one Novak Djokovic was dumped out of the Rio Games in the first round on Sunday by Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro, a shock result that reduced the Serb to tears as he left the court. Djokovic, who won this year's Australian and French Open titles, was the favorite to add Olympic gold to his 12 grand slam titles, and Del Potro was as surprised as anyone to see the Serb go out.

Phelps takes his 19th Olympic gold

Michael Phelps made all the difference as he won the 19th Olympic gold medal of his astonishing career on Sunday and helped the U.S. men's team to victory in the 4x100 meters freestyle relay. The 31-year-old, raising a roar from the crowd on his first competitive appearance at his fifth Games after sitting out the heats, now has an unprecedented 23 medals with two silvers and two bronzes filling out his tally.

08/08/2016 0:56