Reuters Sports News Summary

08/15/2016 12:58

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Lochte says he challenged armed robbers in Rio

Ryan Lochte initially resisted a group of armed men posing as police who robbed the Olympic gold medalist and three fellow American swimmers in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Lochte said in an interview broadcast on Monday on the "Today" show. The robbery of Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen early Sunday, as they returned in a taxi to their hotels after a night of partying, has fed concern over safety at the first Olympic Games in South America.

Scowling Gatlin booed by Rio crowd

American Justin Gatlin felt the full force of the crowd's ire on Sunday and scowled back in response before finishing second to Usain Bolt in the Olympic 100 meters final and miss out on becoming the oldest man to win the event. The 34-year-old Gatlin, who has served two career doping suspensions, played the sullen yin to Jamaican superstar Bolt's exuberant yang, glowering both times he was introduced to boos as he entered the Olympic stadium.

Imperious Bolt completes amazing 100m triple

For 9.81 glorious seconds on Sunday, all the ills that have dogged athletics recently were forgotten as Usain Bolt stormed to victory in the 100 meters final to become the first man to win three successive Olympic titles on the track. The Jamaican superstar trailed arch-rival Justin Gatlin, roundly booed by the Rio crowd for his doping past, until the 70 meter mark but then swept past the American, finding time to pat his chest as he crossed the line a meter clear.

Ready, steady, tee off! Players pick up the pace in speedgolf

The sound of a whistle signals the start of the race, and Rob Hogan sprints toward the first of 18 legs in his contest: a golf tee. He takes a quick look at the fairway, then hits a drive, grabs his bag and runs toward his next shot, a process he repeats until he makes it the green. A game of 18 holes would usually take golfers about four hours. Hogan's round of 82 strokes lasted just 36 minutes and 59 seconds, retaining his title in a somewhat unusual contest -- the British Open Speedgolf Championships.

Jebet wins Bahrain's first ever gold

Teenager Ruth Jebet won Bahrain's first ever Olympic gold medal on Monday, blowing away the competition in the women's 3,000 meters steeplechase but narrowly missing out on the world record. The 19-year-old stormed into the lead after a few laps and set a blistering pace to win in eight minutes 59.75 seconds, shy of the 8:58.81 world record set by Russia's Gulnara Galkina at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Brilliant Van Niekerk smashes 400m world record

South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk ran the fastest single lap in history to win the Olympic 400 meters gold medal in 43.03 seconds and break Michael Johnson's 17-year-old world record on Sunday. Running an extraordinary race in lane eight, the 24-year-old world champion got off to a flier and was streaking clear on the back straight before upping his pace even further to better American Johnson's 1999 mark of 43.18 seconds.

Wlodarczyk shatters world record for hammer gold

Poland's Anita Wlodarczyk underlined her absolute dominance of the women's hammer by throwing a world record 82.29 meters to win the Rio Olympic gold by an incredible 554 centimeters on Monday. The only woman to have thrown the hammer further than 80 meters, the 31-year-old world champion had already broken the Olympic record with a second throw of 80.40 when she entered the ring for the third time.

Exclusive: Russia's Klishina to compete after appeal upheld

Russian long jumper Darya Klishina will compete at the Rio Olympics after her ban from the Games was struck down by sport's highest court on the eve of her event. Russian track and field suffered a final humiliation in Rio on Saturday when the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) suspended Klishina, the nation's only athlete to have so far survived a blanket doping ban, three days before she was due to compete.

Sharapova could return in January: tennis chief

Five-times grand slam winner Maria Sharapova, banned in June for two years for doping offenses, may be allowed to return in January, according to Russian Tennis Federation president Shamil Tarpishchev. "Everything will be decided in September. It is impossible to say for certain but I think she will start playing again by January," Tarpishchev was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency on Monday.

Schippers through, Campbell-Brown in early exit

World champion Dafne Schippers shook off injury to reach the 200 meters semi-finals but twice Olympic gold medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown made an early exit from her fifth Games on Monday. Campbell-Brown, back-to-back champion in 2004 and 2008, finished third in the ninth heat and her time of 22.97 was not enough to get through to Friday's semis.

08/15/2016 12:58