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Sports in brief

 
Published July 17, 2016

olympics

antidoping leaders ready to urge total ban of russia at rio games

A letter drafted by U.S. and Canadian antidoping leaders urging Russia's removal from next month's Olympics is circulating before Monday's release of a report expected to detail a state-sponsored doping system that corrupted Russia's entire sports program.

The letter, reported Saturday, is being prepared to possibly be sent to the International Olympic Committee's president and executive board after the release of a report by investigator Richard McLaren. It would be sent only if the report details widespread, state-sponsored doping, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart said. It calls for the IOC to ensure that Russia's Olympic Committee and sports federations be banned from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the Games start Aug. 5.

The letter encourages exceptions for Russian athletes who can prove they were subject to strong antidoping systems in other countries. It has backing from antidoping agencies in at least six countries and athlete groups from around the world, Tygart said. Pat Hickey, president of the European Olympic Committee, said the letter "undermined the integrity and therefore the credibility of this important report."

golf: Rio organizing committee president Carlos Nuzman said the world's top-four-ranked men have withdrawn from the Games because there is no money to be won, not because of the Zika virus. Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy have said Zika is the main reason they are skipping the first Olympic tournament in 112 years.

et cetera

Bowling: Lindsay Boomershine went 5-1 in match play at the PWBA St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open in Seminole to earn the top seed for the televised stepladder finals Aug. 7. She will be joined on the TV show by Rocio Restrepo, who also won her match-play group to earn the second seed; Stefanie Johnson and Kelly Kulick.

Boxing: Deontay Wilder retained his WBC heavyweight title with a technical knockout when Chris Arreola's corner stopped the fight after the eighth round in Birmingham, Ala. The left eye of Arreola (36-5-1) appeared swollen shut. Wilder (37-0, 36 knockouts) knocked down Arreola in the fourth.

NHL: Stars captain Jamie Benn signed an eight-year, $76 million contract extension, the largest extension of this offseason. Benn, 26, won the league scoring title in 2014-15.

Soccer: Midfielder N'Golo Kante left Premier League champion Leicester to join Chelsea for a five-year deal worth a reported $40 million.

Tennis: Ivan Dodig and Marin Cilic kept Croatia alive in its Davis Cup quarterfinal with the United States, beating Bob and Mike Bryan 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in doubles at Portland, Ore. Croatia trailed 2-1 heading into today's reverse singles matches. The United States led 2-0 after Jack Sock and John Isner won the opening singles matches Friday. … Marat Safin and Justine Henin were inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport, R.I.

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Tour de France: Mark Cavendish easily sprinted to his fourth stage victory, and Chris Froome, finishing in the main pack, had little trouble holding onto the yellow jersey in the 130-mile 14th stage from Montelimar to Villars-Les-Dombes, near Lyon. It was Cavendish's 30th career Tour win, putting him within four of Eddy Merckx's record. Froome remained 1:47 ahead of Bauke Mollema.

WNBA: Los Angeles (20-1) tied the 1998 Houston Comets for best start in league history with a 98-92 win over host Connecticut late Friday.

Times staff, wires