SKIING

Carrabassett Valley grad wins gold at junior worlds

Maine native Sam Morse won the gold medal Wednesday in the downhill race at the FIS junior world ski championships in Are, Sweden.

Morse, who attended Carrabassett Valley Academy, had a time of 1:23.34, edging Italy’s Alexander Prast by 0.38 seconds. Morse, a member of the U.S. national Alpine C team, finished fourth in this event a year ago.

“It’s a dream come true,” Morse, 20, said in a press release. “It’s a big step in the career. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while. It hasn’t really hit me yet, honestly. It puts a target on your back in the future, but it makes you hungry for that next step. We all dream of going to the World Cup and hopefully this will launch me in that direction.”

The U.S. swept gold in the downhill as Alice Merryweather of Hingham, Massachusetts, won the women’s event.

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BASKETBALL

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Kentucky Coach John Calipari will lead Team USA’s Under-19 World Cup squad at July’s FIBA World Championships, his first international coaching position since guiding the Dominican Republic national team in 2011 and 2012.

Wake Forest Coach Danny Manning and Colorado Coach Tad Boyle will be Calipari’s assistants as the team seeks its third straight gold medal following victories in 2013 and 2015. The event runs July 1-9 in Cairo, Egypt.

BOXING

OBITUARY: Lou Duva, the Boxing Hall of Famer who handled the careers of 19 champions including heavyweight titlist Evander Holyfield, died Wednesday. He was 94.

The colorful Duva died of natural causes at a hospital in Paterson, New Jersey, where he lived, his son said in a statement released by the family.

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A gruff, down-to-earth manager and trainer who was generous with his pupils, Duva had a career that spanned seven decades. Besides Olympic medalists like Holyfield, he also handled welterweight champions Pernell Whitaker and Meldrick Taylor.

OLYMPICS

DOPING: The World Anti-Doping Agency says it is exploring a complete ban on corticosteroids.

Corticosteroids, which are used in anti-inflammatory medicines to treat a range of conditions, are allowed out of competition and permitted in competition by obtaining a therapeutic use exemption.

At the Tackling Doping in Sport conference in London, WADA director general Olivier Niggli said the status quo was an “unsatisfactory situation” and a group of experts will now look into whether corticosteroids are being abused.

SOCCER

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Barcelona completed the biggest comeback in Champions League history by beating Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 at home to reach the quarterfinals, scoring the decisive goal of a 6-5 victory on aggregate in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Barcelona scored three times from the 88th minute. Sergi Roberto’s dramatic late goal made the team the first to overturn a 4-0 first-leg defeat since the competition started in the 1992-93 season.

SLED DOG RACING

IDITAROD: Mushers are jockeying for the early lead.

Wade Marrs, a 26-year-old veteran who had his highest finish at fourth last year, was the first to leave the checkpoint in Tanana, Alaska, on Tuesday. He departed just ahead of four-time champion Dallas Seavey and Pete Kaiser.

– Staff and news service report


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