RUNNING

Two-hour marathon bid comes up seconds short

Eliud Kipchoge was 26 seconds from making history Saturday but the Olympic champion finished just short of becoming the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours.

Kipchoge ran the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 26 seconds at the Formula One track at Monza, Italy, beating Dennis Kimetto’s world mark of 2:02:57.

The 32-year-old Kenyan did break his personal best time of 2:03:05, set at the London Marathon last year.

The attempt was not sanctioned as a world record by the IAAF because of variables like pacers entering mid-race and drinks being given to runners via mopeds.

BOBSLEDDING

OBITUARY: Steven Holcomb, the longtime U.S. star who drove to three Olympic medals after beating a disease that nearly robbed him of his eyesight, was found dead in Lake Placid, New York, on Saturday.

He was 37.

The cause of death remains unclear, but officials said there were no signs of foul play.

SOCCER

MLS: Ola Kamara had a goal and an assist, and Zack Steffen made five saves for his third shutout, leading the Columbus Crew to a 2-0 victory against the visiting New England Revolution.

The Revolution are 0-4-2 on the road.

TENNIS

FRENCH OPEN: Former champion Ilie Nastase has been banned from attending following his suspension by the ITF.

The 70-year-old Nastase was provisionally suspended by the ITF after his comments about the skin color of the baby that Serena Williams is expecting, and for foul-mouthed outbursts during a recent Fed Cup tie between his Romania team and Britain.

BMW OPEN: Alexander Zverev defeated second-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-5, 7-5 on Saturday. He will meet Argentine qualifier Guido Pella in the final at Munich.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR CUP SERIES: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the pole for Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Stenhouse was the last to qualify and knocked Dale Earnhardt Jr. to second.

XFINITY SERIES: Aric Almirola earned his third career Xfinity win by holding off a hard-charging pack in the closing laps at Talladega.

A caution for debris set up a restart with 11 laps left, and they were frantic at the front. Justin Allgaier, Joey Logano, Elliott Sadler and Almirola all made plays for the win.

HOCKEY

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: Co-host Germany crashed back to earth, losing to Sweden 7-2 in Paris on Saturday, a day after upsetting the United States.

William Nylander had two goals and an assist for nine-time champion Sweden.

Also, the Czech Republic routed Belarus 6-1, and Switzerland edged Slovenia 5-4 in a shootout.

CYCLING

GIRO D’ITALIA: Andre Greipel of Germany won a bunch sprint to claim the 137-mile second stage from Olbia to Tortoli and take the pink jersey for the first time.

High schools

BOYS’ LACROSSE: Finn Raymond scored four times, and Jim Boeschenstein added three goals and an assist as Cape Elizabeth (3-1) dominated visiting York (2-3), 18-2.

GIRLS’ LACROSSE: Eva Then had a game-high four goals for Yarmouth (4-0), which took a 3-2 halftime lead and pulled away to defeat visiting Freeport (1-4), 9-4.

– Staff and news service report