FIGURE SKATING

Olympic bronze medalist Caetlyn Osmond of Canada won the figure skating world title Friday at Assago, Italy, with a nearly perfect performance. Olympic champion Alina Zagitova fell a jaw-dropping three times and the crowd favorite, Carolina Kostner, turned in a lackluster skate, both tumbling completely off the podium.

Osmond, who skated first in the final group, watched with amazement from the sidelines after Zagitova’s and Kostner’s disastrous programs handed her the title and deprived the two favorites any medals at all. Wakaba Higuchi of Japan won silver and teammate Satoko Miyahara took bronze.

Americans Bradie Tennell and Mirai Nagasu finished sixth and 10th, respectively, leaving the U.S. women with just two spots next year.

TENNIS

MIAMI OPEN: Novak Djokovic’s 16-match winning streak in the tournament ended, and his struggle to come back from an elbow injury continued with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Benoit Paire at Key Biscayne, Florida.

Advertisement

The defeat was Djokovic’s third straight. He returned from a six-month injury absence at the Australian Open and lost in the fourth round, and was upset two weeks ago at Indian Wells by Taro Daniel, a 109th-ranked qualifier.

FRENCH OPEN: Taking its cue from the U.S. Open, the French Open will try some changes at this year’s event, including a five-minute warmup period before all matches, 25 seconds between points in qualifying rounds, and no service lets in the junior events.

SOCCER

U.S. WOMEN: The United States remains at the top of the FIFA rankings after winning the SheBelieves Cup, and England moved ahead of Germany into second. Germany had been ranked in the top two for nearly 10 years.

The Americans went unbeaten in the four-team round-robin tournament they hosted this month.

ENGLISH FANS: Dutch police said they detained 25 English soccer supporters overnight after drunken fans threw beer bottles at officers ahead of a friendly match between the Netherlands and England in Amsterdam. England won, 1-0.

Advertisement

AUTO RACING

NASCAR: Hendrick Motorsports agreed to a four-year extension with Axalta to sponsor a combined 25 races per season between Alex Bowman and William Byron.

The deal runs through the 2022 season and came one week after the team owner, Rick Hendrick, confirmed that the home improvement giant Lowe’s will no longer sponsor seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson after this season. Lowe’s has been Johnson’s only primary sponsor since his 2001 debut, and replacing that level of funding will be a daunting task.

HOCKEY

U.S. MEN: Bill Zito was selected as the general manager for the national team.

Zito is assistant general manager for the Columbus Blue Jackets. USA Hockey announced the appointment a little over a month before the world hockey championships.

Advertisement

SKIING

U.S. ALPINE: Olympian Ryan Cochran-Siegle repeated as the super-G winner at the championships in Sun Valley, Idaho.

In the women’s super-G race, Nina O’Brien held off teenager A.J. Hurt by .11 seconds. O’Brien finished second in the super-G standings on the NorAm circuit.

– News service report


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.