SKIING
A request by the organizers of next year’s skiing world championships in Italy to postpone the event by one year was rejected Thursday by the International Ski Federation.
FIS ruled that the event will go ahead from Feb. 7-21, 2021, in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The Veneto region of northern Italy was hit hard by the coronavirus and the season-ending World Cup races in Cortina in mid-March were canceled. That week-long event was to be a test for the 2021 worlds.
Organizers in Italy said they would face losses of about $34 million if the worlds are also canceled. They asked for a postponement to March 2022, which would be only weeks after the Beijing Olympics. Cortina, which hosted the 1956 Olympics, will co-host the 2026 Games with Milan and use the worlds as a showcase for the resort.
ROAD RACING
BOSTON MARATHON: Finishers of the virtual Boston Marathon will receive their medals in an Amazon package instead of having a volunteer drape it around their necks on Boylston Street.
Race organizers announced plans for the event on Thursday. Runners will have from Sept. 7-14 to complete the 26.2-mile distance and submit proof. There is no time limit, but it must be completed in one continuous run.
Also included in the post-race package will be a participation shirt, a program, a bottle opener and other unspecified celebratory items. The virtual race is open for those who had already registered for the real one, which was scheduled for April 20 and then put off until Sept. 14 before it was canceled.
The Boston Athletic Association says it is encouraging the more than 10,000 volunteers who had signed up to give back to their communities in another way. They can receive their volunteer jacket or donate it to a front-line worker.
BASEBALL
MAJOR LEAGUES: Chicago Cubs left-hander José Quintana had surgery to repair nerve damage in his pitching thumb Thursday after he cut himself washing dishes.
Chicago did not have a timetable for his return. Quintana cut his thumb at his home in Miami on Saturday and needed five stitches, according to the team. He had surgery in Chicago on Thursday morning.
The 31-year-old is expected to resume throwing in about two weeks. The Cubs hope to get a better idea then of how much time he will miss in a season that starts July 23 or 24 and has been shortened to 60 games. Quintana went 13-9 with a 4.68 ERA last year in his second full season with the Cubs. He was an All-Star for the crosstown White Sox in 2016.
• Right-hander Max Meyer has agreed to a $6.7 million signing bonus as part of a minor league contract to join the Miami Marlins, and he’ll take part in training camp starting Friday. The deal was for less than his slot value of $7,221,200 as the No. 3 overall pick in last month’s amateur draft.
Meyer had a 2.07 career ERA with 187 strikeouts in 148 innings at the University of Minnesota. He’s in the Marlins’ 60-man player pool and could crack their rotation at some point this year.
• The Tigers became the first Major League Baseball team to reach a deal with a sports gambling company, announcing a multiyear partnership Thursday with PointsBet.
Detroit said the agreement will “enhance fan engagement and game-day excitement by providing access to unique experiences, content, promotions and more, in and around Comerica Park.”
COLLEGES
BUDGET CUTS: The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has cut eight varsity athletic teams in an effort to better direct resources to remaning programs and align itself with other NCAA Division III schools, officials said.
UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Robert Johnson on Wednesday announced the discontinuation of men’s lacrosse, women’s equestrian, men’s golf, co-ed sailing, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s and women’s tennis.
UMass Dartmouth Director of Athletic Communications Jim Seavey told The Standard-Times of New Bedford that the decision was not related to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The resources from those programs are going to be reinvested into the other 17 programs,” he said. “By doing it now, it allows the athletic department and university to engage in long-term strategic planning.”
• The Oklahoma athletics department has announced $13.7 million in budget cuts it blames on fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, including a 10% salary drop for any employee earning at least $1,000,000 per year.
Athletic Director Joe Castiglione said the moves were the “first steps” in responding to the financial losses associated with virus outbreak. He warned other steps may be necessary.
The football team began voluntary workouts Wednesday. The Sooners said 111 players were tested Monday and there were seven additional positive tests after seven previously. In all, 14 Oklahoma players have tested positive along with two staff members. It said two players have since recovered.
• Boise State is discontinuing its baseball program just months after the school was forced to cut short its first season in 40 years with only a handful of games played.
The school has also cut women’s swimming and diving because of budget issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boise State said cutting the two programs along with additional department and program operating reductions will reduce the overall athletic budget by nearly $3 million.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: UConn Coach Geno Auriemma is asking for help from Congress to get foreign students, including athletes, back to campus.
The Huskies have three foreign players on their roster this year and the Hall of Fame coach says all three are experiencing issues getting into the United States because of the coronavirus pandemic and he doesn’t know if any of them will be back with the rest of the team on July 26.
Auriemma said he’s planning as if there will be a college basketball season but is not sure that will happen. “How are certain teams going to come here and play if they come from a state that’s been severely impacted? I don’t know,” he said.
TRACK AND FIELD
RUSSIA FAILS TO PAY FINE: The program allowing Russian track athletes to compete internationally will be frozen because the country’s federation failed to pay a fine on time, World Athletics said Thursday.
The Russian track federation, known as RusAF, owes a $5 million fine and another $1.31 million in costs for various doping-related work and legal wrangles. World Athletics said RusAF missed Wednesday’s deadline to pay.
World Athletics said it would freeze the work of the Doping Review Board, which vets Russian athletes who want the “authorized neutral athlete” status that allows them to compete internationally, and its task force monitoring RusAF’s anti-doping reforms.
World Athletics said both bodies will be “put on hold” until its council meets to discuss the situation at the end of July.
“RusAF is letting its athletes down badly,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said in a statement. “We have done as much as we can to expedite our ANA process and support RusAF with its reinstatement plan, but seemingly to no avail.”
RUGBY
AUSTRALIA: Australia’s Super Rugby players return to action from Friday after a 3 1/2-month hiatus due to the coronavirus shutdown. They’ll be a bit lighter in their wallets when they do.
An agreement reached on Wednesday will see the players receive 70% of their original wage for the new in-house competition called Super Rugby Au.
Players from the Queensland Reds, New South Wales Waratahs, Melbourne Rebels and ACT Brumbies had been told to expect an average 60% cut after Super Rugby was put on hold on March 15. But negotiations over the last week between the players’ union and Rugby Australia resulted in only a 30% cut, keeping them in line with senior national office staff and new Wallabies coach Dave Rennie.
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