Nick Kurtz becomes first MLB rookie with 4-homer game as Athletics beat Astros 15-3

Former Orlando Pirates striker Zakhele Lepasa was candid when he spoke about what drove him to recover from the injury that kept him out of action last season.

#Fernandez advances to Citi Open semifinals with win over former doubles partner. Fernandez played an aggressive return game against Townsend and had 23 break-point chances, converting five.

Still, Fernandez only finished the game one break ahead after defending just three of the seven break-point chances she faced.

Fernandez, who advanced to the quarterfinals with a win Thursday over top-seed Jessica Pegula, appeared to be battling cramps in the second set, but held on to win the second set tiebreak.

The 22-year-old from Laval, Que., will next face third-seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. They are tied 1-1 in head-to-head matchups.

Fernandez is rounding into form at the right time, with the main draw of the women’s National Bank Open kicking off Sunday in Montreal.

The Canadian joins Britain’s Emma Raducanu in the semifinals in Washington. It’s the first time they have been in the final four of a tournament since they met in the final of the 2021 U.S. Open, which Raducanu won in straight sets.

Fernandez and Townsend had success as a doubles tandem during the 2023 season. While they did not win a title, they made it to the final of the French Open and the WTA 1000 Miami Open, as well as the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open.

Calls for hockey culture change continue after sexual assault trial. The spotlight on Canadian hockey culture dimming with the acquittal of five players of sexual assault charges is potentially part of the fallout from Thursday’s verdict.

Hockey Canada vowed in 2022 to tackle “the toxic behaviour that exists in many corners of the game.”

At that time, the organization was under fire for its handling of sexual assault allegations against members of the 2018 Canadian junior men’s hockey team, and for using a portion of registration fees to settle lawsuits.

Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote were acquitted of all charges Thursday in courtroom in London, Ont. Four of the five were NHL players when they were arrested in 2024.

The case had sent shock waves across Canadian hockey and reached the House of Commons, where members of Parliament grilled Hockey Canada executives on what they knew and did.

Does all the talk of changing hockey culture get walked back with the judge’s decision Thursday?

“The concern is that the community will see this decision, and they’ll say hockey culture doesn’t need to change, because these guys did nothing wrong,” said Greg Gilhooly, a lawyer and survivor of sexual abuse by hockey coach Graham James.

“The legal system doesn’t address something more fundamental, and that’s what should the guys have done in that room. If there’s one thing that is undeniable, it’s that in that room that night, there was an absence of leadership. There was an absence of character. Nobody said at any time, ‘I don’t care what she’s saying, this is wrong. We need to be better than this. Stop.’

“Does a failure of character mean that someone should go to jail? It does not. The hope that I have is that coming out of this, hockey, and society at large, will realize that you need to think about your actions and avoid putting yourselves in situations like this and act with character, not act as the situation allows you to act. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

Canada’s Mboko ousted in second round of Citi Open with loss to Rybakina

Italy’s Jonathan Milan won a crash-marred finale to stage 17 of the Tour de France in lashing rain on Wednesday, extending his lead in the sprint points race.

#Canada’s Summer McIntosh breaks own world record in 400-metre individual medley

#Canada wins Canadian Shield Tournament despite penalty shootout loss to Ivory Coast

#Sports: McIntosh just misses breaking oldest women’s record by blink of an eye.

VICTORIA — Summer McIntosh came within a blink of an eye of breaking swimming’s oldest women’s world record at the Bell Canadian Swimming Trials on Tuesday night.

With a sold-out crowd’s cheers ringing in her ears, the 18-year-old from Toronto swam the 200-metre butterfly in 2:02.26 — just .45 off the record of 2:01.81 set by China’s Liu Zige in 2009. She also shaved .76 off her own Canadian record and notched the second fastest time in history in the event.

Meanwhile, four new swimmers earned selection to Team Canada for this summer’s World Aquatics Championships. McIntosh was pleased with her swim, but also believes the record remains within her grasp.

“I think this world record is the hardest one to get,” said McIntosh, who has set two world records and four Canadian records in four days. “I’m just so happy with the 2:02 low tonight. I didn’t know if that was possible for me.”

McIntosh was on world record pace when she made the final turn for home.

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