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Sports
Michael Phelps Powers U. S. To Victory And Wins His 19th Gold Medal
Beauty Unlimited
MARIA
Maria, as this week’s Beauty Unlimited feature, brings a robust and energizing new look to the indus- try. This young lady is self confident, and knows she’s destined for stardom. Let’s congratulate Maria as this week’s Beauty Unlimited.
Michael Phelps won his 19th Olympic gold medal as the United States won the 4x100 relay at the Olympics on Sunday. The Americans’ traditional rival in the event, France, was second, and Aus- tralia third.
The gold was Phelps’s 23rd medal: 19 golds, 2 sil- vers and 2 bronzes. The final time was 3:09.92.
Phelps swam the second leg for the Americans, taking over from Caeleb Dressel in second place behind France and swimming into the lead. His split time was a strong 47.12. Ryan Held and Nathan Adrian brought the U.S. home;
Panthers QB Cam Newton Is 27, But A '5-Year-Old In His Heart'
CAM NEWTON
Shouts of “MVP! MVP! MVP!" reverberated through Bank of America Stadium on Friday night as Carolina Pan- thers superstar quarterback Cam Newton ran from one end of the East end zone to the other.
They were the same shouts you hear every day at training camp in Spartanburg, South Carolina, when the Carolina Panthers quarterback makes a big play.
But this was different.
Newton wasn’t throwing laser passes to wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin or tight end Greg Olsen. He wasn’t running past defenders out of the read-option.
He was playing cheer- leader.
Yes, the 27-year-old NFL MVP was orchestrating a wave while special teams were prac- ticing field goals about 25 yards away.
You might not find another quarterback in the NFL who would do that.
“He’s 27 years old, but he’s 5 years old in his heart," full- back Mike Tolbert said. “He’s just a big kid that loves to have fun, is ultracompeti- tive and loves entertaining people."
Newton is arguably, if not definitely, the biggest celebrity in the Carolinas. He gets a rock star greeting just about everywhere he goes.
MICHAEL PHELPS
Adrian’s split was an even better 46.97.
Usually the American 4x100 team is made up of the top finishers from the 100 free at the Olympic Trials. Phelps chose not to contest that event, but was put on the relay team anyway.
2012 Games but decided to return in part because of dis- appointment with how the American men swam in the 4x100 relay at the 2013 world championships, losing to France.
The relay was the most unpredictable event of the night in swimming, with Australia, France, the United States and Russia all having claims to a gold medal. France and the United States split the last two Olympic gold medals, with Yannick Agnel of France outdueling Ryan Lochte in the anchor leg to win four years ago. Phelps was on both of those American teams.
Phelps retired after the
Alex Rodriguez To Play Last Game
Friday, Become Adviser For Yankees
Serena Williams, Venus
The New York Yankees announced Sunday that Alex Rodriguez will play his final game in pinstripes Friday, then assume a posi- tion as a special adviser and instructor with the team.
Following Friday's game, Rodriguez will be uncondi- tionally released by the Yan- kees from his player contract in order to sign a contract to serve in his new role with the organization through Dec. 31, 2017.
"This is a tough day. I love this game and I love this team,'' Rodriguez said, often choking up during Sunday's news conference. "And today I'm saying good- bye.''
Rodriguez, 41, said the agreement arose out of con-
ALEX RODRIGUEZ
versations over the past few days with Yankees managing general partner Hal Stein- brenner. Relegated to little more than a spare part lately, the three-time AL MVP said "the last four weeks have not been fun.''
"It's been very painful and embarrassing to sit on the bench. It's been awk- ward,'' Rodriguez ex- plained.
Williams Fall In Olympic
Doubles Match For First Time
Russell Westbrook: 'Nowhere Else I'd Rather Be Than Oklahoma City'
Three-time doubles gold medalists Serena Williams and Venus Williams lost an Olympic match as partners for the first time, stunned in the opening round of the Rio de Janeiro Games by the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova 6-3,
6-4T. he Williams sisters en- tered Sunday's match with a 15-0 career record in the Olympics, winning the gold medal in women's doubles every time they entered the event -- in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
The American duo was seeded No. 1 in Rio and com- ing off a 14th Grand Slam championship together at Wimbledon a month ago.
Neither Safarova nor Strycova, meanwhile, ever had won an Olympic doubles match, going a combined 0-3 with other partners. They are unseeded in Rio.
And get this: They weren't
SERENA AND VENUS WILLIAMS
even supposed to be playing together at the Olympics. Strycova was a late replace- ment for Karolina Pliskova, who withdrew from the tour- nament.
Indeed, Strycova and Sa- farova only had played one match as a team before Sun- day night -- and they lost that, in a Fed Cup match last year.
This was Serena's second match of the day: She won her first-rounder in singles earlier Sunday. Venus, meanwhile, now has two first-round exits at the Rio Olympics, because she was beaten in singles on Saturday night.
Russell Westbrook
signed a contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, end- ing speculation that has run rampant since Kevin Du- rant departed for the Golden State Warriors.
The team did not disclose terms of the deal, but sources told ESPN's Ramona Shel- burne and Chris Brous- sard that the new contract is potentially worth $85.7 mil- lion over the next three sea- sons. The deal includes a player option that would allow Westbrook to still be- come a free agent after the 2017-18 season.
"There's nowhere else I would rather be than Okla- homa City," Westbrook said at a news conference to announce the deal. "You guys have basically raised me. I've been here since I was 18, 19
RUSSELL WESTBROOK
years old. You guys did noth- ing but great things for me. Through the good and the bad, you guys supported me through it all, and I appreci- ate it. Definitely when I had the opportunity to be able to be loyal to you guys, that's the No. 1 option. Loyalty is something that I stand by."
Asked why he agreed to the extension now rather than wait until next season, Westbrook was emphatic: "There's no need to wait if you know where you want to be."
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