RIO DE JANEIRO >> The nice thing about world records is that they give Katie Ledecky something to compete against. Then again, given that Ledecky owns the fastest half-dozen women’s 400-meter freestyles in history, she’s only really racing herself. “Untouchable,” said Alia Atkinson, Jamaica’s world ...

RIO DE JANEIRO — Diana Taurasi and the U.S. women’s basketball team opened their Olympics with a record rout. The Americans were not expected to be challenged on Sunday by Senegal, and the only real suspense was how many records they would set. When it ended, they had set three Olympic marks: Points...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> Katie Ledecky began her bid to sweep three freestyle titles by capturing the Olympic Games 400-meter gold medal with world record destroying performance at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium Sunday night. Ledecky, the Stanford-bound 19-year-old from Bethesda, Maryland, was clocked in 3 m...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> On the eve of the most anticipated Olympic gymnastics debut in what, ever, Simone Biles was a like kid the night before Christmas. In other words, the 19-year-old Texan was just like everyone else who can tell the difference between a Tsukahara and a Yurchenko and a few million who...

RIO DE JANEIRO — Diana Taurasi and the U.S. women’s basketball team opened their Olympics with a record rout. The Americans were not expected to be challenged on Sunday by Senegal, and the only real suspense was how many records they would set. When it ended, they had set three Olympic marks: Points...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> Team USA posted the highest Olympic Games qualifying round score by nearly 10 points as Simone Biles also kept her bid to become the first woman gymnast to win five gold medals in a single Olympics. A U.S. athlete posted the highest score on all four events to post a total score of...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky devoured the Olympic Games 400-meter freestyle record for lunch Sunday afte oon. The question now is what will she do for a late-night snack? Ledecky swam 3 minutes, 58.71 seconds in wi ing her qualifying heat at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium Sunday despit...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> Having just left the Olympic Games 400-meter individual medley final and the world record in her wake, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu climbed up and sat upon the lane line, giving the impression that she was floating on top of the world, which in a way she was. Then just in case anyone f...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> Three-time doubles gold medalists Serena and Venus Williams lost an Olympic match as partners for the first time, stu ed in the opening round of the Rio de Janeiro Games by the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4. The Williams sisters entered Sunday’s matc...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> The Inte ational Paralympic Committee on Sunday ba ed Russia from the Paralympic Games next month in response to allegations that Russia’s state-supported doping program included paralympic athletes. In a ouncing a ruling that further highlighted the Inte ational Olympic Committee’...

What to watch: The United States women’s gymnastics team begin 2016 Olympics competition that will feature Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles and Aly Raisman. The U.S. women’s basketball team led by Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, will play Senegal in a Group B preliminary round game. The team will look to hav...

NEW YORK >> Alex Rodriguez will play his final major league game next Friday with the New York Yankees and then become a special adviser and instructor with the team. Rodriguez and the club made the a ouncement before Sunday’s home game against Cleveland. “This is a tough day. I love this game and I...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> Diana Taurasi and the U.S. women’s basketball team opened their Olympics with a record rout. The Americans were not expected to be challenged on Sunday by Senegal, and the only real suspense was how many records they would set. When it ended, they had set three Olympic marks: Point...

RIO DE JANEIRO >> Diana Taurasi got the U.S. women’s basketball team off and ru ing and their Olympic newcomers carried them the rest of the way to an easy rout in record fashion. Taurasi hit three 3-pointers in the first few minutes and the Americans beat Senegal 121-56 on Sunday in their Olympic o...

NEW YORK >> Alex Rodriguez will play his final major league game next Friday with the New York Yankees and then become a special adviser and instructor with the team. Rodriguez and the club made the a ouncement before Sunday’s home game against Cleveland. “This is a tough day. I love this game and I...

What to watch: The United States women’s gymnastics team begin 2016 Olympics competition that will feature Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles and Aly Raisman. The U.S. women’s basketball team led by Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, will play Senegal in a Group B preliminary round game. The team will look to hav...

NBC 10 a.m. – Noon Women’s Beach Volleyball – Fendrick/Sweat (U.S.) vs. Kolosinska/Brzostek (Poland) (LIVE) Rowing – Qualifying Heats (LIVE) Women’s Cycling – Road Race (LIVE) Noon – 3 p.m. Women’s Cycling – Road Race (LIVE) Swimming – Qualifying Heats (LIVE) 3 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. Canoe/Kayak – Whitewa...

LOS ANGELES >> Red Grange wouldn’t believe it. It’s been 90 years since the Chicago Bears and Grange, their star halfback, traveled here for an exhibition at the Coliseum against a loosely organized team of college all-stars dubbed the Los Angeles Tigers. The Coliseum’s first (unofficial) pro footba...

SEATTLE >> It is fitting for Mike Trout to be at Safeco Field this weekend. As Trout is celebrating his 25th birthday — a natural moment to take stock of his accomplishments, to mark where he stands in history — he has a front-row seat to a weekend of events dedicated to Ken Griffey Jr. The freshly ...

LOS ANGELES >> The nostalgia will wear off at some point. Sooner or later the Rams will blend back into Los Angeles as if they never left L.A. for St. Louis and spent two decades away from the region they called home for nearly 50 years. The magic will fade. The charm of their retu will dim. And the...