US women fall to Canada in semifinalsSoccer, Page 23

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OLYMPICS

Biles says shewill compete inbalance beamGymnastics, Page 22

MILITARY

AFRICOM chief meetswith ‘Lightning Brigade’ incontested area of SomaliaPage 3

Exercise across 17 time zones to show US reach to Russia, China ›› Page 6

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan —

The Taliban are ramping up pres-

sure on some of Afghanistan’s

largest cities, striking busy transit

hubs and pushing front lines deep

into urban areas for the first time

since the militants were over-

thrown nearly two decades ago.

Taliban fighters launched rock-

ets Saturday at airports in Kanda-

har and Herat, two of the coun-

try’s largest cities and busiest eco-

nomic centers. The attacks dis-

rupted commercial travel, though

flights in and out of Herat subse-

quently resumed.

“There was a large blast and the

whole room started shaking,” said

Massoud Ahmad Pashtun, the

chief of Kandahar airport, who

was present at the time of the at-

tack. He said three rockets landed

within seconds of each other and

damaged one of the runways.

The attacks mark a potential

turning point in the Afghan con-

flict. Previously, clashes were

largely confined to the country’s

rural areas or smaller cities con-

AFGHANISTAN

Taliban intomajor citiesfor first timein 20 years

BY SUSANNAH GEORGE

The Washington Post

RELATED■ US will allow moreAfghans to apply forasylum amid violence

■ Ghani seeks moreprotection for cities as Taliban advancePage 5

SEE TALIBAN ON PAGE 5

RITTERSDORF, Germany — The Nims

River flows through the heart of this village in

the rural Eifel region, skirting a moated castle

that has stood since medieval times.

On Saturday, the waterlogged stone fortress

was the meeting point for more than two dozen

U.S. military personnel, who volunteered to

help the town of about 1,400 clean up in the af-

termath of Europe’s severe flooding last

month.

Rittersdorf was spared the deaths and the

worst of the destruction caused by the floods,

which killed about 180 people in western Ger-

many and left thousands homeless.

But a water line above the castle’s first-floor

windows shows where the Nims crested at over

6 feet on July 14 and 15, pouring into the castle

and homes along the banks.

The river uprooted trees, fences, street signs

and anything else in its path in the worst flood-

ing longtime residents say they have ever seen.

Village leaders last week reached out to the

U.S. military community, asking for help in

cleaning up debris still scattered in the basin.

“We know that they are (our) friends in hard

times,” Otmar Koch, the deputy mayor of Rit-

tersdorf, said of the Americans. “We need a lot

of help here.”

JENNIFER H. SVAN/Stars and Stripes

Senior Airman Calixto Rodriguez, left, and Airman Kyle Koury try to break apart debris by the Nims River in Rittersdorf, Germany, on Saturday.More than two dozen airmen from Spangdahlem Air Base volunteered to help clean in the aftermath of severe flooding in western Germany.

‘I got lucky’

US airmen who survived catastrophic floods help German villages recover BY JENNIFER H. SVAN

AND MARCUS KLOECKNER

Stars and Stripes

EUROPE

SEE LUCKY ON PAGE 3

PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, August 3, 2021

BUSINESS/WEATHER

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Doha114/91

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TUESDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

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Seoul86/76

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WEDNESDAY IN THE PACIFIC

WEATHER OUTLOOK

TODAYIN STRIPES

American Roundup ...... 11Classified .................... 13Comics .........................15Crossword ................... 15Faces .......................... 14Opinion ........................ 16Sports .................... 17-24

Military rates

Euro costs (Aug. 3) $1.16Dollar buys (Aug. 3) 0.8200British pound (Aug. 3) $1.36Japanese yen (Aug. 3) 107.00South Korean won (Aug. 3) 1,124.00

Commercial rates

Bahrain (Dinar) 0.3770Britain (Pound) 1.3914Canada (Dollar) 1.2458China (Yuan) 6.4614Denmark (Krone) 6.2590Egypt (Pound) 15.7033Euro 0.8414Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7730Hungary (Forint) 299.99Israel (Shekel) 3.2246Japan (Yen) 109.41Kuwait (Dinar) 0.3004

Norway (Krone) 8.7851

Philippines (Peso) 49.83Poland (Zloty) 3.83Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7501Singapore (Dollar) 1.3520

South Korea (Won) 1,151.41Switzerland (Franc) 0.9046Thailand (Baht) 32.94Turkey (New Lira)  �8.3540

(Military exchange rates are those availableto customers at military banking facilities in thecountry of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­chasing British pounds in Germany), check withyour local military banking facility. Commercialrates are interbank rates provided for referencewhen buying currency. All  figures are foreigncurrencies to one dollar, except for the Britishpound,  which  is  represented  in  dollars­to­pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.)

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EXCHANGE RATES

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A West

Virginia pharmaceutical plant that

employed nearly 1,500 people has

been idled despite a last-ditch at-

tempt by labor and advocacy

groups to keep it open.

Time ran out Saturday for work-

ers at the former Mylan pharma-

ceuticals plant in Morgantown, the

Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

Drugmaker Viatris Inc. an-

nounced in December that it would

lay off workers at the end of July.

The plant was formerly operated by

the generic drug company Mylan,

which merged with Upjohn last

year to form the new company. Via-

tris, which announced it would

slash 20% of its workforce world-

wide, is now one of the world’s dom-

inant manufacturers in the generics

industry.

The moves left workers scram-

bling to find new jobs as the major

employer left West Virginia, a state

that is often trying to lure new com-

panies to uplift its stagnant econo-

my.

Dozens of labor and advocacy

groups called on President Joe Bi-

den on July 21 to intervene in the

company’s plan. A new campaign

led by Our Revolution, a political

nonprofit organization founded by

Bernie Sanders, had urged Biden to

use the Defense Production Act to

stop the closure and convene a task

force to determine how the plant

might continue producing pharma-

ceutical or medical goods.

The White House has not respon-

ded publicly to the closure or the

group’s letter, the Gazette-Mail re-

ported.

Pharmaceutical plant idled, costing 1.5K jobsAssociated Press

Tuesday, August 3, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

MILITARY

No one in the village was hurt,

but Koch said about two dozen

families in the area lost their

homes.

About 25 people at Spangdah-

lem Air Base answered the call for

help, base officials said, as did a

few airmen from Ramstein Air

Base. About 20 military families at

Spangdahlem living off base were

displaced by the floods, base offi-

cials have said.

“I got lucky. I had a stream of

water going through my base-

ment,” said Rachael Kohlwey, a

civilian aircraft mechanic at

Spangdahlem. “But my neighbors

were dealing with a meter and a

half, 2 meters of water and they’ve

lost everything. It makes you want

to cry.

“These are our neighbors, our

friends, we’re embedded in these

communities,” Kohlwey said, “so

when you see a catastrophe like

this, you can’t help but want to

help.”

Senior Airman Calixto Rodri-

guez, 24, an aircraft maintainer

with the 52nd Aircraft Mainte-

nance Squadron, said he helped

clean up last month in Ehrang, a

village near Trier that was flooded

by the Kyll River.

“It was bad,” he said. “After I

went there, I told everybody that I

knew, the people there are strug-

gling. All the streets were just cov-

ered in filth and glass and dirt. I

wanted to come back and help

out.”

The mud along the Nims’ banks

had dried by Saturday. Airmen

sorted the debris into wood, metal

and other garbage, piles which the

Germans loaded into trailers

hitched to tractors to be dumped

or burned.

“I’ve just been jumping in wher-

ever I’m needed, moving stuff,

loading up trailers,” said Airman

Kyle Koury of the 52nd Health

Care Operations Squadron at

Spangdahlem. “It always feels like

a good day’s work when it’s need-

ed.”

Many residents were also out

cleaning up Saturday. The Amer-

icans’ help allowed them more

time to work on their yards and

their homes, some of which were

still full of mud and debris, they

said.

The flood came quickly, re-

called Pascal Schoenhofen, who

lives near the Nims. Sandbags

couldn’t hold back the water,

which started pouring into his

house from two sides.

“Then it was too late,” he said.

“Even the firefighters were help-

less at this point.”

Patrick Aubart, who lives close

to Schoenhofen, said the water

first came through the yard.

“More and more water came,” he

said. “Then we realized that we

had to get out.”

The state will provide $3,000 in

direct help, “but that is nothing

compared to the damage,” he said.

From a bridge overlooking the

Nims, Doris and her son, Kilian,

surveyed the damage to a former

mill that has been in the family for

400 years, and a house they rent to

Americans.

The house was built in 1934 at a

height thought safe from flooding,

they said.

The river crested the bridge and

water filled the house’s first floor,

said Doris, who asked that only

her first name be used. The origi-

nal kitchen tiles and wood flooring

were destroyed.

The day of the flood was the first

night in the house for her Ameri-

can tenants, a military family

from Spangdahlem, she said.

“We have to renovate every-

thing,” she said. “Hopefully the

family wants to come back.”

MARCUS KLOECKNER/Stars and Stripes

A group of volunteers help clean up the town of Rittersdorf, Germany, on Saturday. 

Lucky: Service members assist neighboringGerman communities clean up after floods

svan.jennifer@stripes.comkloeckner.marcus@stripes.comTwitter: @stripesktown

FROM PAGE 1

STUTTGART, Germany — The

U.S. military’s top commander for

Africa made a quiet visit to a re-

mote base in Somalia on a recent

tour through the region, meeting

with commandos in a contested

area where American special op-

erators once came under fire.

U.S. Africa Command con-

firmed that Gen. Stephen Towns-

end was at the Baledogle Military

Airfield last week to meet with So-

malia’s advanced infantry unit,

known as the Danab “Lightning

Brigade,” which the United States

has focused on developing over

the past several years.

The visit came as U.S. forces re-

new airstrikes against al-Shabab

militants after a six-month pause.

On Sunday, the U.S. launched

its third airstrike in two weeks, in

support of Danab and other Soma-

li troops that had come under at-

tack, Voice of America reported.

AFRICOM did not elaborate on

the purpose of Townsend’s visit to

Baledogle, home to the Danab bri-

gade’s headquarters, but it is a po-

tentially risky stopping point giv-

en the security situation in south-

ern Somalia.

In 2019, the U.S. was forced to

launch airstrikes against militants

after U.S. and Somali troops were

attacked at the Baledogle com-

plex, which is in a desert about 60

miles northwest of the capital of

Mogadishu.

The U.S. military had been

making improvements to the base,

including expanding the airfield.

The U.S. had maintained a regu-

lar presence at Baledogle until Ja-

nuary, when former President

Donald Trump ordered American

forces out of the country.

Since then, the U.S. has sent

troops to Somalia on a rotational

basis.

AFRICOM on Friday issued a

statement highlighting Towns-

end’s tour through East Africa,

but made no public mention of the

Baledogle meeting with Danab

troops, which was highlighted on

social media by Somalia’s mili-

tary.

Townsend, whose five-day trip

ended Friday, said AFRICOM re-

mains committed to battling mil-

itants and working with regional

partners such as Kenya.

“In East Africa, we work along-

side Kenyan forces to fight al-Sha-

baab, maintain awareness in the

western Indian Ocean and assure

regional security,” Townsend said

in a statement.

“We are grateful for our rela-

tionship with Kenya, which will

only continue to grow as we move

forward together.”

In addition to his Baledogle vis-

it, Townsend held talks in Mogad-

ishu and in Kenya, Tanzania and

Djibouti.

AFRICOM headquietly visitsSomalia base

BY JOHN VANDIVER

Stars and Stripes

Twitter

U.S. Africa Command’s Gen. Stephen Townsend last week visited aSomali military base 60 miles outside of Mogadishu in Baledogle, asite where U.S. forces came under attack in 2019.

vandiver.john@stripes.comTwitter: @john_vandiver

PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, August 3, 2021

PACIFIC

TOKYO — Few people are per-

mitted to mingle with Olympians in

Japan, but volunteers from U.S. mil-

itary bases are among those fortu-

nate enough to get close to the pan-

demic-affected games.

Service members, Department of

Defense civilians and military fam-

ilies from Camp Zama and Yokota

Air Base have been volunteering at

cycling, baseball and aquatic

events.

In 2018, the International Olym-

pic Committee asked that service

members be included in the pool of

volunteers, a spokesman for U.S.

Army Garrison Japan, Tim Flack,

told Stars and Stripes by email

Wednesday.

Sagamihara, where the men and

women’s cycling events were held,

is a sister city of Camp Zama, head-

quarters for U.S. Army Japan.

Olympic officials invited the garri-

son to send volunteers “as a way to

include the Army community to

help celebrate their long-standing

friendship and various community

exchanges,” Flack said.

Over the course of the cycling

event July 24 and 25, about 50 ser-

vice members from Camp Zama

volunteered to set up barriers and

keep the 18 miles of roadway clear

and safe, he said.

Sgt. Jennifer Jackson, president

of Camp Zama’s chapter of Better

Opportunities for Single Soldiers,

an Army morale program geared

toward junior enlisted service

members, said she was honored to

volunteer at such a historic Olym-

pics and feel the excitement as the

competing cyclists roared by.

“Many of the young soldiers in

BOSS are away from home for the

first time, and being somewhere as

different and far away as Japan can

be difficult,” she told Stars and

Stripes by phone Wednesday. “Op-

portunities like this can help alle-

viate homesickness and give them a

sense of pride and stories to tell fu-

ture generations.”

Jackson said she will also cherish

the memory of being involved in the

Olympic committee stakeholders’

meetings as president of the sol-

diers’ program. Seventeen of the 50

Army volunteers are from the pro-

gram, she said.

The Olympics also need volun-

teer translators like mother-son duo

Shinobu and Robert Hanson, of Yo-

kota. Shinobu Hanson, who works

part time translating for the base’s

medical group, has been doing the

same for the U.S. baseball team.

She said she has become like a

“team mom” for the Olympians.

“I help them with translating ev-

erything from batting practice to

any requests they may have, which

has given me an opportunity to get a

little close to the players,” she told

Stars and Stripes by phone Thurs-

day. “Since people cannot go to the

games, no one is there applauding,

and for the players that can be a

bummer, but I get to cheer them on

and share some laughs with them.”

Her son Robert Hanson, 20, a

translator for the Israeli baseball

team, is the youngest volunteer

translator in this year’s games. He

said translating nuances from Japa-

nese to English for a team that

speaks English as a second lan-

guage can be difficult, but the expe-

rience is rewarding.

“It is an honor to help out interna-

tional players,” he said in an email to

Stars and Stripes on Saturday. “Be-

ing able to use my talent speaking

two languages and translating ev-

erything is a new thing for me. It is

very challenging, but I’m having

fun.”

Volunteer Toshi Kato, an ac-

counting technician at Yokota who

volunteers for the Olympics base-

ball media operations, said he hopes

Americans in Japan cheer for both

the United States and their host na-

tion Japan at this year’s games.

Kato, formerly an assistant for

one of Japan’s professional baseball

teams, the Seibu Lions, said he con-

siders volunteering at the games to

be an experience of a lifetime.

“My mother passed away a long

time ago, but if she were still here, I

would like to share everything from

my experience with her,” he told

Stars and Stripes by phone Thurs-

day. “I am really appreciative and

want to enjoy this experience and

share this memory.”

Kato also volunteers at Yokota as

a softball and baseball coach

through the force support squad-

ron.

The gold medal game for baseball

is scheduled for Saturday. In wom-

en’s softball, Japan took gold and

the U.S. took silver.

For some military-affiliated vol-

unteers, this year is not their first

time assisting with the games.

Hitomi Morioka, an English

teacher near Yokota and a U.S. mil-

itary spouse, is volunteering in the

media operations center for aquat-

ics sports this year and worked for

NBC during the 1998 games in Na-

gano.

She said the Olympics, especially

this year’s Games surrounded by

hardships related to the coronavi-

rus, is an opportunity to strengthen

bonds among nations.

“A lot of my elementary-aged stu-

dents are not very open to meeting

foreigners,” Morioka told Stars and

Stripes in a phone interview Friday.

“I want to teach them that moments

like this are opportunities to make

more friends in the world.”

So far, the U.S., Australia and

France have all claimed gold med-

als in swimming events. These in-

clude American stars Caeleb Dres-

sel in the men’s 100 butterfly and

Katie Ledecky in the women’s 800

freestyle.

Morioka said her favorite part of

volunteering as a media liaison at

the aquatics center is being so close

to the action during an Olympics

with no audience.

“There is all this excitement and

happiness, and some of the athletes

are so overcome by it all that they

are in tears,” she said. “I’m glad to

be part of it and watching their

dreams come true.”

U.S. Army

Over the course of the Olympics cycling event from July 24­25, about 50 service members from CampZama volunteered to set up barriers and keep the 18 miles of roadway clear and safe.

Volunteers from US military communityrevel in experience of Tokyo Olympics

BY ERICA EARL

Stars and Stripes

earl.erica@stripes.comTwitter: @ThisEarlGirl

TOKYO — Japan’s capital city,

hosting the delayed 2020 Olympic

Games, surpassed its one-day re-

cord for new coronavirus cases

over the weekend and broke 4,000

for the first time during the pan-

demic.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Govern-

ment reported 4,058 newly infected

people on Saturday, its highest one-

day count of the pandemic, accord-

ing to metro government data.

About 3,200 people are hospital-

ized, with 114 of them in serious con-

dition Monday, according to public

broadcaster NHK.

The metro government reported

2,195 new casesMonday, according

to NHK. Monday is typically the

day the city reports the lowest num-

ber of new infections. On Sunday,

the prefecture reported 3,058 new-

ly infected people, according to

metro government data.

Close to 30% of Japan’s popula-

tion is fully vaccinated, according to

the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Re-

source Center.

The Olympic Games reported

that 56 people tested positive for

COVID-19 on Friday, Saturday and

Sunday, according to the Tokyo

2020 website. Most, 34, are contrac-

tors, 18 are Games personnel, two

are volunteers and the media and

athletes produced one case each.

Since July 1, the Games have re-

ported that 276 people contracted

the virus, 24 of whom are athletes.

At least one of the positive Olym-

pians is a U.S. soldier.

U.S. military bases in Japan re-

ported 23 new cases of COVID-19

between Friday and 6 p.m. Monday.

U.S. Forces Japan reported a to-

tal of 92 individuals with the virus at

U.S. installations, the bulk of them

on Okinawa, where the Air Force

and Marine Corps accounted for 64

individuals as of Friday, according

to the USFJ website.

On Monday, Sasebo Naval Base

said one new patient tested positive

after falling ill with symptoms of

COVID-19, according to a Facebook

post by the naval base. That person

is in isolation. The base is monitor-

ing three people with the virus.

Marine Corps Air Station Iwaku-

ni, south of Hiroshima, has had one

person test positive for the virus

since Sunday, according to a news

release Monday.

At Kadena Air Base on Okinawa,

19 people tested positive between

July 24 and Friday, according to the

base’s website. Twenty-six people

are under observation.

The Marine Corps reported that

two individuals at its bases on Oki-

nawa tested positive Monday, ac-

cording to a Facebook post by Ma-

rine Corps Installations Pacific. At

least 34 people affiliated with the

Marines on Okinawa tested positive

in July.

Astate of emergency began Mon-

day in Osaka, the second-largest

metro area in Japan, and three pre-

fectures adjacent to Tokyo that are

part of its wider metropolitan area:

Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa.

Those emergencies, and those in

Tokyo and Okinawa, are in place

until Aug. 31.

Emergency measures call on res-

taurants and bars to refrain from

selling alcohol and to close between

8 p.m. and 5 a.m., and residents are

urged to avoid unnecessary travel.

Most U.S. base commanders

have put central Tokyo off-limits to

even their vaccinated personnel,

with some exceptions for travel on

official business.

The U.S. Army and Navy have

their headquarters in Kanagawa,

along with the homeport of 7th

Fleet. U.S. Forces Japan is head-

quartered at Yokota Air Base in

western Tokyo.

Popular beaches in Kanagawa at

Zushi and Hayama are closing due

to the emergency, according to a

Facebook post Monday by Yokosu-

ka Naval Base.

Kanagawa on Sunday reported

1,258 people newly infected with

the coronavirus, the third-highest

one-day count in the prefecture,

NHK reported Monday. Saitama

reported 899 and Chiba 767 on the

same day, according to the broad-

caster.

On Okinawa, prefectural Gov.

Denny Tamaki, in a joint statement

Sunday with city, business and

medical leaders, described the ris-

ing number of infections on the is-

land as “equivalent to a lockdown

level in other countries.”

At a news conference, Tamaki

said the number of new cases, many

of them the delta variant, has tripled

over the past week, mainly among

young people.

The prefecture reported 439 CO-

VID-19 cases Saturday, a one-day

pandemic high, 382 on Friday and

367 on Sunday, according to the

prefectural coronavirus tracking

website.

Tamaki called on Okinawans to

refrain from unnecessary travel or

gatherings for the next two weeks,

to avoid visits to other prefectures

and remote islands, including fam-

ily visits, and to get vaccinated.

Virus cases surgepast 4K in Tokyoover weekend

BY JOSEPH DITZLER

Stars and Stripes

Stars and Stripes reporter Mari Higa contributedto this report.ditzler.joseph@stripes.comTwitter: @JosephDitzler

Tuesday, August 3, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5

WAR ON TERRORISM

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan

president on Monday blamed the American

troops’ speedy pullout for the worsening vio-

lence in his country and said that his admin-

istration would now focus

on protecting provincial

capitals and major urban

areas in the face of the rap-

idly advancing Taliban.

Ashraf Ghani also urged

lawmakers to back a na-

tional mobilization drive

against the Taliban amid

an intensifying war be-

tween the Taliban and Afghan government

forces over the past few months as U.S. and

NATO troops complete their pullout from

the war-torn country.

“An imported, hasty” peace process — a

reference to Washington’s push for negotia-

tions between Kabul and the Taliban — “not

only failed to bring peace but created doubt

and ambiguity” among Afghans, Ghani said

in his address to Parliament.

The Taliban are now trying to seize pro-

vincial capitals after already taking large

swaths of land and scores of districts in more

rural areas, as well as several key border

crossings with neighboring countries.

“The Taliban do not believe in lasting or

just peace,” Ghani said. He predicted a sea

change on the battlefield “in the next six

months” that would push the Taliban back,

without elaborating.

He claimed that Afghan forces are up to

the task and have the “capacity” to defeat

the insurgents. But in past weeks, Afghan

forces have struggled against the Taliban

onslaught, and have often been left without

reinforcements and resupplies.

Hours after the president's remarks, Tali-

ban fighters seized control of Helmand

province's government radio and TV build-

ing in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital.

Resident Haji Sadullah said they broadcast

religious songs and invited people to follow

their path for close to an hour on both AM

and FM frequencies.

Government officials did not immediate-

ly comment.

Afghanistanleader seeksdefense ofmajor cities

Associated Press

Ghani

tested by the militants. Large-scale conven-

tional attacks on Kandahar and Herat, the

second- and fourth-largest cities in the

country, have the potential to endanger mil-

lions more civilians.

Initial reports suggested the Kandahar

rocket attack came from the eastern side of

the city, where Taliban fighters have made

advances. Pashtun said he feared more at-

tacks in the coming days, because of the de-

teriorating security situation and the re-

moval of an American antimissile system

that protected the airfield before the with-

drawal of U.S. forces from the southern

province.

Gen. Ajmal Shinwari, a security forces

spokesperson, said at a news conference on

Sunday that all troops were on high alert

due to “the emergency situations” in Kan-

dahar and Herat. Hundreds more Afghan

forces have been sent to the southern and

western provinces as reinforcements.

Taliban attacks in Kandahar province

have been ongoing for months, but in recent

days the group began pushing closer into

the city center.

Frontlines that crisscrossed largely agri-

cultural suburbs just weeks ago now span

densely populated neighborhoods. Just a

few hundred meters from a Taliban-held

neighborhood on Kandahar’s western edge,

government forces have transformed a

wedding hall and an opulent multistory

home into makeshift bases.

“They watch us from those houses over

there,” said a commando officer, who spoke

on the condition of anonymity because he

was not authorized to talk to the media. He

pointed out a white Taliban flag visible just

a few blocks away from a traffic circle.

The government soldiers said they ex-

changed fire with Taliban fighters occa-

sionally during the day, but it is at night that

clashes grow more intense.

Thousands of civilians are being forced to

flee their homes. Deeper inside Kandahar

city, makeshift camps have sprung up in

empty lots.

Jalil Ahmad, 30, said his house was de-

stroyed by a mortar attack and his ears

were still ringing from the blast. He said a

police unit took up a firing position on to the

roof of his home, and Taliban fighters retal-

iated with a volley of mortars.

“An entire wall collapsed on my family,”

he said. “We have never seen fighting like

this in our area before.”

In Herat, Afghan special forces were de-

ployed to the city on Sunday to help push

back Taliban advances. Taliban fighters

breached the city limits and a United Na-

tions compound was attacked, as clashes

raged for hours. The U.N. condemned the

attack. A Taliban statement described the

destruction as “regrettable,” saying the

group remains committed to protecting the

U.N.

Abdul Rahman Rahman, an Interior Min-

istry adviser, traveled to Herat on Sunday to

calm “the atmosphere of panic” growing in

the city, he said. Rahman arrived with a

team of Afghan special forces, which he

pledged would deal “fiercely” with the Tali-

ban.

The Taliban push on major cities comes

as the group continues to squeeze much

smaller provincial capitals in areas long

contested by militants. In Helmand, a prov-

ince that has been one of the least stable in

Afghanistan for years, fighting intensified

last week, heightening fears that the prov-

ince’s capital would fall. Taliban fighters

have pushed inside the city’s limits and are

steadily closing in on the central govern-

ment compound.

Afghan forces responded with a puni-

shing wave of air support. One airstrike hit a

small hospital on the city’s outskirts Satur-

day, killing the relative of a patient and in-

juring four others, including a patient and

three members of staff, according to hospi-

tal director Mohammad din Naraiwal.

As the airstrikes drew closer in recent

days, Naraiwal repeatedly communicated

with Afghan government forces, asking

them not to strike the facility. He said no Ta-

liban fighters were present in the building

when it was hit.

“I’m worried if the government resup-

plies their forces there will be more fight-

ing,” he said. “There will be more civilian

casualties.”

Taliban: Forces,militants clash inpopulous areasFROM PAGE 1

LORENZO TUGNOLI/For The Washington Post

A policeman sits in an outpost in Kandahar, Afghanistan, as Afghan security forces findthemselves engaged in a battle with the Taliban inside the city limits. 

KABUL, Afghanistan — The

U.S. will give more asylum oppor-

tunities to at-risk Afghans as Tali-

ban violence surges ahead of the

withdrawal of American forces by

the end of August.

The State Department said Mon-

day that “many thousands” of Af-

ghans now qualify to permanently

resettle in the United States. That

number includes current and for-

mer employees of American news

organizations, development agen-

cies and other U.S.-funded relief

groups.

“The U.S. objective remains a

peaceful, secure Afghanistan,” the

State Department said. “However,

in light of increased levels of Tali-

ban violence, the U.S. government

is working to provide certain Af-

ghans, including those who worked

with the United States, the oppor-

tunity for refugee resettlement.”

The new “Priority 2” category of

the U.S. Refugee Admission Pro-

gram was created to address the

situations of Afghans who don’t

qualify for an existing Special Im-

migrant Visa. It applies to Afghans

and members of their immediate

family who may be in peril because

of U.S. affiliation.

Rights groups had called on

President Joe Biden to do more to

protect Afghans who had been af-

filiated with the U.S. but may not

have worked directly for the U.S.

government.

The groups said those Afghans

face just as many risks as counter-

parts covered by the provisions of

the Special Immigrant Visa.

About 20,000 Afghans who

worked for the U.S. government as

translators or in other positions

have already applied to resettle in

the U.S. as part of the visa pro-

gram.

Of those, 2,500 who passed secu-

rity screenings are now being relo-

cated. The first group of about 200

applicants arrived at Fort Lee, Va.,

on Friday.

The Taliban have taken control

of about half of the country’s

roughly 400 districts and continue

to launch offensives, according to

the U.S. military.

Last week, the special inspector

general for Afghanistan recon-

struction said the continued vio-

lence poses an “existential crisis”

for the country.

US allows more Afghan asylum claimsBY PHILLIP WALTER

WELLMAN

Stars and Stripes

wellman.phillip@stripes.comTwitter: @pwwellman �

PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, August 3, 2021

MILITARY

NAPLES, Italy — A U.S. naval

and amphibious exercise billed as

the largest of its kind in 40 years be-

gins Tuesday, in a globe-spanning

effort that analysts say aims to send

a message to Russia and China that

America can simultaneously an-

swer aggression on multiple fronts.

Large Scale Exercise 2021 is a re-

turn to similar Cold War exercises

in the 1980s demonstrating resolve

and new capabilities, U.S. Naval

Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet

said in a recent statement. The exer-

cise also comes as the military up-

dates its long-standing combat doc-

trine to defend against attacks on its

communications systems and logis-

tical networks. A simulated battle

against a high-end enemy in Octo-

ber exposed those vulnerabilities

and spurred changes, Gen. John

Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint

Chiefs of Staff, said last month.

Large Scale Exercise runs

through Aug. 16 and will include

units in 17 different time zones, the

Navy said.

“LSE will test our commanders

across the spectrum of naval war-

fare from the tactical to the strate-

gic, integrating the Marine Corps to

demonstrate the world-wide fleet’s

ability to conduct coordinated oper-

ations from the open ocean to the lit-

toral,” said Vice Adm. Gene Black,

U.S. 6th Fleet commander.

LSE potentially puts adversaries

on notice that the U.S. can simulta-

neously address challenges in the

Black Sea, eastern Mediterranean

Sea, South China Sea and East Chi-

na Sea – shutting down efforts to

spread American military forces

thin, said James R. Holmes, the J.C.

Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy at

the U.S. Naval War College in New-

port, R.I.

It also aims to demonstrate that

U.S. naval and Marine forces can

deny adversaries control of the seas,

which is especially crucial in the

Western Pacific, where the U.S.

hopes to prevent China from occu-

pying Taiwan or seizing the Japan-

administered Senkaku Islands,

Holmes said.

But it isn’t certain if Russia or Chi-

na will interpret the exercise in

those ways or if they are even pay-

ing attention, Holmes said.

Even so, the exercise also tests

U.S. operational methods and tech-

nologies, such as deemphasizing

large ships and high-end systems to

create a nimble, efficient and effec-

tive force designed to take a loss and

continue fighting without measura-

ble impact, Holmes said.

“In that sense we’re reverting to

our World War II approach, when

we had lots of inexpensive, good-

enough stuff and could lose some of

it and still carry on,” Holmes said.

“If we show our adversaries this ap-

proach works, we bolster our ability

to deter them from assailing our-

selves or our allies.”

About 36 ships and more than 50

virtual units, in addition to military,

civilian and contract personnel, will

participate in the exercise. Six naval

and Marine Corps component com-

mands, five U.S. fleets and three

Marine Expeditionary Forces will

be involved.

USS Mount Whitney, the 6th Fleet

flagship, also will participate. The

first LSE will include only U.S.

forces, but future exercises are

planned to include allies and part-

ners, the statement said.

Throwback exercise to span 17 time zones

SCOTT BARNES/U.S. Navy

USS Mount Whitney, 6th Fleet's flagship, arrives in Split, Croatia, for a port visit on Friday, before kickingoff Large Scale Exercise 2021. Six naval and Marine Corps component commands, five U.S. fleets andthree Marine Expeditionary Forces will be involved in the exercise, which will conclude on Aug. 16.

BY ALISON BATH

Stars and Stripes

bath.alison@stripes.comTwitter: @TMSWatchdog

An error during routine mainte-

nance caused a $201 million F-22

Raptor to crash last year at Eglin Air

Force Base in Florida, media re-

ports said following a brief service

statement.

The May 15, 2020, crash was

caused by “a maintenance error

made after the aircraft was washed,

which impacted control inputs

transmitted to the aircraft,” the

Northwest Florida Daily News re-

ported last week, citing an emailed

statement from the Air Combat

Command. The pilot, assigned to the

43rd Fighter Squadron, 325th Fight-

er Wing, ejected and sustained only

minor injuries, but the aircraft was

destroyed, said the command,

which is in charge of training, equip-

ping and maintaining units for rapid

deployment abroad.

The Air Force requires that an in-

vestigative board be convened fol-

lowing Class A mishaps, which are

accidents that cause loss of life or

more than $2.5 million in damage.

But that requirement can be waived

by authorities.

Operational concerns led the

ACC to forgo an AIB report, which

would have detailed how the crash

occurred and outlined what investi-

gators determined had caused it, Air

Force Magazine reported.

The requirement for an AIB was

waived by the deputy commander

of the ACC, the magazine said, citing

acommand spokesperson.

The few details that were re-

leased said the issues that led to the

crash arose shortly after takeoff,

when the pilot noticed a Flight Con-

trol System advisory. He continued

with takeoff, but “shortly after the

aircraft became airborne, the pilot

began having trouble controlling

the aircraft and declared an emer-

gency,” said the statement, reported

by Air Force Magazine.

“While a recovery plan was being

coordinated, the pilot continued to

have issues with the aircraft and

ejected,” it said.

The results of an AIB must be re-

leased publicly, although com-

mands can also waive that require-

ment. Information gathered by the

two types of probe conducted into

the Eglin accident — a safety inves-

tigation board and a commander di-

rected investigation — do not have

to be released to the public.

Maintenance error led to F-22 crashin Florida last year, Air Force says

Stars and Stripes

CODY MILLER/U.S. Air Force

A 325th Fighter Wing F­22 Raptor soars over the Gulf of Mexico in2017. An error during routine maintenance caused an F­22 Raptorfrom the 325th to crash last year at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. 

The U.S. and Israel vowed to re-

spond to a deadly drone attack on a

tanker last week in a major water-

way for global oil shipments that

they blamed on Iran.

Middle East foes Iran and Israel

have traded multiple accusations of

shipping attacks in recent months.

But Thursday’s strike off the coast

of Oman, which Tehran denied car-

rying out, was the first to kill crew

members — a Romanian and a Brit-

on.

The two fatalities have raised ten-

sions in the Persian Gulf at a critical

juncture with Iran preparing to in-

augurate a new president, and talks

with world powers over its 2015 nu-

clear deal stalled.

“I promise you that Israel will not

sit silently by after a strike against

ships or citizens and will respond

once it finds the where, the when

and the how,” Ram Ben Barak, the

head of the Israeli parliament’s For-

eign Affairs and Defense Commit-

tee, told Army Radio on Monday.

Romania said it had summoned

the Iranian ambassador, while Bri-

tain is sending a team to investigate

the attack on the Mercer Street oil-

products tanker, now moored off

the United Arab Emirates, its depu-

ty envoy to Israel told Israeli broad-

caster Kan.

“There is no justification for this

attack, which follows a pattern of at-

tacks and other belligerent behav-

ior,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony

Blinken said in a statement Sunday.

“We are working with our partners

to consider our next steps and con-

sulting with governments inside the

region and beyond on an appropri-

ate response, which will be forth-

coming.”

He gave no further details of what

the response might entail. A spokes-

person for the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet,

which is based in the region, de-

clined to comment. The U.S. and its

allies created a maritime force in

2019 in response to similar attacks

to protect sea lanes in the Middle

East.

Blinken said he was “confident”

Iran used “one-way explosive”

drones in Thursday’s attack. U.K.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab

said “one or more” of the drones

may have been involved in the hit.

Romania “retains its right to act

accordingly, together with its inter-

national partners, in order to have

an adequate response,” the coun-

try’s Foreign Ministry said in an

emailed response to Bloomberg

questions, saying it had summoned

the Iranian envoy.

US blames Iran for ship attack,plans ‘appropriate response’

BY ARSALAN SHAHLA

AND GWEN ACKERMAN

Bloomberg News

Tuesday, August 3, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7

OLYMPICS

VICENZA, Italy — The surprise

gold medal winner in the 100-me-

ter dash at the Tokyo Olympics

was born to an Italian mother and

American soldier father who met

while he was stationed in Vicenza.

But Italian sprinter Lamont

Marcell Jacobs, who was born in

El Paso, grew up in Italy after his

father was transferred to South

Korea and the marriage broke up,

he told reporters in Japan.

“Only my muscle fibers are

American,” he said, the Orange

County Register reported Sunday.

Jacobs’ mother, Viviana Masini,

was 16 years old when she met an

18-year-old U.S. soldier named

Lamont Marcell Jacobs Sr., sta-

tioned at Caserma Ederle in Vi-

cenza, according to an interview

in the Corriere della Sera newspa-

per. The two married and moved

to El Paso, home to Fort Bliss.

About three years later, their

son was born just weeks before his

father was sent to a new posting in

South Korea.

“It was impossible for us to fol-

low him,” Jacobs’ mother said,

Corriere della Serra reported. “I

then decided to return to Italy.

Marcell wasn’t even a month old.

“From there a challenge of our

own was born. I was a young moth-

er with a child to raise and the

great thing is that through the

growth of Marcell I had the oppor-

tunity to live a new life, new hori-

zons.”

Jacobs, 26, hasn’t seen his fa-

ther since and hadn’t spoken to

him until last year, The Washing-

ton Post reported. His mother nur-

tured him, going to all his races as

he grew up and trained in the 100-

meter dash and long jump in De-

senzano del Garda, about an hour

from Vicenza, she told Corriere

Della Sera.

Among his idols was Andrew

Howe, he told Olympics.com, who

like him was an American-born,

biracial Italian sprinter coached

by his mother in Italy after his fa-

ther left the family when he was a

baby.

Until Sunday, few fans had

heard of Jacobs. Bookmakers

made him somewhere between an

8-1 and 10-1 long shot, The Wash-

ington Post said.

“It’s a dream, a dream, it is fan-

tastic,” he said after winning the

race, according to Reuters. “May-

be tomorrow I can imagine what

they are saying, but today it is in-

credible.”

He credited his surprising win

to better nutrition and training,

and more emphasis on his mental

approach, the Post said. Jacobs

said part of his mental improve-

ment came because of his fledg-

ling relationship with his father,

who lives in Dallas and texted him

before the race.

“You can do it. We are with

you,” the message said, according

to The Washington Post.

Parents of Italian sprinter met at Vicenza

FACEBOOK

Lamont Marcell Jacobs strikes a pose after his victory in the 100 meters at the Olympics in Tokyo onSunday.

FRANCISCO SECO/AP

Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy,the winner of the Olympic 100meters, shows off his gold medalon Monday, in Tokyo. 

PHOTOS BY ANTONIO CALANNI/AP

A poster reading “Go Marcell” for Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs isseen in front of the hotel Florence, run by his mother Viviana Masini inManerba del Garda, Italy.

Masini shows a corner in herhome, devoted to Jacobs, with anold pair of running shoes, a photoof him as a child and the Italianflag, in Manerba del Garda, Italy.

BY NANCY MONTGOMERY

Stars and Stripes

montgomery.nancy@stripes.com

PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, August 3, 2021

VIRUS OUTBREAK

ORLANDO, Fla. — A day after it

recorded the most new daily cases

since the start of the pandemic,

Florida on Sunday broke a previ-

ous record for current hospitaliza-

tions set more than a year ago be-

fore vaccines were available.

The Sunshine State had 10,207

people hospitalized with con-

firmed COVID-19 cases, accord-

ing to data reported to the U.S. De-

partment of Health & Human Ser-

vices.

The previous record was from

July 23, 2020, more than six

months before vaccinations start-

ed becoming widespread, when

Florida had 10,170 hospitaliza-

tions, according to the Florida

Hospital Association.

Florida is now leading the na-

tion in per capita hospitalizations

for COVID-19, as hospitals around

the state report having to put

emergency room visitors in beds

in hallways and others document a

noticeable drop in the age of pa-

tients.

In the past week, Florida has av-

eraged 1,525 adult hospitalizations

aday, and 35 daily pediatric hospi-

talizations. Both are the highest

per capita rate in the nation, ac-

cording to Jason Salemi, an associ-

ate professor of epidemiology at

the University of South Florida.

The hospitalizations and in-

creasing cases have come as the

new, more transmittable delta

variant has spread throughout

Florida, and residents have re-

turned to pre-pandemic activities.

“The recent rise is both striking

and not at all surprising,” Salemi

said in an email late Saturday.

Federal health data released

Saturday showed that Florida re-

ported 21,683 new cases of CO-

VID-19, the state’s highest one-day

total since the start of the pandem-

ic. The latest numbers were re-

corded Friday and released Satur-

day on the U.S. Centers for Dis-

ease Control and Prevention’s

website. The figures show how

quickly the number of cases is ris-

ing in the Sunshine State; only a

day earlier, Florida reported

17,093 new daily cases.

Fla. breaks record for most active COVID-19 hospitalizationsAssociated Press

A Tennessee legislator who went from

unmasked gatherings with fellow legisla-

tors to being placed on a ventilator days lat-

er has emerged with a message for constit-

uents after a harrowing eight-month expe-

rience with long-haul COVID-19: Take the

coronavirus seriously.

“It is a disease that wants to kill us,” state

Rep. David Byrd, a Republican, said in a

statement Friday. Byrd, 63, described an

ordeal that included 55 days on a ventilator

in which COVID-19 ravaged his memory,

muscles and organs — it led to him having a

liver transplant in June. His condition was

so grave that his family began planning for

his funeral at least once. Stressing that CO-

VID-19 is real and “very dangerous,” Byrd

encouraged people to get vaccinated.

“This is not an issue that should divide

us,” he wrote.

Before Byrd became ill around Thanks-

giving, his attitude about the virus included

a June 2020 vote for a resolution that ac-

cused the “mainstream media” of sensa-

tionalizing pandemic coverage. In Novem-

ber, he was among the House Republican

Caucus members who gathered for an in-

person multiday retreat amid surging in-

fections statewide.

The shift from minimizing the risks of

the coronavirus to urgently warning about

them is not unique to Byrd, who did not re-

spond to The Washington Post’s request for

comment Sunday. A growing group of

Americans, including some Republicans,

are now rapidly reassessing their doubts

and dismissals as new infections fueled by

the easier-to-spread delta variant of the vi-

rus point toward a summer virus surge.

Leaders such as Alabama Republican

Gov. Kay Ivey and Arkansas Republican

Gov. Asa Hutchinson have traveled their

states and written opinion articles encou-

raging people to get vaccinated. In Tennes-

see, state Rep. Bryan Terry, a Republican

who is a physician, urged vaccinations af-

ter becoming infected after he was immu-

nized.

“I’m convinced the vaccine protected my

health and possibly saved me from an ex-

tensive hospitalization, or death,” Terry

said last week. “All Tennesseans, especial-

ly those with risk, need to talk to their doc-

tor about getting vaccinated.”

In his statement Friday, Byrd said he was

sharing his experience in hope that it

“helps others to act against an enemy that

knows no skin color, economic status or po-

litical affiliation.”

GOP lawmaker who once spurned masks switches courseThe Washington Post

HARTFORD, Conn. — With

U.S. health officials recommend-

ing that children mask up in school

this fall, parents and policy makers

across the nation have been

plunged anew into a debate over

whether face coverings should be

optional or a mandate.

The delta variant of the corona-

virus now threatens to upend nor-

mal instruction for a third consec-

utive school year. Some states have

indicated they will probably heed

the federal government’s guidance

and require masks. Others will

leave the decision up to parents.

The controversy is unfolding at a

time when many Americans are at

their wits’ end with pandemic re-

strictions and others fear their

children will be put at risk by those

who don’t take the virus seriously

enough. In a handful of Republi-

can-led states, lawmakers made it

illegal for schools to require

masks.

In Connecticut, anti-mask ral-

lies have happened outside Gov.

Ned Lamont’s official residence in

Hartford, and lawn signs and bum-

per stickers call on him to “unmask

our kids.” The Democrat has said

that he’s likely to follow the latest

advice from the Centers for Dis-

ease Control and Prevention.

The CDC on Tuesday recom-

mended indoor masks for all

teachers, staff, students and vis-

itors at schools nationwide, re-

gardless of vaccination status. The

agency cited the risk of spread of

the highly contagious delta varia-

nt, even among vaccinated people.

Alima Bryant, 33, a mother of

four who organizes anti-mask par-

ents in Branford, Conn., said she’s

not a conspiracy theorist, but she

believes scientists have overstated

the dangers of COVID-19, espe-

cially for children. She said she

will take her children out of school

rather than subject them to wear-

ing masks, which she believes are

more likely to make them ill than

the virus.

“Especially with little kids, I can

imagine how often they’re touch-

ing dirty things, then touching the

mask,” she said. “Also, in kinder-

garten, you have to learn social

cues, and even with speech and ev-

erything, it’s so important to not be

wearing a mask.”

But parents such as Ryan Zuim-

merman, of Lenexa, Kan., fear that

approach will prolong the pan-

demic.

In Johnson County, Kan., the

state’s most populous county, five

districts recommend but do not re-

quire masks. A sixth district has

not yet decided.

Zimmerman, speaking at a re-

cent meeting of country commis-

sioners, said that if masks are only

recommended and not required,

“95% of kids won’t be wearing

them.”

“This isn’t about comfort or con-

trol or obedience or your rights. It

is not conspiracy or child abuse. It

is about doing unto others as you

want them to do unto you,” he said.

“I ask you this: If it was your kid

who was high risk, what if you had

to send that kid you had spent your

whole life protecting to school in

this environment?”

Another public meeting, this one

in Broward County, Fla., had to be

postponed for a day last week after

roughly two dozen mask oppo-

nents waged screaming matches

with school board members and

burned masks outside the build-

ing.

When the discussion resumed

Wednesday, it was limited to 10

public speakers, and all but one

spoke vehemently against masks,

saying their personal rights were

being eroded.

Vivian Hug, a Navy veteran,

brought her twins with her as she

addressed board members, saying

she was tired of the “fear monger-

ing” and giving up “freedoms in

the name of safety.”

“Please stop the insanity. You

have already done damage to these

kids having to wear masks,” she

said before putting her daughter

up to the microphone, where the

little girl complained that masks

make it hard for her to breathe and

give her headaches.

But Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of

the Delaware Division of Public

Health, said there is no credible

evidence masks are unsafe for

children. She said the science is

clear that face coverings have pre-

vented the spread of COVID-19 in

schools.

“If we want to have kids in school

this fall, and as many kids as we

possibly can get into school, masks

are a key component,” she said.

Mask guidance divides parents before school yearBY PAT EATON-ROBB

Associated Press

MARTA LAVANDIER/AP

Joann Marcus of Fort Lauderdale, left, cheers as she listens to the Broward School Board’s emergencymeeting Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Tuesday, August 3, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9

NATION

BOSTON — Evictions, which

have mostly been on pause during

the pandemic, were expected to

ramp up Monday after the Biden

administration allowed the federal

moratorium to expire over the

weekend and Congress was unable

to do anything to extend it.

Housing advocates fear the end

of the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention moratorium could

result in millions of people being

evicted. But most expect the wave

of evictions to build slowly over the

coming weeks and months as the

bureaucracy of removing people

from their homes restarts.

On Sunday night, House Speaker

Nancy Pelosi and the House Demo-

cratic leaders called on the Biden

administration to immediately ex-

tend the moratorium.

The Biden administration an-

nounced Thursday it would allow

the ban to expire, arguing its hands

were tied after the U.S. Supreme

Court signaled the measure had to

end.

More than 15 million people live

in households that owe as much as

$20 billion to their landlords, ac-

cording to the Aspen Institute. As of

July 5, roughly 3.6 million people in

the U.S. said they faced eviction in

the next two months, according to

the U.S. Census Bureau’s House-

hold Pulse Survey.

Parts of the South and other re-

gions with weaker tenant protec-

tions will likely see the largest

spikes and communities of color

where vaccination rates are some-

times lower will be hit hardest.

The Biden administration had

hoped that historic amounts of rent-

al assistance allocated by Congress

in December and March would

help avert an eviction crisis. But the

distribution has been slow.

MICHAEL DWYER / AP

People from a coalition of housing justice groups hold signsprotesting evictions during a news conference outside the Statehouseon Friday in Boston. 

Evictions expectedto spike as pandemicmoratorium ends

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — After much delay, senators un-

veiled a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure

package, wrapping up days of painstaking work on the

inches-thick bill and launching what is certain to be a

lengthy debate over President Joe Biden’s big priority.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act clocked

in at some 2,700 pages, and senators could begin amend-

ing it soon. Despite the hurry-up-and-wait during a rare

weekend session, emotions bubbled over once the bill

was produced Sunday night. The final product was not

intended to stray from the broad outline senators had

negotiated for weeks with the White House.

“We haven’t done a large, bipartisan bill of this nature

in a long time,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck

Schumer, D-N.Y. He said a final vote could be held “in a

matter of days.”

Akey part of Biden’s agenda, the bipartisan bill is the

first phase of the president’s infrastructure plan. It calls

for $550 billion in new spending over five years above

projected federal levels, what could be one of the more

substantial expenditures on the nation’s roads, bridges,

waterworks, broadband and the electric grid in years.

Senators and staff labored behind the scenes for days

to write the massive bill. It was supposed to be ready Fri-

day, but by Sunday, even more glitches were caught and

changes made. Late Sunday, most of the 10 senators in-

volved in the bipartisan effort rose on the Senate floor to

mark the moment.

“We know that this has been a long and sometimes

difficult process, but we are proud this evening to an-

nounce this legislation,” said Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-

Ariz., a lead negotiator. The bill showed “we can put

aside our own political differences for the good of the

country,” she said.

Sen. Rob Portman, of Ohio, a Republican negotiator,

said the final product will be “great for the American

people.”

Over the long weekend of starts and stops, Schumer

repeatedly warned that he was prepared to keep law-

makers in Washington for as long as it took to complete

votes on both the bipartisan infrastructure plan and a

budget blueprint that would allow the Senate to begin

work later this year on a massive, $3.5 trillion social,

health and environmental bill.

Among the major new investments, the bipartisan

package is expected to provide $110 billion for roads and

bridges, $39 billion for public transit and $66 billion for

rail. There’s also set to be $55 billion for water and

wastewater infrastructure as well as billions for air-

ports, ports, broadband internet and electric vehicle

charging stations.

The spending is broadly popular among lawmakers,

bringing long-delayed capital for big-ticket items that

cities and states can rarely afford on their own.

Paying for the package has been a challenge after

senators rejected ideas to raise revenue from a new gas

tax or other streams. Instead, it is being financed from

funding sources that might not pass muster with deficit

hawks, including repurposing some $205 billion in un-

tapped COVID-19 relief aid, as well as unemployment

assistance that was turned back by some states and rely-

ing on projected future economic growth.

“I’ve got real concerns with this bill,” said Sen. Mike

Lee, R-Utah.

Bipartisan support from Republican and Democratic

senators pushed the process along, and Schumer want-

ed the voting to be wrapped up before senators left for

the August recess.

Last week, 17 GOP senators joined all Democrats in

voting to start work on the bipartisan bill. That support

largely held, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch

McConnell, R-Ky., voting yes in another procedural

vote to nudge the process along in the 50-50 Senate,

where 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster and

advance legislation.

Whether the number of Republican senators willing

to pass the bill grows or shrinks in the days ahead will

determine if the president’s signature issue can make it

across the finish line.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he expects Schumer

to allow all senators to have a chance to shape the bill and

allow for amendments from members of both parties.

“I hope we can now pump the brakes a little bit and

take the time and care to evaluate the benefits and the

cost of this legislation,” he said.

The bipartisan bill still faces a rough road in the

House, where progressive lawmakers want a more ro-

bust package but may have to settle for this one to keep

Biden’s infrastructure plans on track.

Senate likely to vote soonon $1T infrastructure bill

BY KEVIN FREKING

AND LISA MASCARO

Associated Press

NASHUA, N.H. — Christina Dar-

ling finally replaced her 2006 Chev-

rolet Equinox after it broke down

several times while picking up her

children from day care. But the 31-

year-old mother of two was strug-

gling to keep up with the car pay-

ments.

Brianne Walker, 29, desperately

wanted to take her three children

and two siblings camping for the

first time but wasn’t sure how she

could pay for it. After all, she was be-

hind on her rent, and day care and

grocery costs were adding up.

Then, the two women from New

Hampshire got a surprise in their

bank accounts this month. They

qualified for the expanded child tax

credit, part of President Joe Biden’s

$1.9 trillion coronavirus relief pack-

age. Families on average are getting

$423 this month; the Treasury De-

partment estimates that 35.2 million

families received payments in July.

“The additional money does help

alleviate the pressure,” said Walker,

who took custody of her siblings last

year after her mother overdosed.

The $800 credit will help make up

for losses she incurred after quitting

a kitchen design job to care for the

five youngsters, ages 3 to 19.

Biden increased the amounts go-

ing to families and expanded it to in-

clude those whose income is so little

they don’t owe taxes. The benefits

begin to phase out at incomes of

$75,000 for individuals, $112,500 for

heads of household and $150,000 for

married couples. Families with in-

comes up to $200,000 for individuals

and $400,000 for married couples

can still receive the previous $2,000

credit.

In the past, eligible families got a

credit after filing their taxes — ei-

ther as a lump sum payment or a

credit against taxes owed. But now

six months of payments are being

advanced monthly through the end

of the year. A recipient receives the

second half when they file their tax-

es. The credit is $3,600 annually for

children under age 6 and $3,000 for

children ages 6 to 17. Eligible fam-

ilies will receive $300 monthly for

each child under 6 and $250 per ol-

der child.

Families who receive the credit

are mostly spending it on rent, child

care and groceries, as well as catch-

ing up on cellphone and other bills.

For Darling, the $550 she gets will go

to car payments, more fresh pro-

duce and a babysitter so she can at-

tend Nashua Board of Education

meetings. She is running for a seat

on the board. Eventually, she hopes

to put money aside to save for a

home with a yard.

“Every step closer we get to a liv-

able wage is beneficial. That is mon-

ey that gets turned around and spent

on the betterment of my kids and

myself,” said Darling, a housing re-

source coordinator who had been

supplementing her $35,000-a-year

salary with visits to the Nashua Soup

Kitchen and Shelter’s food pantry.

Families paying off rent, food, debts with child tax creditBY MICHAEL CASEY

Associated Press

ELISE AMENDOLA/AP

Christina Darling and her sons, Brennan, 4, left, and Kayden, 10,prepare a snack at home in Nashua, N.H., on Wednesday. Darling andher family have qualified for the recently expanded child tax credit.

PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, August 3, 2021

NATION

NEW YORK — Two men

strode up to a crowd outside a

barbershop in the New York

City borough of Queens and

opened fire, wounding 10 peo-

ple before fleeing on mopeds,

police said Sunday morning.

The shooting in the borough’s

Corona neighborhood took

place just before 11 p.m. Satur-

day. The eight men and two

women, who range in age from

19 to 72, were all hospitalized

with non-life-threatening inju-

ries, according to police. The

most seriously injured victim

suffered a gunshot wound to the

stomach, NYPD Chief of Detec-

tives James Essig said.

Police said the two gunmen

arrived at the scene on foot, but

left by jumping on the backs of

two mopeds driven by two other

men. All four were wearing

hooded sweatshirts, police said.

Three of those shot were

known members of the Trinita-

rios, a Dominican street gang,

and were the intended targets,

Essig said. A party was in pro-

gress at a restaurant a few doors

down from the barbershop at

the time of the shooting, he add-

ed.

“This was a brazen, coordi-

nated attack, for lack of a better

word,” Essig said. “This is un-

acceptable, and it has to stop.”

No one was in custody as of

Sunday morning, and police

said they would be releasing

still photos and video from the

scene.

Police: 10 shot in Queens by2 men who fled on mopeds

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — With no Su-

preme Court opening to slow them,

President Joe Biden and Senate

Democrats are putting judges on

federal trial and appellate courts at

a much faster clip than any of Bi-

den’s recent predecessors.

Eight judges already have been

confirmed, including potential Su-

preme Court pick Ketanji Brown

Jackson to the federal appeals court

in Washington. More than 30 other

judicial nominations are pending

for more than 100 openings.

By this time four years ago, the

Senate, then under Republican con-

trol, had confirmed four of Preis-

dent Donald Trump’s nominees, in-

cluding Justice Neil Gorsuch.

But in 1993 and 2009, the start of

the last two Democratic adminis-

trations, no judges had been con-

firmed by the end of July.

The last two Democratic presi-

dents, Bill Clinton and Barack Oba-

ma, were slow to move judicial

nominations. But they both had

early, time-consuming Supreme

Court vacancies to deal with.

Justice Byron White announced

his retirement two months after

Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. Jus-

tice David Souter told Obama he

would step down just over three

months after Obama took office in

2009.

Progressives pushed hard for

Justice Stephen Breyer to retire

this summer, but the 82-year-old

leader of the court’s diminished lib-

eral wing has given every indica-

tion he will be on the bench when

the court starts its new term in Octo-

ber.

Those encouraging Breyer to

step down haven’t masked their dis-

appointment, but they are happy

with the nominees Biden has put

forward so far — more diverse ra-

cially, by gender and legal experi-

ence than were Trump’s picks, who

were overwhelmingly white and

male.

They include public defenders,

civil rights lawyers and attorneys

for organized labor, along with the

more typical mix of prosecutors

and big law firm members.

“I don’t see any silver lining to

Breyer staying on the court,” said

Nan Aron, the outgoing president of

the liberal Alliance for Justice. She

worries that an illness or death

could take away the Democrats’

precarious majority in the Senate

and that Senate Republican leader

Mitch McConnell could reprise his

refusal to confirm a Democratic

nominee, just as he did when Jus-

tice Antonin Scalia died in 2016 and

Obama nominated Merrick Gar-

land, now the attorney general, to

the Supreme Court.

But Aron said, “We’re so pleased

with both the pace and high quality

of the Biden nominees, particularly

that so many come from all corners

of the legal profession ... It’s a won-

derful departure from previous

Democratic administrations.”

Among his appointments are Tif-

fany Cunningham, the first Black

woman to serve on the court of ap-

peals in Washington, D.C., that

deals with patent and other special-

ized cases and Candace Jackson-

Akiwumi, only the second Black

woman to be a judge on the federal

appeals court based in Chicago.

Biden also has nominated civil

rights attorney Myrna Perez for the

federal appeals court based in New

York. She would be the first Latina

on that court since Justice Sonia So-

tomayor moved up to the Supreme

Court.

“We have had a good selection of

nominees come forward,” said Sen.

Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate Ju-

diciary Committee chairman.

One additional benefit of Biden’s

focus on diversity is that it might

tamp down the restiveness of pro-

gressives who also are advocating

for court reforms, including ex-

panding the Supreme Court by four

justices to counterbalance the three

Trump appointees.

“It could mollify his progressive

base, who realize he is not going to

go in for expanding the size of the

court or even term limits,” said

Russell Wheeler, a Brookings Insti-

tution expert on the judiciary.

Biden’s nominees all have drawn

at least some Republican support in

the Senate. Sens. Lindsey Graham,

R-S.C., and Susan Collins, R-Maine,

have voted for all eight judges who

have been confirmed.

Another 15 Republicans have not

voted for any Biden judicial nomi-

nees.

Some of the opposition could be a

form of payback for Democratic op-

position to Trump nominees, said

Carrie Severino, whose conserva-

tive Judicial Crisis Network has

spent millions of dollars supporting

Republican nominees and oppos-

ing Democrats.

“Many Republican senators be-

lieve that returning to a universe

where Democrat nominees are just

reflexively confirmed would con-

stitute unilateral disarmament in

light of the unyielding opposition to

President Trump’s nominees for

four years,” Severino said, singling

out Vice President Kamala Harris

for her votes against Trump court

picks when she served as a senator

from California.

TOM WILLIAMS/AP

Ketanji Brown Jackson, nominated to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit, testifiesbefore a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on pending judicial nominations in April on Capitol Hill inWashington, D.C.

Biden’s picks for judges beingconfirmed at newly rapid pace

Associated Press

DENVER, Colo. — Mudslides

from heavy rains caused “ex-

treme damage” to a major inter-

state and left it blocked with

piles of boulders and logs, Col-

orado transportation officials

said Sunday, as forecasters

warned of more flash floods in

the coming days across the

Rocky Mountain and Great Ba-

sin regions.

The flood risk was elevated for

many areas of the West where

recent wildfires burned away

vegetation and left hillsides

more susceptible to erosion, the

National Weather Service said.

Interstate 70 in Glenwood Ca-

nyon, Colo., was closed with no

word on when it might re-open

after being pounded by flash

floods over a three-day period.

Lanes in both directions re-

mained blocked by debris that

flowed out of the burn scar from

a wildfire last year in the Grizzly

Creek area.

The torrent of rocks that came

tumbling down the canyon’s

steep walls smashed apart sec-

tions of the concrete roadway

and sheared off a long section of

steel guardrail, photos provided

by state officials showed.

More rain was in the forecast

for the drought-parched region,

triggering flash flood watches

for portions of Utah, Colorado,

New Mexico, Idaho, Montana,

Nevada, Oregon and Washing-

ton state.

I-70 is a major transportation

corridor between the Rocky

Mountains and the West Coast.

An approximately 46-mile

stretch of the interstate was

closed. Transportation officials

advised long-distance truckers

to detour north onto Interstate

80 through Wyoming.

Crews were still assessing

damage late Sunday. They had

been working to clear the high-

way since Thursday when an-

other flash flood hit Saturday,

forcing them to evacuate the ar-

ea and causing even more dam-

age.

“When we know exactly what

the damage is, then we’ll have a

better idea” on when it could re-

open, said Colorado Department

of Transportation spokesperson

Tamara Rollison.

“It’s not just clearing the de-

bris. There’s also the damage,”

she said. “Our engineering staff

have never seen anything like

this before.”

More than 100 people had to

spend the night on the highway

Thursday night, including near-

ly 30 who took refuge in a tunnel

following the mudslides in west-

ern Colorado.

Mudslides also closed down

Colorado Highway 125 near

Granby and U.S. Highway 6 over

Colorado’s Loveland Pass. High-

way 6 was reopened Sunday,

Rollison said.

In Rock Springs, Wyo., nine

adults and eight children re-

ceived assistance after flooding

on Saturday, the Red Cross said.

Flood watches in

West as mudslides

shutter interstateAssociated Press

Tuesday, August 3, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11

AMERICAN ROUNDUP

Mountain lion caught inneighborhood back to wild

CA RAMONA — A young

mountain lion captured

after roaming an Orange County

neighborhood was released to the

wild in the Santa Ana Mountains.

The 1-year-old male cub was

captured July 13 after being spot-

ted several times in a neighbor-

hood in Mission Viejo.

California Department of Fish

and Wildlife wardens took the

mountain lion to the San Diego

Humane Society’s Ramona Wild-

life Center, where he was evaluat-

ed and treated for parasites.

Once rescuers determined the

cub could survive on his own,

game wardens returned him to his

home territory.

Man charged with repeatDUI for road rage incident

DE LEWES — A Wilming-

ton man was charged

with drunken driving and weap-

ons offenses after an alleged road

rage incident in Lewes, Delaware

State Police said.

Troopers responded to the

parking lot of a Home Depot after

a man called 911 to report that an

aggressive driver followed him on

Coastal Highway and into the

parking lot, where he threw a lock

at the man’s vehicle and screamed

at him, police said in a news re-

lease.

Troopers made contact with the

driver later identified as John Gil-

len, 56, and detected a strong odor

of alcohol, police said. Gillen was

arrested and a search of his car

turned up an 11-inch makeshift

shank and a 14-inch hatchet, po-

lice said. Gillen is prohibited from

owning a deadly weapon and has

two prior convictions for driving

under the influence, police said.

Gillen was charged with posses-

sion of a deadly weapon during the

commission of a felony, posses-

sion of a deadly weapon by a per-

son prohibited, third offense driv-

ing under the influence, disorder-

ly conduct and following a motor

vehicle too closely.

8 alleged gang memberscharged with trafficking

GA ALBANY — Eight al-

leged gang members

were indicted on a variety of gang-

related and human trafficking

charges in southwest Georgia.

A Dougherty County grand jury

returned the 54-count indictment

against alleged members of the

Inglewood Family Gangster

Bloods in Albany, state Attorney

General Chris Carr announced.

Agents with the Georgia Bureau

of Investigation and the attorney

general’s human trafficking unit

found evidence that a victim was

physically and sexually assaulted,

drugged and made to perform sex

acts by known gang members to

generate money for their gang, the

release says.

The charges in the indictment

include racketeering, gang charg-

es, sexual crimes, assault and traf-

ficking.

House fire 1 day beforeclosing dashes plans

NY WASHINGTON — A

house fire has de-

stroyed a New York home a day

before a couple was scheduled to

close on the property.

Authorities in Dutchess County

said the house in the Millbrook

section of Washington, about 15

miles northeast of Poughkeepsie,

burned to the ground about 12

hours after the sellers moved out

and a day before a retired New

York City couple was scheduled to

close on it. The Dutchess County

sheriff’s office told the Albany

Times-Union the fire doesn’t ap-

pear to be suspicious.

The unidentified couple had

paid $100,000 over the $287,000

asking price for the 1936 cottage

situated on five acres with a pond,

and had given up their apartment

lease, packed a truck and were

ready to move in, real estate Sandi

Park told the newspaper. The cou-

ple’s down payment will be re-

turned, she said.

Firefighters thwartattempted firetruck theft

OK TULSA — An Oklaho-

ma man was arrested

after being accused of trying to

steal a firetruck.

After arriving at the scene, po-

lice found a group of Tulsa fire-

fighters holding down a suspect.

Firefighters told police that

they found the man after hearing

glass break and the sound of the

ladder truck’s horn going off. Po-

lice alleged that the man had start-

ed the truck and tried driving

through the fire station’s overhead

doors before firefighters discov-

ered what he was doing.

The suspect was arrested and

charged with first-degree burgla-

ry, attempted auto theft and dam-

age to property.

Effort to restore historicBlack church gets boost

MA GREAT BARRING-

TON — The nonprofit

restoring a historic Black church

in Massachusetts where civil

rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois

once attended services received a

grant worth almost $500,000.

The National Park Service

grant announced by the Upper

Housatonic Valley Natural Heri-

tage Area will help toward the re-

habilitation of the Clinton A.M.E.

Zion Church in Great Barrington,

The Berkshire Eagle reported.

Upon completion, the organiza-

tion wants to reestablish the space

as a heritage center and visitor

site that will include a flexible per-

formance space, as well as “mu-

seum-level interpretive exhibits

and programming,” interim exec-

utive director Eugenie Sills said.

Sills said the project will cost $5

million to $7 million and take

years to complete.

Mother arrested afterabandoning newborn child

MD GLEN BURNIE — A

19-year-old woman

accused of abandoning her new-

born daughter in a wooded area in

Glen Burnie was arrested and

charged with attempted murder

and other offenses, Anne Arundel

County police said.

Early on July 14, officers re-

sponding to a 911 call reporting the

sound of a crying baby found an

unclothed baby girl with an umbil-

ical cord still attached, police said

in a news release. The baby had

minor injuries after being in con-

tact with some bushes and was

taken to a hospital. Police said the

baby is healthy.

When investigators identified

the baby’s mother, she was given

medical treatment and access to

crisis intervention, police said.

Olivia Thompson, 19, of Glen Bur-

nie, was arrested and charged

with first- and second-degree at-

tempted murder, assault, child

abuse, neglect of a minor, reckless

endangerment and desertion of a

minor child, according to police.

Artifact from steamerwreck raised by museum

VT BURLINGTON — An

artifact from a steamer

that sank in Lake Champlain more

than 200 years ago is back on the

surface where it is being studied

and preserved.

Earlier this summer, research-

ers from the Lake Champlain

Maritime Museum, the Vermont

Division for Historic Preservation

and others recovered the 125-

pound cast-iron block from the

bottom of the lake.

The block is believed to have

held one end of the drive shaft of

the Phoenix, an early Lake Cham-

plain steamer that sank on Sept. 4,

1819, killing six of the 46 passen-

gers and crew on board.

Researchers have known about

the location of the Phoenix’s hull’s

remains for decades, but only re-

cently have they been recovering

more pieces of the wreck. Last

year, a diver using a remotely op-

erated vehicle found the paddle-

wheels.

MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY (CALIF.) REGISTER/AP

Artist Sarah Rutherford, bottom left, works on painting a two­story mural on the building at Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange Countydistribution center in Irvine, Calif. The mural depicts faces of Orange County residents served by the food bank.

Food for thought

THE CENSUS

100 The anniversary that a northern Indiana university is celebrat-ing next year, leading to the school restoring its chime bells in

preparation. Manchester University has hired The Verdin Company of Cincina-ti, Ohio, to remove and refurbish the existing 10 bells, create four additionalbells and build a new tower structure. The removal of 10 bronze bells in theAdministration Building tower will occur Aug. 9-11, the university said in anews release. Plans call for an open bell tower to be installed next spring orsummer in the middle of the Manchester University Mall, said Melanie Har-mon, the university’s vice president for advancement.

From The Associated Press

PAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, August 3, 2021

WORLD

BOZALAN, Turkey — Selcuk

Sanli let his two cows loose to

fend for themselves, put his fam-

ily’s most treasured belongings

in a car and fled his home as a

wildfire approached his village

near Turkey’s beach resort of

Bodrum, one of thousands flee-

ing flames that have coated the

skies with a thick yellow haze.

He returned to check on his

house Monday in Bozalan only to

find that the fire had flared

again.

“Property is an important part

of life but life itself comes first,”

he said as he prepared to leave

his home once again.

For the sixth straight day,

Turkish firefighters were bat-

tling Monday to control the blaz-

es tearing through forests near

Turkey’s beach destinations.

Fed by strong winds and scorch-

ing temperatures, the fires that

began Wednesday have left eight

people dead and forced residents

and tourists to flee vacation re-

sorts in a flotilla of small boats.

Many villagers lost homes and

farm animals and had trouble

breathing amid the heavy

smoke.

Agriculture and Forestry Min-

ister Bekir Pakdemirli said

crews were still tackling seven

fires in the coastal provinces of

Antalya and Mugla that are pop-

ular tourist areas. Other active

fires were in Isparta, 236 miles

northeast, in Denizli province in

southwest Turkey.

Another fire in Tunceli, in

southeast Turkey, was contained

Monday, the minister said. In all,

129 fires that broke out in over 30

provinces since Wednesday

have been extinguished.

“We are going through days

when the heat is above 40 C (104

degrees Fahrenheit), where the

winds are strong and humidity is

extremely low,” Pakdemirli

said. “We are struggling under

such difficult conditions.”

At least 13 settlements in Mu-

gla were fully or partially evac-

uated, the minister said.

The EU said it helped mobilize

firefighting planes from Croatia

and Spain to help Turkey. Planes

from Ukraine, Russia, Azerbai-

jan and Iran have also been fight-

ing the blazes.

Spain’s government said it is

sending two water-dumping air-

craft and one transport plane to

help Turkey with the wildfires,

as well as 27 soldiers to help out.

Turkey battles wildfires for6th day; EU to send planes

Associated Press

BEIJING — More than 300 peo-

ple died in recent flooding in cen-

tral China, authorities said Mon-

day, three times the previously an-

nounced toll.

The Henan provincial govern-

ment said 302 people died and 50

remain missing. The vast majority

of the victims were in Zhengzhou,

the provincial capital, where 292

died and 47 are missing. Ten oth-

ers died in three other cities, offi-

cials said at a news conference in

Zhengzhou.

Record rainfall inundated the

city on July 20, turning streets into

rushing rivers and flooding at

least part of a subway line. Video

posted online showed vehicles be-

ing washed away and desperate

people trapped in subway cars as

the waters rose. Fourteen people

died in the subway flooding.

The previous death toll, an-

nounced Friday, was 99.

Authorities said 189 people

were killed by floods and mud-

slides, 54 in house collapses and

39 in underground areas such as

basements and garages and in-

cluding those on subway Line 5.

The death toll remained at six in

an expressway tunnel from which

247 vehicles were removed as it

was drained.

Wang Kai, the governor of He-

nan province, expressed deep

condolences to the victims and

sympathies to the families on be-

half of the Henan Communist Par-

ty committee.

The worst came after Zhengz-

hou was hit by 8 inches of rain in

one hour starting at 4 p.m. on July

20, overwhelming the already

drenched city. Children were

trapped in schools, and stranded

people stayed in their workplaces

overnight.

The rains headed north in the

following days, hitting the Henan

cities of Hebi, Anyang and Xin-

xiang. Seven people died and

three are missing in Xinxiang,

where record rains dropped more

than 10 inches of water in a 19-

hour period. Henan is an inland

county about 380 miles southwest

of Beijing.

Death tolltriples infloodingin China

Associated Press

MEITU, CHINATOPIX/AP

A girl helps her pet dog through flood waters after record downpoursreceded in Zhengzhou city July 21. Chinese authorities announced ahuge jump in the death toll from recent floods. 

Tuesday, August 3, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 13

WORLD

SEOUL, South Korea — South

Korea said Monday it’ll keep

pushing to improve ties and re-

sume talks with rival North Korea,

despite the North’s threat to rekin-

dle animosities if Seoul holds its

summertime military drills with

the United States.

On Sunday night, the powerful

sister of North Korean leader Kim

Jong Un warned the drills would

seriously undermine efforts to re-

store mutual trust between the

Koreas and becloud prospects for

better ties if the training is

launched as scheduled this month.

Her statement raised a question

about the sincerity of North Ko-

rea’s recent decision to reopen

long-stalled communication chan-

nels with South Korea.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry

said Monday the exact timing, size

and other details of the drills

haven’t been fixed and that they

were the issues that must be deter-

mined by South Korean and U.S.

authorities. Spokesman Boo

Seung-Chan repeated his previ-

ous statement that Seoul and

Washington are examining fac-

tors like the pandemic’s current

status, diplomat efforts to curb

North Korea’s nuclear ambitions

and South Korea-U.S. military

readiness.

Lee Jong-joo, a spokeswoman at

the Unification Ministry, said Se-

oul views the communication

channels’ restoration as a starting

point for restoring long-suspend-

ed ties between the Koreas. She

said Seoul will steadily seek to re-

sume talks with North Korea, but

without haste.

North Korea sees regular mili-

tary drills between South Korea

and the United States as an inva-

sion rehearsal and often responds

to them with its own weapons

tests. In the past few years, howev-

er, South Korea and the U.S. have

canceled or downsized some of

their training to support the now-

dormant diplomacy on ending the

North Korean nuclear crisis or be-

cause of the COVID-19 pandemic.

S. Korea seeks to improve tiesdespite North threat on drills

BY HYUNG-JIN KIM

Associated Press

AHN YOUNG­JOON/AP

South Korean army soldiers work on K2 tanks in preparation for anexercise at a training field in Paju, South Korea, near the border withNorth Korea, on Monday.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Gunmen on

Monday shot and killed a police officer as-

signed to protect a polio vaccination team

in northwestern Pakistan, an official said.

It was the third attack in two days on Pa-

kistani policemen assigned to protect polio

workers.

The deadly attack took place in the town

of Kolachi in the Dera Ismail Khan dis-

trict. Officer Dilawar Khan was on his mo-

torcycle, heading to escort polio workers

taking part in a nationwide campaign

aimed at making Pakistan a polio-free

state.

The gunmen fled the scene and a police

search is underway, according to Moham-

mad Aslam, a local police official.

Pakistani militants often target polio

teams and police assigned to protect them,

claiming the vaccination campaigns are a

Western conspiracy to sterilize children.

No one immediately claimed responsib-

ility for any of the attacks.

Pakistan says polio vaccine team attacked, policeman killedAssociated Press

PAGE 14 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, August 3, 2021

FACES

Motown vocal legend Smokey Robinson gratefully re-

turned to the concert stage last month after having spent

nearly two weeks hospitalized in December with CO-

VID-19.

“I was in the hospital for 11 days before Christmas and it

wiped me out. It was touch and go,” the longtime Los An-

geles resident said, speaking by phone July 30.

The famed singer-songwriter, who turned 81 on Feb. 19,

is a 2002 National Medal of the Arts recipient and 1987 Rock

& Roll Hall of Fame inductee. His concert July 24 at North-

ern Quest Resort & Casino in Airway Heights, Wash., out-

side Spokane, was his first performance in front of a live

audience since early 2020.

“I was really worried about it because I’m a COVID sur-

vivor,” Robinson said. He had not previously disclosed that

he had contracted the deadly virus.

“It messed with my vocal cords,” Robinson continued.

“I could barely talk for a month (afterward), so I had to

continually work on myself to sing and get those muscles

back. It was a nervous situation (in Washington state) be-

cause it was a full-blown, two-hour concert. But after two or

three songs, it felt good. I was very happy about that.”

Robinson did not say how or when last year he contracted

COVID-19 — for which he was vaccinated in late March —

or where he was hospitalized. But he spoke with palpable

enthusiasm throughout his 45-minute interview, at one

point breaking into a vigorous vocal simulation of former

Temptations’ singer Eddie Kendricks at full throttle.

Robinson said he has now resumed work on two new al-

bums — one in English and one in Spanish — both of which

he describes as “contemporary.” He is also focused on a

biopic feature film based on his life and career. Robinson

formed his first band, The Five Chimes, before he had be-

come a teenager.

“We’re script-writing right now,” said the Detroit native,

whose candid autobiography, “Smokey: Inside My Life,”

was published in 1989. “We’ve been working on it for a

year.”

As the leader of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, he

wrote and recorded some of the most enduring pop songs of

the 1960s before launching his solo career. As a staff writer

for Motown Records, he helped craft chart-topping hits for

The Temptations, Mary Wells and others. Bob Dylan fa-

mously hailed him as “our greatest living poet.”

Asked if music means more to him now than it did before

the pandemic and his contracting COVID-19, Robinson of-

fered a simple but eloquent response.

“Everything means more to me now,” he said.

TNS

R&B icon Smokey Robinson is happy to be back on tour.

‘It was touch and go’Smokey Robinson gratefully resumes touring after battling COVID-19

BY GEORGE VARGA

The San Diego Union-Tribune

Michael Jackson’s musical leg-

acy never left, but a kind of come-

back is coming.

With a series of court victories

that bring the end to serious legal

crises, with a Broadway show be-

ginning and a Cirque du Soleil

show returning after a long pan-

demic pause, the Jackson busi-

ness is on the upswing 12 years af-

ter the pop superstar’s death.

Very recently, things looked

grim. The 2019 HBO documentary

“Leaving Neverland” raised child

molestation allegations anew. The

once-dead lawsuits brought by the

two men featured in it had been

revived by changes in the law.

And a decision in the estate’s ap-

peal of a $700 million tax bill was

taking years to arrive.

“I was always optimistic,” said

John Branca, the entertainment

attorney who worked with Jack-

son through many of his biggest

triumphs and now serves as co-ex-

ecutor of his estate. “Michael in-

spired the planet, and his music

still does. There was never any

doubt about that.”

The optimism was warranted. A

succession of court decisions

came. One accusers’ lawsuit was

dismissed in October. The other

was tossed out in April. In May, a

ruling in the tax case slashed the

bill dramatically. The estate sud-

denly stands nearly clear of a doz-

en years of disputes. That means

Branca expects that in the next 18

months it can finally be taken out

of probate court and turned into a

trust for Jackson’s three children,

who are all now adults.

And the focus of the estate can

now shift back to presenting Jack-

son to the world.

The first priority is the revival

of the Cirque du Soleil show, “Mi-

chael Jackson: One” at the Man-

dalay Bay Resort and Casino in

Las Vegas. It is slated to reopen

Aug. 19 after a coronavirus clo-

sure of nearly a year and a half, in

time for a major celebration there

planned for Jackson’s Aug. 29

birthday.

The Broadway show, “MJ: The

Musical,” will follow quickly on its

heels, the first of several planned

projects.

“It’s not a chronological depic-

tion of Michael’s life,” said Brabca

of the Broadway show. “It’s more

impressionistic, inspired by Mi-

chael’s life and his music. It takes

place as Michael is preparing for a

tour and MTV wants to get an in-

terview. Michael’s very press shy,

and slowly but surely as they de-

velop a relationship begins to talk

about different parts of his life that

then get enacted in the show.”

Successes aside, Branca feels

lingering bitterness about direc-

tor Dan Reed’s “Leaving Never-

land” and what he felt were Amer-

ican media outlets that “don’t have

the time or the wherewithal to do

the research to figure out what’s

true and what’s not true.”

The estate’s last lingering law-

suit, now in private arbitration, is

one that it brought itself, against

HBO over the documentary.

“I was very angry at HBO and

Dan Reed and I still am because

here’s the thing: You can say any-

thing you want about somebody

who’s dead. They’re not here to

protect themselves,” Branca said.

The two men featured in the

documentary are appealing the

dismissals of their lawsuits. HBO

has defended “Leaving Never-

land” as a valid and important

piece of documentary journalism.

Under the guidance of Branca

and co-executor John McClain,

the estate has brought in $2.5 bil-

lion in revenue in the past 11 years,

and Jackson has remained the top

earning deceased celebrity every

year since his death at age 50 from

a lethal dose of the anesthetic pro-

pofol.

But Branca says the way Jack-

son’s musical legacy echoes

through modern artists may be his

most impressive legacy.

“Kanye West, Drake, Beyoncé,

Usher, Justin Timberlake, Justin

Bieber, Ariana Grande — they all

point back to Michael,” Branca

said. “His influence is really enor-

mous.”

Michael Jackson’s estateon the verge of a comeback

AP

Singer Michael Jackson is shownin 1989. The singer, who died in2009, will be the focus of anupcoming Cirque du Soleil showand a Broadway musical.

BY ANDREW DALTON

Associated Press Walt Disney Co.’s “Jungle

Cruise,” based on a theme-park

ride, opened as the top film in

North American theaters, collect-

ing a higher-than-expected $34

million sales in a still-tough cli-

mate for movie theaters.

“The Green Knight,” a fantasy

take on the King Arthur story from

A24, opened in second place with

$6.78 million in sales, researcher

Comscore Inc. said Sunday. Last

weekend’s leader, the M. Night

Shyamalan horror film “Old,”

landed in the third place with rev-

enues of $6.76 million. The new

Matt Damon film “Stillwater”

opened with $5.12 million.

“Jungle Cruise” debuted in both

theaters and online — available to

Disney+ subscribers for an addi-

tional fee of $30 — the same strate-

gy the entertainment giant em-

ployed with its Marvel film “Black

Widow” a few weeks ago.

“Jungle Cruise” features

Dwayne Johnson as captain of an

Amazon riverboat, and Emily

Blunt plays his passenger. The

film cost about $200 million to

make, according to trade reports.

Controversy over the simulta-

neous release of films in theaters

and online has been heating up.

Besides angering theater owners,

Disney was sued by actress Scar-

lett Johansson, a star of the com-

pany’s Marvel films. She alleged

in a lawsuit last week that the com-

pany broke its promise to release

“Black Widow” only in movie the-

aters when it made it available for

streaming. Her contract guaran-

teed her a share of the box-office

receipts.

Disney countered that it paid

Johansson $20 million and that the

suit is without merit.

Fests drop DaBaby after

controversial remarksJust a day after Lollapalooza an-

nounced that DaBaby would not

be performing at the music festiv-

al Aug. 1 due to his recent homo-

phobic and sexist comments, the

rapper was also dropped from

Governors Ball, set to be held in

late September. Both actions fol-

low a week of intense criticism di-

rected at the artist.

The decisions came a week af-

ter the 29-year-old rapper, whose

real name is Jonathan Kirk, di-

rected homophobic and sexist

comments during his set at the

Rolling Loud festival in Miami

Gardens, Fla. DaBaby — who has

amassed six Grammy nomina-

tions — encouraged those in at-

tendance to raise their cellphone

lights on the condition that they

weren’t gay men or affected by

HIV/AIDS, inaccurately stating

that the disease would “make you

die in two to three weeks.”

Other news■ Charles Connor, known for

being Little Richard’s drummer

who performed with other music

greats including James Brown

and Sam Cooke, died July 31. He

was 86. Connor’s daughter, Quee-

nie Connor Sonnefeld, said her fa-

ther died peacefully in his sleep at

his home in Glendale, Calif. She

said her father had been diag-

nosed with normal pressure hy-

drocephalus, a brain disorder that

causes fluid buildup.

Disney’s ‘Jungle Cruise’ topsbox office with $34M debut

From wire reports

Tuesday, August 3, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 15

ACROSS 1 Pal

5 Jokester

8 The Mets’

old home

12 Prefix with pilot

13 “Westworld”

network

14 Egg container

15 Well-versed

competitor?

17 Toward the

rising sun

18 “So there!”

19 Decay

20 Brother of Moses

21 Enervate

22 Mork’s planet

23 Southpaw

26 Car protectors

30 Pac-12 team

31 Favorite

32 Sicilian peak

33 Bravery

35 Bas-relief

medium

36 Unpaid TV spot

37 Tibetan bovine

38 Illuminated

41 Dawn goddess

42 Ripken of

baseball

45 Now, on a memo

46 Surveillance

aircraft

48 Actress Hatcher

49 2016 Olympics

city

50 Apple product

51 Barking mammal

52 Rm. coolers

53 “The Mule”

actor Michael

DOWN 1 Moolah

2 Luau dance

3 Hexagonal state

4 Oft-tattooed word

5 Jubilant shout

6 Help a crook

7 Inherited

8 Preview

9 Get wind of

10 Old U.S. gas

brand

11 Envelope abbr.

16 Use a rosary

20 Pitcher’s pride

21 Outstanding

student

22 Ump’s call

23 Jean- — Picard

24 Author Umberto

25 Winter ailment

26 Spell-off

27 UFO crew

28 ICU workers

29 — Paulo, Brazil

31 Links org.

34 Cleo’s slayer

35 React in horror

37 Toys on strings

38 Back muscles,

for short

39 “Understood”

40 Skater Lipinski

41 Grand tale

42 Superhero’s

garment

43 Soon, poetically

44 Castor’s mother

46 Span. lady

47 Back talk

Answer to Previous Puzzle

Eugene Sheffer CrosswordFra

zz

Dilbert

Pearls B

efo

re S

win

eN

on S

equitur

Candorv

ille

Beetle B

ailey

Biz

arr

oCarp

e D

iem

PAGE 16 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher

Lt. Col. Marci Hoffman, Europe commander

Lt. Col. Michael Kerschbaum, Pacific commander

Michael Ryan, Pacific chief of staff

EDITORIAL

Terry Leonard, Editorleonard.terry@stripes.com

Robert H. Reid, Senior Managing Editorreid.robert@stripes.com

Sean Moores, Managing Editor for Presentationmoores.sean@stripes.com

BUREAU STAFF

Europe/MideastErik Slavin, Europe & Mideast Bureau Chiefslavin.erik@stripes.com +49(0)631.3615.9350; DSN (314)583.9350

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© Stars and Stripes 2021

stripes.com

OPINION

Three months ago, Canada, which

has no domestic manufacturer of

COVID-19 vaccines, lagged far be-

hind the United States in immuniza-

tions. Only 3% of its population was fully vacci-

nated. Canadians watched glumly as friends

and relatives south of the border lined up for

shots, while residents of Toronto and Mon-

treal suffered repeated lockdowns.

No longer. Last month, Canada blew past

the United States in the share of its population

that’s fully vaccinated — 58% as of Friday, ver-

sus 49% in the U.S. — to take first place among

the seven big industrial democracies. (The

United States ranks sixth, ahead of only Ja-

pan.)

How did Canada, the country that most

closely resembles the U.S., do so much better,

even though it had to wait longer for Pfizer-

BioNTech and Moderna to deliver their vac-

cines? The simple answer is that in Canada, the

pandemic didn’t become a politically polar-

ized issue, as it did in the United States.

Canada’s major political parties, including

the opposition Conservatives, joined early in

full-throated support of mass vaccination.

Leading politicians didn’t dismiss immuniza-

tion as unnecessary, deride mask mandates or

attack scientists. When Andrew Scheer, then

the Conservative leader, criticized Prime

Minister Justin Trudeau last year over the im-

munization program, it was to complain that

he wasn’t delivering vaccines fast enough.

Canadians have argued over how quickly to

lift limits on public gatherings, restaurants

and retail stores, but their debates have been

muted by U.S. standards. The country’s tough-

est lockdown was imposed by Ontario Pre-

mier Doug Ford, a populist conservative who

has been compared to former President Do-

nald Trump.

“I can’t stand lockdowns,” Ford com-

plained, but he stuck by his health experts’

recommendation to keep the restrictions until

almost 80% of Ontarians had received their

first doses of vaccine.

Like the U.S., Canada has anti-vaxxers —

just fewer of them. An Angus Reid Institute

poll last month found that only 8% of Cana-

dians said they definitely do not intend to get a

COVID vaccination, including 15% of Conser-

vative Party voters. Polls in the United States

have found refusal rates at least twice as high.

And there lies a clue toward a deeper, more

complex explanation for Canada’s vaccina-

tion success over that of the U.S.: the underly-

ing differences between the countries’ politi-

cal cultures and, especially, their conserva-

tive parties.

“There is much less polarization in Canada

overall,” Peter Loewen, a political scientist at

the University of Toronto, told me. “There’s

not a lot of political mileage in appearing to be

anti-science in Canada; there is in the United

States.”

Canadians also differ from Americans in

that more of them trust their government to do

the right thing. Frank Graves of Ekos Re-

search, an Ottawa pollster, noted that in one

survey last year, Americans’ trust in Washing-

ton was as low as 17%; the trust level in Canada

was 37%, about twice as high.

“In Canada, our number actually bounced

up during the pandemic, as people looked to

government as a source of salvation,” he told

me. “Trust in government, in science and in

public health are all interrelated, and they are

all key predictors of anti-vax sentiment.”

Another difference: Canada’s Conservative

Party is more moderate than the post-Trump

Republican Party.

“There’s a strain of authoritarian populism

in both parties, but it has become the dominant

faction in the Republican Party; it’s not as

large in Canada,” Graves said.

Before the 2020 U.S. presidential election,

Canada’s Leger Poll asked Canadians wheth-

er they would vote for Trump or Joe Biden.

Among all Canadians, Biden was the favorite,

by a whopping 84%; even Conservative Party

voters preferred Biden over Trump, at 59%.

One last difference: Canada has no equiva-

lent of Fox News spreading misinformation

about COVID vaccines.

Of course, not everyone is impressed by

Canada’s anti-pandemic measures. Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis recently derided them as

an example of what not to do.

“We were the leading state fighting against

coronavirus lockdowns,” he bragged on Fox

News. “I believe had Florida not done that, you

would see the other states to have followed

Canada, [which is] still locked down.”

But the governor should be careful about

the comparisons he invites.

Florida led the U.S. in COVID-19 cases last

week, and more than 39,000 Sunshine State

residents have died from the disease. Canada,

with a much larger population, has had about

27,000 COVID deaths. Its per capita death rate

is less than half that of Florida.

That should make even Republicans ask

themselves: What is Canada doing right?

Canada’s political culture permits vaccination gainsBY DOYLE MCMANUS

Los Angeles Times

Doyle McManus is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

We are, it seems, on the verge of

war. A germ war, to be precise,

that pits the vaccinated against

the unvaccinated and is forcing

government officials, universities and corpo-

rations to pick sides. A time for choosing

awaits us all.

We’re about to enter a strange era not seen

since 1905, when the Supreme Court ruled in

favor of state police powers to require vac-

cines, in that case smallpox, for the benefit of

the larger community. Today, such a scenario

seems better suited to science fiction. But this

is our world now, and we’ve all been inducted

to serve. As COVID-19 reemerges through the

twice-more-contagious delta variant, forcing

many Americans to wear masks again and

possibly to discontinue gathering in public

places, the message is clear: Either get vacci-

nated, or prepare to be treated differently.

President Joe Biden has ordered that all

federal employees (though not uniformed

members of the military) either get vaccinat-

ed or wear masks and submit to frequent coro-

navirus testing. Biden is also urging private

companies and the military to do the same.

Duke University has announced that it will

require that anyone on campus — students,

faculty, staff — provide proof of full vaccina-

tion or have an approved medical or religious

exemption. Unvaccinated people will have to

wear masks and submit to regular testing.

There’s no telling how many more universi-

ties, companies and communities will follow

suit. But the die has been cast. The approxi-

mately 50% of Americans who have stepped

up to the plate and been fully vaccinated, thus

drastically reducing the infection rates (for a

while), are fed up. The delta variant is quickly

overtaking what progress was made by the

willing and is swiftly moving through popula-

tions of the unvaccinated. The fear among ex-

perts is that as delta spreads, infected people

will surround and overwhelm vaccinated peo-

ple through “spillover infection,” while con-

tinuing to retard herd immunity.

There is little goodwill between warring

factions. People who don’t want the vaccine

argue that it’s still categorized as an emergen-

cy-use concoction, the full effects of which re-

main unknown. This would be a reasonable

enough argument were it not for the fact that

COVID and its mutations pose an emergency

that can be contained only by vaccinating as

many people as possible.

Those of us who’ve gotten our shots see no

point to such reluctance when the alternative

is so troubling. Even if most people who con-

tract COVID don’t die, more than 600,000

Americans already have. Is that figure too

small to give people pause? Do the vaccine-

averse figure that losing older Americans and

fatter Americans, the most vulnerable to ex-

treme sickness and death, is just the price we

pay? For many people over 65, more than 80%

of whom are fully vaccinated, compromise is

neither rational nor negotiable. Fully 42% of

Americans are obese, according to the Cen-

ters for Disease Control and Prevention, and

also at high risk for COVID.

It isn’t hard to spot the class war lurking

within our germ war. The college-educated

are less likely to be obese, probably because

they’re more fluent in nutrition and because,

having higher incomes, they can afford to buy

healthier foods. We learned in the early

rounds of this pandemic that the virus is dev-

astating to minorities with unequal access to

health care; will one part of the population let

that happen again to another part?

Iam not unmindful of what this might do to

us. The circumstances in which we find our-

selves remind me of the worst sectarian fight-

ing during the Iraq War, when former friends

would cross the street rather than share a side-

walk with someone who supported or opposed

the U.S.-led invasion. Divided families could

barely discuss the subject with each other,

making holidays and reunions impossible. Re-

lationships dissolved. Bitterness reigned.

Those days seem like a picnic compared

with what could happen if almost half the U.S.

population, already riven by political discord,

persists in making life miserable for the other

half. This time the battleground isn’t far away,

but in our front yards, schools and workplaces.

The pandemic changed us, we’ve said over

and over. But as we measure our progress, it

seems reasonable to wonder: Could the next

pandemic ruin us? Does any vaccinated per-

son want to be around an unvaccinated per-

son? How will we know who’s who? Will we

soon be wearing ID bracelets? Such questions

raise another frightening prospect to all of

this: With the decisions being made to now

wage war on the unvaccinated, are we laying

the groundwork for even greater distrust in an

already convulsive time?

Cures can be worse than the disease, we’ve

heard. I support the measures mentioned

here, but I also fear we’re about to test that hy-

pothesis in ways never before imagined.

Will delta variant turn Americans against one another?BY KATHLEEN PARKER

Washington Post Writers Group

Tuesday, August 3, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 17

SCOREBOARD/NBA

PRO SOCCER

MLS

Eastern Conference

W L T Pts GF GA

New England 11 3 3 36 33 21

Orlando City 8 4 4 28 26 21

Nashville 6 1 9 27 25 15

NYCFC 8 5 2 26 30 16

Philadelphia 6 4 7 25 21 17

Columbus 6 4 6 24 17 16

CF Montréal 6 6 4 22 21 20

D.C. United 6 7 3 21 21 18

New York 5 7 3 18 20 20

Toronto FC 3 8 5 14 21 33

Cincinnati 3 7 5 14 17 29

Atlanta 2 6 8 14 16 21

Chicago 3 9 4 13 18 28

Inter Miami CF 3 8 3 12 12 24

Western Conference

W L T Pts GF GA

Seattle 9 3 5 32 25 13

SportingKansas City

9 4 3 30 29 19

LA Galaxy 9 6 1 28 27 27

Colorado 8 4 3 27 22 16

LAFC 6 5 5 23 22 19

Minnesota 6 5 5 23 19 21

Real Salt Lake 5 4 6 21 24 16

Portland 6 8 1 19 19 26

Houston 3 4 9 18 17 20

FC Dallas 4 7 5 17 20 24

San Jose 4 7 5 17 18 25

Vancouver 3 7 6 15 18 27

Austin FC 3 8 4 13 10 16

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Sunday’s games

Chicago 1, Philadelphia 1 Nashville 1, Toronto FC 1

Wednesday’s games

Nashville at New England Atlanta at CF Montréal D.C. United at Columbus Toronto FC at Philadelphia Miami at Orlando City New York City FC at Chicago Cincinnati at New York Houston at Austin FC FC Dallas at Seattle Sporting Kansas City at Los Angeles FC Real Salt Lake at LA Galaxy San Jose at Portland

Saturday, Aug. 7

Atlanta at Columbus Orlando City at Cincinnati Houston at Minnesota New York City FC at Toronto FC Austin FC at FC Dallas Sporting Kansas City at Colorado Real Salt Lake at Portland

Sunday, Aug. 8

New York at Chicago Philadelphia at New England Nashville at Miami Los Angeles FC at San Jose CF Montréal at D.C. United Vancouver at LA Galaxy

NWSL

W L T Pts GF GA

Portland 8 3 1 25 19 7

Gotham FC 5 1 5 20 13 7

Chicago 6 5 2 20 15 18

Washington 5 4 3 18 15 14

North Carolina 5 4 3 18 16 9

Houston 5 5 2 17 14 13

Orlando 4 4 5 17 15 16

Reign FC 5 6 1 16 12 13

Louisville 3 6 2 11 7 17

Kansas City 0 8 4 4 5 17

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Sunday’s games

Portland 2, Kansas City 0 Chicago 3, Washington 1 Gotham FC 1, Houston 1, tie

Saturday, Aug. 7

North Carolina at Gotham FC Portland at Washington Houston at Reign FC

DEALS

Sunday’s transactions

BASEBALLMajor League Baseball

American LeagueBALTIMORE ORIOLES — Reinstated LHP

Keegan Akin from the 10-day IL. PlacedLHP Tanner Scott on the 10-day IL. Desig-nated RHP Thomas Eshelman for assign-ment.

BOSTON  RED  SOX  — Agreed to termswith C Nathan Hickey, 1B Niko Kavadasand RHP Luis Guerrero on minor leaguecontracts.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Placed CF BillyHamilton on the 10-day IL, retroactive toJuly 31. Recalled RHP Jimmy Lambert fromCharlotte (Triple-A East). Optioned RHPJimmy Lambert to Charlotte.

HOUSTON ASTROS — Placed RHP RyanPressly on the paternity list. Recalled RHPBryan Abreu from Sugar Land (Triple-AWest). Reinstated RHP Josh James fromthe 60-day IL. Designated RHP Ralph GarzaJr. for assignment.

LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Optioned RHPJames Hoyt and SS Luis Rengifo to SaltLake (Triple-A West). Selected the con-tracts of LHP Reid Detmers and INF KeanWong from Salt Lake and agreed to termson major league contracts.

NEW YORK YANKEES — Recalled RHP Al-bert Abreu from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre(Triple-A East). Placed RHP Domingo Ger-man on the 10-day IL.

OAKLAND  ATHLETICS  — Recalled RHPDaulton Jefferies from Las Vegas (Triple-AWest). Optioned OF Seth Brown to Las Ve-gas.

TAMPA BAY RAYS — Placed LHP JeffreySprings on the 10-day IL. Recalled RHP DJJohnson from Durham (Triple-A East).

TEXAS RANGERS — Agreed to terms withOF Aaron Zavala, C Tucker Mitchell andRHP Kyle Larson on minor league con-tracts.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Activated RHPsJose Berrios and Joakim Soria. OptionedRHP Thomas Hatch and LHP Tayler Sauce-do to Buffalo (Triple-A East).

National LeagueATLANTA BRAVES — Sent RHP Huascar

Ynoa to Rome (High-A East) on a rehab as-signment.

COLORADO ROCKIES — Sent RHPs Rob-ert Stephenson and Yency Almonte to Al-buquerque (Triple-A West) on rehab as-signments. Reinstated OF Yonathan Dazafrom the IL. Optioned RHP Jose Mujica toAlbuquerque.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS — Optioned RFZach McKinstry and RHP Mitch White toOklahoma City (Triple-A West). Trans-ferred RHP Jimmie Sherfy from the 10-dayIL to the 60-day IL. Activated RF MookieBetts from the 10-day IL. Selected the con-tract of RHP Yefry Ramirez from OklahomaCity and agreed to terms on a majorleague contract.

MIAMI  MARLINS  — Optioned 1B LewinDiaz to Jacksonville (Triple-A East). Select-ed the contract of LHP Sean Guenther fromJacksonville and agreed to terms on a ma-jor league contract.

MILWAUKEE  BREWERS  — Placed RHPHunter Strickland on the 10-day IL. Select-ed the contract of LHP Blaine Hardy fromNashville (Triple-A East) and agreed toterms on a major league contract.

NEW YORK METS — Placed INF Luis Guil-lorme on the 10-day IL. Recalled RHP GeoffHartlieb from Syracuse (Triple-A East).

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Activated LHPJon Lester. Optioned RHP Jake Woodfordto Memphis (Triple-A East).

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — Optioned 3BJason Vosler to Sacramento (Triple-AWest). Activated LF Kris Bryant.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS — ActivatedRHP Josiah Gray. Optioned RHP TannerRainey to Rochester (Triple-A East).

BASKETBALLUTAH JAZZ — Waived G Matt Thomas.

FOOTBALLNational Football League

ATLANTA FALCONS — Signed LB TuzarSkipper.

DENVER BRONCOS — Signed DB Rojes-terman Farris.

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS — Re-signed K Do-minik Eberle.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS — Signed QBK.J. Costello.

MIAMI  DOLPHINS  — Placed TEs MikeGesicki, Cethan Carter and Adam Shaheenon the reserve/COVID-19 list.

NEW  ORLEANS  — Signed RB DevontaFreeman.

NEW YORK GIANTS — Signed C Joe Loo-ney.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Signed QB SeanMannion. Waived QB Danny Etling.

WASHINGTON  FOOTBALL  TEAM  —Placed DT Daron Payne on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

TENNIS

Atlanta Open

SundayAt Atlanta Station

AtlantaPurse: $555,995

Surface: Hardcourt outdoorMen’s SinglesChampionship

John Isner (6), United States, def. Bran-don Nakashima, United States, 7-6 (8), 7-5.

Charleston 125

SundayAt Family Circle Tennis Center

Charleston, S.C.Purse: $115,000

Surface: Red clayWomen’s Singles

ChampionshipVarvara Lepchenko (4), United States,

def. Jamie Loeb, United States, 7-6 (4), 4-6,6-4.

WTA Winners Open

MondayAt Arenele BNR

Cluj­Napoca, RomaniaPurse: $235,238

Surface: Red clayWomen’s Singles

QualificationJana Fett (4), Croatia, def. Vanessa Ioana

Georgiana PoPa Teiusanu, Romania, 6-4,6-1.

Women’s SinglesRound of 32

Kaja Juvan (6), Slovenia, def. MarinaMelnikova, Russia, 6-1, 6-1.

Lara Arruabarrena, Spain, def. EvelyneChristelle Atticia Tiron, Romania, 6-0, 6-0.

AUTO RACING

F1 Hungarian Grand PrixSunday

At HungaroringBudapest, Hungary.

Lap length: 4.00 kilometers(Start position in parentheses)

1. (8) Esteban Ocon, France, Alpine, 70laps, 1:32:54.762.

2. (10) Sebastian Vettel, Germany, As-ton Martin, 70, +1.859 seconds.

3. (1) Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain,Mercedes, 70, +2.736.

4. (15) Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, Ferrari, 70,+15.018.

5. (9) Fernando Alonso, Spain, Alpine,70, +15.651.

6. (5) Pierre Gasly, France, Alphatauri,70, +1:03.614.

7. (16) Yuki Tsunoda, Japan, Alphatau-ri, 70, +1:15.803.

8. (18) Nicholas Latifi, Canada, Wil-liams, 70, +1:17.910.

9. (17) George Russell, Great Britain,Williams, 70, +1:19.094.

10. (3) Max Verstappen, Netherlands,Red Bull Racing, 70, +1:20.244.

11. (13) Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, AlfaRomeo Racing, 69, +1 lap.

12. (11) Daniel Ricciardo, Australia,McLaren, 69, +1 lap.

13. (20) Mick Schumacher, Germany,Haas F1 Team, 69, +1 lap.

14. (14) Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy, AlfaRomeo Racing, 69, +1 lap.

15. (19) Nikita Mazepin, Russia, Haas F1Team, did not finish, 3.

16. (6) Lando Norris, Great Britain,McLaren, did not finish, 2.

17. (4) Sergio Perez, Mexico, Red BullRacing, did not finish.

18. (2) Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Mer-cedes, did not finish.

19. (7) Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Ferra-ri, did not finish.

20. (12) Lance Stroll, Canada, AstonMartin, did not finish.

Driver Standings

1. Max Verstappen, Netherlands, RedBull Racing, 185 points.

2. Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, Mer-cedes, 177.

3. Lando Norris, Great Britain, McLa-ren, 113.

4. Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Mercedes,108.

5. Sergio Perez, Mexico, Red Bull Rac-ing, 104.

6. Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Ferrari, 80.7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, Ferrari, 68.8. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, McLa-

ren, 50.9. Pierre Gasly, France, Alphatauri, 39.10. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Aston

Martin, 30.11. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Alpine, 26.12. Lance Stroll, Canada, Aston Martin,

18.13. Esteban Ocon, France, Alpine, 14.14. Yuki Tsunoda, Japan, Alphatauri,

10.15. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Alfa Ro-

meo Racing, 1.16. Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy, Alfa Ro-

meo Racing, 1.

Manufacturers Standings

1. Red Bull Racing, 289.2. Mercedes, 285.3. McLaren, 163.4. Ferrari, 148.5. Alphatauri, 49.6. Aston Martin, 48.7. Alpine, 40.8. Alfa Romeo Racing, 2.9. Williams, 0.10. Haas F1 Team, 0.

GOLF

US Senior Women’s Open

The Legends �TourSunday

At Brooklawn Country ClubFairfield, Conn.

Purse: $1 millionYardage: 5,959; Par: 72

(a)amateurFinal Round

Annika Sorenstam, $180,000 67-69-72-68—276 -12 Liselotte Neumann, $108,000 70-69-71-74—284 -4 Laura Davies, $68,977 71-75-68-71—285 -3 Yuko Saito, $43,970 70-70-74-72—286 -2 Catriona Matthew, $43,970 71-70-71-74—286 -2 Kris Tschetter, $35,338 69-72-75-73—289 +1 Christa Johnson, $28,876 74-71-75-70—290 +2 Kimberly Williams, $28,876 72-72-74-72—290 +2 Helen Alfredsson, $28,876 74-72-72-72—290 +2 Karen Weiss, $20,173 77-70-76-68—291 +3 Tammie Green, $20,173 74-75-72-70—291 +3 S. Green-Roebuck, $20,173 71-74-75-71—291 +3 Juli Inkster, $20,173 73-74-72-72—291 +3 Dana Ebster, $20,173 67-74-76-74—291 +3 Trish Johnson, $16,003 76-72-72-72—292 +4 Rosie Jones, $16,003 71-70-76-75—292 +4 Michele Redman, $13,748 74-76-73-70—293 +5 Cheryl Anderson, $13,748 74-76-71-72—293 +5 Barbara Moxness, $13,748 72-76-72-73—293 +5 Martha Leach (a), $0 74-76-71-73—294 +6 Ellen Port (a), $0 71-69-77-77—294 +6 M. McGann, $12,047 73-72-72-77—294 +6 Nicole Jeray, $10,981 71-76-75-73—295 +7 Jamie Fischer, $10,981 73-76-73-73—295 +7 Maggie Will, $9,938 77-72-76-71—296 +8 Sue Ginter, $8,778 73-75-76-73—297 +9 J. Gallagher-Smith, $8,778 76-73-73-75—297 +9 Lisa DePaulo, $8,778 76-74-71-76—297 +9 Lara Tennant (a), $0 76-76-72-75—299+11 Nanci Bowen, $7,778 75-74-75-75—299+11 Cindy Schreyer, $7,778 73-78-71-77—299+11 Elaine Crosby, $6,880 77-74-78-71—300+12 Laurie Rinker, $6,880 75-77-76-72—300+12 Carolyn Hill, $6,880 73-79-76-72—300+12 Becky Iverson, $6,880 76-71-75-78—300+12 Dina Ammaccapane, $5,887 77-73-79-72—301+13 D. Ammaccapane, $5,887 76-75-77-73—301+13 Lynne Cowan (a), $0 74-77-76-74—301+13 Corey Weworski (a), $0 75-77-73-76—301+13 Lisa Grimes, $5,887 75-75-74-77—301+13 C. Johnston-Forbes, $5,050 77-74-77-74—302+14 Julie Piers, $5,050 75-76-76-75—302+14 Kasumi Fujii, $5,050 75-74-78-75—302+14 Hollis Stacy, $5,050 75-75-76-76—302+14 Sherry Andonian, $5,050 74-74-78-76—302+14 Laura Coble (a), $0 74-73-77-79—303+15 Tonya Gill Danckaert, $4,472 75-75-78-76—304+16 Sue Wooster (a), $0 74-78-74-78—304+16 L. Shanahan Rowe, $4,184 78-73-78-77—306+18 Jennifer Cully, $4,184 77-74-75-80—306+18 Kristi Albers, $3,894 76-75-79-78—308+20

HANDA World Invitational

LPGA Tour

SundayAt Galgorm Castle and Massereene Golf

CoursesBallymena, Northern Ireland

Purse: $4.5 millionGalgorm Castle

Yardage: 6,546; Par: 73Massereene Golf ClubYardage: 6,461; Par: 72

Final Round(x­won playoff)

x-P. Anannarukarn 70-69-66-70—275 -16 Emma Talley 67-65-73-70—275 -16 Jennifer Kupcho 66-69-70-71—276 -15 Atthaya Thitikul 71-67-70-70—278 -13 Sydnee Michaels 73-69-70-67—279 -12 Mina Harigae 69-69-72-69—279 -12 Chella Choi 66-69-71-73—279 -12 Pernilla Lindberg 73-66-75-66—280 -11 Sarah Kemp 70-71-69-70—280 -11 Wichanee Meechai 70-72-67-71—280 -11 Yu Liu 75-70-68-68—281 -10 Muni He 71-69-72-69—281 -10 Su Oh 68-72-69-72—281 -10 Georgia Hall 68-73-71-70—282 -9 Yealimi Noh 73-70-68-71—282 -9 Ryann O’Toole 72-68-70-72—282 -9 Lauren Coughlin 72-73-69-69—283 -8 Alison Lee 73-70-70-70—283 -8 Olivia Mehaffey 70-72-71-70—283 -8 Paula Reto 74-71-67-71—283 -8 Min Seo Kwak 67-70-75-71—283 -8 Gemma Dryburgh 66-70-75-72—283 -8 Liz Nagel 75-68-67-73—283 -8 Charley Hull 68-68-74-73—283 -8 Karolin Lampert 70-72-72-70—284 -7 Lina Boqvist 72-72-68-72—284 -7 Alana Uriell 70-73-69-72—284 -7 Lindsey Weaver 72-69-71-72—284 -7 Ursula Wikstrom 70-70-71-73—284 -7 Lindy Duncan 73-72-68-72—285 -6 Pornanong Phatlum 68-71-72-74—285 -6 K. Perry-Hamski 74-69-71-72—286 -5 Dottie Ardina 72-69-72-73—286 -5 Esther Henseleit 70-73-71-73—287 -4 Stephanie Kyriacou 70-72-72-73—287 -4 Linnea Strom 70-70-72-75—287 -4 Johanna Gustavsson 72-69-73-74—288 -3Kristen Gillman 72-69-72-75—288 -3Cloe Frankish 72-73-68-76—289 -2Tiia Koivisto 71-71-71-78—291 E

Aug. 3 1852 — The first intercollegiate rowing

race is held on Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H.,where Harvard beats Yale by four lengthson the 2-mile course.

1949 — The National Basketball Associ-ation is formed by the merger of the Na-tional Basketball League and the Basket-ball Association of America.

1990 — The Professional Golfers Associ-ation Tour announces it will not hold tour-naments at golf clubs that have all-whitememberships or show any other signs ofdiscrimination.

1996 — Andre Agassi, the Dream Teamand the U.S. women’s 400-meter relayteam win Olympic gold medals, while the

American men’s 400 relay settles for sil-ver. With Carl Lewis idled by a coach’s de-cision and Leroy Burrell injured, the men’s400 team is shocked by Canada — the firsttime the U.S. lost the event at the Olym-pics.

2003 — Annika Sorenstam completes acareer Grand Slam at the Women’s BritishOpen, beating Se Ri Pak by a stroke in athrilling head-to-head showdown.

2012 — Michael Phelps rallies to win the100-meter butterfly for his third gold of theLondon Games and No. 17 of his career. It’sPhelps’ third consecutive win in the eventat the Olympics, and his 21st career med-al. Missy Franklin sets a world record inthe 200 backstroke for the 17-year-old’sthird gold in London.

AP SPORTLIGHT

Free agency doesn’t start until 6

p.m. Eastern on Monday. The

machinations toward getting

ready, however, were in full steam

on Sunday.

And the Miami Heat were at the

center of the activity.

With Kyle Lowry set to become

one of the top free agents available

once the shopping window opens,

the Heat announced that they

picked up the $19.4 million option

year on point guard Goran Dragic

on Sunday — a move that could be a

precursor to making a deal for

Lowry, who was a Miami target at

the trade deadline this past season.

Lowry won’t be the only big

name to be closely followed on

Monday.

A person with knowledge of the

situation said that Kawhi Leonard

was declining his $36 million op-

tion for this coming season with the

Los Angeles Clippers, and a anoth-

er person said Chris Paul was de-

clining his $44 million option with

the Phoenix Suns. Those people

spoke to The Associated Press on

condition of anonymity because

neither move was announced pub-

licly and in both cases, said that Le-

onard and Paul would take the op-

portunity to negotiate longer deals

and remain with their respective

teams.

“We’ll know what his decision is

at that point in time,” Suns general

manager James Jones said last

week when asked about Paul’s fu-

ture. “But I think what we have is

enticing, I think he likes being

here, we like having him here. So,

I’m confident that we’ll be able to

have a conversation — hopefully in

the coming days that will make ev-

eryone happy.”

The 35-year-old Lowry has

spent his last nine seasons with To-

ronto.

Free agencywill beginwith focuson Lowry

BY TIM REYNOLDS

Associated Press

BRANDON DILL/AP

Toronto Raptors guard KyleLowry is considered the top NBAfree agent available.

PAGE 18 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, August 3, 2021

MLB

American League

East Division

W L Pct GB

Tampa Bay 64 42 .604 _

Boston 63 44 .589 1½

New York 56 48 .538 7

Toronto 54 48 .529 8

Baltimore 37 67 .356 26

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Chicago 62 44 .585 _

Cleveland 51 51 .500 9

Detroit 51 57 .472 12

Kansas City 45 59 .433 16

Minnesota 44 62 .415 18

West Division

W L Pct GB

Houston 64 42 .604 _

Oakland 60 47 .561 4½

Seattle 56 50 .528 8

Los Angeles 52 53 .495 11½

Texas 38 67 .362 25½

National LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GB

New York 55 49 .529 _

Philadelphia 52 53 .495 3½

Atlanta 52 54 .491 4

Washington 49 56 .467 6½

Miami 44 61 .419 11½

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Milwaukee 63 43 .594 _

Cincinnati 56 50 .528 7

St. Louis 53 52 .505 9½

Chicago 51 56 .477 12½

Pittsburgh 40 65 .381 22½

West Division

W L Pct GB

San Francisco 66 39 .629 _

Los Angeles 64 43 .598 3

San Diego 61 47 .565 6½

Colorado 46 60 .434 20½

Arizona 33 73 .311 33½

Sunday’s games

Toronto 5, Kansas City 1Detroit 6, Baltimore 2N.Y. Yankees 3, Miami 1Chicago White Sox 2, Cleveland 1St. Louis 7, Minnesota 3Texas 4, Seattle 3San Francisco 5, Houston 3Oakland 8, L.A. Angels 3Tampa Bay 3, Boston 2Milwaukee 2, Atlanta 1Cincinnati 7, N.Y. Mets 1Washington 6, Chicago Cubs 5Philadelphia 15, Pittsburgh 4San Diego 8, Colorado 1L.A. Dodgers 13, Arizona 0

Monday’s games

Cleveland at TorontoBaltimore at N.Y. YankeesSeattle at Tampa BayL.A. Angels at TexasPhiladelphia at WashingtonN.Y. Mets at MiamiPittsburgh at MilwaukeeSan Francisco at Arizona

Tuesday’s games

Baltimore (Wells 1-1) at N.Y. Yankees(Cole 10-6)

Cleveland (Plesac 6-3) at Toronto (Ryu 10-5)Boston (Richards 6-6) at Detroit (Peralta 3-2)Minnesota (Maeda 4-4) at Cincinnati

(Mahle 8-3)Seattle (Kikuchi 6-6) at Tampa Bay (Pati-

ño 2-2)L.A. Angels (Suarez 4-4) at Texas (Lyles 5-7)Kansas City (Bubic 3-4) at Chicago White

Sox (Cease 7-6)San Diego (Snell 4-4) at Oakland (Ma-

naea 8-6)Houston (McCullers Jr. 8-2) at L.A. Dodg-

ers (Buehler 11-1)Philadelphia (Wheeler 8-6) at Washing-

ton (Corbin 6-9)N.Y. Mets (Walker 7-5) at Miami (TBD)Pittsburgh (Kranick 1-2) at Milwaukee

(Houser 7-5)Atlanta (Fried 7-7) at St. Louis (Lester

3-5)Chicago Cubs (Davies 6-7) at Colorado

(Freeland 1-6)San Francisco (Cueto 7-5) at Arizona

(Bumgarner 5-6)Wednesday’s games

Minnesota at CincinnatiSeattle at Tampa BaySan Diego at OaklandBaltimore at N.Y. YankeesCleveland at TorontoBoston at DetroitL.A. Angels at TexasKansas City at Chicago White SoxHouston at L.A. DodgersPittsburgh at MilwaukeePhiladelphia at WashingtonN.Y. Mets at MiamiAtlanta at St. LouisChicago Cubs at ColoradoSan Francisco at Arizona

Scoreboard

SAN  FRANCISCO  —  Kris

Bryant homered in his Giants de­

but, a two­out solo shot in the third

inning, and San Francisco beat the

Houston Astros 5­3 on Sunday.

Darin Ruf had three hits includ­

ing  a  home  run  and  two  RBIs.

Brandon Crawford and Donovan

Solano both added two hits. The

Giants won two of three in the in­

terleague  matchup  of  division

leaders and have the best record

in the majors at 66­39. 

“I can’t say enough good things

about this first day,” Bryant said.

“I feel giddy. It felt like Christmas

morning, honestly.” 

Acquired  in  a  trade  from  the

Chicago  Cubs  for  two  minor

league prospects just minutes be­

fore  Friday’s  deadline,  Bryant

was  greeted  by  chants  of  “KB!

KB! KB!” when he trotted onto the

field  for  pregame  warmups  and

received a standing ovation before

his first at­bat. The four­time All­

Star was cheered again after strik­

ing out swinging. 

Those  cheers  got  louder  after

Bryant crushed an 0­1 pitch from

Luis García (7­6) into the left field

stands for his 19th home run this

season. 

“The  first  homer’s  weird,”

Bryant  said.  “You  don’t  know

what teams do when you come to

celebrate in the dugout so I was

kind of lost a little bit,” 

The Giants said they expected

Bryant to hit a home run. After all,

his former teammates in Chicago

who  were  also  traded  —  Javier

Báez and Anthony Rizzo — home­

red in their first games with their

new clubs. 

“We  were  going  to  send  him

back if he didn’t homer himself,”

joked  Ruf,  who  homered  in  the

fifth. “Luckily we get to keep him.

He’s going to be very, very valua­

ble to our team going forward.” 

After  Mike  Yastrzemski  dou­

bled and Buster Posey walked in

the third, Crawford and Ruf fol­

lowed with RBI singles to put the

Giants ahead 3­2. 

Bryant homers in Giants debutSan Francisco downs

Houston to win series

BY MICHAEL WAGAMAN

Associated Press

JED JACOBSOHN/AP

San Francisco’s Kris Bryant, in his second at­bat in a Giants uniform, homers in front of Houston Astroscatcher Martin Maldonado during the third inning of a 5­3 Giants win Sunday in San Francisco.

ST.  PETERSBURG,  Fla.  —

Shane  McClanahan  went  six

strong  innings,  Brandon  Lowe

homered and the AL East­leading

Tampa Rays beat the Boston Red

Sox 3­2 Sunday for a three­game

sweep. 

McClanahan (5­4) allowed one

run and four hits over six innings,

helping the Rays take a 1½­game

lead over the Red Sox. 

Hunter  Renfroe  homered  for

Boston, which has  lost a  season­

high four in a row and five of six. 

Kiké  Hernández  and  Rafael

Devers  had  consecutive  two­out

singles in the ninth off Matt Wisler,

who then retired J.D. Martinez on a

short fly for his first save. 

Yankees 3, Marlins 1: Anthony

Rizzo  continued  his  remarkable

debut with the Yankees with an­

other key hit and New York com­

pleted a three­game sweep at Mia­

mi.

The partisan Yankees crowd got

to cheer when New York had an

eighth­inning rally led by RBI sin­

gles from Rizzo and Aaron Judge. 

Reds 7, Mets 1: Rookie  Max

Schrock went 5­for­5 with a home

run while giving All­Star Joey Vot­

to  a  break,  leading  fellow  new­

comer  Vladimir  Gutierrez  and

Cincinnati to a win at New York. 

Dodgers 13, Diamondbacks 0:

Albert Pujols doubled home three

runs to cap a five­run second in­

ning, Mookie Betts homered in his

return from the injured list and Los

Angeles rolled at Arizona. 

White Sox 2, Indians 1: Brian

Goodwin homered with one out in

the ninth inning to lift host Chicago

over Cleveland. 

Brewers  2,  Braves  1: Willy

Adames  hit  an  early  homer  off

Charlie  Morton,  Brett  Anderson

pitched 52⁄�3 strong innings and Mil­

waukee won at Atlanta. 

Blue  Jays  5,  Royals  1:  José

Berríos pitched six shutout innings

in his Toronto debut and the team

completed a three­game sweep in

its first series north of the border

since 2019, beating Kansas City. 

Tigers 6, Orioles 2: Eric Haase

hit a two­run double in a three­run

first inning and host Detroit beat

Baltimore. 

Phillies 15, Pirates 4:Kyle Gib­

son pitched into the seventh inning

in his Philadelphia debut and got

plenty of support to help the Phil­

lies roll at Pittsburgh. 

Cardinals  7,  Twins  3: Adam

Wainwright threw seven effective

innings and rookie Edmundo Sosa

homered to help host St. Louis beat

Minnesota.

Nationals  6,  Cubs  5: Yadiel

Hernandez’s solo shot in the ninth

inning — his second homer of the

day — gave Washington the victory

over visiting Chicago.

Athletics  8,  Angels  3:  Yan

Gomes homered in his Oakland de­

but,  fellow  newcomer  Starling

Marte  had  three  hits  and  stole

three bases, and the Athletics won

at Los Angeles.

Rangers 4, Mariners 3: Jonah

Heim  hit  his  second  walk­off

homer in two games right after a

tying, two­run shot from Andy Ibá­

nez in the ninth inning, and host

Texas rallied again to beat Seattle. 

Padres 8, Rockies 1: Ha­Seong

Kim homered and drove in three

runs, Jake Cronenworth contribut­

ed three hits and host San Diego

beat Colorado. 

Rays sweep series from Red Sox

SCOTT AUDETTE/AP

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher ShaneMcClanahan allowed one run andfour hits in six innings in a 3­2win Sunday over Boston.

Associated Press

ROUNDUP

Tuesday, August 3, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 19

OLYMPICS SCOREBOARD

Medals Table

Monday

Nation G S B Tot

United States 21 25 17 63

China 29 17 16 62

ROC 12 21 17 50

Britain 11 12 12 35

Japan 17 6 10 33

Australia 14 4 15 33

Italy 4 9 15 28

France 6 10 7 23

Germany 6 5 11 22

South Korea 6 4 9 19

Netherlands 5 7 6 18

Canada 3 4 7 14

Switzerland 3 4 5 12

New Zealand 4 3 4 11

Taiwan 2 4 4 10

Brazil 2 3 5 10

Czech Republic 4 3 1 8

Croatia 3 2 2 7

Cuba 2 3 2 7

Spain 1 3 3 7

Hungary 2 2 2 6

Georgia 1 4 1 6

Ukraine 0 1 5 6

Denmark 2 1 2 5

Austria 1 1 3 5

Indonesia 1 1 3 5

Serbia 1 1 3 5

Turkey 1 0 4 5

Slovenia 2 1 1 4

Romania 1 3 0 4

Sweden 1 3 0 4

Venezuela 1 3 0 4

Jamaica 1 1 2 4

Ecuador 2 1 0 3

Greece 2 0 1 3

Hong Kong 1 2 0 3

Slovakia 1 2 0 3

South Africa 1 2 0 3

Belgium 1 1 1 3

Ethiopia 1 1 1 3

Norway 1 1 1 3

Ireland 1 0 2 3

Israel 1 0 2 3

Colombia 0 2 1 3

Dominican Republic 0 2 1 3

Mongolia 0 1 2 3

Kazakhstan 0 0 3 3

Mexico 0 0 3 3

Kosovo 2 0 0 2

Qatar 2 0 0 2

Poland 1 1 0 2

Tunisia 1 1 0 2

Belarus 1 0 1 2

Estonia 1 0 1 2

Fiji 1 0 1 2

Uzbekistan 1 0 1 2

Monday’s medalists

ATHLETICSMen’s 3000m Steeplechase

GOLD—Soufiane El Bakkali, Morocco SILVER—Lamecha Girma, Ethiopia BRONZE—Benjamin Kigen, Kenya

Men’s Long Jump

GOLD—Miltiadis Tentoglou, Greece SILVER—Juan Miguel Echevarria, Cuba BRONZE—Maykel Masso, Cuba

Women’s 100m Hurdles

GOLD—Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Puer-to Rico

SILVER—Kendra Harrison, United States BRONZE—Megan Tapper, Jamaica

Women’s 5000m

GOLD—Sifan Hassan, Netherlands SILVER—Hellen Obiri, Kenya BRONZE—Gudaf Tsegay, Ethiopia

Women’s Discus Throw

GOLD—Valarie Allman, United States SILVER—Kristin Pudenz, Germany BRONZE—Yaime Perez, Cuba

BADMINTONMen’s Singles

GOLD—Viktor Axelsen, Denmark SILVER—Long Chen, China BRONZE—Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, In-

donesia

Women’s Doubles

GOLD—Indonesia (Greysia Polii, Apriya-ni Rahayu)

SILVER—China (Qing Chen Chen, Yi FanJia)

BRONZE—South Korea (Soyeong Kim,Heeyong Kong)

CYCLING TRACKWomen’s Team Sprint

GOLD—China (Shanju Bao, TianshiZhong)

SILVER—Germany (Lea Sophie Frie-drich, Emma Hinze)

BRONZE—ROC (Daria Shmeleva, Anas-tasiia Voinova)

EQUESTRIANEventing Individual

GOLD—Julia Krajewski, Germany SILVER—Tom McEwen, BritainBRONZE—Andrew Hoy, Australia

Eventing Team

GOLD—Britain (Tom McEwen, Laura Col-lett, Oliver Townend)

SILVER—Australia (Kevin McNab, Shane

Rose, Andrew Hoy) BRONZE—France (Nicolas Touzaint, Ka-

rim Florent Laghouag, Christopher Six)GYMNASTICSMen’s Rings

GOLD—Yang Liu, ChinaSILVER—Hao You, ChinaBRONZE—Eleftherios Petrounias,

Greece Men’s Vault

GOLD—Jeahwan Shin, South Korea SILVER—Denis Abliazin, ROCBRONZE—Artur Davtyan, Armenia

Women’s Floor Exercise

GOLD—Jade Carey, United States SILVER—Vanessa Ferrari, Italy BRONZE—Mai Murakami, JapanBRONZE—Angelina Melnikova, ROC

SHOOTING50m Rifle 3 Positions Men

GOLD—Changhong Zhang, China SILVER—Sergey Kamenskiy, ROC BRONZE—Milenko Sebic, Serbia

25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men

GOLD—Jean Quiquampoix, France SILVER—Leuris Pupo, CubaBRONZE—Yuehong Li, China

WEIGHTLIFTINGWomen’s 87kg

GOLD—Zhouyu Wang, ChinaSILVER—Tamara Yajaira Salazar Arce,

Ecuador BRONZE—Crismery Dominga Santana

Peguero, Dominican Republic Women’s +87kg

GOLD—Wenwen Li, ChinaSILVER—Emily Jade Campbell, Britain BRONZE—Sarah Elizabeth Robles, Unit-

ed States WRESTLING

Men’s Greco-Roman 130kg

GOLD—Mijain Lopez Nunez, Cuba SILVER—Iakobi Kajaia, Georgia BRONZE—Riza Kayaalp, Turkey BRONZE—Sergei Semenov, ROC

Men’s Greco-Roman 60kg

GOLD—Luis Alberto Orta Sanchez, Cuba SILVER—Kenichiro Fumita, Japan BRONZE—Sailike Walihan, China BRONZE—Sergey Emelin, ROC

Women’s Freestyle 76kg

GOLD—Aline Rotter Focken, Germany SILVER—Adeline Maria Gray, United

States BRONZE—Yasemin Adar, Turkey BRONZE—Qian Zhou, China

WrestlingMonday

MenGreco-Roman 97kg

Round of 16

Musa Evloev, ROC, def. Giorgi Melia, Ge-orgia, 3-0, 0-1, Points.

Alex Gergo Szoke, Hungary, def. ArturOmarov, Czech Republic, 3-0, 0-1, Points.

Tracy Gangelo Hancock, United States,def. Mihail Kajaia, Serbia, 5-0, 0-1, Points.

Tadeusz Michalik, Poland, def. HaikelAchouri, Tunisia, 10-0, Technical Superior-ity.

Mohammadhadi Saravi, Iran, def. AdemBoudjemline, Algeria, 3-0, 6-0, TechnicalSuperiority.

Kiril Milenov Milov, Bulgaria, def. Cenk Il-dem, Turkey, 3-0, 0-1, Points.

Arvi Martin Savolainen, Finland, def. Ga-briel Alejandro Rosillo Kindelan, Cuba, 0-1,3-0, Points.

Artur Aleksanyan, Armenia, def. UzurDzhuzupbekov, Kyrgyzstan, 3-0, 1-1,Points.

Quarterfinals

Musa Evloev, ROC, def. Alex GergoSzoke, Hungary, 3-2, 3-0, Points.

Tadeusz Michalik, Poland, def. TracyGangelo Hancock, United States, 0-1, 4-2,Points.

Mohammadhadi Saravi, Iran, def. KirilMilenov Milov, Bulgaria, 4-0, 2-0, Points.

Artur Aleksanyan, Armenia, def. ArviMartin Savolainen, Finland, 0-1, 5-0,Points.

Semifinals

Musa Evloev, ROC, def. Tadeusz Micha-lik, Poland, 5-0, 2-1, Points.

Artur Aleksanyan, Armenia, def. Mo-hammadhadi Saravi, Iran, 1-0, 3-1, Points.

Greco-Roman 77kgRound of 16

Shohei Yabiku, Japan, def. Demeu Zha-drayev, Kazakhstan, 1-0, 4-3, Points.

Bozo Starcevic, Croatia, def. Aik Mnatsa-kanian, Bulgaria, 0-1, 3-0, Points.

Mohammadali Geraei, Iran, def. Yosva-nys Pena Flores, Cuba, 5-0, 2-3, Points.

Karapet Chalyan, Armenia, def. Jalgas-bay Berdimuratov, Uzbekistan, 3-0, 2-0,Points.

Aleksandr Chekhirkin, ROC, def. AlfonsoAntonio Leyva Yepez, Mexico, 7-0, 0-0,Points.

Akzhol Makhmudov, Kyrgyzstan, def.Lamjed Maafi, Tunisia, 11-0, Technical Su-periority.

Rafig Huseynov, Azerbaijan, def. AlexMichel Bjurberg Kessidis, Sweden, 0-1, 1-0,Points.

Tamas Lorincz, Hungary, def. Zied AitOuagram, Morocco, 0-0, Forfeit.

Quarterfinals

Tamas Lorincz, Hungary, def. Shohei Ya-biku, Japan, 3-0, 0-1, Points.

Mohammadali Geraei, Iran, def. BozoStarcevic, Croatia, 1-0, 4-5, Points.

Karapet Chalyan, Armenia, def. Alek-sandr Chekhirkin, ROC, 1-1, 1-0, Points.

Akzhol Makhmudov, Kyrgyzstan, def.Rafig Huseynov, Azerbaijan, 9-1, TechnicalSuperiority.

Semifinals

Tamas Lorincz, Hungary, def. Moham-madali Geraei, Iran, 0-1, 6-4, Points.

Akzhol Makhmudov, Kyrgyzstan, def.Karapet Chalyan, Armenia, 6-1, 0-1, Points.

WomenFreestyle 68kg

Round of 16

Tamyra Marianna Stock Mensah, UnitedStates, def. Sara Dosho, Japan, 10-0, Tech-nical Superiority.

Zhou Feng, China, def. Yudari SanchezRodriguez, Cuba, 13-2, Technical Superior-ity.

Alla Cherkasova, Ukraine, def. Agniesz-ka Jadwiga Wieszczek Kordus, Poland, 1-0,10-0, Technical Superiority.

Anna Carmen Schell, Germany, def. EnasAhmed, Egypt, 3-0, 4-0, Points.

Battsetseg Soronzonbold, Mongolia,def. Koumba Larroque, France, 0-1, 4-2,Pin.

Khanum Velieva, ROC, def. Danielle Su-zanne Lappage, Canada, 1-0, 6-0, Points.

Meerim Zhumanazarova, Kyrgyzstan,def. Mimi Nikolova Hristova, Bulgaria, 2-1,5-4, Points.

Blessing Oborududu, Nigeria, def. ElisManolova, Azerbaijan, 7-2, 6-0, TechnicalSuperiority.

Quartefinals

Tamyra Marianna Stock Mensah, UnitedStates, def. Zhou Feng, China, 6-0, 4-0,Technical Superiority.

Alla Cherkasova, Ukraine, def. Anna Car-men Schell, Germany, 4-0, 2-0, Pin.

Battsetseg Soronzonbold, Mongolia,def. Khanum Velieva, ROC, 0-1, 8-4, Points.

Blessing Oborududu, Nigeria, def. Mee-rim Zhumanazarova, Kyrgyzstan, 1-0, 2-2,Points.

Semifinals

Tamyra Marianna Stock Mensah, UnitedStates, def. Alla Cherkasova, Ukraine, 2-0,8-4, Points.

Blessing Oborududu, Nigeria, def. Batt-setseg Soronzonbold, Mongolia, 7-0, 0-2,Points.

Women’s volleyball

Group A

Country W L Pts

Brazil 5 0 14

Serbia 4 1 12

Dominican Republic 2 3 8

South Korea 3 2 7

Japan 1 4 4

Kenya 0 5 0

Group B

Country W L Pts

United States 4 1 10

Italy 3 2 10

ROC 3 2 9

Turkey 3 2 9

China 2 3 7

Argentina 0 5 0

Sunday, July 25

Italy 3, ROC 0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-14)United States 3, Argentina 0 (25-20, 25-

19, 25-20)Serbia 3, Dominican Republic 0 (25-18,

25-12, 25-20)Turkey 3, China 0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-14)Japan 3, Kenya 0 (25-15, 25-11, 25-23)Brazil 3, South Korea 0 (25-10, 25-22, 25-

19)

Tuesday, July 27

ROC 3, Argentina 0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-13)United States 3, China 0 (29-27, 25-22, 25-

21)Serbia 3, Japan 0 (25-23, 25-16, 26-24)Italy 3, Turkey 1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-20, 25-

15)Brazil 3, Dominican Republic 2 (25-22, 17-

25, 13-25, 25-23, 12-15)South Korea 3, Kenya 0 (25-14, 25-22, 26-

24)

Thursday, July 29

Italy 3, Argentina 0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-15)South Korea 3, Dominican Republic 2 (25-

20, 17-25, 25-18, 15-25, 15-12)Serbia 3, Kenya 0 (25-21, 25-11, 25-20)ROC 3, China 2 (25-17, 23-25, 20-25, 27-25,

15-12)Brazil 3, Japan 0 (25-16, 25-18, 26-24)United States 3, Turkey 2 (25-19, 25-20,

17-25, 20-25, 15-12)

Saturday, July 31

Dominican Republic 3, Kenya 0 (25-19,25-18, 25-10)

ROC 3, United States 0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-19)

Turkey 3, Argentina 0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18)

Brazil 3, Serbia 1 (25-20, 25-16, 23-25, 25-19)

South Korea 3, Japan 2 (19-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15, 14-16)

China 3, Italy 0 (25-21, 25-20, 26-24)

Monday’s matches

Serbia 3, South Korea 0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-15)

United States 3, Italy 2 (25-21, 16-25, 27-25, 16-25, 12-15)

Turkey 3, ROC 2 (25-21, 23-25, 23-25, 25-15, 10-15)

China 3, Argentina 0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-19)Dominican Republic 3, Japan 1 (25-10, 25-

23, 19-25, 25-19)Brazil 3, Kenya 0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-8)

Wednesday’s matches

United States vs. Dominican RepublicBrazil vs. ROCSouth Korea vs. TurkeySerbia vs. Italy

Friday’s matches

Semifinals

Sunday, August 8

Bronze MedalGold Medal

Women’s basketballGroup A

Country W L Pts

Spain 3 0 6

Serbia 2 1 4

Canada 1 2 2

South Korea 0 3 0

Group B

Country W L Pts

United States 3 0 6

Japan 2 1 4

France 1 2 2

Nigeria 0 3 0

Group C

Country W L Pts

China 3 0 6

Belgium 2 1 4

Australia 1 2 2

Puerto Rico 0 3 0

Monday, July 26

Spain 73, South Korea 69Serbia 72, Canada 68

Tuesday, July 27

Japan 74, France 70United States 81, Nigeria 72Belgium 85, Australia 70China 97, Puerto Rico 55

Thursday, July 29

Canada 74, South Korea 53Spain 85, Serbia 70

Friday, July 30

Belgium 87, Puerto Rico 52United States 86, Japan 69France 87, Nigeria 62China 76, Australia 74

Sunday’s games

Spain 76, Canada 66Serbia 65, South Korea 61

Monday’s games

Japan 102, Nigeria 83United States 93, France 82China 74, Belgium 62Australia 96, Puerto Rico 69

Wednesday’s gamesQuarterfinals

United States vs. AustraliaSpain vs. FranceChina vs. SerbiaBelgium vs. Japan

Men’s water poloGroup A

Country W L T Pts GF GA

Greece 4 0 1 9 68 34

Italy 3 0 2 8 60 32

Hungary 3 1 1 7 64 35

United States 2 3 0 4 59 53

Japan 1 4 0 2 65 66

South Africa 0 5 0 0 20 116

Group B

Country W L T Pts GF GA

Spain 5 0 0 10 61 31

Croatia 3 2 0 6 62 46

Serbia 3 2 0 6 70 46

Australia 2 3 0 4 49 60

Montenegro 2 3 0 4 54 56

Kazakhstan 0 5 0 0 35 92

Sunday, July 25

Italy 21, South Africa 2Greece 10, Hungary 9United States 15, Japan 13Montenegro 15, Australia 10Spain 13, Serbia 12Croatia 23, Kazakhstan 7

Tuesday, July 27

United States 20, South Africa 3Spain 8, Montenegro 6Serbia 19, Kazakhstan 5Italy 6, Greece 6Hungary 16, Japan 11Australia 11, Croatia 8

Thursday, July 29

Hungary 23, South Africa 1Spain 16, Kazakhstan 4Italy 12, United States 11Croatia 13, Montenegro 8Greece 10, Japan 9Serbia 14, Australia 8

Saturday, July 31

Montenegro 19, Kazakhstan 12Spain 16, Australia 5Hungary 11, United States 8Croatia 14, Serbia 12Italy 16, Japan 8Greece 28, South Africa 5

Monday’s games

Hungary 5, Italy 5Greece 14, United States 5Serbia 13, Montenegro 6Spain 8, Croatia 4Japan 24, South Africa 9Australia 15, Kazakhstan 7

Wednesday’s gamesQuarterfinals

United States vs SpainGreece vs MontenegroItaly vs SerbiaHungary vs Croatia

Women’s handball

Group A

Country W L T Pts

Norway 5 0 0 10

Netherlands 4 1 0 8

Montenegro 2 3 0 4

Angola 1 3 1 3

South Korea 1 3 1 3

Japan 1 4 0 2

Group B

Country W L T Pts

ROC 3 1 1 7

Sweden 3 1 1 7

France 2 2 1 5

Hungary 2 3 0 4

Spain 2 3 0 4

Brazil 1 3 1 3

Sunday, July 25

Netherlands 32, Japan 21ROC 24, Brazil 24Montenegro 33, Angola 22Norway 39, South Korea 27Sweden 31, Spain 24France 30, Hungary 29

Tuesday, July 27

Japan 29, Montenegro 26Brazil 33, Hungary 27Sweden 36, ROC 24Netherlands 43, South Korea 36Norway 30, Angola 21Spain 28, France 25

Thursday, July 29

Netherlands 37, Angola 28Spain 27, Brazil 23South Korea 27, Japan 24Norway 35, Montenegro 23ROC 38, Hungary 31Sweden 28, France 28

Saturday, July 31

Angola 28, Japan 25Montenegro 28, South Korea 26ROC 28, France 27Sweden 34, Brazil 31Hungary 29, Spain 25Norway 29, Netherlands 27

Monday’s games

South Korea 31, Angola 31France 29, Brazil 22ROC 34, Spain 31Hungary 26, Sweden 23Netherlands 30, Montenegro 29Norway 37, Japan 25

Wednesday’s gamesQuarterfinals

Montenegro vs ROCNorway vs HungarySweden vs South KoreaFrance vs Netherlands

Friday’s games

Semifinals

Women’s field hockey

Group A

Country W L T Pts GF GA

Netherlands 5 0 0 10 18 2

Germany 4 1 0 8 13 7

Britain 3 2 0 6 11 5

India 2 3 0 4 7 14

Ireland 1 4 0 2 4 11

South Africa 0 5 0 0 5 19

Group B

Country W L T Pts GF GA

Australia 5 0 0 10 13 1

Argentina 3 2 0 6 8 8

Spain 3 2 0 6 9 8

China 2 3 0 4 9 16

New Zealand 2 3 0 4 8 7

Japan 0 5 0 0 6 13

Wednesday, July 28

Netherlands 5, South Africa 0Britain 4, India 1Spain 2, New Zealand 1Germany 4, Ireland 2Australia 1, Japan 0Argentina 3, China 2

Thursday, July 29

Spain 2, China 0Netherlands 1, Britain 0Argentina 2, Japan 1Australia 1, New Zealand 0

Friday, July 30

Germany 4, South Africa 1India 1, Ireland 0

Saturday, July 31

China 3, New Zealand 2Spain 4, Japan 1Australia 2, Argentina 0India 4, South Africa 3Netherlands 3, Germany 1Britain 2, Ireland 0

Monday’s gamesQuarterfinals

Argentina 3, Germany 0India 1, Australia 0Netherlands 3, New Zealand 0Britain 2, Spain 2, Britain wins 2-0 in

shootout

Wednesday’s gamesSemifinals

Netherlands vs BritainArgentina vs India

Friday’s games

Bronze MedalGold Medal

PAGE 20 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, August 3, 2021

OLYMPICS

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Yuki

Yanagita tied it with an RBI groun-

der off Scott McGough in the ninth

inning, Takuya Kai hit a winning

single against Edwin Jackson in

the 10th and Japan beat the United

States 7-6 Monday night to reach

the Olympic semifinals.

Japan overcame a 6-5, ninth-in-

ning deficit against McGough, a

31-year-old former Miami Marlins

reliever with 16 saves in his third

season with the Central League’s

Yakult Swallows. He walked Seiya

Suzuki with one out as rain started

to fall, then allowed a single to

Hideto Asamura that put runners

at the corners.

Yanagita hit a chopper to sec-

ond, driving in a run on the groun-

dout.

Under tournament rules, extra

innings start with runners on first

and second, an even more extreme

distortion than the Major League

Baseball runner-on-second rule

used since the start of the 2020 pan-

demic season.

Ryoji Kuribayashi (1-0) retired

the side in order in the top half, and

Jackson (0-1), a 37-year-old veter-

an of a record 14 major league

teams, relieved in the bottom of the

inning.

Pinch-hitter Ryoya Kurihara

sacrificed, manager Mike Scioscia

went to the mound and the U.S.

went to a five-man infield.

Kai, who had entered as a defen-

sive replacement, lined the next

pitch off the right-field wall.

Japan (3-0) will play South Ko-

rea (3-1) on Wednesday night for a

spot in the final.

The U.S. (2-1) fell into the loser’s

bracket of the double-elimination

second round. To reach this week-

end’s final, it must beat the winner

of Tuesday’s elimination game be-

tween the Dominican Republic

(1-2) and Israel (1-3), and then the

Japan-South Korea loser.

Boston prospect Triston Casas

hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer

in the fifth inning for a 6-3 lead.

SUE OGROCKI/AP

Japan's Takuya Kai, center, and teammates celebrate their 7­6 quarterfinal win over the United States.

Japan rallies against bullpento beat US 7-6 in 10 innings

BY RONALD BLUM

Associated Press

TOKYO — Poland granted a vi-

sa Monday to a Belarusian Olym-

pic sprinter who said she feared

for her safety and that her team’s

officials tried to force her to fly

home, where the autocratic gov-

ernment was accused of diverting

a flight to arrest a dissident jour-

nalist.

An activist group that is helping

athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya

told The Associated Press that it

bought her a plane ticket to War-

saw for the coming days.

The current standoff apparently

began after Tsimanouskaya criti-

cized how officials were managing

her team — setting off a massive

backlash in state-run media back

home, where authorities relent-

lessly crack down on government

critics. The runner said on her In-

stagram account that she was put

in the 4x400 relay even though she

has never raced in the event.

The runner was then apparently

hustled to the airport but refused

to board a flight for Istanbul and in-

stead approached police for help.

In a filmed message distributed on

social media, she also asked the In-

ternational Olympic Committee

for assistance.

“I was put under pressure, and

they are trying to forcibly take me

out of the country without my con-

sent,” the 24-year-old said in the

message.

The rapid-fire series of events

brought international political in-

trigue to an Olympics that have

been more focused on operational

dramas, like maintaining safety

during a pandemic and navigating

widespread Japanese opposition

to holding the event at all.

Belarus’ authoritarian govern-

ment has relentlessly targeted

anyone even mildly expressing

dissent since a presidential elec-

tion a year ago triggered a wave of

unprecedented mass protests.

Poland grants visa to Belarus sprinterBY GRAHAM DUNBAR

Associated Press

MARTIN MEISSNER/AP

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, ofBelarus was given a visa byPoland after she says teamofficials tried to force her to flyhome after a dispute.

TOKYO — Coach Karch Kiraly

knew there would be challenges

and adversity to overcome if the

U.S. women’s volleyball team want-

ed to achieve its goals at the Tokyo

Olympics.

He sure was right during pool

play, and now the Americans are in

position to make a run at their first

gold medal in the sport after win-

ning their group.

Two key starters have gone down

with ankle injuries, an assistant

coach spent two weeks in quaran-

tine as a close contact to someone

who tested positive for COVID-19

and the Americans dealt with a

straight-set loss to the team known

as the Russia Olympic Committee.

But after finishing the prelimina-

ry stage with a tense, five-set win

over Italy on Monday despite setter

Jordyn Poulter joining star Jordan

Thompson on the sideline with a

rolled right ankle, the U.S. heads in-

to the quarterfinals in good form.

“We have had our share and our

team handled it superbly,” Kiraly

said about the adversity. “They real-

ly stayed together. I look back and

our substitute box is getting very

lonely back there. There’s only

three or four players there. So it’s

getting to be a bit of an adventure.

But our team played with great

heart and played together.”

In Kiraly’s first Olympics as a

head coach, the Americans raced

through their first six matches un-

defeated before losing in the semifi-

nals to Serbia after star blocker Fo-

luke Akinradewo Gunderson went

down with a knee injury.

The injuries to Thompson and

Poulter haven’t slowed down the

U.S. team yet in Tokyo, with Annie

Drews thriving in place of Thomp-

son as an opposite and Micha Han-

cock stepping in at setter after Poul-

ter got hurt.

“We have 23 people that could

have been on this roster,” captain

Jordan Larson said. “We knew it

was going to take a lot of us to find a

way to win. We’re finding that now.

We can have anybody at any point

step in and take over a match. We

have confidence and trust that peo-

ple are going to do their job and exe-

cute at a high level. We’ve been talk-

ing about it and you’re just seeing it

come to play now.”

Drews led the team with 22 points

in the five-set win over Italy in her

first Olympic start after Thompson

rolled her ankle upon landing on a

teammate’s foot in a loss Saturday to

the ROC.

Thompson was watching from

the stands. She is working tirelessly

to rehab the injury in hopes of being

able to return later in the tourna-

ment.

Thompson came into the day tied

for the third-most points in the tour-

nament with 66, but there was little

drop-off with Drews in there in-

stead.

“Definitely a little nervous at the

beginning, a good nervous,” Drews

said. “But it’s a role I’ve played with

our team before. I felt the trust they

had in me. Obviously not the cir-

cumstances you’d like to be playing

in, but we talk a lot about being 12

strong.”

Poulter landed on a teammate’s

foot in the third set and watched the

end of the match from a wheelchair.

She was to have tests on the ankle to

determine the injury’s severity.

The next task for the U.S. team

will be the quarterfinals on Wednes-

day, when the Americans will face

the Dominican Republic, which

beat Japan in four sets to advance.

Banged-up USwomen head tovolleyball quartersWith two starters out, Americans top Italy in five sets

BY JOSH DUBOW

Associated Press

FRANK AUGSTEIN/AP

United States’ Jordan Thompson treats her injured foot during thewomen’s volleyball preliminary round match against Italy on Monday.

Tuesday, August 3, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 21

OLYMPICS

seconds. On July 1, Warholm

broke a 29-year-old record held by

Kevin Young when he finished in

46.70 in his first race of the season,

in Oslo.

The others to crack 47 are Sam-

ba Abderrahman, the Qatari who

is also in Tuesday’s final and Ben-

jamin, the American who ran

46.83 at Olympic trials in June.

On the women’s side, Muham-

mad and McLaughlin have been

going back and forth for a few

years.

Muhammad set the world re-

cord at the U.S. nationals in 2019,

finishing in 52.20 and beating

McLaughlin by more than a half-

second. Nine weeks later at world

championships, Muhammad low-

ered the record to 52.16.

McLaughlin’s time of 52.23 in that

race would have been a world re-

cord had she run it three months

earlier.

McLaughlin changed coaches,

starting work with Bobby Kersee,

and after a down year because of

the COVID-19 pandemic, all signs

pointed to another record going

down. But she didn’t wait until she

arrived in Tokyo. McLaughlin be-

came the first woman to crack 52

seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials

last month, running 51.90 and set-

ting the stage for more this week.

“It’s just one of those times in

our sport, and especially in this

event, where people are realizing

that they can run this fast and it’s

kind of everybody moving at the

same pace,” McLaughlin said.

Meanwhile, Muhammad dealt

with injuries and a bout with CO-

VID-19, and had not reached top

form. She felt her second-place

finish in 52.42 at trials was more

than respectable given what she’d

been through.

Moses isn’t counting her out for

Tokyo — either for the gold medal,

or as the one who could lower the

world record again.

“She might be in a better posi-

tion. Less races. Very experi-

enced. A real student of the hur-

dles. Understands that race com-

pletely,” he said. “In a fast race,

which you have to expect, it goes

to whoever makes the least mis-

takes after the seventh hurdle and

stays with a pattern to maximize

the time.”

Moses said McLaughlin and

Muhammad have gotten into such

good shape that they can often

cover the area between hurdles in

15 strides, whereas 16 or 17 was

long the standard for women.

“Their training cycle is all year

long, versus it just being a season-

al sport where they would just get

ready for summer like we did,”

Moses said. “They’re also running

less meets. It’s like eight to 10 a

year. We used to run 15 or 20.”

Enhanced shoe technology that

has overtaken every event com-

bines with new surfaces — the To-

kyo track seems fast — to create

conditions that help runners go

faster, regardless of the event.

It leads Moses to wonder how

low he might have gone with to-

day’s equipment. Nobody will ev-

er know, but he is impressed with

what today’s crop of hurdlers is

doing with the sport he defined

back in the day.

“Right now, if one of these con-

tenders is in a race and they do ev-

erything right, there’s no doubt

they can be the one to break a

world record again by a tenth of a

second,” Moses said. “It can hap-

pen any time.”

Leaps: American women have beensetting stage for Olympics since 2019FROM PAGE 24

AP

Edwin Moses, shown at the 1980 Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., won107 finals in a row from 1977­87 and lowered the world record in the400­meter hurdles to 47.02 seconds during his prime. Moses, whosays he has been enjoying watching current hurdlers break newbarriers, wonders how he would have done with today’s equipment.MARTIN MEISSNER/AP

Karsten Warholm, of Norway,broke the men’s world record inthe 400­meter hurdles with atime of 46.70 seconds.

TOKYO — The path to Valarie Allman’s

gold medal — the first for the U.S. track and

field team at Olympic Stadium — started

with, of all things, a plate of spaghetti.

That promise of pasta from her high

school team was enough to lure her into the

discus and to the point she reached on a

rainy Monday night at the Tokyo Games: A

breakthrough — and a much-needed gold

medal for the United States.

Allman opened the final with a throw of

68.98 meters (226 feet, 3 inches) and then

waited through an hourlong delay and

around 50 throws by her competition. But

nobody could pass her.

“To be here, to be in this moment, feels so

surreal,” Allman said.

About that life-altering meal: As a teenag-

er, she was a dancer who dabbled in differ-

ent track disciplines. But she hadn’t found

her true track calling. The throwers on her

high school team in Longmont, Colo., said

she could partake in a pasta meal with them

on one condition: She had to give throwing a

try.

That’s how the discus became her thing.

“Looking back, gosh darn, that was the

best spaghetti dinner of my entire life,” said

the 26-year-old Allman, a multiple All-

American while at Stanford who now and

trains in Austin, Texas.

Worked out well for the U.S., too.

Hardly anyone figured the country’s first

medal at Olympic Stadium would come

from women’s discus. Not so much because

of the event — American Stephanie Brown

Trafton won it at the 2008 Beijing Games —

but because of where it fell on the schedule:

Day 4.

But what seemed like good bets for wins

— 4x400 mixed relay, men’s 100, women’s

100 hurdles — didn’t materialize.

Allman came through.

Earlier in the day, the American favorite

in the 100-meter hurdles, Keni Harrison,

came in second to Jasmine Camacho-

Quinn, who grew up in South Carolina, went

to college at Kentucky and trains in Florida,

and is taking the hurdles gold to her moth-

er’s native Puerto Rico

“This was what I wanted for this year. I

wanted to be a gold medalist,” Camacho-

Quinn said.

She powered ahead of Harrison early and

finished in 12.37 seconds for a .15 second win

— a blowout in such a short race. Megan

Tapper of Jamaica finished third..

The fact Allman had to wait out a rain de-

lay only added to the drama. She and her fel-

low competitors could be seen sitting under

cover, with rain gear draped across their

heads, after the downpour hit. She was in a

groove before the stoppage, too. All she

thought about during the delay was staying

calm. She tried to think about her technique.

And while her first throw would be her top

attempt, no one could catch her. Kristin Pu-

denz of Germany was second and Yaime Pe-

rez of Cuba captured bronze.

“I’m still waiting for my feet to touch the

ground,” Allman said.

Light on her feet, Allman has a certain

rhythm in the ring. That’s from her dancing

days, which she’s carried over to the discus.

“It’s a second-and-a-half dance that you

do hundreds of times, and really repetitive,

but gosh darn, I do think it’s a dance,” she

said. “It’s poetry. It’s grace. It’s balance. It’s

powerful. It’s figuring how to do it as effi-

ciently as you can.”

She and her coach, Zebulon Sion, have

steadily built her into a gold medal-winning

discus thrower with picture-perfect tech-

nique.

“It’s not how she finishes, but what we try

to do is, in the middle, collect her energy and

release that energy,” Sion explained. “It’s

aesthetically pleasing — the lines, the bal-

ance, it’s stacked just right and no weird an-

gles.”

To think, it all started with a plate of spa-

ghetti.

“Our team is filled with so many incred-

ible athletes, and I am just blown away that I

am not only a medalist,” Allman said, “but I

am the gold medalist.”

Allman wins discus, first US track medal PAT GRAHAM

Associated Press

MATTHIAS SCHRADER /AP

Valarie Allman competes in the discus throw final on Monday in Tokyo. Allman won thegold medal, which was the first medal in track for the US at these Games.

PAGE 22 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, August 3, 2021

OLYMPICS

TOKYO — Simone Biles is back.

The 2016 Olympic gymnastics

champion will return to competition

in the balance beam final on Tues-

day, a little over a week after step-

ping away from the meet to focus on

her mental health.

“We are so excited to confirm that

you will see two U.S. athletes in the

balance beam final tomorrow — Su-

ni Lee AND Simone Biles!! Can’t

wait to watch you both!” USA Gym-

nastics said in a statement.

The 24-year-old Biles won bronze

on beam in Rio de Janeiro five years

ago and qualified for the eight-wom-

an final at the Ariake Gymnastics

Centre on the first weekend of the

Games.

She removed herself from the

team final on July 27 after a shaky

performance on vault during the

first rotation. She watched from the

sidelines as her three American

teammates completed the meet

without her; the U.S. took silver be-

hind the team known as the Russian

Olympic Committee.

The six-time Olympic medalist

later said she was dealing with is-

sues surrounding air awareness, re-

ferred to as “the twisties” in her

sport. Biles qualified for all five indi-

vidual event finals but took herself

out of four of them: the all-around,

vault, floor exercise and uneven

bars. Lee earned the gold in the all-

around, becoming the fifth straight

American to claim the sport’s mar-

quee title.

Considered to be the greatest

gymnast of all time and the unques-

tioned face of the U.S. Olympic

movement when she arrived in Ja-

pan, Biles continued to train and be

evaluated daily by the USA Gym-

nastics staff after opting out of mul-

tiple finals. She has also been a fix-

ture in the stands supporting Lee,

MyKayla Skinner and Jade Carey

while they competed in the event fi-

nals.

She went into extensive detail

about “the twisties” last week, ex-

plaining she lost the confidence of

knowing what her body was going to

do in midair. It’s not the first time

Biles dealt with the problem, though

she did say the issues followed her to

both uneven bars and beam.

Previous bouts with the phenom-

enon were limited to floor exercise

and vault, where more twisting ele-

ments are required.

“I’m really proud of her for com-

ing back,” said American Jade Ca-

rey, who won gold on floor exercise

Monday while Biles watched sur-

rounded by the rest of the U.S. wom-

en’s team. “She’s been through a lot

this Olympics so I’m really proud

and happy to see her going after

beam.”

Biles says she’llreturn for finalin balance beam

GREGORY BULL/AP

Simone Biles of the UnitedStates celebrates after teammateMykayla Skinner won the silvermedal in the vault during theartistic gymnastics women’sapparatus final on Monday.

It will be her first event

since she removed

herself from team final

BY WILL GRAVES

Associated Press

TOKYO — Jade Carey traveled the world for a spot

in the Olympics. Germany. Qatar. Azerbaijan. Aus-

tralia.

A lot of long flights. A little bit of jet lag. One un-

relenting vision of what could be possible.

She wasn’t going to let a little thing like a sticky

patch of carpet get in her way.

The 21-year-old American gymnast soared to gold

in the women’s floor exercise Monday night, her

powerful and precise routine capping a roller-coast-

er 24 hours in which she narrowly avoided serious

injury during the vault finals when her right foot

caught just as she was preparing her entry.

Carey’s score of 14.366 gave the U.S. women’s team

its fifth medal of the Games and assured that each of

the six athletes who came to Tokyo — Carey, Simone

Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum

and MyKayla Skinner — will be checking some seri-

ous bling in customs when they return home.

Considered one of the favorites after coming in sec-

ond during vault qualifying, Carey was thundering

down the blue runway Sunday when she tripped. Her

planned Cheng vault instead became a simple back

tuck, her medal chances evaporating in the process.

Stunned, she recovered in time to complete her

second vault but finished well off the podium before

quietly retreating to the waiting arms of her father

Brian, her lifelong coach, and the comfort of her

teammates.

Knowing his daughter had less than a day to re-

group in time for the floor finals, Brian Carey turned

off the “coach” switch and flipped on the “dad” one.

“I told her, ‘You know, right now, you feel like yes-

terday was the worst day in your life, but today can be

your best day. So just don’t give up. Keep going,’ ” Ca-

rey said. “And she killed it.”

GREGORY BULL/AP

Jade Carey, of the United States, performs on the floor during the artistic gymnastics women's apparatusfinal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday in Tokyo.

Carey’s long road to theOlympics ends with gold

BY WILL GRAVES

Associated Press

ASHLEY LANDIS/AP

Carey poses after winning the gold medal for thefloor exercise, giving the U.S. women's gymnasticsteam its fifth medal of the Games.

CHIBA, Japan — American

wrestler Adeline Gray fell short of

the career-defining moment she

sought for so long.

Germany’s Aline Rotter-Focken

beat her 7-3 Monday night in the

76-kilogram women’s freestyle

wrestling final.

Gray is a five-time world cham-

pion, but she had never claimed an

Olympic medal. She finished a dis-

appointing seventh at the Rio de Ja-

niero Games in 2016 while fighting

through injuries that kept her out of

action for a year.

She bounced back to win two

more world titles and earn the No. 1

seed at the Olympics. She was con-

fident she would join Helen Marou-

lis as the only two U.S. women’s

wrestling Olympic gold medalists.

Even with the loss, Gray feels her

legacy is safe. It was just the sixth

medal for a U.S. women’s wrestler.

“A silver medal is not what I

came for, but it’s what I have,”

Gray said. “And I’m very proud to

bring home a medal from the

Olympics for

Team USA. I

wanted it to be a

different color,

but I’m also very

excited about go-

ing back with

some hardware.”

Rotter-Focken,

the No. 2 seed,

was emotional after the victory.

“It’s crazy, it’s unbelievable,”

she said. “I dreamed about it for

many years and I worked for this

every day. It’s unreal right now. I

think I need a few years to recog-

nize this.”

Rotter-Focken scored an early

point for Gray’s inactivity. She

countered a shot by Gray to go up

3-0, then scored four points on a

throw to go up 7-0.

The throw surprised Gray.

“I’m a big, strong woman, and

she put her hips into me and

squashed me to the ground,” Gray

said. “And she took advantage of

some length that she has over me.”

Gray finally got on the board on a

step-out with just over a minute to

go. She scored two on a takedown

with about 30 seconds remaining,

but that was all she could manage.

She then watched her friend cel-

ebrate and carry the German flag.

They both are 30 years old and have

competed since their teenage

years.

“Aline is a friend, and I am so

proud that I got to go out on the mat

and compete with her,” Gray said.

“I wanted to come out on top, but

she did this time. But I’m sure this

will just be a friendship that blos-

soms even more.”

Gray loses in 75-kg wrestling final, settles for silverBY CLIFF BRUNT

Associated Press

Gray 

Tuesday, August 3, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 23

OLYMPICS

KASHIMA, Japan — Carli

Lloyd, clutch in so many critical

moments for the U.S. women’s

soccer team, failed to connect

against Canada on Monday night

and the Americans won’t play for a

fifth Olympic gold medal.

Lloyd’s look in the 86th minute

with the United States trailing by a

goal hit the crossbar as Canada

won 1-0 and dropped the Ameri-

cans into the bronze medal match.

It is the second straight Olympics

that the U.S. failed to reach the

gold medal game.

The Americans were bounced

from the 2016 Rio Games by Swe-

den in the quarterfinals.

As Canada celebrated wildly at

Ibaraki Kashima Stadium, Lloyd

knelt to the turf with her head in

her hands.

“That wasn’t good enough,” said

Lloyd, the oldest player on the U.S.

team at 39 and playing in what was

likely her last major tournament

with the national team.

The U.S. lost starting goalkeep-

er Alyssa Naeher when she came

down awkwardly after going up

for the ball around the 20th min-

ute. Trainers attended to her for

some five minutes as backup

Adrianna Franch warmed up on

the sideline.

Naeher tried to stay in the game,

but was replaced by Franch in the

30th minute.

Canada pounced in the 74th

minute on Jessie Fleming’s penal-

ty kick, which gave Canada its first

win against the United States since

2001.

Fleming booted her PK past a

diving Franch and took off toward

the sideline, sliding on her knees

before teammates swarmed

around her.

The U.S. will play for the bronze

on Thursday in Kashima against

either Australia, a 1-0 loser to Swe-

den in the other semifinal.

Canada will play for the gold Fri-

day at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium

against Sweden. Canada features

Quinn, a midfielder who will be-

come the first openly transgender

athlete to win an Olympic medal.

Quinn won bronze in 2016 before

coming out as transgender.

It is the second straight Olym-

pics that the Americans, the two-

time defending World Cup cham-

pions, will not play for the gold

medal. The team was uncharac-

teristically uneven in Japan, start-

ing with a 3-0 loss to Sweden that

snapped a 44-game unbeaten

streak.

The Americans bounced back to

beat New Zealand but then came a

scoreless draw with Australia in

the group stage. A 4-2 penalty

shootout against the Netherlands

on Friday advanced the U.S. to the

semifinals.

The loss of goalkeeper Naeher

clearly hurt the U.S. She was key to

the victory over the Dutch in the

quarterfinals, with a penalty save

during regulation and two more in

the deciding shootout. After the

semifinal loss, she was on crutch-

es.

“I think this is my first loss ever

to Canada,” Megan Rapinoe said.

“It sucks not to be able to compete

for a gold medal, which is what we

wanted. Not a great performance,

either. That’s the most frustrating

thing.”

U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski

has been creative with his lineups

throughout the tournament. On

Monday, Lynn Williams, original-

ly an alternate, started her second

straight game. Lloyd, Rapinoe and

Samantha Mewis were on the

bench to start.

Lloyd actually had two attempts

against Canada. She fired off a shot

in the 65th minute that forced Can-

adian goalkeeper Stephanie

Labbe to leap to push it over the

crossbar. A short time later, Labbe

stopped Julie Ertz’s header off a

corner from Rapinoe as the United

States increased the pressure.

“Definitely had a bit of a mo-

mentum shift there in the second

half, and came on strong,” Labbe

said. “I think for us it was about

staying tight defensively and that’s

something we’ve done all tourna-

ment.”

Canada upsets US in women’s soccer

FERNANDO VERGARA/AP

Canada’s Vanessa Gilles, left, comforts the United States’ Carli Lloydafter a women’s semifinal soccer match on Monday in Kashima,Japan. Canada won 1­0.

BY ANNE M. PETERSON

Associated Press

TOKYO — April Ross and Alix Klineman

put away a Cuban team they had never

played before.

Next up for the Americans is one of the

most familiar faces in all of beach volley-

ball: Four-time Olympian — and defending

gold medalist — Laura Ludwig.

Ross and Klineman beat Cuba in straight

sets, 21-17, 21-15 in their knockout round

opener on Monday to reach the quarterfi-

nals, where they will meet the German and

her current partner, Maggie Kozuch.

Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst won it all

in Rio de Janeiro, where Ross and Kerri

Walsh Jennings took bronze. With Kozuch,

Ludwig advanced to the round of eight by

beating Brazil’s Agatha and Duda on Sun-

day in three sets.

“We have a lot of respect for them and, ob-

viously, Laura’s success,” said Klineman,

who also played against Kozuch on the Ital-

ian indoor volleyball tour. “We know they’re

going to come out motivated. As are we.”

Asked how many times she had played

against the 35-year-old Ludwig over the

years, Ross said “a lot. A lot.” According to

the Beach Volleyball Database, Ross and

her partners are 20-8 over the years against

Ludwig and hers; they did not meet in Lon-

don or Rio.

One day after two U.S. teams were elim-

inated in the round of 16, Ross and Kline-

man beat Lidy Echeverria and Leila Marti-

nez to keep the Americans’ best medal

hopes alive.

After losing the first set, Cuba scored the

first four points of the second and still led

9-5 when the Americans cut the deficit to

two. Then, at 9-7, Echeverria landed under

the net after chasing a ball, and Klineman

landed on top of her.

Cuba was initially awarded the point, but

the Americans complained to chair referee

Rui Carvalho that there was interference;

he conferred with second referee Mariko

Satomi, and they gave the point to the Amer-

icans.

“It’s just people going for the ball, and she

came under,” Klineman said. “We got the

point, and I got a little fired up and we used

that for some momentum going forward.

But, you know, no hard feelings. I think

we’re both just trying to make a play.”

Instead of a 10-7 Cuban lead, it was 9-8.

And Echeverria was slow to get up. After

a few minutes on the sand with her partner

tending to her, she got up and tested her

knee.

“Once we knew that she was a little bit

hurt, we were trying to allow her to gather

herself,” Ross said.

The match continued, but not for much

longer.

“Obviously, I don’t want to see anybody

injured,” Klineman said, “especially at the

Olympics.”

Also Monday, No. 1 seed Sarah Pavan and

Melissa Humana-Paredes of Canada beat

Spain in straight sets. They join the Cana-

dian team of Heather Bansley and Brandie

Wilkerson in the quarterfinals. That pair

knocked out Americans Sarah Sponcil and

Kelly Claes on Sunday.

“Canada is the only nation that has two

teams still in the quarterfinals,” Humana-

Paredes said. “Normally at this stage, you

see two Americans, two Brazilians. Here,

you’re seeing two Canadians now, and I

think that says a lot about our program and

our federation. And I think as a country, we

should be really proud of where we are in

beach volleyball.”

Ross, Klineman advance to beach quarterfinalsBY JIMMY GOLEN

Associated Press

PETROS GIANNAKOURIS/AP

April Ross, left, and teammate Alix Klineman of the United States celebrate a playduring their women’s beach volleyball victory against Cuba on Monday.

HugeleapsUS track legend Moseslikes what he sees intoday’s hurdles game

BY EDDIE PELLS

Associated Press

TOKYO — Better shoes, better

tracks, better technique, better train-

ing.

Any of that could explain how Syd-

ney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muham-

mad have pushed hurdling into a new

golden age. Or maybe

the best reason for

the renaissance, ac-

cording to the best

hurdler in history, is

that they have each

other.

“I wish I’d had that

kind of competition

when I was running,”

Edwin Moses told The Associated

Press. “I knew I could run 46.5, but I

never had to work that hard at the be-

ginning of a race, let alone at the end.”

Moses, the man who once won a re-

markable 107 finals in a row from 1977-

87 and who lowered the world record

to 47.02 seconds during his prime, says

he has been enjoying watching hur-

dlers break new barriers over the past

two years.

The drama is expected to reach a

crescendo this week at the Tokyo

Olympics.

McLaughlin and Muhammad, who

have lowered the world record in each

of their last three races on a major

stage, are expected to square off in the

final Wednesday. Karsten Warholm of

Norway has been rewriting the record

book on the men’s side, and a show-

down with Rai Benjamin of the U.S. is

in the offing Tuesday.

Only four men have ever cracked 47

Sydney Mclaughlin became the firstwoman to crack 52 seconds in the400­meter hurdles when she ran a51.90 in June’s U.S. Olympic trials.

PETR DAVID JOSEK/AP

PAGE 24 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Tuesday, August 3, 2021

SPORTSAnother smashing start

Bryant homers for Giants, as ex-CubsRizzo, Báez did in debuts ›› MLB, Page 18

US women upset by Canada in semifinals ›› Soccer, Page 23

INSIDE

■ US gymnastCarey wins goldin floor exercisePage 22

■ Biles to returnin beam finalPage 22

■ Americanwomen reachquarterfinals inbeach volleyballPage 23

■ Allman’s win in discus givesUS 1st track goldPage 21

OLYMPICS

Muhammad

SEE LEAPS ON PAGE 21

ASHLEY LANDIS/AP