Boxing

Pablo Ramirez and Sardius Simmons Reach Final of Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions for Second Straight Year

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The two men remaining in the 2016 Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions who were hoping to reach the final for the second straight year have certainly done so in style. Both Sardius Simmons of Michigan and 2015 Golden Boy Pablo Ramirez reached the final without losing a single point so far. Simmons defeated Cyrus Williams of Florida to reach the 201lb final where he will face Marquise Williams of New York. Ramirez dispatched Cederick Thomas of Iowa and will now face Joseph Ortiz of Florida as he goes for back-to-back 108lb titles in Saturday night’s final.

Previous 2016 Golden Gloves Coverage:
Preview
Tuesday Update
Wednesday Update
Thursday Update
Friday Update

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

Jon Dombrowski 16th in Stage 13 of Giro d’Italia

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Joe Dombrowski has had a good week at the Giro d’Italia. After a 40th place finish in the first stage of the week on Tuesday and finishing in the peloton on Thursday Dombrowski had his best day of the competition when he finished 16th on Friday in stage 13. Dombrowski was the last of 14 riders to finish 1:17 behind the winner and has now moved up to be the top American overall in 41st place, 44:46 back. Nathan Brown was 55th and Chad Haga was 60th to give the US three in the top 60 for first time since stage four. Brown stayed in 50th overall despite being passed by Dombrowski and is now 55:51 back. Haga moved up to 87th.

Saturday will be the first mountain stage, 130 miles in length.

Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Giro d’Italia Preview
Stage 1 Update
Stage 2 Update
Stage 3 Update
Stage 4 Update
Stage 5 Update
Stage 6 Update
Stage 7 Update
Stage 8 Update
Stage 9 Update
Stage 10 Update
Stage 11 Update
Stage 12 Update

Boxing

Claressa Shields, Stalacia Leggett, and Jajaira Gonzalez Keep USA Undefeated at AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships

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The US continued their good start to the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan with three more victories on Friday. 2012 gold medalist Claressa Shields in the 75kg division competed in the evening and cruised to victory getting a TKO of her opponent Sarah Scheurich of Germany at the 2nd minute of the 4th round, already ahead big on the judges scorecards. Earlier in the day Stalacia Leggett in the 57kg division had a really interesting bout with Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang. One judge scored the fight a clean four round sweep for Huang while another had it tied. The third just scored it 39-37, but for Leggett. The judge that had it tied would determine the winner and had Leggett as the preferred winner, giving her the victory. Not real common you win a bout in which one judge had it a sweep for your opponent. 19-year-old Jajaira Gonzalez didn’t need any judges at all as she scored a TKO at 1:43 of the 3rd round.

Saturday will be the second bouts for Virginia Fuchs in the 51kg division and Mikaela Mayer in the 60kg division. The other five US boxers, Marlen Esparza in the 45-48kg division, 2015 Golden Gloves champion Christina Cruz in the 54kg division,  Naomi Graham in the 69k division, Franchon Crews in the 81kg division, and Shadasia Green in the +81kg division, are still waiting for their first bouts as they are competing in divisions that have smaller numbers of boxers and didn’t need as many preliminary bouts.

Preliminaries continue Saturday and run through Monday to narrow the field in each weight class to eight for Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Previous 2016 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships Coverage:
Preview
Thursday Update

Canoeing, ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup

Lydia Keefe Sampson Knocked into Final B at ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Duisburg

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Lydia Keefe Sampson only defeated two competitors in her two C1 200m races on Friday at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Duisburg, Germany. That meant Sampson was slotted into the Final B that will take place on Saturday. Sampson opened in the heat round by finishing sixth of seven competitors in a time of 52.188. Sampson was 4.426 behind the winner who had pulled away from the field. Sampson finished her semifinal in a time of 53.357 which left her out of the automatic qualifying positions for the Final B but she was able to grab the last spot in the final on best time of those not qualified. Even if she had finished in her heat time she still would have been well short of qualifying for the Final A.

Previous ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup Coverage:
Duisburg Preview

Cycling, UCI Women's WorldTour

Megan Guarnier Continues to Lead Amgen Tour of California

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Megan Guarnier’s team didn’t win the team time trial but finished just six seconds back as she continues to lead the Amgen Tour of California. Also finishing in second on Guarnier’s team was Evelyn Stevens who is now in third, 22 seconds back. Kristin Armstrong’s team took first place, including Allie Dragoo, Chloe Dygert, Jennifer Tetrick, and Leah Thomas. Armstrong is now in second, twelve seconds behind Guarnier, Thomas is fourth and 44 seconds back, Dygert is eighth and 53 seconds back, Dragoo is 16th and 1:28 back. The third place team was 25 seconds back and included Corny Rivera (now in fifth and 47 seconds back), Katie Hall (in sixth and 49 seconds back), and Lauren Tamayo.

Also still in the top 15 are Lauren Stephens, 1:19 back in 11th, and Mara Abbott, 1:22 back in 15th. Brianna Walle is the only other American in the top 33. Saturday is a 69 mile hilly stage that goes from Santa Rosa to the ocean and back. The race continues until Sunday in various parts of California.

Previous Amgen Tour of California Coverage:
Preview
Thursday Update

Fencing, Fencing World Cup

Seven Americans Advance to Table of 64 at Fencing World Cup Events

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The best results for the US on Friday came in Legnano, Italy where the women’s epee event is occurring. Four of the nine US athletes who competed on Friday advanced to the table of 64. Katharine Holmes advanced directly from pool play after going 6-0 in her group while Kelley Hurley, Katarzyna Trzopek, and Catherine Nixon all advanced from the preliminary knockout rounds by winning a match. Charlene Liu lost 15-13 to Ida Finizio of Italy and Amanda Sirico lost to Francesca Boscarelli of Italy 15-9.

In Paris only two of the 12 Americans advanced to the table of 64. Those two, Jason Pryor and Alexander Tsinis, both had to advance from the preliminary knockout rounds. Pryor even advanced after going just 2-3 in pool play. Being eliminated in round two of the knockout rounds were Gabriel Canaux 15-11 to Matteo Tagliariol of Italy, Benjamin Freiman 15-13 to Maxime Brinck-Croteau of Canada, Alen Hadzic 15-11 to Alexandre Bouzaid of Senegal, and Curtis McDowald 15-12 to Quentin Lucani of France.

Over in Tauberbischofsheim only Jessie Laffey advanced from preliminaries after winning a match against Germany’s Sophia Werner of Germany 15-9. Stefani Deschner and Madison Zeiss both advanced from pool play but lost to German opposition. Deschner 15-12 to Pia Ueltgesforth and Zeiss 14-10 to Kim Kirschen.

Saturday’s table of 64 will feature five Americans in Legnano, two in Paris, and four in Tauberbischofsheim.

Previous Fencing World Cup Coverage:
Preview

ISSF World Cup, Shooting

ISSF World Cup Gets Underway Saturday in Munich

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The third ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup stop of 2016 starts Saturday in Munich, Germany. Four events will begin on the opening day with medals awarded in the 10m air rifle for both men and women. The US did not have medalists in either of those events in the first two stops and the only one of the two men and three women competing on Saturday who has taken part in the 2016 World Cup so far is 2016 Olympian Virginia Thrasher. The men will have six series, the women four, with the top eight totals advancing to the quarterfinals.

Also starting on Saturday is the 25m women’s pistol where 2016 Olympian Enkelejda Shehu will be competing and the men’s 50m pistol where two 2016 Olympians, Will Brown and Jay Shi, are competing. Shi finished seventh in the event in Rio in the World Cup earlier this year. The 25m pistol competition features the first of two halves of qualifying scores while the 50m pistol competition will be elimination rounds.

Previous ISSF World Cup Coverage:
Rio de Janeiro Recap

Boxing

Pablo Ramirez and Sardius Simmons Reach 2016 Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions Semifinals

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Lawrence King of Buffalo became the first of the three 2015 finalists competing in the 2016 Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions to get knocked out of the competition on Thursday. Matched with Atif Oberlton of Pennsylvania King was involved in his third straight 5-0 match but this time he was on the wrong end of things and was eliminate from the 178lb division. Things continue to go smoothly however for the other two 2015 finalists as they scored 5-0 wins to reach the final four of their divisions. Sardius Simmons of Michigan defeated Cedric Washington of Texas in the 201lb division while 2015 Golden Boy Pablo Ramirez of Texas was victorious over Saul Gomez of Nevada in the 108lb division.

The competition wraps up with the semifinals on Friday and the finals on Saturday.

Previous 2016 Golden Gloves Coverage:
Preview
Tuesday Update
Wednesday Update

Olympic Trials, Rio 2016 Olympic Trials, Shooting

Josh Richmond Grabs Double Trap Olympic Spot at Shotgun Olympic Trials

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2012 Olympian Josh Richmond held the lead after the first Olympic trials event and pulled away in the second day to claim the berth in Rio. Richmond shot a 140, six better than Jeffrey Holguin, and locked up the Olympic berth even before the finals had been contested. In the end Richmond finished with 559 and Holguin in second with 548 points.

In the women’s skeet 2012 Olympian Kimberly Rhode shot a 72 while Amber English shot a 68. The contest appears to be clearly heading the way of Rhode as she holds a double digit lead going into the final day. The men’s side is a bit more interesting but Frank Thompson posted a perfect 75 and increased his lead to five points over Phillip Jungman who shot a 72. Thompson’s closest challenger is actually Hayden Stewart who shot a 74 and fell one point further behind, but still within four. The skeet competition wraps up on Friday.

 

Previous US Shotgun Olympic Trials Coverage:
Event II Preview
Tuesday Update
Wednesday Update

Boxing

Mikaela Mayer and Virginia Fuchs Advance on Day One at AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships

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The US is off to a good start in their quest to qualify three Olympians at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan as the two boxers they had going on Thursday each advanced in weight classes that will compete in the Olympics. In the 51kg weight class is Virginia Fuchs was a strong winner defeating Brazil’s Grazieli Jesus De Sousa 3-0 with all three judges scoring it 40-36. Things were a lot tighter in the match between Mikaela Mayer and Esra Yildiz of Turkey in the 60kg division. Two of the three judges scored it 38-38 but preferred Mayer as the winner with the third narrowly awarding the match on points to Mayer 39-37. Both Fuchs and Mayer will have Friday off before competing again on Saturday.

Getting underway on Friday will be Stalacia Leggett in the 57kg division, 19-year-old Jajaira Gonzalez in the 64kg division, and 2012 gold medalist Claressa Shields in the 75kg division.

Preliminaries continue Friday and run through Monday to narrow the field in each weight class to eight for Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Previous 2016 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships Coverage:
Preview

Covering America's Athletes