Sports
At another hockey worlds, European support of Russia ban holds firm
PRAGUE, Czechia — With three men’s world championships now played since the International Ice Hockey Federation banned Russian athletes, the global hockey community appears to have completely moved on without one of the sport’s most decorated countries.
This year’s IIHF World Hockey Championship was a success by any measure, smashing the previous attendance record while delivering a compelling competition and memorable gold-medal final.
There was certainly no feeling on the ground that anything was lacking or missing.
From the European nations, in particular, there continues to be heavy support for the IIHF’s ban of Russia and Belarus. Those two countries have been excluded from all international hockey competitions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
Asked by The Athletic during the world championship if he felt those sanctions were still appropriate, Finnish coach Jukka Jalonen said: “Yeah, sure. No doubt about that.”
“I think given the circumstances it’s pretty reasonable,” said Finnish forward Ahti Oksanen, who played four years at Boston University before carving out a pro career closer to home. “I know the situation in North America is a little different than here in Europe because in Europe we’re really close to Russia and dealing with them all the time. Right now I think it’s reasonable.”
Finland coach Jukka Jalonen reacts during a preliminary round game against Canada in Prague. (Robert Hradil / RvS.Media / Getty Images)
There is no end in sight to the ban with the Ukraine invasion continuing.
In fact, the possibility of Russia returning for the 2026 Milan Olympics grows dimmer with each passing day the conflict continues.
In February, the IIHF extended its ban on Russia and Belarus through events in 2025, citing safety concerns. A decision that covers the first Olympic tournament featuring NHL players in more than a decade will be reached next winter, IIHF President Luc Tardif told reporters Sunday at a press conference in Prague to close the world championship.
“We will make a decision next February, as we always do,” Tardif said. “It doesn’t matter what the International Olympic Committee decides. This is how we have acted before, and we have not waited for the Olympic Committee’s decision, although of course we talked with them.”
A limited number of Russian and Belarusian athletes will be permitted to participate in this summer’s Paris Olympics, although they’ll be required to compete without their flag as individual neutral athletes and must pass a vetting process that ensures they’ve not actively supported the war in Ukraine.
No Russian or Belarusian teams were allowed to qualify for the Paris Games.
While the topic remains a somewhat sensitive one to discuss publicly among hockey players and executives — many of whom continue to work with individuals from those countries in the NHL, or elsewhere — the national federations they played for spoke loudly with their actions at the world championships.
Kazakhstan was the only country of the 16 in the competition to bring a player from the Russian-based KHL.
Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Latvia and France have explicitly banned those who remain in the KHL from being eligible for national team duty since after the Ukraine invasion began in 2022. Slovakia joined them ahead of this year’s world championship, ruling in April that those employed in the KHL wouldn’t be eligible because they hadn’t played or practiced with the national team all season.
The Swedish Ice Hockey Federation was much more direct than that when issuing its indefinite national team ban on KHL players in August 2022, with chairman Anders Larsson saying in a statement that it sent an important message to the hockey world because, “it is about our fundamental values.”
Russia last competed in the 2021 world championship, losing to Canada in the quarterfinals during a tournament played under bubble-like conditions in Latvia because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall, the country has won 27 world championship golds in men’s hockey — second only to Canada’s 28 — while traditionally being one of its top draws. The tournament was so important to Russians that they would almost always produce a star-studded roster, with top players willing to jump on a trans-Atlantic flight immediately after being eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs even if it meant only getting a game or two in at the worlds.
However, international competition is a privilege, not a right, and it’s hard to see anyone welcoming a Russian team back before the war in Ukraine is over.
“I think the whole situation has to calm down,” Oksanen said. “They need to stop whatever they’re doing. After that, we can rethink the situation, the whole hockey world can rethink everything. Then hopefully they can come back after.”
Added Jalonen: “The war has to be stopped and then maybe it takes some time to get them involved again.”
It took eight years after the end of the Second World War before Germany was permitted to return to an international hockey competition at the 1953 world championship, where it competed as West Germany.
How to handle Russia is particularly front of mind right now in Finland, a country that endured the Winter War in 1939 when the Soviet Union invaded its territory. Those countries share a land border that stretches 1,289 kilometers from north to south.
“They are our neighbors,” Jalonen said. “We have more than 1,000 kilometers together with them. Of course, we have to be ready because anything can happen. I don’t think we are afraid, but we are ready for anything.”
(Top photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Sports
Indy 500: Counting Down The 10 Best Finishes In Race History
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The best Indianapolis 500 finish could be subjective, depending on which driver a fan was rooting for to win.
It certainly is in the eye of the beholder.
So take this list for what it’s worth. One view of the 10 best finishes in Indianapolis 500 history. Of course, it skews to more recent decades when the runs have come a little faster and the finishes have had a tendency to be a little closer.
We’ll add one each day to this list of fantastic finishes ahead of the 110th running of the Indy 500 on May 24 (12:30 p.m. ET on FOX).
10. Ericsson outduels O’Ward (2022)
After a red flag, Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward in a two-lap shootout. The shootout didn’t last two laps, though, as there was a crash on the final lap behind them. Ericsson had a comfortable lead when the red flag came out for a crash with four laps to go, a situation where in past Indianapolis 500 races, they likely would have ended the race under caution with Ericsson as the winner.
9. Foyt survives chaos (1967)
How does a driver who wins by two laps end up on this list? It’s because the win nearly didn’t happen on the last lap. A big crash with cars and debris littering the frontstretch just ahead of Foyt as he came to the checkered flag forced him to navigate through the wreckage for the win.
8. Sato can’t catch Franchitti (2012)
This was one of those finishes where the leader holds on for the win, but boy did the leader have to hold on. Takuma Sato tried to pass Dario Franchitti early on the final lap but to no avail and Franchitti sped off for the victory. This was one of those Indy 500s that made you hold your breath all the way to the checkered flag.
Sports
UCLA softball pummels South Carolina to advance to NCAA super regional
No. 8 UCLA stuck with right-hander Taylor Tinsley throughout the Los Angeles Regional and that faith in the senior paid off.
During the Bruins’ NCAA tournament opener at Easton Stadium, Tinsley gave up 10 runs before her teammates rallied for a walk-off win. She returned less than 24 hours to pitch against South Carolina, giving up two earned runs in a victory. Tinsley was back in the circle Sunday afternoon, yielding one run in UCLA’s 15-1 victory over the Gamecocks to advance to the super regionals.
“I am proud of Taylor’s resiliency, the ability to do whatever she can to help this team,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “She got stronger through the weekend. I am proud of that.”
Tinsley and her teammates will host Central Florida in a super regional that begins Friday.
“I feel good,” Tinsley said after pitching three key games in three days. “I could have gone more innings if needed.”
South Carolina right-hander Jori Heard gave up only one hit through two innings, keeping UCLA’s potent bats relatively quiet. The Gamecocks had runners on first and second with two outs in the second, but Tinsley escaped the inning with a pop-up to left field.
The Bruins got on the board first with a two-run home run from left fielder Rylee Slimp in the third inning. The Bruins followed it up by loading the bases with no outs in the fifth for right fielder Megan Grant.
Grant cooked up a grand slam to make it 6-0. She has 40 home runs, extending her hold on the NCAA single-season home run record. Oklahoma freshman Kendall Wells trails Grant with 37 homers.
“Its just incredible because I am blessed to be able to say the number 40,” Grant said.
South Carolina broke through on an RBI single from left fielder Quincee Lilio to cut UCLA’s lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning after being held to just one hit since the first inning. The Gamecocks couldn’t cash in the rest of the way.
The Bruins resumed scoring in the sixth inning, with the bases loaded and Grant at bat again. Fans at Easton Stadium anticipated another grand slam, holding up their cellphones hoping to catch some magic. Grant served up a two-run RBI single to expand the lead 8-1.
Jordan Woolery added to the scoring with a two-run RBI double down the left-field line, and Kaniya Bragg hit a home run to left-center field. Soo-jin Berry put a bow on the win with one more home run.
Sports
Pro wrestling star learns what ‘land of opportunity’ means in US as he details journey from Italy to America
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Cristiano Argento has been tearing up opponents in the ring for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as he worked his way up the ladder to get a few shots at some gold.
But the path to get to one of the most prestigious pro wrestling companies in the U.S. was long and a path that not many wrestlers have taken.
Argento was born and raised in Osimo, Italy – a town of about 35,000 people located on the east side of the country closer to the Adriatic Sea. He told Fox News Digital he started training in a ring at a boxing gym before he got started on the independent scene in Italy. He wrestled in Germany, Sweden, France and Denmark before he came to the realization that, to become a professional wrestler, he needed to make his way to the United States.
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Cristiano Argento performs in the National Wrestling Alliance (Instagram)
He first worked his way to Canada to get trained by pro wrestling legend Lance Storm. He moved to Canada, leaving most of his friends and family behind and without a firm grasp on the English language.
“At the time, my English was horrible. I didn’t speak any English at all,” he said. “But I was with my friend, Stefano, he came with me and he translated everything for me. I probably missed 50% of the knowledge that Lance Storm was giving to us because I was unable to understand. I was only given a recap and everything I was able to see. I’m sure if I was doing it now with a proper knowledge of English, it would have been a different scenario.
“Eventually, I moved back to Italy after the training and I said, OK, now, I want to go to the U.S. So, I studied English more properly, and eventually I got my first work visa that was in Texas. I was in Houston for a short period of time. I trained with Booker T at Reality of Wrestling. I got on his show, which was my debut in the U.S. That was awesome. I eventually got a new work visa in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I currently live since 2017. Since then, my wrestling career, thankfully, kept growing, growing, growing and growing until now wrestling for the NWA. One of the bigger promotions in the U.S.”
Argento said that his family thought he was “nuts” for chasing his pro wrestling dream.
He said they were more concerned about his well-being given that he was half-way around the world without anyone he knew by his side in case something went sideways.
“My family, friends, everybody was like why do you want to move to the opposite side of the world not knowing the language, not knowing anybody, by yourself, to try to become a professional wrestler? And I was like, well, we have one life, I love, and that’s what I’m gonna do,” he told Fox News Digital. “Eventually, my family was really supportive. But when I first said, ‘Hey, mom and dad, I want to do that.’ They looked at me like, ‘Are you nuts? Are you drunk or something? What are you talking about?’ And I said, no that’s what I want to do. And they knew I loved this sport because in Italy I was traveling around Europe, spending time in Canada training, so they started to understand slowly that’s what I want to do with my life. They were proud of me.
Cristiano Argento works out in the gym. (Instagram)
“They’re still proud of me. I think more like the fact that you’re gonna try that, that it’s hard than more like you’re gonna leave us. The fact like, oh, my son is gonna go on the opposite side of the world for a six-hour time difference and we’re gonna see him maybe, when, like, I don’t know. Not often. I think it was more that. And for me too, it was really hard. It was heartbreaking not being able to see my family every day or every month. Like once a year if I’m lucky. I think that was the biggest part for them because of concern or that I was here by myself and if I have any issue or any problem, I didn’t have nobody. So they were scared. Like, you get sick, if you have a problem, anything, and they’re not being able to be here next to me. But they were really supportive since day one.”
Argento is living out his dream in the U.S. He suggested that the moniker of the U.S. being the “land of opportunity” wasn’t far from what is preached in movies and literature – it was the real thing.
“I was inspired by people who came to the U.S. and made it big,” Argento told Fox News Digital. “The U.S. was always like the land of opportunity. That’s how they sell it to us and this is what it is. I feel like, in myself, that was true because anything I tried to do so far I was able to reach a lot more than if I wasn’t here. I’m not yet where I’d like to be but I see like there’s so many opportunities in this country. Not just in wrestling but like in any business to reach the goal. I’m really happy of the choices I did here.
National Wrestling Alliance star Cristiano Argento poses in Times Square in New York. (Instagram)
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“But my big inspirations were big-time actors who moved to the country, who didn’t know English, with no money, no support system. I had one dream, I have to go right there to make it happen and I’m gonna go and do it and I’m gonna make it happen. So those people were always the biggest inspiration even if it wasn’t in wrestling, just how they handled their passion, how they pursued their dream without being scared of anything, how far you are, how alone by yourself … You don’t know the language, you’re like, let’s go, let’s do it.”
Outside of the NWA, Argento has performed for the International Wrestling Cartel, Enjoy Wrestling and Exodus Pro Wrestling this year.
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