Sports
Elliott: Teenager Josephine Lee announces her presence on figure skating's big stage
Josephine Lee’s figure skating talent is obvious to even the most casual observer.
The sureness of her jumps, her ability to captivate an audience and the exquisite quality of her edges — the technique that puts the “figure” in figure skating — make her an entrancing athlete. Lee, who turned 16 on Feb. 3, confirmed her 2026 Olympic ambitions by performing the highest-scored long program at the recent U.S. championships, a stunning routine that lifted her to an unexpected but deserved second-place finish behind Amber Glenn and ahead of defending champion Isabeau Levito.
Yet Lee, who lives in Irvine and trains at Lakewood Ice, has another talent that isn’t as obvious: She can solve a Rubik’s cube with her feet.
She played a video of her feet feat for The Times but was too modest to share it. Suffice to say that if finishing a Rubik’s cube with your feet ever becomes an Olympic sport, she’d contend for a gold medal.
She had solved it with her hands, but she didn’t stop there. “One time I was on a long car ride and I got really bored, so I decided to put the Rubik’s cube on the floor. It took about an hour,” she said. “It’s a really good ankle exercise.”
It’s not a conventional training method, but it’s working for her.
Lee is too young to compete in this year’s world championships at the senior level but will go to the world junior competition later this month in Taiwan in hopes of improving on her 19th-place finish a year ago. She’s trying to stay in the moment while positioning herself to earn a berth on the U.S. team at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games, a tough balance to maintain.
She has the talent and the temperament. She was 4 when her father, Jeff, a computer programmer, took her to a rink near his office. She was, she joked, the only person ever to fail a Tot 1 learn-to-skate class. But even then, she recognized the challenges and sense of accomplishment the sport offered. That determination carried her through a stress fracture in her back when she was 11, and it fuels her efforts to conquer those jumps and spins on the way to living her Olympic dreams.
“I think she’s got a good shot. I think her work ethic and her desire to get there is more than anyone I see out there,” said her coach, Amy Evidente of Los Feliz.
“The good thing about her is you tell her to work on something or you work on something with her and it’s better the next day. She’s really taking everything in and trying to take the instruction or correction or whatever it is that she’s told. She will make sure that it’s done. And so I think she’s got as good of a chance as Amber and Isabeau and Lindsay Thorngren, whoever else is one of the top athletes.”
Josephine Lee competes during the women’s free skate at the U.S. figure skating championships on Jan. 26.
(Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)
Lee didn’t expect much from herself at the U.S. championships because she felt she hadn’t lived up to her potential this season. She was first after the short program at the Cranberry Cup junior event but dropped to third overall, and she finished eighth at a Grand Prix junior event in Linz, Austria. She did win the Pacific Coast sectional title.
Part of the problem was she had grown to about 5-foot-4 over the last year and wasn’t comfortable in her developing body. “It’s been a little struggle adjusting to that,” she said, “but I think my skating matured.”
Evidente was nervous for Lee before the U.S. competition.
“Only because she worked so hard and I just wanted her to put out two programs that she could walk away with that she could say, ‘I’m very proud that I did that,’” Evidente said. “My expectation was just for her to go and enjoy herself and kind of learn about herself through this process.”
Lee stood fifth after the short program. That was a moral victory because a costly mistake on an element in the short program a year ago had left her in 11th place, giving her a steep climb to her eventual fifth-place finish. This time, she pulled off a triple flip-triple toe loop jump combination and sailed through.
She was within reach of a medal. Suddenly, her expectations rose. “Then I was, ‘Shoot, I’ve never been in this position before,’” she said.
She handled the pressure beautifully, enjoying her performance instead of ticking off each technical element in her mind like a shopping list. She completed seven triple jumps without a single negative grade of execution from any of the nine judges; though she did a triple flip-double axel-double axel sequence instead of a triple-triple combination, she racked up 138.85 points, a personal best and three points better than Glenn’s free skate routine. Her final total score was 204.13 points.
Josephine Lee, right, hugs her coach, Amy Evidente, after learning her free skate score at the U.S. figure skating championships.
(Josie Lepe / Associated Press)
Her only misstep occurred when, overwhelmed by the occasion, she tried to exit the ice through the Zamboni door instead of the skaters’ door.
“You go through a program and you watch a girl like that and you just go, ‘OK girl, you can do this,’” Evidente said. “‘Just six more jumps. OK, you can continue doing this. You can stay up. Just keep going.’”
They were both happily shocked by her score, but four skaters remained. Lee and Evidente didn’t know if her total would hold up as No. 1 for the long program and they didn’t know where she’d finish.
Lee didn’t see the final skaters or track the standings. “My eyelashes fell off and I was reapplying those. They fell off when I was crying in the kiss-and-cry. So I didn’t really watch Amber’s entire skate,” Lee said.
“But my friends were texting me, like, ‘Oh my God, you’re going to place.’ I think I was getting interviewed in the mixed zone during Isabeau’s skate so I didn’t get to watch her. But I had no idea that I had won the free skate until afterward. Way after.”
Glenn and Levito are headed to the world championships, but Lee said she’s not disappointed to return to junior worlds. Her mother, attorney Caroline Tseng, is from Taiwan, so Lee welcomes the chance to visit. Since she didn’t expect to do well enough at the U.S. championships to be chosen for the junior world team, the chance to gain additional high-level international experience is a bonus. “I’m definitely really grateful for the opportunity,” she said.
She will face high expectations. Evidente, who began coaching her late in 2020, believes she’s better prepared than she was a year ago.
“I think with experience you just know so much more. And she knows how to handle herself so much more. So I think she will be able to thrive in that environment this year,” Evidente said. “The only expectation for me for her, as I told her [recently], is to stay loyal to her hard work. And to stay really present, because I think everything else comes from that.”
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A Sunday of pro wrestling will not be complete without looking over the card for WWE NXT’s The Great American Bash, taking place at WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
The card will feature five championship matches and two others among four people with scores to settle. The anticipation is building and there are sure to be fireworks during these matches.
It will be the first NXT premium live event broadcast on the CW Network. The show begins at 7 p.m. ET.
Read below for a preview of the matches and predictions.
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Shiloh Hill vs. Tristan Angels
Tristan Angels takes Shiloh Hill’s Mr. NXT sash during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, on June 9, 2026. (Matt Pendleton/WWE)
Tristan Angels will hope to keep his vanity at bay just a few minutes as he battles Shiloh Hill on Sunday night. Angels has been one of the newest members of the NXT roster already making an impact. He’s run into Shiloh Hill as of late. Hill was named Mr. NXT, which angered Angels and led to a blindside assault. Their feud heads to The Great American Bash.
Prediction: Tristan Angels announces his presence with authority.
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Saquon Shugars vs. Dion Lennox
Saquon Shugars speaks during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on June 23, 2026. (Andrea Kellaway/WWE)
DarkState tossed Saquon Shugars out of the group earlier this month and it sparked a feud between him and Dion Lennox. The two men traumatized the NXT roster together and while DarkState might fizzle without Shugars, Lennox is looking to keep its momentum going. The two are set to put the bash in The Great American Bash.
Prediction: Saquon Shugars defeats Dion Lennox.
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Myles Borne (c) vs. Tavion Heights for the NXT North American Championship
Myles Borne competes against Dion Lennox during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, on April 21, 2026. (Matt Pendleton/WWE via Getty Images)
Myles Borne has been a really good representative of what an NXT North American champion should be. Borne defeated Ethan Page to win the title back in February and has put away each opponent, including Johnny Gargano and Dion Lennox in TV title defenses. Tavion Heights is a beast that Borne hasn’t faced before. Heights beat Jackson Drake on his way to earning the title shot. He already had a chance to win the title against Page at No Mercy last year, but came up short. Will anyone stop him Sunday night?
Prediction: Myles Borne retains the title.
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Wren Sinclair (c) vs. Arianna Grace for the WWE Women’s Speed Championship
Wren Sinclair wins the WWE Women’s Speed Championship during NXT at the 713 Music Hall in Houston, Texas, on March 17, 2026. (Meg Oliphant/WWE)
Wren Sinclair has been the proud holder of the WWE Women’s Speed Championship since she defeated Fallon Henley for the belt back in March. She puts the title on the line against Arianna Grace, who is a few weeks from losing the TNA Knockouts World Championship to Lei Ying Lee. Grace would love to get a championship back around her waist.
Prediction: Wren Sinclair retains the title.
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Zaria (c) vs. Tatum Paxley for the NXT Women’s North American Championship
Zaria attacks Lizzy Rain during an NXT match at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on May 19, 2026. (Andrea Kellaway/WWE)
It’s a rematch with the NXT Women’s North American Championship on the line. Zaria stunned NXT fans when she defeated Tatum Paxley for the title a few weeks ago. Paxley has not just withered away into the shadows. She’s back and looking for a fight. The match will take place at The Great American Bash.
Prediction: Zaria defeats Tatum Paxley.
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Tony D’Angelo (c) vs. Naraku for the NXT Championship
Tony D’Angelo and Naraku face off during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on May 27, 2026. (Andrea Kellaway/WWE)
Tony D’Angelo told Fox News Digital before his match with Naraku that he was keeping his head on a swivel for any shenanigans from Naraku. He obviously didn’t see a fireball shoot into his face during the official contract signing. D’Angelo has a lot of things to keep his eye on. Naraku is looking to make a statement with a win.
Prediction: Tony D’Angelo retains the title.
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Lola Vice (c) vs. Kendal Grey for the NXT Women’s Championship
Lola Vice competes against Izzi Dame during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, on May 27, 2026. (Andrea Kellaway/WWE)
Lola Vice has been no fluke as the NXT women’s champion since she won the belt at Stand & Deliver over Kendal Grey and Jacy Jayne. Grey has come all the way back from the loss and earned the No. 1 contender spot. Grey is the challenger everyone in pro wrestling has their eye on. She’s perceived as the future of women’s wrestling in WWE. Sunday night will be something to watch.
Prediction: Kendal Grey wins the NXT Women’s Championship.
Sports
Commentary: You’re up, Rob Pelinka. To avoid Ned Colletti’s fate, the Lakers’ GM has to deliver this offseason
If only. If Rob Pelinka could use the Dodgers’ blueprint to renovate, Lakers fans wouldn’t even be sweating this summer.
But, you know. Baseballs and basketballs, apples and oranges.
The windup and sales pitch are the same, though: Deliver a sustainable, high-rising, championship build. On time and … about that budget. One team has none. The other’s is tight.
In baseball, they wear caps. In the NBA, they’re compelled to stay under them.
In baseball, they can swing freely (for now). In basketball, they’re hamstrung by aprons.
Ned Colletti had it easier, and he lasted only two relatively successful seasons in his role as Dodgers general manager after Mark Walter’s Guggenheim Baseball Management group bought the ballclub in 2012.
Pelinka has it tougher as the Lakers’ general manager and president of basketball operations. But like Colletti before him, with Walter having purchased the majority stake in the Lakers, Pelinka is going to have to crash the hourglass and build a winner with haste. Er, the winner.
If the Lakers lay anything but an 18th brick on their championship foundation in the next couple seasons, Pelinka’s story probably is going to go a lot like Colletti’s.
When free agency opens Tuesday, Pelinka is just going to have to show us how creative he can be, how clever and cunning.
He already hit a grand slam with the Luka Doncic trade in 2025. In one of the NBA’s all-time heists, Pelinka brought the then-25-year-old Slovenian superstar to L.A. from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for essentially an aging and injury-prone Anthony Davis and just one first-round draft pick.
Before that, Pelinka hit another home run with Austin Reaves; a four-bagger so deep that Doncic’s undrafted backcourt-mate has now procured the proverbial bag. (Four years, $185 million worth of baggage to the Lakers.)
With those pillars cemented, Pelinka’s job is delivering the A-list center Doncic reportedly desires.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka pulled off a blockbuster trade to acquire Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic. Can Pelinka build a winner around Doncic?
(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)
Doesn’t matter that all the perceivable candidates — from the Utah Jazz’s Walker Kessler to the New York Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson, the Milwaukee Bucks’ Myles Turner, the Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Jarrett Allen, the Mavericks’ Daniel Gafford, even old friend A.D. — sit on a spectrum of unlikely to unwise.
Still, the best plan: Make Doncic happy; make a run at Kessler.
He’s a 24-year-old, defensively adept big man who would be a great pickup, just hard to get. But whether it’s overpaying in restricted free agency or working out a sign-and-trade deal, pry him away from the Jazz.
After nailing down a center, Pelinka also needs to really hit on the margins. Because in the modern NBA, the marginal is major.
The current contenders have depth borne of seasons spent tanking and loading up in the draft on athletic, affordable young talent or, in the case of the recently crowned Knicks, having a leading man take $113 million less than he was eligible for, as Jalen Brunson effectively did, to be able to play with his best buds.
In L.A., the Lakers don’t really have the first option and shouldn’t ever expect the second.
But Pelinka doesn’t have to swing for the fences every time; he doesn’t need to wow us now, he needs to have wowed us later. Take swings like he did trading for Rui Hachimura or netting sharpshooter Luke Kennard.
Former Laker Pau Gasol, right, speaks with GM Rob Pelinka during a Lakers practice in 2025.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
No one bats 1.000, of course, not even Andrew Friedman, the architect of the Dodgers’ three World Series titles since taking over as president of baseball operations in 2014.
But for the Lakers’ potential $51 million of cap space, for all of this summer’s much-hyped optionality, Pelinka’s competitive new boss isn’t the type to forgive errors that are forever front of mind for the Lakers’ faithful.
Pelinka can’t strike out on free agent signees like Gabe Vincent and Kendrick Nunn. Can’t let someone like Alex Caruso walk. Can’t whiff on draftees like Dalton Knecht or Jalen Hood-Schifino — and better hope he hasn’t on this year’s selection, Cameron Carr, who fell to the Lakers at No. 24.
The wrinkle, this offseason: Last year’s Lakers — 41-year-old LeBron James, Hachimura, Kennard and, if he opts out, Marcus Smart — will be among the most attractive free agents on the market, and they’re proven fits for a team that reached the second round of the playoffs.
But merely re-signing those guys won’t improve the Lakers’ odds of getting past the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs in the playoffs.
And simply outspending those teams isn’t an option, either. So Pelinka is going to have to go bargain hunting, he’s got to find some hidden gems, pull some tricks out of his sleeve. Surprise us, like great general managers are supposed to do.
This is Pelinka’s opportunity to show us his blueprint for bringing another title to Los Angeles, to build a case for himself.
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After the World Cup group stage, things go from intense to do-or-die.
In previous years, the Round of 16 was the first knockout stage match, but with an expanded field of 48 teams— it is now the second.
Following the conclusion of the group stage, we now know all 16 Round of 32 matchups. As Brazil- Japan, Netherlands-Morocco and Portugal-Croatia are set to meet in powerhouse showdowns, other nations like Argentina (vs. Cape Verde) and England (vs. DR Congo) have much more favorable draws.
With that, let’s check out the odds for which countries are favored to win at least one knockout stage game and make it to the Round of 16, at FanDuel Sportsbook as of June 28.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
To Reach Round of 16
Argentina: -1500 (bet $10 to win $10.67 total)
France: -750 (bet $10 to win $11.33 total)
England: -650 (bet $10 to win $11.54 total)
USA: -600 (bet $10 to win $11.67 total)
Spain: -550 (bet $10 to win $11.82 total)
Germany: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Brazil: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Canada: -300 (bet $10 to win $13.33 total)
Colombia: -250 (bet $10 to win $14 total)
Portugal: -230 (bet $10 to win $14.35 total)
Norway: -210 (bet $10 to win $14.76 total)
Switzerland: -210 (bet $10 to win $14.76 total)
Belgium: -195 (bet $10 to win $15.13 total)
Netherlands: -180 (bet $10 to win $15.56 total)
Mexico: -165 (bet $10 to win $16.06 total)
Egypt: -165 (bet $10 to win $16.06 total)
Australia: +100 (bet $10 to win $20 total)
Ecuador: +125 (bet $10 to win $22.50 total)
Morocco: +130 (bet $10 to win $23 total)
Ivory Coast: +130 (bet $10 to win $23 total)
France currently -750 to make the Round of 16 (Getty Images).
Here’s what to know about this oddsboard.
The Favorites: France and Spain are favored to win the tournament, making them heavy favorites to at least reach the second round of the knockout stage. In 2014, France made it to the quarterfinals, followed by a championship in 2018 and a runner-up finish in 2022. The last time it failed to make it out of the group stage was back in 2010. For Spain, it lost in the Round of 16 in both 2022 and 2018, and failed to make it out of the group stage in 2014, after winning the World Cup in 2010. However, in this betting market, Argentina is the heavily favored to make it to the Round of 16 as sportsbooks believe Cape Verde has an extremely small chance of upsetting the defending champions.
The Host Nations: The USA and Mexico are in great shape to win their Round of 32 matchups after winning their respective groups. Mexico officially won Group A after sweeping its group, while the U.S. clinched Group D after its win over Australia and Türkiye’s loss to Paraguay. And lastly, after its first-ever World Cup win, Canada will advance after finishing second in Group B.
Mexico has a familiar relationship with the Round of 16, having lost in that round every tournament from 1994 to 2018 — seven straight tournaments. In 2022, Mexico didn’t make it out of group play. As for the USA, it made the Round of 16 in 2022, did not qualify for the tournament in 2018, and made the Round of 16 in 2014 and 2010. Canada will play in its first knockout game ever.
Canada will face South Africa on Sunday, Mexico has drawn Ecuador on Tuesday, and the U.S. will play Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday.
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