LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The IOC invited eight top Russian tennis players plus Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka from Belarus on Thursday to compete as neutral athletes at the Paris Olympics — though some already declined the expected offer.
The Russian men invited to compete in the Olympic tournament at Roland Garros from July 27-Aug. 4 are No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, No. 6 Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov and Roman Safiullin.
The Russian women — Daria Kasatkina, Liudmila Samsonova, Ekaterina Aleksandrova and Mirra Andreeva — are ranked currently from No. 14 to 24, respectively.
Sabalenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, already said she will skip the Olympics to avoid switching from Wimbledon on grass, back to clay at the Olympics, then to hard courts in August ahead of the U.S. Open. Rublev has reportedly cited health reasons to not go.
Tennis is the latest of the Olympic sports to have invitations to Paris confirmed as part of a vetting process to let some athletes from Russia and its military ally Belarus compete with neutral status in individual sports during the invasion of Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee is overseeing vetting to block athletes who expressed support for the Russian invasion or had ties to sports clubs linked to the military or state security services.
Russia and Belarus already are excluded from team sports at the Paris Games that open July 26.
The IOC announced this month that a first round of 14 Russians and 11 Belarusians were eligible and invited to Paris, including in cycling, weightlifting and wrestling. Some invitations have been declined.
On Thursday, two athletes in rowing and two in shooting from Belarus were invited to compete in Paris, though none in modern pentathlon. Russia did not have entry quota places in those three sports.
It is still unclear how many Russian athletes will compete at the Olympics. The IOC already barred those that do from taking part in the opening ceremony parade of athletes scheduled on boats sailing along the River Seine.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus attends a training session ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. The tournament starts on July 1st. (John Walton/PA via AP)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — An illness forced Brian Ortega to withdraw Saturday hours before his scheduled fight with Diego Lopes in the co-main event at UFC 303, and Dan Ige was called in as a replacement and narrowly lost by decision.
All three judges scored the fight 29-28 in favor Lopes (25-6).
“I've said before whoever, wherever, I'll fight anybody,” Lopes, a Brazilian, said through an interpreter.
Ige (18-8) received a loud ovation from the crowd after his loss for his willingness to step in on short notice.
“I was like, ‘Man, this an opportunity to become a legend,’” Ige said. "This is a story I will tell my grandkids. I'd love to (have won), but man I couldn't be happier."
UFC President Dana White said before the bout that it likely would have been called off if Ige hadn’t been available.
“There would have been no other options,” White said.
The match is the warm-up bout to the main event between light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and top-ranked challenger Jiri Prochazka.
White said Ortega was running a fever and wasn't ready to go on. Ige, who is from Honolulu but trains in Las Vegas, already was in town preparing for another fight.
“It's all about opportunity,” White said. “He jumped at it. Who's hotter than Lopes right now?”
White joked that Ige likely was sitting on his couch about to order the pay-per-view when he got the call.
Jeff Mullen, executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, told ESPN that because Ige fought Feb. 10 in Las Vegas, that made the process smoother to get him approved.
“We already had his medicals and all his requirements completed,” Mullen said. “It was a perfectly approved matchup. I checked with the attorneys to make sure everything was in order.”
The Ortega-Lopes fight itself was a replacement for a previously scheduled bout. Jamahal Hill had to ask out of his match against Carlos Ulberg because a knee injury in training.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Diego Lopes, right, is declared the winner by unanimous decision over Dan Ige in a 165-pound catchweight mixed martial arts bout at UFC 303, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. Ige replaced Brian Ortega, who withdrew from the bout due to illness. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Dan Ige, left, punches Diego Lopes during a 165-pound catchweight mixed martial arts bout at UFC 303, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. Ige replaced Brian Ortega, who withdrew from the bout due to illness. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Featherweight fighters Brian Ortega, left, and Diego Lopes face off during a UFC 303 news conference Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
