COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Suspended former Florida quarterback Will Grier is transferring to West Virginia.
Grier will sit out next season to fulfill NCAA transfer rules and be eligible to play in 2017. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Grier was suspended in October for one year by the NCAA for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He said the failed test was because of an over-the-counter supplement he used. He appealed, but the NCAA upheld the suspension. West Virginia spokesman Mike Montoro says it has yet to be determined if Grier’s suspension will carry over to 2017.
Grier played six games last season for the Gators as a redshirt freshman.
NFL
A New York Jets receiver has testified at his civil assault trial that fights inside a Manhattan nightclub annoyed him even before his wife was struck in the face by a bottle.
Brandon Marshall testified briefly Wednesday after a California woman accused him of punching her in the face outside the club in March 2012. Christin Myles of Chino, California, is seeking unspecified damages, saying she suffers lasting injuries. Marshall was never charged with a crime.
Marshall’s lawyer says his client never punched Myles. The 32-year-old wide receiver’s testimony resumes Thursday.
Olympics
Numerous doping cases in track and field may go unpunished because the sport’s governing body tested samples after their time limit had expired.
In at least one case, a Russian runner could be allowed to keep her world championship medal even though she tested positive for a banned substance.
The World Anti-Doping Agency said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the IAAF wrongly interpreted a rule change in April 2015 when it decided to retest samples from the 2005 and 2007 world championships. Testers found 28 athletes had tested positive at both championships, but only the samples from 2005 missed the deadline.
Scalded by their previous failures to win Olympic hosting rights, Paris bid leaders want to engage with the public for new ideas.
The Paris 2024 bid committee this week launched what they call the “the biggest ever public engagement initiative in Olympic bid history,” offering the French public to devise ideas for the bid.
The first step of the plan took place late Tuesday with a meeting involving 200 youths, aged 15 to 25, from across France.
The best 100 ideas that will come out of these meetings until September, or offered online, will be considered for inclusion in the Paris dossier.
SOCCER
Wolfsburg battled its way to a shock 2-0 victory over 10-time winner Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.
Playing in its first quarterfinal in the competition, Wolfsburg outmuscled the Spanish giant and gave itself a good chance to make the last four.
Ricardo Rodriguez converted a penalty in the 18th minute and Maximilian Arnold added the second in the 25th as the home side used counterattacks to devastating effect.
Cristiano Ronaldo had a strike in the second minute ruled out for offside and the Madrid star never came close to increasing his competition-high tally of 13 goals.
Associated Press
