Cycling
LUGO, Spain – Gianni Meersman of Belgium earned his second win in four days at the Spanish Vuelta after a sprint finish and a crash in the peloton in the final two kilometers on Wednesday.
Colombian Darwin Atapuma maintained the leader’s red jersey for a second day, after avoiding the pileup of fallen riders.
Meersman, an Etixx-Quick Step rider, got his first grand tour win on Sunday’s second stage.
The 30-year-old rider secured his second after completing a relatively flat 106.4-mile ride from Viveiro to Lugo in 4 hours, 16 minutes, 42 seconds.
NHL
GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Arizona Coyotes have hired Dawn Braid as skating coach and say she is believed to be the first full-time female coach in NHL history.
Braid has a long association with the NHL.
She worked part-time for the Coyotes last year and served as a skating consultant with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres and Calgary Flames.
Braid also spent seven years with the Athletes Training Center as director of skating development. Among the skaters she worked with while there is New York Islanders center John Tavares.
The hiring is the latest in a series of breakthroughs for women in men’s sports.
Olympics
NEW YORK – U.S. swimmer James Feigen apologized for the “serious distraction” he and three teammates caused at a gas station during the Rio Olympics, saying he omitted facts in his statement to police.
“I omitted the facts that we urinated behind the building and that Ryan Lochte pulled a poster off the wall,” Feigen said in a statement Tuesday on the website of his lawyer in Austin, Texas.
He maintains the group didn’t force their way into a bathroom and a gun was pointed at them.
The 26-year-old Feigen said the group left the French House party around 5 a.m. in a taxi to travel back to the Athlete Village.
“We pulled over to a gas station to use the bathroom but the door was locked,” Feigen’s statement read. “We did not force entry into the bathroom, nor did we ever enter the bathroom. We did, however, make the regrettable decision to urinate in the grass behind the building.”
Feigen said he paid the driver the cab fare and “As I walked away, the man with the gun pointed it at me and my teammate and ordered us, in Portuguese, to sit.”
Feigen, who was pulled off an airplane last week by Brazilian police for more questioning, said he paid a fine of $10,800 for the return of his passport so he could travel back to the U.S.
Skiing
WINTER PARK – Winter Park and Amtrak officials are set to release schedules and ticket prices Thursday for a revived ski train.
The Denver-owned ski resort and Amtrak have announced that they’re reviving the popular day trips this upcoming ski season.
The train ran between Denver and Winter Park every ski season from 1940 to 2009, when then-owner Philip Anschutz shut the service down because of rising costs.
The Denver Post reports that the schedules and ticket are being announced Thursday at the base area of the resort.
The Colorado Transportation Commission this week announced a $1.5 million grant to help build an ADA-compliant boarding platform and rail improvements.
Associated Press
