CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING

Jessie Diggins won a 15-kilometer World Cup ski event on Friday, and the week before the tour she’s making a stop in her home state of Minnesota.

Diggins’ time of 40 minutes, 26 seconds in the free group start race gave her a 2.6-second advantage over France’s Delphine Claudel for her fifth victory of the season. Heidi Weng of Norway was third in 40:29.3.

Sophia Laukli of Yarmouth was second among the Americans and eighth overall in 40:34.6.

Diggins helped Team USA win its first Olympic gold medal in cross-country skiing six years ago at the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea when she and Kikkan Randall won the team sprint. Diggins has since made it his mission to bring a World Cup stop to Minneapolis, a goal that will become a reality next weekend.

The races will take place at Theodore Wirth Park, overlooking downtown Minneapolis, on February 1. 17-18, marking the tour’s first U.S. stop in 23 years.

HOCKEY

ECHL: Wyllum Deveaux scored twice in the final five minutes of regulation to force overtime, and Ryan Mast scored his own rebound on an overtime breakaway to give the Maine Mariners a 5-4 victory over the Worcester Railers in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Alex Kile scored a shorthanded goal for the Mariners in the first period, and William Provost began Maine’s comeback from a 4-1 deficit early in the third.

SWIMMING

END OF THE LEDECKY SERIES: Katie Ledecky’s 13-year unbeaten streak in the 800-meter freestyle is over, posing a potential challenge for Canadian phenom Summer McIntosh at the Paris Olympics.

McIntosh, 17, finished nearly 6 seconds ahead of Ledecky at a sectional competition in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday, becoming the second-fastest woman in the history of a grueling event that Ledecky dominated.

The teenager finished in 8 minutes and 11.39 seconds, an improvement of about 9 seconds from her previous best time. McIntosh was faster than Ledecky’s winning time of 8:12.57 at the Tokyo Olympics.

It was the 26-year-old Ledecky’s first loss in the event since 2010. She finished behind American teammate Leah Smith in the 2019 World Championships preliminaries, but bounced back to win the gold medal.

BASKETBALL

NBA: Philadelphia 76ers team president Daryl Morey expressed optimism that reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid can return from a knee injury in time for a possible postseason. -season.

“We’re hopeful,” Morey said three days after Embiid underwent surgery on his left knee. “The feedback has been more good than bad since we first heard about what led to his intervention. So we are hopeful and we are building the team to make it better this year. Of course, it’s not 100 percent. But with Joel playing at an MVP level, I hope he can get back there. And this is a year where we have a real chance.

Embiid, averaging 35.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in 39 games, has missed the last five games since Golden State forward Jonathan Kuminga went down in his left leg, injuring his meniscus that required surgery. surgical intervention.

GOLF

PGA: Nick Taylor tied the course record with an 11-under 60 in the first round, then shot 70 in the second to share the Phoenix Open lead with Andrew Novak at 12 under.

After completing the weather-delayed first round on Friday, Taylor had a five-shot lead, tying Jim Gallagher Jr. at the 1993 Tour Championship for the largest 18-hole lead in a PGA Tour stroke-play event since 1983 .

Novak closed a 65 in the morning and shot another 65 in the second round.

Maverick McNealy shot 67 to reach 10 under, and Doug Ghim was 9 under overall through 16 holes of his second round. More than half of the participants did not complete the second round.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Australian Haydn Barron shot a bogey-free 67 to take the lead halfway through the Qatar Masters in Doha.

Barron was at 9 under overall, two shots ahead of compatriot Harrison Endycott and Rikuya Hoshino of Japan, with first-round leader Zander Lombard and Niklas Norgaard another shot back.

VIV: Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau each shot 8-under 62 to share the lead at LIV Golf Las Vegas, with fellow major champion Jon Rahm two shots behind with a day remaining in his second event on the Saudi-funded tour Arabia.

Johnson and DeChambeau hit 11-under 129 at Las Vegas Country Club on another cold day, with the temperature barely in the 50s. Rahm had a 63 to join Peter Uihlein (65) and Matthew Wolff (66) at 9 cents.

TENNIS

OPEN FROM DALLAS: Ben Shelton rallied to a 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Jordan Thompson to reach the semifinals.

The American, third seed, will face his compatriot Tommy Paul, world number 1. 2nd seed, who beat German Dominik Koepfer, 7-5, 6-3.

ATHLETICS

OLYMPIC GAMES: Jamaican great Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce says the Paris Games will be her last Olympics.

The 37-year-old sprinter, who has won two gold medals in the 100 meters and another in the 400 relay in four Olympic appearances, told Essence.com that she still loves the sport but will retire after Paris to be able to spend more time. with her husband and 6-year-old son, Zyon.

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