Sophia Laukli, a Yarmouth native, was one of the skiers named Monday to the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team for the cross country world championships.
Laukli finished fifth in the U23 women’s 10K freestyle at the U23 World cross country championships on Friday. The 20-year-old sophomore at Middlebury College also skied on the fifth-place team in the mixed 4x5K relay on Saturday and was 53rd in the 1.1K sprint on Friday.
The world championships will take place in Oberstdorf, Germany from Feb. 22-March 7.
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Mikaela Shiffrin’s latest gold medal from the skiing world championships moved her past both Lindsey Vonn and Ted Ligety.
Shiffrin won the combined in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, giving her a sixth gold and a ninth career medal from the worlds — one more than Vonn at the top of the all-time list of American medalists.
“I can’t wrap my head around it. It’s a number, right? I don’t even know what the number is. But it’s a number,” said Shiffrin, who took bronze in Thursday’s opening event, the super-G. “So, in that way, sure, I can say, ‘That’s cool.’ But today I was focused on today and in the super-G I was focused on the super-G,” she added.
Shiffrin also set an American record with her sixth world championship title after sharing the mark with Ligety, who retired last week. She has four golds in slalom and one in super-G from previous worlds and is among the main contenders in slalom and giant slalom later this week.
SOCCER
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: German teams hosting English opponents in Hungary. Arsenal and Benfica playing in Italy and Greece. Atletico Madrid entertaining Chelsea in Romania nearly 1,550 miles from home.
The coronavirus has shaken up the Champions League and Europa League again, causing five games this week to move to neutral venues across the continent, with more relocations to come.
It’s a confusing series of workarounds to national border restrictions on the spread of virus variants. Some politicians are worried by what they see as privileged soccer stars evading the spirit of the law.
Her concern comes as Leipzig prepares to host Liverpool at the Puskas Arena in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, on Tuesday. German authorities refused permission for Jurgen Klopp’s team to enter the country because of the spread of a coronavirus variant in Britain. Next week, Borussia Mönchengladbach will use the same venue to entertain Manchester City.
AUTO RACING
FORMULA ONE: Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso has left the hospital following surgery on his jaw, Alpine F1 said.
Alonso fractured his jaw in a cycling accident in Switzerland on Thursday.
“After a period of 48 hours observation at hospital in Switzerland, Fernando Alonso has now been discharged to complete his recovery at home,” the team wrote on Twitter. “He will now have a short period of complete rest before progressively resuming training to undertake preparation for the start of the season.”
Preseason testing begins at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on March 12. The first race will be held at the same venue on March 28.
The 39-year-old Spaniard has won 32 F1 races, with 97 podium finishes. He is due to make his comeback in F1 after retiring at the end of the 2018 season.
BASEBALL
MLB: Catcher Austin Barnes and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers avoided a salary arbitration hearing when they agreed to a $4.3 million, two-year contract.
The 31-year-old Barnes hit .244 with one homer and nine RBI in 86 bats over 29 games during the pandemic-shortened season.
Barnes gets a $300,000 signing bonus payable on March 1 and salaries of $1.5 million this year and $2.5 million in 2022. His 2022 salary can escalate by up to $200,000 for games played this year: $100,000 each for 70 and 80.
He can earn $200,000 in performance bonuses in 2022: $100,000 apiece for 70 and 80 games.
• The Colorado Rockies will be taking a look at another first baseman after signing C.J. Cron to a minor league contract with an invite to major league spring training.
Cron, 31, hit .190 with four homers and eight RBI in 13 games with Detroit last season. He was the 17th overall pick by the Los Angeles Angels in 2011 and has appeared in 686 career games in stints with the Angels, Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays and the Tigers.
• Left-hander Justin Wilson returned to the New York Yankees after two seasons with the Mets, agreeing Monday to a one-year contract that includes player and club options for 2022, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was subject to a successful physical.
Wilson joins a bullpen headed by closer Aroldis Chapman and Zack Britton, both left-handers. Hard-throwing right-hander Chad Green is joined by side-arming right-hander Darren O’Day, who was signed after the Yankees dealt Adam Ottovino to Boston in a cost-cutting move.
The 33-year-old Wilson was 5-0 with a 3.10 ERA in 74 appearances for the Yankees in 2015, then moved on to Detroit and the Chicago Cubs before spending 2019 and 2020 with the Mets. He was 2-1 with a 3.66 ERA in 19 2/3 innings over 23 appearances last season. He struck out 23 and walked nine
• The attendance-challenged Miami Marlins plan to allow fans at home games, although crowds will initially be limited to about 25% of capacity. That would mean a maximum of about 9,300 spectators in the 37,446-seat Marlins Park.
The Marlins, like the rest of MLB, didn’t allow fans during the 2020 regular season because of the coronavirus pandemic. Limited crowds were permitted for the postseason, and that will be the case for spring training games in Florida and Arizona starting late this month.
The Marlins averaged about 10,000 fans in 2018 and 2019, the first two seasons that CEO Derek Jeter’s group owned the team. They finished last in the majors in attendance both years, and ranked last in the National League 14 out of 15 seasons through 2019.
The 2020 season might have brought an increase as the Marlins made surprising run to their first playoff berth in 17 years. But because of COVID-19, the size of the bandwagon was impossible to gauge.
• The Milwaukee Brewers acquired outfielder Derek Fisher from the Toronto Blue Jays for cash and a player to be named.
Both teams announced the trade Monday night.
Fisher, 27, batted .226 with one homer and seven RBI in 16 games last season. He had a .359 on-base percentage and a .452 slugging percentage.
• Shortstop Dansby Swanson went to salary arbitration with the Atlanta Braves on Monday, asking for a raise to $6.7 million rather than the team’s $6 million offer with a decision expected Tuesday.
The 27-year-old Swanson hit .274 with 10 homers and 35 RBI last season in an NL-high 237 at-bats. He earned $1,666,667 in prorated pay from a $3.15 million salary.
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