Second in 2012 and fourth in 2013, Weldon Kirui of Kenya pulled away late and won the Los Angeles Marathon on a foggy Sunday in his third try. Kirui, who raced shoulder-to-shoulder with Willie Koitile until making his surge over the final mile, won in a time of 2 hours 13 minutes 7 seconds. Kenyan men swept the top three spots. Nataliya Lehonkova of Ukraine led almost the entire way and won the women’s race in 2:30:40. Serkalem Abrha of Ethiopia finished second (2:32:24), with Julia Budniak of Poland third (2:44:44).
TRACK AND FIELD
Coe, Russians meet over ban
IAAF president Sebastian Coe met with the new head of the Russian athletics federation, which was banned from world track and field in November over doping. The Russian federation said that Coe and Dmitry Shlyakhtin met on Friday in Monaco and discussed ‘‘Russian athletics and the way to lead it out of the crisis.’’ Russia’s head coach, Yuri Borzakovsky, said he was ‘‘sure’’ the ban would be lifted in time for the Olympics in August. Russian athletes ‘‘are in a cage now, and when they get out they’ll rip everyone apart,’’ he added. Russia was suspended from competition, including the Olympics, after a World Anti-Doping Agency commission accused it of operating a systematic and state-sponsored program of drug use by star athletes. In order to be readmitted, the IAAF has demanded that Russia investigate whether there were more doping cases not covered in the WADA report, improve anti-doping education for athletes, and submit to extra testing for its national team ahead of the Rio Games.
TENNIS
Nishikori wins Memphis again
Kei Nishikori won his fourth straight Memphis Open title, beating American teen Taylor Fritz, 6-4, 6-4. Nishikori joined Jimmy Connors as the only four-time winners of the event and became the fourth active player to win an event four times, joining Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal. Fritz, 18, already was the youngest American since Michael Chang won Wembley in 1989 at the age of 17 to reach an ATP Tour final and was trying to join Chang as a winner in just his third career ATP event. An American teen hadn’t reached an ATP final since Andy Roddick in 2002 in Montreal, and a teen hadn’t won on tour since Marin Cilic in New Haven in 2008 . . .Top-seeded Venus Williams overpowered Misaki Doi, 6-4, 6-2, to win the Taiwan Open without dropping a set in the tournament in Kaohsiung. It was her 49th career WTA title . . . Roberta Vinci beat top-seeded Belinda Bencic, 6-4, 6-3, and take the inaugural St. Petersburg (Russia) Ladies Trophy . . . Martin Klizan rallied past fifth-seeded Gael Monfils, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-1, to win the indoor World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
WINTER SPORTS
Neureuther takes slalom
Felix Neureuther of Germany won the men’s World Cup slalom in Yuzawa, Japan, edging Andre Myhrer of Sweden. Neureuther clocked a time of 56.96 seconds in the second run to finish 0.05 seconds ahead of Myhrer. Marco Schwarz of Austria was third, 0.24 off the pace . . . The rescheduled women’s World Cup downhill race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, was canceled for safety reasons because of soft snow conditions. The race was originally scheduled for Saturday but was moved to Sunday, in place of the combined event . . . Olympic champion Natalie Geisenberger finished fourth at a luge World Cup in Altenberg, Germany, to claim her fourth successive overall title, while German compatriot Tatjana Huefner clinched her first European title.
MISCELLANY
Manning mentioned in suit
Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is mentioned in the lawsuit a group of women filed against the University of Tennessee last week in which they said the school violated Title IX regulations in the way it has handled reports of sexual assaults by student-athletes. The lawsuit was filed by six unidentified women and focuses on five cases that were reported between 2013 and 2015, but it also references incidents involving Tennessee student-athletes dating to 1995. One paragraph in the 64-page document includes a sexual harassment complaint made by a Tennessee trainer in 1996. The trainer, Jamie Ann Naughright, settled in 1997, but sued Manning for defamation of character in 2002 after he discussed the incident in a book. That lawsuit was settled in 2003 . . . Anthony Simonsen became the youngest major champion on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour, winning the US Bowling Congress Masters in Indianapolis at 19. Simonsen, from Princeton, Texas, beat Canadian amateur Dan MacLelland, 245-207, in the title match. Simonsen, at 19 years, 39 days, broke Hall of Famer Mike Aulby’s mark of 19 years, 83 days set in 1979 . . . Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka got through his first mound session since October elbow surgery problem-free. Tanaka reported no issues Sunday to Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild one day after a 20-pitch session . . . Australia booked its place in next year’s World Baseball Classic by beating South Africa, 12-5, in the final of a qualifying tournament in Sydney. Former Atlanta Braves pitcher Peter Moylan threw 1? scoreless innings for the win . . . Christine Sinclair scored her 159th career goal, passing American Mia Hamm for second on the women’s career list, and Canada defeated Trinidad and Tobago, 6-0, in Houston to earn a semifinal berth in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament.
