Olympics

Twelve-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte is auctioning off half of his medals for charity.

According to ESPN, all six of Lochte's silver and bronze medals are up for auction until July 21. The proceeds will go to the Jorge Nation Foundation, which is a "nonprofit that raises money to send children with a terminal illness and their families on a dream trip from South Florida to a destination of their choice."

Lochte's 12 Olympic medals are tied for second-most among swimmers, behind Michael Phelps' record of 28.

"I'm not one to be all sentimental about medals," Lochte said. "My medals are just sitting in my closet collecting dust. The memories that I have is what means the most."

The 37-year-old swimmer, who has competed in four Olympics, will be holding on to his six gold medals for the time being. Lochte also put up for sale his 14-karat white gold Olympic ring and a Breitling watch with black diamonds, both of which he bought for himself at the London Games in 2012.

Lochte confirmed that he is not the direct seller and gave the medals to a third party, as they are being sold through Boston-based RR Auction. The estimated combined total value of all six medals is $82,000.

"They're in perfect condition. They have beautiful ribbons," RR Auction executive vice president Bobby Livingston said, noting that the medals were cosigned by someone who wishes to remain anonymous. "Ryan's are obviously extremely interesting to people who collect medals."

Lochte has worked with the Jorge Nation Foundation for over 10 years, and his agent is a member of the board of directors. He said he has more plans to continue his charitable efforts.

"This year I really wanted to focus on giving back. I'm loving it," he said. "I've been teaming with my dad doing swim clinics and I'm coming out with my own sunscreen."

Lochte didn't make the team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He said he has considered parting ways with his gold medals at some point in the future, though he will keep his first individual gold and another one for his father, Steve.

"Those medals mean a lot to me; I worked my [rear] off for them, but helping other people out is more important to me, especially because I have kids of my own," Lochte said.

The United States men's national soccer team has advanced to the 2024 Paris Olympics after defeating host Honduras 3-0 in the semifinals of the 2022 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship.

This year, the two finalists in that tournament received automatic bids to the Olympics. The United States grabbed the second one after the Dominican Republic defeated Guatemala in a penalty shootout earlier Friday.

The U.S. and Dominican Republic will play Sunday in San Pedro Sula to determine the CONCACAF Under-20 champion.

The Americans scored all three of their goals in the first half.

Paxten Aaronson, an 18-year-old midfielder who plays for the Philadelphia Union, scored in the third minute.

F.C. Vizela's Alejandro Alvarado tacked on the second in the 23rd minute.

Quinn Sullivan, who also plays for the Union, added another in the 43rd.

This marks the first time that the American men's team will take part in an Olympic competition since the 2008 Beijing Games.

The 2024 Games will take part from July 26 through August 11. Sixteen teams will play in the men's tournament.

One year after attempting to qualify for the Tokyo Games, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf said he is still intent on making it to the Olympics.

Appearing on Kevin Hart's Cold as Balls, Metcalf said he will "for sure" compete in track and field events again with the goal of "trying to make the Olympics" and win a gold medal (starts at 10:48 mark):

Speaking to B/R's Taylor Rooks in February, Metcalf said he will train in the 2023 offseason with the goal of making it to the Olympics in 2024. He noted the 100- and 60-meter dashes, though the latter is not an event in the Games.

Metcalf's track skills jumped out to NFL fans during the 2020 season. The 24-year-old hit a maximum speed of 22.6 mph and ran 114.8 yards to chase down Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker after an interception in a Week 7 game.

Metcalf parlayed that into competing in the men's 100 meters at the USA Track and Field Golden Games and Distance Open in May 2021 in an attempt to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials.

In a field of 17 entrants, Metcalf's 10.36-second time ranked 15th. The Athletic noted he needed to finish in 10.05 seconds "with a legal tailwind of no more than two meters per second" to qualify for the trials.

While Metcalf continues to think about his Olympic dreams, he will also keep causing havoc on the football field. The Ole Miss alum has 3,170 receiving yards and 29 touchdowns in 49 career games.

Katie Ledecky returned to her throne as the world champion in the 1,500-meter women's freestyle.

The 25-year-old captured gold Monday at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. With a final time of 15:30.15, she finished nearly 15 seconds ahead of silver medalist Katie Grimes.

Ledecky cruised in qualifying for the final. She completed her heat in 15:47.02, the fastest overall time by 9.17 seconds.

The rest of the field didn't stand much of a chance when she held nothing back in the final. Grimes didn't even enter the frame on the broadcast until around five seconds after Ledecky touched the wall.

Ledecky's dominance in the 1,500-meter free is unparalleled. Not only does she hold the world record (15:20.48) in the event, but OlympicTalk noted she also has the 13 fastest times recorded.

With Monday's triumph, Ledecky is 2-for-2 in Budapest. She also won gold in the 400-meter freestyle Saturday. She was unable to avenge her runner-up finish to Australia's Ariarne Titmus in the 2021 Summer Olympics, though, as Titmus declined to make the trip to Budapest.

Ledecky is swimming in one more event: the 800-meter freestyle. She's the reigning world champion and will get her gold-medal defense underway during Thursday's qualifying heats. The final is scheduled for Friday.

Philadelphia Eagles receiver Devon Allen continues to showcase his speed, winning his third 110-meter hurdles race in a span of a week.

The 27-year-old finished first in the Diamond League event in Paris on Saturday, posting a time of 13.16 seconds, per Bobby Kownack of NFL.com. He also won races Thursday and last Sunday, with the latter's 12.84 representing the third-fastest time ever.

Allen is a three-time United States champion in the 110-meter hurdles and finished fourth at the Tokyo Summer Olympics.

In addition to his track success, Allen is attempting a return to the football field after stepping away in 2016 following his junior season at Oregon. He signed with the Eagles this April and has been adamant he can continue with two disciplines.

"During the football season, I’m going to play football," Allen said this week, per WorldAthletics.org. "And once February comes along and we’ve won the Super Bowl, hopefully I’m going to come back and start training for track and get ready for the major championships."

He plans to attend the Eagles training camp, which starts July 26.

Ten-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky added another accolade to her resume Saturday, winning the 400-meter freestyle swim at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Ledecky finished the race in 3:58.15, giving her a fourth career gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle at the world championships, and a fifth medal overall in the event.

Summer McIntosh, a 15-year-old Canadian, took silver just over a second behind Ledecky, while Ledecky's American teammate Leah Smith won bronze.

Here is a full rundown of the finishers in Saturday's race, along with their times:

1. Katie Ledecky - 3:58.15

2. Summer McIntosh - 3:59.39

3. Leah Smith - 4:02.08

4. Lani Pallister - 4:02.16

5. Isabel Gose - 4:03.47

6. Erika Fairweather - 4:04.73

7. Kiah Melverton - 4:05.62

8. Muhan Tang - 4:10.70

Remarkably, Ledecky has now won 19 medals across five different world championships, 16 of which were gold.

The 25-year-old superstar also has seven gold medals out of 10 total medals at the Olympics, including gold in the 400-meter freestyle at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

While Ledecky was once the unquestioned dominant force in the 400m, that has changed in recent years following the emergence of Australia's Ariarne Titmus, who won gold in the event at both the 2019 world championships and 2020 Summer Olympics with Ledecky finishing second each time.

Ledecky lost by less than a second at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, setting her on a path to attempt to reclaim her place atop the 400m mountain.

The path to world championship gold was made much clearer and easier for Ledecky when the 21-year-old Titmus decided against competing at the world championships.

Earlier Saturday, Ledecky established herself as the clear favorite for gold by posting a time of 3:59.79 in heats, which was over three seconds better than McIntosh, who posted the second-best time at 4:03.19.

With a gold medal already in her back pocket after just one day of action in the books, Ledecky will set her sights on the 800-meter freestyle, 1,500-meter freestyle and 4x200-meter freestyle relay.

Ledecky is the heavy favorite for gold in the 800m and 1,500m, and she has a legitimate shot at gold in the relay as well after taking silver in the event at the 2019 world championships and 2020 Olympics.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Anita Wlodarczyk will miss the rest of the hammer-throwing season because of a thigh injury that required surgery.

Per the Associated Press, Wlodarczyk tweeted she "totally severed" her thigh muscle while chasing down a thief who tried to break into her car last week.

"I will do everything to come back again to the top," she wrote on social media after undergoing surgery.

Wlodarczyk posted a picture of herself flexing on Twitter, along with an image of her vehicle that shows scratches and hand prints on one of the doors.

"I took the thief alone and gave them to the police," Wlodarczyk wrote about the incident (h/t Evelyn Watta of Olympics.com) "Unfortunately I paid for it with a muscle injury."

The surgery will keep Wlodarczyk from competing at the IAAF World Championships in July. She won gold at the World Championships four times from 2009 to 2017, including three in a row from 2013 to 2017.

Wlodarczyk was unable to go for four golds in 2019 after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.

The 36-year-old is arguably the greatest women's hammer thrower in history. She has won 16 career medals (14 gold) in world competitions. The Polish superstar has won gold at each of the past three Olympics dating back to 2012.

Wlodarczyk set the world record for the longest hammer throw (82.29 meters) at the 2016 Games in London. She won gold at the Tokyo Games last summer with a throw of 78.48 meters in the final.

Since the women's hammer throw was added to the Olympic competition in 2000, Wlodarczyk is the only woman with multiple gold medals. China's Zhang Wenxiu is the only other woman with at least three medals in the event.

Louis Jacques Wilguens has become the seventh member of Haiti's delegation to the Special Olympics 2022 USA Games to go missing in Florida.

The Osceola County Sheriff's Office confirmed to TMZ Sports on Monday that Wilguens, 25, was last seen Saturday and didn't show up for his return flight to Haiti on Sunday. Six members of a soccer team from the country went missing last Monday.

Police do not suspect foul play in the earlier disappearances but requested anyone with information about the athletes' whereabouts to contact local authorities, per TMZ.

The Haitian Times reported the six soccer team members, who range in age from 18 to 32, are Joseph Mithon, Nicholson Fontilus, Peter Mianovich Berlus, Anderson Petit-Frere, Steevenson Jacquet and Oriol Jean

Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald reported the group includes five players and a coach from the country's unified soccer team, which includes athletes with and without intellectual disabilities.

"The reason for their departure from the Games is currently unknown," the Special Olympics said in a statement. "The well-being of these delegates is our foremost concern. Local authorities have indicated they have no reason to believe the health and safety of any of the individuals is at risk."

Rachel Pierre-Champagne, Haiti's Special Olympics board chairman, suggested to Charles athletes were possibly using the Games as an opportunity to escape their home country.

"With these types of events and with the situation that is happening in Haiti, it's unfortunate that there are people who are going to be selfish and take these opportunities for themselves and not look at the needs of the greater community and the common good for all of us," Pierre-Champagne said.

There were two other instances in recent years—2015 in New York City and 2021 in Mexico City—where soccer players from Haiti attempted to defect while traveling for road matches, per the Haitian Times.

Last month, CNN's Etant Dupain and Eliza Mackintosh reported 188 people were killed and nearly 17,000 were displaced from Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince during the period of April 24 through May 26 because of gang violence.

The Special Olympics USA Games ended Sunday after a week of events in Orlando.

The Osceola County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office said six members of Haiti's soccer program for the Special Olympics are missing.

CNN shared a statement from the Special Olympics:

The individuals are all adults, five of whom are not Special Olympics athletes and one who is an adult with intellectual disability. The well-being of these delegates is our foremost concern. Local authorities have indicated they have no reason to believe the health and safety of any of the individuals is at risk. To expand the reach and effectiveness of law enforcement’s efforts to locate these individuals, they have been reported as missing persons.

Police are searching for Antione Mithon, Nicholson Fontilus, Peter Berlus, Anderson Petit-Frere, Steevenson Jacquet and Oriol Jean. The six were last seen Monday in Kissimmee, Florida, and the reason for their disappearance is unknown. They left behind their room keys along with their personal belongings.

The sheriff's office said foul play isn't suspected at this time.

The Special Olympics opened June 5 in Orlando and run through Sunday.

Roughly 90 women, including four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, seek a settlement in excess of $1 billion from the FBI over its handling of the allegations against former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.

According to Ed White of the Associated Press, the women say the FBI failed to act with the proper urgency to stop Nassar after becoming aware of sexual assault allegations against him in 2015.

Nassar, who was a doctor at Michigan State University, was not arrested until the fall of 2016 following an investigation by MSU police.

Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison in 2018 for molesting seven young gymnasts and later received a sentence of up to 125 years on three further counts of criminal sexual conduct. He had previously been sentenced to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges.

Per White, USA Gymnastics informed the FBI in 2015 that three gymnasts said Nassar had sexually assaulted them.

The FBI did not launch a formal investigation at the time, nor did it inform federal or state authorities. It also failed to inform state authorities in Michigan when it opened an investigation in 2016 even though Nassar was still working at Michigan State University at the time.

FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted the FBI erred in its handling of the Nassar investigation while speaking to Congress last year: "I'm especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed. And that's inexcusable."

Multiple settlements have already been reached in relation to Nassar. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee gave victims $380 million last year.

Additionally, Michigan State reached a $500 million settlement in 2018 with more than 300 women and girls who said Nassar sexually assaulted them.

In 2018, Eaton County Circuit Court Judge Janice Cunningham said 265 known victims of Nassar had been discovered.

Among the notable gymnasts who seek a settlement from the FBI are Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney.

Biles is one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, having won five gold medals in the all-around at the world championships and one Olympic gold in the all-around. Biles is a four-time gold medalist and has won seven medals overall at the Summer Games.

Raisman twice won Olympic gold in the team event and once in the floor exercise, along with three other Olympic medals, including silver in the all-around in 2016.

Maroney won team gold and silver in the vault at the 2012 London Olympics as part of the "Fierce Five" U.S. Olympic team.