South Korean swimming star Park Tae-hwan has notched three victories at the Santa Clara Grand Prix, showing his best form ahead of the World Championships in July.Park finished first in the men’s 200-meter freestyle final on Sunday at the Santa Clara Swim Club in California, beating Australian Ryan Napoleon with a new meet record of 1 minute 45:92 seconds. Korea’s Park Tae-hwan (right) and Michael

 South Korean swimming star Park Tae-hwan notched up three victories at the Santa Clara Grand Prix, winning the men’s 200 m freestyle on Sunday.Park finished first in the 200 m freestyle at the Santa Clara Swim Club in California with a season best record of 1 minute 45.92 seconds. Earlier at the competition, the 21-year-old won the 100 m freestyle in 48.92 sec, ahead of 14-time Olympic gold medal

BETHESDA, Maryland (AP) ― Even an affable, easygoing guy like Graeme McDowell can succumb to the burden that comes with being a first-time U.S. Open champion.The pride of Portrush, Northern Ireland, basked in a special 2010 that included the Father’s Day win at Pebble Beach, three other tournament wins and the Ryder Cup. Quite the talker, he’s happily relived it all many times in his mind ― and ov

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ― South Africa’s Olympic committee says South Korea President Lee Myung-bak will attend next month’s IOC session in Durban in support of Pyeong-Chang’s bid for the 2018 Winter Games.SASCOC’s Sam Ramsamy, who is also a member of the IOC, says that Lee will be present at the July 4-9 meeting in South Africa’s east coast city, where the IOC will choose the host.PyeongChang is up aga

Home-court advantage was not enough to help Korea past undefeated Italy in World Volleyball League action Sunday in Incheon.Korea was unable to match the European side’s powerful attacks and strong blocking, as Italy swept the first two sets (25-15, 25-22) while the Koreans struggled to find their rhythm. After the second set, Korea came back strong with good serving and strong defense, notching t

DALLAS (AP) ― Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points, driving for the go-ahead dunk with 2:45 remaining, as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat 112-103 on Thursday to take a 3-2 lead in the NBA finals.Five years after going up 2-0 on the Heat, the Mavs finally got that elusive third victory, and can wrap up their first championship in Game 6 at Miami on Sunday.“We’re a very resilient team, you know t

Usain Bolt has expressed his hopes to play soccer after retiring from his track career. In usual fashion, he confidently said that he had the potential to play for Manchester United."I really want to try soccer after I retire because I’ve watched football over the years and I think I could be a good contender," Bolt told the BBC. "I’m really looking forward to it and yes, I definitely think I’m go

PARIS (AP) ― Rafael Nadal is gaining on Roger Federer. Quickly. By winning four of the past five Grand Slam tournaments ― capped by a victory over Federer in the French Open final ― Nadal has raised his career haul to 10 major championships. That’s only six fewer than Federer’s proudly held record of 16.“Ten Grand Slams is a lot,” Federer said. “He knows this. I know this. Everybody knows this.”Se

Spain's Rafael Nadal holds the cup after defeating Switzerland's Roger Federer in the men's final match for the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Sunday, June 5, 2011, in Paris. (AP-Yonhap News)PARIS (AP) _ Regardless of the setting or the surface, Rafael Nadal confounds Roger Federer the way no other man can.Put the two greats of the game on opposite ends of a court in a

PARIS (AP) ― As China’s Li Na tossed the ball while serving at match point in the French Open final, a cry from a fan in the stands pierced the silence at Court Philippe Chatrier.Distracted, Li stopped and let the ball drop. The words of support were in Mandarin: “Jia you!” ― which loosely translates to “Let’s go!” After so many years of “Come on” and “Allez” and “Vamos,” there’s a new language on