Sports briefs
Boston Marathon canceled
Organizers canceled the Boston Marathon on Thursday for the first time in its history, bowing to the social distancing requirements of the coronavirus outbreak and ending a 124-year run that had persisted through two World Wars, a volcanic eruption and even another pandemic.
The race, which draws a field of 30,000 and already had been postponed from April 20 to Sept. 14, will be replaced by a virtual event in which participants who verify that they ran 26.2 miles (42.2 km) on their own will receive their finisher’s medal.
“It became clear as this crisis developed that Sept. 14 was less and less plausible,” Mayor Marty Walsh said at a news conference outside City Hall, where runners traditionally gather for a pre-race pasta dinner.
Although the title of Boston Marathon champion is contested by a few dozen elite athletes, the field includes more than 30,000 recreational and charity runners, with as many as 1 million people lined up along the course trek from Hopkinton to Boston’s Back Bay. That presented organizers with a social distancing problem that won’t be solved by the fall.
Transgender inclusion violates Title IXConnecticut’s policy allowing transgender girls to compete as girls in high school sports violates the civil rights of athletes who have always identified as female, the U.S. Education Department has determined in a decision that could force the state to change course to keep federal funding and influence others to do the same.
A letter from the department’s civil rights office, a copy of which was obtained Thursday by the Associated Press, came in response to a complaint filed last year by several cisgender female track athletes who argued that two transgender female runners had an unfair physical advantage.
The office said in the 45-page letter that it may seek to withhold federal funding over the policy, which allows athletes to participate under the gender with which they identify. The policy is a violation of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that guarantees equal education opportunities for women, including in athletics, the office said.
PGA event canceled
Two weeks before the PGA Tour is set to resume its schedule, John Deere Classic officials decided Thursday to cancel what would have been the fifth tournament back.
Tournament director Clair Peterson said there were too many obstacles to overcome involving too many risks from the COVID-19 pandemic, and that it made financial sense in the long run to not hold the tournament.
The John Deere would have been July 9-12 in Silvis, Illinois, the fifth PGA Tour stop under the revised schedule. The tour is not allowing spectators for at least a month, meaning the Deere could have been the first tournament that allowed fans.
McClung will play at Texas Tech
Former Georgetown basketball guard Mac McClung will play at Texas Tech after Davide Moretti’s departure from the Red Raiders to play professionally at home in Italy.
Coach Chris Beard said Thursday that McClung had officially signed with the Red Raiders. The junior, who had put his name in the transfer portal after removing it from consideration from the NBA draft, has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
McClung led the Hoyas with 15.7 points a game last season, while also averaging 3.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists.