Jamaican Lamara Distin continued to prove that she is a class above the rest in the NCAA Women’s High Jump by breaking her own national indoor record to win the high jump at the Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson University on Saturday.

Texas A&M’s Distin, who has yet to lose indoors this season, jumped 1.97m to win ahead of teammate Bara Sajdokova who produced 1.87m while Georgia’s Elena Kulichenko jumped 1.84m for third.

Distin’s mark equals her own outdoor national record which she did on her way to winning gold at the NCAA Championships.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist has now achieved winning clearances this season of 1.90m at the Razorback Classic on January 27, 1.94m at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic on February 3 and 1.97m on Saturday.

Elsewhere, 2019 World Championships shot put silver medallist Danniel Thomas-Dodd threw 18.74m to comfortably win the event ahead of Hannah Hall who threw 16.71m and Ana da Silva who threw 16.60m for third.

Jamaicans also occupied the top two spots in the Men’s triple jump as Virginia’s Owayne Owens produced 16.59m for victory ahead of Kentucky’s Luke Brown who produced 16.43m. Ohio State’s Clarence Foote-Talley was third with 15.88m.

Antiguan Tennessee junior Joella Lloyd got her second 60m win of the season at the Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson University on Friday.

The 20-year-old clocked a season’s best 7.17, narrowly short of her personal best and national record 7.15 set back in 2021, to win ahead of Tennessee teammate Jacious Sears who did 7.22 and Jamaican Ohio State senior Yanique Dayle who did 7.34.

This performance marked an improvement from Lloyd’s first appearance of the season where she ran times of 7.34 and 7.21 in the heats and the final to finish first and third, respectively, at the Bob Pollock Invitational on January 27.

Elsewhere, Jamaican World Championships representative Charokee Young, who has now turned professional, finished fourth overall in the Women’s 400m.

The former Hydel High and Texas A&M standout ran 52.11 to win the first of 20 heats but her time saw her finish fourth overall behind USC’s Jan’Taijah Jones and Texas A&M’s Jermaisha Arnold, who both did 51.89 while Arnold’s teammate Kennedy Wade did 52.10 for third.

Meanwhile, Barbadian Texas senior Jonathan Jones finished fourth overall in the men’s equivalent. He ran a time of 45.78 to finish as runner-up in the first heat behind Texas A&M’s Auhmad Robinson who ran 45.65. Robinson’s time was good enough for second overall behind Georgia’s Elijah Godwin who produced 45.63. Tennesee’s Emmanuel Bynum ran 45.67 for third overall.

Jones’ time was slightly faster than the 45.83 he did to open his season with a win at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic on February 4.

Jamaica’s Aisha Praught-Leer broke Kenya Sinclair’s 18-year-old national indoor mile record to finish fourth at the 2023 Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational at Boston University on Saturday.

The 33-year-old American-born athlete, who won gold in the 3000m at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia, ran a personal best 4:31.48 to finish fourth, bettering her previous best time of 4:32.86 done in Birmingham eight years ago.

Sinclair’s previous national record of 4:32.33 was set in 2005 in Gainesville.

Saturday’s race was won by Abigail Nichols in 4:29.12 ahead of Harvard’s Maia Ramsden (4:30.19) and Alli Cash (4:31.40).

Mississippi State Junior Rosealee Cooper won the Women’s 60m hurdles at the Clemson Bob Pollock Invitational in South Carolina on Friday.

The 22-year-old former St. Jago High standout ran 8.07 to win ahead of Tennessee’s Charisma Taylor (8.10) and Amber Hughes (8.20) who ran unattached.

Jamaican 2015 World Champion in the 100m hurdles, Danielle Williams, was also in the race but was disqualified after a false start. She had earlier run 8.07 in the prelims to advance as the fastest qualifier.

Elsewhere, Antiguan Tennessee Junior Joella Lloyd ran 7.21 to finish third in the 60m behind teammate Jacious Sears (7.17) and Nike’s Kayla White (7.20).

Lloyd represented Antigua & Barbuda in the 100m at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 as well as the World Championships and Commonwealth Games in 2022.

Jamaican Arkansas Sophomore Ackera Nugent continued her excellent form to start her 2023 indoor season by running a personal best 7.88 to win the 60m hurdles on day two of the Razorback Invitational in Fayetville, Arkansas on Saturday.

Nugent, who transferred to Arkansas from Baylor before the season, finished comfortably ahead of Leah Phillips of LSU (8.02) and Jayla Hollis of Florida (8.19). Phillips’ time was also a personal best.

Nugent’s 7.88 is the third fastest time in the world this year behind Masai Russell’s 7.75 and Alaysha Johnson’s 7.82.

In the Men’s equivalent, Nugent’s Arkansas teammate and former Jamaica College star Phillip Lemonious was third in the men’s 60m hurdles in 7.73 behind American World Championship 110m hurdles silver medalist Trey Cunningham (7.60 meet record) and Arkansas teammate Matthew Lewis-Banks (7.72).

Texas A&M senior and Jamaican World Championship finalist Lamara Distin jumped 1.90m to win the high jump at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetville, Arkansas on Friday.

The reigning NCAA Champion won ahead of teammate Bara Sajdokova who recorded a new personal best clearance of 1.83m while Arkansas’ Sydney Billington cleared the same height for third.

Jamaican 400m hurdler Jaheel Hyde opened his 2023 season with a second-place finish in the 200m.

Hyde ran 21.40 to win section one of the Men’s open 200m ahead of Americans Grant Williams (21.86) and Ian Braxton (22.88). American 2019 100m World Champion Christian Coleman was the overall winner with a 20.64 effort to win section two ahead of fellow Americans Will London (21.45) and Khallifah Rosser (21.70).

The 25-year-old Hyde is looking to replicate an excellent 2022 season which saw him win 400m hurdles silver at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Hyde also got to the final of the event at the World Championships in Eugene, finishing sixth in a personal best 48.03.

Elsewhere, Jamaican Arkansas senior Carey McLeod jumped 8.09m for second in the long jump behind Florida State junior Jeremiah Davis’s personal best and meet record 8.21m. LSU senior Brandon Hicklin was third with 7.97m.

Former Hydel standout Ashanti Moore opened her 2023 Indoor season with a second-placed finish in the 60m at the Houston Invitational in Texas on Friday.

Adidas’ Moore ran 7.37 to finish behind American Olympic 200m bronze medallist Gabby Thomas who ran 7.30. Sam Houston’s Rajer Gurode was third in 7.38. Moore had the fastest time going into the final after running 7.34 in the prelims earlier.

Elsewhere, B.B Coke alum and current Louisiana representative Javed Jones ran 48.12 to comfortably win the 400m ahead of teammate Nathan Ferguson (48.84) and Houston’s Joshua White 48.95.

The United States will host a reformatted 2024 Copa America, CONMEBOL has confirmed.

Ecuador had been due to stage next year's competition but withdrew in November due to concerns over security and infrastructure.

The USA previously hosted the tournament in 2016 for a special centenary edition, with that the only previous occasion it has been held outside of South America.

It has also been announced that the 2024 edition will feature its usual 10 teams from South America, plus six from North and Central America and the Caribbean.

The USA, who will also jointly-host the 2026 World Cup along with Mexico and Canada, are not guaranteed a place at the Copa America.

Argentina won the delayed 2021 tournament thanks to 1-0 win over hosts Brazil at the Maracana, though coronavirus restrictions meant stadia capacities were restricted.

Clemson sprinter Kiara Grant started her 2023 collegiate season in ominous form with a personal best and world leading 7.09 seconds to win the 60m at the Red Raider Open at the Sports Performance Centre in Lubbock, Texas on Friday.

The 22-year-old former Alpha standout’s time was also a new ACC record, shattering Tonya Carter’s record of 7.15 seconds, which had stood for 23 years. She is also now the joint eighth-fastest Jamaican in the event.

American Marybeth Sant-Price, the World Indoor bronze medalist from last year, was second in 7.18 with Sedrickia Wynn of Texas State taking third place with a time of 7.35.

Elsewhere, Jamaican Texas Tech sprint hurdler Demisha Roswell produced a time of 7.98 seconds to finish second in the 60m hurdles.

The 25-year-old Vere Technical alum, who lowered her 100m hurdles personal best to 12.44 last season, was beaten by Kentucky’s Masai Russell who ran a collegiate record 7.75 for victory.

LSU’s Leah Phillips was third in 8.14.

World Athletics Under-20 championships gold medallist Ackera Nugent has moved from Baylor University to the University of Arkansas.

The former Excelsior High star runner, who won gold in the 100m hurdles at the world junior championships in Nairobi, Kenya in 2021, had attended Baylor for the past two seasons.

On Wednesday, Nugent, the World U-20 indoor record holder in the 60m hurdles, posted a photograph of herself on Instagram wearing a University of Arkansas shirt while clearing a hurdle with the word ‘Arkansas’ on it.

“Rule #3, forget ATTENTION and GROW in PRIVATE. I spoke less and God did the rest. (Psalms 27:1),” she captioned the post.

At Arkansas, she will join several Jamaicans including World Championships men’s long jump finalist Wayne Pinnock and Olympian Carey McLeod, who both transferred from the University of Tennessee; discus throwers Ralford Mullings, who transferred from Arizona State and Roje Stona who previously attended Clemson University.

Shakwon Coke also signed for Arkansas after leaving Barton County College along with World Under-20 triple jump champion Jaydon Hibbert, who had previously signed with Tennessee. Jamie Farr, Ryan Brown and sprint hurdler Phillip Lemonious are also on the men’s team.

Nickesha Pryce, formerly of Vere Technical and Iowa Western Community College, and Joanne Reid, formerly of St Jago High, are also on the women’s roster.

Jamaica’s men were the only Caribbean nation to crack the top ten for the most points accumulated at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon in July.

The team, who is in a rebuilding phase after dominating men’s track and field for almost a decade, finished in a three-way tie for fifth on the table with 20 points. Eight points are accumulated for first place and a point for eighth.

Hosts USA, thanks to standout performances from the likes of Noah Lyles, Michael Norman and Fred Kerley to name a few, absolutely dominated the Championships and finished at the top of the table with 118 points.

The rest of the top ten was rounded out by Kenya (46), Great Britain (28), Canada (24), Jamaica (20), Ethiopia (20), Uganda (20), Norway (17), Spain (17) and South Africa (12).

Jamaica’s only medal came in the 4x400m where the team of Akeem Bloomfield, Jevaughn Powell, Nathon Allen and Christopher Taylor ran 2:58.58 for silver behind the USA.

They also finished just outside the medals in the 4x100m where Akeem Blake, Oblique Seville, Yohan Blake and Jelani Walker combined to run 38.06 to finish behind Canada (37.48), USA (37.55) and Great Britain (37.83).

Individually, Seville had the best performance finishing fourth in the 100m in 9.97 behind the American trio of Fred Kerley (9.86), Marvin Bracy (9.88) and Trayvon Bromell (9.88).

Jamaica’s other two individual finalists to place in the top eight were Jaheel Hyde who finished sixth in the 400m Hurdles and Christopher Taylor who finished seventh in the 400m.

Gio Reyna's alleged fallout with United States head coach Gregg Berhalter at the World Cup was "a non-story", according to team-mate Tim Ream.

USA reached the knockout rounds on their return to the competition after eight years away, but saw their stay at Qatar 2022 curtailed after a last-16 loss to the Netherlands.

There was a limited role for Reyna, widely considered one of their best players, with just two appearances off the bench throughout the USMNT's run.

Reports pointed to a disagreement with Berhalter over a lack of effort in training, but Ream has moved to settle the story once and for all as the team continue to decompress.

"For us, it's a non-story," he said on his podcast Indirect. "We dealt with it in camp, things moved on, we moved past it and that's where we are. We can put that to bed.

"We addressed it in camp and [Reyna] did what he had to do, and obviously came on against the Netherlands and helped to drag us back into the game. For us, that's it. That's the end of it."

Meanwhile, USMNT team-mate Christian Pulisic also disclosed he has no current plans to leave Chelsea as it stands, though that could change further down the line.

A coaching turnover between Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter at Stamford Bridge is yet to improve Pulisic's playing time, but speaking on the podcast, the forward stated he is not plotting an exit.

"Right now, I'm absolutely back at Chelsea," he said. "That's where my mind is at, ready to finish the season. But you know in football, things change. Anything can happen."

Borussia Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl described reports of poor behaviour from Giovanni Reyna during the United States' World Cup campaign as "incomprehensible."

Gregg Berhalter's young USA side suffered a last-16 exit against the Netherlands after finishing second in Group B at the tournament, with Reyna playing a limited role.

The attacking midfielder featured for a total of just 51 minutes in Qatar, and reports have since suggested the USA almost sent him home due to a lack of commitment in training.

Reyna labelled such reports "highly fictionalised" in a social media post on Monday, expressing disappointment that any dispute with Berhalter or his staff had been made public.

The 20-year-old has the backing of his club, with former BVB midfielder Kehl saying any questions over his professionalism are unjust.  

"The contents of the reporting on Gio Reyna have surprised us a lot in the last few days," Kehl told DPA.

"He's had a really difficult time with multiple injuries. We've known the boy for many years, even though he's only 20. 

"We see him as a good guy who works professionally and is a valued team-mate in the dressing room. 

"After a few days in Qatar, that this is now being fundamentally questioned is incomprehensible for us at BVB and does not do justice to Gio Reyna."

Having missed most of the 2021-22 campaign through injury, Reyna has also struggled for fitness this term, managing three Bundesliga starts and playing just 363 minutes in the competition.

LeBron James is among those to have paid tribute to Grant Wahl following the American sports journalist's death while covering the World Cup in Qatar.

Wahl was in attendance at Friday's quarter-final tie between Argentina and the Netherlands at Lusail Stadium when he took ill in the media tribune.

The 48-year-old was a correspondent for CBS Sports and had previously worked for Sports Illustrated, where he did a cover story on the then up-and-coming James 20 years ago.

"I'm very fond of Grant and having that cover shoot – me being a teenager and him covering that, it was a pretty cool thing," Los Angeles Lakers star James told reporters following his side's 133-122 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

"Even when I moved up in the ranks and became a professional and he kind of went to a different sport and things of that nature over the years, anytime his name would come up I would always think back to me as a teenager and having Grant in our building down at St. V. It's a tragic loss.

"It's unfortunate to lose someone as great as he was and I wish his family the best. And may he rest in paradise."

No further details surrounding his death have been released.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement: "It is with disbelief and immense sadness that I have been made aware of the passing of renowned sports journalist Grant Wahl, while reporting on a quarter-final match during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

"Only some days ago, Grant was recognised by FIFA and AIPS for his contribution to reporting on eight consecutive FIFA World Cups, and his career also included attendance at several FIFA Women's World Cups, as well as a host of other international sporting events.

"His love for football was immense and his reporting will be missed by all who follow the global game. On behalf of FIFA and the football community, we express our sincerest condolences to his wife Celine, his family, and his friends at this most difficult time."

The US Soccer Federation added: "The entire US Soccer family is heartbroken to learn that we have lost Grant Wahl.

"Here in the United States, Grant's passion for soccer and commitment to elevating its profile across our sporting landscape played a major role in helping to drive interest in and respect for our beautiful game. 

"As important, Grant's belief in the power of the game to advance human rights was, and will remain, an inspiration to all. Grant made soccer his life’s work, and we are devastated that he and his brilliant writing will no longer be with us."

Wahl wrote in his Substack column on Monday he had visited a medical clinic in Qatar after feeling unwell.

"My body finally broke down on me. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you," he wrote. 

"What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the USA-Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort. 

"I didn't have COVID (I test regularly here), but I went into the medical clinic at the main media center today, and they said I probably have bronchitis.

"They gave me a course of antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup, and I'm already feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno."

US State Department spokesman Ned Price confirmed on Friday that talks are ongoing with senior Qatari officials "to see to it that [Wahl's] family's wishes are fulfilled as expeditiously as possible."

Wahl was at the centre of controversy earlier in the World Cup when he was initially prevented from entering Ahmad bin Ali Stadium for the United States v Wales match as was wearing a rainbow shirt. He was eventually allowed into the stadium.

Memphis Depay has taken a swipe at ex-NBA star and American TV analyst Charles Barkley following the Netherlands' 3-1 win over the United States in the World Cup round of 16 on Saturday.

Depay opened the scoring in the victory, which came after Barkley had started trash talk in the lead-up to the knockout stage clash.

Barkley said on NBA on TNT: "We're going for the Netherlands. We opening up a can of whoop-a** 'cause I guarantee the Netherlands is in trouble."

The official Dutch team Twitter account responded with a hype video of Barkley's quotes shortly prior to kick-off with Barcelona attacker having the last laugh.

"Lotta bark, no bite," Depay posted on Twitter only a few hours after the game, with an image of a forlorn-looking Barkley under the 3-1 scoreline.

The victory means the Netherlands will take on Argentina in the quarter-finals, while the USA's World Cup is over.