Tuesday's Sports in Brief
OLYMPICS
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) Some Russian track and field athletes could be competing under their own flag at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics after all.
Leaders of the International Olympic Committee and track's world governing body appeared split over the terms of participation of any Russian athletes cleared to compete at the Aug. 5-21 games.
While upholding last week's IAAF decision to ban Russia's track team for systematic doping, Olympic leaders did not accept the federation's position on a key issue: that a neutral flag would represent the few athletes given dispensation to apply to compete if they live outside Russia and have undergone rigorous testing.
IOC President Thomas Bach said if any Russians are deemed eligible by the IAAF, they would compete under the Russian flag.
SAO PAULO (AP) - A jaguar used in an Olympic torch relay ceremony was shot to death after it escaped its leash and tried to attack a soldier, the Brazilian army said Tuesday.
The army's press office said that Juma the jaguar was on display as part of ceremonies Monday at the Jungle Warfare Instruction Center in Manaus. The Olympic torch is traveling throughout Brazil leading up to the Aug. 5 opening ceremony.
When the jaguar tried to attack a soldier sent to help recapture it, handlers shot the animal with tranquilizers. That failed to stop it, so the animal was shot with a pistol in the head.
Ibama, Brazil's environmental protection agency, told the Amazonia Real news agency it did not authorize Juma's presence at the event.
ROME (AP) - Organizers of Rome's bid for the 2024 Olympics are anxiously awaiting word from the city's new mayor to see if she will move ahead with the candidacy or oppose it as hinted in her electoral campaign.
Virginia Raggi of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement won a runoff Sunday to become Rome's first female mayor.
Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malago tells reporters, ''Ask her what she intends to do.''
Having met with Raggi during the campaign, Malago says, ''To us it doesn't seem like there was an outright `No,' and we don't believe there should be, because it's a procedure that began three years ago.''
However, Malago acknowledges that without undivided support from the city, the Olympic committee and the government, ''we would be too weak.''
PRO BASKETBALL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Ben Simmons has worked out for the Philadelphia 76ers, who could make him the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.
The LSU freshman went through drills two days before the draft in New York.
President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo told reporters afterward that by choosing to work out for the 76ers, Simmons ''closed the chapter on any doubt'' that he didn't want to play for Philadelphia. Duke's Brandon Ingram and every other player Colangelo said the team would consider had already worked out.
The 76ers had already had dinner with Simmons and his representatives, but Colangelo says by Simmons working out in front of himself and team ownership, it ''speaks to his desire to want be selected No. 1.''
CLEVELAND (AP) - Overwhelming demand for a piece of history has prompted The Plain Dealer newspaper to print nearly 500,000 copies of its Monday edition proclaiming the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA champions.
Newspaper officials said that the normal press run for a Monday is around 36,000 copies, but the newspaper printed 180,000 copies to mark one of the biggest sporting events in city history.
Fans began flocking to the Plain Dealer's suburban printing plant early Monday to buy copies after the Cavs clinched the title. Demand prompted the newspaper to print an additional 300,000 copies later Monday.
Stores were restocked numerous times Monday after the newspaper printed extras.
Interstate 480 exits next to the printing plant were jammed with cars Tuesday as more people headed there to pick up newspapers.
PRO HOCKEY
The 2016-17 NHL schedule is jam-packed, thanks to a late start because of the World Cup and a bye week for each team.
Back-to-backs and stretches of three games in four days are more common than ever before because of the condensed schedule. The season runs from Wednesday, Oct. 12, to Sunday, April 9, which at 180 days is almost a week shorter than 2015-16.
The Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins and Western Conference champion San Jose Sharks each have 15 back-to-back sets. Pittsburgh also plays four games in seven days around the three-day Christmas break.
Players on every team will have at least five full days off from games and practices sometime in January or February.
OTHER
HOUSTON (AP) - Federal investigators say various professional athletes, including San Francisco Giants pitcher Jake Peavy and Denver Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez, were cheated out of at least $30 million in a Ponzi-like scheme run by their investment adviser.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said it obtained a court order freezing the assets of the investment adviser, Ash Narayan.
The order is part of an SEC lawsuit filed last month in Dallas federal court against Narayan, who hasn't been criminally charged.
The SEC says Narayan defrauded Peavy, Sanchez and retired Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt out of $30.4 million by claiming he pursued a low-risk investment strategy for their earnings but instead put their money into a struggling online ticket business.
Narayan's attorneys didn't immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Zaevion Dobson, a high school football player who was shot to death while shielding two girls from gunfire, will receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs.
The 15-year-old Dobson will be the youngest person ever to win the award, which has been given annually since 1993. The award recognizes individuals who embody the spirt of Ashe, who dedicated his life to human rights advocacy.
Dobson, a sophomore at Fulton High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, died Dec. 17 while protecting friends from a shooting. Knoxville police said the girls shielded by Dobson were unhurt.