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Jim Schwartz resigns
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Jim Schwartz has resigned as the Cleveland Browns' defensive coordinator after three seasons.
The team announced Friday that Schwartz handed in his letter of resignation a day earlier. Schwartz has led one of the league's top defenses over the past three seasons but was upset about being passed over for the head coach job, after many thought he was the favorite to replace Kevin Stefanski.
The Browns hired Todd Monken as their head coach on Jan. 29. Monken said during his introductory news conference on Tuesday that he had spoken with Schwartz but didn't have an update on whether he would be back. Schwartz was under contract for one more season.
Monken also said there were no plans to change the defensive system if Schwartz decided to move on
"We're still going to let them attack; we're still going to let them play free. I can't see any other way. They're a big reason why I took this job, the defensive players," Monken said. "When I was preparing for the Cleveland Browns, I wasn't trying to chip Jim Schwartz, I was chipping Myles Garrett. And when I was sliding a protection to the outside backers or Grant Delpit that were blitzing off the edge, I was sliding the protection of the players. And when I was worried about throwing to the right against Denzel Ward or Tyson Campbell to the left, that's who I was worried about throwing at."
Cleveland led the league in total defense in 2023 and ranked fourth this season. Garrett had 23 sacks to break the NFL single-season record.
Garrett was named the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in three seasons on Thursday night.
"We have really good players. And it starts there," owner Jimmy Haslam said on Tuesday. "It helps to have a great coordinator and a great staff. We also have a great staff. And I think Jim would tell you the four leaders of the D-line, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties are all outstanding coaches. So, we're excited moving forward."
Length important for jumpers
PREDAZZO, Italy (AP) -- The regulatory body for skiing on Friday dismissed as a "wild rumor" reports that ski jumpers are enhancing their groin area to gain distance as the Winter Olympics begins.
A report by the German tabloid Bild last month suggested some ski jumpers were injecting hyaluronic acid in their genitals or wearing a condom-like sheath before undergoing rigorous checks on ski-suit sizing. The newspaper said the manipulation would justify wearing a larger ski jump suit that could provide more lift and a longer flight to capture medals.
The report gained international attention this week after World Anti-Doping officials, in Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics, suggested they were ready to investigate the matter, if it was doping related.
However, the international ski federation, FIS - the governing body for ski jumping - on Friday rejected the claims made in the report.
"This wild rumor started off a few weeks ago from pure hearsay," FIS spokesman Bruno Sassi told The Associated Press. "There has never been any indication, let alone evidence, that any competitor has ever made use of a hyaluronic acid injection to attempt to gain a competitive advantage."
The Bild report went largely unnoticed internationally until World Anti-Doping Agency Director General Olivier Niggli was asked about it in Milan on Thursday.
"If anything was to come to the surface, we would look at anything and if it is doping related. We don't do other means of enhancing performance," Niggli told reporters.
The suggestion of such manipulation quickly became a media sensation with some reports offering medical experts weighing in on the wisdom of injecting the acid naturally created in the body that lubricates joints and is used in moisturizing creams.
Asked to clarify whether WADA was investigating the matter, agency spokesperson James Fitzgerald told AP on Friday that hyaluronic acid was not on its list of banned substances, and referred to FIS for issues related to ski jumping suits.
The subject is particularly sensitive for ski jumping in the wake of a cheating scandal last year in which Norwegian team leaders were caught on camera manipulating ski suits at the World Championship in Trondheim, Norway.
Head coach Magnus Brevik, assistant coach Thomas Lobben and staff member Adrian Livelten were recently banned from the sport for 18 months for tampering with the suits before the men's large hill event.
Norwegian ski jumpers Marius Lindvik and Johann André Forfang accepted three-month suspensions that allowed them to compete in this season's events.
In the wake of the scandal, FIS introduced more rigorous equipment controls that includes checks before and after each jump and improved 3-D measurements to evaluate athletes in their uniforms. Microchips embedded in suits are also designed to prevent manipulation.
Lindsey Vonn tests knee
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) -- A week after rupturing the ACL in her left knee, Lindsey Vonn opened her chase for Olympic gold at the age of 41 with an aggressive and successful training run down the Olympia delle Tofane downhill course. The American got tight with her line midway down and only narrowly cleared a gate but she led at the final checkpoints, then stood up out of her tuck before the finish. She traded fist pumps and a hug with teammate Breezy Johnson. Vonn tore the ACL a week ago but she plans to race with a large brace on her injured knee. The downhill is Sunday.
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) -- A week after rupturing the ACL in her left knee, Lindsey Vonn opened her chase for Olympic gold at the age of 41 with an aggressive and successful downhill training run on Friday -- two days before the race.
Vonn got tight with her line midway down and only narrowly cleared a gate but she led at the final checkpoints, then stood up out of her tuck before the finish and placed 11th as skiers got their first official turns on the Olympia delle Tofane course ahead of the big race on Sunday.
"She was smart. She didn't go all in," said Aksel Lund Svindal, a former Olympic downhill champion from Norway and now one of Vonn's personal coaches. "She made a mistake on the bottom, but the rest looked like just good skiing, but no big risk. And to me it looked symmetrical."
At the finish, Vonn traded fist pumps and a hug with teammate Breezy Johnson, who came down immediately before her and placed sixth, after a nearly hour-long delay because of fog.
"Yep," Vonn told The Associated Press when asked if the run went well. She did not stop to talk further with reporters, leaving for more rehab on her knee.
Vonn is skiing at the Milan Cortina Games with a large brace covering her knee. She has been clear since her crash last week in Switzerland that she would go forward despite an injury that many athletes would consider a season- or even a career-ender.
"Nothing makes me happier! No one would have believed I would be here," Vonn wrote on social media before her run. "But I made it!! I'm here, I'm smiling and no matter what, I know how lucky I am. I'm not going to waste this chance. Let's go get it!!"
Vonn also took issue with someone questioning the details of her injury.
"My ACL was fully functioning until last Friday. Just because it seems impossible to you doesn't mean it's not possible," she wrote in a reply on X. "And yes, my ACL is 100% ruptured. Not 80% or 50%. It's 100% gone."
Vonn finished 1.39 seconds behind American teammate Jacqueline Wiles, who posted the fastest time and is also a medal threat with two career podium results in Cortina.
Considering her injury and what she showed in training, can Vonn contend for a medal?
"I think she can because there was reserves today," Svindal said. "You've seen earlier this season when she skis well she can win and from what I saw today I think she can. It's going to be hard but I think she could possibly bring that on Sunday."
Vonn had a partial titanium replacement inserted in her right knee in 2024 and then returned to ski racing last season after nearly six years of retirement. She crashed during the final World Cup downhill before the Olympics in Crans-Montana last Friday. She was airlifted off the course only to post on social media later that day: "My Olympic dream is not over."
"We're all positive, but she's awesome," Svindal said of Vonn's mindset after her the crash. "She was the first one to say that, 'This is happening, we're racing.'"
With Thursday's opening training session canceled due to heavy snowfall, there was one session remaining, on Saturday, and Vonn planned to take part, her team told The AP late Friday.
Vonn holds the record of 12 World Cup wins in Cortina.
"This felt like race day to me because it's very important," Svindal said. "How she feels today is the confidence that will let her decide how hard she can go. … You know her history. She's gone hard at times when people have told her she shouldn't probably be in the start even, so I have no doubt that she will go hard at the start and attack on Sunday."
Svindal said he was more nervous than Vonn during the training session.
"Because this is important for everyone, everyone, right? If this works, it's awesome. If something happens, it will be bad," he said. "But she's been very committed since the first day, and she's convinced this will work."
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics