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Sports Briefing

Stomach Bug Hits Track’s World Championships

Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela after winning the gold medal in the women’s triple jump Monday at the world track and field championships in London.Credit...Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Several athletes have come down with a stomach bug at the world championships in London, including the medal favorite Isaac Makwala of Botswana. Makwala pulled out of his 200-meter heat Monday and later said he had food poisoning.

“There have been a number of cases of gastroenteritis reported by team members residing within one of the official team hotels,” the local organizing committee said in a statement, putting a damper on the 10-day event.

Makwala was expected to be the main challenger to Wayde van Niekerk in both the 200 and the 400. The 400 final is Tuesday.

Van Niekerk easily qualified for the semifinals of the 200 and is the favorite for gold in Usain Bolt’s absence. Although Van Niekerk has a strong chance for double gold, his South African teammate Caster Semenya missed out on one, finishing with bronze in the 1,500 meters.

Semenya had the speed, but left it too late to challenge for the title. She was in 10th place in the 12-woman final going into the last lap and fought back to medal behind Faith Kipyegon of Kenya and Jenny Simpson of the United States.

“A lot cannot go your way in a final, so to come out with a bronze is amazing,” Semenya said.

Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion over 800 meters, now must concentrate on her signature event later this week to win another world title.

Kipyegon took charge in the final straight to give Kenya its second gold and fifth medal over all in the championships.

In the most stirring final of the night, the 21-year-old Yulimar Rojas edged the Olympic champion Caterine Ibarguen by two centimeters in the triple jump to give Venezuela its first-ever world title.

Aries Merritt, who had a kidney transplant two years ago and was getting back to the form that won him gold in at the 2012 Olympics in the same stadium, finished fifth in the 110-meter hurdles — well behind the Olympic champion Omar McLeod.

The former New England and Houston defensive tackle Vince Wilfork announced his retirement from the N.F.L. in a barbecue advertisement, a fitting farewell for a big guy who loves to eat.

Wilfork, 35, tweeted a video showing him untaping his ankles, hanging up his cleats and grabbing grilling tongs. The video then shows him dancing, cooking ribs and smoking a cigar while wearing his trademark overalls.

“No more cleats,” he says. “I’m moving on to smoke meats, fellas. Peace out. I’m outta here. Later.”

The video ends by noting that “Vince’s Farewell Tailgate” will take place Sept. 7 in New England. The defending Super Bowl champion Patriots open the season that Thursday night against Kansas City.

BILLS SIGN BOLDIN The Buffalo Bills have signed the free agent Anquan Boldin in a move that adds a veteran presence to a mostly young and untested group of receivers. Boldin is a 14-year veteran who spent last season with Detroit, where he had 67 catches for 584 yards and 8 touchdowns in 16 games.

OSWEILER TO START BROWNS’ PRESEASON OPENER Brock Osweiler didn’t appear to be in Cleveland’s plans when he arrived via trade in March. Now he’s starting the Browns’ exhibition opener. Coach Hue Jackson picked Osweiler over Cody Kessler, the rookie DeShone Kizer and Kevin Hogan to start Thursday’s preseason home game against the New Orleans Saints.

SIEMIAN EARNS NOD OVER LYNCH Trevor Siemian hasn’t won the Broncos’ quarterback job just yet, but he has earned the starting nod over Paxton Lynch in Denver’s preseason opener Thursday at Chicago.

VIKINGS ACTIVATE MURRAY The Minnesota Vikings have activated running back Latavius Murray from the physically unable to perform list. Murray missed all of the off-season practices and the first 10 days of training camp while rehabbing his surgically repaired right ankle.

Max Scherzer pitched seven sharp innings in his first start since he was sidelined by neck spasms, and the Nationals beat the Miami Marlins, 3-2, in Washington. Bryce Harper homered for Washington, and pinch-hitter Adam Lind singled in the tiebreaking run in the eighth. Brandon Kintzler (2-0) worked the eighth, and Sean Doolittle got three outs to earn his sixth save with Washington.

CARDINALS ROUT ROYALS Matt Carpenter hit a three-run homer in St. Louis’s six-run fourth inning, and the Cardinals thumped Kansas City on the road, 11-3, for their third consecutive victory.

VOTTO HOMERS AGAIN Joey Votto homered for the third straight game and pulled into a tie with Ted Kluszewski for fifth place on the Reds’ career list as Cincinnati routed the visiting San Diego Padres, 11-3.

Not only will Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and most of the best hockey players in the world not be going to the Olympics, neither will anyone on an N.H.L. contract.

The league has decided that players with active N.H.L. contracts, even those in the minors, will not be allowed to participate in the Olympics next February in South Korea.

The league announced in April it wouldn’t be stopping its season to go to the Olympics for the first time since 1994, but questions had remained about players in the American Hockey League and the ECHL. Players signed to two-way N.H.L. contracts or who are loaned to minor league affiliates by their clubs won’t be available to the United States, Canada or other national teams.

The qualifier Varvara Lepchenko of the United States rallied to stun the French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, 1-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), in the first round of the WTA hardcourt tournament in Toronto.

Lepchenko, who is ranked 68th, trailed by 6-1, 3-0 before turning things around against the 12th-ranked Ostapenko, of Latvia, who had followed up her Roland Garros triumph by reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

In another first-round match, the American Venus Williams outlasted Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. (AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)

KYRGIOS WINS OPENER IN MONTREAL Nick Kyrgios, an Australian seeded 16th, looked fresh and focused as he blazed to a 6-1, 6-2 first-round win over Viktor Troicki at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. (REUTERS)

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 12 of the New York edition with the headline: Track and Field; Stomach Bug Hits the World Championships. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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