A look at what’s making news in Olympic sports this morning:
Basketball: A look at the state of U.S. men’s basketball with several players dropping out of Olympic consideration. (AP)
Beach Volleyball: The four U.S. pairs going to the Olympics appear close to set with four remaining qualifying events. (Volleyball Magazine)
Boxing: A video profile of U.S. Olympic champion Claressa Shields and her hometown of Flint, Mich. (E:60)
Golf: PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is unconcerned over five golfers (so far) skipping the Rio Games. (AP)
Gymnastics: Olympic all-around favorite Simone Biles in her own words. (Olympic.org)
Gymnastics: Simone Biles and swimmer Missy Franklin are defying the custom of leaving childhood coaches. (Wall Street Journal)
Hockey: Alex Ovechkin will join Russia at the World Championship after the Capitals were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Russia Hockey Federation)
Hockey: Russian president Vladimir Putin scores, falls in all-star hockey game in Sochi. (Guardian)
Paralympics: Two-time swimming gold medalist Brad Snyder is part of the presidential delegation for the Closing Ceremony of the Invictus Games in Orlando. (WhiteHouse.Gov)
Swimming: A profile of rising U.S. Olympic hopeful Caeleb Dressel, a University of Florida sophomore. (USA Today)
Swimming: As expected, four-time Olympic medalist Park Tae-hwan is left off South Korea’s preliminary Olympic team. (Yonhap)
Track and Field: Usain Bolt can’t live without Instagram, Snapchat and dominoes. (Evening Standard)
Track and Field: Olympic decathlon champion Ashton Eaton isn’t a natural at everything. (Spikes)
Track and Field: Two-time Olympic javelin champion Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway has retired. (IAAF)
Triathlon: The final U.S. Olympic women’s spot and all three U.S. men’s spots are on the line in Yokohama on Saturday. (Triathlon.org)
Volleyball: U.S. Olympic star Matt Anderson‘s break from the sport and the meanings of his tattoos. (Orange County Register)
Volleyball: Two-time Brazil Olympic champion Thaisa Menezes says the U.S. is the team to beat in Rio. (UOL)
Have any more headlines? Email nick.zaccardi@nbcuni.com
VIDEO: Hope Solo says she’s ‘begrudgingly’ going to Rio Olympics
