Ostapchuk stripped of shot put gold medal
LONDON, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Olympics officials withdrew the women's shot put gold medal won by Nadzeya Ostapchuk of Belarus because of a positive drug test for a banned substance.
The International Olympic Committee said Monday samples taken Aug. 5 and 6 from Ostapchuk indicated the presence of metenolone, an anabolic agent on the 2012 Prohibited List.
Ostapchuk placed first in the women's shot put competition Aug. 6 with a heave of 21.36 meters. New Zealand's Valeria Adams, with a distance of 20.70, was second with Russia's Evgeniia Kolodko (20.48) was third and China's Gong Lijiao (20.22) was fourth.
The IOC's announcement stripped the medal, diploma and medalist pin from Ostapchuk. The ruling makes Adams the gold medalist with Kolodko promoted to a silver-medal finish and Gong given the bronze medal.
Monday's announcement came the morning after the 2012 Olympics wrapped up with Closing Ceremonies in London.
McIlroy back on top of golf rankings
VIRGINIA WATER, England, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Rory McIlroy's record-setting win at the PGA Championship returned him to the No. 1 spot in the men's world golf rankings.
McIlroy rebounded from a 75 in the second round and was a combined 11-under in Saturday's and Sunday's rounds in winning by eight strokes over David Lynn. The margin of victory was the largest in the 94 times the tournament has been contested.
The PGA Championship was the second major tournament title for McIlroy, 23. He won the U.S. Open in 2011, also by a record-setting eight strokes.
Sunday's win moved McIlroy past Luke Donald and Tiger Woods from third to first in the rankings. It is his fourth time to reach No. 1; all have been since March 12. Two of his previous stints on top of the rankings lasted two weeks and the other was a three-week stay.
McIlroy has a rankings points average of 10.354 while Donald slips to second after the last 10 weeks at No. 1, with an average of 9.590. Woods, down one spot to third this week, has an average of 8.709. Donald finished tied for 32nd at the PGA Championship and Woods tied for 11th.
Lee Westwood (7.353) and Webb Simpson (6.234) retain the Nos. 4 and 5 places, respectively, but the rest of the Top 10 was jumbled.
Adam Scott goes from seventh to sixth with an average of 6.134 and Justin Rose, who tied for third at the PGA Championship, jumps from 10th to seventh at 6.124. Bubba Watson (6.112) falls two places to eighth while Jason Dufner (5.929) is down one to No. 9. Steve Stricker (5.782) moves from 11th to No. 10. Matt Kuchar (5.676) falls from ninth to No. 11.
Derek Lowe signed by Yankees
NEW YORK, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Veteran pitcher Derek Lowe was signed Monday by the New York Yankees and added to the American League team's 25-man active roster.
Lowe, 39, was 8-10 with a 5.52 earned run average in 21 starts this season with Cleveland before the Indians released him Friday.
Lowe has appeared with five teams over a 16-year major league career. Half of those seasons were with the Boston Red Sox. He has a career 174-156 record with a 4.01 ERA. Lowe also had 85 saves, including a league-leading 42 for the Red Sox in 2000.
He was selected to the American League All-Star Team in 2000 and 2002.
To make room for Lowe on the roster, the Yankees optioned pitched Ryota Igarashi to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Igarashi was claimed off waivers by New York on May 29. He appeared in two games for a total of three innings for the Yankees.
Tipsarevic, Isner up in tennis rankings
LONDON, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Janko Tipsarevic and John Isner, semifinalists at the ATP's Rogers Cup tournament last week, inched up in the men's tennis rankings Monday.
Novak Djokovic won the Rogers Cup title, defending his 2011 title at the event. It was the third championship of 2012 and 31st in his career. Since he was defending the champion's points, he only made up 90 points in the rankings on Roger Federer.
Tipsarevic advanced to the Rogers Cup semifinals, losing to Djokovic, and earned enough points to move from ninth to eight in the rankings. That pushes Juan Martin del Potro down one place to ninth.
Isner made it to the semis where he fell to Richard Gasquet, who goes from 21st to No. 13 this week. Isner moves from 11th to No. 10, however, forcing Juan Monaco out of the Top 10.
Federer has 11,345 points -- 90 fewer than last week -- and is 75 points up on Djokovic, who has 11,270. Rafael Nadal remains third at 8,895 but he's withdrawn from this week's tournament in Cincinnati, where he was a quarterfinalist a year ago. Defending Cincinnati champion -- and recent Olympic gold medalist -- Andy Murray is again No. 4. He has 8,200 points.
David Ferrer is fifth at 5,455, followed by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (4,880) and Tomas Berdych (4,425). Tipsarevic has 3,320 points while del Potro totals 3,305. Isner has 2,890, 115 more than Monaco.
Nadal, who is reportedly having knee issues, Tsonga and Isner are the only Top 10 players not entered in Cincinnati.
