TMZ Sports - Page 50

Legendary golfer Juan "Chi Chi" Rodriguez -- famous for the way he dazzled fans with his iconic sword dance around greens -- has sadly died.

The PGA Tour confirmed his passing on Thursday ... with commissioner Jay Monahan writing in a statement that Chi Chi was "a vibrant, colorful personality both on and off the golf course" who "will be missed dearly by the PGA Tour and those whose lives he touched in his mission to give back."

"The PGA Tour sends its deepest condolences to the entire Rodriguez family during this difficult time," Monahan added.

Sha'Carri Richardson continues to show she's one of the fastest women alive ... blowing by a German runner and hitting her with the side eye during a qualifying relay race in Paris on Thursday, and the moment was pretty epic!

It all went down during the last leg of the women's 4x100m relay when Richardson got the baton from teammate Gabby Thomas (and 200m gold medalist) ... who was behind in the race after a shaky exchange from Twanisha Terry going into the third leg.

The misstep meant Team USA was in second place (despite being favored to win the race) ... with Germany's Rebekka Haase leading with less than 100 meters remaining in the race. If USA failed to qualify, there would be no running for another gold.

But, Richardson wasn't gonna let her squad down.

The Carolina Panthers had a pretty rough Thursday night ... not only did they drop their preseason opener to the New England Patriots -- when they arrived home, their plane slid off the runway.

It all happened at Charlotte Douglas International Airport when the team's Delta Airlines flight touched down at around 2:35 a.m. ET. The lift had been carrying the Panthers home from their 17-3 loss to Drake Maye and the Pats at Gillette Stadium.

The plane could be seen sliding off its mark -- and while the team was met with emergency vehicles following the scary landing, thankfully, no one reported injuries.

8:41 AM PT -- Friday's events started with a moment of silence for Lazar Dukic ... as well as a standing ovation from those in the crowd.

Video tributes from other athletes were also shown on the scoreboard, according to people present at the competition.

CrossFit has made a decision on the status of its 2024 Games after Lazar Dukic tragically drowned during the run-swim event on Thursday ... announcing the remainder of the competition will continue as scheduled in honor of the Serbian athlete.

Wrestling legend Kevin Sullivan -- who was famously one of Hulk Hogan's biggest rivals in the 1990s -- has sadly passed away.

The WWE confirmed his death on Friday morning ... writing in a statement that Sullivan was "a unique and influential figure in sports-entertainment history."

"Sullivan found success both in the ring and behind the scenes with his penchant for far out ideas that pushed creative boundaries," the org. added.

Simone Biles and Snoop Dogg are now collaborating -- but it's not what you may think ... the two just gave SB's dad a very special birthday.

The Olympic phenom and the iconic rapper worked hand in hand to make Ronald Biles' 75th birthday the best he ever had.

Simone -- who snagged 3 gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics -- jumped on her Instagram Story Thursday to post pictures celebrating her dad's special day, including a pic of him smiling with glittering shades as she wrote "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" in all caps.

Travis Scott has found himself in legal trouble once again ... the rapper was arrested in Paris after fighting his bodyguard in a hotel, TMZ has confirmed.

Paris prosecutors tell us ... police were called to the George V luxury hotel early Friday morning to break up a fight between Travis and a security guard. We don't know what sparked the confrontation, but the rapper was arrested for "violence against a security guard," according to authorities.

The prosecutor's office also says the security guard tried to break up a fight between Scott and his bodyguard. An investigation is now open.

Former Univ. of Michigan star Denard Robinson was passed out behind the wheel after cops say he crashed into a street sign just before he was arrested for OWI earlier this year ... new police video, obtained by TMZ Sports, shows.

The footage was captured at around 3:05 AM on April 15 by the Ann Arbor Police Department ... a short time after Robinson allegedly got drunk and drove on a roadway near the Wolverines' headquarters in Michigan.

You can see in the video ... as officers approached his wrecked SUV, Robinson appeared to be sound asleep in the driver's seat.

The alleged terror plot for a Taylor Swift concert, Nelly's casino arrest and Katie Ledecky's emotions are all part of today's TMZ TV Hot Takes ... and there's a lot to cover.

First up on "TMZ Live," Harvey and Charles break down the foiled terror plot that targeted Taylor's Vienna concerts.

Over on "TMZ on TV," our crew reacts to Nelly's roller coaster experience at a Missouri casino ... where he went from jackpot winner to being under arrest.

Team USA skateboarding star Nyjah Huston isn't entirely happy with his first Olympic medal ... 'cause he says his bronze is already going to crap -- and he shared video/photo evidence to back his claim.

Huston -- one of the greatest skateboarders alive -- went to Instagram to give a review of his hardware after winning the bronze with a 279.38 score in the Men's Street Final at the Paris Games ... revealing to his 5.3+ million fans how it currently appears.

"They look great when they're brand new, but after letting it sit on my skin with some sweat for lil' bit and letting my friends wear it over the weekend, they're apparently not as high quality as you would think," the goofy-footed skater said.

If you’ve seen photos of Kim Jong Un strutting around the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, don’t panic -- it’s just a look-alike causing all the chaos!

An Australian music producer, who goes by Howard X on X, is notorious for his side hustle moonlighting as the North Korean dictator ... and he struck again, making a dramatic entrance to cheer on North Korea’s Pang Chol-mi as she battled China’s Chang Yuan in the women's boxing semi-finals.

Howard was also spotted waving North Korea's flag ... and he took a bold swipe at China’s leader Xi Jinping by flaunting a Winnie the Pooh teddy bear last Sunday. ICYDK, the character’s been banned in China due to satirical comparisons with Xi.

3:59 PM PT -- It sounds like Noah Lyles' 2024 Olympics are officially over ... despite being scheduled to run as part of the USA's 4x100m relay team.

The 100m gold medalist made the announcement on Instagram, writing "I believe this will be the end of my 2024 Olympics."

The news comes after Noah finished third in the 200m race, and then revealed he'd tested positive for Covid on Tuesday.

Team USA track superstar Noah Lyles shockingly finished with a bronze medal in the 200-meter race at the 2024 Olympics ... that is, until it was revealed he is currently battling Covid, but elected to participate in the event.

"I woke up early about 5 AM on Tuesday morning and was feeling really horrible," Noah told NBC minutes after the race.

"I knew it was more than just being sore from the 100. Woke up the doctors and we tested and unfortunately, it came up that I was positive for Covid. And my first thought was not to panic."

The USA men's basketball team almost saw their gold medal dreams disappear on Thursday ... as the Red, White and Blue narrowly escaped an upset in a nail-biter against Serbia in the Olympics semifinals.

America was playing catchup for the majority of the game ... with Nikola Jokic and Bojan Bogdanović ballin' out for Serbia. The Joker finished with 17 points and Bogdanović led the squad with 20 of his own.

But in the waning moments of the contest, Stephen Curry, LeBron James and the rest of Team USA found enough in the tank to erase the lead and pull out the dramatic victory -- punching their tickets to a finals matchup with Team France and Victor Wembanyama.

The CrossFit community is coming together to support Serbian athlete Lazar Dukic's family after he drowned at the 2024 CrossFit Games ... with hundreds of people donating tens of thousands of dollars in wake of the tragedy.

FITAID -- a drink company who was one of Dukic's business partners -- started a GoFundMe on Thursday ... with an initial goal of raising $30K.

But, the contributions are pouring in by the minute ... with more than $75,000 raised at the time of this post. The new goal has been set at $100,000.

9:42 AM PT -- CrossFit CEO Don Faul just confirmed the competitor has died ... saying the organization is "deeply saddened" by the loss.

"We're doing everything in our power during this tragic time to support the family, to support our community," he said in a press conference minutes ago.

The fire department added it used drones and a dive team to locate the body after an hour.

Faul said CrossFit is working with authorities on the investigation ... and the remainder of the day's events have been canceled -- but the future of this year's Games has not been determined at this time.

Tragedy struck the beginning of the 2024 CrossFit Games on Thursday ... as a drowning was reported during the run-swim event.

According to local reports, Fort Worth Fire Department rushed to Marine Creek Lake after receiving a call for service at approximately 8 AM.

A live stream of the competition showed who is believed to be athlete Lazar Dukic struggling and going underwater near the finish line. Later in the stream, a spectator appeared to dive into the water and sprint to where the person was last seen.

The U.S. women's basketball team serenaded star hooper A'ja Wilson ... who is celebrating her 28th trip around the sun in Paris!

The 2x WNBA champ is in France for the 2024 Olympics, and with it being Wilson's big day, the team gathered around her at practice to sing HBD -- the Stevie Wonder version!

A'ja dances a bit ... but ya gotta imagine Wilson and the rest of the women are exhausted.