National Sports

VANCOUVER — Yohei Takaoka admits he's feeling some pressure as he makes the jump to Major League Soccer. Being a trailblazer is a weighty feat, after all.

TEL AVIV, Israel — Montreal judoka Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard fought to a gold medal in the under-63-kilogram category on Friday at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam.

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Elks signed Canadian defensive back Hakeem Johnson on Friday. Johnson, 28, of Brampton, Ont., had seven tackles in 16 regular-season games last year with B.C.

TOMASZÓW MAZOWIECKI, Poland — Canada won its first men's team sprint gold medal in five seasons on Friday to kick off the final World Cup speedskating event of the 2022-23 campaign. Anders Johnson of Calgary, Laurent Dubreuil of Levis, Que.

SIGULDA, Latvia — Ottawa's Mirela Rahneva locked up third place overall on the World Cup women's skeleton standings with a sixth-place finish Friday in the final event of the season. Rahneva finished the event with a combined time of one minute 44.

DUNEDIN, Fla. — CANADIAN CLASSIC Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson has had a few months to reflect on his team's long post-season run last fall. The Canadian took over as skipper in June when the Phillies were 22-29.

Three days after the start of CFL free agency, veteran American defensive lineman Shawn Lemon remains on the open market. And that's definitely surprising given what the Calgary Stampeder did in 2022.

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — A Qatar-based bid for Manchester United was confirmed Friday, with Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani promising to rid the iconic soccer team of debt and return it to former glories.

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Vladimir Guerrero Jr., provided one of the better lines of spring training last year when he proclaimed the Blue Jays' 2021 season was the trailer and the 2022 campaign would be the movie.

CALGARY — The Calgary Stampeders signed veteran American linebacker Micah Awe on Friday.