
Olympics get Honda as auto sponsor for 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The organizing committee for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles signed Honda as a 'founding partner' Monday, giving the upcoming Summer Games their sixth new sponsor this year and their first tier-one sponsor since 2021.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Price tags for this level of sponsorship have been reported to start at around $200 million. The deal fills a hole for LA28 in the automotive category, which is considered one of the most important in the Olympic world.
Toyota had been the Olympics auto sponsor before declining to renew its deal after 2024. Delta and Comcast are the other top-level sponsors for LA28.
John Slusher, the CEO of U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Properties, told Sports Business Journal that the new deal brings the operation to more than $1.5 billion in sponsorship sales, with a goal of $2.5 billion.
Part of this deal calls for Honda to work with the organizing committee on a vehicle fleet to help move athletes and officials around Southern California during the games.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports in this topic

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New York Post
12 minutes ago
- New York Post
Gymnast who sparked abuse inquiry into coach at elite US academy says she ‘needed to speak out'
Recalling the damage her now-arrested coach inflicted on her and many of her gymnast friends, Finley Weldon said she feels a sense of pride. Free from the grip that Sean Gardner had during her years of training at an Iowa academy known for producing Olympians, Weldon told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview that she is among the few who survived his abuse and are still in the sport. The 18-year-old is heading into her freshman year at Iowa State University, where she'll be a member of the Cyclones gymnastics team. She spoke with the AP on Wednesday, less than a week after Gardner was arrested on a child sexual exploitation charge. Advertisement 5 Gymnast Finley Weldon, seen in Des Moines, Iowa, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, said she needed to speak up about Sean Gardner's abuse. AP 'I didn't want him to take away anything from me, especially something that I love,' she said. 'None of the girls that I started with or went through the things that I did with Sean are still doing gymnastics today. So that's something I'm very proud of.' She's also happy she's made a difference, in the same way gymnasts she admires — like Aly Raisman, an Olympian whose visceral accounts of abuse by Larry Nassar shined a spotlight on the trauma gymnasts went through and how authorities failed to curb it. Advertisement The AP generally does not identify victims of sexual abuse, but Weldon said she wanted 'my name out there because I was the one who did come forward.' 'I felt like I needed to speak out to stop it from happening to other little girls, so they didn't have to go through what I went through,' Weldon said. 'I knew it would just be a continuous cycle if nobody did.' 5 Sean Gardner was arrested on a child sexual exploitation charge. AP Gymnasts reported abuse to watchdog in 2022 Advertisement The FBI said Tuesday it believes Gardner 'targeted children' while coaching at Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, and gyms in Mississippi and Louisiana where he worked dating back to 2004. Gardner, 38, didn't return AP messages left on his cellphone before his arrest, and has not entered a plea to the charge. A public defender who represented him after his arrest hasn't returned messages. Another former gymnast at Chow's, the academy known for producing Olympic gold medalists Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas, first reported sexual abuse allegations against Gardner to the US Center for SafeSport in March 2022, alleging he fondled her during training sessions, according to an FBI affidavit. Start your day with all you need to know Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Advertisement That girl provided the names of six other of Gardner's potential victims, according to the affidavit. Weldon said she spoke with a SafeSport investigator about her abuse at the time. SafeSport, a watchdog created after the Nassar scandal to investigate misconduct complaints, informed the West Des Moines Police Department about the allegations. It suspended Gardner from coaching or having contact with any gymnasts in July 2022. The police department said its investigation was closed in 2022 when the initial accuser decided she did not want to pursue charges. Weldon said police never reached out to her in 2022 but she's unsure whether she would have wanted to press charges then. She said she came forward in April 2024 at age 16 after she matured and began to realize the severity of her abuse. She praised police for doing 'an amazing job' keeping her informed about the progress of the case. 5 The Chow's Gymnastics & Dance Institute is seen Aug. 4, 2025, in West Des Moines, Iowa. AP 'It's definitely taken awhile, but I mean, even I didn't realize how many steps there would be to charge him with anything,' she said. Police defend investigative efforts Iowa investigators say they searched Gardner's home in May and seized electronic devices that contained images of nude girls from a hidden camera Gardner placed in the bathroom of a Purvis, Mississippi, gym where he previously worked. Advertisement West Des Moines Police Sgt. Daniel Wade said Wednesday the department sought the FBI's assistance in mid-July when the case's 'scope started to broaden.' Asked why the department didn't involve FBI sooner, he said, 'We call the FBI when the time is right.' Gardner is charged in federal court in Mississippi with producing visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct related to the alleged hidden camera. Federal and state investigations remain active, and additional charges are possible. 5 Gardner was busted by the FBI for producing child pornography materials after authorities raided his home following an investigation into inappropriate contact with gymnasts at Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines. AP Wade defended the department's investigative efforts over the last three years. He said investigators 'went as far with it as we could' in 2022, without a victim seeking charges and have been conducting a thorough investigation since receiving the new complaint in 2024. Advertisement Wade declined comment on whether investigators reached out to Weldon and other potential victims identified in 2022, saying only that police opened 'lines of communication with different people' that later paid off. Weldon said she met with investigators Tuesday and they asked her to identify herself in an image Gardner allegedly secretly took of her in a vulnerable stretching position. Protecting the 'male figure in my life' Weldon said her goal since she was a girl was to reach the elite level in the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic program for those who aim to compete internationally. She said she started training at Chow's after her family moved to Iowa in 2015. She began taking private lessons with Gardner two or three times per week shortly after he joined Chow's in September 2018, when she 11 years old. Advertisement 5 A mugshot from Gardner's arrest for a drunken driving offense in 2021. AP Weldon said she was struggling as her parents went through a divorce and her father was largely absent from her life. She said Gardner sought to fill that role by telling her she could tell him 'anything' and that he would always be there for her. In hindsight, she said he was manipulating her in order to gain her trust. Finley's mother, Julie Weldon, said she heard concerns about Gardner from other parents at Chow's early on and asked her daughter whether her coach had ever done anything inappropriate. Finley said she falsely told her mother no because she was protecting the 'male figure in my life.' Inappropriate behavior progressed Advertisement She said Gardner began touching her inappropriately in 2019 during lessons, beginning with long hugs and pats on the back. She said his behavior progressed, and he began touching her butt during the hugs and requiring her to stretch for extended periods in positions that exposed her vagina and anus out of her leotard. She said around 2020 he began touching her vagina while spotting her during exercises. She recalled once telling him not to put his hands there and he claimed it was an accident because her 'leotard was slippery.' Weldon recalled reaching her breaking point with Gardner after a 2021 training in which he yelled and threw shoes at her, telling her she'd never reach elite status. She said she walked out and told her mom she wanted to quit. She said many of her classmates quit or didn't return because of Gardner's conduct after the gym shut down during the pandemic. But while he made her hate gymnastics at times, she continued training when her family moved to Texas and then to Utah. She said she eventually proved Gardner wrong by earning elite status and a spot on a Division 1 team. After news of Gardner's arrest, Weldon saw his jail booking photo in the AP story. She said she was struck by how much heavier and unkempt he appeared. 'He's definitely like gone through a spiral,' she said. 'I think he probably just had so much guilt built up in him that he kind of turned into that.'


The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Asian shares are mostly higher after a mixed finish on Wall Street
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Thursday after a mixed finish on Wall Street, where shares in Nvidia, Palantir and other superstar stocks pared their earlier steep losses. Traders are looking ahead for cues about U.S. monetary policy from a meeting of central bankers that begins later in the day in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is due to speak to the conference on Friday. The Fed has kept its main interest rate steady this year, primarily because of the fear of the possibility that President Donald Trump's tariffs could push inflation higher. But a surprisingly weak report on job growth across the U.S. may be superseding that. Still, minutes from the Fed's July 29-30 meeting released Wednesday showed most Fed officials felt the threat of higher inflation was a greater concern than the potential for job losses, leading the central bank to keep its key rate unchanged. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% to 42,636.74 after a survey showed Japan's factory activity remained in contraction for the second month in August. The S&P Global flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased to 49.9 in August from 48.9 in July, just below the 50 level that delineates between growth and decline. Regional manufacturers have been feeling pressure from Trump's higher tariffs on exports to the United States. In Chinese markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged 0.1% lower to 25,135.09, while the Shanghai composite index rose 0.4% to 3,779.52. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1% to 3,161.74, while Australia's S&P ASX 200 index added 1% to 9,005.00. Taiwan's TAIEX climbed 1.2%, while India's Sensex added 0.1%. 'Asian markets walked into Thursday like a card room still heavy with last night's smoke — muted, watchful, waiting for the next cue out of Jackson Hole,' Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 dipped 0.2% to 6,395.78 after trimming a 1.1% loss earlier in the day. It is still near its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added less than 0.1% to 44,938.31. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.7% to 21,172.86. The day's action centered again around stocks caught up in the mania around artificial-intelligence technology. Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the world's move into AI, sank as much as 3.9% during the morning and was on track to be the heaviest weight on Wall Street following its 3.5% fall on Tuesday. But it clawed back nearly all of Wednesday's drop and finished with a dip of just 0.1%. As it pared its loss, so did broad market indexes because Nvidia is Wall Street's most influential stock by being its most valuable. Palantir Technologies, another AI darling, fell 1.1% to add to its 9.4% loss from the day before, but it had been down as much as 9.8% Wednesday morning. One possible contributor to the swoon was a study from MIT's Nanda Initiative that warned that most corporations are not yet seeing any measurable return from their generative AI investments, according to Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, global head of equities at UBS Global Wealth Management. But the larger factor may be the simple criticism that prices for such stock have simply shot too high, too fast amid the furor around AI and became too expensive. In other dealings early Thursday, US. benchmark crude gained 30 cents to $63.01 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard added 26 cents to $67.10 per barrel. The U.S. dollar rose to 147.37 Japanese yen, from 147.29 yen. The euro slid to $1.1648 from $1.1659.


San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Asian shares are mostly higher after a mixed finish on Wall Street
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Thursday after a mixed finish on Wall Street, where shares in Nvidia, Palantir and other superstar stocks pared their earlier steep losses. Traders are looking ahead for cues about U.S. monetary policy from a meeting of central bankers that begins later in the day in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is due to speak to the conference on Friday. The Fed has kept its main interest rate steady this year, primarily because of the fear of the possibility that President Donald Trump's tariffs could push inflation higher. But a surprisingly weak report on job growth across the U.S. may be superseding that. Still, minutes from the Fed's July 29-30 meeting released Wednesday showed most Fed officials felt the threat of higher inflation was a greater concern than the potential for job losses, leading the central bank to keep its key rate unchanged. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% to 42,636.74 after a survey showed Japan's factory activity remained in contraction for the second month in August. The S&P Global flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased to 49.9 in August from 48.9 in July, just below the 50 level that delineates between growth and decline. Regional manufacturers have been feeling pressure from Trump's higher tariffs on exports to the United States. In Chinese markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged 0.1% lower to 25,135.09, while the Shanghai composite index rose 0.4% to 3,779.52. Taiwan's TAIEX climbed 1.2%, while India's Sensex added 0.1%. 'Asian markets walked into Thursday like a card room still heavy with last night's smoke — muted, watchful, waiting for the next cue out of Jackson Hole,' Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 dipped 0.2% to 6,395.78 after trimming a 1.1% loss earlier in the day. It is still near its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added less than 0.1% to 44,938.31. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.7% to 21,172.86. The day's action centered again around stocks caught up in the mania around artificial-intelligence technology. Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the world's move into AI, sank as much as 3.9% during the morning and was on track to be the heaviest weight on Wall Street following its 3.5% fall on Tuesday. But it clawed back nearly all of Wednesday's drop and finished with a dip of just 0.1%. As it pared its loss, so did broad market indexes because Nvidia is Wall Street's most influential stock by being its most valuable. Palantir Technologies, another AI darling, fell 1.1% to add to its 9.4% loss from the day before, but it had been down as much as 9.8% Wednesday morning. One possible contributor to the swoon was a study from MIT's Nanda Initiative that warned that most corporations are not yet seeing any measurable return from their generative AI investments, according to Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, global head of equities at UBS Global Wealth Management. In other dealings early Thursday, US. benchmark crude gained 30 cents to $63.01 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard added 26 cents to $67.10 per barrel. The U.S. dollar rose to 147.37 Japanese yen, from 147.29 yen. The euro slid to $1.1648 from $1.1659.