Hall of Famer Gene Upshaw dies at 63
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pro Football Hall of Famer and longtime head of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) Gene Upshaw has died after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the NFLPA announced on Thursday. He was 63.

U.S. takes beach volleyball gold
BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. defending champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh beat China's Tian Jia and Wang Jie to win the women's Olympic beach volleyball gold medal on Thursday.

Mahan fires 62 for early four-shot lead at Barclays
PARAMUS, New Jersey (Reuters) - American Hunter Mahan fired a nine-under-par 62 to seize a four-shot lead early in Thursday's first round of the Barclays Classic, the opening event of the U.S. PGA Tour's FedExCup playoff series.

Top seeds Verdasco and Chakvetadze reach semi-finals
NEW HAVEN (Reuters) - Top seeds Fernando Verdasco and Anna Chakvetadze reached the semi-finals at the New Haven Open on Thursday, while Slovenian Luka Gregorc continued his giant-killing run to join them.

Rams sign running back Jackson to six-year contract
NEW YORK (Reuters) - St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson signed a six-year contract Thursday, one day after ending his holdout on a new deal.

Jamaica sweeps the sprint golds in Beijing
BEIJING (Reuters) - Jamaica made a clean sweep of Olympic sprint golds on Thursday with victory in the women's 200 meters humbling the United States, the traditional track and field superpower.

Linebacker Farrior signs five-year deal with Pittsburgh
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Pittsburgh Steelers signed All-Pro linebacker James Farrior, a pillar of their defense for the last six seasons, to a five-year contract on Thursday.

Decathlon pack closing on Clay
BEIJING (Reuters) - American Bryan Clay's lead in the Olympic decathlon came under attack late on Thursday when his lead was trimmed to 88 points at the halfway mark.

Nadal to begin U.S. Open title bid against qualifier
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top seed Rafael Nadal will begin his bid for a first U.S. Open title next week against a qualifier, after the draw was made at The TimesCenter in New York on Thursday.

Lopez siblings through to taekwondo quarter-finals
BEIJING (Reuters) - American siblings Mark and Diana Lopez have broken through to the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament in Beijing, raising hopes of a treble of medals for the U.S.'s first family of taekwondo.