Alex Morgan is joining San Diego Wave FC in a trade from the Orlando Pride, the club announced Monday. The Pride, however, said they will wait to make a “formal announcement” since the NWSL trade window is closed and the deal has not yet become official.

“I think something I’m really excited about is that I’ve made a long-term commitment to this club,” Morgan told The Associated Press. “I see myself being in San Diego through my playing career. I see my family settling down in San Diego.”

2x World Cup Champion.
Olympic Gold Medalist.
NWSL Champion.
190 caps.
115 international goals.

Welcome to San Diego Wave FC, @alexmorgan13 🌊 pic.twitter.com/fYhKrmLlJ4

— San Diego Wave FC (@sandiegowavefc) December 13, 2021

Last week, The Athletic reported that the Wave were “in the final stages” of acquiring Morgan from the Pride, but the paperwork was not filed because the deal had not been completed before the Dec. 3 deadline. It is still unclear what the Pride will receive in return for Morgan, although she is currently on the club’s list of protected players.

“With the NWSL trade window currently closed, the Pride will continue to follow both Club and league policies, and will make a formal announcement when the transaction is official and timing is appropriate,” the club said in a statement Monday.

“I really did love my time in Orlando, it was six years, give or take, with pregnancy and a couple of other hurdles, world championships and things like that,” Morgan said. “But it was an incredible run and I just wish that we could have made more of an impact on the field. I wish I could have left with more of a grin on my face knowing that we had to accomplished what we set our minds to in Year 1.”

In San Diego, Morgan will reunite with former U.S. women’s national team head coach and Wave president Jill Ellis. Morgan played for Ellis on the USWNT’s back-to-back World Cup-winning teams in 2015 and 2019.

It will also be a homecoming for Morgan, who is originally from Southern California.

“This is an incredibly special moment for our club, our fans, and our community to welcome Alex and her family to San Diego. She is an extraordinary person, a great talent and a leader on and off the field,” Ellis said.

Olympic champion Laurie Hernandez is trading the balance beam for Broadway, debuting in the musical & Juliet this spring.

The two-time Olympic medalist will play the dance role of Charmion beginning March 17th. The limited Stephen Sondheim Theatre run marks a career milestone, after Hernandez conquered Season 23 of Dancing with the Stars.

"To make my Broadway debut in & Juliet is a dream come true," Hernandez said in a statement.

"The show is so much fun to watch as an audience member, and I can't wait to join this incredible cast and actually perform in the show each night."

Laurie Hernandez adds to her post-USA Gymnastics résumé

Laurie Hernandez first captured attention at the 2016 Rio Olympics as part of the "Final Five" US Women's Gymnastics team. She won a team gold medal and individual silver on the balance beam in Brazil.

She went on to make headlines several years later, detailing years of emotional and verbal abuse suffered under Team USA coach Maggie Haney in a New York Times interview. USA Gymnastics subsequently suspended Haney for eight years.

After retiring, she became a two-time New York Times bestselling author, Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, and UNICEF Ambassador. The 25-year-old went on to earn a degree from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in drama and creative writing.

Hernandez's role in & Juliet was previously performed by social media star Charli D'Amelio. The production — which earned nine Tony Award nods — runs through June 14th.

US skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender will not compete at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport denied her appeal concerning alleged point manipulation by Canadian officials.

The tribunal determined that Uhlaender's dispute fell outside the 10-day window preceding February 6th's Opening Ceremony. The decision appears to exhaust all options for the five-time Olympian to compete in what would have been her sixth Winter Games.

The controversy dates to Uhlaender's final qualifying race on January 11th in Lake Placid, New York. That's when Canadian skeleton coach Joe Cecchini texted Uhlaender telling her he had bad news. In a recorded phone conversation, he subsequently appeared to outline his plan to manipulate the qualifying competition's point system.

"We've had some crazy races that have not gone our way this year," Cecchini said in the recording. "And I'm like, 'I can just eliminate any possibilities here.'"

Cecchini withdrew four Canadian athletes from the race, reducing available ranking points and preventing Uhlaender from earning enough points to qualify for Milan Cortina.

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Canada remains unsanctioned despite widespread Katie Uhlaender support

The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation investigated the Uhlaender case and supported her allegations. Afterwards, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee concluded she was sidelined due to unfair actions at Lake Placid. However, Team Canada remains without any international sanctions.

Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton defended the decision as appropriate and aligned with athlete welfare and sport integrity. Despite growing support from officials acknowledging the system was manipulated, no one has intervened.

41-year-old Uhlaender as competed in five Winter Olympics, registering her best performance in 2014 with a fourth-place final finish at the Sochi Winter Games.

US wildcard entry Hailey Baptiste delivered a stunning upset over world No. 17 Emma Navarro at the Abu Dhabi Open on Tuesday, winning 7-6(6), 0-6, 6-3 in a dramatic three-set battle.

The victory marked unranked Baptiste's fourth-career Top 20 win, as she advanced to her her first WTA 500 quarterfinal. Fourth-seeded Navarro, who entered as a tournament favorite, couldn't go the stretch despite dominating the second frame.

Baptiste saved a set point in the opening tiebreak with an expertly placed volley before clinching the set with a drop shot. Her fellow US talent responded emphatically, blanking her opponent 6-0 in the second set.

The turning point came when Baptiste left the court between sets for a mental reset. The strategy proved effective, as she approached the decider with renewed focus and aggression.

"I just had to grind and keep digging and digging," Baptiste said postmatch.

"Obviously the second set was not great for me, but I'm really happy I was able to turn it around. I just left the court to reset, I didn't really tell myself much — I never really leave the court, so me doing that was enough to reset."

Baptiste broke Navarro at 4-3 in the final set with a powerful forehand winner, then closed out the match with her seventh ace. The win ended Baptiste's three-match losing streak to Emma Navarro, dating back to their first meeting in 2018.

Baptiste will next face 2023 tournament runner-up Liudmila Samsonova in the Abu Dhabi Open quarterfinals. Fellow US player McCartney Kessler also advanced Tuesday, scoring an upset victory over sixth-seeded Leylah Fernandez.

Unrivaled made a historic splash on Friday, setting a new pro women's basketball regular-season attendance record as 21,490 fans packed the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia for the 3×3 league's first-ever tour stop.

"It was unbelievable. You could feel the love tonight," said Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier about the record-breaking crowd. "It's just a testament to what we're building here, how much people believe in it."

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Friday's Unrivaled tally — which also shattered a venue record for the highest attendance of any event — blew through women's basketball's prior record, set in the 2024 WNBA season when a 20,711-strong crowd watched the Indiana Fever top the Washington Mystics inside DC's Capital One Arena.

The reward for Friday's crowd was a larger-than-life performance, as Lunar Owls guard Marina Mabrey dropped a league-record 47 points — complete with 10 three-pointers — in Friday's 85-75 win over Rose BC.

"I think the city is ready for women's professional sports," Philadelphia product and Rose BC guard Kahleah Copper said following the doubleheader, with the City of Brotherly Love gearing up to launch a WNBA expansion team in 2030. "I'm excited that one, it's here, and two, that I'm a part of it."

Last week's success in Philly has Unrivaled already eyeing more tour stops for the offseason league's 2027 season, with this year's action finishing up on the venture's 3x3 home court in Miami.

"We're going to continue to make the sports world proud by the product we put out," Unrivaled CEO Alex Bazzell told reporters.