President Trump may be getting his MMA fight in front of the White House in true Idiocracy-come-to-life style, but there won't be a similarly idiotic boxing match in front of San Francisco City Hall, as was being planned.

It's not really too surprising that the organizers of a boxing match in SF's Civic Center that was attempting to break a Guinness World Record for its audience size have decided to back off their plan over "logistical concerns." That was the news on Monday, as the Chronicle reported, with UK company iVisit Boxing reportedly scrapping its plans for a series of boxing matches on July 11.

The headlining match, as KRON4 reported last month, was to be a flyweight championship between boxers Anthony Olascuaga and Andy Dominguez. And organizer Ed Pereira, the CEO of iVisit Boxing, had announced grand plans to draw a record-breaking crowd — with the world record for a boxing match having been set in 1941, when 135,132 people turned out to watch Tony Zale fight Billy Pryor in Milwaukee.

Bringing 135,000 people to the middle of Civic Center for a ticketed event seemed crazy on its face, but Mayor Daniel Lurie had previously said he was "fired up" over the plan.

A spokesperson for the mayor, Charles Lutvak, gave a statement to the Chronicle Monday saying, "San Francisco’s economy is recovering, and we want big ideas for how to keep it moving forward. San Francisco knows how to do big events, and we’ll do it again with the World Cup this month."

iVisit Boxing, which had sold an unknown number of tickets for the event, says it is offering free refunds on its website — and it remains possible that the event is actually being scrapped because of slow ticket sales and the enormous cost of putting on such an event.

The event was set to be put on in partnership with Silverback, the local event production company that lately has been organizing Bay to Breakers.

Recent years have seen large, free concerts in Civic Center, like this 15th anniversary event for EMPIRE Records last September featuring Shaboozey. But that event drew an estimated 20,000 attendees, so a fraction of the size of this planned boxing event.

Tickets were reportedly priced between $60 and $6,000. iVisit Boxing says it is seeking a new venue in which to host the fight between Olascuaga and Dominguez.

Related: Shaboozey Honored With Diamond Record Plaque at Civic Center Concert Attended By Over 20,000

The Golden State Valkyries welcomed a face familiar to Bay Area college sports fans by signing former Stanford center Nadia Fingall to a rest-of-season contract on Sunday. The team also waived forward Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda in a corresponding move.

The Mercury News reports that Fingall was named Pac-12 All-Defensive Team Honorable Mention as a senior while being second on the Cardinal with a career-high 5.7 rebounds per game. Standing at 6-foot-4 center, Fingall's young career has also included leading Spanish squads to two Liga Femenina de Baloncensto titles and two Supercopa de España championships. In 2024, she was named Supercopa de España tournament MVP.

A native of New Jersey, Fingall will become the second former Stanford Cardinal to join the Valkyries in short succession after the team signed Stanford freshman Ashten Prechtel to an injury hardship contract in early May. Once that contract expired, the Valkyries subsequently opted to retain Prechtel with a player development deal.

Fingall's most recent play came for Casademont Zaragoza, where the Mercury News notes she averaged 8.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and a 44.7 field goal percentage in 19 games.

The move to acquire Fingall arrives amidst a solid start to the Valkyries' sophomore season, with the team currently sitting at a record of 6-5. It also follows a nail-biting loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Saturday night despite a career-high 27 points from new Valkyries forward Gabby Williams.

Related: Golden State Valkyries Win Home Opener Against Mercury 95-79, Salaün Shines

Image: Nadia Fingall in action during Euroleague Women Final on April 19, 2026 in Zaragoza, Spain. (Photo by Borja B. Hojas/Getty Images)

The San Francisco Giants made a bold move Saturday, adding top hitting prospect Jonah Cox to their major league squad directly from Double-A. The surprising call for Cox to bypass any time at the AAA level comes as the team continues a historically bad start to its 2026 campaign.

A top-tier outfielder prospect, Cox was batting an impressive .400 for the Richmond Flying Squirrels (the Giants' Double-A minor league affiliate team in Virginia) before receiving his big promotion. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was the first to break the news, followed quickly by additional confirmation from the team.

While rare, it's not unprecedented for a prospect to skip the AAA level altogether. In the case of the San Francisco Giants, future fan favorite players like Pablo Sandoval and Matt Duffy were allowed to make the jump from Double-A to the majors in 2013 and 2014, respectively, with varying degrees of success.

Cox himself professed shock at learning the news, telling Slusser that he was "definitely surprised" and confirming that his whole team "went nuts" and drenched him in water to celebrate.

But with the franchise now more than a decade removed from their last World Series title and a glut of high-paid veterans currently occupying most of the roster, it's fair to question whether winning games or boosting ticket sales was the bigger factor in the front office's decision to bump Cox to the big leagues so quickly.

Having lost their last ten games against division rivals and now facing the once-unthinkable fate of being the worst team in baseball by win-loss record, it's been decidedly all bad news in 2026 for the San Francisco Giants. It thus seems foolish to expect a rookie with no AAA experience like Cox to right the ship but when it comes to fixing this year's woefully off-base team, the kitchen sink would appear to officially be in play.

Related: Giants Hire College Coach Tony Vitello as New Manager, First College Coach to Jump Straight to MLB Manager

Image: John Ruddock/Unsplash

Top image: A general view of Levi's Stadium, which for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be called San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, on April 14, 2026, in San Francisco, California. The stadium will host six matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

The Golden State Valkyries had a great opening weekend for the 2026 season, beating the Seattle Storm in their first regular season game, and beating the Phoenix Mercury in the home opener Sunday.

Hopes are high for this Valkyries season after a strong showing their opening weekend, first beating the Seattle Storm in a road win Friday night 91-80, surging in the second quarter, and then dominating the Mercury from the second quarter on at their home opener Sunday night.

And in both games, second-year forward Janelle Salaün outscored all her teammates, tying her career high of five three-pointers in Friday's game, and scoring another four on Sunday. She scored a total of 41 points for the opening weekend, with 20 on Friday and 21 at the home opener.

"It's good to see that her confidence is super high," said coach Natalie Nakase after Friday's game. "That's normal Ja. She told me she wanted to challenge more defensively, and so I could put her in any coverage. So it's really good to see her evolve and take the onus of it; and she's really loud out there on the floor."

After Sunday's game, Salaün told reporters, "I'm just trying to bring energy whenever I'm coming on the court and you know. Also, my teammates are doing a great job finding me."

Team star Kayla Thornton, or KT, also had a solid opening weekend, scoring 19 points at Sunday's home opener, as did Alyssa Thomas. And newly signed Valkyries forward Gabby Williams also added 19 points to the board at her home debut at the Chase Center.

As Thornton said of her new teammate postgame, listing her strengths per Bay Area News Group, "Her size. Her length. She’s always disruptive. Her steals. Her offensive boards. Her defensive boards. All of that."

Williams's 19 points were won on 53.8% shooting, five rebounds, three assists, and four steals, as the news group notes, "A stat line that captured her knack for being everywhere at once."

Balhalla, as the Chase Center has come to be known to Valkyries fans, was sold out for the home opener, following their sellout inaugural season in which the arena was sold out for all 22 regular-season games. And fans were clearly thrilled to see the Valkyries go 2-0 in their opening weekend, even beating the Mercury after losing all four of the games they played against them last season.

Next up the Valkyries will be hosting the Chicago Sky on Wednesday night.

Top image: Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

A third private equity firm is set to own a small portion of the SF Giants, as Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, announced that his firm Thrive Eternal has agreed to purchase a minority, non-controlling stake in the team.

Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, announced Friday that his new firm Thrive Eternal, a New York-based permanent capital holding company, is purchasing a minority, non-controlling stake in the San Francisco Giants, as the Wall Street Journal first reported. The partnership will be the firm’s first investment, which Kushner called “a major bet on a sports business by a firm known for high-tech bets,” according to Sports Business Journal.

Joshua Kushner wrote about the deal on X, which he says is pending league approval. He said the Giants deal inspired the launch of Thrive Eternal, which is designed to acquire and hold long-term stakes in cultural institutions like sports franchises. His two other firms, Thrive Capital and Thrive Holdings, reportedly focus on technology investments that operate on shorter-term investment cycles.

“These are assets with qualities that cannot be replicated by technology,” writes Kushner. “Iconic franchises and cultural institutions rooted in tradition, identity, and shared experience.”

“In a world shaped by abundant intelligence where creation scales and distribution fragments, we believe they will matter even more,” says Kushner.

SFGate reports that the deal was likely initiated over a month ago, as Kushner’s wife, supermodel Karlie Kloss, posted a photo on Instagram in March of the pair and their two young children sitting in the Giants’ ownership section at the Opening Day game against the New York Yankees. (SF Mayor Daniel Lurie can be seen in the background adjusting his tie.)

Thrive Eternal will reportedly be taking over the stake of existing investors, one which is responsible for Oracle Park infrastructure and team real estate. It has not been revealed how large a stake in the team was purchased.

Thrive would be one of three private equity firms to now own a stake in the Giants, as Texas-based firm Arctos Sports Partners owns around two percent, and the SF-based Sixth Street bought 10% last year, per SFGate.

The Giants were reportedly valued as Major League Baseball’s fifth-most valuable team at $4.05 billion prior to the start of the 2026 season.

“We have reached an agreement for Thrive Eternal to join our investor group, subject to MLB approval,” said the Giants in a statement to Bloomberg. “We are thrilled with the prospect of Eternal becoming a long-term partner.”

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger has reportedly signed on as a consultant in the venture. Per Sports Business Journal, some of Thrive’s other investments include Spotify, Instagram, A24, and SKIMS.

Previously, Kushner purchased a small stake in the Memphis Grizzlies in 2019, per Wikipedia, which he sold in 2024 for a small stake in the Miami Heat.

Image: Exterior entrance sign for Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, with brick facade in the South Beach neighborhood, San Francisco, California, March 18, 2025. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Possibly thanks to the involvement of Netflix, the MLB Opening Day game at Oracle Park Wednesday night featured a drone pyrotechnic show during the national anthem, with the American flag — ironically? — going up in smoke.

If you noticed a certain loud fighter jet flyover across the city Wednesday evening around 5:14 pm, you may have thought, "We're under attack from Iran," or you may have put two and two together and figured out that this was part of the opening ceremony for the Opening Day game of Major League Baseball, which was being played between the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees at Oracle Park.

The game, for the first time, was being carried only on Netflix, which definitely irked some fans. But it might have been that Netflix money that provided the pyrotechnic drone show that produced this terrific, if unintentionally symbolic, disappearing smoke image of the American flag over McCovey Cove.

Here's a more up-close version, apparently shot from a kayak in McCovey Cove, in which you hear someone shout, "Awesome! Thank you, Netflix!"

As noted by Yahoo Sports, reactions on social media include "Was that the greatest national anthem of all time?” and “Straight chills. Best way to start the 2026 season!"

It wasn't the most auspicious start for the Giants' 2026 season, however, with the Yankees trouncing them 7-0.

And The Athletic notes that among the fans who did tune in — and who didn't just go on social media to complain about needing a Netflix subscription on top of five others to watch baseball games this year — many noticed glitches in Netflix's airing of the actual game that need to be fixed. These included "the tiny scorebug, the ad overlays causing jerseys to glitch and weird in-game cuts."

But the broadcast featured appearances by Giants legend Barry Bonds, WWE superstar John Cena, and NFL QB Jameis Winston, in addition to the flashy pre-game show, and the anthem sung by retired US serviceman Generald Wilson.

Wilson's rendition got good reviews, which is more than we can say for original-cast George Washington from Hamilton, Christopher Jackson, who seemed to forget the order of the lines in the anthem when he sang it Thursday at the Mets' Opening Day game.

The SF Giants will face off with the New York Yankees on Opening Day Wednesday, and fans who aren’t attending the game at Oracle Park will need to subscribe to Netflix to watch, plus a slew of other streaming channels throughout the season.

As the Chronicle reports, Major League Baseball's first game of the 2026 season will be a momentous matchup between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Yankees, taking place at Oracle Park Wednesday evening. Fans who aren’t attending in person will need a Netflix subscription to watch the broadcast, part of a broader shift toward diversifying the platforms that MLB games can be seen on throughout the season.

The opener will be streamed globally in multiple languages, with play-by-play from sportscaster Matt Vasgersian, who hails from the Bay Area, alongside CC Sabathia, a Baseball Hall of Famer from Vallejo, and former Giants star Hunter Pence, as the Chronicle reports. Barry Bonds is set to appear on the pre- and postgame broadcast team.

Aaron Judge, who grew up in San Joaquin County, is expected to be the starting pitcher for the Yankees, while Logan Webb will take the mound for the Giants, coming off recent appearances in the World Baseball Classic that coincided with increased ticket demand, according to Rachel Heit, chief marketing officer for the Giants, per the Chronicle.

Ahead of Opening Day, the San Francisco Giants played a Sunday exhibition in Sacramento, as KPIX reports, followed by two games at Oracle Park on Monday and Tuesday against Sultanes.

As Sports Illustrated reports, Manager Tony Vitello told reporters that Robbie Ray is set to start the second exhibition and Tyler Mahle the third, after Mahle opened the exhibition slate Sunday. Adrian Houser and Landen Roupp are also expected to start, though the order has not been finalized.

The Chronicle reports that the season’s 162 regular games will stream partially on Netflix, Peacock, Apple TV+, plus a cable or live TV platform like YouTube TV carrying NBC Sports Bay Area, ESPN, and Fox. The league’s MLB.tv app, via Giants.tv, will stream all but 13 games this season.

"Sunday Night Baseball," as well as the wild card round of the playoffs will move to NBC/NBCSN/Peacock the season — and this is the first time since 2000 that the larger NBC organization has partnered with the Major Leagues.

MLB reset its broadcast deals to new three-year contracts, adding Netflix and NBC/Peacock while maintaining partnerships with Apple TV, Fox, ESPN, and TBS, in a combined package valued at about $800 million, per the Chronicle.

Longtime Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming says that for many diehard fans, the value of being able to watch every game outweighs the cost.

“It is absolutely amazing that Giants fans all over the globe — no matter where they live, no matter what time zone — can pull up a device in their hand and watch a game,” he told the Chronicle.

Flemming added that he had "an eye-opening moment" in recent years when he discovered fans were watching games in real time around the globe. “I just thought, you know, for all the hand-wringing about, ‘Is it too expensive and is it too fragmented?’ it is amazing the technology that allows you to follow your team no matter where you are," Flemming tells the paper.

Vasgersian recalled how the A’s games weren’t completely televised when he was growing up in the East Bay’s Moraga.

“The idea that every game is on TV is something that I didn’t grow up with,” he tells the Chronicle. “So to have these rights piecemealed together now, I understand the fans’ frustrations. (But) I think the league is aware of not pricing people out. That’s nobody’s idea of good.”

Fleming told the Chronicle local broadcasts on NBC Sports Bay Area will continue this season, with expanded use of drone footage after its debut last year drew strong fan response.

The Chronicle reports that Netflix is focusing on select marquee events rather than a full schedule, building on recent live sports programming that has included NFL Christmas games and boxing events (some involving Jake Paul).

“It really comes down to characters,” said Gabe Spitzer, Netflix’s vice president of live sports. “You’re telling a story, whether you’re watching a live game or you’re doing a documentary. It comes down to that access and authenticity we talk about on Netflix all the time.”

Image: TEMPE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 24: Logan Webb #62 of the San Francisco Giants  pitches during the spring training game against the Los Angeles Angels  at Tempe Diablo Stadium on February 24, 2026 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo  by Ric Tapia/Getty Images)

Previously: Giants Hire College Coach Tony Vitello as New Manager, First College Coach to Jump Straight to MLB Manager

Oakland’s Alysa Liu's victory celebration will not quite be a parade down Grand Avenue, but instead a rally on the steps of City Hall, and it's scheduled for 12 noon on Thursday, March 12.

After the Richmond, California figure skater Alysa Liu won the Olympics gold medal in women's figure skating last month, the City of Oakland was promising a huge celebration for the East Bay skater who honed her skills at the Oakland Ice Center. And this week we already saw the new Alysa Liu mural that was painted inTemescal, but we had not heard plans for the Oakland victory celebration yet.

That is, until today.

“Join us as we celebrate Olympic Gold Medalist and Oakland’s own Alysa Liu at a special Celebration Rally at Oakland City Hall on Thursday, March 12 at noon (Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland),” the tourist organization Visit Oakland announced today. “Let’s come together as a community to honor her incredible achievement on the world stage! Alysa will be there in person.”

There’s also an official Facebook invite here.

That said, the invite doesn’t say what any scheduled activities are. But we can assume there will be speeches from Liu herself, and Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, and from other politicians who are desperate to be seen and associated with Ms. Liu.

“Doors open at 9:00 AM,” the invite continues. “We recommend arriving early to secure a good viewing spot, as this is expected to be a well-attended community event. Space is limited and admission is subject to venue capacity and safety guidelines. Public transportation is highly encouraged.”

The event will be free to attend, though organizers ask that you submit a free RSVP in advance.

Related: Check Out the New Giant Alysa Liu Mural That Just Went Up In Oakland’s Temescal Neighborhood [SFist]

Image: MILAN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 19: Gold medalist Alysa Liu of Team United States poses for a photo during the medal ceremony for the Women's Single Skating on day thirteen of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 19, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Iran’s World Cup soccer team is scheduled to play matches in the US in June, but the Iranian Football Federation is threatening to pull the team out of the tournament in protest of the attacks raining down from host nation USA.

Iran has the opportunity to do the funniest possible thing, which would be to have the men’s Iranian national soccer team defeat the United States and knock them out of the World Cup tournament during the ongoing US military strikes against Iran. But these attacks are no funny matter to Iran’s government.

As such, KTVU reports that Iran’s Football Federation is threatening to pull their soccer team out of the World Cup tournament  as a protest move against the US and Israeli attacks on their country. The matches are set to begin June 11, and with North America the official host, many of this year’s World Cup matches are being played on US soil, even at Santa Clara’s Levi' s Stadium.

Iran’s team is not scheduled to play any games here in the Bay Area, though they are scheduled to play on US soil, with matches scheduled in other US host cities Seattle and LA.

That said, the US and Iranian teams could theoretically meet in the Knockout Round, a game that would have quite a riveting backdrop.

"That's never happened before," University of San Francisco sports management expert Michael Goldman told KTVU. "There would be financial and reputational issues associated, and certainly impact on the athletes and the fans, and an impact on FIFA in terms of how they manage the tournament and what happens to those games.”

KTVU speculates that Iran could also petition to have its matches moved to other host cities in Mexico or Canada, though that just seem pure speculation. Plus KTVU also reports “that outcome is considered unlikely, as match locations are already set.”

The irony is that President Trump, who ordered the military strikes on Iran, also threatened to move some World Cup matches too. His rationale was that the West Coast US cities are "run by radical left lunatics who don’t know what they’re doing."

Another irony? If Iran’s team did indeed quit the World Cup tournament, their likely replacement team would be that of Iraq, another nation with which Iran spent years at war.

Of course, the World Cup tournament is still a little more than three months away, and no one knows where the US invasion of Iraq will stand at that point. Will a new Iranian regime be in place? Will the hostilities be long over? Will Trump find a way to lose this war?

The world, and the Iranian men’s national soccer team, can only wait and wonder.

Related: Bay Area World Cup Schedule Announced, and Team USA Might Play One Game Here [SFist]

Image: DOHA, QATAR - JUNE 05: IR Iran fans show their support prior to the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier match between Qatar and IR Iran at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on June 05, 2025 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Mohamed Farag/Getty Images)

In the wake of the East Bay’s own Alysa Liu winning the women’s gold figure-skating medal, the City of Oakland says they’re planning some pretty ambitious victory celebrations. But one of these celebrations has already revealed itself, as NBC Bay Area reports there was a new Alysa Liu mural unveiled this weekend in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood.

The mural is from an East Bay artists collective known as Illuminaries, and KTVU has video of them painting the mural this past weekend above.

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A post shared by Visit Oakland (@visitoakland)

“The Warriors left, the A’s left, but it’s kind of like we have someone to look up to and somebody that our kids can aspire to be,” Illuminaries painter Steve Ha.told NBC Bay Area. “And you know, follow your dreams and I think it’s just dope man.”

The mural also contains the message “Shoutout Oakland” as Liu yelled right after her gold medal-winning performance,

According to NBC Bay Area the mural group Illuminaries “paid for this mural out of their own pockets.”

Related: City of Oakland Planning Big Celebrations for Gold Medal Figure Skating Champion Alysa Liu [SFist]

Image: Darya Mead via Facebook

The breakout star of the 2026 Winter Olympics Alysa Liu is from the East Bay and trained at the Oakland Ice Center, so Oakland is planning a “community-wide celebration” that will act as Alysa Liu’s gold medal victory parade.

With the exception of maybe now-gloriously toothless hockey star Jack Hughes, the biggest US breakout star to emerge from this year’ Winter Olympics was gold medal-winning East Bay figure skating phenom Alysa Liu. Liu is technically from Richmond, but the now-20-year-old figure skater trained at the Oakland Ice Center, where she honed her skills to become the first US woman in 24 years to win the gold medal in women’s singles skating, in the routine seen below. So Oakland can definitely lay claim to Alysa Liu being one of its own.

Now KRON4 reports that the City of Oakland is planning a series of celebrations for Alysa Liu that will be not unlike a championship victory parade. The trouble is, none of these celebrations are announced, and we do not yet have an idea what any of them will be.  

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The City of Oakland (@oakland)

All we have is the Instagram post above from the official account of the City of Oakland. “The City of Oakland is planning a community-wide celebration to honor Olympic gold medalist and Oakland's hometown hero Alysa Liu!” according to the Tuesday post. “Alysa represents the heart, grit, resilience, and joy of Oakland. Her achievement has filled our city with pride, and we are coordinating with her team now to finalize a date so the community can celebrate her together. Stay tuned for details coming soon.”

The scarcity of detail there makes sense. Liu just got back to the Bay Area late Monday night and is probably still sleeping off the jet lag of flying back from Italy. So it is reasonable that it would be another day or two until we have specific and concrete plans for her public gold medal celebrations.

But there have already been celebrations at the Oakland Ice Center, as seen above, where the watch party for Liu’s gold medal-winning performance drew an audience of more than 100.

Liu joined Fremont’s Kristi Yamaguchi (1992) and San Jose’s Peggy Fleming (1968) as US women who’ve won gold in figure skating. Liu also helped Team USA win gold in the team category.

Related: Richmond’s Own Alysa Liu Wins Figure Skating Gold, Bay Area Loses Its Mind [Joe]

Image: MILAN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 19: Gold medalist Alysa Liu of Team United States, silver medalist Kaori Sakamoto of Team Japan and bronze medalist Ami Nakai of Team Japan celebrate on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Women's Single Skating on day thirteen of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 19, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

San Francisco-born Olympian Eileen Gu, now competing in her second Olympic Games at age 22, reveals in a new interview that she has faced harassment and even death threats over her choice to ski for China instead of the US.

It was clear after the 2022 Beijing Olympics that freestyle skier Eileen Gu would likely be a star of these Olympics as well. And while she's American-born to an American father and Chinese mother, she opted to begin skiing for her mother's home country in 2019, and has ever since.

At this year's games, she has so far notched two silver medals for China, one in Freeski Slopestyle and one in Big Air — the latter of which she won a gold medal for in 2022.

In a new interview with The Athletic, Gu says, "I’ve gone through some things as a 22-year-old that I really think no one should ever have to endure, ever."

Gu began attending Stanford after the 2022 Olympic Games, and after she had already achieved some international fame. She talks about the petition that was started by other Chinese American students and parents of prospective students to keep her from being enrolled at the school — which is her mother's alma mater, and where she was actually accepted in December 2020, via early admission.

Gu says that while at Stanford, police had to be called after she was "physically assaulted on the street." And, she adds, "I’ve had death threats. I’ve had my dorm robbed."

Stanford's public safety department has not commented on the matter or confirmed any details.

Gu explains that her decision to ski for China, when she was only 15, was not made out of any consideration for the financial support she might receive from Chinese companies. She said that as an athlete growing up in America, "I had so many idols to look up to... But in China, I feel like there are a lot fewer of those. I’d have a much greater impact in China than in the U.S., and that’s ultimately why I made my decision."

And, she tells The Athletic, "My biggest goal has always been to bring the sport to more young people, especially girls."

But many still question the purity of her motives.

Chinese fans call her The Snow Princess, and her fame is undeniable, likely eclipsing most of her Olympic peers — something that has led to her raking in around $23 million a year in sponsorships and modeling gigs. As The Athletic puts it, "With a footprint in two of the world’s most populous countries, Gu is a sports marketer’s dream."

Gu, who already has five medals, more than any other freeskier ever, has one more shot at gold on Saturday night in the women's halfpipe event.

Top image: Silver medalist Ailing Eileen Gu of Team Republic of China is seen during the medal ceremony for the Women's Freeski Big Air on day ten of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Livigno Snow Park on February 16, 2026 in Livigno, Italy (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Some more details have been reported about how 49ers defensive lineman Keion White ended up being shot in the ankle early Monday morning in the Mission District.

When we first heard the news about Niners DL Keion White being hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the ankle Monday, we did not know where the shooting took place — just that it was at a party in the Mission District following the Super Bowl.

Now we know that the incident occurred at or outside a party that the 27-year-old White himself was throwing at Dahlia, the tequila-focused bar/club that was formerly known as the Armory Club, at 1799 Mission Street. According to reports from police and witnesses gathered by the SF Standard, the private party involved strippers and/or adult entertainers, and was "downstairs" in the venue.

SFist notes that Dahlia offers a basement-level Champagne Room that can be rented for private parties, so that was likely the party room in question.

The shooting occurred around 4 am Monday, and it appears the party was still raging at that hour. Per the Standard, Atlanta-based rapper Lil Baby, aka Dominique Jones, had arrived with his entourage and tried to get into the private event — in the hours after Lil Baby was performing at this Sunday night event at The Grand nightclub in SoMa.

A witness reportedly told police that they saw White get into an argument with the rapper, possibly because he was refusing to let Lil Baby and his group in to the downstairs party. The witness further said that they went upstairs, to the main level of Dahlia, to seek help from staff. It was not long after this that a shot or two were fired, though it's not clear where the shots came from. The witness returned to the basement and found White shot in the leg, and White was reportedly uncooperative with police when asked who had shot him.

Arriving police told the Standard that they saw topless women gathering dollar bills on the bar when they entered the room.

White underwent surgery on his ankle on Monday, and KTVU reported, via a Niners spokesperson, that he was out of surgery Monday night and the procedure was successful — but no timeline for his recovery was provided.

This is the only act of violence we've learned of so far from Super Bowl Weekend in San Francisco, and Mayor Daniel Lurie issued a statement Monday night in response.

"Any violent incident in our city is unacceptable, and I’m hoping Keion recovers quickly," Lurie said. "I’ve spoken with SFPD and 49ers leadership — we are all grateful to our SFPD officers for their quick response. As always, I will continue working with San Francisco law enforcement to ensure our neighborhoods and our residents are safe."

No arrests have been made, and anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444, or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with “SFPD.” Tipsters can remain anonymous.

Top image: Keion White #56 of the San Francisco 49ers in the locker room before the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on November 2, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The 49ers defeated the Giants 34-24. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)

After knocking the 49ers out of the playoffs, the Seattle Seahawks rubbed it in even harder after winning the Super Bowl Sunday night on the Niners' home field, hotboxing the 49ers locker room with the awful smell of cigars.

Even though the Super Bowl is always played on a neutral field, there is still a designated home team and away team, for coin-flip and uniform choice purposes. The 49ers’ NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks were considered the home team, and because of that, they used the Niners’ locker room for Sunday night's Super Bowl.

And after they won the Super Bowl 29-13 on the 49ers’ home field, the Seahawks were hardly gracious guests. As seen in the video below, a number of Seahawks blazed up and smoked cigars in the 49ers locker room, a further insult to their division foe 49ers.  

“We love this field. We had a good year on this field,” Seahawks safety Julian Love told the Bay Area News Group. “Four weeks ago, we had cigars in this stadium. We didn’t have to travel too far and were familiar with the surroundings so we felt good today.”

“It’s Lumen South today,” Love also said. “The 12s showed up in full force. Super Bowl is crazy so I appreciate the people that spent their hard-earned money to attend.”

This “Lumen South” reference is a play on how the 49ers refer to the LA Rams’ SoFi Stadium as “Levi’s South.” That seems justified, though, because so many 49ers fans typically pack the Rams’ stadium that they outnumber actual Rams fans. But the 49ers have never had that problem with Seahawks fans taking over Levi’s.

But still, this Seattle team has won nine of their last 14 games at Levi’s Stadium.

It was not the first time that the Seattle Seahawks smoked cigars in Levi's Stadium. As the Bay Area News Group reminds us, “Seattle, of course, broke out victory cigars in Levi’s Stadium’s other locker room, in the northwest corner, after their 13-3 win on January 3.”

Related: 49ers’ Season Ends in Complete Destruction With 41-6 Playoff Loss to Seattle Seahawks [SFist]

Image: SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 08: Patrick O'Connell #52 of the Seattle Seahawks celebrates in the locker room after defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium on February 08, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)