Update on the latest sports

MLB-NEWS

Braves extend manager Brian Snitker through at least 2023

UNDATED (AP) — Coming off a third straight NL East title and within one win of a spot in the World Series, the Atlanta Braves have extended the contract of manager Brian Snitker through the 2023 season. The extension announced Friday includes a club option for 2024.

The 65-year-old Snitker took over the Braves on an interim basis in 2016 when the club was in the midst of a massive rebuilding job.

After going 72-90 in his first full season, Atlanta won the first of its three straight division titles in 2018.

Last season, the Braves won a postseason series for the first time since 2001, beating Cincinnati in the wild-card round and Miami in the divisional series before losing to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in an NL Championship Series that went the seven-game limit. Atlanta led the series 3-1 before the Dodgers rallied to win the final three games.

Snitker has been with the Braves organization for 45 years as a player, coach and manager — mostly in the minor leagues — after signing with the club as an undrafted free agent in 1977. He was voted NL Manager of the Year in 2018.

In other MLB news:

— Marla Miller is stepping down after 21 years as Major League Baseball’s senior vice president of special events. Miller, MLB’s first female senior vice president, has been in charge of planning for the All-Star Game and World Series, arranging ceremonies and entertainment, including national anthem singers. She helped launch the All-Star FanFest, the All-Star red carpet show, the All-Century team, Memorable Moments campaign and special events such as the Little League Classic since 2017, the 2016 game at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and this year’s Field of Dreams game at Dyersville, Iowa. She also took charge of planning the winter meetings and owners meetings.

GYMNASTICS COACH-SEXUAL ASSAULT

Former Olympics gymnastics coach kills himself after being charged

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A former U.S. Olympics gymnastics coach with ties to disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar killed himself Thursday, hours after being charged with turning his Michigan gym into a hub of human trafficking by coercing girls to train and then abusing them.

John Geddert faced 24 charges that could have carried years in prison had he been convicted. He was supposed to appear in an Eaton County court, near Lansing, but his body was found at a rest area along Interstate 96, according to state police.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel called it “a tragic end to a tragic story for everyone involved.”

Nessel earlier announced that Geddert was charged with crimes including sexual assault, human trafficking and running a criminal enterprise. The charges were the latest fallout from the sexual abuse scandal involving Nassar, a former Michigan State University sports doctor now in prison.

Geddert wasn’t arrested and transported to court. Rather, Nessel’s office allowed him to show up on his own.

Geddert was head coach of the 2012 U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team, which won a gold medal. He was long associated with Nassar, who was the Olympic team’s doctor and also treated injured gymnasts at Twistars, Geddert’s Lansing-area gym.

Among the charges, Geddert was accused of lying to investigators in 2016 when he denied ever hearing complaints about Nassar. But the bulk of the case against him involved his gym in Dimondale and how he treated the young athletes whose families paid to have them train under him.

GYMNASTICS-BRITAIN-ABUSE COMPLAINTS

Former British gymnasts allege physical, psychological abuse

UNDATED (AP) —Three Olympians and several other former gymnasts are taking legal action against British Gymnastics, saying Friday they have been the victims of decades of physical and psychological abuse by coaches.

The litany of allegations by 17 female claimants includes bullying, controlling behavior and inappropriate use of physical force against athletes as young as 6 years old in a “winning at all costs” mentality.

Their notice told British Gymnastics that they are seeking financial compensation and an acknowledgement of negligence. The law firm representing the group of women — now ranging from 15 to 43 years old — expects the number of gymnasts to increase and possibly include men.

British athletes have come forward over the past year following allegations of abuse in gymnastics in the United States.