Editor’s note: This story includes a description of a sexual act.

Steven Lopez, the most decorated taekwondo athlete in history, has been temporarily barred from representing the United States on the international stage.

The 39-year-old has won three Olympic medals — including two golds — and five World Championships. At least five women have accused him and his brother Jean Lopez of sexual misconduct.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport, a nonprofit tasked with investigating abuse across Olympic sports, has suspended him pending further investigation. Lopez was unavailable for comment.

In a statement to NPR, USA Taekwondo says it will “fully enforce this immediate suspension” and that it “fully supports the important work of the U.S. Center for SafeSport and respects its exclusive jurisdiction over sexual misconduct matters.”

Lopez’s brother Jean, a renowned coach, was permanently banned by the organization in April. He is appealing the decision.

The decisions by U.S. SafeSport affect only the brothers’ eligibility to participate in the sport under the U.S. banner. They do not amount to a criminal indictment.

Steven Lopez’s suspension comes just days after four former elite taekwondo athletes filed suit in the U.S. District Court for Colorado alleging that the Lopez brothers had sexually assaulted them. They are not the only people accusing the Lopezes of misconduct. As NPR reported last Friday, Nina Zampetti — who started training with Steven Lopez when she was 8 years old — says that when she was 14, and Lopez 22, he had her perform oral sex on him.

The four plaintiffs in the lawsuit are suing not just the Lopezes but also USA Taekwondo and the U.S. Olympic Committee. They allege that the organizations knew about the Lopezes’ behavior and failed to protect them. Moreover, because some of the alleged assaults happened abroad, they argue the organizations are guilty of sex trafficking.

Women who had leveled allegations against Lopez were gratified by the news. “I’m glad for this,” said Gabby Joslin, who trained with Steven and Jean Lopez and alleges she was assaulted by both men. “Steven needs to be away from potential victims.” Joslin says in the lawsuit that she was first assaulted by Steven Lopez while being coached by him at a tournament in Germany.

Mandy Meloon, who originally made a formal complaint against the Lopezes to the USA Taekwondo in 2006 and is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said she was pleased with the suspension but wishes it had come earlier. “Both of the brothers need to be charged with crimes,” Meloon adds.

Ronda Sweet, who served on the board of USA Taekwondo from 2006-2010 and has long argued that the organization needs to take a tougher line on sexual assault, was ebullient about the decision. “This is a historic day,” she says. “But it’s just a start.” She says other coaches need to be investigated as well.

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Updated at 8:48 p.m. ET

After a day of steady rain on Churchill Downs, it was Justify who managed to cross the finish line first in the mud.

Justify brought Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith a second Derby victory, on top of his and trainer Bob Baffert’s $1.24 million of the $2 million total prize. Smith previously won aboard Giacomo in 2005. Bafftert, the Triple Crown-winning trainer of American Pharoah, seals his fifth Derby win.

After charging ahead at the final turn, the undefeated chesnut colt held off Good Magic, finishing by two and a half lengths in 2 minutes 4.20 seconds. Audible, a favorite backed by Amazon’s audiobook company of the same name, finished third.

Baffert says Justify’s early speed helped notch first. “When he got away clean, then I thought we had a chance,” he told NBC Sports after the race. “We had to get away. Then Mike took his time.”

“He’s got that ‘it’ factor,” Smith said. “He is so above average, he’s got unbelievable talent and he’s got a mind to go with it. He was loving this stuff.”

Almost 3 inches of rain made for sloppy conditions at the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby. Despite the unpredictable conditions, history predicted the result — it’s the sixth consecutive Derby that a favorite has won.

Entering the race, Justify led the field of 20 with 5-2 odds, followed by Mendelssohn, 6-1, and My Boy Jack at 6-1. Mendelssohn, aiming to claim the first Derby win for a Europe-hailing horse, finished last, while My Boy Jack finished fifth.

Justify, the three-year-old colt that began his career in February, crushed the 136-year-old Apollo Curse dreaded by superstitious fans. According to Sports Illustrated, no horse has won the race without starting as a 2-year-old since 1882 — when Apollo won the Kentucky Derby by defeating 4-5 favorite Runnymede. Justify, with the best odds, and Magnum Moon, closing with 13-1, had been the only candidates in the field eligible to break the 136-year-old curse.

Baffert, who ranks Justify alongside his 2015 predecessor American Pharoah, is now set to enter the Preakness Stakes on May 19, the next leg of the Triple Crown trail.

“Him and American Pharoah and Arrogate, these horses are cut from a different — they are just so great,” Baffert said.

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More than four decades after pingpong diplomacy forged ties between the U.S. and China, thawing a relationship had been frozen in hostility, two long-time opponents have again reached across the net for a historic handshake.

Women’s table tennis teams from South Korea and North Korea announced Thursday that they would not compete against each other, as scheduled, in the quarterfinals of the World Team Table Tennis Championships. They told umpires on the court in Halmstad, Sweden, they would skip the match entirely and instead form a unified team to play in the semifinal round.

“This is a big historical decision for both our countries.” Ryu Seung-min, vice president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, said in a statement released by the International Table Tennis Federation, or ITTF.

“This is an important statement to promote peace between our countries through Table Tennis,” he added.

ITTF President Thomas Weikert said in the statement that the federation’s board of directors did not simply approve the unusual agreement: “The unified team received a standing ovation from the delegates who showed their sign of support to this historic move.”

“It’s a bit of a risk of course as this is not 100 percent according to the rules,” Weikert told Reuters on Thursday, “We all feel happy that we have a small sign in the process of the reunion of Korea.”

Hopeful signs of reunification can be found not just on the pingpong table, but the negotiating table as well.

Late last month North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed the border to meet with his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in — the first time a Kim dictator has done so since the 1953 armistice that brought an end to fighting in the Korean War.

Both countries have agreed to stop blaring propaganda at each other across the border through loudspeakers. North Korea has even declared its intention to sync clocks with its southern neighbor, which has operated on a different time zone for decades.

It is also not the first time this year that athletes from the longtime foes have joined up to compete in a unified team: Women’s ice hockey players from North and South took the ice together at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.

Still, it has been quite a while since the neighbors have taken up paddles together. The ITTF notes that not since 1991 has a unified Korean team competed in the World Table Tennis Championships, when that team actually won the world title.

Weikert acknowledged that the ITTF had to bend regulations to allow the creation of the new unified Korean team mid- tournament, but he said they had other considerations in mind than just the rulebook.

“It’s more than a sport, it’s more for the peace,” Weikert said. “I think it’s worth it.”

The announcer at the arena in Sweden, when revealing the decision to fans, put the matter more simply.

“It’s not North Korea, it’s not South Korea,” he said as both teams linked arms and beamed for the fans. “It’s just Korea.”

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Updated at 9:25 p.m. ET

Wembley, London’s iconic national stadium, could soon be owned by an American.

The Football Association of England, which owns the stadium, said it had received an offer from Shahid Khan, the billionaire owner of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. Wembley is home to England’s national football team.

In what The Guardiancalled “an extraordinary deal,” Khan reportedly offered the FA a lump sum of nearly $835 million, and offered to allow the association to retain some of the revenue generated, valued at an additional $417 million.

Khan, who was born in Pakistan, also owns Fulham which plays in the Championship League, the second tier of English soccer. In a statement posted to Fulham’s website, Khan explained that his bid was an effort to “protect the Jaguars’ position in London at a time when other NFL teams are understandably becoming more interested in this great city.”

The businessman, who made his money in auto parts, seemed to recognize that his bid might be unpopular with both Fulham fans and English soccer supporters generally:

“I trust many if not most of you are also supporters of the England national teams, so I hope you welcome the potential of this becoming a reality. Always know Wembley would be home to the England national teams, and that we would strive every day of the year to be the best possible steward for a venue that is iconic and beloved here and throughout the world.

“No matter what the outcome of our offer may be, I want to emphatically state to you that none of this will have any effect on my commitment to your Club.”

“If the takeover gets the go ahead more American football games are likely to be played at Wembley and it could even pave the way for an NFL franchise to be permanently based in London,” the Evening Standardreported. The newspaper said that the deal would likely mean fewer of England’s international soccer matches would be hosted at the stadium, but “would not threaten Wembley’s status as the England team’s home for all major fixtures.”

The NFL said having stadium options in London has been “critical” and Khan’s purchase of Wembley would allow greater flexibility in scheduling NFL games there. The Jaguars already play one game per season at the stadium.

“We are very happy for Shad Khan and the Jacksonville Jaguars,” the league said in a statement, according to ESPN. “The potential purchase of Wembley Stadium is a further powerful sign of their commitment to the UK and their vision to help us grow the sport.”

As the largest stadium in the U.K., Wembley plays host to many of the country’s biggest sporting events. This season it has also been the home of Tottenham Hotspur as the team’s stadium is under construction.

The original Wembley opened in 1923 as the centerpiece of the British Empire Exhibition. The old stadium was demolished in the early 2000s, and the new stadium opened on the same site in 2007.

“Wembley is a historic place in English football, it holds a very special place in the heart of fans up and down the country and I’m sure the FA will want to strongly consider the views of these supporters before deciding what to do next,” the prime minister’s spokesman said, according to the Guardian.

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Amnesty International has given Colin Kaepernick its top human rights award for his public opposition to racial injustice. The former San Franciso 49ers quarterback is Amnesty’s 2018 Ambassador of Conscience

Teri Schultz reports for our Newscast unit that the “take a knee” campaign that won Kaepernick honor likely cost him his job:

Accepting the award in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, Kaepernick said he shares it “with all of the countless people throughout the world combating the human rights violations of police officers.”

“Kaepernick launched a massive controversy in 2016 for kneeling while the national anthem was played to protest police brutality. When other players joined him, President Trump called on team owners to fire them.

“San Francisco released Kaepernick and he hasn’t been signed by any other team.

“Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty says the “vitriol” Kaepernick’s peaceful protest evoked from people in power makes his “commitment all the more remarkable.”

The Associated Press reports:

“In Kaepernick’s acceptance speech, the award-winner described police killings of African-Americans and Latinos in the United States as lawful lynchings.

“Racialized oppression and dehumanization is woven into the very fabric of our nation — the effects of which can be seen in the lawful lynching of black and brown people by the police, and the mass incarceration of black and brown lives in the prison industrial complex,” Kaepernick said.

“How can you stand for the national anthem of a nation that preaches and propagates, ‘freedom and justice for all,’ that is so unjust to so many of the people living there?” he said at Saturday’s award ceremony.”

Previous award recipients include anti-Apartheid campaigner and South African President Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who campaigned for girls’ right to education even after surviving being shot by Taliban militants.

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