■ Auto Racing
Schumacher feels vibes
World champion Michael Schumacher said Friday he had good vibes racing around in Ferrari's latest model, the just-introduced F2004 model, at the company circuit of Fiorano. "I'm very happy since the car has been handling well since the initial laps," Schumacher said the six-time world champion who will be shooting for his fifth title in a row with Ferrari in the upcoming world Formula One championship. The car, which was unveiled on Monday, began tests Friday ahead of its debut at the Australian GP, the opening championship race, in March. Schumacher was clocked in 57.006 seconds in his fastest lap at Fiorano, better than the time of 57.045 he set on the opening day of tests of the 2003GA model in February last year.
■ Soccer
Colombia names coach
Reinaldo Rueda has been promoted to national coach of Colombia after leading the under-20 squad to third at last month's World Youth Championship. Rueda, 46, replaced Francisco Maturana, who resigned in November after a dismal start in South American qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. Maturana, once a national hero for twice taking Colombia to the World Cup, quickly fell from grace after consecutive losses to Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela, and a draw with Argentina.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later