■ Rowing
Cambridge take Boat Race
Cambridge scored a one-sided victory in the 150th annual Boat Race on Sunday but had to survive a strong Oxford protest after two clashes of oars near the start. The two crews went far too close in the early stages, once with Oxford slightly ahead and the other with Cambridge going ahead. The Cambridge crew then powered away to win the 7.2km race by six lengths in 18 minutes 47 seconds to stop the Dark Blues of Oxford winning for the third year in a row along the River Thames. The score in the race, first held in 1829, now has Cambridge leading 78-71 with one race in 1877 ending in a dead heat.
■ Tennis
Serena wary of terror threat
Serena Williams says the threat of terrorism at the Olympics might keep her home, even though she wants to compete in Athens. "My security and my safety and my life are a little bit more important than tennis," Williams said Sunday after winning in the third round of the Nasdaq-100 Open. "And so if it became a real to concern to where I personally wouldn't feel comfortable, then I wouldn't go to Athens." Williams teamed with her sister Venus to win the gold medal in doubles at the 2000 Sydney Games. She hopes to play singles and doubles at the Aug. 13 to 29 Athens Olympics. "You can't stop living your life because you're scared something's going to happen," she said. "But at the same time, I'm very aware of things that are going on in the world. ... It's definitely a concern of mine. I'd be kind of naive to say it isn't."
■ Soccer
Celtic sees off Rangers
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill was full of praise for David Marshall after the young goalkeeper continued his superb form in the unbeaten Scottish premier league leaders' 2-1 Glasgow derby win over Rangers on Sunday. Henrik Larsson headed Celtic's 19th-minute opener and Alan Thompson added the second on 52 but 19-year-old Marshall, outstanding in Thursday's 0-0 draw in Barcelona that secured Celtic a UEFA Cup quarterfinal place, did just as much to ensure a fifth straight Old Firm victory. Marshall prevented Stanislav Varga scoring an own goal when he tipped on to a post, clawed out Alan Hutton's header and saved from Michael Mols with the home side searching frantically for an equalizer. "We've got in front and he's made vital saves for us," said O'Neill, whose side are a massive 19 points clear of Rangers with eight games remaining.
■ Tennis
Clijsters still injured
Kim Clijsters will have to keep her left wrist in a brace for three more weeks, further jeopardizing the run-up to the French Open for the world's No. 2 player, her Web site reported yesterday. The Belgian pulled out of the Indian Wells tournament two weeks ago with a torn tendon and had hoped she would have been able to start full training for her spring campaign by now. "Her wrist is not healed yet," according to an update posted at www.kimclijsters.be. "The world No. 2 will have to wear a brace around her left wrist for another 20 days." Clijsters still hopes to be able to play an April 17 exhibition match against her fiancee Lleyton Hewitt, but the prolonged injury will cut preparations very short. A week after the exhibition, she is slated to play Fed Cup for Belgium against Croatia in her home town of Bree. Her injury was first diagnosed as a stress reaction before it became clear she had a tear of 1.5cm in her left wrist. She has been wearing a brace up to her knuckles ever since.
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