■ Golf
All change for Wie
Michelle Wie has a new agent, the second significant change in the golf prodigy's camp in the last 10 weeks following the dismissal of her caddie. Ross Berlin, whom the William Morris Agency hired specifically to handle Wie, has taken a management position with the US PGA Tour. He will be replaced by Greg Nared, a manager from US athletic apparrel maker Nike who spent nearly three years recruiting Wie to the company. Nike signed her to a five-year deal when she turned pro last year at age 16, and Wie signed other multiyear deals with Sony and Omega. Her earnings -- on the course, endorsements and appearance fees -- in her first year were expected to approach US$20 million. Berlin spent his summer traveling the globe with the Hawaiian teen, and had been seen at US PGA Tour headquarters in recent weeks. Wie finished 17th in the 20-player Samsung Championship on Sunday, putting a dour end to her first year as a pro.
■ Olympic Games
Pan-Korean team unlikely
IOC president Jacques Rogge says North Korea's nuclear test last week has threatened the prospects of North and South Korea forming a unified team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "I had meetings with the national Olympic committees of North and South Korea a short while ago and we were making progress," Rogge told a news conference in Tokyo yesterday. "But the nuclear test has changed everything and we are waiting for the resolution of this situation." Although Rogge said he is still in contact with the Olympic committees of both North and South Korea and that the IOC remains committed to the two nations forming a unified team. After meetings last month mediated by Rogge, the two countries' top Olympic officials remained hopeful that all remaining issues on forming a unified team for Beijing could quickly be addressed. The two countries failed in recent talks to reach a breakthrough.
■ Cycling
Armstrong pans book
Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong assailed a new book going on sale in France yesterday as "another baseless attack." The book by Pierre Ballester and David Walsh, who wrote L.A. Confidential: The Secrets of Lance Armstrong in 2004, is based on testimony given in a legal dispute between Armstrong and Dallas-based SCA Promotions that had a bonus contract with the cyclist. The new book, LA Official evokes the "strategies put in place by the Armstrong `clan' to preserve intact `the legend,'" the French daily Le Monde reported on Wednesday. "This latest attack will be no different than the first -- a sensationalized attempt to cash in on my name and sully my reputation by people who have demonstrated a consistent failure to adhere to the most basic journalistic standards or ethics," Armstrong said.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was