■ Winter Olympics
Greenpeace bid rejected
Environmentalists lost their bid on Wednesday to block construction of sports facilities in Sochi if the Black Sea resort gets the 2014 Winter Olympics. Russia's Supreme Court rejected Greenpeace's contention that Olympic-related projects would cause major ecological harm to the region. Sochi's infrastructure and sports facilities are less developed than the other two finalists for the games -- Salzburg, Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea. Russia plans to develop the Sochi region regardless of whether it wins the bid. Government representatives argued that significant studies showed construction would not pose a threat to the region's environment, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.
■ Skiing
Svartedal clinches title
Jens Arne Svartedal of Norway clinched cross-country skiing's World Cup sprint title despite finishing last in the Royal Palace Sprint B final on Wednesday. Skiing on an illuminated 1km course around one of the world's biggest royal palaces in Stockholm's Old Town, Mikhail Deviatiarov of Russia won the men's classic-style. Petra Majdic of Slovenia won the women's race. Tobias Angerer, the two-time defending World Cup champion from Germany, did not compete. He clinched the men's overall title last week in Norway.
■ Soccer
Cole teams up with Bruce
Birmingham signed former England striker Andy Cole on loan on Wednesday from Portsmouth. Cole, the second highest career scorer in the Premier League with 188 goals, was a team-mate of Birmingham manager Steve Bruce when they played at Manchester United. Birmingham will have Cole until the end of the season. "We are absolutely delighted to bring Andy in for our Championship run because he is an exceptional player with a phenomenal goalscoring record," Bruce said. "We feel that his experience will prove to be very beneficial to the team, particularly as we have so many young players."
■ Basketball
US to face Venezuela
The US will open qualifying for next year's Olympics against Venezuela in the Americas tournament. Brazil, Canada and the US Virgin Islands were placed in the same group in a draw held on Wednesday. The tournament will be held from Aug. 22 to Sept. 2 in Las Vegas. The top two teams will earn spots in Beijing, while the teams finishing third through fifth have another chance in a qualifying tournament to be held in July next year. Each team plays the other four teams in its group, with the top four finishers advancing to the second round.
■ Baseball
No extension for Rodriguez
The New York Yankees don't intend to offer Alex Rodriguez a contract extension, leaving him the option of opting out of his deal after the season and becoming a free agent. Rodriguez has four seasons left in the record US$252 million, 10-year agreement he signed with Texas before the 2001 season. He is owed US$27 million in each of the final three seasons -- with the Yankees responsible for US$50.7 million and the Rangers owing US$30.3 million, including US$9 million in deferred money. Under the terms of the deal, Rodriguez can terminate it after this season. He also can stay for next year and have the right to opt out of the final two seasons if the Yankees don't boost his salary to US$32 million annually for the final two years.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but