■ ATHLETICS
No relay role for Christie
Former Olympic gold medalist Linford Christie won't be running in the Beijing torch relay. London Mayor Ken Livingstone's office denied reports that he had invited Christie to run in the London leg of the relay on April 6. The office also said that Christie has made clear he won't take part. Christie, who won the 100m gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games, is serving a lifetime Olympic ban after testing positive for steroids in 1999. Yesterday's statement comes after media reports that Livingstone had invited Christie to run in the relay.
■ Athletics
Kenyans deny accusation
Senior members of Kenya's athletics fraternity reacted indignantly on Thursday to an accusation they funded some of the worst post-election violence in the Rift Valley area. The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report on Kenya's crisis that athletes -- who have become wealthy local celebrities thanks to their winnings on the international circuit -- may have sponsored the killers. Athletics Kenya chairman Isaiah Kiplagat said that far from promoting violence, Rift Valley athletes were known for their involvement in local competitions promoting peace. "I am sure no single athlete was involved in promoting violence as reported," Kiplagat said. "They are busy training for coming competitions and they would not have that time for those things. In fact, as we speak, many are abroad training because of the problems here."
■ BOXING
Pinoys call in Cubans
The Philippines has hired two Cuban coaches in a last-ditch bid to qualify more boxers for the Beijing Olympics in August. The head of the Philippine Sports Commission William Ramirez said yesterday they were hoping to win two of 19 slots up for grabs in the last Asian qualifying tournament in Kazakhstan next month with the help of the new coaches. Juan Enrique Steyners Tissert and Dagoberto Rojas Scott were whisked to the country's main boxing training camp in Baguio on Thursday. "We brought them immediately to the battlefield, to the firing line to work," Ramirez said. The Philippines, considered a regional boxing powerhouse is mortified that only Harry Tanamor has so far qualified for Beijing despite Manila sending a team of promising hopefuls to a qualifier in Thailand last month.
■ Basketball
McGrady leads Rockets win
The Houston Rockets surged to their 10th consecutive win on Thursday, beating the Miami Heat 112-100 behind Tracy McGrady's 23 points and 10 assists. Yao Ming added 21 points as all five Houston starters finished in double figures. A 41-point first quarter gave the Rockets a 15-point lead which Miami could not catch. McGrady had 14 points in the quarter with Rafer Alston adding 11 as Houston shot a torrid 81 percent from the floor. Alston finished with 16 points and 11 assists, Luis Scola had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Shane Battier grabbed 12 points for Houston. Rookie reserve Carl Landry also played a big role, scoring 19 points, 11 of them in the fourth quarter. Also on Thursday, Manu Ginobili's jumper with six seconds left closed out a 44-point performance and helped the San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 100-99. Brandon Roy had 19 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 92-88 home win over the Seattle SuperSonics.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite