■CANOEING
Multiple champ makes final
Germany’s three-time Olympic champion Andreas Dittmer qualified for the men’s 1,000m canoe final yesterday after moving up through the field to finish a close second in his semi. Dittmer, who won gold in the 500, 1,000 and 1,000 double in Athens, Sydney and Atlanta respectively, finished just behind France’s Mathieu Goubel. Dittmer had to contest the semi-final after finishing second in his heat behind Spain’s David Cal, who took the only direct entry to the final. Australia’s Ken Wallace won a semi-final of the men’s 1,000 kayak in commanding style. Wallace led for the first 500m before briefly losing the lead to South Africa’s Shaun Rubenstein. He was then pushed hard to the finish by New Zealand’s Ben Fouhy and Sweden’s Markus Oscarsson. He will face Britain’s World Champion Tim Brabants, Athens Olympic champion Eirik Veraas Larsen from Norway and Canada’s world cup winner Adam van Koeverden in the final. Three Chinese crews also qualified for the 1,000m finals in the K2, C2 and K4.
■HANDBALL
Iceland down Poles 32-30
Iceland, the surprise package of the men’s handball tournament, shot into the semis after a 32-30 win against Poland yesterday. France also advanced after beating Russia 27-24, with Daniel Narcisse doing a somersault after he scored a goal in the last minute. Iceland’s Alexander Petersson, Snorri Steinn Gudjonsson and Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson relentlessly hammered the Polish goal. Even a last-gasp goal by Mariusz Jurasik did not save the day for Poland. “It was great, I still cannot believe it. We’re such a small country and we won against a 40-million-people country,” Petersson said. “Now there’s going to be a handball boom in Iceland.” Russia clawed back against France in the second half and briefly stood at 21-22, only to see Narcisse and Olivier Girault score three goals in less than 10 minutes. Narcisse scored nine times, while Girault, Luc Abalo and Bertrand Gille also bombarded the Russian goal.
■ATHLETICS
Medalist fails drugs test
Ukraine’s Olympic heptathlon silver medalist Liudmyla Blonska has failed a drugs test, the IOC confirmed yesterday. The 30-year-old’s A sample tested positive for a banned substance, but the IOC source said they were still awaiting the results of the B sample. The Disciplinary Commission of the IOC will hold a meeting today before passing on their recommendations to the Executive Board. The Ukrainian had already served a previous ban for testing positive in 2003 for stanozolol. She now faces a life ban for the latest offense. Should the executive board strip Blonska of her medal, the silver would go to American Hyleas Fountain while Tatiana Chernova of Russia would receive the bronze.
■WATER POLO
Montenegro upset Croatia
Nikola Janovic, Aleksandar Ivovic and Vladimir Gojkovic scored two goals apiece and Montenegro upset Croatia 7-6 in the quarter-finals yesterday. Montenegro took a 3-0 lead and never looked back, despite scoring just one goal in power-play situations and missing a penalty shot. The reigning European champions had their advantage cut to 7-6 with 3:28 to play. But goalkeeper Milos Scepanovic blocked two shots in the final 2 minutes to preserve the slim lead. Montenegro advanced to play two-time defending Olympic gold medalist Hungary in tomorrow’s semi-finals. Serbia beat Spain 9-5 in the other quarter-final and advanced to play the US.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
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
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping