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■ FORMULA ONE

Webber surgery successful

Surgery to pin the broken right leg of Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber has been a success, his spokesman said yesterday’s. Red Bull driver Webber, 32, was riding a mountain bike when he collided with a four-wheel drive while competing in his own multi-sport charity event in Tasmania on Saturday. Geoff Donohue, spokesman for the Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge, said Hobart Private Hospital doctors had inserted rods to mend the breaks in his lower right tibia and fibula. It was not known at this stage when Webber would be able to leave hospital, he said. “He’s feeling sharp and spritely, all things considered,” Donohue said.



■ SKIING

Swedes win World Cup

Marcus Hellner and Charlotte Kalla of Sweden delighted home fans by winning their World Cup cross-country ski openers on Saturday. Hellner edged Pietro Piller Cottrer of Italy by 1.4 seconds in the men’s 15km freestyle while Kalla outclassed runnerup Marit Bjorgen of Norway by 24.4 seconds in the women’s 10k free. Hellner, a 23-year-old who has been on the national team for three years, covered the men’s race in 32:35.2. “This is wonderful,” Hellner said after his first World Cup win. “I’m totally exhausted. The fans were incredible and supported me so well throughout the race. I heard that only seconds separated us. When I heard the fans roar I understood that I had won the race.” Lukas Bauer, the defending World Cup overall champion from the Czech Republic, finished ninth, 29.7 seconds behind.



■ ATHLETICS

Hurdler to undergo surgery

China’s Liu Xiang, whose heartbreaking injury misery was one of the defining images of the Beijing Olympics, will undergo surgery on his troublesome right foot in the US at the end of next month. The 2004 Olympic 110m hurdles champion, who limped out of the Bird’s Nest Stadium in the Chinese capital before the start of his heats in August, will have the operation in Houston, Texas. “I have consulted a number of specialists in China and abroad and based on their unanimous advice, I have taken this decision,” said Liu, who was in Manaco to attend the end of season International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) gala yesterday. Former world champion Liu, with coach Sun Haping at his side, said that he had been suffering for many years as a result of calcification between the heel and the bone of his foot.



■ CYCLING

Australia wins UCI series

Australia’s national team won the Melbourne round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics series on Saturday. Australia, with 112 points, edged out compatriots Team Toshiba, who scored 98 points over three days of competition. Australian Shane Perkins went one better than his Manchester World Cup silver earlier this month to claim the men’s sprint with a straight heats win over Frenchman Michael D’Almedia. Spain’s Unai Elorrriage Zubiaur and David Muntaner Juaneda won the men’s 40km Madison, with Australia’s Cameron Meyer and CJ Sutton taking the silver and the German team of Henning Bommel and Fabian Schaar third. Great Britain’s Elizabeth Armitstead, Katie Colclough and Joanna Rowsell claimed the women’s team pursuit in 3:29.890 ahead of Australia’s Josephine Tomic, Sarah Kent and Ashlee Ankudin (3:30.506). Willy Kanis of the Netherlands took the women’s 500m time trial, posting a time of 34.657 with Jie Jie Gong of China (34.676) second.


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