■NORDIC SKIING
Kircheison takes Cup
Bjorn Kircheisen of Germany won a Nordic combined event in difficult weather conditions on Sunday for his first World Cup victory of the season and 12th overall. Organizers interrupted the jumping discipline twice before finally calling it off as rain made a fair competition impossible. Results from a provisional round of jumping on Saturday decided the starting order for Sunday’s 10km freestyle cross-country ski race. Kircheisen finished with a time of 23 minutes, 43.3 seconds and edged Bill Demong of the US by 0.3 seconds and Jason Lamy Chappuis of France by 0.5. Overall World Cup leader Anssi Koivuranta of Finland took fourth, 3.6 seconds behind. The next stop on the Nordic combined World Cup circuit is Oberhof, Germany, on Saturday and Sunday.
■ICE HOCKEY
Crosby tallies record votes
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is headed to the NHL All-Star Game by a landslide. The young star on Sunday eclipsed Jaromir Jagr’s record for most votes ever received by one player in one season in the history of NHL All-Star Game fan balloting. With 13 days of voting still to go in fan balloting for next year’s NHL All-Star Game in Montreal, Crosby had claimed 1,020,736 votes as of Sunday. The total surpassed the 2000 total of Jagr, who was a member of the Penguins. Crosby, 21, has 13 goals and 33 assists in 32 games this season. The top overall pick of the 2005 NHL draft, Crosby has notched 112 goals and 228 assists in 245 career contests.
■JUDO
Riner takes gold in open
France’s over-100kg world champion Teddy Riner, who only managed a bronze at the Olympics, rediscovered his gold medal-winning touch to win the open category world championship title in Paris on Sunday. The 19-year-old Guadeloupean dominated this competition and said this new format for the open category at world level, kept apart from the other categories, resulted in a “spicing-up” of the action. “The best nations have two or three representatives here. There’s the best and nothing but the best,” said Riner, who was never really in trouble in his five bouts in two days. In the final, Riner beat experienced Russian Alexander Mikhaylin, world heavyweight champion in both 2001 and 2005, to collect the US$25,000 winner’s check. In the women’s competition, China’s Tong Wen lived up to her mantle as the big favorite, adding this title to her Olympic crown from Beijing after beating Russia’s Elena Ivashchenko in the final.
■NORDIC SKIING
Norwegians win team sprint
Tor Arne Hetland and Ola Vigen Hattestad of Norway won Sunday’s Cross Country World Cup team sprint event despite finishing in the same time as Sweden. Both teams covered the 6x1.5km course in 17 minutes, 37 seconds, 0.7 seconds ahead of Russia in third. Natalia Korostelewa and Natalia Matwejewa of Russia won the women’s team sprint in 9:35.5. Norway was runner-up, 0.2 seconds back. Germany finished third.
■SWIMMING
Wildeboer sets record
Aschwin Wildeboer broke the men’s 100m backstroke world record at the Spanish short-course championships on Sunday. The Spaniard’s time of 49.20 seconds was 0.13 seconds faster than the mark set by Stanislav Donets of Russia last week at Rijeka, Croatia. “Above all, this is compensation for all the hard work we have done,” the 22-year-old Wildeboer said.
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
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
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and