■ATHLETICS
Washington to receive gold
American Tyree Washington is finally going to get the 2003 world 400m gold medal draped around his neck, the retired sprinter said on Sunday. USA Track and Field (USATF) will present Washington with the newly cast medal at this week’s US championships in Eugene, Oregon. USATF spokeswoman Jill Geer confirmed he would be recognized. Washington, now 32, said he had mixed emotions about the presentation, which is scheduled for Saturday after the men’s 400m final. He began pursuing the gold after 2003 winner Jerome Young admitted last year to using prohibited substances and agreed to return the medal. “I have been treated poorly,” said Washington, the 2003 runner-up. “The IAAF gave Jerome Young a lifetime ban [for a doping positive in 2004] ... so they knew I was going to be the world champion, yet they held on to that [the gold].”
■MOTORING
‘The Stig’ unmasked again
After years of keeping his identity secret, former Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher has revealed he is “The Stig,” the anonymous professional test car driver from BBC motoring show Top Gear. Each episode of the cult show sees “The Stig” whizzing around test tracks in powerful cars wearing a white jumpsuit with his features hidden by a white crash helmet. The original Stig was axed from the show after British racing driver Perry McCarthy revealed his identity in an autobiography in 2002. In an episode broadcast on Sunday, the current Stig took off his helmet to loud cheers from the studio audience, revealing himself to be Schumacher.
■RUGBY UNION
Bastareaud beating probed
Police said yesterday they were investigating an attack on French rugby player Mathieu Bastareaud in Wellington after Saturday’s Test loss to the All Blacks. Bastareaud was assaulted by four or five people early on Sunday in central Wellington as he was returning to the team’s hotel and was left with a cut and bruised face, French officials said. The French team did not make an official complaint because Bastareaud could not identify his attackers, but police said they were looking into the incident, which followed the touring side’s 14-10 defeat.
■SUPERBIKES
Spies closes gap on Haga
Ben Spies won the first race at the San Marino Superbike Grand Prix on Sunday to close the gap on championship leader Noriyuki Haga of Japan, who leads the standings with 292 points, 48 ahead of Spies and 55 ahead of Italian Michel Fabrizio. In the first race of the day at Misano Adriatico, US rider Spies finished eight seconds ahead of Ducati’s Shane Byrne in second and Fabrizio in third. In the second race, Jonathan Rea claimed his first-ever victory. The Briton came home ahead of Fabrizio, whilst Haga was third.
■BASEBALL
Burnett’s suspension cut
New York Yankees pitcher AJ Burnett’s suspension for throwing high and inside to Texas’ Nelson Cruz on June 2 has been reduced from six games to five, the team said on Sunday. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said the suspension would push Burnett’s next start to Saturday against the New York Mets. Burnett, 32, had appealed the suspension, saying he was surprised by the severity of the punishment.
Burnett fired a fastball near Cruz’s head during a 12-3 victory. Earlier in the game Texas hurler Vicente Padilla hit Mark Teixeira with two pitches.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later