■ATHLETICS
Olympian shot dead
David Laut, who won a bronze medal for the US in the shot put at the 1984 Olympics, was shot to death after confronting intruders outside his California home, authorities said on Saturday. He was 52. Laut was gunned down early on Friday when he went outside to check on a noise in the yard, Oxnard Police Sergeant Ken Klopman said. Police on Saturday hadn’t made any arrests or identified suspects. Laut also won a gold medal at the 1979 Pan American Games. He was favored to win the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics after throwing 21.59m at the US Olympic trials. He won the bronze instead with a mark of 20.97 on his final attempt at the Los Angeles Coliseum. In 1985, he was ranked the No. 7 shot-putter in the world and the No. 1 American. But his career nearly ended the following year when he tore tendons in both knees during an agility test to become a fireman.
■ALPINE SKIING
Toni Sailer laid to rest
Austria on Saturday said goodbye to three-time Olympic alpine ski champion Toni Sailer who passed away after a lengthy illness. The 73-year-old was buried in his home town of Kitzbuehel after a two-hour long mass attended by several hundred mourners. Sailer’s coffin was covered in white and red flowers and a photograph of him during his heyday as a successful champion stood among the flowers. Sailer, who is considered as one of the best-ever alpine skiers, won three Olympic gold medals and seven world titles between 1946 and 1958 and became a successful actor and singer after his active skiing career.
■CYCLING
Cancellara wins first stage
Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara clocked 5 minutes 20 seconds on Saturday to win the 4.8km opening stage of the Spanish Vuelta. Belgium’s Tom Boonen finished nine seconds behind at the Assen MotoGP circuit to take second place, while American Tyler Farrar was third, 12 seconds adrift. Alexandre Vinokourov, back after serving a ban for blood doping during the 2007 Tour de France, finished seventh, 18 seconds behind Cancellara. Defending champion Alberto Contador skipped the race after winning this year’s Tour, and rival Lance Armstrong, third in the Tour, also withdrew.
■MARATHON
Shimahara wins in Hokkaido
Asian Games silver medalist Kiyoko Shimahara of Japan won the Hokkaido marathon yesterday, with Kenya’s Daniel Njenga taking the men’s title. Shimahara, whose previous best finishes were second in the 2004 Tokyo and 2005 Hokkaido marathons, pulled away from teammate Akemi Ozaki at the 12km mark and crossed the finishing line in two hours 25 minutes, 10 seconds. Ozaki was never in a position to challenge Shimahara’s lead and had to settle for second place in 2:27:23, ahead of Satoko Uetani in 2:33:55.
■VOLLEYBALL
Japan wins third of three
Japan saw off South Korea yesterday for a third win out of three to advance with Iran to the world men’s volleyball championships. The Japanese, who finished eighth in the 2006 championships, coasted to a 25-23, 25-16, 25-22 victory to finish top in the four-team round robin competition. Earlier in the day, Iran defeated Kazakhstan 25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 25-16 for a second win against one defeat, and then waited for the outcome of the Japan-South Korea clash to ensure they were through. South Korea ended third with a 1-2 win-loss record, ahead of winless Kazakhstan.
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
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was